The Gaze (2026)

Typical toxic chinese BL...

It ended without much fanfare... While it was interesting in the beginning, it was overly toxic and the redemption arc was not well done. I felt like Mr. Toxic doesn't want to change for real and he still behaves like the asshole he is to anyone not connected to his love-interest.

I can't complain about the production quality, that was very high, even when they used too much blur for my taste in many scenes. So it felt a bit artificial. OST is excellent and the best point of this show.

Besides that I have not much to say. The kissing was lackluster, there aren't any nc-scenes and many say it's an adaption of another work but altered so they don't have to pay for a licence to use it. So that also leaves a bad aftertaste. Overall it's too plain and too ordinary to leave a lasting impression, it's average at best. If you are into the toxic tropé there are much better chinese series than this.

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promising start that devolved into terrible communication

Overall: I thought I had found an obsessed ML I could vibe with, but the series is lost me with neither lead able to talk to the other for many episodes. 10 episodes about 40 minutes each. Aired on YouTube

Content Warnings: past violence & blood, coercion, near suicide, kidnapping, violence, non con kissing/touching, mental health struggles, beginning sexual assault, manhandling

Watch Suggestions
- at whatever point you start to lose interest skip to episode 10 15:55 minutes and watch until the end

What I Liked
- visuals
- the initial set up of an obsessed ML
- the brother relationship

Room For Improvement
- I've heard from several people that this is plagiarism of Jinx. Instead of boxing it's tennis, instead of a grandma it's a brother but the plot is practically identical including some dialogues. The production either needs to say they bought the rights to Jinx or they should have written their own story.
- characters were continuously stupid and refused to communicate, a 1 minute conversation would have cleared everything up
- characters went hot and cold
- choppy at times

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