I wish I could split my review in half. Because for the first half of the show, I'd give a 10 , it was just beautiful. Beautiful character introduction and development, good world building, beautiful couple developing (especially between the second leads) and very interesting story line (including a crazy villain who was still fun to watch )

And then it just feels like they abandoned it all for the sake of action. Yes there were some pretty surprising plot twists and great action sequences, but I was honestly more drawn in and captivated by the first half, than the second.

It's tricky to write a review without giving away too much. But I really wanted to see how these for 4 boys overcame their individual insecurities and fears and learned how to cope in the real world. There were some hints and then the "summary of where they ended up" at the end but it felt a bit lacklustre.

I started watching this show because of the SML as I was impressed by him in Maiden Holmes. And I wonder if the screenwriters were counting on his popularity to draw viewers into this Idol drama. Because for the first half of the show, the SML (Xu Nian) had so much screen time, and so much time was spent on explaining his character and building of his relationship with the SFL - and both acted this marvelously. They were the main reason I kept watching.

And then the action plot hit and everything else got sidelined (what happened to the SFL's financial and business worries for example??).

Don't get me wrong, this drama is still well worth watching!! It just makes me sad when a good story line doesn't get followed through.