A good watch in its genre, but not much beyond

This was a good watch but not terribly engaging. A tad too long and missing the high moments. It was like watching a placid lake, its relaxing and spreads contentment, but does it engage? Not really. You could watch it for some time but you wouldnt fight to return to it every day.
Acting is good esp the second leads were pristine and shining in their craft. Is it a surprise that their stories tugged at the heart string? the main couple felt like an old married couple from the third episode onwards. The beauty of young love should not feel like the mature affection of an middle aged much married couple. The story of the second leads had more potential as it veered between heartbreak and elation . I for one was far more invested in their story and watched the episodes 19-25 ffing for thei story

Leia Mais

Feel good, mature drama- unexpected from C-Dramas

Starting with a compliment- It didn't feel like a Cdrama.

There was no simpering , overly cute, dolled up female character or a rich cold male character. The realism in the characters felt more like a Taiwanese or even a Korean drama. Loved the sports theme which was developed very well, all the characters looked like lean mean sports machines. Loved the way the characters remain in their sports garb, sweatshirts, with very little make up, just how you would expect serious sportspersons to behave.

The acting was to the point and chef's kiss to the leads. They literally carried the story on their shoulders. I am so amazed by Wang An Yu, he is evolving into one of the most competent actors in Cdramas-- note: his Forever Love remains one of my top rated dramas. He brings a rare believability into all the characters he plays. Wishing him all the success.

Same goes for Gina Jin, the FL. However I hope she doesnt do any more noona romances, because her character kept blurring into her last very very similar project, Why women love. Do yourself a favor, Gina, dont get typecast.

The weak point of the drama, is the story... After the confession, the story felt a bit like a documentary.. the narrative was a tad boring and flat. But the first 18 episodes were really good

The biggest issue I was uncomfortable with was the romance between a coach and her student. No it was not a deal breaker, but it made me think deeply about how most of us in the West, Korea, Japan and even global south would not be comfortable with a romance between a teacher and student. I think we are all very sensitized to asymmetry of power in the post me-too era . I know for sure that a romance between a teacher and student would not get produced by any Hollywood studio. I think maybe China still hasn't received the dispatch on this .

I esp appreciate the attempt to use pop numbers with English lyrics. This nod to the growing English speaking audience is worth applause. Not that the lyrics are of high quality, no indeed, some are poorly constructed, but the thought counts!!

Overall a very good satisfying watch

Leia Mais

The rise of the new hero in C-drama-- appreciation for Charles Wang

At last a show which has developed multiple storylines for different characters. Very relatable charcters-- who hasnt met a Lu Shiyi, a playful mischievous, outspoken boy who is the life of his group but not the most sensitive chap around? A one woman man, who is solidly loyal through years despite the woman not really caring for him through most of it? A boy given to sports not the best scholar at school but the most clear thinking and hence most ambitious and successful individual of the group? I think Lu Shiyi is the most interesting male hero I have ever seen in any Chinese drama. What an amazing amazing boy and man he turns out to be.. Conventionally he is always shown a little less heroic than Cheng Lang-- a little less soft spoken, a little less understanding, a little less helpful, a little less "school idol"; but by God, he overtakes CL in every way as the story develops. You cant help rooting for this beautiful man-child who is devoted completey to the people in his life, is the solid rock on which all the drama of the entire group plays out. He supports everyone and stands for justice, even the betrayer room mate gets the right message from Lu Shiyi. Kudos to the young actor Charles Wang fr a marvelous portrayal

Leia Mais

Lovely and satisfying story

What a lovely little satisfying story. It could be your or mine story. No unnecessary dramatics, just pure emotions. Gold!!!
Acting was competent and enjoyable. Really enjoyed the character of FL's mom, who was remarkably astute.
Music was certainly a big plus here. Beautiful, modern hummable tunes which wouldnt leave the head once heard.
The story was very relatable. The characters seemed people you would have met. Some of it was cliches but mostly it was a fresh sweet story. Loved the way the ML didnt make a fuss of wounded pride once he understood the FL only wanted him as a friend and stayed in touch even after. Loved the way the FL fell in love without any dramatic intervention from the ML or her friends. Her realization of how pure her emotions were about him was spot on.
Highly recommend this drama.

Leia Mais

A beautiful thoughtful April September romance tale- Unmissable!

Dont miss this unmistakable gem. Here is a list of what went right with My Fated Boy
- Sensitive writing with a lot of depth
- Great character development
-Heartwarming scenes linking to the past when the ML and FL were childhood playmates
- Non cliched treatment of the problems of a noona romance. Loved that they did not shy away from the discussions that being older she would age faster and may even die first.
-Super-loved the fact that she is his first sexual partner.
- The supporting actors and their stories all tying in with the theme of nurturing love.
- Every character tried to become better version of themselves. Its as if when faced with a seemingly impossible but intense love between the ML and the FL, each character felt the need to find in themselves understanding, warmth and maturity. It wasnt as if they brushed the age difference under the carpet but accepted it genuinely and tried to protect the difficult relationship.
- Superb chemistry between the FL and ML. His eagerness and heart on sleeve attitude and her reserve born out of past disappointments-- so wonderfully portrayed. I dont think I will ever forget him crying to his father that he wants to protect her but feels useless because she is so capable. Such real fears.
I think 2021 marks the year when C-dramas came of age and started producing real and timeless stories that sit well with audience in non-Chinese speaking areas. And my Fated Boy will arguably occupy one of the top spots.
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Leia Mais

Surprisingly deep, feel good story. Makes you care about all three couples

Enjoyed the calm paced story. This was the first story in cdramas which made me invest in all three couples. Honestly the other two couples were etched out with more personality and chutzpah than the ML-FL pair. They were angular , fun, brash and very strong characters. None of the vibrancy of the side couples was found in the main couple, who were just a pair of serious and sincere and slightly drab people. The story of the ML and FL felt like one of those warm sweet and utterly forgettable story one hears of their Aunts and Uncles in 1970s.
Still the main couple were like the center of the storm and all the action took place outside the periphery of their lives. If their story had more passion and struggle and people stepping out of their comfort zone, the story would have got a lot of fame that it deserved.

Leia Mais

What a long way we have come, baby!

All i can say at the end of this lakorn is "Baby we have come a long, long, way... Thank God" and breathe a sigh of relief. These kind of regressive socio-political- moral values were par for the course for many Asian including South Asian, SE Asian and East Asian societies a couple of decades back. That we can feel repulsed and abhor this product says we are truly on our way out of this moral morrass. Today nobody will feel complacent about the mistreatment of the women this drama shows. We are still on our way to achieve dignified freedom and rights, but at least we are no longer normalizing such treatment.
Apart from the politics of the lakorn, it was well executed and triggered a lot of thoughts , which is what a good story should do.

Leia Mais

Meh Story with Great Acting and a criminal "Outing" without consent

Just meh. tried very hard to find the story lurking somewhere behind the gaping huge plot holes the size of Australia, but sadly it remained elusive. All this mayhem over students choice to wear uniforms? It might have served the story better if the main conflict was over accepting homosexuality-- which I believe is still a huge red flag for schools in Asia; certainly the right to wear non-uniform clothes is just too unimportant for school authorities to fume and rave and go so far as to almost kill people?

However I could still forgive the lack of story, if they hadnt gotten away with a massively sensitive concept like "outing a person's sexual orientation without consent" Who on earth can excuse this? A child in the same situation as Akk might even be driven to suicide. Every basic alternative sexuality coda first principle is "Not to OUT without consent" . And yet a BL proceeds to do this. Someone has to be held accountable for such a criminal act, right? And this from a team which actually says in Episode 10-11- "BL is the soft power for Thailand" .

I guess the director writer was inspired by Dead Poets Society of Robin Williams-- they tried hard to bring the temperament --but by God, where is the story.... Dead Poets Society was an uplifting movie which brought in so many issues and how teachers can remodel students..... such a long way to go for Thai BLs to make anything even vaguely as meaningful as Peter Wier's film

Leia Mais

Jigsaw Storytelling- The BL Genre announces its glowing future in KDrama

One of the most poignant BL to hit us from Korea. Beautifully shot and rendered. And like a jigsaw the writer pulls together all the strings in the end to create a harmonious thing of beauty and symmetry. This story is about how asymmetries fit together to form a symmetry.

One of the great things about this story was that it caught the school/college life right. Older students scared of the world they are about to step into, worried about employment, resentful about privilege and trying to boss over the juniors. The insecurities of the older students and the fear of the students from rural areas is captured very well. At the end, the juniors have all come into their own and ready to take on the baton from the seniors. These are universal themes-no wonder the international audience is so pleased with this.

Another wonderfully executed theme is the love story and how it yo-yos between the two men. The older, confident, more mature Jae Won is smitten by the younger, inexperienced Ji Hyun. For both this is the awakening of unknown emotions as both come to terms with their sexuality. But in the process of fighting their internal demons, the younger man clearly becomes the stronger anchor of that relationship.

Ji Hyun starts off in the story as a somewhat simple boy, but he has surprising insight into the older man's behavior. In fact the younger bunch, Ae Ri, the room mate, Bit Na are all extremely sorted and they basically save the older bunch from themselves. You would have expected the older bunch to be more mature but the younger lot is more mature, more accepting and better able to deal with life. This theme of the new generation taking over is actually a very interesting part of the story.

The theme of yin and yang is referenced plenty of times-- in the conversation of JaeWon with the bar lady, the explanation of the cocktail in a special glass where the two liquors dont mix yet create fireworks in the mouth, the last episode game of "one step forward, two steps backward"- basically the insight of how it is not necessary to look for identical similitude in love or relationship but look to fit together like a jigsaw, yield when needed and stand firm when the other sways.

The tonality of the screenplay is beautifully captured by the color palette used, the water motif used in all the key scenes.
The undertone of sadness that is felt all through the story because of Jae Won's backstory is never fully explained and finally lifts at the end of 9th episode as Jae Won finally decides to step forward and runs to Ji Hyun. And that is the beauty of this story, it doesnt go into backstories , it just explores the present emotions of the characters and the choices made by them. Yes the backstory of Jae Won could have been milked to increase the pathos, but kudos to the director who instead choses to focus on the steadfastness and love of Ji Hyun.

I find this cinematic choice of saying in the present fascinating. Given a chance Kdramas, Cdramas would NEVER let a chance of milking the past grievances go, whether the story needs it or not... But here the writer/director goes with the flow of present events. Not just for the main couple but even all the side characters, everyone goes with the flow, allowing the present to look towards the glowing future career, job, love and not just the pains and grievances of the past.

Well done and more power to all the actors and writer/director. This is the true rise of the BL genre in Kdrama space and from Bluenming, to Semantic Error, To my Star, to The Eighth Sense, this space can only grow! Go watch it!

Leia Mais

Like fine wine, it steals into your veins, slowly,

Like fine wine Crush steals lowly and stealthily into your veins till you dont even realise you are drunk...At the end of Episode 24, I watched Evan Lin and Wan Peng walk into the sunset, with a feeling of regret, that the story was over.
Does that mean this was a great watch-- Not all throughout. Parts of it were really random-- you didnt know where they were running with the story and felt frustrated. But the good parts were so beautiful that the bad parts can be forgiven.

Like a lot of reviewers said it didnt feel like a C-drama ( which itself is a great compliment). This could be called a drama of characters not of situations.. The characters themselves were so multi-layered, with their back stories never fully revealed, that they provided the thrill and drama. The psychological explanation presented by FL and her friend was very deep and though provoking. Kudos to the writers. One can see they were inspired by the best of American cinema-- the homage to the classics like Silver Lining playbook, A beautiful mind, Sleepless in Seattle were quite interesting. These are much loved classics and as an American I feel proud that these works have inspired others. But there is a catch in such direct inspiration from universally loved movies like Nash's biography or Silver Lining Playbook-- the contrast between the maturity, depth and honesty of those works with the show become immediately apparent. Therefore it kind of leaves a funny after-taste

The two outstanding elements are the music and the acting. The music was modern and lyrical. Absolutely first rate even for a non Chinese viewer. Great replay value for the music especially the ballads sung by Evan Lin.
Acting of everyone was very good but special mention of Evan Lin for a wonderfully nuanced portrayal of a slightly autistic legally blind man with a burdened soul. Wan Peng was good but not brilliant. I may be forgiven for saying that the gamine charm of Wan Peng in school/ college student roles does not translate to mature roles.... Her dialogue delivery was slightly bland and expressionless, voice modulation very lacking, and her styling was AWFUL. Her hair was so badly styled and she was wearing clothes 3 sizes larger than her petite frame. Okay we realise she was playing an 'au naturelle' girl, but she doesnt have to dress up like an academic in her late 60s dressed in comfortable over-large tweed coats brought from a yard sale . Give the girl a break!
In contrast Evan Lin was dressed beautifully, sharp suits and nicely fitted shirts. And as they repeated a million times, he really does have pretty eyes.
One thing that distressed me how they made Wan Peng parrot how her character wasnt good enough for Evan Lin's character. Smart people dont look at looks only but at the whole package and the ML got a great deal of love and acceptance fromthe FL at a time when he didnt have anyone by his side.... Somehow reiterating how her looks didnt match up to his -- robbed the drama of the kind of liberal values it started off with.

Leia Mais

Good story, boringly told, with the most patronizing FL ever!

Watch at your own risk. The story isnt bad but is tol in the most boring way possible like a ceiling fan going round and round and round on a hot summer day.. Every bit of excitement is killed by the dull FL, who is priggish and sanctimonious to the nth degree. Honestly , what was the necessity of showing her as so judgmental and smug about her own goodness? The character felt like it was written by an adult woman who has suffered from rejection writing a revenge saga. There was just not a single exchange between her and any other character where she didnt ram her own feelings of inadequacy , down their throats. If that is how the writer-director wanted the FL to appear, then they chose the right actor. Or was it the case of a really handicapped actor trying to play a role that should have shown some sympathy -empathy and some femininity?
The actor who played the FL didnt smile or have even a single light hearted moment.. Even when she kisses there is not a sense of being overwhelmed. She is always in control and showing down everyone by the badge of suffering she wears like a medal. One of the most uninspiring FLs ever seen in Cdramas, I might be in a minority here but honestly she doesnt have a main lead vibe at all.
The story is not bad, very strong in parts and the ML desperately tries to keep things rolling but the direction is so lackadaisical it just keeps missing all high points by sheer boring twists and turns. The stories of other couples is given prominence and I actually felt far more invested in the stories of all the other couples because the mean and women there at least sparkled with life. In the case of the main couple the woman was played by a dead fish as they say in England.
Fellow MDL ers watch this only if you wish to torture yourself or are being paid to watch it.

Leia Mais

Underwhelming and shallow

Started off strong with an interesting story line and a wonderfully well depicted setting in an ecommerce world with an angel investor (ML) . The FL gave a single note shallow performance. Sorry to state but all the emphasis in her acting was on her dresses . Nobody in the startup space dresses the way they showed her to. And worst of all was her catwalk prancing. Every long shot of her walking ( and they had too many ) would show her walking her ramp walk-- very fake and distracting from the story. Her acting too lacked dept, emotionality. The ML did put in a decent effort and was sincere to the character .
Add to that the tropes kept tumbling out every few minutes. The FL hurt her foot umpteen times and was carried about by the ML, very conveniently present. The FL tumbled into the ML's arms a number of times - the dreaded trope of unstable females, who haven't learnt the art of walking yet. The FL got wet in the rains few times with the ML ready to minister to her .
Even the ML offering his coat to the FL happened 4 times..... enough to keep the discerning viewer frustrated at the poor quality of writing.
Then ofc the problem of exes-- here we had 3 quite criminally inclined exes. Hullo anyone herd of graceful moving on? some dignity in face of a long lost love? The rest of the world manages to dt quite well, why does Cdrama world lack it?
The truth is the writers had story enough for 16 episodes and afterwards simply tried to fill up the gaps by repeating the story sequences.
Should you watch it? Ummm only if you are a fan of the leads. Nothing else justifies this ho-hum act where the sole shining points were A) the ML's acting B) the FL's dresses

Leia Mais

Great in parts and very boring in parts too.

This story is driven by formula. The start is refreshingly sweet and you feel happy in the atypical characters. but then the makers decide to go on repeat-rinse mode. The repetition of the same medical and law and order crises just wears down the viewer so much . If they had cut down this story to 18 episodes or so, it would remain very watchable.
The actors are sincere and natural. There is hardly any negative characters at least in the first half( I couldnt drag myself to watch 40 episodes of the same crises resolution).
Plenty of the viewers have spoken about the casting. Individually the actors are brilliant but there is definitely a bit of "looks miscasting" . The ML, who enacted Xing Kelei beautifully, looks young, fresh from school, boyishly slender and both his subordinates and seniors looked older than him. Worse, the FL looked decidedly older than the ML.
The FL is a great actor , effortlessly catching the character's vibe, but she could have been cast opposite a ML who looked more capable of handling her than this boyish ML.
Overall I loved both the characters the FL and th ML individually , but put together there were incongruities.
Next the big question -Is this a DOTS remake-- No it isnt for sure. That was more of a disaster story, physically the leads were in disaster prone areas, or in conflict zones - in a kind of Red Cross initiative. The level of interdependence and grit required were of a different level in that story. YAMH is kind of set in a single city with its small law and order or medical emergencies. The canvas on which DOTS is painted is huge and wild and exciting; YAMH is a more urban, tame and milder setting.
Overall a good watch, but skirts short of greatness due to repetition and its length.

Leia Mais