HIStory3: Make Our Days Count (2019)

I feel like this is yet another drama where forgetting the ending ever happened greatly improves the entire story.

Here's the thing - I love tragedy. I love something that makes me cry and feel things. Tragedy often shapes people and I think it's important for fiction to reflect that reality - not everything happens the way we want it to.

That being said, I think the LGBTQ community has dealt with enough. Considering gay marriage is legal in Taiwan (and in a lot of places all over the world), I would've rather seen a happy ending come out of this series. Especially because Xiang Hao Ting and Yu Xi Gu fought so hard to be together. I admire Xiang Hao Ting's unwavering love for Yu Xi Gu; his parents didn't accept it and he didn't care. He still fought to be with the man he loved. To have that taken away because of an accident...something about it just doesn't sit right with me. I usually love a tragic ending, but this one I didn't.

The acting in this show is incredible. Xiang before Yu's death is an entirely different person, and I think Wayne Song's acting is unmatched by any other actor in the show. His tears are believable; his anguish is, too. He really brought everything he has to bring Xiang to life for us and for that, I don't think I can give this show less than 7/10. But I think I would've rather seen a happy Xiang to the end. He played Xiang so well - bubbly, carefree, kind. He was like a giant puppy. The duality is respectable, but the entire last episode felt like the ending to another series.

I still have a lot of mixed emotions about it. Enjoying tragic endings doesn't mean all of them get a free pass. This one should've ended so much happier. I knew the ending was coming because I'd been spoiled long before watching it, but it still hit me because the two of them were so pure throughout the whole series. And it was so well written - things didn't move too quickly, and each character had adequate time to let us get to know them.

As for the side couple, I really loved them. I'm glad they got a happier ending at least. Lu Zhi Gang getting to go home meant a lot. I also really like that they're still together and happy. But I felt awful for Xiang when he had to listen to Sun talk about it... I think no matter how much time has passed, it's hard to be happy when someone else is living the life you'd imagined for yourself. No matter if that person is a brother/sister. It can be heartbreaking.

All the same - I'll continue to watch HIStory productions. Their past stories were fantastic and this was no exception. I just think the ending ruined it a little for me. But the casting was perfection and the story itself was great, too. I look forward to whatever they do next.

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STORY
* Yes they used some BL tropes in this series, but they managed to mix these well with other plot devices that you see in other romantic series which I think is good and I hope with this move viewers can see the BL couples as like any other couple. I'm always watching BL series because I think there's not much in the media to represent these kinds of relationships, and I'm glad to see the creators portray BL couples just like any other couple.
* I do feel that scenes in some episodes can be arranged for better storytelling, that's why I'm not giving a perfect score. For example, in the last episode, I think they want to keep the viewers guessing on what happened after the previous episode with the time leap, but it made me confused more than I should be that when they revealed what had happened, it felt rushed and I was between making sense of what the previous scenes were and empathizing with the character after knowing their fate. IMO it would be better if they revealed their fate at the start of the last episode and focus on how the character dealt with what happened. After all, it is the last episode of the series. But all in all the creators did a good job, even though my heart hasn't caught up with my brain yet with this series.

ACTING/CAST
* The actors did really well in portraying their roles. Their skill combined with the great material really made each episode fun to watch.

REWATCH VALUE
* I might need to watch the series again -- though I feel sorry for my poor heart -- to check out on details I might have missed. But I don't see myself getting bored watching how the stories unfold again -- it's such a good series.

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The male lead "bully" works better with girls, I can tell by a mile away. I was hoping he would also work well with male lover, sadly that wasn't the case. I feel that both main leads aren't comfortable with each other to be having kissing scenes at time they were too much for them. The poor student lead is his first time acting so I can understand, but I feel that he works better in bl the have minimum kiss scenes or nothing at all. The last two ep the 2nd couple had to carry the show because the main couple wasn't really there.
The story plot went down hill from the time the main couple make out in the couch. There was so many plot holes that I can't count anymore. Over time History series been doing more serious like drama, so I expected this series would be better then the one before or at least at the same level. Sadly, it doesn't even come close to Trap. If the writer would have said it was a sad ending I wouldn't have watched this show at all.

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Stop watching at ep. 18

Going into this series I knew I wasn’t going to watch the whole thing. That was because many reviews recommended not watching further than episode 18 (when the two ML moved in together). Apparently this is because the story is ruined and just goes downhill. Many people also stated that they regretted watching it all. So I only watched till episode 18 and now I’m dropping it, acting like that was the actual end. Based on just seeing those episodes and not the last two. I would give this 10/10 for everything, but since I didn’t watch it and was told not to on multiple occasions I’m given it a lower overall rating. Based on what I did see, it was one of my favorite BL’s. The acting was great, the skin-ship and chemistry of the two ML’s is amazing and the storyline was interesting and never boring. Overall, great show, I would recommend stopping where I did though since it worked out great and I don’t regret watching it.

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Everyone get out of your feelings

This drama has single handedly raised my standards for any drama ever. Yes I will agree that the ending was most definitely uncalled for, definitely cried my eyes out, though that was the point of the title. "Make Our Days Count", what do you think that means? I'm seeing too many 5/4/3/6 or even 1 (????) star ratings. So just because you disagreed with the ending you will go on to give it an undeserving rating? What about the rest of the show? The fact that it was able to have all of us so in our emotions, crying even? Just that alone is enough to know that this is an amazing play. Every drama is not going to cater to what you want to happen.. If you want fluff go watch something else but don't give this drama such a bad rating just because you didn't like the end.

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A series that caught my attention, mainly because of the choice of actors, the acting was really top notch (Wayne-Hao Ting was top class and Wilson-Bo Xiang was great in his youth). I also agree with Extasy that the Taiwanese series are different from the often "laced" Thai series, they are closer to the eye of the European viewer, more natural, the plot has a faster flow and does not drag on like a snot.
It took me a while to get used to the characters. The athletic, tall and fit Hao Ting and the skinny greeting from Dachau Xi Gu. The second couple was with me from the beginning without a problem (young Bo Xiang and bistro owner Zho Gang). The parents and sister were also very well chosen. Overall, I rate it highly, only the conclusion in the year when the marriage of same-sex couples was legalized in the country, they could forgive themselves. But even here Wayne showed himself and "transformed" with his excellent acting, perhaps we can look forward to the second one that is shown on MDL, which will hopefully be - HIStory4: Make Our Days Count 2 and Wayne should play the main role there again...


Seriál, který mě zaujal, a to především výběrem herců, herectvím, které bylo skutečně na výši (Wayne-Hao Ting extratřída a Wilson-Bo Xiang při svém mládí super). I já se shoduji s Extasy, že taiwanské seriály jsou jiné, než mnohdy "sešněrované" thajské, jsou blíže oku evropského diváka, přirozenější, děj má rychlejší spád a netáhne se jako sopel.
Než jsem si zvykl na postavy, chvíli mi to trvalo. Atletický, vysoký a vysportovaný Hao Ting a vyzáblý pozdrav z Dachau Xi Gu. Druhá dvojice byla u mě od začátku bez problému (mladý Bo Xiang a majitel bistra Zho Gang). Velmi dobře byli vybráni i rodiče a sestra. Celkově hodnotím vysoko, jen ten závěr zrovna v roce, kdy bylo v zemi uzákoněno manželství párů stejného pohlaví, si mohli odpustit. Ale i tady se Wayne projevil a "proměnil" svým výborným herectvím, snad se můžeme těšit na dvojku, která je uvedena na MDL, že snad bude - HIStory4: Make Our Days Count 2 a Wayne by tam měl hrát zase hlavní roli ...

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To Absolutely No One's Surprise, The Ending Ruined It

The only other show that I've seen that has so completely ruined itself with its ending was How I Met Your Mother. Like HIMYM, this show used the final (two) episode(s) to completely take a left turn and undermine the entire point of the rest of the show. Both shows left me with a bad taste in my mouth and I feel, from a writing standpoint, ended up just being very cheap and unsatisfactory.

And it's sad, because the rest of the show was so good! I enjoyed the first 18 episodes immensely. I loved watching these characters fall for each other and fight to be together. I loved the friend group and even the side couple (though I will say the age difference squicked me pretty bad, especially in the beginning when they kept calling attention to it).

If I were to give the final episodes any sort of props, it would be that the acting was super well done. I liked the acting throughout the whole show, but I was very impressed by the acting in the final episodes. Still, the final episodes just ruined this whole thing.

I just— god, if you wanna write a tragedy, then write a tragedy. Don't write a romance and throw a dash of tragedy in at the end.

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