This review may contain spoilers
i loved their love but mom-daughter dynamic was triggering
#ShenYue #LinYi … *you alr know I’m always gonna watch Shen Yue’s new thang. didn’t truly understand the plot of this through the trailer, but the camera work and cinematic effects are so beautiful, it was hard to pass up this cdrama despite it being a cdrama. and you know sometimes i dont even bother with cdramas because anything over 16 episodes feel too much but the episodes barely felt like they were passing for this one. i eagerly awaited each episode until i had to move houses, and literally forgot it for 2 straight weeks, i think. then when i got back to it, it wasn’t as good bc really, who needs 32+ fucking hours of a drama.*
*BUT i loved their love. whenever ShenYue got butterflies, i was right there kicking my feet with her. i really liked them as a pair! my favorite part was that Lin Yi killed any and every possibility of a misunderstanding right away. and when Shen Yue realizes what he’s doing, she gets butterflies. AND SO DO I. RARELY does an asian drama ever do that! they always let misunderstandings run for 3-4 episodes unnecessarily. i’m not even gonna lie - in the beginning, i really thought she was so so so SILLY for not stopping herself from falling for this guy who is clearly communicating to her that he will NEVER have feelings for her (he has alexithymia—also known as “emotional blindness”) - and like I GET IT. It’s hard to be in her situation when he’s so obviously lying through his fucking teeth(and he’s tall, rich and gorgeous to boot!), but when someone makes their intentions clear from the beginning and you’re plugging your ears - I don’t know what to do with you lol. but then again, not to be a LiangDaiWen apologist but omfg.. have you seen this man???? Like I GET you, Gu Yi. I would be delusional too.*
*What I also love about this drama is the mother-daughter relationship. Lowkey the mom looked too much like my mom, so I was 100% triggered so the way her **spoiler** death played out and her relationship with Gu Yi hit different, because even though the mom was a regular mom and they had a good relationship, it’s not difficult to see myself and see the toxic signs of the asian mother dynamic. Plot wise - what killed me is when her mother got sick and did not tell Gu Yi until the last minute. What’s worse is that even when this motherfucker DIED, Gu Yi was the last to mother fucking know. Her mother was off travelling somewhere with her new husband as a sort of last ditch effort to have a fulfilling life but in the middle of it, her condition unexpectedly gets worse and she is rushed to the hospital and just fucking dies. Not only does it suck that it's all out of nowhere and so SOON but it fucking hurts that she intentionally instructed her husband NOT to contact Gu Yi to let her know that she was rushed to the hospital like that and was diagnosed “dying soon.” If I was GuYi, I would be so so so angry at her. Her mom makes it seem like it was a thing she was doing for Gu Yi but tbh to me, it was a selfish act, I don't see it as selfless at all.*
In conclusion, I have to admit that I did enjoy this series because most cdramas I’ve dropped unless they’re really good - I think the last good one I watched was “Go Ahead” and that was a while ago. I’ve since started and dropped so so so many cdramas since. Both Lin Yi and Shen Yue are the only Chinese actors I’ve watched multiple series on.
This did not earn a full 5 star because of some pacing issues and the frustrating mother/daughter relationship. Also, I think that the translation wasn’t as good as it could be. There were some subtitles that didn’t make any sense but I think that there are some Chinese phrases that take a lot of background context therefore it could never be fully translated.
*BUT i loved their love. whenever ShenYue got butterflies, i was right there kicking my feet with her. i really liked them as a pair! my favorite part was that Lin Yi killed any and every possibility of a misunderstanding right away. and when Shen Yue realizes what he’s doing, she gets butterflies. AND SO DO I. RARELY does an asian drama ever do that! they always let misunderstandings run for 3-4 episodes unnecessarily. i’m not even gonna lie - in the beginning, i really thought she was so so so SILLY for not stopping herself from falling for this guy who is clearly communicating to her that he will NEVER have feelings for her (he has alexithymia—also known as “emotional blindness”) - and like I GET IT. It’s hard to be in her situation when he’s so obviously lying through his fucking teeth(and he’s tall, rich and gorgeous to boot!), but when someone makes their intentions clear from the beginning and you’re plugging your ears - I don’t know what to do with you lol. but then again, not to be a LiangDaiWen apologist but omfg.. have you seen this man???? Like I GET you, Gu Yi. I would be delusional too.*
*What I also love about this drama is the mother-daughter relationship. Lowkey the mom looked too much like my mom, so I was 100% triggered so the way her **spoiler** death played out and her relationship with Gu Yi hit different, because even though the mom was a regular mom and they had a good relationship, it’s not difficult to see myself and see the toxic signs of the asian mother dynamic. Plot wise - what killed me is when her mother got sick and did not tell Gu Yi until the last minute. What’s worse is that even when this motherfucker DIED, Gu Yi was the last to mother fucking know. Her mother was off travelling somewhere with her new husband as a sort of last ditch effort to have a fulfilling life but in the middle of it, her condition unexpectedly gets worse and she is rushed to the hospital and just fucking dies. Not only does it suck that it's all out of nowhere and so SOON but it fucking hurts that she intentionally instructed her husband NOT to contact Gu Yi to let her know that she was rushed to the hospital like that and was diagnosed “dying soon.” If I was GuYi, I would be so so so angry at her. Her mom makes it seem like it was a thing she was doing for Gu Yi but tbh to me, it was a selfish act, I don't see it as selfless at all.*
In conclusion, I have to admit that I did enjoy this series because most cdramas I’ve dropped unless they’re really good - I think the last good one I watched was “Go Ahead” and that was a while ago. I’ve since started and dropped so so so many cdramas since. Both Lin Yi and Shen Yue are the only Chinese actors I’ve watched multiple series on.
This did not earn a full 5 star because of some pacing issues and the frustrating mother/daughter relationship. Also, I think that the translation wasn’t as good as it could be. There were some subtitles that didn’t make any sense but I think that there are some Chinese phrases that take a lot of background context therefore it could never be fully translated.
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