SenpaiSuki

Aah shite! Sorry, will add a spoiler tag. Completely forgot.

Episode 5 got me thinking what accounts as "smex" as per the glasses? We know for sure kissing and getting a little frisky doesnt count given Seon A and her recent fling dont share a thread. Also what about LBGTQI folks, specially lesbians?

Reina's character was so well written in this version. Also quiet poetic that Tomoya died in car accident taking Wataru's place and Reina died falling from a high place taking Misa's place in this new fate. What I really liked was it wasnt the main leads leading to the demise of the villains, it was the villains themselves., so it felt less morally ambiguous to cheer for the main leads vs the Korean version.

Agreed a 100%

I don’t think they did a good job telling Yeomhwa’s story. They tried to be clever by revealing bits and pieces here and there, but the result feels disjointed. The scattered snippets don’t fully explain or justify her motivations. Is she trying to bring her baby back to life? Why does she want the evil deity as her patron? If you really stretch your imagination, the answers are vaguely implied, but even then, you have to make several logical leaps to get there.

Its the way the show has been written and shot. The novel does a slightly better job of not giving complete stalker vibes from the FL, still there are instances that I personally would consider problematic. All the scenes in the show, even from their childhood, the way they are shot look romantic and not platonic. So its the show writer who did the FL dirty. That is my personal big complain with how the show has been written.

Doesn’t matter if it’s 10 years or 5. If not a single letter gets response even in 5 years, I bet you would stop writing to your friend as well no matter what others said about him being too busy. It’s not like he had a 9 to 5 and a family to feed. He was a student. Even given how grueling the Chinese education system is, an actual friend would extend the courtesy of telling you they can’t write to you regularly. This is just absurd level of romanticizing obsessive behavior.

Agree with you as someone who has experienced loss recently. You have to remind yourself to let go constantly or it becomes an obsession like it did for her.
But that still doesn't make me stop feeling bad for Qiao Xi.

My point is it doesnt seem like friendship at all from the get go. Its infatuation/romantic and not platonic at all, even when they were kids.

And if it was just friendship, would you keep obsessively writing to your friend for 10 years even if he doesn't respond at all? Doesn't matter how he feels, because you dont know how he feels since you havent heard from him at all.

For me it was heartbreaking in the sense that she didn't change until the end, didnt even come for her son's wedding after all these years. I think she said something along the lines of "You stay with your son Qiao Xi and I will stay with my son Mengshu..." or something and personally I would be so hurt even if I knew her well as a my mom. Like am I not your child at all just coz I dididnt do what you wanted me to?

Oh I remember now! :P

I remember Yingtao's college dormmate who invited her to the wedding. Dont recall Ye Yun getting married.

Isnt there supposed to be a novel about Yu Qiao's love life after this one?

Its really heartbreaking what she says when his dad invites her for their wedding. She never moved on from the death of her first child, the husband should have taken her to see a psychiatrist. But I get it, seeking help for mental health is still a taboo in 2025, so cant imagine anyone ever going down that road in the 90s and early 2000s.

In the novel I think she takes up liberal arts/English if I remember correctly and he studies something to do with finance coz he gets a job at Morgan Stanley and then I think he joins a VC/PE firm.

I wasn't a fan of how their childhood "friendship" was portrayed. From the way their scenes were shot, even as kids, it always felt more romantic than platonic. I would have appreciated more nuance in the progression from friends to crushes to lovers. As it stands, the romantic undertone was there from the start, which made their development feel rushed and lacking depth.

The female lead's obsession with him after he left town was unsettling. She continued writing to him for years without receiving a single response, which honestly gave off stalker vibes. When they finally reunite in high school, their secret meetings still feel overly romantic rather than friendly, further blurring the line between friendship and infatuation.

What also stood out to me was how differently she treated him from the beginning, almost like he was always set apart in her eyes. If anything, it would have made more emotional and psychological sense for the male lead to be the one obsessed, she had a tangible, transformative impact on his worldview and the way others treated him after he met her. In contrast, she didn’t experience any real change because of him. From a psychological standpoint, her fixation doesn't quite add up, unless we're meant to read her as being mentally unwell, which I doubt was the intent.

I really hope they give his mom a better end here than the novel! Its sad how so many families fall apart after the loss of a child. And its especially devastating for most mothers.
As someone with a loss I can understand the mom's pain, but I cant condone her behaviour towards the living child.

Wait what sequel?

Also in novel Shen Wan’s soul (MC) enters Qin Wan’s body when Qin Wan dies because she finds out that Qin Chen and Cai He were having an affair and Qin Chen murders her by pushing her in lake.

That seriously gave me the ick!!!

Yeah some of the medical stuff in this drama is just off by centuries lol. But its entertaining still...