Somewhere Only We Know (2019)

This show is actually one of the most artistic shows, the way this is shot is actually incredible, the whole show has a nostalgic atmosphere to it,its like watching a story in photographs ,they made the saturation of the scenes super high making it look more yellow than it is and more blue than it is,makes you remember your past days,this is what makes it more impactful than it is. They include so many scenes that I actually remember from the past like doomsday, which was such an original concept!
This show depicts so many types of relationships a person may have in thier life, in the most realistic way possible. It shows friendship, love life,relationship with parents and grandparents. It is so relatable,so many of the scenes look like actual life of a College student which makes me miss College :(
The story of the 4 friends is so well written, its beautiful to see 4 EXTREMELY different people come together in one room and share thier beautiful memories together. The way they handle life and relationships is also super refreshing. I also love how none of the girls are average they all are fighting and struggling over something in thier life. The four friends character development is fkn incredible! Even when they become frustrating, the way they grow out of it is beautiful to watch. All four characters are very new and refreshing, they take problems head on and confront people when needed,especially the girls xue tong and xiao tang ,thier characters are especially well written.
The acting of the characters are so top notch I cant even begin to talk about how well each character was portrayed, such a good job,it still gives me goosebumps.
This show addresses issues such as animal protection, which introduces another incredible character called chen yan,she is one of the most beautiful characters I have seen in drama land,nobody is better than her. It also shows how when an earthquake happens in the neighbouring city and how the others in College come together to help,this level of relatable is never shown in any of the dramas I have seen before.
The chemistry between the couple is also so cute,one of the realest relationships I have seen portrayed on screen, so incredible how they show every scene!
The story has so many symbolic references and dialogues that actually makes you think so much,which is again one of my favourite aspects of the show.the last scene,before the extremely baffling epilogue, actually blew me away,this is the only drama to make me so impressed.
The only thing that makes me reduce 1.5 points is STORY GAPS and the ending. The writer introduces so many issues and problems but doesn't take care of any of them properly especially for the male lead mu chenge, we dont get to see anything about the process of his character development and reasoning for his actions (I read synopsis for the special episodes which really helped fill the gaps but I literally cant find anywhere with subs). There are so many holes in the ending too,we dont get to see the story endings of the other characters, which was really sad. This makes me so upset considering how good the show is they let us down with the ending,even though it was a happy one.
But let me say that one of the reasons people may not watch the show may be because it's a teacher-student relationship, which is not true at all the leads are far from that,if that's the reason stopping you dont worry as it is one of the most cutest stories I have seen!
This show considering everything still impressed me to a level where I didn't regret watching it at any point. I savored everything and completed this show in a week wondering how beautiful every scene is (I replayed so many scenes too,I have a thing for beautiful direction), A MUST WATCH

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WARNING SPOILERS BELOW

Let me start off by saying there were some really good points in this drama, but some major flaws that ruined the greatness of the drama. The plot line was very normal, nothing very unique from other love-hate relationships in dramas, but I don't mind the cliche plots because what matters is how it's carried out. The best thing about this drama though was the relationship between the characters, especially between our leads Xue Tong and Sir Mu. (I just adore Xue Tong, she's a very sweet girl and very relatable for me) Anyways back to our leading couple, they started a relationship very naturally and it wasn't weird that they were once student and teacher. They have a very mature relationship, not flaunting it and caring for each other sincerely. I subtracted 1.5 on my rating because of a couple of major flaws. I didnt really love any of the supporting characters besides Chen Yan (WHY DID THEY KILL HER OFF) and Xiao Tang. Song Qiqi had an affair with that married dude and then disappeared for like the rest of the drama. Liu Qi was really iffy for me. Like he suddenly took an interest in her for like one thing and he continued to like her for a long time without having talked to her a lot. Honestly I thought he was a douche since the beginning episodes... using your friend to get at a girl and then questioning her friendship?? To me that just shows his poor chatacter, I mean he matured towards the end I guess but I still don't understand why he actually likes Xue Tong. Their relationship also was hecka rushed but I kinda understand bc it was to show Xue Tong was pretending to have moved on (at least thats what I think). My biggest annoyance with this drama was Bai Lin. Besides being cute and nice (debatable) she was absolutely awful to her boyfriend. She treated him like a dog and got mad easily, like poor dude had to apologize for everything. I mean she did realize this in the end but her class skipping was also kinda pathetic, like she's in university and doesn't go to class even when its finals or whatever. Also in the beginning she was constantly going to the fan club stuff making her friends do her homework and when she was in class she doesn't even know how to take her own notes. Last thing in my review, like many comments say, the couple of episodes toward the end werent that great and the ending kinda unsatificatory, but I'm glad Xue Tong and Sir Mu ended up together. I started this to kill some time and it did just that. Although the beginning episodes were really good, all I can really remember was the ending and how it was kinda annoying. Overall a decent watch, but definitely not one of my favorites.

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Just recently finished watching this drama.

Story: the story is okay. It's nice but not to the point I'll binge watch this. The first few episode was okay, the mid episodes are much better the later episode I almost lost my will to finish it but since I'm curious about the ending so I still finished it. The plot is okay and a bit unique with some dramas I watched but it didn't left too much impact on me.

Acting/ cast: they're all okay. I couldn't feel too much sparks with the main cast. I mean I can't feel too much of their chemistry. Their reactions most of the time are like flat affect. No emotions or whatsoever.

Music: didn't feel any songs since they don't have much background music. I'm not sure if there is or I'm just really not paying too much attention.

Rewatch value: I don't think I'll rewatch this. This drama didn't left too much impression on me.

Overall: light drama that has a bit of uniqueness with the plot and has a slice of life lessons. Some episodes are like having fillers, I don't know. Their progress is just too slow, took them a lot of episode before the ML and FL be together but still ended up their relationship then getting back again at the very last minute or seconds of the ending. Like what the heck?? Actors and actress are okay. Story line are okay as well. Ending is fine but it was very rushed. My reaction was like, "huh?? What the heck just happened?? Seriously?? That's the ending??" it left me with a lot of questions. Although there was a special episode that will answer all my questions but I wasn't able to watch it since it's only available for VIP members of iQIYI app.. just a bit annoying it left me with so much questions how the story progress at the end. though I didn't totally like this drama but I still recommend this to be watch. It's still worthy.

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its okay

In the beginning, I really didn't like it. Like the first few episodes are bland and needed spice but it started to spice up. I was happy to see the male lead and the female lead end up dating. It was more of like I like you and you like me type of relationship. What got to me and that's where I started not to like it so much is when QiQi was caught slipping. It was just me personally, got the impression that her friends sided with her and comforted her when she has known what she did. I kept hope and was excited when the second male lead and female lead were together. They look good together. Then once again the ending made me lose hope. Like you telling me that your ex comes back for a minute and you say I chose you; instead of the guy who treated you right the whole time. It was just the ending and the middle that messed it up for me. Overall, it a-okay drama just to watch.

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Most Annoying Drama winner

Let me start by stating this up front Bai Lin is the single most annoying character I have ever seen in a TV show. She has literally passed Bai Feng Jiu from TMOPB as the character I hate the most (and that is saying a lot). While Bai Lin was not the main character but a friend of the FL, she ruined an already not mediocre show to the point I actually hate the show. I feel sick whenever she is on the screen

Now for the the actual show. The story is a hot mess all over the place. it was an ok show and then i think it didn't know what to do and then just deteriorated to the point of awful. The show has been labelled a grown-up romance and more real life. To some extent that is true. The main FL is middling to annoying. She has really no depth and there could have been so much they could have done with the character. Like the pressure of having her father being a hero and how she couldn't live with the expectations. Instead of that they went the easy route, the ML is a workaholic, oh wait now he is an alcoholic (although they showed him drinking vodka, wine after the play, and the drink while on the diving vacation which is crazy), oh did we mention he has anger issues and bit his cousin when he was younger, oh and he is borderline autistic and cannot express himself. The victim FL is perfect while the ML is the cause of all of their issues. I mean that seems realistic, After the first couple, their is Bai Lin the most annoying, screeching and yelling female and her abused boyfriend. I mean in this case he was clearly the victim. Then their is Song Qi Qi having an affair with a married man.... sorry but I do not feel sorry for her. I hate the whole husband cheats cause he is unhappy and his wife doesn't understand him. It's disrespectful to marriages and wives. The only character i actually liked was Zhao Xiao Tang, although I think she should have followed her dream and study abroad.

EDITED - the ended was even more all over the place. should have stopped watching at like episode 12

Acting was mediocre to terrible. The only bright spot was the ML. I mean the character was all over the place but his acting was spot on when he was autistic, alcoholic, angry, etc. I think the character must need therapy, but I appreciated the acting. Again the actress playing Bai Lin should give up acting.

Music and production were just blah, nothing special.

The one thing I did appreciate was at least it was a college show where they took classes. That was a nice change,

Overall - probably the worst C-Drama I have ever watched. I wanted to give rewatch value 0

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A novel with ripped out pages

This is the best nor is this the worst C-drama I've watched recently but somehow I feel compelled to write a review about it. I started this with a warning from my sister who dropped it on the first episode because she thought it was boring. It wasn't.

The production of this drama is far from perfect. There were a lot of shaky and unpolished shots that reminded me of low-budget indie works. The actors weren't as flawless as you would see in some mainstream dramas either and the acting was a bit awkward at times. Nonetheless, these actors and shots came together to make one point - this isn't your ordinary school-life drama.

This is a slow-paced and realistic story that follows four college dormmates as they navigate through their university life. With warm tones that invoke a sense of nostalgia, watching this drama almost felt like reading a book. Each episode is comparable to finishing a chapter of Little Women had they been Chinese instead of Westerners and dormmates instead of sisters.

The concept of this drama is generally good. I could have rated the story higher if not for these reasons:

First, I absolutely hated Bai Lin. I admire how loyal she was but honestly, she was the type of person whom I would have slapped had she been my roommate. There was a hint of character growth towards the end of the drama but it was hardly enough.

Second, there was no conclusion at all to Zhao Xiao Tang's story. I love a good open ending but this wasn't just a giant loose end - this feels like the story was left unfinished midway and what I know so far makes me imagine that things can definitely get worse.

Third, the ending was just - to put it simply - disappointing. I would have preferred an open ending to the one that was shown. It wasn't even about the pairing; it was about how the build-up was made. All the hints were pointing to the pair closing their chapter; and except for the fact that she didn't take her assessment or submit her drafts, there wasn't even a hint of confusion on the female lead's end. She had seemed so resolute only to make a decision that was totally unexpected.

So what happened? I felt like some parts of this story were missing, like pages of the book being ripped out right before the very end.

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I liked this drama very much at the beginning but as I continued watching it ,I thought when will this end because it was boring in the middle and I was desperate for a perfect ending but ending sucks.....it’s not like we can’t watch it but it’s like we will regret watching it.....the male and female leads broke up and female lead moves on soon and gets into a relationship with second lead (I guess he deserves to be called as a second lead)....both were happy with each other but how come when male lead returns, they stayed as friends for few days and they show the part after 3 years where they show us that the male lead is hero not the second lead......I was really dissatisfied with this!!!

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I didn't enjoy this drama like I hoped I would after reading the summary. The romance was bland and predictable. The story was okay not really gripping and characters were not noticeable or that memorable. I hated the personalities of the the side characters and that was annoying. In the early half there was not doki doki heart warming love scenes or romance plot that just grips young girls heart. I felt it was getting nowhere and each drama episode felt loooonnng, as in you know when you watch a well directed episode that is 40 - 60mins+ and only when the end credits have rolled would you realize you have finished the episode then. That's how it was for my recently finished series go go squid, but was lacking that element in this drama. Even though this dram had potential it was not my final cup of tea. I even skipped to the last episode to see if they would end up together because I was reading the reviews and they mentioned a break and she may have dated that senior classmate or whatever. I still by the end of drama couldn't tell if the teacher and her ended up together (a LOT of skipping was involved in the episode and series). but even with the skipping i should be able to tell if the ending of the dram was written and directed well.

Sorry for the rant review

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An Underrated Gem

this drama has been flying under the radar, with little to no buzz surrounding it. The one reminded me of the well-known "Reply 1988," although there were some differences between the two. Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I have always been drawn to stories set in universities, especially those that delve into the lives of young individuals. This drama provided a glimpse into the Chinese university culture and the nature of relationships and interactions among students.

One aspect that stood out to me was the portrayal of the characters. They were vibrant, diverse, and well-acted, which was a pleasant surprise. Unlike many other dramas, this one didn't solely focus on clichéd romance plots. Instead, it explored the complexities of the characters' hearts, showcasing their experiences with heartbreak, falling in love, and the challenges they faced. It reminded me of my own time in college, from rushing into lectures when running late to interacting with professors.

Another element that caught my attention was the age gap romance, which happens to be my cup of tea. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the chemistry between an older man and a younger woman in this drama. It added an extra layer of depth to the story and kept me engaged throughout.

One thing that stood out to me, and I'm surprised it hasn't been widely noted, is the natural beauty of the actors and actresses. In many current Chinese dramas, there seems to be a trend of excessively lightening the actors' skin, creating an unnatural look. However, in this drama, the actors' natural beauty was showcased, which was a breath of fresh air.

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Life-Changing, Life-Learning

Dear viewer, I've never seen anything like this show. I'd particularly not even like to describe it as simply a "show" or "drama". To me, It is much more personal, like a documentary of these people and how they've lived their lives. There is nothing unrealistic about it, everything is intentional and has a purpose for these people. I don't even know where to begin in talking about it, but I did make an account simply to discuss my absolute desire for this show to be known as what it is: a pure work of art about real life people. Usually, when I'm watching something there's always a fence of good or bad, and choosing sides but in this documentary there's none of that. It's just telling you a story of how things happen because people grow. People grow from hurt, from pain, from everything. It hurts me because I relate to this show a little too much but that's because I'm human. I went into this a bit discouraged from romance, and life in general but it has brought more life into me. It's made me realize, life is deep and serious but it's also very lighthearted at times and especially beautiful despite the pain it can give. It not only touches on dating but family, friends, death, work-life balance, personal aspirations, marriage, and simple human behavior regarding relationships. We know we've not perfect as people, yet we expect others to be for us. It's taught me a lot, and I've never dated anyone before. But it's taught me so much about the expectations of a relationship, how to balance, communication, and the costs of it. Life isn't perfect on this current earth but we, as humans, can learn to live it together. Everything about this show is beautiful, from the characters you can't help but be frustrated at at times, to the dialogue, scenery, and simply real raw emotions. I don't know what the directors or actors were thinking when they created this absolute masterpiece of a show but it's caused wonder in my life. I would like to thank them for that. At first, I wasn't so sure about the couple but it made me think, who am I to approve or disapprove when it's not my relationship? If they're good together and if it's what God wants then what am I to say anything? I realized as a viewer I shouldn't have these opinions about these such things when I don't know these peoples' feelings or what they're going through. Each character has they're own sins, problems, but also love they harbor for one another. I loved everything about this show, even as I wanted to critique it, I couldn't because this was their life and as a person watching, I shouldn't meddle. I'd like to say thank-you for creating and making this show. It was absolutely a star, and I cherish it. I pray and hope their lives will continue on despite the harships, and so will mine. Thank you. Don't forget to watch the 3 specials. I really disliked how I saw the ending in the TV show without watching the 3 specials first and got really really frustrated & sad, so make sure to do that, that's honestly why I didn't vote it 10 stars because it needed that to be know first. But, seriously, watch this. Xue Tong, Bailin, QiQi, Xiaotang, I grew alongside with them and can only wish them the best. They were people to me and not everyone has this so called "happy ending" with feelings, but it's not even about that, it's about pursuing what's right and meant for you. I learned about love through this show. I'll miss how kind MuChenghe was to Xue Tong despite their internal turmoils, I'll miss Bailin and QiQi's friendship, and Xiaotang's guarded personality. Please give this a watch + the three specials if you believe in what I say. Every single person in this made it worth watching. It was a journey and I ended up in the right place. The star went back home after all, voyager 1 has finally left, and we've all matured! <3

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Slow paced but nice

College life. Dorm life. Friendship. First love, heartbreaks and family relationships. Choosing a career path. Age gap…

If you’re looking for these themes then give this drama a watch. The story is a slow burn but gives enough feels to resonate with each character. The side stories took up a lot of exposure but I guess this is common in Chinese dramas. The ending is surprising but not at all disappointing. Plus, there’s the three special episodes to satisfy you if you want to see second chances and the end of a love triangle.

I love how Chinese university life has been highlighted in this drama and I find it very interesting. The actors acted out quite well too given that the characters they portrayed were very diverse and scenese required them to show dynamic emotions.

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This is a fine slice of life drama. The drama brings about the conflicts and decisions of the characters as they grow through their college years into adulthood. From the four female roommates and their significant others, the drama explores human sensitivities showing their emotional strengths and weaknesses as they experience love, intellectual and emotional challenges, and the process of life changing events. The drama develops slowly and realistically, presenting conflicts of connection, interests, and values among the different relationships (family, faculty and students, friends, and lovers). The cast did a good job bringing their characters to life, the lead couple had good chemistry but their romantic scenes lacked enthusiasm and energy and their separation went too long (through about 4 episodes) without any interaction and the end came abruptly . Still, it is a good drama to watch while waiting for a great one to come. Enjoy it!

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