Wren

Le Sigh Part 2 - The Power of Love

Rated= 4.5~ 21.5/50 ~ 4.3
RPG Scene // Troll stalking me through the Mountain Pass. Not sure the short sword is enough.

My original review 27th April 24 -

Le Sigh

I really, really wanted to like this but I just couldn't get into it. I tried 3 times but my brain just won't let me accept a romantic relationship with a lead who basically acts like a child. If it was meant to be friendship I'd be fine but I'm expecting romance from a character who is basically a 5 year old in an adult body and I just can't move past that. Also, the harem of fairies. Oh please. My first, 2 months now as of writing this, adventure into chinese dramas, I'm starting to see a pattern of shows that just aren't for me.

Visually, this show is stunning. A lot of green screen LOL The sets are glorious. It even just looks like a chinese fantasy. Palaces floating in the sky. Ornate head pieces etc The opening credits were actually my favourite thing LOL the artwork had my mouth open and I think that's why I just really wanted to like this.

It's one of those shows, I think this is my 3rd one now, where everything looks so grand but I just don't like the characters. This time I at least liked the ML but that was it. You can't force yourself to watch a show that you're just bored to tears watching. It's like a christmas cookie. All visual, no flavour.

My updated review on 15th June 24

I wrote the above review after I had initially dropped the show but because I can't write two reviews, and people had like the previous review, I just had to delete and write this instead.

At the time, I was fairly new to c-dramas in general so I was just going on instinct at the time. I have now, thanks to Immortal Samsara, have learned that Xianxia's spend a lot of time laying out groundwork for the world building and characters before they give you the plot, which seems to be happening around episode 7 or 8. I dropped this show in the first minute or 2 of episode 8 and realised that I had probably dropped this minutes before the plot arrived. So out of curiosity, I went back to it, and if I had kept watching for another 5 or 10 minutes, I'd have seen the FL's bully get a glorious smackdown LOL
And I was right. The plot arrived with that event.

So I said, ok, I will give this one more chance. For the most part, my original review still stands. It was like Harry Potter all over again. The logical part of my brain can see why this is popular. It looks good, the characters, most of them redeem themselves, really love that Danyin's conclusion, that's awesome. It's a pretty cohesive plot through out, no major plot holes, all the characters had legit reasons, even if it was just obsession and had a really sweet message under it all.

But I just didn't like it. There was a cog in brain refusing to move and unfortunately, there's nothing I can do about that. I just didn't like. It was boring. I think it was around episode 20 when I really started to skipped scenes. I just wanted it to end.

Like I said in my first review, the ML made this show for me. He was the only one I was interested in. I love an anti-hero and to be honest, even as a villain, I loved him, he was hilarious. Everyone else who might have had a reason to stand out to me just faded into the background as the plot hooked them up in a side pairing I didn't care about.
That dragon. My man. How they wronged you by dampening down your potential.
And once again with Xianxia Immortals, the Emperor is the biggest A*hole and everyone is so self righteous without logic they make me support the villains.

My original rating was -
story -3 moved to a 7. I don't think the writing was too bad. It flowed well, it was understandable, the characters had their reasons and the narrative was very plain and simple - the power of love and obsession, and what it does to us.

Acting- went from 2- 6, this all because of Dylan Wang's portrayal of the ML. That's literally, he was the only reason I managed to finish the show. This was the Moon Supreme show for me. He gave good passionate kisses. I appreciate that for a chinese show that seemed to be scared of showing any lip movement whatsoever.

Music- 2-3 -Not much change to the music, I didn't really care for it and found it a little intrusive and loud over romantic scenes.

My rewatch remains the same though, at 1. I am unlikely to watch this again.

Overall, I can only give this one extra point simply because I loved the ML character. Everyone else, meh. I just didn't care.

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The Cop and His Semi Competent Thief?

Rated= 7.5 ~ 21.5/50 ~ 4.3
RPG Scene // Mages passing over Mountain Pass. Only a basic sword. Newbies.

At one point as a viewer, do we say, ok, this character is a little too good. Are we too used to leads who can just do everything?

I found myself at times wondering why the FL Rong, who is supposed to be this famous, elite thief, seems pretty average throughout the show. At first I thought, ok, this is just plot device now because that's what creates drama. Then I realised that the ML is very competent at his job and is often one step ahead of the FL. So I considered, hey, maybe she just can't be better than the ML because masculinity and all that. And then I realised, you know what? Perhaps I'm asking too much here. She's not bad. She knows what she's doing. She can fight her way out of situations. Heck the opening scene, she's taking on a several squads of police to escape. And escapes/out runs the ML 3 times. So I wonder am I being a little harsh? Thieves get caught. Ninjas and assassins eventually meet their doom because that's the nature of their job. And when you have 2 separate groups of people, lead by very intelligent and ambitious men, constantly on your tail, you're going to run into some problems.

I think it's one of those things that is really up to the viewer. For me personally, I think it's a little of everything I've mentioned. She has to be good enough for you to believe she's the best, but not too good in order to create problems and tension throughout the plot. This is not meant to be a super intelligent cat and mouse show ( which would have been awesome) but it's not. It's just a fun and fluffy show about a police detective from a ruined family, the ML, at first on the trail of the famous silver willow thief, our FL.

The set up is that our ML's father was accused of embellishment of funds for flood relief, and I assume executed, and the family has since been disgraced. It is mentioned later that the Emperor showed leniency which is why the rest of the family weren't hanging from the walls as well. They were reduced to the status of commoner although have kept their house and a few servants. Our ML is under the constant watch of his career rival who leads the Ministry of Justice, who from start, is ready and willing to have any reason to get him sacked out of sheer spite.

Our FL is a waifish little rogue belonging to a secret sect who's original purpose is never mentioned or I missed it.
The story begins with the ML getting an edict of an engagement to a Lady Su, the daughter of the Duke who over saw his father's trial. Yeaah. He's delighted. He immediately goes to the Duke's house in order to break the engagement only to be led to our FL by some sort of golden bug, who covers for the real Lady Su, hiding in the wardrobe.

As the marriage was ordered by the Emperor and the leads had seen each other, this is what leads to their forced marriage. Our FL is told to steal a jade pendent and once everything had settled, the Duke, who is the secret sect's benefactor, would see to a divorce. And thus the plot begins of unravelling what actually happened to the ML's father and the event that disgraced the family.

Overall, it's really nothing complicated. It's pretty A to B. Trauma and underhanded deeds went down, ruined a family, and is slowly resolved throughout the plot.
We never find out who the FL parents are. We're just told she was orphaned and begging on the streets before being caught in the flood and hauled out our drowning ML.

It's a pretty average but enjoyable drama of resolving a scandal while falling in love. I didn't feel overly tense or waiting to see the FL identity uncovered. It just slowly happens.

One annoyance I will mention was the maid. How embarrassing for two adults who are being pressured into making as many babies as possible only to have a maid walking, merrily, in and out of their room at will. I guess that was the writer's attempt at humour but I just found it annoying and silly.

On the bright side, when the leads eventually kiss, it is an actual lip pulling kiss, or at least for the ML because that's what I seen. So there's that. The FL wasn't too annoying. She was quite passive aggressive at times which, again, I guess was meant to be funny but it just seemed childish because she was forced to marry some random guy who offended her at first sight.
The ML seemed genuinely decent though and I did feel sorry for him at times.

I didn't find the sets or music too stand outish. The sets and clothing were pretty much what you see in these period shows and the music wasn't anything I'd listen to again.

Overall, I found it an enjoyable and short watch, if you're just looking for something cute to fill the time.

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When 2 Vengeful People Fall In Love

Apparently this was low budget, but I didn't really notice honestly.

They wore the outfits and sets were beautiful. It didnt bother me that they didnt have 20 places to use. What was seen suited the plot. That condensed feeling to a mansion and a few palace places was suitable for the characters and their desires to escape.

We start off with Shuan having the upper hand. He helps Ziang escape from a failed assassination of his brother, the Crown Prince, only for Ziang to be told to go back and get close to him, as another way to kill the CP. This backfires tremendously as Shuan already recognises him, and strings him a lot for his own plans to avenge his mother.

But all this quickly falls away as soon as the two begin to fall in love. It is fast and tense, and before I knew it, all revenge plans had been scattered to the wind, and the two were just trying to escape the CP. This all leads to a desperate rebellion and the inevitable scene on the bridge. After there, the ending was the only way it could end.

Shuan couldn't forgive Ziang, and Ziang lost his mind in an attempt to be with him again.

The Crown Prince and Shuan loved each deeply growing up, and they had plans to support each other when the CP became emperor. But for some reason Shuan gave CP the cold shoulder, and distanced himself from CP, making him suspicious of him. I interpreted it as he was ready to begin his vengeance plan and didnt want him getting involved. His plan was never made clear. I imagined it was just simply to take down the ministers in court who were responsible for his mother's death. But the Cp felt he was being betrayed and losing his position. Spurred on by Minister Gu, he descends into a paranoid desperation to get rid of his own brother, and finally leading to the rebellion when all his plans fail.

I believe Shuan took CP's side in the end, simply because he loved his brother. He knew what he had become but couldn't let go of the version he knew. When all is destroy, Ziang takes all the blame. His revenge plan was forgotten because Ziang wanted to get close to him.

And the hate just got worse. Shuan refused to co operate with Ziang, pushing him over the edge, and leading to his own fall, where all he could hope for was death.

It's like two people, who were dynamite to those around them. Wanting revenge for the people they love, fall in love with each other. When trust is broken, all that anger and pain, is naturally directed to each other.
Dying in each other's arms feels like the most natural end when you have to lead characters like this. One proud, dedicated and spoiled, the other a highly trained soldier ready to risk everything for what he wants, these two in their setting, I dont think could have a happy ever after.

I think, did the writer add in Ziang's failing health because she knew that Shuan could never live peacefully with him? What would hurt more, Shuan dying and leaving Ziang to his grief, or giving them both peace in their passing?

Nothing felt forced. One decision was the result of the one before.

For the leads, it was Shakespearean. For the others though, I felt information had been edited out. Towards the end, the editing did get quite jumpy. I wanted to know what happened to Minister Gu, did Huo travel the world with Shen? I would have liked more info on the side characters.

I also would have liked to have seen a shot of the two meeting in another life, as their hair was tied together. Since it was mentioned, I feel like the final scene should have been that, just to lift the mood a little.

It wasn't perfect but has left deep impression on me and I now feel a little haunted. I dont normally like sad endings but since this is a rare chinese bl, with a historical setting, I had to give it a shot and dont regret my decision.

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What should have been

This is one of those shows where I see the idea very clearly, and simply and truly love the concept, but the editing caused by chinese censorship and ban, has completely ruined it. It's like serving a great meal and having someone say they dont like a certain ingredient and waste the whole plate.
If the ML had been female, and the editing was straightened out into a coherent flow, I would still have loved it.

Xia Yao is a graphic designer by day and a champion boxer by night. I would have loved to have seen more of his matches. He's an elite rich boy in the neighbourhood and catches the attention of Yuan Ru. Xia insists to her that she's not interested, so Yuan Ru goes to her brother to act as a messenger for her, to bring him gifts to woo him. Enter Yuan Zong, the classic seme, stoic, badass and silent. This is when it starts to get silly. He just stalks him relentless until Yao is forced to meet up with Yuan Ru and tell her he's impotent. Meanwhile Zong, has clearly developed a crush of his own.

In an attempt to try and 'defeat' Zong's marital abilities, Yao joins his bodyguard business to train. In comes the chinese censorship to chop and hack the developing relationship to pieces.

All the materials that I normally like are there. We've got some gritty, physical training, a little bit of jealous drama, slow burning tension, physical pining, motorbikes, some underground gang in the background that just kind of disappears.

I can clearly see the original thought development of this show. I feel like this was meant to be tough, gritty, dirty with some erotic pining and eventual love and I would have been strapped in for it. Whether as a BL or a Hetro, if Yao was a woman and had reasons of her own to train as a bodyguard, and I think that's why this is popular despite the clear and very disappointing editing issues.

By the time we get into double digit episodes, the show has lost all it's flow as scenes are cut midway or missing entirely. Yao had a falling out with his friend but we never seen that scene. The show ends the way it progresses, just randomly, in the hospital with the guys looking at each other, as though there more to it. There were more episodes afterwards, it just stops.

This does seem like a low budget show but once again, as a BL, it was never going to have much money to spend. As for the actors, they did ok with what they have. The actress for Yuan Ru was terrible though but since the rest of show was a cliched, cheesy mess, she fit right in.

As for rewatch value, I would be rewatching this simply because I know the dissatisfaction of what could have been, will have me rewriting the plot in my head and filling in the blanks for my own amusement.

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A Joseon Robin Hood

I love a good vigilante story so this one was never going to be an exception. However, the entire show is like one weekend long, automatic writing session after a vivid dream that was used as the script and never corrected. Go into the show in the same way a child would watch their favourite super hero shows.

Personally, I really enjoyed this despite it's obvious flaws. The biggest one being the end. They seemed to have little to wrap it up with, so even though it is an ending, it feels like an unsatisfying one as you are left to write your own. It's the type of ending that leaves the door wide open for a season 2, which, since this is from 2008, is clear it never happened.

The plot overall, is the story behind the man, including the ending. Young Geom is shown to be a very treasured son of an honourable nobleman and is a very quick and intelligent thinker. One night his father is killed and framed for treason, while a young Geom is locked in a cabinet. He sees the mark on the killers blade and it is this that his later revenge plot centers around. Who is the owner of this sword? After a horrifying ordeal watching his father's corpse publicly mutilated and forced to deny his own mother to save his life, he is taken in, unbeknownst to him, by his father's secret lover and her thief husband.

Its understandable that a young child would suffer memory loss after what he had endured and young Geom grows up to be Yong, a carefree and arrogant rogue who is frequently bullied at school.
Yong at first, isn't a very likeable character as he's depicted as lazy and thoughtless. And yet when we see him nearly killed by his bullies and then again by an assassin, we are left wanting to root for him as he somehow manages to escape and survive.

If the invisibly cloak in the first scene wasn't enough to tell me that we need to suspend a lot of belief in this show, Yong's miraculous ability to survive impossible situations will. Many times I found myself throughout the show thinking, 'now, the human body doesn't work like that' or ' how the heck did he manage that in a short time'.

When Yong slowly, and painfully, becomes Iljimae, the show becomes more fun as long you've continued to keep your brain off. I had whiplash from the amount of twists and turns that are frequent and dare I say even over used. It was like the writer was doing everything they could to hurt your feelings. Even something so simple as turning around, so Yong misses seeing his biological mother multiple times.

It's this frequent onslaught of frustrating moments that for me is what ruined the ending the most. For me, since they used the opening scene as the ending, and that 3 characters were sitting around the table, I take that as Yong having survived and the young brother at the end, basically telling us what happened. From that we can conclude that Yong is in hiding and visits his friends and family but we never see Yong properly reunite with his mother. Poor Bong Soon has been left to wonder alone probably believing that he is dead. Eun Chae may also be feeling that he as died as well. Did the King clear the Lee family of their charges? We see that he never stepped down from the throne, so why did it take 4 years for Yong to come back?

This is where I feel the 'the story behind the legend' feeling. As though this was all a lead up to an even greater plot, the legend of Iljimae it's self, and we are just simply left to write our own stories afterwards.

Iljimae, much like Robin Hood and other figures of folklore like him, becomes something of a ghost that keeps the wicked scared and the vulnerable heard.

The King is seen to have clearly lost his mind, wandering paranoid and scared that Iljimae will come for him.
The last scene is of Iljimae sitting on the garden wall by the tree, glaring at the camera, like a reminder that he will seek justice and he will come for you. I am actually ok with this kind of ending. It is inline with the triumph of folklore, that the legend goes on. It's just simply lacking the emotional fulfillment of having certain scenes missing, after all the abuse we took throughout the series.

I had no issue with the music but there was one scene that left me genuinely wondering what the director was thinking. During an emotional moment between Yong and Eun Chae, the background music is of two violins playing out of sync with each other. I get the symbolism but it was very, very hard to listen to and ultimately distracted from the scene that was meant to be painful and emotional.

Yong himself is the 'jerk with a heart of gold' character and becomes more loveable when he begins to mature. It is his adoptive father who is the real hero of the show. A man forced into stealing by corrupted officials, who treasures his two adopted sons heartwarmingly, and his willing to do literally anything to keep them alive and happy.

I had no issue with the romance part of it but it is a very brief subject. An almost touched on romance that if it had been developed further, would have been a very beautiful Robin and Marion love story that I could imagine for myself at the end. Perhaps Iljimae and Eun Chae could meet each other again at the blossom tree?

It's just one of those scripts that really feels like a first draft and that can lead a lot of viewers to feel disappointed.

Despite all of that, I thoroughly enjoyed this series, I couldn't stop watching, and I had a great time admiring a baby faced Lee Joon Gi and his mid-00s hairstyle.

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Simple, short and sweet

I think from now, every time I see a thai BL that's 8 episodes, I'm going to go in knowing that it's a speed run because that what it is.

It's obvious that things were moving very quickly, where you would be expecting some deeper development.
With that said, I did enjoy this for what it was. It was a simple quick BL of an introverted loner, trying to make new friends and falling in love with one of them, or perhaps, a love at first sight between the two.

Little does our lead know that his new friend is a mafia member and is more than capable of maiming and killing, so there's a little bit of grit in the show and honestly more than I was expecting.

One thing that really annoyed me though was the character of Nami. Wan is written as being the jerky friend, and we should probably be laughing at his misery but I actually felt sorry for him. He was confused and didnt know what to do with his feelings.
Who peeved me off was his girlfriend Nami. One of her opening lines was 'Are you sure this is your friend?' .....So she knows that Wan has feelings for Guy and judging by her expression when she realises Guy wants to confess, she is aware that this a potential relationship between them, but she inserted herself anyway, continuing to sneer at Guy in later scene, and was the offscreen reason for Wan being unavailable for Guy.
And when she wasnt treated like the Princess she thinks she is (Wan cutting her nails for her, really?) she got upset and blamed it on Wan. Nah honey, you brought that on yourself and deserve every ounce of misery. There are women who do this to gay men, and seeing Wan treated liked the one in the wrong irked me slightly I'm glad that they hinted at a new love interest for him at the end because although jealous, he was still a genuine friend for Guy and deserved better than what Nami was doing.

As for the other couple, I really wasn't interested in them and there wasn't much time to flesh them out anyway. I fast forwarded through their scenes.

Overall, it's just a simple, short and sweet BL with a little gangster flavouring.

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Utterly ridiculous but I loved it

I clicked on this simply because I'm slowly falling in love with Khaotung and I wanted more of him on my screen. This is the first time I have been really surprised by a below average rated show. I was prepared for nonsense but little did I realise that I would find the nonsense really. effing. funny.
Thai humour is very hit or miss for me but for some reason, I this had me crying tears with laughter. So I can't even say it's the Khaotung bias because every character, well, not every character, but our main group was so damn loveable that I couldn't help but find the cartoon humour hilarious.

Khao ofc and Mike's facial expression just got it right for me.

This is a don't think about it show. This is over the top, cringe flamboyance Thai style. Like an over the top anime/manga humour. Plotwise it's nothing new. If anything it's a comical take on deeply repressed sexuality with the usual narcissistic ex as our villain. Even the music is telling you not to think about it too much.

You'll either like it or you wont but I think it's one of those shows that if you try to make sense of it, you'll probably hate it. I can only recommend watching it for yourself and making your own decisions on it.

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The Wild Young Things

I was enjoying myself comfortably before I found myself moaning, "Ohh God! Why am I relating?" LOL

This was gloriously trashy and all but one character is pretty morally questionable - Either through careless arrogance or vengeance but not irredeemable. Either way, I enjoyed this waaaaay more than I thought I would.

The thing is ~ I'm a major dropper. So quick am I to drop kick a show, I've annoyed the BL thread LOL And I honestly thought, this was going to be another one.

The thing is, this was relatable to me. This isn't a soft watch. All the characters will annoy you but it's in a way where, it's very human and understandable. I've known people, and have acted, the same way these characters do. They are troubled, insecure, have low self esteem, addictions and they feel very deeply, whether love, lust or hate. For me, this is how I experienced my youth, and honestly, I've seen people do worse to each other, than what these characters do.

This is the first time, I have enjoyed watching all three of the couples. My favourite were Sand and Ray, partly because FirstKhao knocked it right out of the park with their acting and chemistry, and they dealt with alcoholism. It's so common for characters to drink themselves into a stupor every night, that it was kind of interesting to see a show finally tackle an addiction like this.
The attempted threesome in the final episode was a little gratuitous but, maybe I'm just crazy enough to understand Ray. He has already made his feelings clear, and trying to get his relationship with Sand, finally, off the ground, after all the drama. Getting even the slightest sniff of another obstacle, and that wild dog persona we saw at Mew's birthday party came right out and drew a line in the sand....with Sand LOL He said, 'absolutely not - I have made my choice. I'm not doing this again' ....and I respect that lol ~9/10 ~ Loved their plot. I'd watch a whole other series with them.

Mew and Top ~ Hmmm, 7/10 a little less interesting because it was pretty straightforward. Top wants to bang Mew but falls in love. Pursues him. Cheats. Mew falls in love. Is told of the betrayal, spends the rest of the series hating Top, going off the rails and finally forgiveness LOL I did enjoy it but it was the least interesting to me. I think what I liked about it was just simply the character evolution of Mew. He's presented as the meek little nerd but we see early that he's not a push over, and as his plot develops, we learn just how passionate and savage he can be. It felt more like Mew coming into his own, than it being about Mew and Top's relationship.

Not an actual couple but I honestly loved Ray and Mew's friendship. When Ray makes the choice to move on with Sand, we see just how strong the friendship is, and I loved that.

Now - Nick and Ton ...... Ooooh boy. There's a conversation we could have had here about a poly relationship but the writers had to bring in the ex for the other couples just simply to get Nick to realise what's happening LOL
I think that's the biggest downfall of this series. But having said that, it's very clear from the start, that Nick wants Ton to himself and Ton can't give that. So it's left with Nick, finally choosing himself and wishing Ton the best, while Ton is left alone, to start his new life in New York.
Personally, don't actually mind that ending. Would like to have seen Nick's next move but, that may have been left open in the event of a season 2.
Did feel a little on the nose though from the writers. It's the bad bitch finally getting their comeuppance, which is, if you want to ride alone, then you will end up alone, and that's never fun. This may feel like slut shaming, but when we consider Nick wanted an official monogamous relationship, Ton is not seen in the best light.
Which is why myself, and so many other reviews have said the whole Boeing story, really was a waste, when we could have explored poly relationships. But I guess Ton was just simply our villain in this series and he got a villains ending. ~ 8/10

Would also have liked to have gotten more on the lesbian couple and the bar couple. Because there clearly was a story happening in the back. If the whole Atom and Boeing story had been dropped, and used for them instead, would have been nice.

They also started doing this reality tv show thing of the characters talking to the cameras at the start, and then it just kind of stopped. Why bother starting then? LOL

Overall, it was messy ride that did it's best to explore different types of relationships but it ended up just following the same bl narrative i'm used to. I do feel some potential was wasted, but I enjoyed the heck out of it nonetheless.

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Cute and Trendy

Rated = 9 -~ 39/50 ~ 7.8
RPG Scene ~ I'm being seduced by fashionable elves into an enchanted forest, and the staff in my hand is just a twig lol

I am noticing that I have a preference for Korean BL's as they suit my taste more.
Heavily criticized so naturally I'm going to like it. It's not a deep thinker. It felt like a warm hug. Just a character with failed dreams trying to fit into the world. There's only 8 half hour episodes so it's nothing dramatic and a lot of stuff is quickly glossed over but sometimes I want that. Just something sweet to counteract the bitterness. I don't need to be philosophizing life at every moment.
It follows the dense cutie that everyone loves harem trope but I didn't mind it so much as it's not overly exemplified and felt more like naivety to me than just purposefully stupid. I also enjoyed how the character's spoke with their eyes a lot.
A sweet and easy watch.

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Human's are limited but our possibilities are endless

Rated ~ 7 ~ 28.5/50 ~ 5.7
RPG Scene ~ Mage in the crumbling castle with a battle axe armed robot boyfriend ~

I actually kind of enjoyed it. I loved the A.I film and Bicentennial Man growing up so robot love stories don't bother me lol I would have given it a 6 generally, as it was a casual watch, a little cliche but cute. It was an ok watch, at first.

But the last episode got to me, because I got the old Momento Mori feeling. A friend of mine had an asthma attack at a halloween party and died. She was 23. I have not celebrated Halloween since. Human's are limited. You aren't guaranteed tomorrow, and if you knew you were dying, what would you do for your loved ones? Terminally ill people often prepare mementos for their family.

That's how I felt watching the final episodes. Although it gets rounded out at the end not to leave you too depressed, it's a story teller's way of facing human mortality through a fluffy, cute story of a robot falling in love.

And although the 7 year gap is cliched and kind of cruel in this plot, it also makes sense because the uncle admits to himself that he'd make the same decision. He wanted his nephew to be with a real person and ultimately was just forced to give in because Chu won't move on with his life, and Ever 9 gave the ultimatum to either let him keep his memories or destroy him so, after 7 years, with neither letting go, what was he do?

Overall I rate it a 7. I probably wont be rewatching it but still enjoyed it for what it was.

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A Speed Run BL LOL

Rated= 7~ 26.5/50 ~ 5.3
RPG Scene // Mage trying really hard to fix the Crumbling Castle. No magic, just an Axe

The biggest thing I can say about this series is f**kin LMAO
Dear jeebus, what just happened, and what makes it even funnier is that whoever subbed the show on iquyi clearly hated us all LOL
This is probably more for fans of the the actors because the average watcher will probably just be left wtf-ing into the night.
To be fair, if it was fully developed into 12-14 episodes, it would have been a really sweet series.
It's pretty light hearted, fluffy and the humour is there. Having said that, I still enjoyed this for what it was. It was like watching a really sweet island BL at twice the speed LOL They just made sure to hit all the major points to get the plot across and nothing more.
There was obviously something happening in the background for it to have lost half of it's time but whatever, I came for Boun and Prem and wasn't disappointed. I've been distracted by Boun in Between Us, and both guys were support characters in Until We Meet Again, so this time, I got to see Prem in a more adorable light this time and he's gone up the rankings of my favourite's list <3

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The Soul's Journey & the Characters it Plays <3

Rated= 8.5~ 36.5/50 ~ 7.3
RPG Scene // Mermaid's Invitation for tea in the Enchanted Forest. Staff summoned all the Food

In my usual awkwardness that has plagued my life, I watched Between Us first, UWMA's sister story showcasing the side couple's journey. And honestly, I actually think I prefer Between Us over this one but that's more to do with it being closer to my own personal tastes. I rated this one slightly higher, so my own personal aesthetics do not take away from how touching the plot is for Until We Meet Again.

The show opens in 1988, with the tragic ends of two lovers, Intouch and Korn driven to suicide by their domineering fathers determined to separate them.
In modern 2019, we meet our MLs, an extremely petite and delightful little cinnamon roll Pharm, a first year at University, and our tall, dark and brooding Dean, President of the swim club. The two connect instantly and slowly begin to piece together their tragic past lives while falling in love.

I usually don't like the constant flashback style type of plot flow. It's too much of an info dump and I find it jarring but they managed to keep it's consistency by being relevant to what was happening to our modern MLs. So it didn't bother me as much.
I absolutely fell in love with Pharm in Between Us and he was just as adorable in this series. Both ML's were very stereotypical however, their relationship was, I found, surprisingly healthy as my usual experience with BL's is very sex driven. This wasn't. The characters started off already with a deep unexplained connection and it was allowed to slowly unravel. Dean was a green flag most of the time and I almost take offense to Pharm being tagged as 'a crybaby male' as his reasons for crying were pretty legit. He was however, a little babied by Dean but I didn't find it too much and it suited the characters and situations.

I did feel like it followed the kind of Japanese BL I would have loved as a kid, and the show's consistent nod to Japanese culture feels like I may have picked up on those vibes a little.

As reincarnation is a theory that I personally believe in, this one hit more of a spiritual cord than my heart strings. A little detail that I really loved was Pharm's signature colour was yellow (one of my favourites too) and Korn is wearing a yellow shirt the night they die. Another detail is how confident and pushy Intouch is vs how soft and meek Pharm is, yet both characters have a generally cheery disposition, or his love for cooking & baking Thai desserts, and how the first thing he ever cooked was an omelette. It's those little details that tie back into the reincarnation belief, that our soul's carry little things from one life to the next, like picking up it's favourite things to bring with it into it's new life. The mind forgets, the body dies but the soul goes on and it takes some of it's memories with it. I personally loved that little touch.

My foresight was strong with this one. I absolutely called those twists LOL because it allows, not only for the ML's to finish their karma but also the family as a whole as well.
I was a little stumbled on how easily the surrounding characters believed in Dean and Pharm being reincarnated loved ones but I suppose it allowed for some healing for those characters, so it's a minor complaint. I would have loved to have seen an outcome for Intouch's bestie who, although only seen 3 times, clearly cared a lot about him and I would have liked to have seen him appear somewhere just as a conclusion for that character.

As for side characters, I think if I had watched this one first, I would still have been in love with Win's character. In fact I actually found him funnier in this one but that's usually the job of the support leads lol

The acting over all was pretty good. It wasn't too over the top despite some of the scenes, and the crying felt natural. Surprisingly, it was actually a scene at the end, when Korn's brother finds his candy in the fridge. That one little scene hit me the hardest perhaps because it was simple. It was a reminder for the viewer, or perhaps just for me as a viewer, that it was those little things, that even though Korn has been reborn and is alive as Dean, Korn is still gone and he left behind two little brothers who had to continue living without him. It's a sad truth within my own spirituality. I may go on to where ever I need to go, but I'll never be me again.

There is, and will only ever be, one of you <3

I have to confess though, that I didn't really like the music. I'm finding that those vocal tracks over emotional moments are the norm for Thai dramas but I found it a little cringey at times with this one. But again, that may be just down to personal tastes as I didn't like the music in general in this show.

Overall, I would have no issue watching this again. Often BL's seem to focus on the BL aspect and everything else is an add on, but this time, it actually focused on the plot, which was reincarnated lovers, and the karma is that they are two men, and I really appreciate that for the genre.

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Well, now, that was just Fricking adorable

Rated= 8.5 ~ 34.5/50 ~ 6.9
RPG Scene // Mermaid Vibing in the Flower Meadow. Sword Dancing practice.

I was having a drama slump and my years on the internet have taught me that when I feel like that, bored and restless and searching for something to die for, just randomly start clicking on things. It's like pasta on the wall. You will absolutely find something. And find something I did.
First 2 seconds I fell in love with Boun who plays Win. Daaaamnn, that man is FINE with extra emphasis on the F. God damn, I think I drooled through the first few episodes LOL
Unbeknownst to me, thanks to my randomly clicking, I have learned that this is a sister story to the original plot which follows Dean and Pharm, who are featured as a side couple in this one. I did find it hilarious, since I havent watched the original series, knowing that there was a whole drama happening in the back and I know nothing about it LOL I can just feel that the heat happening off screen LOL Having said that, Pharm, for his little appearances absolutely stole my heart and I feel like I'm about to lay down my life for him when I start watching his series, which is definitely coming next. No question. When I sit my butt down next for a series, I am clicking for Pharm and Dean LOL

Anyway, back to this series. This show follows Win, a punk'd out Vice President of the swim team and Team, initially a very innocent and sheltered young swimmer with a tragic past. Since I havent watch the parent story, Win seemed liked the kind of guy who had his eyes on Team previously and when he finally gets his moment with Team, Team jumps head first into bed with him, much to his delight.
It's a casual fling which naturally develops into heavier emotions, which casual sex usually does, for at least one of the people involved. That's how the brain works. We like to get attached to things lol
Overall, I found the couple pretty cute. The consistent nod to consent for me, was very sexy. Boun's acting is pretty piercing. He says a lot with his eyes. Prem, I felt was a little off at times but that may have just been me. He had a lot of very emotionally powered scenes and I think he did well through most of them.
His character has a legit tragedy in his past and his reactions and behaviour are very understandable for someone who has to carry that for the rest of their life. Normally, I would find the tsundere types annoying but I actually understood his moods here. I did really feel for his pain and felt the relief with him when Win comforted him.

As for the other couples, wow, there were so many.
Pharm and Dean, for what I seen, looked very stereotypical but were nonetheless adorable. 8/10
Bee and Prince - I actually really loved this couple. They seemed very genuine and Bee was an absolute sweetheart. 9/10
Win's Brother and Tol - I felt like this one was a little random. Like they had to squeeze some more gay in but I went with it. 4/10
Manow and Pheuk - this seemed like a really sweet and genuine straight couple in a BL and Manow was adorable and kind of funny. They looked cute together. 7/10

Overall, it's not a tense show despite it's content. It has a very warm and heartfelt BL that deals gently with life's more serious questions but doesn't leave you feel empty or hopeless.
I left with a big smile on my face for everyone. Definitely worth a rewatch.

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Hide's Art Student Film For His Fans

Rated= 7 ~ 33/50 ~ 6.6
RPG Scene // Mage having weird dreams in the Flower Meadow. Sword might have become sentient.

I didn't know this was on here LOL
There's a certain kind of person who loved/s the bisexual disaster that was Hideto Matsumoto - HIDE.
This was a short art film by HIDE that honestly to me, was just a representation of hide as a man. Confused, overwhelmed and over-sexed, if not really struggling with his sexuality but seems very likely.
I watched this a few years ago on youtube. From what I can remember, it has an alien-esque visual to it of 2 'angels' or other worldly creatures would rebel against their 'God' and are sent to earth as punishment, where, as a fan, I really felt like was just a glimpse inside the man's head.
There's no talking, it's just 'babble' speech, running around Tokyo with a lot of grainy footage and symbolism, with a scene of sexual assault that turns a little homo-erotic. The characters are attacked and abused into suicide where they return to their God and abandon it entirely for it's cruelty.
It makes me think of the kind of films I would have made as a student. It's more of a self expressive visual piece that set the stage for hide's solo music.
R.I.P Hide 🌤️

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"When they carry out the punishment, look away, don't be afraid"

Rated= 9 ~ 41.5/50 ~ 8.3
RPG Scene // Elf Prince breaking hearts in Sky City. Sword a swinging and a gleaming

Karma waltz in and laughed HAHAHA Puny Mortal. BOW TO ME!
LITERALLY in my last review, for Ashes of Love, I had a whole damn rant being like, yeah, no, Xianxia and me aren't going to me friends, we dont jam, we're different elements, blah blah blah, unless Cheng Yi is involved I'm not interested.

Karma came for my ass so damn hard in this show, I'm going to be reborn bruised. I am speechless at how much I enjoyed this show and I can see from the reviews, that it's a show with a lot of criticism, especially with loss of plot and drag so of course me being me, my soul got sucked into this show and I binged it all weekend. My eyes are red, my head hurts but damn, what a ride LOL

I dropped this at episode 2 a few weeks back thinking, eh, I'll probably hate it but decided I had to be a good wife and watch Cheng Yi's parts. It was around episode 5 when I started to get interested so, yeah, it took a while to get going but I feel like that's very common with Xianxia. At ep 7, during a big battle, I knew stuff was going down. You don't introduce a big battle at episode 7 without it being a big plot device. From then, I was absolutely hooked.

Keeping this as short as I can, character wise, I loved most of the characters, and that rarely happens and that the fact that this is a xianxia, this was the Immortals sucker punching me into Monday with bloodshot eyes and getting drunk at my misery.

Cheng Yi - my man. This is why you are my bias. He has mastered how to speak with his eyes. Definitely prefer this to Love and Redemption, all though L&R is growing on me. He's a lot more 'fluid' in his acting here. I felt like perhaps it was just just how he was directed in L& R but he seems so much more comfortable here, so much so that he plays 3 different characters. Our 'original' ML, the Heavenly Emperor, Ying Yaun who is very tight lipped, straight collared and by the book. His mortal incarnation for his mortal realm trials, Tang Zhou who is much more playful and ambitious, and Ying Yaun's father, who pretty much starts everything with his ambition to rule all 3 realms, which by the way, Cheng Yi needs to play a villain. Like. I NEEED the man to play a villain because holy hell, I was not prepared for crazy eyed and silver wigged Cheng Yi.

Our FL, although played by the same actress, thankfully was not as dense as her Ashes of Love character. I actually fell in love with Yan Dan myself. She's pretty bright and playful and honest. And there were times when her reactions made me laugh or I said 'ohh cute' out verbally. So this is a first for me so far in all c-dramas I've watched, I usually never love the FL. Yan Dan I loved. I don't mind if the FL is a little weak. I prefer brains over brawn and as she's a lotus spirit who cuts out her own heart to save Ying Yaun, twice, it's perfectly reasonable that she's going to need some physical protection. And when you like the FL, I can walk her highs and lows with her rather than just watching for Cheng Yi.

I always feel that chemistry between leads is up to the viewer and personally, I felt the love and the heartache. Xianxia strikes me as a genre that you either love or hate and one of the most common criticisms is jumping between worlds. I understand that can break the flow for the viewer but this didn't for me. I followed the whole way. It is a little slow to start, the plot hits us in episode 7 and then the love actually starts to build afterwards. When everything reaches a pressure cooker pain, I was jumping off the cliff with Yan Dan. It's around episode 16 when we go to the mortal realm and we stay there for a good 30 episodes but I didn't feel disjointed. It felt very natural. Yan Dan was turned into a demon and just drops out of the sky having had her memories erased by a traumatised Ying Yaun and returns to her playful and spirited self. Ying Yaun inflicts the mortal trials on himself and as his childhood is mentioned, I believe he was actually reborn as human.
The relationship then repeats it's self but only this time, there's lessons learned. Yan Dan learns more about what it means to be in love and Ying Yaun, as Zhou, chooses his heart over his responsibilities. So when we get back to the Immortals, those lessons are pretty engraved in the characters as their love cements in the middle of the actual plot.

I understand how a lot of people can find this boring or draggy as the mortal realm and most of it's characters have very little do with the actual plot. There are villains but only temporary. They are easily dealt with and yet I was never bored. I was invested the whole way through and I have no idea why. I liked the little side quests and characters. I liked the relationship building between the leads. My only defence is Cheng Yi's eyes hypnotised me through the screen and I plead innocence because, I should have lost interest but I didnt. I couldn't stop watching.

Yumo was a very a satisfactory character to watch. He started off almost like a teenage boy who develops feelings for Yan Dan but it never embitters him. It's this love that pushes him to the mortal realm where he travels for 800 years looking for Yan Dan, unaware that she's stuck in the limbo river because she can't let go of her memories. So he has all that time to travel and cultivate so when we see him again, he's a very experienced and mature man and honestly, he was a little sexy to me. What was really lovely was although his feelings for Yan Dan were strong, and there was a little back and forth with Zhou, he never left Yan Dan's side. He was never cunning or deceitful. He was a true friend. And accepted in the end that he wasn't for her but chose to protect her nonetheless. That was very mature and sweet and appreciated the groundedness of the character.

Another character I want to add briefly is Fairy Ying Deng. She was set up to be the usual, obsessed with the ML bully but she gets shot down very early. Beautifully might I add, by YY, and instead of lashing out in the ridiculous way that these characters always do, by blaming it all on Yan Dan, she lashed out at Yan Dan and Ying Yaun equally. There's a nice cathartic downfall before she returns in the mortal realm and I'll be damned, I felt sorry for the girl. Again. I shouldn't have but I did. She just seemed so pathetic, I couldn't help it. She also made a gorgeous demon and I wish she had always been a demon. She looked way better with messy hair and red eyes than in all the pearled garbed of the heavenly realm.

Part one is 38 eps. Part two is 21 - 59 eps. Thankfully, I watched it on viki, so I seen early that there were 2 specials. If I had felt that 59 was the end, I might have been physically sick. How dare they. But I'm learning how common this seems to be with c dramas. Almost like a sneaky way of keeping people paying for a subscription. But keeping the 2 specials in mind, I found the true ending to be very fulfilling and satisfactory. Both YD and YY get the life they wanted together, the son they had dreamed off and YD gets to be a writer. Meeting up with her friends, taking in demons to build a theatre group and getting to see the reborn friend she lost earlier in the mortal realm arc. Whether or not they are mortal isn't answered but it doesnt seem like they were physically reborn as they live in the house they meet up in after their deaths but I honestly dont mind it so much, I was just happy to see them together and getting to live out the dreams they wanted.

One massive plot hole though was Lu Ming not recognising Ying Deng in the mortal realm, and felt that he was kind of brushed aside a little too easily having been killed off screen. I honestly didnt believe he was dead. But as he didn't play a huge role, I can forgive this and appreciate that it's mentioned at the end that he's in the mortal realm growing his favourite watermelon.

As for the music. That flute did not have to come for my heart the way it did every time it started to play. The instrumental music in this show for me was a 'where can I buy this' kind of background music.

Overall, I'd give this show a very solid 8.5 but I boosted it to 9 because the sister's death pulled a tear out of me. I can be critical but I always give credit where it's due. Watching the sister be defeated by her pride, get revenge for YD, redeem herself and then give her heart, and then her life for the love of her sister, really pulled on my heart strings.

I am in actual shock that I enjoyed this as much as I did and it has to go on my favourites list now. It's a long one but I do feel I could rewatch it again and still enjoy the romance as much.

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