If you like to watch romance drama, this for you. Zhao Lu Si alone is enough reason to watch this. She is always cue to watch. She is not the most talented actress there are, but somehow she can glue me to the screen with her expression and cuteness. Other than that, this drama is also simple, easy to follow and quite predictable. But with only 24 episodes of cutie2 screen between ZLS and the Male Lead, it's quite worthy of your time investment. I watched this after a 73 episode of Story of Ming Lan that is full of intrigues and bickering, so this feels like a breeze to me. This is not the best at all, or even good I would say. But this is refreshing. I like the comic or anime parts of the drama. The OST is also good, I added a couple of the songs to my playlist.

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I surived the 73 episodes!

This is one of the longest drama that I've watched. I survived 73 episodes of this!. Well, I've seen Ruyi's Royal Love in The Palace with 87 episodes, and Story of Yanxi with 70 episodes. So this is definitely not for those who can't sit through anything longer than 40 episodes ( or less), which is the current norm in c-drama land. What I like about these long dramas are the character development. These tend to have a gazillion of characters that seem unimportant or like a filler to extend the episodes. However, if the storytelling is right, like these three dramas, these miniscule characters have their role in the grander scheme of things. So you have to pay attention to these lowly characters.

Storytelling is the key for these dramas. I have sat through dramas that are much shorter, but felt so much worse, because of bad storytelling and you can't feel the character development. The Story of Ming Lan was done quite well in terms of storytelling. We get to see the journey from when she was a little girl to the intelligent and well brought up lady she is at the end of the drama.

The reason I didn't give this a higher rating is because the middle part is draggy (unlike Yanxi which is consistently good throughout the drama). But it picks up in the last 15-20 episodes. The first part is really good and they cut the episodes really well, so you're curious to go watch the next one. The same goes for the last 20 episodes. You can't help but keep watching.

The cast and characters are majority good ones, a combination of older and younger actors, but they played their characters well. I thought Zhao Li Ying did really well in portraying Ming Lan. Her expression and acting are on point. I also love the chemistry between her and Feng Shao Feng. Zhu Yi Long, i thought did really well too.

If you like slice of life drama in a historical setting, you would enjoy this and won't mind the number of episodes of watching family bickering :)

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This unexpectedly becomes one of my favorite

To comply with the government regulation, Love Like A Galaxy is divided into two parts, to keep episodes below 40. The total episodes for the whole parts is 56. I'm glad they did not just cut here and there to keep the drama to just 40 episodes. It would not be as good otherwise. They divided the drama really well. Part 1 deals mostly with the character introductions and background. You get to see some character development, especially the FL and ML. Cheng Shao Shang started out as a rebellious girl that was left by her parents since she was a baby, to the care of her "evil-lish", annoying, materialistic, selfish grandmother and second aunt. The first part is about Shao Shang's life outside of the palace, and more about her family. This is an unexpectedly good drama, one that i will put on my favorites and will re-watch in the future, time permitted.

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I came across this drama after watching A River Runs Through It. This has similar vibe and story with ARRTI, but for me this falls short from the middle part to the end. When We Were Young and A River... are nostalgic drama, reminded me of when I was young and back in high school. This is a light and easy drama to follow. There are some funny moments and heart wrenching moments, especially Hua Biao's grandmother storyline. However, the characters are not as interesting as ARRTI. If you like this kind of drama and only has time to watch one of them, I would recommend watching A River Runs Through It instead.

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This is a story of monkey love and/or crush and friendship. I enjoyed watching coming of age stories like this. I love watching the character grows and move on in their life. This drama feels more realistic, as we all have that monkey love when we were in school and some grow out of it, some keep it until graduation. Who we ended up with is usually not the one we have the crush with. I like the relationship and chemistry between Xia Xiao Ju and Lu Shi Yi. I think the best kind of romantic relationship is being with your best friend, since you don't have to pretend to be someone else when you're with him. Shi Yi started off like a jerk, but he grew on me and he really cared about Xiao Ju. He just has his own way of showing it. I was rooting for Xiao Ju to be with Shi Yi and not Cheng Lang. The supporting characters are also interesting. It breaks my heart when Huang Jun sang that last song to Le Tao. I can feel their pain and sadness. Lin You is my least favorite character. She is annoying with that annoying voice. I can't stand it whenever she appears on my screen. Unfortunately I was not one that skips scene. Her voice seemed fake and dubbed. Overall, I really like this drama. It is light, heartwarming, and there are many funny moments.

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I asked myself why did I started watching this drama. (I never leave dramas unfinished. If it's bad, i just glance at it once in a while and keep it playing as a background sound while doing other things). This drama has the worst female character and lead I've ever watched! She is whiny, annoying and (pardon me) not good looking or attractive with bad acting. I regret clicking this drama in the first place. I thought it was a short and interesting and easy drama to watch, but it was excruciatingly painful just to watch the female lead LoL. The only good thing about this drama is its short episodes. But in my opinion, short episodes don't work well for costume dramas. They need screen time to build characters and to get me to get to know them and their story. Short episodes make me loose the story most of the time and failed to understand the characters' background. Not recommended

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I like to watch slice of life stories in between period dramas. Nowadays there are many slice of life c-drama that depicts strong, independent woman. This is just one of them. Unlike Nothing But Thirty where the three main female characters are friends, Zhang Zhi Zhi, Li Si Yu, and Gu Xiao Ling are all related by family ties. Zhi Zhi is Si Yu's cousin and Xiao Ling is Si Yu's step sister. This however is not as good as Nothing But Thirty. The only interesting character for me is Zhang Zhi Zhi. She started out as this weak character, one who is boring and just focused on taking care of her husband and child. But since life has unexpected turn, I thought she shows that she is a strong and independent character by the way she handled her husband's promiscuity. Zhu Yi Long's character is the one I despised the most! He is annoying and thinks that he's so righteous and so annoyed that he tried to salvaged his relationship with the older shark lady after what she's done! I just want to smash my screen! So irritating LoL. Overall, this was just an okay drama. One that I would gladly put at the bottom of the list and not watch again nor recommend.

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Beyond my expectation

This drama is beyond my expectation. At first, i'm like many people comparing this drama to Eternal Love or 10 miles peach blossom. This drama is in no way a sequel or a prequel to Eternal Love. There are of course similarities, such as the formula (deity and human world) and the realm and setting of the drama. But the story and characters are different. Love and Destiny in my opinion can be a classic story, that I will watch again in the future, time permitted. It's a sad and classic love story. The middle part (human world) is a bit slow, but it continues to pick up after that. Ni Ni is a great actress. I've watched her in Rise of The Phoenix as well and she did excellent acting in both dramas. I thought she and Chang Chen made a great couple in this drama. The couple are reunited in Gucci's latest campaign. The supporting characters in this drama are also interesting. I like watching their storyline. The drama albeit some sad moments are also filled with comedy moments that made me laughing so loud. If you like Xian Xia dramas, this is a classic must watch in my opinion.

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Story about strong women

This drama is one of the favorites that I've watched this year (2023). I enjoy watching slice of life drama and especially one that deals with real and difficult issues. This drama is one that deals with real life issues such as infidelity, divorce, workplace and business competition. The characters feel real and the actors played them really well. The three main female characters are all strong women, but I particularly like Gu Jia. She's the strongest of them all I think.

SPOILER ALERT!
Throughout the drama you get to see character developments for the main characters. Zhong Xiao Qin started out as a dependent and rather spoiled, a people pleaser that cannot survive on her own. She always has her parents and her husband to guide her through life. But she became a strong women after the divorce and can stand up for herself. Wang Man Ni's character development is not too significant in my opinion. She is already a strong, independent woman and she's my least favorite character. Gu Jia, now she is my favorite. I love her character. She can be soft but strong at the same time. In the beginning, I thought she's just a boring upper middle income housewife with a kid and adoring husband. But as you progressed, you get to see that she's actually the one that works hard for her family and she's one that will not hesitate to give the harsh truth to the friends to get them to wake up and move on from the problems. I like her! I thought she's the one that has it all and will have the happy ending. But her life was turned upside down when a home-wrecker chased her husband. But, She handled the husband's infidelity in an elegant way. She is the strongest of them all.

I like to see the friendship between these three women. And it's also interesting to see how life in a big city like Shanghai is. The struggles that you have to endure to live in Shanghai (there's a part of the story where Man Ni returns to her hometown and there, everybody is friendly and know everybody and always ready with a helping hand, a contrast with life in Shanghai).

There is a silent family at the end of each episode that I also like. I think the main idea of this family is to show that it's simple life that brings happiness and wealth and more money comes with its problems.

I think this drama is excellent and would definitely recommend it if you like slice of life stories.

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We probably all have at least one sweet crush when we were young. Some materialized into a relationship, some might just be that one crush that you wish likes you back. Hidden Love is about that one sweet crush when you were little. Watching this show sort of brings back memories to when you were a little girl and has that butterfly in your stomach feeling every time this person is near, but he may not know you exist of have the same feeling as you. I was smiling and blushing at the same time at some of the scenes. This is one "feel good" drama that I really enjoyed. It has no major conflict, it's just a simple and sweet romance drama. I thought Zhao Lusi suited this role and played it well. She can be a spoiled brat and sweet at the same time. If you like fluffy romance that makes your heart flutters, you should definitely watch this drama.

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What I like about Chinese costume drama (xian xia specifically) is that it defies the standard of good and evil. Black is not always evil and white is not always good. In many cases, the “good” one can be more villain than the villain itself, just covering themselves with white colored clothes that are usually associated with good. While the ones who wore all black clothes can be a good person. They are just assumed evil because they wear all black clothes.

Okay, back to the drama. This is a good forbidden love story. I was initially annoyed with Esther Yu because she sounded like those annoying female that is weak, needy and clingy. But she’s proven her acting throughout the drama. She can be serious, she can be fierce; she just has that annoying tone of voice, but she’s okay. Dylan Wang is excellent in this drama. I’ve become a hardcore fans of Dylan. I thought he portrayed Dong Fang Qing Cang really well. I can see his emotions and feel his pain and sorrow (and joy too). The character is a conflicted soul and he played that well. The series I thought have minimal boring moments. The pace is well and I enjoyed the story of the different supporting characters as well. There are also some funny moments between the two main characters. The OST is great! I love most of the songs in this drama and immediately added them to my listening rotation.

If you like Xian Xia, I would definitely recommend you to watch this drama. Hopefully you will end up liking this as much as I do. This is one of the ones where moving on from the main characters are difficult for me. This is definitely on my rewatch list if time permits. God knows i have a long to watch list that just gets longer and longer :)

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This is a hidden gem! I actually watched the movie version first on United Airlines and it’s the sequel as the timeline starts after the series ends. So I kinda already know who the characters ended up with in the series. I liked the movie so I quickly looked for the series and started watching. This is an easy watch, only 20 episodes and each episode is only about 30-35 minutes, some are even only 25 minutes (i’m not counting the ending theme which runs for close to 3 minutes). This is a story about life, about family, friendship and career. This is a breath of fresh air for me. The title has romance on it but this is not your typical romance story. If you’re expecting something sweet and romance-y, i would suggest you turn your attention elsewhere. This is not your cup of tea. The romance is more “real”, not fairytale kinda romance What i like about this drama is that it depicts real life and the characters deal with daily problems that we all face. The female characters are strong, even the weakest one (Fang Xin) is in my opinion a somewhat strong female character. I am a fan of these kinds of drama, and really enjoyed it.

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