Great performances and music
Really enjoyed this show. Although some of the ML's struggles are a little unoriginal, the performances of the two main characters, especially FL are top notch and the second half of the drama is far better than the first, which has a few missteps imo. Really enjoyed all the stuff in HK, and the music was great. At heart this is a touching story of coming to terms with our own failures and allowing others to accept us. Very good 👍👍👍Was this review helpful to you?
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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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Good but could've been better
I'm not new to watching coming-of-age/romance dramas like this. The first 10 episodes up to the last bit of the high school arc, were pretty solid, good, and are rather enjoyable. I loved the dynamic of the Qunshan squad. I also liked how they got to highlight the struggles of each character (maybe not too much on Cai Fangyuan's though). I really thought it deserved a higher rating than what it currently has.HOWEVER, the romance in this drama fell flat. First off, I understand the review of most people here regarding the FL being the constant "chaser". I honestly didn't mind it at first. Considering that I also watched The First Frost, I just thought that a reversed role of the girl being the chaser shouldn't be that bad as long as it's portrayed well. But I think one of the main points why TFF was such a hit is that it isn't common in real life to have somebody like Sangyan -- e.g. a guy who's willing to go through all hell for a girl regardless of how long it may be. People put Sangyan's character on a pedestal because of this. In reality, it's always women who chase after problematic and emotionally unavailable men because of our so-called "maternal instinct". I get Qiaoxi's struggles and I believe nobody should struggle the same way as he did, but our homegirl didn't look like she has any self-respect and really acted like a martyr all the way til the end. Perhaps the most self-respect she showed to herself was during her first reunion with QX when she initially tried pushing him away.
In relation to that, Yingtao's character lacks depth. The show made it look like she only lives and breathes for Qiaoxi (which I believe she mentioned in one scene). They didn't even highlight her dreams, her aspirations, and her inner struggles. It's hard to connect with her on an emotional level because all she really utters is "Qiaoxi Qiaoxi Qiaoxi". Heck there wasn't even a scene where she finally realizes that her feelings for QX are more than just caring for a friend. No scene for self-reflection at all.
Ok, now to Qiaoxi. The guy didn't even have a redemption arc! That time skip left out a lot of loose ends. How did he do during college? How did he get that finance job in the first place? How did he and Yingtao ended up living under the same roof? Did he ever make it up to Yingtao? And on top of that, the show ended with him...JOBLESS! And, when did he even realize he's developed a romantic feeling for Yingtao? Was he just going with the surge of emotions? He was in a very unstable emotional state so how was he so sure that he actually loves Yingtao? Coz she was the one who's always there for her and that nobody else could probably tolerate him the way Yingtao does? They may have shown that he feels bad for ghosting YT but his remorse didn't leave a huge impact to the viewers.
Overall, ZJM and ZLH did so well with their roles. It's just that the plot could've been better. I've read that the novel was so much better in so many ways so it's such a shame to see the drama being portrayed like this. I honestly thought the elementary/high school arc and the college/adult arc were written by different writers because there's so much disconnect with the feels. Not to mention the unnecessary fillers that could've been used to establish the characters' story well.
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Why such a low rating?
In my personal opinion, this drama rating should be much higher. When you do a review, it's not about your taste of drama. You got to break it down. This drama is not about # of kissing scenes, spoil rich kids bullying the FL/ML, or revenge. It's about lesson in life.Length of the drama; 24 episodes are perfect. Chinese drama tends to be too long.
Casting: Perfect. Both ML and FL grown up version look like their child version. They even add a mode on his nose. The ML looks matches his living condition between pamper vs hard working.
Acting: I think everybody play their part very well. Some of comments did think it was not the best ML work. Remember, he is supposed to play sad trouble kid. All these kids are supposed to be teenager. If you had been teenager before, remember how sensitive you were. Little issue was seems like a big issue. Now I am much older and have children of my own, I have more patience and compassion; I can see their point of view.
Story: This drama is on a dark side. This hit so many psychology issues: parenting style, grieving, friendship, Financial struggle, etc...
- Different parenting style: Parents have tendency to compare sibling and to other children. They also push their children to do their best. It's like they show their love through the children's success. This is especially in Asian cultures. You can see how it effect the children mental health. FL grow up in a loving family; she turned out to be stable, strong, high self esteem, and most importance of all, compassion.
- Friendship: Some comments said the FL is obsessive. I think it's about friendship helping each other. If one of her friends is in the same suggestion as the ML, I feel that she would reach out to help also. She has compassion and see through the issue ML.
- Closed to real life issue: No rich family, no fancy cars, no body dress like the just step out of glamour magazine, financial struggle. I'm glad the ML can be saved. If this is Korean or Western drama, the ending most likely will be different. In real life, not everybody can be saved. Not everybody is fortunately enough to have friend reach out to help.
To Parents: I recommend watching this drama. Our action effects our children and their children for the rest of their lives. We can only guide them; we can not force them to live our life. Don't make your dream become their.
To Young people: I recommend watching this drama also. Focus on friendship. The world will be better if you help each other.
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Cherry: The Light That Conquered the Darkness
In Our Generation, amidst grief, fractured families, and the shadows of loss, the character of Cherry shines as one of the most remarkable female leads to grace the screen. Where so many stories present a male lead who fights the world for the woman he loves, here the roles are reversed—and therein lies both the beauty and the controversy.Cherry’s love is not fleeting, nor does it depend on declarations or reciprocation. She does not wait for affirmation; she knows. From the moment she stepped into Jiang Qiao Xi’s broken world, she became the steady hand that pulled him from the abyss into the light of day. With her quiet devotion, she offered him something his wealth and family could not: the constancy of love that asked for nothing in return.
In an era that celebrates the “move on” philosophy, Cherry dared to remain steadfast. She did not trade loyalty for convenience, nor affection for comfort. Everything she felt for him—every memory of shared meals, sunsets, fireworks, or the simple joy of raising a bunny together—became the very fabric of Jiang Qiao Xi’s strength. Her presence taught him that he was not defined by tragedy, nor doomed to solitude.
To some, her devotion may seem outdated, but to others it is the purest expression of love: unwavering, patient, and transformative. Cherry came, she believed, and she conquered—not with force, but with a heart that never wavered.
If anything, Jiang Qiao Xi’s hesitation was not a lack of love, but the humility of a man who feared he could not give her the life she deserved. He respected her freedom, never binding her in ways she could not escape, even acknowledging the comfort she might have found in Yu Qiao’s steadier world. That restraint was not hostility, but reverence.
So while critics may call Cherry’s devotion blind or Jiang Qiao Xi’s distance cold, I see something far more poignant: a story where the female lead’s constancy is not weakness, but triumph. In the end, Cherry’s love was not hostage-taking, but a liberation—the dawn that forever outshone his darkest night.
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Youth to adulthood romance
If I had kept reading these low ratings review, I wouldnt have given this a chance. I watched it and its a solid 8/10 for me. It was good. It's one of those coming of age drama with friends that you grew up with and still remained friends throughout high school, uni and adulthood.Jiang Qiao Xi and his family had their issues which lead to more problems and it took a toll on him mentally. And when a man feels like he is not enough nor can he provide, he will want to distant himself until he can rise again. (just to summarize).
And that didnt matter to Lin Ying Tao, she loves him regardless of what he life was like after everything happened.
All I can say is that they loved each other so much, it was so cute and emotional to see them.
Lin Ying Tao is a smart young girl and Jiang Qiao Xi finally opened to her and as their lives progressed, we all know that they made it through.
Why it wasnt a 9 or 10/10 - I think they spent too much time on the childhood journey of their lives, I was hoping they would skip and go to uni and uni was a little bit too long.... I just thought it would have been better if maybe the last 3-5 episodes were focused on them and their new lives....I wanted to see the successful friends and his parents and their wedding. I wanted to see them start their family and maybe progressed to another 5yrs later... you know?
But that is just my opinion.
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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 willjoking, 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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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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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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*I can fix him ahh drama, Li Xun and Zhu Yun of another universe.*
This drama was twisted in so many ways. Loved the acting.Loved the cast.
Loved the aesthetic and vibe of the drama.
OSTs.. chef's kiss.
The set up was good, from childhood to school to university. Basically a good slice of life drama. But I won't waste my another second on this again.
Loved the mauturity of side characters but the main lead's thought processing failed me. FL YingTao made her entire existence about Jiang QiaoXi, our ML.
In simple words, the FL kept chasing the ML, while ML kept pushing entire crowd away along with FL. Until he gave up and hugged her in hongkong.
(I wish i opened more reviews before watching it, because i kept hoping for good episodes while getting nothing till the end. MDL pushed the reviews that optimistically praised this drama for idk what fact.)
(If you want brutually true details, continue reading--)
"So c'mon superman say your stupid line-", "Don't forget me yingtao, wait for me a bit more yingtao." Uh... Our bro Qiaoxi has found several ways to drag this drama in a way it ragebaited me. There were many scenes which gave me cringe coated in embarrassment, all done by the FL. Her entire goal throughout the series was 'I can fix him.' And yes she was fully unaware of it, thinking it was love. Yes it was, maybe, it aligned with her personality ig. Because a well raised daughter picks up the most ruined guy to love. Make him her project. And our guy qiaoxi didn't fail to be that perfect project. Any guy who needs fixing has endured a trauma in life, which was, by his mother, trying to force maths on him. To keep being the prodigy. Like his brother Jiang mengchu was. I repeat, 'was'. So yea, according to yingtao he deserved immense love. Which he got. From everyone except his parents. But kept pushing everyone away because he f believed 'the current Jiang QiaoXi....me, don't deserve love.' While telling the FL to not give up on him and keep loving him. THE AUDACITY. Until he gave up when FL chased him all the way to Hong Kong till she turned 20, and told him she's tired and giving up on his self loathing bullshit. And he suddenly his senses rang to him and he finally decided to stop pushing her away and love her finally.
'He loved to play and she loved to get play with.' But in a sad, ragebaiting, twisted way which was potrayed like a sakura.
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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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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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