Okay, so after having gotten through the half way point of this drama I think it’s safe to write down my thoughts about it. At first I really loved this drama. It was somewhat nice to see a bunch of new faces take on the roles of my favorite characters. Having read the entire Manga, watched the anime twice, seen the kdrama and now the Japanese drama, I can honestly say this is the worst one. My initial love of the new take on classic died out as it dragged on. And here’s why:

Story/plot: This story is one of my absolute favorites. The writer was a freakin genius when she first penned it in the early 90’s. However, it’s gotten way too played out over the years. It feels as though this show just copy and pasted the older Chinese, Japanese and Korean versions of this drama and added no new life to the story. All they did was put the exact same scenes in different cities and use newer cameras. And worse actors.

Music: they basically just use the same three songs on repeat. Don’t get me wrong, most dramas do this, but the songs weren’t that good to begin with.

Acting/ Cast: alright here’s where I’m gonna get some real hate. I think that Dylan Wang ruined this show for me. When he smiles, he’s ridicukously GORGEOUS. but any other time his acting is bad, like really bad. And that’s putting it nicely. The dude has one facial expression other than smiling, and it’s one of utter confusion? Trying to look mad? Confusion. Trying to look betrayed? Confusion. In love? Confusion. My two real saving graces in this show are Huaze Lei and Shancai. I’ve said it and I’ll say it again, if you’re looking for great acting, I truly believe the early 2000’s Japanese drama is the best. They did the best of embodying the characters and showing the most range in their acting abilities. (*A/N: I would loooove to see Darren Chen and and Shen Yue date in real life though, they’re so cute.*)

Rewatch value: yeah, just no. I’m definitely going to rewatch the Japanese one though! I’ve already seen this exact story in 5 other forms, I’ll pick the ones that make it worth the week straight of all nighters.

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Surprising

Okay so this is the first time I've ever left a review so I'm sorry in advance if it leaves something to be desired.
I'll start with this, I absolutely adore Kao (the actor playing Sib). I've thought his acting skill was insane since I saw him in Until We Meet Again back when it first came out.

That being said, I definitely had some issues with it and I will list them as follows:
- I was so invested in the main couple's story that honestly I just skipped through most of the other stuff going on (I saw the important stuff, but sometimes this show really drags on). Like we don't need 10 minutes of everyone crying. We get it, they're sad.
- Honestly there's really no reason why Aoey is as terrible as he is. I get that his family is messed up, but so are a lot of people's. That's not an excuse for being a little sh*t. Deal with your trauma for f*cks sake. Okay! Sorry about that I just really hate stupidly underdeveloped characters. Plus his acting left something to be desired, but again this is just my personal opinion.
-This leads me to my next point which is the tragic idiotic hero trope. Honestly they couldn't have come up with another way to be together without making them split up? You came out to your parents, your friends, and you're starring in a BL show for christ's sake!! Just have a press conference and tell your story. People get over stuff. Saying "I'm willing to break up with you for your happiness" is the lamest excuse in the world. If you love each other, you truly can work things out.

now for what I absolutely LOVED about this show:
- I love the casting choices for Sib and Gene (Tum, Tiffy, the brothers, and the parents were all great castings as well)
- I really love that this show put a focus on the pressure felt by everyone involved in the BL industry. The fact that it is heavily saturated by women authors, that when casting they specifically look for (as they called it) a "bottom", and that when people are shipped together in real life it can have positive and negative effects.
-This show didn't hold back in it's portrayal of fan culture. While I'm sure they could've added more, we saw the impact nonetheless. We have all seen the extremely negative effects of fan behavior and bullying when it comes to actors and ships. If they break up, if they're not seen together enough, if they are with anyone other than their shipped partner, they are harassed.
-This leads me to my final point. I loved that this show centered on a very central theme. The truth about the entertainment industry and its strange views on actual gay people in an place saturated in fake gay relationships. The double standards are absurd!!
Anyways, that's my TedTalk.

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