VIP Only (2023)

Cute but also cringy. Watch for the leads.

General spoilers only at bottom of review.
Ep 1-6: Not much plot but cute and sweet with great attraction-tension between leads. A simple, fairly enjoyable, light and easy watch.
Ep 7-10: Cringe-fest! Cliched tropes kept popping up, higher suspension of disbelief required to get through, cheesy moments, corny lines, and more telling vs showing.

The lead actors are good and their chemistry is great; they kept me watching. There was slow building romantic and sexual tension, a decent amount of skinship, and realistic making-out. The actors seemed comfortable with each other and the growing interest and attraction of their characters was believable. Most of the time they managed to elevate the weak screenplay. I would readily watch them if they had another project together.

The plot is basic and extremely predictable, the script is mediocre, and the theme song is decent but over-used and I didn't like most of the rest of the music (either didn't feel like it fit well or it just came across as cheap or cheesy).

Good for binge-watching one time; it's cute and light but the 20min episodes don't have enough of a storyline arc individually to feel satisfying on their own. I won't re-watch it.

Stan Huang is great as Gu Jing and held a lot of energy in his eyes. I found him compelling to watch, even when the character wasn't doing much.

Liu Li is naive to the point that some suspension of disbelief is required to like him! Xuang Chen is good with his doe-eyed innocence. I think whatever annoyances I felt were with the way the character was written, not with the actor. It does take some skill to act so believably clueless.

The lead couple in You Are Mine have a mini cameo in this series. I personally felt like it didn't add much, either to their story or to this one.

Ep 7-10 really lowered my enjoyment with this show. If you can shrug things off and roll with it, you may fare better than I did (I could only do so up to a point).

GENERAL SPOILERS on CLICHÉS below.

In broad strokes, here's what's in store for Ep 7-10:
A love triangle, jealousy hijinks, the "burden" of a family member completely (and ridiculously) getting in the way of the protagonists being together, Gu Jing all of a sudden losing his spine and Liu Li abruptly getting one, characters doing things that impact two people without communicating with the other first, public approval/validation when handling a family matter, public gawking over light PDA, secondary characters getting closer romantically (though no time is really spent on it), and a childhood connection (which is told, not shown)!

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Cute but bland story

Usually I like Thaiwanees Bl:s, but unfortunately this one left me quite unaffected. The story is cute, but for me not very engaging. I usually like stories that involves food, but I did not become hungry even once.

The acting is good, and the chemestry sweet, if not passionate. They do the best they can with a skript that is so, so.

I feel that nothing really happens. The writer try to get some tension in to the story, but for me it doesen't feel real.

Bing it if you have nothing else you want to watch, but if your short of time you can skipp it.

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Plot was spread way too thin

When the best parts of your series are the cameos of other characters from the same universe of stories then you have a problem.
I like the cast and I thought there was a gentle and lovely chemistry between the leads but it was dull. I am all for a slow and sweet story but this was not it. I think it would have suited a shorter run. Maybe 6 eps? But there wasn’t enough here and it was disappointing.
There were elements of the story they could have delved more into and side characters too but instead it felt literally like sitting in the restaurant for half an hour each week for maybe 2 minutes if plot.

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I need more Taiwanese BL

I will admit that I didn't like the series much in the beginning. It was kinda cringy, nothing original there but these two things don't have to mean that the show is not good or not worth watching so I kept watching. I can kinda day that after watching other Taiwanese bl I think the cinematic style of this show and the storytelling as well isn't my thing so I won't say it was bad. I just didn't particularly enjoy it. But the leads were really cute! They worked very well together and they have good chemistry so I was pleasantly surprised with the last two episodes. I really liked the last two episodes so I can honestly say that I enjoy watching the end.

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One word: Very bad!

I did not had any expectaction from this series, because in the past one year, Taiwanese BL become more and more boring. It is like the Directors don’t have any ideas how to mantain a good BL series, with a good plot and story in general.
It is very surprising for me to see so much “innocence” in Taiwanese Bl, since Taiwan is very liberal and open to LGBTQ+. When I compare Korean Bl with Taiwanese BL, definitely Koreans are taking a first place. Koreans, as very limited in undesrstanding LGBTQ+, they are more surprisingly opened in bl series and their “Innocence’ is totally legit.
Well, about this series…I don’t want to spill bad words or to offend the fans of Taiwanese bl, but definitely this series is waste of time. Bad acting, bad chemiistry, bad story…simply BAD!
I gave high rate 6.5/10 only because I respect Taiwan and I adore Taiwanese people. Otherwise, I could give barely 1 point.The Boss is really good looking and that’s why I watched all 10 episodes, even I had pain in my stomach while I was watching. Even though he is good looking, still with no expression on his face, body language zero, even their kiss was so fake and with bad acting. On other hand, Liu Li presented as very naive guy, in that sense that he was stupid.
Anyway, this is only my own opinion from my own perspective, hopefully I will see some good and quality Taiwanese bl in the near future…

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Great Synergy but Weak Individually

Perplexing. I really do not know how else to describe this series. It is indecisive yet oddly compelling to watch. The two main leads are strangely engaging together, yet individually, blend into the woodwork as part of the background furniture. This is completely a story of synergy. Honestly, this is a rather low-key drama that is underplayed and relies more on the screenplay than acting. It is surprisingly well written, which is expected as it is a story about a novelist. This is an entertaining story to be sure. Nothing deep but well written. Ironically the side couple provided way more interesting dynamics. This is easy watching.

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Could Have Been Better

Simple, Sweet but Ordinary

Gu Jing (Stan Huang) is a good chef who owns a creative and retro restaurant. He opens his restaurant anytime he wants. Gu Jing finds that there is a young man who always gets the quietest seat, and that is Liu Li (Chen Xuan Yu). Liu Li is a gay-themed novelist who rents a room upstairs from Gu Jing’s restaurant. Gu Jing starts to send Liu a bowl of spicy beef noodles. Slowly, Gu Jing becomes the person that Liu Li confides in, the person who keeps him company during his hard times. Gradually, Liu Li realizes that his fantasies may be different from reality.

Read the complete article here-

https://the-bl-xpress.com/2024/03/09/vip-only-series-review-ep-3-to-10/

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some cute parts (watch suggestions)

Overall: cliched conflicts weighed down the otherwise cute plot. 10 episodes about 25 minutes each. Aired on GagaOOLala & Viki. The production company also made: Stay By My Side, You Are Mine and Anti Reset (airing in 2024).

Watch Suggestions (unless you enjoy slow pacing and cliched drama)
- watch ep 1 & 2
- skip ep 3
- watch ep 4
- skip ep 5
- could skip ep 6, there is a cameo from the You Are Mine leads and a cute sick/caring scene around 12 minutes but stop at 16 minutes to avoid useless family drama
- skip ep 7 & 8
- watch ep 9 (can also start at 8 minutes and watch thru to the end) and episode 10

Content Warnings: homophobic remark, dub/non con kissing, vomiting

What I Liked
- cute moments
- facial hair (and it looks really good) on a lead
- supportive/wingman friend
- two side characters (though zero screen time in episode 5-8 and only a little bit before then)
- cameo of You Are Mine actors in ep 6 and 10
- that Liu Li stood up to the mom

Room For Improvement
- the whole drunk cliche
- the waiter's rude comment would have made more sense if there were a bunch of people in the restaurant and some were leaving because they couldn't find a place to sit, also the animal sanctuary could have used a few extras as well
- in episode 5 the dub/non con kissing was uncomfortable to watch as was the freeze kiss in ep 4
- instead of introducing that character in ep 6 they could have developed the sassy waiter and the upbeat friend (who basically vanished from the series)
- camerawork sometimes moved too much/had odd angles
- slow pacing
- two grown men fought like middle schoolers over another man as if he was property and not a person, tried to be comedic but failed
- noble idiocy

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Intrique to watch this from YouTube pitching. Turn out as quite good. Sometimes really amazing with YouTube algorithm. Haha...

Story about a man, Liu Li (LL), who goes through heart break. Although it's been 2 years, but LL still can't move on from his crush and that's effect his writing. It's like he's been running in place for 2 years. And that's when he meet Gu Jing (GJ), the owner of beef noodle restaurant under his house. And they story began when LL drunk & accidently kiss GJ.

This drama told story about time, friendship & love heal the wound & open new beginning. This drama also tell us about to learn to put ur partner in every things in ur life. Like when GJ have trouble with his mom, LL that finally speak up & break the cycle.

Overall this heart warming story about love & relationships.

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This is a cozy time BL.

Overall this is a cute story. This doesn't have anything large or overly exciting. This is a cozy story and would recommend it for people needing a break from the over-emotional and high-adrenaline based shows. We also had a cameo from the 'You Are Mine' guys at the end and I thought it was well placed and it didn't detract from the story.

I really liked the two main characters and the side characters were very amusing. I also liked though a possible relationship could happen for the side characters, they weren't in a relationship, nor did we have to shift any focus to them. I think the shortness of this show meant that we didn't have the chance to make the people and interactions more complex. The writing is formulated with tropes to be soothing and comforting. I can recognize with how some watcher may not like that it is cliche in a way, but i feel that the laid back nature of the show makes that not a bad thing in this show. I also wished we didn't have the 'knew you as a child / long lost friend' trope. I see it was properly used and not relied upon, i just didn't need it.

The obstacles for them being together is an awful mother on one side and a past unrequited love on the other side. The unrequited love was part of the driving force of the story, but when the dude came back, I was disappointed in how all the "adults" in the situation handled it. HOWEVER, it didn't last long and it did cause the catalyst and made for some amusing postering between the love interests. The mom portion was frustrating. The mom was a big problem in general but the MC didn't even know she was a problem until way too late. This led to us not seeing the MLs have conversations about it, and even if the situation was handled wonderfully, it felt out of character.

Other than these issues and wishing we got to see everyone's friendship more, this was a comforting, low key BL and I appreciate that. This wasn't meant to be anything more than a couple supporting each other and growing in and amongst each other. If you wanted anything more than this, you may need to look elsewhere for a show.

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