Listen, there's a lot of shit being spewed in these reviews, and honestly I kind of get it. The way this show was being hyped, I think expectations were way too high and people were bound to be disappointed when it mostly turned out to be a stock-standard BL.

I even agree with some of the issues people had with the show. It's not the most action-packed or thrilling series, sometimes they seem to throw in a misunderstanding or have a character wring their hands about a decision for a little too long just to fill in the plot where needed. It's definitely problematic that the main couple's first kiss falls prey to one of my least favorite BL tropes: one partner is very drunk but the other is sober and the drunk one doesn't remember clearly what happened the next day. Now, I will say that the situation is played as consensually as you can under the circumstances in the scene itself, and it does play a significant role in the character development later on as Lian eventually acknowledges what a dick move it was to hide that he was the one Kuea kissed, but there were plenty of other ways they could have made their first kiss cause drama without one of them being unable to properly consent. There's also the whole issues of Lian basically forcing Kuea to live with him even though Kuea clearly doens't want to. There's an element of control there that's pretty icky, though again to be fair to the show once Kuea's secrets are all no longer secret Lian makes it very clear that Kuea can live whatever life he wants and that he actually values Kuea's ability to look after himself in his own way. Also Yi and Diao's whole thing is just a mess and feels really off to me, their dynamic never really shifts much from dominant to subordinate and while there's definitely affection between them by the end there's also still some control from Yi.

Now, all that being said, this show is a friggin delight to watch despite all the problems. The production value is super high, it's beautifully shot and lit throughout. There's a good balance of drama and romance and comedy. The supporting characters are all hilarious and fun and actually supportive of the main couples (Perth makes a damn sexy club owner, lemme tell ya). I actually think the writing is pretty good, it's just not that exciting and a lot of it relies on characters learning to communicate with each other.

Most obviously for high points, the performances are just stellar. Zee and NuNew are absolutely electric together. Even when they're standing still a foot apart, you can practically see the sparks crackling between them. NuNew's inexperience does come through in a few places, but overall I was blown away by him. The comedy bits he does I think are particularly underrated and brilliant; he plays a frickin hilarious drunk, and I giggled so hard when he was blackmailing/charming the housekeeper at his family home to not tell his parents that he was out all night.

And everyone's talking about the bed and kissing scenes for a reason, trust me. They're often a bit slow and drawn out, but man does the heat never die despite the slow progress. I think shipping the real actors together is pretty invasive and gross for the most part, I just want them to be professionals and friends, but even I have to admit that there's really something special between these two and it certainly translates to screen. Aside from the drunken first kiss, every other intimate scene has clear and enthusiastic consent. Lian even stops everything when he and Kuea are about to have sex for the first time to ask Kuea if he's drunk and if he knows/wants what they're about to do, and as things heat up he stops again to tell Kuea that if at any point he's not ok and wants to stop he can say so immediately, which is just so damn refreshing for a BL. And the bed scenes themselves aren't actually all that graphic; we don't actually see pants go down, no grunting or thrusting or anything, once shirts come off we pretty much just get closeups of their faces and hands, it's kept mostly to the realm of heavy pettting and eluding to more (the episodes are on youtube and I don't think they're even age restricted). I think what really took people by surprise was how intensely the actors seemed to commit to the scenes and how believable the emotional connection feels between the characters as they're about to get down.

In the end, this show is a sugar coated ball of sugar, packaged up with catchy original songs and a healthy dose of social commentary that I think really took people by surprise. From the very first episode, they make a statement against colorism and trans stereotypes in the entertainment industry, which is something I don't think any other BL has even attempted to tackle. Now, it should also be pointed out that they're in a board room discussing advertising when this scene comes up, in the actual show there are no openly trans characters and the cast is all very fair skinned, so they fall a little short on walking the walk along with talking the talk, but in the context of that scene the still made some pretty dang progressive statements. And as Lian and Kuea start to become a proper couple they repeatedly discuss how their future marriage won't be legally recognized and whether even a ceremonial marriage is important to them if they already feel committed to each other. Their eventual conclusion is that it does matter, that they don't need to a legal document for their love to be valid but they want the world to validate their love as just as worthy of protection as any other love. The series even ends on them looking at billboards declaring their relationship and support for marriage equality. It's bold as hell, and I hope it paves the way for future shows to take such a firm stance for justice.