Okay so, I wasn't actually planning on writing a review on this drama because I didn't find myself enjoying this drama much towards the middle. BUT - towards the end, I ended up loving this drama, no wait, I ended up loving Qian Qian and Han Shuo.
This drama is vastly different to all other c-dramas I've seen before, although I haven't reviewed many on here in comparison to k-dramas, the ones I usually watch are more serious, political, revenge, romance that builds over the course of 60 episodes. You don't see the romance in full until episode like 30-40, I have always enjoyed those slow burners with many twists and turns in the middle. Now with TROTTAR (will be calling this drama this for short), this drama is only 24 episodes, the pacing is super quick, romance develops super quickly, the plot is not complicated at all to understand, the characters are limited etc. I could go on.
Like I said, the plot is not complicated at all, it's a classic time-travel drama that is mostly set in a historical setting. Chen Xiao Qian is the protagonist and the first episode she's introduced as a script writer in the modern day that takes a nap and then gets transported into her script. The story revolves around her trying to control the characters in her script to finish the story and get back to her own time but obviously she ends up falling in love with male lead (who she's actually scripted for him to fall in love with her older sister). Aside from this, there's also another plot in this where the ML is actually not a good person and is actually plotting to take over her city, so basically it's supposed to be a story of betrayal written by Xiao Qian.
The setting of the historical story is quite interesting, it's based on a fictional city of Huayuan ruled by females only, so it's like a role reversal of a traditional king ruled city where females are wives that listen to their husbands. All the ministers, scholars, high court roles are assumed by females whereas males are not allowed to study or assume such roles, they're the ones that marry into female families and serve their wives. Whereas Xuanhu - where the male lead is from, is a traditional king ruled city so naturally the 2 cities clash. The actual plot of the story written by Xiao Qian is that the male lead, Han Shuo marries into Huayuan but has a secret plot to take over the city for Xuanhu.
I liked the city of Huayuan and that it makes fun of the roles of women and men back in the day, but I did find the plot a little boring and stale sadly, you know the plot right from the start because Xiao Qian / Qian Qian is trying to control everything and therefore there are no twists and turns as such. The only twists and turns are events that do not go to plan according to her boring story which again, are not twists and turns that make you any more surprised than before.
HOWEVER, the part of the plot that I really loved was any scene that involved Han Shuo and Qian Qian, he arrives in Huayuan as a pompous, arrogant, scheming person but leaves Huayuan (with Qian Qian) as an obedient, loving, would-do-anything-for husband. In between, you see so many comedic moments between the two from them bickering over misunderstandings to them making up in the sweetest way possible. The chemistry between the two is so enjoyable to watch.
Onto a bit about the actors and their portrayal of their characters.
Zhao Lu Si plays Xiao Qian / Qian Qian, she's in quite a few of these historical-comedy roles and you can really see why she was chosen for this role. She fits this kind of character perfectly. I initially saw her in Oh My Emperor! but ended up dropping the drama after a few episodes because I couldn't stand how cheesy the acting was and how ludicrous the characters were. But watching her in this, is like night and day, although this came out before TROTTAR, I will definitely be watching Love Better than Immortality at some point.
Ding Yu Xi plays Han Shuo, it's the first time I've seen him in a drama and boyyy was he perfect for the role as well! Han Shuo is not a one dimensional character as there is a part in the drama where he starts to play a more evil character, pretending not to care for Qian Qian. He plays arrogance very well and is super cute when he pretends he's not bothered by something Qian Qian has done or is pretending to be mad at her. My favourite scenes are when he teases Qian Qian for his own enjoyment and also when he acts a bit like a tsundere.
Qian Qian's sisters Chu Chu and Yuan Yuan are worth a mention too, Chu Chu is portrayed as the jealous second sister who is after the position of power in Huayuan as well as the one that is supposed to end up with Han Shuo in the original story. She does end up liking him when Qian Qian enters the story and tries to get the position of City Master AND Qian Qian's man. I won't spoil it for those that haven't seen this drama but her character is probably most complex in this drama and she's ambitious and power hungry. Yuan Yuan is their oldest sister who has a disability where she can't walk so she's in a wheelchair, she has a close relationship with Qian Qian and also has a love interest with Su Mu who is a musician in Huayuan - their relationship is simple and not really worth mentioning much.
I have to mention Qian Qian and Han Shuo's personal assistants Zi Ru and Bai Ji - these two have their funny bickering moments too when they're trying to protect their masters.
Overall, I think this drama is worth watching if you're like me, after having watched too many serious c-dramas and now after something a bit more light hearted, not too bothered about it not having a complex plot line and if you don't mind plot holes as well. Mainly, if you're after something light, comedic with some sweet romance and tons of chemistry between the ML and FL throughout then this is a great drama to watch!
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