HIStory3: Make Our Days Count (2019)

PAGUEN POR MI PSICÓLOGO

Es una noche de verano de Enero en 2020. No importa que tanto aire acondicionado haya, el calor de la pieza no te deja dormir; así que, desvelada y con ganas de terminar la serie que te tiene manija en el momento, decidís agarrar la computadora y ponerte a ver los tres últimos capítulos que te faltan porque hasta el momento venía siendo una belleza de lo tierna que era, y no tenías una menor idea de lo que te esperaba.
HIStory 3: Make Our Days Count es la segunda historia de la tercera parte de esta saga, situada en una típica historia de escuela entre Xiang Hao Ting y Yu Xi Gu que maneja nuevamente la narrativa 'chico rico/chico pobre' pero que la trabaja desde lo bueno que cada uno puede darle al otro, llevando a que su relación se desenvuelva sin muchos altibajos y se corone de la manera más tierna posible. Por otro lado, el padre de Hao Ting es una de las personas más MALAS de la tierra y hasta este día lo detesto con todas mis fuerzas cada vez que me acuerdo de las que hizo, mientras que la hermana y los amigos de él son de las mejores personas que pisaron la tierra y les agradezco que hayan estado al lado del chabón que literalmenteNO SE MERECÍA LO QUE LE PASÓ. ¿¡CÓMO VAN A HACER ESO!? ¿¡CÓMO LE VAN A CAGAR LA VIDA DE ESA MANERA!? HAO TING AMABA A XI GU CON LOCURA, ESTABAN DESTINADOS A SER Y ÉL SE HABÍA ESFORZADO TANTO PARA QUE LA MIERDA DEL PADRE LO DEJARA SALIR CON XI GU QUE ERA MÁS BUENO QUE EL PAN. Y XI GU TENÍA TANTO QUE DAR DESPUÉS DE LA VIDA DE MIERDA QUE LE TOCÓ, NI SIQUIERA LO DEJARON DISFRUTAR UN SEGUNDO DE LA FELICIDAD QUE MERECÍA

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

...Bueno, la historia es hermosa en todo sentido, el final les va a dejar un vacío en el estómago que va a durar un par de días pero igualmente vale la pena de ver (aunque conozco gente que la dejó en el episodio 8 y pretende que el resto no existe y la verdad que no las culpo); pero si tienen un poco más de coraje y la miran entera la van a disfrutar y van a sonreír por ellos porque a pesar de todo son una de las mejores parejas de todo el BL y se merecen ese reconocimiento.
(Ah, y cuando la terminé mi mamá me encontró en la pieza cuando se levantó en una río seco de mis propias lágrimas y tan desanimada que se asustó porque pensó que me había dado un golpe de calor).

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Realmente me costó llegar a la conclusión de este bello drama, porque era evidente desde su final lo que sucedería y no me atrevía a concluirlo aún.
Hoy precisamente tome la oportunidad de hacerlo, no es el primer drama BL con un dramático final que concluyo, pero aun así no deja de ser doloroso al recordar.
El título me lo gritaba a los cuatro vientos y no quise aceptarlo y heme aquí, desahogándome por primera vez en un escrito acá.
Se que la franquicia de HIStory nos tenía tan acostumbrados a finales dulce y momentos de superación donde veíamos a las parejas estar juntas y éramos felices por eso. Siempre esperábamos por otra entrega de esta bella historia.
Ahora luego de esta entrega con tan buena trama, nos hace pensar en la vida misma. No todas las historias de amor terminan como deseamos. Muchos buscan caminos por separados, pero eso no evita dar todo de si mientras dure tu relación para que al menos el tiempo juntos tengas buenos recuerdos.

Ver a Hao Ting llorar literalmente me hizo llorar (Wayne realmente hizo un buen trabajo) y estaba muy enojada al principio porque él y Xi Gu merecía un buen final como todos los demás. Sé que la historia siempre trata de representar la realidad, pero todavía estoy triste por todo, honestamente. Al menos estoy feliz de ver a Sunbo ser tan bueno con Hao Ting. Incluso cuando todo se ponga difícil, siempre habrá alguien a tu lado que te amará y que te escuchará.

Cuando desde el inicio solo vez todo envuelto entre tanta dulzura sabes que algo no va bien acá, ley de los dramas.
Todo parecía carecer de un punto culminante y al ver cómo todo iba en una buena dirección, entonces sospeché que no terminarían juntos, ya sea una ruptura o una de ellas muriendo. Pero tienes razón, las pistas fueron muy sutiles e hicieron un buen trabajo para distraerme, así que no se mostró tan descaradamente como atrapado donde todos sabíamos que no terminaría demasiado bien para los personajes.

Y para terminar tomaré varias frases y diálogos que ame durante el recorrido.

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Realmente creo que es guapo. Y cada vez que lo veo, no sé por qué, pero mi corazón se siente como que está a punto de saltar de mi cuerpo.
Al principio, fue porque gritó. Luego, cuando lo vi, sentí pena por él. Entonces pensé que era porque lo compadecía, pero no es así para nada. Me di cuenta de que estoy empezando a ponerle más atención.
Como cuando estudia, cuando se ríe, cuando camina, incluso cuando está parado quieto en un lugar. No puedo evitar mirarlo. Justo como hoy en la clínica de salud. Seguí, seguí, mirándolo. No sé qué diablos está pasando conmigo.
Solo pienso que él es realmente lindo. Él es muy lindo.
- Te gusta Yu Shigu.
- ¿A mí?
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Amar a alguien es no hacerlo llorar o no hacerlo sentir mal. Amar a alguien... es dejarlo que sea feliz.

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¿Por qué quieres protegerlo? ¿No solías odiarlo antes? Ahora, mientras le vaya bien, entonces estoy feliz. ¿No es esto lo que es querer a alguien? Como antes, cuando te gusto y yo te gusto, ¿ese tipo de me gusta? Me gusta Yu Shigu. ¡Me gusta mucho! Gracias. Después de decírtelo ahora, me siento mucho mejor. ¡SÍ! Xiang Haoting, estás realmente loco. Eso es lo que dice mi papá.
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Cuando nos empujan a avanzar por el tiempo, es cuando nos damos cuenta de que todos los preciosos recuerdos de nuestros corazones son todos los "ese día" cuando caminamos juntos
Mejor, Cada "Ese Día"

Si realmente tengo errores o si mi texto lo siento, realmente escribi esto desde el fondod e mic orazón y no revose si tiene sentido.
ES MI CORAZÓN TRISTE GRITANDO!!!

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Acabo de terminar esta temporada y en estos momentos tengo muchas emociones.
Ya había leído a grandes rasgos como sería el final de este espectáculo, pero no por ello dolió menos, de hecho no estaba preparada.
En general me gustó mucho, tal vez en un inicio el enamoramiento entre Hao Ting hacia Yu Xi Gu se me hizo demasiado apresurado, pero aún así cada interacción entre ellos potenciaba su desarrollo como personajes y como pareja, ambos se ayudaron y motivaron entre sí para ser mejores, convirtiéndose en una pareja de lo mas entrañable.

La verdad es que mi calificación hubiera sido un poco más alta de no ser por el final, trato de ser objetiva y pensar en que fue un final diferente e inesperado a comparación de entregas anteriores en la franquicia de History, pero no puedo evitar sentir en que todo fue demasiado injusto e innecesario, y tampoco estoy segura de que dejara una buena moraleja, intentaron vender un producto haciendo que el espectador se encariñara con sus protagonistas, deseándoles lo mejor y admirando sus progresos y proyectos futuros, todo para que de la nada decidieran matar al personaje más sufrido de la historia y además convertir a su enamorado en un alma en pena.

Recuerdo leer un comentario que mencionaba que el final muestra la importancia de seguir adelante luego de sufrir una perdida, pero el problema es que Hao Ting no sigue adelante! a simple vista parece que sigue con su vida, ha tenido éxito en sus estudios y se prepara para ir al extranjero, lo más probable es que obtenga un buen trabajo, pero su mente y su corazón se quedaron estancados el día en que Yu Xi Gu murió, aún tiene la herida abierta que parece no querer cerrar por más que se encierre en sus estudios o se buscara una novia (en serio lo que este chico necesita es una buena terapia psicológica, no que sus padres lo animen a conseguir un nuevo amor en una mujer).
Agrego a esto que también me molestó que omitieran todo lo referente al momento del accidente, la reacción de Hao Ting y del resto de personajes, el apoyo de su familia ( principalmente de su padre), pero todo esto es reemplazado por un salto de tiempo de 6 años en que parece que todos están bien con sus vidas menos Hao Ting que está en la mierda.

Además, algo que creo que fue muy innecesario y que no logré entender fue la incorporación de esa especie de doppelganger de Yu Xi Gu, ¿Por qué? ¿Para qué?, creo eso fue solo poner más sal a la herida.

Sobre la pareja secundaria no tengo mucho que decir ya que me fueron indiferentes, de hecho en un inicio el amigo de Hao Ting se me hacía bastante tóxico y controlador, luego mejora pero aún sí parece mantener ciertas actitudes, me gustaba más su rol de mejor amigo del protagonista en lugar de su rol de amante.

No soy experta en actuación pero creo que estuvo bien, me gustaron mucho sobre todo los principales, el actor que interpretó a Hao Ting hizo un muy buen trabajo, tanto así que le creí su enamoramiento y también le creí su dolor, algo que no siempre es fácil de lograr en estas historias (en "History3:Trapped" las expresiones faciales del personaje principal (Tang Yi) daban más risa que pena).

En fin, hubiera preferido otro final, pero creo que el drama en su conjunto está bien.

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Gracias a la saga de History, me empezaron a gustar los BL, y amo estas historias, y las que he visto, pero podrían por favor los taiwaneses hacer un BL con final feliz.
Desde el titulo nos dicen que el drama va a tener un final triste, uno ya tiene 19 episodios para prepararse, y aún así, uno llega al final y sigue queriendo un happy ending.
La historia más que ver como se enamoran dos chicos de preparatoria, es ver como es gracias al amor logran proponerse algo, como la verdadera amistad perdura sin importar las diferencias en gustos, siempre los amigos están para apoyarte en todo.
De verdad que me hubiera gustado otro final, para darle la cereza a este drama, pero aún así... es de mis favoritas.

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I wanted to wait until I had processed the ending of this drama before reviewing it. The emotional investment I had in these boys and their story stopped me from writing down coherent sentences at first. But here we are, a week later!

For the first few episodes, we see a fairly regular (and wonderfully done) set-up between an A+ student with a poor background and a rebel with a soft heart. I must say, I really fell head over heels for both boys and how soft they are with each other. How much happier Shigu became after gradually letting Haoting inside his heart and life. Haoting shouting from the rooftops how much he loves Shigu...

The promising flow of this story was what disappointed me and resulted in a lower score overall after the last episode aired. Having Shigu die, off camera, and fast forward 6 years felt like a cheap trick for making the audience cry. An ending can be sad without being disliked. This was just bad writing.

Why not let Shigu be sick from the get-go and let the audience experience them fighting-perhaps even losing the fight, but alongside them? Why not show us what happened on that god-awful day and watch Haoting pick up the pieces of his life and move on? Both would have been a lot more powerful in my opinion. And both Wei En and Juan Zhi could have carried that as actors.

I think the decision to take Hao Ting's incredible love for Shigu and make it so he seems stuck at 18, broken and unable to move on, too much. The LGBTQ community has had enough of those sad and useless endings, dramas don't have to be lifelessons. They don't have to have the shock-factor this writer aimed for. Sure, we were shocked. But also pissed off. And I was unable to even talk about it because I was so upset that a poor boy who finally found love and warmth got ran over by a car we didn't even see. One of Haoting's lines at the end even insinuates he'll go climb the highest mountain in the world and die there to be with Shigu again. Healthy image for queer romance? I think not. Sometimes it's okay if dramas wrap everything up in a little bow, making people happy can be just as powerful as making them cry.

I guess in the end, this was not what I signed up for when I started this and therefor I cannot stop my emotional reaction of giving it a lower rating. I do wish for the actors involved to get more work and recognition through this, as it is thanks to their performance that the ending hurt so much and the happiness made my heart soar.

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I was originally going to write a review by episode but instead, I am going to do a review on a grand scale and by certain issues either addressed by the show itself or issues people had with the show.
I, first of all, have to say that it was possibly the worst ending I have seen if any show I have watched (including Game of Thrones and GOT is the worst ending for me up until this), I am never watching anything that the writer is in charge of ever in my life, I mean I will personally be checking who the writer is because of her. Like I was wondering what nonsense of an ending that was. Like I hate the fact people try to cover it up by saying it is real life or realistic (and I would be addressing it in my review).
The show started a fun, I mean Xiang and his dumb ass friends being the cool and popular kids, then the nerd that the coolest kid in school falls for but then the story is very not cliché.
Starting this out, I know everyone first had an issue with Sun Bo and his behavior (stalking and assault) but I would like to remind people that he is kind of meant to be a dumb, naïve and impulsive teenager who is kind of falling in love for the first time and doesn't know what to with himself. I am not saying what he did was all right by any standard but understand that this was the first point being driven.
Also, still on Sun Bo, the next thing people highlighted a lot was the age difference and being in high school. Now I am quite happy that everyone is taking Pedophilia more seriously but at the same time, we should realize that countries differ and laws in those countries are not the same as what it is in our countries. Now, I was rubbed the wrong way but when I checked and I saw that the age of consent and majority in Taiwan is 16, I couldn't do anything more about it but move on, this is their country and these are their norms.
Now moving on, things I loved about the show in generality
1. The true representation of LGBT acceptance: Hao Ting Parents, The Gang, and Finally Lu Zhi's family. The showed different reactions to LGBT youth around the world as it happens. Some people just naturally accept LGBT youth especially because of their humanity and personhood and that was represented in the gang, others don't accept it but rather tolerate it for one reason or the other and that was Hao Ting's parents and the last class per se are those that are straight-up homophobic and cut LGBT people out of their lives that was Lu Zhi's granddad. I loved the fact that they represented all these in the show, which is more than a lot of them BLs give us.
2. That age gap should not be a determinant in a relationship (when the people involved are off legal age). Our societies tend to treat age gap as something that should be almost non-existent and that one party is taking advantage of the other but I love that MODC showed that sometimes, real love doesn't care about age as far as you are meant to be together, you would work out.
3. I loved the fact that they didn't revolve the story around Hao Ting struggling to accept that he was in love with a guy (although I didn't particularly like the I am not gay just in love with him trope we often see but whatever). Like it was very straight forward, he suspected he had feelings for Xi Gu and rather than fighting it as we often see, he accepted them and moved forward on and most importantly, he didn't cheat on his girlfriend per se, he broke up with her before properly chasing Xi Gu.
4. I love that consent wasn't forgotten per se in the terms of Xi Gu and Hao Ting. I was scared at several points that with the type of temper Hao had, he would overstep boundaries with Xi but he was honestly patient and surprised me a lot.
5. Sex scenes, now I get a lot of people did not particularly like this, but I like the realism to the sex scenes because most BLs tend to was to Fetishize gay people but they didn't do that here, plus I mean they are high school students, sex tends to be on their minds a lot.
6. The acting and production value were all phenomenal, I hated Hao when he made Xi miss the exam, I cried with Xi when he lost the scholarship, I felt all of the naivety of Sun and his jealousy, like the actors delivered and the quality was insane, to say the least bit. I felt everything, rejoiced with them, laughed with them…. That is what acting is meant to do emote properly, I even felt the ending particularly because of Wayne
7. The portrayed the mistake we have all made as high school students properly, from cruelty, meanness, etc.
8. Character development was great and natural compared to other shows
9. I loved Hao Ting and Sun Bo's friendship, it was beautiful to the end

Things I hated
1. The ending and the writer
2. The fact that they did not properly develop some stories, which I guess was to keep the focus on the main story but still at least resolve them. Like the twin that appeared he had feelings for Xi Gu, we did not get the foundation of the feelings of what connection there was or how did it end up? Another was the guy that made the fake picture of Xi Gu to spite Hao Ting, like what happened to him or even the ex-girlfriend? Then the way they just threw away the Fujoshi?
Now to the controversial ending if you want to portray a real-life relationship or a realistic relationship, then break them up. I am not saying people do not die in relationships, they go off course, but in a world where people always try to tell LGBT people they can't have happy endings, this just drives the narrative because Xi Gu's death was pointless except for shock value and nothing else just break the couple up. I mean, what's more common - breaking up or being killed by a car (or a white truck of doom, for all we know)? Yes, way too many people die in accidents every year, but still... that's not what usually happens, fortunately. So, for me, the "that's life/that's a realistic portrait of life" argument falls a bit flat. My impression is that they didn't necessarily want to portray a "real life" situation, rather they wanted to shock and manipulate their audience, they wanted to present a "clever" twist, maybe because someone, someday, came up with the idea that tragedy equals depth and artistry. Then, secondly - do you know what hurts me the most? I realized it's not, contrary to my expectations, YSG's pointless death. It's how miserable XHT still is even 6 years after the tragedy. Even if he says "Yes, I'm over it", even if he has survived and tried to get on with his life (did he get a girlfriend, or am I wrong? I was in a daze for most of the episode, trying not to cry too much, so there are parts I'm not 100% sure about), even if he says he's ready to hike the Himalayas. He's still so deeply grieving that you just have to look at him to know he's living an unhappy life - he seems to be living only halfheartedly, only half-conscious... and that's heartbreaking, and that's what made me so devastated. I don't see much hope in this ending. It hurts so much because I cannot help but thinking that I would be just as lost in a similar situation. Finding love is so rare, and when you lose it like that... Thirdly, poor YSG. He drew the short end of the stick, didn't he? Was his purpose as a character just to tug at our heartstrings? Was his death just a cliched plot device contrived to squeeze out our tears (and how many of them!)? He, as a character, deserved better! Also, the doppelganger: was his purpose just to trick us in the preview of the last episode with a face that looked like a future YSG? So that people, seeing him, would think "No worries, here he is with a different hairstyle, so he's obviously still alive, maybe they just separated for a few years", just to be then shocked at the revelation? I can't help but feel that my emotions were being manipulated. And lastly - I'm kind of low-key angry with myself for letting myself being so emotionally involved in this drama. It's so silly to be this upset (feeling depressed, feeling there's no hope in this world, feeling like dark clouds are weighing heavy on my heart, crying!) because of a work of fiction.

I know I won't be able to go back to it - and what's worse than that for a drama? Even the forgettable ones are sometimes revisited. And even the soundtrack, that I loved, will be off-limits for the foreseeable future.

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I’ve never written a review before but I’ve been so invested in this drama I just had to write one to show people my perspective.
Now I’ve always loved the HIStory series, and there’s no different with this one. I must say, this one is my favourite of them all simply because of the realism of it all, it’s a simple storyline of enemies to lovers set in a high school surrounding, but, it’s also so much more than that.

I didn’t really care for the side couple as much as I did whilst watching Trapped but I’m honestly very tired of the age gaps in BLs. However, despite this, their story was beautiful and you get to see a realistic couple and their struggles. However, in this review, I will mostly talk about the main couple, Haoting and Xigu. (or xianggu lmao)

Without spoiling anything, the story has a very nice pace, it never felt too rushed nor too slow, and you could really tell how the characters were evolving throughout the series. Haoting being really aggressive in the beginning as he thought Xigu was flirting with his girlfriend to later realise he has feelings for him might be cheesy but I also think that it’s charming, not every LGBTQ series has to go deep about social norms, the gays also deserve a cheesy romance like this one. Just a big guy being head over heels a boy who is the polar opposite of himself and doing everything to get him to like him back. This premise is often a very grey area as consent often is forgotten in BLs and with an aggressive main lead I was very worried he might overstep his boundaries but the way Haoting tries to get Xigu to like him is so different from what I first thought and I was surprised by him many times. We get to see how love can change a person and I think that’s beautiful and although Haoting is aggressive he is always respectful and always wanting the best for the people around him. He makes mistakes but you can really tell that he knows when he’s in the wrong and does everything to make up for it even though he even might hurt himself in the process. (Also wanna talk about how much I love their entire friend group!! Precious!)

I keep seeing people complain about this series focusing too much on sex but remember that they’re in high school so it’s completely normal to think about that sort of stuff when you’re that age + I wouldn’t say it’s focused on sex all that much. The scenes that DO focus on it are so well thought out, meaning the cinematography is amazing, passion, intensity, build-up and climax, it all just made me sit in awe and I really want to applaud everyone who created it. They never fetishize gay people like BLs tend to do as they want to appeal to fujoshis and I appreciate that, they make it all feel so realistic and that might not be super interesting to some but it’s perfect for me.

Now the acting, one word. Amazing. You could feel every single emotion of the characters, despite most of the actors being inexperienced in acting. You could feel the love, the confusion, the sadness, happiness, everything. When the character was in pain my heart hurt too because the way it all was displayed really just made me feel as if I was right there with them, experiencing the struggles myself and that is very powerful.

Although not a lot of songs, the ones that you hear fit perfectly, it never felt out of place or awkward to watch any scenes as the music fit very nicely. The intro is also probably my favourite HIStory intro of all time and the outro is also very very nice to listen to after you sit and stare into the void after finishing every episode lmao.

I have so much to say about this incredible drama but I will never be able to put those feelings into words I just hope you watch it and get to experience it by yourself.

Onto the only negative with this drama, the ending… Don’t worry there aren’t any spoilers here!!
Well going from the best drama ever to a horrible ending, uh I truly do not know what to say about this ending. It felt so out of place and with all the characters so different it just didn’t sit right with me, I truly feel like this ending could be from an entirely different show. It was so sudden and just felt like they didn’t know how to end it which is very disappointing. Watching the preview for the last episode I never would’ve imagined it would end like this and despite the characters not feeling like they used to I cried like a baby, I probably cried throughout the entire 55-minute episode… I can myself think of at least 10 different endings that would fit better with the characters and tie the plot up nicely, it just feels like they threw away all of the work they put into the series right in the last moment which is just so sad.

I will definitely rewatch this but I’ll probably skip the last episode…

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I fell in love with a show on the very first episode. Followed the love throughout the series only to be crushed by the final episode. I understand not all stories have happy endings, but this ending was completely unnecessary, and the episode itself had a completely different and confusing feeling than the rest like it wasn’t supposed to be part of the story. I will likely watch this again with the exception of the final episode, I don’t think that my heart could take it again. Overall, the actors were amazing and I hope to see them all go on to more wonderful projects.

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Now, I know that right after the airing of the last 2 episodes (19 and 20; or just 10th) most people are not happy with how the series ended and I could agree on it for sure.

STORY (?):
I'm one of those people who doesn't mind a sad ending if it fits the storyline (i.e. Trapped or Call me By Your Name) and it is a good ending even if sad. But my problem with MODC is that the ending just seems absurd and rushed like they wanted to make it different from other HIStories, in the end fucking up the whole ending. This story, in my opinion, really DID deserve a much happier ending than this one (perhaps that why at the start it was called "Miracle" could have been a happy one).

Yes I cried my eyes out and was so sad that I was not even able to enjoy Zhi Gang and Bo Xiang's happy ending. So it's a big minus :( I have the so called "second lead syndrome" and it did play a part here too but it was a rare case where I REALLY liked the main couple as well so how they ended their story really did sadden me.

Don't get me wrong though, as you can see, I have given this series a 10 in all categories because everything really was great except the ending. BUT BUT BUT!!!!! But even with an ending like this, there's still a lesson to learn and it explains the title too. We have to make every day count because we may never know what little thing may change our lives forever. We shouldn't waste time on arguing or being stubborn, we should just DO IT because what if there won't be an other chance later and we are just wasting the time that would could have had? This is what I actually do like about the ending and to give a 10 was my first instinct right after watching. I started to doubt it only after reading what other people have to say.

A lot of people are saying that they watch these type of dramas to escape the reality and there's nothing wrong with it but I just hate it when they use it as an excuse to hate on the show. I, on the other hand, try to find shows that DO represent reality cause it feels more believable and it doesn't give false hope for the future. There are 2 good sayings: " "Мечтать не вредно" (dreaming isn't unhealthy) and "Cerība ir muļķa pēdējais mierinājums" (hope is the idiots last solace). I stand by these 2 and that's why I like it when there is some reality( and the harsher one) in the series. Also the fact that there are so many people who just read the comments and automatically say that they won't be watching the ending is just sad. Who knows, maybe you'll like t in the end.

EDIT: After writing this review I found out that the story might be a plagiarism of an older BL Japanese manga series so I really don't know what to say about why the scriptwriter chose to do something like that without mentioning it.

CAST:
I can only say way too many things about the cast so I'm not gonna rant. They all are great. The chemistry is magnificent. Overall a great cast.

MUSIC:
Now I have some good damn songs added to my playlist. As well as there was a sneaky appearance of a sad song from Trapped at the very end. Hit me pretty hard cause I just love that song.

RV:
I probably would but after some time. I would love to pay more attention to those "making it count" moments and not just the lust. But I do need some time to calm down after the ending though.

OVERALL: As always, HIStory is just great and even here I 100% enjoyed 90% of the whole show so I can't say that it's shit just because the ending was not what I wanted. This is more of a realistic one so be prepared.

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Cut the last 2.5 episodes or so, and you have a satisfying show

Let me get the biggest spoiler over and done with: the main couple has a sad ending, though the side couple has a happy ending.

In a marked departure from the generally happy endings of the History series so far, Make Our Days Count, has a sad ending for the main couple, and it's sad in a way which involves a sudden death.

I have to admit that despite my own preference for a happy ending, it does not necessarily mean that a story with a sad ending isn't a good story. Unfortunately, the sad ending is rather discordant with the rest of the series, which is relatively lighthearted. Yes, it is perhaps meant to convey the idea of making our days count. Yes, perhaps the suddenness of the death conveys how unexpected things happen in life, but the series fails in its execution of the unhappy ending.

In essence, the character who dies has a really sad life. He is orphaned from a young age and brought up by his aunt. Not wanting to be a burden to his aunt, he works hard to maintain good grades just so that he can have scholarships to continue his studies. When he finds love, he faces the obstacle of his boyfriend's homophobic father. He manages to overcome this problem and enroll in undergraduate studies at the same time as his boyfriend and his boyfriend's family have started to accept their relationship. Yet his happiness is fleeting--just as things finally seem to be going well for this ill-fated person, he dies in an accident.

While the above summary of his life makes him seem like a consistently sad character whose sad ending shouldn't come as a surprise, I have to say that the saddening details of his life aren't really the focus of the series, which tends to deal with much more lighthearted material. (Even the homophobia in one of the side characters' family isn't explicitly shown, and the show largely focuses on teenage infatuation which blossoms into true love. The poor execution of the bad ending is apparent if we compare the series with Trapped (the first series of HIStory Season 3), in which the potential for a sad ending is plausible from the start, and even Trapped has a happy ending.

There may seem to be something "deep" about a bad ending like this, but I think it the writers are going the easy way out. It would be challenging but possibly more satisfying to make the series end in a moving way that also emphasizes how we need to treasure the moments with our loved ones ("make our days count") without resorting to a sudden bad ending. It is not as if the characters had not treasured their moments together or as if treasuring their time together more would have made the death any more bearable for the surviving person.

In short, the series hasn't really gained much with a sad ending. In fact, we are better off watching the series until perhaps halfway through Episode 18 and stopping at the happiest moments. With Trapped, there was something to keep me watching regardless of whether there is a happy ending, and it is easier to accept the story even if it has a sad ending that makes one cry. On the other hand, in Make Our Days Count, the sad ending seems like an unnecessary plot development even if it manages to wring tears out of the viewer.

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The second instalment of HIStory3 for this year is a regressive detour into fan service that has neither the coherence nor the charm of previous storylines.

One thing I usually say about the HIStory series is that it does good queer stories even if it doesn't do other things right. But Make Our Days Count is not working for me at all. Which is a shame because I was looking forward to it a great deal. However nothing can hide the fact the show is badly written, poorly characterised and has nothing to say.

This story about popular and oblivious Xiang Hao Ting who falls for the studious and impoverished highschool student, Yu Xi Gu, (whom he used to bully) seems regressive - annoyingly so. HIStory1 was little but cliched Fujoshi baiting and I have been enjoying how the series has been maturing and evolving through HIStory2 and then HIStory3: Trapped, which for all its many many many many flaws was ambitious storytelling with mature leads.

Not that my issue is with the highschool setting itself but with the awful seme-uke "gay for you" nature of the main relationship and its associated stalking, harassment and abuse. I felt like the first few episodes were basically a relationship post on the "Am I The Asshole" reddit (with the overwhelming responses agreeing that yes, you are the asshole).

I feel so sorry for Xi Gu who just wants to work and study and has this succession of classmates harass, bully, assault, stalk, abuse and finally sexually harass him. Also I have no idea when or why our male lead suddenly decided he liked him; the switch happened suddenly and without much preamble. The romance essentially came out of nowhere and, while I could believe that Meng Shao Fei's pursuit of Tang Yi could easily become a romantic pursuit, a bully swapping relentless harassment for wooing does not work as well. It's no surprise that Xi Gu assumes that the sudden sexual element to the harassment is merely a new ploy by the boy who has been torturing him.

Of course the other relationship is just as bad, with an older man, Lu Zhi Gang, dating a highschool student, Sun Bo Xiang . One particularly revealing (and slightly gross conversation) involves the older man denying he has a romantic interest in Xi Gu because he's far far too young - despite him being the exact age as his boyfriend. No one - even the writers who put that dialogue on the page - seem to have noticed the problem here. Bo Xiang (played with a great deal of charm and nuance by Wilson Lui, who impresses me weekly) is a physical and emotional child, treated frequently like a toddler by his so-called boyfriend . To make the whole thing worse, the writers inserted an unnecessarily graphic sex scene (unprotected sex, even!) between the two of them that, again, felt like fan service rather than a genuine narrative development.

I could argue that the relationship in HIStory2: Right or Wrong was equally as disturbing but there I felt like the show was saying something and had put some thought into the characters and the relationship. The whole thing was both wrong but also quite romantic and it was up to the audience to work out where the line was and whether they were fine with it or not.

I honestly feel like this iteration of HIStory3 was written to a formula containing things people liked about previous HIStory stories and BL generally. They don't have anything to say, they just pulled elements together as fan service. There is nothing that subtle or interesting about it. It's a copy and paste job that celebrates the worst of BL while romanticising harassment.

Worse than that, "gay for you" as a plot device has a tendency to whitewash homosexuality out of the picture, something that's both ironic and frustrating in a series that's supposed to be dedicated to queer romance stories. Writing gay love stories without the gay may be a standard element of Yaoi but that doesn't mean we're not supposed to be evolving past that. And this is where I see this series as mere Fujoshi baiting. And that is a depressingly regressive move from these particular writers.

The ending

This review has been updated following the final episode to make a spoiler-free comment about the ending. It kind of goes like this: OMFG!! No, just no. Watching this show is like watching someone dig a hole and every time you think it's as deep as it can go it turns out it can plumb new depths. Even people who liked this terrible drama hated this ending. Ponder that one for a moment.

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I also shared my thoughts about this series on twitter; that's my first thoughts after watching the last episode, I cried so much that until now my heart aches knowing these fictional characters deserves better; it aches me how they broke me; this might contain spoilers too

I watched the last episode earlier & knowing the words they say hits differently, I cried with all of their flashbacks together, I cried when XHT felt all his yearning for YXG; I cried as I thought about YXG deserves better;
I don't know if I can accept this conclusion without feeling upset.

Since the first half of the series, we are aware of YXG's story and it was sad; We all knew he grew up without parents, strived hard to achieve a better future, worked hard to make himself stand despite his living condition and when he finally found XHT who made him realized that one can love him & felt truly cared when YXG finally accepted himself it went to tragedy.

I rooted for their happiness, I rooted for their bright future together; I get the gist of the series of making the days count with the people you care & love but I don't get it why YXG didn’t deserve a good end, he deserves a good conclusion, after all, he's been through a lot of hardships in his life yet they took that happiness away from him, they took that development away from us

What I also cried about was, the one who’s fulfilling YXG’s dreams of going to the national university & achieving a good status in life is XHT; it saddens me to see him striving hard knowing his purpose is not with him anymore; making himself busy, meeting other people just to forget YXG; and all those years, XHT always carry YXG memories with him, it broke me into pieces because YXG is the first and last love of XHT.
Just like those stars at YXG’s rooftop, where he always looked at whenever he's sad or happy;
YXG also became a star that shines brightly there, shining upon XHT, twinkling at the night.

Maybe in another universe, YXG & XHT have a better ending; still living together, working things out as a couple, as a family; being kind & in love to each other; maybe in another universe, they still hold each other’s hand & smile as they both face the future positively. Maybe in another universe...

The last episode was supposed to XHT's reflection with all those memories he shared with YXG, maybe it was supposed to be an episode where XHT is coming to the conclusion of accepting what happened to YXG, accepting his weakness, accepting after all these years, XHT still carried YXG in him.

Tho the whole series left me with a bittersweet feeling; I would say that this series was done in high quality, with the way they directed, the soundtrack, the dialogues but yes, that conclusion still upsets me because both main characters didn't deserve to suffer, now whenever I listen to the OST, I will always felt that cry; this series introduced me to the wonderful cast who worked hard to bring us the best chemistry. I’m wishing Wayne, Chunchih, Wilson & Thomas the best in their careers.
I won't forget them, I won't forget the love between YXG & XHT, I will remember this series.


Somewhere in a parallel universe, there's a Yu Xi Gu and a Xiang Hao Ting smiling and holding each other's hand, facing the future together.

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