| FALLING INTO YOUR SMILE |
- Noraini Azaha (Bella Lee)
- Feb 4
- 5 min read
Chinese Pinyin : 你微笑时很美 | Nǐ wéixiào shí hěn měi
A series about a young woman named Tong Yao who join the e-sport team "ZGDX" after graduating from college due to her outstanding performance in playing E-sport. She becomes the first official female e-sports player in the Chinese division of the professional league. Faced with doubts and various inconveniences, she overcomes many difficulties with the support of her teammates.
逆着人群奔向你Angela Chang
The first professional female e-sports player Tong Yao who goes by the name Smiling finds herself in a romance with her team captain, Lu Si Cheng.
If you play League of Legends or Mobile Legends like the #kbrothers, you may find the game that they’re playing in the drama to be a Chinese version of that called Onmyoji Arena, which I could understand a little bit coz I'm a Call of Duty person you see - but I do play Mobile Legends at times though.
Tong Yao aka Smiling, the highest rated mids in the game, is about to replace a member of the gaming team ZGDX - a top gaming team. Her ranking is high enough for them to bring her on, officially making her the first female member of any team in the Chinese League at the time. Since there has never been a female professional gamer in the Chinese gaming industry before, she will be breaking barriers and dealing with several new things throughout the series - such as being shun by her own teammates and others doubting her skills.
One thing that I really admire about this female lead is that she’s willing to really put in the effort to become the best version of herself when it comes to the game she loves - proving that women can be good gamers too - like me! Hehehehe!
On the other hand, ZGDX team captain, Lu Sicheng, or Chessman, is slyly making moves on her whom she reciprocates after he showered her with so much love and care throuhout the show. Regardless, there are many other side plots going on throughout the series. So you have to watch it to know! Not giving spoilers here though coz its too cheesy.
Falling Into Your Smile shows the experience of multiple gamers to depict how most gamers come into the field without support, having to fight against their family and traditional expectations to become someone in the gaming industry.
Gaming professionally is very different from gaming for fun. In many ways, gaming is like any other sport. It requires consistent practice, knowing several techniques, and can cause long-term injuries. They also have to deal with fame, fans, negativity, and loss on a larger scale because everyone is judging their flaws.
They have to put in the work like anybody else to make their name in the industry. It is not unheard of for teams to get disbanded after not performing well which highly affects the team members. The drama shows several gamers, each of them trying their best to be one of the best.
Most of the above are not considered by the general population and hence they discard the validity of gamers' careers.
You'll also get to see how Tong Yao's mother was against her being a gamer but tried to understand the game concept behind her back and rooted for her until the very end, as well as her father - number one supporter!
The supporting characters are given less spotlight such as Ming, a quiet, wise, and great friend. He is the perfect mentor, the original mid of ZGDX.
Lao K is one character that is filled with grudge in him, who grumpily said no to team dinner and stayed at home to have a solo dance session. He is knowledgeable about skin care and beauty products and takes great care of his appearance. He hated Tong Yao at the start for replacing Ming (the one who brought him into ZGDX) but gradually warmed up to her throughout the series and cared for her.
Xiao Rui, the team's manager who is more like a nanny at times, unable to control the team members since it's own by Chessman's family. I think they should have either used Ming's or Xiao Rui's character as the manager/coach and not both of them as I find Xiao Rui character redundent after some time when Ming came back a few days after his retirement and became their Coach.
Lu Si Cheng, the leader of ZGDX, is the classic grumpy too-perfect male lead. He is very handsome, skilled, a genius, and puts in the work to be the best. He also supports his team and loved ones by doing whatever he can even if it hurts him at times.
There's a small part in the story showing Tong Yao dealing with her period. We rarely see period talks in any media so this was unexpected. They showed her getting it during a game and having to miss out on the after-game party because of it. We see her experiencing debillitating cramps and also trying to do other things such as taking care of Chessman who's having fever after the game and skipping out the after-game party too.
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