Autumn's Concerto

Autumn's Concerto (Chinese: 下一站，幸福; pinyin: Xià Yí Zhàn, Xìngfú; literally: "Next Stop, Happiness") is a 2009 Taiwanese drama series starring Ady An, Vanness Wu of the boy band F4, and Ann Hsu. It was produced by Sanlih E-Television (SET) and directed by Wei-ling Chen. Filming of the series began in June 2009 and was completed in December 2009.

The series was first broadcast in Taiwan on free-to-air Taiwan Television (TTV) (台視) on Sundays from 22:00 to 23:30 from October 4, 2009, to February 28, 2010. It was also shown on the cable network Sanlih E-Television (三立電視) on Saturdays from 21:00 to 22:30 from October 10, 2009, to March 6, 2010.

Autumn's Concerto was nominated in 2010 for Best Marketing Programme (節目行銷獎) at the 45th Golden Bell Awards in Taiwan.^[1] The show has also broken records with its high ratings. Episode 18 (aired on 31 January 2010) achieved a score of 8.23, passing The Prince Who Turns into a Frog to become the second-highest rated Taiwanese idol drama, second only to Fated to Love You. Autumn's Concerto currently airs on Hawaii's KIKU television every Saturday at 7:00 PM.

The show is also known for being the first major television role for child actor Xiao Xiao Bin.

Synopsis

Ren Guang Xi (Vanness Wu) is a handsome law student whose mother is the dean of his attending college. He had a difficult childhood and takes out his anger on the world by bullying others and taking advantage of his mother’s position. Liang Mu Cheng has also had a rough past, but still strives to protect her stepmother from learning the truth about her mother's boyfriend, who sexually harasses her. After years of abuse, she applies to college to escape him.

Guang Xi and Mu Cheng meet over a dispute about a car. Guang Xi believes that Mu Cheng is manipulative, and he swears to make her show her true colors. Guang Xi then makes a bet with his friends that he can get Mu Cheng to kiss him within 24 hours. He asks Mu Cheng out, and her stepmother forces Mu Cheng to go on the date since she fears that Guang Xi can shut down the school canteen, which she co-owns. Mu Cheng has her own problems with the date since Guang Xi had threatened to have her best friend, Hua Tuo Ye (Chris Wu), expelled from the school because he gave Mu Cheng a book from the school library.

Guang Xi wins his bet, and Mu Cheng goes home to her stepmother, who encourages Mu Cheng to sell her body. She also mocks Mu Cheng’s desire to play the piano again. Mu Cheng stomps out of the house in anger and runs to the college. She finds a piano in there and plays Air on the G String by Bach. Guang Xi, asleep in the room, hears her and is reminded of his father, who committed suicide years before. He forces Mu Cheng to stop and accuses her of being a manipulator. He then attempts to make Mu Cheng strip but stops when she starts to cry.

Guang Xi tells her to start playing the piano for him every night. Days later, Mu Cheng’s stepfather hears that Guang Xi wouldn’t be able to attend their nightly session and takes advantage of it. He goes into the music room and attempts to rape Mu Cheng, but is caught by Mu Cheng’s stepmother and Guang Xi. Mu Cheng’s stepfather tries to blame it on Mu Cheng, but Guang Xi knows that he is lying and the school gets involved. Because there is no evidence to prove Mu Cheng innocent or guilty, a Truth Investigation Court is held at the school to find justice. Guang Xi represents Mu Cheng as her lawyer. Tuo Ye finds evidence and presents it to the court, which helps to win the case.

Problems arise when Guang Xi's mother doesn't approve of her son's relationship with Mu Cheng, and she forces an arranged relationship between Guang Xi and He Yi Qian (Ann Hsu). Guang Xi later finds out that he has a tumor in his brain that has been affecting his behavior. At this point, the chances of survival are very low unless he undergoes a new surgical method discovered by He Yi Qian’s father. However, the catch is that he has to leave Mu Cheng and marry Yi Qian. He refuses, but Mu Cheng finds out that he has a greater chance of survival with the new surgery, and she is told to leave Guang Xi while he is undergoing surgery. Unwilling to allow Guang Xi take the bigger risk, she leaves him, later finding out that she is pregnant with his son.

Six years pass by and Mu Cheng lives a quiet life with Guang Xi’s son, Xiao Le (Xiao Xiao Bin). Guang Xi lost his memory during the surgery and doesn’t remember Mu Cheng at all. He is now engaged to Yi Qian and has become a successful lawyer. Guang Xi takes on a case where he defends his client from rape charges. After winning the case, he hears his client speaking about the plaintiff (the victim of the rape) offensively and begins to remember what happened with Mu Cheng. Infuriated, he becomes violent with his client. As a consequence, he is sentenced to 240 hours of community service. The community service he is mandated to do by the law board sends him to the same town that Mu Cheng and Xiao Le are living in. He builds a strong bond with Xiao Le and Mu Cheng is reminded of why she used to love him.

The townspeople are sad to see Guang Xi leave after the ten days, and there are tearful goodbyes. On his wedding day with Yi Qian, he finds an SD card in his bracelet that had been with him for six years. In the card, there are pictures of Mu Cheng and him inside, and he regains all of his memories. He puts the pieces together and discovers that Xiao Le is actually his son. The last memory he had of Mu Cheng was of her leaving him and telling him cruelly to let go of her. He becomes bitter and vengeful, telling Mu Cheng that she must marry him or else he will take away Xiao Le. He intends to make her life as miserable as possible. He develops the same impression of Mu Cheng as before, believing that she is manipulative and a fraud.

While on a trip together, Mu Cheng gets a call and discovers that Tuo Ye has been accused of killing a gang leader, and leaves to help him. She and Tuo Ye’s mother beg him to defend Tuo Ye, and he agrees for Xiao Le’s sake. He finds the real killer, a girl who was kidnapped by the gang and was abused with drugs. Guang Xi intends to leave Mu Cheng, as he believes that she is in love with Tuo Ye, but Tuo Ye tells him the truth behind Mu Cheng leaving him. Still, Guang Xi and Mu Cheng’s relationship are falling apart.

In the end, Guang Xi hides his true feelings and sends Mu Cheng the divorce papers. Realizing that Mu Cheng and Guang Xi still have feelings for each other, Xiao Le forces both of them to exchange rings and kiss. Their true feelings are revealed. It is also implied that Guang Xi's mother and her lawyer, as well as Tuo Ye and Ci Xin, have started a relationship.

Cast

Main cast

• Ady An as Liang Mu Cheng, the main female protagonist, a young girl who falls in love with Ren Guang Xi
• Vanness Wu as Ren Guang Xi, a famous and successful lawyer who falls in love with Liang Mu Cheng
• Ann Hsu as He Yi Qian, Guang Xi's fiancee, and a successful pediatrician
• Chris Wu as Hua Tuo Ye, Mu Cheng's best friend
• Xiao Xiao Bin as Xiao Le (or Liang Xiao Le or Ren Xiao Le), Mu Cheng and Guang Xi's son

Supporting cast

Soundtrack

Autumn's Concerto Original Soundtrack (下一站，幸福電視原聲帶) was released on February 10, 2010 by various artists under Universal Music Taiwan.^[2] It contains thirteen songs, seven of which are instrumental versions. The album also includes a DVD. The opening theme song is "I Love Him" by Della Ding (丁噹), and the ending theme song is a duet by Della Ding and Wakin Chau entitled "Suddenly Want To Love You."

Track listing

International release

Autumn's Concerto was aired in the Philippines on February 14, 2011 (Valentine's Day) starting Monday at 4:45 pm in ABS-CBN. The schedule was then changed to every Saturday morning starting from 9:50 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. The drama series ended on September 17, 2011, in the Philippines.^[3]

The title was changed to I Love You So (Autumn's Concerto), and the characters were changed into English names:

• Liang Mu Cheng to Michelle Liang
• Ren Guang Xi to Stanley Ren
• He Yi Qian to Ingrid He
• Hua Tuo Ye to Toby Hua
• Liang Xiao Le/ Ren Xiao Le to Wacky Liang/ Wacky Ren

In Japan the drama was aired on Japanese cable channel DATV from February 27 to October 16, 2010 for 34 episodes.^[4][5] It was also re-run on cable channel BS NTV from June 2, 2010 to January 26, 2011.^[6]

Books

• Next Stop, Happiness: The Novel (an adaptation) (《下一站，幸福》原創小說), written by Liang Wen Ru, published by Kadokawa Media (Taiwan) Co., Ltd. on October 21, 2009. ISBN 978-986-237-358-3
• Next Stop, Happiness - Notes from Planet Dala: The Photobook (《下一站，幸福 達拉星球愛記事》寫真書), produced by Sanlih E-Television, published by Kadokawa Media (Taiwan) Co., Ltd. on December 30, 2009. ISBN 978-986-237-438-2

Remake

• Upcoming Korean adaptation of Autumn's Concerto.

Notes

References

External links

• (Chinese) TTV official homepage
• (Chinese) SET official blog

Taiwan Television Sunday Trendy Drama 2001 Lavender - ①William Rock 2002 ①Reaching for the Stars 2003 ①The Rose - ①Scent of Love 2004 ①Say Yes Enterprise - ①Michael's Dance 2005 Mr. Fighting The Prince Who Turns into a Frog Green Forest, My Home 2006 The Magicians of Love Smiling Pasta Engagement For Love 2007 My Lucky Star Ying Ye 3 Jia 1 Bull Fighting 2008 Fated to Love You Invincible Shan Bao Mei 2009 My Queen Easy Fortune Happy Life Autumn's Concerto 2010 PS Man Zhong Wu Yen Channel-X 2011 Love You Office Girls 2012 Love Forward Miss Rose 2013 King Flower Love Around Déjà Vu 2014 Fall In Love With Me Say Again Yes I Do 2015 Someone Like You When I See You Again Bromance 2016 Refresh Man Notes Except ①, the other dramas are produced by Sanlih E-Television which produces "Sanlih E Saturday Trendy Drama(三立週六偶像劇)". This period time has been named "Sunday High-quality Trendy Drama(週日優質偶像劇)" officially since When I See You Again was aired.