Masterminds

A beautiful Vietnamese BL series

This is the first time that I'm reviewing a BL series from Vietnam. The sheer number of BL series from countries like Thailand, South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, and Taiwan may be the reason why the Vietnamese BL industry has remained a little below the radar of the international BL fan community, although there have been some remarkable productions in recent years.

”Lấp Lánh Tựa Ánh Sao Trời” was given the lame (and grammatically wrong) English title ”The Star Always Follow You”, although the literal translation ”Glistening Like the Stars of the Sky” sounds much more poetic, and thus matches the quality of this series – it is a beautiful, sometimes poetic piece of art.

The basic idea of the plot doesn't sound unique or sensational: Dang, a boy from Saigon who has missed the university examination twice, because he prefers playing games with his friends over studying, is dragged by his mother to a village where his grandma lives, to be tutored by teacher Mr. Son, who has a good reputation because he helped Vi, a boy from the village, to pass the university exam. Dang has some difficulties adapting to the simple village life, and Mr. Son at first is reluctant to tutor Dang, but as this is a BL series, Dang falls in love with the teacher, and vice versa. Dang's mother tries to forbid her son's relationship with the tutor, but in the end she agrees after Dang and Mr. Son have made it clear to her that their love is not just a temporary mood.

What does make the plot unique, though not really sensational, is a number of subplots that deal with the relationships of three other couples. There is Vi, a university student, who likes An, a little gangster. Vi succeeds in making An refrain from stealing and in teaching him, there is Quan, a young man who falls in love with the deaf-mute woman Quynh, helps her sell her self-made hair ribbons, and learns sign language in order to be able to communicate with her, and there is an old couple who obviously love each other very much, but aren't able to express their feelings to each other.

Another remarkable difference from the usual high school or college BL series is the setting of the village and the fact that the life in the village isn't romanticized, but the problems of rural areas in Vietnam are displayed, e.g. young people going to cities like Saigon for studies or work, leaving behind only old people and children. This setting allows some beautiful pictures, so the cinematography of this production, which obviously doesn't have a huge budget, is good. The soundtrack, which makes in parts use of traditional musical elements, makes the viewer feel at home and cozy in this village and among its inhabitants.

The characters feel very real and natural, and despite the short episodes, we learn a lot about the backgrounds and developments not only of the main characters, but also of side characters, which underlines that the script of this series is well written.

Another positive point is the acting of the complete cast, from the leads Truong Van Ngoan (Dang) and Hao Dan (Mr. Son) to Pham The Bang (Vi), Cao Thieu Thanh (Quynh), Nguyen Thai Khang (Quan), and Duong Kien Hao (An), who is my favourite actor – the scene where he gives Vi a bouquet of flowers is among the most moving scenes of the show. The ”adult” actors who play Dang's mother and grandmother as well as Quan's mother and the old couple are doing a very good job, too.

There are only two things that I didn't like. The first one is – as mentioned above - the lame English translation of the beautiful Vietnamese title, and the second one is the final episode that felt rushed and incomplete. Whereas Mr. Son and Dang's relationship finds a happy ending as Mr. Son is invited to celebrate Tet with Dang's family, Vi suddenly dies, and we are not told what becomes of poor An, and although we are told that Quynh is welcomed by Quan's mother, who communicates with her by written messages, we don't see her and Quan together in the final episode.

All in all, this is a nice BL series, set in a beautiful rural area, showing the good as well as the difficult sides of the life in a Vietnamese village, with good writing (except the final episode) and actors who are by no means any worse than the most popular Thai BL actors. The series has touched my heart, and I can only hope that Team RL will be able to raise enough funds to produce more series like this.

Country: Vietnam

Episodes: 9 (à 15 – 30 mins.)

Director: Thu Hà

Cast: Truong Van Ngoan, Hao Dan, Pham The Bang, Cao Thieu Thanh, Nguyen Thai Khang ,
Duong Kien Hao et al