The 10 year age gap is nonsense and triggering me big time.
FL and ML had pretty decent chemistry and I don't get the whole highlighting of 10 years age gap cause it such an exaggeration and an obvious lie. I would understand 5 years or lesser gap but 10 is stretching it.The FL is really pretty and they really tried to make her look way older based on mature make-up and clothing. Personally I hated it since the clothing and make-up tried to compensate for the age gap thingy and it didn't highlight FL beauty and made her so mature and on some scenes the make-up looks so thick but oh well that's the whole point of it all anyways.
ML is so feral. Wu Lei just convinced me again with his impeccable acting. I love his character here cause I think its the closest to his personality in real life, being goofy and all. He really embodied his character on every drama he starred in and yep I'm so whipped for his character and also him as an actor. I didn't even saw a glimpse of the previous character he portrayed from different drama and that's saying something.
Plot is good. I love how it was written and it really just didn't focus on love line but also friendship and I'm weak for that. There are only minimal plot holes but I think I can live with it. It's mostly centred on coming of age and achieving one's dream so it was actually inspiring. It was a bit idealistic on creating the FL character though like gurl gave up career for loyalty and she's not just practical. It's just rare to find someone in real world that's willing to chose happiness over stability especially when she's supposed to be in her 30s, idk maybe I'm generalizing but yeah that's just my opinion. It's fictional anyways and it's meant to be inspiring.
Ending was cute. Full of heart-warming lessons.
Verdict: Likeable TV Series.
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I had high hopes :(
I had high hopes for this drama, because I like Wu Lei… unfortunately it failed to deliver.I think WL has to try a more sophisticated role - where he is not shabbily dressed, sitting wide- legged , wearing slippers and just being sooo ech! His roles in modern dramas are just not great. I know he probably wants to portray his acting skills rather than use his looks for his roles, but honestly his past few dramas were a let down.
The storyline is alright- it’s a sports drama. The struggles you face as a player, rejection, pressure, switching fields; then as a manager (FL) how to deal with your boss, the players, financial aid etc.. The whole drama just fell flat, not much excitement and the chemistry was lacking. The leads relationship development took AGES .. and by ep25 I just lost interest! They were still not together yet lol.
I was struggling to even get to ep25, lots of fast forwarding and skipping. Side characters were bland, music was uninteresting. You can give it a try, as many reviewers are calling it a healing drama.
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story about pure love, determination, teamwork
-the cast are amazing, they blended all well-acting are of professional level by both ML and FL as well as the supporting cast, realistic and just perfect for each role
-story is realistic, not overly romantic cringy or cheesy (it sucks if its too cheesy because that does not happen in real life)
-song sanchuan love for liang you'an is a combination of balance and passion at the same time, its loyal and lasting and persevering
-the story has nice transition
-definitely worth watching it several times if you want to fall in love realistically
-a lot of people do not like older FL and younger ML that is why this drama is so underrated because it received prejudice, give it an objective take not subjective, this is definitely one of the best drama of wu lei, i like his determination here
-the only chinese drama i put on repeat mode
congrats to wu lei and yutong , hope to see again in another drama in the future!!!
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This review may contain spoilers
Oddly flat
While I did finish this drama I ended up f-forwarding through at least a third of it, largely because I just wasn't that invested in most of the characters.High points:
I loved the relationship development between the ML and his step-father. Loved it! Actually cried real tears when ML finally calls step-father dad.
Also very much liked the secondary relationship between the coach and FL's best friend. Given their respective romantic back-stories it progressed suitably slowly and was quite sweet.
It was very nice to have a FL who was highly competent, intelligent and with just enough character flaws to be interesting.
FL's boss's wife's story of empowerment. This was change I could believe and really enjoy! Watching her despair and lack of agency turn to quiet self-confidence was a joy.
Low points:
Redemption of the FL's boss (and to a lesser extent the boss's business rival) . I find the idea that someone who is utterly self-absorbed and quite ruthless would somehow change so dramatically to be absurd and honestly felt that the changes went so far as to be OOC. Probably my own cynicism showing but there you have it.
I didn't like the third romantic couple, both of whom also had dramatic personality changes over the course of the drama. Personal growth I'm certainly here for but once again I found the changes to be extreme, OOC and not believable.
For the rest, sadly it was kind of meh. Wu Lei was himself, a touch more animated than I've seen so far and ofc very pretty to watch. I agree with many others that there was very little chemistry between the two leads and as a result this drama distinguished itself by being the first where I f-forwarded through main couple interactions on several occasions.
Can't see myself ever re-watching this one!
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Best Drama about Healing, Growth, Love, Life, Dream and Career
Very satistied with all aspects of this drama.The dialogue, characters, story development, acting, chemistry, friendship, romance are the best.
Everything has each portion in balance, thanks to the writer of this drama for making the great storyline.
Although it is slow burn romance, but the progress of their romance is amazing and heartwarming. I love the ML who are sure about his feeling despite 10 year old gap with FL. When they talked about the past, I know that they can't be separated hahahah.
All in all, I love SSC and LYA. Best drama of 2023, no maybe for me one of my all time favorite C-Drama.
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Most realistic modern Cdrama
I am sure now, if Leowu chooses a drama it is going to be great without any doubt. His acting is so realistic and mature despite his age surprises me at times but given he was working in this field since his childhood days makes sense but what surprised me a lot was acting of FL. I have seen her dramas before but this time it felt so refined. Excluding the tennis bully guy who felt little extra with his character (or maybe his character was written in such a way that it felt little overboard) rest of the cast did an amazing job in the drama.It has been a while when I last watched a sports drama and enjoyed it thoroughly. The story is pretty simple but you will find yourself engrossed in their struggles to achieve their dreams in their respective feilds. The show is very encouraging and portrays a good deal of struggle faced by women in corporate world without any filter. Office setting looked really realistic for the first time in a Cdrama. However just like any modern drama there is a catch. Whenever FL's stepsister's scenes came into play it went back to the cliche rich guy poor female storyline with the same modern Chinese drama vibe that we are all familiar with. Nevertheless I enjoyed the second lead but if I skip all their scenes I don't think it will have much impact on the main storyline of the drama. I loved the interaction of all the badminton players and their dynamic was superb. I came to enjoy amazing acting of ML but stayed for realistic vibes and encouraging storyline of the drama. The efforts of the actors to portray a realistic sports world and their hardwork is mind-blowing. Special mention for dialogue writers. I loved main couple's interaction so much. At times it felt hilarious but deep in so many ways.
Even if you are a sports drama fan or not I am sure you will enjoy this simple, realistic amd sweet drama just like me.
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For corporate millennial ladies in late 20’s and beyond
“Ever since I started work, I worked hard to be of value to my boss so my contribution at work will transcend my gender.…but I am wrong…
If your boss can’t leave you, you cannot “graduate from” your boss.”
With the rise of working female and talks of feminism in social media over the years, the show biz is quick to capitalise on the market opportunities through commercialisation and stories that center on these themes. What makes Nothing But You stand out among the lot of crappier stories, rather considerably is the realistic portrayal of Liang You An (LYA)’s corporate struggles in today’s middle class’ ladies.
This is a modern corporate lady contemporary show done right.
How many late nights, urgent calls and contemplative car rides we have taken, thinking about our progress at work, recognition, value and purpose. How many times have we thought about quitting the stressful and meaningless job, but came up with a blank because we also do not know what we want to do next. Our parents and society would say we are thinking too much. Yet, shutting the voices down also dulls us, gradually but surely. And that’s on the career aspect.
On the relationship aspect, LYA’s perspectives were also spot on. I like that the show didn’t characterise her as an ambitious woman who didn’t want love. Yes, she takes a long time accepting her feelings and undeniable attraction to Song San Chuan (SSC). Yes, she has her fair share of reservation through their journey. Which is realistically, how a lady who had built a decade of independence, would feel and behave.
It’s easy to think that SSC represents the idealistic side with his career and theme focusing on sports and career switch. Represents the beacon of hope because he is young and full of possibilities. Look a little beyond the stereotype though, 20’s in sports can feel like our corporates’ 30’s, or even beyond, as many competitive athletes retire by SSC’s age.
Hence, they met at the right career juncture of their own. An athlete who found renewed spirits to step on the court again, a corporate worker who found renewed purpose to take charge in her career.
And then, only when they had their direction in life, they found “Nothing But You.”
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Slow burn romance
"Love makes you become a better version of yourself."Likes
1. I like sports themed dramas about team work, managing the club, beating the odds to be successful. But i didnt like the constant power grabbing of Young Space even til the end.
2. I like Liang Youan and Song Sanchuan and their slowburn romance. It sometimes just becomes frustrating when Sanchuan always tries to be the man in the relationship,gets pressured and melts down and ruins everything. It shows how young and immature he still is and makes me wonder why a grown mature woman would like him other than his earnest love for her. I think in real life they prolly will last for a few years but will eventually break up. But i also like tnat they shown 2 years progression of their relationship and that Sanchuan has grown up too (but 24 yrs old is still a baby!) Their romance seemed genuine and passionate at the start but at the end they were too cringy and cheesy to watch.
3. I like the other characters in the drama. The bestie and the coach. Jiaojiao's progression from a spoiled brat to a family man. Liang Tao from being an annoying attention hungry vlogger to a serious career woman who found her place. The sisters reconcilation. Jiaojiao's family dynamics, esp Jiang Jie becoming a better guy.
Dislikes
The story is too long. They could have stopped when Sanchuan successfully won and became the no 1 player. The last 10 eps were extended and were unnecessary unless you love them so much and you dont want the story to end.
Rating: 8.5/10
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is to achieve and believe in your dream
it's amazing and worth it to watch this drama I love this every character of the drama and also the actor and actress are good acting and they have cute chemistry of every scene and also the plot of the drama is very unique of the story flow once if you have dream pursue it and believe in yourself to make come true because this drama I lot get lessons of this story the main character have a dreams but he scared to try because of her past experience but it worth it again if you try again.........Was this review helpful to you?
A little boring, but hey, there's Leo's Abs!
It was okay. I only watched this for Leo Wu (as I assume everyone else did too). I saw Zhou Yu Tong in Begin Again and thought she was cute in that one, I really wished she didn’t cut her hair. She would have looked more youthful, but I guess that wasn’t the point.There are some things I liked about the drama and somethings (most things I found boring). And I love boring, low angst dramas.
1.) Age-gap dramas are hit or miss for me, I guess because I actually look up the actor’s real age in real life and see how close they are to the characters they play. Leo does play his age, 22 to 23 but Yu Tong (FL) doesn’t, she’s 28 and plays a 32 year old (shaking my head). I guess they didn’t want someone that looked too much older? But of course she looks young, she is young!
2.) A sports storyline is also hit or miss for me. The ML starts out playing Badminton and has a mental block, he can’t play well because he has trauma. I really didn’t care for this storyline and oh boy did they use this storyline for a long time. Kind of basic right?
3.) The show was kind of boring. I don’t know how much drama that can be stirred up with a bunch of tennis players, but the drama was focused more on the corporate side, who owns the players and so forth. So the political side was not my jam. I kind of wished the drama was between the players (more than what was played out), but I guess the script writers were trying to be different.
4.) The chemistry was luke-warm at best and the leads kissed a lot! I was really surprised on all of the skinship scenes, looks like Leo is growing up or is feeling the pressure to do more physical scenes. Even though we get plenty of hugs and kisses, I wasn’t truly convinced on their “romance”.
I liked…
1.) They didn’t re-use a lot of clothing and it was super modern. Makes me want to wear sportswear and work out.
2.) I liked the secondary couple, the rich-young “Prince” and spoiled bratty sister. They had most growth in the storyline. I found it cute the way he teased her and she kept on telling him he was a joke. I stopped fast forwarding and watched their parts.
3.) There’s plenty of fan-service in this drama. Leo is shirtless a lot, his shorts are very short and you will always see some form of abs or thighs. So, there you go. I also liked the second male lead was very masculine and not the usual, super skinny look. It’s okay to eat!
4.) The drama is low, even though I found the overall show boring, the angst was low and so it was fairly easy to watch. I do like the later episodes where everyone is finally coming around and you get a lot of happy moments.
Overall, watch the show for the leads, if you are a fan and want to see Leo’s abs, then this is for you. If you don’t really care for sports theme dramas or the actors, then it’s okay passing on the drama.
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This review may contain spoilers
A Rare Gem
This drama one of the few storyline that’s so complete for main leads and also second leads (step sis & her bf) & third leads (e.g. father of ML and parents of FL and even parents of 2ML!) Cannot imagine how other drama can’t have such good & complete production like this! 😊The chemistry of main leads and second leads and even third leads (bestie + coach pairing) is good…such a surprise that every of their micro expressions are well portraying their characters and good captures into the drama! Even when taking screenshots during drama watching, the well done cinematography makes it perfect shot.
Feeling connected in every episodes (regardless on the romance, life, family parts) and myself being a non tennis player (TBH am non athlete of any category!) is totally glued to all the parts with competition (good directing & editing!). It’s really hardwork & team effort as after checking the behind-the-scenes (BTS) clips, ML was sweating so much during the tennis playing that at some point he didn’t even have his makeup put on (too much sweat cannot even keep it on!) Imagine the amount of real exercise involved to produce this drama!😂
The romance of main leads have many depths along the episodes as FL let down her guard when with ML (she was skeptical at first due to their age and positioning at work) and having trust in their relationship, also their age gap doesn’t pose major threats (also appreciate how the script did include some challenges arc for them to overcome!) and plenty of good kisses. It’s very realistic when FL is in love with ML, her portraying of the character when totally in love will sometimes be childish (yes, it’s true!) and at some point be afraid of losing each other but her growth of letting him personal space shows her maturity as well. Like how some parts both main leads were teasing each other abt FL being elder sister while ML is being younger bro…(in the night scene after ML practiced tennis while FL waited on at the snack bar) truly only when a couple doesn’t care about all those labeling can jokingly say it out aloud…kudos for main leads having done this impromptu (yes it’s done without any script and BTS capturing their good chemistry whereby they just thought about adding it for more feel, indeed it works so naturally!)
A rare gem as not often seeing drama with each characters (including side characters) showing development along the episodes and in here they’re not just taken as sidekicks to be fillers of the main leads! Most importantly, also good ending for main leads and other second, third leads! Worth the watch ^U^
And ofc bcos of the drama feel good, I can’t help checking out the OST songs after watching..
P.S. Be forewarned of FL & ML’s bed scene…just in case if many could be thinking this is a family drama and watching with family…lol…anyways, it’s a sweet moments and the aftermath of the scene is totally not the usual storyline in most scripts! Watch it to know why ya…
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Loyalty, Trust and Respect are the base of a strong relationship
This is on my Top Ten High-Valued Rewatch Drama. I haven’t watched many dramas as of late because of how long most dramas are. Quite time-consuming. Movies are a quicker solution to entertainment and thrill. So when a drama has a second, third rewatch value, that drama has to be top-notch in my E-collection. This drama is one of a few.I need to apologize first if my words seem stumble and chaotic as I stay up from 10pm to 7am to reach to the final ep. For 3 days straight, I get up, do house chores, study, house chores, make dinner, study and spend the rest of the evening from 11pm to 6-7am mowing this drama. My brain is temporarily fried but I need to write my reviews now while the passion, the love and the excitement still in my blood streams. Otherwise, if I go to sleep, I might not come back to this. I get lazy. I want to support the cast, the crews especially, the intelligent screenwriter Zhang Ying Ji, the producer Zhang Xiao Bo and talented director Chen Chang for this beautiful, exciting drama, which I haven’t seen in the market in a long while.’
My mother and I were watching this drama and Amidst the Snowstorm of Love back to back however; I dropped half way and my mother were 20 eps in then jumped to the last ep.. I admire Leo Wu for his professionalism, he is great in both physically active dramas, which both are produced in 2023. How is that possible? He must have trained days in and days out for these two, hence, the juicy biceps…excuse my drools. Though, I find these two have almost identical plots, a genius with a brilliant athletic ability struggles with childhood trauma, which has him stuck in life. Lost parents at a younger age. Psychological challenges (both ego and self-confidence). Meets the light at the end of his tunnel, falls in love at first sight. Those two grows through various stages of life, supports each other through each failure, injuries, win medals, secret love, challenge from the FL’s parents, ML received support, admiration from his teammates, and adopted parents (teacher, step dad), etc. Many more but it will become a spoiler. With all of these similarities, my love leans towards this drama because of its maturity in acting and how the cast’s emo-intelligent growth are showed each passing stage. I find some of myself in FL’s decision in life: a career driven woman but has self-doubts and is played by her own boss, who she gives her all for 6 years (of her career and received nothing but a kick out of the company), because of her mother’s failure in marriage, she shoves hate, projects her own negativities onto her daughter …but FL is determined to live her life, to share her light with others, lives with dignity and thirst for a meaningful life.
As woman in her 40’s, I can understand her decision in works, hesitation in love and how happiness is put in a corner, but is scared to ask for. Sometimes you want to speak up, to scream for the unfairness but for the sake of others, you can’t. You go home and blame it on yourself. That guilt can eat up anyone. Fortunately, God or the screenwriter sends Song San Chuan to light up her life and she gets to open a new door for him. These two love and support each other in a level of respect, maturity-not though common jealousy type you see in drama lately.
The leads are wonderful. I don’t care how others say they don’t have chemistry…what else you want.? Their age difference is 20 years, they can’t be lovey-dovey always. Career. Goals. Financial stability. Health. Are put before all that cute huggings, kissings and nonchalant. Although, I laugh silly watching these cp kiss and being playful (finally gosh, kiss some more). Leo Wu is wonderful at showing his vulnerability, a slight shaky lips, nose when he tries to cover his tears. The goofy, silly boy in love then to a determined athletic, who works hard for his dream, takes on responsibilities and admits to his shortcomings Wonderful!
The rest of the supporting cast is on par with their characters. Another point I adore this drama, character development-you can see the why, when and how, not a sudden change or a stiff bad guy-good guy role. The portray of cold big fish eats small fish is accurate to the bone. Smart dialogues.
Before ending this long review, I wanna note another extra plus plus plus points for this drama, pls note this is extra but not necessary the sweet spot to me liking this drama: Them Sweat on bare skins, Them Shorts, Them sweaty boys running in shorts…Lord, help me! Uhmmm, very hot….I mean, very professional :))
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