WARNING! This article may contain minor spoilers.
INTRODUCTION |
 | Country: China Episodes: 30 Duration: 46 min. Genres: Comedy, Romance, Youth Aired On: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday Aired: Sep 26, 2022 - Oct 19, 2022
Adapted from the novel "Wo You Ge An Lian Xiang Gen Ni Tan Tan" |
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SYNOPSISHigh school is where lifelong friendships are made and tough life lessons are learned. Meeting in high school, Kang Jia Wei and Xu Jing Jing didn't see eye to eye originally, but upon striking a bargain to help each other with grades and losing weight, their bond changed. Over the years, their circle of friends has grown but their friendship has remained strong. Having learned, laughed, cried, and cheered each other on as they've each made their way through the various ups and downs of life, this tight-knit group of friends has only grown closer over the years. But some things are bound to change over time. As high school gets harder, Jia Wei and Jing Jing are beginning to see that some relationships are bound to grow even closer while others are destined to drift apart. (Source: MyDramalist) |
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CHARACTERS |
 | | Xu Jing Jing is a cheerful girl, good at sports, and has a passion for drawing. However, she has the disadvantage of not being good at studying. She has had a crush on Gao Zhan since her first year of high school. |
 | Gao Zhan is one of the most popular students at school. He is good at studying, plays basketball, and taekwondo, and is always trusted by his teachers. He loves detective work and aspires to be a policeman like his father. |
 | Wang Jia Yao is the best friend of Xu Jing Jing (Female Lead). She is very talented in drawing and good at literature subjects. |
 | Liu Xiao Bai is the best friend of Xu Jing Jing (Female Lead). Words that describe Liu Xiao Bai are cute and funny. |
|  | Kang Jia Wei is a transfer student in the second semester of high school class 2. He is a student who is good at his studies, good at basketball games, humorous, and very attentive to his friends. |
 | Xu Jing Jing is a beautiful student who is very popular at school. She is a cheerleader, excellent in her studies, and very interested in street dance. She learned street dance secretly because her mother disagreed. |
 | Ni Da Peng is a humorous student, who always brought happiness to the classroom. He has a crush on Wang Jia Yao. |
 | Xiong Shuai is Ni Da Peng's best friend. He has a personality like Ni Da Peng, and he is an athletic student. |
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Note: There are 2 characters named Xu Jing Jing that might confuse you, that's why I identified Xu Jing Jing's main role and supporting role.
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THINGS TO LOOK FORWARD TO |
One of the reasons I want to watch this series is because of the main roles.  Female lead: I've watched a lot of Dai Lu Wa's works in the past, and I'm very impressed with her acting skills. Some of her dramas that I have watched are Please Classmate (2021), Cross Fire (2020), and When We Were Young (2018). If you have watched these dramas, you would know that the characters that Dai Lu Wa played are different in each drama, and she can play those characters very well. She is one of my favorite Chinese actresses!
 Male Lead: Maybe some of you are not too familiar with Zhai Zi Lu, he is the one who makes this series more colorful. He brings the character of Kang Jia Wei into this drama very well. In my opinion, Zhai Zi Lu has a charisma that can make others enjoy watching the drama he is in. He has also played in the drama Be Yourself (2021) and Lucky's First Love (2019). The dramas mentioned above have a fairly high rating on MyDramalist. |
 In my opinion, comedy in a series or movie is very important to lighten the mood. A simple comedy scene is enough as long as it is played well. It is very difficult to find a comedy drama that matches what we expect because everyone's comedy preferences are different.
This drama has a comedy genre, and you can already notice that from episode 1. The comedy in this drama is delivered very well and does not seem excessive.  This series has several characters that are always accompanied by comedy scenes such as Xu Jing Jing's (Female Lead) parents Xu Bing (Chen Guan Ning) and Shi Yi Hui (Liu Xi Yuan), Ni Da Peng, Xiong Shuai, and of course the main leads of the series, Kang Jia Wei and Xu Jing Jing itself.
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As we know most Chinese dramas with the theme 'youth' must have a friendship scene in them. This drama tells the story of the friendship that grows between Kang Jia Wei and Xu Jing Jing (Female Lead) after meeting in 2nd-grade high school and becoming classmates. Previously, she has been already friends with Wang Jia Yao and Lu Xiao Bai. Not only between them but friendships are also established with other classmates. Day after day they passed together, and friendships began to grow between each other. Kang Jia Wei and Xu Jing Jing (Female Lead) began to get closer to Wang Jia Yao, Lu Xiao Bai, Xu Jing Jing (Supporting Character), Gao Zhan, Ni Da Peng, and Xiong Shuai. Their presence added to the solidarity of the class and they always worked together to help improve each other's grades. |
According to the genre written above, this drama also has romance scenes from several couples. As I expected, the romance does not appear quickly and feels rushed, but slowly and looks perfect.  Xu Jing Jing (Female Lead) has kept her feelings for Gao Zhan for over a year. She recorded all of Gao Zhan's habits and favorites in detail in her diary. She always tried to get close to Gao Zhan even though she had many rivals because Gao Zhan was one of the popular students at school.
 From the beginning of the school transfer, Kang Jia Wei has been fascinated by Xu Jing Jing's (Supporting Character) beauty. He asked his seatmate Xu Jing Jing (Female Lead) for help in approaching Xu Jing Jing (Supporting Character). This feeling increases with the appearance of signs that prove the latter Xu Jing Jing is his internet friend. Their relationship grows closer as time goes by.
 While Kang Jia Wei and Xu Jing Jing (Female Lead) made an alliance to help each other in their respective romantic relationships, without them knowing their feelings grew and became more attentive to each other, jealous, and always wanted to be close to each other.
 One of the reasons that make me love watching this series, even more, is the side couples! Although their scenes are very limited, they make the series more interesting, Ni Da Peng's behavior of approaching Wang Jia Yao humorously is enough to make us smile to ourselves, hehe!
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CONCLUSIONI really want to recommend this drama to you guys. I started this drama with low expectations, but unexpectedly I really liked this drama. Some of the main cast playing in this series may have played in popular dramas before, and there is no doubt about their acting skills. But, casts that I haven't seen before also surprised me with their acting skills. So far, this series has an interesting story, heartwarming, and filled with comedy that makes us laugh. In each episode, there is a story that makes us always look forward to the continuation. There may be some unexplained scenes in the last few episodes, but that doesn't make my rating of this drama decrease. In my opinion, My Calorie Boy would still be the best school-themed Chinese drama this year! Thank you for reading, and happy watching! |
BONUSFrom Zhai Zi Lu to Kang Jia Wei: A Transformation |
We really appreciated the drama production company for not being lazy by using another actor for Kang Jia Wei's character when he is overweight. Instead, the team took the time (about 5 hours!) to transform Zhai Zi Lu into less-than-slim Kang Jia Wei. We also praised the actor for enduring discomfort during each transformation and shooting.
The full video can be seen here. |
Thank you to the editors who edited this article! Credits: All images (including Feature Image) are taken from the official posters and stills on MDL. First draft and GIFs (taken from drama screenshots) by LexyLexyy. Visual design, last GIF (link attached), and preliminary editing by Cho Na. | |
youth
my calorie boy
dai lu wa
zhai zi lu
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