I have watched tons of bls the last few years and I know very well how they have evolved. When they first started, bls had very similar settings and plots. Most of them took place in universities or high schools, that's how the engineer faculty joke came to be.

At some point, bl series started gaining tons of viewers and attention and companies started -as expected- to invest more and more in this particular "genre". As a result, from characters that were usually high schoolers and university students, we started watching on our screen so many different main leads. From doctors and office workers to supernatural entities and mafia bosses.

The thing is that in the majority of these series, no matter how entertaining or well made they may be, the plot felt more like a background that was there just to envelop the main characters and their romance. It felt like the writers were not actually ready to create a well written and logical plot, since it was out of their comfort zone.

And here comes 4minutes. To get this out of the way, this series is not perfect, but I can clearly see it is an earnest effort to make a unique drama that deviates from the usual tropes.

4minutes has amazing directing and cinematography. In simple words, it is visually stunning. It has an immaculate dark atmosphere, good music and good acting. Of course, since this is the "sultrier" version there are quite a few explicit scenes that are also pretty well done -but not for the faint-hearted-. The chemistry between the characters is good and their love stories are also good (enough).

And here comes the usual black sheep; the plot. 4minutes has an actually well written, intricate and complicated plot. Or to be more precise, that's what they want the audience to believe. The plot itself is not that complicated and until the end it is easy to put all the pieces in the correct place. Things are getting clearer and clearer with each episode. But because the concept is special and because of some directing choices, the plot seems to be much more confusing and complex than it is in reality and I am saying this as positively as possible.

4minutes has a quite unique plot compared to many series (and not only bls). It has flawed characters that don't feel like the typical "toxic" ones we usually watch and enjoy (to hate). It is one of the few times that despite the love stories and the (many) gay main leads, I could feel that the plot was actually more important than the romance. That it was there to serve a purpose, something that is obvious from the viewers themselves. People were not talking that much of the romantic relationship between the mains and the good looking cast. They were making theories about the plot, they were trying to solve it like a riddle. And that is what makes 4minutes a great -pun intended- series, despite its flaws.

And what are those flaws? Some of the acting performances here and there could have been better and some plot points could have been developed in a different manner.
However, the thing that actually bothered me the most has to do with the emotional aspect of the series. I just didn't feel for the characters and their stories. I think that this is the biggest flaw of 4minutes. I could acknowledge that I was watching something well made, but emotionally wise, it didn't move me, it didn't make me gasp. I wanted that something more. I wanted to feel for the characters and for their relationships more than I did.

All in all, despite the negative aspects, 4minutes was definitely worth the watch and it felt like a huge breath of fresh air. It doesn't follow the formula we have seen again and again during the past few years and it was a memorable enough watch that differentiated itself from everything else, putting the plot, and not the romance, in the foreground.