A sweet story supported by sublime acting.

“You are my Glory,” is one of the best dramas I have seen. It is a wonderful, successful adaptation of a novel by the same. There are three main contributing factors to it’s success.

First, the story (novel). itself was very exceptional. It was not messy, convoluted, or overly complicated. It did not frustrate or made your head hurt, Instead it made you laugh out-loud and smile at the sweet scenes before you. The lead characters were both a bit of an oxymoron. Each perfect, yet flawed, therefore very real. You admired Qiao Jing Jing’s beauty, hard-work, kindness, and bravery. Yu Tu was handsome, intelligent, hard-working, and focused. However, his concerns were very real, and while slightly annoyed at his hesitation you could completely understand him.

Second, the author of the novel was one of the scriptwriters. This led to a very accurate adaptation. This ran the risk of causing the show do be boring since if you read the novel you have would be aware of the plot, but it this was not the case at all. The scriptwriters managed to create an engaging show while retaining direct quotes from the novel. This also speaks volumes of how clever of a writer, Ms. Gu Man can be. She really came up with funny quotes. One of which is, “随处可见的乔晶晶,” or “the Qiao Jing Jing that can be seen anywhere.” The scriptwriters also greatly expanded on Yu Tu’s work life. This was very nice to see because you were able to better understand why Yu Tu makes the decisions he does.

Third, the actors were able to accurately portray the characters’ personalities such that when I watched the drama I did not see Dilireba and Yang Yang, but Qiao Jing Jing and Yu Tu. They truly became the characters. Dilireba was able to showcase a playful, confident, kind, brave, and extremely supportive Qiao Jing Jing. While Yang Yang effectively portray an intelligent, serious Yu Tu, that could have a mischievous streak. I think both leads showed a good range of emotions. Their, smiles were infectious. However, when you saw them cry (or suppressing their tears), you felt like hugging them and telling them everything would be alright. The supporting actors also did a wonderful job in helping the story come to life. Thinking back they all played an important job in the drama whether it was supporting our CP or helping them grow as individuals.

I would also like to mention a few other things. The director did a wonderful job helping this story come to life. From the behind the scenes clips you can appreciate what a good relationship he had with our actors. He seemed to listen to what they had to say, even when they were just joking. The set and lighting designers did an amazing job bringing the scenes to life. Whether it was in the lightning, a stuffed animal in Qiao Jing Jing’s home, or the environment at Yu Tu’s workplaces, you could appreciate the attention to detail given to every scene. The music was well selected and extremely well placed in the drama. There are 5 songs 3 of which left a huge impression; all are very fitting to the drama. It should also be mentioned that the way the video game was integrated into the drama was amazing. The CGI was extremely well done. Unlike, in other dramas where it here is either a game scene or a scene with the actors, the editing department did a fantastic job integrating both types of scenes by split-screens or taking objects and characters from the game and merging them into the “real world”. Lastly, I would like to say the title of the drama “You are my Glory,” is quite meaningful because it is not only related to the video game the leads play, but depicts how the main leads feel about each other.

If you are looking for a relaxing drama that will put a smile on your face, I recommend you watch this drama. Whether you are a fan of the novel, author, actors, or game, I am sure you won’t be disappointed.

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