TheFirstMichael2206
This review may contain spoilers
Cutie Pie? More like a sleep paralysis demon!
[I don't normally write reviews on MDL, since I'm easily influenced by my emotions and such reviews may not be helpful for most people. BUT!! Cutie Pie deserves one. If you're looking for a more impartial review, I recommend the one from @Purple Scenes]
TL; DR : Just don't. And if you do, know when to quit. I didn't.
STORY: 1/10
I will give it a symbolic one star for trying, since the premise sounds actually pretty interesting. Unfortunately, by the end of episode 2 it's all but buried. What comes after is inconsistent, boring, repetitive filler that's just vaguely separating all the fanservice and NC scenes. Progress comes and goes whenever director demands a skinship or dramatic tension. You can't consider any piece of information as established. Subplots are abandoned or explained insufficiently. If you're looking for an arranged marriage portrayal, it's not there. Neither is a dual personality of one of the main leads. There is no real push-and-pull dynamic between the MLs present, either.
There are 3 pairings in this drama - LianKuea, YiDiao and NuerSyn. The show focuses mostly on a relationship between Lian and Kuea, who portray a standard BL dynamic of seme and uke. Lian is a business man that's cold on the outside, but secretly cares deeply for his other half. Kuea, who is portrayed as a spoiled, bratty child with rebelious hidden side, is literally swept away by Lian. In fact, Lian cares for Kuea so deeply, he feels the need to know everything about Kuea! It's his sacred duty to decide what's best for Kuea at all times! Anything, just to give Kuea the perfect life his little doll deserves. I'm sure many of you can already see where they're going with it.
YiDiao is basically a slightly altered rehash of LianKuea. Yi is portrayed as more aggressive partner compared to Lian, while Diao is a more scared version of Kuea. At the start, we can see Diao shaking during all of his interactions with Hia Yi. For a reason that's poorly explained to audience later on, Diao lives mostly alone in Yi's house and needs to notify Yi by phone each time he steps out. Or hide from him. As their relationship progresses, Diao earns himself a curfew of 9 pm.
Neither of those relationships develop significantly in any capacity, other than their physical intimacy. Both major conflicts are "solved" in the last episode with less than 5 minute conversations that explain next to nothing. Those neverending cycles are all presented as simple miscommunication. And we still get a "happy" ending for both of them.
The last pairing, NuerSyn, is barely even worth mentioning. They have less than hour of overall screentime and no reason to be together at all. That said, they are the most healthy, unproblematic pairing in the show. Which can be partially explained by writers forgetting to do anything with them.
POTENTIAL TRIGGERS (with minor spoilers included) :
Age gap - both between actors and characters. Main two couples consist of older, successful men and their barely adult, (financially) dependent lovers.
Grooming - both couples knew each other since they were kids. The main couple was engaged to be married since their early teen years, while the situation for YiDiao is more unclear (they are meant to be engaged, but no real information was given in the series). Both Lian and Kuea talk about how they were preparing for the marriage.
Arranged marriage - this one doesn't bear much weight in the bigger picture and is mostly a cause of other triggers.
Power imbalance - Both Lian and Yi basically control the lives of Kuea and Diao. Starting with where they live, where they go and when they return, to spying on them, following them around and being able to influence their financial situations. Both Lian and Yi are trying to solve their relationship problems by giving Kuea and Diao gifts.
Gaslighting / Lying / Hiding information - Both Yi and Lian have a major secret that has the power to impact life of their partner. Kuea and Diao hide their interests from Lian and Yi in fear of being punished or rejected. Kuea questions how much Lian actually knows about his "hidden" side. Lian's trying to force Kuea into confessing his hobbies, while pretending to know nothing. And much more, but that could count as spoilers for the show.
Unclear (try non-existent) consent in romantic interactions between Lian and Kuea.
Basically, if you get triggered by any abusive behaviour or manipulation tactics, tread carefully. To make it even more disturbing, the show never addresses it: It's all presented as normal, romantic, or even hot! Major issues between the leads are waved away by a simple "miscommunication" excuse.
ACTING/CAST : 5/10
The roles didn't seem miscast to me. Actors are attractive and their skills are mostly good enough, so I barely notice any issues. Characters aren't really multilayered, though, no matter how much they try to convince you otherwise.
Zee alternates between blank face, evil smirk and puppy eyes.
Max is either aggressively angry or looks as if he's being eaten alive from inside. He also smiles, once or twice.
Taking into consideration it's NuNew's first role, he does fine (except from when he has to cry, which is often). Also, he does the most grating fake voice I've ever heard. Iconic!
Nat is overdramatic, but it kinda fits his role. I personally found it funny, but it might annoy you.
PRODUCTION VALUE / CINEMATOGRAPHY : 8/10
A lot of money was spent on this drama. Such a shame it was in all the wrong places. It looks really good and it sounds decent, if you are able to ignore everything that's happening .
MUSIC: 5/10 -> 6/10 post edit
Some of the songs are pretty good, especially "Change" (NuNew's original song I think) and "Just Being Friendly" (NuNew's cover of song by Tilly Birds Ft. MILLI ). The main OST is fine (around the same as other BLs). The rest of songs were boring to me, but not insultingly so.
Edit: The music got to me more, because youtube just won't stop pushing NuNew into BL OST playlists. Especially the ending song (Love) is now bearable. So I came here to up my "music" score in order for it to more reflect my new situation. That said, I like to waste time on stupid stuff, so I decided to rank all of the ost songs I found and decide. Here are the results:
My Cutie Pie (main OST - 7.5), Change (9), How you feel (5.5), Be Yours (5), Always You (3), Alone (3), Suddenly (3), I Feel Your Love (Dead 0. This song makes me icky, sorry. I would have liked it more if it wasn't used at all), First Date (3), Just Being Friendly (9), Love (7.5 - the major ending event song ). The mean score comes to 5.045454545. I'm not petty enough to raise the score by 0.045454545 points, especially after all that time I spent looking for the songs. So, let's give it a 6. Out of 11 songs, I only really love 2, and one of those is a cover. I kinda like another 2, one of them cover. I could bear 2 more, but they are sort of a nothing burger. The rest is just boring and generic sap.
REWATCH VALUE : 1/10
I don't recommend you to watch it even once, let alone a second time. There are plenty of shows that look good. Plenty of songs that sound good. If you want to watch the NC scenes, there are bound to be plenty of edits being made. It might be worth it to wait for fan compilation of the third pairing, though, if there is one.
OVERALL : 1/10
If I could have given it a lower score, I would. In my personal opinion, this show should have never been made. It's unhealthy in a way that's dangerous to the whole BL community. There is no climax, no point, no meaning. Nothing. I'm not even sure they had a script to begin with. It feeds entirely off fanservice (which only got WAY WAY worse after the drama ended), cute visuals, and above average soundtrack. It's boring. It's tiring. It's uncomfortable. It's trying to take a high moral ground by promoting equality for all of 15 minutes, which is just plain pathetic, considering how the show itself handles the relationships. Even hate-watching it gets old very quickly. In short, I consider Cutie Pie a failure in every way that counts for a viewer.
TL; DR : Just don't. And if you do, know when to quit. I didn't.
STORY: 1/10
I will give it a symbolic one star for trying, since the premise sounds actually pretty interesting. Unfortunately, by the end of episode 2 it's all but buried. What comes after is inconsistent, boring, repetitive filler that's just vaguely separating all the fanservice and NC scenes. Progress comes and goes whenever director demands a skinship or dramatic tension. You can't consider any piece of information as established. Subplots are abandoned or explained insufficiently. If you're looking for an arranged marriage portrayal, it's not there. Neither is a dual personality of one of the main leads. There is no real push-and-pull dynamic between the MLs present, either.
There are 3 pairings in this drama - LianKuea, YiDiao and NuerSyn. The show focuses mostly on a relationship between Lian and Kuea, who portray a standard BL dynamic of seme and uke. Lian is a business man that's cold on the outside, but secretly cares deeply for his other half. Kuea, who is portrayed as a spoiled, bratty child with rebelious hidden side, is literally swept away by Lian. In fact, Lian cares for Kuea so deeply, he feels the need to know everything about Kuea! It's his sacred duty to decide what's best for Kuea at all times! Anything, just to give Kuea the perfect life his little doll deserves. I'm sure many of you can already see where they're going with it.
YiDiao is basically a slightly altered rehash of LianKuea. Yi is portrayed as more aggressive partner compared to Lian, while Diao is a more scared version of Kuea. At the start, we can see Diao shaking during all of his interactions with Hia Yi. For a reason that's poorly explained to audience later on, Diao lives mostly alone in Yi's house and needs to notify Yi by phone each time he steps out. Or hide from him. As their relationship progresses, Diao earns himself a curfew of 9 pm.
Neither of those relationships develop significantly in any capacity, other than their physical intimacy. Both major conflicts are "solved" in the last episode with less than 5 minute conversations that explain next to nothing. Those neverending cycles are all presented as simple miscommunication. And we still get a "happy" ending for both of them.
The last pairing, NuerSyn, is barely even worth mentioning. They have less than hour of overall screentime and no reason to be together at all. That said, they are the most healthy, unproblematic pairing in the show. Which can be partially explained by writers forgetting to do anything with them.
POTENTIAL TRIGGERS (with minor spoilers included) :
Age gap - both between actors and characters. Main two couples consist of older, successful men and their barely adult, (financially) dependent lovers.
Grooming - both couples knew each other since they were kids. The main couple was engaged to be married since their early teen years, while the situation for YiDiao is more unclear (they are meant to be engaged, but no real information was given in the series). Both Lian and Kuea talk about how they were preparing for the marriage.
Arranged marriage - this one doesn't bear much weight in the bigger picture and is mostly a cause of other triggers.
Power imbalance - Both Lian and Yi basically control the lives of Kuea and Diao. Starting with where they live, where they go and when they return, to spying on them, following them around and being able to influence their financial situations. Both Lian and Yi are trying to solve their relationship problems by giving Kuea and Diao gifts.
Gaslighting / Lying / Hiding information - Both Yi and Lian have a major secret that has the power to impact life of their partner. Kuea and Diao hide their interests from Lian and Yi in fear of being punished or rejected. Kuea questions how much Lian actually knows about his "hidden" side. Lian's trying to force Kuea into confessing his hobbies, while pretending to know nothing. And much more, but that could count as spoilers for the show.
Unclear (try non-existent) consent in romantic interactions between Lian and Kuea.
Basically, if you get triggered by any abusive behaviour or manipulation tactics, tread carefully. To make it even more disturbing, the show never addresses it: It's all presented as normal, romantic, or even hot! Major issues between the leads are waved away by a simple "miscommunication" excuse.
ACTING/CAST : 5/10
The roles didn't seem miscast to me. Actors are attractive and their skills are mostly good enough, so I barely notice any issues. Characters aren't really multilayered, though, no matter how much they try to convince you otherwise.
Zee alternates between blank face, evil smirk and puppy eyes.
Max is either aggressively angry or looks as if he's being eaten alive from inside. He also smiles, once or twice.
Taking into consideration it's NuNew's first role, he does fine (except from when he has to cry, which is often). Also, he does the most grating fake voice I've ever heard. Iconic!
Nat is overdramatic, but it kinda fits his role. I personally found it funny, but it might annoy you.
PRODUCTION VALUE / CINEMATOGRAPHY : 8/10
A lot of money was spent on this drama. Such a shame it was in all the wrong places. It looks really good and it sounds decent, if you are able to ignore everything that's happening .
MUSIC: 5/10 -> 6/10 post edit
Some of the songs are pretty good, especially "Change" (NuNew's original song I think) and "Just Being Friendly" (NuNew's cover of song by Tilly Birds Ft. MILLI ). The main OST is fine (around the same as other BLs). The rest of songs were boring to me, but not insultingly so.
Edit: The music got to me more, because youtube just won't stop pushing NuNew into BL OST playlists. Especially the ending song (Love) is now bearable. So I came here to up my "music" score in order for it to more reflect my new situation. That said, I like to waste time on stupid stuff, so I decided to rank all of the ost songs I found and decide. Here are the results:
My Cutie Pie (main OST - 7.5), Change (9), How you feel (5.5), Be Yours (5), Always You (3), Alone (3), Suddenly (3), I Feel Your Love (Dead 0. This song makes me icky, sorry. I would have liked it more if it wasn't used at all), First Date (3), Just Being Friendly (9), Love (7.5 - the major ending event song ). The mean score comes to 5.045454545. I'm not petty enough to raise the score by 0.045454545 points, especially after all that time I spent looking for the songs. So, let's give it a 6. Out of 11 songs, I only really love 2, and one of those is a cover. I kinda like another 2, one of them cover. I could bear 2 more, but they are sort of a nothing burger. The rest is just boring and generic sap.
REWATCH VALUE : 1/10
I don't recommend you to watch it even once, let alone a second time. There are plenty of shows that look good. Plenty of songs that sound good. If you want to watch the NC scenes, there are bound to be plenty of edits being made. It might be worth it to wait for fan compilation of the third pairing, though, if there is one.
OVERALL : 1/10
If I could have given it a lower score, I would. In my personal opinion, this show should have never been made. It's unhealthy in a way that's dangerous to the whole BL community. There is no climax, no point, no meaning. Nothing. I'm not even sure they had a script to begin with. It feeds entirely off fanservice (which only got WAY WAY worse after the drama ended), cute visuals, and above average soundtrack. It's boring. It's tiring. It's uncomfortable. It's trying to take a high moral ground by promoting equality for all of 15 minutes, which is just plain pathetic, considering how the show itself handles the relationships. Even hate-watching it gets old very quickly. In short, I consider Cutie Pie a failure in every way that counts for a viewer.
Was this review helpful to you?
