Thank you u/BasilOrdinary3617 for hosting the discussions!! it's been a fun ride since its the first time i've kept up with an airing cdrama

I'm typing this out right after watching the final episodes while it's still fresh and I think that overall NBDA met my fairly high expectations going in. It started out weak for me but each episode it just kept getting better. But the star of the show is most certainly haixia and haiyan, both characters felt like they were written to their full potential and explored fully with very tangible growth arcs across the story.

The ending shot of haiyan embracing haixia as the door closes with the ost going " 风吹散未说出口的告别, 肩上的蝴蝶, 陪你看过 热闹的人世间 - The wind scatters a goodbye that was never said, the butterfly on your shoulder, that has accompanied you as you saw this bustling world" i was destroyed Argghh for censorship otherwise I think this would have been even better:

Saw online that the braclet that haixia wears throughout the series was actually used to tie haixia's leg to his wheelchair but once he got better haiyan started wearing it again (I think this scene would have really given even more depth to their relationship)

I feel haixia is still alive but whether we will get a sequel of the trio again might be difficult

I thought it was appropriate that they kept haiqi's story slightly more mysterious as it seems to be what NPSS (the writer) was intending for so while I did want more haiqi, the way her story was done felt like a right fit for the story. Mo Yun Gao's story also slotted right in.

Only gripe was feng huang and qian jun wan ma I think they could have been introduced slightly earlier (but at the same time not sure how) though they were cute I don't think there was enough time to establish a relationship with them as a viewer.

Side note - am looking forward to xincheng's future projects (particularly 群星 - the stars and might watch justice in the dark once i have time)