The First Frost (2025)

THE BEST DRAMA I'VE EVER WATCHED!!!!

There's not even one thing that I dislike about it.
IT'S LITERALLY THAT PERFECT 😭♥️
Anybody reading this, I swear you're gonna love it 😭
And honestly, I think it was better than Hidden Love. Athough I stopped watching it long time back (because it wasn't that addicting or eye catching) but yeah The First Frost was definitely A MASTERPIECE!!!!!!!!!!! 😭😭🥹🥹♥️♥️
If we say according to MDL, then it at least deserves a 9.2 rating!!!
The actors were FANTASTIC, the script was mind-blowing, and the way of filming was just wowww and and and not forgetting the BEST OST IN HISTORY oh my god 😭😭🙇🏻‍♀️🙇🏻‍♀️♥️♥️

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trembling brilliantly between realism and romance

Wonderful and recommended although frequently difficult to watch. Something new. Possibly a milestone in the new romance formats.
32eps at 45mins ea. = 24 hrs watch-time. Set in fabulous Chongqing and Hong Kong, written and directed by the Taiwanese director Chu Yu Ning.

3 warnings:
1/ Fastforwarders, you will miss the point entirely if you cannot endure with Sang Yan and Yi Fan thru difficult times. The story shuttles back and forth via flashbacks from before the lovers' six years of separation, then through it - even though this is clearly marked by an endless timeline superimposed on cable cars crossing that crazy city, you cant possibly keep up.
2/ As a binge it is dangerously heroic -- many stayed up all night to see it all this month, lots of sick days ensuing.
3/ It does NOT EVEN REMOTELY resemble Hidden Love, altho based on the same novel and sharing some characters with HL.

If HL is like Switzerland, all clarity and public spaces and teen angst, then FF is like Rome, darkness punctuated by light and vision, a story of lovers well-past their college days. Yi Fan and Sang Yan emerge as timeless characters that you will never forget.

At the edge of realism and romance drama. A thoughtful and intelligent piece following the reconciliation of highschool sweethearts separated for six years due to hidden trauma. From their first interaction in the apartment they 'accidentally' share, it is clear that the FL is a survivor of SA -- every time the ML awkwardly and often bitterly tries to provoke an emotional reaction from her, triggered, she hastily shutters herself and quietly flees while saying something empty of meaning. This is still a classic romance story in that the beautiful and woebegone Yi Fan (played by Zhang Ruo Nan) still instinctively wants to trust her prince Sang Yan (played by Bai Jing Ting) -- but with certain reservations. He wants to protect her, she wants to be independent and strong.

In the first few episodes, both actors were so startlingly powerful without being able to make any connection with each other that at first I thought they might have been miscast or misdirected. Although BJT's repertoire of mannerisms hasnt changed, his voicing, his timing and his physical work expand his range enormously. He is broken and awkward, proud and needy. ZRN acts almost entirely with her eyes, her emotions so close to the surface that it was excruciating to watch her tight self-control. The character Yi Fan uses almost all her emotional energy for what is most important to her, to live well with a bright public face at her job, so ZRN's portrayal is of a walking absence in intimate situations.

With almost no kdrama voiceovers, interior monologues, or revelatory conversations between best friends, the emotions of the main leads are enacted bit by bit onscreen. There is a classic kdrama second couple for the welcome counterpoint of comic relief, who have a funny romance with some family troubles which they solve so that a heartwarming corporate family resolution occurs. On the other hand, the FL's family criminally abused her, neglected her and abandoned her and in the present are still gaslighting her. You, I, and she will never forgive them, ever. Cdrama's moral clarity is such a relief.

Later in the drama we realize that Sang Yan, while waiting for Yi Fan to speak, has grown up enough to try to understand for himself what she has experienced. The series' ambiguous exposition of romantic love doesnt hide its obsessive side -- he had constantly stalked her by traveling to the cities where she had moved, to secretly look at her from afar. In the present tense when she disappears for six months he uses that knowledge as a guide to find out about what had happened back then in Yi Fan's world.

Sang Zhi, the heroine of HL, most importantly appears as her younger self at a new year's dinner. In conversation with Yi Fan she reveals the hinge of Sang Yan's story -- in true love the hero or heroine never gives up, they cross rivers and climb mountains, even if this geography occurs only in the heart. Sang Zhi says that only then did she realize that Sang Yan was a "character" she could relate to (!!). I felt the same way at the end...that I had slowly, struggling a bit, come to understand both of them, but the last one to finally make sense to me was Sang Yan.

Is this a cdrama in kdrama clothes? Is it a combination of the two? Is it about romantic love as obsession or as the healer of all trauma? What do you think?

Watch and see.

ps. i suffered a little whiplash from the contrast of camera styles between the opening kdrama arty shots through glass or around corners and the style of the later street scenes, especially the chases in Nanmu and the cafe scenes in Hong Kong,, where random strangers could even standstill within a static frame but bear no connection with the plot. Kdrama is so tightly patterned that it manages all yr expectations for you. The more realistic cinematography gained traction in the end and I came to see it as something more transparent, where various levels of understanding can be backgrounded if necessary.
I adored the distant night shots of both cities where the lights of cars or trains look like little gems on the necklace of bridges.

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Awsome, healing story - Bai Jing Ting and Zhang Ruo Nan did a fantastic job

I've read the novel and i liked it.
It's a difficult story and I have had mixed emotion about the adaptation and some reservation on the leads too.
I was very excited and i had reserved the show, but later with some fearcaused by other novel with bad adaptation i started watching it only the second day, but i really really loved it.

I think it's wonderful, a work of poetry, a true masterpiece.
I loved the story, the adaptation, the soundtrack, the actors... everythings are absolutely perfect.

The actors gave such depth to the characters...
I really don't understand the haters, the novel reader's haters.
It's true that there are little differences, but which adaptation doesn't have it and here the overall story remain the same.

My characters image of the protagonists were slightly different from the adaptation but i admit that i really loved this interpretation.
The leads actor did a very good job, from the expression to the clothes style.

The pace was very slow, because the story is so, therefore i hope who doesn't know the story to give a little more time before giving up because it's worth. The episodes became better and better and i think it's difficult to watch such a satisfactory last episode.

I loved the attention the production gave to every single detail in the story.
I loved how they showed what wasn't written in the original story, but It makes sense as of an other pov, on the personality and actions described in both the novels.
It really gave you new insight of the story.

The soundtrack really fit the story.

It's a very healing story.

The script and the dialog are very well written and contain many quotes from the novel.
Rewatch the story is very recommanded because the story, the dialog and also because every time you can spot new details.

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Masterpiece

Best love story ever!
The script and dialog so beautifully and poetically written - so many phrases and lines and movie clips I want to remember forever. The plot draws you in from the get go and never lets go of you with anticipation of what is next for the characters surprising you with the playfulness of real people, drawing upon such real depictions of real families and their relationships good and bad and how people journey through life and love. Never too exaggerating nor understating the pain or sorrow or joys and happy times. The acting - omg kudos to them all! With the actors I smiled, I laughed, got embarrassed, blushed like a schoolgirl, cried like a baby, felt their sorrows and hurts, disappointments, got really mad, remembered the feelings of longing and regret, and loneliness, healing from trauma to finding courage and acceptance and joy on the road to peace and happiness and lasting trust and love. The director and all the crew I’m giving up you my very enthusiastic thumbs up for such a masterpiece production! Thank you!

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Let me be willful. I will wait for you to come to me.

A story of healing and love that never asks anything in return.

A perfect portrayal of handling trauma and a pure intention of providing safety and comfort to one another.

Wen Yifan is a broken person who experienced many traumas and never had a warm home after her father died. This drama shows how a bad experience can lead to her distancing herself even from the man she loves. They handle it perfectly, and we see her slow progress of healing.

Sang Yan... ahhhh. This guy... Every time we see his effort for Yi Fan, it is just wonderful. He respects her boundaries. He listens. He sees her. struggle. He silently helps her. He's the perfect portrayal of how we deal with hurt people. We respect their boundaries and wait for them to open up.

What a lovely journey. This is a story that will stay in my heart but cannot be rewatched fully. I just want to watch those beautiful moments and the way Sang Yan punches that uncle. :)

Great OST. I kept playing them for weeks.
I'm glad I gave this a chance because I do not watch much when it comes to contemporary drama.

overall: 9.5/10

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Will make you pray to have their kind of love.

This is probably my new fav cdrama. i felt and experience different kinds emotions watching every episodes. i legit cried in the last ep, the whole proposal scene. i am single my whole life, but i guess, relationship and marriage is not scary after all if i have a "Sang Yan"
both lead actor/actress gives justice to the role, their chemistry is soo 🤌🔥 couldnt think of anyone who can pull off the role of Sangyan and Yifan better than the two of them.
i never post reviews here in MDL despite being a k/cdrama fan for more than a decade, but i am this time, that is how good this drama is 💯🥹 in fact
i am actually rewatching it again hahaha i am just too attached to this drama, i still can let it go lol

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Slowburn or boring?

I watched this after all the hype I saw online, I also really enjoyed Hidden Love so I was excited to get this spinoff focusing on the brother. The acting was good and I enjoyed how the characters were portrayed. I was surprised by Sang Yang and how different he is in this compared to the character in Hidden Love. The music was good and visually the entirety of the show was nice to watch.
The plot is where I find the show to be the most lacking, I enjoyed how the writers tried to go for a more taboo and serious storyline but the execution was questionable. I found myself getting annoyed at how most of the men in the show were 1 dimensional and wanted to get with Wen Yi Fan or force themselves on her. It was just one after the other, it made the plot feel a lot less serious than it actually was. Also, I thought it was weird how Yi Fan would confront her uncle but also run away from him 2 minutes later, It felt out of character.
The pacing has to be this shows worst enemy, it was so slow and for no reason. Nothing happened for many episodes and I was bored out of my mind, I ended up watching it at a 1.75x speed and skipping a lot of scenes.
Overall I feel like this show had a strong premise but it was poorly executed. The acting and visuals were the only strong thing about it. It felt like a big downgrade from Hidden Love. I don’t think I could ever put myself through rewatching this show or the leads romantic scenes, not that they were cringe or lacked chemistry, I just got to a point where I didn’t care at all.
Cdrama are always a hit or miss for me and this one was a big miss.

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supercifial & over-hyped

Let’s start with the fact that the male lead is one of the most flat characters I have watch so far.

Male character was created to be just marely a decoration or an objection of fantasy for it’s audience, like those male characters from games that females would have variety to choose from, a male character who’s sole purpose in the story was to cater to the female lead.

Hi dreams, his job, his every action all revolves around the female lead and lacks agency.

not to mention, the male character falls for female lead bec of her physical appearance, yes because she is beautiful, follows her around, and if he is not handsome, people would be calling him creepy, but hey he is gorgeous so it’s okay, but the same audience are annoyed when an intern on her job does the same, following her like a puppy.

female lead rejects him and what did he do? ahh yes he kept visiting and watching her without her knowledge, talk about romanticizing a stalker, but hey again he is gorgeous.

female lead at least has substance, she is someone who experience trauma and made bad decisions during her youth as she is powerless (which i appauld for making it realistic), but the writer made a creative decisions that doesn’t make sense in the context of the story or the character, a journalist who has a trauma, during first episode, her body initial reaction is to help someone, but when face with her own villian, she left everything and decided strangers are better to be around than her love ones (boyfriend & best friend), a journalist is someone who had a knowledge of how the law works (could have filed an harrasment as she has receipts of his threats) but hey blame it on trauma - okay, but then she got back with ml, talk about the traumatic past and slept with him the same night, very contradictory.

it’s like being diagnose with a condition of depression and you see some random dramatic ones who claim to be depressed just for being sad without really knowing the feeling of having one.

but hey most viewers could careless about logic and realistic characters and just want a fictional character they could fantasize for their own.

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The complexity and trauma hidden behind that stoic persona.

If only the show was shorter. It was such a good story, with a rather good message, extremely well delivered closure in all areas, so why don't I feel much when I think about it? Maybe, because it was all diluted too much in these 32 episodes.

Wen Yi Fan is one of the more refreshing and real female characters I have seen in quite some time. The detailed presentation of all the layers of the complexity and trauma hidden behind that stoic persona that Yi Fan was truly stunning. The way we slowly learned how much of an impact her past has on her current self. How hard it is to heal. How hard it is to believe in yourself and believe you are worth being loved and cared for. It’s a whole journey filled with reflection and development, building up strength and character. Learning how to protect yourself and people around you, how to set boundaries. How to move on. How to start anew.

What’s more, I loved how the romance was not its own separate thing - it was an integral part connected to other plotlines. It felt like a cohesive picture - a situation happening in one area affected other areas of Yi Fan’s life: be it friendship, work, relationship. If I were to name the love story presented here, rather than slow paced, I’d call it patient. Was it a bit one sided plot wise? Yes. I’m not saying Yi Fan did not love Sang Yan. It was extremely clear she did. Considering the story though - it was all about how Sang Yan can help her, protect her, keep her safe, and support her. Did I mind? Not really. Relationships are almost never 50-50. Sometimes they are 20-80, sometimes 70-30. It changes as the life situation changes. Relationships should not be about keeping a score, but wanting to thrive as a unit.

For the conclusions - huge props for the story to not fix the family relationships. Not even give a vague “maybe in the future”. The ties were cut as they should. There was no redemption arc for anyone. The aunt was awful till the end, the uncle was just a criminal who deserved the punishment he got, and the mother was selfish till the last moment they showed her up on screen. Finally we are not fed the bullshit idea that no matter how abused and neglected you are, you need to forgive and forget because “it’s family”.

I loved the last conversation Yi Fan had with her mother. I loved how she was not fooled by the tears. I loved how she understood she is worth the love. The mother was selfish, always prioritizing herself. Yi Fan did nothing wrong and that message was loud and clear.

Random thing I truly loved is the number of hugs we’ve got. Hugs are honestly so underrated in dramas. While kiss scenes might be the highlight or romance, hugs are for me the highlight of a love - the way Yi Fan literally melted in Sang Yan’s arm, the way it showed how safe she felt being with him.

What’s more to appreciate? The acting. Zhang Ruo Nan aced the role. She embodied Wen Yi Fan. It’s so hard to play a character that feels a lot of strong feelings, but also hides them from others. The emotions have to be obvious to the audience, but also subtle enough that we as viewers understand she does not want to show them, and other characters might miss them. The balance of how much to show is a skill not that many actors and actresses possess.

Big props to all the villains too - strong performances that made me hate them with passion.

All that said, I had mixed feelings about the “trauma” aspect of the show. On one hand they did a perfect job to show how trauma can and usually does impact every part of someone’s life, because it can literally change one’s personality, sense of self-worth. It’s not just about “reacting to triggering events” - it literally influences any and all decision making. On the other hand, why exactly did they add all the sexual assaults and harassment to the show? From what I heard from people who read the novel, some assault/harassment scenes did not even take place in the source material… and I fail to see why they were added. Was her being harassed and assaulted twice not enough?

To the things I disliked - more or less the show should have been shorter. I’d cut around 8 episodes if I had any say. There was quite a lot of repetition. Some plotlines were not only too long, but quite honestly, completely not needed (grandpa's story was cute, until it was just boring and ill fitting - why so much focus on it?) Stalker actor? Why was he there? Just to annoy the audience, since his presence brought close to nothing in terms of progression of the plot.

And now I will say something truly controversial - I think there was too much Sang Yan. Wild take, I know, but hear me out. This is by all means one woman story - Wen Yi Fan. She is the only one with real depth and development. The one who faces both external and internal struggles. The heart of the whole drama. Sang Yan was there, stagnant. He did not need development, because his existence centers around Yi Fan. Where he lives, what he does, where he works, how he behaves - all dictated by Yi Fan’s existence. I had no issue with that. I don’t think in every romance drama both main characters need to be equally developed. I just think their screen time should then be adequate of how much they bring to the drama. By all means, Sang Yan was not an interesting character and I never truly cared that much for him because of that. He is hot and a perfect boyfriend, and then what?

The production and editing was hit and miss for me at the same time. You know how at the end of the episodes of dramas they always add highly edited screenshots from the episode with 87545865406 filters on them? This is kind of how the whole drama felt. The screenshots came out amazing, but some scenes just felt exhausting for me to watch. There were moments when the distorted reflections and lens flares literally blurred the faces so much, I could not see them. I wish they were more selective when they want to turn up the aesthetic shots.

Soundtrack was perfect for the drama, but music wise not my style. Still, the songs are supposed to fit the show, not my own personal preferences, hence high score from me.

Overall, maybe I just expected more. Something about this drama just did not click well with me, even though I should love it. I still enjoyed it, but there were times when I played the episode out of obligation of wanting to finish the show, rather than excitement or seeing what will happen next.

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