Love Letter + Parody = Perfection
As a love letter to and a parody of yaoi (and fudanshis), this two-part series adds up to perfection.The story was hilarious, and like any good parody, poked fun at itself. Bartender Hibiki is a ridiculous and exaggerated BL fan, which he is aware of, just as he is aware of his exceptional mixology skills. His obsession with the perfect "ships" for the two other guy bartenders, as well as his fantasies about the male customers, is quite comical - and rings a bit true, at least to me. I, too, can find myself daydreaming about the perfect BL ships and story lines. (I just wish I could make a perfect kir at the same time I was daydreaming...) It is parody with affection and a love letter to the BL art form.
The acting is superb. All the characters nailed the humor. My personal favorite is Bartender Hokuto. She had some of the funniest scenes and lines (besides Hibiki).
I would re-watch it without hesitation. It makes for a great, rollicking time. Sort of reminds me of South Korean parody The Boy Next Door in terms of sheer hilarity.
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Kim Hee Won + Jung Seo + Jun Ji Hyun + Kang Don Won = WOW!
This drama delivered what it promised. The main director delivered. The screenwriter delivered. The actors delivered. It is a must-watch if you like fast-paced political thrillers. Plus, there is a very healthy helping of romance. The drama felt like a movie. In fact, Both the main director, Kim Hee Won (Vincenzo, Little Women, QoT, Soundtrack 1 and Soundtrack 2) and the screenwriter Jung Seo Kyung (Little Women, Decision to Leave, The Handmaiden) said in a recent interview that “We created this series as if we were making a long movie.”Tempest reminded me a bit of their work together on the drama Little Women, with all the intricate plot points, easter eggs, puzzles, secrets, lies, and conspiracies. Little Women ended with everything explained, all the t’s crossed and all the i’s dotted. So did Tempest.
That said, Tempest did leave you with one huge question re Kang Don Won’s character Paik Sanho. But I like the question and my answers to it. I concur with what another MDLer said: “I don't mind the open ending, and I don't need a second season. It honestly suited this drama.”
Re the healthy helping of romance, Jun Ji Hyun and Kang Don Won reinvented the searing slow burn. Their shared looks were on fire. And I loved that there was obvious, actual sex.
And more than anything else, this drama taught me to pay serious attention to the director(s) and screenwriter(s). The past work of directors and screenwriters provides a key variable in the algebraic equation (composed of many variables) that is represented in the question “Should I watch this drama or not?”
P.S. Seo Munju for President!
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Is WTSG an Allegory?
Perhaps WTSG is an allegory, where events and characters represented specific ideas or abstractions. (Also, farce can be an important component of allegory, as was on ample display in WTSG).I think allegory is lost on us inhabitants of the 21st century. Allegory is complex and uncomfortable. We like quick and easy. Instagram, TikTok - all types of social media - cannot begin to understand allegory.
A Kdrama like WTSG can try to use allegory as the narrative arc, but in doing so gets roundly booed and robustly hated. Especially when we all went into this drama thinking it was going to be a feel good, HEA romcom.
The story was full of plot holes and inconsistencies, but I'm not sure if it was a script problem or an editing room problem. Dialog and footage that ended up on the cutting room floor might have actually helped viewers better understand the characters' goals, motivations, conflicts, etc.
For example, I would have preferred that the Lee Min Ho character went on the mission under different circumstances, secretive, yes, but not outright illegal or unethical. The fact that he was doing something illegal made him immediately less sympathetic. But maybe the intent was that his character especially was meant to make us, as viewers, think a little more deeply about ethics, by that I mean what people ought to do, or which behavior is morally right. Ethics is not a scientific in nature, it is philosophical.
All in all, though, I 100% enjoyed the drama.
P.S. I think the OST (the 8 songs) is one of the best examples of songs and lyrics that match the overall themes and ideas of the drama.
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A Masterpiece that is a Master Class in Subverting Censorship
Despite its flaws, I consider Advance Bravely to be part of the BL canon. That is, it has an esteemed place among the collection of BL dramas considered representative of the genre.Moreover, it is highly canonical, closely following well-established yaoi principles. I would even say that Xia Yao and Yuan Zong are uke and seme archetypes and that they are the quintessential BL couple. Gong Jun and Jason Xu play these roles to the hilt. Their acting is pitch-perfect. Whoever cast these two knew exactly what they were doing.
As the seme, Jason Xu’s Yuan Zong depicts restrain, physical prowess, power, and shows a protective nature like few other characters I have seen in BLs. As the uke, Gong Jun’s Xia Yao is a bit androgynous, has a smaller build, and although a champion kick-boxer, is presented as being physically weaker than Jason Xu’s character. Also, Gong Jun’s portrayal of Xia Yao even contains traits that are usually associated with bishonen (although Li Zhen Zhen is the fully realized bishonen character).
This BL is a master class in using subtlety, innuendo, double-entendres, subtext, and even certain visuals to get around the loathsome, infamous Chinese censorship that is the ruin and devastation of many a Chinese BL. The director knew exactly how to take the platonic and obvious chemistry between the main leads and give us an intoxicating, addicting series using yaoi basics, all the while skirting and subverting heavy censorship.
Yes, I know, there is no kiss. But there is plenty of subtext and homoeroticism (unless you watch the “cut version). For example, in episode 10, Xia Yao, with a wide grin on his face, watches Yuan Zong collect lotus roots – which are oblong, tubular, huge, fat, and thick in shape. Another example is in episode 28, where Xia Yao and Yuan Zong play a video game in bed, with lots of touching and teasing and skin ship.
Speaking of subtext, the OST is full of it. My favorite is Jing's Love Sick.
The series has too many crazy sub-plots for my taste, and it suffers from poor continuity, under-developed supporting characters, and some truly awful editing. But these are mere quibbles, because, all in all, the world is a better place with a censored, somewhat haphazardly edited Gong Jun and Jason Xu BL than a world without one at all.
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