A River Runs through It (2021)

An amazing high-school and youth drama

This drama is such a master piece the journey starts from high school they share such a beautiful friend ship during highschool and one sided love of xiouju with chenlang and it extends till the college atlast she realises her love for shiyi while he s going abroad then they will unite only in last epi If u are looking for romance and flouffy drama then it's not ur type this drama is about youth friendship and lil love the friendship between shiyi chenlang Bao Bao tao xiouju haunjun and their room mates were portrayed beautifully tao is such a amazing girl in the drama huanjun and tao firstwill be together but poor huanjun will not Cherish her and tao will end up with Bao Bao chenlang will be so much in love with linyou but linyou will go back to abroad with her ex and married another foreigner oh my poor chenlang he will not get a pair in this drama the cute fight between ml and fl chenlang is like their dad while solving their fights it's a beautiful drana with amazing storyline and cast ost is amazing spl thanks to the subbers yoyo YouTube channel for making bit available for international fans

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Perfect--except for the ending . . .

This would be my top Cdrama of all time if it had a better ending! I loved it so much. The acting was great, most of the characters and storylines were relatable and touching. The only people that were meh to me were CL and LY, seemed like neither had any personality. But LS in particular really shined as a character. I loved watching him grow and I think the actor did an amazing job.

At times I felt like I wasn't watching a drama, I was watching a documentary. A lot of people watch dramas to escape so they don't want it to be like real life and don't care how far-fetched it is; however, I watch them because that's exactly what I'm looking for. I feel like these characters were the first people I've "met" that feel the way I have felt. I want characters and circumstances to be real and this drama hit the mark better than anything else I have watched. It wasn't afraid to show the ugliness of life and that everything is going to be okay in the end, you can get through it.

I especially liked how things developed between LS and XJ post-confession for the sheer fact LS had a much different reaction than normal, instead of becoming defeated he doubled down--and I truly believe that is the best course of action you can take for someone like XJ. Some might see it as pushy but I think there are times when you need to persist because it's not that the other person is resisting because they are not interested, but because they are scared. It was refreshing to see a character who did not fall into despair because someone didn't accept them right away, instead they stood by their feelings AND their own value.

It was a great show . . . until the last two episodes. It was like they planned for 50 episodes but got to episode 34 and learned they could only produce two more. The storylines were rushed, they didn't really make sense, and frankly it was hard to connect with the wedding for example because it was so disconnected and out of nowhere that you had no emotional attachment to the couple in question. Then imagine the one you love leaves without telling you, you don't see or hear from them for FIVE YEARS, and they just show up and end up proposing after messing around with your feelings for two or three days. Like it was so jarring and disappointing, the pacing wasn't the same as the rest of the series and we never really got to see the main leads in a relationship or resolving the issues between them. It was a lot of buildup to something amazing and then it just crashed and burned.

I consider it a great tragedy how this show ended, it deserved better. I would honestly be okay if there was a season two and they were just like "Yeah those last two episodes were just a dream, let's get back to the REAL story." But I just finished it yesterday however and I already want to start again! So I'd still recommend it.

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Horrible Writing

Had so much potential at the beginning but so so so much flaws.

Female lead is obsessed with one side character for 90% of the drama and makes herself sad on purpose.

Side characters have the most awful writing I have ever seen in any drama. I could write so much but I’ll digress.

The characters have HORRIBLE emotional development, its supposed to coming of age story from highschool to college and adulthood but the characters have the emotional intelligence of a highschooler all throughout the 36 episodes; MOST SPECIFICALLY FEMALE LEAD.

This whole drama is about miscommunication and misunderstanding that never gets resolved and its just forgotten.

The only well made character is the second male lead - quite frankly the only reason I was motivated to complete this drama.

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*Contains Spoiler*

At first i was little hesitant to watch because this one had 36 episode & I am not someone who really watch more than 25-30 epis. Moreover if they keep dragging the confession btwn leads or not in relationship at least before 5-6 epis of the ending I will literally drop it. But damn this one. You wont believe the main leads literally perfectly get into as couple at the very last episode. & this is clearly not my type of drama. But the sole reason that kept me hold onto this drama to the very end is the beautiful friendship & the eye candy male lead Lu Shiyi. Lu shiyi is literally one of the best male cdrama character ever. I cried for him laughed for him felt pity for him. I literally felt All kind of emotions for him. He is literally the best. He can be your best friend a bro a boyfriend. He can be an annoyinh brat & tease the heck out of you but would fight the whole world for you. A fyi he isn't a toxic teaser. Its a teasing that will make you some funny fight with him. Throughout the whole drama his unconditional friendship & love for Female lead literally made my heart fluttered. From highschool, college, University & then job life wow it was a whole journey. As much as i love all the side Characters but Lu shiyi the male lead really slayed & ruled. I am not someone who praise ML of cdramas this highly. But yeah lu shiyi definately one of the best boy of cdrama town. Kudos to richard wang. His acting was super good.

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Beautiful beginning and a not-so-beautiful ending

A River Runs Through It has the beauty of the older and brilliant Chinese school dramas (With You, My Huckleberry Friends, When We Were Young, A Love So Beautiful). It is a tale of friendship, family, love, school, college life and of the numerous joys and sorrows that lace the journey of life. A poignant tale about growing up, its brilliant performances truly make this a strong watch. Every character was the centre of their own story, and I, like many others, laughed and wept with most of the characters.

Xia Xiaoju's relationship with her mother was so meaningfully written that when the two reconcile after Xiaoju has moved to college, tears ran down my cheeks. The show managed to make me cry or tear up many times - the world of ARRTI felt lived in and real; the characters felt real. The friendships were heartwarming and beautiful, and for the most part, the show was about these friendships- the deep understanding between the three main leads, and their affection for each other. Certainly the strength of show lies with its profoundly well-written friendships. From the five friends, to the three (and even four/five if we count Le Tao and Huang Jun) and then finally to the touching friendship between Xiaoju and Lu Shiyi. 'Growing up means separation' as Xiaoju says to herself later on in the show, in what I consider to be the most philosophical moment on the show: to grow up is to separate from friends and loved ones. People move away as life gets in the way.

Growing up however entails falling in love too, and this story has a lot of unreciprocated love, unfulfilled love, heartbreaks and breakups. Yet, unlike many other shows, I was invested in these relationships which largely involved the secondary (and even tertiary) characters. They felt believable and their stories were not centred around the main leads- they were the masters of their own stories.

I really liked the main leads together and separately - I rooted for them. The friendship between the three was absolutely lovely and when Cheng Lang wasn't with them later on, Li Shiyu and Xia Xiaoju were great friends of each other. They understood each other, cared for each other.

I would have perhaps sang many praises of this beautiful friendship had I not been utterly disappointed by the lacklustre ending. What was it with this ending? what was the point of this ending? Was it supposed to be like With You, and yet in With You the separation made sense (the broken Yu Huai did not believe himself worthy of love- he wasn't the best of himself and that was WHY he disappeared- it made sense). However, why does Li Shiyu disappear without telling her anything? Or without even contacting her through 7 years? He did not suffer from low self-esteem and self-worth and did not have the family burdens that Yu Huai did. Also, it's strange that he doesn't visit his parents in 7 years? In that case he would definitely bumped into her. (My Calorie Boy also did the With You-style ending, which did not work for me either)

The last two episodes were truly a disservice to the main leads. I felt very sorry for Xia Xiaoju- her best friend and the one she finally came to love just ghosted and disappeared on her. After 7 years, the writers decided to fix the problem in just two-three days of interactions. We did not ever learn why he disappeared; why he had pictures with that other girl, etc. The proposal scene at the wedding made zero sense too. Ah. well.

Although I am disappointed with the last two episodes, it does not take away from the beauty of the first half (and more) of the show. It is still a very good show, and certainly one of the best in recent years.

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I was not ready for this show to end. I admit, I actually put off watching this for a while because of how many episodes there are, but by the end I totally could have watched more. It’s done in a similar vein to the Reply series, where you watch a group of friends grow up together and the female lead actually even looks like Hyeri from Reply 1988.

The show offers a really realistic depiction of how relationships happen in real life, whether good or bad. Not everyone who dates ends up staying together, and relationships are messy and unpredictable and sometimes end in heartbreak. The show shows a diverse number of relationships and really strong friendships as well.

It’s my first time seeing Richard Wang in a drama but I really liked his character Lu Shiyi. He treated Xiaoju so well - buying her snacks, finding a job for her, even helping her figure out what major she wanted. He’s so thoughtful and kind, even when he knows that she doesn’t like him back. Lu Shiyi and Xia Xiaoju really were best friends and they share so many memories together it's like they are dating and she just didn't know it at the time. Xiaoju likes her other friend, and yet all of her romantic moments are with Shiyi. She even accidentally confesses to him. It's like before she knew it, he was the perfect fit for her. However, I honestly wish that we got more episodes showing their relationship after they get together and I feel like I'm left with so many questions about the show at the end.

Also completely unrelated to the story but the product placement feels very natural on the show, and is almost unnoticeable whereas most dramas nowadays are just FULL of product placement so that was very refreshing.

8/8.5

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A pack of sh*t and trash

Annoying sh*t trash
OMG I couldn’t believe it is possible to make a drama this much trashy. I don’t know what is there inside the skull of this direction team, I am pretty sure they don’t have brain at all.
Soo annoying, ML likes FL, FL likes second ML, second ML likes second FL, second FL likes her childhood friend, her childhood friend likes another girl, thank god that mystery girl not showed in drama.
Both ML and FL are worst than trash
1. Out of 36 episodes till 28 she had feelings for second ML, yet ML knows that he keeps on telling her to give up on second ML saying that he has no feelings for you but he keeps on pursuing FL yet he knows she has still feelings for second ML. He couldn’t give up on FL yet he keeps on telling her to give up on second ML.
2. At 29 episode When he proposed to FL she dumped him so cruelly, in the same episode she asked him to act as fake boyfriend and shamelessly he agreed to that.
3. As like in other Chinese dramas ML is soo shameless and sadistic trash, he couldn’t tolerate if she talks with other guys, he rush to her and drag her from the spot like a stray dog, he keeps on rounding around her and always she took him for granted and insulting him very badly yet shamelessly he acted like nothing happened. When he heard some guy is planning to propose FL he run to the spot and dragged her like a dog and suddenly proposed her knowing she still not over with second ML.
4. The main sadistic and cruel part is whenever he tried to confess to FL, before him she always confessed her feelings on second ML and crying in front of him. Yet he trying the same and get annoyed and disappointed.
Like this I can say hundreds of trash in this drama but I feel like to throw up to mentioning those sh*tty things.
I strongly recommend not to try this drama

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ONE OF THE BEST YOUTH DRAMAS!!

SPOILER!!
I honestly don't know where to start. I may ramble my way through this too but honestly this was one of the best youth dramas I've ever seen. It made me look back during my high school and university life. The ups and downs. The good and bad. Liking someone, getting rejected, being together. Struggling with own course, thinking about the future, losing people along the way, separating from your closest friends, etc. Youth is all part of self-discovery. Growing up. Experiencing all these to enter the society.

The story was honestly so heart warming but obviously at times, I just cannot help but get annoyed. The parents were very supportive of them. I have never felt a character so relatable Xiaoju's struggle growing up as an eldest and having to give way and feeling as if no one has got your back to support you, - the neglect -I totally felt that. I felt like my own story was being shown in this drama. Of course, in the end her mother had supported her all the way through. I like how the Xia, Lu and Cheng family were so close knit that during the early episodes, they were already wanting Xiaoju to be their daugther in law haha. To also include, Xiaoju's brother is hella annoying like every younger brother, but you can see how much he cares for his sister.

The trio, the best friends. I love how their friendship transitioned all throughout. Actually, the five OG bffs (inc Letao and Baabao), I loved their lil friendship throughout high school. Helping each other win that competition, caring for each other. It was just amazing. I was actually so sad that since Baobao left at that time, he had never shown himself. I've always felt that Taotao and Baobao were extremely suited for each other. Imagine my sadness when she got on with Huangjun. Not to be biased but Taotao's relationship with Huangjun was so toxic. The things she had done for him only to be taken for granted. But tbh, this experience for Taotao was her turning point, she had grown into such a strong woman and I really commended her character. I love her friendship with and support for Xiaoju. I guess because Taotao was such a strong girl crush, I actually really fell in love with her character. P.S. oh gosh that vocal girl in the band pissed me off too much. Imagine my happiness when Baobao came back in the end and being revealed to be Taotao's groom. I already expected it to be honest, but I WAS HELLA HAPPY!!!! He looked handsome too.

I honestly think Chenglang's first love was Xiaoju. But then he saw Linyou dance haha. I really believed in their relationship. They were definitely cute together. But I guess just like in real life, sometimes when you're not meant to be, no matter how much you've liked each, you just won't be together. I was actually waiting that maybe in the end she will come back but when Xiaoju said she had gotten married, I felt quite hurt for Chenglang. This guy deserves to be happy. I just felt like he did not even get a closure nor a happiness he deserved in the end. Like fair, be single, but that scene when he saw Linyou with her foreign husband, I just felt sad for him.

I actually watched this drama because of Hu Yixuan (I had finished watching Unforgettable Love. Through her I had found this gem. She is indeed a wonderful and versatile actress and I commend her for that. But my biggest disappoint in this drama was he character. Fair enough she grew. Her character development was good but I felt like it just dragged and dragged and dragged to the point where it was only until the last episode that Shiyi had fully gotten happy. But through her character, it just shows reality too, we like a guy for a very long time only to see him become happy with someone else. Then you also get scared to ruin your friendship with the bestfriend you really care for. I was actually glad she had gotten that closure with Cheng Lang with that mango pudding thing too. I just wished she had given Shiyi a chance a bit earlier on. But I guess if she did that, the ending would've been different.

Lu Shiyi. Shiyi oh Shiyi. I wish I had someone like Lu Shiyi in my life. If I had someone like him, I would've fallen for him already. I wound't be so dull and blind like Xiaoju. The amount of things and great efforts that Shiyi had done for Xiaoju is immense. He was definitely ANNOYING at the beginning but the transitioning of his relationship with Xiaoju was so smooth. Like his character development was not abrupt. He didn't just suddenly change overnight and started being nice on her. It was so gradual and smooth. I love it. It may have started when she finally agreed to do the relay with them and they all got really close with each other. I honestly just wanted nothing but Shiyi's happiness, but it was just so frustrating for me to see him in pain and suffer all throughout the middle until the end. Sometimes it was unbearable. Something that is still stuck with me until this day was when he said that he was not bad too. The way Shiyi had said that, the acting, the voice, I felt my heart shatter to pieces. I felt his pain. You know an actor is doing an absolute amazing job when he is really into his character that his emotions are overflowing and you could feel whatever emotion he was feeling. And that is how I really fell in love with Lu Shiyi's character and also Richards Wang as an actor. I really really want to praise him. I wish he had been happier earlier on. I cannot reiterate how much I felt sorry for him and just wanted him to be happy.

The whole setting especially their hometown really brings be back to my own hometown. I love the OSTs too. That I like you song, the amount of times I've heard her try that part over and over again, sometimes I would just hear the song in my head randomly. Now it is one of my faves hahah. The producers did a great job choosing that song when Shiyi had proposed to her. I actually cried when they were finally together. I just wish I had seen them as a happy couple a bit longer. That's one of the it's a shame parts.

Overall I LOVE THIS DRAMA AND I WOULD DEFINITELY REWATCH IT AGAIN!!!! TOTALLY RECOMMEND!!!!

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