etoks21

That's what I plan to do as soon as they make ep4 free and I finish it.
I only half-know what's going on, but I like the evilness of the little brother; that's pretty easy to spot. :)

Episode 9:
Yes, I cried...so what? Sue me.
Both of these guys are excellent actors.
Ryo standing, looking at Zen at the apartment railing after you-know-what, with tears in his eyes, broke me.

Early scene:
Ryo: "I love you, I miss you, I need you."
Zen: "See? You never tell me that you love me, miss me, or need me, dammit! I don't know if this relationship can continue."
omg, lol, who wrote this?
Where is the director?

Zen was correct that much earlier on, his point was correct, but for at least two episodes, Ryo had been making his love, need, and desire for Zen's presence abundantly clear.
The last part of ep8 and the first part of ep9 were poorly written.
Also, where the hell did that melodramatic, orchestral Kdrama music come from? :P

Zen to Futami: "Ryo is...my boyfriend!"
OK, fine, that and everything that came after in this episode was worth the bad writing that gave us the manufactured crisis. I damn near squealed, and I'm old.

This and a few other recent Jbls, are going to make it hard for any future Jbls to go back to dead fish kisses and mannequin hugs. Good riddance to those.

It is just Zen, or have both of them been wearing the same damn suit the entire series?

This episode 9 features some sloppy bad writing.
You're right that the way it was presented, it makes no sense for Zen to say that.
Ryo spent half of ep 8 and the beginning of ep. 9 telling Zen how much he loves, needs, and depends on his attention, to which Zen replied, in effect, "See? You don't love, need, or depend on me!" lol

Oh look, it's Speech Police Officer Emil, jumping in here to police this back-and-forth.
Thank god for Officer Emil.

That's exactly what I wrote, Officer.
I wrote that after PoorTitties up above claimed, after I suggested she block me, that she didn't know how to do so.
So, I told her how to do so.

Any other questions, Officer Emil?

Listen, Emil, I don't give a shit what you will or won't "have."
Who do you think you are?

The chapter was SUPPOSED to make you cringe.
Do you think Black people being called "n****r" by bullies of any race in real life doesn't make THEM cringe?

Requiring writers to censor that language out of concern for your performative, fake outrage would be like requiring the makers of TYAL to blur every image of bullies physically beating the shit out of a fellow student. But you didn't complain about the physical beatings being shown, did you?

No, you didn't, because you're not concerned about depictions of bullying, you're concerned with making sure others know how fake righteous you are with your speech policing.

Try being outraged at the Korean kids in the webtoon who called the student a "n****r," not at the person telling the story to highlight that sort of behavior. Or is it your impression that the way the name-calling was presented in the webtoon made the bullies look good?

Before you jump me for censoring my own use of "n****r" here, consider that I am not telling/portraying a story about bullying. I am in a discussion about a story that portrays bullying. Let me know if I need to explain the difference.

You are lying, dear.
Our entire conversation disappeared, as only happens when someone blocks someone else.
Just to be sure, I tried to look at your profile page.
oops! No, that was gone too.

Gosh, child, you are sad and pathetic.
You keep saying stupid things like how you're not going to waste your time on "brain cell chickens" (whatever the hell those are) and "delusional humans" (not sure how one can be both a chicken and a human, but whatever), and then you crawl back, I guess because you don't have anyone else to argue with right now, and try to start an argument again. lol

I know you're not blocking me right now, because otherwise you wouldn't be able to write me. But remember, you can always re-block me. hahaha

The only "stupid" here is you.

"... cuz there's no way I'm gonna waste my time to argue with these braincells chickens."

And yet, you un-blocked me so you could come back and post this reply? hahaha
Are you bored today?

Yep, I think Taiwan would be the better choice.

ugh...I'd probably find myself watching it, even though I hated the ending of this one so much, and see it as a bogus "fuck you" from the director to the audience. A complete set-up.

Yeah, the mom's fucked up.

Actually, I'd like to see a remake, maybe from Korea, see what they do with it.

I'd have to say this show is at least more interesting than LISB, because at least it has the balls to show one of the MC as a complete, mean shithead bastard. I mean, he came back to his ex's apartment just so he could bang some twink in his bed. Then, he made his big speech about how noble and righteous he is for his honesty, blah blah blah...lecturing the documentary director and 100% humiliating his ex in front of her.

He has a point about the documentary being a sham, but instead of refusing to participate in it, then moving out like a decent person, he did what he did.

Again, I love deep gray characters who a plot gives me reasons to find myself understanding, at least a little, but this guy...wow, he's like deep charcoal gray, you know? lol

LISB's most offensive aspect was how boring it was.
Another way the two shows are similar to me is that for the first two or three episodes I had reasons to like both of the leads, at least a bit.

In what way do you understand Itsuki?
What do you mean?

hmmm...succinct.

Episode 4:
My god.

I am all for gray-area characters, especially lead characters who challenge my assumptions/prejudices/biases.
But Itsuki is written as such an irredeemably nasty asshole, a surly, lazy, arrogant brat, from the very first minutes of episode 1, that I don't see how anything credibly interesting comes of this story going forward.

If the script tries to make us sympathize with him after the developments of episode 4, it risks seeming absurd.
If Yuma forgives and forgets, it makes him into a codependent doormat, unworthy of our sympathy, too. The only way to deal with a person like Itsuki is to run screaming in the other direction, no matter how much it hurts.

The above, and other reasons, are why this show has been giving "Life In Smokey Blue," another JP show in which two codependent, unsympathetic MCs left me cold.

Like, LISB, this show's next episode teaser scenes are likewise cut to be annoyingly misleading. Last week's teaser scenes deliberately made it seem that Itsuki had banged the documentary cameraman, not the little queen we ended up seeing him with. I should have known better...

Anyway...I will certainly keep watching; who knows, maybe this will surprise me, but I don't see how it will do so in any believable way.

Finally, while the issues the side story involving the documentary director's struggle with sexism and male jerks is totally worthy of focus, this is the wrong place for it. In a short drama, there's barely enough time to cover the MC, let alone all this secondary stuff.

Are you the speech police here?

Only you and other kentz desperate for a made-up scandal would refer to that excellent piece as the "n-word manhwa."

Sort of like calling "Teach You a Lesson" the "unjustified use of government violence against innocent students" drama.

Lord.

Finale:
Terrible wrap-up.

After nine chapters of exciting, moving, cathartic, well-acted storytelling, t is difficult to imagine a more disappointing final episode than this one.

Cheese out the ass.
Nauseating, saccharine sentimentality out the ass.
Tropes, cliches, and stupidities out the ass.
Massive implausibilities far beyond the capacity of the suspension of disbelief I eagerly granted during the rest of the show to overcome them...also, out the ass.

Sure, there was a smattering of the above during the earlier episodes, things that made me half roll my eyes, but never enough to make me stop watching. The finale dialed all of that up to a thousand.

Seriously, I wouldn't know where to start in listing all the things wrong with this finale.
It's as though an entirely different set of writers, with a replacement director, took over like the ERPB invading a crime-ridden high school, and produced a giant turd to shit all over the excellence of what went before.

The only positive aspect of this last episode is that it left me far less sad than I would have been, to see it all end.

Wow.
I would easily have rated this series at least a 9/10 up to the last episode.
But, in light of the fact that the finale does, indeed, exist...
Episodes 1-9: 9/10
Episode 10: 4/10
Overall: 7/10

I have a feeling the suits at Netflix leaned on the production to provide a cheesy, over-the-top, Hollywood/American-style, feel-good ending so all the dolts here in the US would eat it up.
How embarrassing for all involved.

"Cathartic" is what I wrote in all-caps in my first comment here after watching episode 1. I've seen so many kids beaten up in Korean bully flicks and dramas that I feel this show is serving justice up for all of them.

I don't think that's an accident, either. There are several instances throughout the show in which we see a bully or other nefarious person get slapped or punched around, even after they're down. The first time took me back, but, hey, that's part of what this show offers up, and I'm here for it.

And if anyone thinks these cases are far-fetched, they haven't read enough about bullying in Korean schools. I have, and it's mind-blowing. Also horrible is how the parents are..f**king nuts.

Episode 9:
WOW
I knew that little shit was up to something, but this exceeded the bounds of even my twisted imagination.
This show is killing me.
I should have been in bed two hours ago, but I'm finding it impossible not to click on the "next episode" button. heeeeeeeellllllllllpppppppppppp meeeeeeeeeee!!!

Strap yourself in, it's a wild and tough ride, but well worth the effort.

Are you a teacher?

lol
For real.

Episode 8:
I can't be the only one watching who wanted that eomma to die a horrible death.
She doesn't deserve that handsome son.

I know some things have to be conveyed in shorthand due to time constraints, but Im Han Rim and
Bong Geun Dae becoming the kid's hands-on addiction nurses and counselors was stretching it a bit. :D

And NO hospital would let somebody in severe withdrawal from drugs or alcohol go cold turkey like that. Not only is it barbaric and unnecessary, but withdrawal like that can kill. People have seizures and heart attacks coming off of shit like that, cold-turkey. At the very least, he would be given Valium, which eases the symptoms of withdrawal.
Don't ask how I know. :P