This Has Turned Out to Be a Great Watch
This is at least a few notches above the average BL plot, and it has all been enjoyable to watch.After all 8 episodes, the story has more than enough depth and I feel for every one of these characters, so I have to make a note of the great acting skills in this series.
I'd be a lot happier with the usual 12 x 50 setup to let this story expand to delve further into the characters and emotions.
But with the time they had to work with, I still had to give it a 10.
For me, this series has already won a few awards, including Best Performance by a Drunken Uncle, and Best Character Transformation by Taking Off the Glasses.
And, Best Performance by Egg Drop Soup as a Side Character. . .
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This review may contain spoilers
Could Have Been Okay, But the Overwhelming Toxicity Turned Me Off
What I'm going to say may turn off a lot of people, but I'm tired of sweeping it under the BL "well, that's just the way Asian cultures are" rug.Abuse know no special language. I know, I went through something similar for nine years of my life, and though I survived and got past it (some don't), it marked me for life. Frankly, I don't care what language you speak, to mentally, emotionally, and even physically abuse your only son for years in the name of "loving" him is just sick, and I don't care who is doing it. And any culture that normalizes it is, to mind mind, equally culpable for that sickness.
Further, I'm tired of seeing it normalized as a trope in far too many BLs. Like this one, which ended in such a way that it was never made clear that these "loving" parents had even the remotest clue of the damage they were wreaking on their only child.
As I say, it could have been an okay, cute, run of the mill BL, but the sociopathic parenting on full, horrible display throughout ruined it for me. Sorry.
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SO GOOD
This is definitely one the best series from this year. The OST is, without a doubt, the best from all the asian BL drama series I've watched in 2022. The story is so cute and the boys were the cutest and acted well too. I don't know, just the way they both were so sad in problematic families and just found happiness in each other and in music... I just LOVE gays and music together. I really love and miss shows where the couple doesn't need to be fighting or being toxic with each other to have drama, so this was key to make me love it. The boys were just running from unhappiness together and that is beautiful. I like the second couple too, they are so sweet. The only thing I didn't like was that the kisses were not very great to watch, but I'm willing to ignore it.Was this review helpful to you?
The Kids Are Alright
Aw hell, I just really liked this one.It wasn't the best show I've ever seen by any means, but it was such a sweet and earnest story about a bunch of kids trying their best and figuring themselves out I just couldn't help but be drawn in by it.
The characters are all very easy to love and I appreciate just how much they feel like real teenagers. They're all at different stages in their lives and that's okay. Some of them know exactly what they want from their future and some of them have no idea what they want to do with their life at all. Some of them are romantically and sexually experienced and some of them haven't so much as kissed anyone yet. You know, like real kids.
In general the show does a great job of portraying the beautifully varied lives of young queer people and makes it very clear that they're all perfectly alright just as they are and that there's nothing wrong with living life at your own pace, which is an important message for anyone to hear, kids as well as adults.
While the story is largely lighthearted, it also tackles more serious topics like parental neglect and abuse, and does so with great care and sensitivity. It emphasises the importance of communicating your wants and needs to the people in your life as well as the importance of standing up for yourself even if that means going against the expectations and demands of others.
The only thing that, to me, felt out of place is Qi Zhang's uncle. His sudden appearance was as jarring as it was entirely unnecessary. You're telling me that Mama Xu would really have let that man come anywhere near her kid? There's just no way.
But that's pretty much my only complaint.
So if you're looking for a very sweet slice-of-life story with solid writing and good music, which treats its characters with care and respect while broaching some mature topics, then I'd definitely recommend giving this one a shot.
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can't get enough of 8 episodes, i need more
It's been a while since I finished a show in just one sitting, and let me tell you, not only is this one short (23 minutes each episode), but its pacing is remarkably fast. This is the kind of soft and fluffy romance that will have you kicking your feet in the air and saying "awww."The show features two couples, and believe me, you'll fall in love with both of them. Overall, both lead couples are fantastic and contribute equally to the story as a whole. The music (OSTs) is too good not to listen to on repeat. Every cast member has given their best performance, and I wholeheartedly recommend it! 100% worth it
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Overrated
What I liked:Cast is cute
Acting is not awkward.
Music : 100%
What needs improvement :
The chemistry between leads is 0.
Plot is not interesting enough
I watched until 6 episodes,I literally didn't feel any butterflies which I normally expect in any BL. I don't mind if they have no kissing scenes, but they should least have some chemistry to show they are not just friends.
I am just watching the show to feel music and friendship scenes.
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One of the best of 2022
This is so beautifully done... there is some fluff but there is also some real issues attached it and it feels like a classic Taiwanese BL.. bringing back all the feels of the History Series for me. The soundtrack for this is so stellar. I must say this deserved 16. the chemistry between the 2 couples are so good.. but I am so in love with the two main characters ! I need to see these 4 actors in more series in the future because they are really delivering and are really great given this is their first series I am very impressed with everyone involved.Was this review helpful to you?
back to my childhood
I LOVE IT !! Beautiful good job everyone who this realization seriously I am currently in university and watching this brings me back to high school where I was a carefree student while my best friend was the one that the parents were always expecting to be at the top of the rank is 2 or 3 his dead, he was frustrated but was wearing that face mask of smile and happy person around people except me. He didn't even have the right to have a girlfriend, if it is school activities be the best player otherwise it was like wasting "his precious time" but everything has a change in grade 12 he choose to do what he wants and be a normal teenager and his decision was the best he got accepted by his parents and he got their support, love. stop with the sad story good moral of this series learn how to decide for yourself even if your parents think that they are always right you can make them understand in your way if they don't understand you. we know parents want the best for their children but a child should learn about the difficulty of life the upside-down fall and restart walking again. The music choice here is incredible I can't get it out of my mind, except for the serious parents we got some funny, cute, and adorable moments. well done !! ❤️Was this review helpful to you?
Just hits different
Maybe I'm a bit biased cause I absolutely love Taiwanese series, but it's just so good omg.Where it misses in the story it adds up in the story telling and the acting.
Ye Guangs charecter is genius, the whole high-expectations child was done so well and Li Chen Hao portrayed it beautifuly.
Don't even get me started on Ray.
Ngl I thought the brother of the sister that preformed infront of Guang was gonna be Rays love instrest, but I don't mind that it was A'Jian cause
THE*CHEMISTRY*BETWEEN*THE*COUPLES*OMGGG
I also love how it was so easy to watch and smooth like you feel like you just started the episode and it's already the end that's how well done the story was.
THE OST!!! ITS SO GOOD, HIS VOICE OMGG
The only thing I gotta complain about was that it was JUST TO SHORT AND IT WENT BY SO FAST.
But overall 10/10, one of my top series.
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So Cute!
I discovered this series scrolling through Gagaoolala and omg I'm so glad I did! It was so wholesome and cute with real life situations and scenarios. The music was catchy and there were visuals for miles! I loved all the couples in different ways and they all portrayed something that we can all relate too ranging from unrequited love to family issues. The ending was so sweet and fluffy! It's a short series but please give it a chance, it's so worth it. There was no over the top drama and basic BL bs. It's always nice to come across something fresh and new!Enjoy...
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So overall, acting was fantastic for newbies.
Music was BEAUTIFUL.
I would def rewatch it, I'm actually thinking about it now.
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This review may contain spoilers
A bit rushed and left unresolved
Unfortunately, this drama suffered from its limited amount of episodes. Only having eight 25-minute episodes ended up not only rushing the plot, but leaving a lot of things unresolved.I'll start with the positives. First, the leads are sweet and I love their romance. I love how their beginning wasn't actually their beginning, but ties back to an incident a year before they actually started talking. Their chemistry was good enough and I loved the OST - it definitely added to the show.
While the second couple was also sweet and also had good chemistry, they had a few issues that were left unresolved. There was a misunderstanding between them, and instead of actually talking it out and clearing the air, they just skipped past it by saying "Well, it's all in the past now." I felt this could only lead to problems in the future of their relationship. But again, I think this is just a time restraint issue.
Lastly, and most disappointingly, the issue with Ye Guang's parents was left very much unresolved. As a queer person with controlling parents (who also had unrealistic expectations of me), I really related to Ye Guang's struggle. I had hoped I would be able to see some more resolution, whether it's Ye Guang standing his ground and the parents realizing that they value their son more than their reputation (or their 臉面), or the parents having an actual talk with their son. The parental issue was just glossed over at the end, and we could still see that it wasn't resolved.
Overall, the show really was hurt by the time restraint that it had. The writers, knowing how many episodes they had, could have chosen to have a more simple plot, allowing both sets of couples to flesh out their relationships. Or they could have started the resolution between Ye Guang and the parents sooner. Either way, I'm left feeling unsatisfied.
I did like the show, don't get me wrong, and I'm always happy to watch a Taiwanese BL, but I did feel like apart from Ye Guang and Xu Qi Zhang's relationship, nothing else was solved.
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