A belated review for one of my favorite dramas of the past year, My Best Friend’s Story 流金岁月. The series by director Shen Yan is a rare Chinese modern series that romanticizes women and the relationship between them with an almost wuxia-like camaraderie.  The women are imperfect. They can be greedy and worldly, idealistic and naive, ambitious and ruthless, old-fashioned and spoiled, but they’re also humans who grow and change and who are there for each other.    They can be in-laws, sisters, friends, love rivals, or business rivals, but they rarely have innate jealousy for other women. Instead, unspoken loyalty (义气)  is prevalent throughout most of the female and some male characters.   Combined with gorgeous outfits and some enlightened casting choices, the drama is definitely one of my recent favorites.

Liu Shishi and Ni Ni star as Jiang Nansun and Zhu Suosuo, two best friends who seem to be polar opposites but are bound by their loyalty and willingness to give everything to people they love.  While Jiang Nansun’s plotline is better written in both character development for its star and her relationships, Zhu Suosuo’s line succeeds with its plethora of excellent actors who added so much complexity to their characters. .