1
Should be titled as "Never-Ending Sadness"
Come to the end of what could have been a better journey. Daniel Zhou and Bao Shang En are great actors and had enough chemistry, but not even that could save the plot which was simply not plotting. Whilst the drama did have a few saving graces, it was still a disappointment overall.
On the surface this can look like a happy romance drama showcasing youth and coming of age. The title and poster portray it as a bright, happy go lucky drama. The OST is very light and charming. Episode 1 also starts out to be fun, bright and happy. But the drama *as a whole* is anything but that.
The main problem stems from the 2016 timeline (which takes up 90% of the drama) being full of misery, lies and misunderstandings for the leads. There is no break from it. Leading to the plot, there is very little of any plot existing either. The ENTIRE plotline is literally just both the lead's parents being emotionally and mentally abusive towards the ML/FL. Credit to the actress who played Zhou Wan's mother in particular, she managed fantastically to get the viewer to hate her with a passion.
There is nothing wrong with break up dramas where the leads reunite years later. This drama has been compared to Lighter & Princess and also The First Frost, but those dramas had much stronger plotlines as well as less of the consistent misery before the main break up. This drama does not do that - Zhou Wan and Lu Xixiao do not get much time to be happy together in the past timeline. The first 20 episodes mostly consists of back and forth between Zhou Wan, Lu Xixiao and their parents who blackmail or emotionally abuse them. There were a few moments in between that felt nice like when the leads along with the second leads went to the amusement park, and in the lead up to Ep 20 when Zhou Wan and Lu Xixiao ran away together to another part of the country. But that felt fleeting in comparison to the rest of the unnecessary, badly written sadness.
Whilst I did hugely appreciate Daniel Zhou and Bao Shang En, I did have some problem with getting invested and loving the characters themsleves in particular. Zhou Wan is indecisive for way too long. I understand she was young but she spends over 10 episodes emotionally hurting Lu Xixiao (we as the viewer know why, but he did not). She listens to her mother too many times and makes unnecessary sacrifices that work for no one. She seemed more likeable in the 2026 timeline being an assertive woman who held her own. We have to assume she went through great character development during the 10 year break up.
As for Lu Xixiao, he is convincing as a romantic, yearning die-for-you male lead, and thankfully there is very little of the drama where he seems angry against her for the break up. (Probably one of the more illogical things here was that he immediately associated himself with her again)
The second leads felt like they were written in as filler? They seemed cute at first in the High School/2016 arc. But later contributed nothing and their storyline was badly written. They only had a romantic moment near the end, but it was too late in the drama to care if you weren't invested in them in the first place.
The last episode, 29, was made to be as romantically beautiful as possible. I honestly loved that SHE PROPOSES TO HIM FIRST! 💍 It was such a surprise being totally unexpected, as it's usually always the male lead who proposes. This time it proved Zhou Wan was the green flag 💚 especially considering their past - she did not wait for him to propose or make any moves first. She knew what she wanted and went for it.
Overall a 6.5/10 because I still appreciated some scenes, the leads acting and chemistry, as well as the other cast. Could have had potential in another universe, could have been in the 7 or 8 range if it had better plot.
On the surface this can look like a happy romance drama showcasing youth and coming of age. The title and poster portray it as a bright, happy go lucky drama. The OST is very light and charming. Episode 1 also starts out to be fun, bright and happy. But the drama *as a whole* is anything but that.
The main problem stems from the 2016 timeline (which takes up 90% of the drama) being full of misery, lies and misunderstandings for the leads. There is no break from it. Leading to the plot, there is very little of any plot existing either. The ENTIRE plotline is literally just both the lead's parents being emotionally and mentally abusive towards the ML/FL. Credit to the actress who played Zhou Wan's mother in particular, she managed fantastically to get the viewer to hate her with a passion.
There is nothing wrong with break up dramas where the leads reunite years later. This drama has been compared to Lighter & Princess and also The First Frost, but those dramas had much stronger plotlines as well as less of the consistent misery before the main break up. This drama does not do that - Zhou Wan and Lu Xixiao do not get much time to be happy together in the past timeline. The first 20 episodes mostly consists of back and forth between Zhou Wan, Lu Xixiao and their parents who blackmail or emotionally abuse them. There were a few moments in between that felt nice like when the leads along with the second leads went to the amusement park, and in the lead up to Ep 20 when Zhou Wan and Lu Xixiao ran away together to another part of the country. But that felt fleeting in comparison to the rest of the unnecessary, badly written sadness.
Whilst I did hugely appreciate Daniel Zhou and Bao Shang En, I did have some problem with getting invested and loving the characters themsleves in particular. Zhou Wan is indecisive for way too long. I understand she was young but she spends over 10 episodes emotionally hurting Lu Xixiao (we as the viewer know why, but he did not). She listens to her mother too many times and makes unnecessary sacrifices that work for no one. She seemed more likeable in the 2026 timeline being an assertive woman who held her own. We have to assume she went through great character development during the 10 year break up.
As for Lu Xixiao, he is convincing as a romantic, yearning die-for-you male lead, and thankfully there is very little of the drama where he seems angry against her for the break up. (Probably one of the more illogical things here was that he immediately associated himself with her again)
The second leads felt like they were written in as filler? They seemed cute at first in the High School/2016 arc. But later contributed nothing and their storyline was badly written. They only had a romantic moment near the end, but it was too late in the drama to care if you weren't invested in them in the first place.
The last episode, 29, was made to be as romantically beautiful as possible. I honestly loved that SHE PROPOSES TO HIM FIRST! 💍 It was such a surprise being totally unexpected, as it's usually always the male lead who proposes. This time it proved Zhou Wan was the green flag 💚 especially considering their past - she did not wait for him to propose or make any moves first. She knew what she wanted and went for it.
Overall a 6.5/10 because I still appreciated some scenes, the leads acting and chemistry, as well as the other cast. Could have had potential in another universe, could have been in the 7 or 8 range if it had better plot.
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