Viewed: 2019. 03/13-03/21
Netflix episode list and trailer available here.
This post is in no way sponsored or endorsed by Netflix.
I was bound to stumble upon this 2016 drama series sooner or later. Xiao Nai (Yang Yang) is a young entrepreneur designing his first game with his college-age friends when he stumbles upon Bei Weiwei (Schuang Zheng), a remarkable female gamer, skilled at combat in a RPG that is a national hit.
When Weiwei gets dumped inside of the game by her in-game husband, she receives a proposal from the server’s top player, Yixiao Naihe, who, unbeknownst to her, is the school’s most popular guy, Xiao Nai. They’re a formidable pair on the servers, but would they have any chemistry if they met, in real life? Love 020 explores the dangers of anonymous romances online, and the unspoken attractions of those around us, and quite naturally, the misadventures of unrequited love in a dramedy worth your time, if you’re a fan of online RPGs or of Chinese romances.
The romance is sweet and pure, and the conflict makes sense — it’s not all misunderstandings and love at first hate. As a former gamer myself, I was tickled by the scenes included in the series where we get to see their avatars interacting within the game, and that imagination come to life, from dealing with guild politics to fighting a mob boss. It was so much fun!
If you’re not sure about the investment of watching the full series (it’s looooong), there was a 103 minute film version released the same year (different actors) that consolidates the plot. Both were available on Netflix the last time I checked.
Over the past six weeks, I’ve been sharing some of my recent Netflix favorites with you and now, we’re all caught up. I’m currently working my way through another Chinese romance TV series right now, so there’s definitely a possibility that I’ll share my thoughts on that, if and when I ever finish it. Hint: it’s got, like, eighty episodes or something, it’s a long-term investment of my time, which has been limited of late.
Meantime, if you’ve got a great series in this genre that you highly recommend, please leave me a comment with your suggestions. If it’s on Netflix, I can add it to my watch later list, sooner or later. Thanks for reading and I hope you’ve enjoyed these brief looks at some fun drama/romance/comedies.
Edited (06/19/2020): Since this series did not continue beyond this point, for the sake of looking back, I’d like to briefly add some honorable mentions I also enjoyed during that period:
- Inborn Pair
- Love Alarm
- Love, Now!
- Rookie Historian, Goo Hae-ryung
- Well-Intended Love
Lauren Miller 