Since I Met U (2022)

A drunken kiss that sealed my heart

To be fair , it didnt wow me , but it's a decent watch ! It's only a 16 episode drama, so something felt rushed.

FL decides to confess to her class monitor that she has a crush on him but she was drunk when that happened so it turned out to be the ML , and she ends up kissing him. one year later , they meet again however female lead has no recollection of male lead. FL is a food blogger who likes desserts. ML Is a dessert chef. FL wants to learn more about the chef's desserts.

Romance ( ML +FL ) some chemistry but not passionate enough, to be honest the 2ML, 2FL had more passion and stole more of the moments/limelight . the ML+FL is more cute, sweet, simple, while 2ML + 2FML relationship was more lust and passion driven. I think because of the 16 ep, there was not enough momentum to build up their relationship.

What i liked-
Desserts- looked super yummy and i like that fact that each dessert told a story of what is happening with the leads at the moment.
The kid - he is a cute factor and liked that he try to step the aunt aka FL AND godfather aka ML together. They are cute as a little family but the time together was too little and he eventually got sent away and came back for the last ep...



Things to note about this drama that is not obvious
1) The male lead has/ has had depression... but its not very obvious ( unless i missed something) They revealed it more towards the middle/end . The male lead doesnt tell the female lead. The male lead gets triggered when he hears the word " lei zui" meaning burden.. For all the times that was happening.. i was expecting the female lead to discover him and comfort him but that doesnt happen...

What i didnt like
Livestreamer bullying : towards the end there is someone who tries to sabotage and ruin the reputation of the ML dessert store. Rude livestreamers try to see for themselves and not even care about what the owners and employees have to day, despite rejecting them saying they cant come in. ( felt like i would of given the drama a higher score if not for that last random incident)

Read More

Inoffensive Chinese Mills and Boon

With 16, 25mins episodes there is not a lot of air-time to play with. The issue here is not the length of the show but the number of tropes and clichés the writer tries to stuff into the script. It is a cookie cutter show with the lot.

Being a rom-com to its core, we are served a smorgasbord of romances. The OTP is preordained from the first minutes. The main plot then focuses on the inability of the ML to confess to the FL. It is frustrating to watch as EVERYONE knows he loves her and tries to help. Nobody is working against them, other than the ML’s inner demons. After drunken kisses, aborted confessions and many other tropey tell-tales, we only get the true confession at the end of ep.12. I rate this 1 "sigh of relief" out of 10.

The 2OTP is the typical noona romance with the obligatory drunken tryst and birthing a super clingy 2ML. The 3OTP is only there to park the SFL somewhere out of the OTP’s way. They all have their CP moments. Sometimes they are cute and occasionally swoon-y. Their progress is on rails and their chemistry is questionable. I’m too jaded to ship them unreservedly.
The token antagonist is one-note and transparent. He appears when the Show needed a bit of angst, advanced the plot and promptly exits stage right. The trials of the ML's shop are unrealistic. If they are the #1 dessert shop in the city, I’ll return my mail-order MBA. ;)

On the positive side, I do like how the ML creates desserts that mirrors his feelings. The young kid is cute and not in your face which I’m eternally grateful. He has some of the better scenes.

Another “positive” is how inoffensive the Show is, but this is a double-edged sword. For instance, there is a SML who might have spiced things up, but he is rejected offhand by the FL. He took it on his chin and is SO understanding. No fuss, no try-harder. This means the whole subplot is a non-event and the SML is instantly forgettable. Ditto the FL’s parents. OMG, they are so sweet and understanding! Yes, they get excited once in a while and can be a little shouty but when the crunch comes, they are saints. Not a whiff of drama from that quarter. I’m getting a tooth decay just typing this paragraph. ;)

As you can imagine, the budget for the Show is limited and it shows. The production value is ok but feels a bit bland. There are only a handful of sets, and they get a workout. OST is ok but they pump up the volume on the love songs as soon as a hint of romance is on screen.

Acting ranges from amateurish to workmanlike. Nothing offensive but no breakouts either.

I was once in a walking tour of Paris. We walked for hours and visited many landmarks. However, we were not allowed to go inside any of them. We got the iconic photos of the Notre Dame and more. It was all about the facades and ticking boxes. Would I do it again? Non, merci. This is how I feel after watching this show. Peace out.

Read More

Very sweet, very watchable

Finally, Zhou Junwei’s character gets the girl! He’s been in the SML position for far too long, and it was pleasing to see him move into the ML role. His song ‘Run to You’ grew on me as the drama progressed. At first, it didn’t sound as professional as other songs used in these dramas, but as I said, it grew on me to the point where I really loved it in the end. His voice and way he sings in English was unique, almost folksy in nature. He played the emotionally scarred character well, and honestly, he shouldn’t have to explain his mental illness to the public/customers. As a Westerner, it really bothers me how mental illness/orphans/single moms (even if they were married) are viewed in Eastern culture. I hope these dramas help in changing people’s perception of such groups. I can’t imagine boycotting a store or restaurant because the owner struggles with depression or panic attacks. And it’s even worse that this person’s private struggles are made public for everyone to gossip about. That’s really the worse part of this drama – the social media scandal which C-dramas are so fond of. I'm so tired of that angst trope.

As usual, I didn’t care about the second couple. ML's sister was nice, but I didn't care about her romance with the actor/model.

As for parents, I loved how supportive and accepting FL’s parents were of ML and his issues. These are the kind of Asian parents I like seeing in dramas.

And, of course, the little kid wins the ‘cute’ award. I was beginning to think ML should let Rui Rui confess for him since the kid would do a better job of it!

It’s a short and sweet review just like the drama. There’s nothing about this drama not to watch. It’s feel good and fluffy while still touching on controversial topics like mental illness.

Read More

Hard Topic

I like this drama but I feel the writer should have research the topic of depression and anxiety more then what he put in this story. I disagreed with the writer in many aspect. They made the male lead look like he could have not been able to do anything without his sister . That he felt that he did not deserved love. Many of us who have had a tough childhood know that what we are looking for is love in this life and go day by day trying to survive. Especially when we did not get it from our parents. They talk about suicide but the toughest thing for someone that commits' suicide is failing at it. Because we have to figure out how to live again. I am glad that it is a conversation for young people especially. I did like the drama and the actor were great in their performance.

Read More

It is a dessert of it's own

One of the sweetest and the cutest drama i have ever watched
way too cute.
The story is kinda old but also new and is well executed. the actors and characters both were in place.
The fl isn't annoying (most people find dramaland fls annoying but believe me she is not) and is strong enough to chase her dream,The ml is not shipped from antartica and both look cute.
The 2nd couple is also nice 2ml being too funny and 2fl being the most caring and supportive sister.
And last but most important and the cutest of all rui rui aaahhh he is way too cute to handle
All the employees of Sol are very funny and entertaining.
Also i feel it a good exercise for your cheeks as it make you laugh almost every second.
Ost s are also marvellous and are well fitted
Also one thing that i loved abt it is when fl and her parents got to know abt mls mental health issues they did not create a fuss over it supported him unconditionally.
Well probably i have written a lot but this is beyond words.its like that little candy which is sweet and have that memorable after taste.
So whenever u feel sad, stressed out or just want to relax turn up to this one u won't be disappointed.

Read More

warm hearted story

I loved this drama, at first when I started it, the story doesn't make sense to me back then but now it does and they addressed mental illnesses like PTSD, panic attacks, and depression which is a good initiative, you may get frustrated at first, but you can go along with the flow and will love it. I found the main lead couple's story is slow-paced because ML needs to come out of his trauma to realize that he is not a burden on anyone, and his sister also supported him till the very end and for him, she was ready to sacrifice her love too from which we came to the second lead couple, they were more on the mature side unlikely of the cute main lead couple and there a side couple too but their story is short but they were cute and maybe you will also get a hint of BL couple but they didn't clear it in the end. It's a good drama to binge-watch as it's not that long. It's overall a good watch for me, have a happy watching❤️❤️.

Read More

So much fluff

Oh my this is one of the sweetest things Ive seen in a while, and was just the dose of sugar and fluff that I needed.

It is far from perfect, but some of its imperfections actually added to the enjoyability of the show, like the actors were a bit raw, but that actually suited the sweet naive storyline.

And it tried to throw in a few things that don't normally get too much of a mention in CDramas, a bit lightly, but still a positive step.

My fave part by far is the MLs big sister, she and her romance, were the bomb.

if you are feeling down and need a boost, I highly recommend switching the brain off and enjoying the 16 episodes of pure fluff.

Read More

A very average and short romance drama.

“Since I Met U” is an easy-to-watch romance drama. The plot is simple. It’s not 100% cute and fluffy because there’s a backstory of family trauma and mental illness. But the drama really doesn’t go into details in exploring that. Everything is very surface-level. A cute romance without any angst, misunderstanding or evil ex’s.

The production quality is average. Though the desserts are delicious-looking and ML’s Sol Bakery looks modern and welcoming, you can also see where they skim on money. FL has an awful wardrobe (why is she wearing old lady PJs?), the car riding scenes look pretty ‘green-screened’, and they keep on re-suing the same few filming locations. I personally do not like the dubbing, nor the English theme song that plays pretty loudly and repeatedly.

The acting is decent and not awful, not great. ML is cute and I’m watching this drama for him because I liked him in “Story of Kunning Palace”. We also have the cute kid from “Unforgettable Love” and he’s as cute as ever. There are a few good-looking guys at the bakery and am I sensing a closeted gay couple? I got some vibes from one of the guys. The secondary romance is OK but the tertiary romance is annoying.

Overall, this is a very average drama if you want something simple and short. I was in the mood for a romance drama for stress relief, and this fits the bill.


Completed: 1/5/2024 - Review #390

Read More

So cute!

This is probably the sweetest series I've ever watched! It could have been cringey, but wasn't. There could have been a ton of second-hand embarrassment, but there wasn't. It was pleasant to watch, and made me smile over and over.

Rui Rui is so adorable, and one of the most talented child actors I've ever seen! He stayed in-scene and stayed focused on the actors, as opposed to paying attention to what the filming and production team was doing. He delivered his lines with just the right amount of emotion or attitude required.

A lot of time, actors will deliver the correct look at another character, and then their look will drop into something more real. Zhou Jun Wei as Cheng Mun was able to not only maintain the correct look, but the way his face settled made you think, "Oh, he really likes her!" This is exactly how the show was able to maintain it's level of sweetness.

I'd like to know if there will be a second season, because there's so much left at the end that they can build on. I am dying to know if Ning and Wan Jie finally get together. Ning might have to knock him on the head to make him realize what's standing next to him all day, every day. But also.....there was a hint at the end of the last episode of better things to come....

I'm so glad I watched this. Sweetness overload!

Read More

Nice light hearted drama for casual viewing/ a break from studying without the added stress

I enjoyed this drama
Short and sweet, great for an inbetween period between longer mmore intense dramas, especially for me now as I am currently studying for exams.

less 1 point as I did tend to fast forward/ skip scenes so that the plot can continue/ to move onto the next scene. (ie the livestreamers barging in and some of the long date scenes of the second couple)

Overal a cute drama and I liked the way they approached the mental health topic, though the outcome was mostly implied as are some other scenes, it was enough for me given the length of the drama being only 16 episodes.

Gives me major couple goals, the fact that she understood him and he always took care of her. Was semi frustrated they took so long to get together, but that's understandable given his issues and character.

Read More