Close to You (2025)

4 different stories with different vibes

Overall: the production value is good for what I assume is a very indie series (it got a .5 indie bump). Aired on GND Studio's YouTube channel https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-UjFgW8TJEf0j62oTEJudvgjvIT1uTqc&si=VJ9NKGmGyWH6mMs2 GND also made My Damn Business and Fake Buddies.

Content Warning: see my spoiler comment for a large one for episode 6

1st Story (Riding a Bicycle eps 1/2) - friends faced shifting feelings. Enjoyed the sweet/caring moments. The bike/trip may have been symbolism for things going differently from how you initially envisioned. Very much a slice of life story with an open ending.

2nd Story (Friendship Bracelet eps 3/4) - quirky vibe with a supernatural element. Wish they had let it play out sooner/had fewer times.

3rd Story (The Last Diary eps 5/6) - back to a somber/slice of life vibe with two strangers that start off on the wrong foot. Suggest stopping at episode 6, 7m25s

4th Story (Sunset Boulevard eps 7/8) - two guys reconnect at work after they knew each other in university. Wasn't a fan of the non con kiss in the past or non con touch at work, but I was happy with how it ended.

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4 Love stories in bite sized pieces!

This 8 episode BL anthology was short, sweet and honestly, pretty refreshing. Each story was wrapped up in two episodes, each around 20 minutes long. It wasn’t a lot of time, but it was enough to capture the vibe and give away those warm fuzzy feelings without dragging things out.

What stood out to me the most was the overall tone of the stories. There was no unnecessary drama, no toxic love triangles, and thankfully, no cheating plots. It was simply a collection of heartwarming short stories about love. It felt refreshing to watch a drama that stayed light throughout without resorting to overused dramatic twists. Somehow it gave just enough time to catch all the different vibes of romance.

The acting was genuinely good. Every actor brought a lot of heart to their roles and it made it super easy to get attached to the stories, even with the limited screen time.
The production quality seemed pretty solid too- clean visuals, nice editing and it all felt put together really well for a mini-series. The storytelling stayed focused and didn't try to do much, which made it a really easy watch.

Obviously with such a short runtime, there was not much room for deep character development or heavy emotional storylines. The focus was more on capturing those fleeting moments like the start of a crush, the awkward excitement of first feelings rather than diving deep into the characters' lives. For what it set out to do, I think it pulled it off really well.

Overall, I thought this was a very well done mini-series, charming, easy to watch, and honestly better than many of the bigger, mainstream Korean BL dramas out there. If you are looking for something light and do not mind short episodes, I would definitely recommend this!

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