Charbonnel

Guo Cheng Yu can carry me through anything the mains throw at me in this drama. Might fully be my favourite character now. Also after the actor’s recent comments, perhaps hope of him doing more BL in future? I’ll be watching this space.

While your words are well-chosen, personally I’m still not a fan of it as an overused trope, and there are some very well done romances that don’t include it. The main reason I’m not for them is because they almost always come down to a glaring problem in the relationship - such as trust or communication issues, both of which personally are not to my taste. It’s lazy as most romances make the relationship the problem, and that feels like a lack of creativity in writing to me.

A breakup arc isn’t enough for me to drop a show but usually it makes me skim or even skip entire portions of it because I just find it frustrating to watch.

Some of my favourites that don’t include breakup arcs would be Trapped, Taikan Yoho, Flower of Evil, Sannin Fufu, Someday or One Day (arguably the most iconic for romance on this list).

One breakup arc I did like was the one in We Best Love, which was not due to trust or communication issues and was wonderfully bitter with the explosion of chemistry afterwards, much like you mentioned.

Totally respect where you’re coming from though, and I will absolutely not be dropping this show for the upcoming arc.

Just found this and suffice to say I will be watching! I liked Kazama Shunsuke in Silent, so happy to watch something where he’s a lead.

While I love everything about this show, Guo Cheng Yu really fighting his way up the favourites list right now. He recognized what was going on with Xiao Shuai and backed off, looked after him, gave him space, and most importantly, he didn’t take it personally. Best possible way to respond to someone else’s trauma.

Do I go as far as to call him a green flag? Actually, I might say yes. Forgetting his past, he has done absolutely nothing untoward with Xiao Shuai, the worst being his failure to mention that CC and WSW finally did the thing. I’m not counting the accidental spray of the aphrodisiac, that gets the benefit of the doubt because the rest of his actions show him to be better than that.

Maybe I’m being wildly delusional and forgetting things but generally I’m seeing green from Guo Cheng Yu. He has grown on me.

It’s nice how they’ve done the ‘darker’ scenes honestly. It allows them to keep closer to the novel (in some ways) while the show is actually air-able and an enjoyable watch. Chi Cheng in the novel does plenty of things that would make anyone’s skin crawl to see acted out. Chi Cheng here is perfect for the fact he’s pushy, aggressive, and will do morally grey things to get what he wants, BUT it’s moderated by a lighter tone and (somewhat?) redeeming qualities.

There’s only been one scene that pops to mind for being ‘dark’ and not downplayed by comedy, but I still think it was well done, and that needed to be kept a bit heavier because of what it deals with.

Don’t get me wrong, I can enjoy a darker and heavier story, even in live action format, but whatever magic is being used here is working. If this had the tone of Spare Me Your Mercy, this would be a very different show. I’d still be watching, albeit likely with more angst and less of the bubbly glee this show gives me.

I have also been missing that little snake. I guess since the major arc surrounding the snakes has passed, xiao bao has been brushed aside. In the novel that snake is a lot more prominent but my guess is it’s complicated for the show, since it either requires hiring handlers for more time or serious cgi budget. I imagine both would become seriously expensive if hired for the full runtime, especially factoring in things like travel if needed.

I could be wrong but that’s just my speculation on it.

I tested the app when it first had closed beta some years ago and decided I never wanted to use the app, so even on mobile I’ll use the desktop site. Besides occasional page crashes, it does fine.

I had no idea about the Thai dub, but yeah Chai Jidan did say about re-dubbing and some re-translations as well as some editing changes. Honestly I don’t mind if it takes more time if the episodes are stronger for it when they air.

There’s insane and then there’s “I just watched episode 10”… we’re all doomed for next week. This show is too good.

Not sure I’m overly keen on where the glasses plot point is going, but it’s at risk of going from a fun thriller to a typical enough commentary on humanity, and how unpleasant humanity can be. I was hoping the show would leave me with questions rather than spoon feed me answers.

Premise is fascinating but the plot has taken agency and significance away from the major characters it has taken time to set out. I’ll hope it doesn’t take a dive in the upcoming episodes. With a 6-episode runtime it’s either going to be fast paced or not do much.

Funny thing I did realise was something that can only be seen with the lens of the show - and that is connecting the dots about how certain types of people carry themselves from the other perspective. Look at Han Jiwook, and if you can name me a drama that doesn’t show the characters like this from the perspective of one of their partners, do tell. They’re often romanticised or demonised, rarely shown in a neutral light like this.

If you read up on the messages from the author discussion above, it may well put you at ease a bit. I liked the novel at the time BUT I read it as an unhinged teen, and today would find most of it distasteful in drama (and wouldn’t read it). Chai Jidan opened up a social media account to discuss some points she wanted to tell fans.

Even if this were competing with the 2017 and earlier shows like Addicted, I would have chosen this then. It’s much more polished and a simple, entertaining, and joyful watch. Interested to see where all this chemistry goes as the show goes on, because it’s really very natural so far (likely due to reverse-order filming). Also excited to see Chai Jidan’s more refined and new vision for the story.

I believe it’s because the drama is an adaptation, and the drama will come more into its own because of a couple factors:

1. Filmed in reverse order, so WSW is initially straight, while for the actor, the ‘straight’ scenes were filmed last. Apparently the first few episodes (pharmacy scenes were filmed last) were difficult because the crew had to keep reminding the actors to resist each other.

2. Diverging more from the novel (from Ep9 onwards I believe) into the more refined and mature vision today’s Chai Jidan has for the story. This is the big point because the novel was unhinged, written by an unhinged and young writer, to the extent most of it would never make the air. I’m excited to see her more mature vision ten years later, as she herself says to watch this adaptation rather than read the novel. She’s embarrassed by the novel to this day.

I fully agree with your sentiments although I’m satisfied with the rating personally. Even if it were competing with pre-ban shows like Addicted, I would rate it higher because it is far more polished and less vulgar - in the sense many of the shows of that era were rough around the edges, low-budget, with lots of unnecessarily explicit groping scenes (heck, see Counterattack - a lot of shows at that time were like that).

Should this be with the greatest of the greats on MDL? Absolutely not at this stage. Only a third of the show has aired, and I disagree with rating shows that aren’t complete, personally. Yes, I’m adoring it and would say the score reflects how it’s doing, but I still don’t like that you can rate things before they’re complete.

Generally speaking MDL ratings are not to be trusted though, as follows:

1. Algorithm. Scores are adjusted to try and counter fans trying to manipulate ratings. Need proof? There are screenshots from when We Best Love broke the algorithm and had a rating of over 40, which, I believe is the only show ever to do this.

2. Fan manipulation and review bombing. If a show covers a more controversial topic like infidelity, sometimes people think it should be given a very low score and shows like this don’t get rating boosts. Most BL also get much higher ratings than deserved (even post-algorithm) if they fall into the category of being middle-of-the-pack and inoffensive.

3. I do not know how MDL compensates for the additional factors of fans with second and third accounts and the existence of bot accounts. There is a reporting system, but if the accounts are being used to score dramas, no idea if there’s a system for this.

4. Individual taste is unlikely to align with scores 100% of the time. Some of my favourites have overall ratings of 6.5~6.9. Were they review bombed or just not most people’s cup of tea? Who knows, but I wouldn’t have watched if I cared about ratings.

Totally with you. Having seen some of his other projects, Midnight and Little Women being among my favourites, it’s painful to see him judged for what the writers did with his character. Nothing wrong with his performance, and it’s okay for him to link the theme of his role with his life, I think it’s neat at least (and brave, to some extent). He can do well as the cop or the criminal, or the morally grey possible romantic interest. Excited to see where he goes from here.

There’s a lot of baseless rumours circulating about it because China recently adjusted censorship rules so that anything filmed in China, even if it isn’t released in China, must still go through censorship. MDL has this listed as a Chinese drama, which it is Chinese language with Chinese actors and voice actors, but production wise it is international.

Singapore is where it was filmed as far as I’m aware, and the production team isn’t based in Mainland China, only the actors are.

Edit: grammar.

Hello! I’m back here to correct my misinformed comment. Filmed in Singapore, and not airing in China, so most definitely safe from censorship related bans.

Sincere apologies for getting it wrong previously 🙏

This was filmed outside China and is not being released in China, so the censorship risk is zero folks. I just hope there aren’t any incidents involving the actors so severe they pull it off air for that reason.

Filmed in Singapore, not being released in China. No risk of censorship.