This review may contain spoilers
“Twelve Letters: A Bittersweet Journey
Watching Twelve Letters was an emotional journey — one that left me conflicted even after the credits rolled. On the surface, it seems like a hopeful story: the children's choices truly managed to change their parents’ future. But the question that kept echoing in my mind was — at what cost?
From the very beginning, I found myself drawn more to Yu Nian and Shen Cheng than even the main leads. Their relationship felt natural, tender, and deeply moving. To me, they suited each other so well, both in the way their story unfolded on-screen and even in their subtle off-screen chemistry. They weren’t just a side couple; they carried a weight that balanced the whole narrative.
That’s why their ending hit me harder than anything else. Even though Tang Yixun and Ye Haitang were given a happy ending, I couldn’t celebrate it fully. The joy of their reunion was overshadowed by the quiet tragedy of Yu Nian and Shen Cheng — especially Shen Cheng’s disappearance, and Yu Nian being left as the only one to remember him. It wasn’t just episode 8 that broke me; the finale cut even deeper.
Yes, the show dared to tell us that not every love story survives the rewriting of time. But as a viewer, it feels cruel. Why build such a beautiful, believable connection only to take it away? I can’t help but feel a lingering sadness, a sense that the story gave us something precious and then snatched it away.
For me, Yu Nian and Shen Cheng will remain the heart of Twelve Letters. Their love story may not have been the one that time allowed to flourish, but it’s the one that I’ll carry with me — bittersweet, unforgettable, and far more haunting than the “happy” ending we were given.
From the very beginning, I found myself drawn more to Yu Nian and Shen Cheng than even the main leads. Their relationship felt natural, tender, and deeply moving. To me, they suited each other so well, both in the way their story unfolded on-screen and even in their subtle off-screen chemistry. They weren’t just a side couple; they carried a weight that balanced the whole narrative.
That’s why their ending hit me harder than anything else. Even though Tang Yixun and Ye Haitang were given a happy ending, I couldn’t celebrate it fully. The joy of their reunion was overshadowed by the quiet tragedy of Yu Nian and Shen Cheng — especially Shen Cheng’s disappearance, and Yu Nian being left as the only one to remember him. It wasn’t just episode 8 that broke me; the finale cut even deeper.
Yes, the show dared to tell us that not every love story survives the rewriting of time. But as a viewer, it feels cruel. Why build such a beautiful, believable connection only to take it away? I can’t help but feel a lingering sadness, a sense that the story gave us something precious and then snatched it away.
For me, Yu Nian and Shen Cheng will remain the heart of Twelve Letters. Their love story may not have been the one that time allowed to flourish, but it’s the one that I’ll carry with me — bittersweet, unforgettable, and far more haunting than the “happy” ending we were given.
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