Go Go Squid!

Great Romance and E-sports

I finally got around to watching this and I find this totally captivating. The storyline has enough depth, adorable side characters and of course incredible main leads. Li Xian portrayed the arrogant Han Shangyang so well with his scowls and his cantankerous personality who managed to mellow into a happier person after he confronts his past. I squeamed at Tong Nian's behaviour in the earlier episodes when she seemed to accept the dreadful behaviour from Han Shangyang but I guessed the writer wanted to showed how different they were in personalities and eventually how her generosity and warmth won him over. The e-sports component did not come through as well as it did in shows like The King's Avatar but I think it is not easy to depict the CTF competition visually. Nevertheless the tensions of the competition were well played and the pain and tribulations of the competitions came through clearly. Loved the OST! I am definitely rewatching.
Side note - I had a quick viewing of Go Go Squid: DT, Appledogs' Time and I am afraid I am biased - it cannot compare with the first drama. The token appearances by Han Shangyang and Tong Nian were also not satisfactory even with the wedding ☹️

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Opposites attract

First and foremost this drama is about relationships the CTF setting is just context so if you thought this was a gaming drama you will be disappointed.
There is enough contrast in the two main leads to add the uncertainty of how will they ever get together and if they do how will the maintain a relationship - but they do and the story is well told.
Tong Nian played by Yang Zi is bubbly, generous, smart and well loved by her family, friends and most who meet her.
Hang Shan Yan played by Li Xian is aloof, controlling, outcome driven and we learn later very lonely.
Both characters have a terrific ensemble of family and friends surrounding them and we are given enough exposure to make those characters add substance to the story.

I think this strange pairing works because the people surrounding Shan Yan want him to be with someone and have more than just the team and the goal of China winning the championship in his life.
Yang Zi has enough bravado/chutzpah to keep turning up in an effort to win him.
Despite there being 41 episodes time flew by for me. I never needed to skip or even feel bored the pace was good and even.
Music is also very apt.

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My dear, my betrothed, appear!

This sweet and romantic story began on a snowy night in a shelter for social phobias, idlers, and other untrustworthy personalities, namely, an Internet cafe, when a dark, scary magician inadvertently fell under the killer sight of a kawaii white silly kitten. Our magician, let´s call him a pentester, loved to conduct his experiments in a purely professional field and, in general, on everyone who caught his eye. Every once in a while, very rarely, as such is the nature of all the grand masters of the dark arts. The kitty, on the contrary, seemed so inexperienced and not burdened with any intelligence, like many teenagers her age, that the magician lost his vigilance and allowed himself the luxury of looking like a kind and not-at-all-scary wizard. In fairy tales, as everyone knows, all black magicians are bewitched princes. Who could have known that in such a lost corner, under the guise of a cute and stupid cat, there was an insidious and annoying Face-Id programmer (and not only!) with a progressive mania of sticking up for an object of interest?
Similar to their professions, their mating game is also a complex and multi-stage process: detection, authentication, script testing, system monitoring... and, finally, optimization itself:)
Who is the hunter, and who is the prey? Who won, who lost?!
You decide.

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I had to re-watch again.

I really love YangZi with her perky and dimpled self. I have nothing but good things to say about her. Her acting is always on point. Although I viewed this last year, I am now reviewing this drama. I also love Li Xian, I was impressed with him when he played the main lead in Sword Dynasty. His acting is always on point. I have no complaints. I love Game Dramas so this is no exception. I wished they showed them playing the game. That would be my only complaint. I love the design costumes of the game uniforms. The storyline of the romance between the two main leads is awesomely done. The kisses kind of looked fake but that's ok I enjoyed the rest of the drama.

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This is a good sports/competition drama that focuses on the lives and struggles of a former E-sport team that disbanded after getting the championship and how, 10 years later, they find themselves with the opportunity to fulfill their broken dreams through a nice story progression that leads to a satisfying result at the end of the journey. Although the main focus of the drama is the story of the main characters from the disbanded team, the leading male, Han Shangyan, finds himself falling in love with Tong Nian, a gentle and sweet girl that manages to help him break down his emotional protective barriers creating a nice and cute romance. There are some parts of this drama that are wonderful and some others that are frustrating at the same time. The writer(s) didn’t give justice to Tong Nian’s apparent high IQ making the character as someone lacking emotional intelligence toward her own self. Although the drama is full of great characters and solid side stories, they were not brought up to its true and full potential. This drama is not perfect but it is entertaining, enjoy it!

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More propaganda than romance

it reminds me of the old 80s kids show with a lesson everyday,
It starts pretty small (buying scalped tickets is bad) then it progresses until by ep 10 I felt like it was paid for by the Chinese government.
and so far it’s mostly about the competition not about the romance/OTP.
I watch dramas because I want to see the couple.
And English lines like “beautiful downtown Norway” didn’t help
All that being said.
If you like stories with a heavy emphasis on friendship, you’ll probably like this.
Of if you like stuff about computers/ gaming/cyber security.
The actors are good

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Director

given him such a nice acting personality. He is a good actor too. And is handsome. My rating describes it all. But oow they keptadvertising studying hard. Nationality glory and so on ..

given him such a nice acting personality. He is a good actor too. And is handsome. My rating describes it all. But oow they keptadvertising studying hard. Nationality glory and so on ..

given him such a nice acting personality. He is a good actor too. And is handsome. My rating describes it all. But oow they keptadvertising studying hard. Nationality glory and so on ..

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