Wow! I was not expecting this drama to be this good. Completely surpassed my expectations in the depth of the story line and how each character captured me with their individual stories. The casting was well done and I didn't see a weak link in the group. Although there was a ML and FL, I felt like the 5 students were also leads too. The flashbacks worked well and drama did a great job of drawing you in so that you cared about each character and really saw and experienced their trauma. It didn't minimize what happened to them and they did it in a way that was genuine and not over the top where it became a drama troupe. I don't know how realistic it was for all of them to improve their gao kao scores by that much... but ML did handpick them in a way so... maybe? lol! Nevertheless, I was rooting for each one of them.

The only problem I had was the last episode and I wish I had listened to one person and not watched it. If anything I would highly recommend skipping the last part of episode 30 at the 12 year jump. Casting actors that look nothing like the original 5 was odd and seemed like an after thought. If the students were 8 and now they're 20 years old... that's one thing. But going from 18 to 30... I mean no one is going to look that much different sans a different haircut and clothes. Drama touched on romance here and there during the show but it became obvious that wouldn't be the focus. What they showed in the first part of episode 30 brought some closure and was enough. But then the second half of episode 30 left unanswered questions and not the lasting impression I thought the show would want to leave. I was disappointed because my heart was full and suddenly I'm trying to figure out who is who and wondering why they didn't look or act remotely like the younger version they were suppose to play.

I really did love this drama and maybe I'll go back and watch episode 29 to erase the last episode from my memory!