Yes, indeed I did watch this phenomenal series and, while not a gamer nor understanding much about the intricacies of this series, I treasured its theme and ambition. This series is breathtaking in its presentation, cinematography, storytelling, and acting. I was completely mesmerized and astonishingly could pretty much follow the gist of the story minus the minutiae and detailed storylines. Being a Westerner, I also got hopelessly entangled by the names and relationships of individuals. None of that mattered to me, however. My focus was on the two main protagonists and the heart of their story.

To say this series is unconventional would be an understatement. Interestingly, it was adapted from a BL, but it is NOT a BL. Is it romantic? Oh God! yes. It is beyond a bromance but certainly not a BL. It is in a category all by itself. The two leads, almost from the beginning, develop a strong and inseparable bond between each other that is unshakable. Early on there is a natural affinity between them and it does not take long for both to pledge fidelity to one other.

VR game designer Ling Jiushi (Huang Jun Jie) is frustrated at his worksite and decides to quit his job. He gets himself involved in a Beta test game that is complex and complicated and combines a sense of fantasy and reality together. The game is composed of 12 doors with each door getting more and more difficult to navigate and get through. The game blends both reality and fantasy into one. To the point that they are indistinguishable. In one of the doors, he meets a master at the game named Ruan Lan Zhu (Xia Zhi Guang) who invites him to join his group called Obsidian to find out how to correct the game from killing people.

Each door presents its own unique set of challenges and a coven of clues for future doors. The caveat is that if you die in the world of the door, you will die in the outside world as well. The aim is to find the key to get out of the current door alive and to amass clues to future doors that will assist you in navigating them to also get out alive.

The only way to get a complete understanding of how the game works is to get through all 12 doors and only then can one change the rules. Along the way, they meet a cast of characters that either help them to move further into the game or hinder them in their progress. Some are quite nefarious and want to find out how to control Spi Realm (the game) to make it profitable for themselves. Interestingly, while time flies in the world of the door, the ‘game’ does not and cannot last more than 15 minutes in the real world or otherwise everyone in the game will die.

As Ling Jiushi and Ruan Lan Zhu navigate the various doors and pick up clues for the remaining doors, they become closer to each other and pledge that they will protect one another. They also make plans, perhaps dreams, for remaining together to amend the game to make it less deadly. They want to be together. There is one thing about Ruan Lan Zhu, however, that makes the reality of being together maybe only a fantasy.

To be sure there is no direct romance in this series; after all it is from China. However, there is convincingly enough innuendo, glances, and close couplings to one another to certainly make it clear that both have a strong attraction if not intense connection to one another. Whether to call it love is debatable but there can be no question an affinity is there. To say nothing of the very intense verbal exchanges between them that hint that both wanted more than merely to be friends. As they go through the doors together, their bond to one another only strengthens and deepens much more than friends normally would as they can anticipate each other’s moves both inside and outside the world of the doors. They also gain strength from each other and simply cannot be apart from one another for very long. It is the closest affinity to a relationship that I have ever seen without calling it ‘love’.

There are so many characters in this series that it has to be considered an exceptional ensemble cast. The storylines run the gambit of fantasy tales and yet without exception all make the roles feel so genuine and tangible. Still, a few are of such significance and impact, that if you get into this series as I did, their loss is personally felt. One such character was Li Dong Yuan (Liu Xiao Bei) who initially is a rival of the two of them but ends up befriending them. He is so deliciously handsome but also provides at times a comedic relief to the series. And ends up saving the life of Ling Jiushi at an astonishing cost. There is certainly a lot of dialogue between Li Dong Yuan and Ruan Lan Zhu that would suggest and propound that he had more than a mere professional admiration for Ruan Lan Zhu and perhaps even Ling Jiushi. The story is replete with double-entendre references. There is also a whole host of other supporting characters that feel like family in the series. Each one of them brings a uniqueness to the series and a depth of character and when one of them is lost, you feel it on a visceral level as well.

This series is both a cinematic masterpiece and a choreographic dreamscape. It has everything. Comedy, drama, sadness, magic, occult, mysticism, evilness, and of course a heavy dose that capitalism is a bad form of business. But it is astonishingly entertaining, thought-provoking, and will make you question your own sense of reality. Despite the fact that at times one cannot tell which characters are real and which ones are not, one will empathize with them all. I became so vested in these characters that when some of them ‘died’ in the world of the door and I knew their fate in the ‘real’ world, I mourned as well. I found myself in tears. We get to sense these characters even though they are only one dimensional on the screen; it felt like we were living in their three-dimensional story. That is how good this series is. I could watch this series over and over again and learn something new about life every time.

The ending, of which there are a multiple number of interpretations of its meaning, is yours to develop. You will undoubtedly never experience anything like this again. I know there is no romance per se, but this story is about a love between two ‘men’ that transcends romance. Those of you who watched this series will understand why I have noted the term ‘men’ the way I did. It is all part of the game. There are such expressions of love in this series that you will not necessarily see overtly but you will feel them. I cannot fully explain it, honestly. But for me it is one of the most ‘romantic’ series I have ever watched. While it took days to watch, it only felt like 15 minutes of my life had gone by. I loved this series that much.

As for me, I want to believe that Ruan Lan Zhu and Ling Jiushi ended up happily together in whatever world they chose to be in. For those of you who decide to watch this series, you will understand this statement. I encourage all others to watch this fantastic series and draw your own conclusion afterwards.

It is, without hesitation, in my Top Ten List for this year whether it is considered a BL or not. It is one of the most immersing and mesmerizing series I have ever watched.

This is an existential series. Allow yourself to feel it.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Streaming on- Viki/Viu