you need to watch this drama

I think the criticisms the drama received isn't unfounded. The gaming aspect of the drama was never fully explained. I still don't really understand the game or how the championships work. There is a clear emphasis on the personal lives of the players, rather than on their actual performance in games.

However, E-sports was the setting or background of the drama, so I don't know what more people were expecting. The main focus of the drama was the characters and their growth, not the actual game. If people are looking for a true E-sports drama, this simply isn't the drama for them. At the end of the day, it is a Chinese romance drama, not an E-sports documentary. I understand the reasoning behind the controversy, how it can come off as disrespectful, but no one would really believe the things that happen in a drama anyways.

Rather than giving a realistic point of view and emphasis on E-sports, I think the drama focuses more on addressing other pressing problems. Things like how E-sports is still not considered a real profession, hardships and doubt young people may face when pursuing their dreams, and crazy fans online who care more about their idols' personal lives and appearance than what their idols really do professionally and represent. The topics brought up in the drama even caused me to take a second and reconsider how the show applied to the real world. I think where the drama lacks in sincerity towards the E-sports genre, it makes up for by speaking about these problems.

The acting was a bit stiff and forced, but not to the point that it made me dislike the drama. The romance was perfect. I haven't liked a couple in a Chinese drama as much as I've liked the two main leads. Their characters are made to be complex, yet consistent, and I love it. I sometimes find scenes in Chinese dramas extremely cringey, but there weren't that many of those in this show. I found myself getting butterflies whenever there was something between them. There are some parts in the story where it's painfully obvious that it was to move the plot forward or a filler, but again, like the acting, it wasn't so bad that it made me dislike the drama.

THE MUSIC FOR THIS DRAMA IS TOP TIER. I loved every song. Seventeen made a song for the show, and I was so happy when I found out.

This drama is far from perfect and definitely has flaws, but for me, it was one of the most enjoyable and entertaining Chinese dramas I've watched.

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sweet, warm, and realistic, just right, but not 10/10

In comparison to all other Chinese dramas I've watched, this drama offered an unmatched sense of realism. I felt like I was watching a natural love story unfold. Like I watched a real relationship develop from an outside friend's perspective: starting as a harmless one-sided crush on an older brother's friend and realizing a genuine affection and support for each other as they got older.

I think the key to this wasn't the acting, I felt like the acting itself was acceptable and good, but nothing jaw dropping. The main player to this real-feel was the story and writing. Having watched many Chinese dramas, I'm no stranger to the crazy schemes, plot holes, dramatic side characters, and unrealistic "has it all" leads. This drama still has a ML with a devastating and traumatic childhood, it still has a sort of crazy ex, still has a ML as a top new-face in the tech field, all of these are cliches, but this drama does it right. It adds just enough cliche to keep the viewers engaged and the story going, but never too much that it becomes unreal. The stories they presented us with, how the characters acted at their respective ages, and how the characters reacted to serious situations, were all very possible in the real world. We see the characters face adversity in their careers, family, finances, balancing the many parts of their lives, and etc. However, when we are shown these struggles, we don't see big schemes, dragged-on arcs, and the introduction of meaningless filler side-character stories. We get scenes about a character's emotions, conversations between the leads, and unspoken thoughts. This drama nailed showing, not telling. I think 95% of Chinese dramas fail at this. Things happen, but everything remains fairly calm. Just like in our real lives. I was able to appreciate how the leads built a relationship from support and trust only because I felt their problems were real. Their relationship, their conversations, their moments were all so entirely heart-warming because I felt touched for them.

The cinematography was also much higher quality than any other contemporary drama I've watched. Every scene felt intentional and just right for the moment.

My only qualm with this drama was the age-gap. True, a five-year age gap is really nothing. However, I will always have a problem with this part of the story because of one reason: the leads had an established brother-sister dynamic since the FL was young, to the point that the FL had the ML saved as older brother 2 on her phone. The drama doesn't emphasize much about the ML's change in perspective on the FL. It starts off as the ML seeing the FL as a naive little "kiddo", his words exactly. This is kinda set for a while, and as an audience we don't really know when he started seeing her as an adult. This distinction was never made clear. And I fear it's because he still partly saw her as a child even while he was pursuing her....this is where I think it's a little weird. Once they get into a relationship, they settle really well into it and I don't see their age gap as a problem anymore. It's the transition that was hazy. How can a grown man go from seeing a girl as a silly naive young kid to seeing her as a potential romantic interest that fast? The drama lacks here.

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a well-constructed story about familial and romantic love

I usually have a hard time enjoying dramas about growing up or family because of the melancholy vibe that is always attached to the genre. I've become sick of the cliche sad background stories that are dragged on and cause characters to undergo forced growth.

The idea that three kids end up growing up together because of perfectly aligned unfortunate events is a bit unrealistic and cliche, but the problems that caused their positions in life are as realistic as it can get, which is why I love the drama. Nothing too weird or crazy happens throughout the show. The passage of time is depicted perfectly. The characters pass normal stages of life together, and at times grow distant because of such phases in their lives. It is shown that some relationships, even the strongest ones, can struggle to stay afloat because of time apart. Each character undergoes their own complex struggle with family, and their growth as individuals is well-paced. Every action characters take and the emotions they feel are supported by the strong plot. Throughout the story, there is a perfect balance of comedy, seriousness, and romance.

Three different families, each not following the normal family structure and undergoing their own unique struggle, are united into one. They created a new normal for themselves. The show portrayed how sometimes the relationships people choose to create can be stronger than the ones made by blood.

The only problem I had with the show was that some things were dismissed way too quickly. I understand it needed to be done for a complete story and happy ending, but it undermined the legitimacy of the problems. This is especially true for Ling Xiao's mom. It didn't bother me too much, since it was the ending, but it would've been nice for the problem to be taken more seriously.

I think the reason this show was executed so well is because of the amazing and talented cast. Sometimes I can find acting in Chinese dramas cringe, especially in the case of sad or crying scenes, but this drama didn't have that problem. The emotions were conveyed so well and it made the show seem so realistic.

I saw some people weirded out by the development between Song Wei Long's character and Seven Tan's character. I'd like to point out that if you look back, even to the episodes when they were still children, the relationship between Seven Tan's character and Steven Zhang's character are truly platonic. The show indicates how they tease each other and play around with each other like siblings would, while Song Wei Long's character has a completely different vibe with Seven Tan's character. It's true that Song Wei Long shows care for Seven Tan, but the fact is that they are not related at all. He has his own living parents and Seven Tan's character has her own living dad. His care for her was based in romantic feeling from the start. It's normal for a boy and girl, from two different families, who end up growing up together and spending so much time together, to develop some type of feelings. Steven Zhang's character was different, since his mother was no longer part of his life. Seven Tan's father became his only parental figure, while Song Wei Long's character still had contact with his mother and father. I personally, don't find it gross, because their different relationships were set up since the beginning.

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