HIStory4: Close to You (2021)

Don't recommend !

I normally don't write reviews but seeing one under this made me specifically want to comment. The comment was stressing that new bl fans were having a problem with this drama because of the stepbrothers and r*pe romanticizing. I've been a fan of bl since 2018 and I've seen many stepbrother plots which is not a problem. I am tired of the trope but it's something that'll probably never change. However, that person justified the r*pe as just a toxic factor within the couple. Romanticizing r*pe within dramas/novels should never be a thing and that's why people have a problem with it. TengTeng and Licheng completely saved the entire drama, I skipped through and ignored the other couple's parts. Not only did Yongjie admit to having sex with Xingsi against his will and getting him drunk on purpose, but he also took a video of it and showed it to his parents. That's sexual harassment. I get the point that person was trying to make but it was a terrible point, r*pe should not be justified as toxicity, it is a real problem in the bl world that people don't talk about. Yongjie being sweet and cute later on does not justify what he put Xingsi and his parents through. The show terribly executes their story and really could've done better. R*pe should not be included ever.

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Free The Imperfect Truth And You Will See The Potential Of This Show

First of all, I won´t go deep into the storyline in my review, since that would take me too long to explain why this show is in my opinion a good one, even though some episodes caused a lot of hate. I firstly state that I am NOT playing down the TWs such as those portrayed in this series, nor will I say that I don´t understand those offended. I can definitely see where antipathy comes from.

Their acting performances were substantial and they were embodying their roles well. (I am talking about the main cast here)


Ye Xing Si/ Fu Yong Jie:
The beginning of this show is very light and most viewers may have not expected the quick turn in the XS and YJ couple, which was truly shocking for me as well. However, I did not judge the cast or production for it, since they were just doing their job in recreating the written. Many viewers started a hate wave against them and I can not understand what the History-Production has to do with the storyline.

The storyline was not too exaggerated nor was it something casual. I agree that Yong Jie made a complete reckless move on his brother while he was drunk and you should not take advantage of drunk people, on the other hand, wasn´t it to take the blame for his brothers coming out? (I want to point out the conversation in minute 11 of episode 19) Wasn´t he willing to lose his father to enable XS an opportunity to come out? He was hiding all his life and YJ just wanted to end the suffering by taking the blame. YJ is also mentally not okay and of course, that is NOT an excuse to stalk nor to use a drunk person and this is exactly what I am trying to say here:

1. Disorders are part of our everyday life. They lead to activities or behaviours that can damage yourself and others. They portrayed it well.
2. His brother forgave him. He wasn´t forced to do so, he had the choice to hate him and even take the video to the police. He didn´t. Not because he was afraid but because he understood the intentions and also fell in love with him, unforced.

Also, the episode when the father himself, who saw the video and everything, agreed to support them. Therefore there is a lot more behind that night than just pleasing a long-standing desire.

Xiao Li Cheng/ Teng Mu Ren:
To be honest, I was kinda annoyed with the beginning of their story because I thought Xiao Li Cheng was hiding too much behind his superficiality. It only took me another episode tho to fall in love with their storyline as well. It was very contrasting to the other couple. While these two have a bubbly and messy relationship, in which two friends discovered their feelings for each other, the other couple had a dark and complicated one. I loved the build-up and how realistic the misfortunes and downsides of their discovery were. Shock. Denial. Frustration. Dedication. All of the build-ups leading to a positive outcome of their relationship.

In general, this show had me jumping with joy and down on my knees the next second. No other story had made me question the reasons, connections and similarities to real-life as this one did. Not because it was dramatic and confusing, but because it was IMPERFECT. Just like us. We are not perfect either. That´s okay. We also know that this is not an excuse to hurt others but something that makes us human. If that show had no frailty, it wouldn´t have been this catchy.

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How to Wreck a Popular Franchise—Trigger Warning Edition

Trashing Consent in Sexual Relations and a Respected Franchise—all in one toxic package!

VERDICT

HIStory 4: Close to You has no redeeming qualities. I’d like to believe its lazy storyline, fetishization of gay relationships, and disregard for the virtue of seeking consent before pursuing sex will remain unsurpassed as a nadir for the genre. Given the warmth a substantial section of BL fandom has bestowed upon this toxic swill, however, I fear that filmmakers in the future may continue to believe that audiences will overlook the absence of consent as long as they cast handsome men in lead roles and contrive plot lines that lead those men to bat eyelashes at one another, smile warmly, and then kiss. It’s true, I think, that BL audiences like those things. Like them a lot. But it’s absolutely possible to create those moments without resorting to sexual assaults as technique for courtship. A writer need only put some effort into depicting wooing and warmth. Way more satisfying to observe than the rape of an unconscious victim. Any potential viewer who wishes to avoid the promotion of rape culture, ought to pass this series by without bothering to sample it.

And that criticism doesn’t even approach the other potentially toxic issue here, an incestuous affair between stepbrothers. Close to You is not the first BL series with a rape storyline. It’s not the first BL series with a sexual harassment storyline. It’s not the first BL series with a stepbrother incest storyline. But no other example comes to mind where a series is so unapologetic about all of those things. It’s as if the makers said, “Let’s bundle every trope, every plot device that has provoked backlash in the past and stuff them into this story as the main plot. Then, let’s see how far we can push those boundaries before people protest.” Sadly, many people think the fact the raped character accepts his stepbrother’s affections proves that such things are possible. Um, no. It proves that the writers can write any outcome they like, no matter how implausible, and people will think it’s charming. You know, as long as handsome men kiss.

Previous iterations of the HIStory franchise earned a great deal of goodwill in BL fandom. And not just the straight female segment of BL fandom. The earlier incarnations also appealed to gay male audiences who could see aspects of their lives in those stories. As a genre, BL sometimes gets accused of fetishizing gay lives for the entertainment of straight women. For me, the HIStory series largely avoided those pitfalls, as it told thoughtful and provocative stories. The thoughtfulness of those stories is certainly a reason I stuck around for this series long after it raised my hackles. I had faith the makers would somehow redeem themselves. In this instance, that faith went unrewarded. Close to You has sullied the venerable franchise so severely I’m not sure it can recover.

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All the BL cliches in one series.

The entire premise of this series was awful and plain wrong. Li Cheng really used his friend to get with a girl. He could have just been nice to her. That probably would have worked better. I'm also tired of the fetishization of gay couples. It's not funny. Mei Fang and all the other "shippers" were making me uncomfortable. Also, why did Mu Ren and Li Cheng have to prove to their colleagues that they were dating? They had nothing to prove. It felt odd. It wasn't any of their business. Anyway, the wedding was cute, I guess, but to be honest, I never liked Bo Xiang and Zhi Gang together. They had a very toxic relationship. They might have improved, but I still won't ever think they were good together.

Mu Ren & Li Cheng:

Li Cheng was way too pushy. He sexually harassed Mu Ren multiple times. He also tried to almost force his feelings upon him. It just didn't sit right with me. Li Cheng also really said, "It's not that I like guys. I just like him." Huh? I didn't know I was watching an old-school Thai BL. Is it that difficult to have a bi/pan character in a BL? Another thing was the focus on who was top and who was bottom. Get over yourself. It doesn't matter. You're not any less masculine because you're bottoming. The part where Mu Ren got drugged was questionable. I'm not sure I liked the idea of Li Cheng finding out in that specific moment that he was attracted to Mu Ren. I mean, Mu Ren was suffering. That's not hot. That disgusting rapist colleague should have gone to jail the first time he harassed someone. I still think it was wrong of Mu Ren to take revenge by having the colleague harassed, though. There was no need to be as disgusting as him. Also, why did Yong Jie call Li Cheng and made it seem like Mu Ren was cheating? Then when Li cheng showed up, he refused to let Mu Ren explain. He dragged Mu Ren home and "claimed" him. I find the whole you're-only-mine thing quite toxic. Of course, they were cute at times. They had great chemistry. I only wish it wasn't this series they starred in.

Yong Jie & Xing Si:

Yong Jie planned to get Xing Si drunk, and then he raped him. His mom even knew about it. He also had the audacity to film it and show Xing Si's dad. I still have no idea what the purpose of that was. The worst part was them trying to redeem his horrible actions. No, I refuse to feel bad for him. I'm tired of BL's romanticizing rape. Yong Jie, was in general, a manipulative person. He was honestly quite scary. Xing Si was the cutest and deserved so much better. I don't understand why he forgave him. Them being "family" also made things so much weirder. Whatever. I just wanted Xing Si to be happy. I was surprised that Xing Si's dad turned out to be better than Yong Jie and Yong Jie's mom. That was the only part about the family drama I enjoyed.

It was about as bad as TharnType, but at least none of them were abusive. I find it so hard to believe that this is part of the HIStory series.

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Ignore the second couple

I cannot stress this enough. Ignore the second couple. To be honest just skip every scene that involves them or their parents. There are so many things wrong with that relationship it would take forever to name them all. For instance, the mom KNEW her son was planning on getting his brother drunk and raping him and she allowed it. Like TF?!?! For the most part, their love story doesn't contribute anything to the main story at all so you won't miss anything major. Also you'll save a lot of time and have a better viewing experience overall. The main couple is cute and the only reason I'm continuing this show is just to see where they'll end up.

Update:
I have since finished the show and just wanted to add a little bit. I do still stand by what I said above. However just because I didn't personally enjoy or feel comfortable watching their scenes doesn't mean you would feel the same. Definitely watch the show and see whether you would prefer to skip their scenes or not.

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Watching this show felt like reading a 2006 BL manga

For a HIStory series this show was pretty mediocre but it had some enjoyable moments. The overall storyline is brimming with cliches, typical bl tropes and some annoying stereotypes, yet I still ended up enjoying some of it in a guilty pleasure-y type of way.
This show had two couples and I’m going to talk about Li Chen and Muren first.

I really liked the comedic tone of this couple. I wasn’t expecting to laugh as much as I did throughout their interactions. A lot of times it was over the top but in a fun way. The acting was decent enough for their comedic exchanges and I really enjoyed their exaggerated expressions. The story wasn’t necessarily realistic or even believable but it was enjoyable and made sense in a BL-tropey type of way.
And while I said that the acting was decent, their first kiss was strange enough. I assume it was supposed to be accidental bc Li Chen specifically told Muren he wouldn’t kiss him and the kiss happened excatly at the moment when Xsing came into the room but I swear it looked so fake lol It didn’t look accidental at all. I actually rewinded the scene bc I wasn’t sure what happened.
A lot of Murens fashion choices were a tad weird too. He is very tall and lanky so the oversized clothes made him look even taller and lankier and his head looked a lot smaller in comparison. It just looked strange to me but I’ve seen people liking it so maybe it’s just me.
Another thing that bothered me was how they implemented the fujoshi girl. I didn’t like that she was basically the catalyst for Lichen and Murens relationship. It honestly felt very disrespectful in how Lichen decided to pretend to be gay in order to get to her. That is just wrong on so many levels. First of all it’s deceptive and kind of predatory, secondly it’s plain disrespectful towards lgbtq. Having said that I still let it slide for the most part bc of the comedic tone and nature of this couples storyline. Regardless, the whole shtick left an arguably bad taste in my mouth.

Now let’s get to the second couple. This one was hard to stomach and that’s not bc of the step-brothers-trope. I personally don’t have a problem with that. My main and maybe only problem stems from how creepy and manipulative the younger brother was. He was obsessed with the older brother to an extremely unhealthy degree. It was actually very scary. First of all he was introduced to the audience as a stalker, dressed all in black with a cap and we barely see his face. Then he stalked his brother and even got into his room, when he was asleep. And don’t get me started on the actual rape scene.He obviously had some serious mental issues that made him rape his drunk brother while he was half-conscious and also thinking that it’s somehow going to help the brother in the long run.
I kind of understand where his f*cken up ‘logic’ was coming from, he basically explained it himself :
Older brother can’t come out to the family bc father will be mad-> If he rapes his older brother and showed it to the father, the father will be mad at the younger brother instead of the older one -> older brother would be out and the father would be too mad at the younger one for raping his son to even acknowledge his disappointment about his (older) sons sexuality. This seems to be the logic that the younger brother was going for but that’s just sick. He has a sick mind.
I absolutely have nothing against f*cken up and/or sick characters but they need to be portrayed as such. The younger brother was definitely not portrayed as needing to have some mental help and while the other characters did comment on how wrong it was for him to rape his brother, that’s literally the only consequence he gets. He just got slightly reprimanded by everyone. Great. He didn’t even feel sorry for his actions but felt like it was a necessary evil. This way of thinking is just abhorrent. And the older brother getting together with him felt like a consequence of him suffering from Stockholm Syndrom after being sexually assaulted by the younger one.
The younger brother was very manipulative and had no remorse while the older brother was a complete pushover with an apparent Stockholm Syndrom on top of that. This couple was very uncomfortable to watch, truly.
I want to reiterate that I don’t mind the portrayal of unhealthy relationships if they are presented as such. In this case it was a unhealthy relationship presented as healthy.

The difference in tone between the two couples felt jarring as well. Li Chen/Muren couple had a very strong comedic undertone while the step-brothers couple had a much more dramatic and serious tone. And both of them worked against each other. It felt like I was watching different parts from different shows instead of two couples from the same show.

All in all I’m giving this series 5.5 stars. 3 stars for Li Chen and Muren, 1 start for the wonderful portrayal of Xsings (older brothers) father, half a start for the nice soundtrack and an extra star for the portrayal of a gay wedding which was incredibly nice. The camera work and editing won’t get any starts from me, it was too amateur imo. The acting was watchable even though the younger brothers actor was a bit stiff. I know that the character wasn’t supposed to show many emotions but it still felt way too artificial

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Best BL out there this year!

Not only one of the best BL of this year but one of the SWEETEST! Don't let reviews on this page here discourage you to watch this because of prejudices and wrong expectations, you would miss out.
If you love BL meant as shounen ai this is a story you will fall in love with because there's exactly everything that makes the genres what it is: fluffiness, a bit of angst, the one person destined to you concept, the overcoming of diffcuties to be together and so on and on.
It's all about the classical tropes, but well done, with great chemistry, good acting, and have i mentioned the sweetness? because really it's very very sweet and sometimes a bit cheesy, but hey that's what BL romancess are for.
This is not a realistic portray of love a relationship (unless you're cinderella in real life) but whomever truly knows and loves BL does not expect an imitation of reality in this genres, BL is for out-of-reality love stories, even exagerations and stereotypes and a flood of emotions that rarely belong to real everyday life, and Close to you delivers on all apects.

WATCH THIS IF YOU:
1 love BL tropes
2 love to laugh and cry with romance of the cheesy adorable type
3 love watching goodlooking guys being cute
4 love the sweetest candies (Teng Muren and Li Cheng in episode 13-14 are unparalleled, and Xing Si and Jong Jie are simply adorable in 19-20)
5 know the difference between gay stories and BL stories
6 know the difference between fantasy and reality
7 know that not everything happening on screen can be done in real life or is acceptable in real situations and you have no problem understanding this concept

Also i have to mention the amazing music! Some of the songs in this drama are AMAZING. and I am so hoping the production finally reveals the title and the artist singing the song played during most of the romantic scenes.

DON'T WATCH THIS
1 if you have no idea of what BL stories are and mistake them for LGBT+ stories (it's really not the same thing and you can start educating yourself on the difference between the two by reading what BL is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaoi#Before_1970:_The_origins_of_sh%C5%8Dnen-ai). If you expect realistic LGBT+ portrayal in BL you are going to be mostly disappointed.
2 If you are extremely bothered by 'rape' fantasies. And I use the world rape because in one of the situation depicted what happens would certainly fall under statutory rape in real life (but here is depicted under the law of BL which means it's real love on both sides so it's consensual anyway), while the other one is clearly an assault attempt with the malicious intent on rape (it's done by a third party not one of the couples)
3 If you do not like quite cheesy romances or a plot where every action and narrative device are subsidiary to the growth of the emotional attachment of the two couples
4 if you are looking for a heavy plot story with much more meaning than entertaining you throught the exploitation of easy emotions

Production 8.5 (camera work, photography, directing, make up are all good and costume department has done a great job epecially with Teng Muren)
Story 8.5 (the beginning could have been written better and the plot it's pretty standard)
Acting 9 (Chen Li An is amazing especially for someone with almost no acting experience)
Visual 10
Ost 10
Rewatch value 9

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Toxic filth

Only in BL land could a drama like this be made!
The writer of this drama must have mental issues, it is the only explanation for how someone could write such disgusting filth and call it entertainment. Someone had to proof read this garbage and then green light it, then the company had to invest time and money making it. I find it sickening that nowhere along the line someone didn't say " Hang on a minute, we can't make something like this!"
I understand that in the real world there are terrible people and bad things happen, but this drama glorifies disgusting behavior and pretends that it is normal. I really can not understand why the gay community do not condemn these BL drama's, is this really how people believe gay people live there lives?

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"I don't like men, i like him"

So if you've read the title you know damn well where this show is heading. I personally found this show to be very mundane like there were moments of cuteness and surprisingly explicit but nothing id rate higher than a 6.0. I just felt this show had so much more potential if they cute out the bl clichès which were im not gay but still fucks men and the step sibling relationship, and SEXUAL ASSAULT ,LETS REMEMBER THAT PLEASE!!!

I personally wanna commend tho the dad on how they showed him tryna process everything both his sons had thrown at him.

Overall i wouldn't recommend this to anyone unless they've been a bl fan for years and are big fans of history and just watch anything. If you wanna watch it but you are skeptical then honestly you can skip it cause its not really a memorable show.

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A Cliche BL That Is Morally Stuck In 2016

Another BL that thinks you can cover up bad storylines and toxic relationships with smutty scenes.

If you're just a casual BL fan that is just here for nsfw scenes and doesn't particularly care whether the characters are terrible people that shouldn't actually be in any romantic relationship for that matter, this show is for you. But if you in fact have some critical thinking skills and want your characters to be emotionally mature, have healthy communication skills and generally have morals I advice you to skip this drama.

Story: I gave this a 4 instead of a 2 just for the touching Father-son storyline.

Acting: I gave a 6.5 mainly for the actor who played Ye Xing Si who had very natural and convincing facial expressions.

Music: I gave a 7.5 because I found it calming and never disruptive to the scenes like in so many other BL.

Rewatch Value: I will try to banish this show from my memory after writing this review.

Overall: I gave a 5 because even though the show was visually very well done the storyline was very lacking and unimaginative and straight up disturbing at times.

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Are Y'all Kidding Me?

How are so many of you giving this so many stars and good reviews?!?
Yong Jie got Xing Si (his stepbrother) drunk, raped him, filmed it, and showed the film to their father. Their mother admitted to knowing what Yong Jie was going to do and not stopping him because she thought they'd make a good couple. This is absolutely ridiculous. Xing Si is worried that he forced his little brother, but when he realizes it was the other way around, he slaps him twice. That's the end of it. Yong Jie then proceeds to romance and win over Xing Si and get him to agree to date him. NO, absolutely NOT. Is this okay to the writers and viewers because Xing Si is a man? Think about this storyline with Xing Si as a female being drugged and raped by her step brother. It is never okay to have sex with a person and/or film anything without 100% non coerced consent. I felt that Xing Si was being pressured to do whatever it took to keep his family together, even if that meant being the sex toy of his little brother. The story line was disturbing at best, disgusting at worst.

Now let's talk about Li Cheng and Mu Ren. Pretending to date to get a girl? How asinine! Also, it's 2021 arguing over top/bottom needs to be put in the past. Sexual relationships are rarely so straight forward with permanently assigned roles. Sometimes, I wonder if anyone writing, acting in, directing, or producing a BL has even had anal sex. The misconceptions abound. Also, there are tons of sexual activities for two men other than anal penetration. This trope needs to go!

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babe, wtf..

This series has to be one of the oddest ones in quite a while. After Trapped and MODC, my expectations were through the roof, but sadly, I was left heartbroken and disappointed. Close to You was full of odd subjects, distasteful relationships, and terrible concepts.

Let's Dive In.

Let's start off with the decent pairing: Teng Teng and Li cheng. I wasn't at all pleased with how they had to use an overly-obsessive bl fangirl as the benefactor in their relationship. Mei Fang and her friend(s) left me uncomfortable the entire time. Imagine you just trying to live your life, and some girl won't stop thirsting over you and your co-worker. But I wasn't very happy with Li cheng's behavior either; pretending to be gay and harassing a fellow friend is not in the slightest bit okay. Instead, he could've just tried starting off as a good friend to Mei fang and gaining her trust in the future. Teng Teng was just used as bait the entire time, and most of it was without his consent. It's also a bit weird how in a time of vulnerability, Li cheng was able to fall for Teng Teng. I just couldn't understand how he wasn't able to fall for him at any other time until then. The use of the cliche bl saying, "I don't like men, I only like him" was used again, and quite frankly, it left a sour taste in my mouth. bisexuality and pansexuality exist, do the creators and screenwriters not know this? It was agitating and disappointing. But moving forward, when they were together, they did bring about many cute moments. What I did like about them was their relationship in the beginning and towards the end, and how comfortable they were together. There were times when they each had me laughing cause their comedy was golden. I also really liked how they styled Teng Teng. He was always in something that was such a statement, and I loved it. As much as I didn't even appreciate them that much, they were at least 10 times more decent than Yong Jie and Xing Si and were the saving grace of this series. Speaking of them, let's touch on their relationship next.

Let's talk about Xing Si. He was my favorite character, and for good reasons too. He was a great friend to Teng Teng and Li Cheng, he had such a bright and bubbly personality, and was openly gay and dealing with the conflict of telling his father. He was the only character that had a very detailed personality. I thought that it was beautiful the way his character was going until they introduced us to the toxic stepbrother. Now, there have been many stepcest/incest series that I've seen, but I think this one has been the most disgusting and hardest to watch. I wasn't even mad about the whole step-brothers situation (even though it was rightfully wrong), it was just the portrayal of the step-brother that left me feeling uneasy.

Let me just say this; Yong Jie is not okay in the slightest. I don't want to self-diagnose anybody, but I am. I'm almost positive that Yong Jie suffers from a high-functioning borderline personality disorder or some type of high-functioning autism. One, he grows an unhealthy obsession with his older brother. Mostly due to the trauma he faced as a child, Xing Si showed that he cared, and because of that Yong Jie took that and clung to it. Two, he is openly honest and truthful about everything. He tells his mom about his plans without showing signs of feeling bad about it, the same goes for when he told Xing Si and his father afterward. He's open about how he feels for Xing Si and the way he feels about others. As I said, this is not me trying to label him, but Yong Jie didn't need a boyfriend, he needed some help. He is obviously not mentally stable, nor is he emotionally okay. I wish that his mental illness could've been spoken about instead of never being brought up cause it's so clear that there is some turmoil within himself. The entire plan he had undermined was absolutely sickening, and it was even worst that the mother knew and did nothing about it. His behavior is so unforgiving, but because Yong Jie is so good at manipulating people (psychopath maybe?), his brother and the ones around him forgive him. Xing Si I believe is suffering from Stockholm syndrome, cause it seemed to be that he would actually let his brother down, but instead, he feels empathetic and that takes over his feelings in which he then makes himself believe that he loves his step-brother back. The dad's reaction is so understanding, and I completely agreed with him. I actually was hoping that he wouldn't end up being okay with their relationship, but of course, this is BL, so everything has to end happily anyways.

Overall, this was a very disappointing series, especially since it was a part of the HIStory franchise. All the actors did a fantabulous job, Teng Teng and Xing Si being my favorite portrayals. The production was all decent and the music was okay too. The only thing I wished more than anything was that Yong Jie's mental illness was looked at, the BL fangirls were non-existent, and for the HIStory franchise to stop romanticizing r*pe, incest, and toxic relationships. I wouldn't recommend this series at all. I'd only say to watch it in order to continue watching the franchise cause at least they have produced other content that is WAY better (MODC and CTL (but crossing the line has an incest relationship too, so at the end of the day, everything has its problems.))

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