This review may contain spoilers
She chased fate. He chased dreams. The drama chased its plot.
I almost dropped this drama after watching the first episode, because I’m not really a fan where the ending is at the beginning of the drama. It’s not that I don’t want to know what happens, and let’s face it, romcoms typically end with a Happy-Ever-After. It won’t veer from this formula, but I’m already resigned to this fate without even giving me the chance of speculation.After delaying it for months, I finally got around to watching it. I was mildly surprised I didn’t hate it as much as I expected. Maybe this is also due to me failing to recognize Lu Yu Xiao from her Antagonist role in “My Journey to You.” Here, she’s a perfect fit as Lin Xi, neither too clingy, nor over-bearing. Although I almost ditched this drama for another reason: I misunderstood her intentions in approaching Ji Jun Xing at the start. Thinking that she would be one of those females chasing the man around with no self-respect. ISWAK really traumatized me in that regard.
For his part, Wu Jun Ting is convincing as the aloof Ji Jun Xing, but later warms up to those friends who became part of his inner circle, mostly thanks to the efforts of Lin Xi. Jun Xing and Lin Xi’s journey from strangers to friends to lovers, was really heart-warming to watch. Their romance was a natural progression.
In contrast, Yi Mian’s and Xie Ang’s on-and-off relationship gave me a whiplash. They break up at the slightest disagreement and get back together when they miss each other. After the nth time they did this, I couldn’t care less whether or not they end up together.
As for the third pairing, we all know that they are not really your typical type of friendship. There are plenty of hints that there is more going on between Gao Yun Lang and Chen Mo than meets the eye. But alas, we have to play to the hetero-normative construct in order to pass the censors, so we are just presented with the “Socialist brotherhood” that seems acceptable.
The rest of the characters were not as memorable, except maybe for Qin Kai. He wasn’t a strong enough of match for Lin Xi, that I didn’t feel any second-lead syndrome at all. But he served his purpose, as well as the rest of the cast.
The pacing was well-maintained in the beginning until the tail end, where all the time skips happened. I wanted the drama’s second half to address or at least include a few things. One being: where were all the parents after their high school days? Somehow, all of them disappeared from the scene, only to be reunited at the end during their wedding. I would have liked to see more of their interaction, especially since Lin Xi and Jin Xing’s family were supposed to be distant relatives. At least, I would have imagined them eating at each other’s house more often when they became a couple.
Also, after all that effort of making the heart-monitoring bracelet, I thought they would show Jin Xing’s brother making use of it. After all, it was for his sake that the idea came to fruition. He, along with the parents, seemed to vanish into thin air once they went to university.
Instead, we get a high school reunion of people we hardly saw in the drama, as if I would remember who they were in high school. I’m not convinced that all their classmates will take part in the surprise marriage proposal that Jin Xing meticulously prepared for, but there’s dramaland for you.
Aside from those things, this drama is decent enough to pass muster. It mainly talks about how people are fated to be together, and how important it is to chase your dreams.
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The main couple deserved a better story
The story was all over the place, the friend group was boring and didn't make me root for them at all, and even the OST was bad. The secondary couple was terrible and their back and forth was a huge waste of everyones time. The only good thing was the main couple, I really liked their acting and chemistry but the plot made them dirty, they deserved better and I hope to see them together again in a good drama with a better story, cast and production, they would be cute in a fantasy drama togetherWas this review helpful to you?
Such a cute drama with amazing main couple chemistry and friendship ❤️
Best cdrama..the cast, their chemistry, their acting.. script and everything is so perfect about this drama..Damnnn... their chemistry ❤️❤️🙈🙈🙈🙈Whole case did amazing job in this drama..this is my first time watching real and sincere interactions between co actors!! They really care & respect each other!.
Manifesting another drama with the sameeee leads! 💗
Best cdrama..the cast, their chemistry, their acting.. script and everything is so perfect about this drama..Damnnn... their chemistry ❤️❤️🙈🙈🙈🙈
Whole case did amazing job in this drama..this is my first time watching real and sincere interactions between co actors!! They really care & respect each other!.
Manifesting another drama with the sameeee leads! 💗
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This review may contain spoilers
Gostosinho de ver.
É aquele drama docinho, gostosinho de assistir. Eu ando me apegando nesse estilo: contar a trajetória de amigos da época de escola, fazendo uma transição na faculdade até a vida adulta. Chinês gosta de um enredo assim. Não tem nada demais, que eu considero: nossa que enredo. Mas é aquele tipo de história pra você assistir sem nenhum tipo de complicação. Eu ando bem nessa vip, kkkk.Agoro nada me tira da cabeça que entre os dois amigos que eram muito próximos, desde a infância, existia um sentimento maior, que ia além da amizade. Se de fato eles não tinham intenção disso, conseguiram me transmitir de uma forma bem indireta. Acho que pelo fato de ser chinês eles nunca iriam abortar isso. Mas que isso ficou martelando na minha cabeça, olha que ficou, kkk.
Achei a química dos dois casais legais, só fiquei com pena do corredor, bixinho.
Nos mais é aquele tipo de dorama que tem um enredo fluido, não achei que enrolou muito, só na parte do desentendimento dos dois, pois ali apenas bastava uma simples conversa. Mas aí não teria um draminha, né? Mas no geral, não tem algo espetacular, contudo é gostoso de assistir.
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A sweet high school to college romance
TLDR: Mostly fluffy story about friends growing up together, supporting one another through adversity in high school and college. I loved that they stood up for themselves on that mountain.The kind of story that can lift your mood. For the most part, each episode was fluffy and left me smiling. Of course, there were a few misunderstandings before the leads became a couple, when they were still trying to navigate their feelings and trying to figure out whether the other person felt as much as they did.
The FL was also such a positive, kind and generous person that another classmate was interested in her for a long time. I liked how this love triangle was handled in the show. It was not toxic, which is refreshing. The second couple was less mature than the leads and they bickered quite a bit, affecting the friends' dynamics several times. And the third couple and they were a couple in my eyes, even people will likely disagree. A bleep at midnight - was that a kiss between them? One goes to study abroad and soon after, the other follows. Then, we find out they're living together. Yes, it's a Chinese drama, and we won't see kisses between the third couple (M/M). But even the promo photos have them staring at each other, in the way the first two couples were positioned.
One of the other things that stood out for me was the group's foray to the hill behind the school. They saved a distraught classmate and were all encouraged to vent their frustrations, not realizing their parents were looking for them and were close enough to hear their shouts. Our parents always think they're doing what's best for us and that we don't know any better when we're 18. Those shouts may have been "unfilial" but they started much-needed conversations.
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Teenagers may like it
The story about school's students ,. A girl who had a happy family but a tragedy happened and their happiness went somewhere . She met a boy ,with the boy that tragedy is connected . At starting it had shown that she tried to reach him because she liked him but story is something else.This way the story had started , story of school's friend pursuing different field and achieved their goal .
Nothing is new in the story . Such type of story I had already watched .
I watched the full story .
It give an example of how are the perfect couple to be.
Teenagers who like love story will like this story too.
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OVERRATED
Okay so i watched this show very late and completed it in just 2 days bec i mostly skipped through everything.This show is way overrated. It wasn't fun to watch at all.
Definitely the actors did an amazing job but the plot was lacking in every way.
Nothing unique nothing extraordinary just the typical childish cdrama plot of gradually falling in love and fulfilling your dreams alongside your friends.
The 2nd male lead character seemed better than the lead character which made things worse.
AND the 2 side character couple was so toxic so annoying to watch. They could've been such a cute couple but the writers made them a toxic one.
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Cute Highschool Love Story; overused concept but nice acting and not very draggy
Okay, so the start of this show was pretty confusing and also put me off just because of how forceful the FL came across. However, it was her impactful acting that actually led me to believe that there is some catch involving her brother right from the beginning.But the FL's character had such major redemption that I can't even begin to explain. I'm talking solely about her character and not the plot overall. The plot is nothing new tbh, just your average high school Chinese drama with a couple of couples including the support roles. I love how the FL grows to value and respect herself. I love how she does not back away from her friendship with the SML just because of his feelings, they grow as friends together and support one another. I have really liked her growth.
It is quite an easy and enjoyable watch. No unnecessary drama, a few cliches are there but they are not stretched which makes it easy to watch instead of the need to go on a skipping spree. The acting is quite well done by everyone. The music is quite average but not bad.
All in all it's worth a one-time watch. It's a cute story between two childhood sweethearts and very heartwarming to watch. Nothing spectacular or over and above but interesting and cute nonetheless.
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I regret watching..
From an adult's perspective this drama is very weak. There are lots of dashingly beautiful people on the screen & the cinematography is decent, but everything else is from mediocre to straight up bad.The show follows the frustrating formula of 15 episodes of high school slice of life where everyone is "friends" followed by a -n awful- transition phase & then university / adult dating in the final 5. While I don't like this formula, I have seen some objectively great dramas based on it. So why is this so much worse? Well for starters the acting is on a very low level, with very little emotional impact beyond some occasional cutesy fluff. 80% of this show is not romance, but that 80% is surprisingly boring most of the time, though the startup related plotline in the final episodes is way worse than boring & it could not have been any less unoriginal. (develop a new kind of fitness bracelet, heavily woo a hermit expert to help you along etc..)
The romance itself is sub par too. It's just difficult to feel the immersion, I'm really not sold on any of it.
The love triangle is not the worst, but it's present for quite a while & all the "let's be friends" talk on the main couple's side made it oh so much worse.
The show has some jarringly blatant social engineering / propaganda messaging. For example there is that scene when the crew talks about what an idol is to them or when ML is repeatedly saying that everyone should follow their on pace, doing that completely out of context, essentially disregarding FL's top level ability & the -oh so dumb & super common- outside factors that led to her having to repeat the final year.
Don't waste your time, compared to I don't know `A Love So Beautiful ` this is not worth mentioning. Yes, censorship limits heavily what a high school slide of life cdrama can be, but here the writers did not even try to thread those limits..
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this drama is worth watching
i loved this drama and it has the super story and i loved the main casts and it shows friendship ,love etc this drama is with mixed emotions i loved it it is worth watching ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️and it has the cute misunderstanding and cute Tom and Jerry friend ship and it have the hate to love and it has not second lead syndrome but sometimes you can feel it ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍Qin kai ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️Was this review helpful to you?
Wonderful drama!
I loved this drama! The acting was so since and I could feel myself kicking my feet whenever there was a cute or sincere moment. Not only is the acting impressive (especially for 2 not-very-know actors), but the plot was wonderful. Both leads have a purpose in life besides their love life, Lin Xi is trying to become a doctor so she can prevent what happened to her brother and Ji Jun Xing wants to major in CS since he has a passion for the subject. I'll admit, the beginning (1st episode) is a little awkward and I got 2nd hand embarrassed for Lin Xi, however, as the episode progressed I could myself falling in love with their dynamic. If you're reading this and want to know what kind of relationship this is before watching it; it's like "She fell first but in the friend way and he fell WAYYYYY harder." It's refreshing to have an FL who has goals and is smart (top of the class smart) and who is not only academically smart but also has a sharp mind and knows how to read the room (fox and bunny ((iykyk)). She is also a social butterfly who was quickly able to adapt to her new surroundings, unlike the ML who is more introverted, he still has goals and ambitions, but he just "has no need for friends cause he all cool and stuff" which is not true because they ending forming the cutest friend-group/study group. I simply love this drama because it's not ALL romance, sure obliviously it's a romance drama for a reason, but romance is not the only form of entertainment. Both characters can strive on their own and can become successful, they are driven and have goals they will go past their limits to obtain. They have wonderful backstories that explain their emotions. If you're looking for a break from all the lovey-dovey, super cute FL (not that Lin Xi isn't cute, I love watching her at work), and a more smart-rule-the-world-future-president couple then this is the drama for you!Was this review helpful to you?
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Worth to watch
For me, it is one of the best opening drama in 2023. The storyline, the acting, and the cast, are perfect to me. Both of main lead, are smart, and for the female lead, she is strong and not depending to others. This drama also shows the true friendship, helping each other (in term of exam, project, etc) and also, they don't want their friend to feel hurt (for the concert scene). Besides, the opening and ending song, they are really good, especially the ending song. Recommended for those who like light, romance, friendship, and youth drama.Was this review helpful to you?
