You Are Mine (2023)

Save yourself and don't watch it

This is such a horrible show. I have no idea what the heck I just watched. It makes no sense whatsoever. It feels like the writing and editing team had lost it! As if they'd put random sequences one after the other. I don't think they knew what they were doing.

The story did not make any sense, the characters had no motivation, and it was just so out of place. Everything was out of place. I could not, even to save my life, understand when the main leads actually fell in love or when they were okay with being physical; everything was just so sudden. Also every single thing that the boss does definitely counts as harassment!!

I fast-forwarded and watched this entire show, but I still feel like I wasted so much of my life watching this that I will never get it back. So please, save yourselves; do not watch this.

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A tale of strong performances hindered by plot constraints

As the second instalment in to the VBL series, “You are Mine” stands out as an entertaining office rom-com series with a good plot supported by strong performances. But like its predecessor, falls short of being great due to lack of episodes. A couple of more episodes fleshing out the main characters would have made this one of the best series of 2023.

The series is about 2 central characters; Xia Shang Zhou, General manager of a reputed organization feared by his employees for being stern and quick to temper. Yao Shun Yu, a young and innocent man joins the organization as an Assistance Secretary to Xia. Finding him utterly useless during their first interaction, Xia learns to soften himself through daily interactions with Yao as he finds himself being attracted to this new addition to his team.

The series excels due to the strong performances by the two lead actors Parker Mao and Hsiao Hung. Parker Mao played a stoic, work-oriented individual who is above social interactions and lacks human emotions. Hsiao Hung, on the other hand brings to life the role of a young, cheerful youth who wants to work hard to help his family. Their acting prowess shines at scenes requiring extreme emotions of loss and heartbreak.

The series however fails in using the plot that it introduced in the early episodes. Xia Shang Zhou, is shown to be suffering from headaches and insomnia due to a childhood trauma and his mother’s strict upbringing. It’s this treatment from his mother along with multiple other factors that make him emotionless. That is a strong character building but is not capitalized further. There is no arc for Xia to break free from his mother’s control and grow as a character. Hsiao Hung, goes through an inner turmoil caused by his own feelings and his misunderstanding of Xia’s feelings towards him. A couple of more episodes to go through Xia’s past and his ultimate growth would have made this truly exceptional

In conclusion, “You are mine” is a series wherein the acting and chemistry between our two main leads, a plot with underlying themes of trauma, parental control and power dynamics makes it a must watch albeit a stronger plot could have made it a masterpiece

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Cute with a little bit of toxic

You are Mine is a cute and relatively short BL. I watched it due to it being on a toxic BL list but in reality it's not much more toxic than your average BL couple. The top is a little pushy and overexerts himself by pushing the bottom's boundaries. But what kind of BL doesn't really have that?

That being said though, overall this BL was really cute. It clearly doesn't really take itself seriously and is a short enough series not to overstay it's welcome. The only thing I didn't really like was how abrupt the ending felt. I remember going "Oh okay I guess it's over." But that's probably my only major gripe with the series. As the rest of it is filled with punchy comedy and enjoyable drama. Definitely worth a watch, even if it doesn't seem like something you'd usually go for.

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I confess to bingeing this one, but it isn't really great

My first response to this series was: "Another tyrannical-boss-and-quirky-subordinate story?" The story relies on several familiar tropes, including a disapproving mother towards the end. Nonetheless, I did find it fairly watchable. It is rather stress-free watching because we more or less know how the story will develop and end. And the BL couple is fairly likable.

Be warned, however, that there are several poor transitional points. First of all, although we know that Xia Shangzhou (the tyrannical General Manager) takes a liking to his new secretary (Yao Shunyu), it strikes me as a little too sudden when Xia frantically rushes to the rescue of a kidnapped Yao. Clearly, there weren't enough scenes to show that Xia had already fallen so hard for Yao. Other poor transitions include Yao's own struggles with his own emotions. Yao goes through several stages:

1. he notices Xia's interest in him and freaks out;
2. he struggles with his own sexuality but eventually comes to terms with the fact that he is in love with a man;
3. he struggles with being uncertain if he is just a fling to Xia despite being in love with Xia and accepting it;
4. he realizes that Xia really loves him but decides not to accept Xia so that Xia can avoid being embroiled in a scandal.

Although things cannot possibly be entirely clear-cut, the shifts from one stage of Yao to another is a little too muddled to be truly moving.

Despite the flaws, I did enjoy some comic moments in the series. Unfortunately some of these moments also fall flat despite having potential. A case in point is when Yao is given the task of sabotaging Xia's blind date (arranged by Xia's mother). Somehow, Yao ends up buying a whole lot of condoms, causing the woman who was arranged to go on a date with Xia to think that Xia is a pervert. (Erm.... excuse me, first, Yao shouts to Xia "You are mine" but the woman mistakenly thinks that he is speaking to her. Then the condoms fall out ... and the woman thinks Xia is a pervert even though all Xia does is to help Yao, who is slipping. ????)

Somehow another Taiwanese BL, Stay by My Side, is listed as Related Content in MDL. I'm not sure about the links, but Stay by My Side is overall much better. Despite the cliches and predictability, I think You Are Mine had the potential to be much better than it has turned out to be. It is somewhat enjoyable, but nowadays, there are probably better BLs to watch.

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Potential not reached

I do not have a headline yet, but this show was good at the beginning and not so good at the end. That's all you need to know if you don't want to read the review. I will give it an 8.1 out of 10, which rounds to an 8 out of 10. Let's unpack. I go from episode to episode. Also, I am not checking my grammar because this show was too mid-tempo for me to care.

I saw it on YouTube shorts, and I love Ceo x Sectary stuff, so I fell flat on my face into it, and then, like, 6 hours go by and I see it on what I am currently watching, and I am just really confused. So now we are here. Cute little trope and cute start. I am a big fan of the cold personality but soft spot kind of thing. And the president is cute. I like him. Youtube shorts roped me in, and I started watching them because of that, no other reason.

We are getting some backstory on why the CEO has this cold personality, which is always fun. They live really different lifestyles, and its cool to see the polar opposites trope in these dramas. I just think that's always fun to have. So yeah. I hope we get some more background on their characters in the next episode, because that makes this way more meaningful. I also just loved this little episode where it was just them. The whole world just kind of stopped, and it felt like it was just them, which I always like to see in these. Uh yeah. I dont know either of their names, but the sectary is so beautiful. They did the little zoom when he was sleeping, and everything about his facial structure is just so cute. And they are always playing into the height difference trope, which I always like to see. So there are a lot of good tropes in this, and I have hope for this show. And that hope went down the drain as the episodes continued. The good tropes could not make up for the show's awful plot.

The episode was a funny, hot mess. I was also watching this in history class. He gets kidnapped; it was so damn random, oh my god, and someone gets sick because they always get sick in these situations. I was so confused and didn't even know what was really happening.

I watched this again in history class. It's kind of my thing at this point. I love them a lot. They are very cute. The kidnapping scene was so freaking random. How do you even kidnap the wrong guy? That sh*t is embarrassing. I think the CEO's mom hired the guy. She seems bad. I love the secrecy guy because he is such a cutie, and him bowing to his kidnapper was so cute. They are getting closer but are still in the awkward honeymoon phase of their relationship. I was actually right about the mom being bad.

I am starting to actually love these two so much. They are barely even in the honeymoon phase, but I am already hooked, and I love them because their setbacks have not even really set them back, and I love that about the show so far. I think the mom is going to be a problem in the future, for sure, but so far they are going strong. The general manager has to back off just a bit because he is making our poor baby uncomfortable. He does not know how he feels about him yet, and the general manager isn't making it any better or worse right now, so they just need to take things slow. They took it a little to slow and got on my nerves.

I’m raving over this dumbass show. I was watching this during Spanish class because we could use our computers. This show is fucking amazing. The general manager is so sexy. I’m on my knees for this man. They are getting so cute, and he’s falling for him, and I love it. Feral for general manager, bro. These episodes were watched months apart, which is why my reviews are so different. They both had really good visuals; I will give them that.

I feel like we keep going back and forth with these two because our baby doesn't know how he feels about the general manager yet. I love the random trips in the middle of the show to strengthen their relationship; that's one of my favorite things because nothing bad happens and everything is just pure vibes. I love to see. I'm stalling and don't want to watch only friends, so I'm trying to get some other shows caught up. This show has a lot of potential for a good ending, and I hope it achieves that in the next three episodes. Hopes went down the tube; only friends were better. Despite them not even being comparable, I watched this with only friends, and I regret it because it was worse.

This was a lazy episode, I feel. They have been dragging out the whole resignation thing, and then he finally does it, and we have two episodes left. They dragged this one on for the full episode and didn't add any more plot. Besides that, it would be fine if the show was longer, but it is not, so it is not fine. I don't really have anything to say. Why were they sleeping in the same bed as the final straw? Then they both like each other; they are both just too stupid to realize it. Cool; hopefully they bring it home for the next episodes. It was not brought home until the final 23 minutes of the show.

If Bro resigned, why does he keep ending up back in the office? We are nearing the end of this show, and at this point, I am getting more questions than answers. This show had a lot of poetry, but now we are almost at the final episode, and they are going back and forth, and I am really confused. I forgot everyone's names, but the secretary was told by the vice president that the general manager changed the contract because he liked him or something like that, and instead of worrying that his boss just did something really illegal, he was like, "He wants me so bad." That was such a good mood, and it was the only good thing that came out of this episode.

We got a rushed, medium, super happy ending. Our couple ended up together, and they were very aware that they were going to be broke once leaving the company, but money didn't matter as long as they were in love. The mom came around in the end, which was good. I was thinking she wasn't going to, but she did, and yeah. good ending, just rushed, and we only got to see our couple happy for 23 minutes, and then the show just ends, which was annoying. This was an okay show, but the ending was lowkey, which made me disappointed. I would not recommend this show. Don't waste your time; its not that good. Okay bye!

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ADORABLE FLUFFY STORY

FIRST OF ALL I WAS SURPRISED ON THE RECENT RATING OF THIS SERIES WHICH IS 7.6 AND I THINK IT DESERVES AT LEAST 8 OR 8.5.
I DID SAY THIS IN THE PREVIOUS TAIWANESE BL THAT RECENTLY ENDED (STAY BY MY SIDE) THAT TAIWANESE IS STEPPING UP THEIR GAME IN THE BL INDUSTRY AND IN MY OPINION IT'S WORKING. SIMPLE, CONSISTENT & STRAIGHT FORWARD STORY AND SOMEHOW I AM ASKING FOR LONGER RUNTIME BECAUSE IT ONLY LASTS 23-25 MINS AND I FEEL IT DESERVES SEASON 2 OR SOMETHING.

GOING TO SHANG ZOU AND SHUN YU, THEY ARE INDEED MEANT TO PLAY THIS ROLES, AND AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO NOTICES THEIR HEIGHT DIFFERENCES?? IT'S SO CUTE AND ADORABLE, SHUN YU IS LIKE A LOST PUPPY, LIKE A SUBMISSIVE PUPPY WHO OBEYS HIS MASTER'S ORDERS...LOL SHANG ZOU ON THE OTHE HAND IS LOOKING SO HOT, HE IS FIRM YET HAD A SOFT SPOT FOR SHUN YU WHICH MAKES THIS SERIES SO ADDICTIVE TO WATCH. BOSS-EMPLOYEE TURNED INTO LOVERS IS SOMEWHAT OVERRATED BL CONCEPT BUT IF DONE WELL, STILL WORKS AND "YOU ARE MINE" IS ONE OF THE BEST EXAMPLE.

IT'S STILL NOT YET FINISHED BUT ALL I CAN SAY IS WE NEED SEASON TWO NOW!!!!!!! LOL

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Great happy ending!

OMG…. Love this short story! I watched it in one day and I want more. The acting is so great to the point that they sold the character from the manga. Hsiao Hung (Yao Shun Yu character) was so lovely and innocent that I felt in love whit him (beside that he is really good lucking). The way he brought to life such an innocent and loving character it really takes talent. The way he cried and watered his eyes was just perfect. Parker Mao (Xia Shang Zhou) I was really not sure about his character and how he did it, but half of the episodes and he was all in. The way he made those expressions but as well, he went all in on those kisses, I honestly think he was the one that made Hsiao Hung push himself on those intimate scenes.

Spoiler-ish: I think is very important to let you know that it does have a happy ending and with the special, it really brought everything together. I wish in a way, that they make a second part, but at the same time, the way it ended was perfect. I’m not sure why people on MyDramaList are so negative on everything. They can see the best Drama of their lives and they will still give it a 7. If you go to Viki (another website), you will find a more accurate rating. But don’t take my word, watch the show and let me know 😊.

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Very well done - relatable - enjoyable

Update: I have seen this three times now. I still love it. My only qualm is that there is an appearance that the ML likes guys because of the trauma he went through. That is a dangerous road to travel and feeds into the nonsense that there is some choice involved. Forgivable but, would have liked to have some of the lines altered to show that what he felt younger was confirmed after working with him so closely. What saves it is how much they always care for each other - and - it feels real.

I thought this one was very well written. Also, no real wasted time on sideline stories. The extra "stuff" always supports the main story. I loved and appreciated how the Mother had a believable transformation. Time and seeing for herself was all she needed. I could and most likely will - watch this again when I am in the mood for a story of two polar opposites finding what they need in each other. And, finding out that they are worthy of love - loving others and well as learning to love themselves.

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