Aghh, I love this movie so much.

It reminds me a bit of the American movie, Five Feet Apart, in regard to the romantic aspect of the series and dealing with serious illness. This movie is much more nuanced, much more impactful IMO than the more commercialized and melodramatic Five Feet Apart. Still, I found myself making a few comparisons. Like Stella, Ma Xiao Yuan is bubbly, persistent, and charismatic. She seems unwavering and diligent in her pursuit of life and happiness over her sickness and she makes it her mission to spread this sunshine to our little dark cloud, Wei Yi Hang (Jackson Yee), who's all but given up on living and just exists to exist. Her persistence in shedding the melancholia from his shoulders gravitates the two together, and we're given a glimpse of their budding, youthful romance amidst such a serious and bleak undertow.

Their chemistry is cute and youthful, I adore Jackson Yee and just came off of his brilliant (and not to ever be understated) performance in Better Days, and he's just as captivating in this; albeit a little dorky with that haircut. I hope he never does a series or movie with a voice dub-over because I truly love his voice and its slight guttery rasp. It's also really nice to see Jackon Yee's bright smile - the roles I've seen him in most recently (Better Days and The Longest Day in Chang'an) were both roles he had to play with relative stoicism or street grit, so the smiles were few and far between, and never full.
Liu Hao Cun plays her role wonderfully, and I find her efforts as Xiao Yuan to make Yi Hang smile adorable and creative. I had the biggest grin on my face throughout her "world tour guide" scene where she created "different places" from around the world with the help of her friends for him to experience since he can't travel.

"Dancing in the crowd, I felt the joy of being normal for the first time. Growing old like everyone else no longer seems a distant dream."

Watching Yi Hang's family endure his illness deeply affected me. My family went through a similar situation when my older sister was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer when she was only 28 years old. The juxtaposition is shown well here; between the internal agony we felt in waiting for results and waiting for symptoms to worsen or get better; and the feral need to lighten the mood and smile like we could rise above the pain if we laughed hard enough. It was our own personal hell. A purgatory of waiting, uncertainty, unbridled love for her, and unhinged agony of invasive thoughts about her not getting better. Yi Hang's family is barely holding on and they're spread thin to keep the ground from falling beneath them, while also trying to maintain smiles on their faces for their son they love more than anything. It's such a hard balance to teeter, and this movie handles it eloquently. I feel so deeply for his parent's pain, and I also empathize with Yi Hang's grief and anger in feeling like a burden to his family.

"[...], the guy who's always joking around, who's always acting like a child, seems to have turned into a tortured father overnight."

This movie was cathartic, and moving, and left me with a feeling of appreciation for what I have and what I've lost.

"Everyone in life experiences losses, which we're all afraid of. Yet, when it happens, the most powerful weapon against it is to live each moment to the fullest."