Falling Into Your Smile (2021)

A Charming Comfort View

This was not a particularly deep drama, but a gentle, charming rom-com which depended on the likability of the main cast. Not just the ML/FL, but the other actors playing ZGDX and their friends. There, they succeeded, and that, along with a lovely musical score, made this my lunch-time companion for the duration.

If you're looking for a consideration of women entering the male-dominated spaces of e-sports, you're not going to find it here. You are going to find something that won't tax your brain too much, but will let you relax and allow the world to slip away for a little while. There are times that's not such a bad thing.

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A great light hearted show!

This was my first drama with the introduction to Cheng Xiao and though at first she came across as sulky to me, I slowly warmed up to her and thought for Xu Kai’s first modern drama, he did pretty well.

The overall storyline was what I found interesting, the visual effects was amazing! I absolutely loved watching the scenes of the game fight scenes in full mode, that was a great touch! I did like that the tone of the production was fairly light hearted, there were some comical scenes in there and also some emotional ones which was a nice balance. I loved the chemistry of all the actors in the group together. You can definitely tell that they get along on and off screen. That was another thing that I liked, watching the BTS videos of CX and XK often made me smile. I actually thought he had a much better off-screen relationship with CX than he did with Dong Yu in Ancient Love Poetry.

But you can appreciate the CP moments in this drama, sometimes a bit cringey as I thought there were more than the necessary kissing scenes but I can appreciate that some people look for that kind of stuff. I bag on the emotional conversations they had and how protective he was over her without actually wanting to let go of his cold hard demeanour.

Though there were some minor setbacks. I felt the coldness Lu Si Cheng displayed almost came across as too narcissistic and was a real put off for me to watch at the beginning. I get that it was his character trait - but it seems to be his character trait in almost all his shows. But the moment that melted the ice for me was when he covered Tong Yao’s eyes after she stayed up all night practicing after her defeat with (whatever his name was). I liked that he withdrew his defensive walls for her then. The other setback I felt was the Korean subbing - Xu Kai’s Korean subbing was a little out of sync, and you can tell he didn’t really say the words properly. Not as well as Wang Yi Jun and Didi’s subbing.

The production was great, from the filming, lighting and editing. A job well done! I was especially happy that they had so many cat scenes in this, I thought it was bloody cute!

Overall, I did enjoy it. It’s a nice short and light hearted drama which is such a contrast to ALP which I was watching at the same time. So, I enjoyed it!

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This is my favorite E-sports drama so far even trumped my previous fave E-Sports Romance (Love O2O). Cheng Xiao is adorable as the amateur game goddess Tong Yao, who in the beginning was like a deer caught in headlights when she enters a professional gaming league as the only female player and a mainly-male dominated sport. She suffers some initial setback and distrust from more seasoned players, including the team captain of ZGDX, where Tong Yao is a member. Xu Kai as Lu Si Cheng is convincing as the cold and aloof leader, who later warms up to Tong Yao after she proved her value to the club. Supporting Tong Yao from the beginning is her bestie Jin Yang, even while she is navigating her own battles with love (the on-and-off relationship with Ai Jia).

In the course of the drama, we see the introduction of many characters, with some falling for the Mulan and God of OPL, and while some are harmless crushes, others fans were far more vindictive. The drama takes this opportunity and others to demonstrate how being a keyboard warrior can affect the lives of the people being talked about. Despite the popularity of some of these players, they are also human who are vulnerable to unwarranted criticism, especially if they are attacks on a personal level. The drama also showcases the level of cooperation between teammates while playing a game, as well, as how they operate in their private lives. For example even though Si Cheng's tenacious protectiveness of his colleagues is well-intentioned, he had to learn to trust his teammates to carry the burden.

In other notes, Though the in-game animation /CGI is pretty badass, sometimes it is difficult to follow the gaming strategies especially if you are not an active player of a MOBA game like Onmyoji Arena. Although the drama imparts many kernels of wisdom regarding teamwork, online bullying, lack of parental support and/or self-esteem, etc. sometimes it tends to get preachy. Otherwise it is a feel good drama.

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More Romance Than Gaming

Falling Into Your Smile is not a drama that you would watch for the gaming aspect. Yes, it is featured quite heavily throughout the 31 episodes but I see it as merely a conduit to the romance. So, the romance is the driver while the gaming helps to create the stage for the love to bloom. There are quite a lot of computer graphics of the game being played during the competition. It is different from Love Scenery whereby the leads also take on the game characters. In this drama, the game is all graphics with the leads controlling the characters that they play as they try to pump up the excitement of a close match.

I have to say that those graphics are quite well done and the quality is there. However, it gets repetitive to me and I ended up skipping some of these scenes. Perhaps it might be exciting if you are into gaming. But I can hardly distinguish the different game characters and who is playing what during these battle scenes. The good thing is it doesn’t mar the story in any way if you skip them. After all, those gaming competitions are merely fillers most of the time. The actual story takes place outside of those matches at the team’s base camp.

Not A Plot-Driven Drama
Falling Into Your Smile is not a drama that is plot-heavy. The story isn’t anything new. In essence, it is about a girl joining a male-dominated field. She slowly gains acceptance and also falls in love while having to deal with rumors and fans. A big chunk of the drama is taken up by the female lead’s interactions with the male lead and relationship among the team members.

There is no one big villain which needed to be gotten rid of. Instead, the drama is taken up by little events that mainly affect the female lead ranging from a provocative anchor to a crazy fan. Of course, the male lead will get dragged into them as well due to his feelings for her and position as captain of the team. All these help to make up the overall story.

It is not boring but neither does it have a captivating and more refreshing plot unlike dramas such as The Day Of Becoming You. Basically, you will end up just enjoying the main couple’s bantering and sweet moments plus some team camaraderie. That’s about it for me. So, if you don’t mind the lack of an interesting plot and just want to watch the romance, this might be your cup of tea. Otherwise, it is just like any other light romance dramas out there rather than a serious gaming drama.

Acting And Chemistry
Cheng Xiao’s inexperience shows when playing her role as Tong Yao. She doesn’t have a broad range of expressions especially the micro ones to give the character more life. I think it could be better so that Tong Yao will come across as more spunky rather than bland and stiff. But her performance is still passable for a new actress to me. At least, she didn’t annoy me to the point that I need to quit watching.

Furthermore, Cheng Xiao did well to generate the right chemistry with the more experienced Xu Kai. I think without this chemistry, many would have dropped it halfway. It is hard to watch a romance drama when there is little chemistry between the leads like what happened in Please Feel At Ease Mr. Ling. In Falling Into Your Smile, the leads got the sparks going and that carried the drama all the way through for me.

Well-Written Supporting Characters
If there is one other reason to watch Falling Into Your Smile, it has to be the supporting characters. All the ZGDX team members have different personalities. Although they don’t dominate the screen time individually, they are interesting to watch as a group. Their unique personalities create a different kind of chemistry and provide the comedic scenes as well as the team spirit required for a gaming drama.

There is really no hateful character that stands out in Falling Into Your Smile. All the main and supporting characters are likable which is why this drama is kind of light and stress-free to watch. They are also realistically portrayed as people with flaws unlike the idealistic Love 020.

My Verdict – Interesting But Nothing Compelling
I think Falling Into Your Smile will not resonate with viewers looking for a really good gaming or e-sports drama. Personally, I find it to be more suitable for romance drama fans. It has little time spent on the team compared to Go Go Squid! which at least tries to give viewers a more in-depth look at past friendships and their team spirit. The focus on the romance in Falling Into Your Smile is akin to Go Go Squid 2: DT Appledog’s Time although the latter has a more mature feel to the main couple’s relationship compared to the former.

This drama is saved by the leads’ chemistry and supporting cast because the plot is nothing great. It is the interactions among the different characters that give life to this story rather than a strong plot to drive it. All the various issues that crop up from parental conflicts to ex-boyfriend matters are never explored in-depth. They are glossed over to give screen time to the main couple’s bickering and relationship development instead.

I would give this Falling Into Your Smile review a score of 7.5/10. It is alright for a simple storyline but don’t expect anything compelling. Watch it for the romance which is cute and sweet in its unique way. There are quite a few kisses but they are not as intense as those found in Love Is Sweet or Love Designer. You will like it if you are into a confident and domineering man turning into a softie when he falls in love. Of course, you also can’t miss this if you are a Xu Kai fan. But if you are looking for something more serious and mature whether in terms of the plot or even the romance, I think this will fall short.

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Not Impress

I am not a gamer so this drama did not excited me as "GO GO SQUID' or "LOVE 020". It did not have the story as does drama and in some instant it seem as the writer was copying some of the scenes. The ML is a wonderful actor but the FL left me with a sour in my mouth. I could not get the chemistry between them. I could tell she was not playing the game and her acting gives it away that she does not know how to play, and she seem out of it or not wanting to be in the scene. Many scenes she seem stupid. At the beginning you get the idea that she is tough and knows all about the games and is suppose to be a great gamer. Her character fissile out once she join the team. The love affair that she had with the ex-boyfriend did not seem real. I do not know if it was the story or the direction the FL was getting but I was not impress with this drama. .

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If you're into the recent trend of e-sports dramas, this is the show for you.

Its a light hearted drama that covers the e-sports world from the challenges of the female perspective, in a predominately male dominated industry. While its not entirely about the e-sports world, it focuses on some of the challenges people go through, whether its your gender, your health, life-style, family, mental state well being, as well as gossip news, and especially the challenges of being a female. The drama doesn't over emphasize it, but in today's society at least with Riot Games League of Legends there is high level of toxicity towards players if they know you're female.

The drama was very fun, it had its serious points in order to develop the characters, as well as plot by introducing team as well as personal challenges. It covered both e-sports but also offered a fun romantic comedy that wasn't overdone, but remained within the confines of the story.

Cold hearted guy Li Cheng melts as he gives into his feelings for Tong Yao (Fall into Smiling), which changes him from the guy you saw at episode 1 to the last episode. The chemistry between the two leads was fun, but also not frustrating especially when you're trying to one is hot the other is cold/lukewarm on expressing themselves.

Within the story you see Li Cheng grow with his feelings, even though he started out as a cold hearted guy, and Tong Yao develop as a noob to a professional esports gamer. The animations of the gameplay helped dramatize the battles, which are well done. The other characters like Xiao Pang & Lao Mao provide comedic relief and balance to the cast/team. The plot didn't have any noticible holes, as they addressed most of the points the story brought up.

The pacing of the story was good, it didn't seem overly rushed for the 31 episodes, is there enough story for a second season? Would it be enjoyable as this one? Who knows , but it would be interesting to see that happen as the team is pushing for International aspirations, as well as setup the stage for more female e-sport players.

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Muito fofo

Fiquei completamente viciada e terminei tudo em três dias. Foi maravilhoso, valeu cada segundo!
Os primeiros 20 episódios parecem melhores do que os últimos 11, parece que eles se perdem no pacing um pouco. Se tivesse mais uns 5 episódios talvez seria melhor.
Xu Kai carrega esse drama nas costas (mas o elenco principal todo é maravilhoso, inclusive queria mais).
Não gostei muito da trilha sonora pq achei meio repetitiva, mas acho que estou aprendendo que parece ser o padrão kk E também as animações do jogo, confesso que depois do episódio 15 comecei a pular sempre que apareciam.

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WARNING !!! CONTAINS HIGHLY ADDICTIVE SWEETNESS OVERLOAD! YOU BEEN WARNED

Falling Into Your Smile

PLOT:
I hate to say this but I find this series cute and easy to digest at the same time. I can't help myself but to compare it to other existing/old series like "GO2x SQUID". The plot is a typical boy meets girls hate to love.. kind of story. The writers are good at making the script easy t understand. The scenes we're not complicated and the side characters are not annoying. I love how they make it easy simple and not complicated. In other word it's not a toxic kind of plot.


CHARACTER:
Hands up to both lead character for giving us a solid interpretation of their role. Th side character again they are superb!!!

Music:
The OST is very good and catchy.

Re-watch Value:
I may watch this in the near future if I want something to relieved me from a heavy drama type of plot.

Highly recommend this for you if your looking for a start up C-DRAMA Marathon.

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This drama is worth to watch!!! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!

I can't believe the drama has ended so quickly, I will miss all the casts in this drama, their acting skills are not that perfect but I would say that for me this drama is one of the best, from the plot to the characters and visuals. This drama is full of visuals, and so many talented actors and actresses, hoping for season 2 if ever there would be one I just can't get enough of the fact that I have waited on this drama since last year and would just end in a month (T_T) you guys can watch this drama on WETV, YOUKU, and DOUBAN.

I love how all of them would be okay again at the end of the day especially on episode 27 and 28, I love the friendship that this drama has, the episode I always want to watch is the episode where Tong Yao's parents go to the ZGDX to check on Tong Yao, they're so great in that scene that even though Tong Yao was just a new member they still cooperate.

I hope to watch them all in one drama again. I'm so thankful that I've known and watch this drama there's nothing that I regret about watching this drama, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

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One of the best romantic esports drama

Before watching I had read the novel so I have to tell in terms of adaption I would like to give a 8.5 stars. When watching an adaption mostly I don't like the adaption. However for this drama I have to say they have adapted beautifully and gave justice.

What I like the most about the drama was the characters specially the male lead. I don't think I have came across such a beautiful character in a while. Although he has his own fault but that's what made his character even more beuatiful and perfect. Xu Kai really brought the character Lu Sicheng to life. It was really like seeing the novel Lu Sicheng come to life through Xu Kai acting.

Each and every character of this drama brought so much to the table. I really like how the drama showed background of some character which was intresting and made the story more perfect. The casting for this drama was perfect and the chemistry between the cast can also be seen in the drama.

The chemistry between the leads was so good. When I was watching the romantic scene I never felt it was too sweet. It was just perfect for me.

And the comedy part always made me laugh so much. Specially the monologue part in episode 15. That's my favorite comedy scene in this drama.

The CGI it was so beautiful . Thats another thing I really loved about the drama. When they play the game I always look forward to the CGI part.

What I dislike was the gaming part. It was difficult to know who was playing which character. And also they didn't really explain the game much and the role. For me since I read the novel I was somewhat aware of the role but still it was hard to know who was playing who in the game.

To end this review I would say this was a perfect balance drama of comedy, romance and gaming. And if anyone is hesitating to watch this because of controversy or some clips I would suggest to watch this drama and judge it yourself.

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The only regret I have is that I can't erase my memory so I can experience this drama anew :'(.

I solemnly swear that I will try my absolute best not to wax lyrical on Xu Kai's visuals (amongst the SEA of handsome men that seem to have taken up residence within this drama.)

Before watching this drama, I had seen many high reviews of it, but put off watching it because I was still hung up on You are my Hero. I spent about a week trying to find a new drama chock full of romance and kissing scenes (because as much as I loved YAMH, I felt deprived of the kisses that could have been but ne'er were between our ML and FL!), meanwhile, this amazing drama was just sitting there, waiting for me to realize that I'd skipped over a gem! Not only did Falling into Your Smile deliver on the romance, but it also heaped the kissing scenes high up and left me feeling satisfied and content.

This is a gaming romance drama like Love o2o, Go-Go Squid and The King's Avatar (which of course is sans the romance), but dare I say it was better? Before the Yang Yang fans come at me (I'm also one btw), I'll explain why I felt that it was better. The male lead, Lu Si Cheng ( Xu Kai), had the same cold and aloof demeanour Love o2o's Xiao Nai seemed to have, but I felt that he was a lot more relatable and realistic compared to the perfect and unattainable Xiao Nai. The FL, Tong Yao (WJSN's Cheng Xiao), was also a lot more substance, and a lot less fawning and meek. She was a strong character who didn't take BS from her crush just because he was stunningly gorgeous and highly popular. I loved that she gave the male lead as much as he dished out, which was severely lacking in Lo2o and GGS (too much hero worship is never a good thing ladies!) There were many cute moments between the ML and FL and he showed a lot more emotion and was a lot more playful than XN. I also found myself a lot more invested in the characters and story of FIYS. The camaraderie between the team was so beautiful to watch and there was never a time where I felt that the team viewed Cheng as this perfect god who never made any mistakes and was always right (which is the vibe I got in Lo2o). Cheng's team shouted at him when he was wrong, and he apologised and acknowledged his faults when he had messed up. I really appreciated that and it made me fall in love with Cheng a lot more.

I HIGHLY recommend this drama, I see myself rewatching it several times in the future when I need a break from a heavy and intense drama (or just when I want a drama that gives me mushy cute feels). A bonus factor is you will get a heaping truckload of visuals from sooo many guys! As generous as the casting was when it came to visuals, I'm still in awe of the visuals king that is Xu Kai. The good Lord did NOT hold back when he was creating our Xu Kai. As much as we must admit that he's not had the best time when it comes to the headlines he's made in real life, we must definitely give him props for delivering much more than us fans could ever ask for in this drama.

I'm brand spanking new to the Xu Kai fandom, but I look forward to seeing his other dramas and hope they're just as good as this one was <3.

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