A feel good youth sports romance drama
I really liked the premise of the story and I was curious about the main leads' acting so I dived into this impulsively and I'm happy to report this was not bad even though I typically don't enjoy youth dramas.
Lets start with the positives:
1. The acting- I really liked the acting of the cast members. Sure it didn't stary too far from the typical cdrama style comical expressions but it had more depth and emotion than usual
2. The chemistry- Not only the main leads, the little savage tribe also had good chemistry and I would believe it if they become real friends outside this drama. The main leads also had good slow burn chemistry and it was like I was third wheeling whenever I saw them together on screen
3. Football scenes & lingo- I liked that they discussed tactical theories and strategy and those football match scenes looked believable (tho I don't know a thing about football).
4. The dialogue- Though I had a few issues with the plot, I liked the dialogues in the script. It wasn't that cringey and sounded natural
5. The overall message and ending- I think this series had one of the most well written endings I've seen in a cdrama. I liked how football was used as a metaphor for resilience, unity and perseverance. I also liked how they didn't end it with the usual wedding scene but instead gave a hopeful and positive vibe.
Now let's move onto the negatives:
1. The light hearted plot- While this was marketed as a healing drama, it still had very dark and serious concepts so I expected some sort of emotional weight but it never came. Personally, maybe because of the pacing or how they rewrote the original novel for this drama, I couldn't feel the emotional angst I was supposed to feel. Then I read the scenes which were altered from the original novel and I understood why I felt that way because the plot points in the original novel were more darker, serious and contemplative.
2. The main focus kept getting lost- I feel like if you're going to rewrite the novel, then the plot points have to be streamlined better. There were too many side plots and the main focus which was supposed to the team and football, kept getting lost and overshadowed. This is another reason why some of the serious side plots didn't get the enough care and attention needed
3. The unnecessary side characters- I have a feeling that Yu Bo and Ju Li had a much more significant role in the novel. But in the drama, they just felt surface level and I couldn't connect to them at all. Their endings also felt shallow and rushed which made me feel like they got the lazy writing treatment.
Overall, if you're into youth dramas then you might love this more than me. It was not bad but not great either so it felt alright to me.
Lets start with the positives:
1. The acting- I really liked the acting of the cast members. Sure it didn't stary too far from the typical cdrama style comical expressions but it had more depth and emotion than usual
2. The chemistry- Not only the main leads, the little savage tribe also had good chemistry and I would believe it if they become real friends outside this drama. The main leads also had good slow burn chemistry and it was like I was third wheeling whenever I saw them together on screen
3. Football scenes & lingo- I liked that they discussed tactical theories and strategy and those football match scenes looked believable (tho I don't know a thing about football).
4. The dialogue- Though I had a few issues with the plot, I liked the dialogues in the script. It wasn't that cringey and sounded natural
5. The overall message and ending- I think this series had one of the most well written endings I've seen in a cdrama. I liked how football was used as a metaphor for resilience, unity and perseverance. I also liked how they didn't end it with the usual wedding scene but instead gave a hopeful and positive vibe.
Now let's move onto the negatives:
1. The light hearted plot- While this was marketed as a healing drama, it still had very dark and serious concepts so I expected some sort of emotional weight but it never came. Personally, maybe because of the pacing or how they rewrote the original novel for this drama, I couldn't feel the emotional angst I was supposed to feel. Then I read the scenes which were altered from the original novel and I understood why I felt that way because the plot points in the original novel were more darker, serious and contemplative.
2. The main focus kept getting lost- I feel like if you're going to rewrite the novel, then the plot points have to be streamlined better. There were too many side plots and the main focus which was supposed to the team and football, kept getting lost and overshadowed. This is another reason why some of the serious side plots didn't get the enough care and attention needed
3. The unnecessary side characters- I have a feeling that Yu Bo and Ju Li had a much more significant role in the novel. But in the drama, they just felt surface level and I couldn't connect to them at all. Their endings also felt shallow and rushed which made me feel like they got the lazy writing treatment.
Overall, if you're into youth dramas then you might love this more than me. It was not bad but not great either so it felt alright to me.
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