Recently, the Chinese blockbuster series themed around romance and esports titled “You Are the Most Beautiful When You Smile” has topped the search trends on social media in China, showcasing a cast of exceptionally attractive actors.
However, immediately after the film’s information was revealed, a wave of controversy erupted within the gaming community. In fact, the original novel of “You Are the Most Beautiful When You Smile” is based on the romance novel “When You Smile” by author Qing Mei. This work has been called for a boycott and faced opposition from the Chinese and Korean League of Legends communities, especially from fans of Team WE, since 2017.
The reason is that this novel has been accused of exploiting many personal stories, using and plagiarizing the names of players illegally. The behind-the-scenes stories of Team WE members and many other League of Legends teams have also been twisted and incorporated into the novel, transforming them into melodramatic love dramas.
When criticized for “altering players’ names and exploiting character prototypes” without permission, the author’s response only fueled further outrage within the community. The female writer bluntly… insulted the fans of Team WE and declared that their struggle for their players was a sign of failure.
Therefore, when the film adaptation of this novel was announced, the Chinese online community reacted with intense criticism and calls for a boycott.
The original novel and its adaptation both revolve around the main female character Dong Yao – a League of Legends gamer with dreams of entering the professional arena, helping to overthrow the dominance of Korean players in League of Legends (the story’s setting corresponds to the 2016 season of League of Legends).
And of course, when mentioning the “China-Korea war” in League of Legends, figures like Faker cannot be omitted. In the original novel, the character Li Junhao – a Korean League of Legends star, known as the “number 1 player in the world,” is believed to be modeled after Faker.
Faker’s real name – Lee Sang-hyeok, transliterated in Chinese as Li Shanghao, is almost identical to the character’s name Li Junhao in the novel. In this work, Li Junhao uses the in-game name “The Pope,” holding the identity of a top-tier League of Legends player and a monument in the Korean esports scene (however, he plays in the ADC position).
Li Junhao moves to LPL to compete solely for the goal of having a “direct confrontation” with the male protagonist Liu Zicheng. However, what is noteworthy here is that not only is he accused of “stealing Faker’s name,” but the female author has also transformed the prototype into a rather “questionable” character: arrogant, competitive, and somewhat cunning.
In fact, this is also the common archetype for many LCK players in the story; they are portrayed as those who rest on their laurels, arrogant, and contemptuous of the LPL, often making insulting remarks about the Chinese League of Legends community on social media. Meanwhile, fans of Li Junhao are depicted as “wifey types,” ready to leap up and insult anyone who touches their idol.
Not only has Faker’s image been distorted under the pen of author Qing Mei, but LPL players have also been “remixed,” transforming the prestigious League of Legends tournament in China into a hotpot of melodramatic drama with stories of romantic conflicts. In fact, the main female character Dong Yao has been found to share many similarities in background and personal life with two players… GODV and Xiye.
