Closer to You (2020)

This drama basically started off with both main lead how they meet and all those. Then the girl ( Han Fei ) had a accident and died which the boy ( Wu Jing Hao ) regretted not to save her as Han Fei met him before the accident. So 10 years later, Jing Hao is a doctor and he went back 10 years ago, about 3 to 4 months before the accident and he tried ways to stopped it, Along this journey, he started to know more about Han Fei.
But on the day of the accident, Jing Hao saved Han Fei with his life. He left a letter for Han Fei about him coming back from the past and how he tried saving her So the drama skipped to 10 years later where Han Fei is a a doctor , went through what Jing Hao did, went back to 10 years and then she saved him and they both lived happily ever after.
( P.S. I am mentioning partly of the story )

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I felt tbis drama could of have a lot of potential. The summary sounded really good but in reality it was just lacking...
1) I thought , cool time traveling ... but the story I feel gets sucks for most of the drama and its only 24 episode..

It just mostly focused on when the male lead travel back in time to save the female lead... I didn't really feel the chemistry between the female and male lead. . ( if you want to see a school drama/ good chemistry between the lead i highly recommend the best if you in my mind) There isnt any kissing expect a peck on the cheek ( lol in last ep)

The story just felt like it was stuck on everyday school, which leaded up to the day the female lead was "supposedly going to die" . It really only picked up at the last few episodes. They make it so mysterious as how she was supposed to be dead.... The thing with her best friend traveling back in time to save her??? .....

Towards the end i was touched by what the male lead did ( wont spoil anymore )

I loved the ending song!!!

I would only watch if you have a lot of time of your hand... but i definitely would not rewatch. I almost dropped the drama because it was going too slow.....

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I've watched the kdrama version and i liked it. It only had 2 episodes, each episode is 1 hour 10 minutes. The story was fast paced and nicely developed, but i feel like the ending a bit rushed.

This version was okay. Maybe because there's more episodes (24), it get stretch out and focused too much on the school part. The added side stories making the plot's focus slowly faded. Making it less of a time travel and more of youth drama.
I do like the school part, it was funny and nostalgic, but it should've only focused on the main character's story. And even with more episodes, the last few episodes still felt rushed.

Overall, it was enjoyable
I skip lots of the filler scenes, but i still enjoy most of the drama. Also the songs used were really good too, even though they overplayed it a bit.
If you're watching this don't hope much for the time travel plot, just enjoy it as it goes.

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This drama is supposed to be an adaptation of a Korean drama. I never watched the Korean drama, so my review won't be influenced by it and I won't try to compare the two. I'm just reviewing "Closer to you" on its own as a standalone drama. I will add that it is unfortunate I can't seem to find English subtitles for this drama - I had to watch it all raw.

Story: This a high school drama that doesn't shy away from societal problems, unlike other Chinese dramas of this genre (e.g. A Love So Beautiful). At it's core, it's about a group of high school students during their last year of high school having to form friendships, learn life lessons, and think about what dreams they have for their future. There was some unexpected growth and maturity from some characters that I found so endearing. It's going to make you look back on your high school days as well and remember the times you shared with friends, all those lunches at the cafeteria, the times you walked home together after school. It's nostalgia without nostalgia being thrown in your face. Anyways, here's a couple points I thought really shone:
- Facing thoughts of suicide and depression head on. The female lead's whole journey is about walking away from the abyss of death and trying to find some sort of light to hold onto so that she has strength to continue on living her life.
- Supportive male lead. The female lead throughout the drama is like a mystery novel that the male lead is desperately reading, trying to unravel. He gets frustrated, angry, and jealous at times. But the friendship that develops between the two of them is so beautiful, it's just two people who find each other in this world and go, "Hey, I think I can go on living this life if it's with you." Their bond is really what keeps this drama going. Is there romance? Yes, there's romance. But their bond kind of transcends romance. It's just two lost souls that really need each other.
- High school! This drama isn't just depression and sad thoughts. In fact, most of this drama isn't depression and sad thoughts. There's a lot of comedic points and laughter throughout the episodes as the two leads navigate their last year of high school and pick up unlikely friends along the way. The group cast energy was amazing. I loved the bonds that formed between everyone as the year progressed.
- Supportive female friendships. The female lead gets drawn into a quasi-love triangle with, surprise surprise, the second male lead (and not the male lead). But this isn't your typical love triangle. I would say that the female lead and the other female in this triangle actually have a deeper and stronger bond with each other than the second male lead. Their friendship withstands hell and high water, and they always put each other first, regardless of the men that enter their life. That's some true sisterhood.

Anyways, I made it halfway through the drama in one go and realized I hadn't skipped a single scene. That's when you know a drama is crack.

Acting/cast: 10/10. The female lead is a bit green, but she really grew into her character and brought it to life. Even though she's a bit of a mystery in the beginning, the female lead's acting made her character grow from this image in the male lead's mind to a living, breathing, hurting human girl. The male lead is spot on - the drama is mainly from his point of view and the actor has such personal charisma that he fully brought his character is life, perfectly depicting the character at 18 years old and 28 years old.

Music: You'll hear a single song over and over again in this drama, it's almost like brainwashing. It's actually a really good song, but I got so sick of it by the end of the drama.

Rewatch value: There aren't any super cute or fluffy scenes that I would go back to over and over again. I really, really enjoyed my first watch through of the drama (I watched it all at once, barely skipping scenes) but I wouldn't necessarily rewatch it over and over again. Still, during the period when I watched this drama, I laughed, I cried, I thought about life, and I fell in love with all of the characters. This drama will always have a special place in my heart.

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One of the best movies I've watched in 2020. Such a lovely and heartwarming story. The plot and the message behind it was great in my opinion. This was a remake of a K-drama, but I can tell this is much better. It was not just another high school love story. It conveys a lot more beautiful messages, about family love, friendship, depression, life meaning, etc. I never wrote a review before, but I decided that I had to get my lazy body to type this review to pay respect for it.

Tl;dr: Watch it, you won't regret! And to the stranger who is reading my comment, I wish you would have all the beautiful and great things happen to you!

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True to the premise- a heartwarming slice of life with supernatural twist!

I heard a lot of good reviews about this drama despite the actors all being relatively new and also very young, and how mature they tackled certain themes that I felt like I had to watch it! It took a really long while for the English subs to all be posted on YouTube but it was worth the wait! I think there could have been so much done better but the themes they tackled made up for it!

STORY
The story was pretty true to its premise, Wu Jinghao travels to the past to save Han Fei, and realizes a lot more along the way. Despite mentally being "ten years older" than the rest of the students, he realized that there was still a lot more to learn and complexities in character relationships that he had missed without his future maturity and experiences. The story tackled mature themes such as suicide and depression and I think it went about it very well. They didn't romanticize and rather made it seem very real for the characters. Wu Jinghao's bullying had affected how he acted to others and he even regrets it so much ten years later- and when he goes back, realizes everything he missed. If we think about it, the characters seemed really upbeat but HF and WJH hid their own insecurities and even their thoughts of suicide. The story is one of healing, and there are people that didn't like how it got stuck in "slice of life" before suddenly picking up at the end, but for me, that part was very important to really show how important everyday conversations became, and made their time more meaningful. They could have drama everywhere, but what they really needed was healing, and the story showcased that very well. That being said, I also think the pacing could have improved- for example- the whole Nannan thing holding us in suspense- I almost forgot about WJH's dreams of what happened in the first timeline. If they tightened up the pacing more, it would have made the story more engaging.

Now in terms of the time-traveling aspect- we didn't really get to see so much about the rules- but it was definitely used as a handy plot device- and not overused. While it could have been explained a little more- we do know that all four of the major players had a hand in it- Bai Zhenyu's song playing (which could even be him reminiscing), and Nannan, WJH and HF traveling to the past. It was a clever little thing to add there- that Nannan also came from the future. I also wish they could have made the "WJH getting run over" more...plot essential? Like he literally kind of just stood there as if asking to be run over. However, in general, the time-traveling was dealt with very well and it wasn't "too convenient", nor did it become too irrelevant. Just a personal thing, but I wish they were able to tie up loose ends with Zhenyu and Nannan, but it sets up enough for there to be a potential season.

CAST
For me, the cast was a little green and the acting was what threw me off at times. I think Li Yi Nan definitely stood out the most, but there was still a lot that could be improved. No characters were reduced to caricatures- except maybe Nannan's mother- and Sabrina Zhuang did alright, but definitely has a lot to work on. It was a little off-putting to see all of them play 28 year olds- especially HF. In terms of Asians- we all look younger than our age already- so I had to work a little harder on my suspension of disbelief here hahaha. That being said, they all brought smiles to my faces and I think these rookie actors will have a bright future!

MUSIC
I put the music at 8 because while I wasn't completely moved by most of the songs, they really utilized the music VERY well here. All songs were meaningful and the Zhenyu songs just made them all the more important in the plot.

THEMES
I liked the themes they tackled here, and like I said, it was more mature themes than I usually see in high school dramas. The theme of healing, and how each person can be someone's healing while healing themselves- and how much those moments meant to both HF and WJH, and how it affected them in the future. It was a pretty neat touch to see them both become doctors- because it fit them so well. As well, they tackle the different sides of a story and taking responsibility for faults. Is one person truly at fault, or is it just something that happened as a result of each character living out their life choices- and if so- does that make them at fault for something that happens? I love the importance they stressed on bonds here. As well, the whole thing with regrets- how regrets can be so powerful, and if we got the chance to, would we be able to fix our mistakes and live without regrets? WJH really grew throughout the series- he healed himself and other people, and he strengthened bonds and brought to light things that should be looked at. He also was able to live a life he could be proud of an not regret, even when making a choice to take HF's place in the accident. It was a selfless act, and it completely absolved him of regret. One thing I wanted to mention though- is it truly absolving a regret when your choice causes someone else to have regrets? Would the cycle just repeat itself?

REWATCH VALUE
This has a pretty high rewatch value for me, because it would probably be encouraging on a rainy day. There wasn't a lot of toxicity between the leads and it's just a feel-good drama in general.

CONCLUSION
All in all, it was a relatively feel good that had just the right amount of stakes. A lot could be improved in terms of acting and some of the story could be hammered out, but I think it was one of my favourite cdramas to watch because of the bonds that were developed between the characters!

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Remake Korean drama but better. Leads ship-worthy. Tsundere alert. SliceLife bingeable.

Music: I'm not gonna pretend to be an expert. The opening song is simply made for the show and is very cute so it left a last impression on me.

Story: It's a remake of the korean drama but personally I like this take better. Is a nice story as far as dramas about going back and changing the past go. The ending is more satisfying though honestly they could've dragged that out longer and I wouldn't have minded. Would've loved to see the drama expand on the female lead's experience back more. Maybe she could've made significant changes of her own. The plot was light-hearted but oddly got my heart racing in anticipation for the next episode and the final confession. The supporting cast all play a part in building on the characters' roles.

Characters: I only talk about the main female and male leads because I feel like they are all that mattered. The leads are more animated in comparison to the Korean Version. The female lead played just the right amoun of tsundere and I definitely felt the gradual romantic connection blossoming before my eyes that felt very organic compared to the usual love at first sight or outrageous quarreling budding romances of today. I personally fell so in love with the female character that I don't think I be able to watch her in any of her other dramas any time soon. The guy does a great job but I did not particular fall for his character the same way I did for her. The chemistry was there definitely there but their relationship is the very awkward/tsundere kind rather than the loveydovey kind.

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This drama was very sincere and heartfelt. It’s not a light and fluffy drama like I initially thought, but it wasn’t filled with angst and melodrama. Although it covered deeper issues of depression, suicide, and bullying, it also shined light on hope and the joy of friendship. The FL and ML were very well cast and I thought they portrayed their characters in a believable and sincere way. Romance was definitely not the focus and for once I was actually relieved because the ML was still mentally a 28 year old man. There were little cute moments but nothing that overstepped that line. I’m glad the writers left the romance for when FL and ML were both the same age!!

I’m not typically a big fan of time travel dramas because there are usually too many loopholes. This drama though gave just enough attention to the time travel theme and covered enough details that I can see friends getting together for coffee and giving their take on what happens when and with who and so forth (I think FL went back after ML was already there!!). There isn’t an obvious answer and I can see it being a fun and debatable conversation to have.

I do wonder though at the end, since both ML and FL are alive... who died in their place. Since the event still occurs but the person is different... is it okay to save one life for another? Does the cycle never end?

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Very poor

I read the synopsis of this drama but when I started watching this drama first episode is good ,starting is very good of the drama but as soon as the story progressed that he went back to his past to looked like he got a chance to correct the pass from there the exhibit of the story is poor,dull ,boring and monotonous. Even actors acting was also very very dull I am not able to connect myself with the characters and their emotions . Lead actress drama I had watched before and she did a great job in those drama I watch two of her drama so because of her I decided to watch this drama but I am very disappointed with her acting or I can say the role had given to her she did not bring that role upto the mark all the time same sort of expression had been shown on her face ok in between she got some happy moments where she laughed but still not correctly caughtbwith the character expression for scenario of the drama. So I decided to drop this drama.

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