Falling Into Your Smile (2021)

A highly addictive ideal romance set in an ideal e-sports world

I just loved this story to bits because I couldn't get over Lu Si Cheng. I mean I could forgive the writers for a lot of things just so I could get to the parts where Lu Si Cheng dotes over Tong Yao.

Story:
I loved the progression of the storyline. As many have mentioned before, it's nothing out of the ordinary and it is pretty much set in an ideal world. This is a wonderful light story about a girl who happens to get into a professional team and her journey as they compete for the national championship. There is a second ML and some other characters who are into the ML but these arcs are never focused on for too long. I think people who don't like love triangles will be okay with this.

I think there might be an inevitable comparison between Go Go Squid and this drama among international audiences. To me it was a simple decision to watch as I am a Xu Kai fan. I think Go Go Squid was good, it had a different story even though it might be in a similar industry but FIYS has a much higher focus on the romance which I kind of like more. :)

P.S: I got into this without having read the novel on which the drama is based and wasn't aware of the controversies surrounding the story, so I am not going to talk about it. For those who haven't read the novel- rest assured the story is good with a fluffy romance. :)

Cast:
Xu Kai's acting was good in this drama. I feel he is improving his acting every time I see him and I fall in love a little more.
His transition from a pokerfaced captain to a doting boyfriend is really cute. I just love the way he is around Tong Yao.

Cheng Xiao, well this is the first time I am watching her acting. I know she is a singer and an amazingly flexible dancer. She did a good job portraying the serious and disappointed/upset emotions but I felt there was room for improvement when it comes to her showing love/affection for Lu Si Cheng. Some interactions just fell flat for me.

The interactions between the ZGDX team mates were good and provided quite a few laughs. 'Fatty' was my favorite character among them all. I just love his expressions when he inevitably comes across our couple. :P

Music:
I don't really pay much attention to the music as I don't understand Chinese though I liked the ending OST sung by Xu Kai/Cheng Xiao.

Dislikes:
I felt the PR team for the different teams sucked. I am not familiar for the e-sports industry so maybe this is the way it is in China but I found a lot of professional missteps with respect to team management and PR. There were some instances where I felt Lu Si Cheng had to make decisions wrt to a team member or take a stance during an interview without any discussion with the team or the team manager. The team manager as well sometimes acted indecisive and let others make decisions.
And the players had too much free time which I am sure that is just plain unreal! :P

While these instances could have been handled better, there were so many positives to this drama that they overshadow all my dislikes. :)

Overall:
I loved this show. This is currently my second highest rated show in the romance/light category behind Strong Girl Bong Soon. I would give it a 10/10 for entertainment but reduced 1.5 for the professional missteps & FL's acting I mentioned above.
I am sure I'll be re-watching this drama just for the feels. Hope you do too!

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Non fermatevi ai primi episodi, andate avanti!

La forza di questo drama non si percepisce subito, infatti ero tentata di mollarlo dopo qualche episodio siccome non riuscivo a capire dove volesse andare a parare. Lo trovavo sciatto, piatto, inconcludente. Ma poi è letteralmente esploso affrontando argomenti quali: genitori che non accettano l'esport come un lavoro ma solo come semplici videogiochi, le donne all'interno di un contesto prettamente maschile, il marcio che si cela sui social, cosa succederebbe se un "idol" si fidanzasse, etc. Mi è piaciuto molto come sono state trattate, soprattutto gli ultimi due.
Il gancio trainante di tutto lo dobbiamo per la maggiore a Xu Kai che è riuscito in questo ruolo a trascinarmi all'interno degli esport e letteralmente a catturare tutta la mia attenzione: lo trovo un attore fantastico. Tutte le scene con cui sono state bellissime, non solo perchè è bello ma perchè è proprio bravo.
Unica pecca se così la vogliamo chiamare, ma che per me non lo è stata, è la forte presenza dell'esport: alcuni episodi, principalmente quelli ambientati durante le gare, sono focalizzati sulle battaglie, talvolta riportate in 3D. Questa cosa può essere un difetto per alcuni ma a me è piaciuta molto (forse perchè mi ricorda un mio lontano passato..? Chi lo sa).
Nel complesso lo consiglio, ma davvero portate pazienza e andate avanti. Io in un futuro non molto lontano sicuramente lo riguarderò.

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Glad the show is pushing boundaries and challenging stereotypes

I decided to watch this drama after reading others’ reviews and because of Xu Kai. I watched the male lead in Arsenal Military Academy and found him pretty great. (I think he’s better in AMA than in this drama though.)

Watch this drama because:
- I like that the female lead is feisty enough and that she is able to hold her own fort. She’s a force to be reckoned with without taking away her femininity. I think there’s no need to be a man to play e-sports and she shows that a woman can do the job as well as or perhaps, even better than a man.
- I like that boundaries are being pushed and stereotypes are being overturned and challenged. The person who can do the job is the best candidate for that position regardless of the person’s gender.
- The cast is quite good on the whole. Watchable.
- Makes viewers understand e-sports a bit more.
- Plot is fairly interesting.
- There is sweetness and fluff.
- I like a strong female lead and a faithful male lead.
- Happy ending.
- The second female lead is cute.

What I didn’t like:
- Some parts were frustrating (as with almost all dramas).
- Some actors took a while to get okay like Old K.
- About 3-4 episodes after ep 20 were confusing and painful to watch because the male lead was not communicative.

Overall, a good enough watch. I would not give it more than an 8/10 though.
A ‘can-watch’ drama.

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Love this drama!

I really like this drama for its easy watching. There's no big drama, but the issues the characters faced feels relatable and real. I love the bond that each of the teams share, and especially team members of zdgx who are all so hilarious and charming at the same time. Especially, watch xiao pang's reaction every time he unintentionally stumbles on the scenes with the main couple. Lao K and Lao Mao are also a wonderful pair, with Lao K being a bit more aware of the main couple's feelings and quietly supporting and pushing them to each other, while Lao Mao is just blur on the whole thing but also being a supportive team mate. Lu Yue is great as Tong Yao's frenemy and Lu Si Cheng's biggest supporter. Ming Shen being a good older brother for the rest of the team mates makes me feel fuzzy and warm. Xiao Rui is a great as the manager who always supports the team, picks up after the members and make sure sure they are well-fed.
The main otp has the best chemistry and all their kiss scenes are not cringey but feels natural and watchable. I can see how comfortable Lu Si Cheng and Tong Yao are with each other. Also, it's quite funny to watch Lu Si Cheng keep teasing Tong Yao but not admit that it's because he actually likes her that's why he does that. Tong Yao is cute as the FL lead who is slowly, but a little unwillingly, falling in love with her captain.
Most important for me to decided if I'll watch and like a drama is how relatable the FL is and how much I like the character. So Tong Yao for me is a wonderful character as she is not over the top in her reactions, doesn't make me cringe with her actions and decisions, is a strong female character in an industry dominated by men, yet still have her soft side that is able to empathize with others.
Another great thing about this drama is how they have so many quotable sentences that can fit into our every day lives uses.
This drama has a high binge and rewatch value for me.

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A Straightforward Story, Told Well

I enjoyed this drama a good deal more than I was expecting to. The story is relatively straightforward -- romance, competition, and the pressures of publicity -- but it goes through the familiar beats with a sense of professionalism and respect for the audience that I really appreciated. It's not about, for instance, if the main team will win the championship at the end, but about the theatricality and execution of the match.

Things I particularly appreciated. The show has a minimum of contrived fake-outs (no mid-term breakup for the main couple, no bizarre twist at the end, no angst about whether a happy ending is OK), and focuses rather on watching a sweet relationship develop, and a fun sports competition play out (with economical use of montages and result summaries to let us focus on the interesting matches). The supporting cast was also pretty good, and in particular the dynamics of the main sports team was fun -- a lot of great banter, spiced with just a bit of drama. And the music was really outstanding: there was no overused ballad for the main couple, instead just really effective use of songs in context (Naomi Wang's pre-match song gave me goosebumps the first time it was used).

That's not to say it's a perfect show. If you want a more original plot, this isn't the place to look: it's comfort food. And there are some of the usual cliches of romances (FL trips and is caught by the ML at least three or four times). Sometimes I thought this sat a little awkwardly with the characterization of the FL, though overall I appreciated very much that they didn't feel they needed to make her 'manly' in order to portray her as an outstanding e-sports player.

I had a few other miscellaneous complaints, mostly fairly minor. There's a lot of product placement, of the same brands that keep showing up in other shows, and when this is too blatant it can be a bit exasperating. Some of the material with online harassment and publicity was overegged a bit. I don't think making the ML so super-rich added much, and just felt like trying to cram in one ML cliche too many. All of these criticisms are just my opinion, of course, and didn't seriously get in the way of my enjoyment of the show.

To sum: If you want a fun show that's very professionally put together, and won't hit you with a lot of emotional manipulation, this is a good choice.

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Overall a good watch. Some episodes before the finale episodes were boring.

I liked the drama overall. Beginning the female lead's acting was not that great. I felt she simply had one expression all the time, but as it progressed I felt okay with her acting. Male lead acted well. His character felt annoying while the show was progressing towards the finale episodes. And those episodes felt somewhat boring. Maybe the show was not perfect on all aspects, I don't know how well it portrayed the gaming sequences and all that, but it was quite enjoyable overall for a drama lover.

One thing I would say that I liked about the drama, although I also felt uncomfortable and annoying at times is showing sometimes, maybe not always or everywhere but there are fans who can be quite toxic. I am not coming from a place where I am aware of such toxic fandoms but recently I came to discover such things, so I feel it was a good move to take on that.

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E sporting chick meets captain of their team and they fall in love?

First of all I give their sweet/fluffy love a 10 out of 10 , but the other part of a story is 6.0 for me!

TO be honest this drama is quite boring but not to the point of dropping! It's about e sport/gaming and coming from a zero knowledge I was completely lost! Lol by the end I kinda understood a. little of how the game worked out. Also the leads took like more than half of the episodes to be together.

The moments that they were together was very sweet! A lot of passionate kisses! I wasn't very fond of their relationship tho! like intiially the male lead keeps calling her shorty, shorty because of her height! I felt that he was kinda rude ( my opinion)
But that didnt bother her.

No character development for the leads....

Sorry, i would only watch the sweet parts and skip the rest.

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so I'm definitely not really a video game kind of person. went into this drama just having seen lots of good reviews for it I didn't know what to expect from it being an esports drama. don't let the video game aspect scare you from this drama!

the characters and their relationships really are what drove this series for me. definitely binge watched it. and I'll admit that I did fast forward through most of the video game only cut scenes as I couldn't really follow them but it took absolutely nothing away from the overall story.

also bonus point for the ost all the music was great. I imagine the nature of the video game theme of the story had something to do with the upbeat soundtrack.

(also the song seventeen did for this drama may have also influenced me watching bc that song is fire)

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This cdrama is on my top 10 best asian dramas of 2021 list so you won't regret watching it !!

Like I said in the title , this drama is on my top 10 best asian dramas of 2021 list . I made this list for fun ofc but I wanted to share it with you (I will post my top 10 asian dramas of 2021 list soon on my profile :) .


This cdrama maked me realise that there is so much other hobbies or jobs in the world . People all around the world watch or plays video games just for fun . It helps them with continuing their lifes and having fun with it but it also shows the dark side of this fun ; that there's problems and negative things after this . I can't say it now but you can find out if you watch it .


The cast deserve the best for filming this masterpiece . They worked really hard doing this . Xu Kai (Lu Si Cheng) , Cheng Xiao (Tong yao) and all the others did their best and gave us the best cdrama of 2021.
The plot is also awesome . It's not a classique romcom drama neither a very popular genre of drama but a new thing to change habits . Also , the couples are so beautiful and lovely .


I hope this review helped you !!

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DEFINITELY A COMFORT MOVIE

been watching for at least 3 times!! the plot is so good, every scene is not boring!! moreover the visuals are soo good!! NEED a season 2 ASAP!!

the conflicts is not so heavy which is why it is definitely a comfort movie that you can watch it over and over again. it is very relatable and realistic, especially in the e-sport industry. it does not over dramatize which a lot of other chinese series did.

also lets talk about the visuals! where else can you find XK & zhou yiran in the same moviee!! ++ every individual has its own charisma and unique traits which is why you wouldnt find it boring!!

DEF RECOMMENDDD !!

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