This review may contain spoilers
Second time around
I originally watched this a few months ago but held off writing a review, knowing I would watch it again when the sequel (Drama Special) came out. Part of me wanted to see if I felt the same way about the series the second time around and, for the most part, I did.
The premise seemed interesting and it was nice to have a BL not centered around University life. (Even though Kuea is in University and there are plenty of scenes with him at University, it's not centered around University life, seeing as Lian is older.) But even though the characters are older and supposedly more mature, they sure didn't act like it half the time. Take the misunderstandings that come with school dramas (the ML thinks the other lead is in a relationship with pretty much anyone they talk to) and replace it with a different kind of miscommunication consisting of lying and keeping secrets from each other. This really stood out to me the first time I watched it although it didn't hit as hard this time around. I mean, I can see they had their reasons but those reasons didn't seem like enough to justify the lying to go on the entire series.
It would have been so much better if, after Kuea first calls off the engagement in the first episode, that he actually does what he said he'd do and be his true self. In the first episode, we see him as a total bad-ass, riding motorcycles and playing drums but putting on a masked persona around Lian. Then, when he wants to call off the engagement, he still tries to seem obedient around Lian, even though he supposedly decided that he doesn't want to be married to him anymore and shouldn't care about his opinion. Because, let's face it, Lian was an ass to Kuea when all he wanted was reassurance that their marriage would mean something.
All that being said, I still enjoyed watching the show. There was enough investment in the side characters to help break up the constant lying of the main couple. (Excluding Diao and Yi who had their own issues that pretty much mirror the above.) I really loved the relationship between Diao and Kuea; that best friend who will drop everything (even at the risk of being scolded) to help each other out. And the engineering crew was hilarious. I enjoyed their interactions with each other and always laughed when they all would murmur "sadhu" when Syn would say his words of wisdom. I liked the healthy, professional rivalry between the Pentagon and Gemini and the interactions between Jay and Lian. They had respect for each other even though they were essentially in direct competition. Jay's support of Kuea's music career was nice to see as well... pretty much Jay brought in a good balance of what healthy relationships looked like against all the messed up stuff going on with the two main couples.
The music was enjoyable and catchy. At times I felt like this series was more of an attempt to launch NuNew's music career rather than his acting career but, either way, he deserves it.
Now that I've seen it twice, I don't know if I'll watch it again, to be honest. When the next sequels/spin-offs come out, I may browse through it on those respective couples (with pit stops along the way to see Jay) to refresh my memory on what we've seen of them so far.
The premise seemed interesting and it was nice to have a BL not centered around University life. (Even though Kuea is in University and there are plenty of scenes with him at University, it's not centered around University life, seeing as Lian is older.) But even though the characters are older and supposedly more mature, they sure didn't act like it half the time. Take the misunderstandings that come with school dramas (the ML thinks the other lead is in a relationship with pretty much anyone they talk to) and replace it with a different kind of miscommunication consisting of lying and keeping secrets from each other. This really stood out to me the first time I watched it although it didn't hit as hard this time around. I mean, I can see they had their reasons but those reasons didn't seem like enough to justify the lying to go on the entire series.
It would have been so much better if, after Kuea first calls off the engagement in the first episode, that he actually does what he said he'd do and be his true self. In the first episode, we see him as a total bad-ass, riding motorcycles and playing drums but putting on a masked persona around Lian. Then, when he wants to call off the engagement, he still tries to seem obedient around Lian, even though he supposedly decided that he doesn't want to be married to him anymore and shouldn't care about his opinion. Because, let's face it, Lian was an ass to Kuea when all he wanted was reassurance that their marriage would mean something.
All that being said, I still enjoyed watching the show. There was enough investment in the side characters to help break up the constant lying of the main couple. (Excluding Diao and Yi who had their own issues that pretty much mirror the above.) I really loved the relationship between Diao and Kuea; that best friend who will drop everything (even at the risk of being scolded) to help each other out. And the engineering crew was hilarious. I enjoyed their interactions with each other and always laughed when they all would murmur "sadhu" when Syn would say his words of wisdom. I liked the healthy, professional rivalry between the Pentagon and Gemini and the interactions between Jay and Lian. They had respect for each other even though they were essentially in direct competition. Jay's support of Kuea's music career was nice to see as well... pretty much Jay brought in a good balance of what healthy relationships looked like against all the messed up stuff going on with the two main couples.
The music was enjoyable and catchy. At times I felt like this series was more of an attempt to launch NuNew's music career rather than his acting career but, either way, he deserves it.
Now that I've seen it twice, I don't know if I'll watch it again, to be honest. When the next sequels/spin-offs come out, I may browse through it on those respective couples (with pit stops along the way to see Jay) to refresh my memory on what we've seen of them so far.
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