A Little Thing Called First Love (2019)

This is the most boring drama I've watched so far out of all the Korean, Japanese Taiwanese and Thai programmes have seen. Initially, I found it promising to see unfold the main female's role developing from a shy young girl into a more young confident young woman. As for the main male lead, can't make up my mind if the actor is very wooden or this is the true nature of the character. I find him really annoying, I also see from the cast line up that he's really young and is a rapper as well. If this is his first foray into acting then he needs to up his game, or, stick to his day job. Haven't seen the Thai version so have nothing to judge by. Shan't be watching anymore, shame really as there some actors in the rest of the cast who show more passion

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Why This Series Didn’t Work for Me

I primarily watched this series because of the lead actors and my curiosity about this Chinese adaptation of the Thai movie Crazy Little Thing Called Love, which I loved for its freshness and perfection. I was interested to see how they would expand a movie into a series format.

While I must commend the cast for their performances, I believe some stories are better suited as films rather than extended series. The pacing felt off, particularly with how long it took to show Miao Miao's transformation and beauty, causing the plot to drag. I understand that this is a series, and adapting a two-hour movie into a longer format presents challenges, but I found myself losing interest. I ended up skipping through many scenes, only watching the parts I enjoyed, and ultimately decided to drop the series altogether.

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A comfort watch I could keep on repeat

This was an absolute comfort to watch. The romance between You Nian and Miao Miao was so cute and sweet. You Nian was always so nice to Miao Miao and was boyfriend goals! I can’t remember watching a show where the male lead is so nice all of the time.

I really enjoyed the very beginning when we were just getting to know the characters and Miao Miao was first crushing on You Nian - it was pure innocence! Their time spent at the lighthouse was cute, so it was nice how the show wrapped up with them looking back at the lighthouse because it’s kind of like 'that’s where it all started.'

I loved how we got to see how You Nian’s started to realise his feelings for Miao Miao, and his confession to her was tear worthy. It was no surprise that he wanted to be the one to confess to her first.

Seeing Miao Miao grow into a smart young woman was so nice, and I’m glad she stood her ground and switched to the major she actually wanted to do.

The only thing that really bothered me about the story, apart from the timeline towards the end, was Miao Miao’s reason for breaking up with You Nian - it just seemed very lacklustre. There needs to be a better reason for the breakup. I know all of these stories need to have a complication (or do they?), so the writers should at least make it a good one.

He Xin, my girl, God bless her, but why did they make her want Kaituo so desperately? It was beginning to get quite unbearable to watch. Towards the end when the story was wrapping up it seemed so weird to me that they took yet another year to be together.

Kaituo was a troubled character but you do come around to him in the end, although I do think He Xin should have found someone better.

Another thing that did actually bother me is how they never aged up Miao Miao’s little sister. This show must have spanned what, at least 5 years and that child did not age! I was expecting there to be an actor switch, but nope.

I liked the soundtrack and in particular I liked the song played at the end of each episode.

Although this one had many episodes, they are short so it felt more manageable to watch and it is a great little one if you’re feeling down and just want something comforting.

-E

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Adorable First Love

This drama is great. As it portrayed a first Love storyline. I've read many of the reviews but seriously, I'm beginning to wonder, if Sombrero of the audience on here knows exactly what they're referring to, when they started, the female lead is a bad actor. Well, let me enlighten you, actors play the character they're given, bringing that character to live. In the drama, this is considered both their first Loves. They did an amazing job with their characters. The FL character meant for her to be timid, self-conscious, and kind of shy. I've never seen someone who is in love for the first time, doing it saying things as if they've been in a relationship for years. FYI, not every character that hits the screen is upbeat. A CEO, a rich person, or someone who comes from a wealthy background. You have to learn to bring whatever character is in the script to life and make it believable. So when you comment and say that she's a bad actor, think of the storyline and the plot. Each actor did an incredible job with their individual characters. Bravo to the crew, director, costume designer, director, location manager, make-up artist, researcher, screenwriter, set designer, and television producer, to name a few. My suggestion is, watch the drama for yourself. I'm concierge that you'll enjoy it.

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Some things I couldn’t get past

Okay so I had to drop this drama for a couple of reasons. The story in itself is okay, a typical coming of age school CDrama. The usual tropes. Mediocre acting, odd chemistry between the 2 main leads and weird colorism that seems to be plagued in CDramas.

What was a little strange to me were their ages and the cousin arc. I never usually comment on the real actors and actresses ages because I typically don’t care but when the entire main cast are minors except one then it starts to feel a little weird. Wang Run Ze who plays Lin Kai Tuo is very much in his late 20s while the rest of the other 3 cast were 15-17 at this time. To top it off, they added him as a love interest and to have a crush as well. They couldn’t get another underage person to be in that role… second thing that didn’t sit well was the cousin arc. Chai Wei who plays He Xin is the cousin of our main male lead and she was in love with Lin Kai Tuo who happens to be the step brother of our main male lead. Whether it’s biological or by law, they are still cousins and it’s a little odd to push that arc on a tv show. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

I think the drama may be better suited for teenagers than adults.

Overall, I ended up dropping the drama halfway through since it really didn’t stand out to me either way and couldn’t really get past some of those things. If it doesn’t bother you, then check it out for yourself.

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This is a lovely watch for teenager, if you're an adult don't bother

Story wise, the trope of an ordinary girl falling head over heels is kinda old, but depending on the execution it still can be enjoyable to watch. For this drama, the pace is so slow I had to play it at 1.5 x speed or even skip it often.

Now the acting and the character. I can't root for anyone here! Not even the female first lead. The acting is passable, not extraordinary, but the character itself makes me unable to love her. Chasing the most popular guy in school, changing her appearance to be more attractive society standard (fair skin, long straight hair, neat teeth), following the university and student club where he is in... Okay, the part where she studied hard is good, albeit it isn't shown well enough. It feels, everything she does always revolves around the handsome senior. The change in her appearance also betrays my logic, like how come your skin suddenly become fair with just some spray? And her hair suddenly is straightened naturally as if her old curly hair was some kind of wig (which is true I bet, for the sake of the movie).

The male first lead's acting is as versatile as a block of dry wood. Stale, flat, expressionless. I don't know if it is the directing or the script itself, or the actor who isn't capable to be more expressive, but watching him delivering his lines as if he was reading news is excruciating. I don't know that a cool guy is supposed to look stoic and flat all the time, and only smile occasionally. The scenes between him and the female first lead feels so unnatural, I can't get the butterflies or taste the slightest chemistry. It's hard to see if he likes the first female lead too, as it's not shown on his face. Everything about their relationship is like 90% conveyed by the awkwardness of the first female lead whenever she is with him.

I find the second couple more interesting to watch. Although they are mostly silly and both seem to have anger issues, at least there's some clash they present. The second female lead is the same as the first lead in the sense that she too busy chases the second male lead to the point of nagging and stalking at first. But at least she has some personality and finally stand up for herself when the second lead professes his feeling for the first female lead (rather a silly love triangle trope). What I like a bout that part is the second female lead turns cold towards the second male lead but she still keeps her friendship with the first female lead. At least, apart from being too nagging and male-chaser in the first part, she isn't that silly and immature when her feelings isn't reciprocated.

The second male lead is the definition of immaturity. He always seems angry. Still, I'd still prefer him than the deadwood first male lead. The part when he confesses his feeling towards the first female lead in front of everyone is silly and baseless. Even so, I still enjoy his erratic relationship with the first male lead and the second female lead. It's more colorful than the relationship of the main couple.

I picked up this drama, hoping to watch some light melodrama that might remind me of the silly teenage years I had, but I ended up losing some brain cells after some episodes. Still, I should give some credits: the visual of this series is good. Some scenes got weird camera angle, but it's aesthetically pleasant. It's nice to get a glimpse of education in China and see daily life of people there. My last would be: It can be a fun watch for teenagers, I would probably enjoy it 10-15 years ago, but now I can't help but skipping many scenes and just cut straight to some highlighted (unnecessary) conflicts.

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I started this one straight after "Put Your Head on My Shoulder, which was a real gem. I then discovered that the same writer, Zhao Qian Qian, was involved with both of them AND another all-time favourite, A Love So Beautiful. Which made the leaden dullness of this one even more disappointing.

Perhaps it's because this was a remake of other material, while the others are not listed as such. The writer may have been constrained by the source material, I don't know. I do know that the source was a Thai MOVIE, while this is a 36 episode Drama. And that's a big problem right there. The material is far too thin to stretch out from a movie of under 2 hours to a Drama of something like 24 hours runtime. The contrast with PYHOMS was especially painful because that Drama was very short, just 24 40 minute episodes, and felt lively throughout. In this one, the story proper was barely starting by the time I got to episode 10, ugh!.

Also, with both ALSB and PYHOMS, the Dramas hooked me in episode one, especially the female characters. In THIS one, the female lead was uninteresting and unmotivated, the only characters that drew a reaction in the first 4 episodes were her AWFUL little sister and her only slightly less awful mother.

As a fan of romantic Dramas, I have no problem at all with clichés and tropes if they're presented through good acting and good writing. This Drama was 0 for 2 by the end of ten episodes, so I dropped it. I will be interested to see if Ms Zhao's next Drama, not listed as a remake, is a hit like her other two, or a miss like this one.

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I never dislike any main actress in Chinese drama that I have watched so far but seriously, Angel Zhao/Zhao Jinmai is not that pretty in reality even when she's dressing up. So actually there's no point for the production team to make her wearing frizzy wig, ugly teeth, because even when she's tryna look pretty, she's actually just an average looking actress. I think it's okay to only maintain the dark skin. Gosh her character is kinda like a psychotic (I mean [duh] look yourself in the mirror first, try to make yourself prettier, smarter by your ownself rather than making that "ask for sympathy", loser and irritating face. In reality, it won't happen. She's ugly, not smart, no charm, character is like a loser, pathetic, psychotic, silly, not being known.....AT FIRST, so it's sooooo ridiculous for Liang YouNian to easily like her, it's nonsense! Who the hell is she to portray her jealousy, show her cold face when other girls adore Nian, she has no right at all to act like He Xin, XiaoYue and other girl is a threat, I feel like giving a mirror to her. Her best friends should tell her to stop daydreaming and work her ass on improving herself before trying to befriend and get close with Nian - this is a good friend should do. The cast for her best friend should change to someone that is slender and cute/pretty unlike in this drama. This is like a bunch of shameless pathetic loser girls (lin xia and miaomiao), Lin Xia should be the one to motivate miao miao to study harder, improve her appearance and character so that miaomiao deserves to have nian as bf whatsoever. He Xin should do the same too, why on earth she's match making and trying so hard to make her cousin to get close with that nobody at first, pfffttttttt, so nonsense! Xia MiaoMiao looks so sloopy, smelly, and her hair looks like having a flea on it...even after she took off her braces, wore skincare product. I keep on watching this drama only because of im a fan of Lai Kuanlin and i have no problem with other casts, i just hate so much the role of xia miao miao. I believe there are more cuter young chinese actresses. why choose angel zhao, haihhhhhh spoiled my mood. If you have watched Crazy Little Thing Called Love - thailand 2010 movie, the main actress looks wayyyyyyyyyyyy better, you won't get annoyed looking at her but as for this angel zhao, seriously....she's not that pretty so no need to overdo it with frizzy curl dry got flea looking hair, smelly looking, ugly teeth, dark skin... just maintain her original look with the characters of the role, then it logically make sense on why the guy can fall for the girl... and not being a fairytale story. Or maybe maintain the look of xia miao miao in this story but with better attitude (smart, diligent, no time to fall for guys, don't mind cannot make friends because live in her own world blah3) and it make sense too if Nian falls for her. I mean, who the hell will naturally like and adore a human being like Xia Miao Miao. RIDICULOUS!!!! Plus, they don't look compatible and suit to be together at all, and other support roles looks overshadow angel zhao look. Elkie/Zhu Jintong should actually get the role for xia miao miao, they look better.
Hope in future there will be no stupid role like this.

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Apesar do lenga-lenga, eu gostei.

Quando minha amiga me indicou esse drama eu não imaginei que gostaria tanto, gostei bastante porém quando foi chegando os últimos episódios eu já estava cansada do lenga-lenga e tava doidinha pra terminar.

Eu amei o elenco, a química dos atores é perfeita, porém eu achei que a história se estendeu mais do que deveria e alguns personagens não tiveram um bom desenvolvimento, como por exemplo a Lin Xia.

Confesso que shippei muito errado, só consegui shippar o casal principal nos últimos episódios. O casal He Xin e Lin Kai Tuo ao meu ver não teve desenvolvimento algum, foi o drama inteiro a He Xin correndo atrás dele e magicamente depois ele começa a gostar dela faltando menos de 10 episódios para acabar. Não gostei disso.

Recomendo muito este drama, uma história fofinha e é incrível ver como a protagonista cresceu e amadureceu durante toda a história. Apesar de tudo, eu gostei do drama e quero muito assistir outros dramas com esses atores.

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