Denied Love (Uncut Ver.)

The best GL of the year (so far), and maybe the TOP 5 GL of all time

What if your father forced you to marry a woman who is madly in love with you?
They've become my favorite duo #Enjoyjune
These two managed to win everyone over with their chemistry and humor, both on and off screen.

Khem made me laugh so much with her lines. She simply says whatever comes to mind without thinking twice, and most of the time, she's just thinking dirty things, hahaha.

The actresses have been friends since they were teenagers, so they get along really well on and off screen. Because of this, they have great chemistry. The dynamic between a cold heart and a puppy (speaking of the protagonists' personalities) is contagious. One is cold-hearted and the other is sassy, ​​it's just too good!

If you like the idea of a woman convincing another to love her through seduction, this is your GL. The only complaint about the acting (that I saw) is that they don't actually kiss, just a peck on the lips, but real Drama fans don't mind that, since we often watch 56 episodes just to see a peck on screen... here there are so many hot scenes and lots of kissing (just not a big one), and it's incredible! Unmissable!

P.S.: I think the actresses themselves asked for no on-screen kissing. To me, that's the most reasonable explanation, and I think it's nice to respect their wishes.

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Good Bones, Missing Soul

Based on the success of author Peony's novel of the same name, I was really excited to watch this series, and while I did enjoy making this show part of my daily routine, I can't help but think there was some room for improvement.

What I liked: The pacing of the series was done really well and the story remained very faithful to the novel. Sometimes, I feel like some aspects of the plot in some series can drag on for too long, emphasize side couples too much, or blur past important scenes that needed more context, but I really liked how the pacing was delivered here. For example, plot between Rin and Praphai/Kiri was paced perfectly, with just the amount of time delivered to their relationship as necessary; the relationship was only developed through the camera as a way to progress the main relationship between Rin and Khem. Additionally, I liked how they quickly wrapped up the plot between Kiri and Rin, which is a plotline that I thought dragged for a bit too long in the novel. Because of the good pacing of the show, the show was quite easy and enjoyable (for the most part) to watch. Outside of the pacing, of course, the overall plot is an interesting take on the arranged marriage plotline, which historically hasn't really been done on the screen, specifically in the WLW sphere.

What I didn't like: In my opinion, the romantic chemistry between the actresses was lacking. While the friendship chemistry between the actresses seemed solid in scenes that didn't contain romantic undertones (which, honestly, wasn't many), the actresses seemed unconvinced in their line delivery and acted as if they were merely reciting the lines they had been assigned. I say this because even after watching the entire series, where Khem and Rin are supposed to feel passionately about each other, the passion for each other was not there, and watching them interact romantically is what I imagine I would be like to kiss one of my close friends for work. While I cannot fault them for lacking romantic on-screen chemistry (after all, we're not all gonna have chemistry with everyone we know), I feel as though as an actress, one should hold themselves to a professional standard to at least convince the audience about their role and the overall drama, which I did not see here. Another thing I didn't really enjoy was the use of love scenes to further the plot; honestly the frequency of the love scenes seemed excessive, and though it is just a reflection of the dynamic between Rin and Khem in the novel, the love scenes seemed performative, and simply just added for the sake of garnering attention.

That leads into my last point, which is less so directly about the series adaptation, but moreso about the GL industry as a whole, but I'm including it in this review because I feel as though it is relevant to this drama. I feel as though there is a correlation between dramas with frequent love scenes and the popularity they receive, especially as the GL entertainment market is starting to become more saturated with content. While I recognize that the works that do portray frequent love scenes between characters who do identify as LGBTQ+ can have the effect of widening representation of LGBTQ+ love, I can't help but think that dramas whose main selling points are the love scenes in the show, are advertising a depiction of LGBTQ+ relationships that are little more than just relationships focused around sex. I think this is a damaging, reductive notion of queer relationships; queer relationships can be (and oftentimes are) more complex than just relationships built on physical intimacy. While this show does try to develop more of a relationship between Rin and Khem, I feel as though the complexity of their relationship (as well as queer relationships by extension) could've been better represented and explored in interactions outside of the bedroom, and I can't help but think that if new viewers unfamiliar with the dynamics of queer relationships watched this series, they would walk away with a very reductive idea of how queer relationships work, which is a shame because queer relationships (and more broadly romantic relationships) are beautiful in their complexity.

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Freakiest GL with the most insane chemistry.

As someone who loves arranged marriage trope with loads of angst and one sided yearning for the other person, i randomly stumbled upon this while searching for a good series to binge - with the first three air's of DL my heart was at sink, it was painfully good with having June (the mommy who can heal my gay withdrawal syndromes just by having her beside me LOL) that i ended up reading the book and also finished reading it in 2 nights including the special book too - already a crazy story to belive, right? i know! But i had so many things bottled up while reading it, i felt angered, i felt anxious, i felt happy all together- it was a different kind of feeling, If we see it closely it was all about Rin’s POV all along , i usually hate the dramas where lead stays hungs between their past and present and hurts the other party who ain't in the fault at all, but, this, this freaking drama unintentionally had something which i just couldn’t help but be hooked on it on it’s every airs even after reading the book. I have a hate-love relationship with Rin but THANK GOODNESS screen writers paid enough attention to her ckt in the adaption, 📙 Rin was messed, horrible, heartless, unbothered AND pathetic. (Im sorry but it’s the truth😭) the video tapes that Rin records at the end of every episodes, it makes me hate her less , i actually like her after those dairies tbh and be pity with her,
as a emotionally fool who still cares about the warmth part of a relationship instead of the bad things
enjoyer seeing June bringing Rin life to it, she did absolute justice to it, i could actually feel like snapping her out and slap her too in times whenever she behaved so ignorantly towards Khem’s obvious feelings like the book Rin (the actor she is - Hahaha) but no matter how much i say, i love Rin (again cz of June) the person who has my heart from the very beginning of the show, is definitely Khem, that kid is someone i really need in my life (but dear girls, never be her irl ) she keeps hoping and be hung on the relationship where there's no hope of a beautiful future at the end of it, very honestly it’s toxicology hopeless, and it hurts like hell too. At the end only EnjoyJune's chemistry saved the drama for me which had nothing except the same back and forth and be in denial of the growing feelings till the end of the story, the director did sloppiness with directing it too and gosh never letting the girls kiss properly LIKE WHATS THE EFFING DEAL!? They had so much sexual chemistry and the depth was certainly visible through their actions, so wished they'd explored more of their bedroom eyes chem rather than putting those weirdly annoying moaning sounds - LET THEM DO THE WORK, THEY CAN DO MUCH BETTER FROM THOSE SOUNDS 😩 also crazy how they added the non existing pool scene (which again wa the crazy setup, everything felt so perfect except the direction😭) but couldn't bother to add the special book scene where Rin proposed her sincerely and more romantically ,
THEY COULD'VE ATLEAST ADDED THE SCENE WHERE THEY WERE SEEN SITTING TOGETHER WATCHING THE STARS IN THE BEACH (THAT SCENE WAS PURE GOLD) the director was extremely lazy ig nonetheless , a good actually a CRAZY watch DL was, im not going to get over them so sooner, until we have next of EnjoyJune , DL is the deal for me. No matter how chopped it is, it’s an addiction i cannt help but be surrendered to it. And Ahhhhh Top Rin can heal so many wounds, i would trade anything just to have her .:/

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GL underdog of the year

They released their trailer two weeks before their show aired, which was during the GL drought and stole many hearts - incredible timing. Great choice with the book; the adaptation was as close to the book as possible, with a couple of tweaks here and there. Incredible and powerful performance from actress June. Her ability to tell a story with her whole body was incredible. Her face, in seconds, would reveal 3-5 emotions, showcasing how an individual can hold multiple feelings about one thing at a time. Worth watching and congratulations to the team. It was a wonderful show and I would highly recommend reading the novels as well. So worth it

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Mild angst, limited red flags, HEA

What worked: story, continuity, character arcs (mostly), acting, lip biting

ROMANTIC INTIMACY:
• First the caveat - physical intimacy in the portrayal of a romantic relationship is a deal breaker for me. I don't mean explicit, but I do mean firmly implicit. For a fictional romance to resonate with me that component will need prominence in the story. So, I am discombobulated by comments decrying "too much" emphasis on physical love in a GL series when these series are essentially G or, at most, mild PG rated type content. I find that especially odd when, as in this case, the source material very explicitIy includes sexual intimacy. I acknowledge this because this personal filter underpins the comments that follow.

• The series did well showing that Khem's purposeful seduction of Rin was the only weapon she had to build intimacy with Rin and counter Rin's obsession with Pai. I've read the comments from viewers who thought of the sexual intimacy as pandering for clicks, but I think that misses the point that Khem was determined to fight for Rin on the only battlefield she had. Rin's growing emotional closeness and affection for Khem, which developed through this intimacy, was exactly the payoff the plotline was going for.

• The only thing I thought was awkwardly handled was Rin's constant pushback to Khem's desire for her. Rin is 38, not 58, so, while the need for sleep is a reasonable complaint, the second and third repetitions of her "exhaustion" felt overplayed. This could have been negotiated more fluidly by transitioning from physical intimacy to more scenes showing non-sexual physical embraces that emphasized emotional development.

Which segues neatly to what didn't work.

EMOTIONAL INTIMACY:
• The second caveat - I have a cultural limitation with Asian GL and Asian romance, in general, as it intersects with the Eastern affinity for "cuteness." What is perceived as endearing and playful in this culture hits me and my possibly probably emotionally stunted Western upbringing as immature, affected, farcical, and cringe. The best/worst expression of this was in the series "Blank," where the apparent maturity gap between the partners was a "YIKES!" factor that kept me borderline appalled with the romantic relationship.

That's a me problem, I know that. I acknowledge it because I'm about to throw down with the director on the choice to have Khem portrayed as an unceasingly bouncy, squeaky, superficial "puppy," even in scenes that beg for real emotional depth. The director allowed the physical intimacy to seem gratuitous and shallow because it never fully developed to portray deep, serious emotional intimacy, as well. We got to see some real emotional growth in Rin's acceptance of her attraction to, and eventually love for, Khem; I would have liked to see the same with Khem's physical intimacy and its bridge to emotional closeness.

• Where it really would have made sense to lean into physical intimacy as a bridge to emotional intimacy there was barely a trace. Both the "yay, we're back together" tepid (really really really tepid), almost chaste reunion smooch and the much anticipated pool scene entirely missed the vibrant energy of the joys of makeup sex. Yes, I was underwhelmed. The first real opportunity to show the balance of emotional and physical intimacy after Rin embraced her love for Khem, when both of them are FINALLY on the same page, was more fizzle than sizzle. Where lingering in the moment was called for, both scenes felt rushed. This seems to be a GL pattern, though, I had exactly the same complaint with the beach reunion in "Affair."

Red flags a waving:
• In Episode 10, while WE all knew Rin and Pai were finally done, Khem didn't, and she took Rin back without any assurance that she wouldn't be in for a lifetime of playing second fiddle. That omission completely defeats the purpose of Khem leaving in the first place. It seems obvious that a "did you dump that b**ch yet?" moment was needed before Khem sacrificed her very last shred of dignity.

Minor annoyances:
• Episode 9 - ten minutes of content packed into 45 minutes of run time.

• The cognitive dissonance of the line "We're almost home" delivered while sitting in a parked car.

• Rin's posse not showing up in person to confront her about her alcohol fueled self pity fest. That phone call was so lame it would have been better to leave out the interaction completely.

• The second couple - a waste of space and time. The actors did as well as anyone could have with character portrayals that whipped a 180 out of nowhere. I'm all for playing against stereotypes, but it's not credible for a gay coded man to suddenly dip into a relationship with a woman with absolutely zero build up and nothing going for them other than proximity.

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Enjoyable, light watch but not solid and somewhat confusing

It's enjoyable, light to watch and the actresses are good though characters didn't allow much.

TLDR - The plot relays too much on a supposed backstory, but said backstory is never shown or explained properly. There's a poor intent to do so that just makes it more confusing. Acting wise the actresses do a good job. Production is decent.


The storyline was portrayed in a way that even after 9/10 episodes I'm trying to understand certain aspects of it. Even points it goes over multiple times, it's done by using the resource of a memory, repeating scenes, and it remains unclear and confusing. A lot of watch time is wasted in those scenes that are supposed to bring clarity over their backstory but just don't make sense many times.

[SPOILERS AHEAD]

My main complaint would be about the grief of one of the two main characters is terribly portrayed, or not portrayed at all, which makes no sense specially when the entire plot of the series relays on her loss.

Still wondering what even were those videos they filmed of themselves at the end of each EP.

Highlight: That one scene where a character portraits claustrophobia, great work 👏

[END OF SPOILER]

I'm still missing the las EP, maybe it clarifies everything I'm looking for.
Not bad enough to drop but also not a rewatch.
Excited to see the actresses in other roles, seems like they have more to offer than the characters allowed them to.

Edit: Watched the last EP, though it's a decent ending, it still did not clarify basically anything. The final itself isn't fantastic, but it's also not terrible. It was resolved fairly good for what seems to be limited time and budget.

My main takeaway is that the story itself has a lot of potential, but it also has a lot going on, it's hard (and wasn't really accomplished on these 10 EPs) to show all the story has to offer and needs to show in order to make use and show it's potential.

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I discovered EnjoyJune with this work. I'm glad I did, they are really cute and have great chemistry. They are really great actress.

On one hand I think Rin takes too much times to get a little bit soft for Khem. Even when she was soft (and I guess start to get feelings for her) she is still too mean to her. And don't get me wrong, I love mean lesbian but not toward their lover. But on the other hand, that's made me love how Rin cried and plea for Khem's return. (Yes baby suffer for the pain you bring to your lover).
If I'm not wrong they also show a transgender lesbian (I'm happy because representation matters). And she isn't use to add fun, she is a good character.

Only cons about this drama is how sometimes Khem kinda force to have sex. It's supposed to show how Rin won't accept her feelings (I guess) but it end up like worse. please for god's sake, can drama stop putting rape in drama, and show it as fun. Sorry but insisting to have sex even with your lover isn't right!!

Anyway, the drama was funny, cute and sexy. (If we delete these forcing scene)

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