Wish I could delete my brain and rewatch it from start to finish!!
I’ve never wrote a review on this site but damn this drama got me buying iqiyi vip ? This story is a little bit cliche but they differ from all the drama in china , there’s no annoying background voice (actually kudos to the audio team), the director did a good job on shooting this one . The male lead acting is very well carried out although he’s new to acting ( at first I thought he was really blind lolllll) and there’s no need to say for wen pang also the plots are well written and the camera works are aesthetically pleasing there’s no need to say that this drama is a perfect 10 yall!!! I hav to give it the best drama of this yearWas this review helpful to you?
With a strong start, it manages to leave a really good first impression (if we just ignore that violin scene).... unfortunately it doesn’t remain consistent enough to continue the pace, as for the middle episodes it loses track and becomes unreasonable, a bit unbearable, losing its charm.
Realistic portrayal, characterization of leads, the story stands out in the initial episodes. Corners of furniture in Nian Qin’s house taking consideration of blind people, having a poster of ‘Sleepless in Seattle’ in the room of an aspiring radio host. Sleepless in Seattle is a Hollywood movie from 1993, radio being the core part of the story. Such detailed writing with beautiful dialogue writing sure left an impression on me. But in the second half, the execution failed and some parts almost felt like filler. Unnecessary situations were added near the end but improperly dealt and some were abandoned in the thin air.
As much I was interested in the main couple, that much uninterest in the secondary couple, skippable parts for me :')
Thinking about the relationship dynamics between Nian Qin and Wu Yan is very natural and pleasing to see, there are some cute moments together, some heart fluttering moments (Special mention: Ending scene of 8th episode, I bet everyone has seen it more than one time lol). And this isn’t just about writing, as Evan Lin and Wen Peng’s chemistry just brightens up everything, plus they really suit each other very well… easier for us to imagine them as a couple. Actually, I didn’t expect much from Evan Lin giving a decent performance in the debut work, his acting is natural, he managed to perform a blind person very well that was challenging as it’s more difficult and detailed oriented work other than playing a fit and fine person and of course his looks also stand out most. Wen Peng is doing a great job as usual. So the acting from both the leads adds more points.
Now if we talk about characters. I found Nian Qin pretty reasonable, having a difficult childhood, with a disability, and no one as considered as his beloved one besides him. He's very stubborn and heavily sensitive nature in the words of dramaland Cold nature is quite normal... If his personality was any kinda different than this then it might have been unrealistic. This is definitely not a typical cold man/warm woman story. Wu Yan is cheerful and energetic with plans, dreams for the future. Still, I’m not convinced that she’s a psychology graduate taking into consideration many of her actions. In my opinion, the personal development of Nian Qin is almost non-existence as he becomes childish with time. Not to forget his stalkerish that almost pissed me off.
Music has a big role in the relationship between Nian Qin and Wu Yan, it’s given that this drama has it remarkable.
Meeting you (遇到你) - Evan Lin Yanjun & Wan Peng
As I believe (苏诗丁) - Juno Su
Fall (沦陷) - Wei Chen
Not just OSTs but the background music is also very suitable. The piano piece is very soothing and refreshing to hear.
Aside from the lazy writing of some episodes, it’s pretty enjoyable, entertaining, and even meaningful and it's also so pretty as well in both visuals and cinematography. The couple is worth everything, as their chemistry rocks!
How to get a man, tip from Wu Yan: "You have to be shameless and nuisance."
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This review may contain spoilers
Some comparisons between the novel and the drama
I don't hardly ever write reviews, but I really love this drama. So much so I went and read the novel (I can understand about 90%), and then watched the drama again (okay maybe even twice more!) Just wanted to point out a few things...Beware lots and lots of spoilers so don't read on if you don't want to be spoiled.
- Lots of reviewers didn't like the second half of the drama because they like the ML's personality in the first half more. In fact I think his personality remains quite consistent, it's just how he actions his thoughts and feelings that had changed, and in fact the drama has stuck true to the novel. In the novel ML does become a lot more assertive and dominating in actions (in fact even more so in the novel than portrayed in the drama IMHO) Throughout the story ML is quit rigid and likes things a certain way (his autism traits), it's just that in the first half in the drama he was lacking in self confidence because of his challenged vision, preferring to withdraw and felt unable to assert himself. In the second half his business dealings (and in the drama his new ability to see) gave him the confidence to act on this thoughts and feelings. Even though his actions changed I felt he stayed true to character.
- I think Evan Lin actually did an amazing job as our ML. He conveyed the tortured emotions as well as the confused first love and then the dominating boyfriend all quite well without making it cliched. I could see the layers of emotions as the ML grew through the drama. I already feel the drama has toned down the ML"s character quite a bit to make it more palatable as a drama. In the novel he smoked and drank A LOT and was even more forceful. In fact at times the narrative called him a "Bo Guan" which is a term for "violent/forceful dictator" usually used for a king/emperor.
- The scene where ML steals a kiss from FL whilst she was asleep made quite a few viewers unhappy. In the novel he actually goes a bit further, tries to taker her top off but stops himself in time, which is why he stomps off and splashes cold water on his face whilst he admonishes himself for his bad actions in the bathroom.
-Ditto the scene where he comes out of the shower in a robe and they make jokes about it falling down. In the novel he was half naked only with a towel around his waist. Remember in the novel his is still visually impaired so he can't see his towel. They joke back and forth about the towel falling and the FL says "she has seen him in less" and embarasses his secretary.
- The resolution of FL's hallucinations of conversations with her friend was not very clear in the drama. In the novel the FL is quite heavily pregnant and is presumptively in premature labour , her waters burst and ML rushes her to hospital. (In the drama where she was getting tummy pains whilst ML's scandal broke) She becomes unconscious as she is wheeled into ? surgery. That's when she sees her friend who says good bye to her, that now FL has her husband and baby she won't be needed any more. FL asks if she will see her again and her friend answers "probably not" and FL wakes, which in the drama is where ML grabs her hand as she wakes up.
- The relationship with between the ML and his step mum is also only alluded to but not explicitly clarified in the drama. They were presumably in some sort of a relationship before she married his father. FL finds this out from her the senior braodcaster woman she works with at the station, who in the novel also likes the ML. This is one of the major factor that causes the ML and FL to break up. FL is really quite jealous of ML's step mum and is a big point that was stopping her from getting back with him, because she felt that she would always come second to her. The scene where she gets drunk and hugs the beer bottle like a baby, in the book she questions if ML likes "her" better, and the reason why she makes him say "you only love me". When the scandal broke about ML being the mysterious lyricist there were also rumours about him having an illicit affair with his step mum which is why they were swamped by journalists.
- On second watch of the drama you get to pick up little things that make you appreciate the production team even more. When he becomes the CEO, the ML always has one single white rose in a vase on his desk. This alludes to the one single white rose he gives the FL, even when she thinks he should be romantic and give her a large bouquet. The MP3 the ML listens to, with all the songs and memories of her reading to him, is an old style airpod, and in line with that it always has the wired headphones attached, whereas when he listens to her radio show on his phone he is shown to be wearing airpods. The lyrics to the songs ML writes are also perfect, especially the one he writes just after she leaves him.
Despite the differences I've pointed out the drama team did an amazing job sticking to the plot and feel of the drama. I found the secondary couple a bit boring and the FL's mum hard to watch sometimes, but this is the only drama I have ever given a 10 to on MDL. Thanks for reading!
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This review may contain spoilers
There was so much more I wanted to see …!!
It’s been a while since I really wanted to talk about a show like mentioning all the complaints I have and really just wanting answers to the questions it left me with ….for this drama was really gonna get a 9/10( the highest I give ) if I hadn’t completed it (cuz it has really really amazing 1st half )... I share the same opinion with people who say the drama did not do well in the second half and I have my reasons ...and trust me I genuinely wanted to rate it higher “but” …The first half was really amazing ....and the expectations I had were sky-high ...for how the things around ML were ...that was one of the most realistic portrayals I have ever seen
Even though the FL wasn’t really realistic as a psychology student throughout the show ...I could easily ignore it because I know certain things need to be a bit unrealistic for stories to progress.
As for the acting, it really was fab ..!! kudos to the cast ...for making me smile like an idiot I really enjoyed those little comedic moments ....
The major issues I have are only with the second half ...or you can say the sky-high expectations I had, hurt me. And that is the sole reason for the drop in ratings...
After they were finally together one of the major plot points according to me should have been about wu yan seeing Cheng Yin(her friend) ….They wrapped it so quick as if they were in a hurry to catch an express train ….okay even if you did not show how Nian Qin helped Wu Yan in dealing with her trauma ...makers could have at least given a proper goodbye conversation to them ….not to mention I felt like Wu Yan was done with and had stopped seeing Cheng Yin around ..long before we got to the last ep...there was no journey in her doing so ....which I really wanted to see …
(This one might just be my pure sentiments)...so when they said that ML helped FL land a job at the local radio station ...he helped them secure her dad’s chamber and other things...I really felt that the FL had no achievements of her own and she was okay with that not to mention she looked happy ...look romance and all is fine but if someday someone tells me that whatever I am doing and all the problems I felt I had dealt with on my own were actually resolved by someone else ...my world is probably gonna rip apart ...even if I am thankful that things went the way I wanted them to ….even then I still wouldn’t want this to be true ...all the experiences all the struggle ...all those little achievements I own have made me who I am ….and I will really not be able to behave the way FL does if I hear what she heard....
Unnecessarily bringing the kid Xiao Jie ...again no sense of closure ...look I really liked how they brought the issue of Autism and how they gave us a small talk about music therapy ...but again ...they did not have to bring the issue back ( kid coming to visit them) if they did not have time to deal with it ...I really felt like the kid’s character had so much potential ….they really did injustice with the plot there.
And that call from ML’s stepmom ...visiting ML’s family(last eps) ...doesn’t it seem like a waste of time for I don’t think any of those events contributed to the story. Is it just me who felt like that ??
Maybe they explain more in the novel, but they will be counted as fillers when the drama is concerned.
The second couple - they could disappear from the show and I wouldn’t even realize they did.
Clicking pictures and prying into her personal life ...don’t even get me started even if the ML did not see those pictures the fact that he knew those pictures existed is enough ...makers need to know that there is something called privacy and you need to respect it...if I say more probably this review will never end …
ML’s childish behavior ...nowhere romantic ...okay let’s be honest no one in real life would want to date a stalker …just imagine someone who’s handsome, rich, and high key obsessed with you….the last quality alone is good enough to not date him. The show tries to explain his obsession and behavior....even when I know his story and am someone who can even justify villains I still couldn’t convince myself to justify his actions. At some point I was like - what’s wrong is wrong ....there is some basic respect you show towards the other person which is a must.
Maybe I was looking for some scenes of him struggling; it would have added to the depth of character. Makers could have worked it way better.
The last ep....if you look back the last few eps feel like a thriller’s first few eps ...things happening here and there with the audience just staring at the screen like ...makers you need to calm down ….breathe, drink some water...and let us breathe too....with ML’s identity revealed...FL having stomach ache ...them rushing to the hospital and show ending with them having a kid ...happily ever after ...please don’t tell me I am the only one interested in knowing how and who revealed his identity ...and am I the only one who can’t come to terms with that happily ever after cuz there was so much to explain and explore.
The OST’s and background music - just amazing. It adds so much to the drama ….if they had replaced the entire existence of second couple with more songs ...I’d probably rate the show 10/10 ...lol
I still think that I have a lot to talk about but I’ll save it for the future...also no matter how many unanswered questions the show left me with and how many times I felt like things were going wrong…. I really want to say ….I am happy that I watched it ...and even if I knew they were going to crash I would still want to have those sky-high expectations again …
And here are some beautiful lines from the drama ….
“No matter how regretful one is there is no turning back ...there are no do-overs in life.”
“Using up all your might to bid goodbye and to forget, only to realize how helpless you are. Do you think this feeling is beautiful?”
“Everyone has their own life and happy moments. I just have to grasp my own.”
“I love you not because I need you, I need you because I love you.”
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First half 10, second half 0
I managed to finish this drama, just out of morbid curiosity to see how far they would go.
The first half of the drama is fantastic: the dynamics between the characters, scenography, ost, thematic... A little gem that left a good feeling after each episode. I really enjoyed it.
The second half was horrible: it becomes out of nowhere an extremely misogynistic CEO-poor girl drama (and it also has many script flaws).It gave the feeling of watching a pamphlet about what a young woman should desire and how she should behave. (it really makes me wonder if it was made as a propaganda to promote traditional marriage).
If you want to watch it go ahead, (he looks amazing... why deny it) but chew it a little before swallow because everything in their relationship is wrong. Kisses without consent, infantilization of the woman, wife waiting at home for the husband to return, the general idea that you have to put up with your partner shitty behaving because he loves you... just to name a few...
A pity, really. It promised a lot and ended up this way.
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A Rare Gem of 2021. Highly recommended!!
I watched this drama without having high hopes and much expectations because I wasn't familiar with the casts. When I watched the trailer, it was something unique and ML is blind and so handsome. So, I decided to check it out. Trust me, it doesn't disappoint me at all. Since Ep 1, I was completely hooked into this drama and super active in the comment section of MDL.This drama really got me.
THE STORY: It was so simple, but attractive romance. Since it has only 24 eps, it was perfect for binge watch. The story does not drag or rush in every way. It was absolutely fascinating and beautiful. I was not bored even one second while watching this drama.
THE CAST/ACTING:
All the casts did very well. Kudos to Our Male Lead, Lin Yanjun. He was the one who carried the whole drama with his incredible acting skills. You won't believe this drama is actually his first acting debut work. He can really act. Lin Yanjun rocks as Su Nian Qin so perfectly. His gestures and movements are all perfect and convincing as a blind person.
Wan Peng also did well as Sang Wu Yan.
Their acting seems really natural, nothing was out of place and I could feel the emotions they tried to show with their acting.
CHARACTERS:
Su Nian Qin - He is a visually impaired person. He is not completely blind. He can see blurred things within 3 feet. He works as a song-writer with the name "Yi Jin". He actually comes from a rich family. He is unpredictable, lonely and sensitive person. He has insecurities and hurts.I love him so much.
Sang Wu Yan - She is bright, friendly and curious person which dreams of becoming a radio host. She studied psychology at the University.
THE CHEMISTRY:
Lin Yanjun and Wan Peng.. their chemistry is off the charts. I'm amazed by their genuine and excellent acting and chemistry.
MUSIC:
The first thing that I felt in love with was the music. I am not a person who is much interested about a OST but I seriously loved all the songs. It was amazing! My favorite OST is Yuan Lai Wo Hen Ai Ni (I love you very much) by Lin Yanjun.
REWATCH VALUE :
I am sure I will re-watch it many times. I could see myself rewatching at least 2 times a year from now on.
OVERALL :
In conclusion, this drama is everything I need in a modern romance drama. It was fun, interesting, enjoyable with a few cliched moments. I truly invested in it emotionally.
So you can say that this drama is definitely worth a watch! Highly recommended!
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IT WAS GOOD UNTIL IT WASN’T
I only watched up until Ep 18 although I wanted to stop sooner, but I figured it just might get better.The beginning was so good, the conflict and plot was good too. But what drives me mad about Chinese Drama (I still watch a lot btw) is how relationships are written immaturely. How even after the heartbreak and heartache, they act like kids afterwards, playing the push and pull game without confronting the issues that caused the breakup.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, she had to be the one to initiate the conversation and go after him even when he was in the wrong 3 years ago. She took the initiative before when he was blind and shut himself out from the world. Even after his surgery, he never took the initiative or even attempted to apologize to Wu Yan for being arrogant and insecure to which caused her not to say her final goodbyes to her father. But, yet again, she initiated the conversation as she reached out to him. She had to be the one to consider his feelings and circumstances 3 years ago, to justify his lack of consideration in the present.
This is what I hate about the screenwriter of these Chinese dramas. The representation of women is so poor and idiotic. Always making them inferior to men in every aspect of life. It’s so disgusting! It’s not enough to insult the intelligence of the FL, strip her of her pride to go running to him again, disregard the feelings of the FL while feeding the ego of the ML. She’s always been the one who loved more. Even until the end, she loved him more than he did her.
It was a good drama until it wasn’t.
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Complex story with complicated/multilayered characters masked with loads of Sweetness and Fluff!!
Minor Spoilers: Everything about this show is deceptive, from its generic-cute title to its summary. Nothing, at first glance/read, would hold your attention or even pique your interest. Chances are that you are going to just pick it up as a filler drama. However, don’t be fooled. Neither the title, nor the summary, even comes close to encapsulating the true depth of what this show is trying to portray. On the surface, this is a show about our exceptionally cheerful, optimistic FL with a heart of gold and clumsy but, cute demeanour. Our ML is visually impaired, cold, musical prodigy with a tragic past that should justify his insensitive behaviour. They meet, sparks fly, someone dies, they breakup, meet again after 3 years, sparks fly, this time, they marry and live happily ever after!Well, if you plan to binge-watch this show, the most you might get out of this show is the above story and great chemistry between FL and ML. However, this show has to one of the best C-dramas till date which managed to portray people with mental illnesses from various spectrums in the most realistic way possible. The fact that this show takes a ‘show not tell’ stance in their portrayal of the mental illnesses does backfire quite heavily for the audience who aren’t from psychology major or have no experience in the field. In fact, ‘TIME’ is the greatest ANTAGONIST in the show and for the people who made the show. This show, if it had more episodes, could’ve dealt explicitly about the mental health issues that it was just trying to ‘show’ through the actions of the characters in order to justify their behaviour. However, it makes this great assumption that people are already aware about mental disorders and would understand the motivations and actions of the characters in relation to it.
The FLs – high functioning depression, long and repressed grief, paranoia, hallucinations, delusion disorder. The MLs – visual impairment, autism, trauma, overall personality disorder. Both ML and FL suffer from mental health conditions which are unfortunately, masked or not portrayed well enough for the audience to really understand their actions. ML is on autism spectrum and it is reflective from his need/obsession towards routines, his inability to let go of the FL, his headaches and pained expression when hearing out of tune music. The FLs depression and paranoia is reflective in her delusions about her friend Cheng Yi.
However, time is their biggest enemy. They weren’t even together for long enough, when they’re cornered with personal trauma and loss. Their reaction and emotional outburst in the face of their personal tragedies was absolutely justified, but poorly represented.
Acting: Evan Lin as a new actor absolutely nailed the visually impaired, tragic cold ML character. Wan Peng does an amazing job as the pretty, cheerful FL. However, its their chemistry, which is the real winner in the show and an absolute delight to watch. The Second ML and FL’s story or performance doesn’t make an impression and is quite forgettable. However, keep an eye on Xiao Lu as she’s the most stable character and voice of reason in the drama.
Music: The music in the show is what puts it on another level. However, our ML is a composer, so lousy OST would have been quite unacceptable. So, just get ready for great musical tracks.
It has high re-watch value because there are a lot of moments in this show which makes sense in retrospect, like, in the last few episodes when they say that the ML was on Autism Spectrum and so, all his little actions and fixations suddenly make whole lot of sense! And of course, the leads are super cute together to not watch again!
As a viewer, if you looking for logic, this one has it, but you’d have to find it, unpack it, carefully and patiently. Through its thoughtful cinematography and direction, they try many times, to show little things but important things which indirectly contribute to the larger message, progress of the story and portrayal of characters. They take shots of light and dark, show how the ML perceives the world, furniture corners, the adoption scene, only for show charity and politics, reference to Silver Linings Playbook movie, John Nash and 'A Beautiful Mind', Little Prince. However, you can choose to just go with the flow and love it for the fluff because the more you try to understand the characters reactions, actions and motivation, the darker it would get. This is a complex story with multifaceted characters masked with sweetness and fluff. Also, for a change, this show doesn’t have even a single character which you might hate!
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It had me kneel
If you here looking for comments to motivate you watch the series, here I am.It's definitely one of the sweetest , softest , pure, honey like slowburn romance, I'm enjoying this year. I tend to avoid plot like this bt the teaser and poster did a perfect job to lure me in and here as you can see they succeeded. Tbh I have a huge crush on the series, the cast ,music and the plot everything is perfect , it's not hurried nor slow it's just on point. Actors have done wonderful job ,it's not easy to act blind when u can clearly see things , the expression of both wangLeng & Evan Lin are worth appreciation. The little details , subtle emotions ,you gonna see the slight changes in their expression which will leave you soft. The ost is superb ( I personally like the band ost, u'll knw once you hear that) .
I'm not a type to leave a commnet here bt that explains how deep and insane I am for it.
It's deff a go , if you're taking abreak from thriller and mystery drama, even if u're not .
Perfect .
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This review may contain spoilers
heh...?!
I don't understand why people like this... Majority people really like this drama. For me this drama is really boring and has many plot holes. The more toward the ending the more messed up this drama is.I have to agree with most people that give the same score as me, like baeehand and Lisa Veavea. The beginning was so good, the conflict and story in the beginning was reliable. But the middle and ending it's so sucks. For me this drama began to sucks after they became a couple. The conflict wasn't reliable again. Maybe like Lisa Veavea wrote: "How even after the heartbreak and heartache, they act like kids afterwards, playing the push and pull game without confronting the issues that caused the breakup".
And the reason for break up is more proof they are so childish. It's only about their communication. The ending is just like they push the fwd button, everything happened so fast.
Plot holes / fast fwd scene:
- the wedding of Wei Hao & Xu Qian
- the love rival. They want to make Nie Xi become the crazy woman who is secretly in love with Su Nian Qin (NQ), but it just suddenly stops without even starting.
- Isn't the relationship between NQ and his dad already better when his dad was sick. Why at the end we can still see the relationship become sucked again...
- What actually the problem with NQ and his family has never really been explained.
Maybe there are more the plot holes but I think I'll stop here.
Overall: this is just one drama to spend your days. What I like best from this drama is actually the soundtrack. For me this drama maybe better if they have longer eps or maybe just erased unimportant stuff and add more make sense stuff...
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There's many plot hole
I just finished it until 24th eps. The beginning was sooooo GOOD. The melodrama vibes, the story and their acting. It was gave me butterfly in my stomach when finally Nian Qin fell in love with Wu Yan.BUT
It was change until they broke up and Nian Qin not blind anymore, maybe start from 13rd eps. Suddenly I feel upset because WHY from this eps. there was SO many plot hole. Many stories wasn't explanated specifically until I'm like..... eh? while watching this.
Then, too many repetition tho from every scene, like Nian Qin too often hug Wu Yan lol I even not feel this scene is sweet anymore so sorry :(
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This review may contain spoilers
It was good until
Like another reviewer said. It was good until it wasn’t. For a first timer I think the ML did a really good job. I have watched dramas by the FL but I didn’t feel her in this one.Story starts off good and the ‘shameless pursuit’ by the FL is actually realistic according to me. It’s good till ep 17-18 and then they introduce subplots and situations which are not addressed. So many of the side characters were not reused. The FL is supposed to be a reluctant psychology student who has her Masters actually but I’m not sure why she takes advice regarding the ML than actually trying to analyze it herself. The PTSD after the incident was not necessary cos they didn’t address it properly.
But coming back to the ML. Can’t help fangirling over his face and the pout.
The songs/ lyrics were translated so well in the subs and are really good.
I will recommend it in case you don’t have anything else to watch and in case you want some eye candy in the form of the ML.
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