Hidden Gem: Innocent

Hello, hello, my lovely Misfits, 

We are finally back as Content Team and I am so excited to start the year off with a Hidden Gem. Funnily enough during the last year my favourite kind of blog to write for CT has changed from Love Songs to Hidden Gems. Who would have thought it possible? But I really am enjoying bringing you new and old gems out of our genre and I hope you enjoy my little recommendations as much as I love writing them. 

And today I have something extremely awesome with me, as this series surprisingly has made it into a kind of regular staple to me. The amount of times I have rewatched this show is kind a stupid, but it’s just SO good. 

So what show am I talking about? Of course about the wonderful, heartwarming, slightly challenging 

Innocent. 

It got released last year and I really just stumbled over it when I was browsing Gagaoolala and yes, it’s still up there. So if you have a subscription, put this little gem on your watchlist asap. 

The Storyline

Wu Zheng is actually living a pretty normal life. He has a job he really loves and enjoys. He has friends and a slightly neurotic father which he nevertheless loves dearly. But all this changes when he starts to notice a young man following him home from work every evening. And when he suddenly finds this young man in a pickle, he rescues him and takes him home. 

And that’s how Yu Shi steps into Wu Zheng’s life and nothing will be the same from here on out. Because Yu Shi has a secret. Due to an incident in his past he actually developed a multiple personality disorder (or dissociative identity disorder). And when his protector Noah finally comes back to the front, he is not very happy to see Wu Zheng around. 

Wu Zheng soon develops feelings for his extraordinary guest, but is it friendship and care or even something more? 

Why You Might Want To Watch It 

• The storyline is really something fresh and unique. Yes, they didn’t have the budget or the time to really go as deep into the topic as I would have liked, but it doesn’t change the fact that the idea of this storyline is just totally exquisit and I am very much in love with it. I studied psychology, so I am really into people and their minds. It’s really nice to see how they are portraying this particular disorder. I think they did it quite nicely and respectfully and the few times they don’t get it 100 percent right are easily overlooked in my opinion. But in general it’s nice to see that BL is brave enough to touch such a hot iron topic. 

• The acting is extremely well done. Yi Da Dian especially is really doing such a convincing job as Yu Shi and Noah. It’s very believable and the switches are cinematic wise very clever and well done. I really enjoyed his performance thoroughly, but I don’t want to forget his partner in crime Blake Chang who played Wu Zheng in such a likable way that not once during the entire show you fear for our vulnerable Yu Shi. So two enthusiastic thumbs up for these two. A job well done. 

The chemistry between our two leads is just so, so good. You honestly believe them in everything they do. The struggle, the careful finding of new, common ground… It’s just all so heartwarming and touching. I think for me also the fact that things don’t have to end up all doom and gloom for someone with mental health issues just really pushes this okay independent production into something really, really wonderful and awesome.

Why You Might Not Want To Watch It: 

• If you have any issues with hard hitting mental health issues and their causes, then maybe don’t watch it. They are portraying in this show vividly why Yu Shi is the way he is and it’s not a nice and pretty story. It’s really disturbing and it’s breaking your heart. I think it’s one of the reasons that makes this show so good, but I can understand that you might wanna be careful in case these things are not for you for any reason. 

• The production is not the best in the world. They clearly didn’t have much money and some backdrops are just pure ridiculous. But I feel they made the best of what they got and I don’t mind the slightly more basic production in favor of the more awesome storyline. But if you want a glitzy and perfect production, then this is not for you. 

• The side storyline is a joke and doesn’t add anything to the entire show. They should have just left it out and showed a few more scenes between Yu Shi and Wu Zheng in my opinion. But it’s like the long curse of BL isn’t it. Trying to press extra couples in even if they don’t get any time to breathe. 

• It’s a bit short. So things are not going into as much detail as I would have liked. Some things they can just very briefly cover and that’s a missed opportunity in my opinion. But then again we have a BL here that is very unique and special and let’s just ignore this tiny, little fact in favour of enjoying the rest of this awesome show. 

Final Thoughts

I think it’s very clear that I find this show utterly awesome. I have rewatched it at one point daily. Yes, I am crazy, but it’s just so wonderful to watch. We have this person who was so sure that love was never an option. I am such a sucker for these kinds of storylines where in the end everything is turning out okay. And yes, I have to admit that this is a spoiler, but I honestly think given what I have told you above I need to add that this has a good ending, as otherwise you might just think this is a weird, fucked up mental health drama. 

Because that couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s about mental health and it’s not sugar coating or making it seem like something sensational. Sometimes it feels like people want to include certain mental health issues in the media to almost make the people who suffer from it appear like some kind of a circus freak. But that’s not the case here and that’s really the fact that makes this show so special to me. Yes, there are flaws. I’m not saying this show is perfect. But for me the main thing is how they are portraying such a difficult topic and how they develop this story. And in this department they did everything perfectly for me. 

I never thought that a show about multiple personality disorder would end up being one of my feel good shows, but it has. Yes, it’s sad. Yes, it’s tragic. But so is life. And the beauty in living is finding your own pockets of happiness somewhere. And that’s exactly what Yu Shi and Wu Zheng are doing and the outcome is just beautiful. 

I hope you enjoyed my little rant about this awesome show and I didn’t give away too many details, but I think I held myself back very well. Or at least that’s what I am hoping. Next week we will have another gem for you and I’m sure you can be excited for it already. 

*Posted first on BLDA as part of Content Team