Don't Expect Too Much From This Cute Fantasy Romcom

Story
- Story is ok. It's cute, it's fluffy, it's lighthearted. It could have been a stronger story.
- The ending was a cop out

Acting
- Shen Yue hasn't really improved .. I thought she would have really good chemistry with Chen Zheyuan but the more I watch the more I feel like she doesn't know how to show nuances in emotions.
- Her chemistry with Chen Zheyuan feels like that of friends rather than lovers..
- Chen Zheyuan is good. He's a good actor. I have no doubt about his acting.
- Second leads have zero chemistry. They were not convincing at all.
- Dong Xuan the mom is good. Rest of the supporting cast is not convincing

Music
- Have nothing much to say about it. The themesong is cute but wouldn't play it over and over again.

Rewatch Value
- Not really gonna rewatch it

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This is the most well-made Qing Dynasty drama ever and also perhaps... the most well-made historical Chinese drama.

Everything is just perfect. From the acting to the writing of the characters to the music and the cinematography to the chemistry between the actors. Almost every actor in this show is an A-lister or B-list star. Amazing acting

I know some people feel Wallace was overpowered by Zhou Xun but I didn't feel it. I felt the chemistry was just right. This is not a story about underdogs always beating evil villains. For a good part of the story, the villains win.

But it's really about love and the relationship between Ruyi and Hongli and how that relationship evolved over time from their youth to their deaths.

It's also about power and how the desire for power corrupts. And the insecurities of the women in the harem. I felt this show really illustrated the different motivations of women and men in the harem and the palace. Whom do they serve? Why do they serve these people? Out of fear? Out of love? Out of blind trust and loyalty?

It's just a beautifully made show.

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Comfort Food - I Would Watch This 100x

I came to this drama because I wanted to watch more of Chen Zheyuan in between new episodes of Mr. Bad and I saw that iQIYI was promoting this old drama of his and what a hidden gem it is. It's so heartfelt and romantic and earnest and depicts the trials and tribulations of high school

Story - A super sweet story of growth, friendship, love, and life. It's a feel good romance about 2 classmates and seatmates falling in love over a stretch of 6-7 years. I would watch this drama again and again and again. I can never get enough of Zhou Siyue and his Ding Xian.

Acting - Incredibly natural acting from an underrated cast. The cast has such good chemistry.

Production - Top notch. The editing isn't choppy. The pacing felt natural.

OST - Super love the OST.


100% would rewatch again and again. Have already watched it back to back 2x

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One of the Best CDramas I've Ever Watched

Story - 10/10

This is a very beautiful and nuanced piece on the joys and trials of adolescence and life in general. At first glance, it seems like a typical dumb girl, genius boy high school romance but it's so much more than that. You'll feel every moment of friendship, heartache, young love, angst, and more. You'll feel it when Yang Xi gets berated by her parents yet'll you also feel heartache for her parents. You'll absolutely feel Hua Biao's heart break when his grandmother starts to get sick. You'll feel everything these kids feel. Maybe you're going through similar things now, maybe you've experienced them before and if you're from an Asian family, you can definitely relate.

I kinda thought the ending was bittersweet and realistic. It left things open. If it were like any other school romance, the male lead and female lead would end up together.

Cast - 10/10

Everyone was cast perfectly from the 6 main kids to the parents and family members to the teachers.
This is one of Hou Minghao's early roles and he's absolutely lovable and charming and so charismatic. And you will absolutely love his performance as he charms his way and bonds with classmates and gangsters alike.

Wan Peng is super funny and relatable. As the brash tomboy obsessed with wuxia novels, she's sharp and witty and angsty all at once. She's got a chip on her shoulder about not being smart enough and her struggles with her parents, especially her mom, are absolutely relatable.

Zhang Yao (Li Yu), Li Ming De (Situ Ertiao), Pan Mei Ye (Yangxiao Hemei), Dai Lu Wa (Huang Dengdeng) all delivered brilliant performances. They were perfectly cast.

Music - 10/10

Absolutely absolutely absolutely love it! Love the choice of the Beyond songs and Leon Lai's songs. I also love the main themesong, 北区楼四 。 It encapsulates the nostalgia the characters feel towards their youth and the nostalgia we as the audience feel for our youth and the 1990s.

Rewatch Value

100% would rewatch!

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Really Good Story About Friendship and Sacrifice

I loved it.

Story
- It's a bit predictable and simple but it's well-told.
- I loved the characters and the story of a friendship between fox and mortal

Acting
- Li Xian being the playful fox spirit Bai Shi San here is ... His performance was unexpected. Playful, mischievous, funny, yet vulnerable
- Chen Linong is new to acting but he's not bad
- They have good chemistry together.
- Hanikezi is super cute and sweet and so funny.

VFX
- I like the CGI foxes hahaa

OST
- Definitely adding the themesong to my Spotify playlist
少年无邪 by Chen Linong

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One of My Top 10 Favourite CDramas From Now On

I like everything about this show. Everything. The chemistry, the plot, the cast, the flashbacks.

What a wonderful story about hopes and dreams and love and friendship and familial bonds

I will always remember this line: "People with dreams will always be young.,"

100% worth rewatching a thousand times. This will be my go-to drama whenever I'm feeling down from now on. Super inspiring and hopeful

Review Breakdown

1. Acting
- Perfect
- Li Xian is really super charismatic here as Han Shangyan. He really carried and expressed all Han Shangyan's hopes and dreams and fears and worries
- Yang Zi. Again another wonderful performance from Yang Zi as Tong Nian. She made her cute and charming without being annoying
- The supporting cast. OMG. From the actor who played Mi Shaofei, to the guy who played Solo, to Ou Qiang to the actors who played Demo, Grunt, 97, Su Cheng, Xiao Ai, Yaya, Lan Mei.. to Niannian's parents to Han Shangyan's grandpa.. and Hu Yitian who played Wu Bai.. Everyone did their parts perfectly

2. Plot
- I loved it. I loved how the scriptwriter tied the severance of friendship to the team's disbandment
- I loved the flashbacks to 05 period
- I loved the development of Han Shangyan and Tong Nian's relationship. Although it seemed cliche for Niannian to fall in love at first sight, but it was well done.
- This show is so good. It never has a slow moment. Never.


3. Casting
- Perfect. Everyone was perfect. Only 1 small thing bothered me.. Wang Zhener was great as Ai Qing/Appledog but she didn't have any romantic chemistry with Hu Yitian..

4. OST
This show has one of the best OSTs in Cdrama land and even Asian drama land.

无名之辈 is gonna be on my Spotify playlist forever.
I also loved the use of 海阔天空 to represent their lost hopes and dreams

Production Quality
- Amazing


If you've ever dreamt of being great, if you've ever feared mediocrity, if you ever questioned your purpose in this world, you have to watch this show. Because this show is for you and for everyone who's ever had a dream.

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Bit Boring and Huge Letdown to Go Go Squid S1 fans

This was a difficult watch. I've just finished Go Go Squid and this pales in comparison to the first one.

Acting
- Li Yitong is good. Hu Yitian is ok but their chemistry is lacking compared to Yang Zi and Li Xian.

Plot
- Aside from the comparisons to S1, the story on its own is quite flat. Feels very dragged out . It's ok if you just wanna watch for the sweet scenes and watch Hu Yitian swooning over Li Yitong.
- This was a major issue for me because they retconned so many things from S1 in order to fit this version i.e.

- 1. the biggest issue being that Han Shangyan never reconciled with Solo
2. the second issue, the removal of key supporting characters such as Niannian's best friend and Mi Shaofei's love interest, Demo etc
3. the third issue, the change from CTF to robotics. CTF felt more like an unknown industry and having such a big club/house/training center for such a small team in DT Appledog's Time seriously felt weird and full of loneliness.
4. the fourth issue, having Wu Bai be the main leader of K&K ... which is weird because Han Shangyan is the boss but he's barely seen in the club.. I understand that the story's focus would be on Wu Bai but and having Li Xian and Yang Zi being in the show so much might overshadow the focus on Wu Bai and Ai Qing. There are also budget concerns and scheduling and stuff to think about but it could have been done..
5. They should have just continued with S1 and recast Li Yitong as Ai Qing.
6. Even One's personality seemed different.
7. Go Go Squid wasn't just about Tong Nian and Han Shangyan's story.. It was also because they explored the family and friendship issues so well.. Like with Solo's daughter and every supporting character had their moment to shine. I kinda felt like this was lacking in Go Go Squid 2


Casting
- Recasting Ai Qing is fine because the original actress for Ai Qing has zero romantic chemistry with Hu Yitian but the rest of the cast should have been retained
- None of the actors recast for the new version had the same level of energy and charisma as the original actors for Solo, Mi Shaofei, Ou Qiang. Disappointing because the supporting cast is always a huge factor in a drama's quality.
- Would have been better to pull in the original actors for Tong Nian's parents at the end for the double wedding. This felt really weird having all Ai Qing and Wu Bai's relatives there but none of Niannian's parents there

OST
- This was nice and fitting for the story

Scene stealers
- Wang Anyu (I like him but I preferred the way the original Grunt was written and portrayed)
- 97
- The grandpa
- Lastly, Li Xian and Yang Zi

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An Action-Packed, Fun Ride

1. Cast- Kyung-soo, Lee Se Hee, Yoon Jun Seok, Lee Si Eon, and Joo Bo Young all had crazy chemistry. It was a little hard for me to believe Kim Chang Wan's performance as the villain because I'm too used to him as a kind grandfatherly type. Ha Joon, Kim Tae Woo, Choi Kwang Il all gave nuanced performances

2. Story - There are a few plotholes that you'll have to gloss over and just suspend belief

3. OST - I love, love, love the OST. The soundtrack is so addictive and adds to the exhilaration

4. Camerawork - It makes you feel as if you're Jin Jung himself, or playing a video game or VR.

Overall, super fun. 10/10 would rewatch again. I tried watching One Dollar Lawyer after this but couldn't get used to it. Bad Prosecutor has ruined me.

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