Hidden Love (2023)

A light-hearted, beautiful, sweet drama to comfort your life!

This drama tell us the love story between Sang Zhi and Duan Jiaxu troughout the years, from a brotherhood to a romantic relationship.

This love story is extremely beautifully told, in all aspects. First: the development is slow paced (but not too much as to cause frustration) and respects each phase of their relationship. Second: the couple is mature and we aren't tortured with an imature relation filled with miscommunication. Love triangles, bad communication, breakups with dumb reasons... not in this drama! Even when the plot suggests some trouble coming into their relation, they were capable of communicate, protect each other, don't bend to other people expectation and put their love above all. Third: the love, respect and caring between the couple is evident from beginning to end, not only in words but in actions and even in how they look to each other. The scenes where they take care of each other in face of the various struggles of life are among the most beautiful and touching ones I had seen in recent dramas. Of course all this beautiful story would not be well portrayed if the actors hadn't done a wonderful job! Their acting were superb, their chemistry was incredible and their looks were a delightful for our eyes. To make everything even more appealing, a beautiful soundtrack completes the combo with the unforgetable Forever Star as a main theme. For you to not say that I don't have any criticism to the drama, I would love to see a better development to Sang Zhi's brother and Sang Zhi's friends. However I understand the focus were the main couple and these "flaws" don't affect the story, they would be just a savory plus.

A common criticism to this drama is about the age difference and the fact they know each other when Sang Zhi is underage. However the age difference is only 5 years and the drama never shows any romantic felling from Duan Jiaxu towards Sang Zhi while she is underage! The relation is 100% platonic and it causes a great suffering to Sang Zhi who firmily believes Duan Jiaxu will never be able to see her as more than his friend's little sister. So, if you were planing to watch but unsure due to this criticism, I say to you: do it! This drama is one of that gems: it brings you peace and confort and you know that, in the future, you can rewatch again and again and again when you are feelind depressed ou even when you simply miss them so much...

Enjoy this perfect drama as I enjoyed it (and as I keep enjoying as I rewatch from time to time :D)!

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super cute couple

the drama was truly outstanding un unforgettable experience from start to finish it combined a gripping story with exceptional performances that brought each character to life in a way that felt raw and real the cinematography was breathtaking. with stunning visuals that drew you into each scene making every moment feel immersive and vivid. the soundtrack was equally impressive. perfectly matched to the emotion of each scene. heightening the drama and adding depth to the storytelling. overall. the film was masterfully crafted. leaving a lasting impact and reminding viewers of the power of great cinema. it's the kind of movie that resonate with you long after the credit.

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Chocolate covered strawberries berries

Food analogy: Rich Dark Chocolate covered fresh strawberries with drizzle of burnt caramel on top.
Just the right amount.
I am actually writing this review after my Third Rewatch.
Chinese Romance dramas tends to turn cheesy as the show progresses, but this one dragged me out of this stereotype and delivered a near perfect story.

Story: Ah, the calm. The emotional turmoil and the dedication took the cake in my POV. It is a story that you won't be able to get it out of your head and after around 10th episodes will make you feel that you know them personally.

Acting: Found my new chinese bias in this drama. ZLS was already good as I have seen her in other dramas but it was my first time seeing the ML and boy, have i watched all of his work after that. Answer is Yes.

Music: Generic but fits well. Not in my playlist.

Rewatch value: I already started the review stating that I already completed my 3rd rewatch.

Overall: deducting a 0.5 from total score, solely for tbe reason that it has set such a unrealistic standard that I am searching for all the set characters everywhere to no avial. Which proves that the men, in our imagination is very much different from real men. Sad.

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Decent show overall.... amazing show for the right crowd

The issu i have with this show is... story like these are a dime and dozen every few months.
Though this show did an amazing job portraying a little girl's infatuation slowly turn into her first love and so on...it lack that "thing" to keep me hooked... by episode 11 or so... I was asking myself... so what's next...

Personnaly, the acting is by far the biggest plus to this serie....Zhao Lusi is insanely good in this role... it's actually scary how good of a job she did portraying a little girl from 14 to 19 years old. .. the rest of the cast was... meh nothing more nothing less.

The music was ok I guess.... you see show like " The Double" for example have me humming differents songs after each episode... because not only were they good.... but they stick with you... this show.... to be honest.... i can't even rememer a single song from any scene...I wouldn't say it was bad... but just forgettable.

Thi si the kind of drama that I usually watch once then forget about it....

Overall I gave it a 7 because it wasn't really my type of show and there are soo many out there like this one....
However I can see why people who enjoy this kind of show giving it 9-10.

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Um chinês nota 10!

Não vou negar que no começo eu fiquei agoniada com o arrastar da história, mas depois, analisando, era necessário vermos o desenvolver da relação dos dois.

Só acho que no começo colocaram uma atriz que parecia muito mais uma criança do que uma adolescente. Poderiam ter feito diferente neste sentido, mas no mais que história perfeita.

EU SIMPLESMENTE FIQUEI APAIXONADA E ENCANTADA. Acho que é o primeiro chinês que dou nota 10, e tenha certeza que é o meu favorito, até o momento, kkk.

O enredo é cativante e apaixonante, você fica deslumbrada por todos os personagens!

Pois bem, a nossa prota se apaixona pelo amigo do seu irmão, mas no começo o mesmo somente a enxerga como uma irmã. E também se ele começasse a nutrir algo mais por ela, digamos que seria bem bizarro, no meu ponto de vista. E por conta de um desentendimento, os dois ficam sem se falar por bastante tempo, até que num acaso do destino se reencontram. E nisso ficam se vendo, e e aí que ele vendo que ela amadureceu, começa a enxergá-la com outros olhos.

E é tão lindo de se ver o desenrolar desse romance. E mesmo ele enxergando que ela nutri sim um amor por ele, e mesmo ela percebendo que de fato o conquistou, eles não aceleram, ela permite ser cortejada e ele acha necessário cortejar a mulher que ama.
“eu vou continuar me esforçando. vou ser seu único namorado na vida. então se outras mulheres merecem ser conquistadas, a minha Zhi merece o mesmo”
E FOI NESSE MOMENTO QUE EU ME DERRETI TODA! Além, também, de todo o cuidado que ele tinha com ela, o que só tornava tudo ainda mais apaixonante.

A relação entre a Prota e o irmão também é fantástica! Assitiria muito um enredo que focasse nele, escutei rumores que vai ter um dorama, mas não me empolguei quando souber que o ator não seria o mesmo.

O modo como eles se protegem, o modo como eles se completam é o que faz a história ser perfeita. E é claro que a química dos atores ajudou muito!

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Grasp Those Stars & Hold Tight °7.8° °VG°

Here's a romance that's a warm and sticky sweet bun with a nice cup of chamomile tea. We're talking very low drama. Romance fans will find it charming and relaxing. I certainly did. Others might be underwhelmed. We meet Sang Zhi (Zhizhi) in middle school and follow her through several years of her life. In ep1 big bro brings his friend, Jiaxu, home. Zhizhi is smitten. Jiaxu is thoughtful and kind towards her. He always has time for her, which only fans the flames as the years roll by.

HL is a 2023 release that is rated a whopping 9 on MDL. It is 1 season consisting of 25 45-minute episodes. Zhao Lu Si (Who Rules the World-7.5, I Hear You-7, The Romance of Tiger and Rose-9.8, Love Like the Galaxy) is FL Sang Zhi. I've liked her in everything I've seen so far, but my respect for her abilities took a leap forward with this show. Feisty and full of life describes most of her characters. Here, she's shy and demure (though she's capable of pulling some bold moves, we'll see). Even her body language says she's not fully grown. While in HS, her gangly walk is the pièce de résistance of her act. She's extremely impressive, particularly when one factors in how different she is from her other performances. I am a fan.

Chen Zhe Yuan (Our Secret, Handsome Siblings-8.7) play ML Duan Jiaxu. He's a sparky, mischievous brat in HS, a show that I love. In HL he's calm and thoughtful. Victor Ma (Detective Chinatown, Moments We Shared) is big brother Sang Yan. He may be the big brother, but he's a bit of a brat, always calling Zhizhi “Little demon”. The director is Lee Ching Jung (Go Go Squid!, Everyone Loves Me). The screenwriter is Ou Si Jia of Mirror: A Tale of Twin Cities, and the original creator is Zhu Yi of the show, When I Fly Towards You-7.8.

The day Zhizhi meets Jiaxu she has a dilemma. She's in trouble at school and her parents have been called in for a teacher conference. She somehow persuades Jiaxu to pose as her brother for the conference. He attends, explaining that the parents are out of town. Crisis deleveled. That favor creates a bond between them that will never be broken. Zhizhi ends up at college in Jiaxu's hometown, and he is the only person she knows there. Sang Yan asks friend, Jiaxu, to look out for his sister. Jiaxu does. Zhizhi was already looking at Jiaxu… and only him.

I watched HL back-to-back with When I Fly Towards You. They are similar - same author. They're relaxing, they really couldn't be sweeter, and they both lack depth. Other than a stalker connected to Jiaxu over a mistake his father made, the biggest problem the characters face in HL is Zhi's milk allergy. (The show presents the 5 year age difference as a big issue. It certainly is for teens, but once they are both in their 20's it isn't worth mentioning). That's okay; there's a nice big space with comfy couches for such wind-down watches. It does lower the degree of difficulty, though, and thus the maximum score. One the one hand, to do a slice-of-life feature in which not much happens, yet it is still a great watch, takes skill. On the other hand, for a feature to be in the high 8's and above, there should be complexity and these 2 shows have none. They can be every bit as enjoyable as, and the ones we rewatch before more highly rated shows. Entertainment that touches the heart is meritorious regardless of technical lapses. WIFTY gets a higher cuteness rating because the female lead’s character is ridiculously and relentlessly cute, while HL is more tranquil. It's almost plodding, but never boring. These shows are for romantiholics only, and look at the ratings - romance junkies are very satisfied. If you want to expose a friend, who is only a casual romance watcher, to a youthful Chinese romance, I suggest A Little Thing Called First Love-8.5 or Wait, My Youth-8.4.

HL may lack deeper shading but it has no flaws. Every element is done well. The music is quite nice, however Shazam only had titles in Mandarin. Some did pop up on Spotify. Modern-day Cdramas have gotten better. Before 2019 most are deeply flawed, though not without their charms. One of the best things about Cdramas is what I call their Prozac effect. They are designed to quiet the mind and calm the spirit. If anxiety is up, a Chinese modern-day romance like HL could very well help level the mood. At one point Zhizhi pumps her fist in the air and gives Jiaxu the common Kdrama encouragement: “FIGHTING!” The most recent Cdramas have been acknowledging the popularity of Kdramas, and I suspect it's a call out to what has inspired their growth. I love it.

I also loved HL. Will you? If you call yourself a romance fan, maybe. Probably. If you consider yourself a romance /junkie/ then there can be no doubt; check it out!


〰🖍 IMHO

RATINGS
Directing 7.5
Writing 7
Acting 8.3
Romance 7
Flutters 6
Art 6.5
Sound & music 8
Ending 7.7

LEVELS
Warmth 7
Action 3
Laughs 3
Tears 3
Fright 1
Tension/Anxiety 2
Gore 0
Thought provocation 3
Snores 0

📣7.5 📝7 🎭8.3 💓7 🦋6 🎨6.5 🎵/🔊8 🔚7.7 ▪ 🌞7 ⚡3 😅3 😭3 😱1 😯2 🤢0 🤔3 💤0

Age 12+ for mild sexual content

Rated TV-Y7: Directed to Older Children

Re-watch? It's not impossible, but there's a long list of other shows that would precede it in a rewatch.

In order of ~lite & trite~ to ~heavy & serious~ you may also like:

💓 -
C🇨🇳: Well-Intended Love 7.5 Rom-porn - extra points for the dopamine;
🌐 I Hear You ‘19 7.3, so cute but with many flaws
🌐 You are my destiny 6.8 ‘20 cute and sweet and 1/2 padding
Find Yourself 8.9;
The Sleepless Princess 9.1
K🇰🇷 :
A Witch's Love 7.8;
Love To Hate You 8.9;
Touch Your Heart 8.2;
Crash Landing On You 9.1;
Oh My Ghost 10;
It's Okay Not to Be Okay 9;
Hospital Playlist 9;
My Mister 9.5;

🎎 -
C🇨🇳: Overlord 8.4,
Under the Power 8.6,
The Rebel Princess 9.1,
The Sword and the Brocade 8.6 (in ancient Chinese opera style),
The Rise of Phoenixes 9
K🇰🇷:
My Only Love Song 8.7 excellent comedy;
Mr. Queen 8.5;
My Sassy Girl 8.5;
The King's Affection 8.3;
Mr. Sunshine 9

🔮🐉-
C🇨🇳: Love Between Fairy & Devil 8.9;
Once upon a time in Linglian Mountain 7.5;
Douluo Continent 9.4;
Eternal Love 8.3,
Ancient Love Poetry 8.6;
Love and Redemption 10

Japanese🇯🇵 lite romcoms: Maid Sama-10, Mischievous Kiss Love in Tokyo-7.8, Love, Chunibyo And Other Delusions-8.4, Toradora-8.5

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Falling in love with your Brother's bro

The chemistry between the characters is absolutely adorable, and the acting is top-notch—it's hard not to get invested. The storyline, centered around falling in love with your brother's friend, is both charming and cute.

I especially appreciate the sibling dynamics; they feel authentic and refreshing without being overly dramatic. It’s lovely to see the growth of the main relationship unfold naturally, adding depth to their connection. The tension between the ML and the FL's brother is particularly well done—their interactions are intense and well-acted, keeping me on the edge of my seat!

And can we talk about the OST? It’s phenomenal! I find myself replaying the songs over and over again; they perfectly capture the emotions of the series and enhance the overall experience.

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It weirdly works!

OVERALL
If you 1) are looking for a FL-likes-ML-first love story, 2) are into the older-guy, younger-girl trope, 3) like when FL is "innocent", and 4) can get over the fact that ML and FL meet when she' s a minor (and played by an actress who looks like she's 10), then this drama is right up your alley. If any of the above bother you...maybe still give it a try? It worked for me!

THE STORY
So, not going to lie, the premise of this drama is everything I hate. I'm really not into stories where the FL pathetically pines for the ML for 2/3 of the drama, I don't like FLs that are "innocent" (because 9/10 times, they're just childish and immature), and I'm not particularly into the older-guy/younger-girl trope. The only reason why I decided to give this drama a try is because of the controversy (it had pretty polarized reviews on YT). I wanted to see what everyone was talking about.

The main issue people had brought up is that FL starts out looking like a literal YOUNG child (definitely younger than the 14 she is supposed to be), while ML is the main actor (so adult actor), and it feels very wrong to see any scene between then two or imagine them getting together later on. Giving these comments, I was expecting something huge. But while it was off-putting, it wasn't that bad, imo. These scenes with the child actress are just a few flashbacks, and it's just FL liking ML (not the other way around), so...I just took at as a silly girl doing her thing.

I'm not going to say this is the drama of the year. The plot is very basic (almost a non-plot, revolving entirely around FL's unrequited feelings for ML...until they stop being unrequited), and the core of the story (a girl crushing over some guy for years) remains something I'm just not a fan of. But I was truly pleasantly surprised by some aspects of this show:

- First, FL is thankfully not the childish/immature type of "innocent" girl. I think the writers did a good job of giving her a bit of character, a bit of youthfulness, a bit of maturity. She feels very 3D and likeable.
- The writers also did pretty well in cutting out the pining, so FL doesn't look that obsessed with ML and her unrequited love is easier to swallow
- While I had trouble buying that FL started loving ML as a pre-teen (just looked liked admiration to me, like when girls become fans of idols), I liked how the drama shows ML finding out he likes FL and the extent to which she loves him. Overall, the relationship between the two is also very sweet and caring, and rooted in respect. It's a bit cringey sometimes, but on the good side of cringe.
- The secondary characters are all pretty cool additions to the show (which is rare, they're usually useless and annoying). I LOVED the relationship between FL and her brother, as well as FL and her parents. ML's friends were fun too!
- The ending scene is honestly the funniest innovation of a common cliché ever. I loved it!
- Finally, the overall vibes of the show are totally my style. No childish quirks or annoying music. Feels more mature and raw.

Bottom line: I didn't expect to enjoy this drama and I did, so if you're like me, just give it a try!

THE ACTING
Good, all around. I love Zhao Lusi. Nothing else to say haha ML was also pretty impressive, and it was my first time seeing him. The child actress was great too (but she did look WAY too young for the part). On the chemistry department...it was okay. Could have been better, imo, if the writing focused a bit less on FL's age and her being young.

THE MUSIC
Alright, I guess, though nothing I'd listen to on my own!

REWATCH VALUE
Oh, it's high. I've already rewatched it once (with some skipping, I won't lie, but still)!

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Feels like youth all over again

Hidden Love was my first ever introduction to C-drama's and I like that I was able to pick a good one it really made me have the feels, love shivers, and nostalgia of youth if you are into rom-com or romance in general this show is one of the best one I would even say for beginners for drama's in general though the episode count may look scary at first it worth the time these are those drama that make you want to watch what would happen next and make you sit back down when you want to stop that feeling of anticipation of what's going to happen wtih the characters make you want to continue and not stop I cried a few times and maybe so many others but its a drama worth picking up and finishing and something to watch when you are bored and need a bit of energy.

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Any romance lover would love this

I am not typically a romance drama watcher, but when I do get the itch for one, good chemistry-dynamic is a must. The leads deliver a brilliant progression of their relationship. Initially, I was thrown off by the age gap. Its clear to note that our male lead did not harbor any romantic feelings towards our character when she was a minor, so I really don't like when people try to make it weird like that. The story introduces the first young girl, and her unrequited feelings for the older boy. I will say, the first couple of episodes that explore this part weren't my favorite. Once the drama skips to her older/college age and her progression with the male lead, that's where the drama picks up for me. And I ADORDED their dynamic. The main cast and all their relationships were fun to watch, and I really liked all the characters.

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Trust me you are gonna love this....

This drama stands as one of the best C-dramas I have had the pleasure of watching. Its approach to the story is incredibly realistic, presenting a plot that feels entirely plausible, making it both engaging and grounded in reality. The overall tone of the series is comfortable, with no toxic dynamics, which makes for a refreshing viewing experience.

The unfolding of the story is remarkably pleasant, and the character development is something I truly appreciated. However, I do feel that more attention could have been given to the male lead’s family background, which would have added another layer of depth to his character.

As for the second half of the drama, opinions may vary. Some viewers might find it slightly stretched or feel that it doesn't hold the same charm as the earlier episodes. Despite this, the drama remains thoroughly enjoyable and is certainly worth watching.

The casting is spot-on, particularly the portrayal of the main lead, which is crucial to the series' success. Additionally, the sibling dynamics in the story were beautifully executed, adding warmth and emotional depth.

Trust me when I say this drama is so good that I’m already planning to rewatch it.

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