This review may contain spoilers
Wouldn’t rewatch
The story held a lot of promise and provided entertainment, yet there were certain elements that were executed poorly. Around episode 26, I began to skip scenes due to the repetitiveness and excessive use of unnecessary flashbacks throughout most episodes. On the production side, the presence of noticeable voiceovers and dubs frequently disrupted the immersion of the story.On a positive note, the dynamic between the main group of boys and their interactions with the ML was the highlight of the show. The acting from the side characters and OST weren’t bad either.
However, there were some aspects that didn't resonate well. The portrayal of the "elders'" reaction to the ML's profession felt clichéd, particularly the unbelievable response from the FL’s parents. Despite being educated people that clearly understand the tech industry given how they speak about their daughter’s career, they inexplicably looked down on ML's career. He’s in the tech industry as well, specializing in and pioneering a very important sector of the industry, and even established his own company. There was already plenty of potential for conflict stemming from his age, character, and the FL's status as a student. They didn’t need to harp on him “playing with computers” all day. Like what?
Speaking of conflict, stupid misunderstandings were used as well as noble idiocy to cause tension. Both of which are never not frustrating and unrealistic.
The excessive use of cringeworthy and awkward moments between the ML and FL created an unintended perception of incompatibility between them. The FL often seemed like a prop rather than a fully developed character, exhibiting traits reminiscent of a manic pixie dream girl. The ML's aloof and arrogant portrayal was executed too well, detracting from the potential chemistry between him and the FL.
The kiss scenes also suffered from awkwardness. And the FL constantly being referred as a kid felt off-putting given the age gap situation. It’s unclear if this is a translation issue though. On a minor and petty note, the styling of the FL, especially her hair, often appeared distractingly out of place.
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A cute romantic drama with lots of humor. The romance runs parallel with exciting competition teamed with life events, love, teamwork, forgiveness, understanding, and self enlightenment. I felt myself emotional caught up in their competitions and strategies. There is no dramatic second lead unrequited love, thank goodness. The actors are great; all have the right chemistry together. There were not much flashbacks until the last two episodes. Still, it's definitely a re-watch, binge worthy drama. I have to say I was dragging the drama longing because I did not want it to end. This is definitely worth another season as they move on to the next journey in their competition.
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Female lead's character , dressing sense,& professional education didn't even match because if you see bit thoroughly ,she is different in many manner ( if you're going to watch it then notice her personality ,her actions).I mean she's multi telented but still an idiot & tries to look cute. Practically chases male lead constantly.
Male lead is so irritating , cold & didn't give proper attention to female except in 2-3 episodes. Can't understand reason behind showing these kind of leads.Okay..If you want to match them than create proper situations and sense. NO ROMANCE TILL 30 EPISODES WHAT THE HELL IS THIS ?!
Only good thing about this drama is those cute boys of K&K E -sports company. :)
SORRY BUT DON'T WATCH IT AFTER 15 EPISODE.
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Boring as Hell!
I started watching this after watching and enjoying other E-Sport Mainland Chinese dramas, i.e., Love 020 and Falling into Your Smile and thought this competition-themed show would be good. Was I ever wrong!First of all, the Female Lead annoyed me to no end. She wormed her way into the Club facility and then stalked the Male Lead for numerous episodes in the beginning of the series. And what is with her hair style? Is she 5 years old??? Her over-acting drove me crazy!
The Male Lead, who could be considered somewhat good-looking, was emotionally stunted. I guess that's what his character was supposed to be (that is, stiff as a board) but it completely turned me off.
I blame the writers for the poor screenplay and script. I also blame them and the director for stretching this show out to 41 episodes. They could have told the story in half as many episodes. I watched up to Episode 20 then skipped to Episode 40 and didn't feel that I missed anything major, as the plot was predictable. This show was filmed in 2018 and I find that C-dramas were generally pretty bad until 2020 when they showed a marked improvement in storyline, acting and set production. An example of this improvement is Falling into Your Smile, a C-drama in 2021 with superior storyline, acting, graphics, and production quality.
I will not rewatch this show nor recommend it to anyone.
Overall: poor writing and story, poor acting, poor set designs, poor hair designs.
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This review may contain spoilers
Just finished this series. I really had a love /hate affair with it. First, the maincouple was really great, but why did they dress the fl so badly? I also thought the flashbacks were just too long and too much. I really liked the game element, but unfortunately I didn't see enough of it.The friendship in the kk group and the old friends were really outstanding.Loved that part.The romance ,for me, was not that great.It took i believe 20 episode ore more before they kissed.The fl was in the beginning really stupid and annoying,i was happy that she changed a bit.The members of the kk group were fun to see but some were there and just acted cold.Maybe some day i will watch it again but only for the friendship and not for the romance.
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This review may contain spoilers
Story:I am a big fan of C-Dramas and honestly out of all the ones I’ve seen, Go Go Squid is definitely one of my favorites. The overall mood of the story is very light hearted which I liked since I’m not a big fan of sad plots.
I think the theme of the story is basically “follow your dreams and anything can happen” which I found very positive and nice. The plot started to drag a little towards the end and I was extremely disappointed when, despite everything leading up to the international CTF competition, we didn’t get to see it. I think TN and HSY’s relationship became too rushed towards the last few episodes and would’ve enjoyed it more if they took it slower. Overall I liked the storyline of the drama, although there is definitely room for improvement.
Cast:
When this drama was recommended to me, I was very reluctant to watch it mainly I didn’t think Li Xian was handsome enough for the role which I now think is ridiculous. He is such a good actor and has grown on me so much. I loved his character and the way he seemed to cold on the outside but was just a big child on the inside.
I watched Ashes of Love and throughly enjoyed Yang Zi’s acting and had high expectations for her in this drama. Her character was the typical bubbly, rather dazed girl you see in most TV series. Overall I didn’t really like TN’s personality very much but Yang Zi did a good job portraying her.
TN and HSY’s relationship was very awkward at first but later grew to be very sweet and loving. I loved how TN supported HSY and was always there for him. Yang Zi and Li Xian make quite a nice couple and I totally ship them.
I think Wu Bai should’ve gotten way more parts since he was basically the star of K&K. He was barely in the first half of the drama and basically disappeared after the 20th or so episode. They should’ve explained his backstory and how he got into CTF. I think he was just completely out of place in the drama. Hu Yi Tian is too big of a star to only be a supporting role.
I absolutely loved all the members of Team Solo and really enjoyed the flashbacks HSY constantly had. Their relationships with each other were super close and they were basically brothers and sister. It was devastating to watch them tirelessly work their way to the top only to split up at the peak of their career. I felt so bad for Solo, having to bear the guilt of his team splitting up because of his own personal problems. His daughter Xiao Ai was super funny and I loved her and HSY’s little arguments. When Solo and HSY finally made up after so many years, I almost started bawling, seeing the old team back together again. I lowkey ship Solo and HSY so much and live for their bromance moments.
My favorite character interactions were definitely between HSY and 97, Demo, Grunt and the rest of the K&K boys. The scenes were super funny and cute and worth rewatching.
Music:
How do I even start? I love this dramas music so freaking much, especially the theme song 无名之辈 and Team Solos flashback song (I don’t know what that one is called). I think Team Solos flashback song portrays their struggle very well. The song is basically about your past successes and glory days which represents them so well. And out of all the C-Dramas I’ve ever seen, 无名之辈 is the only theme song I’ve never skipped a single time. My sister and I literally know all the lyrics and scream it out every time. I love that they play it everytime they win a competition, the song just makes it more meaningful. When K&K won the Asia Championship and 无名之辈 came on, I started full on crying while singing along.
Overall I love this drama and will definitely rewatch it a lot. It’s very refreshing and sweet and motivates you to pursuit your dreams. I’d definitely recommend. ( ^ω^ )
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A MUST WATCH.
I held off on watching for years bc Go Go Squid Season 2 was not good (let’s be honest, it was bad).I accidentally watched that first so I gave up on Season 1. I stumbled upon this again and decided to give it a try. Omg I’ve never been happier to be wrong. THIS WAS JUST AMAZING.
1. Li Xian as the ML is enough for me to justify why this drama is so good. He is dashingly handsome and the swag he gives to this character is the cherry on top. His chemistry with the FL is phenomenal.
2. FL is not the best looking actress but I have to say, she’s a great actress. Her character here is surprisingly not the typical annoying young girl in love. She’s smart, calm and very understanding. It made sense why ML fell for her even though he’s so picky.
3. The bromance is very sweet and touching.
4. It doesn’t focus on the competitions but on the interpersonal relationships which is why it’s so good.
5. No dumb love triangles. The leads do go through rough patches but it needed to happen for them to grow and strengthen their love.
6. No “evil” dumb characters. Just a lot of growth, development and wonderful story about this group of incredible people.
My suggestion- watch this., then watch the last episode of season 2 for their bonus happy ending!!
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Story: I was not satisfied with the story. Too slow at the beginning, and become bored in some episodes. They just dragged the main point of the plot until episode 20 something, and the main characters just going round and round with no purpose. After episode 25 the story become more interesting. The romance is sweet and cute. And some scenes are so funny that makes me giggle and LOL.
Acting: I think the lead actor and actress are good in acting. They look so sincere in funny scene and sad scene. However, the chemistry is not there. Perhaps it's just the characters in the story who has awkward personality, hence the chemistry become weird. (NB: Li Xian is so good-looking and cool!)
Music: The music is good but not very impressive. Fit to the series though
Rewatch value: Just some sweet and funny scenes are worth to rewatch.
Overall: I kinda like this type of drama about reaching our dreams even going against the mainstream, but this series is too draggy. Can add another story despite of redo the same act many times, like second lead love story or the purpose of the main female characters strong background. For the light romance drama, this series is not to be missed
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IT'S BECAME MY NUMBER ONE FAV CDRAMA
I never think how good this gonna be! Everything about this drama it's very perfect. It's not just focus on the romance between HSY and TN but it also focus on HSY past, best friend, KK and SP. All the emotions, happy, sad, angry, broken, found, everything I can really feel it!! HSY it's a very green flag man (act of service, gentleman, act of money, responsibility). Tong Nian too it's a green flag gf, she's never angry to HSY she always be right there to support HSY and his team. What a lovely drama! Also all the OST make this drama become very cool! Li Xian very handsome in this drama and I can't wait to see him and Yang Zi in Flourished Peony!Was this review helpful to you?
Loved Everything but the Leading Couple
Since Go Go Squid is one of the highest rated Mainland China shows on Viki, I thought I would check it out, and while I made it to the end, it wasn't because of the leading couple.Set in the world of competitive pro gaming, this drama has an interesting premise filled with quirky young actors that provide humor to every scene that they are in, and they and are almost enough to compensate for the leading couple's lack of chemistry.
Almost.
Separately, the two leading characters are both intelligent and successful in their chosen career paths even if they are both inexperienced in the romance department, so on the surface they should have a lot in common to make their significant age gap seem trivial. Sadly, whenever they are together, their worst faults are only highlighted, which makes watching them as a couple cringe inducing.
Tong Nian (TN) immediately develops a crush on Han Shang Yin's (HSY), and her inexperience manifests in the form of an adolescent crush, as she fangirls over him and tries to insert herself in his life however possible. HSY's initial disinterest in TN slowly evolves into a mutual interest, but due to his lack of dating experience, his exterior behaviors still project a sense a apathy. Overall, even at the peak of their relationship, it still feels like watching a 13-year-old girl with the hots for teacher, a teacher who is doing his best not to engage for fear of giving her the wrong idea and hurting her feelings. This dynamic is especially disappointing because TN is otherwise such an intelligent woman, and I found myself enjoying her character more when she wasn't with the leading man.
Leading couple aside, I would still call this drama "cute," and if you're in the mood for something light, fluffy, and full of entertaining secondary characters, then you may find this drama worth the watch. However, if you are very particular about you're leading couple and don't want a leading woman who becomes a less interesting version of herself when she's in love, then you may want to avoid this drama.
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HIDDEN GEM OF C- DRAMAS, BEST OF 2019 , PERFECT IN MANY WAYS, YOU WILL LOVE IT FOR SURE
THIS IS A COMPLETE PACKAGE C- DRAMA OF ALL TIME. I OFTEN GIVE A REVIEW FOR THE DRAMS THAT I'VE WATCHED BUT THIS IS A HIDDEN GEM AND A MUST WATCHED.AT FIRST, I WAS HESITANT TO WATCHED THIS DRAMA BECAUSE IT HAS 41 EPISODES UNLIKE MY GIRLFRIEND IS AN ALIEN, PERFECT AND CASUAL, PUT YOUR HEAD ON MY SHOULDER AND SUCH. BUT AFTER WATCHING THIS DRAMA, I'VE REWATCHED IT FOR 5 TIMES IN A STRAIGHT WEEK. THAT IS HOW GOOD IT IS.
SOME MAY FIND IT TO BORONG BECAUSE OF THE STORYLINE COMPARED WITH THE MOST FAVORITE A LOVE 020 (ESPORTS THEME), BUT THIS IS REFRESHING AND SO GOOD IN MANY ASPECTS.
CHARACTERS- LI XIAN DEFINITELY FITS THE ROLE. HIS NOT THAT ATTRACTIVE AT FIRST SIGHT, BUT BOOM, YOU WILL FALL IN LOVE WITH HIM FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. TRUST ME. YOU WILL ADORE HIM FOR SURE AFTER WATCHING GGS. YANG ZI PLAYED SO WELL, NO COMMENT, I KNOW SHE ALWAYS DOES. AND THE REST OF THE CAST TEAM SOLO, TEAM SP, TEAM K &K WAS MADE FOR THE DRAMA. THEY GIVE THE SHOW THE BEST SUPPORTING CAST/ ROLE. HU YI TIAN IS MY FIRST C- DRAMA LOVE AND I MISS HIM BUT I AM SATSFIED THAT THIS SHOW WAS NOT JUST ABOUT HOW GOOD HE IS. HE COMPLIMENT THE OTHER K&K MEMBERS. 97, ONE, GRUNT, WU BAI, DEMO, ALL, APPLEDOG, SOLO, YAYA, XIAFEI. THEY MADE THE SHOW PERFECT.
OST- THE BEST OST OF ALL TIME. THE 3 SOUNDTRACKS ARE SO PERFECT. MOST OF THE WONDERFUL OST'S ARE IN KOREAN DRAMAS BUT GO GO SQUID HAS THE BEST IN C- DRAMAS. NOT JUST ONE BUT 3 PERFECT SOUNDTRACKS/
LASTLY, THH STORYLINE IS UNIQUE IN ITS OWN WAY, YOU SHOULD JUST UNDERSTAND IT. YOU CANNOT CHANGE IT BECAUSE IT COMES FROM A NOVEL. THERE ARE SOME LOOPHOLES AND BORING MOMENTS LIKE IN EP 2 AND FLASHBACKS. BUT OH MEN. THE SCENES ARE SO PERFECT. LIKE IN E 3, 4 , 7, 8, 15, 30 AND UP.
ASIDE FROM DESCENDANTS OF THE SUN. GO GO SQUID IS THE ONLY DRAMA THAT I'VE WATCHED MORE THAN ONCE AND TRUST ME I AM PICKY IN TERMS OF WHAT TO WATCHED. JIAYO
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Light easy to watch romcom with great storyline
I like how Chinese dramas are having more strong female leads like this one. The female lead is no clumsy naive simpleton, she’s a genius college student. And she’s super confident and very outgoing. I love the relationship she has with her cousin and her bestie in college too. I also liked that even though she was a big internet star, she was genuine and down to earth. She has a very likable personality. On the downside, be prepared for some odd outfits that are a bit oversized and for her hair to always be pulled into a half ponytail. It’s been a terrible trend with Chinese dramas lately. I don’t know why they can’t leave the hair down and put close fitting figure flattering clothes on the female leads.As for the male lead, at first he comes off as your typical cold unfeeling hot guy thats full of himself and ignores all of the females vying for his attention. But once you get to know him you realize he’s not full of himself or trying to ignore anyone or be rude. His upbringing made him clueless about social situations and an event in the past has him hyper focused on winning the world championship for China in CTF (Cyber security). Plus he co owns a big cyber security company and runs the entire Chinese branch by himself. So he doesn’t have the time to put much effort into friendships or relationships.
Fortunately for the male lead, the female lead comes along and turns his world upside down. Because of a misunderstanding, they have to pretend to date for a while and she teaches him so much about relationships and how to be a good friend. She sees through his rough exterior to the warm caring person he really is and helps his character to grow tremendously. I love their romance with the real kisses, hugs, and cuddles. It’s very sweet and they have great chemistry. The romantic aspects of this drama were done perfectly.
Another big plus for this drama is the CTF (cyber security) gaming competitions. I loved how the teams worked and lived together. The camaraderie and team spirit was quite touching. They seemed more like family than friends. And the way the male lead was more of a father figure to his team than a friend was endearing. The gaming storyline made it much deeper and more interesting than your typical romance drama.
I normally don’t even notice the music in a drama. It’s just not my thing. But I have to say that I found myself humming along to a lot of the songs. I even looked up a couple of songs and downloaded them. The entire soundtrack is really good and added a lot to the drama.
There are a lot of well fleshed out side characters that you’ll love. The male leads grandfather is just adorable. I couldn’t get enough of him! And his gorgeous and talented cousin is so quiet and mysterious. The female leads parents relationship was so funny and cute too. And the whole K & K CTF team is pure eye candy.
In conclusion, I would say that this is a relatively light easy to watch romance drama with an interesting storyline. There’s not too much angst or sadness. It’s there but it’s not drawn out for too long making you want to scream at your tv. The acting is absolutely amazing with a great cast. It flows well never leaving you confused about what happened. All of the questions are answered and the loose ends are tied up in the end too. My only complaint would be that there are way too many flashbacks to the past throughout the drama. They hint at what really happened in the past between the group of friends for way too long. But I guess no drama is perfect, right? But this one is pretty close to perfect in my honest opinion. I would definitely recommend watching this drama.
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