This is how you do a bonus episode! I love that rather than feeling like a random side plot, it feels like a nice bit of continuation from the main series.
I liked the inclusion of queerness in this show. Not the main theme, but having a gay bar and supporting cast characters who were part of the community was refreshing to see, as it serves as a nice nod to the fact queerness doesn’t always happen away from community.
So there was nothing between them in the first episode? as Mito said in the last one?
Nothing is a strong word. They didn’t get as far as penetration but that doesn’t mean nothing happened. It was all building up towards that, but Minato turned his back for a moment and Shizuma fell asleep.
Arguably worse than nothing as it got Minato’s hopes up only to leave him hanging.
Gave this a try and just cannot get into it. Ba Woo is an irritating and dislikeable character right off the bat, and not in an interesting way, but in a childish one that doesn’t make me want to watch. I enjoyed Blueming back in the day but this bears no similarity vibe wise at all.
Not perfect but from what I read of the Manhwa (~30 chapters), I preferred the show. Choppy pacing was my main issue, but overall really enjoyed this drama start to finish. It’s also a pretty big step in general because of what it covers thematically while overall still managing to be a good drama, bear in mind Korea isn’t usually one of the frontrunners for BL, GL, or LGBTQ+ drama wise.
Will probably rewatch sometime in the future and reflect on how good it is or is not without the heavy recency bias.
Pray tell Bestie what's this got to do with the series?
Nothing in particular, just an observation that surprised me. I’m used to most casts being older than me, so realising half the cast is younger on this occasion threw me a little bit, not in a bad way or anything though.
Also with young casts, playing an actor 5 years older as a younger sibling role is risky because it’s often very obvious the actor playing the younger role is older, visually or vocally. Yet I wouldn’t have guessed things were that way around, I just assumed they were mostly mid-20s.
I just did some digging into the cast, and wow. Younger brother (Hayato) is 5 years older than the older brother (Tomita Yuki). Then again I also didn’t expect the leads to be quite as young as they are, Tomita Yuki in particular I did not expect to be the youngest of the four major cast members. I knew Kida Naoya was ‘03 but that was about all I knew prior.
That was very well done. I LOVE the way Minato’s trauma was addressed and explained. It also suddenly makes his way of living make sense, in that by never catching feelings, he won’t end up like either of his parents. It doesn’t feel cliché at all, at least to me, and it makes Minato’s seemingly childish brother complex and avoidance of open and honest love feel less immature and more a result of trauma and a defence mechanism. If there hadn’t been an arc like this I’d have felt somewhat disappointed in the sense that otherwise, it would make Minato poorly written in one way or another.
The Yuka saving the day moment was utterly hilarious and I gotta give it to the writers for that fun little tidbit. I also appreciate the way the friends are written, and they always add an element of fun to things when they do pop out, without taking up unnecessary runtime or plot.
As much as the premise and opening episodes were full of promise and this could have added to a list of precious BL that aren’t youth-focused, I now see why I paused at episode 4 and have struggled to come back. This drama is well and truly dragging its heels - to the extent the side characters plots, problems, and growth outshine the mains. I’ve seen 8 episodes and aiming to finish it this week, but honestly this one feels like a bit of a let-down.
Honestly? This surpassed season 1 for me. While Hayama’s side story was of less interest to me than Shirasaki’s in the latter half, it was still a solid show in many ways. The way in which they faced not only their relationship, but themselves, and worked to improve and solve their problems themselves, was refreshingly mature if still uncommon in dramaland. The main weakness is that overall the show isn’t super flashy, dramatic, or attention-grabbing, but if you’re willing to take the time, it’s a well done work nonetheless.
The pacing is perfect so far!? I love that this is so introspective, albeit the tone from episode 1 had me expecting a more psychologically heavy show, I really enjoy where we’re going now~
Well, I think it was cute and fun. A good way to make use of the actors playing actors thing, and a way to keep things clean-cut and quick rather than convoluted. Still haven’t finished season 2, but this works fine even if you haven’t finished it. Personally, I like that Sakuma and Yamase are left as a strong implication that the viewers never get to see, as the story told in 25ji, Akasaka De is not about them. I’m sure there’s something there, but I think it’s a nice detail to leave it to the imagination, much like actors actually keeping their private lives private.
Chemistry, acting, and music all very strong, but the pacing is throwing things off a bit, it feels like a fluctuation between slow pacing and time skips, making it choppy at times. It’s funny how Iljo is kind of a decoy main character, since the show is set out to make you want to connect and sympathise with him, and yet in reality the viewers are stuck in the perspective of Jeonghan, since we know as much as he knows and little else. This perspective thing I do find clever but equally it is becoming cumbersome, and I suspect the final two episodes will be rushed to fit in appropriate detail and reach a conclusion.
I’ll read the manhwa once this finishes, but I suspect the pacing is almost like the cherry picking of events from certain chapters to focus on, while simultaneously glossing over the rest as quickly as possible to meet runtime constraints.
Very much enjoying the show, but that’s just my two cents on what is slightly hampering it from the soaring heights of Secret Relationships. The main difference I can see is pacing, along wifh Secret Relationships having a secret weapon in the storytelling with the flashbacks giving a little more insight at the end of each episode. Chemistry wise though I would give Thundercloud Rainstorm the win.
Confidence issues. Hioki sees himself as a regular guy, and while he has always seen Watarai for *who he is* and…
A little confused since I haven’t read the manga, and I discussed the current episode which should be spoiler tagged for specifics. People never use them anymore when really, anything beyond the first episode or two should be tagged if it spoils any specifics about what happens in the episodes.
Nothing worse than scrolling to the comments to see detailed episode reviews or specifics for later episodes on a show you haven’t got to yet. Your comment isn’t too bad for this, but generally if it’s any specifics about an episode, I always spoiler tag.
I haven’t read the manga, so unless you’re behind on watching, you can read it.
Just read through a bunch of comments below, and doing so helped me understand more fully why this show is a drag…
Personally can’t agree with this as there are queer people that are also not teenage girls who are also here enjoying this show.
But also, the exact same “teen girl” audience you are referring to are likely in one of two camps: where they either also watch adult BL content (fujoshis or queer girls - not icked by the homo stuff), or where the hetero romances they watch are also largely like this because they’re not watching or interested in more adult shows.
I wouldn’t say that queerness in media is solely defined upon the sexual aspects of a relationship. I know this show is more BL thematically than LGBT, and with that will come different expectations, but neither BL, GL, nor LGBT shows’ queerness is defined by whether or not they have steamy scenes, be it kissing or otherwise. Saying otherwise also entirely negates many experiences, including closeted, asexual, and many youth relationships. “Homo stuff” isn’t just sex and feels like a wildly oversimplified way to talk about the queer experience.
If you’re not into fluffy youth shows, that’s fine, but making sweeping comments about those who do enjoy it feels like a lack of perspective.
kan hideyoshi kinda looks like kiyoi aka yusei yagi from certain angles.
I HAD THIS EXACT THOUGHT! The jealousy moment Watarai had this episode combined with the camera angle very much struck me as a Kiyoi moment. It was the most Kiyoi thing Watarai has done character wise and Kan Hideyoshi looks the most similar to Yusei Yagi in that particular angle.
Arguably worse than nothing as it got Minato’s hopes up only to leave him hanging.
Will probably rewatch sometime in the future and reflect on how good it is or is not without the heavy recency bias.
Also with young casts, playing an actor 5 years older as a younger sibling role is risky because it’s often very obvious the actor playing the younger role is older, visually or vocally. Yet I wouldn’t have guessed things were that way around, I just assumed they were mostly mid-20s.
The Yuka saving the day moment was utterly hilarious and I gotta give it to the writers for that fun little tidbit. I also appreciate the way the friends are written, and they always add an element of fun to things when they do pop out, without taking up unnecessary runtime or plot.
I’ll read the manhwa once this finishes, but I suspect the pacing is almost like the cherry picking of events from certain chapters to focus on, while simultaneously glossing over the rest as quickly as possible to meet runtime constraints.
Very much enjoying the show, but that’s just my two cents on what is slightly hampering it from the soaring heights of Secret Relationships. The main difference I can see is pacing, along wifh Secret Relationships having a secret weapon in the storytelling with the flashbacks giving a little more insight at the end of each episode. Chemistry wise though I would give Thundercloud Rainstorm the win.
Nothing worse than scrolling to the comments to see detailed episode reviews or specifics for later episodes on a show you haven’t got to yet. Your comment isn’t too bad for this, but generally if it’s any specifics about an episode, I always spoiler tag.
I haven’t read the manga, so unless you’re behind on watching, you can read it.
But also, the exact same “teen girl” audience you are referring to are likely in one of two camps: where they either also watch adult BL content (fujoshis or queer girls - not icked by the homo stuff), or where the hetero romances they watch are also largely like this because they’re not watching or interested in more adult shows.
I wouldn’t say that queerness in media is solely defined upon the sexual aspects of a relationship. I know this show is more BL thematically than LGBT, and with that will come different expectations, but neither BL, GL, nor LGBT shows’ queerness is defined by whether or not they have steamy scenes, be it kissing or otherwise. Saying otherwise also entirely negates many experiences, including closeted, asexual, and many youth relationships. “Homo stuff” isn’t just sex and feels like a wildly oversimplified way to talk about the queer experience.
If you’re not into fluffy youth shows, that’s fine, but making sweeping comments about those who do enjoy it feels like a lack of perspective.
The jealousy moment Watarai had this episode combined with the camera angle very much struck me as a Kiyoi moment. It was the most Kiyoi thing Watarai has done character wise and Kan Hideyoshi looks the most similar to Yusei Yagi in that particular angle.