Let’s Talk About CHU Netflix Series Review - Sex Education

One way to describe Let's Talk About Chu is to label it as Taiwanese "Sex Education." This comparison, though, immediately enfeebles this Remii Huang-directed show. Sex Education had endearing characters, colorful frames, and beautiful emotions. Every line sounded perfect; every dramatic scene made your heart jump. Let's Talk About Chu, on the other hand, has weak visuals - a common problem present in most Netflix originals. The emotions, too, are not very dramatic, strong, or palpable. Most scenes simply go past you like a ghost. The series, though, is nicely held together by wonderful performances. The actors keep you invested. Their faces are open, and they imbue their characters with tenderness.

I opened the review by mentioning Sex Education because Let's Talk About Chu also wants to give the audience sex education. The lessons here don't come from a high school student but from a YouTuber/influencer named Chu Ai (Tzu Hsuan Chan). Her videos are all about masturbation, female pleasure, sexual infections, etc. You get to watch them when the end credits roll. Her channel is not popular. All creators want everybody to see their creations. They wish to go viral. Ai is not different. She, too, wants sponsorships and a million subscribers. So when someone puts her image on the face of a porn star, Ai tries to use this incident to gain views and followers. Her plan flops, and she also realizes how scary it is to be a...woman.

Ai exudes charm and confidence. She firmly holds herself, even while suffering from intense sadness. Ai is generally composed. Even when angry, she doesn't scream at the top of her lungs. Rather, she fires back with bitter words dispensed in a seemingly slightly irritated tone. Here is someone who likes to lay down rules before sleeping with someone. That "someone" is none other than Chou Ping-ke (Kai Ko). Is he Ai's boyfriend? She makes him pretend to be her boyfriend, though one can clearly see how much these two love each other. Ping-ke is filled with youthful innocence, making him naturally comic as well as adorable. Look at the scene where his bubble bursts when he submits his resume for jobs. His face, when he expresses disappointment, appears so winsome that you laugh while simultaneously feeling sorry for his situation.

Ai has a sister named Chu Wei (Kimi Hsia). Her husband is Lin Shih-chieh (Umin Boya), a professor. Wei and Shih-chieh's marriage has become devoid of passion. He is always busy working and ignores her sexual desires. This thread is the weakest in this show. Shih-chieh, we find out, attracts the attention of a female student. What does she find so appealing about this professor? Is it his intelligence? But Shih-chieh looks so dull we find it hard to digest that some young girl would be interested in this old, lifeless man. In one of the episodes, Shih-chieh asks Wei what happened to them - why did the love disappear? We, too, end up asking the same question. Let's Talk About Chu just asks us to accept this relationship as damaged from the beginning itself. We never know what exactly creates a distance between Wei and Shih-chieh. And I am not convinced that the gap comes due to his heavy workload. Why doesn't he talk to his wife? Why doesn't he explain what he wants? The bond is fixed in an unsatisfying manner. One concludes that this thread was shallowly conceived for the sake of some (surface-level) drama. Hsia's dimples, though, fill her character with joy and excitement. Her face lightens up whenever she flashes that lovely smile.

Most of the issues in Let's Talk About Chu come with an odor of education. The series preaches, "It's ok to file for a divorce," "It's ok to explore different partners," "It's ok to fall out of love," and "Don't worry, even your parents are imperfect." These lessons are not that enlightening. The show rests heavily on its "good intentions." In one of the scenes when Ai rejects Ping-ke's invitation, the lamp beside him drops its head to express disappointment. This immediately disconnects you from the show because there are no other such cartoonish images here.

Let's Talk About Chu does briefly sparkle here and there during moments like the one where Shih-chieh's dad says he is waiting for a woman and the one where Yu-sen (J.C. Lin) and Yueh (Chien-Ho Wu) tease each other at a bus stop while the latter holds his grandmother's ashes. The family dinner scene in the first episode is sufficiently funny and stressful. However, the best thing about this series is Ai's childhood flashback that arrives when she uses an elevator. It's shot with a tense lens that effectively puts us in the shoes of a nervous little girl. If only Let's Talk About Chu consisted of more such powerful moments.

Final Score- [6/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
Follow @vikasonorous on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times