Hidden Love

Different from other youth crush dramas

I usually dislike dramas that feature a young girl crushing on an oblivious older guy. But I gave this a try thanks to my fellow reviewers and I really liked it because the FL MAINTAINS HER DIGNITY. She isn't a lovable ditz who endlessly and annoyingly chases a guy who has no interest in her; she admires him quietly and he finds her likeable as well--just too young to consider romantically. Until one day she isn't too young, and then the ride gets even better. The other thing I liked was how the drama kept its focus even after they got together. So many Cdramas veer off into boring storylines about business or family in-fighting after the leads get together, but this one remembers it is a romance and comes up with small hurdles that our leads face by mutually supporting each other. It is sweet and refreshing and packed with some really good acting. A delight to watch.

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The luckiest girl to ever exist LoL

Decided to watch this, trying to mend my broken heart after the trauma that was The White Olive Tree. Lol. Having watched CZY in The Handsome Siblings few years ago, his character and acting there really didn't leave too much impact on me. However,even seeing him in TWOT, boy did that boy grow up to be a fine man! In a mission to mend my cracked heart after TWOT, I felt that HL is just the best choice to do that. lol

Story is fine, nothing too extravagant, probably not done much, but especially possible to happen in real life. I mean, 5 years is not that long a gap, it may be when one of them is 14, but not when one is 22yo. Funny how age works right? Lusi as FL did well enough, I understand she needs to be whiny and childish at first to separate the child Sang Zhi from the grown up Sang Zhi, who deserved to be loved by someone as mature as DJX. And boy, CZY serveddddd as DJX! He was not only handsome, but cool, collected, matured and loving all in one package. DJX definitely is worth swooning for.

Sang Yan's actor played an older brother so well, I envied Sang Zhi sometimes. Having him and DJX by her side, Sang Zhi is really one of the luckiest girl to ever lived, not to mention having such a loving parents with money. \

All in all, this is really a feel good series, worth to watch if you want to destress while swooning over scenes in your bed LoL. And I found another male lead gem to follow!

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Overhyped, boring brother's best friend trope

I honestly do not get the hype. The face cards were amazing and true, the couple did have adorable moments but you lost me at literally everything else. Personally, I hate the younger/older romance where they got together when she became an "adult", I also abhor the she falls first and harder trope.

I shot myself in the foot by watching the sister shows first. The First Frost is full of intense yearning and healing, and When I Fly Towards You invokes nostalgia of your first love. Hidden Love is an oddball journey of Sang Zhi's innocent crush on her older brother's best friend snowballing into her chasing after him as she enters college. It felt like he tolerated her and fell for her because she pursed so relentlessly. I cannot pinpoint the moment he even started to see her in a different light.

I just didn't feel any passion. No yearning, no intensity. It's all just so soft and quiet. It's all cute smiles and long stares in each other's eyes. Why did he even fall for her? What is their reason to keep being together? I had no reason to root for them. Monotonous and predictable plot and a love story that is plenty cute, but no love.

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Butterflies in your stomach!

I have already watched this drama many times, it just gets under your skin and i will never get enough of it! I definatly will watch this many more times in the future. For me it's the best modern Chinese drama out there, it is really perfect!

The music is fantastic, everytime i hear a song in my playlist on spotify it makes me want to go and watch the series again.
The visuals are stunning! And the acting is amazing.
This story really makes your heart flutter all throughout the drama but also gives you some sad and funny moments.

The brother / sister dynamics are so hilarious and sweet. The dynamics in the friendships are great. The cheekiness of Sang Zhi is hilarious.
And Zhao Lu Si and Chen Zhe Yuan are amazing together, their chemistry is amazing.

And i loved the easter eggs at te end of every episode, they were a little extra bonuspeek in their lives.

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Breaking My Silence 2.0 (since its edited way below)

I tried. I really did.

I had randomly, one day started a manhua of the same name and did not finish it. Guess the art was not my style. And then I heard Zhao Lusi( I like her) starring in this drama and thought the production would be impeccable.
It was, but that's it.

I like age gap dramas if executed properly, but this drama did not have the magic.
That breathy baby voice of Lusi's had me in tears by the 2nd episode. It was too...juvenile and shallow. Could not feel the chemistry between the leads and had to push myself to complete the 3rd episode in hopes of it getting better.
It didn't. Now I can't even find the motivation to start the 4th episode, it's that serious for me.
I could not feel any personality from the fl and tried to muddle through the experience.

The only saving grace was the brother. Loved him


Edit: Okay so I completed it, never thought I would but I was too bored. The cast is absolutely fabulous and delivers every scene and every action. The pace of the story completely changes after the 8th episode and the chemistry literally melted my screen. I also changed my ratings especially for the cast (fl and ml are terrific) and the etheral ost.
Even if the story is nothing special, the delivery is out if the world.

Ps: I still absolutely LOVE the brother, the highlight if the whole show.

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Sang Zhi's diary: A story of life, love and friendship

Love the flow of the story. Worth to watch every episode. Even though I finished watching it, I rewatched it again and again for consecutive days now. And the OST, gaaaad!! It is well-made for the whole series.

The casts portrayed their characters well. They can delivered their emotions without overacting the situation. Especially, when Sang Zhi personally went to Yihe to confirm if Jiaxu has a girlfriend and she hides her tears as much as possible in front of Jiaxu, I felt her brokenness on that part. And to Jiaxu, I felt his sincerity and respect towards Sang Zhi that even though he already knew that Sang Zhi likes him, he still pursue her.

Also, you can see the transition of Sang Zhi from being a simple school girl to college girl with lots of maturity in mind. Like, the confrontation of her and to the lady who constantly harassed Jiaxu for the death of her father. Sang Zhi handled that confrontation so well that she managed to stay calm the whole confrontation part even if the lady bombarding her with a number of negative comments about Jiaxu.

Overall, the series is worth of your time to watch. The series is not just about a secret love but it tackles also the supportiveness of the parents, friends. You can grasp a number of lessons towards the story.

Congratulations to the production, staff and crew, and to the casts for a wonderful project! Job well done!

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I loved a lot of things about this drama but let me get this out of the way, the age gap WAS weird. Personally, I think the show could’ve made things feel a lot less awkward by having them meet when she was 17 rather than when she was in middle school and then later reconnecting. Even though her character is supposed to be around 14, the actress they cast to play this younger version of her looked about 7 years old and seeing her act opposite to the male lead felt extremely uncomfortable to me, especially because they kept flashing back to that time. There were way too many episodes taking place when she was a kid, it felt like maybe three or four would have been plenty. The show also made such a big deal about the age gap that it was hard to forget about it. It could have been the translations or a cultural thing, but at certain points when they were talking about their ages, it didn’t seem to line up with a five year gap. Again, I think this might be a cultural difference, but it was also odd to hear him constantly introduce her as sister. It could have been the translation but when he said “I don’t want to just be your elder brother, I want to be your boyfriend” I almost laughed out loud at how bizarre that sounds, when this is supposed to be a very sweet scene.

All this being said, I actually really did like the romance for the most part. Sang zhi was such an interesting character and was written so differently than a lot of other drama leading ladies. Jiaxu was of course written as the perfect boyfriend and the actor did an amazing job showcasing his charm. While age gap is not my favorite, the show allowed Jiaxu multiple opportunities to see Sangzhi in a different, more mature light that made him realize she had grown up. What was such a great aspect of their relationship is that they were a true partnership. They both were extremely protective of each other, not just him being protective of her. Sangzhi was constantly standing up for her man and Jiaxu’s reaction to that was heartbreaking because it was clear that he’d never had anyone on his side like that before. Sangzhi had a lot of scenes that I think in other dramas it would have the male lead in her role, for example when she wraps the scarf around his neck or when she confronts his harasser. They really highlighted that even though Sangzhi was younger than him, she was willing to go to bat for him just as much as he was for her.

Jiaxu was truly adorable and it was so understandable how Sangzhi had a crush on him for so long - who wouldn’t! The college roommate crew was such a good addition and it would have been great to see more of them. One of the other places that the show really excelled was with the depiction of the sibling relationship. Brother sister relationships are not often done this well; the way the two of them bickered felt so natural and even when they were fighting or didn’t know how to express it, you could tell how much they cared about each other. My only complaint is that there wasn’t enough of the brother, especially in the later portion of the show. I would’ve liked him to have his own storyline and I thought there would have been more shown with the girlfriend.

Sangzhi’s roommates were cute but they didn’t feel like realized characters because none of them really had their own arcs. The one roommate having the crush went nowhere and it felt like a waste for the show to spend time on it. The latter half of the show started to feel like it was dragging and part of that could be because almost every scene was just these two main characters. It could have worked better if the show was either a few episodes shorter or if they spent more time on some of the other characters, especially the brother!

Even with some of the issues, I do still think the show is worth watching. There were a lot of very sweet moments that I can see myself going back to rewatch, not even just with the main couple but also with Sangzhi and her brother. The part of the show when Sangzhi is a child is pretty long, so just be aware of what you’re getting into, but once she gets to college it was a lot more enjoyable.

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