i really enjoyed watching miaomiao and younian’s relationship developed. the ups and downs, the confusion, frustration — these are normal parts of relationships. the show didn’t portray love as a fairytale, but something you need to fight for, especially with honesty and vulnerability. however, some scenes were frustrating to watch and there were a few plot holes. at a certain point midway watching the show, i felt as if they were running in circles to lengthen episodes. there were a few aspects of younian’s character that could have been written better, but i think they resulted their relationship in a beautiful way and i was pleased with the ending. the youthful and innocent love made my heart warm and i was happy to see them find places in each other’s hearts.
although i did enjoy the show, the reason why i’m not thoroughly pleased was due to the harmful beauty standards that were unnecessarily implemented throughout the show, especially imposed upon xia and miao miao. in the beginning of the show, miao miao was tanned with curly hair and glasses. there are multiple scenes where her friends, family, and peers downgraded her beauty because of that. being tanned was scene as ugly, which is especially harmful for poc. at the end of the show, miao miao eventually had somewhat straight hair and light skin. i didn’t appreciate how ‘beauty’ was portrayed as fair-skinned, having straight hair, and being skinny. the plus sized friend, xia, was constantly teased and belittled to just being the fat girl in her friendships and society in general. her character lacked depth and was solely treated as a punching bag or a peacemaker in miao miao and younian’s relationship. the casual fatphobia and portrayal of fat people was uncomfortable and is extremely harmful for plus-sized women and men. the harmful beauty standards was the deal breaker and is the primary reason why i can’t bring myself to say this show my favorite.
overall, the show was enjoyable, but is hard to watch at times because of the unnecessary commentary. id say give it a try if you’re in for a heartwarming, youthful, exciting show. but beware of how the colorism and fatphobia in most episodes.
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