Story/plot: -10- I heard that this storyline was very similar to a Japanese drama/manga called “Itazura na Kiss”; however, I have never watched the drama, or any of their remakes, so I am writing this review with nothing to compare it to, pretty much. With that being said, I loved the storyline of this cutesy, heart-warming drama! The cliche style of a not-so-smart girl liking the perfect guy definitely took a positive turn in this show! The transition between high school to college to adult life was pretty smooth, in my opinion, with majority of it focused during their high school years, which made it an innocent and light drama. As the story moves on to the adult life, the relationship between the main leads became more intimate, which made me squeal so many times at 2 o'clock in the morning.
Acting/cast: -10- The height difference between the 160cm Chen Xiao Xi (played by Shen Yue) and the tall 188cm Jiang Chen (played by Hu Yi Tian) made me squeal every time! Both of the main leads are decently new faces to the entertainment world, and they definitely made a good impression, on me at least haha! For her first main-lead role in a drama, Shen Yue did a spectacular job of performing the different sides and attitudes of the character, Chen Xiao Xi, from the happy, always positive high school youth to the independent grown women that Chen Xiao Xi becomes later on in the drama. NOW, LET’S TALK ABOUT HU YI TIAN! OMG, HE IS SOME HAWT STUFF! So cute, and for his first main-lead role, he played it really well! It’s hard to fall in love with someone who plays a, supposedly, cold-hearted, not caring character, but later on, we find out that the character, Jiang Chen, is pretty much the opposite! The way Hu Yi Tian smirks and acts to care for Chen Xiao Xi in the drama can make any girl's heart flutter! (I think I found my next man crush tbh) The supporting roles might have not done a whole lot, but their contribution played a huge impact throughout the whole show, and it made the drama 100X better! Nothing to complain in general, great leads, great actors/actresses, and great chemistry! :)
Music: -10- The opening song is truly the perfect fit for the drama! When I first heard it, I already loved it and how the melody matches the drama’s theme, but after reading the lyrics, it made me love the song even more! If you don’t believe me, take a look yourself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIKib5Bymz8 I especially love the line “wo xihuan ni pei wo kanshu fen xin kan wo tou xiao” which translates to “I like you when you’re accompanying me to read a book, distracted by looking at me, smiling quietly,” it brings back many ridiculous smiles when I watched the drama, and I can't seem to stop replaying the song in my head now!
Rewatch value: -8- I love A Love so Beautiful and I have rewatched my favorite parts more than a dozen time, but I am sorry, I can’t rewatch the whole drama from the beginning to end more than once. I am not sure exactly why, but I guess the whole drama wasn’t capturing enough for me? For the parts that I love though, I have rewatched it so many times, and I will never get bored of rewatching them!
Overall: -9- This drama truly created a great end to my 2017! The sweet, yet simple story is my cup of tea! I can’t seem to let go of this drama, it was too good and too sweet! The characters played their parts so well, the mixture of the songs and the cute relationships between the characters are too much to be given up so easily. So sad that I watched it in only 2 days! I wish I would have spent more time to savor every second!
If you are looking for a romantic, and heart-warming drama that takes place mainly during the high school life and transitions to more serious matters later on, A Love so Beautiful is definitely the drama for you! Hope this helps and thanks for reading!
Chào for Now!
Lily L.
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I remember I had found out about this drama on YouTube when the trailer had showed up on my feed (https://youtu.be/GUV50QDDR-M). I was about to not click on it, but I'm glad I did. The trailer was soo cute and I really thought that the show was airing already. I immediately shared the trailer with my friend and she was hooked in! We began obsessing over when the show was going to air, and even counting down how many days until the first episode would release (lol). If you were following the drama on it's MDL page, you would know that the airing date was originally said to be November 30, but then it was updated to November 9! I think I've watched the trailer more than ten times now just to fill the time as I wait for new episodes to be released.
This drama is generally about a girl who is the childhood friend of the boy she likes. They go to school together, and eventually mutual feelings develop. While this happens, a new male student is introduced, and happens to become the male lead's rival (there is a female rival too, but she isn't a major part of the story). Although there is a love triangle, nothing overly dramatic or harsh happens between the male characters, except for a little jealousy here and there. This is mainly because they share the same friend circle, and the boys are pretty mature...although...the male lead gets jealous quite a lot XD. Also, the story secretly highlights some real issues people face in life, and that not everything in life goes as smoothly as planned (work, college, relationships). On a side note, the high school portion of the story does take up a majority of the drama (meaning there are more episodes focused on it), but nevertheless it is still a wonderful drama.
I also want to point out some key characteristics of the different people in this drama.
Chen Xiaoxi: She is a very easy-going, cute, innocent, and funny character. Although she isn't the brightest when it comes to her studies, sports, and other things, she shows determination regardless. I personally think she is the friend people wish they had during their childhood.
Jiang Chen: He is very smart, good-looking, and mature for his age. Unlike many other dramas, he does secretly like Xiaoxi back--though we constantly see him trying to pretend to not be interested in Xiaoxi--and isn't afraid to let her know later in the story. I love that his love for Xiaoxi never strays, and in his heart there is no room for anyone else but her.
Wu Bosong: He is a very thoughtful, sweet, and funny person. We often see him running back and forth to get things for Xiaoxi and make sure that she is okay. A lot of the things he does for Xiaoxi he hides it from her, and I especially loved the time where he told the store owner to say that everything was less expensive than it really was, for Xiaoxi. He is the guy that all girls wish they meet. He is honestly just soo caring!
Jing Jing: I absolutely love her, she is such a great friend to Xiaoxi, and stands up for her friends no matter one. She is smart, pretty, and strong as an individual.
Lu Yang: He is so cute and funny. Although he is very childish, he can be a very serious person. He is a person who does not take friendships lightly, and will always help out no matter what.
I personally found this drama very cute, funny, and light-hearted. It has just the right feel and even though it's supposed to be a romance drama, it didn't feel overwhelming. What I mean by that is the drama didn't have one scene after another that was solely focused on the main characters, at least in the beginning when they were still in high school. It didn't shout "ROMANCE" all the time. It was balanced, and focused in on other relationships too and the overall "story", if you get what I mean; which I think is something Chinese dramas excel in. For me, I prefer when dramas develop an exciting plot and not just an exciting romance story. As the story goes on, I noticed that towards the last few episodes where it is focusing on their adulthood, that the pace of the story picked up. Although it did not affect my experience in watching the drama, I wish the drama could have slowed down a little bit and been a little longer. There were multiple times where the story suddenly jumped through a period of time in their life ("one month later").
Overall, I would definitely recommend this drama. This is literally the drama I have been waiting for for my entire life. No other drama can compare. A Love So Beautiful has a simplistic storyline but such a powerful one too, conveying all sorts of emotions.
P.S. If you were wondering how tall Hu Yitian is he's 188cm, and Shen Yue is 160cm.
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Many things about A Love So Beautiful was a surprise to me. I'll be the first to admit that I harbor a real prejudice each time I enter the realm that is a Chinese drama - watching them throughout my childhood, they were unfailingly littered with a) tragedy, b) horrible CG, and/or c) gagworthy storylines (typically, an entertaining combination of all three). And quite honestly, few nowadays seem to impress me. Call it bias, but I still think the Mainland has much to learn regarding what constitutes a good show.
A Love So Beautiful was different from the moment I picked it up. It does not present melodramatic conflict for you to brood over, but instead focuses on the innocence of a teenager trying to get through the struggles of school and first love. I did not grow up within the Chinese education system, but there is something incredibly charming and nostalgic about seeing a group of five friends trudge through their high school years. Having teachers scold you, finding unpredictable friendships, secretly liking someone...A person is only naive in such a way for a small amount of time, and this drama perfectly captures that foolish yet heartwarming attitude of youth.
It only helped that the cast consisted of young, yet capable actors. How annoying is it when you watch a show about high school and the actors are in their mid- to late-twenties? And then you spend the entire duration brooding over how old they look and how nothing about them reminds you of a cute teenager. A Love So Beautiful never suffers from this issue; because not only do the main actors look young - they are. They act their parts perfectly, accurately presenting the turbulent feelings of their characters and how they grow over the course of the drama. It's difficult to find five lead actors who interact with one another with so much natural chemistry that it's hard to believe that they're acting.
But turn on the sad music - I'm done gushing about all the things I absolutely adored. Here's what dragged it down from a perfect 10: as soon as the characters left high school, the plot began to wander. There is a distinct imbalance between the warmth that is their high school lives and the confusion that is their "growing up."
I would like to ensure you that I don't hate the fact that they got older. It was the delivery; how the writers depicted their "maturing" that was irksome. What I found particularly problematic was how you spend over half of the drama watching them in high school - and you love it to pieces - but then you have less than eight episodes to watch them speed carelessly through cliche relationship problems and time skips. The transition is rough and the trip doesn't get any smoother. It would have made far more sense to me to either limit the story of this show to their high school years, or add more episodes to spread out their time as they age past university and through adulthood.
I simply didn't feel the magic in the latter part of the drama, which follows their post-graduation lives. It's still fine to watch, but it just isn't the same. I wanted to see the ways they carefully sort out problems between themselves and thus mature, not watch as they get angry at one another and resolve it merely because - well, merely because that's the way the writers want it to be. I did not feel as connected to their characters; not because they aren't bubbly teenagers, but because the story slowly becomes more about their problems and less about who they are. To me, their characters are one of the greatest strengths of the plotline, and as it fades throughout, so does the show's primary charm.
I would feel bad shutting this drama down entirely, since that would be unfair to the refreshing fun that it brought to me as I marathoned it. It is not without its flaws. However, it made me remember my first feelings of romance and filled my heart to the brim with both happiness and bittersweetness. It's hard to find a drama capable of such an effect on a viewer - and I'm glad this one found a way.
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This review will probably never be noticed by the rest of the MDL community since there are a lot of reviews with high ratings for this drama, but I thought I'd write one anyways. I watched this drama because 1) it's pretty popular in China for a webdrama and I pretty much check out whatever is popular in China regardless whether it is popular here on MDL and 2) my best friend likes cute romances and I really wanted to make her watch something Chinese this winter break before we parted ways again.
Story:
What I liked:
1) The entire group of friends together was very fun to watch. Loved the chemistry of their friendship together. I didn't skip any friendship scenes.
2) Their high school lives were more interesting than their adult lives.
3) Need a friend like Lin Jingxiao in life. Supportive, smart, and caring.
What I disliked:
1) the main girl was literally SOOOOOO dumb like I don't think I know of a dumber female lead than her character. very few get into a good university like Zhejiang on their second gaokao
2) when Jiang Chen was jealous, he would act mean to her. I get this is supposed to be out of jealousy, but his actions seriously irked me.
3) Jiang Chen giving up the chance to go to Qinghua. And then almost giving up the internship opportunity. And also selling his car to pay for her manhua thing. Like yeah, I guess those actions are supposed to be romantic, but I thought they were straight up stupid moves.
4) liked the second lead initially. towards the end, I'd really wish he could just move on to someone else
5) lack of communication in their relationship was sooooo idek what to say lol
6) their break up was sooooooo.....anticlimatic didn't feel a thing
7) the drama felt like it was slowing down at the end
8) the second couple scenes were pretty boring, skipped a lot of their scenes as the drama progressed
9) I didn't like how even though Chen Xiaoxi knew her grades sucked, she hardly put any work into bringing them up. Like yeah, if she didn't want to ask Jiang Chen, then I get it, but her BEST FRIEND is literally one of the top students in the class and she still didn't use her resources LOL
Acting/Cast:
Acting-wise, they were okay. They're all new actors, so I have nothing to compare to. They weren't spectacular, but they weren't terrible either. I think one of my biggest issues was with Hu Yitian's line-reading skills. He speaks pretty unclearly and has poor enunciation (I am fluent in Chinese so this bothered me while I was listening, but if you don't speak it, then you should be okay with it). Also his voice is really monotonous LOL. But he's tall and pretty cute.
Music:
I don't really think there was much music played for this drama, but I quite like the opening theme song!! Ending theme song is meh but the opening one is nice.
Rewatch Value:
Never rewatching this again LOL I mean the drama wasn't terrible but I was pretty bored and not captivated
Overall:
It's a good drama to watch if you have nothing to do, or if you're like me, have a friend who likes cute romances. I heard they deviated quite a bit from the book. "Prime example of an adaption gone wrong by removing all the likeable traits from the main characters. Chen Xiaoxi was never this brainless, and Jiang Chen never leads his potential love interests on. I would’ve preferred a story that spent more time on their adulthood (as in the original), especially when it’s clear the only purpose of the schoolyard love triangles was to drag out the episode coount." (Source: Cfensi). But yeah I really couldn't stand how brainless Chen Xiaoxi was.
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STORY:
The plot follows your basic Itazura na Kiss franchise, except the girl isn't as clingy and the guy isn't as cold. This made the drama a lot more watchable because I wasn't constantly frustrated with the characters. The storyline also progressed very smoothly: it transitions from high school life to adult life (while focusing the most on high school life). I fell in love with the friend group and the teachers who supported Chen XiaoXi. Even the characters I had initially hated I grew to love because the character development is off the charts. This really is the best youth drama because it truly captured the ways how people change and grow as they enter adulthood. From the bittersweet graduation to the rowdy class reunion, this drama shows that even though friends can be separated by distance, they will never be truly separated by love and fate. The love story between Chen XiaoXi and Jiang Chen also developed really well. It was one of those romances where you can't keep a silly smile off of your face and there's always a tingle in your fingertips. Overall, what made the storyline so amazing was the romance, the friendships, and the development.
ACTING/CAST:
I am so so SO impressed with all of the leads. This was both Hu Yi Tian and Shen Yue's first main role and they did a phenomenal job. They also had adorable chemistry and the height difference between HYT and SY was the cutest thing ever. Sun Ning (Lu Yang) and Wang Zi Wei (Lin Jing Xiao) also really complimented each other and brought their character's relationship to life. Now, let's talk about Gao Zhi Ting (Wu Bo Song). I FELL IN LOVE WITH GAO ZHI TING. He was so charming, funny, and total husband material. I found myself in a constant state of distress as I watched this drama because I couldn't decide if I supported Jiang Chen or Wu Bo Song. The second lead syndrome was SO strong in this drama. The love triangle is definitely interesting to watch. Hands down amazing cast and amazing acting!!
MUSIC:
You have no idea how much I love the opening. I never skipped it once, and I always sang along to it each time I watched it. Not only is it super cute, but the lyrics also capture the essence of youth and young love. The ending song is also very good. However, when I finished the last episode and the ending song started to play I couldn't help but cry. The music is amazing and compliments the drama very well!!
REWATCH VALUE:
I would definitely rewatch it!! This was such a short and refreshing drama, and the storyline was very fresh. I fell in love with the characters, and I would definitely go back to see them again!
OVERALL:
Hands down the best drama I have EVER watched. I really hope they make a season 2 because it's being labeled as the best youth drama in China right now as well. For those people on the fence about this drama, jump over the fence!! I promise you won't regret it!! Thank you so much for creating this drama. It will forever hold a special place in my heart :)
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The main female character was ANNOYING and she’s such an airhead.. Her, running after the guy who hardly looks at her, was humiliating to watch and frustrating.. How can you think that’s cute?? It’s like she had no self respect or dignity..
The poor swimmer friend, he was great and sweet and completely loveable, unlike the lead male!
I honestly fast forwarded through most of the episodes because I got too annoyed to watch it.
The only characters who I thought were great, were both in support roles, her best friend and the swimmer.
Girls just a heads up, it’s NOT cute running after a guy who doesn’t even look at you!
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It's cute and all but...I've seen better. It has nothing new but I already knew it when I decided to watch. What really attracted me were the ratings and many viewers saying "oh, it's like a better version of Itazura na Kiss". And I have to admit: I dislike Itazura na Kiss and all it's remakes. I tried to watch, many times, but dropped it. I just can't stand the main leads. Decided to give a chance on this because I thought it would be really different.
But I'm not here to talk about InK, but with so many comparisons here's my verdict: Is it that much different? No, not at all. The girl is still stupidly and desperately pursuing the guy, who in turn acts acts cold and dismissive towards her. The thing is this drama is a more toned down version. People were right, he's not as much of a jerk, but he's still rather unnecessarily cold and, at times, rude. And the girl is not that much "stronger" either. She takes a LOT of his crap and doesn't do anything. And when she actually does (like telling him how it is) it's in a rather childish and immature way. Even when she actualy glosses over "giving up on him" she acts like a child, running away.
Seriously, I'm all for women pursuing the ones they like, but there's a fine line between trying to woo someone and being pathetic. The female lead fell on the wrong side for me. Really girls, if he's not into you, then don't even bother much longer.
Also, I'll never understand one thing: why is the guy always the genius and the girl an "idiot"? Couldn't she be average or even good at studies? Why the huge contrast between the best and the worst? Maybe it's just me nitpicking or thinking too much into it.
Their romance was boring, the cute scenes were fluffy but it really annoyed me when the guy acted nicer only to later act like a dismissive ass. And even when he was being "nice", he still threw one-liners here and there, was distant and constantly ordered the girl around. And it wasn't cute! That's not a cute behaviour, that's plainly annoying to watch.
Luckily it gets better. But it takes a longer time than I expect (and wanted). Only on the last few episodes it really looks like there's a mutual relationship. Still, I found myself annoyed by some actions.
However, what I liked here were the side characters. I guess they are the sole reason I gave this a 7.
I liked the second couple more than I enjoyed the main one. And it's actually pretty funny because their relationship is basically like the main couple's but with genders reversed. Despite that though, Jing Xiao was never truly mean or dismissive of Lu Yang. She really regarded him as close friend, and often got out of her way to demonstrate it. Their relationship felt more developed, healthier if I may say so. And their wedding vows were actually the cutest ever.
Also, Wu Bo Song is one of the best second male leads out there. I think those kind of characters really highlight how different the male lead's treatment of the female lead is crappy, althought I admit that he was kinda exaggerated at times. But he's not just a second guy to fall for the girl, he actually has struggles of his own. The issues with his dad and grandmother actually managed to make me shed some tears.
Another strong point is that this drama is actually pretty accurate with studies and even touches on taboos. It wasn't entirely well developed, after all this is a romance focused story, but I liked to see how the increasingly high standards for students is slowly taking it's toll on them. And the way it was all handled was quite realistic.
All in all it was an interesting watch. Funny thing is that I'm watching a very similar chinese drama called "With You", which has surprisingly similar plot, however I just think that in that drama everything is handled much better. I recommend for you to take a look at those two pretty similar and take your own conclusions.
Now I'll get ready for the flack haha
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First and foremost I would say that I did watch "Itazura na Kiss" and I didn't like it. Unfortunately, I didn't know that this show was an adaptation because I definitely wouldn't have watched this.This is my opinion so you are not obligated to agree with me.
Xiao Xi- as a high school student being weepy, clingy and immature makes sense but even as adult there is no growth. She cries all the time and doesn't learn from her mistakes. She is a complete submissive. In the end it seemed like she has a little strength but that bubble was busted really quickly when she saw a little bit of tears in his eyes. "Did you forget all of the tears you shed for him on the second leads shoulder?"
Jiang Chen- I do not understand if its bad acting skills or the character is a robot. His expression never changes whether expressing love, anger, despair or happiness. He dominant and manipulative. He thinks very highly of himself and treats everyone -especially the woman he loves- as trash. Basically, I haven't found a single quality that I like about him. In college they were in a relationship but it felt more like only she was in a relationship. At the end when they get back together, he is totally taking advantage. He is the only one benefiting from that relationship and she is the only one comprising in the relationship. He doesn't care about her at all especially not about her happiness. When you love someone their tears hurt you more than it hurts them.
There is almost no character development in any of the main characters. I wouldn't want to promote this culture (the main male leads attitude) for the next generation.
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Maggy Moonchild
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Childhood neighbors who become a couple after knowing each other for several years. Very basic story line with no surprises. Although I like that the OTPs friends were important and had all their own story lines, this dragged out the drama.
The male lead was really static and seemed to have no emotions at all. The female lead on the other hand was often annoying (some might call it bubbly) and all over the place.
Again, the basic idea of showing their love from the beginning to end is great. However, the beginning took about 16 episodes (their high school years), while their collage and after-collage life was wrapped up in 7...this also means 16 episodes of no real deep or romantic encounters, and 7 episodes where they are adults, but again we don't see many lovely scenes. Actually, the last episode was the best, as there was a lot of love included!
Acting/Cast:
As this was my first cdrama I don't know any of the cast. They made an okay job, though. The characters were quite annoying...
Music:
Nothing to to remember.
Rewatch:
0/0 I seriously don't know, if I will even watch a cdrama again....
Overall:
I get how their deep bond from the beginning is meant to be shown, however it's more suited for a younger audience (about 13+ years) as the focus is on the high school years. I would have loved to watch their adult life more.
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This is the first c-drama that I have watched... and I'm not here for it.I'm a big fan of school dramas, but this one disappointed me A LOT. If you haven't finished it yet then stop reading because I'll get spoiler-y.
*I couldn't connect with a single character.
Main male (Jiang Chen): annoying, cold as fuck, terrible, i-don't-even-understand-how-girls-can-fall-for-him, pretty outside but shallow inside, etc.
Main female (Xiaoxi): silly, easy to manipulate, insecure about what she really wants. I actually feel pity for her sometimes, but then she does a stupid thing and I don't feel pity anymore.
Second male (Bosong(?)): had good intentions but was too annoying sometimes. She doesn't like you, get over it.
Xiaoxi's bff (Jingxiao(?)): the only character with a bit of personality.. I guess.
The other friend who's married to Xiaoxi's bff (Lu Yang): clingy, edgy, the cringe I felt.. oof,
* Male characters apparently can't accept a 'No' or a 'Leave me alone'. Jiang Chen treated Xiaoxi like trash for years only to show he ''actually cared about her'' in the last 20 minutes of the series. That's not love, that's fucking toxic.
* They all were jealous, manipulative, what the fuck- I don't understand how people actually wish to have a romance like this (as I was reading Viki comments)
* Acting, again, was bad but I guess it's justified, most of the cast were rookies at the time.
Anyways, I can't tell you not to watch it because we all have different taste. But I think, romance in general, is not for me. The OST was cute, though. The best part of the drama was reading the horny comments by Viki users, lmao.
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PLUS, HI? HELLO? Look at that gorgeous Hu Yi Tian in this drama. I probably would've appreciated it more if had cried. Like a tear would have sufficed. BUTTTTT, nonetheless, I would still rewatch this. Seeing him so in love with a girl in this drama made me just want to find a boyfriend stat. lol.
1,012,783,917,947,198,274,981,273,912 out of 10 would watch. ????????????????????
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Female Lead, Super Dumb. They Did My Boy Busong Dirty.
Review will only discuss the first half of the show.So, the female lead is trash, Super manipulative, and toxic towards a dude who ain’t even that interested in her. Watching her obsess over this dude is just sad. Trust, it is very annoying to see her get so petty and jealous when JC hangs out with other classmates like he can’t have other female friends. Honestly, the romance between JC and Xiao Xi is so damn forced. She always be complaining about her shit grades and she ain’t do much more than copy answers out of the back of the book or ask her best friend for help. Ain’t ever seen a more annoying female lead. Speaking of her best friend, that “romance” between her and the school doctor is garbage too. Don’t get me started on Lu Yang either. “Uuuuu my crush don’t like me imma go kill myself”. Toxic af. Everyone on this show is toxic.
Except WU BOSONG. MY BOY ain’t hurt no one he just wants love.
Anyone who leaves a > 8 rating on this show is blind to the truth.
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