Unknown

Slowburn But Deep

Unknown isn’t just a BL romance — it’s really a story about life. It gives a raw look into what it’s like growing up without parents and the emotional scars that come with it. The story takes you on a roller coaster of feelings. We see We Qian trying to survive from a young age, doing whatever it takes just to get by. As an adult, he ends up adopting Zhi Yuan and Lili — probably because he knows exactly what it feels like to be alone.

I’m not sure if this counts as “forbidden love” since they’re not biologically related, but I really liked how much Yuan cares for Qian. It honestly feels like Qian is his entire world. Meanwhile, Qian is this selfless guy who works so hard for the little family he built.

I had mixed feelings about this series. I loved the first two episodes — they just hit different. But the super slowburn really tested my patience. Still, I stuck with it because I needed to know if they would actually end up together.

The story is easy to follow, but it’s emotionally heavy at times especially when it comes to Yuan, who falls in love with Qian, but seems to get stuck in the “just a brother” zone. It was kind of frustrating that Qian took so long to acknowledge his own feelings. Either he was too afraid to admit them, or he just buried them deep. Most of the plot focuses on Yuan dealing with those one-sided feelings, and Qian not reciprocating (at least, not right away). It honestly felt like it took forever for Qian to finally show how he really feels — we don’t get that until episode 11 out of 12! 😁

This is actually my first time watching a BL with this kind of setup since I’m usually into Thai BLs, so it felt fresh and different. But the slowburn romance almost made me give up. 😅

That said, the acting was amazing, and while the chemistry between the leads wasn’t explosive, it was believable. One of the soundtracks sounded familiar — I think it’s been used in other Taiwanese BLs before.

If you're into slowburn stories with depth and emotion, and you don’t mind waiting for that romantic payoff, this one’s definitely worth a try.

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Watchable but Don't Believe the Hype!

I was excited to see a new BL jump up to the top of the MDL BL rankings. This drama currently holds an 8.5 rating and is in the all-time top-ten of BL dramas. I think the problem may the growing popularity of BL dramas and viewers that may not have see many of the BL dramas from the past get excited overly excited about a new show, without the perspective of what some better dramas may be. So before I get into my review, I would ask viewers that love this show, if they really think it's better than other realism style dramas such as Like in the Movies, I Told Sunset about You, The Eighth Sense, Moonlight Chicken or even the unfairly low-rated Kimi no Koto Dake Mite Itai?

[Spoiler's ahead!] The biggest problem isn't the tired trope of the step-brother's falling in love -- although if you want more of that, feel free to watch Stay with Me, Addicted, History 4: Close to You, Gray Shelter, History 2: Crossing the Line, History 1: Stay away from Me, My Bromance or Cherry Blossoms after winter. The biggest problem also isn't the glacial pacing of the series, with way too many dialogue-free montages of the past, or of a character "acting" to demonstrate their emotions. The biggest problem isn't the convoluted story of the gang - particularly when they come back towards the end of the series -- didn't Wei Qian already clear his debt in the the fighting matches years ago? The biggest problem isn't the stalker-ish behavior of the younger step-brother who won't take no for an answer -- over and over and over. The biggest problem isn't the absolutely terrible acting of the Xiao Yuan's teacher who visits Wei Qian (episode 2) who apparently learned that furrowing one's brow and repeating touching and taking on and off your glasses constitutes acting. And the biggest problem also wasn't the over-the-top melodrama of it all -- the trials and tribulations of this family could have been portrayed much more realistically if the director had just pulled back a little bit on a number of creative choices.

No, none of those. The biggest problem with this series is the music. Instead of working harder to find some more unobtrusive music cues to gently support and accentuate the drama that unfolds within this small family, the producers, director and editor chose to use a very limited number of songs over and over too many times throughout the series. The instrumental music with the piano and strings that they used multiple times in every episode got repetitive very quickly. It felt like the acting and the story wasn't creating the desired emotional weight that the producers wanted, so they thought that by playing swelling music that it would lift the scene, but it felt just the opposite like they were forcing the scene to have emotion, instead of just letting the story and actors propel the emotions. It felt overly-manipulated, instead of just supporting. However, the most distracting uses of music were the repeated vocal tracks that they would play under scenes of dialogue. The music was too loud and took me out of the scene every time. Maybe they could have used instrumental versions of the OST pop songs for the show or something. It might have helped, but the bottom line is whoever had the final say on music for this series, shouldn't be allowed to sign off on music in the future.

Now, just in case you think I hated this show, I didn't. I just don't think it deserves the score it currently has on MDL. There were a number of great things about this show. The main actors did a good job, the cinematography was better than many other BLs out there, the leads were quite attractive, and the sex scene, although not explicit, was quite hot. I just think as viewers we should turn the page on the step-brother trope (or at least find a more interesting way to present it), and I think the viewers should start being a little more discerning when it comes to things like logical plots, music aesthetics and melodrama.

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Great acting, mediocre everything else. Awful editing.

I feel like this series isn't aimed at me, because I didn't think it was all that. The acting is wonderful, and the characters well-drawn. Even the minor roles are really well-acted.

The story, however, is pedestrian, melodramatic, and stuffed with cliches. The ganster angle was fine in the beginning, because we see what Qian had to do for his family - but when it comes back later, it's just unnecessary drama that drops out of the sky, and ruined the organic progression of the main relationship. It should have ben Yuan's absence abroad that made Qian confront his feelings, and it seemed like it was written that way - but for some reason the author didn't trust us to buy it and threw in a ridiculous plot thread where Yuan had to behave uncharacteristically idiotic (what on earth was his plan?). And the endless time-jumping - the first refuge of an author that can't imagine a coherent plot.

As for cliches, it's got it all, from suggestive seatbelting to hair blowdrying. At least the obligatory 30-year old with a critical illness cliche was written in a way that made sense, and they didn't overdo it.

The editing is just terrible, and nearly ruined the series. By Ep 9 I didn't care about the series anymore and stopped craving it like I had for the first 8 - there is not one emotionally important scene that isn't mutilated by an endless series of flashbacks played to the maudlin theme song, which is good. Occasssionally. Not stuffed in every conceivable moment and far beyond.

There's a very, very important scene in Ep 11 that shocked me how badly it was ruined, and I was thinking "this is just me, and I'm sure everyone else loved it", but I discovered in the forum that my opinion was almost universally held, which was a nice surprise - I'd hate to think I'm alone in the world.

This could have been an 11/10 with less indulgent writing and a good editor. As it was, the actors managed to carry it - Qian was stoic, but not cartoonishly so (except when played for humor, which was effectively done), the Lili is not OTT silly and wasa a surprisingly nuanced character, which I attribute to the actress, the gangster leader was clearly a man who pretends to be more insane than he is for stragtegic reasons, again ably acted, and the actors playing the younger versions of the characters were first-rate as well, which was wonderful - I even felt a little cheated at first when the younger Yuan's time was up.

I would recommend this, and I think the majority of fans will give this a 9.5 or a 10, but it's an 8 for me. A 9.5 for the acting, a five for everthing else, and a 2 for the editing.

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Angsty

Personally I am not a fan of these tropes with the step brother or adopted brother storyline but for some reason these same very ones keep putting me in a chokehold like Stay With Me *insert crying emoji*. The chemistry between the family dynamic feels so natural.
Trigger warning potentially for people who have experienced familial abuse.
Some people think the storyline moved a little too fast at the end but I think it’s rather the opposite. Our main leads finally let themselves feel their emotions without any restraints and the rest is history.
Definitely a good laugh cry type drama.
Absolutely stunning and timeless!
Probably one of the best if not the best Taiwan dramas I’ve watched with such natural acting and chemistry!!!!

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The real family is not only made up of blood relatives.

I didn't expect this series will get under my skin like this. It was full of tears, emotion, beauty, innocence, cheerfulness, but also pain, endless desire and patience (!), huge responsibility and the effort to achieve something good. The beginning of Qian and his sister's life was very bitter, painful and sad. And he also took home a boy from the street. I admire that he has grown into such a good and smart guy. The living conditions of all the children were terrible. Nevertheless, they grew up to be great people and a close-knit family together with their external brother San Pang 😂. Qian was incredibly selfless, caring and kind. He preferred his "siblings" to himself and they were his driving force. On the other hand, he suppressed a lot of emotions inside him, as if he thought he didn't deserve to be happy. And he was also afraid of his feelings. Apparently things didn't go the way he thought they should. And Yuan certainly did not help him in this. Nothing shook his feelings. He was solid as a rock. From the beginning when he was young, terrified and troubled, but after his return an incredible change. The calmness with which he talked about his feelings and how he treated his "brother"... It was fun to watch how their roles changed and Qian fight with himself. Excellent performances by both the main actors as well as the supporting ones. At the end of each episode, a beautiful reflection on family.

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An unknown person becoming one's everything

Didn't have any high hopes when I started this but damn this series took me on the best emotional roller-coaster ride and showed me a magnificent firework show of how love can be beautiful even if it's forbidden and doesn't fit into the accepted societal terms.

The story without any spoilers — The ML has had an abusive childhood and is struggling to raise himself and his sister. One day out of kindness he helps an 'unknown' boy and later adopts him as his brother. He is a smart person, who takes calculated risks at each step of his life because he doesn't want to drag down those who depend on him. When the adopted brother expresses his feelings for him, he reluctantly holds himself from letting himself venture into this 'unknown' relationship road.

The show shows the characters' journey from the struggle between not being able to control who they fall in love with, questioning what's wrong with oneself for falling in 'forbidden love', not being able to suppress it, coming to terms with it and acknowledging it, gathering up the courage to express it to the loved one, acting okay after getting rejected, trying to get over that person and miserably failing it, and settling to always love that person even if it was un-requited was incredible.

They beautifully portrayed that love isn't a feeling that can be erased nor should one be embarrassed of it. You can't force whom you love nor can you force someone to be with you.

Everything about this series was brilliant — the story, casting, acting, narration, dialogues, and ost. And a special mention to the cinematography of this series because it was top-notch. The use of lighting, mirrors, and frames to set up the background for each scene and thereby subtly conveying the atmosphere was fabulous.

I loved how they focused only on the main lead and that allowed them to show layers of their emotions and their personal battles which allowed them to face the situations maturely.

Honestly, as a BL fan, I rarely come across dramas that deal with complicated relationships and complex emotions. This drama clearly showed how the characters confront their feelings of 'dangerous brotherhood love'. Highly recommend everyone to watch it.

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As long as you are by my side.....

The series has been adapted from the novel 'Dage' by the chinese author Priest. I don't know what made me check out this series, but I am glad I stumbled onto it. This is the first BL series that I have watched and I was pleasantly surprised by how well it turned out to be.

The Unique Selling Point (USP) of this series for me was the strong bond between the Wei Family members. What makes a family? Biological family is the traditional form of family wherein we care for the members because we are born into it, however some families are formed due to the choices that we make and strengthened by sheer determination, sacrifice, trust and above all LOVE. It is the journey of two people, Wei Qian and Zhiyuan From 'UNKNOWN' to Dage to 'UNKNOWN' to Lovers.

When a young orphaned Wei Qian (Chris Chiu), shouldering an immense responsibility of being the sole breadwinner and a guardian of a young girl, his sister Wei Lili(Tammy Lin) takes on the added burden of providing shelter for a homeless street urchin Wei Zhiyuan (Kurt Huang) a different kind of a family comes into existence. The first few episodes show us how a deep bond is formed between Wei Qian and Wei Zhiyuan. Starting from the feeling of gratitude and dependency of Zhiyuan and commitment and devotion of Wei Qian, morphing into an unbreakable soulbond and a deep desire to be an equal partner, sharing all weal and woe together.

Obviously, it wouldn't be a worthy love story if the protagonists did not have to overcome a few hurdles in their path to everlasting bliss and happiness. From Wei Zhiyuan's side it was very clear from the opening that Wei Qian was not just his 'dage' but was the very air that he breathed. Throughout the series, Wei Zhiyuan showed and expressed his feelings very clearly, be it helping to pay bills by working part-time while he was a school student to taking care of Wei Qian's health by ensuring he took proper meals and rest. The hurdle in this relationship was Wei Qian. From the beginning Wei Qian as well as others around him had put him in a position of a guardian and caretaker so it was difficult for him to transition into a life partner. Even though it was evident how much he cared for Wei Zheiyuan, he was reluctant to change their status quo. Wei Qian had closed himself to romantic emotions, dedicating his life to the wellbeing of his sister and Zhiyuan. It took a major jolt for him to realise that he should grab onto the person who matters the most to him before it's too late.

Wei Qian had to realise that it was alright to reciprocate Zhiyuan's feelings. It was ok to leave the shroud of 'dage' and step into a new role of a lover and a partner. Wei Qian and Zhiyuan had to make their own family by finding the answer to the question WHO AND WHAT MAKES A FAMILY?

With each progressing episode, the viewers get more attached with this new family that was in the making...at the end of each episode, there was a quote attached to highlight the changing family dynamics. (Those quotes always caught my attention so I am compiling them here)

Episode 1 to 12

Episode 1 -The first- ever family that will never abandon you.
Episode 2 - The second kind of a family always leaves the light on for you.
Episode 3 -The third kind of a family is the one that makes you stay.
Episode 4 -The fourth type of a family member is someone who is always there for you.
Episode 5 -The fifth kind of a family is too good to let go.
Episode 6 -The Sixth kind of a family pretends to be strong and doesn't say goodbye.
Episode 7 -The seventh kind of family is always waiting in the distance, never leaving.
Episode 8 -The eight kind of a family shows care in his(their) own way.
Episode 9 - The ninth kind of a family is always there to protect you when the end comes.
Episode 10 - The tenth kind of a family loves you so much that they want to leave you.
Episode 11 -The eleventh kind of a family indulges you unconditionally because they love you so much.
Episode 12 -The twelfth kind of a family stays together for life.

What kept me invested in this series and the relationship between Wei Qian and Wei Zhiyuan was the fabulous performance by Chris Chiu and Kurt Huang. From the start till the end, there was never a moment when I doubted the deep love between Wei Qian and Zhiyuan due to their performance. Eyes cannot hide, what the lips cannot speak was proven correct in their case.

An honorable mention to the actor Kim Jae Hoon who plays the character of San Pang and actress, Tammy Lin who plays the character of Wei Lili. San Pang was a kind of friend who stands by your side metting out bitter truths but also holding your hands when you are down. Wei Lili was the sweetest sister who grew up under the nurturing care of two young boys.

A special mention to the OSTs, the lyrics were so suitable, they conveyed the feelings of the characters to the audience when the characters were unwilling to acknowledge them verbally.

It is clearly evident that a lot of attention and care was given by everyone to small details while making it. The production team, the screen writer, the director and actors worked in tandem to create a series that would set a high bar for other BL series in future.

Overall: Not to be missed, makes you believe in the adage, "Love Conquers All".
____________________________________________

Additionally, I have also written the episodes' reflection along with some special comments as and when they aired. If anyone is interested to read more they can read episodic musings written in the general comment section, I will leave the links to all episodes below as well as all clickable links as a comment to this review.

Episode 1 and 2
https://kisskh.at/762497-unknown#comment-16426687

Episode 3
https://kisskh.at/762497-unknown#comment-16480939

Episode 4
https://kisskh.at/762497-unknown#comment-16548613

Episode 5
https://kisskh.at/762497-unknown#comment-16617895

Episode 6
https://kisskh.at/762497-unknown#comment-16694139

Episode 7
https://kisskh.at/762497-unknown#comment-16769473

Episode 8
https://kisskh.at/762497-unknown#comment-16853383

Episode 9
https://kisskh.at/762497-unknown#comment-16933581

Episode 10-12
https://kisskh.at/762497-unknown#comment-17032049

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A real masterpiece.

I just don't have enough words to express how good this series was, it wasn't just about the romance between Qian and Yuan, it's about surviving and figthing for a better life, finding a family when you least expect it, confronting your fears, getting to know yourself and your feelings.
My only complaint is that's already over.
Don't listen to those people who said the series got less interesting, they're those types of people who were mad about not getting a kiss or nc scene as soon as they wanted, give it a try and enjoy this masterpiece.
Chris and Kurt have all my admiration, they gave their best and gifted us one of the best perfomances ever in a series, I wish they get to work together again if the opportunity arise.

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Masterpiece: storytelling that took my breath away acting that stunned me

I am speechless. I thought it would be a bit boring, since it wasn’t that original and was kinda cliché, but boy was I wrong. This show absolutely took my breath away, and I cannot wrap my head around how much I miss the show already. The acting was supreme. I seriously don’t know what else can I say about the two main leads other than they were amazing. The same goes for the storytelling. Honestly, you could tell the whole plot ending from the beginning. But it doesn’t matter. It consumed me from the minute I started watching. The execution was just super perfect. I mean seriously I am at a loss of words. It was just perfect, the tension, how they captured their feelings, the acting was exceptional. I just wish I could forget it and watch it all over again.

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Love OF a brother or love FOR a brother?

I'm gonna be honest, when I first started this, I wasn't quite with the idea. I haven't seen much of the "forbidden love" type drama (from the tags), but I was worried I'd end up dropping it. But in the end, I absolutely LOVED IT. I found myself wishing away my days just for the next episodes to come out, and here we are.

STORY:
Wei Qian took has been taking care of his sister, Wei Li Li, ever since the loss of their parents. After meeting Wei Zhiyuan, he took him in after some time since he seemed to be an orphan. Qian works alongside a gang to help provide for his family but once they all begin to grow up, he quits. Zhiyuan, whose had a long time crush on Qian, makes a move and results in angering Wei Qian. Yuan gets sent abroad for his actions, but did it really make things better, or did it make things worse?

What can I say about this other than it was a masterpiece? At first I was concerned for the whole brother thing, but over time it grew on me. "Unknown" is something you can easily get attached to with all the characters and the interesting story. I must say, I think I cried a little bit when the gun scene came around, as well as the nc scene. I had been waiting EPISODES for that scene ever since I found out about it and I think I cried for the fact I was like "FINALLY."

LIKED:
-The character development of both Qian and Yuan.
-The story overall
-Sam Lin🙏🏽
-The love for one another (the caring that each character had for each other)
-Flash backs
-No genuine love rival
-Confidence of Yuan a lil over halfway through the series

DISLIKES:

. . .


OVERALL:

Unknown is just a great series and deserves a lot of recognition for its cinematography, story, and actors. I loved the development through the episodes as it went on and the chemistry between the two actors. If I could watch this for the first time again, I would.

"People come and go in life. Being fortunate enough to have someone who stays by your side through thick and thin is a blessing. I've lost. I've found. I've found a home, a family, and a person I want to love for the rest of my life. You taught me that I should learn to carry the burdens of my own actions, just as you carried Lili and me, and kept the path to home, open. And I'll follow you down this road I chose, no matter how difficult it may be, life or death, no regrets. No matter who you are to me, from now on, no matter what happens, till death do us part. " -Wei Zhiyuan

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This might be the highest-rated Taiwanese BL for me besides We Best Love. The acting is spot-on, and the cinematography and music are really great. I even prefer the cut version over the uncut one—it feels more artistic and cinematic. I love how Qian is made more realistic, especially with him being so protective of his younger sibling that he’d die for them. Yuan’s character also matures after coming back from America, which I really liked.
However, Bao and Sanpang, the side characters, don’t get much screen time. Also, some scenes, like the Russian roulette with the thugs, seem unnecessary if the goal is just to show Yuan’s willingness to die for Qian.

I forgot to note when I watched this, though, because it’s only available on Youku, and I had to subscribe just to see it.
Overall, I highly recommend it and hope to binge-watch it once all the episodes are out. I can’t imagine how tough it would be to watch it week by week

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