Jibug

Interesting but didn’t stick the landing

I very much appreciate when BL dramas have a unique premise that stands out among the others. In Triage, Tin is faced with a choice in the ER. Which patient to treat first? Either treat a young 22 year old patient reeking of alcohol when years prior Tin’s sister died by a drunk driver. Alternatively, treat an old man also in critical condition. Tin is criticized by the hospital director (Dr. Sak) for being biased in his choice. Like many doctors, he disengages his emotions from his work. After all, people die all the time. This is a significant moment because Jinta “the hospital angel” puts him in a time loop to force him to replay that scenario over and over again when all he wants to do is go home to his cat Zebra. I LOVE ALL THE CUTE CAT MOMENTS. In order to get out of the time loop he must save Tol the 22 year old patient. The story goes on from there.

What fell for me is a few things. There is an age gap. I understand that they are both adults but it still didn’t sit right with me. Tol is still in university and Tin is in 3rd year residency at the hospital. I thought I could just ignore it because this happens a lot in BL and I wanted to give the story a chance. Tol is baby to me and he is in a time in his life where he is learning to figure out who he is. Tin sees the mistakes Tol is making in his choices and as he is older and experienced so he teaches him to make better choices. There is an imbalance there as they aren’t portrayed as equal level peers. At some point Tin’s objective is to make Tol his boyfriend and it’s an odd thing to see played out. It’s like Tin is raising Tol by teaching him how to choose right from wrong, tutoring him, and even teaching him how to cook a fried egg and eventually raising him to become a romantic partner. It was weird to me.

There are so many other reasons but the other 2 that stood out to me is the music and the ending. Towards the end of the drama in the most pivotal tear jerker scenes which I won’t spoil here the music didn’t fit right with the scene. It got to the point where it was too distracting for me that it took me out of the moment and all I could hear was the mismatched music swelling in the background. I lost the emotional thred because I was so distracted by the music. And lastly the ending was a mess and it was very rushed. To move the plot long they needed Tol to unlock Tin’s memory (why did Tin lose his memories? Reasons you’ll see when watching the show). Tol tries to make it happen through touch, to failed kiss attempts, and to conveniently make the notebook (filled with records of all the time loop attempts) available and accessible to Tin who looks through it where suddenly visions impress on his mind. It was too easy. Tol was failing to succeed in his mission in helping Tin remember so these things were put in place to moved the plot along. I wish this was done differently and that Tol was smarter about it and had more of a hand in unlocking these memories. Also to shift gears, Dr. Doi descending into madness and insanity didnt makes sense to me at all. Like what? And that whole hostage scene was frustrating to me with Gap who was foolish enough to “rescue” Sing with no strategy or backup. I was also confused how the good guys ended up winning cause the Dr. Sak’s plot line played out off screen. And jumping further to the end of the drama when things calm down the sense of time was confusing as heck. Did months pass? Years?

It feels like I have more issues with this then positives but I do truly think it’s an interesting story just executed poorly at times. I still give it a high rating because I’m glad I watched it and I think the actor’s performance were great. I’m glad I got to see Tee play a main role. It isn’t a perfect drama to me and I don’t think its rewatchable. But, I still think it’s worth your time to watch despite the issues.

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It feels like you're being transported into a storybook

It feels like you're being transported into a storybook. You go along piecing together the history through sketches that the main character (Jom) finds in an old house in present day Thailand. But it's just sketches with no context. It has no value to those outside the story.

When Jom gets into a car accident, he wakes up in the 1930s. As you are watching, you arent sure what is real anymore because Jom toes the line between past and present. But, maybe it's all a dream and all in his imagination? But, the scenes look familiar and you realize he is playing out the story behind those sketches and my gosh IT IS A BEAUTIFUL STORY.

It feels so nice watching a drama with characters who are genuinely good. (Even though I do like my share of toxicity at times). But both Jom and Yai wear their hearts on their sleeves. They love fully and earnestly and that is so refreshing to see. And my gosh Im only 6 episodes in and I know this is going to destroy me and Im going to end up sobbing. But, do yourself a favor and watch this show!!! Anytime I see these two on screen, I get immediate butterflies. They perfectly portray the feeling of falling in love.

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Wasn’t interested at first….

I was not interested in the show at first, but I was looking for something that could occupy my time because I’m agonizing over other shows currently airing that I have to wait for new episodes. This did what I needed it to do. It filled the time.

The script and the dialogue is weak. I actually cringed while watching. At some point Rain says to Phayu, you are happy being around Bikes? Then says something on the lines of im happy riding you. EHHHHHHHHHHHHH LOL. But you know what. This happens and I’ll deal with it. I’m not expecting much.

While it’s fun seeing Phayu and Rain infatuated with each other and play this game to seduce each other there wasn’t enough time developing the complexities of these two characters beyond sex.

Their relationship is not without problems. Rain clearly felt uncomfortable with Phayu in the beginning of the drama with his closeness and touching. Even if Phayu misunderstood Rain’s signals, he shouldn’t have pushed. Even if Rain was intrigued, he was confused and uncomfortable with what was happening. There wasn’t consent. What confused me is that Rain was afraid to sleep in the same room as Phayu in case he did something. He’s afraid to sleep on the couch in the same room yet when he thinks Phayu is asleep he crawls into bed with him?

But as you watch more, you can clearly see early on that this is a dom/sub dynamic. The dom (Phayu) communicates his rules. He wants respect and he doesn’t like vulgar language and he wants Rain (sub) to be a good boy. He doesn’t answer until Rain speaks to him with respect. He’ll punish Rain (spanking as an example). He’ll reward him as well. He allows Rain to leave the bathroom and out of his grasp as long as he asks politely and refers to him as P’Phayu. There is possessiveness here and power play.

Unless it changes again for the worse, it gets better? Question mark? (only up to episode 6). It gets better when they are on the same page and become boyfriends. Phayu asks Rain if they can go farther when grabbing protection. I’m glad protection is shown here. Rain made an effort to show Phayu that he’s serious about their relationship and in return Phayu proclaims that he’ll reciprocate. It’s nice to see effort is made on both ends. Phayu comforts Rain but also expects him to be an adult and face challenges with his studies and his responsibilities. He makes it a point to tell Rain that he needs to learn how to balance his studies with a relationship. It’s refreshing to see that because Phayu doesn’t want Rain to sacrifice his aspirations for the relationship. But that doesn’t mean the relationship gets shoved to the side as they both make efforts to make the relationship work. They both know how to say sorry to each other.

Anyway judging by the first 6 episodes it’s an enjoyable watch for me. It has its issues. But, it’s simple, light, and mindless.

Update: Finished watching the series.
The lack of development I was missing from Phayu and Rain’s story wasn’t an issue with Pai and Sky. There is so much to their story that I found them more compelling. As a trigger warning, there is rape and abuse portrayed here. It was very difficult to watch Sky reliving trauma he’s experienced. I get why Pai asked Sky to cry. It must’ve been scary to see Sky becoming numb to the situation and despondent. Crying at least would’ve been a way for him to release his emotions. Seeing Pai become someone that Sky could trust made me feel happy for Sky. Considering their first encounter was a one night stand, I like where their relationship went and their plot line is actually what made me keep going with the series.

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Trying too hard

It felt like the movie was trying too hard to be deep . When there arent any explicit scenes on the screen that take up a majority of the attention, all we get is monotonous and dull dialogue that points to some overarching metaphor that they try to pull in. Its okay to put out a purely trashy naughty film, but nope gotta also sprinkle in some artsy meaning in to the film...I guess? Starting from that odd dialogue when Myeong Seon meets Gi Jun for the first time and the discussion oddly goes to hands. What did you notice about me? My hands? You studied my hands? Then Myeong Seon compares Gi Jun's hands to that painting from da Vinci. And then all the hyperfixation of hands begins. Camera angles at Gi Jun's hands getting undressed and dressed. Hands clenching and unclenching in nervousness. He uses his hands nervously to cover his nakedness but Myeong Seon constantly tells him to put his hands away repetitively during the photoshoot. When Myeong Seon is on top of him to get a head shot of Gi Jun's face, he flicks his hand away from the shot. Myeong Seon had mentioned previously that he doesnt heavily edit his photos. It's supposed to be natural. But all we are seeing is dictated postures. Towards the end of the movie they hit you over the head with a close up of Mona Lisa's hands, the infamous painting he mentioned at the start. You can know a lot about a person from the hands. Gi Jun's hands is soft like the painting he says. But Myeong Seon chooses to ignore it and flicks it away and that's how he treats their affair. He does not care if Gi Jun is already in a relationship with someone else. He is aloof and mean and he knows it and purposefully so. He chooses to keep a distance and tries not to get too involved. At the end of the movie when he tries to look for a photo of Gi Jun and finds it tucked away in a book, you can tell it is heavily edited. Blemishes are erased. It isnt natural but posed. When Myeong meets Gi Jun's look-alike, Jung Hyun, you can tell he has regrets now that the roles are reversed. This man looks like Gi Jun but he is strong in personality and demeanor. He is not soft. The professional camera isnt used on this look-alike. You see Myeong Seon using a 35mm film camera when he unexpectedly runs into a sleeping Jung Hyun in the woods taking candor shots of the "fake" Gi Jun. Myeong Seon is also shown using a poloraid to get raw and imperfect instant photos of Jung Hyun passed out on their bed. When he gets intimate with Jung Hyun, it ocassionally shifts the camera to first person pov which hadnt happen before with Gi Jun when he was trying so hard to keep space and distance as photographer and subject. Perspective has changed as Myeong Seon is trying to reclaim those feelings. Then the mystery continues: Is Gi Jun and Jung Hyung the same person? Overall, it didnt matter to me cause I didnt care to know. All this got clouded by boring dialogue with not much effort with character development and a weak plot.

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Hard to watch

I realize that with the title called Obsessed it was intentional that we get pretty questionable characters in this. I realize dark romance is not everyone’s type of thing. For me, I know I’m trash and a degenerate but I have limits. I’m okay with dark romance as long as its self-aware. But, that’s not the case here. It’s romanticizing the relationship here with the two leads. I found it hard to watch when you see Jiang forcing himself onto Shao Yi Chen. Nothing about that is romantic yet Yi Chen resists, but also melts into it?!!! I was left shocked and very uncomfortable. Hypothetically, let’s say that none of that happened. Let’s pretend for a moment that the sexual assault doesn’t happen in the drama. It’s not a good drama. I couldn’t understand why the romantic leads even liked each other? Also going back to the main premise, I’m confused. So, Yi Chen is heartbroken and dies after running away from his lover and getting hit by a car. He gets reborn with a second chance to live his life. He vows never to fall for his lover this time around. I’m confused because he doesn’t try very hard to resist lol. Like boy!!!!!! You have no self-restraint and there are ways to take yourself out of the toxic environment! Anyway, despite all this I do like the actors. I would like to see Teddy Ren in other roles but I don’t see that he did anything after this job which makes me sad.

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Initial thoughts turned into dropping the show

The first episode is confusing and a part of it is due to the editing. So often times I’m trying to figure out if what I am watching is happening present day or in the past. The way to tell is through character interactions and dialogue. You know it’s the past playing out because the 2 leads aren’t too familiar with each other yet versus the present day where there is clearly tension and history between the two we aren’t privy to yet. There isn’t noticeable visual cues that help distinguish the timelines. But other than that I’m still curious to continue on because I want to know how they got to the point of tears and angst. As for the leads, Amagi is very cute and adorable almost to the threshold where I’m like….hmmm I don’t know about this because he puts on the cuteness in an overtly exaggerated way. And as expected Takara fulfills the role of the popular guy in school pretending to be aloof and uninterested but who panics inside with how cute Amagi is. I don’t know how they’ll develop this in just 8 episodes but it’s short and something I can easily watch through as new episodes come out.

Update: I watched up until episode 3 and I’m on the fence about whether or not I want to continue with this series. I don’t think it’s a bad drama. It’s just that I’m not invested enough in the characters. They don’t seem real to me but caricatures being played out. It doesn’t help that the hair/wig? and make up really exemplifies that. It’s just not for me. I couldn’t help but think that I would’ve preferred this story animated. I think it would’ve lended itself better in that medium.

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Boys Over Flowers but make it a BL

Boys Over Flowers but make it a BL....Is it self-aware?

"They threw water at you from up high? Damn that sounds like a bully scene from a Japanese drama."

I mean that line could mean anything. But, the premise seems familiar. A scholarship student takes on part-time jobs to make ends meet. He stands up for his friends against a bully whose family rules over the elite school. Also, the similarities of the pranks and the student body as observers watching from their makeshift bullying ring. In addition to the similar sets....I point this out because I very much appreciate the homage while also departing from it and doing its own thing.

I think we all knew what was going to happen in the last minutes of episode 1 because Sailom is thinking strategy. He is trying to one up the bully by trying to anticipate or think through situations to find an outcome that weighs more towards his favor. His cunning shows and its a mind game.

So far, Im intrigued and will continue the series to see how it develops.

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Feeds the heart....literally!

When I first heard that this was going to be adapted, I was soo impatient and ready for it. After the wait, it's finally here! I absolutely loved the manga and I was sad because it's a short stand alone one volume story and I wanted to stay with the characters longer. I get the chance to do that with this live action! So far with 3 episodes out, it appears that Yutaka's backstory is a bit different from the manga based on the flashback scenes we saw. It seems like with the drama they are going to flesh out the backstory way more, which makes sense because of how short the manga was. Im curious to see how it all turns out. The drama gives you warmth with a lot of love and happiness and that feeling is just how I felt when I read it (definitely need to reread at some point). To me, that's all that matters is that feeling and it's faithful in that way. You'll find yourself smiling and clutching your heart while watching this!

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This is weird and I’m scared…but it’s alright so far? (Emphasis on the question mark)

What did I think this was? I remember watching the trailer but I don’t remember a premise like this? My gosh I was surprised. I did not expect a show where both a cat and a dog reunite with their owner Jung Woo, but as humans. What?!!! So, now I’m scared because this could toe a line that I don’t want to think about. But for now the first episode is alright and cute because it’s innocent and comedic.

It’s a first of its kind that I’m aware of. I’ve never encountered a BL drama where animals become humans. The actors look like or at least portray the animal that they are supposed to be. Reminds me of Korea’s face type trend where celebrities and idols are often compared to animals: puppy face, cat face, bunny, turtle, etc. Maybe this premise was bound to pop up at some point. But, I digress. It’s too early to tell what direction this drama will take.

What makes me scared is several things and originally I was going to write down my worries but I want to give this a fair chance. I can see this going in a direction that is good or bad. I didn’t want my worries to color this review in a negative light when it’s only 1 episode. We’ll see how it goes.


Update:
Im 9 episodes into this show and I Iove this drama so much. Any hesitation I had before is gone. The actor's performances are soooo good!!!!! I had to come here after episode 9 because the range of emotions I saw portrayed especially with the actor playing Milk is astounding but they are all great. Im such a fan of UncleMilk!!!!!! Also it makes me happy that Strongberry, this small indie production that is putting out queer stories, is starting to get some attention. They deserve more. If you do happen to watch it and want to support, definitely watch for free on their YouTube channel!

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