Xi You Liu Li Wa (2022)

Pleasing but full of clichés

I was eagerly waiting for this drama ever since its news reached my ears because of its cast line-up. I was excited for the collaboration of Chen Yu Qi and Lin Yi.

However, this drama's plot rater disappointed me as it is full of clichés. Memory of Encaustic Tile is adapted from the novel "Glazed Tiles of the Past" (昔有琉璃瓦) by Bei Feng San Bai Li (北風三百里). This drama tells us the story of five youngsters from Luli Hutong street, who grew up together. They faced many heart-rending situations because of which they grew up from inside. Some fell in love while some remained friends eventhough they wanted a change in their relationship. When they started pursuing their dreams, seperation between the lovers and friends and became inevitable. The drama was very obvious and predictable all the way long and all this also constantly reminded me of A Love So Beautiful which too focuses of such a plot. Anyways, when some scenes were illogical, some were heart touching too.

The character arcs and developments were so sub-standard and so was the romance portrayal. The main characters were the worst except Zhang Qi (Yan Zi Dong)and Wu Huan. They had a decent character arc, which made them more likeable that the other characters. Shao Xue and Zheng Su Nian was supposed to be more supportive of eachother. At some instances, we could make an exception of Shao Xue. But, ZSN was a complete fool when it comes to reading a girls's mind and supporting her. Sometimes, these character may make us laugh but not like them. Anyways, the portrayal of the bond between parents and children as well as the neighbours were heart-warming.

The delivery of the character the main and supporting leads were decent but the plot is not worthy of their acting skills. I have been a fan of both Lin Yi and Yu Qi ever since they first caught my attention in Put Your Head On My Shoulder and Ashes of Love. We have seen how Lin Yi improved from PYHOMS to Love Scenery and I had confidence in him from the very start. This drama is my first modern drama of Yu Qi and I had high expectations, which were not broken except when she was acting cute where it was not needed. However, both the actors are still quite behind in handling emotional scenes. This was my first drama of Yang Zi Dong's. In this drama, I'm satisfied with his performance. Sun Kai really surprised me with his performance. Also, there were many other familiar faces among the cast and I enjoyed spotting them and their changes from their previous drama.

There music was good but not memorable but, I quite liked the opening song which captured the liveliness of life.

A summary for lazy reades:

WHAT I LIKED

# The portrayal of the bond between parents and children as well as neighbours
# Commendable acting
# The slice-of-life discription of relationships
# Quite good OSTs

WHAT I DISLIKED

# Bad character arc and development
# Bad romance portrayal between leads
# Side characters becoming more likeable than lead characters
# Poor excecution
# Wasted talent of the cast
# Cliché plot
# Some illogical scenes

Overall, this was a pretty decent yet not so good drama. I would recommend this to Chen Yu Qi or Lin Yi fans or someone searching for a light and heart warming drama, which focuses more on family bonds. But, if you are looking for one with a strong romance and trust between the leads, this is not for you.

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