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