This series follows two high-schoolers in their final school year. Hao Ting (Wayne Song) is a delinquent while Xi Gu (Huang) is an impoverished student who's consistently at the top of the class. Xi Gu has a crappy life. He was orphaned at a young age and his caretaker eventually starts her own family and he sees the need to become independent because he doesn't wish to be a burden to her. Xi Gu's poverty has affected his entire life. From his dedication to his studies, to how he views Hao Ting's gestures towards him. Everything is monetized and it's a minor detail that makes his poverty feel much more real. It's all incredibly sad.

Hao Ting is meant to serve as Xi Gu's polar opposite. He isn't said to be particularly rich, but it is implied that he's well off and especially so in comparison to Xi Gu. Hao Ting can afford to be carefree and slack off with his friends. Due to this clash, there's an animosity perceived by Hao Ting and his friends from Xi Gu that eventually grows till the boys start bullying him. Of course, this is a BL series so Xi Gu's peculiarity grabs Hao Ting's attention and things start to take a turn.

A lot of my thoughts about HIStory 3 have to do with its ending, so I won't go into too much detail to save this review from becoming too long but direction, music and production quality are quite good overall. The show does have a washed out, or soft look to it but my guess is that this was done deliberatey to give it a soft and nostalgic or daydreamy atmosphere. Aside from the main couple, the other characters of note are Hao Ting's family who fulfill a great role in the story in dealing with the theme of homophobia. Hao Ting is also friends with Sun Bo who falls for Lu Zhi, an older man who works out at Sun Bo's cousin's gym. Lu Zhi is also coincidentally the boss of Xi Gu at one of his part-time jobs. At first, this second couple is incredibly boring and were a real scene killer. Sun Bo seems to only have a shallow attraction to the older man and he quite literally harasses Lu Zhi until the latter decides to just give in. There is an age difference that's discussed, but for the most part they're just a stable couple after things fall into place for them. They do happen to be great communicators and are dedicated to each other, so props for that at least.

The main couple, Hao Ting and Xi Gu, are very great together. Hao Ting's actor (Wayne) was surprising in how well he portrayed Hao Ting beyond an overconfident delinquent and delivers his doting over Xi Gu incredibly well. When he's sad, he's sad. When he's being a buffoon, he's being a buffoon. It's all very believable. Xi Gu's actor is also great, delivering an underlying layer of sadness to his character even when he's happy. Their chemistry is wonderful and the intimacy feels real. The two find each other, love each other, brighten each other's lives and with the power of love and hope of a brighter future on their side, the two eventually make their dreams come true. Said dream being moving in together for college after Xi Gu helps Hao Ting get into a top university, one of the conditions for Hao Ting's parents to accept their relationship. It's incredible, but then the final two episodes changes things.

Before starting this series, I knew about the "bad ending", and HIStory 3 seems to get a lot of hate for its ending. However, a sad ending doesn't mean a bad ending. This show is still worth watching despite the ending not being the happy ending that we all would have liked. I don't wish to be a simp for this show, but HIStory's message goes beyond it being a BL series. It goes beyond just two boys falling in love. The ending isn't perfect by any means, but the tagline is Make Our Days Count. Purely on its theme, I think HIStory's ending is excellent, even if it does get muddied by small details.

To understand the ending, you have to understand the show's message. In the series, Xi Gu is said to be jealous of Hao Ting. All Xi Gu does is work towards his success, he can't afford to revel in the present. Xi Gu's days count towards his success. Hao Ting in contrast to Xi Gu, can be seen as making his days count by being carefree and not worrying about the future. However, is he making his days count? What does it even mean to make your days count? Are they happy? The closest thing that we get to an answer to these questions is when the main couple gets together. Hao Ting and Xi Gu strike a balance between working towards the future and enjoying the present, together. That's when the two are seen to be truly happy. Then it comes to an end. It's cliche, but that's life. Things happens. Xi Gu dies and Hao Ting's life is sent in a different direction, the same way it happened to Xi Gu with his parents' death. The final two episodes flashes forward some years and we see Hao Ting still studying, working for Xi Gu's sake. Both Xi Gu and Hao Ting preserve despite their personal tragedies. With Hao Ting still working, we see that he hasn't forgotten about Xi Gu and he's worked till he became a very accomplished student. This is a sign of his love for Xi Gu and also his strength and perseverance. The previously wandering Hao Ting with no goal in mind is able to work towards the dream that he envisioned alongside Xi Gu. However, the show makes us wonder just how "good" of a thing that this is. Hao Ting's mother warns her son not to miss out on his life by only working, and not taking a chance to take in the now. So, Hao Ting in the ending also serves as something of a cautionary tale. Is he making his days count towards Xi Gu's memory or trying to rush past them? Again, solely with its theme in mind, HIStory's ending is very well done, I didn't expect the ending to be as thought provoking as it was. It's much more powerful than a generic happy ending.

The very last scenes of HIStory 3 deal with Hao Ting deciding to move on. Hao Ting runs into an old classmate who prompts some memories of Xi Gu, he breaks down and reveals to Sun Bo (who's now still very happy with Lu Zhi) that he's still broken up over Xi Gu. Hao Ting reveals that he's trying to reach the stars to touch him, something that he and Xi Gu talked about when he was still alive. Hao Ting is also seen speaking with a doppleganger of Xi Gu who he seems to largely ignore as the other boy goes on and on. Deciding that it's time to move on, Hao Ting tells Xi Gu's double that he's leaving, the symbolism being clear to the viewer. Hao Ting later reminiscences on his good days with Xi Gu and then meets up with Sun Bo. Hao Ting declares that Xi Gu is irreplaceable and that he's finally ready to climb the Himalayan Mountains to gets as close as possible as he can to Xi Gu. He's ready to see him again. The show then ends, reiterating its message of cherishing and making your days count. Now, the show's message does get muddied a bit here as an offscreen character is mentioned and it's said that she's interested in Hao Ting. Hao Ting's parents say that he should give the girl a chance. So he should move on just for the sake of it? This feels tacked on and I felt as if it clashed with some notes that the ending touched. It's as if the original idea of him ending up alone was too depressing so they give him some leeway to not be lonely forever. Or perhaps they meant that he should consider the possibility of seeing someone else and they just fudged the delivery of that message? Either way, it's a minor thing that you could ignore, but it slightly cheapens everything else about an otherwise great ending.

HIStory 3 has a sad ending for a BL series, but it's a great show that sticks to its theme and communicates its message incredibly well. Don't let the bad ending turn or scare you off, this is a series that you should definitely watch and will stick with you for a while.