I Secretly Fell in Love with the Student Council President (2022)

Charming, a little light on plot

This was a very pleasant watch, with a charming cast and good acting.

Points for playing and singing music - I like that in a show that's largely about a band that they actually perform.

What I would say about this is that it takes a threadbare formula and executes it very well. But it was formulaic, and really had nothing to say. College students, demanding parents, typical seme and uke dynamic (although the uke was taller and better built, which is a rarity), and lots of the usual tropes, like umbrella holding, wiping crumbs off the face, lots of tripping and catching. and I'm not really sure what the story was about other than it being a romance.

The parent thing was never really resolved, and Ye Guang's desire to make his own decision was to... turn in a blank test and not run for student body president. Nice ambitions there. Way to prove your dad right.

The first 5 episodes are really wonderful, and then the creativity ran out and it leaned more and more on formulaic elements, but it was never overwhelmed by them.

I enjoyed the series and I recommend it, it you like fluffy romance. It's not overdone or cloying, and it feels more like two boys than usual (as opposed to a boy and a 19th c 12 year old girl).

The technical aspects of this were all quite good, with good directon, camera, and editing.

So I'd rate it "above average", but the lack of plot and themes stopped it from being truly memorable.

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This Has Turned Out to Be a Great Watch

This is at least a few notches above the average BL plot, and it has all been enjoyable to watch.

After all 8 episodes, the story has more than enough depth and I feel for every one of these characters, so I have to make a note of the great acting skills in this series.

I'd be a lot happier with the usual 12 x 50 setup to let this story expand to delve further into the characters and emotions.
But with the time they had to work with, I still had to give it a 10.

For me, this series has already won a few awards, including Best Performance by a Drunken Uncle, and Best Character Transformation by Taking Off the Glasses.
And, Best Performance by Egg Drop Soup as a Side Character. . .

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Could Have Been Okay, But the Overwhelming Toxicity Turned Me Off

What I'm going to say may turn off a lot of people, but I'm tired of sweeping it under the BL "well, that's just the way Asian cultures are" rug.

Abuse know no special language. I know, I went through something similar for nine years of my life, and though I survived and got past it (some don't), it marked me for life. Frankly, I don't care what language you speak, to mentally, emotionally, and even physically abuse your only son for years in the name of "loving" him is just sick, and I don't care who is doing it. And any culture that normalizes it is, to mind mind, equally culpable for that sickness.

Further, I'm tired of seeing it normalized as a trope in far too many BLs. Like this one, which ended in such a way that it was never made clear that these "loving" parents had even the remotest clue of the damage they were wreaking on their only child.

As I say, it could have been an okay, cute, run of the mill BL, but the sociopathic parenting on full, horrible display throughout ruined it for me. Sorry.

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SO GOOD

This is definitely one the best series from this year. The OST is, without a doubt, the best from all the asian BL drama series I've watched in 2022. The story is so cute and the boys were the cutest and acted well too. I don't know, just the way they both were so sad in problematic families and just found happiness in each other and in music... I just LOVE gays and music together. I really love and miss shows where the couple doesn't need to be fighting or being toxic with each other to have drama, so this was key to make me love it. The boys were just running from unhappiness together and that is beautiful. I like the second couple too, they are so sweet. The only thing I didn't like was that the kisses were not very great to watch, but I'm willing to ignore it.

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The Kids Are Alright

Aw hell, I just really liked this one.
It wasn't the best show I've ever seen by any means, but it was such a sweet and earnest story about a bunch of kids trying their best and figuring themselves out I just couldn't help but be drawn in by it.

The characters are all very easy to love and I appreciate just how much they feel like real teenagers. They're all at different stages in their lives and that's okay. Some of them know exactly what they want from their future and some of them have no idea what they want to do with their life at all. Some of them are romantically and sexually experienced and some of them haven't so much as kissed anyone yet. You know, like real kids.
In general the show does a great job of portraying the beautifully varied lives of young queer people and makes it very clear that they're all perfectly alright just as they are and that there's nothing wrong with living life at your own pace, which is an important message for anyone to hear, kids as well as adults.

While the story is largely lighthearted, it also tackles more serious topics like parental neglect and abuse, and does so with great care and sensitivity. It emphasises the importance of communicating your wants and needs to the people in your life as well as the importance of standing up for yourself even if that means going against the expectations and demands of others.
The only thing that, to me, felt out of place is Qi Zhang's uncle. His sudden appearance was as jarring as it was entirely unnecessary. You're telling me that Mama Xu would really have let that man come anywhere near her kid? There's just no way.
But that's pretty much my only complaint.

So if you're looking for a very sweet slice-of-life story with solid writing and good music, which treats its characters with care and respect while broaching some mature topics, then I'd definitely recommend giving this one a shot.

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can't get enough of 8 episodes, i need more

It's been a while since I finished a show in just one sitting, and let me tell you, not only is this one short (23 minutes each episode), but its pacing is remarkably fast. This is the kind of soft and fluffy romance that will have you kicking your feet in the air and saying "awww."

The show features two couples, and believe me, you'll fall in love with both of them. Overall, both lead couples are fantastic and contribute equally to the story as a whole. The music (OSTs) is too good not to listen to on repeat. Every cast member has given their best performance, and I wholeheartedly recommend it! 100% worth it

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back to my childhood

I LOVE IT !! Beautiful good job everyone who this realization seriously I am currently in university and watching this brings me back to high school where I was a carefree student while my best friend was the one that the parents were always expecting to be at the top of the rank is 2 or 3 his dead, he was frustrated but was wearing that face mask of smile and happy person around people except me. He didn't even have the right to have a girlfriend, if it is school activities be the best player otherwise it was like wasting "his precious time" but everything has a change in grade 12 he choose to do what he wants and be a normal teenager and his decision was the best he got accepted by his parents and he got their support, love. stop with the sad story good moral of this series learn how to decide for yourself even if your parents think that they are always right you can make them understand in your way if they don't understand you. we know parents want the best for their children but a child should learn about the difficulty of life the upside-down fall and restart walking again. The music choice here is incredible I can't get it out of my mind, except for the serious parents we got some funny, cute, and adorable moments. well done !! ❤️

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Just hits different

Maybe I'm a bit biased cause I absolutely love Taiwanese series, but it's just so good omg.

Where it misses in the story it adds up in the story telling and the acting.
Ye Guangs charecter is genius, the whole high-expectations child was done so well and Li Chen Hao portrayed it beautifuly.
Don't even get me started on Ray.

Ngl I thought the brother of the sister that preformed infront of Guang was gonna be Rays love instrest, but I don't mind that it was A'Jian cause
THE*CHEMISTRY*BETWEEN*THE*COUPLES*OMGGG

I also love how it was so easy to watch and smooth like you feel like you just started the episode and it's already the end that's how well done the story was.

THE OST!!! ITS SO GOOD, HIS VOICE OMGG

The only thing I gotta complain about was that it was JUST TO SHORT AND IT WENT BY SO FAST.

But overall 10/10, one of my top series.

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So Cute!

I discovered this series scrolling through Gagaoolala and omg I'm so glad I did! It was so wholesome and cute with real life situations and scenarios. The music was catchy and there were visuals for miles! I loved all the couples in different ways and they all portrayed something that we can all relate too ranging from unrequited love to family issues. The ending was so sweet and fluffy! It's a short series but please give it a chance, it's so worth it. There was no over the top drama and basic BL bs. It's always nice to come across something fresh and new!
Enjoy...

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This to myself and in my heart is definitely a 10. I have a special love for Taiwanese dramas and this being a youth BL one was just overall amazing. It was so short and sweet but a story that was just plain beautiful to me. It wasn't just boy comes across boy but it was 2 hurt souls that needed someone and in the moment they fell together and that just truly meant everything to me. The chemistry was wonderful, the sweetness was amazing, I loved the camera feel, I loved being able to witness such a sweet and casual love between these two boys and the 2nd couple was just a good spice. I think the family did great even though I wasn't the biggest fan of the dad per say but truly, I was just not disappointed. I could not stop watching once I had started and I'm thankful I kept going. God, the boys were just SO sweet to each other, I loved every single second of it.

So overall, acting was fantastic for newbies.

Music was BEAUTIFUL.

I would def rewatch it, I'm actually thinking about it now.

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