Despite having a pretty conventional plotline, the well executed and entertaining storytelling makes this light hearted show well worth watching. It manages to smoothly split it's focus between a first love romance, and the thrills (and stresses) of 2 different competitive ice sports without seeming scattered.
As with many films about niche sports (figure skating, gymnastics, etc) the actors themselves weren't terribly convincing in action (though the professional doubles were great), and the tactics /strategies utilized were oversimplified and far from realistic. However the viewer is more than compensated for any technical shortcomings by the other aspects of the story.
Heartwarming relationships and hilarious bromances, minimal cliches (whether in the plot or archetypes) and great chemistry among the entire cast. Wang AnYu in particular showed outstanding emotional range and OMG, his drunken antics in episode 15/16 had me rolling! (especially his singing on the bench). On top of excellent performances, the filmography was also fantastic, and accompanied by a refreshing soundtrack with a nice mix of emotional ballads, light pop and adrenaline pumping rock for the competition scenes.
ROMANCE RATING: * * * 8/10.
Although I normally prefer more adult-ish interactions in my romance films, I have to give credit where credit is due. WAY and SZE have great chemistry together, and perfectly capture that deliciously-sweet-yet-awkward feeling of first love (that first kiss scene simultaneously gave me sugar shock and left me cackling). I added an extra star just for that! The rest of the 4+ kiss scenes were also cute and IMO were acceptable in terms of content /duration.
