HIStory4: Close to You

I WISH IT WAS JUST THE STORY OF THE FIRST COUPLE.

my rating is solely based on the first couple's story. i don't even want to give a rating to the couple referred to as the second couple. i wasn't expecting a happy ending for them either. i watched their story with the same disappointment as xing si's father. it was nice to watch the first couple's relationship evolve from friendship. li cheng's character was incredibly sweet. It was nice to see someone ready to do anything for the one they love. mu ren was also very sweet. it was nice to watch their relationship. but as I said, the presence of the other couple ruined the whole energy of the series. honestly, it's not a series i would highly recommend. the series revolved too much around the ethical boundaries of human nature.

Read More

Enjoyed and saw the great things about it, even between the moral debate

The series was interesting overall, using the office setting, they gave us new plotlines and working issues. I think that the production changes affected, but i wouldn't go that far as to say that this is a bad series, for me is an step down from HIStory 3 (that could have happened either way because those 2 are top notch 9 & 9.5 series, very hard to improve) and neck to neck with HIStory 2.

The acting was good, not only from our main 4, but also the rest, specially the father of the non blood related brothers. The OST was quite good as well. Enjoyed the wardrobe, i think that the stylist did a great job portraying all their personalities through their fashion sense.

The story started low for me, specially the second couple, and later on they knew how to pick it up and elevate it.
The main couple is what triggers people the most, because the lived together as brothers for some years and some controversial stuff. Is not that i don't understand why it can feel off, specially some scenes are a bit (much) of a controversy, but i see it as art, art is there to explore things, it doesn't need to be an honest representation of what is right in society. We see in media all kinds of violence, gore, craziness... all the things that are wrong as well, so even if you would not agree with something like that in real life, you can watch it and understand the storyline withouth needing to be a perfect sunny portray of morals. I saw a movie where a dude was in love with a MALE GOAT, killed him while being jealous, and after 20 years was so not over that keept getting male prostitutes to dress like that damn goat and have sex with them so... yes, i don't see that as a right, morally correct and fluffly thing, but i totally cried while laughing and found it amusing LMAO
As for the second couple, their characters are vey charming, both of them, way more than the main couple, and that made me fall for them even stronger. I just didn't enjoy the childish start of their story, the shippers thing and all that... it felt like i was in an school GMMTV bl (upsie) but with adults. Later on, when all that passed, they made it a really sweet and nice love story, with some very interesting topics of conflict between gay couples such as their bed preferences. They also have boom as chemistry, and are long time friends in real life, so that was a plus indeed.
The cameos from HIStory MODC made it even more worth it ^^ My heart felt warmer at the end.

Overall, i enjoyed the series, and saw the great things about it, even between the moral debate, is not perfect, but is good.

Worth to watch? totally

Included in my top 10? No

I'll watch it again? Some scenes and plotlines, not in full lenght.

Read More

--TABOO--

This show is entertaining and is filled with BL-candy.
BUT, it PROMOTES> Stalking, Sexual Harassment/Exploitation and INTIMATE-Relationship between siblings (with approval of at least 1 parent!) It's not simply fiction, it's a reference of the real world we live in today. Made me feel out of sorts and terribly afflicted.

I would strongly advise that ONLY well-informed adults watch this series.

Liked: The acting & sequence of events.

Disliked: Misinterpretation of taboo issues and blatant disregard/lack of awareness concerning mental health issues relative to topics portrayed in this series.

Read More

Would’ve been higher without the step brother couple

The “primary” couple was wonderful from the most part. Besides the hiccups with chasing after the childhood crush, the rating would probably be a 8; however, the second couple.... There are very few times where I view step sibling relationships as ok (actually really no times) but this one was genuinely disgusting. From the r4pe to the age gap to the knowing the younger brother since he was an actual child, the whole thing made me feel icky watching it. So I didn’t. If not for the skip button, I would have dropped it. Could have just made them a regular couple but what is a bl without some scene or couple that makes everyone uncomfortable?

Read More

Come at it with an open mind

This drama comes from the writer of the last 2 HIStory (trapped and make our days count), and here she has really evolved and push the envelope in what is the second couple, giving us Step siblings that grow up together and are entangled in a serial of questionable‘s situations. So put your open minded suit on and enjoy the ride. This show didn’t impress me the first time but has really surprised me the need that i feel to rewatch it several times a year. Right now i have just accepted that i was quick to judge the first time around and that didn’t allowed me understand the emotions and feelings of the character. This is a well thought drama that will need a calm, mature an open mind to understand. The real gold of this drama is the main couple, what a loving, understanding and trusting pair.

Read More

I am team go ahead and watch this one despite a few weird twists and turns

Full disclosure, I've seen a lot of toxic (Chinese) BL, so this much softer Taiwanese entry into the genre isnt that shocking to me. But I get it. There are some weird and/or disturbing storylines. That said I watch a lot of BL, and I thought this was a good but not perfect one

The two stars down are because of some ridiculous plot lines that I had a hard time stomaching.

What I am NOT bothered by is the non-biological brothers hooking up. This is a common BL trope that isn't my go-to but also doesn’t freak me out. If that's a bridge too far you should just bail once that's revealed.

Also, I liked the chemistry, especially the second couple. I'm a sucker for the hopeless romantic who loves without fear. I'm also a sucker for "straight" guys who love who they love. The second love story is the way I want the world to work. Go with your heart.

I don't love the top/bottom fetish that many BLs and BL watchers suffer from. I didn't hate the treatment here. It's raised and discussed. I appreciate that it's not completely clear, especially for couple #2, who's who. Please, BL writers, let's create some vers couples! (Is Gameboys the only one?)

The acting was pretty good. There were a few times I felt like they weren't natural but overall I was into their portrayals.

Now, the criticism. What's up with the parents? The dad was really a good guy, but everyone lied to him assuming he would freak out. So painful to watch! And the mom was wrong for so so many things, and she never had to explain herself. I appreciate her support but damn.

The SA was rough. I get the theory that he wanted to force the coming out convo (and take the blame) but dear God man. WTF? And if you're gonna write that, deal with it better. It felt very unresolved. And SA #2 also wasn't handled very well. Fire his ass! To be clear, this isn't just me not liking what happened, it's about the writers presenting serious issues but not resoving them in a realistic way or at all.

I binged this one in about 2 days. I'm glad I watched it and the other HIStory series. (I think I have 2 left.) My favorite is H3: Trapped, but for me this was a solid albeit controversial (taboo?) entry as well.

Read More

Such a FALL from HIStory 3 masterpieces.....

With this title, I can say it's pretty likable to watch. For this series, the storyline is set aside from what I should be following. If it's not for An Ju Peng (Xingsi) and maybe Charles Tu (Xiao Li Cheng). As what I said, I got lost with the plot, it's all over the place. The thing like Li Cheng is pursuing her childhood or past love girl by putting himself in a BL world with Teng Teng which is kinda, uhmm, not much of a strategy to get the girl back. I really never seen at least one plot twist it's just that.

When it comes to Yong Jie, uhm man I hate him. He's like a stalker to his brother which threw me off. I don't really like that when he saw Teng Teng got close walking with Xingsi, he was attacked. Yong Jie is the least appealing in the show especially because of his situation and portrayal. I don't like the notion of him mistaken the TLC of his non-biological brother to him for love. He stalks him in the series and caused panic to LiCheng Ang Teng Teng for invading their home, attacking Teng Teng and raping Xing Si. That's just horrible to me. I like the pairing between XingSi and Yong Jie though but, damn, if the story between them is different from being non-biological brothers and him stalking XingSi it would have been better. Maybe Yong Jie can be an assistant to the company and they both fell in love, I would accept that. Li Cheng and Teng Teng, honestly did not care for them but I don't have problem with them. I was just not into them, even with sweet moments I didn't really care. My overall attention to the show was for Xing Si only. He is the most likable character in the series. He is genuine, caring, sweet, just anything nice you could think about him. He's also sincere to his feelings and how good looks also caters my admiration towards him. It's just like there's no fault around him in all aspects. My eyes were all glued to him when his screen time is there. Back to Yong Jie, one thing that saved him from disappointing me further is the fact that he matured a lot and towards the end he became caring to XingSi opposed to the scene where he made him drunk and raped him. I really like the way he look when his character changed.
The strategy of getting the girl by playing with her in her BL world is redundant for me. I wish it was like LiCheng just fall in love with Teng Teng ever since growing up. I'm just glad that Xing Si and Yong Jie's parents were not homophobic, at least for the father but the Yong Jie's mother got me like uhmm. There's one scene where she just talk about her son being like a thug instead of giving sympathy towards him which disgust me a little bit.

I also hate the Vice President of the company trying to rape Teng Teng and falsely accusing Li Cheng of embezzling the money of the company. He's such an opportunistic moron. Everything else fine okay not for me even the Yaowi girl Li Cheng was really into it feels like the plot needed her but when I look at it, I was like nah she's redundant too. This made the plot looked weak for me.

I love how Bo Xiang and Zhi gang and their friends made cameos. Kinda hoping characters from TRAPPED would make an appearance too but, I'm cool with it. It's just like a sequel for them although they're not the main characters no more but nothing's wrong with it.

Another downside of this series is like the sudden click between XingSi wanting a relationship with Yong Jie like I don't get it. If that weren't their situation I would understand it, but nah it's just, boom, "I love you" out of the blue "let's be boyfriends". It feels like he just wanted him to be his boyfriend because he feels pity towards Yong Jie than what I thought it should be.

The ending I'm cool with it, OSTs are good. That's that!

Read More

Don't let other's opinion hinder you.

This is the type of series that you need to watch first before judging if it is your cup of tea or not.

How can you know if the series is good?
Look at the comments and reviews, you can see that people's thinking are being challenged because of varying opinions. Some are too affected to the point of being enraged to fictional characters, and some are appreciating the entertainment the show is offering.



if you want fluff and awkward acting, stick to thai bl.

if you like great acting, hot and passionate scenes from the couples, complex personalities from the four main leads and one of the most mature relationship on a bl (Li cheng and Mu Ren), then you must watch this.

This show has its flaws, just like every other series have, but you need to weigh all the reviews you are seeing and not just a part of it.

Read More

Half good, half awful

I have mixed feelings about this show. One of the couples is super cute; the other one is super disturbing.

Even if I could somehow get over the (step) sibling stuff, there's still stalking, violence, and sexual assault... I couldn't really root for them. I mainly just skipped their parts. It was really angsty and downright disturbing at times.

The other couple has a somewhat ridiculous but still very enjoyable story arc, with all the cutesy rom-com tropes you can imagine: fake-dating, accidental aphrodisiac, pining, all the good stuff. Not to mention that the boys are super handsome.

So I'd say they worth a watch.

The other couple is a skip for me.

Read More

I will be honest, I skipped every scene involving the step-brothers. It makes me uncomfortable how the younger one got XingSi drunk and forcibly slept with him. On top of that filmed the whole encounter. Yeah, that ended well when it was shown to the dad, right? What is even more fucked up is the mother being aware of everything and encouraging the younger brother? His reasoning is just bullshit to me. Who is he to decide that he's the best person for XingSi to be with? Someone who is so obsessed that they would r*** their step-brother in an attempt to be with him is messed up in the head and needs help. For me, he basically emotionally blackmailed XingSi to be with him. That is the one thing I hate about this series, is how they romanticized what happened to XingSi, made him forgive his younger brother, and jump into a relationship with him.

As for the main couple, it was both cute and heartbreaking to see their journey. I understand some people not understanding Licheng "I'm not interested in guys, just TingTing" but it's not hard to understand. It just means that LiCheng loves TingTing on an emotional level. For him, he fell for the person, not the gender and he at least, did not do any fucked up shit to be with TingTing. Instead, when TingTing rejected him, he backed off. I loved their pairing and they really sold their character and brought some redemption to the series.

Read More

ONE OF THE BEST, BUT NOT FOR EVERYONE

If you are strongly against sexual assaults/rapes in dramas and romantic relationship between step siblings, if you are one of those who takes dramas too seriously and forget that these are only fictions, then don't even bother watching it. But, if you're okay with it, go ahead and watch it. It's definitely one of the best, sweetest and hottest BLs out there.
My favourite couple in this drama was Teng Muran and Li Cheng. Gosh so damn cute! Their love story isn't something very extraordinary and can be considered cliche, but trust me it's much more refreshing than watching college students romance. Teng Muran looks like a guy straight out of Manga. Tall, slender body with a beautiful face and elegant but cold aura. Li Cheng is like a breath of fresh air. Silly and funny but equally mature and passionate. I didn't get bored watching them. Every moment was fun. And they addressed a factor "who'll be the top, who'll be the bottom". They both wanted to be the top. Actually, I often wondered myself, don't gay couples ever feel conflicted about this? How do they decide? ..So, I was happy this series addressed that topic.
Now coming to the controversial couple -
Xing Se and Yong Jie. Honestly at first I thought Yong Jie was a crazy stalker when he broke into his room and when he hit Muran. But later, I got to know he was the step brother who was crazily obsessed with Xing Se. I've watched "HIStory: Obsessed" before this, but trust me, here the obsession depicted was much more and real than shown in the series "obsessed". I don't like such seriously obsessed and possesive lovers. But, slowly, the drama explains why he has such behaviour. What I liked is- he was bold and straightforward. He never lied. Even before sleeping with Xing Se, he told his mother everything about his plan. And even later, he was always ready to help his brother go back home and confess his dad while he would take all the blame. What I liked is, even though he clung onto Xing Se and did everything possible to make him love him, when Xing Se actually accepted and confessed his love, he didn't just jump to conclusions and asked him again and again if it wasn't just gratitude and sympathy. I mean, during all this time he did crazy things to get him, but then, he wasn't irrational. At a certain point he accepted that if his brother just wants him as a brother he'll accept it. So yeah that's good. Honestly, I understand such people and their behaviour. The series cleary explains how and where they comes from. And regarding relationship of step siblings, m okay with it. Their parents played their roles well too.
So overall, I loved it. I loved the SWEETNESS and HOTNESS the series offered. My fav was Muran-Li Cheng couple but I also liked the bitter-sweet relationship of Xing Se and Yong Jie.

Read More