kilthane

I adore everything this studio puts out. they work with similar restrictions to most other low-budget online kbls, yet deliver far better quality of direction and more thoughtful scripting. compare their Close to You anthology to the dumpster fire of filler that Strongberry put out recently - the difference is like night and day. I enjoyed this one as well, nothing crazy but it’s genuinely solid as usual - no forced drama or misunderstandings, no bad dialogue or extended scenes of working in an office, just completely focused on character and romance. the actor playing the teacher was admittedly a bit unconvincing, but Lee Sangmin’s acting more than makes up for that. he’s really been giving it his all in the little bl projects he’s been cast in, and I hope to see him in bigger and better roles in the future. looking forward to the next one, Studio GND!

unfortunately just as boring as most other ultraman shows but ima still watch for haruto ^_^

they really struck gold with the casting for Jeongwoo! there is no way I would have been able to get past episode 2 without that unrealistically gorgeous face and solidly natural acting hard-carrying me through. the series is about as bland as the average kbl usually gets: long drawn-out scenes of uninteresting dialogue and forced reactions to pad out runtime, oddly conceived scenarios that don’t hold up if you think about them for more than 10 seconds, and paper-thin character interactions that do nothing to move the plot forward.
the two other areas where the show excels are the side “couple” and their relationship with the leads, and the amount of skinship/physical displays of affection. judging from just how much kissing and sexuality is shown before even the penultimate episode breakup cliche, it does feel like that was the main focus for the production in absence of any real substance. however, it is genuinely nice to see one of these series that don’t hinge their entire reason for existence on a single kiss at the last possible minute. overall, not super interesting or technically impressive by any means, but it does have a few unique elements that future bls should take note of. again, I can’t stress enough the importance of Choi Jaehyuk (and to a lesser extent, the actor for Seungjin) to the fabric of this show. a less appealing and less skilled actor would have left the series to fend for itself, where it would have surely failed. hope to see him in many more projects in the coming years!

totally agree with all of this. I remember tuning out of the first episode back when it was airing just because I wasn’t really feeling it at the time, but episode two and onward were a breeze to watch. unconventional story and relationship progression, with no forced cliches aside from the penultimate episode breakup thing (which you kinda need for tension in these anyway). great chemistry - yeah jyutaro’s acting is a little bit shaky, but keito is a national treasure in every role he plays, always super believable and clearly giving his all. I guess mdl users weren’t ready for a bl where the characters work together but their work actually matters and is interesting and in theme, rather than just spending all their time in the office, filling up screentime with them doing presentations or whatever 🥴

i generally don’t enjoy these type of kbls where a thin plot is dragged out and scenes and dialogue are stretched just to fill time, and i wasn’t going to continue past episode 1 out of fear of the cliche that the webtoon guy would be the endgame. BUT from the end of that episode and onward, there was something so real about this one that got me hooked (other than Ji Hun yes i need it bad). ima just say, the whole “unrequited love with your clingy adoring straight best friend who treats you like you’re his world” situation is REAL, and it’s heavy. there are some exaggerated moments and it’s obviously played for drama here, but i see so much of my own experience in this story, and it elevates Just Another KBL into something i can’t look away from, for better or worse.

Ba Woo is obnoxiously stubborn and uncommunicative, yeah, but that fear of the person he loves most leaving him because of something he can’t control (his feelings) is ever-present in his mind, so he stops it with something he can control (his words). he’s suffocating every day of his life, unable to have what he wants, and yet unable to move on from Ji Hun’s overwhelming presence. it almost seems easier to cut that person off altogether, but he enjoys having him in his life so much that he ultimately can’t follow through. the scene where he learns Ji Hun told others about his confession was really played well - it’s the moment he has to accept that he’ll never be anything other than “the best friend”, and all he can do is pretend like everything’s normal, or else he loses that too.

it might be harder to connect with the show if you haven’t had a similar experience, so i don’t blame anybody for being bored with the presentation as it is still pretty typical for the most part, but i’m finding a bittersweet satisfaction with the series so far. idk about the webtoon or whatever, i have no interest in it, but i really wanna commend whoever wrote these aspects of the script because, underneath all the silliness and filler, there is something genuinely relatable there (for the truly pathetic among us 🤷‍♂️)

imo they definitely messed up by not adopting a more serious tone, or at least a less comedic one, for something as huge as a 50th anniversary series. it feels like it’s trying to be Donbrothers without committing to the sheer insanity and creativity that made Donbrothers the breath of fresh air that it was, instead coming off as being goofy just for the sake of it. the rushing through of what should be emotional beats and impactful character moments is the other glaring flaw. there’s literally zero reason the reveal and backstory with Hoeru’s brother should have been sandwiched into one episode, other than what just seems to be incompetent writing. same goes for the episodes juggling multiple stories when they should be focusing on developing just one at a time in this early stage. this week’s episode was just embarrassing in how desperately it wanted us to care about a team dynamic among people who have barely been given any time to get to know each other; again, a great idea ruined by horribly rushed execution. I’ll keep watching for now because at least it’s entertaining and has a good concept (unlike Boonboomger), but my expectations continue to drop with every episode

EXACTLY, thank you for having common sense. these people want to cage these shows into the same little box for eternity with only minor differences between each entry, and complain when they can’t just predict the whole story from day one. I think it’s nice that this ONE series can have a different approach and not be born from the same tired cycle most kbls get looped in due to lack of creativity. “it doesn’t feel like a BL” is lowkey a compliment because there’s only a handful of kbls that actually feel any different from the swarm of paper-thin plots and cheap office settings 🤷‍♂️

it’s very easy to tell that this comment section is a bunch of fujoshis who don’t watch anything else 💀 do you think a 40+ minute show is going to focus on two characters playing “will they or won’t they” the entire time? literally no kdrama does that, not even the straight ones - there is always other stuff going on, because it’s an actual series with real thought and production value put into it, not the typical bl fan’s corny fantasy of just seeing two dudes kiss, regardless of quality. if that’s what you’re looking for, head on over to the latest in thai garbage, there’s plenty out there for you! it’s actually very refreshing to see a korean show with a gay main character (NOT bisexual, thank god) that also has an actual well-rounded cast with their own stories to tell and lives to live. i’m of the opinion that they’re stretching out the one-sided crush thing on Seungwon’s part a bit too far, but that’s not the fault of anybody else in the story receiving focus, just a flaw in the writing. yall can tolerate this ONE straight couple (who aren’t even offensive or obnoxious really) in a bl, it’s not gonna kill you

started out really fun but seriously screws the pooch in the second half. sakamoto does his thing with the fight choreography for the most part, but I feel like he was the wrong choice for directing the series as a whole… overall it’s a major disappointment for me. I’ll stick to toku that’s not adapted from manga or whatever, thanks

that doesn’t really seem like the case to me, Fujisawa clearly goes above and beyond to make Sei happy, except in the ways Sei actually wants and needs him to. buying a TV just because Sei asks for it, even tho he specifically doesn’t like having one in the house, is a good example of how eager he is to make Sei comfortable. same goes for how he personally makes sure his foot is okay even after being told it wasn’t bothering him anymore. he has his own emotional issues but certainly not to the extent of abuse. the lack of LINE or interaction with his old friends is pretty obviously Sei’s choice (he gives his friend the cold shoulder and then turns around and gives Hagiwara his phone number later), as he feels some kind of guilt or burden from being around other people after his period of depression. it’s not really implied anywhere that his solitary life is being forced upon him, at least in the content we’ve gotten so far (unless I’m missing something).

GeoSubs and IzuSubs are the main subbers rn. Geo’s are my preference, you can torrent them or if you go to Geohoagies page on wordpress you can get the episodes directly from them much easier. I think the Izu ones are also on the streaming sites like tokuzilla and tokufun

I fear even Japan might not be able to convert one of these Thai messes into something interesting…

the women in this are kinda objectively awful? sacchan is likable and quite pitiable until the second half, where she guilts kyosuke to stay in their broken sham of a relationship, only to then break his heart after he finally becomes capable of loving someone (a lifelong obstacle stemming from trauma, which she is fully aware of when she begs him to continue their relationship). this final action fully cements the utter selfishness of her character, which was already becoming more and more apparent as the series went on.
shino is pathetically passive, unless it involves seducing her unsuspecting neighbor while having total knowledge of his physically unfulfilling relationship and taking advantage of it. she sits back and does nothing while her equally pathetic husband extorts money he doesn’t need from a broke college student, even though the inciting incident for the entire series is predicated on HER selfish actions. she even gets a happy ending as her reward for ruining a young boy’s life. utterly despicable. these two lead characters end up being equally terrible in their own ways, so it’s hard to say which is worse, your mileage may vary, but right now I’m leaning towards shino.
on another note - sugawa is just judgmental and offers terrible advice throughout from an outsider’s perspective, not really having a connection to ANY characters or conflicts besides having a crush on kyosuke when they were in high school. due to her constant irrational guilt-tripping, she is perhaps the main reason why kyosuke even reconsiders getting back with sacchan after the first breakup, and thus is also at fault for his subsequent depression due to the relationship failing again. the husband character is also a total loser, but he’s more of a consequence of shino’s actions than a legitimate antagonist. the last episode is just atrocious in all aspects of the script. it’s a pretty entertaining series with tons of production value, superb direction and great acting, but the story just completely falls flat towards the end and never recovers, which is truly a shame.

perhaps the worst rider show of the modern era, easily competing with Ghost and Ex-Aid in terms of sheer soulless incompetence. there is no quality of writing or acting, and the direction is garish and oversaturated to compensate for the lack of interesting things happening in the script. emotionless, hollow, empty. completely insulting to its audience, both child and adult alike. I pray Toei learns their lesson from this one, especially with how much money they sunk into it for such diminished returns (the randomized gacha card packs carried the sales for the year, as the drivers did not do anything near what they were hoping). Gavv looks to be incredible just from the production team alone, so I’m looking forward to watching rider weekly again!

yall can never just watch or not watch a show, it’s always gotta be a warzone of inconsequential shit in the comments 😭

you definitely don’t watch enough japanese shows lol. the direction and artistic value is usually far beyond the “shot-reverse shot” filler-full dramas korea churns out, even when the budget isn’t astronomically high

this got SOOOOO fucking good after the time skip. I liked a lot of what came before but this new “season” is on another level. thankful that at least this half of Super Hero Time is watchable this year

I definitely agree, but I also know that Build is considered to be the peak for this franchise writing-wise, so imo it’s okay for other shows to not quite reach that level for a while. however, this one already being so far below the standard of even the lesser-liked series is a huge red flag. the characters have one personality trait and barely interact with each other, or even appear (houtarou’s mom and best friend got 30 seconds of screentime last episode). the chemies themselves have nothing going on other than making silly noises. the many possibilities of the high school setting are completely wasted, especially in comparison to how it was utilized in Fourze. the production is totally amateur, ranging from the acting to the choreography, and even down to basic stuff like the sound mixing. there’s so much more I could say..

unfortunately the show doesn’t seem to really care if the audience is entertained as long as they’re buying card packs. I also don’t see nearly the same amount of reactions or even as many people watching as there were during Geats. maybe this one is just kind of a stepping stone because they’re planning to put in the real effort for next year’s show (fingers crossed)

i actually liked episode 2 a lot more than the first, but it’s so obviously gonna be the same thing for at least the first half of the show. the lack of character focus in favor of these little episodic plots is really gonna kill it for me 😭 but yeah inoue would have definitely been worse, even this is more watchable than something like kiva

gorgeous leads wasted on a boring remake of some garbage thai bl 😭 at the very least, they deserved their own original series, regardless of whether it turned out bad or not