Jun & Jun (2023)

I wish it were longer

I was really excited for Jun & Jun when a lot of the promo was first coming out. it seemed like an interesting office romance that I was really intrigued by. while I think it delivered on a lot of my expectations, there were quite a few spots where it faultered in my opinion. I think this show truely suffered from its short run time and few episodes. I wanted so badly to get to know each of the four main characters but it felt as though most of them ended up being stereotyped shells. If we had had more time with each character I feel like I would have enjoyed the show way more. now on the positive side, I feel as though the casting was phenomenal. the actors did a wonder job for what they were given and found ways to add nuances to their performance to make the characters more interesting over all. I would still recommend this show to anyone who enjoys the genre; but it wouldn’t be my pull for a first time bl or office romance viewer.

Read More

Jun & Jun (2023)

This is my first time doing a review, so let's go. This show is like a snack. Not your favorite, but a yummy one. A quick snack that can be finished in 8 bites. I've seen my fair share of short BLs from Korea, and this one is definitely one of the more enjoyable ones. If you're looking for a quick review, this show is worth your time. You can binge it in a day, there's decent acting and chemistry and an easy plot to follow. SPOILERS AFTER THIS!
Some thoughts:
1. While scent and smell were a huge theme in the show, I'm so glad it didn't take a creepy turn. I was worried about that when I noticed it was going to be central to the plot.
2. In episode 11, Choi Jun says, "Recently, I've been feeling like I'm forcing you to stay with me. I feel very lonely." I loved this call out. I feel like sometimes in BLs, when the more submissive partner shrugs off affection from the more dominate partner, it's not talked about often from the characters. I love that Choi Jun felt that in the moment and said something. It made the moment feel real.
3. I've seen a couple of the reviews having complaints with pacing in the show which is valid. A lot of BL media coming out Korea unfortunately is like this, and I don't know why. I think since I went in expecting that, I wasn't shocked when things were rushed. I think it helped all the characters had established relationships before the series.
4. I didn't realize until now that this series is over a year old, so a season 2 is probably not on anyone's mind. But I think they deserve one. Especially for Chim On and Hyun Jae. Not sure if anyone else felt flirty vibes with them, but I can totally see an entire second season with them as the leads and falling in love. Exploring Chim On's struggles as a super star. And Hyun Jae would still be working at the perfume/ad company, so we'd still be able to keep up with Choi Jun and Lee Jun. I've already ranted for too long, but I see it so clearly in my head.
5. I was going to end it there because I couldn't think about any other points I wanted to make. But that made me think about how this show is actually quite forgettable, which I think comes from the fact that it's short and rushed. If the show had the time, the characters could've been fleshed out. We could've seen the more mundane parts of their lives and really gotten to know them. Either way, I'm glad I watched it and enjoyed myself. I hope you've liked all my yapping and it inspired you to watch this show if you haven't already.

Read More

Far from Perfect, But Better Than Expected

Thanks to the other reviewers, my expectations for this were sufficiently lowered that I actually ended up enjoying it. I would never say this was great, but it had some fun moments and a very attractive lead.

The negatives are this is pretty low budget and it shows with rudimentary lighting and cinematography, and frequent poor audio recording. The setup (the relationship between the boss and the employee) has got to be the most used trope in BLs so that was a little tired. The plotting frequently felt forced and lacking surprises -- you knew he was going to become the star employee despite his early struggles, you knew the fiance wasn't really a fiance from the get-go, and you knew who he was going to end up with from the opening credits. A little more nuance and surprises could have elevated this rote plot. I would have loved to see more shenanigans about his hiding and eventually being discovered as a former idol. I think his character would have felt more developed if they dove deeper into why quit being an idol, which was never explained. A little more back story on how the two boys felt after the were separated as children would have been good. Some more serious work struggles before Lee Jun succeeds at work, and maybe some more authentic feeling of inadequacy when he compared himself to his coworkers, would have made his eventual success feel more triumphant. Some misunderstandings used at twists weren't played out as dramatically as they could have. We knew the moment we heard about the fiance thing that it wasn't real. Wouldn't it have made the drama that more impactful if we thought it was real? Finally, what was up with Song Hyun Jae unrequited love. He never even confessed. Seeing as he was portrayed as a saint, if the writers had really pitted his interest in Lee Jun against Choi Jun's pursuit of him, that would have really given the audience something to pick a team and get behind. Fans would have been much more invested and there probably would have been endless debates on My Drama List about which one was the right boyfriend for Lee Jun. Unfortunately, this production didn't want to think that hard about what was going on.

However, the second lead actor, Ki Hyun Woo, is super easy on the eyes and that goes a long way in holding your attention. Since this series was mostly supported by him being eye candy, I think they could have pushed it a bit further and turned up the heat even more. They could have added some sex scenes or at least shown him shirtless. I appreciated the frankness of where things were going with the box of condoms and the one in his hand at the end, but given the recycled and thin plat that the producers ran with, a little steaminess would have helped a lot. In the end, even despite the recycled plot, Jun & Jun is light, breezy, quick, and mindless -- I watched the whole thing in one night and mostly enjoyed it.

Read More

A swing and a miss

I really wanted to like this show and I'm kind of sad that I didn't.
There is potential in this story and in this cast but the final product fails to live up to it, which is a shame.
I feel like the series is stuck in the unfortunate limbo between being enjoyable as an actually good show and being enjoyable as a silly, self-aware rollercoaster ride.
It's too nonsensical and off-beat to be truly taken seriously, but it also takes *itself* just a bit too seriously to be a fun thrill-ride like this year's Why R U was, for instance.
The overall production quality is very decent and there are a couple of genuinely good scenes, but that's about all the show has going for it, unfortunately.
If you want something simple to turn your brain off to, this might do the trick. There simply also happen to be a lot of better shows you could be spending your time on instead, just saying.

Read More

Cute and Trendy

Rated = 9 -~ 39/50 ~ 7.8
RPG Scene ~ I'm being seduced by fashionable elves into an enchanted forest, and the staff in my hand is just a twig lol

I am noticing that I have a preference for Korean BL's as they suit my taste more.
Heavily criticized so naturally I'm going to like it. It's not a deep thinker. It felt like a warm hug. Just a character with failed dreams trying to fit into the world. There's only 8 half hour episodes so it's nothing dramatic and a lot of stuff is quickly glossed over but sometimes I want that. Just something sweet to counteract the bitterness. I don't need to be philosophizing life at every moment.
It follows the dense cutie that everyone loves harem trope but I didn't mind it so much as it's not overly exemplified and felt more like naivety to me than just purposefully stupid. I also enjoyed how the character's spoke with their eyes a lot.
A sweet and easy watch.

Read More

Jun's harem

It's funny that Lee Jun of all people has multiple guys gaga for him, including his main love interest/estranged childhood friend who is maxed out character powers personified: handsome, tall, generational wealth, business savvy, young and accomplished, great kisser, etc, that only has eyes for him. Lee Jun himself doesn't have anything outstanding in his personality outside of the first episode where he boldly asks a stranger for a lift to work, the reveal he tried being an idol, and the childhood flashback . The show forgets to actually to establish a interesting personality for him and he was mostly just the object of the three guy's affections. The drama spent a bit too much time on the three guys pining for Lee Jun and not enough Lee Jun actually dating Choi Jun, but when they finally at last do, I like that Lee Jun goes from 0 to 1000000 with his extremely attractive boyfriend, as he should.

Read More

Re-watch worthy? Yes (good and cozy vibes)

The series really captured a cozy and calming feeling that I enjoyed. It didn't feel out of place and is definitely on the list of rom-coms that are worth to watch just for the atmosphere it creates.

It did have some up and down moments in it, but overall I think it is one of those series that you can sit down and watch in one sitting without worrying your brain too much with the overcomplicated plot.

The overall writing could have definitely been a bit better, because I feel like some episodes were packed with plot that didn't really seem needed or made the whole episode almost like a filler for the story of the company. Although a little bit of story is good about the situation and the surroundings that mostly surround our characters, but in this case it seemed like it was just shoved to the viewer at the most unneeded times (note that the episodes were around 20 minutes long, so these episodes with 'filler' back stories was a little bit a waste of the episodes time).

Overall, I think if I did choose to watch it again, I would pick out only the episodes that are worth watching and by doing that I would practically miss out on nothing at all.

The visuals of the series was wonderful and the chemistry between the characters was definitely there.

Read More

Come on, Jun & Jun is a BL story from South Korea that will just make you so happy because everything about it is just light and pure love. I would usually slam them from having such storylines but the execution is what they always have a good route with. The story of Jun & Jun are two childhood friends reuniting in their adult years. Choi Jun is now the general manager of a company owned by their family and Lee Jun is a failed K-Pop Idol who is now an intern in the company where Choi Jun is the general manager. They met again but things felt different and it was later revealed that they somehow liked each other and my main concern in this show is that the love story felt a bit slow. Yes, I do think that focusing on the individual lives of these characters is a good thing but what it lacked are moments to really solidify that chemistry. It is there but we could have used more moments of them together. This is considering that there are two hot men pining for Lee Jun as well. Luckily, those two hot men ended up together in a way that did not shock me but it felt like a weird cop out from the writers. I feel like the chemistry there is a bit random considering that they are supposed to be in love with this guy and they ended up together instead. So, yes, there are some parts of the story that are not well thought of based on my opinion but I have to say that the ending gave us everything that they lacked like we got an insane amount of kissing scenes from Choi Jun and Lee Jun. By the way, they are portrayed by Ki Hyun Woo and Yang Jun Mo, respectively. I like their chemistry and I really do hope that they had more scenes together. I would also like a shirtless scene from Ki Hyun-woo. That would be highly appreciated. Before I sound bad, I really did like this show mainly because of the attractive cast. I like a confident top and that is what Choi Jun is giving. I very much like that and the chemistry when they are together just works well. I just wish that they had more good scenes together. The show would benefit from that. I am sure of that. This could easily be longer considering that they focused too much on the product that they are developing that did not even feel relevant to the story. Anyways, I still enjoyed watching this show and I think that is what matters most to me.

Read More

100 cliches forced into one show

I wanted to like this drama so bad because ep 1 was such a strong start. However, this is the polar opposite to Light on Me where the drama gets better with each episode - this one gets progressively worse as time goes. I have to give it to the actors, this would have been way more unwatchable if the actors were slightly less competent. Choi Jun's flirting skills saved the drama, but even then this drama is what I would expect a story written by a teenage girl with a fetish for gay man would look like. The regular misgendering of Lee Jun, the forced love quadruple thing (I will never be convinced that Simon ever liked Jun), fake fiancee that added literally nothing to the plot, they irk me to no end. I can't see myself ever rewatching this.

edit on 16/09/24: so I rewatched this because of a clip I saw on tiktok. I have gotta say, all my points from above still stands except for the part about the rewatch value. Because this relied so much on vibes and chemistry, it gets better on your second and third watch because you already know the plot is not going to give you much. However, the chemistry and vibes really shone when rewatching. I found myself highly enjoying every interaction 2Jun have with each other. So if you watched this once and did not like it, I reckon you should give it a second try because my second experience was much more enjoyable than my first one.

Read More