This show parallels something that is true of modern relationships as well. Men rarely fall for a considerate, self sufficient and strong woman and appreciate that the woman is this way because she loves him. Instead, men are so easily tricked by women who knows how to play the game, are unreasonable and needy, because it makes men feel important and unthreatened. So unfortunate, really feel bad for Empress Cao.
The summary is actually horrid, I would honestly just ignore it. You can see already in episode 9 when they first…
I hope so! It does seem like he'll have a soft spot for Lady Miao based on the episode previews, and Lady Miao ends up giving birth to his daughter. But I guess this series is supposed to be more realistic, as opposed to focusing on just his dedication to the empress.
Does anyone know whether there will be a romance between the emperor and empress Cao? The summary says the story will be about the emperor and his daughter but I was hoping the emperor and empress Cao's romance will also be a large part of the storyline. But it seems for now that he already has other women he loves and he may just reach respect for empress Cao in the end but not necessarily love her.
This drama is kind of addicting but I can't get over how cringe Tong Nian can be. I also wish dramas would stop with the alpha male, weak female thing in relationships and this drama really plays that trope to the extreme. The fact that she never stands her ground with him or voices her own thoughts/wants is quite annoying. Also, Tong Nian is supposed to be a genius in her own right, why doesn't the drama focus on that more instead of just her obsession with HSY?
Can someone please explain something to me...I'm at ep 10 and I'm still so confused as to what caused HSY to be so angry at Solo and leaving the team. And now there's something about DT liking Ai qing? Do the later episodes explain everything?
I'm in love with this drama already! Can't wait for new episodes to come out haha. Can someone recommend me another…
I wouldn't necessarily call it a rom-com but Grow Up staring Bai Baihe and Lu Yi is a great drama. It's a bit more on the serious side but the main actor also gives off a mature vibe.
I'm up to episode 24 now and have a pretty good idea of how Pingzhang is going to die. Honestly really disappointed because I just find it written that way for the purpose of eliciting tears as opposed to actually driving the plot. Like is the whole point of having Pu Yang Ying is to write a sad noble sacrifice ending for Pingzhang? If it's going the way I think it's going then I just find Pingzhang's death so pointless, it doesn't do anything to actually drive the story forward.
Great post! I am in total agreement with many of the points you have made. As you said, this drama is more focused…
To your point about how Yu Huai put all his effort into something whereas Geng Geng kind of just found her way is something that always jumped out at me in this drama. The drama's tagline about how she was her best self years later while he was his best self back then was actually what initially made me want to watch this drama. I can actually think of so many examples of that with people I know in real life. It's so true that sometimes, the people who put so much work, effort and focus towards their one goal actually end up cracking from the pressure. Whereas, some people that don't necessarily seem to have a specific direction and thus don't have that stress weighing them down actually end up going places in life. And that's extremely realistic even though it's not easy to digest.
I actually really love this drama for precisely the reason that perhaps many others aren't as happy with it for. It's a very down to earth drama and a lot of it is very identifiable with my own high school days.
For one, the male lead isn't perfect, he has flaws and struggles. He doesn't always make the right choices and we actually see him being very vulnerable at times. Which is why, to an extent I understand why he chose to disappear after he did badly on his exam. He's very consistent in his character throughout the drama, we know he has an ego, we know he doesn't deal with failure very well and we know that he wants to appear perfect in Geng Geng's eyes. I appreciate that the writers made him do badly on the exam and face failure because that's what happens in life and I appreciate the fact that he dealt with that failure poorly because again, we aren't perfect humans.
I think a lot of people have issues with this drama because it's not a traditional love story. It's more a story about growth and the issues we face in life. For example, he never confessed to her during high school. I actually think it's in large part because he didn't want their relationship to distract him from what he needed to do, which was to focus whole heartedly on studying. I would say he actually had a good head on his shoulders because he knew he would be the type to get distracted if he were to have a girlfriend and that's why he tried to keep her at a distance. But I think it's pretty obvious that they both knew they liked each other and he always intended to confess right after their college exam. Except he ended up doing badly and couldn't follow through with their plans to go to the same city together and also because frankly, he had too much of an ego to face failure head on. His life essentially went the opposite direction of how he had planned it to go whereas the girl he liked went on to achieve her dreams in the big city and so they really were no longer on the same path in life.
And on the point about the second male, I think this drama also drives home the point that who you like is who you like. Geng Geng knew Yu Huai wasn't perfect even in high school and she liked him for him so while Lu Xing He may have been the easier choice for her, he wasn't what she wanted.
My understanding is that in the end, her and Yu Huai did get together. It was pretty obvious from the last scene that Yu Huai wasn't there to end things but rather it was the start of something. There were a lot of unknowns, for example, we don't know whether he was going to go back to America, we don't know whether his mom makes it or whether he was a match for a kidney transplant but again, I think that works for the tone of the story. We don't know what their future holds individually and together because we can't conclusively say that everything is always going to work out or that they will always be together. So I think it ended well because my interpretation of the last scene is that it ended with a hopeful tone.
Although I'm quite confused about the sudoku bit, is he saying "are you an idiot" because he meant that he obviously likes her?
*side note: that kiss was one of the best kisses I've seen in a Chinese drama in a while. It was actually very passionate and I'm surprised to learn that the male lead was actually 18 when he filmed this.
I wonder why the chinese community prefers this over "A love so beautiful", I would have to assume because this…
I prefer this over A Love so Beautiful and yes, I would say that's why. A Love so Beautiful is very sweet and the main lead is very fan girl worthy but With You is much more realistic. It actually takes me back to my high school days precisely because Yu Huai isn't perfect. It's hard to imagine Jiang Chen as an actual high school boy because I didn't see any depth in his character. He was too perfect and not down to earth whereas while Yu Huai was portrayed as a smart guy, his struggles are very much realistic and identifiable. I think because this drama is more realistic, it's a lot deeper.
For one, the male lead isn't perfect, he has flaws and struggles. He doesn't always make the right choices and we actually see him being very vulnerable at times. Which is why, to an extent I understand why he chose to disappear after he did badly on his exam. He's very consistent in his character throughout the drama, we know he has an ego, we know he doesn't deal with failure very well and we know that he wants to appear perfect in Geng Geng's eyes. I appreciate that the writers made him do badly on the exam and face failure because that's what happens in life and I appreciate the fact that he dealt with that failure poorly because again, we aren't perfect humans.
I think a lot of people have issues with this drama because it's not a traditional love story. It's more a story about growth and the issues we face in life. For example, he never confessed to her during high school. I actually think it's in large part because he didn't want their relationship to distract him from what he needed to do, which was to focus whole heartedly on studying. I would say he actually had a good head on his shoulders because he knew he would be the type to get distracted if he were to have a girlfriend and that's why he tried to keep her at a distance. But I think it's pretty obvious that they both knew they liked each other and he always intended to confess right after their college exam. Except he ended up doing badly and couldn't follow through with their plans to go to the same city together and also because frankly, he had too much of an ego to face failure head on. His life essentially went the opposite direction of how he had planned it to go whereas the girl he liked went on to achieve her dreams in the big city and so they really were no longer on the same path in life.
And on the point about the second male, I think this drama also drives home the point that who you like is who you like. Geng Geng knew Yu Huai wasn't perfect even in high school and she liked him for him so while Lu Xing He may have been the easier choice for her, he wasn't what she wanted.
My understanding is that in the end, her and Yu Huai did get together. It was pretty obvious from the last scene that Yu Huai wasn't there to end things but rather it was the start of something. There were a lot of unknowns, for example, we don't know whether he was going to go back to America, we don't know whether his mom makes it or whether he was a match for a kidney transplant but again, I think that works for the tone of the story. We don't know what their future holds individually and together because we can't conclusively say that everything is always going to work out or that they will always be together. So I think it ended well because my interpretation of the last scene is that it ended with a hopeful tone.
Although I'm quite confused about the sudoku bit, is he saying "are you an idiot" because he meant that he obviously likes her?
*side note: that kiss was one of the best kisses I've seen in a Chinese drama in a while. It was actually very passionate and I'm surprised to learn that the male lead was actually 18 when he filmed this.