Sniper Butterfly

A great, gentle and tender love story

An amazing, beautiful show. The script is a gem, open and careful discussion of social issues is so rare and this drama accomplished it naturally. The difficulty of the age difference in this noona drama and the way in which their relationship begins is never ignored. The town in the mountains from which Li Wu is rescued by Cen Jin is neither sentimentalized nor forgotten; its beauty is celebrated along with Li Wu's country-boy strength of character and integrity.

Modern Cdrama's forte is this sort of graceful semi-realism and really great OSTs; Sniper Butterfly possesses in addition two formidable acting talents: Zhou Ke Yu/Daniel Zhou and Michelle Chen, a Taiwanese actress who catapulted to the top of her field early in her career. The main director is also Taiwanese, and he and she have worked together several times.

Zhou Ke Yu, however is an astounding new talent. In his early 20's his mastery of his craft is refined and careful. You will find yourself following the progress of his emotions through his complex handling of glances, breathing, timing and movement rather than through his laconic dialogue. Michelle Chen has the opposite strength, she plays perfectly a talkative, nervy copy writer in the advertising industry who needs to work her way through issues via discussion. She provides the tension and edge which lifts the romance out of banality.

The script follows a doubled time-line: It begins in 2024 as Li Wu returns to China from his graduate studies in the US, to seek out Cen Jin who has created a happy successful career for herself after the tumultous period in which she and Li Wu met. Thereafter the beginning of their relationship in 2016 runs parallel to the present day, until we finally understand a) why Cen Jin broke off their developing love affair then and sent him away and b) why their love and affection for each other was so strong that Li Wu is able to win her back.

Just beautiful.

Read More

Younger Man and Older Woman Love story is overdone, nothing special.

"Sniper Butterfly" is a modern CDrama starring Michelle Chen and Daniel Zhou. I did not like the story, and it is overdone in its portrayal of the younger man and older woman relationship.

Even though the on-screen chemistry between the FL and ML is good, I did not like the pairing of these two actors. The real age gap between the two actors is almost 20 years, even though their characters' age gap may not be as great. Michelle Chen does have a baby face, but the pairing didn't sit well with me personally.

The synopsis is unrealistic, and I expected more conflict between the two characters. Still, their conflict is minimal and immature, given the huge age gap. Overall, it was okay.

Synopsis: When Cen Jin falls into a low point in her life, she receives a call for help from Li Wu, a rural boy she once supported. Li Wu's spirit of self-reliance moves Cen Jin, prompting her to bring Li Wu, who is about to drop out of school and has no one to rely on, to the city for education. Six years later, Li Wu, now a successful professional, returns to the city and reunites with Cen Jin due to work. While he doesn't mention the past on the surface, his feelings of love remain deep inside. Encouraged by Li Wu's sincerity and bravery, Cen Jin chooses to respond to love truthfully.

My Reviews:
1. Acting: 7
2. Script: 6
3. Music/OST: 7
4. Production Quality: 7
5. Cinematography: 7
6. Rewatchable: 6
7. On-Screen Chemistry: 7

Overall Rating: 6.7

Read More

I enjoyed this a lot, but there are plenty of issues.

I watched this after Would You Marry Me and Dynamite Kiss. So maybe it's recency bias after having gone through those 2 horrible shows, but I really liked this despite some glaring problems. Maybe part of it is that 2025 had been a rather weak year for dramas..

I have always liked noona romances & Sniper Butterfly's leads are much more amazing than what's the norm in this genre. Despite the actors having a 20? year age gap, they had wonderful chemistry & were most probably very fond of each other. Also Michelle was amazing in every way possible. She is so chic, lively & charismatic that is super rare for Chinese TV & also I really love how fit & healthy she is, my heart breaks when I look at actresses like Lushi -and many others- being pushed into malnourishment.. ML's great too, he is super tall & young providing the perfect contrast with the FL.
Anyway this drama is the prime example why in romance if the casting is strong, then many flaws can be forgiven.

E23 is a really odd episode, feels like 50% of the entire dramas plot happens in it. On one hand it's good that they get the past timeline breakup & the present timeline reconciliation into the same episode minimizing frustration, however there were a great many boring episodes early on, there would have been time to make the plot a bit more even, I don't even know.

I strongly dislike love triangles & this drama has one. However this secondary love interest only gets like 30 minutes of screen time total, so it's bearable. Though there are some rather bad moments involving that guy..

As for what I did not like:
❌ The nastiest noble breakup in my cdrama history, the FL really went out of her way to make it as bad as possible.
❌ The past timeline plot about ML's catchup repeat exam prep school is super boring & oftentimes weird.
❌ About one third of the drama is very boring, especially from ep9 to ep 17 or so.
❌ ML's makeup in the present timeline is crazy thick, though I understand why they did that.
❌ The super boring corporate plots
❌ I loved the younger secondary couple, but hated how little screen time they've gotten and most of their romance happened during the time skip. It's a shame, in the 30 episodes format they have done them dirty.
❌ There were several very forceful kisses & one of them was so bad that perhaps there are fellow MDL readers that dropped the drama shortly after. Yes stealing kisses & being assertive is what the Chinese audience loves to watch, but this was too much for me, even though normally I'm okay with this.
❌ While there is plenty of fun fluff in the final 6-7 epis, I'm somewhat unhappy with the ending, mostly it was just a very mediocre boring way to bring this to a close. Happy endings should pack more of a punch, even if we don't get a wedding or kids, at least walk off into the sunset or something, anything..

Read More

A hidden gem drama worth watching

I rarely watch Chinese dramas.
Even when I do, I often don’t finish them because the pacing usually makes me lose interest.

But this one is different.
It’s a romance with a pretty big age gap, yet somehow it never made me feel uncomfortable.
The relationship is built slowly, and we get to follow how these two characters grow together, step by step.

It all starts with a bond that feels more like an older sibling protecting the younger one, when the FL lets the ML stay with her.
This part feels really warm and touching, especially knowing that the ML grew up with no one.

From that care and protectiveness, their relationship slowly turns into something deeper.
It’s sweet, romantic, a little heart-fluttering, and they look really good together.
The romance is soft and well written, never over the top.

The drama does a great job portraying the ML.
He’s innocent and naive, and watching his journey from a clueless kid to someone more mature really feels earned.

As for the FL, she’s mature, but she also shows her vulnerable side.

When it comes to the second couple and supporting characters, I liked all of them.
They play their roles well and make the drama feel more alive.

As for the downside, the FL’s character development feels a bit shallow, like it only scratches the surface.
What confused me the most was her change in attitude, especially how she eventually decides to be with Li Wu.
Her point of view isn’t shown enough, so the shift feels a little sudden.

Overall, this drama is really good.
The chemistry is strong and feels deep, yet it stays cute and warm.

Oh, and the soundtrack is amazing.
I could listen to it all day, and it really helps enhance the emotional impact of the story.

I really love this drama, and honestly, I hope more people get to know it and give such a great drama a chance.

Read More

Age Gap Drama

Sniper Butterfly is a carefully crafted addition to the age gap drama genre. In this narrative, love transcends age. It stands out by emphasizing the characters' personal vulnerabilities instead of sensationalizing their relationship. This is a drama for those who enjoy a slow burn, a more mature male protagonist, themes of second chances, and the significance of education over conventional romantic fantasies. Personally, I found the female lead's struggle to confront her feelings to be quite frustrating. The contrast between professional advancement and love is clearly depicted through her career. With strong performances and a thoughtful examination of education, career, romance, and family, it is recommended.

Read More

I actually really wanted to like this drama!

I started this drama bc I kept finding people on tiktok saying it's the best drama of 2025 so maybe my expectations were quite high.

Sadly I'm deciding to give up on it after watching the first 8 episodes and it's mostly bc of the production quality.

Reasons I wont finish it:

A major one was that the bg music kept annoying me. I wouldn't mind the "slower" plot if the post-production team hadn't tried inserting that low-quality background music every other scene. For me it took away from the actually really good acting.

Overall, even though i had no issue with the characters themselves and the age-gap between the leads, the post-production choices and the overall directing ended up making me feel like I was wasting my time trying to watch it.

I really wanted to like this bc I believe when a lot of people like something there must be a good reason behind the hype, but sadly I didn't.

Read More

I want people to please be open minded and give this amazing lovestory a chance.

This is my favorite age gap romance since Find Yourself.
The fact that this drama is rated this low here is criminal. There are so many mediocre dramas here that get at the very least 8.3 and beyond here. I think it is mostly because of the real life age gap between the leads honestly. The last time I saw such a huge gap was with Dylan wang and Qi lan but somehow that one was received much better by reviewers here; I wonder if it is because they are both very famous already and Michelle our Fl here may be relatively unknown to a lot of the audience....This is my 1st time watching Daniel Zhou either .
Anyways this drama has 1 of the best OST playlist I have heard in a Modern Cdrama...I am obsessed with all the songs.
I want people to please be open minded and remember that regardless of the age gap in real life , our 2 leads are actors did an excellent job with their performances. Their chemistry and kisses were 1 of the best I have ever seen in a Cdrama.
Daniel our ML did an outstanding job with his performance...the way he portrayed a meek, not unsure, timid person...to switch to confident and actively pursuing our FL was a sight to behold.
I want to give praises to Michelle stylist in this drama.....her outfits were always so gorgeous and she did an amazing job as well.
I dont like to spoil in my reviews but I will say to give this drama a chance. It is an amazing lovestory ; 1 of the best of the year.

Read More

Sniper Butterfly

Watch out as it may contain some spoilers.

I’ve watched five episodes so far, and I find the show quite good—definitely better than many recent dramas. If you enjoy romance dramas, you might want to give this one a try.

Without giving too much away, the story follows a young boy from a village who is supported by an older “big sister” figure. She helps with his studies, brings him to the city, finds him a school, and even lets him stay at her place during school holidays. They eventually meet again at the workplace, although the drama hasn’t revealed why they were separated.

Hopefully, the story will stay good all the way to the final episode.

Read More