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As a person who has watched almost 400 dramas , It's been such a long time since I felt this way about the portrayal and cinematography/ screenplay about a drama . I don't even know where to start . The way the directors showed their unwavering love for each other and the emotional heartbreak is just so relatable to look at .
Especially in ep 20 when she lifts the call and he says "Please bless xi xiao with a life time of happiness and peace " 3 times , each time a different feeling expressed from the way he says it . That was just peak .
The moment they break up and LXX goes into a state of hopelessness acceptance, especially the scene where he dances in the fireworks imagining her being there was just such heartbreaking and devastating. On one side he's happily dancing with his love and on the other hand he is dancing alone and having a cathartic release . The contrast in both the scenes back to back was highlighting the tragic absurdity of his pain , and I feel like that was a perfect portrayal of how a person goes through these complex states of emotions and physical expressions where they lose a person they love till death , considering the fact that they went through so so much together that even normal couples can't even imagine going through that .
You might think it's dramatic but mind you they're teenagers and having such a deep bond while being the first relationship, I believe it isn't dramatic at all .I believe that's how a normal person would react imo . This kind of depiction was also shown in Lighter and Princess , when zhu yu goes through a phase of immense depression when li xun goes to jail , you just can't go on with your life in the same way and i believe many dramas don't show that , the leads just move on , distract themselves with work but people can't do that so instantly, it's hard for even them to get distracted, it's the weight of hopelessness has stripped the energy to even take a step, let alone move on . They're just trapped there not knowing what to do , not having the energy , hope to move forward. Imagine going through life and death with the person you can die for and having to leave them and having to accept the fact that u can't have them for God knows when , when u literally imagined your whole life with them .
They're both a bit toxic and have flaws but Like Kintsugi – the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold – their combined flaws make their relationship uniquely beautiful and stronger than ever.
Hands off to the direction, screenplay, cinematography and the leads too for conveying such tragic , beautiful portrayals of raw emotions.
And shoutout to Brian Cheng for Sunbrun , such an amazing ost .
Disclaimer: This is only my opinion and u can agree to disagree and I'm sry for any grammatical mistakes , english is not my first language.