First Note of Love

Appreciate the effort

An average BL drama that does not feel bland yet not great either, it was just an ‘okay’ kind of show. They started well as I find the characters interesting but that’s it. I think the first to second episodes were the best ones out of the twelve episodes they had. I can see that they all did their best but the overall outcome for me was just fine, nothing less and nothing more.

I can sense the chemistry from the four of them but it lacks appeal. The way they bring us back when Neil meets the younger version of Sea is not cute at all as they end up being paired together. They should at least hired a teenager version of Neil to make their pairing pleasant since the age gap was shaking them out.

Reese and Orca's language barrier was a nuisance. They should just at least stick with using English when they speak to each other. Although the non-verbal communication, specifically the drawing, was charming. Reese is a giant cutie and I did not expect to see his hot naked body with him having a delightful young face.

When it comes to music as their genre, I just hoped that they presented more songs without repeatedly singing the same set of songs throughout the whole show. I got bored many times but still glad that I finished this without dropping. Love the cast but they should polished the script and execution prior to releasing it.

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2 people finding their way back to life through melodies they thought they had lost forever.

How do you review First Note of Love when your main memories are recording studios, unfinished songs, and Neil and Sea looking at each other like they were hearing music nobody else could?

This series really looked at the music romance genre and said, "What if we added grief, creative burnout, healing, and enough emotional damage to keep playlists employed for years?"

Neil used to live for music.

Then life happened.

Loss happened.

Silence happened.

And suddenly the thing that once made him feel alive became the very thing he couldn't bear to face.

Then came Sea.

A fan.

A dreamer.

A walking reminder of everything Neil thought he had lost.

And somehow, also the person who helped him find it again.

Charles Tu brought so much quiet sadness and vulnerability to Neil that watching him slowly reconnect with music — and with himself — felt incredibly moving.

And Michael Chang as Sea?

The king of optimism.

The emperor of emotional support.

The CEO of believing in someone long before they can believe in themselves.

Watching Sea patiently stand beside Neil while he learned how to create, grieve, and love again gave us one of the gentlest romances in recent Taiwanese BL.

Because this wasn't about saving someone.

It was about accompanying them.

There's a difference.

And First Note of Love understood it perfectly.

The supporting characters and music industry setting added so much texture to the world.

The rehearsals.

The recording sessions.

The pressure of expectations.

The fear of never being able to create something meaningful again.

Every part of it felt honest.

And can we talk about the people behind the camera?

Director Lien Chien Hung understood exactly what this story needed: space.

The emotional moments weren't rushed.

The silences were allowed to exist.

The music was allowed to speak when words couldn't.

The production team understood that songs in this story weren't simply background music.

They were memories.

Conversations.

Confessions.

Goodbyes.

The cinematography deserves special praise.

The stage lights.

The empty studios.

The city nights.

The moments where characters sat quietly with their thoughts while music carried the emotions they couldn't yet express.

And the soundtrack?

Honestly, calling it a soundtrack feels disrespectful.

It was another character.

Every song carried emotional weight.

Every lyric mattered.

Every melody told part of the story.

First Note of Love wasn't simply a romance.

It was a story about finding your voice after losing it.

About learning that grief and joy can exist together.

About understanding that moving forward doesn't mean leaving the past behind.

This wasn't celebrity × fan.

This wasn't sunshine × grumpy.

This was broken musician × person who reminded him that music was never truly gone.

10/10.

Would absolutely sit in that recording studio, cry over songs that don't exist outside this universe, and watch these two find their way back to music and to each other all over again.

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Enjoyed it, just a few things..

I quite like the series, it's adorable, VERY good music omg and the whole relationship is just super cute, bit disappointed they had to add an 8 year age gap.. especially in the beginning it kinda creeped me off. Another small thing I personally disliked is that it was quite boring. There were things that happened sure, but there wasn't something like an argument or VERY plot changing part. I personally don't really enjoy shows that don't really add any tension. Another thing I disliked is the ending, it was just a simple ending.

Aside from that ITS really green flagged and there's a very healthy relationship. Also the glow up because of Sea is incredible. I definitely recommend this series for people that like short romances and people that just started watching bl. The music is absolute fire and I def added some on Spotify to my favourites.

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Loss, Growth, & Finding Yourself

Loved this show so much! Losing a loved one and trying to find yourself afterward carries the plot. Not just for the brother main character, but the manager, and world wide star.

So happy both couples got to be together, love the supportive friendships, and the reinforcement that focusing on work doesn't mean saying goodbye to love.

Sea did amazing coming in as someone that prefers the shadows and loving what he does. Being comfortable enough to perform, create music HIS way, and fall for the man of his dreams was fantastic.

Love the emotion, power, and calm that this story created. It's not fast, rushed, or toxic - just cute and relatable.

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Holy mother of lazy writing and messy scripts

What ... Was that !!!???
I mean I was wondering why this drama isn't popular because I found it by pure chance... And now I know why!!!

Writers!? What happened? What's with that script??
It had a really good premise, the first couple of episodes were great and intriguing!! Then something went terribly wrong, not only that, they had to drag this drama to 12 episodes of weird sh!t.

I don't want to spoil anything so I'll just point out a few thing I liked and didn't like... And a few that just didn't make sense at all, however I'm going to be detailed about everything ~ proceed with caution 🤣

I didn't like:
1- obviously, the story: so we have this really traumatized idol who suddenly out of no where after 6 years decided to comeback only because a little kid told him he is long in the tooth and can't even sing anymore!!! Really?? That what got your heart pumping ??? That's a lame excuse for a story.

2- the romance, the two leads had about 5-6 episodes of nothingness, then bam!! They are in love? B!tch when did you even fall in love?? The ML falls in love with a kid he barely know, we call that 금사빠 🤣🤣🤣🤣 I mean you literally saw the guy 3 times and you are in love? oh, please! It was abrupt, unnecessary and the whole show could pass with them just colleagues Which would be better IMO ~~

3- how to piss me off 101! Have two people speak two different languages to each other and understand eachother perfectly!!
As a polyglot who speaks quite a few languages, I've never, and I mean NEVER speak a language to someone who doesn't understand it and expect such understanding like in this drama, and I have to exclude the parts where they chose the safe route and spoke in a third mediating language because that's what normal people would do, I don't care about the accent or the mispronunciation.
Man, I'd be damned if I sat here in my comfortable chair and judged someone working hard to speak a language that isn't his first! But the Thai-Mandarin mix is just pushing all my buttons!!!

Things that didn't make sense

1- Thai actors: I'm not by all means against the idea of collaborations between countries, or sharing actors, that has been there since ages and one of my top favourite BLs ever had KoreanXThai MC, (Bangkok boy in case anyone is curious)
But what did Mos and Bank do exactly??? Cameo that is completely unnecessary and odd, I didn't hate it but why???

2- the side characters that got marginalized, I loved the Boss and the senior, but while watching I saw less and less of them, where did they go?? And why showing them too much in the beginning if they are not that unnecessary!

3- too many questions unanswered! Like Sea's family??? What's with his mother calls, what happened to him when he was younger?? And how exactly does Neil imposing on a child and technically forcing him to listen to his song helpful? He is his saviour but from what?? We don't even know what he was dealing with?? Why was he alone? ... Just nothing

4- how can a sophomore deal with all that? Like part time, school, homework, composing songs, and training to perform?? Is he a magician!? No insomnia or sickness! I mean, I envy him, really!

What I liked:

1- acting is nice, not perfect but they were convincing in their roles, and I'm not talking about chemistry here at all, I mean each scene, they delivered their emotions well enough

2- Xiao Mei!!! My favourite thing about this whole sh!t show is Xiao Mei!! Oh my baby sunshine!! I have a crush on her! She was adorable, sexy,, oh those outfits slayed! And her sense of humour is spot on! Also how come she can be this adorable and funny at the same time!! Simply the best!!!

That's is!! Nothing else worth mentioning really!!
I would NOT recommend it at all, just watch something else of you got time.

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Love what exactly....

It was a nice calm series and I was truly disappointed.

Six skilled actors delivering the most placid performance I would say for 2024. A nice concept, poor writing, uneventful episodes with little to no engagement. These couples didn't fall in love, they both eased into it. Their grief overshadowed everything else and made the story so subdued that I was left wondering what happened. They're all very likeable with no real drama. The healing from loss and abandonment was dealt with by all but without the bang. Where is the passion for living? The storylines were tied up at the end but very very very peacefully.

Reese finally agreed to go to Thailand with Orca. Sea finally tells Neil about their meeting years ago and how it saved him and Neil confessing how Sea empowered him to be brave. All done very quietly. Standout was Mei, working anonymously in the background to bring them together. 1 point for the casting team for choosing the actresses for Mei and Sea's blonde classmate. They brought their characters to life and relieved the boredom.

Too many flashbacks of the same scene. Magnet's one song religiously played for 9-10 episodes. First Note of Love was more like a lullaby. Charles, Michael, Jame and Min Ting were nice to look at but was expecting more. They did act well but just too quietly. Jame, blonde 1980' mullet - why, was the most engaging of all.

Watch if you've had a hard day and just want to relax without too much brain activity. Rewatch - pass.

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First Note of Love But Flat Story

Conceptually, this series ‘sounds’ like a winner. A budding singing duo composed of two likeable brothers. Tragically, one of them dies on the way to a concert site. The other one becomes lost in his own malaise for 5 years. All of that sounds like a great connection story but the sequence of events for them were choppy and insufferably boring. Their relationship looked and felt creepy to me. Even though both were adults, it still felt off. Honestly, I never bought their relationship. Honestly, I was unmoved by this series. I felt little from it. A few good scenes to be sure but nothing sustainable. There was way too much reliance on flashbacks.

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Deja Tunes

I'm about 2/3 of the way through this drama. I like it. Good production value, good acting, and, as several reviews have noted, a really decent soundtrack. Wanna know why? JMO but every song was reminiscent of a chart topper. This was most clearly apparent in the strongest song that played during the episode 8 end credits. That's very similar to Closer by the Chainsmokers featuring Halsey. It's not plagiarism. But the chord progressions are way similar. If you've ever compared Slow Burn by Musgraves and Fire and Rain by James Taylor, it's the same dynamic. Or a descant situation similar to (imo) Thinking out Loud and Let's Get It On.
Again, I liked this drama. BLs have kept me from obsessing over the madness that is currently possessing my country. So, thanks for that. I just had a head jerk moment when I heard that last song. It took me out of the drama for a second. Okay, back to floating on my river of denial.

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An opportunity wasted

I expected so much more from this series. Having watched Jazz for Two, i thought this would turn out to be a Taiwanese version of that bc of the similarities in the plot. However, 5 episodes in and each one feels like I'm being forced to keep my eyes on the screen. I am disappointed. Poor storyline, too many flashbacks to one thing, no real chemistry between the ML and the music isn't even great. This was an opportunity to showcase how music can truly help one heal and how love finds you even in your darkest moments but it failed, abysmally. I have zero positive takeaways from this one and can only hope Taiwan does better.

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Simply Just Not For Me

I told myself at the beginning of this year that I wouldn't force myself to watch anything that doesn't immediately catch my attention or interest. Unfortunately, First Note of Love did just that.

Let's Dive In.

I think this is just one of those series that just isn't for me. I cannot handle the long drawn-out singing scenes, or the fact that none of them look like they can actually play an instrument. I feel like in my watch of just 3 episodes, I did more skipping than watching, and that says a lot.

There are also some characters that appear on screen way too much for me, like Neil's managers or workers or whatever the hell they are. They have their own scenes, but they feel so irrelevant and added just for timing purposes. I can't sit through series anymore where the main focal point of the series is taken away just for the added functions of nuanced characters.

I feel nothing for Neil and Sea, just purely nothing. I think Sea does shyness pretty darn good, and Neil is good at acting like he doesn't give a fuck, but together, I'm just not feeling it. Which is sad, cause I love age gaps, but they didn't spark anything out of me. The ending scene in episode 3 though was actually pretty cute, just not enough for me to keep watching.

I feel like this series in itself isn't bad, it's just simply not for me. I felt like I even forced myself to watch the first three episodes, and I don't want to do that for the remainder of the series.

Ratings:

Story: 6/10 - honestly, a decent plot about a band that falls apart after the death of one of the brothers. The story seemed like it could've really gone somewhere with the growth of Neil as he processes all of it, but it's not enough to keep me watching, Too many irrelevant characters get too much screen time, which is a no-no for me. The romance, from what I've seen in three episodes, does absolutely nothing for me.

Acting: 8.5/10 - Great, no one looked like they couldn't act. If anything, it's this series' strong suit. But they should've done some rehearsing on how to fake-play instruments.

Music: 5/10 - Skipped through it all. A personal problem of mine, not the series.

Recommendation Value: 5/10 - If you like singing, this series might work out for you. Otherwise, no.

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