Wing3dBean

I remember binging the 1st 3 episodes and coming on here where I wrote a note that said in part, 'Great chemistry, pacing, and tension. Hope they keep it up till the end.' Clearly, I was thoroughly impressed by those episodes; unfortunately, the chemistry, pacing, and tension all but disappeared after that. We got some of that chemistry and tension back for a while in ep 6, but then it disappears again. Then, 2 episodes later, the show ends very anticlimactically.

Let's go back to those 1st 3 episodes coz this is where they overpromised - and show the multitudes(?) that are AE/Enaga. As AE, he is the walking, talking definition of debauchery. He's very sexy, not just in how he carries himself, but his face. The man is gorgeous. And also because he parties, drinks, and smokes, something that is foreign to Chiaki. I think AE even mentions at some point that he wants to 'ruin' Chiaki. Ruin that air of innocence that he has (I'm paraphrasing here). However, as Enaga, he's naturally clumsy, very shy around his design idol (who he eventually likes), slouches when he walks, and has this quiet sexiness, more like cuteness, about him.

I was very curious to see how these two sides of him would meld together. Especially when you remember that in ep 3, AE is jealous of himself when Chiaki tells him that he had fun with Enaga on a night out. How far was AE going to push Chiaki? He'd already gotten him to drink, party, and smoke, so... what else was there? Well... Nothing. There was nothing. Because after ep 3 AE basically ghosts Chiaki, and we spend the next episodes bouncing between Chiaki's & Enaga's heads/thoughts and prepping for the fashion show. The chemistry, pacing, and tension that I was very excited about are sacrificed for a series of inner monologues.

I guess you could argue that his realization of his lie (and feelings?) made him step back, but I feel like he sacrificed a part of himself. AE is Enaga and vice versa - two sides of the same coin, two halves of a whole. The side of him that loves partying and is very forward and flirtatious doesn't go away simply because he likes Chiaki. I'd have loved to see that side of him more. I think seeing that constant struggle happening in real time as he interacts with Chiaki would have shown a better light on this tentative IdolxFan relationship and his larger-than-life vs everyday clumsy classmate personas

🤘🏾Aside from that🤘🏾
🧷Music gets a 4 coz I don't like it when shows use the same song over and over again - not including the OST. Can't change that. I mean the songs within the episodes.
🧷If anyone were to twist my arm to rewatch, I'd stick to the 1st 3 episodes
🧷I didn't quite like how Sumiura was portrayed. I never like that wide-eyed, innocent, submissive look UNLESS it plays a part in the characters/relationship dynamic. E.g., underlying tones of a D/S relationship - My Beautiful Man and My Personal Weatherman are great examples of instances where I think this character portrayal works best

All in all, the show let me down, and the story feels unfinished. From what I've seen, the manga only has 1 volume, which would perhaps explain why this story is the way it is. I lowkey wish that those adapting this for TV had worked with the mangaka to expound this story to better fit a well-rounded TV storyline

Side Note:
If Mr. Kim Namjoon, my ult bias randomly showed up infront of me, I doubt I'd go wide-eyed, submissive, and clumsy like Sumiura did. Chances are that I'd run and hide like Soobin did when he met that babe from KARA😅