etoks21

Well, nothing at all, if you like cheesy Chinese censored bromances starring dudes flying around in silk pajamas, who never do anything the least bit gay...well, except flying around in silk pajamas, that is.

But, then, I'm gay and I've never flown around in silk pajamas.
I've never even worn silk pajamas.

One gay supporting character actually does/says something significantly gay, but then promptly jumps off a bridge (or something, we never really learn what he jumped off of).

The half of the MC who we're supposed to believe is definitely gay but who never does anything the least bit gay, comes down with a terminal disease late in the show. lol

Are you getting the drift...?

I can give you a hundred other examples of how fucked up this is, but like I wrote above, I'm holding off for now to calm down. :D

It is a Chinese-style censored bromance.
The gay romance and LGBTQ+ tags are complete BS left by delusional MDLers who like crap like The Untamed.
Actually, it's worse than that, because in SM the two leads never even get to the exchanging deep, meaningful glances stage, and yet one character is supposedly gay. Not that he ever actually does or says anything gay. lol

It's pathetic.

I'll give two examples of how pathetic in the spoiler below.

Episode 4:
Well, 4 was kind of a wash-out, but 5 looks to be spicy again.

Why would they kiss? The hockey player's not even gay.

What did you like about it?

Episodes 6,7,8:

Absolutely, 100% NOT recommended.
I just finished and am so pissed/annoyed that I'm going to put off a full response until tomorrow, so I can compose myself.

If you like bait-and-switch, censored bromances that begin by presenting themselves as one thing, then do a U-turn halfway into something else, and in the clumsiest ways possible, this show is for you. Had I known going in what the second half was going to be like, I never would have started.

What a waste of talented, appealing actors.
The writer and director should be imprisoned for life.

I can't believe Netflix financed this homophobic, Chinese-style, gay-but-not-gay POS.
I downvoted the mess there, and I rarely downvote on NF.

Soul Mate starts out strong, feels like it's headed somewhere powerful, and promises dramatic, gripping things to come about interesting, richly drawn gay male characters...then devolves, beginning halfway, into a ridiculously overwrought, melodramatic, cowardly, messy K-drama about two aromantic, asexual males living adorably with a woman and her kid.

Uh-oh, I feel a rant coming on, so I'm quitting for now.

If you have standards and are sick to death of gay-bait, homophobic trash, don't watch this, but go ahead and give it the 1/10 MDL rating it deserves.

Episode 5:
NGL...I'm watching this alone, and I yelled out loud. :(

Episode 4:
OK...I'm confused about some things, but that's OK, I can be confused for now. :)

How cute is Ryu's mom? It's nice to meet a JP mom who isn't all shy/submissive/shuffling around silently. Also, I know Japanese people are not demonstrative and rarely hug publicly, but I can't be the only one to notice how she interacted TWICE with Johan , compared to how she did with Ryo. lol

Love watching Seiichi feel what he's feeling and acting all goofy/cute about it.
The immediate confession was hilarious and adorbs.

I'm not going into comments below until I watch the rest of the show. I hope I'm wrong, but something tells me idiots are spewing spoilers.

It's MDL.
The ratings are meaningless unless you apply them as a reverse image of reality.

Plus, if you read the fine print about how ratings are determined here, it's not a pure rating determined by member rating averages.
The staff sticks their fingers into the mix in vague and questionable ways, so who the hell knows what the rating ends up representing? This is an industry-operated/marketing-aimed site, which is telling. Though that makes me wonder how ANY show rates below a 9. lol

I'm holding off reading the reviews here until I've finished the show, but I know from the couple of headlines I've seen, and the stupidity below, that the usual oblivious, childish taste levels of the MDL herd are at work.

I'm more interested in how the show is received on IMDB and other, less insane, websites.

100%
It's going to end up as the ONLY "fantasy" romance in my top ten BLs list, I think.

hmmm...this makes me sad for you, but I don't mean that in a condescending way at all.
I, too, might take that opportunity, were it offered to me.
Hugs.

You are not alone.

ALL the actors in this show are "looking soo good." :)
All four leads, the dad, the uncle, the cop, and now even Hong, are handsome, but in distinctive and natural ways. No Korean nose jobs here!

Episode 9:
I'm putting all my hopes on the "Deja Vu," at this point. :(

This is the first BL time-travel/metaphysical-type plot, as silly as it is at its core, that has ever worked for me. Nine out of ten times, I drop such nonsense.
However, in this case, the well-written script, the director, and the actors 100% believe what they're presenting, so I believe it too. I find myself actually attempting to think through why/how things are happening as they are. Usually, I roll my eyes and drop the show. :D

The acting across the board is excellent.
It's a wonderful/interesting development that Crazy Hong is suddenly key to what's going on.

Now I wait for ep 10. Fingers crossed.

What do you mean?

Those are the people I'm talking about, and there are a lot of them here.
These are the people who like to down-rate shows that are beyond their grasp, which is why so many great shows have mediocre MDL ratings.

It was obvious from the trailer that this was not going to be a Thai-style BL, that it is more on the level of a feature film than a standard BL, plus being produced by NF, so it's not as though they weren't warned...lol. :)

My BL grip is firm, steady, and tight.
That's how I know Thai standards are non-existent.

Exactly.
For MDLers such as the OP above, that tension went a mile over their heads, and they dropped out to watch "Bad Buddy," for the 12th time.

Oh Lord, I don't watch Thai BLs unless someone puts a pistol to my head. :D
It's the JP version that's #21 on my fave BLs list.

It's funny you say that.
I'm American, but did not care for "Heartstopper" at all. I dropped it after maybe two episodes.
On the other hand, I may be the only person who likes My Love Mixup enough to put it on my 30 favorite BLs list. :)