boozles

I don’t know how I survived this

Poor, poor writing. Like, worse than TharnType when it came to trying to do anything shocking with a potential villain character. I didn’t think anything could be worse than TharnType. And the sound design! What in the name of Christ were they drinking when they put that together?! It felt like an American soap opera from the 70s with the bad attempts at dramatic background music. The editing was pretty bad, too.

The whole story in general was confusing as hell (and the terrible subs didn’t help). So, both mains were actually just terrible people who somehow changed but didn’t change each other? And everyone around them basically bows to their every wish and agrees with them? Like, I get the whole “I need to help my boyfriend remember” but, Itt, mate, the relationship wasn’t good at any point from the looks of things? Also, the whole flashback thing can work in some shows, but because of how bad the editing (and hair styling) was, it really just got a bit annoying and confusing.

Also, wayyyyy too many characters were comfortable with sexual assault in this; Nan literally kept Mac as a sex slave against his will and no one but Itt seemed upset by it. (Yes? I know Mac tried to assault Itt but I feel like there are better ways to punish someone.) Then to pull the whole ‘but they’re actually in love’ thing? Sorry, I hated it in KinnPorsche and I hate it now.
Also, whilst I don’t think the series shows too much, Day very obviously assaulted Itt when they first met - that’s physical and sexual assault, plus kidnapping to an extent.

Other than Night, Nick and Neil, I feel like every character in this show is just a horrible person.

I normally love Frank, but for the love of all that is sacred, if I have to hear about cake once more, or hear the whiny way he says ‘Day’…it’s like this show took a bunch of pretty good actors and said, “let’s make the worst thing ever!” To top it off, Nick is reading a Fifty Shades book, which is the epitome of bad, non-consensual BDSM. It’s like the series writers did no research.

In all honesty, I don’t know why I kept up with this and didn’t just quit. I felt like I owed it to Frank and Long to watch it, I guess? I mean, there were some funny bits, but I honestly think this may be one of the worst Thai dramas I have ever seen. It really tried to be TharnType, KinnPorsche and Love in the Air and failed at it all. With each scene I could feel my soul draining away. Shout out to my brother for dealing with me constantly sending him voice notes of laughter at how terrible this was.

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a pleasant surprise

As always, these are just my thoughts and opinions and not intended to offend or upset :) Really, it’s just my rambles.

I’ll be honest, when this is a series I didn’t care about when it started. I didn’t actually give it a try until it was quite a few weeks in to airing, and even at that I only even watched because of Our Sky 2 and its upcoming special episodes. I’m actually mad at myself for not jumping on this as soon as it began because I fell in absolute love with this series.

This was my first time seeing Force and Book in anything and gosh, they give FirstKhao a run for their money when it comes to chemistry. I absolutely adored every scene they shared, and I cannot wait to dive into their other work.

The support cast was fantastic, especially Mike Chinniret as Jack; I know he almost always plays the best friend, but he’s just perfect in that role; I would, however, love to see him main his own series. He’s such a great actor.

I know the storyline it simple and cliche, but it was executed so perfectly that it was just a fun and easy to fall into. That’s not to say there wasn’t any angst or drama - there was plenty of that, and it was just as engrossing as the fluff.

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The superior of the 'thread' shows

This little show was a joy.

When this show first began, I hadn't seen Until We Meet Again, so I quickly fixed that and found that the only reason I even finished it was because of WinTeam. I was not a fan of UWMA (review here). So, I was a little worried that whilst WinTeam were the only saving grace, I might not llike Between Us. I am so glad I was wrong.

This show was just...good. It wasn't rushed, but it wasn't too slow. I have seen people get annoyed that WinTeam didn't become an official couple until the second last episode, but if you ask me, I think it was perfect. They worked through so many things to get to that point; they didn't just throw everything at you at once. We got to see all side of their relationship and where it was going.

I also feel like through the little scenes of the side couples, DeanPharm were much more tolerable. In UWMA I always felt like it was a whole lot of nothing between them, but with the reincarnation storyline hanging over there, it was so much easier to just enjoy them. The other couples were adorable, too; especially WaanTul, which was a little more dramatic than I'd expected (I'd actually have liked a little more of them).

This is definitely going into my favourites list; I know this review doesn't actually do it justice, but it really is a fantastic show.

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Wasted potential

I really wanted to like this. I wanted to ignore the reviews and just enjoy some of my favourite guys in a silly little series. I wanted to ignore the cheesy writing, the overacting and absurdity, because that's what we normally do with these type of shows and we love it. However, I just couldn't enjoy this.

The plot is cliche but a trope we all love: boy love boy next door, it takes forever for boy next door to realise his love, some drama happens, then happily ever after, right? Well, that's more or less what this show does, only the steps it takes to get there ruin the story.

First of all, Tonhon's obsession with MANLY MEN isn't only toxic as hell, but just weird? I get it's because of his dad, but there was just something unsettling. Forcing his friends to go to a brothel was obviously supposed to be comedic, but it really just came across as abusive. I know Ai/Ni were comic relief and the whole idea of Ton not realising they were gay was obviously meant to be funny, but it was just stupid, I personally think.

Then the whole thing with Amp and Neung was uncomfortable. The thing it, Amp convincing a boy who had been sexually assaulted by his own senior to repeat that behaviour to a junior is bad, but had it driven the plotline it would have been somewhat acceptable. However, it didn't; it was a throwaway moment to make Ton look possessive, but it didn't really - I'm pretty sure he would have reacted that way if it was any of his friends. Then there's the fact that Chon didn't seem to care much afterwards when he was sober. (I would like to ask why there's no punishment for sexual offenders in these shows, but then I remembered real life, and, well. Bleak.)

I didn't feel much chemistry between Khaotung and Pod, which was probably a result of Ton being such an unlikeble character.

I'm rather angry that every kiss between Ai/Ni was cut off. Top/Mike have AMAZING onscreen chemistry and I would love to see more of them. (I know there's Ai Long Nhai but the fact it's different cast kinda bugs me. I probably will watch the show at some point when this one isn't so fresh in my mind.) Even Ton/Chon's romantic scenes weren't very romantic. The very short kisses and hugs just felt...empty.

Pang and Miriam were absolutely fantastic and were probably my favourite characters, if I'm honest.

The pacing was very off for this series, if I'm honest. Like, one second Ton is homophobic and is horrified that Chon kissed him, but then he's suddenly like LOOK I LOVE THIS BOY OH ALSO BTW I'VE BEEN IN LOVE WITH YOU SINCE I WAS A CHILD. It would have been a lot more acceptable as a viewer if we'd actually had a little bit of a process of seeing Ton have a moment of, "shit, I like this guy." Also, the final episode was like whiplash. Ton's dad is suddenly not homophobic if he can get a grandkid anyway? That was some toxic drama right there. Like, as soon as Ton is finished school he's going to be a dad (and Chon, too, who is like 3 years younger and probably still in school).

It's a shame because this show had potential. Even the problematic stuff could have been 'acceptable' had it been paced and edited a little better.

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not what you’re expecting

As always, these ramblings are my own thoughts and opinions and not intended to offend anyone.


This was a rather good drama from Taiwan that gave me pretty much everything I could ask for from a thriller. Do be warned, there is gore and some very good effects in terms of makeup, as well as foul language. Also, trigger warning for animal abuse in one episode.

Hsiao-Chi Kuo is a prosecutor on the hunt for a serial killer who seems to be mimicking the earlier killing of a young woman - or could it be related? Via a story filled with so many twists and turns, the audience is left in a constant state of surprise as more and more shocking information is revealed.

There were so many times that I thought reveals were too early, but it all paid off, and actually added to the mysteries (that were plentiful). There are so many twists that even when you think, “this can’t go anywhere else” they still find another shocking path to lead you down.

Much of the story seems to revolve around BDSM; the series shows consensual BDSM, where it’s managed in a club setting with proper care and consent (albeit illegal), before showing how some people can take it to extremes in which it is no longer a thing of pleasure, but an excuse to hurt women. I’d like to point out that what the killers are practising is NOT real BDSM, but torture. (I know I probably don’t need to explain this, but all to often BDSM is considered wrong or viewed in a poor light, and I feel like this series did try to show that the club was consensual whilst what happened outside of it was not. I do hope that makes sense.)

The cast was fantastic, and whilst I did manage to call out a few plot points that felt a little predictable to me, the story really did keep me on my toes. So much so, that when I woke up the morning after finishing episode 6 I quickly picked up the show again because I needed to know what happened next.

There was one character that constantly left me angry and stressed out because we could obviously see what was going on but the characters couldn’t - that was some good acting. (Sorry that is vague, but I don’t wanna spoil.)

Towards the end, the series felt a bit like a Joker-ish story, but executed in a much better way at a more enjoyable pace.

Over all, this show was fantastic. I didn’t expect to get so invested; I thought I’d end up quitting within two or three episodes, but the storytelling was absolutely brilliant and I cannot recommend it enough. I really hope a second season is coming, because there are so many more creative possibilities with this series.

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Sweet and relatable

As always, thoughts and opinions are my own and not intended to offend :) (lets be honest, these are just my ramblings)

I felt like this was a little different from the previous Strongberry shorts I've watched - and I liked that. This wasn't just fluffy and sweet, it was calm but with this feeling of loss as an undertone. Two men who once had a relationship coming together to help one another in a non-flirty, just platonic way was nice to see; that's not to say that there is no romantic feelings bubbling, but it felt like there was a possibility being recognised but not acted upon. I hope that makes sense!

This is another film I would love to have a longer version, or even just a follow up.

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In Strongberry we trust indeed!

As always, thoughts and opinions are all my own and not intended to offend anyone :) (let's be honest, this is just me rambling)

This was so adorable. As always, I'm sad it was a short and not an actual series, but it was a gorgeous little look into a budding relationship between two boys with secret feelings for one another. The acting was fantastic, and the set up/execution was just so natural.

Both leads felt very comfortable, if that makes sense? They seemed at ease and even though the film is so short, they made it feel real and relatable. I would love to see these two together again, in something longer.

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A perfect series

As always, everything is my own opinion and not intended to offend or upset anyone. (Let's be honest, I'm just rambling, really.)

I loved Moonlight Chicken. I honestly just adored everything about it and it definitely is one of my favourite series to date.

It's a simple story, but built with nuances of life that made it feel relatable. I feel like anyone that watches could find at least one character to relate to in one way or anything.

Earth as Jim was probably my favourite role I have ever seen him in (even if I am constantly perplexed over GMMTV's need to constantly make him play age ranges that are much older than what he actually is - I'm sorry, Jim was supposed to be almost 40? However, despite that, Earth just owns the role in such a way that you'd almost not question it). I feel like Earth is an actor who really puts his whole soul in his roles and you can feel the emotions attached to everything that character goes through. Then you have Mix as Wen, a millennial who seems to be a little stuck on where he is and what he wants from life; and of course, Mix just blows you away with his performance. I truly think EarthMix as a paired couple is one of the best things GMMTV have ever done, because they really do feed off each other's performances. As Jim and Wen they both felt so raw; both characters had flaws, made mistakes, and they were acknowledged in a way that I feel is often missed in other dramas. I often feel like the negative aspects of characters are over looked and just accepted in most drama series, whilst Moonlight Chicken takes those things and almost forces the audience to acknowledge that no one is perfect, alongside the characters.

Fourth and Gemini as Li Ming and Heart were perfect; these boys really are out there just taking the Thai Bl world by storm, and they deserve the love and accolades they are receiving because, gosh, these kids are amazing actors. The characterisation of Heart was fantastic, and I really liked that we didn't get subtitles for sign language because it was putting the audience in his place, if that makes sense? He was just a normal teenage boy, but he wasn't getting to live like one until Li Ming showed up, and it was nice to see what I think many of us felt was a role reversal; since My School President was airing at the same time, we were all used to watching Gemini playing the upfront and forward character, but here it was Fourth playing the cheeky and unforgiving Li Ming who just wanted to be who himself and love who he loved.

Khaotung's performance as Gaipa was beautiful; it wasn't a huge role, but it was still so important to the journey of the main characters. I'll be honest, I find it so difficult to actually talk about Khao's acting because words don't seem to work for me when it comes to him - he continues to be one of my all time favourites and he just puts his whole heart into his roles. Gaipa's love for those around him felt so real, because that's pretty much just Khaotung in real life. First as Alan was something that really had me clutching my heart, though; it was such a different type of character for First, I feel, and he knocked it out of the park. We all assumed Alan was going to be this horrible person before the show came out, when really he was just this heartbroken man who didn't want to give up fighting for who he believed was the love of his life, and First just stole the show in the few scenes he had.

The rest of the supporting cast was fantastic, of course. I just felt like this show was perfect, and my only issue is that I wish there was more; however, it really was this brilliant little mini series and I can't recommend it enough.

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Fantastic

Full disclosure, my main drive for watching this series was purely for the fact I have a thing for hot priests. Just laying that out there for all the world to know.

This series was so much more interesting than I’d anticipated. It felt like a combination of Jujutsu Kaisen and Goblin: The Great and Lonely God. The action sequences were brilliant and not too over the top (which I feel you sometimes find in fantasy Kdramas), and the storytelling was easy enough to follow without the writers having to go too deep.

Being only 6 episodes I expected things to feel very rushed but I didn’t get that at all. The lore and connections were very balanced, not giving you too much or too little.

I’m so glad season 2 is out soon, because that cliff hanger? Ooft!

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what did i just watch?

Trigger Warnings for sexual assault/r*pe, physical abuse, emotional abuse, mental abuse, homophobia/transphobia

This show was just all kinds of messed up; and not in a good way. I enjoy a good dark, twisted, maybe even a little questionable drama as much as the next person, but I was almost without words with this one. I honestly do not know how I managed to watch the full thing. People questioned why I was doing it to myself, and all I can say is I honestly do not know. I think I just wanted to see how bad the show could get.

It’s not even the plot that’s bad, really, but the characters themselves. First we have Type, a guy who seems to think the reason he was sexually assaulted as a child is because of the gays. Not because a man was a paedophile, but because of the gays. (It’s never even stated that the man who molested him was gay.) Next up we have his friends who aren’t homophobic, yet defend Type when he says slurs and insults lgbtq+ folk, saying ‘he must have his reasons’ (they know nothing about his traumatic incident). Then we have Tharn, the roommate and love interest, who is out and proud gay and more or less because a sexual-harassment-case-waiting-to-happen as soon as Type begins his bullshit. The dude literally kisses and touches Type IN HIS SLEEP. He more or less forces Type to accept oral sex in the shower. (Yes, I know the scene is meant to seem as if Type gets into it, but let’s be honest, that was assault.) Tharn continues to be a very uncomfortable character with his refusal to give up on a man who claims to be straight, defends said man’s homophobia, and puts up with physical and emotional abuse from stated man. It would be pitiful if it wasn’t so uncomfortable.

Moving on to the inevitable falling-in-love-with-the-gay-roomie and as much as we all love this trope (I mean, that why we watched the show, right?) we find that not only is Type still a raging homophobe, but a vocal one…using the ‘f’ slur, alienating his childhood best friend, before going home to TALK TO HIS BIG GAY BOYFRIEND. This man ‘hates gays’ but CHOSE to be a bottom, and seems to really love gay sex…but hates the gays. I mean, I know we’re supposed to be watching him grow and accept himself and the community BUT COME ON. It was like whiplash.

We also have Tar and Tum, who are a complete mystery for 80% of this show. I eventually got fed up of random scenes with these characters who apparently had nothing to actually do with the show, and I spoiled that part of the storyline for myself. Really, they should have been tied into the plot better if we were supposed to have any emotion towards them. By the time they were involved I’d already grown bored and unsympathetic. (Then again, there are few characters you can be sympathetic to in this series.)

It’s absolutely HORRIBLE what happened to Tar, but it was still so difficult to feel bad for him. Like, I know most of his behaviour was because he was being blackmailed, but it was still

Tum could have been likeable, but really there was nothing there but an older boy lusting after his step brother. It had so much potential! Alas, it was wasted.

We also have Thorn, Tharn’s brother who…well, I actually liked him, but I have questions about why he was okay with his best friend banging his 14 year old brother. I mean, he punched the dude, but personally, I think continuing the friendship is a weird vibe. I know that if one of my mates came to be and confessed to having sex with my under age brother I’d be burying their body in a shallow grave. Thanya, the little sister, was a queen though.

Then (YES, THERE IS MORE), we have Technic, the younger brother of Techno, who swaps illicit photos of his older brother with his friend for movie tickets. Yup, kid is taking sneaky photos for his obsessed pal without the consent of his brother. I’ll be honest, though, Techno was probably my favourite character in the whole show.

Lastly, we have Lhong, who was the surprise for me. When I discovered he was the antagonist all along I did have to give props for that because I did not expect that from him. What he did to everyone was just despicable; especially Tar, who was a literal child. However, I feel like the character’s real self was hidden really well for the better part of the show, and it’s the one thing I didn’t expect - the jealous-in-love-with-main-character-best-friend, and I appreciated that little shake up. He really was a master manipulator, right under our noses. The ‘I wasn’t loved as a child’ motivation is tired and overdone, but you know what? I’m gonna let it slide because of how impressed I was with them sneaking Lhong in as the bad guy. (I’m genuinely shocked I managed to say something positive about this show.)

I admit, shamefully, that I did enjoy Type when he informed Lhong that he knew about what he’d been doing; there’s just something in me that gets giddy when a guy somehow protects his boyfriend’s ex? I know that makes no sense, but when Type shows how disgusted he is at what happened to Tar, I liked him for just that one second; he knew Tar’s pain, somewhat, and found common ground. Finding out that Type had known for so long what was going on and was biding his time…that was a nice touch. I also gotta say, Champ is a champ; he had no idea what was going on and stepped up to help his friends, going as far as to get up in the face of a man he’d just discovered had had young boy gang raped. Kudos to him wanting to bash heads.

I need to ask if there was any point in bringing Tin/Can/Pete into the last 3 minutes of the show; I had to googled who they were! I think there’s gonna have been a lot of people that perhaps have not seen Love By Chance, and since almost all the characters were recast before being included in TharnType, not many are gonna connect the two.

I feel like there was a real issue with tying up loose ends in this. Suddenly, there's no more homophobia from Lil Type, like he just accepts who he is (which is great!) but there's no mention of it. No mention of the friend he pushed away or all the horrible things he'd said about his lover and 'his kind'. There's nothing about how his parents are (though upon my silly searching on MDL, I understand this gets covered in the Special). Also, did no one report Lhong? The boy literally had a child raped, tried to kill a guy, and they're all just like, "okay"?!

What I really hate most is that despite everything I have said here, and the fact I literally rated this a 4.5 (the lowest I've ever rated anything), I know for a fact I'll watch the Specials and the damn sequel, because despite how much this show bugged me, I want to know how it ends (and if it can get any better). Apparently, I am a glutton for punishment. (I'm also hoping for more Khlui/Seo content because they were ROBBED of screen time.)

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The perfect high school show does exist

As always, these are just my own thoughts and opinions and not intended to offend or upset :)

When this show was first announced I genuinely didn’t think it was for me; I was feeling a bit burnt out on the whole high school romance thing, wanted something a little more mature and absorbing. Oh, how naïve I was.

This is now one of my all time favourite feel good shows.

I fell in love with the characters, and the story was just…so cute? But it wasn’t just fluff, it also dealt with many of issues teenagers go through on a daily basis, but without making the show feel like a drag. It may be a simple plot (boy likes boy and must try and convince him to give them a chance) but it was done in such a way that it didn't feel old or boring. I do recall seeing some people complaint at the lack of kisses in the show, but I loved that - being a teenager and being scared to have your first kiss is such a real feeling, but one that I feel like so many people tend to forget, and I felt like that was conveyed so perfectly in this.

I don’t think there was a single poor casting choice - everyone was perfect. Each character was their own person and managed to leave an impression, even if it was only a small part. Even the constant music and singing couldn’t put me off.

I cannot wait to revisit this little universe in Our Skyy 2.

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great show

I put off watching The Gifted for ages because I didn’t think it was for me. I full admit I get a bit snobbish when it comes to superpower shows, and I didn’t have much hope for this.

I was so wrong. I LOVED this show so, so much.

First off, there’s a bunch of actors I really love - but my experience with them has been primarily (see: always) BLs, and whilst that doesn’t really make a difference, sometimes when you take romantic plot lines out of a show, it can really make an actor’s talent spotlight little things you haven’t noticed before. For example, I’ve never been a big Gun Attaphan fan, but I really feel like I got to see him show off in this; his performance as Punn really stood out and made me appreciate how talented this kid actually is.

Nanon was brilliant, as always. I genuinely think he may be one of the best actors of his generation, and with everything I watch him in he blows me away.

Sing and Chimon were so much fun to watch, too. Sing almost always seems to play the joker friend, but I feel like in this you can see he’s so much more than that stereotype. It was fun to see Chimon play a character that is actually a bit unlikeable? He played Wave so well. Victor as Pom was brilliant, and my only complaint is that I would have loved some more flashbacks with Pom and Chanon; it would have been cool to see more of their friendship.

I liked that the theme of the show wasn’t just ‘oh, these kids have special gifts’, but also being about the control that society and school has on us. We also got to see these kids deal with general issues of growing up, and how all the things we think would make life easier (ie. superpowers) don’t always help.

I really loved this, and I’m actually writing this review as I’m about to finished season two. This is a fantastic series and I’ll be sad when I’m finished with it.

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Not what I expected

As always, everything is my own opinion and not intended to offend or upset anyone. (Let's be honest, I'm just rambling, really.)

Initially, the plot of this show sounded a little weird to me - a boy falls in love with the human reincarnation of his childhood dog? That just seemed a little weird to me, if I'm honest. HOWEVER, I loved this show so much. I cried. I laughed. I squeed with joy and cheered on th humans falling in love with a human!dog and human!cat. I reached a point where I didn't care if it was weird, I needed these characters to fall in love and live happily ever after.

Of course, that isn't exactly how things went, but you know what? It worked.

Something that I really liked about this series was that it wasn't just a simple reincarnation - Choco and Milk just missed their human so much that they found away to come back to help him deal with his depression and they just happened to do it as humans this time. I thought that was a really cool concept, especially when it's shown that this isn't actually reincarnation because they weren't reborn, they were just given an alloted time. When they had to go back to Heaven, I sobbed my little heart out; the fact that it was only words on the screen describing how they just sat together as Choco cried because he wanted to be with Jung Woo...oh gosh, I'm tearing up just thinking about it. I also really liked the idea of them finding a way to keep coming back, so they could still have lives.

Kim Seong Hyuk as Milk was fantastic - he really managed to pull off the cat-like behaviour without it coming across as rude or too much, and I honestly cannot wait to see him on screen in more. He had amazing chemistry with Park Seung Bin, and I loved watching Milk get confused and annoyed at the fact he was falling in love with Uncle. Lee Jae Bin as Choco was so cute I think I got a cavity; I truly believed this was a human puppy, without it being uncomfortable or over the top. Go Ho Jung was fantastic as Jung Woo, and despite the length of the episodes, he really managed to showcase his skills.

Over all, my only issue with the series is it was too short for my liking - I'd have loved longer episodes, but I feel like that's how we all feel when it comes to Korean BLs, they're always too short. I would absolutely love a second season, because it felt like the story was only getting started.

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Cute and full of rewatch value

As always, everything is my own opinion and not intended to offend or upset anyone. (Let's be honest, I'm just rambling, really.)

I'll be honest, I put off watching this because the whole switched body thing isn't really my thing; I feel like it's something I've seen a million times in all types of media, and I just wasn't vibing with it. However, because I love EarthMix and Janhae, I decided to suck it up and give this little series a chance - and I am so glad that I did, because this was such a fun ride!

I've said it before, but putting Earth and Mix together really is one of the best decisions GMMTV have ever made because these two just thrive off of one another's performances in a way that I find is rare. Throwing Janhae into the mix (I totally did not mean that as pun) was perfect because she and Mix really managed to pull off the switched body theme. Mix's performance as a girl took me by surprise; I genuinely was surprised the show tackled the idea of Win having to deal with having a period, and it was done in a really good way! Mix was fantastic, and I couldn't help but laugh because it was almost like watching myself when having to deal with that time of the month. I really feel like Mix deserves a lot of praise for just that performance alone.

The supporting cast were great, too, and I really want to see White with EarthMix again, because I feel like the friendship just transcends onto the screen so brilliantly.

This was a really cute show but it also dealt with serious issues without diminishing them; the way Win's whole personality and behaviour changed over money was something that I found rather realistic, even if it did seem a little drastic at first. This is definitely a show that has good rewatch value, and I really do recommend it.

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