Behry

Still A Bit Heartbreaking After All These Years...

I only post this now because I finally got around to watching the series again last week for the first time since it originally streamed. And it's still a bit heartbreaking after all these years that such a remarkable show with so much promise and such wonderful characters ended up failing so badly about halfway through. From what I've read, it was mostly due to budget issues, as the show only had three sponsors, and the fact that the studio was still so new. Regardless, even now I'd recommend this one to anyone, only with the obvious disclaimer. Also, I was wondering if it might be possible some day for the studio to try re-editing this one. Seems like if you were to cut out all the unnecessary filler, and then try to edit the remaining material into some kind of coherent narrative--say about six episodes instead of twelve--you'd have a BL masterpiece on your hands. Not likely to happen I guess, but one can hope.

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A Sparse But Moving And Romantic Korean BL

Despite it being a somewhat minimalist, austere (low-budget?) production without much lore or special effects, I really enjoyed this one. The acting was good, and got better as the show progressed. But the chemistry of the two romantic leads is what really makes this one work, I think. I found myself really rooting for them. The writing was good as well, though I do wish they'd included a little more vampire lore for fun. These particular vampires seem like perfectly normal guys who just happen to need to drink blood. I.e., they can walk around in sunlight, eat human food, etc. But that's ok. I definitely wouldn't mind a second season of this one. It'd be fun to explore the developing relationship between human Dong Ha and vampire Ju Won some more. Overall, I'd recommend this one to anyone who might enjoy an understated but moving and romantic Korean BL.

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A Delightful If Belated Coming-Of-Age Romance/Comedy

I'm genuinely surprised by the number of negative reviews this has gotten so far. For me, it's easily in my top 10 list of BL's ever. To me it's a (somewhat belated, perhaps) coming-of-age comedy/romance that is like spun sugar--incredibly sweet, heartfelt, funny and touching. Yes, the production values are minimalist, but that works perfectly here, as there's no need for grand sets or big action scenes. All of the actors are superb, but Jung Su Bin easily steals the show with the most expressive (and hilarious) facial expressions I've seen in a long time. The few moments when is is experiencing consternation about something just make me burst out laughing, actually. So the basic story is that a very sweet and kind young man who's somehow never even had a date in his life suddenly finds himself the object of desire of three incredibly handsome, desirable men, all while he's going through the midst of a major life upheaval. And because he's so kind, he becomes afraid not just of getting hurt, but of hurting someone. The ending is nearly perfect, with a touch of bittersweet for the two who lose out to their love rival, but Yoo Do Ha finally grows up with his first kiss, boyfriend and romance. I really can't recommend this one highly enough for someone just looking for something light, sweet, romantic and very funny.

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An Ambitious Project That Failed

As of episode 2 this one has A LOT of problems, but it also has a lot of heart, soul and ambition so I'm going to keep watching it for now. You kind of get the sense that the entire cast and crew maybe took on a little more than they could handle, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they pull it off by the last episode. There were a number of times I was confused and bewildered as to what was actually happening and why, but at least some of that might also be the result of cultural issues or, more likely, bad subtitle translations.

Regardless of its flaws, you do also get the sense that everyone's trying very hard, and that actually counts with me on a BL series like this that's clearly trying to make something good on what's probably a shoestring budget. Here's to hoping they overcome the odds and succeed.

REVISED REVIEW:

I'd hoped this would improve over time, but it only got worse unfortunately. And the final episode/ending was downright cringe-worthy. I actually stopped watching about half-way through it, and have no plans to ever finish watching this mess. That bad.

The writing was awful, and often completely nonsensical, making the whole production a complete unfocused disaster. I feel badly for the actors who seemed like they were trying their best to make things work. Sadly, nothing could save something this poorly conceived and executed. Beyond amateur. I'm still curious as to how something this awful could have even gotten made. Khemjira it's not.

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Our litle "Yo" has DEFINITELY grown up. But perhaps not in a good way.

I've only watched one episode so far, and the main thing I can say at this point is that our little "Yo" has DEFINITELY grown up, lol. I guess I can add that I was genuinely surprised to see a simulated oral sex scene streaming on iQiyi, not that I mind or anything. This kind of a more mature role may actually be good for Poom's career. I also found the use of Zorro's, 'Back at Zero,' in the soundtrack to be particularly inspired.

All in all, I'm optimistic, and plan to keep watching. Fingers crossed...

2nd Episode Addition:

Well, so far two episodes and two simulated oral sex scenes, lol. This obviously does not bode well. I'm all for using erotic elements to enhance a show, but this clearly seems like overkill and more of an attempt to merely shock or titillate, unfortunately.

This episode was also over-directed, over-acted and somewhat unfocused. And poor Poom just seems to come across as some lascivious, over-sexed nymphomaniac. You can almost hear the director on the set yelling to him, "More horny! Even MORE! HORNIER!!!" I suspect that he's already regretting appearing in this series.

There was also more of that dreadful AI dreck everywhere. At first I was quite puzzled as to why it all depicted male characters with only Western appearances and no characters with Thai appearances, and then it dawned on me that the databases for these AI images are probably overwhelmingly biased in that direction. So it really begs the question as to why they went ahead and used them anyway. Rather strange.

I suppose I'll give it one more try, but I'm not hopeful.

3rd Episode (And Final) Addition:

I'm afraid I'm out on this one. I don't think I've ever cared less about the characters in a BL. Neither of the leads are the least bit interesting to me, and I couldn't care less about what happens to them, frankly. And the addition of the evil, overbearing parents trope just makes things even more boring. Honestly, I just found myself wanting to wipe that insipid smile off of Po's face more than anything else. Has there been even a moment so far where he didn't have that lurid, vacuous grin on his face? It doesn't feel like it.

I'd actually been hoping someone might do a more grown-up series that depicts the sexuality of young men in a more honest way than the bashful, blushing virgins you normally find in a BL, but this one isn't it. The simulated anal sex scene ( a step-up--or down perhaps?-- from the 2 gratuitous simulated oral sex scenes of the previous episodes) just felt cheap and awkward.

Anyway, I won't be watching any more episodes. Definitely not my cup of tea.

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