Esta resenha pode conter spoilers
Unbiased review... [It gets better starting with episode 8]
Typically the people who like Chinese romcoms, like a lot of fluff, which btw, there's nothing wrong with that. I prefer romcoms with mature characters and realism (I think this drama maybe up my alley). I am not into Chinese romcoms but am open to watching them if the male and female leads have acted in Chinese historical/period dramas that I like. Before I get started with my review, it's important for me to mention that I rarely rate dramas a perfect 10, unless the drama has meaning behind the storyline, or it's well produced & written without loopholes in the script.
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‣ ‣ Review for episodes 1-8
To be honest, I was bored watching the first 4 minutes of the drama. I was waiting for something super exciting to happen because of the background music. The background music was giving me the movie Armageddon vibes. While I was waiting, I noticed how attractive the male lead is. Then I saw Dilraba Dilmurat, and let's be honest, she's the main reason why I am interested in watching this drama, but her face looked paper white (I don't like the whitening filter, it's weird). Within the first 10 minutes of the drama you can basically predict what will happen in the whole series. Towards the end of episode 1, I was pumped, excited, and ready for more (as if I were a gamer lol).
The pros thus far (for people like me, who do not like fluffy romcoms) is:
•That the female lead does not do aegyo/sājiāo, and her character isn't clueless (thus far, atleast).
•Besides aegyo/sājiāo, I almost always hate the overly dramatic slow motion side effects in dramas, and when the female lead is clumsy and falls on top of the male lead and then we are shown the slow mo of the fall, 5 times from 3 different angles. You will not be seeing that in this drama, thank goodness! Within the first 5 episodes, there's only two slow mo moments; one in episode 3 for like 3 seconds, and another in episode 4 (nothing too dramatic).
•Also, I love the fact that the female lead is totally upfront with the male lead in episode 3, which is shocking to see in Chinese romcoms.
•In the first episode the scriptwriter explains how to play the e-sport game, which is really cool. This is the second esports romcom that I've watched, so I am not sure whether or not that is common.
•I like the screen quality/resolution.
•Oh yeah, the supporting male actors (the gamers) are pretty handsome too.
•I like the female lead manager; the manager is not controlling (not toxic), and she works while her husband stays at home and takes care of the household (and he doesn't complain while doing so).
•Lastly, I can relate to this drama because I am in my early thirties and I also had a quarter-life crisis. I quit my high paying job in tech, and basically started all over again, intentionally choosing to make 50% less than what I was making in my 20's. Also, although I knew the following quote, quoted in episode 4 towards the end, is true, it wasn't until this year that it basically became my motto: "The most foolish fantasy is the misconception that you can change a person."
NOTE: I actually disagree with some of the reviewers about there not being chemistry between the leads. Those who like Chinese romcoms tend to want to see what they've always seen, which is the male lead falling in love with the female lead at first sight. For me, that is not believable, and those relationships tend not to last long in real life. This drama has two lead characters who are in their 30's, thus they are taking their time getting to no one another as 30 year olds tend to do. My con written below regarding the chemistry is about the pacing, and not the chemistry itself. I also disagree with some of the reviewers about the male lead acting (my review is unbiased, as I don't think I've ever watched another drama of his). The male lead character is a freaking engineer for goodness sake LOL. If you ever met or worked with an engineer, you would know the reason why his character is the way that it is. Engineers who are men, tend to only talk a lot when it pertains to their work, and they tend to be introverted (not all, but most). Additionally, the male lead is having a quarterlife crisis, and is going through a transition in his life, so just think about how you would be if you were in his shoes.
The cons thus far is:
•That the female lead character (not the actress Dilraba Dilmurat) has an eating disorder. Within the first 4 episodes her weight is mentioned at least 4 times, and she's a size US 0/1. [read more: https://greatist.com/health/disordered-eating#signs-and-symptoms]. I know that her character is an actress, but it's not okay for actresses and actors to have eating disorders so they can fit into a toxic beauty standard.
•Also, between episodes 2 and 3 I didn't really like the pacing, it moved too fast and left little time for character development. I want the chemistry between the female and male lead to be built in a way that we can understand why they like one another.
•Lastly, the female lead keeps calling the male lead a narcissist, and making light of it as if dating a narcissist is a good thing. The male lead character is not a narcissist, and trust me folks, you do not want to be in any kind of relationship with one [read about narcissistic personality disorder by visit the following link: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/narcissistic-personality-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20366662]
I am def. going to continue to watch, hopefully I will be able to keep watching it to the end (I tend to drop Chinese romcoms before episode 6). I will add an additional review below this line, after I've finished watching the episodes as they are released and subbed.
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‣ ‣ Review for episodes 9-13
•I really enjoyed episode 9, specifically the first 11 minutes because it highlights values within the Asian community that may need to be revised. I understand the need for filial piety, but I think filial piety without holding elders accountable is dangerous to one's mental health. Thus, I believe it is leading the younger Asian generation to commit suicide, because in addition to having the expectation of being totally loyal to their parents and grandparents, they have to compete in a ruthless society. The way that Asian elders lived back in the day (without technology, typically in homogenous societies, typically in patriarchal societies, etc), differs greatly from how Asian youth live nowadays. Unfortunately, in my community (I am not Asian), we have the same values but perhaps it's not as regulated. In my community, we are expected to take physical, verbal, and mental abuse from our parents and seniors just because they are older. That is dangerous because older people learn that they can abuse their power and authority without having to change, and the younger generation will be like the older generation once they become older.
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‣ ‣ Review for episodes 13-20
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‣ ‣ Review for episodes 21-32
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‣ ‣ Review for episodes 1-8
To be honest, I was bored watching the first 4 minutes of the drama. I was waiting for something super exciting to happen because of the background music. The background music was giving me the movie Armageddon vibes. While I was waiting, I noticed how attractive the male lead is. Then I saw Dilraba Dilmurat, and let's be honest, she's the main reason why I am interested in watching this drama, but her face looked paper white (I don't like the whitening filter, it's weird). Within the first 10 minutes of the drama you can basically predict what will happen in the whole series. Towards the end of episode 1, I was pumped, excited, and ready for more (as if I were a gamer lol).
The pros thus far (for people like me, who do not like fluffy romcoms) is:
•That the female lead does not do aegyo/sājiāo, and her character isn't clueless (thus far, atleast).
•Besides aegyo/sājiāo, I almost always hate the overly dramatic slow motion side effects in dramas, and when the female lead is clumsy and falls on top of the male lead and then we are shown the slow mo of the fall, 5 times from 3 different angles. You will not be seeing that in this drama, thank goodness! Within the first 5 episodes, there's only two slow mo moments; one in episode 3 for like 3 seconds, and another in episode 4 (nothing too dramatic).
•Also, I love the fact that the female lead is totally upfront with the male lead in episode 3, which is shocking to see in Chinese romcoms.
•In the first episode the scriptwriter explains how to play the e-sport game, which is really cool. This is the second esports romcom that I've watched, so I am not sure whether or not that is common.
•I like the screen quality/resolution.
•Oh yeah, the supporting male actors (the gamers) are pretty handsome too.
•I like the female lead manager; the manager is not controlling (not toxic), and she works while her husband stays at home and takes care of the household (and he doesn't complain while doing so).
•Lastly, I can relate to this drama because I am in my early thirties and I also had a quarter-life crisis. I quit my high paying job in tech, and basically started all over again, intentionally choosing to make 50% less than what I was making in my 20's. Also, although I knew the following quote, quoted in episode 4 towards the end, is true, it wasn't until this year that it basically became my motto: "The most foolish fantasy is the misconception that you can change a person."
NOTE: I actually disagree with some of the reviewers about there not being chemistry between the leads. Those who like Chinese romcoms tend to want to see what they've always seen, which is the male lead falling in love with the female lead at first sight. For me, that is not believable, and those relationships tend not to last long in real life. This drama has two lead characters who are in their 30's, thus they are taking their time getting to no one another as 30 year olds tend to do. My con written below regarding the chemistry is about the pacing, and not the chemistry itself. I also disagree with some of the reviewers about the male lead acting (my review is unbiased, as I don't think I've ever watched another drama of his). The male lead character is a freaking engineer for goodness sake LOL. If you ever met or worked with an engineer, you would know the reason why his character is the way that it is. Engineers who are men, tend to only talk a lot when it pertains to their work, and they tend to be introverted (not all, but most). Additionally, the male lead is having a quarterlife crisis, and is going through a transition in his life, so just think about how you would be if you were in his shoes.
The cons thus far is:
•That the female lead character (not the actress Dilraba Dilmurat) has an eating disorder. Within the first 4 episodes her weight is mentioned at least 4 times, and she's a size US 0/1. [read more: https://greatist.com/health/disordered-eating#signs-and-symptoms]. I know that her character is an actress, but it's not okay for actresses and actors to have eating disorders so they can fit into a toxic beauty standard.
•Also, between episodes 2 and 3 I didn't really like the pacing, it moved too fast and left little time for character development. I want the chemistry between the female and male lead to be built in a way that we can understand why they like one another.
•Lastly, the female lead keeps calling the male lead a narcissist, and making light of it as if dating a narcissist is a good thing. The male lead character is not a narcissist, and trust me folks, you do not want to be in any kind of relationship with one [read about narcissistic personality disorder by visit the following link: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/narcissistic-personality-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20366662]
I am def. going to continue to watch, hopefully I will be able to keep watching it to the end (I tend to drop Chinese romcoms before episode 6). I will add an additional review below this line, after I've finished watching the episodes as they are released and subbed.
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‣ ‣ Review for episodes 9-13
•I really enjoyed episode 9, specifically the first 11 minutes because it highlights values within the Asian community that may need to be revised. I understand the need for filial piety, but I think filial piety without holding elders accountable is dangerous to one's mental health. Thus, I believe it is leading the younger Asian generation to commit suicide, because in addition to having the expectation of being totally loyal to their parents and grandparents, they have to compete in a ruthless society. The way that Asian elders lived back in the day (without technology, typically in homogenous societies, typically in patriarchal societies, etc), differs greatly from how Asian youth live nowadays. Unfortunately, in my community (I am not Asian), we have the same values but perhaps it's not as regulated. In my community, we are expected to take physical, verbal, and mental abuse from our parents and seniors just because they are older. That is dangerous because older people learn that they can abuse their power and authority without having to change, and the younger generation will be like the older generation once they become older.
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‣ ‣ Review for episodes 13-20
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‣ ‣ Review for episodes 21-32
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