Fight For You Review: Less Spying, More Swooning

Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)

‘Fight For You‘ follows Bai Zhou Qi, a rookie investigative officer tasked with spying on Hei Yu Bo, believed to be working for a criminal cartel. So, Bai rents the same flat as Hei, and the two become flatmates. But when they begin to develop romantic feelings for each other, Bai finds his professional mission jeopardized by his personal life.

Directed by Joe Tsai, the 12-episode Taiwanese series ‘Fight For You‘ (對立而已) is supposed to be an action-romantic-comedy, but it ends up largely being a silly, cutesy romance, with some elements of action and comedy sprinkled here and there. Nelson Ji plays newbie undercover investigator Bai Zhou Qi, while Andy Ko portrays his target Hei Yu Bo, a young man working for a service run by gangster Dou Ke Yi (Wills Sia), which entails doing anything for the customer, from finding lost cats to attacking people. Dou Ke Yi is the primary criminal suspect for the intelligence bureau, and Zhou Qi’s strict boss Bu Xing (Matthew Han) hopes to find out more about Dou’s shady dealings by tracking Yu Bo.

One of the funniest things about ‘Fight For You‘ is how little homework Zhou Qi does on Yu Bo, despite being from the intelligence bureau: he doesn’t even know that Yu Bo’s younger sister Jia Li (Mimi Shao) is hospitalized with a serious health condition. In fact, Yu Bo’s only family is his feisty grandmother Hei Shi Lin (Lam Sau Kwan), who runs a small restaurant and has no idea about Jia Li’s hospitalization. Zhou Qi’s parents are absent as well, and he is raised by his strict, proud, and fierce grandfather, along with his older brother, Bai Zhou Guo (Mike Lin), who shares Zhou Qi’s laid-back nature and is also in the intelligence bureau.

Yu Bo is the more serious, reserved, asocial type, while Zhou Qi is cheery, chatty, energetic, and easily manages to win his flatmate over. Their subsequent attraction gets him in a lot of trouble at work. And we all know the eventual conflict is going to be about Yu Bo finding out the truth. However, as the title indicates, Zhou Qi is convinced that Yu Bo is innocent, and he fights for his love despite mounting pressure from both his superiors and his grandfather not to get too deeply involved with someone who has a dubious background.

The first few episodes of ‘Fight For You‘ are slow, although the onscreen chemistry between Nelson Ji and Andy Ko as lead pair Zhou Qi and Yu Bo is quite adorable. The whole intelligence and spying plot is borderline ridiculous and comedic, and the creators throw in an unnecessary secondary romantic pair in the story towards the second half, involving Zhou Qi’s brother. Some of the more interesting themes of the show include the generational gap between the lead pair’s grandparents, and how each grandparent reacts very differently to their love.

Since each episode is less than 30 minutes long, Fight For You doesn’t get too overbearing, even though its primary plot about investigating criminals feels like a joke. It could’ve been a simpler flatmates-to-lovers romantic comedy – and in fact, that’s what it really is; the rest of the show is just extra padding. The official posters of the series might lead viewers to think this is a dark, serious action show, but it really isn’t. So if you’re up for a familiar romantic drama with a fresh pair, it’s a decent one-time watch.

You can watch ‘Fight For You’ on Viki and iQIYI.

Read Next: My Golden Blood Review: Vampires & Eye Candy Rule

Also Read: Sirens Netflix Series Review (Short Audio Version below)