So I finally got around to watching this classic recently and it was... fine. It has parts that I loved, parts that I hated, and on the whole I feel surprisingly neutral about the entire thing.
It starts of really well with great performances, solid cinematography and editing, and an interesting premise, but unfortunately loses its way somewhere towards the end.

The climactic conflict centers around the difficulties of living life on your own terms but rather than actually making a compelling point about self-determination, the story inexplicably does a hard turn in the opposite direction and completely muddles its message.
I strongly dislike characters martyring themselves for one another but here it could have worked really well if we'd gotten to see Phu and Tian communicate with another and actively work to resolve their problems both with one another and in regards to their respective personal circumstances.
The dreaded 2-year separation cliche could even have fit perfectly for the story if the whole thing had been Tian's choice, but no.
Instead we get a lot of incredibly hollow feeling rhetoric about valuing and living life for yourself all the while watching everyone around Tian make his every decision for him, often going against his explicit wishes.
The fact that Tian's parents face zero repercussions for their actions and that the damaging effect their behaviour has clearly had on Tian's mental well-being is never once addressed honestly made me so furious I couldn't even really enjoy the final episode, despite how delightful the ending is.

Mostly I'm just disappointed with how little this feels like a P'Aof show.
His projects usually skillfully address themes of class difference, privilege, and the everyday struggles of queer people, but here these themes are barely present, if at all.
There are also barely any female characters and those that do appear are pretty much exclusively used as plot devices before being discarded. (Poor Torfun deserved better)
There's also an incredibly off-putting scene in which the characters spy on a young couple during their wedding night which feels entirely unneeded and out of place.

I wouldn't go so far as to discourage anyone from watching the show - for what it's worth the first 7 or so episodes are genuinely enjoyable and are objectively quite good, both from a technical and a story-telling perspective.
As a whole, however, the series feels sadly hollow and lacking. Sort of like shiny, appealing packaging wrapped around an entirely empty box.
I'd recommend maybe watching it once if the premise particularly appeals to you, before moving on to other, better pieces of media.