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Fate works hard, but Sang Yan works harder
This drama brought me back into a full-on C-drama spiral — seriously.
The First Frost is a story that quietly shows how love, at its core, is selfless. Selfless enough to want the other person to be happy, even if that happiness doesn’t include you. Selfless enough to stay behind their boundaries when they don’t reach out first. Selfless enough to keep showing up silently, even when your heart is breaking.
The plot may seem typical, two people loved each other and they found their way back later on. Sang Yan & Yifan met in high school, but then fate has to separate them because sometimes life is just cruel. Years ahead, they were reunited and ended up sharing a house. In which, all things started to unfold, all feelings start to get resolved and it ended on a very satisfying note as all loose ends were neatly tied, beautiful!
Again, I'm not a fan of slow-burn romance, but somehow TFF managed to make me want to see how their relationship develops. Sometimes, C-dramas tend to get cringey with forced romantic moments — but not this one. Their interactions feel natural. Their connection grows gradually and organically. It’s subtle. Real. Earned.
The characters - SANG YAN SANG YAN SANG YAN YOU SET THE BAR SO HIGH. I've seen some interviews where Bai Jing Ting said the director has taken the best image he could ever have, and he has this fear of not being as perfect as Sang Yan later on (lol!). His small gestures are everything. His micro-expressions. The way he holds back but still loves so fully. The way he chooses quiet gestures over grand ones — like he's scared that reaching out too directly will make her leave again. He expresses his love for her through subtle acts of affection, and he doesn't think twice to let go of his pride and acknowledge the significance of Yi Fan's pain. "Through all these years, I never loved anyone but you" what kind of psycho would hear something like this and not breaking down into their knees?!
Wen Yi Fan is a character who suffers a lot. She used to be someone bright, but then again life doesn't go as planned. She is someone who had long belittled the thoughts of what she deserves in this life. But then again, she has always seen Sang Yan as someone who deserves all the good things in life; she protects his light, even when she’s lost her own. Her character development on opening up and being gentler with her feelings definitely makes me feel more sympathetic towards her.
I've seen some mixed opinions regarding the differences between the novel plot and also the drama. But being someone who saw both, I think both versions have their own charms. Since in the drama version, it focuses more on the SA plot but then again it makes the overall vibes of the drama more mature and complex. My own personal downside is probably how the grandfather's arc kinda feels like fillers overtime. At first the interactions and relationship progress between the second couple was fun to watch. But then, it starts getting repetitive with all these characters revolving around the Grandpa.
The OSTs are TOP NOTCH, been on replay in my playlist. And i just found out that Bai Jing Ting also sing for one of the OSTs!
Anyway, it takes me AGES to finish this drama. Since after episode 27 to 30 i keep on going back to rewatch previous episodes. It takes so much time for me to finally watch the two last eps just because it feels sad to say goodbye to this beautiful drama. This drama made it on top of my favorite modern C-drama list, and I’ll keep going back to it.
Over and over.
Happily.
The First Frost is a story that quietly shows how love, at its core, is selfless. Selfless enough to want the other person to be happy, even if that happiness doesn’t include you. Selfless enough to stay behind their boundaries when they don’t reach out first. Selfless enough to keep showing up silently, even when your heart is breaking.
The plot may seem typical, two people loved each other and they found their way back later on. Sang Yan & Yifan met in high school, but then fate has to separate them because sometimes life is just cruel. Years ahead, they were reunited and ended up sharing a house. In which, all things started to unfold, all feelings start to get resolved and it ended on a very satisfying note as all loose ends were neatly tied, beautiful!
Again, I'm not a fan of slow-burn romance, but somehow TFF managed to make me want to see how their relationship develops. Sometimes, C-dramas tend to get cringey with forced romantic moments — but not this one. Their interactions feel natural. Their connection grows gradually and organically. It’s subtle. Real. Earned.
The characters - SANG YAN SANG YAN SANG YAN YOU SET THE BAR SO HIGH. I've seen some interviews where Bai Jing Ting said the director has taken the best image he could ever have, and he has this fear of not being as perfect as Sang Yan later on (lol!). His small gestures are everything. His micro-expressions. The way he holds back but still loves so fully. The way he chooses quiet gestures over grand ones — like he's scared that reaching out too directly will make her leave again. He expresses his love for her through subtle acts of affection, and he doesn't think twice to let go of his pride and acknowledge the significance of Yi Fan's pain. "Through all these years, I never loved anyone but you" what kind of psycho would hear something like this and not breaking down into their knees?!
Wen Yi Fan is a character who suffers a lot. She used to be someone bright, but then again life doesn't go as planned. She is someone who had long belittled the thoughts of what she deserves in this life. But then again, she has always seen Sang Yan as someone who deserves all the good things in life; she protects his light, even when she’s lost her own. Her character development on opening up and being gentler with her feelings definitely makes me feel more sympathetic towards her.
I've seen some mixed opinions regarding the differences between the novel plot and also the drama. But being someone who saw both, I think both versions have their own charms. Since in the drama version, it focuses more on the SA plot but then again it makes the overall vibes of the drama more mature and complex. My own personal downside is probably how the grandfather's arc kinda feels like fillers overtime. At first the interactions and relationship progress between the second couple was fun to watch. But then, it starts getting repetitive with all these characters revolving around the Grandpa.
The OSTs are TOP NOTCH, been on replay in my playlist. And i just found out that Bai Jing Ting also sing for one of the OSTs!
Anyway, it takes me AGES to finish this drama. Since after episode 27 to 30 i keep on going back to rewatch previous episodes. It takes so much time for me to finally watch the two last eps just because it feels sad to say goodbye to this beautiful drama. This drama made it on top of my favorite modern C-drama list, and I’ll keep going back to it.
Over and over.
Happily.
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