The lives of Men
I enjoyed this drama more so than I would have wanted. I started because I like the actor that played Yu Shi (Lin Yu Shen), but throughout the 40 episodes I found myself discovering and coming to love many more. Liu Yi Jun for his brilliant portrayal of the loving husband, as a viewer I understood his actions and decisions, although they could be seen as monstrous in one light, he was just a man in all others, a greater man than most. I emphasized with him and his choices, and most of all his love. It would not be a stretch to say the only reason I have sought to write this review is him.It is truly a shame that this drama ended the way it did, but I think it remained true and grounded despite of it. We watch dramas to be impressed and entertained, to be whooshed away to whatever world has been conjured. This unlike most is not a pure romance, or even partial romance, there are hints of it but only in small doses, yet the story moves around love and is moved by love as the final scene could be so much more different has the main characters been rational heartless men.
The acting in this drama is stellar so much so I would nominate it as one of the best dramas of 2025 (because it ended this year), there are very few that can match the effort the actors combined with a brilliant director have put in. This dawned on me when Yi di ordered Yu shi for coffee not in the actors themselves but in the way the things they tried to do, and whether or not they did a good job you could see that the direction there was well thought out and that there was a vision behind it. The director, Lin Yu Shen and Tan Zhuo I believe are the stand outs in terms of performance followed by their fellow cast members.
The music was good, but it was almost non-existent as if it wasn't even needed. My experience with the soundtrack was that it left a decent impression but only on certain phases of the drama, as if it was just another actor in a scene, and in the end, I can only remember 4 times when I felt it moved me or elevated a scene.
The story is something that as a drama watcher I have seen time and again. Where it stands out is that the writers took their time and clearly constructed it with care. You see that in how clean the dialogue is and how almost all narratives were resolved in the end, it was rushed a tad bit, but they were all realistically and well dealt with. It is a credit to the writers, but the story was clearly elevated by the cast and director who outdid themselves, turning something that is good to one of the best shows of the year.
I recommend you watch it, but only in times when you have time and a reasonable level of patience and freedom.
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