LIFE

This drama is completely different from typical modern dramas. We are presented with characters who have real life problems and are dealing with them. We are given a broken family and the daily dealings of those in it. Moral of the story: life isn’t always how we plan it!

We make plans to graduate school, get into a univer of our liking, graduate and join the workforce, meet someone we want to spend the rest of our lives with, marry them, advance in our careers, have children, etc… But tomorrow was never a guarantee.

For Lin Tuo his diagnosis was a sudden and inevitable change to those plans, but as the fate would have it also for the people around him.

I will be honest I didn’t want to give this drama a shot. I like to use C-Drama Land as an escape from reality, and this drama did just the opposite, however I am a huge Lin Yi fan and after only getting one drama from him last year I chose to give Angels Fall Down Sometimes a shot in between watching Everyone Loves Me which was simultaneously airing and also had Lin Yi in it. To say the least, it quickly became the other way around as ELM became my ray of sunshine after the many deep emotions AFDS made me feel. I cried in most episodes and related one too many times with at least one of the characters. It truly is a blessing to have people who love us and chose to stick by our side through the thick of it.

My takings from this drama, live the life you will be proud of every single day, because tomorrow is uncertain and also be the friend/ family member that sticks it out despite the storm raging on.

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MUST WATCH

My honest view on this drama is you must stop reading this right now and go watch it. When this drama was filming I saw many post about Zhao Lusi and Chen ZheYuan however I felt like it was not on my priority list to watch as it sounded like any other romance high school/ college drama. I watched it at first as a distraction from my other airing drama at the time as I waited for new episodes I planned to watch this one. It soon became the other way around because of how awesome this drama is. The casting, acting, soundtrack everything was done perfectly. I felt like Sang Zhi is the representation of many girls who experienced similar one sided love for many years and just kind of expected it to fail because of the age gap etc.. Honestly I felt like I at least was represented in this story. Of course it’s a drama so the ending MUST be a happy one and for that I am grateful. I found myself smiling, laughing, and sometimes even crying in this drama. I honestly feel like it’s extremely rare for a drama to enthrall me so much that I must review. IF YOU’RE STILL READING DIDN’T I SAY SINCE THE BEGINNING TO STOP AND GO WATCH HIDDEN LOVE RIGHT NOW! Go enjoy yourself some Dian Jiaxu action alongside with Sang Yan and Sang Zhi. I feel like I must reiterate how much I loved this cast.

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Endless Intrigue and Cunningness

I am writing this review during the dramas half point and I must say it started low, but it has certainly increased in value to a drama I will endlessly recommend! If you’re struggling with the first few episodes just pull through it will likely go down depending on the end as one of my favorites of the year! This drama really has a perfectly fitting name so if you want a drama where both Zhang Linghe and Bai Lu play characters slightly different than the usual roles they play, both showcasing how talented they are. Also the entire casting did a spendid job in my opinion playing their respective roles. As of episode 20 this drama is definitely meeting all my expectations that I have been patiently waiting for since April when I longingly awaited its release only for it to be held back at the last minute. I will update this at the end when I have completed it to let you all know if it held up until the end!

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It could have been one of the greatest dramas.

In my own personal opinion I went into this drama fully expecting to see Chinese culture and history told through the view point of three different generations of a same family. However what I got was a Communist propaganda instead. While it’s true that the story was well written and the acting was beyond compare, without even speaking of the really awesome production, however throughout all the episodes there’s one thing that didn’t falter and that the politics. Honestly I really tried to enjoy the drama and ignore it, however it is basically impossible when all the drama talks about is how the Communist party is the party of the people. Does it really talk about the struggles of the people during these years, not really. Instead the drama attempts to constantly blindside the people true situations with the excuse of the greater good of the Chinese people being the communist party. Anyways I was expecting great things from this drama as there are a handful of my favorite actors in it, but instead I was highly disappointed. I am aware that China’s authoritarian government has control over what gets released, but I feel like the drama literally just tries to show the “supposed” great that the political party brought to the people instead of actually showing how the people lived throughout each period of time.

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Time Wasted

I have little to say about this drama other than I came in with low expectations because there can only be so many firefighter dramas in one year that all revolve around the same thing. I was not dissapointed, this drama was as boring and draggy as I expected it to be. It has truly been a struggle to watch and I only continued because I love Zhang Linghe and even though his scenes are few and far in between I still wanted to have a little bit of him. As a cellists, Zhang Linghe’s character was a bit of a let down and honestly I think it’s not his fault just that of the production. Also too cliche, I am twenty two years old, I work at an office, and have lived in a busy city my entire life never have I been in a fire: Yet somehow our female lead, Nan Chu is coincidentally in a fire that she needs rescuing from every other episode. And coincidentally so every time our dearest male lead is there to rescue her. That sort of stuff doesn’t happen in real life, unless there is an abnormal amount of fires in China that we just don’t know about and all I just said is nonsense. Needless to say if you’re giving this a try for Zhang Linghe don’t. He has very little onscreen time. It’s not worth it!

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A Full Circle Storyline

When I first heard about the beginnings of this drama, I really didn’t think I would actually give it a try and watch it. Mainly because I knew from the beginning that it was most likely a tragic love story obviously, which I don’t normally watch because life is sad enough. However I recommend you watch this drama if you’re thinking about it. As someone who would have stayed clear of this masterpiece I genuinely recommend it. The actors did such a good job representing this unique storyline, it wasn’t cliche at all. The OST and cinematography was 10/10 honestly. I am speechless for such a job well done in a drama that was so under budget. Comparing it with other airing dramas like “Legend of Anle”, which had such great A list actors and such a high budget yet cannot even compare in my books honestly.

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What Did I Just Watch?

I have no words to describe this drama. I speak with all honestly I don’t know what the heck I just watched. Let me start by saying, don’t waste your time! Get Out of Here it Isn’t Worth It. I personally only really watched the first life. In the second life I got annoyed at the slow and unecessary pace of it all and started skipping through it. To say the least I wish I had just dropped it at the second life. If you think you’re getting a happy ending think again. At least I don’t consider that a happy ending. Also it’s basically just a repetitive story about how the leads can’t be together. I don’t even know, it was a mess!

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A Great Yet Slightly Disappointing Love Story

I get it. I really do. I under what the creators were thinking when writing this and giving it such an ending. My problem with this drama has nothing to do with the acting, production, visual effects, or music. My problem fully revolves around the ending . This is mostly because I watch dramas to escape from reality which tends to not always be filled with bright and colorful moments. While I found this drama to be highly enjoyable, watching the leads fall in love with each other in this so unique way. However I must be honest and say that it was really dissatisfying to see everything that was built over the course of the first 29 episodes in that last episode as the leads just come to accept their predicament and become satisfied with knowing that their love was real.

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I don’t know where to start.

I truthfully don’t know where to start and not in a good way. I have had this drama in my “to watch” list for many years and I was extremely excited when iQIYI announced the airing date. I waited for it and started watching as soon as it aired. To say the least it was a big let down and disappointment. I feel like there was such a solid cast, and yet this drama turned out to be mediocre at best. I struggled to get past episode 15 and for a long time I abandoned it, I only continued to watch it later on because I hate dropping dramas, plus I really wanted to watch Zhang Linghe. I will say the story kind of picked up for me somewhere around episode 24 or so, but there was so many plot holes and bad scriptwriting, that no matter what miracle the CGI, or cinematography team, or the cast did the drama suffered a lot. I probably would have rated this lower if not for the last few episodes, honestly don’t know whether or not I recommend watching it.

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Unpredictable in Every Sense

I watched this drama while it was airing and all through out the comment section was filled with theories and ideas of how the drama would unfold. Luckily none of us were right as this drama is pretty hard to predict if you’re watching it with no prior knowledge. The characters truly felt like real intricate people with real feelings and real emotions. Each cast member played their role to the best of their ability and you can definitely tell in the quality of the drama. Furthermore it was honestly a success as a whole as the cinematography was absolutely stunning, the script was flawless, the soundtrack has made its way into my everyday listening music playlist, basically I can go on and on praising it, but I think everyone should give it a try. When I began watching it I didn’t think I would really like it since I’m not a fan usually of dark dramas, but this drama aced it and truly left me with a hunger for more like it. As for the ending I think each person has their own opinion about it, as for me I hope to see our questions answered in a second season and hopefully we will see the same quality of work and meet our cast members one more time as they bring these characters to life. Now after reading my rant you should go watch it. I have a guess you probably won’t regret it!

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Light Hearted Rom Com

This drama is not really what I would typically take my time to review, but I had to come here and explain a few things for those in the future unsure if they should watch it. In my personal opinion is not a grand drama, but that’s okay because it never tried to be. It never really took itself seriously so there shouldn’t be any expectations that this drama will be 10. Simply put it’s not. The plot itself is full of wholes and the concepts all throughout reminded me of something I wrote when I was 12 years old. However I wouldn’t completely write it off because of this, like I said this drama is just something lighthearted to enjoy and not think to deeply on what’s going on. There are a lot of couples apart from the main two couples, and a lot of characters which is always a tell tale sign of a story with too much going on. Unfortunately the main couples kind of get overlooked because of this, but like I said it’s just something to watch on the side. Honestly give it a try you might or might not like it. I rated it a bit high because I feel like it’s a bit underrated honestly I would really rate this about a 7.8.

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A romance between two very different people.

I went into this drama with no expectations as I didn’t really know the leads. However knowing that the male lead, Chen Xin Hai was basically debuting I was a little skeptical about it. Specially since I was at the time simultaneously watching “The Love You Give Me,” in which he played one of the secondary male leads, and I was not really liking his story line. However he demonstrated that despite being relatively new to the romance drama stage he was extremely versatile and could play really well a mature craftsman and in TLYGM a young swimming coach. The female lead I had seen once before in “Gank Your Heart,” and she was such an unimportant character that I didn’t even remember. Their love story was so beautiful to see, two people who were alone get together and join forces and despite it starting out as a sort of contractual marriage becoming a real thing pretty early on, I would say. The other leads stories were also pretty interesting to the point where I found myself invested in the entire cast not just the leads for once. The drama is smart and yes it has ex girlfriends that come back and “try” to break them off, but the main couple prevails and they don’t break up despite the distance towards the end. Something which I didn’t think the story needed to add at all. Anyways to finalize my random thoughts I personally really enjoyed this drama and highly recommend it. There is a healthy amount of drama but no unnecessary break ups, etc…

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A Truly Perfect and Entertaining Rom Com E-Sports Drama

I don’t have words to describe my feelings towards this drama. It was so exceptionally perfect that I have nothing to compare it with. I remember when I watched Go Go Squid and thought “that was great, let me look at some similar shows,” this showed up, but I don’t know why I kept pushing watching this drama back expecting it to not be my cup of tea. Then I watched “The King’s Avatar,” and again this drama showed up as a recommendation, but I refused to watch it thinking I wasn’t going to like it. Literally after a year of avoiding this drama I finally decided to watch it because I had nothing I liked to watch so I was like whatever what can I loose. This drama is perfect, right off the bat I was completely invested in it. I loved the soundtrack, the cast, the storyline, the production. This is outstanding work truly. To put it simply it is the best of both worlds of “the King’s Avatar” and “Go Go Squid”, it took these two awesome dramas and created a perfect love child that is even better than its predecessor. I know I am ranting and nobody cares but truly the actors and producers deserve much love for creating this beautiful drama. I wish we could have a look at the World Tournament ?. It’s just my wishful thinking desiring a sequel.

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Why I love this drama and at the same time am reluctant to recommend it.

If you’re looking for a light and sweet romantic drama this is not really it. Yes there’s romance however there is a lack of the main couples being together. Since the majority of the drama is really telling the story of how these different people all hurt each other as they fall in love and grow up. I am used to light and cute dramas like “Put Your Head on My Shoulder” or “Love O2O,” or “a Love So Beautiful,” I really wasn’t expecting this drama to be so real and make me feel so many feelings, and that’s why I loved it. Because even though ultimately it is a happy ending drama the stories it told we’re extremely relatable and I am sure many people will resonate and see their stories represented here. However it is this realness that also makes me reluctant to ever rewatch and to recommend to others. Chinese dramas, at least for me have become an escape from real life and it’s many trials. And this drama was actually more emotionally taxing than what it actually helped to distract me.

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Just a little side drama while watching something else!

So let me start by saying that this drama is actually more engaging than I thought it was going to be when I added it to my plan to watch list a year ago. I was also pretty bored during the first few days but luckily stuck it through for the actors and it got better in my opinion. Honestly this drama doesn’t really stand out. It follows the wasted trope of rich boy that comes from poverty and every day common girl who is part of a struggling startup. Like I said in my opinion this is just bland. Not great, not bad, just so so. I think ML has played this trope so much and other times the dramas have been much more engaging. Also the fact that there was an unnecessary female rival in the latter episodes and the ML mom is just constantly pushing the ML with the Rival even though she absolutely loves the FL. Basically watch as something on the side not as your main because in my opinion it is a little boring because of how repeated the plots present are.

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