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Never have I wanted to die more than right now
I finished the series 10 minutes ago. I'm a fucking wreck but let's do it.
I don't know what's going on with Korean BLs lately but they've been HITTING for some reason. First, The Eighth Sense, then Love for Love's Sake, and now this one?? Why does everyone want me to kms??? No but seriously, they're doing something that I don't quite see in other countries' BLs, like Thailand's, for example.
I'll say this: I've only cried twice watching a BL. The first, watching Last Twilight, and the second, watching this.
So. What I liked:
- It feels realistic, even though I hope there's no-one on this Earth as unlucky as the poor protagonist. He falls in love, breaks up, gets broken up with, has happy times and hits new lows every now and then. He has sex, he has friends, he has family issues, he can be compassionate but also an asshole. I love it. I love Go Young not as a character, but as a person that might exist in real life. I could see myself being friends with him.
- Surprisingly sex positive, especially for a KBL. Even Mi Ae sleeps around and it isn't treated as something shameful or wrong (though she still gets mocked for it). I also appreciated the representation of someone who has to live with HIV. I don't know if they consulted people who actually have it, but as a viewer it felt quite genuine.
- The characters are all lovely. I was sooo invested following Go Young, I loved his friends despite their limited screentime, and I ADORED Mi Ae while she was onscreen. There's hints at backstories, complex personalities, all interwoven to create very believable characters.
- The main couple was amazing, show-stopping, incredible--- I just don't know what to say. The portrayal of puppy love (or the honeymoon phase) was mesmerizing.
- The existential dread and the feeling of being lost, unwanted, unworthy, etc- was too well done for my taste. It hit too close to home at some points.
BUT--
- The time skips can fuck with your head sometimes, it can be hard to tell how much time has passed between different scenes. And because the series covers quite a lot of time, it can feel like things are going at breakneck speed, especially when Go Young is going through different boyfriends.
- I do agree with other reviewers that, outside of his mental dilemma and shame with HIV, he didn't really suffer any side-effects from having it in his day-to-day life.
- Well you can probably already tell but this series is fucking depressing. Everything that can go wrong in someone's life goes wrong for Go Young, and it's so hard to watch him suffer through it all: loss of relative to cancer, HIV, multiple breakups, lost friendships, toxic exes, dead exes, the whole nine yards. I honestly cried less at my grandfather's funeral (/j).
Still, the series is amazingly well done. And incredibly acted. It's one of those rare occurrences where you forget that you're watching a character, not a real person.
Just, maybe don't watch if you're single, in your early 20s and in the brink of an existential crisis. It doesn't really help, let's just say that.
I don't know what's going on with Korean BLs lately but they've been HITTING for some reason. First, The Eighth Sense, then Love for Love's Sake, and now this one?? Why does everyone want me to kms??? No but seriously, they're doing something that I don't quite see in other countries' BLs, like Thailand's, for example.
I'll say this: I've only cried twice watching a BL. The first, watching Last Twilight, and the second, watching this.
So. What I liked:
- It feels realistic, even though I hope there's no-one on this Earth as unlucky as the poor protagonist. He falls in love, breaks up, gets broken up with, has happy times and hits new lows every now and then. He has sex, he has friends, he has family issues, he can be compassionate but also an asshole. I love it. I love Go Young not as a character, but as a person that might exist in real life. I could see myself being friends with him.
- Surprisingly sex positive, especially for a KBL. Even Mi Ae sleeps around and it isn't treated as something shameful or wrong (though she still gets mocked for it). I also appreciated the representation of someone who has to live with HIV. I don't know if they consulted people who actually have it, but as a viewer it felt quite genuine.
- The characters are all lovely. I was sooo invested following Go Young, I loved his friends despite their limited screentime, and I ADORED Mi Ae while she was onscreen. There's hints at backstories, complex personalities, all interwoven to create very believable characters.
- The main couple was amazing, show-stopping, incredible--- I just don't know what to say. The portrayal of puppy love (or the honeymoon phase) was mesmerizing.
- The existential dread and the feeling of being lost, unwanted, unworthy, etc- was too well done for my taste. It hit too close to home at some points.
BUT--
- The time skips can fuck with your head sometimes, it can be hard to tell how much time has passed between different scenes. And because the series covers quite a lot of time, it can feel like things are going at breakneck speed, especially when Go Young is going through different boyfriends.
- I do agree with other reviewers that, outside of his mental dilemma and shame with HIV, he didn't really suffer any side-effects from having it in his day-to-day life.
- Well you can probably already tell but this series is fucking depressing. Everything that can go wrong in someone's life goes wrong for Go Young, and it's so hard to watch him suffer through it all: loss of relative to cancer, HIV, multiple breakups, lost friendships, toxic exes, dead exes, the whole nine yards. I honestly cried less at my grandfather's funeral (/j).
Still, the series is amazingly well done. And incredibly acted. It's one of those rare occurrences where you forget that you're watching a character, not a real person.
Just, maybe don't watch if you're single, in your early 20s and in the brink of an existential crisis. It doesn't really help, let's just say that.
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