duck_reviews

wasted potential

STORY - 6/10
The first 4 episodes are amazing, intense, and seductive. Unfortunately, "Thundercloud Rainstorm" could not maintain this level of excitement. They should and could've just focused on the main couple, and I would've been happy. But instead they introduce all of this convoluted, unnecessary drama, which mostly happens off-screen but still influences the story in a major way. The main villain isn't interesting. The character development of Jeonghan happens way too suddenly and off-screen (they could've introduced it gradually). I liked that the POV was on the toxic "CEO" this time. I also appreciated some really tense, heart-wrenching moments. But all in all, I can't really recommend this series. Maybe just watch the first 4 episodes XD. 6/10

ACTING - 7/10
Was alright, but not amazing. I really like Jeong Ri U's voice, though. 7/10

MUSIC - 8/10
Had some really good tracks, but nothing outstanding. 8/10

REWATCH VALUE - 5/10
I would maybe come back to watch some of the highlights of the series, but not the whole show. 5/10

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I really wanted to love this drama

STORY 7/10
I really didn't like Oumi because of his stone-cold personality that doesn't seem to melt even in the most heart-wrenching, soul-crushing, or happy moments. I know that this is like his whole archetype, but I really think the whole story would've benefitted if he would've been less cold.
Other than that, I really appreciated the overarching theme of grief, and the show did make me cry multiple times. And I think that it had a couple of great moments. Idk, Oumi just wasn't my cup of tea, but it might very well be yours ;).

ACTING 8/10
The acting was ok, I guess.

MUSIC 6/10
I think that the music could've been a lot sadder sometimes. Besides that, I would've appreciated a wider variety of tracks, as some were used very frequently and weren't really that great, tbh.

REWATCH VALUE 6/10
It's a sad show that would certainly make me cry again on a rewatch. Maybe I will like it better in a couple of years, when my perspective/headspace is different.

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Amazing series with some small flaws

STORY
Generally speaking, I really liked the way Not Me manages to maintain a level of suspense and excitement for every single episode (especially around ep 7-10 iykyk). There are also some plot twists, which were mostly executed well, except one, which was really predictable (= Todd). I also really appreciated the themes of justice and activism, which are portrayed in a really multifaceted manner.
I loved Sean and White's relationship. Their first kiss was executed perfectly. I loved the trust falls. It broke my heart to see Sean getting hurt by Black.
However, I personally didn't really like Dan and Yok's relationship, because it just started off for me on the wrong foot. I hate the "love at first sight"-trope. Especially because they really just had ONE sight, and Yok was immediately obsessed. Come on, you could've done better than that XD. Other than that, I generally liked the direction that their relationship was moving and was sympathetic towards Yok when Dan betrayed him, but they failed to really capture my heart due to the way they "suddenly" fell in love.
I thought that Gram and Eugene's romance was really sweet and a good dilemma for White to figure out while trying to make the right decisions as Black.
I loved the way you really felt how White and you as the viewer became more comfortable in the gang and found a new family in them. When Black eventually wakes up, you immediately feel sorry for White for losing the life that he has built for himself.
All in all, an amazing story with a few flaws: 9/10

ACTING
The cast did a good job. Especially Gun did well at portraying White and Black as two completely different characters. 10/10

MUSIC
The soundtrack is perfect. The music during the first Sean and White kiss scene really stood out to me (owe, owe, owe, Oweeee). 9/10

REWATCH VALUE
The series is amazing, and I can see myself coming back to it one day to experience it all again. There isn't really any big foreshadowing to plot twists that you could notice on your rewatch, thus "only" 8/10.

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"Danger can sometimes be seductive, it makes my heart pound like crazy, would you agree?"

STORY - 10/10
I loved the horror in this. Even though it didn't really terrify me, I did find it pretty disturbing and definitely thrilling. It's the kind of horror with an amazing aesthetic. Other than that, the mystery is incredibly exciting (especially in the beginning) and really leaves you wishing for a more detailed explanation of how this fictional universe really works. But due to "Enigma" only being 4 episodes long, we don't really get to know more about the specifics. The main character is incredibly brave and smart and thus very enjoyable to watch. Even though the series is this short, they manage to give a quite detailed characterization of the very loveable characters. I especially loved Ajin's two-faced personality. You should definitely watch this show when you're in the mood for a short, fast-paced, binge-watchable Horror/Mystery series.

ACTING/CAST - 10/10
The cinematography is absolutely beautiful in this. Every frame is extremely well thought out. The editing is perfect and quite fast-paced. They considered color theory, and I suspect that they intended a special meaning to the color red. That's really neat, and I would love if someone would do an analysis of this show, as I think that they put a lot of thought into it.
The set design is also gorgeous. I love when rooms feel lived-in by the characters and not just bland IKEA apartments.
I loved the mirror mask and the main symbol of the show. It looks really creepy, but also aesthetic.
The actors also did a great job with portraying their characters.

MUSIC - 9/10
The music is great and did its job of creating suspense and giving me the creeps. Other than that, it didn't particularly stand out to me.

REWATCH VALUE - 10/10
I will definitely rewatch this on Halloween sometime :)

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"BOUND BY FATE, KEPT BY LOVE, STRENGTHENED BY NEVER GIVING UP."

STORY - 10/10
The story of Khemjira is rich in Thai culture, tradition, and folklore. I even learned a couple of new interesting things by doing some quick research while watching and stumbling upon some terms I was not familiar with.
It's the first time that I like the side couple just as much as the main one. I loved all the characters and think that the story is at its best when it focuses on the main cast. But I found the side "adventures" also quite interesting and entertaining.
The story has a quite slow pace in the sense that dialogue is spoken in a very intentional, slow manner, where the actors have time to breathe a couple of times before speaking their next line. I didn't mind this very much, but it resulted in quite long episodes, with two of them being 2h long. I don't really know what you could've made shorter or cut out without reducing the overall quality of the story. Thus, I think that I'm just not used to series that are this long yet XD.
"Khemjira" has many intense emotional moments, many of which made me cry. I think the story is a masterpiece with a perfect ending. YOU absolutely need to watch it sometime if you haven't already!

ACTING/CAST - 10/10
Keng Harit (= Master/Peem) is gorgeous and extremely talented. He and everyone else sings in the OST of the show, which is amazing. Namping (= Khem) is very adorable and gives off major teddy-bear vibes. Both of them did an exceptional job at portraying the relationships and chemistry of their characters. I really hope that they end up acting in more dramas together!
Tle (= Charn) and Firstone (= Jet) were also very cute together and also made me laugh a lot.
The special effects are pretty good too.

MUSIC - 10/10
PLEASE just listen to this: https://youtu.be/F5yXpItDZVo?si=R7xzksCDuRDLpuEY

"If there were a magic spell that would make you never disappear
I would cast that spell so I could have you by my side
I'd give up everything if it would keep you from leaving

Even if there is no spell, I will use my whole heart
Use all of myself, my entire life, just to hold you in my embrace
If fate has a heart, don't take you away from me.
I cannot lose you, please don't leave me"
(translated lyrics of "Mantra" by Keng Harit)

The soundtrack is absolutely exceptional! And it's amazing that most of it is sung by the actual actors. I really recommend watching all the MVs after finishing the series (because some of them contain spoilers). I also loved all the variations of the main themes in the soundtrack. Furthermore, I loved everything about it and liked that they even had some tracks inspired by traditional Thai music in it.

REWATCH VALUE - 10/10
On a rewatch I will probably see everything in a bit of a new light now that I know all the story and the context of the characters. Maybe I'll even notice some new details of foreshadowing. Other than that, it's absolutely worth a rewatch, because the series is great!

P.S.:
Watch this after you're finished with the series. "BL Crack" pokes fun at some moments of the series and is really entertaining: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n59VDlCOFcU

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So sweet, that it'll give you diabetes

STORY - 10/10
Every single episode had me giggling and kicking my feet. The title and premise of the series sound weird at first, but it absolutely works. The subject of virginity is handled very well. I found the comedy hilarious and the awkward conversations and interactions (especially in the beginning) entertaining but also a little bit annoying and relatable XD. Even though the romance of the main couple is very slow-burn, I promise you that the series will hold your attention till the very end and then have you wishing for more content. I especially loved the character development in this series. You could really feel how every single one was changed for the better by the relationship they were in. The side characters are very entertaining and never overstay their welcome in terms of screen time. Udon the cat is the best side character (I have never seen such a calm and well-behaved cat XD). I loved how the series balances comedy and some heart-wrenching emotional moments perfectly. 10/10 (a perfect story)

ACTING - 10/10
It's amazing how the actors are able to convincingly act out an over-the-top exaggerated comedy and a moment later convey a myriad of complex emotions in a very serious scene. I loved the acting in this series. 10/10

MUSIC - 8/10
The choir music that plays sometimes is heavenly and by far my favorite track from this show. Other than that, I think the OST is a bit basic/bland, but definitely not bad. It conveys the emotions that it should but doesn't blow me away. 8/10

REWATCH VALUE - 10/10
I will definitely rewatch this if I ever need an extra dose of happiness in my life some day :).

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This series is not about burnout.

STORY - 5/10
"burnout
- extreme tiredness or mental or physical illness caused by working too hard or trying to do too much"

I genuinely think that none of the characters in "Burnout Syndrome" are actually burned out. At least the story doesn't portray them that way. Overall this series tries so hard to make complex, morally grey characters but fails because they aren't given enough screentime by themselves. Nobody feels fleshed out or even remotely likeable. You'll be stuck in a loop of endless, useless drama. The love triangle tries to look more like a Bermuda triangle, tbh. The ending is terrible. None of the previous issues were addressed or fixed. There's surprisingly absolutely no character development. Instead, there's just a time skip where we are meant to assume that some reflection has happened. Forcing this ending was the worst possible outcome for this show.
In the beginning I was intrigued by all the themes that the show wanted to address, like, e.g., burnout, AI, toxic selfishness, art, and a lot more. But in the end none of these issues were discussed thoroughly in a way that is satisfactory. The story wanted to be character-driven and at the same time address all these bigger issues and in the end failed at both aspects. I'm really disappointed.
Pheem and Jira never clicked for me, even though they did for others. They just felt kind of awkward to me. Koh and Jira were better (especially in the beginning), but Koh was being really toxic, and that's why their relationship also didn't seem quite right to me.
I hate Jira because he was just a little indecisive bitch the whole show and basically the root of all his own problems and the suffering of all the other characters.
There were a couple of things I liked, though. Especially in the beginning, I really liked Jira's relationship to Koh as art and muse. Other than that, I also appreciated that Koh could only sleep when Jira was near him. The aspect with the burnout bar also was really interesting to me. Generally the show had a lot of really good and interesting ideas with lacking execution.

ACTING/CAST - 7/10
This show was also Dew's first BL, and he did an excellent job at acting (as Pheem), which I hope to see put to good use in another BL in the future (maybe as the main lead (not in a love triangle)). Other than that, I didn't like how some characters sometimes hold these somewhat longer monologues, which kind of sound like a lecture to me.

MUSIC - 7.5/10
I liked the music, but it was nothing special.

REWATCH VALUE - 1/10
I will never watch this again, and you should not either. The story is way too messy and annoying for that.

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A BL which will make you suffer (mostly in a good way)

STORY - 8.5/10
My first impression was that Chi Cheng is by far not as toxic as everyone promotes him to be. Overall he's quite a "sheep in wolf's clothing"-character and is very adorable, especially when it comes to Wu Suo Wei.
Wu Suo Wei's antics were really entertaining. I understand that he needed to come to terms with his own feelings. BUT Chi Cheng just doesn't take a simple "No" for an answer and doesn't listen to the explanations Wu Suo Wei tries to give him. Be warned that if you value explicit, very clear consent in shows, you will probably not like "Revenged love".
At no point did I feel like I was impatiently waiting for the main couple to get together, because you get the occasional hot/sweet moments even though they're not really together yet.
I didn't like the whole 5-day deadline thing, though, and the weird lies of Wu Suo Wei's "master" and "friend" that came from it. I really thought he would just have a sincere talk with Wu Suo Wei or sth and not just try to manipulate him. At least the resolution to this conflict is handled well, and Chi Cheng sincerely apologizes. Still, I found this whole side plot more infuriating than entertaining and thus quite unnecessary.
In the case of the big Wang Shuo conflict, the miscommunication trope was done really well, though, as initially they just hide stuff from each other to prevent the other one from getting hurt. After all that suffering we went through, I would've hoped that they had a proper, sincere talk after all that crap instead of just pinky-promising each other to never hide things from each other ever again. I doubt that that will work out for them in the long run. They need couples therapy XD.
I also didn't like that there were some very cliché snake-attack scenes. Most importantly, the one where Wu Suo Wei gets almost strangled to death. That's really unrealistic for a multitude of reasons and just feeds into negative snake stereotypes. Beyond that, I was disappointed that the snakes weren't present at all in the story beyond a certain point.

AND HUH, why does Wu Suo Wei in turn manipulate his friend to sleep with Guo after being upset before because his friend manipulated him?! Especially problematic, because Jiang Xiao Shuai has most certainly experienced trauma from being taken advantage of before. He CLEARLY hasn't learned his lesson of communicating openly with other people.
The side couple is very adorable and wholesome and Jiang Xiao Shuai's backstory was really sad and well done. TBH I like them more than the main couple. They just have overall better vibes and a lot less drama.

Yue Yue is quite annoying, but she's supposed to be and doesn't get too much screentime XD. It would be cool if she weren't such a one-dimensional, stereotypical gold-digger character, but it didn't bother me all that much (as she is not that important to the overall story). I don't like that she's kind of stupid; c'mon, give her at least a few positive traits.
I also feel like generally all the characters could've been more dimensional, as you certainly had the time to with a 24-episode run-time.

All in all, I think "Revenged Love" is a very entertaining BL with quite a lot of good moments. You definitely need to go into it with the right expectations so you don't end up being disappointed. Even though I liked most of the plot, some events in the story really bother me.

ACTING/CAST - 8/10
The acting is quite good most of the time, but sometimes they fail at conveying big emotions. They could've portrayed feelings of hurt a little more convincingly (e.g., Chi Cheng's emotional outburst in ep. 17). Chi Cheng's actor especially tends to do those weird, blank, head-empty kind of faces sometimes, which look just kind of stupid, tbh.

I don't like how the slightly spicier scenes are edited. Like, can't you hold on for just one second and not cut to a different perspective/panning shot (for reference: beginning of ep12)? Just CHILL for a second, please. AND WHY are they sometimes suddenly shown upside down?
Other than that, I like that not every episode ends with an insane, over-the-top cliffhanger.

MUSIC - 10/10
I loved the OST. It has some really memorable tracks. I also loved that some of them get incorporated in the story itself by being sung by the characters in some scenes.

REWATCH VALUE - 7/10
I doubt that I'll ever rewatch this show as it's quite long for my standards. But overall it's a good show that you could certainly enjoy multiple times as it's really entertaining.

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Review in progress..... "Ke Yi Ma? - Ke Yi!"

The story is extremely realistic, relatable and deeply-emotionally touching. It has exceptionally good writing and storyline. Every scene is exactly in the moment that it's supposed to be. All the main characters are really likeable and are really well characterized in a multi-dimesional way that makes them feel alive. The conflict that tore the best friends apart in their childhood is very realistic, plausible and quite tragic tbh. When they finally meet again after a long time, the tension is definitely tensioning XD. This makes for an excellent rivalry. At the heart of their conflict definitely lies their jealousy for each other (“Comparison Is the Thief of Joy”). This makes it a very realistic and even relatable rivals-to-lovers narrative and not like usual where the characters just hate each other for seemingly no reason at all. I also love that their childhood conflict is mirrored into present day and that this shows their relationship pattern. But the rivalry is resolved relatively quickly, even though there remains some tension.
I love characters with big dreams/aspirations and this series has a lot of them :).
The characters are close to graduating and I'm coincidentally too, which made the whole thing even more relatable and sad for me personally.

And can we take a moment to appreciate the amazing acting of the child/teen-actors in this series. The array of emotions they can portray with just their eyes is insanely impressive.
AND the main actors are also soooooo good (the way their expressions can shift and convey emotions without having to verbalize them is amazing). I love that the cast fits the characters very well and that they didn't just pick the most gorgeous model that they could find like they often do in Thai BLs.
There's a cute DOG <3 (Tuty ftw)!
I love the OST with its wide variety of tracks. So turn your volume UP when watching the show to experience its full glory.

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