Unrequited Love (2021)

The lead actors's fame saved the drama from ruin

As I don't like watching ongoing dramas, I decided to watch the 2019 version first. I was excited knowing the old one was so good, so I was kind of looking forward to the new one. Yet, here is a couple of reasons why I dropped it :

1) The opening lines failed to capture the essence of what and how unrequited love is
I personally believe that the first episode and even the first minutes are critical because you're either going to pull or push the audiences.
The opening scene, we were greeted by Luo Zhi monologue about the low chance of finding someone who was in sync with her among 6.5 billion people. It was lower than finding two Gingko Biloba leaves with identical notches. And then she went on…
"I know that we might run into each other anytime. However, I'm afraid that even the greatest mathematician won't be able to calculate the exact timing when that will happen."

I think we all agree that those lines are good. But the problem is, they sound more like a description of a destined love story instead of unrequited love. Let's compare it to the 2019 version. The FL made the introduction with the story about her college life. Then she described how it'd be like to secretly love someone ; being observant of what he did, knowing the little things he wasn't aware of, purposely walking slowly behind him. I could feel the sadness and the longing just from hearing the narration.
"Have you ever secretly loved someone? Be it in the past or in the present. You only dare to look at him from behind. During high school, I always followed him from behind. As if a flower would bloom from his back. Each encounter with him didn't happen by accident. I made it happen. "
Spot the difference?

2) They did a poor job with the background music
I can't believe they put cheerful music when Huainan talked to his girlfriend while Luo Zhi was there writing on the blackboard (I think it's on episode 2). It was supposed to be a painful scene watching your crush talking to another girl, for heaven's sake! I wasn't aware of how good the background music for 2019 until I watched the 2021 version, they made funny lines became even funnier with a touch of comical music here and there, and made me weep with the gut wrenching melodies. They should know better that background music is playing a significant role to toy with the audiences' emotions and yet, the 2021 version failed to make the best of it for their advantages.

3) Lack of Remarkable Scenes and Great Dialogues
Where do I start? There are so many powerful scenes in the old version that the new one can't compete. The windowsill scene, their first encounter in college, the raincoat scenes, the hot water scene, the list goes on…
24 episodes were already too much for me, so I couldn't believe this one has 38 episodes. And somehow along the way, you can feel the conflict is too much, draggy and unnecessary. I mean, it's quite tricky for a predictable drama where we know for certain that the hero and heroine will end up together. It's not like mystery or thriller dramas where audiences tend to stay because they want to understand the mystery. It is important to have good scenes to keep us attached.

4) Cast and Characters :
Again, couldn't help but make a comparison. I'm not going to list them all, just my two favorite characters, Luo Zhi and Zhang Mingrui. I like both the 2019 and 2021 FL, though there is a huge difference since the latest version made the girl more girl-ish. She is elegant, calm and soft. Whereas the 2019 is more witty, outspoken and sarcastic with boy-ish looks (I don't recall her wearing shorts or dresses). But I prefer the old cast, because her facial expressions gave more nuances to her character and made me feel her emotions.
Zhang Mingrui is still the Zhang Mingrui that I like. A cute, nice and funny boy that will make you both laugh and cry for him. But, the 2019 actor was just so great at playing his role, idk how to describe it. Totally a scene stealer! Go watch him.

Overall, I gotta say the 2019 version is far better than this one. I was hoping to see something great since there is Hu Yui Tian! I'm a fan from A Love So Beautiful. But again, a good drama isn't just about having pretty actors with great acting skills, other aspects are no less important.

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How is it possible to drag on for so long?

While I like the casting for each of the characters, all of the actors' performances, and the music/atmosphere of the drama, I greatly disliked the story as well as its overall flow. The biggest problem with the story is how much it drags on. Other reviews mention how terribly long it takes for the main characters to get together, but I think that that's only part of the problem. If there were legitimate issues standing in the way of the main characters being together, I think a slow burn could've been really enjoyable and worthwhile. But, because each issue felt so manufactured and of little consequence, every new conflict that brought them further apart just made me groan.

It's safe to say that I didn't even like the interactions between the main characters enough to completely root for them -- in fact, I found a lot of their conversations genuinely boring, and I wished I could just fast forward or skip, but I didn't want to miss anything that might've been important. On top of that, I found Luo Zhi very unlikable. I did like her when she was interacting with her friends, but a major problem for Luo Zhi was being deceitful (even if it wasn't with bad intentions), and this was something she hadn't taken responsibility for. Perhaps, later on in the story, this comes into play and she does take some responsibility for it, but I doubt it as the story treats this as something almost trivial. She shows no remorse for it, and then she becomes angry at Sheng Huainan for not fully explaining his distance but refusing to explain her own lies. Her lying, her coldness, her demanding of an explanation while also conveniently not explaining herself -- these are all major problems for her character.

But the biggest issue with the narrative from what I could tell after 26 episodes is that, other than the part about not explaining herself, it basically treats her as if she's in the right. Her own mistakes of lying to Sheng Huainan is basically overlooked after an episode or two following its reveal, while Sheng Huainan's distancing of himself is basically thrown in his face for an entire string of episodes. It doesn't feel proportionate, and throughout my viewing of this drama, I just wondered how in the world Luo Zhi would ever progress as a character. Especially since, barring the few times that she comes in to save the day, she's largely being pulled along by the narrative rather than pushing it along herself. If anything, the times that she lied and purposefully created coincidences were probably the only occasions where the narrative was centered around her own action rather than someone else or some outside circumstance forcing her hand. The only other actions that she does tend to just prolong conflict. It makes watching the drama so much more difficult because, if you're able to view the situation between the two main characters with any level of objectivity, you realize how unfair it is that Sheng Huainan has to jump through hoops to win Luo Zhi's favor when Luo Zhi herself didn't make any attempts to rectify the fact that she had been lying before, during, or even after being exposed for those lies.

And when a main character is passive, obstinate, cold, and boring, and the narrative basically doesn't acknowledge these things as flaws, getting through all 38 episodes is an uphill battle, and it was an uphill battle that I unfortunately (or fortunately) could not withstand any longer.

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nice cast and production but slow paced

I watch this purely bcoz it's interesting, coz I never read the book, and neither have I watched the 2019 one.
It's true to the title, unrequited love. All the mains (except ML)all have unrequited love. Everyone pursues the one they love, but the opponent didn't like them back. The good side is that the FL is a strong, mature and determined person, and how she covers her unrequited love by studying is something that everyone who has unrequited love should try XD. Hu YiTian acts good too, here. he pays the typical "male god" ml, perfect and flawless. But the thing I like from the ML is that although he's talkative, he is more talkative and warm, not the cold type. The bromance and sismance in the ML and FL's room feels so warm and real. Mingrui shines in this series. He is a very likeable and friendly character who has good relationship with everyone. He supports ML's love, and he accompanies FL in her devastated moments. I would like to have a friend like that. Baili is a good, sweet friend, but a terrible lover. She chooses the person who has other girl in is heart. It's weird that he still likes him even after she has been treated like trash. Pacing is very slow, so I don't binge it, I watch it along with other dramas instead. It's much more enjoyable than the early 7 eps which I binged.
But the story dragged, with some unnecessary/toxic relationship, and many misunderstandings occur, and the story went downhill starting from eps. 35/36 onwards. The ending's rushed very badly, and the ending is a very unsatisfactory and open ending, so if you care about a drama's ending very much, this is not for u.
As others said, the romance here is very pure and not cliche. But the romance is just a small part of this. There are only like 5 romantic episodes while the others are only unrequited love. true to the title, ugh.

Nice usage of ost. The ost's slow and calm, like the love between FL and ML which develops slowly.

Overall 7.5/10. I enjoyed the friendship, mingrui, and the acting.

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"How to hurt other people or yourself" is a more appropriate title

If you're not accustomed with Chinese cultures like me, you wouldn't enjoy watching such an illogical behaviors of the characters in this drama. I honestly dunno whether it is normal to force a guy to accept crushed feelings from several female supporting roles who are shamelessly obsessed with the male lead, bordering to insanity.

Therefore, I truly don't recommend it; do it only when you have nothing else to watch, or just wasting time of your boredom.

I'm well aware that one-sided love happens all the time to all us, but such senseless behaviors in the story of this series is just too much craziness and/or stupidity.

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