Dark Blue and Moonlight (2017)

This story, will probably rile up some people and not in a good way. Where in HIStory many people loved the couples, here the leads are often not likable in the traditional drama sense. Hua Quin the main actor can come across as selfish, entitled and bratty, however, if you look beyond that, you will also see that HQ is vulnerable, easily convinced and often unsure of himself and his feelings. He battled depression and became the object of affection of two men, Yan Fei and Pin Jun. Their love triangle was more complicated with the fact that HQ fell in love at first sight with YF and vice versa and YF was already in a two year relationship with Jimmy his partner who suffered quietly in a loveless relationship; though he could have saved himself the heartache if he had loved himself more and ended the relationship when YF asked him to various times.

The story seemed rushed for the most part and there were a lot of plot holes that could have been easily answered if this series had been a bit longer, but overall it was a good story. I liked the way the director/writer played with the color blue to show that these characters were not your typical "innocent/naive/nice/arrogant/villain" typecast. HQ's depression, his indecisiveness, his vulnerability, his happy moments all came through thanks to the actor playing him (Aric).  I felt sorry for all characters and I liked that this drama didn't shy away from showing realities of love and relationships. The color blue also played a big role in the way the main characters interacted; whenever HQ and YF were in the same scene, it always seemed to have "lightness and blues" to show that they were truly in love with each other. While, YF and Jimmy's scenes were often "dark" as well as HQ and PJ.  

Music wise, I LOVED IT. I downloaded the main song by MaxLin. It is such a great song and it fit the story well. Overall, if you aren't into the messy love hurts and you don't want to see the "nice guy" be hurt, then don't watch this. But, I suggest you give it a shot and see things from a different perspective. Love hurts, love isn't always kind and sometimes people don't get their happy endings, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be exposed to that.  Also, if you want to see some hot men kissing and touching, it doesn't hurt to watch this (come on most people are watching this for that anyways, don't lie)I for one loved this story, but then again I love messy complicated stories more than sweet ones. So, I hope my review helped some of you in some way.

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Let's begin with technical things -

The storyline is fairly everyman. The story pretty much literally revolves around 4 men with unique personalities and lives mixing with each other. There isn't any mind-blowing plot or intricated scheming. There's nothing you "can't see coming." In some places, the story appears rushed and underdeveloped. However, the reason I gave the story aspect such a high rating was because this is definitely a character driven story and the characters are amazing. The characters come from different walks of life, with vastly different personalities, with vastly different goals, hidden agendas, open agendas and complicated psyches. It captures the nitty-gritties of relationships and love. The undercurrents in relationships that noone wants to talk about, the kind of stuff everybody wants to pretend doesn't exist  and it captures every feeling beautifully.


Acting is spot-on. The cast is all eye-candy and handsome. There's plenty of gorgeous bodies and man on man action. ;) But, less superficially, I think the actors did well in capturing each character's individual charm, flaws and emotions. Jimmy's actor nailed the seemingly happy-go-lucky facade (with a sensitive and deeply emotional side). Yan Fei's actor nailed the stoic, in command and forward thinking marketing director who is very filial to his mother (yet he is insensitive and he is not loyal to his partner). Hai Qing is artistic and apparently highly talented, but he has a dark (easily angered, depressed, easily upset, possessive and jealous) side.  Ping Jun is the simplest character - he's pretty much just a nice guy the whole time, to the end. (And he finished last, haha)


Music is lovely. Yeah. I'm going to be downloading the track. The music matches the theme/story so well.

Definitely a whole truckload of heartbreak, unfairness, conflicting character values. It's awfully realistic in that sense. Every character has needs that just aren't met. In that sense, I do think that Yan Fei and Hai Qing complete each other, but it's not going to be a healthy relationship because they're both emotionally and mentally unhealthy characters.

My biggest complain about this drama is the casting and the chemistry mismatch, actually. Tom (Wang Ting Yun) is drop dead gorgeous, but he's reserved/hesitant person/introspective in real life and he can't 100% pull off the dominant/aggressive character Yan Fei is supposed to be. Charles (Lin something) is an outgoing, aggressive-ish and intense personality in real life - great acting, but he isn't 100% pulling off the clingy/desperate-for-love energy Jimmy should have. Jimmy/Charles&Tom/YanFei has insane chemistry, but Tom/Yan Fei could not even remember Aric's (Hai Qing's actor) name and other than some courtesy fan service, would never touch Aric....this absolute lack of chemistry shows, okay? The YanFei/Jimmy scenes felt natural, romantic and sexy. The YanFei/HaiQing interactions... I can tell you guys don't dig each other.  

But, for what it's worth, this is still one of the best BL shows out there due to all the stupid censoring that happens to mainland China ones.

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