Anti Reset (2024)

Unreal How Much I liked This

Seeing the overall rating and some of the comments I've read about this had me really worried about this series, but after watching, I'm Ever 9 and Yi-Ping's biggest supporter. Anti-reset was exactly the series I needed to get out of my BL-slump, and now I'm back in (I think, ask me in another 2 days), and I severely love this series.

Let's Dive In.

I desperately needed something new, something that wasn't a bunch of uniforms or office jargon, and this series was just perfect. It's the first in the BL genre (to my knowledge) that takes on the robot/human trope and I ate every single second of this series up. The first episode had me hooked, mostly because Li Feng (Ever 9) was gorgeous in all of his shots, especially the ones with Yi-Ping touching him and seeing how he looked so real but was just a robot. But more importantly, I think the overall feel of the series had me seated and so excited. Before their second kiss, the tension between them is so strong that you yearn for them to do literally anything.

Now the story isn't perfect. I think they could've gone into more depth about how Ever 9 worked in general outside of being a caretaker for Yi-Ping. I think it's interesting that he can eat, but does that mean he can use the restroom? And there were times when his emotions were so human-like that I wondered if he was just some half-human-half-robot person. I think as well they could've made the plot a lot more interesting by having maybe added a couple of twists, like Yi-Ping maybe finding out Ever 9 was a cyborg which is why he loved him, or at the end, they did reset him, and we have to see him rebuild all of these memories again with Ever 9 -- I don't know, something to spice up the plot a bit. Also, they never go into any depth about the weird connection that the series kept making to Ever 9 and Yi-Ping's dog who died. Was his dog's spirit in the robot (weird)? Did Ever 9 remind him of his dog which was like him finally having a companion again? I'm not sure, it wasn't thoroughly looked into, and I think it could've just been scrapped completely cause it was a little suspicious on the moral spectrum (but then again, he is falling in love with a robot so...)

But again, I loved this, the tension, their outings, the small moments of Yi-Ping falling in love with something he knew he shouldn't. When you look a little deeper into it, of course it's weird and a bit creepy to fall for something nonhuman, especially something that's programmed to do just that, And if you think even deeper than that, it's sad that Yi-Ping's uncle had to program a robot for Yi-Ping, and he that he won't ever be able to just make that same connection to a human person. He technically has nobody except something that could shut off on him at any time.

Their intimate scenes were handled really well. Lots of great kissing, and I liked that they focused more on the love part of the NC than the actual NC part. The series didn't have to make the women so insufferable like his assistant who couldn't take a hint or his student. I also hated that they made Ever 9's lips the color of his skin any time he was shutting off or in the lab, it just looked a little funny. Just some nit-picky stuff, but overall, I loved the story.

Ratings

Story: 8.5/10 - Some hiccups, but overall I enjoyed it. I love the lab stuff the most and watching Ever 9's facial expressions as they programmed him. Their domestic life was so cute, it's literally one of my favorite tropes.

Acting: 9/10 - They did excellent! Especially Li Feng. I think they both had some difficulties in being able to cry (in some scenes, not all), but overall everyone did a great job.

Music: 7/10 - I didn't pay much attention to it, but it wasn't distracting.

Recommendation Value: 8/10 - I really think this one is a good one to watch! It's different from the plethora of BLs that we have at our disposals, and it helped me get out of my BL-block, so that's a big reason too (lol).

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had hoped for more from this premise

Overall: an interesting premise that wasn't developed enough. 10 episodes about 20 minutes each. Aired on GagaOOLala & Viki. Note, there are extra scenes after some of the end credits.

Watch Suggestions:
- if you want to skip moping/flashbacks start episode 8 at 17:30
- unless you like (in my opinion) poorly done angst stop watching episode 9 at 5 minutes and then start episode 10 at 21:50

Content Warnings: non con picture taking, dub/non con kiss, non con touching, grief

What I Liked
- unique premise with a clear set up
- sweet/cute moments
- funny moments (the dream with the soap was a highlight)
- foreshadowing
- episode 6 Stay By My Side cameo

Room For Improvement
- slow pacing with a ton of flashback montages, also half of episode 8 was moping
- the only 2 female characters were cliches (repeatedly ignoring boundaries), too much time spent on them
- nonsense (and not talking about the obvious), do university students in Taiwan have their professor's personal cell phone numbers, his household supplies were stored in the living room on a bookcase, a supposedly intelligent and caring character is stupid and cruel
- they never really delved/explained the world building, and I realized this was a romance but there really wasn't any examination of ethics, only the human character focusing on himself and how he will be sad
- poorly done/cliche angst, there were many opportunities for drama but the writers chose the most cliche one
- that gap was waaayyyy too long and then there was about 3 minutes at the end???
- some of the camerawork felt low budget

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Cringefest

The concept was great. Lots of potential questions that might arise when considering a love story between an AI and a human. However, so much is cringe and so far, not much depth. Its fairly obvious that we are SUPPOSED to think this narrative is somehow significant, and it could have been. But the questions are not explored. This presentation is sort of the opposite of Japanese anime, which often explains things to the audience in detail. Here, situations are sort of thrown out there, with very little nuance, and the audience just have to explore the topic on their own. A watch party might make this more interesting. Viewers could pause and discuss what COULD have happened or the unexplored questions.

A few of my issues:

(1) If your AI character is so perfect that it is indistinguishable from a real human, then where is the story? I mean who really cares if its AI or human if there is no difference?

(2) (a) The AI is supposedly an "emotional support" AI (who demonstrates deep knowledge in many areas), but then sometimes innocent and unknowledgeable with respect to emotions. (b) The explaining comes from a previously emotionally dry character, who is incapable of demonstrating even the most basic politeness skills, who then incidentally suddenly becomes a wise master of human emotions and is the dispenser of knowledge to the AI.

(3) If this is supposed to be the future, why are we using pen and paper? Sudoku on paper? And the AI can't beat a human? Couldn't we at least use tablets? Will future episodes have public pay phones? Who was responsible for set design?

(4) How do we interpret a self-centered man who finally falls in love with someone because he is waited on hand-an-foot?
The AI cleans and cooks and takes care of every need of the man. And the man falls in love. Keeping in mind that BL is written for a female audience and that the AI is clearly the uke/female, I can't see any other way of reading this other than:

>> a woman's role is to cook and clean and take care of her master, and by doing those things will she receive love and adoration from her master. The man's role is to merely exist and dole out his wisdom to her. <<

Considering the centuries of struggle that woman have had (and still have), while many self-centered men wait for women to fall in love with them and serve their every needs, do we need something that pushes traditional couples further in that direction? Do we need to encourage men to be more incompetent at self-care? Consider also that the AI, instead of merely being a fancy housekeeping robot, could have been presented as a source of knowledge for the master. We already have good AI that can summarize knowledge in effective ways. Realistically, our first AI results are more likely to be superior to humans in the intellectual/knowledge ways, not in the housekeeping department. The challenge of AI companions will be to communicate with humans in ways that will not threaten us, while simultaneously having significantly higher levels of knowledge than humans.

There is no question that reinforcing traditional gender roles is common in BL. But in many modern productions, these are softened, broadened, or turned on their head. While presenting itself as ground breaking, this series seems to be hawking nostalgia for an imagined traditional past, disguised as a story about future AI.

Update:
Episode 5 does bring up an interesting question. If a human forms an attachment to an AI, and the AI is reset and loses all memory of the human, the human will feel loss. Shared memories will be gone, and exist only in the mind of the human. Similar to having a partner suffer from dementia or memory loss and not remember the partner. Those who have had family go through this know how painful it can be. There is something reassuring in having a shared memory; its a way of feeling connected. In some sense it is worse than death, because the body of the loved one is still around, but the shared attachment is gone.

Episode 8 indirectly asks whether an emotional support AI is even a good idea. But having a human become dependent on an AI is no different from dependency on a human. Either one can cease to exist. Additionally, while we (as humans) have invented lots of religions with an afterlife, having an AI cease to exist sort of makes us face whether the "soul" of humans is really a thing, or just something we humans have invented to ease the pain of loss and the fear of death. Episode 8 does not directly ask these questions, but there is just a vague reference to this line of thought.

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A robot in a love relationship? Is it even possible?

First and foremost, there are two kinds of a basic robot, one has the capacity to learn and grow (AI / Artifical Intelligent); the other operates on a pre-set and non-learning program. The former is the robot here.

Another first plot for a Taiwanese BL, they are really breaking grounds.

We have to understand that the basic of a robot-AI is that it is like a child starting to learn on top of the what was initially designed/uploaded into the system. Yes, there will be awkward acting because of this; but it is cuuuuuuute! Early on you can see who got into who first, but the question remains, can it be reciprocated, returned? Robots' based on the action and reaction on their programming and it learns from the action and reaction of the people it interacts with. It also learns from the situations and it experience it.

To a degree, this is a late coming of age story. LOL

As for the story itself, when a man who is used to be alone and doing stuffs by himself suddenly had a companion, an AI. For someone who is not used being taken care of, it is very easy for him to think of the AI more than its purpose. Be that as it may, the question now is, can the AI learn to feel anything? Is it even part of its programming? That is the allure of this series, the questions.

Visuals of the actors cannot be denied; couple with the aesthetic interior and architecture make things way easier to the eyes.

As this plot is something new, expect that this will not be perfect and will be opportunities to improve. But like I said earlier, this is another first for Taiwnese BL.

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The best one out of the 4

I placed spoilers at the end of this review.

I stand corrected, this is the best one out of the compilation series. However, I may be bias because I love sci-fi storylines.

The positive: Although it had some elements that did not make sense, the script was good. The pacing was great and did a decent job introducing the characters’ backstories with one exception. I like the underline analogy about relationships in general. The two lines from episode 6 that sticks out to me is “You are an independent entity.” and “None of us own anyone.” The actors did a great job with their characters and portrayed them very well. Had very good cinematography, graphics, and music.

The negative: The script had some underdeveloped section which were only minor problems. It did take some liberties with the AI concept which some may not like. They also didn’t do a good job explaining the backstory with Chu Yi Ping’s dog. The script has one of my most hated story elements, but it actually made sense for a change. Again, this was only a minor problem for me.

******Spoiler Alert******


My main criticism is the length of the time jump. I’m not against it in this story because it did serve some purpose, but 7-years seemed too long.

Their first few kisses were predictable, but still cute.

I sort of understand the dog and Ever 9 comparison they were trying to make but it was weird and seems like a stretch to me.

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Actually a Robot?

After all these god, vampire, demon, now we got love story with a robot! But is he actually a robot? I have a feeling that at the end we'll know that he's just acting! Otherwise, why would he be embarrassed while buying underwear! 🫢

However, tho it's kinda cringy but also cute. First of all, which contract starts with a kiss! 🙂 And a student asking her teacher "Can I come over?" like wtf! It doesn't make sense.

I don't have any high hope with it. At the beginning I thought it'll probably be a lightweight rom-com. But we can tell that Wu Ping probably had a bad past.

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Despite its lackluster execution, a one time watch if you are too intrigued with the premise!

This drama left me with mixed feelings. The series revolves around the relationship between an anti-social man named Yi Ping and a robot/AI gifted to him by his uncle, Ever 9. The premise had promise, yet I found myself somewhat disappointed.
The robot/AI portrayal struck me as overly 'human'. It seemed too emotionally aware from ep 1.
I kind of anticipated Yi Ping's growth in overcoming his anti-social tendencies intertwined with the AI's exploration of human emotions which unfortunately didn't fully happen.

The series had lighter, more romantic first half and angst-ridden second half. While both leads delivered decent acting performances, some emotional scenes fell short and lacking (for me). Also, I am not a fan of time skips especially 7 years, but I do understand its necessity for technological advancements.
Uncle's character was such a sore point for me. He felt downright cruel toward Yi Ping and his abrupt change of heart after seven years seemed so unconvincing but did give us a happy ending.

Despite its flaws, it wasn't all bad!! It had its moments of charm in the chemistry between the leads especially the eye contacts and the music also complemented the scenes nicely.

Overall, a one-time watch but with some missed opportunities and uneven execution.

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Cute but a bit shallow

This was a cute romance with good chemistry between the leads - especially in the earlier episodes. The dialogue was fairly snappy and cute, and it had many nice moments.

I think the premise is a little wasted. There were two directions they could have taken, but didn't. One would be to accent that he's a robot and doesn't really understand humans and human society outside of what someone could read, and all the funny situations that develop from that. There's a scene where the main character is so turned on by the robot that he has to "relieve himself" - I would have liked to see him wondering what's wrong with him, and asking himself is Ever 9 is in effect sophisticated porn.

The second, and probably the one that would have made the most sense, is to examine what a person is. What are we? We're constructed with our DNA as a blueprint and we have basic emotional and behavioral settings also programmed by our DNA, and the rest of what we are is based on whatever we experience. Is an artificial being like Ever 9 much different?

We often blame things we do on past trauma, essentially "programming" that we have no control over, so why is an AI any less a living thing, provided it is truly autonomous?

This was totally ignored, even in the decisions his uncle makes.

This reduces the premise to a shallow gimmick and the plot is formulaic and predictable. I enjoyed it until the last 2 episodes, which degenerated into a tedious montage of past happiness played against a truly sappy love ballad.

Speaking of which, the music in this was tiresome and got on my nerves in the last two episodes.

The acting and production values are quite good. Ever 9 is just robotic enough to seem not quite human while conveying emotion clearly, and the main character is good at portraying how closed and clueless he is in dealing with humans and only able to open up to a robot (another lost opportunity for examination).

This is a good series to binge - it was hard to wait for a weekly episode at the beginning, and the last few episodes are better all at once, especially the last two. I wouldn't enthusiastically recommend it, but it's cute and entertaining and short enough that even if it's not really your thing it's not a huge investment of time.

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Boy meets robot

Boy meets robot
Technology has entered the world of cinema and television for many years now with the presence of artificial intelligence (AI), defined as the ability of a machine or a computer program to think, learn and act like a human being. Although she has sometimes played villainous roles and sometimes played heroine roles, there is no doubt that she has always, or almost always, played a leading role.
Examples of the above are: 'Her' (2014), 'Ex Machina' (2015), '2001: A Space Odyssey' (1970), 'Ghost in the Shell' (1996), 'Minority Report' (2002) , 'Blade Runner' (1982), 'War Games' (1983), 'The Perfect Man' (2021), The Ultimate Boyfriend (2008), The Bicentennial Man (1999), among other films.
The human being and the machines... the machines and the human being. From the moment I read the synopsis I asked myself questions that I had already asked myself before and to which I have no answers: Will machines replace us one day? Will we end up 'humanizing' artificial intelligence? Will we have to live in fear of being subjugated in the future? Will humans be vulnerable in a context of total dependence on technology? Do robots have wants, dreams and needs?
The premise of the man-robot relationship is the impetus for directors and scriptwriters of BL series to take advantage of the opportunity to give their followers, for the first time, a drama that portrays a romance between a human being and an android.
From the Taiwanese production company Vidol, Anti Reset will not present us with AI on this occasion as villainous and alien robots determined to control and destroy humanity, as T-800 from 'Terminator' (Arnold Schwarzenegger) tried to achieve. Nor will it bring us wonderful C3PO and R2D2 or the endearing WALL-E to delight us.
It will show us a total antithesis of the "robots are coming to destroy us" thinking, as it will move away from the basic concept of AI to bring us closer to a more conventional narrative associated with another genre, romance. This interesting story portrays one of the many perspectives that exist on the relationship between a human and an android.
The creators of BL series have decided to up the ante. Only in this way is the production of a drama that will not be the classic 'boy meets boy' romance but 'boy meets robot' explainable.
One of the protagonists is a substitute for the human being. The robot and the person it cares for and with whom it will fall in love, will take us into a multitude of moral arguments that surround the series, while we see a futuristic narrative arc that, without a doubt, will end up conquering us.
The drama tells the story of Chu Yi Ping (Wu Ping Chen), a man without emotions and few social skills who, after dislocating his hand in an accident at school, accepts his uncle's proposal to be taken care of by Ever 9 (Huang Li Feng). While the experimental intelligent robot is being secretly evaluated to decide whether or not it is suitable for coexistence with humans for the purpose of curing the emotionally disabled, it keeps company with a reluctant Yi Ping, who will soon discover that Ever 9 complements its deficiencies.
At first, Yi Ping has a hard time interacting with the robot. Although at times he is almost convinced of his humanity, he always ends up remembering that he is nothing more than a programmed machine. Interacting with Ever 9 will allow you to break your prejudices about robots and at the same time better understand human needs.
While the robot's capabilities are being evaluated, the relationship between the two young people goes beyond “normal” and Ever 9's apparent humanity begins to attract Yi Ping. Thus, he will look for a way to help the android go out into the real world with him, to live a life together.
To pass the time, Yi Ping asks Ever 9 to make a wish and complete the wish list together, but before completing it, Ever 9 breaks down. The repair only takes a week. But when he returns, his attitude towards Yi-Ping has completely changed. After the reboot, Ever 9 rushes to complete the wishlist and pretends to be bored with Yi Ping and actively asks for a return. Yi Ping doesn't know what's wrong with Ever 9, because he has learned from him how to be human and experience love. Can't you learn to be together all your life? Is the promise to never separate void?
'Anti Reset' is a romantic perspective on the love between robots and humans, it is an incredible reflection on the scope of the growing robot and artificial intelligence industry. While man wonders what the dangers that technological advances represent, this BL arrives to make us think about the emotions and the relationship that robots will have with humans in the future beyond their practical usefulness.
This series is set in a world that could easily be our future reality. So, we must open our minds, since together with the two protagonists we will delve into what love really is and what it means, through an atypical relationship.
The script, while not perfect, benefits from the performances of Huang Li Feng (Stay by My Side, The Ambiguous Focus, Kinematics Theory, The End of Our Youth (2016) and Wu Ping Chen (Stay by My Side, One Afternoon, Komorebi), giving a subtle and different twist to the characters of a plot that, otherwise, would seem too familiar or trite.
The two main characters will go through the different phases of a relationship that, although it is not a typical romance, covers universal themes, but the biggest dilemma that Yi Ping will have to face is whether we are prepared to fulfill our most intimate desires. and fantasies or if, on the contrary, we prefer that a love that was born platonic remains that way.
I remember an Asian film close to this one for the introduction of artificial intelligence, 'Customized companion' (订制男友, Dingzhi nanyou), the Chinese BL and science fiction romantic drama directed by Kuo-Liang Fu in 2017, in which he talks about love between two boys, who use a phone app and summon a personalized virtual companion in the hopes of finding what they have lost in each other.
'My Heartless Boy', one of four stories in the 2023 Thai BL 'Moments of Love', starring Fort Thitipong Sangngey, as Fort, and Pie Saranvut Nittayasuthi, as Pie, addresses a love relationship between a human and a machine which must also be discontinued.
'Anti Reset' is undoubtedly a proposal that brings originality and freshness to the futuristic analysis of the relationships between human beings and artificial intelligence.

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i loved it!!

out of the four shows of this saga, this was definitely my favorite one,, the storyline is pretty nice and the acting is even better! my favorite co-dependants <3
yi ping's uncle IS AWFUL!! leaving his ONLY nephew with dependency issues ALONE FOR 7 YEARS!?! even after he begged and begged for "ever 9/heng" to come back,, and he did, BUT WHY 7 YEARS LATER WTF?!?!
anyways,, great couple, chemistry since day 1!! you can clearly see that the characters love each other so hard and it's clear that they can't leave each other.
overall, it was a very wholesome show, filled with chemistryyyy, my favorite acting was on ep. 10 when they saw eachother again, it was really real in a way where you could feel the shock and desperation yi ping felt, it was very cute scene and really well directed :D

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Could be so good

I don't even know what to say about this... At first it was so meh, then the story picked up a bit, then it slowed down again, and the ending could have been forgiven for the last scene, because I think it would have been much better without it.

When it comes to the topic of a romantic relationship between a human and a robot, something interesting can come out of it, but that doesn't automatically mean something good. Something like this needs to be worked on really well, and for the story to work, it would need something more. If someone wants to watch an ordinary and slightly strange love story, they might like it, but I personally expected a little more from this concept. The main characters had a lot of nice scenes, but they are not enough to offer a good story. The chemistry was good, the actors were likeable, the performances are hard to say...

I think that if they put more into this project, in terms of script and overall production, it could have been much better. The last scene... Oh my, I'd really like to pretend it doesn't exist, but unfortunately, those few seconds ruined my otherwise good impression of the whole series. He could have had a pretty deep point, but instead the creators put it at the end, who assumed we wanted to see. Many certainly do, this is how it lost the meaning it could have had.

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Compelling Concept, but Flawed Execution

The concept of an AI-human relationship in Anti Reset is compelling but could have been executed better, especially with Ping's backstory. The focus on his lost dog as the sole reason for his coldness feels inadequate, leaving his character underdeveloped. His bond with 9, the AI, also feels off, especially with him constantly associating 9 with his dog early on, which doesn't make for a healthy, meaningful relationship arc. While the interactions between the main characters were cute, and it was interesting to explore both perspectives, the relationship still felt strange. Watching a human fall in love with what is essentially imagination was difficult and uncomfortable, even though 9 was developing and showing new characteristics like love, as an AI. In my opinion, the ideal conclusion would have been for 9 to leave, allowing Ping to build the strength to pursue a real human connection after experiencing love for the first time, even if it was with an AI. Overall, the series wasn't bad, but the happy ending felt unfulfilling.

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