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Not Me's uglier cousin

I have a lot to say about this series but to summarise: amazing chemistry between the leads but very flawed (and kind of lazy) writing. They could have done a lot more with this cast but instead they pulled out a script filled with holes and less than satisfactory conflict resolution.

Let's start with the good. Ryan and Frame has an insane chemistry. They managed to deliver tension, romance, and raw sensuality to their characters. Their chemistry hard carried this series and managed to make me feel very invested in this series despite the flawed writing.

I also liked the way that they don't force all side couples to get together - one ended up as friends - which was refreshing to see. Situationships don't always have to progress to real relationships and that's ok!

That's really where the good ends. I'm not going to go deep into the bad because I'd be writing a full essay but the big three are: plot holes, late climax, and overuse of silly tropes. It's nonsensical that the twins didn't immediately switch back the moment Zee got discharged - how is it more acceptable to be injured in martial arts than volleyball? The moment that Zee's spot as a starter was secured, they should've immediately come clean to First and change back. It's also still a huge mystery on why Zee is so hated and why he is such an ass to his teammates - it seems like he was being an ass without any solid reason. The climax being in EP 12 was also an insane decision and didn't allow for proper resolution. It was crazy how fast they made First forgive Sprite despite the consistent heartaches it had caused him. I'm not even going to get into the overuse of silly tropes part because I don't want to end up ranting. Not gonna lie, the writing feels lazy and they just started to stick overused tropes to save their asses.

If you have extra time, feel free to watch this but this is a series that heavily relies on chemistry and good vibes.

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Good as a standalone

If you don't come in with the expectation of this series being a perfect remake of the manga, you'll like this (or at least won't hate it).

This drama falls into the lukewarm territory between great and average for me. I really enjoyed both characters individually and I enjoyed their story but I think there is a little bit of a pacing issue when it comes to their relationship development. I wish we had a more fleshed out one sided rivalry phase and a gradual change to the love interest phase. Despite that, this series still managed to get me invested in the main characters because they are both just so lovable.

I do hate the way they tried to trivialize the whole selling actresses to the porn industry thing though - it was not meant to be simplified into the whole "he's doing it for love" trope.

I still do think this is worth a watch if you're not too deeply attached to the manga. I personally would rewatch this a couple more times.

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What an incredible messy but fun ride

If you've been in a an Australian/American queer group chat, you might get a little bit of a traumatic flashback while watching this series. I'm actually convinced the screenwriter just snuck into a queer gc and copied their drama as plot points.

First things first. This is messy but also a good representation of extremely liberal slash problematic queer friend groups. I'm convinced all of them should be in therapy and/or a polyamourous commune where they can just mess around with everyone. I just don't think monogamy works for some of these characters and that's fine!

Secondly, while I do agree that this is an accurate rep of the messy side of the queer community, it can be a triggering to see that many topics of cheating, emotional manipulation, privacy infringements, and violence in one drama. So please proceed with caution. It is good to get a rep of the messy aspect of being queer, but also there is mess in all communities really.

Thirdly, I love having a drama catered for nosy bitches like myself. I thoroughly enjoyed this although I do want to do the Gordon Ramsay's sandwich meme to some of these idiots. Make sure your blood pressure is controlled before watching this fr.

I still highly recommend watching this despite my above review.

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Character study at its best

I've just finished this series and wow. I'm completely shattered. This review is not going to be objective because this series resonates too much for me that I just could not put on a critical lens whilst watching.

Wang might be one of my favourite characters ever in a BL. He is passionate, deeply empathetic (to a fault), incredibly selfless despite being told otherwise, and just a very kind person. He has a youthful energy that the other characters in the show label as immaturity and disobedience, but he is so much more emotionally mature than his mom or In. He is stuck with a narcissistic mom and found solace in a person whom his dad had loved, who loved him because of his resemblance to his dad. Despite that, he still manages to be loving until the end because he truly believed that self sacrifice is the only way to minimize the pain on his loved ones. His mom is emotionally manipulative and abusive towards everyone in the film, and this highly resonates with me because it is incredibly hard to break a relationship with an abusive person, especially if it is your family. I feel for Wang and by the end of the series I am just grateful that he got to learn about his dad through a lens that hasn't been clouded by his mother. Even if he couldn't break the relationship with his mother, I am glad he found a better sense of self.

The relationship between In and Wang is complicated to say the least. In sees Siam in Wang and this created so much mixed signals that a love starved Wang just had no chance of resisting even if he tried. What this show does so well is that underneath all the sensuality and tension between Wang and In, there was always an underlying feeling of unease. I found the writing of the almost kiss incredible because that I was never rooting for the kiss to happen because they were literally talking about In meeting Wang as a baby. They crossed so many emotional lines but I am so glad that every time a physical line was about to be crossed, they slip in dialogues on how their relationship would be creepy. This is not usually done very well in age gap stories.

I feel for In, I really do. I would have been extremely devastated if this was a story between Siam, In, and Mol. I am glad that this series explored the aftermath of Siam's death and how Wang helped In with the emotional baggage he had been carrying all these years. This was never meant to be a love story between In and Wang, this was supposed to be the conclusion of Siam and In's love story. I don't think In ever got that message even until the very end, but I hope that the glass ball from Siam/Wang can provide him solace.

I can't do a character analysis on Mol because her manipulation and emotional abuse just hits too close to home.

This series broke me in the best way possible and I just have to commend everyone in the cast for portraying the roles so exceptionally well. Please do watch this with caution however, I found some of the scenes with Mol very triggering.

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What is it with Taiwan and sibling romances

This is not the first brotherfucker I've seen on my screen but goodness they are one of the weirdest. In other stepbrother/ non-bio brother series, they are usually on equal footing and is of similar age. This one, they took it to the next level. Forget brother complex, this one is also a daddy complex drama with how paternal their relationship feels the first half of the show. They also tried to brainwash the audience into thinking this is not weird by showing the emotional turmoil and having the rest of the cast justify it from them but this coming from a guy who got with a girl he saw since she was little did not really help their case by much. But hey whatever keeps the lights on at the Taiwan BL production companies I guess.

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Looking at camp right in the eye

The script for this could be modified into an absolute crack up of a parody with like a 5 minute review probably.

I absolutely can't believe that the series is somehow funnier than the reviews written here because reading the reviews already got me rolling but the series itself made me accidentally howl in laughter at 3am.

It is actually hillarious how much of a failure Kamol is as a mafia AND as a potential boyfriend like baby please be good at just ONE thing I beg. The pink drink product placement is just so put of place that I absolutely howl everytime it appears. The multiple random montages throughout the series is also giving the vibes of a 10 year old with a phone saying "I made this for mother's day". I am also absolutely in LOVE with the random bodyguard threesome thrown in literally out of nowhere.

But the funniest thing from this series is probably the ending montage because the half assed BDSM themes, half assed romance, and half assed mafia theme combined with the music is just constantly funny no matter how often I watch it. Also I find it hillarious that apparently the lead actors are dating irl bc there is absolutely no sexual tension on screen that I have to believe that they are actually dating so there's no tension left on cam.

Please watch it, I haven't laughed this much in a long time. I seriously unironically love this series.

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Boom could be a revolutionary industry twunk

I haven't written a review in forever but Boom's performance in this is just exceptionally good that I just have to.

pros:
1. Boom is one of the most believable actor who has such a wide emotional range. I haven't seen a performance this convincing with a script this complex in a while.

2. soundtrack is sexy as fuuuuuck. enough said.

3. NC-17 scenes are not cringe, mostly thanks to Booms natural blush and his begging for the d eyes.

4. Smartboom's chemistry is exceptional!!

areas for improvement:
1. pacing is off - I wish there was better balance between sweet scenes and pure anguish. Literally if I experience half of Akin's hardships I would kms. Like let the boy live for an episode man. Some of the conflict was also useless - what was the point of the SA scene with Johnny? Did it really progress the plot? Not in my eyes.

2. Boom's performance just outshined everyone else's. This is not a complaint by any means but there is a stark difference in the level of acting between Boom and the rest of the cast. Don't get me wrong, there was absolutely no bad actors in the series, but there was different levels of believability in my opinion. Having Boom there just highlights the minor flaws in the other performances.

3. Award show and the whole sexiest man competition is so poorly done. Award show looks cheap and empty, the sexiest man competition show just looks very poorly edited. Ruined the watching experience a little bit.

4. Writing is subpar. They mainly rely on SmartBoom's acting and chemistry to save the show. Episode 1 to the episode where they get together is great, the rest feels plotless

Honestly it's worth the watch even if its just for Boom's acting.

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Restored my appetite for food and life

If you are ever in need of a healing/comfort drama, this is the series for you. Calling this a BL does not feel very fitting, as the romance aspect took the backseat, allowing other themes to shine. This is the ultimate found family, hurt/comfort, and slice of life drama to me, with the added bonus of a warm love story.

If you're used to the fast-paced romance centric series, you might see this as an extreme slow burn. However, please stick through and finish this, I promise you won't regret it.

Yutaka and Minoru are just two very earnest and lovely individuals who are both fighting their own demons. Tane, the little angel, brought Yutaka into their family and each member of the family made it so easy for Yutaka to feel a sense of belonging. Every meal invite is very genuine and intentional. Yutaka's love for his newfound family is so heart warming - the way he goes out of his way to make sure he can make the best bento for Tane is just so tender. Minoru, Yutaka, and Minoru's dad became each other's safe space, and I love that they showed the gradual trust they built between the three of them.

I also love how they presented food in this series. Both Minoru and Yutaka have their struggle with food and eating - Yutaka just eating the easiest thing he could find/make just for survival, and Minoru losing his appetite in life which extends to his food too. However because they met each other, Yutaka became more intentional in his cooking to provide the best meal for Tane and Minoru, while Minoru started to found passion in his life again which showed in him starting to cook more of his late mother's recipe. The whole food aspect was presented so well that it inspired me to cook for the first time in a month - they helped me regain my appetite for food and life.

One thing this drama could improve is the fleshing out of Yutaka's family issues and its resolution. It feels half baked and I didn't feel like his sense of abandonment and exclusion was properly addressed.

Despite its flaws, this series will remain one of my healing series and I am so grateful to have watched this.

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Matched each other's freaks and mine too

This drama gets so much flack on twitter and tiktok but this is actually peak camp queer romcom.

Short review of the things I like:
- Flamboyant gays as the main character! Like they're not trying to cater for female audience in the sense that the usual cishet women is not the audience for Toh and Daisy's charms. Usually BL leads attempt quite hard to cater to the female gaze but I'm just happy to see more flamboyant gay leads (or "tootsies" as Daisy said in the series)

- Great character development, for everyone.

- the stalking is less invasive than what other people made it seem to be and although Toh crosses the line quite a bit, he learns a lot and is quite sensitive to feedback.

- I love that they don't do a makeover for Toh. Seng the actor is incredibly beautiful and I just appreciate that they kept the bowlcut and glasses - they just made him more and more charming by improving his personality. Showing how charming he is without having to change his looks is an exquisite choice.

- Love the friendship group. Everyone is supportive and cute.

- The comedy is so up my alley. I love laughing out of secondhand embarassment.

- Second lead couple is charming but doesn't steal the spotlight. Perfect balance.

Things I don't necessarily like:
- I hate seeing women fighting over men. Like. Don't piss me off.

Other than that I really enjoy this and would recommend.

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Could have been amazing

TW: suicide, self-harm, homophobia, bullying

This is not a bad drama if you are mindful of all of its trigger warnings and tags. One of my biggest issues with this series is the lack of trigger warnings despite the semi-explicit depiction of self-harm and a very clear implication of suicide.

But let's talk about the good first.

I highly enjoy the friendship and the scenes of them just enjoying each other's company is so lovely to watch. Not all interactions are romantically charged and I highly appreciated that they got the chance to develop a solid friendship first before any romance develops. There are also a lot of emotionally raw moments between the two main leads which were so enchanting to see on screen.

I also appreciate the first time-skip. Any relationship that they develop between them in that high school period would be nothing less than traumatizing for both of them. It is clear that TaeHyun is not ready for any sort of emotional attachment due to his past trauma, and it was clear that he was going to project all of his emotional insecurities unto DaYeol if they became a couple at that point. I appreciate that after the 2-year time-skip, he had enough reflection time that he recognized his own emotional misgivings and kind of just promised to do better. He was emotionally aware enough that he is not ready for a relationship at that point but he will work towards it. That in itself is a huge character development from his initial selfishness.

Now let's talk about things that could have been done better:

1. Trigger warnings, as I mentioned previously.
2. Second time skip was so unnecessary. I wanted to actually see the effort that TaeHyun put into improving himself and winning DaYeol over, but instead we got another lazy writing in the form of time skip. Maybe it's the lack of budget or whatever, but if that was the case, then they should have properly divided the amount of highschool screentime and college screentime.
3. First episode was extremely hard to watch due to how malicious Won Kyung and Tae Hyun are. It was not harmless jokes, they actually accused DaYeol of SA. It was also disturbing how the adults handled the supposedly SA situation - they actually did not take it seriously at all, and the nurse was shown to be more homophobic than actually caring about a student being supposedly SA'd.
4. No real consequence to homophobia. I know this happens in the real world too but I have anger issues and I was itching to punch some bitches in this series.
5. I can't see the physical attraction between the two leads. I am completely fine with the lack of kissing or physical intimacy - my favourite BL of all time is The Untamed. However, there is just no tension or any signs of physical attraction at all between these two male leads.

I don't think I can every bring myself to rewatch this ever again even though it had some real cute moments.

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The feelings didn't quite get to me

Short review:

I will preface this review by saying that their casual intimacy with the handholding and back hugs gives me more butterflies than straight-up kiss scenes and NC scenes in other series. The actors did so well in capturing that pining, hesitance, and anxiety that comes with first love. The missed chances, miscommunication, and inner angst is so on point for a high school series - high school kids are usually not emotionally well-adjusted so I am happy they captured that on screen while still making the characters likable.

However I do have an issue with how all their kiss scenes are dub-con at best. I understand the nuance of non-explicit consent but honestly it just seems like Ashiya did not want to be kissed in all of their scenes. It is so jarring when you compare the joy on his face when they hold hands or when he got back hugged to him getting kissed. Also I don't vibe with Ohara's bowl cut like if you're going to make him a heart throb maybe don't give him mushroom hair. But all in all this is a generally non-offensive series that should fill your high school romance quota.

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The Cherry isn't Blossoming

Short Review:

Enjoyable series if you're looking for mindless fluff and eye candies on your screen. The actors are the highlight of the series, but everything else falls flat. Pacing is bad - story is too big to fit into 160 minutes. This could have worked better if each episodes were 50 minutes long OR if they made it into two seasons. Cinematography has its moments, but every shot in the classroom was amateurish at best. I usually don't mind bad cinematography but this one was particularly jarring to me. I do have to say though, this is a series I will still enjoy rewatching because the actors were just captivating together. But you do have to be quite forgiving of its flaws if you want to truly enjoy the series.

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Basic with Perfect Execution

This is a belated review as I have watched this two times now. I remembered liking this series the first time but it did not stick with me much, hence why I did not review it. However, the second watch gave me so much renewed appreciation for this series, the cast, and just the perfection in its simplicity.

Let's just put it our there, this series is not the first of its kind nor does it have a unique storyline. But it shines despite having a formulaic plot due to the great character writing, amazing cast, and great comedic moments.

Jiwoong as Ji Ho Jun is absolutely amazing. With a lesser actor, Ji Ho Jun could've been annoying to say the least. However, JiWoong had excellent comedic timing and excels at pulling a puppy face which makes the character extremely likeable despite his egotistic tendencies, especially in the beginning.

Seobin as Yoo Jae Yun excelled in his emotional scenes, especially ones with the first guy he had a one-sided crush on. He delivered so much of that earnest energy that even though he was a complete pushover, I couldn't find it in myself to be annoyed at him.

Both actors are quite green and it is noticeable, but they have such amazing on-screen charisma that the acting still works really well. They both really do have potential even if the technical aspect of their acting isn;t perfect here.

The character writing was great and even though they are not written as very complex people, I still can see that they do have that rich inner life. I love that Ho Jun is extremely competent and caring even though he is a spoiled brat. I love that Jae Yun is ambitious and has strong convictions, but also has so much personal insecurities. I love that we have moved away from the stoic CEO with insane power imbalance over the employee, because even if it started out that way, Jae Yun being the landlord really helped even out the dynamics in the story.

Most of all, I absolutely loved how they chose to end it. I reckon it's the best outcome possible for a boss x employee trope.

However, one thing that I have to say is that there are pacing issues. I reckon this would have worked better as a 12 episode series, as I thought that Jae Yun moved on from his first crush a little bit too quickly. I understand getting over him after that one incident but going from that to falling in love with Ho Jun in what seems like less than a week was just a bit too much. I would also have loved to see more of their early relationship honeymoon period because the conflict was introduced way too soon after they got together so it was hard to justify that much angst on what appeared to be a very short-lived relationship.

Anyways I would still recommend this drama to all romcom lovers. This is an adorable, easy to watch series that makes your day brighter.

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An Excellent Drama That Doesn’t Take Itself Too Seriously

This series is an excellent example of a drama that manages to balance drama, romance, comedy, and angst perfectly. A lot of reincarnation dramas usually choose to lean heavily towards either extreme angst or extreme comedy and there is rarely a perfect in between such as COL.

Let's start with the excellent stuff:
- Excellent casting, acting, and chemistry. This applies to all the characters and not just Daou and Offroad. Yes, the romantic chemistry is amazing. But the platonic chemistry between the cast is also crazy electric.
I honestly am in disbelief that this is only Daou and Offroad's second project because their acting and chemistry far surpasses their actual amount of experience. I also have to give a huge kudos to the child actor who played young San, Ms. Vad, and Dr. Third - they were absolutely amazing to watch. Everyone was amazing actually, no line delivery feels out of place or awkward which is a huge feat.

- Insanely funny in the midst of all the Serious. This is an actual laugh out loud funny series for me, which I absolutely did not expect just by watching the trailer and reading the synopsis. Not to mention, all the main casts have amazing comedic timing and a good amount of them are actually so good with physical comedy. Even the editing choice was excellent and insanely funny - there’s this one scene in the beginning where San was asking the first Shinse how long he has to wait, and then the next scene cuts to a picture of the memorial picture of the Shinse and I literally snorted.

- I loved how they wrapped up the story. I had huge expectation on how they were planning to go with the whole "who is the real reincarnation of Ms. Vad" and they wrote what I personally think is the best possible scenario that they could. They managed to convince me that San would still love Vee even if he's not Ms Vad's reincarnation whilst also not negating the enormity of San's love towards Ms Vad, which is a hard balance to achieve.

- They managed to make the age gap not creepy. Eventhough San is literally 100 years old, he learns from Vee as much as Vee learns from him. This really reduces the weirdness of the 100 year gap and any sense of power imbalance

- The characters are all well developed. I love that Vee is not a perfect angel - San knows that and loves him regardless. Although their whole world does revolve around their romance, it doesn't feel one dimensional because Vee has so many other fulfilling relationships in his life other than just San, and San is a literal 100 y.o man so he is allowed to just focus on Vee. I also love how we can clearly see why they fell in love with each other. Both characters are so lovable that its not that high of a reach that theyre madly in love with one another.

Now unto the room for improvement:
- They didn’t really allow proper time for angst. Almost all angst scenes have a comedic element to it which is not fully ideal if you're looking for a good cry. I don’t mind this though, I don’t enjoy crying that much anyways.

- Some scenes didn’t feel purposeful and intentional. I do not mind filler scenes, but I do recognize that this is a room for improvement.

- Plot holes? Or maybe I'm just stupid and didn’t understand. So there are two things I don’t think was explained: does five colored stone have the ability to extend anyone's lifespan eventhough it was literally bound to San and Vad's soul and what was the point of the dream scene where the Goddess cried after San thought that Vee is Vad reincarnated? For my first question, it was more because the mafia and Vee are both under the impression that consuming it will heal them and even San was saying that it has to be given voluntarily and has to be consumed on the birth day of the Goddess. However we saw that the initial healing was done by just placing the stone on San's chest and the consumption was actually to extend lifespan by 100 years. Idk if I phrased this well enough but I just found this part weird.

Anyways this is an excellent watch and I will continue rewatching this for a very long time.

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