How does the Chinese Drama My Unicorn Girl (Girl in Armor) get good reviews?

“My Unicorn Girl” is a youth campus love drama made by iQIYI, Jiangsu Straw Bear Film Co., Ltd., and ABB quality products, directed by Yu Zhongzhong, starring Guan Hong and Chen Yao, and starring Li Jiulin, Ao Ziyi, Ma Zehan and Dai Xianqi. The play has a total of 24 episodes of 45 minutes each. The title of the play can be literally translated as “Girl in Armor”, which refers to hockey gear.

The play was broadcast on iQIYI on August 23, 2020. iQIYI is a video website founded on April 22, 2010. Baidu acquired PPS video business on May 7, 2013, and merged iQIYIi with PPS, iQIYI to become Baidu’s platform. iQIYI was listed on NASDAQ under the stock code IQ on March 29th, 2018.

The brief introduction of the play is as follows:

Sang Tian is a lovely girl. On her 18th birthday, she promised to be admitted to her mother’s alma mater, the figure skating team of the Sports Institute of Liuye University. Unexpectedly, she, who had been lucky all the time, failed in the figure skating entrance examination and by mistake dressed up as a man to take the hockey exam and finally was hired. Because the hockey department did not recruit girls, she had to change her name to “mulberry field” and disguise herself as a man.

Sang Tian thought the plan was flawless, but the appearance of the “prank boy”, Wen Bing, troubled her very much. The two made trouble off-campus, but now they live in the same dormitory. After confronting each other again and again, the two enemies turned from mutual dislike to mutual appreciation. They worked hard with their teammates to win the championship of the college league.

But Sang Tian’s secret was finally exposed and she had to leave Liuye. At this time, there was the good news that Liuye would recruit the first freshmen of women’s ice hockey next year. Sang Tian rekindled hope, regained her girlish appearance, put on armor, and started a new dream journey with Wen Bing.

The show receives a total rating of 7.7 out of 10 on IMDb. There are comments saying:

The main couple is so cute and adorable, they made me smile all the time while watching. I just loved the story and the way their friendship and their love developed. There are a lot of flaws, it’s not perfect but I forgive them everything because I still loved it a lot. I highly recommend it.

The play gets a total rating of 7.8 out of 10 in Douban. Although it looks like a typical youth, love, and inspirational drama, some viewers think that the play has a humorous plot and funny lines, and treats it as a comedy. Some critics believe that the strength of the screenwriter of the play is average, and the performance of the actors is quite exaggerated, but if it is regarded as a comedy, then the viewing experience is not bad. There are also commentators that the early setting of the play is relatively routine, and it may be difficult to adapt if it requires a high demand for the script, but the pace of plot advance is relatively fast, and once you get used to the background set by the play, it is generally a good play.

The director of the play, Yu Zhongzhong, is not a well-known director in China, but he has also made some achievements. Yu Zhongzhong was born in Taiwan in 1978, and his shooting experience is mainly youth idol dramas. “Love forward“, directed by him, has won the title of Taiwan’s TV ratings for 21 weeks in a row, and “Marry Me, or Not?” has been nominated for six major TV Golden Bell Awards.

Chen Yao, the heroine of the play, was born in 1994, where she was born in Sichuan, China. Her most acclaimed film and television works include “Wu Xin: The Monster Killer”, “My Unicorn Girl“, “Maiden Holmes” and so on.

Guan Hong, the protagonist of the play, was born in 1995, where he was born in Taiwan. His most acclaimed film and television works include “My Unicorn Girl” and “Proud of Love“. In addition, there are also eye-catching performances in variety shows “Summer Surf Shop“, “Phanta City” and “Trump Card Season IV“.