Time And Him Are Just Right Review

Time And Him Are Just Right (时光与他, 恰是正好) is one of those youth dramas with a heavy dose of romance. I have nothing against this genre but it has come to a point where recycled plots have made them stale. But I still watch them as you never know when you will encounter a gem. This time, it is the turn to review Time And Him Are Just Right which is really popular among Chinese drama fans. Is it as good as it is made out to be? Check out my review below for more.

My rating: 7/10
Episodes: 25
Type: Romance, Youth
Aired: December 2022
Images Credit: Douban Movie

The Cast Of Time And Him Are Just Right

• Lu Yu Xiao as Lin Xi
• Wu Jun Ting as Ji Jun Xing
• Lu Jun Jie as Qin Kai
• Xiao Yu as Jiang Yi Mian
• Dong Zi Fan as Xie Ang
• Li Ming Xu as Gao Yun Lang
• Zhang Heng Ming as Chen Mo
• Hu Jia Xin as Song Lin Xue
• Li Xiao Chuan as Director Xie
• Fu Bo Han as Ji Lu Chi

Main Characters

Lin Xi

Lin Xi is a new student of Chunhui High School following a transfer. She is a sociable person and has good grades overall. While she is kind and sincere, she is not someone who will allow herself to be bullied.

Ji Jun Xing

Jun Xing is a top student at Chunhui High School. He is also a good basketball player. He is not a particularly friendly guy with little interest in making new friends. But Jun Xing has lots of admirers due to his good looks and grades. His mother is an interior designer while his father is a businessman. He also has a younger brother.

Supporting Characters

Qin Kai

Qin Kai is a notorious student at Chunhui High School. He is always breaking the rules and has poor grades. But he is a talented athlete and the school’s representative to various athletics competitions.

Jiang Yi Mian

Yi Mian is Lin X’s classmate and best friend. She is an average student and a music lover. Yi Mian is expressive and friendly but can be stubborn and hotheaded.

Xie Ang

Xie Ang is Jun Xing’s best friend and classmate. He is also Yi Mian’s desk mate and has obvious feelings for her. Xie Ang is playful and carefree. His father is the school’s senior teacher and dean of student affairs.

Gao Yun Lang & Chen Mo

Both boys are Jun Xing’s classmates. They are best friends from childhood.

Song Lin Xue

Lin Xue is Jun Xing’s friend from childhood and their parents are acquaintances. She is a ballet dancer and has secret feelings for Jun Xing.

Director Xie

Director Xie is Xie Ang’s father. He is a Math teacher and dean of student affairs at Chunhui High School. He appears as a strict and fierce teacher but quietly cares for his students in his own way.

Ji Lu Chi

Lu Chi is Jun Xing’s younger brother. He is just like any other young boy who likes to play and run around.

Synopsis

Lin Xi has the opportunity to get transferred to a good high school with the help from Jun Xing’s parents. She learns that their willingness to help her is due to the fact that her late brother’s heart was donated to their son when he died in an accident. Hence, Lin Xi is excited to meet Jun Xing and wants to befriend him as she thinks he has her beloved brother’s heart inside him.

However, Jun Xing finds Lin Xi pesky and annoying with her overly attentive behavior towards him. He is cold towards her initially but gradually falls for her kindness and sincerity. But when he finds out why she has approached him, doubts appear in their relationship which needed to be cleared. Will they be able to resolve things between them and support each other all the way to enter university and achieve their goals?

Time And Him Are Just Right Ending & Recap (Spoilers Alert!)

Time And Him Are Just Right has a happy ending. The story moves pretty fast in the last 2 episode with time jumps. Jun Xing successfully starts his own venture in the medical smart watch business which is a carry-over from his university entrepreneurial competition project. Lin Xi has become a doctor. Jun Xing gives Lin Xi a big surprise with a proposal at their high school at the beginning of Episode 25. She says yes. They have their wedding ceremony with Qin Kai and their ex-classmates turning up for the happy occasion.

Fast forward a few years later, the couple already has an energetic young son. They are a happy family and the last scene is of the 3 of them watching fireworks in conjunction with the new year celebration.

When Did They Get Together?

Jun Xing asks Lin Xi to be his girlfriend in Episode 19 after she entered Jinghua University as planned. She agrees and they become a couple in Episode 20. They dated for a few years during which they graduated and started working before Jun Xing planned for a surprise proposal in Episode 24.

Is There Any Breakup?

There is no breakup after the couple got together. There is only a misunderstanding in Episode 8 and 17 before they become lovers. In Episode 8, Lin Xi thought Jun Xing didn’t like her after overhearing only part of his conversation with Lin Xue. He clarifies things with her in Episode 9 including the fact that he is not the recipient of her late brother’s heart. The person who got heart problem is Jun Xing’s younger brother instead. Following the clarification, they start anew by getting to really know each other again.

Jun Xing and Lin Xi separated in Episode 17 after she missed her exams. Her father was assaulted and admitted to hospital for surgery. Hence, she needs to repeat another year while Jun Xing goes on to university. During the separation, she assumes that he has got closer to another girl when he didn’t answer her call on his birthday. They are also experiencing different lives which creates a natural barrier between them.

Lin Xi finally gets into university in Episode 18 to reunite with her high school friends. She still thinks Jun Xing has a new love interest which results in a quarrel between them in Episode 19. She realizes she is wrong when he brings her to witness the girl’s confession to another guy. With the misunderstanding resolved, they got together in Episode 20.

Is There Any Love Triangle?

Lin Xue is also interested in Jun Xing but he rejected her in Episode 7 and makes it clear why he likes Lin Xi in Episode 8. She left the city in Episode 10 to continue her studies elsewhere. Before leaving, she bids goodbye to Jun Xing and tells him that she has let go of her feelings for him. Lin Xue also turns up at Jun Xing and Lin Xi’s wedding in Episode 25.

Qin Kai also has deep feelings for Lin Xi. He is disappointed when he sees Lin Xi agreeing to be Jun Xing’s girlfriend in Episode 20. He returns from a championship and holiday in Episode 22. Qin Kai uses the gold medal that he has won to confess his love to Lin Xi then. She is touched but rejects him just the same. Lin Xi values the memories that they have shared as the time that they have spent together is pure and sincere to her. They remain good friends to each other and Qin Kai also attends her wedding in Episode 25.

Side Couple

Xie Ang has always been interested in Yi Mian throughout their schooldays. They manage to get into the same university and start dating then. But they are always quarreling for one reason or other. Thus, the couple will breakup and then reconcile with the cycle being repeated numerous times as they can’t seem to be able to completely let go of each other.

In Episode 21, Xie Ang begins to have doubts on Yi Mian’s love for him when he saw her being excited while receiving an umbrella from another guy on a rainy day. He breaks up with her for good in Episode 23 when he saw them together again. While there is an element of misunderstanding in his perception on Yi Mian’s feelings for the other guy, Xie Ang is also tired from their constant quarrels and then having to make the first move to coax her back each time. They go separate ways after graduation with Yi Mian leaving to work in Shanghai while Xie Ang becomes a Marketing Director for Jun Xing’s start-up venture.

They meet again a few years later in Episode 25 when Yi Mian returns for Jun Xing and Lin Xi’s wedding. Both of them still have feelings for each other but are hesitant. Yi Mian talks about their past and her feelings when she thought Xie Ang is drunk and asleep. He eventually asks her to start anew with him when they are about to part after their friends’ wedding. It is implied that they are still together at the end of the drama as Yi Mian has posted about receiving a diamond ring from Xie Ang.

Time And Him Are Just Right Review – Recycled But Sweet

Time And Him Are Just Right is just another youthful romance drama with no originality to its plot. Except for the heart donor bit, everything about the story has appeared in one youth drama or another. You will find bits and pieces of the plot in dramas such as Our Secret, Le Coup de Foudre, and Forever Love. Therefore, if you want something new, this could well be a bore. But if you are a huge fan of this genre and don’t mind recycled stories, this can be considered sweet with enough fluff to get you excited.

Personally, I find this to be slow. The high school life takes up about 17 to 18 episodes. So, you will get the usual topics that revolve around school which aren’t anything new to me. There is not enough drama to sustain my interest and I ended up quickening the speed at times. The actual romance takes place pretty late in the story as you can’t have a love relationship being introduced during the school life arc in a mainland production. The university life is condensed into 5 to 6 episodes and the last 2 episodes are basically feel good fillers.

Inconsistent Pacing

All along, the drama has a consistent pace until it hits the last third. You will find things happening at lightning speed at times during the last 6 to 8 episodes with numerous time jumps. It gives me the feeling that the story execution is not well-planned. After the couple got together, there is little to add to their story. It is all sweetness from then on which is pleasurable to watch but also reduces their scenes to being mere fillers. I guess it is not surprising as the screenwriters are the same people behind My Little Happiness which is another drama that uses kisses and fluff as selling points.

The only problem though is they can’t overdo the romance and kisses in Time And Him Are Just Right as it is a youth drama after all compared to My Little Happiness. Since the school life arc is a long one, it also means a long wait for the romance to start. Thus, you will have to be content with suppressed feelings and innocent relationships for the most part.

Sweet Romance With Great Friendships

Once the main couple’s romance begins, the words to describe it are sweet, cute, and warm. What it lacks is a bit more passion. So, you will have kisses that leave you feeling fluffy and sugary but nothing steamy like what you would find in more mature romances such as My Lethal Man and Love Is Sweet. But the sweetness is given out in sufficient doses throughout the drama to make you root for the couple. Furthermore, their relationship is a positive one in general and it is heartwarming to see them being supportive of each other.

Apart from the leads, Time And Him Are Just Right also has a few other supporting characters including love rivals. However, there are no evil third-wheelers to take away the innocence of the story. The group of friends is also close-knit as they grow from being high school students to working adults. The eventual separation after school and university life is expected but melancholic when it happens. But the friendships formed still last after the separation which is fulfilling and satisfying to the viewer.

Chemistry Is The Driver

The leads are not anyone famous in the Chinese entertainment world. In fact, they are newcomers in the acting field. But Lu Yu Xiao and Wu Jun Ting still did a respectable job as Lin Xi and Jun Xing respectively. Both are young which obviously fit the roles in the story. Lu Yu Xiao emits the right kind of energy as a schoolgirl which makes her portrayal convincing. Wu Jun Ting may be totally green but his eyes tell you everything you need to know about his feelings for the girl. He also has a deep soothing voice which feels more matured than his age.

Overall, the 2 of them successfully create enough sparks between them to power the drama. That is why it is binge-worthy. Otherwise, it is a pretty average production with little surprises in terms of plot and its execution.

My Verdict – Watch If You’re A Youth Drama Fan

My opinion is that Time And Him Are Just Right is overrated but understandably so. This is because it will have a very strong appeal to the younger audience with the sweet and cute couple. It is highly relatable to this group with the common issues of exam pressures, burgeoning feelings of first love, friendships, and the daily life of a student. So, I can imagine the pleasure it will give younger viewers especially when it comes to a dashing guy falling for a sweet and sincere girl at school. The innocence of first love and first kiss will also be exciting and yet, seem close to reality.

However, if you want something more in terms of plot, this will fall short. The story development is predictable. While the romance is sweet and warm, it lacks tension and passion. Hence, there is not much meat to the whole story to keep you glued to the screen if you prefer more dramatic storylines such as Lighter And Princess.

For this Time And Him Are Just Right review, I would rate it 7/10. Overall, it is worth a watch as it is one of the better ones for C dramas of this genre. The characters are also likable with the female protagonist being depicted as smart rather than needing to be protected. But if you are not a fan of youthful romance, then I’m really not sure how well this would hold your interest with the school life taking up two-thirds of the drama.