Cringey and childish
From the synopsis this sounded like something I'd really enjoy, as I love police dramas. However almost everything about this was ridiculous. The main character (police officer) was extremely childish, and so were all of his colleagues. It really broke the immersion for me seeing a bunch of police officers acting like children when they're clearly all supposed to be adults. Even people in their early 20's don't act so immature. The scene's with them were all very slapstick-esque which I really disliked.There are also a lot of plot holes or storylines that don't get explained in a satisfactory way... It felt like they were included to create drama and not as proper plots.
The chemistry between the main actors was pretty good, I liked the more domestic scenes and the relationship between the two of them. The secondary couple I disliked as I felt like they were just stereotypes, the other police officer especially because he seemed to be about 13 years old...
Overall there are some good scenes in this but it wasn't worth the time spent on it, I wish it was an actually gritty police BL but oh well.
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Mobsters are people too....
This is probably an 8,75 show... so I may or may not up it to a 9... why purely for entertainment value, the story itself is nothing remarkable it is just the typical cop investigates mob a little bit to closely... gets trapped here and there and falls in love... All with a bunch of slightly underdeveloped intrigues , misunderstanding and more or less predictable twist...Showing us a lovely selection of types of assault (including sexual), gun shots, stabbing, kidnapping... you name it this drama has it.. However the main couple is actually pretty supportive and seem to listen in one another's needs odd but true this is actually possible even for a mobster...
The Mobster guy is an icicle combined with a huge sense of playfulness while the cop is mr thinking positive bubbly love boy... cute as a button and the two together are a blast to watch from start to finish... I love the way these two interact and even if there are some flags here and there it kind of works anyway...
The second couple is one part so naive I am impressed the guy is still alive with mysterious ether jacket! great combo, not so much consent... and a lot of flirting with food... again fun to watch indeed.
This drama may not have constantly kept me on my toes, but it was still a nice rom com without to overly annoying characters and a pretty consistent character and relationship development from the leads leaving most of the drama to the supporting cast... Which is what makes this a bit different than many other dramas.
Definitely too easy to binge, it latterly felt like i just started it when it suddenly said The End.
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This was the first time I watched any of the History series and I'm so grateful that it was such a good start. The best point of the show is the plot, which is SO rare, specially in BL land. I was intrigued, everything made sense (although still very fictional), I was at the edge of my seat. every. single. episode. It had the right amount of drama, action, romance and comedy. Very well done indeed.
The character development was great as well. I enjoyed every little story besides the main couple. The pairings.. I just really liked them! The acting, I must admit, didn't always convince me for some of the characters. My favorites were Tang Yi (Chris Wu) and Chen Wen Hao (Chia Kuei Chen). Their chemistry whenever they acted together was really good as well. I cried quite a lot at the end. To me, Jake's facial and body expressions weren't great. I know Shao Fei's character is like that but... I felt like something was lacking. Thankfully, by the end of the series, I warmed up to him. Jack and Li An didn't have he best performances. But their story was so cute and their characters so fluffy... hopefully we will see them grow from now on. Another actor that didn't sell it for me was the police chief. Weird expressions, weird acting... I don't know. But I really enjoyed his scene with his daughter. I felt true emotion rather than just.............. weird facial expressions.
The chemistry between the couples was amazing. Specially our main couple. So so so cute. Hot scenes everywhere and I'm certainly not complaining.
The music was really good, actually. I really enjoyed the opening theme.
I already know the plot so rewatching it could be a bit boring but it's also short so why not? Maybe when I run out of things to watch and nostalgie hits.
In conclusion, watch it. That's all I can say. I'm quite skeptical though because I dont think ill ever watch a bl as good as this one in the near future. Honestly, I'm so happy I decided to watch it. I don't even remember why I did but I'm really thankful. The BL world just gained a beautiful gem.
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Could have been better
Story: I thought the story was pretty solid. There are different layers of subplots going on that all tie the characters together. I did find one of the subplots kind of forceful, like it had to be placed there for the purpose of continuity of the larger plot. But it didn't bother me to the point of disrupting my enjoyment.The hate to love thing they have going on was nicely done. I like that I'm able to see the levels of emotion/feelings they have for each other change per episode. Visually it helps me understand how they developed those feelings and thus helps me enjoy when they express certain emotions later on.
Acting/cast: Jake who plays Shao Fei is my least favorite. His acting was not the best. There were moments when I thought wow, they let this make it into the final cut? I don't know how to explain his acting, I'm not an acting expert, I just know what I saw was not the best it could have been. Also, I don't know if this is how he normally is in normal life, but he does this thing where he pulls his chin out and his back and neck look like he has kyphosis. It's not a pleasing visual. Chris who plays Tang yi is alright. I think he and Andy, who plays Jack were good. He was able to express Tang yi well, although I did find some scenes a little exaggerated. Andy's character was a weird one, reminded me of someone who's a little kookoo sociopathic, but I think Andy did a good job since his character doesn't really express much emotion except smile, so it should be easy already, I assume. Kenny who plays Zhao Zi also did a decent job. He's the one with the least experience out of the 4 but he did relatively well. He was able to capture the niave innocent factor. However, overall, judging the finished product on all of their acting/casting choice, I think the finished product was pretty average. I'm not going to lie and say this was the best acting/cast I've seen because it wasn't, but the cast did well enough to get the story across.
Let's talk about the action portion of this drama. I have a gripe. Personally, I found the fighting very poorly choreographed. They all looked stiff. It was awkward. Fists were flying but they looked like they were flying in the wrong direction. I wish the fight scenes were more worked on because it's supposed to play an important role in the story. Cops and Mafia, c'mon, you should at least have epic fight scenes.
Something to note that was actually quite good about this might be their chemistry/ability to be professional about certain scenes. It wasn't exactly clear in the final cut, because characters have to be characters, so you don't see the realness behind their behavior, but the behind the scenes was another world. I loved their chemistry and friendship. Really great on that part.
Rewatch value: Personally I was really interested in Jack and Zhao Zi's relationship. Because they would have moments weaved in here and there, it makes you more curious what their relationship will turn out and that's where my attention was on. I would definitely rewatch this for Jack and Zhao Zi's relationship. The main story was alright but it's a one time thing for me. I wouldn't want to rewatch for Tang yi and Shoa Fei.
Overall: Yes if you haven't watched this, you should watch it for the experience.
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Here’s the thing, this drama did the gay love story a good solid in that it didn’t treat it as the obstacle to the couple that your typical boys love type of movies do. The story was more about finding a killer and learning to move on and not hold on to anger and revenge. I don’t really think the title “Trapped” fits. There wasn’t really any part of the plot that involved trapping someone using love. But I can get past the title of the movie because the characters were so cute. Tang Yi was smexy (his acting was only so-so though, boy can’t fake cry worth a thing), Shou Fei was the most adorable male lead EVER (I couldn’t get enough of his expressive face!), and Jack was just too much (very expressive and mischievous). I had very strange editing choices at times that didn’t explain parts of the plot. And I felt like the last two episodes were extremely rushed and managed to fit in a few minutes of fan service to cover up the fact that they had too much story for 10 short episodes (on VIKI). I’m sort of left feeling like I didn’t get a complete meal and it was taken away from me before I finished the last few bites. I’m not starving but I’m not quite full either. It’s a frustrating end to the series that I was waiting weeks and weeks to finish before I watched it. Overall I’m still happy that I watched it, but it wasn’t quite as good as I hoped it would be. Was this review helpful to you?
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I wonder what everyone loved that I missed?
Things that stay in my mind: Shao Fei's exaggerated facial expressions, Tang Yi's meaningless blank stares, bad environmental shots and absurd plot, cute workplace friends and fatherly chairman who are very enjoyable to watch.When Tang Yi gives a little face, Shao Fei, who falls in love without waiting or thinking, immediately accepts it without doubting or wondering if I am gay. Because if your same sex is close to you, your first thought is to be gay. Because there is no such thing as intimacy, friendship 😩
Our second couple was very nice, but it was cut very short. I loved both characters 😭 I wish they had reduced the scenes of the first couple and increased the scenes of this couple
In general, it is a series that I did not like, I did not feel much passion, I could not connect with the characters. Of course, it's still going, whoever likes it will like it again. If it got such a high vote, I respect it to the end. I wonder what everyone loved that I missed?
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Enjoyable & Sweet
Sweet and touching with its gay relationships. A bit slow with a story that is a bit ridiculous as it doesn't make much sense with plot holes and questionable plot points, but it was fun and cute. I didn't really cared for the revenge storyline, which was weak and not particularly interesting (until the end). I was only interested in the gay relationships to be honest. Jack and Zhao Zi. Tang Yi and Meng. The dance scene where they tried to make each other jealous was HOT! The seducing scene with slinky R&B music was even HOTTER and probably the most erotic scene in a BL that I've seen so far. I really liked the skinship that was shown. Not exploitative and not superficial either. Just the right amount. It's pretty cool seeing an older BL couple who are in their late 20's and early thirties. Like is those K-dramas. I personally liked History 3: Trapped better than History 2: Crossing the Line. I cannot wait to see Taiwan continue to produce BL content!Was this review helpful to you?
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Do you like well-developed plots and characters? Do you like amazingly diverse acting? Do you like insanely emotional, heart-warming romances? Do you like beautifully shot scenes? Then this is the BL for you!!First thing I'd like to say is, I'm going to review this series in the bounds of its genre, aka BL Series.
If you've never watched a BL series before I definitely recommend starting with this one. It is truly one of the best.
One big thing to know about BL series: There's a lot of intense/cheesy romantic scenes.
The main reason I absolutely loved this series though was the fact that they didn't make it all about the romantic scenes or all about the main couple/side couples. They had a bigger overarching storyline that didn't feel forced at all and made a lot of sense.
Most BLs focus a lot on romantic scenes and making the show all about cute couple moments and it doesn't give the characters much room to grow other than in their love life. But this one does not do that at all.
It has such a great overarching storyline on gang life and the things Tang Yi and Shao Fei were struggling with. And the development of the story as well as the development of the characters, specifically Tang Yi and Shao Fei, was for the most part very fluid and well thought out. The plot never became repetitive, it was fast-paced but still managed to keep a lot of suspense that had me at the edge of my seat.
The acting was incredible considering some of the cast's lack of acting experience. I loved watching the live streams the cast and director recorded following each week of episodes as you really could notice the amount of work and thought that was put into the relationships between actors and their characters. The director did an amazing job at guiding the actors to understand more and more about their characters so they could portray them better in the show. And it's noticeable the amount of studying and effort the actors put into their characters. I truly applaud everyone from the main cast, especially Chris.
Lastly, I believe the series is doing what it aimed to do and that is to top the last few seasons of History. I personally loved crossing the line, which I think is the second most popular story out of the whole show, but it clearly did not have the chance to be as detailed with the plot lines as Trapped did.
I really believe this BL series does what many BL series can't do and that is finding a good balance between the romantic scenes the BL genre is known and loved for and a solid, logical storyline that makes the show that much more enjoyable to watch.
Some things I wish could have been better: the character development for Li An and Jack as a couple and as individuals, the development of Shao Fei's relationship with his boss, and the development of Zhi De's character. I believe most of these issues were created by the lack of time the show had. Most shortcomings of BL series are caused by the lack of time but I understand that this is caused by the small size of the industry and lack of funds.
I've already watched the show twice and I can say that it is really so good and interesting, I definitely recommend this show if you like a sad but still not-too-cruel angst story accompanied by cute romances.
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○i mean, i am quite biased towards this sort of plot; it's a trope that i love. the character introductions and developments were nice and the story line flowed pretty well. there were however certain areas i thought could have been written a bit better. i thought some scenes were slightly unnecessary and that time could have been put into better use with another scene. nevertheless, i love how the story never got incredibly deep or remained too light; it was a sweet balance of comedy, drama, action, and love. i appreciated all its twists and turns since it kept the story intriguing for me. overall i was quite pleased with the story.
•acting:
○first off, i must seriously commend Chris on his acting in this drama. he did so great! his eyes spoke so much raw emotion that i was taken aback as the episodes progressed. he really did a fantastic job with the role. i've always seen this sort of role a bit difficult to play since it's so easy to come off as a bland character. however Chris really shone in this part.
○Jake's character was a weird one, i've got to say. but it grew on me (by the end of the first episode ahaha). he portrayed it well enough to make me think that's how he usually acts irl. let me note however: that in the later episodes, i was a very slightly detached from his character though. he didn't hold me in as strongly as he did in the earlier ones. i'm not sure if it was the writing of his character or his acting that came into play here. but overall, he did well with this quirky character!
○Kenny and Andy were amply cute! it was very satisfying watching their lighthearted scenes. i'm not even surprised their popularity among the couples was so high. Andy's smile captivated me from his very first scene! Kenny is simply naturally adorable ㅠ.ㅠ
○i really want to give all the actors compliments on their acting!
•music:
○wow, from the first time i heard each of the main osts, i fell in love! i desperately scoured the internet for the full songs and the singers. the singers evoke so much emotion with these songs. i can bravely say this drama had one of the best osts i have ever heard. it's one of those you'll always remember. incredibly beautiful,,
i've only just recently finished the drama and while writing this review on a cozy, rainy day, i'm already missing it ❤
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HIStory: Trapped (2019) set the bar high for BL series and it is generally, a well-made drama
The storyline was well thought out. It was able to balance the romance and action aspects of the drama series. There was character development which I really loved; furthermore, the progression of the relationship between Shao Fei and Tang Yi was realistic. They were initially enemies that turned into acquaintances and gradually became friends. When the “dating” started, Tang Yi made it clear that he wanted to try it out instead of diving into it immediately which was really realistic unlike other dramas I watched where they were lovers in an instant without the awkwardness, exploration, and getting to know each other part. The background story of Tang Yi was also established comprehensibly. It provided depth to his character and foundation for the audience to understand his actions throughout the plot. On a side note, I love the music so much. The lyrics (I read the translated version) matched the story in the series. It is one of the best OST I heard in BL dramas. It was catchy and the kind of song that could make you “feel” the scenes.In my opinion, what made this series so great was the ability to give love scenes full of passion in a very natural way. It was not over the top where it was really sexual. I noticed that some of the BL dramas were too focused on portraying a sexual scene that it loses its other elements. One good example was the seduction scene between Shao Fei and Tang Yi. It was intimate and hot, yes, but the scene also established the connection of Shao Fei and Tang Yi as lovers. When they leaned on the wall, Shao Fei’s nervousness of being caressed was seen which gave the idea that he wasn’t able to handle the overwhelming feelings in that situation. On the other hand, when Tang Yi kissed Shao Fei’s wound, it gave a sense of appreciation and admiration towards the heroic act of Shao Fei. Basically, the drama was able to incorporate an intimate scene while showing the progression of the story as well as the relationship between the characters.
The bed scenes was just enough to show us that they love each other. In addition, the chemistry between the actors were really strong, kudos to the actors’ acting skills. The movements and facial expressions played an important role too. You could see that they were not stiff and it didn’t seem rehearsed, like I said, it was very natural. The smile, rolling on the bed, closing of eyes and the actors being immersed in the scene made it astounding. We were able to enjoy and feel the attraction between the couples in just a few minutes; moreover, the main couple exhibited passionate love scene while the second couple gave us the energetic and innocent one. HIStory 3: Trapped provided an excellent execution of the love stories between the main and second couple.
The actors were great in the series. They were able to play their parts really well. I guess what made the series work for me was the comfortability of the characters towards each other. Overall, it really set the bar high for BL dramas and it was generally a well made drama series. I recommend this drama for people who is looking for a great romance-action series with character development and good storyline.
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HIStory 3 Made Me Stare At Tang AND Jack For Hours
I binged this entire series in 1 day with my best friend and I have no regrets. I liked the actors chemistry for both couples and the overall story was super interesting as well. I wish we would've gotten more "relationship" time shown on screen but what we did get was wholesome. It was a tie between Tang Yi and Jack was as my favorite character. Both actors are so fineeee. Holy crap I couldn't stop staring at them. Also (more importantly) their character portrayals were quite different from each other but both very well done! Andy's portrayal of Jack was really sweet, even if he was wearing leather gloves the entire time realistically he is such a soft boi. He also had this air of mystery to him that makes me want to see a spinoff of his past. Chris as Tang I think actually had some of the best acted scenes in the entire show. The character has to go from emotionally unavailable, cold and calculated to likable in a fairly short amount of time. The more you learn about Tang, the more you fall in love with him. He's actually just a very damaged, hurt person from his past and he needs love danggit! Which makes his relationship with Meng so much more believable and stronger because it's literally what he needs to be better. They're so different and it's hilarious seeing them interact off of eachother, like I was cracking up!I should also mention that the writing in this show is actually really REALLY good. It could pass as a non-BL mystery cop drama easily. Everything flowed together story-wise, the entire mystery side of it was actually gripping and surprising where it went. I was devastated for Tang having to learn about his birth parents, to then lose Chen in the last episode. The man's been through enough already geez! So well done though. I can see why some viewers might dislike the ending but I thought it was pretty realistic. It probably would've been better if we saw a flash forward of him and Meng reuniting after release, but the implication is there so oh well! Definitely one to watch if you haven't, be ready for a well done story with some romance sprinkled in there for good measure.
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The best story of the History series
Among all the BL out there this series is indubitaby one of the best, both for the writing, the acting and the directing. The chemistry among the cast members is top notch and the story very interesting even outside the romance part of it.As for the 2 couples they are equally lovable, the main one is wonderful and the evolution of their relationship is so good to watch. Shaofei with is perseverance and kindness manages to melt Tang Yi walls and defences and it's wonderfull to watch.
The second couple is just plain adorable Zhao Li An is so endearing and sweet that Jack is ensnared by him almost without realizing,
watch it it:
you love angsty stories with perfect ending
if you are looking for a enemys to lover romance
if you are simply looking for a good story with good acting and a bunch of very interesting characters
don't watch it:
well if you do not like mm relationship (but why should you be here then?) or if you really do not like crime stories or if you are looking for cruel vicious gangster and hero police forces.
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