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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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Seventeen (Mandarin)

By Golu
This film could easily have been a short film and would have been lot more effective. It is a story of love, loss and redemption, but the film moves at such a slow pace that it really tests your patience.

Xue Ping is an out of town war veteran, who on a particular day is on a mission to meet someone. We also meet Ahong, a young 17 year old high school student who just wanders around, plays video games etc. Through flashbacks, we see the old man had a young lover when he was in army but he was captured by enemies. We also see him spending every year with his best friend celebrating retirement from the army. Turns out on this particular day, Sue Ping is actually looking for Ahong. He had seen him exactly a year ago for the first time and he immediately reminded him of his young lover in the army. He keeps following the young student and that day he confronts him and gifts him a portrait picture of a young him and his lover. The young boy completely snubs the old man, lashes out at him and asks him to go away. The dejected man goes back home and the young guy goes on with his life.

This film hd scope where they could have used a few moments to connect with the audience but they just did not. Even the gay love story of the young Sue Ping and his lover comes out of nowhere and feels very bland to be honest. The all day aimless walking reminiscing old days is usually memorable to watch, but nit in this specific case, it just felt forced and frankly, very boring. Sure, the young boy may look like his old lover, but aa 70 year man suddenly approaching a 17 year old professing love would obviously lead to unfavorable reactions. What was he thinking? We either needed more character development or just a short film where the old man could have looked at the boy from afar. (2/10)
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