CurlyFries

Almost want to reset my brain to rewatch it from scratch <3

FINALLY, I have found a drama that didn't leave me feeling unsatisfied or hopeless by the end. I admit that in the past I tried this show twice and gave up twice....and I was waaaay too premature with that because this show just got better and better with each episode. Time to do a pros and cons list since it's my go-to:

Pros:
- The concept. I am a sucker for time twisters, and this one knew how to use it well.
- I think the actors did well, especially the bomber duo. That lady's smile and derangement actually unsettled me. Creepy.
- Realistic female and male leads FINALLY. These actually felt like they could be people in real life that were just transported into this bizarre scenario that fight between their survival instinct and strong sense of morality.
- Modern day time regression that is actually decent.
- Made use of a very few settings well.
- Actually questioning one's morals in the face of true fear.
- Put effort into making side characters sympathetic and feel like actual beings thrown into peril.
- The middle-aged woman being the bomb holder; I had predicted it from day one and felt satisfied knowing I was finally right about a whodunnit.
- The twist of the bus driver being in on it. I did not expect it at all until that very scene where he started acting suspicious.
- So I don't know if this was on purpose, but some of the tense scenes in the bus made me start laughing from the confusion and facial expressions.
- Phone guy was pretty funny. His actor played his nosiness well.
- An actual kiss scene in a Chinese drama.
-A GOOD ENDING IN A CHINESE DRAMA FINALLY!!!!!! I swear I have only been given open endings and sadness in dramas in multiple countries, actually. This ending filled me with warmth.

Cons (there won't be a lot):
- There was an English song that played a lot and it kind of distracted me because I was wondering why there was a song in English playing recurringly in a Chinese drama. It was also pretty loud on my ears.
- The time loop's origin was never really explained as well as Heyun's worsening illness. This actually could be a positive to some people because there are a lot of times where writers attempt to explain away a phenomenon and only end up making it convoluted. The mystery of it might be for the best.
- Some of the cuts were a bit startling, but not too bad.


In conclusion: I really liked this show; a lot more than I thought I would. I appreciate the clear effort put into making a story with actual themes attached to it rather than a mind-numbing entertainment with no substance. I have seen waaaay too many of those type of dramas unfortunately. I actually felt emotions when watching and most shows can't bring that out of me, so I think it's worth watching.

Would recommended 100%. :)

Read More

The Weakest of Heroes (Affectionate ) <3

I actually tried this show months back but gave up after 5 episodes. Boy was I being impatient. This show was beyond my expectations after I dropped it. I'll get straight into my Pros list (yes, just pros as I think there is barely enough cons to even warrant a list for it).

Pros:
- This show was entertaining as fuck. Seriously, I like was barely ever even feeling a semblance of boredom throughout it. This is why some kdramas truly don't need to overcompensate for something but double its episode length instead of working with what you have. I'll take quality over quantity ANY day.
- The acting was fantastic; especially from Park Ji-hoon. That man is going places with how he can express so many emotions through a seemingly emotionless character. The other two's actor also played them very well. To be honest, majority of the acting was amazing.
- The show wasn't ugly to look at; the color filters truly fitted their scenes and I loved to see how they were linked with emotions. Si-eun's fantasies being a warm yellow sunset only to then turn into a bleak gray once he awakes to reality is truly heartbreaking to watch (is this why his name translates to "Gray"?)
- The fighting was insanely over the top and out of reality yet it didn't upset like it usually would because of how well choreographed it was and how genuinely painful they made the hits look and sound. I was wincing when Si-eun bonked people over the head and stabbed Yeong-bin in the shoulder with a pencil. That kid is a menace in sheep's clothing.
- I really liked how much depth they gave Beom-seok as an antagonist. He is insanely insecure, clingy, possessive, spiteful, and impulsive. He truly did put Su-ho on a pedestal of what his dream friend would be like, but the moment he couldn't live up to that he snapped and viewed him the same way as all the other controlling people in his life. Yet, I honestly pitied him more than hated him by the end because of how destructive he was toward his own future and the people around him. He loved putting the blame on other people too.
- Liked how they showed how different styles of parenting can be damaging to children. Beom-seok's father was blatantly abusive and controlling and this made Beom-seok aggressive and spiteful as a person. Su-ho's grandmother (though we don't see a lot of her) can be seen as kind and nurturing, which in turn made Su-ho a protective and confident person. Si-eun's parents were distant and put a veil over how they really felt which in turn made Si-eun distance himself from others and hide his emotions until they boiled over in destructive ways as he was never taught how to cope with them healthily. Yeong-bin's mother was one of those "my son can never be the one in the wrong and he is a perfect little sunshine" kind of parent, which made Yeong-bin selfish and feel a false sense of egotism and security. This is easily one of my favorite parts of the show.
- Dissed on the police system a bit when it came to those gangsters but made sure that they weren't painted as being 100% incompetent by at least arresting some people associated with the crime. Not everything is always black and white.
- Had some truly heart-touching moments; especially when Park Ji-hoon portrayed Si-eun's first wide smile when Su-ho was in the hospital for the first time. That touched my soul. I could sense his relief and happiness that he had bottled up and he looked genuinely glad to be alive for once (this was probably the happiest he ever was in the entire show).
- The music wasn't half bad. It contributed to emotional scenes well and didn't make me feel the wrong emotion. I was only slightly caught off guard by english lyrics when it's a Korean show. But this is one Netflix so I'm not really *that* surprised. The song itself wasn't bad either so it didn't really impact how I rated the soundtracks.

All in all: I liked this show quite a bit. Is it perfect? No. Will it be to just about everyone's liking? Probably not. Was it still entertaining as fuck despite any of its flaws? Hell yeah! To be honest, I'd take an entertaining show with a decent plot over one with style and little substance any day (don't @ me Flower of Evil enthusiasts).

Should you watch it? If you like action, friendship, betrayal, portrayal of youth struggles and a decent production; then yes! Why not? It's only half the episode length of the average kdrama, and packed with 200% more to appreciate!

Read More

A Wednesday Club full of insufferable brats

Ok, so I'll be honest and admit that I mostly skimmed this show for Phuwin's parts. However, I could barely even get through the parts that I did watch, so that tells me enough about how much I would want to slam my face against my desk if I forced myself to watch the entire thing in one sitting.

I like doing Pro and Con lists....but I genuinely don't think there was annoying that was a pro in this show compared to a con. I have never thought I could find a show that would make me immediately rate a 1/10 of rewatch value, not even Tharntype could evoke that in me, but this one somehow did almost instantaneously.

Characters: I don't think I have ever seen a show where I strongly disliked the central cast as much as this one. I honestly was SO annoyed by everyone and had a hard time sympathizing with ANYONE. Well, like I said earlier, I watched this show for Phuwin's character Kun, but even he started to lose me by the end because I was spacing out any time anyone was on screen. I'll run through my thoughts on them real quick (yes it will be quick af because I could name about two traits that they each had because they never got any more development as this dumpster fire continued burning).
Kong: from what I saw, he was alright I guess. Seemed kinda generic, but he was played by Ohm so I was probably biased into liking him from the get-go.
Phali: I genuinely cannot recall a thing about him. So forgettable and I watched this YESTERDAY.
Pheem: bro was just so gullible and jumped to conclusions too fast; dumb.
Mac: Oh brother did I find him SO ANNOYING! I think he was supposed to be the most sympathetic, yet I found him to be one of the worst viewing experiences of this show. So whiny and the way he acted towards Kun in the last episode made my blood almost boil over. THIS GUY HAS BEEN BLACKMAILED, THREATENED, AND HAD HIS LITTLE BROTHER PUT AT GUN POINT, BUT YOU STILL HAVE THE AUDACITY TO VICTIM BLAME HIM???? And I am honestly not even a fan of Kun, but this Mac guy made me feel such sorrow for Kun in that scene. So infuriating.
Tam: can't remember too much about her, but she is in the same boat as Kong for me. Less annoying than most of the others. Oh, but the whole thing with wanting to meet her birth mother and finding out the chick doesn't even acknowledge she had another daughter at any point was honestly kind of heartbreaking. I lost my pity for her however when she decided to not tell the lady anyways. Maybe it's just me, but I would tell the fuck out of that in order to get my closure before letting that lady live her life to the fullest whilst I live feeling completely unloved and forgotten. Maybe that says more about me though.
May: resident bitch here. She annoyed me so much and her snarky look pissed me off to no avail (sorry for the hate towards the actress).
Kun: ok, so now we are at the part that I tuned in for (because I saw an edit of him to Teen Idle on Youtube lmao). This guy was put through the ringer the most I believe. He was trying so hard to fit in and look lavish, yet it all went crumbling down on him at the end. Like I said under the Mac section, Kun was blackmailed and threatened until the last episode. I felt the most bad for him, yet I despise this show so I lost any feeling of sorrow real quick by the end.

The acting: no one really stood out to me except maybe Ohm a tad bit. I came here for Phuwin, yet it felt like his performance was lacking in this one. I have seen him do far better than this, so I was disappointed. It felt like he truly didn't want to be there and I can't even blame him tbh. Bad writing.

The Music: I genuinely cannot for the life of me recall like any music from this, so I gave it a medium score.

The production: Ok so I have seen quite a few GMMTV shows and this one stands out to me as being especially bland and ugly. Like, it was noticeable early on for me (before I became a dry hater of it). The lighting, camerawork, set designs, etc...... They have done far better with probably less funded shows.

The last episode: Dear....gawd......if there was a counter for the amount of times my facial expression twisted from disgust into disbelief and into disgust again then it would easily be past 20 times. I'll do a list here because it'll be less messy that way (warning: tons of swearing and heavy bias incoming).
1. The way Top was handled. Oh. My. God. I cannot fathom why this was allowed on the screen. How come the like only confirmed queer that had any relevancy to the plot was a FUCKING MOLESTOR AND ANTAGONIST THAT BLACKMAILED A GUY INTO SLEEPING WITH HIM AND SOLD HIS NUDES ONLINE WITHOUT HIS CONSENT. WHAT THE FUCK!?!??! I tend to overlook things like this in most shows because as a queer person myself I can appreciate a good gay villain. This trainwreck however, somehow offended me worse than like any other questionable queer portrayals I can recall seeing on a screen. Oh and of course the only queer has to fucking die in the end. Great writing/10 guys.
2. Kong had the motherfucking audacity to say "I can't believe he fell for you" about Kun towards Top, except, no the fuck he didn't?!?!? Since when did Kun feel anything for Top other than fear, anger, or disgust?!!? Man fuck right off with that man.
3. Top's dad was so one note villain that he didn't even break with that domineering shit even when his son was lying dead in his arms. Bro really said "I command you to get up" like okay, sure dad, just remove THE BULLET FROM MY FUCKING BRAIN AND RESTORE ME TO LIFE DIPSHIT. Even Until We Meet Again knew how to do this sort of scene, man.....
4. Wtf was Kun's sexuality? I genuinely didn't have any idea except for that idiot Kong's bullshit statement he pulled out of his ass.
5. May gets shot (yay!), but lives (boo....) and still gets to be with the guy she probably doesn't deserve.
6. That idiot pairing of Mink and Karn took up way too much time in the show and were so pointless when the great "twist" was revealed. Thank god at least a few other comments I saw mentioned this.
7. The whole hospital scene where the worst friend group on planet Earth started beefing and it all around lead to victim blaming of Kun was so fucking infuriating. I cannot for the life of me like this piss brain Mac. That scene gave me such a headache and I could not wait for it to be over. Also, why didn't Kong tell the clearly distressed Kun that he was about to go save his little brother when Kun begged him??? Like, he clearly intended to, yet left this guy on the floor thinking he didn't give two shits about the guy.
8. The principal lady shows the molestation video directly after an honoring ceremony??? Like, you couldn't wait for a day or a week??? Like. what Top did was very wrong, but you just basically pissed on his sorrowful slideshow.
9. The fact that they showed a whole friendship meetup at the clubhouse (or somewhere I honestly do not know or care at this point), but these people were literally victim blaming each other not even 10 minutes ago????? Fuck right off with that nonsense.....
10. Okay so why are there so many piss scenes in this? Like what weird kink does this writer have with using piss as a form of salty revenge.......another reason why I do not like Mac was because he pissed on an already damaged and insanely expensive watch........which in turn ruined Kun's life and made him a borderline sex slave for a very sadistic guy that also later tries to molest Mac......but Mac still victim blames Kun anyway even though Kun faced arguably worse circumstances than him because of Top (yes I will not stop mentioning the victim blaming because it pissed me off to no avail).

In conclusion: I hate this show. X O X O.

Read More

My Stand-In? More like My Stand-6-Feet-Away-From-Me-Please....

Okay, so I actually kind of enjoyed it, but I also found myself feeling immensely unsatisfied at the end. I like doing pros and cons lists, so I'll start with that.

Pros:
1. The acting. I especially though Ming's actor really gave this snarky and condescending, yet desperate attitude to Ming.
2. There were no overbearing advertisement placements that are unfortunately abundant in Thai BL series.
3. It wasn't a show that had overbearing comedy or goofy sound effects.
4. The show looked pretty nice. I mean, some of the fashion choices were not it, but the lighting and directing looked enchanting at times.
5. Did not take place in a generic high school or college.
6. Some of the characters worked for me (I'll go into more depth about this later).
7. Some of the fluff scenes were actually extremely cute, but I had to turn my memory of the previous episodes off in order to enjoy them fully.
8. The nsfw scenes were pretty good ngl.
9. That catfight between Ming and Sol was pretty funny and just made so much sense character-wise lmao.

Cons:
1. Joe.
2. The fact that they end up together. It has been a MINUTE since I found a main couple nearly equally intolerable (the last time was probably Clary and Jace from Shadow Hunters.
3. Sol's existence.
4. The semi-rushed last like two episodes.
5. The random old blind guy that can astral project or something for some reason???
6. Joe's death was entirely unintentional. Call me basic but I actually wanted there to have been some bigger conspiracy or something idek.
7. His family suddenly became accepting???
8. The side pairing of Mike and Jim was barely explored in the slightest. Truly unfortunate because I hadn't seen Inntouch in a role since My Engineer and I was looking forward to more scenes from him.
9. It felt like acting and stunt doubling became lost in the plot already by the halfway point.

Sound:
Pretty forgettable, but not the worst I've ever heard in a drama. Sometimes I liked it, sometimes I actually wondered what a song had to do with the scene it was playing in (maybe because I can't understand Thai I couldn't tell why it was playing during certain scenes).

Characters: Oh boy, where do I even start?
Joe: I cannot stand how he was written. I do not understand how he could continuously be the biggest loser to the point that I didn't even feel bad for him anymore after the 100th time of me yelling "BREAK UP WITH HIM!!!" at the screen whenever he forgave Ming for being the absolute worst lover. Also, I know calling yourself "paramour" makes you feel a little better about the situation, but let's be honest here; you're a hoe-for-hire. And don't get me wrong, I love a good hoe character, but Joe was not a fun or relatable hoe character he was just a pathetic one. I actually sympathized with him at first but then I lost all sympathy by the end when he forgave Ming completely after LITERALLY DYING TWICE BECAUSE OF MING AND TONG'S ANTICS and had the audacity to say "you should forgive yourself as well" like okay man, just admit you are a complete pushover that has a hero complex enough to sacrifice yourself for this guy Tong that literally ruined your life. Also, why did he choose to lose his virginity to the incredibly intoxicated Ming? Like, that was dubious consent (and stupid) right????

Ming: He was a walking red flag. Bro was clearly selfish and narcissistic and it makes me sick that he got to be with the guy he treated terribly in the end. Also, why did he have such a fetish on male backs? You're telling me that he fell head over heels for someone solely based on their back in dim lighting that he saw on a mall screen? Yeah, okay. I also have no idea why he kept putting so much faith into some random blind old guy that set up like Mickey Mouse tea tables and chairs in the MIDDLE OF A FOREST. But, whatever.

Tong: Okay so I might lose some people here, but I actually liked Tong. I mean that I liked how he was as an antagonist, not his personality because FUCK THAT GUY. It was honestly refreshing to see an antagonist that seemed realistic rather than cartoon-villainy in a Thai series. He felt like someone you might actually meet in real life and that made me more invested in his character. The way he was mostly chill, yet still felt the need to put his name on things to secure his position made sense and the way he got cocky and took a gamble that backfired so he secretly abused his in-laws' trust to attempt to cover it up messily also felt kind of believable. Then the way he was using his own future baby as leverage as a last-ditch effort just sealed the deal for me. Though I do agree with other reviews mentioning how he didn't deserve a semi-redemption arc and happy ending, I think it made sense for his character. He never struck me as fully morally black, so while that redemption arc felt rushed, it also didn't feel impossible to me. His happy ending made sense because a lot of the time people like him get away with the things they've done because of status, reputation, family ties, wealth. etc. So while I find him detestable, I get why he got his happy ending in the end.

The rest of Ming's family:
1. Mike was cool. He's played by Inntouch so I automatically felt a little (a lottle actually) endeared to him as a character. I liked how you could tell he did care for his brother, yet wasn't just going to give him everything off the bat without verifying things for himself first. One of the few characters I sensed true maturity from. Too bad him and Secretary Jim were so neglected because I was kind of getting interested in them by the end.
2. May: poor girl was as forgettable as Secretary Jim. She had such a lack of relevance that I genuinely started to wonder if they forgot to include her in the family drama or what. Literally just served to be Tong's walking leverage.
3. The mom: I did like her by the end. When she called Joe a gold-digger I kind of laughed.....but then I thought that was probably was too because her and the husband look like they are at least 20 years apart and they already have three adult kids so I have no idea what that was about. The way she was avoided being seen by Ming made her seem a lot scarier than she actually was, which I felt was a bit anti-climactic. I could tell from her reactions that breaking Ming and Joe up actually hurt her deep down, but she thought was doing the best thing for Ming and her family by keeping someone like Joe out. Also, that final scene where she had dinner with them was adorable. Loved that.
4. The dad: This man just screamed domestic abuser to me. The way everyone in the family was scared of him (except for that ballsy loser Tong it seemed) and even his wife had no power to sway his mind honestly irked me. Though, there are actual families out there like this, so I didn't think it impossible. But, like, then they tried to push him just wanting the best for Ming and not being homophobic at all and I was just like "Huh?" They really tried to give him a Fighter's dad from Why R U? treatment I swear. I MEAN HE LITERALLY PULLED OUT A GUN TO THREATEN JOE AND THEY SAY HE IS ACTUALLY A PRETTY UPSTANDING GUY? YEAH MAYBE PULL THAT ISH IN A UNIVERSE LIKE LOVE SYNDROME, BUT NOT HERE MATE.

Other Joe's mom:
She annoyed me. I have no idea why Joe was SO attached to her. I understand feeling the need to repay her for her efforts, but this man called her "mom" like it was natural like one month into being her impersonator son. OH R.I.P. original Joe btw. He was so irrelevant and his weirdo ex too like anything linked to him lost relevancy by episode 5 or 6. Also this mother made me so mad when got mad at Joe for being a "paramour" and lying about taking out a big loan, but bitch didn't you also take out loans and sacrifice your livelihood to help your son live well? Stop acting like he sold his soul to the devil or something. You know I bet she wouldn't have acted NEARLY as hypocritically like that if he agreed to the hoe to a rich WOMAN instead. Just admit you are still mega homophobic and be on with it sis.

Sol:
Dear god he made no sense to me whatsoever. You could take him out of the story and virtually nothing would change. Why was he even here? His reason for leaving Joe was already dumb and rooted in homophobia to begin with, but then he suddenly, what, became gay and missed Joe so he no longer felt like Joe had bad intentions? Wtf. Okay, guy. Also, this man could NOT TAKE A HINT! Joe was so CLEARLY NOT INTO HIM.....yet he still kept pushing that fact that he liked him onto Joe...like, I'm pretty sure Joe knows you like him after the fifth time you told him so you don't have to reiterate it again mate......him leaving for South Korea was so refreshing because if he decided to stick around and be an eternal third wheel I think I might start feeling sympathy for Joe again. Oh wait, how come Sol could keep coming to Thailand for extended periods of time? Isn't the Kpop industry quite demanding on its actors? I figured he was a solo actor, but even that didn't make up for the times I questioned how he could spend so much unfiltered time in Thailand. Also, he filmed a BL music video....but isn't South Korea pretty homophobic? I wonder how that went over for him when he returned......


In conclusion; this series gave me a semi-headache. By the halfway mark I was already counting down the episodes until the finish mark because the characters (JOEEE) were tiring me out so much. Joe will now go down in my TierListMaker BL Protagonists list as near-bottom tier. Let's make a more tolerable main couple next time please. <3

Read More

Came for Chi Cheng, stayed for Cheng Yu

I rarely commit to shows as they air since I don't like waiting weeks for them to finish, but this sped it up near the end so it wasn't unbearable. It had a lot going for it: uncensored Chinese BL, mature themes, scrumptious looking cast, 24 episode BL, and decent production to boot. What wasn't there to absolutely entice me? It even had the trope where the relationship begins one-sidedly as the other is hiding their true intentions. I love dark romance and that was a perfect enticer. Despite this, what went wrong for me to score it this low? I think that comes down to a few glaring issues I had with this series, but I'll start with the good first.

I really enjoyed how the story started; simple, yet effective. It introduces the key characters and gives you an idea of what their personalities are like as well as setting up the plot.

One way this story stood out to me was how the characters appeared. SW was not over the top to the point that I found him annoying or unsympathetic. On the contrary I really did sympathize with him and see him as a refreshing take on the BL protagonist archetypes. He wasn't a damsel nor was he someone that was invincible throughout the entire story. He existed and didn't allow everyone to step all over him, yet still managed to keep his wits about him. He knew how to use his abilities to his advantage and was willing to step out of his comfort zone if it meant he could progress in his goals. He could act immature at times but I didn't feel like I was watching a minor. And boy his smile could light up the whole room.

CC was shown in the very first episode to be someone who was morally questionable and seemed to engage in elicit activities. So, I wasn't exactly expecting a green flag, and I was okay with that. I love dark romance and CC's evolution toward how he treated SW made sense to me. He treated him aggressively at first because he was viewing him much in the same way he viewed his previous hookups; someone he just wants to rough up and move on with. It's cruel, but it made sense for his character. He then started to warm up to him as he saw how cute and endearing SW was, and it really shows on his face how enamored he became. The actor really portrayed his looks of longing well and the scene where it was first made clear his love for SW by him just smiling whilst only looking at him, completely zoning out from whatever SW is talking to him about, is swoon worthy. Though I have to admit that he personally isn't my type. And that's fine. I liked him at first through edits I saw, but that slowly changed throughout the story as the audience got to know him better. One of the things I really did like about this show was how despite me not finding the main two to be my "type" I can still appreciate their screen time. Also, "Wei Wei" is such a cute fucking nickname and I love it.

XS was a character that felt a bit misplaced in this story and that's probably because unlike the other three, his morals were almost mostly white. I liked him immediately from his introduction and his wholesomeness. I appreciated how his acceptance of his sexuality contrasted with SW's denial. He was committed to his goal of helping people and he wasn't a complete pushover. I found him to be the most relatable character in the show with how he wants to deny CY's advances and stay true to himself, but finds himself craving the attention he shows him. It really does speak to people with abandonment and trust issues. His inexperience in relationships also didn't upset me with how it is usually portrayed in romances either; he wasn't a pro, but he still had realistic reactions and expectations.

And now we have reached what ended up being my favorite part of the drama: CY. I fell in love with his character by the end of the story and it came completely unexpectedly to me. I started off not liking him as I thought he'd just be CC's even douchier friend that sexually harasses people and plays with others' feelings but I was wrong. From what we see OF him he is a complete romantic. He carried himself in a relaxed manner that put me at ease whenever he was on screen. Oh yeah, he had IMMACULATE vibes. He was easily the most mature out of the entire cast and he was confident but not in an obtrusive way. I really love how he devoted himself to XS and didn't want to force him into sleeping with him. That might seem like the bare minimum, but in BL Land it is not. He was the ultimate friend to the main three and was always there to lend a helping hand with anything serious happened. He EASILY had my favorites lines in the entire show. A few snippets are "They didn't; their next boyfriend did" like damn. He just took a shot at himself + this immaculate line in the final episode that he says "You are responsible for loving the world, and I'm responsible for loving you" in response to XS feeling like he hasn't contributed enough to CY. WHAT A SWEETHEART!! That is in my top 5 romantic lines of all time and idgaf what anyone says as context of the relationship is what gives that line weight. Xiao Shuai loving the world is what Cheng Yu appreciates, not undivided attention. The best he could ask for in their relationship is that Xiao Shuai doesn't compromise himself just to appease Cheng Yu. That would go against his meaning of love. Amazing. 10/10.

The bromance is pretty compelling. SW and XS were BFFs. Their over the top planning boards, boy problems, and their double dates. As for CC and CY, I can't deny that I shipped it. I'M SORRY. I was so engrossed in their complex relationship because of how despite their frenemyship it was clear that they cared. Them pseudo-sharing guys was weird though.

Now that gets me into my messiest positive of this show: the shipability of every main dude. CC and CY's kiss scene made me feel things and their close relationship was exuding underlying sexual tension. I think they would have actually slept together at some point if they never got into committed relationships. As for how that scenario would go.....that shall be left up to each viewer's imagination. We were still robbed of a kiss scene between SW and XS though. I lowkey thought XS x CC and SW x CY had potential. CC was definitely attracted to XS, and in the novel SW and CY could've *almost* slept together in some weird circumstance.

CC's family was an interesting take on the rich in-laws trope. His dad actually being a big tsundere was hilarious and his wife that was stricter was entertaining when she scolded him. How their responses to CC and SW being together was handled actually decent. It made sense and didn't overtly piss me off. I actually found them surprisingly progressive with their thinking, all things considered. I was expecting worse from them considering their social status, age, and culture.

Bad:

YY was one-dimensional and her exit felt underwhelming.

The guy that YY was cheating with ended up showing up again after his car wreck and he came out of nowhere and was off-screened. There was no foreshadowing of his plans nor any depth to his character. It felt like an insult to the audience's patience by making him the final antagonist.

CC's dad was more of a fake villain so he wasn't so bad. That being said, he became annoying right at the end when he was acting fierce toward SW out of nowhere despite seeming like he wanted the best for him.

WS and WZ were pretty interesting at first and I liked WS even before he appeared. It was obvious he was going to come back because of how foreshadowed he was and I love the "slutty ex" antagonists when they aren't one dimensional. I love a good drama queen and although most people don't like it, I actually like cheating or borderline cheating plots. I have no idea why either, I just do. I liked how although he was shown to misplace his anger and jealousy, he was still sympathetic and what he did was because of his insecurity that CC never loved him. Even I thought CC and CY acted questionably close so I understood his misunderstanding. What CC said in those clips recorded by WS really didn't help his case either. WZ was an interesting character that I wanted to know more about. His two-faced nature juxtaposed with how sweetly he looked at SW was fascinating and I was waiting for it to be elaborated on. But it wasn't. In fact, both him and WS just dip near the end and don't come back until CC is in jail in order for WS to make fun of the main two...then gets roasted by SW and leaves...then they come back in the finale for a WATER GUN FIGHT?! Their visuals were nice, the fashion could be questionable; my main issue was that WZ's dudebro tank top and jeans were so jarring compared to what every other character wore that it made me giggle. Something that I wasn't fond of was how they had sexual tension despite being step brothers. I dislike ships of any sibling kind so I was glad that it was never indicated that they got together because I heard it's implied in the novel.

Something that I am iffy on is the way darker themes are handled. Ex: CC is heavily implied to force himself on a lot of CY's partners out of spite and in the first episode he throws a guy to be sexually abused by a group of people + he gets a couple into a car accident just so he can get a fake gf. He threatens to assault XS and that was handled as a joke instead of a genuine threat. It was made obvious that XS was scared, but it was instead used as an excuse to get SW to sleep with CC. In general, it didn't sit right with me how overinvolved these guys were with getting others to sleep with their partners for the first time. If CC really didn't want to force SW then he wouldn't have wanted to coerce him into it through threatening his BFF. When it came to XS, SW and CC were deplorable to have faked domestic abuse to guilt XS into sleeping with CY. Their nosiness was insane. Love CY for not having it. Also, having SW future father-in-law literally KIDNAP AND TIE HIM UP is WTF.

The second half. WHY DID THE CAR ACCIDENT GUY COME BACK WITH NO FORESHADOWING, THE SECRETARY TURN ANTAGONIST, A WHOLE JAIL ARC, AND THEN A WATER GUN PUBLIC FIGHT END THIS SHOW?!

Overall, I liked the earlier episodes and where the plot was going, but the plot fizzled out as it went and the way the ending water gun fight felt damn near same as the season 7 lightsaber fight of the Flash. Iykyk. Will I read the source material? HELL no. I sampled a few chapters and I could SMELL the toxicity between the lines. I've learned my lesson after Kinnporsche.

I need a Guo Cheng Yu in my life. ʕ◉ᴥ◉ʔ

Read More

Stockholm Syndrome III times over

Oh brother this review was a long time coming. I've put it off for too long and my brain won't let it down that I've never written a review about this series. This review will be a bit more personal than the others because I've actually read the first book and parts of the second and third books. I seriously cannot believe how awful of a writer this author is. ᇂ_ᇂ

Why on God's green earth did the author decide to make every. single. relationship so awful and toxic in their books? Day and Itt are one of the worst couples in both fiction and real life and yet, they aren't even the most abusive relationship that author has written according to other comments I saw. Somehow Kan and Beam take the cake on that one so now I can rest assured knowing I will never touch that book with a ten foot pole.

For any lucky soul that hasn't touched the books, just know that if you think the show is bad, that the books are many times worse. I swear this author incorporated as many problematic scenes as possible and anything else that isn't inherently problematic is awful in its own perverse way. Every single type of abuse you can think of is involved: sexual (A LOT THE MOST ABUNDANT I SWEAR), physical, psychological, emotional, and financial. No relationship is safe (except for maybe Fuu and his partner but I'm not sure because I was too afraid to read their story in Gear x Night's book because of the fear of my fantasy of them being healthy shattering).

The show portrays the toxicity but it never really shows what happened before Day and Itt got together. This is attributed to the fact that this show only adapts the third book and not the first two. It was most likely because the first two were too graphic and nothing but pure torture porn thinly disguised as plot points. One of the worst things I have ever read in my life. The show is vague but they do in fact meet after Day beats and sexually assaults Itt as his form of revenge for Itt and his friends being cruel to Day's little brother, Night. He never really punishes Itt's friends though (something the comments pointed out where I read it, thank god), and even allows one of them to date Night in the end. Oh and did I mention that he keeps Itt locked up in his room and repeatedly abuses him in multiple ways? Yeah, that happens. Couple goals!!!!!! (kill me)

The show must feel so confusing to anyone that never read the first two books because characters just seem to exist, villains come out of nowhere, and backstories make no sense. This is made infinitely times worse by the fact that the flashbacks in this show are horrendous and the sound design is atrocious. The music is so bad and I couldn't deal with the strange editing and scene jumps that they loved to use. Not to mention how the acting was stilted and Frank's wig was BAD!!!!

I liked Frank in 'Cause You're My Boy, but he is really bad here. Like, astoundingly bad. Of course, there wasn't much to work with character-wise, but I think he only made a lame character even worse. He doesn't even fit how I would picture Itt either. Itt is very handsome, arrogant, skinny, pale, and dependent. Here, he is overly exaggerated and doesn't feel like the rich son that is spoiled like how the books made him feel. Frank is cute, but he doesn't have this sort of fierceness to him that I think is what made Itt so attractive to other characters in the books. I think the Itt from Love Syndrome: The Beginning movie is far better of a fit than this one or dear lord the one in Unforgotten Night.

Day's actor was noticeably better, but still not groundbreaking most likely because of the terrible script. He seems to fit how I'd picture Day a lot more than the movie did and I'm not sure how he compares to the Day from Unforgotten Night because the way Day is described is hard to picture. Personality-wise, this show did better though. Unforgotten Night seems to paint Itt and Day as being a lot sweeter and healthier than they actually are. That might be in part due to how Kim views them as an outside that once loved Day, but it still doesn't change the fact that the casting in that mirrored that portrayal. The actor for Day in the movie was awful because they reused an actor from this! And guess what, that actor didn't portray Day! He portrayed some random one-off character that liked Itt from a bar or something.

Gear and Night looked really cute in this and you'd almost believe they were sweet on each other if you didn't read their novel. They are astoundingly attractive here however, and I think Gear's actor in this is far more suited for it than his in the movie's was. The movie version's actor was so out of place and didn't fit Gear at all. Gear is a handsome playboy that wins over the boyish Night. Night in the movie was actually decent though. He was cute and pretty, whilst the actor in this show was much more elegant and kind-looking. So, I think either could work.

Nick and Neil's actors are actually probably the best casting choices. I think they their descriptions in the novel well, and Nick is who I'd say had the best actor in the entire show and movie combined too. I think Neil's actor is the same in the movie too and that was good except for the fact that he gets like 2 scenes in that entire movie so it made virtually no difference whatsoever. They seemed genuinely cute in this but sadly the curse of the source material affects their relationship too so the reviews saying they were a healthy relationship are in the dark.

Nan and Mac actually have two books dedicated to them and they are quite toxic too. Nan definitely was Day's protege except the only difference in this one is the added cruelty that Nan doesn't even have any personal grievance with Mac. He only tortures him because Day wants him to and then he continues to do it because he enjoys watching Mac squirm. The show made no sense by giving them their "happy ending" at the end because it makes no sense whatsoever without the details of their novels. I think Mac's casting was good as he has a unique attractiveness, "dog" face (affectionate), and is very pale too. His actor also portrayed his dismay well I think. Nan's casting was a bit different because I'm pretty sure Nan is supposed to be very well built and have tattoos. They probably couldn't find someone like that though. Not surprising considering what happened with Kamol's casting in Unforgotten Night (yes I know these two shows were not produced by the same people but I don't care because the similarities in poor quality speak volumes of their source material).

The villain being Pee must be so fucking confusing to watchers-only because only readers would understand his significance. He was the first main villain of book 1 that tried to get Itt to leave Day for him. I actually kind of liked him in the book because it was quite obvious that he only wanted Itt by the end because he wanted to one-up Day. It was a pissing (no pun intended) contest between them to have ownership over Itt and was about pride over anything else. Pee was Itt's father's friend's son (dear lord this was tough to type) that was around Itt's age. He was kind of crazy even in book 1 and was always testing Day's patience. He was kind of fucking hilarious with how he would completely ignore Day just to talk to Itt excitedly. I never read far enough into book 3 to know what he's like when he returns, but I think the show portrays him poorly as an antagonist. He was far more entertaining in the first book yet he is so one-note in this and has the cliche manic villain laugh. I also have no idea why Pee's father allows him to keep causing problems. What a poor excuse of a father for letting his son attack his friend's son and partner TWICE!!! He literally kidnapped Itt in book 1 and shot both Day and Itt. Now in this we see Day's friends (besides Fuu for some reason I guess) repeating history to show up to save Day this time from Pee's antics. Because this author just loves reusing plot points. Itt was also fucking useless in that fight.

One thing I really hated was how the author clearly wanted all relationships to have an established "Uke-Seme" dynamic. Every single couple has this. There is no exception to this rule. Day and Itt are probably the worst offenders of it too. Itt is such a constant damsel that needs saving in the novels and Night follows this pattern too. It makes me sick how this author is such a clear fetishizer of mlm and how demonized female characters are in their works. The way women are described and treated feels very misogynistic and Day is (from what I've read) the worst offender of it. Not surprising considering his toxic masculinity but it was still hurtful to read as a female viewer. Hated the toxic masculinity that was portrayed constantly as well as the romanticization of abusive behaviors CONSTANTLY.

Also, why the fuck does Itt have such a harem??? He had so many men + women going after him in all three of the books listed. There were loads of unnamed women, Meen, Mac, Day, Pee, Ball, Korn, and probably some other people I'm forgetting that either got or wanted a slice of that Itt pie. I have no idea why either because he wasn't very likable to begin with and was obligatorily spoiled and ungrateful. Day even jokes (maybe only half) about basically putting a chastity belt or "pheromone blocker" on him. Side note: thank god this isn't set in the omegaverse. Genuinely surprised the author didn't add that in too.

I also really hate Itt's parents in the novel. Moreso his father actually because he is so selfish and was so against Day and Itt (only because it was gay not because of any knowledge of what happened between them) but then decided to allow only if Day could rake in the profits from the side business Itt's father was opening by setting unreasonable standards and not even telling Itt anything about it. Itt thought Day had abandoned him out of nowhere and was left thinking like that for like SIX MONTHS!!!!!! I also really hate how the author wrote (multiple times!) that Day and Itt's father are alarming similar in personality. Especially when it came to pursuing their partners. What the fuck. That just makes their relationship infinitely times creepier and creates an even worse power imbalance to picture especially when I recall a comment describing how Day groomed Itt to be like his little brother (except that he could fuck) because his brother was now grown up and didn't need him as much and Itt looks up to Day like his father and depends on him like one. It was so ew.

This show was just awful and the only thing I kind of liked were parts of the fight scenes. My brother was in the room when that bar fight happened and Day put Itt on the pool table. That was a blast to watch together. Try explaining this poorly produced show to someone without causing them a headache (or yourself) I dare you.

This review is too fucking long and I knew that it would be too. I had a lot to express regarding this story and none of it was good. Would I recommend this show? Fuck no!!! The production is bad, acting is either alarmingly bad (Itt) or stiff, characters are dogwater, plot is a dumpster fire, and the sound design is the worst I have ever seen in something. Not to mention that weird ass fight of Day against the 8 ft fighter at the end because what even was that???? I was so flabbergasted trying to comprehend what was even going on, man.........but would I recommend the source material????? Even more NO!!!!!!! I SAW A REVIEW SAYING THEY WERE GONNA READ IT AND I HOPE THEY OPTED OUT AND DECIDED NOT TO BECAUSE NO HUMAN BEING DESERVES TO GO THROUGH THAT MONSTROSITY!!!!!!!! I believe I can now watch any romance regardless of toxicity because of what Love Syndrome (both the book and show) put me through. I have never felt stronger.

Final statement: ╰༼=ಠਊಠ=༽╯┌( ಠ_ಠ)┘༼;´༎ຶ ۝ ༎ຶ༽(￣x￣;)⋋| ◉ ͟ʖ ◉ |⋌

Read More

Trauma Friend

I'm honestly surprised that I finished this series so quickly because I've tried watching shorter series with more interesting plots and put them on-hold indefinitely. But don't let this fool you into thinking this a gem or anything because it is undoubtedly something I wish I could get my time back from watching. I just don't understand how there are such high reviews on the uncut version on MDL because the story itself is so boring yet questionable at times. I'd also like to point out that I watched it on Youtube, so I'm assuming that was the cut version so I'm not 100% sure of what the uncut version contributes to the story, but I do know that I'd probably (dis)like it the same amount as I do with the cut version.

So I generally start these with a Likes and Dislikes list but I'll definitely tear into in the Dislikes section

Likes:
- Uea is confirmed gay
- Demonizing homophobia
- James and Net are scarily attractive
- Uea's sass was at times charming
- King looks good with his buttons down on his shirt
- Gunn was cute
- The big boss actually caring about his employees
- Talking about safe sex and get tested for STDs
- Setting rules for the friends with benefits relationship
- King's parents actually considering their son's happiness above and prejudices they may have
- That scene where Uea started unbuttoning his shirt to get King to close his was pretty fun
- Uea's aunt was sweet; nice to see a least one positive aspect in Uea's life beyond just King.
- The antagonists' actors played their scummy characters well. I believed every second of the scum quartet (pedo step-dad, bitch mom, psycho ex, and boss mc-grabby)

Dislikes: (oh boy here we go!)
- Uea's actor cannot play the emotional scenes at all. This is awful because this character is CONSTANTLY suffering and I swear I just felt awkward watching him try to portray a traumatized young man. They seriously needed someone that could shoulder the weight of playing a character going through endless suffering and James was just not it. They needed War Wanarat here to play such a distraught character.
- Why TF is Uea constantly suffering throughout the story? This man got molested by his gross ass step-dad throughout his childhood, got beaten and shamed by his whore mother, got cheated on and nearly raped by his psycho ex, got dubconned by King in like episode 1, and then of course he nearly got raped by his scummy boss. What. The. FUCK. I'm not even saying that I'm adverse to him going through multiple trials and tribulations in this story but dear god why is his suffering somehow worse than that lame ass main character from that Jinx manhwa????? You can make a main character be sympathetic and portray how trauma impacts a relationship without throwing every possible unfortunate thing at them and then call it "character building." They quite literally checked the noncon trauma box to every aspect of Uea's life: molester step-dad in his family life, rapey ex in his personal life, and pervy boss in his work life. Seriously makes me wonder how many yaoi manhwa the original writer referenced when trying to make the saddest main character known to man.
- This series (and the positive reviews) boast of how consensual the main relationship is, yet gloss over the fact that Uea and King's first night together was dubcon at best, and noncon at worst. Say it with me kids: someone. being. drunk. is. not. able. to. consent. Uea was heavily intoxicated to the point that King had to take him home and King was most definitely sober in comparison to him given how lucid he was and could think the situation through. He's even aware that Uea being drunk can't equal clear consent yet does him anyway! Why was this necessary? They could've tried to find the loophole of them both being equally drunk like most other shows do, yet they decided that making it a clear case of taking advantage of a drunk person was the best choice writing-wise. Great relationship-building guys! (I'd also like to point out that adding themes of lack of consent in a story doesn't automatically make it bad or disqualify a relationship between two characters from the jump, yet what bothers me the most here is how the story completely glosses over it and then acts like they are the most consensual couple ever.)
- Jade was annoying as fuck. So was the middle-aged lady and the trans(?) woman. Tired of the constant portrayals of transwomen and femboys in BL being these over-the-top, ultra girliepop people that can't seem to speak at a normal vocal level.
- Dear fuck this is the part that pissed me off the most. So in episode 4, Uea was just nearly raped by his psycho ex in his own car and narrowly escaped because of King's aid in scaring him off (instead of, oh I don't know, CALLING THE COPS OR SECURITY?????). Uea is (justifiably) shaken up and having flashbacks to his childhood trauma, and then it cuts to them chilling near some railing or something and King remarks how if he weren't there in time, Uea's psycho ex would have definitely raped him then and there. He then says something along the lines of "what will I get as a reward? (indicating sex)" and to this I have a question to pose as well, except to the writers: What the fuck is wrong with you?????? Who in their right mind thinks "Oh you know what a character with childhood molestation trauma that nearly just got raped by their psycho ex wants right after? To get fucked." WHAT?! They unintentionally made King seem like the scummiest character on planet Earth with this one line alone because why would he assume that a guy that was bawling his eyes out after nearly getting raped by his ex would want to reward him with sex that same day. This irked me so bad man. I nearly wanted to drop the score even lower just for this scene alone.
- The mother never really suffered the consequences of her actions. Was her crying over her diddy husband supposed to be her comeuppance? Well it certainly didn't satisfy my rage. This woman deserves to suffer for eternity for the awful shit she put her own son through. She was the ultimate villain, yet barely suffered at all. Honestly, Uea abandoning her only really works in her favor considering how much she stated she hated him and would've lived a far happier life without him around to pollute it.
- Psycho-ex is quite literally a sex offender yet doesn't suffer ANY CONSEQUENCES. Other than a punch. Wooooooow such a grave repercussion. He even still has a boyfriend from what is shown. What the hell?
- The step-dad is arrested but let's be honest, will he really suffer much in the long-term? There is barely any evidence and how much of a serious offense is sexual harassment (not even molestation and attempted rape as the charges) in the Thai justice system anyway? Would've been nice if they could've confirmed what his status in passing or something. But nope. We are completely left in the dark as to whether he even got convicted or not.
- The sexual-harasser boss didn't even get charged for what he did even though it was caught in 4K Ultra Definition. He just gets a slap on the wrist and probably moved to another department and still invited to the big boss' Thanksgiving dinners.
- Uea hating King so much at the beginning didn't even make sense because King didn't even get to ask him out at that bar and just because that twink boy called him over doesn't mean they're exclusive. Hell, he could've just met that guy that night. What was Uea so pressed with him for?
- King liked Uea so much but I never understood why. He wholeheartedly wanted his attention and affection yet Uea made it abundantly clear he didn't even like to be in the same office space as him. Take a hint buddy or else you'll be added to the ongoing list of Uea's harassers that seems to grow with just about every episode.
- The sex scenes were cringe affffff. I felt uncomfortable watching them. Opposite of what you want to feel when watching consensual sex scenes between two objectively attractive people of genders you are attracted to.
- Was Uea's trauma healed by King's dick game or something? It kind of felt like that. But at least they mentioned him seeing a psychiatrist by the end. That's something I guess.
- Time skip galore in the last two eps.
- King apparently has a hot older brother, yet we only see him once. I was so shell-shocked when he appeared because I was kept wondering that entire scene "who the fuck is this guy?"
- It made zero sense that Uea would agree to be friends with benefits with King out of nowhere especially because he seemed to dislike that fact that they had a one night stand at all. Was it really just because King gave pocket money to Uea's mom? Because if he agreed to it out of gratitude then that doesn't sit right with me at all. He should do it if he reeeeally wants to; not because he feels like he owes him (throwback to ep 4 when King asks for sex after saving Uea from a literal rapist).
- Opening pissed me off the more it played and would sometimes interrupt the flow of the scene before it to the point that I would get whiplash.
- King really felt like his only true personality trait was "I want Uea to give me attention." Felt really juxtaposed when next to Uea's "I have trauma. Like, literally every single episode. Brace yourself audience. It's going to get emotional. Though, you probably won't feel it because my actor can't mimic a crying person to save his life."

To be honest the music (other than the annoying intro) was alright but not noteworthy. Same with the production. They looked good on the boat though I'll say that. And that like one scene when there were at Uea's hometown and on the mountain and inn. I really hate when there is a filter or extreme makeup to powder on the actors' faces because it just takes away from their natural beauty in my opinion and makes them look like porcelain dolls.

Rewatch value? I would give this a 0 if I could but this site only goes as low as 1 so I'll stick with that (though in spirit it is a 0). I wouldn't even rewatch this for drunken fun or to make fun of it because it is frankly too boring to do that. At least nonsense like Love Syndrome III and The Heart Killers are rewatchable because of how entertainingly awful they are, but Trauma Friend is just plain stale. I'd also avoid putting myself through Uea's never ending suffering and James' inability to create a genuine look of suffering on his face. I can't enjoy a traumatized character if they don't even look traumatized (directed at whoever had reign over the casting choices).

To conclude, I really want my time back from watching this. I feel so burnout from watching a 10 episode series and I find that astounding because it somehow almost makes me feel as dead inside as The Legend of Zhen Huan did. And that show was 76 episodes.

Would I recommend this? Fuck no. The acting isn't worth it, the music isn't worth it, the set design isn't worth it, the plot most definitely isn't worth it, the characters aren't worth it, and the smut (which face it, that is what drew majority of people in) is cringe and soooooo not worth it.

Goodbye to Trauma Friend and hope I never see you again ~

Read More

feels like when smutty wattpad meets tv adaptation

Have you ever read the description of a series and thought, "Hmmm this doesn't sound too bad" despite the low scores? Only to then proceed anyway and realize, "Oh. Those scores exist for a reason...."?

Yeah that basically summed up how I immediately felt after the finale of My Stubborn. This series left me feeling surprisingly conflicted but only because I knew I'd have a hard time gaging how I should score it in my review. That's because if you score it as a spicy, smutty series, then it gets a passing score. But if you score it with the idea of storytelling in mind, it gets something probably far lower than what I put.

Mind you, my score took into consideration the undeniable fact that this was based off a smut which meant my score had to be more lenient. Because if I'm being honest, I enjoyed the steamy scenes between Sorn x June, and Penny x Jun was fine as well. Yes, I deliberately left Thai x Champ out of the equation.

The story itself is virtually nonexistent and what does exist really feels off. I felt like so much was omitted such as flashbacks to help establish interpersonal connections between characters and quality relationship building. There are 12 episodes of this show yet I feel like I know so little of why Thai is overprotective of June or why Sorn and Thai are bffs.

The couples themselves suffer the worst from the gap in writing like when I had no idea when or why Sorn liked June as much as he did other than them having a few brief sexual encounters. There's also the added creep factor of him calling June "kid" all the time, which only served to make their relationship seem more unbalanced than it already was. Not to mention that June is Thai's self-proclaimed "little brother" that he is overprotective of, yet Sorn decides to target him anyway, despite being Thai's bff. You cannot convince me that Sorn was unaware of how vulnerable June was and yet he kept pressuring him into sexual encounters anyway. Though, I wouldn't have minded it nearly as much if they didn't accentuate June's youth and naivety when it comes to sex.

As for Thai and Champ (I think that was his name), they were as flavorful as a stale piece of bread. They had no chemistry in sexual scenes and their romance was boring to boot. With the way they acted I'd assumed they had been together longer than a married couple; only to then find out near the end that they weren't even dating! Yet they jump from situationship into borderline engagement? Seems kinda rushed to me.....

Penny and Jun really were irrelevant. I seriously wondered why they were even there when they had negative scenes. Their relationship also felt weird since it was a strict superior that boasts of workplace discipline yet bends the subordinate over a desk to touch them in the office. It felt very hypocritical and I was shocked when Penny got turned into a sub when Jun entered the picture. The flirty experienced "dom" gets turned into a blushing sub by someone who doesn't put up with their shit trope. They really subverted our expectations with that one, huh?

The whole thing of Sorn not liking "kids" was weird because June wasn't exactly underage. And that flashback of him with the girl needed more elaboration other than "she framed me." It was especially weird that she was still just in his life after that too. He almost went to jail I think. That also raises the concern of their ages at the time too...

Thanu was pretty funny and probably the only part of the show I liked. He served to kind of help the main two bridge between each other's feelings. It was a liiiittle weird how excited he got seeing his brother getting it on though. I think the normal reaction would be to shield your eyes or freak out. When I first saw him I really was amazed at how alike him and Sorn look if you squint your eyes. That was some decent casting other than me confused on who was older.

Delivery guy Jom was completely useless in verse and I had no idea why they hinted at him being a love interest if it never went anywhere anyway. This was a reoccurring theme with this show: introduce a character and/or conflict, then never really resolve it. Some highlights are that fighting straight couple that kept appearing, Piang, the weird club owner guy, two random kids running a coffee shop on their own, etc.

The most satisfying part of the entire series was June telling Sorn off in ep 9 (?). Then him ghosting him was deserved. That sketched on pencil beard on the other hand, was not. Why was the audience punished with that? Especially since June just takes him back after Sorn pushes him a little and then they screw on the fire escape of their own workplace.....where Thai and Champ supposedly hear. I personally don't like sex scenes in really uncomfortable places like public spaces or ones with surveillance footage. It cringes me out because it's pretty gross. I also have no idea why Thai didn't murder Sorn after that. I feel like anyone would be pissed that their barely legal little sibling is getting screwed at their workplace by your bff that lead them on for months behind your back. Sorn should've been running but he just cracked a few jokes with Thai instead.

Win did quite literally nothing in this story. He only served looks and inconvenient timing. His friendship with June was cute except for when it made me feel uncomfortable at how young mentally they seem in comparison to Sorn and Thai. I could've sworn when that dude who wanted to hit on Champ at the end (because why not just throw in a love rival at the last second for pointless drama?) looked up the boss' kids that he was going to assume Win was the other with Champ as an excuse to keep the stupid drama going. It also could've been used for a comedic scene. But no.......he knew it was Thai and it just ended there. What a waste of time.

The production was pretty good all things considered. I think there were times when a filter was too strongly applied, but the show was not ugly to look at. It wasn't really exceptional though except when June visited Sorn's mom's place. That place was quite photogenic. No wonder he wanted a photoshoot there.

Music was absolutely forgettable except during sex scenes where it would usually try to be sensual and exciting except for in ep 5 when Thai and Win decided to be nuisances. It suddenly become spunky music instead. I won't lie; I thought that scene was hilarious the first time I watched it.

The realism of the sex scenes is a different issue, but since it was just meant to be fast smut, I'll let it slide. In smutville we don't worry about condoms, STDs, and aftercare.

I also was tired of seeing the same outfit style all the time; and this show was a sad excuse of an office romance too when all it shows is superiors harassing subordinates and interns at the workplace. The setting really contributed very little to the story. It also forced Sorn to keep his hair up which SUCKED because he became 85% more attractive when he took it down and let it flow✨️.

Casting was fine for this quality of show. I wasn't expecting Scarlet Johanson or anything. June and Sorn had good chemistry and did alright with their characters. The lesbians somewhat had chemistry and did alright too, though Penny carried it. I was frothing at the mouth when she came on screen and she was probably one of the better actors in this. Thai and Champ chemistry wise......pack it up. Acting wise? They did alright with what they were given. They could feel stiff at times, but it didn't really bother me because they weren't portraying demanding characters or emotional scenes (most of the time).

Rewatch value? I'd only rewatch the funny scenes and the.......🤫 scenes. Ifykyk.

Would I recommend? Only for the smutty angle, because storytelling is NOT it. But have fun anyway~✨️💖✨️

Read More

Anime except make it live action and Korean

I just finished this show and I honestly was conflicted on how to score it at first. I cannot deny that I was laughing my ass off and my jaw dropped a few times whilst watching it, but I have to take the quality of writing into consideration when writing a review.

What I liked:
- Soundtrack was pretty good. I mean, rap is not my preferred taste in music, but it was still good at hyping me up and making scenes feel more energetic than what they really were; so it accomplished its goal very well.
- Production was fantastic. I really loved the settings and how they switched them up so often. I especially loved the graffitied school contrasting with the clean looks of stores and other settings. It really emphasized how alien the school feels from the rest of the world as we see it. The cinematography was good too; cameraman deserves a raise for engaging me 100% during those whacky fight scenes.
- Fight choreography was insanely hilarious to watch at times, and then badass at other times too. I really enjoyed how creative they could get with making tons of fight scenes feel unique from each other.
- Some of the casting like Ms. Lee, Han Ul, Han Ul's zesty friend with a gun, Sun Cheol, Ji Wu, Hyeon Wu, Se Hyeon, and Ga Min's mom were great.
- Ji Wu and Hyeon Wu look eerily similar like I actually believed they were twins. I swear they have to secretly be related.
- Pi Han Ul was eye candy. I love me a pretty faced villain. His voice was also free ASMR. So + 1 point for that.
- Geon Yeop was eye candy.
- Hee Won's parents were eye candy.
- Ga Min's mom not being the generic KDrama mother.
- Somewhat competent police force.
- A lot of the comedic scenes made me genuinely laugh.
- Side character and one-off character casting was pretty good. Shoutout to the Ice Age Baby combined with Sid looking guy from like ep 4/5.
- Female characters can be just as strong as male characters.
- Hee Won and Se Hyeon hinted romance.
- Ji Wu and Lee Jun friendship.
- Emphasis on not giving up on people that come from lesser income areas and people that are tended to be forgotten by the system.
- Somehow managed to give personality to each character through what they wear, even differentiating them through how they style their uniforms.
- Used juvenile laws as a plot point.
- Characters can be useful without be blunt fighters.
- Criminals actually get punished by the law.
- Sassy lines.

What I disliked:
- I like Ga Min's actor in general, but he looks way too old to be playing a 16 year old. His wide smile was also hella weird, but I'm inclined to believe that was on purpose to match his social awkwardness so I'll let that slide.
- Way too absurd power scaling. It caused some fights to be awkwardly solved by Ga Min in a way that felt underwhelming at times. Obviously certain fights were great because he just solos them, but when they seemingly do pose a threat he just tanks a few hits like it's nothing and sends them flying low diff.
- Ultimate villain was a high schooler, which isn't an issue in itself, but rather the issue lies with how they want me to believe he got away with all that crime at his age. It was jarring seeing middle aged men working under him to the point that I almost couldn't believe what I was seeing. At least Weak Hero Class only made teens lead other teens or work directly under a senior.
- Some teens look like they're in their 30s. Featuring Kim Gyu Jin on that one. I almost spat out what I was drinking when I realized he was just a student like the rest of the cast.
- Physics went flying out the window along with every side villain.
- Never got info about Ga Min's dad. Since we are confirmed to get a season 2, I won't have an issue with this one if they properly explain it there.
- Needed to expand more on Han Ul's backstory. He worked fine as he was, but I wanted to know more about him with his dad and the teacher he got killed.
- "Intimidating" gang is ran by teenagers. Where did they even get all that money from???
- The tone was way too kiddy at times for my liking. Everything feels too black and white morally and it really bothered me at times.
- Han Ul and Ga Min deserved a better final fight. Despise how Ga Min pulled out a final move out of nowhere and knocked him out so quick after getting up. Made the villain feel way too weak for my liking.
- Plot felt too power of friendship and teamwork the more it went along. I hate this trope with a fiery passion after Fairy Tail.
- I wasn't completely convinced of the friend group's comradery. I think some of them lacked chemistry or something.


This show is strongest when using its absurdness for comedy and entertainment value, but falls short on its serious moments as a drawback. I couldn't feel quite invested in the mom getting hospitalized or the grandpa passing away abruptly. I kind of felt something when the teacher died but that's only because of how tragic it seemed when the story shows how depraved the school is. It was also mentioned since early on too. I personally liked when the tone of the story was more set on intense and rocky like in the first two episodes rather than the fluffier and campy later bits. It kind of returns to that feeling near the end when Ms. Lee is about to get jumped at school, but falls short on it because of how quick the threat for her disappears. Twice.

I also couldn't take the villain group seriously at all either. If anything, I liked how pretty Han Ul's voice and face was over how intimidating or eerie he was supposed to be. I don't blame this on the actor, I blame it on the absurd writing they give him in attempts to make him seem threatening. I'm certain his actor could portray him eerily if only he wasn't placed in such a weird position plot wise. His gang is so stupid and they expect me to feel on edge by a bunch of ragtag teens and his (alleged) bestie that acts zesty enough to flirt with Ga Min first meeting and swing around some off brand BB gun? No way. Don't get me wrong now, I thought these idiots were funny as fuck at times and had some hilarious lines, but I couldn't tell them seriously as villains whatsoever. I think it would have worked out better if instead of Han Ul being the leader of some (supposed) high profile group, he works under his father's group instead and is in the midst of growing his own assigned branch under him whilst having ambitions to take over said group once he gains enough influence later in life. It would make a lot more sense if his dad acknowledged his son through his plans of utilizing the juvenile laws to their advantage and incorporating loyal members as early on as high school to join their gang. I would find it more realistic and find Han Ul's personality more believable if he was raised in that setting already exposed to the underworld extremely early on and desire to inherit his father's "empire" out of admiration. But no.....we get a teen that somehow gets loads of cash, convinces others to commit murders for him, convinces others to go to jail for him, and basically runs an entire school whilst barely ever making any appearances in it.

Something I think they could have done better was show Han Ul's "Top 4" or whatever they were called from the last episode more in the school. I like seeing villains that get actively involved in the plot and I was so confused whether these guys even went to Yusung Tech or not because I had never seen them around at all. Zesty hat guy I assumed went to another school but apparently he didn't. I also hated how Han Ul is literally only ever seen just sitting on a school rooftop. I mean, the scene looked cool because it was directed nicely, but it quickly becomes perplexing when you think about how this guy was just sitting up there of all places and not even reading or checking his phone, just staring out into the sun. Like, why? Where was gun guy and why was Han Ul just wasting time instead of building his empire some more? I also wanted to know why gun guy was so close to him compared to everyone else because agreeing to help your friend in murdering teachers and framing teens must take an obscene amount of loyalty, but we never see why he is his right hand man. Especially since he is so hotheaded enough to waste all his bullets against a goon like Se Hyeon. I understand he was arrogant because Se Hyeon looked weak as fuck, but I thought at least the right hand man would be somewhat intelligent. Oh and just as a P.S., I found him saying "If I lose to a loser like this it'll be hella embarrassing" or whatever, to be so fucking funny because I too would be super embarrassed to lose when I brought a BB gun against an unarmed nerd.

I want another season despite how flawed the writing was in this one. I look forward to seeing what villains they'll write this time after how they made Han Ul exit the show. I liked that he got defeated in a "proper" way rather than the anime way of sending him to the hospital or an early grave. Side note: he really should've been hospitalized after Ga Min 12-piece comboed him in their fight. That was some insane plot armor. Even Ga Min was in crutches at least.

I'm excited for more whacky hijinks and hilarious comedy that indicates to me that my humor regressed ten years. Even if this show felt like Weak Hero Class for toddlers, I can't hate it. I'll be back here for season 2!!!


ʕノ•ᴥ•ʔノ ︵ ┻━┻ (ง ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)=/̵͇̿̿/’̿’̿̿̿ ̿ ̿̿ ┻┳|･ω･)/

Read More

A story that left me with a sour taste in my mouth....and P.S. I hate the male lead....

So I literally JUST finished this like 10 seconds ago and I knew I had to write a review while the story is still remotely fresh in my mind. And I'm gonna be honest, this story left me feeling kind of annoyed more than happy or bittersweet.

What I liked:
- Acting was on point. The antagonists were ESPECIALLY well acted since they made me hate their characters with a burning vitriol at times (shout out to Danashiri's actress on that one)!
- Female characters were strong and had actual purpose in the story without being extreme girlbosses that put down their male counterparts.
- Some fight scenes looked cool as fuck like when Wang Yoo did gymnastics mid fight.
- Morally questionable characters were allowed to exist.
- Most character deaths actually meant something to the plot and other characters.
- The palace politics actually managed to interest me a bit and were crucial to the plot.
- No weird age gap between an emperor and the main character for once.
- Pacing was mostly decent and it improved more near the middle part.
- The "central" villain (El Temur) wasn't the final boss and his defeat impacted what would be later central villains.
- Taltal.
- Danashiri's death was tragic as fuck and I loved every second of how morbid it felt. I feel like it'll stay with me for a while because I somehow felt bad for such a raging bitch.
- Ki Yang's character development and darkening was truly a marvel to watch and carried the second half of the drama; truly a morally gray protagonist for once.
- The cliff fight scene made my jaw drop. Of course it is later revealed to be a fake out but it still made my jaw drop in shock at first.
- Wasn't afraid to kill characters off in a political strife story.
- Didn't look too bad compared to other shows that came out around the same time cough *Empresses in the Palace* cough.
- Thank god it didn't have the dammed miscarriage caused by pure nonsense trope in the palace harem.
- Bi-coding on Wang Yoo and Tahwan towards Ki Yang near the beginning.
- That bitch Empress Bayan's death. Loved how Park Bul Hwa put her in her place. Deserved. Empresses (+ Dowager) stay losing and dying in misery as they should. (Now if only the Emperor did just like his dad-)

What I disliked:
- Opening scene and actual scene were not the exact same. I don't care if this is a nitpick and unimportant, this is a serious pet peeve of mine because it feels so cheap to entice people in with a flash forward scene only for it not to come to fruition when the time comes for it to take place.
- Throughout a good amount of the story it switched to Wang Yoo's side and it was so fucking boring 90% of the time.
- Some of the ugliest color schemes of clothes I have ever seen in literally anything.
- Taltal's bangs were too stiff and his hair never changes. I liked how his hair was brown but he never even took it down or changed in bangs in over 5 years. He's too hot for that, man.
- First half of the show was significantly more boring than the second half.
- Songs and some sound effects were TOO LOUD!!!
- Talahai was so useless compared to the entire rest of his family. All I remember him doing was running away from a Turk battle early on or something?
- Tanqishi's death was super underwhelming and disappointing for such a relevant antagonist throughout the story.
- Maha's death felt unnecessary and I didn't like it at all.
- Tahwan (The Emperor) should not have been the end game love interest. I despise him since day one.
- I hate the ending SO MUCH.
- Some scenes had terrible lighting and it hurt my eyes so bad. This was usually uncommon though.
- The other concubines were just background dressing and contributed NOTHING. At least they didn't die for shock value though, so that's something.
- Heavily implied that the Emperor raped Ki Yang in one of the later episodes yet it never even gets somewhat addressed????? That really didn't sit right with me, especially considering how they still end up together.
- The fact that Ki Yang had four admirers (Wang Yoo, Tahwan, Tanqishi, and Taltal). She was a baddie but like, c'mon.
- My eyes got tired of the same settings over and over eventually. A problem I face in most palace type of dramas except maybe like The Story of Yanxi Palace.
- I feel like Hong Dan was underutilized compared to most other characters.
- Wang Go just disappears and it feels out of character compared to the rest of the story.
- Too many death fake outs.
- 51 eps bothers my OCD please make dramas even numbers, I beg.
- Unexplained time skip in the like last three minutes that really pissed me off. I hate undisclosed time skips LIKE AT LEAST GIVE ME A BALL PARK TIME ESTIMATE.
- Think we needed some more time set in Goryeo considering how important it was to the plot.
- Too many facial expression zoom-ins for like the first 65% of the drama. It made me cringe.
- The drama felt like a parody of the historical genre in the first half because of how overdone the expressions were like in reality tv along with the dramatic ass music and loud battle cries. I swear I will go crazy if I have to hear "Your Majesty!!!!!!!!" in succession one more fucking time I'll pop a blood vessel.


I feel like something I was left feeling sour over was the romances in this show. Obviously the character that Ki Yang had the best chemistry with was Wang Yoo yet of course they didn't end up together despite them loving each other unconditionally throughout the entire story. I also liked her and Taltal but that was more of the fact that I liked how they seemed similar in personality and how they respected each other's intelligence and dedication to the nation's welfare. They did him dirty at the end with that off screen death. Such disrespect even more so than The Double's disrespect toward Xiao Heng at the end. Tanqishi's "love" for Ki Yang was repulsive and when he admits he had feeling for her to himself I nearly gagged because WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU LOVED HER WHAT AT ALL HAS TRANSPIRED TO INDICATE THAT!? Sick bastard.

Now we move on to the part of the story that brought me even more emotional grief than any of the character deaths: Tahwan. Specifically him as the emperor. I hate this man so much it is kind of crazy. The fact that they stay together until his death and he got to die in peace makes me mad. He was such a pathetic loser since day one and he keeps flip flopping his stances on things throughout the entire story and dear lawd just PICK A SIDE!!! He treated Ki Yang pretty poorly in the grand scheme of things as well. Overly jealous of her and Wang Yoo and not to mention his sense of ownership over her despite not having truly "earned" her. He only does positive things in the story in order to feel like he's earned her. He is also a terrible father towards Maha and it truly emphasized his selfishness for me. He is one of the most selfish main characters I have ever seen in anything and I could not stand him getting a happy ending despite how he literally rapes her and sends her away to get lashings at a temple for an undisclosed amount of time. His whole world revolved around her and he doesn't care what he has to do in order to keep as his possession and he WINS!!! His ego to be a famous ruler in history is literally what causes his kingdom to eventually fall and his sudden dependence on Bakan as prime minister lowkey pissed me off because what the fuck do you mean you can't choose between him and her??? Remember who risked their life to continuously save yours from a certain man near the beginning......evidently not because if he did then it wouldn't have even been a debate. It's almost as if prime ministers have a track record of tricking and ultimately killing emperors or something, wise guy.

The villains were numerous and I actually liked a lot of them because their greed and corruption made sense in the story. Easily the best part was watching how Ki Yang's darkening turned her into more of a menace than even Yingluo or Zhen Huan; there I said it. She was scarier than both of them in my opinion. I also liked how a lot of her feats later in the story required her receiving help in order to succeed as a lot of stories make it a one woman army solving every single thing alone. She received help mostly past the second half which is probably why I liked it more and why the villain defeats help even more satisfying. One thing that is a bit of a negative for me though is that her plans never really fail. Only times they really do are when the plans weren't really hers and she was just a support rather than a major player. She was super hollow near the beginning and I worried I'd end up finding her boring but she wound up being way better later on and turned into one of my favorite female leads I've seen yet. Kudos to her writing!

But then negative kudos to Tahwan's writing because he gets a happy ending. Fucker. Worst male lead in a historical piece ever and you can fight me on that.

Would I recommend? If you can put up with how dramatic it is with a sour ending then sure. Historical dramas aren't exactly known for good endings and of course you can blame that on real life history but I don't really care about historical accuracy with endings when literally everything else is greatly exaggerated for entertainment anyway. At least it was better than Empresses in the Palace....but that bar is pretty low, so take that as you will. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Read More

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 •̀?)

Read More

Goofy ahh ending.

I couldn't believe I actually binged this show in one sitting. It was almost 4 hours of pure nonsense yet I had this perverse need to see how they were gonna end it. I have never read the original novel but I need to know what crack this author was on. The fact that I even gave this a score as high as 6 is a blessing afforded by the fact that it had my attention in a chokehold for its entire 24 episodes. Because, as it stands, this story is all over the place and the ending was annoying.

I just finished this show yesterday and I am still in shock from the absurdity of that last episode. (Spoiler!) You'd have to have been there to see my jaw drop on the floor when she pulls out a GUN in historical China. I was unable to take that scene seriously at all and even when she was getting all emotional with her friend zoned scholar guy I couldn't pay attention to anything other than the bandit extras that were still flailing on the ground all around them. Oh btw I even joked earlier on before the object was revealed that she asked him to make a gun because of how funny it would be and oml they actually went through with it. I cannot make this up.

I liked that the female lead was capable and intelligent but of course her talents came out of left field. She was a martial artist, top-tier chef, S+ businesswoman, better than a seasoned wet nurse, and investigator on par with Sherlock Holmes. And her love interest felt very undetailed which was sad because he was pretty nice and I liked that she took on the more assertive role in the dynamic. Yet, the relationship is super vague and by the end he just disappeared when she went back to her time. The kids, her older lady friend, and the bitch actress were there, yet he wasn't (unless he was and I'm just blind). I really dislike the endings of "it was all a dream" yet this time I'm confused if it happened or not though? Because I remember seeing her sleeping in the car with a bad edited rainbow spiral outside of the vehicle but that may have just been her dreaming it up to explain the setting in her fantasy.

I liked the relationship of her taking up the role of the daring stepmom for her kids but the pacing really made it confusing how she gained their love that fast and her leaving at the end was sad but I can't even tell if that relationship was real or not. I'm so confused on what emotions are valid after that.

The villains were......something. The most cliche you can possibly get but hey, at least there were extremely aggravating. I wanted that evil mother-in-law to suffer the most but of course the ending leaves a lot to desire. The cousin of the step-kids didn't even seem to ask his father to join the classes and we see him like thrice in total. Him even helping them could have been built up better because it is realistic for a young child to feel guilty but to betray his father and grandmother sporadically felt out of place. Then of course we have whatever was going on with Li Yi. I thought they were gonna make her a sympathetic villain that is only going against Chi Yue because she is guilted by her family but NOPE! She is just pure evil that literally killed her brother and paraded around with his jade pendant on her hip. We don't even see her be put on trial either.

The production was funded by a very small budget and the runtime was too short to really create a gripping story. The music was extremely forgettable and the pacing was extremely fast. So many plot points come out of nowhere because the story doesn't afford them enough time for build up. The ending was confusing and I didn't like it. I was left with that bittersweet feeling but it disappeared just as fast. I was, however, entertained by the intense nonsense and some of the humor was actually hilarious.

So, would I recommend this show? Yes, but only as a time-waster when you have nothing else to watch. The absurdity was entertaining enough for me to binge 3+ hours of it on Youtube. Yes, it is on Youtube!

Have fun. XO

Read More

Empresses in the Palace crawled so that The Story of Yanxi Palace could run

A disclaimer before I start the review: I watched this series a few months after I finished the Story of Yanxi Palace, so it is inevitable that I will compare the two a lot in this review. I understand that though they are set in damn near the same setting and have similarities in their stories, they are two very different stories told in an entirely different tone. However, I couldn't help but compare the two because of how many people recommended this show if someone liked Story of Yanxi Palace. Also, I enjoyed the Story of Yanxi Palace way more; just in case anyone won't be able to tell by the end of this review.

I started EitP (Empresses in the Palace) with high expectations. The description seemed to promise a palace intrigue story with a protagonist of questionable morals to boot. And I looove morally gray protagonists (Dexter fan here), and the comments I'd seen spoke of Zhen Huan's "darkening" that greatly contrasts her personality from the earlier episodes and the later ones. This excited me greatly and the outro of the show only made it seem more intense and brutal; I was speculating who it was in the cutscenes that were suffering and hitting rock bottom. However, I as of one day after finishing this show, I find myself feeling extremely disappointed and honestly frustrated with EitP. I'll start with a pros and cons list:

Pros:
-The outro was pretty cool; both music-wise and presentation of cutscenes. It's a shame that those scenes shown would be the only highlights in the entire show for me.
-The main actress did well in her role and I was honestly shocked by her age because of how young she looks (especially when next to the Emperor).
- The actor that plays the Emperor does actually look old af.
- The costumes were nice to look at and I couldn't help but want to overanalyze them and how sweaty it must've been to wear them in the beating sun.
- I liked how the story didn't seem to slut shame Meizhuang and Zhen Huan despite them having children with other men that the Emperor yet passing them off as his.
- Truly did have diverse personalities for the female characters and could show their fierceness whilst still maintaining their femininity.
- The older concubines were gorgeous and I have no idea why the Emperor avoided them for the new ones so much. He really fumbled the bag on that one.
- The Emperor is actually portrayed as a terrible person and gets his comeuppance in the end. Hated that guy.
- When the turning point of the story was Zhen Huan realizing she was just a stand-in for Premiere and that how the Emperor had a whole Sangwoo moment of snapping at her when she didn't live up to his expectations of being someone else. That was probably the most intriguing part of the show.
- The show was easily accessible because it was on Youtube. I know this has nothing to do with the writing or design or anything, but I just really appreciate the easy accessibility for all episodes. Though, it may have been better had I not gotten my hands on this series.
- Hongli and Zhen Huan's adopted family relationship at first.

Cons: Oh boy here we go-
- They overuse some music to the point that I could predict the exact sound track that would play the moment a "shocking" or "intense" scene came on. It also didn't help that the music wasn't all that titillating to begin with.
- The settings were interesting at first, but quickly become overused and stale to look as you see the same ochres and reds all over again.
- So many things are so exaggerated to the point that it takes me out of the show. How come the slightest of things cause the women in this show to have miscarriages? I swear a slight breeze will make them topple over and bleed everywhere. Also, I couldn't take their extreme fear over house cats seriously either. I was having to stop myself from laughing over the CG cat that was attracted to face cream or whatever because I knew some outrageous nonsense was about to happen that would cause people to topple over and have miscarriages left and right. It annoyed me so much by the sixth miscarriage.....
- The medicine and medical explanations were too drawn out and ridiculous that I couldn't take any of the ailments seriously. They literally blame people almost having miscarriages on some "cold air" and summer colds that seem to last three months long each. They also used a bunch of those old terms like "qi" and "yin and yang". I also couldn't believe how they could tell literally everything wrong with a person from their pulse.....like come on, people can have a heightened pulse due to a number of reasons that doesn't necessarily mean they are about to have a miscarriage or terminal illness.
- The actress for Yu Rao was terrible. Like, some of the worst acting I have ever seen in a period piece.
- How come they keep saying how characters look sooo much like each other like Jade to Zhen Huan and Noble Prince Guo's two sons? These characters don't really share a resemblance. The two sons looking alike can be explained away easily by the fact that their fathers are brothers. Oh, and a lot of kids tend to look similar before their features mature. And don't even get me started on the nonsense of how Jade and Zhen Huan look supposedly very similar because I have never seen two women look less alike. Zhen Huan looks more like Consort Fleur that she looks like Jade. Every single time they used the look-alike plot to further whatever agenda they had going on I just felt myself lose more and more braincells. It must be an adaptation issue because it could be accepted were it just in a novel, but seeing real life people next to each other that have nothing to do with each other and claiming they look like "sisters" or "brothers" is really pushing it beyond the real of disbelief.
- Noble Prince Guo's wife literally date raped him. She got him drunk on purpose and assaulted him when he was inebriated. Then they just treat this as a little woman's melancholic romantic moment. WTF????
-Long-winded dialogue even for a harem story. Dear god the urge I had to fast forward so many conversations just to get to the good bit. And I know it being a harem story isn't the issue because the Story of Yanxi Palace didn't evoke this feeling in me.
- The Empress' speaking looked off or something. Was there a voice-over done?
- This is entirely just a matter of preference but I wasn't quite behind how they treated Zhen Huan like the most remarkable beauty that no other woman in the harem could even hold a candle to. I personally thought Consort Honnette, Consort Fleur, Ling Rong, Attendant Joie, Consort Estime, Jinxi, and Noble Lady Guwalgiya were just as much, if not more better than her. This man had a whole treasure chest of gorgeous women and yet Zhen Huan is the only one really treated as a beauty except for maybe Consort Fleur.
- Now, for what might be my biggest issue: the plot points that seem to lead nowhere and the terrible "resolutions" to the plots that do have an ending. Good golly Miss Molly this pissed me off so much. So much feels like it was added just to fill time and to lead nowhere by the end. I am a firm believer in making plots link in one way or another and to have resolutions for as many as possible by the end of air time. This show, however, lacked this to the extreme. Also, why does almost everyone have such an anticlimactic and unsatisfying ending? Consort Fleur, Meizhuang, Empress Yixiu, Empress Dowager, Noble Prince Guo, Shen Shichu, Noble Lady Cao, Noble Lady Paix, Ling Rong, Concubine Beaute, Vermilion, and Third Prince Hongshi. The only endings I did actually kind of like were those of Noble Lady Guwalgiya, (maybe) Attendant Chun, and The Emperor. I deadass liked no one else's by the end.
- Bitches be dropping left and right yet I still don't feel any tension 9/10 of the time. Such a let down.
- Also, where the fuck did Wenyi and Jinghe disappear off to? They are also the Emperor's children yet I swear I couldn't even see them on screen later on.....
- Not enough Hongli and Zhen Huan interactions which soured her becoming Empress Dowager for me. It also kind of ruined the moment for me when Zhen Huan noted Hongli's tenseness over the sixth prince and how Zhen Huan seems distant from him because she isn't his "birth mother". Ruined the found family vibe for me.
- Creepy Mongol guy that gave rapist vibes.
- That excruciatingly long trip to the Buddhist mountains that I wanted to fast forward soooo baaaaad.

The Characters: I'll sum up how I felt towards each important one by the end here:
Zhen Huan: Overhyped and underwhelming, but still intelligent; which I appreciated.
The Emperor: Extreme asshole that deserved to suffer in his last moments after being poisoned. Served his role as an antagonist well.
The Empress: Underwhelming and frankly not intimidating at all. She never exuded regal vibes to me. Her scheming was also kind of weak. Empress Nara from Yanxi Palace did it way better. She stays ON TOP!!!
Noble Prince Guo: One dimensional and too idealistic for me to be invested in. So clearly written by a shoujo enthusiast.
Jade: So annoying and selfish. Couldn't stand her at all.
Jingxi: Loved her. She was just great all around. Loved her motherly vibes.
Fleur: Entertaining but underused by the end. I could have almost felt sympathy for her if they gave her more backstory and fleshed her character out a bit more. She got more screwed over than Noble Consort Gao in Yanxi Palace.
Meizhuang: Liked her but I have to admit that she just felt like background dressing in Zhen Huan's story (also I know this is called "The Legend of Zhen Huan" so don't come at me for disliking the intense focus on her, okay?)
Shen Shichu: Another background dressing that honestly annoyed me with his simping. Take a hint, mate.
Ling Rong: Bitch that was so insecure and took it out on everyone around her and lived her days being a pawn to someone else. I hated her ending so much like the most anticlimactic thing ever, man.........
Honnette: I liked her <3
Estime: I liked her :)
Joie: Deserved more time to shine. Unfortunate because I can tell I would have really liked her had she been put in a better show.
Empress Dowager: She existed, I guess? I liked her actress but her character barely did much for me to be excited about so she ended up dying pretty forgettably. She also didn't seem even slightly shaken up Meizhuang's untimely demise. That threw me off big time.
Everyone else: probably forgettable idk I'm getting tired of typing lmao.


In conclusion: Go watch the Story of Yanxi Palace instead <3 (which I'd rate a 7.5-8.0 btw if anyone was wondering).

Read More

JunPo Heart That Skips Ever Getting a Beat

I am usually not a fan of reviews that are made when barely half of a show has come out or when 3/4 is only out, because at that point you ought to just wait it out before making a review. My The Heart Killers review was an exception to this rule because that series has been dropped and is beyond repair. However, this time I feel compelled to make a premature review because I think I can say with certainty that this is not a show for me.

I'll start with my classic pros and cons list, then go into more detail afterward.

Pros:
- Production was pretty. I am a sucker for vibrant colors and this one used quite a few. And of course, a show with idols will make them look bedazzled and pleasing to the eyes. So, + Points for that.
- Not set in a high school or university as the setting. It is set in an actual workplace.
- Nontoxic couple that actually tries to have communication and my issue with miscommunication pet peeve was not being stepped on.
- Male comradery with the MARS group. While they could feel stiff at times, I still did laugh at some of their little group interactions quite a bit.
- Reinforces the idea that although Thame is from a popular group and is well loved in his company for his success he is still a coworker just like Po and there shouldn't be a power imbalance.
- Mini twist of Jun actually caring about Thame even though it was at first painted as him being an antagonist.
- A main character that can ACTUALLY help further the plot.
- It presents the idea of the pain the one that leaves could feel rather than just making the one(s) left behind an eternal victim.
- Pepper. I just liked him the most out of the entire cast of characters.
- No unnecessarily misogynistic portrayals of women nor are they treated as bitchy exes that can't take "no" as an answer.
- I get to see Sammy and Drake a moderate amount as side characters. I missed them.

Cons:
- The main two are kind of too simple relationship and character wise as the story goes on. I like my romances to be a bit chaotic or questionable, so this one was just not formulated for me evidently.
- This might be just a me thing, but I actually wanted the idea of sexuality to be brought up rather than just a one-off line of "he likes tiny girls" (in which that should probably be reworded because it sounds diddy coded). I am obviously not a fan of homophobia but I wanted his close friends to question if he had always liked guys, and especially wanted him to seem at least a little conflicted with himself about it.
- The bandmates join back a little too fast. I was hoping for more conflict between them about that. Somehow Pepper was the most believable about it than the others and he technically showed up with the least amount of effort required to drag his ass back to the squad house.
- The main romance is just too boring and takes up a big part of the show; especially after the gang is reunited again.
- The idol part of the story started to lose my interest the more it went on. I cared less and less for their future because only about half of the group has any real relevancy.
- Thame seems to lose any of his internal conflict that made me like him so much in ep 1 a little too fast.
- Thame's jealousy annoyed me.
- They teased JunPo, only to completely disregard it just as fast and it made me question if Jun even actually confirmed liked Po or not.
- Baifern seems to almost not exist past like the first two episodes and I feel like she shouldn't just exist to be the initial quest giver.
- Cringe rapping in ep like 4. I understand that Thame was meant to be wrecked verbally for the sake of the plot, but I just don't like rap all that much so I was only really enjoying the setting rather than the music. The mint haired person also pissed me off because the logic that idols can't be real musicians or even rappers is so fucking dumb that I cannot believe people actually think this in real life. Do they actually? I really have no idea personally at all.
- I agree with some others that some of the acting isn't that good. I see others saying that William is fantastic for a rookie, but I just don't quite see it. I think he did alright, just not beyond alright. Beautiful voice, though.


The characters:
Po: I mean I just think he is kind of lacking personality wise. He had a few moments that shined with cheekiness like when he laughed at Jun, but then he goes back to feeling like a self-insert in a Wattpad that coincidentally has two idols going after him (as someone in the comments on Youtube pointed out).
Thame: I liked him at first because you could tell he was a troubled soul and it indicated a more complex personality that contrasted with the expected idol persona everyone sees. But then he seems to actually just be this fantasy guy that is almost perfect and always thinking of the protagonist. His jealousy also felt misplaced because of how his writing past the first two episodes was. I usually don't like intense jealousy plots to begin with, so maybe I'm biased, but I really didn't like this one for the simple reason that it felt misplaced and reeeally unnecessary because it was obvious to the audience and literally every other character that Po would not choose literally anyone over Thame.
Baifern: I miss her. Bring her baaaack other than a damn phone call every once in 5 episodes. Seeing Ciize makes me nostalgic because I swear I see her in every other thai show that I watch.
Jun: I actually like him the second most because he adds the much needed drama to keep me somehow watching for 8 episodes, but now that it seems his motives are found out and he has conceded going after Po to Thame he will probably be sidelined unfortunately. And I like mischievous characters too. He was such a homewrecker.
Pepper: I liked him the most. He is gorgeous, kind, understanding, unproblematic, and the best of all: mature. I liked that he was the problem solver compared to Jun's problem amplifier. I also like that he is in a confirmed and steady relationship with a woman because you rarely get to see those that much in these kind of shows unless the woman or him are problem starters.
Dylan: started out kind of interesting with his love-hate relationship towards Thame, but then loses that the moment he switches up and joins his band suuuper fast. It would have made more sense if he marinated on the thought that maybe he abandoned Thame first by jumping to conclusions and not hearing him out before leaving. But no, he gives up on his goal of joining the rapper underground super fast. That diss track of his towards mint hair was satisfying af though because he annoyed me SO much.
Nano: I literally don't have anything to say about him other than he gives the vibes of those cliche BL bottom tropes that people love to write in manga and manhwa. His voice also felt far too cutesy for me. I think maybe his actor was trying too hard or something. I was messing around guessing Nano would be my bias in the first ep when Baifern asked Po and oh boy was I wrong because he is NO ONE's favorite because he is such a filler character for their band collection arc.

ThamePo romance: I seriously found them so bland. I understand that they are objectively a good pairing and that I should probably sense the chemistry that all those other commentors did, except I just didn't really vibe with them past like ep 2. I liked how human and multi-faceted Thame seemed in eps 1-2, especially his reactions to some of the weird things Po said/did. It felt surprisingly realistic of how someone would actually react in that situation if it took place in real life rather than romance land. I liked how their awkwardness suited each other in those two episodes. Then, it just seems they started like each other a ton more within the next few episodes and I could not see why. It definitely doesn't help that the pacing confused me because I swear this is all taking place in like two weeks or something. Now they feel like a Wattpad writer's attempt at "fluffy boyfriends UwU".

JunPo (lost potential) romance: I somehow have second lead syndrome on this one. There is no reason for me to like them more than ThamePo other than the facts that ThamePo is boring (to me), this is a bickering couple trope, semi-enemies to lovers, Po seems to show more expression in his scenes with Jun, and the fact that I'm messy af. This was probably the only time I ever wished for a love triangle to happen in order to spice a continually bland story up. They didn't have any physical chemistry at all either, but I just enjoyed their interactions more than any other character interactions. They definitely will work better as frenemies than lovers anyway.

The pacing: I am so confused of the time frame of this show. It all has to happen within 3 months because of the final concert, right? Yet, it feels like the first 8 episodes have only passed about two weeks tops. It would make the fact that two guys fell for Po within that time feel waaaay too forced in that case. Too Wattpad-esc.

Rewatch/Finish: I think I'll probably just skim the next 5 episodes. I've lost virtually all interest in the plot now that I have a gut feeling that Jun will become the next member to the "we got sidelined after like one semi-important plot point we starred in!" band this show is forming. If this show manages to magically change my perception of it by the end I'll make another review of it.



Conclusion: I understand how other people could appreciate this; I just wasn't one of them, unfortunately. Unlike some other reviews of mine, I actually believe that this one is not inherently bad nor should it be treated as bad (unless the remaining episodes have an identity crisis and proceed to crash out like *certain shows* do). I also never really had high expectations to like this one either because I had a gut feeling it wouldn't be what I wanted in the end, so my expectations weren't that crashed or anything like that.

Would I recommend? Only if you like idol plots and simple, healthier romance with no real drama or spice.

Read More

The Common Sense Killers.....

I have no idea what hex this show put on me to keep me watching for 9 episodes because it is simply one of the most nonsensical stories I have ever seen. Although, I will admit that sometimes the lack of basic sense did make me smile.....so basically it was just a slight guilty pleasure I guess.

I normally do a pros and cons list with reviews because I think it gets my ideas across the best, but I think just explaining the nonsense will express my thoughts far better than if I just put them in a simple list.

The Hitman Aspect: I cannot believe how little sense there is put into the kills that the duo commit; I audibly asked "where are there gloves at?" because you would think that professional HITMEN would be more discreet and at least have the decency to buy latex gloves when touching murder locations and dead bodies. Then there is the issue of them murdering in pretty public areas....they were gonna shoot a man at a party venue with CHILDREN AROUND. See, I wouldn't have an issue with them being morally gray enough to murk a guy around child witnesses except for the fact that this show looooves to force the idea that Fadel and Bison aren't actually that bad of people. Despite the fact that they murder people......which would constitute them as serial killers.....the issue of moral dilemmas of whether their victims deserved it or not could have been truly interesting and thought provoking, but there doesn't seem to be much room for depth in that aspect of the show. Maybe I'm just being too harsh with my expectations since I've recently joined in with the resurfacing Dexter Frenzy and been stuck on a Dexter high.

The Handling of Morality: This part may have been my least favorite because I could not fathom why it felt like they were trying to push the audience to thinking that Bison was justified in KIDNAPPING AND THREATENING KANT and not to mention how he even "joked" about killing Kant's little brother to Kant's face as well. In addition, Bison got so heated over Kant having a pushy previous hookup pop up in his life uninvited and his fuss over Kant not disclosing the fact that he used to steal cars in his past years before meeting Bison. Like, Kant stole cars to PROVIDE for him and his little brother when they were emotionally and financially distraught after the sudden death of both of their parents;
Bison: "but why did you not tell meeee??? Do you not value me????"
Me: YOU MURDER PEOPLE
-and not him acting all victim about Kant not disclosing this past and him working as a police informant to be able to continue to provide for his brother after blud literally CHOSE not to tell Kant himself that he MURDERS PEOPLE!!! I know this sounds like a Kant apologist review, but I swear I have beef with him soon too.
+ can we talk about how poorly that scenario of the pedophile gym teacher was handled??? It was good that they portrayed the guy as a creep and scumbag, but it felt too cartoony and it felt like it was supposed to be semi-comedic. I simply did not care for how they just let him walk away without notifying the authority or school board either.

The Characters:

Kant: he started off interesting as it could have been really touching to see his sense of morality decline as he begins to sympathize with a killer despite knowing that the police are backing him to arrest said killer if he or his brother become targets instead. It could also have been compelling to see Kant feeling a subtle sense of sympathy for Bison committing crime because he himself committed crime when he was younger as a means to survive; this could cause Kant to assume the best of Bison's intent and feel he must be forced into the kind of life also.....but it just turned into a battle of 'which crime is worse', which is serial murder; obviously. He also always felt kind of detached from his brother, so much so that it seemed like he only cared about Bison over his own brother and best friend; style. Oh boy, where do I begin with this? This man set his friend up with a LITERAL SERIAL MURDERER yet never told him this until it was already too late. I could not fathom how Style stayed his friend after this.....like is bro's car THAT attractive to you? Enough to forgive him POSSIBLY SACRIFICING YOUR LIFE???? But then they try and force this whole "Kant puts his friend's life before his own" in episode 8 and I was just not believing it. Miss me with that bs.

Bison: I honestly feel conflicted about him. It felt like his character was all over the place with how I was supposed to view him: was he the sultry assassin? Was he the pouty little brother with a shotgun older brother? Was he a possessive and unhinged lover that would point a gun at his not-even-yet boyfriend's ex-hookup? Was he a secretly kind soul that wanted out of the daunting hitman life? Was he the guy that wanted to dominate Kant extensively? Or was he just the guy that wanted to eternally play victim and find new ways to make Kant look worse than him despite their VERY differing circumstances? I really didn't know what to think of him because I thought that the mischievous and sexy counterpart of him was encaptivating, and I saw the slight glimpses behind the curtain to a better version of the show whenever he acted unhinged and wielded a gun around. I personally believe he would have been far more of a favorite of mine and unique in BL Land if they stopped tip-toeing around him being morally ambiguous and just dived head-in with his mood swings and femme fatale vibe. I love characters like that, and lord knows that Khaotung could pull it off with his dazzling innocent face portraying a sexy and alluring bad boy. But no....we instead got a mismatch of different personas that just couldn't mash together well at all. I lament over what could have been for his character.

Style: he was a glorified stalker. I mean I did appreciate how he seemed the least morally questionable out of the central 4, but I still had to question why they wanted to root for him getting the guy when his preferred methods were intense stalking and harassment. Oh and his intent was to use Fadel in order to get his (undeserving of the title) best friend's family heirloom car. He did make me laugh at times so I can at least admit I appreciated that, but I also could not believe him when he said he was a stud that got tons of bitches; like, where??? I think it might have been because the actor couldn't portray that charisma, but I'm not certain. I also don't the reveal to him about Fadel being a killer was before he found out last second. I thought it would have made things far more interesting to see Style grapple with that fear and made the show seem 100% more serious. To be fair, Style does act scared at first when he finds out from Kant, but for all of 5 minutes. It also didn't help that in the following episodes his fear was hard to believe because of the acting performance. He just seemed like an oblivious guy that had zero survival skills whatsoever other than to try to rizz up his captor at the worst times.

Fadel: he was my favorite out of the 4, but that's not saying much to be honest. I liked the way his actor portrayed him and I thought that Fadel's rare smiles were the closest this show ever got to 'killing my heart'. He also seemed to have the most logic in the beginning, which I respected. We needed a voice of reason in this kind of plot.....but then we lost him......to the forced romance. I liked how he didn't give in to the persistent and clingy Style at first because he honestly had to no reason to, but once he did, he lost his air of maturity and it felt like his caution was compromised to him now saying the bs of "I trust you 80%" like, huh? I would not trust a manic stalker even 2%.... so they washed away his paranoid nature and replaced it with him not wanting to fool the two dudes into thinking his brother and him are head over heels for them only to THEN PLAN TO KILL THEM LIKE 2 DAYS LATER LIKE WHAT WAS EVEN THE POINT THEN!? The fooling was so obvious that even the lovesick Kant could see through that ish; but I digress.


Now onto the ***Romance***: I hated it. Okay, that's too harsh; I disliked it. It felt waaaaay too forced, and if there is one thing I hate more than anything in a romance it is a FORCED romance. That and obnoxious miscommunications like when a character finds out they are ill and decides to make their lover hate them and then skip town instead of simply working through it with them like a functioning couple would (side-eyeing The Story of Pearl Girl with that one). What can I say, I'm a sucker for slow-burns. I also didn't understand why Kant fell for Bison the way he did or why Fadel would even give Style the time of day to the point that Style was able to bounce back from finding out his lover is a SERIAL KILLER within DAYS. I also thought that the whole BDSM stuff between Kant and Bison was super cringe and not sexy at all. I'm not even dissing including BDSM, it's just that this portrayal was less appetizing than 50 Shades of Gray's was. I also didn't see why Fadel beating Style up right after they slept together was necessary. I'm not even a hater of them adding questionable aspects to relationships if it fits within a story's narrative (in which I believe it could have here if they were faithful to the idea of hitmen leading double lives and finding out their lovers lied to them and used them), but it just felt like a random reason to include abuse to the red flags of Fadel x Style. I think there are better ways to deal with a petty stalker that has negative rizz than to beat them up. Just felt like needless violence in a show that somehow needed more thought-out violence in it. Funny how that works, huh?


Now onto other aspects:
Acting: First and Khaotung are always excellent, I'm sure they were here too, I just couldn't fully experience it because I was too busy rolling my eyes at the absurdity of how their characters were written. I do still love them in other works a lot though, and I suspect I'll be watching many more shows of them. This was the first show of Joong and Dunk I had ever seen, so I have no idea how much they have improved (though I've read from others that it is quite a lot), though I really have to compliment Joong in this. I really liked his portrayal of Fadel and Fadel's strict attitude and rare instances of sorrow and joy. They were the closest I ever came to feeling legit anything of respect for any of the characters. Dunk on the other hand was not that good in this role. I will admit he did have some funny moments, but I just could not for the life of me see his supposed "charm" he loved to boast so much about. Maybe that was supposed to be the point and it just went over my head, but I still think there is no excuse for the unbelievable emotional scenes from him. I couldn't tell if I was tuning in to an abusive relationship or a comedic bit; it was that jarring. He is still gorgeous though and I mean no hate to him as I have hope he will genuinely improve as his acting career goes on.

Music: it was alright. Not too astounding, nor too underwhelming. It just was. I do remember that a single song did make me start to dance a little bit though, so it's slightly above average for me.

Production: it could look pretty good at times like when Bison was seducing the target in episode 1, then look unappealing like whatever episode 8 had going on. I don't know how they managed to make an island set look unattractive to me, but they did. I probably just got my hopes up after the beauty that was I Told Sunset About You's island sets. It gave me whiplash with how much I thought certain scenes had downgraded, along with the shaky camera angles that were not evoking the tension in me they were probably expecting. It's a shame that the most appealing sets were the ones in clubs that only appeared once in a Vanitas blue moon.

Plot: you already know how I feel about this if you've read this far faithfully. No extra words are needed to express my disappointment with this clusterfuck of missed potential and poor character writing.

Rewatch Value: I could only really see myself rewatching this in the future as a drinking game with my friends or sibling as a means to waste time together. We would not be there with the expectation of enjoyment of the main plot.




In conclusion: I don't think I'll ever pick this show back up again unless I planned to skim the last three episodes like I did with episode 9. It was that much of a disappointment that it's left a bad aftertaste in my mouth. Yet another shining example of a romance plot that could have been more if they dipped a little less into cliche romance tropes and a little more into a mature concept that includes romance as a subplot rather than the main plot. Thank you to anyone that listened to this TedTalk lmao. I yapped a bit too much. Sheeeeesh.

Read More