HIStory Season 2 - Crossing the Line
The Taiwanese have a decided knack of doing BL well, with their own distinctive spin on the formula, and the team behind series 'HIStory' is probably its best and most famous exponent. Crossing the Line episodes 1 through 6 (also known as Boundary Crossing) is a fantastic start to a new sub-series, with a snappy pace, crisp dialogue and some really endearing performances. I think it must still be screening on TV at the time of writing, or only very recently ended, because only episodes 1 through 6 are currently available on YouTube.
Summary: Three rebellious boys who have been expelled from high school have started at a new school and immediately cause trouble. Step-brothers Zhen Wen and Zhen Wu are hot-headed fighters, while disdainful bad-boy leader Yu Hao mocks and disrespects authority. When the brothers almost cause a fight with members of the volleyball team, the intelligent and serious team manager Zi Xuan observes Hao's nimble potential as a good player and suggests he join the team. Hao is openly scornful and flatly rejects his offer. When the volleyball coach blackmails Hao because of his bad grades, he is left with no choice but to join the team. Xuan must teach Hao the game and get him to practise so that he is ready in time for a big competition. He also offers to tutor Hao so that he can pass his exams. The two boys learn more about each other during the training sessions and tutoring, and stronger feelings inevitably develop.
Crossing The Line takes the mundane competitive world of a school volleyball team as its centre and somehow manages to create at its core a love story of such heightened sensibility and heart-fluttering intensity that it feels like it floats out of the TV screen. There's a humble joy to be found in this series just by walking alongside the two leads and experiencing their journey to love. The strength of such unexpected, gender-blind new emotions makes both teenage boys turn pale and run for cover, but the overall sensation from Hao is one of blissful acceptance. He is given a delicate, understated scene when he sits down alone on some stairs outside at night, reflecting on Xuan's selfless kindness and generosity to him. A smile of dawning acknowledgement spreads across his face as he looks up at the stars in the night sky, and he says to himself "So it is what it is!" It's so beautiful and perfect, you almost expect him to levitate.
I still can't quite work out how they manage to achieve this beauty consistently, but I get a strong sense that Taiwanese BL dramas are 'storyboarded' to within an inch of their life. This could just be specific to the 'HIStory' series, but I also felt a similar 'direct control' sensation when watching Red Balloon, so it's not a one-off. (Dark Blue and Moonlight proves that they don't always win though.) The creators have a wonderful instinct for keeping the story boundaries very tight, letting very little get away from their control. This results in a clean, straightforward narrative that has no room for filler or loopholes. That doesn't mean that there are no clichés or misjudged moments here, it's just that they are couched in such decent dialogue and speedy plotting that they don't really register as oppressive or burdensome. This lightness of touch allows the acting to shine through as well, and the actor playing the central role of the story, adorable Fandy Fan as Hao, is wonderful to watch in all his brash playfulness and doe-eyed infatuation.
There's one other BL sub plot involving the step brothers Wen and Wu that both stands up very well on it own and ties in neatly with the central relationship as an inspiration, without overwhelming it. It's also by some distance the strongest and most original secondary BL plot I've ever seen, with the possible exception of Frame and Book in Make It Right. They definitely deserve their own 'prequel' and sequel series, to flesh out their intriguing past (Wen was violently kidnapped as a child??) and their future. Besides subplots involving the step brothers, Xuan's sister and some volleyball scenes, there's honestly not much else in the typically short HIStory narrative to distract from Hao and Xuan's gentle romance, and that's a blessing, given how enthralling their story is. Some of the BL elements are staged on the awkward or faintly ridiculous side, especially those involving Xuan's gratingly eager captain of the volleyball team, Cheng En, whose part is overacted to a fault. There's a shower scene that's too contrived for the cringe-comedy it aims for, but its main purpose seems to be to show the beautiful actor playing Xuan as naked as possible, so it succeeds in that respect. But these missteps are rare, and the better-judged BL scenes eventually build enough good will to overlook the weaker ones.
Especially good is the scene at a volleyball practice camp, where Hao helps Xuan by applying a hot compress to his painful injured knee that keeps him awake at night. It's a gentle, quiet scene of affectionate kindness and concern, but it's so well-acted and directed that it takes on much more meaning that it would otherwise suggest. After treating Xuan's knee, Hao puts the sleeping Xuan to bed. He lies in bed very close next to Xuan, staring at his sleeping face. The camera shot shows a close-up of Xuan's face framed on its side, just as Hao would be seeing it lying down beside him - and with that simple device, the audience is suddenly a participant in the scene. In that instant, we are asked not only to identify with Hao; we become Hao, and our emotions as we lie beside Xuan are Hao's. We have effectively created Hao. Exactly the same evocative approach is taken when Xuan wakes the next morning and sees Hao asleep in bed beside him. It's these small masterstrokes of direction and story that give Crossing the Line its most powerful moments that leave a lasting impression.
Crossing the Line isn't grand or ambitious, it's not reaching high for tense emotional melodrama filled with volatility and passion. It knows exactly what it wants and how to achieve it - a short quiet love story that looks deceptively slight and unremarkable but feels so unutterably, fantastically perfect - and it achieves it in spades.
UPDATE: I've just watched the last two episodes of this series, and the two main BL stories tie up nicely, with some genuinely moving moments. The final episode has way too much crammed into its twenty minutes, so it feels rushed and, for the first time, it drops some loose ends. But nothing can detract from the lovely ending or the exceptional writing and screenplay, and the kiss-of-love moment is on another level. I predict that this will be a top favourite BL drama among fans for a long time to come, and Xuan and Hao, as well as the step-brothers Wu and Wen, will be two of their favourite couples - and deservedly so.
Rating: 16 out of 20. Essential viewing.
Ending: happy
Best scene: Hard to choose, there are so many. I'll pick just two of my favourites.
(1) One of the step brothers, Wen, eloquently confesses his feelings about Wu to Xuan and Hao. His distressed resignation to his fate is intensely raw and difficult to witness.
(2) The scene where Xuan's impetuous sister declares her love to Hao in front of Xuan gets horribly upended and almost rips your heart out.
UPDATE: I've found this edit on YouTube called HIStory 2: Crossing the Line - Surrender, put together by user Nerjaveika. Check it out once you've watched the entire series, it's absolutely sublime. It uses the sister's declaration of love scene as the basis for three minutes of concentrated BL perfection. I'm finding that any BL fan edit that uses Natalie Taylor's ethereal song "Surrender" is a guaranteed winner, it's as if it's been made for a BL soundtrack.
Summary: Three rebellious boys who have been expelled from high school have started at a new school and immediately cause trouble. Step-brothers Zhen Wen and Zhen Wu are hot-headed fighters, while disdainful bad-boy leader Yu Hao mocks and disrespects authority. When the brothers almost cause a fight with members of the volleyball team, the intelligent and serious team manager Zi Xuan observes Hao's nimble potential as a good player and suggests he join the team. Hao is openly scornful and flatly rejects his offer. When the volleyball coach blackmails Hao because of his bad grades, he is left with no choice but to join the team. Xuan must teach Hao the game and get him to practise so that he is ready in time for a big competition. He also offers to tutor Hao so that he can pass his exams. The two boys learn more about each other during the training sessions and tutoring, and stronger feelings inevitably develop.
Crossing The Line takes the mundane competitive world of a school volleyball team as its centre and somehow manages to create at its core a love story of such heightened sensibility and heart-fluttering intensity that it feels like it floats out of the TV screen. There's a humble joy to be found in this series just by walking alongside the two leads and experiencing their journey to love. The strength of such unexpected, gender-blind new emotions makes both teenage boys turn pale and run for cover, but the overall sensation from Hao is one of blissful acceptance. He is given a delicate, understated scene when he sits down alone on some stairs outside at night, reflecting on Xuan's selfless kindness and generosity to him. A smile of dawning acknowledgement spreads across his face as he looks up at the stars in the night sky, and he says to himself "So it is what it is!" It's so beautiful and perfect, you almost expect him to levitate.
I still can't quite work out how they manage to achieve this beauty consistently, but I get a strong sense that Taiwanese BL dramas are 'storyboarded' to within an inch of their life. This could just be specific to the 'HIStory' series, but I also felt a similar 'direct control' sensation when watching Red Balloon, so it's not a one-off. (Dark Blue and Moonlight proves that they don't always win though.) The creators have a wonderful instinct for keeping the story boundaries very tight, letting very little get away from their control. This results in a clean, straightforward narrative that has no room for filler or loopholes. That doesn't mean that there are no clichés or misjudged moments here, it's just that they are couched in such decent dialogue and speedy plotting that they don't really register as oppressive or burdensome. This lightness of touch allows the acting to shine through as well, and the actor playing the central role of the story, adorable Fandy Fan as Hao, is wonderful to watch in all his brash playfulness and doe-eyed infatuation.
There's one other BL sub plot involving the step brothers Wen and Wu that both stands up very well on it own and ties in neatly with the central relationship as an inspiration, without overwhelming it. It's also by some distance the strongest and most original secondary BL plot I've ever seen, with the possible exception of Frame and Book in Make It Right. They definitely deserve their own 'prequel' and sequel series, to flesh out their intriguing past (Wen was violently kidnapped as a child??) and their future. Besides subplots involving the step brothers, Xuan's sister and some volleyball scenes, there's honestly not much else in the typically short HIStory narrative to distract from Hao and Xuan's gentle romance, and that's a blessing, given how enthralling their story is. Some of the BL elements are staged on the awkward or faintly ridiculous side, especially those involving Xuan's gratingly eager captain of the volleyball team, Cheng En, whose part is overacted to a fault. There's a shower scene that's too contrived for the cringe-comedy it aims for, but its main purpose seems to be to show the beautiful actor playing Xuan as naked as possible, so it succeeds in that respect. But these missteps are rare, and the better-judged BL scenes eventually build enough good will to overlook the weaker ones.
Especially good is the scene at a volleyball practice camp, where Hao helps Xuan by applying a hot compress to his painful injured knee that keeps him awake at night. It's a gentle, quiet scene of affectionate kindness and concern, but it's so well-acted and directed that it takes on much more meaning that it would otherwise suggest. After treating Xuan's knee, Hao puts the sleeping Xuan to bed. He lies in bed very close next to Xuan, staring at his sleeping face. The camera shot shows a close-up of Xuan's face framed on its side, just as Hao would be seeing it lying down beside him - and with that simple device, the audience is suddenly a participant in the scene. In that instant, we are asked not only to identify with Hao; we become Hao, and our emotions as we lie beside Xuan are Hao's. We have effectively created Hao. Exactly the same evocative approach is taken when Xuan wakes the next morning and sees Hao asleep in bed beside him. It's these small masterstrokes of direction and story that give Crossing the Line its most powerful moments that leave a lasting impression.
Crossing the Line isn't grand or ambitious, it's not reaching high for tense emotional melodrama filled with volatility and passion. It knows exactly what it wants and how to achieve it - a short quiet love story that looks deceptively slight and unremarkable but feels so unutterably, fantastically perfect - and it achieves it in spades.
UPDATE: I've just watched the last two episodes of this series, and the two main BL stories tie up nicely, with some genuinely moving moments. The final episode has way too much crammed into its twenty minutes, so it feels rushed and, for the first time, it drops some loose ends. But nothing can detract from the lovely ending or the exceptional writing and screenplay, and the kiss-of-love moment is on another level. I predict that this will be a top favourite BL drama among fans for a long time to come, and Xuan and Hao, as well as the step-brothers Wu and Wen, will be two of their favourite couples - and deservedly so.
Rating: 16 out of 20. Essential viewing.
Ending: happy
Best scene: Hard to choose, there are so many. I'll pick just two of my favourites.
(1) One of the step brothers, Wen, eloquently confesses his feelings about Wu to Xuan and Hao. His distressed resignation to his fate is intensely raw and difficult to witness.
(2) The scene where Xuan's impetuous sister declares her love to Hao in front of Xuan gets horribly upended and almost rips your heart out.
UPDATE: I've found this edit on YouTube called HIStory 2: Crossing the Line - Surrender, put together by user Nerjaveika. Check it out once you've watched the entire series, it's absolutely sublime. It uses the sister's declaration of love scene as the basis for three minutes of concentrated BL perfection. I'm finding that any BL fan edit that uses Natalie Taylor's ethereal song "Surrender" is a guaranteed winner, it's as if it's been made for a BL soundtrack.
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