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ashesinthewind
Germany
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A simple, but very touching and sincere story
So far, together with Love for Love's Sake, this is my favourite BL series this year. The plot (best friends to lovers, miscommunication and misunderstanding) is nothing we haven't seen before, but the way it was told, i.e. past and present side by side throughout the first 7 episodes, in combination with an amazing cast, was absolutely compelling, I loved it and anticipated every new episode. A very honest, genuine, sincere love story with likable mains that had their faults but at the end I ended up sympathizing with both of them. The cherry on top for me was that there was never any doubt how much Ji and Achi loved each other despite their struggles to deal with it and admit it. They certainly deserved their episode 8 and the happiest ending ever.This isn't a series that can be watched casually to spend the time, because many of the details are important to understand the parallels between the past and the present and to unveil why the characters would act the way they did. Ji spends most of his time in the present trying to desperately protect himself from being abandoned again, but at the same time he is the biggest Achi fanboy and can't really deny him anything despite being blunt and direct. In contrary, in the present Achi finally does what he wanted to do in the past but didn't dare to and relentlessly pursues Ji until the misunderstanding is cleared up. I loved both of them so much and I hope to see these actors again, because they did such a great job. Ji crying while admitting to Coin that he still hasn't forgotten Achi and Achi crying while watching Ji with Pear in the cinema moved me equally. The love scenes were very well done, too. The desperate longing looks, the heat, the adoration, devotion, the pure happiness once they came together, it was all there. I've lost count how many times I've rewatched the kiss from episode 4. I said this already, but I'll say it again - Ji and Achi were utterly and totally in love the entire time, in past and present, and it was transmitted believably on screen. This is what I want to see most in a BL - both mains being obviously into each other and being open and honest about it once they come together.
I would've loved to see more of the second couple instead of finding out that everybody in the hospital was into Achi, because there were some filler scenes I think could've been used better. Still, I'm giving the series full marks, because I enjoyed watching it so much, I adored the main couple and their relationship so much and because I found the way the story was told fascinating and captivating so it felt like something new I haven't seen before despite the simple plot. Also, I think the current rating for the series is very undeserving and hope more people will give it a chance.
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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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I look up to the Sky
This is just a review and rating of the story of Sky and Prapai, i.e. the second part of the series (from the last 10 minutes of episode 7 to the end). I normally don't review or rate things I didn't like, so if I had rated the series as a whole, the rating would be lower. Payu and Rain didn't do it for me and I was done with them after episode 4. I have to say that I enjoyed Noeul's acting very much and I liked Rain, but mostly when he was not with Payu.Sky was my absolute favourite from the moment I saw the trailer and that didn't change until the end, in fact I watched mainly for him and he and Peat are the reason for the high rating. Sky was the most nuanced and interesting character considering his backstory and the way he dealt with it. At the beginning, he's seen only as Rain's sassy best friend and he seems confident and direct, but also very loyal and always ready to help. When the series progress and we get the chance to know him better, he becomes more vulnerable and insecure, but at the same time, he is and remains the strongest character of the four mains, considering the trauma he's been living with for so long without telling anyone and without feeling like he can trust anyone with it. I was very impressed with Peat's performance, because the role of Sky was the hardest to play and he delivered.
I was very also impressed with Prapai's development from a selfish, careless rich asshole (I'm borrowing the term Sky used to describe him the night they met) to the most faithful, loving, caring partner you can imagine. Fort did great, especially in the last two episodes. For me, the highlight of the season was episode 11, and not only because of the most romantic NC scene I'd seen in a while. I don't remember the last time I thought a couple looked so good together on screen. :) They are both very attractive and just match well and I bought that they are deeply in love just from them looking at each other.
Sadly, I feel that the last episode was rushed and they should've given the Sky and Prapai story at least one episode more to concentrate on Sky's trauma and healing properly. To me, they delevoped the love story exactly as they should have, the pacing was right, and we could see Sky gradually fall in love and trust Pai (Prapai himself was a goner pretty much when they met, he just didn't know it ;), but they didn't give enough time to show Sky recovering from his past with Pai's help. Having found a devoted and adoring boyfriend is a start, but not enough, and I wish they hadn't rushed the ending like that. The special episode was a gem anyway despite not mentioning how Sky was doing in that aspect, because sassy Sky was back and I'll just say it, the NC scene was so hot.
The sound was atrocious for the entire series, and there were several weird cuts in many of the epsides. To sum it up, the editing sucked, but the cinematography was good.
I've rewatched the Sky/Pai part of the season an embarrassing number of times and although I hated having to wait for them for almost 8 episodes, now I have to say I'm glad that the series was split like that, because I don't have to skip though any scenes in the episodes 8 - 13 to enjoy their story. It was a long wait, but it was worth it. Together with Akk and Aye and Mark and Vee, Sky and Prapai are in my top 3 favourite BL couples for this year.
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Simply magical
Warning: a tl;dr review, I can't help myself.This is officially my favourite BL series now, not only because of the story, but because the pairing of Achi and Karan worked for me and I have to praise TayNew for their excellent portrayal of these characters. They have ascended to my favourite pairing in a BL series and I hope this won't be the last time we'll see them together. They have insane chemistry and feel very natural and comfortable in their interactions with each other. Their kissing and intimacy scenes have improved considerably since Dark Blue Kiss and I've lost count how many times I've rewatched this kiss in episode 9.
This is a story about Achi's development from someone who had little to no respect for himself and used to put Karan, whom he considered perfect in any way, on a pedestal somewhere far, far away from his own imperfect self, to someone who actually planned to propose to the aforementioned perfect guy and fell on his knees in front of him to do that. It was quite a journey.
I'll speak more of Achi because Karan pretty much remained the same person in the entire series - nice, loving, patient, adoring, respectful and absolutely madly in love with Achi, the person who showed understanding, encouraged and comforted him the right way without even realising it when he had a breakdown many years ago. When it counted, when he needed him, Achi was there for him. There are several reasons why episode 6, together with episode 11, was the highlight of the series, and one of them is that we finally got a more nuanced insight into Karan's character. I was also very grateful for episode 12, because with the introduction of Karan's parents I finally got two of my questions about him answered - why he seemed to be the only one to think that Achi would have a problem dating him because he's a man, and why, before Achi started hearing his thoughts and finally started seeing him as a potential love interest, he'd waited so long without at least trying to ask Achi out. It didn't make any sense to me that a man who was so deeply and passionately in love would be happy with watching his crush from afar for years without doing anything about it. His family and Achi's total obliviousness taken together was what kept him away.
I consider portraying Achi and his journey believably the bigger challenge, because he started pretty low. His self-esteem was non-existant, and sadly everyone around him, even Karan, seemed to emphasize this - his neighbour and his mother call him clumsy and are constantly worried about him, his best friend is in the same boat as him, with just a little more dramatic personality, and he has been watching Karan win awards, buy cars, etc. for years, admiring him for being handsome, successful, smart and therefore feeling small and insignificant himself. Yes, it was completely believable and understandable he would be totallly in shock when he realised how much Karan liked him, and it would take him a while to get used to it and accept it in order to allow their relationship to progress. The pacing was exactly right and I loved how they showed these little moments between the two in the first three episodes and how Achi's feelings slowly started to change until he caught feelings himself in episode 4. This episode was and remains one of my favourites with my probably favourite scene between them prior to the kiss - the looks and happy and open smiles they gave to each other the moment Karan smeared that white substance on Achi's cheeks. No wonder Pai screamed when she saw them, I probably would, too. Such a wholesome moment, I still habe goosebumps.
I know many complained about episode 7, but I disagree, it was exactly as good as the previous ones and also a very important one, because it was the beginning of them learning to speak openly to each other and communicate in order for their relationship to work, something that was explored further in episodes 9 and 10 and it culminated in episode 11 with their first time and episode 12 with the wedding. I think the problem with episode 7 was solely that it came after the excellent episode 6 with Karan's character finally getting explored (and let's be honest, Tay killed it, he was so good) and with the confession scene, which made me tear up a little.
Episode 8 was the only episode I indeed thought was not as good as the others, mostly because it made the boss extremely unlikable and I had problems with him the rest of the series.
To sum it up, Achi's journey and the KaranAchi relationship, after it happened, were written very well and delevoped gradually and at the right pace for a 30-year-old virgin with a low esteem who suddently found himself dating the perfect guy. I've seen some comments doubting Achi's feelings for Karan, but his feelings were obvious from episode 4 forwards and they deepened further when Achi allowed himself the chance to get to know Karan better. He isn't as expressive in vocalizing his feelings like Karan is, true, but let's be honest, few people are like Karan. Achi is a more subdued character by nature, but it doesn't mean he loves Karan less.
I didn't care much about the secondary couples, because KaranAchi overshadowed everything with their love and chemistry to me, but still, at least I liked the Jinta and Min couple, they were sweet and again, well-written and I bought they were into each other. I can't say the same for Pai and Rock. They were good characters separately, but not as a couple IMO. I also, unlike with Min and Jinta, never got the vibe that Pai was into Rock like that.
Thank you so much, production team, actors and casting directors, for making me feel happy and smily and cosy every Saturday for three months. I absolutely adored this. Karan and Achi's love story taught me about personal growth and made me remember how much kindness, loving and learning to trust yourself and respect matter.
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