This review may contain spoilers
Rewatchable
The OST is literally one song played over and over again, but it didn't annoy me, and it's stuck in my head now, so~
Acting was really good, and I liked the chemistry between all of them as friends and Maxky/Bas & Pie/Golf in romance. Earth and Bas honestly have good chemistry, but I'm pretty sure they are also really good friends IRL. Pond & Earth honestly didn't have the best chemistry in my opinion; it felt very forced and one-dimensional, or maybe I was distracted by the fact that every character Earth plays feels the same. I've seen him in 4 series before this one, and all of the characters feel the same to me. Bas's acting really impressed me right off the bat because the only thing I'd seen him in before this was 2 Moons, which I had fun watching, but it was one of his early roles, and you could tell.
North, Dao, Ger, and Typoon were my favorite characters, while Hill and Easter were my least favorites. Hill was so sappy at times that it was sickening, and Easter's overly dramatic facial expressions paired with his constant whining set my nerves on end.
(Side Note: I can never get over how tiny Tonliew is. He's adorable.)
While watching this series, I was looking out for foreshadowing and little moments between the couples for season 2. I would have overlooked the little uneasy looks between Typoon and Tonfah if I hadn't been looking for them. Tiger is just too adorable in his crush, and I honestly feel really bad for him. And Dao! He and Arthit don't meet once! You'd think that, being in the same friend group, they would have met at least in passing, but nope!
The friend groups are easily one of my favorite things about the series. Great chemistry, and I honestly love the teasing. Ter teasing North about Jo did get annoying fast, but the moments were short. The "shipping" is also something I think aged poorly now that I know how crazy and toxic some BL fans can be. I would say this friend group is at least in my top 10 favorite friend groups. Maybe the top 5 after I watch season 2.
Moving on to the main couples!
I loved JoNorth so much. Their kisses. Their cuddles. The way that Jo is down bad and super possessive, but is still a green flag about it. Or, well, at least a yellow flag. I'm convinced his family has ties to the mafia. He and Tiger seem to have known each other a while, and Tiger's father is in the mafia (if what I heard is true), so I need answers. Both of them seem to have an unlimited amount of money to throw around, and if they want something done or someone to disappear, they have no problem doing it. What really happened to Day? I doubt he was just fired.
Moving on, their moments were my favorite, especially all the cafe ones, and they were honestly the only reason I didn't drop the show. I was about to give up on the show until their storyline was introduced in episode 6; that's when things finally got interesting. It's hard to go wrong with a plot where the love interest owes the other money. I normally like it to be enemies to lovers, like in We Are, but this one sucked me in. I think that was mainly because North was actually trying to work more jobs to get the money. That is probably the only thing I didn't like about North now that I'm thinking about it. Who uses their college tuition and rent on a gaming computer? The boy needs someone to manage his spending. . . . . I keep getting sidetracked, sorry. There are also many moments of Jo hugging North like he's the cutest thing, and pulling him into his lap. AKA the best seat in the house. I just love them being together.
I couldn't care less about Hill and Easter's relationship. All of their problems are from miscommunication and an unwillingness to communicate. Yes, the grandpa didn't help, and he's a right bitter old man that deserves a good punch to the face, but he didn't cause all of their problems. He just started them. They became a stronger couple because of it, and hopefully, they won't make the same mistake again.
We spent around 13 episodes, maybe more, of these two orbiting each other and refusing to talk about what happened and how they feel about each other. Ter thinking that Hill liked Mild or Christmas made me wonder how he saw Jo liking North. Jo wasn't very obvious about it, and everyone could see from space how much Hill liked Ter. It was honestly annoying, especially when Ter told North that Hill never showed signs of liking him in high school. I'm sorry, did you just dream that he had you half naked on his bed with his tongue down your throat? WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE WERE NO SIGNS! He didn't contact you after? Did you ever think he got grounded and his phone taken away? Why did you never try to go to his house to check on him? Or ask his friends if they had heard from him? Why did you jump straight to blocking his number?
Then, when they meet again, you'd think that one of them would try to explain/inquirer about what happened, but nope! Hill just flirts, and Ter goes along with it because no matter how hurt he was, he still has feelings for Hill and lets him do whatever he wants, all while believing that he doesn't like him. Make that make sense! If you really believe the boy doesn't like you, then put your foot down. Stop letting him hold your hand, stop the car rides, stop all unnecessary contact!
Their whole storyline should have been 7 episodes at most, but instead it's dragged out through most of the series!
The flashbacks were also very annoying, and spread out through multiple episodes when they could have been all in 1 or 2 episodes. All of Jo and North's flashbacks took up 1 whole episode, and I was invested the whole time. Hill and Easter's were so spread out and sometimes so short that it disrupted the flow of the story more than it made me care. The only flashback that didn't do either of those things is when they are looking through a photo album near the end of the series, and Ter learns that he had met Hill long before Hill transferred to his school. That flashback wasn't out of place; it was long, and it got you invested.
Near the end, my interest in their relationship was at rock bottom, and my attention started to drift, so I began watching their scenes at X2 speed.
I do recommend the series because it was still good, and I really liked everything outside of Hill and Easter's relationship. Hill was actually likeable when it was just him and his friends.
Acting was really good, and I liked the chemistry between all of them as friends and Maxky/Bas & Pie/Golf in romance. Earth and Bas honestly have good chemistry, but I'm pretty sure they are also really good friends IRL. Pond & Earth honestly didn't have the best chemistry in my opinion; it felt very forced and one-dimensional, or maybe I was distracted by the fact that every character Earth plays feels the same. I've seen him in 4 series before this one, and all of the characters feel the same to me. Bas's acting really impressed me right off the bat because the only thing I'd seen him in before this was 2 Moons, which I had fun watching, but it was one of his early roles, and you could tell.
North, Dao, Ger, and Typoon were my favorite characters, while Hill and Easter were my least favorites. Hill was so sappy at times that it was sickening, and Easter's overly dramatic facial expressions paired with his constant whining set my nerves on end.
(Side Note: I can never get over how tiny Tonliew is. He's adorable.)
While watching this series, I was looking out for foreshadowing and little moments between the couples for season 2. I would have overlooked the little uneasy looks between Typoon and Tonfah if I hadn't been looking for them. Tiger is just too adorable in his crush, and I honestly feel really bad for him. And Dao! He and Arthit don't meet once! You'd think that, being in the same friend group, they would have met at least in passing, but nope!
The friend groups are easily one of my favorite things about the series. Great chemistry, and I honestly love the teasing. Ter teasing North about Jo did get annoying fast, but the moments were short. The "shipping" is also something I think aged poorly now that I know how crazy and toxic some BL fans can be. I would say this friend group is at least in my top 10 favorite friend groups. Maybe the top 5 after I watch season 2.
Moving on to the main couples!
I loved JoNorth so much. Their kisses. Their cuddles. The way that Jo is down bad and super possessive, but is still a green flag about it. Or, well, at least a yellow flag. I'm convinced his family has ties to the mafia. He and Tiger seem to have known each other a while, and Tiger's father is in the mafia (if what I heard is true), so I need answers. Both of them seem to have an unlimited amount of money to throw around, and if they want something done or someone to disappear, they have no problem doing it. What really happened to Day? I doubt he was just fired.
Moving on, their moments were my favorite, especially all the cafe ones, and they were honestly the only reason I didn't drop the show. I was about to give up on the show until their storyline was introduced in episode 6; that's when things finally got interesting. It's hard to go wrong with a plot where the love interest owes the other money. I normally like it to be enemies to lovers, like in We Are, but this one sucked me in. I think that was mainly because North was actually trying to work more jobs to get the money. That is probably the only thing I didn't like about North now that I'm thinking about it. Who uses their college tuition and rent on a gaming computer? The boy needs someone to manage his spending. . . . . I keep getting sidetracked, sorry. There are also many moments of Jo hugging North like he's the cutest thing, and pulling him into his lap. AKA the best seat in the house. I just love them being together.
I couldn't care less about Hill and Easter's relationship. All of their problems are from miscommunication and an unwillingness to communicate. Yes, the grandpa didn't help, and he's a right bitter old man that deserves a good punch to the face, but he didn't cause all of their problems. He just started them. They became a stronger couple because of it, and hopefully, they won't make the same mistake again.
We spent around 13 episodes, maybe more, of these two orbiting each other and refusing to talk about what happened and how they feel about each other. Ter thinking that Hill liked Mild or Christmas made me wonder how he saw Jo liking North. Jo wasn't very obvious about it, and everyone could see from space how much Hill liked Ter. It was honestly annoying, especially when Ter told North that Hill never showed signs of liking him in high school. I'm sorry, did you just dream that he had you half naked on his bed with his tongue down your throat? WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE WERE NO SIGNS! He didn't contact you after? Did you ever think he got grounded and his phone taken away? Why did you never try to go to his house to check on him? Or ask his friends if they had heard from him? Why did you jump straight to blocking his number?
Then, when they meet again, you'd think that one of them would try to explain/inquirer about what happened, but nope! Hill just flirts, and Ter goes along with it because no matter how hurt he was, he still has feelings for Hill and lets him do whatever he wants, all while believing that he doesn't like him. Make that make sense! If you really believe the boy doesn't like you, then put your foot down. Stop letting him hold your hand, stop the car rides, stop all unnecessary contact!
Their whole storyline should have been 7 episodes at most, but instead it's dragged out through most of the series!
The flashbacks were also very annoying, and spread out through multiple episodes when they could have been all in 1 or 2 episodes. All of Jo and North's flashbacks took up 1 whole episode, and I was invested the whole time. Hill and Easter's were so spread out and sometimes so short that it disrupted the flow of the story more than it made me care. The only flashback that didn't do either of those things is when they are looking through a photo album near the end of the series, and Ter learns that he had met Hill long before Hill transferred to his school. That flashback wasn't out of place; it was long, and it got you invested.
Near the end, my interest in their relationship was at rock bottom, and my attention started to drift, so I began watching their scenes at X2 speed.
I do recommend the series because it was still good, and I really liked everything outside of Hill and Easter's relationship. Hill was actually likeable when it was just him and his friends.
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