This review may contain spoilers
Silent tears are the most emotional kind.
I cried a LOT, but I'll get to that later.
I'm going to start with the negatives! Which there are not a lot of. Pretty much the only thing that annoyed me was Cha wanting to give his grandson Zefang his body back, but puts zero effort into figuring out how. How did Cha know that drowning himself would even work? That is a big risk to take on the fly since it could have just killed them both. No one was there to help when he did it! I also would have liked to see Cha have to come to terms with the fact that the grandson he raised, the last member of his family, was truly gone. It didn't have to be long, just something.
Other than that, I wanted to know how Zefang lived at college up to the accident. No one liked him but Guan Ri Qing. Why? What did he do to everyone? What was his and Guan Ri Qing's relationship really like? Why did Guan Ri Qing know that no matter how loud he yelled, no one would come help? Was it because of Zefang? Guan Ri Qing? Or something else? Why did he like Hai Yuan so much? Everything must have been pretty shit for him to let Cha live in his body and move on. There is so much about Zefang's character that we don't know, and if anyone knows if it's covered in the novel, let me know.
I really enjoyed everything else. The acting was really good, especially Martin (Cha/Zefang) and Yaron (Guan Ri Qing), who really impressed me with his crying. Li Ting (Qian Sui) is also adorable. The cuddles are so good, and the nose rubbing in episode 8 was so cute!
I know a lot of people won't like someone like Guan Ri Qing just based on the first interaction, but I couldn't help but feel sorry for him even after he locked Cha in the locker. (He was truly sorry about that as well.) But I like to put myself in the character's shoes, so even though I wouldn't act this way, I know that if my boyfriend came back from visiting family a whole different person, wanted nothing to do with me, and was clingy to someone who hates me, I would feel so incredibly hurt. He only wanted someone to love him, and for all we know, Zefang may have been the one person who gave him any real love at all. I cried when Zefang said goodbye to him, and when he realized he still hadn't told Zefang that he really liked him, and now it was too late. I'm tearing up just thinking about it.
I also cried during Cha and Zefang's heart-to-heart, like during the whole thing. I had to pause multiple times to wipe my eyes and clean my glasses. I'm a very empathic person, so I cry easily, but I haven't cried this much to a show in a few months.
Was the story lacking in giving us past context and the character building of Zefang? Yes. Did it hinder my enjoyment? Very little, I was mostly just left wanting more so I could fully understand Zefang's actions. Would I rewatch this series or a sequel? Yes and Yes. I was very reluctant to watch this series at first because I didn't think they could make the relationship work out given the age gap, or make me believe that the grandson would really just decide to move on when he has his whole life ahead of him. Somehow, they made it work.
I'm going to start with the negatives! Which there are not a lot of. Pretty much the only thing that annoyed me was Cha wanting to give his grandson Zefang his body back, but puts zero effort into figuring out how. How did Cha know that drowning himself would even work? That is a big risk to take on the fly since it could have just killed them both. No one was there to help when he did it! I also would have liked to see Cha have to come to terms with the fact that the grandson he raised, the last member of his family, was truly gone. It didn't have to be long, just something.
Other than that, I wanted to know how Zefang lived at college up to the accident. No one liked him but Guan Ri Qing. Why? What did he do to everyone? What was his and Guan Ri Qing's relationship really like? Why did Guan Ri Qing know that no matter how loud he yelled, no one would come help? Was it because of Zefang? Guan Ri Qing? Or something else? Why did he like Hai Yuan so much? Everything must have been pretty shit for him to let Cha live in his body and move on. There is so much about Zefang's character that we don't know, and if anyone knows if it's covered in the novel, let me know.
I really enjoyed everything else. The acting was really good, especially Martin (Cha/Zefang) and Yaron (Guan Ri Qing), who really impressed me with his crying. Li Ting (Qian Sui) is also adorable. The cuddles are so good, and the nose rubbing in episode 8 was so cute!
I know a lot of people won't like someone like Guan Ri Qing just based on the first interaction, but I couldn't help but feel sorry for him even after he locked Cha in the locker. (He was truly sorry about that as well.) But I like to put myself in the character's shoes, so even though I wouldn't act this way, I know that if my boyfriend came back from visiting family a whole different person, wanted nothing to do with me, and was clingy to someone who hates me, I would feel so incredibly hurt. He only wanted someone to love him, and for all we know, Zefang may have been the one person who gave him any real love at all. I cried when Zefang said goodbye to him, and when he realized he still hadn't told Zefang that he really liked him, and now it was too late. I'm tearing up just thinking about it.
I also cried during Cha and Zefang's heart-to-heart, like during the whole thing. I had to pause multiple times to wipe my eyes and clean my glasses. I'm a very empathic person, so I cry easily, but I haven't cried this much to a show in a few months.
Was the story lacking in giving us past context and the character building of Zefang? Yes. Did it hinder my enjoyment? Very little, I was mostly just left wanting more so I could fully understand Zefang's actions. Would I rewatch this series or a sequel? Yes and Yes. I was very reluctant to watch this series at first because I didn't think they could make the relationship work out given the age gap, or make me believe that the grandson would really just decide to move on when he has his whole life ahead of him. Somehow, they made it work.
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