HIStory Season 3: Make Our Days Count
The latest instalment for HIStory season 3, called Make Our Days Count (MODC), is a marked improvement on Trapped, though still not up to the high standard of other sub-series in season two. It's a high-school BL drama, with a distinct preference for keeping it young and light-hearted but with just enough seriousness to give it some sense and purpose.
Summary: Top student Yu Shigu has had a difficult life. After his parents died in a car accident when he was younger, his aunt had taken him but she has been struggling financially ever since. With the idea of making his relatives' lives as easy as possible, Yu Shigu studies extremely hard at school and works part time, hoping for a scholarship to university. When we meet him just before exams, his health is deteriorating rapidly because he has been pushing himself too hard. He keeps himself almost completely separate from all the other pupils, which makes him appear haughty and unapproachable. When rebellious layabout Xiang Haoting is manipulated by his girlfriend into believing Yu Shigu is trying to win her over, he vows revenge. He and his gang mete out daily punishments and threats, trying to ruin Yu Shigu's school grades. Yu Shigu isn't intimidated and pushes back hard, impressing Xiang Haoting. As Yu Shigu opens up, Xiang Haoting is shocked to realise that he has feelings for him.
This series isn't subtle in showing the childish side of BL infatuation. In addition to Xiang Haoting's staring at photos of his love and squealing with happiness, cuddling his phone, we have a second BL sub-plot involving his school friend Sun and an older man Lu, where Sun stares dreamily and very openly at Lu working out at gym. This is the first BL series I've seen since Make It Right that's made it so obvious that its story is about puppy love. There's plenty of fun to be had at the expense of the characters' youth and immaturity, and although the puerility gets annoying at times, it's thankfully never condescending. Lu might smile at Sun's petty jealousies and pouting, and he might often hesitate and reconsider (rightly!) whether dating a high school student is appropriate, but he never mocks Sun for his feelings and always takes them seriously. This is one of HIStory's - and more generally Taiwanese BL's - greatest strengths, in my view. It will always place Boys Love above adult love, as something worthier of respect for being purer and uncynical.
But for every strength in MODC such as this, there's a disappointing weakness that could have been easily avoided, if only the writers had been more daring with their characters. The narrative chooses instead to take the love of its young school-age characters and reduce it to the worst possible BL outcome: where the puppy love of BL has perversely nothing to do with homosexuality.
Once we move into Episode 11, there's a quick flush of anticipation, as the cute boyish infatuations suddenly morph into a more intense, BL-style romance and love story, together with some totally unexpected adult raunch. There's a gym bathroom sex scene that's by far the most explicit of any of the HIStory seasons, and just about hits the soft porn "heights" of Chinese series 'Like Love'. However, unlike similar sex scenes in Love By Chance, for example, which were much more thrilling and better made, MODC weirdly makes theirs feel exploitative. The 'peeping tom' aspect of BL is very much a part of the audience experience, but it's sometimes too deliberately invasive here. The acting can be patchy - Wilson Liu plays Sun as if he is a petulant five-year-old - but it does improve, notably with Haoting's family and Wayne Song as Haoting himself. He has a devastatingly effective scene with his sister where they are both in tears, contemplating the future. That's why it's such a shame that the writers opted for clichés such as "I don't like men, I just love this boy" and "hate turns to love" here. They contribute very little to what could have been a much more interesting and original story. In fact they work against the story's effectiveness by making it trite and tiresome.
It's easy to spot a number of other weakness here. When something as important to the story as the central relationship is unconvincing, you know there's a serious problem. There's no clear reason why the boys' feelings suddenly turn from hate to love. Any scenes where Xiang Haoting's gang get together and muck around are annoyingly immature and extended for way too long. It's admirable that the gang accepts Haoting and Sun's respective relationships so easily, but there's always an uncomfortable, awkward clash between Haoting's and Sun's giggling displays of puppy love and the supposed bad-boy rebelliousness of the gang. A lot of this boils down to weak characterisation, which is by far this sub-series' most glaring fault. It affects everything, even as the storyline and direction markedly improve in the latter half of the series. As a viewer, you have to make a conscious decision to set aside these weaknesses, especially as you move into the later episodes where the romance really hits its strides and tensions with Haoting's family rise. If you're able to do that, there's plenty to enjoy in this series.
This all makes MODC sound boring and weak, but it's actually not that bad overall. Once the two main couples are in relationships, the screenplay and direction become pretty good. There are plenty of worthwhile moments, especially whenever Haoting's family is on screen. Sun and Lu easily get the best BL scenes, with an emotional resonance that rings truer than Haoting and Yu Shigu's out-of-nowhere romance.
And then, totally unexpected, comes the final episode. To put it simply, it will tear your heart out. Everything that's happened before these episodes - all the half-arsed characterisations, all the irritating childishness, all the humour, fun and uncertainties of being a teenager searching for identity - everything suddenly dissolves into the background, when the screenwriters make a decision to rip the story apart. On the face of it, they've made a very strange, ugly decision, one that slowly but definitely alienates its audience. It's such a massively jarring change in tone and story that my first instinctive reaction to it was revulsion and disappointment. But, eventually, you recognise it for what it is - a brave decision that very few BL dramas have dared to make, and it cements HIStory's reputation as a leader in the BL industry when it comes to more purposeful, original drama. Its story swiftly moves six years into the future, long after high school and undergraduate university studies. As a result, there are some very nicely executed moments of deliberate confusion and disorientation for the viewer at the beginning of the episode. There's a strong sense that something momentous has happened, along with the giddy passing of time. You have an inkling of what it is - the penultimate episode has some major signalling - but the writers stay their hand. However their true purpose for the story soon becomes brutally, beautifully clear. The boys in the gang have moved on, gone to university, got jobs and become serious. Families and relationships have evolved. Life has had its effect, and we see the changes it has wrought on everyone in this story. Time, it seems to say, is its own reward. It gives us the golden gifts of experience, maturity and wisdom that are painfully hard-won but so immeasurably precious. The innocence of youth is long gone, but it still lives within us, in our memory, unchangeable in its diamond-like beauty - a jewel to hold up to the light and contemplate with a wistful smile and cherish forever.
This vision of the munificence of time, and how it deepens our appreciation of both youthful innocence and adult maturity, is the finale's - and this series' - best achievement. BL spends so much of its focus on young love and happy endings that it seems like it has lost interest (or never had any to begin with) in what happens next. It's not in its job description; Boys Love, by its very name, rules out the depiction of love in the time of adulthood. MODC takes the risk and shows us a sort of BL sequel that takes us way into the future, beyond the reach of generic BL. And, almost despite itself, it somehow pulls it off - and with startling originality. Just don't expect to like it or enjoy the ending. It feels like a terrible mistake, as if it belongs in a different series. Believe me, you'll resist it, very hard, kicking and screaming as you fight back against the pain and frustration. But you will, begrudgingly, understand it.
Despite it feeling like an insult spat in your face, MODC's ending is emotional and spiritual catharsis on a level that BL has rarely, if ever, successfully managed before.
Well done HIStory! All is forgiven. (Almost.)
Rating: 12 out of 20
Ending: bad
Best scene: the New Year's bridge scene is BL romance perfection, full of mushy sweetness, and...ok, who's cutting onions? But honestly, it's going to be tough to find another BL scene anywhere that's finer than both of the discussion scenes with Haoting and Sun in the final episode.
Summary: Top student Yu Shigu has had a difficult life. After his parents died in a car accident when he was younger, his aunt had taken him but she has been struggling financially ever since. With the idea of making his relatives' lives as easy as possible, Yu Shigu studies extremely hard at school and works part time, hoping for a scholarship to university. When we meet him just before exams, his health is deteriorating rapidly because he has been pushing himself too hard. He keeps himself almost completely separate from all the other pupils, which makes him appear haughty and unapproachable. When rebellious layabout Xiang Haoting is manipulated by his girlfriend into believing Yu Shigu is trying to win her over, he vows revenge. He and his gang mete out daily punishments and threats, trying to ruin Yu Shigu's school grades. Yu Shigu isn't intimidated and pushes back hard, impressing Xiang Haoting. As Yu Shigu opens up, Xiang Haoting is shocked to realise that he has feelings for him.
This series isn't subtle in showing the childish side of BL infatuation. In addition to Xiang Haoting's staring at photos of his love and squealing with happiness, cuddling his phone, we have a second BL sub-plot involving his school friend Sun and an older man Lu, where Sun stares dreamily and very openly at Lu working out at gym. This is the first BL series I've seen since Make It Right that's made it so obvious that its story is about puppy love. There's plenty of fun to be had at the expense of the characters' youth and immaturity, and although the puerility gets annoying at times, it's thankfully never condescending. Lu might smile at Sun's petty jealousies and pouting, and he might often hesitate and reconsider (rightly!) whether dating a high school student is appropriate, but he never mocks Sun for his feelings and always takes them seriously. This is one of HIStory's - and more generally Taiwanese BL's - greatest strengths, in my view. It will always place Boys Love above adult love, as something worthier of respect for being purer and uncynical.
But for every strength in MODC such as this, there's a disappointing weakness that could have been easily avoided, if only the writers had been more daring with their characters. The narrative chooses instead to take the love of its young school-age characters and reduce it to the worst possible BL outcome: where the puppy love of BL has perversely nothing to do with homosexuality.
Once we move into Episode 11, there's a quick flush of anticipation, as the cute boyish infatuations suddenly morph into a more intense, BL-style romance and love story, together with some totally unexpected adult raunch. There's a gym bathroom sex scene that's by far the most explicit of any of the HIStory seasons, and just about hits the soft porn "heights" of Chinese series 'Like Love'. However, unlike similar sex scenes in Love By Chance, for example, which were much more thrilling and better made, MODC weirdly makes theirs feel exploitative. The 'peeping tom' aspect of BL is very much a part of the audience experience, but it's sometimes too deliberately invasive here. The acting can be patchy - Wilson Liu plays Sun as if he is a petulant five-year-old - but it does improve, notably with Haoting's family and Wayne Song as Haoting himself. He has a devastatingly effective scene with his sister where they are both in tears, contemplating the future. That's why it's such a shame that the writers opted for clichés such as "I don't like men, I just love this boy" and "hate turns to love" here. They contribute very little to what could have been a much more interesting and original story. In fact they work against the story's effectiveness by making it trite and tiresome.
It's easy to spot a number of other weakness here. When something as important to the story as the central relationship is unconvincing, you know there's a serious problem. There's no clear reason why the boys' feelings suddenly turn from hate to love. Any scenes where Xiang Haoting's gang get together and muck around are annoyingly immature and extended for way too long. It's admirable that the gang accepts Haoting and Sun's respective relationships so easily, but there's always an uncomfortable, awkward clash between Haoting's and Sun's giggling displays of puppy love and the supposed bad-boy rebelliousness of the gang. A lot of this boils down to weak characterisation, which is by far this sub-series' most glaring fault. It affects everything, even as the storyline and direction markedly improve in the latter half of the series. As a viewer, you have to make a conscious decision to set aside these weaknesses, especially as you move into the later episodes where the romance really hits its strides and tensions with Haoting's family rise. If you're able to do that, there's plenty to enjoy in this series.
This all makes MODC sound boring and weak, but it's actually not that bad overall. Once the two main couples are in relationships, the screenplay and direction become pretty good. There are plenty of worthwhile moments, especially whenever Haoting's family is on screen. Sun and Lu easily get the best BL scenes, with an emotional resonance that rings truer than Haoting and Yu Shigu's out-of-nowhere romance.
And then, totally unexpected, comes the final episode. To put it simply, it will tear your heart out. Everything that's happened before these episodes - all the half-arsed characterisations, all the irritating childishness, all the humour, fun and uncertainties of being a teenager searching for identity - everything suddenly dissolves into the background, when the screenwriters make a decision to rip the story apart. On the face of it, they've made a very strange, ugly decision, one that slowly but definitely alienates its audience. It's such a massively jarring change in tone and story that my first instinctive reaction to it was revulsion and disappointment. But, eventually, you recognise it for what it is - a brave decision that very few BL dramas have dared to make, and it cements HIStory's reputation as a leader in the BL industry when it comes to more purposeful, original drama. Its story swiftly moves six years into the future, long after high school and undergraduate university studies. As a result, there are some very nicely executed moments of deliberate confusion and disorientation for the viewer at the beginning of the episode. There's a strong sense that something momentous has happened, along with the giddy passing of time. You have an inkling of what it is - the penultimate episode has some major signalling - but the writers stay their hand. However their true purpose for the story soon becomes brutally, beautifully clear. The boys in the gang have moved on, gone to university, got jobs and become serious. Families and relationships have evolved. Life has had its effect, and we see the changes it has wrought on everyone in this story. Time, it seems to say, is its own reward. It gives us the golden gifts of experience, maturity and wisdom that are painfully hard-won but so immeasurably precious. The innocence of youth is long gone, but it still lives within us, in our memory, unchangeable in its diamond-like beauty - a jewel to hold up to the light and contemplate with a wistful smile and cherish forever.
This vision of the munificence of time, and how it deepens our appreciation of both youthful innocence and adult maturity, is the finale's - and this series' - best achievement. BL spends so much of its focus on young love and happy endings that it seems like it has lost interest (or never had any to begin with) in what happens next. It's not in its job description; Boys Love, by its very name, rules out the depiction of love in the time of adulthood. MODC takes the risk and shows us a sort of BL sequel that takes us way into the future, beyond the reach of generic BL. And, almost despite itself, it somehow pulls it off - and with startling originality. Just don't expect to like it or enjoy the ending. It feels like a terrible mistake, as if it belongs in a different series. Believe me, you'll resist it, very hard, kicking and screaming as you fight back against the pain and frustration. But you will, begrudgingly, understand it.
Despite it feeling like an insult spat in your face, MODC's ending is emotional and spiritual catharsis on a level that BL has rarely, if ever, successfully managed before.
Well done HIStory! All is forgiven. (Almost.)
Rating: 12 out of 20
Ending: bad
Best scene: the New Year's bridge scene is BL romance perfection, full of mushy sweetness, and...ok, who's cutting onions? But honestly, it's going to be tough to find another BL scene anywhere that's finer than both of the discussion scenes with Haoting and Sun in the final episode.
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