Wasted potential
The plot seemed interesting, and it had a lot of potential. But due to the shortness and weird cuts between the scenes, it ended up being messy and hard to follow. There were some flashbacks and then jumps back to the present, but it was very hard to distinguish when one ended and the other started.There were also quite a few plot holes. Some that weren’t given enough background information and some that never got a proper conclusion. One such plot hole is also Shao Jie, who Wu Zheng is apparently getting closer with. I am not sure if this happened before the series, but we get to see very little of her, so it’s really hard to say anything about the two.
Wu Zheng & Yu Shi: I have so many issues with the two of them! A lot of their intimate moments felt very forced and non-con. The thing is, Yu Shi looked extremely uncomfortable most of the time, like he doesn’t really want to be intimate. And Wu Zheng kept pressing on, was very pushy on the topic. Which I disliked. And then there is also the fact that Yu Shi suffers from a dissociative disorder which in turn makes one of his personalities have the mind of a five-year-old child… that made those “intimate” scenes so much worse in my eyes.
They tried to address some serious things, but I don’t think they managed to do so with any of them. From trauma, to exploring one’s sexuality, it was all just so glossed over. It wasn’t really given proper depth.
However, I think the actor who played Yu Shi did an amazing job switching between the personalities. The glasses did help in distinguishing between the two, but it was also in the mannerism, the way he talked… it really showed.
We also got a second couple… who I don’t really know much about. I guess they have a past. And that’s pretty much all we get to know. Which again adds to the choppiness and unexplained plot holes.
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We got a walking green flag over here.
For those who are wondering, this serie has a *happy ending* for both couples?A question mark because it seems there is conflict in the making in the second couple and I thought they will elaborate on that. However, at the next scene, they already reconciled. Which confused me a lot. I think it is a supposed plan for a second couple, but only made it short in order to focus more on the main couple.
Now, back to the title.
Wu Zheng is one of the most green flag top I have ever seen on BL series. Add to that that his love interest Shu Yi has DID, it can be seen all throughout the short series how attentive and sweet he is to Shu Yi even though he himself is, at the time, finding himself and his sexuality.
Because of that, I give this series a high score.
Also, the series maybe short but it is successful in incorporating elements of a good film in just 4 episodes. The amount of love scenes, the plot, the acting are all there.
Consequently, Shu Yi's actor is very great. You can see in his facial expressions the shift of personality with or without the glasses.
All in all, this short series is a great watch! I deeply recommend this show!
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UNIQUE! ♥️?
4 Episodes is not enough for this kind of masterpiece! To the Director, please make a Season 2! Such a nice story. It was unique out of all the BL i watched and it was totally a refreshment. I'm just hoping for longer projects of series in the future! These kind of storyline and masterpiece deserve a lot of recognition and hype from the fans! More project in the future! 🙌♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️Esta resenha foi útil para você?
A bit disappointing to say the least
I went in with pretty mild expectations as it does have a rating of 7.3, which is a good score in my opinion. But I was sorely disappointed with the series.While the acting was pretty good, and I did appreciate the interesting settings of split personality disorder, but the plot just feels extremely choppy. One thing happens, then suddenly it jumps, and it doesn't seem like there was a conclusion either. I'm bad at describing things, but generally what i felt was that it just kept skipping skipping skipping, very much possibly because it had to fit everything into 4 short episodes.
The main couple's relationship was not fleshed out at all, and Top was even presented as a 'cheating' jerk in the first episode. The synopsis made it sound like the Top's arranged relationship keeps getting in their way, but honestly she only appeared for 5min. That was it. While I do like Noah being YS's protector, I don't understand how he suddenly just changes his mind in the span of 3min and trusts WZ enough to rely on him.
Then there's the second couple that was just there for no reason at all. They were not even mentioned until the very last 10min of the last episode, and their relationship went from a misunderstanding scene, and skip skip skip straight to years later where they somehow just miraculously made up without explanation. This is why I gave the show such a low rating, and this is me being generous with a 5. It has a nonsensical plot that just cuts out everything and anything. I only gave it a 5 to applaud the actors' efforts for the nsfw scenes as they probably put a lot of work into them.
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Beautiful & Short Story
So this drama is literally a short story of a total 4 episodes, and although I did find it a bit all over the place it was kind of sweet to watch and did'nt take up the time.The Story was good, and had potential if they could have dragged it out and give us more of in depth of too how and why the split personaltiy took place, also the reason why he followed him all the time, and we could have watched how they love for each other developed. I did feel like that they were a jump in times and the flow just did not make any sense. The one that I did find extremely annoying is that the next the episode, literally had at leaset 3 minutes of the previous episdode, which I feel that they could you used that time to progress they story out more.
The ML were not so bad, and they did a good job, except I find some of the lines a bit 'stiff'. Main couple's kisses were very real and did not appear to be awkward so another big plus to their acting, the second couple was really confusing to the point I really wondered what they part was, as there was hardly any interaction accept at the end of the drama, and we have no idea what actually transpired between the two?
Overall : this drama is short, but they could have given us more, and it would have definately been a well worth watch.
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Excellent but just too short
I think what was there was excellently made, and well thought out - except the unexplicable inclusion of a side couple?? They only got 3 scenes, it came out of nowhere, went nowhere and made no sesne, and this series really didn't have any minutes to spare.The duration really is the only thing bringing the score down here, there was a wealth of possibility and potential with the characters, and things they wanted to and needed to include, but some parts really felt rushed. This showed the most in the 3rd and 4th episode where things were paced more rapidly than the first two, but I get why they had to do that, it's just such a shame.
All in all, I'm a big fan - the story was touching and beautiful, and so unique. I would hesitate to call the depiction of mental health issues realistic as I don't know anything about the condition, but to my eye it felt fair? And was treated with respect.
The theme song (Twins by Julia Peng) is incredible too.
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A review from someone with clinically diagnosed borderline personality disorder
Personality disorders are usually misunderstood and have lower representations in movies/dramas (in a positive light). Often they are shown as negative characters or as toxic both in dramas and in real life too. I used to think nobody will ever love me or will leave me eventually, or I don't need anyone in my life ( for I have abandonment issues), but for some reason this drama gave me hope on love. That someday someone will hold me when I break apart, will love me regardless, will take care of me like how Xiao Yu is taken care of by Wu Zheng. Thank you for that, thank you for bringing this storyline beautifully into a 4 ep series. I don't know about others, but I feel pretty satisfied and somehow it gave me a ray of hope.The only thing I felt that should have been added is an extra season or at least a one hour episode on the love story of both the main couple, and specially on the side couple because damn that is necessary. The acting is great and the ost is also amazing. Yes, it is worth the watch.
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An Overall Solid Show with a Unique Concept
I really enjoyed this show. It's something that I don't see a lot of. An overall unique concept that was executed well. There were times in the show were I got confused where in time we were and I felt that there were certain key elements of the main couple and their story that were left unexplained. I also felt the second couple was incredibly rushed and only there because they felt they needed another couple. So, I would have liked to see more of their journey. Overall an incredible watch though, I could definitely see myself watching this again.Esta resenha foi útil para você?
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DID Representation In A BL?!?!
It’s very common to see many mental disorders being represented in shows and BL’s such as Depression, Anxiety, Bipolar etc. But I never thought I would see a BL representing DID. In general DID is not something commonly talked about mostly in movies/shows, most movies or shows that have any sort of DID representation, represent DID in the worst ways and also incorrectly, portraying actions, feelings, emotions and more that aren’t accurate. I know a few things or so about DID since I had known someone who had it and learned a lot from that experience. With that I can say this representation is not that bad, the acting like a whole different person aka having a different personality when an alter has switched is accurate. Also the protective alter (Noah) being triggered out during moments of stress for the other alter (Yu Shi) is also accurate since that’s what they’re meant to do, protect. Changing the looks to make others around aware that you are a different alter can also be accurate since every alter can have a different aesthetic and interest. A lot of things are very accurate and on point. Therefore I give this show props for representing the LGBTQ+ but also the DID community. Now… where I’m a little confused/conflicted is that Wu Zheng is technically dating Yu Shi aka the 5 year old? While Noah is 28 and they did share intimate moments and obviously are dating as well which also confused me a bit because it’s not uncommon for an alter to not find the same person another alter finds attractive but it’s also not super uncommon. But that’s off topic, I just didn’t like how Wu Zheng had a sexual relationship and just intimate relationship in general with an alter that’s apparently 5 years old mentally. Not really sure what they were trying to do and that made me confused and also feel a bit disturbed. Since alters are their own person with their own thoughts and feeling, I find it odd how the alter who was supposedly 5 mentally didn’t react differently to being approached like an adult and treated as such romantically. But at the end of the day this was a show and it’s not gonna be 100% accurate with how it should work and more. But regardless good show, just would change a couple things and would do more research on DID for better representation. But other than that 8.5/10, I recommend for a quick watch.Esta resenha foi útil para você?
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One of the more unusual BLs coming from Taiwan this year
This mini series is unmistakably a BL series because of how apparently straight men can fall in love with other men and how there can be additional BL side couples as long as there are enough young male characters in the story for their existence. Yet, the story is more unusual than many recent BL series as it focuses on the relationship between a man with dissociative personality disorder and his once-straight neighbor.The dissociative personality disorder part isn't meant to be taken seriously although there is a short spin-off, "(Not That) Innocent", directed by a different director, that further explores the issue of whether one can be in love with two different personalities but only one person. What we do have here is a story with a lot of sweetness. Yu Shi is a grown-up man who behaves very much like a child--his personality is stuck at the time he was a boy and assaulted by a man. A second personality, Noah, has been created as a sort of protection--I think Noah is the main personality who ensures that the person can function normally day to day as an adult before the neighbor takes him home. The two personalities seem aware of each other's existence and do not fight for dominance: it's probably not scientifically realistic, but it's ok.
I like how Noah is at first much stronger and more assertive personality than Yu Shi, but we can see him becoming more similar to Yu Shi without entirely losing his grown-up sensibilities. This signals a sort of personality integration, which can help to resolve the issue of which one Wu Zheng (the neighbor) really loves.
I think the series could have opted for all-out fluff because that's ultimately what it is. The frequent switches in timelines due to flashbacks seem a tad pretentious and the story could have been told with more fewer flashbacks and in a more linear fashion. This would make it less confusing and allow the audience to immerse more in the BL fluff.
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Needs to be 8 episodes, but definitely worth a watch
The premise of the show is unique but heavy. Compared to the History series that Taiwan has become well-known for, Innocent takes on a far grittier quality.My favourite thing about BLs is being immersed in the process of how couples fall in love and getting increasingly invested in their relationship However, the show struggles to elaborate on how the characters built emotional intimacy – likely a function of the series having only 4 episodes.
I was expecting a dramatic turning point where a character makes a conscious decision to act on their feelings in an us-versus-the-world moment (super typical for BLs), but there just wasn’t this sort of scene in Innocent. Not that it’s a big deal but this definitely contributed to the series being slightly underwhelming.
Read my full review here: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2021/12/15/innocent-2021/
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