Living Toward the Sun (2020)

Moving Biography. Captured essence & humanity of Love & Friendships

Rather than death, the story reminds us the beauty and priceless value of life. Xiong Dun is a remarkable person. Not because shes fearless but rather she wouldnt let her fear control who she is. Shes a person full of life, straightforward in speech, humourous, people person and endless love to give to the people around her.

The production handles this otherwise heavy theme of cancer, and looming death well by not filming and focusing on melodramatic angles. In 1 episode you get a cheating boyfriend and FL confronting him before episode 1 even ends..it doesnt dwell and the pace is good. Rather alot of focus is how resolute this woman, when shot, bites the bullet. Her inner strength and using good humour to cheer the people around her draws even more love from everyone that is lucky enough to have met her.

Its a story that is hard to rate. How do you rate a person's life? Well Xiong Dun would say: by how he or she lives. And given how much she loves life, I can leave this question unanswered Im thoroughly moved by the love shes surrounded with. Its like full circle. Her sincerity to people and her generous warm nature has affected everyone beside her. Not just her wonderful parents, her love interest doctor, her 2 bestfriends, her new bestfriend and fellow cancer patient, her boss and coworkers. All these people makes this drama a very good watch. Makes watching the journey of a cancer patient worth the tears and pain. Restores your faith in humanity and trust in selfless friendships.

I am glad to have met Xiong Dun brought to life in this story. May her story lives on and touch many more people.

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Underrated drama but definitely has many areas for improvements

Things I've liked: (The Cast, Acting and sometimes the Dialogues)

As a fan of actor Vengo prior to the show, naturally i will see him in filtered vision(even his bold haircut doesn't affect his visual imo😂) and so goes to the plot. But one can't deny such impressive improvements he had made over the course of his acting in mere three years since the first installment of 3L3W(the drama that I was first introduced to him). Without a doubt, he pulled off the mature, responsible, charismatic and tender-hearted Doctor Lin perfectly. He had great chemistry with his on-screen love interest as well. As much adoration I had for Vengo, I was just as much captivated by actress Jiang xin in the show. Her sparkling eyes dazzled with emotion on teary scenes. The same goes to the rest of the casts especially Xiong Dun's parents who definitely were both tear jerkers pros. The show had iconic dialogues that made me hook to the show. The first half was pretty fast-paced in which i really liked. Watching this feels like a roller coaster ride: great blend of comedy and melodramatic elements that I had to give it to the director(coughs*coughs* on a side note, made some questionable decisions as well that i will mention below)

Things I've disliked: (-_-)
*SPOILER ALERT*

Things started going tadbit haywire on the later half of the show(prob after Xiong Dun initial discharge... )
Pacing falls drastically slower.
Sometimes annoyed by Xiong Dun questionable behaviour. (I still pity her, in some extent..Kudos to Jiang Xin's acting that managed to convince me in a way)
A short handful of side fillers were okay... But the overused of Xia Meng's filler story arc that often overpowers scenes of both the main leads left a bad taste on me. Sometimes it even overshots XM scenes than the separate scenes of the leads as well until XM story had a closure. These fillers are often redundant to the main storyline, hence I am really confused with the plot decision making(Btw I am in no way had any ill-feelings towards the actress. She performed pretty well too..). It just feels like other than XM, every other characters, especially the main OP were greatly underdeveloped.
Despite the rich chemistry between Xiong Dun and Doctor Lin like i mentioned, not much depth was put into it(not sure was due to the director/writer/editor's fault).
My biggest issue will be the lack of emphasis in framing Doctor Lin's depression. I am glad that they provided the backstory(side note: Vengo shines his acting in the mini arc) but it was really rushed/weirdly edited that it seems his character did not completely heal in the end?! Or he seems pretty damaged and delusional that he still reimagines an alternate happy ending with his lover... 😢(Gosh i need a theory helper😌)

Overall thoughts:
I was contemplating on whether to write this review in the first place(I am always lazy to do it) but its one of the very few dramas that I was persistently committed to till the very end for this year. The show has its charm and it certainly holds a great place in my heart. Acting wise was unquestionably a 10/10 and I had no problems with the casting(everyone fit their roles perfectly well). Though no doubt i had issues with the obvious plot holes, character acting out of character at times and the inconsistent editing, its still hard to drop this drama halfway through. Part of the reason was the clever imput of cliffhangers and their selections of scenes in next ep previews. Overall, I have no regrets catching this drama and completing it. For a healing drama, it surely tries its best to tell the story of optimistic Xiong Dun inspired by her true story. I wouldnt be too harsh on this as I am really touched with the actors commitment in the project and pulling through despite being affected by the pandemic in the midst of filming. I still do stand firm on my complaints with the questionable editing but it's still a work to be appreciated.

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