This review may contain spoilers
truly, she is in a class of her own - holding up amidst patriarchy and the boys
I came to this drama late. Understand that it aired in 2020 and it is now August 2024. Nonetheless, better late than never. I am happy that I watched this drama and I recommend those who are wondering if they should watch it or not to dive right in.What I Liked A Whole Lot:
- It was my first time watching the FL but she was likeable. I watched ML in "Go Ahead" and had a good impression of him. The other MLs in the form of Lei Ze Xin and Yu Le Xuan were more my cup of tea though. Well, I really liked that the cast was a bunch of handsome lads. It made me happy to watch their shenanigans. Acting-wise, they were pretty decent too.
- I really liked the growth of the MLs such as Lei Ze Xin. He turned out to be so likeable. Yu Le Xuan too. The other FLs were also not that annoying. It was a nice surprise to see that Mu Xiao Man was not a damsel in distress and that Han Shu Min was not "xin ji nu". She accepted that love could not be forced and moved on well.
- I loved the competition of shooting arrows to hit the targets to get points. It was so strangely riveting that I had to keep on watching to know the result! I loved this competition part of the show. Top marks for suspense and engagement levels!
- I liked that the drama tried to tie everything up and to link things as well as possible.
- The principal turned out to be a good guy which was a good thing. Master Wang was truly a good man from start to finish and I liked episode 36 the most when he said to let him remain clueless if there were things he should not know. Wise chap!
- There was some intrigue as to what was going on. There was humour. There was comedic relief. There was happy ending!!
What I Didn't Like That Much:
- The Lord Han was villainous. He was super self-absorbed and black-hearted. He did not teach his son the right moral values. He was warped. Thankfully, he received his just punishment.
Suspend disbelief that no one can tell that "he" is actually a "she" and the drama will be enjoyable.
Personally, I found meaning in the drama.
1) combat patriarchy and misogyny; fight for equality of the sexes - both should be able to receive good education and both should be respected; what men can do, women can probably do too (and vice versa)
2) when given golden opportunities, women can be as good as men; women should not constantly be tamped down (by society and by men) and limited by ridiculous notions that go "you're a girl, so what can you achieve"; rather, "I'm a girl, so I can surely achieve something too"
e.g. as FL Wen Bin was not restricted due to her gender, she could thrive and flourish and display her good sense and intelligence as a person/ woman; she showed that women had potential too and could do well if given chances just like the lads
3) lifelong learning and being a constant student keeps us updated and "young"
I found that this drama not only entertained me for 36 episodes, but it also shared lessons about treating others with dignity and respect and that good will triumph in the end (so, choose to be a morally good person).
I recommend this drama. It was a great ride with handsome lads to watch and I really liked seeing these (young and handsome) cuties! :o)
<3
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Review of "In a class of her own". (Spanish, English, French)
Español“In a Class of Her Own” es un drama histórico chino con un enfoque interesante: una joven humilde que se hace pasar por chico termina estudiando en una prestigiosa academia solo para hombres. La premisa es atractiva, sobre todo por los valores que transmite, como la igualdad de género, la importancia del estudio y, sobre todo, la fuerza de la amistad.
Aunque tiene 36 capítulos y a veces se siente algo lento, cada episodio parece necesario para construir bien la historia y dar espacio al crecimiento de los personajes. Lo que más me ha atrapado no ha sido el romance (que existe pero es bastante sutil), sino la preciosa relación entre los cuatro protagonistas. Su amistad es el corazón del drama, y no solo fortalece la trama, sino que también influye positivamente en los demás personajes.
Las actuaciones en general están bien, creíbles, con una mención especial para Wang Rui Chang, que personalmente me pareció el más destacado. La estética es bonita aunque algo contenida, y la banda sonora, aunque no es molesta, pasa sin pena ni gloria.
Eso sí, hay un punto que no me terminó de convencer: Lei Ze Xin muestra indicios de estar enamorado de la protagonista, algo que no solo se siente innecesario, sino que deja una nota amarga por el sufrimiento silencioso del personaje. En una historia tan centrada en la confraternidad, ese elemento chirría un poco.
En resumen, es un drama que recomendaría a quien disfrute de historias con buen desarrollo de personajes y valores positivos, sin necesidad de que el romance sea el foco principal. No es una obra maestra, pero tiene mucho encanto.
English
“In a Class of Her Own” is a Chinese historical drama with an interesting focus: a humble young woman who pretends to be a boy ends up studying at a prestigious all-boys academy. The premise is compelling, especially for the values it conveys, such as gender equality, the importance of studying, and, above all, the strength of friendship.
Although it has 36 chapters and sometimes feels a bit slow, each episode seems necessary to properly build the story and allow room for character growth. What captivated me most wasn't the romance (which exists but is quite subtle), but the beautiful relationship between the four main characters. Their friendship is the heart of the drama, and not only strengthens the plot but also positively influences the other characters.
The acting is generally good and believable, with a special mention for Wang Rui Chang, who I personally found to be the standout. The aesthetic is beautiful, though somewhat restrained, and the soundtrack, while not annoying, is subdued.
However, there is one point that didn't quite convince me: Lei Ze Xin shows signs of being in love with the protagonist, something that not only feels unnecessary but also leaves a bitter note due to the character's silent suffering. In a story so focused on brotherhood, that element jars a bit.
In short, it's a drama I would recommend to anyone who enjoys stories with good character development and positive values, without the need for romance to be the main focus. It's not a masterpiece, but it has a lot of charm.
Français
"In a Class of Her Own" est un drame historique chinois dont l'intrigue est intéressante : une humble jeune femme qui prétend être un garçon finit par étudier dans une prestigieuse académie réservée aux garçons. Le postulat est convaincant, notamment pour les valeurs qu’il véhicule, comme l’égalité des sexes, l’importance des études et, surtout, la force de l’amitié.
Bien qu'il comporte 36 chapitres et semble parfois un peu lent, chaque épisode semble nécessaire pour construire correctement l'histoire et laisser place à la croissance du personnage. Ce qui m'a le plus captivé, ce n'est pas la romance (qui existe mais est assez subtile), mais la belle relation entre les quatre personnages principaux. Leur amitié est le cœur du drame et non seulement renforce l’intrigue mais influence également positivement les autres personnages.
Le jeu d'acteur est généralement bon et crédible, avec une mention spéciale pour Wang Rui Chang, que j'ai personnellement trouvé remarquable. L'esthétique est belle, bien qu'un peu sobre, et la bande sonore, sans être gênante, est atténuée.
Cependant, il y a un point qui ne m'a pas vraiment convaincu : Lei Ze Xin montre des signes d'amour pour le protagoniste, quelque chose qui non seulement semble inutile mais laisse également une note amère en raison de la souffrance silencieuse du personnage. Dans une histoire si centrée sur la fraternité, cet élément dérange un peu.
En bref, c'est un drame que je recommanderais à tous ceux qui aiment les histoires avec un bon développement des personnages et des valeurs positives, sans que la romance ait besoin d'être au centre de l'attention. Ce n'est pas un chef-d'œuvre, mais il a beaucoup de charme.
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This review may contain spoilers
The wind of change brought by gentleman and woman
Waiting for that OG drama to be finished air I decided to watch this drama.I quite like it. Even though this drama has its + & - point of its own. But as the drama to help me fill the free time this sure is one easy going drama.
The plus point:
+ The brotherhood of all student. Really like the atmosphere of brotherhood of all the student. They make really strong bond upon many hardship they have to endure together. We also can say they become each other’s family.
+ no crazy love rival or jealousy
+ Really like the cunning Yu Le Xuan
+ The behavior of Feng Cheng Jun (CJ) after he see Xue Wen Xi (WX) as a woman is simply just funny & adorable.
+ Once more we can see when we surround by good people we also will gonna be better as a person.
The minus point:
- Recently some of the drama I've been watch like having fast forward button in the end. This drama is no exception. Like the ending after Han Zheng Liang crime out in public what happen with him & his family, isn't usually for his kind of crime all the family will gonna be execute, but here we still can see Han Shu Min as a free woman in the end, so is it only Han Zheng Liang get to be punished....?
- The way WX falling in love with CJ is just simply weird.
- The moment when CJ realize WX is woman is like missing something. It's simply just too plain maybe.
- Not only with CJ, actually when everyone see WX dress as a women is simply their expression just too plain. Like they are not surprise at all.
- The chemistry between Ju Jing Yi & Song Wei Long itself I can't feel it. Maybe I can only say they form friendship bond, but as a couple...? No, not really...
- All the issue of the past generation, about WX dad, is simply just weird and forced to be an issue.
Overall... upon all the + & - point this still a good drama to help you fill the free time.
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This review may contain spoilers
Cute YA teen drama
This drama is nothing extraordinary, it's just cute and intended for teenagers.While some of the actors did a good job, I had a problem with the main character, Feng Cheng. Although he acted fine, I couldn't connect with him and there was no chemistry with the heroine. There were a few good performances from the secondary characters, and the main female lead was okay and fit the role. However, the ending was completely wrong. It should have been the Quatuor staying together to solve mysteries, and her identity should have been changed to a girl. Instead, we had two guys running away and a marriage, and somehow her brother took her place as official, which is essentially cheating.
The show lacked any real romantic moments, with only a kiss on the cheek and no love declaration or proposal. The last image was of them on the bed with wedding clothes, and her jumping on him, which was just ridiculous.
The first 22 episodes were slow, redundant, and boring, with the bully guy just bullying and the main character mastering archery within days. The prostitute's wig was ridiculous, and she was a completely not believable character. The special effects sounds were annoying, and the music was just average. While there were some funny scenes, they were not enough to save the show.
In conclusion, if you want a cute teenage costume story, then this show is for you. However, I cannot call it a romance, and I have no desire to re-watch it.
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It's a feast for the eyes, that's it.
Okay, the title already sums up what I hate in this drama. The central plot revolves a woman who needs to disguise as a boy BUT SHE DOESN'T EVEN TRY THAT HARD?!! Yeah, I know it's fictional but she looks too beautiful to be a man and even her makeup can still be seen. The acting also makes me cringe? Idk at first I was okay with it but it just feels like I don't feel any emotions to both of the leads. Don't get me wrong I know the ML did great in Go Ahead but I think his acting here feels less than that drama. Also, I love Ju Jingyi but her acting here feels off. (Maybe it was just the fact that she doesn't look like a man for me). Anyways, their chemistry is great so I gave them points for that.I watched this drama because of the leads, all of them including the other MLs as I am also a fan of them.. Well, the investigation, the story is good but yeah, it just doesn't really made me feel something special about it.
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Light and simple
To be honest, it is a good drama. I like the way they solved the conflict without make it to complicated. I don't think I have heavy SLS in this drama, just a simple light second lead syndrome. So it not so heartbroken for me to watch. I also love their friendship, literally, they have wonderful bond. But what make me feel that this drama doesn't have not enough satisfactory value is that their ending, it was too rushed. Of course it is a good thing that they have happy ending, but it just don't feel complete and they also skip some details in this drama like it being fast forward but still followed the story flow and I can understand what it trying to imply. I just hope that they can add a little bit more of details so that the viewers won't feel much gap lost in the plot. But overalls, it is a good drama, just a simple one.Was this review helpful to you?
It's just the cheek...
This drama is a Chinese remake of the Korean drama entitled-Sungkyunkwan Scandal led by Park Yoo Chun and Park Min Young. This story just have a little twist from episodes 21 up to the last episode.I loved Song Weilong. He portrayed his character well, even the female lead. However, the story lacks intesified romance. The slight romantic scenes were showcased in a glimpse and no kiss scenes for the entire 35 episodes. The kiss on the cheek was shown on the last episode (that's it).
There were dragging parts...I only loved the jealous scenes and the fighting scenes of the second lead.
Those 36 episodes could be trimmed down to 24 episodes.
It's just my point of view.
I want more of Song Weilong's romantic side.
The overall story for me is 5/10. The korean version is better than this remake (just saying :p)
The music was good. The casts were definitely awesome.
To the director & writer of this story...Why?
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Story :
I really liked this drama from the beginning to the end of the story. a story of the struggle of 4 friends to grant the wishes of women and commoners to get the right and opportunity to get teaching and knowledge in schools from this drama is very good. a well-known and state-recognized "YunShang school" school, not just a name but truly a great school to educate students to study and become fair and pure state officials. All the teachers from the school have a wide heart and are wise in solving problems making me feel Yunshang school is not just a school that relies on names but is indeed a quality school ... besides that this drama tells the story of a woman WenXi who disguises herself as a man with use the name of her younger brother WenBin to pursue her dream of studying and believe that women also have abilities and intelligence that are not inferior to men and maybe could be better, her struggles made me really like her character in this drama, and of course besides WenBin, the other three main characters FengChengJun, who even comes from a rich family and officials, never looks down on the poor and always helps his friends fight for justice and their rights by never differentiating their status, then LeiZhiXin who is always loyal and brave and is a friend who always helps WenBin when she was hit by an accident it also made me very impressed with his character, and the last one is YuLeXuan, a smart, kind and loyal character who is also an important point in this drama. besides that, the development of the story and character of this drama is also very good. from 4 characters who are strangers, don't know each other and some even don't match up but after time and the problems that occur, they end up being 4 friends who can fight each other and are very good friends. hard and happy undertaking. I am really amazed by their togetherness. this drama can provide a very interesting story of course because of these 4 complementary characters.
Acting:
for the acting category I also give full marks because in my opinion besides the 4 main characters whose acting is indeed very good and deserves a thumbs up, the other players also have very good acting skills for example HanzhiSheng, Miss Mu, HanShuMin, and other teachers and students . their acting is all very good and natural.
Music :
for the music category even though it doesn't impress me very deeply but it's also not bad and because I really like this drama so for that I can ignore the music assessment in this drama and give it a full score, but I really like the opening soundtrack of this drama ..
Rewatch Value :
and of course I will repeat watching this drama again, even though this drama doesn't have many romantic scenes but I really like the story of these 4 friends.
And overall I give full point 10/10 for this drama....love it so much....
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refreshing and cute drama
i started to watch it because of Ju Jing Yi, idk all the male characters at first :D the cinematography, ost, visual were really good. i love it so much, you should check it out for sure , the ost were always ringing in my head until now. i like how the way they carried the story, it was really refreshing yet light story (do you get what i mean ? ) in comparassion with the korean ver, it was the same story yet how they showed it in chinese version. as simple as that, i also noticed the difference between them , and i found it fascinasting. i think the main focus is the friendship of four of them, so you'd get the beautiful harmony of them to always be there for each others, watch each other's back and protecting them but in their own way. the support roles also got the chance to shine so it wasn't just themselves, and i loved it tho.it was really cute drama, like you know - an innocent one hahaha. this version kinda makes sense 'cause in the ancient time it was not that easy to changed something just because you wanted to - that's why it's totally different how the korean one and the chinese one portrayed it, well the remake itself should change something to make it more lively , right ?
overall, i love it. you just have to enjoy it, of course , but i think they could've done better in the story, the development of the characther and the plot in the drama was slow - well you could figure it out by the number of the episodes itself, haaha as usual chinese drama, but i love it duh >_< -
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Binged it. Actors expressive. Ju jing yi too cute. Nice use of sound effects. Rom-Com happy ending.
Everything works out. It's a light hearted drama that kept me giggling. The actors were very expressive and did a great job with protrayal of the characters. A lot of this story is fluffed and unrealistic especially during those times but if ya want a rom-com you got it. I thoroughly enjoyed the drama until the last episodes came around. The conclusion of the story, the gender reveal moments and reactions, the eminent danger the protagonists were in all felt a bit lackluster and rushed. 30 episodes worth of seemingly deep issues were easily resolved in a matter of 6. Overall though, this drama go me all giddy and craving more. I managed to binge the series within a day and now I feel empty that it's over. On to my next journey.Was this review helpful to you?
a Must-watch drama
An amazing drama with a fabulous cast. This was my first Chinese Historical drama but it was amazing. The acting was great. All characters played their role very well. This drama is full of lessons, mystery, humour and also portrays strong friendship. Romance was less but it did not matter due to other scenes. Xue Wenxi disguises herself as her brother Wenbin to support her family as a talented copywriter and author of illicit romantic fiction. A chance encounter and a series of mishaps leads to her reluctant enrollment at the prestigious Yunshang Academy. There she becomes the glue that bonds the "Yunshang Four" an uncommon friendship between the scholarly and noble Feng Chengjun, the savvy Yu Lexuan and the rebellious Lei Zexin. Together they prevail over many coming of age challenges and overcome past secrets and misdeeds of the previous generation.Was this review helpful to you?
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here's my very short review~
such a cute drama!! i love their friendship and how they go through everything together , i love how they always protect each other in any danger and how they always stand up for each other. although its a very slow burn romance i'm super satisfied with the end!! this drama is definitely for people who enjoy slow burn romance , and youth friendship , i love their chemistry off screen too! the production theme did a really good job with the costumes with wenxi , she's already so beautiful and with the female costume on , it made her look like an actual goddess~ i love the story line and i highly recommend this drama! i'm sure you'll enjoy it as much as i do too!!Was this review helpful to you?
