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Holyyyyyy mother of god this was such a boring watch.
I would’ve had a much better time with this drama if it was at least 12 episodes shorter. So many things were needlessly dragged out and it completely sucked the enjoyment out of a story that could’ve been so much more entertaining than it ended up being. While pacing is my #1 issue with the drama, I don’t think I will ever be able to forgive this drama for the route that it took in breaking up the characters. After watching this I’m 100% certain that my absolute least favorite trope in the history of drama tropes is the stupid fucking “pushing people away to protect them by lying to them” trope. Sometimes it’s done well if the person is pushed away without any deceit, however when lies become involved is when I absolutely tune out. There is absolutely no reason… none. I will never be okay with LX’s actions in this drama no matter how many times they are explained and justified. Not only did he lie and push ZY away (and can we talk about the 3 years of clinical depression the poor girlie went through?), he continued to do so even after coming out of prison. He made her cry so many times and betrayed her trust over and over, and we’re just supposed to be okay with this because ZY is an idiot who loves a very very toxic man? Absolutely not. Overall, my unpopular opinion is that this drama is really really not worth the glowing ratings that it gets. The only redeeming points are the chemistry between the leads and the great OST. I’d skip this one if you’re considering watching.Was this review helpful to you?
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Boring ,Long , NO self respect
I really liked this show in the beginning and it kept me hooked but the story eventually became boring and now I just decided to drop this show, The story is not that unique but not that bad either . The ML Lin Xun is a bad boy with a genius brain but is arrogant with everyone while the FL was smart , brave in the starting but later she really annoyed me when she left her own Self respect and like a puppy followed the ML everywhere even after he mistreated her and this was one of the reasons I am not watching this show anymore like I was expecting her to be a smart girl but it looked like she was nothing but tail of the ML. The relationship was good but sometimes it looked toxic as the ML made all the decisions in their relationship and the FL who is Zhu yun just ran after him and eventually forgive him, it looked like she was obsessed with the ML to that point that she was on the verge of suicide during their breakup , like girl common , I really wanted her to be strong and not run after Lin xun and have her own life and start loving herself first before loving anyone else.The other cast was good and the enemy Gao was a jerk, though I knew it from the start that he is going to betray Lin xun (ml) after seeing their heated relationship. Ost of the drama is nice specially " FALLING YOU" and "Love cycle" .
In short you can watch this drama if you are okay with the problems I just mentioned I had with the show and if you love a drama that has revenge and love then you can atmost watch this drama for once.
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IT WAS SICK, I’M HOOKED
I finished it on Friday but i’m still stuck. There is so much to talk about but lets start with the story which is so good I, as a CS student love it and because i’m a CS student that what makes it more interesting. The whole thing, it was just so amazing. Now lets move to the characters will only talk about the main one, Zhu Yun the MFL was so fking sweet and caring how she cares and believes in Li Xun it was so refreshing to watch. Now Li Xun the MML although he looked cold from outside but was a complete softie at heart just not for the girl but for his friends too. I personally think my personality relates so much with Li Xun. Both characters were very well played they are still on my mind. They were so good its hurt to watch them, especially Arthur Chen because he is so pretty its actually hurt to watch him. Lets move to the plot, not gonna say much or i will give a spoiler or something but the whole plot was so fking good. All scenes were fire, the dialogue were fire. The whole cast was fire. I love almost all the characters except from Fang Zhi Jing and Gai Jian Hong, Especially Fang. I think they played it so well that I actually hates their characters.Was this review helpful to you?
For Romance lovers who like Flawed characters making Flawed decisions in Love.
Subjective Gut Rating - 8.5 (because I am obsessed with Arthur Chen)I can see why this drama is rated so high, especially for romance lovers. I can also see why others think the main romance is toxic and the drama is not sending a positive message to young adults. Personally, I really like the romance - the longing, loving gazes, side glances, flirting, angst and heartbreaks. I am not in the tech field and know nothing about coding. So, I can’t comment on how accurate the codes are or if the tech parts make sense or not.
The chemistry is sizzling. Arthur Chen really shines in his role as Li Xun and practically carries the show on his back. My eyes can’t stop following him around and his eyes are speaking to me, showing all his emotions. I am embarrassed to say that I am crushing on him big time, especially during the college days when his hair was dyed back brown (the blonde hair wasn’t working for me). I’ve enjoyed his role in “Ever Night” but he’s so charismatic in this drama that no wonder Zhu Yun (FL) couldn’t stop following him around.
I can totally understand Zhu Yun’s adoration and admiration of him for so many years. The slow burn romance keeps me guessing and wanting them to be a couple. Yet on the other hand, I love the push-and-pull, will-they-won’t-they dynamics so much that I want the flirting and stolen glances to continue as long as possible. Zhang Jing Yi, though not quite at the same level as Arthur Chen in terms of acting, I do think she does a pretty good job as the female lead. I last saw her in “Fall in Love” but her role here is quite different. Zhu Yun might not be the smartest cookie in love, but I appreciate a smart female lead who can pull her weight and contribute professionally. As much as I admire her undeniable trust in Li Xun’s ability to change the world, I do think their romance can be interpreted as very unhealthy especially after they reunite. Li Xun rejects and breaks Zhu Yun’s heart so many times with verbal insults and embarrassment and giving her mixed signals for most of the second half of the drama. It’s really not healthy but I can’t help but love every single minute of it.
Gao Jian Hong, the second male lead, played by Zhao Zhi Wei, is an interesting and pitiful character. I feel really bad for him and what he went through. For someone who has been #1 for most of his life, meeting a genius like Li Xun and being bested by him every single time, is not something Gao Jian Hong can get past. This grudge never goes away even when they were friends then. The revenge plot takes up quite a lot of time in the second half of the drama. Overall, I think Zhao Zhi Wei did a pretty good job as the second male lead and shares the spotlight with Arthur Chen.
Well, my somewhat high rating is mainly because of how much I enjoy the main romance and Arthur Chen. But there are certain aspects of the plot that I don’t like. The secondary and tertiary romances are not as well-written. I do not understand why Xu Li Na is so in love with Li Xun when she barely knows him or has much interaction with him. Being attracted to Li Xun is understandable, but holding that infatuation for so many years is not logical. On the other hand, the small romance plot between Ren Di and her bandmate boyfriend is not well developed. You can skip that romance and you wouldn’t miss anything.
I am also not a fan of an overbearing and controlling mother. I understand where her concerns are coming from, especially when Zhu Yun was still in college. But when she’s in her mid-20s and late-20s, this type of overprotectiveness is unacceptable. Luckily, there are a few other side characters that are more likable, e.g. Professor Lin, the hacker, and the co-workers. Lastly, I really like the OST. I enjoy almost all the songs esp. Fireworks (焰火) by Zhou Shen and Light Red (轻红) by Cao Yang.
I would recommend this drama if you like slow burn, complicated romances of flawed characters making flawed decisions.
Completed: 3/24/2023
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True Love Will Take Its Course
It has been a long time since I last saw such a perfect Cdrama. This one is a masterpiece. I hate jerk MLs. And contrary to what some viewers said, the ML is NOT really a jerk here. He was quite a cold and complex character and Arthur Chen did an amazing job portraying him. This is my first drama of him and I am quite impressed. The ML is understandable and lovable if you try to see things from his POV.The FL is my favourite. Maybe the best FL I have seen in a Cdrama. She is the epitome of STRONG. She goes against the world for the ML . And she doesn’t look pathetic doing that. She is the knight in the shining armour in this drama. Some people might call her dumb but the same people would have lauded a ML for the same actions.
The love story is BEAUTIFUL.. The build up was done right. I didn’t get bored at all which is my common problem while watching Cdramas. The banters, teasing, flirting before they get into the relationship is just chef’s kiss. The separation was truly painful. I was so touched by the FL’s emotions when he goes to jail..The ending where they get together after so many hurdles was very satisfying.
The only problem was the friend who later becomes the villain. The whitewash of his character to make viewers sympathise with him has gone wrong. Nothing can make me sympathetic towards him after what he did.
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Princess and Her Dauntless Guard Dog
This is the enemies to lovers to enemies to lovers, mutual pining couple I didn't know I need.The story centers around Zhu Yun and Li Xun, the princess and the lighter, or rather, her fierce, dauntless, tsundere guard dog, for lack of better terms. It started from their college days when they were freshmen, up until they are working adults. Their story is a slow burn, but it's not boring at all with the conflicts here and there that keeps mounting up to the big problem. I still watch this mostly with 1,5x speed because the pace is a bit slow, but it's still good.
What I love the most, though, is the acting. CFY and ZJY as a pair lovers is very convincing. Their looks, their constant need to always touch each other, their pull towards one another looks so natural as if they are truly in love. I love every scenes they have together.
The supporting casts are all very good, I dare say this drama is character driven as well as plot driven, because their personalities are pretty complex and layered.
For a youth drama this is a bit dark, with some frustrating and sad story arcs that boils my brain. Don't expect green flag characters from this.
I expect more closures for the ending actually, but it's already good enough for me. After it ends, I was in quite a slump because of how good it is and how strong the aftertaste is.
If you can stand the first two episodes, do continue. This is a very good one.
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A Mature and Memorable Story For The Ages
Never did I expect such a beautiful story when I first started the series.In terms of the plot and storyline, I did find it hard to digest at the beginning due to one unnecessary time leap at the start, but I can tell that it was meant to be artistic. The show follows the story of our main protagonists, Li Xun [played by Chen Fei Yu] and Zhu Yun [played by Zhang Jing Yi]. They meet in college where they fall in love despite their rough first impressions and disputes. Alongside their friend Gao Jian Hong [played by Zhao Zhi Wei], they become a sort of unstoppable trio when it comes to programming. The show follows them through their college days into adulthood where you see how much they grow and change, while still maintaining their original personality. While other shows may add new conflicts that appear out of nowhere simply to add drama, this show does really well in keeping everything connected. When conflict does arise, you can actually see where it is coming from and anticipate it. The writing for the show was very smart and well done. It tackled plenty of hard topics that don't often get addressed in C-dramas and gives the viewers a realistic view of the world.
I found the acting to be incredible. Since the story takes place over several of years, from college into adulthood, the show had to make a couple of time leaps. Even with this, the actors did so well in portraying different levels of maturity at different points of the characters' lives.
Yes, the show is great, but it isn't perfect. While a lot of the plot makes sense and is realistic, not all plot points do. Even then, the ones that didn't seem realistic are minor and can be overlooked. As mentioned before, there was a time skip at the start of the drama that I found unnecessary and more confusing the first time watching than needed. However, if I were to be rewatching the show, then I would understand why it was written this way.
Overall, I would highly suggest this show for anyone who is a sucker for a classic enemies-to-lovers story with a genuine plot!
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WHAT A WAY TO FINISH MY 2022 BY WATCHING THIS WONDERFUL C-DRAMA.??
Indeed a well produced modern C-drama of 2022Like the Storyline, Acting, OST's (Especially the one that appears at ep 35 which is Falling For You sang by Jenny Zeng who played the role of Rendi), and leads had a very good chemistry. I will definitely watch this again someday!! XunYun couple will hold a special place here in my ❤❤. I guess it is time for me to watch now the special eps, interviews, and BTS, and also watch the animated version and the novel hehe. My personal review would be 10/10. I enjoyed it a lot.
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"I'll go to the end of the world just to see you smile"
The drama is beautiful and so is the relationship between the leads. This is one of the best chemistry that I've seen in Cdrama/ Kdrama. The leads chemistry just click together from the beginning. They bicker alot but you can feel the chemistry. When they are together, the chemistry just overflows. Some scenes even felt so natural that I got confused whether they are acting or is it real. The story is also good. Although they had to get separated for some time, they never forgot about each other. They were like a married couple. I'm a sucker for romance genres and this is hands down one the best chemistry between the leads so far.The characters also did justice to their roles. I even cried at the end cause this drama is so special to me. I hope we get to see the leads acting on another drama again. don't hesitate to watch this drama. It contains romance and some revenge plot too. So leave your worries behind and enjoy this drama.
Also I have not been able to get into modern Cdramas lately, but this drama made me addicted. It's different from other dramas too. So please watch it.
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Lonely King and hero Princess
Having consumed this drama very quickly, I can safely say it has gripped my attention and pleasantly surprised me in more ways than one. There may be slight spoilers in my review, so bear that in mind if you choose to continue reading.First of all, what seems to be a common type of story actually reveals profound characterizations that have been brought to life by gifted actors. The drama starts in the present and introduces the key characters who share a complicated and painful past. Then the flashback occurs and we see what led to the current circumstances.
The male protagonist Li Xun (LX) is an IT prodigy focused solely on his work and devoid of social skills. Or he can't be bothered to play the games of society, in this case university life. LX is a pioneer and thus attracts equal amounts of admiration and envy from peers. He gradually builds a circle of IT enthusiasts around him, but has uneasy relationships with most of them. Why? Because he is like an absolute ruler or king and the general approach is his way or the highway.
As the story unfolds, we understand why LX is emotionally closed off and that a series of traumatic and unfortunate events have deeply scarred him. He had to survive and then give himself a new start in life, based solely on his efforts and with no support from others. All these experiences are symbolized by the lighter often seen in his hands.
The one person LX seems to indulge is the female lead Zhu Yun (ZY), or 'princess' as he sometimes calls her. At first glance, ZY is a nice, intelligent and hard-working girl from a wealthy but loving family. Unfortunately, her rather domineering mother has charted ZY's life course, leaving her little free will and unaware of what she actually enjoys doing.
That is one reason why ZY is inevitably drawn to LX. Although they are fundamentally different and often bicker, she admires and respects his IT genius and slightly envies his devil-may-care attitude. ZY chooses to be inspired by LX and in the process discovers her passion for programming.
The romance/ coming of age background story in university is light with some substance. LX and ZY make a cute couple. My concern with LX's behaviour is that he is impulsive and tends to take things to the extreme, regardless of consequences. After LX starts his company, another series of tragic events renders him determined to push ZY away and deeply hurt her.
Fastforward a few years, the two meet again. LX has revenge in mind against those who betrayed him and ZY wants to help him. His development was derailed by time in prison, while she became a very successful professional. She goes above and beyond to support him, since his quest for justice is important to her as well.
Here for a while LX portrays someone very difficult for me to like or respect. I have compassion for his traumatic past, but that does not entitle him to use ZY as emotional punching bag. LX intentionally hurts her again and again, particularly when feelings of insecurity come up within him.
There seemed to be a dark side to his character cropping up when he deals with women who are emotionally vulnerable to him. There was a scene with Xu Li Na as well, which left me with the impression that LX enjoys the power trip of having the emotional upperhand. Unfortunately, these issues with both women were glossed over with a brief apology.
Meanwhile, I was very fond of ZY's character. Her success abroad hides many emotional wounds and her long time struggle with mental health. She has lingering feelings for LX, but it is her sense of responsibility to help right what went wrong which makes her stay, despite his very hurtful attitude. In the end, they know each other better than anyone, with good, bad and everything in between.
Gao - the former friend turned foe - is also a complex character. His poor choices, torment and obssessions were very convincingly interpreted.
All in all, a solid and engaging drama that was definitely worth my time.
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This review may contain spoilers
It's very momerable, but at the same time there are many significant negative points.
In my review I'll mostly focus on the negatives, since I'm late to the party & the drama's abundant positive reviewers covered everything else. Though let me just say the main couple's chemistry & their acting performances are unprecedented in a cdrama, I don't think I have ever seen another cdrama that had such lively leads, with so much raw emotion etc..(It's not a criticism really, but I chuckled a little when I saw Lao Gao driving a Maybach, this is the real authentic Cwebnovel experience right here!)
Okay so the negatives in no particular order:
⌲ The drama is very long & there are some repetitive plots, it feels like I rewatched an extraordinarily good drama 4 times in a row, this shouldn't have been 36 episodes. (though I'm sure many people that watched it as the eps were released barely noticed this)
⌲ Zhu Yun should have explained many things to her mom, but that never happened. (+horrible mom with little plot relevance & screen time)
⌲ Lao Gao's character development makes no sense to me. (and the transition to crazed cartoon villain is especially jarring)
⌲ Why would Li Xun trust Gao with L&P? (Their friendship? is very poorly explained in the drama)
⌲ Why, just why would Li Xun a so called genius use brawn over brain to deal with Fang Zhi Jing?
⌲ I found Fang Zhi Jing's plot against LX's sister over the top silly.
⌲ Zhu Yun kept a so called childhood friend on the hook for years. (you are a bad girl ZY, though at least this is bearable for a triangle)
⌲ The misunderstanding about a certain marriage happening has never gotten resolved, despite there being a lot of tension about this for a while.
⌲ The English in the drama is just embarrassing . ("Lucky & Power", "Thank!")
⌲ Ren Di is such an underutilized character. (Her band was really cool for those 3 minutes)
⌲ Ren Di's briefly shown romance is rather horrible.
⌲ Zhu Yun pretending not to care for so long, even in her internal monologues makes no sense.
⌲ The storytelling and even the main romantic plot is quite jittery at times, there are also frequent twists of logic, though the latter could be attributed to the questionable subbing quality, I just don't know.
⌲ This drama features the ugliest breakup I've ever witnessed. Noble reasons or not, no self respecting woman would ever forgive this much. (and yes LX is rather toxic in the early episodes too)
⌲ There is an enormous shift in the drama's tonality where we go from a very serious twenteen startup attempt to a ridiculously silly situation at the Flying Network? whatever company.
⌲ Xu Li Na (Her plot is all over the place & then she suddenly cares about Gao in the final episodes following their super silly divorce)
⌲ The programming related segments are ridiculous at times.
⌲ I can accept LX being a wunderkind knowitall, but based on what I've seen of ZY's progress as a newbie, she is the (un)real genius here..
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