Synopsis And General Thoughts
Lighter and Princess (点燃我，温暖你) starts with the story of two freshman college students and continues into their work life after a serious incident. Li Xun (Chen Feiyu) is a coding genius who is arrogant and prefers to work alone, causing problems between him and his peers. On the other hand, Zhu Yun (Zhang Jingyi) is a friendly and kind girl who is trying to do what her mother wants while still staying true to herself. Although they are rivals at first, they quickly start collaborating and of course, falling in love.
As the Chinese title, 点燃我，温暖你 (light me up, warm you up), suggests, it felt like this drama was on fire! I felt embraced by the leads’ chemistry, the dream chasing, and the acting!
However, this drama is not without its flaws. In the drama, the male lead often says (rough meaning), “All things are only the way they are supposed to be at the very beginning. The further it goes, the farther it gets.” It’s truly ironic because this line fits Lighter and Princess so well. Let’s get into my rant!
SPOILER ALERT: Proceed With Caution
Lighter and Princess Flaws
The Parent Phenomenon
The female lead, Zhu Yun, supposedly has incredibly strict and controlling parents. However, parental strictness only happens when it pushes the romance plot forwards.
The parents’ biggest contribution to the drama was when they realized that their daughter had been lying to them. Rather than doing what they had commanded her to do, she was instead starting her own small business with the male lead. How did they figure out their daughter’s dishonesty? By noticing that she was in the background of an interview on a news channel! Coincidence? I think not.
A couple years later, Zhu Yun started secretly working at a company and helped release an extremely popular video game. She attended interviews, took photoshoots, and had loads of people discussing her. Yet the parents were none the wiser about her lies. Furthermore, Zhu Yun went viral after some false news and a video of her was trending No. 5 on Weibo (Chinese Twitter), and yet, her parents still have not noticed! All this goes to say that the parents have no real purpose and are only used as a catalyst for misunderstandings and conflicts.
What makes this even more evident is the fact that Zhu Yun never confronted her parents about their dominating and toxic behavior. The annoying parents are always given a redemption arc in dramas so you can probably imagine the misbelief when I realized that I wasn’t going to be satisfied.
恋爱脑 (Love Brain/Completely Love Oriented)
Zhu Yun is a pushover female lead who has no other purpose in her life other than the male lead. Her entire life revolves around the male lead, copying whatever he does. Li Xun also happens to be the answer to all her problems! Don’t know what you are interested in? Find yourself a coding boyfriend and you’ll find your hidden dream to become a renowned coder. Not sure how to break away from your mother’s death grip? Find yourself a rebellious boyfriend to annoy your mom!
Due to this, as soon as Li Xun was no longer in her life, she became depressed and lost all direction in life. I hated this because our female lead should be a perfectly functional human without the male lead! She should discover what she loves in life through herself, not a man!
THAT One Friend
As the female lead’s best friend, Fang Shumiao is so toxic. She would cozy up with Zhu Yun when she needed to use her and then get mad at the female lead when the female lead actually had a life. Shumiao lets boys get between friendships and is very unreasonable.
I genuinely think that our FL is better off being BFFs with Ren Di, a rockstar who is 嘴硬心软 (firm at speech but soft at heart) and is such a vibe!
Another thing that bothered me was the fact that Shumiao suddenly became a lawyer after completing an entirely different major in college. It was blatantly obvious to me that the scriptwriters only did this so that Shumiao could help the leads out in the future. Ultimately, it seems as if Fang Shumiao is a tool utilized by the writers to create/solve problems.
冲动是魔鬼啊 (Ah! Impulsiveness Is A Demon)
Li Xun was initially introduced as a smart and cunning person. He is way ahead of his peers and has his entire future planned out for himself! Why then, would it make sense for him to suddenly be impulsive and openly beat up a guy?
It would make a lot more sense for Li Xun to research the man’s background, perhaps get evidence of his corruptness, and then bring him down in a satisfying way (because Li Xun beating Fang Zhijin up was incredibly anticlimactic). But of course, had they been logical, there wouldn’t be enough angst.
So… Explanation?
I cannot begin to comprehend why Gao Jianhong and Xu Lina ended up together and married. Seriously… Xu Lina made it incredibly clear that she had no interest in Lao Gao when he confessed to her. From what was presented to the audience, we can tell that Lina is a daring girl who is not afraid to speak her mind and do whatever she wants. However, her character gets butchered and she, for a very mysterious reason, marries her friend. Although it was briefly mentioned by Gao Jianhong that she married him for money, that is simply illogical given that we know that she does not care for wealth or fame.
Furthermore, Lao Gao abuses her and finds the need to control her every move. Seems like the road to disaster, right? A divorce perhaps? Unfortunately, that did not happen and in the end, Xu Lina was supporting Jianhong! My goodness, I am speechless.
Unsatisfactory Ending
FULL SPOILERS
The second half of the drama talks about revenge. Except… revenge never happens. We find out that Gao Jianhong coincidentally has a terminal brain disease and that somehow explains all the terrible things that he has ever done. The male lead starts to feel bad for him, they have a peaceful negotiation, and the villain just gets away scratch free! Instead, the crimes are pinned to Fang Zijing, the minor criminal.
Li Xun, wake up! Do you not remember how your sister died? How about the fact that he stole your company after he instigated you into doing something irrational? As the viewer, I cannot help but feel cheated at the amount of time that was spent on the vengeance that ended up being treated like 儿戏 (children’s play).
The Golden Retriever
Ending on a lighter note, I wished we kept Li Xun’s gold hair longer! It suited him so well and highlighted his arrogant, I’m better than anyone else personality.
Final Verdict
After writing this post, I have come to realize that my main issue with this drama was the lack of character depth. Many were used for the sole purpose of pushing the plot forwards and these characters become extremely malleable when necessary to fit the gaps of the plot.
To reiterate what I said at the beginning, if you need a sweet campus romance, the first half of this drama is perfect. The second half, quite frankly, was unnecessary and considerably less enjoyable.
Thanks for reading!
cdramaqueen 
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