Our Generation

樱桃琥珀 ‧ Drama ‧ 2025
Completed
traytray
73 people found this review helpful
Jul 31, 2025
24 of 24 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 2.0
Story 2.0
Acting/Cast 5.5
Music 3.5
Rewatch Value 2.0

very disapointed

was extremely disappointed in this show. While I had high hopes going in, it quickly became clear that My Generation sends a harmful and outdated message — especially to younger viewers.

The portrayal of the female lead constantly chasing after a man who shows little to no interest was frustrating and, frankly, embarrassing. It reinforces the idea that a woman's worth is tied to male validation, which is not only untrue but damaging. Young girls need to see strong, independent characters who understand that there's more to life than pursuing someone who is clearly not reciprocating.

In 2025, we should be promoting self-respect, ambition, and emotional maturity — not desperation masked as romance. Disappointing and out of touch.

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Completed
Utemom5
68 people found this review helpful
Aug 5, 2025
24 of 24 episodes seen
Completed 1
Overall 5.0
Story 4.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 7.5
Rewatch Value 1.0

What a major disappointment

The minute this show was announced I was excited. Two top stars, yes please. Oh boy was I wrong. Too long. Bad writing.

Skippable in so many parts.

This show was not it. All that attempt in the last episode to redeem evil and toxic hateful characters, one of which contributed to the complete mess ML ended up in with her abuse, I’m sorry but no CDRAMA LAND, its not and never will be ok.

The redeeming qualities of this drama are the side characters. What a wonderful friend group. The community of the supportive adults. Love seeing this as bad parenting is usually the norm. Script tries real hard to make you hate ML, and his turn around was unnaturally fast. What a big disappointment this was. Glad its over.

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Completed
IA-000 Clap Clap Clap Award1
169 people found this review helpful
Jul 26, 2025
24 of 24 episodes seen
Completed 21
Overall 5.0
Story 4.5
Acting/Cast 6.0
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 2.5
This review may contain spoilers

The romanticization of the self-sacrificial heroine must stop !!!

This drama is a real danger for young women who seek inspiration through dramas. Here, the show normalizes and glamorizes the fact that a woman decides not to choose herself, not to prioritize herself, for the sake of a man's well-being.
If QiaoXi had truly loved YingTao with a pure and strong love, he would never have held her hostage. He would not have fueled YingTao's perseverance to continue waiting for him and finding him.
QiaoXi is a coward and a hypocrite, his character is really realistic tho, don't get me wrong, most people would have behave like he did. He had legitimate reasons for being so, but that doesn't change the nature of his actions and choices.
He tried to make her understand why he gave up on her, saying it was because he was too ashamed of what he had become, that leaving her was for her own good blablabla ...
But in reality, he's a very self-centered person, who displayed ambiguity that was detrimental to YingTao's well-being simply so that he could keep two options open for his very own well-being: keeping her in his life or abandoning her for good AKA breaking his heart or hers.
Yintao has such a strong love for QiaoXi that she couldn't bear to leave him behind (the taxi scene, episode 21), to see him destroyed because of her decision. QiaoXi couldn't do what she did. Why? Because that's what we expect from women, not men ...
YingTao acted like the mother he didn't have lmao, and it was cruel to watch, making sure he felt secure and loved in her presence no matter what ... But she wanted to be a lover, his lover and his insecurities even stole this dream of hers for so many years, having her instead chasing and showing a devotion for a man who didn't actually do the same.
It was so unfair. And most people actually focussed on how QiaoXi was feeling.
Of course, his life was very sad but you shouldn't mislead people to think because of how sad your life is, you can have the right to misbehave with someone who always had pure intentions for you. This is not fair. We all have to face our responsabilities and the consequences of our actions.

Please, women, don't sacrifice your time for a man who hesitates to keep you in his life. You deserve more than a man incapable of confronting his pride to preserve your love. You deserve someone who is determined to choose you no matter what !!!

The directing was pretty good (lovely shots especially in the beginning), the writing was bad, the editing and pacing were awful and probably the worst things about the drama.
They wasted a lovely chemistry. The acting wasn't bad but I wasn't impressed at all, they did the job I guess.
Barely anything was realistic and meaningful in the storytelling... youth, poverty, separations, friendships, the love story, the adult life... nothing looked real or even actually made through the spectrum of the age of the characters which was truly disappointing.

Was it a waste of time? Yes. I finished it cause I felt the need to have a closure.

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Completed
kibexoxo
77 people found this review helpful
Jul 29, 2025
24 of 24 episodes seen
Completed 4
Overall 1.0
Story 1.0
Acting/Cast 1.0
Music 1.0
Rewatch Value 1.0

WASTE OF TIME

Our Generation a chinese drama that tried to adapt a novel but failed to deliver in the end. This is one of my favorite novels. When I heard it is getting adapated into a drama I was excited. Then I watched the drama and just roll my eyes. A good novel is ruined yet again because these drama producers can't adapt a novel properly.

24 episodes is a complete waste of time. It was so boring and a drag to watch. I was sticking out only to see if it will improve but it only got worst. They ruined the characters they made Yingtao a brainless and obsessed female lead who chase after Qiaoxi without showing proper development on why she is so inlove with him anyway. It is ridiculous. Qiaoxi on the other hand, I don't even know what to say about his character it is hard to understand because they didn't explain his character trauma well he turned into a toxic ML.

What irritate me most is there were a lot of filler scenes. It is far from the novel. This drama adaptation is so bad. They really ruined Yingtao and Qiaoxi character in the novel. They ruined my favorite novel.

The script is mediocre. Editing is choppy. Ost? Forgettable. Chemistry is non existent they are like siblings with Yingtao being a baby. Acting is so-so but Zhao Jinmai most of the time is irritating to watch. No microexpression on her face at all she is only staring with her big eyes couldn't feel any emotion the 2nd female lead actress is better at acting than her.

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Completed
the baby dragon
65 people found this review helpful
Jul 30, 2025
24 of 24 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 5.0
Story 2.0
Acting/Cast 10
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 1.0
This review may contain spoilers

Great Cast, Wasted on a Weak Plot

I have to admit, as much as I’m a huge fan of Zhang Linghe, I need to stay objective—this drama just isn’t it. 😩 He truly deserves a project with better writing and direction.

At first, I was excited, but Our Generation quickly turned into a disappointment. I can’t tell if it’s because TikTok spoiled too many scenes or simply because the storyline itself is poorly written. The plot becomes weaker with every episode, making it hard to stay engaged.

The casting, however, is excellent. Zhang Linghe and Zhao Jinmai both deliver strong performances, but even their talent can’t save a storyline that’s overly predictable and full of clichés. There are so many other dramas out there that feel far more worth watching.

Overall:
⭐ 5/10 – A drama with a great cast, but dragged down by bad writing and an uninspired, predictable plot.

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Completed
Maria Antonia
125 people found this review helpful
Jul 26, 2025
24 of 24 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 5.5
Story 4.5
Acting/Cast 10
Music 7.0
Rewatch Value 1.0
This review may contain spoilers

It had potential but the writting isn't it.

The plot is a mix of The First Frost, Hidden Love and Always Home. However a badly written version of all of them.

The acting was great but the biggest problem is that the drama doesn't care to develop any character aside from YingTao (and even her feels undeveloped sometimes) and they kind of try with the male lead (but they fail quite miserably).

The love story feels off. On the first part of the drama (when they are kids) its sweet and makes sense why they like each other but after the time jump it feels weird YingTao still having a crush on ml after he was basically ghosted her and was rude to her. YingTao's crush borders on unhealthy!NSometimes it feels like she thinks the ml is a god, other times it seems like she can't let go of how he was in the past, And that makes it so hard to root for them! Like why is this girl so forgiving? Why does she making her life based around QiaoXi??

I understand QiaoXi is a character that is hard to write. And I think where the writters fell flat was when they decided to make his actions easly forgiven by fl. His actions aren't unforgivable (expecially when you discover the background behind them) but he only explains when sh*t hit the fan and he needs to say sorry and that doesn't feel chartastic to the audience that mainly saw the fl sufering because it doesn't show him thinking and regretting his decisions. And when it does show him regretting something is to quick.

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Completed
Grumpy Witch Sassy Tomato1
118 people found this review helpful
Jul 29, 2025
24 of 24 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 3.0
Story 2.5
Acting/Cast 6.0
Music 1.0
Rewatch Value 1.0

It really should have been 10 episodes

Our Generation is the kind of show that feels like it was written by chatgpt and never edited by a sentient creature. Some say that the show suffered because of the extreme editing it underwent, apparently it was supposed to be 40 episodes and after the editing process it became 24, but aren’t the best parts of the show supposed to be preserved in order to deliver a “quality” product?

While I was never overly excited about it, I was hoping this drama would be the one that made up for all of the trespasses The Princess Royal committed. However, the show quickly becomes a painfully long mess, a dumpster fire, if you will; plagued by unlikeable characters, zero chemistry between the leads, and dialogue that feels like it was written by a lovesick teenager for a wattpad novel. This results in this being Zhang Ling He’s worst drama to date. I never want to watch this couple pairing again and it almost, almost, makes me want to retake The Best Thing and finish it, just so I can cleanse my soul from this mess .

At 24 episodes, this show drags its feet through scenes that add nothing, say nothing, and that leave you feeling numb. So numb that at one point I asked, "is this what having a lobotomy feels like?". It really should have been 10 episodes. The writing tries so hard to be “relatable” and “deep,” but instead gives a severe case of brain rot, forcing you to question why you started it and why you are still watching.

There’s no emotional payoff and no real reason to care about the characters or what is going on in the story. So, you’re just left with characters who are either irritating, extremely unlikeable, and/or completely forgettable, and a story that confuses obsession and compulsion for everlasting love.

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Completed
Agustina
103 people found this review helpful
Jul 26, 2025
24 of 24 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 1.0
Story 5.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 5.0

Disappointed me, although i was excited for this drama.

The problem with this drama is the portrayal of characters and predictable plotlines, the male lead's character unlikable and the female lead's character attachment to him baffling.
Male Lead's character lacking in integrity and decisiveness, making him difficult to sympathize with, even considering his difficult family situation.
The drama relies on common tropes and lacks fresh twists, particularly in its portrayal of youth and school life, there is also a lack of balance and depth in the writing, particularly in the portrayal of the female lead character.

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Completed
A_ra
107 people found this review helpful
Jul 28, 2025
24 of 24 episodes seen
Completed 3
Overall 5.5
Story 4.0
Acting/Cast 8.5
Music 7.5
Rewatch Value 1.0

Just FL having no backbone

I was really looking forward to this drama especially since we would get to be seeing ZLH and ZJM tgt again but the story was just not it for me. Her being so hung up on a boy she knew for a little over 6 months and throwing basically her whole life away for him was just dissapointing to see. I am not disregarding his struggles and what not but i don't get why she's so stuck on a boy who dropped her not once but twice. But the biggest problem and might i say the downfall of the whole series, was the episode cut. The story would've been so much better had show been 40 episodes as planned. Bc of the episode cut everything felt empty and rushed. It seemed like we were missing so much. To close off, all i could say is this show had crazy potential it just didnt reach the expectations i had

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Completed
zari
111 people found this review helpful
Jul 27, 2025
24 of 24 episodes seen
Completed 25
Overall 3.0
Story 2.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 7.0
Rewatch Value 2.0

A waste of such a talented cast!

I was SO excited to watch this show, because it had the same leads as The Princess Royal. The actors had such great chemistry in The Princess Royal and I had been waiting for this show to see them together again.

And this show completely failed to meet any of my expectations.

NOTE: These are just my opinions! You don't have to like/agree with anything I said, because I'm just one person. These reviews are for me to look back on more than anything.

The story was bad. The actors seemed to have zero chemistry (which isn't the case, seeing as how they were flawless in The Princess Royal). The characters were all weak and even pathetic (with the exception of Yu Qiao). The conflicts were cliche and it seemed like they were just there to give the show SOME substance.

My issues with the show:

A. No romantic build-up. Yingtao and Qiao Xi both liked each other as children and those feelings stayed strong even as teenagers. However, this meant we got no explanation as to WHY they liked each other. Yingtao liked him even after years of him not contacting her. It was very obvious that they both liked each other. Without giving anything away, the only signs I saw of Qiao Xi liking Yingtao was him SAYING it. I did not see it through his actions in the second part of the show. When they finally got together, it was basically because Yingtao coaxed him into it and led him like he was a baby? It didn't even seem like he WANTED any of it. I honestly would have thought he just got into a relationship with her because she liked him so much and he felt bad. Their first kiss made me physically cringe.

B. Weak conflicts and plot. I do not exaggerate when I say literally nothing happened in this show. Like. Nothing. The main point of conflict was Qiao Xi's mother did not want him to befriend people from their old town. It was an interesting dynamic, for sure! But it was not deep or developed enough to be the only point of conflict. His mother's words eventually lead Qiao Xi to abandon his friends over and over and OVER again. That was it. Everything else was half-hearted. Even the second leads' love story barely had a conclusion. It honestly seemed like the writers did not care about this show at all. One-dimensional characters, half-hearted plots, cliche and predictable conflicts, etc.

C. Weak characters. The most interesting character in this show was Qiao Xi, and he frustrated me every episode. Yingtao was the most flat character I've encountered in a c-drama in a while, and I was extremely disappointed, Her entire character revolved around Qiao Xi, Qiao Xi, Qiao Xi. She left her friends for Qiao Xi, she neglected herself for Qiao Xi, she compromised her own future at times for Qiao Xi. He obviously cared about her, but he didn't do a great job of showing it throughout the whole show and left her several times. But she went back to him EVERY SINGLE TIME. She saved up her hard-earned money to go find him when he was trying to hide from her. Yingtao was an extremely disappointing character. She had nothing outside of her love from Qiao Xi. It's frustrating to see female leads who completely revolve around male leads in 2025.

D. The resolution. This show ended exactly how I thought it would: resolution within a single episode after twenty episodes of meaningless conflict and basically nothing. A happy ending, for sure. But it was just such a let down. I had been hoping for some actual substance to the plot in the final moments of the show, but we didn't get anything.

There weren't many things I actually liked about this show. I LOVED the cast, obviously. I watched this show for them. As I mentioned earlier, any chemistry they had in Our Generation was minimal. It might have been because The Princess Royal had a very different plot that involved the leads being together more, but the leads in Our Generation were together often and yet it was incredibly awkward. I genuinely think this was all just because of the horrible plot and characters. I was so excited for this show and I'm disappointed. I will be supporting Zhang Linghe and Zhao Jinmai's future works eagerly and hope they will act in another drama together.

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Completed
keylimepi
77 people found this review helpful
Jul 17, 2025
24 of 24 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 7.0
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 9.0
Rewatch Value 4.0
This review may contain spoilers

long long ago in a galaxy far away ... it had potential

Our Generation was one of the most anticipated dramas of Zhang Ling He and Zhao Jin Mai (I'm looking at YOU fans of ZLH, ZJM, or The Princess Royal). Yes, YOU includes me, I am you and you are me. Oh man ... if it isn't the dream to get the couple you loved in a period/historical drama to work together again in a modern romance setting. To preface, I did watch the princess royal, and yes I loved their dynamic there, was I super into the politics? well, no, but I was into the romance and I thought their comeback was great. We love a short-lived enemies to reluctant friends to old married couple trope, classic. In this essay, I will

joking, this is not an essay, but it's quite a long review for the 6 episodes I've watched so far. I just have some thoughts I need to get out.

Our Generation starts off as a slice of life + romance drama that revolves around a group of friends from a little town in the rural areas called Qunshan, but more specifically around the journey of Zhao Jin Mai's character, Lin Yingtao, and Zhang Ling He's character, Jiang Qiaoxi, as they spend more than half of their life knowing each other as kids to adults. Their story begins as kids with Lin Yingtao as a bright and eccentric girl who loves living in Qunshan, and more than anything, loves her friends and her family. They essentially define her purpose and meaning in life, and without them, she doesn't feel whole. Then one day she meets a boy who just moved to Qunshan, foreign and dressed in all black, she was determined to become his friend. Jiang Xiaoqi lives his whole life in the shadow of his late brother—someone his parents will never forget, never let him forget, and is someone he has never even met. Treating him as if he was his older bother, his mother cruelly invades every aspect of his life, whether it's where he goes to school, who he gets to be friends with, what food he gets to eat, what colour he gets to wear, she always has the final say. For a fleeting moment of time, he is free from his mother's grasp when he moves to Qunshan with his father, and this marks one of the most significant time in his life where he meets Lin Yingtao, who carries the torch that brings the light to a life that is spent living in the dark. However, very soon, he's forced to move back to the city and continue his studies there. One by one, Yingtao's friends leave her and transfer to the same school as Qiaoxi in the city, and it isn't until quite a few years later that the Qunshan gang all reunite again when she herself transfers. From this point on, begins Yingtao and Xiaoqi's journey to healing each other's unspoken wounds, and what was once a childhood crush, starts looking a lot like true love. (At least I dunno, that's what Netflix has aired so far). If you don't like watching family issues, typical second female lead mean girl, forced to separate multiple times tropes, LOOK AWAY!! This is not for you queen.

BORE we read the synopsis, yea yea I know im sorry. A summary is like a mandatory thing, bear with me. I heard about the first episode being about when they were children, and then the next episode is them as teens. This type of beginning usually makes me hyped! Who doesn't love a good backstory? Well, unfortunately, I felt it lacked some emotional depth from what we would expect to be Yingtao's most cherished moments in life. I mean, she carried these memories into the city when she transferred, and never seemed to forget about Qiaoxi for a single day since he left. I was waiting for just a single moment in all of their childhood memories that screamed, YOU!! oh I'll definitely never forget you. It was kind of a typical kid experience, they played together, she shows him a bit of kindness, shares her pet with him, shares food, sure but WHEREE WAS THE DEFINING MOMENT GUYS. missing the it factor here man. In that sense, showing their childhood story to me was kind of useless aside from the fact that Qiaoxi never came back for her. We could've started from there and I wouldn't have minded. Then we very quickly see the gang back together as teens (with the actual actors) and I again, expected more. Maybe I'm picky, but when I watch a supposed group of childhood friends, I expect them to have this sort of chemistry that makes me believe they're truly best friends and one another's found family. In this drama, it was definitely lacking this bond. Something about it just felt a little ... ingenuine? I can't pinpoint if it's the script, or the directing, but I know part of the reason is Zhao jinmai's acting. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying she's a bad actor, but I think something about her acting as a teenager was a little off. You can say it's the awkwardness a teen is supposed to have, but no, I think some teenagers can be normal guys. She's the glue of the group, all her friends love and protect her, but somehow their entire friend group chemistry falls flat. Storywise, this is a great typical set up to be fair, I like the setting of this, it's just poor execution in my opinion.

Romance-wise, yes I will mention Zhang Ling He now. Idk what to say but just looking at him makes me happy. I don't know if it's the overdo edits right now or what, but he's literally handsome in everything. I don't think ZLH or ZJM are qualified to play so called 'teenagers' but I'll endure it because I'm really just waiting for their story as adults. Acting wise, I think ZLH does a good job portraying miserable, brooding, misunderstood boy stuck under the control of his mom. Am I getting a little tired of these terrible mother tropes? VERY. I am SO VERY TIRED GUYS YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND. After the korean remake of go ahead, be passionately in love, and the accumulation of evil stepmoms in historical cdramas, A GIRL NEEDS A BREAK. Tell me why this woman is threatening to move Yingtao's family to another province if Qiaoxi continues being friends with her. AND THEY AREN'T EVEN MILLIONAIRES OR SUPER RICH.. make it make sense. ykwim?? It gets to a point. Anyways, very obviously Qiaoxi is in love with Yingtao. He was shy as hell as a kid and suddenly he's cheeky, playful, and good at flirting in their high school era?? I will say though, he makes everything a lot more interesting when he's trying to win over Yingtao, and I'm enjoying their scenes together. ZLH's charm is enough chemistry for the both of them, but thank god they still kept the chemistry they had in the princess royal. Despite their lacklustre past, I don't think it's unreasonable for Yingtao to place a lot of importance on Qiaoxi even though they were apart for so many years (ok maybe a little unreasonable for her to think about him every day compared to the friends she actually grew up with), I mean, think about seeing your first crush again (who looks like ZLH), there's bound to be some sort of unresolved feelings right? Ep 6 ends with their big misunderstanding resolved and some other problems a-brewing, but I'm excited to see what else is in store because I think I'm solely here for the romance.

Edit: beware, these are full spoilers of the ending. after finishing this drama, I can conclude that this was definitely a frustrating watch. Qiaoxi hurts her again and again, disappearing without a trace every time, when he knows that's what she's most afraid of. What is your goal boy. Because if it's to give her a broken heart indefinitely, he's really good at doing that. I liked Yingtao maturing once she started university, and I liked her friendship with her seniors, it showed that yes she could live just fine on her own, and yet she always has this void in her heart that has yet to be filled. I salute Yu Qiao for being such an understanding friend, he was the mvp in this couple pairing when he himself wanted the girl. What I disliked, was actually the fact that we don't get to see Qiaoxi's friendship with the Qunshan group ever get as deep as Yingtao's. I know that they're the OG Qunshan group, but Qiaoxi was also an important part of their lives, and they all consider him their friend. This truly gets downplayed in this drama, which I guess also plays into why Qiaoxi feels the only thing he can go back to is Yingtao. It just makes it feel like Qiaoxi is part of their group solely because of Yingtao and for being a pitiful kid. Aside from this, whatever, sure his trauma makes sense, and ignoring her for years makes sense, but I really expected more from this drama. The script isn't as good as you expect it to be with these two as the leads, and certainly pales in comparison to their dialogues in the princess royal. Even the Hong Kong arc, I really expected an explosion of chemistry or something, only to be met with the most stubborn guy ever. And how did it get resolved? A quick I'll stop loving you now, then he 'chases' after her.. hmm nice try buddy, you still didn't catch up though. And to make it worse, he had to be taught what to do in their moment of reconciliation. Talk about disappointing, whatever happened to the cheeky Qiaoxi?? Wasn't satisfied with how they tied up their ending here, love a happy ending but their path to getting there was unreasonably rocky. Don't get me started on Yu Qiao and Qin Yeyun's short open ending, we deserved a proper confession and a confirmation of them ending up tgt and I stand by that. Cai Fangyuan barely got any lines in their last scenes tgt too, why didn't they tell us what he's been up to? This was more a rant than a review, I advise anyone who hasn't watched yet to save their time! Stick to the edits only.

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Completed
NCloudY
30 people found this review helpful
29 days ago
24 of 24 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 7.5
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 9.5
Rewatch Value 8.0
This review may contain spoilers

Come on, it could’ve been way better than this!

Disclaimer: This review is based solely on the aired version of the drama—no behind-the-scenes tea included.

After weeks of following this show... it’s finally over. And if you ask me whether I’d recommend it to others—my honest answer is: yes... but also, not really. Because this drama? It had so much potential—but also made some frustrating choices that held it back.

Let’s start with the good stuff:
The premise? Solid. Friends to lovers? Childhood friends? Total comfort food for the soul. It had all the ingredients to be a warm, relatable, slice-of-life drama with depth. Heck, it could’ve even become a quiet exploration of mental health... if it had been handled better.

But here's the thing: what kept this drama afloat wasn’t the script, wasn’t the direction, wasn’t even the editing (we’ll get there in a second). It was the cast. Every single actor—yes, even the child actors—gave it their all and practically carried this drama on their backs.

Because the script? Felt choppy. Scenes jumped around. Focus was inconsistent. And at some point, I genuinely wondered if the producers themselves were confused about how to build the Qushan gang’s dynamics.

The friendship within the Qushan gang lacked emotional glue. Their bond didn’t feel lived-in. It felt… rotational. Like, okay—who’s gonna check in on Ying Tao this episode?

Early on, she was glued to Yu Qiao. Every. Single. Episode. The amount of screen time they took up together could’ve easily been used to deepen other plots. Then, mid-season, bam! suddenly Fang Yuan becomes her emotional anchor. He’s calling her, updating her, checking in like it’s his full-time job. Meanwhile, Dushang? Still missing in action.

And don’t get me started on Dushang’s storyline. They hinted at domestic violence in his family early on. It was serious. But fast forward, and suddenly his dad just shows up like nothing ever happened? Zero closure. Zero emotional follow-up. Just swept under the rug.

Then—plot twist—right near the end, Dushang finally gets more scenes... and becomes Ying Tao’s main contact out of nowhere. After being sidelined for the entire show, he’s suddenly relevant? It felt like a punchline.

The biggest tragedy? These characters had so much potential. The actors were more than capable. But the direction failed them. Their interactions didn’t flow naturally, and so much of the emotional weight felt unearned.

Now, let’s talk about the one thing that made me stay:
Ying Tao and Qiao Xi’s chemistry.
Thank god for them.

Despite limited scenes together and barely-there exposition, the emotional connection between them still hit. Zhao Jinmai and Zhang Linghe deserve serious credit. They fought for that chemistry, and it showed.

Jinmai brought every emotion to life—grief, frustration, hope, love—all so authentically. And Linghe? He portrayed Qiao Xi’s silent battles and quiet despair with heartbreaking nuance, even when the script gave him so little.

And honestly? Qiao Xi’s character could’ve been legendary with better writing. He’s the perfect embodiment of a kid growing up with an empty love tank. His parents were present physically, but never emotionally. The emotional neglect? Gut-wrenching. So when someone like Ying Tao loves him fully—without condition—it scares him. He runs. Because love feels foreign. Like danger.

That’s the core of his character. And it works. It’s raw, it’s real, and it speaks to so many people.

Meanwhile, Ying Tao grew up surrounded by love. Her emotional cup is full—and that’s why she has the capacity to love others deeply. The contrast between the two? Brilliant. And it makes you root for them so hard.

One of the most important truths this drama quietly delivers is:
Not every parent deserves the title of ‘parent.’
Qiao Xi’s parents? Prime example of that.

And I loved that in the end, his mom didn’t magically change or chase him down. She stayed the same. No guilt, no awareness. Just the same self-centered, emotionally unavailable woman who thinks the world revolves around her. People like that? Their ears are decorative. Period. 😂

You can shower them with kindness and understanding—but it’ll never be enough. Because they don’t see you. And honestly? The healthiest thing to do is to leave. Before they break you more than they already have.

Now. We need to talk about the elephant in the room:
THE EDITING.

It was… chaotic. Especially in the early episodes. Transitions were jarring. Scenes ended abruptly. Filters changed without warning. Like—remember the Hong Kong scenes? Suddenly the whole vibe turned cinematic, like we were watching a completely different show. The first and last episodes felt like they came from different universes. Not sure if the editor just leveled up halfway through… or if it was just pure inconsistency.

So yeah. This drama wasn’t perfect. Far from it.

But do I regret watching it? Not at all. The story had charm. The characters were endearing. And thank goodness the leads weren’t another comic artist or programmer (I am SO over those tropes, lmao). The roles felt fresh, the conflicts were compelling, and the ending? Surprisingly satisfying.

So yeah. A bumpy ride—but not a wasted one.

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