I Am The Years You Are The Stars Review

I Am The Years You Are The Stars (我是岁月你是星辰) has all the signs of a typical rom-com. I watched this with no expectations that it will have the standards of an award-winning drama. But usually, I will still give such productions a go as they are great for some stress-free time. Moreover, there is always the fast forward button to fall back on when the story gets draggy. In my I Am The Years You Are The Stars review below, you can find out what I think about this drama. This is definitely not the best Chinese romance dramas out there but is it good enough for you to sit through the entire 24 episodes?

My rating: 6.5/10
Episodes: 24
Type: Romance, Sci-Fi
Aired: December 2021
Images Credit: WeTV Facebook

The Cast Of I Am The Years You Are The Stars

• Estelle Chen Yi Han as Jin Xiao Yu
• Liu Hai Kuan as Jiang Bai Ju
• Liu Chao as Lin Nuo Yan / Professor Lin
• Deng Wei as Qian Cheng
• Leo Yang Ye Ming as Qian Tu
• Zhang Hao Yu as William / Dao Rui Feng
• Chen Qian Yu as Cheng Wei Lan
• Zhang Shuang Li as Chief Ge
• Hu Cai Hong as Dao Xiu Xiu / Grandma Dao
• Tian Xu Ning as Fu Liang

Main Characters

Jin Xiao Yu

Xiao Yu works in the hospital morgue as a make-up artist for the dead. She is also afflicted with a strange disease and only has a year left to live. However, Xiao Yu is a cheerful and friendly young woman. She is also a very courageous person who is not afraid of the dark or ghosts. She was an orphan who was brought up by Chief Ge.

Jiang Bai Ju

Jiang Bai Ju is a century old age-wise but has a body of a young man. He also has the capability to heal and come back from the dead. However, he suffers from heart pain and will mutate at a specific time each night. Jiang Bai Ju is an emotionless man who rarely smiles. He is also a talented fashion designer and the man behind the established fashion empire called Qing’ai Group .

Supporting Characters

Lin Nuo Yan / Professor Lin

Professor Lin is a medical researcher and spokesman for an organ donation association. He is a knowledgeable and courteous man. He gets to know Xiao Yu through work and has feelings for her.

Qian Cheng

Qian Cheng is the CEO is Qing’ai Group. He suffers from PTSD after he fell off a building when he was in university. He was saved by Jiang Bai Ju and came to know the latter’s secret as a result. Hence, Qian Cheng became one of Jiang Bai Ju’s guardians to protect his secret and welfare.

Qian Tu

Qian Tu is Qian Cheng’s elder brother. He is always pushing Qian Cheng to get therapy for his PTSD and knows his brother is deeply attached to Jiang Bai Ju. Qian Tu also knows about Jiang Bai Ju’s secret and would help him with any investigation related to his case.

William / Dao Rui Feng

William is the assumed third generation fashion designer for the Dao family’s Qing’ai Group. In actual fact, he is more interested in writing romantic novels than fashion designing. He is merely fronting for Jiang Bai Ju who needs to remain reclusive due to his immortality secret. William is a playboy as well as one of Jiang Bai Ju’s guardians. He and Qian Cheng are best friends.

Cheng Wei Lan

Wei Lan is an emergency room doctor and Xiao Yu’s best friend. They have known each other since they were kids as Wei Lan’s mother was also a doctor and used to treat Xiao Yu. Wei Lan is an independent-minded lady who has little interest in dating.

Chief Ge

Chief Ge is the head of the mortuary and Xiao Yu’s adoptive father as well as master.

Dao Xiu Xiu / Grandma Dao

Grandma Dao is the matriarch of the Dao family. She is William’s grandmother and has known Jiang Bai Ju since she was a little girl.

Fu Liang

Fu Liang is the owner of a cafe and a volunteer for the organ donation association. Cai Miao was his fiancee but passed away due to an accident just before their wedding more than a year ago.

Synopsis

Xiao Yu meets Jiang Bai Ju while on a bus. The latter is pursuing a man who is involved in the production of a secret drug. Everyone got down from the bus when a fight ensues. Xiao Yu then witnesses the bus plunging into the river with the 2 men inside. They are pronounced dead.

However, Xiao Yu who works at the hospital morgue, got the fright of her life when Jiang Bai Ju rises from the dead and starts mutating while she is on duty that night. She is knocked unconscious but remembers what happened the day after. Xiao Yu suspects Jiang Bai Ju is up to no good and is afraid for the safety of those close to her. She also wonders if Jiang Bai Ju would have a cure for her strange disease which will cause her to die within a year. Hence, she tries to get close to him to find out more.

On the other hand, Jiang Bai Ju who leads an immortal life is curious about Xiao Yu as she could prevent him from mutating. He is also suspicious of her as he fears she could be working for someone who is after him because of his powers.

Hence, both Xiao Yu and Jiang Bai Ju are not fond of each other when they find out about each other’s motives. But they are forced to live together when Xiao Yu is offered a large sum of money by Madam Dao to keep Jiang Bai Ju company and become his guardian. Jiang Bai Ju is closely linked to the Dao family for almost a century.

I Am The Years You Are The Stars Ending (Spoilers Alert!)

I Am The Years You Are The Stars has a happy ending. Xiao Yu and Jiang Bai Ju got married and the drama ends with their wedding scene. Jiang Bai Ju has reverted to an ordinary man when he finally found the meteorite rock that caused his condition. When he touched it, the substance was extracted out of his body and returned to the rock. As an ordinary human being, he could then obtained a formal identity and publicly established himself as a fashion designer for Qing’ai Group.

There is no confirmation if Xiao Yu is cured of her disease in the last episode. But it is narrated during their wedding that they will experience all the things that married couples go through including growing old and ugly together.

Why Jiang Bai Ju Is Immortal?

Jiang Bai Ju used to be a Chinese soldier. During the war in the 1940’s, he was attacked by Japanese soldiers while on a mission. He parachuted into a valley and hit his head against a meteorite rock on landing. His helmet caused a fragment of the rock to come loose and an unknown matter entered his body through a wound. From then on, he could self-heal and acquires eternal youth. But he is also prone to severe heart pain and will mutate into a zombie-like being at night. Jiang Bai Ju revealed his past to Xiao Yu in Episode 9.

The Dao Family And Jiang Bai Ju

Jiang Bai Ju and the Dao family have known each other for more than 80 years. When he landed in the valley, the Japanese soldiers bombed the surrounding snowy mountains to prevent him from escaping. This caused an avalanche. Jiang Bai Ju saved Grandma Dao’s father from being buried alive. Ever since then, the Dao family has been Jiang Bai Ju’s guardian for a few generations and kept his secret of immortality. Jiang Bai Ju also made the family very wealthy through the Qing’ai Group.

Jiang Bai Ju’s Wish

Basically, Jiang Bai Ju is tired of living. He wants to be a normal human being whereby he could grow old and die. Therefore, he has been searching for the meteorite rock that caused his condition. In the process, he found out about the production of an illegal drug that could be associated with the meteorite.

Who Is The Villain?

The person who is behind the production of the illegal drug is Professor Lin. His forefathers were from the village that was buried under the avalanche. When they fled, they took with them a fragment of the meteorite rock that had broken off when Jiang Bai Ju smashed into it. The villagers viewed the meteorite rock as a spiritual item. However, it also contained radioactive and some other elements that caused the villagers and some of their descendants to be afflicted with a strange disease. Xiao Yu’s mother was from the village which is why she also has the ailment.

Professor Lin’s father tried to research for a cure for the villagers but was arrested and condemned as a criminal because of illegal drug testing that resulted in deaths. Professor Lin has the same altruistic motive but also possesses a warped value that sacrifices are justifiable in order to perfect the drug. Hence, he experimented on desperate people with terminal diseases which caused them to suffer from hallucination and even death. His motive and crime are exposed in Episode 23.

In the end, Professor Lin is arrested and jailed for life. The village, which he had reconstructed to be his research base, was flooded by Qian Cheng by detonating the reservoir pipes. Qian Cheng was there to save Xiao Yu who had been kidnapped by Professor Lin.

Partner In Crime

Professor Lin’s partner in crime is Ye Lai. She was Qian Cheng’s love interest from a decade ago. He tried to save her when she was kidnapped which resulted in his PTSD after he fell off the building. But Ye Lai actually plotted the kidnapping herself to seek her parents’ attention. She suffers from mental disorders arising from a lack of parental attention and love. She also has a drug addiction problem.

When Ye Lai was sent to the US by her parents after the incident, she met Professor Lin who took advantage of her drug addiction to make her cooperate with him. He was giving her the experimental pill to alleviate her drug addiction symptoms. She willingly worked with him because of greed. Since the pill could erase all side effects and symptoms of her drug addiction, Ye Lai thought of all the money that could be made.

It was also Ye Lai who told Professor Lin about Jiang Bai Ju’s immortality. She saw how he came back to life after leaping to save Qian Cheng during the kidnapping incident.

When Did The Couple Start Dating?

Xiao Yu moved into Jiang Bai Ju’s home in Episode 6 after striking a deal with Grandma Dao to be his guardian. She wanted the money so that her adoptive father would be taken care of after she dies.

Xiao Yu has not dated before and thought she ought to give it a try before her time is up. So, she suggested to Jiang Bai Ju that they date in Episode 9. She asked again in Episode 11 and told him that she liked him. Xiao Yi kissed him then and he kissed her back. Jiang Bai Ju finally admitted his feelings for Xiao Yu during a quarrel in Episode 12.

The couple quarreled again in Episode 15 due to jealousy. After a brief impulsive breakup, they made up and reconciled in Episode 17. Jiang Bai Ju hinted that he wanted to be her husband in Episode 19 but she rejected his proposal. Xiao Yu didn’t want to agree until they have an understanding of what Jiang Bai Ju would do after she dies. In Episode 22, Jiang Bai Ju said “I love you” to Xiao Yu. She responded that she will marry him and the drama ends with their wedding in Episode 24.

As for a love triangle, Professor Lin did try to pursue Xiao Yu and confessed his feelings to her in Episode 15. But she clearly friendzoned him and they remained as nothing more than good mates until she found out about his crimes.

I Am The Years You Are The Stars Review – Weird!

I Am The Years You Are The Stars is actually a collection of different themes in a single drama. It has romance, mystery, sci-fi, medical, friendship, and bromance elements which are part of the story. They are not forcefully cobbled together but the drama still ends up weird to me. Maybe because it tries to make light of the solemn subject of death or perhaps the whole story is just incredibly farfetched. Not to mention the drama begins with no clear explanation on how the characters are related to one another and the length they would go to to protect the male lead’s secret.

In other words, the story is very different from your typical romance dramas such as Nothing But You and Love At Night. It has potential in that sense but the execution is lacking unlike Shining For One Thing which also has a sci-fi element to it. The romance blossomed out of the blue when the couple started off disliking each other and the subplots tend to drag the story out unnecessarily. Some scenes editing are off and the transitions look choppy. In addition, some parts also give the drama a low budget feel especially towards the ending.

If You Don’t Mind An Unrealistic Plot…

Basically, I Am The Years You Are The Stars is not meant to be an intelligent mystery or sci-fi romance drama. You can’t watch this and try to apply logic to the story. For instance, it doesn’t make sense for a girl to agree to live with an abnormal being who can mutate into a zombie no matter how much she is paid. Moreover, she didn’t like him to begin with. But this is how the story flows and you can’t question it too much as you watch if you want to enjoy the drama.

However, while the drama is weird and unrealistic, it also has a certain level of intrigue to make you watch till the end. Chances are once you start, you will want to know the protagonists’ fate in the last episode. This is because the girl is expected to die and the guy wants to give up his immortality when the story begins. Hence, you will be curious about how they will end up and whether they will be dead or alive. So, the drama is far from great but ironically addictive in a strange way.

Apart from that, the story also consists of a twist towards the end. It is not totally unexpected for those who are astute or have a suspicious mind. But if you have no inkling of what is to come, it adds a layer of surprise to the overall story.

Acting And Chemistry

Both the leads put up a respectable performance to me although I also don’t see anything groundbreaking. They did their part as required with Estelle Chen managing to portray Xiao Yu’s inherent personality of a cheerful and positive lass. She has this vibrant demeanor with spring in her steps. It may seem inconsistent with her situation as someone who is going to die but she that is how her character has been written rather than bad acting on her part.

Liu Hai Kuan’s character is harder to play as he has to be an old man trapped in a young man’s body. He did well to a certain extent as he displays a more reserved attitude that is consistent with men of his generation. But I also can’t help but feel that his acting in some scenes feels forced. He doesn’t look completely natural in that role but I guess Jiang Bai Ju is a very unique character with a lot of inner turmoil and conflict which the actor couldn’t convincingly express.

When the two leads are put together, their chemistry is lacking to me. They can be acting sweet and lovey-dovey but I can’t really feel the couple vibes between them in some scenes. Even the kissing ones fail to make my heart flutter unlike really matching on-screen couples such as the ones in Once We Get Married and You Are My Glory. Maybe it has a lot to do with this couple’s background which just doesn’t resonate with me.

Unconventional Couple

The pair in I Am The Years You Are The Stars is not your typical romance drama couple. Some viewers may find them refreshing but they give me the impression of having nothing in common with each other. The guy is an old soul while the girl is young and restless. He is tired of living and wants to die but she is eager to live with a zest for life. He views love as something serious and fated while she doesn’t mind trying out a relationship. I could just sense a generation gap between them.

Therefore, I can’t really get into this couple from start to finish. I did try to give them a chance to grow on me but their romance still falls flat as far as I’m concerned. It didn’t help that their relationship happened very abruptly when the girl simply decided she wanted to date. Maybe you will have a different view if you like the concept of opposites attract and an unconventional couple. Then, perhaps you will be able to detect a healthy dose of chemistry between them.

My Verdict – Not My Cup Of Tea

Well, I Am The Years You Are The Stars just doesn’t suit my taste for a Chinese drama. To be honest, I scanned and skipped as I went along as it got boring towards the middle. The subplots got too much air time which dragged out the drama. Although they are tied up with the main plot in some way, they could have been shortened or better executed. The romance isn’t great to me while there are no side couples to fall back on for alternatives.

However, there are still a few redeeming qualities despite my unflattering view on this drama. The mystery part should help viewers to maintain some level of interest to enable one to cross the finish line. The cute friendships and bromance are other positive factors which provide the needed lighthearted moments. So, it might not be a great drama but there could be enough attraction to make you plough on. After all, you can always quicken the speed for the boring scenes.

For this I Am The Years Your Are The Stars review, I would give it a score of 6.5/10. I don’t really recommend you to watch this drama unless you can lower your expectations before you start. Not everything is properly clarified either when the drama ends. You won’t feel dissatisfied but some clarity would have been good. Watch it if you want some mystery and sci-fi elements in your romance dramas. But stay away if you can’t stand cheesy romantic lines and prefer more realistic and conventional couples.