xxkale
This review may contain spoilers
Go Ahead and give it a try
Seeing so many positive reviews and comparisons to the Reply series, I was very intrigued but also very hesitate to start because I already knew about the sibling love triangle, which i will touch upon the in a little bit because that is not the main story. This is both a heart warming and heart wrenching story of how those who we call family show their love and how they can also hurt us the most.
If this world had more people like Li Ba (LJJ's dad), oh how this world would be such a better place. He is the glue that holds this family together and the epitome of the perfect parent that one can only hope to have. We have our two brothers, who at a very young age must face many hardships that will forever shape them. HZQ who is abandoned by his single mother who made the difficult but cruel decision to do what was best for her child. LX who is abandoned by his mother who suffers mentally from their family's tragic history. At the center of their universe is LJJ, who Li Ba describes as a 'oddly optimistic child'. We see LJJ go from an unruly teenager to a young adult. They talked about the light bulb moment when you realize you are an adult and I know both LX and LJJ specially mentioned their moment. Oddly enough, I can't seem to remember how or when that moment was for LJJ maybe because I did not think moment was that impactful but maybe also thats just how life is. Slowly but surely, even without you realizing, one day you find that you are no longer the kid you used to be.
The first 10 episodes, who many believe including me, is the best part of the drama. We slowly learn the story of how this little family is created and the dynamics of this family. Ep 5, Li Ba's drunken monologue sealed the deal for me to continue watching. The next 10 episodes we see how the brothers go separate ways, each for their own justifiable [but sad] reasons and eventually come back 9 years later, bringing us to the point where our beloved trio must learn to be siblings once again... and also something beyond sibling love. I truly believe the story could've been just fine without the love line but i'll let it slide. I really liked the way that they handled the HZQ and LJJ love line because we have a fragile HZQ who is cutely mistaken and believed that only love love is the way to make this little family of theirs a real legal family. However like Li Ba and LJJ have said time and time again, the definition of a family is not restricted to blood ties nor legal titles. The LX and LJJ love line, I can understand how that could happen but at the same time also not too convinced. I am honestly not too sure at what point they even officially became a thing but it somehow happened...
The remainder of the drama, we start to dive into the stories of our side characters... maybe even a little too much. I love the dynamic that LJJ has going on with her girlfriends but spending too much time on the side stories, we lost precious time on how to deal with the main issue, which is the relationship between LX and his mentally unstable mother. We are literally at the very last episode, waiting for the point in which the mom will finally own up to her mistakes and try to make amends but to me, the mom still has not reached that point yet. Her choice was once again avoidance and the abandonment of yet another one of her children but somehow it was portrayed as her redefining moment worthy of forgiveness.... I don't know what the perfect storyline should've been but i only wish both she and LX truly seek the medical attention that they need.
There is one character that I have yet to mention because he is important and at the same time, sadly not. We have Ling Ba (LX's dad) who almost always shows up to all important events but leaves quickly for work reasons again and again. I was truly hoping we got to learn more about his character because he is still an important figure in this little family. He mentions the police station so many times that I was expecting that we would get a little glimpse into his life at work (not that it is justifiable for him to simply push off his parental duties to Li Ba) but we never do.
Overall, despite the few hiccups, it is definitely a solid drama and if i were to give you just one reason to watch this, it would be Li Ba.
If this world had more people like Li Ba (LJJ's dad), oh how this world would be such a better place. He is the glue that holds this family together and the epitome of the perfect parent that one can only hope to have. We have our two brothers, who at a very young age must face many hardships that will forever shape them. HZQ who is abandoned by his single mother who made the difficult but cruel decision to do what was best for her child. LX who is abandoned by his mother who suffers mentally from their family's tragic history. At the center of their universe is LJJ, who Li Ba describes as a 'oddly optimistic child'. We see LJJ go from an unruly teenager to a young adult. They talked about the light bulb moment when you realize you are an adult and I know both LX and LJJ specially mentioned their moment. Oddly enough, I can't seem to remember how or when that moment was for LJJ maybe because I did not think moment was that impactful but maybe also thats just how life is. Slowly but surely, even without you realizing, one day you find that you are no longer the kid you used to be.
The first 10 episodes, who many believe including me, is the best part of the drama. We slowly learn the story of how this little family is created and the dynamics of this family. Ep 5, Li Ba's drunken monologue sealed the deal for me to continue watching. The next 10 episodes we see how the brothers go separate ways, each for their own justifiable [but sad] reasons and eventually come back 9 years later, bringing us to the point where our beloved trio must learn to be siblings once again... and also something beyond sibling love. I truly believe the story could've been just fine without the love line but i'll let it slide. I really liked the way that they handled the HZQ and LJJ love line because we have a fragile HZQ who is cutely mistaken and believed that only love love is the way to make this little family of theirs a real legal family. However like Li Ba and LJJ have said time and time again, the definition of a family is not restricted to blood ties nor legal titles. The LX and LJJ love line, I can understand how that could happen but at the same time also not too convinced. I am honestly not too sure at what point they even officially became a thing but it somehow happened...
The remainder of the drama, we start to dive into the stories of our side characters... maybe even a little too much. I love the dynamic that LJJ has going on with her girlfriends but spending too much time on the side stories, we lost precious time on how to deal with the main issue, which is the relationship between LX and his mentally unstable mother. We are literally at the very last episode, waiting for the point in which the mom will finally own up to her mistakes and try to make amends but to me, the mom still has not reached that point yet. Her choice was once again avoidance and the abandonment of yet another one of her children but somehow it was portrayed as her redefining moment worthy of forgiveness.... I don't know what the perfect storyline should've been but i only wish both she and LX truly seek the medical attention that they need.
There is one character that I have yet to mention because he is important and at the same time, sadly not. We have Ling Ba (LX's dad) who almost always shows up to all important events but leaves quickly for work reasons again and again. I was truly hoping we got to learn more about his character because he is still an important figure in this little family. He mentions the police station so many times that I was expecting that we would get a little glimpse into his life at work (not that it is justifiable for him to simply push off his parental duties to Li Ba) but we never do.
Overall, despite the few hiccups, it is definitely a solid drama and if i were to give you just one reason to watch this, it would be Li Ba.
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