Eliot_Rulez

An interesting start falling to a medicore end with lazy writing

While I always thought lazy writing is a thing for Thai BLs, it also happened here. Also to be a musician is about passion and I missed some of it. Even if you are down a lot and having a depression I would assume a musician will find help with his music. I understand stage fright but should he not have somehow mellowed it down because he has the experience after a while? It seemed like he's still a rookie.

There is no fault in the actors who did the best with a weak script they were given. Production quality was very good except the hair. Neither the wig nor the blonde extensions on Orca were a good idea. I also don't understand Reese why he has the problem to be with his love for such a long time and why both of them did not learn each others languages a bit. Did they not, because they were apart for a long time? At least they sould learn to speak english well which "Orca" did not and talk in english. I also felt there was not enough tension, longing, passion between the side couple, it felt bland. Also the actors did not convince me to be musicians, their performances with the instruments felt a bit stiff and unnatural, especially Sea on his keyboard even when the OST itself was nice. To be a music centric show needs more realism and more training for the actors.

So after a good start the show reduced intensitiy and they seperated the MLs because Sea needs to concentrate on music? Does that make sense? I don't think so. When you are in love seperating makes things harder imho. Even with some fluffy moments, this show can't be saved to be more than medicore. For a taiwanese BL that was disappointing.

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Thais can't adapt a foreign story....

After we had Cherry Magic and My Love Mix-Up, I had not much hope that any thai production company can adapt a non thai story. And they did not disappoint.

Why do they think, they have to make anything into a comedy with material that does not match. "Addicted Heroin" is neither funny nor a comedy. It does not make sense to have a serious story made with lot's of comedy elements (and it's stupid sounds). I can't fail the actors who all did a very good job in most scenes. Even Mac as newcomer performed much better than I would have expected. Regardless the writing was as usual lazy especially with the finale.

The final episode was confusing. The bad dad should have a relevation, so it does not make sense that both of them run away... And they are 17 or so... where can they run? Also the second couple was confusing as well and we do not know if they got together after they have chased each other for 8 episodes, than a strange reveal that "Only" was into "Pop" which did not make much sense for me.

What they also did not incorporated was the passion for each other. No time in the series I had the feeling they burn for each other. It was mostly childish or awkward. And due to the underage of Mac there is no kissing. The only highlight of the whole show was the family of Pop's dad. So in summary, this was a bad adaption as well. The series without the knowledge of the novels was not even medicore, especially because the finale does have too many loose ends and unlogical "conclusions".

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Much better than the series, but not exciting...

The bad stuff first: Intel & nVidia placement. No gamer (who really calls himself that) would ever buy Intel in 2025 and no serious PvP Gamer would buy a 600W graphics card. The worst thing: We never see the "new" computer - and the "old" one neither, he only plays on his mobile. His computer was quite essential (for him) in the first season. The usual "funny" soundeffects are still annoying but where used less. And snow in LA is a bit stupid, but I'm sure they meant Boston.

The good: They do not act childish most of the time, there is some seriousness behind their conflict. So at least they did mature. I hope, they keep that up in the 2nd season.

Overall: It's a nice special, but nothing stunning or emotional challenging. There is conflict, there is fluff and of course there is an tasteful intimate scene. I can say it was exactly what I expected.

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Not a BL but worth every penny the taxpayer spent....

Of course this is not a BL, it's a drama about a gay man. We see a real depiction of gay life in Korea with all the harsh realities Korean society (and many other) offers. There is no pink-washing of reality, there is just reality in an unapologetic way. Of course we wished for Ko Young to have a happy life. But life is tough, espeically as woman or gay man. I am glad the Korean culture ministry spend tax money on this show, because it's an important piece of education too. And because it's not a BL, we don't get the happy end Ko so much deserves.

One of the best gay shows ever produced even when some parts of the story were not perfect or not expanded and explained in a way I wished for (mother/son for example). On the plus side is the great acting, especially for the MLs who never played a gay character (and went into it giving 110%), and the stunning visuals.

So overall I can only recommand everyone to watch this series, 400 minutes worth spending!

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A show needed for every country....

A consevative and close minded Dad opens up to a world where humans are not like society wants them. Humans have many nuances of sexuality, identity, looks and expression. He learns to accept that humans come in many "shapes" and that he did neglect his family. We see how he opens up and how he "upgrades" himself, returns to good terms with all members of his family and how he influences other to change as well.

Thanks to a friend for recommanding this show. 🙇‍♂️
This is an important piece of drama which should exist everywhere. There are only some nitpicks which make the show not perfect but I won't bore you with them. Overall the team did a good job raising not only LBGTQI+ issues but what should be human rights. Don't judge people regardless of their sexual identiy, sexuality or how they look in general. Acting was also very strong and sensible done. I can only recommand this show to everyone!

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Too short with shortcomings

This is a nice romance, but they missed an opertunity to get into more details due to the short run of this series. The struggle for Ryuji was not explored in detail which is a shame because in contrast to many other series he has absolute no idea about his feelings, his wants and how to express himself. Also the "kissing" scene in the finale was more lame than romantic. I don't need hot and spicy scenes mostly seen in Thai BLs but kissing should be real not just touching lips.

What this series sets it apart from others japanes BLs is the communicaton between the main characters. They always talk it out which is really refreshing. I personally can also enjoy "My Personal Weatherman" which is 100% opposite to this series.

Overall an enjoyable series with much more realistic characters compared to many other shows. Also the production value was high with some sweet moments and good dialogues.

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Wholesome...

While Minato-san is often annoying to watch and scared of his feelings, the story is a wholesome one with some scenes which are bringing tears to your eyes or very fluffy feelings. For western cultures this seems a bit silly, but I guess in Japan this is more reality for denying yourself for whatever reasons and even just being gay is still hard. Also the "side couple" brings lot of enjoyments with an adult who is social akward by any standards which brings its own dynamic with his young would be lover.

I won't spoil anything, so I'm just saying, they did a great job bringing this series to life. I hope after Season 2 there will be another one :)

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selfish guy vs weak guy?

It's hard to rate this series, because:
The "bad" guy left the "good" gay to have a "normal" life, but when the "bad" guy is getting married three years later, he comes back to the "good" guy...
Is that realistic? If I were the "good" guy I would have moved on long ago.

In this story the "good" guy did not move on and is still yearning for the "bad" guy and as it happens they end up together. But not with some drama in the end where the ex-fiancé is threatening the "good" guy as in outing them and legal action and telling him seeing two man together makes her puke.

So this is not a happy story and the homophob ex and the selfish "bad"guy are a big minus for the story. The execution and acting was very good and a big plus. And after you have watched it, you will have a bitter taste left. So I guess, this short series was well above average, even when I don't like such stories.

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That was nice :)

One of the few special episodes with a true ending of the story.
Yes, they did repeat the cringy nearly fall of the first epsisode but who cares :)
The actors did have a much better chemistry through this episode compared to the rest of the series, the kisses did feel genuine, nothing felt awkward between them.

This episode made me very happy and if you like some fluff you should defenitivly watch it. If you have not watched the series, you should do that as well. While the story is not earth-shattering it's at least cute and the production was very well made.

Was the end scene a spoiler for a new series? We can hope :)

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Too short imho, but still cute.

That was refreshing and funny without being forced to be funny.

I think a fourth episode would have helped, because it felt sometimes a bit rushed or at least 5 minutes more would have been a godsend. Also when they always talk about the "kissing scene", they should have played out exactly this scene as finale and not only hint it at the end of the credits.

Otherwise the two managers were hilarious and I felt in the first episode they have a more intimate connection, so really well done. Also the supporting cast did a very good job.

The story is more original compared to most, executed so brilliantly. I had laughs and some tears, so I can only recommand to binch watch this short series.

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Hmmm.... much more boring compared to His Man

While it's nice to see interactions between people searching for a live-partner, I don't need a panel who does explain me what happenend. That is so annoying and belittles the viewer imho.
So I prefer "His Man" over this by far, because there are much more open feelings, much more conflict, much more misunderstandings and much more butterflies.

Overall a OK show, but I skipped the panel all the time. But I'm disappointed about the length of the show, because they were together for four weeks and have less material as "His Man" which is much more intense and interesting for just a week.

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Strong beginning, weak ending

While the first two episodes started strong, the series got weaker going on.
Mixing a criminal plot with supernatural beings is a fine line to walk and they tried too much without much of a thread to connect it all.
The production value was high, but the acting left something to be desired.
Overall this show is not as good as the ratings make you believe, but not as bad as many others. The CGI was at least medicore.

The worst was the finale with it's cash-grab for a live streaming event which I find very disappointing. Why do they need such an event, did they just want to milk the fan base? The ticket price was astronomical for Thais.

The story that didn't follow a strict plan and got convoluted later on, so the show could not live up to its potental. If the supernatural parts would not in it, they could have saved a lot of money, shorten it to eight episodes and the result could have been better. Also when the supernatural character is female, why has the male actor take that part too? That was a really silly decision. It's always bad when a show starts so strong and falls off a cliff later. I was really disappointed.

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Not the best BL series 2023 by far...

What I like:
production quality
costumes
music
most acting

What I dislike:
The ending; yes it's fantasy and so on, but it's not believable.
Jom - he is sometimes docile, sometimes mature. Only in the finale after "returning" he is much more believable.
Stereotype evil Robert, he is too plain, just a 08/15 bad character from one of the cheap novels published every week, no depth, no other side of him, just 10 pages worth of the 60 pages.
Story-Plotholes: While Yai falling in love was shown for a long time, Jom just did it out of the blue, overcoming his trauma from ep 1 in a blink of an eye. To be gay in early 20th century was by far not as easy as it's depicted in this story. Yai confesses he loves Jom and the father was relativly mild., compared to other series where the family explodes even today. There were always exceptions to the rule but it makes this point of the story not believable.
Pacing: After Robert is removed from the series everything is dragged on an on which made me skip some scenes.
Yai with silly Mustache

Summary:
While the production quality was top notch, music was very fitting, the acting overall very good, the setting something unique, the ending unbelievable and the preview of a second season unnecessary, this show is a mixed bag. Jom should have been more struggeling and maybe slowly falling in love in episode 7 with the first spicy scene in episode 8. But of course they could have paced the show faster with some serene scenes inbetween. If there is a second season I hope they will not repeat the same mistakes they did this time where script and direction was sometimes weak.

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