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This review may contain spoilers
BTS Was more Fun than the Series...
Me and one of my close friends literally dedicated two whole days to get through this, that's how much excitement we had behind this. Except, the problem was that it didn't deliver like I was anticipating, which might be entirely my own fault.
Let's Dive In.
My entire Instagram Reel was full of BTS of this series, which is what initially got both me and my friend excited. Immediately, me and her made plans to get together and binge the series. Now, what I did not know was that this was 24 episodes for 40 minutes each. Ouch. Honestly, if I could go back, I would've rather watched this while it was airing. 24 episodes is a lot to get through, and our binge day ended up being a two-day binge (a sleepover with my amazing, hilarious, and great friend, so I really didn't mind.)
Before this, I have never watched a Chinese BL or drama in general (technically Addicted, but I remember quite literally nothing besides kidnapping...yeah), so the language, traditional Chinese style editing, cinematography, and overall cheesiness was something I wasn't prepared for at all. Again, a "my fault' thing. The initial set up of the story is fun, if not entirely idiotic to get revenge on a man for a woman that literally hates your guts, but okay! Again, I had to kind of put myself in a "this is not serious, don't take this seriously" mood. It kind of felt like I was watching one of those little mini series they advertise on TikTok where you have to pay to watch each part and it's like a crazy set up... yeah, that's what it felt like.
It wasn't that this series had some crazy, "that can't happen fr" moments, but some stuff was just so good vs evil, wrong vs right coded that I couldn't help but snicker every few minutes. You know who is evil, you know who is good, and there is no in-between. This reminded me of Thai BL in mid/late 2010s: Evil woman, lead is only gay for other lead, top is toxic, every obstacle ever to break up the leads. But, even with saying that, I still kinda enjoyed it. I think you watch, you laugh, you say "huh?" a couple of times, and then you move on. I also learned a lot about snakes, how fun!
The editing is what really took me out. So many fade to black moments for no reason, and too many times it felt like they had cut entire scenes. I know this series was very censored after it's initial release, so maybe lots of stuff was cut due to it, but you can't expect me to think Cheng is going around saying the thing he's saying, smacking/jiggling Ba Dao's ass and they wouldn't show them actually getting it on. Whatever.
Which is my next point: the BTS was so much more thrilling than the actual series. So insanely crazy to say. After episode 14 (after already watching the series on 1.75x speed), me and my friend generously skimmed through the rest of this series. Lots of this and that, exes, snakes, fade to blacks, blah, blah, blah. I have a feeling this could've definitely been wrapped in 12 to 15 episodes if they threw out every single new obstacle that the leads and side leads had to go through for whatever reason.
Lastly, I think the side leads are adorable, but then they kiss and... again, "Huh?" It was like they were moving their heads, but their lips weren't moving...? Odd.
Okay, enough crapping on this. I didn't hate it, seriously I didn't, but I don't know if Chinese BLs are going to be my cup of tea. I'm willing to give others a try, and I'm always open for suggestions. Just maybe not one that's so..... comically cheesy?
Ratings:
Story: 7.5/10 - The initial conflict and setup isn't bad, but it's all the other conflicts that come after and just the overall trashy vibes. The leads had good chemistry, I won't get too deep into "omg, Chi Cheng is the worse and is so hyper toxic that I would need another separate review just to talk about it." so I'll just say, I wasn't his biggest fan. Honestly, everyone was pretty toxic, but oh well.
Acting: 8/10 - Good. Nothing crazy, again I was getting use to the acting in Chinese dramas, so it's not the crazy best (imo), but I think Ba Dao handled his more emotional scenes to the T.
Music: 6/10 - Some random english song would start to play and throw me completely off. I did like whatever song was playing during Cheng Fu and Xiao Shuai's NC scene when the power went out.
Recommendation Value: 4/10 - Eh. Watch it cause I think the hype around the series is fun. I also think this is opening more doors for Chinese BLs to happen, and that makes a lot of people happy which makes me really happy. But, honestly, I could've done without watching this series. By next week, I'll have forgotten everything besides snakes, Xu Ning shirtless, and a shot in the ass (LOVED that scene, lol).
Let's Dive In.
My entire Instagram Reel was full of BTS of this series, which is what initially got both me and my friend excited. Immediately, me and her made plans to get together and binge the series. Now, what I did not know was that this was 24 episodes for 40 minutes each. Ouch. Honestly, if I could go back, I would've rather watched this while it was airing. 24 episodes is a lot to get through, and our binge day ended up being a two-day binge (a sleepover with my amazing, hilarious, and great friend, so I really didn't mind.)
Before this, I have never watched a Chinese BL or drama in general (technically Addicted, but I remember quite literally nothing besides kidnapping...yeah), so the language, traditional Chinese style editing, cinematography, and overall cheesiness was something I wasn't prepared for at all. Again, a "my fault' thing. The initial set up of the story is fun, if not entirely idiotic to get revenge on a man for a woman that literally hates your guts, but okay! Again, I had to kind of put myself in a "this is not serious, don't take this seriously" mood. It kind of felt like I was watching one of those little mini series they advertise on TikTok where you have to pay to watch each part and it's like a crazy set up... yeah, that's what it felt like.
It wasn't that this series had some crazy, "that can't happen fr" moments, but some stuff was just so good vs evil, wrong vs right coded that I couldn't help but snicker every few minutes. You know who is evil, you know who is good, and there is no in-between. This reminded me of Thai BL in mid/late 2010s: Evil woman, lead is only gay for other lead, top is toxic, every obstacle ever to break up the leads. But, even with saying that, I still kinda enjoyed it. I think you watch, you laugh, you say "huh?" a couple of times, and then you move on. I also learned a lot about snakes, how fun!
The editing is what really took me out. So many fade to black moments for no reason, and too many times it felt like they had cut entire scenes. I know this series was very censored after it's initial release, so maybe lots of stuff was cut due to it, but you can't expect me to think Cheng is going around saying the thing he's saying, smacking/jiggling Ba Dao's ass and they wouldn't show them actually getting it on. Whatever.
Which is my next point: the BTS was so much more thrilling than the actual series. So insanely crazy to say. After episode 14 (after already watching the series on 1.75x speed), me and my friend generously skimmed through the rest of this series. Lots of this and that, exes, snakes, fade to blacks, blah, blah, blah. I have a feeling this could've definitely been wrapped in 12 to 15 episodes if they threw out every single new obstacle that the leads and side leads had to go through for whatever reason.
Lastly, I think the side leads are adorable, but then they kiss and... again, "Huh?" It was like they were moving their heads, but their lips weren't moving...? Odd.
Okay, enough crapping on this. I didn't hate it, seriously I didn't, but I don't know if Chinese BLs are going to be my cup of tea. I'm willing to give others a try, and I'm always open for suggestions. Just maybe not one that's so..... comically cheesy?
Ratings:
Story: 7.5/10 - The initial conflict and setup isn't bad, but it's all the other conflicts that come after and just the overall trashy vibes. The leads had good chemistry, I won't get too deep into "omg, Chi Cheng is the worse and is so hyper toxic that I would need another separate review just to talk about it." so I'll just say, I wasn't his biggest fan. Honestly, everyone was pretty toxic, but oh well.
Acting: 8/10 - Good. Nothing crazy, again I was getting use to the acting in Chinese dramas, so it's not the crazy best (imo), but I think Ba Dao handled his more emotional scenes to the T.
Music: 6/10 - Some random english song would start to play and throw me completely off. I did like whatever song was playing during Cheng Fu and Xiao Shuai's NC scene when the power went out.
Recommendation Value: 4/10 - Eh. Watch it cause I think the hype around the series is fun. I also think this is opening more doors for Chinese BLs to happen, and that makes a lot of people happy which makes me really happy. But, honestly, I could've done without watching this series. By next week, I'll have forgotten everything besides snakes, Xu Ning shirtless, and a shot in the ass (LOVED that scene, lol).
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