Drama about dreams and youth

When I first watched the trailer of this drama, I didn't expect that this drama would be so different than what they promised, but in a good way

The trailer only show us that this drama is about esports with a little bit of time travel element in it. But what this drama never tell you is that it has a mystery element, strong friendship element, even with a bit a dash of romance which is so satisfying

You started the drama by meeting the two male leads, Xiao Feng and Lu Xiaobei, who seemed to live in different timeline. But you soon enough realize that they're connected through the game called Cross Fire, where it allows them to sort of communicate with each other. Their story started to unravel from there, which reveal the story about chasing dreams, being youths, and also about friendship

Good things about this drama:
1. Strong characters. There are many times I get mad at the drama because they just don't treat their characters right. But for Cross Fire, all the characters are strong in their own way. Xiao Feng's team and Xiaobei's team both have their own shortcomings and also their own problems, but you will definitely come to love them. I was prepared to roll my eyes if they treated their female characters like a trash, like many dramas usually do, but in this drama the female leads are very headstrong. They're capable of standing on their own two feet without having the support of the male leads. I fell in love with the 3 powerful female leads who are strong and capable in their own way. Even Xiaobei's mother is also very good
2. Mystery plotline. Like I said, this drama is not only about esports and time travel. There's also a mystery that's hinted since the beginning of the drama until the end. There's this one bad guy and you are led to hate him, but at the end, I felt some sympathy to him because his life ended in a way that's just so pathetic. And the mystery is actually very intriguing, even though a little predictable, and it will keep you on edge each episode
3. Engaging storyline and clever editing. The plot of this drama is very tight, very good, and also very engaging. Believe me that chasing this drama one episode per day almost make me go insane because my fragile heart can't handle all the cliffhanger they throw us. It feels like they're playing with our hearts with each episode and you would end up screaming in frustration because the drama is just so good that way
4. Realistic gaming sequence. This might be one of the things that make me stay watching this drama. It's so good that it prompted me to actually watch CF championship (it's so fun!) and wanted to try the game myself. But my laptop is too slow and not designed for gaming, so I have to forget this desire

Bad things about this drama:
1. This drama has the time travel element, so somehow, this part itself is not really realistic. I think there are many times when we have to fill in the blank ourselves since it's not explicitly being explained. The VR part is a bit ridiculous as well, and even though it brings the plot moving forward, I still think that it's a bit weird and a little bit of a stretch
2. Episode count. Of course, being 36eps, there are some parts that could be considered as filler, especially the love triangle that come out of nowhere. You might be confused with some of the storyline as it didn't even make sense (like how XIaobei could get better)

Overall, I think that this drama is worth to be watched and worth you wasting your time for it. I wish everyone would have the courage to actually pick it up and sit through it, and I'm sure you'll love the drama as much as I do. This drama will be my favorite in 2020. Even though the drama is not too logical and there are some parts that make you just feel that it's silly, I'm sure you'll end up loving all the characters and would cheer for their success at the end

Score: 8.5/10

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I think that this is my first review in MyDramalist. I decided to write this review because I really like Mr. Fighting, and wanted to share my feelings with others

The story itself is actually not complicated, and could be considered as simple actually. It's about an actor who was popular when he was in teens, and then become the "washed-up" actor after 10 years, where no one actually know him (or remember his name anymore). With the help of the people he called as "Family" he stepped back onto the road of an actor once again

When i first read the summary, I think that the story is just too simple. Like, there's not much going on. I have predicted that there would be struggle to achieve stardom, but it will be the usual happy-go-lucky story. But when I watched the first episode, I know i'm wrong

The story is not heavy but it's also not fluffy. The drama might tell the story of Hao Zeyu and his road to stardom, but it's the story behind the scene that makes this drama so worth watching. His interaction with the people who he considered as his family, with Fu Zi, and also his struggle to become an actor. What I like is the simplicity of the story, that there's no actual "evil" person in the story (even agent Shi), and that they're just so human. They felt realistic and felt close to me, and that's why I could relate to each of them personally. I also think that the conflict is actually pretty real

This drama actually make me rethink about the word "happiness" itself. What do happiness actually means? Is it having a lot of money and could buy anything you want? Or is happiness the way you're able to be with the person you love and care most and laugh with them everyday? Just like what Fu Zi said, that she wanted normal and realistic romance, and this is what makes their separation, and then their eventual break-up, make me very emotional. I think I didn't stop crying since episode 43, and I continue to cry until the end of episode 44

The story is not gloomy, but it's also not the "fairy tale" story where everything will magically be okay even after a big conflict. And that's what makes me love the story so much

Acting/Cast
All the actors portray their parts properly and amazingly, even the supporting characters like Mr Gu (who like Niu Meili). Their wonderful action makes the drama felt even real to me

Rewatch value
I might not be able to rewatch this because there's just too much heartache. I could only go through this drama once. If I have to sit through this emotional drama again, I might not be able to hold on

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Story that got nowhere

After watching this drama from the beginning until the end, i have different opinion than the other reviewers here. To me, the story starting to get weird around eps28 (or as early as eps23 when the past is mentioned), and everything is like one big mess. The revenge that's more like a long makjang drama, with all the people somehow got involved in the mess. You will get confused on which revenge is this. Zhuo Qingci? Su Yunluo? Wen Siyuan? Shen Manqing? Zhu Yan? Or even Jiang Er? Like, what revenge we're looking at? It's just so unclear

And Su Yunluo, who was so badass in the beginning become such a weakling starting from eps15. She's either hurt, fainted, or getting poisoned. People mention about Zhuo Qingci's stalker behaviour, but they forgot about Su Yunluo's indecisiveness that's just so... indecisive. Do you like Zhuo Qingci or not? One moment, she'll be all over him. The next moment, she'll say "we have no relationship anymore". Repeat this by 10x (or even more), and their love story is getting repetitive. And she never really got better in the end (when she's supposed to learn some sword technique beforehand, but none of it is actually shown). This girl is either talking about helping her master or revenging her master. Yeah, do that when you actually have the skill. And not to actually just cry like a weakling

The only saving grace is Wen Siyuan. His character is good, his past is so well-written. I feel like he's more of the main lead than the actual main lead himself. The main lead has no good backstory that make me connected to him. After so long hating his father, suddenly he went: I can't let you die? Yeah. You don't convince me. I really love Wen Siyuan and his arc is really moving me. He's such a good character that's wasted on this weird drama that no longer make any sense starting from eps28

We also got this arc about Zhu Yan that's so long, so unneeded, and so unnecessary. His whole character itself is unnecessary. Why would you even keep him in the drama? He's like so not important. He's not even the second male lead (the second male lead is actually Wen Siyuan) but we got his whole backstory with tragic birth secret (that's so not tragic) and love story that didn't come to fruition (why you like Su Yunluo is a mystery to me because, yeah, that girl has been nothing but a pain). I would like to see more of Wen Siyuan than Zhu Yan, because really, his arc don't even have any relation to the main story. So why he was there? Just to make the story go longer?

Overall, I think I give this drama a high score already, around 7/10 because of the first 10eps that's just so good
Those who wanted to watch this, better be careful. This drama is really good in the beginning, then after that, well, I can say that it's a mess

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Story (8.5 points)
When I first picked up this title and started watching it, I have no expectation at all. I didn't really think that I would like it and I'm ready to use that fast forward button if it bores me. But I'm so surprised to know that I actually like them. The story might not be new or creative, but it's really good and surprisingly very solid. I could feel the care the production team put into the drama, as they make the drama with the loving care and ensure that the drama is watchable. There are some cheesiness but I could overlook it because the whole drama itself is filled with heart

Acting/Cast (8.0 points)
I think that the acting is quite good. There's no one that's very bad at acting. And the main leads are casted perfectly I think. They both blend perfectly well together. There's that chemistry starting in the second part of the drama, and I think it's very on-point in how they think of each other (which gradually change with time). The only critics that I have is the one who played Zhou Jing, because he seems to have some problem to show that he's a bad guy

Music (8.5 points)
I actually like the music. The opening song fit with the theme very well

Rewatch value (7.0 points)
I don't think that rewatch is necessary. Maybe only at some points, when I wanted to watch the silliness of Xia Kui or Bai Xiao. But for the whole drama? Maybe not

Overall (8.5 points)
The SFX is nicely done. I could clearly see that it's low-budget (not as grand as Ashes of Love or 10 Miles), but it's nicely done and executed. The battle scene is also quite grand, which win some points from me. Overall, I think that the story flows well, the characters and their relationship are believable and nice to see too

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Lazy Storytelling

As someone who had read the novel before, I can say that I enjoy this drama. Is this drama good? The answer is no. Is it the worst? The answer is also no. There are other worst ones.

But I can understand why this doesn't work on others. If you never read the novel from beginning to end, it's really hard to enjoy the drama itself. Actually, the actors in the drama did a great job in portraying their characters, because that's how they're written in the novel. The characters in the novel all have the same paper thin personality as in the drama.

The worst thing is they adapted the word by word novel into the drana, without changing anything or adding the aspects that makes visual storytelling more enjoyable. That's why I rated it as lazy storytelling. The drama team just slap the sentences in the novel onto the drama, without giving it a soul, making it sounds so boring and anti-climatic. When I read the novel, even though I think it's crazy, but since the novel has some kind of background information on why the characters do what they do, but in the drama they didn't bother to do that.

I know how the novel ended so I do know what will happen next, and I also have the privilege of knowing what they're thinking so I'm not that annoyed like others.

My verdict:
This is a watchable drama if you think you have nothing to do and you have a lot of time to spare, and you also no longer has other dramas to watch. It was not absolutely terrible either, and I actually grow fond of the main couples, despite their weird background. This drama is perfect to watch when you are doing something else, like working, doing laundry, etc, as you don't have to focus much to the drama.

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One of the most decent Dr Qin adaptation

There are many adaptations of Dr Qin in Chinese dramaland for the past 6-7 years. The first Dr Qin I watched is the 2016 version, and it could be considered as the best Dr Qin series. It has good cases, good actors, and also good underlining of the romantic relationship that's so not romantic.

This one is a movie, and a very fast-paced one too. In the first minute of the movie, we're told that there's a case of a missing person reported by their own wife. The movie told only 1 case, but it's properly structured as a crime-solving process, even though it's quite predictable. It's easier to identify the culprit(s) and the story itself is still good. Because it's very fast-paced as well, there's no wasted moment.

Plot: 6.5/10
It's predictable but still very fun. There's no wasted space, everything is tightly packed together. Though there are parts that don't make sense, for example when Dr Qin met with the "big boss" of the case for that episode. Other than that, everything was good.

Acting: 6.5/10
There's no one who performed beyond expectation but this means that the no one also have bad performance. Everyone has the same level of performance, which makes it easier to watch the drama.

Overall: 6/10
It's not a bad drama but also not very outstanding one. It's just something that you watched and you might forget the next day. But when you watched it, it's actually quite good.

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Story (8.0 points)
I might be different from the others here who set a high standard for this drama, as I went into this drama basically without any expectation. I wanted to watch it because it has Leon Zhang and that's it. So, I was actually surprised (in a good way) about how this drama turned out to be
The mystery in this drama might not be top-notch, but I didn't watch it to see Oscar-winning deduction or mystery, so I'm actually very happy with each case. The case they presented actually fit with the era where the story is set. The mystery is not too complicated, quick to be solved, and some of the cases linger in my heart (like the case with the murdered Newspaper Editor)
I also don't mind the sudden romance. After all, since the beginning it's set that the two main characters (Lu Yao and Bai Youning) have something for each other. I think it started with camaraderie, partnership, friendship, and then turn into love. I think their progression is set out nicely and executed in a right way

Acting/Cast (8.5 points)
I give it 8.5 points for Leon Zhang's acting. He's so wonderful in this drama. His micro-expression make me happy. He could make it known with just a tilt of a head and some subtle expression on his face to know what he's feeling. It shows amazing acting capability and skill. For Hu Yi Tian, I'm not sure whether it's because I've seen him in Go Go Squid first, but I think that it's a pleasant change from his usual stoic (or dead-blank) expression. He's actually quite expressive and his chemistry with Leon Zhang is just wonderful to watch

Music (10 points)
I think that the music is the best and the most amazing I've ever heard for a drama ost in a long time. I'm addicted to the songs. I could listen to them whole day on repeat

Rewatch Value (7.0 points)
Because it's a mystery drama, once you know who did it, it might be hard to actually rewatch them again. That's why I set the rewatch value to 7 points only

Overall (8.0 points)
In overall, I'm satisfied with the drama. Not boring at all in my opinion. It's executed well and the cases also fit the setting and the era, which is also a pleasant surprise. The set and the clothes are also gorgeous

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As a long time fan of this series (I watched them back in 2001 when it first aired), I'm actually not looking forward to this drama. Lu Xia (Echizen Ryoma) is my prince since I was 12. In my imagination, he's my perfect prince. So watching this drama make me feel a mix of emotions actually since I don't want to see a "failure" version of him (which China did once already)

But I'm pleasantly surprised by how well written the drama actually is. It follows closely to the manga version more, so it gives me more reason to love it. And I also love the actors. They look just like the characters in the original series I could even recognize their rivals easily. That's quite amazing. And the Yu Qing (Seigaku) boys exactly look like their original counterparts. Except for Qiao Chen, who plays Momo, since I think that he is too handsome to be Momo lol

1. Story (8.5 points)
While I like the story, since it follows anime more than the manga, I saw some fillers in the drama as well. It's not unwatchable, but for those who don't like PoT would think that it's totally silly and unnecessary. I'm actually worried about how the tennis would look like, as PoT is not what you call "normal" tennis, it's more like "fantasy" tennis with all those super weird techniques. But it looks fine enough to me. The CGI is smooth and it's integrated well in the drama, making the techniques believable (somehow). I also love that they include Yan-juice (Inui-juice/Penal-tea) in this drama, which is also a pleasant surprise

2. Acting (9.0 points)
Very on-point. I love that Lu Xia is just... Lu Xia. The actor got the character on point and he plays the calm and arrogant character card very well. The other characters also seem to know the original characters very well, because they act just like the original characters. What surprised me is the one who plays Zhou Zi (Fuji), because that character is very hard to portray, but the actor actually played it very well. I'm impressed

3. Music (10 points)
I love the music. The opening and ending are suitable for the drama

4. Rewatch value (7.5 points)
Because you know who's going to win, so I don't think rewatch is necessary. For people like me who is a die hard fan of this story, I would definitely rewatch them. For casual drama watchers, rewatch would be hard with 40 episodes. I'm someone who watch 178 episodes (and more) of the anime like thousand times, so 40 episodes is nothing to me

Overall, my score is 8.0 points for this drama. The production value is surprisingly also quite good. It's not high budget, but I could see the care the production team put into the drama. If they ever release second season, then I would definitely watch them as well

Where to watch: Netflix

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Your average C-drama

Plot: 6/10
The plot of this drama is actually very shallow, it barely even scratch the surface. Ever since the first episode I could see that the drama didn't really take themselves seriously. They have fun with this silly plot and go along with it. I was entertained with it in the beginning, before the doomed break-up happened. But even before then, when Yi Yang started to come into the picture, this balance of pure comedy and silliness that the drama has, suddenly come into a halt. It felt like someone else demanded that this Yi Yang character needs to be there, and the script has to be rewritten. Because even though the plot was so silly it's borderline crazy, but it was really fun. I have fun refreshing my Viu page to see whether it has been updated with the next episode. Since Yi Yang came, it felt like the fun, the silly, the laughter the drama showed in the beginning just gone.

Then the break-up that went on for far too long, wasting a lot of plot and the screentime of our main couple so much. It felt like it had to be dragged in order to fit Yi Yang in there, even though he didn't even matter. He had little significance to the story, and yet he's there. It made me felt uncomfortable watching him in the drama, it felt like he's just so out of place. Why put him there if he didn't even needed?

Other than Yi Yang, I also felt that this drama suffered from having too many couples at the same time. The most useless would be Bi Ruoshan and Guanji. I don't even understand why they need to be there. Sometimes, they took too much screentime supposedly for our leads, and it caused the story to go stagnant for a while as well. I can still forgive Qin Shiyue and Yu You, as they don't take that much screentime. But still, with this many couple, the time spent for the two main leads also had to be cut down.

This showed started episode 35-36, where everything felt so rushed and so fast. There are times when the editing felt so weird. AND WHERE IS MY WEDDING.

Acting: 6/10
I didn't see any bad performances, but this means there's no one who stand out either. Bai Lu was okay, but most of the time she act like a child, so it didn't matter. The others are okay as supporting character. I might have the biggest problem with Wang Hedi. It's not that he's bad, but it felt like he's not progressing either in his acting. And when I first started the drama I mentioned it to my friend that he looked like a child trying hard to be a CEO. And when he speaks, it shattered my reality of the cold and dominant CEO. He doesn't sound like one. I felt conflicted saying this, but I'd rather him get dubbed.

Production value: 5/10
I don't even know what to say. There are times when I thought the camera angle totally unnecessary, and there are times when I thought it's just too much. The lighting felt off at times, and I kinda feel some discomfort watching some parts because the light is too strong.

Overall, the drama is 6/10. I enjoy the first 14 episodes of the drama, then the last 6 episodes. I like my drama fluffy and fun.

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