Mid-Tier in All Aspects
When this drama first came out, I was really excited. Chinese BL, no censorship... That's pretty much what most of us wanted, especially with China's increased censorship and regulations in regards with MLM oriented media.
However, watching this there was clearly something important missing: chemistry. The two leads had very little chemistry together and the entirety of the romance felt like a big nothing burger. I didn't feel like routing for either of them, actually, the more I watched the less I cared about the characters.
Both the main leads are bland with a sprinkle of "depth" that does little to really prove an impact in regards to the story. Whilst I sometimes complain about the length of most C-dramas, I did actually find myself appreciating those 50+ episode seasons watching this. The plot felt rushed and very little time was spent on what felt like should have been very key events and details to the characters. Honestly, nothing really "clicked" in place for me in the sense that I kept asking "why should I care?" everything was moving either too fast or too slow that I didn't feel attached to any of the characters.
The main characters were bland... I may have bias but I generally dislike whiny and "pathetic" characters. In this drama, that seemed to be enhanced with our protagonist. Honestly, he didn't really strike me as a protag, more of a comedic relief type character. I found the initial premise interesting until the plot was just about a whiny man who couldn't do anything aside from whimper and hide behind whatever shield he could find.... The other male lead? I didn't actually grasp whether he was actually meant to be "good" at anything. In terms of martial arts, he kind of seemed average... boring and without any significant growth that made me really care about anything to do with his past because again, this drama actually gives you no time to meet the characters properly. They're just thrown in and expect you to somehow care for them.
If you watch BL just for the "gay" this is a perfect drama for you because other than that is has no substance. The "sex" scenes to me felt so fan-service oriented which drove the point that these leads don't actually have any chemistry together.
Overall: I hated the entire thing. Even the acting in most episodes was jarring which made it feel more like a half-assed c-drama than the other ones available. Bromance C-dramas have more angst and heart-wrenching plots to offer than this.
However, watching this there was clearly something important missing: chemistry. The two leads had very little chemistry together and the entirety of the romance felt like a big nothing burger. I didn't feel like routing for either of them, actually, the more I watched the less I cared about the characters.
Both the main leads are bland with a sprinkle of "depth" that does little to really prove an impact in regards to the story. Whilst I sometimes complain about the length of most C-dramas, I did actually find myself appreciating those 50+ episode seasons watching this. The plot felt rushed and very little time was spent on what felt like should have been very key events and details to the characters. Honestly, nothing really "clicked" in place for me in the sense that I kept asking "why should I care?" everything was moving either too fast or too slow that I didn't feel attached to any of the characters.
The main characters were bland... I may have bias but I generally dislike whiny and "pathetic" characters. In this drama, that seemed to be enhanced with our protagonist. Honestly, he didn't really strike me as a protag, more of a comedic relief type character. I found the initial premise interesting until the plot was just about a whiny man who couldn't do anything aside from whimper and hide behind whatever shield he could find.... The other male lead? I didn't actually grasp whether he was actually meant to be "good" at anything. In terms of martial arts, he kind of seemed average... boring and without any significant growth that made me really care about anything to do with his past because again, this drama actually gives you no time to meet the characters properly. They're just thrown in and expect you to somehow care for them.
If you watch BL just for the "gay" this is a perfect drama for you because other than that is has no substance. The "sex" scenes to me felt so fan-service oriented which drove the point that these leads don't actually have any chemistry together.
Overall: I hated the entire thing. Even the acting in most episodes was jarring which made it feel more like a half-assed c-drama than the other ones available. Bromance C-dramas have more angst and heart-wrenching plots to offer than this.
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