The perfect slice-of-life, with a dose of romance, comedy and a bit of angst

This drama itched a scratch I wasn't even aware existed. Despite its very slow burn nature, from the very first episode I was absolutely sucked into the story.

STORY

The storyline itself is pretty common, a girl who lived a life in the city goes through a major incident, moves to the countryside and falls in love. I've watched a few stories like that but this has been the absolute best so far. Both the leads are immensely loveable, you watch them fall in love slowly and realistically, while their relationship does have minor hiccups, you can tell that their foundation is strong enough to go through everything together.

Despite the sheer number of characters in the story, I really think I loved all of them. They all had their own stories, all of them were completely human. As a chronic fast forwarder, I thought a slow paced drama would mean I'd have my finger on the arrow key but it was the complete opposite! I wanted it to go at their own pace because of the gorgeous atmosphere created by the writers, you can't help but bask in the scenes and immerse yourself in the characters' emotions.

The only slight cons I had were; I didn't much enjoy the story of Manjun and Hu, those were the only scenes I felt very lukewarm about. Also I can't help but wish we had a few more scenes with our lovely main couple, but that's just wishful thinking, they did the best with what they had. Some of the writing also came off a bit preach-y, with the lines being like lectures to the audience; it worked in some places, didn't in some others.

ACTING

This was the first drama I've watched of both Liu Yifei and Li Xian, and I was just impressed by both of them! Liu Yifei's voice suits this show incredibly well, her soft tone really matched the ambiance provided by the visuals. Li Xian also did a great job as Zhiyao, he especially portrayed his love for LYF's character in a way that you can't help but swoon. All the many supporting actors and actresses did their characters such justice, from the old grandmothers to the four little kids.

MUSIC

The music was just amazing. I can't put into words how much I loved the OSTs for Meet Yourself. Even though I wanted to skip through the ending credit scene, once the song starts you really can't pull yourself away. There was another song - rather folky- that I absolutely adored, great use of music through out the drama. Also the audio added onto the visuals so well, some of the best comedy came from the audio editing team so shout out to them.

REWATCH VALUE

I'm not a re-watcher at all. I hate knowing how something is about to unfold and having to put myself through all that build up all over again. However, I have always had a couple of dramas on my regular rewatch that I must have watched 5 times minimum, and I have a feeling this drama might enter that rotation. I don't think I can put into words how much I absolutely adored this drama, as I finished it I couldn't help but feel like re-watching it immediately.

tl;dr,
Great drama. Slow paced slice-of-life. Romance with the main leads with incredible chemistry. Great writing. Breathtaking scenery. Amazing characters and plot. Strongly recommended to anyone who just wants to sit back, relax and watch a warm show to end your week!

Read More

Great story that stumbles before the finish line

A Dream of Splendor is a story of the sisterhood of 3 women who strive to live independently and proudly, despite their position in society. All 3 women have their own stories of struggle in the path to getting where they are now, some of them (*cough* Yinzhang *cough*) are deeply flawed in the beginning but through various hurdles end the story with great character development.

STORY
There is a great combination of romance, comedy and angst in this story. I must emphasize the comedy because not many people mention it, the comedy in this was really to my taste and were some of my favourite parts.

The first 30 episodes are great, in fact I think it was actually steadily improving as it went on . Then we hit the part that sent the story rating straight down to 6.0. The drama was going so well, it wasn't too trope-y, the main couple was actually communicating, they had incredible chemistry. It's important to remember that both ML and FML are both very intelligent people, but when we hit the last 10 episodes, we reached trope-land. Miscommunication like no others and complete idiocy from the ML.

Here's the main spoiler part; FML's father was demoted and their family was given pariah status. After they get together, the ML finds out his father is responsible for the demotion. The same ML who was preaching about communication a few episodes ago starts avoiding her! At the same time, our very independent FML suddenly depends on the ML for money to carry out a very risky business deal. Our extremely intelligent ML decides to leave the money (the old cash note) near an open window. Under an empty vase. On a stormy night. And doesn't tell anyone he left the money. Smart, right? The obvious happens and the paper flies away and gets hidden by other documents, FML in trouble because without this money she (+ the other women) lose everything they own.

Naturally she's mad at him. Despite there being a series of dumb decisions that lead up to this, once she finds the money he left behind, all is forgiven... Something like "It's not that he didn't want to see you, he was scared of seeing you" is said and then they got back together, no discussion about what happened.

And some parts of the plot are badly rushed. Some arcs have no satisfying ending, some have no ending at all, it's just.. there. Especially re: the relationship of the ML and his father (+ uncle). Didn't like how quickly the empress was convinced to come to the good side either. Writing this review made me realise that I kind of filtered out some stuff while watching it.

Also I found Yin Zhang annoying af for most of the series and I couldn't stand her scenes. She did improve majorly at the end though.
Sanniang had the best storyline and I sincerely rooted for her. Best character easily.


ACTING/CAST
Great acting. I didn't enjoy Liu Yifei's acting in the beginning but she grew into the role quite quickly. Had amazing chemistry with Chen Xiao, their romance was just top tier. All of the cast did great. Shout out to the actor that played Chi Pan, thank you for the great comedic relief during the main angst session.

MUSIC
The OST was pretty great, ended up adding a couple of them to my playlist.

REWATCH VALUE
Depends on whether you can stomach the dumb conflicts for a second time lol. Think the storyline suits a rewatching though. Just not for me.

OVERALL
Just give it a shot! My review sounds overly negative but there's a reason why the ratings are high, the acting, the first 2/3 of the plot and the cinematography are also pretty good. But also be aware of how frustrating the last 10 episodes will be.

Read More