HIStory4: Close to You (2021)

Sorry but I LOVED it!!

This show is one of my favorites from beginning to end.

Honestly, I wasn't a fan of one couple...together. I liked them individually & thought that their characters brought some humor & clarity to a lot of the scenes. Their situation was one I have tried to avoid in past shows but the other couple MADE me stay. I watched their scenes the one time through & that was enough for me. I have to say that they did a beautiful job pulling it together at the end & I really wanted to like them together. The emotions that they portrayed were conveyed very well. I truly enjoyed the acting of the parents.

Now, ChengRen? What was not to adore? From the moment they are introduced I was sold hook, line, & sinker. Li Cheng's personality is crazy & sweet & adorable & passionate &.....I can go on LOL. He's handsome, funny, dramatic!!! Teng Teng is sex on a stick. He's beautiful & sophisticated & intelligent & funny &.....I can go on LOL. Their chemistry right out of the gate is palpable. Their relationship is admirable & the respect & adoration they have for each other is real. The way they look at each other at any given moment is nothing short of fire. I loved every scene they were in together in every episode.

This show is funny & dramatic but they didn't shy away from serious topics. All of the actors were truly genuine & some scenes really were perfection.

I can honestly say that this is the first show I've watched that I absolutely enjoyed every bit of the music. It fit perfectly with the emotions of the scenes. Andrew Tan assisted this show greatly as every song of his was perfect.

I will & have watched this show several times already throughout its airing. I think this show is great & while I didn't give my attention much to the one couple, the show wouldn't have been the same without them.

Lire davantage

Fake relationship, friends to lovers & stepbrothers tropes

sunshine/tsundere & grumpy/sunshine pairings

I have a mixed relationship with the HIStory franchise. They’ve broken my heart (several times), left things unfinished or unsatisfying, and simultaneously reliably provided some of the best kisses and hottest chemistry in all BL.

It’s like BL roulette with them, but the odds are never in our favor.

I’m one of the few who likes a fake relationship trope less than stepbrothers. I like friends to lovers but I HATE shipper self-insert characters. So going in I thought this was going to be real rough for me. And, in spots, it was. But what can I say? The aching toothsomeness of this show plus that glorious chemistry Taiwan casually dishes out like it’s no big deal totally won me over. Add in some old favorite side dishes from HIStory 3: Make Our Days Count, and I’m in.

The ending was pure BL syrup tapped from the cheesiest sappiest of trees, so absurd that I’m pretty sure I giggled through all the bits meant to be taken seriously. Honestly, to tolerate this show at all you just can’t take ANY of it seriously. And that’s me and most fandoms, so It worked for me.

What can I say? Whenever Taiwan flexes its BL muscles, it’s really hard to not stare. Even when they are this problematic. And covered in syrup.

Lire davantage

Refreshing drama on

I found it to be a refreshing drama that shows the meaning of friendship, love and family. It's a turning point of one self-confidence in himself to be able to open up to family and friends about being gay and the new idea and thoughts you go thru. Life doesn't always go the way we plan as Li cheng and mu Ren were always friends/coworkers until Mei fang appeared in there lives.. She was Mu Ren first love and he wants her back and while trying to get close to her he admitted that he liked BL drama and as they talked together and became closer he realized that he cared for li cheng more. On the other hand we have Hsing Ssu who lived at home with his parents until he couldn't tell them he's gay so he moved out and in with Li cheng and Mu Ren. His younger stepbrother Yung chieh now 20 is in love with him for over 10yrs while growing up and finally tell him and is turned down. He convinced his brother to take him away for his birthday and got him drunk and had sex with him. Upon waking up he was scared and furious so he left. The relationship starts to get stronger until they have to get a blessing from there parents. The are other side stories of history 3 included. I felt the pressure of there emotions. A must see

Lire davantage

SO FAR SO BAD

@sarhattiwatti got everything right about this problematic show, so I'll just add a few comments here in response to how I've seen people defend other terrible shows.

1) "You haven't even seen the whole series yet, how can you judge it so soon?"

In a few short episodes, we have already seen unwanted touching, STALKING, and INCEST. There is no way to justify these actions no matter how many more episodes are left. Once a person has committed these acts, there is no taking it back or making it better or okay. They are and should be deal-breakers for any further relationship developing between people. Would you end up dating a stalker because they turned out to be "nice" or "cute" or YOUR BROTHER?

2) "This is just fiction, anything goes. It doesn't mean anything, it's just a fantasy."

Fiction and story-telling have always had real-world consequences. Every culture uses stories to pass on values and spread ideas about what beliefs they hold . The representation shown here regarding male/male relationships are very problematic and those who do not know real people in same-sex relationships can conclude, based on this show, that men can be persuaded to date their own brothers or their straight co-workers if the only tried hard enough. There is so much wrong with this narrative. Lack of positive or accurate representation is a part of why we have racism and homophobia in the real world. This show certainly doesn't help in any of these areas.

3) "This was created by straight women for straight women."

Again this is an issue of REPRESENTATION. Regardless of the creators or target audience, the relationship being portrayed is male/male and therefore is a representation of gay men everywhere. Telling other people's stories without getting anything correct is harmful, and it begs the question if any gay people are involved in the creation of this show, because it doesn't seem like it, and that's a problem in itself. I also highly doubt straight women or anyone want to see incestuous relationships between characters, fictional or otherwise.

4) "It's not incest, they're not related by blood."

Again, @sarhattiwatti already addressed this but I also want to further emphasize this because it's WAY TOO COMMON in BL shows. Whether related by blood or not, IT'S STILL INCEST. They have a scene in the show from back when the brothers were younger and were taking care of each other. That just further establishes that they had a prior FAMILIAL relationship and makes this all the worse. They grew up together, nature has a way of making people not see each other in a sexual way if they grew up in the same household as established through psychological research, so anything that deviates from this is WRONG. Please don't debate me on this because it will make you look bad. Stop trying to justify incest, it's not a good look for anyone... And as for the inability of two men to reproduce, would it be okay for a brother and sister to have sex if they use protection or have their tubes tied??? IT'S. STILL. INCEST. AND. IT'S. STILL. WRONG. (add clap emojis for emphasis)

BL shows have always blurred the lines between realism and fantasy, but this series really takes it too far to a place that creates a problem for the representation of male/male relationships. It has taken cute fantasy into a dark place, and it's a huge step back in the progress of LGBTQ+ representation. Such a shame coming from Taiwan, which is otherwise the leader in Asia regarding these matters. This show either needs to hire some actual gay people, or end entirely for the sake of everyone.

Lire davantage

Bonito BL! Con la pareja principal más tierna del mundo mundial!!!!

Empezé este bl con altas expectativas ya que soy fan de casi todos los History. En los primeros episodios no conecté demasiado con la historia, sobretodo la de los hermanos ( no de sangre). Y me decepcioné con el rumbo que iba tomando su historia, aunque la pareja principal cada vez me gustaba más! Después hubo la gran polémica en twitter y en los medios por una de las situaciones contadas en la serie, hubo muchísimas críticas y creo que muchos fans confudimos la realidad y la ficción. Leí un review que me hizo ver la realidad: lo que cuenta la serie es una ficción, el bl no retrata exactamente las luchas y preocupaciones de la comunidad lgtbi y como tantas obras de ficcion no pretende sino contar unas historias de amor. Tampoco pretende romantizar un abuso. Uno de los personajes tiene comportamientos de acosador y lleva a cabo una acción que todos detestamos, pero no por eso se ha de pedir la cancelación de la serie!!! Recordemos que en Obsessed, la parte más valorada de history1 el top era un tipo violento que se pasaba por el forro lo del consentimiento!!! No sé como reaccionaron los fans porque no la vi en directo pero los ratings son altos en mdl y también en viki. Cuantas veces en los bl se nos han retratado relaciones tóxicas, medio hermanos, o parejas con gran diferencia de edad? Quien quiera un retrato realista del LGBTI puede mirar cualquiera de las buenas películas que han salido al mercado audiovisual, porque está claro que en las series bl y en concreto en la saga History no lo va a encontrar.
Dicho esto, y una vez finalizada la serie he de decir que History 4 me ha gustado mucho, que ha cumplido mis expectativas, que es una historia light y dulce, divertida, amena, para pasar un buen rato! Y que cuenta además con una pareja principal de chicos que se ha ganado el corazón de las fujoshi con su dulzura, su ternura y su manera de ser. Son encantadores y su relación es de las más bonitas y sanas que he visto en una serie Boys love!! Y como besan!!!!!! La pareja polémica mejora mucho a lo largo de la historia y al final lucen cuquis y todo, jajajja. Aunque su historia sería poco creible en la realidad (y tiene unas cuantas lagunas) al final su historia de amor tiene una resolución positiva y lo tóxico queda atrás! El final para nuestros pollitos principales es tan bonito como cabría desear!!! O sea que todo acaba bien y además con cameo de algunos personajes de History 3 Make our days count para deleite de las fans!!!

Lire davantage

Good looking Cast and heartwarming story

History 4 is not too intense like the other history series... but its amost likable one till date.. the cast is very good looking and story is really hearttouching... its very warm and feel good drama.. you will love it.. its worth a watch.. the chemistry between leads is sizzling hot... the tension between the couple feels real .. the struggle of loving someone of same gender with all the social obligation is worth a watch.. Love ia not easy for anyone if its true and real thats what you can see in drama..love the cast and the storyline too.. must watch drama.. highly recommended..

Lire davantage

Interesting

I thought this was overall a good episode. There was one scene that I found a little unnerving but I still like the chemistry of our two couples. Also I didn’t find the girl ships as intrusive. As long as they keep the crazy females out of the way I’m ok. My main interest is the development of the bl couples. There was a good balance between the two couples and we see how strong the bond is between the three roommates. Also we got some insight into the family dynamics of the stepbrothers. The only concern I have is bl writers have used this stepbrother relationship too many times. It’s beginning to be boring and too predictable. While it’s not incest technically it can feel eerie especially if they have lived in the same household for a number of years and essentially grew up together.

Lire davantage

Trash

This bl is not worth it.

The strepbrother trope, romantizing sexual assaults, stalker, im only gay for one person..

I always loved the HIStory series but who wrote this one was a big let down.

The story is honestly so boring, there is a fujoshi who is a weirdo and one of the boys likes her so forcing his friend to be fake liking him. ofcourse they fall in love, Then there is the only gay for u thing that he says also “Its not sexual assault because u are not a girl” who even wrote that is dumb.

The other story are the step bro’s, guess what one is a stalker and is possessive he also gets the other drunk and assaults him. the story just erased it because they literally going to fall in love.

Look at the series named “the effect” they didnt romantize sexual assault/r.pe

Im sad that this is a let down

Lire davantage

Awful plot. Tw : R*pe

The whole dynamic of the second couple is so wrong. R*ping someone is not okay in any world. Idc if he has a sad backstory , it doesn't justify violating someone he claims that he likes. He could have waited it out. The plot felt disgusting and wrong. I don't like how they make it seem like a guy getting r*ped is no big deal. This is so messed up , it was suffocating to watch. Would not recommend this.

Not y'all justifying r*pe when he clearly got him drunk and f'ed him while he was in a drunken state, if he was confident that his brother liked him , he wouldn't have done that. AND IF ANYONE DOES THAT TO A PERSON THEY LOVE THEY ARE F*CKED UP IN THE HEAD.

"They were in love" oh then why did he get his brother drunk? Why couldn't he keep it in his pants & WAIT UNTIL HE GOT A CLEAR YES BEFORE DOING IT? Why is violating someone okay just because you like them?
That is not the way to go about when you like someone.
"YES" IN A CLEAR CONSCIOUS MIND = CONSENT. Would that man give consent to his brother when he was not drunk? NO HE WOULDN'T. IDFC IF HE WAS IN DENIAL THAT HE LOVED HIS BROTHER OR NOT. THAT DOESN'T EXCUSE ANYTHING. THE BROTHER SHOULD HAVE WAITED IT OUT INSTEAD OF R*APING THE PERSON HE LOVED. THE BROTHER WAS DAMN SURE THAT HE WOULDN'T GIVE CONSENT THAT'S WHY HE GOT HIM DRUNK. FICTIONAL OR NOT, THIS IS WRONG. IN NO WORLD IS THIS OKAY.

People go watch movies or dramas to feel and escape reality and if this escape of yours includes justifying r*ape because the r*pist had a sad backstory or the victim was in denial of his feelings, you need therapy.

Lire davantage