VIP Only (2023)

It was okay and then it was not.

VIP Only is a BL love story about a writer who is struggling to find his inspiration for his next book and a restaurant owner having problems with his own mother. I think this is a decent enough love story but it is not perfect. I will have to say that the partnership of Stan Huang and Chen Xuan Yu as the lead characters Gu Jing and Liu Li is actually quite interesting since we have a mature love story and the characters are playing their parts well. I mean, they are interesting in a sense that they are characters who have other priorities aside from finding love and that is a good thing here because it helped the story move forward but the story is slowly shrinking in a sense that there is not much happening that is not new or interesting to their stories until we got buried in the cliches of the genre and they were never to pull away from it which is a bit of a sad thing because the show started as something that is more into itself. It is as unique as they can be while properly managing the expectations of the viewers. It is not bad at all. I actually can say that the first few scenes had the grip on the audience but the story started to go out of control after the middle portion because it became repetitive so they are trying their luck with whatever they can but this led to aggressively quick storylines especially the one with Boss Gu’s mom. I feel like that is a storyline that they just wanted to getaway from and they did. It is a bit bad writing for me or they are at least finding it hard how to continue a story that already seemed finish in the first five episodes.

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Fluff with chemistry

This drama had the right amount of fluff (especially at the end) with a big splash of chemistry, a sprinkle of drama and a lot of sassy energy!
The story itself is taking you on a journey of past crushes, how to overcome those feelings and choosing a new path to walk together with the right person beside you. It is uneventful but not boring, proplems are quickly solved and everyone is acting their age and that was refreshing as fuck! They are all adults, had their own reasons behind their actions and could explain them very well. The friends are a great support and their biggest fans and I loved them!
The chemistry was flowing and I had butterflies flying around my whole body. Their skinship is so natural, it was a blast to watch them just being a happy couple!
And I think I have a thing for cute pouts... The actor who plays the novellist has such a cute mouth, I couldn't stop starring at it everytime there was a close up of his face... Just like the Thai actors Boun (Between Us) and Nut (Oxygen, Pit Babe)... and the Boss.... what a sexy man! Big, slender, mature, bearded... swoon worthy!

All in all I recommend it! It is an easy watch, no big drama, but full of soft feelings, vulnerable characters and a great ambiance!

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So sweet, I died

My headline says it all, it literally is just that lol

This is a very simple show, no major plot twist or drama. A sweet, fluffy, cute BL.

Despite that, it's very nice to watch, especially if you're taking a break from heavier dramas.

I do love the little twist when I found out that they know each other since childhood. That little details add flavor to the otherwise a little too bland show.

I enjoy this overall. Watch it and judge it for yoruself!

The only thing I wish for is a 2nd couple which didn't happen, but that's just minor detail. I still love watching their interaction regardless.

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Interestingly Cute

I placed spoilers at the end of this review.

So far, this is the best one out of the compilation series. It was very cute and interesting.

The positive: Considering the short running time, this had a well-developed script. It did a great job slowly introducing the characters’ backstories and the pacing of the main story was perfect. The actors did a great job with their characters and portrayed them in a very likable fashion.

The negative: The only negative aspect for me was the conflict scenarios were too predictable. However, this was a minor problem for me.



******Spoiler Alert******
Even though it had the one story element I hate (love triangle), it wasn’t that bad and was resolved quickly.

Sorry, I already knew that the mother would become a source of a conflict after the first scene. Thankfully it to was quickly resolved.

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The story, lesson and research before making movie, and poet

This movie is so nice even though it is too good to be true in real life :)
Very worth watching and really appreciate the one who write the script. Every episode is worth of something, one lesson and the monologue always heartwarming. Especially the story of the bluebird that means happiness and about handling life I love such poet and every episode has poet and monologue about the character way of thinking
i also appreciate they use journal from patti wood psychology about smile and body language. And they tell about chlerophobia. So i would say the director and the screenwriter has a lot to put in the film. The OST also signature for the movie and about the film, they made the song for the movie. In the end every episode has teaching and very heartwarming in the end. thank you for the amazing experience

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Bluebird and origami

Well this was cute, quick to watch and utterly forgettable. Taiwan can definitely do better than this but I guess they must have somehow lost their touch in 2023 to produce a string of misses and a rare hit. This was a miss!

VIP Only is a love story between a chef and a novelist living above the chef's restaurant. It is wrought with tropes: falling into your arms, accidental kiss, helpful best friends, a third party, childhood connection, a mother-in-law from hell......there is nothing fundamentally wrong with tropes as long as you find a novel way to use it. Here, they just put one after another and called it a series! While I was watching it, I had a weird impression that, originally, the script was for a straight M/F romcom and they just cast a man as FL because his behaviour, his actions, his attitude, the way he talked and the way he was dresses in flowing oversized clothes, all screamed woman! I don't know, maybe the character is trans? Did I miss something? I know, those codes come from mangas! They'd tried and tested and we are fed up! Come up with something new, shake up the genre!!!!

More interesting than the main pair were their friends. They pushed and connived to get the chef and the writer together, and their interactions were funny. I would not mind watching more of them! When the writer's college crush reappears in his life, the chef feels threatened, and the way they bicker over the writer is silly and funny!

The cinematography was all over the place: from scenes that were too sharp and cold to dreamy scenes with lighting obscuring faces (really pretty) to some weird camera angles. The same goes for editing: sometimes smooth and other times jerky. And then there was the omnipresent music, all the time in the background, that boring elevator music not adding anything to the plot, just annoyance! The actors were there, going through the motions, chemistry rather weak but the cringe was minimal. Except for the surprise visit of the couple from a parent drama. The main actor Stan, reminded me so much (doppelgänger) of the ML from Hello Stranger(I have to find his name...), a pinoy bl!

Surprisingly so, I think I might rewatch this when I need something simple and silly to cheer me up.

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A love that surpasses the arc of time and the lives of the two lovers

Liu Li is a BL-themed novelist who wants to love vehemently, so that he can then express his thoughts in writing. Under the pseudonym Morris, he has published two best-selling novels based on his real-life experiences, but today, after the rejection of his platonic love, he suffers from writer's block and cannot find inspiration to write the third book, which he has already demands his editor.
Seeking inspiration, he sits at the same table every day at Old House, his favorite meat noodle and hot sauce shop, located in the lower part of the building where he rents an apartment, and where he makes blue origami birds for hours, while waiting for the arrival of the muse.
Gu Jin, or Boss Gu, as his employees call him, who was a successful advertising executive until his resignation, caused by a scandal involving his despotic mother, decides not to give up in the face of adversity and takes advantage of his culinary vocation to set up his own restaurant. business as chef and owner of Old House, where he will meet Liu Li.
Starring Stan Huang as Gu Jing, and Chen Xuan Yu as Liu Li, 'VIP Only' (保留席位 / Pao Liu Hsi Wei (Bao Liu Xi Wei), the Taiwanese LGBTIQ+-themed romantic comedy-drama spins in around the love relationship between the handsome and attractive chef who owns the creative and retro restaurant, and the shy boy with a vocation as a novelist who, although he has never been in a relationship, recognizes that as a writer he has many ideas about what it means to be in love.
Director another dreams of continuing to promote his career as a writer.
Based on the script written by Cai Fei Qiao, Xiao Yi Wei and Chen Liang Ci, 'VIP Only' is a tender and delicious story of love and improvement marked by literature and cooking, a relationship that arises between stoves and tables restaurant; a chef with high culinary skills and a regular customer.
Vidol is the Taiwanese streaming platform that makes this and other BL series such as 'Stay by My Side' (2023), 'Anti-Reset' (2024) and 'You Are Mine' (2023).
Like many of the dishes prepared by the chef, the love between the two young people simmers. It all begins when Gu asks Liu Li to go on dates with him to stimulate his imagination and inspire him to continue his work as a writer.
This is how in the middle of a role-play in which they both date each other and pretend to be in love, love surprises them.
Between plates of food, Gu reading Liu Li's novels, hearing about each other's lives while folding origami, or the novelist's determination to learn to cook because Gu is very passionate about the culinary art, both boys will leave getting to know each other and becoming closer, until they discover that they have much more in common than they think, since they were friends in childhood.
Liu Da Ren (Tim Cheng) and Lai Dai Yi / "Lai Tsai" (Kurt Huang), Gu's employee at the restaurant the first and Liu Li's friend the second, will help the two boys in their romance. However, their love will be put to the test when Wu Shin (Kevin Chang), the boy the writer was in love with, returns and tries to win him over.
The cast is completed with the performances of Hsiao Hung as Yao Shun Yu, and Parker Mao in the role of Xia Shang Zhou, protagonists of the Taiwanese BL drama 'You Are Mine', in which they embody these same characters.
The chef will also hallucinate with joy/madness when he discovers that Liu Li thanks Wu Shin for having inspired him to write two best-selling novels, and for teaching him to be brave and confess his love to the person he loves, and chooses him.
The love that unites Liu Li and Gu will surpass the arc of their lives and time, through the book written by the former and inspired by the latter and the romance they live.
Almost everything in 'VIP Only' could be on the verge of crossing the thin line of cheesy, or vulgar melodrama, but it is redeemed by the tenderness of its story, the truth of characters who support each other and manage to overcome difficulties while experiencing personal growth, the chemistry between the two protagonists and the interpretive flexibility of Stan Huang and Chen Xuan Yu.

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