Two Youth Romance Novels From Writer Zhu Yi Adapted to C-dramas in Summer 2023 Has When I Fly Towards You the Unexpected Better Reviewed Surprise Hit Over Hidden Love

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• I started watching Hidden Love, and then while waiting for new episodes, I decided to watch When I Fly Towards You. I ended up getting engulfed in WIFTY and was chasing that instead, and dropped HL until all the episodes were out. WIFTY doesn't have a lot of "plot" either, but they show the relationships among all the characters so well. There were minimal toxic characters, and all the relationships (minus ML's mom) were so healthy. It was refreshing. The way the drama was filmed, I really felt all the warmth and love amongst the friends and family. I also appreciate how in both dramas the FLs are not doormats and they were great catches too (I'm really tired of the perfect ML and his bumbling but bubbly FL). I personally just liked the ensemble cast and the more broad focus beyond just relationship love better in WIFTY.

• I have to agree with Chinese netizen. I went in not expecting much, but I like Zhao Lusi so i gave it a try. The moment she started talking, I had to stop watching. I couldn't do it. That cutesy voice was just too much. The kid who played her younger self in the show, had a more normal teenage voice then she did. Zhao Lusi sounded like she was channeling a todler. It was very unconfortable for me to watch. I hope she never speaks like this again in future tv shows. Ever.

  • Agree 100%. I cannot stand her pretentious voice !! I don't think the drama is as good as stated. But she has a strong fanbase.

• I think both stories have their charms. I read the novel (HL) before watching the drama, and CZY's character was way more slick in the book (at least how he was written: a tiny bit jaded and sort of more mature somehow since the age gap is 7yrs while in the drama it's 5).

  And as for Victor Ma portraying the SML (ZLS's brother Sang Yan), he pulled off being the big bro/best bud well enough. The book character seemed more dreamy (he has his own novel too & I heard Song Wei Long might be cast as him) & is known to be the 'twin' visually with CZY's character. Of course in the drama, he has to be different lol but he was solid enough.

  I stayed for HL mostly for the chemistry of the main leads. CZY can swallow u whole with that stare of his & ZLS just has this screen presence (minus the aegyo voice lmao) when she acts. Rounding out is Victor Ma was good enough for me. At least it's 25 eps. If it was more, I would have dipped.

  • cual es nombre del libro de Sang Yang? quiero leerlo!!

• I went to when I fly towards you with 0 expectations due to didn't know who the actors are but I got hook and finished all episodes in 2 days.it just fun,touching,no noble idiotic antics,ML just awesome,but Fl really just great overall because she's not damsel in cave or too candy type.

• I loved When I Fly Towards You so much! It's nothing new with the other teen/coming of age dramas but it was really well produced and acted. The ML and the FL's relationship was really well balanced. THe group of friends was really nice and they had development too.

  In Hidden Love, my issue wasn't the childhood scenes because the ML never showed any love interest. It was more the FL didn't experiment other things before and fell in love with someone else. I didn't really understand why the ML fell in love with her neither. Everything was way too much focused on the couple, with too many close-up.

  • He fell in love with her because she protected him. It was something he never got from anybody before as he lost both his parents. Like how she would defend him from the stalker. That was why he saw him in a new light. I find to be justified as he is someone who is vulnerable. After all, he was only a young boy when all the tragedies in his life happened. Sang Zhi gave him the love that he never experienced before so that alone will touched him.

    I didn't find the age gap as a problem. He always treated as a sister when he was young and never did ne made wrong gestures. It was pure puppy love on her part and we all can relate to that.

    ZLS and CYZ's acting was what made Hidden Love good. It's nothing new but they really made the characters came to life. CYZ nailed very scene. When the audience can feel the character's emotions then you know how good the actor is. I definitely became a fan after this drama.

    • Except the protection plot was very weak. It was pretty sudden and the fact the actress acted with a baby voice didn't help. The FL was a little princess and lost the spark she had when she was younger for me.

    • @Alyssia, second! It's the amazing chemistry between the OTP of HL drawing me to the drama. There's nothing special about the storyline of HL. I believe many girls experiencing similar crush as the FL in the drama. But the acting of these pair is really convincing, romantic yet not cringe worthy.

      CYZ is convincing as a young man who had an unfortunate youth life with strong and vulnerable personality at the same time. The development of romance between him and his bestie's younger sis is also convincing to me. Given the amazing performances of CYZ and ZLS, I would give HL a much better review than WIFTY. I dropped the latter soon after ep2. I personally can't stand the storyline nor do I like the acting styles of the OTP in WIFTY.

• I agree that When I Fly Towards You is better overall and I enjoyed it more too but I had no problems with Hidden Love also. I understand people's criticisms for HL, however I enjoyed the healthy relationship between the main leads and they had quite a good chemistry too so that was enough for me to keep going.

  The writer for both dramas must have been in one beautiful relationship to have written these two dramas. If not he/she has got one hell of an imagination on how a relationship should work. No conflicts, useless misunderstandings or the common ridiculous love triangles often seen in the drama world, just 2 people in love and shutting out every negative influence to their relationships. Kudos to the writer.

  • I meant the novel writer actually.

  • I read something (not sure if it's 100% true) that said the author had experienced something similar to HL, but she didn't get a happy ending in real life, so she wanted to create a happy ending in her fictional story.

• I truly thk the Douban rating is justified. When I fly towards to you was the one I click to watch as soon as it aired. The story itself was better and it was directed very well. We had 2 leads that was very balanced and the whole buildup of their relationship was very positive, sweet and just right. The secondary leads were not props, they have their stories to tell. And the grandma-grandson story was so touching and beautiful too. Its the best C drama for me this year.

• I think it's unfair to compare the two dramas as I find them both strong in their own right. The romance in When I Fly To You starts much later in the story. Much of the drama focuses on just growing up and the bonds and relationships we develop as we do so the secondary characters are given space to shine as well. Whereas Hidden Love is very much about Sang Zhi and Duan Jia Xu from the beginning and their relationship remains the focus of the drama. I personally enjoyed both dramas veey much.

• I personally liked both dramas, WIFTY for a more engaging plot (the scenes with the antagonist, difficult family relationship, false accusation, sexual harassment ) really ratcheted up the plot without disturbing the dynamic of the couple, but led to more immersion by the viewer; compared to this plot, in HL, nothing much happens, other than FL misunderstanding, growing up, falling in love & dating. With a segue into ML’s family issues (less captivating to the viewer). I liked Hidden Love for the nuanced performance by the leads that amped up the romantic intensity. I thought the second ML was good, and the sibling dynamic wholesome and real. Viewers have legitimate reasons for their like/dislike for one drama over the other. But one factor to consider is that ZL and CYZ are the more popular actors, hence they bring baggage into their performances through no fault of their own. It’s easier to judge an actor you’ve seen for the first time solely on the merit of their performance, but actors you’ve seen in so many works, you’re more inclined to judge their acting over several of their works, some you’ve loved, others you’ve disliked, the expectations are higher; and they have more fans and more antis. All these would come into play whenever they have a new work that is produced. And their work would be rated accordingly.

• I haven't watched Fly; and I would never watch a show with HL's plot if it weren't for Lusi. Generally speaking, I enjoyed it alright but I still think that it is inappropriate for young teenagers (girls,there's a big chance the older man you have a crush on is not as decent as Duan Jiaxu, don't do anything stupid). The aegyo I think was done so that there would be a visible difference between Zhizhi aged 17 and Zhizhi aged 20. It was objectionable, but I am a fan, so I rolled with it.