I’ve watched a fair amount of Chinese dramas over the last couple years and I can count on my hands the amount of relationships that make sense to me. There are so many tropes and so many rehashing of tropes, but most dramas have very pretty people falling in love with pretty people and that’s the basis of the relationship.
But this drama actually did something you don’t see very often: The main leads were friends before they were a couple and it wasn’t just that the show SAID they were friends. You could feel the relationship. They had common interests, both loved to read, they could hold a conversation, they could play the little word game when they were on the bus. Yes, both the leads were pretty people, but the relationship felt very organic and natural and it made the watching experience altogether more enjoyable. The tropes are definitely still present, and the editing is just like any other rom-com, all the light and slow-mo and whatnot, but there was substance to the main couple and for that alone, I’d watch this again and again.