Disclaimer: this is a review, and as such it contains spoilers of the whole series. Please proceed to read at your own risk if you still plan on watching this show or if you haven’t finished it yet. You have been warned.
A Little Thing Called First Love
(初恋那件小事 / Chu Lian Na Jian Xiao Shi)
MyDramaList rating: 7.0/10
Hello hello, it’s time for one final review to wrap up 2024! When this show popped up on my Wheel of Fortune app, I was excited to end the year with a light and cute romance story because it really fit my mood after going through the heavy theme of my previous watch. It took me about three weeks to finish it because it’s quite lengthy and I also took some breaks in-between, but it was a really nice and cozy watch and I’m excited to share my thoughts on it. I was happy to find another Chinese romcom that I liked as much as I did Perfect and Casual earlier this year. I hope I can find more of these! I generally like the kind of story that focuses on the growth of its characters throughout several chapters of their life while holding onto something pure like their first love. It’s a genre that I’ve seen before in several Chinese shows like Love til the End of Summer, A Love So Beautiful and With You and I find it really comforting to watch. This show was no exception, so let’s just dive into it, shall we?
A Little Thing Called First Love is a Chinese drama series of 36 episodes that each last about 45 minutes -you can find it in really good quality on YouTube. I personally watched it on the KUKAN Drama Romance channel but there’s multiple channels that have the full series with decent English subtitles.
The series is about a girl called Xia Miao Miao (played by Zhao Jin Mai) and her navigation through life and love. The story starts when she and her family – consisting of father, mother and younger sister – move to a new home in Haicheng. Miao Miao’s father (Zhao Ke) works at sea and they’ve moved closer to his new work base. Her mother (Wang Yi Chan) opens a little restaurant where Miao Miao and her little sister Yao Yao (Zhang Zi Yu) occasionally help out. By the way, I noticed that their mother called them Xia Liu Shui and Xia San Tu respectively, so I guess those are their real names and Miao Miao and Yao Yao are their nicknames, but since they are mostly referred to by their nicknames I’ll just stick with those.
Miao Miao is initially a shy teenager with frizzy curly hair, big round glasses and crooked teeth. She gets along well with her sister and has one good friend from her previous living place, Lin Xia (played by Wang Yi Miao) with whom she keeps in touch through video call. On the day they move in, Miao Miao catches a glimpse of a handsome boy on the street and is immediately smitten with him. This boy is Liang You Nian (played by Lai Guan Lin). He is one year older than Miao Miao, and a senior at her new high school. He’s basically the school’s golden boy, popular for both his looks and his skills, and the son of a famous architect to boot. Miao Miao is enthralled by him from the start, also because he seems to be a genuinely kind and polite person to whoever he meets, including her.
As Miao Miao starts school, she makes a new friend in her class, He Xin, nicknamed Xin Xin (played by Chai Wei), who happens to be You Nian’s cousin and who is very supportive of Miao Miao’s feelings for him. At the same time, Xin Xin herself is forever pining for her childhood friend Lin Kai Tuo (played by Wang Run Ze). You Nian and Kai Tuo used to be good friends, but things soured between them when You Nian’s dad (Liu Xu) and Kai Tuo’s mom (Ran Qian) suddenly got together after You Nian’s mom passed away and Kai Tuo’s dad bailed on them after getting himself into massive debts. As such, You Nian and Kai Tuo have become stepbrothers and this has ruined their friendship, causing mainly Kai Tuo to derail and become very ill-tempered – he only ever comes to class to sleep and yell at people and he refuses to accept his new family. At school, Xin Xin is the only one to ever stand up for him, but he doesn’t even appreciate that. When Miao Miao becomes his new deskmate in class, she also becomes his new object of bullying, especially when he realizes she likes You Nian, who is now his mortal enemy.
This is basically the setup of the story and how all the characters first meet and establish their bonds. While her crush on You Nian deepens, Miao Miao gradually gains confidence and literally transforms as she goes on to college. With the help of Xin Xin and Xia, who joins them in college, Miao Miao comes out of her shell in terms of both appearance and personality. She gets braces, she gets lenses, she learns how to style her hair and use make-up, and while she’s initially forced by her mom to join the Architecture department for its higher career ratings, Miao Miao ultimately decides to follow her heart and switch to her original choice, Fashion Design, where her heart truly lies.
In essence, the story depicts how Miao Miao, guided by her first love, gradually grows and matures as a person who’s capable of making her own decisions and following her own dreams. In the meantime the relationship between her and You Nian deepens, and we follow the stories of their friends as they navigate through their own struggles in life and love as well.
I just want to quickly mention beforehand how much I enjoyed watching this. It was incredibly wholesome and I loved how well-established all the characters and their respective storylines were. I’m not sure how to describe it, but it came across to me as if the writers truly cherished the characters and put a lot of feeling into each and every one of them, which in turn made me care for each and every one of them as well. I haven’t felt like this before with a Chinese drama to this extent, so I thought that was really special. Also, I thought it was nice how they managed to keep a romantic relationship so compelling without even going past the pureness of it. Like, there aren’t any real kissing scenes in it, only pecks on the cheek and forehead, but this only contributed to the innocence and sweetness of it all. It was just stinking cute.
On the other hand, in order to not just make it a cute, innocent slowburn romance, they actually properly used the screentime they got and filled it with significant storylines that contributed to the backgrounds and development of all the characters. They balanced it out very well in my opinion. I’ll give some concrete examples later on, but I just really appreciated how much effort the writers and creators put into establishing this story. Compared to my frustration with the lack of consistency in Road to Rebirth, I kept getting positively surprised by how much this series paid attention to detail and that only added to the quality of it. Honestly, for a romantic comedy I thought this show was very well-made in terms of storywriting and character building, not to mention the acting and other things like music and cinematography. I had a really good time watching it.
Since this series is mainly based on the development of its characters and their relationships, I’d like to also structure this review as such, by focussing on each character and their respective friend/relationships.
Starting with our heroine, Miao Miao. One thing I genuinely liked about her character was that, despite her initial depiction as an ugly duckling, from the start she was never a pathetic or weak character. Her shyness and timidness may have been emphasized through her softening towards You Nian, but she always had the strength and confidence to stand up for herself and others. For example, I really liked the way she kept reaching out to Xin Xin and made it clear how much she wanted to be her friend, which naturally melted away Xin Xin’s initial prejudices against her. If she was interested in someone, she made it clear to that person in the most genuine way, and if she wasn’t interested in someone, she didn’t hesitate for a second to make that clear as well – I thought that was a very nice characteristic of her.
It’s funny how Miao Miao ultimately became to others the kind of person You Nian had been to her – in the end she became such a confident and skilled college senior that she started receiving love confessions from her own juniors. It was really wholesome to see her develop and mature in such a humble way, by only focussing on her own goals and trying not to pay too much attention to what others were doing. She never became the kind of person who would sabotage someone else to come out better herself (looking at you, Tang Meng Fei 👀), but she really worked hard to become better at what she wanted to become better at.
I think it was also very characteristic for her to initially get swept away in something but then adapt halfway as she figured out what she really wanted to do. Honestly, the fact that her mom just registered her for Architecture because it had the highest career rates was pretty crazy, but Miao Miao actually gave it a go before she came to the realization that she preferred Fashion Design, after all. It’s not like she became a passive “ugh I’m forced to do something I don’t actually want” kind of person, no, she really tried her best at Architecture, and then found the answer within herself that it was mostly You Nian keeping her in that department and that it wasn’t her real passion, after all. I thought it was nice that we as viewers followed Miao Miao on her journey, trying and figuring out this and that until she finally found what she really wanted to do and who she really wanted to be.
After stories like Itazura na Kiss and Koi wa Tsuzuku yo Dokomademo, where the female lead blindly follows the male lead into his occupation, it was really refreshing to see a female lead actually come to the realization that she wanted to do something different after following the male lead into his world. Both in terms of Miao Miao’s individual development and as a nice shift for romantic comedies in general, it was cool that they gave the female lead full authority over her own life and choices rather than just make her blindly follow the male lead in whatever he did. I liked that development a lot and it really made me respect Miao Miao at the end. She worked so hard to get to the point where she could excel at fashion design, which is what she always loved to do and where her true strengths lay.
You could say it’s a pretty accurate depiction of life as well: sometimes you need to try out some things you’re not passionate about before realizing where your heart truly lies. I’ve experienced that personally as well, I’ve done loads of things I didn’t actually like and it took me some time but as soon as I realized what I really wanted to do, it all started going smoothly because of the skills I’d already been honing for that very thing. So yeah, I really related to Miao Miao in that aspect, and that’s why I ended up respecting her so much. It was very wholesome to watch her bloom, both in appearance and in confidence. Having said that, I do have to say that I preferred her frizzy curly hair to the basic coupe she donned towards the end, I thought it was a pity that they took her iconic look away 😆.
In terms of consistency I also thought it was nice that her fashion design dream didn’t just come out of nowhere, but that it started with her making clothes for Yao Yao’s Barbie dolls when they were kids. They gradually built up this element from the start and this made it even more rewarding to watch her develop her skills and ambitions throughout the story.
Another characteristic of Miao Miao that I liked was how straightforward she became when it came to setting her boundaries. It was really satisfying to see how decisive she was when she ultimately confessed to You Nian, rejected Kai Tuo, and reprimanded You Nian for making her decision to go to the UK alone for her instead of with her. She became such a mature person, speaking her truth and standing up for what she felt and wanted, and that was really gratifying to see after experiencing her whole transformational journey with her.
In terms of the relationship between Miao Miao and You Nian, I think this series is the perfect example of the trope “she fell first but he fell harder”. I thought the buildup between them was very natural and gradual, and I actually liked that it took You Nian a while to get there, because that somehow made it more realistic. There’s no doubt that he started liking her way before he admitted it to himself – as he also says in the final episode – but at the beginning it was very clear that he was just being nice to her without any romantic intentions. He really just saw her as a younger sister, like he saw Xin Xin.
What made it so satisfying was that, the moment he realized he had feelings for Miao Miao, she had already become so comfortable in her own feelings for him that she wasn’t even putting in that much effort anymore. Miao Miao was already a much more confident person following her own dreams when You Nian’s focus finally shifted to her, and then he suddenly became the flustered awkward one whenever she came close to him. I really liked seeing that shift, how Miao Miao, without even realizing it herself, became the one to catch You Nian off guard. This made their relationship so much more interesting and exciting to watch than if it had just been Miao Miao pining for him for the entirety of the story.
I think that when you have a lengthy show that focuses mainly on the slowburn between two characters, it’s tricky to keep it exciting throughout – you have to think of ways to keep it interesting and not drag it out or make it tedious. Continuous misunderstandings can get very tiring at some point, but I thought this show did a very good job at keeping it interesting. Even the misunderstandings didn’t get tedious because they were solved very quickly and neatly, without even necessitating a serious talk between the characters. For example, the way Miao Miao found out that You Nian’s Doraemon flower bouquet had been meant for her after all, and the way You Nian found out that the chocolates Miao Miao gave Kai Tuo on Valentine’s Day were actually from Xin Xin. Instead of creating an even bigger drama about it and making the misunderstanding bigger and bigger, I liked that they just “happened” to find out the truth indirectly, allowing them to heave a sigh of relief and move on without any further issues. It kept the story going whilst keeping it exciting, and I liked that a lot.
I liked that it kind of shifted to You Nian’s perpsective at some point and we got an insight into his psyche as well. From the start he’s consistently depicted as the stereotypical “perfect” senior through Miao Miao’s perspective. Even though he’s initially also not stoked about his new family arrangement, he doesn’t make a fuss about it as much as Kai Tuo does, and he generally keeps a cool and clear head throughout whatever he faces. I liked that they gave him a goofy streak as well, which contrasted with his “perfect” image. For example how he tried to balance those blocks on his head while standing outside the classroom, completely focussed. These unexpected antics also made him a more interesting character than if he’d just been the token golden boy without any imperfections throughout the entire story. It was also realistic that he actually had a slightly strained relationship with his dad and fought with him about wanting to pursue architecture like his mom had. They were simple but realistic elements that showed that, behind his perfect image, he was dealing with stuff just like everyone else.
To me it felt like we first got to know You Nian through Miao Miao’s perspective as the impressive and admirable senior, and then we got to know his more flawed and awkward side through his own perspective after he officially started falling for her. That was an interesting and very well-paced shift. It felt very natural how he suddenly felt himself caught off guard by this girl when he’d never had any trouble focussing on his work or minding his own business. I mostly loved the scenes where he would just freeze and stare at Miao Miao when she suddenly came close, even when she wasn’t paying attention to it herself. In the beginning, it was just Miao Miao going 👀👀 when he got close to her, but then the tables turned completely. The scene where he modeled for her and she got completely absorbed in throwing cloths over him and taking his measurements and he was standing there like 😳😳 was the cutest thing. Seeing him lose his cool like that really added something to his character, and it made him even more likable.
Of course we can’t forget about the breakup, and I won’t redeem him for messing up, but in hindsight I did think it was good to show at least one bad characteristic from You Nian. I think that, while seeming so accomplished and collected in many different ways, he definitely lacked a certain maturity when it came to his relationship with Miao Miao. It could just be because of his lack of experience, of course, since this was also his first relationship. It was his first love as well as Miao Miao’s, which is kind of sweet if you think about it. But yeah, I thought the fact that he had to figure out how to patch things up with Miao Miao and show her that he really liked her as much as she liked him was very building for his character.
All in all, I liked that You Nian wasn’t a one-dimensional character who was just nice and polite all the time. He was also dealing with his own stuff, like the loss of his mother, the fact that his dad got remarried so soon and his beef with Kai Tuo. Although the breakup aggravated me, in hindsight I do think it was a good decision to show a less “perfect” side to him, because this only made his character more realistic.
In terms of consistency, I thought that, much like the establishment of Miao Miao’s love for fashion design, You Nian’s passion for architecture was also very well-supported. His mom passed away in a tragic accident due to a miscalculation in design at a construction site, and this has fueled You Nian to not only go against his father’s wishes to follow in his mother’s footsteps but also to become incredibly meticulous in his designs to prevent such accidents from happening again. Just like with Miao Miao’s case, I think they did a really good job gradually building You Nian’s skills and ambitions in becoming a great architect. It might seem trivial, but there are shows where the passion or occupation of the main character doesn’t actually contribute anything to the character and it feels like they just assigned them a random career (Big, About Time). I really appreciated that the writers created a solid foundation for both Miao Miao’s and You Nian’s chosen career paths and built that up throughout the story. I guess it just goes to show that simply giving the characters a simple but valid reason to pursue a certain dream contributes a lot to the quality of the story.
Speaking purely about the romance between Miao Miao and You Nian, it was absolutely adorable. I really loved their scenes together, they were so sweet. The tiniest gestures and glances were enough to bring a big smile to my face. The whole series literally had me going 🥰🥰 and their scenes were a major part of that. I think it’s very tricky to create a romantic tension between two young people that doesn’t exclusively come off as cringy, but it didn’t bother me at all in this show. I feel like the whole point of this story was to show the pureness and sweetness of first love, and they captured that perfectly. I also respect that they didn’t include kissing scenes because of the actors’ ages and to keep the emphasis on the pureness. Still, as a fan of good kissing scenes, especially in slowburns, I did feel robbed when they actually kissed at the amusement park and we couldn’t see it because a group of kids with balloons obstructed the view 💀. Like, then just stick to the pureness element and have them not kiss at all! Don’t tease us like this after 32 episodes of buildup and interruptions, that’s just mean! 🥹 But yeah, apart from that, I thought Miao Miao and You Nian were a freaking cute couple and it was really sweet how they managed to meet halfway after both liking each other for a long time.
If there was one dynamic that I adored the most out of all the bonds in this show, it was the friendship between Miao Miao, Xin Xin and Xia. These three girls were in it together, in every single way. I loved their interactions, how they both teased and supported each other and always had each other’s backs.
It might be weird, but one of my favorite parts was actually when Xin Xin witnessed Kai Tuo’s confession to Miao Miao. It just hit differently because it somehow amplified the friendship between the girls. Miao Miao was more affected by how hurt Xin Xin was because she knew how much she liked Kai Tuo, and I also loved the way Xin Xin told Miao Miao that she knew she wasn’t to blame, but that she just needed to get away from her for a while. Even after getting hurt like that she was reasonable enough to clarify to Miao Miao that she knew it wasn’t her fault and she wasn’t mad at her, but that she just needed some space to process what had happened. I also loved how Miao Miao and Xin Xin reconciled when everyone accused Xin Xin of writing that online article about Miao Miao “stealing her best friend’s crush away”. The look on Xin Xin’s face when Miao Miao was like “who the heck wrote this” was so touching. Honestly, their friendship made me tear up a couple of times.
I also loved how Xia, despite her initial depiction as the token chubby girl who liked to eat, contributed so much to their friendship. While her two besties were both struggling with their respective love interests, did she get bitter about being left out? Nah-ah, she actively helped BOTH of them. Xia was the best, honestly. She was literally the best wingman, especially for Miao Miao. I’m so glad they included her as a regular character and not just as Miao Miao’s video call friend from the beginning.
Honestly, Xia cracked me up so much. When they first got in the dorm and they were introduced to Tang Meng Fei who was like, “You look funny and chubby, can I call you Fatty Xia?” (seriously, what kind of opening line is that?!) and Xia just took a beat and went “Well, you look like a #^#@*#!!” I was like WAAAAAT 😂😂😂 That was hilarious. She had such a good radar for people, I loved how it became a running gag that she kept her eye on Meng Fei and helped Miao Miao beat her at the audition and stuff. Like, she never became petty or bitter when she wasn’t kept in the loop about something, she was always happy to get the tea whenever it was served to her and she was always genuinely happy for Miao Miao and Xin Xin when they managed to progress in their respective love stories. I felt genuinely bad for her when both Miao Miao and Xin Xin left campus for a while, leaving her alone. She always acted so tough and carefree but it was very clear how much her two friends meant to her. I really loved Xia, she was a great character.
Xin Xin might actually be one of my favorite characters in the show. There was just something really endearing about her. I was initially worried that she might become the kind of girl who’d always keep walking after the guy that would keep treating her coldly, following the trends from A Love So Beautiful and With You. Luckily, she remained really strong and kept telling her she deserved better, even though she was never going to let go of her feelings for Kai Tuo. Yes, she occasionally got a bit childish in trying to get his attention, like with the faking an injured leg and stuff like that, but she was mature enough to acknowledge her own actions as well. It was so satisfying when she turned the tables at the end by treating Kai Tuo coldly, which in turn made him realize how much he’d taken her for granted. I was consistently rooting for Xin Xin and I genuinely felt bad for her whenever Kai Tuo made it clear he was interested in Miao Miao. Then again, as I mentioned before she never became grudgy and she never blamed Miao Miao and I really liked that even in that scenario the focus remained on the girls’ friendship, no matter how deeply rooted Xin Xin’s feelings for Kai Tuo were.
Despite occasionally acting like a spoiled little girl, I think Xin Xin was actually really wise and dealt with her feelings very maturely. It was nice to see her warm up to Miao Miao in high school after acknowledging what a genuine and kind person she was, and I loved how far she was willing to go to help and surprise her friends. No matter how mean Kai Tuo was to her, she remained true to her feelings for him and kept showing him, for example through organizing that birthday party. She just wanted to do things for him because it came natural to her, and she stuck with that. Whenever she was down after he said something mean to her, she would just have a good cry and then pick herself up and keep going, telling herself that she was stronger than that. I think that Xin Xin, as someone who had unapologetically accepted herself the way she was, was a great match for Miao Miao who still had ways to go to bloom as a person. It was really nice to see how Xin Xin helped her gain more confidence and come out of her shell. Their friendship was so wholesome, and as I said it occasionally even moved me to tears.
In addition, I also liked that Xin Xin was the only one of the group who chose an entirely different career path by joining the Journalism department. As with everyone, it was nice to see her focus on her own goals and gradually become more ambitious about journalism, to the extent that she actually went away on excursions for new coverage inspiration. I feel like she would’ve been much more hesitant to go in the beginning because it meant being away from Kai Tuo and her friends, so seeing her voluntarily apply for that internship at the end really proved that she also became serious about what she wanted to do and report on. It was very inspiring to see her mature like that, it suited her to focus on herself and her own dreams, and I guess that’s also what made Kai Tuo finally look at her in the end.
Honestly, I feel like I got bamboozled by the opening credits sequence when it showed Kai Tuo kissing Xin Xin on the cheek right at the beginning, because this caused me to believe that the story would focus on a couple of different love stories simultaneously, like in Put Your Head on My Shoulder. I did not expect that Kai Tuo would actually be the second male lead and part of the main love triangle for the majority of the show. I guess it was quite predictable that there would be a love triangle, but since that opening sequence ignited the expectation in me that he and Xin Xin were endgame, it hit differently when he first developed feelings for Miao Miao. Although he never actually stood a chance with Miao Miao and he and Xin Xin did end up together, I did find it a pity that it took him so long to finally realize Xin Xin was the one for him. The cheek kiss in question only happens in the second-to-last episode, so yeah, color me bamboozled.
While watching the show I consistently called Kai Tuo “the angry kitten”, because honestly, that’s what he was. He acted all tough and lashed out at others while he really just couldn’t deal with the fact that his dad had left him, and his mom had remarried instead of waiting for him to come back. I liked that they found a way to add the story of his dad in there, and how he ultimately found out with Xin Xin’s help that his father had actually disappeared for a very good reason and his mom had only ever protected him from his bad influence as a gambling addict. As with all the detailed backstories in this show, I thought it was a good decision to use the screentime they had by fleshing out Kai Tuo’s character and show where his aggressive tendencies came from, and how finding out the truth helped him become a more mature person as well. I liked that, as soon as he came to terms with himself and set things right with everyone, his good sides just came out naturally. The fact that he was prepared to gather the money for his father’s debts and the fact that he went all the way to collect Xin Xin’s wrongly delivered package all by himself proved that, in the right mindset and environment, he was a really good guy and a loyal friend who would literally go the extra mile to help out the people he cared about.
I think the dynamic between You Nian and Kai Tuo was an interesting one as well, especially if you look at the difference between when they were friends and when they became stepbrothers. If I remember correctly, they used to be in the same class but Kai Tuo was held back because he started misbehaving and neglecting his studies after their parents remarried, and so he ended up in Miao Miao’s and Xin Xin’s class, who were a year younger. I’m not sure how much he and You Nian actually differed in age, but he was indicated as the dìdì (younger brother), so I guess he must’ve been at least a couple of months younger than You Nian.
In any case, while Kai Tuo is actually very smart and able to get good grades when he sets his mind to it, he gets distracted by feelings of anger and jealousy much more easily than You Nian. You Nian is generally very chill, while Kai Tuo has a short fuse and can get set off by the slightest annoyance. The difference between their personalities also comes out very clearly when you look at how they each treat Miao Miao. Even when he didn’t feel anything for her yet, You Nian always treated her nicely, and later even admits to Kai Tuo that he always thought of her as “lovely and kind”, even back in high school. Just like Miao Miao herself, it’s very clear when You Nian likes or dislikes someone. Kai Tuo, on the other hand, is a natural tsundere who acts mean even to the people he secretly cares about. He’s the type of guy who, when he’s interested in a girl, bullies her rather than show his affection, because that would just be “lame and embarrassing”.
One instance where the difference in their feelings for Miao Miao came out the clearest in my opinion was when Miao Miao decided to switch departments. Despite finding it a pity to see her leave, You Nian encourages her to switch because even he can see clearly that her motivation for architecture is lacking. Kai Tuo, on the other hand, can’t accept it and tries to persuade her to stay. In other words, he’s much more selfish in his feelings than You Nian, who recognizes what would make Miao Miao the happiest and “lets her go”, so to say.
In any case, I though the friendly/brotherly bond between You Nian and Kai Tuo was interesting and it also created an interesting family dynamic with their remarried parents. I thought it was really sweet how Kai Tuo’s mom always endearingly called him “Xiao Tuo”, like “little Tuo”. His mom was so sweet, honestly. It couldn’t have been easy for her either, sending her husband away for badly influencing their child and then being blamed by her child for “betraying” his father by marrying someone else. The difference in vibe between Kai Tuo and his mom was really touching, she was just this sweet little lady trying to accommodate him as much as possible, and she would get teary-eyed when he suddenly said something nice or helped her out. It was comforting to know that he at least had a soft spot for his mom.
The third love story depicted in the show, although covered to a lesser extent, is the one between You Nian’s friends Wang Yi Chao (played by Wang Bo Wen) and Fang Xiao Yue (played by Zhu Jin Tong). Wang Yi Chao, occasionally nicknamed Da Chao, has been You Nian’s friend since high school and the break with Kai Tuo also affected him as the three of them used to be best buds and were on the same basketball team together. In college, Da Chao joins the fashion design department, but he often comes to hang out at You Nian’s dorm or the modeling room of the architecture students. Da Chao is quite the comical character who always strives the lighten the mood and make everyone laugh. While his personality stood in contrast with You Nian’s seriousness, it was fun to see how well the two of them got along. If I had to describe their dynamic it would be that You Nian was the kind of person who would think of a joke and laugh about it on the inside, while Da Chao would put the joke into action and laugh about it in public. Their friendship dynamic was really funny.
Da Chao’s frequent visits to You Nian’s department weren’t just to annoy his friend, but also to catch a glimpse of the Architecture department’s beauty, You Nian’s classmate Fang Xiao Yue. Xiao Yue is one of the top students, just like You Nian, and initially has a crush on him as well. Despite being a year higher, she ends up sharing a dorm with Miao Miao, Xia and Meng Fei because there aren’t any more dorms left, and there are a couple of moments where she and Miao Miao acknowledge each other as love rivals.
Still, I really liked Xiao Yue because unlike any typical love rival character, she remained incredibly mature and kind throughout the series. While she kept pursuing You Nian in her own way, she never went out of her way to humiliate Miao Miao or make her feel bad. On the contrary, when she discovered You Nian’s pictures of Miao Miao on his camera she actually showed them to her instead of hiding it. I even feel like she would’ve returned the Doraemon bouquet to Miao Miao if she had known it was meant for her, she played it fair. Even when she realized that You Nian didn’t reciprocate her feelings, she didn’t become malicious towards Miao Miao, she just went on with her life and that eventually led her to notice what a good guy Da Chao actually was.
I thought it was really cute that Da Chao and Xiao Yue ended up together because it also acknowledged Da Chao as so much more than just the comical sidekick who could never get as popular as You Nian. He really deserved being seen and loved, especially after expressing his feelings to Xiao Yue as sincerely as he did. I thought it was nice that, even though she was definitely annoyed with him at times, Xiao Yue couldn’t help but laugh at his jokes and she gradually came to appreciate him for being such a sweet and loyal guy. It was nice having another, less on-the-foreground couple like this, they made a really cute pair.
I previously said that I came to care for each and every character, but I have to admit there was one person that I never fully came to like, and that was Tang Meng Fei (played by Li Xi Meng). I’ve mentioned her name a couple of times already, but this girl was really something else. I don’t even really know what her problem with Miao Miao was – I guess she was jealous that Miao Miao overtook her position as top student in Fashion Design? – but she did some really nasty things to sabotage her. And it wasn’t that she was trying to one-up her in terms of their studies either, she actually tried to mess things up for Miao Miao in her love life and friendships, she made it PERSONAL. Why would you go out of your way to put a bouquet someone got from their crush on someone else’s table? Why would you go out of your way to post an online article about a delicate situation that doesn’t even have anything to do with you, just to create drama between two best friends? This girl took “too much free time on her hands” to a whole new level. Every time something was going down and she was shown eavesdropping in the background I was like, “GET AWAY, TANG MENG FEI”. She really poked her nose into everything that could hurt Miao Miao in the dirtiest ways, it was so pathetic. Props to Miao Miao for being the bigger person and forgiving her at the end, I don’t know if I would’ve been able to do that. I mean, she didn’t actually apologize or even admit to what she did and why. She just kept going and every time I thought she would’ve matured or learned her lesson she’d be eavesdropping somewhere again and I’d be like, god what is this girl’s problem?! They may have forgiven her at the end, but there was never any kind of reasoning or explanation for why she did what she did, so in my eyes she wasn’t really redeemed.
The next characters I want to discuss in this section are the two main teacher characters, You Nian’s Architecture teacher Li Si Chen (played by Hu Wei) and Miao Miao’s eccentric fashion designer teacher Jia Yin (played by Lu Yi/Coco Lu). First of all I just want to say I found it funny that these two people just became the singular teachers of their respective departments. There were never any other teachers depicted in either the Architecture or the Fashion Design department, despite the fact that Ms. Jia was introduced as a teaching assistant. In any case, the rivalrous dynamic between these two was hilarious.
While they didn’t get fleshed out with backstories as much as the main characters did, they still contributed a lot in terms of You Nian’s and Miao Miao’s studies, respectively. I remember You Nian’s dad and Mr. Li knew each other personally and You Nian’s dad specifically asked him to be very strict with You Nian in class, but there wasn’t much to be strict about since You Nian was such a natural at drawing and designing. Even to lesser skilled students like Miao Miao, Mr. Li was always a very friendly and helpful teacher, and strict when necessary. I thought his way of teaching and guiding his students was very nice. He also picked up on Miao Miao secretly reading fashion design books during class before she even officially decided she wanted to change departments, and he didn’t give her a hard time for changing course, either. After that he also quickly picked up on changes in You Nian’s and Kai Tuo’s behavior when they suddenly started slipping in their focus and he always tried to support them wherever he could. I thought he was a really good teacher and a nice supporting character.
We are introduced to Ms. Jia when she falls in love at first sight with Mr. Li’s nephew, Lu Peng (Xu Hai Qiao), a teacher at Miao Miao’s and You Nian’s high school, when he takes his class on an excursion to Haicheng University to check out the campus. As a result, Ms. Jia decides to stick around at Haicheng and starts pursuing Lu Peng actively, much to his own uncomfortableness. Lu Peng doesn’t even appear that much in the story, he’s more often spoken of than depicted, but while Ms. Jia keeps nagging Mr. Li about him and why he keeps denying her invitations, at some point Mr. Li himself also takes an interest in Ms. Jia. I was personally a bit weirded out by this, because Mr. Li was the uncle of Ms. Jia’s crush and therefore also old enough to be her uncle (I saw on MDL that the actors differ six years in real life, which isn’t too bad, actually). In any case, Mr. Li and Ms. Jia inevitably keep crossing paths and while they start out as rivals, they do become friendlier with each other along the way.
Honestly, as much as I loved the various love stories that ran throughout the show, I didn’t actually mind that this one didn’t play out successfully. Besides my personal uncomfortableness with them as a couple, I was glad that the writers didn’t push them together just for the sake of creating another couple, and their story actually ends with Ms. Jia rejecting Mr. Li’s confession. In a way this also created a more realistic vibe that not all well-matched people were meant to get romantically involved with each other. I thought the dynamic between Mr. Li and Ms. Jia was nice and funny enough as it was, as two rivaling teachers that actually respected each other but were both just too stubborn to admit their own flaws.
In all honestly, Ms. Jia might actually be my favorite character of the entire show. I loved everything about her, and I’m definitely going to praise the actress in my cast comments as well. She was such a wonderful breath of fresh air that lit up every scene that she appeared in. She always made me laugh and she was always so effortlessly funny without overdoing it. At the same time, she was the best teacher Miao Miao could’ve wished for, she recognized her talent immediately and persuaded her to come over to Fashion Design. She didn’t doubt her skills for a second and that was just the kind of encouragement that Miao Miao needed to become confident in her decision to officially pursue fashion design. Ms. Jia was the best, I loved her.
Lastly, I just want to devote a final paragraph to the members of Miao Miao’s family, because they were also very important to her character development. I loved that, while they only appeared a couple of times when Miao Miao came back home on college breaks, there was never any change in the vibe of their household. The only difference was that sometimes Miao Miao’s dad came back for a while and then left again. I thought it was a really nice aspect of the show that, throughout Miao Miao’s transformational journey, there was always this one place that she could keep coming home to without it ever changing. It really felt like, every time Miao Miao came back home, she looked different, but her family and home remained the same. That was a really nice consistency throughout, and it also showed that Miao Miao kept a close connection to where she came from and how she started out.
We didn’t get to see Miao Miao’s dad a lot, but he definitely seemed to be the softer one compared to her mom. Even though it was thanks to him that they had to keep moving around and he knew it wasn’t ideal for his family, he really did his best to make the most out of it and whenever he came home he always loved spending time with his kids. Despite the adult tensions between him and his wife in terms of the practicalities of their living situation, it was nice to see that he at least was a good dad to his daughters, and I liked how, as Miao Miao grew up, she was able to have such good conversations with him as well.
I really liked Miao Miao’s mom, she was hilarious. She was definitely the tough love kind of mom, and she could get a bit uptight when it came to Miao Miao doing things without her permission, but I really feel like that was because she had a hard time accepting that her daughter was growing up and that she just wasn’t ready for Miao Miao to start making her own decisions yet. In the end, she had to face the fact that Miao Miao was a natural fashion designer, good enough to qualify for an international exchange even, and that made her really proud. There was just something about Miao Miao’s mom that made me really like her.
I also really liked Miao Miao’s relationship with her younger sister. Yao Yao was the typical little sister that nagged her sister about everything but actually loved her to bits. When Miao Miao left for college and later for the UK, she actually cried and clung to her pleading her not to leave, which was really endearing. Even though they were apart for the majority of the show, whenever Miao Miao came back home Yao Yao was always immediately back on her case, asking her for more doll clothes and wanting to keep her to herself. I thought it was really nice that Miao Miao always had this warm household to go back to.
Now that I’ve discussed all the characters and relationships that I wanted to address, I want to make mention of a couple more aspects that I liked and want to elaborate on a little bit.
First of all, I really love how this show made use of several key locations that kept coming back and became important throughout the story. As mentioned above, it was nice that Miao Miao occasionally returned to her family home, which always remained the same. Besides this, I also really liked the recurring appearance of the lighthouse, which became her and You Nian’s “special place” back home. It’s so nice to have special places where you end up making special memories and that you somehow keep returning to, even out of pure nostalgia. I thought the lighthouse was a really nice choice for a special place like that. While it started out as the place where You Nian would tutor Miao Miao on her maths in high school, it was also the place where they lit fireworks together on New Year’s Eve, and ultimately the place where You Nian confessed his love to her and where they reconciled after Miao Miao came back from the UK. I thought it was really nice how they kept referring back to it, how it came back on the coconut that You Nian painted for her, and how it became such a sentimental place for the both of them. Using a kind of familiar place to come back to throughout the story also contributed to the consistency of it, and it even made me feel comfortable whenever they returned to it.
Another such place was the architecture modeling room. I feel like the classrooms for architecture and fashion design were furnished in a similar way (maybe it was the same set), but the one for architecture just looked really cozy to me. Through their set design they managed to create such a fun and practical student work space, it made even me want to go there. It actually made me nostalgic for campus life and the places I would hang out at. I thought this show did a really good job at creating these kinds of places that looked so fun and special to be at, and gave them additional value by making them the backdrop of several important scenes.
Before I go on to my more critical points of the show, I want to come back to a topic that I already mentioned in the beginning: consistency. I just want to give a couple of examples that confirmed the attention to detail for me. I know it’s not always good to compare shows too much, but I just want to make a point of how simple it can be to at least make sure a scene flows continuously from one shot to the next – after Road to Rebirth my expectations became so low that I was actually surprised to see the continuancy in the shots in this show.
There was one scene when the Architecture group went on an excursion and Ms. Jia (who tagged along) was talking to Miao Miao outside the bus about changing to Fashion Design. At some point during this conversation, one classmate is seen overhearing them before walking away. A couple of scenes later, we see this flashback from You Nian’s perspective inside the bus where he overhears their conversation too, and the classmate is again seen listening in and walking away at the exact same moment. During another part of this excursion, when they’re gathered around the work banks, someone is seen passing something around through the crowd while Mr. Li is talking, and in the next shot from another angle, we see the same person pass this around. Call me crazy but honestly, these kind of consistent moments fill me with satisfaction and I really wanted to make a note of it because it’s apparently not something to be taken for granted. The fact that they paid attention to even small consistency details like this that probably many people won’t even notice, only confirmed for me that these people knew what they were doing and it all contributed to the good quality of the show.
By the way, I think this is the first Chinese drama I’ve watched so far of which the original title translates literally to the English title. Usually the English titles are completely different from the original titles and I always wonder how they came to them, but in this case, the original Chinese title literally translates to “a little thing called first love”, so that’s easy! I think it’s a sweet title for a sweet show, and I think it really highlights the pure vibe of the story and the message of how the power of an innocent first love can have such a big impact on someone.
Now that I look at the poster, it’s actually kind of funny how Xiao Yue is on there in the same high school uniform as everyone else even though she was the only character who wasn’t at the same high school as them. She only became acquainted with You Nian and Da Chao in college, so she’s actually the odd one out on the poster. Anyways, let’s not make a fuss about that.
I think I’ve already mentioned enough how much I enjoyed this series and I’ve only mostly mentioned things I liked about it. Admittedly, there was very little to dislike in terms of the story and the characters. Still, I want to discuss something that came as a bit of a disappointment, although I still wouldn’t exactly say it ruined the show for me. My main criticism lies with the ending of the series, and with that I mean the last couple of episodes. Although I do think the 36 episodes were all used very efficiently to flesh out the characters and build up the story, I still couldn’t help but feel like they rushed things a bit towards the end.
I’m not entirely sure if this had to do with the fact that I took breaks in-between the final couple of episodes and that’s why it felt like things suddenly happened out of nowhere, but suddenly it was as if they made a couple of time jumps that felt quite rushed. It all started with the final dilemma of You Nian bailing on his international exchange last minute without telling Miao Miao.
In short: You Nian got the chance to study abroad in Edinburgh and this encouraged Miao Miao to also apply for the international exchange to Birmingham that her department was offering. While they were planning to go to the UK together, You Nian suddenly got a different opportunity from a company that wanted to restart his mother’s final unfinished project and he decided that’s what he wanted to do more, but he somehow couldn’t find a way to tell Miao Miao and ended up breaking her heart on the day of their planned departure.
I remember that this weirded me out a lot. It was like I was watching him building up to telling her one moment – he even got so close that he brought up the hypothesis of him not being able to go with her – and then the next moment it was suddenly the day of departure (which I thought was still some time away) and I was like, wait what, we’re already here and he still didn’t tell her?! What’s going on?! It also felt like a really out-of-character thing for You Nian to be so wishy-washy about it to Miao Miao. It wasn’t as if he kept it a secret, he’d already told Kai Tuo and his dad about it. And while I get that he was hesitating because he thought Miao Miao might give up on going abroad as well, the way he dealt with this situation was really not it. Like, seriously, he was planning on telling her after she got on the plane?! That was his great plan?! It gave me major Love Under the Moon vibes, where almost exactly the same thing happened and the FL actually went with the ML to the airport only to be like, “oh yeah btw, I’m not coming with you”. This breakup happened so suddenly and it felt so weird for You Nian to become dumbstruck even after realizing that Miao Miao was jumping to wrong conclusions (that he didn’t actually like her as much as she liked him). He couldn’t even bring himself to say, “No, you got it wrong, that’s not the reason”, he literally just stood there and that really threw me off.
As I said before, in hindsight I get why he had a hard time finding the right time and words to tell her because it also included feelings about what his mom went through. But after everything had gone so smoothly between them, the fact that it immediately led to such an emotional breakup came very much out of the blue for me. And then the next thing, suddenly a year passed and Miao Miao got back and things with You Nian were awkward. I had a hard time keeping up with that sudden acceleration of events. It was good that You Nian eventually finally got to explain what had happened, but no matter how I think about it, I just know that Miao Miao would have supported his reason for staying. It was the most reasonable and valid reason and she probably would’ve gone abroad without him having to persuade her to do so. I really liked how Miao Miao responded to his explanation, because it was literally what went through my head as well: “You should have told me and let me make my own decisions instead of habitually thinking for me and making a decision that you thought was good for me.”
It just bugged me that this had to happen over such a stupid miscommunication, although I do understand that they needed at least one trial through which You Nian would also realize how capable and mature Miao Miao was on her own. It just sucked that it suddenly happened in such a rushed way in the last couple of episodes.
Another thing from the ending that bugged me a little was the final reconciliation between Xin Xin and Kai Tuo. After the time jump, I actually remember thinking, “they better not have casually skipped over them getting together during this year like ‘oh yeah we’re together now'”, cause that would be plain unfair. Luckily, that didn’t happen, but I’m honestly not entirely sure how I feel about their final confession. As I said I’d initially expected things between them to develop much faster and I hadn’t counted on Kai Tuo taking so long to switch from Miao Miao to Xin Xin. In the end I feel like they could’ve started building up Kai Tuo’s feelings for Xin Xin from much earlier on in order to bring them together at a more natural pace. Now I couldn’t help but feel like they rushed their official confession in the last couple of episodes. Kai Tuo’s first confession just hit differently after how he’d confessed to Miao Miao, and I couldn’t blame Xin Xin for feeling more disappointed by it than glad to finally hear the words. After that it just felt like he had to keep proving to her that he was sincere, so the confessions kind of lost meaning, in a way. It eventually ended with Xin Xin overhearing him reject another girl saying he already liked someone else and then suddenly she was ready to accept him. To put it bluntly, we never really got to see Kai Tuo yearn for Xin Xin as he did for Miao Miao, and that actually bothers me. I feel like that could’ve been solved if Kai Tuo’s feelings had changed just a little bit earlier.
Finally, while it was nice that You Nian got to show Miao Miao his finished project, ending it there felt a bit abrupt as well. I actually expected a little more progress in their relationship. I was actually expecting him to propose to her when he brought her to the mystery place with her eyes closed, lol. Anyways, it was a sweet enough ending but I still felt like they could’ve added a final touch to it. After they did such a good job filling the main body of the series with such well-balanced storytelling, I guess I expected a little more from the ending, especially with regards to Xin Xin and Kai Tuo’s love story.
I think I’ve now covered everything that I wanted to say about this show! It took me a while again, but it’s okay because it’s the end of the year and I got no other plans so I can take as long as I want.
I’m just going to go through my cast comments now. As usual with Chinese dramas, I barely knew any of the actors, but I was very impressed by everyone so I want to give them all a big shoutout for contributing to the wonderful watching experience of this series. Seriously, from the main and supporting characters to the family members and the extras in the dorms, everyone delivered. I’m not even sure if they did dubbing for this one, because if they did I didn’t even notice it, that’s how natural everyone was in their acting.
I found out through MDL that Zhao Jin Mai was only seventeen (!) at the time this show aired, so I can understand why they chose to hold back on more intimate scenes. Usually the actors are actually older and made younger, but I guess it was the other way around in this case. I thought it was really cool how she transformed through the story and how she gradually started to look and act more like an adult. I never saw the actress in anything else before, but I think she did a really good job in the role of Miao Miao. She retained the pure youthfulness of a girl in love while she matured into an individually successful young woman and it was really cool to see how she portrayed that development so naturally. I also really liked her chemistry with all her co-stars, from her friends to her younger sister, it looked like they all genuinely got along and that contributed a lot to the whole vibe of the series. I noticed that there’s another series with her on my to watch list, so I’m curious to see a different side of her acting after this. I’m glad I got to know her through this show, I’m definitely going to keep an eye out for her!
I actually knew Lai Guan Lin from Produce 101 Season 2, but I never knew he also acted! Seems like he started appearing in Chinese dramas after Wanna One disbanded. He was also just eighteen (!) when this show aired, which I honestly didn’t expect. To be perfectly honest, while I did like his overall performance, there were a couple of moments where I did find him a little stiff. In certain scenes where You Nian experienced deeper emotions, his face tended to go blank, making it occasionally difficult to gauge what kind of emotion he was trying to portray. Other than that, I thought he made a very endearing casting choice for the role of You Nian, and I thought his chemistry with the female lead was really sweet. I’m kind of curious to other dramas he’s done to see what else he has brought to the table.
Edit: As I was going through Lai Guan Lin’s MDL page I came across some controversial stuff about him which may also have impacted this particular show and his co-star, creating another possible reason for the lack of kissing scenes. I just want to clarify that I watched the show and wrote this review without any of this knowledge. Since this is a happy place with good vibes only, I don’t want that kind of stuff to cloud over the wonderful experience I had while watching this series. I just hope that Guan Lin can find some well-deserved peace and quiet, and I hope he knows he contributed to an incredibly lovely story that made a lot of people, including me, feel very happy. I wish him all the best in his future career, whatever he decides to pursue.
Imagine my surprise when I found out that, while the other main actors for this show were all around 17/18 when this show aired, Wang Run Ze was actually 26! This guy is only one year younger than me! He blended in so well with the others, I never would’ve guessed he was almost ten (!) years older than Lai Guan Lin who had to play his “older” brother. Anyways, I think Wang Run Ze was a really good casting choice for Lin Kai Tuo. He really embraced that “angry kitten” energy to the max, haha. I was glad they made him more than just a one-dimensional tsundere as well, they gave him an emotional backstory and crying scenes and some pretty wholesome character development. He has quite a characteristic face which I thought I’d never seen before, but then I found out he actually had a small role in Meteor Garden. I don’t exactly remember his character from there, but after this show there’s no way I won’t recognize him again. His portrayal of Kai Tuo was really impactful, I think he did a great job. I saw that he’s done a lot of dramas, so maybe I’ll come across him again!
The main reason why Xin Xin was one of my favorite characters in this show was because Chai Wei did such a good job portraying her. I really loved how she brought Xin Xin to life and how she revealed the multiple layers to the character through her performance. As I mentioned in my review, I found her really endearing and I just found myself rooting for her. Xin Xin was such a kind person, really, her heart was truly in the right place and she responded to everything so realistically. She was also just 17 (!) when this aired, so I can imagine it must’ve been quite something to act out a romance with someone almost ten years her senior, even though that age difference wasn’t noticeable on screen at all. The energy and fun she brought to the character and her chemistry with her on-screen friends contributed greatly to how much I ended up liking her, she did a really great job. I hope I get to see her in more shows, cause it seems like she’s still going strong in terms of drama acting roles!
Wang Yi Miao was apparently 24 when this aired, so a bit older than her two on-screen besties. Still, again, the age difference was not visible and she blended in really naturally. As I mentioned before, I really liked Xia, and the actress did a really nice job of making her such a loveable character. The only thing that bugged me every now and then was the focus on her weight, which became like a running gag. I know that China is a very body-conscious society and unfortunately a lot of actors with bigger body types still stereotypically get cast as “the fat friend who likes to eat”, but I really hope this can change. Even without her habit of eating all the time, Xia was such an important and relevant character in the story, and I really hope the actress knows she’s worth way much more than just being cast as “the chubby friend”. I genuinely liked her performance and the energy she brought to Xia. I see that there’s another show with her on my to watch list, so I’m already looking forward to seeing more of her!
Wang Bo Wen was 25 when this show aired, so he was up there with Wang Run Ze as one of the “older” cast members in the on-screen friend group. I liked the natural comical energy he brought to the show. I’ve made this point several times before, but he was one of those people that just exuded a funniness without going overboard with it or trying too hard to be funny. I really liked how he remained a part of the main story through being You Nian’s good friend while simultaneously traveling his own path. I thought it was really sweet that he got his own love story with Xiao Yue, even though his kind of character would’ve normally remained single because he was never “handsome” enough. It was a nice touch that they kept him in as such a consistent regular character, I really liked what he brought to the table through his performance of Da Chao.
Apparently, A Little Thing Called First Love was Zhu Jin Tong’s debut drama! I would’ve never guessed with how natural she was! She was 21 when this aired and she’s been getting roles consistently ever since, good for her! I really liked her portrayal of Xiao Yue. As I mentioned in my review, I was glad that they made her a love rival that wasn’t petty for a change, she played it fair and easily yielded as soon as she realized You Nian had feelings for Miao Miao. The actress brought a really genuine and kind energy to her character, not to mention that beautiful dimple smile! Honestly, with how natural she seemed, I didn’t think for a second that this could be her first drama acting role. I hope I get to see her in more things!
I already said it, but if there’s one cast member I would like to give a shoutout, it’s Coco Lu/Lu Yi who played Ms. Jia. The naturalness with which she lit up every scene she appeared in? The effortless comical timing? She nailed every aspect of her character so well that at some point I forget she was only introduced like halfway through the story. Ms. Jia became such an integral part of the story that I can’t even imagine her not being in it. I really, really enjoyed her performance, she was so natural and funny and simultaneously still managed to be a serious and good teacher. I loved what she brought to the table, and I love the casting directors for casting her, she was the best supporting character ever.
Just like with Zhu Ji Tong, this show was also the drama acting debut of Li Xi Meng, who played Tang Meng Fei. It seems like she’s still starting out, but she has been getting consistent roles ever since her debut, so it looks like she’s making her way up! I’ve already discussed my feelings about her character, and I wish they could’ve given her at least some backstory or an explanation for why she was the way she was. I think the actress would’ve been perfectly able to portray some more complex layers in Meng Fei’s personality. I guess that there just needed to be a bitchy character, and when I say that I would’ve liked to see a bit more from her acting this is mostly linked to the fact that I wished the writers had given her a bit more to work with besides just being a nasty brat. Besides that, there was nothing wrong with her acting, and I did like how they all kind of came to terms with her tsundere personality in the end. I wish the actress a lot of success in her future endeavors and maybe I’ll get to see her in a completely different role sometime.
I just wanted to mention Wang Yi Chan who played Miao Miao’s mom because for some reason she made a big impression on me. Maybe it’s because of her stunning face and the way she could stare a hole into anything if she kept that gaze fixed on something, but even with the old school clothes and apron and the quirky curly hair, I just really liked her as the casting choice for Miao Miao’s mom.
The same went for Zhang Zi Yu, who played little Yao Yao. She was only 11 when this show aired, but she was such a natural young actress. I’m not even surprised that this show wasn’t her first and she’s been acting in dramas since she was 8. The consistent natural acting of this little girl will definitely linger in my memory for a long time, I was really impressed by her.
I probably don’t need to say it again, but I’ll still do it: I really, really enjoyed this show. It was cute, it was romantic, it was heartfelt and just the right balance of sweet and serious. The entire cast gave a stellar performance, better than I’ve seen in a Chinese drama in a while, and every single character contributed to a lovely watching experience. I’m not typically one for rewatching stuff but I genuinely understood the people in the YouTube comments who mentioned they kept coming back to this show, because it’s just the kind of fluffy comfort romance show that you could watch again and again. I’m glad I got the chance to watch it now and end the year with a feelgood show and a positive review. I would definitely recommend it if someone was inquiring about a cute romantic comedy, it’s absolutely lovely and I’ll keep saying how positively surprised I was by the good overall quality of the series as well, not just in terms of acting and storywriting. Yes, the ending left some things to be desired, but it didn’t ruin my experience that much – my main impression of it is still predominantly positive.
With that, I’d like to conclude my final review of 2024. Thanks to anyone who bothers to read these and takes the time to post a supportive comment, it’s always greatly appreciated to read that others share my thoughts and feelings and enjoy reading my extensive rants.
I’ve been able to watch 17 dramas this year, which is a lot less than previous years but it’s been quite a busy year with me finishing my MA and my first solo book translation. I will go on with my watchlist using the Wheel of Fortune app, because I like the variety of the shows it’s picked out for me this year and it allows me to get to shows that would’ve otherwise gotten me a very long time to get to.
For now I wish everyone very merry holidays and a happy New Year, and I will be back in 2025.
Until then!
Bye-bee xx
