Give it a try!!
Personally, like very personally, I liked the series!I think that the pace of the drama can't be categorized as slow or fast. The drama sort of follows its own pace. Sometimes it is reasonable, sometimes a bit fast but not rushed and sometimes not exactly slow but not fast either. It varies greatly and of course also depends on what is slow and fast for the viewer watching it.
Because it is not supposed to have spoilers, I will just say that all female characters grow and become better. Ren Ran's growth was moving for me as I loved how she learnt to let go, to accept (but maybe her new love life came a bit too early). Sun Yi He was such a bright character and despite the many drawbacks you will watch, you can still not stop liking her. Karen was also a nice character, strong and weak at the same time. Ding Ding was a very cute character with a mostly cute love life.
Coming to the male characters, I will only mention my favorite, Yu Tian! No matter what he does, as long as he is on the screen I smiled, even when he was heart broken. I loved his and Sun Yi He's friendship (sometimes more than the girl gang's friendship).
The ost was really nice, it actually went with the show . The acting was wonderful, maybe lacking sometimes, very rare times but still wonderful.
As compared to other dramas with female centered plot and female friendship (like Ode to Joy, Dear Missy etc) it may be a little dull... But overall it is a drama you can at least give a try, and if you are going to, please be patient for at least 5 episodes. Good friendship, good romance and good slice of life too.
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SLOW, melo writing with insecure leads
There seems to be an ongoing trend of trio or quadruple women-centric stories in C dramaland. Comparisons have been made by many users with the recently finished Nothing but thirty and newly aired To Dear Myself.*What’s striking*
The four female leads are besties in the best sense. There are no misunderstandings or petty quarrel (like Twenty Your Live On, which was more coming of age). Here Yi He, Ding Ding, Karen and Ren Ran are very supportive of each other and spends time with each other- to an envious extent. The girls communicate over drinks, partying together, exercise sessions, heart to heart sessions, etc. Theres a running tagline that men can be gone after awhile but best friends are forever.
The four ladies friendship and their woes in love are the common ground. While all 4 are very different in character and background, you would come to realise half way through the drama that all of them are very insecure in their relationships. Most of this can be attributed to the current men in their lives.
Issues
The drama tries to project this as growth through navigating struggles in life and love, evident in the narration of every epilogue. However the writing of this drama drags alot, in a way it amplifies the problems in both the characters’ issue and their lack of resolve. This makes it too tiresome and the ladies to stay in a pitiful state for too long. Eg. YiHe (portrayed by Victoria Song) is happy, chatty and optimistic person but in love she hides her true self, stays in her bubble while constantly doubting her boyfriend who keeps a lot of secrets from her. She does not comfront and goes in circles in her love life for over 2/3 of the drama. When she finally admits she hates the person she becomes when she is with him..im like Sis, I’ve been waiting forever for you to see clearly. Similarly RenRan who appears the fiercest and hardiest, but this CEO is pinning over a man who cant prioritise her. Karen perhaps have the most poignant storyline, divorced, single-mother, ex-husband who is selfish, mother with terminal illness. She goes into a relationship with a limit, makes decisions on her own and resigned to never marrying again. DingDing, a rich second generation has a much more bland story that i find not as engaging.
Overall i would say the writing of this drama makes it a little too melo for too long and too many instances. I find it a shame that they didnt utilise more characters that had more oomph and more chemistry. YiHe and Chen Nan’s story should have developed better and sooner, so that their time later could be fledged out. The same with RenRan and YouTing. I can do with less scenes from Sam, Lu Hao, Ma Ke.. all these dudes don’t deserve their time OR MINE.
Acting wise Victoria Song and Frida Li stands out for me. They have some powerful scenes.
Music wise i didn’t pay much attention with the exception of the chorus of opening theme was nice.
In the end i used this as a filler drama for filling in my time waiting for new episodes from other currently airing dramas that I’m pursuing. Will not be rewatching either.
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Disappointing
I enjoy dramas centering around a group of friends, especially when they're relatable storylines about women in their 30s. Unfortunately, this one was a miss. The monologues at the end of each episode felt over-the-top in trying to be insightful, the pacing was uneven, and there was so much product placement (BMW, Oreo, that mobile game). The biggest thing this drama was successful at was making me want to go to the gym; I loved that the women were always working out together.I did like Victoria Song as the bubbly Sun Yi He. Of course, I wanted to yell at her because her relationship with Sam was clearly going to be a train wreck, but I loved her dedication to her job and her friendship with Yu Tian. She experiences a lot of growth throughout the drama. After seeing Tony Yang in All is Well last year, I was excited to see him here and loved all his scenes. Ren Ran was my second favorite and I loved that she was a successful career woman, but her romantic storyline was also an emotional rollercoaster. David Wang is really good at playing unlikable businessmen, I swear that's the only role I've ever seen him play.
Oh, Ding Ding. She has the most lighthearted romance storyline and I love enemies-to-lovers, but it quickly became annoying. He turned into a lovesick puppy so quickly and she was too immature. I couldn't take her job with managing the boy group seriously, and when things take a turn for her towards the end, I wondered why she didn't simply get a job?! The opposite of Ding Ding is Karen, the most mature of the four. She owns the gym where they're always working out at, and she's a divorced single mom so naturally she has a different perspective than the others. Her son is cute and there's an emotional storyline with her mother, but the writing just didn't resonate with me.
The ending didn't even feeling like an ending! I had to double-check that there wasn't another episode. Similar-ish dramas I enjoyed more than this are: Find Yourself (also starring Victoria Song), Be Melodramatic (Korean). I haven't watched Nothing But Thirty yet but hear good things about it.
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Worth a watch
This drama is an easy watch. No bad villians, no annoying characters. The four ladies are relatable in some way and have a great supportive friendship. Each of their love lives are told along with family issues. Its not action packed or dramatic but a well acted story of life and relationship challenges. I particularly liked Victoria Songs character (quite similar to her in Find Yourself), her leading man and best male friend. The stories move steadily, concentrating on each lady in turn and then they all meet up regularly. No stilly misunderstandings among them which is refreshing.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Worth your time !
this drama is about friendship and women’s life in thirty, how they face life problems, and fall in love. I like the concept and the story a lot, but this drama has two negative points, the open ending, and the long dialogue, at the first part I enjoyed the dialogue and liked it a lot, but in the last 10 episodes, I felt it was boring and wished it was shorter.I fell in love with this drama and all the actors and characters but why did they end it this way? I want to know what happened to YuTian and Karen, I deserve it :(
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