ikr! One of my favourite interaction is when he said something like '...but you guys are enough for my world'…
I should probably explain a few things. This gets a little complicated, but here goes.
There are three series set in the same fictional universe:
- With You (which stars Seven Tan) - My Huckleberry Friends (which stars Steven Zhang) - Unrequited Love
'With You' and 'My Huckleberry Friends' take place almost at the same time and at the same high school, and there's at least one crossover character in both series who's played by the same actor in both. I don't think any of the series can be categorized as sequels to any of the others. Each has its own independent story.
(I should also mention that Seven Tan's character and Steven Zhang's character never actually meet in either series.)
In 'With You', Seven Tan plays Geng Geng, a character who's very similar to Jian Jian -- big personality, bad grades, etc. Toward the end of the series there is a 10-year time jump similar to the one in 'Go Ahead', where we find that Geng Geng is a mature adult with a successful career as a photographer.
Early on in 'With You', Geng Geng meets Luo Zhi (of 'Unrequited Love') who is her senior in the high school, and much later, after Geng Geng has become a professional photographer, Luo Zhi asks her to take photos of Luo Zhi and Sheng Huai Nan after they've had their wedding. The photo session takes place up on the roof of the high school, where Huai Nan surprises Luo Zhi with that phrase that he's written on the wall.... ;)
But, like I said, this Luo Zhi and Huai Nan are not played by the same actors as the 'Unrequited Love' series that we're familiar with.
'My Huckleberry Friends' takes place at the same high school as 'With You' and is set after the events in 'With You'. There's even a couple of occasions where the students refer to things that happened in 'With You'.
In 'Huckleberry Friends', Steven Zhang plays Lin Yang, who's more or less in love with a girl he has grown up with (sounds familiar, doesn't it), but they are best friends, not family. The 'hook' of 'Huckleberry Friends' is that Lin Yang is always doing things behind the girl's back that lead to her succeeding in something or just avoiding a catastrophe that appeared almost certain. The big question is whether the girl will finally realize how much he's done for her over the years and return his love.
I think that both 'With You' and 'Huckleberry Friends' are essential viewing. It's been a while since I saw them, but I don't remember any love triangles or scheming characters. (Others on here will have to remind me if I'm wrong about that.)
Not a rumor, but there are hints everywhere, like she has seen him naked etc.
I'm expecting all of the troublesome characters to return to the story before the series ends, if only so that they can account for the terrible things they've done. The writing is too elegant not to achieve that kind of symmetry. There will be justice.
Why I feel so annoying to ming yue??? She always tried to stick with ling xiao. Come on girl.. give him some space…
The most recent episodes include one misunderstanding after another, to the point that Ming Yue is convinced that Ling Xiao was secretly in love with her in high school. Even Jian Jian inadvertently feeds her delusions by jokingly referring to her as her sister-in-law. They're both in for a rude awakening. :)
I'm looking forward to seeing how that comes about.
This series was a 9.5 for me. In my opinion the ending was just right. No kiss -- and honestly as I watched I was thinking 'Don't kiss! Don't kiss!', because when you get down to it the final scene was Tony and Mico truly meeting in person for the first time. (That earlier attempt seemed to end before it began.)
No matter how much you've exchanged messages and video chats with someone, when you finally see them there standing in front of you, you're going to feel a little nervous and self-conscious. You're arrived at what's essentially the final hurdle in making a real connection with them. You're going to be taking in everything you can about their physical presence while knowing that they're doing the exact same thing with you.
Kissing in that situation would be too forward and maybe even a little creepy. Although you've broken through almost all of the boundaries with them, you've now arrived at the most important one of all. So I think in terms of physical intimacy, a big hug is just right. It sends the message that you're interested in continuing along the path you've been going, but that for now your priority is establishing a true comfort level. There will be plenty of time for kissing later on.
My only reason for deducting the 0.5 was Tony's acting. He was one of the main characters, and I don't think he was at the same level as the rest of the cast. Learning that he's very popular in the Philippines makes me admire that he took the risk of being in a BL series at all, and as a lead no less. I hope he'll get some training and do even better in his next project.
I've been kinda sour on Thai BL lately so this was a welcome change.
I think it will. I'm also doubtful when a show is airing for a "longer than usual" amount of time but based on…
I've felt a subtle shift in tone as the girls moved into their own apartment and the boys returned from their sojourns.
A scene like the one where Ming Yue catches ZQ just coming out of the shower, and the way it's played for such broad comedy, feels like it would be better suited to a more conventional drama.
I also think that ZQ's gesture toward JJ of making a full table of desserts is a little excessive - I think three or four gorgeously prepared desserts would have been more realistic, while still conveying to her how important she is to him.
The fact that the two brothers end up competing for the same apartment and quickly end up living together also felt a little too neatly schematic.
This hasn't made me love the drama any less -- it's just that I've noticed these things and felt a tiny flash of concern. I think Go Ahead's greatest strength is in how it so perfectly captures what real people think, feel, and do, and this makes those more conventional plot developments stick out more.
Another "FU" to BL fans is that the one m/m kiss in the series is actually a m/f kiss.
I've concluded that this director must just love subverting genres. Based on her MDL bio she wrote for the series 'The Girl From Nowhere ' and will be writing again for its Season 2. That show's 'twilight zone' aesthetic is perfect for her, but it makes me wonder why anybody thought she could direct a romantic comedy.
It's so frustrating when you consider what a classic this could have been.
I admire Eun Woo's performance in Gangnam Beauty although I know many do not.
Until I saw that series I'd seen him featured only in roles where he either literally played himself or at least played a character very much like himself -- someone upbeat and outgoing.
It wouldn't surprise me if he took the role as Kyung Suk mainly because it did provide him with the challenge of playing someone utterly unlike himself.
Everyone's definition of good acting varies, of course, but I think a performance that's given over to big emotional scenes is what usually captures the praise. (Shin Hye Sun in 'Thirty But Seventeen' will always be my go-to example of a non-stop and exhausting emotional performance that loses all effectiveness due to its lack of nuance -- yet based on the series' MDL page most other people think it's brilliant.)
Meanwhile, a convincing portrayal of a inward and reserved character who's been deeply wounded by his upbringing gets dismissed as 'stiff' and 'unrealistic'. ("Why would he have any issues with being judged by his looks? Look at how handsome he is!")
So, while Kyung Suk isn't a character bursting with big 'behaviors' that grab your attention, over the course of the series I think he evolves convincingly into someone who is able to trust that another person will love him for who he is rather than how beautiful he is. I'll take this kind of drama over big crying scenes and bug-eyed, hyped-up emotions any day, and I hope that Eun Woo will continue to challenge himself with such varied roles.
I like how JJ and MY didn't gloat during high school when it looked like Tang Can didn't get that acting role she'd been hoping for, or continue antagonizing her when she later reappeared in their lives. In fact they all became so close that they became roommates.
In the real world that's what decent and kind people do -- they grow up and allow for the mistakes in the past. It's nice to see this here when in other dramas those situations would probably be exploited much differently.
wait..... I thought Ming Yue Like Zi Qiu but she like Ling Xiao. I feel bad for ZQ.
If she thinks that LX will return her feelings then she is delusional to the extreme. She has just spent 9 years updating him on JJ's daily doings, and I'm sure that included reporting whether JJ was dating anyone. That's not a "brotherly" interest.
5 
6 
2 
There are three series set in the same fictional universe:
- With You (which stars Seven Tan)
- My Huckleberry Friends (which stars Steven Zhang)
- Unrequited Love
'With You' and 'My Huckleberry Friends' take place almost at the same time and at the same high school, and there's at least one crossover character in both series who's played by the same actor in both. I don't think any of the series can be categorized as sequels to any of the others. Each has its own independent story.
(I should also mention that Seven Tan's character and Steven Zhang's character never actually meet in either series.)
In 'With You', Seven Tan plays Geng Geng, a character who's very similar to Jian Jian -- big personality, bad grades, etc. Toward the end of the series there is a 10-year time jump similar to the one in 'Go Ahead', where we find that Geng Geng is a mature adult with a successful career as a photographer.
Early on in 'With You', Geng Geng meets Luo Zhi (of 'Unrequited Love') who is her senior in the high school, and much later, after Geng Geng has become a professional photographer, Luo Zhi asks her to take photos of Luo Zhi and Sheng Huai Nan after they've had their wedding. The photo session takes place up on the roof of the high school, where Huai Nan surprises Luo Zhi with that phrase that he's written on the wall.... ;)
But, like I said, this Luo Zhi and Huai Nan are not played by the same actors as the 'Unrequited Love' series that we're familiar with.
'My Huckleberry Friends' takes place at the same high school as 'With You' and is set after the events in 'With You'. There's even a couple of occasions where the students refer to things that happened in 'With You'.
In 'Huckleberry Friends', Steven Zhang plays Lin Yang, who's more or less in love with a girl he has grown up with (sounds familiar, doesn't it), but they are best friends, not family. The 'hook' of 'Huckleberry Friends' is that Lin Yang is always doing things behind the girl's back that lead to her succeeding in something or just avoiding a catastrophe that appeared almost certain. The big question is whether the girl will finally realize how much he's done for her over the years and return his love.
I think that both 'With You' and 'Huckleberry Friends' are essential viewing. It's been a while since I saw them, but I don't remember any love triangles or scheming characters. (Others on here will have to remind me if I'm wrong about that.)
I'm looking forward to seeing how that comes about.
No matter how much you've exchanged messages and video chats with someone, when you finally see them there standing in front of you, you're going to feel a little nervous and self-conscious. You're arrived at what's essentially the final hurdle in making a real connection with them. You're going to be taking in everything you can about their physical presence while knowing that they're doing the exact same thing with you.
Kissing in that situation would be too forward and maybe even a little creepy. Although you've broken through almost all of the boundaries with them, you've now arrived at the most important one of all. So I think in terms of physical intimacy, a big hug is just right. It sends the message that you're interested in continuing along the path you've been going, but that for now your priority is establishing a true comfort level. There will be plenty of time for kissing later on.
My only reason for deducting the 0.5 was Tony's acting. He was one of the main characters, and I don't think he was at the same level as the rest of the cast. Learning that he's very popular in the Philippines makes me admire that he took the risk of being in a BL series at all, and as a lead no less. I hope he'll get some training and do even better in his next project.
I've been kinda sour on Thai BL lately so this was a welcome change.
A scene like the one where Ming Yue catches ZQ just coming out of the shower, and the way it's played for such broad comedy, feels like it would be better suited to a more conventional drama.
I also think that ZQ's gesture toward JJ of making a full table of desserts is a little excessive - I think three or four gorgeously prepared desserts would have been more realistic, while still conveying to her how important she is to him.
The fact that the two brothers end up competing for the same apartment and quickly end up living together also felt a little too neatly schematic.
This hasn't made me love the drama any less -- it's just that I've noticed these things and felt a tiny flash of concern. I think Go Ahead's greatest strength is in how it so perfectly captures what real people think, feel, and do, and this makes those more conventional plot developments stick out more.
I nominate you for official historian and interpreter of Go Ahead. :)
I've concluded that this director must just love subverting genres. Based on her MDL bio she wrote for the series 'The Girl From Nowhere ' and will be writing again for its Season 2. That show's 'twilight zone' aesthetic is perfect for her, but it makes me wonder why anybody thought she could direct a romantic comedy.
It's so frustrating when you consider what a classic this could have been.
Until I saw that series I'd seen him featured only in roles where he either literally played himself or at least played a character very much like himself -- someone upbeat and outgoing.
It wouldn't surprise me if he took the role as Kyung Suk mainly because it did provide him with the challenge of playing someone utterly unlike himself.
Everyone's definition of good acting varies, of course, but I think a performance that's given over to big emotional scenes is what usually captures the praise. (Shin Hye Sun in 'Thirty But Seventeen' will always be my go-to example of a non-stop and exhausting emotional performance that loses all effectiveness due to its lack of nuance -- yet based on the series' MDL page most other people think it's brilliant.)
Meanwhile, a convincing portrayal of a inward and reserved character who's been deeply wounded by his upbringing gets dismissed as 'stiff' and 'unrealistic'. ("Why would he have any issues with being judged by his looks? Look at how handsome he is!")
So, while Kyung Suk isn't a character bursting with big 'behaviors' that grab your attention, over the course of the series I think he evolves convincingly into someone who is able to trust that another person will love him for who he is rather than how beautiful he is. I'll take this kind of drama over big crying scenes and bug-eyed, hyped-up emotions any day, and I hope that Eun Woo will continue to challenge himself with such varied roles.
In the real world that's what decent and kind people do -- they grow up and allow for the mistakes in the past. It's nice to see this here when in other dramas those situations would probably be exploited much differently.