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Memorable melodramatic love story with great cast and filmmaking
I enjoyed the movie overall and found the story quite gripping. There were some direction in terms of plot that I felt was a bit heavily handed and somewhat predictable but at least the choices made by the characters made sense as the scenario provided sufficient background story to depicts their motivation and inner turmoil.The cast is overall excellent. I truly love Han Hyo Joo and she tackes brilliantly the role. You cannot help but feel for her character and the tragic elements of her life story. The other main role, played by So Ji Sub delivers a performance matching hers in quality, full of charisma, passion and dramatic moments.
The filmmaking was very good. Even watching it 13 years later, it is still very up to nowadays standard for pictures in that specific genre. There were so many particularly well filmed and beautiful romantic scenes (e.g. the staircase one, the river,...) as well as so many little details in the production allowing the build up of the characterization of the two main protagonists.
I would recommend this to people looking for a good romantic story full of turmoil and emotion as it is centered arount the encounter of two broken-by-life human beings. The story in itself is not without flaws but is quite poetic and the sincere performances of the two main leads brought up to a higher level the scenario.
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"Don't be afraid of the cracks. That's where the light comes in."
I really enjoyed the main love story featured in this BL series. It is a forbidden romance concept well done in terms of sorrow and angst...It firmly tugged at all my heartstrings. Unfortunately, the scenario is not without flaws regarding the build up of the secondary romance as well as some stupid decisions made by characters (...yeah my pet peeve aka noble idiocy is back once again). There were also some pacing issues in addition to some shift in tones not always very successfull.What really made me forget about these little defaults is the excellent chemistry between the two main actors who are pretty good together. They sell super well the main concept of "Didi's puppy love for his Gege who is blind to his feelings". Kurt Huang impressed me so much as his character grows the most during the show. He is very compelling to look at and his evolution was very well acted. Given his charisma, I will be for sure looking forward for more series with him in the future. Chris Chiu is a solid counterpart as well. The secondary cast made less of a lasting impression on me, except for Sam Lin whose I wish the character had more screentime.
I liked the production: it has a very raw style on some scenes that I enjoyed (especially in its first episodes). The filmmaking of most of the romantic scenes had my heartbeat increasing. There so many pretty and exciting moments between the leads. The office setting was more mundane and standard but very suitable overall. I truly enjoyed the OST, especially the ending song which is so charming and fitting perfectly with the thematic of the series.
I would recommend this to people that are looking for a forbidden romance concept with a lot of angst and chemistry. I watched it week by week but I think it would make an excellent binge watch. The script is not without flaws in terms of pacing as well as narrative choices but overall the payoff in terms of love story is so good that it is really worth it and you forgot all the defaults thanks to the good acting and chemistry of the two main male leads.
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Beautifully filmed autumnal & sweet BL story
The most outstanding aspect of this simple and sweet BL story is its production. I found the filmmaking amazing: there were so many beautiful autumnal sceneries. It made the romantic moments so pretty, you can feel the care in the directing of the actors. Some scenes that could have felt very mundane became in fact really stunning. The fashion in this series was also very on point. There were a lot of pieces of clothes (sweaters, pullovers, accessories) that I would love to have...In addition to being mesmerized by the clothing, I quie enjoyed the soundtrack. Even if the main song was a bit overused, it was understandable given how central it was to the plot.The writing was a bit weaker compared to the production value. There were too many flashbacks which made it seem like they screenwriter and director were trying to fill time. I enjoyed a lot all the fluff and cute sequences...Despite some backtracking in the relationship in the second half, seemingly to again add a bit of content and act as filler, but not necessarily making sense with what was known of the long established relationship between the main characters.
I enjoyed the acting. The two main leads managed to make their chemistry very believable. Their kissing scenes were lovely and the evolution of their intimacy made sense and was convincing. The antagonist was properly a jerk and the actor who played the role made my blood boil which is a good sign as it was clearly the point.
I would recommend this to people looking for a cute BL series with a friends-to-lovers trope as well as in the youth and music genres. It is not super deep or revolutionary but very enjoyable to watch thanks to the amazing filmmaking and fashion. A feast for the eyes with a lot of fluff.
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Interesting and fun concept but very repetitive story with too little character growth
I have seen quite a lot of Japanese school drama featuring fights between "bad"/"misbehaving" students and therefore I might just feel a certain weariness towards the genre and be more critical of it compared to when I discovered it. The story is quite classic but I enjoyed the location and time period (Chiba in the 80's) and also the fact that there is no "hero" teacher fighting like it is often the case in that kind of drama. Here, the leads are the students and everything needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. There is no moralizing teaching moments, just very shonen-like confrontations between rivals.The acting is over-the-top which makes sense given the fact that it is a manga adaptation clearly more oriented towards heavy gags and comedy rather than emotional moments. It is quite fun and the performance of Kaku Kento is really the highlight of the series. In my opinion, it is thanks to his huge physical comedic abilities that the drama jokes are landing properly. The other actors are suitable but less good, they fit the over-exaggerated tone of the show but have much less variety and range in their acting. I enjoyed the bromance between the two main characters but I wish it would have been more developped.
The drama is funny but it has quite a lot of flaws as well. The main ones are that the story gets very quickly super repetitive and also that the characters have almost no room for growth. There is not really any evolution between the first episode and the last episode of the series which is a bit of a shame.
In addition to that, the production value is very low. The fight scenes are laughable at best: the fake blood and the theatrics of it all are fun but they could have been much better filmed and conceived. On another hand, I liked a lot the intro song with its 80's japanese rock band vibe and with the yanki theme, it was totally fitting given the concept of the drama and the generic scene was unskippable.
I would recommend this to people looking for a mindless but funny Japanese high school drama. It is quite classic for the genre but set in the 80's which bring up a bit of a different flavor. I think that I have seen similar series that are better but it is still an entertaining watch for either the real afficionado (or in contrary people that have not seen a lot of dramas in this genre and will have therefore less fatigue regarding the repetitive side of some scenes).
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Not really a BL but rather a strong, raw and brutal psychological story with a lot of trauma
This movie is very difficult to describe: it is about a very traumatic event happening to a school teacher as his life falls literally into pieces. It is raw, brutal and violent in addition of featuring a community of outcasts and a darker side of the Japanese society. It confronts the viewer to the ugliness of the reality of dealing with abusers and how it is difficult to receive proper help to heal as well as to find justice and peace. In term of story, I was pretty impressed by the choices made by the screenwriter. Pacing could have been a bit better, especially toward the ending.The acting was good overall: especially regarding the two main characters. I would have expected maybe a bit more from the secondary casting who did ok but where in some case it could have been stronger (especially when comparing with what the main leads were providing). Even at the level of the two main male leads, it could have been even stronger but they did a very good job given the raw scenes in which they were acting.
The music is pretty central in a way to the film. It is super interesting to see how poetry, language and then rap and music are used to deal with trauma and as part of the healing process. The filmmaking was great: it had an indie vibe totally fitting the scenario, with some camera movements giving an angsty vibe which brought me shivers.
I would recommend this to people looking for a strong psychological story with a thriller / dark side and involving very traumatic events happening to the characters. It is completely gripping and gut-wrenching. This film is full of triggers, shocking scenes and very graphic: be mindful and check the tags (or even maybe the spoils if you want to make sure this is a movie you will be able to digest).
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Enjoyed the slice-of-life aspect and nostalgia throwback, romance could have been better
This movie follows the life of two high school students in the early 1980's: one being the female leader of a brutal gang of girls and harboring a crush for the second who is the goofy playboy of the school. I liked the slice-of-life tone of this film, mixed with some teen angst / gang wars elements but I found the pacing of the scenario quite sluggish and the romance aspect relatively lacking. I found the ending enjoyable but quite rushed compared to the introduction which took really a long time to set up the story.The cast was pretty great. Lee Jong Suk is totally credible as the quite lame but attractive playboy and Park Bo Young is charismatic as the main female protagonist (even though given her size, it is not that believable that she would be the strongest fighter among the other students). Kim Young Kwang as the male antagonist was very badass and cool, I will be looking forward watching him in other roles.
The production was very good overall: it has a real old school / nostalgia vibe, totally fitting with the thematic of the film. The soundtrack is pretty nice and suits well the vibe of the story. There are some really cool fight sequences that are not repetitive and that keep you on your toes regarding the well-being of the protagonists.
I would recommend this to people looking for a coming-of-age story set up in a South Korean high school in the early 1980's. It has a strong slice-of-life tone, romance being more secondary than the main focus of the script which is more about the growth of teenagers living through high and low of high school in the countryside.
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Fun and light fanfic-like reverse harem movie: a bit frustrated by the ending cop-out
This movie is about a fujioshi (= a person who has a strong passion for Yaoi stories and shipping male characters from anime/manga together) who becomes very popular at her highschool after undergoing some drastic physical transformation. This film is an adaptation from a reverse harem manga with the female lead being pursued by 4 male suitors. After watching it, I must say I would be interested to read the manga, especially given the ending of the film (which felt a bit like a cop-out) and to discover the end game in the original version.The message and morale of the story is a bit unclear and blurry. The scenario seems to denounce some toxic behaviors but reinforce/affirmate some others. The saving grace for me is that there are wrongdoings on both sides of the various relationships/pairings: both female and male characters are flawed and excert some eyebrow-raising actions. The whole script is lighthearted, so despite the cringe factor and the predictibility of the tale, it is also super fun...Almost like a fanfic becoming alive. There is a lack of subtlety for sure as well as too much levity and naivety regarding some situations, which did not prevent me to really enjoy the watch.
The casting was adequate. The MVP was clearly Yoshino Hokuto playing the role of one of the suitor: senpai Mutsumi Asuma. I might be biaised as he played my favorite character, in any case, I will be really looking forward watching this actor in other works. The two actresses playing the heroine were fun as well, despite some overacting. There were not a lot of opportunities for any of the cast to have strong and deep moments, so acting was suitable but not impressive overall.
The production was okay for a high school movie, it felt a bit cheap at time but there were also some good sequences, particularly for some of the musical numbers / theatre moments. The OST was not memorable but very pop and fitting with the concept of the film.
I would recommend this to people looking for a fun and light high school movie with a reverse harem trope. It is really not deep and there are quite a bit of problematic elements not addressed at all, the morale/message is unclear with an ending that feel like a cop-out...But despite all the flaws, it is a really entertaining and enjoyable watch.
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Quite fun despite some pacing issue and unlikeable characters
This movie is about the encounter of a zombie and a quite odd family living in a small village in the countryside. Each member of the family as well as the zombie has his/her own quirks making the encounter and subsequent adventures quite fun to follow. In terms of tonality, the film is really more parodic / comedic than horrific with a smalltown vibe as well.The casting was pretty good but I never fully felt connected to any of the characters. I was not rooting for their survival at all which is quite an issue given the zombie thematic. Most of the characters are quite unpleasant and I cannot help to feel that some of the narrative arcs and development would have been much more engaging if I liked them. I do not think that it is the actors fault but rather the writing...MVP of the movie is clearly the character of Nam Joo, the pregnant wife, played by Uhm Ji Won, she was fantastic !!!
The production was pretty good, you really feel the village atmosphere and the action scenes were nice. I wish it would have been much more gore and raw...But they went into another direction, more caricatural and comical, and were at least consistent following their filmmaking choice. The soundtrack was quite nice and set properly the ambiance.
I would recommend this to people looking for a "found-family" movie with a zombie twist. It is a rather original take on the zombie genre and is quite fun to follow despite some issue in its pacing. I was a bit disappointed by the lack of emotions and connections I felt toward the characters, I would have love to be more engaged... It is kind of a mix between 2 movies "A Werewolf Boy" and "Extreme Job", so if you enjoyed one of those, you might want to try this one as well!
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Caricatural but fun at first, collapsing in its second half with conflicts not handled well
This movie features an arranged marriage between a young 16 year old rich heiress and her handsome high school senpai. The premisse of the story as well as the tone of the film is very parodic and with a lot of humour/over-acting as well as non-sensical elements. I was in need of some mindless fluff and the first part of the story really fit the brief: it was light and fun, perfect to put your brain at full rest...However, I was disappointed by the second half of the story and with the turn taken by the scenario.I found the acting relatively okay for the main characters and the second male lead. The couple was very platonic and itlacked a bit in terms of tension but I found them overall very cute together. It was even more average for the support roles for which I think the actors and actresses were directed to act over-the-top but it was very dumb and missed the mark sometimes in terms of comedic timing because of the exaggeration.
The production value was standard for the high school japanese movie rom-com and the ost was as well forgettable with some jpop song adequate for the genre but leaving no real impression on the viewer.
I would not necessarily recommend this movie as I think it collapsed in its second half with a shift to a more "dramatic" tone with some internal and external conflicts that were not handled very well and a resolution that I found very expected and quite cringy. If you are looking for a very light movie to watch, easy for the brain and some mindless fun, you might still want to give it a shot. Sometimes, it is clearly what you need and it is perfectly valid as well.
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The secondary couple stole this BL series <3 Bonker but also entertaining drama !
This BL drama is centred around the story of a high school student and a gangster meeting in dire circumstances. I found the scenario really entertaining (especially the first part of the series with the second arc being a bit less good). The script is quite flawed with some bonkers plotlines, more particularly with all the gang stuff being totally crazy and making very little sense.The lack of logic, the overwhelming and sometimes idiotic decisions are more than compensated by the fun and exciting aspects of the series as well as the sizzling chemistry of the main couple and the secondary one. The scenario is revisiting a lot of dramatic tropes and ressorts: despite some narrative choices that I found odd, I truly enjoyed that it subverted some of them in a very exciting and sometimes unexpected way.
The 4 main characters are very well built and I found myself super invested in the romances (especially in the secondary couple story which is not that frequent for me). The 4 actors are beautiful and their scenes together are ultra pretty, sweet, hot as well as dramatic on some aspects. The main actors really gave it their all and were very convincing (even when the story and the editing was not helping them), the really managed to bring all the feels and the angst on screen. Unfortunately, the antagonists roles are much more lacking (both in acting but foremost in their storylines, it got pretty caricatural).
The soundtrack is very good with some pop as well rock aspects fitting well with the romance in this gangsta universe. I never skipped listening to the opening and ending of the show because it was beautiful... However, I would strongly advise to not look at the generics (and rather just listen to it) to avoid being spoiled on major scenes and events. The show was a bit cringy in terms of production value (the blood make-up, the fighting scenes,...), a lot could have been better and it felt quite cheap.
I would recommend this to people looking for a BL story with sizzling hot chemistry as well as a lot of dramatic elements. If you do not mind bonker plot and low budget production, I would strongly advice to give this a shot. The story of the secondary couple stole the show, even if you decide to not watch this drama, do yourself a favor and go watch some compilation video about the story of Chen Yi and Ai Di <3 !!!!
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BL almost parodic with a fanfic/shipper point of view that could have been exploited more
This BL romance is set up between guess what...engineering (and communication) students with also a soccer team and a music club in the background...Let's say that it is quite classical within the BL Thai landscape. However the story contains also enough of little twists to make it quite interesting to follow.I like that the relationships between the guys are already established. We are not in a situation where they meet each other, they have some stormy past between them, which makes it somewhat refreshing. It is also litterally fanfiction becoming real which makes it pretty fun and endearing to follow. I enjoyed the delulu / fangirls / shipper point of view with the BL references. It is clealry a nice plot element but it could have been exploited much more.
The humor is too slapstick for my tatse, sometimes I do not mind it but here it is really heavy with some of the sidekick roles. Pacing-wise, they ended each episode on a cliffhanger or some hot scenes, making the show pretty bingeable. Honestly, the chemistry was kind of there but not for everyone and it was difficult to understand how quick the two main couples went from hate to attraction. Eventhough the switch from hate to love was too fast to be believable, with some suspension of disbelief, it gets better.
Acting-wise, I really enjoyed to find back Saint and Zee in a new pairing, very spicy. Their hot scenes are really well done with palpable tension. Tommy and Jimmy were doing an okay job but the light was really shining more on the other pairing than on them. I also appreciated to see some familiar faces among the secondary cast but I had also some real trouble enjoying the sides couples as the script felt very parodic for most of them.
Production-wise, it felt really low budget. It is too bad that the animation parts felt really cheap and poorly animated with drawing that are pretty standard and bland. It really does not bring a lot to the series...In addition to the less than stellar animation, the editing of the scenes and the transitions are also pretty bad, it felt super choppy in terms of continuity. The OST was really forgettable and a bit all over the place.
I would recommend this to people looking for a classical BL in a university set up with fanfiction / shipper reference and parodic/comical elements. It is pretty spicy with a lot of eye candy as well which makes its flaws in writing and in production a bit more forgivable I suppose.
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Splendidly messy, highly entertaining ! Hot, wild and thrilling !
This Thai BL follows the story of a group of 4 business students who are friends and open an hostel together as part as one of their university project. They are all somewhat very flawed individuals pursuing love in a very messy and foremost highly entertaining way. They are all entangled together with 4 additional characters and the relationships they all build along the show are full of red flags but also so wild and thrilling. I was pretty satisfied by the ending as I was afraid of it being full of potential redemption arcs not very believable. Here the choices done made overall sense to me, even though some resolution might seem a bit easy, it was pretty nuanced and convincing.I watched this show religiously every week and I was invested emotionally in the adventures of the 8 protagonists but not at the same level for each of them. I had clearly 3 favorites characters that I was rooting for: Ray, Sand and Nick. I think what made me so attached to them is the great acting performance of Khaotung, First and Mark. I loved those actors in some of their previous works and once again they truly impressed me here. The other actors were not bad but there is for me a clear difference of skills level between those three and the others. This explains why there is one specific pairing that I adored so much that I was ready to forgive any mishaps happening between them while I was much more severe in my judgement for some other storylines. This pairing had also the most sizzling chemistry and the best emotional scenes in my opinion.
In terms of production, I really enjoyed the overall indie vibe of the drama. The soundtrack was pretty nice with its rock sound and it was very fitting with the story as a lot of the scenes were happening in bars, concerts or parties. The styling of the various characters was pretty cool: I rarely notice that much the clothing but there are a lot of noteworthy wardrobe moments.
I would recommend this to people looking for hot, wild and thrilling BL. If you are not afraid of messy relationships, you are in for a real treat. I would have loved for the drama to be longer even though the conclusion was good and satisfying (despite what felt as some shortcuts), that's why I would gladly watch a second season if they decide to make one.
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A lot of defaults, quite entertaining in its first half then fizzling out
This BL thai story is quite a classical one: university background, two students part of the music club and falling in love with a fake relationship trope. On one side, we have Mr. Airheaded and on the other side we have Mr. Grumpy. One of the male lead is kind of dumb but in a somewhat endearing way while the other has kind of a creepy look and seem always upset.It is somewhat stereotypical but it is also quite funny and I enjoyed the first half of the series more that the second half which felt a bit like a let down once the relationship settles. Of course, it is really not deep and you cannot take anything seriously. At least from my perspective, it was enjoyable for what it was but the stakes of the scenario were really never high enough for me to feel invested and really care.
Acting-wise, it was really not good. I might be biased, but Khaotung was the saving grace of the show...It is regrettable he just had a very minor role in the series. Sadly, the two main male leads were not that convincing together. They shared some cute and overall very platonic scenes but for me it was more akin to a bromance than a romance. Still, the main couple was the one I preferred with some of the jealousy as well as bromance aspects. Unfortunately, I did not care at all for the two secondary couples: chemistry was lacking as well as storytelling.
Production-wise, I am pretty disappointed by the musical side of the drama. It has been done much better in other more recent BL Thai drama (such as in Cutie Pie or in My School President ) and I was not subjugated by the singing of Bright (contrarly to what Nunew or even Fourth have shown in their respective series). Bright's character did not feel at all like the "genius" musician/singer he was labelled as during the full duration of the show. In addition to these issues, the editing between episodes and also even sometimes between scenes is quite jaring and the soundtrack is often misplaced, breaking the flow of the scenes.
I would not recommend this to people as I feel there are much better BL stories out there ,featuring more convincing musical sequences as well as better chemistry/acting. Despite its numerous defaults, I cannot say that it was not entertaining so you might want to give it a shot if you are looking for something very light and fluffy and do not mind some editing issue as well as some poor acting and storylines.
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BL movie too short for the romance to make sense
This short movie (about 40 minutes) showcases the meeting of a young male prostitute (quite broken due to traumatic past experiences) with an undercover cop. There are a lot of interesting elements to this story but unfortunately the movie is too short to really exploit well enough most of them.Even if there is believable chemistry between the two male main leads and some hot moments between them, all the traumas and hardships happening to one of them, as well as the inner power imbalance in their relationship make it very difficult for me to see their story as a romance. Given the dramatic undertones and un-healthiness of the bound between the protagonists, it would have make much more sense for me for the film to take another direction for the conclusion.
Regarding the production, I overall appreciated it with its indie vibe perfectly fitting the rampant creepiness of the plot. I also enjoyed the soundtrack with the main song music video featured after the ending and the credit. It has some poetry balancing well with the story.
I would recommend this to people looking for a dark story. It is lacking in terms of storytelling to make the romance believable but it is not a boring watch for sure. The movie depicts a lot of abuses so be mindful of the tags if you have any trigger as it is pretty graphic.
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Youth Romance set in 1999 : painful and healing
This movie could have been another classic romance between high schoolers but was much more than that thanks to the nostalgia throwback (as it is set in 1999) and its bright and pure atmosphere. In addition to be about romance, I appreciate a lot the friendship thematic underlying the whole plot.The story (especially) in its first half did not surprise me at all, as I guessed from the start the "twist" but it did not bother me as the build up to get there was very sincere and satisfying. The second part of the film levelled up in a simple and beautiful way the stake of the love story. It was painful and healing at the same time and left a lasting impression on me as a viewer.
The cast was good, I was not very familiar with any of the actors and actresses playing the 4 main protagonists but they did very well. Kim Yoo Jung playing the heroine was particularly great in all the emotional and painful scenes. The two main males leads, in addition to be very pleasant to the eyes , really brought life and charisma to characters that could have felt otherwise very thin on paper.
The filmmaking was beautiful: it made very vivid the feel of the 1999 era with the big switch from the 20th century into the 21st century. I enjoyed the music as well, it was totally fitting the story narrated.
I would recommend this to people looking for a youth romance both painful and healing and that will for sure provide you a nostalgic throwback feeling. If you enjoyed movie such as the Japanese "Orange" or the Reply series (1997 / 1994 / 1988), you will likely appreciate a lot this film.
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