A Promising Mystery Turned Into a Clichéd Melodrama
The Eclipse set high expectations in the initial episodes only not to deliver on them afterwards. It lost me somewhere along the way, probably after episode six.
The biggest flaw of this series is its inconsistency. It begins by making it clear that it will break the clichés of BL series, but it eventually gets mired in them. It fleshes out the characters so well, but then makes them do things that are completely out of character. It promises a slow-burn romance, but rushes all character development in two episodes. It has an intriguing mystery at its core, but it drags this mystery so much that it is easy to lose interest in it. There also was only one plot twist that I did not see coming.
The curse subplot – do not even get me started on it. Although the initial incidents could be taken seriously if one suspends a little disbelief, the ones afterwards were not threatening in the slightest, so the characters' panicked reactions seemed stupid to me. Furthermore, there were so many people involved with the curse that the whodunnit turned into a mess of plot holes in the end. When the final revelation happened, and I realized that I am happy that an allegedly good character just did something bad because at least he put an end to the dramatics, I knew that the script was sloppily written.
As if this was not enough, the romance between Akk and Ayan was handled poorly. I liked their dynamic so much because they were not a stereotypical BL couple. They intrigued me, and I thought that I had finally found an enemies to lovers queer love story done right. This turned out not to be the case, though. Instead of letting their romance develop naturally, the scriptwriters started forcing it into overused tropes for no reason, which resulted in unnecessary drama and a lot of predictability. At some point, the main couple lost me completely. I could not understand what drew Ayan to Akk. Although the chemistry between the two actors was hot, I stopped rooting for their characters' relationship.
Notably, the opposite happened with the second couple. Although I did not care about them initially, they eventually won me over. I think that the development of their relationship was smoother and more interesting than that of the main couple.
Overall, aside from the brilliant acting, which kept the sinking plot afloat, this series is not much different from other high-school BL romances. The mystery seems to have been introduced just to disguise the fact that this story is a cliché.
The biggest flaw of this series is its inconsistency. It begins by making it clear that it will break the clichés of BL series, but it eventually gets mired in them. It fleshes out the characters so well, but then makes them do things that are completely out of character. It promises a slow-burn romance, but rushes all character development in two episodes. It has an intriguing mystery at its core, but it drags this mystery so much that it is easy to lose interest in it. There also was only one plot twist that I did not see coming.
The curse subplot – do not even get me started on it. Although the initial incidents could be taken seriously if one suspends a little disbelief, the ones afterwards were not threatening in the slightest, so the characters' panicked reactions seemed stupid to me. Furthermore, there were so many people involved with the curse that the whodunnit turned into a mess of plot holes in the end. When the final revelation happened, and I realized that I am happy that an allegedly good character just did something bad because at least he put an end to the dramatics, I knew that the script was sloppily written.
As if this was not enough, the romance between Akk and Ayan was handled poorly. I liked their dynamic so much because they were not a stereotypical BL couple. They intrigued me, and I thought that I had finally found an enemies to lovers queer love story done right. This turned out not to be the case, though. Instead of letting their romance develop naturally, the scriptwriters started forcing it into overused tropes for no reason, which resulted in unnecessary drama and a lot of predictability. At some point, the main couple lost me completely. I could not understand what drew Ayan to Akk. Although the chemistry between the two actors was hot, I stopped rooting for their characters' relationship.
Notably, the opposite happened with the second couple. Although I did not care about them initially, they eventually won me over. I think that the development of their relationship was smoother and more interesting than that of the main couple.
Overall, aside from the brilliant acting, which kept the sinking plot afloat, this series is not much different from other high-school BL romances. The mystery seems to have been introduced just to disguise the fact that this story is a cliché.
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