Me and My Youth (2021)

Another Satisfying Youth Drama

Story reminds me of "Go Ahead" (which is one of my favorite dramas by the way). The main plots are similar wherein two people have that non-blood related sibling relationship. But this is lighter and shorter than Go Ahead, and also has less heartbreaking issues/stories so if you liked Go Ahead, When We Were Young, With You, then this would also be a satisfying watch. Transitions of the characters emotions was well planned, and nothing seemed hasted, or dragged.

Since it's a lighter drama, and I personally like re-watching heart wrenching ones, then this has a lower rewatch value than the similar dramas I previously mentioned.

Hope to see more of the actors, they were good even if they are newbies

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Sweet and comfortable teenage drama that brings you back to high school days!

This drama really improve the impression I had of teenage/youth dramas as the characters and plot are interesting, well paced and not too dragging. The drama do not have unnecessary misunderstandings that other teenage/youth dramas have as well and the friendships are genuine even among competitors. The main female character is quite mature and understanding as compared to most of the female character in teenage/youth dramas, although she does get jealous at times. The main male character is really sweet and protective, I love how they bring in a character with physical disability and family issues, it really allows people to understand more on the difficulties that people face in their daily lives and be more accepting. This is recommended for those who want to watch a light-hearted yet sweet and comfortable teenage drama without romantic scenes and yet able to evoke your emotions. Would love to see a season 2 with the development of the relationship between the supporting characters and also, the main characters' life as they enter into this next stage together.

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Refreshing school drama

This drama seems like a much lighter and refreshing version of Go Ahead - Ling Xiao's mom is also FL's mom. ML, who is an introvert, was also abandoned as a child, and ML and FL grow up together as siblings. Love triangle (sort of) is also present.
The original book where this drama was based on has three parts - their high school life, college life, and adulthood. Fluorish in Time covers only their High School life. Main leads are good looking and very cute.
Also, quite opposite to other Chinese dramas, some few episodes in the first half can be sonewhat dragging (especially the Supporting leads), but the second half becomes faster paced and very interesting.
All in all, a cute and enjoyable drama about Chinese high school life. Would recommend to Go Ahead fans.

Leggi di Più

"Flourish In Time" is the first youth cdrama i watch after a while. I usually dislike this kind of drama because it always turned really cheesy and cringey. But that's not the case with this drama.

This drama is a slice-of-life story about how our main leads grow, dealing with issues such as disabilities and broken family, making good friends at school and realizing how important they are to each other. There is a love line, but not really focused into that.

What i like is even though FL is the bubbly girl who's not good at studying, she's not feeble-minded or helpless. There's time when she acts immature, but she knows how to solve her problems.
The ML is the usual cold guy with good grades, but he's actually sweet and caring to people he likes.

Side characters like, Shi Che, Xie Zi Ye, Chen Guo Guo and Qu Wei are all lovely and add their own charm to this show. Their friendship is definitely the best part of the show.

The pacing started off slow but had great build up to the story line. There's a lot of heartwarming and funny moments. Flashback scenes at the end of every episode was really cute. The acting was also great, especially the child actors.

Music used was goo. Especially the intro song, 時光少年, the lyrics fits the story. Other songs are also good.

Leggi di Più

This deserves a 10/10

This is my most favorite youth series there is. I love how the leads love and care for each other since childhood and have been protective ever since. I specially enjoy the highschool life in this story, from the competitions, cosplay, ghost hunting, group performance, success and failures, this series definitely will bring you back the memory lane.

The acting was really superb for all casts from the main to the support role. You'll love them all cause they are all funny with their own character. This is super fun to watch!

I love the female and male the most (of course!). The FL is a witty, caring, loving, charming, talented and strong character here. She protects the male lead all the time and you'll understand why the main and second lead really like her, she's definitely adorable. She's not the common FL from other youth dramas where the FL was always the weak, always bullied character in the story. In this drama, the FL was really strong and protective.

The male lead was adorable also, he is smart and reserved. He kept his feelings to himself but defintely cared a lot for the FL. They both love each other and are inseparable.

I already watched this twice and for sure will still watch this again soon. This drama deserve higher rating and audience. Super love this!

Leggi di Più

A comfort watch

I would definitely consider this a good watch — it had a lot of depth in different themes such as ableism, family duty, guilt, friendship, vulnerability, and more — and it handled them all with a decent amount of eloquence. I do have some issues with some of the way some arcs went, such as the reasoning for a child to choose staying by an obviously abusive parent, or how two people would reconcile.

Despite the things that I did like, in some ways this felt very cliche and that was what worked against the drama the most: the romance. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed the relationship between the two leads — for most of the show the communication and support between them was top-notch, and I really loved seeing the different types of families and parental roles in the show too. It was the second lead part of the romance for me. I really liked the second lead character actually, but only as an individual or as a love interest for the second female lead. I felt like any feelings he had for the FL just felt like he was going through the moments to fill the necessary cliche — there was no chemistry there and the only purpose it served was to kick the ML into action; whereas he's typically a pretty layered character with his family background and attitude, I felt like these scenes actually flattened his character development a lot into the cookie-cutter SML.

Other than that, I also felt like it was hard to relate to the main female lead; I do appreciate that she never comes off as overbearing, stupid, or annoying like the leads in dramas like Playful Kiss or even A Love So Beautiful, and she's even pretty mature sometimes, but there were definitely some lapses where I wish the drama showed her growing up more and becoming more independent without it being related to schoolwork or being related to the male lead's growth.

Overall, would say that this is a really light-hearted and fleshed-out show despite the times it delves into cliches. The romance is definitely pretty innocent and implicit (I believe due to the lead actress's age) but I have no problem with that because the support between the leads and the way miscommunications were never dragged out was just super refreshing.

Leggi di Più

Cute coming of age youth drama!

Another cute high school to college entrance exams drama
Come for the youthfulness
the friendship
the family lines
and of course this "brother/sister" relationship
but don't expect any hardcore romance (must be because the female lead is too young)

I'm amazed at how young this female lead is -- she definitely held her end of the show with adult costars
10/10 acting points go to the male lead's eyes
if you watched him in Maiden Holmes you'd know -- great casting for "protective male lead" role
I look forward to watching him in more romance-heavy shows later

PS: I love how there's a scene showcasing the young leads' relationship with the child actor/actress at the end of every episode -- so cute and adds quite a lot to the storytelling imo

Leggi di Più

Nicest youth/slice of drama!

This is actually, if not the best, one of the nicest youth Chinese dramas i've seen. It was more of a slice of life than youth actually 'cause they had to deal with issues such as disabilities, broken families and such. I thought at the beginning I wouldn't like it 'cause I'm not really a fan of dramas without romance in it. Altho this drama has very little romance... I loved how they held back on romance and focused on their studies, rather than some puppy love (the contract) and waited for themselves to mature, know what they really want before they get into the relationship. Really, i'm a sucker for mature relationships (not in the sensual aspect).

I really loved the family stories. Whenever there's such a scene, it really leaves a big impact, a heavy heart, and teary eyes. It's very similar to Go Ahead but I would say I like this better (in terms of the family story), but in terms of romance, definitely Go Ahead. I didnt like the mom, just like how I disliked her in Go Ahead, she's really fits that bad mother-in-law, but I was touched in the end because her daughter understood her intentions even if she had a nasty personality, and that was really touching.

The acting was definitely great. I liked the male lead from Sparkle Love and I think he looks very much like Got7's Jinyoung, a tall version. Plus, i find the female lead really pretty, her eyes are so nice. Their roles are actually perfect. I found out also that the girl is only 16 irl, probably why there's very little romance. I liked all characters tbh, even that Guoguo and that Su DaiFei. But I particularly loved Qu Wei!! I actually thought they were'nt going to be friends but I loved how he was like the love guru, so funny.

Bottomline, I could really say it's the best youth drama i've seen, and it's rare for me to love dramas without romance or slice of life dramas. So this one's really great. I'd give it a 9, -1 for not having more romance.

Leggi di Più

Cute and sweet high school drama of a "brother"/"sister"

I couldnt believe how young the female lead was !! only 15 years old!! male lead is the lead from maiden holmes! Before the drama start I thought to myself , it would be so wrong for the leads to have a kissing scene. Good thing they didnt put any! so be warned no kissing scenes! which I am perfectly find with. Their romance is so cute, sweet and pure like a little cute milk dog.

This drama is cute because it does flashbacks of the leads when they were little kids and the encounters they had. The two little kids are seriously too cute!!I love the little girl who acts as the female lead, it portrays the female lead sunny and playful character so well!

Female lead gets another "brother" when she was young. Her father ran the male lead over and he loses part of his leg. The female lead family takes care of him and they grow up together. Female lead is a quirky, cute, playful, sunshine and likes to read manga. Male lead is super serious in his study and smart and more logical. He is popular in school due to his wits! She is not very good in her studies. She has always protected and stood up for her brother when other people make fun of her. The storyline is about her studies and encounters and the friends that she makes! The female lead relies on the male lead and vice versa.

I especially enjoyed the flashbacks as a child super cute!

Super simple and cute puppy dog love story along with friendships!

Leggi di Più

Aww, another wonderful youth drama

I only watched this because of Zhang Ling He because of his wonderful performance in 'Love between fairy and devil' and found another good drama.

Like other youth dramas, it uses the cold straight A student ML who loves a warm but not studious FL trope. Its notable difference in other youth dramas is the depiction of a differently abled person as an ML. So Jianghao's coldness is understandable. It came from his insecurities of having a father that is no good and having an artificial leg. He only trusts Lu Miao because as she's his childhood friend/almost sibling who never judged him. I loved how the drama showed that being differently abled has some advantages and was not a disadvantage to love at all. Another thing I learned was 5211314 is another way of saying 'I love you forever' because it sounds like "wu er yi" = "wo ai ni".

Leggi di Più

Un drama "high school" et de "childhood sweetheart" totalement réussi

Il y a des dramas. Des films. Des séries. Ou des animés.
Qui marquent plus que d’autres. Qui nous touchent bien plus. Plus que ceux qui sont notés gracilement et unanimement reconnus. Ils sont loin d’être parfaits. Voire même bons pour le cinéphile en mal de sensation ou d’intense réflexion sur le va à l’eau actuel.

Et pourtant, pour d’autres.

Le coeur a battu déraisonnablement pendant 24 épisodes. Un voyage doux et amer à travers son propre passé (je sais, cela revient souvent en ce qui me concerne). Cette vague qui nous laisse pantelant lorsque les yeux clos, quelques folles images ressurgissent. De moi. De toi. D’eux. De nous.

« Flourish in Time » a rejoint ce coup de coeur personnel. Comme « All about secrets ».
C’est un scénario classique qui vous attendra si vous décidez de lui donner sa chance. Depuis « Touch » de Mitsuru Adachi, peu de « childhood sweetheart » ont su me convaincre. Cela fut le cas pour « All about secrets ».
Et maintenant « Flourish in time ».

Nous est conté une tranche de vie, celle de Lu Miao et Jiang Hao Yue, 2 amis d’enfances marqués par la tragédie de Hao Yue qui a perdu sa jambe lors d’un accident de voiture. Accident provoqué par le père de Lu Miao. Résultat, Lu Yong Fei, le père de Lu Miao décide de prendre en charge l’enfant handicapé. Lui acheter ses jambes artificielles. Le nourrir. Lui prodiguer de l’attention. Le considérer comme son fils. Quand à Lu Miao, Hao Yue sera son grand frère.
C’est ainsi que commence une très belle amitié. Une jolie histoire de famille. Une adorable histoire d’amour.
Les deux enfants grandissent main dans la main, une main qu’ils ne lâcheront jamais. Les petites scènes de fin nous montrent clairement ce qu’ils deviendront, cette force qui sera la leur. Je me suis surprise à sourire bêtement, souvent, devant les chamailleries de Lu Miao et de Hao Yue. Le jeu des enfants est excellent et leur sincérité touchante.
L’histoire se concentre sur le temps de l’adolescence, les études si chères aux yeux des chinois, les rencontres au lycée qui feront parties de leur quotidien et qui les aideront d’une certaine façon à s’ouvrir aux autres. Car Lu Miao et Hao Yue n’ont vécu que pour l’un et pour l’autre jusqu’à présent et n’ont su compter que sur l’un et sur l’autre. Ce lien sera fortement présent tout au long de leur voyage.
Lu Miao, spontanée, joyeuse et croquant la vie à pleine dent, est l’opposé de Hao Yue, l’étudiant excellent par définition. Réservé à l’extrême, il ne se dévoile qu’en face de Lu Miao. Les interactions entre nos deux « childhood sweetheart » sont remplies de douceur et de taquineries faites d’affection et d’amour. Et c’est ce qui fait je pense la force de cette relation. Souvent nous est dessinée une relation faite de dispute amicale, de reproche, d’indécision et de désir d’indépendance comme dans « all about secrets » , « Love and Pi » ou encore « The best of you in my mind ».
Ici au contraire, Lu Miao et Hao Yue n’auront jamais de cesse de se chercher et de courir l’un vers l’autre. Il n’y aura jamais d’espace pour d’autres. Shi Che Le le comprendra très vite. Et tous ceux qui les entourent.
Il y a le classique excellent élève, Hao Yue, et l’élève qui a beaucoup beaucoup de difficultés scolaires, Lu Miao. Cela peut paraitre redondant. Et beaucoup d’entre vous pourrait trouver cela injuste de voir (encore) une fille toujours à la traine, toujours à peiner…. En ce qui me concerne, cela ne m’offusque pas réellement. Peut-être étant moi même une ex-mauvaise élève. Je n’en fais pas une généralité, loin de là, ma fille étant elle-même première de la classe (fierté de la la mère qui n’avait que des mauvaise notes hahaha). Mais j’aime assez (pour ne pas dire très) l’idée du personnage féminin (que l’on retrouve certes souvent) qui est en échec scolaire mais qui se révèle par la suite bien plus persistante, plus forte, plus obstinée que le reste du casting. Lu Miao ne déroge pas à la règle. Bien que mauvaise en classe, elle a cette arme (féminin?? héhé) de se battre pour réussir, de ne jamais baisser les bras, de voler plus haut que ce qu’elle pensait, de dépasser ce qu’on attend d’elle. Et j’avoue que j’aime ce côté des « leads » féminin, forte et attachante à la fois, fragile et courageuse dans tout ce qu’elles font. Alors je dis oui.
Il n’est donc pas étonnant que Hao Yue n’ait d’yeux que pour notre jolie lutin. Leur personnalité si différente se complète à merveille. Lu Miao Apporte cette touche de fantaisie et de spontanéité que n’a pas Hao Yue. Elle est aussi sa force. Son bouclier contre ce monde extérieur qu’il ne veut pas. Ne pensez pas que Hao Yue est un personnage faible après ma dithyrambe sur Lu Miao. Sa façon de gérer le regard sur son handicap était admirable. Préférant relever la tête et nonobstant les moqueries faites à son encontre, il ne s’arrêtera guère sur les ragots.
Son regard si calme et froid ne s’animait qu’avec Lu Miao.
La surprise est venue de son amitié soudaine et inattendue avec Qu Wei. Je ne me suis pas attendue à une amitié aussi sympathique entre ces deux personnages, et les réflexions de Qu Wei étaient drôle et rafraichissantes.
La seconde romance, tardive, était prévisible mais super agréable à suivre.
Les relations entre Hao Yue et son père m’ont amené des larmes aux yeux. La représentation du père « violent » et ivre est toujours un sujet sensible. Il est souvent difficile de ressentir de l’empathie envers ce genre de personne et pourtant, au fur et à mesure, la compassion et la compréhension fait son petit bonhomme de chemin. Les actions de Zhao Yang ne sont pas justifiables mais je le comprenais. Les derniers épisodes entre Hao Yue et son père m’ont beaucoup touché.
Zhang Lin He est un acteur nouvelle génération, il a commencé avec « Maiden Holmes » et « Sparkle Love ». Dramas que je n’avais pas l’intention de regarder. J’avoue piteusement que Zhang Lin He m’a fait fait une telle impression (mon coeur a encore du mal à s’en remettre), son sourire, son regard émouvant (femme je suis, femme je reste apparement…) que je vais avoir l’obligation de regarder tous ses dramas.
Quelle ne fut ma surprise de savoir qu’Ancy Deng était « Su Tang » dans « The legeng of awakening ». Cela explique ce coup de coeur immédiat lorsque Lu Miao est apparue.
Guo Xin Yu, quant à lui, n’est pas un inconnu. Je l’avais déjà remarqué dans l’excellent « I don’t want to be friend with you » (drama coup de coeur que je conseille sincèrement) et dans « The best of you in my mind ».
Ren Shi Hao n’a pas encore eu de rôle majeur, son seul rôle en tant qu’acteur principal est « Sweet first love », drama que je n’ai malheureusement pas beaucoup aimé d’ailleurs.
Enfin, Tan Yan Yan, que j’ai trouvé super jolie et rafraichissante, n’a jamais joué que des rôles secondaires dont notamment « Waiting for you in the future », super drama retro, drôle et émouvant.
Une petite mention pour l’OST du drama. Si vous ne le savez pas encore, je suis une mordue d’OST et je prête une très grande attention à ce détail. l’OST colle parfaitement à l’ambiance du drama. Le rêve et cette nostalgie qui jalonnent tout le long des épisodes vont me poursuivre longtemps avec la chanson « Be you starry sky » par Chen Xueran ainsi que « Time Boy » par Hu Xia.
Beaucoup trouverait à redire à ce drama. La réalisation est plutôt moyen, le scénario prévisible et loin de l’innovation du siècle, les personnages classiques avec leur chemin de croix habituel….et pourtant, j’ai adoré.
Conclusion, aimer ne s’explique pas seulement par la perfection de la réalisation. Mais aussi par le ressenti de chacun.

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