Lovely Writer (2021)

One of the best thai bl this year

This was a journey, an experience, that will forever stay with me. I absolutely loved this series. The cinematography, directing, production level, acting, story - marvelous, beautiful and stunning.

STORY:
This series is a fiction, subtly yet un-subtly, calling out all the problems and flaws in the BL industry from toxic tropes, stereotypes, overcontrolling script writers to the cruel treatments of their casts, amongst other things. The story is about Gene, a professional BL writer, desperate to break out of the BL genre and try writing something else for a change. But his overbearing publisher refuses him to do so and downright coerces him into writing yet another BL story following his last successful novel that's in the process of being produced into a series called 'Bad Engineer The Series'. Sitting through the audition for Bad Engineer is where he meets Nubsib, who's apparently a sheep in wolf's clothing. Nubsib is auditioning for the series and manages to snag the main lead role. It seems to be Gene's and Nubsib's first meeting, but apparently not because they actually met as children around 14 years ago. They've got history, but it looks like Nubsib is the only one who remembers.

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I have watched a lot of Thai BLs to last me a lifetime (not really, it's never enough) so I know if a series was going to disappoint me halfway into it. Lovely Writer did not disappoint. At all. What got me into the series was the plot. If you've got a good and interesting plot, trust it to grasp your attention. Add to it a well-acclaimed, accredited and well-loved director to the mix? It's bound to be good, like really, really good. And then of course, you have the actors and actresses that brought their characters to life like no other; their emotions, personalities that was made their own... it was /chef's kiss/.

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INCOMING SPOILER ALERT!! EPISODE 9 (i can't stop talking and thinking about EP 9. It's a masterpiece in all sense)

Episode 9 was too good. It was downright cinematic. The blockings for some of the scenes were amazing - it was art at it's finest, in just one episode. Storyline was on-point, characters well-portrayed, cinematography a masterpiece and a rollercoaster of emotions! There were no dull moments or awkwardness in between~ It was all amazingly done!

The way this episode showed how problematic homophobic norms were passed down from one generation to the other, that living as a gay person means living in fear and judgment, that accepting oneself as being gay is not "normal"... It needs to stop. This episode also showed how it's all funny and amusing until one of your children is actually the one being called funny and amusing. It's interesting and nice to see how they showed the parents being entertained by the gays on-screen but when it's someone from the family, the table's suddenly quiet and all hell breaks loose. Not many people could fully understand how heavy and nerve-wrecking the scene at the family table actually was, because I could never. But the emotions that ran through each and every one of the characters, I could at least dare to slightly fathom the weight of the confession scene as well as the confrontation scene later on. I am genuinely impressed and touched with each character, and letting the characters to freely speak their minds without inhibitions. It's a wake-up call, and it's about time.

Aside from the heavy scenes of this episode, there were the soft and steamy ones that I, not gonna lie, ABSOLUTELY loved! There were so many of my favourite scenes in this episode, and of course, many domestic ones that I've embarrassingly found myself squealing to. No regrets though 'cause SibGene are so adorable and beautiful together.

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Also, in terms of my fav characters in this series, it's got to be Gene, Nubsib, both their parents, and Hin. First off, kudos to Gene. Absolutely loved his character development. He seemed so unsure of himself at the beginning of the series but after knowing who he was, he chose to accept himself and face it head on. I'm amazed at how brave of a man he was. He was the epitome of confidence, being honest to himself and choosing not to be a coward, even from his own family. He knew what could happen if he admitted to his relationship with Nubsib but he still did it anyway because he knew it was the right thing to do, and he wanted to be honest with both himself and his parents. Really, Gene deserved the world, but the world didn't deserve him. And Nubsib, raising standards every step of the way. He's the consent king and nobody can tell me otherwise. Always making sure he's not forcing Gene to do anything he didn't want to do and telling him he's willing to wait for him if he's not ready... where do I get myself a Nubsib, huh?

Gene's and Nubsib's parents, who would've known they would be the most supporting people in those two men's lives? Especially Gene's father. He really wins best father of the year. I love this series for not only showing the main lead's story but also the supporting characters so we could understand each one of them, at least a little bit. Gene's mothers are besties for life, their fathers are best bros, their brothers are bffs, what more is there to ask for?

And then we got Hin. Hin, the character we thought was going to betray Gene but pulled a 180 degree on us and called us stupid by actually sacrificing his passion and love for writing to protect his friend. You can't find a more genuine and honest friend than Hin. We all wished we had a Hin in our lives.

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Starting from the first episode, each and every scene were played and directed so well, I wondered, "why was this so good already from Ep 1?" Was it the unique plot, the well-known director, the amazing actors, or all of the above? Fyi, it was the latter, just in case someone was still wondering. But what I especially loved was the shade thrown on the BL stereotypes and all the other toxic labels. This series was not following your typical BL from the get-go and I loved it. This mindset carried on, and it didn't stop until the end where they performed short plays from famous Disney fairytales. It was their way of saying, BLs are fantasies too, don't mix fiction with reality. And also that two men can play these cheesy fairytales perfectly well. And they killed it, too. It was 10/10!

And the chemistry, you can't NOT talk about the chemistry between Up and Kao. It was phenomenal. Everyone knows this by now, and even if you don't like either of them (i don't understand you), you can't deny their chemistry. Up is an exceptional actor. His portrayal of Gene was splendid, especially the way he shows every emotions through his face expressions and body movements. Every little movement or gesture had a meaning, a purpose behind it. That's how much of an amazing actor Up is. And Kao has improved SO MUCH from the beginning. He's done so well with Nubsib and brought his character to justice. The way he looked at Gene with love, respect and fondness is out of this world. The way he showed his frustration, anger and jealousy was so strong, I felt it too. His feelings for Gene was unrivaled. A serious round of applause for the both of them!! There's no Gene without Up, and there's no Nubsib without Kao. Up was the perfect Gene, and Kao was the perfect Nubsib.

And of course, another round of applause for the rest of the cast and crew! The beauty of this series is that no matter what is talked about, no matter the difference in pacing, mood, purpose, and TEA, it still fit perfectly in their world called Lovely Writer. And as many people have said, this series has raised bars and standards for any BL drama. They've all made something top-tier in this industry, and they deserve all the love and admiration.

I love how Lovely Writer depicts the good side of LGBT relationships, but also the cruelty of society that's against it. LW does not only show the joys of being in love but also the struggles. This series is a fukken masterpiece, exquisite in every component. I can't praise this series enough. I don't think I can enjoy a BL series with a weak plot anymore. Back then, I'd watch anything as long as it's BL but now...

So far, to me, it's one of the best BL this year. No, dare I say, it's the best BL I've had the pleasure of watching in my entire life.

There are a few people out there who dropped this series after watching the first or second episode. Trust me, I was dumb enough to have thought about dropping it too, but I pushed through and look where we're at now. Watch the series guys, give it a chance.
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The Reality of the Industry

Story: Wow, I’m so amazed at the quality of this series, including the cinematography, production, and fantastic directing. This series really exposes the worse sides of the industry, specifically the BL sides. We see the subtle homophobia when choosing actors, and prioritising NSFW scenes over a healthy, slow and natural bond forming through Gene’s writing. I love that the series he wrote is called “Bad Engineer” because I feel like it might be a subtle dig at all the Engineering BL’s that have slowly gone downhill. There have been several overused themes in other series such as the “kissing while drunk” scene that was taken here and well played out. Despite Nubsib repeatedly chasing after Gene, he didn’t accept Gene because he knew Gene was drunk and couldn’t really consent to anything. Although Nubsib is still very pushy he also respects personal boundaries and takes good care of Gene, which makes me very happy as sadly a lot of BL series tend to romanticise sexual harassment, which is not okay. We also see homophobia from parents that should love and support their children, yet will turn their backs on their own family members just to make themselves look better, which is really sad. Although I was a little annoyed with the jealousy and childhood friends plot line I’m glad they turned it around and demonstrated what a healthy relationship should look like when Nubsib and Gene actually started communicating properly. I do like that Nubsib waited for Gene and never forced him to come out, but I think he could have been more understanding before the press conference about how Gene must have been feeling. I was happy that things turned around in the final episode where we saw Nubsib and Gene exchange sweet kisses and interactions, and they got the happy ending they deserved. I also loved the multiple alternate endings from different romance films/novels/plays as it was a bit of hilarity to distract from the fact that the series was ending.

Characters: Poompat as Gene- When this series was first announced I recognised the actor from somewhere, and later realised he was from the famous KA lip care and sunscreen ads. However, this is his first series as a main role, which you would not have guessed based on the quality of his acting. For me, a good actor is someone who can create a character the audience can really relate to, and Poompat did a perfect job of this. Gene is such a sweet, innocent guy and I love that despite not being able to write the stuff he truly loves, he makes the best out of it and isn’t afraid to call out his boss and the directors of their (less than desirable) thoughts and words. Gene is just as clumsy, awkward and embarrassing as myself, which I think is why I love him so much. I really love that despite Gene’s awkwardness, we can still see his emotions through his eyes such as his jealousy during the interviews. I can completely understand Gene’s fears of coming out but I’m glad that he’s surrounded by people who can love and support him for who he is.

Kao as Nubsib- Kao has already cemented himself as a fantastic actor after his role of Korn in Until We Meet Again, and has further demonstrated his amazing acting abilities here. Nubsib is definitely the personification of “serious guy who is only friendly around his lover” and Kao did a great job portraying this. One little thing I did notice when he was talking to other characters like Tum, he always looks very serious but when suddenly seeing Gene his eyes light up and entire expression changes. I love how naturally Kao can pull this off, and yet again I’m being dazzled by his good looks. I also love how, despite knowing that he messed up by not being honest with Gene, he admits he was wrong and makes the effort to communicate and let Gene know what he’s thinking. He’s very understanding and does’t force Gene to come out when he’s not ready which made me happy to see no pressure from him. Finally he chose Gene over all else and wanted both his own happiness as well as Gene’s so he waited for the best time so he and Gene could be together without any constraints.

Bruce as Aoey- While Aoey is a character I have a lot of mixed reactions, I can’t deny that Bruce is probably the best actor in this series. Although he seems cute but far too needy/clingy/annoying, I do like that he was already openly gay and doesn’t try to hide this fact (fun fact, Bruce is gay in real life so we have another LGBT actor which is fantastic), which is a nice step up from the typical “I’m not gay I just love you” lines. However, in episode 5 we really got to know his character more, including why he acts and behaves the way he does. If my parents and siblings were so unsupportive like that, then I honestly think I would have rebelled and spiralled off the deep end, so I admire that Aoey doesn’t let his family hold him back. Although Aoey is quite selfish at times, whenever he cries I automatically feel really bad for him, especially the episode 11 scene on the live video and even more in the final episode after he finished the live stream with his fans. One of my favourite sayings is that “A good actor can make you experience different emotions even from the slightest change in expression” which definitely goes to show just how amazing Bruce’s acting skills are and I hope we can see more projects with him in the future, maybe as a main role this time.

Music: The music and sound effects are perfect, they are well placed and really help the overall mood of scenes. In a funny scene sometimes they’ll add little sound effects which make it even more hilarious, and the music is really nice to listen to.

Overall: I absolutely loved this series and how they weren’t afraid to call out specific aspects and show the reality of what the industry is really like. Both Kao and Poompat have a lot of chemistry and all intimate scenes with them made me almost feel invasive, like I shouldn’t be watching something so personal. I hope to see all the actors in this series again, especially Bruce in a main role, and I’ll definitely be rewatching this very soon!

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Why is the rating so high?

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against the cast/actors. I think like most reviews here, the actors did the best they could with the script that they got.

The story is crap.

Quick Plot Summary:

Nubsib has been in love with Gene since they were kids. Now he's grown up a bunch and is a BL actor, and he stars in the series The Bad Engineer which is written by Gene. Gene, for whatever reason, doesn't recognize Nubsib. Eventually, Gene finds out who he is, they begin dating, pictures are taken, and drama ensues when the shippers are angry that the writer of the drama and the main actor are together and not the two main actors. The company forces them to "break up," and then in the end they get back together.

Why it sucked:

1. Nubsib falls in love with Gene when he was around 5-6 and Gene is 5 years older putting him around 10-11 years of age. So basically a 1st grader falling in love with a 6th grader or middle schooler. Though Gene in the drama never admits he was in love with Nubsib at that time, it sure felt awkward the way they shot their scenes together as kids. With the age gap, they looked romantically involved, and it was made to seem that both of them had feelings for one another. So much so, that Gene's father questions their relationship and seems to send Gene away to separate the two. This felt weird and wrong. I could understand Nubsib falling in love for Gene, but I would have much rather liked them either being the same age, or a year apart. It would make sense in that situation for both of them to be mutually falling for one another, but yet still have that innocence of young kids not knowing why they have those feelings. That could have been explored, but instead we got a weird feeling of an older kid playing with a kid much younger than him, and essentially becoming best friends, and romantically in love. It just felt weird.

2. Nubsib recognizes and knows how Gene looks like, yet Gene never knew what Nubsib looked like after growing up. That also felt weird because their parents live next to one another (even though Gene moved away, his parents didn't. And neither did Nubsib's). Their moms are best friends. I can't imagine Gene going home for holidays and not seeing pictures of Nubsib, or going over to say hello to Auntie Orn, if their families are so close. Even if Nubsib was in the USA, there would be pictures of him everywhere. It just seems a bit strange and farfetched if you ask me. Also, I know people's faces change as they grow, but not enough to where they're completely unrecognizable (without surgery of course).

3. The company forcing them to "break up" was stupid because it wasn't even a break up. They just had to avoid being seen in public. They turned it into a huge deal like they had to cut ties completely. It made no sense. Even if that were the case, Nubsib made such a strong argument throughout the whole series that he had been in love with Gene since he was a kid, and that he could not love anyone else; yet, he let Gene decide that it was best for them to separate because of the faux drama. Both families are extremely rich, both Gene and Nubsib have multiple homes. Neither of them need the careers they have chosen. So obviously, if they loved each other that much, there was no logical motivation to break up. All they had to do was give everyone in that room a middle finger, stand up, and leave. The end. I think if they were both average living people or even poor, it would have caused more tension. Then, it would have been, this is their livelihood. This is their source of income and ability to live. Without these jobs, they can't support their families, they can't live freely. And then, the responsibility to earn that money, and push aside their love for one another would have been justified.

There are many other problems with the drama, and I don't want to nitpick it to death. I think these were the major 3 things that made me think, why did no one sit down with the writer and explain a basic plot diagram? The tension in dramas don't always have to be external, frivolous, sudden, outrageous BS. As a gay man, when I watch BL dramas, the thing that pulls me in the most is the internal struggle. It's scary coming out. It's scary admitting to yourself that you might be gay. It's scary thinking that you might lose everyone around you, and that your life might disappear. Even now, as a married man, my husband and I are scared sometimes to show affection in public (we live in the CA, USA). That's because of the fear associated with coming out. These are the topics that could have been explored in much depth in this drama. We know that a majority of BL actors are straight men, to appeal to the female readers who like shipping two men together. They're straight men who although do fan service by kissing other men, or pretending to be romantically in love with their counterpart, still project straightness to garner love from women. So in a drama like Lovely Writer, that was supposed to shed light on the problems within the BL community, they could have explored something as simple as, having a fear of really coming out and being a BL actor. There aren't that many openly gay BL Thai actors. (I'm not saying they need to come out if they are, but my point being that some people are still afraid of public perception). That could have been an internal struggle for Nubsib. Instead, we got a confident gay. Which is fine, but what happens is there was just no tension. Let's compare it to "I Told Sunset about You" where the main character Teh, is constantly struggling to acknowledge his true feelings.

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Great beginning...... That's it

I must be one of the rare few who thinks it was a hot mess. The series started perfect, I enjoyed the first 2-4 episodes, they did suck me in and I couldn't wait to see what happened next. But after the 4th episode it just.... declined. The concept of this drama was a hook for me, I was so interested in how they would expose the bl industry for the awfulness that it is, and don't get me wrong they did definitely do some exposing but after a while, it just felt... flat for better worlds.

The series dragged in some places and was just.... boring in other places. The series wasn't dialogue-heavy either which of course you would think means it was action (gestures and whatnot) heavy, but it wasn't. I think if they introduced just a tad bit more dialogue it would have helped a little bit more. I truly do not think the director knew what they were undertaking and felt overwhelmed.... which sadly means it translates into the drama with how lacking it was after a while.

The ending for this drama..... Let's just say it could be a lot better. The fairytale gag in the ending was cute do not get me wrong, but I felt like that just... ruined the whole ending for me. I would rather enjoy that as a bonus scene in the ending, which would have been super cute. The ending was lackluster and needlessly portrayed. During it, I found myself just looking at my phone because I was so BORED. So... the ending was not it and was total crap.. CUTE, but crap... Lol

Now let us get into the acting. The acting was...... well... How do I say this..... good but not great? I'll be totally honest, the best acting in this series was the villain of the whole thing Aey. Bruces acting for that character was top-notch, of course, I hated the character but I cannot deny it was the most talented acting in this drama. The other actors of course are good at acting, but it just felt like the director wasn't.... directing and the actors were just trying to make the best of the situation, so of course, their acting fell through at times. There are quite of few moments where acting was lackluster and it made the scene boring or just dulling at moments. Now like I said, that's not because the actors can't act, but because it just felt like even the director didn't know what they wanted. So acting is good, but not the best.

Overall, the first half of the series is really good, the second half is boring, dull, and lackluster.

So do I recommend this BL? Yes, I do. Everyone should watch it at least once because it does highlight some very important issues in the BL industry and the drama is good for the most part. So yes, watch it! Just be warned of the dullness after a while lol.

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A Parody of Thai BLs

I am writing this review right after watching the one episode because I am looking at so much negativity the series is receiving for calling out toxic Thai-BL culture.

The show is a parody of the Thai-BLs that takes on some of the issues that are so common in the Thai-BL industry with a cohesive, strong storyline while being as friendly as one can be to the toxic Thai-BL fanbase. Despite tackling some of the pervasive issues, the show is light and fun to watch. In a sense, they make you laugh and think simultaneously. Some of the problems the series tackles are:

- the romanticization of disregard for consent and sexual assault
- the casting preference to heterosexual to benefit from the fan-events
- using straight-passing-gay actors as token LGBTQ actor to claim they are an LGBTQ ally
- shipping actors and harassing them about if it’s real
- predominately being written by people who have little to no understanding of the gay relationship
- the pornography-inspired intimate scenes between two men.

At the same time, the series does not have unbelievable healthy characters that would have made the series more like a documentary. Instead, it has Gene who has trouble setting his boundaries, and Aey who pretends to like Nubsib to gain popularity. I will revisit this review based on how they deal with these characters and their unhealthy traits. The show is a farce, especially when it comes to the background music that seems to annoy some viewers who can otherwise appreciate the parody. But for now, I recommend that you give this show an honest try.

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Disappointing

This was very disappointing - I was especialy looking forward to this series, and by the latter part of the series I just wanted it to be over.

The acting in this is excellent. Up as Gene, Bruce as Aoey, and Kenji as Hin were great. The production quality was very high.

But the writing is terrible. The central problem is that Gene is merely the writer inserting herself into the story as a self-indulgent fantasy where she gets the man of her dreams. Because of that, Gene doesn't really have a character, and almost no agency. Things just happen to him - whatever is necessary for the plot, or for a particular "moment" the writer wanted.

Sib is even worse, because his only purpose as a character is to be a hot guy that wants the writer and will do anything to get her - so there is absolutely nothing to his character except for his desire for Gene.

If the point was not clear to any viewers, the actual writer appears in the last episode to literally insert herself as Gene, and Gene & Sib indulge in insipid and stereotypical fantasies (although there's one that's dark but funny).

Gene's father has a small but important role, and Nu's performance was perfect - but his character's motivation was so baffling and stupid that it was a waste of a fine actor.

Aoey was the only person who acted like a real human being. A damaged and complicated human being, but at least a realistic person. Bruce deserves credit for breathing life and even some sympathy into what could have been a cardboard-cutout antagonist.

The plot is incoherent. In nearly the first half of the series, Sib hides who he really is for absolutely no reason whatsoever, because if he'd just told the truth he would have been extremely well-received. Gene's reaction when he discovers the deception is so OTT given how trivial it is, and if his reaction was that negative, he sure gets over it incredibly fast.

There's the usual Ep 11 drama, which is totally artificial, makes no sense, and has viritually no importance to the story, as there's a 4-month time-jump and it's more or less hand-waved away for the finale, instead of showing us the consequences of the drama and how the characters process it. But again, because Gene is just the writer inserting herself, and Sib is only there to want her, she has no interest in that. Sib relentlessly pursued Gene, until he didn't, until he did. There's no consistency to the character. I can't give away details, but you will say "WTF?" when the final episode starts. The plot crawled along at a snail's pace for the entire series, then a huge amount happens between the penultimate and last episodes, and we get to see none of it - we have no idea what any of the characters were doing that whole time, especially Sib.

The 11th ep drama itself is completely ridiculous. All they need to do in the situation presented is tell the truth about how they know each other, and it explains everything and would have satisfied everyone. Instead they do something totally unnecessary that makes no sense.

Also there are no stakes. Gene is extremely wealthy (Gene is 25 and he owns two residences, one of which is a large house. His parents live in a giant mansion that has an entrance so grand you're not sure if it's a hotel or a house.) Sib is even more wealthy. So both of them could be blacklisted by the BL industry and the worst thing that would happen to them is they'd have to choose which of their mansions to retire to to sulk. So the entire plot is meaningless. Whatever they do, they're set for life. I know Gene wants to be self-reliant, but he's already a successful author and he'll still be able to write. Sib is a college student and can go into any career he wants.

There are many, many characters that serve no purpose in the plot and just chew up time. Among these are Tum and Tiffy, who at first are intriguing, but quickly become tiresome (although I'm totally obsessed with Ken, who plays Tum), and there's never any resolution. Mork seems to have an intriguing history with one of the main characters, but it's never explored and then he disappears. Gene's brother has a mysterious conversation with Sib's brother, but nothing happens with that either (I love Poppy, but his character was a waste of time).

Even if you love this series, I don't think you'll like the ending - you may even be upset by it.

Finally, the show pretends to examine some of the darker aspects of the BL industry, but it doesn't. The tiny bit present (fanatical shippers of the real-life people) is merely a plot device, and when it has served its purpose, it's never mentioned again. Real BL actors need the money and have no choice but to go along with the machine. Sib doesn't, and doesn't even care about being an actor, so nothing matters, and Gene isn't an actor to begin with, so again, none of it matters.

Despite it's purported critique, the series is utterly formulaic & predictable and loaded with tropes. Gene is an extreme uke, totally useless without a seme to guide and protect him. Sib is an extreme Seme, who guides and protects Gene 24/7. He even has the power to teleport to whever Gene is to save him whenever the plot calls for it.

The first couple of eps are so loaded with silly sound effects that I had to turn off the volume and just read the subtitles. Fortunately, it stops after the first couple of eps. I think that was supposed to be parody, but it was just intensely annoying.

I think it's time to retire the expedient of adapting mediocre and formulaic novels, or at least there's a need for more skillful adaptation of the written medium into the visual. In any case, this was a missed opportunity for what could have been a great series. I wouldn't watch it again, but a lot of people liked it, and maybe you will too, so I have no recommendation. Just be aware that it starts as a comedy and ends as a very standard drama-romance.

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JUST ADMIT AND ACCEPT THE FACT THAT THEY'RE BREAKING BL STEREOTYPES, AND WE NEED THIS KIND OF BL.

I think we can all agree how Lovely Writer lowkey shading the toxic part of BL industry, exposing and destroying the BL series cliché and all. The fact that they're tackling serious contents like overdue issues of consent, sexual harassment, the behind-the-scenes, the crew, the shipping and excessive fan service. This is not the typical BL series every year.

But what I don't understand is why there are people who continuously trying hard to drag down this series. I mean just because it is so good that even surpassed your fave bl or shading that fave bl series or couple of yours, you need to throw hate into it?

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The idea is better than the execution

This series is a hot mess, to be honest. I was looking forward to it for a while before it aired. I like the cast in other things and I really was excited to see a bit more frankness and reflection on the toxic aspects of the BL industry. I have been watching BL dramas intermittently for years and I really hate the romanticisation of assault and rape as well as toxic fan behaviour in response to fan service. I so wanted this to be an intelligent exploration of the importance of respecting boundaries and consent both on- and off-screen and how taking fan service seriously can really objectify the actors in a way that hurts. This series sort of gets a third of the way there I think.

The plot is a bit messy and fragmented at times. The focus is generally on the lead couple and their relationship. However, their relationship evolves at an odd pace. Nubsib being in love from the beginning was kind of annoying to me, I prefer a bit more evolution personally. Although the first scene with them both is genuinely well-performed. Gene seemed to be attracted but unsure and that never fully went away or evolved into something more secure. Consent was really well-explored with them and a constant communication in their relationship which is rare in BL and I really did like. But, to be very frank, there was often little else to their relationship. There was mutual attraction and respect, but minimal evolution and growth. Although the child actors performances were genuinely excellent, the history of the characters and their shared childhood is an overused trope and was executed poorly, in a very ‘info dump’ kind of way.

The acting was inconsistent and I think some of that is about the script itself. The script had minimal meaningful dialogue and the character development is poor. There were several times where Nubsib is asking Gene to listen to him and then proceeds to say nothing. It’s stupid and impossible to act properly. The dialogue was not character-driven and was often more about saying something about the industry which made it feel fake and preachy, rather than raw and relevant/human.

The villain of the story should have been the industry with toxic production staff being controlling and manipulative for money and fans crossing the line over and over, hurting their faves in the process. We do have some of that, particularly towards the end. However, there is also Aoey, who is clearly unwell and is extremely toxic. His character is necessary, his characterisation is not. It feels like cowardice to create a villain out of him because it means fans can see his character and call him the villain, rather than see the villainy of the fans in the series and reflect on themselves and their fandoms. There are too many villains. It dilutes the message of the toxicity in the industry and is a much weaker plot device that is overused throughout the story and makes it unnecessarily melodramatic.

The sound design and soundtrack was often irritating and distracting. There are times when sound effects and music are not only unnecessary but also damaging to the scene. If it adds nothing to the tone or mood, or if it distracts from the tone or mood intended, don’t use it. Loads of post-production sound and music does not make a bad story, script or scene better, it can only do that to a good scene, it can always make it worse.

This series really is variable. The final episode is really good. But a lot of it is unnecessary, draggy or distracting.

If you watch BLs it is definitely worth a watch, there are enjoyable parts and it is somewhat educational. You might skip or speed through parts, to be honest, but I still think it has some valuable stuff to say, even if it could have been said better from a storytelling point-of-view. However, if you don’t I think you could safely give this a miss.

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A beautiful, intelligently written show

This series is so self-aware and intelligently written. All the way through there has been a realistic portrayal of love, and specifically queer love, and the acting and emotionality shown in combination with this makes it such a good show. It doesn't fall into the tropes we see constantly in other series, instead it's aware of these tropes and its navigation of them actually informs the story. It's also such a fascinating setting being in a BL show production and featuring a character whose job is to write BL novels - really cleverly done and subtly satirical/aware of itself and its setting.

The main couple might have their communication problems but it doesn't make their story any less impactful and just lovely (pun not intended). Watching their relationship grow as they learn about themselves and grow in confidence and in love is beautiful, and I felt every emotion along with Gene, the main character.

It is one of my favourite shows ever and it will stay with me for a long time.

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The biggest surprise ever.

As surprising as it is, I was not impressed by the trailer of this bl, nor did I ever thought of watching it. I saw the other series that Kao was in and that left a bad taste in my mouth, I hated it. But I thought, "who am I not to watch the first ep??? For the gays, let's do it". And God did I love it. The writing though, it's just amazing, whoever wrote the series, y'all did that. I am in love with the transparency. Finally, a bl that says "I AM GAY", "I DONT LIKE GIRLS", "YOU SHOULD ASK FOR THIS INSTEAD OF JUST DOING IT", and so on... It's just magnificent, chef kisses, for a gay man to watch this... Y'all did it yes. There's no awkward representation, there are no stereotypes, I mean, maybe some times, but nothing overwhelming. There's only one character that was not even in the series, and the sides characters didn't get the proper treatment, but I am not mad about it. Ugh whoever wrote this, yes you did that. The family issues, well addressed, the consent always WELL FUCKING ADDRESSED YES. Nubsib deceiving Gene, WELL ADDRESSED, YES. Even the sexy moments, those were well written, although, i felt like I had no right to be watching, that's when you know there's chemistry and good writing.
Alongside "Manner of Death", this bl didn't get me dizzy. Finally, a proper conversation without switching shots, we love to see it. Up was game on this, he is a good actor and because of the direction, you can see how good he is. Kao too, I think this is an improvement for him. There are not shots that you feel like "why is he showing me that door, I want to see the facial expressions", there's just one ep. That I felt like some shots were out of place. Long shots properly used and overall great.... Rest of my review on my tumblr. myshyyangel
http://myshyyangel.tumblr.com

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This one's getting filed away under "What Happened?"

Another one with a superb start that made me think I was going to have a new favourite but went off the rails. First five episodes were pretty stellar and then it gets messy. The pacing is off, it drags a lot, there are inconsistencies in the characters as well as from one scene to the next, the plot is okay but for added drama and angst, some of the characters' reactions are unreasonable and disproportionate. Don't have characters break down crying just to make it seem like it's sad when it's just... not that big of a deal?

In terms of talking about the BL industry, yes, it's great. You've got multiple talks of consent and a lot more which I think vastly explains the high ratings despite the fact that it's kind of a mess.

However, I really did love Gene and Nubsib. Up and Kao's chemistry is pretty unreal. I had very different expectations of Nubsib, turns out he's the cutest of the cuties! Gene is the type of characters that I love and he's also super cute so there's that. Out of all the couples I discovered this year, they're easily nearing the top.

With Tum and Tiffy, I thought, finally a straight side couple I adore! But then their first drama is fairly silly (although I will admit I understand they're trying to break stereotypes and that's great, however it was way too long) and then the second one, once again, I just straight up didn't understand the big deal... and suddenly everything's better but literally nothing happened or changed?

In terms of acting, it's pretty good. I really loved Up, Ken, and Kao; Bruce not so much.

The ending? Too long. The first of the three scenes is very cute but it should have stopped there. At some point I was like ok is this ending today or...?

Overall, I'm pretty sad. I was super excited about that one but after the first five episodes, they lost me a bit. Anyway, I hope to see more of Up, he's a highlight of the series for sure.

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it's over, finally

i'd be honest, i started this drama because i thought it would be kinda cute, fun and beautiful story but after few episodes i continued watching it only for actors.
story wasn't that good and most of the scenes gave me major cringe feeling. some scenes were moving way too slow and that was kinda boring and that's why i skipped majority of these scenes. just because story became really dramatic i was expecting more dramatic and emotional ending, especially when sib and gene met but it was meh. gene was like 'eh, whatever'.
cinematography and coloring is good and aesthetically pleasing, that is like the only best part of this drama i guess. i loved some characters, like tiffy and tum but some were annoying as hell, like aoey.
i wouldn't rewatch or recommend this drama to anyone, sorry :*

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