LightHouse74

A Hilarious Satire Sequel

I placed spoilers at the end of this review.

Just like the first season, this was a hilarious, cute, and heartwarming. It is a very obvious tongue in cheek series which means you should watch it with an open BL mindset and a sense of humor. The script had the most widely used lack of/miscommunication story elements to a hilariously absurd level, but in a good way. They also gave just the right amount of info/time with the side characters and storylines. Once again, it had a lot of components that shouldn’t work but somehow did. The cast was awesome and did a great job with their characters. I also like how the actors didn’t take things too seriously. This had great cinematography and graphics, but had one (sort of) negative aspect about this series.

Random Note:

Although this had more episodes, it actually has less running time than the first season. Either way, this is a good example that you don’t need a lot of episodes to tell a great story.

I liked that they separated the running time with 6 shorter episodes rather have 3 long episodes.

There were a few times throughout the series when there are no English subtitles on GagaOOLala, but it was during some minor scenes and I was still able to figure out what was going on.




******Potential Spoiler Alert******

The sort of one negative aspect was the kissing scenes in which we see the standard dead fish lips. However, I have a feeling this was done on purpose to add to the BL satire.

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A Delightful Meal

This was a great, heartwarming series with a well written script. It did a successful job connecting various characters and their storylines together. I especially loved each costumer’s personal storyline that added more seasoning to the main storyline. This also gave just the right amount of background information of all the characters for an 8-episode series. In fact, this is one of the rare occasions when the story content is a good match for the number of episodes. The cast was great and did an excellent job with their characters. The cinematography, food visuals, and editing were incredible.

Random Note:
There is a romance element to the main storyline, but it did not overpower the series.

I like that the series name has a double meaning.

Reasoning for the music rating. The background music and closing songs didn’t hurt the series, but it was not rememberable either.

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Need More BL’s Like This

I placed spoilers at the end of this review.

This was a very cute series, most of the time. Overall, the script was very good even though it has my least favorite story component in it. My only criticism is the direction of the series took a sharp turn with having overly cute vibes (in the good way) to a more serious vibe. However, the serious tones were handled with care and were not overly dramatic. The entire cast did a great job with making you care about their characters. Kudos to the new actors which held their own with the more seasoned ones. I really enjoyed the songs/music. They did a really great job incorporating this into the series which is a good thing considering the music industry was the overall setting.

Random Notes:

I give them praise for trying to be original with the old “accidental kiss” story gimmick.

I actually liked the animations and sound effects which I usually don’t go for. Both somehow worked and added to the very cute vibe in the beginning.

As always, I love seeing familiar locations from different series.


******Spoiler Alert******

I’m not a fan of time jumps because it’s usually not used successfully and/or add anything to the storyline. However, it actually served a purpose and was done well here. The first one let us skip the unneeded watch of them going through the Idol process. I must admit I wonder what happened to the A-Hole that cased the conflict at the end of episode 10.

As for the slightly drastic vibe shift, I apricate that they didn’t wait to do this in episode 11. This made the ending, which was perfect, not feel rushed.

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???Why 2???

I placed spoilers at the end of this review.

This special episode was just like the one for Coffee Melody, cute but unnecessary.

Once again, this had an old concept that was not well executed. It suffered from the same problems that main series had. The pacing was a little off and had long useless filler screentime. The cinematography was stunning, but had some poor background music choices that became annoying. Overall, the acting was ok.

Random Note:

This special episode really was not needed. This could have been easily included into the last episode of the series.

This also had the weird two opening credits.


*****Spoiler Alert******

It was just weird how everyone acted like they were all best friends and that nothing bad happened between them in the main series.

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Great Start; Ok Ending

I placed spoilers at the end of this review.

The series was enjoyable in the beginning even though the boss/employee office romance concept is nothing new. Unfortunately, this fades away as the series continues. The script started off strong, but gradually gets weaker towards the end. The last episode was ok, but a little bizarre and has my most hated story element. The script also had some very weak points. There are times it introduced things without any context to it. I also find the timeline a little confusing because there were no indications on the time progression. On a positive note, the script at least sticks with all of the storylines that were introduced. Well, sort of. See the spoiler alert at the end of this review if you want more information. Overall, the acting was ok. The new actors were not horrible, they just need to improve their skills. The more seasoned actors are the ones that shined. The co-workers’ actions seem overly dramatic, but I think this was done on purpose to emphasize how toxic some work environments can be. The cinematography was good most of the time, but there was some shaky camera work.

Random Note:

It was cute how they incorporated several nods to Lovely Writer. It was also great to see many of the actors from that series in this one. It was like a mini reunion.

I usually can keep track with how all of the characters are connected to each other, but I’m still confused on how everyone actually knows each other.

The English subtitles were good with the exception that it didn’t show English subtitles when printed content appears on screen a few times.

Although I was not bothered by the pacing, there was a lot of wasted screen time. Many of the episodes had a lot of filler scenes that were not needed. This should have been an 8- to 10- episode series because it really didn’t have enough content for 12-episodes.




********Spoiler Alert********

It was bizarre how the sexual harassment case was handled, but this is probably a cultural thing.

The storyline between Jaab and Jane was ok in the beginning, but became tedious and annoying by the end. I was not a fan of how Jane flirted with Jaab in the beginning when he knew Jaab obviously liked him.

I don’t understand Pat’s actions in episode 9. He acted like he was the one that confessed to Jeng and that Jeng turned him down.

As for the ending, it was a little weak. We get a 2-year time jump that serves no purpose. I hate series with time jumps because it’s just very lazy writing. It has a happy ending for Pat and Jeng, but Jaab and Jane’s storyline is left to the sideline. We see Jaab packing to see Jane, but we have to assume things are good with them with the little information we get in that scene. Once again, I’m confused at the time progression during the end.

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I placed spoilers at the end of this review.

Overall, this was a very enjoyable series. The first episode really grabbed my attention which kept me engaged to watch more. They also did a great job introducing all of the characters. Some of the main characters start off unlikable, but the script does a decent job explaining the reasonings behind their actions. For example: I didn’t like Oh Yi Young at first but grew to like this character as the series progressed. I thought the script was good with the exception of a few aspects. My main complaint is it did not fully focus on all four main characters. This was supposed to be about all of their experiences as first-year residents, but I felt the focus was mostly on Oh Yi Young in many of the episodes. They do show some character development with Pyo Nam Gyeong, Um Jae II, and Kim Sa Bi, but most of the screentime was devoted to Oh I Young. My minor complaint is they didn’t fully explore the four main characters’ backstories. This is mostly due to another minor complaint which is the romantic storyline in the script. However, the cast was incredible.

Random Notes:

You don’t have to see “Hospital Playlist” to see this series.

It was fun to see all of the actors’ quest spots from the parent series. The good thing is they were written into the script without the need to see the parent series.

This will probably be a very unpopular opinion. I enjoyed this more than “Hospital Playlist”. It took a while for me to get into that series and also found some section boring.

As much as I would like a second season to further explore Pyo Nam Gyeong, Um Jae II, and Kim Sa Bi’s characters’ backstory/development, I would not be heartbroken if we don’t get it.


******Potential Spoiler Alert******

I was not a fan of the romantic storyline involving Oh Yi Young and Koo Do Won. This is weird because I like the characters separately and the actors had good on-screen chemistry. However, I found their storyline not very interesting and it removed the focus, and screentime, from the other three main characters.

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The Cast Really Saved this Series

I placed spoilers at the end of this review.

Overall, I enjoyed this series. This is a good example of why picking the right actors makes a big difference. I usually don’t start my reviews about this, but the entire cast are the VIP’s that really saved this series. No, I’m not just saying this because we get to see most of them shirtless and occasionally in their underwear. A big shout out for Frame. Considering this is his first series, he did a great job creating unique personalities for Sprite and Zee. The rest of the actors also did an outstanding job with the script. You would not know that many of them are relatively new actors. At first, I was really worried about the amount of side characters they introduced. However, I was pleasantly surprised that they did a very good job making all of them interesting. I actually remember who they were and cared about their side stories. Why were the actors the VIP of this series. It’s because there were two main culprits that prevented this series from receiving a 10 rating, from me at least.

The first culprit was the script. For the positive aspect of the script, most of the storylines are actually interesting and did a decent job laying out the major plot points. As for the negative aspects, it failed on giving us a proper follow through. Best way to describe the script is it’s like a bleary picture. You can almost see everything but just can’t make out the finer details. For me, the main storyline of the twins trading places became very frustrating towards the end. What is weird is they introduce some very interesting side storylines, but once again we don’t get the full picture about most of them. Instead of introducing even more story plots towards the end, they should have just focused more on the side storylines they already established in the beginning of the series. I appreciate a good plot twist, but they could have incorporated some with the other storylines. It does have a happy ending, but everything felt very rushed.

The editing was the second culprit. It didn’t do a really good job at indicating the passing of time throughout the series. For example, the first episode came across like it all is happening in one day. If it was not for some of the lines, I would have not known this was happening in a few days (weeks?). They also have scenes that seemed out of placed which caused information inconsistency.

Random Notes:

As always, I’m fascinated by seeing familiar location used in different series. The location for Sprite and Zee’s childhood/father’s house is the same one used in the series “Something in My Room”.

(Edited/Added on 7/15/2024): As I originally stated in this review, it was annoying me that I couldn’t place what other series used the café location. I finally figured out which series it was. It’s the same café location used in the series Baker Boys, Enchanté, and The Eclipse. It was recently used in the series Wandee Goodday. I’m sure I’m the only nerd that loves seeing familiar locations.

Maybe this was intentional, but the actors were actually wearing the “Twins” logo promotional uniforms in the practice scenes in the first episode.

******Spoiler Alert******

Despite my long rant in this section, I did enjoy watching this series and would rewatch it.

They did a decent job explaining some of the past events, but it could have been better. There is no explanation why Sprite and Zee’s parents separated or why the twins were split up. We also don’t get a real explanation as to why Sprite and Zee’s relationship is tense or what happen to make Zee become such an arrogant A-hole. What is really weird is we get a better explanation of why First and Zee hate each other.

The twins trading places made sense in the beginning, but gets really annoying towards the end. Once again, the editing did not do a good job indicating when Sprite and Zee were switching places. There is also no explanation why they are switch off different days. Why not just let Sprite continue in Zee’s spot and vice versa full time? Another thing that became frustrating was there were so many opportunities where Sprite could have explained everting to First about what was going on.

Instead of introducing more unnecessary storylines towards the last few episodes, they should have focused on the ones they started off with. For example, the storyline between Jack and Mike. They should have also focused more on showing Zee trying to expose his attackers instead of completely forgetting this storyline and then rushing it in the last episode. They should have also kept it a secret from the audience and let us see the mystery unfold as Zee looked for clues/evidence.

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As I stated before, I need more than good looking actors to make a series good. The series started off ok, but went downhill very quickly. The script is not the greatest. The pacing was very off and everything was happening at a rapid speed. It seems to have the same “I don’t like men, but I like him” concept from Tonhon Chonlatee that was used which I can’t stand.

Random Note:

I should have listened to my initial gut reaction to not watch this series, but gave it a shot when it became available on Viki. I was also giving a MFlow production another chance before I completely give-up on them. Yet again, I was proven wrong.

The English subtitle on Viki were pretty bad (I didn’t take points off for this). It seemed they stopped caring and gave up after episode 2. The subtitles had a lot of spelling and grammatical errors. There were times they were so incoherent that I had no idea what the actors were saying. There were other times that there were no subtitles at all.

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Not What I Expected

I watched the first 3 episodes and the beginning of episode 4 before I dropped this series. On a positive note, the acting was great. Kitty Chicha Amatayakul did a great job with her character. Unfortunately, it fell short on what the series claimed it was about. The series had an interesting story concept but failed on the execution. The first 2 episodes were ok, but I began to see the flaws by episode 3. I realized by the 4th episode that I did not like the series and could not finish it. I usually can stick with a series if it is somewhat entertaining. However, not this one. This was my first Non-BL series that I dropped.

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You can skip this meal.

This series started of ok, but it was evidently clear the script was not the greatest by the second episode. Weirdly, it had many elements that should have made it interesting and enjoyable. Unfortunately, the time travel, comedy, mystery, and romance elements were not blended together successfully. It also did not help that many of characters were not likable, with the exception of Heo Gyun and Eun Sil’s mother. The acting by most of the cast was ok. It was neither horrible nor outstanding. On the positive side, it had great cinematography.

Random Notes:

Granted, I did not watch the whole series but they tried to incorporate to many ingredients. This could have worked if they focused on one or two storylines. Sometimes the best dishes are the simple ones.

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Just take the Journey!!

This was a very intriguing series and enjoyed the idol aspect. Some might find the pacing too slow, but I thought it was just right. Although the content was not bad, the script was not completely perfect. It just had some weird aspects to it. However, it did a great job introducing the characters and giving the right amount of their backstories. The script also successful showed how each travel client’s story reflected what was going on in the main storyline. Here’s an unpopular opinion, I thought it had the right amount of romance. It gave you just enough without overpowering the series. The whole cast was incredible, including all of the guest roles.

Random Note:

I like that it didn’t have a predictable ending, but does end with a sort of cliffhanger. There seems to be a second season in the works which I'll love to see.

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Good as a standalone.

Overall, this was a very cute series.

This part is about the series as a standalone without any comparison to the Japanese adaptation of the manga. This was a very enjoyable series and had a good script. However, the execution was not always the greatest at times. For the positive aspects, the cast was great and did an incredible job with their characters. It also had a great sound track. As for the negative, the pacing was a little rocky at times. There were many episodes that were spot on and then others that dragged on. The main problem for me was the overuse of sound effects. I’ve become use to sound effects in Thai series and even appreciate it when done strategically for a purpose. Unfortunately, this series overused it to the point that it really became annoying.

This part is comparing the Japanese adaptation. Again, I know this is not a remake but I would be lying if I didn’t compare both. Just like Cherry Magic, I like that this was not a carbon copy of the Japanese version of the manga. I thought the changes they made were great and help the story/character progression. I also like how they went further into the relationship development with both couples. The ending was perfect and helped bring everything to a full circle. Although I did enjoy this series, it was somehow missing the same whimsy that the Japanese version had. Again, I think it was the overuse of sound effects that caused this. I also think 12 episodes was too much. This easily could have been done with 10 episodes.

Random Note:

Sin’s café is the same café location used in the series “Why R U”.

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I Really Wanted to Like This

I started this series because it had a very interesting story concept. Unfortunately, it fell short on the execution.

The positive: It has a good cast. I give them credit for doing their best considering the material they had to work with. The series had great sets/locations and beautiful cinematography.

The negative: The main problem is the script. It’s lacking one important element, interest. The story progressing and characters were not interesting enough to keep my attention or care about what was going on. I also found some of the characters very annoying.

The in-between: I found the opening credits more interesting than the actual series.

Random Note: I love series with a mystical spin and I wanted to like this series. I wish the script was better. I probably would not have dropped this if it only had 10 or 12 episodes. I felt it would be torture trying to complete this considering it has 16-episodes.

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Unnecessary

The series as a whole was ok. Some of the sections were interesting but none of them were really needed. Don’t get me wrong, I like many of the sections but feel this series was not necessary. The positive aspect for me is that most of the sections are not connected together which means you can skip the ones linked to a series that you didn’t watch or didn’t like. My favorite sections were My School President, Vice Versa, and The Eclipse. I was also pleasantly surprise with Never Let Me Go section considering I did not like the main series. I would probably rewatch these at some point in time. The other sections were interesting but just not enough to make me want to watch them again. The negative aspect to me was the crossover episodes involving the couples from Bad Buddy and A Tale of Thousand Stars. I wish they had kept the 2-episode per couple format. I was very disappointed with it because Bad Buddy and A Tale of Thousand Stars are my top favorite BL series.

Random Note:
You can wait to watch this series for when you have nothing else on your must watch list and have some time to kill. Again, the best part is you only have to watch the sections linked to your favorite series. See my reviews for each section of this series if you would like more information.

Why was this called Our Skyy 2 when it’s not an actual sequel. Yes, it’s a “sequel” (sort of) to other BL series but not to Our Skyy. I guess GMMTV was either too lazy or lacked creativity (maybe both) when figuring out a new name for this. At least they didn’t have to waste money creating a new theme song.

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It’s worth a try.

I placed a spoiler alert at the end of this review.

If you’re looking for a cute and somewhat lite series, then give it a try. The story concept was ok, but the script was messy. The first four episodes were weak, weird and cringy. It got better by episode 5 but it felt like I was watching a different series at that point. The relationship pacing for Joke and Zo was off at first. I like the secondary BL couple more because they were already an established couple with a real problem. I was also able to predict one of the story elements very quickly. I liked how unpredictable the ending of the series was. See the spoiler alert at the end of this review if you want more information. It had a lot of wasted/filler screentime that I skipped. The acting was good from most of the cast.




******Spoiler Alert******

We get a series of flashbacks in episode 1 that hinted how the rift between Joke and Zo started but did not fully explain what exactly happened during the contest.

There was no smooth transition between Joke and Zo going from enemies to friends. However, the transition from them going from friends to lovers was better and more realistic.

I liked how they addressed the issue of dating someone that’s not out yet and the toll it takes on an individual that is in a secret relationship. I just wish this couple had more screen time, especially considering how much filler scenes/wasted screen time the series had.

I was able to guess by the first episode that Pat was helping Joke with his “hidden agenda.”

As for the ending, it was refreshing that we didn’t get the predictable relationship problems in episode 11.

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