Lyson

If you like a plot that expands and progresses and escalates, S02 is for you...

...but if you're watching this because you just wanted to see the main actor on screen 98% of the time being a boss, or just because you want to fangirl/boy over the attractive actors you liked in S01, you should tap out.
As someone who has no particular affinity to anyone in this show (except for Lee Si young because the actress is amazing and so is her character), as I usually do, I wanna' cover the good, bad and ugly of this season's offering;

ᴍʏ ʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ ꜱʏꜱᴛᴇᴍ: 10 = [ʟᴏᴠᴇᴅ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ ɪᴛ, ɴᴏ ᴄᴏᴍᴘʟᴀɪɴᴛꜱ, ɪɴ ᴍʏ ᴏᴘɪɴɪᴏɴ ɪᴛ ᴡᴀꜱ 'ᴘᴇʀꜰᴇᴄᴛ', ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ʀᴇᴄᴄ ɪᴛ]

THE GOOD:
- High action and developing horror and drama right out the gate, and it stayed that way for at least 80% of the season, no holds barred, humanity at their best and worse, chaos and entropy and monsters abound. S01 covered the basics, which, great, it let us get attached to the respective characters as one must in order to continue watching something, but would I want to watch a whole other season of the same characters doing the same shit? No thank you. S02 brought the broader scale of shit hitting the fan and escalating, we saw the reality of a dystopian world crawling with monsters really impact everyone. The fact that so many people are complaining about S02 baffles me. To viewers griping about deaths of MC's; come on! People would DIE, whether they are popular, good, bad, kids, attractive or ugly. So many shows from other countries based in violent, supernatural horror worlds, cling to their full set of MC's (*coughs* The Walking Dead) to the point where it's eye rolling. I don't want ALL the main characters to survive and be besties, that's BS, because it wouldn't happen that way. Sweet Home was merciless on this front, I loved it (PS: I would have been super mad if Yi Kyung died tbh but I would've gotten over it and still watched S03)
- The story unfolded on a bigger scale, which gripped my interest immediately. They did a good job of showing the peak of escalation and loss the beginning and then the time skip was just long enough to show the bare minimum of what was salvageable, and how unstable it all was.
- They introduced many new characters living in the stadium, most of which I assume will come in handy in S03 for deaths and monsterization. Useful trick to stop killing off your entire main cast in your final seasons. They also set up old characters and some new characters to really shake things up in S03 with gruesome comebacks and they highlighted them well too.
- The acting is ON POINT for everyone. Seriously, everyone brought their A game.
- Lots of foreshadowing, probably the groundwork for S03 plot twists.
- The clever broadness of monster capabilities being based on their desires and hates also really leaves a lot to be explored.
- Hyun Su going dark under his monster because of pain is the PERFECT precursor to when he breaks out of that lapse. I am keen to see him take back control and throw down.

THE BAD:
- The thirstiness of the female characters in Asian shows. I don't think this is a Sweet Home problem, I'm not sure if it's a culture thing, but characters like the chief's daughter and that loopy chick with the old man, that borderline stalker sexual harassment vibe they give off is ick, I could really do without that. What's wrong with them just being flirtatious instead of obsessed with the singlemindedness of a small brained creature in need of love and marriage? Hard no.
- I think the writers are trying to make Eun Yoo likeable, which, PFFFFFT 😂😂😂😂😂 no. just no. They already made her the most dislikeable wench possible in S01, uh, what do they think changed? Nothing, she could have died in S01 and I would have forgotten her, like I forgot her brother.
- The monster CGI is...passable-ish. But I wasn't expecting it to blow my mind so it's whatever.
- The survivors looked pretty healthy despite living underground and eating minimal rations and barely going out (if at all for some of them). So that was a ball dropped, but it was small ball.

The UGLY:
- If S03 involves any romance, it's gonna be a gross joke. There is no reason for it and zero sexual chemistry with literally anyone in the show so far. Even Uen Yoo and the nice soldier guy don't bring those vibes enough for it to come to fruition. So, that would be ugly. I hope they skip right over that shit idea. I want nothing less than to see any of these characters kiss or touch each other, ever. Not only because it's unnecessary story wise, but also because everything is unhygienic and filthy and it would be high key disgusting to see any physical sexual contact of even the barest kind when I could barely stop thinking of how badly everyone must stink in every way.

THE HIGHLIGHTS
None in particular, the show had too many moving parts for any big, standalone moments, but I'd say the acting was for sure a really great thing for this season.

Overall, I enjoyed it just as much as S01, I have no complaints and I am keen for S03.

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It's not some memorable masterpiece, but in the end I gave it an 8

ᴍʏ ʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ ꜱʏꜱᴛᴇᴍ: 8 = [ᴇɴᴊᴏʏᴇᴅ ɪᴛ, ᴡᴏʀᴛʜ ᴀ ᴏɴᴇ ᴛɪᴍᴇ ᴡᴀᴛᴄʜ. ꜱᴏᴍᴇᴛɪᴍᴇꜱ ɪ ᴍᴀʏ ᴅʀᴏᴘ ᴀɴ 8+ ʀᴀᴛᴇᴅ ꜱʜᴏᴡ ᴅᴇꜱᴘɪᴛᴇ ᴇɴᴊᴏʏɪɴɢ ɪᴛ, ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜꜱᴇ ɪᴛ ᴅʀᴀɢɢᴇᴅ ᴏɴ ᴏʀ ɪᴛ ʙᴇᴄᴀᴍᴇ ᴘʀᴇᴅɪᴄᴛᴀʙʟᴇ.]

I gave it 8 because of THE GOOD:
1. It's an original story concept insofar as the average BL's go, while also tackling the difficult task of telling a non-linear storyline AND executing a totally unexpected plot twist SUCCESSFULLY. I don't think anyone watching this series saw that last ep plot twist coming. I certainly did not.
2. With the exception of the actor who played Phatit (sorry hard fact, but he doesn't rate, really needs an acting coach or a new vocation), the acting in this for all the rest of the cast is actually pretty good.
3. The writers were clever, using a 'second pairing' trope, when in fact, there is only one pair that the story is focused on.
4. The writers WENT THERE and most people don't like that because they want their happy ending BL story, but they made a BL story with a seemingly 'great' partner who is revealed to have major character flaws and he ends up cheating, which yes, it happens quite often. And even though the story is intermingling with supernatural elements which could be argued to have affected things, it turns out the wishing doesn't really have anything to do with it, people are just weak, and the main pair still had to struggle with the infidelity and other issues and they did NOT make it through like nothing happened. No blatantly happy ending. Only a little. Refreshing.
5. They tied up ALL the loose ends. Even Mai being so aggressively sexual as a teen suddenly made more sense when we compare it with Thana as an adult being a sexually aggressive and impulsive dumbass. And this story certainly wasn't rushed, in fact, six eps was more than they needed. (I won't list the details they tied up, but if anyone is confused about the story, I'd be happy to help with some answers)

So...The DRAWBACKS:
1. The unexpected plot twist could also be attributed to the fact that the casting for the teenage 'Thana' (Mai) and 'Phatit' (Ryou) didn't resemble the adult version even remotely. I don't know if the reason why they cast two sets of totally dissimilar (in appearance) actors was in order to bury the plot twist, or if it was just poor casting choices on the real, but truly, that was really not great. The same can be said for the adult versions of the school friends, ZERO resemblance. That said, the young and older version of the cafe' lady was well done and yet still, didn't really suspect that.
2. It was a bit long winded, which made eps 3 to 5 drag a bit, and so the pay off of episode 6's plot twist didn't hit quite as well as it might have, had the build up to the infidelity and the reveal happened a bit faster.
3. Was it messy? Yes, a bit,, because it's non-linear and it's past and present and they're trying to not let anyone catch on, but was it a total mess? Nope.

Overall, this is worth a one time watch.
NOTICE FOR: Anyone reading this who hasn't watched it yet, just be warned that it's a little slow to the point and heavy handed on some unnecessary scenes. Episode 5 was nearly a deal breaker for me to be honest, but I'm glad I hung in there.

Maybe it's just me, but I appreciate something that doesn't try to sell me a flowery story just to be a people pleaser, because honestly, if people had the ability to make wishes and have them actually come true, the amount of f*ck ups would be endless.
At the very least, if you're a patient person, give it a try.

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Back to Basics. Simple and sweet with a little cheese.

ᴍʏ ʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ ꜱʏꜱᴛᴇᴍ: 9.5 = [ᴇɴᴊᴏʏᴇᴅ ɪᴛ ᴀɴᴅ ʟɪᴋᴇ ɪᴛ ᴀ ʟᴏᴛ, ɢᴏᴏᴅ ꜱʜᴏᴡ]

It's really simple and straightforward, without any unrealistically convoluted story lines of revenge or dangerous people lurking around doing weird things. Also, there are no toxic story lines of backstabbing or blackmail or devious characters and there are no non-con elements either.

It's very, very normal really. Not much drama of any kind and the characters are ordinary, everyday sorts of people with normal feelings, which may not be everyone's cup of tea. If you like something with more action or drama, this will not satisfy you. The two ML's have over all good communication, there wasn't too much delay or hemming and hawing about their feelings and there were some valid reasons for their hesitations, like emotional, social and family considerations.
Aside from that it's very soft and fluffy and sweet, also very bright (I had to dim my screen in some scenes because of the lighting) and there are many softness effects.

I don't mind this kind of show at all, and I might have given it a 10, but I don't like the 'simp' vibe they gave Tae Sung, it annoyed me. I don't enjoy the 'give up one's whole life' for a lover/partner idea. It's too desperate for my tastes.
That's my only complaint.

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I never once thought 'They could have done that better.'

ᴍʏ ʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ ꜱʏꜱᴛᴇᴍ: 10 = [ʟᴏᴠᴇᴅ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ ɪᴛ, ɴᴏ ᴄᴏᴍᴘʟᴀɪɴᴛꜱ, ɪɴ ᴍʏ ᴏᴘɪɴɪᴏɴ ɪᴛ ᴡᴀꜱ 'ᴘᴇʀꜰᴇᴄᴛ', ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ʀᴇᴄᴄ ɪᴛ]

Wow. Whatever you'd expect from a TV series about teens committing crimes, you can scrap it. This was intense and stressful and filled with drama and danger but also not far fetched or cliche in some eye-rolling way. There are no masters of their trades here, just regular people who are doing regular crimes and trying to keep their heads above water. Except for Mr. Lee, he's a BAMF, no contest. From start to finish it's a fantastic show, from feelings of wanting to strangle Gyuri and Oji's dad, to wanting to strangle Kwakkie, Minhee and that cop lady, and to wanting to strangle and comfort Oji in equal turns. Then wanting them all to just calm TF down and have a snickers bar. But also not, because stuff gets crazy and when it all sets off, it's awesome. It was entertaining all the way!

And the acting was so fantastic! Great casting all around. The show also had some nicely executed humor, which is always good, every show, no matter how dark, needs some humor.

Over all, I wouldn't change a thing, I never once thought 'Eh, they could have done that better', because everything was written, directed, acted and produced so well. If there is no second season, I won't even be mad, it has a solidly satisfying ending as far as I'm concerned.

Great show!

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I expected more, but it wasn't bad.

ᴍʏ ʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ ꜱʏꜱᴛᴇᴍ: 7 = [ᴘʀᴏʙᴀʙʟʏ ꜰɪɴɪꜱʜᴇᴅ, ꜱᴏᴍᴇᴛɪᴍᴇꜱ ᴅʀᴏᴘᴘᴇᴅ, ɴᴏᴛ ꜱᴏ ʙᴀᴅ ʙᴜᴛ ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅɴ'ᴛ ʀᴇᴄᴄ ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜꜱᴇ ɪᴛ'ꜱ ꜱᴜʙᴘᴀʀ]

Honestly, I feel like the production value could have been way better, I could literally hear the poor sound editing in many episodes. But the technical stuff aside, in terms of the story, maybe more episodes would have been a good idea to flesh out the plot properly because it fell short, and it seemed a bit rushed. The acting was awkward and stiff in several places, MaxTul have a lot of natural chemistry for sure, every fan of theirs knows that, but in this show it felt like they were trying too hard to have chemistry instead of just doing what they do. Could have been all the pressure or just iffy directing. Many scenes also felt out of place (or, due to the low number of episodes, underdeveloped in the over all plot) But still, MaxTul carried this one home anyway, even with the super cheesy ending, I enjoyed it, it wasn't amazing, but it's not bad.

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REAL TALK

ᴍʏ ʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ ꜱʏꜱᴛᴇᴍ: 9.5 = [ᴇɴᴊᴏʏᴇᴅ ɪᴛ ᴀɴᴅ ʟɪᴋᴇ ɪᴛ ᴀ ʟᴏᴛ, ɢᴏᴏᴅ ꜱʜᴏᴡ]

FINALLY got to watch this. China has had this movie on lockdown like it's some kind of national treasure. Yeesh.

Anyway, Real Talk, this is a legitimately entertaining movie to watch.
The beginning was a little rushed to get characters introduced, and it was about as predictable as one expects an underdog movie plot to be. Some dance moves were also exaggerated for cinematic flare, BUT those minor things did not take away from it being an entertaining movie.

It was well acted and fun and funny and emotional and heartfelt. I liked the cast and characters, and I don't just mean all of the familiar dancers, I mean his mother, uncle, love interest and various coworkers. All of them were likeable. I also like Jiang Long (I saw him for the first time in Luoyang and then briefly in Under The Skin) and I considered watching The Future Handbook, but it's unsubbed. It was nice to see him here, he's a very emotive actor. I would watch him more if he's cast in shows that appeal to my taste.

On a fan note, about Wang Yibo, imo, this movie is the best thing he has done since TU. I've watched the stuff he's done from before and after TU, and aside from Hidden Blade (which was good), the shows and films he's done have been very MEH. Just grazing above an average level of enjoyment and in some cases not even making it. One and Only was engaging and it held my attention to the point where I rewatched a few scenes and laughed a lot.

I would recc this. Not just for dance fans, but also for people who like a plain and simple underdog story.

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No doubt, one for the BL (LGBTQ+) books.

ᴍʏ ʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ ꜱʏꜱᴛᴇᴍ: 10 = [ʟᴏᴠᴇᴅ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ ɪᴛ, ɴᴏ ᴄᴏᴍᴘʟᴀɪɴᴛꜱ, ɪɴ ᴍʏ ᴏᴘɪɴɪᴏɴ ɪᴛ ᴡᴀꜱ 'ᴘᴇʀꜰᴇᴄᴛ', ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ʀᴇᴄᴄ ɪᴛ]

It may just be my opinion, but I've always felt there is a difference between BL shows and LGBTQ+ representative shows, and I feel like The Eighth Sense dipped into both genres, but definitely, and successfully, crossed the finish line in the latter.

It's been compared to SKAM in comments by many people, myself included, and as a fan of SKAM (multi), I can agree that 8th Sense resonates and has many parallels with it, but this show stands alone as well and had the grace to finish in a way that was satisfying as an ending, and yet leaves it open for a second season (if we should ever be so lucky).

As usual, I'll begin with the;

THE GOOD
- This show's story has RANGE, but not in that way where screen time is wasted taking us down deviating extra unnecessary character exploration which distracts from the point and causes frustration. Rather, we see many sides to many characters, and they all have a part to play toward the main story, but in a very succinct and definitive way, which adds perspective to the realistically unflowery plot; because life isn't all unicorns and cotton candy. However, the story remains focused on the developments and up and down romance of the leads, while also touching on the human condition and how difficult it can be to deal with and navigate and make sense of people, life and social norms. Even at the end of the last episode, we see the difference in temperament and personality between the entire group, but especially the two leads.

- The filming style is very much to my personal taste, and I'm not just talking about the use of angles, cuts and LUT, but the way the story is told in a way that keeps the viewer guessing about Jae Won and the state of his various relationships with the people around him. I also really appreciate the lack of suffocating music, in this show there is music where it should be, not all over the place, and the music is suitable. Additionally, there is also no obnoxiously, eye rolling and drawn out stares or lean ins between the two leads.

- I have zero complaints about the acting and certainly no complaints about the ML's chemistry with one another.

- The theme of surfing was utilized well, in that the show did not revolve around it, but instead we discovered Jae Won loves the ocean because it calms him, and the surfing theme was also used as a major plot device to develop the relationship between Jae Won and Ji Hyun. Very well executed in only 10 eps.

- This show has complicated but healthy conflict resolution relative to the circumstances, realistic problems between friends and non-friends, believable awkward, ugly, confusing and sad moments between people. Even the fact that Jae Won forgives Tae Hyung for the bullshit he pulled is believable, because people often struggle to cut bad people out of their lives, especially when they feel insecure about their own personalities, worth and feelings. And Jae Won's depression and hints of PTSD throughout was portrayed well without trying to overdo it, they introduced it with some mystery, and then even when it became clearer, it remained subtle but relevant. In fact, in all scenarios, I feel we saw and learned as much as we needed too to follow the story.

Honestly, I could say more, but really, the overall show was just fantastic in my opinion.

So there is no BAD or UGLY, but I will say;
People like Tae Hyung and Eun Ji are trash people, from the start they were jealous, rude, disrespectful, condescending, bitchy and self absorbed. Eventually Tae Hyung even became malicious in actively intending to get Jae Won suspended, and Eun Ji was revealed to be a flat out liar, clinging to Jae Won while blatantly lying about effing around on him just because she thought he didn't know. She was not sorry for being shitty, she was only sorry she was caught. Trash people my dudes. This show may depict the truth of how hard it is to shake them off, but honestly, trash people should be tossed out with the non-recyclables.

HIGHLIGHTS;
Jae Won and Ji Hyun's kiss in the ocean, a great depiction of how they were just looking for a reason to close that final distance between them.

Jae Won nervously joking when asking if Ji Hyun's boss would do something inappropriate to him.

JP and YW hooking up. I did not see that coming 😂


The Eighth Sense is something I would definitely recc watching, it's up there for me with SKAM (Norway/Belgium/France/DRUCK), Young Royals, Sense8, HIStory; Make Our Days Count, and Not Me in terms of shows that manage to touch on different issues and situations while still incorporating LGBTQ+ and great love stories that are well depicted.
I have no complaints about this show.

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It gets there, slowly. The payoff is not bad.

ᴍʏ ʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ ꜱʏꜱᴛᴇᴍ: 8 = [ᴇɴᴊᴏʏᴇᴅ ɪᴛ, ᴡᴏʀᴛʜ ᴀ ᴏɴᴇ ᴛɪᴍᴇ ᴡᴀᴛᴄʜ. ꜱᴏᴍᴇᴛɪᴍᴇꜱ ɪ ᴍᴀʏ ᴅʀᴏᴘ ᴀɴ 8+ ʀᴀᴛᴇᴅ ꜱʜᴏᴡ ᴅᴇꜱᴘɪᴛᴇ ᴇɴᴊᴏʏɪɴɢ ɪᴛ, ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜꜱᴇ ɪᴛ ᴅʀᴀɢɢᴇᴅ ᴏɴ ᴏʀ ɪᴛ ʙᴇᴄᴀᴍᴇ ᴘʀᴇᴅɪᴄᴛᴀʙʟᴇ.]

In a word, I'd say this show is [entertaining].

I don't usually bother to watch Asian romance dramas because they're a dime-a-dozen imo. There's always a pretty standard cutout/copy/paste idea for female leads in Asian dramas because of the intent to keep the women portrayed as 'pure' or 'likeable' so the ML's will inevitably fall for them, which makes the genre fall flat for me. There's nothing interesting or original about basic mould characters like that. Ngl, this show did have many of those same issues, but it also managed to avoid some, which made it less frustrating to sit through.
But let's begin with;

THE GOOD;
- The ML (Ji-Sung)'s acting is an entertaining, visual and physically expressive pleasure to watch from start to finish. He took his roles and really went for it in each one. You can tell he was enjoying the challenge and he met it head on and aced it.
- While the FL didn't win me over in any major way, she wasn't aggravating and by the end, I was supportive of the ML and FL getting together, which is usually the whole point of a romance drama, right? So they achieved that.
- ML and FL lead chemistry seemed fine too, wasn't weird or forced. More on the sweet awkward side.
- The ML's secondary love interest was not that bad, they didn't make her totally shit. I actually kind of liked her.
- The acting of the whole cast passes muster for sure.
- The plot was actually convoluted and confusing, but not in a bad way. I actually had to rethink a few things, which I wasn't expecting.
- The show has a nice visual aesthetic, very easy on the eyes. The scenes and sets are modern and clean but not too unnatural and not too bright, with a good wardrobe department outfitting everyone suitably and the make up on the men and women isn't overdone either.
- Even though the crux of this show seems to be a cheesy childhood love turned adult romance, there was plenty else going on that it didn't make it eye rolling.
- It's funny. I always appreciate any show that can deliver some humor.
- The personalities are all quite interesting and are mostly well fleshed out.

THE BAD
- As Yo Na says, the FL is LOUD (loud, loud). Randomly and often unnecessarily. Also, the way she cries is very, uh, for lack of a better word, I'd say, unnattractive. It's like how a kid cries when they can't get their way, so they'll just burst into tears and stand or sit and openly, loudly cry and sniff and cry and scrunch their face up. That's how she cries. Maybe they cast her to cry like that because they thought it was cute? It's not cute. This made it very hard to feel bad for her in those moments.
- The music is not bad to listen to, except when it's played six times in an hour long episode and very loudly for very long during every single 'moment' the characters are having. Whether it's good or bad, the music just plays and plays and plays and NO. Editor, please pick your moments. 9 out of 10 emotional scenes were stifled by the music playing. Again, it made it hard for me to feel bad for the ML and FL during their emotional struggles and successes.
- The show has way too many episodes and a lot (I MEAN A LOT) of time is taken up by drawn out looks, exaggerated lean ins and flashback after flashback after flashback and more flashbacks. Again, editors, pick your moments. Shoving a flashback scene of a sad moment in my face ten times in each episodes means by the time you actually bring the plot home, that scene is an eyesore and I'm itching to SKIP chunks of the never ending musical flashback montage.
- In contrast, the last two episodes feel too rushed.
- Honestly, Ri On falling fall Ri Jin makes more sense than Shin Se Gi falling for her. Ri On spent almost everyday of his life with her knowing they weren't related and developing feelings all the way into adulthood, while Shin Se Gi spent a few months playing with her as kids and never got over it. I'm not a fan of 'childhood love' in general, it's weird and feels dumb, and that particular angle in this show was no exception. But at least they made up for this by making Cha Do Hyun grow to like and then love her at a more gradual pace.
- Cha Do Hyun's father not being weak and emaciated after being in a coma for 21 years was a total fail.

THE UGLY
- Episode 18 had the dumbest most nonsensical scene I've seen in a long time. The scene where Shin Se Gi drives with Ri Jin to the warehouse to see Alex and then not only does he accept her saying she'll go in, but the fact that she offers such a stupid thing is just ridiculous. The writers were obviously trying too hard to set up another 'Shin Se Gi is a badass but also a lovesick simp/Ri Jin has the power to call Do Hyun out on command' moment, which, fine, whatever, but it was too forced and unnatural in this scene to do something so plainly stupid. It would have made more sense for her to 'command' Shin Se Gi to stay put WITH HER while they both waited for Ahn to show up, then she could have gone in with Ahn if she wanted Shin Se Gi to stay outside, not go in by herself like what idiot girl would suggest such a stupid thing??? She's not a cop or trained to do something like that. Ugh. I was already 18 eps in though, or I swear, if it'd happened earlier I might have bailed. That's just bad form on the writers' part. Don't try so hard to create hardships bonding moments between your leads, there's a lot to be said for organically developed scenarios. That was not one of them. It was like Shin Se Gi lost his balls and brain in three seconds flat letting her go in there alone.

OVERALL

It's not a bad watch in the end. It's actually fun and entertaining if you have the patience for so many long eps in this genre. I won't ever watch it again though, because it's exhaustively long and I wasn't invested tbh. I didn't actually catch any feels for the characters even after so many episodes which is not a winning feature of a drama. So, you know, watch it once for the heck of it, or if you like long drawn out slow build cheesy romances that you know will have a happy ending, or if you really like Ji Sung.

HIGHLIGHTS:
- Shin Se Gi dramatically saying "If you won't have me, don't touch me." and pushing Ri Jin's hands off him like a diva. What a character! xD
- Ri On meeting an actual woman named Yo Na and being traumatized enough to run away .
- Cha Do Hyun's grandmother finally smiling at him.
- Shin Se Gi and Yo Na are very memorable characters throughout.

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Not as bad or as good as it could have been!

ᴍʏ ʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ ꜱʏꜱᴛᴇᴍ: 8.5 = [ᴇɴᴊᴏʏᴇᴅ ɪᴛ, ᴡᴏʀᴛʜ ᴀ ᴏɴᴇ ᴛɪᴍᴇ ᴡᴀᴛᴄʜ. ꜱᴏᴍᴇᴛɪᴍᴇꜱ ɪ ᴍᴀʏ ᴅʀᴏᴘ ᴀɴ 8+ ʀᴀᴛᴇᴅ ꜱʜᴏᴡ ᴅᴇꜱᴘɪᴛᴇ ᴇɴᴊᴏʏɪɴɢ ɪᴛ, ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜꜱᴇ ɪᴛ ᴅʀᴀɢɢᴇᴅ ᴏɴ ᴏʀ ɪᴛ ʙᴇᴄᴀᴍᴇ ᴘʀᴇᴅɪᴄᴛᴀʙʟᴇ.]

I'll start by saying I haven't read the original, I've only read what was mentioned about it in the comments here, so my judgement is based solely on the show. Here we go;

THE GOOD:
MAIN ACTORS:
YAI - I noticed there's a lot of commentary against Yai, but I actually think he was the best actor in this show. He wasn't too over the top when he was happy or when he was crying, in general, his range of emotion didn't seem too extra. I also liked that when he was hot, he was hot, and when he was cold, he was cold, and when he decided with finality to be with Mangkorn, he didn't waver. He wasn't wishy washy or moon eyed or overly confused, and he wasn't annoying to me at all. He didn't even second guess himself about Nine, he was like 'Yo, no.' and that was that. I personally think that was great. Additionally, he is actually pretty adorable looks-wise. The rest of the cast was likeable too, I have no hard objection to anyone. Some of the casual interactions felt a bit stiff but nothing so bad it made the show unwatchable.
MANGKORN - He was fine. I didn't get any 'Big Dragon' vibes from him, but he was fine.

VISUALLY - It was nice. Easy on the eyes. But Asian dramas generally go in for that 'perfect' look on their actors all the time. I've accepted that, even if it's very unrealistic and looks silly sometimes. I'm also not a fan of the disjointed cuts during the sex scenes, because scenes that go from a bedroom to a bar to a bedroom again, or a table to a window to the floor and back to the table, it doesn't flow too well, but it also didn't particularly hurt the visual aesthetic they were going for.

THE BAD:
STORY: It's only a little bad, insofar as there are too many unnecessary dialogue scenes dragged out waaaaay too long, too many silences and a time lapse that smacks you in the face out of nowhere at one point. The last episode dealt far better with the time lapse, not sure what happened before that with the writers. Also, because of the short amount of episodes, I also think they could have skipped things like Yai's BDSM kink (because ultimately it didn't make much of an appearance anyway), and also the skateboarding thing was, well, why? Relevance? I dunno, for all that it had a use in the story, it could have a mentioned in a conversation and it would have been the same imo. And showing Yai and Mangkorn as seemingly womanizing, bad boys, and then Mangkorn breaking out a Dom vibe on Yai randomly, only to make it turn out to have no place in the story over all. Just, basically, there was a lot of 'but why did you include that' moments. I can only assume that it had something to do with the source material? I actually have no idea, it just seemed pointless.
But I didn't dislike the overall story. Yai and MangKorn communicate quite well (albeit very slowly), especially after they get over their initial speed bumps, and I think that was enjoyable.

THE UGLY:
DUH, the opening rapey vibe. Ugh. It's never gonna' be sexy to try to drug and then rape and/or assault and blackmail someone, and then write that they end up together. If they were changing the story (according to what comments suggested) they should have just gone ahead and changed that too. Like they did in 'Together with Me', they avoided all the 'ugh' from the original. Something less vile would have been for Yai to maybe get Mangkorn drunk and then set him up in an embarrassing situation. It's still a hostile start to a relationship, but at least it's nothing gross or illegal. This trope, for me, is never gonna' fly. Also the hitting each other for no really good reason, could skip that.

HIGHLIGHT:
I loved the scene in ep 5 when Mangkorn's mother walks in on them eating the snack together. That was probably my fave moment in this show. Sometimes writers miss the fact that the small intimate or cute touches and moments between pairings can carry a lot of weight in making a couple seem 'in love'.

Over all looking forward to Season 2. Hoping for less tropes and a smoother flow and much more established relationship vibes and scenes from Mangkorn and Yai.

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It's a TEN from me.

ᴍʏ ʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ ꜱʏꜱᴛᴇᴍ: 10 = [ʟᴏᴠᴇᴅ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ ɪᴛ, ɴᴏ ᴄᴏᴍᴘʟᴀɪɴᴛꜱ, ɪɴ ᴍʏ ᴏᴘɪɴɪᴏɴ ɪᴛ ᴡᴀꜱ 'ᴘᴇʀꜰᴇᴄᴛ', ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ʀᴇᴄᴄ ɪᴛ]

I gave this a straight up 10 across the board because I have zero complaints.

The actors were all enjoyable in their roles and the characters were all likeable. The music wasn't overpowering. The build up was paced evenly considering the short length of the show and episodes. The story and dialogue were good, simple, but was executed well and the scenes weren't trying too hard, the scenario wasn't exaggerated and the production value is easy on the eyes. Over all, really very pleasant to watch.

Moreover, the pairing have actors who were comfortable with each other, seemed natural and had good chemistry and the pairing's dynamic was quirky, awkward, playful, teasing and funny, yet healthy (nice for change, these BL series often have very unhealthy dynamics) and it was sweet. I appreciated the simple communication between the pairing and I think a season 2 would be great, but even as it is, it was very enjoyable.

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It was like watching a Taiwanese SKAM!

ᴍʏ ʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ ꜱʏꜱᴛᴇᴍ: 8.5 = [ᴇɴᴊᴏʏᴇᴅ ɪᴛ, ᴡᴏʀᴛʜ ᴀ ᴏɴᴇ ᴛɪᴍᴇ ᴡᴀᴛᴄʜ. ꜱᴏᴍᴇᴛɪᴍᴇꜱ ɪ ᴍᴀʏ ᴅʀᴏᴘ ᴀɴ 8+ ʀᴀᴛᴇᴅ ꜱʜᴏᴡ ᴅᴇꜱᴘɪᴛᴇ ᴇɴᴊᴏʏɪɴɢ ɪᴛ, ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜꜱᴇ ɪᴛ ᴅʀᴀɢɢᴇᴅ ᴏɴ ᴏʀ ɪᴛ ʙᴇᴄᴀᴍᴇ ᴘʀᴇᴅɪᴄᴛᴀʙʟᴇ.]

I really enjoyed this. Really. If anyone has watched the male/male SKAM series (any of them), you'll know what I mean when you watch this. Except this was longer and involved way more detail and characters and side plots all in one, but it covered many issues for young male/male couples just as SKAM does, while telling a great story and really drawing in the viewer, inciting emotions on relatable or interesting scenarios and topics. And the acting of the cast was fantastic!

I personally wasn't too bummed about the way it ended, as I didn't actually like Yu Xi-Gu. I felt like the actor didn't line up with what the character was supposed to be and so he came across a bit flat to me, I didn't get the feeling he was really properly present as a character next to Xiang Hao-Ting, who was impossible not to notice (as a character and regarding the actor who played him). But that's just personal opinion on a single character, the actual ending was still very good (in a sad way). I've heard some negative things mentioned about plagiarism of this story or something, but I'm not going to let that affect my view of this series.

It really is very good, with a very organic flow and great cast chemistry. Very easy on the tropes, and when they do come up, they're not too eye-rolling and cringey. Xiang Hao-Ting is a fantastic main character, very hetero/masculine but not shy to openly and dramatically fangirl over Yu Shi-Gu, it was honestly pretty adorable.

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What a waste, it could have been so good, but it wasn't...

ᴍʏ ʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ ꜱʏꜱᴛᴇᴍ: 3 = [ᴀʟᴍᴏꜱᴛ ᴅᴇꜰɪɴɪᴛᴇʟʏ ᴅʀᴏᴘᴘᴇᴅ ꜱᴏᴍᴇᴛɪᴍᴇꜱ ɴᴏᴛ ᴇᴠᴇɴ ᴀᴅᴅᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴍʏ ᴡᴀᴛᴄʜʟɪꜱᴛ, ᴇɪᴛʜᴇʀ ɪᴛ'ꜱ ᴛᴏᴛᴀʟʟʏ ᴛʀᴀꜱʜ ᴏʀ ɪᴛ'ꜱ ᴛᴏᴛᴀʟʟʏ ʙᴏʀɪɴɢ.]

I tried, I really did. I literally watched 32 episodes of this and it was pretty hard to keep going.

This is basically just a sappy adolescent feeling love story superficially wrapped in a weak plot. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's nice to look at on the surface, but as you go on, you start to realize that there is just no suspense or actual point. Zhou Fei has training wheels on most of the time and sometimes just plainly seems to not know wtf is going on, but suddenly becomes a fighting genius randomly. She's like Goku, 90% dumb, 10% badass when it counts. And Xie Yun is supposed to be so damn smart and capable, but he does plenty of redundant dumbsh** too.

There is no hardship for these main characters, Zhou Fei is going to be victorious no matter how dubious the situation seems, so don't hold your breath. And certainly don't worry about Xie Yun, because no matter how dire his fatally poisoned situation appears, he's not going to die either, in fact, I started to feel like he wasn't even in any real danger early on.
One minute there's no cure or poison strong enough to counter what he's been poisoned with, and then one episode later they're off to find the poison that can counter what he's poisoned with. And does Zhou Fei find this contradiction of information (ie. plot hole) important enough to ask questions about? Nope, she's just gonna' go get the thing, it's not as if anything about it had to make sense to her. 😂

Literally all the time they point out that he's very badly poisoned, they tell you this so many (many, many) times, it's the most poisonous poison to ever poison. But you know, it's only going to almost kill him every time he does something he shouldn't because if he did the poison will kill him...eh. But it doesn't, it only almost does, over and over, almost. Can't be that bad then, seeing as how he released the seal for the poison to (very prematurely and pointlessly) try to get involved in a fight in which he made about 10% difference to the over all out come of. And all for love, guys.

So yeah, it's just a very, very drawn out love story with no reason to worry about any one, because nothing really bad actually happens.

All that said, the acting wasn't bad, just the writing and plot. Too inconsistent, no suspense and sometimes pointless side stories, it's kind of like watching a lame anime where you stick around just for the attractive scenery. I mean, their outfits (especially Xie Yun's) were really great, so stylish and great colours too. Visually, in terms of character appearances, very nice job. But that's not enough to carry a show. I think the biggest issue for me was that I was looking forward to this show and was disappointed. They should have just advertised it as a love story with a little bit of fighting drama, so that what's on the label matches what's inside; as it was, I was only intrigued by this intriguing drama for about ten episodes.

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The Rating for this should be minimum 8.7 and don't let MDL'S bullsh*t tell you otherwise!

ᴍʏ ʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ ꜱʏꜱᴛᴇᴍ: 10 = [ʟᴏᴠᴇᴅ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ ɪᴛ, ɴᴏ ᴄᴏᴍᴘʟᴀɪɴᴛꜱ, ɪɴ ᴍʏ ᴏᴘɪɴɪᴏɴ ɪᴛ ᴡᴀꜱ 'ᴘᴇʀꜰᴇᴄᴛ', ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ʀᴇᴄᴄ ɪᴛ]

DO NOT SLEEP ON THIS SHOW!
If you like the genre (for the love of common sense remember to READ THE TAGS people) and if you are not 'shipping' obsessed and unable to look beyond actors you like and BL love story tropes...basically, if you like a show that isn't simply a commonplace BL, then this is MUST WATCH. Don't let the rating and the abysmal comment section scare you off either, this show SERVED and THE ENDING HIT JUST FUCKING RIGHT.

When you first watch it, that first ep, you're gonna see the NC scenes and feel like it seems forced and a lot like they're trying too hard to push the BL and sex stuff for the sake of views. RIGHT AND WRONG.
RIGHT about it feeling forced, because they did dump the 'bl sex clickbait' in the first ep for real, but
WRONG because they do it for A GOOD REASON. It's not because they were baiting fans, it's because they wanted to clear up the superfluous romance shipping shit quickly in order to MOVE ON from it. And boy oh boy, did they ever, seeing as how for the rest of the show the shipping stuff gets sidelined and completely trumped and in the end, this show DELIVERED and the ships sinking was all apart of the fun!

THE GOOD/GREAT
- First and foremost, THE ACTING. This is some of the best, if not the absolute best, actual acting I've seen in a Thai BL. I didn't know any of these actors and I honestly don't gaf where they acted before because this is the show from which I will remember their faces. If you watch this and you don't appreciate how well these actors did, this show is WASTED on you.
- The PLOT, from start to finish the amount of intriguing questions and speculation and ideas this show's plot raised was just fantastic. The comment section here quickly turned to a 'mess' because of the conflicting opinions and theories and I'll be honest, if you pay attention to the comments made by non-ship focused users, some of the conversations were really interesting! And yet, even with ALL the speculation, we were all still wrapped up waiting to see what twist was coming next. THAT is good writing, THAT is how you hook your audience.
- NON and TAN/NEW. I mean, these two. The casting of them as brothers??? GOLD. The best part was WE DON'T SEE IT COMING. We pretty much all suspected New was either Tan or White but it still HIT with so much weight when it finally unraveled and the escalation right up until the end was such a sweet, sweet pay off.
- The FLASHBACK scenes and the DRUGGED SCENES revealing their individual guilt, are prime story material in this. Wow. Just. So. On. Point and so well depicted.
- THE HORROR/GORE AESTHETICS AND CINEMATOGRAPHY are all on point!
- The order of DEATH and DOOM. I'ma tell ya'll the truth, for a hot second I was nauseous at the idea of Phi and Jin making it out and ending up together happily, it was so ICK. And I would have deducted a full point if that had been the true ending of this because Jin is trash, like all his friends. Tee appeared to be suffering, well deserved, but Jin walking away when even his internal guilt revealed how shallow he was? I was about to be MAD AF. LOL. But NAH. They didn't do us so dirty! They didn't close this show with some shipping nonsense, they really hinted at it though, just to fuck with us a little more, and then said 'NOPE, IN YOUR DREAMS.' Literally! Because I reckon Jin is the one imagining that sad, pathetic happy ending for himself 😂

- MY THEORY: The fake out 'happy ending' is Jin's POV. I think he's likely comatose (possibly induced to stop him from anymore self harm) because Jin's face when Phi ran back into the cabin, did ya'll see that split second expression on his face? Man looked wide eyed and gone! Phi went back in and he took a bottle to the head, and even if he did manage to shoot New, who's to say that what 'happened' next wasn't Phi's injured addled brain trying to sort his shit out, give him hope. I don't think he necessarily got up after shooting New. I don't think he saved Tee before New had strangled him and then New died bleeding out and Jin, Jin is the only survivor, JUST LIKE THE SCRIPT, but he's totally fucked up in the head! And maybe he lost it completely because he went in there and saw everyone dead. SEE what I mean ya'll, the show is done and I'm still over here speculating!!

THE BA...wait, NAH!
- I ain't even mad about that 'unnecessary' sex scene between Phi and Jin, because after that fantastic ending ep it's revealed to us just how wrapped up in the idea of 'love' and 'sex' Jin was. Imo, every scene in this show served a purpose of revealing things about the characters to us, and that sex scene was the only scene I couldn't place until the final ep when I found that that scene explains Jin's level of 'love and sex' focus. First he became romantically invested in Non, who never even showed much interest in him, and then he got mad seeing Non sleeping with someone who wasn't him. That's extreme. Then came along Phi, who did show interest and even slept with him and also said nice words to him and seemed so sincere. I think Jin was really affected by how he felt for Phi, especially after sleeping together. And we've seen that all he needs is a little push to go from 0-100, whether it's for revenge or falling for Phi again. Also, I think that scene was meant to show more insight into Jin's perspective of sex. How he seems himself during sex. Because some of his hallucinations in the final ep matched the viewpoints of the sex scene with Phi. Raises questions. Makes him more layered in a way, a little more interesting. But still very ick.

Okay, now THE BAD:
- The people who watched this for the ships and the actors they 'stan' and could not see beyond it. Yeesh. Just...yeesh.

THE HIGHLIGHT
-The overall QUALITY of a BL slipping so smoothly into a horror/suspense story needs to be appreciated.
- 🖤 THE AMBIGUOUS CONCLUSION 🖤 it wasn't exactly what I expected, but in a way, it was even better!!

People might say 'what about White?' and the old dude who got decapitated, but in reality, irl plenty of people die in bad situations due to being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and this is exactly what happened to them. The situation was bigger than them. New wasn't interested in screwing up his revenge for two people he didn't even know. He is beyond guilt (aside from what he felt about Non) and in the end, he got his revenge, they were collateral and he died 'fairly' in the process.

So, yeah, this show is ABSOLUTELY worth the watch, so long as you like the genre. Props to everyone who put work into this because they did an outstanding thing here and I hope this show gets some more exposure outside of just the BL fandom because it deserves a better and broader audience, people who can really appreciate it. It's a horror/gore/suspense thriller with LGBTQ+ characters if you ask me, and labeling it a BL (as the status of BL currently stands) is not enough.
I would definitely recc this!!

PS: Watch the final ep to the end, post credits, the funny bts they show were somehow just the perfect contrasting cherry on top!

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Heesu in Class 2 Figuring Stuff Out SLOWY

ᴍʏ ʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ ꜱʏꜱᴛᴇᴍ: 8 = [ᴇɴᴊᴏʏᴇᴅ ɪᴛ, ᴡᴏʀᴛʜ ᴀ ᴏɴᴇ ᴛɪᴍᴇ ᴡᴀᴛᴄʜ. ꜱᴏᴍᴇᴛɪᴍᴇꜱ ɪ ᴍᴀʏ ᴅʀᴏᴘ ᴀɴ 8+ ʀᴀᴛᴇᴅ ꜱʜᴏᴡ ᴅᴇꜱᴘɪᴛᴇ ᴇɴᴊᴏʏɪɴɢ ɪᴛ, ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜꜱᴇ ɪᴛ ᴅʀᴀɢɢᴇᴅ ᴏɴ ᴏʀ ɪᴛ ʙᴇᴄᴀᴍᴇ ᴘʀᴇᴅɪᴄᴛᴀʙʟᴇ.]

Despite all the whining surrounding this show, I liked it! If you're not oversensitive to present day social gripes, you'll enjoy iy too, for what it is. A show about a gay teenager who's struggling with who/why/what he likes and he's gotta' take it step by step according to his circumstances. Also he's kinda cutely dense.

Overall;
Eps 1 through 8 were well done, good pace, nice acting, all enjoyable.
Ep 9 fell off a bit, the writer might have been drunk or hungover when writing this episode.
Ep 10, I'd say landed well enough, about 75% good, and the other percent of it was shit, but the show was saved after all.

The SHIT bits of Ep 10:
Singing. I ALWAYS skip singing in ANY BL, as it is, waaaaaay too many BLs have some person singing something and it's NEVER entertaining, EVER. The scenes with Heesu and CY continued to be a waste of everyone's time because that friendship is shallow bs and nobody gaf. CY is one of the worst written 'friend' characters I've seen in a while because this guy's 'me me me' complex is exhausting jfc.

The 75% HIGHLIGHTS of Ep 10:
- Heesu coming out to his sister was a great scene, so well done!
- Heesu confessing to Seung Won in that classroom was well done too!
- Seung Won telling CY to (essentially) eff off and mind his own business was fantastic!
- Everything following Seung Won returning the confession to Heesu was SATISFYING AF. The line, "I wanted to show the stars." while sitting on that dark track field feeling all blushy and awkward and newly minted as mutually liking each other was Seung Won playing his sloth game at maximum level! LOL

And my 100% PERSONAL HIGHLIGHT OVERALL for this whole show:
- Lee Sang Jun, I RARELY find SK actors attractive, and he is one of those rare cases. He's 👌
Apparently he was in Connection, but it's fair I overlooked him, I saw no one but Ji Sung in Connection. He may be going on my fave Asian celebs list after some more consideration.

Right so, when I think back on eps 1-8 (which I enjoyed) and deduct 9 (which wasn't great) and then add the 75% of episode 10, weighing it up against my personal rating system, I'm giving this 8/10. Over all it's worth a one time watch. It won't make my recc list though, watching or skipping it, neither is a major loss.

A second season or special episode likely won't happen because I'm sure a majority of people are gonna rate and drag this down based on their personal sensitivities and tank any possible hope of that, but if they ever did make a follow up with Heesu and Seung Won continued, I'd watch it for sure.

So yeah, it was fun ✌️

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Falling in Love under Complicated Circumstances with a Delayed but Happy Ending

ᴍʏ ʀᴀᴛɪɴɢ ꜱʏꜱᴛᴇᴍ: 9.5 = [ᴇɴᴊᴏʏᴇᴅ ɪᴛ ᴀɴᴅ ʟɪᴋᴇ ɪᴛ ᴀ ʟᴏᴛ, ɢᴏᴏᴅ ꜱʜᴏᴡ]

This BL will not appeal to anyone who doesn't like/appreciate a bitter note of angst and reality in their BLs, but for those of us who do, it's a great watch, and closed on a satisfying note for me personally. I cannot give it a clean 10 because it had its drawbacks for sure, which I will note down below, but the drawbacks were few and not actually a surprise considering this BL managed to finagle its way out of no-homo China in the first place. Alright, on with -

*THE GOOD:
1. Zero disappointment on the acting/casting front, especially not from the two MLs, really, they brought their A-game, particularly in emotional scenes and even the fluff scenes. Qin Xiao is a gem, he managed to express a lot what was lacking physically between the MLs with some of his looks and actions.

2. The filming/cinematography side was to my taste, the music didn't contradict or overwhelm the scenes which was a win. The LUT of this highlighted the coldness of winter with it from start to finish, very suitable for the theme. The budget was probably not that high for a small production like this but they managed to apply whatever funds they had to bringing the characters to life very well.

3. The show touched on some interesting and lovely, but also disheartening and realistic facets of being gay in China. In the first couple, we meet Qin Xiao who was raised basically solo by a grandparent (not uncommon in modern China even when parents are alive), but even so, he's the adult, he's the responsible one, the one in charge, and his sick granddad is in his care, so he's quite independent, and as a result he's influenced by a mixture of modern life and wanting freedom versus traditional family values, expectations and responsibilities. We saw him have to work through developing feelings for someone of the same sex and how it made him question himself and worry. Then we have Qi Lu, who is openly gay to himself (and presumably to some other people he trusts since we see him confiding in his senior online friend, Bai, confessing to liking Qin Xiao and saying he's worried about the same thing happening as before, eluding to him having tried to confess to a boy he liked previously with negative results). We see him rather directly and certainly pursue his feelings for Qin Xiao. In the second couple we have Liu, who is independent as a grown, working man, but who is emotionally and mentally bogged down with family trauma and drama, and Tan Yin, another openly gay character who is likewise bogged down a history of abuse and disownment/abandonment from his family on top of his disability. We get to see how their situations play out differently, how differently they strive to be closer to each other and accept each other according to their different circumstances. It can all, in essence, be picked apart and discussed ad nauseum, as to how the issues with how even in modern China 'children' still have trouble escaping the reach of their parents/family influence and how it affects their adulthood in good and bad ways. But I think Blue Canvas highlighted what it needed to and moved forward and past topics well enough without overdoing it on those complicated themes. A good balance for only 12 eps.

4. Qin Xiao and Qi Lu are just really great individual characters with different strengths and weaknesses that they portrayed wonderfully.

5. The 'dangers' and 'drama' were not over exaggerated or blown out of proportion, from the side story of the small time drug dealers, to Qi Lu's abusive father and Qin Xiao's grandfather's death, it was all quite tidily handled and emphasized enough to show its importance to the plot.

6. The pace was good for 11 eps, 12 however rushed a bit, even so, the flow of events was clear and not confusing.

There is no 'bad', so I'll just do-
*THE DRAWBACKS:

1. As previously mentioned, episode 12 was rushed, and I do think this could have been avoided if some of the second couple and art school filler had been shortened or removed in order to play the more plot final relevant scenes out fully. Several scene choices were not very wise and used up valuable time.

2. There is a lack of couple-esque moments between the two pairs post 'getting together'. This is not surprising, and not a big issue because the fact that we have openly gay characters who blatantly confess, kiss and establish their same sex relationships, and go on to be together happily, in a Mainland Chinese BL, is already a big deal. Unfortunately, it does take away from some scenes where small things like kisses hello or good bye, or eluding to/implying intimacy would have done more for the actual realism of the two pairs being couples. Pity. That said, I do personally think that the reason any more overt physically romantic scenes were avoided after the first kisses was because these actors do still have to live and probably hope to have acting careers in China in the future, so they didn't want to overdo it and risk too much backlash, if any, from the government and entertainment industry. And I'm okay with that, small steps for the LGBTQ media in China.

3. The second couple fell off. It was weird, because their dynamic seemed quite mature and enjoyable BEFORE they became a couple, after that, I'm not really sure what the producer/director was going for with the excess play-fighting thing they were doing, it was almost nothing like Liu and Tan Yin had been prior to becoming a couple, so that was a bit 'okay then'.

5. The misunderstanding/miscommunication trope went very hard there at the end. Literally, a single line of explanation from Liu or Tan Yin to force the two to talk to each other could have fixed the need for them to separate, of course, it would also have meant their individual futures would have worked out differently, but I don't think any less positively and definitely in a shorter fucking time.

That's all for 'drawbacks' from me, onto
*THE HIGHLIGHTS:

1. The build up to Qin Xiao accepting his feelings and the moment he admitted it to Qi Lu and then kissed him was just EXCELLENT. Best 'confession' scene of 2024 hands down for me. Had to put on my profile under 'scenes that live in my head rent free' because it was just so damn good.

2. The scene in ep 12 where Qin Xiao steps in so he gets hit by the bottle to defend Qi Lu, I LOVED it. It was well done too, not over dramatic, not him foolishly letting himself get hit in the head so there could be some unnecessary head injury, instead he raised an arm and with his leather jacket on he avoided getting cut but had an impact injury and it made sense, it was filmed well, such an important scene too to show his feelings for Qi Lu, well written and executed.

3. Qi Lu and Qin Xiao arguing after Qi Lu confronts him the second time about trying to kiss him, great scene, feels feels feels.

4. Qi Lu standing up to his sperm donor TWICE. My guy Qi Lu was no little bitch, had it not been for the power his father held over external factors that could affect Qin Xiao, Qi Lu would obviously have stood up proudly for his relationship. I like that message, I like that clarity in that character's development.

OVERALL:

9.5/10 with 5 points deducted for some wasted screen time resulting in a rushed final episode, the second couple's ooc dynamic after getting together, and also for making the time Qi Lu and Qin Xiao were apart be 6 whole years. When it comes to the 'lovers separated' trope, less is always more.

100% recc this as a watch, but ONLY if you can handle or have a taste for angst, otherwise you'll just end up being upset.
This show checked all my boxes though, since angst feeds me! Great stuff, no regrets in 12 eps and definitely rewatchable!
✌️ 😁

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