kilthane

yeah that was my thought too, like obviously his acting was bad, but the production team failed HIM first. filming in that same flat, uninteresting way without any different angles or takes to use for cuts/edits made it so that all the audience can see is a very inexperienced young actor struggling to get through a difficult scene without any help. it’s almost as if they did it to embarrass him, because there’s no way the people behind the camera weren’t laughing or at least thinking to themselves how bad it was. sadly, this scene and the episode are just another glaring incident in one of the most ridiculously amateur productions i think i’ve ever seen.

totally agree, it did feel like those scenes went on for quite a while without anything actually.. happening in them? the longer episode runtime is a blessing, for sure, but it can also be a detriment in the hands of writers who don’t know what to do with it. hoping they improve on this aspect as they go along!

that first scene with the sunlight coming through the bedroom window was really promising visually but it quickly turned into the typical boring shot-reverse shot kdrama style of filming 😭 the script also seems to meander a little bit when it should be starting a lot stronger, but other than that it’s interesting to watch and the actors definitely seem to be having fun. the show has a real personality and actual good audio (!), which are two things these kbls rarely ever have. i’m looking forward to the rest!

exactly! I agree with almost all of this. so glad someone else is watching critically and not just as part of the “boys kissing = good” crowd

this random plot about trying to get the boss fired is especially awful.. like, think about it. what real motivation does ren have to do this wannabe espionage act? at what point in the show was this man properly established as an antagonist and not just a minor nuisance? what does this have to do with any character we (‘re supposed to) care about? it feels EXACTLY like a kbl, where they always throw in these garbage subplots about forced office drama to fill time because they only have about four episodes worth of content written for their actual main characters. it’s pathetic. and that’s even before getting into how utterly terrible the direction is, making 20 minute episodes feel like an hour, and never immersing its audience in its paper-thin world. I thought I could stick it out and finish it but I might have to drop it, at least until it’s over 💀

review bombing mydramalist of all places is genuinely embarrassing 😭 yall gotta find something in life outside of the internet

don’t watch it then 😭

I’m not surprised but I’m also very sure other people’s reasons for giving lower ratings are different from mine. just going off of the comments so far, the mdl users who are watching seem to care more about superficial aspects such as the child actors or whether they personally like what happened in the episode, as opposed to the show’s actual quality. I personally find the writing/directing/editing/some of the acting to be stiff and far below japan’s usual standards, so I can’t give it a good rating unless these things greatly improve, but I am genuinely enjoying the unique interactions between the two leads and am curious to see where their story ends up. it may not be what I consider ~good~, but it is keeping me invested at the very least. sorry for hopping on your comment, I’m glad you are enjoying it!

oh we are back.. WE ARE SO BACK. this first episode was brimming with the same fun and personality of the first season, just turned up even higher. I am locked in for another season of peak television, while the mdl peanut gallery continues to fume at a show that actually has, like. a story. good direction. good acting. and shit going on other than cringey bad dialogue and forced bed scenes. if yall are gonna be this annoying the whole 12 episodes maybe you should just go watch the latest nothingburger taiwan cooked up this week instead 😭

easily the worst season of the show, despite having arguably the best-looking male leads so far. the last episode features perhaps one of the most unlikable characters in all of media, just selfish and insufferable to no end. the writing is garbage but the production team popped off on the visuals

the song is “One Day” by Kazuki Hayashi from Doberman Infinity

every single thing they said just kept blowing my mind in succession, like.. proudly proclaiming yourself as a pedophile in the mydramalist comments section is crazy 😭

even japan’s mids are better than a lot of these other countries’ “bests”.. the script took a noticeable dive during the last few episodes but the excellent production keeps the whole thing watchable. making scenes of people cooking and talking about food, which should be boring, into a genuinely entertaining centerpiece of a series is nothing short of masterful. I definitely understand the criticisms and there are some major things that really should have been done differently, but I’d rather have more of these series with clear love and care put into them than most of the ones coming out of thailand/taiwan/korea that are just blatant excuses for fujoshi bait. kondo shori you WILL be famous

there is no such thing as a “consensual experience” between a 40 year old and a child 😭 dude you’re a victim

that sounds a lot like what I was expecting from this one 😅 I’ll definitely give it a try soon

I’ve always heard about that one but never got around to it, I’ll have to try it soon. thank you for the recommendation!

oh yeah definitely, it should NOT be a pick-and-choose situation, especially considering how many of these are coming out that just end up recycling a lot of the same issues from each other. when it comes to the obvious lack of intimacy, at least for the kbls, I feel like the female-led productions are much more willing to portray actual gay stuff, with the exception of like Eighth Sense and a few others (Love Mate is also an interesting example of the production putting a lot of effort into showcasing intimate kissing scenes, but then the actors just weren’t that good at it, despite how hard they were trying). I agree with the ways they try to obscure the kiss being cowardly - it’s so transparent when the people in charge have an agenda or are half-assing it. I really hope people start to blame the producers more often for what is obviously their choice because the normal actors are getting the same kind of bad kiss scenes the idols are.

I honestly didn’t have a problem with the leads here at all, I feel like I could watch them develop their relationship if they changed a lot of the other stuff up. I hope you continue to enjoy watching it!

idk I think the reason I liked ASTCO so much is because my expectations weren’t very high from the moment they announced it, and watching it I was genuinely surprised at how good the dialogue and direction and relationship progression was. I do see why some people dislike it but I enjoyed it (minus that obviously tacked on last minute “finale”)

I haven’t figured out how to make a list on the app (💀) but Blueming would absolutely be on a favorites list of mine. that one is still a big barrier for these other shows to clear, and most haven’t reached that level for me. that color grading alone was to die for! I’m already on board with your taste ✋

also wanna mention that plenty of straight kdramas have awkward/stiff kisses, but you’ll almost never hear about that when people discuss them because they enjoyed the story and the production. this kind of conversation topic only seems to be so prominent when it comes to these shows, I wonder why? 😶

if i’m being honest, the kissing is perhaps the least important part of these shows when you’re talking from a production standpoint. take thailand, as you mentioned - tons of kissing or sex scenes but the stories and direction are almost always pure garbage, only appealing to the most devoted of bl fans who just want to see men touch each other onscreen. you can have a fantastically written series with gorgeous cinematography and genuine intimacy between the characters while still having a less than satisfying final-episode makeout scene. I like seeing a good kiss too, but I’d rather have 6-8 episodes of thoughtful writing and entertaining scenes with an okay kiss somewhere in between, than 10 episodes of nothing happening and then maybe a good kiss at the end, which is what at least half of the kbls to date have been (although most of them are the dead fish type, so they don’t really have that going for them?)

I mentioned japan because 9 times out of 10 they’ve knocked it out of the park with their bls the last few years, because they actually seem to care what they’re producing. regardless of whether you personally enjoyed them or not, the productions themselves are usually well-done and not just full of filler scenes to pad out their runtime + then rushing everything at the end because of poor scripting. korea is unfortunately still in an awkward hit-or-miss stage, despite having released quite a few more of these shows than japan at this point. using Love Tractor as an example, I did not see anything that grabbed me or made me want to see more, other than they’re better at moving the camera this time around, in my opinion. for me, everything about it seems to point to a weak setting and goofy side characters and bland humor and an uneven tone, and that’s not really something I’m excited by, so I won’t waste time on it in hopes that it gets interesting at some point.

I just want them to TRY, if that makes sense. the reasons the good ones are good and stand out among the rest is not just because of their initial concepts, but because the writers and crew all did their best to make something worth watching. I think the idol stunt casting isn’t the best idea if they’re being held back from doing certain things by their company but honestly I’ve enjoyed stuff like A Shoulder to Cry On and Semantic Error far more than most of the shows with “real” actors 💀

yeah ima have to try this one again after most of the episodes have aired and there are some clips of the good parts floating around (if any) because these first couple eps were like the opposite of entertainment to me 🥴 the sad part is, even tho the concept is uninteresting and the story doesn’t seem to have much going on, japan absolutely would have executed the whole thing much better