Hidden Love (2023)

She's 17, and acting like a baby

Am I the only one who finds the girl's acting in the series as off??! She's 17 but acts like a 3 year old child, making it hard to buy into the on-screen relationship between the main leads. It feels like the guy is dating a kid, and her immature acting messes with the credibility of the show. She could do better by showing a more grown-up side that matches her character's age, which would have made the series more believable and enjoyable to watch!

It's such a pity because the story and concept of the series is awesome, and also all cred to the rest of the actors who did an amazing job!

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Lovely

There are spoilers interspersed throughout my review, because some of them were things I liked, some I didn't.

LOVED:
1) Zhao Lu Si as Sang Zhi. She is so beautiful and bubbly, I felt she was perfectly cast for this. Finally, a show in which they didn't put her in a lot of oversized outfits.
2) Chen Zhe Yuan as Duan Jia Xu. I've not seen him in anything before and I loved him in this. First, he's gorgeous. Second, the character was a warm and caring person.
3) Romance chemistry - just wow! The ML said things that most women would love to hear from their man. The way he looks at her, sigh. Good kisses.
4) Story - knowing someone for a long time and developing a relationship. For the most part, this was handled well.
5) Victor Ma as Sang Yan. He was a terrific character. The dynamic between him and his sister, and him and his friends was such fun to watch.
6) SPOILER: It seems like most romances have a secondary female that used to be a girlfriend that comes back after years and wants to pick up where they left off. She thinks she's entitled to him because she wants him. FINALLY, this show portrays the female the way I feel about the secondary women in other dramas. She's a stalker and not-just-a-little unhinged. And I love how the FL told the stalker's friend to go with her to get some counseling! END SPOILER.
7) Ending - I cried.
8) The voices weren't too terrible and the roommates weren't stupid and irritating.
9) The focus was on the romance of the main couple. Not a lot of wasted time.
10) She met him when she was in middle school. The way they handled her crush, her youth, and how he felt about her was handled well. This could have been kind of creepy if he liked her too soon. And the progression of how his feelings changed made sense.
11) The brother's reaction to finding out his friend was dating his sister.
12) The fact that the ML didn't drink alcohol.
13) I know it's not realistic, but I love when the people haven't had relationships before. When he came out and said he'd never dated...he got me!

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: (SPOILERS THROUGHOUT)
1) Sang Zhi acted in a very immature fashion when she was younger. I get that she was young, but when a girl has a crush on a guy, especially an older guy, she does everything she can to demonstrate how mature she is.
2) She's had a crush on him for literally years. She grows up, he confesses his feelings, and she says she needs to think about whether she likes him. I wanted to smack her upside the head. I felt so bad for him, but thank goodness he was patient. I think he knew, even if she didn't say anything. I was mad for a couple of episodes.
3) Her friends saying she needed to "test" him, and her doing it. Game playing in a relationship isn't a good thing, and it, again, made her look really immature.
4) Her making herself cry (when she was younger) to get her way. Once she grew up, I felt that she was still trying to manipulate people.
5) Them saying they would be there for each other, but then keeping things from the other because they didn't want to bother/overwhelm them.
6) One of the last episodes, he's alone in the living room drinking. She comes out and asks him about it, and he never opens up about what the problem is. AND, I really had a problem with the fact that the first time they were intimate he was drunk.
7) Parents, especially, complaining about the age difference. It was five years, people!

Kudos to the writers for not making this a long and drawn out story. My fast forward button got a good rest while I was watching this. It's low angst, light, fluffy, cute, and all the other things when you don't want something heavy. It's one of those shows that I put off, thinking it couldn't possibly be that good, and then I was disappointed when it was over. I will definitely be re-watching it at some point in time.

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SUPER DRAMA, cute, romantic, comforting, with 2 great leads, Chen Zhe Yuan in ML & Zhao Lu Si in FL.

SUPER DRAMA, cute, romantic, comforting, with 2 great leads, Chen Zhe Yuan in ML & Zhao Lu Si in FL.

Plot: crush of a 14 yo middle school student on the friend of her brother, 5 years older. They will be separated for a few years, reuniting when she is 17 & high school student. Big disappointment for her, he moved away, started working, and she thinks he has a girlfriend.
Two years later, having become a student in the same city as him, they meet again and get closer little by little.

The series follow the daily life of the FL, the first emotions, the hesitations, the sufferings,... And Zhao Lu Si is remarkable both as a high school student and as a young adult who wants to protect her lover.

The ML, played by Chen Zhe Yuan, has all the green flags. He is handsome (very :), mature, responsible, respectful. His moments of vulnerability are touching, and CZY is so good in this role, that we all want to comfort him!

+ the exceptional chemistry, the natural interactions between the 2 leads
+ The story, very well written, is quite realistic, without twist, without great evil (even the stalker is almost "human").
+ the direction is perfect, without downtime.
+ The OSTs are well adapted and pleasant (2 songs with the participation of Zhao Lu Si)
+ the comforting and warm story, makes the viewer smile throughout the drama.

- real life is generally a little less fun than that of dramas (where the heroes overcome all difficulties and excel in everything they do ;)

=> To rewatch without hesitation !!!
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SUPER DRAMA, cute, romantique, réconfortant, avec 2 très grands leads, Chen Zhe Yuan en ML & Zhao Lu Si en FL.

Plot : crush dès 14 ans, d'une lycéenne sur l'ami de son frère, 5 ans plus âgé. Ils seront séparés pendant quelques années, se retrouvent quand elle a 17 ans & lycéenne. Grosse déception pour elle, il a déménagé, commencé à travailler, et elle pense qu'il a une petite amie.
Deux ans plus tard, devenue étudiante dans la même ville que lui, ils se retrouvent et se rapprochent peu à peu.

On suit le parcours de la FL, ses 1ers émois, ses hésitations, ses souffrances, son parcours. Et Zhao Lu Si est remarquable aussi bien en lycéenne qu'en toute jeune adulte qui veut protéger son amoureux.

Le ML, interprété par Chen Zhe Yuan, a tous les green flags. Il est beau (très :), mature, responsable, respectueux. Ses moments de vulnérabilité sont touchants, et CZY est tellement bon dans ce rôle, qu'on a tous envie de le réconforter !

+ l'alchimie exceptionnelle, les interactions naturelles entre les 2 leads
+ L'histoire, très bien écrite, est assez réaliste, sans twist, sans great evil (même la stalker est à peu près "humaine").
+ la réalisation est parfaite, sans temps mort.
+ Les OST sont bien adaptés et agréables (2 chansons avec la participation de Zhao Lu Si)
+ l'histoire réconfortante et chaleureuse, fait sourire le spectateur durant tout le drama.

- la vraie vie est en général un peu moins sympa que celle des dramas (où les héros surmontent toutes les difficultés et excellent dans tout ce qu'ils font ;)

=> A revoir sans hésitation !!!

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This cemented why I love Zhao Lu Si!!

I'm watching this on Netflix in tandem with the C Drama Hidden Love. Part way through it becomes very obvious how amazing Hidden Love is, in contrast to the sub par storyline and acting of King Land drama. I've since dropped King Land. The couple of Hidden Love gives me what I want in a love story...the feel of romance and absolute thrill of watching a couple falling in love and staying in love. Zhao Lu Si hands down is an amazing ( and beautiful) actress. The supporting cast are incredible. If this is the kind of quality C dramas are aiming for then rest assure they are going to overtake k drama in the near future in terms of popularity. I love this 24 episodes length too.

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HIDDEN ❤ LOVE - deep in heart

Loved and enjoyed this drama so much feeling too many butterflies!! Great story and perfect cast they nailed it. Zhao lusi stolen our hearts in every drama.

I watched this series when it was still on air and amount of curious and patience to wait for next episode to air was another excitement for me!! But as we all know "worth the wait" , this drama nvr disappointed in the storyline .
Perfect balance of FL and ML chemistry and understanding level. The bond between sister and brother is another spark to this drama. Its so real and natural.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED ??

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DO NOT BELIEVE THE VIEWERS THAT CONFUSE FEELINGS OF FINDING A YOUNG GIRL CUTE, WITTY, AND SWEET GIRL WHEN SHE WAS 12 TO FEEL A SMALL TUG IN HIS HEART WHEN HE MEETS HER AGAIN WHEN SHE’S SEVENTEEN, AND TO FALL IN LOVE WHEN SHE WENT TO COLLEGE AS AN ADULT. The male lead never crossed the lines of impropriety, even when they were dating; he was lovely and respectful towards her. Hidden Love is a great, delightful, and lighthearted drama that will make you smile tenderly at the leading male and female once they become a couple. Chen Zhe Yuan (as Duan Jia Xu) and Zhao Lu Si (as Sang Zhi) have a refreshing, charming, and beautiful engaging relationship that dazzles the screen every time they look at each other. This drama has a great main and supporting cast that delivered a well crafted story of two individuals that, in spite of their age difference, managed to bring about a healthy and beautiful love story. Enjoy it!

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Drama yang wajib banget ditonton ketika lagi nyari drama ringan buat healing.

Gatau lagi mau koment apa. Drama ini perfect sih menurutku (kecuali episodenya yang terlalu sedikit).

Dari alur cerita yang super ringan tapi nggak bikin bosen sama sekali. Chemistry pemain yang luar biasa bagus bahkan sampe ke behind the scene-nya. Karakter development yang perfect. Semua tentang drama ini bagus menurutku.

Ps; aku orangnya lumayan picky kalau ttg drama romance gitu sebenernya. Gampang ketriggered cringe. Tapi di drama ini menurutku, gada hal yang cringe sama sekali. Semuanya terasa natural.

Rewatch? Offcourse yes.

Drama ini akan jd drama healing terbaik versi aku dan aku yakin aku gakan bosen buat rewatch.

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A lot of things were hidden, mainly the reason.

This was a sweet story at times, frustrating at other times.

My biggest gripe comes from the FL character early on.

It almost seemed as if the 14 year old version was more mature than the 18 year old.

I had a hard time at one point keeping track of her age due to her overly childish behavior and ridiculous baby voice.

No one I know has ever acted or talked like that.

From other reviews it seems she does this intentionally (?) which is even more bizarre for a character to do.

The ML was pure eye candy and he knows it.

This role was just another way for him to boost his fan count.

I disliked the way he dressed / styling of his character.

Some scenes his jeans seemed too high up and he'd have his shirt tucked in like someone's grandpa.

A 5 year age difference is not that much, especially not to dress him so much older.

I appreciated the few times they did things and it was a first for both.

Example: walking together on campus and then he plays basketball.

Even though he had already been to college, he didn't have the chance to do 'couple things'.

We saw very little development in his feelings for the FL though which was a let down.

It was very sudden and not very convincing.

The reason seems to be a complete mystery other than a few flashbacks of him looking at her (very short span of time).

He literally was calling her kid and treating her like a little sister one day and then BAM! all of a sudden he's head over heels in love with her.

How?

They could've spent more time developing that part of the story and less time on the fact that his dad killed someone while drunk driving.

I also didn't understand the constant emphasis on how wealthy the FL supposedly was.

They seemed to be middle class, maybe a little higher.

Not too impressive but somehow was a big point.

The leads are both good actors so they played their parts well, but their chemistry was very lacking.

Not a popular opinion, but given my seasoned experience, one I am sticking with.

I was not moved by it, but overall it was a good watch.

Just not worth all the 9s and 10s floating about.

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A SOLID 10 OUT OF 10 FOR 2023 C-DRAMA

OMG, this drama seriously so good. This is solid 10 to me.
I ended up watching it because it is currently ranked 5 on Netflix in my country, and I was curious as to why so many people talk about it.
It was my biggest mistake to listen to the haters. There is no such thing as a crime or sinful scenes.

I saw one influential youtuber discuss this drama, and for the record, those are baseless accusations and claims made by her and her supporters. I know they're all giving this drama one star while giving another drama ten. Thank goodness, this drama is currently No. 1 in MDL, and I'm sure those haters are hoping every second that this drama will flop. Anyway, who cares about the haters when this drama has become so popular both domestically and internationally. They can't change that fact.

I'm not sure if I watched HL after The Glory, but this drama feels like holy water washes away our sins and hatred after watching The Glory.
This drama has a fluffy and cute couple, positive characters from both leads, a lovely sibling, understanding parents, a supportive friend, and a protective couple. In a nutshell, the best drama of this genre.

I have a lot of favourite characters in this series, but my favourite is undoubtedly our female lead, Sang Zhi. She was raised and spoiled by a wonderful family.
Despite being spoiled by her parents and brother, she knows how to be polite, stand on her own two feet and fight, take responsibility for her future, and recognise her own worth.

Now, let's talk about acting. Without Zhao Lusi and Chen Zhe Yuan's performances, I don't think we'd be able to capture this couple's chemistry. This drama is primarily focused on the two leads.
As I previously stated, this is a simple drama, but when there is a sad scene, they deliver it exceptionally well. I cried a lot during the airport scenes and when DJX is crying and bawling after hugging SZ.

As for the soundtrack, I think it's fantastic, with no bad songs. Forever Star, Star Thief, and Be Your Light are some of my favourites.
Anyway, please send HL a lot of love. I give it a ten out of ten.

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Simple, yet magnificent.

This is what a producer should do to create a perfect contemporary romance drama.
I think the casting was excellent, from the main lead to the supporting casts. They did perfectly well.

I've heard there are a lot of problems before they start shooting because the original directors withdraw from these projects, so the other investors and some other actors follow along. Later, a new director takes over, and a few of ZLS's friends join to continue the project. The good news is that this director did a fantastic job directing this drama.

All the ost are in my playlist and my favourite are Star Thief, Forever star and Be your light. These 3 are so good that I keep playing everyday.

Overall. I give 10/10.

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