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Kiseki: Dear to Me taiwanese drama review
Completed
Kiseki: Dear to Me
0 people found this review helpful
by Caitlyn03
Oct 17, 2024
13 of 13 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 5.5
Story 5.5
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 5.5
Rewatch Value 6.0
This review may contain spoilers

Aesthetically Pleasing Poster but disappointing plot

I started watching this because I thought that the poster was very aesthetically pleasing but was greatly disappointed by the end.
Story:
I think the mafia genre is pretty standard for a bl, but it feels like it's a mafia story just to be a mafia story. I was confused by all of the mafia scenes until the very end and it all seemed like teens playing mafia rather than the real deal.
-very rant heavy-
Cons
The fact that Bai Zongyi was also 17 throughout a majority of the story is very baffling- like it's not THAT instrumental to the plot. In the very beginning Fan Zerui is all like "he is a kid I can't be with him" but changes his mind about that pretty quickly...
Like the biggest plot-point is that all of this happening made him lose his scholarship and in the end not be able to go to college. It would've been so easy to change that for the book and make him 18/19 and a college freshman. He could still lose his scholarship and be forced to drop out of college and it would've fixed all of the ickiness that came with watching them. I was only able to keep going because Bai Zongyi's actor does not look that young. Like I think he was 20(?) when this was recorded but he still didn't look like a teen. If they purposely made him look younger than it would've been over for me.
I know Ai Di and Chen Yi had an age gap, even though it was only three years, and it was definitely hinted that Ai Di had feelings for Chen Yi even as a minor, but nothing was ever acted on literally until the start of this story.
Also I feel that Bai Zongyi had much more to lose- the power dynamic was never in his favor so it felt much worse.

Sadly the worst part of it all was him being bribed to go to jail for a crime he didn't even commit. Genuinely a jaw dropping moment. I don't think many of us are versed on Taiwanese law, but I would assume that would be a pretty clear self-defense case. I can't help but feel pity for him and his entire family. I know his dad was able to get cured because of the deal but that is probably gut-wrenching to learn that your son will never be able to become a doctor- which up until then was his dream. Though those scenes with his family were the best- acting-wise - in the entire show, actually tear-worthy.

The fake amnesia plot... at that point it felt like we were just checking off tropes. Then we turned into a business, inheritance plotline and it felt like we went of the deep-end.

Pro
BUT the thing I like the most about this story is how when Bai Zongyi got out of prison he realized he didn't want to be a doctor and started up a cafe. Maybe I am reading into this too much, but it is pretty common for people in lower class families to want to be a doctor or a lawyer so they could escape poverty. While that is all commendable, it is sad that many of them have to put their real dreams aside. (Now maybe i really am reading into this too much and Bai Zongyi starting his cafe was just because Fan Zerui liked desserts.) But I like the idea that maybe after he loses literally everything (his scholarship, his way to college, in the end his friends) he realized he should pursue his own dreams.
Also I really liked Ai Di's and Bai Zongyi's friendship. They are really different in almost everything- upbringing, personality, style, etc. but seemed to be natural friends.

I don't know maybe I should've dropped it earlier on, but there was something that I really liked about it. Probably the casting and chemistry and family dynamic.
If you read all of this thank you,,, but I really just wanted to rant.
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