Kiwi

I’m impressed. I don’t think they spent huge amounts on this, but they spent every penny well. The production was slick, and really well filmed. The direction was good, the acting was naturalistic and quietly human. The locations were very minimalist and nicely lit. The story and writing were sound. The music wasn’t intrusive, but was evocative. I might be over-rating this, simply because it did everything reasonably well, but I feel like it’s one of the most consistently polished things I’ve watched recently, and it’s nice to have no complaints. Even the nut job sasaeng was rendered with restraint and style. If any BL series represents the South Korean Aesthetic it’s this one.

I feel like this production sets good precedent, because despite having a very tired central conceit (amnesia from head trauma), it made a lot of sense, and was admirably restrained, while keeping me interested. The added melodrama of the sasaeng plotline wasn’t overdone. Nothing distracted too much from the core romance, keeping it as a love story, despite the genre blending, and the annoyance of the third party trope wasn’t dragged out too long. I think they balanced the various threads of the story well, resolved the main tensions, and resisted the temptation to fill in too much detail on some things.

That said, it’s neither groundbreaking or even hugely original. I’m not rating it as high art. I’m rating it for what it is: a polished, budget queer romance with a very mild thriller element, and free of irritants. I give queer content a head start on ratings, based on the fact that it rarely gets the budget or production standards that straight content does, and gets treated as second-rate very often. As a result I’ve really piled on the stars for this one. It’s nice to see our demographic so well served by talented people. Recommended.