Coming on the heals of "Hidden Love," I decided to do another Chinese drama (my second one). "When I Fly Towards You" is actually a very light and delightful series, although it lacks the depth and heart of the previously mentioned series. It's a series that doesn't really take any chances or risks. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I felt that there were missed opportunities, and thus, this series, while very good, is very "vanilla."
While the series is about a quiet, shy boy and a perky, vivacious young 16-year-old girl, the series could have almost been called, "School Friends" or something to that effect. I'd say that a good 40-45% of the series is focused on the five friends in their high school days, and the rest is on the two protagonists who should have been the focus and had more screen time.
Su Zai Zai is a very upbeat young girl, who always has a smile on her face, and certainly isn't shy at all. If you're looking for the doe-eyed girl who bats her eyes and waits for the boy to make his move, Zai Zai is not that girl. She is tenacious in the pursuit of her dreams and goals, and she makes no apologies for her direct and abrupt manner. Her target is the very quiet, shy boy, Zhang Lu Rang.
Zhang Lu Rang is a boy who barely cracks a smile. He quietly goes about his days, even when girls are lining up to have a chance with the handsome and brilliant Lu Rang. However, he gives none of them even a glance...that is, until he runs into Zai Zai at a small corner store. Her first reaction is to call him "an idiot" for walking to the store without an umbrella. She quickly regrets her reaction, and as soon as she sees him again at their military training, she's quickly in hot pursuit. She teases him, playfully needles him, and showers him with cute remarks. Anything to bring this quiet boy out of his shell. At first, he tries to shrug her off, but Zai Zai's charm and quick wit soon begin to melt the "ice king."
We soon discover the reason behind Lu Rang's shyness, which we realize is a result of very low self-esteem. His parents are both tiger parents, some of the most monstrous forms of child abusers there are. Only westerners with their indifference toward their children would give tiger parents a run. I know first-hand because I am an ESL teacher and have seen some of the most horrifying things from tiger parents and how they abuse their own children. Lu Rang is constantly berated by his parents, especially his mother who believes that he is a failure, despite his exemplary grades. His younger brother is the golden child of the family, who outshines even Lu Rang academically. There are no warm words of encouragement or comfort from Lu Rang's cold mother during their exchanges, and it's quite clear that Lu Rang's brother is the favorite.
Zai Zai uses her charm and love for Lu Rang to let him know that he's none of the things that his parents believe him to be. She becomes a ray of hope for him, as he very slowly begins to grow in confidence. Zai Zai simply won't give up on him, nor will she allow him to sulk alone. Bubbly and perky, Zai Zai always finds a way to get the smallest crack of a smile out of Lu Rang.
The series ran into a crossroads. Focus on Zai Zai and Lu Rang or focus on the group of friends. Rather than picking one road, it tried to do both. The focus of the series should have been on Zai Zai and Lu Rang. I wanted more scenes with them. I wanted to find out how Lu Rang is able to resolve his problems with his parents-if at all. Instead, his parents all but disappear from the series from about the 12th episode. This is an area that could have, and should have been, explored in more depth as well as come up with more ways of showing the transformation of friendship between Zai Zai and Lu Rang into romance. Unfortunately, when you try to give the same attention to two stories, you end up coming up short in both. The old Native American saying of, "If you chase two rabbits, you'll lose them both."
"Hidden Love" dared to delve deeply into the characters of its two protagonists, and the payoff was well worth it. We felt close to these characters, caring about how they were going to overcome their obstacles. In this series, there really isn't ever any real conflict or problems that Zai Zai and Lu Rang must deal with. For Zai Zai, it's dealing with her boss acting like a pimp with her. For Lu Rang, it's talking things out and resolving things with his brother.
It's the charm and performance of the cast that really makes the series work, despite not having the courage to delve more deeply below the surface. There are many funny and cute moments that still make this series more than watchable, but I just couldn't help feeling that it was also a missed opportunity.
We still get those really awkward and silly intimate moments where college-aged kids act like 13-year-olds whenever a kiss, a hug, or even holding hands might occur. They make too big of a deal out it, which also flies in the face of logic and reality, even in China. They react as though they are about to commit a crime.
Zhang Miao Yi (Zai Zai) is a cute performer. With those eyes and dazzling smile, we can see why so many are captivated by the amount of charm that she brings to the table. She's a bit inconsistent with her romantic scenes, however, especially her kissing scenes. Many of them felt wooden and forced. If you're an actress who doesn't like doing these kinds of roles, then you simply shouldn't do them. There were times when she was very believable with Zhou Yi Ran (Lu Rang) and others when she almost looked out-of-place.
Zhou Yi Ran was good too, but he needed to find a way to make Lu Rang likable and charming, despite his shyness and low self-esteem. Too often, he came across as stiff. It's a tough task to balance these traits, and yet, that is another reason why the series should have allowed him to do more had they put him front and center rather than being a peripheral character too often.
Because of the imbalance between the two plots, the series also suffers from pacing issues. We'd get an episode to update us on Zai Zai and Lu Rang, and then we'd get one that scarcely showed them at all, which leads us to a warp-speed ending in the last two episodes where we constantly jump years ahead within the space of a few minutes. It felt as if the director said, "Okay, we've got to hurry and wrap this up!" It didn't have the natural feeling of an organic ending like "Hidden Love" had.
If you're looking for something very light and fun without much else, then you're likely to enjoy this series!
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