A River Runs Through It (2021)

Richards is really shaping up to be one of my favorite young actors. I've seen him in a few dramas recently and he really gives his all to each type of character. he plays. This drama had a complete cast who were all able to play each perspective age range well. This one was very similar to A Love So Beautiful but with enough difference that it didn't feel like a copy. I usually prefer more romance in my dramas but I really appreciated the time this one took to grow the relationship between our leads. There's quite a bit of humor that keeps this one entertaining throughout.

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Nice beginning but weak story development

I love high school to college stories, even it has a lot of cliches also have a room to characters development. I love most of this drama characters but the FL doesn't growing so much as the others, so it's very annoying as the story ending, it had so much potential and the final episodes the misunderstandings are almost the same as the high school, but now they already are in their 20s. I was sad because i love the beginning of this drama, gave me reply 1988 vibes with nice slice of life plots, but i think i missed a mature development in the end as happened to the second female lead :(

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That's the embodiment of sweetness and warmth.

I guess the only way to let go of this drama is to write a review about it because otherwise I wouldn't be able to move on and start something else, not that it's a bad thing but I'm really too much in love with ARRTI at the moment. Honestly it's been 3 years I haven't written a single review so I can tell you that to come back and write one today is such a big achievement and only proves to me how much attached, in love and invested I was with the story, its characters and everything else.

I wanna start by saying that what got me interested in the drama is the 90s setting, I'm a real sucker for that time period especially in school dramas so when I read it was mostly set in 1997/1999 which is the case for most of the drama (if I remember correctly we move to the second millenium around ep 24 so I was completely satisfied because in most school dramas only 1 quarter of the drama takes place in the late 90s which is so frustrating. And to be honest I think that the 90s settings, props and decors were realistically depicted, from the fashion to the culture (music, movies ...) and the technology of that time, it was as I remember them from my childhood days. And to me that matters a lot because if I feel like it's not well represented it would have lessened my interest and love for the drama so really a big thumb up to the production behind this unforgettable and wonderful drama.

It'll be hard to express my thoughts into words and what truly made me fall in love with ARRTI but all throughout my watching journey I was comparing it to "When We Were Young" (2018) and thought it would never surpass that drama which was my fave chinese school drama until I finished " A River Run Through It" however my heart just loves ARRTI so unconditionally which made me realise how stuck and in love I am with it, I can now say proudly that it's the best Youth drama I've ever watched and definitely in my top of 2021, that's how well written and breathtaking it is.
The reason why I'm so emotionally invested is because this drama made feel utterly and completely happy while I was having a difficult time, it made me forget about my harsh reality and brought me happy tears, smiles and laughters for about 30 hours, and for a drama to make me feel that way it can only be a good one in my standards. It's rare going through such feelings during your watching experience, it's something to cherish from the bottom of your heart and that's why I felt the need right now to write about it and tell how awesome, heartwarming and stimulating this show is because it can definitely brighten up someone's day like it did for me. I'm so grateful toward the actors, the production and everyone behind the success of this drama because it made my viewing experience so much more meaningful.

Regarding the story, I don't have much to say, I've seen similar shows like this one and I know that it will either be a hit or a miss but this time what made it a success for me is:
*The realistic portrayal of the characters and how natural they were with each other.
*The relatable relationship between the main characters and their parents, I particularly love the squabbles between Shi Yi and his father, I encountered similar things when I was younger with my mum who was often chasing after my siblings and I with a broom in a serious but still in a funny way. Not to forget XiaoJu's issues with her mother regarding her mum's preference for her brother over her, it was so realistically portrayed that it hurts.
*The authentic settings, I absolutely love their neighborhood, it looks so 90s and so real, everyone knows each other and helps each other, it brings so much nostalgia.
* The beautiful and convincing friendship between all of them: Shi Yi, Xiao Ju, Le Tao, Bao Bao, Cheng Lang, Lin You and Huang Jun. They're all good and wonderful in their own way.
* The Music, the songs and the bgms I particularly love Datu/XiaoJu's song " Do you Know I'm waiting for you?" which is so touching and beautiful, same with Huang Jun/Le Tao's song. And not to forget that bgm with those weird sound effetcs with that bleating sheep sound, it cracked me up for real :p.

And now the most important part for me and what got me truly addicted and obsessed: the friendship between Lu Shiyi and Xia Xiaoju. They were definitely the highlight of the drama for me, it's true Shiyi is my fave character of the drama and he's the one who made it even more special in my eyes but his relationship with Xiaoju was just so beautiful and inspiring to watch, a lot to learn from them both: their interactions, their understanding of each other, their care and unconditional love for each other was just portrayed in such a way that you can only believe it's true. Shiyi did a lot for XiaoJu, he was always there for her in her saddest and most painful time but Xiaoju was always there for him helping him and comforting him when he needed it the most. They just complement each other so well, Shiyi is naughty, playful, funny, positive and caring and Xiaoju is calm, serious a little bit pessimistic yet very cute and supportive of her friends.

{SPOILERS] If I were to mention about the things I didn't like, I would say sometimes it looks a little bit cliché but afterall it's a school drama, to this day I haven't found one where I told myself "yeah that's how it was during my high shcool days" but maybe because In western countries the education is different from what it is in Asian countries, I don't know.
Of course the last few episodes were a little bit disappointing but I've seen so many more Chinese dramas with frustrating ending with annoying decisions taken by the leads that I didn't feel bothered it by certain turn of events.
Also though I really like Le Tao with Xiaoju and the others I didn't like how she hit Huang Jun no matter how wrong he might have been toward her, it's something that truly bothered me, it's a tendency that she had all throughout the drama with guys. {END OF SPOILERS]


I guess when I feel bored I'll come back to this drama as it not only brought me happiness, laughters and inspiration but also beautiful and positive messages about life and its ups and downs and that with effort and confidence we can achieve whatever we want to. I really loved seeing all of them evolving into mature, strong and independent persons who didn't give up after one failure.
And obviously I would recommend to watch this drama for all those who are looking for a realistic story with genuine and touching characters that will grow on you and make you feel immensely happy and crazy. Last but not the least the best character of the year definitely goes to Shiyi, I can't count how many times I replayed his crazy and funny scenes while he was playing with Xiaoju's nerves but my it was so hilarious and heartening ♥♥
I'll remember A River Runs Through it for all the sweetness I got from it ♥.

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A must watch, no need of a second thought.

The story revolves around a confused and hardworking third year transfer student xia xiajou, who is transferred right before the gaokao and finds it hard to adjust in the new environment and people.

Xia xiajou meets her two neighbours at the same time new classmates, the gentleman cheng lang and the straightforward lu shiyi, who are brothers more than being best friends living together since their childhood.

Xiajou falls for cheng lang right after she saw her for the very first time (something that can be called love at first sight ). On contrast she dislikes lu shiyi from the very starting, who picks on hers and keeps on irritating her throughout the story, but later on they become really good friends although he still irritates her in a cute way.

She also meets Qui le tao/ Tao Tao, who later on becomes her female best friend. She's brave, smart at the same time naive (I have my reasons to say so, well I can tell you unless you want some spoilers !!!! ), And Bao Bao the last ranking student of the class, lazy, sweet and talkative ( to some extent ), he seems to be the careless one but has his own share of difficulties in life.

Together they face struggle, sorrow, sweetness and reality of life.

There are few more character in the story you need to know :

• Lin you : The very first impression of her seemed like the regular bitch who is also the love rival of the FL, but for a change she wasn't a bitch but definitely was the love rival of the FL to some extent as Cheng lang had already fallen for her (FL and lin you were really good friends, no rivalary ).

• Huang jun : He was the roommate of the ML, the friendship of cheng lang, lu shiyi and him was heartwarming and awesome. He also was Tao Tao's boyfriend. Although he was a real jerk in terms of relationships ( He had 101 ways but he chose to be a jerk instead ), but he had his share of sufferings for that and I really appreciate the development of his character.

• Shen duo : She was the bele of the medical branch as well as the basketball club vice president who liked lu shiyi. Trust me she really had less screen presence but was one of the best characters.

• Cheng le : He wasn't that important character but still had some influence in the story. He was the monitor of xiajou's old school and liked her.

Positive factors :

• The parent-children relationship was heartwarming and too close to the reality. I loved the relationship between Cheng lang and her mother personally.

• Also, xiajou's mother was way too partial between her and her brother but one could see the development in between their chemistry gradually. Also, it was way too realistic at least for me I could feel that, as it is similar to some extent from the life of mine.

• Some people might think opposite of me, but the one sided love factor was one of the best reasons to watch the drama, as one can feel the emotions they were feeling.

• Shen duol ikes lu shiyi, Lu shiyi likes Xiajuo, Xiajuo likes Cheng lang, Cheng lang likes lin you and lin you already had a boyfriend. This mess was actually interesting to watch. Also, there was Cheng le who liked Xiao ju.

That's what I meant by one sided love in the paragraph above. Although it seems to be too frustrating to watch so much love angles, but trust me you will feel exactly what the characters are feeling, because of their amazing acting and the way the story is been portrayed.

Negative factors :

• Throughout the story I was trying really hard to see the FL putting some efforts on the ML, but it wasn't seen anywhere.

• It was only about the ML falling for the FL, I couldn't see it coming from the FL. ( I am talking about the way love should have been developed b/w them ).

Overall :

Overall it's a must watch. That's it, no need for a second thought just go and watch it I'm sure you'll love it.

Although all of a sudden the FL realises her feelings for ML, as for me it didn't felt smooth and natural though, looked kinda forced or something, the director and team tried really hard to make us feel FL's feelings for ML, but I guess it went kinda wrong, nevertheless all the moments before the confession of ML was smooth,cute, heartwarming and perfect. I loved the way they irritate each other and still care,think and unknowingly love each other. The trio ML, FL and CL ( Cheng lang, well that's what he's called, CL ) was way too awesome.

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Spectacular Start, Awful Ending

The show started off truly amazingly. They captured the cozy small town family vibes, the casting is close to perfect, the production value and sound editing is top notch, and the story set up attracts you from the start. It's about a group of friends who essentially grow up together through the 90s and 00s, and they really take you down nostalgia avenue. The acting is subtle and nuanced, gives you the warm fuzzies all around. Wang Ruichang played the perfect attractive asshole, Hu Yixuan played the perfect adorable heroine, and I was so in love with the whole package that I didn't notice the trainwreck happening until it was too late to jump off...

So the first 20 episodes are extremely enjoyable. The main point of the story is the evolution of the relationship between Xia Xiaoju and Lu Shiyi, from when they first meet as teens who can't stand each other, to the best of friends in university, with hints of perhaps something more in the future. The teen arc is hilarious and lovely and we're introduced to their personalities, their virtues and all their flaws. Xiaoju is an academically average girl with a very caring, kind heart, headstrong in most aspects except when it comes to love - she botches so many opportunities to confess to Cheng Lang that we expect that part of her character to be the main focus of her character development. Lu Shiyi, on the other hand, is a bit of a jerk, can't say a sweet word to save his own life, is instinctively rebellious, but has a very tender, caring heart. The way he's shown, we expect his inability to express his love properly the focus of his character development.

The set up for their character developments are so cleanly and clearly executed. Xiaoju lost a lot of time and energy being unable to draw up the courage to confess to her first love, and Shiyi couldn't make Xiaoju see him as anything other than a somewhat irritating best friend because of his sharp tongue. In a perfect world, this drama should have been written in a way where once Shiyi begins sanding down his sharp edges in order to win over Xiaoju, and Xiaoju begins realizing her feelings for him, she should have taken lessons from her experience with Cheng Lang, overcome her cowardly tendencies and decidedly confessed to him. Shiyi should also go through a character development arc where he mellows out a little, or at least is less afraid to show his sincere love towards Xiaoju. With so much angst and bickering, 3 or 4 episodes in the end where we get to see them as a real couple, where Xiaoju truly realizes who's been good to her and Shiyi finally experiences the joy of having his love requited, would be the greatest payoff and reward for the audience.

Instead, there is no character arc for Xiaoju, and the little character arc they gave Shiyi is completely nuked in the latter half of the story. She is just as cowardly as she was in the beginning, but this time she actually loses the man who loves her back, when before with Cheng Lang she just lost an unrequited love. Then she's in her late twenties and she starts acting more like a jealous child than she was as a teen! Shiyi is still a complete jerk, unable to stop himself from figuratively pulling her pigtails even in his late-twenties! In the last two episodes, the guy goes to Zurich for a few years, does not contact Xiaoju at ALL, leaves her with the impression that he got himself a girlfriend, and then he comes back without a notice, acts like a grade A twat, and then he proposes... and then... she... agrees? They kiss and the end??

I was left dumbfounded. And then I was actually pretty mad, because they ruined what could have been a really perfect love story. They had such a good cast and premise, and then they wrote it THIS way. Why? My dissatisfaction is unbearable. And don't get me started on all the side characters - it's like the writers just love the idea of angst and break ups, like they want to shoehorn in as much of those as they can regardless of how out of character or illogical the situations are.

My recommendation for how to watch this show is to stop at the point where Lu Shiyi officially confesses. Then let your own imagination play out how the rest of the story goes because I can guarantee whatever you imagine will still be better than what they made. You can skip through the rest of the episodes if you want, and consider them the happenings of an alternate universe.

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growing up brings both pain & joy

i put off watching this for a while and tbh idk why, maybe cuz i saw the main couple dont get together until the final ep however, im so glad i finally caved and watched it. i wasnt even that bothered by the insanely slow burn of the romance because its REALISTIC.
the drama shows the beauty of friendship, as well as the difficulties friendships can face when met with the struggles of growing up and finding yourself. having to make important decisions but making them too late that consequences follow, is again part of growing up. this drama isnt just a typical high school romance, it is about making friends and working hard, studying well and achieving your goals , as well as exploring romance and relationships, having one sided crushes and all the other typical parts of being a teen / young adult.

the pain that the ML lu shiyi went through.. he acted so well, having to watch the one you love be blind to your acts because of someone else is painful, but the FML also was realistic in that it takes time to move on from your first crush/love & her not instantly moving onto the ML as annoying as it is when ur watching, wouldnt be realistic.

the only downside is the ending is kinda meh, its very rushed imo.. suddenly there is marriage and a proposal and it just comes out of no where , although despite this i enjoyed the rest of the drama so much that it isnt a huge deal cuz imo romance isnt the focus of this drama, growing up & having good friends is.

10/10 recommend it, id defo rewatch if i get bored & i wish i had a bf like lu shiyi LMAO

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Kept me on my toes with all the right tropes

This drama was slightly torture to watch and made me wonder at times if this drama will end up being renamed unrequited love, friendzoned or most men suck... Yet still had me guessing (pretty predictable guesses), laughing and enjoying some seemingly endless bickering and teasing between the main couple. Some of the characters are just to "good" to be human and that can get to be a bit to much but otherwise all the character serve their purpose well and are a delight for both the eye and mind.

To be honest it is hard to put my finger on exactly what made me give this 9,5 stars seeing it did torture me at times and make me want to tell the characters come on get your act together.Maybe just maybe the lack of having ones act together made it a bit more real in between all the perfect people in the drama. The female leads mom and brother top my list of people who bring out my inner anger. ​I must also say that allot of "bad behaviour" did get called out and even if it could be interpreted as romantic it did not just pass by like in many other c-dramas. It could also just be that this drama has high entertainment value and high emotional value making you feel a whole lot of anger, love, hate and happienesss all in one drama.


All in all a very enjoyable drama to watch that I recommend to any C-drama lover out there

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Nostalgia feeling, Heartbroken youth

The setting in a year where spending time together and the need to rely on each other. The story start from end of high school until adults . But somehow it relatable every journey they had. The farewell in every journey will happened as we moving forward in our life as the river. Never look back therefore there is no bad people in this story. No one need to be blame because as a human we tend to make mistake and sometimes the choice we made doesn’t seem to work as we want. Misunderstanding? It just happened in our youth.

Most people will be frustrated with the FL but there are a lot of people like her and her reasoning is valid at that point of time. Nobody is perfect an sometime we don’t get what we want especially to make others love us back.

The only flaw in this story is that they rush the ending and most of the misunderstandings seem to solve because of time.

Great rewatch value as the story is interesting .Kudos to Richard wang for perfectly play Lu Shi Yi. Because of this role probably will watch his other show and Hu Yi Xian also perfectly played as someone stubborn just like other youth out there.
Thank you for this slow burn drama that is healing and make us remember our journey

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We need a S2

Wow, this is my first ever review here after lurking on MDL for years. Chinese people honestly make the best youth/school shows and I felt so so nostalgic watching this. I went to school in Bangkok and the school and classes in this show just brought me back to 2010. The group of friends here was so wholesome and they made me laugh and cry and squeal all throughout. Now, this show did have its flaws but the reason why it's now one of my favorite youth shows is because of its characters aka SHIYI. This man, ugh what I'd do to find a man like him. He loved so wholeheartedly and it just, it made my heart so warm. I loved how realistic the show was toward the end.

Now I few things I wish they did better was show us more of those cuties together, I felt like I only got those butterflies in the last two episodes so I wish we got to see more of them being dorks together. I also want to see how Chang Leng got through, it feels like his story was left incomplete so I'm really hoping they do a S2. Regardless, I know this review is all over the place but this is a definite must-watch. I felt so empty after finishing the last episode and just wanted more.

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One of the better teen romance stories

Unforgettable characters. I hope it's one of the shows that I remember and not one that after 2 years, I stumble on YouTube again and watch and keep wondering... 'have I seen this already?' and not remember.

BTW, if anyone likes this, you will LOVE "Go Ahead" another series on youTube.

Anyways back to my review. what I love most is the female lead. She is absolutely perfect for this role. Just captures everything perfectly. And she's intelligent and smart. Even when she does the stupidest things, I don't hate her like other shows with similar stupid characters.

This show focuses a lot during their college years. And developing romance. I liked the supporting characters as well but definitely it's the female and male leads that I really care most about in this particular series.

It's authentic story and feelings and dialogues. Just fantastic and amazing.

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