Story / Plot and Cast: This is not a very innovative or new story, but I can’t say it is bad. For several reasons the show still manages to draw my attention to it. For so long in the Thai BL (where I struggle to understand some 80% of words) I finally return to the world of Taiwan BL. The whole series of HIStory has been long-lived, from the original single episode show to a fully developed show with 10 episodes. Due to “historic” reasons, I have to say the HIStory series has a record-breaking low reputation to me by the end of HIStory 3: Make Our Days Count. It’s not fully restored, but it’s better than nothing now. Let’s come to the actors, shall we?

Ye Xing Si and Fu Yong Jie: They have … interesting chemistry. We will deal with their appearances later. The roles of the two in the show are nearly the most “off” that I have seen - not that I despise them. What I mean is they are stepping even further into the warning zone. Back then being gay was prohibited, and now we are stepbrothers. Truly, I have no problems whatsoever about the relationship, because, well, love is love. I like particularly the scene when their father was talking with them. He cannot accept the two as a pair, but he will still bless them; for their happiness is more important than his feeling. It is debatable regarding the issue of drunk sex in the earlier parts. I don’t think that is acceptable, but that shouldn’t spoil the whole show either because there has been clear guidance and value judgement that such non-consented acts should not be permitted. (The official setting also indicated their zodiac sign which, though some do not believe, is kind of accurate in terms of how they act. Xing Si is a Cancer and Yong Jie is a Scorpio, for your information.) Now about the cast: why is Yong Jie so hot? (The hottest in the show, if you ask me.) I think Lin Chia Wei (Fu Yong Jie) best expressed the determination of Yong Jie. But inside the determination, he is, in fact, a soft guy (the puppy eyes!). An Jun Peng (Ye Xing Si) acted the role with reservation, and that is accurate about the character of Xing Si. Xing Si is a person which has a lot of reservations; he has to think about many things, take care of others’ feelings, etc. They really acted out the character.

Xiao Li Cheng and Teng Mu Ren: What’s with them? I cannot find a lot of adjectives to describe them. They really are very typical in the world of BL. Xiao Li Cheng is the type of guy that is straight-to-the-point, that will not stop when they have found their goals. Teng Mu Ren is reserved but not cold; in fact, he has a lot of feelings, just that he needs time to process them. (In case anyone is looking, Xiao Li Cheng is an Aries and Teng Mu Ren is a Virgo.) But more importantly, what made Xiao Li Cheng like Teng Mu Ren? Is it the fake BL courtship to please Liu Mei Fang? Is it the night when Xiao Li Cheng accompanied Teng Mu Ren in the hotel room? We don’t know. Talking about Liu Mei Fang, I think her character is ideal. She was a BL fan, but she didn’t lose consciousness because of BL. (The technical term should be fujoshi.) Not everyone is comfortable with BL-ish behaviour. We see many cases of BL-provoked controversy, including things like “fan service”. My principles are simple: actors or people should be able to do what they want to do. If they do not want to kiss or cuddle in fan meetings, they have done nothing wrong. (This could mean they are “forging” scenes in the show, but that is another story.) And to talk about the cast, Tu Shan Cun (Xiao Li Cheng) and Chen Li An (Teng Mu Ren) both did a great job, especially Chen Li An when he can portray the long faces of Teng Mu Ren. And Chi Xin Ling (Liu Mei Fang) is so pretty!

Music: The show has a lot of soundtracks. Three are from Andrew Tan (陳勢安): 兜轉 (Circling Around), 唯一想了解的人 (The Only Person I Want to Understand), and遺失的靈魂 (Lost Soul). Three others are from GJ (蔣卓嘉): 看不見的傷最痛 (Unseen Wounds Hurt the Most), 愛的數學家 (The Love Mathematician), and遠距離 (Distanced). My favourite is看不見的傷最痛, tell me if you share the same with me!

HIStory has a historic perspective in the sense that they are the most developed BL shows in Taiwan. All through the years the quality is very high (with laughter or tear, depends on which one). I hope they will continue to produce high-quality shows in the future.