The Triple Echo of Time (2025) review
Down and out 41-year-old Zhao Zuo You travels back to the past to create a better life for himself. As “Xun Weilai” (Ma Tianyu), his goal is to persuade his 16-year-old self to take on a career path that would make him wealthier.
He deeply regrets caving in to his dad’s demands to study Computer Science and believes it’s the source of all his unhappiness.
He’s unhappy at his job, nearly penniless, about to be unemployed, and worse, in the future (it’s 2033), humanity has gotten so sick of digital life that they’ve turned their backs on all things digital and print media is making a roaring comeback and code monkeys are now the lowliest paid workers there are. (As a former print media worker, I’d like to be a part of this future, please!)
Pressured by life’s demands, including a very unhappy wife who threatens to divorce him every day, he decides that the best way out is to be a test subject: he’ll be the first person ever to travel back in time.
But then an unexpected twist: his 61-year-old self also travels back from the future to stop him from succeeding. What gives?
My thoughts
I was initially curious about the drama due to its high Douban score (it had an opening Douban score of 7.5 which rose to 7.7).
I was also curious about Triple Echo because this was also the drama that was the spark of an infamous incident on Weibo. The actor, Li Mingde, who was initially supposed to play the teenage Zuo You, had an epic meltdown on Weibo that made him the hot trending topic for weeks. This effectively nuked his career, especially after he smashed up a car and ended up in jail. (Real life, sometimes, is stranger than a C-drama.)
Ma Tianyu, the lead actor, and the production company were dragged in the mud due to this.
Everyone, admittedly, thought they were guilty, but like I said, it turned out that reality was crazier than a C-drama. I was actually amazed the drama saw the light of day after the insanity.
So, it’s really sad that this very original and poignant drama is thus buried, unpromoted, and unnoticed by most viewers. At least it got a high Douban score. Hopefully, it’ll have a “long tail” effect where more and more viewers will discover it in the future.
Now, let’s circle back to the show!
What surprised me about Triple Echo is that it’s actually a time traveling drama! However, warning: the sci-fi elements are just garnish (don’t expect it to make sense nor look particularly sci-fi).
Instead, the core of the drama is this message: If you have regrets in life, would you try to change your fate? Would your life be better married to a different partner?
I ended up binging 10 episodes in just two days. I slowed down somewhat towards the end, but I found the drama beautifully poignant.
Perhaps this is because I’m close to our male lead’s age, and can 100% understand his angst.
Which one of us has not thought that life would’ve been better if I had decided to major in something else?
What I love about Triple Echo is that it kept me guessing all the way. It has such a wonderfully written and solid script. It looks like C-dramaland still has good scriptwriters – if they’re allowed to, you know, WRITE, without interference.
Triple Echo expertly weaves the theme of how life can unfairly nuke your dreams despite you trying your hardest.
How friends and loved ones, who swore they would be by your side when life got hard, aren’t there as promised, and may even kick you when you’re down. Or that marriages that start in the full blossom of love are eroded by life’s challenges and pressures. Or worse, finding out too late that you have treasured the wrong thing in life.
All heartaches we can relate to. I think everyone can relate to the premise of this drama: life is full of regrets that can eat at you.
Although I wasn’t impressed with Ma Tianyu’s acting before, I thought he was a really good character fit here; he was even hilarious sometimes.
And I suppose if anyone could pull off pretending to be a 20-year-old transfer student, he could! The man is AGELESS.
Admittedly, the drama slowed down quite a bit towards the end and I got impatient. However, the ending brought tears to my eyes and it made absolute sense! It was both poignant and very just, making the ending a satisfying one.
Spoilery thoughts
Click to reveal The three versions of Zuo You meet.One scene I’ll always remember is when middle-aged Zuo You, Xun Weilai, finds the younger self of his dad outside in the snow, crying, “I can’t find it”.
When Weilai asked what he was trying to find, it turned out to be the magazine that teen Zuo You was writing. Dad had shredded it and tossed it out of the window in a fury.
Afterwards, regretful that he had hurt his son so badly, he tried to find the pieces of the magazine in the snow and in the rubbish, but the rubbish collectors had already taken it away.
This scene, among so many, brought tears to my eyes. Every Chinese kid and parent would have had moments like these, when an overly strict parent hurt their kid deeply in an effort to discipline them. However, rarely would any Chinese kid hear their dad or mum breaking down and being honest about their mistake like that.
There are many poignant moments like these, and this is what makes this drama gold for me.
Conclusion
A heartfelt, original time-travel story about a man confronting his past selves. A gem, though sadly hard to access. May productions like these continue to produce good works.
Do watch it, it’s on YouTube. Here’s the playlist with good English subs
Some of you would be interested to know that the team behind The Triple Echo of Time is also the one behind the indie, Bilibili sensation An Ancient Love Song. AvenueX has a good video on the background of what made An Ancient Love Song so special.
Story: Unique, poignant and kept me guessing all the while
Acting: Good, but not ground-breaking
Camerawork: Good! None of the idol drama silliness with filters and too-bright lights
Final rating: 4 out of 5
#4Stars #CDrama #CDramas #China #ChineseDrama #Fantasy #SciFI
Endless Protection (2025) review
A special team, including prosecutors Lin Zhi Tao and Bai En Yu, works to protect children through the legal system. They come across crimes that test their emotional strength, but despite the horrifying cases, they have to fight for justice for one of society’s most vulnerable: the children.
Characters
Lin Zhi Tao (played by TBD): A no-nonsense prosecutor who becomes part of the special Juvenile Crime Division.
Bai En Yu (played by Vengo Gao): A corrections officer at a juvenile corrections facility who later joins the prosecution team.
What I liked
What I didn’t like
When children are the witnesses to a crime, a unique approach had to be taken, including using dioramas and role play. The drama’s opening theme had several dioramas that hint about the cases the show explores.Thoughts about the ending
It’s pretty fulfilling and satisfying, but it doesn’t exactly give you emotional highs.
The case that made the mark for me is that of the master teen schemer that we are teased about throughout the show.
As our budding villainess stood in the dock, hearing her sentence, she broke down, understanding that everything she did was for the wrong reasons.
The fact that the show enabled me to sympathise with such an infuriating character is a testament.
Kaitong’s arc wasn’t violent, fortunately, nor was it action-packed, but the final scene in the courtroom delivered such a punch: Don’t waste your life. Don’t waste your intelligence on revenge and evil.
Conclusion
Story: This storytelling is never straightforward. There are red herrings, surprises, and layers to every mystery.
Acting: It’s such a delight to watch Vengo Gao in such a good role. I’ve only seen him as an aloof heavenly emperor, an aloof kinda-vampire, and an aloof swordsman—you get the idea. So, to see him just let loose as the brash, hot-tempered but good-hearted corrections officer is such a delight. All the young actors in this show were absolutely brilliant.
Costumes and sets: Viewers of Western crime dramas won’t find anything new in this one, but it will give great insight into how Chinese society works and also the mechanics of law and order in the country.
Final rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Generally a positive drama that will uplift you, even if the crimes can be depressing.
#4Stars #CDrama #CDramas #China #ChineseDrama #EndlessProtection #TV
Loving Strangers (2026) review
I had always wanted to watch My Mister, but I never seemed to find the time to do it. Then, Lee Sun-kyun sadly passed away. The drama is already heavy to begin with, and the tragic way the actor passed away … seeing him play a depressed character just felt like I’m watching Lee Sun-kyun suffering for real. So, that’s why I kept putting it off again and again.
When I heard that Loving Strangers was being made, I thought it was really daring that they were even trying to adapt it. Because, how do you top Lee Sun-kyun’s award-winning performance? But I thought if anyone can at least match Lee Sun-kyun, it’ll be Mark Chao.
The Story
This is a tale of two people so worn down by life, they just exist. The first few episodes won’t appeal immediately to people — everything is grey. Our characters wear black and grey clothes, no colour in their wardrobe or surroundings. They don’t smile. Basically, they’re very gloomy and depressed.
The drama could have been incredibly depressing, if not for the fact that they added some thriller elements to it. I find that rather refreshing.
Yu’an is a fascinating character. She may be down and out, but she’s incredibly, incredibly smart — like, so smart she should be working for the intelligence agency of China or something, because she knows how to spy on and manipulate people! She would be quite a villainess if she plied her skills towards evil, but like Jiaqi says to her at one point, “You’re a good person.”
The cold exterior is just years of calluses grown over years of abuse — both from a loan shark, from society’s shunning of her, and also from self-flagellation for something that happened when she was a child.
And then we have the dour and gloomy Jiaqi. His work life sucks; he’s actively being undermined by his corrupt boss, Gu Chen. His family life sucks just as badly — the fire has not only gone out of his marriage, it’s ice-cold. By all measures, Jiaqi is the husband any woman would love: responsible, level-headed, calm, cool-headed. He is stability and comfort. Yet, that is not enough for his wife.
Somehow, these two people at the very bottom of their lives find each other.
What begins as mutual suspicion evolves into something more complex and unexpected.
The Characters
Zhou Yu’an: She juggles multiple gigs to care for her ailing grandmother.
Jiang Jiaqi (Mark Chao): A principled but exhausted mid-level pharma manager exhausted by life.
Gu Chen: Jiaqi’s corrupt boss and the central villain.
Yi Jun is Jiaqi’s wife. Yi Jun is an alpha woman feeling confined in an “average” marriage. She has an affair with Gu Chen.
Pang Jian is Jiaqi’s only champion at the company.
What I Liked
The most satisfying thing about this show is seeing Jiaqi grow from a quiet, doormat-ish man in his marriage and workplace, to someone assertive. Like, super assertive. This probably happened because he finally realised that being withdrawn and agreeable isn’t the answer to his problems.
I also love that we’re seeing Yu’an’s more human side.
I like that they didn’t force a romantic story between Jiaqi and Yu’an. That would’ve ruined the story, massively.
What I Didn’t Like
The only thing I don’t like about this drama is the fact that sometimes it segues to the story of Jiaqi’s uncle and his brother. Both are also down and out, but unlike Jiaqi, they are far more cheerful and more hopeful. Even though they bring necessary comic relief and lightness to the drama — or else it would be incredibly heavy and too depressing — I get impatient when the drama switches to their story. I wouldn’t mind them cutting them out completely.
The drama isn’t perfect, of course. It was excruciatingly draggy at some parts and I honestly wished they had trimmed down the show further.
Was Jialu and Uncle’s story necessary? I don’t know. Sure, they exist to show the kind of family Jiaqi wanted and couldn’t achieve with Yi Jun. But beyond that — too much air time was given to them, and I never understood how their storylines benefited the main one.
Thoughts about the ending
What a lovely ending. Jiaqi and Yu’an’s friendship and unique connection is beyond romance, in my opinion.
It’s the understanding of two mutual souls who had been in very desperate situations.
They saved each other — Jiaqi, with his empathy and kindness; Yu’an with her sleuthing, intelligence, and yes, kindness. Two souls that had started out suspicious and wary of each other formed a connection that transcends romantic love — that’s how I see it.
On the whole, I really loved Loving Strangers. A quiet, moving drama with solid performances from our leads.
Final Thoughts
If you’re hesitating to watch this drama because it won’t top My Mister — it probably won’t — I encourage you to still watch it. I can understand why you hesitate, because it’s a very tall order for Loving Strangers to even match it.
Watching this Chinese adaptation is actually a good idea, especially if you have not watched the K-Drama. Treat it like its own show, and you may enjoy it.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
#4Stars #CDrama #CDramas #China #ChineseDrama #LovingStrangers #MarkChao
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