jpny01

I'm on Ep 5 and I feel you. I like the two leads, but the plot is so repetitive. if that stupid friend doesn't stop trying to set them up with girls I'm going to commit seppuku. It's an endless cycle of the same thing, same misunderstanding, same spurt of jealousy. I liked it up until halfway through, now it's starting to get on my nerves.

That's one of the only unforgotten things about that series. Also the stoned tiger. And Khom in the sleeveless striped shirt. OK, maybe it's more unforgettable than I thought.

I feel bad for the actors - the amount of time and effort that must have gone into that love scene just to have it mutilated like that. It's a pity because we needed to see the physical passion to overcome the feeling that Yuan feels that way because Qian was the first person to show him any love. I think what there was was enough - the shedding clothes in the hall did communicate that, but it could have used more. As a result we had to rely on very inappropriate behavior at work, which I find hard to believe Qian would ever tolerate.

I did really like the scene where Qian promised he would not be mad at Tan, then immediately tried to strangle him. That was really funny.

Anyway, I thought the acting in this was stellar, and it was enough to carry this for me, but everything else about it was mediocre, especially the writing. I would love to see this actors in something better quality - they could make it an 11.

I am - I don't know why it's not on my watchlist, but I'll make sure it's added. Unknown is fantastic.

I agree with you, but I think it has a lot to do with expectations, plus the way it's divided up. In a movie, the character development and backstory are all given to you in one setting, whereas in episodic format, you have to remember a lot between episodes, and it also makes each episode both too static and too short. When they retool these series to make a movie, which they do for a lot of them, the movie is almost always a lot better.

This shows you what you can do with a minimal budget if you get a good script and talented actors.

Although it's too bad they couldn't afford an intimacy coach.

It got a little better at the end. But yeah.

I'm not sure why everyone is confused. I wonder if I have better subtitles or something.

5 x 20 minutes is the length of a movie - I don't think more time is needed to tell this story. I don't know why Korean series do this - they're really movies that they cut up into several parts for no apparent reason. Maybe for more views?

I loved Happenstance and was shocked that it had the right ending. The acting wasn't the greatest I've ever seen, but the lead was so gorgeous it didn't matter.

That would have been better, but it's still a bit manufactured. Why not something normal like Yuan getting rejected and then leaving?

Thank you for pointing that out - I haven't been doing that.

True. But if Hu was so hostile to Qian, why did he not do anything in the last 10 years? And what exactly was Yuan's plan? That made absolutely no sense.

I forgot about Qian getting sick a lot - I thought it was just stress and exhaustion, I guess.

This is getting too melodramatic for me, and too many insta-crises. This epiosode's was dropped out of the sky, and it looks like an even worse one next week - have we ever gotten a hint that there was something wrong? It's lazy and manipulative.

The acting and dialog are incredible, though.

But it was a lazy catalyst - that's the objection. Rather than have it organic to the two characters, it was dropped out of the sky.

I'm pretty sure the stalker is female - I don't know that, but it looked like a woman's form in the ninja suit.

I think there are two things in particular going for it - Beck is so cute that it's actually physically painful, and the writing is extremely strong - in two episodes we have two fully realized characters, exploration of themes of alienation, and tons of intriguing plot threads. Normally you don't get that in a BL until... well, ever.

The rating is incomprehensible - this is a 10 so far.

Yes, 100%. The quality of the writing in this series is many, many steps above the average BL.

How is it possible for anyone to be that cute? When Beck smiles it makes me cry.

There is something low-key sinister about that older guy he had coffee with - either that or he's not a very good actor. Something in his smile was insincere, but it felt like it was meant to be that way and not a problem with the acting.

Here's what I like: visual storytelling and respect for the audience. When he's looking at the CCTV camera, Aksorn's eyes go wide and then he's at home searching for a hidden camera. We know the thought came to him because of his expression and we get it confirmed by his searching. A lesser-written script would have him say "Maybe there's a hidden CCTV camera in my room!"

Also the Beck cuteness thing. I like that too. The story is intriguing - I'm guessing one of the two main characters is the author but was from the future - they wouldn't have mentioned that if it wasn't going to come back somehow. I'm guessing Aksorn is the author - the writing was from his POV. The ninja girl is a red herring and is probably either a fan or knows something about alternate universes and time travel. That's all my speculation - I don't know.