any_anka

Glad to be of help :) Hope you end up enjoying it as much as I did.

Still, if I were to make a bet, I'd say that Luo Ma has 10x more chances to ever get with Han Su than Gao Peng 😋

It was clear Han Su was attracted to Luo Ma, she just wasn't in a place at the moment to get into a relationship and the boy was pushing way too hard (in my opinion).

As for Gao Peng, she was putting up with his "courting", because he was her client (plus, maybe somewhere in the back of her head she was considering the possibility/toying with the idea if maybe it'd be better for her if she decided to advance her own career by having a rich "supporter"), but there was never anything more there.

And I don't think he suited her personality. Han Su was attracted to capable, hard-working, ambitious men. Gao Peng, while doing fairly ok with his family business never had that drive. It's clear when he tells Zhinan he's coming back to his research facility.

She thought it was a different guy: a successful lawyer, who abandoned her and her mom. That prompted her to strive hard in her career, so that she could stand proudly one day in front of him. It wasn't just abt finding him, it was abt showing him a symbolic middle finger.

When it turned out that it wasn't him, but instead some mister who got himself in debts and didn't really abandon them per se, the situation turned totally different. Could they show her meeting her long gone dad? Sure, but it wasn't really so important anymore. That wasn't the core of her life story.

What was important in that plot was that now whatever Han Su was doing for her career, how hard she worked, was all for herself and not to prove her worth to a father who abandoned her.

I finished watching it and I can honestly say this is the best contemporary cdrama that I've watched. Good writing, compelling story, vivid, multilayered characters. Even the bad guys, including the most despicable character Zhou Bin, weren't just paper-thin, but had a convincing psychological profile. Qu Yi Peng genuinely made me pity him, even though he definitely deserved every ounce of "misfortune" he brewed for himself.

Main characters (and by that, I mean the girls, as they were the main protagonists of this story by my standards) were all easy to sympathise with and cheer for. As irritating as He Zhinan could be (she made me nearly rip my hair out while I was watching her actions on screen) was still a well written character, with all her flaws, immaturity, double-standards, mistakes and s**tty decisions... somewhat balanced out by her good qualities (mostly as a good friend, as whom she really shined the most). In the end, I was still happy for her happy ending. She got the best guy in the entire show, after all :)

My personal favourite was Han Su. I loved her story - from the collapse of her relationship with Qu Yi Peng, her trip to Hong Kong, wholesome bond she formed with Uncle Zhong, to the shift in her personality in the ending, when she finally was pursuing her career for herself, unburdened by the need to impress her "father" who "abandoned" her.

Cdramas tend to get draggy in the middle, with unnecessary fillers and looping topics, but that was never an issue with In Between.

All in all, a great watch!

Interestingly, I have a completely different impression of their relationship. Go Young is a king of self-sabotage, which is why when he is in a relationship where the other person gives him more security and attention, he starts to look for flaws. Ofc it's not always exactly the same. With the first guy (forgot his name) he wasn't that much invested, so he just discarded him quickly. With Gyu Ho he cared more, so was willing to try harder, but ultimately still ended up sabotaging himself.

Yongso to me was a perfect example of a toxic relationship, with typical hot and cold treatment to keep the other person confused and in a state of constant imbalance, so that they become dependant on you. Now, I'm not saying that Yongso intended to be toxic, nor that his internalised homophobia didn't affect his behaviour (it sure did, to a great degree), but suffering from it doesn't exclude a possibility of a person just being a bad partner. Go Young was indeed clingy to him, but I always saw it as a two-folded situation. One, he clearly was veeeery physically attracted to Yongso. And two, when you're in never-ending cycle of self-sabotage, you tend to attach yourself to people who wouldn't give you a sense of stability. Yongso was that kind of unhealthy relation. I also feel that Go Young's extreme behaviour after the break-up was an after-effect of being completely worn down by their relationship (with that incredibly painful, terrible ending).

But that's just my take on their relationship.

I don't know if I have the answer to your question, but I might have some idea (?)
Japan is conservative, but in a different way. They stick a lot to tradition etc., but when it comes to issues surrounding... matters of intimacy, they're quite liberal, actually. You'd notice it even when watching a lot of their "regular, straight" dramas and the topics they touch upon. I assume it's probably somewhat similar if we talk about a person's orientation.
Another things is, Japan is the actual birth place of the BL genre (sure, it was first targeted at straight women, but still... it's been present there for a long time).
Aside from that, gay characters were appearing in other mediums, e.g. anime, for years... I mean, original Sailor Moon anime (aired first in 1992) already had a gay relationship portrayed in its first season (granted, amongst villains, but still) and later on, an actual lesbian relationship between two recurring, important characters. (I remember vividly, bcs I grew up on that show).
So, my take is... they're kinda used to gay characters being present in fiction? Like, it's not considered a big deal by anyone.
Also, Japan doesn't really have this division between "BL actors" and "actors", that's somewhat noticeable in some other markets.

" I found it very long and tiring, it wouldn't need 36 episodes" - Yeah... I often find myself losing interest with a lot of these contemporary cdramas because they're always sooo long, with a lot of dragging in the middle... Most times (not always) one could remove half of the number of episodes with the benefit for the show. With Only for love, however, I just didn't vibe with it in general. I didn't even get to the dragging middle part yet and was already tired 😋

I'm thinking of watching Cupid's Kitchen. Dong Qin seems to have a bigger part there and the sneak peaks I've seen look like the show could be quite funny.

I think he tried to go to Bangkok to sort of confront himself/convince himself he was over Gyu Ho or - maybe more accurately - get a sense of closure. But what it did in the end was made him realise he actually messed up and missed out on real love.

Thanks for the advice 🙃

Yeah, something weird was going on with it yesterday, I think...
It was showing the product being "out of stock" and it basically disappeared from the lists of bestsellers/popular items completely. Now it's back, so I don't know if it was a glitch or a genuine problem 😋

Aghh, I almost feel called out for not finishing it yet 😋
But even though I haven't completed the series, I totally agree with Dong Qin giving a more mature vibe there (which is interesting, considering he was like what... 4 years younger when they filmed it?).

I tried watching Only for Love, but I'm not sure I can go through it... It's just too silly for me, and not in a good way. I really tried, but I'm having hard time resonating with the main protagonist. I like Bai Lu but even that doesn't help much. I also don't really feel the chemistry between her and Dylan's character. From the bits of Dong Qin that I've seen so far, his character seems to be way more interesting and I like his chemistry with the girl who's his love interest. However, they appear so rarely on screen...

If someone made a compilation of their scenes and put in on YouTube I think I'd watch it, but I don't know if I have it in me to sit through 30-something episodes of the entire drama...

See, I warned you... but it seems like you thought it was good, so I'm happy for that :)

I liked it better when it gradually got gloomier, but it still left me depressed in the end. Especially because of how much self-sabotaging Go Young does throughout an entire series (though you can easily understand the reasons, from Kylie to even his early childhood and what his good-for-nothing dad did to their family). And the thing is, I am not even certain that his growth as a person was enough in the end of the drama for him to not keep sabotaging himself in the future.

"Even Go Young wasn't as used to living with Kylie as much as Gyu Ho was" - that's a very interesting observation with which I actually agree! Gyu Ho accepted Go Young as he was (even trying to accommodate him with things like doing laundry outside of their flat to not leave the damp smell indoors) and Kylie wasn't really an issue to him. It was, though, to Go Young. Constantly.

I tend to gravitate towards shows with a slightly depressing undertone actually (although the older I get, the more I start to appreciate the stories that are "cozy" and have this "healing" vibe to them as well), so I'll probably end up watching something raw and heavy again. Maybe the show you recommended - I'll keep it in mind, but I don't have Amazon Prime subscription :/).

I did give Love in the Big City an 8 for rewatch value, because as much as I think there are details and nuances that could be discovered abt almost every character that I probably missed on the first watch, I don't really wanna put myself through the whole thing again 😋

I share the same feeling, but that could also be due to the fact that - while I enjoyed Stay With Me - I was nowhere nearly as emotionally invested in it as I was in The On1y One, so when it ended the way it ended, I was kinda like "oh, ok. I guess they decided to give us a cliffhanger" and moved on to whatever else I was doing 😋

But the fact that the protagonists got to get together (no one will convince me they didn't) and to enjoy that dating phase definitely played into my general acceptance of the ending as well.

Just a friendly reminder, that aside from the links given today on official IG account of the drama (which all seem to be for TW platforms), the photobook is actually available for pre-ordering on YesAsia, both global shipping and US/Canada shipping.

So, if anybody plans to buy and is confused as to where to do it - you might try there :)

Han Su is my favourite character in this drama... 🙃

Thank you :) So far, after watching The On1y One, I actually can't replicate the feeling this drama gave me with any other show, BL or not BL.

When it comes to Love in the Big City, I have to warn you - you might end up feeling empty even before completing the show 😋 It feels... raw and almost report-like at times. It's a slice of life, but completely different than The On1y One (which is heartfelt, warm, bright and really like a comfort-show, if not for the ending). Love in the Big City, on the other hand, it's in a way quite brutal and depressing, frankly speaking.

I mentioned it as one of two best BL titles this year, because it's really solid in terms of directing, acting, overall production quality, it doesn't shy away from difficult topics and is just really well put together.

But I don't know if it'll necessarily help you feel better...

Oh, but I'm all for constructive criticism and discussion. And I agree with you that criticism is essential for improvement. I also wanna make it clear that I didn't intend to attack you or "witch-hunt" you (reference to your other comment, not in response to mine). I generally got an account on this website because I wanted to chat/discuss, share my opinions with others etc. who watch similar stuff.
I happen to disagree with you on the quality of this show, but because you provided actual points I could address (instead of just going "this drama sucks, it's so boring, eww"😋 ), I ended up writing a lot and felt it was worthwhile 😉.

I agree with your general sentiment, I just don't see this show fitting into that narrative. For me this show is actually a case in point for someone if they wanted to make an argument that BL dramas are getting better. So there you go...

I guess we can agree to disagree.

P.S. Anime's quality has been going downhill for years, I agree with you on that. The market's saturation and - ironically - it's maturity, resulted in a factory-line-like production of formulaic clones with uninspired, lazy writing. But you can still find some gems out there (like, e.g. Dungeon Meshi). But this is off topic.

Nappy is the master of cute, undeniably so 😉

I don't know where you got this impression that Sheng Wang was supposed to be scared, shy and not likable - that was never the case (?). Sheng Wang is clearly, similarly to Jiang Tian, considered the "cool guy" pretty much immediately. His issues with making friends are directly connected with the style of his dad's work and the fact that they move a lot, so it's not so easy to get integrated into new school and form deep connections and friendships... His shy, flustered side shows itself pretty much only when he is with Jiang Tian, and more towards the end of the drama, when he is starting to realize his feelings and attraction to Jiang Tian are more than them bonding as bros.

Sheng Wang is a multi-layered character, which is the reason why he is so attractive as a protagonist of the story. He's not one dimensional, so of course depending on who he is facing or how much he opens up to that person affects how he interacts with them and how much of that confident aura or shy vibe he will be giving off. Just like people in reality...

I consider Liu Dong Qin's portrayal of Sheng Wang amazing and am honestly baffled by you singling him out as the weak one in terms of acting. Him, Benjamin (Jiang Tian) and the actress playing Jiang Tian's mother - in my opinion - gave the best performances among all the actors (in a generally well-acted show, may I add). They're stellar. The amount of microexpressions and nuance Dong Qin brought to his character is truly impressive.

But I guess to each their own...

I will address one more thing, though. You make a claim that what it takes is just good looking cast for the female audience to eat up anything in the BL genre. It's an interesting take when mentioned in a critique of this particular show, because truly, majority of praises that I read about this drama were focusing on cinematography, acting, OST songs, directing, lyrical writing or even things like real portrayal of a school life.
When the show was still airing people were sharing interpretations of what happened, what particular scenes meant, how they connected to some poems or scientific phenomena mentioned during the classes.
There were very little comments focusing on how hot are the actors (and the most thirsty ones that I remember were about the PE teacher, who appeared for maybe like 1 minute in total 😋). So I think that argument you're making doesn't really apply here that much.

Finally, to your point about the plot being nothing new: I honestly don't think a show has to always introduce new elements to be a good work. And, vice versa, dramas that try something new (while they get props from me for a bold move) don't necessary end up being any good. In other words, it's not about what happens but *how* it happens. Executions is everything. To me, this show presented one of the most heartfelt images of two lonely people getting close to each other. Coupled with beautiful cinematography, plenty of symbolism and metaphors, as well as good acting (I know you disagree), it's a true gem and in those regards - stands out among other BL dramas I've watched. Even if the original premise of the story alone is nothing particularly innovative.

If the second season happens, I wish the sound engineering is improved. There were issues with the sound, music was sometimes too loud, the volume was sometimes uneven. I don't mind the cicadas in the last ep, because I think that was purposefully there, but nevertheless, the team can improve in the sound department. Still, this was barely a small inconvenience and, in my case, didn't ruing my experience.

As for the bar being set high or low and this year's best releases... Well, in my opinion:

The On1y One and Love in the Big City are two best BLs that came out this year. And they set the bar really high for any future productions.

I can understand that heat-of-the-ending effect, cause in my own way I experienced it too.

I felt so anxious and bad while watching second half of the last episode for the first time and when the credits rolled, I was genuinely upset.
I actually handle bad endings pretty well usually, but despite having watched tons of other dramas/movies/tv shows in my life (and I'm not that young either, so I'd like to believe I've learnt to regulate my emotions😋) but there were just a few that left me feeling so regretful and... unfair for what happened (mostly to Jiang Tian in the case of The On1y One).

So yeah, the ending of this drama seem to have a strong effect on people 🙃

I don't know if you've heard about it, but there are plans to make a second season. What you've watched is an adaptation of the first half of the novel - if they film the second half, we would get more than a confession 😊
Sadly, it's not a sealed deal yet, but director Patrick Liu assured fans that they're working hard on their part to make it happen (funding seems to be the biggest issue, though) and Liu Dong Qin (the actor playing Sheng Wang) in his most recent live told the audience "see you in season 2".
So chances are we might get a happier ending to this story...

Thanks a lot, that's way more than I got from what I've watched before.
I would've never expected him mentioning his dog Nappy as one source of his inspiration/point of reference while playing Sheng Wang 😊