Silmarien

Haha, yeah. I legit skipped the scene halfway through the first time because..yikes. Then rewinded, watched it fully. Still yikes.

If I remember correctly, Chan Yeong is sort of a house plant in the manhwa, too. At least in the beginning, he's just a plot device. In my humble opinion, he remains a plot device, it's just that he gets some better characterization down the line. :D

At least there, the focus is so much more on Hee Su, his internal monologue, obsession, possessiveness, etc. I actually liked manhwa Hee Su a lot! His world revolves around Chan Yeong, but he's also very aware of this and, apart from being uber duper oblivious with Seung Won's feelings, he's very introspective and aware of his own feelings & thoughts.

As for Seung Won, yeah, I think we've not reached the point where we get to understand his character better or know more about his life. What do we even know so far? He has a crush on Hee Su, but is not the author of the forum posts. He studies a lot aand he has a mother.

He's pretty reserved and shy in the manhwa as well, but because he's a smart cookie, he creates these situations where he gets to hang out with Hee Su and in the process his personality starts to shine through. Looking forward to that, fingers crossed for tomorrow's episode!

Oof, didn't feel the same warm and fuzzies I did as for the first two episodes. Could be because:

- Hee Su is being a bit of a fool trying to scheme his way back to Chan Yeong side and away from Ji Yu. I knew from the manhwa that he used to be very possessive and pushy with Chan Yeong, but it was sort of sad to see him give the same treatment to Seung Won (as Chan Yeong does to him - dismissive) and not realize it. There's also a heavy helping of 2nd hand embarrassment that I felt for him & his actions.

- I feel like the 2nd pairing had more screentime than the main one did this episode. I get that perhaps it's necessary to showcase how Chan Yeong and Ji Yu interact and how that directly impacts Hee Su's mood, bringing about his realization, etc. But..I'm not very invested in them to be honest, I want cute scenes between the leads! It's only 10 episodes and their relationship in the manhwa progressed very naturally and gradually. Chop chop, time's a ticking :)

Plot twist of the episode was interesting. Red herring? Maybe Hee Su just isn't the carrot juice receiver mentioned in the posts. I kept trying to figure out who he's been avoiding, but apart from Seung Won..there's no one so hmm.

Well, I said that in a joking manner so I wouldn't take it very seriously, but my train of thought was: who does that and how? Why does he know the guys body measurements heh.

"glazing him into submission." had me laugh for a good 5 minutes.

Ohh, I agree!

Jin is sort of a creeper and the lenses don't help. The non-con kiss, the pushiness, the "lemme snap a quick vid for my personal collection while cleaning this unconscious guy of vomit" lol. But..Akin is clearly receptive.

I find their relationship fascinating, I like how you could almost compare Jin's behavior to love-bombing. The constant affection, the kind gestures, then the ghosting. But..dude had a cold. It's hilarious.

I think the writing has been good so far. As for dialing Jin's behavior down, I don't know the source material, but isn't he supposed to lean towards a red flag? I've read some comments that made him sound super toxic, it was one of the reasons I had reservations in watching the show to begin with. Luckily, so far, so good.

"I had this seat custom-made for you"? I'm actually enjoying the show, but holy shit is Jin a creepy stalker, oh my lord.
I find it hilarious in a "thank goodness he's handsome" type of way because otherwise..straight to h*rny jail, my guy.

What do I need to do to subscribe to a newsletter of these amazing recaps of yours? I think I read another at some point, for another show, and they're delightful. Dare I say, better than the show - for me - so far.

Right? It's stupid. But, I mean, the place IS beautiful and Fifa's read the script lol so ..he'll end up loving it & he's probably going to magically realize his dream ain't his dream. I feel like this was already foreshadowed with how much trouble he had writing his essay initially.
And that ending! No sir, Hem is not worthy of picture-zooming on him, no. He's not earned that. Ugh!

Oh, thank you! These are my thoughts exactly, haha.
Budget version of 1000 stars is aptly put, minus the actual catalyst that gets the protagonist where he is. It made sense in 1000 stars that it was a punishment, it doesn't make a lick of sense here. Fifa kept straight A's and learned a foreign language because he already was passionate, dedicated and responsible.

Yeah, I called this after watching ep1 and I stand by my opinion. I dislike everything about the approach to the plot.
Makes me a tad sad because the production seems to be really good and the filming location is out of this world gorgeous. Plus, I really like Fifa, I think he's very easy to empathise with.

The Good:
1. beautiful shots
2. Fifa & his cool ass styling. +1 to the costume designer
3. elephants! <3

The Bad:
1. I find the plot device to be somewhat ridiculous. So All Powerful & Rich Gran takes this city kid and sticks him in the middle of the jungle, on her elephant nature reserve. She makes him sleep in a shed with geckos - which he's afraid of by the way, but w/e, we make fun of people's fears 'round here - she assigns tasks such as grocery shopping, vegetable prep, meal delivery, etc. All because..he needs to learn to take care of himself in Japan? I'm pretty sure nobody at uni in Japan would care that much if my boy here correctly cleaned off his lettuce. I'm also willing to bet Japan has both Uber Eats and convenience stores. And less geckos.

2. The mental gymnastics needed to be able to assign blame on Fifa for the circumstances so far. The only reason he accepted to come is because she's threatening both his dream and his family's house, like what? It's not like he decided to come here on his own and make a mockery of everything. Not to mention, it's his very first day and the only "help" he gets is a dude pointing at stuff on a map and a childhood friend accompanying him for a quarter of the way on his deliveries. Excellent ramp up, 10/10.

3. Hem is ..an asshole. Interesting choice to have the romantic interest be not only grumpy, closed off, allergic to humor and void of a personality except for "nature doood". He also has anger issues, treats Fifa like shit, is condescending, completely unhelpful, and speaks before he thinks. Yeah, Fifa fucked up and it could have had terrible consequences, but he's not the only one to blame here. Not to mention, he has a completely appropriate response to the situation, he apologizes, he's distraught, remorseful. Assuming he did it on purpose is...far fetched lol.
But it's ok, because he sees the kid crying so he's like: "OHHHH,I guess he's NOT the devil incarnate..hmmm *twirls asshole moustache* ".
Hem has zero charisma and, so far, zero chemistry with Fifa.

4. Obligatory apology and promise to "do better" by Fifa. I'm petty and this just rubbed me the wrong way lol. See, if it was me, I'd apologize profusely to the man and his family and on my way out drop Hem in the trash where he belongs. Apology, my ass.

5. This is my assumption, but poor Fifa won't get anywhere close to Japan unless he's browsing pictures on Google. He'll "become" responsible and realize his dream was shoveling elephant dung all along, out there in the (gorgeous) boondocks with Captain Scowl. The end. And I'm just not looking forward to that.

So for me, this is a no. I'm sure a lot of folks will enjoy it and I miight check out the ending when it's all out. But for now, I'm out.

Yes, I saw! I was expecting it, I saw the show at the beginning of this year and there was already a distinct lack of news about S2. Sigh. BUT...I'll go with the mighty Sandman here and say that nothing kills hope.

I know, I know, I really can't argue with you. The second half of the show was..a lost opportunity and misguided for going by the book, chapter by chapter.

Haven't seen the movie, was going to say thank you for the recommendation :D but since you've said it's also one with a terrible ending, I'd rather not. Seriously, escapism, let folks be happy.

Oh, steal it, put it to good use!
Honestly, I consume content like there's no tomorrow and, in this day and age, with time so limited and split between a billion different things that need attention, this is how I consume most dramas and shows. May my index finger live long and pain free.

Would you believe me when I told you this was so bad that, even though I left this comment a couple of days ago after watching it, I forgot everything about it already? Had to check the stills from the show page lol. Yes. Hot men be hot, but we need at least a little sprinkling of ..anything else that's good up in here.

I started reading it riiight now and I am positively loving it so far.
I adore how oblivious & silly, but introspective Hee Su is and by comparison, I think the actor playing him did such a good job portraying that in the show.

I must say, I really enjoyed your replies, your eloquence (some definite jealousy here) and the different perspective you presented so thank you for that. Framed like this, it make sense; it's a genre that presents gay relationships so it makes sense to focus on, well, gay relationships lol.

This whole thread has also made me want to check out the manhwa because now I'm very curious as to what I'm missing out on.

Thank you.

Alright, when you put it like that, I can see it "fictional world [..] in which homosexuality is the norm." But..

Maybe it's because I hyperfixate on the one couple in romance and when a show has x more alongside the main one, I just feel like it detracts from the cute moments the OTP could have were they not splitting screen time with others I'm not so invested in.

Maybe it's because even Harry Potter had muggles?
I don't have any personal discomfort nor prejudice regarding homosexuality - I don't think so, I hope not - I just don't find it ..realistic? Which is probably stupid to say about fiction, but there we go.
LE: To continue the train of thought above, it's because most of the shows I watch fall under the realistic fiction category as in..believable settings, believable people, with fictional characters very much resembling real folks.

So I haven't read the manhwa, was Chan Young supposed to be in a gay relationship as well and they pulled a switcheroo and replaced his partner with Ji Yu?
Admittedly, I haven't watched the trailers either so for me the only inkling of a possible connection is that one scene in the classroom.

I get it if that's the case and I would probably be in the same boat had I read the source material and been a fan of that specific pairing. :) What I was personally trying to get across was that ..I found the first episode very fun, good quality production and I'm not willing to lower a potential rating because of this particular issue.

Just watched the first episode and I thoroughly enjoyed it, it was fun, the acting was pretty good.
The little butt shimmy he did on the bus stop bench was hilarious. Looking forward to more episodes.

As for what other people are saying - read some comments - about the second couple not being MM. I mean, don't you guys find it ridiculous when, in every BL, every single man under the sun is gay and in a gay relationship? Because..I kinda do. So w/e, I'm fine with it, original source notwithstanding.

Aw, bummer you didn't like it better. Must admit, this is one of my favorites, even though I can't really argue against anything you've stated in your review.

Funny tidbit though, I've seen an interview with the director (and read the comic) and he was discussing the kiss scene in the earlier episodes. Well, kiss scenes, because there's two. So the novel doesn't have the spin the bottle scene, if I recall correctly, neither does it have the bedroom kiss. The director was saying that he wanted to be as true as possible to the source material which, lemme tell ya, it is sloooow, and he was concerned that the audience would lose interest without some form of intimacy between the boys. Hence, those two scenes.

Maybe I haven't seen enough BLs yet to be bothered by the tropes on display here, but to me it was such a beautiful show. Quite literally, I think the cinematography is gorgeous, some of the shots are downright magnificent. I like green and nature, you see :D

I also found myself captivated first by Benjamin Tsang's performance, but quite quickly fell into the other camp, that of Liu Dong Qin's. For me, there were these moments of brilliance in their acting that I ended up watching those scenes once, twice, more. Or maybe they're just pretty, who knows.

I'm with you on the ending, however. Heinous crime, especially since it seems that they're not getting the budget for the sequel.