This review may contain spoilers
This is how it's done! Perfection!
I sit here trying to personify what has to be the BL that achieves almost perfect perfection.Firstly we have well-rounded characters in a very relatable setting. No wishy-washy half-baked personas were thrown in for drama's sake. Even the minor characters, as Cai's first GF, have a depth to them. Their motivations, feelings, and personas are well written and in keeping with the experiences of the pandemic. Gav had so many layers! Confidence giving way to jealousy, insecurity, pining for what was lost, and hope not to lose again. Cai is evolving with each episode with an interesting and real background story that becomes fully realised in the Pandemic context. You get the feeling these people actually exist in your world, and not just some fancy dramadom setting!
Secondly the directing. Wow. Ginoo Payawal, Ibinibigay ko sa iyo ang aking sumbrero: I tip my hat to you! You and your editing team were amazing and always on point! Not a single wasted scene, moment nor transition! Everything flowed so perfectly to fill the short episodes! There never was a laxed moment! The episodes felt packed, but not overwhelmingly so, and quite satisfying in the content. Those cliffhangers! Some of the best ever! Left the viewer longing for the next episode!
Thirdly, and not least important, the acting. Again, wow, wow, wow. Kokoy, Elijah, Adrianna, and the cast were amazing! The chemistry among them all! Gav and Cai had so much palpable chemistry through the screen! The development of the relationship was so organic! It did not feel forced, fake nor contrived in any way! having half of your face covered can't be good for any actor. Both, again, handled it with such grace! Their expressions on the meeting added so much tot he emotion of that scene! Again, pure perfection! Adrianna as Pearl brought so much energy to every scene she was in! Her role as enabler and supporter cannot be underscored enough! Sidenote: can't wait for Peral Next door!
While Kokoy and Elijah were the show-stealers the others were all showstoppers in their own rights. Jerom and Sue were pure perfections. Brother and mom becoming Cai's support and forgiving him for what he thought was his fault were epic and strong character building events for Cai. This could never be accomplished full-heartedly without the supporting actors!
Why I say this approaches a perfect perfection has so many dimensions. Primarily the story. We don't get the stereotypical, thropy I like you for you but I'm not attracted to guys. Here we get one character that is struggling with identity, who was outed by someone he trusted with his secret. We also see that being in a relationship is new territory for him and get to experiences the pitfalls and heartache of, not only a new relationship but the entire situation of the new normal playing making it an LDR one.
We get a protagonist who may or may not be a playboy, may or may not be sincere. The audience will have to figure that one out!
We also get an inside look at Philipino culture. I always love it when a drama takes us on these personalised journeys. We see the family bonds, culture, and the effect of these bonds on the individual and relationships. We also see the gaming culture that so many of us are part of.
All through the series, each character remained just that: each. Gav and Cai have very distinct personalities and we saw each as an individual. This is epic writing. In so many series and even books, we see a de-evolving of characters until their dialogue and personalities become almost meshed. Up to the end, Cai remained Cai, and Gav was Gav.
All in all, Gameboys is the ultimately bestest best series to air! Not only keeping with the context of the global pandemic but for a perfectly crafted story and relatable, real characters! Thank you, Ideafirst, for this piece of inspirational positivism in these trying times!
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The overall story is refreshingly different from other crime dramas. Or is it a crime/ romance drama? It is absolutely different from anything before.
The quirkiness of the characters is breathtaking. Well written for comedy when needed and seriousness gives it an air of a not to serious but serious Sherlock Holmes/ SH parody vibes. The comedy did well to infuse itself into the story, being well executed by the magnificent cast.
The characters are well rounded as they can be in such a short series. None are really square or boxed-in. However a problem arises here.
We have a semi kind of set-up as to the main arc and plot which does not really get developed perfectly as it should. There are more questions than solutions. Who is that? Why is she there? What is that? These are some of the questions the viewer will be asking.
Don't get me wrong, the story line progresses and there are amazingly brilliant parts every episode!
This drama could have done well as a 50 part series.
As is it is well worth the watch if you are into crime dramas with a smattering of conspiracy and some unforeseen romance that seems totally organic, and not just thrown in for good measure.
My advise, however, is watch it closer to the airing of part two (Feb 2018) to really get the benefit of the whole story.
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What was truly amazing is the writers did their homework. The response to the disaster was on-point! The firefighters and the hospital portrays were true to real life as dramatic influence allows. You get the feeling of being there as the action happens; the raw feelings of the responses to situations! Yes, there will be flourishes of heroism, but this is drama! Not discounting the other actors, Kim Sang Ho as the fire-chief was as believable as it could get!
The story line can only get a wopping 10. The writer and conceptualises really, really researched this. The raw politics, the blame game, the cunningness were all there as one would expect from both politics and raw ambition! Even in a disaster these human traits would show!
The effects: Again, wow! There are big budget movies that do not make you feel the destruction and effect on everyday people on this scale! Perfectionists will say that you can tell when it's CGI, but come-on! A small screen production showing this level of damage to a real (yes, real: not made-up) city! in such a realistic manner! The damage to buildings, landmarks, and infrastructure all felt completely present!
We get a clearly defined hero and villain which is basically my only hang-up about this series. Not that it took anything away from the reality or grittiness of the story. There should have been some blurring of that line to make it just a tad more believable, Not everything is good and evil. There will always be shades in between. This, however does not lessen the impact of the story at all!
Also, with this many episodes a little background into the characters and institutions would have been helpful. We start getting snippets of lives lived after the actual disaster, which is very helpful to character development. The thing, however, is this could have started before the real emergency and worked its way from there.
All in all one of the best disaster series out there! Well worth the watch if you like emergency dramas, real feelings and firefighters. Who doesn't like firefighters?
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While the theme is vampire it is more of a thriller than drama.
The originality of the story has to be the main selling point. Usually these stories do not develop in this fashion.
The story is very followable and flows from start to finish.
The only thing that needed improvement is a little more development of the Night character.
Overall an enjoyable, strange story.
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Seemingly corny at first, the series does have some worth as a storytelling device.
The acting does have some awkward moments, but for the most part the actors are quite competent.
The inter-relationship between the cast members is also quite good, furthering the believability of the stories.
The music is nice and works.
Al in all worth watching.
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