BL Drama Lovers Club

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.

 babi:

MarcPoon... They did really really good.

Marc & Poon are both in director's New next drama Perfect 10 liners, and I'm hoping  they'll be a couple again in that! 

WE ARE FINALE

What a fun ride it's been. I loved the beginning, then had a little trouble sticking with it midway through, (I'm doing that a lot lately) but I'm glad I did. 

This drama is more than individual couple relationships. There's always talk about how well romantic chemistry is btw couples in dramas, and I'd like to mention how well the friendship chemistry was with the whole gang in this drama. I'm going to miss that. 

When Peem & Phum were sitting at the water's edge on the boat, and exchanged a few serious words, it popped into my head that I would have liked to use two sentences they shared when we were doing the June Challenge quote day.

Phum: "Thank you for being a good story in my life."

Peem: "Thank you for allowing me to step into your life"

 I cracked up at the series ending with Peem's funny face frozen in the air with the flowers. It felt nice and warm to end like that. Plus the BTS takes. 

Wouldn't it be great to have a S2, after college/adult world with the gang & couples? And Beer!  The gang comes up with a plan to "help" and "advise" Beer to find a boyfriend. And maybe they can all rent flats in the same building. And Tan goes to therapy for co-dependency and learns how to use his indoor voice.

We Are is my 50th series watched in 2024. I know that cuz I do the 52 Weeks Drama Challenge, hehe. 

9/10. Could have been an 8, but the gang dynamics pushed it up a number.

 RXinw:

today's episodes of Meet You At The Blossom

Is that today?!

I started Century of Love tonight, after a full day of art homework & class, then remembered it was the last day of We Are, so stopped after EP 1 to watch We Are.  I literally need to print out my drama schedule I  made just yesterday and pin it to my dang shirt. 

 American Fan:

Exactly! Wouldn't that be a riot?

*whispers* write the fanfic

Nope I was not typing this entire time lol. I ended up going on and watching Meet You at the Blossom and Century of Love, which I will discuss now after this quick WE ARE review.

We Are the series Review

Now if when you see my reviews you normally hold your head and go, "Oh no here comes this foul mouth boy with his vulgar descriptions!", no need to worry lol this one is one of my tamer ones as there will be no NC scenes talk lol. 

I am surprised that so far there is a consensus in ratings with all of us handing out 9-9.5 ratings. I honestly thought I would be the odd one out with you guys dropping the 10s like hot biscuits but it seems we all watched the series together and had similar experiences so yayyy group watch. 

I enjoyed this series throughout the beginning to about episode 12. While I did not come to dislike it, my interest started to wane a bit. However I was more than satisfied with how it concluded. The friendship among the group of friends is endearing and genuine. We saw how much they supported and comforted each other no matter what. This is seen especially through Q and Toey's romantic development; even though they were helping Toey they did not leave Q out and make him the enemy even when Q got upset at them; that is true friendship. 

The Chain and Pun story-line was most definitely not all it could have been. I felt that some of the air time spent on Phum and Peem could have been reduced to facilitate Chain and Pun's story so as to give it a bit more body. It was hinted that there is a lot more to Pun than his silly personality; during the episodes where they went on the volunteer trip we saw him take charge as the leader of the volunteer programme and saw him step into a different shade of his personality. I would have loved to see more of his and Chain's friendship through flashback to see the developing feelings taking place on Chain's side. The kiss at the end between them was no doubt a game changer in how I thought of their story. No it did not negate my aforementioned thoughts but it did make for a makeup scene for them as a couple so that viewers at least got something to hang on to. It also created the possibility for me to think that, "Hey, these two obviously have some feelings toward each other and they may not have gotten the well needed time to develop as a couple but them diving in at the end is saying it is never too late to act upon feelings that are there and that it is okay because they can explore these feelings later." What is important is that the feelings between the two are strong enough for them to set the scene on fire with that kiss and so I am willing to let my imagination fill in the gaps. I really would have loved to see Pun's point of view on things though. Therefore me regarding their story as a 10 is really me giving that kiss a 10 because they stole the finale with their scene; they got one kiss scene and they delivered, so I can't argue with that especially when they out did some of the other couples' kisses.

Q and Toey's story-line was unique and cute. It was not really my preferred type of story-line and dynamic but even I can admit that their story is special. I loved how they had feelings for each  other even before knowing each other's real identity; it provides for the idea of them being fated to fall in love. I did think that their story dragged a bit especially when Q knew that Toey was the boy he was passing messages to. Later on I considered that Q should be given the opportunity to really settle his feelings and come to terms with the revelation and while I think this should be permitted to Q, I still think it could have taken less air time that could have been given to Chain and Pun's story. However I love their interactions after becoming an official couple. Their playfulness may seem really childish but it is their love language which is unique to them; I loved that it showed that even though they had upgraded their relationship to a romantic one, they still remained friends and not just lovers. I still remember their heart melting kiss in the cafe and what better venue for it to take place than where it all began.

I will now be ranting!

Tan and Fan  are definitely something; a special couple one might say. It takes great patience and tolerance to endure the sensory torture that is Tan's whole demeanour and voice. He is one of the most irritating characters I have ever had the displeasure of watching.  I truly believe that Tan went to bed at night and thought of ways to torture those around him with not just his voice but also his incessant, annoying and repulsive co-dependency on Fang. He is like a parasitic vine and Fang was the unfortunate tree that had to endure the life being squeezed out of him. I am convinced that Fang did something horrible in a past life to warrant having fallen in love with this ever grinning leach of a lover; honestly Fang should buy a leash for Tan and keep him at bay from others; just because he willingly puts up with his nauseating behaviour does not mean others should be forced to. Anyways I digress so let me continue the review. Tan and Fang have a very comforting relationship in terms of them finding a home in each other. We see this when Fang was having  family woes and he found solace in Tan (as ironic as that is). They loved openly and shamelessly. Their spaghetti kiss will cause blushes on fans cheeks for sure. One issue or rather concern I have about their relationship, which I also have with Phum and Peem's, is the parents situation. Fang never introduced Tan to his family at all and Phum never introduced Peem as his boyfriend to their parents which leaves the uncertainty of why. I would have loved for this to have been delved into. Is it that they fear their parents would not accept them; I would have just loved some mention of it to fill that gap.

Phum and Peem are the couple that were a couple even before they started dating. Their many kisses and tender moments were heart warming to watch. Their relationship has a solid foundation of trust and care that was established prior to them becoming official and I think that serves them well in their relationship. Peem became that safe haven for Phum when he had his family issues and Phum was also there to assist Peem in his daily life. In the episode where Phum and Peem sat on the beach when Phum fought with his dad, we see Peem being a listening ear and a shoulder of comfort and if that was not romantic then I do not know what is. In the finale where they were thanking each other for coming in each other's life, it felt fulfilling to see these two, who started out not liking each other, become such a loving couple. 

An issue I had with the finale is how the situation between Phum and his dad was handled. I will try to handle this as swiftly and carefully as possible as father issues can be a very sensitive topic for many. In the Caribbean society there is an abundance of matrifocal households largely due to father absenteeism. I say this to highlight my point that many children have complicated feelings towards their fathers because of abandonment or otherwise. Phum felt abandoned by his father when he was shipped off to a foreign country. He was an alien there and while his father may have had good intentions that does not negate or trivialize the fact that Phum felt abandoned and was entitled to at least a conversation regarding the matter. Seeing Phum "repairing" the relationship with his dad at the dinning table was like watching the hungry feed the satisfied because Phum made everyone at the table feel at peace but himself because forcing filiality and not having an open conversation about his feelings is avoiding the issue. It ultimately seemed to me as if he did it for Peem's sake rather than his own.

Anyways despite all my criticism, which i hope I delivered respectfully, I did enjoy the series while it aired and my 9 star rating reflects that. 

I will stop here because it is getting too long and I really want to talk about Century of Love and Meet You at the Blossom lol.

I lost my grandmother in February and cried about it last night so I'll hold off on Century of Love for now lol I'm enjoying everyone's thought on the shows though <3