Review: The Prince of Tennis 2019 Match Tennis Juniors / 奋斗吧，少年!
So I recently finished watching the new Chinese live version of The Prince of Tennis (2019) on Netflix, and I was surprised how much I loved it!
I probably haven't looked up POT related stuff for many years, so it's crazy how invested I became in this show! Hence, I decided to just share all the FEELZ here!
Things I liked:
1. Characterisation
- I think they made a good decision to age up the boys to high school
- Each character is given more screen=time to develop their stories and motivations, even those generally shortchanged or minor / supporting characters
- The show clearly decided to focus more on human drama than the actual tennis (although is there tennis without drama?) and I think that was absolutely the right choice! If I wanted to watch fancy tennis moves, I'd watch a tennis match.
2. Humour
- I literally laughed out loud at the entire first interaction with Momoshiro (Qiao Chen) and Nanjiroh (Lu Xiangqian), just so hilarious
- So many of the little bits like them stalking Ryoma (Lu Xia) on his not-date, fear of Inui-juice, Kaidou (Baiyang) looking for his stolen bandanas are super entertaining
3. Music
- I have been listening to the closing song ON REPEAT
4. Modernisation
- It's a bit strange seeing our boys with smart phones and yet it works e.g. asking people to livestream the matches
5. Scenery
- Seriously some of the locations they film at like the parks or the forest training series are just beautiful
Things I disliked:
1. Name Changes
- So even if you can't speak Chinese you can probably tell they changed Ryoma's name from presumably something more phonetically similar like "Long Ma" to "Lu Xia"
- But if you look close enough you can tell even more names have been changed - I watched the MV for the closing song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xdx5Xi2CmLk) which was produced with the original names in text, so clearly the whole series has been dubbed over with the new names for literally everyone except He Xinglong
- I'm not sure if this is to make the names sound nicer, but it just irks me every time
2. Some casting
- Some of these "high-schoolers" look like they're 35 - surely they could have casted people who looked a bit younger!
- Also of course, many of the supporting cast (e.g. Hyotei) look nothing like their anime counterparts, although most of them embody the character admirably, so this isn't really a big deal
3. Product Placement
- Face masks? Protein powder? "PRINCE" on every single tennis bag/racquet?
- Actually, if I were a soda drink brand and I knew you'd be producing this show, I'd pay for product placement too - although watching someone drink THAT much Fanta made me worried for diabetes
Characters/Pairings
1. Lu Xia (Ryoma)
- I like him SO much more than I did in the anime! He isn't constantly just giving emotionless looks and saying "mada mada dane" and rude to the seniors. He actually smiles once in a while!
- His interactions with He Xinglong are a new thing and I love what a supportive junior he is towards Xinglong even though Xinglong keeps downplaying his own strengths
- I like how they portray the progress between him and Sakuno (Qi Ying), how she gradually grows on him, and he doesn't make fun of her obvious crush on him. He's still a bit insensitive and tennis-obsessed but cares enough about her feelings (even in small things like waiting for her aunt to pick her up before going home himself)
2. Qi Ying (Sakuno)
- She's still clumsy and shy and bad at tennis and hopelessly crushing on a boy she hardly knows at first, BUT:
- She's brave enough to approach the captain to ask him to allow 1st years to try out for regular spots
- She's talented at cooking / baking / sewing / drawing / Math
- She's thoughtful (I love how she obeyed her teacher to cover up the window while still making it pretty for Lu Xia)
- She actually practices tennis regardless of whether he is there to coach her
- Also that whole scene where he protected her from Akutsu's (Ya Jiuxin's) flying stones and then got uncomfortable when she was tending to his wounds was ADORABLE. That face he makes when she blows on the cuts is so cute!
3. Qiao Chen (Momoshiro)
- Although he doesn't really look like Momo (cos he's handsomer), he brings that energy and lovability to the character while making eating 20 hamburgers look like a piece of cake
- It was great how they portrayed his never-give-up attitude especially when playing against Sengoku (Qianshi) despite the cramping - because that's who he is
- I also think it's interesting, he has a lot of bravado and keeps saying things like "Yu Qing will surely win" even when its awkward and the coach stares him down - you need someone like that on your team to be optimistic and cheer everyone on!
- His interactions with Lu Xiangqian are GOLD
- I LOVE the rivalry between him and Baiyang and I'm so happy they focused so much on their love-hate relationship (rather than on the Momo/Echizen bike-riding hamburger thing that never interested me anyway) - please give me more stolen bandanas, carrying garbage cans and hiding behind trees, and competitive training sequences!
-> I know the time-skip ending shows him trying to ask out Tachibana An (Xing Zi), BUT he gets blocked by Baiyang! And who has time to date when you're in intensive training with Baiyang and so much skinship is going on?
4. Zhang Baiyang (Kaidou)
- He's also handsomer and way more buff than his anime counterpart (ahaha sue me, I'm superficial)
- The way they portray his crazy training schedule and sheer determination is spot on
- I don't quite like how rude he is all the time to Inui-senpai (Yan Zhiming), but then you see him giving a kittycat Eskimo kisses and you think, awww, you're a softie
- Also clearly he started respecting ah Yan more after that sacrificial forest piggyback ride and followed his advice!
- Anyway I prefer MomoKai over InuKai any day. And I think he wouldn't just ask ANYONE to join him in his training since he likes to go solo, so it must mean Qiao Chen is just that special ^^
5. Yan Zhiming (Inui)
- Ok, so he's one of those who looks too old, but he's also handsome (screw it, they're all handsome), but I admit I get a bit tired of them filming him pushing up his glasses when they haven't even slid down
- I was very touched at the scene where he has lost his spot on the regulars, and Siyang goes to encourage him, and he essentially says it's not about me it's about Yu Qing's victory, and Siyang validates him further by asking him to use his talents for training the regulars - just so much wholesome interaction there
- LOL-ed at the parts where he goes to buy his vegetables for his Yan-juice and the stall owners just run away from him!
- Really liked the backstory they gave him with Liu Lian (Renji), how he's encouraged to apply his mathematical thinking to tennis, and how they had this unfinished match that they managed to finally finish all those years later, with that beautiful ending (no sore losers!)
- ALSO that date at the cafe with all that sneaky calculator handholding (YESS DataPair)
6. He Xinglong (Kawamura)
- Also looks too old, but once again, super handsome, so all is forgiven
- I think the show did much better than the anime in fleshing him out as a real person, caught between what he wants to do, what he thinks he's good at and what he thinks he should be doing
- The most surprise pairing I never would have thought I'd like was him and Lu Xia with their wonderful supportive friendship and late-night tennis dates - I think he is one of the few people Lu Xia actually smiles at
- I love how he tries to use his roast goose to help the Golden Pair get over their quibble
- I would have liked more scenes on his childhood with Ya Jiuxin tbh, but I love how he goes to find YJX after he loses the match to encourage him, and how YJX kind of pays back the favour when Xinglong quits the team, with that backhanded compliment about him at least playing tennis well compared to his cooking
-> never thought I'd be a fan of this Kawamura/Akutsu pairing either, but I'm totally sold after this show (possibly as their portrayal of YJX is better)
7. Zhuo Zhi (Fuji)
- At first I was disappointed because he didn't look like my imagination of Fuji, but after a while I was totally won over
- I like how they tried to tease new viewers about what is the big deal about this Zhuo Yu before you realise they're brothers - my favourite is when Zhuo Yu admits Zhuo Zhi is talented and Zhuo Zhi takes his phone out to record the moment for posterity
- It got a bit tedious listening to Zhuo Yu constantly ask him the same question again and again about "doing your best", when honestly I get what Zhuo Zhi means - if you don't actually need to do your best to beat the other guy, why not just play at their level (and then beat them)? Maybe I misunderstood, hmm
- Also was pleasantly surprised that they snuck in all these Perfect Pair moments with him and Siyang - I think he's the only one who actually makes Siyang laugh (while fishing), watching the meteor shower together with his strange hypothetical questions, and just how ANGRY Zhuo Zhi gets when he realises Siyang is willing to sacrifice his future career just to keep his promise and be a good captain to lead Yu Qing to the nationals
-> I think this shows that while maybe Siyang's top priority is tennis and the team, Zhuo Zhi's top priority is those he cares about, which are Zhuo Yu and Siyang
- Also Siyang's UTTER CONFIDENCE when Zhuo Zhi looks like he's losing to Mizuki (Guan Yue), and when Coach asks him if he isn't going to warm up, he just says "Zhuo Zhi said I won't be able to play today" - and that's that
8. Tang Jiale
- What great casting - he pulls off that cheekiness and energy and acrobatic nature with some childishness on the side, an utterly believable Eiji but less "cutesy annoying" compared to the anime
- Yes he's fun loving, but he's a good senior to the younger members, treats them to food, and builds friendship outside of regular tennis time
- I like the self-awareness he had, that he recognised his own flaws and really worked hard to overcome them for the sake of his Golden Partnership, but believably was hurt and taking every negative comment from Chi Dayong as a personal attack - we've all done that!
- Not sure I liked how he had that nervous breakdown after informally losing to the Oshitari/Gakuto, but it was an opportunity for more Golden Pair skinship, so who's complaining
- I can't remember if the reason they started playing doubles in this show was canon in the anime, but how lovely that his original goal was to play doubles until he could beat Dachi, and then comes full circle to say he isn't the same person he was, and now nothing can separate them?
- All the skinship. So much physical contact between the two of them. All appreciated.
9. Chi Dayong (Ooishi)
- Again, so much handsomer than his anime counterpart, also balancing being the nice one (compared to stone-faced Siyang) while still super responsible and secretly very anxious
- I was quite suprised by the nervous stomach upset storyline, and kept waiting for a moment in the series where it would play up (like he would collapse mid match) and that would make Jiale super worried - but somehow this never happened
- I thought it was interesting how Siyang kept on brushing him off in the beginning (didn't really seem to be treating him much like a vice-captain) but when Dachi finally has enough and scolds him for ruining his arm and his future, it seems like he took it quite seriously? And how it progresses to him finally handing over the reins to Dachi when he goes to Germany
- But nothing can supersede the whole Golden Pair saga, and how stupid lovely Dachi thinks he isn't good enough for Jiale and just wants to get better to be a good supportive partner and then gets more insecure as Jiale improves - not realising that he IS the rock that Jiale needs
- He even read an art book because Jiale asked him out to an art show!!!
- The way he wrote everything on Qiao Chen's arm (what a cheat sheet) on How to Support Tang Jiale 101, gave him that arm guard and later on just strolled onto the court with arms open wide to hug his partner EVEN THOUGH HE DIDN'T PLAY - OMG they are so in love and the show doesn't even try to downplay their relationship I love it to the max
10. Mu Siyang (Tezuka)
- I mean, he doesn't really look like Tezuka but that stone-faced determination was spot on and I think they showed just how much he pays attention to and cares for every member of the team so much better than the anime did (you need MORE than one pillar, dummies), that moment when he told Xinglong "you never left" was the BEST
- As someone who works in medicine, I found it annoying how he just ignored the advice of his Sports Med Dr again and again, but I can respect just how seriously he took his commitment to the team
- Also I don't think all those inter-school practice matches were an actual thing in the anime?, but I like that Siyang went out of his way to arrange them, and furthermore all of them respected him enough to send their team members to Yu Qing to do it - Xu Ziping's and Mu Siyang's mutual understanding was the best!
- Enjoyed the respect that Ji Jingwu gave him both during and after the match - and it was quite hilarious just how much of a Siyang fanboy Ji Jingwu clearly is (I support Perfect Pair over Imperial Pair any day but Ji Jingwu is wayyy too pretty to ignore)
- As much of a loner he appears to be, it's good that he has Zhuo Zhi to have those meaningful conversations with, and I remain eternally hopeful for their relationship to blossom further
Others:
- Lu Xiangqian: A SHOW STEALER. I never liked the anime Nanjiroh but LXW has won my heart with his obsession over that singer, his crazy meals, but ultimately just how much he loves his son - he gave him his ice cream!!
- Peng Xiang: is FAR less annoying than Tomoka in the anime, her friendship with Qi Ying is adorable
- Huang Jing: it's amazing how they developed him as a character, became more and more likeable, and that moment he relinquished his regular spot to Lu Xia was when I realised just how much team spirit he has
- Xiuwen: so chubby and cute and honest and hilarious
- Ah Mu: I think he's a mashup of Horio and Katou, and just overall much nicer
- Xu Ziping: SO HANDSOME. and talented. and what an inspiring caring leader!
- Xu Xingzi: less annoying than I feared! Also I am rooting for her and Shen Weiming - that moment she instinctively held his hand to pull them to registration, and then he looked so embarrassed about wincing after A TRAFFIC ACCIDENT COME ON GUYS
- Yiwu: when I first saw him he looked NOTHING like Ibu Shinji but his constant mumbling and pulling out a vision chart to check Lu Xia's eye OMG he IS Ibu Shinji
- Xing Yao (Hyoutei): you know the casting is off when Kabaji's actor is handsomer than Ootori's. also not sure how I feel about the acting for Jirou...
- Hai Guang (Rikkaidai): Zilong is exactly like Sanada 10/10 for his face and cap and sternness and sheer power! Although I think there wasn't enough time spent on a lot of these supporting characters to make us care enough about them.
- Rokkaku: I HEART ROKKAKU. EVERY TEAM SHOULD BE LIKE THEM. HAPPINESS IS KEY.
Wow that was longer than I expected. Time to rewatch from Episode 1 again!
If anyone out there has watched this series and wants to spazz, PLEASE JOIN ME.
I probably haven't looked up POT related stuff for many years, so it's crazy how invested I became in this show! Hence, I decided to just share all the FEELZ here!
Things I liked:
1. Characterisation
- I think they made a good decision to age up the boys to high school
- Each character is given more screen=time to develop their stories and motivations, even those generally shortchanged or minor / supporting characters
- The show clearly decided to focus more on human drama than the actual tennis (although is there tennis without drama?) and I think that was absolutely the right choice! If I wanted to watch fancy tennis moves, I'd watch a tennis match.
2. Humour
- I literally laughed out loud at the entire first interaction with Momoshiro (Qiao Chen) and Nanjiroh (Lu Xiangqian), just so hilarious
- So many of the little bits like them stalking Ryoma (Lu Xia) on his not-date, fear of Inui-juice, Kaidou (Baiyang) looking for his stolen bandanas are super entertaining
3. Music
- I have been listening to the closing song ON REPEAT
4. Modernisation
- It's a bit strange seeing our boys with smart phones and yet it works e.g. asking people to livestream the matches
5. Scenery
- Seriously some of the locations they film at like the parks or the forest training series are just beautiful
Things I disliked:
1. Name Changes
- So even if you can't speak Chinese you can probably tell they changed Ryoma's name from presumably something more phonetically similar like "Long Ma" to "Lu Xia"
- But if you look close enough you can tell even more names have been changed - I watched the MV for the closing song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xdx5Xi2CmLk) which was produced with the original names in text, so clearly the whole series has been dubbed over with the new names for literally everyone except He Xinglong
- I'm not sure if this is to make the names sound nicer, but it just irks me every time
2. Some casting
- Some of these "high-schoolers" look like they're 35 - surely they could have casted people who looked a bit younger!
- Also of course, many of the supporting cast (e.g. Hyotei) look nothing like their anime counterparts, although most of them embody the character admirably, so this isn't really a big deal
3. Product Placement
- Face masks? Protein powder? "PRINCE" on every single tennis bag/racquet?
- Actually, if I were a soda drink brand and I knew you'd be producing this show, I'd pay for product placement too - although watching someone drink THAT much Fanta made me worried for diabetes
Characters/Pairings
1. Lu Xia (Ryoma)
- I like him SO much more than I did in the anime! He isn't constantly just giving emotionless looks and saying "mada mada dane" and rude to the seniors. He actually smiles once in a while!
- His interactions with He Xinglong are a new thing and I love what a supportive junior he is towards Xinglong even though Xinglong keeps downplaying his own strengths
- I like how they portray the progress between him and Sakuno (Qi Ying), how she gradually grows on him, and he doesn't make fun of her obvious crush on him. He's still a bit insensitive and tennis-obsessed but cares enough about her feelings (even in small things like waiting for her aunt to pick her up before going home himself)
2. Qi Ying (Sakuno)
- She's still clumsy and shy and bad at tennis and hopelessly crushing on a boy she hardly knows at first, BUT:
- She's brave enough to approach the captain to ask him to allow 1st years to try out for regular spots
- She's talented at cooking / baking / sewing / drawing / Math
- She's thoughtful (I love how she obeyed her teacher to cover up the window while still making it pretty for Lu Xia)
- She actually practices tennis regardless of whether he is there to coach her
- Also that whole scene where he protected her from Akutsu's (Ya Jiuxin's) flying stones and then got uncomfortable when she was tending to his wounds was ADORABLE. That face he makes when she blows on the cuts is so cute!
3. Qiao Chen (Momoshiro)
- Although he doesn't really look like Momo (cos he's handsomer), he brings that energy and lovability to the character while making eating 20 hamburgers look like a piece of cake
- It was great how they portrayed his never-give-up attitude especially when playing against Sengoku (Qianshi) despite the cramping - because that's who he is
- I also think it's interesting, he has a lot of bravado and keeps saying things like "Yu Qing will surely win" even when its awkward and the coach stares him down - you need someone like that on your team to be optimistic and cheer everyone on!
- His interactions with Lu Xiangqian are GOLD
- I LOVE the rivalry between him and Baiyang and I'm so happy they focused so much on their love-hate relationship (rather than on the Momo/Echizen bike-riding hamburger thing that never interested me anyway) - please give me more stolen bandanas, carrying garbage cans and hiding behind trees, and competitive training sequences!
-> I know the time-skip ending shows him trying to ask out Tachibana An (Xing Zi), BUT he gets blocked by Baiyang! And who has time to date when you're in intensive training with Baiyang and so much skinship is going on?
4. Zhang Baiyang (Kaidou)
- He's also handsomer and way more buff than his anime counterpart (ahaha sue me, I'm superficial)
- The way they portray his crazy training schedule and sheer determination is spot on
- I don't quite like how rude he is all the time to Inui-senpai (Yan Zhiming), but then you see him giving a kittycat Eskimo kisses and you think, awww, you're a softie
- Also clearly he started respecting ah Yan more after that sacrificial forest piggyback ride and followed his advice!
- Anyway I prefer MomoKai over InuKai any day. And I think he wouldn't just ask ANYONE to join him in his training since he likes to go solo, so it must mean Qiao Chen is just that special ^^
5. Yan Zhiming (Inui)
- Ok, so he's one of those who looks too old, but he's also handsome (screw it, they're all handsome), but I admit I get a bit tired of them filming him pushing up his glasses when they haven't even slid down
- I was very touched at the scene where he has lost his spot on the regulars, and Siyang goes to encourage him, and he essentially says it's not about me it's about Yu Qing's victory, and Siyang validates him further by asking him to use his talents for training the regulars - just so much wholesome interaction there
- LOL-ed at the parts where he goes to buy his vegetables for his Yan-juice and the stall owners just run away from him!
- Really liked the backstory they gave him with Liu Lian (Renji), how he's encouraged to apply his mathematical thinking to tennis, and how they had this unfinished match that they managed to finally finish all those years later, with that beautiful ending (no sore losers!)
- ALSO that date at the cafe with all that sneaky calculator handholding (YESS DataPair)
6. He Xinglong (Kawamura)
- Also looks too old, but once again, super handsome, so all is forgiven
- I think the show did much better than the anime in fleshing him out as a real person, caught between what he wants to do, what he thinks he's good at and what he thinks he should be doing
- The most surprise pairing I never would have thought I'd like was him and Lu Xia with their wonderful supportive friendship and late-night tennis dates - I think he is one of the few people Lu Xia actually smiles at
- I love how he tries to use his roast goose to help the Golden Pair get over their quibble
- I would have liked more scenes on his childhood with Ya Jiuxin tbh, but I love how he goes to find YJX after he loses the match to encourage him, and how YJX kind of pays back the favour when Xinglong quits the team, with that backhanded compliment about him at least playing tennis well compared to his cooking
-> never thought I'd be a fan of this Kawamura/Akutsu pairing either, but I'm totally sold after this show (possibly as their portrayal of YJX is better)
7. Zhuo Zhi (Fuji)
- At first I was disappointed because he didn't look like my imagination of Fuji, but after a while I was totally won over
- I like how they tried to tease new viewers about what is the big deal about this Zhuo Yu before you realise they're brothers - my favourite is when Zhuo Yu admits Zhuo Zhi is talented and Zhuo Zhi takes his phone out to record the moment for posterity
- It got a bit tedious listening to Zhuo Yu constantly ask him the same question again and again about "doing your best", when honestly I get what Zhuo Zhi means - if you don't actually need to do your best to beat the other guy, why not just play at their level (and then beat them)? Maybe I misunderstood, hmm
- Also was pleasantly surprised that they snuck in all these Perfect Pair moments with him and Siyang - I think he's the only one who actually makes Siyang laugh (while fishing), watching the meteor shower together with his strange hypothetical questions, and just how ANGRY Zhuo Zhi gets when he realises Siyang is willing to sacrifice his future career just to keep his promise and be a good captain to lead Yu Qing to the nationals
-> I think this shows that while maybe Siyang's top priority is tennis and the team, Zhuo Zhi's top priority is those he cares about, which are Zhuo Yu and Siyang
- Also Siyang's UTTER CONFIDENCE when Zhuo Zhi looks like he's losing to Mizuki (Guan Yue), and when Coach asks him if he isn't going to warm up, he just says "Zhuo Zhi said I won't be able to play today" - and that's that
8. Tang Jiale
- What great casting - he pulls off that cheekiness and energy and acrobatic nature with some childishness on the side, an utterly believable Eiji but less "cutesy annoying" compared to the anime
- Yes he's fun loving, but he's a good senior to the younger members, treats them to food, and builds friendship outside of regular tennis time
- I like the self-awareness he had, that he recognised his own flaws and really worked hard to overcome them for the sake of his Golden Partnership, but believably was hurt and taking every negative comment from Chi Dayong as a personal attack - we've all done that!
- Not sure I liked how he had that nervous breakdown after informally losing to the Oshitari/Gakuto, but it was an opportunity for more Golden Pair skinship, so who's complaining
- I can't remember if the reason they started playing doubles in this show was canon in the anime, but how lovely that his original goal was to play doubles until he could beat Dachi, and then comes full circle to say he isn't the same person he was, and now nothing can separate them?
- All the skinship. So much physical contact between the two of them. All appreciated.
9. Chi Dayong (Ooishi)
- Again, so much handsomer than his anime counterpart, also balancing being the nice one (compared to stone-faced Siyang) while still super responsible and secretly very anxious
- I was quite suprised by the nervous stomach upset storyline, and kept waiting for a moment in the series where it would play up (like he would collapse mid match) and that would make Jiale super worried - but somehow this never happened
- I thought it was interesting how Siyang kept on brushing him off in the beginning (didn't really seem to be treating him much like a vice-captain) but when Dachi finally has enough and scolds him for ruining his arm and his future, it seems like he took it quite seriously? And how it progresses to him finally handing over the reins to Dachi when he goes to Germany
- But nothing can supersede the whole Golden Pair saga, and how stupid lovely Dachi thinks he isn't good enough for Jiale and just wants to get better to be a good supportive partner and then gets more insecure as Jiale improves - not realising that he IS the rock that Jiale needs
- He even read an art book because Jiale asked him out to an art show!!!
- The way he wrote everything on Qiao Chen's arm (what a cheat sheet) on How to Support Tang Jiale 101, gave him that arm guard and later on just strolled onto the court with arms open wide to hug his partner EVEN THOUGH HE DIDN'T PLAY - OMG they are so in love and the show doesn't even try to downplay their relationship I love it to the max
10. Mu Siyang (Tezuka)
- I mean, he doesn't really look like Tezuka but that stone-faced determination was spot on and I think they showed just how much he pays attention to and cares for every member of the team so much better than the anime did (you need MORE than one pillar, dummies), that moment when he told Xinglong "you never left" was the BEST
- As someone who works in medicine, I found it annoying how he just ignored the advice of his Sports Med Dr again and again, but I can respect just how seriously he took his commitment to the team
- Also I don't think all those inter-school practice matches were an actual thing in the anime?, but I like that Siyang went out of his way to arrange them, and furthermore all of them respected him enough to send their team members to Yu Qing to do it - Xu Ziping's and Mu Siyang's mutual understanding was the best!
- Enjoyed the respect that Ji Jingwu gave him both during and after the match - and it was quite hilarious just how much of a Siyang fanboy Ji Jingwu clearly is (I support Perfect Pair over Imperial Pair any day but Ji Jingwu is wayyy too pretty to ignore)
- As much of a loner he appears to be, it's good that he has Zhuo Zhi to have those meaningful conversations with, and I remain eternally hopeful for their relationship to blossom further
Others:
- Lu Xiangqian: A SHOW STEALER. I never liked the anime Nanjiroh but LXW has won my heart with his obsession over that singer, his crazy meals, but ultimately just how much he loves his son - he gave him his ice cream!!
- Peng Xiang: is FAR less annoying than Tomoka in the anime, her friendship with Qi Ying is adorable
- Huang Jing: it's amazing how they developed him as a character, became more and more likeable, and that moment he relinquished his regular spot to Lu Xia was when I realised just how much team spirit he has
- Xiuwen: so chubby and cute and honest and hilarious
- Ah Mu: I think he's a mashup of Horio and Katou, and just overall much nicer
- Xu Ziping: SO HANDSOME. and talented. and what an inspiring caring leader!
- Xu Xingzi: less annoying than I feared! Also I am rooting for her and Shen Weiming - that moment she instinctively held his hand to pull them to registration, and then he looked so embarrassed about wincing after A TRAFFIC ACCIDENT COME ON GUYS
- Yiwu: when I first saw him he looked NOTHING like Ibu Shinji but his constant mumbling and pulling out a vision chart to check Lu Xia's eye OMG he IS Ibu Shinji
- Xing Yao (Hyoutei): you know the casting is off when Kabaji's actor is handsomer than Ootori's. also not sure how I feel about the acting for Jirou...
- Hai Guang (Rikkaidai): Zilong is exactly like Sanada 10/10 for his face and cap and sternness and sheer power! Although I think there wasn't enough time spent on a lot of these supporting characters to make us care enough about them.
- Rokkaku: I HEART ROKKAKU. EVERY TEAM SHOULD BE LIKE THEM. HAPPINESS IS KEY.
Wow that was longer than I expected. Time to rewatch from Episode 1 again!
If anyone out there has watched this series and wants to spazz, PLEASE JOIN ME.