Blkittykat

Why would you name the series Petrichor though?

I know what it means, but oh boy it does not make sense with how the story played out.
I definitely came for the thriller aspect, not the romance because admittedly so, thrillers from Thailand are hit and miss when they include romance. Usually that means the story is awesome and the romance could've been better or vice versa. Here everything could've been better.

First of all, didn't need the uncut version because even with the extremely long episodes the story was extremely lackluster.

It was all so.. meh. The procedurals were laughable, the individual cases were so weak on their own when you realize that they set up an infinite amount of cases to be potentially related to the major case, only to dismiss them as individual cases within seconds of suspecting they may be related to the big case. That is how it usually goes, they have a hunch, it doesn't pan out but they get a new lead from that one, but here it all felt way too fragmented.

The characters - incredibly one - dimensional, the so - called villains were written like cartoon characters, and ultimately there was no real depth to anything in the drama.

And after all that, it was so, so easy to guess who the killer was lol. I don't know if it was supposed to be the shock factor but after a few episodes and reveals, it was incredibly obvious and I'm pretty sure that was the point when I lost interest. I mean yes, I go into a thriller trying to guess who the killer/villain is from the get go, but when you find out who it is less than halfway through the series, the reveal whenever it comes, loses some of it's punch.

I couldn't feel the chemistry between the leads either after the initial banter phase ended, they started dating and chemistry said I'm out of here. The acting could have been better just like the story could have been better, everything about this should have been better.

There were some things that I genuinely liked though, one was definitely the main villain reveal. Not the reveal itself, but the implications of the reveal to say the least without spoiling anything. A couple of actors did do an incredible job, no complaints there and I loved the teamwork moments they showcased at some points. But the rest.. eh.

It was nothing special, a few good twists and turns, the main reveal that didn't really hit, it could've and should've been better, but at the end of the day it was fine I suppose.

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None of my damn business

The best thing about this was the chemistry between the leads, it just worked. And when you have seven episodes, around 10 minutes each, you're kind of depending on the chemistry to pull through and lucky for them, it did.

Because the story tried to fit ten different tropes into one series and I honestly couldn't right up to the finale if they resolved everything or not. You had your phone call misunderstandings, you're jealousy of an ex who's not really an ex, the kiss after a drunken night out, and of course, the moment where your boss discovers an 18+ webtoon on your pen drive which was supposed to have documents. And I'm racking my brain to see if they resolved everything as I write this review, and I guess they did..? Kind of, because once you get past the point where the writer and the audience (me), stops bothering about the story, you hinge on good acting, and good chemistry, which two thumbs up.

It's a K BL, the cinematography was obviously beautiful and it's so incredibly short that it can be watched in one sitting. Or you can take your time. It's just basic, trope filled fun and.. yeah. It's good, fun and you can watch it or not, it's none of my damn business.
(See what I did there? Yeah?)

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Sweet and chaotic

I'm so pleasantly surprised by this, it was a simple and uncomplicated love story made so complicated and funny because of how chaotic the leads were.

And not just that, they avoided so many tropes I thought would definitely crop up, there was no love triangle, no exes popping up without reason, and while there was plenty of miscommunication and misunderstandings, it was most definitely part of the story's charm.

Though it got frustrating at times, Hiroko and Ayaka made it worth the watch. The charming mix of hopelessly crushing on each other inadvertently turning into panic in both of them was amazing to watch, and the tight script that made time for not just this but delved into their backstories, friendships and workplace histories meant that there wasn't a lot of time being spent on one storyline to the extent of it becoming boring and repetitive.

Hiroko was definitely the more frustrating lead, at least for me, because despite the fact that I could see where she was coming from and what she meant to express through her confusing actions, the lack of communication on her end sometimes made me genuinely angry.
They had a good balance though, Ayaka definitely knew what she wanted and went for it, and her positive, sunshine attitude was so refreshing to watch.

Even the supporting characters were exceptional, though we didn't get to see much of them, their presence in the story was irreplaceable and just made me more invested in them and the leads.

There was just so much to this series that I enjoyed and I highly recommend.

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Childhood friends, neighbors,

Lovers..?
Yeah, they didn't have enough time to develop it fully either way.

There was nothing extraordinary, mostly because they didn't have enough time to cover the basics, but they got somewhere, and established something, so not all bad.

Like I said, childhood friends and neighbors, have had a crush on each other for the longest time but just won't open up to each other for.. reasons. It's not like they were being subtle either, so it makes me wonder why neither of them caught onto the fact that the other person had a crush on them, but that's a question for another time.

What followed was a lot of flirting, wound dressing and the pettiest of all misunderstandings, leading up to them almost becoming a couple. Still can't tell what happened despite the fact that it was very clear.

It was cute though, I enjoyed their banter and they were very sweet together despite insisting they hated each other. There were literally just three other characters and they weren't bad either. But I cannot not bring up the music, I believe they literally got one of the leads to walk up with a mic and just sing while the footage ran and used that as music. It was not good.

It was very short and unsubstantial, so it would make a good background watch.

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Blue Boys + Bad Guy

Oh.. they really need to invest in some writers..

Let's get this out of the way, we're not here for substance or depth, while it is entirely possible to make it with just eight episodes, that's not why you watch this.

This is a whole lot of drama, a whole lot. That, plus some good chemistry is the equation for this series.
And obviously Blue Boys + Bad Guy
Take the story of Bad Guy, but replace ex with best friend, and then add the story of Blue Boys part 2 to this. It doesn't make much sense just reading it, but you can make the parallels as you watch.

All the aspects were the same, there's always three or more people in the relationship, one person always ends up getting hurt, there's definitely morally questionable relationship behavior and of course, a ton of drama. Watch it for the drama and you just may enjoy it, but it's hard when you've watched two other series just like it right before you watched this.

I will say, the chemistry itself scored a couple of extra points from me, and hey, at least this time they didn't have a weirdly ambiguous ending.. who am I kidding? It was.. it was weirdly open ended even though it wasn't.

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Red flags but chemistry?

I'm incredibly confused by this because by all means this was one of the most morally ambiguous things I've watched in a while, but sometimes you just want to watch dramas like that.

Look at this objectively and the basis is just so bad. The leads meet each other (for the first time I'm assuming) after their breakup and start seeing each other again despite the fact that one of them is engaged. Obviously this leads to a ton of cheating, morally questionable behavior from both of them and just a lot of frustration all around.

So why did I enjoy this? The two of them should by no means be in a romantic relationship, the amount of self destruction and co - dependence actually made me scoff, red flags flying all around but sometimes you just want to watch something that makes you a little uncomfortable, but also entertains you. The chemistry was great, the production value was good, so was the acting and even though the plot was, I'm saying this again and again, so morally ambiguous, they way they wrote it to be angsty with that open ending just felt right.

It's a very short series and if you're just looking for something that will invoke a lot of feelings in that short span of time, give this a try!

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A cute special

Ugh, damnit. I weirdly enjoyed that.

Like with all specials, it was just an epilogue kind of deal, four years later, what's going on with the characters, all that, and they tried to incorporate newer fantasy elements regarding the dreams, but besides that aspect being new in a special, this was as tried and true as it gets.

I would've liked, just like the series, if the fantasy aspect had been developed more. I actually think the added complexity of Ai being able to control his dream, Yu being able to venture into Ai's dream would have been so interesting to explore and they should have done that in the series itself. The fantasy aspect overall was just very underdone, thirteen episodes and I wanted a little bit more, even though I loved the romance.

That being said, I have no complaints about the romance. It did take me by surprise when they said they've been dating for four or five years, and that's only because I didn't bat an eyelid when I thought Yu was proposing to Ai after maybe a few months of dating, lol. I don't know what happened there, but both the couples had plenty of moments and the chaos and comedy that comes with these catch ups.

It's nothing new and nothing brilliant, but it was sweet and funny and they wrapped up what was already well wrapped up, even better.

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Tried to be chaotic and heartwarming, but didn't really come across that way

First off, this would've worked way better as a miniseries, there was just way too much going on for it to be a good hour and a half movie without it feeling like one character got too much screentime and an another got too less.

Second, making it a miniseries may have helped with getting the audience more invested in the characters because by the end, I didn't really care much about any of them. Maybe one or two, but they were focused on way too little for me to actually determine just how well they could have been developed.

Even the story came out very rushed and a little insensitive. The points they were trying to make and the things they tried to address were quite serious and genuine, and while there is a way to talk about them and develop comedy from other aspects, they pushed it all together and it just came out quite badly at times.

I love a good chaos comedy, but you need to do it well for it to be enjoyable and unfortunately, this didn't hit all the marks for me. Some better writing and longer runtime may have helped because I have no complaints acting wise. The rest? Should've been better.

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It feels like I can hear only YOUR voice..

Watching the movie after I've already watched the series made me see sides of the story I didn't think I could discover and gain more respect for Kohei and Taichi as characters.

The movie in itself was a beautiful story and represented the experiences and struggles of those with hearing disabilities while having an incredible bond between the leads develop steadily.
When you look at it as a parallel to the series, you can fill in some gaps that I think would have been left up to interpretation in the movie and have more dialogue for certain scenes in the series that I thought could have been explained better or rather, clearly.

This was a great watch, for the story, the emotions, the thoughts it provoked and simply for Kohei and Taichi ♡

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Burn that house down

Metaphorically speaking, they did. This crashed and burned in the most pathetic of ways, even the retribution felt unsatisfactory after that sub par build-up.

A good revenge drama needs a captivating plot, complex characters and good acting to bring all this forth, but what good is the third for when a drama lacks in the first two? Although technically the description doesn't promise much revenge, there is atleast the expectation that the female lead, the outsider, the “fish out of water”, would have a much more satisfying character arc. Instead, she's written in such a manner that all you can do is root for her and hopes she picks herself up while everyone around her mistreats her like they have no tomorrow.

This kind of treatment doesn't end with her, in an intricately weaved web of power dynamics, everyone you can root for is on the recieving end of the mistreatment. The only character who can be considered neutral doesn't get much screentime for us to deduce her intentions, she stays on screen as long as it takes her to leave. Everyone else is trash.

SA, violence, harrasment, these are just a few of the many heinous things these people did. They're overall complete trash, but watching them just sit and have their way while innocent people feel the brunt of their actions gets real tiring, real fast. The individual stories of all the characters they wanted to tell gets lost in the pointless power struggle in the family, and the stories that you want highlighted become a plot point move along the torment and tormenting nature of the characters.

The ending was unsatisfyingly satisfying. The kind of retribution provided against the actions was like a slap to the face, and even the fact that it all played out well for the lead was downplayed by the fact that she was tossed around left and right without a chance to stand tall throughout her journey to get her revenge.

Through the frustration and psychological torture, this was not a drama that was worth it.

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The worst possible solution

Even if the only way to solve a problem or right a wrong is to go to a magical café and make a wish, please don't go about it like all the characters did. I know it's fiction but oof-

The story was confusing from the beginning to the end, despite the fact that they revealed almost everything and answered most of the questions that built up during the beginning in episode six. I watched all the characters make the messiest decisions and then immediately run to the café to fix the result of their actions, without ever knowing how the magic and wishings of it worked. Understanding that part of the appeal was the mysterious aura they maintained around the café, it still would have been engrossing for the viewers to have the world building revealed bit by bit in each episode as opposed to revealing everything in the finale. Long story short, they either needed more episodes to fully delve into the mysteries of the café, the beginnings, turmoils and eventual conclusions of all the characters and romances, or they needed better, more crisp writing that focused on the important aspects instead of giving backstories and screentime to characters who were only present, in a way, to fuel the decline of the leads.

None of the characters were especially interesting, no one could be deemed likeable, and the romance between these characters was as likeable as they were.
I wanted them to showcase a situation where the adult leads are caught at a crossroads, going through a bad phase in their relationship, a slump in their careers, that's what the summary promised! Instead, I got a mess. I didn't want to see a loving relationship but they kept pretending that everything was hunky dory, then all hell broke loose, and boy how! Thinking about how to explain their relationship is making my head hurt, it was that kind of a mess. I never got why they were a couple until they made that reveal in the finale.
The other couple was much better, and despite the lack of proper development (which is a recurring theme with everything in this series, nothing is developed or explained well until the last episode when it's all dumped on us in an information overload), they had me rooting for them. Until, of course, the reveal in the finale ruined their story as well.

The big reveal that we were seeing the same characters as their younger and older selves didn't work either, this was the only thing that became glaringly obvious as I watched and it should have been the biggest plot twist. They tried several others too, but at that point, I was too exhausted to care about some half done suspense. The cherry on top was the fact that when everything suddenly made sense, I just hated it even more. It was such a tedious process to get answers that simply made me angrier, and then just tired because of the realisation that an interesting premise had been melted beyond recognition and turned into a steaming pile of nonsense.

I'll be outright, reading this review will make it seem like this a series you need to watch to understand but even having watched it, I'm still confused. And a little nauseous because of how confused I am. And furious to the level that some of this may make no sense, but at least that's in keeping with the series. Give yourself a break and don't read too much into anything that you watch in this, and if you're as confused and angry as I am when you finish it, you know this review is here to help give you a little more clarity.

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That was.. short

The 10 minute special didn't really give anything away (it's actually 20 minutes but I believe the full film screening is part of a fundraiser to produce the full length series), which is good and bad.

Bad, because I got more information from the synopsis than I did from watching the special, which isn't necessarily something negative, just a tad bit of confusion that's cleared up only when the synopsis is read. The special is actually clear enough on what exactly is going on, but if there's no precedent establishing the story, it can seem a little vague.

Good, because after reading the synopsis, everything slots into place. You see the main characters, their motivations and a bit of their backstory clearly, but despite that, there's very little information to go off of, building anticipation about how the rest of the story would play out.

The project seems to be crowdfunding to produce the series, and I would certainly be very interested to see how the story goes, I'd say this special set it up quite well.

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The actual lead isn't listed

It's coffee. I learnt more about coffee than I did about either of the leads.

This is a concept that should work on paper. A song writer with writer's block and café owner who's lost direction of his passion. A man with a scarred heart and a man who can't write a love song, tell me this doesn't sound good as a concept. The thing is, this story would have worked much better as a melodrama as opposed to the comedic route they took. Even then, they didn't really know how to pull off the angst that is guarantee when you have a drama with two lost individuals.

Even if it doesn't work as a slice of life/melo series because it may be too long or have too many inconsequential scenes, it makes no difference. It's not like that's what they didn't already do with this. Put aside the concept and this was just.. boring.

It says a lot about a show when you would rather watch the side couples who barely have screentime over the leads. The leads didn't have much screentime together either, but I'll get to that in a while. They were cute for a while, all the blatant flirting was bound to come home to roost though because after the initial episodes it was conflict upon misunderstanding upon conflict. They even had the ex return for a conflict that ended as weirdly as it began. They didn't talk to each other and when they did it was all very surface level deep. The more I describe it, the more it sounds like angst, but it just didn't work.

Instead of spending time on developing their relationship though, they spent so much time on the band, their label, the coffee shop. Even though they were integral locations for each of the leads and several of the supporting characters, most of the scenes and characters in those locations felt like filler.

I did however love the friendship between Yi and Jao, the one between Nuea and Plaeng, all the friendships in fact. The band, Gene and Plaeng, the employees in the coffee shop, I loved it all. I also liked Yi's family, again not showcased much but realistic and supportive.

I don't mind the ending as much as I should since there is a special, but that was indeed a weak ending to a weak story. At its core, it was indeed a filler series.

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Behind the screen

Starting this series, I never imagined I would be feeling and writing half the things I did and am about to, but here we are.
One thing before I say anything else: this is an extremely slow drama. Not slow burn romance, just the pacing is extremely slow. The story is actually quite simple and could have been done concisely, and after the first few episodes when I didn't think it would ever pick up, it did.

The principal reason why I actually began liking it as much as I did, was because of the leads. Two green flag leads who communicated, supported each other and never argued. Well, they disagreed, but instead of having full blown out fights, they stated their point of view, expressed their support and love for the other person and just moved on. And even better was when every other character in the drama was just as much as a green flag as the leads. Just as supportive and kind and reasonable. One of the very few dramas where it's entirely reasonable to love all the characters. Of course, there were a few people who were incredibly annoying, but watching the rest of the characters deal with them with the utmost poise and integrity made it better. For a series so focused on romance and interpersonal relationships, they nailed it.

I was kind of let down by the rest of the story though. They tried to tackle so many difficult and relevant topics and kind of addressed them only halfway. By the end of the series I just asked myself, “Is that how they really tied everything up?”, because I was dissapointed. There was was a proposed "solution" involving the app, and let's just say, I was left wanting more.
Building upon that, the app that pretty much set up this story, was way underutilised. It was barely mentioned at the beginning and just when they needed it to save the day, they brought it back in the script. It genuinely could have been used several times during the series, but oh well.

This was the one thing I wished they had done better, because otherwise this was a pretty good (albeit slightly slow) series. The couple was genuinely green flags all around, in addition to being incredibly cute and just all around amazing, the characters felt well rounded and were likeable and the romance really hit. It was worth giving a shot on a whim and I quite enjoyed the watch.

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Keep giving it a try..

This review is also a LONG time coming and this, like Senior High 2, is a continuation of my review of Senior High. In that review, I mentioned that both seasons had sort of become one in my mind because I watched them at a stretch, but that I did vaguely remember where they made the cut. Now I can also say why my rating has reduced if both seasons really did feel like one.

⚠️ CONTENT WARNINGS ⚠️
The show contains depictions of bullying, violence, SA, murder and much more. I found it pertinent to include this because the depictions are rather explicit, and caution may be exercised before watching.

The reason my rating went down is because like a lot of school based series, Senior High took the decision to have the adults be more involved in the story. Season 1 mostly focused on the students and the school itself, but suddenly you have the adults thrown into the mix in much larger roles, which here meant all the horrible scenes from season 1 were happening double fold.
I always noticed that the viewing experience is brought down significantly once adults are throw into the equation in a thriller set within a school or university, and this was no exception.

All of a sudden, the content was much more explicit, the plot twists that much more improbable and the characters much less likeable. The feeling that they were probably dragging this along far too much started to creep in and by the time the finale rolled around, it was a little dissapointing since a lot of the story had become predictable.

While dragging out the series may have made it a bad, it was still engrossing most of the time. To even out the truly horrible scenes, there were ones that weren't as horrible, and maybe even kind of nice.
It was kind of a step down from season 1 for me, but not by much.

Once again, give it a try and see if you like it. If season 1 was your cup of coffee, this may probably be as well. Maybe it will surprise you just the way Senior High did.

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