marshmellowparfait
Story: This a high school drama that doesn't shy away from societal problems, unlike other Chinese dramas of this genre (e.g. A Love So Beautiful). At it's core, it's about a group of high school students during their last year of high school having to form friendships, learn life lessons, and think about what dreams they have for their future. There was some unexpected growth and maturity from some characters that I found so endearing. It's going to make you look back on your high school days as well and remember the times you shared with friends, all those lunches at the cafeteria, the times you walked home together after school. It's nostalgia without nostalgia being thrown in your face. Anyways, here's a couple points I thought really shone:
- Facing thoughts of suicide and depression head on. The female lead's whole journey is about walking away from the abyss of death and trying to find some sort of light to hold onto so that she has strength to continue on living her life.
- Supportive male lead. The female lead throughout the drama is like a mystery novel that the male lead is desperately reading, trying to unravel. He gets frustrated, angry, and jealous at times. But the friendship that develops between the two of them is so beautiful, it's just two people who find each other in this world and go, "Hey, I think I can go on living this life if it's with you." Their bond is really what keeps this drama going. Is there romance? Yes, there's romance. But their bond kind of transcends romance. It's just two lost souls that really need each other.
- High school! This drama isn't just depression and sad thoughts. In fact, most of this drama isn't depression and sad thoughts. There's a lot of comedic points and laughter throughout the episodes as the two leads navigate their last year of high school and pick up unlikely friends along the way. The group cast energy was amazing. I loved the bonds that formed between everyone as the year progressed.
- Supportive female friendships. The female lead gets drawn into a quasi-love triangle with, surprise surprise, the second male lead (and not the male lead). But this isn't your typical love triangle. I would say that the female lead and the other female in this triangle actually have a deeper and stronger bond with each other than the second male lead. Their friendship withstands hell and high water, and they always put each other first, regardless of the men that enter their life. That's some true sisterhood.
Anyways, I made it halfway through the drama in one go and realized I hadn't skipped a single scene. That's when you know a drama is crack.
Acting/cast: 10/10. The female lead is a bit green, but she really grew into her character and brought it to life. Even though she's a bit of a mystery in the beginning, the female lead's acting made her character grow from this image in the male lead's mind to a living, breathing, hurting human girl. The male lead is spot on - the drama is mainly from his point of view and the actor has such personal charisma that he fully brought his character is life, perfectly depicting the character at 18 years old and 28 years old.
Music: You'll hear a single song over and over again in this drama, it's almost like brainwashing. It's actually a really good song, but I got so sick of it by the end of the drama.
Rewatch value: There aren't any super cute or fluffy scenes that I would go back to over and over again. I really, really enjoyed my first watch through of the drama (I watched it all at once, barely skipping scenes) but I wouldn't necessarily rewatch it over and over again. Still, during the period when I watched this drama, I laughed, I cried, I thought about life, and I fell in love with all of the characters. This drama will always have a special place in my heart.
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**There are no ogres, witches, evil stepmothers, curses, or other assorted evil characters in this fairy tale.
Story: This drama doesn't win prizes for plot. It's about two rich, beautiful people who fall in love with each other. But I think there are a couple things that this drama gets right:
- Our prince and princess fall in love relatively early on in the drama, so that means a lot of this drama plays out during their actual relationship. This is quite rare in drama land, and I love it!
- No love triangle. So refreshing. We don't have to suffer through episodes of the female lead torn between the male lead and the second male lead, while the audience cries buckets for the second male lead along the way.
- A female lead that actually knows who she likes and goes after it! Can I emphasize how rare this is? When was the last time you found a female lead in drama land who was like, "I want him, get all these other second male leads out of my way!" and literally chases down her guy? The last drama I watched with this concept was Novoland II.
- A female lead who is pretty and knows it. I can't stand drama land tropes that cast pretty actresses and then cover them up as Ugly Ducklings so that somehow the male lead discovers her "inner beauty" and falls in love. When does that ever happen in real life? This drama is super real in that sense - part of the reason why the male lead fell for her so fast was because she's very, very pretty.
- Supportive female friendships. The bond between the female lead and her agent was such a power couple. Her agent absolutely kills it as the female lead's staunchest supporter both in life and in work. Some viewers might roll their eyes at the female lead for the way she treated her sister-in-law as well as Gao Zitong, but I thought the female lead showed high EQ and maturity in the way she handled those relationships. She saw people for who they were, understood their motivations, and then made the choice to treat them with kindness. That's grace and maturity. That's also how relationships work in the actual, adult world, with your in-laws, and at your workplace.
Acting/Cast: Chemistry is 10/10. For anyone suffering from withdrawals after finishing this drama, go watch their behind the scenes clips. The actors' interactions when the cameras aren't rolling are even sweeter than the drama. Go watch that iconic clip where the male lead was playing with bubble guns with the female lead while hugging her waist and the director (I kid you not) had to yell at him to drop his hand and control himself. Given how flat the script was with respect to their characters, I applaud the two actors for making the characters so real and likeable.
Music: 10/10. I loved the songs!
Rewatch value: I think that's actually where this drama shines/is poisonous. I've been rewatching sweet interactions from this drama this whole past week, and I don't think I'll ever get tired of watching Dr. Zhou cooking breakfast for his Beibei, or Beibei pushing Dr. Zhou up against a wall. If you go on Mango TV's website or their Youtube channel, they've actually been posting condensed versions of the drama with just Dr. Zhou and Beibei's interactions. It's like a mini drama that you can rewatch over and over again without feeling the need to skip scenes.
Anyways, this drama has been like a drug during quarantine. It's escape fantasy at it's finest. Somewhere in another world somehow, Dr. Zhou and his Beibei are living out their fairy tale life happily ever after. Thank you to this drama for gifting me with an immense amount of second-hand embarrassment and many nights laughing and blushing. It will forever have a sweet spot in my heart.
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