Unrequited Love (2021)

Not cringey or cliche

What I love about this show is the fact that the female lead is a very composed woman and despite having a crush on the male lead for many years, she is not the typical silly and dependent girl that we often see in a drama who goes after a man in a cringe or foolish way.
Instead, she is rather honest and says what’s on her mind when she has conversations with the male lead. She has her own valued opinions and backbone which is what I admired about her.

I know many dramas where the male leads finds the female lead annoying but this is a whole different case. The ML(Hu Yi Tian) has huge respect and interest towards FML as both of them are in the liberal arts field.

Going back to the female lead, despite having a calm appearance, she sometimes showcased her anxiousness as she pounders and struggles on her love towards the ML.

In conclusion, the characters are not annoying and this is definitely a step away from the usual cliche modern live dramas that we watch.
It is a mature and lighthearted drama as it really highlights the reality of university love.

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Tortured Unrequited Love

I think if you are going through a breakup and keep thinking you might get back together, watch this drama. Otherwise don't torture yourself unless that's what you are after.

In terms of romance this show tells us to not bother falling in love. If you get into a relationship make sure your exes and old crushes have been cut off. Otherwise they will be toxic clinger who will never let you go. Also the show seems to be telling us that one sided love is wrong, most people cannot stop their feelings. But the way it is shown makes it seem like you've committed some crime.

The main couple - are supposedly smart people. But despite their good grades they are the worse couple. I stopped shipping them by episode 24.

Luo Zhi has been madly in love with Sheng Huai Nan (SHN) since they were children, but he's never noticed her. Almost everyone else seems to know that she likes him, and the antagonists, namely his ex-girlfriend Ye Zhan Yan and her friend decide they want to scheme and manipulate it so that SHN can never really trust her.

There is also the other women who have crushes on SHN who also go out of their way to bad mouth Luo Zhi. But they eventually give up.

Sheng Huai Nan spends half of the series either unsure about his feelings or testing them on the poor girl. Honestly he's an idiot. He was treating Luo Zhi like she was his yoyo, pulling her close when he wanted her, and then pushing her away when he lost trust her in some way.

The last third of the the series spends most of the time focusing on SHN trying to persuade LZ to date him, only so that he can do something stupid in the next episode. Making her want to give up on her feelings.

I read a lot of comments of people blaming LZ for not forgiving him and I disagree. He was a jerk towards her. She was always helping him. At best he got her some cold medications and pancakes. Which he did in an underhanded way. Girls don't just fall for looks and money, underneath the shell is a vapid, insecure young man who can’t recognise sincerity or love if it smacked him on the face and kicked him in the balls.

Now let's talk about the pig Ge Bi and the very sad Bai Li. I hate Ge Bi. He is the worst boyfriend to all the girls. And even when confronted he doesn't care. He is selfish, stupid and frankly deserved worse than he got.

Bai Li is a great friend, and she really loved Ge Bi to a very toxic level. It was frustrating to watch and my heart hurt for her. She was really a foolish person, with so little self respect. It was tiresome to the very end.

There are many kinds of bad relationships, but the show made no effort to show us the positive sides of love. This team of producers and writers must have felt really bitter and angry when creating this production.

Really the only good relationships worth watching on this show were the friendships. Ming Rui was exceptional on this show. His character was the most likeable and sane.

The closeness of Bai Li and Luo Zhi was very sweet. Even Ye Zhan Yan and Ding Shui Jing loved and cared for one another.

If you have watched the 2019 version, you will not be able to stop yourself from comparing the two shows.

The 2019 is shorter and frankly less stressful to watch. The 2021 is very frustrating. There are so many examples of unrequited love on this show. So many ways in which characters seemly torture one another, mislead each other, and fail to trust each other. Once started I couldn't seem to stop, like many unrequited loves, I had such hope for it, and it was just an illusion that left me unfulfilled.

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