His Cat (2020)

His Cat

I just watched this for the first time today and I have to say it filled my heart with warmth. Right off the bat you fall for He Chenghan; A talkactive, cat obsessed boy in need of a friend. A friend he finds in Ye Yu Wei; A standoffish boy with the dreams of being a writer, who transferred into He Chenghan's school.

Later on in the movie you find out that the reason he transfered. The boys get to learn about eachother and find out some things that a person not paying attention wouldnt notice. It's a really wholesome movie and it made me smile a lot.

Production wise, there were times when the audio was off and things didn't quite make sense in the storytelling of it but it wasn't too distracting from the main focus of the story; Which was two boys discovering feelings they've never felt before.

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Sweet and simple story

My first time giving a review here.
At first I thought Chenghan would be some kind of bad boy, but he's actually endearing. Might be too talkative if I meet hem in real world, but that's not really a problem, I guess.
Yuwei's also good. I love their banters.
Some people might be disappointed by the lack of skinship in this movie, but personally, the part where they confirmed their feelings with each other was nice and satisfying enough. Sometimes, a hug is better than a kiss.
The acting and dubbing could be awkward at some scenes, and I'm watching with English subtitles, which I'm not sure was 100% accurate because it left me confused at times (like, when did Chenghan actually realized that Yui was Yuwei? At their school, or when he came to Yuwei's house?).
I really love the background places. Especially Yuwei's room, it just looked so comfortable.
Not really sure how I felt about the ending. I just so abrupt and well, I thought at least we'll get a glimpse of their future or something, but no. It's just finished like that.
Overall, nice movie.

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Terrible production quality but the least-censored censored Chinese BL I've ever seen

(Yes, even less censored than Word of Honor)

The production quality is poor. The script introduces a lot of ideas that it doesn't develop, and nothing really happens in the first half. Yuwei in particular gets little character development. The English subtitles are sometimes incomprehensible. The dubs are delayed and actors are mouthing out whole sentences that are covered with just a few words. The acting is passable but doesn't really tap into the emotional spectrum of the characters, and to top it off, the main leads don't know how to properly hold a cat.

And yet, the second half still charmed me in its own way (but I almost dropped it before then). At first, especially after seeing the comments, I thought this was going to be the typical censored Chinese BL where you have to really squint to read between the bromance lines. But Cheng Han confesses his feelings twice (2x)! Cheng Han asks Yuwei whether he wants to be "together with me," and Yuwei answers in the affirmative, puts his arm around Cheng Han, and lays his head on Cheng Han's shoulder! Cheng Han asks Yuwei to "wait for him" at the end when they go off to different colleges! How are the comments interpreting this as a bromance?! You know straight people don't talk to their friends like that. I don't understand how this made it past the censors, because these boys verbally confirmed their feelings for each other in several different scenes.

So even that was a nice treat in a Chinese show, but what I really enjoyed was the small side plot with their moms. After Yuwei's mother overhears Cheng Han's first confession, she forbids Yuwei from seeing him again (see, even she knows their relationship isn't platonic). Cheng Han's mother responds by personally going and talking to Yuwei's mother about it, telling her their sons are happier and better together. Yuwei's mother thinks about it and later tells Yuwei that having a "bosom friend" who "can light up his inner world" might be hard for him in the future, but she wants him to be happy now, so she's giving permission for them to see each other. Then she tells him to invite his bosom friend over for dinner.

Um, my heart?? Literally one of the most supportive parent plot lines I've yet to see in Asian LGBTQ film/dramas, with parents from *both* leads on board! It made me really happy.

So I wouldn't necessarily recommend this due to all the reasons mentioned in the first paragraph, but it does seem like a landmark in Chinese BLs. I'm happy it got made, and I look forward to the day when having filmed media in which LGBTQ people can openly talk about their feelings and have their parents support them won't be such a rarity for China.

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Great Potential, but it's Chinese Bromance more than anything

I'm not a big fan of Chinese films or series and I've only heard rumors about Chinese BLs, so I wasn't expecting too much. This was the first Chinese BL for me and the only Chinese film I've ever managed to completely finish that isn't some Kungfu film. I mainly watch Japanese, Korean, Taiwan, and Thai films, so if my review turns out to be a little biased because of my lack of understanding for Chinese films, I apologize.

STORY:

It's pretty much as the synopsis says, however I wouldn't call Chenghan girly. I would say he's a romantic that wears his heard on his sleeve, while Yuwei is stoic and doesn't really express himself well. That being said, Yuwei is a popular romance novelist online, but his pen name makes it seem like he is a woman, which of course he doesn't confirm or deny. Chenghan is a fan of his novels, although he doesn't know that Yuwei is the author and believes that "she" is his ideal wife and is a beautiful woman. When Yuwei transfers into Chenghan's class they are seated next to each other. Yuwei initially finds Chenghan to be lazy and annoying, but they soon become friends. Yuwei tutors Chenghan in Chinese, while Chenghan tutors Yuwei in Math. As they become closer they find themselves slowly attracted to each other.

Personally I found this story to be innocent and cute at first. I was very interested in seeing them fall in love, but alas, this is a Chinese BL. There is no real kissing or hugging, just lots of Bromance. There are a lot of things that are implied via visuals, but are not really spoken. Even the ending isn't clear.

The first half of the film is great with lots of potential. Yuwei and Chenghan have lots of attraction towards each other and it feels like a genuine BL. However, the moment Yuwei's mother is introduced everything goes downhill. She forbids him from seeing Chenghan and Yuwei obediently agrees. She then tells him to meet his female cousin(?). Chenghan sees them together, gets jealous, but forgets about it later because he is preoccupied with Yuwei ignoring him. Suddenly out of nowhere Chenghan's grades drop. His teacher calls his mom. His mom calls Yuwei's mom. Chenghan's mom gets all preachy to Yuwei's mom about not controlling their kids and let kids be kids. Yuwei's mom, who was so against Chenghan, suddenly tells Yuwei they can be friends again. Yuwei and Chenghan make up, only to be separated again because they are going to different colleges....

Are you lost? I am. It's a rollercoster.

Anyways, the ending is so annoying. It's just your typical Chinese Bromance BL. There is no clear answer for the future of these two. Clearly Chenghan is in love with Yuwei, but we don't know if Yuwei is 100% on the same page. He gives hints, but there is no definite answer. (I'm sorry, but if my boyfriend doesn't confirm or deny is love for me that is a big red flag!) This is annoying because the first half of the film had so much potential!

Acting:

I really enjoyed the acting of both Yuwei and Chenghan. It wasn't Oscar worthy, but it was decent. You could see and feel what the characters were feeling. I especially liked Chenghan's acting.

The only issue I had with the acting is BAD DUBBING! I understand sometimes dubbing is necessary, but do you need to dub the whole film? The dubbing had practically no emotions, not to mention that the dub was so clear and sometimes didn't match their lips it was obvious that they were in a studio to do it.

(On a side note: If you watch Give Me to the Wolf Director which has the same actors as a couple again, I think their voice dubs/pitch switch. Chen Henry who plays Yuwei has a lower pitched voice here, but is higher pitched in the other. Tan Jun Ho, Chenghan, has a high pitch here and lower voice there. Why? Is it signaling who is more dominant than the other? Now I'm wondering if these dubs are even their real voice!)

Overall:

It's a nice film to watch if you like Bromance, but if you like to watch Thai, Korean, Taiwan, or even Japanese BLs with characters actually getting together and sharing a kiss (or even a hug would be nice!), than this might not be for you.

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