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Chen qing ling (2019)
New Age Romeo & Romeo. A classic in the BL genre has just been made!
The Untamed (Chen Qing Ling) is truly a groundbreaking work of art on so many levels--the raw emotions depicted by an fairly inexperienced cast of young actors, the gorgeous cinematography and high quality CG for such an inexperienced production house, the heart wrenching lyrics and music score in the theme song, the poetically and politically apt names given to the characters, objects and places in the storyline.
This was my first time viewing BL content in any medium. Even though I had known of the BL genre from reading manga and watching anime for over three decades now, I never explored it at all because BL seemed alien to me from the outset, although it is a genre created for heterosexual females. I didn't understand how bromance can be captivating for a heterosexual woman. That is, until I watched The Untamed or Chen Qing Ling (Mandarin explanation: "Chen" is derived from the term "Chen Su," or to reveal, to admit; Qing comes from the term "Gan Qing," or feeling, emotions; "Ling" means a command, order, or a short tune or melody).
In the beginning, it wasn't obvious that this was a BL story. I thought it was just another Chinese ghost story set in ancient times. It wasn't until episode 13 that the feelings between the two males leads Lan Chan and Wei Ying became unquestionable to me. Not only did I watch it to the very end, but rewatched the 50 episodes 5 times in a row (I have never rewatched any TV series in my life), skipping to the parts where the bromance was evolving. It wasn't because I am a BL freak, but because I really needed to understand why I was left feeling so moved and aroused by two men falling in love with each other. It made no sense to me on a logical and intellectual level. I had to make sense of it somehow!
This exploration became 3 nights of sleeplessness and two weeks of internet research and soul searching. I managed to dig out the online version of the novel "Mo Dao Zhu Shi" that the TV series is based on, written by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu, read all the parts that were censored from the TV series. Wow. I have never read such hot and steamy material written in the Chinese language! Definitely picked up some new vocabulary there, and also in studying the lyrics of the theme song, which in itself retells the entire plot in poetic verse. I simply couldn't get enough of this multi-sensory stimulation.
Then I went through the entire anime series, and all the juicy fan-created content and art work, and was surprised to learn that I wasn't the only one suffering from "blue ovaries." There have been over 8 billion views of the The Untamed all over the world, to say the least. Are there even that many people alive?
After learning that the production team is actually a fairly new and inexperienced one, along with its crew of "rookie" and non A-list actors, I was particularly moved. What this revelation meant to me was that The Untamed's whole production team, and probably most of the cast, were likely to be fans of the novel or anime themselves. The BL genre didn't have any successful precedents in the form of TV series before The Untamed. It was a high risk gamble with high stakes from everyone involved. Yet, it turned out to be an overwhelming success, not only in its origin country but internationally.
The success of The Untamed is likely owing to not only everything mentioned above, but also the lead actors being so well cast for their roles, and each so artfully delivering such raw and uncensored emotions on screen, particularly Xiao Zhan (acting as Wei Ying) and Wang Yi Bo (acting as Lan Zhan). Even the supporting characters played their roles so convincingly that I cried a few times throughout the series.
For me, it was Wang Yibo's performance that lingered in my mind after the fact. It wasn't just because of his looks (although it is a huge contributing factor) and personality being so well-suited to Lan Zhan's character as depicted in the novel, but also the fact that despite having little acting experience, he was able to nail the micro-expressions that Lan Zhan's character required (Lan Zhan being a stoic ultra introvert). It was an exceeding difficult role to play, but he had the luck of having a real life personality that is very close to that of Lan Zhan's.
Furthermore, the story line itself was politically refreshing in that it reveals a different side of China--one that yearns from freedom from oppression and control, one that is completely accepting of LGBTQ existence and relationships, one that is proud of its origins and history before the modern era, where culture is concerned.
In all, I still don't fully comprehend my intense reactions to this TV series (although more understandable where the novel and anime is concerned), but I will highly recommend it.
Vincenzo (2021)
Great opening and acting, but inconsistency in plot
I wanted so much for this to be a 10 star rating after watching the first episode. I was complete blown away by Song Joong Ki's multilingual abilities in playing Vincenzo, the real Italian backdrop, the international mafia storyline. It really seemed all so promising.
However, all this comes to a lukewarm plateau in the next few episodes, where Vincenzo ends up in South Korea and begins executing his mission of extracting gold from the basement of a rundown shopping plaza. It was heartwarming to see the him be reacquainted with the Korean life he had left behind as an orphaned child adopted by Italian foster parents, but I had already been sold on the hard mafia opening in the beginning.
What was most disturbing for me was that the entire series opened with the scene of him bombing the shopping plaza where the gold was hidden, but in the end, this was never realized. I was really looking forward to see how he would manage convincing the residents of the plaza to move out so that he could destruct the plaza and extract the gold, but this was never realized.
In fact, the entire plot became lost in a mushy romantic comedy between him and Jeon Yeo been's quirky yet lovable character Hong Cha Young, instead of the international action thriller it promised to be in the first episode. It became a story of how an Italian Korean reenacted his love for his countrymen, and how much his countrymen revered the Italian mafia, rather than a high intensity shootout or face off between him and his enemies with Italian mafia involvement on both sides to increase the tension.
At the end of it, I felt not only lost but deceived. As much as I love the cast and the screenplay, it wasn't what it sold itself to be. It wasn't consistent, even though it was enjoyable for most parts.
Shan he ling (2021)
Subpar acting, cast, and screen write
Asides from the lack of chemistry between the two males leads Shou Zishu and Wen Kexing in this series, which is a crucial factor of success in any BL drama, Word of Honor also has many other points of contention. Not only do the CG backgrounds and marketing posters appear to have multiple similarities to another BL drama series, but the acting and storyline also seem to have one too many coincidental details to it.
Despite wanting to like this series, and having great hopes for it after discovering this new TV genre, I was gravely disappointed to see the tackiness in the male leads' flirtation, the oddly familiar cover pose, storyline and CG backgrounds. Despite Priest having authored Word of Honor predating that of the other wildly successful BL drama series, this TV series was released two years after that series, meaning that it had plenty of time and opportunity to take cues from what made the other series successful.
I hope to see more original storytelling and screenplay for this TV genre in the future.
Nowhere Man (2019)
Creative Screenplay
Keeps audience in suspense with arrhythmic storytelling that mirrors the complexity of the plot. Daring, unrepentant approach for an otherwise generally tacky and predictable Taiwanese theater scene.
However, for such a revolutionary screenplay, one would expect better, more convincing fight and love scenes. Also, the juxtaposition between who we originally think is the nowhere man and who the actual nowhere man is later revealed to be, can be better portrayed with symmetrical contrast.
Well done. Keep pushing the boundaries!