Don't regret the things you've already chosen
Watching the drama took me 2 days. It was a very emotional time, I've been touched many times... It has a lot of plot twists, which you cannot second-guess,After watching "What if", you realize you shouldn ever regret the things you've already chosen. Every life-path gives you new experiences. Only you can control your life and be responsible for your decisions. But the most important is to hart-to-heart talk, which is strongly missing nowadays.
Liu Xueyi perfect as always, but Zhong Chuxi is a good actress as well.
Will I watch it again? No ;) It was too hard for me.
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Infuriating watch
What If is a drama that, unfortunately, managed to frustrate me with both its main leads. While the concept of a parallel timeline where Xia Guo navigates two different lives—one in Leshan with her boyfriend and the other in Shanghai to advance her career—was intriguing, the execution left much to be desired.The Leshan timeline, in particular, was a major letdown. It felt like Xia Guo didn’t experience any meaningful growth. At the start, she’s passive and constantly at the mercy of the male lead’s indecision, and by the end, she’s still the same—nothing changes. Speaking of the male lead, his character was even worse. The show does a lot off-screen to "help" him (like how he prepared the surprise in the final episode), but his on-screen presence is just a string of wishy-washy decisions. One moment, he’s fully on board with something, and the next, he’s questioning it again. This back-and-forth gets tiring quickly, especially when his character lacks depth or development.
In contrast, the Shanghai timeline was much more interesting. Xia Guo starts off as a small-town girl trying to make her way in a big city, unburdened by societal norms and office politics. As she grows and matures, she becomes more independent, and her development felt more genuine. Her relationship with the second male lead, her boss's rival, was also much more compelling. While he wasn’t perfect, he at least seemed more mature and self-aware compared to the first male lead, which made their dynamic more enjoyable to watch.
What bothered me the most, though, was the mismatch between Xia Guo and the first male lead. They are supposed to be in their early twenties, yet the male lead's behavior felt more like that of a high schooler—constantly wavering and making dumb decisions. It made the whole thing feel more like a frustrating teenage drama than a story about adults figuring out their lives. By the time I finished all 20 episodes, it felt more like a chore than an enjoyable experience.
Now, a lot of people might say this show is "realistic," but honestly, that’s not what I watch dramas for. There's already enough "realism" in my own life, and TV shows are, for me, an escape. I want stories that give me a sense of something bigger, something to look forward to. But What If didn’t deliver that. The show gives us a "realistic" ending, but it doesn’t offer any kind of real substance. The final happy ending feels hollow, like it doesn't mean anything in the grand scheme of things. I would have much preferred a true "cold truth" ending—something more raw and real, or at least a conclusion that doesn’t feel forced or empty.
And then there’s the ending of the Leshan timeline. It’s meant to be this big, fulfilling moment where Xia Guo finally gets the wedding she’s always dreamed of—something she never had with the first male lead when they initially married. But here’s the kicker: the wedding is kept a secret for months, and when Xia Guo is about to call him out for cheating, it suddenly happens. It feels forced, like a desperate attempt to make up for all the past disappointments. And then, to top it off, the "lover" (who’s been pining for the first male lead the whole time) ends up with his friend. We never see them together, and it’s just this weird, unresolved subplot. Did the first male lead really change, or was this just another of his “one-moment” gestures to make Xia Guo happy, only to disappoint her later? I honestly can’t tell, but it certainly doesn’t feel earned.
The acting was decent, nothing outstanding but above average. The OST didn’t leave much of an impression either—few tracks and none of them stood out.
Overall, What If was a missed opportunity. The premise had potential, but the lack of character growth, coupled with the frustrating dynamics between the leads, made it hard to fully enjoy. It’s a drama that tries to be “realistic” but forgets that entertainment doesn’t always need to mirror reality. Definitely won’t be rewatching this one.
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Not too bad preferred the Shanghai's version
LIKEJian Jian’s dad really such a good and understanding person
Shanghai’s life is much better - no family struggle and has a career
Guo Guo's sixth sense is pretty good when she guesses Mi Gao's identity
Le Shan part - when Wen Ya is so understanding who knows what Guo Guo wants
Guo Guo Mum is so sweet actually
DISLIKE
Le Shan’s life - so much bickering with no job and being tied down for the whole life
MUSIC - personal fav
I Wanna Be With You - 金海心 Jin Hai Xin
REWATCH VALUE
Five for now
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Realistic plot with valuable take-away
I enjoy the drama because it is grounded and realistic, avoiding unnecessary exaggeration. It touches a familiar and relatable conflict many of us face: choosing between love, career, and family.The parallel storytelling is intriguing. At first the divergent paths were confusing. As the narrative developed, the two trajectories became clearer.
In the Leshan storyline with Yu Jian, her hometown boyfriend, their relationship began innocent and sweet but grew painful to watch as they struggled with family problems. Though emotionally draining, it mirrors the challenges of typical married life, especially as Yu Jian shouldered the heavy responsibility of his own family. Guo often found herself torn between difficult decisions, needing to balance her needs and Yu Jian’s family. By the end of the story, Yu Jian reflected that if they had chosen to go to Shanghai together, they might have lived happily as a couple, but they would have lost the presence of family and friends, missing important moments, like Guo’s chance to speak with her mother before she passed away, something the “other Guo” deeply regretted. He acknowledged Guo’s choices and sacrifices, as well as the way they had supported each other through helpless moments over the years. And, he believed in their resilience and was confident they would continue to remain a happy couple. That was really touching.
In the Shanghai storyline, Guo pursued a more accomplished career and enjoyed a more luxurious lifestyle. Her focus shifted toward individuality and self-actualisation, which made her relationship with her boss feel easier to accept.
I cannot conclude which decision suits her best. When she encountered Yu Jian again in the Shanghai storyline, having moved on from their past relationship, it was striking to see how a single choice can alter the entire course of a life and shape one’s personality. Both versions of Guo appeared content with their respective paths.
Ultimately, the story conveys that dwelling on “what if” is futile. What matters most is staying true to the path you choose and moving forward without looking back. It’s a valuable take-away for anyone facing life’s difficult choices.
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Love both possibilities
I think the drama was underrated as this was a decent drama with interesting story line. It was a bit confusing the first time I watched it as the transition to the other what if scenario was not clear. Additionally, I found the ML's mother very annoying throughout the whole show. Once I get the premise of 'what if', the drama was easier to follow and enjoyable to watch (ignore the ML's mother).The 1st 'what if' scenario, simple life in a smaller town surrounded with family, was a pleasure and comforting to watch, how they found joy in mundane things and how they persevered the hardships. I'm glad that the FL chose the 1st 'what if' scenario.
The FL and both MLs were superb, good looking and great acting. As a side note, the 1st ML (Liu Xueyi) was a happy-go-lucky guy in this drama instead of a brooding person he typically casted in period dramas, good to see him cheerful and smiling alot.
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What a drama
Great story line, best actors, best acting, a different drama from the regular..Giving alternative, letting life go with or without mixing in, beautiful drama. Here I would say that watching again might discover details we list on the way… watching again will probably let us understand better..
Enjoy!❤️
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This review may contain spoilers
Story about life choices of being content vs career driven in a fast-paced big city.
What If is a melodrama about life choices that Xia Guo needs to face and accept between being content with her current life in a small town or being a career-oriented woman in a fast-paced society in Shanghai. Does the grass seem greener on the other side?My Reviews:
1. The plot is okay. It is about life choices, and it does test one's ability to be content or to chase the dream of living a fast-paced life in a big city.
2. The acting is good from the entire cast, especially Elaine Zhong. She is a good actress who can play both emotional and strong-minded girls.
3. It is predictable because, in the end, I know that her character is content to be married to her childhood sweetheart and build a family with her.
4. The bottom line is her character is more family-focused rather than career-oriented focus.
It is a decent drama with good acting. I am giving it a 7.5 rating.
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Good concept, slowly slips.
It’s a very interesting idea! To show two separate lives our FL could have lived based on one initial choice. It was exciting at first, but as the episodes went on her hometown life became quickly boring and repetitive (meanwhile her life in Shanghai maintained interest). I do like Li Xue Yi as an actor and his character here was nice enough at first, but he became very dull. It might be because we start off with him and the FL already together- it’s a little more interesting to watch a relationship develop (like the FL’s relationship with Xue Yu Ming does). But, I lost interest in that as well eventually- unfortunately.By halfway through I wasn’t really sure what else could come from this. Both realities seemed to reach their peak (proposal & dating), so I didn’t have the desire to continue really. It was enjoyable enough and I am not dropping due to it being bad, I think it just lost it’s charm.
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W-H-Y THIS SHITTIEST MELODRAMA MESSY REMAKE FROM TAIWANESE ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY?!!
MIDLIFE CRISIS, THAT'S WHY!!=>Just a horrible remake from Taiwanese melodrama, WHAT IF, same title of ANOTHER ME living elsewhere in a 'sliding door' different timeline, borrowed blatantly from US movie, starring Gwyneth Paltrow.WASTE OF TIME: waste of LXY's talent as his filler drama, like it's FL-centric's weird timelines w/ multiple men & empty melodrama plot being too silly to fathom or sorted out properly, like a half-thought gone nowhere fast, like a revolving door of should she go or should she stay, UGH.
NEXT LXY'S C-DRAMA: skipping over to his next drama, hopefully it's gonna be much better than this lackluster 2 timelines-in-1, gone as "another me" of a double life recycled up in smoke.
RECYCLED, RINSE & REPEAT: way too many better things to watch out there, like this doesn't even deserve any rating at all, totally unwatchable, and NO, THE GRASS AIN'T GREENER ON THE OTHER SIDE!!!
FL IS TOO HORRIBLE/UNRELATABLE: FL is just too wishy-washy w/ that other ML, seriously misled without any decency, chemistry or humanity.
NEXT LXY'S DRAMA, like too bad there's NO minus rating/vote on this review site, I'd give it a non-watchable minus~!
RATHER RE-WATCHING IN BLOSSOM AD NAUSEAM INSTEAD~!
DON'T BOTHER, NEXT ALREADY~!
and, another with the following that says it ALL:
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KiNG 6 days ago
Ridiculous
Poop
Garbage
Trash
Irritating
Poop 💩💩💩💩💩🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮
Don't fucking waste your data, time, energy.
w/ so many fanatically overzealous just-tacky-wacky war of words w/ LXY's boring simpleton character, on this site, like what a wasted filler drama this is for him overall....
Y-A-W-N!!
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Contoh drama dengan cerita yang realistis
Bagus juga konsep ceritanya. Diambil dari sudut pandang orang pertama tokoh perempuan yang harus memilih antara mengejar karir di kota besar atau tetap di kampung halaman dengan orang yang dicintai. What if apa yang akan terjadi dengan 2 pilihan itu digambarkan sangat realistis. Ada scene lovely dovey nya tapi juga ada saat-saat mereka harus berantem juga dan itu semua dijelaskan dengan jelas sebab akibatnya sesuai dengan bagaimana kebanyakan perempuan memandang dunia. Sayangnya cerita ini kan ada 2 timeline kehidupan yang berbeda, agak bingung juga saat ganti-ganti POV antara timeline tokoh perempuan sedang di ibukota atau saat masih di Kampung halamannya harus pay attention saat perubahan POV iniWas this review helpful to you?
