kilthane

yall really do unironically think the actors are the ones in charge of these shows… as if they’re in the audition room going “if you cast me, I will only slightly touch lips for any kissing scenes and you also have to film them from an obscure angle so the audience can’t really tell” 😭 grow up

first impression: the first episode fails on every level, for me. shows like this with limited runtimes need to get to the point and focus on developing the characters with good dialogue and meaningful interactions, and this did none of that. I’ll never understand the kdrama thing of wasting time on schoolwork/officework filler when there’s just so much more you can do with your scenes. the blatant product placement is kinda crazy since it doesn’t seem like the money went toward anything tangible. the leads also don’t work for me at all; in a show with better writing and directing the actors’ visuals are usually the least of my concerns, but here there’s nothing to keep me interested so I start thinking about how it could have been more watchable with better-looking actors who share real chemistry. I might try to continue watching later if I’m in a “any bl will do” mood but for now it’s a drop

this story definitely felt like one made for those 15-20 minute episode bls but just stretched out to hit a time quota.. like you can easily cut out a third of the runtime and not lose anything of substance (The Eighth Sense kinda suffered from this a little bit too but that show also had SO much more going for it to justify the longer runtime). 8 episodes with less scene filler + a tighter script, and a proper storyline for the much more interesting side couple and this could easily have been a top contender imo

a whole review for a show you didn’t finish that only focuses on one aspect of the plot you didn’t like.. girl get a hobby 😭

why did this immediately get good as fuck after such an abysmal first episode? i’m happy that my initial impression was wrong! after that episode, there’s been no annoying side characters, bad dialogue or boring workplace scenes to pad out the runtime… it’s so refreshing for one of these shows to abandon the usual pointless filler and actually get better as it goes along. it’s tropey but unique at the same time. hoping it sticks the landing!

regardless of how you feel about the story or the characters, you gotta admit the show is at least visually competent. there’s some genuinely nice shot composition to be found here, with ample attention paid to proper lighting and color grading (for the most part). almost none of that flat, lifeless, boring, overly filtered “point and shoot -> closeup -> repeat” structure nearly every kbl has had to date. this obvious level of care in the production goes a long way in keeping me at least moderately engrossed in what’s happening on screen, regardless of whatever is going on in the plot (for the record, the story isn’t bad at all imo it just needs a little more focus. definitely would have been better as a movie)

for me, it’s not even the “toxic” behavior or whatever that make it bad, it’s just so flat and uninteresting. kbls as a whole are already stuck in a repetitive loop, barely breaking from this rigid plot structure with only a few exceptions, which is sad for a part of the drama industry that’s relatively new and has so much room for creativity. we’ve basically already seen this one, so there’s no real point to sitting through the whole show, regardless of how short the episodes are. and again, Our Dating Sim absolutely crushed it with the same amount of runtime, budget, etc. because the writers and production crew visibly cared about what they were doing. i’ll wait till something good comes out and hope that the other people here don’t force themselves to watch something they’re clearly not enjoying just cause it’s a bl

i guess we’re back to these boring uncreative one-note shows again.. i barely managed to stay awake through the first episode. it seems the studio put all their effort into Our Dating Sim and gave this one the typical kbl leftovers

yeah exactly, i would probably agree with it if they had actually done anything serious or harmful. but the pearl clutching over the profession of someone who one member was having relations with is not, and will never be, a valid reason to ruin a group’s image and their likely last chance in the industry. the last person they kicked out over fear of the slightest pushback was the guy from 24:00, who had his own receipts and everything but still left to keep the show’s image clean (or was probably forced out, if we’re going by this latest development). the “punish first and ask questions later” mentality with these companies has got to stop.

with team 23:00 being unnecessarily forced off the show, i will no longer be watching. they weren’t even the main group i was watching for, but after this latest performative nonsense by jtbc, i cannot continue to support a show that keeps tossing away its participants like garbage over the most miniscule of reasons. they JUST pulled something like this a week or two ago. it’s embarrassing

imagine how fantastic this would have been without the female lead and the forced romance and the pointless “go our separate ways” plot shoved in at the end.. real 8loomys will agree!

this was disappointingly toothless.. i guess you only get mean when it comes to females decades younger than you enjoying a tv show on the internet? 😕

you are too old to be camped out in these comment sections on the daily 😭 i’m sure there’s a club bathroom gloryhole somewhere you could keep in service that would be more productive than whatever this routine is!

his old ass be on every bl comment section arguing with random people about anything that comes to mind, just ignore it 😭

that first episode went so fucking hard?! interesting story from jump, actual camerawork, no bad dialogue or unnecessary scenes, surprisingly good acting.. this is just my early impression but if the series maintains this level of quality all the way through it could easily be a top 10 contender. this is the kind of stuff korea should be putting out on a regular basis, instead of all those 10 minute filler shows which seem to be written by robots. japan isn’t scared but they’re shaking a little

characters in-and-out of human form not inhabiting a real physical space while they interact with each other is beyond boring. more of the action scenes will likely take place in outside locations down the line but for right now the show mostly takes place in a single circular room of LED screens with no depth or tangiblity, like how most recent hollywood movies look

finally, one with some effort put into it! i’m eagerly anticipating the next episodes

jbls all being different with unique concepts and stories and execution while kbls are mostly all the same exact boring thing but JAPAN’s the one that lost its mojo oh okay we see you! 👍

hopefully the over-reliance on cgi and fake backgrounds starts to ease up over the next few episodes. it felt like watching a marvel movie, just people standing in front of a screen interacting with nothing - basically the antithesis of tokusatsu. what’s the point of a bigger budget if the final product looks bad 😕

I do agree with the budget thing to an extent, because a lot of these productions have been visibly and audibly on par with the average youtube video, but it doesn’t take a lot of money to write something with substance or emotion, or to point the camera a different way. All The Liquors, in particular, doesn’t seem to be as down bad financially as many of the previous productions were, but all of the other usual issues are already noticeable. I hope they start hiring more competent people for the basic production stuff because I know that would make a huge difference, regardless of the quality of actors or how faithful they are to a source.

and I’m genuinely really glad you’re enjoying it! hopefully the korean production companies start looking at shows like Jack o'Frost or other jbls for examples of the hits they could be creating 🤗 I’ve seen all the ones you listed and I think those are great examples too