moonypiglet

Let me first say that this may not be your cup of tea and I feel it is probably easier to resonate with the character and the storyline for a more mature age group. You may not get it right now but maybe a few years later down the road, you’ll be surprised at how you may interpret the whole drama very differently. If you enjoy it, it sure lingers with you for sometime.
If you are into a less commercial kind of drama, slice of life with an artistic vibe and feel, this may be your gem. Music, cinematography, frames positioning, symbolism, pace, color tone are very well executed it feels like watching a movie at times. And of course the actors performance plays no less importance in keeping us engaged. I am not fan of both Wang Anyu and Wang Yu wen but their performances here and their choice to take part in this drama itself makes me reconsider my initial impression of them. They surely did deliver such powerful and convincing character here I can’t ask for more.
The story itself is not particularly heartbreaking or very dramatic but realistic while idealistic and romantic at its core.
It starts with both fl and ml falling in love when they have nothing at all but youth. They made promises and tried their best to survive when supporting each other during the hardest time. It is when their heart are the purest even when reality keeps cornering them. Their passion and devotion was big; their despair and pain felt so real and so cruel. So their first breakup was the hardest for both and for me as viewers as we can’t help but feel for their bravery yet helplessness, the bittersweet of the youth. It surely reminded us of a time when we were fearless and carefree.
And then they reunited but I feel that rather than being persuaded by ml, the fl was running away form the so-called secured and tedious life of a common housewives, to embark on her journey of exploring self-worth where she finds her calling. Sadly their love at this phase seems more cautious and suppressed. With their gradual adaptation to city life came the burden of expectations and traditions where women are expected to be married at certain age and men are expected to be responsible for buying a house for marriage. Even with all the struggles, doubts, compromises and efforts to stick together, they were disillusioned, and evaded feeling their love has drained and left them for good. Devastated by a broken promise they chose to end their 10yrs relationship but each still buried their regrets deep down. So the 2000s born couple was brought in to validate their reunion at the end of the drama.
Straight to my interpretation of the ending, I feel that they have made peace and forgave each other after a long time. You can see the fl already defended the ml when the 2000s born girl tried to blame him for their breakup. And they will reunite in my opinion since 1. they have not forgotten and loved each other throughout even when they thought their love was gone but it seems to be reignited upon reunion 2. Their current friend (partner, the jelly lady and the Zhang guy) are ready to let them go and wish them all the best w their true love 3. If you can recall, after their first breakup, the ml came to the fm hometown and told her that he is also from 2025 and he knew that they will not breakup for real and will start over again, so I think it can be interpreted as a hint that they will actually start over again 4. The ml sent the video to the fl, so they have their contact again and the fl turns to look at him while he was leaving the crossroad 5. Since the writer is probably idealistic and romantic at core but it would feel too forced if they suddenly turned lovey dovey after their love-hate relationship all this time.
The characters are certainly flawed; they were wild and free, then they struggle, compromise and fail but that’s all the more charming and interesting they are. All their shortcomings and failure makes them realistic and humanistic; just as the fl said on the last ep, human makes mistakes and evolves; we can’t calculate each gain or loss for each of our devotion…
Overall I really enjoyed how the story unfolds and how each characters evolve. The fl from having no aspiration to finding her calling through her journey with the ml. The ml was no less carefree but he came to understand the weight of responsibility, the price comes with each choices he made. The secondary couple had it much darker as she sought revenge and stake her life at it. The story surely will linger with me for a while.
So what are you waiting for? Please give it a try by all means. I am curious if my interpretation won’t change on my second view some time later:)