2023 Rewatch
As a newbie to BL during the pandemic, this was one of the first I watched. Thought it was so-so at the time but have just completed a re-watch in anticipation of watching the Korean remake. I have to say that my opinions on a few things changed since the first watch. Firstly, having become a lot more familiar with the tropes, the ‘I’m living in a Yaoi novel’ premise was a lot funnier this time around. I loved Zon and Saifah and so it was really sad that half their story was originally missing but the later specials filled in some of those gaps.I’m really sorry but I just couldn’t bear watching a lot of the scenes with Zee and Saint this time round. I felt like I was betraying Nunew ??? and their chemistry just didn’t compare with ZeeNunew. The NC scenes didn’t feel hot to me. Open mouthed but ‘dry’ kisses, run some kisses up and down neck and torso, flip over, repeat. Tommy and Jimmy delivered a couple of tears in their scene and made me cry and feel all the feels.
Great to see so many of the actors I now recognise so well but overall bar has been raised quite a lot since this was first aired. Eighth Sense and Only Friends being a couple of excellent examples!!
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Plot?
Why R U? is an ok drama if you keep in mind that the plot does not make sense at all.The storyline is confusing, and I did understand it was due to what happened with COVID, but changing main roles mid-series was just a big no no.
Original main roles where Saifah and Zon. The story starts with Zon and his sister, and even if the plot was already confusing, it was nice and fun. But since they had fewer and fewer screen time, Tutor and Fighter became the main couple. It didn't make much sense to me because their story was not that main-role deserving. Just a lowkey "enemies" to lovers, tons of making out and bed scenes.
Even if the chemistry between Zee and Saint was amazing, and all of their scenes together were nice to watch, Jimmy and Tommy were just top tier. Specially their scenes towards the end of the series.
There's no doubt all of them are amazing actors, I just think this drama was a bit messy and confusing, but I enjoyed it anyways.
I recommend watching it just for the sake of SaifahZon's story because they're literally the sweetest. You can also watch the mini-series the made afterwards so you know more about them! :)
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Zee Saint so unrealistic
I know Zee to be a great actor and I liked Saint very much in his first series. But here the chemistry they both need to portray isn’t there … at all. To me it seems that there is a genuine dislike of Saint towards Zee and that’s a pitty cause this ruins the magic of the main couple in the drama.Zee has already shown his acting skills is several other series which are top and I can’t wait to see new material of him.
Saint is a good actor as well as a talented businessman and I would love to see his new series.
But never put them together again in a BL drama
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In my opinion, this show is just about boys kissing without a consistent plot.
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I have mixed feelings
Okay so I get the appeal with this show, I started quite interested and I didn't drop it because it was awful like I have with other BL's (aka History ) I dropped it because I didn't enjoy one of the couples and they share screen time 50/50.So Zon and Saifah are... odd I found the acting especially from Saifah annoying and not that great so I didn't really vibe with his character. I was also SUPER confused whether they actually liked each other or it was because of the BL his sister wrote (you'll know what I mean if you have watched it) So for me this couple didn't catch my interest and I mostly skipped over their scenes by episode 5.
Fighter and Tutor, on the other hand, were a great BL couple, the chemistry is amazing and the acting isn't awkward. Frankly, I liked the characters a lot more, I happily would have watched the drama if it just about them.
The other down point is that the story is kinda weak, there's nothing excited happening so I didn't even want o stick around for the plot. I can watch an edit of Fighter and Tutor and be satisfied enough. I am sad that This drama didn't do it for me but I understand that other's would like it.
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This review may contain spoilers
This series isn't the best but I enjoy it. I fall in love with Saifah and Zon they are so fricking cute. Their way of slow falling in love is so natural and refreshing. After every their scene I was giggling or laughing. And their chemistry OMG! With the couple Tutor and Fighter, I just don't feel it. They had steamy moments that were interesting but after these moments I always miss Saifah and Zon. Don't get me wrong Tutor and Fighter have an interesting story and both of them have some deeper story behind them but some scenes are boring and too cheesy. Was this review helpful to you?
It has amazing production quality and some of the camera shots are Hollywood worthy. The main intro song fits the intro video really well (although I hated when they changed it later on because it didn't fit at all with any other song). And the premise of the story is interesting and fun too.
Now, why is it still so badly rated? Mainly because while the story started off well, it never closed. Over the duration of the series, probably around half point, the story got lost and while we do get a lot of fan service, we don't get much story development or even character development. The production was influenced by the worldwide crisis going on but the story had been lost even before that, so you can only fault the slightly rushed ending to the crisis.
As for the acting, it was okay. Some did better than others and overall there are some really amazing scenes and some awkwardness included.
Overall, WHY R U is a nice series to watch inbetween but you should not expect a fully fledged out story or Hollywood acting from it. The production gets the highest compliments though, the quality of the pictures and everything is just breathtaking.
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This drama started so great and although parts of it went off grid because of the Corona pandemic, I still apreciate the efforts of its production to produce and finish what they have started. Too bad I think there is more to its story than what is shown but what can I say, sometimes shit happens.
Zee and Saint's chemistry is solid and unquestionable. I just feel bad for their team since for Saint he always encounter bad luck, first with the management of her partner and now pandemic. He is such a great actor. I also discovered how good Zee is, to think that he is just new. Zee and Saint is the classic definition of love.
Zon and Saifah is a breath of fresh air in this drama. They are the joy of the show and fun part. They portrayed their role excellently. Zon and Saifah is the modern definition of love.
I really enjoyed this show. I hope we get to have a different version (I think they can alter some part of it and correct the storyline since there is a comics plot introduced, you know maybe that this story was the comics of Zon and then we get to see the real story, with different path but same ending) or season 2 of this after the pandemic.
Hope to see them all again ?
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This drama was amazing in my eyes and the ending was great too. It could have been extended more but you can't blame it for it, due to the virus situation happening. It made me want more of this show. I would love a second season or a longer rewrite with more episodes and moments but I can only hope and wait that it could happen someday in the future.
I loved the dynamics between the two main couples and the actors playing them. I would love it if someday the actors could act in another such drama together. Saint and Zee is one of those ships that I want to come back in another future show together. The same for Tommy and Jimmy. SaintZee don't deserve the hate they get for the ship, it was one of the driving forces to make you fall in love with them and want to watch them. SaintZee is my otp ship.
Honestly the side couples were cute but they weren't that interesting as to keep ones attention. It would be better if the show had two seasons. One of which was about Saifah and Zon along with a side couple or so. While the other season would purely be about Fighter and Tutor and a side couple as well. That way we could get more character development and a longer show for everyone to enjoy.
All in all I loved this show and hope for only the best for it and its actors. Fingers crossed for more of it someday.
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This review may contain spoilers
Why R U has the spiciest scenes out of them all
With the story the problem I have is with the side couple, I personally don’t like their acting and found it awkward. Now, Tutor and Fighter is where it really is amazing. These two have so much chemistry that I felt like their scenes were private and intimate moments that I shouldn’t be watching. I felt like the third wheel in the best way possible. With BL dramas there will always be weird music and sound affect, but when they need to they put on some good music to help the mood. Continuing with my headline, I will say that Fighter and Tutor do things that *ahem* yeah, I enjoy.The necklace scene will always be engraved in my retinas, Fighter is the most charming man, I love his smile and Tutor is adorable. They act so well together and I believe that they are a couple. That’s important.
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This review may contain spoilers
i see a lot of people didn't enjoy this series that much, and even though i can understand their point of view, i'd say reconsider your opinion! this drama was so cute! i agree with other users: this show is a mess. but that doesn't necessarily mean the show is bad! the main reason why i think this show is so good is because of the cast: this show probably has the best cast i've ever seen!! i'll share my thoughts on why r u by dividing them into negatives and positives. negatives:
1. plot? what plot? the story starts of pretty strong, but after a few episodes all of the difficulties the characters faced have been solved. tutor had money problems, yet he lives in a nice and fancy appartment! what?
2. i wish they showed a bit more of the hate between tutor and fighter plus zon and saifah. in the first 3 or 4 episodes or so they all couldn't stand each other, but then suddenly that's all gone. especially between zon and saifah, they hated each other in the first 2 episodes and after that they were super close friends. it didn't really make sense. i'd say the pacing in this series was a bit off - it moved too fast.
3. i started watching this show after i saw cute gifsets of zon and saifah on tumblr, but i ended up being more invested in the tutor and fighter storyline. heck, sometimes i think i even preferred japan and tanthai's dynamics. maybe it's because the final episodes are mostly focussed on tutor and fighter rather than zon and saifah. i also felt like zon and saifah's storyline lacked something. maybe their scenes were too repetitive? zon freaking out + being shy when saifah teases him, it was cute in the beginning but got a bit boring in later episodes.
4. zee's dad being disapproving of his son's homosexual relationship for like 5 minutes and then facetiming tutor and fighter to say he supports them. i'm not sure if this had to do with the restrictions the production faced due to the covid pandemic but this storyline lacked proper writing! this also had to do with bad pacing.
5. i wish there had been 2 more episodes so we could've seen just a liiitle more of the side characters. i loved japan and tanthai plus blue and dew, yet there were such few scenes with them! also, if there were a few more episodes, point 4 ^ could've been executed more properly and they could've worked out the enemies-to-lovers dynamics a bit more.
(6. i don't want to say this but dfjghgjf jimmy's acting skills... they weren't bad! but they definitely need some polishing. considering this was his first job he did pretty well though.)
positives:
1. all of the relationships! we got 5 of them!! we got 2 main relationships and 3 side ones (don't forget about hwahwa and day ahaha) and i enjoyed all of them! as i explained in point 5 above ^ i wish they showed us a bit more of the side relationships, but the scenes they did show were super nice and cute! love is in the air!!
2. the osts!!! i can't stress this enough but why r u has the best soundtracks i've ever heard and i've been watching asian dramas for almost 9 years now. i even put some of them in my music library, i can't stop listening to them! (please check out the osts by pantherist and saint, they're my favourites!) i usually skip the intro when i watch dramas but i enjoyed the why r u theme song so much, i never skipped it! the music video to this song is also adorable, definitely check it out! it features all of the actors in why r u.
3. the chemistry between saint and see is incredible. this is probably the main reason why i enjoyed this series so much. their acting seemed so real, it felt as if i was third-wheeling the entire time lol. their kiss scenes were some of the best i've ever seen, zee is such a good kisser, my god. zee is really living the life: going from saint's fanboy to making out with him. i also couldn't believe when i read that this was his first major role. his acting is very good!
4. i haven't seen anyone talking about this but the cinematography was super pretty. the colours were beautiful and the beach scenes!! wow!!!
5. the cast! this cast is the best i've ever seen, they're all so good-looking and most of their acting is outstanding!
i know i wrote more negatives than positives but hear me out! this entire show was so romantic and light-hearted, i definitely enjoyed watching this more than shows with a straight-forward plot. the main issue with this show is the pacing. even though it did bother me every now and then, it didn't take away any of my joy watching it. there were so many good kiss scenes and i'm a sucker for kiss scenes lol. i just finished watching why r u but i can't wait to rewatch it again! i definitely recommend this series if you're looking for something easy, romantic and fluffy!!
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