Advance Bravely (2017)

Pretty Good Until the Middle When Story Started to Make No Sense...

Overlong. Messy. Nonsensical especially in its last 10 episodes. Like there's literally no logic. It felt like the writer was just trying to throw random plot points at the wall and see which ones sticks. Props to China for using unique concepts in their BL's like Advance Bravely, The Untamed and Guardian, unlike Thailand which are always set in university. Though I do immensely love Thai BL's, it would be nice to have some different settings and concepts. It is unfortunate about China's censorship on LGBT relationships in films and TV shows though. They are censoring great works of art that could be immensely better if it weren't for the ban. I'm really surprised that this series passed the sensors to be honest. It's quite homoerotic and blatant in its portrayal of gay love, unlike say like The Untamed who is more subtle. A coming out scene to the parents would have been nice at the end but that would mean being blatantly gay, thus not passing the sensors.

Yuan Zong is literally the perfect boyfriend and the interactions between the two main leads were quite cute and adorable. However, The series does drag a bit in the middle though as nothing important happens. Even though the series is 30 episodes long, their relationship seemed a bit quick. Xia Yao went from being nervous around Yuan Zong to staying with him overnight, wanting him to scratch his back in like the span of a few episodes.

A few questionable plot points throughout the series though like why Da Yu would not know that he was carrying a stranger and why he would let the random stranger sleep over. It does provide comic relief though. And why is Da Yu so obsessed with Wang Zhi Shui. Or Da Yu being extra when an instructor kicked Xia Yao. Or Xia Yao being held against his will because the sister wanted to treat his 'premature ejaculation.' WTF?! And all the people helping her?! It makes no sense at all! Or when and why Yuan Zong and Xia Yao started to live together all of a sudden? There was zero talking about this. They just randomly started to live together and sleep on the same bed shirtless. This show is more light-hearted than I was expecting. The poster promotes a very different type of series; one that is more epic and wuxia.

Random plot points that don't make any sense like the random charity towards the end, a movie being shot where Wang Zhi Shui is the star. Xia Yao's random trauma of guy legs. Like wtf?! And it never got resolved. Or Xia Yao helping children cross the street in an inch-long flood. Or utterly stupid life-and-death scenario at the end when the construction workers asked random people in cars to help try to rescue a worker who fell down a well and the 'super selfless' Xia Yao decided to help them and then got stuck down there. Uh what?! Like could the construction worker like throw down the rope to him after pulling up the worker who initially fell down the well? And how the eff did Yuan Zong and the other bodyguard members get there before the firefighters? It makes no sense at all! And that animated ending which was literally one of the worst ending that I've ever seen in my entire life!

Even at 30 episodes, the story felt incomplete. Literally Nothing was resolved! None of the characters’ stories were complete! I've read that the original version of Advance Bravely had 35 episodes but the BL scenes were cut due to the broadcasting restrictions. I wonder how the censorship affected this show’s production. The censorship was implemented December 2015. I'm guessing that this show was filmed before the restriction. But does it take 1.5 years to edit since it began to air August 2017? Still, even with the restriction, the story could have been so much better and the animated ending could have easily been scrapped. Another series ruined by China censorship. Addicted Heroin. Advance Bravely. The Untamed. Ugh, China...

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Censored Snoozefest

**Brief Synopsis**
B (Bodyguard): Yuan Zong
T (Rich Kid): Xia Yao

- Beginning: B is an athlete and T is a rich kid. They are from two different worlds. Their universes collide however when B’s sister as B to approach T so he can ask T if he would consider her and T’s sister asked him to approach B so he can ask B if he would consider her. At the beginning, B really didn’t like T, but end up having to spend more time with him.

- Middle: As they spend more time together, they start developing feelings for each other and starting a relationship.

- End: The series ends with T saving B’s life by getting B out of well. They both end up in the hospital but reconciled.

**My Opinion**

WHAT I LIKED ABOUT IT:
- I really like the concept of enemies to lovers with an added twist.

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE ABOUT IT:
- The acting is just terrible. It’s so awkward and cringey to the point I really don’t want to watch anymore.
- The plot is super boring and the show is censored in many ways to make it more bromance than BL.

**Conclusion**
This is a show I will never touch again.

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演员团都挺好的 演技也不错 故事剧情也不赖 主题曲片尾曲都很好听 可是最大的缺点就是 收尾的部分...这收尾也太随便了吧..我不介意大陆耽改有多清水 没有吻也没关系 但至少也得把这故事线好好走完吧？治水的打火机被袁纵拿了 然后呢？这动漫式结尾是啥？造成夏耀对美腿有阴影的男人被发现了就揍几顿好了？?好吧 没事的 追大陆耽改的姐妹们都要对这种事有心理准备的 所以评分我没给很低. 这换做是其他国家的耽改剧 我直接把一麻袋的刀片寄过去给他们慢慢切菜

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Apesar de antiga, é uma das minhas séries favoritas (me julguem, não me importo!). A qualidade do vídeo é ruim e o final é ridículo, mas eu amo e reassisto frequentemente. A história é bem diferente, os atores são lindos e a música entra na sua mente de forma que você simplesmente não consegue tirá-la do pensamento, toda a trilha sonora é espetacular! Apesar das limitações, acho a produção boa, com uma boa atuação do elenco. Você consegue unir comédia, ação, violência, delicadeza, paixão....tudo numa série que não mostra nada (nem mesmo um beijo), mas que entrega tudo! Eu gostaria muito de uma segunda temporada...ou um ramake...Recomendo se você não se incomodar com a má qualidade do vídeo.

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The most rewatch value ever

I feel like I have to come back here and say how much this drama worth it, starting by the exciting and INCREDIBLE history that Chai Jidan written and going by the PERFECT acting of the main role, you cannot watch this and not have a big and wide smile while some scenes, you will fall in love, I always fall for them. I watch this drama a long time ago but I always rewatch not because I love all about it but is it because its super hard to find such a good love and act theses days. I remembet to search a lot some similar but never find. Like Addicted Heroin, this beautiful story is more than amazing. I just to say that I miss them a lot and hope for more.

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Lacking Something

I know they were not able to add kissing and more. I understand but there is nothing more than brother friend feeling to the story. I personally thought the acting was good. There are three “couples” and they might or might not be in love. There are hints to say they might be in love but for instance the main lead’s sister never says I think they hang out together because they care for each other. would this be too much? I am not sure. I do think that China let them make a bromance story is probably a lot for them. There is still some kind of emotional attachment missing. The two main leads have a connection but it is not on a deep level. The side characters are way too comedic and the ending is too. I have watched stories where the leads never kiss and they have slight comedy but still the story gives a bit of room for emotions without the sudden comedic moment. The flow is off when the comedy overwhelms the emotion. This all may be due to the restrictions imposed. so this is worth a watch but not a multiple time watch. We will have to wait for these kinds of countries to grow up a bit. Seems childish to be so much against this when the world has big issues and problems.

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a nice picture puzzle w/missing pieces

If I am correct, this might be before Go Jun completed Word of Honor. His Censorship. portrayed the character well. The
entire cast, from lead to support did an excellent job. Production might be lacking a little in wardrobe; viewers can actually tell which scenes were filmed at the same day due to wardrobes. Props integration need a Lil work (mannequin in the well).
I feel it could have been directed better because the sequencing seems off a couple of times although it didn't really ruin the story.
Last but not least, I read that there was originally an uncut version of this series that made it more fulfilling to watch. Sadly, that may be buried since this was released 6 years ago. For a Chinese bromance series, don't expect what you normally see in a typical Korean, Japanese and Thai BL works. The closest this will get is a brotherhood relationship that hints that there could be more but then suddenly a scene or line is inserted that would tell pull you back that it's nothing more. There was a scene where the second leading man while in bed with Go Jun told Go Jun he isn't only being nice to him because of his sister and that will tell him in the future. the entire series ended without any scene revealing that reason.

I recommend this to any Go Jun followers because this shows his early talent that can be compared to his recent ones.
Kudos to the producer for bravely producing this series and doing their best to meet the strict censorship.

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Left Unsatisfied...

To be frank, I watched this via Youtube earlier this year; ergo my review will encompass the things that I still remember to this date. It's not as fresh. ^_^ Probably a good thing because I was so irritated. LOL. I had been searching for a good contemporary BL to watch and...this was not it. Sadly. It did have potential though.

Things I liked:
- Simon Gong did his part well. And the other lead as well. I liked the moments between them.

Things I disliked:
- The girl, Yuan Zong's sister who had a crush on Xia Yao, was annoying.
-The ending is atrocious with an anime style graphic that comes out of nowhere and has nothing to do with the issues at hand in the story. It ends abruptly and the story feels unfinished.
- Heavily censored. Some scenes cut off abruptly and the story would pick up somewhere completely different. All those sweet scenes between the leads that I liked so much got cut off before they ever fully finish the moments. Irritating. And it was super obvious.

Overall, it wasn't perfect, but I had been into it, and willing to put up with the heavy censoring hand, but that ending was just the epitome of stupid. What kind of sadist ends a story like that?!

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