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Nothing but Thirty chinese drama review
Completed
Nothing but Thirty
1 people found this review helpful
by PikaChu
Oct 17, 2023
43 of 43 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 9.0
Story 9.5
Acting/Cast 10.0
Music 7.0
Rewatch Value 8.0
This review may contain spoilers

Female Friendships for the Win

I stumbled across this drama awhile back purely by accident, and somehow got hooked into watching the whole thing.
Its a story of 3 very different ladies and their trials and triumphs in life and love, and how they support each other throughout.
Gu Jia, the Type A supermom/superwife who tries to be on-point with everything (but at what cost), Wang Manni who is a single girl trying to make it in the big city and has certain standards she wants to meet whether in wealth/income or love (but there are no free lunches, good things must be worked for), and then there is Xiao Qin who I feel contrasts nicely with her 2 pals (as far as ambitions go anyway) and is your average 'i just want a simple, quiet, happy marriage' kind of girl (but perhaps has yet to learn what goes into a happy marriage).

Story: As an over-30 female, some of the difficulties these ladies face are very relatable, as is their friendship and how they support each other and cry it out with each other. I had a little bit of trouble following Wang Manni's storyline a little, and it may be because personality and background wise, she was the most unrelatable for me. The story is very well balanced in that while most of the events perspectives will be more from the ladies' POV, you do sometimes perceive see the guys' side of things (sometimes, and sometimes maybe the male character is just simply a playboy asshole) and can sympathize with them (to a degree). These ladies are flawed, and each of them go through different hardships to grow and improve themselves--i thought it might be too confusing essentially telling the stories of 3 women but its actually very well paced and melds together well, their close friendship being the glue that holds these 3 tales together. The messaging in the drama I think is also good and are things we should be cognizant of as we go through life too: being fair to yourself in relationships, not taking others (loved ones) for granted, maintaining integrity even if it seems its the harder path

Acting: I didn't really know any of the actors prior to watching this drama, but everything from the cast was solid. Sometimes with dramas, you can tell when the acting is a bit forced and it breaks the immersion. Did not have this issue at all with this drama, the leading ladies had me laughing and crying with them. Even Xu Huan Shan--this cheating scumbag husband...there were still moments i felt for him--the major characters aren't one dimensional after all--they are flawed, sometimes very flawed but there will be some good things about them, and some of the circumstances you can still understand WHY they react a certain way even if we condemn the action. One of the scenes that stuck with me (might be because its related to personal fears) was when Xiao Qin got into a random cab/uber car and the driver started heading an unfamiliar route to a more remote area. Her tension was palpable and it was like I could also feel her terror when she jumped out of the car, hid and then tried to navigate in the dark to someplace she could get cell service to call (cry) for help. And the intense relief flooding her when she was finally found

Music: Honestly, I don't remember the music too much. I think it just went well with the drama but its not like I would find myself humming the tunes like with other dramas with especially nice soundtracks

Rewatch: Worth rewatching if in the mood for these girl friendship/slice of life/growth dramas. I've only found myself in the mood to rewatch once but it was still enjoyable.

Overall: Really liked this drama, so glad I stumbled upon it. Generally I tend to stick with period dramas and watch fewer modern ones but this one is definitely worth it. Well paced, good script/story, good acting--can't ask for more.


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