This review may contain spoilers
Flawed, but I Fell in Love Anyway
I fell in love with this show so unexpectedly. I went into it thinking it would be just another rom-com, but it ended up being so much more than that. There are deeper and sadder things going on underneath all the romance and fluff, and I genuinely enjoyed it so much. It’s definitely a drama I can see myself revisiting because it isn’t just a typical lovey-dovey rom-com. It’s fluff, angst, sadness, yearning, and eventually a happy ending—and I loved it.
The show is definitely not without its flaws. The editing can feel quite choppy at times, and there were moments where I genuinely felt like something was missing. Certain parts could have been written or directed better, and some things weren’t wrapped up as nicely as I would have liked. I heard the drama was originally supposed to be 32 episodes but was cut down to 29, so maybe that explains some of it. I’ll give it that. Despite all of these issues, though, the drama is still so beautiful—and the chemistry carries it so well that I can overlook almost all of its flaws.
Now, the star of this show for me: Lu Xiaxiao. THAT MAN YEARNS. He reminded me of Sang Yan in the best way possible.
His character genuinely surprised me because I fully expected him to become a red flag. After everything that happened, especially after ten years apart, I expected a revenge arc. I expected him to hate her, punish her, or make her suffer. But he never did. He was the biggest green flag. He loved her through everything. He gave her chance after chance. He stood by her no matter what she did. Even when he said he would make her cry and make her regret leaving him, he could never actually bring himself to hurt her.
Even after ten years, he couldn’t hate her. He always loved her. He always forgave her. He always stood by her side. He did exactly what he had always said he would do: if she was willing to come back to him, he would forgive her.
I LOVED that.
He was never stubborn for the sake of creating unnecessary conflict. He was always there for her. But at the same time, my heart broke for that man SO badly, and a huge part of that is because of Daniel Zhou’s acting. I’ve watched him before, but never as the main lead, and honestly—give that man ALL the roles.
He moved so naturally between being a loving man, a yearning man, a successful and mature man, and then suddenly this childish, funny, playful character. At the same time, he was able to portray someone deeply depressed and broken. He had so many amazing scenes, but one of my absolute favorite scenes of the entire year has to be when he was dancing under the fireworks while hallucinating that he was dancing with her. That scene had SO much depth. The acting, the emotions, the visuals—everything was amazing. I loved it so much.
His pain also made complete sense to me. He had already been abandoned as a child, and that was a scar that never truly healed. Then the person he loved most chose to leave him too. It wasn’t exactly the same as what his mother did, but to him, it felt like being abandoned all over again. It completely broke him, and Daniel Zhou portrayed that brokenness so beautifully.
The phone call scene absolutely destroyed me. When he told her, “If you say you love me, I’ll forgive you,” and then later said he would make her regret it… Oh my God. His acting was incredible.
Also, his styling in this drama? Beautiful. I genuinely enjoyed seeing him on my screen so much.
As for Bao Zhuowang, I loved her character too. I know a lot of people blamed her, but I always understood where she was coming from. I kept trying to put myself in her shoes, and because of that, I could never hate her for the choices she made.
One line basically explains her entire character and everything that happened: “I’m only 18. I can’t do this anymore.”
She was SO young.
After the stabbing, everyone came at her—the grandfather, the mother, the father—and everyone told her that they shouldn’t be together. She blamed herself for him getting hurt, and she was left completely alone. In her mind, the best way to protect him was to move away from him. She had no one supporting her, and she was already so broken that I understood why she made that choice, even if it was painful and even if it wasn’t necessarily the right one.
I actually loved that, in this relationship, she was the red flag and he was the green flag. It was such an interesting dynamic, and somehow it worked so well.
Her acting was also very good, especially during her more emotional scenes. The scene where she got hurt was amazing. There were a few moments where I wanted a little more from her, but whenever she had a truly heavy scene, she delivered. Her funny scenes were also great, and she is just SO cute and beautiful.
And THE CHEMISTRY.
Oh my God.
The chemistry is genuinely what carries this show. I don’t necessarily think the drama itself is a perfect 10 because I do have issues with it, but the chemistry carries it SO well that I can overlook those issues and still give it a 10. They were electric together.
I absolutely DEVOURED the first part of the drama when they were young and still in school. I loved the high school arc so much. It was fun, sweet, emotional, and so enjoyable. More than anything, it really made me feel like I was watching these two people grow up together.
One of my favorite lines from him when he comforted her when her grandma died, he was telling her it’s OK. I will grow up with you instead.
That line perfectly captures their entire relationship. This really feels like a love story spanning more than ten years because we actually watched them grow up together. We saw their youth, their love, their separation, and then who they became as adults. Although I do think ten years apart was a little too long for the story—maybe five years would have worked better—I still loved their journey.
My biggest complaint is that I simply didn’t get enough of them. I wanted SO much more. I wish we had more scenes of them together because I genuinely could have watched another ten episodes of them just being happy and lovey-dovey. Their chemistry was that good. Also talk about a well made ending. Very beautifully done… especially when they addressed the audience directly.
I also wish we had seen a little more of his “hate” era. Since the show teased the idea that he would make her regret leaving him, I think that part could have lasted a little longer if the drama had more episodes. But at the same time, I also love that he could never truly hate her. That was completely true to his character.
The side characters, unfortunately, weren’t that interesting to me. I didn’t really care about most of them, and some of the parents were genuinely annoying. I also didn’t love the brother’s character, although I do want to see more from the actor. I don’t think his acting is amazing yet, but I definitely think he has potential.
Some storylines also weren’t wrapped up properly or were resolved too quickly. There were moments where the drama seemed to just fast-forward through things, and I wish those parts had been handled better. Still, the show did such a good job of making me feel like I had genuinely witnessed their entire journey—from youth to adulthood—that I became incredibly attached to them.
There are also SO many beautiful scenes in this drama. The cinematography was gorgeous in certain moments, and some scenes had a surprising amount of emotional depth.
And the OST? OH MY GOD.
There are at least three songs that I absolutely love. The music made the emotional scenes hit so much harder and added so much to the atmosphere of the drama. I genuinely loved the OST.
I also really liked the costumes. I noticed that some outfits were repeated, which actually made the drama feel more natural and realistic. People repeat clothes in real life! It gave the characters a more believable, lived-in feeling.
The story itself is honestly nothing especially new or groundbreaking, but I would still absolutely recommend giving this drama a chance. It gave me one of my favorite couples of the year, so many memorable scenes, beautiful cinematography, an amazing OST, and a romance with genuine emotional depth.
You can also tell how natural the chemistry between the cast is. After watching some of the behind-the-scenes content and their variety show appearances, I genuinely get the feeling that they had so much fun filming this drama together, and I think that natural connection came through on screen.
This show has flaws. There are things I would change, things I wish had been explored more, and things I wish had been wrapped up better. But I loved it anyway.
The chemistry was electric. The yearning was everything. Lu Xiaxiao completely stole my heart. Their journey made me feel like I had grown up with them, and I already know I’m going to miss them.
Definitely one of my favorite couples of the year—and a drama I would absolutely recommend.
The show is definitely not without its flaws. The editing can feel quite choppy at times, and there were moments where I genuinely felt like something was missing. Certain parts could have been written or directed better, and some things weren’t wrapped up as nicely as I would have liked. I heard the drama was originally supposed to be 32 episodes but was cut down to 29, so maybe that explains some of it. I’ll give it that. Despite all of these issues, though, the drama is still so beautiful—and the chemistry carries it so well that I can overlook almost all of its flaws.
Now, the star of this show for me: Lu Xiaxiao. THAT MAN YEARNS. He reminded me of Sang Yan in the best way possible.
His character genuinely surprised me because I fully expected him to become a red flag. After everything that happened, especially after ten years apart, I expected a revenge arc. I expected him to hate her, punish her, or make her suffer. But he never did. He was the biggest green flag. He loved her through everything. He gave her chance after chance. He stood by her no matter what she did. Even when he said he would make her cry and make her regret leaving him, he could never actually bring himself to hurt her.
Even after ten years, he couldn’t hate her. He always loved her. He always forgave her. He always stood by her side. He did exactly what he had always said he would do: if she was willing to come back to him, he would forgive her.
I LOVED that.
He was never stubborn for the sake of creating unnecessary conflict. He was always there for her. But at the same time, my heart broke for that man SO badly, and a huge part of that is because of Daniel Zhou’s acting. I’ve watched him before, but never as the main lead, and honestly—give that man ALL the roles.
He moved so naturally between being a loving man, a yearning man, a successful and mature man, and then suddenly this childish, funny, playful character. At the same time, he was able to portray someone deeply depressed and broken. He had so many amazing scenes, but one of my absolute favorite scenes of the entire year has to be when he was dancing under the fireworks while hallucinating that he was dancing with her. That scene had SO much depth. The acting, the emotions, the visuals—everything was amazing. I loved it so much.
His pain also made complete sense to me. He had already been abandoned as a child, and that was a scar that never truly healed. Then the person he loved most chose to leave him too. It wasn’t exactly the same as what his mother did, but to him, it felt like being abandoned all over again. It completely broke him, and Daniel Zhou portrayed that brokenness so beautifully.
The phone call scene absolutely destroyed me. When he told her, “If you say you love me, I’ll forgive you,” and then later said he would make her regret it… Oh my God. His acting was incredible.
Also, his styling in this drama? Beautiful. I genuinely enjoyed seeing him on my screen so much.
As for Bao Zhuowang, I loved her character too. I know a lot of people blamed her, but I always understood where she was coming from. I kept trying to put myself in her shoes, and because of that, I could never hate her for the choices she made.
One line basically explains her entire character and everything that happened: “I’m only 18. I can’t do this anymore.”
She was SO young.
After the stabbing, everyone came at her—the grandfather, the mother, the father—and everyone told her that they shouldn’t be together. She blamed herself for him getting hurt, and she was left completely alone. In her mind, the best way to protect him was to move away from him. She had no one supporting her, and she was already so broken that I understood why she made that choice, even if it was painful and even if it wasn’t necessarily the right one.
I actually loved that, in this relationship, she was the red flag and he was the green flag. It was such an interesting dynamic, and somehow it worked so well.
Her acting was also very good, especially during her more emotional scenes. The scene where she got hurt was amazing. There were a few moments where I wanted a little more from her, but whenever she had a truly heavy scene, she delivered. Her funny scenes were also great, and she is just SO cute and beautiful.
And THE CHEMISTRY.
Oh my God.
The chemistry is genuinely what carries this show. I don’t necessarily think the drama itself is a perfect 10 because I do have issues with it, but the chemistry carries it SO well that I can overlook those issues and still give it a 10. They were electric together.
I absolutely DEVOURED the first part of the drama when they were young and still in school. I loved the high school arc so much. It was fun, sweet, emotional, and so enjoyable. More than anything, it really made me feel like I was watching these two people grow up together.
One of my favorite lines from him when he comforted her when her grandma died, he was telling her it’s OK. I will grow up with you instead.
That line perfectly captures their entire relationship. This really feels like a love story spanning more than ten years because we actually watched them grow up together. We saw their youth, their love, their separation, and then who they became as adults. Although I do think ten years apart was a little too long for the story—maybe five years would have worked better—I still loved their journey.
My biggest complaint is that I simply didn’t get enough of them. I wanted SO much more. I wish we had more scenes of them together because I genuinely could have watched another ten episodes of them just being happy and lovey-dovey. Their chemistry was that good. Also talk about a well made ending. Very beautifully done… especially when they addressed the audience directly.
I also wish we had seen a little more of his “hate” era. Since the show teased the idea that he would make her regret leaving him, I think that part could have lasted a little longer if the drama had more episodes. But at the same time, I also love that he could never truly hate her. That was completely true to his character.
The side characters, unfortunately, weren’t that interesting to me. I didn’t really care about most of them, and some of the parents were genuinely annoying. I also didn’t love the brother’s character, although I do want to see more from the actor. I don’t think his acting is amazing yet, but I definitely think he has potential.
Some storylines also weren’t wrapped up properly or were resolved too quickly. There were moments where the drama seemed to just fast-forward through things, and I wish those parts had been handled better. Still, the show did such a good job of making me feel like I had genuinely witnessed their entire journey—from youth to adulthood—that I became incredibly attached to them.
There are also SO many beautiful scenes in this drama. The cinematography was gorgeous in certain moments, and some scenes had a surprising amount of emotional depth.
And the OST? OH MY GOD.
There are at least three songs that I absolutely love. The music made the emotional scenes hit so much harder and added so much to the atmosphere of the drama. I genuinely loved the OST.
I also really liked the costumes. I noticed that some outfits were repeated, which actually made the drama feel more natural and realistic. People repeat clothes in real life! It gave the characters a more believable, lived-in feeling.
The story itself is honestly nothing especially new or groundbreaking, but I would still absolutely recommend giving this drama a chance. It gave me one of my favorite couples of the year, so many memorable scenes, beautiful cinematography, an amazing OST, and a romance with genuine emotional depth.
You can also tell how natural the chemistry between the cast is. After watching some of the behind-the-scenes content and their variety show appearances, I genuinely get the feeling that they had so much fun filming this drama together, and I think that natural connection came through on screen.
This show has flaws. There are things I would change, things I wish had been explored more, and things I wish had been wrapped up better. But I loved it anyway.
The chemistry was electric. The yearning was everything. Lu Xiaxiao completely stole my heart. Their journey made me feel like I had grown up with them, and I already know I’m going to miss them.
Definitely one of my favorite couples of the year—and a drama I would absolutely recommend.
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