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Small Town Stories chinese drama review
Completed
Small Town Stories
0 people found this review helpful
by Alwayswithgyu
Feb 11, 2024
30 of 30 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 8.5
Story 9.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 9.5
Rewatch Value 8.5

Healing with Great Traditional Chinese music!

I discovered this hidden gem after hearing about its good story and pretty decent ratings, so I decided to give it a try. I went through the first half of the drama in a blink because it was so good. Got a lot of great laughs and teary eyed.

The story was pretty fast paced and did a great job at introducing the characters and their motives. The love line between Mu Di and Bai Lang is a cliche of enemies to lovers but the drama did it in a refreshing way that made you grow to ship them slowly at the same time that Mu Di also grew to like Bai Lang. I really liked that the drama respected the aesthetics of the small town and also didn't focus so much on the actors' visuals. They casted people based on talent which is obvious with the male lead who isn't the typical handsome and successful style in most rom-coms. He was great at bringing Bai Lang to life and was pretty boyfriend material. I will keep an eye on his future projects and hopefully he gets more main leads. He has a lot of potential. I really liked that they explained a lot about his background and motives so you could understand his actions at the beginning. His group of friends were also pretty likeable, although they didn't show much of their background.

The script and story was also written well for an original script. The writers clearly respected each character and tried to develop the main ones fully. I wish they did try to show more of the second male lead though since he is also shippable with Mu Di. I also liked the whole background story of the band with traditional Chinese instruments and Bai Lang's event company. His events made the show more interesting and there were many funny scenes. The writers did great with the comedic timings that felt very natural. The characters overall felt very real and not like a plot device. My only complaint is that the last 5 or 6 episodes were so focused on the side couples who were not really interesting in my opinion. They did have character growth but just were not interesting to watch. Mu Di's friend and the William guy were just not too fun to watch, so I skipped their scenes in the end. Besides them, I liked all the other characters. Their chattering and dialogue were very fun to watch, noteably Mu Di's family and Bai Lang's friends.

The love line is also not the main focus of the drama, which I appreciate. They focus more on healing and the topic of dreams and music. I do find it regretful that we didn't see more cute scenes of dating Mu Di and Bai Lang. They are cute together! Their best scenes were when they were starting to like each other so I wish we could have gotten more.

Acting wise, the main leads were great and the old actors were great too. The supporting were the weaker links, like William and Mu Di's friend. They did not feel that natural with their lines and body language. I couldn't get too into their roles compared to Bai Lang and Mu Di.

Overall, a healing drama with great music and a cute love line. It is an underrated drama since the budget isn't super big and not very well known actors. However, would totally recommend it even though it wasn't perfect because there are great funny scenes and it was really addicting to watch the first 2/3 of the drama.
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