Meet You at the Blossom

More entertaining than most other shows in 2024

The story was more interesting and complex compared to all the other crap we had to watch in 2024, even when not everything is perfect. Of course there is over-acting and sillyness but also very serious scenes and nice fighting scenes. The set and costumes are stunning which is a highlight of this series, just some hair-pieces could have been improved.

I don't want to get in detail with the plot and acting and so on, because lot's of reviews already do that. I felt entertained even with some of the over-acting and sillyness, so for me it's a good show with stunning visuals.

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Story and acting

Good drama
I hope to see them again in other bl. The story is well constructed and the acting was well performed.
Acting: For young actors, I think they performed well. Even if it wasn't entirely very well performed, they gave it their best.
Music: Magnificent, the credits were very good (plus I have a weakness for Chinese songs). The ending song didn't really appeal to me, but the credits were 😘
Story: All stories about ancient China have always attracted me.So inserting a gay romance into this story is a first (knowing China with their bromance). I had an idea of ​​how the story would go from start to finish. I was especially intrigued by the romance.
I wanted to see: how the main characters will fall in love and how this ancient society will accept this love between two men. They successfully integrated romance into this Bl. A very beautiful story well told.
I like the characters: Xiaobao, Huan'in, Suyin, Doctor.....

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Titanically fun series to watch

I love history-period pieces, especially Asian ones since I know so little about Asian cultures and customs in general. For me, I romanticize the story even more and thus, it becomes pure escapism. I confess that I got completely lost in the complexities of the story and with the names and who is kindred to whom. I had a hard time following the lineage of who is related to whom and therefore the story for me got a shade complicated. However, I got the gist of the story and all I was interested in really were the main characters. They were not just entertaining. They were tantalizing. For some reason, decidedly handsome men in exotic period costumes add a greater dimension to the level of the portrayals of their characters they are playing. While at first the story seemed a bit juvenile, once it starts to evolve, it becomes an epic love saga, albeit a painful one. While this series has a swashbuckling feel about it, it is deeper than what it is given credit for. To be sure, there are some inane moments, and superficial scenes, but it never loses its mythos about the power of love.

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Cute Period Drama

I was skeptical of it on episode 1. I was like umm.... Then it got better lol. You have to get past the first episode or 2.
What's with the dubbing? Aren't they all Chinese so figured they would speak Chinese too but they actually speak Thai? None of their bios says anything about Thai so I was confused lol.
I hate dubbing series, I could tolerate this BECAUSE I basically watched it on low volume or none at all cause it bothers me when the lips and words don't add up 🤣 I don't know the language but I can tell it isn't Chinese by their lips and dubs. They'll stop talking on screen but the dub keeps going. I hope you all understand what I mean. I don't understand why they dub series. JUST USE ORGINIAL VOICE. That or get actors who all speak Chinese or whatever the language the series is suppose to be based on lol.
In the beginning, Wang Yun Kai acting was eh but it got better. Don't expect much cause it's his first acting role. I wouldn't say its terrible. I've seen much worse.
Anyways Xia Bao got on my nerves at times. He was wanting Huai En from the beginning then it was like I don't like you anymore after Huai En already fell in love with him. I get why Xiao Bao acts like that, I mean his family fell BUT going as far as wanting Huai En to die?? Xiao Bao won't let him explain anything which makes it worse. When Huai En finally found Xiao Bao after everything, his confession and him wanting to be with Xiao Bao forever. Then said I love you. I got butterflies BUT Xiao Bao basically said screw you and was giving him a wtf face 💀
I wanted to slap Su Yin cause quite frankly, it's none of his business to interfere with their relationship. Basically encourages Xiao Bao to hate Huai En. He was sketchy to me too. I thought he loved Xiao Bao as more than a friend then he's like 2 men together is wrong etc etc. So I'm thinking ummm I guess I'm wrong.
I didn't like Shao Yu. He always was disgusted of Xiao Bao and Huai En. I thought he was homosexual too cause I mean, look at the way he is towards Su Yin and just his actions. Huai En and Xiao Bao doesn't even show signs before but Shao Yu....I questioned from the beginning 🤔
One of my favorite characters was the Miracle Doctor, Que Si Ming. He instigates. He would sit back and watch EVERYTHING with a smile or smirk because it never involved him, just a bystander 😭 He didn't care what he said. When he said "you're ex lover is here" to Xiao Bao 🤣 I wish it shown more of him and Jin Bao relationship. It was adorable how he became a doctor hoping to find Jin Bao one day. He would turn his nose up or roll his eyes if he seen Huai En and Xiao Bao close. Don't even, don't act like you don't love another guy as well, your dear Jin Bao. 🤣 I'm very curious of what Si Ming's "hobbies" were.
This is VERY petty of me to say this, Xiao Bao big ass tacky necklace and his nails 😭😭💀 That necklace was way too big and didn't really match lol. These are my pet peeves so I always notice them.
The stabbing scenes though. They barely do it. If you want to do terrible damage, do it more than just an inch 💀 Xiao Bao thinking he ki**** Huai En. You barely stabbed him. 🤣🤣🤣
On the last episode, I wanted to slap the little sister cause she wouldn't give them any alone time. Literally was EVERYWHERE. Like stop you little brat. I know you're doing it to spite and tease Huai En but there comes a point when you gotta stop.They are finally together. GIVE THEM SOME SPACE.
Some are saying Leslie Li's acting was bad cause of emotions etc. I think he acted perfectly. Huai En character is known to be cold and not care about anything. I mean look how he was raised, to basically hate everyone and everything just for revenge which is the only thing in his mind (before meeting Xiao Bao) so he won't have any expressions/emotions. After meeting Xiao Bao he still wanted to steal the book FOR HIS FREEDOM. You could tell he was iffy about it when he started liking Xiao Bao but had to for his piece of shit dad. If not, he probably would have beaten Huai En until he was black and blue or go as far as to k*** him. Therefore I'm not that angry at Huai En.
He does smile at times when it involves Xiao Bao. He's not always straight faced.
If you all are gonna talk about his expressions, it's the EXACT same as Wang Yibo in The Untamed. His character's emotions are similar to Huai En so....🤔 I'm not saying the characters are alike cause they are VERY different BUT just some of the emotions I'm comparing.
Also, I LOVE Chinese period dramas. That's what I mainly watch when I'm watching Chinese series. I also love BL so I'm like omg my favorite 2 genres in one series 😅 I always wanted a period drama BL. There is The Untamed etc BUT they aren't actually considered BLs...
I watched weekly from episode 1. I rarely do that. I always wait til the series end but I couldn't wait. Each week it ended in cliffhangers. I was so eager for the next week.
Overall I enjoyed it. I laughed and cried. Some might have not cried at all and are like wtf are you talking about. Usually when a character cries, I cry with them 💀
I'll definitely rewatch my favorite scenes. Some parts I wanted to strangle the characters but then I'm like it's just a show 🤣 It deserves more than a 9.5 BUT not a complete 10. Although I did all 10s.
I recommend if you like period dramas and/or BLs. Its considered a BL but its not your typical BL. So don't expect to have kiss scenes and all. They imply they do stuff though. Their chemistry is off the charts which makes it even better, even though they don't show anything. Personally I wish it shown more, had more kisses, even just pecks BUT we know they love each other deeply and chemistry is amazing so it's enough for me. 🥰❤️

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Pretty good, but doesn't hit the highs it could have

This Sino-Thai collaboration is the closest we would get to a BL from Mainland China. It is a bona fide BL series with a romance between the male leads that is overtly depicted. This probably already scores it some points in the eyes of many BL fans since we have not had an actual BL series from China for years due to the censorship laws.

To be honest though, Meet You at the Blossom isn't as good as it could have been. Perhaps because of budgeting or other constraints, the story is lacking development in many ways. The main characters' back stories, particularly Huai En's, could have been more fully fleshed out. Although we are technically informed of Huai En's experiences as a child, there does not seem to be enough material to make us feel strongly for the character. To me, this is something important given the character's cold demeanor.

The supporting characters are also under-developed. I was personally a little confused by the behavior of the man Huai En called his father. He could have been a fascinating villain or an equally engaging ambiguous character, but he turns out to be neither here nor there. He is also defeated too easily and suddenly, indicating a rush to complete the story. After having watched a censored-BL period drama like The Untamed, I can't help but wonder how great it would be if the Untamed had taken the route of Meet You at the Blossom and circumvented censorship laws.

The unfortunate thing is that, because the massive China market is essentially taken out of the equation, we might not see better productions than Meet You at the Blossom simply because of financing issues. What we have is a commendable work that, to be fair, is as good as it can get given all the limitations.

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He Was Straight Until He Meets Him

This series had potential to be even better. I actually enjoyed the first few episodes, but as the story went on, the screen time of the main couple being together started to feel limited. The focus shifted more toward family issues and power struggles, which made the romance take a backseat.

That said, I really liked the love story—especially how deeply Huaien loves Xiaobao. He couldn’t do much at first because of how complicated their situation was, but once things got moving... Wow! Xiaobao may have fallen first, but Huaien definitely fell harder.

One thing I really appreciated is that there's no homophobia in this series, despite it being set in an old era. Xiaobao’s close friend was against their relationship at first, but in the end, he just let them be. Even Xiaobao’s parents and sister were accepting. Being gay wasn't a big issue, which felt refreshing, especially in a historical setting.

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Let’s talk characters:

Xiaobao is rich, spoiled, a little immature, and kind of stubborn—but in a charming way. He always talks about girls... until Huaien comes into the picture. Huaien, on the other hand, is the cold, quiet type—but the more they interact, the closer they get.

I love how confident Xiaobao is. At first, he seems like the type who’s into girls, but the moment he meets Huaien, he pretty much forgets all about them—LOL! I also admire how straightforward he is with his feelings. Even though it’s a conservative time period, he never questions himself and just embraces the fact that love is love. No drama. No denial.

The chemistry between them is so palpable. The way they look at each other? Ugh, my heart. There are kissing and bed scenes—but they cheekily close the bed curtain right away. 😂

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Everyone did a solid job acting-wise, even the supporting characters. The cinematography is really pretty too. You can tell the budget wasn’t huge but honestly, it’s still a decent watch.

Even though the leads are separated from episode 6 and only reunite in episode 11, I still ended up enjoying Meet You at the Blossom. If you're in the mood for a historical BL with some silliness, drama, and action, give this one a shot!

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A good direction

Anyone that watches danmei adaptations is aware of the censorship this typically comes with; however, Meet You at the Blossom manages to get around this and delivers on the romance aspect of this wuxia. Unfortunately, I still found this show a bit lacking in the non-romance department, which was in part due to the characters themselves, and in part due to the 12 episode limit.

Jin Xiao Bao is nearing marrying age, and is determined to find the most beautiful woman to make his wife. During an unexpected encounter, he watches Huai En face many men single handedly, and instantly falls in love with her. However "she" is actually a man. Huai En is perfectly fine with Xiao Bao being in love with him - but it seems he may be motivated to keep Xiao Bao close for other reasons than his own feelings. The two enter into a relationship claiming they will always forgive the other no matter what, but how far can this promise extend?

The relationship was fun to watch develop, with cold Huai En slowly warming up to Xiao Bao. In this style of drama, I was very used to a relationship being built purely on tension due to censorship issues, so to get an actual relationship in this show was very refreshing. One of my biggest complaints though is that Xiao Bao is utterly useless. Huai En is a great cultivator and very intelligent. Xiao Bao is.....neither of those things. I just wish that Xiao Bao could have stood up for himself once in awhile, instead of always relying on others. I actually really enjoyed the political issues in the show, and thought they were the perfect level of complex for the length of the show. I do think that we could have benefited from a bit more time with the characters to watch them grow, but there's only so much you can do.

In all, I just hope that this opens the door for more danmei adaptations produced by companies willing to keep the romance. This was a short watch with the perfect amounts of romance, heartache, and betrayal, but would have benefitted from a stronger lead character and slightly less toxic relationship.

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Meet me at the pride parades in China

(╭☞•́⍛•̀)╭☞ Disclaimer:
This review is not meant to change your opinion nor discourage/encourage you to watch, it's simply my personal opinion and you're free to agree/disagree with it.

Damn it's been a hot minute since I typed this disclaimer but hey it's not about me here it's about the series.
Let me preface this review by saying I'm not going to actually review this series yet, mainly because my opinion of this drama is highly influenced by the social and political significance this series holds regarding the lgbtq+ community in china and the loopholes the company/creators had to go through in order to come out with this drama, so for now, this "review" isn't going to be my actual thoughts on this drama as a drama.
Now, some of you might be confused about my overall rating not matching the rating for the different sections in this review, and I can tell you there's a legitimate excuse for this, and that being that this is the first explicitly lgbtq+ chinese content we've had in years. I'm sure many will find my reasoning for this rating very superficial/illogical, but I've mentioned this in a comment before and I'll say it here again, this isn't about the series anymore, this is about the chinese lgbtq+ community finally getting something after years of being oppressed and deprived of representation in their own media. This series is by no means an Emmy worthy project, but it's hopefully the first of many future stepping stones for the chinese entertainment industry. Throughout the years, we've had some pretty dang good shows/movies coming out in this genre, but the number of chinese lgbtq+ series has dwindled down to almost 0 no thanks to the dreadful ban, and the magic of the wuxia/xianxia genre has sorely been missed in these productions, so to see a chinese gay costume drama after all these years (irregardless of the fact that this is co produced by multiple countries) has basically been the highlight of my media consumption this year, after all, we all need to start somewhere, the start most definitely isn't perfect, but at least it's a start and the writing and acting in future projects will definitely improve as more companies start taking up such projects (keeping my fingers crossed we'll get more in the future) so yeah, until more projects come out, my rating for this drama will remain high, I'll come back to edit this review to include my actual thoughts on this drama once more shows/movies come out (again, really clinging onto hope here).
Before I conclude my little rant, I would like to add something. As I had stated in my disclaimer above, this review is not meant to sway your opinion, you absolutely don't have to take it to face value, but if you encounter any reviewer overly praising this show, I would hope you would keep these points I've listed above in mind for the time being.
And with that, I rest my case, I hope my review doesn't come off as pressuring or nonsensical for any viewer who genuinely didn't or don't enjoy this series (I'm most certain your reasons are valid because quite frankly, this series has been walking on reeaally thin ice plot/acting wise, not to mention all the non con/dub con and thinly veiled toxicity it contains) and as for those who actually like this series, I hope your further endeavours in the genre continue to be joyful.
Enjoy your watch and have a lovely day/evening everyone <3

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