BL Drama Lovers Club

 American Fan:

Can I say it? haha.

LOL, I  EAT IT UP EVERY TIME!

 Simi_Tutu:

Takara no Vidro And The Significance Of Marigolds!

Hmm, maybe - but I interpreted it differently: Taishin: "Wow, Takara is so awesome because he knows it's a marigold." Takara: "Pffft, everyone knows that."

Re: Century of Love - Episodes 1 & 2

I thoroughly enjoyed these first two episodes. I had major Until We Meet Again flashbacks with the red thread and lover dying by gunshot wound similarities. After watching both episodes I only have positive things to say which is a good indicator that I truly loved every second of the episodes. I love the Chinese elements of this series. The Chinese instrumental music of what I am amusing is the erhu, that was used in episode 1 really set my mind at peace and brought me into the atmosphere they created to fit the time period. I also liked the martial arts fight scenes in episode 1; they really did them justice. Watching them reminded me of the Chinese martial arts movies from the early 2000s and 90s that had names such as, "The Drunk Monkey"; which had these dramatic sound effects each time someone got hit during a kung fu showdown. I was also reminded of Kung fu Panda and Legend of Korra season 1 & 2. All the fight scenes were good and did not make me laugh as they looked serious and executed skilfully in my opinion.

I love the great degree of symbolism this series has. The colour red is used heavily; from the red thread scene, blood to even the red cloth that covered San and Vee at their first meeting. The colour red in Asian cultures is known to symbolise love and marriage. Even in San's room the lamp shades are red. I also took appreciation of the fact that the first time San met Vad she saved him and now the first time he met her reincarnated as Vee he saved her instead.

The music is so beautiful in this series. I love the theme song especially when it comes in at the significant scenes; it makes the events really feel fated, and the lyrics are touching; again UWMA flashbacks. The fact that my mind has already created this association tells me that I am most likely going to enjoy this story-line. Oh, and I love that dramatic instrumental that came on at the end of episode 1 and I think somewhere in episode 2; it sounds like drum beats and the sound of a chain rattling in the background. I just love the mood this series had me in during the watch and left me in after; I feel happy and at peace.

The way the curse is  fleshed out makes it easy to follow along and I love the details of it. The goddess definitely has a sense of humour in making Vee the reincarnation of Vad. I also found San's wet dream  hilarious. To think that all these decades his penis was not working and now after meeting Vee it is suddenly rising to the occasion so to speak. (Why did my mind snicker at the word penis; for god sake N  oops almost said my real name - me, Grow Up!)

I hope that this series will finish as strongly as it started out for me because lately too many series have started out well only to descend into lacklustre performances due to drag or other drawbacks. 

Overall it was a great first two episodes and I look forward to episode 3 which will be out today; at least by my clock.

So I'm on ep 4 of Love Sea and that Mook character is a reason alone for me to drop this show LOL 

The first 3 eps are like those holiday romance novels I used to read as a junior teen and now we've gotten really derogatory really quickly

 Elfy:

Bleh, can't make it to the end of episode 5. Not that it's super annoying. I'm just bored LOL

I admit that I skip the 2nd couple parts.

 p43425:

@RXinw: Just to prove that I'm not a clonebot of American Fan, I love coffee (and JBLs).

*Raises coffee cup* cheers!

 p43425:

Yes - plus also "First Love Again" because of the gender element.

Oh yeah!

 p43425:

Anyways, I'm glad you (and others) share my initial enthusiasm!

Planning on watching today's episode tonight because I binged the two first episodes last night so I want to recreate the night time atmosphere all over again lol. I am so glad that we get two episodes per week! Wednesdays & Thursdays

We Are the series - I will rate it soon hehe. I know I will be seeing some tens in here later on.

Perhaps I should pop We Are  higher on my to-watch list. Now that I can binge watch it. I was worried with there being so many couples. Do you all feel like they each got the appropriate attention/time?

'We Are' Final Review

There are various reasons why 'We Are' is a standout drama, which I will highlight below, but I must start with the most important.

'We Are' is unpretentious. From the start, the show promised us a feel good romcom, delivered by an endearing cast of friends, and not once did it fail us. From beginning to end we are presented with a healthy loving group of friends in healthy loving relationships. Yes, drama can make for good TV, but there’s always room for a show that offers comfort and good-natured humor. (1)

'We Are' is a slow burn. Surprisingly, I believe that in this case, it’s a plus. In the BL era of everyone must be dating by episode 5, it can even be considered refreshing. Despite our main couple not being official until the latter half of the show, there was little room for the viewers to doubt that they would eventually get there. By showing that a lack of a relationship status did not impede the romance of it all, they managed to cleverly keep viewers engaged. It was also entertaining to observe the multiple couples in various stages of a relationship. With such a large group of friends, there was always something going on.

'We Are' boasts of a lovable cast. The true star of this show and what kept the story connected, was how genuinely the friend group was written. There was love there that is just as important as the romance. It’s not difficult to root for a group of characters, when they are ALL genuinely good people. (I have to say that watching that last episode made me a tiny bit emotional. It’s like I’m sending off my children into the adult world. I don’t have any children.)

All in all, 'We Are' never failed to deliver that midweek kick of serotonin, and for that it will be missed.

Was it perfect? No. But it accomplished what it set out to do in a striking way. (2)

Rating : 9.5/10. Comforting & Feel-Good. 

1. As a background note, I always look at a piece of media and ask myself, what was the intention for this, and then decide if it lived up to its purpose. I might not like a show, but if it has accomplished its purpose, I will still rate it well. There’s nothing I hate more than a show that tries too hard.

2. I could mention several flaws (like lack of time indicators and missed opportunities for plot development), but at the end of the day they do not detract from my love or enjoyment of this show.