I wanted to like Soul Mate more I really did but…
(Spoilers below)
"Soul Mate" was the highly anticipated BL for me. I was checking the release day frequently, couldn't wait. I was expecting it to be great and when the D-day finally came I couldn't hide my ambivalence.
The whole drama was great. I loved the performances of the main leads, loved the plot and support characters, the script, camera etc. I am a fan of projects that are subtle and leave the viewer to decide what is happening based on their own expereinces/fantasy. It is what an art should be doing in my humble opinion. And in that case I wasn't disappointed.
However, I had to look up the definition of BL after watching it. Based on Wikipedia it "focuses on romantic or intimate relationships between male characters". And meanwhile I am fully on board with filling up the lines, this show simply doesn't do it for me in that sense.
All of 8 episodes I felt the love the characters had for each other. But love has so many shapes and I totally agree with the OP that it was kinda vibe of friendly/familial type of love than romantic or intimate. If I really wanted to get into the romance, well, I think I would need season 2 where they dive into either romance or intimacy. Because this season feels like a foreplay if we want to go by the BL marketing. The potential is there but feels incredibly weak.
For me as I view the drama it was like a story of two gay friends characters rather than two gay lovers (yet).






















