Is this technically a gay show? Even after getting through the whole thing, that's still kind of tricky to answer. There's never any physical intimacy shown between the two leads, not even a single kiss. What it gives you instead is something that goes way deeper than that. It traces an emotional bond that spans a full decade between two guys who are both dealing with their own baggage, and what they share basically amounts to being soulmates. The story moves across Japan, South Korea, and Berlin. Honestly, whether people want to call what they have a romantic relationship or not doesn't really matter to me. A relationship doesn't need a label like boyfriends attached to it to actually mean something. And closeness doesn't need to be physical to feel genuine. What this show captures is something quieter but way more powerful, a bond rooted in understanding, respect, and just showing up for each other. Across eight episodes, each running 35 to 45 minutes, this is one...
Set in rural province of Philippines, we meet a young gay couple who are making ends meet. They have lost their jobs and with minimum savings, they moved to countryside while covid cases everywhere are rising. They both take good care of each other cooking, cleaning etc while also hoping that the virus doesn't catch them. Apparently Dandansoy is a song by some singer which happens to be a favorite of one of the boys. One day this guys starts to feel covid symptoms. It starts with loss of taste and smell, followed by cough. As best as the other person tries to care for him and nurture him, his health continues to take to the worst and eventually he stops fighting and dies, leaving behind the lover in grief and crying, thus reminding us how many lives and loved ones were lost during the pandemic.
This scene of death, of the lonely burial, of the pain of the companion experiencing all this suffering without any support, hurts even more when I stop to think that it must have really happened thousands of times, in several places around the world, showing that in some places and for the most humble population the pandemic was really much more cruel. The series focused on those marginalized section where basics lack electricity, food, news, sanitation, medical help was really hard to come by. So as much as love helps them both, cooking for one another etc, when crisis comes, reality hits hard. Yes, the story is sad and production quality is likely basic at best, the series is saved by some good performances by its two leads given how little scope they had to play with. They do their best. The message might have been better served as a short story, but I do understand that those were the days when BL series from every corner of Asia were being thrown around since people were starving for content. The title was a bit confusing and it would have benefice to understand the real significance of that. May be it's a cultural nuance that somehow I missed. (5/10)
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