A Love So Beautiful (2017)

A Show That Can Melt Anyone's Heart

Story: It might not seem incredibly complex at first glance, but boy does it blow you away. The one sentence summary I can give is that a girl really likes a guy and is not afraid to show it, slowly winning his love in the process. One thing about a lot of dramas is that you might have one plot line that you care about and others fade to the background, but they use the 23 episodes perfectly, every story is important and beautifully told. First, of course, there's the story of Jiang Chen and Chen Xiaoxi. The slow unfolding of emotions and then the adult part where we see a switch of dynamics is fascinating to watch. Especially their own struggles with their future. Chen Xiaoxi's plot and struggle to get into school versus Jiang Chen's choice to go against his mother's choices and choose Chen Xiaoxi was just so beautiful to see. Accompanying that plot line is the equally beautiful plot line of Lu Yang gaining confidence and struggling with his heart disease as Li Jingxiao slowly falls for him is perfect. Finally, there's Wu Bosong's story and his struggle with loving Chen Xiaoxi and swimming. His plot with his father feels extremely relatable and it creates a weight to his choices that make his continued love for Chen Xiaoxi so much more valuable. I can also understand the comparisons to Itazura Na Kiss, but it is incredibly different in reality. The main difference is about emphasis. Itazura Na Kiss is a rom com about a young girl desperately trying to win a guys heart. It's surface level and stops at that, but A Love So Beautiful is not about a girl trying to win a guys heart, despite the description. It's about a girl and her 4 friends growing up and learning about themselves. The romance, although the most important part, is not all there is to it.

Character/Acting: This is where the show truly shines. This is not a plot driven show, despite how well it tells its story. It is entirely character driven. First, there's Shen Yue as Chen Xiaoxi. Chen Xiaoxi is wonderfully written protagonist. She's loyal, compassionate, bubbly, a little annoying at first, but boy does she win you over quickly. Her heart is massive and her love for the people around her is what makes her a fantastic character to watch. Shen Yue's acting is spot on in that she has an almost childlike quality that's perfect for Chen Xiaoxi. She feels like a little kid in love and you just really start to root for her to win and gain his heart. When she's sad, it also heartbreaking, but her best moments come from her relationship with others. Next, is Hu Yi Tian as Jiang Chen. Man, when I say I love this man I do. He is definitely my favorite Chinese actor ever. HE IS SO HOT. Literally, perfect looking. Pardon my forwardness. Although he's playing an inherently cold character, he still feels warm and I think that's what makes him so good. His mannerisms and moments of vulnerability contrasted with his lack of emotions makes him an awesome male lead. Plus, we love a sassy king. He always has the best one liners and definitely he had the best joke of the whole series which is the Abnormal Psychology joke. That scene with Wu Bosong where he breaks down at the end is some of the best acting I've seen in a drama. He just seems so lost and him pleading with her is both heartbreaking and beautiful to watch. I mean, I could just go on and on about Hu Yi Tian. He makes me love him in any role he plays. Like, literally any role. Next is Lu Yang. I think he is the most complex character out of all of them and the acting is just incredible. The moments where he pushes Li Jiangxiao away and those moments of tension really make this drama stand out. It's just so realistic and my heart continues to break because of them, only to be healed by their wedding. That boy was really playing the long game. As for Li Jiangxiao, man I have a crush on her. She's such a nice contrast to Chen Xiaoxi and fierce love towards her friends continues to win me over. I mean, man, how could you not love her. Finally, there's Wu Bosong. He is absolutely heartbreaking, but I have my own fan fiction for him, so it's alright. You want him to win, but at the same time, you don't. He is kind, thoughtful, and perfect in every way, but she doesn't love him and you can't change that. Haven't we all been there?

Music: Ohh. Although I don't love soundtrack music usually, I will say this is a perfect soundtrack. This soundtrack is sweet, innocent, and lovely without being annoying. The main theme is so infectious and lovely and the lyrics are perfect, starting with "I like your eyes, your eyelashes and your coldness" and continuing with "I like you accompanying me reading a book" It feels like it sums up their relationship perfectly. Also, Hu Yi Tian sings the ending credits song for this as well. Man, it's like he wants me to love him too much. It's not fair.

Rewatch Value: I could watch this drama over and over again and I have. It'll never feel stale no matter what because the moments are always so poignant and heart touching. I am currently rewatching with my father and I am finding more things I like about this show. He loves it as well by the way. It always surprises me just how detailed the writer of this was when crafting it. They clearly took a lot of care in it to tell the best possible story. This show is comfort food for the soul. It will always make me feel good on a sad day when all I want to do is cry. It's just a feeling I want to continue to replay over and over again like a sad song.

This show is something that literally everyone can love. It doesn't make one misstep and there's no plot that I get annoyed with. Even Li Wei isn't the most annoying and she has her own problems despite everything. If I had to pick one show that I think everyone in the world should watch, it would be this one. I can't find a show as carefully made to this day. Here's to searching for one though. If you don't watch it after all I've said, you're missing out. Go and watch it, you won't regret it.

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A cute and lovely rom-com drama with beautiful friendship story

This drama is easy to watch, cute, lovely, and nice. The story is about school life, friendship, and a love triangle between two boys and one girl. Friendship between characters makes this drama more beautiful and enjoyable. I have to say this is one of the best drama that has a good friendship story.

You will see a lot of mean, dumb and annoying scenes from the characters. But i think it's reasonable considering they are still teenagers. These characters are supposed to be 16 or 17, so they don't always know how to express themselves.

Anyway, I wouldn’t say this show is for everyone, but I binged it in about 4 days, so obviously I was entertained. If you’re looking for something simple and sweet that will make you laugh, this is a good drama to settle into!

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This drama will forever be in my heart <3

How will I every start this one? This is the best drama I've watched in my entire life, I don't think any drama would give me impact as much as this did. I really don't watch Chinese dramas, this is the first one I watched but man, I think Chinese dramas executes love story well than others. People might say that this is just a light-hearted drama, trust me, they're wrong! those people who says that haven't experienced the way the characters felt and portrays on the drama. Maybe it's because of the likeness and understanding that I have on their situations that's why I relate to the drama more than others. I will watch this again and again and I don't re-watch any dramas, except for this, no words can explain how much this drama impacted me.

My highlights of the drama are Chen Xiaoxi's acting skills, like damn, those eyes were so full of emotions, Shen Yue really portrayed and did justice to the character so well, and the theme song is one of the most iconic theme song of Asian dramas of all time and I think everyone can agree with it.

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One of my favourite dramas

A Love So Beautiful is one of my all time favourite dramas. I love it so much. I've rewatched the series at least 3 times since 2018, and when I want a comfort watch I'll rewatch my favourite scenes. I love virtually every aspect about this drama. I wish it was longer!
The drama is perfectly crafted. The plot is incredibly gripping. I was invested in the main romance since the beginning because I wanted to see if Jiang Chen really had feelings for Chen Xiaoxi. One of my favourite drama tropes is having a tsundere character and the way Jiang Chen has been created is perfect because whilst he has the perfect cool exterior on the inside and it looks like he doesn't like Chen Xiaoxi, he loves Chen Xiaoxi and constantly does a lot of little things for her. The second romance was also really cute. I didn't like how the romance was one sided in the beginning, but I loved it when the feelings became reciprocal and the ending for them was incredibly cute.
This drama has a very special place in my heart and I would highly recommend this drama if you haven't seen it already.

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Whiny stalker grade female lead

8/10 is my rating. There were 23 episodes (approximately 45 minutes/episode). This 2017 Chinese drama stars Hu-Yitian as Jian Chen an intelligent young man who secretly likes the female lead character Chyen Xiaoxi (Shen Yue). This is a somewhat typical story where the girl chases the boy in almost stalker like fashion until she wears him down and he eventually develops and admits his feeling for her. There is a second guy, Wu Bosong (Gao Zhiting) who is a competitive swimmer and gains fame for his swimming. He is in love with Chyen Xiaoxi and competes with Jian Chen for her affection.

Spoiler 🚨 I had a hard time with this as I often do with Chinese dramas. The male is often cold and cruel to the female even more so than in other Asian films. And there is usually a nice guy that the girl does not wind up falling for. I know that plays out sometimes across all cultures and in real life but it is not my favorite story line for a romance.

I would rated this lower because I found the female lead's character somewhat embarrassing and even demeaning in the lengths she would go to in order to capture Jian Chen's attention. I also rated it down as I did not enjoy how cruel he could be to her at times. It is worth watching but not top of the list.

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OVER RATED

I personally think a love so beautiful is an overrated drama. The actors are beautiful and I love both of them separately but I just couldn’t stand to see both of them together .

Also I feel like the female chasing man theme was so wrong, compared to the drama Unrequited love which is quite underrated, this one is not as nice.

I didn’t find the drama as interesting as it was hyped and I couldn’t help but skip all the way to the end

And that separation at the end was the most unnecessary moment in the movie. The drama was already beginning to make sense but that act just killed the whole vibe. I don’t know what people see in this drama but it’s really not the best for me and I won’t even recommend watching it to anyone

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Slightly overrated and kind of draggy for my taste. Too many typical drama tropes.

A Love So Beautiful is a typical, cliche romantic comedy drama storyline with a girl shamelessly liking her neighbour/school friend who is cold and indifferent to her. To me, this drama is slightly overrated. I expected something different like more comedy or more evolved characters. And I understand it's a high school drama which may appeal to a different audience but for me who has been out of high school for a long time and after watching dramas with more mature characters, this drama didn't appeal to me as much as I wished it would. I saw so many good reviews and was really excited to start but about halfway there were too many repeating events that just got me annoyed.

What I liked: I loooved the friendship between the whole entire group especially Xiaoxi and Lingjiao's friendship which is just a sweet loving best friend relationship. And I loved Lu Yang who is such an adorable puppy constantly pining after Lingjiao. I loved the incorporation of friendship and family themes.

What I hated: Wu Bosong... I liked him at first and he seemed like an interesting character but after watching him do practically EVERYTHING for Xiaoxi and spending loads of money on her DESPITE knowing that she didn't like him, just made me cringe and this is pretty much the reason why I'm dropping this drama. I can't watch him do everything for her and even lying to her face saying he doesn't like her. And the love rivalry between him and Jiang Chen was too much to bare. Even Xiaoxi, she must be an idiot not to see through Bosong's lie. It's so goddamn obvious he likes her. I expected these characters despite being high schoolers to be a little bit smarter. It ended up being pretty draggy and repetitive especially the rivalry between JC and Bosong and even Xiaoxi and Li Wei. Also I think at this point I'm really over the cold guy trope and I know this is an older drama but watching now in 2021 after seeing other dramas that don't do the cold guy trope, I think I've had enough of it. I really like Hu Yitian after seeing him in My Roommate is a Detective so I wanted to give this a shot. But I'm just disappointed this didn't live up to my expectations especially after seeing that it had good reviews.

Overall, if you want to watch a standard high school drama that doesn't really challenge typical drama tropes, this is for you. It has love triangles, love rivalry, characters who aren't too bright so that the same repetitive plot can keep dragging on, a main lead who is cold and a second male lead that basically will never have a chance to get the girl. Don't hate me but I think it's waaay overrated and the ratings don't live up to the drama.

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honestly, I don't see cute and lovey dovey relationship between FL and ML. I only see a girl chasing a boy that is very rude to her. He already know her feelings so maybe he thinks he can do whatever he likes to her. What I hate the most is he doesn't even say sorry or looked guilty after being rude and the girl just accept it and forget all about it. The girl is cute and sweet but I hope she can have more dignity or self esteem. How can she still afraid of the boy angry with her even when she doesn't do anything wrong. In fact, the boy should apologize for his rude words. And I really detest anyone who playing with others feeling!

I hope after this episode, I can see some progress in their relationship.

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Gotta appreciate, the guy she was so crazy about really was handsome. But I got tired of him and by episode 5, I'd prefer had she go for the new guy who joined her class. Apart from that, she's got a guy friend and a girl friend, both are cute and very likeable... both shall probably end up together, too.

By episode 8, I didn't like the progress. The new guy proves to be extremely likeable (absolutely everything a girl could wish in a boyfriend) while the "dream guy", after hearing the main girl's love confession repeatedly, doesn't reciprocate yet keeps her from starting something with the new guy. Also he accepts another female classmate "courting" him. This has TWENTY THREE episodes and I could see already the screentime would most likely be stretched endlessly by the "dream guy" going a step forward and step back, again. He'll keep being "aloof and enigmatic"... At times doing something to get closer to the main girl, at times doing something to reject her again. I knew the scriptwriter needed to fill a very long screentime. But I didn't find it a proper drama, really. I felt bad for the "new" guy (he actually settles in the group so well as if he was always there).

It proved a mistake to bring the other guy into the mix. Because after 9 episodes, I definitely liked him more than the main guy and even found him more attractive, lol. Then, I wasn't able to further enjoy the main girl's pursuit of the dream guy. I just wanted her to turn back on him and start dating the other guy. Let the dream guy have his lesson (he DID start showing he was jealous) that he can't play the ice queen for too long, lol. But, no. The main girl still acts like a desperate fangirl with the first boy and avoids the boy who made sincere confession to her... Or, she thought he made a confession (when she says she doesn't reciprocate, he takes it back). What a letdown. With the rejected guy all trying to pretend he wants to be just friends, I no longer enjoyed her line with either of the boys.

Perhaps we should really focus on the friendship here, as romance proves so annoying... It's been ages since I've seen a good one in dramas, btw. I'm starting to get tired.

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Fu*k Li Wei, Save Bosong

The story in overall is good, the character development for jiang chen is good, seeing how he turns from having a cold personality slowly changing becoming a better and milder person, i like chen xiaoxi's determination and dedication (though it's a bit overaggresive seeing that she is a girl), bosong's dedication toward chen xiaoxi and how he tries to make xiaoxi happy, but unfortunately we all know that jiang chen is the main character and without bosong the story would become bland as it would be just another happy go lucky love story that has no room for improvement and character development, lin jingxiao being the best wingwoman in the whole movie is probably one of my favorit part of the movie, and lu yang's funny but pitiful lifestory brings even more colour to the movie, BUT!!! LI WEI, this B**CH and her godda*n friend, we know that a romance story needs a love rival that pisses everyone off but this is overdoing it, the way that she acts, the way that she acts around jiang chen, how she throws her body towards jiang chen purposedly is so damn disgusting (kudos to the wonderful acting though), the way that the author depict the character of li wei as the two faced girl is good but disgusting in some ways, a woman should never act like that, even if she's in love with the man, it's too aggresive and most men would just back-off and the ones that don't are probably bastards, in conclusion i love the story, the acting, the music, and the wonderful relationship between families (especially bosong and his dad), and overall i think it's one of the best drama i've ever watched 10/10 would recommend.

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