F4luv89

The True Definition of Green Tea B****

I rarely write reviews but I feel like I had to for this (please be advised this comes with major spoilers for the ending! Not sure how much space I need to give in order to hide the bottom)
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I get that people enjoyed watching Ireine (宋伊人) for the first time in a while. No offense, her last couple of dramas that came out haven’t been the best (that weird one with Zhang Yun Long and the other with Guo Jun Chen come to mind). Nevertheless, willing to give this a shot (and also at a loss for upcoming/currently airing dramas).

This formula/premise started off actually pretty cute - village bumpkin coming to big city university on a scholarship, making ends meet, and starts off not on the right foot with ML. Cool, I’m all for it at this point. Even the annoying roommate is not that bad, just a little too righteous.

Then the “Shi Jie” (senior) appears and things quickly turn downhill. For most of the drama I couldn’t even remember what her name was, but I sure wasn’t forgetting all the evil tricks she had in store for FL. Listen, I get that main characters need foils/ villains; and I don’t always turn my back to them. But she was just the worst of the worst. I could not understand how you let someone time and time again hurt you/cause as many misunderstandings. The good part was the little aunt/roommate was wise to her tricks from the start, and it was satisfying when she (the senior) got caught on the phone confessing she wasn’t sick. She leaves and you think, great - finally, this exhausting storyline is over. But nope, she returns and it’s worse the second time around (and dude, there’s only 4 more episodes left at this point). This time, she tries to fool FL and takes advantage again of our poor Shi Zi and his trust in her. Although it doesn’t last as long the second time around, it’s just so stupid how she thinks ML will come running to her just because of the recording (it was obvious it was her who manipulated). And then finally, how she confessed what really happened that day of the scuba diving. Ugh!!

I think this drama unfortunately fell flat for me due to incompetent screenwriting and insane plot holes that I just could not ignore. However, I will say the acting was actually quite good for the leads. The GTB was kind of bleh, but I guess that’s what makes you hate her more (I will clarify these comments are only towards the character, not the actress!) The main song was also pretty catchy. All in all, I would not recommend this show unless you can put up with insane female intervention.

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What on earth did I just watch?

I was looking to watch this because I saw the male lead played One from Go Go Squid and was interested to see how he would be as a male lead. Unfortunately my expectations were too high.

I expected a campus story, and from the summary above, an interesting love triangle (which isn’t always a turn off if done right). Instead, I was presented with garbage.

It starts off with the story of 3 “siblings” who are all adopted by Grandpa Lu (Lu Jin Bai takes after grandpa’s surname because he did not even have a name or knew where he came from before he met grandpa - the other two seemed to know where they came from). However, when they were young (elementary school aged), grandpa dies and almost leaves them to grow up on their own (but they have a “guardian”, Dr. Liu, who is also Xiao Ting’s cardiologist). So Lu Jin Bai is oldest brother, Wu Su Kai is second brother and Bai Xiao Ting is youngest sister.

Pretty much immediately, it is clear that BXT has the hots for LJB but he does not necessarily reciprocate. Instead, his sole focus is to earn money to cure BXT, as that was his promise to grandpa before he passed. So as a result, he works many odd jobs to support their family. BXT encounters many fainting spells and the doctor says her only hope is a heart transplant. Somehow the premise of the doctor being an organ donor comes up and LJB decides to also become one (foreshadowing what is to come).

At the halfway mark, due to a motorcycle accident, LJB passes away and his heart (shocker) is a match for BJT. Poor WSK has to lie and tell her that LJB has gone abroad to make more money to pay off the debts for curing BXT (I don’t think she realizes the extent of how bad her situation is/was). And this is where it just goes off the rails. Basically, his interests “float” into her body: she likes motorcycles, flirting with girls, and can now fight.

Just a ridiculous story. Please pass on this, not worth the time (even though it’s quite short). However, there is a catchy song in here that was apparently sung by a Korean singer (in Chinese), hence I gave some higher marks for OST.

If you are going to include transplant as a storyline, don’t use a main character! I would recommend “Time and Him Are Just Right” instead - that one is done right.

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A Nod To Yesterday’s Youth

My first review on this site because I could not stop my tears after finishing this.

The story starts off quite simply and I went into this thinking it is a nice wholesome family slice of life. While that is true for the most part, there are storylines that I never would have expected, such as domestic abuse, violence and untimely death. The raw emotions of the actors really came through, particularly by Sun Qian (playing Cheng Miao Miao), Zhai Zi Lu (playing Li Si), Li Qing (playing Cheng Ya Ya), and Qi Yu Chen (playing Yuan Shan Qing).

As somebody who grew up in the 90s as an overseas Chinese, I can relate to some aspects (like listening to popular Canto songs). But some others are not so familiar, like growing up in a village/compound like the petro fields. This adds to the nostalgia feeling from this drama, but what sets it apart is that it does not just show all rainbows and good times. The ending was shocking to say the least and I think it will leave me a while before I can get over this show.

Watch this for a blast to the past, a realistic view of 90s nostalgia, and the overarching theme that tomorrow is never guaranteed so you need to appreciate and value today.

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