I Am the Years You Are the Stars (2021)

Five cautions if you want to start/watch/continue this drama.

1. Chemistry. Shall I say…lack there off? I did not feel any couple vibes between the FL and the ML. It felt forced and contractual. The body language between the leads was awkward, and when they were ‘alone’, the ML’s body was facing the camera in most of those scenes. However, there were some nice chemistries between the ML and Qian Tu and, the FL’s bestie Dr Cheng Wei Lan and rich girl Xue Wan Wan.

2. Introduction of support characters. I was slightly confused during the introduction of key supporting characters such as William and the Qian brothers. It was as if the writers dumped a bag of toys in front of me and say “here there are!” in the first two episodes.

3. Lack of explanation on the exit of some characters. There were few characters where their departure from the story felt sudden. Imagine a character been skipping and dancing for three episodes, then suddenly they appear at a morgue. This scenario happened a few times where I went, “did I miss an episode??”

4. An air of superficiality. The themes of lifespan of human life, organ donations, illegal drug testing and guardianship, mashed with comedy, romance, and fantasy. Heavy topics but filmed in the typical fluffy C-drama romcom where everything is bright with super perky FL, cold-domineering ML, and comic relief between a few duos. Despite some fresh premises within the c-romance world, the writing felt loose and superficial in dealing with, and mashing the themes with the genre.

5. Many of the sets feel like relics from the 1980s. The ML’s and the Qian family homes, the hospital, the morgue, and some cars felt “outdated” and “heavy”. Heavy curtain with heavy cars.

I completed this drama for Qian Tu, the ML’s fate and to see how this drama wrapped up.

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The Quality of Death is as Important as the Quality of Life

I wasn't expecting to like this series at all because though I follow LHK and was only watching for him, it was obvious to be a lower caliber series. In that sense, I wasn't wrong. The writing wasn't strong and even though the series had a fantastical premise; many things especially in the last two episodes, were just beyond even basic standards of not done well. It was very obvious when the actors were in front of a green screen and much of how unnaturally they acted was due to inexperience with such things. As well as the dispersement of the budget was a bit questionable; some things seemed more expensive than others and that also showed some inconsistencies.

JBJ's zombie-esque jacking off the pavement twice and flying to save others was very dramatic and quite comical. The first time he flies off the morgue slab and ends up walking on ceiling as well as the growling mutation scene, reminded me so much of Twilight sans the blood drinking and sparkling. This series should have premiered around Halloween, it would have filled the genre nicely. A lot of comedy was included which also helped move the story along. Funniest by far was JBJ running away from the goose!

What drew me to it the most was the absolutely tactful way the series dealt with the topic of death. One lead was essentially immortal and the other only had like a year left to live. Yet she was able to be a pain reliever to him and he's watched practically everyone in his life pass away and couldn't join them. She also faced death with a healthy attitude; living each day to its fullest while still trying find a cure for her rare illness. Also spoke a lot about the importance of organ donation which like death is an unavoidable and very necessary for people to know about and discuss with their families. I personally have connections to both topics so that's probably another reason I was drawn towards this drama.

They were able to deal with death and dying just like it was just another part of a journey. As many know, death is a taboo topic in many cultures and is regarded as morbid if one talks about it. But the simple fact is that, sooner or later we also must deal with it. No human is immune to it. Not even our characters. Our immortal/invincible male lead or JBJ has been trying to get rid of it for 100 years. And though at the end of the series, he finally becomes a mortal again, it is an open ended question to whether JXY has found a cure as well. I'd like to think that by the time they get married in the very last episode, if not a cure, there's been at least some form of treatment to prolong her life. So that the two of them can finally lead a good, normal, human life.

The OSTs, especially one called "Together" by Yang Chuyun is hauntingly beautiful. I love all the side characters, even the annoying Cheng guy who kept trying to break them up in his own misguided way of protecting JBJ. The only inconsistent characters were the villains; they had some bizarre reasons for wanting the immortality meteor and didn't really come together in a cohesive manner. Could have been much better written to make them better antagonists and some version of believable. But all of the loose ends and backstories were eventually explained.

Would I recommend it? As a filler drama, yes I absolutely would. It has many great components and many errors. But if you want a dose of realism in a fantastical premise, give it a go.

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