[Reviews] The Best of You in My Mind

Childhood friends meet again in university. She had always bullied him in high school but now it's his glorious turn. Or is it?
Chinese Title
全世界最好的你

The Best of You in the Whole World

Genres: Contemporary, Romcom, School, Sports, Contemporary Romcom

Network: Youku

Year: 2020
Episodes: 24

[Recaps]

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Cast

Zhang Yao: Xu Fang

Song Yi Ren: Lin Xi Chi

Crew

(Updated as of May 2022)

Director: Su Hao Qi 

♠ 燦爛！燦爛！[Guo Jing Fei, Ren Min]

♠ 致勇敢的你 [Kuan Hong, Deng Jia Jia] 

♠ 拜托了！8小時 [Tong Meng Shi, Xiao Yan]
♠ Chasing Ball (2019)

Scriptwriter: Zhao Xia Ying

♠ 燦爛！燦爛！[Guo Jing Fei, Ren Min]

Producer: Li Zheng

♠ In Youth (2019)

♠ Suddenly This Summer (2018)

Genres

See Genre Guide for more info

Time/World: Contemporary

Romance: Romcom

Setting: School

Other Relationships: 

Other Genres: Sports

Reviews

See Rating Guide for more info

Five (5/5)

Four (4/5)

Reviewer: cynlynn 

(Copied and pasted from Recaps&Review)

Hearts: ♥

Ending: [Spoilers!] I like it! My love for the drama did dwindle when Xu Fang was abroad but the last two episodes wrapped up everything so fresh and lovely my love rebounded even more. I like Xi Chi's reaction to seeing him when he came back. I like how he kept true to his words and completed her journal entry wishes. I looove the idea that the ring was in that Valentine present. I never thought of that. He wanted to marry ever since he started dating her. Wow. No wonder he was so calm about the whole marriage thing. It's not that he's not in a rush, he was already way ahead in the game. And the whole "marry me" becomes "adopt me". That's so cute and so them. 

Another thing I love: the metaphorical ending. Xi Chi keeps comparing her life to a drama because her happiness feels so unrealistic hence the last few lines between the two. It's the drama telling us even though it's ended, these two characters, Xu Fang and Xi Chi will always love each other. [/Sp]

Final Review: This drama doesn't categorize into light fluff. It's more meaningful than it appears especially in the latter half. Xi Chi has one emotional hurdle she has to overcome the entire length of the drama: insecurity. It's with Xu Fang that she finally feels secure. However, when he's gone it's a true testament to her character growth. That bike scene in ending song mirrors her character so well. Xu Fang is the centre of her world that she revolves around and improves herself to match him. When that centre is gone, she learns to find gravity within herself to feel secure even if he's not physically there with her. Un-coincidentally, Xu Fang's centre did disappear physically: the yellow centre on his shooting mark. With Xi Chi's motivation (and a lot of his own effort), he regains his centre. These two revolve around each other and through each other they find the best of themselves.

The ending took me by surprise. I knew it was going to be good or at least decently good, but it went above and beyond with how romantic and unromantic Xu Fang was. It's so signature of him and their relationship. I didn't like the xanthophobia arc but the ending made up for it and more. With so many dramas ending off in marriages and proposals, this one stands out (see Ending commentary). The raw natural talent of Song Yi Ren and Zhang Yao made Xi Chi and Xu Fang a couple to remember that no other actresses and actors can recreate. 

Reviewer: FanFanX 

(See in comments under Recaps&Review)

Date: Sept 2021

I had a hard time recalling the name of this series. Beautiful Mind always came up first in my mind. LOL

Gala Zhang has such expressive eyes (the glasses are great, too). I'm ambivalent about dimples usually but his are so cute and rarely seen. I love his college best friend, Jiang Zheng Xu - always trying to help him, on his side and so goofy. I got tears when he told the coach that Xu Fang had lost something precious to him. 😭 And when he said Xu Fang had been in love with her for centuries. You're right, JZX is his number one fan.

Xu Fang sabotaging Lin Xi Chi's date with Ye Shao Wen... oof. She looked like Miao Miao from A Little Thing Called First Love in that wig and outfit. 😆 To be fair, I'd be 99% likely to drop steak on my white dress (or top), too. I was seriously bothered by her eye makeup though - the pink/coral rings around her eyes. (I'm guessing it could also be the lighting or editing.)

LXC and GG's parents refusing to tell them the truth actually caused so much more damage than the parents realized. There was never a "right time" though but delaying it didn't help.

Geng Geng is the best little brother ever! For the record, my younger brother also towers over me. Hahaha.

Three (3/5)

Two (2/5)

One (1/5)

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