I quite enjoyed this drama, especially the first half when they were all still in high school. Zhang Miao Yi's comedic acting is very funny, and she does "cute" better than any actress I've seen. I thought the last episode was quite well done, wrapping things up nicely. My score 8 / 10.
The first two thirds of the drama while they are still at high school was almost perfect, feel-good viewing (except for when Ding Xian's psychopath mother was tormenting her). Rainbow Xu's acting as the shy, slightly awkward high school girl was excellent, and I also thought Chen Zhe Yuan was quite good in his role. When they all graduated from high school, things got a bit more angsty, and Zhou Si Yue's decisions (for way too many episodes) were frustratingly stupid. I seriously considered dropping this drama at this point, as I was finding the episodes difficult to watch. But with a liberal use of the skip button, I struggled through them. There was really no chemistry at all between the leads, but this is quite normal for Chinese coming of age dramas. I did however think the last episode was done quite well. Even with its faults, it is definitely worth a watch for anyone who enjoys this genre of drama. There is a 20 minute epilogue episode that isn't on Viki, iQIYI or YouTube, so you'll need to find it on one of the more dubious streaming sites. My score: 8/10.
Are there any supernatural abilities involved? And is it the FL that has them?
Yes. The FL is a demon, and so she has supernatural strength, but she is not invincible. Other than her strength, she has two "superpowers" (that I can remember). First, she could materialise a dagger in her hand if she needed to go all stabby-stab on some bad guy, and second, she could write the name of a person on a shiny surface and then see what that person was doing and where they were. So overall, her powers were not very powerful.
I'm only a handful of episodes in, but one thing I'll say that the Chinese seem to do better than any other country is cute and fluffy rom coms. Also, Ding Xian's mother is a terrible person and a terrible mother. And most of the teachers are bullies. And Ding Xian's father is a coward who needs to stop getting bullied by his wife. And Ding Xian's brother is a spoilt little shit.
The drama is quite cute, but after 16 episodes, I decided I didn't really care enough about the characters to keep watching, especially when I have dozens of other dramas waiting for my attention. Overall, I'd describe it as quite an average drama. Nothing about it - story, acting, cinematography were anything special. I'm usually a big fan of Noona Romances, and I did like how the age gap was dealt with in this drama, with both parents initially expressing concerns, but not becoming psychos trying to keep them apart. I'm not really sure why I lost interest in the story, but I just did. But if the synopsis interests you, then give it a try. You might love it, just as many others have based on the comments and reviews.
So, I've just finished this drama, and I liked it. Sure, there are plenty of things that could have been done better, in some cases much better, but I enjoyed the drama irrespective of the production and storyline deficiencies, which I suspect often reflect budgetary constraints. For any fan of GL dramas, this drama is a must watch. My score is 8/10. I've made an observation in the spoiler. I also had a rant about something else two comments down.
One of my pet hates in dramas, which reflects lazy writing (in my opinion), is an unearned redemption. Aoey's mother was introduced to viewers as an absolute piece of shit. She was heartless and cruel towards Aoey, accusing Aoey (without evidence) of trying to seduce her partner, who was actually secretly filming Aoey naked and then he even tried to rape Aoey. Aoey's mother physically attacked Aoey when she was told of the attempted rape. Later, the mother publicly made false allegations which caused Aoey even more pain. So, no mother of the year awards for her. But then magically, she's become super mum, dedicating herself to helping her daughter that she previously was trying to destroy. Why the sudden reversal? As a viewer, I need a reason to stop hating her guts. She needs to earn her redemption. Just having the mother instantly change from evil to good without any explanation is poor writing because deprives the viewer of what could have been an interesting and emotional redemption arc.
It was very early in the series - I think it was even the first episode. I'm up to episode 11, and the ML has not yet clarified with the FL what happened that night. However, I suspect that he didn't take advantage of her while she was drunk that night, as that would introduce a dark subplot into what is otherwise a very light and fluffy romcom.
Yang Kyung Won's acting in episode 5 is very impressive. I'm going to go further. I think he's given the best acting performance I've ever watched in a KDrama. If anyone believes they've seen better, then please let me know. If leads roles were offered based on acting ability alone, he'd be offered nothing but lead roles.
If Yan Yue did have sex with An Ran while she was basically unconscious, then he is a rapist. If he didn't, but lets her continue to believe that is what happened, then he's a jerk. He's also quite immature, so I'm hoping for some significant and rapid character growth, as well as some clarification of what exactly happened "that" night. EDIT: I'm now up to Ep 15, and Yan Yue has shown considerable character growth, which I'm happy about. Even though he hasn't clarified what happened that night with An Ran, I'm essentialy certain that he did not take advantage of her. But he was a jerk for letting her think that he might have.
When they all graduated from high school, things got a bit more angsty, and Zhou Si Yue's decisions (for way too many episodes) were frustratingly stupid. I seriously considered dropping this drama at this point, as I was finding the episodes difficult to watch. But with a liberal use of the skip button, I struggled through them.
There was really no chemistry at all between the leads, but this is quite normal for Chinese coming of age dramas. I did however think the last episode was done quite well.
Even with its faults, it is definitely worth a watch for anyone who enjoys this genre of drama.
There is a 20 minute epilogue episode that isn't on Viki, iQIYI or YouTube, so you'll need to find it on one of the more dubious streaming sites.
My score: 8/10.
9/10.
For any fan of GL dramas, this drama is a must watch. My score is 8/10.
I've made an observation in the spoiler. I also had a rant about something else two comments down.
But then magically, she's become super mum, dedicating herself to helping her daughter that she previously was trying to destroy. Why the sudden reversal? As a viewer, I need a reason to stop hating her guts. She needs to earn her redemption. Just having the mother instantly change from evil to good without any explanation is poor writing because deprives the viewer of what could have been an interesting and emotional redemption arc.
If leads roles were offered based on acting ability alone, he'd be offered nothing but lead roles.
EDIT: I'm now up to Ep 15, and Yan Yue has shown considerable character growth, which I'm happy about. Even though he hasn't clarified what happened that night with An Ran, I'm essentialy certain that he did not take advantage of her. But he was a jerk for letting her think that he might have.