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Journey With You (Chinese Series)

By Golu
I've always had kind of a love hate relationship with Chinese historical BLs. Some are genuinely excellent, but then there are others that cram in so much plot that keeping track of all the layers of betrayal and scheming gets exhausting, and I end up checking out mentally. Part of the issue is also just how much content is out there in this space, so something really has to stand out to keep me hooked. In this case, the production value is genuinely impressive, top tier stuff, but story wise, I just couldn't bring myself to actually care about these characters. There's a ton of political scheming and backstage manipulation running throughout. Somewhere in the middle of all that chaos, a hostage ends up falling for his own Prince Charming. The show runs eight episodes, each around 50 to 60 minutes long. After spending three years guarding the border, Fifth Prince Yin Qi gets called back to the capital because of a secret letter, only to end up walking straight into a deadly...
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A Round Trip to Love (Chinese)

By Golu
This is a 2 part Chinese mini series that spans over a period of 10 years. It primarily focuses on different aspects of love; pure love, obsession, heart break and even rape (odd.. right?). Story wise, this is an interesting subject but I feel somewhere the execution left a little more to be desired.

Lu Feng and Xiao Chen are dormmates in college. The year is 2005 and we see that Lu Feng really likes the dorky twink Xiao Chen and eventually succeeds in wooing him and soon they fall in love with each other. But as expected, when the families find out, they dont react very well to this. Lu Feng's father ships him off to Hong Kong while Xiao Chen's mother makes him promise her that he will never see him again. Lu Feng never stops writing letters to Xiao Chen but never gets a response. Five years pass, the year is 2010 and Lu Feng comes back to China as CEO of the company where Xiao Chen works. The two men reconnect again and this time fall in love even more since they have to catch up. Incidentally Xiao Chen's brother is also gay and has a steady boyfriend unknown to the mother. On one of the holidays when Xiao Chen's mother sees him with Lu Feng she gets a heart attack and is hospitalized. Thinking of it as his fault, Xiao Chen pulls away from Lu Feng. In frustration Lu ends up beating Xiao Chen's brother who gets paralysed. The mother is unable to bear what's going around her, she makes Xiao Chen promise that he will marry a girl and eventually dies. When Lu Feng's father finds out reasons why Lu Feng refused to marry a rich girl, he cuts him off his wealth. Xiao Chen decides to get married to an old friend who knows everything about his part. Five more years pass, the year is 2015. Xiao Chen's brother has recovered completely and Xiao Chen is married with a kid. He is called to Korea for work, which turns out to be for a company owned by Lu Feng who has now changed his name. His idea was to kidnap Xiao Chen and take revenge. Xiao is disgusted by the whole idea and refuses to acknowledge his love for Lu Feng. Lu Feng keeps him as his prisoner and rapes and tortures him. Luckily Xiao Chen's brother figures out what's going on and calls cop on them. In a fight Xiao Chen gets shot in the chest and is hospitalized. Lu Feng leaves in a helicopter in a very bad weather and looks like he may not survive. The end is not absolutely clear but it feels like both the boys will die to reunite in heaven.

I have very mixed feelings about the film. The story was novel and they showed good character graph and growth but somehow something was missing. I was seeing their love, the pain, the separation and the longing but somehow I was unable to empathize or connect with them. I don't think the acting was bad. In fact it was above average, but it may have something to do with the direction and sometimes over the top reactions. Contrary to the lead actors, I found the love story of Xiao Chen's brother more believable and real. We know in most Asian countries, it is not uncommon to bow down to your parents wishes, so in that sense I didn't find anything odd when Xiao Chen sacrifices his love to "do the right thing". But the third act where Lu Feng goes all out crazy was weird. I mean it came out of nowhere. I can understand he is hurt that Xiao Chen decided to get married but it is weird that not even for a second he regrets or is ready to accept the blame for being the reason for Xiao Chen's brothers paralysis. So, as much as Lu loved Xiao, it seemed very selfish. It felt the relationship was all about him and his hapiness and he was ok to dominate Xiao Chen to get he wanted. And maybe this is what Xiao Chen realizes in third act and refuses to give into his demands. The whole part was odd. The first two acts were nice where we see the love blossoms and some nice interactions between the 2 couples. I don't think there would have been a right ending to the show so whatever was shown makes sense.

Having seen some recent really good Thai BL dramas, I thin my expectations were a little higher although historically I keep very low expectations with asian queer films and series. Its not bad at all but nothing great. (6/10)
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