Ji Zhi De Shang Ban Chang (2021)

A must watch

Such a wonderful college life drama! Loved every minute of it!
It was amazing how they were equally able to show the stories of all 4 girls. So it was like watching 4 stories and you could hardly skip much if anything at all (I can't sith through a drama and not skip small unnecessary scenes).
The 4 main characters were very written. Their friendship was beautiful, something we all yearn for. The fact that they were so different from each other yet came together so beautifully, was a treat to watch. Their love interests were also fun to watch.
Overall, their experience was so realistic. I couldn't help but laugh and cry along with these girls as they transformed from young college students to wonderful adults.
I would 100% recommend this college life drama as I thought it brought out many aspects of our growing years where we transform into adults.
Do watch this drama, you won't regret it!! It's so good!

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Great Life Lessons!

Be Yourself is indeed a nice surprise as a youth drama. I think it is underrated and certainly deserves more viewership and attention. However, be aware that it is not a college romance drama. There is an element of romance but it is not the central theme. Love matters is just one of the many issues facing the protagonists. So, if you are expecting a full-blown romance like in The Love Equations, this would not satisfy that craving.

Instead, Be Yourself has a slice-of-life feel as the drama depicts the university life of 4 young women. It doesn’t have a solid main plot with a continuous story to follow but simply problems or crises that befall the girls during their 4 years in university. So, a problem may crop up affecting one of the girls and this will take an episode or two to resolve before the attention shifts to another character. It may seem like an overly simple drama but this is also precisely where its greatest strength lies.

A Story That Will Resonate With Students
Be Yourself is a drama that most students will be able to relate to. If you have gone to university, this might also bring you down memory lane to the times when you are still young and absorbing life lessons. Through the different personalities of the 4 protagonists who are thrown together as dorm mates, the screenwriter manages to weave together a story that teaches us valuable lessons that we can’t get from text books. These lessons are briefly narrated by Xiao Yu at the end of each episode as a summary.

Hence, there is a heavy dose of realism in the drama and you can feel for the girls. This is because what they face is typical of what a girl will encounter at that stage of her life. Having a crush, being envious, respecting privacy and boundaries, conflicts with parents, losing a loved one, and being yourself are some of the issues explored in the drama. As the plot progresses, it also shows a deepening friendship among the girls which is heartwarming.

This is not a long-winded drama. Problems get resolved pretty quickly rather than get dragged out as the main point is to show the lesson learned. The first few episodes may seem like a bore as you are introduced to the different personalities. But as the story moves along, you will start to get used to them with each being unique and lovable in their own way.

Good Contrast Of Characters
Not many dramas will give equal attention to 4 characters, with all being females too. This one is done rather well as it successfully projects the uniqueness of each character and the title Be Yourself sums it up perfectly. Just like in your group of friends whereby everyone is different from appearance to life experiences, the same goes for the girls in the drama. The contrasts in the characters’ personality and family background is cleverly depicted in the drama to give us a very natural feel of 4 strangers being forced to live together by chance.

All the characters are certainly well-written and styled differently. They don’t appear as one-dimensional despite the shorter screen time for each with the attention being divided among the 4 of them. There is growth for each one of them by the end of the drama. It should be since they spent 4 years going though ups and downs while in university and thinking about their uncertain future once they graduate. That is part of the satisfaction after following the girls’ journey over the 24 episodes.

Natural Depiction Of Friendship
I have to commend all the 4 ladies for their great acting. They manage to bring out the personalities of the characters that they are playing. Perhaps the casting was done right in the first place. Each one of them looks natural in their role and the contrasting characters as mentioned above become even more enjoyable to watch as a result.

The group also has great chemistry as friends. I don’t know if they are fond of each other off-cam but the way they laugh and cry together as on-screen friends look really heartwarming to a viewer. There is no awkwardness detected but pure friendship that looks convincing. The last time I watched Shen Yue and Zhang Ruo Nan is in Use For My Talent and Everyone Wants To Meet You respectively. I think they are the more experienced actresses compared to Vivienne Tien and Zhang Xin Yi. Nevertheless, there is no noticeable difference that I can see. It is indeed better this way rather than having one’s performance overshadowing another which will mar the enjoyability of the drama.

As for the guys, they do take a backseat in Be Yourself. They are relegated to supporting characters. So, if you want to watch more of Leon Leong, you can catch him in My Love, Enlighten Me instead.

My Verdict – Better Than Expected
Be Yourself is really better than expected where I’m concerned. As mentioned, I’m not one who is too fond of youth dramas. But this one really strikes a different chord in me. If you like friendship and coming of age stories, then this should be a good fit. The story is told in a very realistic way as you follow the girls’ lives through college. It will hook you until you would feel a sense of longing when it ends. You will find yourself wanting the drama to continue on as the protagonists leave you with the feeling that they have more to tell about their lives.

The drama will evoke certain emotions in you. There are touching and sad moments that might bring you a few tears. There are also happy and heartwarming moments. It is not depressing or a melodrama like Crush but neither is it a sweet college romance drama like Forever Love. It is simply the very ordinary lives of 4 university students being depicted in a way that is easily relatable especially among the younger viewers.

For this Be Yourself review, I would give it a score of 8/10. Don’t watch this for the romance. Instead, watch it for the friendship and life lessons. Some may find it boring as there is no strong plot to carry the drama. It is more of a mix and match of the different characters’ college life experiences bound together into a story. Therefore, you need to like this kind of storytelling to enjoy the drama. Otherwise, you will be wishing for more happenings and excitement after watching the first few episodes.

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GREAT RELAXING SHOW !

I actually watched this show because of Ao Rui Peng, but started to really like the drama for it's story-line.
Overall, I really liked the character development of all 4 female leads. It is a very heartwarming drama. It is kinda similar to the early seasons of Modern Family, every episode taught me something. It is a very easy to watch drama in the sense that you don't have to really keep following it as every episode is a little story in itself within the entire story.

This drama is not the typical school/ university romance plot so it is a must watch! It really teaches you a lot as it is pretty much a mirror of society/life especially if you are in a similar age range as the main characters. the four main female characters all represent a different character so everyone will have some parts that relates to the characters. Very refreshing drama

The character Huang Fu Shu Min really hit home as I felt that I resembled her. At first I thought she was kinda annoying but I realised it was because I kinda resembled her. In episode 18, I bawled a lot (trust me you will also bawl especially if you don't study in your hometown/country and you have a very loving & naggy mum, sorry for the slight spoiler). I also really envied her maturity growth over the episodes especially towards the end when they were graduating.

Although Fan Xiao Yu is the typical rich girl that got cut-off by her rich family, her character in the show is more than the average. It was nice watching her growth especially becoming more independent and understanding of her family!

Xia Lang Lang is the typical Shen Yue character (out-going, happy go lucky) I liked how she was a good listener to her friends and I really felt for her when she realised she should do things out of her own will and not because of others.

Yang Jia QIan was a very reliable character, always there for her roommates and I love her unexpected twist of her character!

This drama is definitely a must watch for everyone, even if you are a guy and this is a female-oriented drama, you can definitely learn a lot from both the female and male characters in the show!

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Highly recommend It's truly worth to watch

So touching, Heartwarming, Overwhelming story

I randomly found this drama, clicked on it and didn't expect much but finally fall in love with it.

The story is about 4 girl roommates at the university. They have their own life stories, binding together with their strong friendship.

If you feel annoyed by some characters or some part of the story, I suggest waiting for the next ep or 2-4 eps. You might understand it all. And the stories are based on different kinds of people/backgrounds/personalities, that's why sometimes they got troubles.

I never expected to see the sad moments but when they were revealed in the scenes. I appreciated it and cried with the characters. So touching. and I feel I can relate their stories to mine. Both good or bad, happy or sad this drama is done a great job. And it's very pure. The drama also has love lines, cute couples and also problems.

The other thing I like about this drama is the characters' development. They lived their own lives and grown-up little by little to become a better person, solve their problems, learn lessons and keep growing up try to achieve their goals and live happily.

The girls have good hearts and their stories can comfort the audiences.

I watched a ton of Chinese drama this year, I guarantee you've never regret to watch. I will put this drama on my Top list for sure! I'm so sorry for anyone who might miss it! Enjoy it!

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Best Cdrama Full with Life Lessons of Youth, College and Adulting.

I just finished the last ep and I immediately thought to share this GEM here! ❤️ Best Cdrama that I've watched. I've seen their growth throughout the show and learned alot. HIGHLY RECOMMEND FOR STUDENTS, especially college students who is in transition of adulting phase. Very realistic and relatable drama. <3

I happened to click this by chance and I can't believe I just gained a true gem. Each episode are full of life lessons -- from starting a new journey, being a student, a friend, a daughter, family, relationships, to applying internship, business and finally graduating. With these topics, it also managed the make the show light and entertaining. While watching the series I felt like I'm also with them taking the college journey. This also helped me to broaden my understanding for my family, and realize about the real life of adulting.

Highly recommended for students, especially college students. Not your typical sugarcoated plot, very realistic and relatable. I relate in most of the episodes as it tackled the transition of adulting. It also showed me the real world that is very rare for a cdrama to be portrayed. I also love the ost with a very meaningful translation.

The casts are perfect for their roles. I love how this series showed EACH of the casts stories, with life quotes before every episode end. For me, 10000/10. WATCH THE FIRST EP AND DECIDE ❤️✊✨

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Realistic college life drama ....watch it right now!!

This drama was very very nice
It really depicted how college life is in 4 years
No unnecessary drama
It shows the personality development of the 4 female roomates here
How they realise and learn so many things in life when they become adults in college

It talks about parents, how we should take care of them and not keep grudges with them cause anytike you may never know what will happen to them........How to gain confidence and talk to parents about your wishes in life
The friendship aspect was spot on....they 4 are really good friends....they give themselves open ciriticism about things and don't talk back...
They adjust along very well with eachother despite weaknesses of each

It also talks about relationships and how to handle them
Many situations are very relatable and it also makes us learn more things

Surely give it a watch...it's 100% worth it

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Youth

This drama is absolutely awesome and I'll guarantee if you watch it you'll never regret. This is the drama which can inspires us To Be Yourself. No matter what your passion is,no matter how difficulties you have to face in future you Just want to know how can you again fight. This drama shows us what difficult we would face in our youth age and how can we deal with it and also what the actual relationship is either is friendship or love even it's family.
I like about this drama is simplicity, story and characters... They show the every detail with perfection.
I don't think there is anything I dislike about this drama.
Be Yourself.

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Big Sister the Star

This drama was very unique. 4 Female Leads & 5 Male Supports. I felt this concept hurt the drama as the dialogue & acting of 2 of the FL's wasnt that entertaining. Big Sister was the clear standout of the show, brilliant!

Problem they had with Big Sister is the equal screen time commitments to giving every female lead, when Big Sister gathered momentum which was nearly most the time she was on screen then paused her to move onto next FL story. The ending really has no conclusion for any girls which was kind of both understandable but dissapointing at the same time. If they have a season 2 make the focus on 2 of the girls not 4!

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Amazing!!!! I love it💯❣️ its really a good drama ... reality of college life. I'm also a college student and I also want to have such experience like that in drama 😂✨❤️💯
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
The actors are really good 💯❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ Watch it

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Ran out of steam

This Drama started brightly and as a fan of Shen Yue I was hoping for good things. Sadly, it fell flat rather quickly.

In her EXCELLENT review
https://mydramalist.com/profile/8862033/reviews

Sandy Prater said in part:

"As for cons, the biggest is the script. At times it wants to take itself very seriously and tries to set up moments of intense realism/realistic issues but then uses the most ridiculous and fantastical scenarios to "solve" them. The conflicts are repetitive and (without revealing any spoilers) don't really show much growth in the characters - just a dull acceptance from the characters themselves or those around them, which I don't believe was the intended takeaway."

That 'dull acceptance' bit was a perfect summation. Two especially egregious examples spring to mind. The "geeky girl" of the 4 was treated VERY badly over several episodes (~14-17) by both the school authorities and her friends, but there was no proper resolution. In another instance, in about ep 15 the 'spoiled princess' deleted her BF's entire photo collection of sevreal years in a fit of infantile jealous pique and, at least by the time I dropped at 19, she had NEVER apologised, nor seen any need to.
Shen Yue's own role was a bit disappointing as her romantic fixation was one I found troubling. My wait for another Shen Yue Drama I can truly enjoy goes on

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Give this drama a shot!

If you are wanting a love-romance plot then this drama is not for you. If you are here just for Shen-yue, this drama is not for you. Vivienne Tan is the narrator here so I believe she has a stronger role but who knows? I haven't watched it all.

It has a bittersweet story to all characters. This drama is not focused on just a single character and truly brings out everyone's personality. It has covered many topics that we face in daily life. From family problems, mother-daughter relation, fear of not being enough, personal boundary, childhood crush to amazing friendship! You name it.

It does has many characters because the plot revolves around four girls but trust me, it does its job of not overshadowing but keeping it fun and exciting at the same time. I loved to see Leon Leong from METEOR GARDEN casted in this drama. His character is not that overpowering but sweet and subtle.
The thing I would like to see was a bit differences in the personality of girls rather than jumping into the same stereotype where one of them is nerdy, one is boyish, one is overly sensitive princess and the other one is sassy rich girl. But as the title says, BE YOURSELF.
I hope this drama lives upto its name and succeeds to convey its full potential.

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