Mou Mou (2024)

The most perfect love story I've seen in a while

There are many aspects that make this the best BL show I've seen this year, but in this review, I'll concentrate only on why Sheng Wang and Jiang Tian are perfect for each other and why I think they are "The On1y One" for each other.

Let's start with Jiang Tian. I don't think I remember the last time I've seen someone to appreciate, adore and respect their love interest as much as Jiang Tian does. I did a rewatch of the entire show the last couple of days and with the exception of one time (the revenge kiss at the beginning of episode 3), I never saw Jiang Tian get angry at Shang Wang, no matter what he did. He was hurt and confused both times when Wang pulled away from him, but he still tried to understand and never blamed Wang or tried to pressure him into anything. He accepts him for what he is from the very beginning and is there for him, but only to support and encourage him, never to try to change him in any way. For him, Wang is perfect the way he is.

Wang is clumsy and falls down a lot? Well, it's adorable, and if necessary, Tian will let him drag him to the ground and lay down with him. Wang pouts a lot? Tian thinks it's the cutest thing he's even seen and it makes him smile every time. Wang is picky about food? No problem, Tian will make sure to get him something he would eat. Wang needs help to catch up with his lessons? Tian will stay up at night with him and will prepare notes for him, even with the power down. Wang wants to skip class? Tian will go with him even though he's never done it before. Wang gets drunk by accident and needs someone to bring him home? Tian will do that, carry him home on his back, even though Wang is taller and bigger than him, without accusing him or blaming him. Wang needs to distance himself, because he has to sort out him newly discovered romantic feelings? Tian will accept that, even though it hurts him immensely, and will wait for him. Wang constantly needs to borrow ink fillers? Tian has them ready for him. Wang can't stand a bully treating a helpless man like dirt and hits him? Tian is right there and will do the same. Wang doesn't want the honor student title? Tian doesn't either.

Also, he lets Wang make all the important decisions that define their relationship with each other at his own speed. More on this later.

Seriously, it's so rare to find someone who completely and utterly adores you like that. Of course, Tian is generally the caring type and this is his way to express his love for everyone he cares about, but his absolute devotion for Wang overtakes the way he treats everyone else in the show, because the difference is that unlike with the others (his mother, Uncle Ding, etc.) he opens up to Sheng Wang and not only shows him that he cares, but also tells him, several times. Tian is the perfect person for Wang, because for him, Wang can do no wrong, and he's able to read and understand what Wang wants and needs and is willing to do anything to give it to him, even if it hurts him.

Now about Wang. Although there are similarities in their childhood (both have experienced abandonment, although a different kind), Wang has a different way to deal with it and hasn't closed up like Tian. Wang is, despite having no mother and an absentee father and being forced to move a lot, thus becoming an outsider in his schools, an open, curious, friendly and positive person. He's capable of opening up to Tian almost from the very beginning and in being active, in talking about himself, smiling, making puppy eyes, asking for (or demanding) things, even being bothersome sometimes and making Tian care about him, he manages to get Tian out of his self-inflicted isolation and make him enjoy life without dwelling too much on the past. Tian didn't want to attend the first party with their classmates at the beginning; at the end, he was there and no one questioned it. He never participated in the school games before; this time he did, because Wang was there. Wang is the sunshine, Tian the sunshine-protector. It's Wang who moves their relationship forward and makes the important decisions, Tian simply follows them, because he knows that being with Wang, whichever way possible, has changed his life for the better. There is a person who genuinelly cares and understands and expresses it without being scared. This person also appreciates everything he does for them. In episode 12, they made a very important point: Wang is a brave person, and I think Tian got it.

It's Wang who tries, clumsily, but still, to break the ice when he went to Tian's room to ask for help with the homework he couldn't do. While he wasn't brave enough to say what he wanted, Tian is very smart and got it anyway, and the first step was done. It was Wang who added Tian's number and chat contact on his phone first and asked to be friends and was hoping that Tian would confirm it. It was Wang who pointed out to Tian that everybody around them was the opinion that they were close to each other, even though it wasn't true, and it was Wang who opened up and told Tian about his lonely childhood, about what happened after his mother died and his father stopped coming to comfort him, thus making Tian decide that the past didn't matter anymore and they should try to become close. It was Wang who decided that first they were going to stay together in the house and after getting why Tian wasn't able to feel there at home and would stay only because of him, he changed his mind and told Tian they should stay together in the dorm in order for Tian to finally have a place to call home. It was Wang who took Tian out on a date (well, not officially, but this is what it was), bought the bracelets, and made a promise to be there for him. And of course, painful as it it, it was Wang again to decide that he needed some distance from Tian in order to get his feelings sorted. What broke my heart was that Tian immediately closed himself to others after that. Without Wang around, Tian turns into the person we met at the beginning of the series - the best student in the class and respected for it, but with no friends, no other contacts except an elderly man who used to take care of him as a child but to whom he hasn't completely opened up either, and no real happiness, dramatic as it sounds, in life. Tian hitting the wall in the last episode was not exaggerated, because he knew Wang was deliberately pulling away from him and saw how far Wang would go to do that, and he felt absolutely helpless and knew he couldn't do anything to prevent it and had to wait until Wang comes around. He literally was experiencing the person he cares about most and the only one able to make him smile and laugh and relax and just enjoy simple things putting a barrier between them. This hurts.

To sum it up: these two complement each other perfectly and I honestly can't remember the last time I'd seen such a well-written couple. I have to admit that I needed some time and understanding to appeciate episode 12, because the ending was not what I wanted, but after waiting and rewatching it today I have to say that while I still would've preferred a different ending, I've changed my mind so far as to say that episode 12 is exactly as good and amazing as the rest, and the fact that Tian, despite his breakdown, realised that Wang will return to him and he has to wait for him. is enough even if season 2 doesn't happen. Because Tian knows Wang will come back, and we know, too.

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