1
cillachandler
United States
This review may contain spoilers
So well written and acted
I went into this drama not quite sure what to expect. The synopsis was interesting so I thought I'd give it a try and it did not disappoint. So let's dive into it.
First things first - I am a newcomer to the world of BL. As a queer person myself queer media is important. BL however is not a good representation usually of what queer life is really like. I know this and accept it. I just go about my way and enjoy it for it's entertainment value and try not to get too wrapped up in the other things. Obviously there are some hard no things for me - SA is a hard no for me. Certain questionable plot devices I can overlook because they're not super annoying.
Storyline:
After enough engineer University BL to kill a large herd of elephant the storyline of this BL is unique. There may be an engineer university involved but it's used only to provide that the plot is overused in the industry. Who hasn't seen this plot over and over again and isn't tired of it? When first meeting Sib he seems like any other BL actor (either written or acted) but over the course of the 12 episodes and the growth of both the actor and the character we see that this is not just a story about a writer falling in love with an actor but of flawed individuals coming to term with their own realities and the world around them that is trying everything in their power to destroy their lives. In this mix we see the high price paid by actors in the industry when trying to live private lives while still having to promote in the toxic fan service ship culture. Gene is in such denial of who he is in the beginning that the dinner with his friends causes so much pain that he has to numb with enough alcohol to drown that pain. Over the course of this series and these character lives only the surface of what these actors have to deal with on and off screen is explored. I feel like there were areas that weren't dealt with more in-depth due to the fear of alienating the audience who would rather live in that fantasy of these actors having real life relationships offscreen. The end of this series made so much sense with the actors disappearing and only the woman writer left because at the end of the day characters aren't real, series end and actors go back to their real lives. What a beautiful way to tell people that what they see on screen is not real.
Acting:
I have one word for this - BRUCE. My god can that man act. Every scene of his, every smirk, every lip wobble, every word, every tear he sold that role with his entire soul. I hated that character so much I wanted to reach into the screen half the time and throttle him. The character got exactly what he put out into the world returned to him 1000% but in the end it was so painful to watch. I wanted him to grow out of this behavior but he was so damaged that it was impossible at that time. I see nothing but good stuff for this actor in the future. Please someone give him some main roles where his acting skills won't be wasted. As for Kai, I saw so much grown in him between UWMA and this role and I'm so happy to see it. I enjoyed him in UWMA but he didn't sell the character to me in the end. However, in this series he sold this character so much better. He stumbled in the beginning but once he got his feet under him and began to really mesh with Up and the storyline his acting got better and better. Up as Gene was enjoyable to watch. I didn't see him as a breakout actor in this series as he seemed to have two emotions - blank faced or crying his eyes out. There wasn't much else to his role and I would have liked to see more. Nu as Gene's father was a standout as actors who play parents. So may parents in these BL are just no entities; they exist just as a way to try to stir emotions in the audience. I felt the anguish his father went through having deny his own homosexuality as a young man. I felt the fear that he had for his own child. I didn't feel that the character loved Gene's mother any less because he was bisexual and that's because Nu could act well and showed that depth of character.
Music:
Nothing special about the music; it was basic run of the mill BL music so nothing stuck in my head.
Re-Watch Value:
While this was an enjoyable series it's not something I would rewatch.
First things first - I am a newcomer to the world of BL. As a queer person myself queer media is important. BL however is not a good representation usually of what queer life is really like. I know this and accept it. I just go about my way and enjoy it for it's entertainment value and try not to get too wrapped up in the other things. Obviously there are some hard no things for me - SA is a hard no for me. Certain questionable plot devices I can overlook because they're not super annoying.
Storyline:
After enough engineer University BL to kill a large herd of elephant the storyline of this BL is unique. There may be an engineer university involved but it's used only to provide that the plot is overused in the industry. Who hasn't seen this plot over and over again and isn't tired of it? When first meeting Sib he seems like any other BL actor (either written or acted) but over the course of the 12 episodes and the growth of both the actor and the character we see that this is not just a story about a writer falling in love with an actor but of flawed individuals coming to term with their own realities and the world around them that is trying everything in their power to destroy their lives. In this mix we see the high price paid by actors in the industry when trying to live private lives while still having to promote in the toxic fan service ship culture. Gene is in such denial of who he is in the beginning that the dinner with his friends causes so much pain that he has to numb with enough alcohol to drown that pain. Over the course of this series and these character lives only the surface of what these actors have to deal with on and off screen is explored. I feel like there were areas that weren't dealt with more in-depth due to the fear of alienating the audience who would rather live in that fantasy of these actors having real life relationships offscreen. The end of this series made so much sense with the actors disappearing and only the woman writer left because at the end of the day characters aren't real, series end and actors go back to their real lives. What a beautiful way to tell people that what they see on screen is not real.
Acting:
I have one word for this - BRUCE. My god can that man act. Every scene of his, every smirk, every lip wobble, every word, every tear he sold that role with his entire soul. I hated that character so much I wanted to reach into the screen half the time and throttle him. The character got exactly what he put out into the world returned to him 1000% but in the end it was so painful to watch. I wanted him to grow out of this behavior but he was so damaged that it was impossible at that time. I see nothing but good stuff for this actor in the future. Please someone give him some main roles where his acting skills won't be wasted. As for Kai, I saw so much grown in him between UWMA and this role and I'm so happy to see it. I enjoyed him in UWMA but he didn't sell the character to me in the end. However, in this series he sold this character so much better. He stumbled in the beginning but once he got his feet under him and began to really mesh with Up and the storyline his acting got better and better. Up as Gene was enjoyable to watch. I didn't see him as a breakout actor in this series as he seemed to have two emotions - blank faced or crying his eyes out. There wasn't much else to his role and I would have liked to see more. Nu as Gene's father was a standout as actors who play parents. So may parents in these BL are just no entities; they exist just as a way to try to stir emotions in the audience. I felt the anguish his father went through having deny his own homosexuality as a young man. I felt the fear that he had for his own child. I didn't feel that the character loved Gene's mother any less because he was bisexual and that's because Nu could act well and showed that depth of character.
Music:
Nothing special about the music; it was basic run of the mill BL music so nothing stuck in my head.
Re-Watch Value:
While this was an enjoyable series it's not something I would rewatch.
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