Go Ahead

I'm finally done with this show. It took me a little longer to finish because life happened but I'm honestly disappointed with how the last episode wrapped up the show. It felt so rushed and confusing.

I did enjoy the show for the most part but I think some of the writing choices really annoyed me at times. I know it's a cultural thing and all but I really couldn't stand the way most of the parents (mostly the moms) speak and treated their children in this show. I also didn't like how most of their actions are brushed off and forgiven without clear apologizes and development. Mingyue's mother annoyed the hell outta me throughout the series. I honestly don't blame the dad for divorcing her to be honest. Ling Xiao's mother also annoyed me at times. I know she was struggling mentally but she treats others so horribly and everyone just brushes it off. I was hoping the last few episodes, we can finally see a clear resolution to this plot but they just briefly mentioned PTSD and had her move back to Singapore with the daughter. Speaking of the daughter, I felt bad for Ling Xiao's sister. Her mom is horrible but she doesn't have anyone to turn to compared to her brother. The show did a really poor job wrapping this storyline up and everything just felt so unsatisfying.

Li Haichao was definitely my favorite character in the show. Such a sweet guy and awesome father/father figure. To be honest, I didn't care too much about Ling Heping. He was okay but I lowkey think he's a somewhat absent father to Ling Xiao. He never fully defends him from his mom and seems so distant. I don't know, that's just what I thought. Out of the kids, He Ziqiu was the strongest actor and had the best writing/story arc. I'm happy to see that his wish of having a true family finally came true even though I think the reason why his mom abandoned him for so long was also half assed. On paper, I thought I was going to like Ling Xiao better since his storyline had potential to be really interesting but I don't know if it was the writing or the acting but everything about him kinda felt meh after the second half of the series.

Speaking of meh, the romance was a disappointment. Li Jianjian and Li Haichao had no chemistry. All their romantic scenes looked awkward and it kept grossing me out that they kept referring to each other as brother and sister even after they started dating. I don't ship them together but Li Jianjian had better natural platonic chemistry with Ziqiu. The romance was not needed.

I just hated how they dragged out certain storylines and when things were finally getting interesting or reaching a turning point, they just rushed through an ending. I wanted to know if Tang Can and Zique's friend got together? I wanted to see Haichao have a honest conversation with his mom that ends with her holding herself accountable and apologizing. Yeah, we got that letter but a face to face convo would have been better. I also didn't like how they dropped Haichao's deceased younger sister once his mother remarried and had another baby. It's obvious that both he and his mom still have trouble with the death of his sister/her daughter but it just felt like they brushed things off.

Better writing would've made this show much more enjoyable for me because I did like most of the characters (except for most of the moms... man, the moms are horrible in this show) but I just don't think the show ended in a satisfying note. Maybe I'll watch the Kdrama version of this in the future (hopefully the two leads in that have romantic chemistry) but I wonder how they are going to fit a 40 episode show into just 16 episodes?

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The most beautiful drama that I have ever watched!

Watched it by accident, but in the end, I really hooked by this drama. The drama is really give an impact on me as a human, daughter, and sister. No family has no problems. What makes it different is how we as a family dealt with it together.

Story. I don't have any word that can describe this drama except Wonderful! I really thank the screenwriter and all of the staff that made the beautiful story for us. This is one of the most satisfying storylines that I ever watched. You guys own my respect.

Cast. All of the characters are played by the perfect actors with the perfect skill. Especially Tan Songyun, Song Weilong, and Zhang Xincheng, your chemistry is really something. Thank you for making the characters in this drama alive. Also, I wanna bow to the other characters that really did a great job in their own role. Without you guys, the story would never be this well-executed.

Music. Thank you to the music department that gave us beautiful and perfect soundtracks. Without your hard work, the audience will not get the meaning that the story wants to deliver. All of the songs never missed the moment! They are so beautiful.

I can't find anything that made me disappointed with this drama. I definitely will rewatch this drama in the future. If you like family and have deep meaning-kind-of-drama, I can guarantee you will never regret watching this drama.

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Drama with mix feelings!

Seriouslyyyy i think everyone should or must watch this drama! It's such a beautiful drama, i mean it! the story inside this drama is just too awesome for me. This drama get me into mix feelings! In just one episode i can find happiness, sadness, struggle, love, family, fear, and so on! I'm amazed with the child actors, they act awesome! I can get a lot of lesson from every episode. I seriously tear up with the love of the father to all the children. I like all the cast chemistry, they're just too perfect for each other. I can't describe more with words about how great this drama is. I'm really sad that it ended. I need more scenes of the loving brothers and sister and their friendship :(

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A Must Watch

One of my favorite C drama. I frequently go back to rewatch the hilarious scenes. Just can't get enough. When a drama can put you in tears, laugh so hard the next moment, and feeling warm just thinking about at before you sleep, its really considered a classic ...this drama did just that. The only part I don't like about the drama is that there are too many love triangles between the friends. Also, I don't like how they make many of the mothers in the story so bad. But over all, its a good drama and you can definitely see all the casts, directors, and film staff love this story and enjoyed making this project.

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FAMILY= HOME

*might contain spoilers*

I don't want to comment abt the few parts that has been recognized and commonly talked abt by others here, so...

For the positive:
This is a very good family drama. Very well casted and the script is really well made. I really love the depth of each key characters, you can relate to them and feel they are humans too, unlike other dramas that presents characters that has unimaginable actions towards the scenes inside the story. I love ziqiu's story the most, Zhang Xincheng again proved how he is a great actor, and everytime he's on screen i really felt his emotions. I also love the conflicts that reflects the reality of life. I love how they address mental awareness and the importance of the people around a person when he or she struggles with this illness.

However...

I was a bit disappointed with jian jians character, I don't think I saw a part here where I can clearly see her inner thoughts. When lx and hzq started confessing to her and then she started dating lx, i was a bit shocked bcs how come she easily accepted lx confession? I wanna see how she made the decision, or maybe a monologue of her thoughts about the reason why she chose lx, a flashback or realization maybe. after I've seen they were holding hands, i thought wait did i miss something??? it was a bit abrupt for me. Also song wei long is a good actor, but I don't think he performed well here. I mean he embodied lx, but whenever you look at him on screen i felt like there's something missing. Nevertheless, i loved how he's the one who clearly observes the people around him, as he showed the true characters of mingyue and can can.


Their OST is good, will definitely download it. On the other hand, maybe I wont rewatch this, as a watcher I don't really like rewatching dramas and maybe that's bcs.

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Great realistic family-focused drama!

Story:
Hats off the the storywriter of this drama. Such a touching and realistic way of portraying the goods, but also not so-goods of life. Really like the different types of dynamics between the lead characters and also how each have their own flaws that are highlighted very well. The ¨evil¨ characters are also not evil for no reason. However, the pacing off some sections of the drama is really off, especially the episodes towards the end is so rushed. I wish they resolved the final problem in prior episodes, so the ending did not feel so rushed. I also did not care about the ¨main romance¨, as i did not feel the romantic chemistry, nor did it attribute anything to the story.

Acting/Cast:
Almost perfect, no one was ¨really bad¨. The actors/actress of the characters ZQ, CT and HC were excellent, with HC(Tu Song Yan) performance being one of the best i have ever seen in a drama. The really lacking actress of the important characters was JJ´ actress. In most scenes she was fine, but in more emotional/intimate scenes, she often looks like a deer in the headlights: just no suitable expressions with just open wide eyes.

Overall:
As the title says, just a solid all around family-focused drama that will make the cry, laugh within the same episode. The chemistry of the main family is amazing and so realistic. I would probably not rewatch this (only would rewatch the episodes prior to time jump), as it does has it notable flaws in the second half. Despite the flaws, every episode ending make me really anticipate the next, as i also watched every episode on release.

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Acting couldve been better, otherwise its nearly perfect in my book

Great great great family/romance Chinese drama, very relatable and believable plot (hard to find in C-drama universe). I found myself crying and nodding along with the series.... and hating/loving/forgiving each character as they were so real, have their due weaknesses and strengths i found endearing and annoying at times. The three siblings are gold... their personalities compliment each other so well it hurts me physically when they grew apart - again, very relatable; you can't fool distance and time differences after all. The gap silently grew and grew even if we try our best to prevent it.

Writing is good; I can see the character developments - from the main leads and also their close circle of friends like MingYue. Not so much with LingXiao's mom - i find her personality changed too abruptly toward the final episodes. My only complain is: why ChenTing got SO much plot share compared to Daddy Ling? He was always on the screen but was not given any personal story whatsoever; he was either eating, nagged by Daddy Li, or away at work. He was the one on the main poster, not her mental ex-wife, duh. Need to applaud writer for his/her effort to touch mental health issues :D I wish more and more modern dramas would broach these subjects in the future, as it is the reality we young people do face.

Casting was on point; the kid and adult versions matched perfectly! the child actors were very very very good at their roles I wished the childhood scenes would go on forever :( So sad to part with mini Jian-jian. The dads chemistry were good, they were so natural with each other its insane. Lady who played LingXiao's mom was pretty great - she played the mental role perfectly well. I do agree with some people comment on Song Wei Long's acting - he was too... stiff. May need more acting experience to balance his sculpted look (no kidding his face profile is like roman-statue-perfect) but no worries - time is definitely on his side :D. My first time seeing Xiao Ge (Steven Zhang) on screen... and am satisfied with his acting (thumbs up!) his teary eyes were heartbreaking (watch out for some of his scenes with Daddy Li - prepare tissues).

Soundtracks and BGM are very good. Especially love the closing song. 10/10.

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I loved Go Ahead and its focus on family and friendship. This show is so emotional, and frequently had me laughing out loud and tearing up in the same episode. Every episode was so good and I liked the pace of this show, until the very last episode, which offered a rushed and tidy conclusion. I generally like that c-dramas don't have multiple seasons, but would absolutely watch a second season of this show!

Jianjian, Ling Xiao, and Ziqiu's bond is sweet and moving. Normally I'm eager for the characters to age up, but the childhood and high school episodes are so impactful and well-paced. I love Jianjian's silliness, her love of sweets, and her career as an artist! It's so rare to see a main character who is happily living as an artist. Despite her silliness she's not naive, she's used to diffusing tension and easing pain with humor, and she's a loyal friend who stands up to bullies. I'm a big fan of Tan Songyun, and even more so after this drama, because she excelled at both the humor and the emotional moments. Everyone's favorite character is Jianjian's dad, Li Haichao, who is a big-hearted softie, possibly the most patient, supportive, and understanding parent I've ever seen in a c-drama. Ling Xiao and Ziqiu both suffer from emotional trauma (it'll break your heart), but are able to find joy and love from growing up with Jianjian and her dad. Song Weilong and Steven Zhang both played their roles so well. (I've seen other dramas in which they played the leads, but they had me totally absorbed in their characters here.) I loved the supporting characters, too: Jianjian's friends, Ziqiu's friend, Jianjian's colleague.

Before I started this drama, I was worried about a love triangle, but I was relieved—although there are some unrequited feelings and some misplaced feelings, there's nothing truly frustrating here. The characters are human, so of course there are some emotional outbursts and awkwardness, but everyone reflects over their feelings and actions and faces them maturely. (Definitely no annoying I-won't-give-up/evil-schemer second leads here!) There isn't a strong focus on the romance, but I appreciate that they talked about mental health. I actually would've liked to see more of that storyline, to dig deeper into their relationship. (I am being intentionally vague so as not to spoil who the relationship is between, but I personally think it is pretty obvious from early on in the show.)

The most frustrating aspect of this show? The moms. It's the moms either abandon their children or are too controlling or are never satisfied. This is such a stark contrast to Li Haichao, who, like I said before, is so kind and supportive. Ling Xiao's dad is a workaholic who isn't around but he's upbeat when he's around, so it gets downplayed. (I am skeptical about him unable to take ANY time off during those nine years.) Fortunately, I did feel like some nuance with the moms was explored towards the end. One of the moms has a really heartbreaking character arc and I would've loved to see more of her scenes at the end. There's also a storyline towards the end about another mom that offers a layered, thoughtful reflection. But there's one mom who is truly self-centered and emotionally manipulative, and she was allowed to continue with her behavior for far too long. I can absolutely believe that there are people like her in the world, but it's tough to watch and I dreaded her scenes.

Although this drama is more slice-of-life and relatable, the pivotal moments are really dramatic. A lot occurs in rapid succession and it truly felt like an emotional rollercoaster during those episodes—but Jianjian, Ziqiu, and Ling Xiao are so likable and relatable that I felt invested in their lives. Despite some flaws and missed opportunities (if only there were MORE episodes), I truly loved this show, the cast, characters, and the melancholy but soothing OST.

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Great family story with good climax! He Zi Qiu &Li Hai Cao perfect bond!

I am very eager to waiting each episode and lucky this is a perfect choice! The brotherhood and parents relationship is good to watch.
The story start bright in the beginning, sad in the middle and ending with unexpected situations!
Through this drama make me understand the reason for what all is happen and the decision should be make. The real love is make the one you love is happy with his/her life even it's will not belong to you.
The total episode is too long for me, some parts is seems slow and bored when the conflict between brother rise, even the results is good.
For me the real best part is in the beginning, and after episode 35 .

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