Vá em frente (2020)

One of best Asian drama to come out this year!

I am usually reluctant to Chinese dramas. As rarely any good series in terms of content, writing and acting comes out these days. Plus, their overdramatic love triangles and unnecessary misunderstanding among leads has had me hesitant to touch a series of forty plus episodes.

But what should I say about, Go Ahead, I mean I can criticise on so many things but my heart doesn't allow it because this series touches your heart before it does anything else.

Three young souls, broken deep from their painful pasts comes together to create a new home, new life, and new happiness. Love is the only thing that binds them together. From their loving and caring dads to their evil moms, each harbors a story only they can tell.

Having lived in China, seeing their culture closely, I was stunned by their level of understanding, bonding and the love they showed in this series. Who loved who, who suffered how much and who endured the most pain, is meaningless, as what was important to those three people was their presence for each other and warmth of love they churn in togetherness, and in separation, that keep giving them hope in their cold and dark days.

From ZQ cute face to LX serious expressions and JJ innocent soul, they were never three, they were always one. Their dad, LHC and LHP, gave everything they could to raise those 3 champs, who turned out to be best of the best human beings. It was a first lengthy episodic length drama, I never got bored from. I just loved their bickering, sweet and cozy moments, to their sweet adolescent and matured years.

After every fall, they never hesitated to embrace each other, I guess thats what a family is. You hold the fallen ones and keep them close, not because you won't let them fall, but you will always be there to pick them up, after every fall.

Leia Mais

Uncomfortable most of the times but heartfelt sometimes

This show just felt wrong, the romance felt off because the guy was totally crazy about her (kinda creepy) and it felt like she didn't care about him at all (rude af).
Honestly, I couldn't stand the female lead, I've never seen a more immature character in my entire life. And the guy did absolutely everything but was constantly belittled by her . If she didn't spend every second calling them "brother", maybe there wouldn't be scene with an incest kind of vibe - their chemistry was kinda weird.
It was so hard finishing this because I was really bothered but almost everything, but Idk why I felt like it would get better and I would like it. I'm a sucker for Character Development and since there were plenty of insufferable leads I was expecting for them to improve so I couldn't drop because of the last bit of hope. Well, none of them got better instead they just showed us the wrong people apologizing, others not being held accountable for their actions and that they were right all along bla bla bla, absolute bulls*t.

Leia Mais

A Warm, Simple Family Everyone Asked For!

This is the very first drama I'd write a review even before the drama has pass it half.
This is also the very first drama I gave 10 ratings for it's flawless and perfect storyline, cast, ost, editing, all!

Everyone in this drama really makes me want to hug each of them.

I do find it's quite interesting because the lead ages are reverse from their actual age.
But they nailed so perfectly. The child actors also do their roles perfectly.

Usually, I find the childhood times are boring so mostly I skipped the timeline, but, I never skip a single part of it!
The young Jian Jian is such a cutie. She is like a sunshine around Ling Xiao and Zi Qiu- who has difficult childhood.
I love how the young version grows to be a teenager, who is there for each other.

The three of them really have different charm and personality, but the sync between the three is really beautiful.

< Characters >

+ Ling Xiao; a boy yet a man.
Even tho his character is like usual main lead in other dramas, experienced awful incident that makes him have nightmares like everynight, but he always make a reasonable decisions. He grow faster than child at his age, but doesn't make him act like old man in such young age. He can be mischevious, naughty, yet an elder brother you can depend on.

As the youngest of three, Song Wei Long potrays the oldest; handsome, gentle, and lacks nothing.
But as the story goes on, you can see how weak, hurt and broken Ling Xiao is.
Song Wei Long do awesome job to potray this one.
Like, you always seeing him shining; suddenly you are afraid you'd broke him just by touching him.
I would said that, Ling Xiao were made to him..
and it's his best character yet so far.

+ He Zi Qiu; forever a baby.
He long for loves from his family since young age. He also devoted child especially to his foster dad. He is Jian Jian's shield yet her partner in crime. He has the most difficult childhood between the three. He is sensible, yet insensible to other feelings. So sometime his acts or words can hurt others; but no one can hurt his family. He is definitely a brother you are wished for.

Xin Cheng is given to act as Zi Qiu with most funny yet most sad scenes.
You feel like want to protect him and make him smile most of time, since his smile is so precious.
He may be hot-headed and act harsh sometimes, but you can't stop him.
But despite all his misfortune, he always give us good laugh with his innocent and pure soul.
Xin Cheng really touch our heart with his acting. Bravo.

+ Lin Jian Jian; rays of sunshine.
She is the purest soul I've ever meet. She looks like a troublemaker, but she is actually the one that care her family the most. She always be true herself, show what her likes or dislikes and never hidden her own feelings.
I love how Jian Jian's character is growing, especially when she was apart with her brothers.

Honestly, I love how Jian Jian can be a child yet mature to her given situation.
Song Yun really gives us the positive vibe from Jian Jian and make everyone love her (even in bts, she is as cheerful as JJ).
I like how the fact Song Yun can play the 16 and 25 yo JJ with perfection.

Not to mention the Fathers role are so important to the three, especially Papa Lin. I was really touched by how he is brought up the three and always regards Ling Xiao and Zi Qiu as his own child. Even tho Papa Ling doesn't have much roles to the kids, but he is kind and good listener to Papa Lin. They have such great synergy and become each other back. They just like actual husband and wife would be.

The bound between family is so strong that no one can break them apart.

< Storyline >
Neat, cut perfectly, the pace is right.
I really don't like most family drama has draggy pace especially when they are argue, separate, or in an angsty situation. But I don't see any draggy moments in this drama. You can laugh and sad at the same episode.
The portion of each pace is 100! The time jump is also in a right placement!
1999 to 2009 to 2019. the dynamic is good.

Even the characters changed in thru years also relateable. And Jian Jian's narration also make more senses.

In Cdramas, usually we can see how the storyline goes based on opening or ending song, but I got clowned each episodes. This drama really have an unpredicted story with heartwarming story each episode.

< OST >
The OSTs are beautiful and rightly placed. There is no misplaced BGM or sound effect, I would give standing ovation to the music director. Never did I got annoyed by BGM or sound effect.
I also heard the OST like everyday as daily routine.

I also hope everyone who is watching (and reading my review), would have their own happiness and feel warm at heart as our three musketeers strive and chase their own happiness~♡

Leia Mais

Heartwarming perhaps but lacks depth and consistency

I started watching this drama long before it shot up in ratings on mydramalist, so when I saw it on the top drama page I have to say I was quite surprised. I have always been in agreement with the dramas that make it to the page and have found so many gems as a result, but this time I was shocked. I felt that if I had gone to watch this drama after seeing it have such a high rating I would be quite disappointed, especially with the comparisons I’m seeing to Reply 1988, and reviews calling it the best Cdrama of the year. I watch a lot of Cdrama, and it my option this drama is far from that title.

I will say good Cdramas sometimes seem far and few between compared to Kdramas. So when a seemingly good one comes out, there’s often a lot of superlatives involved. So it’s not completely inconceivable why this drama is receiving such praise and hype. I just think it’s not quite deserved in this case, especially when dramas like 隐秘的角落 （The bad kids) and 摩天大楼 (horizon tower) have come out this year as well. And maybe crime dramas aren’t your cup of tea and that’s fine, I love a good family drama as well, but in my eyes this drama lacks so much depth in terms of it’s storytelling that it seems artificial and shallow at the end. This is a far cry from the Reply series and even other Chinese family dramas I've seen (such as 小欢喜 A little reunion).

So what exactly about this drama is disappointing?
There are three major things:
1. The ending plot
2. The one-sided characterizations
3. Sub-par acting that can’t live up to the character

I have to admit, I’m a sucker for family dramas with some good angst and heartwarming relationships. So I did enjoy the beginning of this drama. So what’s the problem? Simply speaking, this drama stops being about family. Without giving too much away, this drama goes from being about families of choice to a forced love story that was poorly executed and unbelievable. Needless to say, I did not like the main couple. But unlike other dramas, it’s not because I hope she ended up with someone else. In fact, I think it would be better if there was no love story at all. It was that uncomfortable. This is a pretty big issue because it encompasses at least half the drama.

So what about the characters? Well, I did enjoy some of them. I think Jian Jian was a good character. He Ziqiu was absolutely one of the best characters in the show. And the two dads were heartwarming and some great moments to the drama. He Ziqiu’s birthday episode was my favorite in the entire series (it’s also ep. 4 so I think that says something about how the drama progressed) because I think it showcases everything good about the drama. My problem is so many of the characters don’t seem real. For how much I loved Jian Jian’s father, he was too perfect. The two mothers offered some great angst, but had so little redeeming qualities. In fact with the exception of Jian Jian, the women in this drama are stereotyped and vilified to the extreme to the point where Chen Ting for example does not even seem real. Compare this to the Reply series. The characters of the parents were each unique in their personalities. They were all good heartwarming characters, but what was so amazing is they seemed real. They were good parents, but weren’t faultless. The parents all had different parenting styles and family dynamics, but none of them were worse than the other. This drama goes the opposite route: the bad parents are so bad, and the good parents are basically Mother Teresa type characters.

My last complaint is some of the acting was not good enough to meet the requirements of the character. You might be able to guess already who I’m referring to: Song Weilong. His acting wasn’t awful, but the character was pretty awful. And I think part of that is his acting and part of it is the writing. But I think with a better actor, the character would have been much more well-rounded and less creepy and stiff. I don’t think Song Weilong is a good actor, but I see why he was cast. The problem is, his character was pretty complex. He has some issues, and Song Weilong just couldn’t bring those to life in a compelling way. And the way he approaches his relationship in the drama? Ummm, in a word: creepy.

If you’d made it to the end of this rambling review, thank you. And if there’s one thing I would say to end this, it would be: this is not a terrible drama. In fact the beginning is quite lovely. But go in prepared to be disappointed as the drama progresses. And I would not go in expecting to find the same quality and depth as Reply 1988.

Leia Mais

BRILLIANT FAMILY DRAMA, for only the first 10 eps

The first two episodes really hooked me right away. The acting, the plot, the characters develeopment, the heartbreaking and heartwarming scenes are just top notch. It was one of the best family drama! Just until episode 10 that is.

After that. It was basic mediocre romantic drama A loves B, C loves B, B loves C eventually, but the chemistry is better for A and B to be together, D loves C, E loves D, F loves E, and so on.. oh god. And Filled the conflict by A B C D E’s secret and dark past through out the story, and the conflict was just lazy writing IMO, and that was for another 30 episodes!

I totally recommend to watch it just for the first 10 episodes. The rests are not so worth the time to watch.

Leia Mais

The first 10 ep were GREAT, the last 30 ep were SUPER DISAPPOINTING

STORY :

Sigh... I really really love the first 10 episodes, it had the potential of becoming my favorite Chinese drama.

In the first 10 episodes, the writer kept EMPHASIZING that the bond of the family members who are unrelated by blood is stronger than their genetic linkage family, which really made me believe that this was going to be the entire drama about. I was sold and was so invested in this drama, I had good laughs and cries.

But everything changed after the brothers return home.
The story became disconnected to the early episodes.
The focus shifted from family into a romantic relationship
Although we know it since the beginning because it's shown in the opening and ending credit, I really there will be a reasonable explanation.
The brothers fell for the sister, and one of the reasons is that the bros want to be REAL family members.
Because of this, there's no romantic development as it is so sudden. the bros confessed after they went back without building any romantic relationship (friendly reminder, before the bro went to study, their relationship was platonic)
Even though LX was interested in JJ before going to Singapore, and JJ to LX without even noticing, but they never built any romantic relationship in early episodes.


ACTING :
Love the main casts' acting (except Song Wei Long).
Steven Zhang & Tu Song Yan (Li Ba) 10/10. I couldn't hold my tears when seeing them on screen.
Seven Tan & Zhang Xi Lin were great as well.

Music: 9.5/10

Rewatch Value :
I kinda regret finishing this series. I totally thought there would be another family bond story like I had seen in earlier ep,
but didn't see it until the end of the series.
If I knew it, I would never finish the series, let alone rewatching it.

Leia Mais

Family yes, love.. nope.

The show revolve around 1 sister and 2 brothers that are siblings by name but not blood related (i'm not gonna elaborate on how they met). I actually enjoyed myself a lot as i get to explore the background stories of the 3 siblings and also how they became a family together. The show did well on showing how they bonded and also the different personalities of everyone.

However, this show will only be getting a 7/10 from me (highest) and i will probably not be rewatching.

(1) The show went downhill when romance is involved. I am not against the plot of any love involved between the siblings but I don't felt it in any way throughout the show as brother-sister love is being prompted more than actual romance. I guess it hitted me badly when it kind of change to romance direction. It didn't seem like the brothers actually "fall in love" with Li Jian Jian but more like overprotective brothers that can't bear to see her with anyone else. I was thinking the show would be better if it ended with Li Jian Jian not choosing anyone. I just CANNOT watch the kissing scene at the end... it's just awkward.

(2) I cannot stand Song Wei Long's acting.
This is not the first show i have watched with SWL and it's actually third one already - and one thing for sure, his acting didn't improve since then. The stiff facial expression, "act cool" vibes, and how he expresses himself is just not there. It's just not enjoyable to watch him act or relate to his character in the show.

Nonetheless, Tan Song Yun (Li JJ), Zhang Xin Cheng (He Zi Qiu) and Tu Song Yan (the dad) steals the show for me!

FINAL VERDICT: it's worth it to watch if you want something heartwarming, simple and explores family relationships.

Leia Mais

A heart-warming family drama that gives you full of laughter and tears :)

Probably the very first family C-drama I've watched before. I've watched many modern dramas that have friendship, love and family but I supposed this one is pretty much towards the family side (siblings, father-son, mother-son etc). I really wanted to say: I LOVE IT. It's not some kind of show that will give you much excitement but it is definitely a show that you felt so relatable and a good show to cry on. I hardly cry for shows but this show just made me crying non-stop, especially the part where people are doubting their relationship just because they are not from the same family or even how they been through hardships but their loved ones are always there for them, with the OSTs, the whole scene just became so teary :(((( The dads' acting and Steven's acting are the best! TBH, SWL's side of story is as depressing as Steven's but I think he wasn't that good in pulling those heartbreaking scenes off, could have been better! But overall was still amazing:) I love all the side couples too (including oldies couple haha, it was extremely cuteeee!)

Some people might not like the romance part between the siblings but I can understand why writers do that, it is just to make them officially a family, so I don't mind that! Although I think it would be as great if they don't have any romance between the siblings.

I finally know how it got such high ratings on MDL, and they totally deserve it!

Leia Mais

Good beginning but slows down

I genuinely loved this drama in the beginning. I like that it was different from other romance dramas and it was more family oriented about a non traditional family. However, it quickly turned into other C-dramas half way through and it just got too awkward! I managed to finish but by the last few episodes, I was starting to fall asleep from boredom. The story just dragged on and on even though we all knew what was going to happen anyway. The overall acting is great especially from the father character. His character was very well written and I love that it was very non traditional from other C-drama characters. The children were also brilliantly cast.

Leia Mais

Wholesome slice of life, truly recommend!

I do not normally review dramas until it's finished but this is an exception. if you're still hesitating, I suggest to go for it. Go Ahead is a slice of life, WHOLESOME cdrama of 2020. It's quite relatable especially if you're adopted, or had parents divorced or controlling parents, etc. Maybe you're able to relate to some extent. I personally enjoy it a lot!! The main focus is about family love and how the kids' feel with the lack of love or understanding from their parents.

The story revolves around 3 characters and the people around them: Li Jianjian, Ling Xiao and He Zi Qiu.

Li Jian Jian is the female lead with a strong and outgoing personality. Her mother passed away a year(?) before the drama began. Therefore, her dad became the loving, doting father who raised her very well. Of course, Jianjian was pretty lonely and wanted a sibling - an older brother. This is where Ling Xiao comes in as the neighbor Despite her mother passed away, she still of course misses her but Jian Jian doesn't let that bring her down because of her family. ^_^ She cherishes her brothers dearly, until a certain point where it got weird for her. But other than that, all was resolved and they're still as close as ever. :) As the audience, some may not accept the love between Jian Jian and Lin Xiang or Ziqiu but in a sense you can tell who loves her more than just family - its the subtle differences!

Ling Xiao's family was pretty rough, his sister passed away not long ago and his mother blamed him for it. She has anger issues, always yelling everyday with his dad so Ling Xiao just sits outside on the staircase. Eventually, he was convinced to join Jian jian and her dad for dinner. That's where the closeness between the two began. His parents eventually filed for divorced and his mother left. Somewhere in the future, you can tell Ling Xiao's mother was a nightmare to Ling Xiao and he never really liked being with her but he can't really say it. Ling Xiao's mother, from my pov, is a two-faced, selfish mom who thinks she can just come into his life and control who he's with and who he belongs to like an object. She disrespects the people who raised and genuinely loves Ling Xiao, which is unacceptable in my opinion.

Zi Qiu also have issues of his own, his mother was having trouble (later on in the show she explains what really happened) and eventually had to leave him with Jian Jian and her dad to take care of. Jian Jian didn't like him, she didn't want him as a brother but eventually they grew close like siblings. Zi Qiu is a character who felt like he was abandoned by everyone and that no one wants him. The only people who never left was Jian Jian and her dad hence he thought by marriage they would become a real family. But in his heart, all he wanted was love and family and especially for his mother to acknowledge him. His biological father was a rich, arrogant, and selfish father who thinks he can just come in and buy his son away from his adoptive family. *rolls eyes* Ziqiu's family story is quite heartbreaking but its not always in the dark. :')

The three became a family with Li Ba and Ling Ba, a loving family. It teaches you that anyone can be family, not just related by blood. We're able to to see them grow up, have each others' backs, care for one another and just bond together as family. It's very wholesome, and makes you smile every time. :')

Qi Ming Yue aka Yue Liang is Jian Jian's best friend, she's not going to be your typical love rival in the drama but it can just a little bit irritating at one point. She also have mother issues of her own because her mom is very controlling and Yue Liang just feels extremely stressed over it. Even her father is being controlled by her mother, its just another form of a selfish mother. Overall, she's a very nice friend to have for Jian Jian, she's more reserved than Jian Jian, but the two bond well together.

Tang Can is another close friend of Jian Jian's. She was initially very arrogant but eventually we know the real her. Tang Can is quite out-spoken and outgoing but she deals with her own issues alone. Her mother is usually embarrassed of Tang Can because Tang Can doesn't have a stable job, and its something Tang Can is embarrassed of herself. But she is able to overcome this and do what she wants to do.

Overall, this drama teaches you a lot about family life whether biological or not. There's different kinds of mothers and fathers. It also focuses on friendship, love, and unrequited love. Its a wholesome drama, and I really recommend to new cdrama fans. Just be prepared to cuss at Ling Xiao's mom and prepare tissues for Ziqiu's story. ^_^

HAPPY ENDING FOR THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AND LOVING FAMILY! :')

The acting is no joke, superb and natural. Everyone did amazing! The music is great as well! Tan Song Yun sings the OST "Like A Breeze." ^_^
I can definitely rewatch this again!! I IMPLORE YOU TO WATCH IT!

Leia Mais