This drama has a rather interesting and compelling concept and that's what initially drew me in. It was different and subversive, and I have to applaud the writers for writing a drama where virtual characters are real people trapped by some evil mad scientist. However, that's where my praise starts and stops. I wanted to love this drama SO bad; I really really did! It was interesting and entertaining and I didn't have any issues being swept away by the story, but a major issue began to present itself early on.

My first issue with this drama - why is the lead couple so unlikable? Not just as a couple but as individual characters, as well. I'm not a girl who typically falls prey to the supposed second male lead syndrome, which I don't even think applies in this situation? Mainly because the SML is not really pitted against the ML; he has his own thing and his own lady love. Anyway, I digress. The female lead of this show was annoying; her personality was too much. She was too juvenile in my opinion and not very bright either, if we're being honest. She was slow on the uptake and she immediately exhausted me. The male lead was an outright asshole. I do not like asshole male leads. That's my biggest pet peeve and it's the easiest way to get me to tune out because the world (and CDramaLand) has enough assholes with a heart of gold masquerading as male leads. We don't need more. Give me something different than an awful male lead who is angry at the world and physically/mentally/emotionally takes it out on his supposed love interest. That may be a thing for some fans, but it's not a thing for me. The fact that the female lead allowed the male lead to push her around for a huge chunk of the beginning of this show was enough to leave a nasty taste in my mouth. Like, why? Why must we deal with this nonsense? It's a modern drama; the least they could have done was given her a damn backbone. Alas, they did not.

Now, it seems like all of the makings of a perfect couple were given to the second lead couple. They were absolutely magic! I don't know why or how but those two were far more interesting as individuals and as a couple than the primary leads. It was simply more interesting to watch them than to watch the primary lead couple. So much so that I started skipping all of the primary lead couple's scenes just to get to the second lead couple. Once we had gotten to that point, I realized that it was time to wash my hands of this drama. I tried my hardest to finish this drama, but I couldn't do it. If I have to FFW through the primary lead just to get to a scene where things are interesting and palatable, then it's time for me to take the L and move on with my life. Sidenote: even though the second lead couple were a lot more interesting, things started to get rather stale between them once they became an official couple. I don't know what that was about; they lost their initial spark as a couple. I'm uncertain if that was due to writing/directing choices but becoming a couple was probably the worst thing to happen to them. The star-crossed lovers and Romeo & Juliet thing worked for them.

Also, this drama had entirely too many episodes. This is absolutely a drama that could have been wrapped up in 24-26 episodes. This drama dragged on for longer than it needed to, and that was another huge reason as to why I checked out. After they were defeated by the evil mad scientist, the tone of the drama dropped drastically. It became less interesting and a LOT more depressing; I typically check spoilers to get more info on the length of this weird depressing arc all CDramas seem to have but I couldn't gather up the energy to do so. I was just ready to be done with it.

ANOTHER THING: Fan Shuai Qi was the MVP of this drama. I just found out how young she was but she embodied an older character really well. I couldn't even tell that she was only in her early 20s. She BODIED this role! That's an actress that I'll be on the look out for because she was amazing. I'm going to say something controversial here: she was a better actor than her counterpart. I know everyone loves him, but his acting skills still need some work and I don't doubt that he can get better. It's been a few years since this show aired and I've only seen him in one other thing since this drama aired, but she ran circles around him in terms of acting. She's a MUCH stronger actor than him.

Would I rewatch this show? No. Would I recommend this show? Also, no. Don't waste your time. It's going to start off fun and exciting, but it's not going to stay that way. The excitement will quickly dwindle when you realize the momentum of the primary arc of this show hit and then dipped off. You're going to look up and realize that you still have 12 episodes to watch and nothing is entertaining enough to make you keep watching. If you're bored, watch it. If you're not, I suggest that you pass on this one.