A love across universe
This a monstrous (by today's standard) 59 episode xian xia. In my opinion, it can definitely be shortened to 40 (the norm episode numbers today) and would have gotten a higher rating for me. I think this is a good drama, with good storyline and interesting characters. My first time watching both Cheng Yi and Crystal Yuan. I thought Cheng Yi is a good actor and played his role well. He can show the emotion that the complicated Si Feng faces. Crystal, on the other hand, is just so so and her character her is in the border of annoying for me. Like the majority of Chinese Xian Xia dramas, the "white" or "good" clan is not necessarily the good guys. They are hypocrites and act like a saint, whilst not necessary good. The evil clan in the end sometimes can be the good guys. Overall, i enjoy watching this drama, although i do tend to loose focus on some parts.Was this review helpful to you?
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heartwarming story
i watched this with low to no expectation at all. i was just looking for something light with fewer episodes. I made the right choice. This is a good one. storywise it's quite interesting and different (what if you can meet your mom when she was young and learn what she's like and befriens her?) Acting is pretty good too. the characters are interesting. i would've give it a higher rating if not for the college years and a few new, annoying and unimportant character. if you're looking for something like and heartwarming without too much focus on the romance side, i would recommend this oneWas this review helpful to you?
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not worth your time
The first two episodes were good. Guo Jin Fei's character is the unluckiest person alive. In addition to being diagnosed with a terminal illness, he has an unhappy marriage, boss from hell and bad workplace. So he thought he has nothing to lose and started to act irrationally. I thought this drama explores relationships and his life journey after being diagnosed. But it's not what i expected. The show quickly went downhill after ep. 6. i don't enjoy the USB story of thd drama. This is messy in my opinion.Was this review helpful to you?
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I surived the 73 episodes!
This is one of the longest drama that I've watched. I survived 73 episodes of this!. Well, I've seen Ruyi's Royal Love in The Palace with 87 episodes, and Story of Yanxi with 70 episodes. So this is definitely not for those who can't sit through anything longer than 40 episodes ( or less), which is the current norm in c-drama land. What I like about these long dramas are the character development. These tend to have a gazillion of characters that seem unimportant or like a filler to extend the episodes. However, if the storytelling is right, like these three dramas, these miniscule characters have their role in the grander scheme of things. So you have to pay attention to these lowly characters.Storytelling is the key for these dramas. I have sat through dramas that are much shorter, but felt so much worse, because of bad storytelling and you can't feel the character development. The Story of Ming Lan was done quite well in terms of storytelling. We get to see the journey from when she was a little girl to the intelligent and well brought up lady she is at the end of the drama.
The reason I didn't give this a higher rating is because the middle part is draggy (unlike Yanxi which is consistently good throughout the drama). But it picks up in the last 15-20 episodes. The first part is really good and they cut the episodes really well, so you're curious to go watch the next one. The same goes for the last 20 episodes. You can't help but keep watching.
The cast and characters are majority good ones, a combination of older and younger actors, but they played their characters well. I thought Zhao Li Ying did really well in portraying Ming Lan. Her expression and acting are on point. I also love the chemistry between her and Feng Shao Feng. Zhu Yi Long, i thought did really well too.
If you like slice of life drama in a historical setting, you would enjoy this and won't mind the number of episodes of watching family bickering :)
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This is a story of monkey love and/or crush and friendship. I enjoyed watching coming of age stories like this. I love watching the character grows and move on in their life. This drama feels more realistic, as we all have that monkey love when we were in school and some grow out of it, some keep it until graduation. Who we ended up with is usually not the one we have the crush with. I like the relationship and chemistry between Xia Xiao Ju and Lu Shi Yi. I think the best kind of romantic relationship is being with your best friend, since you don't have to pretend to be someone else when you're with him. Shi Yi started off like a jerk, but he grew on me and he really cared about Xiao Ju. He just has his own way of showing it. I was rooting for Xiao Ju to be with Shi Yi and not Cheng Lang. The supporting characters are also interesting. It breaks my heart when Huang Jun sang that last song to Le Tao. I can feel their pain and sadness. Lin You is my least favorite character. She is annoying with that annoying voice. I can't stand it whenever she appears on my screen. Unfortunately I was not one that skips scene. Her voice seemed fake and dubbed. Overall, I really like this drama. It is light, heartwarming, and there are many funny moments. Was this review helpful to you?
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I like to watch slice of life stories in between period dramas. Nowadays there are many slice of life c-drama that depicts strong, independent woman. This is just one of them. Unlike Nothing But Thirty where the three main female characters are friends, Zhang Zhi Zhi, Li Si Yu, and Gu Xiao Ling are all related by family ties. Zhi Zhi is Si Yu's cousin and Xiao Ling is Si Yu's step sister. This however is not as good as Nothing But Thirty. The only interesting character for me is Zhang Zhi Zhi. She started out as this weak character, one who is boring and just focused on taking care of her husband and child. But since life has unexpected turn, I thought she shows that she is a strong and independent character by the way she handled her husband's promiscuity. Zhu Yi Long's character is the one I despised the most! He is annoying and thinks that he's so righteous and so annoyed that he tried to salvaged his relationship with the older shark lady after what she's done! I just want to smash my screen! So irritating LoL. Overall, this was just an okay drama. One that I would gladly put at the bottom of the list and not watch again nor recommend. Was this review helpful to you?
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Watch this if you're looking for an easy watch, a sweet rom-com type drama, especially if you're into dramas with cool CEO type. This is one such drama. I actually enjoyed this drama. I really like Bai Lu. I thought she performed well in this drama, and she acted naturally. I find Xing Zhao Lin's acting as the ML is stiff at times, but maybe that's because he has to act cool and doesn't care about the FL. It's like he has no expressions at all LoL. The drama is very light and doesn't have many complicated relationships and conflict. One thing I hate is the ex GF that suddenly showed up towards the last 1/4 of the drama. She is just an annoying spoiled materialistic bitch that brings no relations or importance to the show LOL. Overall, this is quite good to watch. Was this review helpful to you?
Tearjerker melodrama
Sometimes I am a sucker for melodramas, especially those involving critical illness, because the drama can play your emotions and make you cry your heart out. Of course with one caveat, clever writing (not those with cheesy lines and cheap characters) and great actors. This is one of those dramas. It is packaged nicely, great actings, good OST (the opening theme song has a nice and touching lyrics) and great storytelling. The drama moves from the present to the past where we get to see the early relationships of Tan Jing and Nie Yu Sheng, since their puppy love times. And this provides a good background story. The back and forth between past and present were done seamlessly, you don't feel it disrupts the story at all and almost works as one piece. This is a drama of love that stands the test of time, as well as family and betrayals. I thought all the main actors and actresses played their part well. Of course this is not an idol romance drama, so you get to see actings from a more mature and experience actors and actresses. I really enjoyed this drama from start to finish and would definitely recommend it if you like melodramas.Was this review helpful to you?
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This is a slice of life story of four families trying to get a good education for their children since such a young age (I can't believe that they have to fight so hard just to get into a good primary school when the kid is still in kindergarten)! The story is quite okay for me and it's interesting to know how the education system works over there. It's also interesting to see the four families from different social and economic backgrounds and how each has their own issues and problems to deal with.
Music:
I like the ending theme by Ayanga. Unfortunately I watched this on the YouTube channel where they just silence the music :(
Acting:
The acting of the children I thought was pretty good.
Rewatch Value:
None for me. I don't want to go through the angst of daily life problems that are presented in this drama. Once is enough for me :)
Overall:
I think this is a pretty good drama. However, if you're not into melodrama, maybe i would recommend you skip this one
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