A must watch for melodrama enthusiasts and acting fans!

The novel this drama was based on actually had two sections -- a historical bad-end love story and a modern-day reincarnation. The reason this got split into 2 dramas (One and Only, then sequel Forever and Ever) is due to mainland Chinese broadcasting rules -- apparently reincarnation stories are banned? So they got to do it like this.

Hence I came into this knowing that this is the sad part I'll have to sit through before the happy stuff in Forever and Ever... and despite knowing how the love story ends, it's still very much worth a watch for the acting, the feels, and the character chemistry. You have seasoned actors Bai Lu and Ren Jialun who are KNOWN for how well their eyes convey emotion. And then despite the bad end being well-known, the surprising attention to detail in the script will amaze you -- motifs and themes being brought back to add to the emotion of the scene (and to cheat you out of more tears). I think part of this can be attributed to the fact that the novel writer had a hand in the drama script. And the director / production team really knew what they were doing. I'm not very prone to crying while watching dramas, but I absolutely lost it in the last 2 episodes and was loudly bawling from the plot, the directing, and the insert songs... Oh boy the insert songs. They added so much feeling to the scenes.

Also, if you're an Under the Power fan, you will appreciate the return of several actors like Xie Yuanyuan and Lin Yi. It's fun to see them work together again :) And one of Shengchen's generals is Linda from Never Say Goodbye!!! (ie. all of them are Ren Jialun's former co-stars? LOL)

PS: the rewatch value is purely for the 2 episodes of sugar before the big sad hit. I can't put myself through those sad scenes again -- hurt too much T-T (in a good way)

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The production team's best drama to date!

This drama starts off really promising, with Zhang Xin Cheng's amazing body-switch acting (okay Liang Jie lacked a little at the beginning but gets better) and a very upbeat funny script
and superb comedic timing when it comes to the background music (waiter! please give the BGM teacher one extra chicken leg!)
but as with the two previous dramas by this production team (Go Ahead and Find Yourself), I was worried that the scriptwriter would also give up on the earlier successes and like, disappoint us in the end
so I was hesitant to recommend this until I had watched all of it.

By episode 24, I was like, wow this is really keeping up
and by episode 26, I thought this was probably one of the best Chinese dramas I've seen this year.

The strengths of Find Yourself -- ridiculously funny character settings + breaking the 4th wall humor (oh my god that *one* scene hahahaha)
and the strengths of Go Ahead -- family love and reconciliation
minus the weaknesses of the two earlier dramas -- draggy plot, irrational character decisions, single-faceted villain characters

In this drama, not only all the main characters are lovable, but even the side slightly-bad villain characters get their redeeming moments
and I guess the 26-episode shortness kind of helped keep things contained and to the point
so we got the comedy and the fun and the romance without the draggy plot

I've already mentioned Zhang Xin Cheng's acting, but I got to mention it again.
Best female lead of 2021.
When he plays the female lead's soul, his attention to small details... 100% resemblance holymoly.
Would recommend even if you're not into rom coms and are just into enjoying good acting, music, and cinematography.
And even more recommended if you love a good rom com too. Cus this one is pretty great.

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A cute drama about family, love, friendship, and chasing after your dreams!

If you're in for a happy feels trip, this drama is the one.
It isn't very different or out of the ordinary
but it's the type of drama that will not fail to put a smile to your face through the whole thing

We have female lead Mashiba, who is an influencer on instagram and works hard to be a buyer
and male lead Fujino, who seeks a minimalist life while pursuing his chef dreams
Secondary characters in their shared house or Mashiba's workplace, who are also equally lovable...
And if you like seeing cute pets in dramas
they have a really cute dog that makes many appearances too ^o^

This drama is full of love and mutual support
and offers a breath of fresh air from the dark or scheme-y dramas out there :)

Highly recommend if you want something light and inspiring.

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Beautiful piece of art. Highly recommended for the feels.

If you're into a deep discussion of what family, friendship, and relationships mean, and a lot of human observation
then works by Sakamoto Yuji (the screenwriter) are for you.

I've been a huge fan of the way he works his careful observations about humans and about how we interact as in a society into his *very relatable* and *very quotable* script.

Yes, this is a story about a woman and a "harem" of 3 ex-husbands, but the way they discuss this weird "family dynamics" is different from your typical rom com (let's be real, this isn't even a rom com... just a family comedy). It's super refreshing, and will give you vibes of some of his previous works, like Saikou no Rikon (a story about a divorced couple) and Quartet (also starring the same female lead and one of the male leads -- the first ex-husband). It's a drama I would never want to fast forward, because everything happens for a reason, and every character that comes and goes contributes to the main characters' development and growth. While the topics explored can get heavy at times, the way he handles it is light and unexpectedly funny.

You'll find easter eggs in later episodes referencing earlier happenings and how the characters have changed. And if you've watched previous works by this screenwriter (you should!), you will find that he's writing a love letter to his previous characters using his current ones. While this drama can of course be viewed as a stand-alone of its own, I especially love the continuity in his writing.

If this is your first Sakamoto Yuji drama, then be ready for a huge feels ride. This might be one of the best works I've seen of his. Grab a glass of water, sit down, relax, and get your screenshot hot keys ready. There are *so many* dialogues in this drama that are worth revisiting over and over again.

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Cute coming of age youth drama!

Another cute high school to college entrance exams drama
Come for the youthfulness
the friendship
the family lines
and of course this "brother/sister" relationship
but don't expect any hardcore romance (must be because the female lead is too young)

I'm amazed at how young this female lead is -- she definitely held her end of the show with adult costars
10/10 acting points go to the male lead's eyes
if you watched him in Maiden Holmes you'd know -- great casting for "protective male lead" role
I look forward to watching him in more romance-heavy shows later

PS: I love how there's a scene showcasing the young leads' relationship with the child actor/actress at the end of every episode -- so cute and adds quite a lot to the storytelling imo

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It was so touchingly good. Everything hurts.

You know with the tragic past / medical dramas that you'd better be going in with a box of tissue.
The acting was amazing -- well of course, we got seasoned actress Yoshitaka Yuriko and upcoming rising star Yokohama Ryuusei
And villain-wise we got Machida Keita which was a hugeeee surprise for me <3 (known for Cherry Magic!)

I really like the way this was shot, with some slow and fast development
The best part was seeing that dog grow up LOL. Suku is so cute (and no it doesn't die in case you needed to check #DoesTheDogDie)
The main storyline... Well I don't really agree with some of the things the male lead did, but since it's a movie it didn't lead to an overbearingly stupid draggy plotline so I don't complain
In fact his decisions brought me the biggest crying point of the movie where I continued crying until pretty much the very end because of how touchingly sad everything was.

Anyway, watch if you're ready for a feels trip and enjoy good production value, good acting, and a cute dog. Don't watch if you like happy movies because this is obviously not it.

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A rare gem in the historical detective story realm!

This was SUCH a good watch. A rare drama that I watch at 1x speed (instead of 1.5-2x) because it was soooo full of content and useful information, and there are so many good couples to ship with amazing chemistry <3

As a detective story, it called back content/keywords that appeared in the past, and all the characters (both the good and the bad) are so smart so you won't get those "angry at the main character for making stupid decisions that lead to slow-moving draggy drama" moments! The fact that this is more detective-focused than romance-focused also meant, we had a very logic and detail-oriented plot full of surprises and twists and turns! You're bound to be amazed by the battle of the wits between the leads and the bad guys :P

While the IQ is 200 in the show, they did make the lines such that the normal viewer would be able to understand what's going on, and they supplement a lot of visual-spatial descriptions with cutely drawn comics!

Also, every character is well-described and has multiple faces -- so you don't have single-faceted characters that only show up for a bit to serve one purpose. This made all the side characters super lovable as well (except for maybe the one or two villains, of course hahaha)

As a rom com, the script design is smart and the comedic timing is gold. I don't need to say anymore -- just go watch the show. XD The only reason this isn't a 10/10? I didn't get enough of the 2 leads. I could have used an extra 2 minutes of them at the end, instead of a very very crime-solving focused finale...

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It was cute until it got old...

From the opening theme song you'll already know that this isn't your typical historical drama... it's essentially just a rom com (with a lot of comedy) but with historical costumes.
I really loved this show from the beginning until I want to say somewhere in episode mid-20's, and then it lost all its charm because of the stupid draggy stuff that unfortunately happens when drama-writing gets lazy. And the ending was too cliche and not even mildly satisfying, making the middle draggy plot not worth enduring in my opinion :(
And from the behind-the-scenes, we know the drama-writing is pretty lazy. The director commented on how he had to change a few scenes because the script wasn't realistic enough.

This show reunites Wan Peng and Zhang Yao from When We Were Young, giving them completely different feels. If you shipped the 2ML x 1FL couple from that show, you'll find this main pairing satisfying I guess. In this sense, it was an okay watch for some sugar and fluff (and typical rom com predictability).

The songs are pretty fun (and you might find videos of the leads dancing to the catchy opening theme if you look for some behind the scenes)

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Hilarious and unpredictable comedy

This was an amazing watch as a follow up to "My Youth" (a completely different drama featuring the same male and female leads). You'll see completely different sides of the two actors, given the wildly unrealistic and over-exaggerated funny moments here (vs. the cheery coming-of-age feel of My Youth). Plus the female lead's psychiatric disorder has multiple personalities, so it's fun seeing her act out all of those scenarios too.

What I loved most about the plot is that while there are many "jealous female characters trying to ruin the female lead and her relationship with the male lead," the scriptwriter tries to put a different spin to the scenario and the result is always unpredictable, funny, and exhilarating if you're rooting for the female lead. The bad characters get what they deserve in the most unexpected ways. There are also a lot of times when the situation gets really cringey and then a character says exactly what us audience members want to say about a villain character or a drama trope situation. The scriptwriter is real meta.

Side note: there are 3 separate couples in this drama and all are cute in their own way!!! No stupid love triangles YES
Side note 2: I'm not a fan of the last "2030" arc but it did bring an ok wrap up for the drama. Everything before it though? Amazing.

If you require that all your dramas be logically correct and maturely handled, this would not be it. However, if you're willing to forgive the fact that that psychiatric disorder the female lead has is very questionable, and that the drama's sense of humor thrives from its illogical and wild plot development, then you'll love this drama. If you read Chinese and have access to streaming sites with those comments flying by on top of the window, you'll enjoy it even more -- The Chinese netizens' funny comments definitely improved my viewing experience.

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A cute coming-of-age drama with added nostalgia of the early 2000's!

This drama is such a cute coming-of-age story
spanning from the main characters' high school days in the early 2000's
to their professional careers in 2011.

Main characters are chasing after their dreams as well as after their loved ones
And while there is this VERY MINI sad part in the middle, most of it is cute and happy (for those of you wanting a light-hearted watch)

Beware of second male lead syndrome though, some people caught it real bad (I was team First Male Lead :P)

For those of us that grew up in the 2000's-2011, this will be a nostalgic tour through:
- phones
- QQ messenger
- famous Chinese bands/singers, as well as song lyrics
- the development of music from cassette tapes to CDs to streaming platforms
I wish there was a bit more of the pop references, though XD

It's quite a good watch if you're in for some fluff and want a trip down memory lane.
Don't expect overt-sweet romance; this is a youth drama :P

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A fast-paced yet cheesy drama with ALLL the tropes

This one is an ultimate trope land, but for some reason didn't get disgustingly draggy midway?
It's like the scriptwriter looked at the typical tropes romance dramas have
realized 24 episodes is barely enough to contain all of them
so we just got all them tropes one after the other

The storyline is a bit choppy at times and you'll wonder if you missed half an episode somewhere
And really there are way too many villain arcs in this drama for it to make sense (both business and love line villains)

But overall I really liked the cheese component of the story
The two leads had a pretty good love line with many "vinegar-eating" scenes and steamy kisses
And the secondary couple are like enemies-to-lovers which is yet another well-loved romance drama trope
And everything moves at such a fast pace that well, at least you won't get bored from a slow draggy mid-late drama (you know those dramas where there's one misunderstanding and the leads don't talk for years)
And the business line is cool too if you let go of your logic a little bit.
If it weren't for that last episode I would give it a 8.5, but that final villain arc was just way too much

And if you like to see child actors, you'll enjoy the kid in this show. He real cute. The character kind of reminds me of the kid in Begin Again?

Final verdict: watch it to kill time, don't watch if you've got better things planned.

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Predictable, cute happy fluff!

a very very typical rom com formula focused on the comedy and the sugar
it's super tropey with many trip-over-and-accidentally-kiss scenes
but they are so cute(!!!) and like they recognize it's tropey too with the manga/anime profession as the background

with all tropey dramas we worry that there would be evil 2nd leads trying to break the leads apart and that would get really draggy over multiple episodes
but the big sad valley here really doesn't last more than 2 episodes so you can rest assured when you dive into the drama
(and if you're really angry, fast forward is always an option... the ending makes up for it I promise)

so I would recommend if you're in for some cute happy fluff
plus the two actors, despite being very new to the industry, are surprisingly well-suited for their roles?
though I think they changed quite a bit of the script (based on how the voice doesn't match the mouth) so if you get very annoyed by the Chinese dubbing habit that might be some points off)

also check out the behind-the-scenes of their "3 minute long kiss" on YouTube
will add to your viewing experience for sure :)

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Started strong, disappointing final few episodes

If you want historical/cultural/logical accuracy, you can skip this drama. The history fanatics complained about the costumes and some character settings being inconsistent with the time it was set in and stuff. If you're in for witty leads and cute lead chemistry, read on.

What I really love about this drama is even though it's about the stereotypical ancient Chinese drama "battle of the wives," each arc is relatively quickly resolved and to our leads' favor. For once we had a husband who wasn't stupid!!! We don't really have detestable second leads who can outsmart our lead characters here either (that's what I hate most about typical drama tropes)... so it's just arcs and arcs of how the female lead wittily overcomes problems, sometimes with the male lead's help. Cute interactions.

However, the last 3 episodes definitely made me angry in how random the conflict was... as if it was just there to drag the show longer. The way they depicted the characters in this arc was inconsistent with how they were depicted previously (personality / choices wise) so I definitely wanted to throw things at the scriptwriter. The writers also settled for the tropiest trope of a grand finale, with the typical time skip (wtf was wrong with those fake moustaches omg ew) and the "everyone gathers together in harmony and chants some uplifting adage in unison" scene (rolls eyes -- I didn't know those still existed, I thought those were stopped like 20 years ago). That final final scene also reminds me of Under the Power, if you watched that too... but at least in Under the Power that banter was witty and funny... here it was just very cheesy and sappy :(

The story had so much promise given it's amazing cast and the lead chemistry (though there isn't as much chemistry here as there was in Under the Power... sorry that previous Seven Tan drama set my bar real high). However, the writers really just gave up and didn't keep the delivery consistent, so the drama lost some points there. One difference with Under the Power is at least Seven Tan uses her original voice, so anti-dubbers may appreciate this one more (though Wallace Chung is dubbed because he speaks Mandarin with an accent...)

The songs are amazing though! All 5 of them. Zhou Shen is ultimate period drama OST king <3 And we got Seven Tan and Wallace Chung each singing a track... and Yisa Yu is a very established singer who contributes amazing drama OSTs... and I don't know the singer of the insert ballad but the song is good too!

Rewatch value wise... no scene really stood out as "classic scenes" to be rewatched over and over again, unlike Under the Power (omg I still love rewatching certain romantic scenes from that one).

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A good premise that got wrapped up too quickly

This is a very real drama about what it means to be a mother, whether all women need to be mothers to live a complete life, and how a modern woman can live a fulfilling life (with or without kids).

Many quotable moments in the drama without anger-inducing draggy plotlines (if characters make you angry, it's because they are realistic and you know friends who have family members like that)

Only complaint is I thought it was going to be longer, so it felt like ep 15's finale was super rushed. As a result I don't really understand what happened and why that time skip.

The first 14 episodes are really enjoyable nonetheless. Would recommend to anyone who wants to explore modern woman issues.

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Meh drama saved by the leads' acting/chemistry and the OST.

The script and the production value were meh. Your typical period drama with politics and that whole "someone's dad killed someone else's family so the kids can't be together" sort of trope. The CGI was TERRIBLY done. The cases were also pretty meh and didn't have a crime drama thrill to it. The only thing that really kept me going was the leads' chemistry, but I knew this going in anyway (because I read reviews here) so I just soldiered on.

That being said. The leads' acting. Seven Tan IS Jinxia (you'll see the resemblance to her character in Go Ahead), and Allen Ren's versatile acting skills made him the perfect Lu Yi... age 8 to 22 (you'll see what I mean when you get to that arc OMG HIS EYES.)
The leads' chemistry was really A+. Like we almost feel bad for shipping the two because the male lead actor, Allen Ren, is happily married with a kid in real life -- so the bunch of us fangirls are like SHIP THE CHARACTERS, NOT THE ACTORS the whole time. Like there wasn't a lot of real hardcore skinship in the show, but the rumor is that Allen Ren's eyes can make any scene seem like an intimate bed scene. The way Lu Yi looks at Jinxia already makes my heart flutter like crazy. And his lines... he somehow makes very sappy lines sound... sexy?

Let's talk OST -- we got period drama OST god Zhou Shen's opening song, and Allen Ren himself sang the closing song... and Seven Tan also sang one of the insert songs (named after her character, Jinxia/"this summer")
Songs are amazing and worth looping even after the drama ends. Also, I'll be rewatching some of the leads' romantic scenes... my heart <33333

Also, highly recommend watching the behind-the-scenes if you speak Chinese. Lu Yi was dubbed, and Allen Ren's real (younger-sounding) voice gives Lu Yi's lines a whole different *ADORABLE* feel. Oh my god he is so cute.

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