Worth the all the hype

First of all, I must caveat this review by stating that I watched the original (web) version and not the TV version so my thoughts about the airing schedule at the end may be irrelevant to some.

Despite having to wait an extra half a year to begin watching TOOL, my anticipation for this drama did not wane at all and having now finished it, the drama was well worth the hype. Yang Zi ("YZ") and Xiao Zhan ("XZ") have historically done a beautiful job in their previous dramas and this was no exception. As someone that typically watches dramas at 1.5x to 2x speed and in one go after all the episodes are released, this was one of the few dramas I found myself actually savoring each episode and watching at normal speed in real-time with the airing schedule (at least for the Tencent app).

Music - any soundtrack with YZ and XZ is amazing , this one doubly so because they both had solos and a duet together. The other songs were great too; though only the main theme (their duet) is on Spotify, I found myself searching for the other songs on Youtube to listen to. Even the instrumentals were amazing; the orchestral scenes were well filmed and seemed realistic (other than Lin Zhi Xiao's ("LZX") individual scenes - from what I understand YZ tried to learn the basics of the cello, but it's not exactly an instrument you can pick up in a couple of months). On a scale of how much I loved the soundtrack, I would buy a physical CD if I could.

Acting - YZ and ZX had amazing microexpressions throughout the series. I loved how you could see them fighting to hold back tears or hiding smiles in certain scenes. The actors made me laugh and cry with them because I felt like I too was their friend witnessing their story. The supporting cast were also great - though I didn't like the side couples as much (especially Gu Xiao and San San - they were both a bit annoying together), I loved how supportive their friends were. You could also feel the love the parents had for LZX from their acting.

Plot - Overall, the plot felt realistic for a modern drama. Nothing was too cheesy (maybe some of the medical diagnosis, but I'm not a doctor and most of it seemed like it was within the realm of possibility). The love story between Gu Wei ("GW") and LZX was at a moderate pace: not rushed, but also not so slow that the whole drama was about them falling in love. Even in their misunderstandings, they came from very real human emotions of not wanting to be too vulnerable in front of the person you love, especially in the early stages (in terms of length of time) you're dating. Both YZ and SZ did an amazing job of showing their characters' growth from the beginning of the drama until the end. In addition, while the overall plot was about romantic love, there was also plenty of familial and friendship love - LZX's friends may not always have the best advice, but you can tell that they truly care about her as a friend. Even GW's coworkers/ friends (including Dr. Yan who was anti-GW at the beginning of the film) was supportive of him as a doctor. The familial relationships were also realistic - from Teacher Lin pushing LZX to be better to the support Mrs. Lin shows to LZX to how the parents treat their daughter's boyfriend (in terms of wanting the best for their daughter but also respecting her choices) to how Mrs. Lin as a housewife cares and loves her husband. Despite not caring as much about the other side characters, I do wish the ending didn't rush over their stories and they resolved them rather than just glossing over them.

Book vs series: if you enjoyed the book, this differed quite a bit from it; not that it's a bad thing, just different. Other than the character names and LZX meeting GW due to her dad's diagnosis, there isn't a whole lot in common (eg - movie is mostly getting to the fall in love state while much of the book is about them after they start dating).

The only thing I found extremely annoying about this show was how difficult it was to figure out the airing schedule (one weekend it was one episode per day and another weekend it was two episodes on Saturday and one on Sunday). I did appreciate getting two episodes a day during the week though - it was nice being able to watch more episodes together than having to wait a month for the full drama to finish!

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