My Tooth Your Love

This is a solid Taiwan-typical BL rom-com, that unfortunately goes off the rails in the last two episodes.

But first, what I liked:
* The characters (except for the father) were all very down-to-earth in their living circumstances, occupations and characteristics.
* Bai Liang's character is consistently written -- his passions, his fears, his experiences in childhood, his resulting way of life -- they're all parts of one picture.
* His actor takes this, and deepens the character by wonderful acting. His expressions mask the characters insecurities, his tics hint at his emotional state, and the anxiety attacks were beautiful to watch.
* The sets did not feel like sets, they all felt like real places (except for the mirror in the clinic, which was always a bit too conveniently placed).


The main flaws for me were
1. Too many couples. Seriously, why do some writers think they have to pair up all of their characters? Four couples in ten 30-minute episodes are too much; two of them don't even get more than a few minutes of screentime. The second couple (bartender/young man) also was not needed, its development did not connect to the main couple. I'd rather the writer had taken the precious screen time to delve deeper into Jin Yun An's character, because I did not understand some of his actions.
2. The father-son sub plot in episode 11. It comes out of nowhere (there were only some very minor hints that Jin Xu An was not on good terms with his family), is squeezed into one episode, the father's actions don't make any sense (he's so much against his son being gay that he hits him, and after that's done, he is fine with it???). It seems as if the writer feelt that Bai Liang and Jin Xun An must have an obstacle to overcome and couldn't think of anything else but this contrived cliché.

So, up until the end of episode 10, this drama is good, if a bit tropey (with a meet-ugly, a tragic childhood background, wooing through food, an old love interest and more), which is tempered by excellent acting, solid directing and editing, and a good depiction of mental struggles caused by trauma. Sadly, the afore-mentioned "conflict" decreased my enjoyment of the series.

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Watch it. Waaaaatch it, you wont regret it, I swear

Literally the best of all the BL ive watched (and remember lol). Side couples could have used more time, kinda got left behind but everyone was well fleshed-out, dynamic, and loveable. I love this. I love love love love this. I had a blast. I couldnt stop smiling. The trope that normally pisses me off didnt even get a chance before theyd cleared things up. I want to go back in time and unwatch this just so i can watch it the first time again. I teared up at the end and i deadass do not cry for a n y t h i n g. This is lovely. This is a must watch. This is my literal fucking kryptonite because i am pissing shitting crying that its over or doesnt have a second season. For once in my happily critical life, ive nothing negative to say

(Wait i lied the music choices in the first few episodes can be reaply deranged but it irons out)

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Didn’t expect this much sweetness

To those who hesitate to watch the drama, im here to say GO On Try it ♥️ you will gonna love
So much sweetness even my teeth got cavities 🫶🏻
I didn’t expect much but the drama turns our so sweet and fluffy
The actors have done their job well and how they portrayed the emotions and all are very good!
I really enjoyed the drama and all the sweet moments
Its really a good drama to watch to make yourself relax a bit..
I recommend everyone to watch it for a little candy and sugar!
Well don’t expect things like love in the air but the sweetness is thr

Overall I enjoyed well
I kept smiling throughout the drama
Its nice and lighthearted

Give it a try
Wouldn’t get disappointed <3

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Lovely Taiwanese drama

The leads' chemistry is on fire, their cute moments makes you wanna scream at God and the world "When is it my turn?!" and then fall in despair because the answer is: probably never.

The plot sounds rather unprofessional: a Doctor and his patient? Surprisingly though, given all the other circumstances I didn't mind as much. Their progress is rather slow though if you look at the number of episodes but it certainly didn't feel like it. It's enjoyable to watch, the plot a bit on the heavier side with dealing with trauma.
You will be rewarded though by their cuteness. It's worth it.

Plotwise my biggest problem is how they dealt with Xin'an's father. What was the point of incorporating his disapproval (and physical abuse) if it's resolved by him just staying silent for 10 minutes? That was not done well, unfortunately.

Regardless, a lovely watch, I would recommend to my friends!

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I love the acting!!

I think that the main gem of this show is the acting of the leads, it's is so damn good. Especially Andy's, as he is acting out a more complicated character, I love his expressions so much, and in my book he and this show does one of the best portrayals of anxiety/panic symptoms.

Some personal experience: I had a few years of my life when I had really bad anxiety, I was scared alone, so when it got dark I turned on the lights in the empty rooms, as if someone was there. When I had an oncoming panic like attack, I started to do stuff and talk, trying desperately to draw away my brain's attention from freaking out. So when I saw these exact things in this show, it felt the most real I've ever seen anxiety struggles is dramas. And on top of that, this is the BL genre, which is notorious for being cheesy, or lower quality in acting. Absolutely shocking how many great scenes are in this show.

I'm blown away by the leads, every second they felt like their characters, I saw nothing else. I loved it so much that Xun An didn't gloss over the mental health issues of Bai Lang, but tried to understand, analyze and find a solution. He even suggested therapy, which I wish they had included, I think that would have been great. Still, the theme of someone healing the other is one of my favorites, and here it felt so pure and loving.

The writing is not perfect, I did find a few things odd, but it was still all acceptable for me/it also could have been the lower quality subs' fault.

The side couples are realllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllly unnecessary for me, felt about nothing between them, simple bromance or friendship would have been enough and satisfactory.

The microphone quality, camerawork, shots, composition, colors- are ALL so gooood!!! There were some really great shots which went on for so long, the camera following people, panning, like a whole choreography. I love it when every person involved in the shooting puts their best into it!!

The plot about the trauma, and the leads' personalities are quite detailed and very well written I think, I love them, and these are the main engine of the show thankfully.

Also omg I love older guys in BLs, also because usually they can act better, and they look amaziiiing!! I'm so over pretty boys when I see guys like these here, I wish there were more of this age in BLs!!! (also shoutout to Old Fashion Cupcake)

I admit on second watch I skipped over the side couples' scenes, and because of that I pumped up the score to 8.5. So basically I pretended that those don't exist, sue me! (pls don't sue me)

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Likable series with a lot of wasted potential

I really enjoyed about two-thirds of this series and was just ok with the last one-third or so.

At first, the series is a nice balance between being light-hearted and serious. Bai Lang's psychological issues and the dentist Jin Xun An's growing concern and attraction for him is sweet without being banal. The back story of Xun An's previous relationship is also nicely done (at first).

Unfortunately, at some point in the series, something goes wrong. I think it starts being somewhat perplexing when Bai Lang (who wants to reject Xun An's love at first because of his own psychological issues) starts behaving as though he does not know whether Xun An likes him.

I also think the series becomes much less interesting about the time the main couple become a couple. First, we have the strange objection of Bai Lang's sister to the relationship and then her change of heart, which is almost as sudden. Then we have the objection of Xun An's father--taken on its own, it doesn't seem to bad, but it feels out of place in the series. It feels as though the story is continued for the sake of being continued.

I also don't know why there seems to be a compulsion to squeeze in as many couples as possible when there is obviously not going to be time to give the other couples enough attention. In the end, we have two other BL couples and one straight couple thrown without contributing much to the series.

There are moments I like, such as how the story veers dangerously close to clichés but doesn't degenerate into clichés. At one point, I was thinking that Xun An's ex, in telling Bai Lang about the foods that Xun An does not eat, would cause Bai Lang to be so insecure that it causes a break-up, but it doesn't happen. I was also half expecting Bai Lang to see Xun An together with his ex (of sorts) and misunderstand Xun An. Thankfully, it doesn't happen either. And yet, I'm not sure whether to give credit to the writer(s) for this. Perhaps there is simply an aversion to heightening the tension in the story further. All too often, things get serious but then fizzle out quickly. In a way, this is both the strength and the weakness of the series.

With a better focus on the main couple and a greater willingness to delve into how Bai Lang's psychological issues could pose a problem in the relationship, the story would have been much stronger. Sure, some of the light-heartedness would be lost, but it would still be possible to have the same happy ending while making the story more moving.

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I liked the main couple. The side couples, not so much.

The main couple was great in that they were equals. They both took care of each other, they both pursued each other, they both took the lead. Neither shied away from or rejected affection for no reason. They were very cute together and I liked that the show ended with them engaged, and that we got to see a glimpse into their everyday HEA life.

There were a couple boundary-crossing scenes, and some sexual harassment, but no actual non-con / dub-con between the main couple. There were a few scenes where Xun An would get really close to Bai Lang while he was sleeping, maybe trying to kiss him? He backed off once when Bai Lang opened his eyes, and once when he turned his face. There was a lot of Xun An grabbing and touching Bai Lang, often to prevent him from walking away, even after Bai Lang repeatedly removed his hands and told him to stop touching him.

I wasn’t bothered by the patient-doctor relationship at first because Xun An was professional and their relationship was only being developed outside of the office. But at some point, he starts hitting on Bai Lang while he’s in the dentist chair, invading his personal space and getting up in his face, dismissing the nurse and working on him alone, all while Bai Lang had not yet signaled any interest on his part. It was textbook sexual harassment, objectively.

There were a few things I didn’t really like about their relationship, as well. When Bai Lang tells Xun An that he likes him too after seeing him with his ex, I understand Xun An’s concern that Bai Lang is only reacting as a panic response to the ex. I get why he doesn’t believe that Bai Lang is sincere in his words. And I get his whole, “you push me away but call me back when you want me” thing. But he’s pretty much already decided to forgive Bai Lang and that he still wants him, because he goes to Bai Lang’s sister for her blessing the same night. Meanwhile he has Bai Lang chase after him. I didn’t really like that he was essentially playing mind games - he was acting upset when he wasn’t actually because he wanted Bai Lang to chase after him like he chased after Bai Lang.

Also, the whole ex situation really annoyed me. There’s ex-drama from episodes 6-8. There were so many flashbacks of the relationship and romantic moments with the ex, including a kiss scene. We didn’t need to see all that. Xun An is friendly to the ex, still remembers his favorite coffee, and Bai Lang gifting him meal at the beginning of the series was enough to trigger a flashback. It’s been 7 years, they were never officially together, the ex got married and had a kid, and they haven’t spoken since, but Xun An has never dated anyone since him. All that gave the ex too much weight and importance. That being said, Xun An definitively rejects the ex and pursues Bai Lang without any hesitation, so I had more of a problem with the show’s depiction of the ex relationship and not the character’s actions. But also, the ex kept popping up, even after everyone got closure and moved on in episode 8. He literally hugged Xun An on purpose so Bai Lang would see, and he had a weird pissing contest with Bai Lang about who knew Xun An better at the market even after Xun An definitively rejected him. But despite that, he ends up marrying Bai Lang’s sister. Like wtf? You’re going to have the ex marry into the family and be around forever?

And they randomly threw in an abuse situation in the last two episodes. Xun An’s dad is abusive and beats Xun An after finding out about his relationship with Bai Lang, and Xun An basically ghosted Bai Lang for 3 weeks as a result. The whole situation annoyed me. First of all, everything was brushed under the rug. Not a single character acknowledged the abuse, instead treating it like it was a normal thing that Xun An had to endure in order to gain his father’s approval. They act like familial approval is so important, when sometimes your family can be garbage and their approval isn’t necessary or worth it. Also, Xun An never truthfully explains why he went missing or apologizes to Bai Lang - he finds out from Xun An’s mother. Bai Lang tells Xun An never to keep things from him again and that they should shoulder the burden together going forward, but it never felt like Xun An truly committed or agreed to that statement.

The side couples: I hated them. All of them.

The Alex / RJ pairing was gross, I’m sorry. They literally look like parent / child, or young uncle / child, at the very least. RJ looks and acts like a teenager and Alex looks and acts like a grown man. There’s an age difference in appearance, behavior, and attitude, and there’s no way a relationship like that can ever exist without an inherent power dynamic. Alex thinks of and treats RJ as a child for the vast majority of the show. It’s like if an 18 year old high school senior hits on their teacher — yes, they’re technically an adult, but there’s a power dynamic (boss / employee + age difference) and even if they’re the one’s initiating, it’s your responsibility as the adult to shut down any sort of inappropriate relationship. So the fact that Alex started to see RJ in a different light all of a sudden was really gross to me. Everything between them was nonconsensual anyways (RJ kisses Alex non-consensually twice, and sexually harasses him twice by pinning him up against the wall and getting in his face while he was sleeping). They don’t definitively end up together, but it’s hinted that there’s something there. I’m glad for it, because it was gross enough already that I fast-forwarded through the majority of their scenes.

The Bai Lang’s sister / Xun An’s ex pairing was stupid too, because I wanted the ex to just go away and instead he married into the family. There was another random couple, a delivery guy and another dentist at Xun An’s office, and they served no purpose and would have been better off cut from the show altogether.

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Okay

This was okay, but it was honestly missing the spark for me, especially at the start. I felt like we got a lot of scenes of the characters staring at each other without anything building up their relationship, and some plot points were a little far-fetched. Once the leads got closer, however, I think the drama became a lot better. The conversations between the leads felt very natural.

I think the runtime is a little too short for the number of ships we got — there are like 3 couples other than our main leads and I wish we could've delved into just one a little more. Still, I think they all felt very down-to-earth. The last few episodes saw a few time skips that I think we needed more time to delve into too, but ultimately everything is wrapped up nicely.

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Enjoyable but doesn’t reach its full potential

The first half of this drama is pretty great - interesting characters, good chemistry between the leads, and compelling themes around grief, healing, and living with mental illness (which is not what I expected based on the very silly name). Unfortunately, the writing is pretty muddled, and the second half is bogged down by unnecessary, tropey plot points (ex boyfriend interference, disapproving family members, etc) that I thought added very little and really distracted from the original narrative. There are also multiple side romances, none of which get enough attention to actually work, so it all just detracts from the main story in the end.

It was an enjoyable watch but ultimately disappointing because the potential to be great was right there and they didn’t take it.

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Sweet toothed drama with cavities towards the end

DISCLAIMER: Apparently episode 12 was leaked so this review is after completing the drama although it was only due to air in 3 days. I watched it on Viki but it's also available on GagaOOlala and WeTV in some regions.

Synopsis:
A story of bar / restaurant owner Bai Ling who is scared of the dentist and then meets his new dentist who is a friend of his sister. The reason for his fear is revealed and their new friendship develops. It's a slow burn initially.

I love Taiwanese dramas and when I heard this was made by the same team as we best love I was excited. It's 12 episodes which is healthy and each are about 30 minutes long. Way better than KBLs. Initially I was impressed by the storyline as it focused on family issues, traumas from childhood, ex loves and I thought I was going to score it 9s and 10s.

The issues are:
a) too many couples, some of whom only really came to life in the last 2 or 3 episodes. It needed more from some for sure.
b) a random family story which again was late in the day and didn't fit in with the rest of the drama
c) it was a slow build up at the beginning and then really rushed at the end

Overall:
It's definitely worth a watch and there are some really cute scenes throughout the drama. It feels a little like Beloved in the house I do where production may have interfered with the production and steered it as opposed to the story. I don't think there is much re-watch value apart from favourite scenes but it could easily have a season 2 or spin off with more from 2 of the other couples.

Enjoy!

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