Conheça a Si Mesma (2023)

My Dose of Tranquility-Final review

As of episode 25:

I usually wait until I've watched all episodes to write a review, but I want to encourage anyone who is curious about this series to check it out. It's like....a warm hug. It's like...taking a long bath in a dark room with only your scented candles for light. It's like....medicine for your soul.

You don't want to binge all episodes at once. Two or three at a time is all you need. The first episode is heart wrenching, but afterwards it has a calming, soothing effect. This series will take you away from your own life and let you into theirs for a bit, and leave you contemplative. It's slow and steady while still being interesting. The feeling that I'm left with at the end of each episode is contentedness.

I may add more as I go, or I may wait until I've completed the series before I update this. Just know that if you are considering watching this, and you can watch something that is of a slower nature, it's definitely worth it.
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As of episode 32:

Episode 31 was my favorite! It had me grinning and squealing! I love the feeling I'm left with after watching these episodes. I'm sorry there's only 40 episodes, because I'm going to run out soon. :(
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As of episode 40:

Ahh....I'm so sad that I can't watch this again for the first time.

At the end of each episode, I would sit there in contemplation. Even though I had moments of excitement or sadness while watching, it was the afterwards where I always found myself staring into nothingness, relaxed. I have never had a show, be it a series, movie, or otherwise, be able to make me feel so at peace. I didn't like all the characters all the time. And some things worked out like I wanted, but others didn't. I think that's what makes a good slice-of-life show though. Reality will show you that sometimes things, situations, people are good, and sometimes they're not. But you can't have harmony if you don't work towards it, which is what I found the people within this village setting to be doing with the help of each other.

The music was calming, the setting was beautiful, and the characters were hardworking and supportive. The village was like nothing I'd ever seen, but so was the drama. It was amazing! I'm so happy I watched this, and I can guarantee that I'll be revisiting this when I need a shot of calmness.

Leia Mais

To be honest it's a sweet slow pace drama enjoy every moment not just the main story.

First of all i am not a professional at this. So , I'm just gonna share my personal thoughts.
It is slow paced sweet drama . Every moment of this drama strengthen the main story or the bond between the main leads. It really creates moments which can be felt from depth. Happiness, sadness, comedy and romance are balanced in perfect harmony. It lets you feel every moment with different feelings. While watching this drama it lets you to get connected to all the characters which was really enjoyable.
OST in this drama is really soothing and very pleasant to ears. It's OST alone can make you feel at ease. If you have an average patience level with an interest in romance dramas i recommend this to you.

Leia Mais

A Quiety Beautiful Drama.

It's such a rare gem that might be overlooked because of how low key the drama is. The conflicts are realistic if not understated, but it made us connect with it easier. A story about healing, opening yourself to new people and surroundings, heightened with such beautiful landscape.

Story:
the premise is quite straightforward and simple, and you can even find it in your typical Hallmark holiday and romance movies, but with much more heart and brilliant execution. A city girl come to the sleepy little town to heal herself from the hustle and bustle, even resigned her well paid job, planning to stay for 3 months. There she finds new connections, and even a potential romance, but most of all, she found herself, and what she wanted to do in life. The strength of this drama comes from its mundane story telling, where every characters have their time to shine. Everyone has their own story to tell, and it interwoven beautifully.

Cast & Characters:
Like I said above, there's a story for each characters, even the side characters have their own, well, character arcs. I never really follow Liu Yifei before, and I had thought that her acting was rather stiff in earlier episodes, but as it progresses, I think it was something intentional to show how she hide her broken heart by putting on a facade. The scene where she cried in Xie Zhiyao's arm in his car when she was drunk was a masterpiece, and no one can tell me otherwise. Li Xian on the other hand really embodies Xie Zhiyao from the get go. His sunshiny smile was so captivating, and he can be commanding when needed to show his charisma. I can't mention every supporting characters because it will make this review very long, but I need to mention the child actors. They are soooo good. The best ones I see so far in my not really short (K, C, J) drama watching.

Music:
10/10. I have the soundtrack on my youtube playlist right away, especially 去有风的地方 (Go Somewhere Windy) - 郁可唯 (Yisa Yu), 日日 (Days) - 陈粒 (Chen Li), and 摇篮谣 (The Cradling Ballad) - 斯斯与帆 (Sisi Yufan). The songs can transport you back to the village and make you feel like lounging around to feel the wind caress you.

The things I wish was better was the pace. There were times where they linger too long on a scene. Just because I love the serenity doesn't mean that I want to meander, especially when the scene was not that interesting. That was why I can't give the drama a perfect 10. But overall, I'll watch it again for sure.

PS: this is my first review here, and "Meet Yourself" made me do it.

Leia Mais

I want to go to where the wind is!

I cannot begin to describe how much I love this show. If you haven't watched it - just turn it on now. Stop hesitating!

It begins with Xu Hongdou leaving behind her job in Beijing to travel to Dali, Yunnan because of a personal tragedy she faced. She goes to stay in a homestay in Yunmiao, a village off the beaten path. In the homestay there are other lost souls who have all gathered in this beautiful dreamlike home because they too are running away from reality or from their troubles. You have the beautiful Nana who works in the cafe and harbours a secret, Da Mai, the uninspired writer, Ma Qiu Shan the businessman turned wannabe monk, Teacher Hu / Hu You Yu the wandering unsuccessful musician.

Over three months these guests to the yard grow closer and open up about their struggles and challenges and the most magical thing is they all leave healed - better versions of themselves. Not in some tropey or cliche way - in a way that is close to reality. Healed by time, friendship and self determination.

And of course there is the romance between Hongdou and Xie Zhi Yao played by two of the most popular actors in China right now. Li Xian is perfectly cast as Xie Zhi Yao. The handsome, rough round the edges boy next door with a smile that lights up rooms. Their relationship wasn't hurried. It blossomed - and that's the best kind. It was clear that Xie Zhi Yao was attracted to Hongdou from the start but the screenwriters let them get to know each other better and form a friendship before they grew into a relationship. It was a mature relationship with a strong foundation.

The supporting cast were absolute stars. Each had wonderful character development stories. Xie Xiao Chun, Xie Xiao Xia, even Ah Nai - it was such a joy to witness the growth of their characters. I felt that the magic of this little village in Dali is that nobody stays the same - everyone grows and becomes better versions of themselves, helped along by the people around them.

Even the village doesn't stay the same. It evolves and grows with the time. In a way, as i think of it now, the village represents the people and the people represent the village. They both grow in parallel.

Finally, I must not leave out the little children - Tuo Tuo, Xiao Hulu, Hu Zi and Guo Bao. Their presence was like the sprinkles on top of an already absolutely perfect sundae. They added such joy, and sometimes strong emotions of sadness, to the show. Their presence really amplified the mood of each scene. If an event was happy, it was doubly happy with the children there; if the scene was sad, it was doubly sad with the children. Such a masterstroke to include the little ones in the show.

Honestly, I cannot think of a show that has excelled at almost everything. I literally cannot find a single thing to fault. And that is so rare when now I see to find it easy to find faults with the hurried scriptwriting.

Absolutely wonderful. An instant classic. I am re-watching it from the beginning because I am not ready to leave Yunmiao yet.

Leia Mais

TRULY WONDERFUL! Watch it now!

This was my first taste of CDramas and wow the bar has been set extremely high.
It took me a while to get used to the pace, and at 40 episodes long it's much longer than the usual Kdrama. PLEASE stick with it though and you'll be rewarded with a truly wholesome, healing, wonderful story all wrapped up in the most beautiful scenery and people. Oh, and the food is incredible!
The cinematography and soundtrack are stunning as well.
Liu Yi Fei was a brilliant lead as was Li Xian. The supporting cast was great too. Some subplots felt like they dragged on, but I think, due to the length of the show, they paid off in the end.
So sit back, relax and enjoy this 40-episode therapy session!
I'm going to try Go Ahead next.

Leia Mais

A Story of Friendships & Love Built in a Tiny Courtyard While Overcoming Personal Hardship.

After watching LX in Will Love in Spring and hearing good things about this one as another slice of life story, decided to check it out. Glad I did; he was able to play a more smiling, joking character though with no less responsibility on his shoulders. I've only seen Crystal Liu in A Dream of Splendor where she did very well. This was a story of friendships and love built in a tiny courtyard while overcoming personal hardship.

Pros: I really love the friendships that were built in the courtyard and how they went beyond the courtyard but into the rest of the village and were intergenerational. Also though FL or XHD lost her best friend in the first episode, she was never far from her mind especially when she finally told her new friends about her. ML or XZY (lovingly called A'Yao) was my favorite character because of just how much he shouldered and was always still joking and smiling. He was essentially taking every major project from the village on himself. When HD and A'Yao became friends, it was nice to see that it wasn't a rushed romance but a real bond that grew. We saw that he caught feelings first but she wasn't far behind. The other great characters were DM, NN, HY, Mr. Ma (when he wasn't flipping his hair), granny Xie and a few of the other grannies, XC, XX (girl) and XX (guy). The 4 kids were cute too. Joseph Zeng's two episode guest appearance was surprising but good. How all the courtyard folks and others would rally around those going through a hard time was very heartwarming. Brought hope to humanity.

Chemistry between the leads was awesome and comedy within the story was pretty good. I really wish they had more time on screen as a couple as opposed to giving that up to her 3 episode leaving and town revitalization towards the end. Their kisses were very good so that as always was an added bonus. The OSTs and BGM, locations, were all very on point. Though there were times when there was maybe a bit more verbiage than necessary, a lot of it was beneficial. Really loved the growth of the characters into better versions of themselves. Found out afterwards that the person who played XC's ex-husband was actually the show's assistant director. Pretty cool when the directorial staff can play extras or do cameos.

Cons: Too many side characters and plots that I felt took up too much of the story. You already had so many important supporting characters that everyone else should have been left alone. Most of the time that XQ girl that had a yen for A'Yao for a while or the embroidery lady who had a heart attack but for the life of me I couldn't remember who she was, there were others too but I don't remember. The leads could have had more together time since this was billed as a romance and they only technically had 9 episodes but most of that was taken up by things and people not important to the story. It would have been easier to focus on the quality not quantity and have the leads maybe get engaged by the end. Show more couple time in those 9 episodes. Wish NN and male XX's friendship/feelings were better fleshed out too.

Forced propaganda was so unnecessary here. You can revitalize a village without sticking propaganda into it. Even the poor kids were singing an indoctrination song. It stuck out like a sore thumb especially when the friends in the courtyard would be just shooting the breeze drinking and making toasts to each other and out of nowhere someone pops out with "may our country prosper"; like who says that when they're just hanging out with friends? It's not a political or even business meeting. Made me role my eyes on more than on one occasion because it was not the series for that. If you're going for a country living romance with friends, you just don't need that. Not realistic at all when there's a juxtaposition to everything else.

Would I recommend it? Despite those few baubles, I enjoyed this story and glad I listened to people in the other comment section. Look forward to LX's future dramas. Check this out if you haven't yet.

Leia Mais

Amazing

Not your typical CDrama romcom!

I must say I have not finished this series yet. I have two more episodes to go, and I really don't want it to end. I adore the characters (grannies, Hulu and Toutou!). The storyline is believable and well written. It is much deeper than the typical rich boss/dumb girl stories that seem to dominate the genre. The chemistry between all the characters is so sweet and believable. The circle of friendship with Dou, Damai and Nana is so sweet.

The music is wonderful. I find myself humming the credit song all day.

The cinematography is STUNNING!

I will be rewatching this series many times, and would love a second season.

Leia Mais

Lazy script and forgettable show with beautiful scenery

I don't get the hype. Yes the scenery (place and people) are beautiful. But that's really all there is to it. One can only conclude that like the female lead character, Liu Yifei has basically decided to phone it in with her career. The script is lazily written (much like the premise of the show) and the producers decide to insert the *same* songs in almost every single scene! This is not your typical OST or sound effects that occur at key junctures. The whole show is like an ultralong MTV with songs every 5 mins or so.

The pacing is also unbelievably slow. For the first 10 episodes, you are treated to Hongdou moping around. It is not until well past the halfway point when anyone else knows what she was moping about. And when the romance begins to develop, it does so with suddenness and complete lack of character development. There are also many pointless side stories. While I appreciate well-developed side stories, none of those in this show are remotely interesting and extremely cliched. The lazy young musician with the take-charge cougar. The little brother with the crush on the older sister. Ironically, it is the non-romance stories involving the elderly folks that are far more engaging.

Maybe the reason why this show generated such hype is because of a unique malaise afflicting urbanites in Beijing and Shanghai. As a show, it is very forgettable. Certainly I don't recall any episode or scene where I would even want to rewatch.

Leia Mais

TOURISM PROMOTIONAL DRAMA

In my opinion, this drama was like a Tourism Promotional segment as that's the main story. Very slow and dragging, can fallen asleep watching it, Li Xian was the only one that has sparkle in his eyes - the rest of the actors were boring (Wait... Grandma Xie was sweet and cute) the OST slow too. Beautiful country site, rustic but colorful houses and interior, dilemma of villagers, relationship between people, personal hope and struggle of occupants. If we talk about living quiet and harmonious, this is it, don't expect something hilarious and jolt of character. Liu YiFei as usual delivered her dialog in soft whisper voice (turn up the volume) while Li Xian had smiles more than his other dramas which refreshing. Question: the fact that they had horse barn at the same location of residential/office, reality smell of horse dung is nothing to enjoy to. Lot of eating scenes but only saw them nibble little here and there, busy body aunties (I skipped these scenes), Mr. Ma was between flip his hair/doing tea ceremony & meditation (ugh...I skipped him too), a lot of self-reflection and self discovery on every characters (which means a lot of day dreaming, spacing out, talked within, back flashing memories...skipped!), nothing really jolly.

Xu Hong Dou (Liu YiFei), a hard working big-city woman, suddenly hit a bump in her life when her best friend fell ill from cancer and passed away. Distraught and unable to reconcile with her friend's death, Xu met difficulties in continuing her working life in the city. She decided to take a vacation in a China's rural village of Yun Miao, near Dali, in Yunnan Province – to break away from the distressing urban life and to find peace and quiet, she met Xie ZieYao, a president of every businesses in the area including the place she stayed in. As he tried to navigate the businesses, he proposed to Hong Duo to volunteer to improve hospitality service at where she stayed, with Grandma Xie persuasion she finally decided to help out till time for her to move on (3 months stay). Got better in ep 25 onward when the love started to bloom but still many skipping...

Well, I can understand why the Producer drag this drama so boring, how to develop scenes to more lively and interesting? For a simple synopsis drama, 40 episodes is too long stretch to be completed. If I knew better, I should have started this drama from ep 20 (better yet ep 24).

Leia Mais

A little slow but a very good watch

I really liked this series. I liked and related to all characters. I actually wanted to know their stories. There was a good balance between drama and comedy. While I felt like crying at some moments (the 1st ep as a whole for example), at others I wanted to laugh as well. The couple was cute and real at the same time. Loved how they seemed comfortable around each other. The overall message of the series and the lessons we learn with the characters were really good.

But there was a little problem: it was too long! Honestly, the series could easily tell eveyone's stories and be 30 episodes long. If it had to have 40 eps then they should've put more scenes where smth was actually happening, or then some other romance story instead of a lot of meditation and nature contemplation. Don't get me wrong. I loved the series. But it was a little slow at times and it failed to create some cliffhangers and let me wanting to watch more everyday. Furthermore, I think there was some points which were left open and could've been closed:
1) Na Na and Xia Xia's ending could be more clear. Will they get together in the future? Why aren't they together now? Why take so much time, or no time at all, to develop their story? I feel like the series had too much time and could tell their story but it didn't and that disappointed me.
2) Mr. Hu had some family issues and a bad relationship with his dad. Why this matter wasn't talked more deeply like they did with Damai? And why couldn't they show us his happy ending with Manjun? I think it felt a little rushed.
3) I was hoping Xiaochun would talk things out and restart with her ex-husband. Both of them had a lot to learn from the problems that led to their divorce and I wanted to see that evolution from them, especially hers since she's the one we see the most. But the series took too much time to begin talking abt them and just for them not to come back together.

These were the main problems I found while watching. Like I said, it is a 40-ep-long series which means that they had the time to talk about a lot of things but they didn't. This was more clear on the last episode which spent a lot of time on Mr. Hu's singing and the leads watching the sunset together, instead of closing some plots. However, that didn't stop me from actually enjoying the series. Seeing from my ratings that was a very good watch.

Leia Mais

Mature and beautiful and so very relaxing

My favorite dramas are the ones I can watch with minimal eye-rolling and this one definitely fit the bill. Here’s why:

—I think this is one of the few dramas I’ve watched where the characters feel real and the adults behave like they’re actual adults.
—The drama tropes are kept to a minimum and the interpersonal drama is realistic and never lasts more than an episode.
—A’Yao and Hongdou are such beautiful people with their respective struggles and strengths and their journey of coming together is so fun to watch. The attraction, the teasing, the PINING. The complete comfort these two have around each other really sells the relationship and the slightest expression had me grinning like a fool. Definitely a solid slow-burn
—The villagers could very easily get lost in the shuffle of side characters. But the aunties and the grannies and uncles and kids were so memorable and though there were moments I would get confused, it was pretty easy to keep them straight. A’Yao’s A’Nai was my favorite and a particular scene with her towards the end made me laugh so very hard.
—Yunnan province’s scenery is so beautiful. The “product” placement definitely did its job. Every scene was gorgeous to watch and the cinematography that made Yunnan look so bright and calming and gentle was such a perfect contrast to Beijing’s dim lighting and dark shadows.
—THE MUSIC oh my gosh. Most, if not all, of the OST immediately joined my spotify playlists and i’ve been listening to 日日 on repeat.

To recap. This is a great palate cleanser drama, a relaxer drama, a drama to watch with a cup of tea and a blanket, a break from the excessive tropes and over the top acting that gets old after a few episodes. I’ve never watched a drama like this before, but I hope more are made like it. This one shot to my favorites list and I hope to rewatch it again in the future.

Leia Mais