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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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The On1y One (Taiwanese Series)

By Golu
I have very mixed feelings about this show. I understand the art of being subtle and let things take time to grow, but I expected more from a Taiwanese show. Had this been a Chinese production. I would understand that there were limitations of the law, but we all know the Taiwan can and has done more direct BL shows. Here, pretty much everything is left for viewers to imagine. Yes, this is a teenage love story between two boys , who fate has brought together as step brothers, but they are trying to understand and deal with their feelings for one another; but this show is way too slow . I did enjoy the first 6-7 episodes but then not much was happening and it was more like witnessing some chapters. Also some other parallel stories were left unfinished. I think there might be a sequel but let's see. At 12 episodes roughly of about 50-55 minutes each, this will take a significant investment of your time. 

The story is simple. Sheng Wang has moved to a new school where he clashes immediately with classmate Jiang Tian. What the boys do not know is that their parents are dating and have decided to move in together and this means that Jiang Tian moves into Sheng Wang's home. The subsequent episodes slowly show us how these two boys become nemesis, to brothers, to starting to support one another to eventually having feelings for one another that neither of them is mature enough to understand or deal with it. Through the number of episodes we see how the kids of today have to deal with studies, sports and excel each time because there is way too much competition. They will need other be an expert in everything. The show also touches upon insecurities of a few students, friendship etc. Then we do have a small parallel love story of two substitute teachers, who also run a cafe together, and are surprisingly dealing with feelings for one another but haven't had the courage to be honest to one another.  It's the presence of another female teacher who starts showing interest in one of them that leads them both to hare their love for one another.

The production quality of the show is top notch and you can see that heart and soul has been out in. But what is striking is the pacing of the show. This will be make or break for some. As I mentioned earlier, I was thoroughly enjoying the show for first 7ish episodes.  As the two teenagers discover and explore their desires, the physical aspect of the story is striking, in which each scene represents a moment of action during which the characters are in a constant state of alert, and react without understanding what is happening to them happening, without knowing how to respond and, above all, how to put it into words. But then I wanted more to happen and sadly I waited till the end and not much happened. IN fact the two boys did not venerate confess their feelings to themselves , forget to one another.  I can't believe they hit us with the 'I know my feelings, but I can't act on them because he's my elder brother.' Yes, the initial interactions between them make you feel giddy with butterflies and you feel special with their growing connection, but how much can one take. The two actors do a commendable job and some of the supporting actors who play the classmates were good fun too. The boy who sits in front of Sheng Wang and keeps teasing the girl was so cute and handsome. Sadly, there was little to no romance at all, and except for the two male teachers, there wasn't even any side stories of interest. The insecurity of one of the students was never brought to a conclusion, similarly with Jiang Tian's back story of the cigarette burn. I think many such answers and of course the actual love story between the two students still needs to be showcased. I am hoping a sequel will follow but my only request is that please make it a little more romantic than the current on where I just felt underwhelmed at a lot of moments. (6/10)
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