This review may contain spoilers
I'm finally done with this show. It took me a little longer to finish because life happened but I'm honestly disappointed with how the last episode wrapped up the show. It felt so rushed and confusing.
I did enjoy the show for the most part but I think some of the writing choices really annoyed me at times. I know it's a cultural thing and all but I really couldn't stand the way most of the parents (mostly the moms) speak and treated their children in this show. I also didn't like how most of their actions are brushed off and forgiven without clear apologizes and development. Mingyue's mother annoyed the hell outta me throughout the series. I honestly don't blame the dad for divorcing her to be honest. Ling Xiao's mother also annoyed me at times. I know she was struggling mentally but she treats others so horribly and everyone just brushes it off. I was hoping the last few episodes, we can finally see a clear resolution to this plot but they just briefly mentioned PTSD and had her move back to Singapore with the daughter. Speaking of the daughter, I felt bad for Ling Xiao's sister. Her mom is horrible but she doesn't have anyone to turn to compared to her brother. The show did a really poor job wrapping this storyline up and everything just felt so unsatisfying.
Li Haichao was definitely my favorite character in the show. Such a sweet guy and awesome father/father figure. To be honest, I didn't care too much about Ling Heping. He was okay but I lowkey think he's a somewhat absent father to Ling Xiao. He never fully defends him from his mom and seems so distant. I don't know, that's just what I thought. Out of the kids, He Ziqiu was the strongest actor and had the best writing/story arc. I'm happy to see that his wish of having a true family finally came true even though I think the reason why his mom abandoned him for so long was also half assed. On paper, I thought I was going to like Ling Xiao better since his storyline had potential to be really interesting but I don't know if it was the writing or the acting but everything about him kinda felt meh after the second half of the series.
Speaking of meh, the romance was a disappointment. Li Jianjian and Li Haichao had no chemistry. All their romantic scenes looked awkward and it kept grossing me out that they kept referring to each other as brother and sister even after they started dating. I don't ship them together but Li Jianjian had better natural platonic chemistry with Ziqiu. The romance was not needed.
I just hated how they dragged out certain storylines and when things were finally getting interesting or reaching a turning point, they just rushed through an ending. I wanted to know if Tang Can and Zique's friend got together? I wanted to see Haichao have a honest conversation with his mom that ends with her holding herself accountable and apologizing. Yeah, we got that letter but a face to face convo would have been better. I also didn't like how they dropped Haichao's deceased younger sister once his mother remarried and had another baby. It's obvious that both he and his mom still have trouble with the death of his sister/her daughter but it just felt like they brushed things off.
Better writing would've made this show much more enjoyable for me because I did like most of the characters (except for most of the moms... man, the moms are horrible in this show) but I just don't think the show ended in a satisfying note. Maybe I'll watch the Kdrama version of this in the future (hopefully the two leads in that have romantic chemistry) but I wonder how they are going to fit a 40 episode show into just 16 episodes?
I did enjoy the show for the most part but I think some of the writing choices really annoyed me at times. I know it's a cultural thing and all but I really couldn't stand the way most of the parents (mostly the moms) speak and treated their children in this show. I also didn't like how most of their actions are brushed off and forgiven without clear apologizes and development. Mingyue's mother annoyed the hell outta me throughout the series. I honestly don't blame the dad for divorcing her to be honest. Ling Xiao's mother also annoyed me at times. I know she was struggling mentally but she treats others so horribly and everyone just brushes it off. I was hoping the last few episodes, we can finally see a clear resolution to this plot but they just briefly mentioned PTSD and had her move back to Singapore with the daughter. Speaking of the daughter, I felt bad for Ling Xiao's sister. Her mom is horrible but she doesn't have anyone to turn to compared to her brother. The show did a really poor job wrapping this storyline up and everything just felt so unsatisfying.
Li Haichao was definitely my favorite character in the show. Such a sweet guy and awesome father/father figure. To be honest, I didn't care too much about Ling Heping. He was okay but I lowkey think he's a somewhat absent father to Ling Xiao. He never fully defends him from his mom and seems so distant. I don't know, that's just what I thought. Out of the kids, He Ziqiu was the strongest actor and had the best writing/story arc. I'm happy to see that his wish of having a true family finally came true even though I think the reason why his mom abandoned him for so long was also half assed. On paper, I thought I was going to like Ling Xiao better since his storyline had potential to be really interesting but I don't know if it was the writing or the acting but everything about him kinda felt meh after the second half of the series.
Speaking of meh, the romance was a disappointment. Li Jianjian and Li Haichao had no chemistry. All their romantic scenes looked awkward and it kept grossing me out that they kept referring to each other as brother and sister even after they started dating. I don't ship them together but Li Jianjian had better natural platonic chemistry with Ziqiu. The romance was not needed.
I just hated how they dragged out certain storylines and when things were finally getting interesting or reaching a turning point, they just rushed through an ending. I wanted to know if Tang Can and Zique's friend got together? I wanted to see Haichao have a honest conversation with his mom that ends with her holding herself accountable and apologizing. Yeah, we got that letter but a face to face convo would have been better. I also didn't like how they dropped Haichao's deceased younger sister once his mother remarried and had another baby. It's obvious that both he and his mom still have trouble with the death of his sister/her daughter but it just felt like they brushed things off.
Better writing would've made this show much more enjoyable for me because I did like most of the characters (except for most of the moms... man, the moms are horrible in this show) but I just don't think the show ended in a satisfying note. Maybe I'll watch the Kdrama version of this in the future (hopefully the two leads in that have romantic chemistry) but I wonder how they are going to fit a 40 episode show into just 16 episodes?
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