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BL Drama no Shuen ni Narimashita: Crank Up Hen
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I Did Not Find It Funny
I did not find this BL funny at least not with the main couple. Billed as a comedy, I did not see it as funny or even humorous. On the contrary, I found it sad and rather lonely. In the sense, you have two individuals who are products of their culture and society that are so terrified and fearful of being open and honest with each other that because of that, they nearly lost each other in the process. I just do not understand the horror of even hinting that you like a person. This is actually a deeply interesting and moving story with profound consequences to it. There is nothing wrong with the acting in this series. It is sharp, and at times rather poignant. However, who really runs away with their subtle performances are the two respective managers of these guys. This is a cute story that should have been way better. The Japanese use the voiceover to explain a lot of the action internally with the characters which I detest. It is a cheap way for performers not to have to ‘act’. And it robs the audience of seeing anything really meaningful.Was this review helpful to you?
Could Have Been A Masterpiece!
This gem comes along with its stunning, nearly perfect love story that crashed and burned at the end. It just had to make it have a ‘feel-good’ happy ending. Unfortunately in that process, it transformed into a trite overblown conclusion. I cried as hard at the demise of this fantastic series as I did during the whole of this series. The ending completely ruined it for me. The series starts out so exceptional and I felt the curse of Thai BLs would finally be broken where it would not be so epigonic. It is a beautiful story of privilege meeting non-privilege with the union becoming one precariously in the middle. This is one of the few Thai BLs that handled a story about a disability with a sense of maturity, commitment, and a level-headedness, and a realistic albeit not always positive outcome or solution. One overriding theme that they presented and telegraphed throughout was the abhorrence of pity in dealing with people with disabilities. Again, having spent my entire professional career in that field, that is a compete truism. Yet, somehow, I knew that theme would also be its downfall and it was. This was an exceptional series until the last 2 episodes and then it completely fell apart. The ending simply destroyed and ruined this otherwise brilliant series.Was this review helpful to you?
More Food and More Love
Along the way, is a cast of characters, that almost become caricatures but do not. They sometimes feel unreal, yet you find yourself compelled to watch them and wanting to be in the same room with them and understand why they have developed such a kinship with one another. It is soft, subtle but so beautiful. It is a worthy way to spend your time as you will see two imperfect older men come to grips with getting older, slowly grow to love one another more deeply, and enjoy each other’s company mainly around the dinning room table.Was this review helpful to you?
A Labor of Love
Another labor of love. Sure, it has a ton of production issues. And the story is a bit lame, but the effort is still there. Its sincerity is real. There is surely nothing deep about this series and the acting is quite stilted and one dimensional. They are all in desperate need of acting coaches to create a greater range of emotions for all of them as they seem to be relying on their past experiences to get through this series. Perhaps I am overrating this series a bit. And admittedly I have a soft spot for productions who operate on a shoe-string budget as this one does. Parts of this series have some well written dialogue in them as well. But also admittedly, this schtick of theirs is wearing thin even for me. The production is simply awful. Editing, sound, and cinematography need a lot of work. And investment needs to be made in acting coaches for all of them to deepen their ranges. Sincerity and good story telling can go only so far; now you need greater technical skills. It might be better to save money for one big production with a good story and intensive acting classes and better production equipment and better-quality acting than all of these little productions that only highlight what is wrong and not what is right.Was this review helpful to you?
Title Matches The Story
This is the 'feel good' story of the year. Sometimes a title to a movie is so spot-on that nothing more needs to be said about it. The summation is expressed, quite literally, in this title. It is a story about a very lonely young man who by chance meets a very nice man and a love is awakened. Not only is a love awakened but a reckoning and a realization of oneself is as well. You get all of that in just over 30 minutes of pure cinematic magic in this beautiful love sonnet that reads more like poetry than prose.Was this review helpful to you?
A Meteor Called Dumbness Destroyed This Series
There is no mythos here; that went extent along with the dinosaurs. Instead, it is a jumbled incoherent mess of disorganized shifts of scenes packed with individuals for the most part that are astonishingly unlikeable, dumb as a box of rocks, naïve, and caricatures. Some are decidedly despicable creatures as well. The whole universe of this story centers around one of the densest characters I have ever seen. Not only is he naïve and remains so throughout, but he is also the biggest milqutoast and nebbish individual ever in any BL. There is only one character that is worth watching this series for and the only reason why this is not on my 10 worst BL list. That character is Charlam. Watch it for him and enjoy.You can read my full review at BLBliss.com.
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Hard Series To Dislike
This is a hard series to dislike, even if it is a bit unpleasant to watch. While these guys are ‘bad guys’ they have sanitized them so much and made them redeemable, you literally sympathize with their plight. And honestly, I was completely entertained by them, even though the story is nearly incomprehensible. It is another ‘Mafia-type’ criminally related series with a lot of tropey chest-thumping bravado ‘action’ that I frankly did not understand and was disturbed by its gratuitous violence. None of it made a lot of sense to me and it had a feel of familiarity about it as it is full of clichés. What is really essential are the two solid love stories and the third, rather peripheral and underlying one.Read my fill review at BLBliss.com.
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One of the Best Named BLs Ever!
I must admit that this is one of the best named BL series ever. It has such an encompassing name that it is hard to forget. It is quite poetic. I just wish the actual series lived up to the title. Well, let me clarify that. It does; and yet, it does not. It is a breeze; I am just not so sure about the love. Admittedly, it is an intriguing story made unnecessarily complicated. This is a great series, unquestionably. It could have been a masterpiece, however. What it lacked was an impact. I enjoyed it but simply found the major characters too unrelatable in their stoicism.Was this review helpful to you?
This Series Has Heart & A Message
I know my reviews of these floundering BL series perhaps is a bit too heartfelt, but I have great admiration for struggling productions who are making an effort to tell a story in their own way, no matter what the obstacles. So, therefore, I am willing and do indeed overlook many of the production flaws so that we can understand what motivates and drives these productions – a belief in themselves and an effort to tell a story with sincerity and commitment. Indeed, that is what this series is. It is a surprisingly intense BL series full of real people with genuine problems told perhaps a bit overdramatically. But as uncomfortable as the story is, there is nonetheless an underlying veracity to its message.Was this review helpful to you?
Nothing Special
Yet again, another Thai BL that, one, does not live up to its expectations, and two, does not live up to its title. This was a typical formulaic standard, trite, and tropey BL that I could have written even if I were in a coma. It is pretty much epigonic. Only the names were changed. Had this been more creative or even a thought-provoking series or one that even tried to be a little bit different, perhaps it might have been more impactful. As it is, it became another run-of-the-mill BL with little creativity with one exception. That exception and disappointment was the secondary relationship. They were most interesting but were not the main focus. Too bad. They were way more developed than the primary couple.Was this review helpful to you?
One of the Best "Gay BLs' Ever Made
One can argue until the cow comes home as to whether it is a BL, but it is without doubt a solid and outstanding gay series, surprisingly. The whole series belabored the negative issues with each couple without concentrating on the thing that would have taken this series to greatness. It lacked human warmth. It tried to do too much to show us the issues that it lost sight of its humanity. What humanity it showed was ugly. What I did greatly admire about this series is that it is GAY. This represents the gay world. This is how the gay world is in reality. I am not sure if this series recognized what it had on its hands. I wish it would have gone just a bit deeper into what motivates these characters.You can read my full review of this interesting and raw gay BL series at BLBliss.com.
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More apt name for this is Low Energy
Honestly, I really wanted to hate this series. Yet, I did not and actually came to enjoy it. This is one of the few BLs where the screenplay did not fail the series, but everything else did. And I do mean everything else. Surprisingly, there are some very good poignant moments in this chaotic, nonsensical series that kind of, sort of, in a way made it enjoyable to watch. This is a low-energy love story. I would never watch this again. It is a one and done for me. It should be retitled Low Energy rather than Low Frequency. Its remembrance will be the screenplay. It is impressive.Was this review helpful to you?
Initially Disjointed but Becomes Likeable!
This is a triumvirate story that in the beginning is unnecessarily confusing, obtuse, and almost misleading. Little explanation is given as to who these characters are or what is happening, and the story becomes awkward and needlessly opaque. So many characters are introduced all at once, especially in the first two episodes, that fatuity tends to confuse the audience. The flow of the story becomes disjointed, particularly when you are trying to grasp the nuances not only of the story but the familiarity of the culture and customs that is not fully appreciated. It does settle down in the third episode and from then on, the sagas of each couple become unique and interesting and understandable. I loved two of the three couples; the third couple was a bit more disconcerting for me. It felt darker and more brooding than the other two. This is a likeable series, entertaining with humor and cheekiness to make just about anyone smile.Was this review helpful to you?
Adorable actors; lousy storyline
This series was disconcertingly uncomfortable to watch and got to the edge of being an entertaining story, but never reached there. Overall, it suffered, as most Thai BLs as of late do - the essence of not being honest, straightforward, or communicating directly. The obtuseness of the message is the means to a plot to a story. Saying what one means only lies through innuendo, sprinkled sparingly with humor. Thus, the story becomes a bore and only creates more unnecessary problems.You can read my full review at BLBliss.com.
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More reflective than Season One
While it is the continuing story form Season One, this story is a bit more reflective and perhaps slightly sobering. Greg is able to get closure on some of his issues while Papa Rich has too much of a storybook ending. Not suggesting that everyone does not deserve one, but it seemed a bit too neatly wrapped up. This series is very short in length which diminishes its impact on its character development. Meanwhile, Tupe provides the comfort and foundation that they all rely on and a real sense of security which is the real testament to the actor who plays the part, Rex Lantano.If you want to read my full review of this entertaining series, go to www.BLBliss.com.
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