Heracin

Good last episode but same defaults as 1st part, boring with a lot of fillers and flashbacks.

The part 2 of this drama suffers from the same defaults as its part 1. There are some big issues again with the pacing of the show. The last episode is pretty great but it is honestly very boring to get there. Most of the episodes leading to the finale contain too much flashbacks as well as "false" tension. Indeed, each time that a big moment happens it is counterbalanced and slowed-down. The lack of script content and strange screenplay choices are clearly the culprits in the show being so dull and anti-climatic.

It is a shame that the screenwriter and director chose to spend time on what feel as "fillers" narrative arcs and repetition of the same scenes from the past rather than moving the plot forward in the present and building and developing the mythology of this universe. For example, the various powers of the trio of characters are cool but would have benefited of more explanations to properly onboard the viewer when they were revealed.

It would also have been better to spend more time with the three main leads in order to deepen realistically the relationship between them. As in part 1, it was very difficult to be emotionally invested in those characters. I'm still not blaming the actors, they clearly do their best despite the lackluster and empty scenario.

Despite the strangely paced story and odd directing choices, I found the photography beautiful, the visual FX very good and the overall production value pretty high; the scenery, the clothes, the weapons, the props and decors: everything is clearly high quality.

I would not necessarily recommend this to people unless they have seen part 1 and like one of the main actors or the main actress (though the three of them have surprisingly what felt like little screen time).

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Did not live up to my expectations

I expected a lot more from this BL : hidden identity, punk fashion, design school, night life...There was so much that could have been better exploited. For example, I wish they would have developed more the fashion arc but it remained quite surface level. Instead of spending time on some random characters at the part time job of one of the lead, the script should have focused much more on fashion and the triangular relationship(s) between the two main leads. Indeed, I think the romance itself could have been better with maybe longer runtime of the series. Chemistry was really good at first but felt pretty tame by the end. It lacked attitude, life and passion, especially given the context of the drama.

Even if some suspension of disbelief is required regarding the secret identity of one of the main lead, I found Fujibayashi Yasunari, quite good at portraying this dual role and creating two very credible characters (Enaga Ayumu / AE). It made the big secret of the series quite believable. Unfortuntaly, I was much less convinced by Nagano Ryota playing the other main lead Sumiura Chiaki. I did not vibe at all with the way he interpreted his role: trembling lips, scared doll eyes...I felt he wore the same expression most of the time facing AE. I must admit he was not helped at all by the script, the character being unbelievably naive...Still, would have appreciated to see more range in his acting.

I would not necessarily recommend this to people because I was disappointed by the end as the series lost its steam along the way. There are quite a bit to enjoy with its refreshing context for a BL and nice soundtrack very fitting for the theme. I think if the beginning did not made me raise my expectations quite high, I might have been less critical...But it is what it is.

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Uninteresting police work that got dumber in the final arc

This mystery BL drama is centred around a duo of investigators : Thup (played by Pooh), a citizen who shares deep knowledge on paranormal local folklore and detective Singha, a non believer in the occult powers.

The duo is working well and the actors have stepped up a bit their acting games since their last series. However, if their overall acting felt better, their chemistry in this drama felt less good to me. I honestly felt the romance was not organic enough, often awkwardly set up in the midst of dark crimes...Instead of bringing light and happy parenthesis, it made them often looks like not focus enough on the criminal case.

I had real trouble to feel invested in the story as it features a lot of quite mid and uninteresting police work which got dumber as the story progressed, cumulating into pure idiocy by the end. The investigation felt very draggy : it was impossible for me to get invested into the resolution of the mystery. Even worse, I never could get onboard with the secondary romance. Their minimal backstory made it impossible to root for them. I also think actors playing those roles have a much more limited / interesting range of acting.

The production value was super good with very well made horror and visual effects, making it even more annoying to witness the illogical reactions of the characters that makes no sense. In addition to the ghosts being quite frightening, the dark magic was gritty and believable, and there were a couple of very effective jump scares. The OST was alright overall as well (while maybe a tad overused with its violin theme)...It is therefore very frustrating to see how the writing brought the level of the series down.

I would not recommend this to people. Despite the core idea of the story and the reasoning behind the crime being gruesome and interesting, the writing was quite weak with some very frustrating and poor police work, showcasing characters repetitively making very dumb choices ad nauseam. The romances were also a mixed bag with average chemistry and a useless secondary couple. Pacing was also a weak point : the series would likely have benefited from a tighter 8-10 episodes format.

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Toxic and painfully romantic road trip between two Yakuza

I loved this BL drama featuring twisted and broken characters. I did expect nothing from it and I found myself completely immersed in the journey of the protagonists. Especially Odajima character who is played by Takahashi Hiroto and took my breath away at multiple points of the series. His cast counterpart Wada Masanari, playing the role of Kataoka Kinji, did also a solid job. I truly believed in the feelings shared by both their characters and the evolution of those...In the mere span of 6 episodes, it is quite astonishing how much they managed to convene, proof of a solid storytelling. The series definitely left me simmering in a bath of angst and pondering quite a bit over the course of my watch.

The opening generic song and art is really good. You feel the road trip / slice of life vibe in the scrap booking effects. It is done tastefully and very much fitting into the series. Overall the directing of the series was quite good, except in one of the action sequence that felt a bit cheap and artificially dramatic in its overuse of slow motion and its setting. It is of course minor details and did not decrease my overall enjoyment of the show.

I would recommend this to people that are looking for a quite dark BL story with some toxicity and power balance. The ray of light and hope the two main characters find in each other despite the dire circumstances in which they met, really tugged at all my heartstrings. It is certainly not withouth flaw as I felt the ending was a bit too easy and plot armor a bit too much at time. I would not have minded a longer epilogue but I am quite astonished at how much the script and actors manage to communicate, especially on the psyche and mental space of the characters in such a short length.

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Did not know a thing about MMA but was properly entertained!

This series was really fun as it follows the journey of misfit high schooler Suzuki Aoba as he develops an interest into MMA in order to defeat his long lasting childhood Nemesis, last champion of the MMA highschooler tournament. Main character is a clear underdog, learning various techniques, increasing in strenght as he faces various opponents...All those elements are clear characteristics of shonen manga genre from which this series is an adaptation. It is rather well done, with a good pacing...However, it lacks a proper ending and feel like just an arc of the journey of the main character was adapted leaving the viewer without a convincing closure.

The acting was alright, a bit caricatural sometimes, especially for some of the most colourful opponents of the hero. But it is expected as it is an adaptation of a manga. I particularly enjoyed the bromance between the hero Suzuki Aoba and his first friend Iwase Sannosuke who bullied him at first and grew to admire and respect him as Aoba skills improved out of sheer will.

The production was okay : it is clearly low budget drama with not enough figurants to really amp up the fights during the tournament but the camera work while filming the fights make it not that noticeable. I truly enjoyed the fighting scenes : there was a lot of variety in the techniques showcased and it never felt repetitive despite the mecanics of the scenario remaining the same for most of the competition. I really enjoyed the opening song but the remainder of the soundtrack will not leave me a lasting memory.

I will recommend this to people that are looking for a shonen series. If you enjoy underdog story and misfit character growing through a journey, as well as fight scenes, this will be a good pick for you. I was a bit disappointed by the fact that the story does end on an open note rather than a fully satisfying conclusion, as it feels like the drama just addapted an arc of the manga rather than the complete story. However, I still found the series very entertaining and fun to follow despite its clear budget constraint and over the top acting.

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Impressive cinematography, too short for the romantic relationships to really feel fully fleshed out

Full disclosure, I have not seen the South Korean drama nor read the Webtoon from which this Japanese series is an adaptation. Nevertheless (no pun intended), I did like it for what it was : a beautiful visual object with an enticing soundtrack and a masterfully lighting work. I also relished in the way the drama showcased various art styles as the background of the story is at an Art College. The opening generic of the episodes is in itself a beautifully crafted piece as well.

Is it a bit more appearance than substance ? Maybe but the series features various relationship with interesting romantic storylines. Some relationship as well as character background do not feel as fully fleshed out as I would have wanted...Which I can only assume might be linked to the fact that adapting in only 8 episodes of 30 minutes a South Korean drama of 10 episodes of more than 1 hour is revealing to be an arduous task.

The pacing felt rather slow despite all the beats of the various storylines being hit quite quickly. I did not hate though that slow feeling and almost languid camera work because it felt like a purposeful directing choice. Acting was overall pretty good, especially Yokohama Ryusei whom I found particularly mesmerizing in his role. Cast acted well in a nuanced manner, even if I wish that the intensity level and emotions would have been pushed higher for some scenes.

I would recommend this to people that are looking for an artsy series more atmospheric than plot-driven. It is beautifully made even if I wish the story in itself felt more complete and written in a more gripping way.

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Features convincingly a variety of love interests with interesting and different storylines

This Chinese Xuanhuan drama focus on the destiny of Xiao Yao and Cang Xuan as they evolve in a very tense political context because of their families history. I liked a lot the overarching story, especially when it focused on the links between both of those characters and their fight for power and to protect each other. There are some pacing issues though, especially in the middle of the series.

In addition to offer an interesting fight for the throne tale, the scenario depicts a proper reverse harem. The heroine has various love interests, some that have really my preference and some that I really do not like. In terms of characters, Cang Xuan and Xiang Liu have my heart. I truly enjoyed the fact that each of the love interest storyline are so different : the most compelling one for me is the one of Cang Xuan who is my favorite character. I'm afraid that he will not be endgame, so if not him, I hope it will be Xiang Liu as my second choice. Unfortunately, one of the suitor candidate, Tushan Jing, was much less my cup of tea...He annoyed the hell of me at multiple points of the series. I understand why the heroine likes him but it is more rooted in trauma than in any real love (at least to me).

The acting is pretty good, especially for the actors playing my favorites characters: Zhang Wan Yi (in the role of Cang Xuan) and Tan Jian Ci (in the role of Xiang Liu). The soundtrack and the production were overall good despite some cringey CGI and green screen.

I would recommend this to people that are looking for a Chinese historical and fantasy tale with a reverse harem trope pretty well done. It is very difficult after watching season 1 to guess with who the heroine is going to end up, which I found super interesting (even if I have my preferences).

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A curse to lift to be able to live : a very meaningful BL

I loved this BL drama. It features one of the most wholesome and touching grumpy-sunshine trope with one of the male lead being quite closed off and the other one really cheerful. It can sound a bit classical but it showcases a beautiful romance, much more deep than I would have guessed from the poster alone. The background of the characters and the evolution of their relationship broke my heart several times, in the best way.

I liked a lot the production value as well as the directing choices. There are a myriad of little signs, indicators, gestures that characters are doing and that in fact have a meaning, are relevant to the story. It is full of details and it was a joy to grasp at the clues and to understand the mindset in which the protagonists were across events and time passing. The soundtrack and opening/ending generics were totally fitting the bittersweet vibe of the romance.

I liked a lot the casting. The two main male leads Kim Nu Rim and Lee Seon had a great chemistry together and were totally believable in their respective roles. Jang Yeon Woo was a great addition and complement to the story. Maybe the three of them felt a bit too mature to play the highschoolers parts but it was not shocking, especially that the heavy context in which the characters evolved required gravitas.

I would recommend this to people that are looking for an angsty BL story. There are some sweet moments but there are also quite a bit of darkness and trauma through which the characters are evolving. The directing and production was really on point and the writing pretty solid with a lot of little interesting details.

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Dazzled by the filmmaking, hopefully there is a sequel to develop more the compelling lore

As Long as We Both Shall live is a historical / fantasy movie about a mistreated young woman going through an arranged marriage in a fictional Meiji Era where powerful families have inherited magical gifts. The set up and context of the story is really intriging and captivating, there are a lot of lore and the movie does a good job in exploring it. Could it have been better in terms of exposition and settings? Yes. But at the same time it does make you very curious to know more about it.

The casting did a good job overall portraying charismatic characters and despite a script sometimes feeling too rushed to really allow a lot of emotional development. The two main leads relationship evolution is beautiful but it felt a bit quick to me because of the movie format. The emotional scenes were very good, especially a couple of them involving at the same time powers and fights.

What I loved the most about this film is the very high production value. The decors and accessories seem super expensive and are truly beautiful to look at...I was dazzled by the magnificence of the numerous kimonos, so so pretty. I really enjoyed as well the visual effects during the fights: there were a myriad of details making the watch super compelling.

The main regret that I have relates to the scenario and the speed at which each of the narrative arc is developped. There are so many elements in the politics of the empire that I would have liked to be better explained and more expanded on...I hope there will be a sequel because the richness of the lore leave room for so much more stories.

I would recommend this to people looking for an historical / fantasy movie with amazing production value and captivating lore. If you enjoy beautiful kimonos, meticulous decors with a lot of details as well as romance involving fantasy elements, this one is for you.

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Sinked because of poor editing & writing, despite steamy looks of hot ML

This short Chinese web series was entertaining in its first half but fell halfway through completely apart. There were some hot and exciting scenes and I liked the enemies-to-lovers trope the script was going for at first. It took a turn that I did not dislike in the second half but there was clearly not enough time to make it make sense and to be interesting overall. I especially do not understand why they decided to come back on past elements from the timeline in the two last episodes of the series rather than to incorporate it as flashback in the main story.

In addition to those very strange storytelling choices, the editing was all over the place. It can be expected from that short format series but I still think that it could have been better. The introduction song was alright but overall the soundtrack was overpowering in most of the scenes. There were also some jarring sound issues (especially if you watched the series on YouTube where it was sensibly worse).

Acting-wise, I admit I somewhat enjoyed the performance of Richard Li but mostly because of a strong eye-candy factor. Overall I liked the steamy looks he was throwing at the FL but he was still lacking in the most emotional part. Ming Jia Jia as the FL did not impress me at all. It might be linked to her role and the script but I did not care that much about her character which is problematic as you want to be able to root for the heroine. Last but not least Patrick Quan delivered an over-the-top performance but given the scenario, he had clearly little room for nuances.

I would not recommend this to people as I feel the series fell apart mid-way through. The most exciting part of the drama can be seen in the intro generic, so honestly if you watch it, you have seen the best of what the show has to offer. I did not mind the choice they made regarding the romance, it was interesting but what was really disturbing is the way it was edited with the couple of last episodes coming back on past elements of the story.

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Disappointed by main storyline, stayed for characters, cast and some great shonen action moments

The season 2 of this drama was a bit disappointing to me compared to season 1. The scenario was quite a miss for me as its defaults outweigh its qualities. I foremost found the pacing of the show really not good: it took so much time to get to the point, when it was very clear from start what was going to happen. The fact that the series is centred around one particular storyline (with the fireman) did a disservice to the drama. It was not surprising and rather expected, so it felt a bit of a shame to spend so much time on it rather than to develop more secondary storylines.

There was still some nice elements to the story. I really enjoyed to meet again those characters which I found super likeable as a group. I even appreciated the new addition to the team, as it added some novelty to their dynamics and despite the fact that he might be at some point kind of annoying. Another aspect of the story I appreciated is to have an overpowered hero: after being beaten pretty thoroughly in season, I found really satisfying to see him doing so good and some of his fights gave me all the feel of a shonen manga. I also enjoyed the cartoonish atmosphere with the super villains, they really bring intensity and craziness to the show and made it overall more fun.

The casting was still doing a good job as in season 1. I think they were a bit let down by the script but they did what they could with the material given. I particularly enjoyed the performance of Kang Ki Young and Kim Hi Eo Ra, I'm pretty sure that without them the show would have been less colourful and tamer...I am also strongly hoping to see Cho Byeong Kyu as a main lead again, he did so well!

The production was good. There were some pretty great action sequences with a lot of fun and variety in the scenes. They manage to not make the fights too redundant while still keeping some common framework to be consistent with the mythology of the show (with the developments of some powers as well as the territory concept and so on). The soundtrack was quite good and catchy, it hyped the action scenes well.

I would recommend this to people that enjoyed the 1st season and want to see more of the "counters". I think if you like the characters and the mythology of the story, you might enjoy it. However, the story is clearly weaker than in season 1, if you do not find interesting the main storyline followed through this second season (like it was my case), you might be disappointed.

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Not messy enough, hated the way they portrayed some of the relationships

I passionately watched Only Friends Season 1 while it was airing and if it was not a perfect series, it left me very satisfied and entertained by the overall messiness of the relationships and the crossing between pairings.

However, this season 2 was a real disappointment as it failed to recreate a similar magic, never messy enough nor really endangering any official pairing. That would be enough to tamper my enjoyment, but worst than that the way the story consistently insist that one character is in the wrong, totally ruined the story for me.

Overall the cast did a good job, with an outstanding performance of Mix. However, it is difficult for me to say that I really appreciated a lot of their moments because of the way the storylines put them in some strange situations that were very though selling to the viewer. Despite their commitment to the plot, some scenes that were supposed to be swoony, just irked me to no ends. I must admit I enjoyed some cameo but one of the past character definitely acted out of character at some point. Once again, proof that the writing was definitely the weakest part of the serie.

I would not recommend this to people as the season 1 was vastly superior. Maybe if this drama was not connected to it and if I had been able to watch it without any expectations, it would have been slightly better...However, this is not what happened so I cannot help myself to vent some frustration. I hope if a season 3 happens, the writer dare to make more ambitious choices and take us in a wild road rather than playing pretend with the characters.

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Poorly written and disappointing

This BL features the story of You Qi and Yang Meng, two support characters from the BL Chinese Addicted that was abruptly stopped mid run because of censorship from Chinese Government. Having said that, this drama does not feel like a real continuation of that story as we find back the two characters at adult age, after leaving them during their high school year. The series exploit a bit their past but not well enough and the hints about the previous series are too sparse to be anything more than trivial. It feels more like they capitalized on the iconic series rather than to make it cohesive.

Still, the beginning of the series was quite fun, the leads had a very good chemistry with swoony and hot intimates moments. However, the writing was quite bad with a conclusion that felt very clumsy and parodic. The series was full of wild shift in tones with the comedy aspect being too much for me and making the most poignant stuff feel not as important. They approached for example the topic of discrimination for actors regarding their sexuality, before brushing it off by more over the top comedy. Similarly, the OST was also a strange mix of genre : Korean, English, Chinese balad...most overpowering what could have been emotional scenes.

I would not recommend this to people as there are definitely better BL out there. The premise of the series and the chemistry between the actors is quite good, but everything else felt a miss. The imbalance of tones, the weakness of the writing and the over the top ending brushing off a lot of things, are making it a watch I would not recommend.

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This is a fever dream, with incredible visuals : artsy, obscure, lenghty

This movie was quite an incredible cinematic experience. It was really thought-provoking but also quite lengthy and difficult to digest in one sitting, which I did.

The story in itself felt like a fever dream, jumping the viewer from vignette to vignette with some striking visuals. Each story had its own graphic palette of colors and tones, its own way of filmmaking...The care on the esthetics, the meticulous attention to details, was the best part of the film. However, while the craft being outstanding, there was also a lack of clarity in the storytelling that felt a bit frustrating to me, making the viewing experience also somewhat tiresome. I wish they would have done the set up and the ending in a less conceptual way, to brought together better the whole movie.

Acting was really good with the minimalist cast doing a solid job. Especially Jackson Yee, who I didn't know and who was incredible in this. I am astonished at how good he is and the range he demonstrated. I will definitely be looking forward to watching him in more roles.

I would recommend this movie to people that enjoy artsy, conceptual and experimental movie. If you want a good brain scratch, this is the movie for you. It is for sure not without flaws in its storytelling and pacing, but it really leaves a strong lasting impression on the viewer who is bound to be left with many questions and thoughts.

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