“Kiseki Dear to Me” had such a strong start, the plot and the time jump that was established earlier on was a strong foundation for the show to bring the whole story together, and yet, somewhere in the middle it managed to lose momentum, focusing on the wrong points and ended up giving us a bland story, which certainly did not match up to the strong start the show had. The story doesn’t quite pay off as much as it could have, and despite the actors’ strong chemistry and the overall compelling nature of the characters’ stories, there was something missing in the story. It was not developed well.

Bai Zong Yi (Taro Lin), while still in high school, meets and falls in love with Fan Zhe Rui (Hsu Kai), who it turns out is entangled in a crime family and is trying to stop a rival family who are distributing drugs at Bai Zong Yi’s school. Chen Yi (Nat Chen) and Ai Di (Louis Chiang) are also part of this crime family and grew up together. Ai Di is secretly in love with Chen Yi, who remains oblivious to this, until a drunken night when they hook up. The show introduces other older gay couples, Chen Dong Yang (Liang Che) and Zhou Ming Lei (Hsieh Angus) who are the patriarchs and leaders of the gang, and had these characters been developed well and weaved into the story more, it would have made for a much more dynamic cast and more interesting stories to anchor the viewers, on top of the other two developing love stories.

During an encounter with their rival gang, Fan Zhe Rui saves Bai Zong Yi’s life by killing Zhang Teng (Wayne Song) and Fan Zhe Rui ends up injured in that fight. Bai Zong Yi is forced to own up to the crime, on the condition that his ailing father will get a heart transplant that he needed. Bai Zong Yi ends up going to jail for 5 years with Ai Di, who joins him, mostly to protect him and to also wean himself from the gang, after his sexual encounter with Chen Yi, who he believes is in love with their boss.

During his stint in jail, Bai Zong Yi is injured and has a brain injury which results in his short-term memory loss. He is told that Fan Zhe Rui lost his memory after the incident, but Fan Zhe Rui has chosen to stay away from Bai Zong Yi in order to protect him. Fan Zhe Rui is, in the meantime, working with his cousin Fan Jian Rui Chen (An Jun Peng) and their uncle Fan Hong Da (Yang Lie) in the family business and remains in love with Bai Zong Yi. When Fan Zhe Rui meets Bai Zong Yi by coincidence, he realizes that he can’t continue to keep him at a distance and Jian Rui Chen facilitates a meeting between Bai Zong Yi and Fan Zhe Rui, which leads to the two characters reuniting.

The whole premise of Fan Zhe Rui never reaching out to Bai Zong Yi in prison, or thereafter, including the fake memory loss, was out of place and out of character, considering that the two somehow still maintained their love for each other. The onus is placed on the audience to keep the characters’ love alive in their minds, despite the actual characters never actually taking any action, and in fact Fan Zhe Rui taking the cowardly approach in the name of protecting Bai Zong Yi. Even when our leads reunite, it’s not as compelling as it should be, because none of the perceived danger is all that apparent, and Fan Zhe Rui’s fears seem a tad bit exaggerated.

The way Chen Yi and Ai Di’s relationship unfolds is also quite frustrating, considering how much potential that relationship had. The writers had the trope on a silver platter: the grumpy and aggressive gang member who is in love with his best friend despite his harsh exterior, and the oblivious Chen Yi who comes around and realizes what’s been in front of him all along. It boggles my mind how they managed to mess it up by prolonging the tension, instead of resolving it and giving us more of the two actively in love.

By the end of the show, another hurdle is faced by all the couples; Zhang Teng’s sister stabs Fan Ze Rui as an act of revenge for her brother. This relationship between Zhang Teng and his sister is never revealed and we are suddenly expected to care about it, as it has direct consequences on Fan Ze Rui and Bai Zong Yi’s relationship. Chen Yi gets shot and protects Ai Di from a hit from Chen Dong Yang. Zhou Ming Lei also seems to be dying, as he is shown to be coughing blood, before it is resolved that Chen Dong Yang decides to step away from the criminal business.

The show started out very strong, and the first half was compelling. However, there seemed to be a continuity problem in the middle, where the show somehow gets lost within itself. The story is about the resilience of love and yet they undercut the moments in which the couples are happy, to the extent that the audience would reconsider if they even want to see the couples together. Chen Yi and Ai Di’s courtship goes on longer than necessary and Fan Ze Rui and Bai Zong Yi’s reconciliation is drawn out without strong reasons for it other than to keep the two apart for a little longer; yet their reconciliation doesn’t quite pay off as it was expected to. The ending doesn’t do this show justice, considering the potential and strong start that it had.

Rating- 3 out of 5

Streaming on- Gagaoolala