Every year there are series that surprise us. Series that, due to their quality, their themes, and the audience’s reaction, manage to exceed all expectations placed on them, if there were any expectations or if they were even on the radar of the vast majority of people. This is something positive and healthy, because it means that there is still room for surprises in such a corrupted ecosystem as streaming.
Last year, there was probably no greater surprise than Heated Rivalry, which has been translated into Spanish as Más que rivales. And this series finally arrives on streaming services, in this case Movistar+, so you can understand why a romance between two hockey players from rival teams has been taking the world by storm. Even among those who do not like hockey or romance between people of the same or different genders.
A series with a clear audience in mind
Heated Rivalry tells the story of Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, the two biggest stars of Major League Hockey. Although at first they have a rivalry largely motivated by their positions on opposing teams, they soon realize that they feel an electrifying attraction to each other that, over the course of eight years, they will explore in all its facets. The romantic, the sexual, and the competitive.
A large part of the show’s success is how it treats all the elements that compose it with tremendous respect and intelligence. The first and most obvious is the romance between Shane and Ilya. There is nothing watered down here. It is a romance, it is explicit, and it leaves nothing unsaid. They are in love, they have doubts, they are confused, but the series does not pretend it is anything other than what it is. It has no problem presenting their romance explicitly, also offering us their most torrid moments, and evolving the plot with as much tension as with impeccable rhythm.
In that sense, the series feels like a very well-cultivated genre in Japan, which is yaoi. Erotic and romantic mangas about romance between men, generally written by women and specifically aimed at a female audience, where they can safely project their fantasies. Something that Heated Rivalry replicates very effectively.
In any case, it is not the only thing it does with great charm. Another reason it has been gaining popularity is due to the fidelity with which it treats the sport itself. Hockey fans, regardless of their interest in the romance first and foremost, have become hooked on the series thanks to the fidelity with which it addresses the sport itself. Even if it remains a relatively secondary theme compared to the romance, the care taken to be true to the reality of the sport and to ensure that its rivalry is always constructed logically and faithfully, not only to the sport but also to how it could unfold in reality, has sparked the interest of fans of this sport.
In the same way, another thing that has captivated the more cinephile audience is the care in its staging and direction. The series is visually not only attractive but truly complex and interesting, placing a lot of weight on narrating both through images and the dialogues spoken by its characters. This has also attracted a not exactly small sector of cinephiles.
All of this has made Heated Rivalry an unexpected yet logical success. By appealing to a target audience and their needs, while methodically taking care of all the elements surrounding the story, they have achieved what all series aspire to. Reach their target audience, keep them talking about the series, and through them, get other people hooked on it not necessarily for the main elements, but for the attention given to other elements that may align with their specific interests. Something much more difficult to achieve than it seems.
If you’re interested in discovering firsthand why the Heated Rivalry phenomenon is so powerful, it’s very easy for you. Its six episodes are available on Movistar+ starting February 5 so you can join this fever that doesn’t seem to be ending anytime soon.
