Where is the baseball??
Synopsis: Ban Xiao Song is passionate about baseball, but his school’s baseball team is terrible. They miserably lose against a rival school. To make matters worse, Ban Xiao Song’s baseball team gets disbanded due to a lack of funds. Wu Tong from the rival school transfers to Ban Xiao Song’s school and together, they try to start up the baseball team again. Along the way, they try to recruit Yin Ke and other classmates.
Episodes watched: 19/39
Thoughts: I started this series because of the cast. The baseball coach is played by Chinese singer Joker Xue and the three main characters (Ban Xiao Song, Wu Tong, and Yin Ke) are from the boy group, TFBoys. Joker Xue and TFBoys are incredibly famous in China. Danson Tang, another popular celebrity, plays one of the teachers.
There are two main storylines in this drama:
- Ban Xiao Song recruits classmates to help him start the baseball team again. It focuses on his friendships with Wu Tong and Yin Ke.
- Tao Xi (the baseball coach and gym teacher) and his rivalry against An Mi, the new staff member at school, who is also his next door neighbour. We also see his home life with Guo Guo, the child he takes care of.
I’m loving this series. However, I have one complaint and it’s a big one. Where is the baseball?? I’ve seen half of the series and the first episode showed us the most baseball. There hasn’t been any matches after that.
It made sense for the start of the series to focus on friendships. After all, the baseball team got disbanded and the friendships between the main characters were not formed yet. It also made sense for the characters to work through their issues first. However, I expected a focus on baseball once these things were all taken care of.
Instead, the story then focuses on a girl classmate (who is not on the baseball team) in love with a celebrity (also not on the baseball team). What does this have to do with baseball? This drama seems more like a teacher-student series like Great Teacher Onizuka, Gokusen, or Assassination Classroom instead of a sports series, except Tao Xi isn’t as involved in the students’ lives.
One thing I like about the Chinese drama, The King’s Avatar, is that there is a really good balance between friendships and gaming throughout the show. After all, the series is about a E-sport team. Since this drama is about a baseball team, it should have more baseball scenes, shouldn’t it?
I’m going to continue watching this drama because I’m still enjoying it regardless. Hopefully there will be more baseball.
I’m watching this series on the official YouTube channel. Only the first two episodes have English subtitles.
Wretched and Divine 