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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A Drama for Working People :) Has its good and bad points

Well, at first it was hard to understand, especially since I'm not familiar with the internal happenings in the "entertainment" or "content production" and "IT" industry. So it was a bit of a challenge to relate to them specifically in that aspect. But putting the specifics aside, the working environment was relatable as an office worker myself. The struggles of proving yourself, adapting to several people, the politics, the betrayals and also the friendship, teamwork and mentoring among colleagues. Also, they touched the aspect of traditional Chinese families which I am also part of - protective parents, parents who obviously care for your sibling more than you, parents who have planned your life for you. The growth of the leads' romance was also nice - they were not too cheesy, and the relationship was somehow serious and more stable, compared to other romance dramas. There's also the realistic insecurity among couples, which I see in person among my friends, and also one of the reasons I find personal commitments like this challenging. I love how they still loved each other even after breaking up.

Just a few things that I didn't appreciate much was some characters disappeared like bubbles without proper closure to their story. XiaoWen disappeared early on and came back at the last ep. The previous people from Yo - CEO, Qin, Yin, Hui, Wu - disappeared after the fraud case and changing CEOs. The roommates, Shen Ying and husband were MIA and only appeared at the last ep also. I understand that they were not shown since they're not spending time with XiaoXiao anymore, but would have appreciated more proper "closures" or ending scenes for them. Also, why was the storyline of the sick kid at the latter part, felt like it was not the right timing for that plot, when you're 4eps away from the ending.

Note: I was heartbroken for a minute when I thought that DuanChong had a new family in the end. But turns out, he didn't and he lived happily ever after with Xiao! Yey! Also I loved the part when XiaoXiao had period cramps and she was barely surviving in the office, because that's me every month LOL!

Conclusion: this is not a drama for people who want romance only. it's about 75% work and 25% romance, so viewers who are exposed to the working environment would better understand the drama.

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Maybe not everyone's cup of tea, but it is mine

okay, I've seen the bad reviews for this drama but in my opinion, it needs some redemption... though I might get negative reactions with this review. But honestly, it's not a bad drama AT ALL! I've seen worse than this.
It's not so bad as reviewed by other watchers, I guess it's just a difference in preferences.

on their acting - I see most as describing their acting as bland and expressionless, but I think it's just that their characters have went through a lot to remain lively. Personally, I don't think they are "expressionless", and are just portraying how a "commoner/non celebrity" would react on a daily basis, cause I myself don't talk animatedly. Maybe their characters' MBTI are both "I" so they are more serious than other dramas' characters. Also, maybe because their characters are supposed to be classy, that's why they should look prim and proper (I doubt that you could see lively expressions from the Queen and the Royal Family on their daily lives). Honestly, I hate very animated acting, it feels exaggerated and over the top, and I won't be able to connect to the drama much since those kind of acting feels fake on the onset. I don't know any non-celebrity people who have that kind of lively and animated expressions. And the acting does not have to be in their facial expressions, but should be felt through their eyes, and watching them for 16 episodes, I saw happiness, sadness, hurt and love through their eyes, which is why i cried with them (leads, and the supporting characters). So in my opinion, their acting was "real life".

on their fashion - I noticed that this drama was in close collaboration with Esteem (a highly commended fashion agency in South Korea which has most of the top models) so I doubt that this fashion drama "has no fashion sense" like what others said. Fashion doesn't need to be extravagant, and could be simple and classy, like Sono's design. I think the image of Sono was more the prim and proper, simple and dressed down ladies.

on the story - Okay I know the confusion from the title, but I think they were being poetical with it. Like we should be breaking up since it's the right thing to do, yet our hearts tell that we should still go ahead and be in love. So while in the process of "breaking up" we stay in love, meaning there's no actual breakup at all, cause we can't let go of each other. On how it's possible to fall in love with brothers, I don't think it's the first drama in history that went that road. East of Eden (SKorea) sort of had a brother story, Scarlet Heart (China and SKorea) had the same, Fox's Romance (China), Tayong Dalawa (Philippines), Sand Princess (Thailand), and I'm sure there's more. And the attraction started way before knowing the connection with the brother, so I'm assuming it is possible to happen in a DRAMA. That's what fiction can bring to the table, more of listening to the heart than the mind.

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Nice Drama for Self Empowerment, I think

Hmmm, it started nicely, or perfectly I might say. It's one drama that anyone can easily relate to, not that fairy tale story that's possible to happen to any normal being once in a blue moon.
I liked how the female lead developed through time, not just in appearance, knowledge, social skills.. you won't notice that much it as you watch since she progressed bit by bit. But as you think back on the previous episodes while you're watching episode 30+, then you'd realize how she had improved herself. Though it was weird that supporting characters had the same hairstyle for 10 years haha
The production and story was well distributed across the 10 year storyline (except the end), the development of friendship, their issues with one another and the emotions/feelings of the characters was well portrayed.
But downside was for the last few episodes, while I was already on the 38th episode, I kept on thinking how can they fit the rest of the story for only 4 episodes? It's the 38th episode and the two leads have yet to admit their feelings and be in an OFFICIAL relationship. So you get less than 2 episodes of them being a couple, which some might say would be enough since their story started when they were friends and "love" could not be gauged with the number of days a couple has been together, or that their memories together is worth more than counting the days of a labelled relationship. But it just feels like something's missing. Also with the sudden turn of relationship of WeiWei and YeHui... (one day he despises the idea of being a couple with WeiWei, then one day he loves her so much already) just felt superficial for some reason.
But all in all, I don't regret spending more than 40hours on this drama. It's decent and the fact that it made me cry a few times, it deserves positive feedback :D

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One of the most memorable dramas I've watched.

At first, I was skeptical to watch the drama since I barely have heard of the lead actress (which is one of the ways I assess on whether to watch a drama or not - based on the cast). Didn't watch the drama when it aired, until now. For some reason, it popped on my YT feed and I am not regretful at all that I checked it out since it's one of the most memorable dramas I've watched. I've always liked dramas which would make me cry and Yanxi Palace is my ultimate favorite, and this might have entered my top 5 Chinese dramas.
Star crossed lovers - check. Political warfare - check. Romantic scenes - check. Heartbreaking scenes - check. And my God, the acting, Great acting - check. The way Cheng Yi just acts with his eyes, just brings my heart to tears. Everytime the camera zooms in on their eyes with those tears threatening to fall, oh I reach for my tissues right away (well some are sentimental heart fluttering eyes, but mostly teary eyes, anyways I applaud the actors and the director for this). Really made me go gaga over Cheng Yi because of this.
There are a few things I really liked about this drama:
1. The growth of the main characters from naughty youth to powerful people with grace. It's just wonderful how the character developments were staged. The interlocking of their characters, the backstory of each, including supporting characters all were well written in my opinion
2. Antagonists had justified reasons of being bad - well most of them like Yu Ying, Qi Han, Cheng Rui, Wan Yin. They had humanity in them. The only real bad person I think was 4th Prince who had to die in a boring way thru heart attack.
3. The supporting angels - I love that there were quite a few characters who subtly were supporting MingYu and ChengXu (other than their usual confidants), like 2nd brother and his sons, Li Nanny, He Shao Yong (though last eps only).
4. The purest heart of ChengXu was the most heartwarming in this drama. I've seen a lot of star crossed lovers who eventually had to sacrifice their love for the betterment of the country - FuHeng, Han Derang, LuBuwei to name a few (because a few people could not even obey the Bro Code). But the winner of them all was ChengXu since it's not only love that he sacrificed, but also his empire. How much of a sacrifice can one do, really, might as well just give up on your own life. 虐, that's all to describe ChengXu's life. One might think that the world was too harsh on him, but the way he tried to be strong in the hopes of realizing a happy ending was both heartbreaking and heartwarming. It hurts because we all know that it won't happen, but also warm because of his constant hope and the lesson taught on what's important in life.
But also there's a few I didn't like
1. How late it was for QiYuan to realize his wrongdoings despite being a grown child. He could have seen it earlier that ChengXu was sincere and did treat him like his own child.
2. How the two leads did not get the ending they deserved. I mean, why couldn't they be happy in the end, we've cried too much already, and the drama had to kill every relevant person except MingYu and ZhenEr. Maybe if QiYuan and RuoXuan had instead realized the unfinished story of MingYu and ChengXu.
So in conclusion, I cried a lot this time (my eyes are puffy while writing this) and has definitely logged this drama as one of my fave, and Cheng Yi as one of my fave actors officially. I will rewatch this but maybe only the scenes I love of MingYu and ChengXu which is quite a lot now that I think about it.
Quite excited about Stand By Me though it's another martyr drama for Cheng Yi

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generally, it's a good watch

basically, I like melodramas that make me cry, and so far it has done its job of making me cry. But same with the other reviews, one of the disappointing things is why they had to kill of Zhang Yun Long/Zhen Rong (one of my celebrity crushes, btw), who's supposed to be one of the main casts but had died at I think it was ep.7 (I literally bawled at his death, omg). I know that has been the plot of the drama ever since, but just feels surreal that it happened too fast.
Then, I really couldn't point out when exactly YuZheng fell in love, maybe it was at the bar when she cried and threw up in his car, but it just happened suddenly again. And also, I expected them to be a little apologetic towards Zhen Rong that they fell for each other, since it's kinda against "Bro Code" even if he's dead. But no mention of Zhen Rong after they had gotten together... which I felt weird about. I know it's not bad to fall in love, but I was just looking for that hesitation to be more emotional, hehe. Also felt weird that Zhen Rong was kinda easily replaced by Shang Guan as his best friend.
At the start, I was hoping she won't fall hard for Shawn, but with his efforts, I also fell for Shawn's character. It made me think deeply, who was the better boyfriend between Zhen Rong and YuZheng. Zhen Rong really made me flutter during the less than 10 episodes he was on.
Story was all good until they had issues with their "busy schedules", which I didn't buy. To think that they've crossed all odds together, then they won't have time for each other with his business revenge plot and her fear/insecurity of being in a higher social class, it was just too unjustified issue to cause misunderstandings. But they overcame it, so I'm fine with that.
But one thing I really liked about this story is that I don't recall any character of being a total bad person. If correct, all antagonists in the story all were given chances to lead better lives, so I felt good about that.

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hmmmmm, something wrong with FL's decision making skills

was totally liking the first half, until ep 11 happened.... how could Soo beat all those efforts of Joonsoo? Logic vs Emotions... :( started this thinking that dongjun would at least be "treated fairly", but only saw his character being truly happy in only 1 episode... but i like the secondary couple younghee-hyunjae, i think that their relationship is wonderful even if with ups and downs.. agree with some comments that FL had no pride, but not sure if her "so called love for soo" justify those decisions... i usually rate dramas based on how they made me cry, and 2 out of 3 times I cried was for younghee-hyunjae couple... the other time was when wooyeon hugged joonsoo after namsan...

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short but strong message

First off, I really like to commend Zhou Yutong on her acting, she's a really good actress and I hope she gets more good projects like this where she can show off her skills.
Couldn't actually believe that i reached for tissues a lot more than its number of episodes. Thanks for making my 2 weekends full of tears.
I have read the synopsis before watching it, but didn't expect JingJing to pass immediately, so I was heartbroken at once. How the remaining three friends overcame and stood throughout was really wonderful. They had their ups and downs but they worked through it. Made me really wish for friends like that and got me wondering if my friends now are close knit enough to live life like the characters. I regretted my life a lot while I watched the show, I feel that I should have been more sociable as a child/teen, especially now that my parents are quite old, and I don't have any real close people I can depend on.
There were aspects I didn't like but that was part of the story - Yan's shopaholic attitude and the ending of her relationship. But overall, I am happy for their love lives, whether they ended with someone or just happily living alone. To be honest, I got scared at the last episode when QiaoQiao and Jian YiFan were teary eyed, I was scared that they might abruptly end things with their expressions, but thankfully, they didn't
If only the series was a little longer, it seems that 12 episodes are a bit short for a drama as good as this. But when I think about how they could have lengthened the storyline, I really couldn't think of another way to end it. So I have accepted the fact that the series ended perfect as it is. and I love the ending scene at the Great Wall, very nice way to mark their lives in Beijing.

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