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An adaptation no one needed
I'm actually writing this review much later than I actually finished the series, because I was certain my angry screams weren't quite review material. And when I say angry, I was seething.This is one of the worst things I've watched, and the moral, feel good factor aside, this was literally a mess. After all that, they didn't even get the moral, feel good story right, did they?
I'm trying to be as eloquent as I possibly can, otherwise this would just be a lot of angry rambling, about how the story was beyond horrible, that having the lead spout some generic pap about forgiveness and togetherness after making her go through 12+ episodes of torture and bullying doesn't really cut it. It's so messy and difficult to watch. The storylines are either incredibly boring or downright offensive.
The characters are also the literal worst, I had such a hard time rooting for any of them. You just go from episode to episode wondering how people can be this horrible, insensitive and just plain annoying at times. Sometimes, you just want to go feral and jump through the screen to knock some sense into them, because mostly, they all suck.
The acting.. it wasn't horrible. Well, it wasn't horrible from everyone except the leads. You would think the leads would be the two characters you would most want to see, that they're the ones you would root for, but never have I ever come across two characters whom I have wanted off my screen. Kind of worked though, because Win's character Guy, he's barely in it. Great's character Saint probably had more screentime, as probably did Jane's character Faye. Which would have been fine since the two of them actually acted, but like I said, you don't really want to see any character on screen. Except for Ann. Ann is good, Ann is the best.
Now because Guy isn't featured a lot, he doesn't share a lot of scenes with Baifern's character Liu, and Saint has more scenes with her. So there were a lot of people who had a hard time believing in Guy and Liu as the main couple, and while there may be some truth to this, I don't think it was the main problem. Win and Baifern just don't have chemistry. Yup. They have absolutely no chemistry together which is surprising because I've seen a bunch of their works and they're good actors. They could have pulled off these roles with a much better nuance than they actually did so I don't know what happened. I will admit that the screentime Guy got does have something to do with them not being able to quite convince us that Guy and Liu work well together, but when it comes down to it, the leads have no chemistry. They're both always yelling at each other, or yelling that they're hurting each other or crying about hurting each other that by the time they cross all their misunderstandings and get together, you're praying for them to break up.
Which brings us to the pacing. 10+ episodes on needless bullying, manipulation, trauma, which doesn't really stop until the last ten minutes of the finale. It just shifts from one person to another until you're clutching your head, begging them to end it. And if you came for the romance, let me tell you it took literally forever for them to actually have some semblance of a good relationship and even then, you really can't care enough.
This review is already longer than I intended it to be, so I'll try to keep the rest of my thoughts to a minimum. It was difficult to watch, I appreciate that they tried to portray the reality (to some extent) on the emphasis of physical appearances that is forced onto everyone these days, but nope, it didn't work. It absolutely did not. After everything is said and done, let's be honest, this was an adaptation that never should have happened.
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REASONS TO EXCERCISE CAUTION BEFORE YOU WATCH
Oh, where do I start?
Blackmailing ✔️
Gaslighting ✔️
Harrasment ✔️
Trying to pass off mental health issues as just being violent and manipulative ✔️
Trying to make the lead saying that he wants to imprison the other lead romantic ✔️
(Honestly listing all the toxic stuff that happened in this series might take a whole other review.)
THE REASONS TO WATCH
Now for the reasons to watch.
The number one reason you need to watch this is because, it is in fact, not a continuation of Tharn Type. Yes, Fiat and Leo are in it, but it feels like the characters here are a more accurate representation of what they were meant to be in Tharn Type 2. The storylines of both characters are explained much better here, and there are actual explanations to their behaviour in the prequel.
And yes, watching the prequel would help you understand some scenes better, but Don't Say No works as a standalone series just as well.
The second point as to why you should watch Don't Say No is because of the cast. I haven't seen most of the actors in any major works before this, and for beginners, they're quite good. They seem to have captured the essence of their characters perfectly and it says a lot about the actors when they are able to invoke the exact emotions from the audience suitable to their actions. Yes, some of the crying scenes and the intimate scenes could have been better, but for first timers you could tell they did their best.
Finally, if neither of the arguments have convinced you, or you're still on the fence, my final defence : Leon ☺️.
Just watch it for Leon. That boy has got me and Phob falling for him. Honestly I was quite suprised that such a sweet and respectful character is present in the MAME universe, but he is, and honestly, I believe he's reason enough to watch the series.
So there you go : this has been reasons to watch or not to watch Don't Say No.
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This review may contain spoilers
This is the most chaotic series I’ve ever seen! What I thought was going to be a good way to pass time, turned out to be a beautiful story about friendship, love and the bond you create with the people around you.THE STORY:
The series follows the story of an apartment complex where only men are allowed to be tenants. The story also has several callbacks to Why R U the series and you will see why soon. From here on out, the story follows several couples, the most prominent being Nott and Pun, and their journey towards love.
THE ACTING:
The acting is seriously impressive! All the characters seem to be crazy and the actors channel the essence of their characters very well. A special shoutout has to be given to Poppy as Porpla, whom I just found out played Junior in Why R U the series! For actors who seem to be doing their first or second roles, they were amazing. I have to say that it’s been amazingly cast.
THE PRODUCTION:
This is the first time I’ve seen a sitcom format for a BL and I have to say I’m sold on this idea. The production team has done an excellent job with this series and I believe it’s going to get even better as it goes on. The series also breaks the fourth wall often to either give advice on love, or sometimes it’s just cause!
THE OST:
What a fun OST! The OST of this series is the same as Why R U’s OST and I love it. Most of the tracks of Why R U’s OST are reused for this series and I couldn’t love it more!
THE NEGATIVE:
Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I cannot think of one negative thing about this series.
THE ENDING:
WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT ENDING! Seriously what was that ending? They rode off on a Spaceship and THE END!! Then that one year time jump? I really hope that was a season 2 announcement.
All kidding aside though,
What I thought was a series that depended solely on it’s hilarity, delivered a surprisingly poignant and heart touching finale. That conversation between Porpla and Pun about unfulfilled first love was something else. Poppy was just ‘Chef’s Kiss’. I never would have thought that my favourite character at the end would be Porpla and the relationship I would be most invested in would be that of Pun and Porpla. That Spaceship though! I guess they got together, but that ending has got to be an announcement for season 2!
This series does not have as high as a rating as other series’ do, but trust me, it’s worth your time. If you’re having a bad day and just want to laugh , this series is perfect for you. Its a surprisingly insightful series about life, if you just look past those quirks. I hope this review helped you with your decision to watch this series. Thank You!
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Half Baked
I love food. I love OffGun. I love it when people fall in love over shared food. I love it when a lead scams his way into a ton of money because the other lead is adamant that he won't take cooking lessons from anyone.Unfortunately, I didn't love this.
Seriously though, I love dramas that are in the food/cooking genre. There's something incredibly heartwarming about two people bonding over their love for a particular dish, or learning about each other through food, just sweet core memories. And Cooking Crush had that, plus a lot of stuff I adore in dramas: comedy, a great couple, good side characters and a reasonable plot. With each episode I watched, I liked it more and more. I had no major complaints and I enjoyed the prospect of watching something that was funny, light, and relaxing.
That is until it hit the halfway mark. It's like the writers, actors, director and every single person who worked on this forgot what they did in the first six episodes. Either that, or they changed the screen writers halfway through and said take it in whatever direction you want, there doesn't have to be any continuity, whatsoever. It's baffling how quickly it all changed because before I knew it, the characters were unrecognisable, the writing was so messy and it felt like a chore trying to get through some of the episodes.
Understandable that they needed to shift the focus onto the competition, but the shift was so abrupt and random, with them choosing to spend episodes on unnecessary conflicts, plotlines that saw no progression and the relationship between the leads going up and down like a rollercoaster. And by the time they focused on the actual competition, I felt no connection or investment anymore because of the aforementioned.
Through it all, I just kept hoping it would get better. Kept hoping.. and it didn't. The story after a while made absolutely no sense because they kept introducing characters who's sole purpose was to create conflict that was resolved within seconds without proper explanation. The chemistry between OffGun was suddenly non - existent, the acting felt really off, almost like the cast and crew themselves had given up on the production.
I don't mean to lay into the series like this, but it really does baffle me. How did something with such potential come down to this? The few positives in this were the supporting characters, the relationship between Firefy and Dy, and Ten. Even then, there isn't much to brag about here. Everything about this was simply, okay.
I would recommend watching the uncut version, although not as much as I would have liked, there are explanations to certain actions, the connections between the characters are explored a bit more, it really did make for more of an enjoyable experience.
Honestly, the best thing may have been the opening credits.
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The fairytale that wasn't
If you've been seeking out a review from someone who racked their head to find one, just one positive thing about The Next Prince and pathetically failed.. Congrats! You found it.Fair warning - I'm going to tell you what this series was about but if it comes across like I'm desperately trying to convince you not to watch it, it's not me, it's them. The makers of The Next Prince have come up with a series so devoid of soul that there's isn't a single thing I can say to convince you in earnest to give this a try, and honestly, I'm not sure I'd want to.
This felt like a script idea that they fed into ChatGPT with the words
"Write a series that is based on The Princess Diaries, Harry Potter, Hunger Games and a few other movies of your choosing. Most importantly, make it as boring as you can."
The story develops from Kenneth being an outsider in an unknown environment to a story about singing protests?
Kenneth is Khanin by the way, the lead. I can't call him anything else.
Anyway, the story starts out with Kenneth being this smart, sassy and bratty fencer who is living his life in England, until Charan (played by the increasingly stone faced Zee) kidnaps him and takes him back to some fictitious kingdom that can't be situated on any world map, Emmaly. Kenneth, as it turns out, is the kingdom's long lost prince.
Emmaly has a weird monarchy, it is split into four regions ruled by princes and Kenneth's grandfather is currently the king and he rules all of Emmaly. His biological dad is one of the contenders for the throne because irrespective of time and space, once in a while, there is a competition where the grandchildren of all four regions essentially compete in a Hunger Games-esque competition so that their fathers can become the next rulers. Incredible. Basically, Kenneth has been kidnapped to compete in his father's stead.
But our boy doesn't take it sitting - he's away from home, his adoptive dad is pronounced to be dead by Charan, he's a wreck. He lashes out, he tries to topple the monarchy (not really). For all of two episodes. Because Kenneth is surprisingly resilient. He is a duck's back. He's being an absolute delight, taking classes, being his princely self all with a bit of flirtatious rebellion because of course. You would think that this is all pretence - so he can root the monarchy from the ground within and run off to find his dad, but no, he loves it. And he's in love! With Charan, the dude who almost made him vomit just from the sight of maybe two episodes ago.
He's in love, and he's willing to do the competition because.. reasons. So the rest of the story obviously has to be about the competition? Now that we've successfully become the epitome of royalty, and completely forgotten about everything else? Wrong.
This is where the story pivots into fan fiction. Specifically for Kenneth and Charan. The public ships them after they dance together during Kenneth's reintroduction to society and about three episodes are dedicated to their fake relationship to improve Kenneth's PR imagine. They visit all the kingdoms, they go clubbing, we learn about Charan's trauma and they almost kiss. All this while, Kenneth's Grandpa has been doing some evil plotting involving separating the two of them - but because plot said so, he obviously can't. But Grandpa's evil arc isn't over yet.. not by a long shot.
They romance and other unnecessary stuff like a second and third couple development happens, only to stop there because they get no more development. There are assassination attempts when the focus, shockingly, shifts back to the competition for a half a minute, but before we know it, they're romancing again. This is where stuff gets genuinely bad though.
They bring in the storyline of mining protests, which I was told was based on real life events (thanks Jojo), but if you were going to do that, why not take it more seriously? Singing protests, abrupt mood shifts, there was no real substance to that plot point, which somehow became all about Kenneth. He was supposed to be the person who grounded everyone else, yet somehow he came across as the most set apart from reality of them all. Grandpa is obviously involved in this - he's been involved in a lot of shady stuff all this while.
And because Grandpa's evil deeds know no extent, we find out that all the protests and the assassinations, literally everything had to do with - revenge on him. Which admittedly, is predictable but not bad. This may have been the only plotline that actually made sense and kind of did tie the story together and that's good. But not when it lasted all of one episode before the focus was shifted back to a useless competition.
But we got a happy ending of course! With complete ignorance of all the plot holes, missing characters and horrific storylines they pulled off, but who cares! All that matters is that we get one more awkward NC scene as cherry on top right?
It's so unbelievably sad how quickly this sank, maybe it was bad from the beginning but I was too wrapped up in what could have been to actually see that. And what could have been huh? I genuinely would not have minded a very fan fiction, silly type of series with abrupt comedy and some weird storylines. But in being so serious, the writers have turned the story into a serious mess. The mood shifts were jarring, the storylines were incredibly choppy, the logic was all over the place..
The characters writing was atrocious. I thought for a couple of episodes that we were finally moving on from the caricatures that Zee and NuNew so often play, but old habits die hard I guess, we were back to whiny and emotionless characters in a minute. And I'm sorry (not sorry) but Zee and NuNew have no chemistry. I was bored out my mind watching them on screen, I felt no real bond because their relationship was so rushed and most of it was awkward and uncomfortable to watch.
Ohm and Jimmy had potential as Ramil and Paytai, but their characters are once again, written so horrifically you can't root for them. Net and JJ looked like they would prefer to be literally anywhere but in this series, who can blame them?
I genuinely hope their individual shows can make better use of their chemistry, because admittedly, they do have some. But this series spent an absymal amount of time on either of them, so what do I know.
And all the other characters were either written badly and had some screentime, or were written badly and had no screentime. A select few like Ava and Chakri were written comparatively well, but had no screentime.
All the investment in making it look pretty. But what use is holographic video calls when your plot is less stable than the Internet connection they used for those calls? This could've easily been an eight episode series with the most incredible plot, crisp and concise, with great couples and cinematography. What we got was dressed up nonsense.
I wasted around 15 hours experiencing pure torment and wouldn't want you doing the same, so if you want to watch it.. I don't know.. do something productive while you watch? Maybe five sit ups everytime they do or say something egregious. Or journal. Do your dishes. Dealer's choice.
Because remember, at the end of the day, this is the series that hinged on Zee's abs to do all the heavy lifting.
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FRIENDSHIP? WHAT’S THAT?
I wrote a review for Friendzone and this just feels necessary to do. Season 1 dealt with the relationships of 4 couples - each with their own storyline, depth, length of relationship and set of problems.Season 2 deals with the aftermath of the decisions made in the Season 1 finale, and the story continues from there on. Saying that the relationships portrayed are extremely real would be a lie on my part, because honestly I’ve never seen relationships like these. Yes, they are quite realistic on the outlook that people today have on relationships and love, but I have never seen relationships so toxic in my life, including some friendships.
Unlike the first season, where the friendships between the characters was the key reason as to why all the relationships seemed to be so flawed, the second season does not imply this. The only couple where “friendship” seems to be taken into account is the Earth - Sam - Stud and several other men saga. In fact, even simply friendships seem to take a backseat to highlight relationships. Somehow though, the final episode brings us back to what was the basis of the show.
The thing about this season is that it completely changes your beliefs and views after the first season. Earth fan? After season 2, I’m not. Hated Stud? I don’t now. Thought Boom and Tor were toxic? Season 2 showed that there are way more toxic relationships than them. Of course these are my opinions, but I must warn you, opinions are subject to risk when you watch season 2.
Another thing I noticed about the series in this season is how aware people are of their actions. Every single character in this series is entirely aware that what they are doing is just toxic and hurtful, but they do it anyway. They know the consequences and yet soldier ahead. They sleep around, cheat and lie, and behave with no remorse. Every character is extremely manipulative, even if it wasn’t evident at the beginning. They know how to turn a situation around for themselves and they do it! The thing is, if you watched season 1, you know what they went through there, and even if you hated them there, there is serious character growth here. Props to the actors here, they managed to make me hate and love their characters all at the same time.
Ultimately, what this series seems to be is a somewhat realistic and relevant take on relationships today. If you liked season 1, you should absolutely watch this, because if I’m being honest, this was leagues better than season 1. The storylines are more indulgent, the new characters are complex and flawed, the older characters are changed and better. I’ve tried to keep this review as spoiler free as possible, but here come a few. So if you want a spoiler free review, I would stop reading right here.
Seriously, stop here if you don’t want spoilers.
Now, spoilers.
Here are all the ships in the final episode, in the order they concluded
1. Boom / Tor - They’re married y’all!
2. Stud / Ta - Yes, Stud and Ta ended up together, and even as a Stud Earth shipper, I couldn’t help but jump ships. Somehow the two of them together just makes sense and honestly they look soooo cute together!
3. Cris / Amm - They ended up together! First actual GL by GMMTV has a happy ending!
4. Earth / Sam - They broke up. It was a decision coming from the first season and it finally happened in the season 2 finale. Hopefully the break up helps them actually grow.
5. Music / Locker - Oh boy this was a great one! The way she rejected him was straight up savage and honestly the guy had it coming. Good for her! (Not actual Good)
6. Good / Boyo - They decided to stay friends and that’s a solid decision. Totally respect and agree with it.
All in all, a genuinely satisfying ending!
Honestly, this is a good show. It’s like an America drama and a telenovela had a baby and that baby carries mild traits of both parents, if you get what I mean. If you love relationship drama, and some instances of romance and friendship, but mostly drama, then this is the show for you. Plus, it’s got a ton of familiar faces if you love Thai dramas. This is one of those dramas you can watch to just turn off your brain after a long day and scream at your TV if you don’t like something. And that’s a good thing.
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That milk was spoilt in episode 1
I wish I didn't remember details from episode one of this series, but more than anything, I'm glad I don't recall at least some of it. Oh goodness this was..The plot was non - existant. There was no plot, it's as simple as that.
I still can't figure why the two leads liked each other, I've watched ten episodes and I still don't know why they fell for each other. Their relationship is the basis for the entire plot and from my indication about the plot being non - existant you can put two and two together.
Individually, two of the worst characters I've ever seen on screen. They were right in naming one of the characters 'plain milk', because that's the amount of personality the two leads had. Like plain milk. I could never figure out why they were considered to be attractive partners when both of them had the emotional range and personality of a piece of cardboard.
But apparently that was enough to get the leads to fall for each and two other characters to fall for each of the leads. Boo to me I guess.
The second couple was better. Actually they were amazing. Until they weren't. For maybe seven episodes, they were the only characters who kept me going but you can't ruin your track record can you? The writing absolutely ruined their relationship as well by adding silly misunderstandings and arguments that went nowhere by the finale, and boo to me again.
The third couple were like a magician's act, they would appear in a few episodes and disappear for another few and then show up for one scene in the finale just because. Call it inconsistency or my general lack of interest after one point, but I genuinely forgot those two were a couple at one point. Boo × 3.
There were a bunch of side characters who's sole purpose was to create drama, a bunch of others who created drama but were also integral (not really) to the story and it was just a collosal mess that I started on a whim because I needed something to rant watch. Acting was.. fine I guess, but I suppose there's no necessity to act your heart out when your character is written to have only one expression or reaction.
This is a great rant watch by the way, zero plot, zero chemistry between the leads and zero patience for anyone who watches it by the end of episode 10. Have fuuuuun!!
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This review may contain spoilers
This has been a series I’ve been looking forward to since the initial trailer was released and let me tell you, it does not disappoint. From the very beginning the story has been consistent, heartfelt and funny. The Shipper is a perfect example of a fujoshi’s imagination, including how far it can be taken and how far from reality it actually is. Initially promoted as a BL, the story soon takes a different turn, a very good diversion.I myself am a BL lover and the reason I started this series was actually to get my replacement for 2gether the series, but this turned out to be something I very much enjoyed. I’m still very confused about as to who to ship, but that’s what makes this show itself- it’s extremely unpredictable. One minute you’re on a BL ship, the next a heterosexual ship and the next, ( I’m actually ashamed to say this ) a sort of incesty ship. But that’s what makes this series so good, the fact that it’s realistic, but at the same time doesn’t take itself too seriously.THE STORY:
This is what I imagine fujoshis to be like. It’s very realistic, you know, except for the soul swap stuff. Seriously though, this series has an extremely investive story and very real, very flawed characters. The ones we never get to actually see on our screens. The characters who make mistakes and are able to admit it. The characters who sometimes act before thinking, just as actual humans do at times. The characters who have problems and don’t have perfect lives. The characters who very much resemble ourselves and the characters who are actually worth rooting for. Although I would have loved to see Kim in Pan’s body, I can’t say I’m disappointed. They gave us the exact story that they promised, in a well written way too.
THE ACTING:
Perfection. The acting is perfect. Each character is beautifully portrayed and written. Every single member of the cast is perfect as their character and even out of them. If I mentioned every actor and how well they’ve been portraying their role, let’s just say this would be a very long review. I’ll say just this, this series hit the jackpot with the cast. The way every emotion is clear and correct for every scene is very rare and this is some of the best acting I’ve seen in a while.
THE PRODUCTION :
The production has been spectacular. The level of production has been significantly high in GMMTV shows, but this is a cut above the rest. The premise may be repetitive,what with the soul swapping, but this series has genuine life lessons and a well executed plot. It may be unrealistic at times, but I believe that was the point production was trying to make.
THE OST:
The OST honestly slaps. It’s sweet and light hearted, very much like the show. The video for the OST though! That’s the cutest s**t I’ve seen in a long time. The second track though. I have a feeling that after this finale, I might cry a bit every time I hear it and I listen to it a lot. Like, a lot!!
THE NEGATIVE:
Now I know the student- teacher relationship was needed to move the plot along, but come on! She’s 40 ( sorry 39 ) and he’s 17? I cringed so hard at those scenes. Also, violence is never okay. It doesn’t matter what the situation is. VIOLENCE IS NEVER OKAY. One thing I have to say is never, ever expose someone’s life or secrets. We may never know what it is that they’re going through, so stay considerate.
THE ENDING:
That’s the ending you’re going with huh? I was honestly hoping that WayKim would have a happy ending, but it is what it is. My heart is broken and guess that’s that. Despite that, the finale was quite good. Everyone got their happy endings and the last frame of the series makes me believe just a little bit that WayKim will have one too. I really hope there is a second season. ( God, please let there be another season! )
The great thing about this series is that so many of us started watching it for the BL, but we seem to have continued watching it for what it truly is, a beautiful and heartfelt story full of laughter and tears.
This series has quickly become a favourite of mine and for good reason. Despite having low viewing and not much exposure. I hope everyone gives this show a try. The cast and crew deserve that and more. Hope this review has been helpful to all you confused individuals out there. If you do decide to watch it and are confused about who to ship, don’t worry, I’m pretty sure the characters themselves don’t. Thank You!
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Chicken soup for who's soul?
The old adage of 'imperfections make something perfect' can very well be applied to this - but even discounting the imperfections, this is not perfect. And that sounds like criticism even to the person writing it, but my criticism is not as harsh as it seems.Whale Store xoxo is meant to be a show that's supposed to heal a jaded soul, if you find yourself in a situation, any one of the situations, Wan, the lead, finds herself in - the forty minutes every Wednesday should be the moments you find solace, even if it's through a screen.
Striving to be realistic, it misses a step, because here comes our whale in shining armour - Maewnam, our other lead. She is a jack of all trades, and is always there for Wan, even at the cost of Wan's own personality or growth. When the growth is completely facilitated by someone who is not the one actually supposed to be healing.. it doesn't feel quite as healing anymore..
The romance however, is the show's saving grace. What it lacked in depth, was made up for with one of the most green flag relationships I've seen on screen. It's a mature and grounded relationship - Wan and Maewnam communicate throughout, there are no long drawn out misunderstandings, they're there for each other.. well Maewnam is there for Wan..
.. and we're back to the imbalance in their relationship. Not a red flag, not even a beige flag, but that imbalance is very obvious. In every scene, every episode. Which the writers have made into the leads' personalities.. meaning episode after episode, it's basically the same storyline.
The second couple had the same kind of storyline, a cycle that is going nowhere. Episode after episode Ton and Chompoo deliberate on their relationship, where again, it's what one person says that goes. And it's even worse here because they don't have a relationship you want to root for!
With the leads, I can say that I wanted them to end up together - their issue was something they could (and did) resolve through an open conversation. But Ton and Chompoo were in a situation where Ton was getting battered every single time, even when Chompoo stood by her instead of against her. That power imbalance was evident in their chemistry, their story and screentime - which towards the end really became more about Chompoo and her mother. I wish they'd stuck with the 'exes' storyline from the pilot, I certainly would have enjoyed that more.
That's mostly my problem with this series - all the storylines stemmed from a single conflict or character trait, and none of the characters had any real depth. I still enjoyed the series - it had many moments where it was genuine and expressed emotions and stories that needed to be told. But unfortunately, these moments came only when the characters were growing on their own, and thus, they came rarely.
Even the supporting characters were one dimensional, throughout. It's all very disillusioning is all I'm saying! When a show about healing and growth has healing.. but no growth..
Acting wise - solid as always from Milk. I am getting a bit tired of Love playing the perfect human though, she does it well but I think she can pull of other roles (come on.. Girl Rules!). June and Mewnich.. it's definitely because of the characters writing but I did not enjoy their portrayal of their characters. Give them better characters please. Jingjing and Piploy did do their best as well with what they were given (not a lot).
Once again, it all boils down to the plot for me - it's exactly my type of drama, but it didn't reach it's full potential. But with healing romances, there's always room for interpretation, it's the beauty of writing such a story, and if it resonated with you more than it did me, that's wonderful! I usually say if I do or do not recommend, but here I'm going to say, give it a watch. If halfway through you're still in love, chances are you'll love all of it. If you don't.. that's cool too! Pick another drama that you think will make you feel all warm and happy - and if you love it, drop me a comment here with your recommendation!
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Campy Vampires
They most certainly did not take anything they created seriously, and that may be why I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.The entire feeling of this series was unseriousness. I could never take anyone or anything they did seriously because it was always over the top and accompanied by loud music to create a comedy effect. It worked because this was by far, the best series the leads have worked in together.
I don't want to be the one comparing their previous works to this one, first off, because story wise, the three couldn't be more different. This is the only series, by the way, which had an actual story and a proper setting, and although most of it was completely ridiculous all the time, and although it had a ton of inconsistencies and “because the script said so” moments, they managed to keep the campy vibes throughout, so it didn't matter that the plot didn't make sense, I doubt they ever wanted it to make sense.
Even the characterisation felt better this time around, no more whiny, bratty or stone faced characters who have the emotional depth of a puddle. Despite being written as comedic characters, they managed to have some kind of personality, and sort of likeable ones at that. This extends to all the other characters as well, even in the moments where they came off a little over the top, I believe it was just to enhance the comedy, but character wise, they were written to have much more depth than I anticipated.
One thing which I absolutely hated though, was the lack of consent. It also happened so many times over, in almost every NC scene. Non con kissing, doing things while the other person is unconscious, it was atrocious. The series would have been better off having removed every one of these scenes, I reduced my rating significantly because of those.
Overall, since it had around 8 episodes and a truck load of characters and storylines, not much should be expected when watching it. Watching it primarily as a campy comedy may work though, where else will you find vampires with no powers using red wine as a blood substitute?
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Ugh
Let's call a spade a spade: this was terrible. At no point was this something that could've been considered even remotely good.. scratch that. At no point was this something that could've been considered even remotely acceptable. What even was this?It's an insane mix of genres, no one can tell what it's supposed to be because it's got romance, comedy and fantasy, in an office setting. I don't think the writers themselves knew what they were doing, how else do you explain THIS?
They spent an abhorrent amount of time focusing on jewellery making, finances, embezzlement, and patents. After all that, they couldn't even be bothered to make it interesting. All this trade talk that was used, I have no idea if any of it was right, and the jewellery making business sounds interesting enough, but leave it to them to make it as confusing and boring as it can be.
The fantasy aspect in a word.. ludicrous. You can't conveniently have it be a plot device to further some weird jewellery competition or the romance between the leads, and even if it has to be just that, you can't have it be as lame as this.
Ignoring it episode after episode, only giving glimpses of something that seems grand and complex, only to conclude it as a means for Lin to make that gaudy necklace felt like a slap to the face. And this should be hit with a copyright by the way, the way it felt like a blatant rip off of The Sign at points, someone call Saint.
Chemistry who? The smidgen that seemed to be there after Big Dragon despite the weird vibes they had to begin with went down the drain the minute someone on the writing team decided that “Khun Dad” was a sexy and cute nickname. Really? “Khun Dad”. I shudder everytime I think about it, and after that point, I was either nauseous or laughing for no reason or both. Because I didn't know what else I could do. I feel for the leads, I really do because they have proper chemistry in real life, and they got stuck with “Khun Dad”.
Such a strange relationship, Lin gets treated like an actual child, I can't figure out why they're actually into each other, but to make sure that no one doubts that they are, they're all over each other. And they weren't even good NC scenes!! The visuals I witnessed are going to be hard to forget.
You've got disapproving parents but the weird kind, over intrusive parents but the weird kind, and a parent who's son saved them but not really and it's just weird.
The two side couples were no better. Three, actually, but much like a lot of people and things in here, the third couple was merely a plot device for more Khun Dad. Of the other two, Sam and Yo had much more going for them than Pim and Prim did. I'm kind of over the ‘we've known each other from before but only one of us realises it’ trope, even without that, those two didn't really do anything for me, because they didn't even have enough screentime for me to figure out what kind of connection they had.
Sam and Yo were a little better, but so fast paced and impulsive. Not as characters, as a couple. I couldn't figure out what kind of connection they had either, but at least I believed they had one.
Which is what happens when you don't give a pairing with potential proper screentime and instead have dedicated time for office gossip, catty support characters and leads riding horses.
This was.. no good. I can't even say I'm dissapointed because all I feel is anger. I'm racking my brain, trying to think of just one positive, absolute positive, but I'm coming up blank. This was just not good.
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Light On Me - version Noir
The similarities between those two ends at the four leads, there is quite literally no comparison between the two in terms of themes, or cinematography or story, but both are, in their own rights, some of the best K Dramas I've seen.This stuff is DARK. Messed up and will mess up your head with a hundred thoughts. The plot is all over the place but so intricately and most importantly, flawlessly connected, that even though it takes around six episodes for all the dots to connect, you can step back and take a look at the bigger picture in the last two and just sigh in awe. The story will keep you on edge, it never got boring even for a second and I truly envy everyone who gets to binge all eight episodes because this is not something you can wait patiently for.
The characters: simply brilliant. The way they were written, of course, but some of them were brilliant as is. The four leads are four very distinct characters, they might share some similar traits but at the end of the day, they're very different. Writing them in such a way not only made for a great plot, but also made for some very interesting internal struggles for the viewers. Trust me, everyone I watched with had a minute deciphering the actions and motivations of the characters.
The acting, the cinematography, the music: all brilliant. They used so much symbolism to foreshadow major plot points, which once again alludes to the moments when you look at the big picture in the last two episodes and just go.. wow..
There were so many plot twists and surprise reveals, one after the other and just wrapping your head around everything that's going on can easily take an hour after each episode, but it is so worth it.
There is one other similarity between Light On Me and Secret Relationships though, now that I think about it, one of the characters is an absolute cinnamon roll and I love him.
Irregardless (he is genuinely amazing), watching this gave my brain some great exercise, I already feel a gaping hole and it hasn't even been an hour since I watched the finale. This is truly one of the best dramas I've watched in a while, scratch that, one of the best dramas I've ever watched.
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I was promised food..
This may be one of my lowest rated J BLs. Sucks when something promising turns out that way. Nevermind that it was riddled with clichés like the returning ex, subpar communication, break ups over silly reasons just to reconcile, no, the biggest problem I had with this was somehow none of the above.It was the leads. I still can't figure out why they liked each other, except for a small love at first sight moment. What came after was a cute beginning which then dove into the cliché landfill, only to come out with underdeveloped characters and an underwhelming relationship. It certainly didn't help that one of the male leads was so hot and cold, he was sure of what he wanted, until he wasn't.
Now all of this could have been slightly salvaged, if they had chemical. IF. They did for a while, too bad it was just in the last couple of episodes. It's a jump from not being able to understand why they like each other to believing they do, and it just didn't work.
I'm not really angry about the lack of food, (although it would have helped the rating) because there were tiny moments I guess. It sucks though, because I can appreciate a good love at first sight story, but they didn't quite nail it here.
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This just might be the best of the Girl Next Room series. It’s funny, wholesome and just so pure. This series also boasts an excellent cast with Mild, Off, Mek and Apple. Sort of like a mini Ugly duckling Dont reunion. If only Victor was part of the cast. After waiting patiently for ten weeks I was finally able to watch this series and I was not disappointed. If you told someone that this series is just Mild and Off screaming for 45 minutes, you would probably be right!THE STORY:
The story follows Duchess aka Danglek, whose only goal in life is to get rich. She does just that once grown up, but now longs to be accepted into the Rich club, to affirm her status. She discovers that entry into the Rich club is by acceptance only, and also that her childhood crush, Khunkao studies in the same university as her. She also bumps into Krathing, who she views as a chatter box and an irritant. She though has a secret. She was poor before. When Krathing discovers this, he begins to extort her for money in exchange for keeping her secret. The rest of the series follows the aftermath of these events.
THE ACTING:
I mean? Should I say anything? The cast is perfect in every way. Off and Mild could literally play themselves and the story wouldn’t change. The characters are spunky, sweet, extremely likeable and just very well written. Even the Richy Angels ( The mean girls ) are not that bad. Every character is perfect. I feel like I have to mention Apple. From Ozone, to Honey, to Yuri/Yuki, she has range man!
THE PRODUCTION:
I can say without doubt this is the best of the anthology.
THE OST:
Nothing that great.
THE NEGATIVE:
Why is everyone so obsessed with being rich man? I’ve got to side with Krathing on this one. Not all rich people are nice. The obsession to get into that rich club and the obliviousness about it’s actually is astounding! Also, the way they treated Duchess in episode 4 was disgusting.
THE ENDING:
I KNEW IT!!!!! I KNEW IT! I knew that Khunkao and Krathing were related. I knew Krathing was the one who bought her the glasses. Swoon. Oh man, that was the sweetest ending ever. That hug!! So cute. Ugh, when will I find love like that.
While this series has several characters from the other parts of the series, it can easily be watched alone. Hope everybody watches this series and hope this review was helpful. Thank You!
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A leap away from reality - the fun kind!
What a beautifully conflicting series this was. I know I love it.. but do I? (I do).The series follows Day and Night, two people who were born on the same Leap Day, afflicted with a curse that kills one of their loved ones every four years, on their birthday. It just so happens, that on their 20th birthday, the two people they love the most Ozone, Day's brother and Dream, Night's girlfriend, escape the curse, because Day and Night meet. The story develops from there with these four characters trying to figure out what's causing the Leap Day curse to occur and how to stop it.
This story had more plotholes that cartoon cheese, but let's be honest, we've all wanted to try that cheese. And the imagination we had about how it would be to taste that cheese was almost as fun as eating actual cheese.. this metaphor has gotten out of hand.
Simply put, this story had so many plot holes and inconsistencies, I mean, they've gone beyond the laws of physics and whatever other theories that go into complicated science to invent all that they did for the plot.
The origins of the titular Leap Day are never really explained for one thing, that concept has just existed from the beginning of time I guess, like mosquitoes. You know they're there, you just don't know how they came into existence and why anyone would possibly think they were a good idea.
Once this was revealed in episode 8 or so, I was floored. The entire plot is "why is this happening to us and how do we stop it". You've taken the why out of the equation, then you better have a brilliant how. But that was also just so.. bleh.
They just spent so much time running around aimlessly at first trying to figure out why this was happening, and once it was revealed they would never know, they spent way too much time running around aimlessly trying to figure out how to stop it. There was some development in the form of two supporting characters, who also had/have/will have the Leap Day curse, but again, every theory they were coming up with felt like extreme nonsense or something they came up with as a last ditch attempt.
I mean.. there was so much of an emphasis on Ozone's role in the story only for it to ultimately get reduced to his drawings, which apparently held enough clues to evade this curse. Based on those drawings, they came up with a truly insane plan, because the drawings were basis enough I guess. I absolutely did not like how much of their solutions were based on random guesses and theories with no proof. Much like the writers, the characters just said "Su Su!" and went for it.
And that ending? Completely wrecked me. Totally unsatisfying and left me in tears, and I was pissed. Honestly, incensed. The set up was non - existent, the reveal was so out of left field and I was enraged at the choice they made, because by no means did that make sense to me, nor was it what I wanted. Maybe it made sense, I don't know, I was just way too emotional to see reason despite the fact that all I had done for 11 episodes was try to make sense of everything.
But honestly, it was kind of.. good? Yes the entire setting (including the very basis of Day and Night's Leap Day, like the curse math was not mathing. The story said that they have one person they love die on their every birthday, and that both their mothers died giving birth to them. Ozone and Dream were supposed to be the victims of the curse of their 20th birthdays. That means, five other deaths before their 20th birthdays, but they only showed four? Constantly! Make it make sense).
Anyways.. the entire setting was complete nonsense and I have genuinely over analyzed something I enjoyed because the truth is, I enjoyed it. The lack of consistency and the gaping plot holes did make me mad each episode, but sometimes you just have to dissociate all that when you're watching and it was fun.
The story moved at a decent pace, the acting was really good and I was emotionally invested throughout the run in Day and Ozone's bond. They're one of the best pair of siblings I've come across in dramas and their bond with each other was the sweetest thing. I would watch 12 episodes of the two of them just living their lives because it was that sweet.
Which is where they absolutely get you - not through the solid plot or the incredible CGI (neither were that good), it's through those emotions you feel for the leads. You're just so invested in their attempts to fix their situation that you get as desperate as they are for a happy ending. You root for them, you cry with them, you want them to see it through.
And that's why despite all that I found the series to be lacking in, I can say it's something worth watching. As with everything, liking it or not is entirely personal preference, but if you're looking for a fresh premise, some decent story building and incredible emotional depth in a story, definitely give Leap Day a try.
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