based on one episode I’m seeing complaints (on different forums, mind you) in regards to the new A Love So Beautiful.
one of the big complaints I’m seeing about the new ALSB is that Heon (the male lead) is a lot softer, a lot sweeter, than Jiang Chen and that takes away from the development of the male lead’s journey. because Jiang Chen’s coldness melting away if he kept it up, he wouldn’t have been able to keep Xiaoxi in his life. and I get that. I get that’s a valid reason.
but also what does that say about us wanting yet another cold male lead who is only nice towards the female lead? I get that’s a trope but sometimes it gets tiring considering the barrage of other dramas that are like that.
plus honestly I love Jiang Chen, but the only reason I instantly softened towards him (and didn’t fall into SLS despite how great a guy Bosong is) was because I didn’t read Jiang Chen as a “cold male lead” but an anti-social (which is hella funny considering his furture occupation), closed off and awkward tall dork whose kryptonite is an adorable firecracker. and yes Jiang Chen was blunt, that he wasn’t open with his feelings, and sometimes his teasing bordered on questionably mean, but he wasn’t your standard “cold male lead” because he wasn’t intentionally cold to everyone. anti-social does not equal cold. to me, Jiang Chen’s journey wasn’t about “melting his cold behavior” but being more open to Xiaoxi despite years of being unreadable and closed like a book.
based solely off the first episode (and some of the promotions I read), one of the big differences they’ve made with Heon is that, unlike Jiang Chen, his anti-social behavior doesn’t come off as intimidating but more gentle. and you can totally see that Heon is a lot more more approachable than Jiang Chen [plus honestly I know that the height difference between the male and female leads are supposed to be apparent, but Jiang Chen legit TOWERED over his classmates, much less Xiaoxi. his height played into the intimatidating anti-social aspect of his personality. Heon is definitely taller than Sol-i but he doesn’t look That Tall compared to the other kids]. Heon being softer and more approachable than Jiang Chen was seems to be a con to a lot of viewers, but I see it as the kdrama’s spin to our male lead’s anti-social/unopened book personality. Heon reads as socially awkward and that can serve just as well a stumbling block between him and Sol-i as Jiang Chen’s closedness to Xiaoxi was.