Why R U? : The Series (2020)

Serie romántica con guapos actores.

Después de ver unas cuantas series tailandesas románticas donde los protagonistas son hombres puedo decir que se produce mucho pero la calidad es baja. Este es un buen ejemplo, porque la historia es muy simple, la misma que se ha visto en cientos de series -empiezo odiándote y luego te amo-, le añado que ocurre en la universidad -sí, esa la de ingeniería, creo que la usan como referente porque tienen las camisas con el logo de otras series y hay que ahorrar dinero-, que uno o varios de los actores cantan -sí, música incluida-, algo de deporte para enseñar pierna... y luego pongo unos diálogos un tanto sensibleros y le dio a los actores que los alargen con pausas largas y miradas que van de amor, deseo, odio... y tengo una serie lista.

Y aquí es lo que tengo. Dos parejas principales, el Tutor/ Saint es un pobre niño rico que ha caído el desgracia, y su compañero es Figther/Zee un niño rico que es un par de años mayor. No se gustan al principio porque Figther está con Hwahwa, la amiga de la infancia de Tutor y él no se siente cómodo con ello porque en el fondo de gusta Fighter. Y éste está luchado con sus sentimentos porque le gusta Tutor. Que si me gusta un hombre. Que si no me gusta... Es la pareja que representa el conflicto, o la pareja seria.

Como pareja romántica está Zon/Tommy y Saifah/Jimmy, que empiezan también como enemigos y luego amigos, y al final como novios. Es gracias a Zon que seguí viendo la serie en sus primeros capítulos porque era el que da un poco de humor a todo el conjunto, gracias a que se le metió en la cabeza que la historia de amor homosexual con él de protagonista escrita por su hermana Zoi, se estaba convirtiendo en realidad. Hay escenas graciosas gracias a que Zon entra en modo pánico cuando está con Saifah. Me han gustados los dos actores, pero no creo que hagan buena pareja. Lo hacen bien, están en su papel pero no los veo como novios o amantes, me pegan más como amigos que se pelean con cariño cada dos minutos. Cuando empiezan como pareja mi interés por ellos disminuyó porque caen de lleno en todos los tópicos del universo romance hombre/hombre .

Luego está el resto de parejas, en las que sabes que cada personaje o amigo de los de arriba va a tener su contrapunto de amor, no hay casi nadie se se salve. He llegado a la conclusión de que si se empiezan a montar parejas por doquier es porque hay una gran falta de ideas para el desarrollo principal de la historia y porque sirve para dar gusto a las fans de este tipo de series.

En general no es una buena serie, el desarrollo de la trama es muy previsible, los diálogos son muy sencillos y planos, los actores cumplen con distinos honores - unos lo hacen mejor que otros- pero logrará satisfacer a aquellos que no buscan grandes complicaciones y que disfrutan de las escenas picantonas.

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This is NOT 9.5/10 show… but it is. Let me explain.

Technically speaking, the show was quite a mess. The editing, directing and pacing were all over the place, but Fightor storyline was close to perfection, and even if you don’t want to watch the whole show, watch Fightor. As far as I know, they are one of the best BL couples up to date with the most fresh and not stereotypical personalities. Or rather, nice twists to the boring stereotypes we know.

LET’S TALK ABOUT ACTING
While most of the cast did a good job, I want to focus on the talent Zee showed. I rarely ever get amazed and impressed by acting in BLs. Often I see the imperfections that make me feel less emotionally attached to the characters, because I don’t see them as real people. Meaning, I don’t immerse myself in the story completely.
Not here, though. Zee’s eyes… oh his eyes spoke volumes! I like to call them "Fighter's searching eyes". While his whole presence showed more of a cheeky and confident side, his eyes showed all the insecurities he had. He was also really good at controlling his microexpressions. Sometimes less means more and makes the performance seem realistic. Viewers are not blind. An actor does not need to make full theatrical gasp with a hand up to their face and huge eyes, for us to understand that they got scared, surprised or taken aback. Simple, short intake of breath is enough. The split second of a reaction, but that’s all we need. I appreciated these small things a lot in his acting.

Overall, he makes these small decisions while acting - when to close his eyes, when to open them, when to fix his gaze and when to make it unsure, when to swallow or take short intake of breath, perfectly timed and telling viewers so much about Fighter’s character.

Both Zee and Saint are also masters of using pauses for their advantage to make the storytelling even more believable and engaging. It’s a perfect example how sometimes not doing anything can enrich the portrayal of the character. With Tutor, the pauses are more intentional for the character, it's his time to "decide", think about the consequences of "what if you push forward a bit more" and with Fighter it’s not intentional, it's him not being able to get back to reality, not being aware whatever happened or was about to happen, ended.

Tommy aced his role. His overreactions were still natural and did not feel theatrical. As the story of Zon and Saifah progressed from comedy to romance, I was able to appreciate more of his subtle acting, with shy smiles and joyful laughter. The potential he has and the flexibility in this craft to fit different genres and moods of the story impressed me a lot.

Jimmy did well for his first role. He did feel more inexperience and his performance fell flat compared to other cast members, but I could see how much of a progress he makes in every episode.

TUTOR AND FIGHTER: DYNAMICS OF LOVE
Ever changing dynamics of their interactions were simply beautiful and amazing to watch, to the point I could write a book about it. Tutor is nothing like your usual stereotypical shy, confused, passive bottom and Fighter is anything but the dominant, overconfident, possessive top. Tutor does not let Fighter get away with the teasing and always questions his behavior, demanding answers and explanations. They pull and push, but never cross the line if the other person is not okay with it. THE CONSENT ladies and gentlemen was a recurring theme. Always giving each other space and time to back off and stop whatever was happening. I wish I could say no forcing yourself on the other person after you've been pushed away, but I guess (?) that was an important part of the plot and the development of the relationship.

THAT SAID, while the behavior of a character was definitely wrong, the way the writing and editing portrayed it was close to perfection. It was a situation that should never take place and the editing and acting surely did NOT make it look like a romantic behaviour. It was not one of the “force it till the other person gives in and starts to enjoy it”. Was it painful to watch? Yes. Was this scene well done? Yes Was it necessary? Yes and no. It showed the mental state of both characters in a raw way that could not be achieved in any other take. Sadly, because the writing of the show, up to that point, didn’t explain enough in how bad of a mental place one of the characters was, this behavior might have felt out of place. In my opinion, they could have mellow it down and not go that far, and still convey needed emotions, desperation and broken state the characters were in.

To sum FighTor up - it’s hard to describe the depth of what was happening between them without quoting specific scenes, but you can see so much through the acting. How both characters struggled with internal conflicts and the feeling of unsureness. And yet, they gravitated towards each other.

PROBLEMS WITH PACING AND EDITING
Shall I say the pacing was a clusterf*** even before the COVID-19 happened and I literally laughed at how confusing everything was? Coz that’s how I felt. But then I just said: wherever, let’s just enjoy this acid trip.

While I was in love with how they handled Tutor and Fighter’s story and the pacing was everything I might have wished for, the fact the drama focused on them so much made the other characters suffer. With the overload of characters and couples, it was doomed from the start - not gonna make it. How can you have well established and developed 5+ couples with their own side-stories? Goal impossible to achieve.

Zon and Saifah... where to even begin. Zon the first half of the episodes had 10 different personalities, I was confused. Because the director did not spend enough time showing us the gradual change in Zon’s perception of his situation and relationship with Saifah, everything just came out of nowhere. There were not enough scenes showing us how Zon went from panic to soft. Which was a bummer, because their sweet story could perfectly balance the drama happening between Tutor and Fighter. We were robbed of such an amazing story it truly pains me.

Don’t even want to talk about Hwahwa. Poor girl makes no sense, her feelings change every second. Just sad. Justice for Hwahwa and her beautiful hair flip.

It’s hard to comment on other characters and their plot lines since they were just dropped here and there without much linear progression nor explanation.

The audio editing was distracting. While the use of some comedic sounds was fine and brought a smile on my face, they definitely overused them. The scenes would be funny even without some random sounds dropped every few minutes. Video editing suffered quite a lot because of COVID-19. In later episodes there were some black screens showing up, the subs were missing, we got the same action done by characters shown in x number of angles, just to stretch the scene a bit more. It was not tragic to the point I could not focus on the plot, but the difference in the quality in the first and second half was quite obvious.

BACK TO POSITIVES
What this drama does have though, is an amazing message. While, in default, most BL dramas are supposed to promote - love is love no matter what gender, Why R U does not shy away from talking about it in a straightforward manner. Calling out and questioning homophobic characters, explaining to them how they are wrong, showing how being heterosexual does not mean your love it perfectly good and will never fail. There were quite a few scenes that deserve to be called “iconic” in BLs realm for how well written the dialogues for them were.

Overall, Fightor is life and perfection. I was legit obsessed with them and rewatched their scene every week. I was never as invested in any couple in drama ever (and I have seen quite a number of them). Watch their story, fall in love and let’s all fangirl together.

PS. While my rating is extremely biased and subjective, I tried my best to be more objective in the review itself. Hope it worked out well-ish :)

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