12
74
2
Culmination of an addictive master-servant BL Story
I truly enjoyed the movie which is the culmination of the story of Hira and Kiyoi. After two seasons which I definitely appreciated, I was left really wanting to see more of them. The movie was highly satisfying therefore as it reaps the rewards of all the build up done by the series.The story was well paced and encapsulate pretty well how their relationship as evolved while keeping in a kind of poetic way an S&M undertone with the subservient vs. dominant aspects of their dynamics. It also approaches (even if not that deeply) interesting topics around the entertainment industry and its darker aspects regarding fans and excessive idolization.
The casting did a good job. I still think that Hagiwara Riku is the main highlight acting-wise. The way his expression can shift and his eyes darkens at some points were properly shivering and kind of captivating. I will for sure be looking through his body of works to see more of him ! Yagi Yusei has improved compared to the two seasons of the drama: I think he made real progress in showing and expressing feelings in his role.
The film-making and production value were very good. There are a lot of scenes beautifully filmed that leaves a lasting impression on the viewer. Some of the darker sequences had a big impact and the romantic moments were really lovely shot. The music is not overly present but the few songs were nice and kept the same ambiance as in the series, doing the liaison between the drama and the movie.
I would recommend this to people that loved the series. It is the culmination of the love story and is pretty satisfying. I still feel that I'm left wanting to see even more of them, so that they can even go deeper into the psyche of the two main protagonists and the evolution of their interesting dynamic. I'm a bit sad that it is probably the end of the road with those characters... But still what an enjoyable ride ! I think I am going to read the novel if possible !
Was this review helpful to you?
BL around a dating sim app and characters design: what's not to love ?!
The drama is centred around an office romance in a video game development company. The two main male characters share an interesting past together and I found the various flashbacks very well done and put at the right place all along the series. It allowed the viewer to understand easily the dynamic of their relationship, the trauma of their past still impacting their present. It made perfect sense and was very thoughtful. Given its length, the story is appropriately paced: it is never boring and manage to have some peaks and valleys, making it a really good and exciting show to binge-watch.After watching this drama, I become really fond of the two main actors. They were both excellent, their friends-to-lovers storyline was super believable with well-executed kissing scenes as well as proper relationship development. The other cast members were likeable even if they are not that present given the shortness of the show.
I loved the format of the series with each episode ending on a typical multiple choices sequence as in many visual novels and dating sim games: it was super cute and totally in line with the thematic. The soundtrack was really nice with a couple of songs full of soul and emotion. The making made the drama even more enjoyable: it was simple and efficiently supporting the storytelling.
I would recommend this to people looking for a different kind of romance, it takes some very well-known tropes and manages to make something fresh from it. It kind of gives similar vibes to the manga "Otaku x Otaku". If you love office romances, friends-to-lovers stories and have an interest in games development and art design, go for it!
Was this review helpful to you?
Entertaining but the romantic aspects were weaker, I was rooting for some people to NOT be together
I enjoyed less this third season than the previous ones. I appreciate the effort made by production in switching up and spicing up the concept which aimed for people to be less stucked on one person and to have more options. But on the other hand, I felt that the relationships were much less compelling...I was really not invested in most of the relationships (except maybe one) and I found the romance aspect relatively weaker.The cast was pretty diverse and with interesting personnalities but it felt really like the focus was on one of the guy becoming really the "main" character of the show. He brought a lot of drama with him and honestly carried the various storylines but I did not find his behavior appealing at all...Therefore making it very difficult for me to root for his relationship(s) within the show...The endgame left a bit a bitter aftertase for me on numerous pairings except maybe one...I do not remember rooting as much in the previous seasons for people to NOT be together...
Regarding production choices, there were some great ones: I really enjoyed the decors on the island, the protagonists had really nice and very picture-perfect spots to hold conversations. However, I'm a bit disappointed by the hotels selection for Paradise, it seemed less "dreamy" than in the past seasons...More city-like, something was clearly missing in terms of atmosphere.
I would still recommend this TV show to people that are looking for a good dating show. If you have liked the previous seasons, this one takes a different turn that might feel more enjoyable (or less if like me you are more interested in romance, angst and pining than in strategy and exploring options).
Was this review helpful to you?
Really lackluster, I was so bored by the end of it with the anticlimactic scenario
I was super disappointed by this BL action drama. The first couple of episodes were interesting enough when they were training and I kind of liked the mythology with some of the fantastical elements. However, it quickly got very boring with the various investigations...I got so bored by the script that I had trouble to finish it. The conclusion was super anticlimactic for both the investigation part as well as the fantasy plot.It is unfortunate, I wish they developed much more the part of the story relating to the supernatural elements as well as done a better job with the "fated mates" trope. Overall, I wish the scenario would have made the characters spent much more time at the Police Academy. Once outside of it, all we had was relatively amateurish police work, no interesting side cases and not enough tension with the villains being really one note.
The visual FX were okay but not great. The action scenes were overall good but not remarkable. The acting was also clearly a let down for me...The chemistry between the leads was okayish but the scenario really did not offer a lot of room for development of the characters and their relationships. The side characters were really just there to be there and fill a bit the void...And I really wish the actors playing the enemies (especially for the fantasy role) had been better and more compelling to follow to amp the angst.
I will not recommend this to people as I was pretty bored for most of the drama. The mediocre scenario and acting, as well as the anticlimactic ending totally brought down my enjoyment of the series which missed the mark on the compelling elements that could have been developed. Indeed, there are too many things I wish would have been done differently especially on the fantasy aspects of the story. I would have loved the focus to go there and not on tedious and amateurish investigation.
Was this review helpful to you?
Intense and well-acted : I would love to follow those characters through a drama !
This thriller and horrific movie really gripped me. It follows a team of shaman and geoman who tackles paranormal issues, some necessiting exhumation of corpses as their customers are haunted by deceased family members. Far from taking an humoristic road, it is a very dark and frightening movie that really spooked me at times.Despite its long length, the film remained captivating all over its various narrative arcs. The build up was good and the conclusion was strong. I would have liked a bit more of background around the goal of the antagonist as well as more flashbacks because the past story was incredibly interesting. So I would have wanted even more of that, as well as regarding the origin story of the main characters who shared a very good chemistry together.
Indeed, acting was great : Choi Min Shik, Kim Go Eun, Yoo Hae Jin and Lee Do Hyun did an incredible job. I totally believe their characters were skilled in handling and facing obscure forces. The rituals scenes, the encounter with the paranormal phenomenons, the way the characters behaved in dire situation...It was skillfully acted !
Production value was very high as well : the visual effect really worked on me. There were not really any scare jump but the tension steadily climbed over the course of the story, as the horror gets more and more proeminent. The soundtrack was good overall, fitting for the dire atmosphere.
I would recommend this to people looking for a thrilling horrific movie featuring shaman, corpse and exhumation. The gore level is rather low but the angst is pretty high. There are a lot of talk around death and people do get hurt and dies. So be mindful of the trigger if you have any. It is a quite long and intense movie, that might necessitate some breather to get through it in one go.
Was this review helpful to you?
Loved the main relationship, not so much the over-the-top dramatic storylines & antagonists arc
Don't get me wrong, I quite enjoyed this BL thanks to the lovely main couple relationship. I loved their growth as individuals as well as the evolution of their bonds. That was definitely the most interesting and touching part of the series: they learnt from each other, one becoming less childish and supportive, the other one learning to open and accept help.Next to it, there were the secondary couple relationship (which I did find less believable and compelling) and foremost also over-dramatic company storylines involving even gangsters. All those over-the-top plot points were addressed quite clumsily in the script, especially towards the end where the antagonists storylines felt brushed off without very convincing closure.
Having said that, there are a lot of very charming scenes between the leads in the drama. The two main actors have a very good chemistry and were convincing in the more intimates moments.
Production was not extraordinary and felt a bit "soap"-like with some overbearing music that overlayed a bit too thick on the romantic scenes making them slightly cheesy. At the same time, it is what made the series pretty entertaining.
I would recommend this to people looking for a BL with interesting characters growth and great chemistry. It is a bit thin in terms of scenario but at the heart of it there is a romance that I found quite lovely.
Was this review helpful to you?
Not enough screentime for interesting elements + subpar acting: underwhelming overall
This BL series is centred around the encounter of two high school music students as they met and develop conflicting feelings for each other in the midst of their common interest / link with jazz music. Honestly, I'm not the biggest connoisseur of jazz music but I decided to give this drama a shot anyway. Unfortunately, this show missed the marks on many aspects in my opinion.Story-wise, it was super disappointing...I have the feeling that the most interesting part of the drama was not given enough screentime. There was a nugget of information regarding a specific relationship toward the end of the series but it was clearly not enough...I also had some issue with how the main and the secondary relationship evolved. All the heavy lifting were done (for both couples) mainly by one of the character and the evolution felt too abrupt to be believable. There was also on the last episode a "noble idiocy" move that makes no sense at all and just frustrated me a bit more...
Acting-wise, the actors were too bland. The scenario had some quite angsty moments as well as toxic scenes between the characters...Nothing against that, it can be entertaining and it is all fiction, so I'm not looking for always all green flags characters...But in order for it to work for me, it requires for actors to be emoting so much more than what was the case here. They needed to pour much more passion into the acting in order to make the chemistry much more exciting. The best performance on the series was Song Han Gyeom as Seo Do Yoon and I wish his character had been even more central to the story as it was my favorite.
Production-wise, it felt a bit cheap which is not really an issue for a school series. Here the main default is relating to the music scenes and soundtrack. The couple of pop songs that were used as opening and ending songs were okay to me but all the scenes were the actors were playing instruments felt totally unrealistic. The songs / tunes they used as playback for the music sequences were not really matching and it looked quite fake overall. A bit of a shame when the plot is focusing so much on music.
I would not recommend this to people as there are better BL in high school out there. There are a few moments that are cute (mainly relating to the friendship building between two characters rather than the romantic relationships), as well as some elements that could have been super interesting if more developed and better acted. However, the numerous flaws in terms of scenario, acting and production (especially of the music scenes) make it a series that I would not recommend.
Was this review helpful to you?
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.
Was this review helpful to you?
How to Make Millions before Grandma Dies
2 people found this review helpful
A profound and heartfelt movie, an intangible win for its viewers soul : impactful !
This movie centered around a Thai family and more particularly the relationship between a grandmother and her grandson was a huge critical and box office success, setting up record for a Thai movie release and rightly so ! The story is very deep but relatable and anchored in a reality that is both sad, full of pain but also full of love and moments of joy. The family bounds around which the movie articulates itself is complex and can resonate I think with most human beings as we are all confronted to life's thematic faced by the characters, as parents and grand parents gets older.Acting was excellent, especially on the male lead part with Billkin playing the grandson. He is really good in it: he maneuvers a greyish character with blurry motivations at first as he grows into his own individual and learns. It is extremely interesting. The grandma is amazing in this: the writer and director choose to make her a very nuanced character, flawed both with good and bad which I found particularly judicious. You love her for her quality and all the good she brings, but you also need to bear a lot of things while trying to help her, her personality being not so easy to handle.
The production was very good, pretty real and gritty with the house in which the grandma live being almost a separate character. You learn also a lot of cultural elements that are not often depicted (or at least not in so much details) regarding the culture of Thai family of Chinese descent, care of elders and so on. I love a lot the soundtrack, the ending song (sung by Billkin) is beautiful.
I strongly recommend this movie if you are looking for a movie that is both heart wrenching and healing. It is really worth a watch and it relates a lot to our common human life experience on earth. The viewer certainly get out of the watch having won something intangible, not measurable but that leaves a mark.
Was this review helpful to you?
Fun and cute travel short show to see again the cast of His Man Season 2
This special show (cut in 6 small episodes of about 12 minutes) features the cast of His Man Season 2 in a format similar(but much simpler and with clearly less budget) to the TV show "1 Night 2 Days" as they all go somewhere for about 2 days and spend the night together.The production value is quite low but the atmosphere among the cast, the good vibes and honestly the pleasure to find them all back together is really satisfying. My favorite couple from the whole dating show is there and they are for sure as lovable as when we discovered them. The poor guys seems to be destined to freeze when filming as they travel during winter times, but at least the weather and activities provide to the viewer a sweet nostalgia throwback.
I would recommend this to people that enjoyed His Man Season 2. Do not expect anything deep, just fun fluff moments between the cast members with not a lot of production. The friendship between the participants feels real, cute and wholesome.
Was this review helpful to you?
Creepy cautionary tale about smartphone power, quite thrilling despite some scenario flaws
I liked a lot this thriller about a woman stalked through her smartphone. It is clearly a creepy cautionary tale about the power that have smartphone upon the life of most people and how dangerous it is when somebody get a hold on your personal data and what you do on internet.The premise is really interesting and I wish they would have taken the societal criticism even deeper. It remains pretty on surface of what it is trying to say about society as the scenario put the focus much more on the villain than on the social dynamics. I loved the pacing of the story in its first half, you can feel the anxiety crippling as the heroine gets deeper into the trap set for her. However, I think the second half of the story could have benefited from a better rhythm. It was thrilling but some actions taken by the characters lacked logic.
I found the acting solid: especially Yim Si Wan who does a really commendable job carrying the plot. I'm pretty sure that with a less gifted actor, the scenario would have felt much flatter. He brought a huge range of emotions to his part, making the character he played complex and multi-layered despite the scenario being quite open and vague regarding his motivations. It is my first time watching him in a main role and I will be for sure digging into his filmography for more. Similarly, I'm quite impressed by Chun Woo Hee acting. I thought she acted beyond what the scenario was offering her.
The production was good. I particularly enjoyed the opening sequence with the phone being the window into the life of the heroine. It was super efficient into conveying the point of the movie. The music did not left a lasting impression on me but was appropriate for the angsty thematic.
I would recommend this to people that are looking for a thriller supported by good acting. It is pretty horrific in some way as it is centered around a very prominent feature in most humans modern life: the smartphones. It is a quite violent movie, so be mindful if you have any trigger.
Was this review helpful to you?
Vanilla despite what the script tried to convey...I got bored halfway through it
I quite enjoyed the drama in its first third, but then the series quickly lost me, especially from its second half. I felt that they dragged some aspects of the main relationship, giving the viewer constant fluff but also very one note plot as they maintained the status quo on the fake boyfriends aspect for much too long to make any sense.I was very surprised and entertained at first by the fun take the production team decided to follow regarding the story. It worked on some level but as the story progressed the vibes of the series made it impossible for me to get invested into the seemingly more traumatic storylines...I did not feel the tension or angst at any point because of the way the filmmaking made it is so over-the-top cute and vanilla. Despite the fact that there were definitely some steamy scenes featuring the actors, it was definitely more a vanilla angle than a gripping / passionate take on the friends with benefits relationship. I'm left to wonder what an another production company and director would have been able to make with the same plot. A darker and more mature take on it would certainly be interesting.
The casting was doing an okay job but nothing exceptional. Great was my favorite, not sure if it is because of his acting or simply because he was the best part of the show. Inn was alright as his counterpart, maybe a bit too rigid. As his role was supposed to be withholding and not going all in the relationship, it might be a voluntary directing choice though. The side characters were really bland. I did not feel any of the secondary relationships and I really did not appreciate how the second male lead got seemingly redeemed.
I would not recommend this to people as there are better BL out there. The beginning was very entertaining but it got very boring. I can't help to hope that the production made other directing choices and that the writing would have been better. I think that a darker and mature version of the story where a doctor falls in love with a boxer would have been more exciting.
Was this review helpful to you?
Memorable slice-of-life story, beautifully acted and filmed
I really enjoyed the story. It follows the character of Hirayama who finds joy and light in the simple things of everyday life. It addresses strong societal but human issues: loneliness, shadow workers, can you feel surrounded but alone, can you be alone but satisfied...There is very little dialogue in the first half of the film, and it is the part that seduced me the most. The second arc allows more introspection on the character and also calls a lot of things into question. The ending scene shook me and was memorable in its simplicity... It is bittersweet and concludes in a sober but strong way the film which values the concept of Komorebi all throughout.The acting performance of Yakusho Koji is incredible. His acting is the cornerstone of the film. There are so many moments that are solely relying on the way he looks at the world and the people he meets. As there are not that many dialogs, without an excellent actor, the ideas that the script conveys might have not be transmitted as well as it was. Nakano Arisa (in her first role here) was very good as well and brought a fresh breeze to the story through her part.
Music is an important part of the movie. Our main character listens to a lot of tapes while he rides, and it is so acutely fitting with the vibe of the film. It is a common thread to the story and I really enjoyed being carried on by the music which is part of the life of Hirayama. The piano pieces also contributes to the masterfully crafted cinematographic experience that this movie provide. The filmmaking is beautiful, very atmospheric with some sets I found really interesting.
I would recommend this movie to people that enjoy slice-of-life genre and introspection. It is a very chill film in its pace, very simple in its story and therefore which might not please everyone. That said, the poetry that pores through this slice-of-life story, the fact that I got so attached to the main protagonist as well as the beautiful filmmaking featuring stunning shots of Tokyo (and more precisely Sumida) make it for me an excellent discovery really worth the watch.
Was this review helpful to you?
How to escape toxicity and self-loathing in the midst of (b)romance
This very short BL series brought me a lot of conflicting feelings. I really enjoyed the ending of the story as it showcased the growth of both main characters. Some steps were taken towards less toxicity and self-loathing overall and that's clearly a win in my book as I was really afraid of a conclusion lacking nuance and realism.On another side, I kind of wish the series would have been longer because even if the point of the scenario is very clear, the fundamentals of the relationship are a bit brushed off. There are a lot of elements that felt rushed and the storytelling definitely was more about a bromance than a romance to me. I indeed think that to go into a more romantic territory, the chemistry would have needed to be bigger and the scenario did not really provide a lot of opportunities for the actors to get there.
I love the opening generic of the series: the drawing effect in addition to the song was a winning combination. Overall, the production value was okay. The budget was not there but it had a strong indie feeling perfectly fitting for the drama.
I would recommend this to people looking for a more serious BL story. Rather than being about a romance, it is more a bromance to me and what makes it really worth it is its realistic and nuanced ending. I wish there had been more time to develop the romance but I appreciated the overall take of the scenario regarding the evolution of the characters.
Was this review helpful to you?
A beautiful journey to heal yourself thanks to music, brotherhood and 1990's vibe
This youth drama with a fantasy twist and set mainly in 1995 provides a great nostalgia throwback feeling as you follow a group of high schoolers starting a band together. The drama approaches in a wholesome way profound topics about friendship, family, as well as differences and disabilities that overall resonated well with me as the characters grow and learn. Though both romances were pretty cute, it is the brotherhood within the band and especially the father-son relationship that really got me invested.In terms of storytelling, I truly enjoyed the set up and introduction. However, I cannot help to think that the conclusion would have deserved more time to reap properly all the rewards of the set-up done in the show. I was expecting the way it ended, there was a lot of satisfying emotional payoff but it could have gone deeper on the aftermath for all the characters following one of the major event happening in the last episode as well as regarding the evolution of the main protagonists and their relationships (especially regarding the female leads where it felt a bit short).
Overall, the quatuor of main characters work very well together, and I am pretty satisfied by the performances of the ensemble cast (especially for some of the more secondary characters). Choi Hyun Wook delivers a consistent and reliable performance in the role of the frontman of the band. I loved him in Weak Hero Class 1 and I love him as well here. The only little flaw I see is that his character tends to be very shouty. I think it is both bound to the role as well as to some of the directing. It is not at all detrimental to the story but it prevents some range in the acting as the character is always at 100%. Despite this, he (and his character) was clearly my favorite part of the show.
The filmmaking is pretty great with a colourful and boyish atmosphere perfectly fitting for the scenario. I love the soundtrack with its "older indie rock" feels. Every song done by the band is super catchy and the musical scenes each time delighted me.
I would recommend this to people looking for a very solid youth drama set in the 1990's. If you enjoyed movies like "Back to the Future" and dramas such as the "Reply" series, you will for sure immensely enjoy it! If you are a fan of musical genre shows, this one is also clearly made for you. I personnally really loved it despite some issues with the pacing of the script and the way I would have liked a bit more development on some elements, especially towards the ending.
Was this review helpful to you?
