Review: “When I Fly Towards You” Is About Much More Than Romance

Have you ever watched a Chinese drama and you just know that it’s going to be with you for a long time? – I mean the type of drama you watch once and discover you’re always going back to it.

That’s what I feel about When I Fly Towards You and for many reasons than one (I talk about then below), but what you need to know is that this lovely drama gave me the bestest brain-rot ever and I’m thankful for it.

When I Fly Towards You follows Zhang Lu Rang and Su Zai Zai who are students of Yucai High School. Zai Zai is absolutely besotted the minute she lays her eyes on him and she follows him around like a hopeless puppy and does all she can to get his attention.

Lu Rang is a certified genius who’s introverted, slightly awkward, and an overall cutie and even though he’s baffled by her straightforward character, he soon warms up to her. The craziest thing is that even though he’s very reserved, he’s still easily the most handsome and popular student in their school.

To put it simply, Zai Zai came into our boy’s life and gave it the sprinkle and colour it desperately needed – His friendship and budding romance with Zai Zai made him bold enough to reach for happiness with both hands and I was rooting for him from the start.

In time, Lu Rang becomes someone who can rely on his friends and he learns to find happiness in the littlest things. As for Zai Zai, she’s with him every step of the way and even learns some things about herself (like the fact that she has the most abundant heart and the most wilful spirit).

Here’s the cast:

Zhou Yi Ran as Zhang Lu Rang
Zhang Miao Yi as Su Zai Zai
Bian Tian Yang as Gu Ran
Jiang Zhi Nan as Jiang Jia
Guo Zhe as Guan Fang

One thing I really, really appreciated about this drama is how we got to see the sweet awkwardness of teenage love and the vulnerability that comes with having such strong emotions for the first time.

Whether it was Zai Zai’s instant love for Lu Rang, or Lu Rang discovering a new and special brand of happiness, or Jiang Jia (Zai Zai’s bestie) and her slow-burn, love-hate relationship with Gu Ran (Lu Rang’s bestie), this lovely Cdrama showed love, pain, and all the things in-between.

If you watch this drama, one thing you’re absolutely going to notice is the way character growth is pretty much a central theme – Lu Rang opens up to Zai Zai, and we get to see that beneath that aloofness was a young boy who had been hurt by the very people that should have cherished him.

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Same applies to Gu Ran who reveals in bits and pieces his somewhat complicated feelings about his parents and I love that Jiang Jia was there to hold his hand every step of the way.

Gu Ran, Jiang Jia, Zai Zai, Lu Rang, and Guan Fang (the fourth member of their group) formed their very own community and the way they would always come together for each other was the most precious thing.

And with their romance, even though Zai Zai is obviously the initiator, I liked the fact that it was very much reciprocated – Lu Rang made sure she knew she was loved and cherished, and no spoiler, but his declaration in the final episode had me in tears.

The dialogue is simple, the storytelling is sublime, the colour pallete is the most beautiful thing, and the cast had so much chemistry with each other; I still can’t believe those five didn’t actually grow up with each other.

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Before you decide to watch this drama, know that the plot is very much light-hearted, and while it definitely deals with some heavier issues, those remain on the periphery and the fluff takes the centre stage.

Basically, don’t go in expecting an intricate plot that goes on and on because you’ll be sorely disappointed – Our leads are mature, no miscommunication issues, no unnecessary breaking up, and they’re overall sweethearts.

As for the genre, I’ll definitely put this under a high school-to-college, slice-of-life, youth Chinese drama because we get to see our leads grow from awkward teens to fully grown adults with jobs and cars and leases.

But the simplicity is at its core and even with 24 episodes, I promise you won’t be bored at any point because everything totally checks out.

Also See: 11 Romantic C-Dramas Where Childhood Friends Become Lovers To Watch

If you watched When I Fly Towards You, you might also like:

Time and Him Are Just Right
A Love So Beautiful
Our Secret
When We Were Young

I said it before and I will say it again: WIFTY is easily one of the most amazing romantic youth Chinese dramas I’ve watched and I’ll forever recommend it to anyone who wants to give it a chance.

You can watch it on Netflix, Youku official app, and the Youku YouTube channel right now with subtitles in different languages, and make sure to bookmark this page and come back later to tell me if you loved it (yay!) or hated (boo!) it.