Strong Start with A Badly Written Abrupt Ending
Up to Episode 25, the show had a good pace and showed some character growth for each of the main storylines. Then things began to go downhill. It's like the writers gave up and tried to rush finishing the Season. Everything they had built up until then , like strong friendships, got thrown out the window. Their choices on how to conclude the couples and who paired up with whom, became dumb and fed into what in reality would be extremely toxic relationships. I was completely disappointed in how it ended. If you're going to sabotage what you initially created, then do it right, not this mess! If you don't want to have a happy ending for each of the pair ups, then give it a dramatic break up and that's it. Also I really disliked the mother of the main FL. The mother doesn't trust her daughter at all and even ignores her privacy. The mother is annoying and out of touch, even after FL tells her off. The little brother was more understanding and supportive, than the mother!LIKES: for the most part the acting was good, showing true emotions for what their characters felt. The filming locations and scenery were sometimes really beautiful. The camera work was steady and knew how close to go when zooming in to a character's face [A LOT of dramas have shaky camera syndrome and zoom in way too close {like you can see their nose hair}.]. Also the story is nothing new, but initially they took their time with building a strong foundation, just to mess it up later.
I will not rewatch this. If I was rating it up until Episode 25, then it would be 7/10, but for the whole thing, it's barely a 4.5/10. I do NOT recommend this drama.
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Awesome , loved it...would never be bored to watch it n no of times
The Story is awesome with a middle class backdrop.the Male Lead (Richards Wang)..... is soooooo Handsome...how can someone be soooooo handsome.The Female Lead played her part well, though I would have loved if she was dumped , as she was so heartless.
Overall , lovely story, all actors played well be it the ML or the supporting Male actors or the Supporting Female cast.Thumps up and well done... the 2nd best after you are my Hero ( this will always be No1 for me) and would give Eternal Love number 3 now.
Great job ..... writers,directors,produces,actors....Well Done!!
PS:This is for Richards Wang your good looks were hidden as Mo Yuhai in Eternal love but in this Drama, I could not put my eyes away from you.Someone do convey my compliments and wishes to him Pleaseeeeee.
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The Road Long Traveled
A coming of age drama that spans a decade. I won't repeat the synopsis nor what many others have written. I was pulled to this drama for WRC and he didn't disappoint. For a 24 year old, his acting is actually quite good. He has a very good sense of range of emotion. His past characters have all been arrogant yet sexy men, and here he brings that essence with him. But at the same time there's an immaturity, yet loyalty to those his character considers to be a good friend. As the 5 best friends go from high school and into college (well 4), they face more challenges but also the story grows in angst. This part I felt could have been tapered down a bit. Even when there is unrequited love in a series with 36 episodes, with multiple characters, and a group friendship dynamic, more of it should be shown.The time lapses worked fine until the very last one which literally made no sense. I put full blame on the screenwriters. From what I understand, they were trying to create a happy ending from a sad one; and while I applaud that (the proposal was epic to say the least!), the separation of the leads should have been handled way better and not for 5 years. The disconnect starts in episode 33 and just snowballs throughout 34. 35 is well structured and quite funny and of course 36 takes the cake.
I loved Tao Tao's character because she knew her own worth and grew quite quickly and who doesn't want a best friend who hands the reigns of her own wedding to her two HS friends one of whom wants to propose to the other? She dropped her college boyfriend after he was less then committed but still managed to part ways in peace. They all grew a lot but I feel her character evolved the most.
What would have given this series a higher score from me would have been more of their group dynamic in college, less angst, no needless additions of the two completely useless characters to further make misunderstandings and separate the leads who then disappeared without a trace, and a more cohesive way to separate the leads for a period of 2 years max so they could both grow into their own selves as working, independent adults.
Shi Yi's reasons for going should have been because he was getting an amazing opportunity to study medicine, that he wanted to step out of his father's shadow, that he would always return even with the tweak that XJ didn't give him the answer he wanted; it's not like he had proposed to her, so what exactly could be expected? The ebb and flow of a cohesive transition was not there and it hurt the ending a lot. Cut ties and run and make sure she wouldn't get to him in time? I'm sorry but even writing 101 would stick a failing grade on that setup.
I would also have rewritten the Lin You arc because Chen Lang deserved way better then being left in the cold despite her and ex bfs history. Because she ended up with a foreign husband back in China; which made even less sense. She obviously broke up with her ex, she could have just as easily reconnected with CL and they could have conversed long distance until she returned and even he could have visited her abroad; that would have been a more mature and realistic way to properly close that out. That was another plot slip for the screenwriters.
I would rename this series "The Road Long Traveled" as a tick off the Robert Frost poem. Shi Yi's emotions and his ways of expressing them sometimes made me think the dude was bipolar but I understood that he frequently had the "talk first, think later" approach. But when he was proposing to Xiao Ju, I could tell he had grown a lot. My probably favorite moment of that last episode was when she said yes and he closed his eyes in relief. It felt like over a decade and 200 pounds were lifted off his shoulders. He finally got the girl he'd loved before he even knew he did; the first overtures came in episode 8.
Is this series worth watching? Sure! Does it have problems? Yep. But I'm still glad I watched it even when I wanted to smack them for their lack of balls or to stop being so angsty. Everything for just about everyone worked out in the end and the best part was that the 5 best friends that went to the Yun Hai beach after finishing HS, were all back together in the same room and still had that group dynamic that made them so lovable and strong in the first place.
So I say, watch it and form your opinions for yourselves. :)
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Because of this drama, I got obsessed to Richard Wang.
I am very picky with my dramas, and I love this drama. It is very heartwarming and cute, it makes me happy and want to watch more and since it has a generous amount of episodes, I'm always glad I wake up and I get excited to finish this drama.The cast is great, the characters themselves and relationships are kind of shallow especially some of the side couples. I also feel like the story was really rushed even though they had plenty of episodes, I really wished there were more scenes with the MLs together. Some episodes I felt like was top tier content while some other episodes were kind of boring and kind of like a "filler". It was your basic emotional roller coaster. Don't get me wrong, it's a really good drama, I'm just not a big fan of the development of the story. There's structure but sometimes it feels really empty and rushed. The MCs are super cute, the ML was funny and is quite literally the reason why my type fluxuates, the FL was trying to be independent but sometimes like a lot of dramas I think their kind of Naive.
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Awesome youth cdrama
Jan. 7, 2022A River Runs Through It is definitely a strong youth drama. The plot is very realistic and the leads have interesting stories, perspectives, and emotions to tell. What I love about this drama is how it made certain parts or characters in the end have an unpredictable ending. I know maybe certain viewers might not like it, but it makes it more realistic as our lives are not predominantly predictable in any shape or form.
I really love our male lead here, Shi Yi really sets the bar so high for all the other male leads in the CDRAMA world. Also can we talk about his character development? Like he really stepped up his game. I love this man so much, I don't think I can ever forget him especially on how he treats Xiaoju. From how he accepted everything and how he did that to build on himself. His character is such a chef's kiss in my opinion. He deserves everything, and to be honest, there are certain points where I got frustrated with the female lead since she is taking her god damn time. LIke sis hello.
As for other characters, there are some twists and turns that made my heart ache but I won't mention it too much since that will ruin the fun. But I feel like each character was wrapped nicely along with their own subplot. As much as I hate the writers for how they did some characters dirty. I am happy with their endings.
THO I MUST SAY, this the slowest burn youth Chinese drama I have watched as of this date. A very roller coaster ride but I definitely loved it. I really felt like that I grew up with the characters starting from their high school journeys to their University life then to their early adulthood.
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A drama that mainly focuses on unrequited love, but the characters make up for it
This drama had an amazing start. I was hooked from the beginning and it made me wish my high school life was similar. The characters are all very lovable and there's no clear villain in this series. However, the unrequited love in this drama was a big focal point, so if you like that or relate to this, you may find no issues.
Story:
I loved all the aspects but the romance was starting to bore me a bit to the point where I started watching episodes in 2x speed.Personally, they dragged on the FML unrequited loved for the 2ML so much that it starting becoming hard to watch. If that was their goal, well done. It's also realistic since the heart wants what the heart wants and loving someone cannot go away at will. It will cloud your judgment and actions which is portrayed mainly thorough the FML, 2ML, and the ML.
Besides the romance, I love the family and friendship aspect. It was super heartwarming with a touch or realism that will leave you relating to some characters.
Acting:
The acting in this drama deserves a round of applause. Every single actor did a phenomenal job. Personally, I love the acting of the ML aka Shiyi. He had me cracking up while watching the drama and embodied his character well.
Le Tao did an amazing job too. I loved her scenes.
Music:
Oh My Goodness!!! The music was one of my favorite parts. It was so fitting and memorable that I added them to my playlists. The opening and closing were lovely paired with the scenes they put in.
Rewatch:
Would I rewatch? Probably not, mainly because of Xiajou's unrequited love.
Overall:
I would recommend this drama to people who love slow burns, have patience, and love the unrequited love trope. I laughed, cried, got mad, nostalgic, and felt a multitude of emotions while watching this.
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It was a very good and lighthearted drama the only issue was the lack of closure
I loved this drama as it followed lovable characters through different phases of their life. I personally loved the relationship between Shiyi and Xiaoju and how it progressed. I would have given it a 9 if it wasn't for the lack of closure at the end. SPOILER AHEAD: after Shiyi left for abroad without telling anyone, and he cut Xiaoju and everyone else off, we never got a proper explanation. The last episode ended with their engagement, but we didn't get to see Shiyi and Xiaoju work out their misunderstandings and talk about all of their built up emotions over the years. I was eager to see that confrontation, but it never really happened, and it ended up feeling like they just ignored Shiyi's trip abroad and all the misunderstandings that took place. Another issue was that I would have loved to see more of Tao and Bao Bao's relationship and how that progressed as they were a really cute couple. This drama would have been perfect with just one more episode giving us some closure. Other than that, I loved the butterflies I got watching this, and how cute it was. I would definitely rewatch.Was this review helpful to you?
Hope one day the writer surprises us with a second season!!❤️
I looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooove it❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
The story is soooooooo iconic omg love it
I looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooove it omg hhhhhhhh ❤️❤️❤️❤️
I looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooove it❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
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Friendship, one sided love and dreams.
I loved it. It was refreshing,funny and just cute. I related to the FL's woes with her family tho I'm the youngest 😂. The friendship between the main cast was so cute I laughed a lot at their shenanigans I felt like I was one of them. I also found myself liking the second lead along with the FL tho I quickly realised it won't work and gave up unlike her 😂 I can't believe she kept liking him for so long it didn't make sense tho he's nice and all but he already got someone he liked at some point so... Welp anyways I also liked how the bestie broke up peacefully at the end with that guy it was different. The ml and FL were so good Richard really outdid himself in this drama I loved his character a lot. Most importantly what I liked in the drama is that each character is given a very good realistic persona with good points and flaws they felt real. The only thing I have a complaint about is the ending... Like it was a little abrupt? We needed a little explanation maybe also a closure? It felt a bit rushed I found it lacking!! The time she spent liking the other guy felt more than the time they spent loving each other and to be precise what I mean is her reciprocating his feelings finally. So yeah I felt a little frustrated like we were robbed of The perfect ending. Overall, it was still beautiful.Was this review helpful to you?
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realistic take on youth
i will never ever recommend watching this to anyone looking for a fairytale romance.story and characters: this is a slice of life. it is about youth. a very realistic portrayal of life and love, loss and separation, reunion and complex attachments that happens to most of us. it is highly relatable to many viewers. many may not like the fl because she spent over half the drama pining for the 2ml, who was busy with his own love life. but in reality we all probably know someone like the fl and 2ml, and maybe even a toned down version of the ml. obviously guys like ml are very rare, thats why this is a drama not a documentary.
we often come across someone who is in love with their best friend but never confesses and thinks they are oblivious to their love, but in fact they choose to stay oblivious to keep a precious friendship because of their own strictly platonic feelings. so many people really cant see the good things right in front of them because their heart blinds them to only see what it wants, and its not until late that they finally realize the true worth of things. how often do we see couples breaking up because of their ex coming back? there are also couples really in love but that love isnt enough to sustain their relationship and end up in a push and pull situation, thus breaking up and patching up again and again only to have an ugly separation, and possibly leaves one of them in lifelong regret. some people find everlasting love again after a messy breakup, some people don't move on even after a long time after breakup, some people give in to their regrets but never move on from that one love, some get back with their ex partners to ultimately breakup again with them and finally find their soulmate in someone else, some fall in love and get blind to others and after a long time subconsciously grow to love someone else that they have always relied on, some only just love one person forever and silently stay by their side doing everything for them selflessly just for their happiness. some of them get their happily ever after, some don't. some get their first love as their life partner, some don't get their beloved ever. this is real youth. this is what real people go through. this is what arrti portrayed through 6 characters who grow up and mature over time. growing up means separation, people go their own ways to build their lives, down the line we reconnect with some, while some are lost permanently. also lets not forget that the premise is set in pre 2000s which progresses to early 2000s during which most of the plot happens., so communication through internet wasn't exactly the best. another important part is that, i couldn't bring myself to hate any of the characters, be it lin you or huang jun.
acting: the acting was great actually. my first time watching wang ruichang as ml and this proved that he very well deserves more ml roles. 2nd time watched hu yixuan as fl and she honestly delivered her part well.
production: i wonder where they managed to find such rural looking settings that are actually fitting of pre 2000s society. they also found some pretty scenic locations too. also that song that xiaoju sang for cheng lang was my favourite ost. overall pretty decent production.
one complain is the ending. an ending like that? awful. i get that it was a happy ending but we deserved some more scenes of that.
i am not really into youth dramas, because of mostly the airheaded fls who speak in a baby voice, rich vs poor, love triangle cliches. and i most definitely never watched a slice of life before. so i am impressed by this one as it is my first time. i regret not watching this sooner. but maybe if i had watched it before, i wouldn't have appreciated it as much as i do now, since now i understand the story on a personal level. meaningful friendships, mature characters, and a realistic storyline. overall a good watch for sure.
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mixed up feelings?.
I'm reaching my most favorite cdrama even tho I cried, stressed, and so many mixed feels it was hard watching it but last time it took me 1 week and a half to finish it cause of each episodes but im glad it was an happy ending for lu shiyi and xia xiaoju but cheng lang kind of Deserves better since he didn't get to have the love of his life.I also thought about this like a enemies to lovers + slow burn cause it took long enough for xiaoju to know that shiyi loved here since he did bully her to cover up his feelings and even brought that shell clip even if he said it's ugly including his mom was teasing him about that but anyways.
the whole drama is basically a hs/college Sweetheart since they were all friends back in year 3 but there was so many good and bad things happening its like a mess and loop but shiyi has always been jealous when xiaoju mentions cheng lang or smth other than that or like the couple moment so just breaks the moment anyways.
but I wouldn't say enemies cause I would also say rivals since it's like their competitive over stuff and I love seeing their rival moments I just still think that why did she take so long to notice that lu shiyi liked her? like I'm always fed up with that feeling.
note: (srry if you dont understand my review)
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A Good Drama About Life and Youth
Keeping the love plot line aside this drama did justise to other aspects of a youth. From school life to being an actual adult, it showed a glimpse of all the important elements a young adult faces in their life at least once.The story line covered a lot of characters and each character had their own story to tell. There was a lot of heartbreaking things but a beautiful endto complete their own stories. This drama is actually a slice of life kind of drama which actually portrays real life things and not fairytale love.
To me the love triangle between the main leads wasn't the best part and when the third person finally went from their lives (love angle way) their own misunderstandings came in way, THIS WAS THE ONLY THING which did not satisfy me. Also the screen time for the two leads being in love was also very less. I wish we had more of them dating and something but anyways.
The drama is a worth a watch if you have nothing to binge, the sweet moments of these friends and the cute bikering of the main leads will keep you going. Overall it was a fun watch.
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