This review may contain spoilers
It was great until I read the manhwa
When I started watching this series, I was sure it would be the Korean BL of the year. Everything was right. The acting is impeccable, the story is fun, the characters are charismatic, the cinematography is super professional and the script managed to deliver an interesting narrative with excellent development.
I confess that the focus on the straight couple never bothered me and I can appreciate the development that the series gives to the other characters, especially Heesu's sisters.
But then the series started to lose its way. What seemed fun and romantic started to drag on and it became increasingly clear that the series had no intention of creating a BL story.
Scene after scene, moment after moment, the series was building these romantic moments between Heesu and Seung Won that end in frustrating ways due to the miscommunication between them.
The series gives a huge focus to Chan Young's dreams of playing tennis and Ji Yu's dream of being a singer but the supposed main characters do not have this same focus or development.
It's frustrating how their relationship is pushed to the end of the series, which makes it feel extremely rushed and anticlimactic.
But things get worse after I read the manhwa and realized that none of what's in the series exists there. Okay, I'm exaggerating, but the point is: Chan Young and Ji Yu are mere extras in the story. Instead of two straight couples and a big focus on the sisters' relationships, the manga actually features a ton of romantic scenes between the protagonists and even introduces a secondary couple.
All of this makes it clear that the creators of this series wanted to change the story, toning down the BL aspects of the plot and not so discreetly forcing a traditional, heterosexual narrative into the plot.
It's disappointing to realize how backwards things are going in Korea. I really love the technical aspects of this series and it had everything to be one of the best BL ever made, but unfortunately it became this undefined, censored thing.
I confess that the focus on the straight couple never bothered me and I can appreciate the development that the series gives to the other characters, especially Heesu's sisters.
But then the series started to lose its way. What seemed fun and romantic started to drag on and it became increasingly clear that the series had no intention of creating a BL story.
Scene after scene, moment after moment, the series was building these romantic moments between Heesu and Seung Won that end in frustrating ways due to the miscommunication between them.
The series gives a huge focus to Chan Young's dreams of playing tennis and Ji Yu's dream of being a singer but the supposed main characters do not have this same focus or development.
It's frustrating how their relationship is pushed to the end of the series, which makes it feel extremely rushed and anticlimactic.
But things get worse after I read the manhwa and realized that none of what's in the series exists there. Okay, I'm exaggerating, but the point is: Chan Young and Ji Yu are mere extras in the story. Instead of two straight couples and a big focus on the sisters' relationships, the manga actually features a ton of romantic scenes between the protagonists and even introduces a secondary couple.
All of this makes it clear that the creators of this series wanted to change the story, toning down the BL aspects of the plot and not so discreetly forcing a traditional, heterosexual narrative into the plot.
It's disappointing to realize how backwards things are going in Korea. I really love the technical aspects of this series and it had everything to be one of the best BL ever made, but unfortunately it became this undefined, censored thing.
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