Akuma to Love Song (2021): A Review
Bromance, a new ice-cream flavour in the Drama Land ice-cream parlour!
Bromance is the kind of drama that upon first look is remarkably clichéd: A young woman cross-dressing as a man.
For that reason, it might fly under the radar for many drama fans. Aficionados will be familiar with the premise through Coffee Prince, You’re Beautiful, and Fabulous Boys. They might not be interested in another similar story as these examples are pretty hard to top up in terms of innovation, script, performances, and general appeal. Newcomers will likely dab through the first two, considering the revered status both Coffee Prince and You’re Beautiful have in drama land.
Being familiar with the above dramas, there was never an inkling to watch Bromance for me.
It’s like eating the best ice cream you have ever eaten in your life. Once you've had that experience, it becomes borderline impossible to find another ice-cream whose texture is better than that one. Coffee Prince, You’re Beautiful and Fabulous Boys are like vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate ice-cream – The most amazing flavours in the planet for some. For others, those might be mango, lemon, and raspberry. Perfect, unique, irreplaceable.
Bromance will not be the most amazing ice-cream you will ever have within the genre. Not because it’s bad overall, not because the script is bland, blasé, inconsistent and positively appalling. Not because the acting is awful bordering to dreadful at times, making you cringe in agony. Or because of the music that is so loud at times, it will have you turning down the volume as to not see the screen coil in desperation. Bromance will not become a favourite ice-cream flavour for either aficionados or newcomers for the simple reason that aficionados already have their favourite ice-cream and unless there’s nothing to watch, they will most likely stray from it. And while newcomers still have their flavours to discover, regretfully, Bromance does not make the top list.
Taiwan produces a considerable number of dramas annually but struggles to compete with the quality emerging from South Korea, whose dramas have a higher overall appeal. It’s not due to Taiwanese dramas being bad, it’s just that they’re often not good enough to shift drama watchers from their bookmarked Korean dramas. It's a real shame when it comes to dramas like Bromance, which was ranked number 1 in its timeslot throughout its 18 episode run.
Bromance is a really good drama and surprisingly addictive from about minute 2 of episode 1, to the point where one will want to binge watch it straight through the end. Best of all, it's all worth it in the end!
The script is very consistent and full of texture like a raspberry sorbet, with the right balance and essence. The acting is compelling and believable. It brings the story to life in what seems like an effortless manner, all while eliciting alternating reactions of silent screams, to giggles, to very loud laughter and nearly jumping up and down on the sofa like a teenager. It feels like enjoying a really tasty ice-cream, and not feeling one bit guilty about it. When one binges on 15 episodes of Bromance in a day and a half, the highlight is the end of each episode, which in turn, entails the start of the next one. To think that there are dramas that still have that effect on someone, even after having seen countless other dramas is completely enthralling.
Chen Baron as Du Zi Feng
The Actor
Baron Chen is phenomenal and underrated in drama land in terms of overall acknowledgement. In his mid-thirties and with a vast number of roles under his belt, his name has never really popped out with other Taiwanese actors such as He Mike, Zhou Vic, Yan Aaron, Cheng Joe or Wang Jiro. Unlike Baron Chen, the aforementioned actors are considered iconic and stratospheric. Whether it’s a personal choice and he does not aim for meteoric recognition or somehow it just hasn’t happened yet, it’s disappointing that such a talented actor does not have the recognition he ought to have internationally. Bromance put him in the limelight, although regretfully a recent accident has put him out of commission for the time being. He's currently recovering from knee surgery and dedicating himself to painting with a very Zorro-esque look. Hopefully, when Baron is fully recovered he might grace the screens again with another drama. If so, drama land will be richer with his overabundance of talent.
The Character
Zi Feng is a triad leader and the general manager of an amusement park. He commands respect, though not as a villain but as a man who works hard, loves his family and protects those he cares about. Zi Feng is so incredibly human that it's surreal. That humanity is what makes the audience empathize with him. He’s lovable as a male character; he’s honest and caring, incredibly loyal with a great sense of justice and responsibility. But he's also struggling with his feelings for the person he loves in the beginning, a woman pretending to be a man. Zi Feng falls in love with Pi Ya Nou as a person, not caring whether or not Ya Nuo is a man.
Lai Megan as Pi Ya Nuo
The Actress
Lai Megan, like Chen Baron, is also in her mid-thirties and has a vast CV. However, despite roles in renowned dramas such as Miss Rose, Mars and Meteor Garden 2, she's still only a star in Taiwan. It is quite a shame that she isn't more well known internationally as she is a great actress.
The Character
Ya Nuo is a young woman living as a man, due to a fortune telling prediction that she should stay as such until her 26th birthday. She meets Du Zi Feng, with whom she becomes sworn brothers, but over the course of time, she develops feelings for him. Ya Nuo is fiercely loyal, kind and generous, always putting everyone else's needs in front of her own. She complements Zi Feng in ways that many female characters do not complement the male and for that, the writers should be complimented. Lai Megan performs Ya Nuo brilliantly, giving the character a life of her own.
Zi Feng and Ya Nuo should go down in Taiwanese drama history as one of the most amazing couples ever to grace the screen. They are so in tune with one another, like Yin and Yang.
The OST is particularly vibrant with two solid and exciting tracks performed by Bii.
Epochal Times
Back in Time
Overall, Bromance is a breath of fresh air in a drama sphere biased towards old conceptual premises. The mix of flavours between gender bender echo chic cliché with an original setting and character frames, is like putting different ice-cream flavours into a blender. One might think that the consistency looks slightly off, that the taste might just be too familiar to give it a try, but you will be left in awe after trying it out. You'll be wishing for more, needing more, wanting more, and realizing that the ice-cream is nearly done so it’s better to start enjoying it while it lasts.
The best things in life are those one has to wait for the longest to achieve but in the end, it’ll all be worth it, hopefully!
