Bu Jiu Shi Ba He Ma (2023)

I was so excited to watch this drama but half way through I felt like I was trying to convince myself to still really like it. Drama had so much potential… it just never seemed to go beyond “just okay”. Instead of focusing on the main leads, the storyline was everywhere… touching on each person and their relationships but never going deep enough. I liked ML but his trauma was resolved so late, he didn’t seem to have much character growth. Although romance wasn’t suppose to be a big part of this drama, I felt like there should have been more since drama brought it up and spent initial episodes trying to develop something. It was a bummer because nothing felt completely satisfying and there was one too many motivational speeches and monologues which made me want to hit the fast forward button.

Despite all that, this really wasn’t a bad drama….the strong brotherhood, tug of war as a sport, and actors and actresses were likeable (at least most of them), I never quite figured out who was the FL…maybe there wasn’t really one. The portrayal of coaches was a little much but I’ve seen my share of crazy coaches too. I give writers props for writing the coaches in that way… although it’s wrong, I have a feeling that’s what a lot athletes face on the daily.

Overall, It was a cute watch but my expectations were probably just too high. I can’t bring myself to rate it less than an 8!!

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Facing Difficulies With Courage

I usually don’t watch many college-age sports themed dramas, but I was looking for something fluffy and not filled with angst and chose this one. Much to my surprise, I actually enjoyed it.

As I said, I don’t normally watch this genre and the reason is my feet get twitchy, my hands get sweaty and it feels like I am participating from the bleachers 😂

I’ve read comments about how long it took the ML to ‘get over’ the loss of his friend, and zi find that rather irritating because these people have probably never experienced having someone they care about die in front of them. It is a horrible experience - I know this is fact because I have lived it. It’s not something you can just ‘get over’ or overcome quickly. Especially when you don’t allow yourself to grieve like the ML did. It’s traumatic emotionally and physically. His stoic “long face” was there to block anyone from getting close to him so he didn’t have to feel that type of loss and pain again.

The beautiful thing about this drama is that the showed everyone has their problems and dreams and even though things were hard, they eventually dropped their”I’m fine” masks and were able to bond as friends and teammates.

Therewere annoying characters, obnoxiously narsicistic jerks, people with family dynamic issues, fearful of failure and many more. They all eventually managed to overcome their issues and develop into healthy people.

There was a hint of romance which is typical of college scenarios, but the main focus was the tug-of-war team.

By working through their own problems and trying to establish a sport club on their campus they learned what things are important and to let go of things that hindered them.

Of course there were odd things included, and logic holes in the storyline. But despite those things, this is a nice watch if you’re into building strong relationships even in difficulties. No running or hiding, but eventually working toward mutual interests and goals.

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