This review may contain spoilers
Why I love this drama and at the same time am reluctant to recommend it.
If you’re looking for a light and sweet romantic drama this is not really it. Yes there’s romance however there is a lack of the main couples being together. Since the majority of the drama is really telling the story of how these different people all hurt each other as they fall in love and grow up. I am used to light and cute dramas like “Put Your Head on My Shoulder” or “Love O2O,” or “a Love So Beautiful,” I really wasn’t expecting this drama to be so real and make me feel so many feelings, and that’s why I loved it. Because even though ultimately it is a happy ending drama the stories it told we’re extremely relatable and I am sure many people will resonate and see their stories represented here. However it is this realness that also makes me reluctant to ever rewatch and to recommend to others. Chinese dramas, at least for me have become an escape from real life and it’s many trials. And this drama was actually more emotionally taxing than what it actually helped to distract me.Was this review helpful to you?
To lengthy and not as good as the other one.
I have watched the Netflix version of this drama three times now and love it so much better than this one! I liked that this one dived into each of the characters stories a bit deeper. But I hated how long it was and the end was not all that satisfying. I really wanted to stop watching it at episode 30 because it was getting me mad. LolStoryline - has its pros and cons. Biggest con is that it was just way to long and the ending sucked. If you are going to go that long take the time to give a satisfying ending!? I like that it gave you more in-depth story into each of the characters. It explained more about each of them and their struggles in life and love. Other than that I was not pleased with this version as much.
Acting/Cast - I have nothing against the FL but I really liked the FL in the other version of this drama. I just am not a fan of this FL. The ML I really like. I mainly watched it because of him. I really liked him in “Go Go Squid”. I plan to watch the second one soon!? He did a really good job and has grown in his acting. Glad to see him in more dramas. The rest of the cast did good also. They told their stories really well.
Music - loved! Would like to own it.
Rewatch - nah, maybe. If I did I would skip a lot of parts but in all honesty I would not watch this version I would only watch the Netflix version. It has a satisfying ending and I really like the story and ending a lot better.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
A big time waste
This drama graph goes like this boring then complicated afterwards little interasting and again a cliché.Too much extend the story . With patience I watched the drama with a lots of expectations about the ending part . But the way the drama end just a few words released from my mouth and that was What a time waste . Literally
Drama started with a stroy of a girl who since childhood liked a boy who promised her that when they grown up he would marry her and with this thought she always around him but never let him know . He didn't forgot that little girl but with the time passess he moved forward in his life . He had a date but she still around him without letting him know . As time passes he started acknowledge her but as a friend because he was not sure about his true feelings and also because of his past love relationship then he started fall for her but due to some misunderstanding he said some hurtful words to her that she disappointed from him and when he realised his mistake but it was too late for him. He started pursuing her . When everything was going well they again drifted and in the very last part of the drama they met and he said to her after a long time and she gave a smile to him and the drama gets over . Yes that's it ,I mean what was this . I didn't watch the whole drama to see such an ending . So a big no for my side.
Was this review helpful to you?
Its okay, but not really good
This story starts out with this sweet romance that parted ways and then nothing more happen. A part of me thinks that the author was trying to tell us that the truly romantic stories should end before they become to complicated.This is a story of confusing, miss understandings, allot of stallking, and by that i mean allot its as if the hole plot revolves about people stalking other people in the name of love... Making up this perfect romance in their head but not really willing to face the reality of love including humans and not the idols in ones head.
Things I Loved about this drama was the female leads dialog (at times) she was very smart end full of integrity yet lack self a steam and though she may have projected confidence she truly was a person full of fears and with extreme defense mechanisms. All good things rarely shown in c-dramas. Unfortunately she also made som annoying choices and made me want to shake some sans in to her at times. She was not very likable ether if I´m going to be completely honest and the dialog did not last long enough to bring up the score of this drama.
The male lead seemed to be oblivious and disappeared more often then Houdini, but did have his sweet moments with fluff and romantic gestures that will make you cringe. There where some sweet moments but to be honest his best friend was allot more likable, handsome and sweet.
The other side characters ranged from mid annoying to full blown I have to skip there scenes because this is just to painful to watch. the only forced kiss in this whole drama was made by a girl. But then again I would not say any of the relationships in this drama where particularly healthy even if people did not force theme selves on others. This Drama also portrayed how pathetic people who will give upp everything including themselves for love look while showing how hard it can be to give upp old habits comparing unrequited love to addiction and chronic disease (yes this is a plus).
The story was pretty predictable at times but did offer a few twists and new takes on common trops but add upp to a meh. And is dragged out waaaaaaay to long.
So all in all I am done, I´m not watching it again but Í'm happy it exists, its just not really good...
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
I would like to start with the story which is a typical teenage story about Love. So many misunderstandings have to be resolved for the couple to finally realize that they were really meant for each other. Family issues have been so strong, yet I wanted to see how the FL would have mediated to things accordingly, given that the ML's family has already suffered and that she really loved ML. The acting was commendable! the chemistry is there, that is why people who have watched it may have caught unexpectedly. Witty and pretty FL with a strong, talented & handsome ML. However, some 'unreal' resolutions may have resolved them 'only if' they faced the problems head on. This may not be the typical ending that we expected, I just hope a season 2 will inspire the viewers to follow the couple's journey.OST was outstanding, I feel so relaxed to hear the songs played in this drama. Yet, I imagine how hard/heavy some episodes are. This simply means that the song water has truly connected with the story. Well done!
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
The Struggle Is Real
I watched the original 2019 adaptation and really liked it, so I was looking forward to seeing this take on the story, especially seeing that Hu Yitian was in this take as well.Overall I really did enjoy the series. I thought the acting was great and that type of story is one I always am drawn to.
If you are a fan of the long burn, this is without a doubt the show for you. You wait *so long* to see our leads finally get together, through the ups, downs, little moments that make you smile, moments that make you want to throw things , and all of their many *many* miscommunications throughout this series.
The moment in episode 32 with the kiss in the middle of the library with the goodbye was so much more frustrating than the 2019 adaptation, I had to yell into a pillow.
It's once the wait is over is when it goes downhill, in my opinion.
When they *finally* got together through it all in episode 35, which was a beautiful moment, we got maybe an episode/episode and a half of happiness before something throws a wrench into that. I seriously yelled when I saw the fast forward to years later.
Which brings me to the end.
Now I understand the ending was a callout to the conversation our leads had at the beginning of the series, about how an open ended ending is more romantic because it shows the hope for more, but after the end, I was hoping for more episodes or season 2 in the works.
So much in the series, and not just the love between our leads, was also left with an open ending. The only "ending" we got really was with our secondary couple, but really not. The ending leaves us wanting to explore more about their adult selves, about the company post-funding and how possibly our FL's firm can help with them, they can explore the professional/personal balance as our leads re-learn each other after so many years without any contact.
After the journey we all went on, after all the trials and tribulations we experienced with them, after having their chance at love be cut short, all we get is a "Long time, no see" and a look at each other, and that's it, nothing else? Nothing after 38?
At least with the 2019 adaptation we had an ending, a button at the end of it, a feeling we completed the journey.
This adaptation, as much as I liked it, left me with C-Drama blue balls, and had to watch the 2019 adaptation to get me to an ending.
The show was great, the ending, not so much.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
I'll admit, I watched this purely because of Hu Yitian, and I really thought Hu Bingqing was soo pretty!Buttt... it was all just soo frustrating to watch. I totally get the title of Unrequited love, but I think it was just too annoying to watch. So much like misunderstandings and fighting and like why this and why that and then the ending was just like WHAT really, I literally watched about 38 episodes of this, and it just ends like that.
I think there was too much dramaticness in it, and just like so many people getting involved between a couple. I finished it, but I didn't enjoy the process of finishing it.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
What a hot mess!
It sucked.The central love story:
The ML is an idiot and has zero reasoning skills. He decides to believe his gf time and again and just ghosts the FL and then pop's back up in her life without any explanations.
The FL gives in too easily and deserved a lot better. Her character proved how blind love can be, she kept loving despite the push and pull and didn't even stop to think that this was far too toxic for her.
They ending was confusing, claiming that they ended up together. Why? She deserved better and ML was honestly too in love with himself to ever trust anyone and went out of his way to prove that he didn't need her in his life.
When they packed up their bags and departed to home, I knew something messed up was coming.
Other characters:
My heart went out to Jiang Bai Li, FL's best friend. She just couldn't give up on a guy who was so toxic that he hit on FL the first time they met and Bai Li was right there. She deserved so much better.
Zhang Ming Rui, friend to both ML & FL was the only sane person in this entire show. I wished he would have ended up with Bail Li.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
i’m just talking
i think i have to preface this with the fact that i was and still am very much attached to the original from two years ago & when i found out about this at first i felt .. extremely indifferent towards it especially bc of the extended length of the drama but nevertheless i still ended up watching it .... and finishing it today! & i have some thoughts!starting with the negative and ending it with the positive
one change they made that i strongly disliked is that they turned the girl who in the original was mostly just in the background and kept her crush on huainan a secret into a literal menace .. in the 2019 drama her story even though seemingly insignificant added a nice layer towards the end which i really appreciated but in the remake .. to be frank i wanted to strangle her and i’m honestly glad they completely discarded her at some point bc again ... menace to society but also with that said in general i think they did a lot of the female side characters extremely dirty ... aside from the fact that yes some people are just .. bad people and have no desire to redeem themselves some of it just wasn’t necessary at all especially when it comes to riqing i wish they hadn’t made her embarrass herself over and over again during the first half bc it would’ve been sm easier for me to like her which i really wanted to and actually do now that i’ve finished the drama but thinking back on how she used to be .. it’s just sad that she also had to be the one to make a complete fool of herself bc of huainan .. and speaking of huainan it will forever be a mystery to me how he managed to wrap all of these people around his finger like .. he’s kind of smart well read and good looking ..... ok ..... and .....??????? makes no sense but thats the universe the drama is set in and also kind of the world we live in i guess *shudders* .. one more thing: the treatment of mingrui by huainan especially towards the end really got on my nerves .. again i don’t get why he would do so much for someone who hasn’t rly given him anything in return you’d think mingrui is also in love with huainan (pls watch waiting for you in the future) but i digress ... on that note: MINGRUI
mingrui is ... and i rly don’t believe this can be argued .. The best character and one of if not my favorite part of the drama bc as much as i love luozhi and baili .. mingrui rly has my heart and i wish he had gotten a better more fulfilling ending to his story and growth like the other three (luozhi, baili & huainan) did actually this entire review could’ve just been one sentence “mingrui deserved better” but where’s the fun in that! anyway i think he’s perfect and i love love Love that they didn’t make him fall for luozhi like he did in the original .. i was so sure they would go the same route but they didn’t and for that i’m so grateful bc i genuinely appreciate his and luozhi’s friendship so so much and i really didn’t want it to end .. also speaking of friendships luozhi’s friendship with baili and with mingrui are probably my favorite parts about the drama next to just mingrui’s existence i really really love how through everything luozhi and baili kept supporting each other and never stopped caring for each other i love those two together so much and i’m so glad that they used the added time to explore their relationship and show instances of them being close and being there for each other which is also why in the end i really can’t say my concerns about the additional episodes were confirmed ... i enjoyed most of it ..... like the predatory old guy turning out to be mohan’s uncle who she used to get revenge on baili ????!!!!! talk about a plot twist (i’m so glad they didn’t end up together thank you jesus) and just in general like i already mentioned i really appreciated them exploring luozhi’s relationships with baili and mingrui and not just huainan!
so lastly i have to speak on my girl .. the one and only !! luozhi ... tbh i see a lot of people who give her shit for the way she handles things throughout the drama and i just .. don’t agree i think her character is so refreshing and intriguing she’s smart witty caring NOT a pushover knows what she wants aware of the world around her ... frankly i have no reason to dislike her and neither should you. case closed.
as for my final conclusion .. despite its faults and errors i think it was a good drama and remake and i’m glad i watched it bc it introduced me to similar yet different versions of my favorite characters so if you’re someone who’s seen the original and isn’t sure about watching the 2021 version i’d say definitely give it a chance bc i think you might appreciate the new and different aspects to it and if you’re completely new to the luozhiverse hii and welcome the original is on netflix pls do check it out and once you’re done wait a few weeks maybe even months and give this one a try as well!
Was this review helpful to you?
Satisfying Drama with Cliffhanger.
This review is from my point, I will try not to spoil hard.The Story : Story was well improvised by the scriptwriter, it's really better than the 2019 version because it got a lot improvisation but the whole improvisation is just about things that I will listed here :
1. Luo Zhi chasing Sheng Huainan and vice versa for 34 episodes of watch.
2. Jiang Baili and Ge Bi with complicated relationship with almost about envy and crying.
3. Ding Shuijing and Luo Yang with their "secret" relationship one another
4. Ye Zhanyan with the new added character
5. Zhang Mingrui with Luo Zhi most of the time
The Whole story was about crying and crying with nothing but about Luozhi, Zhang Mingrui and Jiang Baili, it was so good but it's just like we watch a whole season of chasing one another.
Music was the best part of the drama!
Cast and Acting is really great, they got their emotion amazing.
Overall : Quite Awesome Drama but the ending was satisfying, I was waiting for a few days just to watch Sheng Huainan and Luo Zhi didn't date or marry but just meeting up at Zhenhua. DISSAPOINTED!
Was this review helpful to you?
The lead actors's fame saved the drama from ruin
As I don't like watching ongoing dramas, I decided to watch the 2019 version first. I was excited knowing the old one was so good, so I was kind of looking forward to the new one. Yet, here is a couple of reasons why I dropped it :1) The opening lines failed to capture the essence of what and how unrequited love is
I personally believe that the first episode and even the first minutes are critical because you're either going to pull or push the audiences.
The opening scene, we were greeted by Luo Zhi monologue about the low chance of finding someone who was in sync with her among 6.5 billion people. It was lower than finding two Gingko Biloba leaves with identical notches. And then she went on…
"I know that we might run into each other anytime. However, I'm afraid that even the greatest mathematician won't be able to calculate the exact timing when that will happen."
I think we all agree that those lines are good. But the problem is, they sound more like a description of a destined love story instead of unrequited love. Let's compare it to the 2019 version. The FL made the introduction with the story about her college life. Then she described how it'd be like to secretly love someone ; being observant of what he did, knowing the little things he wasn't aware of, purposely walking slowly behind him. I could feel the sadness and the longing just from hearing the narration.
"Have you ever secretly loved someone? Be it in the past or in the present. You only dare to look at him from behind. During high school, I always followed him from behind. As if a flower would bloom from his back. Each encounter with him didn't happen by accident. I made it happen. "
Spot the difference?
2) They did a poor job with the background music
I can't believe they put cheerful music when Huainan talked to his girlfriend while Luo Zhi was there writing on the blackboard (I think it's on episode 2). It was supposed to be a painful scene watching your crush talking to another girl, for heaven's sake! I wasn't aware of how good the background music for 2019 until I watched the 2021 version, they made funny lines became even funnier with a touch of comical music here and there, and made me weep with the gut wrenching melodies. They should know better that background music is playing a significant role to toy with the audiences' emotions and yet, the 2021 version failed to make the best of it for their advantages.
3) Lack of Remarkable Scenes and Great Dialogues
Where do I start? There are so many powerful scenes in the old version that the new one can't compete. The windowsill scene, their first encounter in college, the raincoat scenes, the hot water scene, the list goes on…
24 episodes were already too much for me, so I couldn't believe this one has 38 episodes. And somehow along the way, you can feel the conflict is too much, draggy and unnecessary. I mean, it's quite tricky for a predictable drama where we know for certain that the hero and heroine will end up together. It's not like mystery or thriller dramas where audiences tend to stay because they want to understand the mystery. It is important to have good scenes to keep us attached.
4) Cast and Characters :
Again, couldn't help but make a comparison. I'm not going to list them all, just my two favorite characters, Luo Zhi and Zhang Mingrui. I like both the 2019 and 2021 FL, though there is a huge difference since the latest version made the girl more girl-ish. She is elegant, calm and soft. Whereas the 2019 is more witty, outspoken and sarcastic with boy-ish looks (I don't recall her wearing shorts or dresses). But I prefer the old cast, because her facial expressions gave more nuances to her character and made me feel her emotions.
Zhang Mingrui is still the Zhang Mingrui that I like. A cute, nice and funny boy that will make you both laugh and cry for him. But, the 2019 actor was just so great at playing his role, idk how to describe it. Totally a scene stealer! Go watch him.
Overall, I gotta say the 2019 version is far better than this one. I was hoping to see something great since there is Hu Yui Tian! I'm a fan from A Love So Beautiful. But again, a good drama isn't just about having pretty actors with great acting skills, other aspects are no less important.
Was this review helpful to you?
How is it possible to drag on for so long?
While I like the casting for each of the characters, all of the actors' performances, and the music/atmosphere of the drama, I greatly disliked the story as well as its overall flow. The biggest problem with the story is how much it drags on. Other reviews mention how terribly long it takes for the main characters to get together, but I think that that's only part of the problem. If there were legitimate issues standing in the way of the main characters being together, I think a slow burn could've been really enjoyable and worthwhile. But, because each issue felt so manufactured and of little consequence, every new conflict that brought them further apart just made me groan.It's safe to say that I didn't even like the interactions between the main characters enough to completely root for them -- in fact, I found a lot of their conversations genuinely boring, and I wished I could just fast forward or skip, but I didn't want to miss anything that might've been important. On top of that, I found Luo Zhi very unlikable. I did like her when she was interacting with her friends, but a major problem for Luo Zhi was being deceitful (even if it wasn't with bad intentions), and this was something she hadn't taken responsibility for. Perhaps, later on in the story, this comes into play and she does take some responsibility for it, but I doubt it as the story treats this as something almost trivial. She shows no remorse for it, and then she becomes angry at Sheng Huainan for not fully explaining his distance but refusing to explain her own lies. Her lying, her coldness, her demanding of an explanation while also conveniently not explaining herself -- these are all major problems for her character.
But the biggest issue with the narrative from what I could tell after 26 episodes is that, other than the part about not explaining herself, it basically treats her as if she's in the right. Her own mistakes of lying to Sheng Huainan is basically overlooked after an episode or two following its reveal, while Sheng Huainan's distancing of himself is basically thrown in his face for an entire string of episodes. It doesn't feel proportionate, and throughout my viewing of this drama, I just wondered how in the world Luo Zhi would ever progress as a character. Especially since, barring the few times that she comes in to save the day, she's largely being pulled along by the narrative rather than pushing it along herself. If anything, the times that she lied and purposefully created coincidences were probably the only occasions where the narrative was centered around her own action rather than someone else or some outside circumstance forcing her hand. The only other actions that she does tend to just prolong conflict. It makes watching the drama so much more difficult because, if you're able to view the situation between the two main characters with any level of objectivity, you realize how unfair it is that Sheng Huainan has to jump through hoops to win Luo Zhi's favor when Luo Zhi herself didn't make any attempts to rectify the fact that she had been lying before, during, or even after being exposed for those lies.
And when a main character is passive, obstinate, cold, and boring, and the narrative basically doesn't acknowledge these things as flaws, getting through all 38 episodes is an uphill battle, and it was an uphill battle that I unfortunately (or fortunately) could not withstand any longer.
Was this review helpful to you?
