Our Secret C Drama Review

Our Secret (暗格里的秘密) is my first Chinese college romance drama in more than 6 months. I was attracted by the high ratings and decided it might be worth a try. Personally, this genre rarely excites me as the plot tends to be repetitive. So, I was anticipating something special here when I saw the good ratings. Whether this actually met my expectations will be detailed out in my Our Secret review below. Basically, it should be enjoyable among the younger crowd. But for the older audiences, this may not be as enticing as it looks.

My rating: 7.5/10
Episodes: 24
Type: College Romance
Aired: August 2021
Images Credit: MGTV

The Cast Of Our Secret

• Chen Zhe Yuan as Zhou Si Yue
• Rainbow Xu Meng Jie as Ding Xian
• Wang Ze Xuan as Song Zi Qi
• Wang Yi Lan as Kong Sha Di
• Fan Zhi Xin as Su Bo Cong / Senior Su
• Liu Zhi Wei as You Ke Ke
• Li Ri Yao as Jiang Chen

Main Characters

Zhou Si Yue

Si Yue is a top student at school. He is a very intelligent guy with a talent in maths. He is also into programming and robotics. Although Si Yue is not the sociable type, he has many admirers due to his good looks and intelligence. Si Yue’s father is a professor at a prestigious university while his mother is a housewife.

Ding Xian

Ding Xian is Si Yue’s new neighbor and classmate at school. They also happen to sit next to each other in class. Ding Xian is an introvert. She is timid but can be very determined once she decides on a course of action. She also likes to draw and has a talent for it. Her father is a teacher at her school. Her mother is a housewife and a very strict parent. Ding Xian also has a mischievous younger brother, Ding Jun Cong.

Supporting Characters

Song Zi Qi

Zi Qi is Si Yue’s best friend and classmate. He sits next to Sha Di in class.

Kong Sha Di

Sha Di is Ding Xian’s best friend and classmate at school. She has known Zi Qi since they were kids and has feelings for him.

Su Bo Cong / Senior Su

Senior Su is Ding Xian’s senior at school. They come from the same hometown and have known each other for a long time. He is always helpful towards Ding Xian and cares a lot about her.

You Ke Ke

Ke Ke is Ding Xian’s schoolmate from a different class. She is a direct and bold girl with a crush on Si Yue.

Jiang Chen

Jiang Chen is Si Yue and Zi Qi’s good friend from a different school.

Synopsis

Ding Xian is a teenager who has just moved from a small town to the city. She gets to know Si Yue as their fathers are friends. Hence, they are living in the same neighborhood and attending the same school. Ding Xian also ends up sitting next to Si Yue in class.

Both Ding Xian and Si Yue start off being cold to each other. But Si Yue quietly helps Ding Xian to adjust to her new environment especially when her father asks him to keep an eye on her for him. Gradually, Ding Xian and Si Yue become close friends. He also tutors her in Maths which is her weakest subject. She works hard to remain in the Science stream so that she could be with him.

By the time they reached senior high school, they already have unspoken feelings for each other. They have also made a pact to enter a prestigious university together. However, Ding Xian couldn’t get enough marks to get into the same university as Si Yue. She opts to repeat another year at high school which means separation for both of them. She makes it the following year but Si Yue seems no longer interested in her.

Our Secret Ending (Spoilers Alert!)

Our Secret has a happy ending. Si Yue returns from his exchange program and proposes to Ding Xian who has just graduated. Initially, he turned down the chance to go abroad because he didn’t want to leave her. But Ding Xian encouraged him to go and they were on a long distance relationship for about 2 years.

In the last 10 minutes of the drama, Ding Xian and Si Yue are back at the high school they once attended. He has been invited to give a speech for the school’s anniversary celebration. He recounted his experience and mentioned Ding Xian to the audience. The drama ends with Ding Xian recalling the moments she had with Si Yue when they were high school students.

The secret they are alluding to is the confession that he likes her during high school which he secretly wrote on one of the pages of her textbook.

When Did The Couple Start Dating?

Ding Xian and Si Yue officially become a couple pretty late in the drama in Episode 21. He tries to woo her back in Episode 19 and brings her to an amusement park whereby he kisses her. Si Yue also solemnly confesses his love for her in Episode 20. After they started dating, he proposes to her that they get engaged in the beginning of Episode 24 and then follows up with a marriage proposal after he returns from his studies abroad towards the end of the drama.

Although they start dating at a late stage, their growing feelings for each other is already obvious by Episode 11. It is just that those feelings are left unspoken as they were still high school students then.

Is There A Breakup?

It depends on how you define breakup. While Si Yue and Ding Xian did not confess their feelings and date while in high school, it is clear that they have developed love for each other. But Si Yue went on to university a year earlier than Ding Xian and there is a separation in Episode 14. During that one year, Si Yue’s father is accused of plagiarism and falls sick. Si Yue has to work to support the family while studying and doing his research project. He feels that he is not in a position to protect Ding Xian like before given his situation when she joins the university a year later.

At the same time, Si Yue also overhears Ding Xian telling Senior Su that she is under a lot of pressure and feeling tired trying to keep up with him academically in Episode 15. Hence, he doesn’t want Ding Xian to put her own interest aside to chase after him by selecting the same course and research project. So, he denies that he has feelings for her in Episode 16.

Ding Xian becomes disappointed after her efforts of trying to be with him keep getting rebuffed. She has had enough of his hot and cold manner in Episode 18 and starts pursuing her own interest in drawing. Si Yue realizes his mistake after which he successfully woos her back again in Episode 21.

Is There A Love Triangle?

Yes, Senior Su is also in love with Ding Xian. The rival for her affection only intensifies around Episode 18 onwards. Ding Xian did not give Senior Su any indication that she is interested in him although he keeps appearing by her side. He confesses his feelings to her in Episode 21 but gets rejected outright. She also feels that they are no longer the same type of people as he has put profits ahead of principles.

In Episode 23, Senior Su quits his job which has caused him to lose his principles and life direction to chase after success. He also hands over evidence of Si Yue’s father’s innocence to Ding Xian when he had unsuccessfully used it to lure Si Yue to work with him earlier to steal information from a competitor. He and Ding Xian remain as friends.

In the last episode, Senior Su tells Si Yue that he will be going abroad and may not make it to their wedding. He also tells Si Yue to treat Ding Xian well.

The Side Couples

Sha Di and Zi Qi get together in Episode 14. She confesses first after their high school graduation. But they break up in Episode 16 when Zi Qi gets suspended from his studies. He hides in Si Yue’s home to avoid Sha Di who keeps searching for him. They reconcile in Episode 19 when she finds out where he has been hiding.

Ke Ke and Jiang Chen also end up together. She announces through her social media account that she has accepted his marriage proposal and that they are getting married soon in Episode 23.

Our Secret Review – Realistic High School Romance

Our Secret is a type of youth drama that would bring you down memory lane. It emits a nostalgic feeling if you have left school because of the realistic portrayal of a student’s life. High school and campus romances tend to be a bore because of the repetitive storylines. But this one is a rare exception because the way the story is told will draw you in to follow the couple’s progress and growing up pains. There is no exaggeration to take away the seemingly ordinary life of the protagonists. This is what gives the drama a healthy dose of realism.

In short, if you like youth dramas, this should be one of the better ones to watch. There are no cheesy cliches like those found in My Unicorn Girl. Neither does it weigh you down with plenty of melodrama like in Go Ahead. There are sad moments but nothing so dramatic that an ordinary high school student is unable to overcome. The couple is cute and this is what most viewers would be looking for in a youth drama like this one.

Simple But Realistic Plot

I think many people would be able to relate to the main characters in Our Secret. They are teenagers and hence, you will find issues like quarrels with parents, bickering with sibling, making friends, exam pressures, course choices, and of course, first love being part and parcel of the drama. Except for the relationship between the leads, the rest of the issues are not explored in depth but naturally weaved into the story to provide viewers with a more comprehensive understanding of their lives. They also help to build the characters’ development as the story progresses.

With only 24 episodes, the drama doesn’t get bogged down with unnecessary details and long-winded subplots of all the issues mentioned above. Hence, the story is easy to follow. It is akin to the daily life of a high school student who develops feelings for the boy sitting next to her and vice-versa.

Great Acting

I think both the leads did a great job in portraying their characters. Chen Zhe Yuan seems like a natural fit as Si Yue with his smirks and air of indifference. Si Yue’s character is not cold and arrogant but neither is he friendly and warm. He is somewhere in between. Chen Zhe Yuan manages to give Si Yue this balance so that he appears just like the typical boy next door.

Rainbow Xu is not an experienced actress but she is still able to make Ding Xian looks timid and introverted as required. She captures the essence of the character with the way she speaks and her mannerisms. Thus, both of them provide viewers with very realistic characters with the way they depict their roles. Their chemistry as a high school couple is evident in the drama. There is no skinship given that they are students then but their interactions are sweet and cute to give off a feeling of an innocent romance.

Well-Written Characters

Our Secret is different from some other idol dramas like Love 020 which has unrealistically perfect characters. Ding Xian is like your typical teenager who is anxious in a new school and has to learn how to make friends. She is weak in Maths and doesn’t know how to refuse others. Si Yue is brainy and confident of his abilities but still has his moments of self-doubt.

The characters are written in a way that matches real life with their flaws. Yet, they do not end up being annoying. Instead, they easily entice viewers to root for them. There is also room for growth as they mature to become adults. In short, the main characters are not one-dimensional but have depth to their personalities.

My Verdict – Engaging For The Young

I think it is clear that Our Secret will easily resonate with the younger viewers especially those who are still studying or have just left school. This is simply because the story is very typical of what a teenager would face in real life. However, for the older viewers, this might be a tad draggy. Their high school life spans 15 episodes which means if you don’t enjoy high school romances, this would not be as engaging. It is different from Forever Love which has a much shorter school life arc and a more matured couple.

On top of that, I find a few episodes in the later part of the drama to be unnecessary. The obsession of the female lead to be with the male lead and his hesitance towards a relationship with her are unnecessary. This is where it falters to me when it has been going rather well for the most part. The second arc doesn’t have the same depth as the first and has a quicker pace. The screenwriter tries to incorporate more issues in their university life which I just don’t think add much value to the plot.

I would give a score of 7.5/10 for this Our Secret review. The start will immediately make you curious about the couple’s story. The girl expresses her feelings right at the beginning but got rejected. The story is then told as a flashback for 15 episodes. So, watch it if you don’t mind stepping into a teenage girl’s world and the experience of developing feelings for the boy next door. But skip it if you are looking for a more matured romance because the slow-moving school life will bore you.