Chasing Our Individual Dreams, Together
I can’t emphasize enough how heartwarming, realistic, and human The Best of You in My Mind is. This is a modern-day college drama that focuses on how the female lead Lin Xichi and male lead Xu Fang start from being childhood friends and eventually end up as lovers. Yet it is also about the journey of youth and the struggles we face in pursuit of our dreams as we become adults. Not only is it a very satisfying watch with a great happy ending, but our characters also navigate incredibly relatable and touching issues.I'd highly recommend having a watch if you like these tropes:
♡ A Romantic Couple With Incredible Chemistry: Iriene Song and Gala Zhang have so much chemistry together — both actors depicted the transition from childhood friends to romantic interests very naturally. Most importantly, both Xichi and Xu Fang seek each other out during their hardest times, such as their struggles with their careers and achieving their dreams. They have such a healthy relationship where even though in the beginning they are always bickering and fighting, they are also always communicating openly with each other. Both not only share in the sweetness of their successes, but also support each other through their difficult times.
♡ A Male Lead Whose Charm is His Insecurity: Xu Fang is not a cold and domineering male lead, but instead he is incredibly insecure, doubts himself, and constantly reflects on his own limitations. One of the things I admire the most is how refreshing his character is, and how Gala Zhang’s acting was excellent in depicting Xu Fang’s personal growth. Xu Fang begins as unwilling to be a leader and as reluctant to take the top position in the university archery team, to achieving great competitive success. The drama did a great job showing his fears as well as his mental struggles and setbacks which often self-sabotage his own opportunities. Yet Xu Fang is also incredibly loyal, devoted, and willing to recognize how others such as Xichi are his greatest support. The fact that the male lead is not only afraid to cry and openly reflect on his weaknesses, but also loves wholeheartedly, made him very admirable and unique as a character.
♡ Likeable Main and Side Cast: I liked all of the side couples (both of Xichi’s roommates have love lines.) I also loved the eventual bromance and bonding that developed amongst the archery team. Characters such as the coach, who initially began as being very hard on Xu Fang, turned out to be one of his biggest supporters. I also feel like the time given to each couple was well-paced, and I didn’t feel like our main couple was sidelined for the narratives of the side couples, which I often find occurs in other dramas.
♡ Solid Story With Little Filler: There is little filler, and I appreciated how the drama showed different phases of the lives between the main characters. The majority of the show focuses on their college years, while the later parts of the drama (after episode 20) transition to post-graduation. While I think the first half is stronger and more tightly written, I liked how we could see the growth between our main couple, and also the mental challenges they both faced as they reconciled with making their dreams a reality.
However, there are also some things you might not like about the drama:
♥ The Family Drama: Part of the story is about how Xichi deals with the breakdown of the ideal family that she had envisioned and dreamed of. This is not a family situation that ends in utter tragedy (i.e. death), but without spoiling too much it impacted Xichi greatly. I personally really didn’t like this storyline, even though it (ironically) is what begins the drama and what you see from Episode 1. I was very disappointed with how illogically her parents handled the situation, and caused a lot of grief towards Xichi and her younger brother in particular. I admit that much of the drama does focus on Xichi finding her mom and coming to terms with her family situation, and for me personally this was not a fun part of the drama to watch.
♥ Strange & Irrelevant Use of Second Leads: Ye Shaowen is the second lead male who falls for Xichi. While I appreciated how he didn’t try to actively meddle with Xu Feng and Xichi’s relationship, he goes from being an important character in the beginning to nearly dropping out completely in the middle to late stretch of the drama. Additionally, one of Xichi’s roommates falls for Xu Feng, even though Xu Feng doesn’t notice her at all. I liked how she didn’t end up being a malicious female lead (even though the drama itself makes some strange edits to lead the viewer to think that she is). I think that the way that both second leads were incorporated were rather irrelevant and unnecessary, and didn’t really do much for the story itself.
♥ Break Ups: Without spoiling too much, there is a break up in this drama that occurs in the latter half. I personally liked it because it wasn’t stretched out, and it really was used in a manner that emphasized just how strong the relationship between Xichen and Xue Fang was. I also thought that the break up itself was very realistically handled and occurred for good reason (not because of external meddling, but because of internal mentalities and struggles) but I know that some viewers may be frustrated by seeing a couple go through the break-up process.
I'd highly recommend you watch this if you liked dramas that have fluffy romance, while also being a great slice-of-life drama that touches on many relevant issues. This show not only had great production value, but also had actors that did an incredible job making the characters likeable and relatable, and showing not only the successes they achieved but also the struggles and disappointments they faced. Most notably, this drama touched on realistic mental and psychological difficulties of trying to achieve your dreams, which is something I think is often missed out on in youth dramas. If you’re looking for a drama that depicts day-to-day life on campus and childhood lovers to adults romance, this is a good one to pick up for easy watching!
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Cute but could have been more
This was overall a really cute and wholesome watch, but I can't shake the feeling that it could have been more, even if it was just given hour-long episodes instead of 45-minute ones.I'm a huge fan of the friends-to-lovers trope, but I can't help but feel like the pacing for things was kind of fast. I wanted more domestic scenes where we saw them just talking to each other and doing things they liked — it doesn't have to be related to archery or about Chi Chi's parents or reminiscing about the past, I just wanted more of their banter. That was one reason I had a soft spot for their high school flashbacks.
The problem was that they tried to fit a LOT of years into not a lot of screentime, and there weren't enough markers in the plot — holidays, year-end competitions, summer trips — that let me know how much time had passed. In essence, it felt like everyone acted and looked the same, and I while I thought only days had passed between events, it was actually months.
While I also liked the student-athlete addition, I felt like Skate Into Love did it better in that the sport felt so embedded within every character's personality. Their paths to becoming better wasn't always smooth simply because they had things to learn, and not just because they got a disorder (which honestly feels too much of a noble idiocy trope for me to appreciate).
Some of the editing also took away from some emotions I wanted to feel — for example, fading to black before revealing competition results kind of took away from my ability to stress about it while watching it happen because you already knew what the result was going to be. They honestly could've used some more people sitting in the crowd as well just to have the sound of cheering. Energy goes a long way towards hyping up these competition scenes. I also hated the fast forwarding that they used to zoom in on faces.
I appreciated the heaviness given to Chi Chi's family situation, though it meant that her parents were some of my least favorite people even though there were attempts to give them redemption arcs.
Ultimately, I did like that there weren't any overblown misunderstandings, and the side pairings were really cute as well. The side characters were given enough background but not too much (though second lead could've used a LOT more development, and he just sort of fell off the face of the earth), and it was a fun friends-to-lovers watch.
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This review may contain spoilers
honestly cant describe how much i love this drama. im always looking forward for each episode to be subbed and thats a good sign of this drama being a really amazing one. yu fang is such an charming, heartwarming, cute and good looking male lead and boyfriend towards his girlfriend. i started to like gala zhang from there and always saved a bunch of his pictures. i am really looking forward for more dramas starring gala zhang as being a new actor in the acting field, he already made a huge impact on this drama as the rates are all so high. im really really impressed how this drama ended with the proposal. this drama is really really recommended for those who love and enjoy watching college dramas like me. there isnt any disappointment at all towards this drama as it is really really splendid. Was this review helpful to you?
Mostly harmless college rom-com
It is actually hard to write a review for this show, not because it is particular good nor bad but it is just uninspired. An apt description would be mostly harmless. ;)There are cute moments, a bit of skinship, the odd tears but basically, it is a lazy wet weekend type of binge. You can cook lunch while the show goes on in the background and you won't miss much.
The OTP is ok, cute enough to carry the show for the most part. Cold ML, fun FL, tick! There are even a 2OTP and a 3OTP but they are all obvious pairings. Lots of tropes are used to no great effect (nor ill effects for that matter). I don't know if the writer is inexperienced or lazy or under time pressure but there is almost no depth to the story. Everything is telegraphed and/or predictable. If someone sneezes then someone will be taking care of the sick one and that advanced their relationship to the next level, etc. A case in point, they threw in the cliché separation of the OTP towards the end of the show. Normally, if I was fully invested in the OTP/plot, I would be annoyed and rolled my eyes. However, in this case, I just sat through it and didn't really mind. It wasn't badly written and it moved the story along towards the final conclusion but it was meh for me.
In the end, the show was like a nicely packaged, clearly labelled meal with cooking instructions. ;) I finished it and "enjoyed" it in a low key, easy-peasy kind of way. Your mileage will differ.
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This drama story is not only about this 2 persons, of course there is story about their parents relationship, Lin Xi Chi brother story and theirs friends story.
For this drama 24 episodes only is not enough. If can complete the drama by 36 episodes, that will be great. There is few missing part or no finishing story like what happen to Ding Yi, Liu Xiao Jiang, Zheng Fang Fang, Lin Xi Chi part-time job and etc.
Ireine Song actions with strong character and natural acting make me want to watch all her drama. She is a very good actress.
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Regressive Misogynist Merde - RANT FOLLOWS
I started this one starting after "The Love Equations" and at first it seemed very promising, especially the cemistry of the OTP. But in the end it turned out to be toxic trash. The one consistent theme of the whole Drama was that women NEED a man, they can never be better than a man at anything and need to be coddled and helped by "their man" because they are, after all, "just a girl"This theme was introduced with the FL who was lied to for TEN YEARS by her parents, and we find out her YOUNGER brother knew about it. They all decided she had to be lied to "for her own good" to "protect her". She was also manipulated by the ML from the beginning it turned out, and even her little brother consistently ignored her requests and did whatever he and the ML deemed "best" for her.
Then, when the younger brother met an amazing woman, older than him and who LITERALLY taught him, he not only ended up becoming her equal or better in every field in which she excelled, he also had to be her RESCUER. That was a major facepalm moment for me, when the Drama proved it simply would not permit a woman to be superior to a man in any way, but would insist on them being shown as dependent on men.
This message was reinforced when noble idiocy cropped up in the final quarter. When this happened in "The Love Equations", the FL fearlessly called it out as the idiocy it truly was and there were real consequences. In this one, it was lauded as "noble" and the FL even APOLOGISED to the ML for letting HIM down.
In short AVOID this Drama unless your idea of "romantic" is troglodytic chauvinism, where women happily simper and can't exist without a good man to make up for all their many feminine frailties. If that sort of regressive bakvaas is not your idea of a sweet Drama, try The Love Equations, instead.
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Very realistic drama about life, love and family.
I don't usually write a review, but this is a very interesting drama! it can encompass many aspect of life very well.i am usually very selective on the shows i watch, i don't like to watch too much of a fairy tale kind of drama.
The parts showing the impact of the parent's divorce is extremely real- How the FL brought her own fears and insecurities into her own relationship and how the ML tried to accommodate and understand her concerns.
The entire story line is quite deep. it centered around abandonment, understanding each other's perspectives, forgiveness and eventually "becoming the best of me, so that i can be the best for you".
Very realistic. So if you are ready for a "touch your skin" kind of drama, this is highly recommended!
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Story- Basically story is all about the childhood friend who always have a fight between them but they also somehow helped each other in their most difficult time and became the life partner. The family issue which happen in the actress family was to good that they hold the audience for watching more episodes. Side by side the archery competition part was also amazing and the most important thing of this drama is friendship which I found the best thing in this drama.From this I learned more about archery and friendship.The emotional part of the story was so touching that I also fell like crying.
Cast- Xu Fang (Gala Zhang ) was too good. His smile was so sweet. I loved the chemistry between him(Gala Zhang) and Lin Xi Chin (Ireine Song) as the friends and couple also .
Side by side the love story of their friends Nie Yue and Jiang Zheng Xu was also going good. All the supporting actors done the good job.
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This review may contain spoilers
HANDS DOWN MY FAVE DRAMA SO FAR!!!! the female and male lead have such good chemistry !!!OMG !!!! they are so cute.
Female and male lead have known each other since they were 8 years old . During school they are often butting heads , their favorite thing is to arm wrestle to solve problems. Because of losing an arm wrestle match , the female leads gets dared into wearing lacy leggings. This causes a misunderstanding among the female lead mom and dad. The female lead ends up finding more about her broken family...
Fast foward to college : The male lead is into archery and he struggles and blossoms into being a coach. He later on has his own struggles to overcome. The female lead is studying to be a veterinarian. Each of them faces challenges and struggles in their pursuit but they are there for each other to encourage and support each other during their lowest points.
I really admired the he female lead and her brother relationship, they have a really close relationship and he is very caring and sweet guy, to his sister and the girl he cares about.
i would rate it a 11 out of 10 if possible. Don't want to miss out on this drama.
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Dramas like this one are my favorites I just wish there were a little bit more, there are very similar dramas that I have enjoyed more, it's a thing of preferences.
Overall, I think it is a good drama to pass time especially if you like college dramas as much as I do.
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Very good
I like watching this drama ,very pure ,very cute and exquisite drama .Everyone acting is good.Every Character of this drama is good . Love story is so beautiful . How athlete face the pressure and how that pressure affect his health had been shown in this drama. The concept of panic attack had been shown in this drama ,about this I never know,this thing make it different from others drama. I like male charcter's mother's character too.I like this drama and I think who loves watching love stories may like this drama too.
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The casts Gala Zhang as Xu Fang and Irene Song as Lin Xin Chi have totally nailed the show.
The drama deserves an applause???
The bickering moments of the leads gave me satisfaction. Also, I loved the archery competition scenes. Xu Fang was really into character same with Di Ying. I loved them both.
I highly recommend this drama to all of you( drama fanatics) so please feel free to watch this drama. I could attest that this drama is of good quality????Jiayou!
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