labcat

Silly humor (that some will like), but awkwardness result from censoring the BL

The translated title, "The Birth of the Drama King", seems not only inaccurate but also rather absurd. This is not unlike the series' brand of humor, especially at the start, before the story gets a tad more serious.

I actually did enjoy the ridiculous humor quite a bit, though part of it may not exactly be intentional. Take for instance the way Zhao Qing Feng is tries to follow the instructions of a self-help manual to make friends with Ji Chuan, the evil sect's leader. The book, however, is more like a book of cheesy pick-up lines. You can imagine how silly this would be in the original novel where Qing Feng is supposed to be trying to seduce Ji Chuan and not merely befriend him. However, the absurd nature of the interactions is amplified as Qing Feng uses the same sort of lines to make friends without any intention of seducing him. The censoring of the BL, in a way, made the scenes funnier.

The censored BL does make the whole series rather awkward though. Firstly, the two main characters are turned into biological brothers. Yes, not they sort who have entirely different biological parents but become brothers by the marriage between two parents. Not the "bromance" or brotherhood sort of friendship. However, the affections also seem to be more like romance than brotherhood at times, especially when intimate friendships are depicted in the series quite differently. Ji Chuan has a very close relationship with A Fu and Wei Qi too, but the dynamics are too different. To make matters worse, there are parts when the two brothers seem to be mistaken for lovers, which is quite unnecessary when the BL has been censored. For instance, when the two men wake up in the same bed after a drinking session, it should actually be something trivial--even if one of them seems to have woken up with his shirt removed, right? But, no, it's made to seem as though it's scandalous, like the sect leader has just had sex with a man.

A better way of censoring the BL would have been to leave the relationship ambiguous or turn it into bromance between friends, and avoid making the characters end up with girlfriends.

Physician Yan's presence, however, makes things interesting. No matter how many times he refers to his relationship with Ji Chuan as brotherhood, his unconcealed jealousy when he sees Ji Chuan with Qing Feng (especially when the two are caught waking up in the same bed) makes the romantic affections quite blatant.

Despite the problems, the series doesn't take itself very seriously and isn't meant to be taken seriously. It's not great, but it's still entertaining in its own way. I guess it could still have been better overall if the BL did not have to be censored.

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Not the worst ever, but really quite mediocre

This is not amongst the worst or the most incoherent series I have watched. I watched it because of the BL, and relative to the BLs being produced in 2021, it is rather mediocre.

There is something of a story--you know, there's conflict (a forgetful old lady agrees to sell her house to two different buyers at the same time), some development (the female buyer's brother and the male buyer's friend fall in love with each other at first sight, the two buyers fight each other, the old lady asks them to live with her for a week so that she can decide whom to sell the house to, the buyers fall in love) a bit of a twist (one of the buyers is offered a good deal to sell the house to another person), a rather exaggerated climax (the female buyer's brother leaves her because she tells his boyfriend to leave him) and a happy ending.

The series would have been better if it had just gone all-out nonsensical but it tries to be more serious than it should. The editing makes the story confusing. Some scenes are shown before they should (without any indication of whether it is a preview of the next episode or whether there is a flashback). To make matters worse, the BL couple is shown making one plan to get the sister to accept their relationship but somehow carries out an entirely different plan. Major issues with flow and coherence could have been avoided with a series that is so short.

In the end, the only character who is really worth watching is ............ the old lady selling the house. The lack of character development is fine because her character is the type that doesn't require it. And she's quite endearing in the way she loves her house so much she interviews the potential buyers so that she can sell it to someone who will care for the house well.

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Nicely filmed even if nothing spectacular

With only eight episodes that run barely more than ten minutes each, the story is told quite competently. There are some BLs with more and longer episodes that end up meandering around nowhere.

There is a happy ending--it is probably what most viewers want even if it is unrealistic. What happened to the parents, especially Ho Seon's father? I doubt they will let a political wedding be annulled so easily. Even if it is, another one will be arranged. In fact, in the first place, did anyone really expect Ki Wan to be able to replace his sister temporarily (how are they going to explain the totally different faces when the sister returns?) But let's not think so much about such things and enjoy the sweetness.

Since we do not expect realism anyway, I feel that the series could have gone further with the attraction between Ho Seon and Ki Wan. There are some nice moments, but I feel that the intensity of emotions and the accompanying struggles are not really portrayed for most of the episodes. I'm not one of those who complain about the lack of kissing scenes or skinship in BLs, but I find that the creators of the series seem a little too cautious about portraying the characters' love for each other. At one point, I even thought that it would be a fake BL, with Ki Wan's sister returning and becoming the real wife.

Despite the hesitation in showcasing actual BL moments, the scenes are nicely shot even with an apparently limited budget. The make-up for Ki Wan is also nicely done--it doesn't make the cross-dressing comical. Interestingly, it seems that his masculine features are accentuated more when he is dressed as a woman though it looks believable that he might be mistaken for a woman.

Ultimately, we have a simple story with some nice BL moments. It's ok enough to spend an hour and a half watching though it is unlikely to be remembered as a classic BL.

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Innocent and sweet even if it's nothing special

This series is a good example of how a BL can be average in most ways and yet still manage to be a satisfying watch. There is nothing special about the story, but at least there is coherent and properly structured story. There are three BL couples, and they get roughly equal attention. This makes Second Chance way better than some BLs with meandering plots that don't go anything and multiple couples thrown in perhaps just for the sake of attracting viewers with quantity rather than quality. Second Chance manages to do everything quite decently within just 6 episodes while some series (like Brothers, which I recently reviewed) hardly go anywhere after 10 episodes. The storytelling can be surprisingly economical without being confusing (for instance, the brief flashback to the scene when Tong Fah's father passes away).

It's very easy to like the generally innocent characters. They are young and perhaps not that mature, but they are also not silly and childish. Their insecurities and impulsivity are sensitively portrayed. The main characters may do wrong or do things they regret, but they aren't toxic characters whose toxicity somehow gets forgiven (like in Tonhon and Chonlatee)--in fact, this is why the series is about second chances. It is a story with happy endings for all the couples, but we also get the hint that second chances are not always available. I'm not too sure about the advice about love that the series dishes out (perhaps a tad too didactically) but at least it has a point.

There are series with more interesting starting points that end up failing in so many ways. This series is different. The story is standard fare that just happens to be executed quite well. It's like a simple pot of porridge that is satisfying because it is cooked well, which makes it better than some dishes that tantalize but end up disappointing because they have been marred by a bad cook.

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Quite different from Season1, for better or for worse

For anyone who is watching this after watching the first season, this may disappoint. I don't mean that Season 2 is not as good. In fact, it is a mix bag that is in some ways at least as good. Yet, many viewers may be attracted to this series because ofSeason 1, so they come to it expecting the stuff that appeal to them in the first season and become disappointed when they don't get it.

Take for instance the casting and characterization of the main characters. The actors have changed entirely and while the two main male characters remain, the female character has changed. It is perhaps less difficult to replace the role of Dr Qin because he will always be a man of few words. The actors in Season 1 and 2 give slight different vibes, but it is quite easy to see the same character in them. The character of Lin Tao, however, seems harder to replace. The second season has given the character a significant reboot. To be fair, if you watch only either Season 1 or Season 2, you may have no complaints. But if you watch both, you may find yourself preferring one over the other.

The characters' relationships also seem a little different now, and this could be a deal-breaker for fans of Season 1. In Season 1, despite the seriousness of the cases, the characters are generally more affable. In fact, Season 1 is generally a bit more light-hearted. Season 2 is darker, not really because of the crimes. Visually, the scenes really look darker in terms of hues and lighting, and the atmosphere tends to be too thick with tension, with the characters' relationship hardly having the endearing quality that is present Season 1.

If you just pretend that this isn't Season 2 but a different series with different characters, you may find that the stories of the cases are actually more compelling here. There are some flaws too. For example, the series tries to hard to lead the viewer into thinking that a particular character is the killer, Scavenger. This is so overdone that there are only two rather boring possibilities: 1. the character is indeed Scavenger (waaaay too unsurprising, given how many episodes the identity of Scavenger is not revealed), or 2. the character isn't Scavenger but inexplicably does things that give the impression that s/he is (so at least the story has a twist). If you are writing a mystery and you want to throw in a red herring, you can't make it too obvious that you are doing so.

Season 2 actually manages to be better than Season 1 in some ways, but Season 1 has the privilege of being watched by many viewers first. While those who don't like Season 1 may not even be tempted to watch Season 2 and comment, fans of Season 1 may be disappointed because of the difference rather than because of any deterioration.

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Quite a nice story

Although this series has horror elements, it doesn't go all out to be scary. I believe it will suit those who prefer milder horror. There's actually nothing very unique about the horror elements -- it's largely the same old tactics like scary make-up and sudden appearances. Some elements are not really explained as far as I can remember, such as the eye symbol and the numerous eyes on the villain's back. The demon's appearance in the last episode actually looks a little comical, and I'm not sure why it doesn't just keep on using the face of the man it has possessed given that it is still in the body. I find the humorous moments in the series more entertaining, than the horror. This may be a good thing as the series has many elements of a crowd pleaser, from horror to humor and romance and touching drama. Too much horror may put off some people.

Some narrative threads could have been better developed. The male protagonist's mother is supposed to have created two bracelets, one to protect him and another one to kill the demon. However, it seems to need additional explanation. If the mother is such a powerful exorcist, she could have killed the demon herself. (Instead, she is killed by the demon when the protagonist is still a kid.) The bracelet is kept by her husband, it seems, who then seems to be on the run from the demon because he doesn't want the demon to land his hands on the bracelet that can kill him. Dude, maybe you should put the bracelet to good use for once? It appears that the demon has possessed a human being and this prevents the bracelet from having an effect on him, so the characters can only try to avoid the demon while he is in the man's body. Yet, we also see that in the final episode, it isn't altogether impossible to force the demon out of the man and kill him with the bracelet. So perhaps all the evildoings of the demon could have been prevented.

Despite its flaw, the series does manage to be rather good entertainment. Numwan, the villain's girlfriend, can be an intriguing character even though it seems that the writers do not really know what to do with her in the second half of the series.Junior (one of the guys who is aspiring to find fame by catching a ghost on camera) can be rather annoying but he is annoying in the sense that one would not want to meet someone like him in real life, but it can be fun watching the nonsense he is up to in a series.

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Typical BL that is quite nicely produced

I actually like the series but I find it hard to pinpoint what I like about it.

WBL No. 1 for You and WBL Fighting Mr 2nd seem to work better as a single series than divided into 2 parts. Breaking the story up into two (or more?) parts has resulted in some unevenness.

In No. 1 for You, the ending is a little rushed and some things feel unaccounted for. The basic trajectory of the story is also not altogether original, though it probably belongs to the sort of storyline that will always have a place in love stories: someone with one-sided love pinning for another person. How good the story is, then, depends on the characters and how movingly the story is told.

In this case, Gao Shi De's one-sided love is quite moving as we look at the little things he does for Zhou Shu Yi and the back story of how he falls in love with Shu Yi.

WBL: No. 1 for You falls very much in the safe terrain of BLs: the characters are young university students, the love is innocent, there is a lot of cuteness even as we feel bad for Shi De because of his one-sided longing for someone who regards him as a competitor. Perhaps it is sufficiently light-hearted because we are likely familiar with the genre: the one-sided love will be reciprocated at some point. Yet, it is also after the couple become boyfriends that the story becomes a little weaker. It seems to be leading somewhere but it doesn't get anywhere by Episode 6, the last episode. It does get somewhere in Fighting Mr 2nd, but that's also why it's hard to take No. 1 for You as a standalone series.

While the of No. 1 for You isn't very adventurous and doesn't stretch the limits of the BL genre, the telling of the story and the acting are quite good, making it quite a good BL to watch. At first, I found the way the actor for Zhou Shu Yi speaks a little odd. However, his acting is quite on point and I realize that he's half Japanese, so Mandarin may not be his best language. (The character has a similar background, so I guess it all works in the end.)

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Schizophrenic series that tries to be so many different things, sometimes succeeding

What a mix of genres we have in this series. Perhaps we can call it a sports (e-sports) drama since it is focused on competitive gamers, but I'm not sure how accurately it depicts the sport. The series is also a youth drama that seems to be encouraging young people to follow their dreams and persevere despite the odds. Yet, it also has an important sci-fi-ish inter-era communication element (not time travel, the main character clarifies, presumably for the benefit of censors): a main character from 2019 manages to communicate with someone in 2008. The even has a crime element to it.

The motivational moments are not really badly done, but they can get a little too heavy at times, even reeking of unabashed patriotism and propaganda. I am not into gaming, and, for me, the game scenes are a little too prolonged at times. They work best when they are meant to reflect the relationships and feelings of the characters outside the game. Don't worry that the scenes would look like recordings of games though. Drama series conventions have it that world of the games in the story feature the actors of the characters in their respective gaming roles,

The part of the series that keeps me watching is the inter-era communication element. It may not be the most fascinating concept ever, but the series manages to use it well, starting with the 2019 character trying to save his brother by getting his 2008 friend to prevent an accident. It takes quite a few episode before this inter-era communication thing gets really interesting, however, because the series tries to be so many things at once.

The youth/gaming drama parts are, to me, less interesting, but this is somewhat compensated for by some nice characterisation and the development of the characters' relationships. The 2019 Xiaobei and his relationships with his brother and parents are movingly depicted without being sappy. The unity and tensions of the gaming teams are also nicely portrayed. There is even a bizarre comic scene involving a character who is sent to a fake rehabilitation center by his family--his teammates try to rescue him and chaos ensue in the center. The rescue mission is filmed by the game scenes, with the characters having different weapons and fighting one another.

Coming of age woes, the struggle for recognition, parental disapproval, romance, bromance, time "travel" .... This series seems to have everything. But I think the narrative would be tighter with a focus on the inter-era communication storyline. The gaming parts can be toned down. To be fair, the story is relatively coherent despite a few inconsistencies and plot holes, but the quality is not that consistent. Or at least it cannot be everyone's cup of tea for everything it tries to be. (I don't usually care about the numbers when I review, but I would give the parts I like at least an 8/10 overall, but the other parts perhaps a 7 - 7.5/10.)

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Rather underwhelming whether as BL or as horror

I first started watching this because it was marketed as BL with an element of horror. I don't particularly enjoy horror as a genre, but BL with horror sounded like something unusual. The setting is in an isolated compound where something bad has happened a couple of years ago. A batch of student athletes are going there for a camp, and they encounter some hauntings (what else).

Unfortunately, the series is rather bland both as BL and as horror.

The BL elements are rather thin. There are actually two BL couples except that their love is revealed rather late in the series and not really focused on. For one of them, the one-sided love is rather suddenly reciprocated as one character kind of suddenly realizes that he is gay and in love with the guy who has confessed his love for him.

As horror, there is hardly anything but a few typical horror scenes. It's rather obvious that the haunting is not done by the ghost everyone thinks is responsible for it, but it is made to seem as though there is a big twist when this is revealed.

Some of the characters, like the director and his daughter, are rather inconsistent and merely seem to serve the situations the writer has come up with.

After trying to make the back stories of what happened a couple of years ago in the camp compound a big mystery for most of the episodes, the revelations (not that many) are rather underwhelming. The ghost problem also become resolved too easily, as though the writer suddenly realized that s/he has got to the last episode already.

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Anarchic comedy with some mystery

As a comedy, this movie has several hilarious, if not altogether original, scenes, including one in which the Tang Ren wreaks havoc in a police station to distract the police officers so that his partner can access some information.

There is no gripping mystery but the revelations towards the end of the movie are clever. The main character, an inept or even fake detective, is made the scapegoat of a murder and gold theft. Cops and thugs are both after him. Thankfully, a relative visiting him turns out to be very good at sleuthing.

The movie is most enjoyable as a comedy that makes use of some elements of the detective genre. If you are expecting a solid whodunit, this isn't going to satisfy you. But if you like anarchic comedy that borders on or is downright ridiculous, this is a pretty good one.

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Nothing special but sweet

There is nothing about this movie that makes it stand out amongst other BL series or movies. It is sweet, but not so sweet that you really want more.

Two young neighbors fall in love. There isn't really much tension except for a minor misunderstanding between them and one of them having issues with his parents planning his life for him. Both problems are quickly solved. It's at least ok to watch if you are in the mood for something light, but it also doesn't really have an interesting fictional world to draw you into if you are in an escapist mood.

Still, the movie is decently produced. There's nothing fanciful about the cinematography or editing, these aspects of the movie are fine enough to enable one to enjoy the simple story. Perhaps the dialogue could have been scripted to make things more interesting or moving though.

This is a movie that doesn't try too hard to be anything, and that's both its strength and weakness because we don't end up with something pretentious but we also don't end up with anything that makes you wish there were more shows like it. A few years ago when the market wasn't so full of BLs, a movie like that would have attracted more attention.

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More like Episode 11 than "another story"

This is more like an ending for the original series.

The original ten-episode series ends with Himura seeming to have perished with the cult leader, but at the very end, someone turns up at the landlady's house (possibly Himura).

"Another Story" reveals that the person who turns up at the landlady's house is indeed Himura. He has not died, and neither has the cult leader.

However, "Another Story" doesn't continue the story about the cult leader. Instead, it contains a flashback to Himura and Alice's university days. The case Himura solves is one related to the death of a singer. It gives the impression that another case is added in because it isn't enough to show that Himura has not died. "Another Story" isn't any more interesting than the rest of the cases in the original series. Neither does it offer proper closure apart from revealing that Himura has not died--the cult leader is still alive too and it is suggested that she will continue to be an antagonist.

This is OK as an unofficial Episode 11, but don't expect it to bring the series to a new height.

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A few nice cases with some bromance

This detective series doesn't start off with very interesting cases, but the cases do get more intriguing after one gets past the first few episodes.

As a detective series, it is at least passable. It doesn't try too hard to do something original or have really unexpected twists. However, most of the cases are at least interesting enough to follow. A couple of cases (the teenage killer and the cult leader cases) start from early in the series, perhaps in unsophisticated attempt at creating a sense of connection. However, the cuts to the teenage killer and the cult leader can be somewhat disorienting without really being suspenseful. (On the other hand, especially for the case of the cult leader, it may be difficult to finish the cases quickly if they crop up only in the later episodes.)

The series has a rather nice old-school feel in terms of the setting. The Sherlock Holmes and Watson references add on to this feel. The series is a sort of homage to Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, complete with an equivalent of Moriarty. The equivalent of the Moriarty in the cult leader, however, may just be a little too much of a challenge for one's suspension of disbelief. The effect that she has on people seems a tad exaggerated, and we also don't really know what the cult is all about besides some references to a belief in some utopia.

The bromance between Detective Himura and the novelist, Alice / Arisu, is endearing despite not being the focus most of the time. At some points, it even has hints of romance rather than bromance (though the lines are often blur in other series anyway)--in one scene, the landlady even hints to everyone that they should leave Himura and Alice alone and not play gooseberry, and no one seems surprised. The real surprise is that the series actually does bromance better than some series that bait BL fans only to turn the characters' relationships into rather bland instances of bromance.

This series isn't groundbreaking contribution to the detective/whodunit genre, but it isn't disappointing either.

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Not bad, but the ending isn't going to please everyone

Verdict after watching the entire series:

When the series started, everyone was kept wondering if the series would be BL or have a true BL element. By the end of the series, the answer is halfway between a yes and a no.

So the Way/Kim ship really did materialise in the sense that they do turn out to have affections for each other. However, in a modification of the body swap concept, Kim does not really swap bodies with Pan--it's Pan switching between two bodies, and Kim has actually died. Like the characters, we realise in retrospect that Way and Kim do love each other, but nothing really comes out of this because Kim has died.

To be sure, the ending isn't exactly Make-Our-Days-Count sort of awful, it still doesn't sit that well in a series that has spent most episodes being really fun and lighthearted. To its credit, the ending doesn't is not made to seem all that sad, but it is not really a great twist that Kim is actually supposed to die from the start. Also, everything about his affection for Way is inferred by his past actions, and we don't get to see Kim expressing his love for Way. (Couldn't there have been a couple of flashbacks to the time before Kim dies? E.g. how about a flashback to the time he booked the air tickets and wrote #waykimforever on them?)

Yes, I do get it that there is supposedly some deeper message about treasuring today (not unlike MODC), but is this really the sort of message that will be delivered with impact in this series? In the end, the most interesting thing I can imagine the series doing is to make fun of such messages, like how it good-naturedly makes fun of (or at least have fun with) concepts like body-swapping, BL shipping, etc.

The BL element aside, the Pan/Khet story is cute, with Ohm delivering a show-stealing performance as Khet despite not having exactly a meaty role to play. Khet is the most consistent and believable character in the series whereas something doesn't quite add up with the character of Kim despite all the interesting twists.

I actually think the series has the potential to be a classic if it has a better ending. Even if it turns out that Kim's soul has been trapped somewhere and only returns to his body at the last minute, it will be better than the somewhat affected delivering of some "deep message". I see speculations that there could be a Season 2 with Kim not dying--who knows? It would be hard because Kim's body is either buried or cremated since there's a funeral for him. A further twist is likely to stretch the limits of believability too much or invalidate the good ending for Pan/Khet. (But if you see my comments for Episodes 10-12 below, you will notice that the series does tease us with the possibility of a Season 2.)

Comments after Watching Episodes 1-3

Pan fantasizes and writes BL about her seniors, Way and Kim. Way has a girlfriend PhingPhing, but Pan (as well as her friend, Soda) doesn't care.

I have never watched a series with so many possible ships starting from the first episode. (This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it will likely prevent the series from being good BL if it even turns out to have actual BL relationships, so hardcore BL fans may not want to watch it so quickly.)

There is, of course, the ship of Pan and Soda's fantasies: Way and Kim. Despite the fact that Way has a girlfriend, it is not impossible. (We know how it goes in BL--even two apparently straight guys can fall in love.) There is an undeniably close bond between them: Kim (a star student) threatens to quit school if Way is expelled, Way hugs Kim in concern after an accident, and Kim is conspicuously chill when Pan tells him that she has been shipping him with way. Kim guesses correctly that Pan likes Way very soon after meeting her--perhaps they connect because they have something in common: they like Way and want him to be with someone worthy of him.

But if Way and Kim don't turn out to be a real ship, there are other possibilities:
1. Pan and Khet (her classmate, who happens to be Kim's younger brother): Khet is clearly very concerned about Pan.
2. Pan and Kim: the way Pan holds on to him during the bike ride, and the way Kim treats her gently is a hint.
3. Pan and Way: Pan admits to liking way though she fantasizes about Way and Kim.
4. The series even goes to the extent of having a teasing moments between Kim and Khet. They are supposed to be brothers, but Kim doesn't talk to Khet. It is unlikely, but they could well turn out to be those "brothers" who have entirely different biological parents (think: My Bromance).

In fact, Way and PhingPhing, the only real couple so far, appears likely to break up because PhingPhing is a pretentious and awful bitch (and we know how that usually goes).

BL fans who can't take BL baiting should remember that the title of the series is The Shipper, which most likely refers to Pan. If she is the focal point, its likely that her relationships will be the focus. On the other hand, Pan seems to be spending so much time in Kim's body that the actress for Pan seems to be playing a much more minor role. For better or for worse, what GMMTV has done very well so far is to tease and keep us guessing.

Nevertheless, what I really like so far is Ohm as Khet. Ohm seems to have the ability to play intriguing characters who are not the focal main characters but still steal the show from everyone else. Khet's relationships with Pan and his relationship with Kim are rather intriguing. By the end of Episode 3, I'm more interested in Khet than in Kim and Pan (we see mostly Pan in Kim's body) and even Way (too little is revealed about way so far, but this is likely to improve).

Comments after Watching Episodes 4-8
The series keeps teasing us with more possible ships, including Pan/Soda and even Khet/Way. But the ones we really want to take seriously are probably Pan/Khet (rather than Pan/Way) and Way/Kim.

The number of possible ships is either the most exhilarating thing or the most frustrating thing. Perhaps both--the series is light and funny, but it's probably not the greatest love story ever.

One twist that is keeping everyone in suspense is the revelation that Kim to be a terrible person (secretly dating a teacher and stealing exam questions through her). Is he really such a bad person? The unfortunate thing is there is not enough of First as Kim. Pan is no doubt the main character, but First gets the important role of Pan in Kim's body.

Ohm continues to shine in the episodes.

Comments after Watching Episode 9
The Way/Kim ship seems to be sailing, though it might well be a false start. It's entirely possible that Kim doesn't turn out to be a terrible person and the Kim/Way ship works out together with the Pan/Khet ship, but who knows?

I'm not going to like it too much if Khet falls in love with someone else because if anyone is in love from the start, it's him. If he doesn't end up with Pan, it will be sad. If he falls in love with someone else, it will seem out of character.

(Irrelevant: Episode 9 is also the episode in which everyone can get jealous of the Angel of Death who gets to kiss Ohm.)

Comments after Watching Episode 10-12
Watchable, but Episode 12 is somewhat disappointing, not least because Kim does not have a chance to come back to life. The "deeper messages" that the series supposedly conveys are undermined by the story itself. If we are meant to understand that reality is different from fiction, why do Pan and Soda continue writing (by all appearances happy) BL fiction to console Way? If happy BL fiction serves a function, why not give the series a happy BL ending too?

One way to get past this is to understand that the series isn't even trying to convey these deeper messages but is simply making fun of shows with such messages. After all, quite characteristically, Episode 12 teases us right at the end with a very brief scene (after the closing credits) of Kim in the spiritual world and a voice (God?) speaking to him. This is most obviously a way of suggesting a Season 2 and the possibility a different ending for Way/Kim. There's no indication of which part of the chronology of The Shipper this brief scene is supposed to belong to, however. I recall Way making a wish for Pan in church, asking Kim to help Pan by making a heads-or-tails bet with a coin. The coin magically flips: is it Kim blessing Pan from the other world or is it a conspicuously absent God doing something to help?

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This is a mini series with about 20 minutes per episode, so we can't expect a very complex story. The series starts with Time shooting Night by accident and then trying to make amends for it. It's a BL series of sorts, so not unexpectedly, they fall in love. The part about the shooting is ignored until the very end of the series.

There are quite a number of inexplicable moments in the story: what on earth is Time doing with a gun? Why doesn't Time seem scared of being caught by the police at any point in the story? Why does Time suddenly leave Night and asks his girlfriend/ex-girlfriend to meet him?

Then just after I have managed to suspend my disbelief about how Time can get away with possessing a gun and shooting someone and embrace the happy ending, Time is suddenly caught by the police in the ending sequence, almost as if the scriptwriters suddenly thought, "Hey, we forgot to follow up on the shooting incident. Let's use it to create an unhappy ending because we hate the viewers!"

On top of the sudden turn that ends the series, the cinematography is rather strange. The arrest of Time is filmed from a distance without any dialogue. We can guess the emotions of the characters, but why film it from so far away? (Incidentally, there were some scenes where the close-ups were not very helpful.) One wonders if it is because of a lack of faith in the actors' acting. Oak, who plays Night, delivers his role competently enough. The shyness he exudes as Night is endearing if somewhat exaggerated, and it would have been interesting to see how he would act in the final scene.

I think the strongest flaw in the series is the failure to make the shooting incident something that lingers in the background. Time's friends could have mentioned that the police are looking for him, and Night could have at least shown some concern about whether Time would be arrested. Alternatively, the writers could simply have opted for an alternative story and happy ending that renders the shooting incident unnecessary. An alternative story could have Time injuring Night by accident: the rest of the story can still make sense with minor tweaks and the story can end with a happy ending after Night gives Time a watch. This alternative story may have nothing interesting, but the actual story isn't actually any better and at least the alternative story would have more coherence and a crowd-pleasing happy ending.

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