littleberry09

Way overrated is actually being kind

I'll start off by saying I actually love fantasy and time travel is not something I'm against watching. But this drama just did not cut it for me, and the hype it gets made me more disappointed that I did not end up watching some great romance - indeed it turned into a thriller more than half way through.

It's anti-climatic, illogical, and thoroughly full of clichés throughout. I do like the odd cliché but this went beyond that, and I think would only appeal to literal teenagers just like Sol and Sunjae in the past. It's very *2013 Wattpad romance* and probably not for adults today.

Time travel doesn't include logic anyway but this felt like a whole other level of illogical with unnecessary twists and turns. It was also unnerving how badly the FL screwed it up and doesn't learn from her previous mistakes. She took time travel for granted and as if it was to be played with, she never had a firm plan in her mind of what she had to do. It grew tiring the third and final time she returned and still made stupid mistakes, including being reckless and going out alone at night when she was fully aware a serial killer was after her. The serial killer is another thing in an endless list of overused tropes here - this drama was SOLD as a romance, yet it seems the writers must have been bored as it turned into the serial killer taking centre stage and his only purpose to be the main barrier between the leads. It could have been a full on thriller by that point.

i do think they tried hard with what they were given for romance and chemistry - Immediately on Ep 2 I felt their romance *could* have great potential, and I can see at points where the actors tried their absolute best with it. Later on I actually liked 2-3 scenes such as when she meets him on the bridge with the yellow umbrella 15 years later, and also when he says to her he is willing to go through every aspect with her to change their fates. But overall their romance came off immature and not well thought out; you end up feeling sorry for poor Sunjae-ah as she repeatedly makes bad decisions that also affect him and doesn't communicate her plans with him. I don't think she deserved him at all, other than the fact she was a 34 year old in a 19 year old's body (🚩🚩🚩), she doesn't learn from her mistakes and comes off even more childish than him, who was actually the 19 year old. You might understand why he likes her as a hormonal teenager, but that's just giving the benefit of doubt a little.

Neither was the acting anything special, it seems Kim Hye-yoon was either very loud and bubbly or fully in tears, with no inbetween. Byeon Woo-seok was definitely the better one of the pair, and you can feel his range given how hard he tries to make the chemistry between them work. But even then he was a pretty plain character who's prime role was to be a lovesick puppy for Sol. I think I came out of this drama liking the secondary characters more, especially her Mother, his Dad, and the 2ML.

To be honest it's like the 2nd half really affected the drama overall and how it was perceived. This is where the plot and writing went completely off the rails - Sol the FL was outright making bad decisions by this time, to the point Ep 11 till about Ep 14 were painful to watch. She deliberately creates misunderstandings between them, and leaves Sunjae-ah adrift with trying to save her which ends up harming him instead. The entire purpose of her character was to save him, but ironically it was her OWN bad decisions which end up harming him!

You have to go into this drama with a large amount of scepticism and low expectations, and know that it's largely not going to make sense as there's many little plotholes they don't answer. It was medicore for a one-time watch, and I can definitely say I won't be watching this drama again.

The only 10/10 I have given is for the OST which was truly deserving of praise 👏. But I've given this drama a rating of 3.5/10 as the plot holes and 2nd half reduces it's quality by a lot. Even then this drama wouldn't be so overly popular for many if it wasn't for Byeon Woo-Seok. It felt like many were in it for his face card and the few moments where he secretly crushed on her. Again, an example of being straight out of wattpad 🌟

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Unlikeable, toxic male lead character

This drama didn't age well and I think you are more likely to love it if you had the nostalgia of watching it as a younger person back in the day of it's release (2009). I watched it as an adult in 2023 and eventhough I expected clichés and toxicity, it was still so cringey and red flagged. The character Gu Jun Pyo is completely dislikeable and has no redeemable qualities, it was just impossible to root for him and Jan Di when he was literally her bully. In my opinion she and the 2ML had a better bond in the 2nd half of the drama. I also came to like the 2nd couple more. Overall I would have rated it a 0, maybe just 1 point for Lee Min Ho's crazy hair :)

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A badly executed Anti-Romance.

"You don't have to be perfect to be worthy of love" 👉 Love this message and the reoccurring theme it carries throughout the drama.

This should be tagged as ANTI-ROMANCE. It's filled with red flags to the point you can actually study and analyse themes in a toxic relationship. It's worth watching only in this context. I would avoid if you want a romance with any positivity, depth or gentleness.

───

We are first introduced to the female lead Sang Zhi Tao, English name 'Flora.' She is a young 22 year old, fresh graduate who is offered a job at a world famous advertising company - Lime.

On her first day she meets her direct supervisor, 28 year old Luan Nian AKA 'Luke.'

The drama goes straight into getting them acquainted. In the first few episodes they develop a friendly co-worker rapport. Unfortunately this did not translate well into a relationship. The problems quickly become apparant and the drama wants you to know it will be as problematic a relationship as possible.

The first red flags come in episode 5, after they have a one-night stand where neither of them seem to strongly deny each other out of concern for their positions at work. The next morning both are hurt hearing each other downplay the night before as only an 'accident.' Instead of simply doing the obvious thing by talking to each other, they go straight into believing what their friends who have NO involvement in this have to say. In hindsight, a huge foreshadowing for the rest of the drama that their strength lies in having sex, instead of being able to communicate with each other.

Flora applies for a transfer at work and remains distant with Luke. Yet it's this fact that she behaves different towards him (ie. does not chase him) compared to other women which causes Luke to pursue her. Of course this is a very overused and clichéd trope, Flora having to be 'Not Like Other Girls' is so overused.

Luke is very obtuse here too, he's unable to put himself in her shoes of how she would cope at work, how it would feel to be a new employee who is still at the bottom of the ladder being in a relationship with someone who is so much more senior in the company. She could potentially loose her job, or due to her gender + lower status be unfairly accused of sleeping her way up the ladder.

▶️ The POWER IMBALANCE is staggering in this regard. She has a lot to loose, whilst he does not.

Luke ends up proposing an arrangement where they sleep together without emotional/romantic attachment. HE is the one to set these clear boundaries into place....yet the next minute is acting like they have something much more. He was upset that he was not invited to her birthday party, and begins to trick her into spending time with him. Like please dude, just ask to be her boyfriend. We all know you want to be, just in denial.

We also don't know why Flora agrees to this arrangement. WHY would she choose to enter this arrangement with her boss? Especially because she is scared of having it outed. Flora should have just chosen one, either Luke or the job.

Episode 10 has a significant time skip but does not specify exactly how much. Flora only says in her second year working at Lime that they started dating. One of the ongoing issues from here on is the difficult timeline in the narrative, and even right now we don't know how long they've been dating.

Seeing their version of 'dating' was just bizzare! They never behaved as if they're together. Flora doesn't communicate with him: she always wants to avoid, avoid avoid communicating with Luke. It's like she doesn't care to speak to him, even about anything important that her boyfriend should know. It IS okay for her to be independent to solve her own problems, but because of this she makes no attempt to make Luke feel included in her life and as if she needs him emotionally. And you start to understand why she is so distant when you see how LUKE communicates.

His language is sarcastic, belittling, biting, degrading towards her. He constantly tears her down, saying is suited to "Green foxtail," a type of grass. Calling her "cheap and obedient" just because he believed she was ready to join another company. He always questions where her brain has gone. He even tells her to "label the toiletries so the next woman knows which one not to use." Um, WTF? Literally the worst thing a man could say to the woman he is with. It signifies to a lack of respect for her on his side, if you respected and loved someone you wouldn't talk to them like this.

What's more annoying is, they never care to try to work over those problems whenever they argue (which was a lot) and then reconcile. It's simply as if those problems never occurred at all, it all remains forgotten about until the next argument - rinse and repeat.

Luke also gets more controlling as the drama goes on. In Phuket, he told her not to wear the clothes she was wearing again, as he "didn't want any other men looking at her." The drama doesn't linger on it though, it leads to them (predictably) having sex and there's nice background music on, so we are meant to think it is romantic. The silly thing was her dress was not even that bad or revealing. It was relatively modest for the beach. He might have had a heart attack if she showed off her skimpy bra like Lumi.

Flora acknowledges the relationship she's in is not right. But she never ends this 'situationship' in all this time - calling it this is accurate since even Flora is unable to define what their relationship is even after 4 years of being together. She is so indecisive and uncertain of herself despite being older at 26 years old. She has no boundaries with how Luke treats and speaks to her, and is insecure and unconfident. There's no reasoning as to why she just puts up with Luke, his vicious mouth and willing to be his doormat.

Giving Flora the benefit of doubt here, I might understand why Flora stays with Luke. But first let me just put on my rose-tinted glasses: He is older, wealthier, more experienced, more influential, as well as caring and attentive towards her when he cares to be. There's also the way Jing Boran plays Luke with such intensity.

Okay, now taken the rose-tinted glasses off: Luke is rude, arrogant, jealous, possessive and controlling. His nice behaviour at times doesn't cancel out his toxic traits and the fact he is unable to exclude Flora from this bad treatment. I've watched a lot of Kdramas and Cdramas where the ML is stereotypically red flagged towards everyone else EXCLUDING the FL, but this drama runs away from that trope entirely. In a way it is kind of refreshing to show a drama go against the popular grain - if someone is not pleasant enough to other people, why would their love interest suddenly be unique? They need to first unlearn their toxic behaviour to become better in themselves as a person first; textbook Mr Darcy trajectory.

4 years into this and I don't even see the point of them being together. Every episode is them being toxic, and you cannot convince me as to why they should be together. Yet unbelievable as it is, they still get far worse.

Episode 18 had to be pure ragebait! Flora tells Luke she is meeting her Ex-boyfriend, but does not tell her Ex that Luke is her current boyfriend. And this is all in front of Luke....it's unbelievable that Flora thought this was a good thing to do knowing Luke's temper. Luke has to cope with the Ex taking care of her when she is drunk, and then see her hugging that Ex. Luke was never in a secure enough position emotionally to be able to take all this in a sane manner.

But also, Luke was deliberately stalking her here. And you get a flashback to when he was previously stalking her when she was walking with Sun Yuanzhu. He's so possessive that he literally stalks her whenever he knows she is with male acquaintances in her life, then gets jealous and verbally lashes out at her. He gaslights her for being close to other men. He doesn't trust or respect her enough.

The hypocrisy, audacity and sexist mindset of Luke is so hypocritical here. In the same time frame he had the same kind of hug with his female friend who he knew had a crush on him, and allow her to be physically close with him all WHILST he was dating Flora. But Flora being close with her male bestfriend, and hugging her Ex is close to giving Luke an apoplexy. The only difference here is Flora did not see him being physically close with his female friend, which still doesn't reduce his hypocrisy and double standard.

After this Flora proposes the idea of marriage to him - which after all that had just happened until now....WTF Flora? Being so badly timed, it seems like a huge bomb she drops on him and the viewer straight after she couldn't even admit he was her boyfriend 10 minutes before.

The irony is that he was also thinking about things like marriage and baby (e.g, the conversation he had with his mother about giving her a granddaughter), but never communicated that to FLORA herself in those 4 years. Instead he coldly and point blank rejects her here, even if it could all be what he wants too. So bad and messy all around.

Episode 19 was sweet but gave me whiplash....there was supposed to be a break up? I'm sorry but when did they break up? It doesn't feel like they broke up at all. I must have blinked and missed it. There was no angst or tension that followed up from everything that happened from Ep 18. If you had no context, Ep 19 was the sweetest thing ever with Luke behaving nicely, and the adorable couple photoshoot they had in Tibet. You wouldn't have thought they actually broke up for 3-4 months or something at all. It doesn't help either that Flora easily lets him back into her life, this time acknowledging him as her boyfriend. But they don't talk about anything that happened that led to their break up in order to solve their problems? Luke just says he misses her, apologises and does some chores for her. And of course she accepts him.

It was also quite weird seeing them talk like they just started dating and not like they had been together 4 years. Luke just finds out NOW that she likes a gentle and soft man...when this is the sort of thing you find out on your first or second date? Lol. They did nothing but be Fuck Buddies during those 4 years??? They were together starting every Friday night through to Sunday - but apparently never even talked to each other in between having sex to figure out what the other was like as a person. Flora also says this is the first time she 'trusts' him and the first time she calls him her boyfriend....after 4 years of supposedly having 'dated' already. It's so sad and depressing, not a good relationship at all.

His softened up behaviour at this point makes you think he is changing for the better.... only to act just the same as soon as he feels insecure and jealous again when they are back home in Beijing. Literally just the next episode. That means he didn't really change, he just missed her and chased her enough to persuade her that he will behave better towards her.

He behaves horribly because he saw her hugging Sun Yuanzhu, and doesn't care to know the context of why. Almost the identical situation as the last break up, utterly exhausting by this point. Flora had just given him a lot of grace by claiming she 'trusted' him enough to accept him again, yet he takes her for granted. Of course he doesn't believe he would face consequences like her leaving him again.

They've made it 6 years together now, and their final big break up was not just because of one reason, e.g: Flora not getting the award. It was definitely due to the acummulation of many things over the last 6 years. Flora being expectant for the award and then feeling like a fool when Luke knew all along she wouldn't win it, was just the last straw. Not the sole reason!

I admired how she did not just go along with HIS plan for HER life; that she would stay working in Lime, and get the award the year after. She took the initiative herself and quit. This is great character development for Flora, who until now would just let Luke walk all over her even as her boyfriend.

I liked seeing her develop her independence in Episode 22. This should have been the last episode in this context. Seeing the FL develop her spine and leave a toxic relationship for her own independence would have been such a nice, progressive story. It would have been more satisfying if this was it, THE END ✋.

Unfortunately for the category of 'romance' there has to be an ending where they still end up together. I hated this so much, especially Luke's sudden character development was not believable to me here. Suddenly in what must have been less than 2 episodes, we are supposed to believe that he had changed so much? It just seemed like major love bombing and guilt tripping with how he forced his way into her life.

It's hard to understand why Flora accepts him back with just a brief apology. He's sorry for how he treated her, but doesn't specify what exactly he is sorry for, neither on how he has made changes to improve himself. Again, we don't see them discuss the problems for why they broke up. These 2 have consistently been avoiding the big questions hanging in the air, and then predictably they still run into the same toxic relationship problems sooner or later.

The last 10 minutes of the final episode end with a proposal. But after such bad pacing and unconvincing character development from both, I was not emotionally invested enough to care. An important thing here is that they only make the timeframe of the ENTIRE drama clear NOW, right at the very end - we find out it was 2012 when it started in the first episode, and 2021 in current day. So unbelievable as it is, 9 years had passed.

I was willing to like it and went in with a positive mindset. But it ended up being poorly executed. Episodes 18-24 especially felt like it could have been done over many more episodes, instead of just 7. It meant their break ups and make ups were all very close together, with no time to just breathe in between.

Their relationship itself also just felt very empty and devoid of any meaning. I couldn't believe they really loved and suited each other. Poorly implemented romantic moments, and not enough to balance out the red flags. Imperfection includes BOTH green and red flags, not just all the toxic aspects.

It doesn't help either that they show very little time between them that isn't working at Lime and having sex, sex, and more sex. We rarely see any non-sexual activities, hobbies they do together. Even when they go to Phuket, it leads to him dragging her into his room for sex.

I never saw WHY they loved each other or HOW they make each other feel special as boyfriend and girlfriend. Luke is never romantic towards Flora until right at the end, and is rarely nice to her for majority of the drama. As for nice things Flora does for Luke....I don't think there was any time to be honest. Maybe having Luke take care of her dog with the same name as him could have been her version of a 'gift.'

Main things I liked about this drama:

▶️ Their very mature chemistry, they made passion and desire come alive.

▶️ The ace soundtrack: 'Her' by Liu Yuning, as well as 'You Should Know,' 'Lady Snow,' 'This Moment' and 'Passing Sunshine.'

▶️ Flora's friendship with her flatmates, especially with what happens to Sun Yuanzhu :(

▶️ The female friendships, for example Lumi and her unconditional support for Flora.

--- Conclusion ---
Overall I did not enjoy The Early Spring. The parts I liked was not enough to make up for it for me. It feels massively overhyped and romanticised for all the wrong reasons.

This is the drama where the extreme red flag male lead which becomes romanticised when he was in no way romantic. The character of Luke was highly emotionally and verbally abusive. If he didn't look like Jing Boran, it would've been far quicker to call him every shade of red flagged....more like a whole red sea. A black flag. A walking disaster. It's the Christian Grey effect all over again; if these men did not look as handsome as they did, were poor and lived in a caravan, their behaviour wouldn't have been tolerated at all. Women like Flora or Anastasia Steele wouldn't have even looked twice at these men in this scenario.

Most of all, I disliked how The Early Spring was unable to balance a complex relationship with positive aspects - it was just ALL fully toxic. The romance was hugely lacking - almost as lacking as Flora's spine, ha. I will not be rewatching this drama because the toxicity was enough stress just for one watch, and there's no good wholesome vibes that make it worth rewatches. Even if this was better written with more believable character development and plot, the themes are too heavy to even make it a comfort drama in any sense.

IMO if it ended with Flora not accepting him again, it would have been far more realistic and likeable.

People defending/justifying his terrible behaviour since this drama released have also loved to endlessly pick on the female lead. In NO way am I defending her behaviour, she was also a red flag. But to think SHE was somehow worse than HIM is just being ignorant and willful blind. Flora was still problematic, but not as toxically abusive like he was!!! So the misogyny of this has got to stop.

Lastly the bad pacing, as well as the unconvincing character development for both leads as I gave examples of.

Giving this a rating of 4.5/10 - half a point for Luke the dog 🦮 🐶

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Great chemistry, yet leaves a lot to be desired

This is a great watch for the BL chemistry of the 2 leads. Kim Yoon-sik and Park Si-woo's scenes together were so, so good here. Screen was on fire 🔥

In terms of BL coupling I couldn't praise it enough. Kim Yoon-sik and Park Si-woo were a wonderful together. They looked really good together onscreen. I loved that Kim Yunsik was able to pull off being the dominant/top partner who was also a tsundere. He was cold and heartless, yet also the type to only be caring towards the one he cares about. On the other hand Park Si-woo being this calm and collected guy perfectly fit the bill for Lee Chaeha. Visually and physically I also loved their size difference - Park Si-woo looked so small against Kim Yoon-sik, it made even their non-intimate scenes a treat to watch (size differences always a guilty pleasure 🤌)

Yet there's still disappointment with how this was executed in terms of the plot and overall story. The pace was just bad. This should have been a full 1 hour long, 12 episode drama in my opinion. There was too many holes, gaps and questions in the plot.

To begin with the plot was simply boring. It focused on Taeson and Chaeha's work setting, but it felt like it had nothing to do with them directly at all until episodes 7-8. The episodes were so short yet felt like it was becoming a chore to watch. I stuck it out because I knew I wanted to watch simply for the intense scenes between the main leads.

When the main plot does kick in, it also becomes very predictable. For example it was easy to figure out that their co-worker (Mr Song) was the 'secret son' around Episode 7, so the grand build up till the climax in Episode 10 didn't feel all that great IMO. There was no suspense or high stakes that kept you on the edge of the seat.

Even the main point of the drama, the relationship between the main leads, didn't feel fleshed out enough to leave any lasting impact. Infact it left me with so many questions:
- Taeson supposedly hated Chaeha for so long, yet we are supposed to believe he quickly falls for Chaeha within the first 3 or 4 short episodes? No build up at all.
- Taeson clearly said he wanted to keep a boundary of being sex partners, but then suddenly becomes jealous and possessive when Chaeha spends time with someone else? There's no explanation for why Taeson suddenly wants to be his romantic partner too.
- How does Chaeha ignore the idea of only being a sexual partner? I feel this was not brought up at all when it should have. Chaeha should have brought it up when Taeson was asking him for a date lol.
- Why and how does Chaeha get over Taeson lying to him about his identity? The big reveal happens at the end of Episode 8, yet it was all fine between them towards the end of Episode 9. A single big incident like Chaeha almost being strangled isn't enough to fix everything.
- Lastly, WHY do Taeson and Chaeha fall for each other? Besides having the great hots for one another, WHAT are the reasons they like each other? We don't know why Taeson likes Chaeha, and I certainly never got why Chaeha liked Taeson when the latter kept reminding him every 10 minutes about being the son of a murderer.

It felt like I was watching a short vertical drama, which this was probably close to anyway in terms of illogical plot and length. There's no development in terms of plot, character arcs and motivations, or even the love story.

In the end, we also only get a single romantic scene between them on the beach in front of a visually lovely sunset. But it's not enough. If it was a longer drama we could have seen them being in love and dating. It doesn't have any arc where it gives you more of them being together, hence feels fleeting and non-impactful. There is still 1 or 2 lovely lines and scenes between them until then, my favorite was at the end of Episode 9, when Taeson apologises and Chaeha says "Instead of being happy alone, I would rather be miserable with you." ❤️ This is the kind of thing we needed more of. More angst, more romance, more love..... And more visually appealing and heart-eyed Kim Yoon-sik if you ask me 😍. Instead I think it's better to watch for their intense intimate scenes in context of a BL.

Overall a 6/10. This is a good rating considering the leads chemistry was by far the best part.

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Watch for a light-hearted youth drama, not for the main couple.

This is a great light hearted drama to watch for themes of youth, coming of age, friendship group, friends to lovers, high school and academia, strong family bonds.

Initially I was thinking of dropping this because the first few episodes didn't feel all that interesting to me. But I held on and it does get better from Ep 5.

Being introduced to Tian Xi Wei as Lin Zixia felt great - she is a great actress and she did so good here. Her character here was quite interesting because she is supposedly this highly unusual, awkward character who is unable to socially interact or atleast misses social cues. This aspect of her character was hugely played up in the first few episodes, it sort of gives you this impression she would be this Young Sheldon type of character all the way through. What's more surprising is that it doesn't play out like this. Lin Zixia is NOT actually as socially incompetent and awkward as emphasised. She's just been unpopular during her childhood until she finds friends other than just Jiang Yu Bai starting from Ep 5. We get to see a lot of times that she is fully capable of making friends when other people aren't rude to her, and she is emotionally able to recognise and form bonds. We go from "this FL is so unusual from others" straight to "now she just feels like a regular character." Almost as if it gives you whiplash. Apart from her having this immensely high intelligence, she doesn't stick out from the other characters or compared to FL's in other dramas at all.

Jiang Yubai also starts off quite awkwardly but not because of his character - I felt Hu Yi Tian took a little getting used to because he came across as quite stiff and awkward in his acting. In comparison I thought the character of Shen Fu Xuan stood out much more compared to our ML in those early episodes. But Hu Yi Tian improves, after the first few episodes he is okay and does as well as the others. In terms of his character it's interesting because in the beginning you see he is not down hard for the FL. He has personality and desperately wants to be an individual seperated from Lin Zixia, who would mainly be the prioritised student in their pairing. But he strictly remains friends with her as opposed to a rival.

We do end up seeing Jiang Yubai fall for her very quickly, but when he does it is very sweet and cute. For example when he stays on a sleep call with her when she's at a hotel, and turns up to see her in the morning was very wholesome and fits in with being a cute romcom. Despite all this they still lacked chemistry till the very end. The drama is never able to meet this expectation throughout.

The other supporting cast, especially the friends all did amazing. Every character felt interesting and fit into the whole friendship group theme. My favourite was definitely Tang Ting Ting who came with a sense of relatability and humour more than any other character.

In terms of plot and pacing - Episodes 5-20 was by far the best section of this drama. The High School Arc until when the main leads reconcile in the present time at the end of Ep 20 is very well done.

The thing I liked most about the drama was that all the friends develop strong bonds, they were amongst the best relationships in the drama alongside the sibling relationship that Lin Zixia/Lin Zeqiu have with each other. Even Lin Zixia and Jiang Yu Bai's relationship feels better and much more warmer during this period of the drama.

However good it was at this point though, it still suffers from the common syndrome of becoming boring when the leads are together as adults (post Ep 20). They as a couple and also the plot itself become too bland, safe and predictable. Besides a few parts for Lin Zeqiu and Jin Baihui, I was ready for the drama to finish by Ep 25 or so tbh.

A deserved mention here for the side supporting couples - they all did very well and out of them I was the most invested in Lin Zeqiu and Jin Baihui's love story (even over the main leads). Apart from them the last 6-7 episodes were quite boring and I was fast forwarding all the business and work related parts which felt like too many.

Overall a cute, light hearted drama with flaws like blandness and no main lead chemistry. It's not even a bad drama, but neither is it so good that I would rewatch most of it and keep it in mind. I wouldn't recommend this drama if you specifically need a strong lead couple. It's a better drama when watching in terms of the youth, friendship, family, school genre.

+ a mention for a nice OST.

7⭐ /10

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Unexpectedly hilarious

Is this a terribly outdated drama by 2025? Yes. Did I find it cringey at times? Yes. Did I unexpectedly like it though? Also Yes 😊

Just to be clear, this cannot be seen as a romance drama, because the romance would come off poorly written now. It's a COMEDY and that's what remains with you even afterwards.

I only watched it this year - 21 years after it released and I can see why it became a classic. The comedy is hilarious and Song Hye Kyo is so loveable in her role. I loved the naive, clutter brained but still so loving character she was. I have watched some of her other dramas before this (The Glory, Descendents of the Sun, That Winter The Wind Blows) and yet this role from 2004 stands out somehow. It's also one of the few times she can be seen so carefree. Her comic timing is also brilliant!

But enough about my Song Hye Kyo stanning LOL - the drama also pulls you in other ways, I think the story is unique and especially for 2004 must have been so original. The way the leads come together grows from being forced to naturally willing to be together. I also liked the contrast of Yeong-jae and his friends being so polished, put together and mature. Whilst Ji-eum and her friends are more immature, childish, and in a mess generally.

Yes it is clichéd and terribly outdated in terms of including toxic tropes. I disliked that Yeong-jae was this man who shouted at Ji-eun and ordered her about all the time, even when he knew he liked her and wanted to be with her. He came off as a spoilt brat and a bully to her for majority of the drama. But of course, she had to fall for him instead of the more polite and caring 2ML, just the way it happened in these old dramas. I also disliked that they had to make the 2FL so toxic and unlikeable. It may have been common then but watching it now you can tell it's so overdone. The plot was just going in circles with how ML and 2FL couldn't decide if they wanted to like each other or not, and 2FL comes across insecure with how she only wanted Yeong-jae when he was 'together' with Ji-eun.

That said by the time I finished I unexpectedly did LIKE the drama more than I disliked it. It has a lot of heart and charm to it which is what attracts me. Also several iconic moments, Ji-eun's Three Bears song being one of them. I think I'll still think about these from time to time.

Overall I rate it at 7.5/10. it has higher rewatch value than is deserved for the quality of the drama's story, but I think it's worth it for a funny nostalgic rewatch.

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Honestly I stayed for the romance which was the main part

if you manage to suspend belief that the FL is a man, you can get through it and mostly like it. Acting/casting was 10/10, action scenes were superb, most of all the romance and chemistry kept up all the way through. Plus a strong, independent FL to sell the feminist message.
Obviously the romance angle was the main part from early as Ep 4-5. It really worked for the best and it kept the drama more interesting, instead of just seeing the armies fighting and bad guys scheming.
And the killer lines also help, "she graces my view, occupies my mind, and claims my heart" 🥺

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A beautifully heartbreaking and healing drama in every sense ❤️

"....When did a piece of my heart go missing? Flickering on and off, as if hope had been lost...." 🎶
"...you don't have to keep chasing anymore... You can quietly watch the sunrise, learning to be happy on your own.
You don't need to piece together a map of love anymore.
It's not as if you need to go somewhere specific to warm your heart." 🎵

~ The lyrics to 'See Happiness,' Ye Li's theme song and which perfectly encapsulates the feeling of this drama. ❤️

A beautifully heartbreaking and healing drama in every sense. ❤️

There's simply no easy way to put how The First Jasmine made me feel from Episdoes 1 - 34. It's a long, devastating, but mentally healing drama. It's gentle, grounded, quiet in it's tone and atmosphere. Yet also has a firm grasp on how it tells Ye Li's story.

When you meet Ye Li, you start off thinking she is a clever and shrewd woman who readily wants to help Mo Xiu Yao and rid him of some pesky enemies. This is not an uncommon trope in Cdramas, and certainly not untrue for Ye Li. She ruthlessly plots her way and destroys several of her new husband's enemies within only a few weeks of being married. She could literally be an assassin in the dark taking her form of perfect revenge whilst disguised as a non-threatening, soft spoken woman.

But actually here's the twist - and something which is hugely unique for a Cdrama - you start to think something is definintely wrong with Ye Li. Something doesn't sit right with her story and how her maid 'Qing Shuan' seems to appear in this ghostly white form whenever Ye Li is alone. The unreliable narrator technique is very interesting in this regard and one of my favourite elements of the whole drama. Should we trust and believe Ye Li? Are the things she is saying about Li Mountain all adding up? Soon enough when she is mentioning Li Mountain a lot of the time, you begin to wonder more about the reality of the place. But you never find out until the crucial time, the drama does a brilliant job of hinting to you, but NOT actually telling you just so it can keep up the whole mystery.

This is a very female centric drama, but I never thought Mo Xiu Yao was hugely left out being the Male Lead character. He had equal importance to the plot. His character equally mirrors Ye Li, he was like her counterpart in every aspect. She patiently heals his leg and to stop mentally torturing himself of his brother's death. Whilst he patiently heals her mental illness and to accept the new reality. This drama starts with a sense of duty, but gradually they end up doing everything for each other out of love and care. Like the level of commitment she has to retrieve the late Emperor's edict to help absolve his family of any wrong doing. And how he went through the political system to go find her on Li Mountain.

Ultimately this was a drama about trauma bonding and healing. Indeed just as the lyrics to their theme song says, "Love is not just a romantic thing, maybe the world doesn't understand my devotion." 🎶 Helping to treat each other might have been exhausting and possibly as unromantic as can be, but they form a love that makes them connect with each other. This portrayal of 'love' worked fine for me. It was comfortable.

This is also why I have really admired the dynamics and chemistry between this couple; quietly subtle and gentle. Very quickly into Ep 4 & 5, Ye Li and Mo Xiu Yao just reminded me of an old married couple, as they come off as if they had been married much longer than they really have. They had a mature level of understanding between them, as well as a gentle, comforting kind of chemistry. Mo Xiu Yao's POV of her early on in the drama was just so lovely, quietly observing everything she does because he is obviously very quickly intrigued by her. Their chemistry is not overflowing with sizzling passion and skinship, but that is not necessarily needed in this drama. I feel they deliberately kept it understated, which actually works to a huge advantage because the focus is more on their healing instead of physical intimacy.

By episodes 15-17 it's obvious Ye Li has a deep rooted mental illness which is now known to Mo Xiu Yao. Even then, the psychological aspect of this drama is very well written to the point they still don't spell out EXACTLY what happened to her ghost friend Qing Shuan or the others at Li Mountain. It's a psychological play for Ye Li as well as for the viewer. They don't tell you anything, instead they show you signs throughout that you can put together, and part of the puzzle which several of the characters have to work out.

Whilst I thought the unreliable narrative, their relationship, trauma and mental illness was well portrayed - the overall plot was weaker in comparison, and I felt part of the plot and character arcs was very much just filler. A lot of the negative or gray characters were well portrayed, the Dowager Emperess, Consort Qin, Mo Jing Li, Marquis Muyang and both his sons. But for example, what was the point of Marquis Muyang going off on a whole rant to Mo Xiu Yao revealing that Ye Li's mother was the one who took the late Emperor's edict 8 years ago, leading to Mo Xiu Yao's elder brother being killed? Why would Mo Xiu Yao agree to listen to whatever nonsense the Marquis had to say?

Simply put, it was just a way to forward the plot - because that is what led to the divorce, which is what led to Ye Li leaving to Li Mountain, which is what led to Mo Xiu Yao going there and finally discovering the reality. I think they could have executed this better, it seemed to come out of nowhere with Mo Xiu Yao having this HUGE brain fart and blaming the past problems on Ye Li. Even if he didn't know everything to the extent the viewer knows - he ALREADY KNOWS things are not all okay with her mental state, yet he is still okay with her leaving to God knows where. It doesn't even seem as if he even bothered to find out where she went, not until he had to find out the truth from her senior brother about her actually being severely mentally ill with hallucinating a whole crew of ghosts. Maybe they could have with a better script, or more episodes to have this make more sense and less rushed. But alas, we only have this drama.

Another aspect of the psychological impact here is when Mo Xiu Yao's hair turns white. His hair goes white overnight due to extreme sadness and worry for Ye Li - that he might never see her again and that she is all alone. I appreciate that Cheng Lei was not portrayed as this sublimely hot ML with white hair as often happens in Cdramas. Although I usually love the visuals of our Cdrama white haired men, Cheng Lei's white hair deliberately making him look less attractive was well done here. He needed to look unkempt and devastated, not a visual eyecandy for the viewer.

When he does find Ye Li, she is in an even worse mental state compared to before, which was just heartbreaking to watch. You could see the sorrow and emotional difficulty seeing her suffering brilliantly emoted through Cheng Lei's eyes. I don't often cry for dramas, but I was SOBBING along with Bai Lu in both Ep 31 at the divorce part and again at the start of Ep 34. When it goes back to the time when she lay in her own makeshift grave, after having buried possibly dozens and dozens of her dead acquaintances....Damn, I just felt so devestated 😢.

It was then that I knew this is by far the best acting I have seen from Bai Lu in any drama, and I have watched several of her other ones. This has to be her career BEST for me. Further proof of this is how she portrays Ye Li as a mentally ill and dissociated character overall. Whenever Ye Li dissociates, she looks dazed and her eyes have no light in them. Her voice even takes on a much softer tone. Compared to when she is hurt and upset and broken down - her crying scenes were just so compelling. Bai Lu is so utterly convincing in this role and perfectly casted.

Some have also said that Mo Xiu Yao only went to find her because he felt guilty, even if he did I felt he still definitely loved her overall. He already greatly missed her *before* he knew of her living by herself with her ghost friends on Li Mountain. It was just he needed that info to have a wake up call and to go find her himself. And the greatest thing here? He did not care if she even loved him back anymore. All that mattered was that HE loved her, and that he knew she was mentally vulnerable being all alone so needed a lot of care. This is *true love* above all.

I loved Cheng Lei's portrayal of grief striken Mo Xiu Yao here. You can see every bit of his grief in his nuanced expressions when he goes looking for Ye Li, and finds how she has to survive all by herself on a deserted mountain. Yet you can also see his love for her and the tenderness in which he cares for her - VERY nuanced. He takes it slow and goes at her pace, explaining things to her in a gently soft manner so her mentally deluded mind could understand. And actually he had always been doing this at some level, like when he had been trying to take Ghost Qing Fuan's place as Ye Li's companion who is closest to her (apart from the divorce part when he then left her alone, still serious eyeroll here 🙄).

Other characters also felt like they had bigger potential but then ended nowhere. Like the way the Princess of Cangbei is suddenly killed...just why??? She was such an interesting character, a powerful Princess who changed the fate of her own homeland, and cross-dressed as a male whilst travelling and in order to meet her lover (poor Feng Zhi Yao 😢). Yet she is taken out within a single second by her evil maid Su Zui Die stabbing her. Hugely anti-climatic to say the least. I get why she couldn't have a fake death though, as Marquis Muyang's illegitimate son Qin Cang surviving from the same kind of stab wound was already used as a twist. It couldn't have worked twice! But still, Princess of Cangbei's character could have had a much better emotionally impactful death. Instead her exit just felt rather fleeting and almost non-existent to everything else, and the aftermath was really only felt by Feng Zhi Yao.

Another character I thought could have been dealt with better is Ye Ying, FL's half-sister. She had 0 character development throughout the whole show. What was the point of her character besides being Mo Jing Li's wife and the spoilt, childish younger sister of Ye Li? At one point it seems like she wanted to do better for herself by pursuing other things, but she ends up still going back to Mo Jing Li who (predictably) abandons her again. He briefly seemed to have developed a kind of fondness for her in Ep 38-39 - but the drama does not explain why/how he develops this new feeling for her, so it just seems very empty and fleeting. This couple had no depth or character development between both of them.

These aren't the only thing that was poorly written parts though.... Episodes 35-40 felt like a different drama altogether. They feel like it must have been written by someone different from who wrote the rest of the drama, or a huge part of it was edited out so we are missing like 10 episodes or something. The plot only goes on about Mo Jing Li's rebellion and the war, which I was fast forwarding through. When Mo Jing Li finally dies in Ep 39 it just feels like a big Aha! moment, it was all very predictable and almost dramatic IMO. I just couldn't care about these episodes and it would have been a better drama if they stuck to the plot and tone of Ep 32-34. Where is all the love and angst? Why has the comforting, soft vibe and tone that was there completely shifted? The drama almost forgets the leads are even together for God's sake.

I also hated that this last part of the drama just completely leaves out the topic of Ye Li's trauma, which was the central part of the drama until then. Once she is seen back at home after Ep 34 it doesn't delve into the topic again, almost as if she's magically healed because she has stopped hallucinating her dead maid or the others who died on the mountain. I understand that Mo Xiu Yao brought her back into the land of the living, but this is not how such severe trauma works - certainly not overnight as was portrayed in a single episode. It literally gave me whiplash with how fast they took her healing arc out and changing the tone massively.

Neither do they delve into Mo Xiu Yao's past trauma. His issues mostly revolved around the Late Emperor's edict which would have saved his late brother having been taken by Ye Li's mother, which he was depressed by and led him to divorce Ye Li. But is there really no trauma over having been stabbed in the leg and crippled for 8 years? Maybe it's because unlike Ye Li, he keeps his sanity intact over time, and further that Ye Li helps him by getting rid of the superstitions causing him emotional/mental trauma very early on. So the drama doesn't really go into it again in detail. It just sort of wants you to assume he was traumatised mostly before Ye Li marries him, and he gets better by being with her and falling in love with her. But still, it's a little bit surprising the topic never comes up again in the next 35 episodes. Just a little nagging thought.

Episode 40 - the vital finale in every drama. I didn't hate this ending, but neither did I really love it. Most this finale episode went on these little side explanations for what happens to all the supporting characters, which I appreciated as it's not uncommon for dramas to forget the other cast altogether. Only some things are missing I suppose, like they never addressed what happened to the Ye family? We never saw Ye Li's father for a long time now, neither are the other family members mentioned. Which is weird because they were responsible for the late Emperor's edict being taken, but they are never remembered again apart from the half-sister Ye Ying getting a brief show for 2 seconds.

Neither are the leads given very much screen time together. I was literally relieved at that point to see Ye Li come out of her depressed, dazed state to actually run away from home to see Mo Xiu Yao. You almost worry they will never see each other again when there's only half the episode left. I wish there was more shown for these 2, they didn't get much screen time from Ep 35 onwards and it still isn't solved in the finale.

The final episode's last 10 minutes also veers very much towards Ye Li, and it comes full circle to her saying a goodbye to her dead friends and family on Li Mountain. This was very sweet and emotional. It was further very sweet to see Li Mountain Academy brought back to life again, cleaned up and opened for more talented scholars. I think this part was needed especially because it figuratively showed Ye Li's healing - she was broken and deserted just as Li Mountain was back then, now pieces of her have come back together just as Li Mountain Academy has been brought back to life again. A perfect mirroring and representation.

The soundtrack fully delivers in this drama. The songs are emotionally connecting and always the perfect bgm to whatever scene is going on. Most of all I loved that the OST was usually these quiet, comfortingly sweet songs. When they were centered on Ye Li alone, or Ye Li and Mo Xiu Yao, the bgm matched the quiet atmosphere that was typical throughout the drama. This is also why the most emotional scenes felt so heartwrenching.

My favourite was definitely 'See Happiness,' which was Ye Li's theme song and I had quoted some of it at the start of this review. Just so, so beautiful and this song playing when Bai Lu cries is such a heartfelt combo ❤️

I also loved Cheng Lei and Bai Lu's duet 'Within a Square Inch,' I was delighted to have recognised their voices when this song played. Also their other maybe-theme song, 'Love is More Than This.'

And last of all not to forget the running theme throughout the drama, 'Heart World' as the Bhuddist scripture chanting at various points of the drama was so riveting.

Overall a mostly excellent and heartfelt drama until Ep 34, and I have very little complaint about the episodes until then apart from the little things like Princess Cangbei's death, and Marquis Muyang being a plot device for the main lead's divorce. This could have possibly been atleast a 9.5/10 drama if it kept going at this kind of tone and pace. If only if it wasn't for the poor last several episodes, 35-40 could have been a lot better.

I would rate this 8.5/10 which is still very good, I really enjoyed about 90% of this drama and don't regret watching it. I will absolutely be rewatching parts of it in the future. Both Cheng Lei and Bai Lu did an amazingly convincing job, and not to forget this being an acting masterclass from Bai Lu 👏👏👏

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Should be titled as "Never-Ending Sadness"

Come to the end of what could have been a better journey. Daniel Zhou and Bao Shang En are great actors and had enough chemistry, but not even that could save the plot which was simply not plotting. Whilst the drama did have a few saving graces, it was still a disappointment overall.

On the surface this can look like a happy romance drama showcasing youth and coming of age. The title and poster portray it as a bright, happy go lucky drama. The OST is very light and charming. Episode 1 also starts out to be fun, bright and happy. But the drama *as a whole* is anything but that.

The main problem stems from the 2016 timeline (which takes up 90% of the drama) being full of misery, lies and misunderstandings for the leads. There is no break from it. Leading to the plot, there is very little of any plot existing either. The ENTIRE plotline is literally just both the lead's parents being emotionally and mentally abusive towards the ML/FL. Credit to the actress who played Zhou Wan's mother in particular, she managed fantastically to get the viewer to hate her with a passion.

There is nothing wrong with break up dramas where the leads reunite years later. This drama has been compared to Lighter & Princess and also The First Frost, but those dramas had much stronger plotlines as well as less of the consistent misery before the main break up. This drama does not do that - Zhou Wan and Lu Xixiao do not get much time to be happy together in the past timeline. The first 20 episodes mostly consists of back and forth between Zhou Wan, Lu Xixiao and their parents who blackmail or emotionally abuse them. There were a few moments in between that felt nice like when the leads along with the second leads went to the amusement park, and in the lead up to Ep 20 when Zhou Wan and Lu Xixiao ran away together to another part of the country. But that felt fleeting in comparison to the rest of the unnecessary, badly written sadness.

Whilst I did hugely appreciate Daniel Zhou and Bao Shang En, I did have some problem with getting invested and loving the characters themsleves in particular. Zhou Wan is indecisive for way too long. I understand she was young but she spends over 10 episodes emotionally hurting Lu Xixiao (we as the viewer know why, but he did not). She listens to her mother too many times and makes unnecessary sacrifices that work for no one. She seemed more likeable in the 2026 timeline being an assertive woman who held her own. We have to assume she went through great character development during the 10 year break up.

As for Lu Xixiao, he is convincing as a romantic, yearning die-for-you male lead, and thankfully there is very little of the drama where he seems angry against her for the break up. (Probably one of the more illogical things here was that he immediately associated himself with her again)

The second leads felt like they were written in as filler? They seemed cute at first in the High School/2016 arc. But later contributed nothing and their storyline was badly written. They only had a romantic moment near the end, but it was too late in the drama to care if you weren't invested in them in the first place.

The last episode, 29, was made to be as romantically beautiful as possible. I honestly loved that SHE PROPOSES TO HIM FIRST! 💍 It was such a surprise being totally unexpected, as it's usually always the male lead who proposes. This time it proved Zhou Wan was the green flag 💚 especially considering their past - she did not wait for him to propose or make any moves first. She knew what she wanted and went for it.

Overall a 6.5/10 because I still appreciated some scenes, the leads acting and chemistry, as well as the other cast. Could have had potential in another universe, could have been in the 7 or 8 range if it had better plot.

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