Gwai Cin Coi (2022)

Aimed at Mirror fans - but still enjoyable

Objectively speaking, the storyline is simple and the acting is average, sometimes a little cringe even. The basketball genre isn't a new thing and We Got Game definitely took all the typical tropes you'd find in a basketball drama, albeit with a Hong Kong spin. The comedy is also typical of Cantonese and HK dramas (slapstick/wordplay). I'd imagine watching it with subs a lot of the comedy will be lost, but as I watched it without subs (as Cantonese is my second language), I found myself laughing quite a bit and therefore was easy to get through.

The pacing was good however, I never found it boring or draggy. There was a good range of characters, I also like how they tried to give everyone a backstory and screen time (typically found in K-Dramas, and something K-Dramas do tremendously well), which shows they wanted to bring some humanity and emotion into it - which they successfully did. I'd say the biggest sticking point is that they used this chance to highlight taboo topics and was progressive for a drama set in modern day HK: the inference of a basketball player being gay and no one batted an eyelid, just because someone went to prison doesn't mean they're a bad person, disability representation and challenging preconceived notions of disabled people, and so on.

I'd say the most enjoyable part was the chemistry between the characters. There were "4th wall" moments with references to Mirror/Error, and the writers clearly played up to that, knowing that these 2 groups do have great chemistry in real life. It also meant the actors matched up to their characters quiet well, so it was almost as though they were playing a version of themselves in the show (KeungTo the popular and good looking ML, Fatboy the best friend and sidekick to KeungTo, Stanley the older and more mature member, Edan the silly and goofy one, Anson the handsome special appearance rival). I'd say the only one that I was surprised about was Ian who has a soft-spoken and gentle persona, made to play someone who was cynical and disliked.

Overall, it was an enjoyable show to switch off to, or if you're looking for something without too much depth or meaning.

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