Youth, friendship, family, love, and school. This drama was so heartwarming, light and realistic. It perfectly depicts the beauty, the joy, the sadness and the stress of being a teenager.
I loved how all themes were developed equally, there wasn't too much of anything, everything was perfectly dosed. Everything took its time to develop which make this drama more realistic. You will find yourself rolling with laughter at the friendship the characters had, smiling at the small selfless acts of kindness towards each other, getting angry at the trouble they had to go through, sympathize with them, and having your heart skip a bit at the sweet moments. A lot of the things these characters experienced, we have also experienced during those years of our life. With all this, I can assure you that this drama is so light that will make your heart warm and leave you clicking on the next episode with a huge smile on your face.
The acting was great! these young actors did a great job at depicting all emotions a teenager goes through, from falling in love to having worries about family issues. The chemistry between the main characters was impeccable. I always try hard to stop myself from having a second lead syndrome because I know that I will be the only one getting hurt in the end. "When we were young" did not even let me have a second lead syndrome because Hua Biao's character is so great that it's impossible not to ship him with Yang Xi. On that note, I must admit that Hua Biao is such an inspiring character. Usually, someone like him in dramas would be a cold-hearted asshole but Hua Bio was PERFECT! Yes! he is the embodiment of perfection. From his beautiful smile to his caring attitude, his intelligence and bubbly personality, he is perfect. I LOVED how hard working and independent he is, how he always tried to solve misunderstandings as soon as they arise and how selfless he is. His character is inspiring and I think I personally should learn more to be like him.
I LOVED the 1990s vibe, very similar to the REPLY series and A LOVE SO BEAUTIFUL. Just like there is some drama set in different eras of history, I hope setting dramas and movies in the 1980s and 1990s will become a thing. I am in love with the aesthetic and the whole vibe just bring about a lot of nostalgia.
AWESOME Chinese drama overall. If you know anything similar to this please hit me up :)
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Yangxi, main female character, is actually quite smart when she puts her mind to it. Although she seems to not have enough confidence or believe in herself, she is still able to do it with motivation from those around her. She is typically very positive and energetic. The usual happy-go-lucky female lead. I really like her personality. She initially wanted to depend on cross country running to help with her exam points but that changed so the drama focused on her in class with her friends - studying, reading, etc. She is obsessed with wuxia romance novels and dramas its her way of de-stressing or happiness. Its also a distraction so she gets in trouble for it. Don't worry though because her tutor is quite strict yet charming.
New transfer and intelligent student, Hua Biao, is usually her tutor and very strict. Its adorable watching those two together! They have such great chemistry; I just couldn't stop smiling when they stare at each other, care about each other or have subtle movements with one another. Hua Biao tends to do things on his own or prefers to not bother anyone until his friends figure it out. However, Hua Biao is also friendly with others like Yangxi so he's quite loved by his peers. His personality is typically very nonchalant but in reality he has his troubles. I was very heartbroken for him in episode 23. I felt his pain, Hou Ming Hao (actor) did a great job portraying the character.
Liyu is Yangxi's neighbor and childhood friend, he is also smart and cares deeply for Yangxi. He tends to do things for Yangxi because he likes her, however, Yangxi is quite clueless and thinks its just part of his personality. He is able to do a lot of things on his own and he cooks very well according to Yangxi. He is usually alone, like Hua Biao who only has his grandma. Liyu only has his dad while his mother is living in another country. He is a mama's boy and wishes to see her and be with her. There was one time when he was upset with her, and that's the episode I disliked the most because he was very stubborn. Other than that, I do like his relationship with Yangxi, its very precious!
The drama focuses on other supporting characters' stories as well and it's not boring at all! I can resonate with a few of them. You may end up being heartbroken, or sad but not mad or anything. Although there are some parents I wanted to slap because they were quite selfish. At the end of the day, this drama has almost every issue families deal with in reality.
I love the editing of the drama especially when someone does something for another without their knowledge, it transitions back to show us how that person did it. The last episode was one of my favorite edits because it shows when Hua Biao took notice of Yangxi, quite earlier than we thought haha.
The ending wasn't exactly how I wanted to happen but I'm satisfied. Its not a bad ending. It was, in a way, sad but I'm happy that everyone were able to do something they dreamed of or hope to do. I wish for a season 2 of the same cast but I doubt it will happen. :( IT NEEDS A SEASON 2!!!
Overall this drama was very sweet, cute, refreshing and a must watch! It deals with typical school stress, teenage crush/romance, dementia awareness, depression, families issues such as divorced parents, expectations from parents, job lost, etc. I could re-watch it all over again! I kept re-watching the episodes as I waited for new episodes to come out each week, it is very good!
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MY MOST FAV ML EVER!!
Uhh writing this with my tears still falling out, the ending is very beautiful and honestly the best as I think forced romance in their current stage of life indeed feel unrealistic.. but it doesn't mean i dont want to curse the director for not including some fluffy epilouges! Well guess they save it for season 2 but honestly if they dont use the same casts then I really not enthusiastic to wacth it. The drama beautiful for the story and strong chemistry between actors and their brilliant characters potrayal so it will make a big different if use different people for it..By the way though i like all chara but the carry of this show definitely the ML! Uh let just say how happy im that the ML is not the usual cold straight A guy, but the guy that seem very second lead-ish.. as he is cheerful, positive sunshine boy that very street smart and gifted genius. Honestly all this time usually my fav ML is type of badboyish, sarcasm but very sweet inside person, but for the first time my heart just melted away by the kind hearted guy.. Well, Hua Biao not naively kind or anything but between their gank of friend he is maybe the most unfortunate, well everyone have their own problem but if compared with ML's its heartwrenching that all his friend's problems seem to be your normal spoiled teenager drama, but ML had to shoulder sickly eldery who is your only family that you have, financial problem etc so he is extremly sensible and responsible person .. But the most amazing thing is despite his circumstances how optimistic, cheerful, confident, kind hearted, hardworking in life and study but he is not pretentious at all.. in fact he is flexible as he can be cunning or break some rule when needed too, very loyal with his friends.. His way of loving a girl is not become territorial but become her best support, protecting her and keep encouraging her even though actually her problems seem very childish compared with his mountain of problems.. His smile is medicine for anything as it never falter and always shine brighly.. So his emotial breakdown is really tear jerking, i really crying hard for ML and grandma scenes.. Hua Biao, let me hug you okay ??
I can go on and on about Hua Biao, he is just very beautiful person ah.. In real life we met many people, and understand that human is not perfect, and some time the imperfectness just ugly, sometime its just make a person.. normal. But between those many people you sometime found one or two person, that is like a shining diamond between river stones.. Hua Biao is such diamond if he really come to my life.. The actor really did amazing job too, his aura and emotional potrayal just so poignant and spot on. So if there is season two please please just please for the same actor juseyo..
FL is quite a dumb head at first, she come from very different family circumstances from ML, so she is spoiled and childish, and made some blunder where what she think as harmless pranks actually can give serious consequences toward ML, though ML never blame her.. I think I can get where ML come from. When you are experienced life's bitterness that shredded many of your naivety, then FL's carefree and innocent childish either make you envy or want to protect such blank paper from being stained, I think the ML is both, how much he envy his friends with their parents around to cheer or trashing your exam result, maybe so much.. so it really show how amazing his self control is to never shout at his friend when they were throwing childish tantrum "Can you stop your sh*t?! At least you have parent, i dont!" LoL
Btw FL step by step become more sensible in the end, so does second ML.. honestly though i dont ship Yan Xi and Li Yu but this is one of painful thing depicted in the drama that when you grown up, you had to let go of many things, Two people that grow up joined in the hips, practically faced everything together, and even some feeling had to involved.. in the end, you had to accept it .. that you grow distant and separated.. (Thankfully Li Yu is in another drama where he and his childhood sweetheart have HE romance there)
Aaaah this cant do! I need season two because really need the mature version of Hua Biao and Yanxi finally in mature relationship, Yanxi and Liyu become friend again, Yan Zhao and He Mei, Huang Deng Deng and Situ Ertao.... their family too.. And more and more my sweet sweet sweet Hua Biao!!
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The lady who played the Grandma had me weeping. Her acting was so so so amazing. And the character of Er Tiao was very different and interesting.
The whole idea about the best friend being secretly in love with the main lead, and the whole love triangle thing is a bit overused, but that can be excused, since the drama is amazing otherwise.
And did I mention how much I love Hua Biau's character. Neo Hao portrayed this character so perfectly. You can't help but fall in love with him. Move aside bad boys, 'the good guy' is what everyone will start craving for in dramas now after watching this show. Okay I'll stop now. XD
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The beautiful and inspiring 90s.
That was my first drama of 2019 and I think I made the right choice, it was absolutely refreshing and sweet <3.After hearing only positive things about When We Were Young I thought it was an overrated drama and that I won't like it as much as others did but it was the exact opposite , I just loved it and would definitely recommend it to all those who want to reminisce about their high school days or simply about their youth. And despite having prejudices against this drama before starting it what made me want to venture into it was the 90s setting being myself born in the early 90s and a huge fan of that time period, I just couldn't miss that one no matter how prejudiced I was before starting it (I know it's bad). Yes, I think this drama totally deserves all the positive critics it received.
To be honest after I watched the first few episodes I was quite impressed, I immediately fell in love with the whole group of friends and particularly with Hua Biao. Their friendship and the overall drama seemed so authentic and beautiful that I was actually really happy I chose this one as my first of 2019.
Firstly I would love to mention about the friendship in this drama because this is what I loved the most, and it was so powerful that I could feel it was real.
-Hua Biao, Yang Xi, Si Tu Er Tiao, Li Yu, Yang Xiao He Mei. A little mention for Huang Deng Deng.
I'm a sucker for friendship dramas and I generally always enjoy them but in this drama it was even more special (for me) because those 5 persons are such genereous, kindhearted persons, doing things not expecting anything in return, I have so many examples but that would be pointless mentioning them. I just can't tell how many times Hua Biao did something for Yang Xi and the others without even telling them, same goes for Si Tu Er Tiao who is such an adorable and selfless boy, Huang Deng Deng all what she did for Li Yu and so on. So yeah I really fell in love with them because there's a meaning behind each of their action even though at first we might not understand why they are behaving in such a way.
And now Hua Biao who left the biggest impression on me. I have to say that I had a real crush for Hua Biao's character, he's a pure GEM and his smile aaaaw <3. All the characters are adorable and selfless but Hua Biao he's on another level in my opinion. He's a friend you can depend on and who will never let you down, he's having a difficult time taking care of his sick grandmother but if you need him for something he would never refuse helping his friends and other acquaintances. He would always find a way to make others happy . Well I could say more but I will stop here.
As for the female lead I really liked her too though she's kind of impulsive but she's a really caring and lovely girl. And I really enjoyed her interactions with Hua Biao and her brother.
Lastly I need to mention about the 90s setting and the realism of the drama. I found the story quite realistic especially the way the characters are portrayed in the drama. I really could see myself in all of them, the way they interact with their family, friends and teachers, and aaaah the scenes between Yang Xi and her brother are really funny and realistic. What I loved the most about the 90s though it was the apparition of videos games and such, teens knew how to have fun like we can see in ''When We Were Young'' :
-Reading books, we could seen them reading some famous wuxia novels like ''Legend of Condor Heroes and The Return of the Condor Heroes'' etc, and they were so happy talking about their fave characters of the books.
-Going to the theater with friends, watching famous movies of that time.
-Spending time in each others' houses, when Hua Biao and Li Yu went to Yang Xi's house and or Yang Xi, Si Tu Er Tiao and others were gathering in Hua Biao's rooftop.
this is what I remember about the 90s and why those years are so special to me though I was still a kid. That's also probably why this drama resonated so much with me.
Oh and about realism, I really loved the ending, I found it realistic and very satisfying. I couldn't imagine another ending if you were to ask me.
In conclusion, I really recommend this drama for all those who are looking for a heartwarming and lighthearted drama because that's what it was for me.
*I gave an 8,5 rating because I truly enjoyed the drama and felt so much emotion while following, Yang Xi, Hua Biao, Si tu Er Tiao, Li Yu and the others's adventures and it reminded me how valuable my high school years were and how much I love that time. I couldn't give more for some personal reasons but all I can say is that it was the best school drama I watched from China and I want to watch more dramas like this one ;).
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This review may contain spoilers
pros:- extremely funny, especially if you understand chinese
- touching and heartwarming storylines
- great actors and actressess
- plenty of relatable moments
- great main and recurring characters
- realistic
- school, friendship and family based storyline (there is slight romance but it's not the main focus of the show)
cons:
- (somewhat) ambiguous ending
- pretty slow pace
- some events are repetitive
- side (very minor) characters are pretty lacking
SPOILER AHEAD
i personally didn't like the ending. it was too lacking and it doesn't make sense (to me). honestly, she would be better off with liyu. because liyu always put her first, so i feel like she'd benefit more. but if she ended up with liyu, the "plot twist" or ending would be similar to Reply 1988 where duksun chooses taek over junghwan. i knew huabiao would never choose love over family, he was consistent with how much he cares about his granny. which is why the part where he part ways with yangxi to stay with his granny didn't seem so out of place. also there are soooooo many questions i have about the ending. like does yang xiao he mei ever confess to yanxi's brother?what happened to liyu's father after he got sick in guangzhou? did he quit his job? what happened to si tu er tiao's mother? did she cut contact with si tu er tiao and his father forever? it doesn't make sense because from the beginning, si tu er tiao was always closer to his mother rather than his father. furthermore, his mother is much more capable than his father. i just don't get why si tu er tiao is left with his father after the divorce.
anyways, i like how the main characters had development (even if it's the slightest bit). my personal favourites are huang dengdeng , si tu er tiao and yanxi's mother. huang dengdeng is the sweetest, most adorable character in the show. she learnt to let go of her unrequited love and put herself first instead. the part where everyone goes their seperate ways is sadly very realistic . the ending is bitter-sweet. overall, i liked the drama.
i'd suggest this drama to people who have time to kill and are looking for something light-hearted to watch.
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This review may contain spoilers
Some would said that this drama have 'A love so beautiful' vibe and i do agree with it at first. But this drama have its own charm where it talks about memories and conflicts that we usually faced at the age of 18, and this is why the title's name is 'When We Were Young'. This drama didn't really solely focus on love story. From this drama, you can see a lot of interesting situation among the main characters and their friends. It even focused on the side character's problem and that is what i really like because it doesn't show you about the main characters only.
Every characters in this drama have their own uniqueness. At first i thought Li Yu was soo mature but yet, at 18 years old, you can still become someone childish. During our teenager years, things like this will make us grow and learn about life. I looove how they have been reminding each other to appreciate everything that they have around us. For example, Hua Biao only have his grandmother in this world but he choose to be positive so that he can enjoy his life without complaining.
The ending is an open ending, but its not that bad for me. Its worth watching because the content in this drama is really good. Just give a try and you wont regret watching this drama! In every episode they will put some quotes that talks about our youth and i really like it. It reminds me of my old days with my friends. School year are one of the best year when you have supportive friends around you rightt! (hehe)
Anyway, have fun watching! Im sure im gonna repeat this drama again soon because i kinda like the storyline. And i cant resist how cute Hua Biao and Yang Xi when both of them are together :x and i kinda like Huang Deng Deng's characterr!
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One of my favourite episodes in particular was the one with the parents, but I won't go into detail about it because of the spoilers. I think the friendship in this drama was very strong, each person got their fair amount of backstory and was not just acting as secondary characters. I really admire Yang Xi, she's different from the typical female leads, someone really confident and full of character. All the characters were amazing in their own way, and I can't wait to see them in future dramas.
Highly recommend this, a funny, entertaining and overall beautiful drama.
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Youth Drama - not really romance!
I watched thinking this was going to be similar to A Love So Beautiful, but nope! It is more Reply 1988 with school mixed in.The main lead is surprisingly what you would expect a second lead to be like. He is sweet, filial, and always so bubbly. The second lead is more of your cold main lead. It's like they were switched! The main lead is the one coming into the life of the female lead when she already has history with her best friend second lead.
The pace of the drama is so so slow. I pretty much skipped episodes to quickly reach the last 2 episodes, and yet I still understand the general gist of what was going on. Maybe if I had the time to really soak in the scenes of the China way of life among best friends going through the same tests and studying over and over again, I would enjoy this drama more. The acting is phenomenal, the chemistry is there, and the nostalgia kicks in with how accurate the set designs are.
If you're looking for a lighthearted drama to stall time and reminisce in the friendship and family dynamics in an adolescent life, this is it. But don't watch for the romance.
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