Cross Fire | Review

A cross in timeline brings two men with the same esports dream together. 

Notable Actors/Actresses

Lu Han: Xiao Feng / Seven

Wu Lei: Lu Xiao Bei / North

Song Yan Fei: An Lan

Dai Lu Wa: Chu Ge

Director:
Xu Hong Yu

Screenwriter:
Xu Su

Producer: 

Zhang Meng

Chinese Title
穿越火线

Genres: Contemporary,  Romance, Bromance, Fantasy, Sports, Contemporary Romance

Network: Tencent Video

Year: 2020
Episodes: 36

Reviewer: FanFanX

[Recaps Available]

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(Recommendation: Sort comments to “Oldest” if you’re not up to date with the newest episode)

Cast

Lu Han: Xiao Feng / Seven

Wu Lei: Lu Xiao Bei / North

Song Yan Fei: An Lan

Dai Lu Wa: Chu Ge

Other Remarks

[First Impression (Ep1-)] Go Go Squid! made me more willing to try esports series, so I'm happy I gave this one a chance, even if it took me a while to finish it. 

[Actors/Actresses] I was clueless as to who Lu Han was, and yes, his hair was truly awful in this, as it's so fried-looking. His character grew on me though, and eventually, I stopped worrying about his hair.

Song Yan Fei always plays a quirky character! I appreciate how she always appears one way on the outside but has layers of intellect and depth to her characters, and this series is no exception. 

Ha, I forgot this is where I saw Xia Zhi Yuan before Discovery of Romance. His exaggerated expressions are awesome. And yes, he's so loud. 

It took me a while to realize that Chu Ge, the girl who has a boy's haircut and dresses like one is Dai Lu Wa from My Calorie Boy. I didn't recognize her...until 7 eps in. I should've known by the eye rolling! xD 

[Behind the Scenes] Lu Han doing that finger slap on everyone… lol 

Dai Lu Wa making Wu Lei crack, and Lu Han’s noodle takes. (~2:15, yes, he’s my fav out of this.)

My favorite chaotic team, 1Coin with my favorite crazy person, Chang Sha / 24K.   

Xiao Feng with young Xiao Bei at the basketball court. This director is asked if given the choice to choose between six child actors or 800 extras, this guy says 800 extras. xD 

[OST] It seems that esports series rely on music for its storylines to move along. (Not necessarily a good thing for any series though?)

[Ending] Happy.

[Review & Rating]

This one started in chaos for me. At least that’s what I remember from when I first started this series about six months ago before putting it on hold. When I picked it back up… I was hooked and binged the remaining 80% in two nights! Initially, when I first started this, I wasn’t sure if I was going to continue this, but when I saw that there was a twist with the main leads’ interaction - Xiao Feng and Xiao Bei, I couldn’t wait to see how this played out. 

The romance in this is so negligible that I find it misleading to consider this a romance. Xiao Feng has the better romance storyline, but ultimately, this is a bromance between our two esports leaders of two different timelines. Xiao Feng and Xiao Bei together is one of the best things about this series – and I love their respective crack teams – weird individuals who are just full of heart. I’m Team 1Coin. 

I’m guessing the draw for this series was supposed to be Xiao Bei (Wu Lei) but I actually stayed because of Xiao Feng (Lu Han) and wanting to know what happened to him and his team. Xiao Bei had a good start, but something changed in the middle of the series (probably when he had his physical rehabilitation phase) and I checked out of that storyline for a while. Xiao Feng is the one who made things happen though, as much as he was able to from his timeline. For the team, Xiao Feng is always giving his all, even knowing when to give up, which made me love him. It made me hope for his happier ending - and for him to actually know his own worth. While I expected the betrayal of friendship here, I didn’t quite expect how Xiao Feng was betrayed by his closest friend. It’s clever how the gaming world played a big part in the story development.

Overall, I’m not sure if I’d rewatch this one, because once the surprises have been revealed, there’s nothing left to keep you captivated. Good for a one-time viewing. Root for the underdogs - who are not underdogs! 

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Rating: 3/5