BLISS RATING: ★★★★
“Life is a tide; float on it. Go down with it and go up with it but be detached.” – Prem Rawat
I loved this gem of a BL that had so many viewers clutching their pearls and being disgusted by its content. That I found odd and a bit disingenuous. For most BL watchers, there are seemingly no issues with quite popular BLs that have blatant sexual abuse, often paired with strong emotional and physical abuse as well. Oh, sometimes it is subtly committed by stunningly handsome characters to make it palpable, or they are produced humorously, or even sweetly displayed, and yet somehow, all of that passes muster. In fact, there is a whole subgenre of Bl literally devoted to abuse with hardly a peep and is called ‘innovative’.
Yet, when it is obvious and set up as a premise and made very clear, individuals are ringing their hands. The one concept that is undeniably not taken into consideration is that it is precisely and exactly spelled out what the terms are in the agreements between the two parties. So, therefore, both parties entered into it with eyes-wide-open and with sound minds. I have watched too many BLs where individuals have literally been coerced into abusive relationships and the universal reviews of the series were overwhelmingly positive because it was ‘artistic’. I found this series to be refreshing and brutally honest, straightforward and exactly what it says it was. One party needed money; the other wanted to give it in exchange for services, and everyone was satisfied. But perhaps with an unanticipated twist.
Is this a BDSM series? Well, yes and no. Admittedly, it is kinky, but I honestly cannot say it was BDSM. Or at least not in its rawest form. If one is unaware, there are various levels of BDSM, and this is certainly no greater than a “vanilla” form of it. Perhaps the hang-up is on the fact that the connection started out as a business deal. With a version of a ‘master-servant’ format. However, the methods and techniques used to convey such a scenario were certainly not abusive. There was never one point that the ‘servant’ could not have walked out of there freely. There was no unnecessary coercion or abuse of any kind to keep him in check, other than the thrill of the game they were in. Perhaps at first, there might have been intimidation or fear of losing money, but it became obvious very quickly who was in charge and what the underlying rules of the game were. It was all pretend.
Kim Hae Jun (Kim Hyeon Seo) is an art student who takes a job as an escort for a rich rather eccentric wealthy businessman named Han Jae Hun (Jung Myeong Cheol). Both men have a boyish charm about each and are handsome but with obvious quirks in their personalities. Jae Hun is a sadist and requires obedience and submission to his will which Hae Jum submits to willingly. He has signed a contract to do as Jae Hun ask and he does so – unbegrudgingly and obediently.
Perhaps initially, their relationship was toxic as the parameters were not quite set in place. But when Hae Jun kept returning and dictating the conditions of the agreement, it no longer became in any way shape or form abusive or unhealthy or cannot be considered toxic any longer. It became mutual. Perhaps unorthodox or maybe something we might not personally ourselves enter; but it was NOT negative. Let me further explain.
At the school, Hae Jun is propositioned by a female student as she would like to develop something with him. He simply looked at her rather incredulously and said he saw her as nothing more than a ‘sister’. If he felt anything close to being abused or used or wanted to get out, my gut feeling tells me, he would have said or done something as this was the perfect opportunity. There was no fear in his eyes. Quite the contrary. The conversations with his mother were all tranquil and downright content and seemingly at peace with what he was doing with no sense of guilt. It then became obvious underneath what was happening.
They were traversing a slow, imperceptive journey to falling in love with one another not in a traditional sense and the dominant-submissive charade they displayed was meaningless because neither knew how to love. Slowly all that began to fall by the wayside. If anything, this was one of the more highly unusual tales of love I have ever seen. Again, because it was so unbridled, it was taken at face value but in reality, this was one giant cosplay.
Where this series fell is in its production value. The script was generally weak and the editing in place was atrocious. Sound was inconsistent in many places. Although I honestly thought the two actors had good screen chemistry, the direction on what to do and how to do it was graceless and appeared fumbly. If you are going to do a series related to a specific genre like BDSM, then study the subject matter and make it look like these guys like it, or hate it, or one was into or and the other was not, or were uncomfortable – anything that gave us more emotional reaction so we know how they are actually feeling. It seemed quixotic.
Who really S.T.O.L.E. this series? There are essentially only the two protagonists in this series and I found them fascinating. What neither expected, unequivocally, was to fall in love with one another. Kim Hyeon Seo as Kim Hae Jun started out as appearing to be a defenseless dolt who, but when he assesses what he has, realizes he is sitting on a gold mine. Kim Hyeon Seo played the victim but throughout most of this series controlled and manipulated Han Jae Hun. Jung Myeong Cheol’s personification of Han Jae Hun was not believable, honestly. He never had the personality to pull off being a dominant character and he became easy to figure-out quite quickly. He had money but no real power, hence we were willing to go along with any condition that Hae Jun set. He wanted love – desperately. For me, I enjoyed watching these two guys interact because I could sense and feel their connection to love grow stronger. Some people develop relationships through candy and flowers and courting; these guys simply did it a different way. I loved it.
I get upset when obvious abuse of any kind is displayed in BLs and it is tolerated. This one states an unorthodox approach to the development in and continuation of a relationship, and the BL world gets bent out of shape. Both these protagonists seem happy, content, and in love, and unless one or both decides the rules in their relationship no longer work for them or their relationship does indeed spill over into even the slightest form of abuse, then it must end. Until then, this series is a lot better than the blatant/humorous/cute ones that are pushed out as artistic or based on a new BL format.
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