Chasing Ball (2019)

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I first got to know this drama by watching one of the Amvs on YouTube. Ever since then, I’ve always wanted to watch it and that’s when I came across an app called IQUIY, I think that’s how you spell it? 😅

STORY:
I will have to admit that the description of the drama is what made me want to watch it. I think, in my opinion, the storyline is good. This drama not only focuses on the main leads (Yan Xiaoxi, Qi Jinghao) but also focuses on the other characters and their struggles, and it’s what I like the most about this drama. it also portrays a lot of meanings behind it. Love, trust issues, friendship, family...etc. However, I find it unfair that they didn’t focus a lot on Yun Gaoyang (is that how you spell it?) He may have had a lot of screen time, but they didn’t talk about his life. He has said several times in the drama that he is struggling the connection with his brother. So, meaning, they could had the chance to show about it. He’s also a supporting character just like the others, and yet they didn’t talk a lot about his other relationship with his brother...is what made me upset a bit. And, although I do think the story is good, the ending, in my opinion, was a bit rushed. They didn’t give us a scene as of what happened after Jinghao fainted as well as what happened between Yali (Yan Yiaoxi) and her mother. I didn’t expect a wedding scene or anything, I just thought that they were rushed just because of the reasons I mentioned above.

ACTING/CAST:
I think all the characters who acted in this drama were pretty good. However, I may have to disagree of the Female Lead. Although her acting wasn’t really bad and I have felt the emotions, I just feel like in most scenes when cries, she tends to smile a bit? (I don’t know, is it just me?)
But I do hope she will do a lot better.

MUSIC/OST:
I will have to be honest with you, I watched the entire drama with no volume up. So I didn’t really hear the music . However, I heard some a bit. I will be changing the rating of the music later as I plan to rewatch this drama again.

OVERALL:
All in all, I think the drama is pretty good and definitely deserves a lot more rating. I definitely recommend this show for anyone to watch. However, if you don’t like intense drama, then this show is not for you. 😌

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i loved this drama. first cast, the main male lead he was super handsome i have watched his drama also . i liked the female lead also she was perfect for the role and the other cast was also good.
story, i loved the story . it was just what i wanted in school romance with passion and it had that thing . they were passionate for what they are doing . and there is one more thing i liked that the majority of the dramas shows (if it is hate - love) that they fell in love every thing will be ok , but it shows that in relationship they have these things to handle . and sometime male lead was unreasonable then he realize that and says sorry and many more things when i was staring this i read some reviews and that that there should be one more episode and when i watched the drama i also felt that well this drama make me feel smiled while watching it i cried also .
and man i loved the male lead he was so handsome in every epi i was like look at him he is so cute he is so handsome .
there is one thing i do not like that this drama doesn't have a wikipedia when i search it on google there was nothing like other dramas it was directly on my drama list that made me feel is it not a popular drama . but it was good.
music ., it was good but i really liked the intro song and performance it was amazing i have watched many dramas but this intro was amazing .
re watch value . i think when i will watch again it will feel me good again .
if you want to watch a good romance with sports you should watch it

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This is another coming of age drama about sports but this time it's about table tennis. Apparently, the female lead is skillful in this sport and attended the school in pursuit to clean her dad's name. She wants to do it under the radar but was unfortunately noticed by the president of the school's table tennis club who wanted to use her so that that they could finally win the championship. The plot was okay, nothing much there but I didn't like the character of the male lead. It seems like he is a second-rate Domyouji. It was annoying at first but it kind of grew on me. Another drama that you can skim right through.

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Good but frustrating

Although I think the FL blew it in terms of choosing the best boyfriend, this was a pretty good C-drama. I stayed engaged throughout and was interested in most of the characters. However, the constant quarrelling of the MC did get tedious – make up, break up, make up, break up - it was sort of like the table tennis they were playing, and maybe that was the intent of the director/scriptwriter, but after 36 episodes, I was yelling at her to ‘dump him already!’ I felt about as exhausted as she looked when she broke up with him for the last time.

FL (Yan Xiaoxi) was a likeable FL; she just had poor taste in men, in my opinion. She wasn’t the typical ‘cutesy’ C-drama heroine, which apparently was the problem if you listened to ML’s friend, Yun Gaoyang, who felt every girl should be a coquette like his girlfriend, Nana, or syrupy sweet like the female villain, Bai Wei (a.k.a. the Biscuit B**** – my pet name for her). FL was just an ordinary girl with good table tennis skills and a tremendous amount of patience since she stoically put up with ML’s childish behavior and the cat fights between DongDong (her tomboy friend) and the campus Belle, Tong Jiayue. Her biggest faults were 1) her choice of boyfriend; and 2) taking it upon herself to deliver justice for her adoptive dad. As far as I know, dad never asked her to - she just assumed that if she were him, he’d want justice - and this quest of hers got her into a lot of trouble.

ML (Qi Jinghao) – we are told by Bai Wei and others that Jinghao is the ‘perfect boyfriend’. In what universe?! He’s a terrible boyfriend, mostly due to his immaturity. Although he certainly had his cute moments and was convincingly anguished over their numerous break-ups, his immature responses to any perceived slight by Xiaoxi or disobedience to his orders was the #1 reason they quarreled so much. One of his problems was he listened too much to his funny but stupid friend, Yun Gaoyang, whose ideal woman was a simpering coquette, which was the opposite of Xiaoxi’s personality. She wasn’t the type to stroke a guy’s ego or blindly obey. His second problem was that he craved attention and affection, a result of growing up without his mother’s love so he was always upset when Xiaoxi didn’t show him the attention he wanted. My biggest issue with ML was he was way too immature for a relationship, which led to constant quarrelling and climaxing in his abandonment of FL when she needed him most. So, why the heck would she stay with this guy, especially when she had a perfect boyfriend waiting in the wings? Stockholm Syndrome apparently.

Which brings us to the guy FL should have chosen, Li Sheng. I admit at times that I struggle with SML syndrome just like everyone else, but in the end, I usually lean towards ML. Not in this case. I’m 100% a member of Team Li Sheng. His only fault was not finding FL before she fell under the spell of Jinghao. Now, this guy WAS the perfect boyfriend. Not only should he have been leading the table tennis club due to his athletic skill and calm, mature nature but he should have gotten the girl as well. He was always there for Xiaoxi, and even scooped her off the road like a drowned rat after Jinghao’s abandonment, carried her home and took care of her. This boy was long-suffering and deserved her devotion yet she continually returned to the man child. I didn’t get it. I guess the only explanation is – good guy finish last. I wish Xiaoxi had been as smart of Hou Jianbei when he discovered the Biscuit B**** had used him to get close to Jinghao. He dumped her and ended up with the girl who’d liked him from the beginning (Jiayue). If only FL had come to her senses and went to the guy who’d demonstrated his love over and over again in actions, not a bunch of tears and anguished expressions. In my imagination, she did since the drama didn’t explicitly say that she cancelled the final break-up with Jinghao. Besides, with their relationship, just wait a little longer, Li Sheng. They’ll break up again. Someday she's got to get tired of this guy!

The side characters – Gaoyang could be humorous as well as annoying. I felt so sorry for Hou Jianbai being played by the Biscuit B**** so she could get Jinghao. He was too soft and gentle to be used like that. I’m glad he finally realized who had loved him from the beginning. Tong Jiayue was a b**** at first, but she became more likeable. At least, she didn’t pretend to be your friend like the Biscuit B****, Bai Wei, while plotting against you.

The mystery of dad’s expulsion took a back seat for several episodes as the drama focused on MC’s make ups and break ups, etc., but it was the source of all the trouble that FL experienced, and although justice was met in the end, I can’t help but think that it would have been better to just leave this past incident alone. Dad was living fine and wasn’t demanding justice so why open a can of worms that brought a lot of people further pain and suffering?

I would recommend this drama if you can put up with an immature ML, constant breakups and a stupid FL who doesn’t know a good man when she sees him. This is the first time the supporting cast kept me watching when the constant breakups of the MC became tedious.

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Girl who wanted to prove her father innocence who wrongly framed in the table tennis game and as a result he expelled from the college so she took admission in the same college to prove him right . She made new friends as she also knew how to play table tennis game so she first became the assistant and then player of the table tennis group during that time she felt in love and faced of ups and down in the college as well as in her love life which got solved in the end . I expect more with the ending parts . I want that drama should shown each couple ending story that how happily they lived ever after then their parents life that they come together something like that .. I like Tong Jia Yue and Tong Jia Yue pairing alot ,I think they should get more scene together . Then I like Yun Gao Yang character the most and his ending part of the drama where he had to play all and his stamina going down and his girlfriend supporting him a lot that is the cutest one ,they were the cutest couple in the drama . I like the scenerio when they anger in the air and he threw the ladder that is the best part of the drama . I like the drama except the ending. Ending part of the drama when she said to him that she loved him a lot and asked him to opened his eyes as he got fainted ,they skipped this part and shown their entry in the last game of the table tennis game so this part is not finished properly .

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I accidentally came across this youth drama thru Youtube having captured by one remarkable kissing scene by the lead characters (if you have watched it you must have known which one I am talking about) and also after watching the first scene in episode 1... I am sold! Initially, after watching the official trailer I was expecting a light rom-com story along the way, but boy I was wrong. The main story and the side story lines go down deep digging into the parents past that bring up the present as consequences that not only the adults but also and their children must bear.

STORY: Adding to what I have written above, I should note that side stories in this drama are also delightful to watch. I usually skip boring side stories especially that tend to add in Chinese dramas that stretch to too many episodes, but uncharacteristically me I watched probably 95% of the whole drama minus fillers. Almost every main and support roles bring up their life stories to tell and teach us about what should and what should not be.
More over, in contrast of other reviewer stated about the ending, I thing it is not rushed at all. The last episode brings up the climax of the whole plot, in which without a need of adding a wedding scene, we can conclude what lead character's relationship fate will be. And the very end is the closure of what happened to the supporting roles important to wrap up the whole drama. I think this drama screen is brilliantly written to live action.

ACTING/CAST: Although I can easily fall in love with the female lead XiaoXi character since being introduced, not so fast with the male lead Jinghao character, giving the same reaction as XiaoXi concluded when she first met him "I have never met a man so arrogant". But once they got together, there is a great chemistry between them, a must have in a good romance or romantic comedy drama. Jinghao's arrogant and rough character is matched perfectly by XiaoXi's strong-willed and ready-to-fight character. Both Bu GuanJin and Fan Shiqi have delivered whether fighting or loving action passionately.
Besides the main leads, the choice of majority supporting roles are well done too, from the team mates, besties, frenemies, parents, even to the most adorable cast to watch in this drama, the little Yali.

MUSIC: I don't usually watch movies or dramas for their OST or music, but I think the music in this drama is okay to listen to, having mostly matched with the scenes. I may come back to edit my rating for the music after rewatching it for the second time.

REWATCH VALUE: As almost nothing should be skipped as they are building towards the understanding of this drama as a whole, I can vouch that this drama has a high rewatch value, especially once us as non-Mandarin speakers, finding a site with great English sub translation may want us to come back to rewatch a drama. I can praise for iQIYI the drama network's effort to translate to understandable (American) English for international audience.

OVERALL: As it already said in the title. This drama is a must watch for not only teenagers or young adults, but for parent-age adults to learn about the moral of love, friendship, family, honesty, lies, and decision making values that can heavily effect generations to come.

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