TLDR: Yang Yang & Dilireba in a refreshing & sweet drama. Short episodes for an easy watch. Watched the first 8 episodes and I’m boarding this ship! Can’t wait for the remaining episodes to be aired. Besides loving what I saw, I’m also having good vibes because this is based on a novel by Gu Man, the author who wrote Love O2O which I loved!

Allow me to do a bit (lot) of rambling before I begin since I have been away for long. Skip the next 5 paragraphs to the bolded part if you just want to read about You Are My Glory.

I have been in a slump recently – both in life and dramas. I haven’t watched a good drama in a long while (since I last rewatched Love O2O and The King’s Avatar). Okay, to be fair, I did watch the highly acclaimed The Bad Kids (spoiler: I didn’t like it very much) and the surprisingly good Last One Standing which had me on the edge of the seat for most of the drama but these are suspenseful thrillers and nowhere near relaxing.

I spent most of my time watching reality shows and I’m running out of those that I’m interested in. I have been scrolling through new dramas to find something to feed my restlessness but nothing stuck on me. And do I really want to sit through the agony of waiting for a drama to slowly release? Nah. After a week of watching random episodes of new dramas, I decided to give up and look for a completed airing drama…

That was when the miracle happened! I saw a new title, You Are My Glory (你是我荣耀). Well, of course I would be interested! Glory is the name of the game in The King’s Avatar. Even though I doubt that it would be related to TKA, my interest is still piqued. You cannot imagine my surprise and happiness when I realised Yang Yang is the male lead in this drama! (I actually saw Dilireba was the female lead and decided to watch it before realising the male lead is Yang Yang. Felt like I struck jackpot because I do miss Yang Yang on my screen, seeing how I have been rewatching his old dramas.)

I’m not sure how you guys feel but maybe I am getting old… It saddens me that the hot young stuff nowadays are no longer the celebrities that I know. I have been abandoned by the times. And… I’m not particularly inclined to learn new faces and names. I just want to go in my comfort zone and see people I know act in a drama that I like!

Dilireba as the female lead? Icing on the cake. I haven’t seen her much since Ten Mile of Peach Blossom and Keep Running but she is an actress that I’m familiar with and actually like. This was exactly the drama I was looking for and I’m ready to give it a chance even if it sucks (it doesn’t!…. for now).

[END OF RAMBLING] FIRST IMPRESSION OF YOU ARE MY GLORY

Real content now! Let’s start with an overview of the drama. Dilireba is an unpretentious female celebrity while Yang Yang is a highly talented and intelligent scientist. Sounds like a cliche? Even though the leads are perfect beyond words, it is quite a refreshing and light-hearted watch.

Jing Jing, the character played by Dilireba, is adorable. Who would have thought that she was the one who started chasing after the male lead? It is interesting to note that both Jing Jing and Yu Tu (the male lead played by Yang Yang) knew each other from high school but! They were not in love! They are not lovers who were separated and reunited! In fact, Jing Jing confessed to Yu Tu in high school and was rejected! How refreshing. I love how courageous and confident Jing Jing is. Is she smitten by Yu Tu? Yes. But does she know her own worth and value? Yes! You go girl, she dares to chase after what she wants and does not let rejection determine her worth.

Next, Yang Yang as Yu Tu. Ahhh, so much throwback feels. This drama revolves around Mobile Legend, a popular mobile game. There were some really nice CGI involved but gameplay is not a big thing here, it’s more of a sponsor. Still, Yang Yang as a godly gamer? We have that in Love O2O and The King’s Avatar… and it’s never enough!

Jing Jing is not the only refreshing character in this drama. Yu Tu, played by Yang Yang, is a scientist who is giving up his dreams to go into finance. As perfect as he is, he is also struggling between passion and reality. Perhaps it’s because I have also aged so I can relate. It doesn’t matter how talented you are – the job you like might not be the job that pays you what you deserve. Jumping into a new career path and starting afresh comes with so much uncertainties and looks of disdain from the people around. Even though I don’t know much and am not very keen about the galaxy and stuff, I do enjoy the storyline on Yu Tu’s job dilemma.

Also, have I mentioned? This drama is based on a novel by Gu Man. Gu Man also wrote Just A Smile is Alluring, the novel that Love O2O is based on. Can’t believe I haven’t done up a proper post on Love O2O even after mentioning it on the blog so many times. Long story short, I love both the novel & drama and have reread/rewatched many times. Even though I haven’t read You Are My Glory (and probably wouldn’t because I don’t play and am not familiar with Mobile Legend), knowing that this is based on a Gu Man novel is a confidence boost! In fact, Gu Man is a screenwriter for this drama so we can be assured that it should respect the original novel and not turn out into a mess. (Edit: In the days I procrastinated while writing this post, I found the English translation for the novel. It’s a short novel with 37 chapters + 16 epilogues so I might just read it while waiting for the drama to air).

Icing on the cake? Each episode is only about 30 minutes of actual content so it makes it a breeze to catch! No long and draggy episodes (and I watch it at 2x speed… which means I only need ~half an hour every day to catch up). In fact, now I’m almost complaining because it airs 2 episodes every Mon-Wed. What can I do on Thurs-Sun!? (Ok, the chinese edition of Heart Signal 4 airs which I’m also following airs on Thurs & Fri so I guess I’m good on weekdays… The rest of the reality shows I’m following（50里桃花坞，初入职场的我们）have all finished airing recently so I’m feeling a bit lost.)

The only nitpick I have? I’m concerned for Yang Yang. His role as Yu Tu is very similar to his past characters (Xiao Nai from Love O2O, Ye Xiu from TKA and Ruobai from Whirlwind Girl). As much as I love him, it seems that actors in his age group are starting to change their focus from being an idol to an actor. With the younger generation of idol actors up and rising, it is hard for Yang Yang to stay relevant in this genre. Do not get me wrong! I love Yang Yang in this genre but just look, Love O2O happened FIVE YEARS AGO in 2016. He needs more productions (and I need more Yang Yang on my screen). Within these 5 years, so many new actors appeared. How long more do I have to wait to see him on my screen again? I sincerely hope that he will be able to succeed in changing his image (or as they put it in Chinese, 转型成功).

It’s been a long time, I feel like I don’t know how to blog anymore. I’ll need a bit more practice. Thanks for reading all my rambles and digression and reaching all the way to the end. Hope you will enjoy the drama as much as I do!