Fell in deep with a chessman and his friends

Read the full review on my blog here: https://bit.ly/3itwnWf

Let’s go back to two summers ago when my obsession was another little e-sports Chinese drama called Go Go Squid. Talk about OBSESSED. Fast forward to the present when another e-sports team is wrecking my life in the best way. I didn’t expect FIYS to be THE drama to captivate me the way it did. Especially with all of the things that annoyed me about the show, which I will get into.

As far as stories go, this one is pretty straightforward. Girl gamer trying to make it pro and prove herself. Along the way she falls in love, some slight obstacles but overall there were no major dramas. Overall, this drama was pure fluff and I was here for it. What captivated me the most, which tends to happen with ensemble casts, the chemistry between the team was really great. The ZGDX team felt like a real team and their interactions were the source of comic relief more often than not. The show had set up some problems that could have happened when Tong Yao joined the team. But they were quickly resolved and completely forgotten about. It was clear, that is not what this show was going to be about. The biggest conflict that I picked up on was how these gaming celebrities dealt with the media and the policing of fans. At one point Lu Si Cheng basically told the world that he’s thankful to his fans but they ain’t about to rule his life. I was like FINALLY, someone talking back to the toxicity of these fans! Wish that happened in real life.

Anyway, let’s talk about our leads for a second. Lu Si Cheng, played by the amazing Xu Kai, captivated me from the beginning. He was presented as your usual cold exterior male lead and became a bowl of mush throughout the series. And I’m a sucker for a male who is subtlety showing his feelings to the female lead through small actions and cryptic messages. He did ALL that. To be honest, I’m surprised his shoulders aren’t hurting from carrying the chemistry of the couple. Yes, chemistry happens between more than one person but Ms. Cheng Xiao had me wanting to smack the shit out of her multiple times. My biggest complaint is how can you have a main character with the name smiling and the bitch NEVER smiles?! But for real, if it wasn’t for all the behind the scene clips and pictures I’ve seen, I would be sure Cheng Xiao was a robot. The only time she came alive was when Lu Si Cheng was obsessively kissing her. And I ain’t mad at it. Xu Kai can give some good lip service.

Aside from the typical romance, the show had a heavy gaming aspect that actually didn’t annoy or bore me to tears. My favorite parts were when they were playing and we got a 3D vantage point of them playing. Another point I really liked about the show was the inclusion of the other teams in the show. We got to see more than just a nuclear view of the show. Our lead even had other relationships with other characters too and it was nice to see different dynamics.

In the end, do I regret falling so deep into this show? Not at all. Was it the best show I’ve seen this year? Again, not at all. However, it was a good time and really opened doors for me to watch more things with these actors and even explore more e-sport dramas. But the biggest gain was Xu Kai now to my list of drama base.

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