Hi! It’s Annie!
Because of the current strike we’ll be talking a lot about K-Pop and dramas from abroad as well as other forms of media instead of current US and streaming media for the foreseeable future! I finally finished watching this drama in its entirety after I had to wait for episodes to come out since this only came out at the beginning of the month in China. The minute I saw this I knew I had to watch it! I have always been into the big brother type for as long as I can remember. I feel like it holds a similar spot to the team leader because this male fictional character role usually automatically gives that character a good amount of respect and responsibility. Which is probably the reason why I like it so much! So I was all over the idea of the brother’s best friend falling in love with the sister plot. But as much as I do like this trope and honestly haven’t seen many dramas yet that focus specifically on this for the main plot; I also feel like it can be done so creepily if the writers aren’t careful. So many things could go wrong when it comes to characters who have known each other since either one or both of them were minors. So did this drama actually pull off this type of romance in a cute way? Or could they not quite get past the potential for creepiness? POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD!
Summary: Sang Zhi has had a crush on her older brother’s best friend, Duan Jiaxu, for almost as long as she can remember. But despite the fact that he’s always been the guy for her in her eyes, he doesn’t seem to see her as anything but a younger sister. When she moves near him to go to university and he comes back into her life in a big way, it starts to feel like maybe he’s not so unattainable. And maybe their relationship will shape into something she never could have expected.
The Good:
The Male Lead- I don’t think I have to say that the male lead in this drama was quite possibly my favorite part of the entire thing. Like I said before; he’s kind of my type. The drama didn’t make it so that he really felt like her brother; he was more disconnected from her than that. It wasn’t like they were raised together. But he did care for her like she was family because he was best friends with her brother. Instead of settling on a typical semi-cold and distant lead, this drama really decided to go for the caring side of the big brother type and I absolutely loved it. Duan Jiaxu is every bit as responsible and respectful as you would expect and he’s also like a big puppy on several occasions. He’s just the most adorable character! He takes care of everyone and nobody can stay mad at him because he’s just such a genuinely nice person. He’s also so reliable. When she needs him, he’s there. And this has been something that was true for her for most of her life. When she needed a tutor in a subject he knew well, he became her tutor. When she was still not grasping the concepts, he took her to a museum to help her get more interested in the subject. When he noticed a period stain on the back of her skirt, he immediately sent her to the bathroom while he went off and got her tampons and a new skirt. And the show also doesn’t shy away from him showing emotion. He’s had a difficult childhood and when his father, who has been in a coma for years, finally passes on he doesn’t shy away from crying. He cries again at the end of the series when he proposes to Zhi. I’m also a sucker for a guy who stands up for and protects his girlfriend (as long as it’s equal and it’s not a way to show that he somehow has more power than her) and there’s plenty of that to go around in this too. Including him putting up with so much until it affects his girlfriend and because of her he takes a stand for both himself and her. There are just so many tropes with him that I love and this doesn’t even cover my favorite things that he does in his relationship with Zhi.
The Female Lead- I loved her! She was adorable and so many times when a female character has cuteness as a leading character trait, the drama will make her completely helpless and very demure. That was not the case here at all. Zhi stands up to her boyfriend’s stalker on multiple occasions, almost takes her brother’s head off when she realizes that he punched Jiaxu for dating her, and tells Jiaxu several times throughout the drama that she’ll protect him by not letting anyone bully him. This is one of the best dramas I’ve seen for protection in a relationship going both ways. She also cries during confrontation on occasion, which I loved because I do that too. And the drama didn’t act like she was less strong for doing so. I also absolutely loved how they dealt with her at least five year long crush on Jiaxu. Instead of being overly obsessive, she’s very careful in making sure that Jiaxu feels comfortable around her. When he comes back into her life and her feelings start resurfacing, she tries to make sure that Jiaxu likes her first and then becomes very nervous about the prospect of telling him that she’s liked him for so long. Eventually the information becomes kind of obsolete, but she eventually tells him and the information only makes them feel closer to each other. And it’s mostly because he realizes that she hasn’t been saying it because she’s afraid it would make him uncomfortable. He doesn’t make a huge deal out of it either and because of that, I think this was handled so well! I was a little thrown off at first because this actress played a warrior badass in the last drama I saw her in, but she pulled this off too. And I also like how a cute and girly character could have just as much strength as her last character who was more tomboyish. Just because a character is cute and girly doesn’t mean she has to be demure!
Relationship- It’s so important that this relationship isn’t reciprocated and doesn’t become an actual thing until she’s in university. There is no point where she’s not an adult yet and he is and there’s something romantic going on. There is a five year age gap between the two of them, which actually isn’t that bad. And they completely avoid making it creepy by making sure they are both adults when the romance part of their relationship begins. They also do an excellent job of making sure that the two don’t really focus on their past together once they get into a relationship. They are completely present with each other and despite the age gap they take equal responsibility in their relationship. I love how equal this feels! They get together about half way through the drama so we also get to see plenty of them being a couple. This is also not interrupted because the writers decided against a random third act breakup. There’s one moment where because her parents are reluctant to accept the relationship, Zhi worries that Jiaxu wants to break up with her. But as soon as she sees him, he immediately explains that this isn’t the case. They have so many adorable couple moments and this also includes them being super supportive of each other’s careers. By the end of the drama they have to be long distance for a while because he’s moved where both of them are hoping to live and is starting his own business while she’s finishing her degree at her university. Seriously, they are the cutest together! So supportive and also almost tooth achingly sweet. This drama has so much fluff, so if you’re like me and you enjoy that type of thing, you’ll absolutely love it!
Consent- This had to be one of my favorite parts of their relationship. This drama actually tackles consent in a way that I can honestly say I’ve never seen any drama do before. I think consent is still an issue for any romcom no matter where it’s from. For example, though ‘Business Proposal’ is a hilarious show, it still has one of the most disturbing scenes I’ve seen of a man sleeping with a woman who is obviously too drunk to properly consent. In this drama, after the main couple starts seeing each other, Jiaxu tries to go in for his first kiss with Zhi. Zhi, who has never been in a relationship before, is very nervous about anything physical in the relationship and gets automatically uncomfortable. Jiaxu sees this and immediately backs off, assuring her that he doesn’t want her to be uncomfortable. He later asks her if it’s ok to hold her hand specifically in order to get further information on what she is and is not comfortable doing. He tells her the reason he’s asking and everything. When Zhi later decides that she’s ready to be intimate with him despite the fact that she’s nervous, she clearly communicates these feelings with him. I’ve seen so many dramas use the “if we start I might not be able to stop” line as a romantic thing. This drama felt like the antithesis of that, which I’m so glad for. This might be one of the best dramas I’ve ever seen when it comes to consent!
The Friendships- I really liked that this drama showed each of the main character’s lives outside of their relationship too. That’s so important! Zhi had her college roommates who she found it just as important to go out with as her boyfriend. And Jiaxu had friendships with his coworkers as well as his old college roommates. This drama made sure that there was plenty of room for friendships. And uplifting female friendships as well! All four of the girls supported each other completely and all of them were shown to have different lives and talents despite majoring in the same thing. The other girls weren’t focused on a lot, but we still saw snap shots of their lives and how they worked within the friendship. And when one girl’s crush ended up having a crush on her friend instead of her, she never blamed her friend. She just accepted that he wasn’t all that into her. I was so shocked! I just loved how the drama made a point of showing that being social outside of your relationship is also important.
The Bad:
Male Control- It was really funny because this showed itself in very specific ways and not where I expected it to at all. Zhi’s Mom is probably the stronger one in the relationship with her Dad, but at the same time their relationship is remarkably equal. So her Dad isn’t a part of this as much. The way this shows the most is actually Jiaxu and Zhi’s brother taking care of her before she gets to university. And even a little afterwards. There are times where a male character will tell her directly not to do something. She’s told several times not to date, though she doesn’t listen. Jiaxu has a huge problem with her dating before he decides that he wants to date her. I think this is probably because most university students in some cultures are strongly discouraged from dating while they figure out their careers. This type of male control didn’t really show up in any other form, but it felt strange when it did considering how little it shows up in literally any other capacity in this drama.
Child Actor- When Zhi and Jiaxu first meet, she’s fourteen and he’s nineteen. Like I said before, because the writers are careful about when feelings are reciprocated and when the relationship actually starts, it isn’t much of an issue. They don’t start dating until she’s nineteen and he’s about twenty-four and that’s also their ages when he starts to reciprocate her feelings. Which I personally feel is completely reasonable. The only issue here is that they decided to cast a child actress for when she’s fourteen. It’s really strange because as soon as she turns sixteen, they use the main actress. It honestly doesn’t make much sense. And the child actress looks more like she’s ten or eleven than fourteen. Considering that she starts having a crush on Jiaxu at this age, it’s really strange to see them playing romantic music whenever Jiaxu appears but Zhi oddly looks like a small child. I personally think they should have rewritten it to avoid casting a child actress or cast someone who looked a bit older at least. It was just kind of weird.
If you’re in the mood to watch a cute, lighthearted, drama that doesn’t have a super complicated plot but instead has a ton of fluff, this is the watch for you! Dramas like this are usually ones that I’ll watch over and over again for comfort. It doesn’t have many side plots at all and doesn’t focus on them much if they do. Which is why you’ll notice I didn’t have anything to say about any sub-plot romances. And again, no communication based break ups either! When they have problems they talk it out! So if you’re in the mood to watch a lot of drama, I’m not sure I’d recommend this one. But it has a strong romance plot and the absolute cutest couple. And so so much consent! I absolutely recommend this one as a super cute and lighthearted watch! I think we all need those once in a while. And they’re always some of my favorites to watch too.
See you across the pond!
Sincerely, Annie
Oreos & Peanut Butter 