“In the great sea of life there is no ship that is not cracked.” – Quote from “Be Your Star”

Honestly, I do not even know where to begin by trying to review this series. It is a piece de resistance and so full of life with unexpected twists and turns, I truly did not know where the story was heading. That is a sign of a genuinely great series. I then became obsessed with watching it. I HAD to know, so I binge watched this series. I was uncertain as to how it was going to end.

I have stated ad nauseam that there is something always extraordinary and unique about Vietnamese BLs that, for the most part, has fallen on deaf ears. While there are legions of fans for mundane to mediocre and disappointing BLs from other countries, quality ones go unheralded simply because they are not from the more established BL universe. This series is a prime example of that. And that is so deflating, as some of the best quality BLs really do come from Vietnam.

This series is assiduously about life – real life. The problems/issues of being tangible are presented in completely realistic fashion. Raw, gritty, ugly, and oh so genuine. The saga revolves around a young man with obvious significant mental health issues. In the beginning, we do not know why or how deep. The story develops his painful reality to the point we begin to piece together and slowly absorb why he is the way he is. It does not necessarily excuse some of his actions; but we understand him. Thien Bao (Ho Dong Quan) is an astonishingly handsome young man but is crushed by the weight of his past and the burden of his mental health pain and his childhood trauma. He indeed has a forlorn look about him and only on rare occasions does he smile; but when he does, he is angelic. But almost always, he looks sad or angry.

Despite his crushing and sometimes complete loss of reality, he is the CEO of a rather successful company. Initially, his sister, My Duyen (Trang Minh) seems overly protective of her brother and is constantly trying to arrange ‘blind dates’ for him; all of which he roundly refuses, sometimes angrily. The story gradually but extremely effectively tells us and shows us why all of this takes place. We become slowly but inextricably drawn into his chaotic world.

Almost surreptitiously, he meets a rather cavalier young man named Ding Huy (Ba Vinh). Ding Huy is sometimes flippant yet honest to a fault. He also exudes integrity and veracity as if it is second nature to him. He knows who he is. By a twist of fate, the two of them begin a stormy and intensely rocky working relationship, as Ding Huy needs a certain certificate to graduate from college. Ding Huy, ever so quick to get angry and lose his temper, is drawn to Thien Bao despite the fact that he desperately fights hard against doing so. Early on, he senses then discovers that Thien Bao is gay; yet he is intrigued by him. Ding Huy makes it clear to Thien Bao he had better not fall for him as he is ‘not gay’ and also warns him that ‘love’ is not an emotion he will succumb to. All that turns out to be empty words.

Perhaps, the way I am describing this series may sound so ordinary and mundane. It is far from that. To understand their relationship, you have to visualize their interactions and feel this series. It is so intense that it draws you into them. The two major focuses are Thien Bao’s past and Ding Huy’s struggle with falling in love with a person of the same gender as him. Both traverse painful paths with different degrees of intensity. It became a wonder if either would or could survive their trials and tribulations. Expressly, this series is meant to be experienced.

There is a uniquely secondary couple in this series that is also astonishingly dynamic and presents its own set of realistic issues that frankly I have not seen before. If truth be told, their issue is also just not that uncommon. Ha Lam (Vu Tan) is the former lover to Thien Bao and even though they have not been lovers for a long time, Ha Lam continues to tease and flirt and constantly talk about Thien Bao to his current boyfriend/partner, Gia Hoa (Duh Harry). Gia Hoa happens to be Ding Huy’s best friend. The relationship between Gia Hoa and Ha Lam finally reaches a breaking point and for good reasons. Their relationship is presented with such finesse and honesty and, if this was ‘real life’, it would mirror how a relationship would honestly have finally resolved itself. There is nothing Pollyanna nor magical or formulaic; just frank dialogue and forthright interactions between the two of them. I was spellbound by their adult-behavior and willingness to see a way out.

The acting in this series is beyond reproach. It is quite an ensemble group. There are no weak performances here at all. However, this is one that absolutely steals the screen time and will capture your heart. And that is Ding Huy’s grandmother, Ba Lan (Nsut Phi Dieu), with whom he lives with. She is the salt of the earth and is everyone’s grandmother. Warm, supportive, wise, loving, caring, tender, and sees the world for what it is. When she senses her grandson struggling with his internal emotions toward loving another man, she is there. Providing comfort. Encouraging him to go to Thien Bao to cement their relationship. No judgement, no guilt. Just love. As Ding Huy cries for support and gets it in the tranquility of his grandmother’s hugs, I wept along with him. These are some of the tenderest scenes in a BL I have ever seen. So honest, real, and genuine. She will tug at your heart with her kindness and simplicity in seeing life as it is. Her performance is worthy of all the accolades that any actress could receive. She is so natural that I doubt she was even acting.

True to Vietnamese BLs, there are no clear distinctions between ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ here. There is an antagonist, Thanh Quoc (Kan Vu) who is manipulative and is clearly immoral and does some despicably manipulative behaviors to con both Ding Huy and Thien Bao. Yet, the story wanted us to ‘see’ him. In the end, his story blurs his wrongful actions into the realm of understandably justifiable. Are they forgivable? No. Are they excusable? No. But does he deserve compassion? You decide whether the action taken towards him would have been what you would have done.

This is a raw, gritty, absorbing series that seems at first to be going nowhere and then, like a giant jigsaw puzzle, all the pieces begin to fit together. This is a masterfully crafted series where each episode does build on the others, even if it does not seem so. So, by the end, we have what I would consider an epoch.

You cannot watch this series without feeling something. It is psychologically draining and at times profoundly melancholic. There is so much realism here. Genuine honesty, and we see raw love develop when perhaps it seems like it should not be. Thien Bao believes in it and holds onto it and at times hangs onto it only by a thread. While Dinh Huy, struggles with accepting his love, emotionally carries scissors, wants to cut that thread, yet never really can, although he tries so hard to do so.

Even from a production level, this series is near perfection. While the translations, admittedly, are a bit wonky, you will get the gist of the story. When it counts, the story comes alive, and the dialogue is sharp and clear and focused (as exampled in the above quote). In addition, you believe in their love – in both cases. They were not afraid to kiss with meaning and passion and natural intent. Especially between Ho Dong Quan and Ba Vinh. They meant it. You could feel it. Their kisses did not feel rehearsed, planned, or choreographed but seemed cherished. Oh God!, they seemed so organic. It is astonishingly refreshing to see what feels admittedly like two men simply enjoying kissing. And so, when the scene of the forced kissing came about, you knew the rejection was real. Their acting is without question outstanding. There is just a quiet naturalness about it that feels authentic.

This series made me both laugh and cry a lot. It caused me to remember my own ugly and painful moments in my life when I was grappling with being gay and my own acceptance. Despite the plethora of BLs, the one remaining truth in most of those series is that acceptance of one’s gayness is not dealt with efficaciously and if revealed, is usually dealt with in a formulaic manner filled with clichés and tropes. We see here, Thien Bao struggle, sometimes beyond his own level of strength, trying to accept his gayness. We watch him go into complete despair, madness, and spiral into escapism. His story is beyond pain; it is like living in “Dante’s Inferno”. Mere words are inadequate to describe Thien Bao’s personal demons. You must experience them on your own when you watch this series. I truly and deeply cried. I have not cried that hard in a long, long time.

For that is its real theme. It is not just love that Thien Bao is seeking; it is acceptance. Acceptance that he is simply a human, capable of being loved. And in return, he will love- unconditionally.

This is one of the finest BLs I have ever seen and is worthy of the term Magnum Opus. In the end, it became one of the most beautiful BL love stories I have ever seen. It is an unparalleled contender for the Top Spot for Best BL of the year.

Please, take the time to watch this masterpiece. Ponder its profound message.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Streaming on- 02 Production YouTube Channel