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No Regrets in Life taiwanese drama review
Completed
No Regrets in Life
5 people found this review helpful
by Toot
Sep 4, 2022
12 of 12 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 10
Story 10.0
Acting/Cast 10.0
Music 10.0
Rewatch Value 10.0
This review may contain spoilers

A surprisingly trope free drama of painful growth.

Highly recommended viewing. Expect to be moved, but not in ways you normally expect!

Slight spoilers (but no plot giveaways) ahead...

A group of university friends meet for an 8 year reunion (since graduation). They are all 30. For many, this is a stage of transition-, career progression, marriage, children. And strangely enough this seems to be an age where events happen amongst friendship groups, to challenge us - divorce, deaths, career crises. Situations that challenge our relationships and loyalties. This drama avoids using any of the traditional tropes we expect of dramaland, it fails to completely tick any specific box and thus keeps you anticipating and guessing throughout. This is not really a romance drama, in any traditional sense, but it is about romantic love. It's not a family drama, but it is a drama about found family. And IMO it is an exceptional 'slice of life' drama, capturing that stage in your 20s, 30s or even 40s; A moment in your 'adult' life, where something happens amongst 'your people', to test your "adulthood", arite of passage if you will.

The nitty gritty:
Acting is exceptional. Across the whole group 10/10
The story is unusual and frustrating and challenging. It moves you! To anger, frustration, grief, relief. 10/10
The music is perfect. I have been introduced to Papun Band amongst others. 10/10
Overall 10/10 To quote from ep 9 I think
"...If you can fall in love wholeheartedly, to your heart's content...it's very worth it". No regrets!

Adulthood doesn't just happen when you reach a certain age. Making good decisions, behaving appropriately in every situation; NO-ONE is capable of that ALL of the time. The accumulation of experiences and the mistakes you make along the way, along with the personality traits you were born with, all combine to inform who you become each day. This drama is a very satisfying example of this character growth. They each experience enormous, life-changing, but truly average and typical events, that form their growth.
"Loyalty between friends is complicated to define, especially in terms of support. Is it necessarily a good thing. For example, if I break the law, would it be more loyal to cover for me, or persuade me to turn myself in? [The answer to this would depend on whether you believed the other person was capable of making their own decisions.]...what is the meaning of life then?...Maybe life isn't that meaningful.... but for the sake of one person, that is why we strive to live." (Ep7)

The ML character, based on comments during airing, IMO is one of the most misunderstood characters in dramaland. In Ep10 he gives us a very direct insight "Maybe life forced me to change. Like...I always had to change myself, so that I could keep up with others...I wanted to become more assertive and stop being indecisive." Unlike most viewers, (based on comments here on MDL) I felt a connection to the ML, whilst the FL annoyed the heck out of me. But in the way of great writing and amazing acting, I STILL empathised with and wanted good for her. And the character arcs I found very satisfying. And the found family group 'The Nine Suns', are ALL you could want; human, humane, real, hilarious and moving.

I LOVE this drama. It is for me, THE best of 2022 so far ('Reset' being my 21/22 favourite
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