Eliot_Rulez

fun to watch, but a lot of cliché

The weakest point of this series is the storyline. The pacing is off most of the time. Either it's too slow or it's too rushed, espeically in the finale. Also the stereotypes are not my cup of tea. We have a "model" who does not like anything besides eating and earning money with least effort as possible. The chef who looks stern and unapproachable but can cook exceptional well. There is an ultra-capitalist who thinks everything can be bought with money and a physio-therapist who thinks helping others is his call even when he is annoyed with his lazy friend.

These characters are ingredients for a show full of cliché and little character growth. What is nice about this show, it's not overly silly or over-acting comedy. But there are scenes where you ask yourself "WTF?", like kicking a competitor out because the kitchen is not clean enough but five minutes later fucking in the same kitchen (Did anyone clean afterwards?).

While it would have been nice if we could see characters with more nuances and more depth, it was overall fun to watch. First eat before watching, otherwise you will get hungry for sure, because all the dishes they serve look really amazing. Then turn your brain off and just enjoy the ride and the drama. At least the characters all had a variety of emotions and could act on them. Also the chemestry of all couples was top notch, even when sniffing your partner may be a bit cringe, but who am I to judge? 🤣 One bonus point goes to the OST, because I think they did better than most shows and not used "canned" music for the background and the songs were nice as well (6->7). Overall, better than I would have expected, but not good enough for a really good show, but it was entertaining at least.

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Very sweet & cute, lacks some substance but still a good show

The story is nothing new, but executed well. Only the finale is a bit disappointing. We could have had two episodes and could have seen Amasawa growth and reflection of what happend, not the typical "but we are two guys" 🤮 stuff, But that's expected from a manga done by a woman for women. The (male) directors/screenwriters did change the end of the manga which now is more sensible and makes more sense, but not really got into the struggles for Amasawa in depth. We also don't know what happend betweens Isumi and his dad, except what he told him (Amasawa). The only thing which does not matter is, if they are the same age or 10 years apart. Who carez about that? I don't. What I also appreciate of the directors was that the two characters did not have the dominant masculine and submissive femenin vibe and Isumi is also not a Tsundere which would be also typical for JBLs. So they did improve from the manga a lot.

So the final verdict is that Tanaka Koki was the showrunner and without him, this show would be very forgettable, He did an exceptional job and filled his character with emotions and made it fun to watch. Isumi itself is a contrast with his puppy look but deep timbre. They also avoid stupid things which are Thai shows are famous for and for gods sake no stupid sound effects 🤣. As usual in most JBLs there isn't any real kissing which is lame. Production quality was great, filming in "their" confined apartments must have been a nightmare.

Even if it's a womans fantasy it's a good show. So after watching heavy stuff like "Happy of the End" an episode of this will build you up and will ligthen your mood considerable and at least for me, made me smile a lot. This is a light comedy done (mostly) right.

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Not an redemption arc!

While I am happy that "Up" had a chance to play a different character (and we all did really hate him), I'm disapointed in the story. Ming understands what he did was wrong, but he did not change his character that much. I can believe that he now really tries hard to be a better partner, but we have no idea if his control and power issues has been dealt with and I doubt it.
There were scenes where he was lying on the floor not eating, just drinking and not doing much, but this did not help to change his narcisistic flaws which are still present in the finale. I guess the screenwriter are contradicting the character because they wanted an redemption arc.

I also would have wished, they used "Winner" for the first part of the show and only "Poom" for the second half. This would of course complicated filming, because both actors would have to learn the same mannerisms for their characters which would have made the story more interesting and the immersion in the story more believeable. That the same person plays both characters irked me a bit.

I'm not happy with Mings character development and the same for Joe. Joe is always Joe not standing up for himself, not understanding when to say no. I can understand you love whom you love but there should be a moment when your brain says "enough is enough!". This show had so much potential, the first four episodes had me hooked and I thought about how they will solve the redemption. And because of the lack of a real redemption arc this show fails. For me the finale was especially lackluster because everyone is now "happy", all is good and even Mike got Mings secretary as future BF (They should have expanded that arc as well), because most of the later episodes is a repeat of the first ones without the violence and lack of self-reflection on Mings part but he forces Joe once again repeating the same mistake again.

So overall the show is still above average even when the story-writing falls of a cliff. It did at least try to do something different in the sea of average shows, it did try to give us a mature story in the sea of university settings. And Up as Ming was really great!

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As usual disappointing....

There is an introvert with serious personality issues meeting an exrtrovert who is a musican. After that it does drag on.... In reality I doubt that many humans would have the patience for such a partner. Especially if one of them has a traumatic experience and is not talking about it. Of course that does not help at all. The chemistry between the MLs was partially akward. As usual lazy writing, because the side couples have limited screen time and there stories are not fully explored especially Game & Biu and they are missing mostly in the finale. The other couple felt rushed.

For a show where a band has a leading focus, there were not much songs in it. In the finale God says he is writing music, but of course we did not get to expierence that. The band was not that great imho. Also in the finale Diew overcame all his issues which is also rushed for me. Humans don't change that fast,.

This show had the ingredientience to be a good show but as expected it was medicore at best. All the fluff moments and the high production value do not save this show. A very very big minus is the turtle imprisoned in a little box. In many countries this would count as animal cruelty. So, there is nothing special about this show and I would recommand other shows.

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Why is it sooo bad?

Oh my god, that script.
I can't help it but thinking this is script has nothing to do with real gay life.

A man confessed to a boy (just visually, not implying the boy is not a man) and the man get a confession from a girl and then decided to date her even when he is loving that boy. Where does that happen? In a heterosexual woman writers fantasy? Then all the drama with the ex who is just an asshole happens and it felt sooooooo forced. And then they cut kissing scenes especially in the finale where the kiss is part of the story. While I have no problem with cutting fan-service, it's a no go if it is relevant to the story.

So overall I feel sad for the actors who did their best, even if they are inexperienced and felt a bit stiff at times. We can only hope the next series will be more realistic and not just fantasy. It's not the worst show this year but still bad alone from the storytelling. If you have not seen it, you can safely skip it.

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Still wholesome...

Many reviews complain, that season 2 is really close to season 1. Because there is not a timeskip you should not expect that Minato will change so soon. He is still childish, overthinking, overreacting, anxious, frightened, timid and overly shy. Yes, for western cultures this is annoying, but you should see the context and that japanse culture is different. At least I think in the finale he realizes that he can't be all that anymore and has to make a step forward.

To have the "side couple" play a more active role is also a positive for me and and at least here the adult steps out of his confort zone and he's trying.

So for me, this was really a very good BL and I hope they will continue with another season where we would see a more grown up "Minato-san" and how his life changes with Shin.

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What an action firework...

While this series has sci-fi elements, it's more a spy thriller with suspense, Who betrays who is the question. James Bond would search for a superweapon, they search for a supermutagen which turns a human into an nearly invincible superhuman,

The story is interesting, the plot-twists not always expected and good acting. This series has outstanding cinematogrpahy, VFX and action/fighting sequences. I have not seen such good VFX and fighting scenes in a series, but I guess it was expensive as hell, so we get only four episodes. That's the reason this got a 10 from me.

If you dig action but expect an interesting story as well, this is for you!

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Nice blend of comedy, fluff and drama.

I have not much to say, just I was very entertained with this series.

The story is of course not the best, but the acting is top notch. The only downfall is the kissing of MLs which, in typical traditional japanse style, is a dead fish kiss. When you can overlook this point, you get a nice blend of comedy and serious elements, solid story telling and some fluffy scenes. Production quality was top notch, intro & outro song fitted also very well and overall it's really entertaining.

So, if you have not watched it and you need something more on the light side, this is for you!

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Slowly paced, cute and different

As usual, japanese BL offer something different.
Boy's (Taishin) bird died and because he had him since school, he is endlessly sad and cries in the woods. There a tourist (Takara) comes by and conforts sad boy. Sometimes later Taishin comes to the same university where Takara studies...
In the next seven episodes we see Taishin coming to grips with his feeling, each episode is a step forward for him. Because (?) Taishin is from a rual area he is incredible naive and innocent and does not know much about life. On the other hand Takara is the opposite, he is disenchanted and does not expect much from life. But Taishin opens his heart nearly instantly and while a "selfish bastard" (his words in the finale), he really does care about him and wants to protect Taishin, because he also can't believe how naive Taishin is...

The mellow pace and the story focus just for one couple was a nice difference after many shows with two or more couples and rapidly switching from one couple to the next. Both actors did a really good job of portraying their characters and the vibe of the series was mostly relaxed with some dark spots espiecally for Takara. While the pace was slow I felt never bored with any episode. The only letdown (as of many JBLs) are the lack of real kissing. But maybe we get more with the "spin off". Artstyle, camera, scenery, lighting was top notch.

Overall I can recommand this show especially if you have a stressful life, because it will calm you down. Besides that you get a sweet, sometimes fluffy story which was sensible crafted.

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A realistic depiction of gay life end of the 1980ies...

While nowadays so much BL crap is produced, this is a very serious story about how life was for teens at the end of the 80ies. It's especially important because this movie begins when the martial law ended in Taiwan. They discover themselves, they discover how cruel the world is, discover that the end of martial law does not change people over night and also what role the church played against homosexuals.

It's one of the masterpieces Taiwan always produced in the BL-World where the story matters, where the characters matter, where the acting matters and where the production quality, direction and execution matters. All is done so well and all makes sense.

This movie does not have a happy end, so I advise caution before you watch it because it could make you feel terrible, sad or even depressed. Still, it's a masterpiece and leaves a strong impression.

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Starting slow, heating up...

This was a nice surprise... what started like a boring series (story-wise), got more intense as the episodes got on. The depecition of Inspector Chas past was done very well and the spidernet of corruption layed bare. Due to the end of this series I expect we will see a second series where they root out the corruption at the police again.
They did find a nice balance between action and detective work, also one case is interwoven most of the time with the next case is a novum of such series.
The cast was great, just the stereotype bad guys where a bit much, except Lee Taeju of course, he is just a very slimey but intelligent villain.
Overall a very enjoyable series.

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The first four episodes were cute, but it falls of till episode 7

I was quite hyped for this BL, and the beginning was really great.
But episode 7 killed some of it. I would have wished they could communicate without "Keitas" help and I would have even more flashbacks to communicate that they were really, really close. While the slow pace does not kill it for me, Ryotas behaviour does to some extent. I would have wished episode 7 did not happen or that he could break out of his shell and confess then which would have been much better.

Of course typical of such JBL the kissing was lacking as well. If you long for someone, you just not touch lips and let it be. You may be shy and start slowly but I prefer kissing which conveys the feeling of the characters. It's lame and unrealistic, so why do they do it all the time?

This series was enjoyable with some length and a frustrating moments in episode 7, but overall it was good.

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Not an redemption arc

While I am happy that "Up" had a chance to play a different character (and we all did really hate him), I'm disapointed in the story. Ming understands what he did was wrong, but he did not change his character that much. I can believe that he now really tries hard to be a better partner, but we have no idea if his control and power issues has been dealt with and I doubt it.
There were scenes where he was lying on the floor not eating, just drinking and not doing much, but this did not help to change his narcisistic flaws which are still present in the finale. I guess the screenwriter are contradicting the character because they wanted an redemption arc.

I also would have wished, they used "Winner" for the first part of the show and only "Poom" for the second half. This would of course complicated filming, because both actors would have to learn the same mannerisms for their characters which would have made the story more interesting and the immersion in the story more believeable. That the same person plays both characters irked me a bit.

I'm not happy with Mings character development and the same for Joe. Joe is always Joe not standing up for himself, not understanding when to say no. I can understand you love whom you love but there should be a moment when your brain says "enough is enough!". This show had so much potential, the first four episodes had me hooked and I thought about how they will solve the redemption. And because of the lack of a real redemption arc this show fails. For me the finale was especially lackluster because everyone is now "happy", all is good and even Mike got Mings secretary as future BF (They should have expanded that arc as well), because most of the later episodes is a repeat of the first ones without the violence and lack of self-reflection on Mings part but he forces Joe once again repeating the same mistake again.

So overall the show is still above average even when the story-writing falls of a cliff. It did at least try to do something different in the sea of average shows, it did try to give us a mature story in the sea of university settings. And Up as Ming was really great!

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Something different from GMMTV...

Sometimes there is a mircale and GMMTV does take a risk and does something different. The first couple Kant & Bison did not catch most of the viewers, because it was not a romantic meeting of two persons. Kant did approach Bison for a reason, because he had a deal with the police and he wanted to clear his name. While Bison was fully in it from the beginning, Kant was just a calculating bastard :) The other couple is different. While Style did it first to get a car and help Kant, he pursued Fadel on his own after a while. Something klicked and he did forget the car and was serious for a change.

I would say Khaotung delivered a top notch performance, while First was mostly solid. Joong did the most usual as in any other show (starting off distant) and Dunk was much improved even when his over-acting sometimes was annoying and cringe. But this is only from the view of their relationsships. As hitmen they did not deliver at all.

Other than that, the story of the "Mom" was a bit shallow and not very indepth. It was over in an episode and I don't know I felt underwhelmed. The rest was ok, production quality was, as usual, excellent. Other than that I had not much connection to the whole show... something felt a bit off. I can't explain it, but I was not really in it. For me it was ok, the NC scenes were of course what the fangirls expected and they did not disappoint. Some people will of course tell you, that this is the best show ever, but of course, it's not. I guess lazy writing prevails which is typically in GMMTV tradtion. It's ok and GMMTV did take a risk, but I guess it payed off. At least for the actors it was a good development not playing the same stuff all over again, which I think is positive, but the story itself is lacking.

Edit: Also the tattoos are lacking... especially when you compare with people with real tattoos, so that was also a cost optimizing option to use foils instead painting.

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