Fondueforkharpoon

Not for me, I'm sad to say

God, I feel really mean giving this show the lowest rating out of all the shows I've reviewed, but this just missed the mark so thoroughly for me.

I usually love slow-paced, character-focused stories with an emphasis on human connection and the varied queer experience, but personally I got none of that from this show.
I couldn't really connect with any of the characters, as sweet and harmless as they are.
The visuals and music were alright but nothing specifically stood out to me.
I didn't really like the pacing or any of the character arcs, they all just left me feeling indifferent at best and dissatisfied at worst.

But it's not like the show particularly does anything wrong either. Almost all of my gripes with it come down to taste and what didn't work for me might just be perfect to someone else.
And I'm really glad that this show seems to have a small but dedicated audience that clearly got a lot out of the story and really seem to love it with all their heart. It genuinely makes me happy to know this show is making someone's life a little better even if it did nothing for me personally

So if you like sweet, low-drama high school romances or Thai dramas that don't feel like an endless parade of product placements (not to rag on those types of shows too much, they've got their perks too) then I'd suggest giving this a shot.
There's clearly something worthwhile hidden in this show if some people adore it this much - who knows, maybe you'll find it even if I couldn't.

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A boss, an employee, and a whole lot of feelings

I wanted to love this one, I really did. I'm a sucker for a good office romance, but something about this just didn't hit quite right.
There isn't really any specific thing that's done wrong or any story-telling choices that I found offensive. Hell, I even quite liked the characters, especially Seo Ji Yeon. But despite it all, I just couldn't get into it.
Maybe it was the drunken kiss between the two leads (which I'd go so far as to call dub-con, despite how wholly consensual and reciprocal their relationship is afterwards) that put me off, or maybe it was Kim Jong Chan's somewhat exaggerated innocence.
Whatever the case, it simply didn't work for me.
If you're looking for a simple office romance with a happy (and admittedly very sweet) ending, you might find this an enjoyable way to spend 120 minutes. If you want something more complex then I'd give this one a miss.

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Utterly charming, a pure delight!

Rarely have I been more pleasantly surprised by a show I went into watching completely blind!
Right off the bat I will say that if you are looking for something deep or dramatic, or a story that really dives into vampire lore then this is not the show for you.
However, if you are in the market for a story that really understands how silly, camp, and queer vampires inherently are (I like to call this the What We Do In The Shadows approach to vampirism) while also delivering grounded and humanising portrayals of its characters, then you are very much in the right place.

Due to its relatively short runtime the show really has to strip down its story to the bare essentials, leaving only what is most important. This, for the most part, works greatly in its favour - putting focus solely on strong characterisations and important plot points while leaving no time for unnecessarily drawn out conflicts or melodrama.
I was in fact shocked by how much time the show sets aside for slow, quiet moments between its characters, and how skillfully it weaves important plot elements into these scenes, conveying all that is needed without having to hurry through multiple, slapped-together exposition dumps.
The only time the story feels rushed is, somewhat unfortunately, during the climactic final two episodes, but personally I didn't find this particularly bothersome.

All in all this is an utterly delightful vampiric romp (though it barely concerns itself with such trivial things as lore or backstory) with deeply charming characters and a fantastic, slightly off-beat sense of humour which celebrates its characters in all their camp glory without ever being so over-the-top as to take away from more emotional moments.
Two hours very well spent, I cannot recommend it highly enough.

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The colours! The needless melodrama! The genuine emotions!!

I had the time of my life with this show, let me tell you.
At first it intrigued me by taking an age-old soulmate trope (age-old to fanfiction writers anyway - thank you for your service, gentlefolk), giving it a bit of spit and polish, and turning it into an actual TV show.
Then it entertained me with its wonderful, over-the-top teen angst. When you're young all of your emotions are just way too big for your body to contain, every moment of joy is magnified, every failure evokes utter despair, and love... well, that feels just a little bit like the end of the world.
Really good stories know how to lean into this and provide thoughtful, realistic portrayals of youth that audiences of all ages can enjoy. Best-selling stories know how to take these emotions to their extremes and that's how you get delightful abominations like Twilight.
This show, I thought, is going to be gay soulmate Twilight and I am here for every ludicrous second of it!

But then, finally, the series completely hooked me by somehow being none and all of the above at the same time.
The plot is indeed something straight out of a fanfiction, but the general tone, pacing, and writing make it all seem fresh and new.
The characters and their emotions are intense, dramatic, and utterly, disarmingly sincere. Forget being shielded by a thick layer of sheer mirth, this show punched its way straight through all my silly, goofy expectations and demanded I actually care about its characters.
Yes, the story is still somewhat ridiculous and over-the-top, there's unresolved plot-threads galore, and most of the angst could have been avoided if only everyone involved just went to therapy.
But the characters feel real and there is such genuine care, love, and humour woven into the script it actually makes you sit up and listen. Someone clearly had a vision for this story, they knew what they were making and they pulled it off exactly as planned.
But why, why this combination of deep care and utter ludicrousness?
Well, to me it all starts to make sense if you consider the show as a parable. And I don't just mean the clear thematic metaphors of queer love and homophobia, though lord knows there's those as well.
No, I mean the drama as a whole. The vast and unfamiliar world we're thrust into and expected to accept unquestioningly. The extreme highs and lows of emotions, the hurried pacing, the picture-perfect happy ending, the COLOURS.
It's a parable, and a damn effective one at that, about fear and desire and a desperate, clawing search for love.
It teaches us that, though freedom, love, and identity can feel overwhelming and all-consuming if you've been deprived of them, there is nothing more important than opening yourself up to them anyway and that, once you do, you won't be swept away by some uncontrollable force, no, life just sort of... continues. It becomes ordinary, beautifully mundane even.

Maybe I'm reading to much into it all, maybe this really is gay soulmate Twilight and if you enjoy it that way, that's fine too.
But to me this is a really rather clever little drama which uses a highly stylised format to incisively analyse the terrors of love and desire from a distinctly queer viewpoint.
There are honestly endless ways to enjoys this series so give it a try - watch it and see, maybe you'll get something entirely different and unique out of the experience.

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A true genderqueer show? - Some thoughts from a trans person

Let me start off by saying I have extremely conflicting feelings about this one.
The production value is great, as is to be expected from most Taiwanese shows these days.
The casting is good as well, and the acting is honestly my favourite part of the entire thing and the biggest reason why I managed to watch until the end.

But none of that, to me, made up for the way this show approaches genderqueer people's lives and intersex people's experiences in particular. Now, I am not intersex myself so I recommend you take what I say with a grain of salt, but as a trans person myself I do think I am somewhat more qualified than the average viewer to judge the story's take on intersexuality and trans-ness as a concept.
I do highly commend the writers and producers for attempting to not only do something different from the average gay romance, but to address the struggles of a highly marginalised group of people that are almost never talked about in media.
But as good as I believe their intentions were, they completely missed the mark.

If we approach this show from the perspective that Amber is a trans man who, while he did get diagnosed as intersex, didn't claim that identity but rather chose to use the opportunity this diagnosis provided to start his transition, there are certain plot points that make a lot of sense.
Amber's family moving away, the endless doctor's appointments, the deliberate cutting off of all contact to his former friends, etc.
And there are, admittedly, one or two moments in the show that I really connected with. Amber tearing up over the orange cake he loved as a kid is a great portrayal of the complex, heartbreaking joy of a trans person reclaiming bits of their childhood that they thought they lost due to their transition.
But that's where the good ends. Nothing about the way Amber interacts with his friends and family, with his surroundings in general, and certainly nothing about the way his friends interact with him seems true to what life is actually like as a trans individual. Of course there is no singular, one-size-fits-all trans experience, but there is a difference between depicting an authentic trans character and depicting a character who is trans for plot reasons only.
The way Amber is constantly misgendered by the people around him after it's revealed that he is in fact Wen-Wen - that alone made me so deeply viscerally uncomfortable that I just can't feasibly imagine Amber as a trans man.
I know (since I was kindly informed by a commenter replying to this review) that this misgendering is due to choices the translators made, since in Mandarin there are no gendered pronouns, which does make it easier to stomach, but unfortunately still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Most international viewers (like myself) likely won't know about Mandarin pronouns and therefore have only the translations to go by and those, as previously stated, set an uncomfortable precedent.
This is not the show's fault by any means but should still be taking into consideration in my opinion.

So, the trans man theory is out. What else is there?
If we approach this show from the perspective that Amber is an intersex person who got diagnosed late in childhood rather than at birth, then there is an immediate, massive red flag that gets raised: the way Amber's transition is handled.
Yes, some intersex people choose to transition to a binary gender identity, but that doesn't erase the long, dark history intersex people have with the medical industry. To this day intersex children are often forced to transition to either male or female, mostly through surgical intervention - so-called "normalising procedures".
These experiences are extremely traumatising to the intersex people who go through them and the continued prevalence of such procedures is a clear human rights violation (and is even classified as such by the UN)
So the fact that Amber, who was forced to transition and repeatedly states how traumatic and agonising the entire process was for him, even if he is admittedly content with or at least indifferent towards his current gender identity as a man, has nothing but good things to say about the family who put him through such an ordeal and the show never so much as attempts to condemn forcible transitions, is at best a massive oversight on the show makers' part and at worst endorses the continued violence against intersex people.

I don't mean to sound inflammatory, but these issues are deeply serious. So even assuming that the show runners had nothing but good intentions, what their efforts resulted in is a show about sensitive queer issues written by people with little experience in such matters for an audience who are largely unfamiliar with these topics.
And while I do think that it is important for there to be shows about queer people's issues that are written to appeal to and be understood by non-queer audiences in order to educate them, this isn't one of those shows.

All in all I cannot in good conscience recommend this show. Yes, it has some good, even great, elements, but I believe that they are massively outweighed by its serious flaws. I'd suggest skipping this drama and, instead, looking for some genuinely thoughtful and well-researched stories about trans and intersex people. There aren't all that many, but they do exist and they are worth your time more than, I am sad to say, this show is.

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Brave enough to be silly!

I love me a show that is populated and driven entirely by delightful weirdos and this one did not disappoint.
The characters are obviously a highlight (my favourites being Hyejin, my queen, and Giseob, whom my notes only refer to as "the human paper shredder of great and roiling emotions") and the sheer bisexual chaos depicted on screen is so glorious the show is worth watching for that alone.
But beyond the superb humour there are threads of something deeper, subtle explorations of complex themes like love hindered by shame, and the lengths we go to to gain even a tiny shred of love, often changing ourselves so much we become unrecognisable. The show clearly has a very solid grasp of what it means to be human and what it means specifically for its characters, and this only serves to heighten the impact of both comedic and emotional scenes.
My only real complaint is that I wish that Balgeum and Inho's story had been more fleshed out, but even as is I can't say I was truly dissatisfied in any way.
In short I highly recommend this show to anyone looking for a slightly unusual yet spectacularly effective romcom with just the right amount of depth to make it meaningful.

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Good drama, bad actor

Let me first clarify that my positive review of this show in no way means I condone the actions of Kamimura Kenshin. It is of course often very difficult to separate the art from the artist, but since he only represents one part of this whole production, and the rest of the cast and crew are not at fault, I think it is possible to judge the show on its own merits.

This show is a lovely look into the difficult lives of two very different teenagers and how they find solace and connection with one another. It's very well written, the performances are all spot-on, and I really enjoy the tight editing and well-thought out pacing. It's also an interesting (if sometimes unfortunately shallow) look into the cycle of abuse and those who perpetuate it.
The highlight for me personally though, is the relationship development between the two main characters. Their intense fascination with one another, the anxiety-inducing see-sawing between open affection and closed-off guardedness, their tentative yet earnest attempts to support one another - it all comes together perfectly into an achingly realistic depiction of the lives of two lonely queer teens which will certainly hit close too home for many queer viewers.

The one thing I wish they had done differently is the fact that none of the abusers in the show ever face real consequences for their actions, nor do we get to see the characters ever directly stand up to them. However I am also aware that that would have left less time for building the characters' relationship, so I can't begrudge the film-makers this choice.

All in all I highly recommend this show to anyone looking for a good romance drama which touches on some deeper, more difficult topics, or to those looking for a touching, yet largely realistic coming of age story.

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Love and Joy against Fear and Regret

When I finished watching this show I had to go sit and stare at a wall for a bit to process everything that happened.
It put my soul through the emotional meat grinder before slowly stitching it back together again.
All the praise this series has earned due to its script, cinematography, and performances are more than deserved, it truly is a masterpiece. A deeply thoughtful exploration of fear, grief, and how those things can make people curl in on themselves, to deaden themselves to the world and stop reaching for hope. An incisive look into how finding joy and love in the small aspects of life can help people break out of that shell and move on. It's all perfectly realised and I truly have nothing negative to say about it whatsoever.
My only wish would have been to see more of Juyeon's joy and exuberance from the first half carry over to the second half to balance out the heavier moments a bit more; however I fully understand why they didn't and still think the story is perfectly executed.

If you haven't watched it already, what are you waiting for? You do not want to miss out on this one, trust me!
Do be aware though, that it's not a particularly light or fluffy story. It does have many incredibly sweet and fun moments, but its main topic are abuse and the psychological impact it has on those who experience, so make sure you're in a healthy head space to engage with such themes and take care of yourselves <3

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Already loved it the first time!

I've watched this series twice now and greatly enjoyed it both times (but even more the second time around when I already knew what I was in for).
It's an absolute gem of a story - grounded, thoughtful, and surprisingly funny!
The characters are extremely lovable and though their push-and-pull dynamic may have been off-putting in a lesser show, it works perfectly here.

Iwanaga is confident and cocky and pursues Miyata through blatant manipulation, but there are certain lines he does not cross. He does not force Miyata into anything he genuinely doesn't want, doesn't compromise their work together, and is very open about what he's doing and why.
Despite what Miyata believes in the beginning, Iwanaga is in fact entirely honest about his intentions and methods.
Miyata is always offered an out - if he does not want to engage with Iwanaga he can simply leave. Sure, there's a certain social pressure on him because Iwanaga is in fact his business partner, but he absolutely has the option to call their arrangement quits any time without any lasting negative consequences.
Combined with the almost desperate vulnerability that soon begins to shine through the cracks in Iwanaga's facade, this makes his antics genuinely entertaining to watch, endearing even.
Miyata meanwhile isn't afraid to push back against Iwanaga, sometimes by (rightfully) berating and admonishing him, sometimes by gleefully using Iwanaga's own methods against him and taking advantage of rules of social conduct and politeness. It's a highly engaging back-and-forth that made me laugh out loud several times, usually right before hitting me directly in the emotional gonads with thoughtful explorations of the nature of human relationships.

I also greatly enjoyed the side characters - yes, all of them, even Sugimoto. The acting is fantastic, the sound track is brilliant (the ending theme in particular is an absolute banger), and overall the immense care and effort that went into this show is apparent in every single scene.
I simply cannot recommend it enough!

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Silly Lawyers My Beloved

I'm a complete sucker for a good Silly Lawyer story (thank you Ace Attorney for irreversibly altering my brain chemistry) so it's no wonder I came running as fast as my little legs would carry me when I heard about this show.
And I was not disappointed! This show is all I had hoped it would be and more.
Is it extremely silly? Yes. (this is plus in my book)
Does the story veer into the melodramatic occasionally, especially in regards to Haruto's backstory? It sure does.
But despite (or maybe because of) that, it is also one of the most unabashedly entertaining, joyful, and simply *fun* shows I've seen in a very long time.
The characters are highly endearing, the comedy hits just right and balances well with the slightly more serious aspects of the story, the performances are absolutely perfect, and the fight scenes are shockingly well coordinated.
It's not easy to strike just the right balance between over-the-top silliness and dead-seriousness, but this show NAILS it! From Ryo's dead-pan line delivery, to Haruto's exuberant cheekiness, to Kazama inexplicably leaving a room by walking backwards while cackling maniacally - it all blends together in a way that made me genuinely laugh out loud at least once per episode.

And the most pleasant surprise of all: the queer representation is actually good! I was somewhat concerned at the beginning that Haruto's blackmail and violation of Ryo's privacy would lead to a potentially iffy relationship dynamic, but this is not the case at all. The time Ryo spends at Haruto's mercy is very brief and the two go from mutually using one another to genuine affection fairly quickly. And once they are in a relationship with each other, they make it work perfectly through communication and unwavering support for one another.
It's so genuinely touching I found myself tearing up at times which I did not think possible for a show this objectively ridiculous.

In short: this show is a damn gem and I urge anyone looking for a good romcom to go watch it already! It has court room drama, delicious food, and a herd of cacti being treated with the respect and adoration they deserve, everything the heart desires!

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A cross-over that works

I actually really like this one! I know it's not what a lot of people imagined it would be, but personally I found it highly enjoyable nonetheless.
It gives the audience more Bad Buddy (my deeply, deeply beloved), perfectly recapturing the magic of Pat-Pran dynamic while incorporating it pretty seamlessly into the ATOTS universe, which is no mean feat considering how tonally and thematically different the two shows are.
It also helped soothe my anger over the last three ATOTS episodes a little by focusing once again on what made that show great to begin with: Tian, Phu, and their complicated relationships.

It's not perfect by a long shot, some of the plot points are fairly ridiculous and, much like in the original show, the ATOTS half of the special introduces an interesting theme (how small annoyances and miscommunications can put a heavy strain on a relationship, as well as Phu's self-worth issues concerning the relationship) which it then fails to follow through on.

All in all though I think these episodes work a lot better than I expected them to and they are definitely worth watching at least once.
The ending is also pretty damn delightful, if that helps sway you.

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A show that shoots for the sky - succesfully!

Oh but I adore this show! I expected to like it just fine, but I never would have thought I'd fall as head over heels in love with it as I did. Miracles upon miracles, it even made me start to care about basketball!

From the very first episode it's clear that this series is different from other Thai productions - the lighting and cinematography are absolutely gorgeous, the script is expertly written and feels true to life, and the pacing and editing are unique but utilised to their full effect.
I've seen a lot of people complain about the show's pacing and its use of time skips and while I understand why these choices weren't everyone's cup of tea, I personally think they worked perfectly and added a lot of nuance and depth to several important story-lines.
Even the sports aspects, which I expected to enjoy the least, are well thought-out and serve to establish and advance story and characters, as well as being very engaging to watch.

If I had to sum the atmosphere of the series up in three words I'd describe it as quiet, warm, and sincere.
Instead of comedy sound effects, we get an understated, often purely visual type of humour that I personally greatly enjoy.
Instead of dramatic plot twists and evil villains, we get a cast multi-faceted, flawed, yet deeply likeable characters whose personal journeys of growth drive the plot. There is no antagonist for the characters to go up against, there are no highly tragic outside circumstances they have to fight.
Any conflict stems from the characters' complex relationships - to themselves, to their dreams, to each other - which are all treated with an astonishing amount of care and respect.
Even the topic of cheating (a trope which I usually deeply dislike) is handled exceedingly well here without degrading or vilifying any of the characters involved.
Another thing this show excels in is its depiction of queerness. Instead of viewing its characters through a strictly hetero-normative lens and forcing them into rigid boxes and relationship dynamics, it depicts sexuality as something fluid and complicated. While it doesn't go into great detail on issues of homophobia or the complexities of labeling one's gender or sexuality and these topics clearly are not the show's focus, there is still a lot of care put into exploring the various difficulties young queer people face every day; from figuring out who you are, to coming out, to navigating a first relationship.
And of course there is Fluke - a trans character who breaks the mold by simply... being a whole, three-dimensional human being with their own goals, their own struggles, and their own personality. I won't lie, after the years and years of enduring trans characters depicted as nothing more than caricatures with no purpose other than providing comic relief, seeing someone like Fluke not only existing, but *thriving* was incredibly meaningful not just for me specifically, but for trans viewers in general.

So if you want a well-written, highly character-driven romance drama with beautiful camera-work, good music, and a whole host of lovable, authentically queer characters, then give this one a go.
I'd also recommend anyone who enjoys classic, sports-themed coming-of-age stories give this show a shot, I think you might just love it!

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Left me feeling anything but blue

This one is an underappreciated gem of a show!
Let me start of by saying I did not watch Kiss, nor did I watch Kiss Me Again.
What I did instead was watch a fan-made cut of Kiss Me Again (edited and linked here on MDL by the lovely Claudeville) which provided me with a solid grasp of all the characters' backgrounds and relationships and was more than sufficient for me to be able to fully appreciate DBKs continuation of the story.
Production quality wise, the series is excellent. The visuals are lovely, the music is fantastic (I am an absolute sucker for dramatic strings, so the intro is right up my alley), and script and performances are incredible.
I've seen some people take issue with the continuity errors between DBK and its predecessors, but personally I think the changes made were for the best.

DBK is still a soap opera, but it focuses heavily on the real issues many queer men have to deal with. The characters' overlapping relationships are complex and there is plenty of drama, but there is a sense of realism and authenticity to the story that is rare in this genre.
One thing the show does particularly well is the way it explores the many difficulties and issues surrounding a coming-out.
It shows the heavy relationship strain of one partner being closeted, the insecurities this can cause to arise, the resentment constant secrecy can breed. It highlights the painfully real social and financial concerns closeted people have to reckon with when they are considering coming out.
Where other shows main concern lies in whether or not their characters can find the courage to openly be themselves, DBK forces its characters to consider whether they even have the luxury to make that choice in the first place. Another user, Moonbyulie, elaborates further on this in their review, which makes for very interesting reading and I highly recommend having a look at that as well should you be interested.

Another strong point of the series are its characters. They are all (deeply) flawed, yet highly likeable individuals whose conflicting backgrounds and ideals lead to many painful clashes and whose individual journeys of character growth are both gut-wrenching and an absolute joy to watch.
They may at times make frustratingly poor choices, but they never stop calling each other out on their problematic behaviour and they never stop supporting and caring for one another.
Even Non, the show's ostensible "villain", is an incredibly complex character who walks the line between hateful and sympathetic perfectly.

In short, I highly recommend giving this show a shot. It's not perfect - some plot points certainly fall a bit short and some writing choices are questionable - but it also offers some of the most compelling and layered characterisations to be found in this genre.
If you enjoy well-written romance dramas that tackle real-world issues with skill and a good dash of humour, then this one is for you.
If you're in the market for a more serious and mature slice-of-life story which provides a well-balanced mix of romance and character study, then you will enjoy this series as well.

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I may be biased, but this show is also objectively excellent

This show holds a very special place in my heart. Is it perfect? No. But it does have an intrinsic understanding of what it means to be a queer teenager in a rigidly hetero-normative environment that I have rarely, if ever, seen in a drama.
Through a combination of beautiful visuals, effective editing, and absolutely stellar performances we are told a tale about suffocating, oppressive "normality" and the strict rules in place to ensure preservation of and adherence to the status quo; a delicate structure which is disrupted by the aberrant yet deeply familiar allure of queerness.
With Suppalo high school, a perfect microcosm of society at large, as its backdrop, the story explores themes of mental illness, identity, freedom, and abuse with incisiveness and care.
The way these struggles for individuality and freedom of expression are depicted may not exactly be subtle, but it is incredibly effective and analyses the complexities of these systems and issues quite thoroughly.

The highlight of the series, however, are doubtless the characters.
There is Akk, who is so terrified of himself and his wants that he fully devotes himself to being a perfect part of the system, but no matter how strictly he enforces rules on himself and others, he just can't kill the part of himself that's different, unruly, queer.
There's Ayan, who has learned to weaponise his "otherness", his queerness to great effect, but who is also genuinely vulnerable and fragile.
Thua, who tries, in vain, to survive through keeping his head down and enduring, and Khan who is endlessly torn between defending his friends and ideals, and distancing himself from them so as avoid any association between himself and queerness.
And of course Wat, Sani, and Chadok, who are all highlights in their own right.
The complicated and slowly-changing relationships between these characters are what drives this drama and what elevates it above many other entries in the genre. From the romance, to the friendship, to the power struggles, I simply cannot overstate how truly excellent it all is.

Of course there are missteps, most notably the depiction of a forced outing late in the show, which is brushed aside with barely any consequences for either its perpetrator or victims.
The plot also becomes somewhat rushed and muddled around episode 11.
All in all though, I personally find the good of the show far outweighs the bad and the ending is so wonderful it balances out most of the previous episodes' mistakes.

In short, this show is more than worth your time. I personally feel quite a deep connection to the story and have a lot of strong opinions on it as a result, but even if you watch it "only" for surface level enjoyment, there is a lot to love about this series.
If you enjoy tender slow-burn romances with flawed but lovable characters, brilliant acting, and just enough charm and humour to balance out the angst, then this show is for you.
If you like queer coming-of-age stories that show how being a teenager is actually pretty damn hard, or even if you're just looking for a fairly decent mystery with lots of gay sleuthing, then this show is also for you.

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