Strong directing and OST with not only a fun story but a compelling question about what's "real"
This is a solid drama for you if you enjoy VR romance or fake period setting dramas, such as "To Get Her" "Love & The Emperor" and "The Queen of Attack." I think I would rate it unbiasedly as a 9, but because of how much I liked this drama, the extra point is for enjoyment, so 10/10.
First, the summary on MyDramaList is confusing. Si Yan didn't mistakenly enter a VR game. Si Yan is a prideful social media beauty blogger influencer who got into a drunken car accident and became comatose. Her father, a CEO of a gaming company, built a VR game to help her awaken; if she completes the tasks, it can stimulate brain signals that may help her wake up. (On the science side, I don't know how accurate it is, but I like that they provide this information right at the beginning.) So, Si Yan has a lot of stakes right at the beginning. She needs to survive, complete the tasks, so that she can wake up in the real world. That's the basic premise and as she meets new (and one old) friends and fall in love, she'll have to make hard decisions.
I greatly enjoy this drama overall because it had everything that a romantic comedy drama should have:
-It has strong directing, allowing for many scenic and memorable moments.
-A first episode that's intriguing and compelling with perfect OST tracks and slow-motion scenes
-It has good OST that, with each listen, really adds to the emotions of the story.
-It has a well strung, serious plot that lasted throughout the entire series with clever callbacks to earlier episodes and information.
-It has solid acting; this is Snow Kong's first historical drama and although I had never seen her act in anything else, I thought she did fantastic. I never felt off about her or felt she was lacking. For the male lead, Yan Zi Dong, it's a hit and miss depending on if you like the actor's face. He doesn't have the most stoic and perfect face, which I think was necessary for his character as Qi Guan Yi, but some folks complained about how he didn't look good enough. I personally enjoyed his face and acting as I've seen him in his previous dramas and I thought he did well here. For Karen Kang as the second female lead, I also enjoyed her performance and the drama really showed off her dancing talent. For Deng Wei, he's perfect and has all the potential to be the main male lead; he's got a great face and he's a good actor. Overall, all the actors were good.
I think you'd enjoy this drama if you like these aspects:
-An imperfect, arrogant female lead who grows into a better person and grows to care about others
-The stoic and smart male lead with trauma that led him to be suspicious of others
-Cute male characters, almost like a reverse harem, lol
-A prejudice-at-first-interaction relationship between the female and male leads, so suspicion and dislike of each other at first
-A tragic second male lead who will break your heart
-A physically strong and scheming second female lead/antagonist who harbors her own secrets
-The third male character who has a sad upbringing that leads him to have a stutter when speaking to women
-Supporting characters getting their own romance (although it is deeply developed), such as between a prince and his maid. There is also heavily implied romantic notion regarding a prince and his bodyguard! So some BL vibes.
-The blurring idea of what's reality and what's real: how it may be virtual but what we experience like our feelings--love, hate, happiness--is real, and so, how does that matter in the VR world? What is really "true" to us?
-Ominous foreshadowing from the first episode! Creating high potential for future angst.
First, the summary on MyDramaList is confusing. Si Yan didn't mistakenly enter a VR game. Si Yan is a prideful social media beauty blogger influencer who got into a drunken car accident and became comatose. Her father, a CEO of a gaming company, built a VR game to help her awaken; if she completes the tasks, it can stimulate brain signals that may help her wake up. (On the science side, I don't know how accurate it is, but I like that they provide this information right at the beginning.) So, Si Yan has a lot of stakes right at the beginning. She needs to survive, complete the tasks, so that she can wake up in the real world. That's the basic premise and as she meets new (and one old) friends and fall in love, she'll have to make hard decisions.
I greatly enjoy this drama overall because it had everything that a romantic comedy drama should have:
-It has strong directing, allowing for many scenic and memorable moments.
-A first episode that's intriguing and compelling with perfect OST tracks and slow-motion scenes
-It has good OST that, with each listen, really adds to the emotions of the story.
-It has a well strung, serious plot that lasted throughout the entire series with clever callbacks to earlier episodes and information.
-It has solid acting; this is Snow Kong's first historical drama and although I had never seen her act in anything else, I thought she did fantastic. I never felt off about her or felt she was lacking. For the male lead, Yan Zi Dong, it's a hit and miss depending on if you like the actor's face. He doesn't have the most stoic and perfect face, which I think was necessary for his character as Qi Guan Yi, but some folks complained about how he didn't look good enough. I personally enjoyed his face and acting as I've seen him in his previous dramas and I thought he did well here. For Karen Kang as the second female lead, I also enjoyed her performance and the drama really showed off her dancing talent. For Deng Wei, he's perfect and has all the potential to be the main male lead; he's got a great face and he's a good actor. Overall, all the actors were good.
I think you'd enjoy this drama if you like these aspects:
-An imperfect, arrogant female lead who grows into a better person and grows to care about others
-The stoic and smart male lead with trauma that led him to be suspicious of others
-Cute male characters, almost like a reverse harem, lol
-A prejudice-at-first-interaction relationship between the female and male leads, so suspicion and dislike of each other at first
-A tragic second male lead who will break your heart
-A physically strong and scheming second female lead/antagonist who harbors her own secrets
-The third male character who has a sad upbringing that leads him to have a stutter when speaking to women
-Supporting characters getting their own romance (although it is deeply developed), such as between a prince and his maid. There is also heavily implied romantic notion regarding a prince and his bodyguard! So some BL vibes.
-The blurring idea of what's reality and what's real: how it may be virtual but what we experience like our feelings--love, hate, happiness--is real, and so, how does that matter in the VR world? What is really "true" to us?
-Ominous foreshadowing from the first episode! Creating high potential for future angst.
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