Love O2O (2016)

This was the perfect example of what a boyfriend should look like and how they should treat their woman. This was the first drama where it was lighthearted, fun, youthfulness and no drama at all but a plot that still made it fun to watch. My only concern was the girl didn't know how to kiss which bothered a lot of viewers most of the time when she just stood there like a statue, but because of how their love story was shown with the cheesy moments I tried to take my focus away with how the girl seemed lifeless in the relationship. The actor's friends in the drama was pure friendship goals which I loved the whole time and the guy treated her like an absolute princess for his first time being in a relationship which i couldn't believe but such a great dram minus the part where the girl didn't know how to kiss properly.

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Let's start with the good -- the cast. Everyone in this drama is just drop-dead gorgeous, even the bad guys or side characters are well above the average attractiveness, which makes it very pleasing to the eye to watch.

Secondly, the soundtracks are pretty on-point. The opening especially, has a very iconic sound - it fits well with the drama's concept and I actually ended up adding it to my playlist.

Lastly, the concept - romance and video games isn't exactly the classic pairing but this drama made it work - and it was actually very refreshing and adapts very well with the modern era. This drama is very sweet and endearing - very good at showing the innocent sides of a perfect romance story. Unfortunately, that's also where the problem lies -- it's TOO PERFECT.

For pretty much the entirety of the plot, there is almost no real conflict. Boy and girl falls in love and then you get 20+ episodes of nothing but romance. There are some characters who tries to get in the way but it felt like they were merely pebbles in a large plot of land. The character that Yang Yang (male lead) plays is unrealistically too perfect. But despise this major flaw, it somehow was entertaining enough for me to finish it.

If you enjoy light, white vanilla romance, this drama is for you. Plus, pretty sure 90% of you came with Yang Yang anyways.

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Very nice story

I really liked this drama. It kind of made me remember my own youth, the RPG games we played, the fun it was making new acquaintances, debating strategies, raising characters, fighting monsters, and winning awards. It is the story of two young people that meet in an online game and fall in love with each other, after discovering who they are in the real life. I liked the female lead because she is a strong character, both in-game and in her real life. She is gentle, friendly, sincere, and has good gaming skills. The male lead was also exceptional, an understanding young man, who pursues his love and wins her heart step by step by supporting her, and empowering her. He is not a misogynist, like so many other heroes, he genuinely loves her. They complement each other, they are each other's strength, they help each other, and they manage to win over bullying. He runs a successful business in the gaming world, proving once again that a hobby can become a passion and a vocation, and a profession. Doing what you like as a professional is another thing I liked about this drama. It is a powerful message. Also, the fact that women can be exceptional in their IT competencies, being equal to men, in a world in which men dominate this field, is also another powerful message of the drama. Although they don't stress enough the peril of game addiction, they show a lot of the benefits of the gaming world, in a gentle manner, balanced by enough situations in which negative aspects of the online communities are shown. It's a realistic perspective, and I recommend seeing this drama. There are a lot of real-life aspects that young people may learn from it.

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Overall: 9.75

Story: 10
The story was one of my favorites. For many reasons, but the number one reason was that it didn’t rely on traditional cliches. The two leads never got into a huge argument, they never broke up, then got back together, they were just two people who went well together and dated. I feel like if they did go the traditional route, of breaking up and getting back together or having misunderstandings there would be many plot holes in this drama just because of how the characters are actually described and portrayed. One reason this wouldn’t have worked and would have gone against the characters is that, both leads like to know all the facts before they jump to conclusions and makes decisions.
The other big story plot that I liked in this piece was that whenever someone tried to say she wasn’t good enough or she got there on her looks she would just nod, than prove them wrong silently with a quick attack, yet she was still portrayed with feminine qualities. (This of course is my own Opinion and others may differ).
Another thing that story had was the slow build up that actually worked and showed how trust was built between characters, that that trust isn’t actually easily broken, unless communication doesn’t happen. There are some things about the relationship that slightly bothered me, but the story plot showed a open and honest relationship between two people that was built over a length of time.
On a last note on the story, if you have read the novel, it sticks to the script of the original piece (the novel) perfectly. This was a good interpretation of the already good original piece. I fully enjoyed the ride and wasn’t disappointed in the least.

Acting/Casting: 10
I know some people had some issues with the casting of the female lead, and I understand why, but for me, her acting was phenomenal as the role. I have watched both the movie and the Show as well as read an English translation of the novel, and this actress was more close to the original text than Angela baby was. Yes I thought Angela Baby didn’t a great job, but I’m not a huge fan of the movie.
Now that has been said, I think the casting for this film was done to a perfect ‘T’. The male lead, Yang Yang, was mysterious and handsome and played the little innuendos perfectly. The female lead, as said before worked the best with him, and in my opinion I thought their chemistry was what really sold me on the acting.
The supporting characters such as Er Xi and Cao Cuong, I wasn’t the biggest fan of in the beginning, but I slowly warmed up to them. Although it did take me re-watching the show to actually like Er Xi’s character in the slightest and this time around I could understand better why she was angry. The complexity of human emotions of getting your heart hurt by everyone only to find out they were hurting her, because of your best friend was really well done. I appreciated the acting more on this note the second time around.
The ‘villains’ were perfect and I liked how the weren’t actually labeled just bad guys that they all were redeemed in some sort of way except for the few who weren’t supposed to be.
To end on a good note, I fell in loved with most of the characters and the ones I didn’t (excluding two) I felt some form of Empathy for that made me enjoy the show even more.

Music: 9.5
I thought the music for this drama was one of the best for teen drama. It was very well placed, the instrumental background music helped established the mood of each scene, the heartache scenes, as well as help build the tension. Even sad mood scenes, instrumental wise that are usually are reserved for the leads or protagonists were also used for the ‘villains’ in the story during their sad moments. It helped expand the characterization of each, even though sometimes characters appeared to be two dimensional.

Rewatch Value: 9.0
I gave the rewatch value a 9.0 because this is one of those dramas that people will love to rewatch if they enjoyed the first watch. Its one of those that when you are tired of other dramas, you want something fresh again, I would come back to this. But I do understand that’s it's not everyone's cup of tea, the leads don’t fight, the drama is slightly mediocre and it's mostly just watching of a build of a relationship that relies heavily on chemistry between actors. So I would highly recommend this for a rewatch value and to keep on your list of dramas to watch on a saturday or sunday afternoon, with the knowledge that not everyone likes Fluffy things.

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This drama - some people absolutely loved it and some hated it. Let me try to explain both sides in this review.

Story: Love O2O is not a melodrama and also does not feature a lot of dramatic scenes. It is a fluffy romance with some funny scenes inbetween. So if you expect drama or tragedy, you're at the wrong place. If you want to watch a light drama with a sweet couple and some nice side characters, go ahead, this is perfect.

Cast/Characters: The problem with the cast/characters is mostly that the characters are pretty flat. They don't have many quirks and seem mostly like normal people - albeit handsome and beautiful (something that is highlighted too often for my taste). But at the same time they are very likeable. Even those you don't like in the beginning will grow on you until the end. I did wish they developed some of the side stories more.

The music was nice, The gaming scenes were repeated but okay.

Why is it so hard to review? Because for me it would have been nice to summarize the first 10 episodes into like 2 or 3 and then show the rest. The problem with this drama is, it gets interesting at about half-point and everything before is kinda boring and hard-to-watch. But if you make it past that, you get a really nice story and even though the drama is not perfect, it has so many good qualities and is just a nice watch inbetween if you had enough of all the tragedies and drama.

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If you're looking for a romance that isn't filled with endless misunderstandings to provide conflict, you might want to pick up this series. The pretty girl isn't a shrill schemer and the bad guys aren't twirling mustaches. It's refreshing NOT to have the typical bad guys. The romance is fun and there's chemistry among all the friends.

The series starts off strong with the game play and reality stories mixing things up. After a while, the focus shifts more towards the real world and some of the fun and novelty wear off. The characters prize looks waaaaaaayyyyyy too much and the secondary love story was completely not interesting once the girl turned overly cutesy and obnoxious.

So very strong start, but things sputter a bit later on. Thankfully it stays away from some tropes which redeems back some stars.

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My opinion which everyone don't need to agree with

1. Story
Lets talk about story in two parts. Story line and the way it is potrayed.
a. Story line: Love o2o is basically a story where two almost perfect human beings fall in love through online game. Their relationship grows without any misunderstanding and leads to a perfect end.
b. How it is potrayed: There are too many artificial things in the drama which is unnecessary, for example the scene in which student fill the whole classroom to take pictures of male lead(xiao nai). There are many more scenes that are unrealistic and far from being natural. Another example is female lead joining internship in male lead's company and does nothing but finding phones,blankets and bringing lunch.

2.Acting
Okay now I'm gonna vent a lot, so anyone who can't take criticism please don't read further.
a. Firstly let's talk about female lead, I really dont know why she is chosen for this role( no offense) . In some scenes you wont even know if she is blushing, nervous or crushing on male lead.
Eg.1 During the scene in which wei wei leaves the class taught by xiao nai's dad. She gives an expression before going out of room, which I dont in if she is shy or whatever.
Eg.2 In the scene where she waits for xiao nai near willow tree, her inner voice doesn't match with her expressions which bring down the entire mood.
b. Male lead did pretty well compared to actress. His acting during romantic scenes is convincing. He could have shown a little variation in expression from scene to scene.
c. Romantic scenes: I know people love their chemistry but sorry, I didn't find any. Keeping aside their intimate scenes. Their conversations bring me second hand embarrassment on the next level. Coming to intimate scenes they are only watchable because of male lead. Actress does nothing but to stand idle blush a little. Even the scenes which have chance to put their chemistry on fire were also huge turn off due to her. You get no butterflies.
d. Supporting roles did much better to be honest including the antagonist, especially wei wei's bestfriend, xiao nai's roommates, the workers in nai's office and the girls who played negative role in university.

3. Music
Not wonderful but good enough to match with scenes.

Overall view and rewatch value :
There are to many scenes that are not necessary which made it a little bad. Acting is bad, I can't sugarcoat my opinion, coz it's really bad. Story is good but not potrayed good enough. Didn't do enough justice to given ratings. I rewatched it once with my sister once again but my opinion didn't change.

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This is the only 2nd Chinese drama that I can say I am very satisfied and would re-watch it again. Here's why. The male lead and the female lead are smart, tough, unique in their characteristic, and understanding to each other. They both know they love each other which is great because it's usually only one or the other that won't realize that until the very last minute and I'm not a huge fan of that. They don't let anybody boss them around which is definitely a plus for me. The chemistry is so on point. I just love seeing every scene with the leads together. Besides the chemistry of the leads, what makes it even better is the level of friendship shown in this drama, from the brotherhood with Xiao Nai & sisterly relationships of Wei Wei. You don't see that too often in dramas. Their friends is what kept the comedy in this drama. I also love how they come back to the game and re enact the game scenes as their characters. That was really amazing to see the actors & actresses in their modern day outfits but also their historical outfits. Yes, there are villains in this drama but the difference here is, while they still make you feel annoyed at them, they aren't as powerful as other villains from other dramas and I really appreciate that. What makes it better is that the 2 main villains do realize their wrong and turn their lives around for the better. Even they become likable eventually.

Definitely my favorite drama by far. The 30 episodes were written well since the writers knew what they were doing. If you need a break from frustration, then this drama is for you.

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Love O2O is an easy series to watch. That may sound strange to hear, but I have watched it three or more times and loved it everytime. If you are looking for a college drama that portrays the social dynamics at University you will enjoy this fun take on School Life. There are many character interactions that are appropriately set in the campus lifeleavin you looking forward to the next interaction. From online gaming and athletic arenas to classroom settings and office meetings you can enjoy the struggles of becoming an adult. I enjoyed he costumes and the characters. Bei Weiwei was wonderfully portrayed as having kind heart with a sweet disposition. Xiao Nai won my heart from the very beginning. The chemistry between these two characters throughout the entire series are what drives the show forward and strengthens the other characters that are intertwined in their love story. Xiao Nai’s interactions with all the other characters leave him more loveable the further it goes. The music from the series is very catchy reignititing my desire to watch the series again and again.

Enjoy!

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The movie was cute, and they managed to stretch 1:40 min of it into 30 epi drama. Awesome. No worst if not little sillier than movie with unrealistically perfect couple getting together and having a happy relationship through RPG. Computer game has become social media for college kids... It's like watching all nerds & geeks fantasy to trade faces with jocks & cheerleaders. Got to see familiar faces from the movie playing different characters; introduced to Ma Marry, fall for Zhang Vin, laugh at Bai White's portray of a loser (almost didn't recognized him from LOST MEMORY), stare at Yang Yang, but I wasn't a fan of the heroine.

Overall, the show was tacky, cheesy, cliche, ridiculous, silly that it was absolutely entertaining.

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I believe my love for this drama is completely biased by my own life experiences. It is so good at portraying and online community that it made me go back to my teenage years when I was really into the online community. Through different forums, such as MDL, I was able to make friends that have lasted for years, and this is something that the drama shows very beautifully and respectfully. It never ridicules the characters for playing this game so much, or for taking so seriously what happens inside it. For me this is the main selling point in this drama, but it also depends on the viewer's experience.

But having said that, let's get back to bussiness to discuss the rest of the drama.

Story:
The pacing of the story was very good. It gave itself the time to explore the virtual world and develop the characters there before focusing on their real lives. This choice shows that the drama places the same importance on both worlds. Another thing that I liked was that the story did not rely on over-the-top drama to continue its story. It was confident enough in the characters and the relationships they built to just let them flow instead of placing them in stupid misunderstandings. The main focus of the story was the characters and their relationships, not the other way around.

Characters:
Since the focus of the drama is the characters and not the story, they need to be well written to be able to pull it off. This is something that drama accomplishes in some cases but fails in other cases. My main complain in this department is definitely the development of the main female lead, Bei Wei Wei. She starts out as a very strong character with her own set of beliefs and dreams. She is also established as being very intelligent and good at playing videogames. However, as the story goes own, she completely loses agency in her story and her choices, and her life starts being all about the people she loves; she is also only praised for her beauty and her other traits are completely forgotten.
As for the male lead, Xiao Nai, he's a good character but he's also you're typical male lead. He is basically handsome, rich, successful, intelligent and good at everything. This is even brought up at some time in the drama and the only defect they come up with is that he can't cook, which is not a character flaw. This also makes him predictable, since we know he will always win.
The good thing is that they form a really good couple, and you can really see how they fit together. They are always incredibly supportive of each other, and have great communication. Neither of them are jealous and they trust their partner completely. The conflicts and dramas throughout the whole story are never between them, but something external that they need to face together, which was really refreshing in a sea of drama clichés about love triangles, secret deceases and stupid sacrifices.
This drama also has a great bench of supporting characters. The characters in the game, Xiao Nai's friends and Bei Wei Wei were a great addition. The standouts for me definitely were Old Yu and Er Xi. They are such great and funny characters and they stole every scene that they were in. I also liked the development of the relationship between KO and Hao Mei, even if it is never explicit.

Acting
I really liked the acting in this, it was really well-lived and natural. The chemistry between the leads was very good and also between all different friends. None of the performances stuck out in a bad way, even if some of the mwere slightly exaggerated for comic relief.

Overall thoughts
I really enjoyed this drama a lot, and never found it boring. Even though it lacks the usual conflicts and dramas, it never stops showing this characters relating to each other, and that's fascinating in itself. I recommend it if you have ever been part of an online community, or if you are in the mood for something fluffy and cute.

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Watch because: Yang Yang!

I was struck by the title of the show because I’m a sucker for ‘love’ and so, I decided to watch this.

No regrets because I met Yang Yang through this drama. He’s so very handsome and he has such a deep and attractive voice. I love hearing him speak.

Watch because:
- Yang Yang. I’m a sucker for good-looking male leads and wow, he is good-looking. He lights up the screen.
- he speaks well - I love hearing his deep voice.
- he’s a dream kind of boyfriend in this drama - how swoon worthy.
- plot is interesting enough

As you can see, it’s all about Yang Yang.

The female lead is much better in this particular drama. (She sucked big time in the others that I have chanced upon. And, I don’t want to watch her ever again.) She has one wide-eyed expression and can hardly act. She is, frankly, quite annoying and super painful to watch on the screen. She is no actress. She’s a stick insect.

Anyway, back to Show.
Watch because of Handsome Yang Yang.

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