BLISS RATING: ★★★★★
“We see each other but we do not co-exist.” – Quote from 7 Days Before Valentine
Undoubtedly, this is one of those series that will either be loved or panned, mainly because of the esoteric and metaphysical nature of its theme and its presentation as a Greek tragedy. It is allegorical with metaphorical representations of life presented in temperaments of profound introspection surrounded by an almost overwhelming sense of loss, guilt, and shame. It tackles all the hidden and unexplored and often times buried emotions of humans we do not want to face or find impossible to bear. It strips away for us to see and quite literally experience and feel.
We see it through the eyes of a protagonist and an antagonist at the same time; with each character being both. This series is a thought-provoking, intellectually stimulating elegy that uses the language of words to embody love. If you want to see lust, or romps in a bed, or contrived love scenes, or soft rituals of love, this is not for you. If you want to see a deep, meditative, and, at times, profoundly poignant perspective of human nature augmented by the process of finding what the meaning of love is all about, then this is for you. There is nothing ‘cute’ about this transmigration at all. It is deeply solipsistic, pensive, and intensely mystifying.
There is also nothing ‘clear’ about this series. It is symbolic with symbolisms of all kinds bombarding you. At times they overwhelm you. Everything has meaning. Even the smallest of details. Blink and you might miss it. You have to decipher their meanings. Much happens mostly through words but also through deep reflections in expressions of the faces, manners, and body language of the main two characters, as well as all the other characters in this series. To fully absorb this series, think of yourself as sitting in a theater-in-the-round and you are an observant of their actions in real time.
Sunshine (Atom Nathaphop) is a struggling actor with few friends and a painful, lonely past. He has a surprise for his boyfriend, Rain, (Thank Ekdanai) for Valentine’s Day in one week. Unfortunately, Rain also has a surprise for Sun. Rain breaks up with him for reasons that are complex as the universe is large. Sun needs time to figure out why but now is so angry, self-centered, and feeling entitled that the universe owes him an explanation. He is given one.
When he comes home to his drab, lonely apartment he finds a young man, exotic and quixotic, in his room. He claims to be the Cupid Reaper. Neither from heaven or hell nor corporal or spiritual yet existing. He is from the past, but he is his future as well. Paradoxical yet irrefutable as well. His name is Q (Jet Somjet) and Q is able to eliminate 7 people from existence to achieve reconnection of the love of Rain again. So, Sun, systematically goes through individuals whom he thinks are the hinderances to getting Rain back.
Only to realize that what he has done creates more havoc and chaos and in essence alienates Rain further from him until finally the point of no return occurs and Rain completely disappears from his life. Rain never exists. As Rain’s memory slowly disappears, Sun begins to see that it is not the universe that is the problem but him. His own arrogance, self-centeredness, and immaturity were the stumbling blocks. Q becomes his beacon, his inspiration that supports him, with full insight, to painfully traverse through the stages of loss – denial, anger, dealing with it, losing hope, and then acceptance – to gaining wisdom.
Q is alongside, always there. Trying to advise Sun but cannot guide him as it is against the rules. Q’s own existence is marked by pain. It is omnipresent with him. It never leaves him. It is unmistakable. Being an actor and a reader of human behavior, Sun senses and knows, and most intimately, feels this to be true. Slowly, inexorability, Sun comes to the realization of what he must do that is not only magnanimous but will be a profound personal sacrifice and again result in another loss of love.
Who really S.T.O.L.E. this series? This series with its two main leads demonstrated some of the finest acting I have ever seen in many years of watching BLs. Atom Nathaphop as Sunshine is sheer perfection. He nailed this role with such precision that for someone as young as he, is just remarkable. The range of emotions he showed was just breathtaking to observe. His slide into shame and guilt is so genuine that I could feel his emotions touch me through the screen. When he finally realizes what the root causes of his issues are, he becomes almost angelic in face and manner, and you sense that his character has indeed internalized the change he said he felt. That is how sincere his acting is. His dialogue was almost Shakespearean, and I literally hung onto every word that came from him. His performance is deeply mesmerizing. Not to be outdone, JetSomjet as Q is just as effective. To portray a characterization of a Cupid Reaper with conviction and not have it become a caricature is remarkable and to give that character such depth of emotions is just as amazing. While his present desires were always a bit more reflective, the pain of his guilt and shame of what he did in his corporal life weighed on him constantly. He falls in love with Sunshine almost immediately but is restricted by rules to act on those feelings. His pain is overwhelming and unbearable. His wish is to be erased so his suffering, which is far greater than the weight of the rolling stone of Sisyphus, will be unburdened from his soul. Yet to do so, he must prove to be a hero. He does and is – to the one person who loves him.
Indeed, one of the finest written screenplays to come along in some time. It is a complex tragedy that felt so similar as I watched. As I researched, I realized that the director who did this also did my number one pick for 2022, “A 180 Degrees Longitude Passes Through Us”. Like that series, this is also an astonishing and brilliant series that is a Shakespearean play. It refences Faust and Greek tragedies which are anecdotal throughout. We are witnessing a love story of such shrewd proportions that it is done through words and symbolism. It is its power of words that defines the beauty of love; not the physicality.
This is not a romantic story but a tapestry of esoteric discourses. It envelopes your mind rather than your body. It is not sensual. It is a soul-searching series that goes deep into what makes each of these characters function and makes them who they are. Yet it is a love story that is deeply ruminative, profoundly intense, and emotionally intertwined with its two protagonists, deeper than any two lovers into the throes of a passionate physical embrace. For their love touches, for lack of a better term, their souls. In a strange way, they have been in love with each other throughout time as time is meaningless to them. Does that make sense? No, it does not. But that is its point. These two crossed paths, one from the past and one from the future, and have met in the present or what is perceived to be in the present and have defined and found love. I do not know how else to explain it
An astonishingly remarkable series and, in my opinion, should be on everyone’s list of the top 10 Best BLs for 2024. If I were an instructor teaching any class in acting, directing, cinematography, or theater, I would require this series as a mandatory watch. It is breathtakingly beautiful. It touches the soul. It makes you think. It makes you feel. Who would you eliminate to get your love back? What would your own lessons be? The acting for all in this series is beyond reproach and is one of the finest you will ever find. Even if you do not find the theme of this series necessarily your cup of tea, watch it for the nuances in the characterizations of the players. You are watching a Greek Tragedy played out in Shakespearean prose. I imagine now what it must have felt like for the ancient Greeks as they watched the plays live. That is how powerful this series is.
This series drained me emotionally. I could not stop watching it. There is so much to learn in this series not only about yourself but about human behavior. I was so profoundly moved when Sun made his final wish. I wailed. I felt the power of that decision. I understood it. That is one of the most powerful and poignant scenes I have ever seen in a BL. It is a supreme sacrifice for love, rooted in love, committed to love. And stronger and deeper than any expressive physical form of love.
My feeling is that this series will be overlooked as too esoteric, too cerebral, too loquacious. I vehemently disagree with that sentiment. This series stimulates the intellectual portion of your mind rather than just the emotional/sensual/pleasurable portions. It makes you think. It saddens me profoundly to think this series is panned for what is perceived to be an angsty melodrama. For me it was an enlightened journey through the stages of loss culminating with finding and then having to give up the most elusive and ill-defined emotion humans crave more than life itself.
This is a deeply moving, almost spiritually so series, if you allow it to be and open your mind to its message and theme. I have been profoundly moved by its supposition and was moved to tears, if not outright weeping, more than once.
Perhaps being a sentimentalist or facing my declining years in more realistic terms, I got its message. Open yourself up to its message. Do not let this series slip through your fingers. You might not ‘like’ it, but I can guarantee you will be in some way touched by it if you immerse yourself in it and become a member of its theatrical audience, rather than a passive observer.
This is a masterpiece, unquestionably, and is a sole contender for the number one spot of Best BL for this year. Hands down. This is truly a remarkable series with exceptional acting. It is hard for me to let this series go; its impact on me is immeasurable.
For only the second time: Magnum Opus and a lone contender for The Best in 24.
Leave a Reply