Decent Mini Drama
Sweet story about changing fate and time travel. The male and female lead have good chemistry and good kisses. The acting was good too. The costumes and sets were very well done for a mini drama. The story made sense, although I wish there had been a few more seconds spent on the ending.You could feel the FL character's desperation to change fate and have things return to how they should be, time and time again. When the FL first gets transported to the past it is supposed to be 7 years after they'd met and the ML was bitter because she'd vanished 7 years ago. The second time she appeared it was 7 years in past to where the met for the first time. Finally she gets transported to the past even further back when he was 7 years old and she saves his life. The ending is a bit ambiguous but not all bad.
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A time travel mini-drama that provides a light escape
I like time travel stories with romance, so I decided to watch Lovesickness after reading the synopsis. It's quite short, where most episodes are around 10 to 11 minutes, and that includes the ending trailer. I finished it in 2 weeknights after work.It has both angst and comedy, so I consider it a light watch. The pacing is fast, where the plot develops quickly, so you won't feel that the story is dragging, and even if there are conflicts, it gets resolved quickly. Since it's short and fast-paced, some plot development felt rushed. They breezed through the last episode, and the ending is open to interpretation. But as a whole, I think the drama's execution is good.
The actor that shines for me is Yan Zi Xian, who plays the male lead Xiao Chu. He was convincing in his portrayal of the serious and feared 28 year-old Duke of Chu, and the carefree and happy-go-lucky 21-year old Xiao Chu. Not to mention he reminds me of Chen Xing Xu in his ancient costume and get-up.
Yu Yi Lei was able to show the funny, mischievous, serious, lovesick, and angsty sides of Mo An An. However, it did not leave as strong an impression on me as Yan Zi Xian's portrayal.
Since this is a romance drama, chemistry is important. I'm happy to say that the ML and FL have good chemistry.
As for production and costumes, there's nothing fancy or extraordinary, but good enough for a costume mini-drama.
Final Verdict: If you like time travel stories that you can finish quickly, that is not too serious and provides a light escape, then grab your popcorn and binge-watch this.
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An extremely promising Part One, of what is hopefully a two-parter...
If someday they make the sequel and it's as good as this was, I'll revise my rating to an 8.5 or a 9This was a time-travel plotline that satisfies, because the pacing is just right, and it doesn't get overly confusing at any point. The story was interesting, but not too interesting. After all, in a romance drama, the plot is supposed to serve as the vehicle and backdrop to a core story about two people falling in love. Some romance dramas become so plot-heavy and entangled that the writers forget there's supposed to be a ROMANCE story in there, and the romance drops by the wayside in sacrifice to a plot thats just too much. Not with this one. The romance is always at front and center of the story, in every episode.
Lovesickness has a very interesting and peculiar brand of "angst" running through it that I greatly enjoyed. The characters are smiling and the sky is sunny, the clothes are white and pink, and yet you can feel this terrible sadness and yearning beneath it, coming from the plot, and it's such an odd contrast, I loved it.
Actors were EXCELLENT!!! Oh my GOD, the FL and ML are total powerhouse actors with amazing range, and they have real chemistry between them. As many of us already know, Yan Zi Xian knows how to kiss. But this time he's really outdone himself, because THERE IS A FRENCH KISS IN EPISODE 11. Yu Yi Lei, the actress who plays the FL is AWESOME for letting him kiss her like that, and she just rolled with it. She's not a bad onscreen kisser herself, and her ACTING is so GOOD. I normally am really picky about FL actresses, but I am an instant fan of YYL because of her performance in this. I cannot stress enough that these roles required a LOT of range of emotion and personality, and YYL and YZX completely slayed.
Makeup was totally on point. There are times where ML or FL has to look sickly, wounded, pale, drunk, happy, whatever.... and every time, the makeup set off the scene to make it that much more believable.
Writing also on point. The dialogue was touching but not sappy, easy to follow, with great sense of timing and pacing. The flow of the story was natural.
Many aspects of this show were frivolous, cliche, predictable. In that sense, this show is meant to be a casual, light watch. That's usually how it is with short-lengths. But within the confines of their format... they really fuckin nailed it. My only gripe is the way it ended, and I very much hope a part 2 is slated to happen at some point.
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One more episode
"One of the best time-travel dramas I've watched.I initially decided to watch the drama because of the male lead, and he absolutely nailed his role. The female lead also delivered a fantastic performance.
However, I was left wanting more, especially a proper ending. The line "Love is bitter but I will not regret" was particularly poignant.
Although the female lead traveled back in time three times, she couldn't change anything. The conclusion was clear: what's done is done, and no one can undo it."
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