Our Generation

Overall, this drama was actually quite enjoyable to watch. I found the plot itself interesting, although some aspects could have been handled better.

As for the main couple — Lin Qi Le & Jiang Qiao Xi — I absolutely loved their acting performances and have no complaints about them. Their on-screen chemistry was wonderful, and I genuinely liked the foundation of their relationship. I never doubted their love for each other, but at some point, the relationship simply started to look unhealthy. The concept of her chasing after him could still have worked somehow (even though at times it felt outright desperate), but for me, the biggest issue was that after two years she went to find him and immediately forgave him for disappearing without a word right after kissing her and cutting off contact for two years. After that, she was still the one chasing after him, and I never got the feeling that, even for a moment, the effort and pursuit shifted onto him — which it absolutely should have. And it’s not like the drama didn’t have enough time to show that. We got four pointless episodes about her life without contact with him, and that amount of screentime was simply unnecessary. Still, to avoid sounding completely negative, I did enjoy watching their relationship later on — just like during their high school years. Personally, I also liked the ending with their younger versions.

I think the storyline involving his family was genuinely interesting — although obviously difficult. For most of the drama, it was handled really well. However, I do think the aftermath regarding his parents could have been explored better — for example, whether his mother ever started getting treatment. At the same time, I’m glad that, especially with his mother, he ultimately did not repair their relationship, because it added realism. Honestly, I would’ve even liked a scene where it was made much more explicit that he had permanently cut ties with her, confronting her about everything. I also think the storyline surrounding his brother’s death could have been developed far better, because I still keep wondering what actually happened to him. Did he really commit suicide? The same issue applies to the storyline about his cousin’s accident. What happened to the person who pushed him off the roof? Was it that former employee? Why didn’t he pay for the medical treatment — either before or afterward? Why did the financial burden fall entirely on the family, and why wasn’t it even suggested later that they would fight for compensation? So many questions and very few answers, which is why I think this storyline was simply poorly handled — or maybe it was just forced into the plot.

One major positive was her parents. They were wonderful people and genuinely made me smile whenever they appeared on screen.

Moving on to the other characters — I absolutely loved Yu Qiao with all my heart. To me, he was the best character in the entire drama. I wasn’t rooting for him to end up with the female lead (my love for Zhang Ling He won there), but despite that, I still think he would have been the better choice for Lin Qi Le because he was simply an amazing person, and there were many moments when I genuinely felt sorry for him. I rooted for him individually and hoped he would eventually find happiness, but unfortunately, that never happened.

Naturally, I also have to mention Qin Ye Yun. At first, I hoped she would end up with Yu Qiao. However, over time I realized that would’ve been a bad choice. It would have felt too much like, “Things didn’t work out with Lin Qi Le, so I’ll just settle for you instead,” so I’m glad that didn’t happen. I also hoped her storyline with the pilot guy would be developed further, but unfortunately it never was. Aside from that, I did grow to like her character over time. In the beginning, though, she really irritated me because she took out her jealousy on the female lead, who had done absolutely nothing wrong even though they were supposedly friends.

The last character I’ll mention is Cen Xiao Man. Under normal circumstances, I probably wouldn’t even talk about her because she was an extremely irritating character who constantly raised my blood pressure, but I actually liked her reunion with the female lead years later and the way it showed that she had matured, so I’ll count that as a positive too.

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Not worth watching at all totally different from novel

This drama is totally different from novel
Novel is far more batter and intresting drama is fucking irriting i like the actress thats i watching this other wise they twist the whole story this is frustrating for novel reader's only the name remain same otherwise totally different novel is cute not cringe drama is all about fucking friends and they deliberately trying to create love triangle.
There is nothing like in novel
Only lead actor's are good
Rest of supporting cast is annoying most important if you had read the novel i recommend don't watch it you will be disappointe

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Beautiful story

I watched the last ten episodes of Our Generation in one go, starting Friday evening and finishing Saturday morning. That alone says a lot about how strongly the final stretch pulled me in.

The pacing in the middle of the story felt slower, and at times it was harder to keep moving forward. But the beginning and especially the final ten episodes were wonderful.

I have read many comments criticizing both the female lead and the male lead: one for chasing too much, the other for running away too much. But as an “objective” viewer, I found that dynamic to carry one of the drama’s most powerful messages.

Throughout Qiaoxi’s life and self-discovery journey, Yingtao was deeply important to him. When things were difficult at home or with his cousin, she became a lifeline—his light at the end of the tunnel. Some viewers criticize her for continuing to pursue him, especially after he left her before the Hong Kong arc. But even as viewers, we could sense that something was wrong with him during their farewell scene. Yingtao explains this beautifully to Yejun during their conversation on the hotel roof: because of the way Qiaoxi spoke and how he seemed to feel that night, she knew she needed to find him.

That was beautiful to me.

Yingtao could be that resilient partly because of how she was raised. She had parents who loved and supported her unconditionally. She was not taught that her worth depended only on achievement. She had the freedom to fail, make mistakes, and find her own way because she always had a safety net in her parents.

Qiaoxi had the opposite experience. People also criticize him for not groveling enough at the end, but I do not understand why there always has to be a score to settle between two people who love each other. As viewers, we can see his struggles and understand the mindset behind his choices. Since childhood, he was expected to be perfect in order to deserve his parents’ love. He was not allowed to fail, and he lived as someone else’s replacement.

In Yingtao’s family, she was the center of her parents’ universe—the mighty “sun.” In Qiaoxi’s case, he was the backup project, the “moon” living under an eclipse, constantly overshadowed by his brother. He was not allowed to dream or make mistakes. During the Hong Kong arc, he had to give up his newly found dreams and freedom because there was no adult he could truly rely on. For once, he dared to dream and reclaim his own life, but life had other plans. For him, it became easier to bottle everything up and survive one day at a time.

I loved Zhang Linghe’s acting in this drama. He portrayed both the more immature Qiaoxi and the later, anguished version of him beautifully. I believed his misery and internal struggles. I felt his pain throughout the Hong Kong arc. His demeanor and facial expressions were superb.

I am happy I watched this drama because it portrays the imperfect lives of human beings while still giving hope that wounded souls can find healing and happiness. It left a deep impression on me.

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A beautifully heavy drama that shallow-minded people wouldnt appreciate.

I recently saw a comment that perfectly captures their story: "If Lin Yingtao hadn’t been brave enough to fight for their love, Jiang Xiaoqi would have missed out on the greatest love of his life."
This says it all. I never saw Yingtao as someone simply chasing a guy; their feelings were always mutual and balanced. The real struggle lay with Xiaoqi. Between his family burdens and a pride that kept him from showing his vulnerable side, he felt forced to take the long, lonely road of self-improvement. Thankfully, Yingtao was there to prove that she loved him regardless of his imperfections. She provided the balance he lacked, making them truly perfect for one another.

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Blunt storyline and misfit cast pairing for main lead

When I came across the drama, i thought it will be a good one since it encompasses the areas of friendship, growth and relationships. The first few episodes was going well but suddenly it's jst becomes too stretched and i could barely hooked on to further episodes since it becames too cliche.
I didn't like the female lead being so Air headed, letting her life revolves around a guy's decision and really got annoyed when she literally pushed herself to be in the ml situation when even he himself is navigating to move forward.
I feel like the main lead was too old for the pairing and the raw essence of childhood and teen was missing. His character overall I'll say lacked a lot of development since it was too one subject minded.
The drama itself was too long and the plot development was terrible and wasn't smthng i was literally hooked to watch.
Really disappointed

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bad story great acting

سریال خوشگلیه مخصوصا قسمتای اولش.
بازیا هم واقعااا خوبن و اصلا مصنوعی نیست.
ولی نویسندگیش تو نیمه دوم سریال واقعا ناامیدکننده بود. حیف شد یه جورایی
نمیدونم اینکه میگن قرار بوده ۴۰ قسمت باشه بعد ۲۴ قسمت شده درسته یا نه. اگر اینجوری بوده احتمالا برای همین یه سری صحنه‌های بی‌فایده داره. البته که با این نویسندگی و این قصه خداروشکر که ۴۰ قسمتی نبود

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“Not perfect in pacing, but perfect in emotions.”

Our Generation is a warm and emotional coming-of-age drama that takes us through the lives of Cherry (Lin Qi Le) and Jiang Qiao Xi — from their childhood innocence to the struggles of growing up and falling in love.

The early episodes showing their childhood are especially touching, making you feel like you’re growing up with them. The drama captures the sweetness of first love, the comfort of friendship, and the bittersweet pain of separation.

What makes it special is its nostalgic, slice-of-life tone — it doesn’t rely on big twists, but instead on small, heartfelt moments that feel real. The acting of the child and young leads leaves a lasting impact, and the atmosphere is warm and relatable.

On the downside, the romantic chemistry between the leads feels a little weak, and the pacing sometimes suffers because the story was cut down to 24 episodes. Some moments feel rushed, especially in the later part of the show.

👉 Final Verdict: Our Generation is not a perfect drama, but it’s a heartfelt one. If you enjoy stories about youth, friendship, and first love with a nostalgic touch, this is a beautiful watch that stays with you.

✨ Our Generation isn’t about dramatic twists or grand romance — it’s about the quiet, simple moments that shape who we are. It reminds us of childhood laughter, bittersweet first love, and the friendships that guide us through growing up.

While the pacing feels a bit rushed and the romance chemistry isn’t always strong, the drama shines with its warmth, nostalgia, and emotional depth.

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Slowburn drama that’s so slow it forgets where it’s headed

Our Generation is a slow-burn character study about youth — first crushes, academic pressure, and the awkward stretch from small-town innocence into the messier world of adulthood. At its core Our Generation is a collection of realistic moments of how childhood memories can grow into something that transcends time and distance.

The best part

Zhang Linghe as aloof math genius Jiang Qiaoxi, is why you want to see this. I’ve been following him since Love Between Fairy and Devil, but this is the first contemporary drama of his I’ve watched. (I know I know there’s The Best Thing). He’s extremely talented — while he shines in idol and costume dramas, his subtle performance here is a real standout and feels different from his more popular roles. I liked that the creators didn’t just throw his “face card” at us to distract from character development. He isn’t scared to be shown in an unflattering light here. And I respect an actor with entire image built on his looks attempting to do something different for a change. And that honesty might be the best part of the drama, that tired, beaten down young man in Hong Kong stretch of episodes. If for nothing else (and there is truly nothing else), the drama is probably worth watching for Zhang Linghe’s performance alone.

Zhao Jinmai as Yingtao is good, but I’m not a big fan overall. Her performance here doesn’t measure up to her work in The Princess Royal, which I enjoyed much more because she was actually convincing there. In Our Generation there are really great emotional moments where she lands the feelings like a blow, but her overall portrayal as a high school girl didn’t fully convince me and it was a little hard to watch at times. It’s like you can tell it’s a grown woman acting as a little girl. I don’t think she’s cut out for those roles. She has her strengths elsewhere. Still, I like Zhao Jinmai in this drama better than in Shine on Me. Plus the emotional scenes between her and Zhang Linghe when they are both playing adults is where she really packs a mean punch.

There are lot of interesting supporting characters, but this is also the drama’s one of biggest issue. Some supporting roles got a lot of screen time while others felt like they were there just for the sake of having supporting characters. The stories weren’t distributed evenly across the gang. A lot of stories had foundation, but nothing ever came out of that foundation. I wish the drama had either stayed tightly focused on the main couple or actually distributed storylines evenly among the whole group.

I liked the family dynamics between in Yingtao and her parents. I liked how they were contrasted with Jiang Qiaoxi’s completely opposite family dynamics to showcase why he is the way he is. It’s an understanding and loving family against a dysfunctional family that doesn’t remember what it means to be a family. Still I wish they showed his parents at the end asking for forgiveness, even for a second, especially his mother. There was so much emphasis on her broken relationship with her son at the beginning of the drama that it felt strange not to have their story come full circle.

Pacing is the biggest problem

The show has a really strong foundation, but it drags. And I mean it. You can skip through minutes and minutes of dialogue and still not miss anything crucial to the plot. Yes, this is mostly character-driven rather than plot-driven — slice-of-life youth vibes for the most part — but the pacing still hurts the overall impact. Stretching the high-school portion of their lives across so many episodes and leaving only a handful of episodes for their adult reconnection does the story a huge disservice.

The drama does have a great ending — you get butterflies — but the last couple of episodes feel almost like a different drama: faster paced, upbeat, with comic relief we hardly see earlier. That tonal shift is jarring but it does leave you satisfied.

Bottom line

If anything, watch this drama for Zhang Linghe’s performance. I skipped quite a lot, and his acting was the only reason I powered through. There is plot, but it’s paper thin and nothing new and so much screen time could have been just taken out and it wouldn’t affect the plot one bit. The show has real heart and honest moments, but uneven supporting arcs and painfully slow pacing keep it from being great. Still, when it works, it really works — just be ready to grit through long stretches to get there. Or skip. In the end, it’s hard to say if the show is trying to be a youth drama, a family drama or a romance.

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3rd collaboration pls

friendship,family,love story sobrang ganda nakakaiyak..happy ending..🥰😍🥰😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😋😋😋😋😋😋🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰😍😍😍😍😍😍🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲🥲😍😍😍🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰😍😍😍🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍

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Perpetual state of golden hour.

I loved the beautifully lit cinematography, the romantic lighting, and the perpetual state of golden hour... :p

I usually avoid watching teenage/highschool romance because it often feels weird to me. Sometimes they're just plainly unrelatable. And sometimes there's a lot of directors/writers that throw in a highschool setting into a story that would work way better for adult characters, not to mention the creepy directors that project their predatory gaze into these kinda shows (hello hollywood, hello sam levinson..) But this show was not even close to any of that. It felt like the showmakers created this out of a deeply beloved nostalgia, and maybe even one they felt after becoming parents themselves, because some scenes, like the ones with Qin Ye Yun's dad, felt like they came from a parental perspective..

I found it really touching how this brings up economical and class struggles.

I know a lot of people dislike the ML/Jiang Qiao Xi, and even tho I don't agree with his actions, I see where he's coming from. I thought his character was beautifully complex, and the shame he felt was very human.

This was also a confirmation for me that Zhang Linghe can really ACT. It's a shame some people dismiss his talent just because he's known for being good looking.

Overall, I really loved this drama and I think it deserves a much higher rating than the current one.

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Lazy writing. Don't waste your time!

Had big expectations from this one, who wouldn't after the Princess Royal.
I believe even youku and others expected big from this.
I was sad that cctv dropped this show, but also read that they were confused that this didn't fit into what they wanted at all. Now I understand why.
This is neither a youth show nor a romance one.

Except building up of Yingtao' character, it's like if they didn't even care about the rest characters at all.

Qiaoxi is a tortured boy who likes Yingtao. Few minutes and viewers should be OK with it.

The squad: one like Yingtao, one is infatuated with the other, the rest two have no ambitions or real meaningful sentences if not related to Yingtao.

I got that this story revolves around Yingtao, but this isn't just revolving because all other characters are so uni-dimensional, zero character growth, zero character depth. Mere objects just fit in to support Yingtao.
In fact I would say that everyone are doing only guest appearances in this show because they don't have anything else to make them endearing to a viewer.
For me it's a failed adaptation completely.

If you want to really enjoy a good youth show, with all friends having an arc, meaningful arc, then this is the wrong show totally 😂.

Don't waste your time.

Only gave a rating of 6.5 because of actors and the kids in first episode.

Adding to my review above:

any so-called chemistry between Yingtao and Qiaoxi are only because viewers like both actors and they have a off-air natural chemistry, because storywise it makes zero sense how and why these two should even be in love?! infatuation maybe, purely physical attraction- but love? sorry you lost me here! They hardly have any worthwhile scene to prove this ardent so-called love.

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One hot mess of a drama

This show has all the good elements of a fantastic drama : 1. Six childhood friends with deep bond who went through the challenges of growing up from primary school to their professional careers; 2. Strong camaraderie among neighbors; 3. Dysfunctional family with controlling and destructive parents; 4. Young and pure love that defied all difficulties; 5. Tragic past; 6. Global financial crisis. But it’s as if the script writer, the director and the editor quarreled and let each other run amok on the set and do their own thing to sabotage each other. There were so many disjointed scenes, back stories not explored, no character development on the supporting actors, inconsistent story telling. I was confused and couldn’t decide if this was a drama about life, coming of age, or just fluffy romance. Too many non value scenes like that ghost story in the FL’ s college dorm. I can’t believe they allotted 3/4 of the full episode for that! The messy flow of going back and forth on childhood stories were confusing and repetitive. And when I finally reached the end, I thought I was watching a fantasy fairy tale when their young selves appear talking to them. No wonder the rating was low and drop out rate was high. I rated this slightly above 7 purely because I’m a fan of ZLH AND ZJM. Sadly their flawless acting and strong chemistry were totally wasted.

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