Cute and sweet romance - easy watch but can be predictable
Completed - 6/17/2022"Meeting You" is another high school to college drama that China does so well. This is a simple, easy, cute and sweet watch and won't give you too much heartaches or annoyance. What's different in this drama is our ML, who battles and lives with social anxiety all his life. However, he's still the typical genius who is handsome and good with everything.
The plot is simple and somewhat predictable, and sometimes this is just what we need. There's no love triangle, no jealous ex, no miscommunication, no annoying or overly dramatic characters. All characters are pretty likable. Half of the drama takes place in high school and we have the common theme of studying for the college entrance exam that is almost present in any high school C-dramas. The second half takes place in college and there's when the leads get together. This is to be expected as high school romance is frowned upon and never fully blossomed anyway.
Wang Peng is perfect for this role as the super friendly and outgoing Xia Rui. The role is quite similar to her role in "When We Were Young", and her acting met my expectations. Sometimes, I find such characters to be annoying, but luckily, I didn't here. Guo Jun Chen is our super shy but somewhat possessive Nan Xi. I think he does a decent job in portraying this role and there are a few scenes when he's really cute, e.g. when he had his first taste of beer. I couldn't help but laugh out loud. The supporting cast is decent and nothing really to write about, except for the child actors. The little girl who plays young Xia Rui, and the little boy (Jonny Zhang,) who plays Xia Rui's stepbrother are both adorable and hilarious. I do not think the drama is dubbed, so the actors use their own voice. I wonder if it was really Johnny's real voice and live recording, because he has some pretty long and fast line, and his delivery is great.
The pacing of the drama is pretty decent. I do think it could be shortened just a tiny bit, as I was getting bored with the repetitive secondary romance. I also think some scenes are edited out, but I am not quite sure. For example, at the end of one episode, the leads are talking about ML's class and dancing. But at the start of the next episode, FL is moving in ML already. There are not talks about it as it's a pretty good deal. There are a few other minor situations like that.
Other Random Observations:
1. The drinks product placement is a little much.
2. I was not expecting the first kiss to happen that way.
3. Wang Peng is definitely more experienced in kissing on camera than Guo Jun Chen (not that the kisses were amazing).
4. A fellow reviewer, Shiro, mentioned that there are many almost/near kisses in this drama. It's totally true. I think I counted 8.
5. No dubbing - all actors own voices.
6. I personally find the ML's monolog in the last episode to be a little cringey, but others might find it romantic.
7. I am glad we don't see any therapy sessions, because I am sure I would hate them.
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Relaxing
I liked this drama very much because there's technically no villainous or negative character in it. I was eagerly waiting for this drama since it had been released from it's Production company and was waiting till it's subbed.And I found out that the wait was worth it.I wanted to watch this drama because of one and only cute little "WAN PENG". Specially for her only I wanted to watch this drama and it turned out that it was not for vain.
This drama teaches us values of friendship, mentorships, education and many other with true friends and every close relation we have in life.
It also portrays a very understanding and mutual relationship of love and friendship between the two main leads in which both encourages each other's personal growth after realizing love.
One should definitely give it a try..... : 3
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Very Relaxing Drama
This is a drama I have re-watched many times. This is a perfect end to a very stressful week. Binge-watching this will make you feel good after. There are no overtly stressful situations, intense moments of betrayal and conspiracies to defeat the weak and simple-minded lead characters.The story and the characters were very well-developed. The love story is very sweet and innocent. The side characters remained good and loyal until the end.
I was surprised by the rating. I believe it could be a lot higher. Maybe because of a lack of kissing scenes, but for me the drama did not need it. They were able to convey their love without too much skinship. It was also consistent with how the characters of the story were written.
I would highly recommend this drama.
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Spunky, energetic barista x awkward, unsociable architect from high school to college
Youth drama at its finest! I love how this show stayed true to its warm, endearing tone from beginning to end. Every potential enemy turns into a friend. The main lead were childhood friends turned high school sweethearts turned college couple. Their best friends also have a similar progression. Everyone gets happy endings as they wrap up high school and everyone managed to pursue their dreams while staying together.It's a feel-good, unrealistic yet heartwarming rendition of young adult years.
PROS
❀ Main leads are a team from beginning to end | I picked up this drama for the ML actually, despite not being the biggest fan of youth dramas, because I wanted to see how the show portrayed his social anxiety disorder. It was awesome to see him slowly open up with the help of the feisty FL (I love how they call her Rui Ge, like older bro), while he on the other hand helped the FL with her studies and getting into college. They're a team, through and through, and their bond remains tight throughout the show.
I've become a fan of the actress for the FL. I love how full of energy she is, how she would randomly dance, and how she was comfortable with grandiose actions. I feel like she really got into her role! The ML was like a little puppy, especially when he opened up. I don't think the role itself needed much from the actor, but his face was really good at exuding those puppy vibes.
Romance-wise, their chemistry is sweet and like the rosy blushes of first love; their relationship is innocent and naive. There's a lot of interrupted kisses (lol, maybe like 5+?), but the kisses near the end are sugary sweet and satisfying.
❀ Cute secondary characters that I really liked | The FL's best friends are loud-and-proud Cheng Er Luo and studious actress Zhao Yi Shu. While wary of the ML's unwillingness to open up at first, they gradually become friends and understand each other. Cheng Er Luo ends up calling the ML "Nan idol," lmao. There's a couple of other sweet couples (diligent diplomat Yang Yu Fei x bad boy/slacker Liu Bin; fierce coach x well-read coffee house owner) that light up the screen as well. And one of the wittiest characters of the cast was Chen Hao, the FL's younger half-brother. He was so cheeky!
❀ Nostalgic school moments that make you want to re-live teen years | From setting off fireworks during evening study period to cheering on your friend at basketball practice after school, Meeting You really encapsulates the best times of high school and college. Even studying for the college entrance exams is a team effort that, while stressful, remains light in tone.
❀ Sha-la-la-la OST that matched the light tone of the drama | It's a shame the YT audio has such poor quality (they would take away background music during scenes, I guess for copyright reasons?), which really killed the vibe. But I'm listening to the full OST as I write this review, and it's really cute! Makes me feel like a high schooler again.
❀ Awesome adult characters | From the supportive moms to the devoted teachers, all the adults passed the vibe check in this drama. Love, love, loved their limited screen time and interactions with the young group. 10/10 great role models.
CONS
✕ A relationship that toed the line with co-dependency | I was low-key surprised at some of the dialogue that happened between the leads. I mentioned before that it was nice seeing the FL bring the ML out of his shell while the ML helped tutor the FL, but when people (namely, parents) wanted to separate them, the answer was a firm, "no." FL might not get into this university suitable for the ML's future? ML's answer: "I'm not going." FL gets an opportunity to go to Italy to hone her coffee-making skills but that means leaving the ML? FL's answer: "I'm not leaving." If not for the coincidential plot points that allowed the main couple to stay together the entire drama, I shudder to think of how the couple would have sacrificed potential futures for each other. Not to say you can't, as this is a nuanced discussion that people have to have, but the drama never took the steps to start that conversation. It retained its singular focus of "we won't be split up again" from beginning to end. On one side, it's testimony of the main leads' devotion (very nice!). On the other, it toes the line of some head-scratching as you begin to think about potential co-dependency. The solution? Don't think too deep about it.
✕ Misunderstanding level: 0/10 for the main couple, 4/10 for second couple | Xia Rui and Nan Xi are solid from beginning to end. They trust each other even through rumors and other external interference. Cheng Er Luo and Zhao Yi Shu (the second couple) take a much longer time getting together. He's dense af, she's missing her opportunities to confess. Their relationship was sweet at first but got a bit overdone when they went to college.
OVERALL
While I have mostly positive things to say about this drama, it stays on the superficial side. This is a positive, as the tone is light-hearted and fluffy (no need for angst to enter the equation), but it also makes it a bit difficult to keep the engagement going. I found myself watching scenes in 1.5x-2x speed out of sheer impatience. So while the show didn't have too much depth, that's exactly how it should be enjoyed. I still recommend it though, for a youth drama that's more romance than coming-of-age, highlighting the fun times of young adulthood rather than the struggles.
(Note: My rewatch value is set to 5.0 always as a default as I'm not the type to rewatch dramas EVER. Thus, I do not take it into account when calculating overall score.)
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This is a very nice, lighthearted coming of age drama. The actors did a good job bringing their characters to life and there was good chemistry among the characters. Although the romantic relationships take forever to develop, the drama’s strength is on the overall relationship among the main and supporting characters and how strong they become as they straight into adulthood. Although this drama is great, it is not without a fault. Even though the leading couple has a great symbiotic relationship with a fluffy romance, healthy communication, fun interaction, and a steadfast love, the only thing that was frustrating about the them is that there are too many times of interrupted kisses that ruined the fluffiness of their romantic synergy; it would have been better to continue with their great hugs and forehead kisses than to see her flustered and scared body language as he tenderly approaches to kiss her. Besides that, the drama is absolutely fantastic, friendships are loyal and Nan Xi (Fiction Guo) and Xia Rui (Wan Peng) are truly soulmates who are destined to be together and their journey is enchanting; from the moment that they realized who they were as children and all the way to the end, their relationship is inextricably linked and delightful to watch. Enjoy it! Considerați utilă această recenzie?
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For those with social anxiety.... (Maybe spoilers, may not?)
If you're like me and have mild to severe social anxiety and you need a pick me up or a reminder. This is for you! For us. Someone will come along and waken us up and realize that the world isn't always as dark and as cruel as it may seem. Nan Xi the sweetest boy who didn't hurt a fly and they were cruel and Xia Rui with the purest heart who showed him that no matter what you go through in life, there will always be someone there. That that person will always remain by your side. There's a lot of lessons to learn, like how one person who you thought was your enemy can become your friends, that it's never too late to find love, or to even start your life over again whatever that endeavor you want to do may be. This was the most heartwarming genre and I cried, I got mad. But I also know it's okay to break out of your shell. That no matter what good always outweighs the evil (Gao Ting) and that their teacher is the best damn teacher EVER!!! He's the male version of an old teacher of mine. It books to become a boring, cynical and logical teacher, but it takes love and heart to go the extra mile just like there's did in high school and in college. It takes a daughter who academically struggled to open up her mother's heart and realize sometimes not EVERYTHING she says is always right and logical and that home, friends, and being local is just what she needs to succeed. As much as I like the ones that have the drama in it and that gets me on the edge of my seat to get to the happy ending this one is the best. There's no drama, well apart from Gao Ting trying to ruin Nan Xi out of jealousy oh and in the early days of high school, but other than that, easy and fun. This is the third drama I've watched with Wan Peng and my first with the male lead actor Guo Jun Chen and I can't wait to find more of their works in the future.Considerați utilă această recenzie?
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Why... oh why... didn't I watch this sooner
The female lead in meeting you is amazing. She's very different from your average leading lady. Besides, the amount she falls in the first episode alone is just amazing. Funnily enough it keeps happening since she keeps falling or being clumsy. I love her so much and she's such a mood. I've never met such a relatable female lead in a cdrama.Meeting You is just sooo cute🥺🥺 and it keeps getting cuter and cuter. I even urged my friends to watch it since it's just so darn adorable. And don't even get me started on the social anxiety rep 🥺🥺 It's sincerely the best social anxiety representation I've seen in such a long time and that says a lot since this drama is from China (nothing against China besides maybe some of the questionable decisions of their government, but its society is also pretty conservative. So I wasn't expecting much from the mental health representation but in all honesty I was blown away by how they handled it).
I literally almost cried twice already.
I do need to get something off my chest: WHY ARE OPENINGS OF CHINESE SHOWS ALWAYS SO DAMN LONG?😂😭
Ooooooooeeeeeh they have a new intro logo since the gang is now at university. Me likey likey likey, me likey likey likey.
OMG MY BABIES ARE FINALLY TOGETHER! IT TOOK AN ETERNITY FOR THEM ALREASY ACTING ALL LOVEY DOVEY BOYFRIEND-GIRLFRIEND ROLLED, BUT FUCK YASS IT'S OFFICIAL NOW.
I normally hate kids in dramas but damn Xia Rui's sassy little brother has captured my heart. One of the best drama kids I've encountered.
Also, the amount of times I almost cried while watching this drama is more than two handfuls. I was apparently too emo for this amazing shit.
Nan Xi and Xia Rui are just absolutely the cutest.
Feifei finally became Liu Bin's girl and I was soooo happy that he came back to because he was one of my favorite characters.
The two friends were cute as well but their drama became at one point too ridiculous. Their ending was nice though.
It would have been a 10/10 show if Nan Xi and Xia Rui didn't constantly tell each that they would stay together forever. I mean c'mon after the first few times we got NO NEED TO TELL AS A BAZILLION TIMES MORE OKAY. That's too repetitive. Also, at times Nan Xi showed a bit too much of a controlling side towards Xia Rui (not that she really listened to him anyways) but that's still something that impacted my level of enjoyment. It also got a bit repetitive towards the end.
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light hearted sweet romance story
Meeting You 2020 - 8,5/10 -cdramaslice of life, coming of age high school-college-work drama portraying trio of friends getting new member to become quartet and maybe double couple.
this drama main leads got nice chemistry and cute vibe and their relationship is steadily progressing practically thorough whole drama without much of problems.
plot - "Meeting You" (2020) is a heartwarming high school drama about a group of friends. When a new student with social difficulties joins their class, he discovers that one of the girls in the group was his childhood crush from kindergarten. The drama explores their friendships, first loves, and the challenges of teenage life. It's a relatable and touching story that reminds us of the power of reconnecting with the past and the importance of friendship during our formative years. Get ready for a nostalgic and heartwarming journey with "Meeting You"! [I let chatGPT write it up]
genre - school, romance, comedy, college, sweet
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5-10 eps too long
Honestly if they had cut down on the episodes this might have been much better. I shockingly enjoyed the beginning part of the drama aka the high school period over the second half of the drama aka the college period. The writers lost the plot in the 2nd half and it was super boring and beyond ridiculous.There was nothing absolutely nothing based on reality in this drama in the aspect of the characters, they were just all too unrealistic especially the Male Lead but I wasn’t really mad at it, I love watching series for the fantasy even though I still want it to be rooted in a bit or realism.
You might have thought we would, for the 1st time escape the hospital troupe in a CDrama but low & behold that was not to be, they found a way to insert it into the drama come hell or high water.
I struggled so badly with the rating for this drama because with how much I loved the 1st 18eps, the vein in which I loved it, is in the same vein in which I loathe the remaining 10eps. The brightest star of this show is the little boy, he was such a delight and stole every scene he was in, I also liked the high school teacher, he sure has the best teacher award from me.
Do I regret watching this, not really but I definitely will not be rewatching this drama as I struggled to finish it and was thankful for the fast forward button which was maximally utilized from ep21 and I honestly ended up not caring about both the main lead couple and the secondary couple now matter how much I initially enjoyed their diabetes induced sweetness because it had no humph to it and ended up being a juvenile middle school romance. I wish Young Beautiful Shu ended up with Sibo and not Cheng Erluo, he was better off as her best friend to be honest and it would have made the drama much better IMO.
FYI to CDrama writers not every childhood crush should end up together forever, forcing this troupe when it doesn’t work just brings down the value of the drama but what do I know..
Rewatch value 3/10
Overall 6.5/10
I recommend if you have nothing else to watch.
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This is great if you want a light watch and dont mind if nothing exciting happens
I loved the characters, FL was determined, loud, funny, and not annoying. I liked how she gently coaxed him out of his shell and never pushed him too far or got frustrated with him. The friends all had fun and unique personalities. The relationship between FL and ML was mature and very healthy, almost too healthy at times. I really loved the dynamic between all of the characters but I lost interest like halfway, it got very boring for me but I kept watching because the characters were so well-written. The main couple were one of the most wholesome I have ever seen, you can really tell they deeply care for each other but the show ended up being all fluff and no substance. I loved it in the beginning but had lost the will to live by the end of it.Considerați utilă această recenzie?
A light show that gave me all the feels. I wanted to be friends with these people!
I tend to get frustrated with the length of Chinese shows. This one has 28 episodes of between 30-40 minutes each, but there is about five minutes of credits at the beginning and end of each episode, so ultimately, this one didn’t drag on for me.I loved this drama, for multiple reasons: Very low angst, no evil parents, no evil ex trying to break the couple up, no break up for stupid reasons, no misunderstandings/miscommunication. There is a lot going on in this show. Not only do you have the main couple, you have friends, other students, teachers, and family. There was a time gap, but they were together during that time – that was SO refreshing!
STORY: The story of the main couple was very refreshing. They were supportive of each other’s dreams, they listened to one another, they enjoyed each other’s company – the way a real couple should be.
The friendships were excellent. The story is about a young man with social anxiety and how debilitating it can be. The underlying moral was that we are all different, we each have things that we struggle with, but with good friends beside you, you can not only overcome but grow as a result of those friendships.
The pacing was pretty good. Some of the scenes could have been shortened for those of us with attention difficulties, but there wasn’t any time that I thought “why did they stick that in there?”
CAST: The entire cast was very good, and I felt that each person was perfect for their part. I have to expound on the main couple, though. Fiction Guo as Nan Xi was perfect. I’ve never seen him in anything before, so I don’t know if the paleness of his skin was natural or if they made him up that way. Either way, it was brilliant. That, along with his mannerisms of someone suffering with a disability, I was immediately drawn to him and felt empathy for him. Not wanting to be touched, not making eye contact, stooped posture as if trying to be invisible, it was heartbreaking to watch, but it was absolutely lovely to see him bloom and come out of his shell as a result of the friends he made. He had to put himself out there to a certain degree, which was hard for him, but there was a definite reward at the end. Guo has a beautiful voice that was especially effective in the voice over work that he did in certain parts of the show. Wan Peng as Xia Rui – first of all, she was cute as a button (though her hair hanging in her face all the time was irritating me!). Xia Rui was where the writers of this really shone – she was very talkative and talked very fast, so she probably had more lines than everyone else. And she had some wonderful lines! She was the kind of person that you would just want to be friends with, bubbly, supportive, standing up for the underdog.
CHEMISTRY: The friendship/love chemistry was strong with the main couple. I honestly was able to understand why they loved one another. Everything made sense. There were a couple of okay kisses, but honestly, the way they spoke to one another, I sometimes felt like a voyeur.
The music was pretty non-descript. I could watch this one again, though I may not because there’s so much other stuff I need to get to! If I were to watch it again, I’m sure I’d feel like I was visiting old friends.
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