any_anka

I might've downplayed it a bit when I said it's "kinda sad". I think soul-crushingly sad would be more appropriate ;) (Though honestly I actually always thought the ending was bitter-sweet and even hopeful... but I think I am in the minority 😅)
I'm happy you enjoyed the pain ;)

btw, if you are considering the other drama I mentioned - Had I Not Seen The Sun - the actor who played Birdy in Your Name Engraved Herein plays the main character there. And may I say, his acting improved since the movie, he's crushing it in the show.
Maybe that would be an incentive to give it a try (but I will warn you, there is more pain awaiting there...)

Now I'm thinking that maybe History 3: Trapped could be something you'd enjoy... It's nothing like SCD in terms of cinematography or the overall vibe, but it does have: a gangster (and a pretty decent story around that tbh), a good guy who's falling for that gangster, and a really really healthy non-toxic relationship dynamics.

It's a bit older series (2019), but that's exactly why I'm thinking there's a chance some folks might not know of its existence. Enjoy ;)

Actually... both Matthew and Yanzhao can speak Cantonese. But since it's not the case for all the actors (and I guess the crew?), it makes sense they'd end up filming in Mandarin, who everyone could speak and unerstand. Otherwise it'd be difficult to convey all the right emotions during interactions between characters etc.
Still, Matthew actually speaks Cantonese in his scenes and Yanzhao spoke it in the final ep too.

So... no toxicity, Chinese, similar dynamics... Girl, saying you don't care it's gay or straight might sound like broadening the scope, but it really doesn't when these two other requirements are in place :P
I tried thinking hard what I could possibly recommend to you and in the end concluded that SCD is really special (not that I didn't know that already, but...), because I had genuine problems coming up with anything remotely similar.

Hear me out though. These... might not meet the requirements, but they kinda do in some ways ;)
"Your Name Engraved Herein" (a Taiwanese gay movie; accidentally also set in the 80s)
and (a straight) Taiwanese drama "Had I Not Seen The Sun" (my absolute favourite drama from last year, there are two seasons, complete story, both are out)

But... They are kinda sad... However, I think they have a potential to take your mind off SCD and start thinking of them instead ;)

One of the most toxic dynamics I've seen in a BL. Yet at the same time a rare case when it's not romanticised and made into an aesthetic.
This is a really intriguing, smart and dare I say, ambitious show. It's just not a grand romantic tale that people might expect it to be when they start watching.

My advice? Approach it not as a BL, but as a psychological drama.
Oh, and the best part? It dives into the psychology of the party who is a victim, not focusing on making excuses for the abuser.

(written by an enthusiast of wholesome dynamics btw)

nah, feel bad about what? ;) I was just teasing you ;)

Well... I mean... if there is a scratch or two, a bruise or a manly scar there...

But Liuyi is literally bathed in the blood of his enemies lol 😂

(btw I'm not necessarily or particularly strongly countering your POV 😋)

I mean... I can probably say like 5 basic sentences in Mandarin and that's my limit😋so I don't know if I'm competent at all to give an answer 🙃
But in Mandarin I'm pretty sure that yeah, when ppl say Liuyi (六一) it is understood as June 1st. Cantonese just pronounces characters differently in this case, I think? I assume the meaning stays the same since that's how his name was described in the drama...

But I also am not sure if there isnt some cultural shift there when it comes to HK and how people refer to certain fixed dates (?), like Children's Day etc.
I wouldn't really know though, but @kae_xoxo is from Hong Kong and speaks Cantonese, so you have someone way more reliable to ask than me 😋

I am "celebrating" like this ever since the drama ended 😋 I keep on rewatching my favourite moments, gashing over my favourite scenes etc.

I mean... are you sure it's not simply due to the Liuyi-part of the whole arrangement though? ;)

Girl, what is up with you, Liuyi and *blood*? 😂 Should we be concerned?😋

Same as you, I got used to the dubbing eventually. Plus I am totally in love with everything else about this drama.

Yeah, sound processing overall was pretty decent, better than some other popular dramas tbh.

Cantonese always felt delicate/soft and melodic to me, the literal opposite of aggressive 😋

I can only speak for myself, but as someone initially really bothered by the dubbing I wanna clarify: I wasn't bugged by Cantonese dubbing. I was bugged by words being spoken in Cantonese while mouth was moving in Mandarin 😋

When I heard Cantonese spoken in a trailer I actually even got kinda excited, I thought it'd be a refreshing experience; while I've watched HK movies before, I've never watched an actual modern drama, a BL at that, that was in Cantonese...

However, when I realised it's dubbed and the actors filmed in Mandarin... yeah... that excited of mine kinda deflated 😋

Maybe they used the Mandarin names because the novel was written in Mandarin and that's their names in the book? (Not sure, but I think that's the case)

Ho Co Saam (Chusan) and Haa Luk Jat (Liuyi).

Hey, you changed your pfp in the end? 😋 Should I feel like I won the battle of perseverance or something? 😂
So you picked the cuteness over blood and lustful look, huh? ;)

I'm contemplating watching this one, but I'm confused as to the whole universe. As far as I understand, this is part of a bigger story... (right?)
Do I need any sort of preparation to understand what is happening? Will I be able to even follow the plot? 😋

The final episode is setting things up for second season.

So when two main actors say on an official stream for the brand they're endorsing that s2 will happen this year, I should treat it as a legit info this time, right? It's not just them being "uhhh... maybe, we don't know yet, it's not official, we wish so..." on their own IG accounts etc. It's a legit semi-announcement, isn't it? 🥺

And that's a reasonable reaction tbh. Chusan was completely innocent in the entire situation. His only fault was getting involved with Liuyi.

But I think a case can be made that from Guangming's perspective, gangsters are terrible people (even if Liuyi was not involved in his brother's death, his gang and he himself is very much involved in corruption in the police force which apparently lead to his brother's death).

You can see it from this POV: anyone who is personally close to Liuyi, even if they themselves have a clean record, can be seen as being forgiving/enabling/not caring about terrible things Liuyi does (and he isn't just a nobody, he's literally the big boss of a gang, so there are plenty of things he can be blamed for).
And frankly, if we're being honest, Chusan's priority is for Liuyi not to get hurt first, that's what he cares about the most, not how many people Liuyi migt've wronged in the past... 🙄Him believing Liuyi is a good person is a beautiful thing, but from a perspective of someone like Guangming whose brother died bcs of gangs, he wouldn't look at Chusan and think "awww, what a beautiful, understanding soul seeing good in everyone" ;)

Anyway, because the setting and themes of this drama, there are plenty of this sort of morally grey areas. I find the contrast between how Guangming and Xia Jie Hua (the goody goody cop with a rich dad) reacted to the same event in their life and how both are dealing with it fascinating to follow.

One cool thing about Guangming is that he doesn't try to paint himself as righteous or noble. He himself admits that he isn't any of those things. He doesn't mind getting his hands dirty and he's upfront about it. I can respect that.

Fine, fine. I wouldn't dare interrupting your delicate emotional situation 😋