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@Vessy Ditto! I have been using the word "unique" a lot with HL. What makes it so special is the chemistry between the main leads. The conversations they have are delightful. They do look natural.

@zainab You are entitled to your opinion. It is your choice to continue or drop it. HL was a big hit with some who never watched Cdramas before. It is a first for some Kdrama fans who now want to watch more Cdramas. I recommend Lighter and Princess which is more intense but the chemistry is amazing and addictive. I do not recommend WIFTY as a second watch because to me it is sweet but there are many other youth dramas out there like WIFTY. I watched WIFTY as a a filler show while I waited for HL and have not watched it since. With HL, I watched the episodes over and over again and now trying to forget them so I can have the joy of rewatching it gain in a few months or maybe more. It is hard to forget it when it is trending all over the place. There is an Instagram page called Deemalovesdrama that reviews and discusses Kdramas. Hidden Love is now prominently displayed in its own reel. And when WIFTY was recommended, she watched it but it took her a while to finish it and at conclusion, she said it was sweet but there is no big dedication to WIFTY.

It is strange that you find HL's FL lead's cutesy voice irritating. What I mean is you are coming from WIFTY right?

This is not to convince you to watch because I see you came in without that intention. It is great you found something you love to watch in WIFTY which is a rather sweet show to watch. It is.

@Starrynight. I noticed some ratings of 1 at the time HL was released and felt it was deliberate. Apparently, the anti fans as they are called exist. And there is also the idea that it is done by the competitors. The fact that Zhao Lu Si's car was attacked after the release of the show is unbelievable. I am not sure what it is they hold against her. If you go back to the first page of the reviews, someone left a rating of 1 and basically just said gibberish with some insults against Lu Si.

It didn't work for you and you are entitled to your opinion. I don't think anyone here means you any disrespect. I think people just want to say what they liked about it.

Hidden Love had all the feels. And I could also appreciate the way Sang Zhi brought happiness into Jiaxu's life. Some people only see how much Jiaxu helped her and was always there for her, but I also saw that even though he smiled at everyone and was so easygoing, he had a tough life growing up and had to shoulder responsibilities no child should ever have to do. Sang Zhi and Sang Yan showed Jiaxu what a happy family was. Sang Zhi's parents at one time helped him pay his mother's medical bills and even though he paid them back, he would want to take care of his friend's sister and look out for her.

But somewhere along the way, a more adult Sang Zhi started to look out for Jiaxu as she recognized he didn't have any family to take care of him. She saw Jiang Jing throw water in his face and knowing he would never retaliate against Jiang Jing, she defended him. And the point in his life when he felt all alone after his father died, even though he tried to put on a brave face and smile, she knew he was struggling. She was there waiting for him with her arms open and ready to embrace him and make him feel he was loved. Scenes such as these just gave me all the feels and put a smile on my face. If it didn't affect you this way, that is fine. I am not holding your opinion against you.

Yes! The deep emotional development and sweet moments made HL so beautiful to me. Even without any analysis it left me wanting for more and feeling so good watching the love grow between the leads.

Jiaxu is a fictional character. Don't you think we should go with the way the character was written and not add in aspects to his character that is not part of the script?

To me it got better once she got to college not that I didn't like it before that. I enjoyed seeing her with her family and how protective San Yan is of her even though he called her "Little Monster." After she gets to college it is beautiful to watch the relationship between Jiaxu and Snag Zhi develop. She finds out the life he had been living and she boldly faces any obstruction to their relationship. She is there for him with arms wide open to embrace him and make him feel that she will always love him and be there with him. Finally, Jiaxu can live for the future with her loving him instead for his father's mistakes. This drama was not just all fluff even it certainly had more than just a good dose of sugar. I loved it. I am usually one who works the fast forward button. I did not with Hidden Love.

If you take a look at Jiaxu's life as a child to adulthood, you will see that it is the opposite of Sang Zhi's. She grew up with a loving family and he was ostracized by his peers for his fathers' action. And Sang Zhi who had a sheltered life from pain, became. his strength and his support. No wonder he loved her so much. Many of us fell in love with Jiaxu for the way he treated Sang Zhi. And once he decided he wanted her to be with him, he did everything he could to be with her and help and support her in every way. Staying up all night so he could get a ticket for her flight home is only one of the many things he did to be with her.

I could go on....

@laura5310 Something is definitely off. I know the ratings on mydramalist are not totally without flaws but this one is way off. I had one person tell me to be careful saying I don't understand why the rating is so high. But it is the honest truth. I was shocked. I thought I might have missed something and started rewatching it with the intent of paying close attention this time but I didn't feel the need to continue after rewatching a few mins of it. Just look at all the comments expressing disappointment after the build up.

@mayyrrr06 You are not getting her point. She is not saying she didn't like the show. There are other youth shows like it. It is not unique. Even though I liked it, I was really surprised to see the rating of 9 when others like it did not get as high a rating. As you can see, many are going by the rating and finding themselves disappointed because they expected much more when they started the show. Some expressed boredom which felt in a few episodes so I can certainly understand. And again, it is not that a matter of not liking it.

I will give it a try and let you know

I have been hearing about 25 21 for months now but the ending is why I have not watched it. It is not that I have never watched a sad show and liked it. One example is One and Only. I avoided it and watched the sequel Forever and Ever. Then I decided to watch One and Only just to see more of the couple's back story and did not regret it. One and Only left me gutted! I was so devastated even knowing beforehand that it ended in tragedy. It devastated me and yet I found it so beautiful. Then I rewatched Forever and Ever and it was better the second time because then I could see significance in many things I missed before. I get the feeling 25 21 is like that. But in the case of One and Only, I got to watch the couple reincarnated in modern times.

I know what you are saying about the ratings especially as I think some people come in to give low rating to shows with actresses they do not like or want to go against. This was the case with HL and Zhao Lu Si. She had anti fans attack her car. I know it sounds unreal but I did some reading and the anti fans do exist in China. Just like in the dramas. LOL! Sometimes the intention to lower ratings is instigated by the competition.

One of the things that made me keep watching WIFTY was the fact that the FL had some witty responses that showed intelligence and back bone. I liked her character and bubbly personality. I had to laugh at times because she said "Rang Rang" so many times. I loved that she was there for Rang Rang in the times his mother made him feel so unappreciated and she showed him that to her he was the best. WIFTY is a really sweet show and I enjoyed watching it. Unlike others, I did not have any interest in the secondary couple but that is just me. Perhaps I didn't give them a chance with the fast forward button. It is just me.

However, I disagree that Sang Zhi was not as well spoken. Sang Zhi showed great character growth from that little 14 year old girl to the young woman she became in college. She was always intelligent. Unlike Jiaxu, she had a doting family who loved her and gave her everything. Yet, she was able to see that Jiaxu didn't have anyone so when he ended up in the hospital, she took care of him. She showed great empathy, perception, and intelligence when she did not allow Jiang Jing's words to turn her against Jiaxu. It was beautiful to see her stand up to Jiang Jing and recognize that jealousy was behind her slander against Jiaxu. In some dramas, this might have been when the FL had doubts and would lead to more misunderstanding. It was awesome to see Sang Zhi defend Jiaxu when Jiang Jing threw water in his face! Yes! Sang Zhi! The fact that Sang Zhi stood her ground was wonderful.

It was beautiful to see Sang Zhi's strength as she supported and stood by Jiaxu in the face of objections. She spoke with eloquence and conviction as she defended her relationship with him to her parents. The emotions in Hidden Love were well developed. And in the middle of all that were some of the sweetest scenes. And finally, it was beautiful to see this young woman bring happiness to a young man who for many years had to be the backbone for his parents. When his father died and he was finally alone without parents at a young age, Sang Zhi was there waiting for him with open arms letting him know that she would always be there for him and that he deserved to be loved.

As for Jiaxu's character, he had integrity and convictions, and even in the face of his own trials and the fact that he was ostracized by his peers due his father's actions, he still had the kindest smile to share with others.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. It is great when we find something that we love and appreciate.

Just fast forward through the boring parts. There are some sweet parts that you might enjoy. I tried to rewatch it because I wondered if I missed something that makes the rating so high but I could not rewatch. I was not interested the second time around.

If you read through this thread, there are several people who watched WIFTY due to the high rating. They are disappointed because they were expecting something much more due to the rating of 9!
She is just saying there are other youth shows with much more in terms of character development, plot, and cinematography and yet they have a lower rating than WIFTY. I was shocked when I saw WIFTY with a rating of 9. It is just one of those things that as you pass by you have to pause and say, "What happened here?"

The point is that there are other shows like WIFTY with lower ratings. I watched WIFTY and found it sweet and recommended it to others looking for a light fluffy watch. But there is nothing remotely unique about WIFTY. It is worth watching if you are in the mood for something light. While I liked the FL for speaking up for herself when needed, I did not see much of a character development from high school to college.

I would wait for Chen Feiyu...

I got excited when I saw them! ZLS does not need to show DW how to do the kiss scenes. Esther Yu already showed him the very same thing ZLS showed CZY! I assume you saw the BTS.

LOL!

Let me tell you, I just rewatched it and thank goodness I had forgotten the little details because it was soooo good rewatching. Don't be turned off by the first episode which starts in the present then goes back and forth for a bit. I dreaded rewatching one particular episode even though it goes fast and almost skipped it but the emotions were so beautiful I had to keep watching. It is so hard to move on. But rewatching it helped me break away from Hidden Love for while. Going to rewatch both in a couple months.

I took a look at the first 2 episodes. If I continue watching it is just to look at Xu Kai's face!