Mister Romantic
USA
Weak Story, Loose Ends and no Romance Chemistry.
Since I used to be a PC gamer (SWG WoW etc.), this show attracted me. In addition, I was hoping to see some romance like the profile of the show described. I was in for a big disappointment. But more about that later.
The sports gaming concept surprised me. Cybersecurity is a big topic today. I’m not sure how interesting that is to the viewers, but it wasn’t visible anyway. The show is about Han Shang Yan and the people around him. K&K and the CTF world is Han Shang Yan’s life; that much is clear. His only joy in life comes from this interaction. I had a hard time understanding all the camaraderie and past grievances. The story spent so much time trying to make it all significant, but I couldn’t buy into it. Let’s say they had some misunderstandings that lasted for ten years. Were they were life-altering misunderstandings? Maybe, but I couldn’t feel the emotion of the whole thing. Was it Han Shang Yan’s never-ending stoic face that killed the feeling? Crying in the bathtub was way beyond weird.
Like most C-Dramas, this one moved slowly at times. Some of the scenes looked staged with little attention to detail. A little more attention to that detail would have made it more realistic. Repeating scenes is also a habit you see in C-Dramas, especially looking back in time.
Back to the romance, the age difference between the FL and the ML didn’t bother me. They are only one year apart in real life, so it was hard to make that an issue. However, watching Han Shang Yan (Li Xian) acting like a boyfriend was like watching a blind man searching for something he dropped. You know he will find it eventually, but you are not sure if you should be watching him explore. It’s not the first time I’ve seen Li Xian play a stoic, rude, arrogant character who never smiles, but it does wear on you after a while. He has a great smile. I wish he would have used it more in the beginning. In this show, he calls her a child, a kid, and a little girl. I hope that was a translation issue because who goes around calling their girlfriend a child or a little kid. Their romance, if you can call it that, progresses gruelingly inch by inch. Why would any girl in her right mind want anything to do with this guy? At this point, no matter what they do to redeem this character, it may not be enough. That’s the problem with the 40+ episode dramas. They dig the hole so deep that the character who crawls out of the hole is never the same.
Eventually, they come together as a couple if you can call it that. I didn’t feel the chemistry at all. Are these two not allowed any passion in this relationship? I’m talking about the kind of passion that drives the love you feel for the other person. It shows on your face, and it shows in your body language; it spills from your heart. Unfortunately, none of that showed on screen. Now the kisses. If you can’t commit to the kisses, the romance will look awkward no matter what you do. Kissing is not only about lip contact; it’s a mindset of emotion. They might as well have been doing a fist bump; it would look less awkward.
It’s was evident that the only thing that matters is the CTF world. With Han Shang Yan at the center of this universe. The show spent very little time thinking about Tong Nian’s capabilities, aspirations, and dreams. When the show started, and Han bought Nian a stack of games, I thought she would become an integral part of this world. Since she was a computer genius, it would have been interesting for her to become a game wizard. The story, however, continued to keep her on the outside. She seemed to be a toy for Han to keep himself occupied. He pats her on the head a lot. Is she his pet? Why does she wear a stupid backpack everywhere she goes? Is it because she’s 19 years old, and that’s the way they show her age? When she turns 20, she gets to take the backpack off? If they wanted to make her look like a schoolgirl, they succeeded. Of course, doing that lessens the romance, the awkward proposal, and everything else attached to the couple.
The music was all over the place. At times it was beautiful, and other times it felt like elevator or funeral music.
Subtitles:
I think they overused the word pitiful. In English, it just isn’t used in the context they use in this story. There were a few other translations that felt a little off. Why did Han call his teammates children? Why not use the term guys, young men, or even boys? Calling Tong Nian a child or little kid all the time was either a bad translation or a lousy script, you pick. But overall, I thought the subtitles were decent. I would give them a 7.5.
The sports gaming concept surprised me. Cybersecurity is a big topic today. I’m not sure how interesting that is to the viewers, but it wasn’t visible anyway. The show is about Han Shang Yan and the people around him. K&K and the CTF world is Han Shang Yan’s life; that much is clear. His only joy in life comes from this interaction. I had a hard time understanding all the camaraderie and past grievances. The story spent so much time trying to make it all significant, but I couldn’t buy into it. Let’s say they had some misunderstandings that lasted for ten years. Were they were life-altering misunderstandings? Maybe, but I couldn’t feel the emotion of the whole thing. Was it Han Shang Yan’s never-ending stoic face that killed the feeling? Crying in the bathtub was way beyond weird.
Like most C-Dramas, this one moved slowly at times. Some of the scenes looked staged with little attention to detail. A little more attention to that detail would have made it more realistic. Repeating scenes is also a habit you see in C-Dramas, especially looking back in time.
Back to the romance, the age difference between the FL and the ML didn’t bother me. They are only one year apart in real life, so it was hard to make that an issue. However, watching Han Shang Yan (Li Xian) acting like a boyfriend was like watching a blind man searching for something he dropped. You know he will find it eventually, but you are not sure if you should be watching him explore. It’s not the first time I’ve seen Li Xian play a stoic, rude, arrogant character who never smiles, but it does wear on you after a while. He has a great smile. I wish he would have used it more in the beginning. In this show, he calls her a child, a kid, and a little girl. I hope that was a translation issue because who goes around calling their girlfriend a child or a little kid. Their romance, if you can call it that, progresses gruelingly inch by inch. Why would any girl in her right mind want anything to do with this guy? At this point, no matter what they do to redeem this character, it may not be enough. That’s the problem with the 40+ episode dramas. They dig the hole so deep that the character who crawls out of the hole is never the same.
Eventually, they come together as a couple if you can call it that. I didn’t feel the chemistry at all. Are these two not allowed any passion in this relationship? I’m talking about the kind of passion that drives the love you feel for the other person. It shows on your face, and it shows in your body language; it spills from your heart. Unfortunately, none of that showed on screen. Now the kisses. If you can’t commit to the kisses, the romance will look awkward no matter what you do. Kissing is not only about lip contact; it’s a mindset of emotion. They might as well have been doing a fist bump; it would look less awkward.
It’s was evident that the only thing that matters is the CTF world. With Han Shang Yan at the center of this universe. The show spent very little time thinking about Tong Nian’s capabilities, aspirations, and dreams. When the show started, and Han bought Nian a stack of games, I thought she would become an integral part of this world. Since she was a computer genius, it would have been interesting for her to become a game wizard. The story, however, continued to keep her on the outside. She seemed to be a toy for Han to keep himself occupied. He pats her on the head a lot. Is she his pet? Why does she wear a stupid backpack everywhere she goes? Is it because she’s 19 years old, and that’s the way they show her age? When she turns 20, she gets to take the backpack off? If they wanted to make her look like a schoolgirl, they succeeded. Of course, doing that lessens the romance, the awkward proposal, and everything else attached to the couple.
The music was all over the place. At times it was beautiful, and other times it felt like elevator or funeral music.
Subtitles:
I think they overused the word pitiful. In English, it just isn’t used in the context they use in this story. There were a few other translations that felt a little off. Why did Han call his teammates children? Why not use the term guys, young men, or even boys? Calling Tong Nian a child or little kid all the time was either a bad translation or a lousy script, you pick. But overall, I thought the subtitles were decent. I would give them a 7.5.
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