This review may contain spoilers
Rak and Diao are quite LITERALLY soulmates!
This was an interesting show to watch as I've never been a fan of sitcoms at all. I just finished it today and I really enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I decided I'd push through it despite it being a sitcom because of the reviews I'd seen commenting on how it gets better than it first appears. And it did!
What I liked:
- Rak and Diao's actors were fantastic in their roles. Especially Diao's actor at portraying his snarky attitude and spiteful nature.
- The way Rak looks at Diao is so intense and I sense the love every time he stares into his eyes.
- Bickering couple trope.
- Enemies to lovers trope.
- Both of the male leads actually have personalities and lives that are not entirely about each other.
- How it is critical of the fujoshi portrayal of queer relationships.
- The dichotomy of the main two. Opposites attract.
- I didn't find the portrayal of the gay best friend to be offensive in this one.
- The ex-girlfriend wasn't actually back to get with her ex.
- No homophobia.
- Rak's maturity.
- The opening song.
- That image of them fighting over the remote (?) that was an in-between for the episodes.
- Easily availability as whole or segmented episodes on Youtube.
- Although Diao is immature, he doesn't feel infantilized.
- Rak is nice to look at. Especially with his shirt buttoned down. Specifically that black collared button-up.
- Rak and Diao's chemistry was on fire. Their comedic timing was great too.
- Slow burns are my favorite.
- Setting not set in a high school or university.
- The second half of the show.
What I disliked:
- The laugh tracks. I despise laugh tracks. I can't even rewatch my favorite childhood shows because some of them have laugh tracks hand fisted in.
- Overuse of sound effects. Sometimes back-to-back of the same exact sound effect.
- The oversaturation of the lighting.
- The outfits were so astoundingly ugly and grating on the eyes. I CAN'T GET OVER THAT UGLY ASS DARK NAVY BLUE SUIT RAK WORE. WHY DID IT HAVE NAVY BLUE, DARK GREEN, GRAY, AND MAROON RED ON IT? AND WHY WAS IT PLAID TOOOOOOO????????
- The ending was abrupt. I want a season 2.
- Rak's stupid little brother lmao.
- The first half of the show.
- The house is ugly af.
I really loved the relationship between Rak and Diao. I adore slow burns and these two had chemistry that was on fire by the end. Their comedic chemistry was amazing too. I really love how their power balances out both at work and at home as well as how they mirror each other's actions. They get equally jealous and neither time did their jealousy aggravate me. This is genuinely an accomplishment in my book because 9/10 jealousy scenes in shows drive me absolutely insane. They tease each other back and I love how you could tell when they start to respect each other more from learning about each other's outlooks on life. They both made each other a meal, played around together, and help each other when they're hurt (or at least he though Diao was hurt but he's a big faker). Oh and did I mention that their chemistry is great? IT'S GREAT!!!!!
I really liked how Diao and Rak aren't solely dependent on each other to have any semblance of interesting personality. Rak is a hard worker and his desire to allow the ones he cares about to grow whilst being both strict and secretly caring is amazing. The way he is so indifferent to any advances thrown to him is hilarious to see and the juxtaposition of how lovey-dovey he acts towards Diao later on was really swoon-worthy; his flirting was really cute. Diao was a bit harder to like because he seemed to only be set on being negative all the time. I'm not lying when I say he is one of the most spiteful leads I've ever seen in a romance. However, past episode 10 is when he really shines. I liked seeing him question his feelings and you get to see him learn from his mistakes like how he handles his reactions to Dao's actions better and learns to investigate before always saying or doing whatever comes to mind. I really loved these two a lot. They stand out as being unique in BL land and I'm grateful for that. I also really liked how instead of Rak doing the cliche romance thing of beating the guy up that threatened Diao after he accidentally spilled coffee on him, he instead chooses words and uses his surroundings to his advantage to dispel the situation. Really showed his maturity and observant nature. Great scene!
I liked how the fujoshi girl's fanfic of them was actually being subtly criticized by the story. It can be hard to detect at first because it just seems like an excuse to give Rak and Diao fan service moments, but I'd argue that it actually is meant to show how one-dimensional caricatures in BL take away from meaningful development and characterization. Rak and Diao's relationship goes beyond the simple "Uke-Seme" relationships you see perpetuated in BLs. Their actual scenes are far more intense and satisfying to watch than any of the fujoshi's fantasized ones. Rak and Diao never explicitly lean into her story's tropes either. It was satisfying to see how her expected version got dunked on by the way better one that actually happened.
The story also stresses the importance of family and you get to see that through Rak and Diao. They have noticeable improvements of how they see each other once they realize how much they care for their families; Rak when he sees just how much Diao's family's opinions matter to him and Diao when he sees how much Rak works for his little brother's happiness.
I really wished this show had a season 2 after the way it ended abruptly. It really felt like it needed another season to give closure to Rak and Diao's relationship, or at least a special episode afterward. Now I'm going to be left with that same longing that I had when Ram and King's storyline was never finished in My Engineer and likely never will be because that show is unlikely to ever continue. However, I still love both of these relationships a lot and I feel like they will stay with me even years later on after consuming more romance stories. They stood out amongst a field of cookie-cutter romance stories and I'll always appreciate romances like that.
My score had to lowered a bit because of the annoying sound effects, oversaturated colors, and weak first half. However, the strong second half and compelling dynamic between the main two really saved this show for me. Would I recommend it? Hell yeah! The main two are fantastic and the second half of the show makes the first half look like a pebble in comparison to its might. I honestly wonder what happened behind the scenes to have improved the watching experience this much. BUT ENOUGH GETTING SIDETRACKED; GO WATCH IT!!! As long as you can stomach cartoony sound effects and regurgitated laugh tracks that is.
Lots of love, one passionate RakDiao enthusiast. <3<3<3 (っ˘³(•́ ᵕ •̀?)
What I liked:
- Rak and Diao's actors were fantastic in their roles. Especially Diao's actor at portraying his snarky attitude and spiteful nature.
- The way Rak looks at Diao is so intense and I sense the love every time he stares into his eyes.
- Bickering couple trope.
- Enemies to lovers trope.
- Both of the male leads actually have personalities and lives that are not entirely about each other.
- How it is critical of the fujoshi portrayal of queer relationships.
- The dichotomy of the main two. Opposites attract.
- I didn't find the portrayal of the gay best friend to be offensive in this one.
- The ex-girlfriend wasn't actually back to get with her ex.
- No homophobia.
- Rak's maturity.
- The opening song.
- That image of them fighting over the remote (?) that was an in-between for the episodes.
- Easily availability as whole or segmented episodes on Youtube.
- Although Diao is immature, he doesn't feel infantilized.
- Rak is nice to look at. Especially with his shirt buttoned down. Specifically that black collared button-up.
- Rak and Diao's chemistry was on fire. Their comedic timing was great too.
- Slow burns are my favorite.
- Setting not set in a high school or university.
- The second half of the show.
What I disliked:
- The laugh tracks. I despise laugh tracks. I can't even rewatch my favorite childhood shows because some of them have laugh tracks hand fisted in.
- Overuse of sound effects. Sometimes back-to-back of the same exact sound effect.
- The oversaturation of the lighting.
- The outfits were so astoundingly ugly and grating on the eyes. I CAN'T GET OVER THAT UGLY ASS DARK NAVY BLUE SUIT RAK WORE. WHY DID IT HAVE NAVY BLUE, DARK GREEN, GRAY, AND MAROON RED ON IT? AND WHY WAS IT PLAID TOOOOOOO????????
- The ending was abrupt. I want a season 2.
- Rak's stupid little brother lmao.
- The first half of the show.
- The house is ugly af.
I really loved the relationship between Rak and Diao. I adore slow burns and these two had chemistry that was on fire by the end. Their comedic chemistry was amazing too. I really love how their power balances out both at work and at home as well as how they mirror each other's actions. They get equally jealous and neither time did their jealousy aggravate me. This is genuinely an accomplishment in my book because 9/10 jealousy scenes in shows drive me absolutely insane. They tease each other back and I love how you could tell when they start to respect each other more from learning about each other's outlooks on life. They both made each other a meal, played around together, and help each other when they're hurt (or at least he though Diao was hurt but he's a big faker). Oh and did I mention that their chemistry is great? IT'S GREAT!!!!!
I really liked how Diao and Rak aren't solely dependent on each other to have any semblance of interesting personality. Rak is a hard worker and his desire to allow the ones he cares about to grow whilst being both strict and secretly caring is amazing. The way he is so indifferent to any advances thrown to him is hilarious to see and the juxtaposition of how lovey-dovey he acts towards Diao later on was really swoon-worthy; his flirting was really cute. Diao was a bit harder to like because he seemed to only be set on being negative all the time. I'm not lying when I say he is one of the most spiteful leads I've ever seen in a romance. However, past episode 10 is when he really shines. I liked seeing him question his feelings and you get to see him learn from his mistakes like how he handles his reactions to Dao's actions better and learns to investigate before always saying or doing whatever comes to mind. I really loved these two a lot. They stand out as being unique in BL land and I'm grateful for that. I also really liked how instead of Rak doing the cliche romance thing of beating the guy up that threatened Diao after he accidentally spilled coffee on him, he instead chooses words and uses his surroundings to his advantage to dispel the situation. Really showed his maturity and observant nature. Great scene!
I liked how the fujoshi girl's fanfic of them was actually being subtly criticized by the story. It can be hard to detect at first because it just seems like an excuse to give Rak and Diao fan service moments, but I'd argue that it actually is meant to show how one-dimensional caricatures in BL take away from meaningful development and characterization. Rak and Diao's relationship goes beyond the simple "Uke-Seme" relationships you see perpetuated in BLs. Their actual scenes are far more intense and satisfying to watch than any of the fujoshi's fantasized ones. Rak and Diao never explicitly lean into her story's tropes either. It was satisfying to see how her expected version got dunked on by the way better one that actually happened.
The story also stresses the importance of family and you get to see that through Rak and Diao. They have noticeable improvements of how they see each other once they realize how much they care for their families; Rak when he sees just how much Diao's family's opinions matter to him and Diao when he sees how much Rak works for his little brother's happiness.
I really wished this show had a season 2 after the way it ended abruptly. It really felt like it needed another season to give closure to Rak and Diao's relationship, or at least a special episode afterward. Now I'm going to be left with that same longing that I had when Ram and King's storyline was never finished in My Engineer and likely never will be because that show is unlikely to ever continue. However, I still love both of these relationships a lot and I feel like they will stay with me even years later on after consuming more romance stories. They stood out amongst a field of cookie-cutter romance stories and I'll always appreciate romances like that.
My score had to lowered a bit because of the annoying sound effects, oversaturated colors, and weak first half. However, the strong second half and compelling dynamic between the main two really saved this show for me. Would I recommend it? Hell yeah! The main two are fantastic and the second half of the show makes the first half look like a pebble in comparison to its might. I honestly wonder what happened behind the scenes to have improved the watching experience this much. BUT ENOUGH GETTING SIDETRACKED; GO WATCH IT!!! As long as you can stomach cartoony sound effects and regurgitated laugh tracks that is.
Lots of love, one passionate RakDiao enthusiast. <3<3<3 (っ˘³(•́ ᵕ •̀?)
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