MidnightReader

I had no expectations, but was still disappointed

The best thing about this series is that it shows how AI is ruining creativity and taking jobs.

All the actors did a great job, but good acting can only carry a show so far when the plot and the script aren't pulling their weight. To me, Dew and Gun just didn't have any chemistry, and it felt less like love and more like Pheem imprinted on Jira.

The plot was hollow at best and felt full of loose ends, especially regarding Jira's "job". The script spent more time on the artistic side of things when it should have worked more on the "plot" and developing the characters and their relationships.

I couldn't connect with or care about any of the characters because we really didn't get to know them. I honestly couldn't remember their names until around episode 7, when the show actually started to get a little interesting. Which is sad.

The friendship between Koh and Pheem just fell apart with neither of them actually caring, and I didn't care either because it had no history behind it, even though we are told they've known each other for 20 years. I believe Pheem had Stockholm Syndrome, but they didn't really do enough with it. It's like Jira just existing took him half out of it, and Koh breaking them up cured him. More time needed to be spent on his healing, and not being used like an emotional yo-yo.

Watching this honestly felt like a waste of time; I gained nothing from it, not even enjoyment.

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Do I need to give up on BL thrillers & Mysteries?

Every one of them has disappointed me.

Easily the best thing about this series was the cinematography.

OST was okay, I guess. I didn't pay attention to it half the time.

Watched a lot of it at X2 speed when the talking was really slow (this may have just been me), flashbacks, and when it was just music playing over moments with no dialogue.

Everyone did a good job on the acting, especially Jan (Dao) and Pu (the grandma). I hated both of their characters so much from the very beginning. The grandma was just a right bitch that I wanted to punt in the nearest lake. She was downright horrible to Tontharn for reasons that weren't his fault, and some of the problems she caused. She at least admitted that what she did was nasty, unlike Dao, who, until the very end, thinks she was in the right.

Now, Dao, I didn't like her because she was just shit at her job. I know that it was to spin the narrative, but boy, was she bad at it. I don't for a second think that she was 2nd in her class. Second from the bottom, maybe. I have 1 Forensic Science class from high school under my belt, and I knew more about how an investigation is meant to be run. This wasn't it! What made it more confusing was that the timeline of events was in order, but it was almost impossible to tell when things happened. I blame the writers for that. We start with two dead bodies found on the same day, and we aren't told the time of death, how they died, or if any evidence could be found at a secondary location, or if they were killed where their bodies were found. No one tried to backtrack their movements from the day they were killed, or if they had any other connections other than working for Botphleng's family. No one questions why this person killed and dumped two bodies in the "open" (they weren't really) like they were "playing with the police" and then stopped. I'm not saying killers can't just kill and stop; I'm just pointing out that no one thought it was strange. Did Thunphob die from the head wound or drowning? He was nothing but bones? Get an anthropologist to take a look. Also, his body was found a month before the series started, but how long had he actually been dead? Unless I missed it, no one reported him as a missing person. Then we have the fact that Botphleng could be a target, and she just doesn't give a rat's ass. She literally says, "He's strong, he can protect himself." Whether he can or can't doesn't matter; it's your job to offer him protection. He doesn't have to take it, but you have to offer it.

As a whole, crime investigation and general knowledge needed a lot of work. It would have been nice to see some of it as well, instead of Dao pulling information out of thin air like she was investigating, and not trying to spin the narrative. Honestly, for her reveal, it would have been better if she had been a likeable person who seemed to be trying to help, that way the reveal would have come as a greater shock. Just because most of the hate is going to the grandma doesn't mean that people are just going to think she's the killer. To me, she seemed too obvious a suspect, so I was suspecting everyone but her and her daughter. I also didn't think it was Tanu, Jen, Miles, or Tankoon, so that left very few people as suspects.

I'm going to be honest. I normally don't like Force or Books acting, I liked them in Perfect 10 Lines and nothing else, but they did a really good job in this one, especially Book. Book actually made me cry when he was telling Nim everything that he could remember. Not an ugly cry, but the silent kind that you don't realize is there until it's already fallen. His panic attack was also good.

Why did Thunphob continue using Tankoon's name with Botphleng after they got closer? Seemed weird.

Tankoon pissed me off (this was a script problem) when one minute he would say "I'll help you get your memories back" and then the next say "Your family doesn't want you to remember for a reason". PICK A SIDE AND STAY THERE. Also, who gives a fuck what the family wants? They are clearly hiding something shady if they have spent countless years making this boy forget who he is. Tontharn going back to the house at all after learning about the hypnosis was just wild and one of the stupidest things to do. No one put this boy in a horror movie.

Tanu also pissed me off by saving Botphleng's mom in the fire when his literal son had a large piece of burning wood on top of his unconscious body. I don't know if he knew Botphleng was in the burning building, but if he did, I'm doubly pissed off because what the fuck!? Why save the one person NOT directly in harm's way? Am I the crazy one?

The only surprising, and in my opinion, well-done thing done in this series was Tontharn being Botphleng and the reveal of it.

It would have been really interesting if the real Botphleng had followed Tontharn around as a ghost during the whole series, only to finally be laid to rest once the truth is revealed and his grave is placed next to Thunphob, then they move on together.

I've seen quite a few Thai thrillers, and so far the only one that hasn't disappointed me is Triage. I won't stop watching them completely, but I'm going to be very picky from now on. I went into this with zero expectations, and the only reason my rating isn't lower is because of the acting, and Botphleng's real identity reveal was well done.

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This plot will never die

This series reminded me quite a bit of "School Trip: Joined a Group I'm Not Close To" & about 20 other anime and dramas. Nothing about it stood out from all of the other Japanese series with a popular, aloof character falling for the shy, awkward, unpopular kid. Even the script was very similar; I wish I had a dollar for every time one of the friends got shocked because Mr. Popular is "never like this with anyone else". I'll give Japan this: when a plot is popular, they milk it till it's past dead.

That isn't to say that I hate this kind of plot; I wouldn't have finished it if I did, but I am getting very bored with it. Give me a plot I can't predict & a script that I don't know word for word by this point. Give me a little drama instead of just insecurity! Put simply, this plot has become so repetitive in anime and dramas that I can't tell one from the other.

This series in particular had nothing to make it stand out at all. Nothing. Not in a bad way or a good way. Chemistry was alright. Acting was good. Supporting characters were there. The script and plot were so repetitive that I honestly didn't need to finish it to know what happened. So to summarize: boring. I was bored. The only time I wasn't was when they went to the bookstore, and that's only because I like bookstores.

Another problem I had was that sometimes the actors looked much older in some scenes and fine in others. I don't know if it was the makeup, the lighting, or both.

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This was frustrating

Trigger warnings for rape (acted out) and SA (both acted and real)

I'm going to start by talking about the things I liked.

1. Zhen Xin's girlfriend was actually really cool, and I liked her. I thought I would hate her at first because of the way she called Zhen Xin "honey" in that tone. It grated on my ears, and she did it too much. Thankfully, that didn't last long, and she turned out to be a very cool girl boss.

2. The ending. Both the one for Zhen Xin & Zhang Zhun and the one for Gao and Fang. I'm still wondering whether Gao and Fang's story inside Zhen and Zhun's was real.

3. The acting was really good & Ollie and Shu cried really well.

4. Good cuddles. It's sad we only got a couple of them.

Now, on to the things I didn't like, of which there are many.

1. The cheating was unnecessary. They should have just been single or broken up with their girlfriends right away. Zhen and Zhun barely get any screen time as themselves already, so why fill that time with something so toxic? I already didn't feel anything for the characters & I hate cheating, so I wasn't exactly rooting for them to get their happily ever after. Did Zhun ever talk to his girlfriend & properly break up? It didn't feel like it. I knew going in there would be cheating; I just didn't expect it to be handled so poorly, especially with Zhun's girlfriend.

2. I didn't really like any of the characters very much, besides Zhen Xin's girlfriend. We aren't given enough time with them to have any good emotional buildup or to really even get to know them. I simply couldn't make myself care about them.

3. The chemistry. To put it simply, there was very little to be had. I checked out during the smut scenes, which is honestly nothing new, but even the kisses were bland and dry. The kisses weren't the worst, but I expected a lot more from these characters, considering they "love" each other. Yeah, I really didn't believe that for a second.

4. Even with the ending being what it was, we should not have spent over half the show on Gao and Fang's story. I didn't even pay attention to the first scene because I thought it was something they would show small pieces of every couple of episodes. I didn't know we would be living through their entire story! Sadly, their story, which I was bored with at first, turned out to be the more interesting one to follow.

5. Where the fudge did that proposal come from? It was the most out-of-place proposal I've ever seen, IRL & in fiction. What was he thinking? What makes it worse is that it didn't have to happen. I'm assuming it happened to get the rings to both characters so they could reunite dramatically later. Could have just made them promise rings; it would have worked just as well and made it so Zhen didn't look like an idiot who was rushing things.

6. Why did their boss change their mind about them dating? What happened in those 8 months that made them say, "Okay, if they still like each other, just let them date"? I don't mind the change of heart; what I mind is not knowing why it happened.


I really don't understand the hype or the high rating. I think I'm going to stop considering the rating before I watch a show. I normally use it as a way to pick between two shows if I'm torn, but I've been disappointed almost every time. I was really looking forward to this show as well. I thought it would be a dark, fast-paced plot that would have me excited for each new episode, but instead, each episode became a chore to get through.

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It had potential

The biggest problem with this series is the runtime. With this kind of plot, you can't just condense it down to 10-minute-long episodes and expect to get anything of substance done.

Which is why they kind of don't. Ji Han really just stumbles around with no real goal, falls in love, & gets a second chance after catching our fugitive. I didn't believe the romance. The worlds and their connection were never really explained; they are working on the assumption that the watcher has a baseline amount of knowledge.

Why are we spending actual time on schoolwork? Why are there two possible love interests? Most full-length series are too short to involve multiple love interests! Why is there no attempt to "fix" the error? Doesn't the original ledger that Ji Han came with at the end still exist? Is that not going to be a problem? Where is Ji Han getting his clothes from? That last one isn't really important, but it bothers me not knowing.

The acting was at least alright. Kan Hyeon Bae (Ji Han) did a really good job for his first role.

The chemistry really wasn't present outside the NC scene; it was alright then, but the kisses were good & VERY audible.

Not a total waste of time, but it was really disappointing because the plot had potential and the acting wasn't terrible.

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Finally a BL K-drama where the world didn't feel empty

I'm not used to Korean BL dramas having a budget or having a cast bigger than 4 people. This series had both. Maybe because it didn't really focus on the romance at all, to the point where I didn't believe they actually loved each other, so they decided to actually put money into it?

The romance was so far into the background that they could have made this a bromance and had the 2 NC scenes replaced by investigation scenes, and it wouldn't have made a difference to the emotional level of the story. It was so unimportant that even the characters avoided the topic for most of the show. At least until we got closer to the end, and apparently the scriptwriters decided the show needed some emotion outside of sad and angry.

The script was also a little ridiculous in the beginning regarding Ju Taeseon's lines. I burst out laughing and said "What do you mean?" way too many times within the first couple of episodes alone.

The actors all did a great job, especially the actress for Oja Hyeon. She pulled off batshit crazy scarily well. She actually made me uncomfortable a couple of times. I would have liked to have seen more of her internal & family struggles because there was a lot more there than was unpacked.

The CGI only bothered me a little. After seeing a couple of series with the most fake CGI models recently, looking at you 'Double Helix', anything above it doesn't bother me as much.

Loved the OST. It's not often that I notice the OST; honestly, if I don't notice it, you've done a great job, but the OST really stood out here in a good way. I also really liked the OP; I never skipped it.

Now, as for the plot. I will admit that when it comes to crime dramas, I'm not the biggest fan because they never put enough research into things. I was mildly impressed with the amount of investigating being done in this series (it would have been nice to see both sides of things since it was obvious who was behind most of it) and that they made it make sense why they couldn't find any solid evidence. HOWEVER, I took points off for the fact that it was obvious who the son was and the victim's connections after learning about said secret son. I had already picked up on Song acting weird in episode 1, and he and Tak exchanged looks a couple of times that weren't normal. I didn't need them to connect the dots for me for the murders because everything clicked right away once we talked to Oja Hyeon's sister & learned about the possibility of a son. I understand it was only 10 30ish minute episodes, but that's why I said they should have just taken the romance out of this series.

Am I glad we finally got a BL K-drama with an actual budget and cast? Yes, but not at the expense of a better plot. Romance should enhance the plot, not weigh it down, which is how this felt to me.

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Trigger Warning for SA, Kidnapping, Confinement, Isolation, & Abuse

I was really looking forward to this one. Just a warning; my thoughts are all over the place right now so this review may not be the most organized. It's also almost 3am hehe so there may be some spelling and grammar mistakes.

This is a series where there aren't many characters that aren't going to frustrate or annoy you at least once. The MC's work friends probably won't, and maybe Yi Chen's (the little brother) boyfriend won't, but he also didn't have much personality outside liking little Yi Chen. Ke Lu was fine too, but we didn't see him much either. Lu Feng's sister is pretty cool as well after their father dies, you can tell she cares about her brother at least.

Can I just point out how stupid it was to have the MC & his little brother share the same name.

Don't get me wrong it wasn't bad, but it did feel like it was trying to hard to be something it wasn't. There was always something happening that would remind me of To My Shore & Revenged Love; mostly in the dialogue.

The OST was alright. I didn't hate it at least, there was just too much of it. Once or twice an episode would be fine, but it happened sometimes 4 or 5 times where we would get a flashback/montage with a lyric song overlaid. The flashback/montage's were over done as well. We didn't need that many.

We didn't need so many NC scene's of the second couple either. I would have much rather have seen how the little brother fell in love. I don't believe it was love at first sight like with Qin Lang and Lu Feng. We don't get enough of the second couple.

The fashion was probably my favorite thing about the series. I liked the Yi Chen siblings clothes, especially Xiao Chen, but I also really liked Zhu Sha's. Not many people can pull off a bubble skirt (at least not many I've seen).

I liked that we got to see our main couples relationship at basically every stage. High school, college, right after college, and then meeting again after 5 years of separation.

The acting was good. Xiao Chen seemed overly dazed at times, but I chalked that up to his character being overwhelmed with the situation. I especially liked that you could tell something was wrong with Lu Feng just from his eyes.

The last thing that I feel is worth mentioning on the positive side them giving a reason behind Lu Feng's aggression and impulsive behavior. Bipolar disorder isn't something I know much about so I can't speck for accuracy, but this is the first time I've seen them give, or at least acknowledged, a mental health reason for the ML acting crazy obsessive over the main character. Xiao Chen being a trigger for him also makes perfect sense if his love for him run's so deep, and they are constantly being torn apart. I also like that we got to see him working though it. Was this accurate treatment? I have no idea. It felt like it would hurt more than help, but my medical training didn't cover this type of mental disorder.

Would it be horrible of me to say that I was happy that the parent's all started dropping like flies? I didn't care about any of them and I don't think we were meant to. Lu Feng's father died & Lu Feng's tears felt like those of relief. I'd cry in relief too if my abuser died. The Chen's father? It happened with no fanfare. I'm not even sure they told us why or how he died. The most memorable thing he did was fly into a rage and lock Xiao Chen in his room. The Chen's mother? Lady was really holding on for that wedding wasn't she? She wasn't going to be able to rest till she saw her son in a loveless marriage that anyone with eye's could see would go no where.

(I've heard in the book they actually have a kid and so does Lu Feng from a one-night stand & I'm interested to know how that affect's the whole kidnapping thing. I may have to read the book.)

BACK TO THE MOTHER. This women pissed me off. I already didn't like her for not even worrying about her son who had just been attacked, but was more worried about him not being "normal" as she put it. Then she kept trying to set him up with girls & ignoring what his type really was. At the hospital though was were I really wanted her to just bite it. When she was giving this long death bed guilt trip to Xiao Chen about how at least one of her sons needed to be normal or it was a waste of time raising them, how he corrupted his little brother, how she had saved up so much money for him to start a family with. It's like being normal is more important than her children's happiness. If only she knew that Xiao Chen was picturing himself marrying Lu Feng while marrying Zhou Lan.

The wedding was a shotgun wedding.

Since I brought her up~ I don't like Zhou Lan. Not because she married Xiao Chen, in that she was just being a good friend while also getting to marry her crush. Can't blame the girl for taking the opportunity that landed in her lap. I didn't like her at the beginning because her character felt desperate, but it was near the end where she brings a gun and accidently shots Xiao Chen that really solidified my dislike. Why didn't she call the cops? Why would you enter someone's home with a gun? She didn't even know anything about Xiao Chen & Lu Feng's relationship, didn't know anything about the situation, or weather Lu Feng has a gun, she didn't take into account that Xiao Chen could have been hit. She simply didn't think at all. If you think someone is being held captive, confirm and then call the cops. Don't take the law into your own hands. I pisses me off that she didn't get any punishment for this either, or if she did we aren't told about it. I don't care if her reasons were good it's still attempt of murder.

Episode 9 was were Lu Feng went from a toxic red flag to a psychopath. Props to the actors during this episode because it was a lot, especially the biting which was real at least once. Sadly we only got this level of toxic psycho behavior for only one episode. I know I'm a horrible person for wanting more. I just felt like they tried to pack it all into one episode when it could have been spread out into two episodes and had more impact.

Finally the thing I HATED most. Who thought that 3D model of the city was good? It was so fake & ugly it hurt to look at. I'd be embarrassed for people to see my name attached to it. I don't know what the budget was but it must have been scaping the bottom of the barrel. I'm going to assume they didn't have the funds for a drone, or maybe legally they can't do drone shots. But a picture from Google images would have looked better. The worse thing is we didn't need these city or sky shots at all! When we have a time skip sure use it, but they subject us too these moving 3D model's multiple times each episode for no good reason. Just don't show us anything at all. Transition from one scene to the next using the fade to black method or something.

Was that a bit harsh? Probably, but it bothered me throughout the whole series and I couldn't not say something about it.

While I was disappointed by many aspects of the show I'm still glad that I watched it.

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Trigger Warnings for SA, rape, self-harm, drugs & alcohol, violence, & manipulation.

Even after this series has been over for months, I still see people who are obsessed with it. They post photos and reels almost daily about the show and the main actors, and after finally watching the series, I really don't understand. Overall, it was a good series, but nothing that I would put my time and energy into months after it's finished.

I have one question that I asked myself at the end, and that was, "Is this Stockholm Syndrome?" Is that the real reason Shulang goes back to Fan Xiao?

OST wasn't invasive, and when I do notice it, I like it.

I liked that they made Fan Xiao such a black flag. He's not the worst character in the series by far, but he's obsessive and possessive to a dangerous degree, and had the money to do what he wanted. All the trigger warnings are because of him. The man needs therapy to deal with his past trauma and his current obsession. They made it easy for me to want Shulang nowhere near this man, while also feeling a bit sorry for him when he's trying to be a better person, and Shulang is RIGHTFULLY pushing him away. (Sometimes my empathy is a problem; I see someone hurting and I hurt with them.)

I also like how Fan Xiao marks his territory. Sorry, not sorry.

Shulang was easily my favorite character (even though I got freaked out/worried by his hands a couple times) because of how much he reminds me of my mom. Kind to a fault, but you don't fuck with the people they love. He's stupid for going back to Fan Xiao, but I wasn't surprised either because no matter how bad the manipulation, you could tell he still loved him, and once the good things he did were brought to light, you could see that it was easily breaking down the walls Shulang built. This is why I suspected Stockholm Syndrome; he went back to him so easily.

The only thing I didn't like about Shulang was how quickly he moved on from his boyfriend that he'd been dating for years. At least I think it was years. He didn't seem affected by the breakup at all until he learned Fan Xiao's role in it.

I wouldn't blame Lu Zhen for breaking up with Shulang because he felt like Shulang wasn't emotionally available enough & he didn't see that until Fan Xiao started showing him attention. Sadly, it seemed less like he realized this and more like he liked the attention because after only the second meeting with Fan Xiao, he was already telling him that Shulang was a relative. He realized what he lost too late, and I can't bring myself to feel bad for him.

We have a relationship happening in the background between Xue Bao Tian and Zhang Cho, and I really wanted to know more about it. It was a red flag relationship that they just teased us with.

My least favorite character in the whole series has to be the brother. I don't know how old he was, but it acted like a 16-year-old who thought his brother owed him his life. Anyone who does a fake suicide attempt so they can live an easier life on the back of someone else's work should be ashamed of themselves. And his reasons made no sense. Why was he mad at Shulang for defending himself from bullies, but not the bullies themselves for his mother's death? How do we know if Shulang even defended himself? We get 1 flashback, and it didn't look like he was.

Alright, on to the things that I didn't like/annoyed me.

* The only thing that annoyed me more than it was actually a problem was that the main characters seemed allergic to closing doors sometimes. Multiple times, they just left doors open while having very private conversations or while it's freezing outside. Close the damn door!

* They smoked too much. Every time you turn around, they are smoking. Did they need to smoke that much?

* They say each other's names too much. Honestly, this goes for all Chinese dramas.

* Why are so many people speaking English? Why are so many people speaking Chinese? We are in Thailand a majority of the time, but everywhere our characters go, it's either Chinese or English being spoken. I'm not talking about the main or supporting characters either; I'm talking about the background/extra characters.

* The kissing was just okay, but the chemistry was good.

* Our main actors really didn't show that much emotion, and maybe that was down to direction so that it would be more impactful in the emotional moments. It made their acting feel stiff for the first couple of episodes.

* I didn't get invested in the story or the character until episode 8, where Shulang starts learning the truth behind Fan Xiao's lies and manipulations. For a series that is so highly rated and praised, that is too long before getting pulled in. I should have been gripped from episode 3 at least, but even after I got into the series, my feelings for it were still at "whatever". I was even a bit bored in the first couple of episodes.

* This series didn't need a happy ending, but if they had to give us one, I wish they had spent more time redeeming Fan Xiao in Shulang's eyes. Have Fan Xiao slowly redeem himself, not have them jump back into a relationship after Shulang's friend inadvertently points out that he's still in love with Fan Xiao, and that's why he can't let go. He should have already known that; what's important is Fan Xiao changing and winning Shulang over again.

* I hate that when time passes, they don't tell us how much.

* I would have liked to see Fan Xiao do some actual work, not just control & manipulate multiple people's lives, or drink & smoke.


Despite all the hype, I went into this show with little excitement or expectations, and my feelings stayed at a 7/7.5 the entire time. There was never a moment that got my blood pumping or my heart hurting so bad I cried. Nothing that made me mad or overly happy. I honestly didn't feel much of any emotion while watching this, which feels strange. I'm not going to tell anyone not to give it a try because it seems a lot of people really enjoyed it, but to me it was like throwing a pebble into the water.

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I was not ready!!!

It took me around 2 hours to finish the first episode. Why? Because I was either in such disbelief at what I just witnessed and had to watch the scene multiple times, or I needed to just take a few seconds for a mental reset because I wasn't ready for the things that were happening. It was a lot to take in when I wasn't expecting this level of intensity from a GMMTV non-OFFGUN BL project.

Safe to say I loved every second of this BL crime version of 10 Things I Hate About You. They even kept the 90s vibe, which was appreciated, and included a bonus 50-minute short of 10 Things You Shouldn't Do In A Prison.

OST was good & fit each scene really well. (I normally don't bother commenting on the OST unless it was really memorable in a positive or negative way.)

JJ being in an actual relationship in a series is already a treat, but with another man? I was very happily surprised.

The plot hit a couple of slow areas in the pacing around episodes 7-9, but otherwise, each hour-plus-long episode flew by. The relationships felt both like they got enough time to develop and didn't, especially the beginning of Style & Fedal relationship. I wasn't surprised at the "plot twist" regarding Bison and Fedal's parents. To be honest, I knew who their killer was in episode 5 & was 50/50 on whether Keen knew about it. The truth behind Fedal's ex-boyfriend didn't surprise me either.

The only part of the plot that I wanted to speed up and just be done with was when Style and Fedal just walked into someone's home, held them at gunpoint, married the couple, and then ended up holding them at gunpoint again. It was such a long scene that I was more than done with it, but I understood the point of it. How did they even go from holding them up to marrying them?

THEN WE HAVE THE LAST EPISODE! 1 hour and 20 minutes long, and we spend almost 50 minutes in prison doing things that should not be done in a prison! I'm honestly surprised they didn't just time-skip over the prison time. Especially considering they tied up a loose end that I thought was already tied.

All the actors did a phenomenal job, especially in the crying scenes. I already knew I was going to love First and Khaotung because I've loved them in everything. Joong is always solid, and it was nice to see him play a more aggressive character. Dunk is the one who really shook and impressed me. I never would have guessed that he could pull off a bold, flirty, sassy, shameless character so well. Shy, blindly in love, Khaotung, and shameless, flirty Dunk are my new favorites. I didn't expect to enjoy Fedal/Style's couple more than Kant/Bison, but I did. I loved both couples, but I found myself more invested in Fedal/Style. Probably because Fedal was more antagonistic, and I probably have a type.

Also, can we just get more of Dunk in a crop top? His showing off his waist was another thing I couldn't get over, and sometimes it produced some funny reactions. Dunk showing off his waist and Khaotung throwing his leg over First shoulder in episode one was almost enough to take me out. Like DAMN let me BREATH.

SO yeah, I loved the series and will definitely rewatch it someday.

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Trigger warning for self-harm and non-consensual sex

This series can be very frustrating for the first 5 episodes because we go from the past to the future a LOT. A ridiculous amount, really. None of it is in chronological order, which makes the story more confusing than it needed to be. It's enough to make someone want to drop the series after an episode or two, but besides this, I felt like it was a solid series. The jumping from past to present pretty much stops by episode 6.

The only other thing I didn't really like was the characters Ken and Lavid (Rawit) being so stupid. The dads are just as bad. I'm not a fan of stupid characters or ones that lack common sense. I deal with that enough in my day-to-day life. It doesn't bother me to the point of mentioning it often, but Ken is literally out here helping run to companies (into the ground but still) and trying to outmaneuver Kelvin & Vier. It just didn't seem believable that either of the fathers would have given him any power to make company decisions. Lavid just doesn't have common sense.

The GL couple was really good, but it did feel like their scenes were filled with literal filler sometimes. Nana kicks ass! I love seeing a female character who can fight.

The OST was great, but for the main couple's NC scenes, it was a bit wild. In a good way. I was not expecting them to use those songs. Also, the kissing noises? I felt like I was intruding.

I loved the acting all around. Peat didn't have many facial expressions, but I don't think the role gave him much room to give that many. I could tell Fort was really enjoying this role, and his crying was captivating.

Non-consensual sex in episode 5? Not sure. The scene cuts off, but it hints at it, so right now I'm going with yes.

There are several scenes where Kelvin hurts himself and has a panic attack. I'm assuming it was a panic attack since I don't know what else it could have been, but it was very tame in comparison to the ones I've had. As for hurting himself, Kelvin cuts himself a lot in the months after he and Vier go their separate ways, and Peat's response, the relief he gets from doing it, is accurate to how it actually feels when you cut yourself. How do I know? I've done it before when I was feeling very stressed and was in an environment that I had no control over, and it was a way of getting things to slow down so I could breathe. Don't worry I haven't done it in years, and I'm mentally in a much better place. The point is, it was realistic.

This show would be interesting to rewatch now that I have all the pieces to the story.

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I went in with high expectations, and I wasn't disappointed.

ACTING: I found a couple of the actors acting to feel very by-the-book, but it honestly didn't bother me; they still did a good job. I particularly liked JJ's acting; I found his energy and facial expressions (especially his smile) to be perfect for a comedy series. This isn't a comedy series, so we didn't get much of that side of him, but you get a good judge of his acting from seeing this and the more serious side that he has for the majority of the show. I'd only seen JJ in "I saw you in my dream" and "The Next Prince" previously and I found his acting very stiff in "I saw you in my dream" which was understandable for his first role, and we honestly didn't get enough of him in "The Next Prince" but based on what little I did see I can tell he's really improved. On a side note, I love it when JJ speaks English, something about it is really cute. JJ & Net really know how to cry.

OST: Was pretty & not overbearing. They went with the mood really well, and the lyrics often matched what was happening in the story or between the characters.

PRODUCTION: Very well done. My only complaint is that there were some moments where we were just staring or rotating around the characters when we could have just moved on, and there are way too many moments where the characters are just standing in silence for too long. Even when we are getting internal dialogue from Nakun, the silence stretches long enough to be awkward.

PLOT: As time-traveling stories go, I think this is one of my favorites. I like how it worked. I do think they spent a little too much time trying to explain it as if it could logically be explained, but it was also nice to hear some of the different viewpoints. Normally, I'm really disappointed when the characters in a series have to investigate something because it feels like they either aren't doing enough or they are overlooking the obvious, which makes them look stupid. Not in this series. I liked it, and the historical setting (which I normally don't like) made it better. I liked that gathering information and proof was harder than it is today, where literally everything can leave a paper trail or video evidence. I also liked that Nakun was noticing the small details; he was really trying to Detective Conan this shit.

ROMANCE/CHEMISTRY: I liked both couples, but the chemistry wasn't anything explosive. For Nakun and Phop, it felt like a natural progression, but with Jom and Kaew, it felt very reserved, which I guess fits with the time period. For Thee and Pun, it didn't make me feel anything at all, and that's probably because we don't really see their progression from passive to interested. Besides My Stobborn, this is the first time I've been interested in the NC scenes.

PRODUCT PLACEMENT: Made no sense, but I found it funny.

SPOILERS:

I'm so used to the main character traveling through time mentally that it was a bit shocking that Nakun physically traveled clothes, jewelry, and all. It makes sense because Klao is dead and there's no living body for him to enter, and honestly, I think I prefer this because it's like Klao's death was the trigger for the time travel. It reminds me a little of Two Worlds, where they can only travel if the other world's version of themselves is dead. I'm assuming that age matters as well, but it was never brought up in all the explanations they were giving us, so I'm not sure.

When Nakun is randomly sent back to the present day, we spend a lot more time mourning than I expected. I love that we got to see everyone in the past mourning for Klao/Nakun, whereas a lot of series would just move on to them meeting again in the future and living happily ever after. We get to see Phop find Klao's body and then slowly waste away till he dies. I do wish we had gotten to know how long after Nakun returns to the past that it took. Nakun is given time (no idea how much) to heal and become more mentally stable after he returns before he meets Phop again. I did tear up a couple of times seeing both Nakun and Phop become so lifeless. Nakun at least had hope that Phop was alive and that he just had to find him, whereas Phop found Klao's body.

I was upset about them just missing each other because it's so overused, but it's probably in the novel as well.

(I may read the novel, actually.)

I also REALLY love that Phop used a wishing stone to wish to be reincarnated near Klao with all of his memories. He got his memories back on his 20th birthday as well, around a year before Nakun traveled back in time, and it was interesting to see him put the pieces together and then set things up for his trip to the past.

Nakun gets his ring back! It's apparently Phop's family heirloom, which I found interesting.

I would have liked to have seen more of their time together inbetween them meeting again and their marriage, but this is me wanting too much, and I'm aware of that. The "wedding," if it can be called that, was literally just an announcement and signing the paperwork, which they somehow made sweet.

What was the bracelet about? What did it actually do, if anything? We see it vibrate or something a couple of times in the first episode, and then it literally does nothing. Did I miss something? If I did, please, someone explain it to me because I was watching for this darn bracelet to do something or mean something in every episode, only for it to amount to nothing. Now that I think about it, this is the thing that annoyed me the most out of the series, and I thought all the scenes with the mom went on WAY too long, especially the one where Nakun realizes that she's the reincarnation of Klao's father. Why did we have to rotate around them, hugging for so long?

A couple of annoying things aside, I really loved this show.

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This series had me giggly

Episode 1 alone had me giggling so much. And the way Cha Do Hyeon controls Yeo Eun Ho with his words and actions hit different. I LOVED it. The series was off to a strong start, and it stayed steady throughout. The only speed bump for me was the ending because I'm very tired of fake-out dream sequences.

I didn't like that Yeo Eun Ho wakes up and is like, "It was a dream." It's misleading when it's apparently a subconscious process there to show emotional growth, and he's visualizing a scenario where he confessed & embraced his feelings much sooner. That all could have been done without a fake-out dream sequence. It was misleading and confusing. I would have much preferred to see them deal with Yeo Eun Ho's obvious insecurity & unhappiness with the direction his life is going outside of his relationship. They just have him coasting by in life because it's easier than trying to do something else & if I'm being honest, it was too realistic.

I don't watch these dramas to be called out, okay.

It also would have been nice if they had done more with the school & developing the characters outside of the romance. What they did was fine, but it didn't feel like they were in school. They were just sitting in a classroom. Thankfully, there were at least plenty of extras, so the world didn't feel empty. It makes it feel like they had a bigger budget even though they might not have.

The acting was really good. I love Kim Do Min's acting, & he's adorable! This was Seong In Ho's first role & I think he killed it. He was a bit robotic, but I think that's what they were going for. They had really good chemistry as well & the kisses were something else. I also haven't seen hand-holding this good since Themepo.

I had a lot of fun watching this series; it was cute & easy, with the only real disappointment for me being the ending.

P.S.
Beating your kid with a golf club for smoking is both wild and valid.

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I finished it (Trigger warning for SA)

I feel like I should get a reward for that because I wasn't the least bit interested in it after I started watching it. This wasn't the thriller they made it out to be. I was expecting something dark and twisted, but instead we got a college student making blood pacts with people, and those people making situations out to be 10X worse than they actually were. Why blood pacts? No idea.

The pacing made all but a couple of episodes a slog to get through. It didn't help that the episodes were longer than they needed to be, and watching at a higher speed only helped a little. The characters also didn't help. Our main characters had good chemistry, which is nice because I didn't care about them at all, and a lack of chemistry would have made me DNF the series so fast. The side characters were also just there half the time, and half of them served no real purpose. Jet's character, for example, was only there to cause problems and further the plot, while the parents & friends are just there to fill out the world.

Some little things also didn't make sense. Like, I'm a business major, and dancing classes weren't a part of the mandatory curriculum, last time I checked. I also don't get having sex with someone you just accused of murdering someone. Injuries also looked days old after only a couple of hours had passed.

There were a couple of things I liked about the series. I liked the scene with the confusion of American football and football everywhere else. There was a cool POV shot from the car as well. The production value was good; it's just the plot and script that wrecked the show. The OP, however, was my favorite thing; I already saved the song.

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The Sexy Buttocks was Flat as a Board

First of all, Okumi gave me the creeps; every time he smiled or was overly excited, it made my skin crawl. It didn't help that while the acting was alright and the chemistry was okay, the kisses and NC scenes were flat as a board. I have to give it to the actors and the ability to be able to watch at X2 speed for me being able to finish this series because there really was nothing of interest happening. They had plenty of time to add interesting stuff to the plot as well, with the sheer amount of unneeded recaps and flashbacks in each episode. The episodes are already short, and 1-3 minutes of each episode are things we've already seen.

It's far from the worst Japanese BL I've watched, but it's also far from memorable. If I remember anything from it, it's completely the titles doing.

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