timotey

If you want to watch a drama where the main couple has zero miscommunications, zero misunderstandings, where they trust each other and believe each other and have no doubts about each other, no matter what anyone says, then this is a drama for you!

At first, I wasn't so sure about the series. But once Tumi and Yaksha started actively working together and the main plot, the Mowu Pavilion arc, got going, I was blown away. And the last handful of episodes elevated this drama to 9/10 for me. Towards the ending the drama got so intense and the finale and especially the very last scene? Open ended - and we might never find out if Yaksha lives or not - but holy smokes, that was so very, very intense and so very, very exciting, the exchange between Han Wuwei and Yaksha, then between Chun Tumi and Han Wuwei, just the three of them in a room full of gauzy black curtains and candles, the setting, the acting, the music... wow. And I loved how torn Wuwei was and I loved the absolute, unbreakable trust and devotion between Tumi and Yaksha. It was just... wow.

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This was a strange little movie. A 19-year-old art student falls in love with a man twice his age. And the man, an art photographer, falls for him, too. But then the man is transferred to another city. What now? And... that's the movie.

What was interesting to me? That the student's, Yoichi's, loved ones didn't care about the fact that he fell for a man or that the man could be his father, they were simply glad that Yoichi finally felt something for anyone. Yoichi was namely very, very closed off because of what happened to his family years back so seeing him finally come out of his shell? That was enough for those who took care of him to be grateful so they all supported his feelings. That was a nice change from the usual hateful reaction of various family members in other dramas.

Also! This movie features Shiono Akihisa AKA Toujo from Zettai BL! He plays another gay character here because his Fujimoto also falls for Yoichi.

Overall, not a bad movie. Very quiet and atmospheric sice it mostly takes places in or around Yoichi's house with cicadas chirping in the background...

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You know what I loved about this movie? Besides Shison Jun who was mah-rvelous again, of course? That there weren't any villains in this. There was no backstabbing, no hidden agenda, no spite. They were all honest to gosh good people, a sight rarely seen!

Even though Mio loved Yuzu, she helped Alice and taught her how to sing. Even though Haruyoshi loved Mio, he wasn't jealous of Yuzu, he wasn't angry at Yuzu for Mio's lack of interest. Even though Yuzu's writer's block was hindering the band's breakthrough, his friends did not pressure him. And Yuzu and Momo, your usual rivals in a love triangle and yet, when Yuzu found out who Momo was, he wasn't angry at him and when he realized how much Momo cared for Alice, then despite loving her himself, Yuzu tried to make her dream come true and get Momo to acknowledge her! And then, when Alice confessed to Momo that in the meantime, while he was gone from her life, she fell in love with Yuzu? Momo stepped back with no drama and no pressure. That was so lovely and actually mature!

What a feel-good movie! It made me feel all mushy and fuzzy on the inside. Exactly what I needed tonight!

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I'm glad that I watched High&Low S1&2 and High&Low: The Movie first because this wouldn't have made much sense to me otherwise. I loved that this movie went sideways within the franchise and that it expanded on the "universe" in which High&Low takes place because it allowed me personally to understand the geopolitical situation, so to speak.

I also loved that it expanded on the Amamiya brothers. I adored the reveal that Hiroto isn't actually blood related to Masaki or Takeru but that it doesn't matter to them at all, just like it didn't to their parents. Their family background, what happened to their parents - ouch!

It was sad that Takeru died in the end but I think that once he picked up a gun and started killing people, there was basically no way back for him without some kind of a punishment or penance because this whole franchise is founded on the idea of not killing, that this is the one boundary the "good ones" - gang members they might be - don't cross. You knock each other's teeth out but once you bring a knife or a gun to a fight, you're done, you're out.

Also, I loved that Takeru died not while taking revenge but protecting Hiroto, that thanks to his brothers and to Hiroto in particular Takeru found back before his death, that he remember what he taught them.

The moment I sniffled? When Hiroto took the girl in his arms and said the same words to her like Takeru before: I'm your wall.

Oh, I also adored the short moments when Hiroto and Masaki had to go back to S.W.O.R.D. and not just there but to Sannoh in particular! Masaki's annoyance, Yamato's annoyance, Cobra's eye-rolling - yup, they so rub each other wrong. They're allies, though reluctant, but gosh, do they rub each other wrong!

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This mini-series (it's only 3 eps, 30 or so minutes each) takes place half a year after the movie The Master Plan / The End of the Tiny World and you really need to watch that first or this one won't make much sense to you. From the looks of it, the mini-series was much more cheaply made, it's more like a web coda, and it tells the viewer what happened to Kida after his world came crashing down on him.

First, if you're sensitive to topics like that, you need to know that at the beginning of the mini-series, Kida is suicidal and at one point, he is honestly tempted to just end it - before he's stopped by a chance encounter with a young prostitute who, in the end, after all it's done, prods him into moving on.

But honestly, Kida's state of mind is more than understandable. He lost everyone who ever mattered to him, he even handed his best friend the proverbial loaded gun and couldn't save him in the end. So all he has left is an empty apartment and his work for the mob. That's it. He has no friends left, no family, no real connections to the human world. The only person who actually cares about him is his boss and that's it. You can feel his emptiness.

My favorite moment was when Kida decided to negotiate for the young prostitute's release and he needed 100 mil. yen for that. And he went to his boss who didn't want to let him do it, especially after he told Kida that if he wasn't careful, he could die, and Kida replied that he knew that. And then his boss said, "You're the breadwinner of our company. It'll be troublesome if you die. If you can't come back alive, I can't allow you to go." And only after Kida promised him that he had no intention to die, his boss not only let him go but gave him the 100 mil., too! I loved the way his boss tried to make it sound like he only cared about Kida because he was their "breadwinner" as he called him but he was so worried about Kida because he knew that Kida kept doing dumb stuff for other people - first Makoto in the movie, now the prostitute - and he kept getting hurt because of it. And no matter how many times he told Kida that "dangerous bridges are meant to be crossed for your own good," Kida just wouldn't listen to him!

What I also liked was the ending. It wasn't really happy. It was more realistic. Kida decided to move on, certainly, but that didn't mean he became happy overnight. He still only had his empty apartment and his mob job and no real friends so...

I honestly love this "universe" the movie and the mini-series set up. I really wish we could see more of it. But I don't think we will.

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This will sound sacrilegious, I guess, but The Final is my least favorite of the Rurouni Kenshin movies. So first, let's get that off my chest...

This was meant to be a tale of revenge but instead of going deep and intense, they went blockbuster wide. In the fights, instead of simply relying on Satoh Takeru's awesomeness, they focused way too much on neck-breaking wire-work so the fights lost much of their intensity. And in order to let every character have his/her moment, the movie felt scattered.

Plot points were pulled out of the hat and dropped again without a second thought. Why did the priest have the diary that Kenshin took with him at the end of The Beginning? Did Aoshi live? And why were the Watchers even there? What was the point besides giving each a big fight? What happened to Sojiro? How did Saito and his men escape the trap?

But my main complaint: Kaoru was, once again, reduced to the role of a kidnapped love interest. Seriously, she owns a dojo but she gets knocked out more easily than Tomoe. Also, I liked her and Kenshin as a couple in the first 3 movies but here? I wish they just let them stay friends. After seeing Kenshin with Tomoe, someone who could truly grasp the darkness he faced, I found Kaoru... well, let's face it, Kaoru is way too naive and innocent to really understand what Kenshin had gone through during the war. She's kind and understanding but she will never truly get it.

And now to the good stuff!

Satoh Takeru. Just that. Satoh Takeru. In a movie that kinda lacked intensity, he had intense down to a pat. Whenever the movie just let him do his thing, it shined. Just him standing in the rain... and I was all, yeah, yup, that, this.

The last fight between Kenshin and Enishi. Specifically the moment when Kenshin let Enishi stab him. From the shock on Enishi's face, it was obvious that he didn't expect to land a hit. I think he never really wanted to kill Kenshin in the first place. Because Tomoe loved him. Enishi was furious with Kenshin - but there was the fact that Tomoe loved Kenshin. And when Kenshin first let Enishi stab him, then he apologized and then the crazy Chinese dude shot Kenshin... That wasn't what Enishi wanted.

The scene where Enishi read Tomoe's diary in his prison cell and he truly understood not only how much Tomoe loved Kenshin but why she loved him in the first place and that she died willingly and gladly for him, that her death wasn't Kenshin's fault. That moment when Enishi truly saw his sister as she had been...

The fight where Sojiro joined forces with Kenshin, the way they almost... danced around each other because their strengths and styles matched so perfectly. And Sojiro's happiness that he finally experienced what it felt like to have someone truly have his back. That did things to my heart!

So yeah, I was a bit disappointed in the movie but there were still many scenes that I will replay again and again because they were so good!

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I would love to say that I loved it. Unfortunately I can't. It was rather boring and it dragged terribly, it felt as if the director and/or editor completely missed the cue so in many cases, the scenes just went past the moment when you felt like someone should've yelled cut. Some pairings were cute or at least interesting despite the boring writing but it simply wasn't enough. Even the last story focused on Lay Talay's character simply wasn't good per se.

And to top it off, there were so many cringe-worthy moments, like when one of the pairing ended up calling each other "Papi" & "Daddy" *shudders* Yeah, I'm really not into the whole "Daddy" kink, yikes! Or when in two of the pairings one half had to literally ask their partner for permission to meet up with friends for drinks. That was so yikes!

The most interesting and original moments for me happened in the last story with Lay Talay about Masuk who, after the death of his lover, Tir, fell in love with Hia but Tir still hung around as a ghost - all the time, literally. I mean, in similar stories, the ghost usually leaves after finding peace but Tir remained with them so it felt more like a threesome because, well, like I said, he stayed with them. all. the. time. Even while they were being intimate. That was quite... well, kinky.

This drama also allowed me to find two newbie actors whose career I'll definitely follow: Chap Suppacheep who played Tue in the first story and then First Piyangkul who played the promiscuous Kaeng. These two caught my eye the most out of the new ensemble.

Still, eh.

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A sweet little story made special by the amazing chemistry between the lead actors. Shou Yi & Shi De’s story is, well, it’s nothing original, really. But thanks to the actors, it feels like something more, they honestly elevate the whole thing.

And then there are the things like Shi De’s mother who’s absolutely amazing. The fact that Shou Yi is half-Japanese and they cast a half-Japanese actor so the blend between his Chinese and Japanese is seamless, when he switches between the languages (mainly when he’s startled or emotional), it doesn’t feel forced. Then there’s the intrigue with Shou Yi’s father, introduced in the last episode as an appetizer for what’s to come in S2. And Shi De’s cousin and his emotional issues - and his lost love...

There’s a lot that works for this drama, considering it’s just 6 barely 30 min. episodes. It’s definitely worth it.

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What a wonderful series this has been! 21 (+ ep 0) short episodes full of fluff, sweetness, music and food. Sometimes I wondered if there was even a script, if the actors weren’t simply told the bare minimum and then allowed to improvise because it really felt unscripted, spontaneous, their stories common-days, things that could happen every day to any one of us.

And the amazing chemistry between Jeff Satur (Win) and Gameplay Garnpaphon (Tops) brought the whole thing to life. Because this was not their first series together, AFAIK, there was no awkwardness of getting to know each other as acting colleagues first, they were close and it showed on-screen in the intimacy between the characters, in the small touches and little smiles. And I can’t wait to see them acting together again, in KinnPorsche The Series this time. They’re a marvel on-screen and I fell in love with them.

Also, this was the first series that I’ve seen that acknowledged the existence of Covid-19 and stressed out the importance of washing your hands etc. Kudos.

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My main draw in this show was Zhang Mingen, of course, so for me, the drama was at its best when it was about Guo Deyou & Ding Mao fighting side by side, them against the world.

Which is why I liked the first half best. When the Preacher then arrived and Guo Deyou & Ding Mao were split, each following his own storyline and with a heavy focus on Guo Deyou - who was the lead, so no wonder - I admit I started to lose interest a bit. Still, Ding Mao’s endless trust in Guo Deyou, even when everyone else turned against him, that was a thing to behold, really. And the ending, the last moments of the final ep, made me very emotional.

Guo Deyou, Ding Mao, Gu Ying & Xiao Lanlan, their friendship, the way they went through thick and thin together, the way they supported each other and had each other’s back, that neither Ding Mao, nor Xiao Lanlan, both born into wealth, were ashamed of their working class friends, that they all as a group respected each other’s… well, idiosyncrasies… that gave me much feels.

Also, I wish I could get my hands on the OST. The instrumental tracks, so very similar to Sherlock Holmes’ - both Ritchie’s and Moffat’s - they just hit the right spot for me. Alas, it’s not available anywhere. Pah, humbug!

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A cute romance about a Heroine who falls for a Demon. Or, a chaotic but sweet and kind nurse who falls for a tsundere doctor with a heart of gold. It was interesting to see these characters grow, her maturing as both a woman and a nurse and him finally opening up after having lost the woman he loved many years before.

I get that Nanase's chaotic personality might be too much for some people - my mother included - but I liked that about her, that despite being clumsy and making a fool of herself on a regular basis, she just kept going, she never gave up, determined to become better, to learn and grow - and she does. She proves that even if you aren't gifted, a natural born genius, perseverance goes a long way, that you simply need to pick yourself up and do it again and again until you learn.

Another thing that I loved was that when Tendo agreed to become Nanase's boyfriend, he was all in. He didn't treat her any differently, he just loved her and supported her and helped her achieve her goals.

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Word of Honor has been, hands down, my most wonderful, most satisfying drama experience so far - and I have watched quite a few dramas in the past years. It had great writing, great actors, humor and sadness at just the right ratio and...

Hugs. So many hugs. And hand-holding. And longing glances full of immeasurable love. And sacrifices. And mainly - an unquestionably happy ending for the main couple, a sight unseen in danmei.

But seriously, I didn't skip a single scene in this drama. I was actually interested in all the storylines, even the search for the Glazed Armor, I wanted to know what was behind it and the twist with the treasure, the twist with the key (!!!), the whole reveal didn't leave me hanging.

What truly elevated this drama from a good one to a great, top-notch, let-me-wiggle-in-my-chair-with-the-happy drama, though, were the leads. Gong Jun and Zhang Zhehan truly embodied the characters and their chemistry was mind-blowing. They added so much to the characters of Wen Kexing and Zhou Zishu, respectively, they made them feel alive, like real people with their ups and downs who sometimes made bad decisions but who didn't let their failures keep them under. GJ and ZZH were so right for the parts and they clicked in such a rare, genuine way that it simply made me feel all warm around the heart.

This drama experienced so many issues before airing - from losing the original leads to big budget cuts, it was laughed at and scoffed at and nobody would've bet a penny that it would be a hit - and yet, it's become a must-see event and Youku truly treated it like the golden goose it turned out to be. Good so. Everyone involved worked on it with heart and they deserve the recognition, twice over!

To sum it up: this drama simply makes me happy, it makes me smile and it occupies my mind and I can't stop thinking of the amazing love story that we've seen unfold on-screen. What a rare gift!

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Oh, this was wonderful. Like a cup of hot cocoa on a cold day, it gave me warm fuzzies. Both the pairings were really cute but Kurosawa and Adachi simply stole my heart - so much so that I bought the manga, available via Kindle from Amazon!

I loved that there weren’t any bad guys in this drama, that it was a romantic slice of life story just, well, just with a smidgen of magic. Gosh, the way Kurosawa loved Adachi! Everyone deserves a Kurosawa of their own, honestly. And it was in no small measure thanks to Machida Keita who played Kurosawa, he gave the character so much loveliness and warmth. And Akaso Eiji lent Adachi such a cute awkwardness! His and Machida Keita’s chemistry was so... *chef’s kiss*

Also, I think that the reveal of Adachi’s powers truly demonstrated the difference in the portrayal of the self in Eastern vs. Western culture. You can bet that if this was an American show, Kurosawa would’ve been more concerned with his privacy, his thoughts, his own self, he would’ve felt furious and betrayed and he would’ve stormed out in a huff. Here, though, Kurosawa was more concerned with with Adachi’s well-being, Adachi’s happiness, Adachi’s self. Kurosawa was secondary in this equation to Adachi. And that was very lovely because I can’t help but feel that the Western focus on the “I” first and foremost and always has gotten quite, well, narcissistic lately.

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This is, hands down, my favorite Korean BL drama. The OST is great, the cinematography excellent (it’s really art in motion), the plot so intriguing... and even though the story of Yeonwoo and Yoohan doesn’t really delve deep into the world building of this “universe”, you get the sense of how different it is with the Monos and the Probes living side by side with the rest of the normal population and experiencing things that simple humans cannot beginning to grasp.

Yeonwoo and Yoohan, their story and their dialogues, the way the actors portrayed them, I really felt their fascination with each other, that they simply couldn’t stay away from each other. And I was glad about the ending, that the drama did not take the MODC route but gave them a HEA, even though it felt like it was just the beginning of their journey, of the exploration of what they could be together, what a Mono and a Probe can be together if their yearning for one another is mutual, not one-sided and forced.

(Also, the whump was amazing!)

Basically, it was wonderful and I loved it and I need more!

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Like I said before, it’s hard for me to judge this show because I only watched the Phunnoh storyline and skipped everything else. But from what I understand, this drama was pretty much what paved the way for all the other Thai BL series. So, definitely thumbs up for that.

Phun and Noh are just sweet. Phun is so in love with Noh that it’s ridiculous and Noh reminds me of a cat locked up in a room full of rocking chairs: there’s much hissing and clawing before he finally gives in. Both of the characters have such distinct 3D personalities and even their relationships with their girlfriends before they get officially together are really unique and interesting.

What I loved best about Phun and Noh is that they actually talked to each other. As in, they actually, honest to God communicated and discussed their problems and issues with each other. They never let anything fester for eps on end. That was so startling and unusual and very much appreciated.

So, from my POV? Phunnoh: both thumbs up. Everything else: skip.

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