“Unknown” (2024) (Taiwan)

Unknown is one of the best BLs I’ve watched in recent years.

There. It’s been said. Unknown is a Tawainese adaptation of the Chinese novel Big Brother by Priest. Priest is an author you may have heard of, and if you haven’t already heard of her, you should read some of her works that have been well-translated into English. If you watched the Chinese series Guardian, you may notice the bromance in the eyes between Shen Wei and Zhao Yun Lan, but the novel is much richer in storyline and romance.

Stars of Chaos is another Chinese Danmei by Priest, translated into English, and is an excellent story. Seven Seas Publishing has released volumes one through three for the series so far.

Priest has an enormous following in China and worldwide. The novels are complex, with different settings, but they all have characters you will root for and cry with.  I was excited and scared when I found out Unknown was based on one of her novels. Many people were disappointed by the adaptation of Guardian. I loved it and understood they had to adapt to lower funding (the production company went bankrupt halfway through filming the show) and with the censorship laws. 

Having Unknown produced in Taiwan allowed the Producers to follow the storyline without censorship. I would love to be able to read the novel for Unknown, so fingers crossed that Seven Seas will pick up that title as well, especially now the Taiwanese adaptation has been released and is so successful among the fans.

Pan Xin Hui produced Unknown after the We Best Love series and Dark Blue and Moonlight. I finished We Best Love and Fighting Mr 2nd in two days, and I was impressed by the complexities of Dark Blue and Moonlight.

Unknown is directed by Ray Jiang, who also directed the We Best Love series.

The Story:

We meet Wei Xian as an adolescent in high school but already carrying a grown man’s burden. He takes care of his seven years younger half-sister, Lili. They are orphans with different fathers but the same mother. 

Wei Xian’s mother was addicted to heroin and prostituted herself to feed her addiction. She doled out cruelty and kindness whenever the whim took her, though cruelty greatly outweighed any affections she offered. She abused Wei Xian, beating him whenever he displeased her. So when she died of an overdose, Wei Xian felt the burden of being relieved and guilty at the same moment. Now, he could grow up himself and protect and raise Lili on his own.

While going to and from his part-time job and school, Wei Xian sees a boy under the bridge, dumpster diving for food.  The boy looks both pitiful and fierce.  Occasionally, Wei Xian will toss the boy an extra steamed bun or something the boy could use. During what turns out to be many encounters, he covers the child with his coat when he sees him shivering. Like a stray puppy, the boy follows him home one night. Wei Xian tells the boy over and over to go away and shoves him violently, scolding him.  The boy is hurt but can’t give up on this one savior, the one person whose behavior he understands and can accept. 

One night, Lili opens the door to him and asks him inside for dinner. That boy is Wei Zhi Yuan/Xiao Yuan (I will refer to him as Xiao Yuan from here on).

After several intervening years, Xiao Yuan grows up, and his feelings for Wei Xian become more complicated. Instead of the love of a brother, Xiao Yuan feels an all-enveloping romantic love. Wei Xian is everything to Xiao Yuan. What will happen when Xiao Yuan confesses? What does Wei Xian feel for Xiao Yuan?

Cast:

Chris Chiu (Chris)  as Wei Xian (Adult)

At 33, Chris Chiu is a veteran Taiwanese actor, singer, and TV host.

Huang Hong Xuan (Kurt Xuang) – Wei Zhi Yuan/Xiao Yuan (Adult)

26-year-old Xuang is a former model and idol who began his acting career in 2016.

Fun fact: Xuan and Chris were at the same agency ten years ago and became good friends, with Chris helping guide Xuan through a difficult period in his life. 

Tammy Lin – Wei Li Li/Xiao Bao

Lim Jae Hoon – San Pang

(Editor’s note: I had a tough time actually finding good pics of the rest of the cast, so here’s another pic)

Thoughts:

I have many thoughts and feelings about this drama. I will try to break it down by category. Acting, Story, and Production will be the categories I parse for Unknown.

Acting:

The performances of the two leads blew me away. Chris Chiu made me believe he was Wei Xian, someone who went through so much trauma but retained the ability to care about his family beyond everything else. He showed us the good parts and the parts that weren’t so nice.  His version of Wei Xian came from understanding the source material and his ability to connect with his co-star.  We could see the shock and quick temper when dealing with Xiao Yuan as an older brother. However, we also saw the confusion about the closeness and awareness as Xiao Yuan returned the aura of a sexy, confident adult who likes to test the boundaries of their relationship. His interpretation of the character Wei Xian showed us deep expressions of hesitation, confusion, awareness, and love through facial cues and effects.

The other side of this couple, Xuang, has a good understanding of the source material performing as Xiao Yuan.  Xiao Yuan could have been creepy or a stalker, but Xuan made him seem human to the audience. His version made us feel sympathy for his quiet longing and his inability to deny feelings while hurting. His chemistry with Chris Chiu showed a level of comfort that comes from being close to someone. I think it helped them build up this onscreen relationship.  The sad scenes made my heart ache, but the sweet, caring side melted my heart as well. Well done.  

Tammy Lin’s version of Lili/Xiao Bao was accurate to her character in the novel. However, I would have liked to see more nuanced emotions from her.  Towards the end of the series, I would have liked to see more character growth in her performance.  I wanted to believe that she could be an independent woman, but she was only given so much screen time as a support character.  With all that said, Tammy Lin could have exposed Lili’s brattiness, but instead, she gave us Lili’s charm as a spoiled younger sister who loved both brothers to the moon and back.

Lim Jae Hoon’s version of San Pang, the childhood friend of Wei Xian, was well done. He did a good job showing his closeness with the whole family while growing up. San Pang was a regular dinner companion in the Xian household. A classmate and friend of Wei Xian, San Pang’s mom, owned the house they rented. San Pang was someone who made sure to watch over Wei Xian and his family. He nailed the ‘brother from another mother’s’ vibe.

All in all, everyone seemed very well cast for their respective roles. I was impressed at the tight-knit group’s cohesiveness. The workshops must have helped them achieve that level of closeness. They made me believe in their family, friendships, and relationships. I want to see more from our two main leads, Chris Chiu and Huang Hong Xuan. 

Story:

Some less broad-minded individuals might see this story as one featuring incest. I didn’t view it as such.  Let me recap the plot, then explain my opinion.  This young man, Wei Xian, high school age, is raising his young sister Lili after his abusive, alcoholic mother dies from complications from her addictions and AIDS (the latter mentioned in the novel).  The show portrays her dying from an overdose but hints at the ever-present abuse. Wei Xian has to get a job to provide food for them and a roof over their head, all while going to school to finish and get his diploma. He finds work in a pool hall cleaning the place and being an errand boy.  The pool hall is run by a gangster named Wang Jun Le and is called ‘Le Ge’ by Wei Xian. The second part of this name, ‘Ge,’ indicates an older brother in the way Wei Xian views him. 

While in school daily and working at night, he notices someone on his way home. He sees this young boy, maybe his sister’s age, in an alley. This boy is wary of kindness, but Wei Xian has no kindness to give. All he knows is survival and love for his sister. But after a good day’s work or kindness from Le Ge, he will sometimes toss some food the boy’s way on his way home from a long day.

To Wei Xian, the kid is like a stray dog. It can become your responsibility if you feed and care for it too much. So Wei Xian keeps his distance and only occasionally shares with the kid. One day in the Winter, he gives the kid something to cover with while he sleeps. As time passes, Wei Xian gets more work with Le Ge and starts to feed the kid almost regularly. Then, eventually, one evening, the kid boldly tries to follow Wei Xian to his home.

I call him the kid because he has no name at this point in the story. He has been alone long enough that he can’t remember his name (at least in the book). Wei Xian throws things at him, cursing him and telling him not to follow Wei Xian home. The poor kid is like a startled, hurt puppy and walks away, but he tries again the next day.

The kid eventually sleeps on their doorsteps until Lili opens the door and invites him in. Shortly thereafter, that is when he becames a part of their household. Le Ge finds out about the situation and gives Wei Xian money and documents to register the kid for school. Le Ge names the boy Wei Zhi Yuan / “Xiao Yuan.”  Wei is Wei Xian’s surname, and Wei Zhi can mean ‘unknown,’ but in this context, it’s written as ‘belonging to…Wei.’ The second name, Yuan, can mean ‘to distance oneself from’…so it’s either ‘unknown’ or ‘distance from oneself.’ On the other hand, it means someone distant who belongs to the Wei family. (This is puzzled out by copying text from the image on the series intro page and researching on the online site www.chinese.yabla.com )

魏之遠 is the Chinese name for Wei Zhi Yuan (or Wei Zhiyuan).  I wanted to include this naming because it’s essential to the character development of both Wei Xian and Xiao Yuan.  Wei Xian is now indebted to Le Ge for helping him get papers, money, and a name for the newest member of the household. Xiao Yuan is indebted to be given a name but now has to attend school when he wants to follow WX all day, doing his bidding. He is beyond grateful to the big brother Ge Ge, who took him in. But Wei Xian forces him to go to school.  Regarding paying back Le Ge, Wei Xian becomes an underground street boxer for him.  It’s dangerous work and results in many injuries to Wei Xian’s person, but his brother and sister are housed, fed, and schooled, so he can’t complain.

 As the story progresses, Lili and Xiao Yuan grow into young adults. Xiao Yuan adores his Ge Ge, but his feelings change when he becomes a teen. His body changes, and he realizes his heart’s desire, who the world thinks of as his big brother. He is full of self-loathing and regret but also full of aching longing.  He takes care of Wei Xian as much as possible, making life a little easier, all while slowly withering under the crushing weight of his love for Wei Xian.

Wei Xian takes for granted that his precious family will toe the line and follow the steps he lays out for them to have a successful future. He is a stern taskmaster with a super soft spot for Xiao Yuan. This tenderness is both exhilarating and maddening until the truth breaks free.

I don’t want to spoil the rest. If you haven’t watched it, I recommend it. It’s a beautiful story.

As for my feelings on the brothers-to-lovers trope, it’s not the same in this case. This isn’t a grooming situation with the older brother being a creep.  Nothing happens between them until Xiao Yuan returns to the family years later. The brother who pushed and sent away his younger brother for having those feelings also missed and wished that Xiao Yuan were back by his side.  Xiao Yuan learned patience as an adult; this caring and love hasn’t changed but has grown stronger as the years have passed. When he returns, he tests the bonds of familiarity and distance between them. 

Xiao Yuan only has eyes for Wei Xian. He will do everything to make Wei Xian happy, easing his burdens. In his heart, there has only ever been Wei Xian.  As a child the truth is he was never a child; he was more like a wounded animal trapped in a kid’s body.  His gratitude and admiration change over the years to be all-encompassing love.  Even as an adult, he can’t stop his feelings from existing. So he decides to see if Wei Xian has space in his heart and life to accept those feelings. He’s encouraged by the flustered, wary looks when their bodies get close.

We see a difference here that we don’t usually see in similar BL plots, and that’s consent. Xiao Yuan forces a kiss when his feelings erupt as he sees the love of his life with a successful woman who could be Wei Xian’s wife. He is young, passionate, lovelorn, heartbroken, and filled with longing and simultaneous self-loathing. It’s many emotions to process concurrently.

In everything Xiao Yuan does, he considers We Xian.  Xiao Yuan is dedicated to taking care of Wei Xian. He ensures Wei Xian has medicine, eats the right foods, takes care of Wei Xian’s body when he is sick, and even blow-drying his hair after a shower. Xiao Yuan loves Wei Xian enough that even though Xiao Yuan has admitted his feelings, he doesn’t push or demand they be returned.

SPOILER:

The special Episode 11 knocks it out of the park. When Wei Xian finally decides, the passion ignites and is incendiary…I felt the heat coming off them through the screen.  Xiao Yuan was frantically fulfilling his need for Wei Xian and was met with passion for passion by Wei Xian. There is no hesitation, only heat, and love conveyed.  Also, the snuggling in the morning, the dinner date, the surprise kisses….Wei Xian is the one who shows his tenderness and love for Xiao Yuan. It’s lovely.

Final Thoughts:

You can watch Unknow through the YOUKU app or VIKI.  I have gone back and rewatched this series many times. Priest’s novels resonate with me, as I also adored her work, Guardian. Wei Xian is an intelligent, challenging, beautiful, but flawed character, and Xiao Yuan loves him beyond the ability to love himself. Xiao Yuan’s world is Wei Xian. The actors do a fantastic job conveying nuanced emotions. It’s my 2024 pick of the year so far.

If you watched Unknown, what are your thoughts?

As an aside, all three male leads sing beautifully. Their songs for the soundtrack tell a beautiful story. I will link the official songs, but you can search the title with the words Eng lyrics to find them fan-subbed.

More Pics because they are so Beautiful!

BTS Video of the shoot above

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 stars. [See our Review Guide]

 What’s your favorite BL so far in 2024?

Thanks for reading! 🤗 💕 Jen