Top 6 Favorite Characters in SWAK

I've been meaning to compile a list of my favorite characters in SWAK and describe why I like them. This ranking is mostly based on how the character itself is written in the series. I tried not to judge too much based on the acting. Well...I'll be honest. The acting does play a role in how much I like these characters. But I still tried to make it subsidiary to the scripting of the character.

NO. 6 Mu Yongfei

Are you shocked that I included Mu Yongfei in this list? I know she's evil and crazy, but I have to admit, she's definitely not boring to watch! For a drama to be interesting, the villains need to do "evil things" but they cannot go overboard with their "evilness" and disgust the viewers beyond redemption. Mu Yongfei's behavior can certainly be considered  psychotic and her mentality is selfishly warped. Sometimes her extremism drives me crazy and I think she's almost bordering lunacy. Despite Mu Yongfei's extremism, I don't despise her like I do some female villains in Korean dramas. I actually found her character wonderfully entertaining to watch, sometimes even more interesting than the our darling little white rabbit Tong Xue. Her obsession with Mo Shaoqian is scary, but at the same time, and her unrequited love for him admirable. What sane woman on earth would waste a decade of her prime years on a man who refuses to even share a room with her? I have to admire her guts and give her extra points for her indomitable persistence.

NO. 5 Tong Xue

I feel Tong Xue can get terribly weak at times so I somewhat hesitated to include her in this list. In the few rare instances where she gets feisty and stands up for herself, particularly her standoff with Mu Yongfei to protect her unborn baby, I just wanted to applaud "You go girl!"Aforementioned in my previous posts, I admire Tong Xue for her resilience to overcome adversity. Any normal girl in Tong Xue's predicament would probably lose her sanity. She grew up with loving parents, then lost them to a car accident as a teenager, felt alienated living in her uncle's household, and forced to become a rich married man's mistress before she reached full adulthood. I don't think any other characters in the story, including Mo Shaoqian, experienced as much trauma as Tong Xue did. The fact she still retains her optimism and manages to live a "normal" life with a stable job and her own circle of friends shows her strength of character. However, her occasional martyr attitude or self-sacrificing actions do test one's patience. Her selflessness is both a flaw and admirable trait.

NO. 4  Liu Yueying

Yueying is probably the best of all best friends anyone can have. Even though she hates homewreckers and believes Tong Xue to be one, Yueying still can't completely turn a blind eye to her friend's dire situation. Her feisty and straightforward personality is much more endearing to the audience than the more "saintly" Tong Xue.When there is a wrong, she doesn't ignore it to protect her self-interest. At first she was interested in Mu Zhenfei. When she found out he saw her in such a bad light, she immediately crushed her infatuation and moved on. I like Yueying's independence and carefree attitude.

No. 3 Jiang Yun

Jiang Yun is one of my favorite mother figures in Chinese television. She does not overly spoil her son nor does she go overboard to reprimand/criticize him for his wrongdoings. Though she must bear some of the responsibility for Mo Shaoqian's ruthlessness, I feel his character flaws are more the byproduct of his dog-eat-dog environment than his mother's negligence. When she discovered the harm her son has done to Tong Xue, she doesn't openly scold him or threaten to disown him, but uses persuasion and compassion to convince her son to free himself emotionally from ludicrousness of his revenge plan. Jiang Yun is one of the few individuals to fully understands Mo Shaoqian and does not rush to judge him. She knows he put tremendous pressure on himself and does not know how to relieve the pressure, so she introduces him to the world of video games. Furthermore, she's the perfect mother-in-law material: fun-loving, easy-going, and understanding. Her most basic requirement in the daughter-in-law is that she can make her son happy.

No. 2 Mu Zhenfei

This guy is definitely the oddball in the gene pool of the Mu family. In deep contrast to his Machiavellian father and near psychopathic older sister, Mu Zhenfei is blessed with both high EQ and IQ. Not only does he have a strong sense of justice, he doesn't try to forcefully assert his own principles and ideals onto others. He respects conflicting opinions and sympathizes with the individuals who need the most sympathy. When he analyzes the complicated entanglement between Mo Shaoqian, Mu Yongfei and Tong Xue, he can clearly identify that Tong Xue is the pure victim/collateral damage in the whole mess. Despite being in part of the complicated drama that surrounds him and his close relationship with both his sister and brother-in-law, Mu Zhenfei is always able to retain his rational stance.

According to Zhenfei, though both Mu Yongfei and Mo Shaoqian are pitiful, he pinpoints that their misery is a direct consequence of their own decisions. For Tong Xue, she is  like a beleaguered scapegoat trapped in the intense crossfire between Mo Shaoqian and Mu Yongfei. Thus, she deserves the most sympathy. He can clearly see what is right and wrong in spite of his father's attempted brainwashing of his childhood and comfortable upbringing as the wealthy heir to the Mu conglomerate. I also love the fact that he's a great intermediary and manages to maintain a cordial relationship with almost EVERYONE in the drama, particularly Mo Shaoqian. His friendship and rapport with his brother-in-law is one of the best highlights of this series.  Mu Zhenfei is probably the only individual, besides Jiang Yun, who understands Mo Shaoqian. He recognizes early in the beginning, even before Mo Shaoqian even realizes himself, that his brother-in-law deeply cares about Tong Xue.

No. 1 Mo Shaoqian

It's probably a no-brainer that I picked Mo Shaoqian as my No.1 favorite character. I've literally spent the past 3 months ranting about Mo Shaoqian on my blog. LOL. I know many viewers either absolutely hate him because of his abusive behavior toward Tong Xue is nearing psychopathic or absolutely love him due to his unwavering devotion toward her. He's definitely an intriguingly controversial character full of contradictions, flaws, and fascinating traits.

Mo Shaoqian totally has the money, the looks, and the ability to become a playboy and fool around with plenty of beautiful women. But he doesn't. He chooses to remain faithful to his heart and to resist all temptations higher society brings him. Even when Su Shanshan literally strips naked in front of him, Mo Shaoqian doesn't even blink an eye and treats her as if she doesn't exist. Unlike Xiao Shan who wavers between Tong Xue and Lin Zixian, Mo Shaoqian never gives Mu Yongfei any kind of false hope even when their relationship amiably improved after she voted for him during the Board of Directors meeting and when he has already broken up with Tong Xue.  I really like his clean-cut personality and doesn't have any unnecessary romantic baggage. He's the type of man once in love, he loves for life.

What's your list of favorite SWAK characters or least favorite characters?