Zii3

Fun bickering dynamic but romantic progression was lacking.

A vertically filmed micro drama (I rate these on their own sliding scale). General Spoilers below.
Okay if a fan of the lead actors because the dynamic between their characters is uncommon and interesting. They kept me watching through annoying characters, tropes, and ridiculous plots.

The lead's disgruntled, impassioned bicking was mostly fun and it was endearing to see them transition slowly into seeing each other in a new light and caring about each other.

However, the romance ended up not being that satisfying because:
1) The last 1/4 focused on ridiculously crazy plot shenanigans instead of the growing feelings between the leads.
2) The interest felt lop-sided. Fairly early on the ML starts showing interest in the FL, softening towards, then being attracted to her, and wanting her to like him too. The FL's progression takes a lot longer to start, and it doesn't go as far. By the end, I only believe she's starting to be fond of him but not that she loves him. She shows no desire or physical attraction to him either other than stating that he's handsome. She doesn't even look tempted when the ML tries to kiss her.
3) There are no fully consentual or sweet kisses shown (like it's okay to show a kiss being forced on a woman but not okay to show her wanting a sweet kiss for herself). There are some sweet moments, but very little intimacy overall.
4) The ending is super rushed. Both grandpa's reveal the truth separately, there's plot craziness, and then the short ending scene.
5) The important last tender moment between the leads is ruined by the background sound. It sounds like someone over a loudspeaker giving a Christmas day speech. It's distracting and makes it difficult to hear the ML clearly as he professes his love.

It's a missed opportunity that the script doesn't have either character grapple with the confusion and possible internalized guilt for starting to love someone other than their childhood love. As a result, things (emotions and character logic) feel shallow. Also, the kids seemed about 6 years old when they met in the mountains, only had a short time together, promised to marry each other, haven't seen each other since, and yet are adament about staying chaste until the other can be found. It's not a believable set up at all.

The FL is overly competent except when the plot needs her to be a "regular girl". Example: she's a medical genius and a martial arts master, yet she can't shake of the ML when he makes a couple advances on her that she doesn't want (he doesn't push too far though).

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The leads are very good and kept me watching and rooting for them even though the plot got a bit repetative and drawn out. The couple of kiss scenes were electric with passionate, realistic embraces and kisses (with small to big movements).

A vertically filmed micro drama (I rate these on their own sliding scale).

General Spoilers below:

A high level of suspension of disbelief is needed for this story but it didn't really annoy me. There's multiple mistaken or missed identities. There is also a deranged 3rd wheel wanna-be who pretends to be the person the drugged ML slept with 3 years ago to pressure him into "being responsible for her" through marriage.

The ML's mother prompted the marriage between the ML and FL after she saved the FL one night. The ML doesn't really want a divorce but feels obligated to the SFL who he thinks lost her virginity to him and thinks was poisoned and sick for the past 3 years because of that night (she's faking it to manipulate his sympathy and guilt).

Unlike some dramas with a similar set up, the ML remains mostly likeable because he obviously cares about the FL but is conflicted and torn between what he wants (her) and what he has promised the SFL. He's frustrated and jealous that the FL has other men around her and just can't stop caring about her. The divorce gets signed but is never officially turned in.

The FL is smart, talented, and has a backbone. She pretends to love the ML to stay with him and cure him (hiding her medical genius identity for that never really makes sense, you just have to roll with it). After they part, she starts wishing the ML would put her first over the SFL, but is not a pushover and rebukes/rebuffs the ML when he can't commit to her fully. It seems both leads grew more feelings for each other than they realized while married.

Both the ML and FL have a couple of likeable friends.

There's some great karma for the coniving SFL (who twice drugs the ML in an attempt to sleep with him, luckily she's thwarted both times).

Happy ending with a brief kiss.

ML (not on MDL at the time I wrote this) is 張輻韜 Zhāng Yùn Tāo or Eric Zhang.

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Romance Is Believably Grown And Sweet.

General spoilers. (I rate vertically filmed dramas on their own sliding scale.) Good for one watch and the screenplay is better written than many vertical dramas, I just don't see myself re-watching it. The whole cast is good and there is melodrama but it's approached in a more grounded way than most. There's no excessive yelling, no violence or abuse, only one character that becomes mentally unhinged by the end but isn't a constant part of the plot, there are 3rd wheels but they eventually become respectful and wish the lead couple happiness, and the fiance and father of the mean-spirited girl are actually able to see her for who she is and distance themselves from her.

There are a lot of clichéd plotlines in the script, but none of them are dragged out and the focus remains on the romance of the two leads and how they get through things together. There is good chemistry between the leads, though I didn't find it electric, and a lot if sweetness. The way the two characters fall in love with each other as they spend time together is believable. There are multiple lip-press kisses with feelings (some shown, others head-blocked). The relationship is healthy and supportive, with the leads acting like adults, and once they get past a few initial jealous insecurities, they are trusting of each other.

Possible emotional trigger warnings: there were multiple chunks of time that the screenplay focused on mother's with incurable illnesses, head tumors, and grief.

SPOILER ON THE ENDING:

... ... ...
It is a happy ending with a short wedding.
... ... ...

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Constant Insults Equals Love, Apparently.

General spoilers only. Not sweet to me. The ML calls the FL an idiot, stupid, useless, hopeless, incompetent, a hag, etc throughout the ENTIRE show. He insults, demeans, and belittles. He shouts at her and berates her when she asks for help. He has a very small character arc at the end that was not enough to redeem him in my eyes.

The SML, however, was sweet, sincere in his interest, earnest in his love, encouraging, supportive, and accepting. The FL even says he made the world seem like it could be a nicer place!

It was so frustrating that the FL instead fell for the emotional abuse with crumbs of care (and cooked meals) that the ML dished out. It seems love is through the stomach after all (sarcasm). A lot of the FL's insecurities even stemmed from how the ML treated her at their previous job when she was a subordinate that he was nasty to. His excuse for treating her like sh*t is that he was unhappy forcing himself to work at a job he didn't like but was good at. Poor him (sarcasm). I don’t think that justifies the extent to which he behaved badly.

At least the FL grows a bit of a backbone and starts bickering back to the ML. I didn't feel romantic chemistry from that however.

I kept waiting for a turning point in the ML's behavior and an increase in romance, but the change was miniscule. The few kisses were dead-fish-kisses and one of them was 100% non-consentual (FL kissed ML while he was sleeping, which I find creepy).

This felt unsatisfying and a waste of time; I wish I had dropped it partway through instead of hoping for improvements in character growth that never came. The actors did a good job with what they were given, I just really disliked how the screenplay was written.

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Memorable. Ep 1-4 are very thoughtful & Ep 5-8 are more melodramatic.

General spoilers only. "You can't help if you fall for a boy or a girl, or someone else." About multiple characters who feel different from "normal" in various ways. Characters experience a lot of yearning and pining (a lot of it is romantic in nature though characters also yearn to fit in or to find their place in life too), internal struggles and insecurity, and waivering back & forth.

The two main characters are blood-related siblings, so this is best watched with a non-judgmental approach, otherwise you might want to skip this one. There is also an openly gay secondary character and a tertiary character who loves their step-sibling (not related by blood).

There are great messages explored throughout the screenplay about questioning societal norms, mores, and expectations (especially when it doesn't hurt others- the people who feel like outliers are the ones that are hurt by trying to conform to other's opinions), deciding what's right for one's self, not being passive in one's own life, and more in that vein.

Nothing is handled lightly, by the story as a whole or by the individual characters. Various concerns about each character's feelings and their situations are explored. There are voice-over thoughts from multiple characters.

This is NOT a spicy story. There is some skinship but not a lot, two light lip presses, and one brief scene near the end that only implies the two lead characters slept together.

Technically I would rate this a 7.5/10 overall, but there were a few things I loved about it, and it engaged my thoughts and emotions enough to be quite memorable so I'm giving it an 8/10.

The first half is well crafted and thoughtful. I would give Ep 1-4 a 9/10. The second half gets more melodramatic in ways that I found excessive at times and I would rate Ep 5-8 a 6/10; the plot starts feeling less realistic and increasingly stretches credulity. A couple of actions or reactions didn't feel quite in line with a character's previous build. Overall I still found it pretty satisfying though; it helped that the show starts at the end before going back in time so I already had an idea of how things were going to work out. That allowed me to mostly shrug off the frusterations in storytelling and character actions as I watched things unfold in the second half.

All of the actors (except the mother) were very well suited for their rolls. Suzuki Jin, Yamashita Mizuki, and Ito Asahi were especially enjoyable to watch and almost immediately got me invested in their characters. The mother, on the other hand, is extra in a way that is not written or acted particularly well. Which makes her even more annoying. Luckily she's not around much.

General Spoilers below.

The number of times people dramatically drop to the ground (in faints or illness) is ridiculous. I could handle one, but after that it breaks credulity.

I loved one of the internal thoughts of a character with unrequited love. The character being daunted by the difficulty and hopeless pain of it was so relatable; "You want to be best friends forever? Then I can't tell you forever."

FYI SIDE NOTE ON SUBTITLES:
I could only find this streaming in the USA on KissAsian (as a last resort) in February 2024. Ep 4-8 all had lagging subtitle issues. It would be fine for about the first 15min of every episode and then the rest would lag behind by multiple sentences.
So I recommend checking if this is going to happen in whatever platform you find it on before starting to avoid frusteration.

Edit: I ended up downloading the video and subtitle files on my computer in order to re-watch it properly.

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Gentle and Genuine Strangers to Friends to Loves. Comfort Show.

So sweet, thoughtful, and heart-warming in such a gentle and earnest way that it's 100% smile-inducing without being saccharine-sweet or cringworthy. There are multiple thoughtful messages explored with the story and a couple poetically worded lines.

Very slice-of-life with low angst that does get resolved. Yutaka and Minoru (with Tane) positively effect each other and Yutaka and Minoru show growth in other parts of their lives because of it. They are very caring and supportive of each other.

There is a lot of care and love in this friendship that grows into more. It's gently and realistically romantic. This is *not* a spicy BL, and it wouldn't fit the story well. The desire of the leads to be in each other's presence and the appreciation they have for having the other in their lives is the focus, and it is palpable. And it is not just platonic; fairly early in the story Minoru is aware of his growing feelings for Yutaka and that he yearns for more than friendship. The actor, Hiroki, is so expressive with his face and eyes that his emotions are easy to comprehend.

There is not a lot of skinship, but when it happens it is meaningful. Later in the story, the hesitancy and awkwardness in direct touches is completely in character, especially for two inexperienced 23 year olds. The desire to connect despite their nervousness is there, and it's romantic in a soft and heart-warming way.

Every actor was perfect. I loved the family dynamics and Minoru's Dad is the best! He gently and deftly encourages Minoru to follow his heart but let's him handle things on his own. He genuinely just wants his son to be happy. The younger brother was written his age and the actor was very natural. Every character was totally lovable yet very distinct.

While there is a lot of eating, it's more about the company one eats with than the food itself. Food appreciation was done much more naturally in this than in other food-focused JBLs; people actually take a moment to taste the food before saying it's good, and while there is enthusiasm, it's not over-the-top.

The gentle pacing, to me, was perfect and every episode felt satisfying while holding my anticipation for the next one.

This has become one of my go-to comfort shows, and it would be a good one to see with other people too.

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General Spoilers below. Bittersweet and open-ended but well done 11min short.
Very good acting and great nuances in the different tensions ebbing and flowing between the two leads. It was very believable that they had a history (though it's not explained in detail) and had complicated feelings.

I really want to go further into the story of these two. The ending is maybe, possibly, slightly hopeful- despite many years passing, they both seem to still be a bit stuck on each other. Just as the dish they made didn't "taste quite right" without the lemon, they are still missing each other in their lives.

I probably won't re-watch (unless they happened to film more of this story, then I would definitely keep watching).

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Story has potential as a psychological thriller.

General spoilers at the bottom. If you want more specifics on the ending, I've added a few hidden spoiler comments to the posted review. Direct link: https://kisskh.at/profile/Zii3/review/327061

A good stopping point for a happy and hopeful ending is at 55 minutes & 55 seconds in! Or watch until 58 min & 58 seconds AT THE LATEST, though an underlying tension that leads to the ending starts to become more apparent.

I'd say this is more an M/M story, or even a psychological thriller, than a BL. If you like BLs but are not familiar with darker Japanese dramas, you may have a very hard time enjoying this (any appreciation likely requires a bit of a masochistic mood).

I'd say only watch if you're in the mood for something weird and likely unsettling but intriguing and with some bits of sweetness. While there are sexual themes and lots of shirtlessness, there isn't much physical intimacy shown by the camera. Some things are implied, but even the kisses are head-blocked (so lips aren't seen). Which, honestly, I was thankful for as the two brother characters are under 18. Some situations were unsettling enough without actually watching through them.

The plot and it's multiple twists is interesting and clues/explanations are revealed at a slow but even pace. In that regard, I thought the film did a good job. It kept me mentally engaged.

It's not a great film but it will linger in my mind for awhile. Yet I don't feel mentally scarred by it, unlike I was by The Shortest Distance Is Round, for example. I almost wish a longer remake of this was made because the foundation of the story is strong and has a lot of potential for a gripping psychological thriller if things were fleshed-out and if the production had a higher budget so more could be done with cinematography, lighting, sound, and costumes.

GENERAL SPOILERS below.

I knew the ending was going to be disturbing because everyone says so. I even knew the basic plot point of why it ends tragically. Yet I was STILL shocked by the final minutes and the ending tableau, lol! Wow.

The ending is tragic and creepy and there are Machiavellian characters, though who exactly is the driving force and for what reasons are revealed slowly. The audience doesn't get all the puzzle pieces until the end.

The acting was better than I expected. I was rooting for the main couple and happy when they reconciled. I wasn't deeply emotionally invested though, which helped me watch through the end without being depressed about it. It did tug at my heartstrings a bit though.

I thought the screenplay and the director did a fairly good job with symbology and tying together visual repetitions. For example, Sho's favorite color is white. Ritsu held a white towel around Sho's head in the past to dry his hair. In a present scene, white cloth is held around Sho's head that Ritsu will turn into a shirt for him. Later, Ritsu holds up the shirt as he waits for Sho and we can imagine Sho's face there. The camera then shows that Sho's face is indeed surrounded by white, but someone else has subverted the sequence.

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Adorable, well acted, & feel-good short film.

An easy, adorable, feel-good, 60 minute film. Actors are comfortable with each other and skinship and intimacy are believable. I won't rewatch often, but probably will at some point.

The three uknown, young male actors are really impressive; they are natural in line delivery and interactions and convey emotions convincingly. At first, Sun seems rather flat as a typical happy puppy-dog personality, but the script does give the actor a few more layers to work with further in.

All the boys are convincing in the attraction they feel and it's completely believable that Earth and Sun are falling in love with each other. The make out kissing scene is really realistic for teenage characters. Both sweet and passionate.

I was pleasantly surprised with the whole production. It has some weaknesses, but over all it's very smile-inducing.

GENERAL SPOILER about the parents:

The biggest thing that didn't work for me was Earth's parents; they were written and acted flatly, as caricatures. Their complete turn around in how they interacted with Earth was SO not believable. At all. My annoyance with how the screenplay handled this situation is continued below.

Earth's responses and growing frustration/resentment WAS realistic and believable though!

SPECIFIC SPOILER about the parents:

...

Also, it was probably unintentional, but the film seemed to promote running away from home to make parents change (they not only said we'll let you do guitar, but we'll let you do "whatever you want", and Earth even got a car shortly after). The result was very unrealistic, thus, not a great message for kids stuck in a similar situation. Sometimes moving out early is necessary for one's own preservation, but there are other things to try first. And a severely controlling parent is more likely to crack down harder at a large sign of "rebellion" (like running away for a couple days) than they are to become unconditionally supportive.

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Good For 1 Watch. Missing Some Emotional Stepping Stones.

Very general spoiler on the ending only. Definitely good for one watch but I may not rewatch as it wasn't very emotionally engaging for me. The fight scenes are great, intimacy is fairly realistic and there's more of it than the average Korean BL, the acting is strong (9.5/10 for the two leads, 7-8/10 for everyone else), and the plot-twist is surprising. I was glad I watched it but didn't feel completely satisfied afterwards, even though the ending is happy.

The review by Rent343 on MDL puts into words some of what I was feeling (my own notes are below this quoted excerpt): https://kisskh.at/profile/Rent343/review/63835
"...I dunno, it felt like I was reading a sparknotes summary for a great novel. I got all the big facts/ plot points but the delivery took little to no time to make those facts emotionally significant..."

MY NOTES:
That's what I felt too- like it was the Sparknotes to a greater story. I missed the romantic build of the connection between the characters (both by text before they met and then after) so when conflict came, the stakes didn't feel as high as they could have. They still felt like a few-dates-old crush. I mentally knew they were in love because the audience was told so, and they were certainly cute/sweet to watch, but I didn't feel it emotionally. I was rooting for them and the plot-twist scene did tug at my heartstrings, but I kept feeling like too many chunks of the story were missing/skipped to feel fully connected and satisfied.

It didn't help that there was absolutely no sense of time. It felt like they had only known each other for a few days, which is why their love confessions didn't feel that strong. It's possible multiple weeks passed, but who knows!

Some side threads are annoyingly left in the air, like the reason behind the plot-twist. A character says they will tell another everything but the audience never gets to hear it!

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Good Acting, Mediocre Script.

You might enjoy if you're looking for something that doesn't require a lot of brain power, has multiple sweet moments, and with a little insight/commentary on the BL industry. There are multiple good hugs and passionate kisses.

General Spoilers below.
The two lead actors did well with what they were given, especially Gene. It's slow and awkward in spots and tension comes and goes. There are a lot of side characters that rarely held my interest. I fast-forwarded a lot throughout the series. I almost dropped it after Ep 8 but the story grew more interesting again in the last couple episodes. The kids kind of falling for each other when they were 6.5 and 11 years old was very odd though.

I did appreciate that it showed in practice various toxic things about BL fans and the BL industry catering to their delusional demands on actor's real lives. I also appreciated that more time was spent on the families working towards acceptance of their gay sons. It felt more realistic and nuanced than I was expecting.

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Adorable And Comforting Despite Toxic Parenting.

General Spoilers below.
This slice-of-life series is adorable and the relationship between the two lead highschool boys is so healthy and sweet. Mutual support and care, interest, attraction, and communication. Their one-sided crush to friendship & mutual crush to boyfriends was so lovely and realistically portrayed. The two leads were only 19-20 yrs old yet are already great actors. They were natural, nuanced, charismatic, and held emotions in their eyes. I'm really impressed by them and would easily watch them in whatever they do next. The secondary couple was initially interesting but their story wasn't given much depth.

Trigger warning for emotionally abusive parents.
There is one parent that's a great example and another set of parents that are completely emotionally abusive (insane pressure for school performance, overly controlling and oppressive, guilt-tripping and shaming, and threatening). The toxic parents are written and acted one-dimensionally and their abrupt almost 180 degree turn around in the last episode was sooo unrealistic, but did allow the series to end on a lighter, more hopeful note.

There was too much plot introduced for the time constraints of eight 22min episodes and a lot of threads aren't followed up on.

Despite the weaknesses, this series was very enjoyable and left me with a smile and a warm, fuzzy feeling.

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Touching, Mother & Son Navigating Coming Out.

I was surprised at how emotional it made me when it's only 16 min long (got a little choked up)! The focus is really on the relationship between the son and mother and the story is relatable from both character's perspective. The story overall is sweet.

On the Blued YouTube channel (in the USA).
The review by Giuca is also good and summarizes the details well.

GENERAL SPOILER
My rating is reduced due to the scene that starts with the schoolmate forcing himself on the lead boy, which is brief and not at all graphic but trivialized with a light-hearted attitude. The lead boy has invited an anonymous boy from online to try things out with but changes his mind when he sees it's the school bully. The bully turns out to be very sweet to the boy but the way they start is problematic and didn't need to be written that way.

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Awkward Script And Tedious Overall.

Review for both Part 1, a 3/10 (19min), and Part 2, a 2/10 (17min). Found on YouTube (Nov 2023 in the USA).

Very poor writing and mediocre acting. Both parts felt tedious even though they were so short.

The interactions between the two leads are written very simply and are kind of cute but mostly boring. The 2nd lead is pretty wooden and I didn't feel much chemistry or magnetism between them.

The girl character is more a creepy fujoshi than a friend. The second season has a contrived love triangle. The way the new rival interacts with the the guy who can't figure out his feelings is so bizarre and laughably unrealistic.

The music (especially in part 1) and audio quality were good for a low-budget production. Cinematography was basic.

Felt like a waste of time to me.

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Cute, Funny, And Fun With One Secure-Attachment Lead.

jpny01's review says things well. I'll add:
GENERAL SPOILERS included below.

I liked how Naoya was comfortable with his sexuality; it was never brought up, it just... was. His actions were consistently green flags and he had a very secure attachment style. After the first episode, he was also good at asking or waiting for consent for physical intimacy (unfortunately, the writers kept him and us waiting).

I loved how Kota told Naoya the truth fairly early on and by his own choice. It wasn't by forced circumstance; he did so because he genuinely felt bad and thought that it was the right thing to do. That is so rare and I was so glad the writers didn't follow the usual clichés with that plotline.

The writers did, however, use the inane cliche of one of the romantic partners resisting affection because it made them feel awkward all the way the to the end. At least it wasn't disgust, but still, that made it drop a full star for me because their relationship arc didn't feel truly satisfying. Even just cuddling with smiles at the end would have been more heart-warming than the peck on the cheek followed by a tickle fight.

The series made me laugh outloud a lot, the actors were good, both leads had good comedic sense, especially the one playing Kota, they had good chemistry, there were good messages without being preachy, and the whole thing was engaging and cute and fun. I can see rewatching this again at some point.

I would have given a 10/10 through Ep 6, then the rehashing of the same internal questions and conflicts in Ep 7& 8 lowered my rating to a 9/10. Though I was glad to see Kota and Naoya talking things out, it didn't actually make their relationship progress at all, which was weird to me. So that ffrustration and the relatively unsatisfying, clichéd ending (more bromance than romance) brought my rating down to 8/10.

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