I was very excited to watch Dear Missy since the director and writers were involved in making one of my favourite modern Chinese dramas “Hikaru no Go”. I have to admit, I also watched this mainly for the HNG cameo with Shi Guang, and also because I wanted to watch something with Zhang Chao (Ji Li is also another actor I was interested in watching this for). However, the sismance aspect drew me in as I’m always interested to see strong women on shows.

The story started out well and had that warm fuzzy feeling that HNG had (basically, friendship and kindness). I think for about 3 episodes, I was invested in these friends and their journeys. They were portrayed as strong, independent women although Lu Ke and Shen Si Yi are like polar opposites. They still supported each other and had to help their failing company.

Then came all the extraneous stuff I found rather boring - Zhang Chao’s character pursuing Si Yi - them getting into a passionate romance. Other romances and stuff happening simultaneously. It was like I was watching an American show with all the usual tropes of mutual friends falling for the each other, people who hate each other initially falling for each other eventually, passionate kisses, pregnancy scares, proposals, weddings at the end of the show, will they- will they not couples. These are things seen multiple times on American shows, so I felt that the show was nothing new or fresh from that perspective.

In fact, Si Yi felt a lot like Robin from How I Met Your Mother. She’s kind of tough and all on the outside, but warms up to the male lead at the end. They have their trials and tribulations, both date each other first and then other people. But they finally end up together.

I still went on watching the show expecting it to change at some point. Don’t get me wrong- it’s not a bad show by any means. It’s just very formulaic and lacks the depth or philosophical aspects of many other Chinese shows I’ve seen. It was trying to be far too much like an American show, in my opinion, and therefore lost the chance to be unique. I know many people probably like the drama for this reason- it is familiar as everyone has seen American shows before. I guess the fact that this was supposed to be a Gossip Girl remake actually lends to it a very American show quality.

My favourite scene was undoubtedly the one where Shi Guang (Hikaru no Go watchers will know) has his little cameo. It made me tear up for the first time on the show (and I cry very easily). That was by far the scene that felt most unique and not tropey.

Overall, the characters are good and the acting has no problems. However, I couldn’t relate to anything. The girls lived a very lavish lifestyle for those in their 20s. They also had a lot of time to talk about their romantic lives. I wanted to see more of their friendship minus all the romantic stuff. I like the realism in many coming of age Chinese dramas - especially those the screenwriter has been involved in (Hikaru no Go and With You come to mind), but this show had very little that seemed realistic. Eventually Dear Missy became about getting married or getting together with the one who got away. Everyone ended up in relationships and that was the happy ending. Because of this, this show feels more like it’s about romance than friendship. If that’s your thing, go for it. If you expect to see a show where friendship is given more emphasis than the romance, then watch something else.

It did get super draggy at points, especially with the back and forth in romances. I would probably give this show a 6.8/10 but I’m giving it an extra 0.2 just because of the HNG reference.

I honestly feel let down as I expected more. It did not stay with me at all after finishing the drama. Not a bad show, but quite superficial and very forgettable .