In a variety of cliché modern Chinese dramas, there are very few that seek to tell the story of real individuals, one of them is this drama. Though not all of the events could be labeled as "realistic", most of them are. Remembrance of Things Past tries to remind us to become better humans, and to become considerate of those who are around us.

For a 12-episode drama, I admit it is quite slow-paced. It focuses on three different individuals and their daily lives. The first episode hits you like a truck, the remaining 11 weren't that engaging. Still, each episode rewards you with a valuable lesson, mainly about loving your parents, and the ups and downs of life. Plot-development-wise, I do think there are moments where the story goes off-road, focusing on things that aren't necessarily important and disregarding scenes I, as a viewer, would love to see. Admittedly, if it weren't for the shroud of mystery given to Jing Jing's character, I wouldn't be so eager to finish the series.

There is nothing special about the film, cinematography-wise, I would consider this to be one of the dramas that are "okay-ish" in terms of production. In fact, this is one of the better-quality films produced by Mango TV. A few splicing mistakes here and there, but, I believe they don't ruin the experience for the viewers. A few things could be polished as well, a few decisions I don't agree with is splicing two different sub-plots, with the intent of showing "despite having different situations they're experiencing the same issue/emotion", it just didn't sit right with me, I believe it doesn't give the viewers enough time to bask in the emotions of the characters. I can't comment much on the soundtrack, as the version I watched had such terrible audio, therefore, including it in the rating of this drama would be unfair.

Acting-wise, I had never doubted Zhou Yu Tong's acting skills, in fact, she was the main reason I watched Remembrance of Things Past. As for the other actors, I'm genuinely in love with the personality Kido Ma gave to Ou Yang. An honorable mention would be Bai Yu Fan and Ren Su Xi, they fell short in a few aspects, but nonetheless, their acting managed to deliver good characters. I believe the two of them could improve their acting, and I am looking forward to watching more of their films.

Another aspect I would love to point out is the consistency of their personalities, Jian Yi Fan was introduced as a kind character, someone who is fair and just, and tends to be reliant on his own personal decisions. As the story progresses, he remains the same person throughout, in fact, the decisions he takes and his opinions were some of the most naturally-occurring ones in Chinese Dramas. There were a lot of criticisms with regard to Xu Yan and Zi Chang's characters, but realistically speaking, don't we have a few friends who act like them? They were annoying, of course, but I believe their characters did exist for a reason, it just wasn't as well-executed as I would have wanted it to be.

What I loved most about it is that the drama heavily emphasizes no matter how small or big your problem is, it still is a problem and emotions are still valid. Overall, I would say the drama is a good watch, it is both comforting and manages to deliver a good message across. There are a lot of improvements to be made, but I believe it is something that is worth a shot, especially if you're someone who's exposed to corporate life and is struggling to cope.