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Familiar Tropes, Done Right
Reading all these misplaced comments about a drama that has only just premiered, I can't help but notice how quickly some people are ready to pass judgment and slap a rating on it.
I have just one question: isn't it a little early to critique the plot, the characters, the acting and so on, when only about 10% of the episodes are out?
That said, the reviews I've read haven't changed my first impression in the slightest. If anything, my interest in this drama has only grown and a good deal of the credit for that goes to the lead actress, Lu Yuxiao.
To me, ‘When I Meet the Moon’ looks a lot like the dramas of 2020–2023: bright and high-contrast, with plenty of play between light and shadow, sun flares and a slightly on-the-edge vibe. At times, all of this seems to bring out the ethereal, almost unreal beauty, delicacy and youth of the female lead, as well as the darkness, trauma and sorrow of the male lead. I think it also captures the different stages of their lives better: when they're hurting, when they're sad, when they're happy, when they're surrounded by the people they love, and so on. This is where I see a resemblance to ‘Hidden Love’.
As for the debate over whether the characters fit certain clichés, that's complete nonsense. Every literary trope and convention was written long ago, and nobody can invent new ones. If they're used with taste, style and skill, why is that a bad thing?
In my view, both the female lead and the ML feel truly alive. Like everyone, they have their own stories and their own traumas. They also have flaws that make them deeply realistic and relatable to us ordinary viewers, and that's what makes them interesting. The way Yun Li's introversion and fear of social contact are portrayed will resonate with a lot of people. It never feels exaggerated or unrealistic. It captures exactly what introversion is. Fu Shize is also gradually revealed as a person: through his breaking point, the loss of a close friend, his intelligence, his actions, and the way he treats his friends, his nieces and nephews and Yun Li. He's no cardboard cutout.
In my opinion, the supporting characters are nothing like those in ‘Hidden Love’ or ‘The First Frost’. It's still too early to judge them, but based on just six episodes, they're different from one another in every way. I can't say I've ever seen an SFL or SML quite like these. They have different personalities and backgrounds, they behave in completely different ways, and they're well written. I can see what drives them, what they feel and why they make the choices they do.
Lu Yuxiao's acting and her ability to build chemistry with every co-star are on full display here as well. She's phenomenal. Not for a single moment does she slip out of that "introvert shell"; she looks completely natural. I'll go so far as to say that her ability to act with her eyes alone is the best of any actress of her generation. Her performance is subtle and never overdone, and it never tips into caricature. Her facial expressions could serve as a benchmark: natural awkwardness and shyness, joy, happiness, sadness, longing, hurt, confusion. When she cries in the first episodes, my heart cries with her. I love watching how beautifully she conveys it: how her eyes slowly redden, how her voice breaks, how her micro-expressions shift. She's a diamond that neither the directing nor the post-production could ever dull.
I have just one question: isn't it a little early to critique the plot, the characters, the acting and so on, when only about 10% of the episodes are out?
That said, the reviews I've read haven't changed my first impression in the slightest. If anything, my interest in this drama has only grown and a good deal of the credit for that goes to the lead actress, Lu Yuxiao.
To me, ‘When I Meet the Moon’ looks a lot like the dramas of 2020–2023: bright and high-contrast, with plenty of play between light and shadow, sun flares and a slightly on-the-edge vibe. At times, all of this seems to bring out the ethereal, almost unreal beauty, delicacy and youth of the female lead, as well as the darkness, trauma and sorrow of the male lead. I think it also captures the different stages of their lives better: when they're hurting, when they're sad, when they're happy, when they're surrounded by the people they love, and so on. This is where I see a resemblance to ‘Hidden Love’.
As for the debate over whether the characters fit certain clichés, that's complete nonsense. Every literary trope and convention was written long ago, and nobody can invent new ones. If they're used with taste, style and skill, why is that a bad thing?
In my view, both the female lead and the ML feel truly alive. Like everyone, they have their own stories and their own traumas. They also have flaws that make them deeply realistic and relatable to us ordinary viewers, and that's what makes them interesting. The way Yun Li's introversion and fear of social contact are portrayed will resonate with a lot of people. It never feels exaggerated or unrealistic. It captures exactly what introversion is. Fu Shize is also gradually revealed as a person: through his breaking point, the loss of a close friend, his intelligence, his actions, and the way he treats his friends, his nieces and nephews and Yun Li. He's no cardboard cutout.
In my opinion, the supporting characters are nothing like those in ‘Hidden Love’ or ‘The First Frost’. It's still too early to judge them, but based on just six episodes, they're different from one another in every way. I can't say I've ever seen an SFL or SML quite like these. They have different personalities and backgrounds, they behave in completely different ways, and they're well written. I can see what drives them, what they feel and why they make the choices they do.
Lu Yuxiao's acting and her ability to build chemistry with every co-star are on full display here as well. She's phenomenal. Not for a single moment does she slip out of that "introvert shell"; she looks completely natural. I'll go so far as to say that her ability to act with her eyes alone is the best of any actress of her generation. Her performance is subtle and never overdone, and it never tips into caricature. Her facial expressions could serve as a benchmark: natural awkwardness and shyness, joy, happiness, sadness, longing, hurt, confusion. When she cries in the first episodes, my heart cries with her. I love watching how beautifully she conveys it: how her eyes slowly redden, how her voice breaks, how her micro-expressions shift. She's a diamond that neither the directing nor the post-production could ever dull.
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