I actually quite enjoyed this show for its first half. It was pretty entertaining in comparison to the same boring stuff every other BL is feeding us. But after that, it started to drag and things went off the rails. Is this a great show? Not in my opinion, no. Was there an attempt to do something different? Yes, and I can appreciate that.

You see, I think what this show was TRYING to do is something that We Are The Series did extremely well. They attempted to have this rag tag group of friends who are a bunch of idiots, but supportive idiots who vibe off each other and are fun to watch interact. Sadly though, they didn't succeed. Mainly because the characters just didn't really land. Did We Are have fleshed out characters? No, not at all. In fact, I think The Rebound had more fleshed out ones. However, the characters in We Are stood out with their quirks, and felt incredibly lovable. The characters in this story just fall flat.

The most interesting by far was Ryu. I actually really liked him, or well, the idea of him. Discovering more about his family and background was interesting enough to keep my attention, at least for a while. I also really appreciated his arc from this lone wolf fighter to becoming captain of a team he loves and that loves him. Granted, his backstory didn't make all that much sense, and it was never fully dived into enough for me to follow Ryu's thought process. I would've loved more flashbacks to him and Q building their bond, because that was actually one of the best parts of the show for me. To my disappointment, it didn't do that, but at least it had something compelling to offer.
Zen on the other hand felt just like your standard BL guy. He was agreeable, kind, cute, and incredibly stupid. I actually fear he doesn't have more than one braincell because he got himself almost killed instead of calling for backup or anything. He just goes into situations without a plan, hoping it'll end well. Him and Rain from Love In The Air would get on super well, but they'd probably fall of a cliff together because they both lack in the braincell department. Also, Zen's either oblivious to the point where he didn't realise Atom has feelings for him, or he just straight up didn't give a damn and strung him along. Frankly, I don't know which option I prefer. His relationship with his grandmother was heartwarming, but the rest of him just felt like an annoying little kid.

As far as side characters go, Shogun was by far the most intriguing. It's a real shame we never got to see much of him. The others didn't give me much to get attached to. Jedi and Lin had the most personality. Okay, that's a bit of a stretch. Jedi was smart and Lin had a dead mom and an unrequited crush. I do appreciate how she got to be more than just your standard jealous BL girlie though, so credit where credit is due. The other side characters didn't land. The whole team never felt like a very convincing friend group even though they mostly stuck up for each other. I think the actors just didn't really have all that much chemistry which is a real shame. If they had the same banter and chemistry the guys in We Are did, I would've loved this show because it had a much more interesting plot than We Are (not hard to top considering We Are didn't have a shred of a plot in sight). The coach was interesting, but I just don't really care for adults in my BLs that much, unless they are the centre of the story. But that's a me problem.

The acting was... Well... They were trying? I think Meen and Ping have improved ever since Ai Long Nhai, but it's still hard to watch them in many scenes. They both had moments where they delivered at least some emotion, but mostly, their facial expressions and their awkward hand movements just feel painful to watch. Especially Ping. He reminds me a lot of Dunk and Phuwin in that way. All three of them would benefit from some acting classes because they act like a robot trying to act human. Because of that, Ping's characters feel the same in all shows he's been in. It doesn't help that he always has to play the dumb cute guy, but I think with more acting talent he'd still be able to make them all feel somewhat unique. However, if you showed me a scene from this and one from Ai Long Nhai or that Gangster Oppa show, I couldn't distinguish which one it's from if it weren't for sets and costumes. I do actually quite like Meen and Ping together. Their chemistry won't burn the house down, but there's a spark at least. If they both felt more comfortable and confident with their acting, I think they'd be able to deliver a lot more passion in their chemistry. I still have some hope for them for the future.
Most side characters won't win any awards for their performances either. But I won't dive into that.

I won't dive too much into the plot either. I will say that I really enjoyed how they managed to blend the rough, tough street games and gambling storyline with that of high school basketball. It worked for me. I just think the story should've ended once that arc came to a finish. This series would've benefitted from being just 8 episodes. The latter half of it felt unnecessarily dragged out and filled with sad plot line after sad plot line. I began to lose interest which is a shame since I actually fairly enjoyed the first half. It wasn't perfect either, far from it actually. Characters make decisions that don't really fit their characters or feel incredibly stupid, there are plenty of plot holes, and there's a lot of plot convenience. But I was still able to enjoy it despite that. After that though, it became a bit of a slog to get through. Maybe if you're into basketball or sports in general, you'd enjoy the second half more than I did.

As for the romance storyline... It was okay. I liked that Ryu and Zen had history together and how that played into their dynamic. It was pretty clear how Zen was at the same time happy to have Ryu back in his life but also had a lot of pent-up anger. I think this was never fully resolved and just kind of vanished, but it felt pretty natural how they got close again. I just wish they would've had more bonding moments outside of basketball. There were hardly any meaningful conversations or sweet moments between them. At least not enough for me to really be that invested in their relationship.

I also really hated how Ryu fell into the stereotype of overly jealous BL boyfie who doesn't take no for an answer. I hate how BLs so often normalise things like that. When someone tells you 'no' about hugging or kissing or anything else, you don't do it. It always gets turned into these play-fights and I really don't appreciate that. It was the same in this show. Ryu was also jealous to a point where he actually told Zen not to smile at anyone else. Yikes. Though in this story, I actually understood Ryu's jealousy. It was obvious from miles away that Atom had a massive crush on Zen. Either Zen really was too dumb to see it, or he did notice but still didn't shoot it down. Either way, when Ryu said he was jealous, maybe that's when Zen should've taken note that Atom is kind of overstepping at times and have a conversation with him. I mean, the boy just randomly showed up at Zen's house which was a bit stalker-ish. But Zen didn't give the guy any boundaries, so blame's on both of them really.
What I appreciated most about this couple is the fact that in the end, Ryu didn't hold Zen back from following what he wanted to do. Other than that, it's just pretty standard and with the chemistry not igniting much of a firework either, it wasn't anything exceptional.

As someone who hates a love triangle (or any sort of love geometry) this series was really frustrating to watch. I did appreciate that Frank and Ping actually had chemistry though, and how they at least gave Atom a little more than just being a jealous third-wheel. It was quite unfortunate how his storyline just kind of ended, but I appreciate the effort. Atom actually had chemistry not only with Zen, but also with Ryu (in an enemies to friends type of way). Honestly, I think they should've just become a throuple (I'm kidding, but only half because they could've actually made that work if they wanted to).

The humour of the show didn't really land with me. I did however laugh in the end, when poor Granny had to put on headphones to block out Ryu and Zen going at it like rabbits. Zen sure went from feeling uncomfortable and awkward about Ryu revealing their relationship to his grandma to being VERY comfortable in 0.2 seconds. That got a laugh out of me.

All in all, this wasn't a bad show. It had its moments and its interesting ideas. It just wasn't anything great either. Again, I like the idea of Ryu a lot, and I like what they were trying to do with the friend group. The execution was just too clumsy for me. It's a real shame that the side characters fell so flat and that they barely spent any time on the side couples. I think they were trying to juggle many "interesting" characters, but in the end, they didn't follow through on any of them. Which in turn left me feeling like I didn't have a grasp on anyone other than the main two. I honestly wish the writers of this and the writers of We Are would've just combined their ideas. That way, we would've ended up with one great show that delivers on both likeable characters that bounce off each other well, and a fun, entertaining storyline. Maybe someday.