HIStory4: Close to You

RAPE IS NOT OK! Nor his stalking and abusive behavior!

I really like HIStory 2 and 3 (minus the ending), so I was really excited for this new chapter in the series.
The first episode was OK setting the characters and the mysterious stalker of one of them. The guys are cute and was a sort of interesting premise.

However, a few episodes in, we discover the stalker is the adoptive brother of one of the main characters, who not only beats a guy (the brother's best friend) out of jealousy but then proceeds to guilt trip, get drunk and finally rape his brother while he was passed out. After that, the rapist keeps on guilt-tripping and gaslighting his brother and we're supposed to empathize and even condone his actions because he's iN LoVe.

The other story is slightly better but still filled with clichés and homophobic sh*t.

I wouldn't recommend this series but if you HAVE to watch it, just watch Teng Mu Ren and Hsiao Li Chen story and fastforward the rest.

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It's just getting worse and worse...

I cannot start to describe my disappointment from this latest installment of the HIStory series. While all other installments got better and better (especially the unforgettable "Trapped") this seems to be made by a different production, written by an immature teenager with silly jokes about" who is 0 and is 1" and "dicks sizes", and directed by a homophobe...The ridiculous storyline and the way some very serious issues are handled left me literally in disbelief. The macho fratboy vs. the androgenous/effeminate character, the sweet older brother vs. the obsessed Psyco younger brother - none makes sense, and none works toward the message of the other HIStory stories that "love is love", in a positive, loving way. The preview for the next episode (11-12) makes it even worse...(who tapes himself raping the man he claims to love to show to his parents ????). This is not the HIStory we love. Much has been written about the moral issues and the two annoying females, so I will not get into it. The poor actors do their best, but they have very little to work with. It is not what we expect from a BL series in 2021, especially when we have "We best love" and some awesome Korean series. In short, horrible.

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Unexpected Love

Unpopular opinion, but I enjoyed the series, even the side couple, Xing Si and Yong Jie. Even though I do not condone Youn Jie's actions in real life, there are people who like dub-con (I'm not one of them) and eat those stories up. The Fu Yong Jie character prototype is not uncommon in Japanese BL manga and comics. Look at the Caste Game manga series, or many of the web toons are are so popular right now.

The Mu Ren and Li Cheng had such charisma and it was fun to watch them fall in love and become a couple. I enjoyed their banter and even Li Cheng's over the top behavior. I'm glad this show exposed the couple to public homophobia and set the tone that no matter what, they are not ashamed and will publicly be a couple, regardless what anyone thinks. I would love to see them again if there is another installment because they are just to refreshing as a couple.

The most annoying aspect were the fujoshi squad. I believe the scriptwriter is the same woman who wrote MODC, so I'm not sure why fujoshi were included. Such misrepresentation of women.

Also, I think this episode makes it clear that MODC is canon. The guys mention Hao Ting living abroad at the wedding and refer to sending photos to "him" (not them) a the wedding. The wedding was strange because Sun Bo's cousin wasn't there, neither was Zhi Gang's relative who was in Season 1.

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Sorry but I LOVED it!!

This show is one of my favorites from beginning to end.

Honestly, I wasn't a fan of one couple...together. I liked them individually & thought that their characters brought some humor & clarity to a lot of the scenes. Their situation was one I have tried to avoid in past shows but the other couple MADE me stay. I watched their scenes the one time through & that was enough for me. I have to say that they did a beautiful job pulling it together at the end & I really wanted to like them together. The emotions that they portrayed were conveyed very well. I truly enjoyed the acting of the parents.

Now, ChengRen? What was not to adore? From the moment they are introduced I was sold hook, line, & sinker. Li Cheng's personality is crazy & sweet & adorable & passionate &.....I can go on LOL. He's handsome, funny, dramatic!!! Teng Teng is sex on a stick. He's beautiful & sophisticated & intelligent & funny &.....I can go on LOL. Their chemistry right out of the gate is palpable. Their relationship is admirable & the respect & adoration they have for each other is real. The way they look at each other at any given moment is nothing short of fire. I loved every scene they were in together in every episode.

This show is funny & dramatic but they didn't shy away from serious topics. All of the actors were truly genuine & some scenes really were perfection.

I can honestly say that this is the first show I've watched that I absolutely enjoyed every bit of the music. It fit perfectly with the emotions of the scenes. Andrew Tan assisted this show greatly as every song of his was perfect.

I will & have watched this show several times already throughout its airing. I think this show is great & while I didn't give my attention much to the one couple, the show wouldn't have been the same without them.

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Fake relationship, friends to lovers & stepbrothers tropes

sunshine/tsundere & grumpy/sunshine pairings

I have a mixed relationship with the HIStory franchise. They’ve broken my heart (several times), left things unfinished or unsatisfying, and simultaneously reliably provided some of the best kisses and hottest chemistry in all BL.

It’s like BL roulette with them, but the odds are never in our favor.

I’m one of the few who likes a fake relationship trope less than stepbrothers. I like friends to lovers but I HATE shipper self-insert characters. So going in I thought this was going to be real rough for me. And, in spots, it was. But what can I say? The aching toothsomeness of this show plus that glorious chemistry Taiwan casually dishes out like it’s no big deal totally won me over. Add in some old favorite side dishes from HIStory 3: Make Our Days Count, and I’m in.

The ending was pure BL syrup tapped from the cheesiest sappiest of trees, so absurd that I’m pretty sure I giggled through all the bits meant to be taken seriously. Honestly, to tolerate this show at all you just can’t take ANY of it seriously. And that’s me and most fandoms, so It worked for me.

What can I say? Whenever Taiwan flexes its BL muscles, it’s really hard to not stare. Even when they are this problematic. And covered in syrup.

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Refreshing drama on

I found it to be a refreshing drama that shows the meaning of friendship, love and family. It's a turning point of one self-confidence in himself to be able to open up to family and friends about being gay and the new idea and thoughts you go thru. Life doesn't always go the way we plan as Li cheng and mu Ren were always friends/coworkers until Mei fang appeared in there lives.. She was Mu Ren first love and he wants her back and while trying to get close to her he admitted that he liked BL drama and as they talked together and became closer he realized that he cared for li cheng more. On the other hand we have Hsing Ssu who lived at home with his parents until he couldn't tell them he's gay so he moved out and in with Li cheng and Mu Ren. His younger stepbrother Yung chieh now 20 is in love with him for over 10yrs while growing up and finally tell him and is turned down. He convinced his brother to take him away for his birthday and got him drunk and had sex with him. Upon waking up he was scared and furious so he left. The relationship starts to get stronger until they have to get a blessing from there parents. The are other side stories of history 3 included. I felt the pressure of there emotions. A must see

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Awful plot. Tw : R*pe

The whole dynamic of the second couple is so wrong. R*ping someone is not okay in any world. Idc if he has a sad backstory , it doesn't justify violating someone he claims that he likes. He could have waited it out. The plot felt disgusting and wrong. I don't like how they make it seem like a guy getting r*ped is no big deal. This is so messed up , it was suffocating to watch. Would not recommend this.

Not y'all justifying r*pe when he clearly got him drunk and f'ed him while he was in a drunken state, if he was confident that his brother liked him , he wouldn't have done that. AND IF ANYONE DOES THAT TO A PERSON THEY LOVE THEY ARE F*CKED UP IN THE HEAD.

"They were in love" oh then why did he get his brother drunk? Why couldn't he keep it in his pants & WAIT UNTIL HE GOT A CLEAR YES BEFORE DOING IT? Why is violating someone okay just because you like them?
That is not the way to go about when you like someone.
"YES" IN A CLEAR CONSCIOUS MIND = CONSENT. Would that man give consent to his brother when he was not drunk? NO HE WOULDN'T. IDFC IF HE WAS IN DENIAL THAT HE LOVED HIS BROTHER OR NOT. THAT DOESN'T EXCUSE ANYTHING. THE BROTHER SHOULD HAVE WAITED IT OUT INSTEAD OF R*APING THE PERSON HE LOVED. THE BROTHER WAS DAMN SURE THAT HE WOULDN'T GIVE CONSENT THAT'S WHY HE GOT HIM DRUNK. FICTIONAL OR NOT, THIS IS WRONG. IN NO WORLD IS THIS OKAY.

People go watch movies or dramas to feel and escape reality and if this escape of yours includes justifying r*ape because the r*pist had a sad backstory or the victim was in denial of his feelings, you need therapy.

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SO FAR SO BAD

@sarhattiwatti got everything right about this problematic show, so I'll just add a few comments here in response to how I've seen people defend other terrible shows.

1) "You haven't even seen the whole series yet, how can you judge it so soon?"

In a few short episodes, we have already seen unwanted touching, STALKING, and INCEST. There is no way to justify these actions no matter how many more episodes are left. Once a person has committed these acts, there is no taking it back or making it better or okay. They are and should be deal-breakers for any further relationship developing between people. Would you end up dating a stalker because they turned out to be "nice" or "cute" or YOUR BROTHER?

2) "This is just fiction, anything goes. It doesn't mean anything, it's just a fantasy."

Fiction and story-telling have always had real-world consequences. Every culture uses stories to pass on values and spread ideas about what beliefs they hold . The representation shown here regarding male/male relationships are very problematic and those who do not know real people in same-sex relationships can conclude, based on this show, that men can be persuaded to date their own brothers or their straight co-workers if the only tried hard enough. There is so much wrong with this narrative. Lack of positive or accurate representation is a part of why we have racism and homophobia in the real world. This show certainly doesn't help in any of these areas.

3) "This was created by straight women for straight women."

Again this is an issue of REPRESENTATION. Regardless of the creators or target audience, the relationship being portrayed is male/male and therefore is a representation of gay men everywhere. Telling other people's stories without getting anything correct is harmful, and it begs the question if any gay people are involved in the creation of this show, because it doesn't seem like it, and that's a problem in itself. I also highly doubt straight women or anyone want to see incestuous relationships between characters, fictional or otherwise.

4) "It's not incest, they're not related by blood."

Again, @sarhattiwatti already addressed this but I also want to further emphasize this because it's WAY TOO COMMON in BL shows. Whether related by blood or not, IT'S STILL INCEST. They have a scene in the show from back when the brothers were younger and were taking care of each other. That just further establishes that they had a prior FAMILIAL relationship and makes this all the worse. They grew up together, nature has a way of making people not see each other in a sexual way if they grew up in the same household as established through psychological research, so anything that deviates from this is WRONG. Please don't debate me on this because it will make you look bad. Stop trying to justify incest, it's not a good look for anyone... And as for the inability of two men to reproduce, would it be okay for a brother and sister to have sex if they use protection or have their tubes tied??? IT'S. STILL. INCEST. AND. IT'S. STILL. WRONG. (add clap emojis for emphasis)

BL shows have always blurred the lines between realism and fantasy, but this series really takes it too far to a place that creates a problem for the representation of male/male relationships. It has taken cute fantasy into a dark place, and it's a huge step back in the progress of LGBTQ+ representation. Such a shame coming from Taiwan, which is otherwise the leader in Asia regarding these matters. This show either needs to hire some actual gay people, or end entirely for the sake of everyone.

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Good looking Cast and heartwarming story

History 4 is not too intense like the other history series... but its amost likable one till date.. the cast is very good looking and story is really hearttouching... its very warm and feel good drama.. you will love it.. its worth a watch.. the chemistry between leads is sizzling hot... the tension between the couple feels real .. the struggle of loving someone of same gender with all the social obligation is worth a watch.. Love ia not easy for anyone if its true and real thats what you can see in drama..love the cast and the storyline too.. must watch drama.. highly recommended..

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Interesting

I thought this was overall a good episode. There was one scene that I found a little unnerving but I still like the chemistry of our two couples. Also I didn’t find the girl ships as intrusive. As long as they keep the crazy females out of the way I’m ok. My main interest is the development of the bl couples. There was a good balance between the two couples and we see how strong the bond is between the three roommates. Also we got some insight into the family dynamics of the stepbrothers. The only concern I have is bl writers have used this stepbrother relationship too many times. It’s beginning to be boring and too predictable. While it’s not incest technically it can feel eerie especially if they have lived in the same household for a number of years and essentially grew up together.

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