Hidden Love

super cute couple

the drama was truly outstanding un unforgettable experience from start to finish it combined a gripping story with exceptional performances that brought each character to life in a way that felt raw and real the cinematography was breathtaking. with stunning visuals that drew you into each scene making every moment feel immersive and vivid. the soundtrack was equally impressive. perfectly matched to the emotion of each scene. heightening the drama and adding depth to the storytelling. overall. the film was masterfully crafted. leaving a lasting impact and reminding viewers of the power of great cinema. it's the kind of movie that resonate with you long after the credit.

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In simple words... Overrated.

To start off the story has major potential.
I loved the Sang siblings relationship. Their relationship is what kept me hooked.

I personally think the ML's acting wasn't that great. I couldn't really feel the emotions that he was trying to portray. I felt they had a good opportunity to make his character have depth but they didn't.

The entire story revolves around her being madly in love with the ML, which is understandable considering the title. But I felt there should have been more scenes that show his love.
It's almost like the writers and directors had enough of female chasing male, so out of nowhere the ML falls in love. How did that happen? When did that happen? Why did it happen? None of these questions are answered.

I personally love Rosy Zhao but this was the most annoying character she ever played. She was trying to hard to be childish and it came off as weird and strange to me. It made her more unrelatable. Though the situation the FL is in, I think a lot of us has gone through similar emotions (I personally have been in similar situation). But most of the time the FL was so pathetic about it that I didnt feel sympathy but anger.

Once the ML falls in love with her, he barely chases her and starts teasing her because he figured out he was her crush. He also kept standing her up. Yes, he had legit reasons but he never once explained it to her. The main couple never talk, they never have the real convos.

The most unrealistic part was how none of her friends were angry with him for constantly cancelling on her. Women/girls are not like that. If my friend's boyfriend would do that to her I personally would have gone to him and given him a piece of my mind.

A lot of videos list this show as "girl falls first but guy falls deeper", which I personally feel is totally untrue. Even if the last few episodes she runs to the airport to his city again to tell him how deeply she feels for him by showing him the "folded stars". Throughout the story she is proving her love for him. Yes, I will agree he takes some major steps for their future but I personally feel it's too little too late. By that time I am already convinced that "he is just not into her".

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From First Crush to Forever Love

Hello, Beautiful Shades of Green 💚

Green Male & Female Lead.
Green Brother. Green Parents.
Green Friends. Green Roommates.

A cast of characters that you’d want by your side IRL. No rivalries, messy triangles, or petty jealousies. Just genuinely good people who make our Leads’ story more endearing.

At a young age the FL { Zhao Lusi } meets and quickly falls for the ML { Chen Zhe Yuan}, her older brother’s best friend. They share many beautiful moments together, but devastation comes when she overhears a rumor that he now has a girlfriend, leading her to cut off contact with him to heal her heartbreak.

They’re reunited while she’s in college and, as he experiences how much she’s grown up, the ML falls fast and deep. Unaware that she’s loved him for years, he sets out to win her heart.

And he captures the viewers’ as well *sigh*. The movie date. His honesty. Him attending her class. The birthday surprises. The roller skating date. Adjusting to her pace. The camping “trip”.

The comforting hugs. The protection. The hand holding. The flirting. The caring actions. The intense gazes. The sweet kisses. All.the.love! 💞✨

Their chemistry is so natural & believable. They’ll make you swoon, sigh, laugh, & tear up. They’re just so… good!

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-S P O I L E R S B E L O W-


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The things I always want to know…
- First(real)Kiss : ep.17💋
- Together : ep.17 👩🏻‍❤️‍👨🏻
- BreakUp : Nope 💍

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The cutest slipper commercial in the universe!

The biggest problem with this drama is that the part I wanted to watch starts only at episode 8~. Until then there were quite a few uncomfortable moments, due to some really weird casting and cinematographic choices. The young FL is supposed to be a 14 year old, but the actress playing her is like a second grader in elementary school, her interactions with ML were nothing bad in terms of plot and script, but the suggestive lighting & framing is really really weird at times. (I had a hard time getting past this part tbh)

Every romance drama has some flair & flavor to give a little contrast to all the sugar. This one has very few scenes outside of the leads' personal world, but what little there is, tends to be rather boring, or just plain bad. (concerns of ML's parents, ML's family things, ML's stalker, stalker's boss friend, workplace things)

Another minor gripe I have with the drama is how much FL is treated like a teenage princess in her relationship. This seems to be a recurring theme in cdrama roms these days, but I'm just not a fan.

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So why is it still 8/10?

Well, we watch romantic comedies for the actual romance and that is really absolutely out of this world good in this one. The chemistry, the visuals, the mood, the acting, the red ears, well really everything pertaining to romance (well other than the princess thing) is 10/10 awesome. I always understood why Lusi is touted by many as THE romcom queen, but personally I did not like a single one of her dramas due to various reasons. I feel she is far better in this one than in anything else before & there is some real acting chops here, beyond just being a top of the line comedienne. (and ML of course is the perfect partner)

I too found the brother-sister relationship very amusing & wholesome, but I don't think it's possible to have such a brother in real life. :-) (I'm talking about FL's real blood related brother here of course.)

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Sweet, light, cheesy, and everything the drama intended to accomplish

This drama was very light and sweet... to the extent that every now and then I got goosebumps from the cheesiness :) All else aside, this was definitely an easy, joyful watch. As other reviews note, there's a notable lack of toxicity, reality, and cynicism from this drama, so it's one of the light + sweet watches that you get every now and then. The leads and supporting characters are all delightful, and it's very well-written pacing/story wise. For the most part, scenes make sense and you don't get the inclination to skip them because they're so wholesome.

The story's very simple and basic, and there isn't really much to say. Nevertheless, it was executed beautifully and wholesomely. I do want to say to those more sensitive to 'questionable romantic lines' in the script, there are some very, VERY cheesy lines in this drama. In an interview/fan event, I think Zhao Lusi noted that this script gave her goosebumps while filming more than any other script. That being said, it's not cringy in a 'everything happened as a coincidence and none of this makes any sense' way, but rather in a 'this is very sappy and sweet lol' way. Do note that it started dragging a little around episode 18, though most of the drama does flow smoothly along.

The acting and 'chemistry' (as they say) is on point. Zhao Lusi and Chen Zheyuan are wonderful together. I've watched a lot by Zhao Lusi, and she definitely does a great job but never struck me as something spectacular. However, this character really brought out her acting, and she's definitely grown so much! Chen Zheyuan played a very charming, heartthrob Duan Jiaxu : ) Everything played out very naturally and beautifully thanks to the great acting. I'm not sure how much there is to portray many times in non-tragic dramas, but you could see the items here were done very well.

The music I didn't enjoy as many others, but I know many really enjoy the OST especially 'Forever Star'. So it might be something to look forward to too~

Overall, sweet drama that's a good break from all the 'over-dramatic' dramas, iykwim. I'd definitely recommend watching it.

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A ‘waiting’ show

It was a simple drama focusing on the female lead, Sang Zhi’s life or more accurately, her love for the male lead, Duan Jia Xu. The drama title hidden love was depicted by her love at first sight for him when she was 14 years old and thereafter secretly liking this guy till her time in university when her deep concern and love for the guy finally touched his heart and they got together, somewhat like a dream came true.

Zhao Lu Si as Sang Zhi, was convincing in her role. She was pretty and sweet as a young girl. I have no negative comments about her. They clearly tried to make her look like a senior high schooler with non-existent makeup and a student-like hairstyle.

This was the first time I watched Chen Zhe Yuan. He was good-looking and a perfect male lead as the character of such lovey-dovey idol dramas, though to be honest, I had enough of seeing his face after about 20 episodes.

I saw the high ratings for this drama and hesitated to post my review because watching this drama, to be honest, I was bored.

There was nothing exciting happening or nothing to look forward to episode after episode, unless you consider waiting for the next passionate kiss to be something to look forward to. Everything was predictable and execution was slow. The only setback or obstacle to their relationship was that of the objections of Sang Zhi’s parents, but this was solved uneventfully. And then there was this third party, a harassing girl, but nothing really happened after repeated warnings.

Furthermore, this drama revolved around only the main leads. There were no stories for the secondary leads who existed simply for the main leads so the screen time of the main leads was 99.9% and that was perhaps the reason for my fatigue watching Chen Zhe Yuan.

I struggled through the first 10 episodes, waiting for the female lead to grow up and go to university as I knew that was the time things between her and the male lead would have some development. And then when she was finally in the university, I waited for her to meet the male lead, for the male lead to fall for her, for them to get together and for them to hmm....have some passionate intimate scenes and for them to get married.

I knew once they got together it would just be all fluff after reading others’ comments and people said you had to be in the right mood to watch such shows, I believe I was, there was no better time when I watched this, but somehow, I was not as touched or cringy as I thought I would be. Sweet? Yes, but just a little when they dated. That mild sweetness was the kind when you watched a young couple so madly in love with each other, but that was it. I guess because there were no surprises, so no unexpected moments that touched my heart.

However, I have to give special mention to the ending. The proposal was rather unexpected and I did shed a few tears. Finally, the girl got the guy and it was a happily ever after ending, though do not expect any explanations for the other characters.





An afterthought:
Not sure whether this was part of Asian or Chinese culture, Sang Zhi’s brother hit/punched Duan Jia Xu after realising they were together. I tried to understand this. Was he unhappy that Duan Jia Xu ‘stole’ his baby sister away from him? Maybe. Was he unhappy that they did not tell him earlier? Perhaps. Was he unhappy that the person who ‘stole’ his baby sister’s heart was actually his own buddy and he actually had the nerve to ‘steal’ his sister who was younger than him by 5 years? It seemed so.

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WHY IS THE RATING SO HIGH? let me tell you the SECRET

As you may have already seen my ratings, I loved this drama. I suddenly came across the manhua while surfing through webtoon sites and just like that I really like the art, the translation and the characters. My teen age is over and I had a crush so it was kind of relatable and maybe that is why i loved the manhua and i couldn't keep my patience when i heard that it was going to have an adaptation so i read the novel.

You may question the ratings at times when you get to this page but there really are reasons why they are so high. THE ADAPTATION DONE RIGHT !! it gave justice to the novel and the manhua with amazing leads playing the characters, the emotions, the clothing, the whole vibe of the plot and everything. So first of all, novel/manhua fans are content with how this drama turned out so beautiful and so true to the real line.

Then comes the acting, you may doubt the acting of leads in regards to their age but its the same as we expected. It should have been that way and it is that way, meaning the childish voice, the early adolescence, the growing up, you'll notice the character growth as you watch it so do watch it well before judging it.

Black fans created few accusations when this drama aired and many who initially hadn't felt that this drama showed anything bad that also started to doubt if it did, but you will notice it, the way ml looks at fl changing (when they meet after years), and guys we all had that secret crush on some senior, someone years older than us, we did that too, our crush didn't turn real but Sang Zhi's did and it was so pure and heartwarming that the age gap didn't matter, these days 10 years gap is normalizing, 8 years gap is considered IDEAL, so it shouldn't have been a problem right? Did you hear what Yu Xin (roommate) said ? Doesn't it make sense? it does right. Sang Zhi grew up well, i was rooting for her, i was feeling for her, the falling for someone, wishing for others, feeling sad, moving on, can't help the beating heart even after years, doubting if he can love me back and everything.. i was rooting for her even when i knew the whole what was going to happen stuff. and it was because the acting was so good.
the innocent Zhizhi, the am i falling for him Zhizhi, the i should help him Zhizhi, the you are my dram Zhizhi, the heartbroken Zhizhi, the growing up Zhizhi, the is he flirting with me Zhizhi, the playing hard to get Zhizhi, the working Zhizhi, the loved Zhizhi, LUSI did so well. the fighting back problems Jiaxu, the must work hard Jiaxu, the am i falling for her Jiaxu, the CAN I WOO YOU? Jiaxu, shameless Jiaxu, CHEN ZHEYUAN did well too. and ohhhhhh myyyy godddd VICTOR MA ! I loved the Sang Yan character so so much, the expressions, the brother sister relationship, him being the protective brother, him knowing his sister and bestfriend dating, him getting annoyed, i loved him so much. So i said at first, the actors here are irreplaceable. Can't think of anyone else playing these characters in such smooth way. Side characters are so good too.

The music in this drama, not a single song is bad. The love can be clear with Spotify streams. It is doing so well globally as a Chinese drama playlist. You may have heard the singers name before too and you can stream them too if you like.

There were so many problems while this drama was shot but the final results turned out so well. It was like an escape and a fresh light drama with no unnecessary twists and trauma an (dark past of leads kinda story which is very much in every drama these days), you can just watch this drama without having to stress out on whats happening now, who, what all that, this is a romance drama, crushing and all, and it SERVED WELL!!

So if you are a romance genre lover, or you are looking for sweet, heartwarming drama, good actors, music, pleasing cinematography and binge worthy drama, WATCH ITT!! Don't read any comments or doubt everything said or anything, just watch it and without any bias, you'll like this

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The most perfect Novel -> Manhua -> Drama adaptation I have ever seen.

I won't deny I had my reservations when I heard it was being adapted into a drama. As an avid reader of the manhua (and regularly screaming about DJX) I didn't want to be disappointed like other famous adaptations because it never seemed to capture the essence of the work I loved so much.
BUT.
I STAND CORRECTED.
They took care in portraying every detail that makes this story so unique and added scenes/plots to enrich the storyline further, rather than taking away from it.
This is one of the first few Cdramas I've ever watched and I do not regret it ONE BIT. I discovered CZY, Lusi and Victor through this show and I absolutely love their portrayal of the characters. They did the writing justice and brought to life one of my favourite stories ever.
Let's not forget the colour grading, cinematography and acting throughout the show. Everything was phenomenal.
I don't know about you, but this has officially become one of my 3 Dramas I will rewatch yearly!

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