Pincolino

First time seeing Krist doing a kiss scene that looks natural

I'm in desperate need of a good BL.

The plot is unique, the main actors are good, the chemistry is chemistrying.
The production, overall writing and direction are terrible. Terrible.
In better hands, this plot could be fire. But nope. It's a cheap BL production with terrible older actors, cringy crying, ridiculous loan sharks and police men, ridiculous situations etc.
They aren't even trying.

There is nothing to explain. I find both actors neither charming nor attractive. Their acting, their body language, their voices, even their smiles are not to my liking.
I'm picky when it comes to storytelling, but I'm easily charmed by actors. Those two just aren't doing it for me.

I couldn't care less what people love or not love, but it has to be studied why so many are so charmed by those two. Worst couple I have ever seen, and I watch BL for 10 years.

I find both actors extremely cringy, it makes me uncomfortable watching them. How they deliver their lines, even their voices, I hate it. Especially the black haired guy's voice makes my fingernails curl. There must be some sorcery going on, that people are so into them.
Don't know about "big budget series" – it's not my business how well other series are doing or not.
No hate here, but I'm baffled how those two can be so popular. Good for them, though!

Were you drunk when watching it? It was the older sister. This is essential to the plot!!!!! What happened between the older sister and the SML is the reason for her suicide, which then again is the reason, why the FL joined the company and how she behaved towards the ML. You clearly skipped many parts, and didn't watch it properly. Then please don't comment on it, if you don't understand the story.

I was specifically talking about the fights Si Eun was in: 1) against his new friend, 2) against Seong Je, 3) against the "main villain" of s2.
Those three fought fair.
This is not a question who is the good guy, and who is the bad guy. Of course, Si Eun wouldn't seek violence by himself. But if you try to get into his head for a second, you must wonder where this will to kill is coming from. And there is a will to kill, even if it means to be killed himself.
If I remember correctly, the first brutal scene in s1 was when he put a curtain over the head of a classmate and hit his head with a book.
You think this is normal?
I was bullied at school too, but I never had such violent thoughts.
I find this disturbing, and I'm convinced most viewers don't grasp the deepness of this series, because they alienate themselves from it too much. It's just an entertaining story for them at the end of the day.
I wouldn't want to be friends with Si Eun, I can tell you that. He is a psychopath in my books.

I'm not hating on this series, don't get me wrong. It's very suspenseful with good acting and good fights. But I feel there is not much substance and the whole story is more "fantasy" than everything else.
That said, I have a serious question: Are you guys thinking the main lead is a good guy? I don't remember everything from s1, but I remember how the title was fitting: weak hero. He didn't have the physical strength or the skills for fighting. He fought with his brain, and his will to survive. He fought for his friends.
In s2 I felt like he got physically stronger, and his fighting style - woah. Like his new friend said: He is a sneaky a**hole. He fights dirty, and his advantage is the will to kill the other person. That's why he almost can't be defeated. He doesn't hesitate to cause some serious harm. When he was fighting with Seong Je, the guy took the pen from him and threw it away. He could have used it as a weapon, but he didn't. His opponents don't use weapons, which would make them stronger. They are fighting with their abilities and their strength.
I enjoyed s2 more than s1, but I must say: There is something seriously wrong with Si Eun, and he is not the poor victim. In s1 I could see how he was driven to extremes, because of this endless cycle of violence. He didn't ask for it. Everything got out of control. In s2 I thought he himself was the one who was too extreme. I know he has a trauma, but still.

I'm glad it's over, but I felt the same with s1. It's like a train wreck, you can't look away, but I never enjoyed this series. The whole violence seems pointless from start to finish, but that's the plot. Violence leads to more violence and so on and on and on.
At least his friend survived, even though I highly doubt, someone who wakes up from a years long coma is behaving like this.

Yeah, it's the face structure *sarcasm off*

Typecasting is not a bad thing.
You have to find the right actor for a certain role.
Obviously those two guys click well, and they are both hot, so the team just went with them.
I think someone like Dunk would have been perfect for the role. He already played annoying and childish characters. He looks very young, has an awkward attitude which would fit the role, and he is objectively speaking mesmerizing beautiful, so all those sensual scenes about the golden blood, his sweat, the close shots of his face, eyes, mouth would have been great.
Gawin has more of a manly mature mysterious beauty. He is a handsome man, not a beautiful boy.

Yeah, seriously. I wasn't the biggest fan of it, but the quality was undeniable. Much better than what else was released at that time.

I don't get the hype about Top Form. Nothing charming about this series.

I hope a talented team is behind it. Look at series like Peaceful Property or High School Frenemy - GMMTV has indeed talented writers and filmmakers. Be My Favorite was one of the best BL series, a clever and intriguing plot, terrific character development etc.
I sooo hope the writing and directing isn't letting them down, because lately some BL series were rather disappointing. We already know the acting will be good. No worries there!

They should just ignore those people. There will always be hate. I remember when Be My Favorite aired, they went crazy, didn't like Gawin, said there is no chemistry, this couple doesn't work, Krist is only back and doing BL because of the money etc.
He killed it in Be My Favorite.
Krist in general is one of the unfortunate BL actors who gets lots of hate. They accused him of being homophobic and escaping the BL genre. They even attack his character. I don't know how the guy survived until now.

What's the point of writing a whole essay to convince people that their feelings are wrong? Nobody will change its mind or heart. My first "BL-love" was MaxTul. So this is not about Gawin being too manly for the uke role or whatever.
The writing sucks, the acting sucks, the directing sucks.
Nothing works here. It's Kidnap all over again: a series with great potential, but nothing feels right. They failed to establish the OhmLeng pair (I know the crazy OhmNanon fans played a big role), I wonder if JossGawin will have a future.
I lately felt in love with JoongDunk in The Heart Killers. Their older series are one of the worst rated on MDL of a more popular couple. I watched them, and whatever issue people may have with them, the quality was there. Good directing, occasionally good writing, some dialogues were smart, some scene very beautifully filmed.
That's not the case here. It's boring. I mostly blame the writing and directing. There is no suspense, no artistry in the cinematography. The people who worked on this should look for another job. Like I said: Kidnap all over again. Just an overall low quality series.
And talking about chemistry: Since the holy trinity is back, I thought about this a lot lately. How those guys back then were able to create such great chemistry, and still to this day, almost ten years later, they are loved. Their first series were silly and not high quality at all, but they were charming, and their chemistry killed it.
Compare this genuine chemistry to couples they are trying to force on us like OhmLeng, PerthChimon or now JossGawin. At the same time we have SkyNani who don't do BL. Not everything works out for GMMTV, I guess.

Thank you!

When will the series air?

9.4 is too much.
There were many things wrong with this series. Many things. Especially how they portrayed the love stories, where the men were completely reduced to their role as servants and protectors of their women. No idea how someone can find this romantic.
Those men were pitiful. All of them. That Gwan Sik would be the first to die - I f*cking knew it. He fulfilled his purpose of working himself to death for the family.
But he got some good sexy times at least. How often have we seen Ae Sun and her husband turn off the lights? The jealous captain who asked if someone is waiting at home for Gwan Sik? Ae Sun telling her daughter, she should chose a good-looking man, because then they won't fight so much? We know why. Because she will be attracted to him, and they will f*ck a lot.
Damn. I can't take this serious. I feel like the emotional scenes, the nice cinematography is putting everyone under a spell.
Not only the romantic relationships were problematic, also the parents-children relationships. I already complained about the favoritism Ae Sun showed towards her daughter to the point that her son called his own parents Geum Myeong-mother and Geum Myeong-father. Or another example: the grandmother. Imagine your children and grandchildren are looking after you, but then you get dementia and forget about all of them - but not about your favorite son and his daughter. It's just wrong to favor a son after so many years, when you lost him early, and forget about the people who cared for you for decades. It's f*cked up to say the least.
Same with Ae Sun's mother. She clearly didn't cherish her other children as much as Ae Sun. They were even written out of the whole story.
Honestly, I could write a whole book about this series and what was wrong with it. Ae Sun telling her daughter she should have children, because otherwise nobody will look after her at old age, was the cherry on the top. Now we know why poor people breed. And how their "love" and their apparently superior mindset works. They are afraid of dying alone. That's it. They work themselves to death so they are vulnerable and weak at old age and can hold onto something.
Whatever. I'm just putting out my thoughts, since I feel people are not critical enough, they are not questioning, what this series really tells you about life, love and family.