TLDR: History4 was a rollercoaster. Despite having a rocky start, this show is truly a game of patience - you need to complete the series to see the bigger picture. I understand not many can tolerate sitting through what seems like a BL series gone wrong, but this show has more layers than what it seems to be. History4 had many hit or miss moments but I can't stress this enough: If you want the best experience, just skip the side couple.

The good: The main couple (Li Cheng and Mu Ren) carried History4. I really loved how pure and adorable their relationship was once it hit the turning point in episode 7. In the first few episodes, it was very hard to see the romantic chemistry between them (since them goofing around completely overshadows it at times, wasted potential). However if you were able to look at their small interactions and the intent of their actions in scenes where they weren't being chaotic, you could've seen it from the beginning.

Their chemistry is really outstanding because of how real and natural it felt, dare I say they have the best chemistry I've ever seen from any BL series. They truly captured the essence and magic of having a first love. Anson and Charles are very close and affectionate in real life (watch their interviews and livestreams), which likely made their on-screen chemistry really good. They blurred the lines of real and fake with so much unscripted work and staying in character even off-screen.

Another minor thing I want to mention: I can see why people were irritated when Li Cheng said "I don't like guys, I only like you/Mu Ren", but you have to look at the context in which he says this. Li Cheng is deeply in love with Mu Ren and actually means it when he says the phrase above. In his ideal world, he would only be with Mu Ren for the rest of his life. I wished people would've interpreted this line better in History4 because to me, it always carried a different feeling.

I also really liked the friendship between Li Cheng, Mu Ren and Xing Si. I love how they know when to be goofy and playful; when to be serious and supportive during conflictive situations. I was pleasantly surprised by the scene where Li Cheng and Mu Ren comforted and supported Xing Si when he got raped because of how they fully acknowledged the situation to be sexual assault. We don't often see strong friendships in friend groups as one of the main themes in a BL series.

In my opinion, History4's strongest points were the writing of the characters. They managed to give depth to what seemed like stereotypical character tropes. I ended up liking Li Cheng and Mu Ren a lot. Throughout the series, their characters slowly grew out of being one-dimensional characters, it was great to see them become better each episode. For once, it was also nice to see female characters not get villainized, despite them not being very relevant to the storyline. The acting of the entire cast was also notable, it played a major part in making History4 a decent show. The emotions portrayed by all the actors felt really raw and realistic, particularly Jun Peng (actor behind Xing Si).

This series not your average cliché romcom with trashy tropes, they touch on heavier topics that not many BL series bother to fully delve into. Such things like family issues regarding LGBTQ+ acceptance, Mu Ren constantly speaking up about consent, Li Cheng saving Mu Ren from being sexually assaulted by another man and more. These are the things that History4 outright portrays. It's refreshing to see the characters be so aware and outspoken about situations/topics like this because most BL series don't ever say it upfront. This particular part is a good form of representation, but unfortunately History4 is incredibly flawed and at times overshadows the good.

The bad: The side couple is by far the BIGGEST problem in History4. Their relationship development completely ruined what could've been a perfectly fine couple. Their relationship concept was 'forbidden love', which they could've achieved without the elements of: rape, sexual assault, manipulation, stalking and more. The fact that they are stepbrothers, dealing with family conflicts related to being gay already makes it forbidden love! Yong Jie's actions are not justifiable in any way and don't have a deeper meaning, he has just taken infatuation to a different level. I liked the path History4 attempted to take with forbidden love (primarily because of the family aspect) but I can't get myself to like the side couple at all.

If this couple had been written for a psychological horror series, it would have different reception because the audience actively seek for such content. History4 is a romcom series, the audience doesn't expect or want to watch a distorted relationship development, especially without warning as it could be triggering. This romanticizes Yong Jie's disgusting actions and it all falls back to the idea of 'thinking nonconsensual acts are cute/romantic' that the BL community is notorious for.

Even though I mentioned the family aspect as one of the better parts of History4, I absolutely can't accept the mother's complicity with Yong Jie's actions. She knew exactly what he was going to do to Xing Si, yet still allowing him to proceed with his plan of getting Xing Si drunk and sexual assaulting him because 'the kid has always liked him'. That's ridiculous and once again, has no justification to it. The fact that she prepared divorce papers after the father found out is such a lazy move to run away from the issue instead of facing it.

Another thing that ticked me off a bit is the fujoshi's (Mei Fang and Sister Wang) behavior, especially in the beginning of the series. Her questions and obsession with BL was very off-putting and felt like the typical fujoshi mindset of how they view gay relationships. However, I have to admit that her character gets better throughout the show, her peak being the times she helped Li Cheng to pursue Mu Ren. Among all the problems, this is by far the smallest one and even had minor development for the better.

Conclusion: To me, History4 is worth a watch once but doesn't have high rewatch value because of its flaws. Do remember that in the History anthology, they've always had at least one issue in their shows, like having 3 stepbrother couples, 3 huge age gap couples with different power dynamics and more. We can't expect perfect, flawless storytelling from them because they always take the risk of touching on controversial/heavy topics. In retrospect, History4 is really not that bad. I'd argue that there are other BL series out there that are worse than History4. This show was meant to sit at the grey area and give you thought-provoking situations to analyze.