I know it's been a long time since you reviewed this drama, and you might not even remember it clearly, but…
Thanks for your comment. It has indeed been extremely long since I watched the show (more than 2 years now) so I hardly remember anything, especially details. I'm glad you found that the show resonated with you and you enjoyed it. I wrote my review right after the show finished airing and I'd finished watching it and I did not find it to be a show that I would personally rate so high. It is not a bad show - let me repeat that. I have seen way worse trash. I also like it more than some new American shows I've watched.
Since I don't remember details now, I can't really respond to your points because I'd just be lying at that point. The things you pointed out that are more generic and don't need me to address the show - I can recall them. I just remember that if I were to rewatch this, I'd only watch the first 10 episodes since I enjoyed those.
As I remember, Sang Zhi's brother was friends with Jiaxu whereas Jiaxu saw her as a a little kid who was his friend's sister. I know how the sister-brother thing is in Asian countries - people call each other brother/sister even when they're not related or don't even think of each other like that. I am Asian myself, so I am very aware of this. Still, my point is, the progression from their stage of knowing each other as teens to "adults" is just too fast. My comment when I said they move from you're my brother/sister to I want to woo you isn't about them thinking of each other as brother/sister, it is just that I didn't feel enough time was given to us to see his feelings grow. One day he doesn't think of her in any specific way other than her being his friend's sister, and the next day he wants to woo her. When it is too fast (in my case at least) I'm not given any reason to believe that these people fell for each other and therefore I cannot root for them. That's the issue I had with the show. Sang Zhi - totally understandable from her end, but from his end it felt all too sudden and all too cheesy. That's my opinion. Of course you're free to disagree.
Also to touch upon what you said about friendship - they did go through some things when she was a kid - but they were never super close friends or anything. It was just interactions with someone who was her brother's friend. That's not the kind of friendship I'm talking about either. Plus people grow up and they experience life differently- after some years apart (and how on her end it was giving up on her childhood crush), a friendship needed to be established a bit better after they met as adults. There were some scenes, and they made sense from her end, but not so much from his. If you thought it was well done - again, your opinion. I've stated mine.
As for the rest of your points - I cannot remember details so it would be dishonest of me to comment on them with such conviction.
That said- you liked the show and that's totally fine. People have different tastes and I'm sure the shows I love may not be your cup of tea and vice versa. It's just how it is. Just enjoy the show. Many people loved this show and I didn't hate it or anything, I just found it very overrated. I still wouldn't say it's a bad show - just not my top pick.
Anyway thanks for your comment and for being respectful, even though you disagreed with me.
Thank you so much for this review! You saved me a lot of time. I just finished episode 4 and had some serious…
I agree with everything you say here. I also had an issue with the lack of depth and how characters were fleshed out (or not). Thankfully it’s a relatively short show and not 40 episodes long. That would’ve been torture otherwise
I usually do not watch C-dramas, cause somehow am not able to get into it. RESET has been the only exception,…
Thanks for your comment. Reset is great, and there are lots of great C-dramas out there, but this one isn't it. Yeah, I guess this resonates with many young girls. Not trying to hate it or anything, but it definitely didn't leave any impression on me
I wouldn't suggest anyone to start watching this one as their first C-drama. It's far too complex and confusing…
Love like the Galaxy, Who Rules the World, the Legend of Fei. If you're strictly into romance, Love between fairy and devil is a good starter xianxia. For mystery shows Ancient Detective (it's also quite short so you can start with it), Mysterious Lotus Casebook, Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty, In Blossom, Under the Power (even though I've not yet seen it myself but I've heard it's good)
if I am new to costume Chinese dramas, is this a good one to start on?
I wouldn't suggest anyone to start watching this one as their first C-drama. It's far too complex and confusing initially. Things happen at a slow pace and there aren't any action sequences until later on. That'll confuse new viewers. I'd suggest starting with other shows
I wouldn't call it a BL at all. Narrowing it down to a BL drama does it a disservice. It's bromance here, but apart from that this show has a lot more going for it. The bromance is a small aspect of everything else that happens
No idea how this got this high of a rating. Maybe because I thought xiao se was the MC ? He was a non existence…
This is more of an ensemble cast wuxia and everyone has a good enough screentime. Lots of side characters are also very well fleshed out and given ample screentime. Therefore, if you're looking for a main character focused wuxia, this isn't the right one - it's very much about everyone rather than one character.
please tell me is this actually a BL drama or not? I want to watch it but I don't like BL dramas, so can i still…
It would be a shame to go in thinking about it as simply a BL drama. There’a a lot more to love about it and many more themes that resonate strongly- such as perceptions of good and evil, sibling love, righteousness, etc. The whole BL element is so subtle that you wouldn’t know it was based on a BL novel if you weren’t already aware of that fact.
He fell in love by 24 and started his own company by 27 when she graduated from college. That's a very long time.…
I didn't think it was that bad- I've also said it's not a horrible show by any means. It just disappointed me and I've listed the reasons for that. that's great of course that it resonated with you - it seems to have resonated with many. So don't mind me - just enjoy the show.
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Since I don't remember details now, I can't really respond to your points because I'd just be lying at that point. The things you pointed out that are more generic and don't need me to address the show - I can recall them. I just remember that if I were to rewatch this, I'd only watch the first 10 episodes since I enjoyed those.
As I remember, Sang Zhi's brother was friends with Jiaxu whereas Jiaxu saw her as a a little kid who was his friend's sister. I know how the sister-brother thing is in Asian countries - people call each other brother/sister even when they're not related or don't even think of each other like that. I am Asian myself, so I am very aware of this. Still, my point is, the progression from their stage of knowing each other as teens to "adults" is just too fast. My comment when I said they move from you're my brother/sister to I want to woo you isn't about them thinking of each other as brother/sister, it is just that I didn't feel enough time was given to us to see his feelings grow. One day he doesn't think of her in any specific way other than her being his friend's sister, and the next day he wants to woo her. When it is too fast (in my case at least) I'm not given any reason to believe that these people fell for each other and therefore I cannot root for them. That's the issue I had with the show. Sang Zhi - totally understandable from her end, but from his end it felt all too sudden and all too cheesy. That's my opinion. Of course you're free to disagree.
Also to touch upon what you said about friendship - they did go through some things when she was a kid - but they were never super close friends or anything. It was just interactions with someone who was her brother's friend. That's not the kind of friendship I'm talking about either. Plus people grow up and they experience life differently- after some years apart (and how on her end it was giving up on her childhood crush), a friendship needed to be established a bit better after they met as adults. There were some scenes, and they made sense from her end, but not so much from his. If you thought it was well done - again, your opinion. I've stated mine.
As for the rest of your points - I cannot remember details so it would be dishonest of me to comment on them with such conviction.
That said- you liked the show and that's totally fine. People have different tastes and I'm sure the shows I love may not be your cup of tea and vice versa. It's just how it is. Just enjoy the show. Many people loved this show and I didn't hate it or anything, I just found it very overrated. I still wouldn't say it's a bad show - just not my top pick.
Anyway thanks for your comment and for being respectful, even though you disagreed with me.