| FALLING INTO YOUR SMILE |

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

4:40

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.

Onmyoji Arena, Photo Credit : VIU

Photo Credit : VIU

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!

Photo Credit : VIU

Photo Credit : VIU

Photo Credit : VIU

Photo Credit : VIU

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.

Photo Credit : VIU

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.

Photo Credit : VIU

Overall, the story is good except for a few scenes that was to me, not really needed. Such as the scene whereby Tong Yao trying to expose Ah Tai, the Korean gamer (played by He Peng) who cheated on his partner and lying to his fans. Also when the other Korean gamer Rong Rong (played by Liu Jin Yu) who tried to get Tong Yao to fall in love with him, that storyline was really not needed though I guess the writer wanted to emphasize on Lu Si Cheng's jealousy towards others who tries to get close to Tong Yao.

You have to watch Falling Into Your Smile because it will definitely be a drama to rewatch for comfort - I've watched it twice! Why not when there's Xiao Pang aka Chubby, the foodie of the team and Lao Mao, the gym-goer-not!

I am so glad that I chanced upon this funny, adorable and wholly captivating C-drama on YouTube and gave it a chance! YES! The full episodes are available on YouTube and fully subbed! You don't need any streaming service or random website for this, though I rewatched it at Viu.

WHERE TO WATCH?

VIU

NETFLIX

iQIYI

YOUTUBE

This C-drama was released in 2021 and runs on 31 episodes of 45 minutes each. But I skipped most of the gaming parts because it makes me feel like I was the one playing and it triggered me alot. Hahahaah. You should also see the behind the scenes at YouTube of how Xu Kai and Wang Yi Jun tried their best to learn to speak Korean in the middle of filming and how Xu Kai thought recording have started and tried to kiss Cheng Xiao before realising that camera wasn't rolling.

Have you watched any Chinese dramas? Let me know below because I'll be sharing on Only for Love starring Dylan Wang and Bai Lu soon! Not forgetting Unforgettable Love starring Miles Wei and Hu Yi Xuan alongside the cute Lennon Sun!

On a side note, I hated how the dubbed voice-over does not match the scenes at times especially when Lu Si Cheng was speaking Korean. That's the not-so-best part about C-dramaa. Other than that, I love it!

Assalamualaikum,

N.A