Feardorcha

Well. Hold on to your butt.

Draw me like one of your French girls, Khram.

I mean, I'm not complaining—Max is a beautifully proportioned man and I fully support any reason for him to take his clothes off—but that visual had me laughing so hard.

Every single character in this series including the extras needs therapy and a course in interpersonal communication skills. I fucking love it.

This series does not need 16 episodes.

Tweedle-Dumb, Tweedle-Dumber, and Tweedle-Dumbest travelling Korea and ineptly doing good is a cute premise. Perhaps that's why the opening of episode nine, while as ridiculous as the rest of this trainwreck of a series, was the most fun had so far. It's a self-aware, intentionally comedic scene, one that leans in to the show's stupid and just runs with it. It reminded me briefly and very superficially of "Rak Diao", and it made me smile.

Episode ten made me wonder if this was ever meant to be a BL. The tone, style, and flow of many scenes in this series suggest this script began life as someone's personal self-growth drama about coming to terms with the past but then a studio head demanded boys snogging and the writers' room just went off the rails. It's truly astonishing how bad this series is at everything it is trying to do, from comedy to intrigue to especially romance. Just...wow.

All that pants-wetting and sweaty armpits over...that? I'm not saying an individual's experience of trauma is valid only under certain conditions but after enduring all those nothing episodes to find out why Uno is so terrified of dogs only to be given that backstory, well...I have never been so disappointed at a child not being mauled by a rabid animal.

Does this café even do any marketing? I know the poor finances are the main reason they agreed to do the variety show but there is never a customer in the place. If Dae Byeol just wanted a career surrounded by dogs, he should've opened a kennel. Hell, he has enough real estate to convert that place into a luxury doggie daycare, and a veterinarian BFF who can provide exclusive recommendations to a prime audience. It seems so unnecessary for him to be on the struggle bus running a business with such thin margins when restaurateuring isn't even the point.

I get that Shirasaki is supposed to be a self-conscious, awkward sod but has he never read books, watched movies, attended the theatre, or just...met other Humans? The man has not only failed to evidence any skill or talent at his craft, which at its root is simply an exercise in imagination, it's truly a wonder he's managed to survive on Earth at all.

Surely, he only got the role because Hayama made it a condition of his own participation. Or maybe Shirasaki's manager has dirt on the director. I simply do not believe Shirasaki would've been cast opposite such a big star, given how unsuited at the job he appears to be. Someone calling in a favour or enacting light blackmail is the only believable reason he got that role. He could be a competent artist while still being nervous about his potential big break, there's no reason to make him so inept as to destroy all suspension of disbelief.

I mean, I'm not entirely sure why Hayama is such a big star but he can at least emote without looking like he's going to wet himself, so he's definitely leagues above Shirasaki.

The first half of this series was phenomenal. The second half was a steady decline toward comparative mediocrity. Not to say it was bad but the first half was just so very good, the second simply paled in comparison. The romance was ultimately the least interesting part of the story, for me, and felt like it lacked, in the end, the emotional weight and raw dynamic of other elements of the story. Not sure what happened with the second half but the series just didn't finish as strongly as it began. It seemed to lose...not so much steam as gravity.

Nonetheless, it is absolutely worth the watch. The production was generally solid, excepting occasionally baffling editing choices, and the cast was an absolute delight.

Of all the ridiculous in this series, what's testing my suspension of disbelief the most is that a veterinarian, a professional dog lover, and an idiot with empathy of gold have all completely missed that Uno has some form of cynophobia. Dae Byeol even seems convinced Uno gets his jollies harming dogs, based on a limited interaction where Uno spent most of it looking like a spooked deer and as if a dog hair landing on his arm would've made him piss his designer pants.

Of all the annoyingly weird bits, that is the most annoyingly weird to me.

Mew was never a good actor but I can't tell if the issue here is Uno is meant to be a closed-off character or Mew filmed the whole series while gravely constipated.

The vet and the agent are doing the most trying to make this engaging. At least when they're on screen it feels like something is happening, that there is a story somewhere in all this nothing.

Nothing Por did as a gang boss, a father, or a sentient Human being made a lick of damn sense. Who were you, Por? What on Earth was going on in your brain before you put a bullet in it? Strange, strange man.

It's all so very retro.

Middling series, neither phenomenal nor horrendous. Decent enough way to spend a few hours but, honestly, "Hellbound" and "Sweet Home" offer up similar thrills with characters and story threads that are simply more engaging. I had hoped this series would explore more of the invisible maker who decided to do something so drastic to stop the ecological menace/existential threat that is Humankind but I suppose they're saving that for part two. Or, maybe it's fundamentally irrelevant, an apatheistic theme underlying the narrative. "Hellbound" handles theological underpinnings better too.

Anyway. Watchable, would recommend for a chill day on the sofa.

(Note: I haven't read the manga, watched the anime, or seen the Japanese movies. I am judging this Korean expansion pack on its own merits, and it was fine. Just...fine.)

Same. And when I first saw the poster, I was briefly excited thinking Fluke would finally have decent hair in a series.

Granted, I've never secretly knocked up a mistress and then abandoned her and our child for a couple decades while waiting on my cancer-stricken wife to die but if I wanted to build a relationship with that now grown child, "Meet me or else I'll destroy your life" would not be my approach. But that's just me.

I also appreciate the visuals here. I like pretty-boys well enough, but I do so enjoy when leads get to look and feel seasoned. There is a sensual sizzle about Senpai, in particular, that I think is directly connected to his age and appearance. Delicious.

The dead fish kisses are almost whiplash confusing. I'm trying to put them down to gestures toward cultural sensibilities about PDA but then they'll do it in private just before trying to swallow one another's faces. Perhaps it's like a polite knock on a door: "Hello, pardon, I'm about to try to suck your lips off your face, just FYI" and then you go in for the kill.

I think the fact that the series is so very good is why this misstep was so jarringly disappointing. But, perhaps it can be redeemed. We shall see.

Not a single person on this thread has said one word about NC scenes, or even mentioned physical intimacy. Why does that topic keep coming up whenever even slight deviation from total approval of a BL series is made?

There are many quality, character-driven BLs and BLs with quality characters out there; this is absolutely one of them. That does not, however, make this series immune from criticism of story elements. In this particular case, I feel the separation was mishandled, and a lost opportunity to further develop Yuan's character.

That's what disappointed me. I was eager to have them separate because I wanted Yuan to build a life that didn't orbit around Wei Qian. I was hoping we would see him do that, and do it well and with every intention of moving on, ultimately to have those experiences reinforce for him the nature of his love in an Adult context.

I was hoping to see him grow beyond what looked in many ways like puppy love/hero worship/obligation in a pubescent teen rescued from the streets. While I'm glad we saw Wei Qian's quiet self-analysis and emotional progress (and it was lovingly handled, from the subtle to the overwhelming), I didn't sense any evolution in Yuan. It's difficult to believe he had any kind of journey of self-discovery.

Maybe we'll see more in latter episodes but the preview suggests to me we're done with this part of the story and that's that.

You responded to my comment. You're free to stop responding if you're confused.

I never once said I didn't like the series (quite the opposite, actually). What I wanted from the separation was for Yuan to become a self-realized individual. To find and define himself outside of his love for Wei Qian. My hopes for the episode were to see him making friends, exploring hobbies, pursuing a career, going on dates, building a life for himself. In other words, actually trying to move on, and discovering in that process what elements of his love were true and deep, and not rooted in hero worship of, familiarity with, or proximity to Wei Qian.

Had that happened, I might find validity in the notion that he's accepted rejection and/or he's seeking to maintain familial ties. As of this episode, and the preview, however, I find no substantive evidence for that being the case. It may be what the script intended but the episode simply didn't sell it.