Broadcast Date: 5/11/2017
Airs: Daily
Total Episodes: 56
Leads: David Wang & Pan Zhi Lin
Story Overview:
Already working as a high level executive in a big cosmetic corporation at a relatively young age, our heroine, Xu Nuo is on the fast track of achieving everything she wants in life… especially when it looks like her college sweetheart is going to propose any day now. Happily going to work believing the big project she has been working tirelessly on will finally be done, Xu Nuo good mood turns to panic and confusion once her angry boss accuses her of selling the company’s brand new cosmetic formula to their biggest competitor – Di Ou. Crumbling under the shock that her college sweetheart actually stole the top secret files from her laptop and sold them for money, Xu Nuo rushes to Di Ou to beg CEO Chen Zhi Ze to give back her company’s formula.
Despite being dismayed to realize the formula he had bought came from such an unsavory method, Zhi Ze nonetheless has no intention of granting Xu Nuo her request since the precious formula was the ticket for him to finally be able to marry the girl he loves. Desperate to hear that Zhi Ze has just resigned from Di Ou and is off to his happily ever after, our very determined heroine chases Zhi Ze and his girlfriend all the way to a snowy mountain in a foreign country.
Searching aimlessly on the snowy mountain, Xu Nuo eventually collapses from exhaustion but ends up getting saved by a very kind woman. The two women take an instant liking to each other and Xu Nuo is all smiles until she figures out that her new friend is actually Zhi Ze’s girlfriend. Furious when a very unrepentant Zhi Ze continues to be unmoved by her plea, Xu Nuo grabs Zhi Ze’s girlfriend in anger and holds a knife to her. Sneering with derision the moment Zhi Ze obediently listens to her demand and kneels down for his girlfriend, Xu Nuo promptly releases her hostage after telling Zhi Ze that she is not him. Distressed to see her new friend walking off on her own especially knowing that Zhi Ze was in the wrong, Zhi Ze’s girlfriend convinces him to follow after Xu Nuo in order to make sure she is safe. Chasing after Xu Nuo, Zhi Ze reaches her just in time to see her getting buried alive by a sudden avalanche. Ignoring his own safety, Zhi Ze manages to dig an unconscious Xu Nuo out of her snowy grave and quickly lights a SOS flare before running off to check on his girlfriend.
Time jump: Three years later.
To make amends to her boss, Xu Nuo has spent the last three years helping her company grow into a cosmetic giant that threatens Di Ou’s position in the beauty industry. In contrast, Di Ou, without Zhi Ze at the helm, is on the verge of crisis and Zhi Ze’s best friend is finally sent on a mission to bring him back. Overwhelmed with grief after his girlfriend disappeared in the avalanche, Zhi Ze has spent the last three years searching nonstop for her. Unwilling at first to agree to leave the snowy mountain even when his best friend shows up, Zhi Ze relents once he sees the hospital report that reveals his mother is dying from cancer.
Forced to leave the hopeless search for his girlfriend and put back his mask as a shrewd businessman, Zhi Ze quickly realizes that in order to save Di Ou he will need our heroine’s help. At first amused at the ridiculousness of Zhi Ze’s guts to approach her with a job offer, Xu Nuo eventually changes her mind after her boss unwisely begins to put profit before his employees. Despite their change in status from foes to work associates, our two leads obviously still have a lot of baggage to get rid off before any sort of trust…and romance could flourish.
Ninja’s First Impression:
Wow, talk about a true hate-hate relationship in the beginning. I had gone into Fighting Time believing this one would just be your typical C-office romance drama and I would be lucky if I made it through the first two episodes, but after watching 10 episodes in one shot I think it’s safe to say I am hooked.
I have seen David Wang in various roles through the years and while he always looked great in whatever role he was in, I can’t say I really took notice of him as an actor until Fighting Time left me wondering “Why didn’t I notice this guy before?” David Wang’s hero in Fighting Time might not be your typical young idol type, but who needs little boys when you can have a man that oozes sexy charm like that?! One thing I love about Zhi Ze’s character is that he is a fairly complex character that just when you think the heroine has him pegged, then he surprises you. For example, back when our hero was doing everything he could to convince Xu Nuo to come work for him, she had asked him point blank if he was the one that rescued her three years ago. Up to this point, we were led to believe Zhi Ze is a shrewd businessman who will do anything to achieve what he wants but instead of using what he did to make Xu Nuo feel beholden to him, Zhi Ze instead assured Xu Nuo that he wasn’t the one that saved her.
As for the plot, the story does spend a majority of the time on office/business intrigue but thus far they have been pretty interesting and help propel the two leads’ relationship along. The show does have one annoying female second lead whose job is to constantly make things difficult for our heroine. However, judging by several signs the writer might whitewash this particular character at some point and make her less annoying.
All in all, aside from some small flaws, I was really pleasantly surprised by Fighting Time’s interesting premise, character depth, and solid acting. The chemistry between the two leads is intense but fun when you least expected it. At 54 episodes long, this show obviously has plenty of time to get draggy but as long as the writer could keep me reeled in with awesome scenes between the two leads, then I am probably not going anywhere.
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