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Chained To My Bully Stepbrother (AI Vertical BL Drama)

By Golu
This is the second vertical AI BL drama I've sat through, and honestly I went in knowing better. I had it on while I was doing cardio at the gym, and what struck me was just how much the plot echoed the last one I watched. Same step brother romance angle, same mystery girlfriend showing up near the end, same extra guy pining after one of the leads. Genuinely the only thing going for it was the runtime, the whole thing wrapped up in forty five minutes flat.  The setup kicks off with Finn moving schools because his mom just married into money. He finds out his new step brother Aiden goes to the same place, and he's warned to keep his distance from him. Their first run in at school is rocky, just like you'd expect, but there's this odd pull between them neither can shake off. Finn keeps telling himself not to read into it because Aiden's straight and openly homophobic. Things shift when some kids start bullying Finn and the student council president, Ryan, steps in to ...
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Be Here For You (Mandarin)

By Golu

I am not sure of this is a BL series or a film. This was released as part of three season gay Chinese anthology series 'Mr X and I'. But at almost 2 hours long, this felt almost as a film to me.

The basic storyline focuses on best friends Xu Zhengxi and Tao Ye. They are best of friends and pretty much do everything together. Zhengxi has string feelings for Tao Ye but Tao has eyes for the class monitor girl. He is completely smitten with her and Zhengxi helps Tao Ye to flirt with her and make them a couple, but when the girl starts treating Zhengxi badly (since she knows that he has feelings for Tao), Zhengxi ends up telling Tao about his feelings. Initially surprised by the announcement, Tao is ok with the information and continues to treat Zhengxi as his close friend, but Tao's closeness to the girl breaks his heart and eventually his love and respect continuously reduces for Tao. Couple of years later, Tao and the girl are a couple and Zhengxi along with his best girl friend is busy making short films. A gay friend of his then introduces him to a senior from school who has always had crush on Zhengxi and now that he is single, maybe there is a chance for them to be a couple. They end up becoming good friends with the senior madly in love with Zhengxi. A year later again, Tao and Zhengxi meet at school reunion and feelings return in Zhengxi who literally begs Tao to be with him but he refuses since he is not gay. Zhengxi's new lover comes to his rescue, helps him stand back on feet and then supports him in his passion for film making for next few years. Film ends with everyone having grown up, Tao is now getting married and Zhengxi and his new man are a happy couple now.

There are not many China stories on homosexuality so this was a good change. The school scenes and interactions between friends, especially between Zhengxi and Tao Ye were really good and heartwarming. They didn't seem forced or fake like in some Thai BL series. You could see the love in eyes of Zhengxi for Tao and Tao trying hard to not let that ruin their friendship. We also get to see some aspects of how society and families treat homosexuality in Chinese culture. I could connect when Zhengxi says that you don't fall out of love suddenly and it happens over a period of time. But a few years later when he literally begs Tao to be with him, the scene felt so odd. It had been over 2 years and it was enough to move on, especially he was being given so much love, respect and attention by the new guy who literally would do anything for Zhengxi. I felt Zhengxi was unknowingly using him. There were some scenes in the film that didn't add much to the storyline and can be completely edited out. My favorite character was Zhengxi's girlfriend who was always there for him since school to finally helping him realize his passion. Acting by all principal actors was quite decent and Zhengxi and Tao shared an amazing chemistry. Having said that, I do feel that the story has flaws and could use some tighter editing.

There are a lot better BL Asian drama/series. The friendship between the leads stands out but sadly the love doesn't. (5/10)

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