Born to Run (2024)

Why fear when you have your family by your side

A good uplifting drama that shows no matter how tough the life may get, no matter how hard or how many times you fall, get up again and strive forward. A show that tells you even if the world is against you, as long as you have your family by your side don't be afraid and face it head on.

Cheng Anxin a girl whose dreams are shattered when she loses both her legs, the effect is not just on her professional but personal life too. Even at her lowest when she has given up on herself, her mother steps in and helps her get back on her feet ( well prosthetic limbs) and in the process both of them heal and the bond becomes even stronger.

Ruo Hua a girl with a broken relationship with her controlling mother who still is recovering from her son's death doing everything to become independent and get away from her. Her and her mother's relationship arc goes through many trials and complexities and in the process many scars emerge and heal, some new relations are formed while some are broken.

The cast have done a phenomenal job in showing the emotions people goes through when facing harsh realities and how they react to such situations. The complex relationships between mother and daughters are shown quite well. Overall the show is a good healing drama.

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A good drama to start 2024!

This drama tells a story of an ordinary family in modern China. This type of story has been told many times before. But what makes this drama extraordinary is the excellent directing of amazing group of actors in a meaningful, realistic and relatable storyline and story telling. The pace is fast but concise. The length is short but not rushed.

The drama did not waste time, it started with tragedy that would change 2 families’ lives. It grabs your heart and never lets go till the end. At least that is how I feel. From a solid start, gripping episodes and a warm ending.

2 siblings who are mothers , expresses a totally different kind of love for their children. One is kind, loving, understanding, supportive and caring. The other, clingy, manipulative, selfish and suffocating. This demonstrates that a mother’s influence in the lives of their children or the actions they do for their children is consequential and life changing.

The cast is amazing. From the main leads to the support role. Through their realistic portrayal of their characters, they took us to an emotional roller coaster ride of pain, love, hope, laughter, fear, failure , insecurities and struggles. Elaine Zhong nailed her role in this drama, her pain and self loathing are palpable right after the accident. YCY acting is also on par with the rest. The moms are convincing in their portrayal of their characters - you will fall in love with one and loathe the other. The support role - the ex husband, the new bf and all the men in Ruohua’s life including her brother all did great in this drama.

The dance and choreography, the special effects - the prosthetic legs are so real I am amazed and wondered how they made is so realistic. The simplicity of the set makes it so realistic and relatable.

Overall, this drama left an impression on me and taught me a valuable lesson about motherhood and life in general.

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Not just A Drama

"Born to Run" presents a poignant narrative that delves into the complexities of familial relationships, particularly between mother and child. The standout performance of Zhong Chuxi as the paralyzed Chen Anxin is truly mesmerizing, capturing the audience with her emotive portrayal. However, it's not just Chuxi's performance that shines; the entire cast delivers stellar performances, creating a palpable chemistry on screen.

The heart of the drama lies in its touching depiction of the mother-child bond. It poignantly illustrates a mother's unwavering desire to provide the best for her child, juxtaposed with the challenges of acceptance and understanding from the child's perspective. Anxin's journey to overcome her obstacles is profoundly moving, tugging at the heartstrings of viewers.

Throughout the series, viewers are treated to heartfelt dialogues that resonate deeply, further enhancing the emotional impact of the story. "Born to Run" is not just a drama; it's a touching exploration of love, resilience, and the unbreakable bonds of family.

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Better than Go Ahead

If you liked Go Ahead, you will love this!

I had zero expectations going into this but was taken in for the craziest emotional ride of my life. If there was one thing this drama did well in, it was in its portrayal and exploration of the inner workings of the human psyche.

Subtle moments such as the one at the beginning where the mother offers to stay in the master bedroom to look after her daughter and the son-in-law quickly agreeing to it while she exhibited the slightest look of disappointment, was a moment done so perfectly, I knew I would be completely captivated by this meticulous masterpiece from that moment onwards.

Don't get me started on the unexpected but amazing dynamics between the mother and the gym junkie, or the unlikely but completely believable chemistry of the gym junkie and female lead herself.

If you enjoy watching dramas that showcase the intricacies of human emotions and how unique circumstances can bring about changes to reveal the core essence of human nature, or mould them to evolve into a completely different individual from their prior being, then this drama was made for you. (It reminds me of the Japanese drama 'Soredemo, Ikiteyuku' in that the portrayals of the characters and their motives and emotions were often gray, not always black and white)

The only criticism I have for this drama was that it was too short. They could have honestly had another 2-5 episodes and I would have been completely satisfied. Due to this, they did not give the same weight to the gym junkies past, nor allow for us to see more of the evolution of the other characters. Either way though, the ending is definitely not unsatisfactory, and it will be an easy modern-day drama to recommend to new cdrama enthusiasts, alongside The Long Night, Reset, Nothing but Thirty, and Fake It Till You Make it.

Warning: Beautiful but equally depressing ending theme and clip will be there to haunt you and elicit your tears if the episode you happen to be on doesn't do that itself.

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“Life is like a long run, just keep running.“

“And when you run on the track you like, life will be a blessing.” Now, I know that this series is not perfect—but it scored really high for me personally because of the way the story deeply resonated with me.

What I love the most about Born To Run is the way it focuses on telling a story about mothers and daughters without “fathers” involved and it is something that I can highly relate to as someone who only has my mother. It let me peek at a mother’s struggle as much as it is let us see the struggles that daughter has when facing their mothers.

A relationship between mother and daughter seems complicated is what I think, I often feel conflicted myself because there are times when I wish I can just go away because we bicker all the time and argued just like how Ruohua had this urgency to “fight” her mother but still do everything she could to care for her, or how Anxin gained strength because of her mother even though they are two stubborn people who do not want to lose to one another.

Cheng Anxin and Xiufang, Chen Ruohua and Xiuli — the mother-daughter dynamic between the two is really different but ultimately the same: mothers will always love their daughters, even though the way they showed their love could be a little convoluted.

Aside from the family conflicts, the drama also does a good job telling us issues about what it means to find yourself in this ever-changing world, what a womanhood it really is, and for showing how these characters — that feels very much real, by the way, keeps on “running”

And not because they are scared, but because they are facing life heads on. The downside of this drama is that I get it may not be everyone’s cup of tea because there are parts that get too depressing, not to mention that Ruohua’s mom is really, really frustrating

But I promise you it is worth the watch if you want to see a beautiful depiction of mother and daughters in c-dramas. Make sure to keep a tissue somewhere within your vicinity because some episodes are a real tearjerker (but all for good reasons)

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The Hare & The Tortoise

A bit rusty, let’s go light here. I’ve been healed by this drama. Healed from frantic Adhd drops and pick ups. Healed from 1-2 episodes every other week. Not healed, from the disappointment we all know far too well with these dramas. Usually hitting us about half way through. But no, this drama in particular found its way to rob you of your enjoyment in a mere segue from one story to the other.

The Hare

Despite an amateurish beginning in terms of performances, this is what started the incredibly strong and relatable premise that took hold of me to end up binging the entire series in 2 days. We’re introduced to Ruo Hua and her seemingly competent yet clearly depressed younger brother. I’ll keep this blunt so I don’t go off ranting more than my attention span and grammar can keep up with. There’s nothing impressive nor noteworthy here besides the rare topic of toxicity and mental manipulation their mother lays out and keeps her foot on for the entirety of the story.

A flashy production flex. While this side of the story presented a quite unique direction towards a very typical subject, there’s little to no substance behind everything we’re being taken along to witness. Constant traveling back and forth between school and pampering. Relentless amounts of job hunting, exams, and home migrating. There was so much “progress” to take in at face value, but provided little to at times absolutely nothing behind it nor what came after. We’re never taken through a single day at the office, a single class or study session of Ruo Hua’s days in college, a single minute of job hunting. It’s directionless behind several fluffy relationship arcs and depression sequences, not a single time have i felt an ounce of character development here, for anyone. Ruo Hua remained the same dull character that has no idea what she wants to do in life, while at the same time somehow managing to do just about everything that’s put in front of her. Rapid pacing without ever hitting a single finish line in any of its aspects.


The Tortoise

Slow, defined steps. Meaningful dialogue. Top class performances. Set goals, realistic obstacles. This, is where you put your bets on. This is what you’ve come to watch. Half of my time i considered a complete waste with utter confusion as to why i kept consuming, this other half reminded me again and again why I couldn’t put it down.

I could rave about this half twice as much as i can rant on the half assed.. other half. But I won’t. This run alone gets my stamp of approval to go in completely blind to see why this is by far my favorite drama that failed as whole of what it had set out to do. And why it can be much more forgiving because of that for anyone else.


Overall

I’ve come to accept the realization of scenes that were cut out and/or adapted differently that resulted in the many faults of this drama’s pacing. But they don’t excuse the god awful decision making and quality of the changes itself.

But what I’d want of anyone looking to give it a watch, forget all of these faults. Make friends of the fast forward button if need be. Just let your time and attention be swooned away by the peak of this drama. Ruo Hua clearly wasn’t the favorite child nor story here.

Give in, to An Xin’s enchanting performance. Cheer on Xiu Fang through every beautiful, struggling step of the way. A hidden gem.

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Realistic portrayal of a disabled person

Two sisters, Zhao Xiu Fang (Xu Di) and Zhao Xiu Li (Chen Xiao Yi), are both middle-aged women who are also single parents because they have both left by their husbands. Zhao Xiu Fang, as the older sibling, has a happy, easy-going and relaxed personality, in contrast to her younger sibling, Zhao Xiu Li, who always manages and interferes strictly in her children's affairs.

Zhao Xiu Fang has a daughter An Xi (Zhong Chuxi) and Zhao Liu Li has 2 children, a daughter Chen Ruo Hua (Yang Chao Yue) and a son Chen Ruo Xuan (Liu Heng Fu) as the younger one.

An Xin is a ballet dancer and also a famous dance teacher. She often tells her mother to live a healthy life, have a good balanced diet and lose weight. Right on Zhao Xiu Fang's 60th birthday, a tragedy occurred, when returning home after the birthday celebration, the car driven by An Xin and occupied by her mother and Chen Ruo Xuan had an accident, An Xin lost her leg caused of that accident.

This drama tells about mother and daughter relationships, and how Xiu Fang helps An Xin to recover from the tragedy she experienced. Xiu Fang, who initially didn't care about her weight, ended up working hard to lose weight, assisted by Liu Tian Yu (Huo Wen Yuan), a fitness trainer who turned out to be a former ballet dancer who had a dark past that caused him to stop dancing. Xu Di is a veteran artist whom we may know from the drama Love Like The Galaxy who plays Niao Niao's grandmother, she had to wear a silicone prosthetic for her character as a fat woman which I thought looked so strange. What's interesting is Zhong Chuxi great acting and how An Xin character looks so stressed and depressed because she suddenly lost her 2 legs and became disabled. Her chemistry with Hou Wen Yuan is really good and I can't deny that they are a real-life couple. The special effects are smooth and really good, especially when you see An Xin with her prosthetic leg.

On the other hand, Xiu Li always manages her two children's lives excessively even though they are starting to grow up and become adults. Chen Ruo Hua is a graduate student who is looking for work, Chen Ruo Xuan is a teenager in his final year of high school. Chen Ruo Xuan often felt pressured by his mother's behaviour against his desire to study art, often felt cornered and had suicidal thoughts, one day his older sister was frightened because she found him standing on the roof of the building alone, another time he secretly recorded a video of his last words. Chen Ruo Hua did not escape her mother's terror who always interfered in her personal affairs, including when she had a crush on a boy, because her mother's outrageous behaviour resulted in them having to break up. The acting of the entire cast is very good, Yang Chao Yue's acting has improved a lot in this drama, I'm sure every artist can act optimally if they get a good script, even though the crying scene is still a bit lacking, but she has worked hard.

A life drama that is quite realistic because it happens in real life, there are many lessons that can be learned and remind us not to become toxic people. Overall, I'm quite satisfied with this drama, there's only one thing that doesn't seem necessary, namely the affair plot. If you're bored of watching other genres, you can try dramas like this.

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A very inspire story of human triumphant post a tragedy event. Definite worth to watch.

Born to Run is a melodrama about life's tragedy and how one overcomes it. The story of two sisters and their daughters after a car accident that left AnXin losing both of her legs and the life of Chen RouXuan.

The Synopsis: It tells the inspirational family ethics story of two mothers and daughters who rebuild their souls and ignite their lives through a female perspective after a car accident hit the bottom of their lives.

Xiu Fang and Xiu Li are completely different sisters. Xiu Fang is optimistic and tenacious. After losing her husband, she opened a fried chicken shop for a living, all the while going through depression. Xiu Li is pessimistic, depressed, patriarchal, and has a strong desire to control her two children.

After Xiu Fang's 60th birthday party, a car accident claimed the legs of her daughter, An Xin, and the life of Xiu Li's son. How to start life again has become the biggest problem facing the two families... What would you choose to do when fate made a big joke with you? The future is blocked by resentment, fear, helplessness, hesitation, and despair, so what will you do?

My Reviews:
1. The plot is fantastic. I love stories about life's struggles; we can overcome loss, despair, and triumph as humans.
2. Xu Di, who played AnXn's mother, portrayed an optimistic yet devoted and supportive mother.
3. Chen Xiao Yi did a good job as a pessimistic and love-to-hate mother who had ruined both her son's and daughter's lives because she was verbally abusive and a controller. She refused to listen to her older teacher and wrap her life around her children and, in the process, suffocate them.
4. I love Elaine Zhong; she is a good actress who can play any role, and her acting is so good that it makes me cry in emotional scenes.
5. Yang Chao Yue could be a better actress; I dropped all her dramas where she played the female lead. She did a decent job as the second female lead in this drama.

I love this drama because the plot is good, and so is the acting of the entire cast. I give it an 8.0 rating.

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