Niniane

Immersive and toxic black flag fest

This drama deserves a 10/10 rating, but I refuse to give it. Because there is 1 HUGE flaw and I will adress it at the start. Lu Feng rapes Yi Chen multiple times. Once in the first few episodes and more than once when Lu Feng imprisons Yi Chen. The rapes are not explicit, only suggested but it's clear it happened. And because I don't believe it's in any way enhancing the story I will not rate it 10/10.

The story is not even what makes this drama so good. It's the acting and the chemistry between the actors. But about that later. Let's talk about the story first. It's a classic "big strong popular guy falls for nerdy weak boy" Both of them are from important rich families and have a reputation to protect. In china this means not being gay, get married to a good match and have children to please your parents. Despite the Big Love these guys have, they are not able to fight the parental expectations. Lu Feng suffers physical abuse from his father and Yi Chen is being pushed and manipulated into denying his true feelings and not hurting his mother and brother. But as things go with Big Love, it can't be denied for long and things progress between them regardless.

We can see Lu Feng being manipulative while doing whatever he wants from the start. He doesn't really seem to care abour Yi Chens feelings and shows up or stays away whenever he pleases. Never explaining, never apologizing. Whenever Yi Cheng dares to protest, he either physically or mentally pushes him into submission. The way I have screamed at him through the screen...

All this uglyness is always forgiven by Yi Chen, who is the sweetest innocent boy that keeps forgiving and is just too much in love to care about the abuse and toxicity.

Until....

Everything culminates when Yi Chens mother dies after talking to Lu Feng, and at that same day Lu Feng (kind of accidentally) throws Yi Chengs brother from the stairs breaking so many bones he could be crippled for life. This is when they finally break up. But not for good of course, because this is Big And Obsessive Love. From both sides. So they eventually meet again and the toxicity chemistry and love all continue at the same time. As a viewer it was frustrating, confusing and blissful all at once. Lu Feng goes as far as to lock Yi Chen up, because Yi Chen has grown up and won't be manipulated as easily anymore. Even after he releases him, it takes several more outburst of (near) violence before we eventually find out what caused all this lunacy and Lu Feng finally deals with himself in the way that he should and the toxicity ends so that they can have a healthy love.

I could write a million words to describe the feelings this series gave me. I guess it's kind of like base jumping or shark diving. You know you could die, but you do it anyway for the adrenaline. Never in my real life would I accept a relationship like this. I mean, run like the wind in the other direction. But in a romance drama? With this acting and chemistry? Yes please.

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Nice and sweet binge-watch

With 6x20 minutes, this is a perfect drama if you have a few hours to kill. It's uncomplicated, sweet, lovable. The story is not overly childish or cliche. Though the trope of "wow I suddenly fell for a guy" is the main theme here, it is not done in an annoying of comical way, but surprisingly mature and sensitive.

What I did not like nor understand is the fact that the class mates had never seen a gay man/couple and were genuinely surprised that it happened at their school and even in their class. I have seen many BL's, including many Korean ones, but in modern BL's this is never really a thing. I can't help but wonder if this is representing of modern Korean society or not...

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Pretty hot, despite the rain

This may be one of the best BL's of 2023. I enjoyed it from the first second to the last and never did it get boring or uninteresting.

Despite the original fantasy-themed plot, the actual bl-story is quite predictable. That's not a big deal though, since I like to see BL-tropes (well, most of them anyway) and these come with predictability. The rain triggering soulmates ability to communicate while being deaf to everything else is a great find to build on. The MC starts off a bit awkward, but once they start kissing, the chemistry is undeniable for everyone. The way Saengtai looks at Patts during NC scenes is absolute fire. These kisses are hot hot hot.

The synchronicities between Tai's parents relationship and his own are pure realness. So are a lot of other scenes. The slow change in Somfon from his first love and savior to his real heart and feelings is wonderful to see.

I did not care for the sudden outburst of aggressivity in Patts, and it irrtates me that this was not addressed at all. Besides the fact that it came from nowhere and was blind rage, it did not fit the character of Patts so far. He had said he had a temper, but there was never any other outbursts before that. And nobody tells him off for it either. For me this would be an absolute turn-off on a guy, but that's me.

Some of the dialogue is a bit stiff or not toned right. But these are very minor flaws compared to the overall mesmerizing experience of this BL.

I loved the atmosphere, the pace, the theme, the completeness, the family, the NC scenes, the handling of tropes. In some parts it reminded me of TOATS or ITSAY (It not as good as these tho!!). I will put this one high on my re-watchable list.

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