Bromance (2015)

The cast is something. The actors that they chose to play each one seems to be chosen carefully. They played out their parts perfectly, especially Megan Lai (Pi Yanou) and Mandy Tao (Du Zi Han). The way they expressed each character must have been hard. Also, the gender bender for Megan Lai was apparently common as she played a lesbian in the movie “Cafe Waiting Love.” I think the story plot was good, the only problem is how many coincidences there were. (Yanou saving Zifeng as a child, Nana just happened to live around where ZiFeng worked, etc.) It is not a gay drama! It’s just a gender bender, Yanou is actually a girl. This is not a spoiler, because in the first episode, she explains her situation. I would definitely watch this drama over but I don’t really have the time ???? The music hit me hard, I loved it, especially “Quietness” by Miu Chu and Andrew Tan and “Tender Love.” Fun fact, the opening song, “Epochal Times,” “Back In Time,” and “Tender Love,” were written by Bii, Wei Qing Yangs character. Andrew Tan, Bii, Dino Lee and Ian composed Epochal Times together. Sorry, I’m dragging the songs on. Anyway, yes it’s a good drama but their is a lot of tension at the end. It might make you a little anger too. It’s a great drama, please watch it!

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I would have given it a 💯 if it were not for the lackluster 2nd pairing. There is no chemistry between Bii and Katie Chen despite being easy on the eyes. The story is not as airtight as other melodramas but this is meant to be romantic fluff and we should treat it as such. Having said that, I cannot get enough of the lead characters and they served up quite a good amount of skinship, some are uber hot and some ultra sweet that you would need to have a quick shower before going to the dentist. Megan Lai, who I found annoying in other older dramas, convincingly plays a pretty man. Baron Chen's hair meanwhile becomes a third wheel. This drama turned on my fangirling mode I have thought long dormant.

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I really love this show because I there is literally action in every episode. I love how the character will go to great heights to keep the girls secret. which will start to unravel. There Is a lot of romance especially in here especially towards the end. When they start to realise everything. They face a lot of problems in their relationship and think that their roman ce shouldn't be like this. so, much denial. Totally dlfferent from the other Chinese boy/girl romance dramas. Trust me, you'll Understand how it's different from other boy /girl dramas. Because the main secret differentiates this drame from other. Plus this is on Netflix.

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I have watched many cross dressing korean, chinese dramas. They have decent plot. But this is by far the dumbest plot I have seen. Excuse me you can't live like a girl nor let others know you're a girl because if you are a girl you will die earlier? And what the hell only when you are 25 you can live like a girl and preach to the world but before that a big fat no? Dear writers what were you thinking?

I have heard many positive reviews about this drama. I watched with much anticipation. But the story absolutely threw me off. I finished the last few episodes with 4× speed only for the sake of finishing it. The only thing I like about is the acting of the fl

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Ok....this is the first taiwanese drama I ever watched, and I was completely knocked over by how good it was. The relationships!....oh the relationships!! And I am not talking about the main romance characters as romantic partners, but as friends. This managed to have bromance, without actual bromance and that was a first for me.
Even though you are rooting for the romance, I truly kind of wanted them to maintain that sense of friendship that they started out with.
Also it is really hard for a drama to keep a stalwart main character, but it was great to see a character that no matter what their feelings never wavered. This drama didn't give into the major cliche of that ....well if you watch you will know exactly what I am talking about...needless to say I had to recap forward because I was worrying hardcore.

Even though I plan to rewatch this...I cannot say this drama was perfect. I fast forwarded through quite a lot, and while I did like Bii as an actor, and I get that he was supposed to be the silent and steady type his acting was really stilted...or just too silent. I would have liked to see more life in his character.
The one thing I did like is that there wasn't a real decline in the drama. It started out with fighting and that physical aspect, and kept it going through until the end. A lot of the time the things that brought characters together, or define them in someway if not convenient to the plot disappears, but not in this drama. True it did decline a little, but it stayed true to what you were first shown.

Megan Lai and the rest of the cast really did keep me around, but the person that had me riveted was Baron :) His acting, intensity, and just the way his character is had it so that you couldn't turn away.
The only thing I hated, and it has to be adressed is.....KISSING!!! Oh god this killed me! the relationship was amazing, the characters just heaven. But when they kiss I wanted to throw something. It's like all the chemistry gets dumped, and they can't kiss to save their lives. Didn't anyone tell them that you cannot passionately close mouth kiss it looks weird!!! And even weirder is when one opens their mouth to the closemouthed kiss. The crazy part is there are 2 good kisses and one good kiss scene n this entire series between the main, and they are in like the last 2 episodes.

This drama is worth the watch, but the kissing might make you cringe. However, never fear!!! Its worth enduring to watch this awesome drama.

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Rom-Com with a huge slice of Cheese

LIKES:

Cinematography (no shaking camera even during action scenes, zoom in & out well done) and beautiful landscape shots of Taiwan. Soundtrack aka OST was good and fit the mood. I really enjoyed Bii singing acapella and he contributed some beautiful songs. Theme song was overplayed. I liked the storyline of Nana and Qing Yang, and they had good chemistry. There is one part where Katie Chen’s character overhears something and misunderstands what is being said, which becomes a gut wrenching moment for Nana. It was so well done, that as the viewer I could really feel her pain. The actress did really well in that scene. I also liked the friendship and family aspect of the storyline. There is a part where Baron Chen’s character questions his sexual orientation and Bii’s character is understanding and supportive. I truly liked that whole scene and how it was handled, including the bit of comedy that was inserted too. The bare upper body shots of Edison Wang as Han Zheng, showed off how much work he puts into his physical appearance and I’m sure the female viewers appreciated it.

DISLIKES:

AUDIO ISSUES: background noise that even drowned out what the actors/actresses were saying. There is a camping scene where they are supposed to be in the mountains/wilderness, yet you hear a barking dog. LIGHTING ISSUES: happened here too, as it’s supposed to be night time away from the lights to see the stars (Nana & Qing Yang moment), but it’s like a spot light is shining on them as if they are camping on a ski hill with all it’s lights [but there is no ski hills in Taiwan. Mountain peaks get snow, but no ski hills.] Also a lot of cheese and CLICHES, but it was more funny than annoying to me. Others will probably hate it though. The WARDROBE DEPARTMENT should’ve been fired, especially how they dressed Pi Ya Nou and Xing Tian. I hated how they only gave two or three outfits to Nana and they weren’t good. ACTING was okay, but Mandy Tao was way over the top (probably the director’s fault) and her voice was annoying. The adults were mostly irritating, especially Pi Ya Nou’s mother. LIMITED CHARACTER GROWTH: FL started out as a strong character and as the show progressed she only existed for the ML and often was very childish. The rest of the characters really had no character growth, they only had semi-completed storylines. Zi Han’s supposed character growth seemed forced and thrown in at the last second. CHEMISTRY: it was lacking between the ML and FL, even the kiss scenes seemed the chemistry didn’t work. Their kisses held no romance and passion seemed to forceful. WRITERS FAILED: the reason for the FL to pretend being a man from childhood to an adult, was completely stupid. It was supposed to be the main story, but became a sub-plot to the “gangster” storyline. It was like the writer(s) got confused with what they wanted to make the main storyline. Most of the adults were annoying and added little to the plot. Even the “gangster” aspect was very low key (and a lot of cliches). Also if Qing Yang was supposed to be Zi Feng’s Enforcer or investigator, they didn’t execute it very well. The Villain was a boy playing at being a gangster, or that’s how it was delivered. Then we have the attempted triangle love story between Pi Ya Nou, Zi Feng and the vet. It was pathetic and the vet only served as a catalyst of truth for the ML & FL. Also the writers gave up on the story towards the end or maybe they just rushed it to get the series done. Either way it came across as empty.


OVERALL: It’s a decent rom-com, with some heartfelt moments and simple romance. I have re-watched it, but mostly for the Qing Yang and Nana story. I would recommend it.

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I watched this drama on a whim when it was recommended to me so I didn't really anticipate much on what it would be like. It absolutely had me hooked by the end of the first episode though which I did not expect. It seems a bit cheesy at first so if you like dramas that have a bit of a campy humor side to them to balance the angst then this is a good match for you.

Throughout watching the series I found myself literally laughing out loud, yelling at my tv, and basically all the other ridiculous reactions that happen when a story really grabs you. There's also a fantastic level of appreciation for the characters that you often don't see in gender bending dramas. By this I mean that the lead female isn't berated for being male presenting and even when she often says she is much more comfortable like that there are a variety of other characters that support her to overwhelm the few who judge her on it. I found myself extremely pleased by the love and support in the dialogue as well for same sex couples it was truly treated in a respectful and amazing way and not looked down on.

I only docked points on the acting because like I said at the beginning it can be a little too cheesy dramatic like you see in a lot of older dramas where it's a bit like soap opera acting at times but it's still so fun and so good of a story that the acting even still fits it. Overall I would recommend this drama to anyone who loves gender benders or just light romance stories in general. In fact I even got a friend to watch it right after I finished it and she was head over heels for it as well. If you're considering watching it or you've got it on a 'maybe' list then go ahead and take the dive it's a good one!

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STORY: Let's be honest, this is not the the most unique plot we've ever watched in television. But one of my favorite genre is gender-bender that is the reason why I watched this show. Well, overall the show is a bit cringe but really funny though. Anyways, if you wanted to watch something that makes you feel good and has a good kissing scene this is it!
CAST: Megan Lai and Baron Chen, this is the first drama I've watched starring the two of them. I would say that the staff did really well and making Megan look like a man because he really did look like a man. I also liked the secondary characters too, like Nana (she's very pretty!!!) and Sister Feng. I think the staff made a great choices with the cast.
MUSIC: I love the music! I downloaded some on Spotify. Now, I can listen to the song while I am driving! HAHAHA
REWATCH VALUE: I would definitely rewatch this!
OVERALL: I didn't gave this show a 10 despite liking it because of the storyline/plot but aside from that everything was well done!

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I'm always really hesitant about gender-bender dramas because they become homophobic and misogynistic so easily. But this drama did surprisingly well in tackling the topic, and I loved the main lead for that. For a gang leader, I thought he would be a tsundere, cold, rude male lead—but he was surprisingly affectionate, kind, and open, and I loved how refreshing the relationship dynamic between the main characters were. There were no stupid fights and misunderstandings. Pi Ya Nuo could also pull off both male and female looks, which was a relief because I never once face-palmed and thought, "How could you NOT tell?"

There were some moments that were a little cringey, and there are definitely a lot of cliches that are in this drama. It never got unbearable though. I also have to admit that I really didn't like the ship of Na Na and Qing Yang at first, because it felt so incredibly cliche and they had that one misunderstanding. Their acting was also a little robotic at first, and I felt like Na Na was annoying. They grew on me over time, but didn't match up to the main ship at all.

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I am picky when it comes to watching Asian movies/series. This one hits the top five of my favorites so far. I understood the story line from the get go, because their are American versions of the same thing. But what makes this one stand out is how the story line is laid out, and how everyone and everything in it makes sense to the over all plot. The only thing I disliked about the whole series is the rushing of the ending. Though the very last little clip is hilarious. Visual appeal five stars, screen write five stars, acting five stars; and seamlessly rolling romance, drama, comedy, and action into one I also give five stars. I will continue to watch this one over and over again. Love it.

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