Speed and Love is an action romance drama that follows the story of a young woman (Ester Yu) who goes to Thailand to reunite with her smart and kind adopted brother (He Yu) that she hasn’t seen since she was a kid. To her surprise, she finds him transformed into a hardened street racer living in a world of danger. She tries to become part of his life again and grow closer to him.
Ester Yu plays Jiang Mu. She was really close to her brother when she was a child, but the two were separated after her parents divorced, and she hasn’t seen him in many years. When she learns he was adopted, she reunites with him in Thailand but is in for a shock when she sees how much he has changed.
He Yu is Jin Zhao. He has lived a difficult life, but his bright spot was his adopted sister. After being separated from her, continued challenges have found him deeply involved in the street racing culture of Thailand where he is surrounded by danger. And when Jiang Mu shows up out of the blue, his life begins to change in surprising ways.
I still don’t watch a lot of Chinese dramas since they are so hit or miss for me, but then I came across Speed and Love by accident. It was really the thumbnail poster that initially grabbed my attention with its dark and moody romantic vibe. I was intrigued! I just did a basic look up of the plot and saw that it was quite popular, but for the most part, I went into it pretty blind. And let me tell you, I’m glad that I did!
I feel like I don’t come across enough action romances, so I was very interested to see this one and was crossing my fingers that it would work out for me. And thankfully, it did! Right off the bat, I was enjoying the moody vibe and the angsty reunion between Jiang Mu and Jin Zhao.
The drama feels kind of like if you set The Fast and the Furious in Thailand and added in a sizzling romance. I also loved the setting in Thailand which isn’t a location I get to see a lot of. The rich colors of the nightlife and the plethora of cool race cars were a lot of fun. The cinematography was also gorgeous and really enhanced the setting.
The entire production of the show was top notch. All of the scenes were so well crafted down to the smallest detail. It was always beautiful to look at. And a big shoutout to the soundtrack which was phenomenal. This drama was packed with so many amazing songs, and they were utilized so well throughout the drama to enhance the feels in every way.
Now, I was kind of mixed on the whole car racing aspect of the drama. It’s not a subject matter I’m particularly interested in, and there were a lot of long races to get through. On the other hand, I love seeing topics and settings that I’m not used to watching. So in a lot of ways, I did enjoy the racing aspect. I especially liked the whole street racing culture that the drama was set within.
Of course, the huge selling point is the romance. I really loved everything about it! Jin Zhao and Jiang Mu have a multifaceted chemistry ranging from cute to sizzling. I was definitely all about the story of the sweet bubbly girl from the guy’s past shaking up his life for the better.
Ester Yu is quite adorable as Jiang Mu. She can be a bit over-the-top cutesy at times, but for the most part, she was enjoyable. She also had a sincere, relatable side and matured as the story progressed.
And it contrasted quite nicely with our brooding He Yu as Jin Zhao. He’s that classic cold, quiet, tortured soul in every way. Though he appears cold on the outside, he’s quite the sensitive soul with a strong protective side, especially when it comes to Jiang Mu.
The romance is kind of slow burn at first, but we get lots of time between the pair to build the relationship and address a lot of important issues between them as there relationship begins to change. We get so many meaningful moments between them as well as lots of cute ones.
Then there are so many great romantic scenes between them when things really start to take off. I just loved their chemistry and actually found myself feeling quite swoony over this pair. Watching Jiang Mu slowly break down the walls of the reluctant Jin Zhao definitely had my heart fluttering a number of times. Just the way they looked at each other was so swoony! From the more intense, angsty moments all the way to the more romantic ones was incredible, and you could really feel it.
There’s also a decent supporting cast rounding out our group of characters from our couple’s family, to their friends, to rivals involved in street racing. The characters had depth. The world was so nicely fleshed out, and I enjoyed spending time in it.
There are definitely a few draggy parts throughout the show, but it was never too long before we got back to some great moments between our couple or an important plot development.
MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW
In the latter third of the drama, we do have a big shift in the plot after Jin Zhao’s car accident. I must say, I never love the trope of someone shutting out their lover so they can go suffer alone in recovery. It’s the whole “I have to protect you from my pain and from me ruining your life” on steroids.
That being said, it was consistent with Jin Zhauo’s character and all of his actions up until that point. He was always bad at communication and withheld information from her. Plus, in his mind, he could be disabled for the rest of his life, and she was young and healthy, so he wanted her to be able to truly experience life.
I do feel like the plot point as a whole was handled very well. We do have to watch Jin Zhao and Jiang Mu’s long separation, but the story was told in quite a compelling way during this time. And it ultimately served bring them back together with less baggage and stronger as they moved into their future.
END OF SPOILERS
I have to say this ending section of the show was top notch in every way! The way the story wrapped up addressed all the loose ends and covered so many important relationship milestones from our main characters to the supporting ones. It’s so satisfying in such wonderful way. This is definitely a case where I thoroughly appreciate the care that went into making a fantastic ending.
So overall, I really loved Speed and Love. It pulled me in right from the start and held my attention all the way through. I loved the story, the setting, and all of the interesting relationships. It was full of heart and emotion, and I had so many feels throughout the show. And of course, the romance was so heart-fluttering in the best kind of way. This is definitely one of my favorite cdramas that I’ve watched, and I’m so glad that I gave this one a chance.
My Rating: 8.5/10
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