This review may contain spoilers
Great show with some flaws
Northward tells the story of a group of neighbors who live by the canal. Previously productive due to shipping, the canal workers face the harsh reality of changing times and their way of life as the country grows and modernizes.
The main characters are a group of friends (3 boys and 2 girls) and their parents or grandparents.
The series follows the maturation and changes of all these characters, including the place where they live. I particularly like this type of series, realistic and mature slice of life. But that doesn't mean there aren't any problems that caused its rating to be reduced.
First, there is a noticeable problem with the narrative pace at several points in the series, from the excessive length of the phase when they are in high school to the endless scenes of them as adults in the workplace. It's like, okay, I get that life is hard and you have to work a lot, but I don't need to watch several episodes about billing, Excel tables and graphs about delivery apps.
The program's strong point is the effect that this type of environment has on the characters' relationships and personalities, and not watching countless discussions about something that we don't care about witnessing.
Just show us how Wang He became even more obsessed with money and everything will be fine (for us, not for him).
There comes a point in the series when the most interesting people are the supporting characters, like Xing Chi who tries to get his life together after a bad decision in the past, and Hai Kuo, who in contrast to Wang He, wants to live a quieter life and less tied to the corporate world and its endless workload. I won't even get into the "terminal illness" phase, because it's so overused that it only made me shake my head when that part started.
Another strong point is the maintenance of the core of the parents and grandfather with Alzheimer's (done with unparalleled delicacy). I wish there had been even more of them, instead of evil schemes by jealous directors in delivery companies.
Great show, great soundtrack and great representation of leaving home with the ambition to conquer the world and the consequent maturity that this brings.
The main characters are a group of friends (3 boys and 2 girls) and their parents or grandparents.
The series follows the maturation and changes of all these characters, including the place where they live. I particularly like this type of series, realistic and mature slice of life. But that doesn't mean there aren't any problems that caused its rating to be reduced.
First, there is a noticeable problem with the narrative pace at several points in the series, from the excessive length of the phase when they are in high school to the endless scenes of them as adults in the workplace. It's like, okay, I get that life is hard and you have to work a lot, but I don't need to watch several episodes about billing, Excel tables and graphs about delivery apps.
The program's strong point is the effect that this type of environment has on the characters' relationships and personalities, and not watching countless discussions about something that we don't care about witnessing.
Just show us how Wang He became even more obsessed with money and everything will be fine (for us, not for him).
There comes a point in the series when the most interesting people are the supporting characters, like Xing Chi who tries to get his life together after a bad decision in the past, and Hai Kuo, who in contrast to Wang He, wants to live a quieter life and less tied to the corporate world and its endless workload. I won't even get into the "terminal illness" phase, because it's so overused that it only made me shake my head when that part started.
Another strong point is the maintenance of the core of the parents and grandfather with Alzheimer's (done with unparalleled delicacy). I wish there had been even more of them, instead of evil schemes by jealous directors in delivery companies.
Great show, great soundtrack and great representation of leaving home with the ambition to conquer the world and the consequent maturity that this brings.
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