China needs more Esports dramas

This drama blew my expectations of what a Chinese drama could be. I didn't think an esports drama could be as good as Falling Into Your Smile. TLDR: The story could use some work with some points of the story being drawn out and some points being not as well explained, but I think the story overall was still really good. The acting, on the other hand, was lackluster but still better compared to some of the other competition. I think the music from WayV and Seventeen fit the theme of the story with perfection. What makes this drama stand out over dramas like Love 020 and Kings Avatar, however, is it's rewatch value because this drama has so many small details that you can miss. To any new C-Drama watcher, I definitely recommend this drama.

Story - 9/10
The story is quite good in general, however there are sections that aren't really explained in much detail. I find Cheng Xiao's character to be written quite poorly. I don't think there is quite as much character development in her. The only character development the story gets is with the Korean player defeating her in the game, however, the plot point really misses the mark towards the conclusion of the story arc. I don't think it takes away from the story quite enough to deduct points but its something that I marked down on my notes. I think the supporting cast like Lao Mao and Lao K could have gotten more screentime. They have some really funny bits but I feel like it could have been expanded upon even more, but when they were on the screen, it was absolutely excruciatingly funny. I also find the female and male lead to have really nice interactions throughout the story. That's why although there are some sections where the writing could have been better, the general gist of the story was well done and there was good, funny bits from the supporting case which deserves a 9.

Acting - 8/10
Cheng Xiao is a great singer. She's a great entertainer, but she doesn't belong in acting. I know it sounds harsh, but her acting felt out of place throughout the show in some places. I don't she shouldn't ever act again, but I don't think it was as polished in this show. With that said, I think she has a lot of potential to be one of if not the best singer turned actor in modern C-Drama history. I can see the potential in the emotional scenes. When they hit, they hit really hard. I think Xu Kai's acting was the same as all of his other roles. He has this cold hearted man turned nice role in the majority of his shows which I find somewhat peculiar. It doesn't take away from his role in this show since it fits the show perfectly and his acting was some of the best I have ever seen from him, and believe me when I say I've seen a ton of shows from him. The supporting cast was definitely the best casting and acting I have ever seen in a modern C-Drama, especially Xiao Pang. He has a really big range from being emotional in one scene to being cute to being hilarious. All of that said, the acting was good in general, but I think there are some points deducted from Cheng Xiao, but I definitely think if this drama was done in 2024, this category would definitely be better. Waiting for Cheng Xiao's next role, hope she proves me right.

Music - 9.5/10
The soundtrack is absolutely beautiful. I don't think there could have been another original soundtrack that could have beaten the one they had for Falling Into Your Smile. I also really enjoyed the features from bands like WayV and Seventeen making appearances. I think their songs fit each Esports team's main idea. If you read the lyrics, it adds extra details to how each team adds. I like the extra marketing effort with Everytime by WayV and FNATIC. I think it was really cool to see an actual esport team represent in an esports drama for one of the very first times, despite the drama surrounding it (I don't really know what its about so if someone could explain that would be great). I also thought the Chinese bands did a great job for ZGDX team theme which in Chinese was a really good sample of past music for gaming. The subtle hints to League of Legends were amazing and brought me back to League's hayday. The only reason why this category is not a 10/10 is because sometimes they overplay the music. I think the only reason why I don't have the songs from this drama on repeat is because of how many times they repeated them in the actual drama.

Rewatch Value - 10/10
There is absolutely no question with this. I know many people don't like rewatching this drama. To those people who don't like to rewatch this drama, you aren't a real critic. You don't recognize the best parts and small details in this drama like how you can see the FNATIC players stream and how he donated to the FL. There were many different small details that people could have missed. I loved rewatching this drama to find the small details that I didn't see the first or second time. I feel like more people would agree if they actually rewatched this. I think the wholesome love between the FL and ML were made to a ripe perfection that can't be matched.

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Standalone stories were top tier. Main Story was lucklaster

Above average modern drama series with a shorter runtime. Definitely should have improved the main story but acting by the main leads were still top tier. Standalone plot and side plots were well developed especially for the side characters like Gu Ran and Guan Fang's family backstories are really well developed. TLDR I think the overall story needs some work, especially with Zhang Lurang's relationship with his parents and brother. It was left on a cliffhanger towards the end of the series and not expanded upon nor explained. The acting was great from everyone and really immersed the characters. I think the choices for music were top tier with all of them hitting the mark and expectations. However, the rewatch value is limited due to it being a pretty cliche narrative and film in general. I think the rewatch value could be improved if the show offered more insight to the main story.

Story - 7.5/10
First I'd like to address the overall story. I don't think the issue or problem is resolved towards the end. The show places huge emphasis on Zhang Lurang and his backstory, making it seem as if the parents don't really care about him nor give him attention while placing all of their faith in his younger brother. The film then dedicates an episode to creating empathy for his brother, which does resolve the issue temporarily. However what makes the overall story feel out of place is the inevitability for the story to explain Zhang Lurang's relationship with his parents. This was not done at all. I think that is the main reason why it takes away from the overall story. They had a nice buildup with mystery, they had a very nice empathetic climax, but they lacked any true resolution. On the other hand, I really enjoyed the side stories. First on Guan Fang's background being a fighter when he was younger to being more mature. I loved the development with his grandmother and it shook my heart when she almost died towards the end of the story. I think this should of been the prototype for the main story. Then there is the story with Gu Ran, which wasn't as good as Guan Fang's story but still explained his backstory. At first, he seemed much more annoying, but this story helped me understand his character and to start empathizing with him, especially when he started to chase after Jiang Jia. I think in general that Zhang Lurang's backstory could have been implicated to be more of a side story, but the show makes it out to be the main story which I think they should have done less of.

Acting - 9/10
There's not much to say here. Everyone did their jobs really well. I think that maybe Zhou Yiran's acting could be fleshed out a little more in order to create a difference between Zhang Lurang's character in the beginning of the film compared to him at the end. If there was a better differentiation between that, it could have helped Zhou Yiran's depiction of Zhang Lurang. Other than that I felt as if all the actors held their own. I have to give praise to all of the side and minor characters, especially the grandma. I think the actor for the grandma really depicted the grandmother's love for Guan Fang and it was brilliant acting. I also thought that the actor for Guan Fang did a really good job despite his age gap.

Music - 9.5/10
Many people think the music for this show isn't that good, but I thought the music stood its ground and, if anything, actually helped the show in the long run. I thought some of the songs that were played in emotional scenes such as April Encounter were really well fit for the show. I also thought that the opening and ending of the show were well depicting the era. I love how the show tries and differentiates between the different eras, by mentioning music from each era. This was a new thing that hadn't happened before and I was actually surprised to see that happen for the very first time in a Chinese drama. I thought it was also really unique for modern dramas altogether since I had never seen them try out different music themes for different eras of time. They used a wide variety of soundtrack music that also contributed greatly to the emotional scenes.

Rewatch Value - 8/10
To preface this rewatch value section, I want to say that it it is not the end all be all if you watch this drama again. I think this drama is quite enjoyable if your watching for the very first time. It has many lovey dovey scenes that are great to see in action to start with. However, I don't recommend watching this drama more than once. After my second playthrough, many of the plot holes start to appear as with Zhang Lurang's family. Also you realize that some of the character's aren't fully developed. It comes to me that many of the characters don't actually develop during the show, but instead develop before the show such as many of the side characters. I think the love is also not well developed in detail and comes towards the beginning. If anyone has seen the anime Horimiya, its very similar to that. I feel as if the characters somewhat fall in love towards the very beginning and the rest of the 15+ episodes are just filler for the love aspect. In all honesty, its quite enjoyable if your watching once, however, once you go above the number one, you start to notice cracks in the show's operations which may worsen the watching experience.

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