HIStory5: Love in the Future (Taiwanese Series)

It feels like everyone is on the time travel bandwagon these days, if not on the whole multiverse concept. Here also, our protagonist travels into future (from 2000 to 2022) and gets into love and all kinds of antics. Despite the story having its own awkward charms within the convoluted plot, my point is that if you are choosing a basic concept, at least do it right. The time-travel element in this series is not only confusing but doesn't really add any significance to the show. You really could take the whole element away and it really wouldn't change much to the overall story plot besides minor tweaks. So, then what's the point. Anyway, more on that later. This Taiwanese series has 10 episodes each pf about 50-55 minutes duration and they do warrant quite a of time commitment. It started in the last week of 2022 but was mostly telecast in this year.

In year 2000, Bo Wie lives with his grandmother and is very close and works as a delivery boy. Somehow magically on the new years eve, when he is going through a tunnel, he gets into accident and finds himself waking up in a different body and turns out the year is 2022. He meets a guy FuDe, a mysterious individual, who is responsible for this travel but he just helps Bo Wei adjust to current time year with food etc. occasionally appears in anonymous disguises, offering assistance to help the time traveller to settle down. Bo Wei is now Johnny, a single delivery worker. With some turn of events, he is hired by a guy named Hai Yi to look of this ex-girlfriend, during which the two boys end up becoming friends and start living together and eventually work together in Posieden group of industry. Johnny also meets Wynn on the streets one day and due to his friendly nature , he gives him advice on how to be confident when he is about to go for his interview in the same company. He gets hired and so Johnny and Wynn become close friends. The CEO of the group Vincent shows special attention to Wynn and slowly pursues hm and after sometime they start dating. Both these couple have a history of sorts where one of them was in other's life when they were younger (an unnecessary piece of information). When the chairman of the industry dies, it is revealed that Hai Yi is actually his successor and is named the new Chairman, but the board wants Vincent to be Chairman and a competition of sorts starts. Wynn doesn't like this and he starts distancing himself from Vincent because he wants to be super loyal the group since they financed his life in orphanage. Eventually all the misunderstandings are cleared and bitterns out that Vincent and Hai Yi have known each other for a while, and this was a whole ploy to find out the mole in the company's board. The two love stories find a fitting ending and Johnny finds out hat the grandma died in the same year and that it doesn't make sense for him to go back to his previous world now.

I don't know whether it was intentional or it just happened but the awkward premise of the future time travel, idiotic jokes and weird premise makes it campy to watch. To be honest, once I told myself that I just need to ignore the whole time travel piece ion it, I actually found myself the romantic affairs of the two couples, the constant flirtations, usual BL tropes without taking anything seriously at all. I did also enjoy Vincent's usual for Wynn, although feels very inappropriate at the same time. And his reactions when Wynn would do something loving was something I enjoyed. The most important thing I liked about the show was Wynn and Johnny's friendship. Two men, lonely in their own way, make an unlikely friendship and they're supporting each other in every time of need. Coming to the not so nice things, the couples are not very believable. Actually they are but how they come about it, is not. Hai Yi and Johnny's sassy banter to flirty teasing, the couple's interactions are surprisingly more enjoyable than expected but then they would get into this extended conflict for no reason. Even a young Wynn does a better job of communicating with Vincent around their issues. And as much as I would like to ignore the time travel part, The makers should just have completely avoided it. It adds absolutely nothing to the story. The story would still have been awkward without that. As characters, I am not sure if I would root for anyone. Johnny seems very childlike and unpredictable and naiive; Hai Yi seemed too unfocussed and I am still not sure why was he pretending to be poor and all, Vincent was alright but the things he did to pursue Wynn would go into borderline workplace harassment for me. Wynn was the only likable character and the actor playing him did really well. He has morals, motivation and focus. Both couples are physically affectionate but struggle with their acting skills. Again, the main problem is the script. It appeared the screenwriter did not have any original ideas and pulled multiple story elements from all over. Suddenly in season 5 we need to be interested in the love story of this couple who is arranging for same sex wedding thingy in the mall. What was that about? Completely, out of nowhere.

It is not an outrightly bad series, it has its sweet moments; and as long as you enjoy the fluffy stuff without taking it too seriously , you may actually end of enjoying the campy nature of it. I actually did, for parts of it. (6/10)