let's start with the tropes: #friendstolovers #slowburn #inlovewithotherpeople #themvstheworld #bickeringcouple #soulmates #eatingdisorder

this is probably the best youth show to come out this year. it is the most realistic and well-done representation of two people becoming best friends in the most organic way possible. you don't see this a lot, but this show really gives you true friendship without there ever being any romance involved at all (at first). the show has a really interesting narrative structure. it's such a unique experience to watch two people become acquainted, become close friends, and gradually care for & fall for each other in what almost feels like real time. the feelings that are portrayed appear more genuine as a result. i just felt like Kang Jia Wei and Xu Jing Jing's relationship was so sincere and innocent, that their connection was so strong and unbreakable, that they could overcome anything.

some plot lines did bore me, especially around the middle of the show. i didn't like that Kang Jia Wei realized his feelings for Xu Jing Jing way before she did so he kinda had to hang around her and Gao Zhan like a third wheel. those few episodes were tough to get through cause it sometimes felt like she didn't care about him or that their relationship had changed in nature. there were also a lot of times the show wasted screen time with irrelevant and quite boring plotlines regarding the side characters. seeing as the ending was rushed and lazy, i can't not think that those scenes were wasted.

i love Chinese dramas because they are often long and involve slow-burn relationships. if you like watching a relationship's development more than watching two people quickly become a couple and have intimate scenes every second, this show is for you. it's also important to mention that this is a Chinese high-school drama so the main couple doesn't really have skinship or intimate scenes like that. in fact, they only hugged like 2 times and there was one kiss at the very end of the show. but the development is so worth it.

in the end, i loved this show and i binge-watched it in like 3 days so clearly, i wasn't bored or turned off at any moment. however, the ending didn't do this show justice and damn near ruined a great show. i just wish that drama writers can get a grip and not be scared to actually resolve problems in their writing instead of using time jumps as a bandaid and hoping that will confuse things enough to justify whatever ending they choose to portray.

also very important is the fact that the main leads had insane chemistry. the kind i haven't seen in a long time. the scenes where they were bickering, reconciling, fighting, or being playful were all executed so well because the actors simply had great chemistry (and they are good actors obviously). they did it all. props to Zhai Zi Lu & Dai Lu Wa.

THE REST OF THIS REVIEW IS JUST MY RANT RE: THE ENDING -- don't read if you don't want spoilers

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the ending was lazy and rushed. i loved this show and the slow progression of the relationship between the main couple but they spent 29 episodes focusing on irrelevant plot points re: the side characters. Kang Jia Wei had the right to be mad at Xu Jing Jing for keeping his dad’s illness from him. he was really hurtful but i understood his perspective. i get that he just couldn’t face her for a while without thinking about what happened. but for how long? certainly not 4 years.

he fully abandons her, leaves the country, returns her gifts, returns his memories, half-ass apologizes in a letter, saying he doesn’t have the courage to face her even though he understands where she was coming from now and that he probably would have done the same thing for her. he leaves behind Xu Jing Jing, who is paying such a huge price for doing something she was basically forced to do. she loses her best friend before university exams. she still blames herself after 4 years because things never got settled. she still hasn’t moved on. she’s still waking up from dreams where he comes back to her. she still lives thinking that the perception of her is permanently altered in the mind of her best friend and that she will never live down the mistake of keeping the word she gave to a dying man. and then, what do they do?

Kang Jia Wei decides to come back to China on his own time. decides that things should go back to normal now. decides that it would be perfectly appropriate for him to face his former best friend who he abandoned, blocked, and never contacted for 4 years. i just can’t accept the fact that he blocked her lmao. you were so mad at her that you blocked her from communicating with you, not caring she might’ve been in need, or hurt, or just missing you? he didn’t just let her go, he also prevented her from being able to rely on his presence.

the ending is just so rushed and stupid that it pisses me off because this was such a great show. you can’t tell me i watched these two people become best friends in the most organic way i have ever seen on TV for them to do this shit at the end.
it’s annoying that with the way they ended it, we’re supposed to watch Kang Jia Wei have the audacity to come back, and pretend like he can be jealous of Xu Jing Jing, like he gets to care about her after not saying a word for 4 years. it’s just disingenuous and unlike him. i don't know. then he says, we can’t change the past but what do we do about the present? well, it’s not that simple. and his lame ass excuse doesn’t fix anything. i just think these two had such a strong bond that neither party would ever let this happen. i hate it when endings suck.

i thought the very ending scene was meaningful. it felt like they were given the chance to go back in time and fix their mistakes and give themselves a happy ending. but the thing is, it’s not real. they didn’t really fix anything. it’s just a bandaid. finally, i want to say that it was very disappointing that we never got to see them as a couple, doing couple things, & being in love. still, i’m happy to have watched their friendship blossom despite the underwhelming ending. it was just too stupid to accept as a “meh” ending.