batatatamusic

slice-of-life drama: Like novels such as Before the Coffee Gets Cold and The Miracles of the Namiya General Store...

I’m really enjoying watching this series little by little in the evenings — it’s perfect to breathe, relax, and fall asleep to. A true slice-of-life drama, almost literary in the way its dialogues and ideas unfold.

Here, there isn’t really one central character, but rather a whole atmosphere that feels incredibly cohesive and human. There’s no huge dramatic goal driving the story. The beginning (ep1) was actually quite hard for me because I usually don’t enjoy this kind of subject matter, but as the series progresses, it feels like we go through therapy alongside the characters, slowly changing our thoughts and moving away from sadness little by little.

The male lead feels very natural and not idealized at all — which is rare for male characters in dramas, since they’re often written like perfect princes. The relationships also feel realistic and grounded.

This is exactly the kind of drama China knows how to do so well — one of its real specialties and unique strengths, alongside wuxia and xianxia.