This review may contain spoilers
Shiny on the Outside, Empty on the Inside
Alright, I have a lot to unpack here so bear with me. I really wanted to express how I feel about this series because sadly, it’s not the hype people make it out to be, and I’m kind of tired of people doing this with the majority of CBLs. I think it’s unfair to glaze Chinese BLs just because they managed to run away from censorship. Yes, that part is awesome, but at the end of the day we still have to view them as a series and criticize them honestly. I’m not saying people didn’t genuinely enjoy this, I’m sure many did, but I feel like a lot of viewers are just blindly calling this and many others the best thing ever when it truly isn’t. So if you want to know what I actually think about The Sparkle in Your Eye, keep reading.
SPOILERS AHEAD, READ WITH CAUTION
I want to start from the beginning all the way to the end, and I’ll be honest, this series did not hook me, not even with the first episode. It felt very bland, I didn’t feel any connection or spark, and I was confused about almost every character’s background. Even for a first episode, you usually get a solid idea of who’s who and how everyone is connected, but here I was confused as hell and had to slowly unpack everything myself throughout the series through hints and passing dialogue. Maybe I’m the dumbest person alive, but for half the show I was confused and bored because the story didn’t give me anything to latch onto. Somehow it managed to feel like it was moving too fast and too slow at the same time, which is honestly impressive in the worst way. Some things did become clearer later on, but I still don’t know if the confusion was intentional or just a flaw.
This is not a fluffy story at all. I think we got some cute moments in the first two episodes, and after that it was just constant conflict and drama until the very last minute of the final episode. That brings me to another issue, why was this series so conflict focused? We barely got any genuinely sweet moments between Pei Jia and Su Yi. It felt like a chaotic and sad love story overall, which is fine and even realistic, but there was nothing solid to cling to emotionally. We got tiny bits of romance and even those didn’t feel rewarding.
Now let’s talk about the kisses, because they were not it. The first kiss made me think maybe it was awkward because Su Yi is a rookie actor, which would’ve been understandable. Then the so called good kiss happened and I remember thinking, wait… is this it? I genuinely hoped the awkwardness was intentional because they were still acting and still figuring each other out, but nope. Even after they officially got together, the kisses were still just lip touching and head moving, no mouth movement, no passion, nothing. Maybe they were still playing it safe because of censorship, but this was filmed in Singapore so I really don’t know what the excuse is. Either they’re bad kissers, afraid to kiss each other for real, or just didn’t give it their all. Whatever the reason, it completely disconnected me from their relationship. Like Su Bai says in the series when Fang Run Zhi wanted to remove the kiss scenes, being in a relationship needs passion. You can’t show passion only through staring and hugging. Yes, silent yearning is an art form, but in real life and in most series and movies, physical expression matters. We didn’t get that here. The kisses were so bland that I genuinely would’ve preferred no kisses at all and just tension and yearning instead.
Speaking of Su Bai, that leads me to my next point, and probably my second biggest issue. I hated, hated, HATED the second couple. There was no chemistry, they weren’t interesting, and I absolutely hated Yi Wei. Yi Wei is self focused, self oriented, individualistic, and just straight up selfish. He’s not the worst person in the series, we’ll get to that, but his behavior is constantly brushed off. He neglected his relationship by putting his career, success, money, and Fang Run Zhi’s approval above everything else. He was also disrespectful and insensitive toward Su Yi, especially during the dubbing scene where he completely crashed out on him and called him useless and a nobody. This is wild considering he’s dating Su Yi’s brother and knows better than anyone how hard Su Yi works and how passionate he is about acting. I’m sorry, but if my partner had a sibling, I would never say something like that about their dreams. I didn’t like Yi Wei at all. Yes, he helps expose Fang Run Zhi toward the end, but that doesn’t erase how awful he was for most of the series.
And let’s not forget how he refused to move on from Su Bai. He kept pushing to get back together, and yes diva Su Bai said no repeatedly, except for the times he let him kiss him, and then suddenly in the last episode they’re holding hands? What is happening? This has the same energy as Pei Jia not liking Su Yi for the first two episodes, then one game of questions later Su Yi says he’d take Pei Jia to dinner and BOOM, feelings unlocked. Both situations make no sense, have no buildup, no proper context, and just magically appear.
Now onto Fang Run Zhi. I genuinely wish someone had magic powers in this series just to make him disappear. He was ruining everything, constantly. He’s annoying, manipulative, and should be in jail, like actually. I hated that we didn’t get proper justice or consequences for him. He caused Su Yi nothing but pain and misery, and the ending just felt unfinished. Yes, he was exposed, but then what? That’s it? This story honestly feels like it needs a second season, even though I doubt we’ll get one.
That said, I weirdly have a love hate relationship with the ending. I usually hate when shows resolve the conflict early and then turn the last episode into a random music video and filler content. So ending it where they did was bold, annoying, but also oddly satisfying.
Now onto the positives, because there are some. The acting was genuinely good. I was unsure at first, but the hospital scene where Pei Jia breaks down blaming himself for everything that happened to Su Yi really hit me. That crying felt raw and real. Pei Jia and Su Yi were both portrayed well, and you can tell the actors did the best they could with the script they were given. Su Yi especially did an amazing job showing the slow loss of hope and light, you can literally see the sparkle in his eyes disappear as the story progresses. That part was done very well.
One major issue though is the lack of background for almost every character. We never meet parents, we barely get personal histories, and everything feels emotionally shallow because of it. Su Yi hiding his health issues was frustrating, and the consequences were devastating, ending with him permanently blind, which just added to how heavy this series was overall.
To wrap it up, I’m not a huge fan of BLs centered around actors, it’s not really my thing, but I always give them a chance. Sometimes you find a gem, but just because something is shiny doesn’t mean it’s a diamond. This one felt more like a piece of glass. Acting within acting is hard, and I do respect how challenging it is to pull off acting times two. In that sense, the performances were impressive, even if the story itself wasn’t.
Sorry if this came off super negative. I just don’t think this series deserves to be overly glazed. The same thing happened with Revenged Love and others, they’re just not that good. It’s all subjective of course, but from a general perspective, a lot was lacking. MDL reviewers really need to be more honest.
My rating is 7/10. Before judging, I have my own rating system which you can check on my profile. I rarely go below a 7 unless something is truly horrendous. There’s more to a series than just script and acting. The music was good, the cinematography was good, and there were some strong moments. Because of that, I don’t think it deserves higher than a 7, and lower is debatable depending on personal taste.
Thank you to anyone who took the time to read this review.
SPOILERS AHEAD, READ WITH CAUTION
I want to start from the beginning all the way to the end, and I’ll be honest, this series did not hook me, not even with the first episode. It felt very bland, I didn’t feel any connection or spark, and I was confused about almost every character’s background. Even for a first episode, you usually get a solid idea of who’s who and how everyone is connected, but here I was confused as hell and had to slowly unpack everything myself throughout the series through hints and passing dialogue. Maybe I’m the dumbest person alive, but for half the show I was confused and bored because the story didn’t give me anything to latch onto. Somehow it managed to feel like it was moving too fast and too slow at the same time, which is honestly impressive in the worst way. Some things did become clearer later on, but I still don’t know if the confusion was intentional or just a flaw.
This is not a fluffy story at all. I think we got some cute moments in the first two episodes, and after that it was just constant conflict and drama until the very last minute of the final episode. That brings me to another issue, why was this series so conflict focused? We barely got any genuinely sweet moments between Pei Jia and Su Yi. It felt like a chaotic and sad love story overall, which is fine and even realistic, but there was nothing solid to cling to emotionally. We got tiny bits of romance and even those didn’t feel rewarding.
Now let’s talk about the kisses, because they were not it. The first kiss made me think maybe it was awkward because Su Yi is a rookie actor, which would’ve been understandable. Then the so called good kiss happened and I remember thinking, wait… is this it? I genuinely hoped the awkwardness was intentional because they were still acting and still figuring each other out, but nope. Even after they officially got together, the kisses were still just lip touching and head moving, no mouth movement, no passion, nothing. Maybe they were still playing it safe because of censorship, but this was filmed in Singapore so I really don’t know what the excuse is. Either they’re bad kissers, afraid to kiss each other for real, or just didn’t give it their all. Whatever the reason, it completely disconnected me from their relationship. Like Su Bai says in the series when Fang Run Zhi wanted to remove the kiss scenes, being in a relationship needs passion. You can’t show passion only through staring and hugging. Yes, silent yearning is an art form, but in real life and in most series and movies, physical expression matters. We didn’t get that here. The kisses were so bland that I genuinely would’ve preferred no kisses at all and just tension and yearning instead.
Speaking of Su Bai, that leads me to my next point, and probably my second biggest issue. I hated, hated, HATED the second couple. There was no chemistry, they weren’t interesting, and I absolutely hated Yi Wei. Yi Wei is self focused, self oriented, individualistic, and just straight up selfish. He’s not the worst person in the series, we’ll get to that, but his behavior is constantly brushed off. He neglected his relationship by putting his career, success, money, and Fang Run Zhi’s approval above everything else. He was also disrespectful and insensitive toward Su Yi, especially during the dubbing scene where he completely crashed out on him and called him useless and a nobody. This is wild considering he’s dating Su Yi’s brother and knows better than anyone how hard Su Yi works and how passionate he is about acting. I’m sorry, but if my partner had a sibling, I would never say something like that about their dreams. I didn’t like Yi Wei at all. Yes, he helps expose Fang Run Zhi toward the end, but that doesn’t erase how awful he was for most of the series.
And let’s not forget how he refused to move on from Su Bai. He kept pushing to get back together, and yes diva Su Bai said no repeatedly, except for the times he let him kiss him, and then suddenly in the last episode they’re holding hands? What is happening? This has the same energy as Pei Jia not liking Su Yi for the first two episodes, then one game of questions later Su Yi says he’d take Pei Jia to dinner and BOOM, feelings unlocked. Both situations make no sense, have no buildup, no proper context, and just magically appear.
Now onto Fang Run Zhi. I genuinely wish someone had magic powers in this series just to make him disappear. He was ruining everything, constantly. He’s annoying, manipulative, and should be in jail, like actually. I hated that we didn’t get proper justice or consequences for him. He caused Su Yi nothing but pain and misery, and the ending just felt unfinished. Yes, he was exposed, but then what? That’s it? This story honestly feels like it needs a second season, even though I doubt we’ll get one.
That said, I weirdly have a love hate relationship with the ending. I usually hate when shows resolve the conflict early and then turn the last episode into a random music video and filler content. So ending it where they did was bold, annoying, but also oddly satisfying.
Now onto the positives, because there are some. The acting was genuinely good. I was unsure at first, but the hospital scene where Pei Jia breaks down blaming himself for everything that happened to Su Yi really hit me. That crying felt raw and real. Pei Jia and Su Yi were both portrayed well, and you can tell the actors did the best they could with the script they were given. Su Yi especially did an amazing job showing the slow loss of hope and light, you can literally see the sparkle in his eyes disappear as the story progresses. That part was done very well.
One major issue though is the lack of background for almost every character. We never meet parents, we barely get personal histories, and everything feels emotionally shallow because of it. Su Yi hiding his health issues was frustrating, and the consequences were devastating, ending with him permanently blind, which just added to how heavy this series was overall.
To wrap it up, I’m not a huge fan of BLs centered around actors, it’s not really my thing, but I always give them a chance. Sometimes you find a gem, but just because something is shiny doesn’t mean it’s a diamond. This one felt more like a piece of glass. Acting within acting is hard, and I do respect how challenging it is to pull off acting times two. In that sense, the performances were impressive, even if the story itself wasn’t.
Sorry if this came off super negative. I just don’t think this series deserves to be overly glazed. The same thing happened with Revenged Love and others, they’re just not that good. It’s all subjective of course, but from a general perspective, a lot was lacking. MDL reviewers really need to be more honest.
My rating is 7/10. Before judging, I have my own rating system which you can check on my profile. I rarely go below a 7 unless something is truly horrendous. There’s more to a series than just script and acting. The music was good, the cinematography was good, and there were some strong moments. Because of that, I don’t think it deserves higher than a 7, and lower is debatable depending on personal taste.
Thank you to anyone who took the time to read this review.
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