Capture Lover (2020)

Yes but no...but why not.

Ok it's low budget, we got it. I saw better end of studies projects. It seems to be shot with a smartphone and two ringlights. The sound is the worst ever heard (you can almost make it into a game: subbed? Not subbed? Do you hear the film crew behind?).
The script was written on a corner of the table.
Do you want clichés ? You have it. The rich, somewhat rebellious hunk, the poor guy who succeeded through hard work. The mother who puts pressure. The nasty ex girlfriend really nasty. The best friend in love but ultimately too much ...
The editing is random.
Sometimes I was "WTF?" or "oh wait, really?". Sometimes I laughed (when it was not funny).
The acting is cringey (especially for supporting roles).
At least, the end is not tragic if not really happy (and we applaud this detail!).

BUT, curiously, despite all these faults, I enjoyed the series. I think it owes a lot to the two main players. They are cute, they have good chemistry and seemed to get along really well. They are doing well and we get attached to their character. There are some skinship too which is emphazised.
AND it's BL Chinese.
So you liked Addicted? Don't expect to see a replica. But we can salute the sincere effort of the whole team to have tried to produce something despite all the restrictions. I know they had a lot of problems producing this series so I want to support them.
Fighting, China! You can do it ! Produce a good BL.
Soon.
Perhaps.

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Unintentionally hilarious

This series was honestly so bad it went back to being good again just for the amusement factor.

It looked like a high school film class project. They seem to have shot all the exterior scenes at the crack of dawn as there was never anyone around and they clearly couldn’t afford any extras. The acting was pretty appalling thought the guy who played Jing Jim Ming was the better actor of the two by far, the other guy , Ding Jun Jie wore the same expression throughout, even the sex scene had him looking entirely disinterested.

Both main guys were very pretty though, no denying that!

The plot was terrible, the series blurb made much more of the fake boyfriend thing when that was barely relevant. It just limped along never quite taking off.

Yet - - - I watched the whole series so there was something captivating about it somehow and now it’s ended I’m puzzled why I didn’t give up.

No rewatch factor, terrible music, yada yada.

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It´s a series to ENJOY if you let your guard of "I need high content" down

YES, It was not high quality, I do admit that but after all, this series made me light up. I really liked the easy storyline and the almost parody-like "twists", it really made the whole series so unique. Why do I think so?

There are some "bad" (BL) dramas out there, which don´t seem to have much effort included during filming BUT this series feels like, they didn´t have much but they created something beautiful with it. I mean, it was extremely fun to watch. I was wheezing because of some scenes. For example, the perspective when they had beaten someone up, the perspective. Quite hilarious. It had some emotional scenes as well but in the end, the plot cracked up, after all, it was such a relaxing time to watch.

Nevertheless, the chemistry between the actors was very charismatic and they must have had fun filming it. You could see it. Except for the -clapping- part, that must have been a little awkward.

After I had finished it, I realized that sometimes the quality doesn´t matter as much as the effect it has on you. For myself, I am going through a lot, but watching this was cheering me up. Also reminded me of my short movies when I was younger.
I believe that, in the future, there will be even more Chinese BLs to be proud of! Cheer up everyone.

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Interesting, took a weird turn though

This is somewhere in between acceptable Drama and very good college production. I have absolutely no idea what the budget on this was, or how the shooting/producing conditions in general were. I imagine it must have been quite a low budget production though, judging from the dubs being off a lot of the time, sound quality etc. So I won’t weigh those aspects to heavy into my review.

I am deducting most of my points for how this was directed I guess? I am not bothered by quality, the main problem is how some of the scenes played out and were shot. (Hence the higher rating on all of the separate categories but lower general rating)

The main actors where quite alright portraying their roles, I can’t really complain about their acting, their chemistry wasn’t really all that strong, it was fine for the Drama though. All in all especially the side character’s acting (or maybe it was some of their lines/scenes) gave off quite the Theater-acting-vibe instead of a TV production. That kind of gave the series a little more charm too though.

It started out quite entertaining, a light hearted, fun, office romance with two sympathetic characters. The storyline isn’t anything new, that’s absolutely fine with me though. The plot/series itself didn’t seem to take itself too seriously which made it entertaining to watch. However, at some point in the middle as the relationship progressed they seemed to try and take the whole thing a little more serious, which lead to some (to me) uncomfortably “dramatic/ trying too hard to be serious” scenes.

I think if they’d kept the lightheartedness they started out with for the rest of the Drama, even keeping all the scenes they had/ the story line as it was, just without trying to make it too serious, it could have been a lot better than it turned out to be. I did however, surprisingly, very much like the ending.

All in all this is certainly not a masterpiece, nor a must watch, if you however, see yourself with too much time at your hands, and are looking for something that may make you laugh for a bit, do give it a go.

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awesome actors!

So, as everybody noticed, this is a low-budget drama, and i mean SO LOW BUDGET that i could've produced better results in my kitchen! The actors are literally wearing the same hoodies half of the drama - which is not that long anyway.
BUT... and here is a big BUT: the two ML's - and even the rest of the cast - are really excellent both in looks and acting skills that you can just completely ignore whats going on in the background! It's like two Oscar winners were invited to act in a school play. Watching them together is quite fun, the "boss" is great at playing an immature jerk who - surprisingly - is not afraid to love. Dialogues are spot-on!
The director must have some skills too, getting best results with little money.
Worth watching!

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Quirky and Fun

Worth a watch. If you like more lighthearted and cute dramas, this one is for you.

A very funny, quirky series.

The acting and sounds for comedic effect are a bit overdone but that makes this even more enjoyable as I love the over the top type cringe comedy.

There are issues with audio volume, quality and the separately recorded speech overlay/dubbing matching the timings but I didn’t really mind them.

The actors did really well to deliver their performances. I am especially impressed with the actor of Ding Junjie, who was still able to complete a scene when he had obviously smacked his head really hard against the headboard.

Certain plot points go a bit overboard and are not really necessary (the things the ex girlfriend does after the first time we meet her) but I applaud them anyway for trying to add drama.

Some scenes are beautifully done and the chemistry between the characters is fun and amazing.

There are also some obvious and also some more low-key nods to previous dramas.

For a low-budget drama made in a very short amount of time in a country where LGBT content is banned, this does very well.

I would, and have already, rewatch this series many times.

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OK so I understand that everyone is really upset because of the quality of certain things in this drama but then again you guys have to take in mind that this is a low budget drama and some people that have left reviews aren’t taking that in mind why others are in the ones that are they make a good point I get it yes it’s very upsetting that it’s not as good as you expected it to be but at the end of the day you have to think about it they did this and they put this out here for our entertainment I get it not everyone may like it and this is my opinion but at the end of the day this was a low-budget film and it was a really good low budget series I really liked everything about it in the acting was really good to be a little budget series everything about this was really good to be low budget because I’ve also seen a lot of other low budget series and movies and stuff like that and they were way worse Sometimes with other other low budget series and movies you can’t even hear the words all the way completely and they don’t have that many actors or even background so sometimes are doing it like outside and all this extra stuff this was really good to be a low-budget thing and everyone needs to give the actors and the people who worked really hard credit instead of saying that it was a really bad it was not that bad the acting was really good the story was really good everything about this drama was really good in my opinion and at the end of the day for it to be low budget it was still very good and I think you guys should just give the people who worked really hard on this the credit and make them feel good about what they did because at the end of the day they put their hard work And dedication and sweat and tears and everything they could into this drama and people aren’t getting that all they can keep talking about is how low budget it is but you guys aren’t paying attention to the details that they still works really hard to make this entire show happen but like I said that’s my opinion but you guys need to take other things into consideration instead of how much it cost because if you always do that then somethings may not go right but like I said you can’t put a price on everything including hard work and that’s what people are doing by saying since it’s a low budget they’re acting is bad they’re acting is not bad it’s really good and I hope you find my review helpful Also just because it was low budget does not mean it’s not good quality this is really good quality to be a low-budget film and sometimes low budget films are better than films that take way more money to make but like I said you can’t put a price on hard work and dedication and that’s what people are doing and it’s really upsetting because the actors and everyone that were in the show really worked hard and dedicated their self their time their energy to this and I think it was really good in my opinion and I hope some of you guys can agree with me but I get where other people are coming from I totally understand everyone has their own opinions and this is mine so I hope you understand me and I hope some of you can agree with me

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It's bad. Like... really bad.

I see a lot of people "cutting this show slack" because it came from China.

But like... so? I mean, yeah I commend them for sneaking an LGBTQ story through the strict censorships of China but, if the final product presented is bad, does it really matter how much effort they put into it? If you're going to potentially risk your career to tell a story, I would HOPE you would make it a story worth telling.

But nope. This show falls flat in every regard.

I've seen shows with shoestring budget, but this absolutely takes the cake. I think all of their budget went into the soundtrack, because the songs they did play at least didn't make me want to claw my ears off. But everything else was sorely lacking. The locations were so uninspired. The sound team didn't know up from down. The costuming. The goddamn North Face bomber jacket.

The actors were... fine, but the biggest problem was the script. With roughly 15 minutes per episode, you would think the showrunners would cut out unnecessary plotlines to really do something with the main characters relationship.

But no. We get long shots of people gossiping, insipid storylines of side characters who love the lead actors and then just vanish from the story, and just a bunch of other cliché nonsense that appears just as quickly as its swept under the rug.

I don't know. The only thing positive I can say about the show is that it will make you laugh. But never for the right reasons.

Give it a watch if you want to make fun of it or if you just hate yourself.

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it's clear that the budget was low with how painful the dubbing is, the editing and the script itself was not that appealing. besides all the negatives, we are lucky to have seen a chinese bl come out alive even with broken limbs.

the story wasn't anything new. a mischievous dude and a tsundere. combine the two and you have the most generic bl plot. there's the ex girlfriend that schemes a whole kidnapping plan. you even have the mom that doesn't accept her gay son so she breaks off the main leads' relationship. blah blah blah they break up and what do ya know? an open ending. what's new, world?

the only positive thing was some of the comedic moments:
-the dick birthday cake
-ding's mom and jiming getting absolutely wasted
-finally seeing tsundere ml having an expressive face on episode 9
-tsundere ml looking like the world was ending during the sex scene

i hope chinese bls rise again and with a more hopeful tone because it's honestly sad to see an immortal story that my brain no longer wants to process.

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It starts like a BL and ends like a gay movie.

The series starts like Beloved Enemy (just on a low budget) but then it turns into heartbreaking story about love that has no place to be and then it takes turn for a little forced happy ending.

Not sure what I expected getting into it. Definitely not this terrible sound (though this may be the fault of the copy I was watching) and maybe a tiny bit better acting. Only after watching it I realised it's from 2020, while watching it, it felt like early 2000s...

Was this the best thing I have ever watched?
Nope.
Will I watch it again? Nope, unles I need it.
But I appreciate that they decided to put this project together. And that they wanted to tell the story. And what a story it is.

It starts with doubtful boss-coworker relationship that we saw few times before and - to be honest - it never feels realistic. For an episode or two, it's just as stereotypical as it can get - to the point, one of the people in the company wrote a story about boss-coworker relation.

But then, suddenly, it gains this very personal, very vulnerable angle, when whatever is happening between leads, is being set in the harsh reality.
And from the scene that looks as taken out from S.C.I. (getting ex girlfriend to believe they ade dating) we dive deep in scenes at home, where Mother Ding meets Ying and drinks with him, only to accept him as her son. Or the heaetwarming scene when the leads try to decide how to help 'their' mother. Up to the moment mother pleads with Ding to leave this wretched relationship.

Overall, it feels like someone had a personal story to tell, needed some plot to set it in and this is how, the further you go, the better it gets. Plot wise at least, acting has it's moments but it's not the strong side.

Did I enjoy it? I did. In a very strange way, not expecting anything and being surprised with the results.

Should you watch it? I don't know, only if you don't mind the sound on the wind in the microphone.

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It's not THAT bad.

A lot of the reviews and the comments section are a bit harsh, but I wonder if maybe people were reading the comments and letting other people's opinions sway their own - notice that most people said they watched the whole thing or that it's "so bad that it's good."

This is not so bad that it's good, and it's not bad at all.

I think we need to keep in mind is that there is a Thai BL formula which includes a huge dose of fantasy - for example, the whole school is gay, or nobody has a homophobic bone in their body. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, and it's often a nice break from the real world, where there is no escape from homophobia. But that doesn't make everything else "wrong".

So first, some negatives that aren't negatives:

The budget. Yes, it's low. So what? Almost all BL are low budget, and it's cheaper to film in the Philippines or Thailand than it is in China, not to mention the censorship and really, really difficult municipal regulatory issues. The issue isn't the budget - I'm sure we can think or a ton of Thai BLs that had healthy budgets that were terrible. The issue is what you do within the constraints of the budget. Do you have a competent cinematographer and director? Is it well-edited? Is the sound & lighting good (these can be the hardest, BTW - editing & cinematography are about talent, skill, and time - lighting & sound are about money [as well as talent and skill]).

This show did a good job with all of these.

The writing is just OK. The "I hate you" phase was better, and had some good ideas in it. The relationship part itself didn't work as well and was a bit rushed, but imagine the level of censorship this production must have faced - it's a miracle that it was made and released at all.

The acting - one of the leads is a bit stiff, but he's not BAD, just a bit limited in range. There aren't any embarassing or laughable performances, and by BL standards they're fairly good.

There is a toxic female character, but there are also two positive female characters, and the toxic one is an over-the-top villainess who does not consume a lot of screentime, nor does she make anyone in the main pairing irrationally jealous like the standard BL formula requires.

But what is most important is for there to be heart in the project, and this has that. You can really feel that everyone involved cares about this series, whereas so many BLs are just cashing in on the popularity of the genre - including a lot of the high-budget productions. Every single person involved in this production risked their futures to make this for us, and we should appreciate that and give it our support.

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I like this story from the first episode even I already know that they will be together at the end of the story but I didn't expect that they will get separated before the ending but at least I have a positive vibes that they will be together again when they met at the ending and I really want this to have a season 2 . I also like their acting even sometimes I feel that they feel awkward when shooting some scenes on the series but still they deliver their acting with all their best.

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