Kiseki: Dear to Me

my new favourite!

Im really happy i came across this drama... It literally has got everything! A lot of handsome guys - in a totally innocent way i'd say - but also with huge talent. The plot is entertaining, side action is too. Nothing too dark nothing too shallow. The chemistry of both couples is unbelievable! I dont know who to praise more... the mature teen falling for the gangster, the gangster whos a math prodigy, the short guy acting like a rag doll when drunk, the introvert young gangster... So heartwarming and serene. Im totally in awe!
Also, it's so beautifully filmed, but in a discreet, nothing-too-obvious manner, and dialogues are not too much, not too little!
Masterpiece if you ask me!
Taiwanese cinematography doesnt cease to amaze me.
Rewatch? You bet!

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A nice little drama

It took me quite a few episodes to get into this, but by the end I thoroughly enjoyed it, though it was the second couple that won me over.

The second couple does the "flipped" trope perfectly, and the chemistry is great; Taiwanese dramas are also not afraid of skinship and intimate scenes, which makes everything feel much more real. If there's anything I would rewatch it would probably be their scenes.

The main couple is fine and they have their moments, but I admit I don't care as much for them; the chemistry is fine, but the tropes seem more cliche, and I think they're hampered by the "gangster" plot, which tries to be serious but doesn't really manage to establish its high stakes due to low budget and short runtime.

Overall though, still a nice little watch.

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Another epic Taiwanese BL show to put at your re-watch list

This show really amazed me. FINALLY !! we got to see something fresh in a BL series. The story is unique and keet us entertained in every episode. I really like the diversity of the story between both the couples and other characters and how they are put together in the same story.
The storytelling was good, the script was great and really hatts off to the casting. Every actor in this series gave their best.
Starting with the leads Both the couple's had great sizzling chemistry. They made me feel every emotion of their character with their acting .

My personal favourite is the story of the second couple. I was literally obsessed with them. I mean , I can guarantee for those who have watched this series and have not felt pain in the prison scene with the cake. Also, for the scene of their first time doing it. They just delivered us pure raw emotions that stabbed our hearts along with some other beautiful scene. Every episode felt too short and me wanting to see more of their story. I really want to see more of them, like how they grew up together and how they missed each other during prison time.

Ai di is my favourite character in the whole show. According to me he literally was one of the character who stood out the most in the show. !!!!

I literally was excited for the show to see Wayne and Chun Chih back together, after the trauma I was left after History 3: MODC and wanting them to finally see happy together, but eventually it didn't happen again 😭.
Apart from that, thanks to the team for giving us the cameos in the drama that we all wanted to see. I really enjoyed this series.

However, i was a bit disappointed with the ending (final episode). The stabbing felt a bit unnecessary and since this plot was introduced the ending felt a bit rushed. I hope we get a special episode for the series.

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Ai Di and Chen Yi steal the show

Once again Taiwanese series do not disappoint, I really enjoyed this.
The main actors are quite good, but I have to say for me the second couple stole the show. I particularly liked the character Ai Di.
Storywise I enjoyed how the series is structured with it starting in the present and then going back to the past to show us how we got to this situation just to then follow the story from there.
It's a very well-written show I really liked the way the characters are written particularly the way the second couple's romance progresses. Louis did an amazing job of portraying Ai Di's feelings towards Chen Yi, the pain in love and most importantly the feelings of dejection and hopelessness of their situation.
I also enjoyed how the main couple's relationship developed and how they faced the age gap between the two characters.
This show is beautifully filmed, I truly enjoyed the sets and the colour grading of the interior scene in particular the bar scenes and the night scenes in Ba Zong Yi's room.
Although part of the script falls into a very well-known troupe I think that it worked for this series so in this case I am not mad at the use of this very overused plot point.
Completely unrelated to the plot of the show I appreciated the cameo of some other BL actors from series I previously enjoyed in this series.

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Romance? Passion? Chemistry? Pacing? What more could we possibly ask for?

What a great series!!! Everything we could possible want, we got in spades!

I loved the story of Bai Zong Yi and Fan Ze Rui. How these two lonely people whose paths unexpectedly cross steadily form a relationship from being enemies to unwilling caretaker/pestering patient, to friends, and then lovers. The buildup of tension between the two as their feelings for each other started to develop was immaculate 🤌🏾🤌🏾. Between when they finally become lovers, are separated and reunited, the love, lust and longing they had for each other was so palpable it was almost too much to watch. Episodes 7 and 11 still have me in a chokehold. My favorite thing about BZY was his honesty and straightforward personality. He wore his heart on his sleeve and was direct with his feelings for FZR. My fave thing about FZR was his eyes. His eyes told so much and always looked at BZY so lovingly. When watching two people GAZE at each other makes you shy, you know you've found a gem.

Where BZY and FZR were intimate and loving, Ai Di and Chen Yi were explosive and intense. Both pairings were so passionate but it was expressed in completely different ways which was great to see. AD and CY's romance story was also beautiful to watch; finally seeing, AD who had been waiting over 4 years for CY to reciprocate his love, find his own happiness was for sure worthwile. For all of AD's aggressiveness, he is such a softie on the inside, especially to those he loves, a classic tsundere so his character was very fun to watch and I loved his dynamic with CY.

Overall, in terms of romance, Kiseki: Dear to Me 100% delivered. The driving gang plot itself too was also good and brought lots of angst that allowed our couples to develop their feelings even quicker. I appreciated how the story didn’t drag at all throughout the series. (Though, I did wait for the series to end before binging so the pacing seemed great to me, all the cliffhangers would have had me STRESSED had I watched this live xD). Everything was paced well and I didn't feel any relevant plotline was particularly underdeveloped. Although, I wouldn't be opposed to getting bonus episodes of BZY and CY's married life, too much to ask? 👉🏾👈🏾🥺😫🥺. Acting was also superb from the main cast. I did not feel one bit of discomfort/awkwardness in intimate scenes between any of the pairings. They all had great chemistry. The only poor acting was honestly mainly from Wayne's character lmao, and other small side characters.

Anyway, so happy with this series and I wish the best to all the actors. I had a great time watching it and I'm sure if you decide to pick this up, you will too!

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This story is about pedophila and grooming, point blank. If you accept that the student is 17, then every action is grossly inappropriate and disgusting. Like commenting on how in shape a 17 year old is, sleeping in the same bed with him, touching his face and cuddling to comfort him, etc. So I told myself he was 18 to try to enjoy the rest of the story. To be honest, him being 17 wasn’t that important to the plot and there was no reason they couldn’t have just made him 18.

For the main couple:

There was a lot, a lot of non-con and crossed boundaries. The mob dude coerces the student to sleep in the same bed as him. He touches his face and cuddles him while he’s sleeping (to comfort him from a nightmare, is the justification). In the morning, he kisses the student non-consensually. He gets punched in the face for it, thankfully. But he also gets forgiven fairly easily and the student falls in love with him shortly after. There was also one scene where he gropes the student’s dick in his sleep (but this seems like a genuine muscle memory mistake where he thought he was waking up next to a sexual partner).

When they finally get together, the mob dude had said that he wasn’t interested, but the student keeps leaning in for a kiss anyways. He keeps going in again and again, even the mob dude keeps stopping him, before he finally kisses him. The mob dude is hesitant and partially pushing him away, but he keeps kissing anyways. And then the kiss turns consensual. When they finally reunite after the time skip, mob dude is drunk and on pills, half asleep and thinks he’s dreaming. But they proceed to kiss and have sex. Mob dude seemed to become aware at some point and was an active participant, but he was in no shape to consent.

It’s weird that the mob dude suddenly cared about the student’s age once he confessed. He didn’t care all this time that he was sleeping in the same bed with him or that one time he kissed him non-consensually. It was for show I think, to try to show the audience that he wasn’t a TOTAL pedophile. Except he went on to discard all his concerns and sleep with him, date him, promise to marry him, etc. etc.

Also, the mob dude changes the student’s house lock and makes himself a key without asking. He physically grabs the student to force his attention when he’s upset too.

What I did like: They were equals. Despite the age difference and power dynamics, in the relationship and in the bedroom, they were complete equals. The defied stereotypes by making the younger, inexperienced one the top, but it didn’t really matter what positions they took in the bedroom because they took turns taking the lead both in and out of the bedroom. Before the time skip, if you ignore the ages, they were very very cute together. Neither one of them was running away and dodging the other person’s affection like BLs typically do.

What I didn’t like:

The student was a good kid, smart with a bright future. He had goals, had been accepted into college to become a doctor. Instead he takes the fall for the mob dude and goes to jail for 4 years. During that time, mob dude was pretending he lost his memory. He doesn’t write, he doesn’t visit. Once the student is out, mob dude continues to pretend. The student opens a bakery basically dedicated to the mob dude and waits around, hoping he’ll come back, but in the end he doesn’t. It’s the student that finds and seeks him out.

The student gave up his entire life for this guy, who completely abandoned him. And he gets forgiven immediately. The student doesn’t even get upset. In fact, he’s okay with giving the mob dude MORE TIME to adjust. Like what? The justification was that he was “protecting” him from this family, but the family sent people after the student anyways, so what was the point? Another friend goes into the jail in order to protect the student. Why didn’t he do that? Why didn’t he take the fall himself? Like there was no excuse for disappearing for 4 years and not sending one secret letter or sign that you didn’t just let him give up his whole life for nothing.

The entire post-timeskip was the student pursuing the mob guy when it should have been the mob guy begging on his knees for being a garbage human being. Plus, the post-timeskip was way more focused on the second couple so I didn’t feel the main couple got a satisfying ending or proper happy times once they were re-united.

The second couple:

What an absolute toxic shitshow. Why exactly do people think they’re cute?

One guy is absolutely in love with their much older boss for the entire first half of the show. At one point he non-consensually kisses the other guy while drunk and pining over the boss, and gets bit on the lip for his troubles. Don’t worry though, because the turning point is when he was blackout drunk, in emotional turmoil, and in love with his boss, and the other guy has sex with him (read: rapes), takes his virginity, and fucks off for the next 4 years. This made idiot 1 realize he was actually in love with idiot 2 (read: his rapist) and not his boss.

So then idiot 1 proceeds to kidnap, tie up, coerce, and otherwise forcibly make idiot 2 like him again. And I mean that. He picks him up to move him where he want him to go. He shoves him in his car. He lies to him about being hurt and needing his help to get him to talk to him. He ties him to his bed to force a conversation. He grabs him and manhandles him and refuses to let him leave when he wants to. He has him followed and prevents him from hooking up. He tries to kiss and take off the other guy’s clothes while he’s loudly protesting both verbally and physically, and physically restrains him to prevent him from running away - quite literally trying to rape him, without even the excuse of either of them being drunk. He’s controlling as fuck, saying that the other guy is “his responsibility”. He’s the type of “caring” that really means “controlling”, “overbearing”, and “abusive”. The other guy is actively verbally and physically fighting for his own free-will, but his desires aren’t listened to whatsoever. But I guess he gives him his favorite foods and showers him with gifts, so he’s a good guy and we should ship them, right?

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Unexpectedly amazing! A must watch!!

Synopsis

The series revolves the main couple, Bai Zong-Yi and Fan Ze-Rui. Zing-Yi first meets injured Ze-Rui when coming home from his high school. While providing a safe haven and medical care to Ze-Rui, Zong-Yi develops feelings. Their relationship faces many obstacles and dangers, due to Ze-Rui’s job as a gangster. Zong-Yi who’s ultimately made to give up on his dream to become an accomplished doctor, constantly fights for their love. On the other hand, Ai-Di (while helping his friends, Ze-Rui and Zong-Yi amidst all the chaos), is longing for the time Chen-Yi would come to him.


Overall - 8.5/10

The series was entertaining and wholesome. I did catch myself shedding a few tears for Zong-Yi and Ai-Di. It would be great to see this remade again with more and longer episodes. At first it didn’t seem as though i would come to love it as much as i did. But the story was truly wonderful. The series was cute, wholesome, and emotional. I definitely think this is an absolute must watch for BL fans.


Story - 8/10

The second couple, Ai-Di and Chen-Yi get an almost equal amount of screen time making them seem more of a main couple than a second. Ai-Di’s and Chen-Yi’s relationship have a very different dynamic compared to the main couple, probably influenced by both of their involvement in gang leadership. Ai-Di had significant screen time, which especially made him seem more that an a support role.

The second leads’ personalities are very different to the main couple’s. Chen-Yi, is quite stoic and serious. Ai-Di, is playful and brutal . Zong-yi, is gentle and straightforward. Ze-Rui is romantic and sentimental. These differences made watching the series all the more interesting.

The third couple in series would probably be the relationship between the two bosses Dong-Yang and Ming-Lei. Their love story felt quite sorrowful and tragic. I felt that their love story had a lot of potential. It would be quite interesting to see their story developed as a series of their own.

To me, the main couple’s romance felt too sudden and random at the beginning, although their relationship developed to be my favourite later on.

Seeing, “history 3: make our days count” couple on screen brought back nostalgic memories. However, it does seem that they (more specifically Wayne Song) can’t escape their misfortune, as lovers in H3:MODC and as antagonists in this series.


Acting/ Cast - 9/10

Taro Lin (Bai Zong-Yi) was the most impressive to me. I felt that Taro was quite good at expressing the subtle emotions and nuances of his character. He did a good job in balancing his character’s gentleness and his contrasting boldness with his love interest. Taro and Hsu Kai (Fan Ze-Rui) had a lot of chemistry, which made their character’s relationship all the more realistic and enjoyable. I did feel like that Nat Chen (Chen-Yi) and Louis Chiang (Ai-Di), had more room for improvement compared to the leads. Personally, Nat’s and Louis’ chemistry felt a bit dry at times.

Louis was a personal favourite. His parts which focused on him leading his gang was the most interesting to me. I had hoped for more scenes where Louis would have been able to showcase more of that playful and dangerous brutal sides of his character.


Music & Sounds - 8.5/10

There’s wasn’t anything too special about the music. It didn’t draw my attention or getting me thinking it was amazing. But it did it’s job in emphasising the emotions of certain scenes. The Music or Sound, didn’t have any notable impact on my overall rating of the series.


Rewatch Value - 7/10

I wouldn’t say it’s always good to have a high rewatch value. A higher rewatch value could mean that the film had less of an impact, was less memorable or was quite generic. This series did have its memorable points, but it did fell generic. It’s something I would watch again to pass time, or when I feel like indulging myself on Chen-Yi’s and Ai-Di’s angst, or Zongyi’s and Ze-Rui’s wholesomeness.


Thank you for reading so far!! <3

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Well made romance thriller.

What I liked:
-The acting.
(Especially Ai Di's actor. They way he was able to portray this undercurrent of sadness and vulnerability in this street kid gang member was truly impressive.)
-The production.
(Some of the shots in the shows were really beautiful. And i was never taken out of the story by weird editing or audio problems.)
-The story.
(It was really nice to have a romance that had plot going on, independent of the romance.)

What I struggled with:
- The relationships between the groups.
(I had a really hard time understanding why the different factions were against each other.)

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Where there is love, there are miracles.

I absolutely loved the first episodes. There are some things that I didnt like, but this series was so good and interesting and the actors were so hot.
I didnt expect such a chemistry between the main characters. To be honest, I liked Chen Yi and Ai Di more. Thanks God that they became a couple after all. Of course, I also liked Ze Rui and Bai Zong Yi. It was obvious that Ze Rui felt in love first, but Bai Zong Yi didnt want to express his feelings from the start. It was awful when he took the blame and saved Ze Rui. He wasted four years of his life, failed at school and lost his short memory in prison. Ai Di also made the wrong desicion, but after all everything had a happy end.
For a taiwanesse series, this was so good. Surely I will rewatch it.

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