The White Olive Tree

38 episodes and I didn't feel immersed

Main things:

ML and FLwere not that compatible. Had opposite personality.. (no connection)
Unrealistic plot as why does FLget saved by ML everytime in this "East Country"
When FL was a reporter and was going to East country, she was allowed to go alone? especially in a dangerous country..
Animations and CGI was not it
The voice overs for speaking English was bad.. like why are they randomly speaking Chinese when they are with the orphans? Kinda awkward if we take into consideration their POV
Xiaonan and Ben needed more interactions
Benjamin & Sasin acting was good and had some synergy and plot buildin
Shen Bei had some good acting too as it shows her personality changing overtime

Overall, with 38 episodes there is usually higher expectations as there is more time to be immersed in the plot but the middle episodes were kind of not my type as nothing interesting was happening. The drama is not unwatchable but just don't get your hopes up. My rating of 6.5 means that it is watchable but don't expect much from this drama.

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Beautiful to the point of tears

I can't think of another show that has made me cry so much - in a way that is both sad and beautiful. So touching scenes, music and feelings ❤

This will definitely be one of the series I will remember forever. So much love for people, so much kindness. So many pure relationships on every level.

White Olive is definitely a show that leaves a mark in your heart, precisely because it's not something to be taken lightly.

The musical director has many fine projects behind him, I'll just mention Eternal Brotherhood, Journey to Love, Wonderland of Love and You Are My Glory, but that's not all. An interesting detail is that he is also the performer of one of the songs in the series, which is very touching - Moonlight, performed in English.

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Amazing cdrama, unforgettable story

The story of Li Zan, Song Ran and their friends & coworkers. The show starts fast, but not in a bad point of view. Everything is described carefully. After few plot twists, we are shaken by the big amounth of emotions, or at least I was. But dont be sad for too long, cuz we are on the journey with characters and we are able to see their ups and downs, their happy moments and sad moments. The whole drama showed us, what love can do, showed us the importance of communication and not to keep problems just to ourselves. It is definitely something new, that we haven´t seen. It leaves unforgettable memories in my mind. I might or might not rewatch it, but I will never forget this. (I actually might rewatch this, because its masterpiece!)

Yes, some of us didnt get their "dream ending", but if we have watched the show carefully, in this world its the realistic ending. I know, I have cried a lot, and I mean A LOT, but somehow, it is not that bad ending, they survived together, got married and even went to the other world together. For them, they finally found their peace, they dont need to be scared of anything now.

For the actors - they did an amazing job, the whole plot literally "sucked" me in. CZY showed us an amazing character, the same goes for Liang Jie, she has got lot hate comments for her acting, but not in my opinion. She did also really good and showed us perfectly her character and emotions. But praise need also other actors, I would say all of them did an amazing job, because if there is one person who dont know what to do, it will affect the whole show.

The OST? Amazing. Moving. I love to listen to it, when I need to calm down or anything. Yes, it also makes me cry because of memories and realization, but this OST deserves a praise aswell.

So far, its really one of the best cdramas I have ever watched. Whole storyline is really great and show us, that these things are happening in this world and we should cherish the fact, that we dont have to live in this situation. Also, it makes me realise that army, volunteers, doctors and other people are fighting there for peace, for their families, and they should be never forgotten.

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it is not a military drama and waste of time

After I dropped it a while ago , I wanted to give this drama another chance and I have just finished it. Unfortunately , my ideas on this drama have not changed even a little bit. Tbh,I think it is only overrated because of actor's name. Plus , most of the reviews and comments are misleading to me cuz I don't think main theme was not handled very well either as a person who has PTSD AND anxiety. I can count more than twenty dramas who have better script and acting than this one.

Overall story

I know it is a romance with a heavy theme like PTSD but neither their romance nor their PTSD worked for me. Romance part was cringe , draggy and fake. PTSD part was overdramatic and far from the reality. The thing that irritates me most was that every single piece of event or every single character serve main cp and their story. From the car in East to tunnel in city , from the kids who always praise ML and FL to unnecessary sfl. The story only was there to show that our FL and ML are good people and their love is great but it was so badly written and overemphasized that it didn't cross beyond being artifical. I am a person who can easily cry but I couldn't get into this feeling because of main cp's '' Look! We are good characters .'' yellings lmao.

Handling PTSD which is one of the main themes of the drama started bad , went good and ended horrible. I can understand the survival guilt ML has about his friend but their relationship was so off and they spent so little time together that I was like ''Why ? ''. Morever , ML ,who is just a volunteer, getting back to the warzone because of his feeling responsible about the things before or his love for humankind( that part was funny ) was not credible. Normal people who got those of trauma don't act like that. I met lots of people who had in similar situtions and believe me it is not that easy even for people who do dangerous things as their jobs aside from volunteers.

For the romance part , FL's being overdramatic and obsessive about a person who is kind and who only does his job was too much for me. Girl was so ready to fall in love with ML , she didn't hesitate even for a minute. For the ML, I didn't understand why he fell for FL. Their long and illogical spending time together and creating silly reasons to make them closer made me laugh tbh. Their love for each other was not touching even though both of them were depicted self sacrificing , brave and loyal.

Characters
ML was green flag himself but he was not good enough for military part.Carrying gun and running first as if he was a solider or sth seemed odd. He often forgot he was a volunteer and he was in every so called dramatic situation even if it wasn't related with him. Writers created stupid reasons to show him hero.Man even saved a doctor and carried her to show himself and his blood lol. He didn’t have enough interaction with other characters. I didn't believe that he had a close relationship with others. I didn't believe that his so called devotion to the people in warzone. His only aim was to be with FL or defuse a bomb. He usually acted stupid and repeatedly put himself in danger to defuse bomb many times without taking necessary precautions. Plus ,Benjamin's '' We needed volunteers like you.'' made me roll my eyes. I was like '' Are you serious , pal ? Is he really that important while there are thousands of engineers out there ?

FL was the most unbearable part for me. OMG they showed every little part of her including daily routines. She slept in camp , hotel anywhere else. She had breakfasts , she had dinners , she talked , talked and talked. She meddled in every single character’s problem as if she had nothing to do. She stupidly went to dangerous place and ML saved her.That was her only mission. In her remaining time , she just took photos. She was called brave but I didn’t see any brave thing except breaking the rules and puts herself in danger. I like nice , shy but brave FL's but she was useless except crying for ML and others and I had to skip her so called heroic and overdramatic parts after I watched twenty five eps. She was a reporter but I didn’t see any solid evidence that she did her job.Her being lynced in social media was the worst way to show her guilt btw. I felt nothing about it.

The Military Setting

It was short and dumb. Soldiers we’re only there to serve FL and ML’s relationship. Military missions were also dumb , fabricated , short and lacking of emotion. I used to watch Chinese propaganda but this one was so badly directed and acted, I couldn’t watch it without having a second hand embarrassment.There were full of mistakes and I thought that writer was joking with us. I hated the scene ml and fl gave food to the people in there btw. What kind of dramatization is it ? It was so fake and annoying.

Saxin's being soldier and getting into mission was dumb. How can a reporter join special forces and go to the dangerous place so easily ? He didn't need to be a soldier to show his loyalty to his nation or get revenge of his mom.Plus, I must say that he almost did nothing being grumpy , noisy and troublesome for Benjamin. He was useless as a character and he was also the worst candidant to show brotherhood , bromance or whatever writer tried to tell. Jiang Lin , Li Zan and Benjamin had higher potential about that. Ben's and Saxin's scenes only existed to catch BL tendency which was lame but they were so far away from bromance or sth and they were so arfical and forced that , I was like ''here we go again '' whenever they had scene together. They both didn't act like soldiers btw. They were irresponsible and had no military discipline. Like main cp , they went this or that that place how their so called bromance is good.

General thought
Boring and overdramatic romance , useless side characters , draggy and too much slow motion scenes , badly handled trauma , overfocused main cp , irrational and stupid military scenes.

Music

It was also overused . I skipped every slow and musical part. I didn't even remember any of them.

Side characters
Jiang Lin was only there to serve ML/FL relationship. He must have stayed longer. His death was supposed to be traumatic for ML but they didn’t even show how he died except a flashback. Poor guy was unlucky to have such a stupid volunteer/friend lmao.

Benjamin started nice but later was only used to praise ML or FL or their relationship. He was mercenary at first and he suddenly and easily joined special forces. Both actor and character were only used to promote fangirly and imaginary BL fancy. He was the most incompetent soldier I have ever seen. He just said cool words , walked around , acted flirty and playful. He liked Dr. Pei but their dialouges were not enough to prove they have sth. Both actor and actress were nice and had a good chemistry but I didn't understand why the writer gave them a story if s/he had no intention to improve them. Ben didn't deserve a woman like Dr.Pei btw. Man didn't save the woman he likes when she was in danger. He was ready to wait Dr.Pei at the bar every night but he wasn't worried abour her situation. He was my fav at the beginning but I didn't feel bad about his death in the end.


Dr.Pei was barely seen on the screen but she was the most consistant and watchable character for me. She was brave enough to keep working in a warzone permanently as a doctor. She was a smart and confident woman and didn't fall for Ben's flirty things at first.She was nice to everyone and it wasn't fake. I wish we could have seen her instead of FL's daily routine. Her letting her guard down to Ben but losing him in the end was sad but I am glad that she is alive.

Note : Not showing Ben and Pei together but hinting that they spend time together and doing it more than once was disrespectful to the people who watch the drama for them.

Another note : Saxin and Ben are bros. It is not a BL. It is not even hinted.

Rewatch Value

I was waiting for this o because of military setting and the story but it was very disappointing to me. I don’t think I will watch it again. If you really want to watch it , you should take off your brain to let it have a rest for a while. I am giving 2 For Dr. Pei character and the rest of the plot is waste of time. For the PTSD problem , you can check My Dear Guardian. They handled it better than this drama.

Edit : Saying that TWOT is a military drama is shameful to other ones cuz it has no business with the military overall. I can’t understand how people praise it or rate it 9 and 10 since it has lots of defos. It doesn’t even deserve 5.

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Such a well-made and emotionally rich story.

I always say to myself when I start watching a new series, give it a little time before you make a judgement. Well, with the White Olive Tree, I didn't have to do that, it captivated me from the beginning., and I ended up watching the whole series in less than a week. The story is based on a novel, which I haven't read, but for a truly good series or movie there needs a strong starting point, or base. If the directors, screenwriters, actors and set designers are all very experienced then it is a recipe for something remarkable, in my opinion. The two main leads were exceptional in dealing with such and intense and raw storyline. The supporting actors were all good as well. The setting of war, the feelings of hope and even helplessness, and of course love are all explored in depth with this series. What I like so much about a lot of Chinese series is that they have time to develop the characters, and if the series is exceptionally good, then that makes it like a feast for the heart and mind, in my opinion. Some people have commented on the end of The White Olive Tree, so I did a little research, and, in the book, the two main characters do indeed get married and ended up having two children. About 10 years later Lizan did kill himself and sometime after that Song was killed by a stray bullet while covering another country at war. So, yes, the series ending was short and perhaps quite sad, or enlightening. I think that for me, the fact that they ended up together after so much hardship is testament to true love, one that survives the hardest things. I felt like this was such a rich and emotional story, and I didn't want it to end, but to me the ending was kind of realistic and for that reason it was also satisfying.

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Their acting is outstanding

For me this is a very good drama i am glad because i have found a drama as good as this and the love story of azan ranran makes me touched maybe it is hard to find a love story that is equal like theirs. What made me watch this drama until the end is the acting of liang jie and chen zheyuan which is undeniable this drama is carried by their acting i like how good their microexpressions are and their hugs make me really touched i see a lot of scenes with hugs but for this drama their hugs make me feel the feelings they feel it is very touching and their love story is very beautiful this drama clearly tells the love story of people who have pure hearts so they love each other and give equal sincerity.
The ost of this drama is very good i really like how the ost is included in the scene and for me this is a drama that gives the impression of pure love and in the novel it is explained how the love and sincerity of azan and ranran make them forget all the suffering and slowly build their love life even though this can't last long but they have tried their best. I always hope for happiness and eternity for them because they have found and loved each other and in the next life only a happy life for them forever
But what makes me a little annoyed is how the director and producer edit the drama i know slowmotion scenes is good to explain the atmosphere of the players and the story but here the producer includes too many slowmotion that make me annoyed.
Some people think this story is bad just because they don't like the female lead makes me upset I know people have different tastes but it doesn't have to be said and try to see the drama as a drama and enjoy it and take what you think is good and leave the good criticism without any hate.
-The End-

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Love, loss and the soul’s journey in the midst of war

The White Olive Tree is such a powerful drama, an emotional story filled with great acting, beautiful scenes, touching music and a meaningful look at trauma and healing. Its depth and symbolism make it a drama I will never forget.
I can’t even describe how much I loved it and a big reason is Chen Zheyuan’s performance as Li Zan.
He was amazing, his role as a soldier carrying so much pain, trauma, and responsibility felt so real that I often cried with him. Liang Jie was the perfect partner for him, her gentle strength and warmth balanced his sadness so well. Their chemistry was wonderful, and their love story wasn’t about big dramatic scenes, but about healing, sacrifice, and finding strength in each other. That made it even more moving. The music made everything even stronger—songs like Te Amo and the emotional background music gave so much power to every scene. The soundtrack didn’t just play in the background, it felt like it spoke for the characters’ hearts. The song “Te Amo” has now become one of my favorite OSTs ever.
The side characters also added so much to the story. Benjamin and Saxin especially stood out…their friendship and loyalty felt so real, and they brought warmth and hope in the middle of war. They weren’t just there to support the leads, but had their own struggles and emotions that made me care about them deeply. I loved how every character, no matter how small, made the story feel complete. By the end, it felt like I had gone through the journey with them…sharing their pain, their sacrifices and their small moments of hope.
The White Olive Tree is not just a drama, it’s an experience that shows how love, friendship, music, and strength can help us survive even the darkest times.
The ending may look sad, but when I think about it, it shows the truth of war...not only those who lose their lives, but also those who lose their souls. And that makes Li Zan’s journey even more unforgettable.

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using an ongoing war for tv !! + ending that may negatively impact younger people!!

using an on going war and genocide's events for tv is the abolute opposite of what the message behind this show was supposed to be...from the vague olive tree symbolism to the middle eastern food to the fricking tunnels/dungeons they discover in episode 33???? anyone keeping up with the news would notice and it's baffling to me how no one has pointed it out!!!

also the cast is too good....amazing acting wasted on such a story line and bad production!!!

ohh and don't get me started with the ending wdym the characters take their own lives.....people calling this a "tragic ending" is an understatement if i knew what the tragic ending was i would've not watched it i wont even be marking this as spoiler because there are people who NEED to know before they watch it

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Its a trap!

Well, well. For those who don't wanna read it all: it starts strong, then it gets bad and then it becomes sht, and then it gets even worse... And no, media making you cry doesn't mean it is "good" by default. Also, "enjoying" isn't the same as "good". I'm just putting these out there. No reason.
So. I started watching it based on the poster. I gave it a go and after the first 10 minutes I thought "Oh, God. Its gonna be one of those dumb things, full of tropes and plot contrivances, isn't it?". But actually, the actions are logical, no matter how silly it seems. In other words, in this fictional world, the events taking place have the minimum requirements to feel "real". So, I continued watching and after a few more episodes I said "ok, it works". Silly me...

The story is interesting, maybe the romantic angle is a bit boring. It might felt like that because of FL's acting. She needs to be sad and crying a lot, but she can't act it, it felt fake. Back to the topic, Interesting story, decent enough execution.
Actually, no. I'm gonna review this drama in a different way. I usually go: visuals, audio, char development, world building etc but I think I have a better idea for this case. So. For the whole drama, the audio is by far excellent. The mixing of tracks is well done, the songs used for the whole OST are amazing, they even used different versions of the same track based on the scene. Its not my genre, I'll never listen to those songs again, but it was amazing.

And now the juicy parts. This drama can get split into seasons. The first "10" episodes (might be 9, I won't check, I don't care that much) are the best part of it. How the characters meet, how they interact etc. Good stuff. You'll enjoy it. Even some good character development that I wasn't expecting (and dreading that it might go to something shtty). Then the "2nd season", aka the next "10" episodes, it is mostly about character development, more intense accent on the drama etc. For the most part, decent enough. Not really enjoying it, but the execution was ok. Except, while approaching the end of this "season" it gets bad. Characters start acting in a weird way, aka the story needs to go in a specific way and so the characters start taking dumb decisions. I was about to let it go but the writer tried to explain it that it might be because of pills etc. Silly and weak, but ok, I'll allow it.
And then, the last part is sht. No sense in trying to be polite. It felt rushed and it had all kinds of setups that I didn't like, because it was clear that the writer wanted to make the people "feel" and not paying attention to the logic behind the story. And the "funny" part? The last.... 4-5 episodes are even worse. Pure sht. Oh, man. Full of plot devices and plot holes, bad acting, cheap payoffs etc. Like I said earlier, the audio remained excellent. But other than that..... oof. With the cherry on top being the last 5(?) minutes.

Funny story. After the first "10" episodes, when I noticed some interesting character development, I wanted to skip until the last 2 episodes, just to make sure the ending will be ok. Yes, I was ok with spoilers, because that thing mattered more. But I stayed strong. And it was a good thing because the end would've left me baffled as to "how" and "why". I would've gone "wtf happened??" every 5 minutes :)))
Yes, this drama is based on a book. I don't know the sauce, I don't care about the sauce. Probably it has the same ending. I don't know how (why) it got and adaptation... Anyway.

Long story short, it gets a rating of 6. No matter how good the starting was, failing to deliver means you shouldn't start to begin with. The high rating is mostly for the excellent audio, mostly good acting (excellent by some supporting cast), and a couple of good character development.
Having said that, no rewatch value. Why the fk would anyone wanna watch just the first"10" episodes and leave after? You can't even watch 10 episodes, skip all, watch the last episode. Heck, you can't even watch the last 10 minutes.... *sigh*
Have a lovely evening.

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rushed finale !

The last episode was a complete disappointment. I watched the last episodes for 10 minutes a day because they were on repeat. I finally finished watching the last episodes. Character developments and emotional conflicts that were handled with great care throughout the series were virtually thrown away in the final episodes and episodes. I think the story was rushed and the writer said: "Let's just finish it and get out of this." I think the side characters have also been officially forgotten. Their stories were half-baked, left unfinished, as if they had never existed. The last episodes and the final episode could not achieve the quality of the previous episodes. The dialogues did not reach the quality of the previous episodes. This became a cliché and the transitions between scenes started to feel artificial. I think even the moments that can create an emotional connection cannot be managed correctly. Finally, let's come to Benajmin and Doctor Pei. They were seen as mere vehicles to carry the story. I wish they had more productive, love-filled scenes like Zen and Ran. It's a shame they aren't allowed to develop as individuals. However, a strong series should invest in supporting characters at least as much as the main characters.

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Decent - but slightly frustrating and entirely carried by the leads at times.

I have such mixed feelings about this drama. I've been anticipating this since it was filming, since I'm a huge fan of Chen Zheyuan and not only was I excited to see his performance in a story with more emotional depth than some of his other projects, but I personally enjoy watching dramas that evoke strong emotions, even if they are on the more heartbreaking side.

When the drama first started airing, I was enjoying it a lot. I personally loved the romance between Li Zan and Song Ran and felt like they had really good chemistry, and I feel like there was a good balance of tension and drama while also having some lighter moments with the lead couple. However, my first criticism with this show is that I feel like it suffered from the typical issue I have with a lot of cdramas, which is that it was too long. As with a lot of other cdramas I've watched, it did start to lull at some point around episode 13 or so, and while it did eventually pick back up I do think it would have benefited from losing a few episodes. While I do think this particular story needed some room to be fully fleshed out, I think that 38 episodes was maybe a bit excessive, and a lot of the drama that was happening once the main characters returned to China was just simply uninteresting and annoying - for example, the bullying storyline. I think overall the plot of Li Zan wanting to look out for Jiang Yu was nice, but the entire bullying storyline was silly and a lot of the dialogue in these situations was poorly written.

Also, one of my biggest peeves in dramas is the miscommunication trope. I could have dealt with it for a few episodes or so, but this was a running thread between the leads for the entire drama and it was really frustrating and pointless. It was also irritating to see the leads finally confess to each other that they were both struggling after returning to China and be vulnerable with each other, just for them to continue to not communicate any of their feelings and hide things continuously - and while I did like the character of Song Ran overall, it was an annoying trait for her to get so upset over Li Zan hiding things from her when she was also doing the same thing constantly. This entire narrative got old really fast and it continues for almost the entire show, seemingly just for the convenience of some drama between the leads.

My other big criticism with this drama is the final three episodes. I haven't read the novel, so I wasn't really sure how this would end, but I'm not really sure what the point was of having a 20+ long episode arc of Li Zan suffering with PTSD and trying to overcome it and heal from it was, just to put him through more trauma right at the last minute and rush through both the process of it happening, and also the consequences of it. While it makes sense within the story for the bad guys to want to seek revenge, doing this so late in the show after he had already largely processed all of his trauma just felt weird to me, and the fact that the ending was pretty much just "well, he's never going to recover from this" felt like a strange message to send - especially after spending the entire show focusing on mental health and trying to heal from past traumas. I was also pretty happy with how they'd dealt with both of the leads' mental health issues earlier on in the drama and the fact that they didn't just have them magically heal from it within a couple of episodes, but took a more realistic approach of having good moments and bad moments, so it was quite frustrating to watch them try to cram an entire traumatic experience and recovery process into the final few episodes. Plus it was just a deeply unsatisfying ending as a viewer, since it feels like the leads' stories weren't really fully finished.

As for the performances - overall they were very strong. There were a few side characters I didn't love the casting choices for (Jiang Yu, Luo Zhan, Shen Bei, and Dr Liang specifically), and also some of the English speaking characters weren't very convincing (nor was the dubbing), but these weren't too painful given how much screen time those characters have - and also the leading cast more than made up for it. I personally loved the casting for Song Ran, Li Zan, Benjamin and Saxin and thought they all did a convincing job and very much helped the drama move along in moments where it started to lull or the dialogue was poor.

Since Chen Zheyuan's performance was the thing I was most looking forward to with this drama, and he did such a fantastic job, it made it a bit easier for me to get through the entire drama. He did such a convincing job of portraying such an emotionally complex character - even down to small facial expressions or mannerisms that showed exactly what he was feeling even when he wasn't speaking. And while I didn't love the direction the story went in for the final few episodes, his performance was absolutely outstanding and full of so much raw emotion. While I didn't necessarily expect any less from him given his previous performances, I really think this is his best performance to date and I hope that we get to see him in more projects that allow him to explore his range the way that this did.

Overall, I think this drama was decent and there were lots of moments that I enjoyed, but it was definitely weakened by poor writing and directing choices at times. The lead cast, and the relationships between their characters, is absolutely the selling point of this drama and at times was it's only saving grace. I'm not sure that this is rewatchable for me, since it's a long drama and it does drag at times, but I'm glad that I watched it at least once - I just can't help but wish that some of the choices made were different, and as somebody who has been waiting a very long time for this drama to air I did feel slightly disappointed by the end of it.

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