any_anka

Short but intense :)

Oh, I absolutely do not allow myself to have any hopes. I already had hoped once, when the whole mess with The On1y One was happening. I waited for months for *any* update about the second season. Was hanging on every word from the director to the point I feel silly 😋
So yeah, no. I prefer to have some form of closure and no expectations.
I'll believe in the second season happening when the first episode actually drops online. Not a day sooner 😋

I kinda see your point about shuttering the cop and the disrespect coming with it. But I also feel that if Chusan was not allowed to leave unharmed, that would've been a huge regress for the development of their relationship in the drama.
I mean, they've been through so much already, from Chusan saving Liuyi, taking him to his home, tending to his wounds, then putting himself at risk just to help him, Liuyi telling him his life story in the meantime and crying in front of him. Plus they just shared this bonding moment (once again with Chusan's family) recently... If after all that, they went back to Liuyi physically hurting Chusan, I'd feel like everything up till this point that happened between them was kinda wasted...
(Besides, we've seen that Liuyi is super soft with people he loves; ofc Chusan is not on the level of Liuyi's sister, but it's clear he did kind of let the smart boy in already).

I actually do agree to some extent with what you're saying about the disrespect part. And in front of all Liuyi's subordinates at that. But I also don't really see it happening any other way...
Unless - as a way of compromise - Chusan just leaves without shuttering the cop. I guess that might've been a better development, to save Liuyi's "face" (and also maybe, to some extent, keep Chusan's personality more intact as this very composed guy).

I haven't read the novel, but as someone who just watched ep 5, I'm pretty certain it *was* a dream (and honestly kinda funny, bcs Chusan's wet dreams are apparently very BL-tropes filled 🤭).
What really happened was: Chusan wanted the lollipop, but Liuyi bit the candy part of it. Their straight-out-of-a-tropey-BL-drama fall did not actually happen, neither did all the kisses. That was all Chusan's fantasy/dream.
That's why it was only Chusan who behaved weird morning after and why Liuyi had no idea what was his deal (it's very unlikely that Liuyi who had more experience drinking alcohol and looked less drunk than Chusan would not remember what happened between them.)

What was real though was Liuyi telling Chusan he was at a place he felt safe and Chusan telling him he could stay there forever 🥺

I haven't read the novel, but from the comments of people who did read it, there's way too much story for the drama to cover, not only in the guaranteed 9 episodes, but even if (and that's a big "if", which I personally don't put my hopes on) a second season was to happen.

As someone who hasn't read the novel and thus have no emotional attachment to it, I prefer the show changes things in order to make the story fit the format and time better. I really enjoy the development between the characters, their dynamics and their individual personalities, so I kinda don't need anything to be different 😉
(Though I do understand that for someone who loves the novel, changes in the plot might be somewhat disappointing).

Oh, absolutely. Especially the two of them are e/o's romantic interests in the story. That requires evoking the atmosphere of intimacy, strong emotional bond and all that stuff, which would be kinda challenging if they spoke two different languages during a scene.
I was just simply wondering, with you saying he speaks Cantonese, if I was mistaken assuming he spoke Mandarin.

Doesn't Yanzhao speak Mandarin though? At least in the most scenes or those filmed with Changxi. I know he can speak Cantonese, but he was actually the first one that made me notice the obvious lack of sync between the lips and sound.

As a 30+ woman myself too, I keep telling myself it'd be silly of me to get frustrated over other people's choices in what type of entertainment they prefer to consume. So I try to remain chill and no to judge (much😉)
But it is kinda disheartening when I see (I think somewhat objectively) a good quality work with clearly a lot of effort put into it (to a pretty satisfying artistic outcome in my opinion) not really get appreciation that I consider due...
I don't have a problem with bubbly/fluffy shows, it's the formulaic stuff that I dislike. Take Cherry Magic for example (Japanese version) - it's fluff and fluff only, but personally I found it very entertaining, because it was so fresh.
Anywayyy... I hope SCD can get more hype. I'm watching a few shows currently (some are BL, some are not), but this one got me invested the most out of all of them.

Rant ended.

I guess I can't help watching the drama with my non-Asian eyes. It's rarely I even comment on the looks of the cast, but here I really feel everyone is so good-looking 😋

Now, when you mention that. I think it indeed popped up out of nowhere on Gaga and Viki. Like, some other shows are teased as "Coming Soon" for weeks before release, but this one just appeared suddenly.

I think RL is a unique case study, not to be compared to other shows though. I mean, it's Chai Ji Dan's work and that alone probably garnered a lot of attention before its release, considering how popular Addicted was in China (and I think Stay With Me was decently successful, too?)

Yeah, I am aware of that. Be we all know that Chinese fans have ways to watch them anyway 😉
And Revenged Love also technically was not streamed/broadcasted in the Mainland China, yet it was a huge hit.

Chusan's been obviously attracted to Liuyi since episode 2, I think. Staring at his butt whenever an opportunity arises, getting excited in the least romance-inducing moments when they were hiding from the enemy...
And ok, let's say that physical attraction doesn't equal liking someone, but I think that missing somebody to the point that a stupid squeaky chicken toy can make you longingly reminisce on them in the middle of the night kinda does. So does looking for them with an anticipation of a puppy to show up at your graduation, even though you swore you wanted nothing to do with the triads. And these are not even all the scenes that clearly indicate Chusan's feelings.
And as for Liuyi, ok, admittedly he is a bit less obvious. But I think that prolonged staring at Chusan in that (so cinematic btw) bus scene probably goes beyond just looking at an aquaintance you haven't seen for a long time. And don't even get me started how huge it was for Liuyi to fall asleep in Chusan's bed after not being able to sleep for multiple nights due to the trauma he suffered (= Chusan makes him feel at peace and safe).
Oh, and there were those scenes with obvious tension when Chusan was taking care of Liuyi when he was wounded. Are we going to pretend these didn't happen either? :)

That is so very incorrect.
If you wrote it's a slow burn or there was no physical intimacy yet, that's a different case, but them not liking each other? Really?

And yet those improvised fighting scenes were the best cinema ever delivered. Like, nothing comes close to old HK movies in that department.

Thank you for an interesting trivia btw 😊

Huh... Wasn't aware of that. To each their own I guess...

Possibly having sth to do with half of them crushing on Dong Dong 😉

But do gl couples really get hate so often? I didn't get that impression (?)

I've been staring at the cast's lips trying to spot someone who actually is more in sync with the Canto dub aka not speaking Mandarin in reality (I don't know why I am doing this tbh 😅) and I felt like he was actually speaking Cantonese in that scene (am even more convinced now after having watched the ep 4).

The only thing not making sense is you apologizing for your English (it's totally fine I mean?) 😉
I guess timing can play into it... But then again, if Sammy's Children's Day's intended audience is mature and that drama you mentioned seem more bubbly and for the younger audiences, they shouldn't really clash, should they?
Besides, even if that was the case, I feel like we're talking about the international audiences and I am wondering why (oh why) SCD is not bigger in China, being a CBL, having Chinese actors and all that (because from what I gather a few edits on XHS and BiliBili don't suggest much hype over there).

The theme alone is not *that* risky either, I think. I mean, it was new when History3 Trapped came out, maybe when KinnPorsche was released, but now? Besides these two titles were very successful in their own right, weren't they?

The bottom/top dynamic aspect - I suppose you might be onto something? I wouldn't really know though, because I can't relate to caring about it that much to be honest. If the chemistry is there, it's there, that's what's important for a relationship dynamic to me.

P.S. I am just dumping my thoughts in here, don't mean to challenge what you wrote 😊

Oh really? I didn't know that 😋 And here I am being like in-my-expert-opinion-their-singing-skill-has-potential 😂

I mean, I knew Changxi was in a boyband

(But honestly being in a boyband doesn't necessarily mean one is a good singer tbh)

I am puzzled. I feel like they're ticking all the boxes to become big.

I used to think that some niche really good BLs just don't make it big because maybe majority of the audiences are all about the looks (like I remember The On1y One getting some hate for the actors not looking "good enough" or young enough for the book adaptation, despite the drama literally having top notch acting and directing way above the usual BL standard imo anyway).
But I kinda feel like the casting is perfect here. Granted, I haven't read the novel, but the genius nerd has the right nerdy vibe, and the gangster does have the rough, dangerous vibe... And let's be honest, in terms of actors' good looks this is Untamed-level stuff...

Then I thought, maybe some people really crave the parasocial element... But isn't the cast doing livestreams, vlogs etc. to satisfy demand for such stuff? 🤔

Cinematography is good, some scenes are genuinely shot so prettily (like the scene on the bus from the last ep e.g., but not only that one), the editing is good (the pacing is fast, but I never feel like the narration gets choppy), acting above the average for a BL, OST sounds great, the story is actually *there*.

Yep. I am puzzled.