Blkittykat

Hardwork and heartwarming moments

These are the feelings evoked in someone when they watch their favourite team or the underdog team, hey, even their own high school basketball team play.
You've seen where they started, everything they had to go through, you feel their joy, frustrations, exhaustion and exhilaration. You find yourself cheering for them at every moment, and that's when you know, they have your attention.

This was more than just your underdog, rag tag team coming together to form a wonderful team, more than just being a plot device to generate some awws and sighs, no this felt so realistic. Be that it is based on real life events, there was so much heart in this movie that it felt like I was watching the actual people it was based on on screen, not just the actors.

All the characters had equal focus, another thing I love seeing in sports based titles. There was no star player, the coach wasn't the lead amongst the leads, this may have been one of those rare instances where everyone listed as a lead, genuinely felt like one.
It's hard to get the audience invested in a lot of characters without revealing much about them, but the amount of focus they each got, their actions on the court, the way they played as a team, it was more than enough to absolutely love them all.

The acting was great, the cinematography was great and I truly felt the word “rebound” as I watched. The meaning of the word, which I thought would be lost in the rest of the story, was indeed the most important thing after all.

The uplifting story, the subtle comedy and the sense of togetherness and familiarity this brought to me are just some of the reasons I would highly recommend.

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This.. just..

What.. happened

I'm not saying this was great in the first place, but it was going fine. Even though Mon had the personality of cardboard, it was nice to see two complete introverts have a romantic storyline. It was awkward and slow, but it was fine.
The comedy was better than fine and I was enjoying the unfiltered friendship between the housemates

Then came all the cliché misunderstandings and blatant lies. Two people who barely talked to each other in the first place weren't talking at all, and everytime So opened his mouth after a point, the only things that came out were lies. Even if they couldn't talk to each other before, they could at least communicate.
It hit me that the simple set up was really masking a shallow follow up, and what was slow, was now boring and slow.
I was not a fan of the "I have to lie to him to protect his feelings" thing, and I hated that they subverted that into the storylines of the support characters.
And what was with that finale? Specifically the last few minutes because despite my frustration, I did not sit through twelve episodes for that!

Despite all that, I did like a few things. I liked that the characters actually apologised for things they should apologise for, instead of brushing it off. I liked the awkwardness between the leads that lasted throughout, it was kind of refreshing. A character actually saying they want to follow their dreams and still date their love interest. Most of all, I loved the friendship between all the characters. It was honest and unfiltered, and I was only dissapointed that two people with massive potential to be a romantic couple within that group didn't become one.

What I thought was going to be a nice ensemble series didn't really turn out that way, and I can't even say I'm dissapointed, because I don't know if that's what I feel. It didn't have great potential, just a few good moments.

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Yawn

Does this company have some sort of obsession with having their leads going somewhere to escape their problems, meeting their love interest there and still having tons of problems? Do they have some sort of pact to always include this plot in their series?

Boy goes back home because he doesn't agree with the job ethics in his company, meets boy who broke his heart years ago, they fight and reconcile, then they start dating. There, I've summed it up the best I can, which is already way better than how they did it.

A majority of the story involved the leads reconciling and fighting and reconciling and fighting all over again. Even though I knew why they drifted apart, I couldn't really understand why they wanted to reconcile and be together. I didn't care enough about them to want them as a couple either, they had almost nothing going for them in my view. I thought alright, at least they don't have some weird love rival thing as well, but they introduced that as well, in a way that made no sense.

The side couples were a little better, more established and while one couple seemed like they could actually hold a conversation for the most part without it becoming an argument, the other, well they barely interacted, so I don't know what to think.

I was so bored, I watched all of it sped up and it was still way too slow. I wouldn't recommend.

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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 promise unkept

I was promised angst, and drama, and so much emotion. After the prequel, I expected that much. The kind of angst that is caused by well written conflicts and misunderstandings because, let's face it, we enjoy red flags in dramas sometimes. I wanted love triangles and squares, and a ton of aching and heartbreak, and.. nope. They delivered nothing but the misunderstandings. Not well done either.

There was definitely a mood shift between the prequel and the series, they added comedy (which completely unnecessary, one of the worst aspects they added, especially since it did nothing for the story), the characters were incredibly inconsistent compared to the prequel, it was jarring going from a moody and emotional couple of episodes to a sitcom kind of series.

The leads were fine together (the child actors were really good though, I have to say), but the chemistry was almost non - existant during some scenes, which felt frustrating since you would expect two individuals who have liked each other for 10+ years, being confused about their feelings, being seperated from each other with no contact for over ten years, you would think the passion and yearning would be overflowing. It just wasn't. Like I said, they never really got that angst right, despite it being readily available to implement.

One thing I did like, was several of the supporting characters. It's weird because most of them started out being kind of pushy and a chore to watch on screen, but ended up being solid individuals. I especially loved that none of them actually crossed any line when it came to the leads, whether it be confessing their love or providing advice or nudging the leads on to confess to each other, none of these characters crossed a line, which is something I see quite often.

Talking about the actual misunderstanding now, I did not like it. I wanted something complex and emotional, and even though the reason Phupha chose to leave was because of a valid fear for him, the wait period of ten years and the payoff certainly didn't work for me. 10 years with absolutely no contact because of his reasoning was just a bit too unreasonable for me.

I'm a little dissapointed with how this played out, right up until the ending. There were so many scenes which could have been cut out, or the time they were used for could have been used to deepen their relationship, and it's a shame it wasn't. This was a slow burn story that never really picked up the pace, and thinking about it, two episodes somehow managed to tell a better story than ten did.

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A close look into complex emotions

Strictly speaking, there was nothing complex about the emotions shared by the leads. But time and circumstance complicated it way more than they could handle at times. It doesn't help us handle it any better that this is based on a true story.

Phupha and Nanfah are very simple and straightforward characters, but their actions sometimes confused the other person enough to create a whole bunch of misunderstandings that were entirely unnecessary. But this was more a story of reconciliation than the mistake, the impact of time and distance on the relationship between two people, which ended on unclear terms.

They managed to pack a whole lot of emotions in just two episodes, and though the story and a lot of the details felt a tad uneven, this is first and foremost a look into the thoughts and feelings of the leads on their broken connection. In that, it excelled.

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Nothing Campus

Before anything else, I'll just say I don't want anyone who doesn't tell me that my eyes sparkle like a bus stand. I just won't have it.

Aside from that, there isn't much to say.

I've come to expect a certain quality from Strongberry, and even if it wasn't Strongberry, it all just felt.. very bland? Nothing really happened, they met, they fell in love with nothing else happening. Not saying that that's a bad thing, but here it was done in a very amateurish way that it felt bad. Theoretically, they could have done this story with just the leads, and they almost did because there are only four other characters and all of them had no feasible part to play. A second lead who stood no chance, a professor, a boss and a senior and that's as descriptive as one can get. Every aspect felt low in quality and I'm just not very impressed.

The only real thing to say anything about is the cute moments between the leads that were few amidst unnecessary drama and misunderstandings. It just all felt.. meh.

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Of actions and consequences

Honestly speaking, I didn't catch a lot of the symbolism and easter eggs they probably hit us with because I wasn't in the right mood to be paying attention to all the details when I started. What did catch my attention (and made me inevitably pay more attention to the rest of the series) was the balance between actions and the subsequent aftermath. Butterfly effect, ripple effect, every action has an equal and opposite reaction, whatever you want to call it.

I watched a lead make bad and impulsive decisions whose after effects he only feels a while later, being guided by a jaded and patient lead with a dark past that led him down the path he was currently on. I watched them navigate situations messily, learning lessons along the way, and growing (even though it took a while for one of our leads to do it, while all our other lead needed was closure).

The show is shot in a very art house manner, theatric, with twelve acts, scene lighting, long conversations and an air of sombre. It's slow and dramatic, but stick with it and you get to witness a story of love and loss, growth, acceptance, forgiveness, a story written on the shores of sadness. All of this leads to one of the best finales I've watched, truly. Stories like this usually end on an open note, but the point of the series was closure, and we do get it.

Sombre, sorrowful and full of meaning that I may not have quite caught onto, but it did make an impact.

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We Are Family

What. A. SHOW. They have single-handedly proved me wrong about sequels. Every one I watch is usually not on par with it's predecessor, but Ossan's Love Returns? Served and ate!

I love how many genres they mixed in together, without it ever seemingly like too much. They covered every possible theme they could, from loss, to acceptance, spanning every kind of relationship and bond, narrating stories of confusion, happiness, satisfaction, anger and so much more. Each episode is chock full of thought and tear provoking quotes and at the end of the nine episodes, you come out feeling like a part of the family.

The characters are perfect, the comedy is just right, and each and every storyline they cover is so wonderfully executed. I have nothing but praise to lay on this show. Through the frustrations, I found the resolution, just like they did. I cried with them, I laughed with them. And so will you, hopefully.

This is simply a class above.

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THE ENDING!!

This was a solid two episodes, I'll give it that. The setting in a campsite, the history between the leads slowly unraveling itself, the very obvious way they had feelings for each other, and the horror vibes.

The leads Talay and Camp meet at a "haunted" campsite as blind dates who realise that they were senior and junior in school, who later had a falling out. Since both of them are travelling alone, they decide to camp out with each other since it's just a couple of days. They quickly get to reminiscing about their past, all while being seemingly haunted by someone they know.

There were some aspects I didn't quite like, some things that could have been done better. The ending was something I love and despise, that's all say, because whether the shock factor presents itself or not, that ending was something.

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Do you believe in coincidence?

Moreover, do you believe in destiny? That someone out there is your soulmate, and meeting them coincidentally 3 times only affirms the fact that they're your soulmate.

Butr is more than skeptical about this idea at first because if it is indeed true, his soulmate is someone he has no interest in. This all changes when he runs into Korn, who he's attracted to, and he's now convinced that the prophecy is true. Every time they run into each other, it feels like coincidence, even when it's not. But Butr is not the only one who wants their meetings to be a coincidence, because Korn has reasons for them to be coincidences as well. What it results in is a comedy of errors with each of them trying to figure out if the other person likes them while trying to create moments to prove that they are each other's soulmates.

While some things could have been executed better, they did a commendable job with the premise. It was funny, the leads had some cute chemistry and it was truly something new. It was better than expected and it had its moments and potential.

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It spirals out of control

Truth be told, the high rating is only because I adore the leads. They have beautiful chemistry, oh so smooth, which is why it sucks that the story barely focused on them.

Every single character but Boss and Tob probably had more screentime, and I wouldn't really say it helped the story. Over the top acting, stilted dialogue, they couldn't get it right. There are plenty of dramas that depict unfettered chaos in the form of chaotic characters and situations like We Are Both Grooms and We Are Gamily, but despite the premise being similar it didn't hit the same. The runtime is of course not quite enough, but there are ways to make it more enjoyable.

Despite the drawbacks, it is a short enough series where the chemistry between the leads shines even with their minimal screentime. They need another series because watching this will make you want to watch (or rewatch) Destiny Seeker

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Soooooo..... TRASH

Trash may be a bit harsh.. no, no, I can't even fake it. This was bad.

But vampire dramas or movies, whatever they may be, they're meant to be a bit trashy yes? There's not a lot of logic, it's all a bit weird and campy, it's fun. We all remember spider - monkey.
But what happens when that required campiness is so bad that it makes you want to roll your eyes until you can see your brain? You get My Golden Blood!

Logic and common sense both take some serious hits in this series, and the writers knew that this story doesn't require much logic, because there was none. Gaping plot holes and inconsistencies galore that I was worried one of the characters might trip over an inconsistency and fall into a plot hole. And the cherry on top?
The entire series is based off of falling for someone by the scent of their sweat.
I am not making this up.
Pheromones exist, but not like this!

This was incredibly bad, I still cannot comprehend just how much and I can't quite explain just how bad. Even without basing your entire story on one guy falling for another guy's smell, the writing was nothing to hit home about. The abrupt tone changes, going from incredibly sad to the leads making out, it was jarring. The music choices during certain scenes made me want to mute my device and start humming my own music because I could have come up with a better score despite knowing nothing about scoring a series.

The characters were written no better, going from being extremely supportive and protective to going "boo! we're not friends anymore!". They were all again, so inconsistent, so weirdly written and lacking any emotional depth, the kind that makes you want to root for them, feel for them. I guarantee, you will not like a single character by the end of the series, I had no sort of connection to any of them, and no reactions to anything that happened to them.

And plot twists? What plot twists? At least what plot twists you didn't see coming ten miles away, because they were THAT OBVIOUS. There was no need for a plot twist, having the villain be the villain is not a bad thing. But to do that, you need some nuance and.. well we can all see where this is going.

I will say, admittedly Joss and Gawin do have some chemistry. But it was all just a rich tapestry to cover up the weak writing, the absolute absence of any logic and the very subpar execution. Plus, it's just really hard to root for a couple when their entire relationship can be based off of the statement "you smell good".

I was so excited and we got squat. I could go on and on about how disappointed I am, but I don't think I want to. You try as much as you can with series about vampires and werewolves finding their soulmates to not take it seriously. And I tried, I truly tried to watch it without taking it too seriously but having watched all of it, I can safely say that the people who made this didn't take it seriously either.

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The Rabbit and the Moon

Love in the Moonlight is quite your basic plot at it's core - it's got all the clichés you would expect of a lakorn, down to the tiniest details, for example, the leads getting stranded somewhere (huh.. yeah). But what makes it work is surprisingly enough, the formula itself. That, and the chemistry between the leads.

I have not watched enough lakorns to claim subject matter expertise, but the ones I've seen all have ten scenes that always happen - may not be the same ten, but ten nonetheless that move the story forward, with things happening very conveniently just so the story can move forward. The leads come up with a plan and the script just happens to say that they will get caught halfway through the scheme?! Why not, because that means half their plan is complete, all the important setup is done - it's just the execution that needs fine tuning. Lucky us (unlucky them), we get to witness this plan circle around for five more episodes because they just keep getting caught time and again.

Love in the Moonlight follows Saenkaew, the prince of the kingdom Nanta, who needs to marry a Thai woman so that his family may survive the political changes his country is going through, changes that are resulting in the persecution of royals. His father has arranged for him to marry Pin - anong, a childhood friend of his but he has no interest in this marriage. He does not love her, but he's also bound by his duties, so he decides to go along with the plans while formulating his own, to ensure that his family can safely move to Thailand.

Before his wedding, his father sends to Thailand to start the process of asset transfers and to get to know Pin better - but the very first person he falls for (pun intended) is Sasin, her elder brother. Sasin is immediately suspicious of Saenkaew, he's worried about his intentions, especially after he catches Saenkaew sneaking around in his attempts to transfer the assets without a marriage of convenience, which means that he's certainly going to break off his marriage to Pin. But Sasin decides to put aside all his suspicions for the sake of his sister, who's actually in love with him, has been for a long time. But each time Saenkaew is caught in a "compromising" situation by Sasin, he gets more and more upset, which forces Saenkaew to reveal all his plans to him.

After a bit of convincing, Sasin decided he's going to help Saenkaew, as it is by far the best scenario for all parties, and this causes them to grow closer and closer, until it hits a point where they acknowledge something that's been apparent from the beginning - they've developed feelings for each other.

This is of course, just one plotline that's going on, there are several others that run intersecting with this one, involving Saenkaew's family, Pin's family, Sasin's friends, the political situation in Nanta, and a few others. It's a complex layering of story lines and characters that is both predictable and unpredictable - you can tell exactly how each character will behave in a situation, the situation will mostly go only one way - but the possibility that it could another way is very imminent (and nerve wracking might I add).

It's that kind of back and forth, between hope and anxiety for the leads that keeps you on the edge, and pushes you to press the "next episode" button. The absolute predictability of it all serves as a complete paradox to how well the series actually moves despite knowing every next move.

But the best part about this series is it's leads and their romance. While almost every second character is unsurprisingly one-dimensional, Saenkaew and Sasin are complex, deep and well written.
Sasin may seem like a typical protective, playful and flirty male lead, and to an extent he is - but his relationship with Saenkaew makes him a more cautious and calculated, more depth than perceived.
Saenkaew though.. my, my, my.. he is easily the best character in this by a mile. He is smart, strong, empathetic, and annoyingly adorable. I wondered with each episode just how he functioned, because he is a human angel and deserves the absolute best.
He is incredibly well written - so complex, yet with such a simple notion - he just wants to be a good person. He recognises that in his pursuit to be this individual, he will have to take risks and chance hurting people he really cares about, but because he's also smart and calculative, he's anticipated that these negative feelings are an unavoidable by product every way. He wants to be a good son, a good friend, and a good partner to someone he can truly love as a partner and he's even willing to sacrifice his happiness to an extent - until he isn't. Saenkaew is the best character, hands down.

And the romance? The flame that lit many fires was truly top notch. Sasin and Saenkaew's chemistry was just incredible, incredible enough to make my side eye about the absolute passion of their relationship disappear. Plausibility is not what I came for anyways - I'll take their heartfelt smiles and chemistry any day. The trajectory of their love story was not a simple one, opposition from characters you wouldn't expect it from is the least worrying thing - so many characters brought out actual pitchforks to try to stop them from loving each other. But Sasin and Saenkaew are the brightest spot, their love burns as bright as they do.

The rest of the characters can.. I have some choice words not suitable for a review but they can do all that. Some of them are human trash, most of them are bad people to an extent, some are surprisingly complex. Yes, perhaps most of them were presented as absolutes of good or evil, for the most part really one dimensional, but there was surprising depth. It did come a bit too late (and yes, I could not excuse the previous horrids), but I'm glad it came nonetheless.

I won't be covering the ending - I'll just say it was an emotional rollercoaster.
I will say the acting was brilliant. You can feel all the emotions from Inside Out in one scene, and the actors all deliver.

I'm not sure I've convinced anyone to give it a try - I've basically said a lot of it is not plausible, the writing is predictable, the characters are atrocious and the only saving grace are the leads. I'll just be straightforward then. You should try this. Yes, it's incredibly dramatic and a lot of things happen more out of convenience than confident writing, but lean into the vibes and drama of it all, and it is worth it.

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My happy place ♡

I'll keep this short and sweet, much like the series itself - I enjoyed this very, very much and I hope you'll give this a try and enjoy it as much as I did.

The Ex Morning is not a rom - com, it is a series that is incredibly realistic and mature, it's exes reuniting after all. The story is simple. Phi is a journalist with a bad attitude who is down on his luck and Tam is his producer there to help him get back on his feet. Through a series of flashbacks and present narratives we see their love story play out, and see how the past has shaped their present lives and attitudes. Apart from the love story itself, there is the story arc of Phi climbing his way back up to being a respected and dedicated journalist with Tam's help, and surprisingly, it didn't get lost in the romance.

The romance itself is mature and grounded, sure they argue like children at times but when the narrative continuously shifts between past and present, it's easy to see just how much has changed - and just how much hasn't. They've been through plenty of ups and downs, they go through many more and despite their pleas for an end card during rom - com inspired scenes, we all know well and truly, they'll face much more.
But that was what made this great, no over the top romantic moments, no musical crescendos, just two people falling in love with each other over and over again. There were arguments and misunderstandings, but also communication and support. They are not a perfect couple, but they are perfect for each other.

Sure - the reason for why they separated in the first place left me a bit disappointed, but I kind of also get it.

I'm a sentimental person, SOTUS was my first series ever. From the outset, this was going to be something I loved, but I'm just glad I can say I love this on merit of it being a genuinely good show - and not just because I love Singto and Krist. Their chemistry (which was incredulously brilliant) was an added bonus. That chemistry has just grown exponentially and I loved every minute of them on screen. And my stupid sentimental heart is just so happy and in love with everything about this ♡

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