No Regrets (TVB 2010) – Review by Katie
No Regrets (a.k.a. Rosy Business II) – <巾幗梟雄之義海豪情>
Number of episodes: 32
Lead Cast:
Wayne Lai – Lau Sing
Sheren Tang – Cheng Kau Mui (a.k.a. 九姑娘)
Fala Chen – Lau Ching
Pierre Ngo – Tong Kat (a.k.a. Pai Kwat)
Raymond Wong – Yeung Yeung
Nancy Wu – Ma Lai Wah
Plot Summary (May Contain Spoilers!):
This drama is set in Guangzhou in the 1930s during the war between China and Japan. Lau Sing (Wayne Lai) is a policeman who is renowned for his precision in gun-firing. Sing’s life was simple in his eyes – he would work hard to ensure that Guangzhou was a safe place and upon getting his salary every month, he would split it between giving it to his wife (Chiu Tung Nei – Elena Kong) and sending it to his sister (Lau Ching – Fala Chen) to treat her illness. Sing’s arch enemy is Leung Fei Fan (Evergreen Mak) who is Sing’s superior. Leung Fei Fan later has an affair with Sing’s wife, Tung Nei causing their divorce. Tung Nei gets married with Leung Fei Fan. Leung becomes a pain in the neck for Sing throughout the drama but he begs for forgiveness as he dies from trying to kill Japanese General, Heung Shan Ti Yah (King Kong).
Tong Kat, a boy from the countryside, moves to the police station that Sing works at after bribing the superiors for the job. Sing initially hates Tong Kat because he caused him to lose a lottery jackpot. However, later Tong Kat and Sing become very good friends and Tong Kat swears that he would pay back Sing in his next life after Sing saves him from suspicion of murder of the son of Cheng Long Kwan (Elliot Ngok), a powerful tobacco dealer and leader of a triad in Guangzhou. Cheng Kau Miu is his daughter and Sing’s life is completely changed after they meet each other. Everyone in Guangzhou is scared of her, including Sing who nicknames her “the devil”. Yet, both soon realise that they need each other to help them out in situations and they develop a friendship which becomes unspoken love by the end of the drama.
Meanwhile, the Japanese invade Guangzhou and everyone enters, arguably the darkest periods of their lifetime where everything is put to the test including their lives. The Japanese General, Heung Shan Ti Ya (King Kong), an impatient man forces Kau Miu to co-operate with him to sell tobacco and Kau Miu seizes the chance to gain ‘freedom passes’ to let orphans (who were going to be moved for slavery) to escape to Hong Kong and Taiwan. However, Kau Miu’s fall from favor leads her to be framed by her aunt Cheng Long Hei (Susan Tse) whilst Kau Miu suffers in a concentration camp before Sing comes and saves her. Sing had recovered from his injury after being shot by Kau Miu in order to save his life when he is accused of being participating in guerrilla warfare. Ching is also endangered as Heung Shan’s brother wants to marry her and she uses a pre-emptied hand grenade (given to her by Sing) to scare the Japanese and kill them. Bed-ridden Ching and Yeung Yeung develop a sweet romance and get married after Sing, upon leaving to rest after his injury, tells Yeung to marry his sister. The Japanese surrender and everyone goes out to celebrate, and tension rises as Heung Shan brags about being Japanese until Kat kills him. Kat kills Heung Shan before Sing does so that Sing is not convicted of killing a Japanese after they had surrendered.
At the end of the drama, Sing and Kau Miu lose contact as Kau Miu moves to America. Thirty years afterwards, they meet again in Guangzhou and Sing who dies first, is depicted to keep his promise of waiting for Kau Miu in heaven.
Actors’ Performances:
Favourite Male Character / Best Actor: Lau Sing (Wayne Lai)
I found his portrayal of Lau Sing amazing as he came across very different to that of Chai Kau in Rosy Business. Lau Sing’s character is a lot more complicated in No Regrets and his bravery and cleverness perhaps exceeds that of Chai Kau. Wayne Lai’s acting improves every time I see him act and I really felt sympathy for his portrayal of Sing especially when he hits his ‘low point’ when he learns that Ching will leave him soon. I must say the most touching line that he said in No Regrets was: “If we were to live, let’s be alive together. If we were to die, let’s die together.” (要生一齊生, 要死一齊死).
Favourite Female Character / Best Actress: Cheng Kau Miu (Sheren Tang)
Kau Miu’s cleverness and adaptability to situations is just beyond me! Her ‘two’ sides that were portrayed excellently by Sheren was very interesting (one being ‘evil’ and pro-tobacco and the other being anti-tobacco). It was very touching to see that all the people she saved were present at her funeral and it showed that actually no matter how strong she seemed, she had a soft spot for charitable works.
Favourite Supporting Female Character / Actress: Lau Ching (Fala Chen)
Her optimism towards her illness meant that I held upmost respect for her. She lived everyday to the maximum and had no regrets. This role was handled really well by Fala as I never thought she could portray such a sensitive role so well.
Favourite Supporting Male Character / Actor: Tong Kat (Pierre Ngo)
This had to go to him. I was crying in the episode where he was face to face with Sing and telling him that he would repay Sing in his next life because he’d been so nice to him in this one. Pierre’s acting has improved a lot and his portrayal, being such a contrast to Bik Man in Rosy Business, was surprisingly very acceptable and perfectly done. The timid character of Kat came across well and his bravery for shooting Heung Shan was perhaps my highlight of the series for Kat.
Comments:
I’ll say I was drawn to this drama because of the amazing cast however, aside from that, the story line is actually super! In times where order was not really around, to see a household bond as a family and supporting each other was really touching. The chemistry between Yeung Yeung and Ching was very sad but to me, it was more reality that Ching died at the end rather than being miraculously healed. Wayne and Sheren’s relationship, again, was not ‘confirmed’ whereby they were married and had children. It was implied and more obvious in this drama that in Rosy Business, which I loved. I was on another brink of tears when Sing and Kau Miu met again after thirty years of not seeing each other and for the fact that they still remembered each other and still really cared for each other was the added bonus and made that scene all the more touching.
Towards the end, I felt it lagged slightly in the build up of Kau Miu’s aunt and her brother’s mother and son relationship being revealed, but nevertheless it didn’t really affect the drama as a whole anyway. I personally felt that Nancy’s character, Ma Lai Wah was going to be a bigger threat than portrayed however her threat to Kau Miu was quickly dismissed when Long Kwan told her to go to America and start a new life. That, for me, was the biggest let down.
This is definitely now my all time favourite TVB drama that I’ve ever watched. Now I hope that a ‘Rosy Business III’ will be just as good should they decide to make one!
Rating: 
Review written by Katie, a JayneStars.com Contributing Writer.
It was an amazing production of TVB after soooo many years. It’s a combination of love, history and patriotic spirit. Spectacular acting of Tang Chui Man and Lai Yiu Cheong. They deserve the best actor and actress more than anybody else.
pretty disappointed that this drama didn’t get best drama award. i believe it triumphs CBML in every aspect, whether storyline or filming techniques. 🙁
sheren and wayne deserve their best actress and actor award!
while CBML is a drama that will be forgotten in time to come, NR will remain one of the classics.
Definitely a great series with great performances from all the actors. Even the supporting actors that portrayed the Japanese troops played their roles convincingly. You make a good point about Nancy’s role. I think she played the role very well since she made me hate her so much cause of all the selfish things that she did. But I was hoping there would be more development and depth in her character. At some point, I thought maybe she was pretending to side with Susan Tse’s character to gather up evidence for Sheren or turn into a bigger villain than she did. Or do something worthwhile that would surprise the audience. But her character’s ending and development kind of left me hanging like, “That’s it?!” from her.
I hope there isn’t a Rosy Business III…. or it’ll be sweeping the awards every year… like the tv queen/king.
^ there won’t be lol. tim gor already said it’s too tiring to film such a series. but great job to tim gor! NR was a solid piece of production! 🙂
great award ceremony. many well deserved winners.
i just wish NR got the best drama 🙁
but i’m satisfied with the results
yeah, NR should have gotten best drama. it beats CBML in every aspect. i feel ripped off for NR. 🙁
but still, congrats to wayne and sheren for being the first couple to win tv king and queen again lol! it’s a record, i think. nobody else has done it before!
^
Someone else had done it before, back in the 1990s. I read it in Wiki. (:
Now they need a Rosy Business set in modern era. ha! I’m sure they’ve got something like that planned but probably don’t want to turn it into another ‘family business quarrel fest’.
For oddity, Sheren can be a spy and Wayne can be a media mogul with the series set around nuclear weapons!!! Somehow I doubt TVB can make a series that’s socially relevant…
ENOUGH WITH ROSY BUSINESS!! No more. Come on, new cast, new era, new story. Enough with the same cast, same name, different theme. Mix it a bit. This is becoming like a gang sort of series. One gang always in one series, another gang in another series. Can’t we see actors mix a bit with other actors?
@SDS:
That could make a really cool theme – except I wouldn’t want to see Sheren paired up with Wayne again. Maybe it could be a comedy starring Wayne and…urm…Gallen Lo? Or has that guy left for Beijing for good?
And for goodness sake, stop giving Wayne a sister in every series. No more “good brother” or “good husband”. Make him the devil next time. I suspect he will be pretty good at it.
@Katie lol, sheren is the first actress in tvb history to win 2 consecutive best actress awards. wayne isn’t, but together, they’re the first ever couple to win consecutively, for the drama with almost the same cast. i felt disappointed that NR didn’t get best drama though. ))):
as much as i love seeing the RB and NR cast, i think NR would and should be the last drama that the same cast are working tgt. even tim gor said that it’s too tiring to film such a series. 🙁
i cant get enough of it. i think they did amazing job on both series.
i feel a bit empty that i havent got them to watch now…
agree! i can’t get enough of wayne and sheren as well! they exhibit so much chemsitry tgt! i don’t think i’ll get sick of seeing them together. they don’t have to film rosy business 3, but can maybe try filming a comedy together, since sheren wants to film comedy. 🙂
this is one drama which i will probably never get sick of re-watching again! brilliant acting by almost everybody here, and a very moving storyline.
i don’t usually like dramas of this period, but i can say that NR is one of the rare few dramas of this period that keeps me hooked.
i really liked the way this series concluded. this drama has the best ending of all tvb dramas this year. it’s not overly happy, but it feels realistic, which is what i really like.
congrats to fala, evergreen, sheren and wayne for their win this year. it’s absolutely well deserved! i feel bad about them losing best drama though, because CBML is definitely not on par with NR.
if there can only be 1 hong kong drama that i would watch this year, it would be NR.
great job lee tim shing! i salute you!
It’s opium that they are selling not tobacco, the equivalent these days would be heroin.
Congratulations to Sheren and Wayne whoseservedly won their awards as best actor and actress. Like many others I too feel deep regret that No Regrets lost out to Can’t Buy Me Love However, back to No Regrets. Besides the main charaters, the rest of the cast played their roles very well . I liked particularly Pierre Ngoh’s portrayal of the timid cop, Raymond Wong was such a sweet and romantic suitor who was continually teary-eyed, obviously shattered by the fact that Fala would soon leave him. Nancy and Evergreen Mak obvioulsly played their parts well because at tikmes you just hated their guts! I found the story very interesting too. It was gripping from beginning to end.Altogether, it is indeed an excellent series to watch.
The only thing I have against the series is they way main character dies (Fala, Wayne. Sheren). They just sits there slowly falling asleep but they are dying!?
I’m shocked that Fala won the award. I’m good w/ Evergreen’s win b/c of his commitment & experience but he could’ve done a lot more.
I have just finished this drama, and gosh, my family and I were really impressed by it! At times, I don’t even know whether I’m watching a Hong Kong drama or not, because many scenes seemed so movie-like. Great cinematography indeed!
Rosy Business was really good, and I’m actually very surprised that TVB managed to make a drama which surpasses the original. Everybody involved in this drama really did very well. I can see very strong teamwork, which is rarely exhibited in other TVB dramas. Kudos kudos to producer Lee and team! 😀
‘No Regrets’ was impressive, but I honestly prefer ‘Rosy Business’ much, much more.
i have been watching a lot of TVB series the past 5 years and this one stands out as much as rosey business.
however, i am getting sick watching the same props for these series, everytime i see that yellow big house, i will think of Wing Tak from the fistful of stances series.
yeah, its opium not tobacco, best you change that 🙂
lol, what to do? tvb rather spends its money on promoting useless artistes instead of putting the money into better use.
the yellow house has been around for all pre-modern dramas haha. like sisters of pearl, ACOTOB, AFOS etc…
I am not usually a great fan of TVB series nowadays and in my opinion, they are no match to the ones in the mid 80s or up to the mid 90s. However, thats just my thinking and no offence to anyone who thinks otherwise. I just feel that the acting and storylines in those days were a lot better and it makes you want to sit tight and want to know whats going to happen next. However, “No Regrets” really got me going and I can honestly say I have not enjoyed a TVB series like that for a long, long time. The script and acting was very good and the stars were very well chosen. I have only two regrets. One and that is I wished that I had recorded it and kept it forever.
My only criticism is that it would have been even better if Wayne and Sheren’s characters were not clearer. What I mean is, they never really expressed their love for each other and it was up to the viewers to “guess” so to speak. I wished that Fala Chan’s character did not die also and felt very sad when she did. But apart from those small little things, it was an excellent drama and I also wished that it had won the best drama award.
I don’t really want a part 3 as I think a modern story would not be the same. It would not have the same “feel”!!
I agree with you, over the last 5 years or so tvb has generally been pretty poor.
I hope No Regrets will be a new beginning.
NR was great but i noticed that there were too much repeting elements. like how every episode the tension builds up and usually at the end or early on in the next episode, it gets relieved and everything goes back to normal…. then there’s also how the good guys always win, which in real life doesn’t always happen. great series overall though, great acting and definately can feel the agony and stress of the people during that time.
This is definitely better then Rosy Business. Way way better. Rosy Business is boring. Whats all the hype about that series.
This is one of the better series. TVB has being chruning out sub standard series lately!
Love the SONG, it’s beautiful!!!
It’s usually difficult to write endings, but the ending here is beautifully written. Very romantic & touching!
love this series! every episode is an epic cliff hanger! makes you want to keep watching!
i just finished watching this drama tonight! such a wonderful drama .. one of tvb’s best! i cried at the end.. this drama will never be forgotten. the actors did a superb job acting