Luo Yao Knew What He Meant (2023)

Standalone stories were top tier. Main Story was lucklaster

Above average modern drama series with a shorter runtime. Definitely should have improved the main story but acting by the main leads were still top tier. Standalone plot and side plots were well developed especially for the side characters like Gu Ran and Guan Fang's family backstories are really well developed. TLDR I think the overall story needs some work, especially with Zhang Lurang's relationship with his parents and brother. It was left on a cliffhanger towards the end of the series and not expanded upon nor explained. The acting was great from everyone and really immersed the characters. I think the choices for music were top tier with all of them hitting the mark and expectations. However, the rewatch value is limited due to it being a pretty cliche narrative and film in general. I think the rewatch value could be improved if the show offered more insight to the main story.

Story - 7.5/10
First I'd like to address the overall story. I don't think the issue or problem is resolved towards the end. The show places huge emphasis on Zhang Lurang and his backstory, making it seem as if the parents don't really care about him nor give him attention while placing all of their faith in his younger brother. The film then dedicates an episode to creating empathy for his brother, which does resolve the issue temporarily. However what makes the overall story feel out of place is the inevitability for the story to explain Zhang Lurang's relationship with his parents. This was not done at all. I think that is the main reason why it takes away from the overall story. They had a nice buildup with mystery, they had a very nice empathetic climax, but they lacked any true resolution. On the other hand, I really enjoyed the side stories. First on Guan Fang's background being a fighter when he was younger to being more mature. I loved the development with his grandmother and it shook my heart when she almost died towards the end of the story. I think this should of been the prototype for the main story. Then there is the story with Gu Ran, which wasn't as good as Guan Fang's story but still explained his backstory. At first, he seemed much more annoying, but this story helped me understand his character and to start empathizing with him, especially when he started to chase after Jiang Jia. I think in general that Zhang Lurang's backstory could have been implicated to be more of a side story, but the show makes it out to be the main story which I think they should have done less of.

Acting - 9/10
There's not much to say here. Everyone did their jobs really well. I think that maybe Zhou Yiran's acting could be fleshed out a little more in order to create a difference between Zhang Lurang's character in the beginning of the film compared to him at the end. If there was a better differentiation between that, it could have helped Zhou Yiran's depiction of Zhang Lurang. Other than that I felt as if all the actors held their own. I have to give praise to all of the side and minor characters, especially the grandma. I think the actor for the grandma really depicted the grandmother's love for Guan Fang and it was brilliant acting. I also thought that the actor for Guan Fang did a really good job despite his age gap.

Music - 9.5/10
Many people think the music for this show isn't that good, but I thought the music stood its ground and, if anything, actually helped the show in the long run. I thought some of the songs that were played in emotional scenes such as April Encounter were really well fit for the show. I also thought that the opening and ending of the show were well depicting the era. I love how the show tries and differentiates between the different eras, by mentioning music from each era. This was a new thing that hadn't happened before and I was actually surprised to see that happen for the very first time in a Chinese drama. I thought it was also really unique for modern dramas altogether since I had never seen them try out different music themes for different eras of time. They used a wide variety of soundtrack music that also contributed greatly to the emotional scenes.

Rewatch Value - 8/10
To preface this rewatch value section, I want to say that it it is not the end all be all if you watch this drama again. I think this drama is quite enjoyable if your watching for the very first time. It has many lovey dovey scenes that are great to see in action to start with. However, I don't recommend watching this drama more than once. After my second playthrough, many of the plot holes start to appear as with Zhang Lurang's family. Also you realize that some of the character's aren't fully developed. It comes to me that many of the characters don't actually develop during the show, but instead develop before the show such as many of the side characters. I think the love is also not well developed in detail and comes towards the beginning. If anyone has seen the anime Horimiya, its very similar to that. I feel as if the characters somewhat fall in love towards the very beginning and the rest of the 15+ episodes are just filler for the love aspect. In all honesty, its quite enjoyable if your watching once, however, once you go above the number one, you start to notice cracks in the show's operations which may worsen the watching experience.

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