This review may contain spoilers
long long ago in a galaxy far away ... it had potential
Our Generation was one of the most anticipated dramas of Zhang Ling He and Zhao Jin Mai (I'm looking at YOU fans of ZLH, ZJM, or The Princess Royal). Yes, YOU includes me, I am you and you are me. Oh man ... if it isn't the dream to get the couple you loved in a period/historical drama to work together again in a modern romance setting. To preface, I did watch the princess royal, and yes I loved their dynamic there, was I super into the politics? well, no, but I was into the romance and I thought their comeback was great. We love a short-lived enemies to reluctant friends to old married couple trope, classic. In this essay, I will
joking, this is not an essay, but it's quite a long review for the 6 episodes I've watched so far. I just have some thoughts I need to get out.
Our Generation starts off as a slice of life + romance drama that revolves around a group of friends from a little town in the rural areas called Qunshan, but more specifically around the journey of Zhao Jin Mai's character, Lin Yingtao, and Zhang Ling He's character, Jiang Qiaoxi, as they spend more than half of their life knowing each other as kids to adults. Their story begins as kids with Lin Yingtao as a bright and eccentric girl who loves living in Qunshan, and more than anything, loves her friends and her family. They essentially define her purpose and meaning in life, and without them, she doesn't feel whole. Then one day she meets a boy who just moved to Qunshan, foreign and dressed in all black, she was determined to become his friend. Jiang Xiaoqi lives his whole life in the shadow of his late brother—someone his parents will never forget, never let him forget, and is someone he has never even met. Treating him as if he was his older bother, his mother cruelly invades every aspect of his life, whether it's where he goes to school, who he gets to be friends with, what food he gets to eat, what colour he gets to wear, she always has the final say. For a fleeting moment of time, he is free from his mother's grasp when he moves to Qunshan with his father, and this marks one of the most significant time in his life where he meets Lin Yingtao, who carries the torch that brings the light to a life that is spent living in the dark. However, very soon, he's forced to move back to the city and continue his studies there. One by one, Yingtao's friends leave her and transfer to the same school as Qiaoxi in the city, and it isn't until quite a few years later that the Qunshan gang all reunite again when she herself transfers. From this point on, begins Yingtao and Xiaoqi's journey to healing each other's unspoken wounds, and what was once a childhood crush, starts looking a lot like true love. (At least I dunno, that's what Netflix has aired so far). If you don't like watching family issues, typical second female lead mean girl, forced to separate multiple times tropes, LOOK AWAY!! This is not for you queen.
BORE we read the synopsis, yea yea I know im sorry. A summary is like a mandatory thing, bear with me. I heard about the first episode being about when they were children, and then the next episode is them as teens. This type of beginning usually makes me hyped! Who doesn't love a good backstory? Well, unfortunately, I felt it lacked some emotional depth from what we would expect to be Yingtao's most cherished moments in life. I mean, she carried these memories into the city when she transferred, and never seemed to forget about Qiaoxi for a single day since he left. I was waiting for just a single moment in all of their childhood memories that screamed, YOU!! oh I'll definitely never forget you. It was kind of a typical kid experience, they played together, she shows him a bit of kindness, shares her pet with him, shares food, sure but WHEREE WAS THE DEFINING MOMENT GUYS. missing the it factor here man. In that sense, showing their childhood story to me was kind of useless aside from the fact that Qiaoxi never came back for her. We could've started from there and I wouldn't have minded. Then we very quickly see the gang back together as teens (with the actual actors) and I again, expected more. Maybe I'm picky, but when I watch a supposed group of childhood friends, I expect them to have this sort of chemistry that makes me believe they're truly best friends and one another's found family. In this drama, it was definitely lacking this bond. Something about it just felt a little ... ingenuine? I can't pinpoint if it's the script, or the directing, but I know part of the reason is Zhao jinmai's acting. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying she's a bad actor, but I think something about her acting as a teenager was a little off. You can say it's the awkwardness a teen is supposed to have, but no, I think some teenagers can be normal guys. She's the glue of the group, all her friends love and protect her, but somehow their entire friend group chemistry falls flat. Storywise, this is a great typical set up to be fair, I like the setting of this, it's just poor execution in my opinion.
Romance-wise, yes I will mention Zhang Ling He now. Idk what to say but just looking at him makes me happy. I don't know if it's the overdo edits right now or what, but he's literally handsome in everything. I don't think ZLH or ZJM are qualified to play so called 'teenagers' but I'll endure it because I'm really just waiting for their story as adults. Acting wise, I think ZLH does a good job portraying miserable, brooding, misunderstood boy stuck under the control of his mom. Am I getting a little tired of these terrible mother tropes? VERY. I am SO VERY TIRED GUYS YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND. After the korean remake of go ahead, be passionately in love, and the accumulation of evil stepmoms in historical cdramas, A GIRL NEEDS A BREAK. Tell me why this woman is threatening to move Yingtao's family to another province if Qiaoxi continues being friends with her. AND THEY AREN'T EVEN MILLIONAIRES OR SUPER RICH.. make it make sense. ykwim?? It gets to a point. Anyways, very obviously Qiaoxi is in love with Yingtao. He was shy as hell as a kid and suddenly he's cheeky, playful, and good at flirting in their high school era?? I will say though, he makes everything a lot more interesting when he's trying to win over Yingtao, and I'm enjoying their scenes together. ZLH's charm is enough chemistry for the both of them, but thank god they still kept the chemistry they had in the princess royal. Despite their lacklustre past, I don't think it's unreasonable for Yingtao to place a lot of importance on Qiaoxi even though they were apart for so many years (ok maybe a little unreasonable for her to think about him every day compared to the friends she actually grew up with), I mean, think about seeing your first crush again (who looks like ZLH), there's bound to be some sort of unresolved feelings right? Ep 6 ends with their big misunderstanding resolved and some other problems a-brewing, but I'm excited to see what else is in store because I think I'm solely here for the romance.
Edit: beware, these are full spoilers of the ending. after finishing this drama, I can conclude that this was definitely a frustrating watch. Qiaoxi hurts her again and again, disappearing without a trace every time, when he knows that's what she's most afraid of. What is your goal boy. Because if it's to give her a broken heart indefinitely, he's really good at doing that. I liked Yingtao maturing once she started university, and I liked her friendship with her seniors, it showed that yes she could live just fine on her own, and yet she always has this void in her heart that has yet to be filled. I salute Yu Qiao for being such an understanding friend, he was the mvp in this couple pairing when he himself wanted the girl. What I disliked, was actually the fact that we don't get to see Qiaoxi's friendship with the Qunshan group ever get as deep as Yingtao's. I know that they're the OG Qunshan group, but Qiaoxi was also an important part of their lives, and they all consider him their friend. This truly gets downplayed in this drama, which I guess also plays into why Qiaoxi feels the only thing he can go back to is Yingtao. It just makes it feel like Qiaoxi is part of their group solely because of Yingtao and for being a pitiful kid. Aside from this, whatever, sure his trauma makes sense, and ignoring her for years makes sense, but I really expected more from this drama. The script isn't as good as you expect it to be with these two as the leads, and certainly pales in comparison to their dialogues in the princess royal. Even the Hong Kong arc, I really expected an explosion of chemistry or something, only to be met with the most stubborn guy ever. And how did it get resolved? A quick I'll stop loving you now, then he 'chases' after her.. hmm nice try buddy, you still didn't catch up though. And to make it worse, he had to be taught what to do in their moment of reconciliation. Talk about disappointing, whatever happened to the cheeky Qiaoxi?? Wasn't satisfied with how they tied up their ending here, love a happy ending but their path to getting there was unreasonably rocky. Don't get me started on Yu Qiao and Qin Yeyun's short open ending, we deserved a proper confession and a confirmation of them ending up tgt and I stand by that. Cai Fangyuan barely got any lines in their last scenes tgt too, why didn't they tell us what he's been up to? This was more a rant than a review, I advise anyone who hasn't watched yet to save their time! Stick to the edits only.
joking, this is not an essay, but it's quite a long review for the 6 episodes I've watched so far. I just have some thoughts I need to get out.
Our Generation starts off as a slice of life + romance drama that revolves around a group of friends from a little town in the rural areas called Qunshan, but more specifically around the journey of Zhao Jin Mai's character, Lin Yingtao, and Zhang Ling He's character, Jiang Qiaoxi, as they spend more than half of their life knowing each other as kids to adults. Their story begins as kids with Lin Yingtao as a bright and eccentric girl who loves living in Qunshan, and more than anything, loves her friends and her family. They essentially define her purpose and meaning in life, and without them, she doesn't feel whole. Then one day she meets a boy who just moved to Qunshan, foreign and dressed in all black, she was determined to become his friend. Jiang Xiaoqi lives his whole life in the shadow of his late brother—someone his parents will never forget, never let him forget, and is someone he has never even met. Treating him as if he was his older bother, his mother cruelly invades every aspect of his life, whether it's where he goes to school, who he gets to be friends with, what food he gets to eat, what colour he gets to wear, she always has the final say. For a fleeting moment of time, he is free from his mother's grasp when he moves to Qunshan with his father, and this marks one of the most significant time in his life where he meets Lin Yingtao, who carries the torch that brings the light to a life that is spent living in the dark. However, very soon, he's forced to move back to the city and continue his studies there. One by one, Yingtao's friends leave her and transfer to the same school as Qiaoxi in the city, and it isn't until quite a few years later that the Qunshan gang all reunite again when she herself transfers. From this point on, begins Yingtao and Xiaoqi's journey to healing each other's unspoken wounds, and what was once a childhood crush, starts looking a lot like true love. (At least I dunno, that's what Netflix has aired so far). If you don't like watching family issues, typical second female lead mean girl, forced to separate multiple times tropes, LOOK AWAY!! This is not for you queen.
BORE we read the synopsis, yea yea I know im sorry. A summary is like a mandatory thing, bear with me. I heard about the first episode being about when they were children, and then the next episode is them as teens. This type of beginning usually makes me hyped! Who doesn't love a good backstory? Well, unfortunately, I felt it lacked some emotional depth from what we would expect to be Yingtao's most cherished moments in life. I mean, she carried these memories into the city when she transferred, and never seemed to forget about Qiaoxi for a single day since he left. I was waiting for just a single moment in all of their childhood memories that screamed, YOU!! oh I'll definitely never forget you. It was kind of a typical kid experience, they played together, she shows him a bit of kindness, shares her pet with him, shares food, sure but WHEREE WAS THE DEFINING MOMENT GUYS. missing the it factor here man. In that sense, showing their childhood story to me was kind of useless aside from the fact that Qiaoxi never came back for her. We could've started from there and I wouldn't have minded. Then we very quickly see the gang back together as teens (with the actual actors) and I again, expected more. Maybe I'm picky, but when I watch a supposed group of childhood friends, I expect them to have this sort of chemistry that makes me believe they're truly best friends and one another's found family. In this drama, it was definitely lacking this bond. Something about it just felt a little ... ingenuine? I can't pinpoint if it's the script, or the directing, but I know part of the reason is Zhao jinmai's acting. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying she's a bad actor, but I think something about her acting as a teenager was a little off. You can say it's the awkwardness a teen is supposed to have, but no, I think some teenagers can be normal guys. She's the glue of the group, all her friends love and protect her, but somehow their entire friend group chemistry falls flat. Storywise, this is a great typical set up to be fair, I like the setting of this, it's just poor execution in my opinion.
Romance-wise, yes I will mention Zhang Ling He now. Idk what to say but just looking at him makes me happy. I don't know if it's the overdo edits right now or what, but he's literally handsome in everything. I don't think ZLH or ZJM are qualified to play so called 'teenagers' but I'll endure it because I'm really just waiting for their story as adults. Acting wise, I think ZLH does a good job portraying miserable, brooding, misunderstood boy stuck under the control of his mom. Am I getting a little tired of these terrible mother tropes? VERY. I am SO VERY TIRED GUYS YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND. After the korean remake of go ahead, be passionately in love, and the accumulation of evil stepmoms in historical cdramas, A GIRL NEEDS A BREAK. Tell me why this woman is threatening to move Yingtao's family to another province if Qiaoxi continues being friends with her. AND THEY AREN'T EVEN MILLIONAIRES OR SUPER RICH.. make it make sense. ykwim?? It gets to a point. Anyways, very obviously Qiaoxi is in love with Yingtao. He was shy as hell as a kid and suddenly he's cheeky, playful, and good at flirting in their high school era?? I will say though, he makes everything a lot more interesting when he's trying to win over Yingtao, and I'm enjoying their scenes together. ZLH's charm is enough chemistry for the both of them, but thank god they still kept the chemistry they had in the princess royal. Despite their lacklustre past, I don't think it's unreasonable for Yingtao to place a lot of importance on Qiaoxi even though they were apart for so many years (ok maybe a little unreasonable for her to think about him every day compared to the friends she actually grew up with), I mean, think about seeing your first crush again (who looks like ZLH), there's bound to be some sort of unresolved feelings right? Ep 6 ends with their big misunderstanding resolved and some other problems a-brewing, but I'm excited to see what else is in store because I think I'm solely here for the romance.
Edit: beware, these are full spoilers of the ending. after finishing this drama, I can conclude that this was definitely a frustrating watch. Qiaoxi hurts her again and again, disappearing without a trace every time, when he knows that's what she's most afraid of. What is your goal boy. Because if it's to give her a broken heart indefinitely, he's really good at doing that. I liked Yingtao maturing once she started university, and I liked her friendship with her seniors, it showed that yes she could live just fine on her own, and yet she always has this void in her heart that has yet to be filled. I salute Yu Qiao for being such an understanding friend, he was the mvp in this couple pairing when he himself wanted the girl. What I disliked, was actually the fact that we don't get to see Qiaoxi's friendship with the Qunshan group ever get as deep as Yingtao's. I know that they're the OG Qunshan group, but Qiaoxi was also an important part of their lives, and they all consider him their friend. This truly gets downplayed in this drama, which I guess also plays into why Qiaoxi feels the only thing he can go back to is Yingtao. It just makes it feel like Qiaoxi is part of their group solely because of Yingtao and for being a pitiful kid. Aside from this, whatever, sure his trauma makes sense, and ignoring her for years makes sense, but I really expected more from this drama. The script isn't as good as you expect it to be with these two as the leads, and certainly pales in comparison to their dialogues in the princess royal. Even the Hong Kong arc, I really expected an explosion of chemistry or something, only to be met with the most stubborn guy ever. And how did it get resolved? A quick I'll stop loving you now, then he 'chases' after her.. hmm nice try buddy, you still didn't catch up though. And to make it worse, he had to be taught what to do in their moment of reconciliation. Talk about disappointing, whatever happened to the cheeky Qiaoxi?? Wasn't satisfied with how they tied up their ending here, love a happy ending but their path to getting there was unreasonably rocky. Don't get me started on Yu Qiao and Qin Yeyun's short open ending, we deserved a proper confession and a confirmation of them ending up tgt and I stand by that. Cai Fangyuan barely got any lines in their last scenes tgt too, why didn't they tell us what he's been up to? This was more a rant than a review, I advise anyone who hasn't watched yet to save their time! Stick to the edits only.
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