Dive In 2012 (這一刻,愛吧) was a series of four mini movies / micro films released last year by Cornetto (可爱多), an icecream company in China, starring Bolin Chen and Nikki Shao. They’re back this year with Bolin again, also adding new cast members Kai Ko and Annie Chen. Interesting how the leading cast are all from Taiwan? Apparently, last year’s Dive In series reached over 300 million views and I think with the added cast, this year’s edition will be higher!
Dive In 2013 has four parts. The first three are released already while the finale will be released on May 20. The first one focuses on Love’s present tense, second part on the past, and the third part of course is about the future. Part 1 – Love’s exam paper stars Bolin Chen and Nikko Shao and is a continuation of their story from Dive In 2012. Looking at Xiao You (Bolin Chen) and Ke Ke (Nikki Shao)’s relationship after they developed from friends to lovers.
The mini movie starts in an exam room, where Xiao You observes that in a relationship, talking to your other half is like completing an exam. Sometimes you understand the question and know the answer, sometimes you understand the question but don’t know the answer… and the other times you don’t even understand the question and can only guess the answer. So the result is like an exam, if you don’t answer the questions well, you might fall out with the other person.
“About love’s present tense, this question is a bit hard…”
A year after they graduated from university, Wei Xiao You (23 years old) and A Liang (also 23 years old) are back on campus to meet with one of their classmates, Lin Dai Yu (guess how old he is…23!). Lin Dai Yu appears rather mysteriously, as he is the ‘love advisor’.
Lin Dai Yu: “Love is like a ghost, many believe it, but few can see it.”
Xiao You and A Liang are there because Xiao You thinks his relationship with Ke Ke is on the rocks. So Xiao You explains his problems – he originally thought when two people fall in love, things will be perfect like they are in idol dramas – “happily ever after”. But little did he realise, this is only the beginning of the challenge.
When in a relationship, girls are like ‘love inspectors’, looking for any trace of evidence and won’t rest until they find it.
Xiao You and Ke Ke are sitting together, Xiao You is playing games on his phone so Ke Ke tries to get his attention by saying she might have a fever… sore throat… body feels cold… and just feels unhappy in general. But each time, Xiao You just responded with – “You should drink more water.” Of course Ke Ke feels she’s being ignored (since he didn’t even look at her each time) so she accused him of not loving her.
Dai Yu and A Liang both laughed at him for being so stupid. Ke Ke wasn’t looking for a doctor for her ‘illness’, she just wanted Xiao You to pay more attention to her!
In the second incident, this is the ‘question of death’ for many. Xiao You and Ke Ke are having dessert in a restaurant. Ke Ke asks, “Comparing to your previous girlfriends… who is more gentle/caring, and who is more pretty?”
Xiao You tries to explain that his ex is the ‘school flower’ (prettiest girl at school) so if he says Ke Ke is more beautiful, she’ll say he’s lying… But if he answers that his ex is more beautiful, it’s a road ‘to the death’ anyway….Ke Ke says she hates people who lies, so he should just answer truthfully. So eventually, Xiao You says they’re both unique…. but Ke Ke is unhappy about the response….
Dai Yu and A Liang are laughing at Xiao You again. Dai Yu gives him the ‘model answer’,
“No matter what people think – who’s the most caring or who’s the most beautiful, that is not important. The most important is in my eyes, I cannot see any other woman but you. So there’s no need to compare.”
In the third scenario, Xiao You explains that Ke Ke always has something planned on their special days. But he pales in comparison. For example, Ke Ke gave him a surprise cake for his birthday, and a present for their ‘100th day’ together. but, he didn’t get her anything!
Since their one year anniversary is coming up, Xiao You decides he will really step up this time and give Ke Ke a surprise. As Ke Ke is out of town for work, Xiao You waits for her at the train station.
With his guitar and bouquet, Xiao You and his friends wait for Ke Ke. But as the train leaves, Ke Ke is walking with another guy (Kai Ko) who is pushing Ke Ke’s luggage.
As Xiao You approaches them with apprehension, Ke Ke is surprised, but happy. Xiao You explains he’s here because it’s their one year anniversary and Ke Ke just couldn’t hide her smiles.
“I really want to learn to be more caring and make you happy, and really want to remember every moment of us together. And in the past 20 years, what I didn’t know was all changed in the past year. I don’t know how to say sweet words, but there’s only one reason for these small changes.”
This is when Xiao You’s friends on the opposite platform all turned around and their shirts have words written on the back. “I really want to give you happiness”
Ke Ke is of course very touched by Xiao You’s gesture… but Xiao You looks at the other guy suspiciously, but he’s just a younger classmate in Ke Ke’s school who was helping her with her luggage…
Xiao You VO: “What is the most precious memory between two people in love? It’s not the tangible gifts or memorabilia, but it’s how they change and grow in each other’s presence. When love is in the present tense, there’ll always be challenges. But none of us are exam supervisors, it’s not our intention to test each other. Because we’re in love, we learnt how to create happiness, how to understand each other, and understand how the other person expect love to be. Love is not an exam, we’re not testing who has the highest score, who loves the other more… listen with your heart how each other have grown through your love…at this moment, love!”
Awww this was such a sweet episode and funny! I loved how they continued the story of Xiao You and Ke Ke, their story was my favourite from Dive In 2012 because they turned from good friends to lovers (always a tried and trusted formula). Although I did roll my eyes when girls ask those sort of questions (especially comparing themselves to their boyfriend’s ex!) but I understand when you’re young you tend to ask about these things. Xiao You’s declaration in the end was definitely a winner and any girl would not let him get away! One minor thing though, I find Nikki Shao a bit ‘overacting’ in her facial expressions at times, but overall I enjoyed this part. It’s probably not as good as last year’s but it’s great fan service to see this couple again. But it probably means Xiao You and Ke Ke won’t play much of a role in the rest of the episodes?
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