harunomasu

My impression of this drama will always be: Damn, First and Khaotung really got the talent for acting! Their characters, Sand and Ray, seem to be the most fascinating out of everyone. I don't know why. But they bring the multi-dimension personality to their characters, and it showed in their face, their body language, even the tone they use to speak in certain situation. For example, when Sand asking his friend whether it's love if he's started to feel angry and feeling something. That vulnerability in his voice is not easy to do without good acting skill.

For this episode though, it's all about the messy relationship. I wish my two favourite boys, Sand and Ray, could get out of this alive and well. Them together is my only sunshine at the moment from the drama and I don't want it to be taken from me.

I have the same feeling. Especially after Mew is being kissed by Ray. The way Ray looked at him, hopeless and crushed, but Mew has no other expression rather than the stony face he had all the time. Even a disgusted face would be better, or maybe angry face. But I guess I ask too much from him when it's a serious role like this.

I'm one of those people who think that Book suits the "slapstick comedy" character more, because I feel that his role in A Boss and A Babe actually fits him. Not saying that he's a great actor in there, but I think it's closest to his real personality and it shows. He's comfortable to carry the role and he had no problem making fun of himself. It's a leap and bound from his role in Enchante, which is kinda serious emo guy, but he only get the one-face emo guy all the time.

In Only Friends though, when emotions are strong and he's acting alongside First and Khaotung pair that has good acting skill, the flaws in his acting look even more obvious.

I still remember the part that makes me fall in love with this drama: Airport scene in episode 7. That episode is so well-played and so heart-breaking, it made me cry even without I realize it. It was that powerful. That's when I decided that I will continue watching this drama, and I didn't regret that decision.

Plot (7.5/10)
The first few episodes are really too slow, even for the slice of life standard. Sang Zhi in the beginning is also too timid it makes me quite uncomfortable on her crush to Duan Jiaxu. It feels like she's looking at a Hero instead of a man. It's more like idol complex in the beginning. But in episode 7, it changed everything. That's when I realize the depth of her feelings towards Duan Jiaxu, and her silent cry plus her silent acceptance that she's not going to be anything in his life, that's when the plot started moving forward. I love that there's little drama in their couple life, as the drama is created by someone else, namely the crazy girl who followed Duan Jiaxu. After episode 7 is when the story picked up in its pace and yet still maintain the same slice of life-ness of its whole genre. It couldn't be considered as coming of age, so it's better to consider it as romance. When I see it as romance, I can give it higher rating for its plot, as the romance is executed properly.

Acting (8.5/10)
I wanted to give a higher rating, but I think 8.5 is high enough point. This is mainly given to the male lead, Chen Zhe Yuan. While Zhao Lusi is good, but it's the male lead Chen Zhe Yuan that brings his character to life. His Duan Jiaxu is like a real person rather than just a character in a drama. Every expression, every gesture that he made, it all feels so real. That's what make me stay watching the drama in the beginning, and let me stuck to the story until episode 7, where I got hooked. The acting of the others also good, including Sang Zhi's brother, her parents, and even the adorable Qian Fei. The weakest link, surprisingly, is Jiang Ying, which is crazy because she's supposed to be Duan Jiaxu's arch-enemy in a sense. But her acting was lower in the standard if compared to the other actors. Then when she is face-to-face with Chen Zhe Yuan's Duan Jiaxu, her flaw is maximised. This is the reason why I can't give higher rating for acting.

Music (6/10)
Again, nothing is new. It's the standard music for this kind of romance drama. It's not that bad but also not really memorable.

Production (7/10)
I love the camera that they use as well as the angle they take the shot. The production is really good for a romance drama, and it didn't look cheap at all. I can see that there's money in the production and it showed.

Overall (7.5/10)
The story is nothing new, but the excellent acting and the chemistry of all the characters in the drama, not only the leads, helped in elevating the story. The production value is also very high. For the story, while it's quite slow in the beginning, but once it picked up its pace, that's when it started to get interesting and surprisingly, Very Good.

This could be the best coming of age drama for me from China Mainland. I don't watch a lot of drama these days since they usually have the same structure: Enemy turns to lovers, best friends turn to lovers, childhood sweetheart turn to lovers, etc. Then sprinkled with some malicious second leads that make you grit your teeth and want to slap their face. But this drama is just so different. When I first started, I thought this is going to be the usual youth drama but in the end, I got hooked due to the interesting characters, good plot, and also the acting actually quite decent in overall.

Plot (7/10)
This is a slice of life drama, and more over, this is a very calm drama so there's no up and down throughout the entire story. Most people will think slice of life is boring, but this drama is far from that. The drama moves quite fast, but it's not too fast-paced that it will make you feel dizzy or overwhelmed. The pace is just right. From the leads meeting each other, how they become friends, and then turn into lovers in the end. There's no wasted moment. There's also spiteful characters who wanted to play tricks on the two leads, but due to the leads understand each other and didn't let misunderstanding fester, there's not much "dramatic moment" that happened throughout the entire drama. I feel like I'm watching my youth replayed on my television screen and I'm so happy I choose to pay subscription to Youku to watch this.

Acting (8/10)
Their acting is appropriate for their characters in the drama. It feels like they're just being themselves and enjoying every second of the drama, which makes it so fun watching them acting. My dad especially likes the female character Su Zaizai. I also really adore her so much. I also like the other characters, including the minor characters like our Nan Shen Wang Nan, Sui Zaizai's dorm mates during her university days, even Xie Linnan who knows boundaries and stop pursuing Zaizai once he knows she has a boyfriend.

Music (6/10)
Music is very basic and standard so there's not much to talk about when it comes to this one. The opening and ending just the generic youthful drama that you hear many times. The insert song is the real gem, and I give the score 6 out of 10 for the insert song.

Overall (7.5/10)
This drama has a very youthful feeling and makes me feel nostalgic about my youth. It makes me regret that I never do anything like this during my youth. I might rewatch this as they say it's going to Netflix, and I'll be happy to do the rewatch because it's really good.

I've watched this during the time the drama was aired in 2017 and recently rewatched it again because my mom wanted to watch it. My review is based on the recent impression I have about this drama, which is in 2023.

Ultimately, if you watch this drama in 2017, I think that the plot might not be that bad. I was one of those people who actually like it because there's no other drama so exciting as this after Nirvana in Fire and Startling by Each Step. Pure wuxia drama with politics. It's just so good. But in 2023, when you rewatch it again, you will see many inconsistency in the drama, too many plot holes, and annoyingly dragged out episodes. It's something that you might not be able to find post 2021.

Plot (6/10)
The beginning was really good. It hooked you and make you stay. The first part of the drama feels like a complete introduction to all the characters. Then the middle and later part not so good in comparison to the first part. Starting around episode 20+, the plot started to derail and it feels like they added too much plot just so it could get longer and longer. The ending is questionable and super annoying cliffhanger.

Characters (6/10)
If there's no Yuwen Yue, the score might be lower. Like 2/10.

Yuwen Yue is my most favorite character. He's loyal and also very understanding. He's someone who you can consider as the perfect gentleman. Even though he loves the girl, he didn't try to make her do something she didn't want to do. He always gives her a choice. Even if that choice is to leave him, he accepted it. He's one of the best character in the whole story. He's smart, intelligent, and also super caring. That's why people pledge loyalty to him, not because of fear.

Xing'er or Chu Qiao might not be my favorite girl in the whole story, but her loyalty got me. I don't know why she choose Yan Xu over and over again, even though it's easy to see she's no longer happy being with him. It feels like she had obligation towards him but that obligation caused too many demise to the people in the whole country.

Yan Xun is one of the worst character, even worst than the Wei emperor he's trying to kill. True, the emperor's paranoia killed his entire family. But what did he do? Killing more innocent people and waging war that hurt the innocent people more than it ever hurt the emperor. What did he get by doing that? Nothing. He claims he wanted revenge, but he killed the people who don't even partake in the killing of his family. So is it still revenge he's seeking? Or is it just him wanting to be on the top and feared by all?

Music (7.5/10)
The music is such a banger. I really love the music. It's one of the reason why I stayed watching the drama throughout, from the beginning till the end.

Overall (6.5/10)
One of the weakest link could be the script, and the next weak link is the actor who played Yan Xun. He's one of the main characters, but he's the one that showed the weakest performance. Unfortunate, but that's true. Maybe that's why it feels like Yan Xun was not relatable at all to me. But it's still not a bad drama. It's still watchable for those who wanted to have fun watching historical drama that's filled with many twists and turns.

It's just a coincidence for me to check this page again because I wanted to get the drama chinese name to check on douban rating, and I read your post.

I have to say I agree with you. I also think that the plot is too complicated, or the drama team makes it too complicated. Some people here convince me that I just "don't understand" the plot and asked me to read the novel, which I will never do. I wanted to watch the drama, and if the drama didn't make sense, why I have to read the novel just to get clarification of the things that should be explained in the drama?

I actually gave up on the plot around episode 26. Then I just watch it because my mom watch it. She didn't even understand why things happen the way they did in the drama, and she often looks at me confused, "Why it's like this?" And she can digest the blood-spitting story of Till The End of The Moon more and she can narrate it back to me, while for this, I think my mom just felt compelled to finish it since she started it.

I applaud your bravery for making it through the end! It was not a bad drama, but definitely not the greatest ever. There are worst xianxia dramas out there with even more plot holes and confusing plot lines, but this drama is also not very outstanding. It's just kinda mid and stays there.

Sadly, Fukou-kun is just that. Cute. Have you read volume 2?

Don't You Like Me for me is still one of the best coming of age story with actually good characters and good plot setting. Some novel not even that fortunate. Not even the J novel. The cold series back then was such a mess but I stay through it because I like the premise.

There are times when song wei long is descent, for example go ahead and league of noblemen, but the times when he's not. Though we can't always judge him though. Sometimes, the actor can be so goddamn awful due to the problems with the directing and script. So who knows?

I saw Zhang Yuxi ever since I can't Hug You. So long time ago. But I think she still has the same wooden expression. I hope she could get better though, or at least fits her character.

There are times when song wei long is descent, for example go ahead and league of noblemen, but most the times he's not. Though we can't always judge him though. Sometimes, the actor can be so goddamn awful due to the problems with the directing and script. So who knows?

I saw Zhang Yuxi ever since I can't Hug You. So long time ago. But I think she still has the same wooden expression. I hope she could get better though, or at least fits her character.

The premise is different. Fukou-kun (Mr Unlucky) is a manga, and it's first published in 2020. Don't You Like Me is a novel, and it's released in 2017.

Fukou-kun is a silly romantic story. I would say there's a depth, but coming from the Japanese BL, I think it's more about being silly and romantic. Not bad, but definitely not the best either. Most of the JP BL manga is in the same category, unless they have the very mature tag. For example, Kyuuso, Ten Count, etc.

Don't You Like Me is more in the supernatural category. The two male leads from the manga and novel also have some differences, though it maybe due to the differences in culture. JP and CN guys have different way of flirting. Though like I said, it's still a very light coming of age story. It's cute but not overly deep. What Fukou-kun lacked, which is the reason on why the main character is so unlucky, is actually being explained well in Don't You Like Me. There's also explanation on why Gu Kaifeng (Jiang Chi) can repel the ghost, while the lead in Fukou-kun didn't even have any explanation on why he's so lucky.

Both the manga and novel has no deep story or plot actually. One thing the same: both are very good and cute coming of age story!

Nice to know someone who reads danmei as well! I'm always careful when making this kind of statement, as someone could take it out of context.

In opposite to you, I like to read modern danmei more ^^; My most fave genre is the criminal/crime solving, e-sport category, then school or campus setting. I do like Wuxia or any political setting, like Qiang Jinjiu, but it's not a lot. I usually got headache reading them because it has too many characters. I still have problems remembering Heaven's Official Blessing characters lol

Up to episode 3
Ever since I read the synopsis, I immediately know what's the story is about. Because I've read the novel before. The novel is called "Don't You Like Me" and it's a funny coming of age story about the main character who can see ghosts.

The drama itself is not bad, but the setup is far too long. I wish they just take this as a flashback instead of spending 1 and a half episode to build up the background. And I wish we can stop with the extremely aloof male lead. Thankfully, in episode 3 Jiang Chi did loosen up and started to show his playful personality around Bu Xia.

For the acting, I think it's passable. It's still okay so far. Not the best but also not the worst ever, so it's watchable. As I already know about the whole novel, I enjoyed the story more, maybe more than those who didn't read the novel.

It's from a chinese danmei novel called "Don't You Like Me." It's a funny coming of age story.

Except for the beginning, it's actually quite similar. I guess they wanted to expand on why Lin Feiran (Bu Xia) didn't like Gu Kaifeng (Jiang Chi) in the beginning. Don't You Like Me is one of my fave coming of age story, and when I read the synopsis I know what story this is based on. From half of episode 2 they started to follow the novel story timeline with some tweaking here and there. I wish Jiang Chi takes the Gu Kaifeng personality instead of being this aloof man. Gu Kaifeng is so flirty I love him so much. He's also a warm hearted person. So seeing Jiang Chi portrayed as the cool man in the drama make me a little bit sad lol

I've watched all of them. I don't mind ancient drama setting, and I recently watched The Blood of Youth, which is like a proper wuxia, though the battle is full of CG. But it's still better to me since it has a very good plot as well.

I watched a lot of modern dramas. Mostly because I really love the genre and it's relaxing. I can also understand the conversation more without having to look at the subtitle ^^

Nirvana in Fire is simply a masterpiece, I agree on that. I still remember the excitement I feel when I first watched it, and I still love it even after I rewatch it many many times.

Modern drama is easier for me to digest. It's also closest to the reality. Especially when I see those hard working people getting pressured by their boss, I see myself in them ^^;

Sadly I don't watch western movies since I like asian aesthetic. Though I get your point. I remember how people don't like Lu Han, and after Cross Fire, even me change my mind about his acting since he's sooooooo good in that drama. Most of the time, the whole production itself will determine on whether the end product will be good or not.

Ah, I see. It could be though. Het novel, especially the long ones, usually sacrifice the integrity of the female lead for the sake of plot. This also happened with most of the long winding het novel, and that's also why I don't really read them anymore. Like Ming Lan, I think it's over 200+ chapters, and while the beginning was good, the middle and end part seriously making me unhappy. That's why I decided I no longer read the het novel after that.

Thanks for the concern :) I'm old and mature enough not to get anyone to bother me. I hope we can meet in the next drama as well. As long as my mom continue to watch Xianxia, I'll have to continue to suffer lol

Sadly, I don't really read het novels in general. I have my own preferences.

I feel like that too. I mean, I don't understand why they keep on making the same open ending for the Xianxia dramas. Like, why? Is it some kind of agreement or what?

The problem is, this pastel colour had been present ever since Journey of Flower in 2015. It's been like what? 7-8 years? I wish they stop with the pastel colours. We can have Xianxia dramas without the pastel colours really. But again, that's my opinion. The last time I see something colourful on my screen is from The Untamed. I love that we have the gold, the purple, the black, the blue, the red, etc. I don't ask for bright vivid colours, but at least no longer pastel. I think ever since Ten Miles and Ashes of Love, all these people agreed that Xianxia has to use this pastel colour. Even during White Snake Legend in the 90s, they use more oclours than the one in the Xianxia nowadays.

I have no problem with Xiao Zhan, I think his acting is okay enough. But his characters are not. Like, I believe actors can perform bad if they have bad direction as well, that's why I don't talk about the actors but mostly about their performance in the drama.

Thank you for your reply as well. I'm happy to have someone to talk about it in a logical way :)

Are we talking about the Chinese drama in general or the whole movie in general? I am not sure why when I'm talking about Xianxia I got slapped with the information about western movie? For your information, I didn't watch western movie. The number of western movies I watched is like 5-6 in the past 10 years.

I didn't push the agenda. But how many Xianxia in the past 3 years that have open ending? In this year and last year, 90% of the Xianxia drama has this. Again, I am talking about the Chinese drama in general.