Eliot_Rulez

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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Much better compared to Middleman's Love, but stil lazy writing

Some positives first: chemistry, costumes, and the better episodes later in the series, not romantising to try kissing a sleeping person and calling it out, sensible intimate moments, some fluff, making the writing in a book play out.
Some negatives: Cringe, forced funny moments which were not funny, weak writing and no "battle" at all, bad adlib for the chinese actor, weak ending.

Maybe it's my guilty pleasure but I personally found it not that bad compared to other shows and they outdid themselves with the visual presentation. Lazy writing still prevails in Thai shows, so that was a given, but an improvement of the last show for the MLs.

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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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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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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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Whats with the cliché storyline?

While the first part of the series did have a female antagonist which felt forced, I have no idea how they could insert such a story plot in episode 7. I can't understand as well why there is still miscommunication and trust issues when they seemingly resolved their problems in ep 5 & 6. I don't really get it.
I thought they would tell a story where both of them would grow but not to insert a third wheel which will shaken one of them. The ending feels like they are in a fragile relationship and even if the ending seems to resolve all problems I don't feel it will.

So overall a medicore storyline with cliché plotpoints. I can't fault the acting and the kissing scenes felt natural for me. Maybe the epilogue in the "payed" version would have brought more clarity but to pay for some minutes more content is not worth it for me.

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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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As usual GMMTV ruined everything...

When Boun & Prem developed their vampire story I don't think they had this result in mind. A story which is erratic and has no clear vision. The most friendly thing I can say is: I'm happy it's over. There are some episodes they are just trash and then there are episodes which gives us a bit of hope but it's a rollercoaster between awful and slightly good. But it is never anything above or consistent. Yes, you will get some fluffy scenes but how the love of Punn and Ramil really developed is still a mystery after the series ended. I would have wished there were more excursions in Punns dreamworld, because the only thing we see in the beginning is a love scene and not how it got there.

And then there is the finale which makes this series ridicilous. The actor of Jet makes this extremely cringe and unbelievable, he can't play a mad vampire. And the fighting is just comical with the strange sound effects added. I'm speechless of how bad this went. This happens when GMMTV takes over, just want to please the fangirls and loose focus to deliver a comprehensive story. And I'm sad for Boun & Prem who can act way better even when their talent shines through in some scenes, but not enough to make this series good. Also Marc tried his best and he is the most consistent characters in my view, but he can't do it alone.

Overall this was a really big disappointment, but on the other hand I have never much hope for GMMTV productions when they cast popular ships. When they don't care, they can produce something good like "Boys in Love". It's a dilettantish attempt in the vampire genre, the same as in "My Golden Blood" which was equally bad. Again a series which didn't need to exist.

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Every year a top notch production from Taiwan

Last year Taiwans BL industry had "Kiseki Dear To Me" with the highest production value and this year it must be "Unknown". They also had a troubled background story with some mafia elements and general hardships for at least one character. While the story is not perfect the series conveys all the feelings very well. Chemestry between the leads was also top notch imho and they kept the intimate scenes to the story where it mattered. Only LiLi left something to be desired, not really grown up to the end.

To read a review where I'm told I'm weired because of "incest" even it isn't "incest" was even more weired for me. Does incest even count between same sex? Incest is only not allowed because of gen deficits the children will get, see Europe and Habsburger :)

While not perfect this show transports all the feelings in an expectional way, with a top notch production value and cinematography. I can overlook all the the little story problems especially at the end. I would have prefered to see the surgery and not LiLis baby. Regardsless a show to recommand.

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