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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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Saneha Stories 4: Saneha Kap Cheewit (Thai Mini Series) [Love and Life]

By Golu
This is another story from the same series that follows the LGBT arc, telling us true stories where we meet real people in between the dramatized version of their story. It is an interesting story focusing on real life struggles of trans members of our community.

Toon was assigned female at birth, but in his heart, he's always been male. He eventually gets the breast removal surgery when he grows up a bit but the gender reassignment surgery is still pending. He lives with his aunt who has categorically prohibited him from going for a full on surgery, and this is something that is really important Toon. We also meet Toon's young roommate who has a new boyfriend and they both want to consummate their relationship but the roommate always finds himself disinterested in sex despite being very much in love with is boyfriend. Toon and his friends explore the possibility of him being asexual and that he should talk with his boyfriend. The two cute boyfriends talk in out and decide to wait till the time is right and they both feel ready for it. Meanwhile, a childhood friend of Toon shows up one day (born as male but having fully transitioned to female). She also has a girlfriend now and they all meet Toon's home trying to educate Toon's aunt but she doesn't listen. Toon also used to like a girl form school and still years for her but Toon's gender has always ben an issue. Eventually Toon decides that he has to go for surgery otherwise he will never be able to be himself. The aunt finally accepts him and things get better with his ex-girlfriend also.

This was a very emotional story and was done with right amount of sensitivity and respect that a story like this deserves. What was a pleasant surprise to me was the whole asexual story. I can't remember any film/show that has talked about this before, so I was very glad thatches topic was brought up and dealt with the right information. I also appreciated the conversation between Candy and Toon's aunt around gender and sexuality when the aunt asks her reason to change her gender if already liked girls. This is one thing that a whole lot of people don't understand and the makers tried their best to educate. I feel their could have been more to Toon's struggles beyond just the love life. Also, I wish they had used an actual trans actor to play Toon rather than a male. The actor does a good job, but in today's time, I think it is the right thing to do. This show was also 2 episodes of total 1.5 hour, so a very focused watch dealing with an interesting yet still very much a taboo topic. (5/10)
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Comments

Miisu said…
"Also, I wish they had used an actual trans actor to play Toon rather than a male. The actor does a good job, but in today's time, I think it is the right thing to do." Well... there is a place (Germany) and a series (Druck, aka Skam Germany) where a trans actor plays a trans character (David, S3) and a non-binary actor plays a non-binary character (Isi, S7). Deep material well executed. Damn well executed, I'd say.
February 22, 2023 at 12:34 AM
Golu said…
Lovely. At some point in life I may have to catch that up :)
February 26, 2023 at 12:53 AM
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