1This review may contain spoilers
I had no idea what to expect going into it. And the little things I did expect were completely shut down. I don’t know if I’m just not yet used to the format/style of Taiwanese dramas, but it felt weird to me.But I liked it. I'm so torn about what to rate it, I keep going back and forth between 7.5 and 8. It's like a 7.8
There’s just something about it that kept me watching.
I started watching when there were already eleven episodes out. I kept telling myself, “This is a good place to stop. I’ll do something else, I’ll go to sleep, and I’ll finish tomorrow” and then I’d finish the episode and hit the next button and the process would continue until I was caught up with the lives.
Here’s the thing: you have to watch this drama with an open mind. I’m sorry, but I could not take the plot seriously. It was pretty predictable, and, I know this is a korean term, but it was a makjang drama. I don’t know how else to describe it. It was so weird and cheesy and over-dramatic, but I found it funny and enjoyable. If you go into the drama expecting some serious movie-like mob drama, you will be disappointed.
It was so freaking cheesy. Like every possible cliche happened within the first episode. The entire drama was like this, but it didn’t bother me because I thought it was hilarious. I know some people get annoyed with cliches though, so I’m letting everyone know now.
Also, part of the reason I couldn’t take it seriously from the beginning was because everything happened so fast. Like a whole episode’s worth (or two) of plot set-up happened within the first like ten minutes? It moved really fast and it was really extreme. But don’t stop watching because of this.
Also there were some little details with the plot that bugged me. For example: not putting someone into dry clothes when they have hypothermia, a person who just had surgery walking around without crutches. The birth. But whatever, I’m a nit-picky person.
One thing that made me really happy was that Megan actually looked like a guy. The stylists did a really good job. It was the first time I’ve seen a gender-bender drama where the girl convincingly looked like a guy. Also, she blew me away with her acting. She did a really good job at acting like she grew up living like a boy. Her posture and the way she walked were so convincing.
The romance was so enjoyable, they had fantastic chemistry together. And they had so many amazing kisses! Like a ton of them! Passionate ones! The main lead was nice from the start, and was a genuinely good and caring guy. I am now a fan of Baron Chen.
There are some issues I had with the drama, I won't go too deep into them because most of them contain spoilers. Basically I docked points from the rating because of some issues I had with the plot and some of the acting. I thought the cast had great chemistry together, but the things that should have been taken seriously, I couldn't take seriously. However, overall I enjoyed it, which is saying something coming from a person who doesn’t really like gender-benders.
What really made me happy about this drama was that there was never any homophobia. “As long as two people genuinely love each other, does it matter who the partner is?” Like damn, the messages in this drama were so good, I’m kind of wishing they were actually gay to make a stronger point. The message still came across strong, and not just through our leads, but through the other couples too.
This was a fun drama, and despite the issues I had, I’m glad I watched it.
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Being familiar with previous dramas there was never an inkling to watch Bromance. It’s like eating the best ice-cream one has ever eaten in their lives. Once one has that experience it becomes borderline impossible to find another ice-cream whose texture might be better than that one. Coffee Prince, You’re Beautiful and Beautiful Boys are like vanilla, strawberry and chocolate ice-cream; the most amazing flavours in the planet for some, for others, might be mango, lemon and raspberry or any other flavour, perfect, unique, irreplaceable.
Bromance will not top up the most amazing ice-cream one will ever have within the genre. Not because it’s bad overall, not because the script is bland, blasé, inconsistent and positively appalling, not because the acting is awful dabbing into dreadfulness at times making one cringe in agony, or the music so loud one that one is left tuning the sound down as not to hear the screen coil in desperation. Bromance will not become a favourite ice-cream flavour for either aficionados or newcomers for the simple reason that afficionados already have their favourite ice-cream and unless there’s nothing to watch, which there is with interesting plots most likely will stray from it and newcomers have their flavours to discover and Bromance does not make the top list, regretfully.
Bromance is a really good drama surprisingly and rather addictive from about minute 2 of episode 1 to the point where one will want to binge watch it straight.
The script is very consistent and full of texture like a raspberry sorbet, with the right balance and essence; the acting from an audience point of view is compelling and believable, bring the story to life in what seems like an effortless manner alternating scenes of pure screen silent screaming to giggles to a very loud laughter and nearly jumping on the sofa like a teenager being silly, enjoying a really tasty ice-cream, and not feeling one bit bad about it. The highlight being the end of each episode with entails the start of the next one when one binges on 15 episodes of Bromance in a day and half. To think that there are dramas that still have that effect on someone after countless dramas, some really spectacular, others not really but that’s the life of a drama enthusiast.
Zi Feng is a triad leader and the general manager of an amusement park. He commands respect although not as a villain but as a man who works hard, loves his family and protects those he cares about. Zi Feng is so incredibly human that is surreal and that humanity is what makes the audience empathise with him. He’s lovable as a male character; he’s honest and caring, incredibly loyal with a great sense of justice and responsibility but also struggling with his feelings for the person he loves in the beginning, a woman pretending to be a man. Zi Feng falls in love with Pi Ya Nou as a person, not caring whether or not Ya Nou is a man or a woman.
Ya Nuo is a young woman living as a young man due to a fortune telling prediction that she should leave as such until she reached her 26th birthday. She meets Du Zi Feng with whom she becomes sworn brothers but over the course of time develops feelings for him. Ya Nuo is fiercely loyal, kind and generous putting everyone’s needs in front of hers. She complements Zi Feng in ways that many female characters do not complement the male and for that the writers should be credited for. Megan Lai performs Ya Nuo brilliantly giving the character a life of its own.
Zi Feng and Ya Nuo should go down in Taiwanese drama history land as one of the most amazing couples ever to grace the screen so in tune they are with one another, like Ying and Yang.
The OST is particular vibrant with two solid exciting tracks performed by Bii, Ephocal Times & Back in Time.
Overall Bromance is a breath of fresh air in drama sphere biased towards old conceptual premises, however the mix of flavours between gender bender echo chic cliché with an original setting and character frames is like putting different ice-cream flavours in a blender. One might think that the consistency looks slightly off, that the taste might be just too familiar to give it a try but it’s left in awe wonderland when trying it out, wishing for more, needing more, wanting more and realizing that the ice-cream is nearly over so it’s better to start enjoying it while it lasts and before it melts.
The best things in life are those one has to wait the longest to achieve but in the end it’s all worth it!
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Reading the reviews I see that the majority actually thought that the main relationship was the biggest draw for this show, but I whole-heartedly disagree. I'm not new to dramas so I know that there are bound to be cliches and tropes in any drama that I watch, doesn't matter if it's an international drama or an American one. I can get past some cliches and general tropes, but if there is one thing that I hate in any drama it's when a situation/couple becomes so contrived that they become an annoyance. Almost everything about Pi Ya Nou and Du Zi Feng was contrived, from their ridiculous sworn brothers ceremony after hours of knowing each other to the reasons that had to look at each other or touch each other. Nothing about these two felt natural to me. It got so bad that I eventually was begging for them to get together not because I cared, but because I figured if they did the writers wouldn't have to think up such contrived ways for them to physically interact. Thankfully when they did get together it did feel a bit more natural, but by that time I didn't give a shit anymore. Couple aside, the individual characters of Du Zi Feng and Pi Ya Nou did nothing for me as well. There was no discerning quality about either of the characters that made me like them or not like them, they were just there for me.
Now the secondary characters (My Loves)
Fan Xiao Bing probably had to be my favorite female character which is a shame because she didn't get nearly enough screen time. She was just such a breath of fresh air. I instantly felt happy when she came on screen. She was so peppy and happy and just a delight to watch. When she was interacting with Pi Ya Nou my general urge to fast-forward ceased because Ya Nou actually managed to have a bit of a personality when with Xiao Bing. I would've loved more interactions between them. Xiao,Bing's interactions with Du Zi Han were also full of win.
Du Zi Han was also another female character that I liked even if she was over the top at times. She was so freaking funny to watch, especially when interacting with Liao Guang Chao. I don't think this show had a character they were trying to make out to be a "bitch" which was just so refreshing. Although if you had to pick out a character that fit that stereotype it would be her. Even when she had her bitchy moments she didn't feel like a bitch to me. I'm not sure if the credit goes to the writers, director or the actress so it's probably a combination.
Yang Na Na was so cute and optimistic despite her circumstances that I just felt drawn to her. She was incredibly strong and extremely charismatic. Her storyline with Wei Qing Yang was my absolute favorite storyline because it felt so real and so natural. It actually stirred emotions in me much better than any of the "emotional" scenes Ya Nou and Zi Feng had. The scenes with them sending messages to God were some of the sweetest and most beautifully shot scenes throughout this entire show. The plane scene was hands down the best scene of the entire show for me. When watching a show a sense of realism is what I tend to be drawn to. I wanna feel like this could actually happen to me. Not a kiss was shared between Na Na and Qing Yang and I still enjoyed their relationship the most.
Wei Qing Yang is a hard character to really describe because I wasn't able to really undestand if his character was supposed to be emotionally detached because of the situation with his parents or if that was just Bii's acting. I'm not familiar with Bii or his acting so it's hard to judge. I feel like perhaps it's how his character was supposed to be because Zi Feng made some comment about Qing Yang never complimenting anyone when he said a slightly nice thing about Na Na. Plus at first he didn't seem to be comfortable with any touching from Na Na's end, which made me believe he's never been in an actual relationship or has opened himself up to anyone before outside of Zi Feng and Uncle Tian. Either way I thought his character was very sweet when it came to Na Na. He just seemed to be very thoughtful when it came to her.
Liao Guang Chao was my favorite male character. Him and his "golden hands" cracked me up. I don't know what Miss Zi Han was talking about when she said he wasn't that good looking...I thought he was pretty cute. Plus he was so sweet and dedicated lol.
Overall the acting was solid. The actress that played Yang Na Na really stood out to me. The scene where she was learning how to make her mom's coffee was so good OMGosh.
The show didn't really have much music at all except for one song that while beautiful, was played so much that I wasn't sure if I liked the song because of the song or because it was played so often.
Rematch value is low for me because while this show does have worthwhile secondary characters the main focus is on Zi Feng and Ya Nou and I couldn't, nor would I, sit through them again. Even if they had some hot kissing scenes (which they did).
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All of us know a girl pretending to be a guy and a handsome man going gay for her is probably one of the most recurring and unoriginal plot in dramas. Granted, the reason for Yanou's gender-bender ways was different from the usual ones. But still, Bromance was full of typical gender-bender stock scenes and cliches.
What made this drama special, was the way the sexuality of the male lead was handled. His affection for his sworn brother transcended beautifully into love and the issue was handled so delicately, it simply made the whole experience amazing. Du Zi Feng's acceptance of his sexuality and acknowledgement of love and attraction as something that crosses boundaries of gender, was beautiful. He sent a strong message that sometimes, love is not about the person being male or female but simply, a person you have come to love. It felt like a subtle protest against the segregation of human beings based on these terms and that simply made me love this drama. People surrounding Zi Feng and Yanou were also extremely supportive and wonderful.
Coming to the cast, Megan was so flawless while portraying a guy. Everything from the way she walked to the way she talked, you could get a dude-vibe from her. I have never seen a girl playing a guy act so realistically. Good acting from her. In fact, the female cast did a fab job altogether. From the moms to the sister to the cousin and everyone else, the female cast had a strong presence in the show.
Coming to the male lead. Honestly, Baron Chen's acting is mediocre but he has really great screen presence, which worked for the show. The character of Zi Feng was certainly the most interesting in the show. Besides being overly handsome, he was so kind, caring and open-minded, it made him all the more attractive. I don't remember him being a jerk even for a second.These kind of sweet and gentle male leads are rare (let's face it, dramas generally have jerks and bullies as leads, however much we love them). He never blamed his homosexual feelings on Yanou, which truly earned him extra points.
The music was really good. And the rewatch value for this show is pretty decent too because the two leads have great chemistry and many cute scenes together. The sub-plot is also pretty interesting. Bromance is definitely among the best Taiwanese dramas of 2015!
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Another thing I have to warn about is the audio. I bet the sound team was never allowed to do another project again. The background noise. If you listen with head phones you're gonna be shocked by what you pick up. From trains, cars, to full blown arguments by bystanders. The audio drops in volume, then booms up.
Other than that Bromance is pretty well made. A fantastic soundtrack! Trust me the songs will hit you when you're having a great mood. Wonderful cinematography. Though someone was getting a little showy with the lighting shots. Sometimes I felt like I was watching the new Star Treck movies.
Story wise Bromance tried something different, yet managed to still check up drama tropes one by one. It ended up being both refreshing and annoying. The strongest aspect of Bromance is that Zi Feng doesn't know Ya Nuo is a girl. As usual the story of why she has to pretend to be a girl is on the hilarious side, but it works. This drama is campy fun, it knows its audience and totally panders to it. I like the struggle Zi Feng feels for falling for a boy, but totally embraces love. It's beautiful and something I wish more gender benders did. It's always the story of a side character in love with the female lead, but the male lead always figures it out quickly. Zi Feng also doesn't need her to be feminine, he likes her being strong and if it's manly it's how she is. He doesn't need her to be some fragile woman.
Bromance has a fantastic cast and I loved the side stories and characters. The other main couple Na Na and Qing Yang have such a sweet romance and I loved it just as much as Zi Feng and Ya Nuo's. Though be prepared to get cuteness and not the hot passion of Zi Feng and Ya Nuo.
This also features some of the best male characters ever. Zi Feng is such an amazing male lead, so is Quing Yang. Zi Feng is fiery, but he thinks and cares. He respects people and I love how he acts. I'm so tired of rude/jerk/asshole leads. Qing Yang may be the quiet male figure, but his facial features tell so much. You quickly get enough depth to understand him. I like that he was more than the quiet dreamy male lead.
That said the endless drama tropes and clichés they have to pack in gets tiring. Not to mention that towards the ending the pacing lags and the writers get lazy. Side characters are stories are totally abandoned for a while. Yes they're picked up and given closure at the end. However, I think there were a lot of better ways to take things. Some totally awesome characters were completely abandoned! Why! Why! (Ya Nuo's cousin was one!)
That said I appreciate the message. This is light fluff considering that Zi Feng is the head of a gang. A gang that is really PG, heck most of the time G. I'm a bit confused about how they all make there money now, such as drugs trafficking is now bad. Many of the men spent time in jail. Maybe they're recovering bad guys? That aspect was a bit cloudy. Yet, it worked well. The show highlights the importance of family, forgiveness, love, unconditional love and friendship, and hope. Not to mention redemption.
A very solid gender bender. If you have a weakness for them—like me—this one is a do not miss. I won't claim it's brilliant or anything, but I enjoyed most of the show smiling and laughing. There's so much great writing, jokes, and humor. Some scenes demeaning towards women, but you got the humor backing it. ^_- The characters were all wonderful and I loved how lively Bromance stayed. While the latter episodes to get draggy, they still deliver in character story and give fans what we want! The actors are all great and I loved the chemistry the entire cast had. Not to mention Zi Feng and Ya Nuo's chemistry! I love how comfortable they are with each other. I do appreciate the sexy kissing, but sometimes real intimacy holds an even more potent punch. I'm positive you'll now right away whether this drama is for you, especially after 4. You'll either think it's cheesy and run, or be totally compelled. There are brilliant aspects to the story, but sadly brought down by cliches. I will be rewatching many short scenes—yes, the kiss scenes—for sure, but won't be in a rush to do a true rewatch.
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The longer version: This is not a complex show, and it doesn't try to be. That doesn't make it bad, but it does mean that you really need to not think too hard about it. Luckily, the story moves at a quick pace, not lingering too long on storylines, which is honestly a blessing. If you don't think about the plot too hard, it kind of works if and just enjoy the characters.
The characters are what truly made this show work. Megain Lai, as mentioned before, was fantastic. She sold the part well, and I found myself rooting for her and sympathizing with her at all turns. Baron Chen was certainly charismatic, and the two leads had amazing chemistry. He did a decent job selling you on the idea that he may have confusing feelings for a person he shouldn't be attracted to. The vet friend, played by Sean Lee was never really a great fit with the overall structure of the show, but he was a fun foil for the main couple at times when the story needed him to be. The secondary couple, Bii and Katie Chen were adorable, though I found their stories to be a bit boring and saccharine for my tastes.
As for the rest -- there were certain supporting characters who I just loved. The sister, played by Mandy Tao was hilarious, falling first for our lead female, and then eventually finding love herself. Her character grew the most, which is saying something, since there was very little actual character growth throughout the series.
The other character I adored was the cousin, played by Amanda Chou. She was like your drunk fairy godmother, coming in at just the right moment and being sweet and loud, and the perfect person to push the heroine to the edges of her comfort zone. I wish there had been more of her throughout the series.
The parents of both leads were wonderful as well. I found myself liking that they were reasonable and normal -- no potentially evil mothers-in-law or anything like that. They were all true to their situations.
The villains were probably the weakest and most predictable characters, but honestly, those stories take up so little time that it's not worth being bothered over.
Overall, this was a fun watch, and I wouldn't say no to a rewatch. Just don't go in expecting too much depth, and you may be pleasantly charmed.
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Great male lead but to many annoying elements.
This drama has some good points but they are overshadowed by the presence of annoying side characters, annoying scenes seemingly never ending monologs... Flashbacks, montages, and the extreme over use of the words: "from this day on... " over and over and over again... Accompanied by lots and of second hand embarrassment...The female lead, is very much an overly timid scaredy cat who is supposed to be bad ass and act tough, stronger, faster than most men and what not she comes off strong as a person who does not really care much about gender, saying that the only difference between her and a man is the lack of penis...(which is kind of a problematic way of saying it). I think it is supposed to be progressive but it ends up a bit of a mess and can be interpreted as both pan, trans, bi, etc friendly but it can also come off as the opposite depending on who is watching and how the dots are connected. There are definitely ways of interpreting this as very lLGBTQ+ friendly, but also spaces that can be interpreted either way.
The Male lead is however perfect in every way sweet, lovable, charming, kind. smart and definitely stands some good pan representation. His parents are pretty lovable too and so is the female leads cousin. But there is where the lovable characters end.
So in conclusion, not very good, not very entertaining, but the ML and fighting scenes do make it an ok watch. and stand for all the stars for this drama...
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The plot was just all over the place. The premise was very promising and different from drama norms. I wanted to see the mafia storyline play a big part. Not only did the drama water down the mafia, it wasn't really utilized consistently through out the story. When it was used, it felt extremely unrealistic.
The saving grace was definitely the actors. I appreciated how the director/writer wanted to show how love can surpass society expectations and gender restrictions. Baron and Megan's chemistry was definitely capable of portraying their love. Like wow, seriously off the charts sparks flying between them. And the make out scenes in this drama are some of the most intense I've ever seen in a drama. Definitely very hot and heavy for drama level. However...the choppiness of the plot and the dragging still made my drama experience with Bromance less enjoyable than it could've been.
This is Bii's first huge role in a drama. Though I like him as a singer, his acting skills still need some sharpening. He's cute but his expression is very singular throughout the drama. I wanted to like his relationship with Nana because visually they were gorgeous together. However, the love/attraction the drama was trying to show us between them just didn't come through effectively. Katie Chen (Nana) is trying her best to show her love for Qing Yang (Bii) but she's countered by Bii's cool expression. It just didn't work for me- as much as I wanted to love them. I think Bii just needs some more practice then he'll be a more emotional actor.
The other actors were pretty well cast as well. I actually really wanted to see more interactions between Zi Han (Mandy Tao) and Guang Chao (Ming Wei); they're really cute together. Shout out to Edison Wang, who plays main protagonist. He has improved tremendously from Be With You and he is super convincing as the bad guy.
As usual, Bii's soundtracks are lovely and the songs were emotional.
I wouldn't re-watch this, hence the low re-watch value rating. Regardless, I still recommend this drama if just to see Baron and Megan flirt HARD and their amazing chemistry behind the scenes as well. (8/9)
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No nutritional value- absolutely none. It tastes delicious while you're eating it, because you just want to eat the entire thing in one go, and while you're eating it you can't imagine eating anything else. It's simply the best thing you can think of. And then you finish the chocolate bar, and you realize that while yes, it was still pretty good, you probably shouldn't eat it again. It was sweet, and you liked it a lot, but there wasn't a lot of substance., and it wasn't very good for you.
The acting from all parties is mediocre to below average. In the acting department, it isn't perfect- but it doesn't really need to be.
The plot? Hah. HAH. You make me laugh, mortal, for this drama has no plot. Absolutely no substance, as I said before. There are minor inklings of plot as the episodes go on, but they are few and far between and utterly underwhelming. There wasn't a second of this drama that I was surprised or impressed with the writing when it came to the plot.
Maybe it's because I come from watching mostly Korean dramas- this is only my third or fourth Taiwanese drama- but this drama seemed to focus 98% of it's screentime to fluff. It was sugary sweet cotton candy, granted, but very fluffy. And even though there seemed to be little else in this drama besides romance, it seemed to be that there was very little advancement in each relationship- for the most part the tone was set from the very beginning, and then kept on going. Passionate couples remained passionate, conservative couples remained so.
While so far this might seem like a negative review, it isn't. I loved this drama. It was the first in a very long time to get my heart racing, to make me squeal like a fangirl, and to really get me talking about it. There was very little to be annoyed with, and every episode had me highly anticipating the next. It certainly can't be compared in quality to more serious dramas, or plot heavy dramas, but if you're looking for a drama that you want to indulge in, for a fluff-fest of a drama wouldn't win any awards besides 'Best Kisses', then this is the one to watch.
Also, most of the people in this drama are pretty attractive, and the chemistry between the main couple is like dynamite. So there's that. (Seriously, if Baron Chen isn't actually attracted to Megan irl I will eat my teacup, because I can't believe that.)
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