Hazel
Canada
This review may contain spoilers
I just finished watching another drama that I just didn't want to forget - Wait, My Youth.
High school dramas are just so fun for me to watch, specifically those slice-of-life, nostalgic dramas where the story revolves around the lives of high school friends who stayed friends even when they became adults. It felt like I was also watching my own life - recalling memories of the past where life was too plain and simple, where smartphones weren't a thing and we had to make extra effort to achieve what we want, to be with who we wanted to be, and to express what we wanted to feel.
Maybe because I had a very colourful youth, high school specifically, and these types of shows remind me of that.
Wait, My Youth is a story of high school friends who have gone through a series of life events everyone would have experienced at some point in their lives. But I really liked the romance part of it (surprise, surprise LOL). I liked the love triangle among the leads, and the love story of the main leads itself. (Spoiler alert on the next paragraphs!)
Our main girl, Su Cancan (pronounced as Shan-chan if I heard it right), had a crush with this "most handsome" student in their high school, Li Jiaze. Li Jiaze was indeed very handsome, but what made him stood out was his very charming, innocent personality. Sounded very typical of a drama, but not really. Cancan had a crush on him for about seven years. She attempted to confess to him through a letter, which Jiaze was able to read but he didn't do anything for some reason.
What's most heartwarming for me to know was the fact that Jiaze also liked Cancan for a very long time, but he just kept silent, thinking Cancan liked someone else. It made me sad. Cancan dreamt of being with Jiaze, it was a dream for her to be loved back by the guy she loved for a very long time. Too bad, timing wasn't on their favour, time let them both slip away from each other, without even meeting halfway in the first place. But, was timing really at fault here? I don't think I ever had a second-lead syndrome as strong as this one!
Our main guy here really is Lan Tianye, Jiaze's best friend and Cancan's deskmate. He's your typical tsundere or "cold-blooded" bad guy who is also very handsome and talented as Jiaze. Everything looked very typical until Tianye started falling in love with Cancan. Tianye watched Cancan showing her affection towards Jiaze, all her failed attempts to win his heart, all her sweet gestures towards him. It was all a torture for Tianye but he endured it all, while keeping his cool and just letting Cancan do all her thing.
College came and they all moved to Beijing. Jiaze knew all along how Cancan felt, but didn't bother doing anything aside from being so good to her. I also liked the scene where Cancan needed to choose if she would go to Jiaze or to Tianye, that scene were Tianye invited her to watch a concert and where Jiaze invited her to watch his piano performance. Should she go to the guy she loved for a very long time who had finally started to show his love for her, or should she go to the one who had slowly entered into her heart before she knew it?
She chose the latter, and I couldn't be happier. Sometimes we wait for someone for a very long time and all we think is that we couldn't love anyone else aside from this person. I liked how Cancan said, "I have loved him for seven years... but who said I should only love this same guy for the rest of my life?" Love does fade away with time, at least the love that is not meant for us.
I mentioned I experienced a strong second-lead syndrome in this drama. I don't think I've ever had it. Before I watch a drama, I knew who the male lead would be and will root for that male lead no matter what. I found myself rooting for Jiaze at some point during the drama. I wanted him to get his sh*t together and just let Cancan know how he feels. They kept on saying in the drama that the timing between Cancan and Jiaze were just off, and so they couldn't be together. I think I disagree, I think love was just never in the works for them at all.
Meanwhile, Tianye and Cancan have always been by each other's side ever since they were in high school. It took them a while to realize that they're each other's first love. When watching dramas, sometimes I get bored when I know the leads are already together and I'll just drop the drama. This one, I liked their story even more when they got together.
I liked how Tianye was just so confident about his love for Cancan, and how he never loved anyone else despite breaking up and not seeing each other for many years. I liked how they Cancan and Tianye got past all the hurt that they felt and opened themselves to loving each other again.
This drama also reminded me of how brave we were when we were young. If you're on your late 20's like me, you probably know what I'm talking about. Confessing your love to someone, telling someone you're mad at them, or just telling whatever it is that you feel sounded so easy when we were young.
There are a lot more about this drama that I probably didn't give justice talking about it here. All the other casts were oh so good. Their strong bond as friends hit close to home. This story reminded me of my high school best friends who are still my best friends more than a decade later after our high school graduation, even if I live on a completely different continent now for many years. I don't see them as often as I want to, but it doesn't make me love them any less. I still love them so much and will love them forever.
If you're still reading this, thank you! It's probably not really a review, this drama just resonated with me so much and hit too many spots that I just really have to talk about it!
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I must say this is a very heartwarming drama. I’m a sucker for romantic dramas and this one did not disappoint. I love how the girl was not chasing after the guy. I love how she was looking after him without the guy knowing. And how the guy eventually fell in love with her after. And how the guy worried that the girl will realize he was not that perfect.
I felt like I was cheering after the girl. There were scenes where I was kind of annoyed with her because she just wouldn’t listen sometimes. There were misunderstandings that would have been resolved right away had she only listened. But that’s what makes it relatable. Sometimes we just really don’t listen. But I know it was also because she was not confident about herself. And we all feel that, too.
This drama made me really happy. I must admit the first couple episodes were a bit boring and I almost dropped this, but I am glad I didn’t!
It gave me a different view about unrequited love. I, myself had my own experience with unrequited love. And it made me realize that love will not come to you because you worked hard for it, but because it was meant for you.
I would recommend this to anyone suffering from unrequited love, or if you are just wanting to watch something that is heartwarming. :)
Have fun! :)
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The OSTs broke my heart as much as this drama did
I just finished watching this few minutes ago and my heartbreak is so strong for this one. It was indeed written so beautifully, i dont know about the others but I can't predict what's going to happen next despite some of the cliche scenes.The OSTs are so beautiful, I think this drama had the most beautiful OSTs and they fit the plot so perfectly, I find myself just being so affected by the scenes because of the OSTs lol
Zhang Wansen and Lin Bei Xing... I will never forget your characters. I may forget your names one day but I will never forget your existence. Thank you for making me realize how true love is... how sincerely loving someone is.
If you're hesitating if you should watch this drama, please don't. Do yourself favour and just go ahead and watch it.
Just prepare your heart for the emotional ride.
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By the way, this is my first ever review on this site and I just felt like I have to defend this drama! I hope I can just make everyone listen to me haha
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THIS DRAMA IS SOOOOOOOO GOOD you have no idea how crazy this made me! Hahaha I love this drama way tooooo much. Jin Ki Joo and Kim Young Kwang and Veronica Park and Gi Dae Ju (cant really remember the real names of the last two on top of my head) portrayed their roles so perfectly I felt like God specifically made them for this drama. Hahahaha. I rarely watch behind the scenes as I don’t really want to ruin really good scenes on my mind. But boy oh boy I just came across one on YouTube and I feel like the ship could sail real good for Jin Kin Joo and Kim Young Kwang. If Dispatch would reveal they’re dating in real, I won’t even be surprised! I’ll probably jump for joy!!
Back to the drama itself - if you’re hesitating if you should give this a go, stop right there and just play episode 1. Swear to goodness this is a really really great feel-good romantic comedy drama that will make you happy!!!! Others do find that the story was lame because of how the face blindness was portrayed. But I was not even bothered, not even a tiny bit! There’s a reason why this was just a drama - a fictional one. You can’t have everything close to reality here!
Thank you to all the cast and crew of this wonderfully created drama!
I seriously don’t know how to let go after watching the last episode. I guess I’ll be rewatching this!
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I believe this is even better than the drama/TV show remakes, although I still think the Thai remake was the best of all. I have watched each and every single remake out there because I just love this story so much!
I liked how the guy in this movie was not super mean in this one and the actors and actresses pulled their characters very well! Dylan Wang as the male lead was perfect, he’s super handsome!!! And Lin Yun was so pretty!!!! I also liked how the movie entirely revolved around these two, and there were very little “side stories” unlike what we saw in the drama remakes.
I found this super fluffy and it gave me butterflies on my stomach haha
They just removed some of the iconic scenes and it honestly didn’t bother me at all. They changed some stuff for sure, and it didn’t feel like the story was rushed - you know, this story was normally a drama with more than 10 episodes or so.
Please watch this! It’s well worth your time!!!❤️
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For me, it was a cute drama! It’s getting better and better! Only reason I am taking a star off is that there are a bit boring parts, especially when they’re showing some flashbacks. But definitely not too bad!
It’s entertaining enough for me, it makes my heart flutter, it makes me happy. Those are really just my criteria to say that a drama is really good! So yes, I recommend this drama!
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