When this television series came across my dash, I decided to check out the first episode without knowing anything about it. However, from the promotional photos like the one above, as well as the fact that the actors were speaking Mandarin, I assumed that this would be another hilarious exercise in censorship avoidance. The two lead characters would flirt and dance around each other just enough to make it clear that they are more than friends, but not enough to run afoul of the censors. Which is why I nearly choked on my tea when mere minutes into the first episode of We Best Love: No. 1 For You, the two leads were kissing underwater in one of the oldest rom-com clichés around.
It was at that point that I paused the show and headed to Google, where I discovered that We Best Love is not a Chinese show. It’s Taiwanese. And as previously discussed, Taiwan is one of the most progressive countries in Asia when it comes to LGBTQ rights. Apparently, this also means that members of the same sex can kiss on television without issue, hence the underwater make-out scene. Side note: Has anyone outside of movies and television actually kissed someone underwater? I’m curious as to how this became such a famous romance trope, because it seems to me to be a spectacularly efficient way to drown. But I digress.
After my short Google excursion, I returned to We Best Love and devoured all six episodes of its first season in one sitting. It’s a classic enemies to lovers story, with longtime rivals Gao Shi-de and Zhou Shu-yi slowly realizing that they may not hate each other after all. The show is not particularly deep and it’s riddled with cliches, but I loved every second of it. Sometimes you just want to watch some melodramatic fluff, and We Best Love has that in spades.
One last note. I have to assume that something went awry with the English translation of the title of this show. We Best Love: No. 1 For You is just so awkward. The second season is called Fighting Mr. 2nd, so it doesn’t get much better. But you’d better believe I’m going to be watching.
Suggestions for artists I should check out? Please contact me with your ideas. I hope you enjoyed your daily helping of art!
