I haven't properly watched any asian dramas since the start of the year and finally after getting some free time I thought might as well because the reviews were good. I do like romance dramas and e-sports dramas, so technically I should have loved this but honestly I did not.
While I do understand why people liked it i.e. because of the great soundtrack, the hot male lead, the cute female lead and their adorable height difference, that is it. That's where the pros end.
From the start the main issue for me was I did not understand the game. I get games like counterstrike or halo or the concept of capture the flag. So I knew the gaming parts were not going to be that interesting especially when the episode jumped from people playing games to inside the game in full animation but I appreciated the effort.
Secondly any and all conflicts were too hyped up. Are people in China that fickle that one post on the internet can change their opinions that fast or are they that hateful that they immediately start criticizing and cyberbullying the subject of any controversy. I don't believe that's true, so to show something like that just so that it looks like your MCs are struggling and having a hard time is not cool.
To add to this they dragged the series too long. 31 episodes of Tong Yao getting criticized for being a girl in the e-sports industry, losing a game, dating someone, being rude, hitting someone, going shopping, shaking hands with a guy, BEING SARCASTIC. Like oh my god the longer the series went the stupider the reasons became, half of which were either untrue or blown out of proportion by the media. Not to mention that they started dating after the 21st episode. I was snoozing by episode 20.
All the side characters were wasted as none of their storylines were deeply explored, most of them having conflicts for half or at max one episode. And the nail to the coffin was all those damn monologue. The creators should understand that us foreign audiences actually have to read the subtitles which takes all the impact out of any and all long drawn speeches making it super cringe and boring.
The FL literally said this in her MVP speech "it's ok even if he has thistles and thorns draped around his shoulders or treads on the burning hot sands. As the Captain of ZGDX everyone expects too much from him" Like WHAT. No one in the whole wide world expects sh*t like that from an E-Sports player or from any player and who talks like that. I get that e-sports like any other job in the world has its own struggles but don't make it sound like it's a selfless and thankless job (most jobs aren't). Not to mention it's very offensive and ignorant towards fans of any sports. I love tennis and yes I've idolized a player for the past decade or so, who is not doing so great now because he's older and has sustained injuries lately. But I'd rather he take a break than expect him to push himself even when he's not well just to win a trophy. No one has such unrealistic expectations from their idols.
Anyway the bottom line is this drama is not worth wasting 20+ hours on it and I definitely will not re-watch it.