Aequitas
California/Texas
This review may contain spoilers
-----Story-----
Growing up in a Chinese family, there were so many points of the show that really resonated with me. This show really brings a lot of Chinese culture to the table. I truly, truly enjoyed that aspect.
The depiction of parent, children, and teacher interactions were quite well done. So many different angles of parenting were covered and so many different resulting children personalities. The clashing of these personalities is portrayed very well. There's a lot of insight in the show about how students are brought up in China and how the system shapes them into who they will become.
The depictions of high school students facing things like relationship issues, academic accomplishment, and their futures, the show really does a great job with fleshing out the students' progression from the beginning to the end of their days as a student. This show goes into some really heavy material as well. I found myself helplessly crying as it was so moving.
Rather important for me, I'm so grateful that this show dedicates time to life after all their struggles in high school. It gives us closure and doesn't just end with some happily ever after, after high school is over. Life's not over after high school.
-----Acting/Cast-----
I'd have to say, there was nothing notably bad for me. I really liked the actors. Their acting was often very moving so I'd have to say it was very well done.
-----Music-----
Arguably, no song felt memorable from the show. None. However, I believe they do the music very well in this show because each scene that needed to hit home hard, is backed by music that seemingly perfectly pairs with the emotions the scene is trying to convey. The music was definitely excellently done.
-----Rewatch Value-----
I'm not really much of a person who ever rewatches anything so my rating for this is rather arbitrary. I think there are a lot of takeaways in this movie. Lots of cultural stuff to be learned, lots of moral lessons, and lots of motivational stuff in this movie. I highly doubt I would watch the entirety of it again, but there are definitely scenes in the show that hit home. There are scenes worth watching again. The movie also links the beginning all the way to the end really well. Often times I found myself thinking, I needed to go back to watch some scene again that had some foreshadowing that I didn't quite remember but it was prominent enough that it left a mark in my mind. It's really a good show. I'm certain many would rewatch it again.
-----Overall-----
I come from the background of being a Chinese American millennial. This show truly did resonate a lot with me. I might not have been born in China and gone through the exact same system as theirs, but I was brought up with similar cultural aspects and similar parenting aspects. If you're someone in this demographic, this show is pretty much a must watch.
From the beginning till the end, this show was amazing.
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~~~~Sort of Spoiler-ish Review Stuff~~~~~
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When they show the characters in the end during the last 2 episodes, the time after the Gaokao, It's almost like they didn't even try to make the actors look their appropriate age which is about... 31? Maybe it was symbolism to show that they, despite all the years, are still like themselves from their best time. Their days of the past. But it was just kind of like... hmmm...
Another thing about the ending is that Chinese women age 27+ are called leftover women. The women as depicted in the show are already 4 years-ish older than this age and they're still not married. To me, this was the show kind of fighting against that notion that women who don't marry early are leftover unwanted goods. I really liked that. Times are changing in China.
Growing up in a Chinese family, there were so many points of the show that really resonated with me. This show really brings a lot of Chinese culture to the table. I truly, truly enjoyed that aspect.
The depiction of parent, children, and teacher interactions were quite well done. So many different angles of parenting were covered and so many different resulting children personalities. The clashing of these personalities is portrayed very well. There's a lot of insight in the show about how students are brought up in China and how the system shapes them into who they will become.
The depictions of high school students facing things like relationship issues, academic accomplishment, and their futures, the show really does a great job with fleshing out the students' progression from the beginning to the end of their days as a student. This show goes into some really heavy material as well. I found myself helplessly crying as it was so moving.
Rather important for me, I'm so grateful that this show dedicates time to life after all their struggles in high school. It gives us closure and doesn't just end with some happily ever after, after high school is over. Life's not over after high school.
-----Acting/Cast-----
I'd have to say, there was nothing notably bad for me. I really liked the actors. Their acting was often very moving so I'd have to say it was very well done.
-----Music-----
Arguably, no song felt memorable from the show. None. However, I believe they do the music very well in this show because each scene that needed to hit home hard, is backed by music that seemingly perfectly pairs with the emotions the scene is trying to convey. The music was definitely excellently done.
-----Rewatch Value-----
I'm not really much of a person who ever rewatches anything so my rating for this is rather arbitrary. I think there are a lot of takeaways in this movie. Lots of cultural stuff to be learned, lots of moral lessons, and lots of motivational stuff in this movie. I highly doubt I would watch the entirety of it again, but there are definitely scenes in the show that hit home. There are scenes worth watching again. The movie also links the beginning all the way to the end really well. Often times I found myself thinking, I needed to go back to watch some scene again that had some foreshadowing that I didn't quite remember but it was prominent enough that it left a mark in my mind. It's really a good show. I'm certain many would rewatch it again.
-----Overall-----
I come from the background of being a Chinese American millennial. This show truly did resonate a lot with me. I might not have been born in China and gone through the exact same system as theirs, but I was brought up with similar cultural aspects and similar parenting aspects. If you're someone in this demographic, this show is pretty much a must watch.
From the beginning till the end, this show was amazing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~Sort of Spoiler-ish Review Stuff~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When they show the characters in the end during the last 2 episodes, the time after the Gaokao, It's almost like they didn't even try to make the actors look their appropriate age which is about... 31? Maybe it was symbolism to show that they, despite all the years, are still like themselves from their best time. Their days of the past. But it was just kind of like... hmmm...
Another thing about the ending is that Chinese women age 27+ are called leftover women. The women as depicted in the show are already 4 years-ish older than this age and they're still not married. To me, this was the show kind of fighting against that notion that women who don't marry early are leftover unwanted goods. I really liked that. Times are changing in China.
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