HIStory4: Perto de Ti (2021)

Toxic filth

Only in BL land could a drama like this be made!
The writer of this drama must have mental issues, it is the only explanation for how someone could write such disgusting filth and call it entertainment. Someone had to proof read this garbage and then green light it, then the company had to invest time and money making it. I find it sickening that nowhere along the line someone didn't say " Hang on a minute, we can't make something like this!"
I understand that in the real world there are terrible people and bad things happen, but this drama glorifies disgusting behavior and pretends that it is normal. I really can not understand why the gay community do not condemn these BL drama's, is this really how people believe gay people live there lives?

Leia Mais

The worst HIStory so far

There are things about this that I didn't hate, but the awful parts are sooooo incredibly awful that the entire series becomes irredeemable.

I could accept a step brothers who fell in love premise, but what I can't accept is a premise about a stalker and rapist where everyone is aware of him being a stalker and rapist and it's not a big deal and there are no consequences for his actions besides a happy ending where he and his "lover" live with their parents. Every scene with the family made me uncomfortable and no amount of back story could redeem Yong Jie. While watching all 20 episodes, I wanted to save Xing Si not see him end up with the very man who assaulted him in a home with parents who raised the monster that fell in love with him. The father was the only rational person in the family, but in the end, he submitted to the will of the others just to maintain peace within the family. This was a tragedy.

Li Cheng and Mu Ren were fine but their story felt outdated. I thought we'd moved past the "I'm only gay for you" BLs a few years ago. And the obsession with top/bottom that resulted in the most predictable outcome felt stale. Also, the attack by the vice president and then him being exposed only after he went after Li Cheng months later felt odd and very wrong. It was clear that the vice president was a preditor, but it was only a concern for the company after he lied about Li Cheng. I have so many questions about the way that company was run but in the end this story was still better than the one with Xing Si and Yong Jie and that's sad.

I liked Mei Fang. Most fujoshis are portrayed in BLs as loud, obsessed, delusional stalkers, but she was a normal person who liked BL and I appreciated that. Rarely are the female side characters the best characters in a BL, but she was one of the few good aspects of this series.

All in all, this was very bad. The writers should be ashamed because they had solid actors and 2 good premises but used outdated harmful clichés to tell their story instead of creating something compelling and interesting. Stepbrothers who fall in love and co-workers/roommates who fall in love could both be strong stories, but that didn't happen in HIStory 4.

Leia Mais

Very cute! People choose to be offended

I created an account just to review this show. Im reading the comments here and rolling my eyes so much. I have a feeling that since BL blew up a couple years ago, many "new fans" have decided to immerse themselves in it. Thats completely fine, the problem is when these "new fans" decide they want to come in and force everyone and everything to change to suit their preferences.

BL has always had problematic and toxic tropes. It makes them interesting. Yes, Yongjie did rape his step brother. Thats a fact. Irl, he would be in jail. But BL isnt real life. Yongjie also turns out to be very cute and charming, in his cold psycho way, as a character.

This show is very cute, sweet, hot, and will keep you interested. If you go into knowing you have hang ups about step brother relationships or sexual assault, dont watch it. Thats ok. You arent obligated to. But stop trying to force everything to be perfectly healthy, PC drivel.

Also, its laughable that people are acting like the History franchises is so above this. Theyve had 4 step brother couples that I can remember, theyve had a student/teacher with a huge age gap couple, SunBo and Chigang from MODC are 12 years apart, which is more than Xingsi and Yongjie, and in Obsessed they had 1 boy threaten to kill the other if he didn't return his affection. So please, History has always been "problematic" and I wouldnt change a thing.

Leia Mais

Controversies creates cash!

So History 4 has two totally different couples and storylines to offer and also a lot of controversial discussion, which i can totally understand

The first Story deals with the typicall“Best friends to lovers“ and the „gay for you“-Trope, which is nothing new and actually I don't like that Trope.
But fortunelay it’s getting better in the later epsiodes, cause besides the typicall tropes it also follows a fresh gay couple in a realistic way.
There are questions that any non straight person can understand, like how to act in public as a same-sex couple
And moreover, the question of the sexual role is also addressed and finally a series makes it in a more realistic way (Keyword:Communication!).
As a further bonus, a cameo of a well-known couple can be seen, which makes me curious about the future (you know what I mean).
So all in all a cute little show with a good mix from old familliar Tropes and new vibes

But the other Story is totally different. It’s kind of dark and disturbing and trys to break some taboos.
It’s entertaining cause it’s totally unrealistic and the toxicity is so over the top, that no one can say that this could be a healthy relationship!
The Younger brother reminds me of an maipulative comic villian and is creepy as f....
But i like it more than the subversive toxicity of some major BLs, which is praised as healthy. (Relationships are based on respect and communication at eye level, anything else is simply harmful)
Unfortunately the story leaves the psychic/stalker storyline and turns to a (very!) weird familiy drama.

So both storylines have their own charme, but they just do not fit together and I don't know who thought that was a good idea to put them in one series. Cause both appeal to a totally different audience and it would be better if they had mad two seperate Stories instead.

Leia Mais

Welp...

In the words of Dr. Ravi Chakrabarti: "I'm neither overwhelmed, nor underwhelmed. I'm just... whelmed."

This was... Definitely something. I'm not so sure I'm ever going to rewatch that trainwreck, even despite its moments (and God knows there were some great moments). The premice was excellent, the commentary on fujoshi culture would have been great had it been addressed instead of taken seriously, the acting was... what it was, and the music lacked some of the flavor that made History 3 a great installment (and the apex of the series's quality to date). To worsen the plot, I found that the filming was often odd and I am sorry for saying it but it felt like watching bad 90's erotica.

There were some good use of tropes, and thank God no one died fetching salt this time (you can say I'm... salty about something here - pun intended) ALTHOUGH people mentioning salt here and there, now and again in the drama triggered some pretty hefty PTSD (still not over MODC). SPEAKING OF! I gotta say what saved the second part of the drama was Sun Bo's return! The return of the king! And yeah, his wedding was as cringe as can be, but what a breath of fresh air and OMG that Haoting mention in the last episode (and he better be in Alaska, snuggling next to Xigu!)!!! But here's the thing here: I'm trying not to think about the implications of Liu Meifang existing both in MODC and CTY confirmed by the existence of Sun Bo and his boyfriend in CTY and the fact that MODC is a canon drama in this universe and the possible existence of a warp in the timeline or in the layers of realities and the existence of a possible second dimension as it pertains to the History series wherein Yu Xigu is alive and well and what it means for the future of the series... Because this is TOO MUCH! WHICH ONE IS THE RIGHT TIMELINE??? SENJOU NO BOKURA'S??? MODC??? OR DOES CTY EXIST IN ITS OWN PLANE OF EXISTENCE???? WHAT IS HAPPENING??? I NEED ANSWERS!

But I digress: Overall, I don't think this installment matched the flavor History 3 had and it might have done quite a little damage to the franchise as a whole. I don't know how the crew, screenwriters, and staff can possibly salvage what's left of this mess that is History 4, what with Lin Pei Yu's talent being now used by Tencent and pledged to WBL. It will take some serious work (or a second season to MODC in which Xigu DOES NOT DIE) to get the quality back. I am extremely frustrated with this drama seeing that many things should have been handled better (such as the fujoshi/bl meta that I think Lovely Writer aced in comparison, the step-bother/rape/assault storyline, the fake dating thing, the "I saw you masturbate therefore I'm in love with you - wait no maybe that makes sense, idk but it was handled quite superficially - and the chief Gao ploy) but what frustrates me more are MUREN'S FUCKING DECONSTRUCTED SWEATERS!!! Homeboy looked better in a ROBE than those abominations! Burn the sweaters! Burn them! Them and Lichen's plushies! ENOUGH WITH THE PLUSHIES! DO YOU HAVE A PARTNERSHIP WITH PLUSHIES COMPANIES HISTORY FRANCHISE??? OR TOY COMPANIES??? BECAUSE IT SURE AS HELL LOOKS LIKE IT WHAT WITH THE AMOUNT OF SCREENTIME THOSE THINGS GET! OR IS THIS A LIU MEIFANGVERSE THING??? HOW IS IT THAT MODC AND CTY HAVE THE HIGHEST PLUSHIES RATE??? (God! I miss Trapped)

Anyway, I have question and this drama's better for the memes than the actual plot. Rant over, I guess... What the fuck was this drama?

Leia Mais

The most problematic HIStory, and I LOVED IT!

I have to be honest. This is the only BL by far FOR ME that is so bad it's good. This HIStory is the messiest one of all the HIStorys by far, and I JUST LOVED IT! It was just ridiculous from the get go, but so, so entertaining in its problematic story.

I have to mention, are people really into the step-siblings getting together trope? I mean, cool, I guess. But if you actually know the law on the matter, it’s pretty black and white. Step-siblings can legally get married. End of story. I just find how they use this trope and sensationalize it out of proportions so funny. It’s so entertaining. Like. It’s legal. Get over yourselves. LOL

The highlight for me, and I’m sure I’m not alone in this one, is the lovely cameo we get around the end from a certain couple from HIStory3. It was just a lovely cherry on top, and I loved that they sort of gave us more closure from the ending of that HIStory3. If you know, you know.

Last thing i have to note is that i find it most ironic that arguably the most romantic lines of all of HIStory by far came from the not so arguably creepiest character ever. But i have to reiterate. I JUST LOVED IT! Even the little creep!

Over all it was a mess. But it was such a mess that I ultimately really, really enjoyed it.

LOVE WINS, GUYS! WOOOOO!
HIStory still for the win!

P.S. I legit feel like they really played hard on the cliché yaoi tropes; why we got this lovely/messy lump of a mess. I see it, and I loved it.
9 COMPLETELY PROBLEMATIC STARS! (In the best way possible)

Leia Mais

A series that you either love or hate. Not really an in-between.

This has got to be one of the most satisfying and clean finales for me out of all the BL series I've watched. Everything really clicked and while the story was wrapped up quite well, there still is a potential for a continuation (ex. Xing Si and Yong Jie after YJ's graduation, Li Cheng and Mu Ren in their new home, etc.)

I do agree that this series had a rocky start so I understand the negative comments. But I'm so glad I did not drop this. The series progressed wonderfully and got better and better by each episode. Great acting. Chemistry's there. This is now my second most favorite HIStory series.

Leia Mais

Well... it is what it is...give it a try but try not go get offended

I would not say that this is the best bl out there , but it's not the worst either. It was interesting to see how authors got creative a little bit and tried to bring something new into the bl world. New in a sense that I've never seen a BL before that had this kind of a story line, especially about the second couple( Fu Yong Jie-Ye Xing Si). People are going to find it offensive, disgusting, immoral and whatnot, but you need to remember that this is fictional. Y'all can relax.
True, I agree that somethings that FYJ did were bad, inappropriate, and I don't approve of it. But I don't think that this is "love-love". He is more obsessive, calculated, he has that manipulative behavior, while YXS is completely opposite.
I doubt that YXS loves Yong Jie. I feel like there's pity, sympathy and a whole mix of other emotions. This "couple" is a representation of an unhealthy relationship. The incest part was interesting to me and I wanted to see how things will work out for them, but the younger one needs therapy and the older one needs to open his eyes more and separate what's right from what's wrong.
The other couple is totally different from the one I commented on before. They showcased every facet of what is considered as a "healthy" relationship. They were considerate, warm, honest, straightforward and most of all were highly aware of what accounts as abuse, emotional or otherwise. But still, i did not enjoy some aspect of their relationship.
At the end of the day, it's just drama. Sometimes it made me excited and wanted to see more, but most of the time it was kind of boring, draggy and heavy. It was hard to watch form time to time and honestly awkward. I mean it is what it is. Probably least favorite from all HIStory dramas.

Leia Mais

History does it AGAIN!

Another boundary breaking series from History. Once again, I wasn't sure if I was going to like this series after the 1st few episodes. I most certainly didn't like the characters. But then something happened in Episode 3 and by episode 4 I was wow this has certainly blossomed. The 4 main characters were all very much into this series and their characters development. I am going to miss this series next week. I have to give Charles Tu a special shout out. Just wow! What a stunning performance. The producers also too just never a bad scene or a questionable anything.

I was wondering if anyone knows was the opening theme song an original for the series? If not who is it singing?

Thank-you for enlightening me for the last 10 weeks. 👍👍

Leia Mais

The second couple

(This is my only review on this website and the first one I have written for a drama in many years. I couldn't stop myself from writing one for this drama.)

It's been mentioned here many times, but I feel that it can never be mentioned enough. To this day, I still wonder how on earth someone wrote the storyline for the second couple, someone approved this story, and someone agreed to produce it.

I liked the main couple until I saw their reactions to what happened to their friend and how they behaved later on around the second couple.

I rarely get carried away with fictional drama characters. Still, the whole thing was so nonsensical and utterly stupid that I couldn't help but feel dumbfounded and ridiculed by the writers.

There is no saving grace with this drama. Please don't watch it or if you do, voice your disgust, so maybe writers and producers will think twice before using cheap and dirty antics as a plot device.

Leia Mais

Just Skip to the Last Ten Minutes

If you want my honest opinion, the only butterflies I got during this entire show were during the MODC cameos at the very end of the last episode.

In general, the plot line was horrific. It seemed like whoever wrote this just lined up all their taboo fantasies (aka sexual assault) and loosely connected them together. Nothing flowed, the transitions between specific developments didn’t make sense, and the resolutions were all disappointing.

I think the most disappointing resolution was between Mei Feng and the other coworker girl who was harassing her the entire time. She just showed up, said “I’m sorry.” And then ten seconds later Meo Feng was sharing secrets with her like nothing happened. Talk about anti-climactic and unsatisfying. It really solidified the shallow arcs that the writers tried to make deep by sprinkling it with serious transgressions.

The wrongdoings vs the resolutions were incredibly unbalanced. Either make the conflicts more lighthearted to fit the endings, or come up with more serious consequences for the characters.

Such a disappointing ending to a great series.

Leia Mais