This review may contain spoilers
Starkly beautiful despite the pain
I'll give a disclaimer now: I don't like this drama lol~
So why do I rate it so highly? Because its execution, theme, and plot were done well, even if it ultimately ended up as a story not to my tastes. Dramas set in the Republican era (pre WWII) always have this certain sense of oppressive melancholy to them; you know the good times and lavish settings aren't going to last long before war and tragedy strikes, so every bit of happiness I see (especially with younger characters!) feel like they're on a ticking time bomb before everything goes south.
But the love story of the ML and FL, which started out pure but ultimately withered under the weight of reality, hit close to home. Leng Qingqiu Bai Xiuzhu and Jin Meili were also gorgeous in their roles, and the very name of Leng Qingqiu—cold clear autumn—was both super poetic and 100% her. I didn't like all the rich family bullying stuff they did against Qingqiu after she moved into the family, or how her husband loved what he couldn't have and then lost interest once they were actually married. In essence, he was flakey and constantly pursuing an ideal, which led to him having nothing in the end (seeing Xiuzhu rejecting him and calling him out after they met up again was so satisfying).
Basically, he got what he deserved but that made for a sad ending so in the end I was miserable even though it was a good drama, lol
So why do I rate it so highly? Because its execution, theme, and plot were done well, even if it ultimately ended up as a story not to my tastes. Dramas set in the Republican era (pre WWII) always have this certain sense of oppressive melancholy to them; you know the good times and lavish settings aren't going to last long before war and tragedy strikes, so every bit of happiness I see (especially with younger characters!) feel like they're on a ticking time bomb before everything goes south.
But the love story of the ML and FL, which started out pure but ultimately withered under the weight of reality, hit close to home. Leng Qingqiu Bai Xiuzhu and Jin Meili were also gorgeous in their roles, and the very name of Leng Qingqiu—cold clear autumn—was both super poetic and 100% her. I didn't like all the rich family bullying stuff they did against Qingqiu after she moved into the family, or how her husband loved what he couldn't have and then lost interest once they were actually married. In essence, he was flakey and constantly pursuing an ideal, which led to him having nothing in the end (seeing Xiuzhu rejecting him and calling him out after they met up again was so satisfying).
Basically, he got what he deserved but that made for a sad ending so in the end I was miserable even though it was a good drama, lol
Was this review helpful to you?
