I have a lot to say. First of all, this is not nearly as bad as the rating and some of the comments I've seen about this had me believing. I assumed this was going to be an extremely toxic, terribly sad, and uncomfortable watching experience--but I walked away from it thinking it actually tackled the topic of homophobia and acceptance in a way I've never seen another BL do. Now, does that mean there aren't some problematic things in here or things that I didn't like? Of course not. I don't like the hubby/wifey nonsense, I don't like the 3-years-later epilogue, and I don't like that that Ton wondered if he liked men or just Chon. Not to mention, Ton saying he was in love with Chon since childhood and knew it didn't really make sense given his behavior beforehand, but I can give that a pass as him suppressing his feelings on purpose for the sake of his family.

So, yes, this series has its flaws, and the comedy is extremely uncomfortable sometimes, but this series also has so much heart and a really good message to it. It isn't just "being queer is okay;" it challenges heteronormativity directly, without metaphors, and makes it clear that it's actually weirder that people are expected to act a certain way or love a certain way based on their gender. Ton always made comments about queerness that were clearly made out to be uncomfortable--in all situations, Ton was the odd one out in a crowd of queer people and allies because the series wanted to say that men don't have to act a certain way or only love women. There's fluidity to everything in life, and love and self-expression are no exceptions.

I also want to point out that I didn't always agree with what the characters said or did, like everyone agreeing that hiding their sexuality was the best way forward or reinforcing Ton's heteronormative thinking by agreeing with his comments. However, this series always did a great job of making it understandable why the characters were saying and doing what they were, even if the narrative didn't actually endorse it. While the characters are saying it's best to hide from Ton, the narrative is saying, "No, Ton is the one who needs to change, and the people around him should be allowed to be who they are." The story wasn't afraid to let these characters make mistakes or say the wrong thing, trusting the audience to understand the whole scope of it.

This series also very clearly outlined problematic behavior. Na--my favorite character--said that Ton being possessive of Chon was not romantic, Chon kissing Ton while he was sleeping was pointed out as wrong, it was said several times that judging a person on anything other than their character was bad.

And then there's Ton and Chon's individual stories. Chon has to learn that he shouldn't have to yield to anyone just because his sexuality might make them uncomfortable; he shouldn't have to sacrifice his happiness because he wants Ton to be happy. Ton actually has a very realistic journey of retiring his way of thinking about queer people and coming to accept himself. He isn't labeled as "gay" but instead someone who can love whoever he connects with. He apologizes for saying offensive things, moves on from only accepting his friends to supporting queerness as a whole, and strives to have a healthy, communicative relationship with Chon.

I'm sorry, but this series is quite bold and succeeds in getting its message across in a lot of wonderful ways. Yes, there are some conventions within this series that I didn't like, but they have a smaller presence in the narrative than the rest of what I've mentioned does, so at the end of the day, I love what this series did. Even if it fell short at the end in terms of logic (and created an unnecessary epilogue), I was not only entertained by this series but surprised by all the topics it was unafraid to address. Telling a story like Ton's shows that understanding can be learned, and a story like Chon's shows the importance of treating yourself fairly so you can recognize fair treatment from others.

I loved this series so very much--including the surprisingly brilliant acting--and I'm actually really glad I found it. It's definitely going to maintain a distinct place in my mind.