halbtone

Not gonna lie this is probably one of the biggest shows I’ve seen where a lot gets lost in translation. Props to the subtitlers because this is a real hard one to properly convey the feeling of tension and power relationships in English. Watching this show makes me so glad I gave up on trying to work for a Korean company lol

This is a “they have their first kiss at the end of the last episode and it’s a dead peck on the lips” BL, not a “steamy sex scenes filled with French kissing” BL. Still, I like to believe it’s Natsuki.

I find it kind of amusing that the show chooses to go the root of exploring families coming to accept gay relationships, but then does the very J-BL thing of having the guys in the couple go “I’m not gay. It’s just you.” It’s like the show is existing in some in-between space between real queer life and BL fantasy world. Like yeah pan people exist, but that’s most likely not what the writers were thinking about when making the script lol

Probably not much, since Hong Kong being autonomous is incredibly useful for China financially. I mean you can see this loophole even with BLs. Chinese companies can make money off of their popular danmei series and increase their soft power while also not going against Mainland regulations about gay content.

This was a good series, and I like the message that faith and one's sexual orientation can and should be able to coexist, but still some of the lines they had in this show a devout Catholic wouldn't get caught dead saying lol.

This is one of the few Thai BLs released this year that isn't boring. So many of them have had synopses that sounded great, but then just ended up not living up to what they were trying to do. This one so far is managing to stay very engaging.

omg it was exactly Fearless Whispers that first pushed me to watch dramas only in Chinese. It's such a shame that they don't have any proper subs for that drama, because it's one of the much better ones.

Oh this has been on my list for a long time! Thanks for reminding me. I will definitely watch it.

I generally will use TV Mao to help out cause it gives more detailed explanations of the episodes than Baidu.

Even though the PLA never took Taiwan, the ultimate f you to the KMT government depicted in this drama is the fact that today whether it's a patriotic mainlander or a huge Taiwanese independence supporter, both hate these guys. Bet you they're all rolling around in their graves seeing how things turned out in the 21st century.

Glad to know I'm not the only one out there haha. Most of the mainstream Chinese dramas I've seen are subtitled, but I also am a sucker for spy dramas, even if they're kinda bad. Probably the best Chinese drama I've seen that isn't subtitled is "Kite" (风筝). It starts out similar to a regular patriotic spy drama, but then departs as the main character loses contact with the party, covering several decades of Chinese history and even depicting some of the uglier sides of the PRC, like the Cultural Revolution. Idk if that's your cup of tea, but it's well done, and I can't understand why it's not subbed.

What about you? Any good recommendations? I personally love almost all genres haha.

On the one hand, I simply can't stand lousy subtitling like this drama's. On the other hand, China's poor English subtitling has pushed me to study Chinese. Taking HSK 6 soon. If I pass, I give all the credit to dramas like this one.

Yeah the ending scene and preview are what made me say those wanting to see a thriller should wait until season 2 comes out. It seems like the feel of the drama is going to have a big change. I do agree with you about the juxtaposition too. I think part of the problem is they tried it but didn't execute it the best. They'd jump to the past, but it felt like they lingered a bit too long there. Altogether the show was engaging though, and I hate we have to wait to see what will happen.

There was a comment I saw on Douban that put it really well: it feels like the director threw together a bunch of random different things together that creates a show that somewhat sloppily resembles "Someday or One Day." The premise of the series is really interesting, but the first season doesn't really go very far with its unique aspects and instead heavily focuses most of its time on a somewhat cliched backstory that I suspect we'll realize is unnecessary by season 2. That being said, I still have hopes for the show and will watch the second season, but if you're going into this show expecting a serial killer/revenge thriller, wait until season 2 comes out.

I absolutely loved this drama but absolutely hated how it approached nature vs. nurture.

Considering the genre, I'd say this is actually quite tame for BL and not out of the ordinary in the least lol

All these comments saying how screwed up it is that the guy falling in love with the grandpa. Meanwhile I'm sitting around waiting for him to bang the grandpa already.

Tbh it's BL, so the bar for what's considered "good" is a lot lower. I get what you're saying, but at the same time I'd say the series does a good job of pulling off the pulpy, camp, trope-filled genre. It hits its audience's cravings like junk food.