Zii3

Have fun with smart characters!

General spoilers only. Quite satisfying for one watch. Some of my favorite things of the story were how intelligent the two leads were, that they accomplished things together, and the ways in which the ML went out of his way for and supported the FL. The love triangle set-up was apparent early on but didn't really rear it's head until the last third. It was predictable and a little irritating, but it also served a purpose in this story to underscore a great message. I LOVED that the ML repeatedly said (and followed through with actions) that he respected the FL's ability to make choices for herself, wouldn't stop or deterr her, and would just make himself available to assist in whatever plans she made to help ensure her success. That was his approach to loving, respecting, and protecting her.

There were multiple plot arcs with a pinnacle of crises and resolution, which kept things interesting, moving along, and mostly satisfying. I really enjoy stories where the leads work together and accumulate victories as things go along. The screenplay had weaknesses here and there, but there was never too long of a stretch of it at a time. Some stuff about the wolf clans and magic weren't explained particularly well, and other things required some suspension of disbelief, but I didn't really mind and was able to shrug them off. There's some angst in the second half but I felt the overall tone was fairly light; I was invested in the characters but nothing made me actually cry.

The enemies to friends to more dynamic between the ML and FL was very fun, though it got a little repetitious in the last third as the characters kept holding back. There's a lot of banter, teasing, and playful bickering while working well together. There's also plenty of risqué moments as well as lots of shirtlessness for the ML. There are two kiss scenes right near the end which were okay. They felt cautious but were sweet enough, and lips actually moved a little.

The ML had obvious growing fondness and attraction to the FL, yet at the same time, it didn't feel like there was a lot of romance, especially as both characters kept obscuring their feelings from each other for most of the episodes; I'm not quite sure how else to explain it.

Most of the cast was good and suited their roles well. Jason Gu was so much fun as the playful, teasing, smart, competent, and loyal Yan Qing. He uses a devil-may-care outward demeanor to disguise how thoughtful and cautious he is. My only small quibble with him as an actor is that the moments of most extreme sadness fell just a little flat (felt acted). But there's not many of those moments, and otherwise he was engaging, captivating, endearing, and perfect with this role.

Connie Kang had great range as both Ling Long and Lang Yin. She balanced the drama and comedy of the two-spirits-syndrome really well and made me laugh out loud a few times. She was a tsundere character because of how she grew up, but was morally firm and clever with a mischievous side. My only couple of frusterations with her character were with how the script handled her realization of feelings towards the ML (she was completely clueless for most of it then remained reticent for a good while).

I loved the dynamic of the secondary couple and only wish there had been more of them in the last third. I would have enjoyed a scene of him furthering her martial arts training. The actress playing the SFL was perfect and made her unlikable character at the beginning somehow endearing so when the character grew likeable, I totally loved her.

The foes to friends dynamic between the FL and SFL was great and there was a bit of sismance to it as well (one episode in particular surprised me with that).

I enjoyed the fight scenes; they looked well choreographed and did NOT overly rely on wires or CGI. The CGI of a couple animals was pretty bad but that was a very small part so not that distracting. The music fit scenes well but only one song was memorable for me.

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In-lust to in-crush to in-love. Physically affectionate & healthy relationship with steady feelings.

The Ep 1 rooftop situation is odd, but equivalent to kissing a stranger at a club. I think it's the unfamiliar context that throws people off of what is a fairly common event used in many romance stories. After Ep 1, it's actually a very sweet, trusting, healthy relationship with a TON of chemistry.

I also think some suspension of disbelief is required to enjoy this story! But again, that's true with many rom-coms. This is a light, sweet, and steamy (but non-explicit) romance without much angst.

The age gap didn't feel fetishized because the lead characters felt so compatible (physically and emotionally). The way they get together IS super fast, but also believable as instant attraction. The physical attraction is what gets them started, but as they continue, they learn more about each other and go from in-lust and in-crush to in-love. Both characters try to take care of each other in actions as well as with words and make efforts to communicate. What's great to see is that both characters gradually grow through their relationship. As they feel more secure with each other, the FL grows more confident and relaxed, and the ML grows brighter and relaxed (less reserved).

The FL is 22 and very naive. VERY. But I don't think she's dumb, I just think there's a part of her social radar that is oblivious because life hasn't dealt her enough lessons yet for that part to improve. It's like a translation issue: she *does* notice shifts in people's moods (she's especially aware of the ML), but she can't accurately tell what those shifts indicate. She likes to be helpful and to see people be happy, and treats everyone with the same genuine enthusiasm. She can't see how she might be sending mixed signals to some people because the concept is so far removed from her intentions that it can't even register. The ML understands this, and though he naturally gets a little jealous, he is more worried about her being taken advantage of than he is about her feelings wavering from him (which was also refreshing to see).

I enjoyed the clever ways the script had the FL's naivete turn expected clichéd situations on their ear; some of them were pretty funny. In addition to that, there were multiple times I thought "here we go" when there was prime opportunity for a cliche to start, but the screenplay would do something different. Not in a groundbreaking way, but still different enough that I would be pleasantly surprised.

I also greatly appreciated that though the FL character was completely inexperienced with intimacy, that she had a desire for it and actively participated. The portrayal was, I thought, completely believable for a 22 year old virgin, and easy to understand why she would be physical with a stranger so quickly if she felt an instant attraction. Though she's eager she also has moments of shyness and I love how the ML is conscious of how she feels/reacts and never forces her past what she's ready for.

The ML is 38 and *not* standoff-ish to the FL after the first episode. His growing affection is steady, patient, and occasionally lightly teasing in a playful way. He tries to alert the FL to social dangers and though he steps in to disrupt some situations, he does not try to dictate her life. Ep 3 has a couple scenes where their dynamic is written a little uncomfortably/imbalanced, but thankfully that didn't continue. The ML didn't feel condescending or like a father figure (which would have been a turn offs for me).

Both the desire and feelings the leads have for each other remain consistant throughout the show. There is a ton of skinship and making out, and even a couple kisses with a little tongue. There's nothing explicit though. The passion, affection, and sweetness feels natural, comfortable, and realistic. It's more satisfying than most JDramas (or KDramas) in that regard.

The secondary characters were mostly fun too. Nothing memorable about the music.

I watched on Viki and they had the 2 special episodes included with the main series. There's Ep 5 then an "Ep 5 Special" and Ep 10 then an "Ep 10 Special". The specials are basically recaps but done as the couple reminiscing together about their relationship thus far. It was fairly realistic, as that is something that couples do, but I wish it had given a few more insights into their thought processes than it did. The specials gives a little extra information, but they are not that necessary. The recap after Ep 5 was too repetitive when binge-watching. For me, I would have preferred to watch both specials at the end as a way to extend the good feelings from the show before leaving it to figure out what to watch next.

The story and characters may not be the most unique, but it was an easy, enjoyable, and satisfying watch for me, and I expect I'll re-watch again.

I also really like dramadesciples review:
https://kisskh.at/profile/dramadisciple/review/152525
They have similar thoughts but say different things and summarize the lead characters and their dynamic well.

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Strong acting by all

The acting by all was 10/10 but the writing wasn't as good as Semantic Error. There was only one awkward thing to me. That was how intense the romantic feelings were from one of the Jun's from the very start. Given the fact that they've had no interactions for about a decade, it seems a bit odd. Being best friends at, like, 6-8 years old it would make sense to miss each other's company, but not to pine romantically. Just felt there were a couple of emotional steps missing for that one character just for the sake of the plot, but with only eight 30min episodes it's forgivable.

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Mindless Fluff, Weakly Written

You might enjoy this if you like cute, mindless fluff and don't mind newbie acting. The main couple's "love language" seems to be bickering but their more intimate romantic moments are very sweet.

The chemistry between the leads is undeniable and they are most natural when interacting with each other. However, they are still newer actors and their inexperience shows (in line delivery and reactions). Joong's acting is a 5 and Dunk's is a 3 (out of 10).

The actors aren't helped by a weak script with stiff, contrived dialogue and a boring, poorly executed plot. I'm glad for JoongDunk that they are getting some experience (it's a great way to continue improving their acting skills), but I just got too bored by the end of episode 8. After pausing for a couple of weeks I decided not to continue at all.

Both the actors AND the writers could benefit from more workshops to work on their craft before doing another project. At this point, I won't be looking forward to whatever they produce next.

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Unlikable boss becomes... loving boyfriend eventually? Not convinced.

(I rate vertical dramas on their own sliding scale. General spoilers only.) Meh for me. In the first 2 hrs the ML was only nice to the FL 5 times! He was demanding, unreasonable, ambiguous, and snippy with her the rest of the time. The last 40min slowly got more sweet but not enough for the FL's falling in love with him to make sense to me. Twice he told her that she should lose weight (she's already very thin). Especially hurtful since she was heavier in highschool and lost 20 lbs for her crush only for him to pick someone else over her; and the ML overhears this in office gossip and still says it. 🤢

The ML's "pursuit" of the FL, if you can call it that because he doesn't do it well or thoughtfully, is awkward because of the boss-subordinate dynamic and because she has a boyfriend and he has a family-arranged fiance. Instead of being nice to her, the ML is grumpy and petulant in his jealousy. There are multiple moments where he pushes boundaries and she even brings up that things would count as sexual harassment. He forces a kiss on her as well. But at least he immediately apologized for it (many in vertical dramas do not).

The only reason I made it through was because I like the two lead actors. Chemistry was okay but not great, and felt more lacking from the FL side. They had a couple good kisses later on, but I didn't feel a magnetic pull between them/their characters. I did like the FL's family and how her parents supported and rallied behind her.

Some slightly annoying side characters but they don't get too much screentime.

This left me feeling apathetic, but not annoyed, so I rated it a 5.

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Starts great, quickly slips into poorly written melodrama filled with air.

Watched 9/12 Eps. Overall: I wanted more quietly sassy and flirtatious Nail like in Ep 1 & 2. I was immediately intrigued by, and empathetic for, him. I also liked that he communicated boundaries but was straightforward and kind about it while being firm. It was a fresh take on a character, especially a Thai BL one, and I loved it. Sadly, the former fades away and the later starts weakening half-way through.

Ep 1 & 2: Interesting! The characters and plot mystery is intriguing and the sex/intimacy satisfying. The long bathtub scene in Ep 2 is sensual and hot and done extremely well. The action, cinematography, music, and editing all work together to build a sensual crescendo. Some of the music so far is great too. These two Eps are the highlight out of the 9 that I watched.

Ep 3 & 4: Nothing memorable, but I was still hooked on the slowly-revealing mystery and looking forward to the next weekly episode.

Ep 5 & 6: Much weaker. Ep 6 especially felt more like set up for the next episode (instead of continuing the story). A lot of back-tracking to fill in a lot of history gaps at once; the previous episodes did a better job of balancing the present with insights into the past while keeping the overall story moving forward. Stopped looking forward to the next weekly episode.

Ep 7 Things keep going downhill. The entire episode is Him working to get Nail to listen to him explain and when the scene comes nothing is said! In fact, not much is said the entire episode, it's a bunch of air and some spoken statements. It's like the writer is allergic to conversations that actually go back and forth between people. There are so many latent pauses that the director/editor kept in to fill out the time. There are stereotypical "bad guys" scheming, but doing it poorly (Tec is so clueless in his approach that he's not really a threat; he keeps blatently rubbing Nail the wrong way). The "comedic" silly sound effects were copious and inane, when nothing is funny and the overall mood should be serious to sustain tension. My interest and hope in this series is sinking fast.

Ep 8 & 9: I debated dropping, but decided to give it one more chance and watched 8 & 9 back-to-back. And I *am* dropping now. At least I finally learned what happened to Blue in Ep 8. The story starts making leaps in character relationships and the progression of scenes without showing how things got there. I was so confused about Him, Nail, and Tec's first scene in Ep 8 after the way Ep 7 ended. How they got there makes no sense whatsoever. I thought I had missed an episode or something, but nope. The secondary couple is annoying, especially Chao. Tec and the cousin are 2-dimensional, delusional, low IQ, and irritating. The intimate scene between Him and Nail feels oddly forced/over-exaggerated this time, and it lacked the 'crescendo' built with actions, cinematography, and music that Ep 1 & 2 did so well with.

Tor as Nail/Blue is the most charismatic and nuanced actor of the cast. Not awesome, but above average, especially for a rookie. Everyone else is mediocre. Dew as Him shows some potential, but he is not a rookie, and his lack of range becomes more and more obvious as the story gets more dramatic and emotional for his character.

I might rewatch Ep 1 & 2 for fun sometime, but I certainly won't bother with the rest of it again.

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Nothing Redeeming.

Had a soap opera feel. Multiple dishonest characters repeatedly making stupid decisions and a melodramatic plot that is also boring. Nine is a very pushy, lying, toxic ball of red flags. The first episode was actually decent and interesting and then the things characters did after that quickly made me not care about any of them.

I watched some snippets of later episodes on YouTube to determine if I wanted to keep watching after Ep 4 and I saw nothing redeeming. The dialogue is ridiculously contrived. People stay dead silent for long stretches instead of pleading their case or even verbally reacting to what another character says. It's SO unrealistic, awkward, frusterating, and inane.

The intimate scenes are okay but feel rather flat- I've definitely seen better elsewhere. They are certainly not special enough to put up with watching the whole show.

The actors are at a 7-7.5 out of 10. I want to give them the benefit of the doubt because they were given such a crappy screenplay to work with. It'd be hard for anyone to make those characters and that insipid dialogue empathetic or realistic. No one was really charismatic but they weren't bad either.

Though it's a complete waste of time it didn't leave any mental scars, so I gave it a 1.5/10.

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Lifeless Script, Acting, and "Intimacy".

After watching 2 episodes: I want more than just pretty faces! Melodrama with extremely poor writing, cliched and unlikable side characters (male, female, and trans), and weak/flat acting (and a lot of people using headshakes as fillers because they are inexperienced and because the script is so weak and unnatural).

I watched the uncut version on GagaOOlala.

It is *not at all* believable that these two characters (Foam & Chris) have been in an intimate, loving relationship for awhile. Their NC17 interactions are more what I would expect in a one-time Tinder/Grinder hook-up with two people who aren't very attracted to each other but couldn't find anyone else.

Ep 1: It's unfortunate that the first NC17 scene happens before we're able to bond with the main character (let alone the 2nd lead who's dead for basically all of Ep 1) so emotionally it feels pretty empty.

Ep 2: Fewer irritating characters but nothing else improved. The writing is so awkward, unnatural, and insipid. All of the actors are obviously rookies and can't compensate for the terrible script. The NC17 scene is just as lukewarm as the one in Ep 1.

Overall:
Camp shows some varied facial expressions and at least pretends like his character is having some enjoyment in the NC17 scenes. Jimmy however, remains very flat in expression and tone of voice no matter what situation his character is in (his response to highly emotional events or tragedy is not believable at all). Since the story so far is from his point of view, it's incredibly boring. And he doesn't look quite comfortable in the NC17 scenes; he doesn't look engaged or like his character has any interest, let alone much pleasure, in what is happening. Almost like his character is half asleep or bored.

Uncut on GagaOOlala vs cut on YouTube: in Ep 1 the NC17 scene (at 32min in) timed from first kiss to the watch glowing is 4min 20sec on GagaOOlala and 1min 30sec on YouTube.

While it's very poorly crafted and I have no interest in continuing, it didn't traumatize me in 2 episodes, so it gets a 2/10.

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Ridiculously Exaggerated, Even For A Fantasy.

It's written, acted, and directed like a middle schooler's idea of porn. I barely made it through 1.5 episodes (rolling my eyes almost the entire time) before dropping.

The cinematography is gorgeous but everything else is aggressively awful. The "physical intimacy" is more like an attack by a boy who has never had sex before and doesn't know what he's doing. It wasn't seductive or enticing at all. It further erroded the "I'm a cool, competent, and manly mafia leader" facade they were going for. The male lead is trying so, so hard to look and sound cool that it has the opposite effect and had me laughing. Even for a short format fantasy, the falling in love part is so fast that there's no romance to it. Almost every line is cloyingly cliché.

It was cheesy and horrible but didn't leave any mental scars so it gets a 2.

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Unbelievably brainless FL general, excessive stupidity in plot, & weak romance.

It's a miracle the FL ever became a general, and I can't imagine this character being able to garner the deep respect from her fellow soldiers, let alone the love and devotion the ML has. What a hot-headed, reactionary, naive, brainless idiot.
FDiyF says it well in their review: https://kisskh.at/profile/ghostdart/review/474050

Had to drop halfway through; I couldn't stand her, the ridiculousness of the plot, and stupidity of most of the characters anymore. Even the antagonist: with all the magic-like powers he had he could have just become the emperor and done whatever he wanted, but instead he went for round-about actions that kept failing [facepalm].

The romance wasn't built well either. The idea had potential, but it was written poorly (progressions of feelings hardly being shown, just jumping ahead instead), and it felt like it took a backseat to the plot shenanigans. The FL actress certainly didn't act in love, or even attracted to the ML. Felt like she was just going through the motions in their romantic scenes.

The ML actor and the music was good, and that's about it.

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