HIStory: Obsessed (2017)

Moins nul que ce que je croyais

J'ai découvert la franchise des HIStory peu de temps après ses débuts, et complètement par hasard. J'avais vaguement commencé à regarder Obsessed avant de laisser tomber, parce que n'ayant pas de résumé de l'intrigue à l'époque, je me suis retrouvée larguée dès le départ avec cette histoire de réincarnation. Et puis tout le monde parlait du côté toxique de la romance et ça m'avait fait un peu peur, de sorte que jusqu'à aujourd'hui, c'était le seul drama de cette franchise que je n'avais pas vu. Mais à un moment il faut bien s'y mettre (d'autant que c'est la même scénariste qui nous a offert Trapped et We Best Love, entre autres...), désormais c'est chose faite.

On a donc un héros qui se fait plaquer par son chéri (un sale con), et qui meurt percuté par une voiture alors qu'il s'enfuit en courant sans regarder autour de lui. Le voilà réincarné dans son propre corps mais avec un retour en arrière de 9 ans, décidé à prendre un autre chemin de vie et surtout à éviter le sale con en question. Hélas, c'est sans compter le destin, et quelques pages de son journal qui ont échappé au feu, sur lesquelles l'autre va tomber, et qui vont pousser ce dernier à s'intéresser au héros.

J'ai trouvé le scénario plutôt original, n'étant pas familière des histoires de réincarnation à part Until We Meet Again (et les deux n'ont rien à voir), c'était assez nouveau pour moi. L'intrigue manque un peu de profondeur et certaines choses auraient mérité d'être davantage creusées (les choix que l'on fait versus le destin, ou bien la dynamique de leur relation passée par ex.), mais le sujet reste tout de même intéressant. Je ne dirais pas que les acteurs méritent un Oscar mais au moins ça se voit qu'ils s'impliquent dans leurs rôles. Malgré le faible budget, les décors, les couleurs et l'image en général sont plutôt pas mal, la musique est sympa et ne pollue pas le drama, et les scènes intimes sont relativement chouettes, du moins si on les a vues à l'époque où il n'y avait pas grand chose à se mettre sous la dent en matière de BL et où un léchage de cou était déjà le summum du hot qu'on pouvait espérer. Depuis on a eu droit à des scènes d'un autre niveau et on attend davantage des BL asiatiques (surtout venant de Taïwan, parce qu'à part quelques exceptions il ne faut pas trop compter sur les BL Thaï dans ce domaine), mais je comprends pourquoi l'audience a été aussi enthousiaste lors de sa sortie, Obsessed étant un peu plus osé que nombre de ses contemporains.

Concernant l'aspect toxique de la relation, c'est vrai. On a un héros décidé à tout faire pour rester éloigné de son ex / futur petit-ami pour ne surtout pas retomber dans les griffes de ce manipulateur, sauf que l'autre ne l'entend pas de cette oreille et n'a jamais appris le sens du mot "non". Bref, le gars est toujours un sale con dans ce passé rebooté, mais au moins on nous le montre également protecteur, réellement amoureux et il a quelques bons côtés. Je craignais de grincer des dents car je suis très à cheval sur ce genre de sujets et la manière dont ils sont traités, mais bizarrement, ça ne m'a fait ni chaud ni froid. Il faut dire que le héros ne le repousse pas de façon très convaincante non plus, donc à partir du moment où il a pris sa décision, hein, bah qu'il assume quoi... Et puis aussi, peut-être que le court format de ce drama et son côté "amateur" jouent un rôle dans le fait que je ne me suis pas investie plus que ça dans cette romance. Je l'ai visionnée juste histoire de claironner que je me suis tapé TOUS les History, mais ça ne va pas plus loin.

En conclusion, je ne trouve aucun intérêt à revoir ce drama, l'histoire d'amour ne m'a pas procuré de frissons et elle était assez problématique si l'on considère la personnalité d'un des deux personnages. Toutefois, si le fond n'était pas top, c'était quand même moins lamentable que je l'aurais cru et sur la forme, ça reste un drama d'une assez bonne qualité au vu du faible budget à l'époque.
Donc, à regarder surtout si :
- Vous aimez les relations un peu tordues
- Vous n'avez plus aucun BL à vous mettre sous la dent et / ou les BL Thai ne suffisent pas à fournir votre dose de frottages de peaux (et encore...)
- Les histoires de réincarnation vous intéressent (et encore "bis"...)
- Ça vous démange comme moi tant que vous n'avez pas visionné tous les History
- Vous envisagez de pondre un mémoire sur l'évolution du travail de la scénariste Lin Pei Yu au fil des ans.

Sinon, vous ne perdez pas grand-chose.

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ON the surface this looks like a typical cliche rebirth story; however, if one looks closely enough and understands the dialogue, you'll be surprised at how sweet and satisfying it truly is. The chemistry between the main actors was also a nice cherry on top to this drama. Often BL dramas are cringe worthy because of the "robotic" like relationship between the characters, but here you have two young men who truly try to convince the audience/viewer that they are attracted to each other and not just on the physical level and that kissing or touching does not make them want to pull away or react in a "I don't want to do this for longer than ten seconds" either.

Overall, it's an okay drama. Did not give it a ten because it's too short. Hoping they get a second season.

If you like aggressive male lead, you will like this.

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There's a part in me that appreciates wickedness, so I don't necessarily fault the show for its ugly illicitness, but they try to sell it as romantic and that is wrong. There are repeated sexual assaults culminating in a scene where the perpetrator eventually tells his victim that he would kill him if he didn't return his feelings. This turns into a consensual love scene.

It's called Obsessed, fine. I feel like it may have worked had they both been so equally possessive and twisted, but they weren't and the result is a power imbalance and the dynamic is ultimately abusive. The narrative sells the abuser's actions as all in the name of love. There's no self-awareness.

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I'm a little ashamed I watched this one because it was quite appalling in its depiction of sexual assault and emotional manipulation between the two leads. Definitely a toxic relationship. This one was meant to pull on our heartstrings with that horrible breakup at the beginning. But all it ends up accomplishing is horror-stricken shock throughout its run.
Would have been a better drama if the lead who was killed at the beginning successfully left his abusive lover at the end and it was shown how his life was better for it. Instead we were relegated to disquieting scenes of obsession and assault, non of which show real love. Ultimately, this drama had potential that was then torpedoed.

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Storywise, I think this is beautiful and teaches two of the most applicable lessons that everyone ought to practice in keeping a relationship--every bit of honesty and good communication.

Seriously, if they talked out their problems honestly to each other, Shao Yi Chen won't need to go ten years back in his life. Ugh, but that would mean no hot kisses. NOOO! Hahahahaha!

At first, one could see loopholes dropped after every scene, "why's" just add up, and there were no signs for answers at all.

Then, one gets puzzled as to how exactly did Jin Teng end up breaking Yi Chen's heart? But one can have so many speculations that anything would just add more loopholes to that towering pile of loopholes.

Finally, in the most cringe-worthy dialogue delivered by that not-so-wretched-witch pops the single most justifiable reason to this Chinese-style dilemma.

So, loopholes are slowly patched up, "why's" are replaced with "that's why's". Then, one gets treated with the hottest, most enticing eye candy in BL history (so far); tricking the viewer's mind into thinking that this is the best installment among the three because of this particular scene when in fact the real reason is overshadowed, hidden in the open and unnoticed--every bit of honesty and good communication. Tadaaaaa!

Hahaha, sorry, I know that's confusing but it was just so hard for me to make a review on this story without spoiling anything. "Only in ambiguity did one think one can truly express the beauty of this piece of art." LOL!

Oh, and in case you're wondering why I gave 7.5 to the story when I'm gushing about its beauty, it's because the entity of the story itself is very simple (plus, I watched that BL movie "Rebirth" before this so the premise came off a bit mundane). The dialogues and the ACTORS did it for me (with emphasis to the word actors because that witch made me cringe, ugh!)

Kudos to the main actors, their chemistry was really good... no, better... okay, best. If I weren't so biased, I'd say theirs is better than Timmy and Johnny's. But, I have a loyal heart. So, they tied with Singto and Krist at second place. Oh, the acting... both were good, but if I were to choose the better one, I'd say it's Sen Bernard.

The story predominantly follows Shao Yi Cheng's POV, that said, it is easier to catch up with his emotional growth, and Ren You Cheng delivered the progress fairly. On the other hand, Jiang Jin Teng's character had two entirely different characteristics and it's hard to connect how one admirably quiet and mysterious hottie showed on the flashbacks be the same person as the obsessed hottie that can't seem to live without You Cheng. Sen Bernard did not only deliver the dialogue as written on the script, he also revealed that descriptive paragraph that holds the writer's view on destiny and true love. They were very subtle, and those almost unnoticed micro expressions just means so much.

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I've watched all the History parts, and this one really sticks out as terrible. While the very first entry dealt with a girl in a boy's body trope, this one wanted to do some time travel. The plot twists weren't surprising. What was surprising was the 180 degree change in one of the protagonists' behavior. I know a lot of BL series (even some of our favorites like Addicted) feature rape, sexual assault and non-con. But this episode glorifies it, embraces it as its title of "Obsession" and doesn't feature any character growth or realization of bad behavior. As an example, I watched this on Viki. Most of the comments were along the lines of "it's not rape if there's no penetration." If that's what you choose to focus on--how to get the accused off on a technicality rather than the harm done to the victim--then I'm afraid this episode is imparting the wrong message.

The acting was good, but not enough to make me want to rewatch this regrettable entry. I think one of the things I like about History 1/2/3 is how they take different approaches to each story and format. It's just that in this case, the risk did not pay off, at all.

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overrated

"obsessed" of which everyone sang the praises while talking about the HIStory series disapointed my to a high point. Jiang Jin Teng is really dishonest and doesn't accept the simple word "no", he forces Shao Yi Chen to kiss him and tries to rape him, the only positive point is the story's originality and yet, some aspects are just unrealistic like when Shao Yi Chen learns Jiang Jin Teng's parents are neglecting him because of someone else when they were supposed to have stayed together for 9 years! Or the fake engagement thing tat we only discover to the end while Cai Yi Jun clearly smirked from an evil manner when he announced the news to Shao Yi Chen, she even tried to hold back Jiang Jin Teng when he goes after him. Moreover the simple fact he hasn't told him it was his plan for his parents not to be suspicious about their relation is stupide because he had no reason not to tell him!
Briefly, the story has not so much logic and the fact the sexual abuse's scenes where shown as romantic made me extremely uncomfortable.
Don't listen to people telling this is one of the best HIStory because that's clearly not true.

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I'm going to hell for this

Okay HEAR ME OUT. I am fully aware of how fucked up and how toxic the relationship in this episode was, but I kind of don’t care? I am very proud of how vocal I’ve been in the past about toxic relationships. It’s not cool in real life and it’s not cute on camera either. But something about this drama is just???? Never in my life had I watched a BL before today, and I did not expect it to be so steamy and so damn entertaining to watch. This type of relationship dynamic would be absolutely destructive and so so so problematic in real life. I mean, I’d imagine the male lead would have easily gone to the police and reported him for sexual assault had we not been in dramaland. Just this once, I was willing to completely disregard all the things that are absolutely horrific about this relationship and enjoy the drama for the wicked and sinful 70 minutes of BL goodness that it is. Kudos to the actors. Genuinely!

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Story: Definitely interesting story idea. I only wished they spent more with the main character comparing his present to the past he remembered. Or if they showed more interaction in school between the two leads instead of just the parts after the accident.

Acting/Cast: I have no problems with the acting and the cast. In fact these two might be the best pair out of the entire HIStory series compilation. I have a feeling it also has to do with the story which they acted out. It definitely felt a lot smoother watching these two actors than the other two pairs.

Music: n/a

Rewatch value: There were enough kiss scenes and a lot of "here's my love!" sort of feelings throughout the series, so for me I gave it a higher re-watch value than usual. I'm usually not one to like re-watching many series.

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I am also obsessed by it.

Yes, it is not a favourite for many of you, but I loved it for some reason. It deserved to be longer, and made into a proper drama. With only 4 episodes, every stories were cut short. But the story was there, and the obsession was very much out there. Of course many things could have been better, but it's one of the first HIStory. The have done better since 2017 (6 years ago already), and Taiwan is the first, and still only Asian country with gay marriage in 2019. So, to me, it is a drama that help change the country. After this, HIStory made more sophisticated dramas, and this year the new drama HIStory5: Love in the Future with 20 episodes, is already a hit. But it wouldn't have happened without this drama.
After this drama, those two actors haven't done much.
Just a quick thing to watch out. In the opening scene, look at the blanket, and watch the blanket in the last episode when the are in bed and have nightmare. Did he go back in time or did he dream it all???
Insta: bernardsenjun and teddy_jen

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Toxic But Engaging As A Fantasy.

General spoilers only. Extreme obsession. In reality, hugely toxic relationship dynamics. As a fantasy, it was engaging and surprisingly emotional. This was very much a story of "the mind says no but the heart and body say yes". The fact that the obsession was kind of mutual, the character that I liked (Shao Yi Chen) got what he wanted, and the ending was sweet, helped mollify my unease with the way this fantasy was told.

This was superior in every aspect of production to the first two parts of History1. The screenwriter (and director) is different for this one and it shows.

The acting was great and tugged at my heartstrings a lot more than I expected. The story grabbed my attention and held it, and the acting of the lead quickly got me invested in him. The music fit perfectly and enhanced emotions and tension. I did not fast-forward through anything.

The two leads were very comfortable with each other and their physical and intimate interactions were very intense. If you like the fantasy of forced-seduction, their scenes deliver spectacularly!

I'll likely watch again at some point, but it will probably be a while.

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