You Are My Glory First Impressions

Guest Post: Snow Violet

Let me preface this by saying: I am not a huge fan of slow-burn romance dramas.

What do I mean by this?

I mean, I don’t particularly find interest in watching a drama where it takes over 20 episodes for the main characters to confess their feelings. I have a short attention span when it comes to things like this.

That being said, I like reading slow-burn romances in books. This is because my mind is more productive when trying to unravel the emotions the characters are feeling. In a sense, seeing a slow romance is boring compared to reading it in a book.

So, what do I think of it after watching the first three episodes?

Since Coco has recapped some of the episodes, I won’t do a recap here. Instead I’ll jump right into first impressions and whether I will continue or not.

First Impressions and Expected Trajectory

I was directed to You Are My Glory (你是我的荣耀) because of the hype. Yang Yang, whom I remember from Love 020; and Dilraba Dilmurat, whom I remember from the Three Worlds, Three Lives universe, play the main leads.

The fact that these two are our leading man and lady respectively already sets the bar high.

I only wonder if I am invested enough in their performance to continue despite my general dislike of slow burn romances.

What I noticed straight away upon watching is that Qiao Jingjing is a relatable if somewhat idealized modern lady. She is someone who was average in school but worked her way up to a successful and satisfying career as an actress. She is also a confident woman who doesn’t let her setbacks bother her, even though they might be a little troublesome.

When you think about the current modern lady with her drive to be successful, and the wishes of most women to be confident, then you’ll have a model to look up to.

Yu Tu on the other hand is the walking representation of the struggles of the modern adult. Personally, his story hit me hard.

With the pandemic ongoing as of now, achieving what we want is a pretty far-off dream.

I couldn’t get a grasp of his character because I saw very little of him compared to Qiao Jingjing.

However, I can guess that he is a quiet intellectual who doesn’t express himself much (just like most male leads of modern Chinese fiction).

As expected, the story starts off very slow. We don’t have much in the way of plot but we have a lot of introductions — basically establish the status quo.

We also know the state of the characters and the state of the world the story takes place in.

Honestly, I can’t be mad because the way the drama presents itself to us indicates that this will be a quiet if somewhat sweet love story.

If I can gripe about something at this point, it is the premise.

Qiao Jingjing is supposed to be a game ambassador who has to keep up appearances by showing how good she is at gaming and that’s how she was able to reconnect with her high school crush, Yu Tu.

I find this rather weird because of the timeline.

One month to master the game which means one month to develop feelings.

If the story takes place over one month in real time, it doesn’t feel…right.

Usually, I can give leeway for timelines because this is a drama but one month is pushing it.

I bet that there will be more stories after that one month…or perhaps the one month will come sooner (by episode 10 maybe).

Continue or Not?

Look at all the stars and space themes. An astronomer’s dream?

I’m a bit on the fence with this one.

While the story is sweet and uplifting, my distaste for slow-burn romances in dramas is making me hesitate.

I may find the interest to continue but it may mostly come out from reading the novel first.

Or I may also continue the drama because I love the original soundtrack.

Which is a very funny reason to continue a drama (Oh yeah! I’m watching this drama because I want to hear the background music hahaha).

However, my reason for continuing the drama may ultimately lie in the space and stars theme.

The drama is full of star and space motifs and it’s so pretty to look at.

I may watch a bit more and see where those themes come into play and decide whether it’s worth it.

This drama has a lot of high hopes so I hope it successfully entices me to continue on that journey.

Fingers crossed!