This review may contain spoilers
Lovely
There are spoilers interspersed throughout my review, because some of them were things I liked, some I didn't.LOVED:
1) Zhao Lu Si as Sang Zhi. She is so beautiful and bubbly, I felt she was perfectly cast for this. Finally, a show in which they didn't put her in a lot of oversized outfits.
2) Chen Zhe Yuan as Duan Jia Xu. I've not seen him in anything before and I loved him in this. First, he's gorgeous. Second, the character was a warm and caring person.
3) Romance chemistry - just wow! The ML said things that most women would love to hear from their man. The way he looks at her, sigh. Good kisses.
4) Story - knowing someone for a long time and developing a relationship. For the most part, this was handled well.
5) Victor Ma as Sang Yan. He was a terrific character. The dynamic between him and his sister, and him and his friends was such fun to watch.
6) SPOILER: It seems like most romances have a secondary female that used to be a girlfriend that comes back after years and wants to pick up where they left off. She thinks she's entitled to him because she wants him. FINALLY, this show portrays the female the way I feel about the secondary women in other dramas. She's a stalker and not-just-a-little unhinged. And I love how the FL told the stalker's friend to go with her to get some counseling! END SPOILER.
7) Ending - I cried.
8) The voices weren't too terrible and the roommates weren't stupid and irritating.
9) The focus was on the romance of the main couple. Not a lot of wasted time.
10) She met him when she was in middle school. The way they handled her crush, her youth, and how he felt about her was handled well. This could have been kind of creepy if he liked her too soon. And the progression of how his feelings changed made sense.
11) The brother's reaction to finding out his friend was dating his sister.
12) The fact that the ML didn't drink alcohol.
13) I know it's not realistic, but I love when the people haven't had relationships before. When he came out and said he'd never dated...he got me!
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: (SPOILERS THROUGHOUT)
1) Sang Zhi acted in a very immature fashion when she was younger. I get that she was young, but when a girl has a crush on a guy, especially an older guy, she does everything she can to demonstrate how mature she is.
2) She's had a crush on him for literally years. She grows up, he confesses his feelings, and she says she needs to think about whether she likes him. I wanted to smack her upside the head. I felt so bad for him, but thank goodness he was patient. I think he knew, even if she didn't say anything. I was mad for a couple of episodes.
3) Her friends saying she needed to "test" him, and her doing it. Game playing in a relationship isn't a good thing, and it, again, made her look really immature.
4) Her making herself cry (when she was younger) to get her way. Once she grew up, I felt that she was still trying to manipulate people.
5) Them saying they would be there for each other, but then keeping things from the other because they didn't want to bother/overwhelm them.
6) One of the last episodes, he's alone in the living room drinking. She comes out and asks him about it, and he never opens up about what the problem is. AND, I really had a problem with the fact that the first time they were intimate he was drunk.
7) Parents, especially, complaining about the age difference. It was five years, people!
Kudos to the writers for not making this a long and drawn out story. My fast forward button got a good rest while I was watching this. It's low angst, light, fluffy, cute, and all the other things when you don't want something heavy. It's one of those shows that I put off, thinking it couldn't possibly be that good, and then I was disappointed when it was over. I will definitely be re-watching it at some point in time.
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How wonderful is the story created and narrated a perfect 100 percent satisfying
Watched it multiple times still not bored .A 100 percent FULFILLING STORY.
Sang yan and sang zhi ...duan and zhizhi ,the parents and zhizhi san yan ,friends ....every thing is so beautiful kept me smiling and laughing through out ..... could still go on watching over 100000000 times and not get bored...thanks for bringing in laughter and happiness with such drama.
This is a complete package of happiness ...
...........,............
Have never been happy and satisfied watching any other .
Each scene is creative and narrated well.
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it made me believe in love
I was a different person before and after watching this. straight up one of the best romances I’ve ever witnessed. Main actors had incredible chemistry and gave me butterflies. The development of having a sibling-like relationship to a romantic one was flawless, despite being a tricky trope. A heartwarming, drama free story that healed me. I don’t really know what else to write except GO WATCH THIS SHOW NOW YOU WONT REGRET IT ITS A MUSTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTWas this review helpful to you?
ONE OF THE MOST REWATCHED DRAMA IN MY LIFE till now(DON'T MIND THE HATERS )
Everything about this drama is perfect except it should have been 30 episodes longthis is adapted from my fav comfort novel which I have re read numerous time
the drama made some changes which I am not mad about as things which work In novel areas doesn’t mean will work in dramas
Zhao lusi and Chen zheyuan NAILED IT!
like do you understand the plot the dilogues the scenes are what I have read already about bazillion times but still I rewatched this drama for 5 times
do you realize just how insane the chemistry of the actors and the characters need to be to make someone like me who never rewatches any drama to make me watch it this many times
I am so glad Secretly Secretly But Unable To Hide it came alive as Hidden Love
it's been almost a month but I am still unable to move on from it
It's like HL casted a spell on me😭
I am surprised how some people were quick to come in conclusion about HL with 3-4 epis like why is the need of drama to be of more than 10 epis when people like them are ready to conclude what a drama is going to be about without watching the entire drama but their conclusion was opposit of what the drama or character were about so you could easily say a hate campaign on HL is going on
Don't mind the haters apparently they are fans of rival actress of Zhao Lusi so they are here to complain about the drama so that the ratings will drop
People here who think this drama is controversial must have never seen a couple with age gap
Both the characters had an age gap of 5 years but really is that the problem? He never forced her to accept his intentions towards her, he respected her,They both helped each other during difficult times of each other,He loved her dearly , and over all had A HEALTHY RELATIONSHIP
People here be complaining about one thing that they met early🙄 but so what The male lead never had any romance feelings for FL and treated her like a sister of a friend and when ever male lead met FL he informed her brother about it or it was always in the presence of her family
So i don't understand what was in this drama for haters to judge it mindlessly
Like there are so many couples with an age gap just because you don't prefer someone older than you as your partner then that doesn't give you the right to mark couple with an age gap into your p category that's just being hella partial and disrespectful
I am pretty sure people here complaining about the age gap must be bunch of kids who see their friends being in relationship with their age group people
If i want i can argue with all these haters with facts but them i would be giving them more attention and waste my time
DON'T MIND THE HATERS THE DRAMA IS A BOP!
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Slow burn, simple, charming
This was a no frill romance, yet perfectly executed.So charming, simple, pure and just transports you into a world of warmth and everlasting love.
Perfect prescription for a rainy day, feel good moment.
The ML and FL are excellent with sizzling chemistry and intimacy is heart fluttering.
The brother is excellent. Never once drops his relationship with the sister.
That little girl who comes in the first few episodes is absolutely cute. There is so much mischief in her eyes and she pulls off the perfect brat scene well.
My only gripe with most c- dramas is the use of the squeaky baby voice....why why why is that so popular when it is irritating to most global viewers?
And the other irritating part are the tiny skirts and shorts that the girls have to wear.
Do the regional local girls actually wear such tiny skirts and shorts that almost reveal their groin areas?
If they do then I guess it's fair for cdramas to portray them otherwise it's sexist and actually turning-off.
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Perfectly Sweet, and perfectly performed
This was the second Zhao Lu Si drama I've watched. The first I had enjoyed, Dating in the Kitchen, but this one I simply LOVED. It definitely didn't hurt that, to quote Zoolander, she is a really, really, really ridiculously good-looking (especially her stunning smile), but what what stunned me in this Drama was her acting. She was so very, very good at her job, which was to make it look like she wasn't acting. She nailed it.Another major reason why I gave this 10 was because there was none of the toxic misogyny of recent contemporary and youth C Dramas. No ice cold tsundere ML who knows everything and is freakishly good at everything and bullies or gaslights (or both), the FL into worshipping him. The dialogue given to both leads was refreshingly real, and Chen Zhe Yuan's Jia Xu was a likeable lead. His character got better and better as the Drama went on, leading up to oh so sweet ending, and Chen delivered a fine performance. Zhao's Sang Zhi got the best lines though, her sweet but firm self-conviction was great to see and the exchange with the very troubled Jiang Ying was outstandnig.
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Had me grinning like a fool for 25 eps!
"where ever you go...tripping on my soul" my favorit line from OST.There was just no way he was not gonna fall in love with her..my favorite thing was the anticipation they built up for the veiwers..waiting for him to notice her as a woman..and not a kid. Waiting for him to start going crazy for her little by little...so worth it.
What am amazingly sweet drama. Zao Lu Si..beautiful lady with so much talent in her craft. My first drama with the male lead..he is amazing too..great chemistry..like seriously!!! The story is well written, her relationship with her brother, so natural.
Absolutely worth every minute of time.
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Hidden love review
I honestly loved this show so much, in just 25 episodes this show managed to become my favorite show of all time. Before watching it I thought the description sounded cute and it was new so I decided to give it a go. It was quite tiresome waiting for all the episodes to come out on Netflix but every week I waited and it was so worth it because the storyline was cute, the acting was amazing, and the chemistry between Zhao Lusi and Chen Zheyuan was blooming. It was so amazing and the casting was perfect. I can’t think of any flaws this show had.Was this review helpful to you?
Perfect drama to relax
Highly recommend if you're in the mood for adorable and heartwarming love story. No complicated twists or mind-boggling plots, just a simple, sweet plot, and it's a perfect drama to relax.Chen Zheyuan and Zhao Lusi have extraordinary chemistry, portraying a cute yet mature relationship. Zhao Lusi totally nailed it as a cute high schooler without being cringe, and Chen Zheyuan also nailed his role as Sang Zhi's loving "brother" aka boyfriend. I'm obsessed with the Sang Sang siblings too. They’re so relatable, just like how real brothers and sisters act at home. Waiting for new episodes every week is torture, and now I'm already missing them like crazy.
The OSTs for this drama also *chef kiss*. Currently listening to Forever Star, Be your light and I Have Someone I Like non-stop.
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the story was amazing without a doubt
This show felt so refreshing and amazing to watch, it was so amazing to embark on that journey, the characters felt like a caress to my heart, I loved it.este show fue de lo mejor que he visto este año, fue asombroso, no puedo esperar a verlo de nuevo, sus personajes y la historia me atraparon por completo, no quería dejarlos ir tan pronto. me sumergí en un maraton y no pude parar hasta terminar, ame cada una de las historias y los personajes sin duda quedarán para siempre en mi corazón
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Enchanting fairytale
Once in a while, a simple rom-com can be more satisfying to watch than an elaborate expensive costume dramas. This is exactly what happens here. Who would have thought that the summer 2023 will have a surprise mega hit in the form of a simple rom-com that was adapted and executed beautifully. Going against the high profile costume dramas this summer, this simply stood out due to excellent acting , visuals and charisma of the leads.No doubt, this will become a classic as evidence of its high rewatch value and relationship goals.
Get ready to laugh and cry and experience butterflies and be enchanted with this cute fairytale.
Highly recommended
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A story of love, family and friendships
This drama reminds me of Road Home, in terms of the romance. You have this couple that is so respectful, protecting, caring, understanding, so loving towards each other and pushing each other to be the best versions of themselves. These types of romances make you feel so wistful and giddy, but we so rarely get to see these so it makes it all the more special when we have a drama portray this kind of healthy romance.While there was drama in this series, it was mainly from things surrounding the couple and not from the couple themselves. So, you wouldn't get frustrated at the drama that's happening. Instead, it would make you fall more in love with the couple because you get to see how they stand by each other, protect each other through the drama and resolve it together. I swear Sang Zhi and Duan Jia Xu are the greenest of f-ing flags you will ever get to see.
Another huge positive was this drama had one of the best family dynamics I've seen. Sang Zhi's relationship with her parents and her brother was sooo good. I loved how open their family was and respectful. I had so many laugh out loud moments watching this show mainly because of the sibling relationship between Sang Zhi and Sang Yan. Also, the friendships between Sang Zhi and her college roomates and Duan Jia Xu and his buddies was so wholesome and funny too.
All the actors did a fantastic job, Zhao Lusi is such a wonderful actress to watch. Her performance was so good and I was whole heartedly immersed in her portrayal of Sang Zhi.
Overall, if you are looking to watch a very sweet, low-drama, romantic, and funny series, definitely give this a go as you would not be dissapointed at all.
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