Shiro

A midst a snowstorm of emotions and possibly a manic episode

This drama starts off sweet, and fluffy... Aloof boy falls in love with a girl they eats, sleep, look at scenery, train, repeat there is not much plot but its is an easy watch that is nice to look at.

Living in a nordic country myself I really enjoyed watching my c-fluff in a culture and setting close to the one I live in (even if they might have made a few mistakes). With the added bonus that most of the non Chinese he people where shwen to be friendly.

After a while the boy who is supposedly poor manages to spin of surprising the girl with grand gestures, flights here and there, the boy pretty much never sleeps all signs of a manic episode... There is also a bunch of not so secret following(slight stalking), helping from behind the scenes and misshaps... with a HUGE amount of patriotism, the Chineese are the best, morals, morals as far as the eye can see and the usual propagande those of us who enjoy c-fluff have gotten used to ignoring.

And from then on the red flags of Chine keep adding up and all the sweet and fluffy potentially green flags that they tried to sell off in the beginning where long gone... A process those who have been in not so good relationships can relate too, but here sold off as oh so sweet, normal and mostly romantic, even if they do throw in a few good lines here and there.

That said the female lead rocks, she is amazing in every single way, relatable, fun, smart, talented... Fine she fell in to the dudes trap, but that only shows us that bad ass women fall too... But by the end of it I was hoping she would run away and start an ICE 9 ball cult up north somewhere.

Oh they also play a lot of snooker and 9 ball...

So to sum it up, I would recommend you watch the first 10 or 15 episodes for the fluff, but do not expect any plot and just ignore the other half of the show...

P.s there are no annoying side characters

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A filler drama you are bound to forget

The only thing I remember from season one was a teddy in a hoodie, the rest just did not really leave a mark. I wonder what or if I will remember this season.

If I do will it be for a pink shirt and a man being called a slut? or will it be for the cupid with a beautiful smile? Maybe Ill remember the dark rooftop and my own pondering about peoples perceptions of reality and mental health? Or maybe just maybe Ill remember the friendships and the smiles... Who were all lovely, but chances are that even though this had a better last episode than season one (I found it in my memory), chances are this one will be forgotten among al the other plots of dreamland.

So what can I say it was an okay watch but if I could baerly remember the first 4 episodes after a weeks break I doubt Ill remember the drama next month. But do are all dramas meant to be remembered?

So here is to filler dramas, and when in need of a filler, this is actually not a bad choice.

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I guess this could be what one would call an aftershock

I do not really know why this is a spin off and not just part of the show... but then again I did not make the rules. This little extra episode is just like the first season, sweet found family and awkward insecure men who let fear, assumptions and jealousy take away form the fluff and fun they could have had.

If you loved the first season you are sure to enjoy this as it is indeed in line with the rest but if you found the first season pretty good but not WOOW masterpiece... this will probably feel kind of bland. Still a good watch. as long as you did not hate the first season you should probably watch this too. Just do not expect anything revolutionary to happen.

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Jealous men pushing other men up against walls

If you are looking for any sign of healthy relationships and I don't know heart fluttering fluffy romance then you may just want to turn around and look more or less anywhere else...

Some good names for this title would be:

1. The Jealous and the Horney... - There are a lot of sex scenes as well as masturbation

2. Possessive Men Without Boundaries- Not a single person here knows how to set or respect boundaries and once someone claims dibs on a person they are not permitted to look at another guy...

3. If he is Jealous it means he loves you.... - As the answer to, does a person have a crush always seems to boil down to if the person gets jealous or not.

or Just: The Wall - As at least one person per episode is being forced something against a wall per episode. I honestly think MAME (the writer) has a thing for walls.


However it is oddly entertaining at times, and is a decent manual in what to avoid... checking every single point in the checklist of my articles on non consensual behaviour...

Ae seems like this super sweet, understanding love, a dream lover and what one may call a mother in laws dream... However he is actually extremely jealous, possessive and well has about as much self control as a 2 year old in a toy shop... He also seems to think that kissing/f*** is a decent way to punish people. But in a really sweet way... Making me just want to send him off to therapy and maybe a class or two about self control.

Pete- Mr timid, sweeter than sweet, is shown as someone shy who needs a man to take charge and force himself on him so that he dare say yes... Romanticising the non consensual behaviour of Ae....

Then we have some stories and characters that re appear (completely differently, both character wise and casting) later in Tharntype.... that is a spin off of this, but feels like it came first making those who have seen TharnType slightly confused. But comparing the two the non con is more subtle - more dangerous in my opinion. But the over all story is less dramatic, and actually seems to lack a core plot.

Tin and Can- Tin Can have some sweet moments as characters but are also self contradictory... as Tin seems to want to buy Can, Can is supposedly opposed to that but still seems to get sold... Can is the voice of reason at times and a complete idiot other times. And lets face it Tin may have his moments but he is kind of a jerk... However he may be the only character in this whole drama that actually experiences some kind of character development.

There is no snack ppl so the boys didn't have to force seaweed down each others throats, they kept that strictly to tongs.... But there is some very obvious Samsung PPL that even made it in to the plot...

I would also like to point out that if you do watch this you may want to bare in mind that: no matter what gender or where you put things... if it hurts someone is not paying enough attention to the other persons signals... And may just need to take a step back... That said there is also pain that is pleasurable and that is ok too...


Bingeablity- Medium to high
Guilty Pleasure- maybe an 8...

An ok watch but not much more...

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A Shoulder to Sleep On

This drama feels a bit like watching to a dream, it could of course be due to my personal cold, but I am pretty sure. they also used a fluffy dreamy filter while filming this,

The story has some good old fashion cliches a love at first sight/hate to love type of deal but also a bunch of new tuned down slice of life takes on trauma, self harm, athleticism and internalised homophobia done pretty ok. The acting could be better, but the boys are charming, funny and have pretty decent chemistry + a lot, and I mean a lot of lip gloss. I am however missing an episode towards the end, not only because they left me wanting more but also because most of the pacing was decent the ending + time skips was rushed.

There are some parts that lack logic and I am pretty sure one of the guys is related to Marry Poppins or at leas stole the blue prints for her bag.

If you are looking for steamy kisses or stuff like that this is a teen romance and definitely not the right place to look for it as the only steam you will find is on the filter and most of the flirting is more of the funny and sweet kind.

All in all an easy drama to binge, not only because it is short but also because it is sweet.

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She didn´t make my heart flutter but it worked anyway

This is yet another a bit too short and a bit too low budget show, showing us the struggles of trying to run a lesbian bar without actually being prepared to step out of the closet. As well as a bunch of other struggles, generation gaps and types of relationships. As the show offers us several interesting relations, aunt-niece, employee-boss, friendships, co-workers, exes etc... etc... And does make for e some decent representation of ways lesbians can act and look like.

There are several couples in this show, some are playful, others more shy, opposites attract all done pretty ok, however there were a few annoying moments with over acting and though I am more or less starved by lack of lesbian representation there was not much in here to truly captivate me.

However it is short and truly does only have very few moments of annoying elements the rest are pretty decent. Making me wonder what would happen if they had a bigger budget and got to truly explore these issues?

Also people, remember do not out anybody, never assume another persons sexuality, and do go watch this, if for nothing else to support the cause of making more lesbian centered shows.

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Sweet and simple

This was just like a nice piece of candy, some drama but not to much and a very simplified way of showing the struggles of trans girls trying to live in stealth... Without showing the whole messy process of actually transitioning...

At first I felt that it was a tad problematic but seeing how the story progressed I could put my mind at ease and just see it as a way to convey some of the common fears many of these girls may have. All put in the form of a really sweet high school rom com, with friendships, love triangle and all... without the drama taking over.

I loved the main lead, she was such a sweetheart, and probably broke some stereotypes.

I love the fairy, I honestly wish every trans girl or person struggling had a fairy of their own... He was just cute and sweet as a button (very handsome too) .

The cousin and friendships where just sweet as candy and well so was the mom, not to mention that older sister... The male lead is not bad either... But is actually not the main attraction of this show.

Also, never, ever, ever, out someone! Just do not do it!

Not a masterpiece but definitely extremely easy to binge, only lovable characters and did I mention it was sweet?

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Toxic male lead disguised as sweet romance

This drama starts out so innocent and sweet. It has sweet caracters and a lovely story. However as the story progresses the male lead becomes more and more manipulativ and posessive. This is portrayed as romantic and no body says anything about the way he treats the female lead even thogh they must see it. She doesn't seem to mind the way he treats her eather but rather seems to think it romantic. Fine I get it its nice to find a guy who only has ayes for you... but it should not be at the coast of your independence. So if you can watch this as a coutionery tale I say go for it (It does have its moments) but if your looking for good healthy romance look elsewhere.

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The plot got lost in the woods...

It started off so good great cast, great chemistry, lots of humour without becoming over the top and no secound hand emberessmant for as far as the eye could see....

Watching the female elad die and come back, die and come back, die and come back could have felt boring and repetetive but they managed to keep it fun as well as added a whole lot of fun spice to it all...

Cold, bickery, sisterhood, found family, disorsion of good and evil.... misunderstandings all were done well really well so for the first half I am willing to give a strong 9,5 or even a 10.

But then came the filler episodes, the repetitiveness, the attempts to give us new twists that just ended up lost somewhere far away in the woods... making it hard to follow, hard to relate , hard to concentrate and just plain boring at times. While the last couple of episodes did attempt to tie it all nicely I cant ignore the episodes in between making me lower the score.

Honestly, I think the best way to watch this is to start with the first 15 episodes or so and once you start getting bored then just skip to the last 2 episodes and make upp the plot in between I am sure you as a viewer can come up with a better plot in your mind.

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Dark

This is definitely not what one would call a romance, as it is a dark investigation in to a woman's past and present it a not so tender light... Surrounded by slander, murder, psychological harm and more slander. Either one of these would be awful but put all in to one drama and most of what you see is pain and obsession.

While there are a few moments of tender light, as well as extremely sensual light, most of this drama is dark and sad. The type that makes you wonder how much more can a person take, how mean can people be?

The female lead is a mazing bot in character and acting. The male leads character was well performed but not as amazing as the female lead and the other male leads character was so well written, a combination. of adding fuel to the fire while simultaneously drinking away ones regret...

The cinematography was stunning,, my only complaint is that they dragged it out a bit to much, and added unnecessary twists as well as just a few too many recaps to male me up the score.

If they had just cut out out some parts in the middle and maybe added a scene or two to the en then I may just may have given it a 9 or 9,5,

Also there is very little, preaching, china propaganda, and ehat I would say more or less anti healing element instead of healing acknowledging that some parts of life are just dark, inexcusable and awful. And has several really good quotes from poetry and life...

A drama that will not restore your faith in humanity, but may restore your faith in C-dramas... If you ever loose it that is.

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Fluff meets tears

To be clear I have a lot of issues with this drama but it also has a lot of good and worthy of watching parts making me settle for an 8 star rating while there are a lot of parts in here that should have made me drop this the parts that where good where good enough to keep me going.

So here it goes the leads are amazing they have great chemistry and what starts of as a pretty decent respectful mutual relationship built on making each other grow, almost to good to be true and are what many would call couple goals. admiering abs, kisses, fluff... the works.

Then stuff happens and well all that pretty pretty much goes down the drain and never fully comes back, along with that we get a whole lot of typical macho type of decisions as well od a completely unrealistic use of terminal illness as a magic cure for pretty much anything (but the illness)... There is this well meant theme to this, look he can still do good even if he is disabled... which could have been great if they did not go down a path of over doing it turning him to some kind of emotional porn, inspirational crap... Whiles robbing our male lead of his male leadness...

They did balance it out with some real shows of emotion but the over all feel was... just ask for help and people will comply... just make a decision and there wil be a spot in a nursing home the next day... and so on... While there are moments where difficulties are mentioned they are not really taken seriously and more or less swooped under a rug, focusing on the positives just a little to much...

While the drama has a lovely found family and great show of community and friendship there is also the typical over the top annoying best friend, give it the girl got some of the best lines. And we also get the typical China rocks propaganda that was probably there to make sure this passed the censorship prossess smoothly.

While I will admit that it did have me shad a tear or three.... Having seen a few other dramas with theme I would say the J.- drama Boku no Ita Jikan is a better choice for those looking for a powerful story about ALS and an outlet for tears.

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Cotton Candy Lollypop with Sugar on Top

This drama is so sweet, so sweet, so sweet it is like they took a lollypop and dipped it in cotton candy.

The acting is mostely meeh, story is not really new and it is not the type I will remember for all eternity but the take feels kind of fresh. The budget seems to be low so I have taken that in to account when rating this. HOWEVER one character (actually 1,5) stands out and compleatly steals the show making me overlook all the meeh parts. Making me realize once and for all that yes sometimes it only takes one good character to make or break a show.

Eddie/Shin Ki Tae played by Lee Seung Gyu is just amazing, from the way he is written to the way this guys performs he is playful, fun, confident and so on and the stuff this guy does with his eyes and smile just had me hooked. To be honest mostly the first episodes but still this guy rocked and made every second of this show worth a watch + made me longing for more, a lot more so I will now proceed to stalking everything this guy has done.

For the kiss lovers among you: the kisses are not great, they are not dead fish but I have seen better.

So this drama may not be high quality objectively good, but it is an easy watch, has high fluff value and is very entertaining indeed.

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Almost hit the spot...

First of all I advise you to turn off the sound or make sure to be in a space where the sound of heavy breathing and moaning are ok.

The drama itself is pretty much a sex ed show for a mature audience, with a lot of things that are pretty obvious for me but I know need to be heard by a lot of people. Though the shows target audience clearly is women I would say people of all sexes could gain something by watching this. As they do deal with women sexual liberation, the big O-rgasm, and the oh so important issue of consent + the oh so important right to chose, to not be in the mood and to change ones mind mid way.

This drama has a lot of potential and could have been a lot better if they worked a little bit more with the two female leads characters. The male leads here are lovely, mysterious, considerate, honest... And dreamy in a lot of ways so I do not really have any complaints about those two guys. But While both the female leads have a lot of lovable traits they kind of fall short... and not in a women are complex human beings sort of way that I would have applauded but more in a slightly annoying, and unnecessary added backstory... And while about 80% of the show is progressive there are still 20% that seem to cater to some kind of hetero and monogamy traditional values of love your self first before you can love yourself type of deal... And well I guess I am not buying it. However there may be room for a second season, where they can make up for this, so I am not giving up on them yet.

When it comes to the female leads I regret to say that Hani who plays a more timid role, did not fully deliver, her acting was not very convincing and neither was her character if it is due to flawed writing, directing or a bad day at work I do not know but I have seen her act a lot better in Imitation . Bae Woo Hees acting was however pretty decent.

The sex scenes are oddly tasteful and well HOT a lot of fit and muscular bodies, breasts and buts you could flip coins off of...there are a lot of lip, licking and what not... but no fat, cellulite or wrinkle in sight which also makes this fall a bit short of its progressive objective. There is a small pimple... but it does not get a close up and is covered up quickly... So basically a lot of eye candy and material for further masturbation. Just not so much representation... Like at all. And people it is ok to look "ugly" when having sex. it is the feeling that counts and not the pose.

So do I recommend it, sure why not it is not perfect but it is short and has a lot of good in it, just not enough to hit the spot... ha ha

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Slow Motion Love Revolution Propaganda

This drama could easily be cut down to 24 episode, or even 12 episodes if they just got rid of the flashbacks, slow motion scenes an extra scenery shots, beautiful as those shots may be they did not really add much more then test my patients.

The female lead is probably the best part of this drama she is smart, not just a little bit smart she is truly smarter than most of the cast, she is also gorgeous, cool, trustworthy... Yep just one of the greatest female leads out there. Not to mention her wardrobe, hairstyle and all round forwardness.

The Male lead and second male lead are both pretty decent too, smart, fun and oddly reasonable even if their emotions do get the best of them from time to time...

Other than that most of the side characters are highly annoying, so much that I had to forward their parts (that also are slow mow) to get true this.

There are some characters that are complex and colourful but most of them are either really, really, really evil or so good so good, so good.. or just used by the evil but actually good deep down inside.

There is also an unreasonable amount of suicides or attempted suiside in this drama as well as interesting (mostly predictable) twist, an enormous amount of explosions, blood, rain and shots that make blood in the rain look like fine art in slow motion of course...

The romance in this drama is great, slightly overshadowed by the politics and evil plots here and there, those guys that ruled China before the revolution were really, really, really selfish, evil, oppressive and also bowed down to foreigners making the Chinese people second class citizens in their own country... Making this a pretty interesting lesson about how history most probably is taught in China and helping me reflect over how I was taught history myself, just kidding I have known that history is very bialy taught depending on who wins/is telling the story. However the way it is made so very obvious in this drama making it vVery interesting indeed.

In numbers:
Main Couple: 9
Annoying characters: Way too many
Bingeabilaty: 2-3 episodes at a time no more
Cinematography: 9
Fashion: 9
Explosions: 9
Propaganda: 10

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Forgettable....

This is one of those dramas that I am sure to forget watching in about a month or so, it wasn't bad, it wasn't good it just was...

The twists: Either (some times and) unnecessary, unrealistic, predictable, meeh
The Leads 1/2 oh come on, fine I get it it was for the character development but seriously they dindt have to make him that much of a jerk. The other1/2 was cute as a button but also a oh come on, get some self oh anything.

The most interesting character in this whole drama was probably the cat, and the bosses ex girlfriend/photographer, whom I may have a slight crush on at the moment and would love to see more of.

As for the so called villains they were really underdeveloped in every single way , but honestly I would probably not care to watch their development anyway.

As for the chemistry between different leads, I can't deny its there but I can also not deny that instead of getting excited by kisses, and leads getting things hot and what not my focus was rather on them not closing the fridge or getting bitten by mosquitos in the wild...

So even though I do love several of the actors, and this drams tropes I am sad to say this was just not that memorable...

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