Meese

I think that’s fair. I agree with one of your earlier comments where the director or someone didn’t portray her character the best where you got more bubbliness than maybe expected for a depressed character, but in terms of the drama isolated from the novel, I could enjoy it and a lot of the changes they made because I think the actual humor translated well on screen. This is still an idol drama, so I think some of the changes to her character may have been due to that where a depressed FL may not be what the audience necessarily wants.

I definitely think there were hints of more to her backstory that could have been portrayed better and let YSX portray more of a tragic character and step away from her more lively persona, but for whatever reason, some of it was glossed over. Some of her scenes like when she received her grandfather’s watch and was reminiscing and crying I think she did great and I think she did pretty good in her running laps scenes as well. This was also a show where she could showcase her voice acting since there were a lot of monologues where she had to convey emotion and I think she did well in that regards as well, but seeing her fully transition to a more dark character would definitely be interesting for her.

My understanding is her lack of any friend in her life, male or female, really was part of her character in that she’s totally isolated which leads to her depression. I can see where that would mean she could then just be existing in terms of the ML, but for LWX in terms of her being a depressed character, who keeps to herself initially, it makes sense and if handled correctly could add depth to her and make her bonds with WF and the boys more meaningful. I sort of would have been more interested if JL was a new friend she made vs an old one so you got to see her overcome her loneliness with both romantic and platonic relationships who were her age.

Again, it would need to be handled correctly because SAL annoyed me because that very much gave JM only existed around JZ even though JM supposedly made friends who weren’t really there for her in the end.

I think LWX works for her like SAL where it’s sort of a bridge character where she can bring her normal humor and charm but in a more serious role throughout the whole drama. SAL was more extreme because Thailand JM was more childish and she didn’t get to do serious parts until later while LWX was more serious throughout. As an intro character for new viewers, I think LWX works where she is more “digestible” if you will for people who are accustomed to her more over the top characters to have a more serious role who still has hints of playfulness to her that she is more known for.

I agree though, her continuing to try other characters like Yun Chu is something I look forward to. There have been hints of her ability to carry out more serious scenes in her last two dramas that makes me more interested in seeing her in her next drama because I’ve seen potential.

Ju Li was an original character. I think her role in the story was to be the one to hint and later tell WF about LWX's past, but her role and presence outside of those scenes didn't quite fit. I saw your comment below about having LWX's background a bit more well developed and I agree it could have been stronger to better show why she could relate to the boys. I wrote a bit in a response below, but I think there were some missed opporunties to expand on her background, especially as it relates to her parents which would help with why she felt so strongly about supporting the boys. There were also some changes in plot itself when it came to the suspense plot from the novel that I could see where they were going with it, but it didn't quite translate as well as it could.

I agree with your assessment of CJK. I will say, seeing him in the action scenes he had, I do think he could do well in more action/suspense dramas, so I'm interested to see him in Doll Game - that looks like it could play to his strengths I saw in this drama.

For Esther, she still has her ups and downs and added her signature to her character, but I do think she has her moments in more some of the more serious scenes where I can see growth in her. Her performance definitely wasn't perfect, but she had her moments in there where she did very well in more serious scenes which was nice to see and I think overall she was solid in this more serious role she doesn't have as much of in her portfolio.

I agree the suspense plot could have been done better. It sort of sounded like there were some changes from the novel that caused the suspense plot to be a bit weaker - some of the changes were most likely due to censorship and some may have been more creative direction. I could see what they were trying to convey for the most part, but some of it just didn't translate as well as it could.

Another area I think they didn't get to flesh out very well is LWX's dynamic with her parents. The bits we got made them seem bad, but there was more I feel they could have explored such as what her dad did to her when she was younger that she referenced with Qin Ao. Wang Fa's dad rushig them away was great in terms of bringing some humor, but I would have been interested if they stuck around a bit more and you got more of that dynamic to see why LWX could relate to the boys and their struggles.

Nope. I find it very boring, but I had read comments about the psychological/mental health aspect of the storyline from novel readers and was intrigued.

I like to pop in here every so often. I actually thoroughly enjoyed RTS, but it is a very different vibe to SAL. SAL will always be special and I still mourn the lack of in person promotions.

LWX's drunk speech with the boys that ended on her leading bows of gratitude for WF was absolutely hilarious! I watched that scene so many times. I'm pretty sure WCY broke character at one point when it looked like he was looking down to hide him laughing at her

I think the court room scene will age so well in terms of something feminists can relate to and it is actually quite apt for what she went through last year with all the constant online attacks and rumors. I also find it ironic when people condemn a woman over being not being a girl's girl/misogynist/pick me/whatever other term that is equivalent a bully when they are actively bullying and harassing said woman.

I think it's fine if people can't connect with certain actors/actresses, but the constant complaining about her right off the bat is irritating. If you don't like her, odds are there is very little she could do to change their mind so skip her dramas. Are there still areas she can improve? Yes - same with most actors and actresses. But I've been super happy seeing the improvements she has continued to make and it's the good I prefer to focus on when it comes to the people I like to watch.

I've seen some recent complaints about how shallow some other recent CDramas plots have been and it's just like, you're allowing your dislike of a person to get in the way of you actually being open to discovering new dramas that do have the depth you say you want in an idol drama which goes back to your point about how Esther has done a very good job picking interesting scripts.

I sort of like that ending because it references the "cheating" line which they both technically did, but at the same time, I liked the ending we got as well. I think one area of growth for WF was that he truly learned how to express how much he cares for his players and not getting too caught up in always being tough with them, so him starting a youth center makes sense. And because he told LWX he cares more that she has the space to shine vs becoming his wife with the PhD application, it makes sense for them to remain stationary a bit longer.

It seemed they decided to end it with LWX going back to school, so again, the roots they have planted in the show make sense, but I would love to imagine the map scenario happening once LWX finishes up her degree and the youth center is off the ground and thriving. They can then go spread their wisdom everywhere while having a place to return to in Hongjing.

We are getting to the more serious bits and we’ve gotten some more serious scenes with some of the boys. Not sure how much they will dive into the ML’s past, but we are at least getting to the Jason backstory now. The FL’s dark past should also be coming up more as well.

We haven’t gotten there quite yet in the show but it sounded like there may have been accusations she was a mistress to a professor who died. I’m hoping they expand on that soon because I’m curious.

I would say yes it's worth it but it also depends on what you like. This is very slice of life/youth/found family/slow burn so far so you won't get as much immediate romance as with some other dramas and the boys feature prominently so you do have storylines that divert from the leads a bit (they are great actors so far and I think their scenes lend a lot to the overall found family vibe of the show).

There's some underlying tension and mystery that is starting to unfold, but it's not over the top in flashy action sequences outside the football scenes. But the slow burn chemistry between the leads is great and their growing relationship with the boys is touching.

The boys going from trying to set up LWX with all the guys in their lives EXCEPT WF to then trying to use LWX to honeytrap WF into staying was so fun.

I was wondering this too. It would feel odd if they wait to premeire it until after the drama finishes airing.

It’s a good old strangers to lovers slow burn with a found family aspect. It’s refreshing!

I think they are both great dramas but SAL has more of that fast pace, more in your face action and romance while this is a bit slower paced and subtle. It’s also a slower burn so the romance isn’t in your face as much and the two leads are a bit more withdrawn and show they care in the little ways vs in SAL they have larger and more obvious actions that are better for eye catching edits that would go over well in winning over international audiences.

There was the one scene where it seemed like she had tried to help him and failed which had sort of put her off trying help others to her fullest potential. And then interestingly enough, they showed the scene where it seemed like WF wasn’t fully realizing the depths of the state Jason was in, telling him to push through the pain.

It seems like it could be a case of LWX tried her best to help Jason but ultimately failed and the world just got to Jason in the end while WF needed someone to try to place blame on because he wasn’t able to help Jason at the time and didn’t fully recognize the signs.

The way they were all on board with the supposed wedding immediately and put their couple picture front and center on the photo wall 😆

I think the boys think they’re together already haha. They were so cute peeping how WF took care of LWX when cleaning up the tutoring center.