ayden

Didn’t like it that much and probably only finished because they’re cute to look at (and I hope they really are together). First half is better than the second but it is still boring most of the times and amateurishly executed overall. I think the positive is that they (Chance as Tuo and Wang Jyun-hao as Jun-xi) have cute and sensual moments and they work, that there is a lesbian couple present in the narrative (even though they have unfortunately almost no screen time and zero actual romance) and that our protagonists were already quite smitten with each other as little queer kids. Family plot ends in a queer-friendly way but, in my view, not in a very satisfying one because the conclusion’s too facile and anti-dramatic. I actually prefer what precedes it: the brother’s tough love confronting Jun-xi with the reality of the closet is a more dramatically robust allyship and it is what ends up empowering him to actually come out. Julie Yuan as You-mei is a charming comic relief and Lin Chia-wei’s Wen-sen as romantic conflict leads nowhere: it is there and at the same time never makes itself present in the narrative. Tuo’s main issue ends up being overly internal and psychological (“we need to break up because your life will be easier without me”), which is an insufferable cliché in BL regardless of the country. But his possessiveness is quite comical. And spicy. Very hot.