Sunny Girl

Foreword
This story is a total copycat of ‘A Bright Girl’s success’. It is filmed in Taiwan, China and Japan. It is the last drama that Farenheit are together in. Are you interested to watch it?

Story
Yang Guang is a poor, but cheerful girl who lives with her grandmother on Sunny island. Her parents are con-men and leave her with a huge debt. Debtors force her to become a maid to pay the debt.

When she is bathing, Ya Xin, the wealthy CEO of A Lovera, a beauty-products company (I know many will laugh at this name), falls through the roof of her straw roof. He is parachuting, but his balloon bursts. She nearly kills him for seeing her almost in nude. Unfortunately, he turns out to be her new boss.

He looks down on her for dressing oldishly to call her grandmother most of the time. To her, he is a spoilt brat. Days pass and they fall in love with each other – after he sees how pretty she becomes after a makeover.

Fei, Ya Xin's childhood friend, conspires to destroy Ya Xin under his father's commands. He is unwilling at first but due to his love for An Qi --who loves Ya Xin, he decides to be evil. They grow up together but An Qi never knows that Fei loves her.

Despite her hints, Ya Xin is busy with his work and doesn't spend time with her--causing her to react jealously when she realizes that he actually spends more time with Guang. Even after he knows it, he evades the issue. As Guang continues to work for him, her optimism influences Ya Xin and he starts to fall in love with her.

An Qi becomes desperate and announces her engagement to Ya Xin. She also lies to her mother that she has agreed with Ya Xin. Elizabeth is like a mother to Ya Xin so he keeps mum. An Qi accidentally kills Guang's grandmother after hitting her with her car.

Fei uses this to force her to leave and study for a year, telling her that he can't bear to see her with a man who doesn't love her. Guang pays off her debt to get away for a year after she finds out that Ya Xin is getting engaged. Ya Xin is upset and doesn’t hire any maid after this.

A year later, they all meet up again at the stadium. Ya Xin tells An Qi that he doesn't love her and plans to propose to Guang, pretending to sell her back her house-- which he buys after her parents sell it.

Unfortunately, Fei caused Ya Xin and Elizabeth to go bankrupt. Ya Xin is removed from his company. His house is gone and he has no place to stay but to seek refuge at a rooftop house. Guang helps him through his rough times. They work together to help Ya Xin take back the company when the guys work undercover in the company again. Fei and An Qi repent to surrender themselves to the police so Ya Xin and Guang get married.

Introduction on characters

1. Di Ya Xin – Wu Chun
He is the general manager of Anova company. He is an orphan since young and is very arrogant. Because the Gens cheat him of his wealth, he loses everything overnight. He turns from an arrogant chap to a down-to-earth person later. Chun tries to be a spoil brat but somehow I find his expressions stiff but he passes off well as a rich man – as usual.

2. Yang Guang – Yang Cheng Lin
She is cheery and isn’t deterred by setbacks. She stands by her principles to make her promises met, much to the annoyance of Ya Xin. He gets her to do all the chores but doesn’t expect her to keep her word. But soon, he falls for her. He is grateful to her for standing beside him when he is down and out.

I find Cheng Lin not acting differently from acting as Xiao Hua in ‘Miss No Good’ as her character is also very unrealistic. She looks tired and uninterested most of the time. The supposedly stunning make-over doesn’t make any positive impact as she looks bloated in the blue pom pom dress. Worse when she is often in oversized clothes in most scenes too.

3. Gen Fei – Zhang Jun Ning
He is kind at heart but his talents are ignored in the company. Thus, his father vows to get what they deserve by backstabbing Ya Xin. Fei often helps An Qi but is often rejected by her. He finally wins her over after realizing that he is wrong. This newcomer tries to prove his worth but the role is easily forgettable as his crying scenes are terrible.

4. Yin An Qi – Liu Zi Yan
She is pampered when young and has thought of herself to be a brilliant art student till Guang appears. Angered that she is going to lose her man and feeling threatened by her ability, she starts to retaliate. However, Guang’s grandmother’s death haunts her and she can’t remove her guilt. Her acting is okay but somehow this role also lacks depth. Her dressing doesn’t convince us that she is rich as she is often so casual to appear in Bermudas at work.

5. Ai Ying Shan – Li Shao Xiang
He grows up with the guys and is troubled to see both become enemies. He doesn’t know who to side with after that. Finally, he helps Ya Xin but gets badly beaten up by Fei’s man when his cover is blown.

6. Qi Bao Bei – Tang Ning
She is Guang’s classmate who is as close as sisters with her after Guang accidentally damages her laptop. She has never liked An Qi and often quarrels with her over her ill treatment of Guang.

7. Qi Lei – Guang Lei
He is Elizabeth’s chauffeur and is a good bodyguard to defend her from attacks. He is also Bao Bei’s elder brother and is secretly in love with Guang.

8. Chairman Yin Elizabeth – Wu Qian Qian
Unlike other jealous women, she actually admires Guang’s talents and decides to groom her despite being an Qi’s mother. She likes her as she requests to continue her studies even though she works as a maid and agrees to it. She is a fair person who gives chances to all but her first priority is still her daughter.

9. Yang Yi Lang – Gu Bao Ming
He is Guang’s father who often gives her trouble. Equally the same as he acts as Yang Bo Tong in ‘Down with love’.

10. Mrs Yang – Muto Nobutomi
He is Guang’s mother who often gives her trouble. Very capable in breaking things.

11. Gen Xin Zhi – Zhao Shu Hai
He has worked for close to 30 years in the company and is still only a consultant. He wants to make it big so he wants Fei to get Ya Xin’s position. He trains him to be as ruthless as him. Brilliant performance – I think he acts best in the drama.

12. Mdm Zhao – Sun Gui Tian
She is Elizabeth’s housekeeper but dotes on Guang as she finds her adorable. She often gives her light duties so that this will not affect her studies. Even though Fei buys over Ya Xin’s house, she still feels that Ya Xin is the rightful owner.

13. Old Mrs Yang – Nakano Ryoko
She is a gentle old woman. She misses Guang so she comes to visit her. An Qi chases her away and accidentally knocks her down with her car, causing her death. This makes Ya xin feel sad for Guang and he tries as best as he can to console her.

14. Lian Jian Yu – Bai Yun
Guang’s parents owe him money so he wants Guang to pay back to him.

15. Liao Mei Yu – Ya Zi
She is Jian Yu’s sister whose money is cheated by Guang’s parents. Both siblings are harsh with Guang.

16. Calvin – Chen Yi Ru, Jiro – Wang Dong Cheng and Professor Aaron – Yan Ya Lun
Calvin is a successful compere while Jiro is the make-up director who often opposes Ya Xin in views although he is his best friend. Aaron is a young professor who helps Ya Xin in finalizing Requelle making process – as he is in love with Guang who resembles his first love. But I don’t remember seeing a scene of the four together. What a pity.

Most favourite character
Ya Xin, he looks cold but he is a warm person. He just doesn’t know how to express himself.

Most hated character
Mr Zhao, he keeps thinking that Fei isn’t ruthless enough and he must make him to become like him. Another is An Qi who keeps whining all the time.

Songs
The opening theme is ‘Sunny’ by Boney M and the ending theme ‘ Can’t tell you’ is by Chen Nai Rong. Not every suitable for this drama.

Interesting facts

The title was formerly sunny little sister in Chinese but Wu Chun thought sunny angel is better. Wu Chun had thought of Cheng Lin to be difficult to get along but soon found that she was easygoing. Both became friends as she often got tidbits for him. He still trembled upon recalling the parachute scene. The producer said that he could have died if his landing was wrong. Chun only asked if the parachute might end up having a hole somewhere if he wasn’t careful.

Chun and Cheng Lin were at the rooftop of an old Shanghai building, preparing the scene of Ya Xin’s falling from grace to move to the attic. Chun did not shave to make Ya Xin look dejected. All were amused when he had a good time admiring the scenery instead although he looked gloomy. However, their ultimate discovery was finding Cheng Lin squatting down to get her sad emotions ready for crying scenes.

They asked if she often reacted like this when she had the urgency to visit the toilet. She replied it was her usual style all these years and she wondered why she had to cry for debut episodes in her recent dramas. Zi Yan was overjoyed to have a handsome co-star and both became good friends.

The cast often went for supper sessions and Chun had no airs as he enjoyed eating street hawker food. In fact, he loved so much that he kept trying different dishes from different stalls. Cheng Lin was horrified when she put on weight and jokingly blamed him when the drama ceased shooting.

Chun’s father went to Taiwan to visit him for 4 days. He was unhappy when both only had 30 minutes to communicate as they kept filming the drama. He did not sleep more than 10 hours during these days. He was a professional but he is protective towards his family. When his family time was taken away, he lost his temper. He had specially arranged his father to follow him during his shooting but the staff kept hurrying him to work so he could not control himself.

Many placed high hopes on Wu Zun’s drama after ‘Romantic Princess’ success. It was his first time being hit 5 times on the face on the same day by Cheng Lin. She also left bruises on his chest by knocking it hard. Many never dreamt that she could be so violent to make the scenes realistic but he did not mind.

Chun came to Singapore to promote this drama. He did not like to be casted as the handsome man all along and wanted a breakthrough. He hinted that this might be his last idol drama. He revealed that he had gone to Mediacorp to plan to become an actor many years ago but was not selected as he was too shy. One wondered if things go if he stayed in Singapore.

Wu Chun knew that his poor Mandarin angered Cheng Lin. Once she helped him to carry his things, he thanked her for being nosy鸡婆. He did not know that what it meant and thought it meant helpful. Later, he said that most actresses he know are liberal 随便 – to give her a shock. After chatting, she realised what he meant was approachable 随和 . She could not help laughing at this. Many female supporters were also giving Jun Ning their encouragement. Jun Ning was glad that they did not despise his villain role.

This drama got the highest rating at 6.56% in China. Many female fans drooled at how fit Chun was and men also wrote in to ask how he kept fit. He was generous to share his pointers on his blog.

Conclusion

I sincerely hope that there will not be remakes of Korean dramas by Chinese stations. We had ‘Temptation of wife’ (but Chu Sang Mi only appeared as the wife before plastic surgery) , ‘All about eve’ (That can drive all of us nuts with Jang Hak’s long curly hair in a sharp contrast to the tidy Director Yin played by the dashing Jang Dong Gun) and now this one. The results are disastrous. How can they just base on an original screenplay from ‘A Bright Girl’s Success’ not from a manga?

Unlike Jin Yong and Gu Long remakes, somehow the feeling is just not right when watching this drama. The setting and cast have changed but not the story! The cast can’t surpass the former in any way as it also provides half-baked acting so it remains to be a lower than average drama. Only watch if you are a faithful fan of Farenheit .

Sukting’s ratings :

On acting : **1/2 (Scale of 5)
On story : ** (Scale of 5)
On songs : **1/2 (Scale of 5)