Here I am back on your computer screens again posting about another BL(Boy's Love) series that I finished watching recently. This drama was created in Taiwan instead of mainland China this time around. It still would be considered a web series though. Using what we know about BL Web series, the cast is almost always made up of actors and actress that are new. These actors are Xu Tao, Chen Edward, Liang Chen, and Hsieh Ken(Do note that the older actors have been in other productions.). Red Balloon is the name of the drama that was produced by a LGBT company in Taiwan. I won't pretend that I know a lot about who directed this drama individually but I do know it was distributed by a company.
The principle's son is a model student who makes good grades and receives awards for his accomplishments. One day he meets a boy who transferred to his high school. This boy loves to take pictures and he uses this to try to befriend the principle's son. Their rocky friendship must stand strong against the flow of time, sexuality, bullying, and, jealousy.
Red Balloon can be a breezed through in a day if you're a marathon watcher. The first three episodes are no more than ten minutes each. With the final episode being the longest coming in at twenty minutes. Only eight episodes were made for the drama and I honestly can't see the show continuing for any longer. Even with the short duration of each episode Red Ballon starts with a mysterious charm that knocks the viewer off guard. One example comes from the series's opening ark that takes place in the present time as one of the main character's is an adult. His life life is already established or his life looks that way from the outside… Until a broken man leaves his family and returns to the his high school to find the pieces that caused him to be broken. Then the series goes into the second ark which takes place in the past during his high school days. Red Balloon rolls around in the same idea of simple high school life just like other dramas. Differences arise when the story goes deeper into some of the character's backgrounds. Bullying along with acceptance of one's sexual orientation then becomes a center most focus of the drama. The forming relationship was indirectly affected by the subplot of the script while also making the two stories separate issues. Reasons being that the relationship is homosexual but there clearly was an opposition from the one's who ran the school. So bullying without any real punishment was a huge issue in the storyline. My viewing of Red Balloon made me have a stronger belief in a stance I had taken from myself awhile ago. People in this world will judge you and have something to say about you no matter what you do. You can be the nicest person in the world or the quietest person ever but in the end, there will still be someone that won't like you. Live your life the way you want then. People are going to have something to say about you no matter what you do so be true to who you are. My biggest problem with Red Balloon was that I felt like the ending was rushed a tiny bit. I would have liked to see the characters work for that happy ending a little more. Then the conclusion would have been more rewarding. Instead I felt that the ending fell into your lap with no true realism.
Chemistry for the two main characters was the equivalent to watching a tiger chase after a bunny. Eventually the bunny is going to run low on stamina before the tiger does. One character has a history of scandalous behavior in his past and the other is a nice boy who doesn't get into trouble. You would think that the character with the short hair cut would be the bad boy but he's not. The innocent looking guy is the tiger ready to pounce on his prey. I don't think that their relationship was a case of both of them being gay. Attraction just happened between the both of them. One boy clearly makes it known that he has feeling for the other though. Some people who are used to being proper and good all the time don't know how to react to situations out of the norm. Once certain conflicts force the two boys realize their feelings for each other, viewers hearts will be moved by their performance. The subplot's characters get deeper into their roles too for a bleak unforgiving portrayal of school life for some gay students. The adult counterparts of the main characters don't get enough screen time but they take the spotlight in their roles during the time that they have.(Especially the principle's son as an adult.)
Red Balloon was too short in duration for me to take in the sights in the drama. Much of the setting takes place at the school. Some places such as the track field and the dorms also make an appearance. As the show progresses you see different places outside of the school but they aren't shot in any special way. What I did enjoy was the visual usage of explaining the meaning behind the drama's title. I won't spoil it for people who haven't seen the drama yet but its cute and heart warming. That scene of the Red Balloons flying toward the sky made me have feels during the final episode.
It took me a log time to watch Red Balloon to the end because I wasn't sure how good the drama would be. Surprisingly, Red Balloon was a good drama that I want to watch again. I'm happy that their such a huge artistic expression in Taiwan/China where directors are creating all these BL web series for people to watch. They are continuing to show that you don't need a huge budget to make good content.
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