Kiseki: Dear to Me is a lovely little drama that I found thoroughly enjoyable. While not without its faults, it largely makes up for them with an eclectic group of characters, a decently told story, good music, and some excellent acting. It does get a little bit busy and would have benefitted from a more streamlined and cohesive plot, but it's not to the point of being unwatchable. It thoroughly drew me in and I have zero regrets after watching it.

In it's simplest form, this is an enemies to lovers story but the premise is unique enough that it doesn't feel totally cliche. Bai Zong Yi is a studious, rather grumpy student whose life is upended when the charismatic and mischievous gangster Fan Ze Rui blackmails him into taking him in and treating his wounds. There's no sense that one has more power than the other and that contributes to the interest and entertainment as the two learn to live together and eventually fall in love. I appreciated that the time frame was made clear. There's no question of whether a scene is past, present, or future. It begins in the present with a short little scene and then jumps to four years previously in 2019 and carries on from there. However, there's a lot going on and while the developing romance between Zong Yi and Ze Rui takes the front, there's also the ongoing fighting with a rival gang and trying to sniff out drug dealers at the local school. It's a lot to pack in and the story suffers for it. A decent amount could have been condensed or cut completely to allow more time for character development, providing more detailed information and world building, or giving more time to the episodes set in the present. For example, it would have been nice to have a more clear understanding of the gangs and how they worked. Things jump forward four years after Episode 8 and while I don't generally like time jumps, I understand the necessity of this one. Now set in the present day, the story becomes more, not less convoluted. There's not much time to get everything wrapped up and some things are left hanging. The memory aspect was a big one for me. Both Zong Yi and Ze Rui suffer brain injuries, but with Ze Rui it's unclear if he truly lost his memory for a period of time or if he was just faking it the entire time. With Zong Yi, he suffered short term memory impairment which was not explored or well explained. He uses a notebook to jot down important events, but it doesn't seem to effect his life too much and is largely forgettable. There are also some irritating moments where dramatic or misleading things happen but turn out to be nothing. Two primary examples would be when Chen Yi got shot and that served as a cliffhanger but was ultimately nothing and the last episode where an attempt is made to trick the audience into thinking Ze Rui has died. Both instances were cheap and unnecessary. The pacing was all over the place, but generally felt rushed. Again, just trying to fit in way too much. Particularly towards the end, there were a lot of moving parts and scenes that should have held significance weren't given the time they deserved. There needed to be a better balance between episodes focused on the past and then the present and that just wasn't there.

I am generally not a fan of romances between adults and minors. There's too much room for the adult to take advantage of the minor and manipulate them. However, I was less bothered here because there was an element that it was necessary to the story. Also Zong Yi was seventeen and while he did have some young, impulsive moments, his feelings for Ze Rui did not feel impulsive and their love did feel genuine. And Ze Rui did have clear moments of conflict and he did try to create distance. All of that combined evened things out for me. I know the teacher/student aspect bothered a number of people, but personally, due to the nature of the circumstances surrounding it, I didn't have an issue with it.

The character development was pretty decent and was certainly present. Not as much with the main leads as I would have thought though, at least not positively. I did find the second couple of Ai Di and Chen Yi to be more interesting and satisfying to watch. The largest issue with the characters was an overabundance of them. There were too many side characters and relatively insignificant characters to try to keep track of.
-Zong Yi starts out grouchy and closed off, but once he falls in love with Ze Rui, it's like he has a personality transplant and is suddenly largely kind and gentle. While he has a few grumpy moments, they seem largely for show. I would have preferred a more gradual change to his character and I would have liked to see him retain some of his original characteristics rather than becoming a whole new person. He's also a little too perfect. Aside from the last episode when he's pissed that Ze Rui didn't think of him when he was stabbed, he doesn't express any anger or resentment towards him for what happened in the past. That felt unrealistic. He should have felt something other than regret that he couldn't protect them both.
-Ze Rui remained largely the same throughout. While he expresses guilt and regret for what happened in the past with Zong Yi, he doesn't appear to really change. He's still a manipulative person but he has a good heart. Frankly, I thought he got off way too easy. Zong Yi suffered a lot because of him, from serving jail time to having permanent brain damage that dashed his dreams of becoming a doctor. Ze Rui didn't apparently suffer any permanent damage from his head injury and aside from being stabbed by Zhang Teng's sister which doesn't seem to actually be that serious, there are no consequences.
- Ai Di in particular was a delight and hands down my favorite character. He was small but mighty and I loved his attitude. He was fiercely loyal to his friends and to Chen Yi, who he'd been in love with for years. Forced to play second fiddle, he nonetheless stays by Chen Yi's side to help him even sacrificing himself to protect him and do what's necessary after Zong Yi is injured in prison. What's so great about him is that he does grow and develop, yet he remains true to himself. There's never any doubt that he is Ai Di.
-Chen Yi starts out in love with one of the gang's bosses and only becomes aware of Ai Di's feelings when he and Ai Di sleep together after he's been drinking. He also discovers the birthday presents Ai Di had gotten for him over the years and eventually comes to realize both Ai Di's and his own feelings. His attempts in the present to win over Ai Di are both humorous and adorable. Once they get together, it's like nothing's changed and yet everything has changed. Their dynamic is the same, but they're obviously in love. They balance each other out very nicely.
-The other characters were largely unimpressive. Although I did love Zong Yi's father and sister and how loving and supportive they were. Their interactions were so wholesome. The boss and his man were an interesting addition. We don't generally see older BL couples, so I appreciated that they were included from that perspective, however, they were not well utilized and they had so little screen time that they felt superfluous. Zhang Teng was a pretty boring villain. I didn't really find the lollipop to be off-putting, I just found him to be over the top and non-threatening. There needed to be more to him to make him feel like a viable threat. Even his history with Ze Rui felt incomplete and rushed. Suh Ning as his sister out for revenge was not a well developed plot point. It was obvious she was up to something, but there needed to be a greater buildup.

The acting was well done, but the undisputed star of the show was Louis as Ai Di. He was so committed to the role and he was a stand out in every way. He had great chemistry with Nat whose acting was more understated, but still good. Hsu and Taro were both pretty strong, though it was obvious at times that this was Taro's first role and he's still young and green. They both did a fair amount of acting with just their eyes and I was impressed with their chemistry, especially considering their 10 year age gap. I did enjoy the cameo of the actors from Be Loved In House. I keep hoping they'll get another series. And it was nice to see An Jun of HIStory 4 again. He had more than a cameo role and he did a good job. There was also a cameo from two of the actors of Plus & Minus, though I wasn't a fan of that drama so I had to go look them up to figure out why they looked familiar.

The production quality was a mixed bag for me. There were some really great transitions and cuts and then there were some pretty subpar ones. The lighting was sometimes too bring and other times bordering on too dark. There was just a general lack of consistency. I did like the costuming, particularly for Ai Di. The man was a style icon. I loved his unique look and how well it fit his character. The music was also good and worked well where used.

It's not perfect, but it's fun. It's not a drama you can look at too closely because once you do, things start to unravel. But if you just go with it, it's a great ride. This is definitely one I would recommend and one I will be rewatching in the future.