About Youth (2022)

Good Lightweight Series

Due to the heavy subject matters of parental death, and neglectful, abusive parents, I thought there would be more depth to this series. Since this is a mini series, I think my expectations were too high.

The acoustics the band played in were horrible, so I couldn't get into the music numbers either. The only reason I enjoyed this series, was the relationship development between the two couples, Xu Qi Zhang/Ye Guang, and Ray/Jian. Both couples had different paths to love, and I thought the relationship progression was really well done. What I found a little interesting was, Ray allowed the first guy to mistreat him multiple times, yet he made a nice guy like Jian pay for his one mistake. Yet Ray did not try to use his previous relationship as an explanation to Jian, he just decided what was no longer acceptable to him, and acted on it.

Overall this is a light series, that does have moments of emotional abuse and one incident of a parent slapping a child across the face. This is not resolved in the end, so it's really disturbing to think that Ye Guang will be living in that environment for at 2 more years until he can go to university. Hopefully he can get stronger against his parents (father is the abuser, mother the enabler) with the support of Xu Qi Zhang and his mother.

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It leaves you wanting for more

With the onslaught of multiple BL series coming out of South Korea, Japan and Thailand, I was delighted to find this gem from Taiwan. I watched this one right after finishing My School President and the plot is more or less the same with the roles a bit reversed.

In this series, we have Xu Qi Zhang, a member of a band who is supporting and caring towards Ye Guang, a studious school student. The series attempts to highlight multiple issues faced by students and youth of today. First we have the overbearing parents of Ye Guang who takes control of his life in order to see his son succeed academically. They are so focussed on their son’s success in every field that they don’t realise that he has lost all freedom and feels trapped and unloved. Then we have the story of Ray, who is ill-treated by his boyfriend. He is shown with female attire and a wig while he is with his ex-boyfriend but loses the wig when he meets Ah Jian. There is a hint that may be his ex is making him wear it but that could just be my speculation. They have also added a dead father and an abusive uncle for good measure.

There isn’t much romance as the story focuses more on the relationship between Ye Guang and his parents and how he feels more like himself when he is with Xu Qi Zhang. There are multiple plots that the series introduces and then we don’t get to see any resolution there. There is certainly an attempt to give more depth to these characters but due to limited episodes we don’t get a satisfactory ending to those plots. We get to meet Xu’s abusive uncle but then no follow-up on that story. There is also Jun Wei who dislikes Ye Guang for some reason that isn’t explained but you can hazard a guess. He wants to see Ye Guang fail and takes active steps to do so but then he is forgotten. Then we have the whole plot of a school election where Xu Qi Zhang, Ye Guang and Jun Wei apply for. There is also a stake for Xu Qi Zhang to win this election but there is no conclusion to that plotline. There is also a professor that is supporting Xu Qi Zhang but she leaves the series by ep 2. I can chalk all this down to lack to time to flesh these plots out but not much would be lost if these plots were not brought up to begin with.

In conclusion, the story is simple and the relationship between the main characters is sweet. The OST is good and wouldn’t mind listening to it over and over. The acting has been satisfactory from all the 4 main leads although I would have liked to see more of Ray as his character had a lot of potential and there is a good story there waiting to be explored.

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Short and Sweet!

This Taiwan BL I watched on GagaooLala a couple weeks ago.
Short and easy to watch. I've really love most of what has been coming from Taiwan in the past couple of years. This could have been longer with more to the story.
This drama is a romantic comedy at times. Seemed many scenes felt the same. Lacked scene creativity at times.
There were some hard things to watch between Main lead and his father. Hope this isn't too spoiling.
Loved the side couple. Wish there was more time to develop this relationship more.
I soooo loved the cameo from Wilson Liu as Sun Bo Xiang.
Theme song is addicting for sure.
All the actors were handsome and talented wish we could have had more development to see more.
Here's to hoping they give us more later on.

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If Disney made an LGBTQIA+ series

This series isn't anything groundbreaking or unheard of, it's quite cliche tbh. I consider this to be a little gift for those who are looking for a light watch, sure, it was flawed and wasn't anything awe inspiring and the whole family situation of Ye Guang was heartbreaking to see, but it was cute. It felt like a breath of fresh air considering the amount of mature/heavy series coming out recently, so to me personally it was a nice step back from all of that. The music was cute and the settings were nice, it was very aesthetically pleasing so that's a plus.

The plot is fairly simple, just three teens and a barista hanging out and falling in love with some portrayal of the issues/problems teenagers face in their lives, it isn't hard to follow and there isn't any unnecessary love triangles, there were a couple of confusing moments/pointless scenes and the scene jumping had my brain reshuffling, but overall it was entertaining.

The cast is fairly young so their portrayal of high school teenage boys was believable, the main couple's romace definitely had a bit more depth compared to the other couple, the second couple felt abrupt and underdeveloped and tbf they added close to nothing to the plot, the main couple was slightly more developed, but their romance sometimes felt off, like one moment they're two teens with a crush and the other they're bros hanging around, it didn't bother me that much tho so I just brushed it off and continued enjoying it.

I honestly don't have much to say about this other than that it's a nice piece to kill some time, like you could watch it on the way to work or while waiting for your favorite series to begin, so if you're bored and don't really want anything that could potentially have your brain working, I recommend checking it out.

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Cute show when having nothing to watch

I was really looking forward to this series since its trailers came out a while ago, and honestly it didn't really disappoint, though I do feel its lacking in certains aspects thanks to how short it is. It was an overall fun watch to kill time and very cute and nice vibes.
The characters are all really likeable (ofc except the parents of Ye Guang but that's what the writers intended). I was really looking forward to seeing how the main and secondary couples developed, which on one side was a bit let down because of how lacking of depth the second couple was, I did felt like it was missing a bit more to get to know their relationship but it's nothing really serious. The chemistry of both of the couples was really great and I was really anticipating the kiss from the main couple, which was really cute as well.
It handles topics that can be heavy to an extent but its nothing too drastic, the characters act with a good level of matureness which doesn't make their conflicts last for long.
It's soundtrack goes hard especially in the intro, and it's rewatch value is great as it's easily digestible and entertaining overall. It's a nice series though I do feel like it was way too short for the story overall, I do recommend though!

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A Cute BL with a couple of plot holes left unanswered that thankfully don't ruin the experience

Now, don't get me wrong, I really do like this series and it definitely has a lot going for it, though sometimes certain points we were left guessing at what happened and it was never fully explored.

The plot occasionally jumped to some strange locations or jumped to another couple in a completely unrelated scene, though in saying that it was fairly straight forwards and didn’t deviate too much from the usual BL storylines and certain plot points were abandoned as the series went along, as well as a few of the characters that you felt would be major sticking points, but in the end were inconsequential, popping up just for a moment, such as the Head Boy line.

The controlling nature of Ye Guang’s family was something that I’ve seen a lot in dramas, but they were even harsher than most, and the sudden reversal of opinion they had seemed a little too dramatic. I felt like if there were more episodes, we'd be able to see a more gradual understanding of Ye Guang's feelings and have a more natural shifting of how his parents would react to situations. You can't unlearn controlling behaviour just on a whim.

The acting I felt was nice and sincere, even if occasionally their reactions felt a little out of place. But I feel like the actors for the two major couples did a great job, I also had no problem with how the music was incorporated into the series, even if sometimes i could be a little bit of a distraction to the scene, but it didn't harm my viewing experience at all.

Overall, I think this is a cute BL, but it could have done with a couple more episodes to allow time to explore some of the dropped plot points, but the acting help cover up some of these problems. Hopefully there could be another season or maybe a couple of extra episodes that go into these plots, such as if Xi Qizhang makes it to be head boy and onto Berkeley and if their relationship could survive such an adventure.

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Completed: 10/10/2022

I slept on it before writing this review, as I think I might be very critical if I write this right after I finish watching. “About Youth” is quite highly rated and has received a lot of positive reviews. However, I just find it “OK”. It’s not bad, but it’s not excellent either.

The drama focuses on two things: romance and familial relationships. We follow the development of the sweet and innocent romance of our two male leads, Xu Qi Zhang and Ye Guang. I enjoy the innocence and shyness of this couple. I feel their chemistry and I am also a sucker for longing and shy gazes at each other. On the other hand, we also witness the more complicated romance between Ray and Ah Jian. This romance provides a good contrast to the main romance. However, due to the limited episodes, this relationship is not developed or explored enough. It could be even more interesting than the main romance, but it just feels a little disjointed to me.

The drama also continues to explore the pressure Asian parents have on their children to have good grades in school. Ye Guang battles (internally and externally) with his parents throughout the whole drama. However, the resolution is underwhelming, considering so much time is spent on the conflict. On the other hand of the spectrum, we have Xu Qi Zhang and his very supportive mother. Their relationship is so much healthier. His uncle’s scenes only provided the vehicle to create Xu Qi Zhang and Ye Guang’s first fateful encounter, and nothing more.

This seems to be the first acting roles for all four main cast members, and it shows. I would say out of the four, Shen Jyun/Xu Qi Zhang might be the best. Li Zhen Hao/Ye Guang got better towards the last couple episodes, but the first few ones were rough (except for acting cool and cute). The acting does affect my viewing pleasure a little. I like the title theme song, but it’s quite overplayed, especially for such a short drama.

Overall, the romance is light and sweet, and the more serious parts revolve around Ye Guang’s parents. It’s not a bad watch if you’re looking for a sweet and short romance and don’t mind the school/grades parts.

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Amazing for such a short drama

Just going to leave my notes here so you know how much I struggled because of Jian and Ray:

AHAHA Wilson Liu never fails on give me butterflies ahahah
I'm already loving Jian, he's so nice and he doesn't even know Ray
Okay hang on... I think Jian and Ray are going a little to fast but when Ray kissed Jian he was all on it too, so I didn't understand that rushed reaction Jian had
I'm seeing myself on Ray's characters I think that's why I like him so much and I understand what he feels
I don't have nothing to say about the main couple so far so good, they're good for each other...
Now about Jian and Ray I have a lot of things to say, they kissed, Jian asked for space Ray gave him that, Jian waits for Ray and apolagies but then again asks him to go have dinner??? Jian, babe Ray is giving you what you want, but with his conditions, you can't ask him for space but at the same time want him close to you, especially when he likes you so much. (I'm kinda pissed with Jian but he's so hot and cute at the same time I can't)
AHAHAHAHAHH JIAN SLEEPING IN HIS CAR BECAUSE OF RAY IS THE CUTTEST THING I'VE EVER SEEN
FINALLY JIAN AND RAY MADE OUT YHASSSS I LIKE THEM SO MUCH AHHAH plus I want a Jian for myself
I need to focus on the main characters now ahahah so Xu Qi Zhang likes Ye Guang so much that is embarassing ahaha
AIHHH MY HEART CAN´T TAKE IT, THE PIANO SCENE, THE NOSE KISS AHAHAHA I CAN'T

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Not your average school drama

I want a season two right now I had always smiled when this played, this one is also one of my favorite school dramas because it actually seemed like it was a real life one because each character had as story that some of the viewers could relate to, from Qi Zhang’s father died and he only lives with his mother, but still misses his father. Ye Guang having his parents not really care about him, always tells him how to act, always sends him to his room when the parents know that they are in the wrong, doesn’t even celebrate his birthday with them, and always give him harsh punishments with him either getting hit or having to kneel for a long period of time and cannot sit down. Ray having to change himself in order to be liked by his lover which is making himself dress as a girl to the point he has to wear a dress and a wig because his boyfriend only likes girls, but still got cheated on by his boyfriend with a real girl. I don’t think Ah Jian’s story was bad, but he did help Ray out when he saw his boyfriend cheating on him and helped Ray get over his break up by helping him destroy his ex’s motorcycle, but helped him convince himself that he wasn’t bad like that. Overall all of the couples made each other better and more happier with themselves and their chemistry was on top with both of the couples. My favorite couple was Ray and Jian even though at one point their relationship went down, but Jian made sure he wouldn’t lose Ray even if he wasn’t too sure of dating him because he has trust issues from his ex. I also loved all the ost’s because they were fire. I really recommend this drama it’s one of the best ones I’ve seen and didn’t disappoint at all.

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kinda boring

I have to find every single one of these episodes, oh my god. I finally finished with this; it took me forever. I am going to average it and then explain my rating by episode. 8 stars out of 10.

I started watching because of some sketchy YouTube video, and it started on May 30th, 2023, so it has been a while because it was October 10th. I mentioned that it was short and it shouldn't take me that long because its short. Boy, was I wrong? So very wrong.

Fan Rui Hao started dressing up as a girl, and I was just really confused. There was an extraordinary band thing with Ah Jian and Xu Qi Zhang, and it was really random but a really big part of the show. And Fan Rui Hao was the sexist person in the show. Oh my god, his victims were grogeous, and he is just oh my god. He got cheated on by his older brothers. I don't know why he attracts older men, but that was really weird.

I have a faint memory of watching this because of the dad scene, but then again, there are too many parts that I do not remember for me to have watched this. It's very nostalgic, and I'm enjoying it. I don't remember his name or how to spell it, for that matter. But the guy with the glasses and the dead dad are played by three different people: him with glasses, him without glasses, and him without glasses with wet hair. I am liking this show so far; it's cute and fun and very laid-back. You know it's going to be good when one of the main characters has one dead parent or two dead parents. It was not good, but what can you do? I am copying and pasting stuff from my reviews because I actually cannot remember this show.

The actors look older than they actually are.

Boring episodes. It took me forever to finish, and mainly because this sh*t was really born. I just couldn't really get into it because there was more plotting than actual plotting. Too many sad moments and background filler than actual content. It just got on my nerves. Theres a lot of potential with the misunderstood kid, the perfectionist, the double live kid, and some random musican, less potential for our second couple, but it was not reached, and it made me really disappointed, and its going to take forever to find all the episodes. I have nothing else to say besides that it was bad. That's it. I would not recommend it, but do what you want. Okay bye!

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Good bl but rushed storytelling and abrupt ending <\3

I don’t have much to say about this bl other than it was very sweet. The characters for the most part well written, as well as portrayed just as well by the actors. The emotions of the characters also felt realistic, which I can appreciate because a lot of bls tend to lack a sense of realism. The music was also banger too id listen to that intro song any time of the day

Other than that, the bl felt too rushed for me. The pacing felt too fast at some parts, and it felt as though the story wasn’t giving the characters time to breathe. The situation in the last episode between Guang and his parents also felt that it was resolved a little too quickly to be realistic. We also didnt really get to see much development of Guang’s romantic feelings towards Qi Zhang. If im being honest, the kiss scene at the very end didn’t make much sense to me since the story never took the time to show Guang’s perspective of Qi Zhang.

The ending to it also felt extremely abrupt. It felt like it was missing an episode or two when I finished it. We never got to see if Qi Zhang was able to get the scholarship, we never got to see any sweet moments between Guang and his parents after they’ve become more understanding of him, and the story never told us if Guang remembered Qi Zhang from the first night they met each other, which I know that one is more of a nitpick but it would've been nice to know.

Putting aside the flaws of this bl, I’d still recommend it. The sweetness of it somewhat made up for it, at least in my opinion. It was also a pretty good time killer while waiting for another bl that im currently watching to release the new episode, so there’s that lol

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