This review may contain spoilers
I really liked this. Both Junior and Sun were super green-flag — no major consent / boundary issues to be found. The overall plot was a unique and kind of niche premise, but I really enjoyed it. I think the script, acting, and pacing were all on point. And I really appreciate having so much of the final dedicated to showcasing a happy ever after.
I really liked that the leads were equals. A lot of the time when you have a masculine lead and an effeminate lead, BLs will turn that into dom / sub dynamics, but that’s not at all the case here. Junior isn’t submissive or reluctant just because he’s effeminate and Sun isn’t domineering or aggressive just because he’s masculine. There’s no dynamic where one is expected to take the lead or be the one pursuing.
My main complaint in terms of the romance is just that I felt that Sun was in deeper than Junior. To the end, Sun’s only wish was to be with Junior. But for a long time, Junior wasn’t even committed to staying human, even when he was asking Sun to be his boyfriend. He never explicitly states that he’s committed to staying human by the end of the story either, and I have to wonder if he’s going to change his mind one day. Although he’s still human when they flash forward 4 years so maybe that’s a concern that’s meant to be implicitly addressed. And when Sun disappeared, Junior waited for him and mourned him, but he decided to move on and talked about his future plans, including getting married, while saying goodbye to Sun after 5 months. That’s a realistic, healthy response to losing a loved one, don’t get me wrong, but I can’t help but feel that Sun wouldn’t have been so open to the idea of finding someone else if the roles were reversed. And when Sun came back, he said he loved Junior, but Junior didn’t say the same back in the moment (he does in the 4 year flash forward). Junior has dreams for his life, but Sun’s only dream is Junior. So Sun’s world ends up revolving around Junior, while Junior’s doesn’t necessarily revolve around Sun, even if he cares about him deeply. I can’t help but feel that the dynamic is imbalanced as a result.
I think the reason a lot of the dynamics in this story work is because it’s set in high school. So the naive, innocent thing makes sense and works. Junior was kind of babyish, but he’s meant to be young and the actor also looks very young, so it’s not out of place. Kids making stupid but well meaning choices works. And them not having complete control over their lives makes sense. But at the same time, it ended up feeling like a high school romance as a result. Meaning, I didn’t really feel the permanence in their relationship, just got told to believe in it by the 4 year flash forward. But that’s a personal gripe, and I think the way they chose to write the romance was probably the best choice. A more mature romance would have undercut the high school dynamic.
In terms of the plot line, there were a few minor questions that weren’t well answered. When Sun disappeared, they say he was found by Ton and Nat, but why was he missing for 5 months? If he was with them, then he or they should have let someone know about his whereabouts. And Junior talked a lot about turning back into a penguin to be with his brother Little, but he seemingly forgets about him entirely because after a certain point, he’s never mentioned again. Same with Nam — he caused tons of issues and then seemingly disappeared and was never mentioned again.
If I’m nitpicking, the CGI was pretty awful and I would have liked to see more of their animal traits in their human forms. As it is, we only see that Sun is very strong and Junior is good at swimming. And I would have liked to see them struggle more to adapt to human life. It’s said that Junior could understand human language already, and probably could read it, but speaking and writing are different and he had no issues. He had no issues walking or even running as a human, no issues with fine motor skills like holding a pen or fork, and there weren’t even issues raised with him suddenly doing high school level schoolwork with no prior basis.
Like I said, this is very green flag, so there are no major consent / boundary issues. If I’m nitpicking, there’s a scene where Sun lies and says a classmate is still awake when he’s not so that he can stay cuddled up to Junior while they wait. And there’s one scene where Junior gives Sun catnip while he’s sleeping, and based on his reaction when waking up, it acted like a bit of a drug and shouldn’t have been given without prior discussion / consent, and certainly not when unconscious.
The physical affection is appropriate to the high school setting. Only meaningful kisses (but proper kisses, no lip presses) — nothing gratuitous and no NC scenes. There is an implied sex scene where they’re in bed after. It didn’t end up feeling overly chaste or sanitized, and I think anything more than that would have been uncomfortable anyways, given that the characters are teenagers that actually act like teenagers, and while I believe the actors were legal, they were still very young and look it.
I really liked that the leads were equals. A lot of the time when you have a masculine lead and an effeminate lead, BLs will turn that into dom / sub dynamics, but that’s not at all the case here. Junior isn’t submissive or reluctant just because he’s effeminate and Sun isn’t domineering or aggressive just because he’s masculine. There’s no dynamic where one is expected to take the lead or be the one pursuing.
My main complaint in terms of the romance is just that I felt that Sun was in deeper than Junior. To the end, Sun’s only wish was to be with Junior. But for a long time, Junior wasn’t even committed to staying human, even when he was asking Sun to be his boyfriend. He never explicitly states that he’s committed to staying human by the end of the story either, and I have to wonder if he’s going to change his mind one day. Although he’s still human when they flash forward 4 years so maybe that’s a concern that’s meant to be implicitly addressed. And when Sun disappeared, Junior waited for him and mourned him, but he decided to move on and talked about his future plans, including getting married, while saying goodbye to Sun after 5 months. That’s a realistic, healthy response to losing a loved one, don’t get me wrong, but I can’t help but feel that Sun wouldn’t have been so open to the idea of finding someone else if the roles were reversed. And when Sun came back, he said he loved Junior, but Junior didn’t say the same back in the moment (he does in the 4 year flash forward). Junior has dreams for his life, but Sun’s only dream is Junior. So Sun’s world ends up revolving around Junior, while Junior’s doesn’t necessarily revolve around Sun, even if he cares about him deeply. I can’t help but feel that the dynamic is imbalanced as a result.
I think the reason a lot of the dynamics in this story work is because it’s set in high school. So the naive, innocent thing makes sense and works. Junior was kind of babyish, but he’s meant to be young and the actor also looks very young, so it’s not out of place. Kids making stupid but well meaning choices works. And them not having complete control over their lives makes sense. But at the same time, it ended up feeling like a high school romance as a result. Meaning, I didn’t really feel the permanence in their relationship, just got told to believe in it by the 4 year flash forward. But that’s a personal gripe, and I think the way they chose to write the romance was probably the best choice. A more mature romance would have undercut the high school dynamic.
In terms of the plot line, there were a few minor questions that weren’t well answered. When Sun disappeared, they say he was found by Ton and Nat, but why was he missing for 5 months? If he was with them, then he or they should have let someone know about his whereabouts. And Junior talked a lot about turning back into a penguin to be with his brother Little, but he seemingly forgets about him entirely because after a certain point, he’s never mentioned again. Same with Nam — he caused tons of issues and then seemingly disappeared and was never mentioned again.
If I’m nitpicking, the CGI was pretty awful and I would have liked to see more of their animal traits in their human forms. As it is, we only see that Sun is very strong and Junior is good at swimming. And I would have liked to see them struggle more to adapt to human life. It’s said that Junior could understand human language already, and probably could read it, but speaking and writing are different and he had no issues. He had no issues walking or even running as a human, no issues with fine motor skills like holding a pen or fork, and there weren’t even issues raised with him suddenly doing high school level schoolwork with no prior basis.
Like I said, this is very green flag, so there are no major consent / boundary issues. If I’m nitpicking, there’s a scene where Sun lies and says a classmate is still awake when he’s not so that he can stay cuddled up to Junior while they wait. And there’s one scene where Junior gives Sun catnip while he’s sleeping, and based on his reaction when waking up, it acted like a bit of a drug and shouldn’t have been given without prior discussion / consent, and certainly not when unconscious.
The physical affection is appropriate to the high school setting. Only meaningful kisses (but proper kisses, no lip presses) — nothing gratuitous and no NC scenes. There is an implied sex scene where they’re in bed after. It didn’t end up feeling overly chaste or sanitized, and I think anything more than that would have been uncomfortable anyways, given that the characters are teenagers that actually act like teenagers, and while I believe the actors were legal, they were still very young and look it.
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