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Disappointing BL story. Lack of excitement and characters development.
I'm disappointed by this BL story. The romance was lackluster. It is a shame because the premise was interesting and could have led to some exciting relationship. However, I found myself utterly bored and not interested.I did not found the chemistry between the actors believable. There were very few sparks until the last episode and I did not understand how they fell in love with each other. I could blame it on the short episodes but honestly there are similar sized series that do a much better job in terms of developing both plot and characters' depth. So for me, it is a total miss.
I would not recommend this except if you are an aficionado of BL romances. As the drama is quite short, it might be worth to test it and make your own opinion.
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Poorly written and acted, got boring past episode 3
This was just bad and not in a so bad it is "funny/entertaining" way- over the top scenario / makjang but that takes itself too seriously...ending was just ridiculous
- super repetitive : lie, betray & repeat - ad nauseam
- main actors chemistry was okay but not extraordinary (but they were not helped by the scenario)
I would not recommend this to people, this drama is deeply flawed and without the entertaining factor that push you to want to see what happens next. Here, characters are so unlikable that you just don't care.
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Would have benefited of a longer runtime
The idea behind this BL story is really good with the fantastic twist that allows the main character to grow out so much. Unfortunately, if I like the concept in itself and I was pretty convinced by the arc of the main character and the office environnment/issues, I think the romance aspect would have benefited from a longer runtime to feel more fully-fleshed.I would recommend this to people that are looking for an original BL office story. It lacks a bit in terms of romance but the main character arc, which is full of hope and life lesson is really well made.
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Lackluster ending which spoiled the drama for me
I truly enjoyed the beginning of this BL : the plot highs and lows could be seen from miles away but despite the lack of surprises, it was a really compelling watch because the characters were so cute together with a touch of angst and twisted start that I loved. Unfortunately, pacing was a huge issue as main conflicts were resolved halfway through the series and that the plot felt pretty void after than with a very lackluster finale.I would recommend this to people looking for a cute BL. Despite the issues in pacing and storytelling that felt less compelling in its second half, it is just a very soft and sweet watch (while pretty forgettable).
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A family story around Tapei night market
This movie grabbed my attention thanks to its original storytelling and filmmaking as we follow 3 generation of women/girls from the same family : mother - sister - daughter, adult - young adult/teen - kid, it is fascinating to see their interactions as they are resetting their life in Tapei night market.The market (and Tapei) are characters in itself. The way the director is filming it, so buzzy with noise and people feels super real. There are a lot of interesting scenes where the camera put itself at the level of the 5 years old daughter navigating the bustling with life market that are truly immersive. It just feel real and raw at so many levels.
Acting was quite good with the young actress Nina Yeh making an excellent job as the adorable 5 year old daughter. Ma Shih Yuan and Janel Tsai complete the family in a very believable way. You feel the love, the rebellion, the fights and the disappointments in their relationships.
I would recommend this to people that are looking for a familial movie which rather than leaning on the wholesome aspect goes into greyer sides of poor & women-only family.
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School Trip: Joined a Group I’m Not Close To
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Youthful and sweet : loved the friendship aspect
This high school BL is quite classical in its storyline : it is all about the budding romance between introverted Hioki Asahi and popular Watarai Tsukasa that start with a school trip in the beginning of their second year of high school. They go together through all the cliche milestones of Japanese school romance but it is done in such a lovely way that it hits all the marks.The romance was really cute and fluffy : it was a very appeasing watch, devoid of angst and full of green flags. What I loved the most was the group friendship : seeing introverted hero grow in his own skin and feel comfortable with those seemingly unapproachable "F4-type" guys was really satisfying. I loved how the friends acted regarding the main couple romance, it was a breath of fresh air to see them all so open and cool about it.
Acting-wise, I particularly liked Fujimoto Kodai who played Hioki Asahi. He acted well the innocent side of his character with his relatable inner voice. Sometimes that kind of role can be annoying but here, he really found a nice balance, never feeling too weak or wishy-washy. I have more mixed feelings with Kan Hideyoshi who plays Watarai Tsukasa. Sometimes, his fixed glaring eyes on Hioki felt more unsettling than lover like (even if I guess he was aiming for obsessive vibe, it felt a bit forced). Chemistry was alright but not amazing, most of the story is very platonic in itself and sweet but I wish the steam would have been increased as the relationship progressed rather than remaining at a very mild temperature level. Not necessarily because I wanted NSWF scenes but I think the progression on the way they looked at each other peaked a bit too soon and that it never really leveled up as the story progressed.
I enjoyed overall the production value, it was quite standard for high school romance dramas. I liked a lot the opening generic song from DXTEEN, such a earworm.
I would recommend this to people that are looking for a sweet high school BL. It is cute and fluffly, while very classical in its story, it hits the right marks and provide a satisfactory viewing experience.
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Every shojo trope, everywhere, all at once
This drama was bonkers : it was entertaining in a way because of all the cheesy and over-the-top storylines. But it also felt very rushed, as you literally jump from one issue to another, most of them being quite nonsensical, without ever really deepening the characters and the romance. What the relationship is in episode 1 stays identical by the end of the drama.Acting was also a mixed bags but I will not fault too much the cast as the scenario does not leave a lot of room for acting range. The characters are really stereotypes and one note, with the actors and actress committing but never really convincing. Despite the overall plot stupidity, I salute Sakurada Dori committment to the super cheesy lines, without him, I might not have found a lot of interest to the drama. Despite him being super hot, I found his chemistry with Fukuhara Haruka not as good as I would have expected. Maybe it is linked to the heroine role, which was truly a bland character.
I would not recommend this to people unless you are looking for some palate cleanser drama, to refresh (or annihilate) your brain cells before moving to another title. It is somewhat entertaining but also very repetitive with little evolution in the characters dynamics and multitudes of cliche storylines.
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FirstOne / Tle good chemistry could not save trashy series...But props to them for committing!
This short BL series made of 81 episodes of 2 minutes, clearly low budget and badly edited, was overall quite entertaining thanks to the excellent chemistry of FirstOne and Tle. It was their BL acting debut and they for sure did not disappoint me, despite the low quality of the series itself.The scenario was really bonkers but also very entertaining as it features two "fake brothers" forbidden love with a touch of cohabitation and a lot of obsession for each other. Their relationship was very toxic and really trashy. Other than FirstOne and Tle having solid chemistry and doing quite a good at saying their lines despite the crazy script...unfortunately, nothing worked. The editing and subtitles, the acting of the remainder of the cast, the limited soundtrack with violin coming from nowhere : everything was really poor quality.
I would not recommend this to people unless you're a fan of Tle and/or FirstOne and if you don't mind trashy show with nonsensical and over-the-top scenario. It was definitely an entertaining mess with a mediocre story, poor subtitles and editing, in addition to a very limiting format.
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Interesting context and 1st half, weaker in its conclusion
This movie features a different kind of mystery locked-room, since as stated in its title, it involves 6 lying university going through a quite crazy (and highly competitive) hiring screening process.There were enough characters and twists to make it interesting while remaining quite focused on a central mystery. If the first half was really good with all the build up to get into the locked-room and the locked-room aspect working pretty well in itself, the overall conclusion and morale was a bit on the weak side. The societal criticism felt lacking as the cycle seemed to be repeating at the end. The motivation of the actions of one of the character felt poorly explained to try to patch everything together in a clunky manner.
Production-wise, it was good enough to make every aspect of the events happening in the locked-room clear, except for the conclusive ones which were lacking (mostly because of the writing). Acting-wise, it was solid. Each member of the cast manage to play very well the bright and darker side of their characters' personalities.
I would recommend this to people that enjoy locked-room mystery. It is a bit different from the usual ones as the context of the screening hiring interview makes it a rather unusual flavor. However, the writing is weaker in the second half which, coupled with an average pacing, tempered my enjoyment of the movie.
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Quite symbolic encounter between two slightly odd human beings
I liked this indie film with the image of the rake, it really made me think. Are you erasing your past ? Are you erasing yourself? If this central question of the story is interesting, pacing could definitely have been better, even for a short film.The soundtrack was ok but nothing really memorable, and I also felt the acting was very green. It is very understandable why the characters gravitate towards each other, but the attraction factor was missing from the acting. While those elements felt lacking, filmmaking was good, with some striking moments illustrating the questioning of the movie.
Overall, I was pretty impressed by the meta aspect as the film, featuring students of an Art school while the movie is really made by aspiring filmmakers from the Film School of Tokyo.
I would recommend this to people that enjoy indie movie . It has a subdue atmosphere and feels almost phylosophical in its meta aspect and the constant questionning made by the characters.
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ARASHI Anniversary Tour 5×20 FILM “Record of Memories”
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A must-watch concert movie if you are a fan of Arashi !
I truly enjoyed my time watching this concert of Arashi. Being a fan, the nostalgia factor was very strong and it moved me quite a bit ! They played most of their iconic songs and it was a real pleasure to see the japanese public singing along with the idols.If the songs were great, the atmosphere and the view of this huge audience really impressive, I must admit that both costumes and dancing could be better. Most of the dance routine felt relatively easy and similar. It absolutely did not diminish my enthusiasm but I surprised myself several time watching the concert thinking that the moves were a bit repetitive. For costumes, I admit that it is much better than years and years ago, they are not doing as much bulky/box costumes with many layers...But still, some felt a bit plain or simply lacking a wow factor.
What remains a constant in the group and ultra visible through the screen is the friendship between the members, their charisma and their happiness to be there, performing all together. The way they adress the public : they still have the same manner and it made me slightly tear up to see how much fun they had. If dancing did not blow me away, singing was really good. Listening to Ohno and Nino singing, Jun and Aiba specific tones and Sho rap was great and brought me up many good memories.
I would obviously recommend this to people that are fan of Arashi. If you have seen some of their past concerts, you will for sure experience nostalgic and happy feelings, remembering the past. A really uplifting watch !
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Interesting concept that could have gone deeper
This thriller follow up the investigation process of Woo Sang, a popular online streamer, while he is gathering clues on unresolved murders and streaming it live for his audience. While focusing on the mystery, the scenario let the viewer see the behind the veil of the streamer life, the need for likes and the rush to get viral, stay on top, in a very competitive world.While I liked the approach of the story and the way that it was filmed, I am a bit more doubtful on the substance of the story and the ending itself which felt abrupt and would have benefited from a longer epilogue. The morale of the outcome is left voluntarily ambiguous but I feel that there was a lot more that could have been exploited given the topic and its voyeuristic nature. It is quite a short movie but I feel the pacing could have been better as well and that some of the twists (if not all) were very predictable.
Casting-wise, Kang Ha Neul does a solid job. His character becoming more and more unhinged until a critical point was quite fascinating to watch. The remainder of the cast is good as well, without any weak link. Production-wise, the camera work was quite well done with the way it allows the viewer to feel like the direct audience of the stream. Whileit sometimes may feel a bit too neat and easy to be realistic live-stream but overall, it really does the trick in immersing the viewer into the "live" investigation.
I would recommend this to people looking for a different kind of thriller. The twists are not super astonishing but the way it is filmed, making the viewer follow a "live-stream" of an investigation is pretty interesting. In addition to a better pacing and a longer epilogue, I wish they would have gone deeper on the streaming topic and all its consequences. More than the mystery, this is the aspect I found the most fascinating with all its inherent psychological and social elements.
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A healing journey on Jeju Island
A cute mini drama that takes the viewer on a friends road trip, one of them is heartbroken and the other two take their bestie on a trip to cheer him up. The friendship between the three boys was definitely the best part of the series : all their moments felt believable and sincere. However, I wish the romances(s) would have been better as I felt the chemistry was a little bland on that aspect of the scenario.Casting-wise, Hwang In Youp was clearly the stand out of this short drama : both his acting and his role itself. The remainder of the cast did an an okay job but were a bit lacking in the strong moments.
I would recommend this to people looking for a short series featuring friendship amongst heartbreak. If you like Hwang In Youp, it is very worth your time as he has some really impactful scenes in the series.
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A thrilling series with a lot of unhinged moments and serving culinary esthetics treats !
This Japanese drama is at its core a enemies-to-lovers romance combined with a murder mystery set up in a reputable traditional Japanese sweets shop. It is a series that push the viewer to theorize about a lot of elements, as the pieces of the puzzle revealed themselves. If I very quickly guessed some of the twists, I must admit that the finale did surprise me. I was both happy of the surprising outcome but quite disappointed because it felt relatively illogical to me.There were also a lot of forced misunderstanding in the relationship which I felt were a bit heavily handled writing-wise. But overall, despite my frustration at those and the consequent wounds (self-inflicted and totally avoidable), I really loved the relationship between the leads.
Casting-wise, I really liked finding back Hamabe Minami and Yokohama Ryusei in the main roles. Their dynamics together was very convincing : I believed in the twisted love they shared. I wish the script offered them even more moments because there were so many possibilities to make this even angstier and spicier given the nature of their characters' relationship. The ensemble cast was pretty good with maybe the exception of Mizuki Alisa who had quite an unbalanced performance. Some of her scenes were really over-the-top and taking me out, while some others were excellent.
In addition to enjoying the romance as well as being quite invested in the story, I definitely appreciated the most the esthetics of the drama. The way a wide variety of delicate Japanese sweets was featured into each of the episodes, as well as the numerous beautiful kimonos worn by the cast, were the biggest part of my enjoyment of the series. I was really captivated by the atmosphere highlighted by chilling nursery rhymes...
I would recommend this to people that are looking for a mystery series set up in a traditional Japanese house. The artisanal talk around the Japanese sweets making, as well as the overall elegance of it all was my favorite part of the series. I come out of it having learnt a lot on this art form. I really liked the story in its first half but then felt that soap opera scenes got overboard. The ending felt definitely lacking to me as the mystery unfolded in a unhinged way. If you enjoy melodramatic moments with a lot of shock factor, you will be served for sure !
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Unconvinced by the writing but properly subjugated by Kim Young Kwang's character
This drama focus on an interesting question : what would happen if illegal guns were spreading in South Korea, one of the nation with the lowest gun per habitant rate ? I was pretty intrigued at first but at the end I found myself quite unconvinced in the hypothesis offered by the showrunner on how the situation would unfold in terms of collective impact. I think the writing did a great job when focusing on individuals in circumstances in which they would be brought to litteraly push the trigger of a gun obtained illegaly. However, the big picture for the overall country felt definitely less believable to me. The plot armor of the hero, who was really strong and smart, was also a bit too thick for my taste.The acting was overall good for the main characters. Kim Na Gil was solid even if I wish he had a role that allowed him to emote more because he was quite "stone"-faced all along the series. Kim Young Kwang was incredible in this : all his scenes (except the ones in English which were unfortunately quite a fail), all his attitudes and costumes were just chef's kiss. He gives a lot of charming vibes and craziness to the overall series. The filmmaking was excellent with some very powerful imagery. The tension and urgency were palpable, making the series quite thrilling.
I would recommend this to people that are looking for a thriller exploring a very interesting hypothesis regarding the impact of guns on a population with very low firearms usage. The deep diving on the psychology of targeted specific people (when in possession of an illegal gun) was really frightening and captivating at the beginning. Unfortunately the way it devolved into a larger scheme was much more doubtful.
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