Circle of Love | Open Thread

An amnesiac woman keeps falling in love with the man she hates.

Notable Actors/Actresses

Li Jiu Lin: Xiao Hong Ye

Guan Chang: Gu Meng

Director: 

He Jia Nan

Chinese Title
鎖愛三生

Locked in Love for Three Lives

Genres: Era, Romance, Era Romance

Network: Youku

Year: 2023
Episodes:  24 (Mini)

Jump to Reviews | Remarks | Recs | Comments

Cast

Li Jiu Lin: Xiao Hong Ye	Guan Chang: Gu Meng
Yuan Zi Ming: Zhou Zi Chen	Wu Luo Han: Zhou Jiao Jiao

Romcom/Romance Checklist

How much of the plot is angst/romance?

0 / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

The ML: 

Cold–Lukewarm–Warm / Timid / Falls in Love First / Noble Idiot / CEO / General /

The FL: 

Bold / Cute / Cool & Independent / Falls in Love First / Better Than ML / Noble Idiot / 

Describe the Relationship (the tropes):

Bickering Start / Childhood Connection / Cohabitation / Contract Marriage or Fake Couple / Enemies to Lovers / Hidden Identity / School to Adulthood / Love Triangle / Married Couple (Real) / Secretly in Love (F/ML) / Star-Crossed Lovers / 

Relationship Progress (officially together; first (official) kiss; breakup*):

Ep 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15* / 16 / 17 / 18 / 19 / 20 / 21* / 22 / 23 / 24 

# of CPs (including main CP):
0 / 1 / 2 / 3

Ending:

Happy / Sad / Open Happy / Open Sad / Bad

Screen-Caps

[Ep1]

[Ep2]

 [Ep3] 

If I can envision this forever, it'll be okay, right? ;)

Gu Meng's red maple tattoo.

This is when she kisses him.

[Ep4]

Not sure who possesses who here...

[Ep5]

[Ep6]

His medicine kiss.

Stolen fur is extra warm.

He's so close to her...to blow on her wound. ;) 

[Ep7]

[Ep8]

His abs are fine. Only his arm was injured.

Her medicine kiss.

[Ep9]

[Ep10]

[Ep11]

[Ep12]

[Ep13]

On the bed ...

Right before that sugar kiss.

[Ep14]

[Ep15]

[Ep16]

[Ep17]

[Ep18]

[Ep19]

[Ep20]

[Ep21]

[Ep22]

[Ep23]

[Ep24]

Note the blood.

Other Remarks

by FanFanX

Trigger Warning: Physical Abuse, Mental Abuse, Emotional Cruelty, Violence

[First Impression (Ep1-4)] After watching Dear Liar, I didn't want to watch anymore abusive gaslighting MLs...  And I actually didn't want to watch this but it's Li Jiu Lin... So I can't help myself. He is totally an a*****e but his expressions...  Also, Guan Chang is very pretty. 

This is totally Maid's Revenge and Bride's Revenge with the gaslighting from Dear Liar. And our leads look so sweet in the opening sequence that it's weird to watch the actual series. (And even when they're not on the same team, they still have good chemistry.) 

[Actors/Actresses] Li Jiu Lin as ML. I have no defense/excuse really. Honestly, have you looked at the guy? And you'll see plenty of him here... 

Interesting to see Guan Chang as FL, as I remember her only as the sweet yet dimwitted Tan Li in The Love By Hypnotic.  

[Behind the Scenes] 

The gun scene from the first ep. That smugness.

Our attractive couple/uncouple.

[OST] Pretty OST for romance/subterfuge between a despicable ML and amnesiac FL.

來不及 It's Too Late | 林小兵  Lín Xiao Bing 

同名主題曲 | 陳旭 

你是風雨不是晴 | 劉亦心

舊園春 | 兔裹煎蛋卷

把酒話桑麻 | 泥鰍 Niko 

克萊因與鯨 | 楊瑜婷

海棠不記年 | 葉里

相思無解 | HITA

[Ending] Sad.

Reviews

Submit Your Review | Rating Guide

Five (5/5)

Four (4/5)

Three (3/5)

Two (2/5)

One (1/5)

Reviewer: FanFanX 

Date: July 2023

Trigger Warning: Physical Abuse, Mental Abuse, Emotional Cruelty, Violence

Watching this series has been like living with a bipolar roommate... one moment it's all sunshine and sweetness, and the next it's pure vitriol. The four actors as leads are great in this, and of course it helps that Li Jiu Lin is very easy on the eyes – even when he's being a terrifying and cruel b*****d. The storyline gives one whiplash. If anyone’s comparing apples to oranges: In terms of acting and production, it’s better than Maid’s Revenge and Bride’s Revenge.

Now let’s talk about the [very] bad – Xiao Hong Ye, our ML is not someone to be trusted or loved. His love for Gu Meng (or “Ru Meng” as he renamed her) is about possession and not love. How many times does Gu Meng need to lose her memories? It happens too many times and each time, Xiao Hong Ye is there to “catch” her if you will, ergo keep her trapped tightly in his love. She falls for him each and every time. If that’s not enough pain, we also have Zhou Jiao Jiao (2FL), his fiancée who refuses to give up on him, and she’s beyond cruel to Gu Meng. If one hoped that there was a kinder and sweeter 2ML in Zhou Zi Chen, we’re dead wrong as he’s just as awful as Xiao Hong Ye in manipulating everyone around him. It’s a tale of revenge and not one of love, contrary to the title. 

If one can get past the toxic nature of Xiao Hong Ye, then one can watch this from start to finish. Even though it’s a miniseries, I don’t recommend binging more than 4 eps of this at a time, because each ep can be a lot to process. Again, good acting and production but the story just makes this one a bitter pill to swallow. 

Random Recommendation: 

Rating: 1/5

Recommendations

Genre List:

Era Dramas

Republican	Republican	Republican