Forward Forever (2020) poster
7.5
Your Rating: 0/10
Ratings: 7.5/10 from 353 users
# of Watchers: 3,715
Reviews: 5 users
Ranked #6052
Popularity #3914
Watchers 353

A story set at a period of great unrest during the end of the Qing Dynasty and beginning of the Republic of China, that follows two impassioned youths as they devote their lives to their country. Due to a series of events, Ah Yi strikes a friendship with Chong Li Ming who is a member of the imperial family. He gets recruited to join Yan Shi Fan, an extraordinary league of guards whose sole responsibility is to defend the palace. After numerous harsh and challenging tests, Ah Yi establishes a deep camaraderie with his teammates. Chong Li Ming also learns the importance of friendship through repeated power struggles against the foreigners, the triads and the filth of corruption that is plaguing the Qing Dynasty Courts. However, the progression of history causes Ah Yi and Chong Li Ming to develop disparate ideals and their friendship starts to crumble. ~~ Adapted from the manhua “Brilliant” by Han Lu. Edit Translation

  • English
  • Español
  • magyar / magyar nyelv
  • dansk
  • Country: China
  • Type: Drama
  • Episodes: 58
  • Aired: Jan 20, 2020 - Mar 15, 2020
  • Aired On: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Sunday
  • Original Network: BTV Dragon TV Mango TV Youku
  • Duration: 45 min.
  • Score: 7.5 (scored by 353 users)
  • Ranked: #6052
  • Popularity: #3914
  • Content Rating: Not Yet Rated

Where to Watch Forward Forever

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Cast & Credits

Photos

Forward Forever (2020) photo
Forward Forever (2020) photo
Forward Forever (2020) photo
Forward Forever (2020) photo
Forward Forever (2020) photo
Forward Forever (2020) photo

Reviews

Completed
Mandy Yang
20 people found this review helpful
Mar 31, 2020
58 of 58 episodes seen
Completed 2
Overall 9.5
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 9.5
Rewatch Value 9.0
This review may contain spoilers
Buckle in, this is LONG; if you don't want to read, at the end, there's a TL;DR.

I rarely get emotional over dramas (the only one that's ever made me cry was the Untamed, and I credit that to excellent story writing and Xiao Zhan's acting). And although this drama didn't make me cry, it definitely made me more than a bit emotional.

There's spectacular character development throughout the entire thing. Although flat characters remain rather flat-- for example, Chong Li Ming's father, or his brother, or Xiao Hong--, it's a good thing. It brings more liveliness into our center characters, making them rounder and more full. Chong Li Ming's character isn't a male "Mary Sue"-- he struggles with a lot of issues, such as breaking away from the past as well as letting people go. Ah Yi's character is probably the closest we get to a "Mary Sue"-- he's a better fighter than Chong Li Ming, he's morally upright, he's incredibly kind, and he's committed to his friend. (And Jackson's acting is amazing in this!)

The cast is well chosen and honestly they're amazing together. They have fantastic chemistry together, especially Yu Chu (Hu Bing Qing) with Ah Yi (Jackson Yi). Admittedly, Yu Chu (Hu Bing Qing) is a bit more awkward with Chong Li Ming (Huang Zi Tao), but it works with her character design (to be honest, I'm not 100% sure if the awkwardness is engineered into her acting intentionally or not, but either way, it works really well with the story as well as her character design).

I especially enjoyed the following characters' acting: Yang Zhen (June Wu) (his character is listed as a side character, but honestly, he's more of a main character than Marie), Ke Yan Xin (Liu Yuan), and Xiao Ke (Li Jun Mo). Yang Zhen's character actually made me hate him so much, which is credited more to the actor, June Wu, then the writing (because you can have a well written story, but if the acting is poor, the character will fall flat). Ke Yan Xin's character starts off as very lovable, but then becomes a less lovable character, which the actor carries well with grace and it's very well integrated. Xiao Ke's actor, Li Jun Mo, also does a spectacular job. Although his facial expressions are a bit recycled, he does fantastic nonetheless.

Honorable mentions: Wa Ge Na (Richards Wang), Hua Jiu Qing (Ning Xin), Marie (Ma Li, actor: Miranda Ma)

I'm going to loop back a bit to the story, as I've gone on a LOT about characters. The story is spectacularly written. I see a lot of people get upset because this was a BL story originally, but what did you expect? It's China, so they're going to have to write that out in order to air it. However, unlike the Untamed, it's far more subtle; it's written more like a bromance rather than having romantic undertones. Nonetheless, it's a very well written story, with overarching themes of loyalty and growth and bromance (there's a LOT of bromance).

The music is pretty good as well, especially paired with the more emotional scenes.

TL;DR: It's good. Watch it. Please. Acting, music, story- all superb. If you don't want to because it took away the BL aspect, know that this is still well written enough to be its own story. If you don't want to because of its length and fear of it being dragged out: it's not and honestly, quite binge-able.

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Completed
Hermine Voltaire
4 people found this review helpful
Mar 24, 2021
58 of 58 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 5.0
Story 4.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 10
Rewatch Value 2.0
This review may contain spoilers

Drop any expectation you might have, at the door

Somehow I made it through...
Did I almost drop it? Many times along the way.
Until the end, I really did not feel a strong, deep connection, friendship or bromance between Prince Chong Li Ming and Ayi.
Chong Li Ming was always the one, showing all of his emotions (Ayant le sensibilité à fleur de peau); however, I could never really read Ayi’s attachment toward Chong Li Ming.
I am not sure if was the actor’s lack of skill or it was the way the character was written...
I was prepared for everyone to die, except Wagner. Wagner was an unnecessary casualty.

*All in all, not the worst turn-of-era, Qing to Early Chinese Republic drama.
However, the complete change of concept from the original storyline and the strange adaptation were rather hard to swallow. Although, the choreographed fighting sequences were excellent.
*Also however atrocious the writing of his dramas might be, no viewer or fan of Z. Tao can stay upset at him... With that glorious honey-colored skin of his;)

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Recent Discussions

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Details

  • Drama: Forward Forever
  • Country: China
  • Episodes: 58
  • Aired: Jan 20, 2020 - Mar 15, 2020
  • Aired On: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Sunday
  • Original Network: BTV, Dragon TV, Mango TV, Youku
  • Duration: 45 min.
  • Content Rating: Not Yet Rated

Statistics

  • Score: 7.5 (scored by 353 users)
  • Ranked: #6052
  • Popularity: #3914
  • Watchers: 3,715

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