CKR_10

Not hyped? it's one of the highest rated idol drama on this site and even on douban it has very high score, way higher than something like hidden love or first frost

I was also curious about that comment so I did some research regarding the novel and found the synopsis that do mention all the main characters except the Bailu's character and also the male lead and Ma Siyi characters are related/descendants to the founders of the canal, so it does make sense for them to be the male lead and female lead . This is what I got

1901, the year of Xin Chou. That year, the political situation was turbulent, and the whole land of China was in turmoil. To find his younger brother Marford who disappeared during the Siege of the International Legations, Italian adventurer Paolo Dimarco came to China in the name of cultural inspection. The Italian man admired his predecessor Marco Polo and had special feelings for China and the canal, so he named himself “Little Polo”.

Xie Ping Yao escorted Polo on his visit as his interpreter, and successively gathered many people from the bottom of Chinese society such as the porter Shao Chang Lai, the ship owner Xia and his apprentice, and the Sun brothers, members of The Fist of Righteous Harmony, to accompany them all the way. Starting from Hangzhou, they departed from Wuxi and headed north by following the Grand Canal. This road is not only a journey of learning and observing, but also of reflecting about the identity and fate of intellectuals while at the same time, this is a journey to find their roots. When they finally arrived at the northern end of the Grand Canal, at Tongzhou, Little Polo died unexpectedly. At the same time, the Qing government ordered the cessation of water transportation, and so the decline of the Grand Canal began…

About a hundred years later, in 2014, every field in China started to talk about the functions and value of the canal. When Xie Wang He, a descendant of Xie Ping Yao, reunited by chance with the previous generation’s descendants, every separated piece of this story that happened between the people of the Grand Canal were finally reunited into a full scroll. This year, the Grand Canal successfully obtained the status of World Heritage.

Drama Synopsis:
In the summer of 2000, Ma Si Yi, a ten-year-old girl whose life is a mystery, arrives at Flower Street by the canal. Due to her extraordinary appearance, she became the most popular person on Flower Street.

Three teenagers, Xie Wang He, Xing Chi, and Hai Kuo, have always been around Ma Si Yi, standing up for her when some punks come to harass her.

After an accident in high school, Ma Si Yi’s brother and grandmother passed away, and Ma Si Yi disappeared. Chen Rui stays in his hometown for school, while Xie Wang He, Xing Chi, Hai Kuo, and Da Hua Zi reunite in Beijing. Da Hua Zi has contracted a delivery point, Xie Wang He works for an internet company doing local life services, and Hai Kuo works as an engineer in another big internet factory. Only Xing Chi is still muddling through his days.

Because of the sudden appearance of Ma Si Yi, the young boys and girls who grew up together come together again. However, the pressure of competition and life has put them all in a state of confusion.

After eight years of absence from their hometowns, the teenagers of that year return to Flower Street on the Canal one after another, except for Ma Si Yi. But just when everyone sees the hope of a new life, Ma Si Yi is also on the way back.

I just watched the first episode, and it feels like Ma Siyi’s character was originally written as the main female lead. I also came across a comment mentioning that Bai Lu’s character wasn’t in the novel, so I was wondering if they altered the script to include her. I’m also curious does the male lead end up with Ma Siyi in the novel? If he does, then the drama adaptation would essentially change the entire romance subplot, potentially disrupting the dynamic between the main lead and Ma Siyi’s character. Knowing the misery Ma Siyi's character will go through and that she won’t get a happy ending with the male lead, I don't think I can continue watching this drama.

Happy ending?

I want to be wrong because I like the leads and want to watch the drama but my trust in these script writers is long gone and even if these tropes are not in novel, they will find a way to put them in the drama.

Nope, the first episode is needed for you to understand the future episodes

Well as I remember she became the team lead of that small game studio and she was also in same field as ml but more on business managing side. The ambition for both of them is to regain their company and I am pretty sure there were lot of hints throughout that implied female lead is good at management while male lead is good at technical side of business, so both of them have their own roles.

“With his unwavering love and support” – yep, another simp male lead incoming. We all know how this story is going to unfold: the female lead gets rejected by her crush in the early episodes, then after a time skip, she crosses paths with the male lead. They start off with a negative impression of each other due to a misunderstanding, which eventually gets cleared up. The male lead then falls head over heels for her for no real reason, and just as the female lead begins to develop feelings, her old crush conveniently reappears. Cue endless jealousy moments, with the female lead setting no boundaries and unable to be firm with her past crush because, let’s be real, these female leads always seem to enjoy the attention of multiple men. After a whole lot of the male lead begging and simping, the drama wraps up with a happy ending.

Disclaimer: I haven’t read the novel or any spoilers, this is just my guess.

Another Falling You is coming

This is Feiyu's first xianxia drama and his first non-modern drama since 2020, which I find pretty crazy. Given that many actors gain massive popularity through historical, xianxia, or wuxia dramas, it’s insane to me that he hasn’t done one of these in the past five years. As a result, a lot of viewers who started watching these type of dramas post-pandemic never even got the chance to witness his acting. Hoping this drama is good and does well too!

I actually prefer this drama over the others you mentioned because it has flawed leads, and the main villain is a direct result of their flaws. Additionally, the college setting gives it a more mature vibe compared to other dramas that start in a school setting, which tend to feel like typical school dramas aimed at a younger audience. This more mature nature also makes the angst much more engaging to watch.

I ended up dropping Forever Love somewhere around 15 episodes, it felt like a dumbed down version of this drama with worse acting, less interesting characters and not much of angst

The female lead had not interest in the course, she was doing so because of her parents. No way she can ever compete with a person who has passion to succeed and basically sits in front of his laptop at every chance he gets

Yes

With all the simp male leads in the newer dramas, this drama is aging better and better as time goes on

She might be popular, but she’s not too big to take on secondary roles yet. This is likely because she hasn’t had a breakout hit, while Bogum has multiple major successes. Even Bogum’s worst-received drama, Record of Youth, had higher ratings than So Hyun’s most successful one.

It can be whatever you want to call it, but if all forms of criticism are suppressed, how will future viewers decide whether to watch or not, like me who visits this site primarily for that reason? As for starting the show, I'm used to binge-watching when it’s close to ending.

Yes, I haven’t started it yet, but I’ve been following the discussions here, so I have an idea about some aspects of it. I wasn’t criticizing it, just expressing my concerns. My main point still stands: many commenters are getting attacked whenever they voice any criticism.

Why do you love his character?

If it's a male lead, he would instantly be labelled as red flag and toxic