dottie-wan-kenobi

exclusive fairytale is one of my first contemporary cdramas and I think?? the first one I've finished. I usually take forever to finish dramas but this one is very easy to watch, and I mean that in a good way -- the episodes never drag on too long, it's very funny, and there's enough characters that we get a good mix of story lines and drama. admittedly yes I'm a fan of svt and came into this drama for jun, but it took no time at all for me to fall in love with the rest of the cast

I'm honestly jealous of all of these characters for getting to have a friend like xiao tu lmao, I want to be friends with her too please ??? she was such a high point in this show, her personality and the comedy she brought, but also her relationships with the rest of the characters -- I love the progression she and xu linglong make over the course of the show, for instance. I also really enjoyed her friendships with jia siwen and yin zihan, it was very cute and it always made me smile. overall the friendships in this show were one of my favorite parts. like of course this is a romcom but the side characters really got to shine and leave their own marks, and having these friendship circles made them feel very well-rounded as characters. I think the writing was great in that aspect: I don't think the characters ever felt OOC to me, even ling chao and xiao tu after they got together and started being more cutesy

the romance was super fun, I loved a lot of the tropes they included. I really really liked the secondary ship too which doesn't always happen, so I'm grateful that it was such a cute couple and that they also got their happy ending. I would've cried if they didn't get back together tbh. I think the show did a good job portraying the reality of leaving high school and moving on to college, where some people go farther away and you either lose contact entirely or have a rough time keeping up with them. I did think it was silly they kept most of the same cast lmao but that's okay it was fun

I did knock off a few points bc there were times I thought the acting was a bit meh, and I have to say, it annoyed me to have so many temporary love interests. when the motorcycle guy came in with only a few episodes left, I just felt over it and wanted that part to be over asap. unfortunately after ling chao and xiao tu got together, I think the momentum fell a bit, but that was bound to happen. overall these complaints did little to really affect my enjoyment of the show

will definitely rewatch sometime!!