Chains of Heart: First Thoughts

One of the things I love about the world of the BL drama is that it’s an ever-expanding universe. No matter what your preference is, there’s always something to watch. So, you can never be bored. But with so many premium series to choose from, you’re bound to run into a few that, while they have their own merit, are just not your cup of tea.

Chains of Heart is one of those series – at least from my perspective.

Now, I will preface the following paragraphs by saying this: I’ve been wrong before. There have been series that, upon first watch, I was less than impressed by that have become some of my absolute favorites (Peach of Time is a prime example). So, instead of letting the first episode make or break a series for me, I at least give it three full episodes – unless it’s Rainbow Prince. I couldn’t even make it through an entire episode of whatever the musical hell that dumpster fire was. But, so far, Chains of Heart just isn’t for me.

Din, a forestry officer, upsets a gang of illegal smugglers, which causes him and Ken, his boyfriend of seven years, to be shot. Bot of them fall over a cliff. A jagged and steep cliff, and the kind of cliff you’d die if you fell from. Yet, somehow, Din and Ken survive. Several years later, Ken wakes up without his beloved Din by his side. But then, Din (or at least someone who looks just like him) starts to show up, and Ken’s lost memories start to return. Is Din really dead? Or is this stranger a darker, more sinister version of the man he loved so long ago?

Really, it’s anyone’s guess.

While the premise is interesting, and the actors are lovely to watch, the slower-than-molasses in January storytelling mixed with surprisingly long gaps in the score, it’s not a series I want to focus on right now. There are too many other series that immediately caught my attention.

I may end up loving it after a couple of episodes, but my plate is full right now, so this particular series is going to have to wait.

Chains of Heart can be watched on GagaOOLala and iQiYi, with new episodes streaming Saturdays.