Testing a new BL couple?

In the midst of rave reviews, I want to put out my own review here just for those who may be feeling how I'm feeling right now should they watch this show. If you fall into what feels like an isolated alien corner with this show, hello, I am here too.

I really, really wanted to like this and perhaps I'm most angry with myself for not understanding the hype. This show felt like I had put my brain through a vice. It was a class in all the tropes, I now know that I really hate.

The most obvious case being the school bullying, which can be very triggering for those who were physically bullied at school. But hopefully you are self aware enough of your triggers to know that before clicking play. I am, and still hated the bullies. I don't want to see them redeemed. I don't care about them.

But with that said, I was bored silly. This is basically a gang war with delinquent kids, which makes the immersion a little difficult, if real minors acted like this, they would be in a detention centres.
These are the 'hopeless case' kids that make everyone abandon them because they are so insufferable in the name of being tough and cool. They are headed for a gang and jail later in life. So the idea is for us as the viewer to find some sort of compassion in our dried up hearts for these kids and their circumstances. One group has taken in the autistic kid. Yes, and? Why are they still assholes to everyone else? They walked into the classroom ready to hate because of the whole campuses are at war for 16 years. *sigh* That kind of logic does exist in reality and perhaps it's why seeing it here just wore down my attention. Everyone living in a bubble counting the scores.

The male teacher was a student there so he knows how to handle the class (and probably the guy who started the war in the first place) but his teaching logic is basically, you just need to pass the exam, don't worry about the subject, which defeats the point of being a teacher. That's not a successful student to me. He's a product of his schooling. You don't need to learn, just win, which is what the principal is doing to her own son. Put him into the troubled youth class so he'll naturally be the top. No effort needed. Forget about how violent and abusive these students are. And they wonder why the school is a school for thugs?

I also had a math teacher like this. If it wasn't on the exam, dont worry about it. No wonder I failed my math 3 times because i didn't learn anything. I was taught how to answer questions. That's not teaching and is another personal irk for me as a viewer.

You'll probably hate every character except Mark's because he's the sweet one, he's just loyal to Shin. I loved Only Friends, so toxic characters aren't really the trigger here. I just couldn't find it in me to care about these ones. Again, maybe because they're school kids, and I just see my own bullies, I dont know.

When the real Tsunami is finally revealed, he conveniently destroys all the minions single handedly until the top dog with crazy eyes starts fighting. So of course, he's more of a challenge. Not to mention mom slapping Tsunami across the face after he saved her, her daughter and her son's life from this gang. If he had chosen to stay away as you insisted lady, you would have dead children right now. So there's another irk. The non sensical parent trope.

The three bullies who are starting everything, are scared to have their parents find out about their bullying but they want to join a drug gang? They kidnapped and beat the crap out of their class mate and are in school the next day like nothing happened. The adults are very conveniently placed in this show. They are there when the plot needs them to be. They care when only when it drives the plot.

And finally, the bromance. I like a bromance. This isn't a BL and personally, don't even see the gay happening and I dont care enough to keep watching to wait for it.
I see an angry young lout who opened up to his friend once and was physically beaten by him at some point and now won't forgive him. That seems pretty fair to me. What broke my interest was the chase. It was the old follow and force myself into his space until he eventually forgives me. This annoys me in a romantic sense, so it's good to know that it works platonically too lol
I don't see loving stares either. I see anger, hate and desperation.

I only made it episode 5 before I decided I just cant do it. This is really not for me. I can suspend belief for those heroic uplifting moments but I feel like this show was asking me to do that quite a lot and I don't enjoy that.

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Xianxia and I aren't going to be friends

Rated= 4 ~ 15/50 ~ 3
RPG Scene // Trolls wading through the Murky Swamp. My club is splitting.

I promised myself that if I can't make it through to the end, I'm crossing off Xianxia's in the future, unless Cheng Yi is involved. I only made it to the end of L&R through bias alone 😂 It's a genre I feel the culture clash in, really hard, and when you already have a belief system in place and notions of what a 'deity/immortal/God' is, it can be very difficult to watch a very human, politically motivated soap opera happen with divinities as the characters. And that's just the concept standing by it's self.

This follows the trend of every Xianxia, I've tried to watch before it. Visually, gorgeous. Everyone is fantastically dolled up in plastic head gear and fabulous costuming and I usually enjoy the lore. This time round there was a lot of emphasis on the elements and how that creates the true form of the Immortal and the elemental power they can wield. That's a fun idea. It also ties back to the title and the 'water and fire dont mix' mantra. Jinme is a frost flower, water, Xu Feng is a Phoenix, fire, and Run yu is a Water dragon. She is engaged to Run yu, water with water, but is supposed to fall in love with Xu Feng. The fire will burn her.

Likewise, her mother also shared a similar fate. She was a Lotus, in love with Jin Me's father, the Water deity, and had a tragic affair with the Heavenly Emperor, who is fire.

The costuming and the lore. That's what I love about the Xianxia genre. It's incredibility creative and I enjoy that. But that's where the love ends. Just like the characters, the Xianxia genre and I are different elements. I don't know which one, but we clash a lot.

This is not a case of 'go watch disney' kind of mentally. Without drama, there wouldn't be a story. That's the point of fiction, to be entertained, to be inspired, to find something within the story to hold dear to your heart as you travel through your own trials in life. But when the drama doesn't make sense or is clashing with your own outlook in life, you're not going to like the story for it has nothing to offer you.

One of my favourite characters, is the anti-hero. I like watching the underdog win. In this story, it's very clear from the start who the underdog is, so I'm going to adopt him very quickly and cheer for him, and that is our second ML, Runyu, played by the very elegant Luo Yun Xi, who I must say, I've only seen him in Till the End of the Moon, which I also dropped, and I've already got a little soft spot for him.

(I really hope he's not getting the Cheng Yi treatment and just forced to play the abused Prince all the time)

So when the plot eventually arrives around episode 8, I know that things are going to get really messy.

Our FL is our standard, so innocent but is really just the usual village idiot that these genres seem to like having. Massive LOL to her guardians, who are told she is to have a love trial and protect her from pain and they basically bubble wrap her so she has no emotional intelligence to protect her from foretold pain. The seal is meant to stop her from feeling romantic love not stop her from using her brain. She clearly has one, as she's bargaining for spiritual energy to help her friend, who sacrificed herself to save her. Understandable. She's not unfeeling, just blinded to romantic love. And she has to stay in the flower realm for 10 thousand years so that she doesn't experience her love trial. So of course that's not happening.
As the plot unravels, we see that Jinme is going to have a similar situation to her mother, only this time, has not one clue how to navigate it because she's been emotionally and spiritually suppressed by magically seals and her Guardians. Ahh, yes, the Immortal's Wisdom at play here.....huh?

Our ML is our typical self righteous, golden child who is pretty aloof at first but somehow falls in love with Jin me like he's never seen another woman before. Was it her talking about putting on weight on her chest? The feeding you kiss? Trying to eat his testicles when they first met? Was he seduced as opposed to love? A lot of sexual build up with these two, but no emotional. We as the viewer know that he's feeling something very intense. Jin me is completely oblivious but I was going with it. Let it unravel.

Back to Runyu, it is shown that he is also feeling something but the big thing for me here is that he's distant despite his affection. And it's a gentle affection, like a crush almost but he has an emotional wall up because he's engaged. I understand by ep 19 that he's clearly been neglected and abused and the Heavenly Empress is trying to find a reason to execute him because he's a threat to the throne. And I'm guessing 'her' throne, not the ML.
Why are we using the word 'deity' for a very, very human situation? I clash with this narrative.

My interpretation here is that, this promise of a wife, has been what he's held onto and has been embarrassed repeatedly that this promised wife wasn't even born yet. So when he discovers that it's the girl he's been crushing on, he is naturally over the moon that he finally won't be alone. It was a cold move the way he made sure to secure that promise but I understood it. That's not drama for dramas sake. That was a clever move. I applauded. Not even a few episodes later, in comes the ML with his manipulation because he's 'in love' and it's meant to be justified.

I know where this is going and the other low rated reviews just confirm it.

I'm going to be on Run yu's side no matter how far he falls later because I understand him. When he finally breaks, it will be him I will be crying for and not the so called 'good guys' who pushed him to that point. And this is where I realise that me and Xianxia aren't going to be friends, because here we are again. The relationship between the audience and the characters is what creates the support for a show and the emotional drive of the audience. I can't support an eternally dense FL who is that way because it's supposed to be cute and it drives the narrative. Or a ML who so far, is just determined to get what he wants. I have no other reason to feel empathic for him. I haven't been shown any, other than he's randomly obsessed with the FL for some reason. Much like his father.
Nor an Uncle who is also determined to get the ML the girl he wants. While ignoring the feelings of his other nephew simply because he said so. That's also very painful favouritism to the golden child that everyone loves. To hell with Run yu right?

I'm going to cheer for the character trying to keep his or her head above the water and for some reason, in Xianxia's that's always the so called 'Villain'. I've danced this dance before, I can already sense how the writing is going to go and I know I'm going to hate it because that's not what I'm looking for in a story.

I don't even want to say this is for a 'younger audience' even though it's a knee jerk reaction to do so because it 'feels' immature, and that's not fair to the younger generation. Life makes the person regardless of age.
The narrative is to support the main couple but all I see is sexual tension and that's not love.
I see the potential for an emotional bond with Run yu because that's where my emotional connection is. I don't care about the leads because I have no reason to and at episode 20, that's a bad sign. To know that the writing is just going to make a villain out of him, then I'm going to be a villain too and hate everyone with him, and be left disappointed with him.

Jin me's father, mother and the Wind deity is what you are looking for. That is real love, loyalty and friendship. Unless it changes later lol

Damn, this is long 😂

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The Kiss and Everything Else

Rated = 6 ~ 25/50 ~ 5
RPG Scene // A flurry of fairies surrounding me on mountain pass and dazzling me with their twinkling lights, that I drop my battle axe down the ravine. Damn.

If there is one thing I can praise this show on is the kiss scene. They took the time to build up the feels and then let it explode into a really passionate kiss. I appreciate that and I actually rewatched it a few times. So points.

This is unfortunately one of those shows for me where it starts off fine, then gets super tense for that kiss scene, and then just kind of trails off eventually to basically being back to where they started from.
I found, for the most part, one half of the pair annoying. I don't like the 'jock, always in your face' type characters because he's basically just annoying his crush until he relents. I dont find that endearing.
The friends were the usual, barely thinking characters we usually get unless there's drama to be created.
I can understand the parents at war with each other but the Uni as well, I felt like were always pitting the two faculties together which, honestly for me, felt a little dumb. Why would a social setting do that and then complain when fights break out? Wha?
By ep 9 I was skipping because I just wanted it to end.
The ending, I can deal with. I guess it's somewhat realistic but at the same time, also feels a bit stupid. Perhaps it was more just simply how it was written that feels a bit of silly.

Ultimately, the Kiss was great, 10/10, I gave a whole extra point for it but I'm unlikely to rewatch the show.

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I'm actually about to cry.

Rated= 1~ 20/50 ~ 4
RPG Scene // Ogre about to R.I.P me in Haunted House. It ate my short sword.

We all have emotional boundaries when we're watching shows and this one crossed mine.

I was LOVING this. It was sitting at a solid 8.5 rating. I was sitting thinking I had found another favourite for my list. A FL I could support. Humour that landed on me. A plot I was invested in. Gone in a 30 second scene.

My no.1 rule for writers is when you use violence against animals and children, you do it tastefully.

This 12 rated show can't show us a proper kiss but is perfectly happy to show us a baby getting his eyes gouged out. A BABY, screaming and crying, while a man puts his fingers through his eyes. Telling us is one thing. Actually showing us it, is another.
But heaven forbid you show us an actual proper kiss between two lovers.

No. Just No.

You suck and don't deserve anymore attention.

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I am too old for a show like this

"If you dont heal what hurt you, you'll bleed on those who didn't cut you"

The above quote was all I could think of watching this show. I just wanted to take Jihun by the hand and tell him to leave these assholes to their misery because that's what happens in life. Learn to love from a far. You can be compassionate without sacrificing yourself and I couldnt help but feel that, that was the direction this was headed in. Love conquers all.
Unfortunately it doesn't. There is a 50/50 chance of a relationship like this turning emotionally abusive.

The character I understood the most was the therapist who, was seemingly bad at her job but no. She was tired of the same story, over and over and over. You can't save people from themselves. In fact, many people dont want to be saved because their misery is all they know, so they just live there, ghosting, lashing out, avoidance, self destructive behaviours, all while hurting the people who love them.

After a certain age, you start choosing yourself over loving people like this.

The other factor in my lack of compassion, is what a lot of other reviews have stated. The editing. The first 2 episodes were beautiful, and then it started getting choppy. We jumped straight from ghosting to holding hands on a date. They just looked into each other's eyes and all was forgiven. Instincts or infatuation here? And if this editing style is to continue it's just going to create a further divide between my own emotional reasoning and my empathy for the characters because I feel like i'm hopping from one scenario to the next rather than walking with them through their pain.

Perhaps a few years ago, I would have enjoyed this. I understand it. I get it. I've lived and watch others live it. Every single person on this planet is carrying something, but relationship is never a crutch for your healing. You do not heal each other. When it becomes about mental health and trauma, it is truly solidary journey because only you are experiencing what you are experiencing and I don't find it romantic that someone is waiting for me to see through my issues.

Overall, I can see the appeal of a story like this, and I can understand why it's so loved but at the end of the day, between the disorientating editing and being through too much in my own life to feel tolerant, this just feels draining to watch.

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If someone bullies you, it's because they like you

Rated= 5~ 24/50 ~ 4.8
RPG Scene // Zombies shambling and falling off Mountain Pass. Dont even need my sword. They walked off themselves.

I tried to like this, I really did but I just couldn't do it. I initially loved it with Wuxin and Xiao but then he left and it started to get really boring with lots of very irritating characters, very fast. And at least by ep 16, they're trying to force a romance with Xiao and the female character trope I absolutely loathe. Pouty princess with a big weapon. She beats you up because she loves you. Just no. That's not a couple destined to be. I don't do tsunderes and I can't imagine a man like Xiao liking it either. I just wanted Wuxin to come back so I googled and was disappointed so I've decided to drop.

Visually, there's a lot of special effects here. Gives me a final fantasy kind of vibe with a headache inducing amount of characters and back stories.

Xiao's face though. I will be watching out for that actor later because damn. I don't mind looking at him a little longer lol currently watching In Blossom with Wuxin's actor and he's pretty fine too with hair LOL honestly, if they do a spin off with just Xiao and Wuxin, I'd be all in but this is just too much for me to sit through 40 hours of my life.

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Painful Writing

Rated = 1~ 10.5/50 ~ 2.1
RPG Scene // Ogre stomping through Murky Swamp. Rusty Dagger as useful as a spoon.

I realise this is from an old novel so I can't really say this had potential knowing that but, yeah, I feel this had potential. My western thought processing clashed terribly with this. I knew I was going to drop this on the second episode.
The pacing is painful. There are a lot of more exciting/creative ways to have summarized the beginnings of the plot. Nope. We're made to walk the story, inch by inch. I sat with my head in my hands realising why it's 40 episodes.

Side note - The father/twin, what did they do to this man's face. He felt like a robot and honestly made to look like one. Was he meant to be structured and porcelain white ? and instead ended up looking a face of flour with 2016 insta eyebrows. But perhaps that's my agitation talking. The actor is good looking. The father clearly was meant to be a heart throb. I did not see it.

Case in point - I absolutely hate love triangles and the big bad is jealous sisters, so either way, this Cassanova was effed from the start because even if he fell for a sister, the other sister would still be scorned. No wonder the poor guy ran away. These women are just delusional psychos and I hate seeing women pitted against each other for silly reasons. If there is a legitimate reason for this hate, I don't have the patience to find out.
I have no pity for pathetic villains. Meanwhile, the other villains were just straight up goofy and stupid.
I hated everyone on this show.
The women are just a misogynistic tragedy to watch and the male characters are just stupid and unreasonable.
I made it to episode 12 simply because of the lead. I was really enjoying his impish wits and heart of gold moments. I love intelligent characters who can think themselves out of a problem, until I caught the scent of putting him in a love triangle with his robot of a brother, who is trying to kill simply because he was told to. What?
I wanted to punch the FL (at least she is by episode 12) She came in with a lot of badass potential and as soon as she's dressed in pink, she's turned into a simpering, floundering brat who was thoroughly enjoying playing the lead's feelings because, hehe, he's jealous. No. Just no.
That's when I knew I wasn't going to make it through this series. I skipped right to the last episode for the conclusion and very thankful that I didn't waste my time.

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