1
1
Strong Start, draggy middle, brilliant Finish.
I... don't get the hype.
Almost dropped it but had invested too much time to, so I persisted to the end.
Too many game scenes which ultimately becomes pretty boring at some point ( If I wanted to watch e-sport... I would watch e-sport, I'm here for the story not the competition though obviously featuring some scenes is necessary) but more importantly, characters all repeatedly make the same mistake which is ruining their team's hard work due to their inflated ego... and this is something that I find not only extremely ANNOYING but which I just can't understand.
If you want to play games to brag that much, maybe switching to SOLO games might be better instead of dragging everyone's effort through the mud.
On one side that makes for good character growth... on the other, it becomes REALLY repetitive when all characters have an ego issue... Except for the character of Yi Fan, who basically has the complete opposite problem and the nerd who sucks at playing but is a good tactician.
We spend quite a lot of time with each member joining the team. A stapple of any sport anime/drama/movie you name it... except here I feel it's too long and it ultimately becomes boring at some point.
But the final nail in the coffin is the character of Ye Qiu. Basically he's perfect. Not one single flaw. He's supposed to be the main character, yet there's no character progression at all during the whole drama. He's only the best and that's basically it... And since he's the best, there's absolutely nothing interesting about him... and hence we spend most of our time with EVERYONE BUT him, which is err... WEIRD considering the drama's name is based on HIM or rather the character he plays.
This being said, at least Ye Qiu is just bland.... because my GOD the number of irritating characters is just ridiculous in this drama. From the good guys to the "bad guys", everybody is annoying as Fudge, starting from Chen Guo, team's Happy's boss to Tao Xuan, Ye Qiu's former boss and Team Excellent Era's manager who remained basically a major a**hole from start to finish and a whole lot of others in the middle. That jerk couldn't even apologize for his behavior even once. He got what he deserved, but a simple "Sorry" to both Ye Qiu and Mu Cheng would have gone a long way.
Sadly, Ye Qiu being how he is, i.e very cool-headed and not particularly vengeful, they was never any punchline or him hitting the nail on the coffin of his former boss.
My petty self was waiting for it, but sadly it never came. I'll have to be happy with him being utterly ruined by the end of the show without time given to revel in his misery.
There's also some philosophical talks about LIFE through playing GAMES... And I'm not saying it's bad... But when You've watched as many sports anime as I did... it just feel like rince and repeat, though that's not the drama's fault...
This being said the buildup to the final showdown was really well done and the last 4 episodes and 1/3 really flew by. I wish the whole show had the same intensity or at least something closer to it but sadly nope...
CONCLUSION
The beginning was nice but not outstanding, the middle long and boring and the finale as brillant as it was just wasn't enough for me to forgive the draggy middle.
I really don't get why it's such a loved show, I was really happy when it came to Viki, because I heard a lot about it... But I guess it's one instance where the Anime version is probably better.
Chinese drama tend to take their time in telling stories and I just don't think it fits the genre. Also Yang Yang is really handsome, but the face card alone is not enough sorry.
It's not a bad show per say... but it's not as good as advertised imho.
Final Ratings: 7.5
Almost dropped it but had invested too much time to, so I persisted to the end.
Too many game scenes which ultimately becomes pretty boring at some point ( If I wanted to watch e-sport... I would watch e-sport, I'm here for the story not the competition though obviously featuring some scenes is necessary) but more importantly, characters all repeatedly make the same mistake which is ruining their team's hard work due to their inflated ego... and this is something that I find not only extremely ANNOYING but which I just can't understand.
If you want to play games to brag that much, maybe switching to SOLO games might be better instead of dragging everyone's effort through the mud.
On one side that makes for good character growth... on the other, it becomes REALLY repetitive when all characters have an ego issue... Except for the character of Yi Fan, who basically has the complete opposite problem and the nerd who sucks at playing but is a good tactician.
We spend quite a lot of time with each member joining the team. A stapple of any sport anime/drama/movie you name it... except here I feel it's too long and it ultimately becomes boring at some point.
But the final nail in the coffin is the character of Ye Qiu. Basically he's perfect. Not one single flaw. He's supposed to be the main character, yet there's no character progression at all during the whole drama. He's only the best and that's basically it... And since he's the best, there's absolutely nothing interesting about him... and hence we spend most of our time with EVERYONE BUT him, which is err... WEIRD considering the drama's name is based on HIM or rather the character he plays.
This being said, at least Ye Qiu is just bland.... because my GOD the number of irritating characters is just ridiculous in this drama. From the good guys to the "bad guys", everybody is annoying as Fudge, starting from Chen Guo, team's Happy's boss to Tao Xuan, Ye Qiu's former boss and Team Excellent Era's manager who remained basically a major a**hole from start to finish and a whole lot of others in the middle. That jerk couldn't even apologize for his behavior even once. He got what he deserved, but a simple "Sorry" to both Ye Qiu and Mu Cheng would have gone a long way.
Sadly, Ye Qiu being how he is, i.e very cool-headed and not particularly vengeful, they was never any punchline or him hitting the nail on the coffin of his former boss.
My petty self was waiting for it, but sadly it never came. I'll have to be happy with him being utterly ruined by the end of the show without time given to revel in his misery.
There's also some philosophical talks about LIFE through playing GAMES... And I'm not saying it's bad... But when You've watched as many sports anime as I did... it just feel like rince and repeat, though that's not the drama's fault...
This being said the buildup to the final showdown was really well done and the last 4 episodes and 1/3 really flew by. I wish the whole show had the same intensity or at least something closer to it but sadly nope...
CONCLUSION
The beginning was nice but not outstanding, the middle long and boring and the finale as brillant as it was just wasn't enough for me to forgive the draggy middle.
I really don't get why it's such a loved show, I was really happy when it came to Viki, because I heard a lot about it... But I guess it's one instance where the Anime version is probably better.
Chinese drama tend to take their time in telling stories and I just don't think it fits the genre. Also Yang Yang is really handsome, but the face card alone is not enough sorry.
It's not a bad show per say... but it's not as good as advertised imho.
Final Ratings: 7.5
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