Go Go Squid 2: Dt. Appledog's Time (2021)

best esports drama ever!

I was so glad I decided to check on it. I have watched the first season and I would say I prefer this a lot. I am not a fan of both lead actors and honestly, I am not a fan of cdramas mostly but this story made me change my mind. I ended up loving the actors. And I know most of them loved the lead characters but I fell in love with 97, One, and Grunt's relationship. I ended up always rewatching. Because of this drama, I decided to look for the novel and have read it as well. Wu bai's love is something I wish I can find in this lifetime.

One more thing, I like the soundtracks too.

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Treat it as an independant drama for maximum viewing experience

Early on with this drama, I learned that it is necessary to detach yourself from GO GO SQUID 1 completely. For avid fans of GGS1, the casting change can be hard to digest, but I think the good casting makes up for the initial discomfort. The timeline can be confusing, and the switch from CTF to robot fighting doesn't help. But as the story progresses and the original characters start being mentioned, the timeline becomes more sketched out and coherent. But for the sake of everyone's sanity, it's easier to think of this as completely independent from GGS1 but in the same universe. It is a spinoff, not a second season.

However, since it calls itself GGS2, it's hard not to draw a comparison to the original. Unlike GGS1, GGS2 is more story-centric rather than theme centric, in the sense that the story focuses more on the characters and their stories rather than robot fighting. There is also more emphasis on the camaraderie between K&K and SP. GGS1 treated K&K as a large organization with insane brotherhood and teamwork, while in this drama, K&K and SP feel more like a squad. They're simply a group of people who are extremely close friends and colleagues. GGS1 felt more fluffy and cutesy, and while this one is just as sweet, feels more mature, which could owe to the higher production quality and the main couple's relationship being more mature.

There is minimal conflict, and the story flows smoothly, perhaps a little too smoothly. The lack of plot twists could be boring to some, but I watch dramas of this genre for an escape, so I found it manageable. The overall recasting is excellent. Some of the characters were so exceptional in their roles that it's difficult to picture their previous actors in the same role (which will probably give me a hard time when I try to rewatch GGS1). Li Yi Tong was so fantastic as Ai Jing, Wang An Yu as Shen Ze( who is again an entirely different person from GGS1). However, one of my favourite characters from GGS1 was Xiao Mi, and I truly missed seeing him in Lee Hong Chi. He performed so well as Xiao Mi that I have difficulty seeing anyone else portray him. There was also a lack of depth to his character, and the genuineness and emotional connection as seen in GGS1's Xiao Mi were missing. Demo's presence was also thoroughly missed. Wang Hao here felt like a completely different person from GGS1. That is another caution; some characters can feel completely different from their GGS1 counterparts, so it is important to separate the two shows.

The dynamic between the families, especially towards the latter part of the drama, is adorable. I also really enjoyed how the relationships between characters are intertwined, for instance, how most of them marry or date within a circle. The cameos were enjoyable, and even the mentions of GGS1 characters gave me joy. The last couple of episodes were so fulfilling. The proposal, the preparations for the wedding, the family/friend gatherings all made me feel like I'm living vicariously and made me miss wedding season (I'm Indian, nuff said). Everything was so perfectly wrapped up, with a pretty bow to boot. This drama has the best, most concrete and detailed ending I've seen in a C-drama. The double wedding was such a good addition; revisiting Tong Nian and Han Shang Yan's romance was something I didn't realise I needed so desperately. Shen Ze and Ai Jing are so cute that I wished we had more scenes of them together. I've lamented about the often unnecessary focus on secondary characters' screen time in almost every drama I've seen, but this show had the perfect secondary couple and chose not to give them enough screen time. The last couple of episodes are also insanely funny, especially Wu Bai's reactions, the failed proposals, the wedding talks and the post and pre-wedding ceremony chaos.

While it was a little difficult to get into initially, the drama's progress was good and made it easier to understand towards the middle. It isn't perfect, however. Their couple fight made me feel uneasy; the way Wu Bai was manhandling Ai Qing was borderline abusive, no matter what his reasons. Similarly, in episode 27, he tells her that (it) is his right as a husband, and that does not sit right with me. You do not owe anyone anything, even your husband. Your husband is not automatically entitled to your body. There is also a fair share of Chinese nationalism, but that is expected of a sports/competition drama.

That being said, this is a good drama (for the most part) that should be treated as its own story. The characters are well written, lovable, and easy to get attached to.

Now wish me luck in my valiant efforts to rewatch GGS1 without frying my brains.

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It's sweet and nice to have a game theme

LIKE

How Wu Bai trying to win over Ai Qing - he's rather silly

The cute Shen Zhe - omg driving me crazy Wang An Yu

There is an actual game with competitions shown unlike season one

The little surprise (I watched season two for this) and was not disappointed - was waiting for that moment which stole the whole limelight of entire drama

DISLIKE

When Wu Bao did not trust Ai Qing and hurt her instead - I wouldn't forgive so easily

MUSIC - personal fav

心動 in Dong - 劉宇寧 Liu Yu Ning
星星的眼淚 Xing Xing De Yan Lei - 弦子 Xian Zi
太陽雨 Tai Yang Yu - 都智文 Du Zhi Wen

REWATCH VALUE

Probably will re-watch someday

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As good as Season 1! Worth watching!!!

I enjoyed this series as much as I enjoyed season 1. I just don't know why others feel disappointed about this series. Yes, they change the game into robot combat instead of CTF but if you'll follow closely, most of the details and game fights were according to season 1 since Wu Bai and Ai Qing's story happened on the same timeline of Han Shangyan and Tong Nian's story.
In this series you will learn why they name their team as KK and why he called himself DT. In this series you will also know that Wu Bai is the greenest green flag? I am amazed by how he planned on his pursuit for love and his dream.

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Sweet noona romance in a familiar drama-verse

Opening statement: Some reviews focused on this show not being a continuation of the GGS1 story and so it was a criminal misrepresentation. I don't find that to be a problem as it was a good standalone drama as it is. To be fair, it did share the same GGS1 universe and some support cast played significant roles in this drama as well while the leads from GGS1 both made cameos. There are timeline issues which I shall leave to purists to explain but the ending brought both shows to a satisfying conclusion. So my review is purely based on the show as presented with no strings attached.
On the whole, this was a good c-drama. Good production value and decent CGI driven robot combats. The OST was also well done with references back to GGS1 OST where appropriate. The OTP had good chemistry and skinship. It helped that we are dealing with mature adults. Furthermore, I loved the FL, she looked like she was really in love when she gazed at the ML and some of their CP scenes were swoon worthy. The ML was just a love sick puppy most of the time but that's his role in a nutshell. The 2OTP was quite interesting and they were a complete counterpoint to our leads. Their relationship began as love at first sight and it was more about passion and feels while the OTP focused on longing and falling in love gradually with your soulmate. It was refreshing to see both FL's were older than the ML's.
The support cast were generally good, especially the older actors. The grandpa was a gem in both GGS shows. Someone need to talk to the FL's father about his hairstyle . . it was a bit cringy. The K&K team members were all well fleshed out characters. Two of them also acted as comedic foils to good effort. There was definitely a Band of Brothers vibe.
So far so good, you say. Yes, it would have been if we only looked at those criteria. Where the show dropped the ball a bit was in the storytelling and overall length. The honest truth is that the show was too long. There really wasn't enough material for 38 episodes. The middle section was a lot of team management mumble-jumble and the last 2.5 episodes (after the world championship) was basically one gigantic fan service. Nothing wrong with fan service but some scenes were just fillers to pad out the episodes. Some reviews also commented on the robot battles being boring. I don't agree with that as it was at least fast paced and tactical. I have watched a whole c-drama based on archery and do you know how boring archery competition is? Even the competition in GGS1 was just a lot of people banging on keyboards and staring at flashing screens with the commentators going crazy in the voiceover. What I did find wanting was the lack of love for the 2OTP and a lack of tension within the OTP relationship.
The 2OTP started strong and even had a psycho ex-GF to keep things spicy. Unfortunately, once the ex-GF issue was resolved, the writer just seemed to loss interest in them. They are still around and do the odd CP thing but mostly stuck in a holding pattern. More subplots involving them would have made the mid show drag less telling. Ditto the development of the OTP. I have no love of the "drama for drama sake" trope but it was a little disappointing to see that the 2ML being hamstrung at every turn regarding the FL. Sure, he was a real gentleman and bow out of the chase with good grace but the show seemed to be determined to shut him up before he can even open his mouth.
It was lovely to see the OTP in love but it was also a long stretch of cruising on auto-pilot. I don't like to make direct comparisons but I can't help but be reminded of "My Little Happiness" which I watched recently. It had a similar 2 CP setup but that show was only 28 episodes long and the pacing and plotting was better. Quality over quantity is a truism.
In the end, the use of the GGS moniker was a double edged sword. No doubt it heightened the initial interest in the show and allowed them to milk the IP a bit more. This they succeeded up to a point. The setting, central idea and casting were all good but by extending their reach too far, they exposed their own Archie's heel.

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all in all a pleasant surprise! (but a few cons)

I have neither watched GGS1 nor is this e-sports thing my genre, but I decided to give this a try since it's Hu YiTian as ML.
..and I must say I was surprised! Though I didn't expect too much, something has caught me within the first 10 Eps, so I decided to keep watching.

First of all, the production looks quite expensive! The outfits and the styling in general unfortunately didn't do it for me, but the locations were great.
I LOVED the bromance of K&K team! I enjoyed every little scene of them, they never failed to make me laugh. Aren't they the kind of friends everyone would like to have? :)
Also pleasantly surprised with Grunt. Wasn't too sure about his character first, usually in real life I hate this too overconfident type of person, but somehow, something in this drama made him pretty likeable to me, which was definitely a plus.
Speaking of him, there was this thing about his relationship with Ai Jing. I LOVED their chemistry, they even had better chemistry than the first couple to me, and both pretty faces to look at... but something really annoyed me. Ai Jing was the oldest of them all, but always acted the most childish when it comes to her and Grunt. So much unnecessary drama, but since there was basically no drama between the first couple, it was okay I guess.
.. which would've been my next point. I'm still not sure about the first couple. There was no forced, unnecessary drama, which made it quite relaxing to watch on the first hand, but on the other, at some point, it starts to get boring...
I had a hard time trying to feel their chemistry. I can't even explain it, because to me, the acting was really on point, but.. maybe because the whole story was just a little too unreal? Yes, of course, it's a drama, but honestly, their love story just seemed too perfect to me, so at some point, it started to get a bit cheesy. But contrary to their kisses.. the FL seemed like a wall.. it seemed so emotionless, especially compared to dramas like "my little happiness" or "love is sweet".

So, all in all, this was basically a mix of funny and cute scenes, with a (to me) decent amount of robot combat scenes.
Give it a try if you'd like to have a chilled, pleasant journey of watching! And no, you don't need to watch GGS first, and maybe, after what I've read, it's even better since this will leave you a better impression then haha.
(But maybe I'll watch it in the future tho. The actress of Tong Nian is really beautiful :))

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Cute Romance

I have watched Go Go Squid 1 and this season wasn't as good. There were too many flash backs that didn't help the storyline or explain anything. Although there was some robot combat to make it a little more interesting,, the suspense fell flat. The leads did okay with their acting and finally towards the end DT had more lines to say. I didn't feel chemistry between Appledog and DT. There were a lot of cute moments, but eventually that got boring. I skipped a bunch of episodes for this exact reason. They could have cut about 10 episodes out of this, it dragged on that much. I prefer the first one. I did like the Robot house servant , but it seemed to be forgotten half way through and could've been used for more cute/sweet scenes. The father of the two sisters, was annoying. Yes he was there to delay their romances, but his interference so often was laughable and not in a good way. Overall I'd say it gives the viewer too happy of an ending, because it was too easy. I give it a 6.5.

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Worth watching

I have watched the first season and I have finished watching season 2. I found both the series enjoyable in different ways. The first season was good but I prefer season 2 with the cinematography and good artists. I especially love the relationship of Wu Bai , Ai Qing, Grant , the sister and the girls relationship with the father. I really must give credit to the father for being such a caring and understanding father.
I thought the grandpa acting was a bit over but he still did well regardless. The competition was interesting and it showed the skills of the director for filming it so well.
This drama is a definitely must watch

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I loved this storyline and I will be watching "Go Go Squid" part 1. I love robotics and I have never seen this sport before. I love it and wished we had technology while I was in high school. I mean we had computers but they were not in the homes yet. Anyway, I loved the storyline. I mean who would want a man to love one woman for 10 years? I definitely would. This drama had a calming effect on my mind well except for the competition. I was revved up even though I knew that it was only a story.
The two main leads: Hu Yi Tian who played Wu Bai (DT) was tall and handsome for sure. When he was wearing that wedding suit OMG the muscles in his thighs showed through. I need to see more of this actor. He was believable and made the story seem real.

Li Yi Tong who played Dt. Appledog did a great job. She was also believable in her character! I love some of the outfits she wore. I felt this character was somewhat tomboyish. That is me!

So Glad that the Actor/Actress YangZi and Li Xian were brought back to get married. Yangzi is one of my top 10 favorite Chinese Actresses... so love her.

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Not for robot wars enthusiasts

I loved GGS. But I’m frustrated by GGS2. It’s not the acting as I’m pleased to see that these actors are performing well and would draw me into the story - usually. I feel sorry for these actors.

My problem is if you are going to leave CTF and switch to robot wars ok I can go with that. But robot wars with the same 2 robots but played/used by different teams? Even international teams, well that is dreadful. They are called the same names!! What happens do they toss for who’s getting the good machine? Apple dog doesn’t even bring her own robot to a competition just her console. Finally in episode 7 I saw a third robot contender. It’s more like robot scuffle not wars.

I’ve watched real robot wars which are exciting competitions with clever engineering and great designs. The style of the 3 robots in the first 8 episodes are tried and tested models I saw back in 1990’s. I’m bored.

Oh and it’s nauseatingly saccharine.

Other reviewers have pointed out plot inconsistencies; timeline issues; characters who’ve changed so much. Why bother calling this GGS2? It’s not living up to its heritage.

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