Love That Lasts a Lifetime
I made a mydramalist account to write a review for this drama.... so you get an idea of how much I loved it.Chinese people have a penchant for making the most spectacularly heartful slice of life dramas. Even though this has romance as the main plot, it still heals something inside you.
The story follows Sang Yan and Wen Yifan, in two timelines, one the past (when they met) and one the present. The best trope that could describe it would be second chance and very heavy he fell first and fell harder.
The characters in themselves are very impressive. Yifan is a unit of a woman and honestly reminds me of Cinderella in her mannerisms. She's someone who's been through hell and yet never holds a grudge against the world, she silently perseveres and lives her life as dull as it is. She is strong as hell and honestly I don't think the drama gives her enough credit for they way she handled her woes silently. Sang Yan... now this man, everyone deserves someone like him. He is just phenomenal in his persistence. Man should get an award or smth, for his selflessness. Gosh, he gave me so many butterflies, its ridiculous.
The romance itself is very heartwarming and there are a lot of cute moments just sprinkled here and there. Zhou Rhounan is honestly such a beauty and Bai Jing Ting is just handsome all around. Love them together, love the cute moments of the second couple too. There is a little bit of comedy sprinkled here and there, primarily relying on the charm of the leads. But love it nonetheless.
However, I had one major gripe with the story telling, they focus a little too heavily on the main plot-point: the main love story, the second lead couple had a story too, but it felt filler at most, only present to give us breaks from the heavy dominance of the lead couple. The child actor, interning at Yifan's office was dropped mid-way after he no longer served any purpose and the character's themselves as people weren't explored.
Most of the relationships in the drama are also developed only to the point where they help in progression of the story. The only relationships properly explored are the ones with the antagonists (Mom, Aunt and Uncle) and the main couple. Aside from that nothing is adequately developed.
The relationship Sang Yan has with his family and Yifan with her dad are also not explored. They are only present as hindsight, and doesn't really allow for any major character arc to form.
Even the main leads themselves aren't developed, especially Yifan. For someone who's been through so much, I expected to see a hell lot of 'suffer in silence moments', even in the flashbacks... but almost all of those moments are shown in Sang Yan's light to push the "he cares for her" agenda. Sang Yan too, his own heartbreak is mellowed over in the ending as "Oh it helped him grow". You don't see how they grew up to be people, which is kind of weird considering they had 32 whole episodes to do so.
BUT, BUT, BUT.... I STILL LOVE IT
If you have no problem with a little too much focus on the main storyline, then this is DEFINITELY your jam. It's still one of the more poetic dramas I've seen, very quiet and mellow. Definitely perfect after a heavy day, for relaxing along with a bucket of popcorn. If you love romance, and love the idea of the red strings of fate, this is definitely for you.
HAVE FUN
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