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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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I Promise I Will Come Back (Thai Series)

By Golu
Even though a good part of this series set in Northern Thailand was about promoting tourism, but the way it was incorporate din the larger storytelling and a beautiful love story, it did not feel like watching a tourism advertisement (which happens sometimes). The locations and sites were so seamlessly integrated, that most f the times you were either engrossed in the beauty of it all and other times in the romance that was developing in front of you. So overall I quite enjoyed this series about first love and its loss of 8 episodes, each of 45-50 minutes.

Tontae and Nankrai have been best friend since they were little. From the very first episode we realize that Nankrai has much deeper feelings of love towards Tontae but he is completely oblivious of his gazes and stares and love and sees the former just as a very close friend. Tontine dreams of traveling the world someday. Since Tontae has understanding of English, he is requested to accompany a Taiwanese visitor Victor to their village who speaks English to guide him around the various sites in the area. As the two boys start to spend more time together with each other exploring this village, a slow friendship turned romance starts to develop. Their affection for one another inarguably and palpably grows exponentially. A pure innocent love without issue, reservation, or care. It is simply there. Seeing them together breaks Nankrai's heart but he is the sort of guy who loves so deeply that he only wants best for him. Before Victor leaves, he promises to reconnect and invite Tontae to visit Taiwan, which he eventually does. But Tontae is in for a rude shock of his life and completely heartbroken when he finds out that Victor passed away in an accident. Back home, when he tries to reconnect with Nankrai, he gets another shock and his life goes in a complete mess. The last episode is a bot confusing where we see time goes back and another scenario play out where Tontae picks Nankrai over Victor but that also leads to someone leaving the world eventually.

Besides the main love story, we also have a girl who constantly pursues Nankrai in the village. And a closed circle of friends that work with Nankrai. By the way, it sis important to mention how the guy Nankrai is. He has like baby face but the sculpted body of Adonis playing a hardworking laborer. My god!! Devastatingly beautiful body and a guy who is so much in love with his friend from childhood that he literally worships the ground Tontae stands on. Ok, back to the series now. The two love stories here are both tragic. Tontae does not get a happy ending with either of his love. Victor is exotic, erotic, and enticing. Meanwhile, TK is impassionate, intriguing, and inviting. With the combination of the two and the blending of fantasies, sparks of destiny were bound to happen. While with Nankrai, he never saw the love his friend had for him. The way the love gradually develops between Victor and Tontae is shown beautifully It doesn't hurt to see so many beautiful locations and certain cultural traditions along the way. I am going to forget the fantasy elements in the last episode, but other than that, the story is beautiful. Everything feels so genuine and real. The flirting, the loving, the waiting and the anticipation. All the 3 actors, in fact, almost everyone does a fantastic  job in this series and need to be commended. Did I mention, that there are a couple of dreamy love making scenes between Tontae and Nankrai and a river sequence between Tontae and Victor and they are all so hot to watch. The guys dont shy away from nudity and Tontae exposes his butt more than a few times. So in addition to a beautiful love story, you get some nice eye candy too. This was nice change from city/university Thai BL dramas. I would love to see more of these atmospherical drama's that suck you into their mood and let you feel like you are actually there. If not for the ending, this show may have received even higher ratings from me. (7.5/10)
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