One of the most toxic dynamics I've seen in a BL. Yet at the same time a rare case when it's not romanticised and made into an aesthetic. This is a really intriguing, smart and dare I say, ambitious show. It's just not a grand romantic tale that people might expect it to be when they start watching.
My advice? Approach it not as a BL, but as a psychological drama. Oh, and the best part? It dives into the psychology of the party who is a victim, not focusing on making excuses for the abuser.
(written by an enthusiast of wholesome dynamics btw)
I mean... I can probably say like 5 basic sentences in Mandarin and that's my limitπso I don't know if I'm competent at all to give an answer π But in Mandarin I'm pretty sure that yeah, when ppl say Liuyi (ε δΈ) it is understood as June 1st. Cantonese just pronounces characters differently in this case, I think? I assume the meaning stays the same since that's how his name was described in the drama...
But I also am not sure if there isnt some cultural shift there when it comes to HK and how people refer to certain fixed dates (?), like Children's Day etc. I wouldn't really know though, but @kae_xoxo is from Hong Kong and speaks Cantonese, so you have someone way more reliable to ask than me π
I am "celebrating" like this ever since the drama ended π I keep on rewatching my favourite moments, gashing over my favourite scenes etc.
Kind of unrelated, but since you mentioned their names in Cantonese, I have to say one of the biggest joys of…
I can only speak for myself, but as someone initially really bothered by the dubbing I wanna clarify: I wasn't bugged by Cantonese dubbing. I was bugged by words being spoken in Cantonese while mouth was moving in Mandarin π
When I heard Cantonese spoken in a trailer I actually even got kinda excited, I thought it'd be a refreshing experience; while I've watched HK movies before, I've never watched an actual modern drama, a BL at that, that was in Cantonese...
However, when I realised it's dubbed and the actors filmed in Mandarin... yeah... that excited of mine kinda deflated π
random but i hate the fact that the show's in cantonese but the character's names show up on websites as 'he chu…
Maybe they used the Mandarin names because the novel was written in Mandarin and that's their names in the book? (Not sure, but I think that's the case)
πππ(Last time I had such a long-lasting post-drama depression caused simply by the fact that the drama…
Hey, you changed your pfp in the end? π Should I feel like I won the battle of perseverance or something? π So you picked the cuteness over blood and lustful look, huh? ;)
I'm contemplating watching this one, but I'm confused as to the whole universe. As far as I understand, this is part of a bigger story... (right?) Do I need any sort of preparation to understand what is happening? Will I be able to even follow the plot? π
So when two main actors say on an official stream for the brand they're endorsing that s2 will happen this year, I should treat it as a legit info this time, right? It's not just them being "uhhh... maybe, we don't know yet, it's not official, we wish so..." on their own IG accounts etc. It's a legit semi-announcement, isn't it? π₯Ί
I mean, just based on the drama alone (I haven't read the book). He's more of a morally grey character. I wouldn't…
And that's a reasonable reaction tbh. Chusan was completely innocent in the entire situation. His only fault was getting involved with Liuyi.
But I think a case can be made that from Guangming's perspective, gangsters are terrible people (even if Liuyi was not involved in his brother's death, his gang and he himself is very much involved in corruption in the police force which apparently lead to his brother's death).
You can see it from this POV: anyone who is personally close to Liuyi, even if they themselves have a clean record, can be seen as being forgiving/enabling/not caring about terrible things Liuyi does (and he isn't just a nobody, he's literally the big boss of a gang, so there are plenty of things he can be blamed for). And frankly, if we're being honest, Chusan's priority is for Liuyi not to get hurt first, that's what he cares about the most, not how many people Liuyi migt've wronged in the past... πHim believing Liuyi is a good person is a beautiful thing, but from a perspective of someone like Guangming whose brother died bcs of gangs, he wouldn't look at Chusan and think "awww, what a beautiful, understanding soul seeing good in everyone" ;)
Anyway, because the setting and themes of this drama, there are plenty of this sort of morally grey areas. I find the contrast between how Guangming and Xia Jie Hua (the goody goody cop with a rich dad) reacted to the same event in their life and how both are dealing with it fascinating to follow.
One cool thing about Guangming is that he doesn't try to paint himself as righteous or noble. He himself admits that he isn't any of those things. He doesn't mind getting his hands dirty and he's upfront about it. I can respect that.
πππ(Last time I had such a long-lasting post-drama depression caused simply by the fact that the drama…
I actually received your DM. Twice ;) I am not sure why MDL made it look like I didn't receive it. And yeah, I will migrate there with any comments on TMS from now on... :)
πππ(Last time I had such a long-lasting post-drama depression caused simply by the fact that the drama…
What happened indeed :P I was contemplating changing my pfp into either this one or the other one with Lu Guangming being a drama queen, but ultimately decided on this scene because it's so beautiful and emotionally charged and both Zhao and Xixi's eye acting is crazy in here. And then I was scrolling thru the comments and got confused like... wait, huh? what? Which one is me? ;)
πππ(Last time I had such a long-lasting post-drama depression caused simply by the fact that the drama…
Speaking of TMS I actually gave it a try... I'm on episode 3 and... Girl, I'm not sure how to feel about it π So what I like is definitely writing. I feel like the dialogues are just cleverly written, it's fun to follow characters simply talk. And it's definitely a nice touch to have two main characters possessing clearly functioning brains π I also like the not-so-subtle symbolism/parallelisms between the cigs red flaggy CEO guy is smoking and the other guy gradually acquiring taste for it π€ The flashbacks we get from CEO's past and his issues stemming from those are also being introduced in a way that doesn't make me feel like I am being spoon-fed the story or whipped with it on my face, so that's another plus.
But... what the hell with drugging people on *multiple* occasions. What the hell with that SA scene (like, I know it was framed as him "inhibiting" himself, but what he did was already messed up in its own right). As someone who's more into wholesome dynamics (Chusan and Liuyi are the perfect example) I am struggling there π I thought CEO intriguing in the first episode, now... I am scared what's the next thing he'd decide to do π I'm still watching though. I was promised no romanticizing of toxic stuff, so I'll trust your judgement for now :> Plus the positives are still there and I find the story refreshing for now.
πππ (Last time I had such a long-lasting post-drama depression caused simply by the fact that the drama ended was after I'd finished The Untamed)
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This is a really intriguing, smart and dare I say, ambitious show. It's just not a grand romantic tale that people might expect it to be when they start watching.
My advice? Approach it not as a BL, but as a psychological drama.
Oh, and the best part? It dives into the psychology of the party who is a victim, not focusing on making excuses for the abuser.
(written by an enthusiast of wholesome dynamics btw)
But Liuyi is literally bathed in the blood of his enemies lol π
(btw I'm not necessarily or particularly strongly countering your POV π)
But in Mandarin I'm pretty sure that yeah, when ppl say Liuyi (ε δΈ) it is understood as June 1st. Cantonese just pronounces characters differently in this case, I think? I assume the meaning stays the same since that's how his name was described in the drama...
But I also am not sure if there isnt some cultural shift there when it comes to HK and how people refer to certain fixed dates (?), like Children's Day etc.
I wouldn't really know though, but @kae_xoxo is from Hong Kong and speaks Cantonese, so you have someone way more reliable to ask than me π
I am "celebrating" like this ever since the drama ended π I keep on rewatching my favourite moments, gashing over my favourite scenes etc.
Same as you, I got used to the dubbing eventually. Plus I am totally in love with everything else about this drama.
Yeah, sound processing overall was pretty decent, better than some other popular dramas tbh.
When I heard Cantonese spoken in a trailer I actually even got kinda excited, I thought it'd be a refreshing experience; while I've watched HK movies before, I've never watched an actual modern drama, a BL at that, that was in Cantonese...
However, when I realised it's dubbed and the actors filmed in Mandarin... yeah... that excited of mine kinda deflated π
So you picked the cuteness over blood and lustful look, huh? ;)
Do I need any sort of preparation to understand what is happening? Will I be able to even follow the plot? π
But I think a case can be made that from Guangming's perspective, gangsters are terrible people (even if Liuyi was not involved in his brother's death, his gang and he himself is very much involved in corruption in the police force which apparently lead to his brother's death).
You can see it from this POV: anyone who is personally close to Liuyi, even if they themselves have a clean record, can be seen as being forgiving/enabling/not caring about terrible things Liuyi does (and he isn't just a nobody, he's literally the big boss of a gang, so there are plenty of things he can be blamed for).
And frankly, if we're being honest, Chusan's priority is for Liuyi not to get hurt first, that's what he cares about the most, not how many people Liuyi migt've wronged in the past... πHim believing Liuyi is a good person is a beautiful thing, but from a perspective of someone like Guangming whose brother died bcs of gangs, he wouldn't look at Chusan and think "awww, what a beautiful, understanding soul seeing good in everyone" ;)
Anyway, because the setting and themes of this drama, there are plenty of this sort of morally grey areas. I find the contrast between how Guangming and Xia Jie Hua (the goody goody cop with a rich dad) reacted to the same event in their life and how both are dealing with it fascinating to follow.
One cool thing about Guangming is that he doesn't try to paint himself as righteous or noble. He himself admits that he isn't any of those things. He doesn't mind getting his hands dirty and he's upfront about it. I can respect that.
And then I was scrolling thru the comments and got confused like... wait, huh? what? Which one is me? ;)
(not switching though, no way! ;))
So what I like is definitely writing. I feel like the dialogues are just cleverly written, it's fun to follow characters simply talk. And it's definitely a nice touch to have two main characters possessing clearly functioning brains π
I also like the not-so-subtle symbolism/parallelisms between the cigs red flaggy CEO guy is smoking and the other guy gradually acquiring taste for it π€
The flashbacks we get from CEO's past and his issues stemming from those are also being introduced in a way that doesn't make me feel like I am being spoon-fed the story or whipped with it on my face, so that's another plus.
But... what the hell with drugging people on *multiple* occasions. What the hell with that SA scene (like, I know it was framed as him "inhibiting" himself, but what he did was already messed up in its own right). As someone who's more into wholesome dynamics (Chusan and Liuyi are the perfect example) I am struggling there π
I thought CEO intriguing in the first episode, now... I am scared what's the next thing he'd decide to do π
I'm still watching though. I was promised no romanticizing of toxic stuff, so I'll trust your judgement for now :> Plus the positives are still there and I find the story refreshing for now.
(Last time I had such a long-lasting post-drama depression caused simply by the fact that the drama ended was after I'd finished The Untamed)