I wanted to love it but....
I think this series has so much wasted potential. The premise was so so interesting, but they delivered it in a way that felt completely flat and shallow. The main plot of the series I guess was suposed to be the romance, but in the end it felt so unimportant to the story because of how poorly it was written and how fast everything happens,. We barely see them spending quality time together without it feeling awkward since the actresses have 0 quemistry in my opinion. Not to mention how bad the acting skills of one of the main leads are. I'm not going to mention which one because I'm not trying to shame anyone but I think because of that the result feels a bit unbalanced, whereas I could feel empathy for one of the main characters whose actress was able to deliver emotions, I couldn't feel any empathy for the other cause the actress couldn't convey anything at all, hence I couldn't have cared less about her character.Anyway besides all that I kinda enjoyed it, the sci-fi aspect of the series was interesting and well integrated with the soulmates element, so I think a score of 6 is fair enough. I would recomend to anyone that wants to watch something a bit different and doesn't mind some poor acting and cringe here and there.
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A series that made me question my own opinions about it in the last couple episodes.
This ended up being SO good that I'm slowly forgetting what I was complaining about during most of the series.I'm going to start with the bad cause it'll be briefer, but bare in mind that I'm not even sure about it being bad anymore:
- This 12 episode (45 min each) series could have been summed up in 7-8 episodes. For most of it I was thinking "soooo is something gonna happen already?" but nothing ever happened.
- For 11 episodes I felt this was more a bromance than a bl, not because of lack of skinship, which I'm fine with, but because I didn't see any chemistry between the main leads, nothing happened between them that I felt would lead them into romance.
- Obviously, the ending. Come on, can we please stop making series as if a second season was an option? So many good series are left hanging with such cliffhanger endings (yes, Stay with me I'm looking at you). honestly I think it's cruel to us, the viewers.
What I loved:
- The second half of episode 11 and the whole episode 12 were absolute perfection. The intensity that was lacking during the previous episodes kept increasing like crazy in that episode and a half, and it was PERFECT. It exceeded my expectations in a way I wasn't anticipating, I honestly was expecting an underwhelming ending and it ended up being the complete opposite.
- The actors did fine throughout the series, but in the last episode and a half they did SUCH an amazing job portraying all of those complex, deep emotions that had been building up throughout the rest of the series. Honestly I felt my heart was being squeezed for an hour and a half, I went from laughing, to smiling until my face hurt, to cringing (in an adorable way), to almost crying in seconds.
- It being such a slowburn gave us time to know so much about the characters that made the ending and their emotions SO complex, we can feel them so much deeper and real than we would if their romantic feelings had started in episode 2 (like it happens in most bls). Their love grows so strong as "brothers" that when it suddenly turns into something romantic it is almost explosive. It hurts so much not being able to see it develop!!!
- I ADORED the way Sheng Wang starts questioning the nature of his own feelings, I thought it was so so pure. Just the heartbeat sound they use in THAT scene was so simple yet so beautiful and meaningful.
- The use of flashbacks. It might sound silly but I think in a lot of series they're often overused and very rarely evoke any emotions in me. In this series however, the use of flashbacks was sublime, it made me feel like the wait had been so worth it, like those tiny things that were happening really did mean something. I'm being vague here to avoid spoilers.
- I'm glad they kept this series appropriate for the characters' age, they're 17 and the way they start realizing their own sexuality and feelings is so pure and fitting for their age. I've watched so many series and read some stories where I actually forgot I was watching/reading about underage characters, and I was actually glad to forget cause otherwise I wouldn't have felt comfortable going further.
- The cinematography and general aesthetic of the series is absolutely stunning. Certain scene in bed is gonna live in my mind rent free for the rest of my life, the simplicity of it and the colors were absolutely gorgeous.
Honestly, after finishing it I'm left questioning my own opinion about the rest of the series because I kept complaining about it being too slow but now I LOVE how they build their relationship SO slowly because, when their feelings finally transform, as a spectator, it feels so much more intense, complex, and real. In many bls that are more rushed you have to take the plot as it is, weather it makes sense or not, but in this one you can understand every single one of their actions, every feeling, every decision..
So, with all that said, I'm going to read the novel next, I refuse to go on with my life not knowing how Sheng Wang and Jiang Tian's story continues.
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This review may contain spoilers
Could have been so much better
A series that started of great, that had everything to be outstanding, but still managed to disappoint me. The premise was so interesting, the first episode was perfect, but then as they developed the story throughout the episodes it kept getting worse and worse.The only thing I liked about this series was the romance and the main leads’ acting. But what I disliked the most was the villains and the plot surrounding them, which was basically the rest of the plot. I thought the script was so so lazy, the villains so poorly written that their screentime was extremely hard to watch for me. Did they really have to make them so childish? so annoying? They were basically brats throwing tantrums again and again making the dumbest decisions they could make to just constantly bring themselves down.
Not just their actions, but the reasons behind them. Why the extreme grudge against Armin? How did Armin’s potential success threaten theirs? But even when they tried to give some sort of explanation (Thiwthit being "in love" with Thada for example) it was so poorly written, no background story or anything they just pulled it out their asses. For me it would have been better if it had just been a psychopath or a serial killer after Armin rather than this stupid jealousy in the entertainment industry, or if it had to be that, at least they could have made it a bit more complex and mature.
Then the revealing I was most excited to watch, which was how Thada had met Armin in the first place and fell in love with him, even that felt underwhelming to me. I would have even preferred a more abstract reason like destiny, or the red string trope, which is more generic but more effective than the lazy revealing of an Arming saving Thada with a bowl of noodles. But well this is my only complaint regarding the romance, their chemistry, Thada’s yearning and willingness to do whatever it takes to keep Armin happy and safe, Armin’s trauma due to Charlie and Sam’s betrayal.. everything else about the romance was good enough and pretty charming.
Some characters I did like are Janine, Wenai, Phat, aunt Jeed.. But unfortunately the villains’ plot stood out so much more for me that it was hard and annoying to watch most of the time.
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