☆☆☆☆
The 2016 Chinese drama, starring Zheng Shuang as Bei Wei-Wei and Yang Yang as Xiao Nai.
Brief synopsis: Bei Wei-Wei is well-known for her looks ad brains at school, but if there's something she likes more than hanging out with her friends, it would be online gaming as Lu-Wei Wei-Wei on "A Chinese Ghost Story." When her partner in the game ends their virtual relationship, she is approached by the infamous top player Yi-Xiao Nai-He about an alliance to reach even higher levels in the game. However, it just so happens that Yi-Xiao Nai-He is Xiao Nai, who also attends Wei-Wei's school, and is aware that this Lu-Wei Wei-Wei in the game is the Computer Science department's renowned beauty Bei Wei-Wei. Xiao Nai falls for Wei-Wei quickly, but Wei-Wei is more interested in Yi-Xiao Nai-He in the game. What will she do when she finds out that Yi-Xiao Nai-He and Xiao Nai are one and the same person?
This was my first experience with a Chinese drama, and it was not disappointing. I started watching Love O2O primarily for language study purposes, but the story was unique and Yang Yang was cute! Part of what made the drama so unique is that a fair part of it is filmed as if they are really in the web-game as their characters. That style sort of faded towards the end, but I admired the costuming and graphics while it lasted!
One of the things that makes the Chinese television technique unique is that it uses frequent voice-overs to try and perfect the final product. Noticing it can be a little distracting at first because we may not be used to this technique in live-action filming. But after a while, it becomes easier to accept or ignore.
Another favorite element was Wei-Wei's roommate, Zhao Er-Xi (played by Mao Xiao-Tong). Her character was very bright and energetic. She was the entertainment for a good half of the drama. I totally approved of the chemistry between her and Cao Guang. I applaud the writers for doing something right that time.
The central plot line seemed to be about Xiao-Nai and Wei-Wei's relationship, but their relationship didn't have enough ups and downs to be realistic or that entertaining of a story in itself. It was too consistently trusting. The other sub-plot lines tried to make up for what that central plot line was lacking, but they didn't seem to help a lot.
The biggest complaint to be heard about this drama is that Zheng Shuang wasn't too good of an actress, or that her character portrayal was a little poor. This mostly arises from watching her during the more romantic scenes between Wei-Wei and Xiao-Nai. Most of the acting in those scenes was definitely Yang Yang. He made it better, because he must be perfect or something, but many complaints are that Wei-Wei was just too stoic (which is a little funny, because Xiao-Nai is supposed to be the more stoic one).
All in all, however, it was enjoyable to watch and I'd recommend it to anyone ready to watch their first Chinese drama! 4/5 stars.
The 2016 Chinese drama, starring Zheng Shuang as Bei Wei-Wei and Yang Yang as Xiao Nai.
Brief synopsis: Bei Wei-Wei is well-known for her looks ad brains at school, but if there's something she likes more than hanging out with her friends, it would be online gaming as Lu-Wei Wei-Wei on "A Chinese Ghost Story." When her partner in the game ends their virtual relationship, she is approached by the infamous top player Yi-Xiao Nai-He about an alliance to reach even higher levels in the game. However, it just so happens that Yi-Xiao Nai-He is Xiao Nai, who also attends Wei-Wei's school, and is aware that this Lu-Wei Wei-Wei in the game is the Computer Science department's renowned beauty Bei Wei-Wei. Xiao Nai falls for Wei-Wei quickly, but Wei-Wei is more interested in Yi-Xiao Nai-He in the game. What will she do when she finds out that Yi-Xiao Nai-He and Xiao Nai are one and the same person?
This was my first experience with a Chinese drama, and it was not disappointing. I started watching Love O2O primarily for language study purposes, but the story was unique and Yang Yang was cute! Part of what made the drama so unique is that a fair part of it is filmed as if they are really in the web-game as their characters. That style sort of faded towards the end, but I admired the costuming and graphics while it lasted!
One of the things that makes the Chinese television technique unique is that it uses frequent voice-overs to try and perfect the final product. Noticing it can be a little distracting at first because we may not be used to this technique in live-action filming. But after a while, it becomes easier to accept or ignore.
Another favorite element was Wei-Wei's roommate, Zhao Er-Xi (played by Mao Xiao-Tong). Her character was very bright and energetic. She was the entertainment for a good half of the drama. I totally approved of the chemistry between her and Cao Guang. I applaud the writers for doing something right that time.
The central plot line seemed to be about Xiao-Nai and Wei-Wei's relationship, but their relationship didn't have enough ups and downs to be realistic or that entertaining of a story in itself. It was too consistently trusting. The other sub-plot lines tried to make up for what that central plot line was lacking, but they didn't seem to help a lot.
The biggest complaint to be heard about this drama is that Zheng Shuang wasn't too good of an actress, or that her character portrayal was a little poor. This mostly arises from watching her during the more romantic scenes between Wei-Wei and Xiao-Nai. Most of the acting in those scenes was definitely Yang Yang. He made it better, because he must be perfect or something, but many complaints are that Wei-Wei was just too stoic (which is a little funny, because Xiao-Nai is supposed to be the more stoic one).
All in all, however, it was enjoyable to watch and I'd recommend it to anyone ready to watch their first Chinese drama! 4/5 stars.
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