The First Frost (2025)

Wasted potential with the highlight being a complex FL

The best part of this series is the complex FL. We watch her deal with trauma and the repercussions of her trauma with PTSD, touch aversion, sleepwalking, and very low self-esteem. We get to watch as she deals with the horrors of a terrible family and how she remains strong and unafraid to stand up for herself, but still face the long-term effects of her past. Her trauma isn't just a empty plot that the writers put in without consideration of how terrible it can truly be. The FL is the highlight and honestly, I would've loved to see more time spent on her working through her personal issues. She is a complex, multi-dimensional character that we get to watch grow and learn to love herself. I enjoyed her character more than the romance of the whole show.

The romance was perfect, warm, but empty and quite lackluster. The ML is a really flat character who's only character trait is being in love with the FL. In the Hidden Love his character was full of life, humor, warmth, and love for everyone around him. In First Frost he has a best friend who is super friendly and caring and many other friends as well, but yet he constantly ignores them, is rude to them, and doesn't show his care for them at all. His best friend even begs him at one point saying that he really needed to talk to him, but he shoved him off because he wanted to be with his girlfriend. This ML was just empty outside of the romance.

The romance was the main genre, so of course, it's one of the most important relationships in the show. But..what about the FL's best friend? She is always there for her, forgives her when she leaves her/dumps her and is always there for her even when the FL doesn't have the emotional/mental energy to be there for her. Yet the FL mentions multiple times that the ML is the only one that loves her and that he's the only family she has.

The secondary couple was cute, but they didn't fit the tone of the series at all. I would've watched them if they had their own show because they had more natural chemistry than the leads, but I skipped during First Frost.

So all in all, the FL was the best part. The romance was warm, but empty.

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A Beautiful Yet Bittersweet Love Story

The drama starts with a sweet high school love-at-first-sight between Sang Yan and Wen Yifan, who meet on their first day of high school. Every day is filled with heart-fluttering moments—until reality hits. Wen Yifan’s once bright world turns into trauma and sorrow, making her became an avoidant & withdrawn person who chooses to run away from people she knows.

Sang Yan’s character is loved by many viewers, and I totally get why. He’s loyal, devoted, and never giving up on the girl he has loved from the very beginning. On the other hand, Wen Yifan’s character can be frustrating to some viewers, she seems indecisive & almost like playing with Sang Yan’s feelings. But, as someone who understands what trauma can do to a person, I deeply related to Yifan. Facing the harsh world alone, carrying emotional burdens without asking for help. I just wanted to be her friend and give her a hug:(

While I really enjoyed the drama, there were times when it felt a bit on and off. Some episodes pulled me in completely, while others felt like they lost momentum.

What I Loved:
- The acting was top-notch, especially Wen Yifan’s emotional scenes. Her teary eyes and gloomy expressions truly brought her hidden trauma to life.
- The chemistry between the leads was undeniable—they made every scene together feel genuine.
- The OST was easy-listening and fit the mood of the drama perfectly!!

What Felt Off:
- Side character screen time, I loved the 2nd couple, but why were their scenes so minimal? Instead, we got TOO MUCH focus on Su Haoan’s grandparents. There was even an episode where they had more screen time than the main leads.
- Sang Yan’s repeated flights to Yihe just to secretly watch Yifan from afar. While some might find this super romantic, I personally found it a bit weird & unsettling(?) If I knew someone was watching me from a distance, even if it was someone I liked, I’d be creeped out rather than touched.
- The main leads officially became a couple before resolving the misunderstandings from six years ago. I admire Sang Yan’s patience and his respect for Yifan’s feelings, but getting into a relationship with unresolved questions? That’s not realistic and as expected, it backfired when Yifan ran away again for the same reasons.

Despite these flaws, I still think this drama is worth to watch, It delivers a deeply emotional love story. If you enjoy romance with angst, this one’s suit you well!

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The fire of the frost, the soul of the sun

A news reporter reunites with her first love when they accidentally share an apartment and their sunny present and rainy past mash into a prismatic love story.

What I liked:
• Marvelous performance. I absolutely loved Bai Jing Ting and Zhang Ruonan's performance. It was enthralling to see them act.
• Good cinematography. The shots with mirrored sequences were good and explorative to the story.
• I particularly like the episode titles and how they give the essence of the episode and a little bit of epilogue scenes to boot.
• Excellent music, conveying their story.

What I disliked:
• The secondary characters and their stories felt out of place with the main story. It could have been minimized because it felt like the creators just used it in their story to increase the episode length.
• Certain plotlines could have been handled better without exaggerated scenes in earlier episodes.
• Some character arcs felt out of place and disturbed the flow of the story.

Overall, a good watch. Recommended if you like angsty love stories, and watch out for the trigger warnings.

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Too Depressing

I really wanted to love this show but the FL was just too bland. She’s cute, but her character was just… Idk. Draining? There were funny moments, but that’s about it. I watched it because I did enjoy Bai Jing Ting in Destined. It has lots of bullying scenes which can be triggering for most people. I enjoyed watching the ML do a lot of things for the FL. The FL remained close in her shell. She’s so naive. Like how can you not know that he has feelings for you?? Some scenes were just repetitive. It’s like going around in circles. No development at all. It was just so boring after a while. I started this in February on Netflix and it’s already April. I’m not sure if I’m going to continue or to just DNF it.

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Expectations Verse Reality

First let me preface this review by saying that I liked and enjoyed this drama. There were many things that I love(d) about watching this adaptation. Frist and foremost, the performances by Bai Jing Ting and Shang Ruo Nan as Sang Yan and Wen Yi Fan(Wen Shuang Jiang) respectively were amazing and should be praised. Not only did their physical appearance, wardrobe, and over all styling match the characters, but the emotions that they conveyed matched that of Sang Yan and Wen Yi Fan. The only time it didn't match were when the writer-director deviated from the source material for in my opinion, fan service. More on this later in my review.

I liked the balance that was kept throughout the show of both mains' perspectives being shown. There were certain aspects to Sang Yan's character that were sprinkled in early on that would pay off much later in the drama, just like it did in the novel. There were even a few things that they held off on revealing until a bit later in the drama than in the original source material which I feel worked better.

Shang Ruo Nan really understood Wen Yi Fan's shyness, curiosity, hesitance…and her innocence down. A thing that a lot of people seem to forget is that Yi Fan had to grow up very fast, very suddenly. But with that speed run to adulthood she skipped over a lot of other milestones someone in their late teens and early twenties would experience. She only ever got to experience unconditional love from two people, and both left her early. The one left remaining who was supposed to love her unconditionally then made her feel unlovable/unworthy of unconditional love and care. So the slower pace of the drama lent to the slow progression of Yi Fan coming out of her shell.
Only critique I have is that they didn't hire someone who knows ballet to get Shang Ruo Nan's posture down. So imo it doesn't so much fall on the actress, but production. They could have easily used a foot double for close ups and done medium shots with Shang Ruo Nan...which there were many, but she never held her chest or arms correctly for someone trained in en pointe ballet. A real missed opportunity, imo, for showing Wen Yi Fan's inner world would have been showing her breaking in her pointe shoes, showing her mending the last few pairs she was able to get before her mother cut her off. An example of this filming technique can be found in the movie 'Center Stage' if you are a dancer, chances are you know exactly which scene I'm referring to. I don't think you realized how many and and how expensive pointe ballet shoes are. They come in many sizes and variations and it is extremely important to have pairs that fit you. A professional dancer can go through a pair within less than a week. Also one does not simple jump back into en pointe after 6 years of zero dancing...good way to never walk again. her shoes should have looked more worn and shown her personal touch. They felt sterile and like they just came out of a box.

The director is good at filming the darker in mood scenes. So most of the sleepwalking and trauma related flashbacks. The use of light within the apartment was well done. Using softer practical lights to show warmth and a sense of comfort. He also excels at young love/innocent crush type of casual scenes. Their high school flashback scenes were some of the best shot of the entire series. The color grading was ever so slightly different and I preferred his use of water/reflections during these scenes.

Okay…now to the things that I had some issues with. Leave now if you either already watched the show and don't want anything to pop that bliss bubble, or if you haven't watched the show and have never read the source material/seen Hidden Love. Go watch the drama and form your own opinion. If you start feeling a certain kind of way, by all means revisit this review. I don't want to yuck someone's yum, but a review/critique can sometimes feel like an attack if you aren't ready to hear a different POV.

My expectations were too high for this one, and I was left feeling somewhat disappointed in production(the team that adapts the material aka the bts people). I have a deep love for this story and these characters, and have an eye for production quality that will affect my overall viewing of a drama. I have a background in photography and my special interest is film & television. I'm harsher on this project because it was an extremely sought after IP with a pretty high budget behind it, as well as a great cast.

The story changes made throughout the drama were sometimes strange and other times outright nonsensical. To their credit, some of the changes were well executed and performed, leaving a lasting impression on the viewer.
But, to choose to add more depressing/traumatic things was a strange choice. The side stories they chose to include in a drama that already had a very heavy subject matter at its core tipped what was once a well-balanced melo-romance too far into the melo side of things.

If they wanted to expand the runtime they could have shown more of Sang Yan's inner world outside of Wen Yi Fan. Instead what we got were their friends dealing with a dementia grandpa and a dead dog. We didn't need parallels drawn for us with characters that didn't exist in the source material, that only slowed down the story. Sang Yan and Yi Fan's story was enough for the drama. We did not need a rich orphan with a dead dog and grandparents losing their mind and their love for each other to cut into character development happening with the lead couple/characters. Any other show I would have eaten it up and said thank you, but not in The First Frost.

I don't think this director really understands romantic romance, which is odd, considering he directed the Taiwanese version of It Started With a Kiss/They Kiss Again. He can do suspense and melodrama, but the tension and lightness that comes with love/attraction was lacking in the camera language used. He could do the sadness, but the happiness felt...surface level. (Other than that amazing scene where they used in camera practical projection of images on Wen Yi Fan in her bedroom.)

There were a lot of missed opportunities when it came to filming/editing detail shots. If you've ever watched a slow burn before it's all in the small hand movements, breath, slight dilation of the eyes/nose, getting an intentional medium to close shot of those moments ad weight to a scene that gives anticipation/tension. When those shots did exists some of them were cut short. Messing with the frame rate could have helped as well.

Some of the better moments were them in high school....which would make since with the whole It Started With a Kiss background. When Wen Yi Fan is pursuing Sang Yan very little of her fumbling attempts at flirting were shown. It's a good chunk of the novel and was glazed over in favor of dementia grandpa troubles.

Once they are together in the novel Yi Fan is a very physically affectionate person. She doesn't like it when he carries everything for her because it means he doesn't have a free hand for her to hold onto. THIS was a side of Yi Fan that was missing from this director's screenplay. We only see her like this when she's drunk after the wedding. She will get a look of frustration when she isn't able to express her affection well that Sang Yan finds adorable. We see a little of this in the drama, but they didn't lean into it as I feel they could have.

Major changes to source material that changes the characterizations of Sang Yan and Wen Yi Fan as people….

I mentioned this in the comment section when it happened the first time, but it needs to be said again. I don’t know why they chose to do this, and have only come to the conclusion that they wanted to give fan service to Hidden Love fans, which is weird because it's different actors so no one would honestly care if they do or do not show up on screen. But to include Duan Jia Xu into present day Sang Yan's life prior to the summer Sang Yan visits his sister is…wild for multiple reasons the glaringly obvious one is having him be half naked in Wen Yi Fan's apartment without permission.
Sang Yan was the one to make the house rules so that Wen Yi Fan could feel safe and comfortable. There is no way on god's green earth that Sang Yan, protector of Wen Yi Fan would let a MAN into their shared apartment WITHOUT HER KNOWLEDGE. All production had to do to rectify this is to show that Sang Yan texted her that his friend was coming over, she could have been busy at work and forgot that she had agreed and THEN run into Duan Jai Xu outside the bathroom. Wen Yi Fan did not need to be surprised multiple times by a strange half-dressed wet man in her private space. She also never would have allowed the intern into her apartment. And the flasher when she met the intern never existed…why are we adding more unwanted interactions with strange men? It became gratuitous.

Another issue with the changes were that of Che Xing De. Instead of him being a drunk brother of her aunt that moved in with them because he couldn't hold down a job, in the drama the apartment became HIS. Instead of being the drunk driver that she reports on late one night, he's just a passenger in the car and then later becomes the security guard for her TV station's building....I'm sorry...what was the reason? It was like the director needed him to be more than just a deadbeat man. The whole point was that even a deadbeat drunk had more power than a helpless teenage girl whose mother abandoned her. They gave the villain more power at the expense of taking agency from the female lead. Instead of being a drunk, loitering outside her office building extort money and then robbing her, he became employed by her company with access to the building she works in late at night....do yall see why this logic does not work?....He had access to the building that she works in, alone, and never acted on it.....she had knowledge of is past behavior and is a reporter and said NOTHING to her co-workers or bosses about the predator "protecting" the building. Wen Yi Fan would NEVER. She might have been a private person, but if he wasn't just a bum harassing her 100% would have told someone else.

And for the largest change to the source material, we come to episode 24-27. In the novel Sang Yan and Yi Fan get into an argument, a small one, right before he leaves for the airport to visit Zhi Zhi in Yihe, leaving his luggage in the car and leaving the car behind for Yi Fan to use. Two days later...a whole 48 hours...Yi Fan has taken 3 days of leave from work and shows up at the airport in Yihe. Sang Yan runs into her at the airport after getting worried when she doesn't answer his call and having decided to fly back early to check on her. SHE GOES TO HIM IN LESS THAN 48 HOURS. She doesn't respond to his texts for a few hours and he gets worried enough to head home from across the country. They NEVER stop communicating once they are together.

So tell me, dear reader, why oh, why did the director decide to change this to Wen Yi Fan ghosting not only Sang Yan, but her friends, colleagues, and CAT, to go off to Hong Kong for 6 MONTHs? And the ONLY reason it wasn't MORE than 6 months was because she gets spotted by her childhood friend and then gets hunted down by her best friend's rich boyfriend....again...WTF?

They made Wen Yi Fan way more passive than she is in the source material to uplift other male characters…it was a strange choice for a show centered on a woman's struggles and journey to self-love and being able to accept other's love.


I just feel like the director was trying to do a lot of things filming technique wise, but didn't really execute them well. Certain filming techniques were like watching a first year film student test out their camera equipment for the first time and over doing it. I know that sounds very harsh, but to film so many scenes in the exact same manner i.e. through a pane of glass, a mirror, having a lens flare or object out of focus in the foreground while focusing on the background repeatedly when trying to portray different moods was imo a bad use of film language. (please look at Film 'Making Basics: Everything you need to know in 8 minutes' by Alfie Vaughan) It will give you the basics of what I've been looking at when watching shows and may help you understand why I am the way I am. It's not very in depth but yeah.

Anyway, to finish off this very long review. I did have an overall positive viewing experience, but it just didn't meet my expectations for an adaptation of a slow burn romance with it's budget behind it.

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the kind of love that finds you no matter what

although i was unsure of enjoying this drama as much as others when i started it, i ended up loving it as much as the story progressed. the slow burn was my favourite part of the show, the angst was definately worth it. i smiled, laughed, and even got emotional as i binged these 32 episodes consisting of an emotional rollercoaster ride.

centering around yifan’s ptsd and suffering while dealing with her family, i loved how this drama showed that healing wasn’t linear. yifan’s sudden disappearance without a word showed a pattern she couldn't break until she eventually realized that running away wasn’t the solution. the love she received from sang yan gave her power to fight back, and she realised that she wasn’t really alone. always being neglected by her family, belonging to no one, she ended up finding her own people, who chased after her even after she disappeared from their world without a word. this drama showed that familial bond wasn’t everything; you don’t always have to forgive the people who did you wrong, never stood by your side, and abandoned you. yifan’s relationship with her mom concludes on the same note– instead of choosing forgiveness, she chooses herself.

the way sang yan loves yifan deserves it’s own appreciation paragraph. he loved her through thick and thin; both as a young boy and as an adult. his character is the resemblance of the kind of love that waits, and is worth the wait– even if it’s years.

the ending episode was really beautiful– the awkwardness during the proposal scene, sang yan’s overwhelming emotions, the gesture on wen yifan’s face as if she had been dying to hear those words, and most importantly– the ring. it was all beautiful.

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The screenwriter and director did a bad interpretation of this drama. A bad sequel of Hidden Love

The First Frost is one of the trilogy novels written by Zhu Yi. This drama follows the life of Sang Yan's character. He was an older brother of Sang Zhi from Hidden Love.

I did not enjoy this drama, and the acting of Bai Jing Ting and Zhan Rou Nan was not up to par based on the characters they portrayed. They are talented actors/actresses; however, this story's script and direction were not good. I am disappointed with the director and screenwriter, Chu Yu Ning. I felt that his interpretation of the story was not good; it was too draggy, too long (it would have been better if it was 24 or 25 episodes instead of 32), had too many repetitive flashbacks, and the timeline scale at the beginning and how it was presented was confusing.

In addition, Victor Ma played Sang Yan better than Bai Jing Ting (in my opinion). Sang Yan's character in Hidden Love is outspoken and mischievous with his friends and his sister; I see none of it in this drama; their interactions were more cordial than bickering, as I saw in Hidden Love (which is fun to watch).

Furthermore, the dynamic of Sang Yan's college buddies was not as funny as in Hidden Love, and the actors portrayed were not good. Sang Yan's character in this drama is completely different from Hidden Love, a 180-character change; if it is part of a well-written trilogy, the personality of its character should not be altered.

A relative sexually harassed Wen Yi Fan; it should not take that long and too many flashbacks to solve and bring justice to the guilty uncle. The sleepwalking is stupid and lame, Zhan Rou Nan did not act well in this drama, and her onscreen chemistry with Bai Jing Ting was mediocre.

I did not like this drama; hence, I gave it a low rating.

Synopsis: Wen Yi Fan, a reporter, went to a bar called Overtime to meet with her best friend, Zhong Si Qiao. While at the bar, she met Sang Yan, a department manager and one of the owners of Overtime. He was Yi Fan's high school deskmate and the guy she once fell in love with. The two bumps into each other, and as Yi Fan pretends that she does not know who Sang Yan is, Sang Yan does the same. After some problems, the two accidentally become housemates and get a second chance.

My Reviews:
1. Acting: 7
2, Script: 6
3, Music/OST: 7
4, Production Quality:7
5. Cinematography: 6
6. Rewatchable: 6
7. Onscreen Chemistry: 6.5

Overall Rating: 7.5

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Drama Review: First Frost (2025)

This drama completely stole my heart! 💕 The main leads had absolutely amazing chemistry—their acting was so impressive that I could truly feel their emotions in every scene. Their connection felt natural and deeply moving, making their love story all the more compelling.

While the side couple was okay, they didn’t capture my interest as much as the main pair did. The storyline involving the grandpa also didn’t really hold my attention, but that didn’t take away from my overall enjoyment of the drama.

The male lead? Total green flag! 🏳️💚 He was always there for the female lead, making her feel safe, loved, and cherished. His character was a dream, and I loved how their relationship developed so beautifully.

From start to finish, I was completely hooked! I honestly hope to see these two actors together again in another drama because their on-screen dynamic was just that good.

If you enjoyed Hidden Love, this drama is definitely for you! It’s easily one of my favorite dramas, and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves a heartfelt and beautifully executed romance. 💖✨

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Wen Yi Fan's story : Freeing herself from her past and embracing her light.

After leaving for more than 6 years, Wen Yi Fan decides to go back to Nanwu. After some events, she becomes roommates with her first love Sang Yan. This new proximity brings back painful memories, regrets and a loved buried for years…


What I like
- WYF and her growth. This story is about her freeing herself from past trauma. The journey to feel worthy of love again is not easy and WYF learned it. As a viewer, we saw all this growth and can only be proud about it. Big up to Zhang Ruo Nan who did such a good job interpreting WYF!

- Friendship of WYF and ZSQ. Loved their friendship.

- Main leads romance : Chemistry wise, they were cute but also so hot. This second chance romance was well done. Flashbacks and present scenes complements well. So, we can see the difference between the past and present slowly. Learning from their past mistakes and becoming each other's light again. Also loved WYF's declaration to SY about pursuing him. She was so cute!

- The mother and daughter relationship. Sharing the same blood isn't enough to build a family. WYF and her mother is the perfect example. They shared the same blood but it didn't stop WYF's mother to choose a new family without her. And at the end of the drama, it won't stop WYF to choose her new family. I also want to add that it's quite refreshing to see they didn't patch up at the end of the drama. Their relationship has reached the point of no return and it was just not believable for them to reconcile.

- The villains. I loved the actors' performance because I hated their character so much.

- Really good OST.

- Actors' styling. I have to say it their best styling till now.


What I didn't like
- The number of sexual harassment she went through was a bit too much. I saw somewhere she went through two sexual harassments in the novel which is quite a lot already. It didn't need more to make us understand her trauma.

- The lack of characterization for SY. He is WYF's light and the person she loves the most. And vice-versa, WYF is his whole world. All his thoughts, his life is centered on WYF and her happiness. While as a lover, he is the best match for WYF. However as a character, he is uninteresting. Except for his devoted love, the character is blank. He has no life, no hobbies, no dreams and it so unrealistic! This lack of characterization can be seen in his interactions with his friends for example. There isn't a lot but when they are hanging out together, it's awkward and you can see they have nothing to talk about.

- Some irrelevant characters. The intern and Xiang Lang. Their scenes wasn't necessary and didn't bring much for the plot. They could cut out his scenes and everything would still be the same.

- The grandpa story as catalysis for the second leads story. The whole grandpa story was quite cute at first but they dragged it out too long. This plot could have been a good idea to make the second lead closer and see the good in each other. However, it wasn't done right so it impacted the second leads' love line. And when the grandpa story was over I wasn't invested in them anymore. It's quite unfortunate because the start was so promising.


Overall
This drama is a good watch. WYF's story and her growth is really touching. Unfortunately, it didn't need 32 eps. You can see the production team wanted to fill 32 worth of eps by extending some irrelevant stories.

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