Meet Yourself

Probably slow enough to meet ones past self

This is a slooooooooooooooooow paced drama that will make time stop... or at least it will fell like it stops at times, and I am pretty sure that is exactly what they are aiming for a drama that is there to slow down your pace and just let you enjoy the scenery. An invite to the great outdoors.... Country living without to much drama.

Had I been the type who enjoyed healing, slooooow stuff and whatever they where doing here this would have gotten a higher score unfortunately I am more the type who gets nauseous from that stuff. So clearly I am not the target audience for this, and should probably have run away at firs live your life... breath, carpe diem...

HOWEVER!

80% of the characters in this are not only human, but are actually pretty lovable humans who make great connections, friendships and have this lovable familiar feel to them that you find yourself wanting in on whatever they have together. The elderly in this village are pure gold, and the kids are fun to watch too. There are some annoying characters who show up here and there but they are manageable/skippable.

The male lead does not force himself on the fl even once.. I do not think he even attempted a wrist grab nor did he shove her up against a wall... I guess he is a true prince on a white horse? Though she makes it clear that she can ride the horse herself. The leads are both smart, have amazing chemistry both as friends and lovers. There is this lovely playfulness to the two of them, though the process is painfully slow the two actually stay true to their characters even after they get together unlike some similar dramas (I am looking at you Hometown ch cha cha) where the leads seem to loose all brain power once they acknowledge their feelings for each other. So I love these two and am willing to say that they are one of the best main couples in all of C-dramaland.

The cinematography is gorgeous, the OST is waay to repetitive and while some of the songs are pretty decent, romantic, slow the type you would hear at a wedding. There is one song that I found myself muting for its lovely combination lullaby and traditional children's nursery song...

The way the drama approaches divorce, second chances , age gaps and facing ones fears is pretty ok, a bit preachy at times but relatively ok. I am also pretty sure that if it weren't for this being a C we would definitely have a lesbian second couple, the twos chemistry is even better than the leads chemistry.

All in all a sloooooow drama, with some good, some meeh and a whole lot of lovable characters.

Read More

A visually appealing advertisement for rural living

Don't get me wrong - I loved the drama, but honestly could not rate it higher than 5.

Example Love 020.
Living life in a virtual fantasy land created by some software freaks was appealing to the youth of our generation?
20-30 billion views for that sad, desperate, robotic drama that was poorly made and even more poorly acted? Is this where Mother Earth was heading?
I was so heart broken. Not only that such a terrible show was made but in fact viewers loved it.

Then comes along Meet Yourself.
I was absolutely ecstatic!! Thank you c- drama for taking the courage to go against the tide and making a visually enthralling drama.
Going back to basics, friendships, good old moral values, delightful traditional crafts, cooking, relationships- just purely innocent and refreshing.
Smartly made to show that there was financial viability as well despite living rurally.
The village was picture perfect - so naturally aesthetic that I would want to pack my bags and relocate there.

So why the low rating?
Because they made it like a commercial, an advertisement by the government of the country to lure youth into moving away from city life.
And because this may not get the 20-30billion views that it rightfully deserves.

They needed to spice it up quite a bit.
Firstly reduce the torturous 40 episodes to 16 or 20.
Then add some intensity to the chemistry. The romance was like tepid tap water. It was not slow burn, just slow death. Boringggg. And I've seen this ML in a previous drama where the romance was sizzling.

I wish this beautiful drama would get 50 billion views, so please spice it and spike it so the entire world would want to move to Yunnan.

Read More

SEMI-ENGAGING MEDIOCRITY

I understand the type of show MEET YOURSELF wants to be. And I celebrate that ambition. And I wanted the hype around the show to be true. But in almost every facet possible this production underwhelms. I can't recommend it to anyone.

As to not spoil much, what I will share is this series treats all characters as supporting characters. The FL and ML aren't really the thrust of the show. This choice makes the series feel really long... because it's almost like looking out a window and watching real life. There's no real plot.

Now, many around here seem to love this. Me? I love an ensemble show, but I need it to have some discernible direction. THE YOUTH MEMORIES is a show like this show that has a great ensemble. It's slice of life too but there's more ups and downs, twists and turns, and so many things that are not predictable.

This show seems to be developed for people who are going thru so much personal stress that they cannot handle any fictional stress as well. Like a show someone in a hospital might like to watch. I love CDramas precisely because many of this very relaxing quality that makes for calmer entertainment before bed, but is overlong series is too calming for my tastes and I'd predict most tastes.

------------- DETAILED ANALYSIS -------------

PREMISE -- Our FL lead experiences an immediate tearjerking event, which breaks her heart and sends her off to an extended vacation in a village. Once there, said event quickly fades off and we're stuck with a stranger in a strangeland situation. It only takes a few more episodes to realize this shock and awe opening was a cheap unnecessary trick to engage us into a show that goes into a completely different direction: a warm cozy sweater.

PACE -- Terribly slow. This story could have been done much better in 28 episodes instead of 40. I read people who binge this show. Of course they do: you have to watch 3 episodes to get 1 episode's worth of story. And the most maddening talking point about this is 'slow burn'. The implication is that there's small flame growing larger and warmer. Completely false. What happens is that our main story is lit like a candle... that goes out often.

DRAMATIC STAGING -- is painfully weak. SCREENWRITING 101 insists you avoid putting two characters in a room simply talking at each other, because that's 'radio' and not taking advantage of 'the moving pictures'. But over 95% of the time these characters are either talking while preparing a meal or eating the meal. That's not only crazy lazy -- but I'm dieting and the show isn't about cooking.

PLOT -- is almost non-existent. And it's not only predictable but inevitable, since this story abhors conflict and therefore doesn't offer alternative resolutions. There are countless subplots, however, and most are wordy filler. Fans wax poetic about these characters and plots -- but have these fans ever seen another CDrama? Almost every other drama I've watched has stronger characters and subplots. THE YOUTH MEMORIES is a great example of being on the edge of your seat with almost every character in the story. MEET YOURSELF? As the story repeatedly suggests, it's two grannies taking an afternoon nap.

LI XIAN -- our ML is... okay... but I didn't love him. Yes ladies, I'll grant he's cute and sweet. In the first half of the show I felt he was over-using his squint, tilt the head, and laugh thing. I sensed he wasn't much of an actor. As the series progressed, though, his charm won me over. I really didn't like his costuming sometimes. (You know that blue denim-ish shirt he had, made of different denim panels? Yuck. And he'd often wear this white teeshirt that made him look like someone named Skippy.) Often I wondered if this show would have worked better if he had been the lead.

SUPPORTING CHARACTERS -- There are waaaay too many. Less is more.

Remember the lady that had a heart attack at the end and wound up in a hospital. My wife and I spent minutes trying to figure out who she was. Why? Because she wasn't a major character.

Many of these supporting characters just don't feel real. I'm not asking for sex, drugs and rock and roll, mind you. I love stories about kind and nice people, but you need darker characters to contrast against the nice ones.

That said, there's cuteness everywhere. I loved Aunt A Gui because she was identical to an Irish Aunt I have, which is strange but true. Annabel Yao stole every scene she was in -- and the producers wisely kept her comic relief lovelorn struggles to a minimum. My heart absolutely went PITTER PATTER every time I saw Ma Meng Wei, the struggling writer. It's hard to believe she only has supporting roles in her future projects. Wake up, Producers -- she's cute as hell.

One character I had a little trouble with was Shen Xiao Mei (Hao Wen Ting). She is our ML's business partner. She was smart, pretty, pragmatic, an excellent business partner -- and even looked like our ML. The story failed to notice they should have been interested in each other, because why not.

Another eye-candy character to note was the handsome young actor playing 'Woodworker Boy'. (I can't find him on MDL.) It's rare to find such a handsome actor (or actress) that convinces you they are not aware of their attractiveness. So many CDramas are loaded with pretty boys pretending they're not and this actor pulls it off, which is funny because netizens swarm him and say how cute he is and he completely pulled off how unaware of this he was... and embarrassed.

(By the way, in later scenes -- we watch him carve wood. He smashes his palm against a tool that chips the wood. OUCH. I winced every time he did it, because within two weeks anyone would be crippled doing that.)

CRYSTAL LIU -- is spectacular in A TALE OF ROSE. If you'd like to see her act, watch that. MEET YOURSELF was a career waiting room, where she smiled pretty in pretty clothes and did next to nothing else. The show didn't need her as the lead. I'd have cast the young lady that plays the 'struggling writer' instead. Oh, yes, speaking of that --

NAVAL GAZING -- or what I like to call WRITER'S WRITING ABOUT WRITING. Bad writers have a terrible habit of writing about 'the terrible struggles of writing'. Who... umm... cares? What's really going on here is the writer of MEET is insecure about their script, and so they insert themselves into the story to say 'how hard writing is' and then characters swarm that character and say 'but you're so good'. It's sickening. And this story did it two more times, with a songwriter and a vocalist.

THE SCENERY -- Most fans LOVE THE SCENIC SHOTS and such. Do I need to see an eye doctor or is over 94% of this series shot in a cafe set and that 'homestay' set? And when it does go outside here and there, the photography is ordinary. Uninspired. Some of it looks like file footage too. See TO THE WONDER and learn what real cinematography is.

I should say the sets were gorgeous! (Unrealistically so, but still eye candy.)

MUSIC -- Oddly the shows strength, even though there's miscalculation even here. This show loves playing the same six songs over and over, so that sequence after sequence is a montage. It's filler for a story that's barely there. And my favorite song, SADDLE OF MY HEART -- was translated poorly into English. It's so indicative of a show that means well but keeps misfiring. Like the opening sequence which is all 'sitcom' bouncy but the show isn't. 'Wind' should have been the ending song.

SO IF IT WAS SO BAD -- why did I watch it all the way through?

1. This is my 3rd Crystal show, and her quality acting, unique beauty, and lovely outfits do not disappoint.
2. I love a show attempting to stage a community based on kindness.
3. At the halfway point I wanted to walk, but I was interested on how it would end.

Read More

Relaxing & Healing

Did not expect to like this but wow, this drama is very healing to watch! It took me about 3 episodes to really get into the drama but after that I finished each episode very quickly. The acting and chemistry of Liu Yifei and Li Xuan were unexpectedly good and fun to watch. The villagers were funny in their own way as well. There were many moments where the villagers and others touched me, and it made me wish such supportive people could surround me. There were also many comedic moments that were not too silly to watch. However, some supporting roles story arch near the end were not as interesting as others and I had to skip to keep watching the episode. I appreciate the writers building out each character though, it made it easier to understand their actions. It was definitely a healing drama to watch overall.

Read More

Pleasant Drama , country side, beautiful sceneries , not for binge watching, Slow drama

I gave 9.5 because the drama is very pleasant to watch, somewhat different story and it needs some appreciation. One of very few Chinese dramas i can say there is some real quality . I kind felt there much Chinese culture and kindness is there in this tv show. The story takes place in a country side and very beautiful village, looks very nice, the wooden houses and the old grannies wearing the traditional Chinese dresses, and particularly the ranch is very scenic. All the characters were very pleasant ppl, i am bored watching those tv shows with many bad ppl.

Cons:
May be bit more romance could be added, i binge watched it so sometimes i felt i t was bit slow at times,

But the all characters in the show were different and cool, like the man who serves tea and the writer, singer etc.. Wow seriously some characters and some story. I binge watched many episodes but i guess, once can watch it slow. But 40 episodes may be not needed

My opinion after watching many Chinese dramas, this is very rare good Chinese drama

Read More

A Love Letter to Slow Living: Yunnan’s Scenery and Quiet Narrative in Meet Yourself

In a world that celebrates the hustle, 'Meet Yourself' invites us to do the unthinkable: to stop, breathe, and simply be. It is more than just a drama; it is a cinematic sanctuary for the weary soul.

1. Narrative: Deconstruction of Rhythm and Authenticity of Conflict

Meet Yourself stands out through a calm, humanistic, and grounded storytelling approach, presenting slices of daily life that resonate with the reality of viewers especially those experiencing emotional exhaustion due to the pressures of modern living.

Rhythm and the Antithesis of Modernity: The plot develops slowly yet consistently, providing space for the audience to reflect. The writers boldly adopt a slow pace, featuring silent scenes without dialogue such as cooking or taking a leisurely walk as integral parts of the narrative process. This serves as an antithesis to the tendency of modern dramas to be fast-paced and sensational.

Authenticity of Conflict: Conflict is not built through extreme antagonism, but rather through humane issues such as loss, anxiety about the future, and the economic constraints of village life.

Healthy Relationship: The relationship between Xu Hongdou and Xie Zhiyao represents a mature bond where both individuals respect each other's private space. This portrays a healthy relationship dynamic that is rare yet powerful in contemporary Chinese dramas.

2. Cast Performance: Depth of Character and Subtle Acting

The quality of acting is a primary strength that supports the entire narrative:

Liu Yifei (Xu Hongdou): Delivers a very subtle and controlled performance. She utilizes blank stares, silent pauses, and slight smiles as mediums to express grief, making Hongdou’s burden of loss feel tangible without the need for excessive emotion.

Li Xian (Xie Zhiyao): Successfully sheds his "idol" image to transform into a convincing local youth. His relaxed body language and use of local dialect build an authentic impression, as if the character truly grew up and lived in Yun Miao Village.

Wu Yanshu (Xie A-nai): Provides a significant emotional contribution. Her role as the grandmother brings a warmth that anchors the narrative and serves as a symbolic representation of "home."

Supporting Cast: The residents of Youfeng Xiaoyuan are written with fully realized character dimensions. They are not mere plot fillers but individuals with their own life journeys and personal conflicts, enriching the community theme.

3. Audio-Visual Aesthetics: Synergy of Nature and Music

Technically, Meet Yourself is a cinematic achievement where the natural visuals of Dali, Yunnan, function not just as a backdrop, but as a storytelling subject.

Musical Minimalism: The music is subtle and harmonious. The compositions are dominated by acoustic guitar, soft piano, and folk instruments that blend naturally with environmental sounds like the wind, the lake's ripples, and birdsong.

Audio Therapy: The opening theme, "Go to a Windy Place" by Yisa Yu, provides a calming effect with its poetic lyrics.

The Power of Silence: The director understands when silence is more meaningful than a musical score, allowing the actors' expressions to speak for themselves.

4. Rewatch Value: Emotional Security

Meet Yourself possesses a very high rewatch value because it does not rely on plot twists or intense conflict.

Sense of Security: The absence of major tragedies provides emotional safety (low stress), making it ideal to revisit without psychological burden.

Hidden Details: Upon rewatching, viewers can discover micro-expressions and visual details that were previously missed due to the slow pace.

Mood Booster: The drama functions as a way to "return" to Yun Miao Village to rest from the exhaustion of daily reality. The combination of a warm story and soothing visuals makes it a comfort show with strong, sustainable rewatchability.

Conclusion

Overall, Meet Yourself is not merely an entertainment product, but a cultural text reflecting the modern society's need for a pause, human connection, and psychological healing. Through its slow narrative, subtle acting, harmonious audio-visual aesthetics, and high rewatch value, this drama offers a cinematic experience that is both calming and reflective. As such, Meet Yourself can be viewed as one of the most complete representations of the slow living philosophy in contemporary Chinese drama, highly recommended for anyone wishing to momentarily step away from the hustle and bustle of daily life to enjoy a story that is warm, humane, and deeply meaningful.

Read More

Healing indeed

Very insightful take on the lives of people taken over by their work.

I didnt have any expectation at first. I just thought at first oh! The male lead is very cute.

But i like the pacing of the drama. I like the sub stories. The location where they shot this drama is very beautiful. I put Dali or Hunan (im not sure) on my travel list.

My only complaints is.. Its filled with chinese government propaganda. Which i somehow undertand since its a chinese series.

If you can overlook this then its a great show.
I just skipped over it.

Very nice

Read More

Um drama que traz conforto.

Eu sabia que quando assistisse a esse drama ia se tornar marcante para mim.
Particularmente a vila me lembra o lugar que a minha irmã mais velha vive, uma cidadezinha do interior Paulista(na Serra da Mantiqueira, no Brasil) em que a principal renda é o turismo e por isso o drama é muito próximo da realidade em que já vivi passando as férias por lá hahah por mais que sejam países diferentes e que estejam a milhas de distância, a vida mais leve no interior, o compartilhamento de alimentos entre amigos e vizinhos, a fofoca entre moradores, ir acampar e observar as estrelas, são coisas que em qualquer lugar do mundo são comuns.
A história do drama é um primor, tão bonito, aconchegante e bem escrito. A naturalidade que as relações dos personagens foram construídas foi o ponto alto do drama. ♡
Queria destacar que a trilha sonora, a fotografia e os cenários são perfeitos.

Read More