My Page in the 90s

Sneaks up on you in the best way possible

So at first this is your typical transmigration trope into a story. It starts off super cheesy and I wasn't sure if I was going to like it. But as the story progressed, especially past the halfway mark it slowly snuck up on me how much I loved it. Both fl and ml acting is really great (you can never go wrong with Chen Xingxu. Also, they are good friends in real life so I think this really helped their chemistry here.

By the end I was feeling allll the emotions. When it can stir up laughter, joy, sadness and crying in you I think it's a great drama. It's also a testament to their acting skills.

While this is nothing new in this trope, the leads themselves along with their acting is what makes this superb.

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The pager is my 13th reason.

My Page in the 90s ended up being a lot more fun and emotionally engaging than I expected. The premise alone already signaled that this was not something I should judge using strict real-world logic. The FL getting pulled into a novel she once criticized, while staying aware that she was not in her real world, gave the show a built-in excuse to be chaotic, self-aware, and a bit ridiculous at times. Basically, I turned my real-world brain for a bit and watched it using the drama’s internal logic. Once I accepted the rules of the system, everything going on in the drama landed a bit better for me.

The drama was light, funny, frustrating, and heartfelt in turns. The episodes were short, which made it very easy to binge, and I barely skipped scenes. Not everything was polished, but the leads carried the story well, and the mix of game mechanics and romance gave it its own flavor.


⁂ The pager & the gamified system
The gamified system was both the smartest tool in the drama and my biggest source of stress while watching. I liked it conceptually and also because it answered a lot of common viewer complaints in advance. Normally in stories like this, people ask why the lead does not just warn others, reveal key information, or avoid disasters directly. Here, the FL tried, and the system punishes her for it. Penalties as well as fixes to attempts to cheat the game were built into the system. It was chaotic and sometimes ridiculous, but at least the drama gave an internal reason instead of pretending the loopholes did not exist.

And because I can mention it again, the quests got more and more absurd as the story went on. There were missions that made me pause and go, this is nonsense, no real person would think this helps romance. But at the same time, the drama knew it was nonsense and leaned into it. The system was not meant to be fair. It was meant to push results. The system's presence does not fade until the end of the drama, and we also notice that it became more aggressive as the story progressed. Early on it felt playful and annoying. Later it felt strict and almost desperate for FL to follow the novel script.


⁂ My experience on the romance arc
The early episodes were pure comedy for me, and this is an understatement to express the enjoyment I had in these episodes. The FL got pulled into the world of a novel she once criticized, so she stayed fully aware that she was not in her real world. The early misunderstandings, especially the wrong target situation, were hilarious to me. The FL was bold, reckless, and unfiltered because she believed none of this was permanent anyway. That gave the early episodes a chaotic charm. Her tactics were wild, sometimes secondhand embarrassing, but very entertaining.

Then, as their feelings deepened and the stakes rose, the tone slowly shifted into something more emotional and urgent. We could really feel the point where the story stopped being just a game and started costing the characters something. As her feelings became real and the consequences became heavier, her behavior changed too. We could see the hesitation, the conflict, and the fear of getting attached because she knew she would eventually have to leave.

I would not call the romance groundbreaking, but it was effective and quite satisfying in context. Though, I have to give props to the ML. Although at first their interactions were through FL's forced encounters, it helped develop the relationship through these repeated interactions and helped on gaining trust. The ML was sharp and observant, and because FL can't say anything about her circumstances, I liked how he quietly put things together on his own. Even when he did not have the full truth, he sensed when something was off and adjusted his actions. I liked that he did not just react to what she said, but also to what she could not say. When he helped FL try to change someone's fate and it didn't work, he eventually knew FL has no choice but to do what she had to do. Even when he couldn't understand why exactly, he reassured the FL to not run away from her feelings anymore and it was okay.


⁂ The plot devices
Not every side plot worked for me, but none were deal breakers. I understood these scenes were there as plot devices to push decisions and raise pressure. I just need a short rant.

The cheating boyfriend storyline dragged longer than I personally preferred, though I understood why it was there. It created emotional tension and forced certain decisions. Still, I was more interested in the system conflict and the main couple than in him. The conflict with ML's father also felt familiar and predictable, so I did not feel very invested there. It did not ruin anything, but it was not a highlight either. The second couple getting more focus near the later part of the drama felt uneven in distribution. I did not dislike them, but the timing made their arc feel inserted rather than smoothly written throughout.

The biggest weakness for me was the lack of clear explanation for some of the deeper mechanics, that is the system's rules.
Near the final stretch, the drama decided to stack more tropes to make more screentime for the system lol. The proposal on the New Year, the truck accident, and the amnesia plot all happened in one episode. Okay, funny (sarcastically) for me and sad for the FL. But there was no explanation how the ML got his memories back but not the people around them who also forgot about their relationship, other than the implication that "love triumphs". Another thing, the cross-world logic and system boundaries are also important for understanding how story ended that way, yet the details stayed vague. I can guess this is partly due to censorship limits around transmigration style plots. Still, we can feel where explanations were cut short or simplified. I ended up filling in the blanks myself just to keep my sanity. The ending gave emotional closure, which I appreciated, but we can tell some details were wrapped quickly and lightly.

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It's a meta commentary

It's a commentary and very meta. You have to read into it to get what's really going on, then it makes complete sense from start to finish. If you tend to take stories at face value and don't like reading into things, you probably won't enjoy it. It will probably seem very silly and won't make sense (especially once it starts getting super meta). But if you tend you notice subtext, and you like reading between the lines and looking beneath the surface, this story will make complete sense and is actually super deep and clever. I loved it. It was heartbreaking, inspiring, intriguing, and really gets you thinking about... well, I won't spoil it for you, since figuring that out is part of the story. But it gets you thinking. If that's the kind of show you enjoy, give it a go. I promise it's a good show. But if you want a light-hearted, simple romance with a clear and simple plot that you can watch in the background after a long day, this definitely isn't it.

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I went trough countless tissues watching this drama :'(

Hello, I’m a new user and this is my first review. Even so, I’ve been watching Chinese and Korean dramas for quite a long time before writing this review. By the way, I apologize if my language sounds stiff or a bit awkward to you, since English is not a language I use in my daily life.
I found this drama after Chen Xingxu starred in Love Between Lines. Out of curiosity, I decided to give it a try. At the beginning, it honestly felt a bit boring to me—time travel, a system that gives rewards or punishments (wait, this is very common in Chinese dramas; it even reminded me of a Chinese mini-drama titled My Wife Is Three and My Fate Is Crazy, hahaha), and the boss–employee romance, which again is a familiar trope (one example is Love Between Lines).
However, as the story entered the middle part, it became more interesting. There were conflicts between Huan Er and her poor ex-boyfriend who refused to make any effort (some people said this was about infidelity, but if that’s the background of the cheating, I fully support her). There was also Gao’s father opposing his son’s relationship with Huan Er, as well as the sweet, secret, school-like romance between Tien Han and Meng Meng.
Toward the end, the drama really started to drain my tears—and my tissues. Many conflicts appeared here, from Huan Er breaking the system’s rules, which caused Gao and all the NPCs to forget every memory related to her, to the system forcing Huan Er to accept Gao’s proposal within 72 hours (with the consequence that their story world would be completely destroyed if she continued to ignore the warning).
Episodes 23–24 were tearjerkers once again. These episodes focused on Lin Huan Er and Gao Haiming’s struggle to prevent Tien Han from experiencing “something bad,” according to Huan Er’s premonition, by keeping him close to them. At the same time, Huan Er faced a painful dilemma as the 72-hour deadline loomed. But as fate would have it, the story could not be changed.
Episode 24 became the farewell between Haiming and Huan Er. They were separated after Huan Er accepted Haiming’s proposal and spent time together at the amusement park. Huan Er vanished, leaving behind the engagement ring lying on the carousel floor, while Haiming stood there in tears, holding a camera and photographing the emptiness in front of him—the space where Huan Er should have been. They were completely cut off: Huan Er woke up in 2025, surrounded by other TV show staff members. Confused and panicked, she went around the office asking about a man named Gao Haiming. But as expected, who would admit knowing Gao Haiming, when he was merely a character from a story Huan Er had reviewed in Episode 1?
As for the ending, it was completely unexpected. I thought it would end sadly—with Huan Er never finding any trace of Haiming, and Haiming remaining trapped in 1999. Near the end, Huan Er received a package containing a handmade model airplane that she had once asked Haiming for (at a time when he had lost his memories). She believed that the airplane would help Haiming remember their shared memories after the system erased Huan Er from his mind and from the memories of the other NPCs. When she looked inside the package, she found the name “Mr. Gao” along with his full address. Seeing this, Huan Er immediately rushed to the address.
What truly surprised me happened next. Huan Er ran into her boss’s secretary, who was on the phone and accidentally bumped into her. Shortly after that, she also saw Meng Meng and Tien Han holding hands and chatting affectionately. I assumed they were already married, even though the previous episode mentioned that Tien Han had suffered an accident and died on his wedding day, which left Meng Meng heartbroken. After that, Huan Er went to the model airplane gallery—and I’m sure you can guess who was there. They kissed, and the drama ended.
Overall, the story was good, even though the beginning was somewhat boring and clichéd. I do have one question about this drama: why didn’t it explain more clearly how Tien Han and Meng Meng were able to appear in 2025? There was no real explanation—only a brief scene where the narrator wrote something (which I’ve forgotten), but it only mentioned Haiming and Huan Er meeting again in 2025 and didn’t answer my question at all.
Because this drama consumed so many tissues, I give it a rating of 8.5/10.
Thank you for reading my long review.

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Fun fluffy romcom with some retro vibes

Looking for a funny fluffy romcom with some retro vibes and a nice chemistry between the leads ? This is it!
The episode are not so long so you quite don't see time passes by. The leads are endearing, not too mature but not too childish either, I felt like it was well balanced. We got plenty cute accessories reminding us of the 90s, lol. And I found the plot quite fun. It's really mainly comedy. And the ending is also satisfying. I was scared because I got trauma from transmigration dramas but this one did not disappoint. The only reason why I don't give it a 10 is the second leads. The friend of the leads, that are set to be a couple too, are boring. Their characters don't bring anything to the story. They feel useless and have no chemistry. Not having them would have change nothing to the story, unfortunaltely, they're not impadtful whatsoever. And their love story is really so-so...

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Not on my page

Lovers of this drama will utterly disagree with me but sharing my opinion.
I got bored. The tropes we expect were all there, but gosh, the creativity behind them was that the game says" it has to happen or else"--it felt like lazy writing and even the FL exclaims (often) how inane the game is! Also the second leads storyline adds no value to the primary story and is unneeded.
Visually, ML never looks bad (in all his dramas, he's so darn photogenic), and in this drama, FL is styled and madeup and shot more beautifully than her prior dramas. I was puzzled by ML wardrobe--often a turtleneck under a shirt with tie--perhaps my styling awareness is outdated.
At any rate, this was another dud for me re: ML (A Beautiful Lie was also disappointing) , so his recent Love Between Lines was far more watchable. And FL has been in lots better romances prior. I am waiting until the last episode is available to binge-fast scroll to see the end but don't anticipate upping my ratings.

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A TRUE Review Explained!

All these people giving low ratings underneath this review section aren't helping. This Cdrama is truly a gem to watch! The Mains: Lin Huan'er(FL) and Gao Haiming(ML) are truly made for each other and always work through their problems, even if it can't be said, they stick together and always have a great time--which is something I love seeing in Cdramas.

To acknowledge the negative comments in this section, the reason why this drama gets a 9.5 (from me) and not a 10 is because of the ending. The ending was not very satisfying to the audience, considering that they were spending time (MOST OF THE EPISODE) away from each other and longed to see each other again in the real world. I just wish the directors added an extra episode to show how their life was after they found each other in 2025.

Other than the ending, the ENTIRE story is a great watch! The system pissed me off though, it tried to ruin everything, but in the end, it redeemed itself by allowing the 1999/2000 Gao Haiming and 2025 Lin Huan'er to reunite with each other. So, I give it a pass.

The story was REALLY good! I found it to be quite comedic and engaging. (I'm the kind of person who skips certain scenes when annoying parts in a Cdrama come up and with this drama, I didn't skip ONE SECOND of it). The process was very good and the leads weren't awkward with each other. Their romance was pretty clean and light-hearted.

I know that some Cdrama fans don't want to watch this Cdrama because they heard that Chen Xingxu and Wang Yuwen are longtime friends, so they feel that them being in a romantic drama together would make the scenes awkward. To be honest, it was the COMPLETE opposite! Those 2 were so natural with each other and NOT ONCE did I feel like their kissing scenes or cheesy lines were weird. Everything fell into place and the butterflies flew quietly.

In summary, I would 100% recommend this drama to anyone! The story has a bit of a nostalgic feel to the story (My Girlfriend is an Alien). So, if you haven't thought about watching this show already, PLEASE go into your app/website and give it a GOOD WATCH. Thank you for reading this review and I hope you have an awesome day!!!!

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A Storybook Romance That Knows the Script

Normally, I wouldn’t be into something like this. It’s a heavy romance, and they lay it on thick. But several nuances made it work for me. This isn’t meant to represent real-life love or realistic scenery—it’s a storybook version of romance, told through fictional characters who feel stilted because they’re written in that way on purpose. And by following a scripted novel that we see the lead getting pulled into preserves that “author” vibe. It makes it clear that the cheesy delivery is intentional, not because the directors thought that’s what viewers wanted (at least, that was my interpretation—and why the romance felt digestible to me). And whenever the romantic script became a bit too much, it would balance itself out with comedy or a lingering sense of sadness.

I do have a few disclaimers, though. I skipped through the second lead’s arc because it felt a bit sleepy to me, even though I know what happens with them. I also really like Wang Yuwen, so I’m more inclined to give her performances a chance. Overall, though, this was a great watch for me. I connected with most of the characters, loved the soundtrack (even if there were only a few songs on repeat), and I really enjoyed the narrative. It had nice angles and a few compelling twists that gave the story depth. The color palette was beautiful, and I loved being transported back to the ’90s. Now I want to watch more circa-1995 dramas!

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In books or life Tgere is joy and sorrow…and love

Initially I put this aside as I was still under the spell of CXX’s other drama LBL. But picked it back up and was not disappointed.

Both of the leads portrayed their characters so convincingly that I couldn’t help but feel like I was a silent observer in their world.

There is humor, frustration, fear, unbelief, delusion, happiness and sorrow demonstrated in this drama, and every scene was not only acted well, but the scenery and settings along with the music built a world that involved your heart and mind.

The poyniancy of this drama was not hard to miss if you pay attention - to truly love another person you have to understand that relationships thrive when those involved are sincere in their words and actions. More importantly is not to make assumptions about another persons thoughts. Communication is imperative. Opening up your life and heart can be painful, but also it can be beautiful despite the pain. You must lay your heart, dreams and life open in order to truly accept the love of another person and welcome them into your world.

The last 2.5 episodes had me in tears the whole time. I have experienced the loss of the man I love and had I known we would be separated, I would have lived and loved him differently, I don’t know that I could have been as brave as this drama portrays the FL in those last episodes. I would have been a total mess.

If you’re questioning whether to watch this or not because of the lower star rating, throw that number out of your head and watch it. The character development was very well written, and the acting out of these characters was incredible.

I guess the one thing I took away from this drama is that no matter how alone we are, or how much we may want something from life, we have to be vulnerable with the right people and not try to power through situations just to survive. Time is limited and we are not going to be around those we love forever, so love with all your heart, talk about your dreams and your fears, and don’t let outside circumstances distract your heart and turn it into stone. Love those around you with all your heart.

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Highly recommended - a slice of life kind of story - at a normal pace in terms of relationships

*Spoilers*

I honestly love the drama too - yes, it's a story where the FL - Lin Huan Er, who's a live streamer ended up in the book that she was debating about with another online live streamer too - after she met the ML - Gao Hai Ming in her timeline of 2025 at the beginning of ep 1. At the beginning - Lin Huan Er didn't really believe in love or felt like that she should be in any relationships at all - so during her livestreaming at the beginning, she was against it. Eventually, when she ended up in the book of 1999 - she was force to learn how to love, care, work hard and change her mindset about love - eventually leading to true love b/w the two leads. At the beginning the ML and his assistant was skeptical of her - but overtime, she worked hard to change his perspective of her and he too fell in love with her hard - both of them went through a lot of trails in their lives - one after another, it wasn't easy, but they both overcome them all. Yes, there was a lot of scenes where I ended up crying a bucket full of tears - especially when the 2nd time he proposed to her and he almost died from the car accident saving her - and at that point she broke the rules of the system, got severely punished by it - and that in terms lead to ML - Gao Hai Ming losing his memories/had short term amnesia of forgetting who she was - including the others around them both too.

I literally cried for them both - when she had to deal with him losing his memories of her - after the car accident/reversal/erase memory thing caused by the annoying manipulative pager - system of hers that she had. It was a tough uphill battle at times when he couldn't exactly recall anything about her - but slowly/surely he did get some burst of memories of her here and there when they both went around to the different places they used to visit/hangout/created memories together.

The biggest part that made me cry aside from the proposal scene - and eventual poof departure scene of hers. - I mean don't get me wrong - I cried a bucket full of tears there - when he was left alone by himself on the merry-go-round without her. It was very raw and emotional for me too.

Where I also cried was when he thought that she drown in the river - when he was talking to her over the phone - after he rushed over with his assistant from his company - during his birthday party there - so he just assumed she fell in and he jumped into the river - despite unable to swim and literally almost drown there, had she not jump in after him to rescue him instead. This part - eventually led to him recovering his memories and also allowed him to gain insight of what's bound to happen b/w the two of them. In his mind - he did have some mental preparedness of her inevitable departure - b/c he too realizes those around him are clueless/seem to not know they were in a relationship before or that she worked in another company before joining Letao -- him stating to his assistant - that he was the one who poached her from the Yunshao (?) advertising company and not what the assistant said - that she joined their department after the new years - from the marketing department in their company.

Honestly the fact that he knew before her inevitable departure - he did his best to make/create wonderful memories together and capture them before she was to leave without any notice to him on the merry-go-round. He was even smart enough to write a special love note to her unbeknownst to her until she returned to her world - of 2025 and stuck it in her jacket pocket - which at that time he said it was the "special wonton" recipe he got from their favorite wonton food stand at that time. Though I do wished that I see Gao Hai Ming actually say "I love you" before she disappears/poof into thin air after his proposal to her and on the merry-go-round - filming her/kissing her until the very last second - and not when she's gone that he said that. It was also nice to see the he was still alive in his world - when she left; had the camera full of their memories that they created together before she left and the pager that from time to time - allow him to see her - in her world of 2025 somehow and of their memories too.

All throughout the last few episodes of the drama - from ep 20-24 I literally cried - not just for the two main leads - but also the 2nd leads too. Especially when we hear/see that the 2ML died suddenly when the 2FL was preparing for their supposedly wedding - trying on the wedding dress - when she got news about her fiancé got seriously injured and which lead to his eventual death - having to see the 2FL (her best friend - Mengmeng - breakdown - crying while painting the picture of him in police uniform - to remember him - to seeing Lin Huan Er being there for her at those times and Gao Hai Ming comforting her - realizing that what she said before - was inevitable - a pre-determined destiny that even though she thought could change - didn't change - he still died the next day - after the big accident - that they eventually help him avoid dying from the previous day (at the hotel planning the wedding venue, etc).

I like how despite the censorship, we were able to see the FL (Lin Huan Er) - get to see her best friend walking happily with her husband together hand-in-hand and Gao Haiming's assistant as well - before she eventually meets the ML in her world of 2025 too - and that the place they met up again - was the model airport museum that had contained all their memories there - plus the model planes they built together. I'm also glad that they got to meet again - in her world - rushing towards each other/hugging and both of them crying in each other's embrace/greeting each other/smiling/ him wiping away tears and then kissing each other for a long too. What I really wished was that they didn't have to cut out the other episodes that it was supposedly have - to show how he came to his world along with the others characters that she treasured the most together too. Plus how did her best friend Mengmeng's husband didn't die and were together again - and everything else. The way the so-called censorship forced the drama to cut out so much - to be honest wasn't necessary - especially like other said - 40 episodes was originally the max one drama could have - so why cut them out??

It definitely made the ending still somewhat really rushed with a lot of unproper - unanswered questions in the mind of the viewers watching it. I really wished there was more too it. To be able to see them together - live their lives in her world 2025 would have been great - and his turn to adapt to her world/lifestyle too. At least at the end - there was a typed up message about their story of meeting each other - kissing passionately - and then left us with somewhat an idea of how Gao Hai Ming eventually ended up in her world of 2025 - which was related to the pager that he had in his hands when she left - but the writer left it as a mystery - where may be one day they'll explain how he did get to her world of 2025. Plus then we get to hear them both saying - that love transcends all times/space - that they are able to meet again and stated to each other "Grateful to see you again".

Now I wished there was a part 2/season 2 too!!

P.S. Thank you to all the actors/actresses/film crew for bringing this drama to life - well done and well acted! Definitely recommend watching it. A slice of life kind of story - learning to love - not in a rush way - but at a regular - normal pace - and seeing the character grow/evolve/change over time. Was definitely another drama worth my time to watch.

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Finished this drama at 3 am at night and eyes swollen in morning going to school is pretty bad!

i would give the best 10 stars or 100 stars. But ost wasn’t fitting the song, however when i realized at the very sad scenes while i was crying, osts were doing their job which made me cried more. If you hate sad endings, or i don’t think this is counted as sad ending it is happy ending but more questionable, unreasonable, open ending. 24 episodes were not enough for me when last few episodes just made me cry at 3 am. I never thought it would be this sad but at least it’s little bit better than other drama’s fictional world travel. This drama took my whole soul away at 3 am.😭

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