Hu Ge’s most anticipated drama since the end of Nirvana in Fire in 2015, Game of Hunting follows protagonist Zheng Qiudong’s journey from an idealistic entrepreneur to a skilled headhunter.
However, the path is far from smooth – his business fails after Bai Liqin’s (Zu Feng) death, and the teaser suggests he also spends time in prison after being betrayed by girlfriend (Jian Renzi). Thankfully Qiudong befriends wise inmate Liu Liangti (cameo by Sun Honglei), who points him in the right direction after he is released. The 45 episode drama begins airing tonight.
Drama opening theme (I’m intrigued by all the symbolism):
Hu Ge will be recording Happy Camp and Day Day Up episodes in the coming days， though broadcast date is unconfirmed.
Promotional Material Playlist (the 7th one is downright hilarious):
Watched a couple more eps. Wan Qian is delightful. There were moments were she felt a little less natural than usual, but she does a great job with her character and even pulls Hu Ge into character a bit.
Theory: Jiang Wei works for Republican eras because they’re set in a distant setting. They don’t work for this drama because we live in present day, and we’re more alert when everything in the drama feels out of place.
The opening credit is well-done. One of the best I’ve seen this year. I was slightly disappointed by Ming Lan’s and NIF2 clips. I hope this one will not be a disappointment. I’m very happy to see dramas that go beyond mind-numbing stories of Mary Sue Meets Prince/CEO Gary Stu. It’s not too easy to find a drama with a good cast and with interesting plots. Too many female-centric plots where Mary encounters shrewy, shrill women in supporting roles. A lot of beautiful people with ok to good acting, but the content is not worth watching.
Have you started watching yet? I don’t know if it’s just me, but I feel like this drama did not live up to the hype. The pacing is kind of awkward and the female protagonist makes me fast forward every time she’s on screen. Maybe it will get better later on?
idarklight put up comments on this in the other/earlier post on Nov dramas. I have to agree with you two. It doesn’t look like a clear winner at all. Good to read viewer comments. I did watch one recent trailer/clip that felt iffy with weird and overbearing voiceover, but I had hoped that was not representative of the drama itself.
Eps 1 and 2 were a mess, but it does get better in Ep 4 when the male lead meets his mentor and gets out of prison. I still have faith in Jiang Wei’s script writing abilities (diehard fan of Lurk) , and it remains to be seen whether the drama will continue to improve.
At this point, I’m just waiting for Wan Qian to show up and save the show (well, at least the parts she’s in) like she does in every drama she’s in.
You were right! Episode four was better by leaps and bounds. Part of it is because the plot picked up, but I can’t help but feel like it’s because Yiren wasn’t in it…she just cannot act.
Wan Qian, however, is fantastic. I hope she gets more screen time.
Appreciate all viewing comments.I’ll try to give episode 2 a try then. I re-watched the first half of ep1 since I wasn’t paying too much attention the first time around. But yep, it was not good.
I like Wan Qian a lot myself, but a lot of female viewers resented her after seeing her stealing Ren Jialun away from Jing Tian. I find it funny. I quit watching Tang Glory halfway into first season. Even Wang Jinsong’s acting there looked a bit off to me, although he was great in NIF and Adv Alliance. His consort’s acting seemed better.
YT comments can be very inexplicable. There were pages of enthusiastic compliments for Princess Agent and LGX. I’m not sure what they saw there. I’m not able to obsess over any character in PA or finish that drama. T Glory looked good by comparison.
I avoid mentioning Yiren. I don’t want her to end up like Kimi Qiao. I’ve never seen Yiren in anything before. She’s pretty. I know Zu Feng is trying to look sick. At times he appeared natural, but he has this lethargic way of delivering his speech that I find distracting. Maybe his speech speed is lower than the average actor. I saw a long trailer of him in Holy Guizi. He looked good there.