Second Couple
Whoever did the casting for this series and the Director deserves a large bonus. They did an amazing job. When tis series originally aired the Censors in Mainland China had it cancelled after only 4 of the 12 episodes aired. The streaming service GaGaOOLaLa pulled off a miracle and was allowed to buy the rights to broadcast all 12 episodes.The 2nd couple of Tan Lin and Lau Lu are amazing. Tan Lin has a hearing problem and can not hear people speak. He communicates through sign language They met in a bar. Tan Lin was pouring drinks and lining up the empty bottles. Someone offered him a drink, but had emptied a bag of white powder into when he thought no one was watching. Lau Lu was sitting at a table drinking and saw it happening. He called to Tan Lin a few times, telling him not to drink it. When Tan Lin was getting ready to drink it Lau Lu rushed over and grabbed the drink. Lau Lu walked Lin home. So began their relationship.Lau Lu's kindness and gentleness with Tan Lin is what makes you fall in love with them.
The Main Couple are both studying art at the same school.
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venceram a censura com maestria!
Uma das coisas que mais me aproximou do bl foi esse tempo constante no inverno, de como tudo ao redor era frio mas os personagens pareciam erradiar uma aura mais quente. acho que boa parte dessa aura veio da proximidade que os personagens tinham entre si. Feliz que eles conseguiram superar a censura e puderam continuar a história. Muito bom o jeito que eles conseguiram equilibrar as narrativas de uma forma que (quase) tudo tivesse seu devido destaque e tempo. Honestamente esse final não foi tão do meu agrado mas pensar que a história poderia não ter passado de 4 episódios foi bom ter acompanhado um final.Esta resenha foi útil para você?
Beautiful set up of the main leads story, but ending execution is disappointing.
Subjective Gut Rating: 7.75 (rounding up to show support)Watching “Blue Canvas of Youthful Days” is to show my support for uncensored Chinese BL, even though I knew this drama is not perfect. Hopefully, the success of this show will encourage more uncensored Chinese BLs to be picked up by other countries to be distributed. Also, what a lovely drama title!
I agree with many reviews and comments that the first half of the drama is great. I enjoy the set up of how the leads met and their school interaction. Was it a little stalkerish on Qi Lu’s part to be clinging on to Qin Xiao? Probably. But I also applaud his courage to do so, knowing the consequence of when his father finds out what he’s up to. The growing friendship and affection between the two are developed nicely and convincingly. Xiao’s desire of having his own family is strong, but not enough to withstand his love for Qi Lu. However, we do have two young adults who are still quite innocent about first love. The ending would be different if they had talked to each other and figured things out together. But well, they were young.
I was not as invested in the secondary couple, possibly due to the age gap. Tan Yin just acts too young and naive compared to Liu Ming Yang’s maturity and as a teacher to our main leads. But I can see why Tan Yin would fall for Teacher Liu, and how Liu would eventually fall for Tan Yin. I just enjoy the dynamics between the main couple more. I also personally don’t like the blonde hair (LOL) and find Xiao Zi Zhou’s portrayal of Tan Yin to be the weakest of the cast (though not horrible).
Speaking of acting, I generally enjoy it. I was surprised to find out that this is everyone’s debut project. If that’s really the case, their acting is quite good. I especially enjoy Zhang Xuan Yu’s performance as Qin Xiao (I also find him to be the most attractive one 🙂). I also enjoy all the scenes related to art and the art school. We actually see students painting/drawing and not just pretending to be students.
Unfortunately, there are still quite a few things for me to pick on. The second half is definitely not as strong. Tan Yin’s hearing loss and the ease of him speaking fluently in just a few minutes is unrealistic. The last couple episodes are jam packed with different plotlines. Everything crashes down on our main leads in a matter of minutes. I was disappointed in the ending. The drama wasted a lot of time in showing Tan Yin and Liu Ming Yang’s happy moments, and failed to show the audience Qin Lu and Qin Xiao’s story. I want to know the ‘HOW’ and not just the ending result. Because of the somewhat blurry filter used in the last episode, I was wondering if that’s really the ending or was it one of those dream-like endings that happened in an alternate universe.
I did have a decent time watching “Blue Canvas of Youthful Days”, and especially in the earlier episodes of the main leads. Their story and acting are both good. If you have time to kill and want to support this drama, it’s worth checking it out. I watched the YouTube consolidated version and binged it all in 5.5 hours. The drama could have been better with editing and storytelling in the end, but that could have been a result of censorship.
Completed: 12/7/2024 - Review #525
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Sorry, but how come no one is talking about the series Blue Canvas of Youthful Days?
Blue Canvas of Youthful Days (The Blue of Youth, 过我年少时光的蓝色) was released this year, 2024, in October, by iQIYi, and it's a Taiwanese BL (boy love) drama.This series is very special. It explores a difficult time in every young person's life when everything feels more confusing, intense, and every decision seems life-or-death. The dilemmas, the challenges of each character, and the LGBTQ+ theme are treated with incredible sensitivity during the episodes, bringing strong emotions at times, but also that famous smile you don't even realize you're making when watching such a series.
Synopsis: Coming from a family of artists, Qi Lu was forced to learn painting from a young age under his father's strict control. In his final year of high school, he ends up studying at a painting studio where he meets Qin Xiao, a talented young painter he had already admired online. However, Qin Xiao is struggling financially and taking care of his ailing grandfather. Qi Lu decides to get closer to Qin Xiao in hopes of becoming friends. Although it's hard at first, they gradually break the ice, and their bond intensifies, turning into something deeper.
Aesthetics: One of the highlights of this drama is its aesthetics. The colors, tones, and camera work create a modern, clean look while also being rich in symbolism and emotions. The visuals flood your senses with colors when necessary, but also clear up when it's crucial to transmit some feelings.
PWD character: Besides the main story, Blue Canvas of Youthful Days introduces a deaf character, Tan Yin-yes, in the early episodes, they communicate only through sign language! I might be new on the world of Chinese/Taiwanese dramas, but I hadn't seen PWD (persons with disabilities) representation in a plot or cast before. I was so happy about this! If you have recommendations, please share!
LGBTQ+: Additionally, Tan Yin, played by Xiao Zi Zhuo, was sent by his parents to a hospital for "gay conversion therapy." He managed to escape but is so traumatized he can barely set foot in a regular hospital to check his hearing. So many current topics are explored in the series! In a country like China, where h0m0sexuality has not been a crime since 1997, societal prejudice still persists, a theme the series work deeply in the family dynamics.
Parental/\buse: Another heavy topic addressed in the series is parental /\buse. WOW, the scenes involving Qi Lu's character and his father are tough to watch. You can almost feel the pain and fear in actor Guo Jia Le's eyes.
Performances: I found all the performances brilliant, especially the main duo, Guo Jia Le as Qi Lu and Zhang Xuan Yu as Qin Xiao. I can't recall if it was in episode 11, but Qin Xiao goes through a very tough moment, and the actor absolutely nailed the scene. According to MyDramaList, this is the first major work for most of the cast, and I see a very bright future for them. The comedic relief of Wei Jia Yu, played by Hu Ze Ming, is really welcoming.
In summary, it's no wonder Blue Canvas of Youthful Days has a score of 8.1 on MyDramaList, 9/10 on Viki, and 7.8 on IMDb. Alongside dealing with highly relevant and current topics, the performances touch our deepest emotions-fear, disillusionment, guilt, pain, but also hope and, above all, love.
"You know what is my wish for the future? I must do what I like, and love the one I love". - Qi Lu
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Interesting series from China, beautiful and intimate but with a sloppy ending
I really enjoyed this series. Didn't really maintain high quality throughout but had an interesting story and good acting overall BUT I didn't like the ending, like the production just gave up at the end. It would have gotten a better rating from me if they had worked more on the ending.Still think this is worth watching and great to see a Chinese series with an LGBT theme manage to get around the censorship.
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It Had Me Hooked But....
The story itself is certainly intriguing. And from China. Stunningly audacious. And one of the few times it actually portrayed homosexuality with surprising openness and candor. A round of applause and kudos for their efforts. In a bit of a schizophrenic twist, however, it goes deep but yet stays superficial. By that I mean that while we do actually get to know the characters, we never see them use what they know about themselves to better themselves. Until the end. Then it all comes together but in such a confusing way. I felt like I missed a big chunk of what happened to them to get to the place that they were finally at.Esta resenha foi útil para você?
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FEELS LIKE A HALF HEART WORK
This drama has a different approach of a story , it is not of those other BL drama out there with the same plot and almost same endings .. the story was deep and the emotions needed was there and could almost make me wanna love this drama but it feels like everything here is a halfheart work.I liked how XIn Lu approached Qin Xiao at the first parts , I was so excited hows Lu gonna make Xiao's heart soft , it was good but when they became fond of each other I felt like something was not lacking , there was no much romance felt with them , they were just like a friends fond with each other.
I liked better the story of the second lead couple, their love has a more warmth, it was more than being fond of each other , I also liked the fact that creators here made a character who needs a hearing aid .. if was really something new ..
The acting was great but this drama lacks romance on the main lead . All in all it was a nice , warm drama even though I said it feels like just a half work.. that's just what my feelings was watching this, but I believe all the creators of this drama did their very best .
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I am blown away
I cannot enough express what an absolute masterpiece this series is. The script, the visuals, the characters. The ACTING. The roundness of both characters and story, the important questions this series asks. This feels like the beginning of a bright future for more stories to come, depicting various themes of what being a human really entails. The representation, the diversity, not to forget the beautiful, beautiful storytelling. Love to pieces. Recommend!!........................................
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A química entre os personagens principais é palpável, tornando suas interações críveis e cativantes. Além disso, temos dois casais secundários muito fofos: Tan Yin & Liu Ming Yang e Turtle & Sun Xiao Rui.
A direção de arte merece destaque especial. O uso de paletas de cores vibrantes e a cinematografia criativa fazem jus ao título da série, criando um "quadro azul" que é ao mesmo tempo nostálgico e aspiracional. A trilha sonora belíssima complementa perfeitamente as cenas, adicionando camadas emocionais às narrativas. Super recomendo!
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Falling in Love under Complicated Circumstances with a Delayed but Happy Ending
This BL will not appeal to anyone who doesn't like/appreciate a bitter note of angst and reality in their BLs, but for those of us who do, it's a great watch, and closed on a satisfying note for me personally. I cannot give it a clean 10 because it had its drawbacks for sure, which I will note down below, but the drawbacks were few and not actually a surprise considering this BL managed to finagle its way out of no-homo China in the first place. Alright, on with -*THE GOOD:
1. Zero disappointment on the acting/casting front, especially not from the two MLs, really, they brought their A-game, particularly in emotional scenes and even the fluff scenes. Qin Xiao is a gem, he managed to express a lot what was lacking physically between the MLs with some of his looks and actions.
2. The filming/cinematography side was to my taste, the music didn't contradict or overwhelm the scenes which was a win. The LUT of this highlighted the coldness of winter with it from start to finish, very suitable for the theme. The budget was probably not that high for a small production like this but they managed to apply whatever funds they had to bringing the characters to life very well.
3. The show touched on some interesting and lovely, but also disheartening and realistic facets of being gay in China. In the first couple, we meet Qin Xiao who was raised basically solo by a grandparent (not uncommon in modern China even when parents are alive), but even so, he's the adult, he's the responsible one, the one in charge, and his sick granddad is in his care, so he's quite independent, and as a result he's influenced by a mixture of modern life and wanting freedom versus traditional family values, expectations and responsibilities. We saw him have to work through developing feelings for someone of the same sex and how it made him question himself and worry. Then we have Qi Lu, who is openly gay to himself (and presumably to some other people he trusts since we see him confiding in his senior online friend, Bai, confessing to liking Qin Xiao and saying he's worried about the same thing happening as before, eluding to him having tried to confess to a boy he liked previously with negative results). We see him rather directly and certainly pursue his feelings for Qin Xiao. In the second couple we have Liu, who is independent as a grown, working man, but who is emotionally and mentally bogged down with family trauma and drama, and Tan Yin, another openly gay character who is likewise bogged down a history of abuse and disownment/abandonment from his family on top of his disability. We get to see how their situations play out differently, how differently they strive to be closer to each other and accept each other according to their different circumstances. It can all, in essence, be picked apart and discussed ad nauseum, as to how the issues with how even in modern China 'children' still have trouble escaping the reach of their parents/family influence and how it affects their adulthood in good and bad ways. But I think Blue Canvas highlighted what it needed to and moved forward and past topics well enough without overdoing it on those complicated themes. A good balance for only 12 eps.
4. Qin Xiao and Qi Lu are just really great individual characters with different strengths and weaknesses that they portrayed wonderfully.
5. The 'dangers' and 'drama' were not over exaggerated or blown out of proportion, from the side story of the small time drug dealers, to Qi Lu's abusive father and Qin Xiao's grandfather's death, it was all quite tidily handled and emphasized enough to show its importance to the plot.
6. The pace was good for 11 eps, 12 however rushed a bit, even so, the flow of events was clear and not confusing.
There is no 'bad', so I'll just do-
*THE DRAWBACKS:
1. As previously mentioned, episode 12 was rushed, and I do think this could have been avoided if some of the second couple and art school filler had been shortened or removed in order to play the more plot final relevant scenes out fully. Several scene choices were not very wise and used up valuable time.
2. There is a lack of couple-esque moments between the two pairs post 'getting together'. This is not surprising, and not a big issue because the fact that we have openly gay characters who blatantly confess, kiss and establish their same sex relationships, and go on to be together happily, in a Mainland Chinese BL, is already a big deal. Unfortunately, it does take away from some scenes where small things like kisses hello or good bye, or eluding to/implying intimacy would have done more for the actual realism of the two pairs being couples. Pity. That said, I do personally think that the reason any more overt physically romantic scenes were avoided after the first kisses was because these actors do still have to live and probably hope to have acting careers in China in the future, so they didn't want to overdo it and risk too much backlash, if any, from the government and entertainment industry. And I'm okay with that, small steps for the LGBTQ media in China.
3. The second couple fell off. It was weird, because their dynamic seemed quite mature and enjoyable BEFORE they became a couple, after that, I'm not really sure what the producer/director was going for with the excess play-fighting thing they were doing, it was almost nothing like Liu and Tan Yin had been prior to becoming a couple, so that was a bit 'okay then'.
5. The misunderstanding/miscommunication trope went very hard there at the end. Literally, a single line of explanation from Liu or Tan Yin to force the two to talk to each other could have fixed the need for them to separate, of course, it would also have meant their individual futures would have worked out differently, but I don't think any less positively and definitely in a shorter fucking time.
That's all for 'drawbacks' from me, onto
*THE HIGHLIGHTS:
1. The build up to Qin Xiao accepting his feelings and the moment he admitted it to Qi Lu and then kissed him was just EXCELLENT. Best 'confession' scene of 2024 hands down for me. Had to put on my profile under 'scenes that live in my head rent free' because it was just so damn good.
2. The scene in ep 12 where Qin Xiao steps in so he gets hit by the bottle to defend Qi Lu, I LOVED it. It was well done too, not over dramatic, not him foolishly letting himself get hit in the head so there could be some unnecessary head injury, instead he raised an arm and with his leather jacket on he avoided getting cut but had an impact injury and it made sense, it was filmed well, such an important scene too to show his feelings for Qi Lu, well written and executed.
3. Qi Lu and Qin Xiao arguing after Qi Lu confronts him the second time about trying to kiss him, great scene, feels feels feels.
4. Qi Lu standing up to his sperm donor TWICE. My guy Qi Lu was no little bitch, had it not been for the power his father held over external factors that could affect Qin Xiao, Qi Lu would obviously have stood up proudly for his relationship. I like that message, I like that clarity in that character's development.
OVERALL:
9.5/10 with 5 points deducted for some wasted screen time resulting in a rushed final episode, the second couple's ooc dynamic after getting together, and also for making the time Qi Lu and Qin Xiao were apart be 6 whole years. When it comes to the 'lovers separated' trope, less is always more.
100% recc this as a watch, but ONLY if you can handle or have a taste for angst, otherwise you'll just end up being upset.
This show checked all my boxes though, since angst feeds me! Great stuff, no regrets in 12 eps and definitely rewatchable!
✌️ 😁
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I'am loving this drama a lot ?❤️?
Firstly never thought china will release a series containing LGBTQ+ contents as the government always sensore itBut I am so proud of all the actors and directors and everyone who worked for this series
Though the government did try to stop it from being on air but it actually came back and everyone is loving it .
I'am loving every bit of it
It actually created a milestone
So excited for the next episode
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Clinging to Love
This little miracle of a drama was a sweet and touching, albeit "blue" experience. Qi Lu and Qin Xiao's desperate desire to do what they want and love who they love in the face of forces outside of their control. They hold each other a little closer in the cold, cover bruises with longer sweaters, and push the other onto dry land even as they sink. But, eventually, there does come a day for them. Tan Yin uses his new voice to give one to LiuMing Yang as he puts his past in the past and comes to view Tan Yin as Tan Yin.In particular, I must praise them for the harsh reality they brought to the table with the way Qi Lu quietly and almost apologetically endured abuse and the delicateness with which Qin Xiao tried to bring him some comfort by giving him a small sense of normalcy. "I know I cannot save you. But I can make you smile when you're with me and forget the hell at home."
I do think there were flaws in the finale as far as the small details of how they wrapped things up, but I don't feel it took away from my overall experience.
I'm so incredibly grateful the rest of this drama got to see the light of day.
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