Cette critique peut contenir des spoilers
Meh, Overrated (I love you YY don't hate me)
Short synopsis: Go watch The King's Avatar. Yang Yang's character is essentially the same but with an actual personality and awesome overall story.Long synopsis: I actually binge watched this, loved it and then rewatched it and noticed how awful it was. First off, the supporting cast majorly outshines the main actors. His best friends are just such a hoot and you end up wishing they get more screen time (especially the gay relationship which I think had a better story arch than this entire show). Now for the main actors/plot. Their characters are so flat and boring , both of them. They make the same expressions and every situation ends up with the same response. I love Yang Yang so I am bias to him, and I didn't mind his character as much as hers, but the way his character was written was just dull. He was a badass in the gaming and computer world, but other than those facts and besides the game animation moments his character was relatively calm and didn't do anything too crazy besides immediately claim her as his. That being said that's what makes his character so sexy and why I rewatched the show, I would love a man like him in real life but in a drama show... it kind of leaves you with no drama. The best moments are the moments when he essentially just stands up for her in the gaming and real world and lets everyone know she belongs to him.
Now for her... extremely dull character who literally had the same expressions and besides being cute didn't seem very sexually attracted to the male lead. The kisses were awkward, they literally had her acting like a ten year old virgin child. I'm not expecting anything explicit but a little more.... I guess eagerness or something would have been dramatic, instead it felt more awkward high school than college. They had her as being the top student in her class and a gaming wizard but when his company was in huge trouble all she did was go and get food and blankets..... it was a major disappointment since they constantly build her up to this crazy intellect like him. Now, lets get to the "she's the prettiest girl in school" part. I legit from the first episode felt so uncomfortable seeing her she was so painfully thin. The actress says when she's stressed she gets very thin but this is not okay. I'm fine with skinny and lean figures, especially in Asian dramas, but this is another level. It takes away from the drama because half the time I am literally like "oh my god all I see are bones" when her legs and whatnot are exposed. I really hope young girls don't watch this and think this is some ideal image because it's absolutely not.
So the last point: They literally didn't even date or anything. It was pretty much "oh we got married in the game, are top computer students, and top male and female in the same things" so we are a married couple now. Again, takes the drama away. He literally immediately claims her as his and apart from some minor dramas where he proves again that no one gets to mess with her, they are pretty much together from the get go but are very awkward because they didn't date and you can tell whoever wrote this was like "well I guess lets just make it awkward since they don't really know anything about one another but now act like a married couple despite that".
The plot is actually really good, but the way they wrote the characters and how they acted them is so bad. I do think many people will like this show and it has YY in it so it's worth a watch if you have nothing else. I think reading reviews like this will ruin it though because like the first time I watched it you don't notice right off the bat how bad it is. So sorry haha but I saw all these people hyping this show and I think some realism was needed in this review thread.
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I liked that this drama had characters that weren't afraid to get a bit mean with their enemies. If they were upset, they were upset and lashed back. I liked how human they were.
I really loved how nerdy everyone was and how much time they spent on the computer haha. Also, so much of the drama happens online.
Chinese kisses, are way better than Korean kisses.
I really liked the way the drama threw in some really random relationship factors and responses.
Wei Wei - female lead
Our heroine studies computer science and so do her friends.
“No wonder the girls in science and engineering have such a hard time getting boyfriends. We can handle electric work ourselves. What do we need boys for?”
I really got into this drama. As per usual with Chinese dramas, I skipped over some of the girl friendships, because they are so run of the mill and uninteresting. A ditzy side kick for the oh-so-sensible heroine. I don't mind the somewhat superior heroine in Chinese dramas. It is a good change from Korean dramas that prefer the klutz over the class.
Wei Wei is competent and confident. She rarely needs rescuing. And she faces off well against other women who try and attack her. She's not cowed easily. I couldn’t believe some of her snide remarks. It was great.
I liked her rationale when she was dealing with Xiao Nai.
Even though she's so awkward around him, I liked how logical she was with her overthinking and also how she was sometimes cute.
I enjoyed her problem solving abilities.
Xiao Nai - male lead
Xiao Nai is the hero and he's very kind and polite to Wei Wei but pretty arrogant and nonchalant with everyone else. I loved that he said he could change for her.
I like that he's direct with her.
I like that right from the start he lets Wei Wei have her say and make her own decisions and respects them. He continues to do that throughout the relationship.
I'm never a fan of the wrist grabs but if you have to include it, Xiao Nai does it right. It's not aggressive or domineering, it's almost like his main motivation is that he wants to touch her. And he does it just once.
Also, he might make those protective moves but he explains them right away.
I dislike heroes who are good at everything. I love love love that Xiao Nai is poor.
Although I was really relieved to see that the show demonstrated that Xiao Nai was a team player in sport and wasn't just a glory hog.
I really love how Xiao Nai knew how important Wei Wei's friendship with the girls was.
Xiao Nai doesn't let any unnecessary drama shake him in the least.
“Why wouldn't I trust my girlfriend?”
I really love that Xiao Nai doesn't mollycoddle her.
“Wei Wei, I might be adding to your troubles by telling you this, but I think it's something you'd want to solve on your own.”
Romance
“So how will you measure our affection level, then?”
“I'll develop a model for calculating it.”
Xiao Nai is not caveman jealous.
“Your wife is coming onto me.”
“Enjoy it. I don't mind.”
“What a well-coordinated couple!”
The most adorable thing was that Xiao Nai carried around Wei Wei's cactus that he was looking after.
Also, how he pays attention every time she touches him.
This actor is really good at kissing haha.
I like how he is subtle about showing us that he knows that he is lucky to have Wei Wei.
Wei Wei - “I'll have a sack and a bat ready.”
Xiao Nai - “If you're going to beat someone up, you should bring me with you.”
“You're going to help me?”
“No, I'll be the lookout.”
The Game
I like how important the game was to the characters. How they had morales about how they lived their character's lives.
I had to laugh as real life was leaked into the game as well. “You're still killing me? I'll just go do laundry.”
“That's enough. I won't waste my internet and electricity on you.”
Yu Ban Sha
I'm not used to seeing actors as good as this guy in Cdramas. He really sold his part.
“We should be humble. Our target isn't the prettiest girl. It's her friends we should be after.”
Bad Guy
I kind of like that the bad guy messed around with her support systems and how she had this conflict of how she didn't know who to trust. It wasn't the usual queen bee with her posse. Part of the drama was that she didn't know who her posse was.
Meng Yi Ran is way better than the average stale bad guy.
KO's relationship with Hao Mei is so hilarious. He looks like he doesn't care, or that he's constantly angry with the world but he just goes along with Hao Mei's bubbly personality.
Kdrama vs. Chinese Drama Debate
In Chinese dramas, things get solved in one conversation. I feel like there's no process. People don't just change their minds because of words.
I still dislike the lack of emotion on Chinese actors faces. But this time round, is my third Chinese drama and I think I'm getting used to it.
Chinese dramas take themselves so seriously.
When they film and show the characters I just feel like they're so pushing the concept of how perfect they are. I felt like the characters still had that dignified barrier between them. That they still didn’t feel comfortable with each other.
The Chinese characters seem much more dignified. I thought I’d never view my culture background from that perspective.
Parents are not very important in this drama. In Kdramas, parents are everything.
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The tv show was not as good as I remember the movie being. However, I am not a big fan of angel baby and this show did not change my mind.Yang Yang played his part well.
I am also not a gamer so it spent a little too much time in that world. I think that my main problem is that I could not see Angelbaby as a young college student. She didn't work for me in this part. Not anywhere as good as boss and me or because of you....those two still my favorites.
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Cet avis était-il utile?
Cet avis était-il utile?
yang yang as a perfect guy, of course he looks like heaven, not that i have seen heaven but everyone assumes it's beautiful so was yang yang. and even zheng shuang is very pretty. but other than being gorgeous they did nothing for me. they were lovely couple, chemistry wasn't convincing though. the first ten episodes i enjoyed and then for me, it was going downhill
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Face eating
My first Chinese drama watch, and so it was fun at the time.But as the reviews say, the perfect girl and the perfect guy get together. His one fault is that every time he kisses her, he backs her against a wall and proceeds to practically eat her face off. Her one fault is that she puts up with this nonsense.
The movie version is rather more enjoyable.
I was amazed at the sizes of all the rooms, except for the university dorms. Massive offices with loads of open space. Where does China fit all those rooms?
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STORY:
The story honestly is fairly simple. There's no crazy twists and turns. Not a ton of plotting and backstabbing, etc. It really just is a very simple and beautiful telling of two people falling in love and growing together.
The super fun twists that I think most people enjoyed were the great transitions between real life and the gaming world. Definitely something refreshingly new that gave you the best of a modern drama with sprinklings of wu xia.
I really appreciated that even though there were other people who had feelings for the main leads, you never really got the feeling that something could come in the way of the two leads. They just had a pure relationship that was based on similar interests and general good chemistry - not because they were forced together by circumstances or one of them was love lost and then they found each other.
They both honestly enjoyed each other's company and felt very natural with one another. It's really not something you get all the time.
Very well paced out and never felt rushed or lagging at any part.
ACTING:
Yang Yang - Xiao Nai - Wow. What a great performance. Yes, his name was already ringing in circles after Dream of Red Mansions, Lost Tomb, etc. But I would definitely say this drama catapulted him into stardom. Xiao Kai had the tropes of a standard male lead - well off, smart, super popular, beautiful, somewhat introverted - but Yang Yang definitely did a fabulous job making Xiao Nai break past the standard topes and bring about those cute swooning moments that girls (who were really the target audience) love to see in dramas. Every interaction was playful but serious. The kiss scenes and other romance scenes were really mostly due to him.
Zheng Shuang - Bei Wei Wei - While she did a decent job in her role - very smart and hardworking, but still shy and cutesy at times - she was definitely overshadowed by Yang Yang in this drama. Most dramas I watch, I almost always feel like the female lead overshadows the male leads (especially when the story is more revolved around the girl), but Yang Yang was definitely the one driving this performance. The romance scenes, Zheng Shuang was like a wooden board at times (which many other people have critiqued). Being new to a relationship is understandable, but even further into their relationship, it was Yang Yang doing 75% of the work. She's been a very popular actress lately, but I honestly don't really think she's all that great. She does cutesy very well, but I don't feel like she's broken past that yet.
Xiao Nai's Friends - Great chemistry between them all. I think they all did a great job with their respective characters. Hou Zi was the flattest character of the three, for me, but wasn't bad by any standard. Yu Ban Shan and Hao Mei did great jobs showing off their characters' personalities and the loyalty they had to Xiao Nai and each other.
Wei Wei's Friends - Only Mao Xiao Tong (Zhao Er Xi) really had enough screen time to be a developed character, so she gets props for portraying Er Xi's happy go lucky character so well. The other two were good in terms of being the friends, but definitely didn't get a chance to show off much of their acting skills.
REWATCH VALUE:
I've already rewatched it a bunch of times, so obviously worth a rewatch. Even though you know the whole story, it's still cute and romantic enough to be a good rebound after a super lengthy period drama or a very serious and dramatic show. It doesn't really get boring for me because even though it's not something you have to pay a ton of attention to to understand, it's not really a brainless show that you just play in the background either.
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This drama accomplishes what others have been unable to do
This drama does something that I’ve never seen another drama do. And I’ve watched hundreds of Asian dramas of all types from all over Asia. This drama puts the main leads together fairly early on (by episode 10). But believe it or not, there are no messy breakups, no noble idiocy, no mean in-laws, and no love triangles. Yet it’s not boring at all! In fact, it’s one of the highest rated Chinese romcoms of all time. That’s because the whole cast are exceptionally good actors with great characters to portray and a fun story to tell. This drama proves that you don’t have to throw in a bunch of overused cliche drama tropes or make the main leads breakup or misunderstand each other to make a drama interesting. You really have to just watch this drama to truly appreciate what it has accomplished.The story:
This drama doesn’t use the typical cliche drama tropes like love triangles or misunderstandings to move its storyline along. It uses real life situations that we all encounter and can relate to to move the story along and make it more interesting. Many important issues are tackled amongst the main characters and their friends such as bullying, judging someone based on appearance, using social media to attack people, jealousy, etc. It also delves into the online gaming world which is pretty interesting. Seeing the leads and their friends in the game in their online personas was a nice refreshing touch not often seen in dramas. Then the business world and all of its pitfalls was explored. Seeing it all through the college students eyes made it more interesting. They face sabotage, a hacker, a spy, and impossible deadlines. There’s quite a bit of interesting twists going on to make the plot move along and keep things interesting. All of the characters are multi dimensional and have lots of character growth which adds to the richness of the story.
The acting:
The acting is exceptional here. I know it’s rare, but I really can’t fault anyone’s acting, they’re all really good. Some may mistakenly criticize the female leads woodenness in her first few kisses, but that’s how her character was written. She’s supposed to be extremely shy and inexperienced in romantic settings. And as the drama progresses, so do her kissing scenes which I think is more realistic. No one that’s never kissed before is super comfortable with it or good at it in the beginning. And the main leads chemistry is just phenomenal. Every time they kiss (which is a lot) you can’t help but be touched. I like how they take things slow and the romance develops at a normal pace so you can see why they feel about each other the way they do. The romance is done perfectly. It’s neither too slow nor too fast. As for the side characters, they are some of the best I’ve seen in a drama. From the adorable little nerd Erxi to the judgmental language genius Cao Guang, I wouldn’t change a thing. There’s some great sismance and amazing bromance going on that’s so endearing and one of the highlights of this drama. And the parents are just too cute.
Cinematography & Set Design:
The cinematography was perfect. There’s no choppy editing or confusing scenes. Everything flows seamlessly and smoothly. The set design was quite elaborate for the work scenes. And the costumes and fight scenes for the online gaming world were superb. Overall I would say this drama had a high budget and lots of time was put into making sure everything was perfect.
If you like slice of life dramas that teach a lesson and are light and fluffy with little angst then you’ll love this one. Many of us will readily identify with the bullying and jealousy the characters encounter. But it’s the close knit friendship with everyone having each other’s backs that makes this drama so endearing. If you prefer fast paced dramas with lots of action with twists and turns at every corner, then this is not the drama for you. As far as I’m concerned, this drama is about as close to perfect as you can get. It’s one of the few dramas that I’ve watched numerous times. I especially like to watch it when I’m feeling anxious or down. It’s such a fun, upbeat, uplifting drama. You can’t help but smile when watching it. I would definitely recommend this drama to anyone that’s looking for a light sweet romcom.
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Cette critique peut contenir des spoilers
Watch this drama if you want:a light plot filled with sweetness & fluffiness
something cute
not much drama going on
a break from frustrating dramas
no love triangle between the 2 main characters
cute, rather lovable & funny side characters
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Story 9/10
In regards to story, there weren't much going on. Just what goes around the 2 main characters' lives and how they met one another. I gave a 9 because even though there wasn't much plot, this type of story is still satisfying to me as a viewer and also as a reader of the novel. I reread the novel numerous times and is still not sick of it. Sometimes simplicity is what you need in a drama.
Acting/Cast 9/10
100/10 for Yang Yang's Xiao Nai. He clearly embodied Xiao Nai and took the fictional character Xiao Nai and turn him into life.
As someone that read the novel, Zheng Shuang's Wei Wei isn't really what I had 100% in mind for Wei Wei. In the novel, Wei Wei is described to having some curves but Zheng Shuang doesn't have those curves and furthermore while watching the drama, there were so many times where I was like she's so skinny. But ZS's Wei Wei does fit my image of Wei Wei at least 75~80%.
Music 8.5/10
I felt there weren't many OST for this drama or even variety. If I wasn't watching this drama, some of the OST wouldn't be too attractive to me. There are OST that stands out regardless of the drama and to me, I don't feel like the OST of Loveo2o is something like that. In terms of lyrics, the opening song really fits the drama. The new OST in ep 29/30 really made me rather emotional while listening to that and reading the meaning to the lyrics.
Rewatch Value 9/10
I watched both the raw and the subbed when they come out. I'm also rewatching the subbed with a friend. In terms of rewatching, I don't think I'll get tired of the sweetness in this drama. I don't think I'll ever get tired of Xiao Nai's 3 friends (Hou Zi, Yu Ban Shan and Hao Mei) as well as Wei Wei and Xiao Nai's interactions.
Overall 9/10 :)
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*Warning: contains some spoilers*
Likes:
I really like the fluffiness this drama gave me. Whenever I see Hou Zi, Yu Ban Shan and Hao Mei joking around, it makes me really happy. I'm going to miss them. Going to miss Wei Wei and Xiao Nai's sweet interactions as well as them joking around with one another and Xiao Nai's sharp tongue lol. I'm also going to miss Xiao Nai, who wouldn't.
What I found the most interesting is that the games they play is an actual game and they used the drama to advertise the game.
Dislike:
I felt some parts of the company aspect is rather not too interesting. As a business major, when Xiao Nai was doing a presentation but blocks the screen . . . In terms of some of the business presentations clips/snippets we get, I felt like they weren't too convincing as a viewer. Most boring part in the drama for me was Zheng Shui's interaction with his dad.
Some stuffs I wished they could of had added
I wish we get more of Hao Mei and KO compare to Cao Guang and Er Xi but of course censorship :(
I wish we got to see NiNi (Thunderess Nini) ask Wei Wei if she can tell other people in the Guild that Yi Xiao Nai He is her actual boyfriend in real life and stub Rain Clan again.
I wish Feng Teng wasn't a discounted Feng Teng and we get to see Xiao Nai vs Feng Teng but might be awkward b/c of Zhang Han and Zheng Shuang's relationship.
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Story:
I'm not entirely sure if the story was great or if I was too busy looking at six packs to notice it was bad. What I am sure about is that the story is VERY simple and doesn't really offer you that much. That being said, this drama has a wonderfully relaxing mood throughout and should give you plenty of smiles and romance. Just don't expect a lot and you will be pleasantly surprised. Additional bonus goes to the writer for actually knowing something about MMORPGs and game development!
Acting/Cast:
The casting of the main characters is perfect. They are both beautiful and charismatic, yet they both portray people that have even more alluring qualities - intelligence and humour. As in all dramas, there are a few characters that aren't as good, but overall this drama will offer you all sorts of characters and most of them add to the experience positively.
Music:
The music does what it's supposed to - it creates the mood and doesn't subtract from the drama. I wish they had more songs to use though. Sometimes it feels repetitive.
Rewatch value:
I'm sure I will rewatch this when I'm a granny. Not for the exciting storyline, but for the romantic and sometimes even erotic moments ;)
Overall:
If you are feeling a bit blue and need some cheering up, this drama is perfect for you! I would say it's about 70% romance, 20% story development and 10% drama. Suitable for a moment when you are not looking for an epic revenge story or a multifaceted action melodrama. The only flaw of this drama is that it's fluffy and empty, but sometimes that's all you are looking for - no arguing, no pain - just some cheesy and cozy romance.
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