Liked:
- The overall plot! I thought it was really cute. And I really liked how it was about overcoming stigma too. I think all the characters had good chemistry and there weren't any characters that were super hatable.
- Song Weilong <3 He is cute. Very cute. I appreciate him
- There was a natural funniest to the episodes that made everything really light and enjoyable to watch
- It all felt very realistic! I think this was one of the few dramas I've watched where I felt that the characters were logical and made a lot of sense with their actions.
Disliked:
- there was a budding relationship that I found to be inappropriate even though I think the show really tried to cover it up really well/justify it! Also to be honest, the boss/employee relationship thing, but this legit happens in so many dramas, I tend to not mention it/am getting tired of hating on it.
- A bit slow, like idk if this needed to be 41 episodes long
WATCHHH because Song Weilong is CUTE
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Then, about half way through, the ML basically does nothing for which completely halts character development. They keep describing him as “wild” but he’s really quiet and passive. He disappears and to make way for the second ML. Obvious plotting to sacrifice characters.
Then the last half meanders around and the second couple gets more screen time and it’s icky for a 32 year old teacher to chase after his totally immature student. I didn’t buy the chemistry between them either. Then we get to the ending where the FL gets a personality transplant. Yeah, this didn’t work for me.
So good start, but then it struggles since it should be at least 6 episodes shorter. Victoria song dresses great and pulls off the role until the end. Song Weilong needs to add some more personality to go with his youthful handsome. The second ML pulls off likable which is usually quite hard for the third wheel.
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I really don't like Yumings character, his tactics make my blood boil. If you really want her then be fair. Adding Canyang and Minmin was a good choice to clearly show the double standards about age gap in relationships. FanXing's mother was a hypocrite. The reasonI stayed was the main couple and the sub couple's romantic scenes. They were compatible and mature looking?. It was nice but I won't rewatch the whole series. Maybe only the romantic scenes in YT I would replay.
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Great production quality and romance... but the story? it's a no for me.
This show has been on my list for well over a year, and it was very disappointing to see how it all went down. I was super excited to finally see a drama moving quickly (leads together within the first 10 or so eps!) but that was soon met with utter boredom and frustration as the episodes dragged on.Our leads did excellent regarding their scenes together and their chemistry, and a big shout out to Song Wei Long for doing such a great job at such a young age! That did make the drama a bit more tolerable later on. Additionally, there were so many well known actors and actresses that had roles in this drama, which made it all the more enjoyable when they came on screen.
But here's where everything seemed to go wrong in my view. In typical c-dramaland, our Second Lead and Female Lead tend to never *officially* be together. This drama decided to change that narrative. Our smart, sophisticated FL spent 1/2 of the drama dating one lead, and 1/2 the drama with the other - which was ridiculous and frustrating because she clearly never liked the second Male Lead. I thought her character was not as selfish as that. It was clear that the ML and FL still were not over each other, and to make matters worse it was clear she wasn't happy with the Second ML either. That was very off putting, and I ended up skipping most of their screen time in the second half.
I did appreciate the humorous aspect to it, and those few laughs in the beginning (and throughout) really helped me keep watching. Also, the second couple was very cute, and so was the third. So I stayed for them. Overall, the only thing that brought the drama down in terms of its rating was the storyline. Everything else - from the sets to the costumes to makeup even - was flawless and well done.
This is definitely something for viewers who don't mind having 2 male leads (not a ML and a 2nd ML), and who don't mind seeing the FL visibly uncomfortable with who's she's dating for nearly 20 episodes.
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This review may contain spoilers
Watch this Drama! Every plotpoint makes sense in the overall narrative.
Long review: Even two months after I finished watching this, it lingers in my mind, I think about the plot, the side-characters, about the message. And yes, I think about the romance, of course, Song Wei Long has the longing wistfulness down pat.But seriously, the romance is just a vehicle for the message in this drama, and so is every other side-character. They are all spinning around the question, if personal happiness is more important than coherence in society and the general satisfaction of your family.
Entering Spoiler-Territory:
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Every couple in this show approaches this question differently, and found different solutions.
They don't lead to unhappiness either. He Fan Xings Parents for example chose the first best option in each other and though they bicker here and there, they are generally happy. But they are also quite forward thinking, which contributes to this, giving their childrens happiness a higher priority than fitting into the norm.
Compare this to their neighbour Mrs.Wang, who can only be happy if her son marries a woman his own age and has babies with her. Her son is not honest with her in turn, about how he met his wife (and probably other things as well.)
Her friends also show different facettes of relationships. One very classical, get married/have kids and one is an unmarried, childfree couple. The conventional couple is going through troubles and so is the more carefree couple. It shows that no matter what choice you make, you will end up in troubles, so the question is, will you choose the path that looks like trouble from the start or the one that looks like the easy path but then turns out to be full of trouble as well.
The romance He Fan Xings brother has also is there to show that some paths are seemingly closed by sheer misogyny, as is blatantly pointed out by the character. While everyone finds it odd, but ultimately shrugs their shoulders at this superior-inferior, age-gap romance because the man is the one in power and the older one, the scandal is much greater when the woman in the relationship is older and higher up at work.
As does the plotpoint where for a while everyone assumes Yuan Song is some kind of boytoy for an older, rich lady, though this is in turn reflected when people are equally appalled by the supposed relationship of Ye Lu Ming and his much younger niece. And also kind of in the relationship and power dynamic between Yuan Songs father and his stepmother, who is also younger by quite a bit, but is his equal or maybe even stronger.
Also, Ye Lu Mings approach to love is so realistic, on the one hand you want it to be like magical destiny, but on the other hand he thinks he can control it, if you do XYZ, the girl of your choice must fall for you. But life does not work that way, nothing is foreseeable and troubles will come your way, even if you find the ideal match with the ideal person it might not work out.
I could go on and on about every minor detail, about the growth in both He Fan Xing and Yuan Song, how their levels of maturity complement each other and all that... but just go and watch it.
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This review may contain spoilers
Fan of Song Wei long
I was very doubtful whether to watch this show or not but eventually I did and I have no regrets specially when I got a huge crush on the male lead played by Song weilong. The story of this drama is about a girl Fanxing who desperately wants to be loved by a man and is insecure about her age as she thinks she is getting older but she has not found her love yet. Finally she is attracted towards an employee in her office who is Yuan song played by Song weilong while he also falls madly in love with her but their relationship faces a lot of problems. Yuan song is a handsome, young , bright, warm guy who is hopelessly in love, he is passionate , romantic and can do anything for Fanxing which makes him more attractive , he is not a typical cold character we see in dramas he is expressive and straightforward . Fanxing is naive , sweet but also she seems irritating at one point because she sometimes make foolish decisions in their relationship due to which Yuan suffers. Talking about Ye lu ming who is a friend of Fanxing but wants to marry her is an annoying character in the beginning as he tries to break the relationship of the main leads but atlast he finally gives up when Fanxing finally told him that she truly loves yuan and wants to be with him, he is not that toxic and bad as he never forced himself on her but he was a bit annoying .I really loved the side story between Cai min min and Canyang and enjoyed it a lot , it was funny but at the same time adorable.
So overall this drama was good with a nice storyline but the only thing that annoyed me was there were more scenes of the FL with the second male lead rather than the male lead and that the FL was a bit stupid other than that is was a very enjoyable drama .
PS- I love SONG WEILONG.
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This line in the synopsis of the drama's page was what got me interested. It suggested that the drama was going to be about the struggles of being in an older woman/younger man relationship with a huge age gap, the differences in the maturities of the couple, the prejudices from the society, and the different takes on the concept of marriage, dating, kids and what exactly is the happy ending?
The drama fails, not because it was yet another love triangle or because the second male lead was as annoying and cunning as a human could be (though, yes those were the issues too), but because it tried to sell a very different product than the one it promised and advertised.
Hence, the show became quickly disappointing for me.
The story of the main couple is a complete no-no for me. At 32, been in a relationship or not, you'd expect the character to act as a mature person. However, her decisions are justified if they had been from a teenage girl, not someone this old. She acted immature, was too naive and wanted to take no responsibility for her actions. She chose to run away from her problems and before society could, she judged herself for her relationship. Personally, yes, I wanted to see that struggle of accepting yourself; of realising you're not in the wrong and it's the world who's a hypocrite. But I didn't want to see that struggle 39 episodes long.
The second main lead : I don't think I've hated a SML as passionately as I hated him. I don't even want to write about him.
Bottom line, I only felt for Yuan Song. I loved him, and Fanxing's brother. The stories of the side characters are far too interesting, and if you want to watch this show, I'd recommend you to watch it for them.
P.S.! Also brownie points for the character of Cai Minmin. Her growth from a spoiled brat to a loving and responsible human was so nice to watch. She and her boyfriend (not telling who, cuz spoilers) were a wayyyy better example on how to handle a age-gap relationship.
Overall, not the worst of the lot, especially considering the side stories, but it's too many episodes, just to watch it for them.
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This review may contain spoilers
Most of my grievances will be with the story, so deal with me...Story:
The storyline manages to deal with multiple themes in maturing adult life, such as changing jobs, family, and the pressures of getting married in Chinese society in particular. With all of these come moral compromise. Each character had flaws, sure, but I would have preferred that the director deal with them and show the watchers that their attitudes in regards to certain situations was not OK.
He Canyang was correct that his parents favored his sister over him, and when he tried to stop Fanxing from telling her family that she dated Yuan Song out of consideration for their feelings regarding what they had just discovered about him and Cai Minmin he was the one that got hit. Having his parents deal with Fanxing in the same manner would have been way better, in my opinion. But I get that they only had a certain number of episodes left, and that would have posed yet another barrier in her finding her true love, yada yada.
As for He Fanxing, she's way too wishy washy. I get that she's "innocent in love," but why couldn't she take into consideration how she was stringing two men along? She explicitly broke the promise she had with Yuan Song that they would go public after three months, and dated Ye Luming (although he knew she was not totally in love with him and was okay with it, being hung up over your ex boyfriend and hiding it is ridiculous). She wanted to walk Ye Luming down the aisle for her parents, but never considered that she would be locking Ye Luming down in a one sided relationship. Had the sideplots with her friend group's pregnancies and her father's terminal illness not happened, the show would have consisted of over 40 episodes of her going on meaningless dates grappling with herself and picking the petals off of a daisy to choose between going public with Yuan Song or not. She legitimately cannot take a hint, if you broke up with your boyfriend & got a ride back from the guy who likes you you are out of your mind.
Ye Luming's role in the first half of the show consists of him being manipulative and using societal pressures to get Fanxing to be with him. He already knew that the reason Fanxing wasn't coming out as dating Yuan Song was because she was scared of what people would say, and he used that while they were dating to get her to be with him. He moves way too fast in the first week of their dating, without considering how she had never been dating openly before. Hell, he sleeps in her bed without her permission.
Honestly, I hate age gaps in relationships. I only finished this to see where it would go after a while, and because SQ is hot. Each of the relationships is not realistic. Cai Minmin and Yuan Song both make the first move on the He siblings, who are in positions of power even without the age difference. A boss and her employee? A professor and his student? How many times does an older man change his profession for the younger woman that he is seeing? The entire plot sounds like it was conceived in some jilted older woman's memory of her young workplace junior. Just because someone is a legal adult does not mean that they are on the same level of maturity as 30 year olds. There's realistically nothing to speak about, they're basically in different points of their lives. This is more prevalent in Cai Minmin and He Canyang's relationship, at least Yuan Song and He Fanxing are working in the same place. All Cai Minmin likes is eating and buying expensive clothes. Then when her uncle calls her out on it, she gets upset and thinks that having sex with He Canyang will change the immature nature of their relationship. I mean, really? She's harmless, but does not have the range.
The only likable character to me was Chang Huan. He's an example of seeing someone that he isn't fully in love with, but at least he had the decency to stay away from Cong Xiao during it. Can He Fanxing say the same?
Acting:
Done remarkably well, considering the age gap between SWL and SQ is the same as their characters. The chemistry was great. Each character had a variety of emotions and tribulations that they had to go through, and they did it convincingly.
Music/Aesthetics:
The OST is on my Spotify repeats! I really liked the aesthetics of the show, the lighting and camerawork was all great and conveyed whether the atmosphere was close or not. Fanxing's business chic outfits had me wondering what she would wear next. They all looked amazing on SQ's frame.
Rewatch value:
I would not rewatch this... This entire review served to just remind me why a story can tackle many versatile topics while not acknowledging many other problems.
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Terrible Female characters
Let me say that there are plenty of cdramas out there where the ML does not deserve the FL because how he treats her is just borderline. This drama is about a 32 year old woman who deserves to die single. Throughout the entire show she basically had one foot out of the door and basically treated him like eye candy.I am actually very upset that there are screenwriters out there who would write a character so outrageous and in my personal opinion neglectful over a man she supposedly loves. It wouldnt be such a big deal except the writers kept bailing her out and she basically just sit back and relax while the ML did the fighting for the relationship.
If yall wanna watch a drama about an older woman who is actually respectful of their partner watch Love Scenery or if you wanna watch a kdrama watch encounter.
I dont really want to get into the other female characters but the only one decently written was the MLs stepmom
But other than that the writing, i liked everything else about it. But even victoria songs superb acting couldnt save this garbage script. She must have only read the first episode before she took the role, the only decent episode story wise!!
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This review may contain spoilers
There is difference between innocence and stupidity
I really liked the way the drama has started and the way ML and FL built their relationship. The way second lead manipulated the relation of main couple using her FL innocence and lead them to breakup really set the tone for a good second half . However that’s where the writer lost his brain and so is our Female lead. FML being stupid and not able to understand her mistakes builds a relationship with the guy who manipulated their relation as if she never cared a darn about male lead. That’s where I feel it’s good to say that our female lead is pure stupid with no brain who cannot live in this manipulative society.What makes it even worse is that when our male lead moved on and finding his way in his life she comes back. She didn’t listen when male lead begged, when male lead mother tried to talk. But when she suddenly feels like his crush is getting taken away she needs him back. She doesn’t bother how male lead feels when she was spending her time with a man who acted like her friend, when she dated other guy, when she broke up with him for herself being petty…. But she is hurt and we all are supposed to feel bad when her boy crush getting stolen WOW.
She never repent for thee misery she brought in male lead and his family. Even worse the antagonist who done all the manipulation was never caught or he never accepted his wrongdoings. Surely a drama we all should forget. IMO male lead should stay away from this brainless female because tomorrow if someone acts like her friend and frame her husband as cheater, she will divorce her husband too. Such is her character. And the drama never shows her character development, she is still the same brainless grown 32 year old kid who listens others and act stupid.
I regret watching this painful stupidity of 40 episodes. ( excluding the initial love moments of our main lead which is far less compared to the time spent on showing the sly manipulation of antagonist ) Writer should feel ashamed that he cannot give a complete story even with 40 episodes. Shame on you dude.
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Interesting Drama... Poor execution
Story Review:This drama had so much potential. I'm slightly disappointed by the main leads. I didn't buy into their relationship or their chemistry because she was always too reluctant, which got really annoying fast! The FML seemed more comfortable and more at ease with the SML from the start and her relationship with the ML always felt so forced. HOWEVER, almost every side character and story was what kept me watching this drama. It was far better than main lead's story. The family dynamic was my favorite. I especially love her twin brother and second male lead. In my opinion, they completely stole the show.
Action/Cast Review:
I don't believe this is Victoria's strongest role and I felt like she completely failed at playing the young-at-heart, cutesy 32 year old female. I cringed almost every time she tried! Song Weilong was so impressive and really showed his versatility in this role, I think modern roles and this role came more naturally to him. He seemed very comfortable and at ease, which made his role much more believable, not to mention he's so much eye candy! :P BUT the real winning is the twin brother, gosh if I were to rewatch this drama it would be for his parts alone. He's so funny, so out there and everything you want when you're watching a drama like this.
Music Review:
Nothing stood out to me as extra special, but it could be because the leads failed to captivate me.
Overall, it was a fun watch and I especially enjoyed the side characters and stories. I think it shed light on a lot of issues surrounding career oriented women approaching their early to mid 30s and the societal pressures that comes with aging women everywhere.
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