This review may contain spoilers
Wasted talent
I won’t lie , the first 3 episodes got me OBSESSED. The acting was so good, the chemistry was chemistrying so hard and the guys were so GORGEOUS that I was wondering where those guys came from and why didn’t I know of them because they weren’t even rookies , they acted in more stuff that I thought. Ok, the plot was basic and cliché, true, the setting was a simple house and a beautiful pier and the budget was what they had in their wallets but despite all this I was so entertained with their interactions … And then the bitchy female villain showed up (gee, what a surprise) and everything turned into a melodramatic soap opera with OTT acting, teary eyes and intense feelings after only knowing each other for 4 days. The kid suddenly wasn’t sassy, bold and cheeky but rather a dummy led by the nose by that woman and although he was paid to have baldie’s back he was actually voluntarily chased away by that woman’s sob story. Meanwhile baldie was acting like a dramatic heroine in a South American telenovela, walking around all teary-eyed and sad while waiting for the kid to come back and at the same time trying to convince the fiancé ’ from hell to go back to hell and let him live happily ever after. From a 9 rating to a 6 in just 2 episodes. The kisses were decent but something was still missing. It also had a censured explicit beginning of a sex scene. I know how it sounds but trust me, it’s a thing. Like, they kiss and touch and start to undress and you’re there all tense waiting to see some skin . And when they finally remove the shirts suddenly there’s a tank top underneath. So , you see, this is what I call a censured explicit sex scene Chinese style hehe. The scene was still beautiful though and more than I expected from a Chinese show, however I still feel that this was a bit of a waste of acting talent on a subpar and way too short script.Did I mention how beautiful those men are?
Was this review helpful to you?
More of a (wacky) thriller than a romance
This drama is perfect as a Kdrama but not as perfect as a romance/Bl. It’s practically a soft dramatic thriller, with great acting and a lot of twists and turns that kept us on our toes . Unfortunately , because of this…rectangle I was unable to root for anybody because I didn’t even like Daon that much. The only innocent person whom I might have had some kind of feelings for was Seon Hyeon but he was boring and bland. It was exciting to watch though and the actors did a great job. I wouldn’t rewatch it because knowing the end makes it lose its appeal and it was a tad too dramatic (and ridiculous) but I had fun with it these past weeks .Was this review helpful to you?
Frustrating
Another depressing absurd Korean BL where they shove a forced conflict in there to create angst for the sake of angst.. Apparently it’s an epidemic lately. Yesterday I had to suffer through another ridiculous episode of “Something is not right” and today the sixth ep of Business as usual pissed me off to no end. Why do we have to root for that spineless, stuck up Kim Min Jun who was in a continuous self-centered pity party “woe is me” and treated the other guy like a toy he took and set down whenever he felt like it? Always running, always hiding and always in a bad mood. By the end of the series I hated his guts and didn’t really care about his happy ending. And no, the seventh ep doesn’t save it. That forced and hard-to-believe love and marriage doesn’t really redeem the relationship because we don’t really see a growth. What kind of life will they have together when KMJ will always be with a foot out the door because of his insecurities? JH would have to always sleep with an eye open. How can I believe their happy ending? Jin Hwan deserved better.Was this review helpful to you?
Subtle (or NOT so subtle) and lovely detective bromance
What does it say about this drama that I gave it a 9 even though I understood like…75% of what they were saying because the subtitles were horrendous (AI I asume) . Yes, it’s THAT good. For me the best part is the chemistry and the warm BL vibe bromance between the male leads . There was a female lead too(not a romantic interest though) and her character was pretty badass but I think she served as a cover for the guy’s bromance. There’s a lot of touching, hugging, hand holding and protecting between the guys and it was delicious to watch 😍Excellent acting (especially Wang You Shuo , he was absolutely brilliant) , gorgeous leads, great costumes and setting , interesting mystery and crimes, and some quite tender and lovely moments between the male leads( some of them were totally swoony, I kid you not) . I don’t understand why the platform didn’t give it a proper translation and a better promotion. Big..huge mistake because it’s really really good.Was this review helpful to you?
Disappointing
Let me start by saying that I’m dropping Jbls for a while until they can show me a realistic gay romance and not a Disney story for kids under 7.I’m so freaking tired of stories like this one or the one in “10 things I wanna do before I turn 40” where men in their 30s and 40s act like blushing 18th century virgins and kiss on the forehead for the entire show (when they’re not talking with their couch-pillows that is) or asking their bf in their own house , after they fucked to put a shirt on because it’s indecent… I know Japanese are repressed, polite and bla bla but I refuse to believe that one of the biggest consumers of porn and the inventors of Hentai act like that when they’re in a relationship. Japanese men fuck. Japanese men (especially gay men) sometimes fuck even on the first date. Please stop with the same ol rancid stories where they’re 40 and act like a 15 years old girls. I don’t wanna see porn, like.. at all but please don’t treat us like fools, your audience is not 12.
I wanna see realistic couples , couples who kiss and hug and cuddle (if not in public at least in their own freaking home). Less stiff and awkward interactions and more natural dynamics, less bowing and apologizing and more “Let me give you a hug when you’re sad and crying because your dad caught us kissing “ , less dead-fish-lips kisses and more natural lovely kisses. I don’t even need passionate kisses (it would be too much to ask I bet) but for the love of all that’s gay, please let them give each other some pecks once in a while. And please make the bottom DO something in bed instead of (to quote another reviewer here) lying there like a wet dog. Can anyone tell me what was that kiss in the last episode?? Anyone ? Did they really touch their lips? They didn’t. You could slip a paper sheet between their lips . I’ve never seen a more ridiculous, uncomfortable, insulting wedding kiss in my life. And they were alone in that damn restaurant. Their entire relationship was stiff , uncomfortable, awkward, polite , dull, flavorless and boring. I blame Kanade, his character was most of the times unlikable, annoying and so oh so boring . Mashiro was a bit better, more daring and straightforward but not by much and damn,.. he would have fucked the hell out of Kanade if Kanade weren’t such a pearl clutcher. Too bad because the story had potential . So yeah, this is where I part ways with Jbls until they stop selling us bullshit .
Was this review helpful to you?
Ok I guess
Another short entertaining BL from Suki film with simple yet effective plot and with 2 gorgeous guys but who apparently have a visceral fear of homo kissing . Not my favorite of the lot but it kept me coming back for more. I especially enjoyed the secondary actor’s acting (the ex) .I also loved Won Tae’s reasoning for being always nice to ppl 😍
Was this review helpful to you?
Greenest flag couple in a BL
Is the plot silly? It is . Are the villains cartoonish? Yep. Is this one of the best, healthiest and loving couple in a Bl? Also yes. Is this worth watching? More than once I’d say. Already did actually. Fabulous acting, wholesome relationship and very good representation. Such a gem of a BL. One of the best Taiwanese Bls of 2024 together with Unknown and The only one .Was this review helpful to you?
Short but cute
A very humorous and enjoyable drama with subtle bromance and 2 gorgeous male leads. The acting wasn’t bad at all and the plot was interesting enough. It was quite light and easy to binge . There was a bit of angst towards the end but fortunately it had a cute happy ending. The female characters were pretty bland though and they weren’t interesting nor convincing.Was this review helpful to you?
Torturous
I don’t understand the rating of this. Pee must be the most obnoxious, selfish, pathetic, self-centered, “woe is me” loser I’ve ever seen. I don’t understand what Mork saw in him. The acting was meh (especially Mork’s; he had no personality whatsoever and no facial expressions) , the romance is one sided until the last episode and not even then Pee managed to redeem himself and to prove he loves and appreciates Mork. Mork is a doormat from start to finish, indulging that whiny brat over and over again and not receiving anything in return . In the end he settled for some crumbs. And don’t get me started with the female monster Ex from hell.Was this review helpful to you?
Underrated
Ok so it’s not a masterpiece. It has crappy music and some cringe moments here and there, there is no BDSM content to speak of and Kim annoyed the crap out of me sometimes but to be honest Kamol is the strongest reason to watch this. The gorgeous actor did a superb job and the series is quite entertaining. Don’t believe the negative reviews, this is quite enjoyable.Was this review helpful to you?
Meh
You know, I really don’t have many expectations of most of the Thai BLs and looking at this mediocre one proves I’m right. What we have here is a tacky porny BL with a lame (and barely there) plot and lukewarm if not downright bad acting. The main couple is so hard to root for because let’s agree that the kid deserves way better than being Sorn’s toy . I don’t trust their happy ending. If I were that kid’s mom I would try really hard to keep him away from that nasty piece of work that is Sorn and probably give him a slap over the head to grow a freaking spine. . The secondary couple is a snooze-fest and not even the fact that I like Yoon manages to save it. I actually think that Yoon’s role in all this mess is to be an eye candy. So yeah, if all you look for in a Bl is bed scenes to make you hot and bothered this series is for you. If you want depth, romance, good acting and mature, likable characters look for other Bls, there are a lot of them this year.Was this review helpful to you?
Underwhelming
This …BL??? tried to be great but ended up being just ..cute. Our main guys’ story was built from disjointed crumbs left from all the other story arcs we didn’t care about. And I’m not even talking abt the straight couple but why did we need to see his sisters’ love lives? Or Chang Yeong’s family drama? Why our guys had 5 minute screen time together per episode? Why they gave us those ..fragmented scenes that made us wonder “Wait a minute, did I miss something? Weren’t they about to have pizza dinner together? Why am I seeing his sister breaking up with her bf instead of our guys having freaking dinner together??” I don’t know what the producers or the directors tried to do (and why the author accepted this ..butchering of their work) but they didn’t mange to make it work. All they manage to produce was a pretentious BLwannabe where Hee Su spent more time philosophizing about stars and planets and black holes than actually having conversations with the ppl around him while Seung Won walked around with a continuous poker face like a stoned zombie. And you wanna know the irony? The best character in the entire show was the girl (Ji Yu) She was awesome . It’s pretty damn telling (and sad) when the most interesting character in a BL is a woman. And it’s a shame because it had great actors and interesting premise.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
One of the best
Taking away that shitty albeit poetical ending this was a perfect 10 drama for me. Not enough words to say how good was the acting and how beautiful the bromance. Or bromances, because DiF was amazing too, although for me FD and LX were simply soulmates. And I loved LX but my heart absolutely melted for FD and his fierce love and dedication to LX . He fought so hard for him ,struggled, cried and pleaded for him to live , I cried buckets, not because LX died (we had 40 episodes to get used to it) but because of FD’s pain and heartbreak. He gave us moments more beautiful than any BL out there. The way he cared for LX ..gaaaah, I feel like crying again.. All the characters were interesting and complex and and I especially loved the cases they investigated together. The 3 male main leads were absolutely fabulous and the villains very…villainy . Excellent piece of Chinese cinematography.Was this review helpful to you?
Greatness
It’s so unfair we get long boring series with stiff acting and no chemistry that have 8-12 episodes and then have small gems like this of only an hour.This was superb acting, excellent story and a fabulous chemistry. If only it weren’t filmed with a sandal lol Vertical filming, very badly done and with (probably) a phone did to this little treasure a great disservice . I absolutely loved it otherwise and I adored brave and sassy Doha 😍👏❤️
Was this review helpful to you?
Strong essence in tiny bottle
Just like with When it rains it pours Japan gifts us again a strong, intense essence in a teeny tiny bottle. We’re already used to it, we’re used to their gorgeous cinematography (that terrace view is nothing short of breathtaking) , to excellent acting and music and to the complex feelings and emotions. They always manage to create meaningful stories with depth in just a handful of episodes and even if we always end up complaining about the number of episodes and the rushed and somehow abrupt endings we wouldn’t change a damn thing abt it. This one didn’t reach the When it rains it pours greatness but it’s just as heartwarming and intense and it shows again why I’m so in love with Japanese BLs and why they’re always my preferred choice .Was this review helpful to you?
