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Endearing slice of life

Beautiful story that showcased the life of ordinary people in the midst of economic's change in China.

The sight of the bustling plant becoming less and less crowed was quite heartbreaking honestly. The whole drama is moving and very realistic, not overdramatic : just a story about people who try to live their lives in the best way possible.

The relationship between Xiaoman and Xiaodan is also realistic. The reason they grew is perfectly understandable and even if it's sad it can't be helped.

More than their romance, I was happy with Xiaoman's development in the later part of the story. I felt at some point he didn't have a goal for his life except catching up with Xiaodan which was very hard. However I'm happy he found a real purpose, maybe not flashy or a great ambition but a one that him truly happy. His relationship with Chunchun is one of my fav part, it was introduced late but quite endearing to see her help him getting through his mental health issue.

The other older characters gave a heartwarming setting to the story. The way they helped each other, the way they shared the same love for the Plant, for their home : Mr. & Mrs Ding taking care of Xiaoman like their own son were my fav among them . Xiaodan's father, even if I didn't like him at first, also really shone at the end with his dedication to the plant.

The cinematography was breathtaking and OST's were perfect. The actors also did a great job (I really liked Johnny Huang performance 🥹🩷).
Overall I strongly recommend this story if you want to take a break from overdramatic story and want to watch real people.

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Basically dont't give up, do everything you can and things will get good one day

Grew bored of it at some point but I like the story, the characters and the moral behind this story.

Kang Tae-poong was really endearing even his goofy side was charming. Sometimes he was stubborn but he has a good heart so we can't hold it against him. I liked Mi-seon's character too, I found myself actually siding with her more than I thought at first.
Their romance was one of the biggest good point because with those dramas always trying to create a childhood connection between the leads, for once we had actual strangers falling in love with each other. It's refreshing and should be normalised in k-drama land.
The second couple was very cute, their storyline was really interesting.

The biggest flaw for me was the main antagonist and his son, I just found the purpose behind their actions very light and didn't like how they always went against Typhoon Family, it made the story redundant. Honestly they had nothing to take this much time screen.

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Beautiful relationship between characters, but plot need to be more consistent

Overall it was a good drama, I would recommend it because of the relationship between the characters, the comedic aspect and the cinematography that was great even if I disliked a few things.

Good points :
1. The acting was good and sometimes scenes perfect. The costumes were great, the OST too.

2. The characters : Honestly they are the reason why I can't rate this drama less than 8. They really grew on me, because I love found family plot. Their chemistry together was amazing truly that's why even now, as I'm writing this review, I feel so sad about the ending. Zhuo Yichen and Bai Jiu's relationship was something father/son and big/little brother and this was honestly my fav duo. Zhu Yan was so silly and hilarious. Wen Xiao, even if I didn't like her character individually, blended well in this family. Pei Shijing and Ying Lei (I won't forget you ever 🥹) were great too.

3. The silly little dance in the ending : It was wholesome to see them dancing every time at the of the ep, they seemed enjoy it as well. First time I didn't skip the end credits, so this idea should be reused in every drama.

Things I didn't like :
1. The drama was way too more melodramatic, I felt the writer really wanted to create emotional scenes but it was way too much. I was honestly excepting something with more action and less tearing scenes.

2. Wen Xiao : The actress did was she could with the role the writer gave to her so it's not her fault, but she wasn't that important in the story. I mean she wasn't impactful, she felt more like a side/background character. At first I just thought she only needed her power to comeback for her to be a great character but nope. The more the story progressed the more I was annoyed at her crying nonstop and doing nothing when she should be powerful. She was kind but that's all unfortunately.

3. The romance : No chemistry, No emotional connection. Their bickerings were fun though, but I couldn't care less about them to the point where I didn't mind if they were separated. I found myself getting more annoyed every time the drama tried to force a romance between them.

4. The pacing & overused plot : This drama is a one where you feel it would've been better with less episodes because the pacing would've been much more enjoyable. I found myself skipping or fast forward some scenes because it was TOO SLOW and that's something I usually hate to do.
I think the point that annoyed me more was the fake death trope ; We kill a villain and he comes back to hunt us a 2nd time. I don't like this plot and it's obviously related to the pacing and the number of episodes. At some point, the story was not moving forward, they kept having meaningless conversation and this is clearly dark point of this drama. Don't need to stretch the story, if you don't have the material for it. Less episodes but packed would be more impactful.

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Sometimes less is more

Good drama with a simple plot and fast-paced so no dragging misunderstanding. It was a cute silly rom-com with some cringey moments : definitely not the best but for what it worth it was cool.

Some scenes were boring but not to the point of dropping the drama. I liked the relationship between the main lead because it was everything the past rom-coms I've watched weren't : good communication, no silly misunderstanding, no breakup that made no sense. It was mostly peaceful and not overdone. Even the SML was not that annoying compared to the last dramas I've watched.
The plots around the ML and the FL were in itself simple, everything was wrapped up nicely at the end even if it was fast-paced. I would've loved to see more scene between Han-gyul and Jae-gyu though.

The only issue I can't overlook was the romance between Han-gyul and Se-jin : she was highly insensitive, very stubborn and he was clearly a pushover with her which I didn't like at all. In other dramas these kind of romance are a breath of fresh air but here I was really annoyed to the point i skipped past several of their scenes.

So overall I recommend this drama, that's not the best but it's entertaining enough. We need to see more k-dramas like that, not throwing away different plots without any consistency, wrapping the end nicely, basically going back the basics

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This drama will make you go through a heart break but it's worth it

Bittersweet is the only word that go through my mind when I think about this drama. So sad but so pure at the same time.
The plot could've been better that's true but the drama's a true masterpiece with the acting (Zhou Yiran and Wang Yinglu ate and left no crumbs), the OST, the cinematography. As I write this review I'm still blown up by this drama.

1. A'Tang & A'Xun

My babies, they lived such difficult lives across all the timelines but the fact that they found themselves and treated each other as the family they never had is so comforting, I think that's why ep 6 is my fav all the whole drama. Their love story is so subtle, so pure but so deep, I think it's one of the most beautiful romance I've ever seen. I'm even so emotional when I writing those words thinking about them. All of this makes ep 8 even more heartbreaking, to think fate is so cruel that it can separate two people so emotionally connected. But at last, they finally triumphed, win against fate and had their happy ending.

2. Yu Nian & Shen Cheng

I'm not gonna lie, they annoyed and stressed me on the first episodes because of their behaviour but I suppose they were acting like this out of love for their parents. They grew on me throughout the drama and honestly their ending makes the story so bittersweet. Although we didn't see much of Shen Cheng's childhood with Haitang, seeing Xun becoming Yu Nian's father, how their bond formed makes the ending so heartbreaking for her.
But I respect their decision to make their parents happy together for once in their life even if the result is sad.

3. small bad point

The plot was confusing sometimes I'm not gonna lie. I don't know if the writer wanted it to appear like that to let to the interpretation to the viewers or something like this. However I like it more when things are detailed don't let too much interpretation. How the mail box appeared ? How the old Xun understood there's something with the mail box ? I also thinks the multiple timelines should've been well more explained. But the theories I've read are fun, I'll pick the one I like the most and makes my heart less heartbroken .

Anyway it was great drama, tough, emotional because of what the characters goes through but it worth you're time, so I recommend it to everyone 🩷🥹.

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Advocating for a S2 ✊✊

I'm review this a little bit late, but what a drama it was incredible, everyone should watch it 😭😭. If you love Joy of Life, you will surely love it.

The plot was well written and well balanced between comedy and more heavy situations. The second half ( starting with ep24) was a bit slow to start but the end was emotional, heartbreaking and in a sense fulfilling with Qi'An decision. Also perfect between martial art, fantasy, political plot. Romance was the weak point but they were cute.

Things I loved :

- Xu Qi'An : Throughout the drama I kept surprising myself with the way I love him. In those type of series I tend to dislike the MC because I found them way too much prideful, arrogant and out the touch with their world in the end. But Ningyan, I just LOVED how he just accepted his place, knew exactly when to flaunt, when to be "submissive", not too naive but not too nonchalant either.
When he was acting "reckless" I was surprised to support him fully even if I knew the consequences, because in a certain way I knew it was exceptional and his standard attitude.

BIG SHOUT-OUT to Dylan Wang for this amazing performance, I know I wouldn't like Qi'An so much if it was played by another actor. He embodied this character perfectly with his expressions, playful tone, emotional reactions (specially in ep 39-40). It was my favourite performance of him knowing that Dongfang QingCang isn't easy to top.

- Princess Lin'An : Like her, but I struggled with her because I didn't think she had a great impact in the story, her relationship with Qi'An felt more like secondary plot. But I guess FL is always the weak point in male centric drama and it's kinda of sad actually that they still can't write a proper FL and not a side character.
The actress was great though with the "small" amount of time screen she had, specially when she came to implore justice for her cousin/BFF, it was sad to the point I got chills.

- Qi'An friends & family : they were the story's comedic relief, wished we could've seen more and more if this trio

- The Dafeng Guardians : funny how they kept arguing about who should take Qi'An. Feel like they can be still be more developed but I don't know how it will unfold, so I will indulgent.

What about next season ? : I didn't read the novel but it feels like we didn't explored 20% of the story. Many points have yet to be developed, and I'm very curious about it so S2 come quick ✊.

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