mell
US
This review may contain spoilers
It was a long. Too long.
This is probably one of the best Chinese Drama’s I have ever watched, it is not to say that this drama was amazingly good, but out of the Chinese dramas I have seen thus far, this is one of the best. It’s funny because the other Chinese drama that I quite enjoyed also stars Steven Zhang, with a love triangle concept in the drama ‘Go Ahead.’
Length: I was honestly scared to start this drama because it was 40 episodes long and I usually can’t stick it out. I found myself going fairly quickly with this drama, wanting to start the next episode as soon as this one ended, so you could say it kept my attention. But, at the same time, I do not think that this drama needed to be 40 episodes long, there were multiple times when things felt repetitive and unnecessary. Times when I felt things could have been easily avoided or even problems that arose that I felt we had just already seen in a different way. I know that these things just add to the drama itself, but it seemed like a bit much.
Character Development: A big concept of the show focuses on the fact that Tang Xue (Janice Wu) and Li Yubing (Steven Zhang) were childhood friends (using that term lightly). Because of this, you would think that there would be actual clear progress on who they were as children in comparison on who they are as college students and the path of who they are going to be in the future. I am not saying that there was no progress because there was some character development with these two, but it was not as much as I would have hoped seeing on how much this part played in the drama itself. Even towards the end of the show, there was moments when I just did not understand why they were doing the things they did and why they had not further matured, when there was so much time to do so previously. Why act childish at the last moment, when this whole time, you have been fairly mature?
Side Characters: There was quite a lot going on within the show and there was so many side stories and characters, that at times I would forget that a certain person even existed or forget what exactly was going on with a certain character. I think that side couples and characters in general really do play a part in the overall content of a drama, but having too many of them, can at times lessen the value of it all. Bian Cheng, for example, I understand why some may think that he is considered a main character because of all the problems that his character caused, but there were times when I forgot he was even in the show. It may be because he did not get as much screen time as say the hockey team or Tang Xue’s roommates, but his overall character was lacking, it was like he did not have a full story. At least characters like the hockey team brothers or Tang Xue’s roommates had some sort of actual story. Don’t get me wrong, they did still lack because there were times when I felt that things were rushed or didn’t really make sense, but at least with them, they felt more important.
Yu Yan & Mental Illness: I have mixed feelings about the depiction and storyline regarding Yu Yan and his anxiety disorder. Before it was shown as an actual diagnosis, I somewhat assumed that he would eventually breakdown and something would happen, just based on his symptoms depicted as well as my own knowledge on anxiety disorders. I don’t want to say that the way they went about this is incorrect, because quite frankly it’s different for everyone, but at the same time there was problems with it. Anxiety disorders don’t just go away, that’s not really how they work, it takes time for you to heal as a person and get better. Yu Yan’s character was pretty spot on regarding how he would feel and the actual things he would do or not do with this going on. The ringing in the ears, hearing things, yelling at the coach, not getting out of bed or eating, it was depicted well. The healing process was what threw me off a bit, not necessarily having Tang Xue come and help because that does help. It was more that, all the sudden he was magically okay. I understand that this is in fact a drama, so not everything can be done within a short span of time, but really the show was 40 episodes long. So maybe more could have been done in this aspect. Not that everyone needs therapy or medicine to heal, because they don’t, but possibly something like that, that was not just Tang Xue coming over to hang out and ultimately keep him distracted.
Length: I was honestly scared to start this drama because it was 40 episodes long and I usually can’t stick it out. I found myself going fairly quickly with this drama, wanting to start the next episode as soon as this one ended, so you could say it kept my attention. But, at the same time, I do not think that this drama needed to be 40 episodes long, there were multiple times when things felt repetitive and unnecessary. Times when I felt things could have been easily avoided or even problems that arose that I felt we had just already seen in a different way. I know that these things just add to the drama itself, but it seemed like a bit much.
Character Development: A big concept of the show focuses on the fact that Tang Xue (Janice Wu) and Li Yubing (Steven Zhang) were childhood friends (using that term lightly). Because of this, you would think that there would be actual clear progress on who they were as children in comparison on who they are as college students and the path of who they are going to be in the future. I am not saying that there was no progress because there was some character development with these two, but it was not as much as I would have hoped seeing on how much this part played in the drama itself. Even towards the end of the show, there was moments when I just did not understand why they were doing the things they did and why they had not further matured, when there was so much time to do so previously. Why act childish at the last moment, when this whole time, you have been fairly mature?
Side Characters: There was quite a lot going on within the show and there was so many side stories and characters, that at times I would forget that a certain person even existed or forget what exactly was going on with a certain character. I think that side couples and characters in general really do play a part in the overall content of a drama, but having too many of them, can at times lessen the value of it all. Bian Cheng, for example, I understand why some may think that he is considered a main character because of all the problems that his character caused, but there were times when I forgot he was even in the show. It may be because he did not get as much screen time as say the hockey team or Tang Xue’s roommates, but his overall character was lacking, it was like he did not have a full story. At least characters like the hockey team brothers or Tang Xue’s roommates had some sort of actual story. Don’t get me wrong, they did still lack because there were times when I felt that things were rushed or didn’t really make sense, but at least with them, they felt more important.
Yu Yan & Mental Illness: I have mixed feelings about the depiction and storyline regarding Yu Yan and his anxiety disorder. Before it was shown as an actual diagnosis, I somewhat assumed that he would eventually breakdown and something would happen, just based on his symptoms depicted as well as my own knowledge on anxiety disorders. I don’t want to say that the way they went about this is incorrect, because quite frankly it’s different for everyone, but at the same time there was problems with it. Anxiety disorders don’t just go away, that’s not really how they work, it takes time for you to heal as a person and get better. Yu Yan’s character was pretty spot on regarding how he would feel and the actual things he would do or not do with this going on. The ringing in the ears, hearing things, yelling at the coach, not getting out of bed or eating, it was depicted well. The healing process was what threw me off a bit, not necessarily having Tang Xue come and help because that does help. It was more that, all the sudden he was magically okay. I understand that this is in fact a drama, so not everything can be done within a short span of time, but really the show was 40 episodes long. So maybe more could have been done in this aspect. Not that everyone needs therapy or medicine to heal, because they don’t, but possibly something like that, that was not just Tang Xue coming over to hang out and ultimately keep him distracted.
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