Drama Thoughts: Devil Beside You (TW Drama, 2005)

Shoujo-style manga adaptations are my weakness.  I can’t help it.  So when I saw this drama listed in someone’s favorites on MyDramaList, I decided to try it.

Starring Mike He as Ahmon (per the subs; MyDramaList lists his character’s name as Ah Meng) and Rainie Yang as Qi Yue, Devil Beside You is as two-sided as Ahmon’s personality.  At times it’s wacky and over-the-top with exaggerated actions and reactions, and at times it skews melodramatic and tries to be all serious and emotional.  I can’t say that it succeeds either way, but it was definitely an enjoyable ride, nonetheless.

I liked Qi Yue’s feistiness when Ahmon began tormenting her, and how she put a stop to the love-letter blackmail by getting up her nerve and confessing to Yuan Yi.  The step-sibling/faux incest plot was different, but it didn’t squick me out because there was no actual blood relation.

The secondary love lines were just right: enough screen time to move things along but not so much as to make me aggravated.  Hooray for good drama parents!  Hooray for the second lead getting his own girl and not wallowing in his one-sided love the entire drama!

If there’s one thing I wish the drama had elaborated on, it’s how Ahmon came to be interested in Qi Yue in the first place.  One minute he’s hijacking her love letter and blackmailing her; the next he’s head over heels for her.  Where was the transition?  Did he like her before the letter?  Did he fall for her because she refused to be cowed by him?  What?  When?  Where?  Why? How?

Maybe the manga this drama was based on (The Devil Does Exist by mangaka Takanashi Mitsuba) answers these questions.  I might have to check it out and see.  However, this drama did answer one question – why is Mike He so popular?

That look.  That look right there.  That explains everything.

*happily pins Mike He Fan badge to shirt*