A waste of such a talented cast!
I was SO excited to watch this show, because it had the same leads as The Princess Royal. The actors had such great chemistry in The Princess Royal and I had been waiting for this show to see them together again.And this show completely failed to meet any of my expectations.
NOTE: These are just my opinions! You don't have to like/agree with anything I said, because I'm just one person. These reviews are for me to look back on more than anything.
The story was bad. The actors seemed to have zero chemistry (which isn't the case, seeing as how they were flawless in The Princess Royal). The characters were all weak and even pathetic (with the exception of Yu Qiao). The conflicts were cliche and it seemed like they were just there to give the show SOME substance.
My issues with the show:
A. No romantic build-up. Yingtao and Qiao Xi both liked each other as children and those feelings stayed strong even as teenagers. However, this meant we got no explanation as to WHY they liked each other. Yingtao liked him even after years of him not contacting her. It was very obvious that they both liked each other. Without giving anything away, the only signs I saw of Qiao Xi liking Yingtao was him SAYING it. I did not see it through his actions in the second part of the show. When they finally got together, it was basically because Yingtao coaxed him into it and led him like he was a baby? It didn't even seem like he WANTED any of it. I honestly would have thought he just got into a relationship with her because she liked him so much and he felt bad. Their first kiss made me physically cringe.
B. Weak conflicts and plot. I do not exaggerate when I say literally nothing happened in this show. Like. Nothing. The main point of conflict was Qiao Xi's mother did not want him to befriend people from their old town. It was an interesting dynamic, for sure! But it was not deep or developed enough to be the only point of conflict. His mother's words eventually lead Qiao Xi to abandon his friends over and over and OVER again. That was it. Everything else was half-hearted. Even the second leads' love story barely had a conclusion. It honestly seemed like the writers did not care about this show at all. One-dimensional characters, half-hearted plots, cliche and predictable conflicts, etc.
C. Weak characters. The most interesting character in this show was Qiao Xi, and he frustrated me every episode. Yingtao was the most flat character I've encountered in a c-drama in a while, and I was extremely disappointed, Her entire character revolved around Qiao Xi, Qiao Xi, Qiao Xi. She left her friends for Qiao Xi, she neglected herself for Qiao Xi, she compromised her own future at times for Qiao Xi. He obviously cared about her, but he didn't do a great job of showing it throughout the whole show and left her several times. But she went back to him EVERY SINGLE TIME. She saved up her hard-earned money to go find him when he was trying to hide from her. Yingtao was an extremely disappointing character. She had nothing outside of her love from Qiao Xi. It's frustrating to see female leads who completely revolve around male leads in 2025.
D. The resolution. This show ended exactly how I thought it would: resolution within a single episode after twenty episodes of meaningless conflict and basically nothing. A happy ending, for sure. But it was just such a let down. I had been hoping for some actual substance to the plot in the final moments of the show, but we didn't get anything.
There weren't many things I actually liked about this show. I LOVED the cast, obviously. I watched this show for them. As I mentioned earlier, any chemistry they had in Our Generation was minimal. It might have been because The Princess Royal had a very different plot that involved the leads being together more, but the leads in Our Generation were together often and yet it was incredibly awkward. I genuinely think this was all just because of the horrible plot and characters. I was so excited for this show and I'm disappointed. I will be supporting Zhang Linghe and Zhao Jinmai's future works eagerly and hope they will act in another drama together.
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LOVED THE STORY!!
I read the OG manhwa when it first came out, and then I watched the k-drama, so of course I had to watch this! I was OBSESSED from episode 1! I think I enjoyed this even more than the k-drama and it did the manhwa JUSTICE. I love how the rules regarding her traveling back in time were more complex and detailed. It added so much to the story. Sometimes, when a character travels back in time, the story forgets about it and the whole premise is a let down. I did not feel that way about this drama at ALL; the characters traveling back in time was extremely relevantThe only thing I would say was a SLIGHT (very slight) letdown was that the downfall of Misa's best friend and ex was not as satisfying as I'd hoped (although it WAS satisfying). Their end honestly felt like an easy escape when compared to everything Misa suffered through. Regardless, I loved this show and would definitely rewatch! Highly recommend for anyone looking for a fun, exciting show :D
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DRAMA OF THE YEAR!!!
THIS SHOW WAS AMAZING. From episode ONE I was completely hooked. It's literally just Apothecary Diaries but live action, in Chinese, and the romance is NOT A SLOW BURN!!! What I loved most about this show was how fast-paced the romance was. He fell first (at first sight too) AND fell harder. No miscommunication, no drawn-out conflicts- JUST PERFECT. Yan Chi was the sweetest guy ever and I thought he and Shen Wan were beautiful together.The plot was amazing. It was the perfect mix of murder mysteries and political struggles. I love the slow build-up: how the first mysteries were wrapped up within a few episodes but as the show drew on they began to build up to the final great issue. I didn't see some of the plot twists coming at all (although some of them I did see haha). I really value plot in a show, and Coroner's Diary DELIVERED.
100% would rewatch this show (every day if possible).
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