A Perfect Match (2025)

Aaaaaabsolute Disarseter

This, I imagine, is what the first draft of the script for "A Perfect Match" looked like:

Scene 1.
[A wet dream.]
[Morning wood.]
[Lingering shots of Xiao Nan showering. Ummmm…. Aaaaaaaaabs.]
[Lather. Rinse. Repeat.]
[Product placement.]
[Dead parents.]
[Gran sad.]

Scene 2.
[Nan's late for an interview. Saves a girl.]
[Boss bad. Girl his sister.]
[Product placement.]
[Dead parents.]
[Gran sad.]

Scene 3.
Evil woman: Flirt with me. I’m the straight devil.
The Villain: I will, baby. Now fuck off, Nan, you perfect-bodied handsome god, you.
[Note to casting: Make sure the villain is the ugliest member of the cast.]
Xiao Nan mewls.
[Lingering shots of Xiao Nan (and the villain) showering. Ummmm…. Aaaaaaaaabs.]
[Lather. Rinse. Repeat.]

Scene 4.
[Xiao Nan and The Boss meet, get drunk, and talk about...]
[Dead parents.]
[Lingering shots of Xiao Nan showering. Ummmm…. Aaaaaaaaabs.]
[Lather. Rinse. Repeat.]
[Product placement.]
[More product placement.]
[Near kiss. Even more product placement.]
[The little girl is a brat.]
Director’s Note: All very well, but where’s the dialogue in this?

Scene 5.
[Introduce a supportive fujoshi.]
[Product placement.]
[Yes, this whole episode is for product placement. It's called multi-level marketing.]
[Lingering shots of Xiao Nan showering. Ummmm…. Aaaaaaaaabs.]
[Lather. Rinse. Repeat.]

Scene 6.
[Boss and Xiao Nan play tennis.]
[Both take their tops off, for no apparent reason.]
[Ummmm.... Aaaaaaaaabs…. Peeeeeeecs… Niiiipples....]
[Boss has an unexpectedly hot body.]
Xiao Nan's Thirst: That tattoo! Wreck me daddy… Destroy me king…
Xiao Nan: I think I might fall in love with you. So, I'm going to go.
Boss: I like you too, so I'm going to let you go.
[Brat sister screams.]
[The villain wants a second serving of Xiao Nan.]
Everyone: Who doesn’t?

Scene 7.
[Brat sister screams again.]
[Xiao Nan shows he can bitch-slap.]
[The villain wants a rematch with the boss. They play tennis. The boss wins. Obvs.]
[The hotties kiss. Finally.]
[Gran sees.]
[Gran sad.]
[Fujoshi consoles.]
[Product placement.]
Director’s Note: Seriously. Will there be any meaningful dialogue in this show?

Writers: Aaaaaaabs…olutely not.

Scene 8.
[Gran sad because boy loves boys.]
Gran: You a whore?
Xiao Nan: No....
[Cut to Xiao Nan, who's now having rampant, rambunctious sex with Boss.]
[Camera cuts back to Gran again, who’s suddenly happy, for no reason whatsoever.]
[Product placement.]
[Lingering shots of Xiao Nan showering. Ummmm…. Aaaaaaaaabs.]
[Lather. Rinse. Repeat.]

Scene 9.
[Tennis match. Someone wins.]
[The villain creates a conflict. Let’s see, he pretends to be injured so that the boss can be jealous?]
[Boss jealous.]
[Lingering shots of... ]
Writers: Wait. What the fuck? Where's the shower scene? What's going on?
Director's Note: I think we've had enough showering, don't you?
Writers: Aaaaaabs... so.. fucking... not!

Scene 10.
[The leads reconcile.]
[Xiao Nan becomes a wife and a cook.]
[The kid's still a brat.]
[Gran's a bit useless.]
[Beach trip. Shirtless frolicking. Ummmm... Aaaaaaaaabs.]
[Product placement.]
[They all live happily ever after... in a surprisingly tiny flat.]
Note from the Producers: What?!?!? That's it? The final scene is not of the boys showering together? After all this fluffing, you won't even finish us off?

Verdict:
This is one of the worst shows I have ever seen. I loved it.


Reader’s Digest:
DO SAY: sPectacular...
DON’T SAY: exPectorant...

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rocket paced BL with tennis window dressing

Overall: they needed to eliminate some side plots and/or characters and focus on the relationship development between the leads. 10 episodes about 9 minutes each. Aired on iQIYI https://www.iq.com/album/a-perfect-match-2025-1n53v7boirx?lang=en_us

Content Warnings: past child abuse, past death, non con touching, slap

Watch Suggestions (to remove an episode 11 (in this case ep 9) curse)
- watch episodes 1-7
- can skip episode 8 unless you enjoy watching tennis
- skip episode 9 (super annoying plot cliche)
- start episode 10 at 2 minutes

What I Liked
- visuals
- intimacy
- supportive friend and grandma
- how grandma pushed back on the thin and beautiful comment

Room For Improvement
- so many tropes and not done in a new/fresh way, I originally was going to rate this as 8.5 but the ep 11 (happened in ep 9) cliche dragged my rating down, so if there hadn't been proof then that would have been the end???
- choppy/rushed, it's daytime then suddenly nighttime, characters rush off somewhere and then we see them talking about what happened, they needed to cut some side plots/characters to spend more time on the leads and their relationship progression
- that actress looked to be 10 which was much too old to act how she was acting, needed to have cast a child around age 5 (and also why wasn't she in school during the daytime/work week???)
- that a character said "I'm a person, not a bargaining chip" (was going to give points for "love isn't something you can hand over" but then that character agreed to something in the next scene which annoyed me
- (neutral) I didn't take off points but the tennis is window dressing, there is barely any shown in the 10 episodes with most in episode 8
- (neutral) there are a ton of product placements but they got the series made so they were fine

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Things to know before you watch!

1. Run time. Don't let 10 episodes fool you into thinking this is a long drama. Each ep contains about 8 minutes of plot. The full run time per ep is listed around 10 mins each, however the first 30 seconds are the last 30 seconds from the previous episode, and there's about s minute-minute and a half of credits each ep. Think of it like a short scrolling drama, and you'll enjoy it more, since you aren't expecting a long detailed drama.
2. The acting. There's a plot twist/plot advancement every minute or so, because it's in short form. The acting can feel awkward or over done, but that's due to the fast pace of the story. It's typical for this type of short ep drama so I honestly can't say the acting is "bad"; it's standard for dramas like this.
3. The plot. The over arching plot is interesting, and not overly complicated. It can feel slightly confusing if you're used to longer dramas, which contain more details. This is pretty straightforward, and I'd even say generic. It has the usual BL tropes, just as cliche here as in any other drama I've watched.
4. The production. Honestly not the worst out there. Mostly wide angle shots, which does make it feel a little low budget, but less awkward than an attempt to imitate larger scale production with unexpected angles or close ups. The editing is about what I'd expect from this type of short form drama. The only edit that caught me off guard was the cut into the NC scene - that one was rough, and I'd been warned ahead of time!
5. The product placement. Let's face it, sponsored products in almost any drama are always blatantly obvious. This is no different. Considering that some actual commercials use storytelling in a way that leaves us feeling bereft because we want more, this is nice to have a complete story for the advertising.
6. The romance. Pretty typical for short form drama. Fast fall in love, instant conflict, resolution, bigger threat arises, separation, happy ending. They kiss, have an NC scene, and have reasonably believable chemistry for this type of production. Their kiss and "bed scene" were surprisingly well performed for this type of drama.
7. The format. As I stated repeatedly, this is a short-run-time-episode drama. There are companies who have produced short form content better than this, and companies that have produced much, MUCH worse. Overall it felt pretty standard for this type of short production. If you don't like that genre, you won't like this.

Conclusion. It's worth watching, if for no other reason than to support small production companies, and encourage struggling actors. I read a lot of comments before watching (to check if it's really BL), and had my expectations set low as a result. However it surprised me by how ok it was. Maybe that's because I watch a lot of content from small companies, and I enjoy short form, scrolling dramas. (They are bite sized explosions of drama.) Of course not everyone will enjoy either, and it's ok if you prefer the more elaborate dramas, or a better polished appearance. If that's you, skip this BL, and don't post mean comments just because it's not your preference. For everyone else, give this a shot. It's not very long, just don't expect it to look like other dramas. I've watched a lot of other longer, better produced dramas that wasted my time, despite being "better" - I don't regret the short time I spent watching this one. Will I rewatch it again? Meh. As I stated above it's not a remarkable story. There are several "poor quality" dramas that I DO rewatch, despite awkward acting and unpolished production, because the story is so fun or concept unique. That is not this drama. That being said, I WILL keep it in my archives list, and someday when I want something short and simple, I just might pull this one out.

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Don't Listen To Naysayers! It is GOOD!

Occasionally, when you are watching something, you just get a sense that you are going to be affected by it. And in this rather short series (just about 2 hours total), you get a feeling you are going to smile and be delighted when it concludes. And that is exactly what this beautiful mini-BL series does to you. It is so entertaining and so well crafted, you might feel that if you had not watched this, you would have sensed something was missing from your life. It is that good. The whole story unfolds so beautifully with the perfect cast that you begin to feel immersed in the presentation itself. This short and sweet BL is not going to win any awards except perhaps only my acolytes and my respect. It is a cute, solid story with such stellar acting. While many BLs take so long to say so little, this says so much straight away. It gets to the point. I loved this series. It feels good. It looks good. Its message is loud and clear. I wish a lot more BLs were to the point and as genteel as this one. You can read my full review of this cute series at BLBliss.com.

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Cringey Disaster

I sat through all 10 episodes of this cringey disaster, so that you don't have to.

I understand that this is a short form series (each episode only runs for an average 8 mins) but the amount of cringe one has to sit through every episode is really off the roof!

Not only the main couple lacks chemistry, you can clearly tell that most of the actors are just reading the script from memory.

The scripting and editing is also very questionable: One minute the main lead is devastated having to deal with his family opposing his relationship with another man, and we suddenly cut to a G-rated bed scene??? Then there's also the awkward moments of product placement and mentions that (at times) goes on for a good 3-4mins and kills the show's pacing.

Unless you're in the mood to feel the cringe, I'd say avoid this one at all cost.

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An Endearing Watch, Don't Miss It!!

Occasionally, when you are watching something, you just get a sense that you are going to be affected by it. And in this rather short series (just about 2 hours long total), you get a feeling you are going to smile and be delighted when it concludes. And that is exactly what this beautiful mini-BL series does to you. It is so entertaining and so well crafted, you might feel that if you had not watched this, you would have sensed something was missing from your life. It is that good. The whole story unfolds so beautifully with the perfect cast that you begin to feel immersed in the presentation itself.

Read the complete article here-

https://the-bl-xpress.com/2025/03/12/a-perfect-match-series-review-ep-1-to-10/

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How do I even rate this?

Let me preface by saying I love a good pun.
A Perfect Match 🎾
A Perfect Match 🧑‍🤝‍🧑
Huh?
My bad pun is probably better than this series was.

I imagine they shot this based on a scene breakdown instead of an actual script. Indications of what the scene would be without any real dialogue.
Or perhaps this is the cut version of an uncut version that doesn't exist, they just edited the cut version and then lost the hard drive which had the full, makes sense version.

The story had every single drama trope I can think of, even if they didn't show it on screen. Nothing made sense, absolutely nothing. There was a vague outline of a story that got lost in the hundreds of clichés seen and unseen and it was a hot mess.

The acting was pretty bad, the characters were pretty horrible. I guess the chemistry was decent, but overall this was around 100 minutes of literal nothingness.

And for a series about tennis, there were four scenes where they played tennis. FOUR

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