Secrets in the Lattice (2021)

We grow & prosper with the right person | A Mellow & Wholesome school romance drama like no others!

Ding Xian, if I hadn't had you in my life, I wouldn't be the person I am now - Zhou Si Yue

I don't know how and where to start with this review, but... I just wanna let people know that this is not your usual clichė school romance drama. For some reason, even when the leads look young and innocent they were able to pull their characters with utmost precision and conviction. I guess the saying "Looks can be deceiving" fits these sets of actors the best.

If there's one thing I wanna address as early as now, it's probably how amazing this story executed different types of Parenting. At first, I really hated Ding Xian's mom for being pretentious and control freak but as the story progresses, I realized that she was made like that to show us how a normal citizen more so a Mother survive in this kind of society. It's a representation that all the tough and strict treatment we received from our parents growing up are some of their techniques in giving us lessons and protection. And it was also their way to obtain assurance and peace of mind that we're doing fine outside of their eyesights.

In terms of story progression... I would say that this production has done it magnificently. It has different phases and stages but something I truly look up to them is how they kept the characters rational and mature almost 95% of the time. I can't even remember a single moment when I got aggravated for extreme ridiculousness from any of the cast. This is something worthy to be mentioned because it's really rare for a drama not to use those ludicrous plot devices to heighten up the show. I genuinely respect and admire them for that.

When it comes to the love story and overall romance... I would say that I'm exceptionally satisfied on how they deal with the Main leads. Both Ding Xian & Zhou Si Yue already have a foundation and I was glad that they were able to utilize it to expound more on how mature and logical they are in handling their relationship. In terms of Song Zi Qi & Kong Sha Di's love story... I guess, I should already be thankful that they were still featured quite a bit during their University days and even got a spotlight for themselves during their own conflicts. Which is way better in comparison on how Jiang Chen & You Ke Ke got offscreened for the rest of the 2nd half of the show. Dang! We only see them once during the Spring break reunion and the rest are just update of them getting engaged and pregnant. Tragic!

Also, I wanna commend this story for not entirely destroying any of the characters. I find it fascinating how they can keep on being considerate and civil even to those who treat them badly. Like how? I really need to learn that. Cause I tend to always retaliate back once offended. Hahaha! Kidding aside, I'm just really pleased on how Su Bu Cong turned out to be after getting a bit misdirected to the wrong path. I mean, among all the characters, he's that one person I can't afford to witness go astray. Cause he-is-that-FINE! and I'm glad they never taint that good aura and reputation of him.

Lastly, cinematography, design and color scheme really brought this dramas mood and ambiance in a completely different level. They may have enriched some of the colors and design but it never, even once, hurt the overall quality of the drama. I'd say It even accentuated the hidden charms of this production as a whole.

P.S. Aside from Si Yue & Bu Cong's cute rivalry. One thing that really left an impression in me are the words from Si Yue's father.

"Not the right time? When is the right time?" - Zhou Zong Tang

Story - 10, I honestly even tried 'quite hard' to find faults and something dislikeable about this drama so that I can give it a 9.5 at best but the way they delivered and executed the whole story left me no windows to put my criticisms on. I can't say it's flawless but it has that aura and vibe where you just can't be audacious as to criticize it in any way or form. It was well-created and properly put together. A School romance that's far ahead compared to those tiring overly clichėd ones we're all used to.

Acting/Cast - 10, Spectacular and perfect choice of Artists! Aside from Chen Zhe Yuan, I was really worried about the rest of the cast since I'm not really familiar with them but their performances proved me wrong. They played their roles very well and I never really felt any awkwardness watching any of them. And as I mentioned above... Even when they all look young, their acting and aura tells me otherwise. They're professional actors/actresses who were chosen for their specific roles because they deserved it.

Music - 10, Entirely addicting and satisfying. It has that emotional and sentimental impact. At first, I was kind of indifferent towards the Opening OST but as time goes by, it became the emotional source/drive that made me so vulnerable and sensitive to every single moment. I swear! Be it romantic, happy, sad or emotional scene as long as you got that song playing on the background I'll immediately become a mess. Not to mention how equally good the other songs are.

Rewatch Value - 10, I'll take this section as if it's a question of whether I'll willingly recommend this to others or not. And of course, that's a YES! I will never regret watching this masterpiece and would love to see more people watch this as well. This is a timeless show that can really measure up to those popular dramas out there!

Overall - 10, Do I even need to explain why? This production exceeded my expectation and truly satisfies me a lot. My decision of watching another contemporary drama after a long while is really worth it. Not to mention that the last one I watched was Chen Zhe Yuan's Mr. Bad. Anyways, I'm really glad I picked this drama among my long drowning list of C-drama shows! Pick this and you'll never regret. I Promise!

IF you find my review helpful please let me know.

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I don't usually watch youth dramas because I'm just too far from my teenage years, but Our Secret was just so cute! This drama opens with the main characters meeting again in college, before telling their story from the beginning, when Ding Xian moves next door to Zhou Siyue right before they begin high school. I was hooked because I was curious to see how they reached that point!

I love that Ding Xian and Zhou Si Yue are deskmates who, after getting off to a slightly prickly start, soon become close friends who care about each other. Although Zhou Si Yue is a genius, he is not the cold type, and Ding Xian isn't hopeless at school. She's actually smart, studies hard, and very determined to prove herself. Thankfully, this isn't the kind of drama where the girl pines after the guy for 95% of the drama! During their high school years, this drama does a great job of balancing the stress of school and the impending gaokao and the growing friendship between Ding Xian and Zhou Si Yue. There are some frustrating moments, but it's due to relatable insecurities and especially Ding Xian's personality. She herself admits to these weaknesses at one point, and it's definitely difficult to change a habit. There is a brief angsty period in their college years but they both needed to grow. I saw some comments about how nice it was to see Zhou Si Yue crying on screen and showing vulnerability, and I totally agree! It felt realistic to see these moments shown.

Ding Xian and Zhou Si Yue's friends were lovely characters, especially Song Zi Qi and Kong Sha Di from their high school years. Their tight-knit group was so cute. This drama doesn't have any annoying villains - there are a few characters that are somewhat villains but they only have a few scenes so it's not stressful! I initially really liked Su Bo Cong's character but was disappointed with the direction the writers took later on.

Overall, I enjoyed this a lot. 24 episodes was perfect. I'll especially be keeping an eye out for more of Chen Zhe Yuan's dramas.

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এত্ত সুন্দর একটা ড্রামা!

(সাবধান! আপনার যদি সামনে এইচএসসি, এসএসসি বা এডমিশনপরীক্ষাথাকে তবে এই ড্রামা এখনই দেখতে বসে যাবেন না!)
একটা চাইনিজ লাভার্স গ্রুপে রিভিউ পড়ে দেখতে গিয়েছিলাম।
দেখার পর ড্রামার প্রেমে পড়ে গেছি!
এত্ত সুন্দর!
এত্ত সুন্দর!!
এত্ত সুন্দর!!!

ভাই না দেখলে পুরাই মিস!
দুদিন পর আমার ফাইনাল এক্সাম, কিন্তু পড়া বাদ দিয়ে সারা রাত ড্রামা দেখে কাটালাম।
হিরো টা এত্ত কিউট! পুরাই কিউটের ডিব্বা!

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Pleasant enough vibe and premise, but awfully slow . . .

There's only one message to this show: young love has its benefits! It can motivate and mature and keep you safe and on track. Sure, this young love is wholesome, but it was also disappointingly standard: a driven, bit cold, good at everything male paired with an intelligent, lively, but in need of mentoring female.

On top of that, no progress has been made on the opening episode mystery. It really seemed the show was waiting until the last episodes to even address it. Sure, there is some underlying tension in how did we get from there to here? But, without any themes or conflicts or originality, the drive to finish this series waned. Time to drop.

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This show was so cute! Not a typical cliche of high school drama

To be honest the all the characters were played so well. Both the female lead and the male lead were so beautiful. The drama has a great start, from the beginning it will tie all the watchers to it. It was really difficult for me to wait for new episodes because they took like a week to release new episodes and one more week to generate subs. For the people who are going to watch this after all the episodes are released I bet u can finish this show within 12hrs.
I really like how male lead and female lead were always fond of each other especially female lead. Both of them are so adorable.
This is a must watch show.
please do watch.

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It’s ight…

I haven’t finished the whole thing yet but I thought I would knock this review out the way since I’m almost done. They are seriously starting to drag the show now. As soon as the FL hits university (literally the same day) is when all boring hell breaks loose. Like I get they wanted the show to have a certain number of episodes, but did they have to do it this way? The high school part of this drama was so cute and airy feeling, like they executed it very well and everyone was always happy go lucky and doing relatively fine together! Now it’s just endless drama after drama and unnecessary battles that could have all been avoided! The worst being these two could have been together 5 episodes ago yet they wanted to play all these games to make it longer when it just made me want to stop watching all together. Like the whole ML completely ignoring and being mean to the FL because his family was in an unpredictable, unavoidable situation really pissed me off for real! All they had to do was talk it out!! I’ve come this far so I have to finish it, but I’m a little disappointed with their university years, not gonna lie! It’s a good watch if you need a filler drama to find something else tho cause the first like 15 episodes were phenomenal EXCEPT FOR HER DUMBASS MOM!!! I hated that woman, but I’m not even gonna comment about her cause I WILL go on and on about how terrible of a mother she was!!!

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Comme un petit bonbon plein de douceurs

J'ai appris une leçon au fil de mes aventures dramalesque : regarder les romances modernes chinoises lorsqu'elles sont terminées (ou presque) surtout si le synopsis ne me fait pas de grandes promesses ou ne tire pas son épingle du jeu (oui, on peut dire que je ne regarde les romances chinoises qu'après diffusion). Si je pouvais avoir autant de retenue lorsqu'il s'agit de drames historiques... *soupire* De plus, Our Secret ne possède que 24 épisodes ce qui est plus que raisonnable pour la romance chinoise qui est habituée au format des 40 épisodes si ce n'est plus.

On démarre avec Ding Xian a l'université avant de repartir en arrière, au collège. Ainsi, on découvre comment Zhou Si Yue et Dong Xian se sont rencontrés, pourquoi ils ne s'appréciaient pas et comment ils sont tombés amoureux. De fil en aiguille on nous montre tout et peut-être qu'on nous en montre un peu trop sur la période collège/lycée. Le public visé est clairement adolescent et je n'en suis plus une. Est-ce que c'était complètement ennuyeux pour autant ? Pas du tout. J'ai vraiment apprécié ce moment. Comme dit plus haut, c'est une vraie douceur.
On est sur relation (très) lente. Sur 24 épisodes, ils commencent à se fréquenter qu'à partir de l'épisode 21. La partie collège/lycée étant vraiment longue, ils ne deviennent un couple que très tard dans la série. Les plus impatients auront peut-être du mal. Tout comme les plus amateurs de peau. Quelques baisers très brefs (mais mignons). Il est évident que le scénario est plus axé sur les interactions avec quelques douceurs, mais sans jamais franchir la limite.

Les acteurs sont bons. Chen Zhe Yuan possède "ce" truc qui lui permet de dégager une aura différence de tous les autres ML de drame similaire. Quant à Xu Meng Jie (ou Rainbow Xu), on sent qu'elle a moins d'expérience, mais elle s'en sort bien. Cependant, sa voix boudeuse pourra de temps en temps irriter plus qu'autre chose. Les personnages secondaires sont également superbes avec une belle amitié entre tous.

En réalité, y'a pas grand chose à dire. Pour moi, le drame offre de la douceur, de la niaiserie (oui, j'ai de temps en temps fais mon petit bruit de bestiole heureuse). Our Secret était comme mon petit bonbon du soir. Parfois, certains drames sonnent comme si vous alliez tout détester. Mais pour une raison inconnue, ils donnent juste une sensation confortable et dans lequel on aime se perdre.

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A MUST WATCH!!

I started this drama since it was one of the latest dramas and high school romance. I like this kind of troop but I generally don't have many expectations from such dramas. However, this one really blew my mind. It's a kind of drama that will make you laugh, cry and feel all the emotions that you have left behind. It will remind your crush in college and the non-existent love life.
The sweet scenes will make you feel butterflies in your stomach. They're not too sweet but enough to make you swoon over the characters. If I have to relate it to other dramas, it's like a mix of with you and loves so beautiful. The twist is, the FL is intelligent, hardworking, and introvert here, whereas ML is a genius as always but an outgoing one. Their contrasting personalities were the main reason why this drama felt, even more, real and interesting.

Acting: For me, it's very rare to find actors who are not overly dramatic in Chinese dramas. However, the actors in this drama were just amazing, their acting and expressions were befitting the character and even the supporting characters were doing good. Considering how a rainbow is relatively new in the acting field and only has a few works before this, she really did well. She played a quiet, introverted girl character, whose smart and shows her growth. And for the ML, he made me cry many times. His expressions are just gold. His eyes are so expressive that even when he isn't saying anything, you can feel what's going on in his head.

Story: It started as any normal high school drama for me. It was just like With you, it has the same kind of theme as well. High school romance with the value of friendship and love. However, the actors made a great impact on me here. Also, the situations they have shown were rather relatable to me. The way they changed and how different circumstances made them separate from each other. However, in this case, Ding Xian's persistence really did impact their relationship, if not for her, I think it will be ZS to go back to her.

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Started well but dragged just after some episodes

Considering this show has such high rating I was really hoping for some good story with relatable or even if not relatable, characters who act with some reason.
Within 10 episodes story got repeated . ML not happy that FL doesn’t speak her mind. First for other girls gifts second for changing desk.
FL whining that she can’t speak or can’t adjust!! At some point it was all repetitive and ML really changing stream from science to arts !! Like really ?? She won’t die not even suffer if she is in different class for that matter. That was my last straw. Teenagers are sometime impulsive so if they showed either his parents or teachers or FL making him realise that’s not good but instead it was showed as if it’s romantic. What are the makers showing in these dramas !!

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Tricky one

I know this drama received lot of positive reviews but I feel for only me personally what has let this down is how it executives the youth style drama because youth dramas for me has been done to death with the standardove triangles, group of friends, multiple couples, Smart male lead & unintelligent normal female lead. I have seen too many of what they aired in previous youth dramas hence dropped it.

For me it just loses points because I have seen this all before & Chen Zheyuan has 2 more upcoming youth dramas with Shen Yue & Zhao Lusi.

Did I like the characters? Yes, I am prepared to give each more chances with other Dramas. The support cast I felt little prescense.

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too short! i will never move on from this series.

I'm only in episode 13 but so far I loved every bit of this series. I love the cast, ding xian is soooo adorable. The ml is so good looking oh my lord, i love the side characters so in short I love this series so much. Actually, I don't really like these type of series but I guess I love them now! boy I regret saying that in the past 😭😭 This series made me feel nostalgic about high school and made me want to experience it again. if ever i finished this, I will never get to move on, The story was perfect, I got hooked on to it from the first episode to last but they should've made it longer 😭😭


The cast was perfect, the chemistry between the leads is so good, and also the other couples too.

The plot is not unique but still I loved it. I'd say i would rewatch this a lot in the future until I get bored lol

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