Ming Ri You Qing Tian (2024)

An endearing adaptation of Red Band Society

‒Overview‒

'Ming Ri You Qing Tian' is the Chinese adaptation of the beloved 'Red Band Society' that has a Chinese title that roughly translates to 'Tomorrow has Sunshine'. It's a Chinese spin on the Spanish Drama 'Polseres Vermelles', which has spawned many adaptations internationally. The show is a found-family and coming-of-age drama that follows the young patients that banded together as they grapple with the vicissitudes of youth, dreams, friendship, family, loss, and overhanging specter of their own mortality. Like the best entries in this genre, the show mixes laughs, emotions, and a dash of romance (though far less than other versions). The 16 episodes go by quickly and the endearing characters will leave you with strong impressions, life lessons, and healing in midst of loss.

‒What I Liked‒

- Excellent theme and concept, courtesy of the OG drama, adapted to Chinese setting and sensibilities
- Exploration of the struggles of medical patients, the attitudes and reactions of parents, and the stigma and social issues in the Chinese context
- The likeable, three dimensional characters delivered by solid acting performances from a young and relatively unknown cast.
- Good execution on the found family concept, plenty of humor, and plenty of heart. There are a lot of 地狱笑话 (Hell Jokes, even worse than Soviet Jokes), but also plenty of inspiring moments.
- The German version is supposedly the best, but I don't speak German so I briefly checked out the American version. Higher budget production notwithstanding, it was a very Walmart store teen comedy, where the characters and jokes were predictability on 2 legs, oops my bad, on 1 leg or wheelchair. If you thought that joke was bad, the jokes in the American version were no better. In contrast, Tomorrow Has Sunshine felt more authentic and contemplative. This might be because China doesn't make many comedies whereas US produces tons of sitcoms, which also means stylistic repetitiveness and fatigue. Regardless, the American version felt like cripples hopped up on an alternating mix of adderall and crying meds. I'm sure the show has some highlight moments, but the amount of derivativeness made me hit the eject button in short order.

‒What I Didn't Like‒

- The social media aspect, courtesy of the producer, Bilibili (China's YouTube). While the show tried to add a social media twist that presumably wasn't part of the original drama, it amounted to more of a half-baked effort and annoyance. While it didn't degrade the core of the story, the social media presence felt tacked on. A better integration would have required a far more thoughtful and intensive modification of the original story and directorial presentation.
- The slight issue with polish in the visuals, music, and editing department. It's not as polished as Link Click, another interesting recent drama from Bilibili. The American show Scrubs comes to mind for the similar vibe. IMO Scrubs is an all-time classic, so there's a significant gap in storytelling and presentation.
- Minor plot logic and continuity issues
- Disclaimer: might be because I've been watching everything on 2X* The finale was solid, but meandered a bit, rather than ending on a decisive, impactful note. Also some of the tonal transitions between funny and sad moments could have been refined. And I thought they could have been braver and lingered longer on sad moments longer to let it hit home.

Overall this was an engaging, fast watch and most people probably wouldn't have my complaints about polish. I rate it a 7.8 ‒> 8.5MDL. The biggest issue might be finding it on international platforms with good subs. If you do, this is well worth the binge.

‒Category Ratings‒

- Overall - 7.8
- Plot - 7.5
- Theme / Concept / Impact - 8.5
- Acting - 7.5
- Visuals - 8
- Audio / Music - 7.5
- Rewatch - 7.5
- Accessibility - 8.5
- Subtitle quality - ??

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Doesn't hit like it should

It's about a group of kids battling illness with small chance of survival rate trying to keep hope alive through friendship.
It's a good attempt but for the most part of the story it doesn't really hit.

One of few best scenes that really hit is ep 11 when character Tie Yi shaved his hair. That's like a one-shot kind of scene, you just got to nail it, and he did it. Actor Sun Tianyu has been various supporting roles over the years, so this is a good main role for him to actually showcase his capabilities. His face was convincing but physically he didn't lose a lb for a cancer patient going through rounds & rounds of chemo.

Overall decent watch. Much better than the 80% of copy paste teen storylines out there.

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