It has been a long time since I wrote about Gu Man’s novel but since the first episodes of the drama just came out … …
A Slight Smile Is Devastating Tester Recap
The novel is short to start with and as with Come Eat Shan Shan, there is probably going to be additional scenes and development of side characters in the drama. I watched the movie version of this and Yi Xiao Nai He’s white hair is an eyesore and I also disliked some of the plot rearrangements they made to the story. Since the TV series is 30 episodes, I’m hoping that this will be truer to the novel.
Episode 1
The episode first give a peek at the two condors, then it is a sect battle. Lu Wei Wei Wei and (soon-to-be-ex) husband Zhen Shui Wu Xiang are fighting along with Lei Shen Ni Ni and the members of another sect. Teammates are killed and the final kill goes to Lu Wei Wei Wei and Zhen Shui Wu Xiang.
The CGI is actually a lot better than I expected and while it is obvious, the action is fast enough that I don’t really notice it.
We get a much earlier introduction to Lei Shen Ni Ni and the monster drop is a magical necklace for her. Wei Wei gets challenged to a PK match from the other sect’s leader for the necklace and ends up agreeing on behalf of Ni Ni.
Wei Wei and Zhen Shui end up having a private conversation with Wei Wei expressing how awkward it would be to call Zhen Shui “Wu Xiang” or “Husband.” Zhen Shui Wu Xiang’s white hair is really throwing me off. I almost couldn’t watch the movie version of the novel because they used white hair for Yi Xiao Nai He’s avatar. Wei Wei’s struggle to call Zhen Shui anything other than his name was also in the novel and putting it at the front makes chronological sense. At the same time, there is a nice touch with another couple going by where the female is asking her husband to kill monsters for her so the contrast between the two relationships is highlighted.
To switch between the game and real life, they are using speech bubbles when the point of view is in the 3D world and talking when the camera is pointing inside the game. Since there is typing, I guess we are supposed to think everything is in words. This is Wei Wei’s dorm room with the bunk beds for four. I do think this is much more spacious than the average university dorm in China though it might be different in newer buildings since I haven’t visited one in a few years.
Like in the novel, Zhen Shui asks for Wei Wei’s picture to see what she looks like. Unfortunately, the electricity goes out as Er Xi made noodles and overloaded the circuit. Wei Wei ends up acting as electrician which is a nice touch to her and introduces Er Xi.
The electricity gets fixed but the computer doesn’t start as Er Xi reveals she accidentally dropped it when she borrowed it earlier. In contrast to the novel, Er Xi actually knows what is going on with Zhen Shui as she has been “peeking” in as Wei Wei plays. Rather than the broadband being the problem, Wei Wei seems to “reject” Zhen Shui as first the electricity and then her computer is broken.
A completely new part that isn’t in the novel occurs next. Wei Wei and Er Xi goes to fix her computer and this flows extremely naturally to the two of them on a scenic ride through the campus with their helmets on. Along the way, they see a poster of a basketball game which introduces us to Xiao Nai.
The crowd of people chattering as well as the fangirling of Er Xi and Wei Wei informs us that Xiao Nai is in year four, is very good at playing basketball and a regular on the team as well as he is not going to do graduate study in the future.
At the computer shop, in another change from the novel, Wei Wei and Er Xi encounter Meng Yi Ran and her friend. The two of them have come to buy a new memory module for the computer in order to ask for help from a mystery someone. Wei Wei comes in and tries to reveal how the owner is trying to scalp Meng Yi Ran but she refuses help when learning from her friend who Wei Wei is.
The bantering between Er Xi and Wei Wei is extremely funny and their good relationship is expressed well. In another reference to the novel, Er Xi refers to Wei Wei’s bra size.
Wei Wei arrives at the internet café where it switches to a go game in session between an older man and younger man. Xiao Nai is in the middle of a game in a private room with his maternal uncle who wagers a gift on the outcome of the game. I really have to say that this is my favorite part of episode one. Wei Wei heads to her duel and starts to fight just as Xiao Nai continues to play his go game. The point of view switches between Wei Wei and Xiao Nai. The editors teases by keeping Xiao Nai’s face covered or out of frame for a few minutes.
The two end up winning (obviously) and it is nice to see the differences in makeup for Wei Wei within and out of the game. In the game, she has heavier eyeliner and lipstick while she looks much younger in 3D life.
The gift obviously is the internet café but Xiao Nai refuses by saying he wants to start from zero. So the rice paper doors are opened and guess who he sees directly opposite him? I find having tea and go matches in an internet café slightly strange but it probably does happen since cafes probably need different sources of income.
Wei Wei is challenged to another match and starts again. I have to say that the setup in the internet café looks pretty shiny and new, especially the mechanical keyboard.
Long lingering shot on the hands (I wonder if Xiao Nai has a hand fetish) and he ends up staring like a creep from behind Wei Wei. Wei Wei wins the second match, cleans up and turns 90 degrees before leaving, just missing Xiao Nai.
And she goes to the cashier without seeing him.
Wei Wei returns to dorms and her dormmates are gathered together. Because she had tried to ruin the computer store’s sale, they didn’t allow her to buy anything so she tells her fiends she is going online and buying parts to install herself.
Er Xi reveals the existence of Wei Wei’s (little red) notebook which Wei Wei is apparently keeping notes on the game as she aspires to be a game designer, possibly in Feng Teng Corporation (cough).
To add complexity to the plot, Meng Yi Ran and her friend along with Cao Guang saw Wei Wei getting off the car. Her friend has a really negative opinion of Wei Wei and Meng Yi Ran is pictured as being more thoughtful. Cao Guang also states he doesn’t like Wei Wei and never will like someone like her.
As in the story, Zhen Shui and Wei Wei divorce and she learns that he and Xiao Yu Yao Yao are getting divorced from Lei Shen Ni Ni in the middle of a herb patch. Everyone is apparently using HP for their laptops as Wei Wei’s dormmates all have the same color and kind of computer.
Wei Wei’s costume in the game varies from bare arms to red robes while she switches between double short swords and the larger blade. They’ve remained very close to the novel. And … …
This was something they reproduced faithfully and it would have been a disappointment if they didn’t.
In conclusion, screenshots and writing a recap took me a long time, I don’t know how other people do it. I’m probably not going to do this in depth for any other episodes since this was just a test, maybe just short summaries on stuff that diverged from the novel. I do have high expectations for this drama since the first episode was done so well with the added complexity of Meng Yi Ran, Cao Guang and Xiao Nai’s uncle. There are a lot more references to the novel than I have written about and the scriptwriters and directors have added more to the plot such as Wei Wei’s skills at tinkering. They also do more show and tell through Er Xi and extra scenes. I actually think making subtitles would be faster than getting good screenshots since I don’t have any software.
I’m going to release edited translated chapters as the drama progresses.
*gasp!!* sub!!! where!?? I love this story! i got like stage 5 diabetes from reading this if there is such a thing O_O
There are no subs.
So there’s dubs
faaaak! the world should die for this D=
there are subs… I just watched 2 eps… tho only partially translated =(
Really, that’s great!
they’re subbing this on viki. you can find it there.
Viki would probably sub it.
I’m so glad the drama had a good start. I’ve been looking forward to this for ages…
2 episodes daily and there are thirty episodes so this will take me all up to labor day weekend. I’m pretty sure I like this because I know there is pretty much no angst. Side characters get the angst and unfulfilled love while the main characters get happily ever after.
YESSSSS. I was actually kinda terrified that they would go the way of 旋风少女 and only air twice a week.
That would be painful but I think they might be trying to capture the audience before school really starts and people start to get busy.
Thank you so much. I managed to locate the episode earlier so can’t wait to get back tonight and start watching…. Glad that episode 1 is pretty close to the novel. 😍
Happy watching!
thank you for doing recaps!!! although I read and reread the books so many times to the point that I can repeat the dialogues, it’s good to know what’s really happening in the drama! 😀
Also, where do you go to watch it to get that great quality? I’ve been streaming and the quality is not that great and there’s so much buffer. 🙁
It is on youtube and I have it on the highest quality.
Sorry, for commenting three times, but I’m just wondering if you’re aware that the Gu Man is the scriptwriter for the drama? I saw that in a trailer and was super happy. If there’s to be changes, isn’t it best to be made by none other than the original author herself? LOL.
Judging from the first two episodes I saw today, the drama is staying faithful to the story as well as the feel of the novel so far. It could be because Gu Man is the scriptwriter, which is a plus.
Hm … … I just listened to the music and skipped the words. I’ve been reading some news articles and apparently it’s supposed to be “200% canon” which I thought would be a major improvement over Come Eat Shan Shan.
Boss and Me was AWESOME! I want this one to surpass the greatness of it but I would be fine with it being great as well. I feel that both novels has their own charms and so far, I feel that it’s the same way here.
I found the drama with the side characters a bit too … … messy. Feng Teng’s sister was great and the actress was actually the host for this drama’s press conference.
So during the swimming episode later on, do you think the speedo will be the regular color or based off of the Olympic male swim team.
Huh, you mean the hot pink that was in use this year? I don’t think so because this was filmed last year but who knows?
so how is it~? I mean really? does it suck? or is it better than what you imagined? I’m planing to watch this but I don’t want to ruin my imagination of the beautiful novel! so~
It’s beautiful and at this point, it is only adding more complexity. It might get overloaded later in the story but I have more confidence since this script did get written by the Power (Gu Man). I’m thinking of everything as extended outtakes. Gu Man might even be thinking of this as a do-over now that she has more experience writing.
The only complaint I have is with Xiao Nai’s voice. I’m not sure if it is the voice actor or Yang Yang himself who is doing the voice but it feels “fat-tongued” and some words are very blurry.
alright then! I’m gonna download~
wish me luck~
Good luck.
Yang-yang used his own voice, that’s why the enunciation isn’t as clear as the regular voice actor. But his voice is deep and sexy. I lol so much and can’t help not to applaud their marketing team, as they make XN’s phone number to be “real”, and when one call that number, we could hear XN’s voce.
Oooh, that is good marketing. Is it a voicemail asking callers to leave a message?
where do we can watch the movie version of this novel? I’ve watched it on youtube before, but it was viet sub and I can’t understand viet at all and, and.. I was hoping to see a better quality of video…. 😀😂
You should be able to find it on youtube … … try searching with the Chinese name.
(comes back from vacation)….I get the feeling I missed something. Need to go google what this is
Speak frankly, I like the drama more compare to the movie.
Jing Bo Ran and Angelababy done good, they had the chemistry as couple in the movie version, they filmed beautifully, (If I just never read the novel and clueless with the story) but after watched these few episodes, I still prefer the drama version to movie version because I think Yang Yang more suitable to be Xiao Nai compare to Jing Bo Ran ^-^
I have a heap of bones I’d like to pick with the movie version but if it looked at on its own, it’s not too bad. They got rid of some stuff which was necessary to make it a movie-length.
They merged two love rivals into one, and the virtual and real worlds got melded together while the novel kept it separate and that relationships in the game do not always carry into real life.
I agree that I find Yang Yang a better Xiao Nai. Jing Bo Ran is slightly too masculine and his features harder than Yang Yang which makes him look older as well. I really hated his white hair in the game and the fact he had a sword as a primary weapon that changed into a zither once … …
This is the c-drama i’ve been waiting for a long time.. So far i like it! YY is Xiao Nai that I imagine while reading the novel. I hope the story won’t be over-drama because the novel was light, beautiful and funny.
oh my gawwwddddddd XDDDDDDD
finally the drama is heeeeereeee.
im re-reading to be a virtuous wife and notice the change of the title from One Smile is Very Alluring iirc…
imma wait untill the series finish before watching *happy dance*
btw, is to be a virtuous wife gonna be make into tv drama? wanna see HH trying to woo QQJ in flesh *mwahahahahah*
the cg is impressive.. much better than i expected.. really look like a game.. but i think weiwei look too thin in the game. i wish fengteng and shanshan may have a cameo in this drama. i miss them.
Thd male lead nail it 200 percent, the face the acting i like it, the story flows, wei wei 150 percent they have chemistry . I have a little bit feeling of lacking on female lead acting but overall i love it .
Hello, when you wrote “Zhen Shui and Wei Wei divorce and she learns that he and Xiao Yu Yao Yao are getting divorced from Lei Shen Ni Ni in the middle of a herb patch.” shouldn’t it be “he and Xiao Yu Yao Yao are getting MARRIED” instead?