[Mainland Chinese Drama 2019] Go Go Squid! 亲爱的热爱的

[Juuchan]

8 hours ago, vespertyne29 said:

I read the short piece of fluff book on line while waiting for episodes to air. They are much more sexually active in the book - TN attacks HSY every time she drinks and basically tries to feel him up and kiss him.  And yes, they do "go all the way" at the end, a month before their wedding, in the book. It's February 14th, so Valentine's day and HSY's birthday, and that's the "present" TN comes up with. 

Li Xian made HSY come to life, and gave him depth that must have thrilled the author (who also, I believe, wrote the screenplay, a condition of her allowing her books to be made into dramas). He - and the scenes of him and his bros in the past, and his boys and bros in the present - is why I loved this drama. The scene where he and Solo made up was awesome.

A lot of Mo Bao Fei Bao's books actually contain "adult" scenes, just like in Squid. I've been a fan of her book ever since I read Really Really Miss You

 

And I agree with you regarding Li Xian. Mo Bao Fei Bao must be very happy because Li Xian could bring Gun to life. He's the perfect Han Shangyan to all of us, as he truly able to portray Gun just like how we imagine him to be

[El Lieu]

I did notice lixian and YangZi kiss scenes (before the last one in the car where she took the initiative)...was same...he would hold her neck and in the back and push her forward...

 

i ntoice some actors who do kiss scenes scenes would hold the girl face with both hands and with eyes glaring softly go into the kiss scene slowly and romantically...the director of the drama would have to close in on these soft glares ...

 

i think its both lixian and yangzhi who are both stiff in these scenes..after all I don’t think either does much of these scenes ....(I remember how scared and stiff yangzhi looked in that war drama with Wallace huo)..

 

After all both characters and actor/actresses are not Wallace Chung in my sunshine or boss and me ..haha..these have more kiss scene experiences for adults...haha

 

 

lixians character is cool and brings alive gun..but I don’t recall romantic soft eyes from him...even in the book..doesn’t seem to fit his character...which is cool and “get to the point”....plus director had to zoom into the soft glares when filming...

 

haha...I thought yang yang was stiff too in love o20 kiss scenes..

[El Lieu]

How old is yy supposed to be vs xm?  8 year old gap..she is also 19 and he 28?  

 

 

Actually i dont recall a modern series where yangzhi outfits are pretty..not in ode to the joy either...

 

they actually had a whole article about her outfits ..that lixians was all black to make him so close to 30 because he is only 25 and for yangzhi all these baggie outfits to make her look 19...

 

i think she may not look 19 but still have a youthful look with bangs...of course she was prettier in ashes of love though I thought...

 

 

 

 

[gladys57]

 

 

23 hours ago, KymberleeD said:

 

no, totally not...! never too late to join convo! the more the merrier! welcome aboard!

 

and yeah, this senior was a total creep...! 

 

TN was totally naive... see how HSY said... she is the only one who could "wake" him up... i read that differently - bwaahahahah... and i am sure some of you here knows what has actually "awaken" that time he said that! hahahahah

 

@KymberleeD

You've really aroused my curiosity regarding that "wake" him up stuff. I rewatched that scene a few times and am on the same wavelength as you.

I even detect a "cheeky smirk" by HSY (Li Xian's smirk. Heeee!)

 

This reminds me of  a scene in ep 8 whereby HSY asked TN to get his car key outside his car as his hands were laden with groceries.

TN at 1st groped for it from his shirt pocket and was impatiently told by HSY that it was in the pocket of his pants.

 

I rewatched this scene just now and  was in STITCHES when I saw HSY's EXPRESSIONS (Li Xian's acting was really SPOT ON) while TN was groping innocently for the car key from the pocket of his pants much to the amusement of Demo who was standing nearby!

[chloevstkawaii]

17 hours ago, vespertyne29 said:

I disagree with you re the romance, which I thought did not work. In the novel (piece of nothing fluff), the FL is described as being curvy, wearing short dresses, and basically being a girl men noticed. The actress who played the part of TN is too old for the part, and the director apparently decided to make her appear younger by having her dress, decorate her room, and talk/act in a disturbingly child like manner.  Her clothing was baggy, childish and unattractive. I never believed for one minute that a normal, adult man would find her sexually appealing. (OTOH, they did a great job casting Yaya, who was also young and inexperienced, but was very pretty, didn't talk like a little girl,  and dressed like a 19-20 year old would). The romance is why I can't give this drama a high rating, although Li Xian gets a 10, and the story of his background and his relationships with the other guys, and the gaming scenes,  also get a 10, and those things make it well worth watching. Now it's back to The Untamed, which is the best thing airing right now, IMO. 

 

I think this is my biggest gripe about her wardrobe. Where are the cat stockings that HSY liked so much? LOL

 

I like the actress and the chemistry between her and the male lead (and I don't know who else would have made a better TN) but she wasn't what I had in mind when I imagined TN. She's 20 by the end of the drama and although 20 is young, there are some scenes where I found her attempt to be cutesy kinda childish. I wished they can differentiate between innocence/inexperienced and just straight up childish. I wished they kept her hair longer and gave her clothing that was more fitting (I thought the outfit she had in the last episode cute, except the waist purse because c'mon she also has a backpack!)

[chloevstkawaii]

Now that I am done with the drama, I will probably go back and re-watch the series (we'll see) since I bought the Viki sub for this month already. The last few episodes have a fair amount of flashbacks so they weren't really worth watching, IMO. If you don't want to let go yet and have yet to read the translated novel, here's the link: https://hui3r.wordpress.com/2016/06/20/stewed-squid-with-honey-蜜汁炖鱿鱼-intro-prologue-and-chapter-1/. The novel is mainly about TN & HSY's relationship so it doesn't dwell as deep into the Team Solo issues that the drama go into. It's a cute, fluffy novel that's easy to read. MBFB have other novels (also translated on the same website) that are similar in fluff as Honey Stewed Squid (I liked Really, Really Miss You a lot). Also because the novel is gaming vs CTF, I liked the novel better.

 

About Dt & Appledog, I wonder if we'll get another drama with their story? In GGS, they didn't really touch upon this relationship almost at all.

[Sony2017]

" Her clothing was baggy, childish and unattractive. I never believed for one minute that a normal, adult man would find her sexually appealing".  Hhahaha LOL...Couldn't have agreed more.  I understand actress is older than 19 but I still can't believe they made her dressed so childishly and horrendously in almost all the episodes.  The grey stocking at the end was tolerable as that's ok but I can't imagine what the stylist were thinking w/all the other unimaginably ugly outfits thru-out the show. hahhaa LOL...I think people just came to love the storyline & characters as if we have to look at what she's wearing.  We will be like Where the hell did they get those clothes?> hahha .  If she bookworm smart & all it's ok to be un-stylish but some of the clothes don't even look NORMAL? hahhaa LOL...

And for the unnatural kissing scenes...Yes, I agree.  All just simple kisses perhaps they really want to tone it down as they have a big age gap or whatever but still the kissing scenes are not even good more like funny looking. hahaa LOL... I was on youtube and he previously did a supporting role w/Appledog being the lead or something and they had a more intensive kissing/bed scene.  Too bad we didn't see any of that on this show. hahaa LOL..But since this is like idol drama they probably did it intentionally even thou I don't get why kissing scenes were done like that.  Sweetness or whatever is there but no passion whatsoever.

[gladys57]

I watch a number of youtube videos about Li Xian and find that head tilting is part of his nature.

 

I LOVE it as I find it iconic on him and it definitely SUITS his HSY character extremely well! 

 

It makes HSY extra HOT & SMEXY whether he's grumpy, agitated or looking tenderly at TN!

[El Lieu]

Really he had a sexy Role with appledog?  

 

I liked lixians cool acting but even the embarrassing moments...like the moment they got back together after first breakup...he asked if she wanted to hug...

 

they dont really even hold hands or kiss until second breakup..haha big different from r rated book...

 

 

And it’s funny how he was taking money from dt..

 

[El Lieu]

The private house that he has is actually very very nice..

[rocat]

So it ended.

 

Yeah, it had too little of some things and too much others. But it was, in general, a pretty successful drama -

Raised the profile of the male lead by a tonne, successfully rewrote an NC16 (or R21?) into a PG13, got away with wardrobe choices, didn’t get flack for the 19-29 romance, very pleasing patriotism, excellent camaraderie, and they even managed to satisfy the audience without showing competitions that mattered.  Barely scraped through the last one but they did.

 

I enjoyed it, and had fun discussing it in this forum  with everyone.

 

With such good leads, I wished they had scenes that made them look less inexperienced. I know, first time and young but why not grow TN by 2 years so she’s legal. Still a smart cookie doing her PhD at 21. The awkwardness is cute but stiffness disappoints my mushy-mushy heart. And LX does tilt his head too much! Especially when he kisses. It’s odd...won’t he go perpendicular to his destination? Is he the same in other dramas?

 

The actor who played DT is quite a big actor, isn’t he? I forget his name. Perhaps more well known than LX when this first began? His character wasn’t developed much, if at all, I think he just grew taller. Haha. 

 

The ones I felt who had significant char development were those from the Solo team, including SuCheng and the daughter as well as TN’s parents. No other major char comes close methinks. Maybe Zhenghui too cos he changed to become a little crazed. 

 

But it’s a sweet ending without fanfare, and I love HEAs no matter how plain. 

[El Lieu]

dt name is Hu Yitian...he reminds me of yang yang relatively stiff in acting...his supporting role here was decent as a cool guy  but some of his other dramas was okay..

 

i guess like ashes of love...male lead with yangzhi ..helps bring some stardom..

 

lixian has acted in several series..I remember last series was about drone as 2nd male leader..I already thought he was good looking then ..haha..

 

but this series he extra charismatic..

[vintage_chutzpah]

I'm back watching go go squid! I got distracted when they had the 2nd breakup. I found it a bit dragging. I discovered Eternal Love and binge-watched that. Then, moved on to Love & Destiny. Unfortunately, Love & Destiny's subs are taking forever. So, I picked up again on Go Go Squid.

 

When they started patching up after the breakup, the pace became okay again, finally!!! The flashbacks are less as well. Here we go! 

[Peachy21]

Hmm maybe he tilts his head when kissing her because of his height?

[rocat]

7 hours ago, El Lieu said:

dt name is Hu Yitian...he reminds me of yang yang relatively stiff in acting...his supporting role here was decent as a cool guy  but some of his other dramas was okay..

 

i guess like ashes of love...male lead with yangzhi ..helps bring some stardom..

 

lixian has acted in several series..I remember last series was about drone as 2nd male leader..I already thought he was good looking then ..haha..

 

but this series he extra charismatic..

 

Yes, Hu Yitian. Thanks!

 

I loved Yang Yang in Love 020! His character was perfection and suited him to a T - best BF ever. He seemed stiff cos his posture was always ramrod straight and shirts always seemed starched military style, not a hair out of place - plays to his character. But when it came to romantic scenes, I had more to say about the female lead. Though none of his other shows I liked as much...

 

i took a liking to LX immediately too. Haha. Good looks aside, I like his goofiness and the comic in him. His eyebrows do a lot of the speaking for him I find. 

 

4 hours ago, Peachy21 said:

Hmm maybe he tilts his head when kissing her because of his height?

 

Perhaps. He stoops a little too. she could stand on a stool, like how other dramas do it. Haha. 

[VanillaSalt]

I need to get this off my chest first..: 

 

OH MY FREAKIN GOD THIS DRAMA WAS SO CUTE I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S OVER, IM GONNA MISS IT SO MUCH!! I LOVED IT!! POST DRAMA DEPRESSION IS GONNA BE SO BAD FOR THIS ONE.  I'm gonna miss the way han shanyang was the epitome of heart eyes emoji for tong nian. And when he calls her Nian Nian? *faints* 

 

Also, kinda dissapointed they didn't show the world champions? was it bc they ran out of time or did they not find a need to show it? I thought at the very least they'd show them walking through the airport as world champions or with the trophy. It's all that KK and Han Shanyang wanted in life, so why wouldn't they show it? Also also was it gonna be SP and KK at the world champs? sigh

 

 

I just finished the last episode and I honestly really loved it. The flashbacks really filled up the time, which was kinda annoying since they were scenes from literally the last couple of episodes lol. I'm also a bit confused...were DT and appledog supposed to be low key flirting with each other the last two episodes? I saw them make eyes towards each other, but i honestly felt no romantic connection between them at all. If anything, it's more of an older sister/younger brother relationship (if even that??). I wonder if they make a second season, will it focus more on them? I'm guessing there won't be another season but it would make sense to focus on him, i guess.

This drama really has piqued my interest in Li Xian, he's really handsome and made this character so memorable for me, Han Shanyang was really just a soft boi (lol) who needed friendship and love for his shell to be cracked. Tong Nian was a great character as well, Yang Zi may be older than what the actual age was, but I think she portrayed her really well. Even though she acted childish and kinda cringe, i think that was the point- it was to show that despite being intelligent and having a masters at a young age, she still has moments where she acts that way. The outfits they put her in were super bright and not that cute, but i just kinda got used them after a while lol.

 

Spoiler

I really loved the ending where he said "I give all my life to you, I love you." OHM YY GOODDD UGHH SO FREAKIN CUTEE!! I love them so much, I'm gonna miss this show so much!! oh my goddddd lol. I just wish he actually said the words I love you to her bc literally my heart melts when they do that in dramas lol. 

 

[lclarakl]

For me, the only thing that I truly hate in this drama is the ending as it relates to their championship win. I wanted to see some of the completion and the strategy they worked on. I wanted to see the guy who thought he wouldn't be able to plan in the tournament, play in replace of Grunt. I wanted to see those details. It's a shame those scenes were left out.

 

One other thing I hated--all those freaking flashbacks that I think took up half the episodes and so unnecessary. It was due to flashbacks that we missed the championship...something we've looking forward to the entire drama and they didn't show it.

 

Other than that--such a cute drama; definitely a repeat watch again--several repeats.

[vespertyne29]

22 hours ago, rocat said:

I loved Yang Yang in Love 020! His character was perfection and suited him to a T - best BF ever. He seemed stiff cos his posture was always ramrod straight and shirts always seemed starched military style, not a hair out of place - plays to his character. But when it came to romantic scenes, I had more to say about the female lead. Though none of his other shows I liked as much

I agree - I thought Yang Yang played the upright, filial, disciplined character described in the novel perfectly. He also nailed the romantic scenes - dude has a beautiful profile/jawline, and knows how to kiss.

Re the FL in Love O2O, she was very pretty and her clothing (modest, but pretty and age appropriate) fit the description of how she dressed in the novel, unlike the ugly, childish, tent-like outfits that Nian Nian wore in Go Go Squid, which were not at all the way her outfits were described in that novel. (I really disliked the casting, clothing and directing of that FL in Go Go Squid, and it totally ruined the romance for me personally. I could not bear to watch the FL and Li Xian kissing/hugging/etc). The problems with the FL in Love O2O were than the actress was beyond thin - she was emaciated looking, such that they couldn't even put her in a swimsuit, and she looked horrifyingly thin in that sleeveless outfit she wore for the in-game sections. As for the kissing scenes, the problem was that in the novel, she did seem kind of detached and somewhat frigid - the scene, including dialogue, of their first kiss, when she shows up at his office with her suitcase after a week or two at home with her parents, was word for word, action for action, the same as the novel. But I just hated how she always looked as if she was being sexually assaulted, against her will, in the drama. Her role is the only role that I wished the actor/actress playing the part in the movie was cast for the TV drama. Every other role in the TV drama was a vast improvement over the movie's casting, except for hers.  (I particularly loved that the drama cast Zhang Bin Bin as KO! Loved his romance/bromance with Mr. Beauty/Hao Mei! They did a pretty good job with the innuendo in the TV drama, I thought. Lots of tropes that are usually M/F, like when Hao Mei drank too much, and started to do a face plant in his plate on the table, and KO catches his cheek with his hand. Too adorable). 

[vespertyne29]

13 hours ago, lclarakl said:

For me, the only thing that I truly hate in this drama is the ending as it relates to their championship win. I wanted to see some of the completion and the strategy they worked on. I wanted to see the guy who thought he wouldn't be able to plan in the tournament, play in replace of Grunt. I wanted to see those details. It's a shame those scenes were left out.

 

One other thing I hated--all those freaking flashbacks that I think took up half the episodes and so unnecessary. It was due to flashbacks that we missed the championship...something we've looking forward to the entire drama and they didn't show it.

 

I couldn't believe that they didn't show any footage of the "celebrity" match-up between the former Solo team members and the top 5 current highest ranking competitors. Nada. They are out eating and drinking (as if they'd be drinking hours before the competition), and then they're on stage with confetti falling! I actually rewound twice to rewatch, thinking I had spaced out and missed something. 

The second thing I couldn't believe was that they didn't show that final competition at all, but again, went from repetitive, tedious, we've-already-seen-those-at-least-twice flashbacks, to DT, 97, Demo and the others on stage with the confetti. Also, for all the drama about grunt not being able to play, it was NOT the "World Championship," which was the dream that HSY and his former team members were talking about and striving towards the entire drama. It was, I think, referred to as the Asian Pacific Games, and did not include most European countries, or South and North American countries.

And the last episode was almost entirely flashbacks to scenes we had seen at least once, and some multiple times. But IMO that was better than seeing more completely unbelievable, non-sexual canoodling between Li Xian and the disgustingly childish FL. 

[vespertyne29]

On 7/30/2019 at 5:53 PM, 40somethingahjumma said:

I imagine it might be about product placement although I didn't see any brand name but to spend several minutes watching NN playing barista with a coffee machine with all the bells and whistles doesn't seem like time well spent. It's already been established that she's a smart and capable cookie so I frankly don't see the point in all that. It's kinda funny and cute (Who doesn't enjoy watching HSY writhing in jealousy) but what's the point of it and at this point in the story?

 

The coffee machine part was beyond stupid. First, who cares if TN can make an espresso drink? Second, HSY is a 29-almost-30 year old man, who acts as if he's never seen or been around an espresso machine, jumping in fright at the milk steamer, etc. And also, he's a gaming god, but he's not stupid, and has been living on his own since he was in his late teens, and is described as doing the cooking/cleaning for his housemates.  He's also a smart guy - not just a cyber-security gaming expert (these are Capture the Flag type games, which look to be similar to what cyber-security experts do to combat hackers/viruses), but also with a degree in industrial design. And I'm supposed to believe he isn't capable of figuring out how to make a latte???