Xiang Si Gu (2024)

A time travel mini-drama that provides a light escape

I like time travel stories with romance, so I decided to watch Lovesickness after reading the synopsis. It's quite short, where most episodes are around 10 to 11 minutes, and that includes the ending trailer.  I finished it in 2 weeknights after work.

It has both angst and comedy, so I consider it a light watch. The pacing is fast, where the plot develops quickly, so you won't feel that the story is dragging, and even if there are conflicts, it gets resolved quickly.  Since it's short and fast-paced, some plot development felt rushed. They breezed through the last episode, and the ending is open to interpretation. But as a whole, I think the drama's execution is good.

The actor that shines for me is Yan Zi Xian, who plays the male lead Xiao Chu.  He was convincing in his portrayal of the serious and feared 28 year-old Duke of Chu, and the carefree and happy-go-lucky 21-year old Xiao Chu. Not to mention he reminds me of Chen Xing Xu in his ancient costume and get-up.

Yu Yi Lei was able to show the funny, mischievous, serious, lovesick, and angsty sides of Mo An An. However, it did not leave as strong an impression on me as Yan Zi Xian's portrayal.

Since this is a romance drama, chemistry is important. I'm happy to say that the ML and FL have good chemistry.

As for production and costumes, there's nothing fancy or extraordinary, but good enough for a costume mini-drama.

Final Verdict: If you like time travel stories that you can finish quickly, that is not too serious and provides a light escape, then grab your popcorn and binge-watch this.

Leia Mais

Decent Mini Drama

Sweet story about changing fate and time travel. The male and female lead have good chemistry and good kisses. The acting was good too. The costumes and sets were very well done for a mini drama. The story made sense, although I wish there had been a few more seconds spent on the ending.

You could feel the FL character's desperation to change fate and have things return to how they should be, time and time again. When the FL first gets transported to the past it is supposed to be 7 years after they'd met and the ML was bitter because she'd vanished 7 years ago. The second time she appeared it was 7 years in past to where the met for the first time. Finally she gets transported to the past even further back when he was 7 years old and she saves his life. The ending is a bit ambiguous but not all bad.

Leia Mais

One of the better mini dramas

This was a well-crafted and well-acted short-length drama that makes you want to go back to the beginning and rewatch it again from the ML's perspective and knowledge of their past. (Which I did immediately.)

While somewhat predictable, there was still something about the way this time travel tale was told that felt different from your conventional C-drama time travel stories. And while the open ending may not be to everyone's liking, it felt much more impactful and moving -- so much so that I bumped up my original rating (after ep 23) from a 7.5-8 to an 8. The letter was tragic yet beautiful as it showed that he found closure figuring out what happened ("love is bitter, but I do not regret it") and it also gave Mo An'an the much needed closure she was looking for as well.

In that sense, it was a happy ending for me because we learn of Xiao Chu's real fate, even though it is simultaneously heartbreaking to think that he spent his life solving the riddle of Mo An'an and her appearances in his life.

My biggest "quibble" would be that I found it frustrating at times to watch history repeating itself knowing the cause and effect of people's actions. Perhaps the whole point was to show that history can not be changed (both philosophically speaking and of course in context of censors), but it is hard not to wonder if the future (and people) could have changed had certain things unfolded differently when Xiao Chu was 21 and 28. it was rather sad, for example, to see Yuchen deeply affected and changed because she misunderstood Mo An'an in their youth, and it was also frustrating to watch the young emperor so helpless against the misguided and villainous adults in his life.

Overall, a nice mini-drama if a conventional "happy ending" is not a requirement.

Leia Mais

Pretty much the ONLY thing wrong with this is the ending. Everything else was awesome...

This was a time-travel plotline that satisfies, because the pacing is just right, and it doesn't get overly confusing at any point. The story was interesting, but not too interesting. After all, in a romance drama, the plot is supposed to serve as the vehicle and backdrop to a core story about two people falling in love. Some romance dramas become so plot-heavy and entangled that the writers forget there's supposed to be a ROMANCE story in there, and the romance drops by the wayside in sacrifice to a plot thats just too much. Not with this one. The romance is always at front and center of the story, in every episode.

Lovesickness has a very interesting and peculiar brand of "angst" running through it that I greatly enjoyed. The characters are smiling and the sky is sunny, the clothes are white and pink, and yet you can feel this terrible sadness and yearning beneath it, coming from the plot, and it's such an odd contrast, I loved it.

Actors were EXCELLENT!!! Oh my GOD, the FL and ML are total powerhouse actors with amazing range, and they have real chemistry between them. As many of us already know, Yan Zi Xian knows how to kiss. But this time he's really outdone himself, because THERE IS A FRENCH KISS IN EPISODE 11. Yu Yi Lei, the actress who plays the FL is AWESOME for letting him kiss her like that, and she just rolled with it. She's not a bad onscreen kisser herself, and her ACTING is so GOOD. I normally am really picky about FL actresses, but I am an instant fan of YYL because of her performance in this. I cannot stress enough that these roles required a LOT of range of emotion and personality, and YYL and YZX completely slayed.

Makeup was totally on point. There are times where ML or FL has to look sickly, wounded, pale, drunk, happy, whatever.... and every time, the makeup set off the scene to make it that much more believable.

Writing also on point. The dialogue was touching but not sappy, easy to follow, with great sense of timing and pacing. The flow of the story was natural.

Many aspects of this show were frivolous, cliche, predictable. In that sense, this show is meant to be a casual, light watch. That's usually how it is with short-lengths. But within the confines of their format... they really fuckin nailed it. My only gripe is the way it ended, and I very much hope a part 2 is slated to happen at some point. Please god, let there be a sequel to this someday.

Leia Mais

Lovesickness and a Case of Bad Directing (Major spoilers ahead!)

I. The Good
I have always thought YZX looks like a kissing gourami-- the man's lips are made for kissing, pouting in petulance, and smiling mischievously. We finally get to see all that in this drama as he plays the cheerful playboy for a few episodes.

The drama had an interesting premise and a fitting ending which closed off the paradox of time travel. That, the titular OST, and YZX's acting chops carried drama. Everything else was as flat as your taste buds and as confusing as your fevered brain were when you had Covid-19, and I got sick of the show pretty quickly.

II. The Bad
YZX's cast members struggled to play their respective roles. YYL as the FL was very good at furrowing her brows and aegyosal to look confused, crushed, and conflicted, and as her mother must have warned her, she was stuck with that face. She had the same face even when she was supposed to be confident, cheerful, or contented. WZF as the 2FL/villainess performed better in her role as the innocent, kind young miss than in the villain arc. ZWL looked like he was a college kid in his first improv class--not willing to make a fool of himself and commit to the role.

The story starts with the 25-year-old FL reading a love letter uncovered in an archaeological dig and noticing that the jade ring illustrated in the letter looks exactly like the one she has at home. The ring transports her and she meets the 28-year-old ML. The ML, however, has met her before and accuses her of abandoning him 7 years ago. The FL also meets the 2FL, the dowager empress, who greets her as '姐姐 Jiějiě'. The FL assumes she bears the appearance of the ML's 'white moonlight' and he is merely treating her as a substitute. However, that does not explain how the ML knew about her dipping sauce composition, birthday cakes, and Jay Chou's lyrics. The FL meets the villain and describes him as gentlemanly, much to the ML's ire.

The 2FL and villain form an uneasy alliance, as the 2FL wants to murder the FL and the villain wants military power. We get to see YZX's naked shoulders and cleavage in episode 6, when assassins chase the FL. While the FL got to see other things, we the audience are not lucky enough. In yet another assassination attempt, we see that the 2FL has Feelings™ for the ML. In episode 9, frustrated with the FL's continued denial, the ML shows her their selfie painting, which does absolutely nothing as the FL attempts to escape his residence before being kidnapped by the villain. The ML appears to die trying to save the FL in episode 10 (it's only episode 10, nobody really dies until the penultimate episode or there'd be no story).

For absolutely no reason whatsoever, the villain demands to marry the FL. She neither holds power nor wealth so there was absolutely no reason for the villain, a royal prince, to marry the FL, a maid in the ML's residence. The villain attempts a coup on their wedding day, which is interrupted by the very-much-alive ML. The ML carries off the FL (God knows why because she wasn't injured in any way) and before his deceased parents' tablets, declared his feelings and promised to let the FL leave if that is her wish. Who knows when on earth the FL developed feelings for the ML, and yet somehow she agrees to marry him and they perform the rites before the tablets and consummate their marriage in episode 11. How could the 2FL allow this, so of course she releases the villain and drugs the FL in episode 12 for the villain to kidnap. The ML kills the villain but the 2FL have both the ML and FL killed before they could escape.

The FL returns to her time in episode 13 and of course the first thing she does is check Wikipe-dead. She finds out that the ML 'died during the villain's rebellion'. Distraught, she runs to her apartment building's rooftop to time travel (because she cannot just disappear in her room?). This time she meets the 21-year-old ML in his playboy era. She discovers that the people she knew were not around (yet), the ML was an unskilled fop who had yet to inherit, the old emperor was still alive, and the 2FL was still a lowly concubine's daughter being bullied by her legitimate elder sister.

The FL considers trying to kill the 2FL now, but is unable to bring herself to do so and develops compassion for the 2FL's situation. She tries to stay away from the ML and 2FL, but ends up befriending them instead. Through a series of events, the FL realises that she's the one who taught the ML Jay Chou's lyrics for a poetry contest, the existence of birthday cakes, and the composition of dipping sauce. Realising her deepening feelings, she tries to pair the ML with the 2FL instead. This, of course, fails miserably because the ML is not a pair of Prada boots. She attempts to run away but meets the villain instead, and plots to serve at the villain's residence for an opportunity to murder him. She ends up encountering the ML again, and inadvertently confesses her feelings when he pretends to be dying in episode 21. YZX was absolutely adorable in this scene.

The 2FL is understandably upset when she discovers the FL and ML together in episode 22, but she gave them her blessings. The FL advises the 2FL to take control of her own destiny and reject the edict to marry the old emperor. The 2FL takes this advice and attempts to run away, but is caught by her elder sister. Believing that the FL had betrayed her, the 2FL agrees to marry the old emperor and poisons the FL. The FL willingly drinks the poison in exchange for a promise from the 2FL to never harm the ML. In episode 23, the FL dies before the ML returns from the palace, leaving behind a goodbye note, causing the events to come full circle.

The FL finds out that the ML still died during the rebellion, and time travels yet again. This time, she meets the 7 years old ML and dies saving him from assassins. When she returns, the distraught FL realises the ending still remains unchanged. She faints and dreams of the time when she was 18, and she nearly dies in a car accident. She was saved by a bearded, long-haired man who hands her a jade ring, telling her to 'go find him' and that he had left a letter for her. The FL wakes up from the dream, believing that the ML did not die and that it was the ML who had saved her from the car accident (which makes absolutely no sense because did the 28-year-old ML just pick his body up from the floor and walked off after being shot by numerous arrows??). The FL runs to re-read the love letter again, with the jade ring in hand this time. The drama ends with her dropping the ring, and someone in traditional costume picking up the ring, presumably the ML.

Many have commented on the abrupt ending, but frankly, if you leave a plant out with no water or fertiliser for ages, it will curl up and die a slow death like this drama.

III. The Ugly
Other than the random plot devices thrown in there (e.g., the villain insisting on marrying the FL for absolutely no reason, how the ML handed the jade ring to the FL, and when did the FL fall in love with the ML enough to marry him), nothing was particularly ugly.

IV. The Verdict
It's worth watching once, to see YZX play something else than his usual somber characters and salivate over the 5-second view of his bosom.

Leia Mais

Time travel drama with the most silly FL ever and of course ending in cliffhanger ??‍♀️

Let me start… I liked the mini drama… it’s entertaining and you can binge watch it super fast.
Little commitment from my side.
As usual, ML was really good… having to do the same character as stern/cold and Young/restless… I like him…
FL on the other hand… very silly girl? With the worst game plan ever…
Spoiler… as usual, she is supposed to go back to the last to undo a wrong… ended up creating the circumstances that made that wrong happen

I guess… fate is unbeatable… what is meant to happen… will happen no matter what.

It was funny, light… and ok to watch..

Good for in between heavy drama stuff

Leia Mais

waste of everything overall ratings 0️⃣

Hello, MDL. To whomever it may concern, all rating must be between 1 to10. Why this is so unfair I can't for this trash. Even a 0.5 rating is offensive to me.
Adding sickness with love in a title was the only wise idea this series definitely gives me some sickness
Kudos to those who finished it and still have words to praise this junk I feel sick for sure.
Those who plan to watch just forget it. Even if you have some reason to watch (your favourite actor or actress), forget it. Just pass it. You will thank me trust me on that
Still wanna watch
Watch An ancient love song with the same concept but a thousand times better in every possible way.
Last but least, this is my first drama of this actress ( FL ). No offence to her or her fans, but I don't know why, I feel super weird about her acting.

Leia Mais