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What an endearing coming of age family drama!
Likes: All the different layers/dynamics that comes from being in a non traditional family. The acting was great from everyone from the younger versions to the old. Song Wei Long was incredibly handsome.Dislikes: The chances the 2 MLs return on the same exact day is a bit of a stretch. The 2nd half had more draggy parts and I didn't like how they wrapped up the drama at the end. Also the eng subs weren't the greatest so sometimes I was confused during some of the conversations.
Let me preface to say, I normally don't enjoy family dramas that much, but this one was done really well esp during the first half. I went in for Song Wei Long, but wound up really enjoying the story. It's endearing. You watch the 3 friends grow from kids to adults and watch how their relationships and personalities form from all the love, hurt, and trauma that's happened to them. What really stood out to me were the multiple layers that every character had that made them relatable and actually interesting to watch. The dynamic between the parents and their kids was also interesting to see play out. This drama handled the complexity that comes with family really well. Sometimes the people who love you the most can cause you the most damage.
I did think there were too many side characters however and I wished there was a bit more romance, but overall it was a great watch and would recommend it!
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Rated No 1 in my Cdrama in 2024
Beginning of the year, was my No 1 Cdrama. The closeness of the family was undescribable. 3 different children from different families grew up to forge a strong bond. I like the 2 brothers. The actress is cute but I am a bit uncomfortable of her age and Song Wei Long's. Especially kissing an older sister. She is also very tomboy and not pretty. I dislike the fact that the 2 became lovers. Same opionion from my friends whom I recommended this drama. One of the likeable actor is the father, very generous and taking care of all 3 children and even his neighbour. I also regretted that the children upon returning home, did not stay with their own families. Look empty nested.Was this review helpful to you?
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A great watch
Added to my list of favorite dramas. It had the Reply series vibe to it but more heavy rather than humor. The plot is also something I like—childhood friends growing up together and then loosing that bond with a love story on the side. The girl’s dad was a good man helping to raise two other boys as well and them becoming that unconventional family. 🫶🏻Was this review helpful to you?
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started of on a good note but got weird
DISCLAIMER: this reviews contains criticism of the show if you do not wish to read it please don't read my post, this is my personal opinion on the show, this comment is not meant to upset go ahead fans or make them mad, this show in my opinion is really good other this one thing I find fault in. PLEASE GO WATCH THE SHOW FOR YOUR OWM PERSPECTIVES ON THE SHOW, even though i watched it years ago, I remember it being good, not all reviews are accurate please do not blindly listen to reviews do more research before you decide not to watch a show because of one comment!!!So i don't really remember this show because i watched it a long time ago but one thing i do remember is how this show is somewhat incest to me the way i looked at it, the show starts of with the brothers and Jian Jian, who if i remember right play together when they're little and were close. Later on we know the brothers mom runs away so they and their father end up living with Jian Jian and her dad, but not all of the time they have an apartment right next door so they spend alot of time at Jian Jian house and have a room at her house so i said they are living with them but not really. this is where i feel the story starts to get weird so in the plot she ends up with one of the brothers, but multiple times in the show the two father talk about how they want them to be a big family and how the brothers and Jian Jian are siblings: even Jian Jian and the brothers themselves call each other siblings and regard each other as siblings , so years go by with Jian Jian/ the daughter and Ling Xiao, He Zi Qiu the brothers, treating each other as siblings and later they developing feelings for each other, this is the reason i sort of say this show has incest, , how does one fall in love with the guy they called brother for years and no i do not believe they are using brother as honorifics for them being older and closer to her. its just hard to comprehend how both of the non-biological brothers have developed feelings for a girl whom they have genuinely regarded as a sister for many years, its honestly a little disturbing, to me it was weird how accepting their dads were of them dating when they basically raised them as SILBLINGS???? other than the whole siblings thing the show itself was good
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The reality of broken family and the meaning of Love in a Family
half of the characters don't have mothers. the others half, have mothers and they are so freaking controlling and toxic, poisonous characters. Girls at 25-26 act like they are 12 years old, and they don't have an answer, a decision , fight back against crazy mothers. Castrated men. Men who have nathing to say. Men who are just there, without any kind of masculine energy and inspiration for their sons.what is this drama trying to prove or inspire?!?!
I feel like I'm dying of boredom by episode 24, and this dull female perspective doesn't inspire me. It scares me. It saddens me.
Ling Xiao mother was a great example of a narcissistic, huge mental problems. As a child if you want to have a healthy life you have to end everything otherwise your life will be hell.
Mental health, toxic family, luck of boundaries.
Harmony and loving family, is yhe way to be open and able to live your life.
It has also cuteness, comedy moments but it was sad to see how children take aduls responsibility and they have to be responsible for the parants that treat them bad to glorify the image of family.
I hope people's watching this to learn and become aware of their mental health, emotional health and to have string boundaries even in the family.
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Cute Storylines
at first in the beginning I was a bit sceptical and I couldn’t really relate to the characters an found 小哥 a bit annoying but once they became adults I started to really enjoy the story.小哥’s storyline lowkey hit me the hardest and the actress roommate which I never expected cause I lowkey found them the most annoying in the beginning.
I loved that the father got with his mother they’re honestly such a cute pair. I also like how we didn’t get hot romance but a softer version because it honestly would’ve been weird since they grew up together.
anyways I think the way the story wrapped up was super rushed but overall I really enjoyed this show.
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Disappointed, but already expected it.
I'd always heard great things about this drama, but I always avoided it because I don't really like family-centered stories. I decided to give it a chance as soon as I found out there was romance, but there was so little of it that I ended up disappointed. The drama focused way more on family conflicts and things I just wasn't interested in. Honestly, it even felt like the side characters had more screentime than one of the male protagonists at some points. A lot of things were also badly developed, especially Ling Xiao's trauma and his relationship with his mom. She suddenly changed and accepted everything out of nowhere, which felt rushed and unrealistic. The ending for Jianjian and Ling Xiao was disappointing too. Their romance was the main reason I started watching, yet we barely got to see them together. It had some great moments, and I cried and laughed, but the feeling that stays is the disappointment of finishing a drama that could've been exceptional.Was this review helpful to you?
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A drama with a lot of family heart!
After watching Song Wei Long in another show this past week (Shine on Me) I wanted another fix, so I went back and re-watched Go Ahead. I saw this when I first got into Asian dramas, and I wanted to rewatch it to see if I still felt the same about this family story.Now I knew what to expect, the slower paced, longer episodes, I did appreciate the family dynamic a lot more a second watch. The siblings closeness was enjoyable as before. I loved their banter and tight bond.
The dads were fantastic – Mr Lin, especially. Those moments when he was cooking for the family were perfect and I loved how peaceful the family was when it was just the five of them. One of my favorite scenes was when Xiao’s dad took him to the Chinese medicine doctor, it just felt very real and his love for his son came through clearly, though he wasn’t always able to show it.
I wasn’t entirely sure I believed in the romance aspect of the show. It felt like Jian was talked into it instead of falling for Xiao naturally. I did adore how devoted to her he was. His yearning eyes gave me butterflies. And standing up to his disapproving mother had me giddy!
The girl friends were perfect additions and I really enjoyed their side stories. And I covet their cute little apartment!
What stuck with me most from the show were the moms. Oh, they made me have the biggest feelings! And most of those feelings were boiling rage!
These were fully grown adults yet the moms were pulling the strings in their lives! By the end, I could understand Tang Can’s mom maybeeee changing for the better. But there’s no way sweet Ming Yue’s shrill, overbearing mother changed. If we’d had a look into the future, she would still be the same. I was glad the dad wanted a divorce!
Now, let’s get to the vilest villain in this show. Xiao’s mother.
What a vicious piece of work she was.
She was the most insincere snake, and I never once felt she was being genuine in anything she said. She abandoned her young son, blamed him for her mistake, and yet wanted to force him to take care of her while she treated him like crap.
I was furious watching her on screen, her attempts to manipulate Xiao were infuriating.
She could see how utterly miserable she was making her son and yet she clung to him like an octopus on his face. Were we meant to feel sorry for her in the final episode with her inexcusable last ditch action? Were we supposed to feel redeemed by her “nice words” and seemingly changed attitude toward Jian? Because I felt nothing. She did exactly what a narcissistic would do and that was manipulate everyone’s emotions to turn the tides her way again. The best thing Xiao could have done was go no contact with that emotional succubus.
The parents are my biggest pet peeve with these types of characters that appear in most of the shows I watch. (sadly, it’s usually the mothers, which saddens me) Despite the parents' terrible behavior, the child is pushed to forgive and reconcile. Oh, I get steaming mad! I try to understand it’s a cultural difference, but as I see it, you don’t need to redeem every vile character by the finale. This mother was a fine example, I would have been happy if she’d fallen into a bubbling volcano.
It's a testament to all three actresses who played the mothers how great their skills are because the objective was met and I hated them all, lol.
Overall, lovely watch and I’d watch it again one day (fast forwarding through the mom!) The acting was exceptionally good, especially the emotionally heavy scenes. Those guys sure can cry so well!
(Also, I didn't intend for my review to become this long - that's how big my feelings were lollolol )
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Went in a weird direction
good points:•really good acting from the second male lead
•interesting dinamics between characters
•some funny scenes
•heartwarming moments
•bromance between the two dads
bad points:
•didn't feel the romantic chemistry between the leads
•bad acting from male lead
•ending felt unsatisfactory
I feel like they didn't do enough to explore the way the 3 of them started to have romantic feelings towards eachother. Close to the ending I wanted to skip the main leads romantic scenes all together because it felt strange.
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“Beautiful Story, But Too Heavy and Dragged Out”
I started Go Ahead because I heard it’s a warm, healing story about three kids growing up together and becoming family. And honestly, the first few episodes were really nice — I loved the sibling bond, the simple moments, and the cozy feeling.But after a while (I watched up to episode 21), it became too heavy and dragged out. There was just too much drama, constant family problems, misunderstandings, and repeated emotional conflicts. It started to feel tiring instead of comforting. I kept hoping it would pick up, but it stayed slow and overly dramatic.
I think the actors did great, and the idea is beautiful, but the storytelling could’ve been tighter and less exhausting. If you enjoy long, emotional, slice-of-life dramas with a lot of family baggage, this might be for you. But if you’re like me and prefer lighter, more focused stories with a steady pace, it might not hold your interest.
— ⭐⭐⭐/5 (Good start, great acting, but too long and too dramatic for my taste.)
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IF I'M BEING HONEST
THE PLOTThis show started off really great. The first episode was enough to catch my attention especially with little JianJian! They showed how close their family bond is and I liked how it was going until they added romance between the main leads into the plot. I think it would've been just fine if they didn't include it lol as it has probably made some people uncomfortable since JianJian has always seen them as brothers and they weren't exposed by the scriptwriters to have romantic feelings towards each other so it just felt weird. + I feel like He Ziqiu didn't even like her romantically and their r/ship is platonic but his friend planted the idea into his brain making him think he likes her when its just brotherly love.
Other than that! I could feel the plot changing from being focused on the family to being just like any other cdramas. It had a lot of potential from the start but it all went POOF after the brothers returned from overseas.
I like how they portrayed the "close family bond ended up being distant" because they were away from each other for so long and were just holding on to empty promises. JianJian being awkward with them after they came back was totally understandable and the brothers forcing themselves on to JianJian acting like they havent been distant from each other for 9 years was frustrating but also understandable.
THE CHARACTERS
He Ziqiu's character was remarkable and I LOVED his bond with the father as the scenes of them together are always so pure and honest it was so refreshing to see. Their heart-to-heart moments made me cry too.
I feel like the good parents are too good and the bad ones are badbad as that is how the scriptwriters portrayed them to be. It just didn't seem very realistic to me especially the father being literally perfect lmao.
LingXiao was an okay character meh Song WeiLong's acting was a little stiff for this character as LingXiao is literally ~angsty and troubled~.
Li JianJian ! I liked the woman she grew up to be. It was evident that she's dependent on her brothers and spending time away from each other made her independent. There weren't much flaws to her character as to me she is just straight up adorable. I liked how she didn't let things bother her and how straight-forward she is, saying whatever that is on her mind.
OVERALL
It's a good drama to watch I guess but it just stirred away from the original plot after uni life when i would love to see the drama being fully family-oriented but i'll just take what i can get.
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Great until melodrama ensues
Overall, a great drama with high production value, but after a certain point, it becomes so melodramatic that it reminds me of those old family dramas that runs episodes by the thousands.This drama begins with an extremely unique conception - a group of young children coming from incomplete and dysfunctional families band together. They face various adversities together, and I must admit that I went through half a box of tissues watching them soldier through their hardships.
Alas, that's where all the fun and games ends. The last third of the drama ticked all the right boxes a soap opera should have. You'll find yourself rolling your eyes more often than not, and I can almost envision the familiar scene of my grandmother watching her daily dose of with a box of sour plums at her side.
I jacked up the speed to 3x just finish the rest of the show.
Overall, watch it for the eye-candy (SWL and SZ are <3), and the unique premise. Feel free to drop it after ep 30, trust me, you're not missing out on much.
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