I don’t like to give bad reviews about artistic endeavors, be it a book, a painting, or a movie. But once in a while I have to, because I’m baffled by the popularity of such work and the great reviews they get.
This is one of those cases. I started watching this series on a streaming service because it had 9.2 out of 10 stars given by viewers and also because it was a short series (only 12 episodes compared to the usual 30-60 of shows of the same type). I had just finished a long Chinese romcom series and was ready for a romantic quick story.
So I decided to watch Meet You at the Blossom, a BL period fantasy. Within the first couple episodes I was ready to DNF it. But I kept going, hoping that it would get better. It didn’t.
I feel I should first disclose that I am well aware this is the first Chinese BL show that unabashedly shows the same gender couple being physical, and I commend both the producers and the actors who will undoubtedly face a lot of backlash from the government’s censorship. I am also aware that apparently the film crew and everyone else involved invested their own money to make this movie. Kudos for the guts and the vision. However, I cannot honestly say something was good when it really wasn’t.
Back to my review.
The best part of the series was the ending. I don’t mean this to be sarcastic, I mean it literally: the ending was actually pretty funny and kind of sweet. The rest was all an exercise in bad acting (overacting), bad writing, love scenes that reeked of lack of consent, and bad/wrong casting.
A few actors/characters were at least fun to watch, like Xiao Bo goofy servants and his little sister. The cranky doctor was not terrible either. All other ones, especially the major roles, were extremely overacted. The young actor who played Xiao Bo was a decent enough pick for the role of a spoiled rich young man and had some bright moments where he truly came across as very young, immature man, someone who didn’t have much of a connection with the harsh realities of life. On the other hand, Leslie Li who played the morally grey and tortured hero Huai En seemed like a poor choice for the role, which called for a strong, kickass, take-no-prisoners, cruel look.
The romance part (BL/Gay romance) didn’t quite work either, as the writers placed Xiao Bo having his bi-awakening by basically being raped by the one who was to be his love interest. Even worse was the fact that it was done in a way that made it look as if he liked it. This is the kind of scene that made me quit reading the Outlander years ago and now almost made me quit watching this series. People apparently confuse violence for passion. Big no-no in my book. There are a couple more sexual (insinuated rather than shown for the most part) scenes like this one where it looks and sounds as if the younger man is being forced rather than a willing participant.
Another thing that bothered me was the overly long scenes when Xiao Bo was suffering under the influence of poison, which focused on the character rolling around in pain in bed or on the floor for what it felt like forever. To be fair, one of the better-acted scenes for Wang Yun Kai (who plays Xiao Bo) is one where he’s in extreme pain while being treated for the poisoning. His pain at that time came across as real, unlike in other parts of the show. I may have cried a little.
A small spattering of decent and entertaining things: the young girl who plays Xiao Bo’s sister is a definite highlight in the last two episodes, The weird (and very handsome) doctor with the worst bedside manners, the first actual romantic kiss between the two lovers is very sweet (I never felt much chemistry between those two, unlike Wei Ying and Lan Zhan of Untamed fame who never even hugged throughout the whole 50 episodes but exuded sexual chemistry), and a hilariously overacted goodbye scene between Xiao Bo and one of his servants.
I should have DNFed it, lol. On the bright side? It was pretty short and I can now advance to better ones, I hope.
Author Natalina Reis 