Honest opinions about this drama
Yes, we all were sooo tempted for this drama to come out. I was sooo excited when I heard a drama like this would be airing. The first few episodes left me in tears. I would watch non-stop. But now? The storyline starts to downfall halfway through. I’m missing the happy childhood moments as this is becoming more of a romance type of drama.When this drama first aired, I would be continue watching the few episodes aired at no costs. I was at episode 30 or so when the last episode (46) finished airing. I waited about a week before I started to continue watching the last bits of the drama. If it’s a good drama, I wouldn’t take such a long time to finish it. My review is given for the episodes beyond 20. A strength of this drama would be the acting, the visuals, and the music. The acting for all the actors are on point. Left me in tears. So did the music. I’m still listening to the OST cuz it’s so heartwarming. Other than that, I wouldn’t continue to watch this. Nor would I recommend newbies to watch this. If you want, watch the first 10 or so episodes and stop there. Like the episodes when the two are together, it doesn’t even show LJJ’s affection for LX! I didn’t even know when she started liking him and why she would choose him over HZQ.
Anyways, that’s my review!
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Overall Warm Lovely Family Drama
I was hooked onto this drama since I watched the drama before its release and started it right away when it aired, but only finished it now because I didn't like the romance element. However, I continued the drama where I left off (at the ep after Zi Qiu and Ling Xiao came back) and was so surprised at how interesting it still was so I kept watching. It turned out that the drama doesn't have that much romance scenes between Ling Xiao, Zi Qiu, and Jian Jian which was such a relief! It was more focused on the family aspects than I expected so I binged watched the remaining episodes. It was totally worth it! I would recommend those who liked the family aspects to continue just to see those parts because it really is worth the watch!Now some things I really enjoyed:
1. The acting of course! - The family was so real that it didn't seem like that were acting at all! The chemistry is no joke! I especially love Zhi Qiu's acting! So amazing!
2. Some great points regarding family are brought up
3. The OST -such great bgm for the tearjerking scenes T_T
4. The first 12 episodes- such great sibling chemistry between Jian Jian, Zi Qiu, and Ling Xiao when they were young and as they grew up! very fun to watch!
Things that were not so great:
1. The romance between Jian Jian and Ling Xiao - wasn't that hard to understand why they like each other but still weird for me to watch them hug and interact as lovers; the brother-sister vibe is so strong that they could have stuck with that for the entire drama and it wouldn't have made a big difference, it was pretty unnecessary to also make Zhi Qiu thinks he likes Jian Jian (although his reasons for doing so made sense)
2. The ending - felt a bit rushed towards the end to have the story wrapped up for Ling Xiao's mom portion and the conclusion overall; could have shown a bit more although I liked how everywhere ended up
3. Too many complicated love triangles/squares between Jian Jian's friends - was hard and boring to watch
BUT I would totally recommend this drama for anyone looking for a great family drama (you can just skip the romance parts)! If you need another reason, just watch it for Steven Zhang (Zi Qiu)'s great acting!
Was this review helpful to you?
Good beginning but slows down
I genuinely loved this drama in the beginning. I like that it was different from other romance dramas and it was more family oriented about a non traditional family. However, it quickly turned into other C-dramas half way through and it just got too awkward! I managed to finish but by the last few episodes, I was starting to fall asleep from boredom. The story just dragged on and on even though we all knew what was going to happen anyway. The overall acting is great especially from the father character. His character was very well written and I love that it was very non traditional from other C-drama characters. The children were also brilliantly cast.Was this review helpful to you?
WOW!! Just Wow
This has got to be one of the best dramas I've seen. Ziqui character was so amazing, I found myself so invested into is storyline. I wanted nothing more then for him to get a happy ending. I liked all the characters but for some reason his character touched me the most. Everytime he cried, I felt myself crying 😭Those two mothers really got under my skin for the whole show. I can't even begin to talk about how mad they made me.
The only thing I wish is that we could've got a small glimpse into after Haichao and Heimei got married and what life was like for the siblings after.
Was this review helpful to you?
Embrace the warmth and meaning of what family actually means!!!
Growing up and parenting, they both are extremely tricky. Life has endless troubles ready for us to deal with. At times when the world makes you feel like it is crashing upon you, having someone to shield you from it, having a shoulder to lay your head on, having someone to hold onto , to wipe away your tears and reassure you is the greatest blessing one can receive. This drama taught life lessons with the cast bringing their characters to life. Relationship require patience to work also taking turns in complementing eachothers flaws. To all the tears and smiles brought by this drama. The drama is priceless and surely it is gonna be an ageless drama too. If this drama isn't in your watchlist, it definitely is a loss.Was this review helpful to you?
Good family drama, subpar romance
OVERALLMy opinion may be unpopular, but I find this drama a bit (just a bit) overrated. Still, it definitely feels different from other C-dramas I have seen so far, and the first half is REALLY nice. Watch it if 1) you're looking for a story with great friendship/family ties, 2) you like dramas that follow characters from childhood to adulthood, 3) you don't mind shedding a few tears. Think twice if 1) you are craving a well-developed love story, 2) you have low tolerance for annoying characters, 3) you like mature female leads.
THE STORY
It took me ages to give Go Ahead a try because I felt like it would just make me cry a lot. It didn't. It actually made me laugh a lot more. There is a lot to like about this drama:
- The first half is glorious, of the best I've seen in a C-drama; especially the first five episodes when the main leads are still very young. Serious, dark stuff happen, but it's beautiful and emotional. I just loved it. As the trio begins to age, the drama starts to feel a bit bipolar, like it doesn't know if to have melodrama vibes or comedy vibes and it bothered me sometimes, but it was still fine until about episode 20.
- The parents that take care of the main leads are fabulous. They break all stereotypes and are just so endearing. Definitely my favorite characters of the drama!
- Of course, the dynamic between the three main leads is gold, especially in the first half of the drama. They are family/friends goals!
My problem with Go Ahead is the second half, which feels so sloppy in comparison to the first half. The drama tries to tackle too many storylines at once so it doesn't go deep enough with anything and makes you feel dissatisfied with everything. The romance? Goes from zero to 100. Messed up characters? Also go from bad to good in the blink of an eye. It just doesn't make sense. I also have to say, Female lead is a bit problematic for me. She's just so childish. I'm fine with cute female characters, but mature cute. Age-appropriate cute. Jianjian acts her age like 25% of the time, and the rest feels like she's 10 years younger than the boys. It just...doesn't feel right.
Definitely a good drama, but not as great as it looked like it was going to be.
THE ACTING
Pretty good. I like Seven Tan's acting (regardless of her character) and the older actors were fab. Lil bro was impressive too, but in comparison, Big Bro kind of fell short. Still, nothing to distract you from the plot. I must say though, I felt no chemistry between the leads. Romantic scenes are nothing special too, so really, don't come into this drama for the love story.
THE MUSIC
In general, quite fine. I just like that background instrumental music wasn't super loud and cheap. It was actually fitting. The drama is really a nice production, it's only the script that could be a bit better.
REWATCH VALUE
Not very high. I think it's one of those one-timers.
Was this review helpful to you?
A family oriented drama
This drama deserves a million stars. The forty episodes will not get you bore...Every scene will give us the moment to cry, laugh and love. The characters really played their part. The main leads. Song Wei Long as Ling Xiao and Seven Tan as Li Jian Jian were both a versatile actors. I love them both. Also, even Steven Zhang played his part well. The music also will inspire you to never give up in watching this drama. THIS DRAMA is totally worth to watch.I really love how Song and Seven played the characters in Go Ahead so well. I guarantee that this drama will give you another view of Chinese Dramas. It's worth your time.
I will continue to support every cast :)Jiayou!
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
if a drama was able to get me to reflect on myself this much...you know it's worth a watch
Story: Okay so in terms of the story, it would have gotten a full10/10 from me if not for the draggy story midway through the drama. At some point mid way through the drama, I kind of lost my focus on the drama? I think it's because of the characters took too long to resolve their problems. Another thing is that the sibling to relationship development felt extremely rapid for me. I think I would have preferred if there was a scene that straightforwardly shows us all that they really have decided to date? Now for the good parts...Usually, I'm not a big fan of dramas taking up like half of the drama to show the past and rush through the character development and plot development. However, I find that the screenwriters and director of this drama did really well in including the main characters' past and how they each develop. As for the ending, honestly I was kind of upset at first. I didn't want Chen Ting to be forgiven so easily after she kinda chose to run away from her problems but after my 30 minute drama withdrawal syndrome session, I came to realize that, like what she wrote in her suicide note, she loves her son, but she just doesn't know how to love properly. Although the ending did not show it, I hope she's learnt how to not only love her son properly but love herself as well.Acting/Cast: Y'all I'm not even joking when I say that I have never watched a cdrama where ALL of the characters(main, support etc. even the damn waitress) acted so well. I'm not gonna say much about JJ, LX, ZQ as well all know how great the character development and acting from Seven, Weilong and Steven are. The one character that has made me cry for the most is probably LiBa. The way that he raises these kids and treats them and TEACH them, like we all need to applaud for that. Growing up in an asian household where you are pinned by so many expectations and pressured to be perfect in every aspect, LiBa made me wish that growing up, I had someone who didn't expect me to be 100% in everything and didn't pressure me to do things I didn't want to do and instead supported me in my passions. Most importantly, someone who stands up to another person to defend their own child. Moving on, we're not here to talk about my sob story. I'm glad that LiBa had his own happy ending rather than a happy ending where it's the typical as-long-as-my-child-is-happy-i'm-happy-too, it's true that if JJ, LX, ZQ is happy he'll be happy but I wanted him to have a life besides his children, if you know what I mean. Other than that, all the characters(HeMei, MingYue, TangCan, MingYue's parents, TangCan's parents, ZhaungBei) also preformed just as well and was also able to show us character development despite being supporting characters. Shoutout to Chen Ting and Cheng Zi for being so HATABLE and somehow is able to make me forgive them at the end anyways (Forgiving ChengZi was understandable but ChenTing? man, i definitely did not expect that comin). Guess that just goes to show how well the actresses preformed.
Music: The amount of times I cried just listening to the intro song...honestly, I can't tell if I'm just an emotional b*tch or it's just really really sad. (Especially around when LingXiao and ZiQiu had to leave in highschool)
Rewatch Value: honestly, the only reason why my rewatch value is so low is because I don't like rewatching dramas in general. I lose all the excitement and adrenaline since i already know what's going to happen. Just my preference though!
Overall: Great drama, awoken the depressed asian black sheep daughter of the family within me. Definitely wished I had that type of family growing up but also made me appreciate the things my own family does for me every single day. Y'all, if a drama was able to get me to reflect on myself this much...you know it's worth a watch...just sayin...
Was this review helpful to you?
Fantastic Story Line
Love the story line!!!!Love the actors/actresses!!!This drama is apt to get all of your emotions churning: happiness, frustration, sadness, excitement! I recommend this drama, I binged watched the 27 ep. available in less than 3 days. I’m super tired but it has been worth every sleepless night. Now for some much needed rest while I wait for more episodes. This will be a long week ☹️ .............................................................................................,..........
Was this review helpful to you?
A happy ending is not mandatory... It's okay to leave behind the people who hurt you !
The first 20 eps were truly incredible, all the themes around family and what this word truly means were very inspiring.I love how the fathers (mainly thanks to Hai Chao) built for their children the best they could a family, and a stable and warm home.
The casting was very well chosen but I think the acting of Song Wei Long was bellow in comparison of the rest of the main cast tho. He did a better job during the last part.
After ep21, the drama was ok but not as good.
It was too much of that fake triangle insinuations and many scenes with 3rd characters I didn't care about.
The development of the lovestory between Jianjian & Ling Xiao didn't get me interested as I was in the beginning of the drama, probably because their chemistry was good, cute but not that deep ...
Yang Tong Shu, Tu Song Yan and Zhang Xin Cheng put the best acting performances imo.
Tan Song Yun's perf on the 1st part was great, I wasn't that impressed in the 2nd part.
I was expecting "a masterpiece" as many people stated, it was not, it was a good drama with more flaws that people let us believe...
It was tiring and triggering to watch the writers try to force us to accept the excuses of the toxic parents who chose to abandon their children and having to see those same children becoming adults still having to "compromise" for those awful parents, just for the sake of pleasing a certain chinese moral standpoint, and for it to please the censorship... and to also please the idea that in the end of a story, we need things to get better at any expense, even against common sense, that we need an answer to every situation even those dark and complexe ones ...
I think the drama needed a more mature dimension in the writing to deliver a real, honest raw ending to truly respect the representation of what dysfonctionnal family and toxic parents are and what they lead to.
Was this review helpful to you?
Light hearted(ish) Drama
Better than i expected. Exception acting from all actors, marvellus moral lesson, nostalgic upbringing. Just didn't like the FL.I loved Ling Xiao and Hei Ziqui, both had such amazing character arcs and all the family and relationships they bonded with. Especially Ling's sister should've been a main character, I loved her acting and her character. His mom however deserves to go rot herself in hell :)
I didn't like the FL and her bratty judgemental pettiness, her father is what every child deserves and Ling's father, sir. Please take a damn break.
Was this review helpful to you?
I need 100 more episodes!
I really recommend this show. I just ended the show and feel so sad right now. I need one hundred more episodes of this! The story is interesting from beginning to the end. The casts' acts also very natural, even the kids were so good. The dads were so adorable too.I learned a lot from this movie too. I hope I won't be a forceful mother who wants the kids to obey everything even sacrifice themselves...
Plus song wei long is everything! I searched for his last drama and it was so good too.
Was this review helpful to you?
