Oh I was confused for the first couple episodes especially when Wu Xie and Pang Zi knew how old Zhang QiLing was, then I realized this is reunion so it technically happened after the main story and even Tomb of the Sea (if I'm correct). God I wish they would release this stuff in order lmao.
Early review! 1. Acting from both are really good! Leo Wu on point with the teary crying as usual, but Lu Han improved a lot! He still has that sassy vibe, but the smugness is mostly gone when it's not supposed to be there-- 2. The female characters are all annoying at first, but then most of them become rather likeable after and episode or two. 3. Story has been really good. One thing to mention though is that so far there's been more focus on their personal lives compared to the time travel, so those here for the sci-fi ish element might have to wait. 4. Pacing is a bit slow to my taste, but then again I'm used to it after all the c-dramas I've watched. 5. A lot of gaming terms are used without explanation, most of them are self explanatory though (like headshot, fire in the hole etc) for those unfamiliar with FPS terms and stuff. 6. Visuals, costumes, sets, cinematography, and even colours are all nicely done. You feel transported back to 2008 when the scenes are there, and you can easily tell between the two time periods. The little CGI effects they have are all pretty well done too. 8. Video game scenes are really dramatized, but this is a drama after all.
So far a nice drama. Nothing extraordinary but all the characters are interesting. I would say give this series 5 episodes before deciding whether you wanna drop or not, but the real plot starts at around episode 9-10.
First 12 episode thoughts-- 1. Male lead so far is done super well. Xu Kai is doing a great job, and the writers were able to make the character borderline hate-able, but not quite enough for you to actually find him annoying. 2. I don't dislike the female lead. I think she could have a been a little less naive though. Her chemistry with the ML is pretty good though imo. 3. Secondary characters and the rest of the students are great. I usually dislike love triangles, but in this series I don't want to personally rip out the guts of those who are involved (except for maybe that pretentious girl with a nice little sister and the dumb prince). 4. I love the music. Cinematography is pretty typical, but there were some good shots. CGI is "meh", but watchable. Sets and costumes look really good. 5. Plot isn't dragging, but I feel it's been... lacking? I'm not sure if that's just how the story is supposed to be though. Am not a usual romcom (this is a romcom right? doesn't give off the usual heavy wuxia/xianxia love story vibe at least) watcher and I haven't read the novel for this one either, but from the synopsis I was expecting heavier stuff sooner... other than this great series though, and this really was mostly a nitpick.
Oh and Xu Kai is back at it again with the cross-dressing huh
SPOILER!They won't gonna know each other's real identities until the wedding night when she stabs him.
Love a Lifetime got boring but is picking back up again slightly, but And the Winner is Love was so goddamn boring it's crazy. Had high expectations for both ngl. The Song of Glory has kept me interested at least.
Qu Chuxiao is 25, So not the same age for that matter but Ya, I too feel he would have suited the role more, But,…
If that's then case I agree~~ Sorry just recently I've seen so many comments bashing good actors just because they don't look good, got a bit unreasonably triggered.
For those who've read the novel... what was the scene with the black eyes? The drama just forgot about it and I was kinda expecting some big reveal... but it never came up again.
I'll be honest here.. I had higher hopes when I started watching it. But it's in no way bad, just a little disappointing so far. The chemistry between the leads though saves a lot of "weaknesses" this series has.
First 10 episodes review: 1. Allen Ren is an absolute king in this series. His acting has been pretty on point and I really like his character, shows his versatility as an actor. 2. Both females leads were a bit annoying at the start. I still dislike the secondary lead's character. Although I can't exactly say they're good females leads, the actresses are good and portray their characters well. 3. Light-hearted comedy, but not to the point of being a rom-com Wuxia (thank god). 4. Action packed series with great fight scenes from the get-go. 5. Despite it's comedic aspects, it's still a pretty dark and decently intricate story. 6. Pacing though is... eh..? I find the story pacing a bit slow and janky, but it seems from around episode 9 it started to pick up, so it's probably just slow beginnings. 7. Most visual aspects from set to costumes to cinematography and CGI looks really nice. I personally though dislike some of the makeup choices. 8. Music is okay. Kind "meh" compared to other soundtracks. 9. The one thing that annoyed me the most about the series is actually the intro. They added sound affects with the music during the intro and it just seems so off to me, it's hard to describe. Overall: I recommend giving the first 4-6 episodes a try before deciding whether you want to keep watching or not.
1 
1. Acting from both are really good! Leo Wu on point with the teary crying as usual, but Lu Han improved a lot! He still has that sassy vibe, but the smugness is mostly gone when it's not supposed to be there--
2. The female characters are all annoying at first, but then most of them become rather likeable after and episode or two.
3. Story has been really good. One thing to mention though is that so far there's been more focus on their personal lives compared to the time travel, so those here for the sci-fi ish element might have to wait.
4. Pacing is a bit slow to my taste, but then again I'm used to it after all the c-dramas I've watched.
5. A lot of gaming terms are used without explanation, most of them are self explanatory though (like headshot, fire in the hole etc) for those unfamiliar with FPS terms and stuff.
6. Visuals, costumes, sets, cinematography, and even colours are all nicely done. You feel transported back to 2008 when the scenes are there, and you can easily tell between the two time periods. The little CGI effects they have are all pretty well done too.
8. Video game scenes are really dramatized, but this is a drama after all.
So far a nice drama. Nothing extraordinary but all the characters are interesting. I would say give this series 5 episodes before deciding whether you wanna drop or not, but the real plot starts at around episode 9-10.
1. Male lead so far is done super well. Xu Kai is doing a great job, and the writers were able to make the character borderline hate-able, but not quite enough for you to actually find him annoying.
2. I don't dislike the female lead. I think she could have a been a little less naive though. Her chemistry with the ML is pretty good though imo.
3. Secondary characters and the rest of the students are great. I usually dislike love triangles, but in this series I don't want to personally rip out the guts of those who are involved (except for maybe that pretentious girl with a nice little sister and the dumb prince).
4. I love the music. Cinematography is pretty typical, but there were some good shots. CGI is "meh", but watchable. Sets and costumes look really good.
5. Plot isn't dragging, but I feel it's been... lacking? I'm not sure if that's just how the story is supposed to be though. Am not a usual romcom (this is a romcom right? doesn't give off the usual heavy wuxia/xianxia love story vibe at least) watcher and I haven't read the novel for this one either, but from the synopsis I was expecting heavier stuff sooner... other than this great series though, and this really was mostly a nitpick.
Oh and Xu Kai is back at it again with the cross-dressing huh
1. Allen Ren is an absolute king in this series. His acting has been pretty on point and I really like his character, shows his versatility as an actor.
2. Both females leads were a bit annoying at the start. I still dislike the secondary lead's character. Although I can't exactly say they're good females leads, the actresses are good and portray their characters well.
3. Light-hearted comedy, but not to the point of being a rom-com Wuxia (thank god).
4. Action packed series with great fight scenes from the get-go.
5. Despite it's comedic aspects, it's still a pretty dark and decently intricate story.
6. Pacing though is... eh..? I find the story pacing a bit slow and janky, but it seems from around episode 9 it started to pick up, so it's probably just slow beginnings.
7. Most visual aspects from set to costumes to cinematography and CGI looks really nice. I personally though dislike some of the makeup choices.
8. Music is okay. Kind "meh" compared to other soundtracks.
9. The one thing that annoyed me the most about the series is actually the intro. They added sound affects with the music during the intro and it just seems so off to me, it's hard to describe.
Overall: I recommend giving the first 4-6 episodes a try before deciding whether you want to keep watching or not.