WingedBean

Bored? Wanna laugh? Give it a go. Also, somebody call HR

Is the story good? Well... Have you ever come across those billionaire romance stories that are all smut and aggression? If so, then... That's the vibe here. Is the acting good? I mean..., I wouldn't tell anybody about them.
Are the music choices good? They are largely annoying and had me wondering about copyright laws

But.... I don't know the last time I laughed so hard watching something. This story is so absurd. Like it's so bad that it's good. IDK how to explain it, man. It keeps you engaged. You wanna find out what other random out-of-pocket thing they'll throw at you

PS. For anyone who cares, there's A LOT of kissing. Nothing that will go in anyone's slank bank, but their lips touch a whole lot

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*flings imaginary papers into the air* I give up

This is a rant.

Often, even when I drop a show, I usually have something nice/decent to say about it. With this one, idk. Maybe there will be some good buried in here somewhere underneath all the things that frustrated and left me wanting

The Characters

🧚🏻He Si Mu - I found her boring, indecisive, and one-dimensional. She is so obsessed with humans, and for what exactly? The fact that they get to suffer through life and die? Or does she want the life of a noblewoman? To spend all her life pampered but sheltered, only to be married off for some familial/political/business purpose n live in the shadow of a man? Forgive me, but the thought of an all-powerful ghost supreme lamenting that she's not a human is annoying AF to me

🏮She is bored with her long 400-year life, and I feel like this is her fault. Honestly, I feel like an immortal who gets bored with their existence is at fault for the mundanity that is their life. Maybe this is me applying my 2026 brain to some (fictional) historical world, but.....
Do you know how vast the world is? The multitudes you can encounter if you manage to leave your backyard? She leaves the spirit world to go to areas that are essentially her backyard. Of course you're bored, babe. Humanity changes, but not that drastically. You can 'whoosh' yourself to literally anywhere, leave your people, and go elsewhere. See if you're bored then

🏮Her indecisiveness with Duan Xu is also off-putting. You want love, but also don't want it. She kept changing her mind on how close she wanted this mortal man, which gave me fucking whiplash. The entire plot, at least till where I reached, is a fucking push and pull. 2 steps forward, 15 steps back. Ma'am, I'm tired. Make a choice so we can move on. Let him go or pick him, and let both of you protect each other and your love for one another

🏮One-dimensional - I thought that perhaps her love with Duan Xu would change her or something. make her care. sure she smiles more and is carefree when with him. I liked that bit, but all other areas of her life remain the same. She is bored with her job and the supreme, bored with her subordinates, bored during the fight that comes about every 100 years, bored when people try to assassinate her, and sad that she isn't human and can never die.
Girl.... I'm bored too. Give me something to work with! I wanted to see her get mad for once and act on it. Let her go crazy or something. Let me see another side of you, other than detached boredom and perpetual annoyance at your subordinates and their scheming.

They could have made her so interesting, but this is what they chose to give us... UGH!

🤺Duan Xu - I actually liked the fact that he was a golden retriever puppy around her. It gave a good contrast, giving me that grumpy-sunshine trope that I adore (especially if the grumpy character is the woman). However, I was let down by the fact that he doesn't fight much. I remember how impressed I was back in ep 10 when he infiltrated the enemy camp, threw everything into chaos, and killed their general.

I was like 'yes!!! The puppy finally shows that he is, in fact, a mad dog underneath it all.' It gave such a wonderful layer to who we'd seen him as by that point. Unfortunately, we don't see that side of him again. The man was a trained assassin since he was a preteen to his late teens, and we just get to see him walking around holding the hilt of his sword for the majority of the plot.

He is relegated to a love-sick puppy constantly chasing a woman who wants him, but won't claim him, and having petty (but sometimes hilarious) jealous spats with Yan Ke and any other man (un)fortunate to get close to si mu. Yan Ke was right in calling him a love-lorn husband. An absolute waste of a character

Yan Ke - What a boring villain. There is nothing as unimaginative as a man whose sole purpose is to possess a woman who doesn't even want him. All-powerful and all he wants is to have the more powerful being to be submissive to and stare googly-eyed at him as they share tea. I dislike him on principle alone

Jiang Ai - I did actually like her at first, but the fact that her weakness was not money as I initially thought it'd be, but love (love+hate? ) for a man who was basically Yan Ke version 1.0 is disappointing to me

The Cinematography, The Set, The CGI, The Makeup

🎥The cinematography & Lighting - Lord, is it bad. It gives bland and old. I remember leaving a note after I completed ep 1 and stating in part, 'The colour palette for all of episode 1 was grey, black, and white with some touches of red, blue, and yellow. It's giving depresso' (Ha! I'm funny.) The world, especially in the 1st arc, feels cold

The cinematography in this is flat and doesn't evoke any emotion. Unlike my experience with POJ, I never once felt like I was a part of this world. I was always a spectator. The look of this show doesn't make you look forward to watching it.

Aside from 'Pursuit of Jade', another example of a show that makes you want to look at it is 'Veil of Shadows'. I couldn't tell you what's going on with the plot (apparently, you need to understand a decent amount of some specific Chinese mythology to understand the story), but it's quite pretty to look at. VoS gives 'feed of a beauty and lifestyle content creator with a very powerful camera'. Compared to those two stories, this one is just...meh

🏠The set - It's fine when we're in the mortal world, but when we move to the spirit realm..., by God is it horrendous. Let's take He Si Mu's throne room as an example. It looks like something I'd expect to see in a show that aired in perhaps the mid 2000s to the early 2010s. Her throne itself looked like it was made of plastic that got coated in bad gold spray paint... why? Also, the big eye that was in the streets of that world... It's just big and plastic-looking. I just... they really didn't care about this, did they?

💄And can we talk about how the people in hair and makeup couldn't be arsed to make the actresses' natural hair colour match the wig? All through the 1st half i couldn't get over the fact that her hair had brown tones in it and the wig was jet black... how in the entirety of hell was that missed?
Can someone tell me why the supreme leader of the ghosts sometimes had the same complexion as people who were quite literally alive? It made sense when she was paler than those around her, but when they were all the same shade... girl, lemme go laugh.

Storytelling & Worldbuilding

Considering what the story gives us (as per ep 28), I can for sure say that this story did not deserve a 40-episode count. The plot, romantic, political, or otherwise, doesn't have a lot of figurative meat on its bones to justify this length. We spend most of the episodes watching the characters not do much to further the overall plot. They are kinda just going through the motions.

The world-building is also rather weak. A lot of things are left untold/unshown. Some examples
a. Duan Xu's sword - We are told that a man gave it to him. Who was he? How long had he been carrying it? How did he manage to hide this sword that so many wanted? And what did he see in Duan Xu that made him hand it to him

b. The eye in the spirit world - What did it do? What was its purpose? Aesthetics?

c. The obsessions - We are told that if an obsession is powerful enough, a human will turn into a spirit upon their death. Once this happens, they only die if a more powerful spirit offs them or they ultimately and willingly let go of their obsession to ascend.
Now, Duan Xu was in love with He Si Mu to the point of obsession (if his 'dreams' in that prison were anything to go on). So if he was that obsessed, why not love each other till he dies a natural death (you know, unless something bad happens on the battlefield and she cannot for some reason save him), and he can then live as a spirit with her instead of the never-ending back and forth?

d. Why was there a curfew at night in the spirit world? Was it better for them to go scream and wail in their houses than do it all up in the streets?

All in all, this story dragged with more filler than plot or answers, very mid cinematography and lighting, and bland characters. If you love the actors in this, perhaps it'd be best if you went and found some of their other works coz, this ain't it.

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Tough Topics Bound & Highlighted By Tight Storytelling

Often, when I finish a book, movie, or TV show, I go on and on in the review talking about why and how much I either loved or hated it. Other times, like I this case, I have no clue what to say or where to start. Because words fail me. I truly don't know if I have the words to explain why and how much I loved this show.

I started this coz I was in a romance slump. I wanted something darker and above all, something that would make me think. And BOY did I get that. The production is high value as with many Netflix shows, the acting is incredible, and the plot is well-paced and engaging — the plot did lag a bit in the middle, and I thought that the characters were being a bit too reckless, but perhaps that's to make things more intense.

I think what made me fall in love with this story is the issues tackled and the characters themselves.

🔬Fang Yi Jen - I do not know much about autism, let alone asperger syndrome. However, what I know from other TV shows I've seen is that those with this illness are usually utter geniuses or used for comedic relief, or a combination of both. Compared to the regular person, Fang Yi Jen could be considered a genius.

However, instead of this story highlighting that, it chooses to highlight how this condition, unfortunately, makes him both a bad husband and father. Because of how hard it is for him to interact with pple and understand them as a 'normal person' would, he ends up lashing out, when the 'normal' thing would be to be patient — i.e., in the car with his wife and their crying baby.

When his negligence of his daughter in favour of his job ends up getting her hurt, he serves his wife with divorce papers and leaves, never looking back again. He thought he was saving them from himself, but that ended up hurting them even more. He neglected his daughter when she was young and till almost adulthood. If she had never gotten involved in those murders, would he have ever looked for her again? Likely not.

Eventually, he does try and does change for the better, but that does not mean that the poor girl and her mother never suffered. My heart broke so much for them. I loved that by the end, there seemed to be hope for him and his daughter. Fang Yi Jen is still Fang Yi Jen, but where he'd have ignored her before, he takes extra care and time to show up. He also says thank you. This is a personal opinion (observation?), but I feel like most pple only say thank you to strangers, never to those close to them. He now takes the time to say thank you, not just to Hai Yin, but also to the captain, and that one friend (?) he had in the lab section of the police force.

📰Hsu Hai Yin - Lord, did I HATE her in the beginning. She was all for the story. The real people and feelings behind the hard-hitting deadline be damned. However, once she learns the truth about the deaths, after her interaction with the twins' stories, she starts to change, thankfully for the better. This time, it's not just about the hard-hitting headline.

She starts to care about the people she's writing about and how her stories affect not just the subjects, but also others who might be going through the same thing. I do like that she was the one person who seemed to understand Fang Yi Jen the most. He still acts like himself, but instead of demanding that he be 'normal' he takes him for what he is. And eventually, her giving him the space to be who he is leads to a very beautiful friendship.

👧🏻Chiang Hsiao Meng - We feel the most impact in the last two episodes and I cried. Okay, I didn't fall to the ground sobbing, but balancing tears were wiped severally times. She was so, so sad. Her life after her dad was filled with considerable pain. Watching her in the hospital with the mum, then again when speaking to her dad was.... my heart was hurt.

The societal issues were also a huge part of why I liked this plot. Like Hsia Meng, most of the characters were also neglected. They felt like they no longer had a place or a voice in this world because those who were supposed to care for and love them abandoned them when they were no longer of use. Or no longer fit into the mold they wanted — aside from perhaps the story with the twins and Liu Kuang Yung. The twins were a story of jealousy and invisibility, and the latter was about guilt. I'll say that of all stories, I found Liu Kuang Yung's the hardest to empathise with

Rewatch value is an 8, as I feel that this could be a hard story for many to rewatch. Especially once you tie in all the victims' stories and why they chose this path over staying alive and fighting to see another day.

Not sure how to properly end this, so I'll finish with this quote from one of the directors
"In The Victims' Game, there's a group of people who want to let go, and there's a group who also suffers from pain and oppression, but still believes in the value of life. They're trying to bring back those who wish to give up. We hope that the series can make their voices heard when they're still alive."

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No woman (no one really) deserves this

Let's be honest: If Hae Jo was played by Oh Jung Se (or any other non-conventionally attractive actor) and not Woo Do Hwan, NO ONE would have perceived this story as anything close to romantic

When I started it, I genuinely thought that it'd be a great drama. One of the best of 2024, however, everything was ruined by the romance btwn Hae Jo & Jo JaeMi. It was the textbook definition of a toxic love with a toxic, selfish, and cruel man. Hae Jo is not only horrible to the supposed love of his life, but also utterly horrible to his adoptive mother/older sister.

Maybe they were trying to frame this as he has a hard time expressing his feelings, so you need to look beyond what he says to see what he really means, but that's a heck no for me. I would not want a person who uses my insecurities to hurt me, -simply because they are going through something or they are trying to save me from themselves -, in my life.

He insulted JaeMi in such cutting ways and abandoned her much too much. He also ruined her potential love life for selfish reasons, knowing he was going to die. And to reiterate, he was also really crappy to his adoptive mother/older sister. Basically, he is a shit man who ruined the show for me

The only positive here is that Eo Heung & Jae Mi didn't get married. Jae Mi didn't love that man, and Eo Heung, while he did love her, his reasons for wanting to marry her were wrong. I'm glad (for him) that they went their separate ways. It allowed him to finally get under his mother's thumb, stand up for himself by himself, and find himself

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You have to guess what the characters are thinking because they're certainly not going to tell you

You know what this movie made me think of? The 2023 Korean Netflix movie, Ballerina. I did not like that movie. See... Ballerina and Tee Yai: Born to Be Bad suffer from the same problem - a lack of dialogue. They give you great actors, incredible cinematography, interesting action scenes, but very little dialogue. You spend most of the time trying to guess what the actors are doing, how they're doing it, and at times, why they are doing it.

Apo - my dear lovely Apo - has very few lines, especially in the 1st half. I think we were at minute 40 something when he said something and I asked out loud -to an empty living room - 'wait, is this the 1st time he's spoken?' Then I remembered that no. It was likely the 3rd time (in 40+ MINUTES!) - the other two times were at the temple and in the train.

He spends his time looking (glaring) at people and shooting them. I mean, that's cool, but also, WHAT IS HE THINKING???
We know why Tee Yai became bad, but why does he STAY bad? He sees that his friendship with Rek is strained and fraying, so why does he keep pushing and dismissing his friend? He keeps robbing, but why and to what end? What does he do with the money? What does he gain from all of this?

Tee Yai's bestie, Rek. He's very different from Tee Yai. Yes, they rob together, but whilst Tee Yai is ready to kill at the drop of a hat, Rek holds back. Rek also doesn't seem to enjoy their robbery lifestyle and has new priorities once Dao comes into his life. Basically, you clearly see that the relationship btwn Rek & Tee Yai is strained and that something's gotta give.

But they, once again, do not take you through that thought process and the conflicting emotions. Decisions are made, and you sit there like 'oh, I guess that's the choice you made'. Things happen, and you simply have to accept that they did. You don't know how or why they happened, but they did, so just roll with it. Just go with it, babes. Don't ask any questions

All in all, the writing, the script, and maybe even the post-production are at fault for what this movie is. A lot was left unsaid - and as per the credits, a lot was cut-, and I think that was to the detriment of the plot. They give you interesting characters, but don't care to flesh them out enough for you to care or root for them. Perhaps it is, as one commenter said, that this movie would have been better were it a series, or even a miniseries, to help us understand and connect with these characters better

What I'd have given to know more about
👱🏼‍♀️Dao - A prostitute in love with an infamous wanted criminal? Life dealt her some very complicated cards. Plus, can you imagine if we got a glimpse into her thoughts about brothel sex work and the violence that surrounds it?
👮🏼‍♂️Jakkrarat - Is he righteous or corrupt? Maybe he's morally grey? Or perhaps he's an overworked cop experiencing unnecessary pressure from his superior, and that's what turns him bad?
👨🏼Kid (Khit?) - He was a rich kid who shot his a-hole of a dad n went to join a wanted criminal's gang for (seemingly?) sh*ts and giggles. I want to know what pushed him to do that

Sigh... So many questions, so few answers.

Random side note: The number of times I said 'This man is so fine, Jesus' every time Apo came on screen.... That man is so goddamn fine. Christ! That long hair with a goatee is definitely a look that I'd like to see replicated in future movies/series👌🏾

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If your friend group is like this..., LEAVE!!!

This show was such a delight to keep up with week after week. THE DRAMA?!?!?!?! It was sooo fucking good. The characters were messy and human, and above all, the story had meaning and a message in all the characters portrayed.

As for the couples -

1. SandRay were the best couple to me. Not only are FirstKhao pretty AF, but their chemistry is just beyond everything. Their acting, especially Khao, who had such emotional scenes, is top-tier. I love that they found their way to each other after all their trials and tribulations - mostly due to Ray and his drinking problem. I became a FirstKhao stan after this

2. TopMew - ForceBook were much better in this show than in 'A Boss and A Babe', especially Book's character. He was more mature. As for their story in this show, that's complicated. Cheating is something hard to get over, and I genuinely don't know how they'll deal with it.

3. TonNick - Who knew that NeoMark had such range? Anyway, I'm so happy that Nick finally chose to love himself over loving Boston, who never treasured or respected him as he deserved. My heart really broke for him in the last episode, but some lessons do need to be learned, albeit the hard way.
As for Boston, I feel the punishment was deserved. He spent all his time plotting against his friends and putting his selfish needs above all others. Finally, his selfishness left him with no one in his corner.

4. As for Cheum and April... They were kinda meh. And Cheum wasn't a good friend either, especially to Ray. She always favoured Mew more, and Ton wasn't even anywhere in her view.

5. Finally, Yo n Plug, I wish they had more of a role to play. I'd have loved to see their relationship dynamic and the inner workings of dating while trans or dating a trans character. Maybe someday trans characters will get better roles in BLs and not just like comedic relief or the random bar-owning friend.

6. As for Mix's appearance in the ending scene...interesting. Very interesting

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This drama made me convene the group chat - and they don't even watch BLs

This show was sold to me as a BL, but it's honestly so much more. After I finished it, I simply sat in silence, then started talking to myself, trying to figure things out as it made me think about way more things than I expected. Things that I hadn't ever thought about; about myself, love, sexuality and gender, the physical form of your partner vs the soul, and much more.

Other than almost all characters, but especially Kenta, figuring out their bisexuality, there was the main question of whether your love for your partner would be affected if they changed not only their appearance but also their gender. For the cast, the answer was yes. The soul is what matters, and the body is simply a vessel.

For me, it's different. I don't think I'd still love a person if they changed their gender, coz my attraction is towards men, so if they became female... idk. We'd probably be besties for life. We'd be soulmates

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I Think About Them Every Few Months

What would you do if it were the end of the world and your 1st love, the toxic ex who utterly ruined you, came to find you and promised to give you a pill that'd help you quietly unalive yourself instead of waiting to be roasted alive?

At the end of the world with you took me by surprise. I was lowkey convinced that I'd hate the story since everyone said that it was toxic AF. While this is partly true, the story is so engaging and tells the story of a complicated love in the most engaging way that I loved this by the end.

See, the history between Masumi & Ritsu is utterly toxic, mostly because of Ritsu. He's selfish AF both in the past and also as the world is ending. He ruined Masumi. BUT!! Whether we like it or not, this is a story about their 2nd chance as the world is ending, and it is so well told.

I like to think about this story as one of those 'The heart wants what it wants' type plots. Are they good together? No. Are they toxic? Yes. Would they likely be MUCH better off if they simply walked away and found other people? Absolutely. But then again, the heart wants what it wants, whether you, the audience, like it or not, they'll stay together and figure things out, one mess at a time.

I loved seeing that Ritsu had already started trying to find his way back to Masumi. He knew he'd fucked up and was trying to find his way back. The world ending (and the 'dead kid' on his living room couch) was the kick that pushed him to finally get moving. As for Masumi.... I wish him the best. The best being that this time, Ritsu has actually changed and values him. No more cheating or threats to out him

PS.
1. The NC were also so freaking hot and surprising - JBLs tend to be quite chaste. We need more moaning in BLs, no music
2. If the world didn't end, I'd give em 6 months and then check in. I don't trust Ritsu
3. If you're looking for more 'the heart wants what it wants' type stories, I suggest ' My Stand-In (2024)' My Personal Weatherman (2023), My Beautiful Man (Sn 1 - 2021, Sn 2 - 2023, & the movie 2023)

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My God... What a Woman!

Often in a show, you know who to hate and who to love. Who to proverbially spit on and who to empathize with. Who to have good thoughts about and whose neck you want to ring. It's often clear-cut, with maybe a few grey characters here and there.

But what if one character was an embodiment of all the above? You hate to love her and live to hate her. You empathize with her one minute, and the next, you start thinking that hell really should have separate sections. We truly can't all go to the same place and suffer the same punishments..., right?

As Kazuko said in the finale, her life is entertaining. She is an enigma. A confusing, puzzling woman whom I don't even know if I like, hate, respect her or am wholly afraid of. Her ambition and desire to be richer than probably God himself is insane, in the best of ways. However, the things that she does to get to where she eventually ended up... Yikes.

I love how complex she was. She was never good. Morally grey at best when she was a child, but life turned her into something else entirely. I am envious of how she never let life beat her down. How she always got up, survived, and pivoted. Was it all due to luck? The men in her life? Her brilliance and conniving nature? Or a combination of everything?

Personally, I think it's the latter. She had insane luck on her side, was as brilliant as she was conniving, and was strong despite all the misfortune and setbacks that hounded her. And above all, she was a damn good con artist. But despite the evil that she was at the end, there was still some good in her. A tiny sliver of it, but it was there. I understand her, and she scares me

PS: I know the plot was about Kazuko herself, but I wish we had seen more of her family. Her sisters, especially. The sisters, especially the oldest, never liked her (and Kazuko looked down on her, too). I wonder how they felt over the years. Her brother's story would have been interesting too. Of all the family members, he was with her the most till she dumped him for her image. I wonder what his life had been like walking behind Kazuko all those years

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I understand the hype

Tbh, had this show not turned up on Netflix, I probably wouldn't have watched it.

When the show 1st aired and the people were talking about it, I chalked up the conversations and excitement to fandom hype. I thought the people were lying because
a. I had tried watching Pit Babe before. A show that till date, somehow trickles its edits to my Twitter algorithm, and let's just say that it wasn't a good base to start from.

b. The show was unfortunately airing alongside another drama that I was watching/preoccupied with. One with a huge ship fandom who kept hyping and praising the drama when in truth, -and my opinion is truth in this case-, had a really bad plot and very mediocre acting.

Because of this, I unfortunately judged too soon, and perhaps too harshly, and chose not to watch it.

But then, I finished rewatching 'Khemjira' on Netflix and watched both seasons of 'The Believers' on the same platform. That sent me down a mini spiral where I wanted to explore more thrilling Thai stories based on religion. Thus, I gave this a chance. I am very glad that I did

What I Liked
1. The horror aspect - They said it was scary and meant it. Don't tell anyone, but I watched all the episodes during the day😅.

2. Religion/Folk Tradition/Occultism - I've recently learned that I find other religions fascinating. Not in a 'dig up the tombs in Egypt' type of fascination, but something more along the lines of 'what do they do in this religion, folk tradition, mythic, etc., that's different from what I know or have been exposed to in my religion and culture?

I know what Christianity says, I know Catholicism, and I know things from my culture's traditional beliefs. But how about Buddhism? Taoism? Hinduism? Korean shamanic practices? Chinese mythology? etc. I wanna know. And shows like this one give me a glimpse into it all. It's all so interesting. Scary, as all religions lowkey are, but oh so interesting.

3. Production Quality - *A hand of applause for everyone involved in the absolute masterpiece that was the cinematography*

4. Chemistry - So, when this aired, I saw on my feed fans complaining about how little NC was in this show. Especially considering the previous two BLs that this ship had been in. From those comments, I thought that that'd be to the detriment of the drama, but... I actually liked it. I feel like the fade-to-black scenes allowed them to build and show the sexual tension in this couple beautifully. I would like to highlight Pavel, especially in this one. He knows how to portray desire in his eyes really well.

PS. I am officially a fan of the Muscular Uke Association ( I always was, actually). Pavel and Poom (My Stand In & Love of Silom), for the win. Somebody direct me to more muscular Ukes. Actually, you know what, give me all the ships that go against the standard we are used to. Muscular ukes, shorter tops, age gaps with older ukes, etc. Give them all to me

What Could've Been Better/I Didn't Enjoy

1. All the doubts surrounding the occult angle of the murders - I made sense for Singha and Sey (they are the biggest culprits) to be doubtful of the ghosts in the beginning. I'd be doubtful too. However, after multiple episodes and run-ins with things they could not explain or see, straight-up evidence that there was something otherworldly connected to this case, their doubts felt annoying and frustrating. Especially with Sey constantly basically gaslighting Darin that he was imagining being haunted.

2. The plot from ep 9 - Things started getting shaky, and logic started leaving the building the minute Darin goes to pray in the very house that their team was investigating. With so many temples in Thailand, why choose the one place that's directly connected to an ongoing murder?

Why did the team members suddenly start doing things without informing at least one other person? Why go out by themselves? Why separate when tailing a suspect in abandoned areas? So many decisions did not make logical sense as we started heading to the climax of this story, which was more than a little disappointing.

The plot also felt slower from ep 11. The pacing till ep 10 had been fine, but something fell off after that.

3. King's characterization - It was so very inconsistent that I could not understand who he was supposed to be. A corrupt cop like his dad? An arrogant ex partner come to steal glory once more from the people he fucked over before? A jilted lover who wanted his ex back and was willing to do anything to get him back (even fram current ex's lover over trumped-up drug charges)? A good cop with an overbearing butthole of a dad? A misunderstood good guy? A combination of all? The man had so many switches in personality and end goals that I got whiplash.

4. Some of the acting could be better, especially in the more emotionally intense scenes.

Conclusion: While the show isn't perfect, it is far better than some of what we are exposed to out here. The romance, while not the focal point of the show, is very sweet. The show shines in its production quality, pacing in the 1st 8-10 episodes, and portrayal of the horror of occult practices.

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Exploring The World of Thai Dramas Past BL Continues 2 Be Worth It

My experience with Thai shows has largely been through their BLs. However, if my experience with this drama, as well as Zomvivor, and Dalah: Death and the Flowers, is anything to go by, I think their thrillers are something to look into

At the beginning of this drama, I was convinced that maybe I needed to start scamming as a side hustle. By the end of it, though... yeah, I'm not cut out for this shit. Let me keep fighting for my life through my 8-to-5 job, before I achieve my dream of living the digital nomad lifestyle.

This drama is a riveting watch. It does falter a little in the middle, but the overall concept is enough to keep you watching. Scamming through religion is a thing we all know happens, but we've never gotten a look behind that proverbial curtain. This drama helps us see what that potentially could be like. It is also (I think) a bit of a fascinating study in marketing and running a business

The characters:
1. Win - I find him incredibly unlikeable. He is brilliant, yes, but he is self-important, doesn't communicate well with others, and is a terrible friend. Given his behavior, you'd think he was the only one in his friend group with family issues. His story with his mother gets the biggest spotlight, but as we can see with the other two, Game and Dear don't have it easy with their families either. Yes, they have more money than him, especially Game, but as we see, money isn't everything.

2. Game - The idiot with a heart of gold and terrible decision-making skills. I could go on a rant on how he handled that situation with Taeng, but I will not. What I'll say is, based on the fact that they had a loan shark blackmailing them for money, threatening his family, he should have thought twice before indulging Taeng beyond that initial 500k. How in the hell do you hide a fugitive in a building with your family name on it? Come on, man.

3. Dear - Naive, sad, overlooked, and overworked. I got so mad every time she was alone working late, lugging boxes, files, and shit. She needed to get those two men to lug around those files, boxes, and planning things with her.

4. Monk Dol - The surprise character for me. I fell in love with his story. His doomed love was heartbreaking, yet interesting to watch. It loved watching a religious man battle with his earthly desires. It's not often that we see this.
What makes this side plot such a good watch is that it's not framed in a horny/salacious way. It's so pure and heartwarming, yet heartbreaking. As the audience, you know he wasn't out here always having innocent 'hand-holding at the beach' thoughts about Dear, we know that. But I like that it's not framed that way.

His story sent me down a mini rabbit hole into monkhood. Growing up Catholic, I knew that once you're in it, you're in it for life. It turns out that Thai monks don't have to stay monks forever, even when they were ordained at a young age. I also learned interesting facts about forest and city Monks.

5 Ekkachai - You snake

The overarching plot, from a simple scam (if we can call scamming over 45 million bhat simple) to now dealing with big-time corrupt political officials and drug cartels, makes me interested in watching the 2nd season. Hopefully it holds up. And Monk Dol has his happy ending. I need bro to go back to his forest monk ways and live peacefully and quietly 😭.

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To Think I Started This Coz of Pursuit of Jade...

Tbh, when I heard the premise of this, I wasn't sure I'd tune in. From how the people on Twitter described it, it sounded really dark. I'd just gone through the roller coaster that was 'To My Shore'. I needed to put myself in timeout before I picked up another dark show.

Then I watched 'Pursuit of Jade,' heard the drama that happened to He Chang Xi (he plays He Chu San in this), and decided to tune in out of pure spite. That was a brilliant decision on my part. Despite what the Twitter folks said, this drama isn't dark. In fact, I think it deserves a comedy tag on. The 1st couple is hilarious.

🔪Watching Chu San grow from a nervous (but very horny) kidnapped student/scriptwriter to a devoted, slightly manipulative, yet still very horny grown-up was a delight. I love how Liu Yi doesn't fit in the typical 'BL bottom' mold. He's neither dainty nor pale, naive, nor scared of everything.
While we don't see much of his mafia life, we know from the bits that the story shows us that he is indeed a very capable mob boss. He might be a little dumb in his relationship with Chu San, which honestly makes for some hilarious interactions, but outside of that, he stands well on his own.

The actors also have fantastic chemistry. And I don't just mean this because of that beautifully shot, legendary kiss scene in ep 5. Idk how best to explain it, but they play off each other really well on screen. Watching these two slowly fall in love was an amazing experience

Truly, I think the best-selling point for this show is their love story. Everything else takes secondary position


👮🏻‍♂️The 2nd couple with their morally upright cop and conniving investigator (honestly, idk what position Lu Guang Ming held) is an interesting dynamic. However, their story didn't grab me with the same intensity as the 1st couple. They are simply dropped in, in the middle of the story, with little to no background info given about them. The pieces of their story kept moving, but I remained confused till the last episode when the reveal happens...and then the drama ended😭

💬The story being dubbed in Cantonese was a nuisance - like a pesky mosquito-, but not enough to keep me from watching. I grew up watching Spanish shows dubbed in English. I simply needed to dust off the ability to ignore the fact that the mouth movements didn't match what I was hearing, and I was good to go. I will say, though, that

1. Training my ear to work with Cantonese was a bit of a challenge. But in the same way that it was a challenge to train my ear to hear and work with Thai and Mandarin. I quickly learned to hear Korean and Japanese. But Thai, Mandarin, and now Cantonese required a bit of work

2. Cantonese sounds very 'sing-songy' to me. It is so interesting to me. None of the languages I speak nor the ones I've encountered (but cannot speak or understand) come close to this.

3. I don't think the people who dubbed this did the best job. They didn't portray the emotions well, which unfortunately made some scenes, especially the emotional ones, fall flat

🎭The acting was not the best tbh, especially with many of the side characters. But since they aren't the main event. it can be ignored

Like many here, I would love a 2nd season. The streets say that the director and two main actors may have alluded to a new season. While I would love to trust the streets, they are not to be trusted. I do, however, hope that the universe gives us that 2nd season.
There were so many things left unexplained, unsaid, and unexplored.
. I wanna see Chu SanxLiu Yi's couple era so bad.
. I wanna see how Xie Jia Hua and Lu Guang Ming's relationship will progress
. I am curious about the big bad boss behind all the murders and the mafia stuff
. I think the wto couples may eventually become friends. I kinda wanna see how that will happen
. Will Chu San manage to get Liu Yi out of the walled city and into legitimate business? If so, how?

Sigh... so many questions, so little hope of answers. I am tempted to read the novel, but lowkey I feel like holding off.

All this yapping to say, while, yes, the story does end in a cliffhanger, I still think it's a worthy watch. Especially to witness the hilarity and growth of the relationship between HCS and XLY

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Their Friendship was the Best Part

If this drama has taught me anything, it's that when my dream of living and working in a different country materialises, the 1st thing I'll do is enroll in a language school.

What I Liked
🥙The highlight given to all the food. You can make me watch almost anything as long as you mention that they will be talking about food from different cultures. I liked how Mari was curious and willing to try different foods. If she were real, I know that we'd go on so many food adventures together.

🌸Mari & Arikino's Friendship - Sure, it starts with Mari basically bulldozing into Arikino's life and dragging him along her adventures - his opinion be damned - but Arikino needed it. He needed someone to pull him out of that solitude and loneliness that had become his life. Someone to add some colour, taste, love (albeit platonic) into his life, and show him that not all humans are all bad. I love how he, over time, came to not only respect our lovely lettuce head, but also go out of his way to protect her against even his superiors

🚔A cold look at (some) foreigner experience in Japan - The world, at least today, loves Japan. There is a reason why the term 'Japan glazers' exists. I love how this show highlights how not every foreigner's experience is all cherry blossoms, mochi, matcha, and roses. I appreciate how they highlighted matters like xenophobia, racism, disregard from police forces, how language barrier affects daily life, etc., all things you never hear about unless you do a rather deep (and possibly depressive) dive into Japan - or any other country for that matter
PS. I also recently learned about a thing called 'hostage justice,' and Lord, was I traumatized. The thought of being a foreigner, getting arrested over there, having no language to explain yourself, and being saddled with legal enforcement that doesn't give 2 shits about you gives me shivers

💕How much respect and care Mari gave to Arikino & Oda's r/ship - She didn't make a big deal out of it, just simply approached the matter with care, and when Arikino finally opened up to her, lent a listening and understanding ear. She is such a good friend. We all need such friends in our lives (we should also strive to be such friends too)

🎶I did enjoy the OST by Balming Tiger. It's a fun little tune. But no other songs stood out

What Could've Been Done Better
🚨The police cases (and volunteer) - I would've liked it if we dove deeper into them. I wanted the show to dig just a bit deeper into the accused persons and the cases. But I suppose that wasn't the intention

🚨Mari's hair - It was distracting. Not the colour, but the roots and the intensity of the colour. I know TV shows/dramas are rarely shot chronologically. That is likely why her hair colour and roots growth differed so much. But, seeing her hair be bright green in one shot and a faded green with roots showing in another scene, and these scenes are supposed to be in one day or wto consecutive days takes you out of the story. They shold've gotten her a good wig or something

🚨The Villains - Mr. Volunteer guy played a much smaller role than I expected. He shpwed up in all white looking pretty but menacing and I thought he had a much bigger role. He doesn't. It felt like a waste.
Agawa did not get what he deserved. Yeah he got his throat slashed and might never wake up. Boohoo🙄. The man sold people to human traffickers, let murders slide, got that one witness murdered, threatened to out Arikino & Oda (leading to Oda's death) jeered at Arikino that one time they met at the station, and if left alone, would've gotten Mari killed too.
Being in a coma was too good for him. IMO, he deserved a worse fate

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Melancholy is thy name

Rating this feels wrong. Like, how do you rate someone's pain? Or rather, someone's journey through pain? To me, Odajima reflects what melancholy is. He looks cold and distant. He's also silent and obedient. But when you try to see past that, he's so scared and so incredibly sad. He moves through life like it's a burden to be alive, here with the rest of us.

And with good reason. His life, till he is paired with Kataoka, for this 'road trip' has been riddled with violence, pain, intolerable sadness, and disappointment. He also needs to kill Kataoka. But, what if your assignment, and the person you promised yourself you'd kill to avenge something in your past, is also your saviour? The person who pulls you out of the darkness that has been your life? Who makes you feel love again? How do you reconcile with that?

Kataoka is also a very interesting fellow. He comes off as abrasive and unserious in the beginning. However, as the story moves on, you and Odajima realize that beneath his loud self and lazy walk (he's also a pervert), lies a good, caring man - at least by mafia standards. He is such a light, which perfectly counterbalances the bleak abyss that is Odajima and his existence.

I think this is a simple yet very deep story. It's not a happy one, but it's not sad either. It gives off comfort slice of life vibes, but also makes you feel like you're grieving (Ugh! I'm annoyed that I do not have the vocabulary for what it made me feel). It's an oddly beautiful feeling.

My one gripe with the story is one I have with many Japanese BLs. The dramas all end as the couple's story is beginning. I wish there were a way (and a budget) to extend some of these beautiful bodies of work. Let me see them be in love for longer😭

PS. Four things I'd like to highlight

1. The cinematography - Beautiful doesn't even begin to cover it. It was done so well and is best highlighted when the OST plays.

2. Odajima's face in the NC scenes - Specifically in ep 2. This is going to sound cheesy (?), but his face during that scene made me understand the meaning of the word bloom. Specifically in the statement 'I bloom for you.' Kataoka and I were on the same boat. Mesmerized by how his normally cold and detached face changed when he was turned on. Hat's off to you, Takahashi Hiroto. You killed that shit.

3. The OST - I thought it was a fun little tune. And then I went and looked it up on YouTube. If you haven't, I urge you to look up the official lyric video on there. Those lyrics perfectly capture what this story is from Odajima's POV

4. I like the fact that being with Kataoka and leaving the mafia behind didn't automatically 'fix' Odajima. He doesn't suddenly become the happiest person in the room. He's still introverted and silent, and that sadness didn't fully go away. But looking at him and his interactions with others, he somehow feels lighter. He's cool being alive now; he's no longer walking into that abyss head-on. He's also awkward, which is really adorable

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