Insanely Good, but also a Shame...

The chemistry was, and I repeat, OFF THE CHARTS. THE CASTING. I've never seen these actors before, but God, everything was perfect from the cast to the plot. It genuinely, coming from a person who hates repetitive cliche cdrama tropes, had none of that. It was perfect, but I'm very upset that it was so limited in its budget and how short it was - they should have made a full on 16 episode ish thing, because those mini episodes were way too short.

I really enjoyed the plot and the twists and turns and all of the characters. I just wish there was more content and more understanding, which could have been done with a slightly larger budget. Honestly, this is so underrated and I personally enjoyed it way more than My Lethal Man, despite it being slightly similar, and I think this had huge potential to be a massive hit like My Lethal Man and Reset. It's a revenge based plot, and that's all I'll spoil for you! Go watch it yourself: it's very short, but gets across everything. Beautifully executed.

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Cutest, Realistic Youth Drama

This cdrama shows a group of six - two girls and four boys - growing up from high school all the way to post-university. It's beautiful in the way it potrays daily life as they grow up together. Although they do grow slightly apart from each other, they'll always be the "东南口" best friends group, from starting a study group to working on a business in university.

The storyline is as a simple youth cdrama goes, with a second male lead that reminded me of Han Seojun from True Beauty, minus the second male lead syndrome. It has a balance of mostly romance, friendship and a splash of family. One point that is worth mentioning: cdramas have misunderstandings, but this was cleared up so cutely and within one episode that it was worth it. They do have some PDA, since even though it starts at high school, it goes beyond.
The main actors are amazing, and I cannot believe that they are rookies! Amazed by their acting skills.

I would definitely watch if you're looking for something to squeal and smile over. I didn't skip a single moment, and that says a lot!

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Cute Romance

The perfect romance that makes you want to giggle and kick your feet as you watch a pair of 亲梅竹马 (childhood sweethearts) and their romance as they grow up. There's nothing difficult to grasp in this cdrama, and it's perfect if you want some brainless binging. There's amazing chemistry and zero misunderstandings (which is so rare for a cdrama), but I personally found it a little lacking in terms of the plotline. However, it's definitely cute enough to make you want to rewatch it. One unique thing I really loved was the BTS at the end of each episode!

I found it relatively similar to Sweet First Love, with its non-blood-sibling bond trope. It both contains cute banter as childhood sweethearts grow up, so if you enjoyed Sweet First Love, this is something that may interest you. One more point I'd like to mention is how they FINALLY made an older female main lead as the love interest, which might be a small point, but this, along with other points like the lack of misunderstandings, does combat a lot of stereotypes that I hate seeing in cdramas.

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Every Episode Guaranteed to Make You Feel Something

Whether it be happiness and laughter or sadness and anxiety, this cdrama portrays emotions astonishingly well. Coming from someone who has watched a million cdramas, despite the very predictable trope towards the end (but not quite the end, I won’t spoil it), it was one of the only to make me sob. This cdrama also had me screaming into my pillow and giggling like an idiot, along with binge-watching this late into the night because I couldn’t stop.

The plot could have been easily shortened, with too many unnecessary subplots, yet that wasn’t too bad and I stayed with every single subplot, hooked.
My one regret was not picking up this cdrama sooner! It teaches so much about high school and youth. The cast were amazing, and I would not have changed them for the world.

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Beautiful Story

Although this was originally seen as a simple childhood friends to hate to love story by myself, this is so much more.

It’s a beautiful yet tragic story of a world of characters. Unlike normal dramas where the focus is on the leads, everyone - I mean every single character - has such a well built background, personality and character development.

Although the acting and music was not the best (sorry I’ve not watched many Thai dramas, most notably watched F4 Thai), it portrays everything perfectly, with every scene full of meaning.

I would definitely not listen to the poor reviews, but it does require a lot of attention! It’s not a complex plot, it’s just the stories of each character that you need to devote your attention to.

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A Slice of Life ‘90s Cdrama

If you’re looking for romance, you’re only going to get some subtle parts. Little things like helping each other tutor, planning on going to the same university, only buying their love interest food and ignoring the others that they don’t like… because dating isn’t allowed in Chinese high schools, naturally cdramas aren’t allowed to promote them.

But I will say, there are so many worthwhile bits of this show that are worth watching, albeit some of it is a little dull - but hey that’s life. Here’s some of my favourite parts (translated into English):
“Why do you want to go to a university in Beijing?”
“Because… someone likes it.”
“Is this because of me? I know you want to make it up to me, but I’m doing fine now.”
“Brother, you’re overthinking; it really wasn’t you.”

“TanXin, why are you already studying?”
“Just because we don’t have tests in the afternoon, so we shouldn’t take the college entrance exam either?”

“I need to see what he’s doing.”
“You’re not scared your father sees you?”
“It’s fine; there’s still you.”
“I never said I was going.”
*teary eyes*
“I’ll go, alright?”
*instant mood change to happy smile*

“Anyways, no matter what, it was all my fault. Can you guys forgive me?”
*looks across the table* “No, we can’t.”
“You know why?”
“Because we never blamed you in the first place.”
*smiles and nods*
“Cheers!”

“As long as XiaoJi Street is still here, and you guys are here, no matter what corner of the Earth I’m at, I’ll come back to see you.
“Remember what you say.” *pinky promise*

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My Favourites!!!

Firstly, I love the theme, as a fellow gamer who plays many similar games, such as League of Legends, as well as the actual game, Onmyoji Arena. If you're thinking about playing the game too, let me tell you the animations are not nearly as good as this. However, there's not that many gaming battle scenes, so if you're not a fan of those or you have no knowledge about these games, I would still tell you to give it a try.

The characters and the amazing casting. Xu Kai as their esports team ZGDX's captain Lu Si Cheng was perfect and had so much chemistry with Cheng Xiao as Tong Yao, the only and newly-joined girl in their team, who doesn't fake cute or act like she's above everyone else (as displayed in many other cdramas). Together, they're the Double C (stands for Double Carry) couple of their team, and they're just the right amount of adorable. The platonic ZGDX team chemistry was also god-tier and definitely high above any others, with my favourites being Lao Mao and Lao K, who are very underrated (take a look at episode 8 for an example). Even the other love rivals were mostly well-written, like Tong Yao's ex, Jian Yang, and the cute Korean love interest, Kun, which allowed for some jealousy from Lu Si Cheng. I would highly recommend watching some of the BTS scenes, which can be found on YouTube amongst other places, because the cast are all of similar age and get along really well, just like in the show.

The plot doesn't take much to process, but you will be constantly squealing at the cute chemistry and insane team dynamics. They're all so supportive of each other, and the plot is entertaining from the very beginning, unlike some cdramas which take a lot longer to get into.

Overall, I cannot recommend a better cdrama, and your time will definitely not be wasted! You don't understand how much you're missing out by not watching this. I'm eagerly anticipating Season 2!

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One of My Favourites

I personally have a different view from the majority of the reviews I've seen. I thoroughly enjoyed this cdrama and its plot. I've rewatched it many times, and after seeing Exclusive Fairytale get so hyped up, I can't believe this cdrama wasn't.

First off, the OSTs are so great! It suits the cdrama perfectly, and I like listening to it, so if you're someone like that, do listen to the OST - you can find it on Spotify.

I've seen comments where people didn't understand the name-change thing, but it was mainly for the female lead to discover her identity, which she lost after her parents passed. Yes, her rediscovery - especially the job changes: I completely understand why she tried to do med school for her friend Le Diyin and decided she couldn't deal with the grossness and the exhuastion of med school, but becoming a bakery business owner just didn't seem realistic - she should've stuck with her job, or they could have shown her struggles as she switched jobs - could have been potrayed in a better light, and they tried to romanticise it a little, but it was a good enough attempt. Yes, they were raised to be siblings, but considering everyone knew they weren't related by blood and it allowed them to get closer for the plot to work, I think it makes sense. Sure, being neighbors could be an alternative, but I liked the way it is.

Overall, I would recommend watching it. I get that it's not for some people, but it became a lighthearted, brainless binge for me, especially when I'm feeling down and want a little bit of banter with romance.

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Overhyped?

This movie is about the character development of the main character, Le Yin, portrayed by Jia Ling. It brings a good message about determination and perseverance, but overall, lacks plot as it's main selling point is Jia Ling's weight loss transformation of 50kg, which is amazing, but should not be the center of a movie, in my personal opinion.

As a fan of Jia Ling, I expected some laughs and comedy, but if that's what you were anticipating, it's severely lacking, aside from a couple of jokes.

Overall, I cannot understand the hype around it: there's not much of a storyline and that's what a movie needs. It's quite disappointing; they are all capable actors and actresses, especially Yang Zi.

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<3

Despite the basic cdrama tropes still being present slightly, the overall major storyline is very nice and I enjoyed it a lot. It made me cry, it made me smile.... I loved the OSTs too.

The only thing I would've said is, the male lead doesn't really speak much (I don't think he's fully Chinese/raised in China? I could be wrong) so it loses a lot of its effect. Some people were commenting about how nice the male lead's voice was, but it personally wasn't for me. The female lead was a perfect actress though - from her emotions to her body language. I loved her so much.

The rewatch value is slightly lower though. The first few episodes were slow to get into, and I only started watching this because I watched a YouTube edit of this cdrama.

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My Head's Still Spinning

A plot filled with way too much politics for my liking, I'm sorry to say. If you're interested in politics that comes with countless twists and turns with the aspect of war was captured through strategies rather than battles, so if you're more intrigued by that, this is for you.

The main leads are both amazingly smart and capable and understanding. Kudos to their acting!

But overall, it just wasn't my cup of tea as someone who was into this because of the wartime cdrama I was looking for. I couldn't keep with the politics and the different enemies, but that's my subjective opinion.

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Cute, Mindless Binge

This was a cute story, which hooked quite a few viewers - myself included - with its synopsis so similar to Love O2O. I have to say, a few elements were very similar, but it just didn’t live up to the hype (not that I am a huge fan of Love O2O, especially towards the end of it).

The plot was… pretty badly executed, but the general idea was appreciated. A beloved actor and a newly debuted rookie, who were “married” in game. The female lead is really funny and her relationship with her brother was my favourite. However, the romantic scenes were very cringe-worthy, so mentally prepare yourself.

Overall, it had a good concept, and it’s worth a look if you’re bored but don’t want something intense.

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