6
23
1
1
1
1
1
1
Not lovewatching not hatewatching but a third other thing: watching to snark about it on feeds
I have good news and I have bad news. Bad news is I read about 41% of this book, so I am 100% making half of this review about the book! I'm sorry; this is a double review and a character analysis to boot! Sorry! The good news is the book was so bad, it made me appreciate the show more! lol
So I finished this show, and despite the potato quality, I am once again here to proclaim that Chinese BLs just hit different! And I say this, feeling like this show was trying to imitate the mainstream Thai BL style. It was still better! It's like China's curse: They are the perfect people to make BLs! (What's the joke? Born to produce BLs, forced to follow regulations)
As you may have noticed, I gave this show a 7.5, which must stand out in the sea of 8s and 9s and 10s this show is racking up but I want you to know that this is amazing. I was gonna give this show a 6 but it managed to make me want to raise the rating to a 7.5 and personally I think it's a great achievement because I physically could not give it a higher rating. It's not even the low budget or quality, it's that the cringe-factor of this show was too high for me to enjoy it any more than a 7.5! I had so many moments of secondhand embarrassment when I had to stop and walk around to stop the queasiness. I can't give this any higher a rating. Some of the dialogue was just too embarrassing and weird...who talks like that?!
But it's not the show's fault entirely; a lot of that weird stuff comes straight out of the book, which is, to be honest, too bad to have been adapted. Like, who looked at that mess and thought "hmmm, this is gonna be the most successful Chinese BL of ALL time! We HAVE to adapt this!!!" A genius person to see the potential in that mess but like...I am sure there were better options!
You see, the problem with this show/book is not even the explicit parts or the horniness or the romanticization of red flags...the worst thing about this book is the fundamental misunderstanding about human sexuality AND anatomy! Miss Author did NOT research being a gay before writing this, and it shows. Serious talk: This story shows queerness in a predatory, perverted manner, and I don't mean that they do horny stuff, oh, how dare they! It's how the gay characters impose their sexuality on others that was insulting and insensitive. There is basically no gay character who isn't shown in some predatory manner here, and that made me uncomfortable. I wish the show had taken the liberty of changing all of that and also fixing the truly embarrassing goofs they spew as facts in the big year of 2025, but unfortunately, the show has all of that mess in it. Sometimes loyalty to source material is worse (NOT YOU, FENNELL! YOU GO TO JAIL FOR DOING *THAT* TO WUTHERING HEIGHTS!) Here, the show could have been less similar to the book.
They did try, to their credit. Characters like Guo Cheng Yu and Jiang Xiao Shuai are whitewashed a lot. Our resident bad boys are not just bad boys in the book. They are just bad! lol! Like, sure! Show!Chi Cheng is a bad enemy to have; you are screwed for sure if he hates you! But as far as being a lover goes, if he really loves you, you are so lucky! He is gonna break his heart every time you cry! That's sweet! I mean the book had that too but the other stuff was just too much! Because, in the book, it's implied that Chi Cheng is into extreme sadism. The show doesn't go to the extremes that the book goes to demonstrate this. I'm really glad because I feel like maybe Miss Author also didn't know enough about BDSM to use it correctly and just used it as an edgy trait to show how dangerous Chi Cheng is. 'Cause what she described wasn't sadism, it was attempted murder. I'm glad Chi Cheng is just a red flag in the show!
But really. The heteronormative labeling of gay relationships, the misunderstandings of how intimate relationships work or what queerness even means...just... it was a bit bothersome. So know that sexuality is a spectrum. Bisexuality exists. There are no inherent positions in a same sex relationship, and people switch. You have to prepare for intimate relationships in advance; the care is necessary and detailed and very important, and Jiang Xiao Shuai really should have told Wu Suo Wei that no straight man would have even come up with the plot to seduce a love rival for revenge to begin with!!!!
There's also just so many silly bits in the story. I lost count of how many times I was choking on nervous laughter while watching the show. All at inappropriate times! None of this was the show's fault. 90% of these scenes were straight from the book. This is why I raised the rating, btw. I can't be mad at a show that was so loyal to the source material and did such a good job of bringing it all to life despite budget restrictions and the Chinese censorship laws. They worked hard! And there were certain elements that I liked. The overall plot works even if the details make no sense. And the emotional investment is enough to keep you guessing and binging, and by the time we reach the emotional climax of the show, my heart hurt for these kids. So kudos to them for achieving maximum investment in the story with barely any flashy story tactics.
The acting...I didn't love the acting. Someone recently said this, and it has since ruined about 70% of the shows I watch. They said: "You can tell they're acting"...WHY WOULD YOU MAKE ME AWARE OF THIS?! It's like when someone makes you aware of your breathing and then you spend 20 minutes being extra cautious of your breathing and feeling like you're choking (I'm sorry.) So now, every time I watch a show, I'm like "hmmm, that's acting" ugh. Well, I got that feeling a lot and not just that but the "omg, I'm in a BL, what am I doing with my career?!" look in some of their eyes throughout the show was killing me! Like, this could have ruined so many careers, so fair enough! But then, when you know all of this, and that thought is in your head too, the whole viewing experience is tainted. I was both aware that these are all actors, and that made me aware of just how dangerous this project is, and that I couldn't believe we were getting this show in 2025 from China! So a lot was going through my mind. I don't think they're bad actors. I just think they are still far from hitting their peak, and the director maybe demanded a theatrical acting style from them and some of them had to stick to some pet peeves to make it through. That said, you can never go wrong with hiring a hot 97-line guy as the hot guy in your show and this show did it twice in a row...game acknowledged *tips hat*
I loved the music! lol! I think Cdramas should use public domain music more often. They matched the mood of the scenes so well and I have only good memories of the music in the background. The production is visibly not very high quality or expensive but I think they blew it all on getting expensive sets for the rich people's homes and the snakes and that's a good place to put the money in. because they otherwise had no money left for other stuff like prison sets, extras in the background, clothes (this is good because they had to stick to clear styles for each character and have repeat outfits which added realism), music...like basically, everything was put together with spit and while sometimes that made stuff goofy and unserious, overall I think it worked in favor of the show.
I might actually rewatch some scenes! lol!
Negatives: As for the negative points of this show: TOO MANY SNAKES! The ick was real and there, and I had to cover the screen so many times, yikes! If you are really scared and disgusted by snakes like me, RIP! It's hard to get through those scenes. Shoutout to Vinegar though! That was one tolerable snake!
I explained the rest above, but you know, someone said, "all BLs are toxic because men are incapable of healthy relationships and BLs have two men" and... like...okay, harsh but... (yes, not aLl mEN, I know.)yikes...
Overall: This is mandatory BL viewing now. Like, this is too iconic to avoid! The show has issues but don't kill the messenger. Miss Author just didn't know anything, and the production team ran with it. It's worth watching for the makeout sessions if for nothing else! The hypernevtialtion of knowing they made this in Mainland China gives you enough adrenaline rush to make it through the whole thing in one amnesiac binge-sitting! What's not to like?!
So I finished this show, and despite the potato quality, I am once again here to proclaim that Chinese BLs just hit different! And I say this, feeling like this show was trying to imitate the mainstream Thai BL style. It was still better! It's like China's curse: They are the perfect people to make BLs! (What's the joke? Born to produce BLs, forced to follow regulations)
As you may have noticed, I gave this show a 7.5, which must stand out in the sea of 8s and 9s and 10s this show is racking up but I want you to know that this is amazing. I was gonna give this show a 6 but it managed to make me want to raise the rating to a 7.5 and personally I think it's a great achievement because I physically could not give it a higher rating. It's not even the low budget or quality, it's that the cringe-factor of this show was too high for me to enjoy it any more than a 7.5! I had so many moments of secondhand embarrassment when I had to stop and walk around to stop the queasiness. I can't give this any higher a rating. Some of the dialogue was just too embarrassing and weird...who talks like that?!
But it's not the show's fault entirely; a lot of that weird stuff comes straight out of the book, which is, to be honest, too bad to have been adapted. Like, who looked at that mess and thought "hmmm, this is gonna be the most successful Chinese BL of ALL time! We HAVE to adapt this!!!" A genius person to see the potential in that mess but like...I am sure there were better options!
You see, the problem with this show/book is not even the explicit parts or the horniness or the romanticization of red flags...the worst thing about this book is the fundamental misunderstanding about human sexuality AND anatomy! Miss Author did NOT research being a gay before writing this, and it shows. Serious talk: This story shows queerness in a predatory, perverted manner, and I don't mean that they do horny stuff, oh, how dare they! It's how the gay characters impose their sexuality on others that was insulting and insensitive. There is basically no gay character who isn't shown in some predatory manner here, and that made me uncomfortable. I wish the show had taken the liberty of changing all of that and also fixing the truly embarrassing goofs they spew as facts in the big year of 2025, but unfortunately, the show has all of that mess in it. Sometimes loyalty to source material is worse (NOT YOU, FENNELL! YOU GO TO JAIL FOR DOING *THAT* TO WUTHERING HEIGHTS!) Here, the show could have been less similar to the book.
They did try, to their credit. Characters like Guo Cheng Yu and Jiang Xiao Shuai are whitewashed a lot. Our resident bad boys are not just bad boys in the book. They are just bad! lol! Like, sure! Show!Chi Cheng is a bad enemy to have; you are screwed for sure if he hates you! But as far as being a lover goes, if he really loves you, you are so lucky! He is gonna break his heart every time you cry! That's sweet! I mean the book had that too but the other stuff was just too much! Because, in the book, it's implied that Chi Cheng is into extreme sadism. The show doesn't go to the extremes that the book goes to demonstrate this. I'm really glad because I feel like maybe Miss Author also didn't know enough about BDSM to use it correctly and just used it as an edgy trait to show how dangerous Chi Cheng is. 'Cause what she described wasn't sadism, it was attempted murder. I'm glad Chi Cheng is just a red flag in the show!
But really. The heteronormative labeling of gay relationships, the misunderstandings of how intimate relationships work or what queerness even means...just... it was a bit bothersome. So know that sexuality is a spectrum. Bisexuality exists. There are no inherent positions in a same sex relationship, and people switch. You have to prepare for intimate relationships in advance; the care is necessary and detailed and very important, and Jiang Xiao Shuai really should have told Wu Suo Wei that no straight man would have even come up with the plot to seduce a love rival for revenge to begin with!!!!
There's also just so many silly bits in the story. I lost count of how many times I was choking on nervous laughter while watching the show. All at inappropriate times! None of this was the show's fault. 90% of these scenes were straight from the book. This is why I raised the rating, btw. I can't be mad at a show that was so loyal to the source material and did such a good job of bringing it all to life despite budget restrictions and the Chinese censorship laws. They worked hard! And there were certain elements that I liked. The overall plot works even if the details make no sense. And the emotional investment is enough to keep you guessing and binging, and by the time we reach the emotional climax of the show, my heart hurt for these kids. So kudos to them for achieving maximum investment in the story with barely any flashy story tactics.
The acting...I didn't love the acting. Someone recently said this, and it has since ruined about 70% of the shows I watch. They said: "You can tell they're acting"...WHY WOULD YOU MAKE ME AWARE OF THIS?! It's like when someone makes you aware of your breathing and then you spend 20 minutes being extra cautious of your breathing and feeling like you're choking (I'm sorry.) So now, every time I watch a show, I'm like "hmmm, that's acting" ugh. Well, I got that feeling a lot and not just that but the "omg, I'm in a BL, what am I doing with my career?!" look in some of their eyes throughout the show was killing me! Like, this could have ruined so many careers, so fair enough! But then, when you know all of this, and that thought is in your head too, the whole viewing experience is tainted. I was both aware that these are all actors, and that made me aware of just how dangerous this project is, and that I couldn't believe we were getting this show in 2025 from China! So a lot was going through my mind. I don't think they're bad actors. I just think they are still far from hitting their peak, and the director maybe demanded a theatrical acting style from them and some of them had to stick to some pet peeves to make it through. That said, you can never go wrong with hiring a hot 97-line guy as the hot guy in your show and this show did it twice in a row...game acknowledged *tips hat*
I loved the music! lol! I think Cdramas should use public domain music more often. They matched the mood of the scenes so well and I have only good memories of the music in the background. The production is visibly not very high quality or expensive but I think they blew it all on getting expensive sets for the rich people's homes and the snakes and that's a good place to put the money in. because they otherwise had no money left for other stuff like prison sets, extras in the background, clothes (this is good because they had to stick to clear styles for each character and have repeat outfits which added realism), music...like basically, everything was put together with spit and while sometimes that made stuff goofy and unserious, overall I think it worked in favor of the show.
I might actually rewatch some scenes! lol!
Negatives: As for the negative points of this show: TOO MANY SNAKES! The ick was real and there, and I had to cover the screen so many times, yikes! If you are really scared and disgusted by snakes like me, RIP! It's hard to get through those scenes. Shoutout to Vinegar though! That was one tolerable snake!
I explained the rest above, but you know, someone said, "all BLs are toxic because men are incapable of healthy relationships and BLs have two men" and... like...okay, harsh but... (yes, not aLl mEN, I know.)yikes...
Overall: This is mandatory BL viewing now. Like, this is too iconic to avoid! The show has issues but don't kill the messenger. Miss Author just didn't know anything, and the production team ran with it. It's worth watching for the makeout sessions if for nothing else! The hypernevtialtion of knowing they made this in Mainland China gives you enough adrenaline rush to make it through the whole thing in one amnesiac binge-sitting! What's not to like?!
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