September 7, 2025

Footprints of Change | Open Thread and Review

A sisterhood of the traveling pocket watch.
Notable Actors/Actresses
Tong YaoYi Yi
Cheng LeiCheng Ao
Liu Yi JunWen Pu
Lin YunLin Si Yun
Chinese Title
čļŗčˇĄ
Footprints
Year: 2025
Episodes: 30

Jump to Review | Recs | Comments

Screencaps: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [Extra]


Cast


Tong Yao:
Yi Yi
Liu Yi Jun:
Wen Pu
Cheng Lei:
Cheng Ao
Lin Yun:
Lin Si Yun
Yang Le:
Xiang Bei Chuan
Wang He Run:
Ye Xi Ning
Ning Li:
Zeng Pei De
Zhou Cheng Ao:
Zeng Da Lun



Romcom/Romance Checklist



How much of the plot is angst/romance?
0 / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
The ML:
Cold–Lukewarm–Warm / Timid / Tsundere / Falls in Love First / "Reborn" / Noble Idiot / CEO / General
The FL:
Bold / Cute / Cool & Independent / Falls in Love First / Better than ML / "Reborn" / Noble Idiot / Business-woman
Describe the Relationship (the tropes):
Annoying Love (F/M) Rivals +++ / Bickering Start / Childhood Connection / Cohabitation / Contract Marriage or Fake Couple / Enemies to Lovers / Hidden Identity / Harem / Love Triangle / Married Couple (Real) / Rebirth / Secretly in Love (F/ML) / School to Adulthood / Star-Crossed Lovers
Relationship Progress (officially together; first (official) kiss; breakup*):
Ep 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15 / 16 / 17 / 18 / 19 / 20 / 21 / 22 / 23 / 24 / 25 / 26 / 27 / 28 / 29 / 30
# of CPs (including main CP):
0 / 1 / 2 / 3
Ending:
Happy / Sad / Open Happy / Open Sad / Bad / Rushed+++


Screencaps


[Ep1[Jump to: Top | Cast | Comments]
He's gross...
Hullo...
Ou. He's here for him... 
Not-so-cute-meet.
He's not only a jerk but also an idiot.
[Ep2[Jump to: Top | Cast | Comments]
Shut up! O__o
Her face here đŸ¤Ŗ
[Ep3[Jump to: Top | Cast | Comments]
Smirk
[Ep4[Jump to: Top | Cast | Comments]
What's dancing have to do with it?
Bickering Shen siblings creating opportunity...
Also needed a 5th... đŸ¤Ŗ
Shen Ying Ying won't win at this.
Better partners... 🙄🤭
[Ep5[Jump to: Top | Cast | Comments]
Eavesdropping smirker.
Shen Yi Qun is caught in another lie.
A'Cheng doesn't deserve this glare.
He might as well be invisible.
Uh ohs...
[Ep6[Jump to: Top | Cast | Comments]
Excellent use of the pen.
His eyes are always on Lin Si Yun.
She asked and he says he doesn't like her. XD!
He can't keep his eyes on the road. 🤭
Favor?? Okay!
Built-in Third Wheel.
[Ep7[Jump to: Top | Cast | Comments]
He deserves this and more.
She teases that he's lost his charm.
Needs her help but can't tell her why.
Dinner didn't go well with these three...
Just admit that he wants to hold her hand at the movies...🤝
[Ep8[Jump to: Top | Cast | Comments]
Don't taunt the driver.
[Ep9[Jump to: Top | Cast | Comments]
Helping trolling her always.
Hair tuck is sweeter than their kiss.
Livid...
And beyond...
[Ep10[Jump to: Top | Cast | Comments]
[Ep11[Jump to: Top | Cast | Comments]
Now it's hers...
Goodbye...
[Ep12[Jump to: Top | Cast | Comments]
[Ep13[Jump to: Top | Cast | Comments]
[Ep14[Jump to: Top | Cast | Comments]
[Ep15[Jump to: Top | Cast | Comments]
[Ep16[Jump to: Top | Cast | Comments]
Romcom energy (briefly)
He falls in trying to get water for his bucket...
And she sits down on his chair but it's broken. Oops.
[Ep17[Jump to: Top | Cast | Comments]
Cute overalls.
[Ep18[Jump to: Top | Cast | Comments]
[Ep19[Jump to: Top | Cast | Comments]
[Ep20[Jump to: Top | Cast | Comments]
[Ep21[Jump to: Top | Cast | Comments]
Her SIL finally did something lovely for her.
[Ep22[Jump to: Top | Cast | Comments]
[Ep23[Jump to: Top | Cast | Comments]
[Ep24[Jump to: Top | Cast | Comments]
[Ep25[Jump to: Top | Cast | Comments]
She's passed out drunk and he's checking her pockets for her keys. No luck...
[Ep26[Jump to: Top | Cast | Comments]
[Ep27[Jump to: Top | Cast | Comments]
[Ep28[Jump to: Top | Cast | Comments]
[Ep29[Jump to: Top | Cast | Comments]
[Ep30[Jump to: Top | Cast | Comments]
[Jump to: Top | Cast | Comments]


Remarks


Trigger Warning: Assault, Murder, Sexual Assault, Violence

[First Impression (Ep1-)] Clearly, I'm here for Cheng Lei. 😏 Typical RE full of violence, trauma on trauma, and propaganda...  

[Cast&Crew

Eps1-10: Cheng Lei and Lin Yun (1st CP) 1936
Eps11-20: Tong Yao and Liu Yi Jun (2nd CP) 1955 
Eps21-30: Wang He Run and Yang Le (3CP) 1993

[Behind the Scenes

Don’t want to watch the entire series? Here’s an hour long edit of main CP. 

[CP Name]
1st CP
 A Bright Future 
Cheng Ao į¨‹æ•– + Lin Si Yun 林斯允
= Qian Cheng Si Jin å‰į¨‹æ–¯é”Ļ

2nd CP
 Love at First Kiss 
Wen Pu 文朴 + Yi Yi 易åŧ‹
Yi Wen Ding Qing æ˜“文厚情
  
[Ending] Hard road to happiness.


[Review & Rating

Aesthetics: A- 
Acting: A/B
Plot: B

TL;DR: A sisterhood of the traveling pocket watch (no, no magic; just hardship) Review is split into thirds - 2/3 and 1/3. Eps1-20 were fine. The last 10eps, just stop already... or watch at your own risk. 

Eps1-10. 1CP (Cheng Lei and Lin Yun) has the most onscreen chemistry, flying sparks, eyerolling, and a big knife. I do, however, have mixed feelings about ML's character and sensibilities. He’s a lawyer but still part of a crime family – need I say more? This era also has the most action sequences. 

Eps11-20. 2CP (Tong Yao and Liu Yu Jun) has the most tender love story with the least amount of skinship (which I appreciated given the real-life age gap between the two actors.) Supporting characters were frustrating yet the norm from this time period. 

Eps21-30. 3CP (Wang He Run and Yang Le) I don't find anything particularly compelling or interesting about either one of them. I found FL and 2FL to be such resilient (and flawed) characters that I find 3FL to be quite underwhelming and stupid. I also don't care for Yang Le so... I was already a bit disengaged / hate-watching from the start of this segment. This romance felt forced and lackluster, and I just wanted everything to end with these two. I'm trying to think hard about if I liked anyone here, and I honestly can think of no one. 

Political / CCP propaganda is very heavy throughout

Spoiler: Pocket watch survives.

Rating: If I were to stop with Ep20, I'd rate this 3/5. Inclusive of 30 eps, downrated to 2/5.


Random Recommendation: Arsenal Military Academy Bai Lu and Xu Kai team up for great laughs during height of CCP / military occupation era.

Rating: 3/5





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