1
AudienceofOne
Now it's finally finished I can say with all honesty I had no idea what this show was even about.
When it started, WhyRU had an air of meta brilliance. But whether due to bad writing, poor planning, or the Covid19 shutdown, it became instead an inconsistent tonal mess that isn't really about anything. I don't know what Why RU is or is trying to be. I don't think the writers and producers do either.
At the beginning, the story - about a University student, Zon, with a Fujoshi sister who believes himself cursed into a BL novel - danced on the edge of brilliance every episode but never quite made it. As a concept, the idea of him finding himself stuck living tropes and cliches from a BL novel had a lot of scope for humour. It meant the show could provide an old-school cliched BL love story while simultaneously parodying exactly that. And yet the show never quite nails it; being often slightly too serious about all its tropes for its own good. At its best, Why RU is like an over-the-top BL pastiche that will make you laugh out loud. At its worst, it degenerates into the genre it was supposed to be parodying.
And while the core relationships that underpin it are quite good - no harassment, stalking, assault or sexual violence and the two couples talk to each other and seem to genuinely like each other - the two clash tonally in a way that embodies the drama's tonal problem overall. Fight and Tutor's romance doesn't just seem to be happening in a different show - it's almost happening in a different Universe. One that really really wants us to visit Thailand's beaches.
Is Why RU a BL parody? An homage? Or just another standard show in a market that's close to saturation point?
It does help that the show is anchored by two strong young actors - Saint and Tommy - who can somewhat make up for the clunky and green performances of the other leads. Zon's increasingly funny freakouts as he tries to avoid being forced into BL scenarios with his designated love interest, Saifah, are by far the show's best aspect but these are jettisoned quickly in lieu of a standard Yaoi romance, albeit a super-cute one and a super-sexy one.
While a great deal of laughs can be had by e.g. a confused TharnType wandering through and monologuing randomly to the camera at one point or Zon exclaiming that Saint's character, Tutor, "isn't himself", the premise is never quite milked for the humour it could provide. The show never entirely commits to its premise and instead starts churning out a standard University BL instead.
Whether because of Covid or because the writers didn't really know what they wanted this show to be, the back half is a yawn fest with the thinnest of plots that culminates in a final episode that will leave you scratching your head as to what the show's plot even was. Other than an excuse to have cute boys make out in exotic locales.
It's a shame because this could have been very funny, very self-aware and delightfully meta BL.
When it started, WhyRU had an air of meta brilliance. But whether due to bad writing, poor planning, or the Covid19 shutdown, it became instead an inconsistent tonal mess that isn't really about anything. I don't know what Why RU is or is trying to be. I don't think the writers and producers do either.
At the beginning, the story - about a University student, Zon, with a Fujoshi sister who believes himself cursed into a BL novel - danced on the edge of brilliance every episode but never quite made it. As a concept, the idea of him finding himself stuck living tropes and cliches from a BL novel had a lot of scope for humour. It meant the show could provide an old-school cliched BL love story while simultaneously parodying exactly that. And yet the show never quite nails it; being often slightly too serious about all its tropes for its own good. At its best, Why RU is like an over-the-top BL pastiche that will make you laugh out loud. At its worst, it degenerates into the genre it was supposed to be parodying.
And while the core relationships that underpin it are quite good - no harassment, stalking, assault or sexual violence and the two couples talk to each other and seem to genuinely like each other - the two clash tonally in a way that embodies the drama's tonal problem overall. Fight and Tutor's romance doesn't just seem to be happening in a different show - it's almost happening in a different Universe. One that really really wants us to visit Thailand's beaches.
Is Why RU a BL parody? An homage? Or just another standard show in a market that's close to saturation point?
It does help that the show is anchored by two strong young actors - Saint and Tommy - who can somewhat make up for the clunky and green performances of the other leads. Zon's increasingly funny freakouts as he tries to avoid being forced into BL scenarios with his designated love interest, Saifah, are by far the show's best aspect but these are jettisoned quickly in lieu of a standard Yaoi romance, albeit a super-cute one and a super-sexy one.
While a great deal of laughs can be had by e.g. a confused TharnType wandering through and monologuing randomly to the camera at one point or Zon exclaiming that Saint's character, Tutor, "isn't himself", the premise is never quite milked for the humour it could provide. The show never entirely commits to its premise and instead starts churning out a standard University BL instead.
Whether because of Covid or because the writers didn't really know what they wanted this show to be, the back half is a yawn fest with the thinnest of plots that culminates in a final episode that will leave you scratching your head as to what the show's plot even was. Other than an excuse to have cute boys make out in exotic locales.
It's a shame because this could have been very funny, very self-aware and delightfully meta BL.
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