Like Love
I've been having a more difficult time lately finding a BL drama that interested me enough that I wanted to stick with it till the end. I started with Korean drama Hello Monster, mainly to see what all the fuss is about with Park Bo Gum, but I didn't make it far enough before getting bored. I finally got to see the sublime Call Me By Your Name at the cinema, but I won't review it here. Instead I took a recommendation online to watch Chinese BL drama Like Love. And I'm very glad I did.
Summary: University student Maiding is a nerd but likes to think that he is outgoing and sociable. However he only has his roommate Li Meng as a friend and doesn't understand why there's no one else. One day Li Meng asks Maiding to find out whether their very handsome dorm neighbour Ziyan An is gay, as a lot of his fujoshi friends are interested in finding out the truth. Ziyan responds that he's bi, which intrigues Maiding. He starts following Ziyan around and basically forces him into an unwanted friendship by endlessly pestering him. Ziyan is by nature callous, brutally inconsiderate and dismissive, and he pushes Maiding away repeatedly in no uncertain terms. And yet Maiding persists. Ziyan keeps telling Maiding contradictory stories about himself to tease and confuse him, which angers Maiding. Li Meng tries to convince Maiding that his obsession with Ziyan is not just about wanting his friendship. Maiding is mortified at the idea of being gay and resists it, but when he gets drunk one night and Ziyan gives him a lift home, their feelings for each other become much more obvious.
Like Love takes the BL template - unforthcoming grumpy top, immature skittish bottom, hate turns to love, outside interference and resistance that threatens the blossoming relationship - and improves on it with some fantastic humour and screenwriting. There's not much depth to it, even though there's a lot going on within its three hours, but the comedy really elevates it into a different class. The main reason for this is the actor playing the central role of Maiding, who is a natural comedian with a distinct aptitude for giving throwaway lines more weight than they deserve. He's the focus of the story, as we accompany him on his journey from an immature nerd to a frustrated lover then to a mature young man in love. Where Ziyan is a man of few words but where emotions run deep, the insecure Maiding is voluble and fierce in expressing his opinions and desires. He doesn't always get what he wants as he smashes up against the brick wall of Ziyan's irritated gruff refusals, but it's his efforts that convince Ziyan that he is genuinely in love. When Maiding becomes so exasperated with Ziyan's cruel impenetrability at one point, and he begs him to be nice to him for a change, Ziyan blankly responds that he will always be like this and he just has to get used to it.
With Ziyan being such an unsympathetic negative character, we're left to rely on the secondary characters for more emotional sustenance. Fortunately we're given an absolute gem in Ziyan's 'official' girlfriend Xiaosi. Even though she ostensibly spends most of the movie in the USA, she is invited into the proceedings over the phone a number of times at crucial junctures and so she ends up playing a critical role. Open-minded, intelligent, vivacious and also shockingly coarse, I haven't seen a woman in BL this interesting since Yihwa from Together With Me. Called on at least twice to act as a 'beard' for both boys, she happily takes on the role with flair and is beautifully convincing (though eventually she understandably gets sick of it). When Ziyan flatly breaks up with her over the phone because "his new boyfriend whom he loves asked him to", her strange reaction is one of instant and sincere acceptance. It eventually comes out that she and Ziyan have "an understanding" about their relationship, but still it's hard not to be in awe of someone so self-aware and under no illusions about others' honest desires, especially Ziyan's. When Maiding is deeply disappointed to hear from her that Ziyan left Beijing for a terrible reason that he deliberately withheld from him, Xiaosi's counsel to calm him down is supremely wise: "You and he are different people, and different people have their own ways of approaching problems. You would want to know the truth from him because you love him, and you'd want to be with him. He withheld the truth from you because he loves you just as much as you do, but he wants you to stay away." It's a clarion call to empathy, understanding and - above all - maturity from someone whose keen intelligence is so full to the brim with these virtues. She's also a refreshing change from the typically poorly-realised 'scorned women' of BL, who are allowed to contribute nothing to the story except shrewish bitterness and revenge subplots.
Similarly, Li Meng is given the thankless task of being a sounding board to Maiding's anxieties about his boyfriend's awful behaviour, but he too rises to the challenge. After facing the wrath of Ziyan's sister when she finds out about the relationship, Maiding tells Li Meng that he is now seriously considering breaking it off with Ziyan. Li Meng rolls his eyes and says "You should break up with Ziyan now if you think you're not going to be able to cope with this sort of anger and hate from other people. There will definitely be a lot more of it to come in the future. Love is bittersweet. You can't taste the sweetness without experiencing some of the bitterness. Life isn't that easy, so grow up, dude."
It's true that it strains credibility that a spoilt rich-girl and a teenage otaku can be so expressive and worldly when discussing love. But it honestly doesn't matter when the dialogue is as good as this and contributes so much to the story.
To say that the central relationship is the weakest element of Like Love is probably unfair, but it's not far from the truth. No matter how persistent Maiding is in his pursuit of Ziyan, or how understated Ziyan's depth of feeling is portrayed, it's just not convincing. That's why it's so incredible that it's still easy to recommend this movie solely on the basis of its comedy, screenplay, characterisations and acting.
It's also worth mentioning the one extended sex scene in Like Love. Setting aside Korean movie No Regret, it's by far the most explicit I've seen in a BL drama yet, without actually showing frontal nudity. Scorching hot!
Rating: 14 out of 20
Ending: Happy
Best scene: there are too many to narrow down to just one, so I have picked two of my favourites.
(1) The April Fools Day "joke" is one of the most savage in the history of TV.
(2) Maiding is forced to write a "forgiveness letter" to Ziyan, after having treating him badly. It backfires spectacularly when Maiding makes a snide comment to Ziyan that shows his letter is insincere, forcing Ziyan to exact revenge in the funniest scene of the movie.
Summary: University student Maiding is a nerd but likes to think that he is outgoing and sociable. However he only has his roommate Li Meng as a friend and doesn't understand why there's no one else. One day Li Meng asks Maiding to find out whether their very handsome dorm neighbour Ziyan An is gay, as a lot of his fujoshi friends are interested in finding out the truth. Ziyan responds that he's bi, which intrigues Maiding. He starts following Ziyan around and basically forces him into an unwanted friendship by endlessly pestering him. Ziyan is by nature callous, brutally inconsiderate and dismissive, and he pushes Maiding away repeatedly in no uncertain terms. And yet Maiding persists. Ziyan keeps telling Maiding contradictory stories about himself to tease and confuse him, which angers Maiding. Li Meng tries to convince Maiding that his obsession with Ziyan is not just about wanting his friendship. Maiding is mortified at the idea of being gay and resists it, but when he gets drunk one night and Ziyan gives him a lift home, their feelings for each other become much more obvious.
Like Love takes the BL template - unforthcoming grumpy top, immature skittish bottom, hate turns to love, outside interference and resistance that threatens the blossoming relationship - and improves on it with some fantastic humour and screenwriting. There's not much depth to it, even though there's a lot going on within its three hours, but the comedy really elevates it into a different class. The main reason for this is the actor playing the central role of Maiding, who is a natural comedian with a distinct aptitude for giving throwaway lines more weight than they deserve. He's the focus of the story, as we accompany him on his journey from an immature nerd to a frustrated lover then to a mature young man in love. Where Ziyan is a man of few words but where emotions run deep, the insecure Maiding is voluble and fierce in expressing his opinions and desires. He doesn't always get what he wants as he smashes up against the brick wall of Ziyan's irritated gruff refusals, but it's his efforts that convince Ziyan that he is genuinely in love. When Maiding becomes so exasperated with Ziyan's cruel impenetrability at one point, and he begs him to be nice to him for a change, Ziyan blankly responds that he will always be like this and he just has to get used to it.
With Ziyan being such an unsympathetic negative character, we're left to rely on the secondary characters for more emotional sustenance. Fortunately we're given an absolute gem in Ziyan's 'official' girlfriend Xiaosi. Even though she ostensibly spends most of the movie in the USA, she is invited into the proceedings over the phone a number of times at crucial junctures and so she ends up playing a critical role. Open-minded, intelligent, vivacious and also shockingly coarse, I haven't seen a woman in BL this interesting since Yihwa from Together With Me. Called on at least twice to act as a 'beard' for both boys, she happily takes on the role with flair and is beautifully convincing (though eventually she understandably gets sick of it). When Ziyan flatly breaks up with her over the phone because "his new boyfriend whom he loves asked him to", her strange reaction is one of instant and sincere acceptance. It eventually comes out that she and Ziyan have "an understanding" about their relationship, but still it's hard not to be in awe of someone so self-aware and under no illusions about others' honest desires, especially Ziyan's. When Maiding is deeply disappointed to hear from her that Ziyan left Beijing for a terrible reason that he deliberately withheld from him, Xiaosi's counsel to calm him down is supremely wise: "You and he are different people, and different people have their own ways of approaching problems. You would want to know the truth from him because you love him, and you'd want to be with him. He withheld the truth from you because he loves you just as much as you do, but he wants you to stay away." It's a clarion call to empathy, understanding and - above all - maturity from someone whose keen intelligence is so full to the brim with these virtues. She's also a refreshing change from the typically poorly-realised 'scorned women' of BL, who are allowed to contribute nothing to the story except shrewish bitterness and revenge subplots.
Similarly, Li Meng is given the thankless task of being a sounding board to Maiding's anxieties about his boyfriend's awful behaviour, but he too rises to the challenge. After facing the wrath of Ziyan's sister when she finds out about the relationship, Maiding tells Li Meng that he is now seriously considering breaking it off with Ziyan. Li Meng rolls his eyes and says "You should break up with Ziyan now if you think you're not going to be able to cope with this sort of anger and hate from other people. There will definitely be a lot more of it to come in the future. Love is bittersweet. You can't taste the sweetness without experiencing some of the bitterness. Life isn't that easy, so grow up, dude."
It's true that it strains credibility that a spoilt rich-girl and a teenage otaku can be so expressive and worldly when discussing love. But it honestly doesn't matter when the dialogue is as good as this and contributes so much to the story.
To say that the central relationship is the weakest element of Like Love is probably unfair, but it's not far from the truth. No matter how persistent Maiding is in his pursuit of Ziyan, or how understated Ziyan's depth of feeling is portrayed, it's just not convincing. That's why it's so incredible that it's still easy to recommend this movie solely on the basis of its comedy, screenplay, characterisations and acting.
It's also worth mentioning the one extended sex scene in Like Love. Setting aside Korean movie No Regret, it's by far the most explicit I've seen in a BL drama yet, without actually showing frontal nudity. Scorching hot!
Rating: 14 out of 20
Ending: Happy
Best scene: there are too many to narrow down to just one, so I have picked two of my favourites.
(1) The April Fools Day "joke" is one of the most savage in the history of TV.
(2) Maiding is forced to write a "forgiveness letter" to Ziyan, after having treating him badly. It backfires spectacularly when Maiding makes a snide comment to Ziyan that shows his letter is insincere, forcing Ziyan to exact revenge in the funniest scene of the movie.
Comments
(1) The April Fools Day "joke" is one of the most savage in the history of TV."
Which scene was this again? It's been a while since I finished the series, but I can't remember what this entailed.