Harmony Secret: Imperfect, Devious, and One of My Favourite GLs Anyway
Harmony Secret might be a show with notable flaws, and yet it's captivating in a way that shows which seem more polished on paper often struggle to reach.
Do I even need to mention LMSY's chemistry? At this point I think we all know it's undeniable. Even in Harmony Secret, where the director clearly held them back at times, they still radiate on screen. The story's high stakes, while messy, keep you tuning in episode after episode. Characters occasionally do out of character things purely to keep the plot moving, and the significant departures from the novel, while raising the stakes on paper, weren't always executed in ways that made narrative sense. Even so, it remained genuinely captivating throughout.
It's also clear this show had a solid budget behind it, with high end production and design on full display. There's a lot to critique in how messily the source material was adapted, and the director clearly didn't fully understand female intimacy for a predominantly female audience. That said, the direction elsewhere is very pretty, and it's obvious this director does have real vision, though it feels like a vision that would probably shine even more in a het drama than in a GL. The show is visually striking, with high stakes and leads who are genuinely mesmerising to watch.
Sadly, the secondary couple were given such low effort that I'm not entirely sure why they were included at all. That's not a knock on the actresses, who did what they could with what they were given, but it never became a love story worth caring about. The screen time spent on them, when the main couple's romance could have used more room to breathe, leaves you wishing the secondary couple simply hadn't been added. It didn't elevate the story, didn't give that pairing a strong entry point into GL, and left the main couple with less time to develop fully.
Overall, still one of my favourite GLs of all time, and that's probably because the original story was such a strong foundation. Even with its issues, combined with LMSY's chemistry, the show remains deviously entertaining week after week.
Do I even need to mention LMSY's chemistry? At this point I think we all know it's undeniable. Even in Harmony Secret, where the director clearly held them back at times, they still radiate on screen. The story's high stakes, while messy, keep you tuning in episode after episode. Characters occasionally do out of character things purely to keep the plot moving, and the significant departures from the novel, while raising the stakes on paper, weren't always executed in ways that made narrative sense. Even so, it remained genuinely captivating throughout.
It's also clear this show had a solid budget behind it, with high end production and design on full display. There's a lot to critique in how messily the source material was adapted, and the director clearly didn't fully understand female intimacy for a predominantly female audience. That said, the direction elsewhere is very pretty, and it's obvious this director does have real vision, though it feels like a vision that would probably shine even more in a het drama than in a GL. The show is visually striking, with high stakes and leads who are genuinely mesmerising to watch.
Sadly, the secondary couple were given such low effort that I'm not entirely sure why they were included at all. That's not a knock on the actresses, who did what they could with what they were given, but it never became a love story worth caring about. The screen time spent on them, when the main couple's romance could have used more room to breathe, leaves you wishing the secondary couple simply hadn't been added. It didn't elevate the story, didn't give that pairing a strong entry point into GL, and left the main couple with less time to develop fully.
Overall, still one of my favourite GLs of all time, and that's probably because the original story was such a strong foundation. Even with its issues, combined with LMSY's chemistry, the show remains deviously entertaining week after week.
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