labcat

This 2-episode "series" (actually more like a short movie) is for fans of Mean/Plan coupling who can't get enough of them.

The background: Many fans of Love by Chance (Season 1) lament the lack of a happy ending for Tin/Can. (They do have a happy ending in the original story, but we will have to wait until Season 2, if it gets made and has a Tin/Can focus.) So many were pleasantly surprised by ReminderS, which features Mean and Plan as a couple reminiscent of Tin/Can and this couple has a happy ending.

ReminderS turned out to be fairly enjoyable because the other couples have a stronger story behind them, e.g. in the Son/Pin pairing, Son learns to play the guitar to give Pin a birthday surprise, but this causes Pin to be mistaken that Son is two-timing him. While there are plenty of comic effects, the seriousness of the emotions are genuine enough to be taken seriously.

This is where 2Wish fails. Already, Two/Wish was the couple with the weakest story in ReminderS. 2Wish is a sequel focusing on this couple. The weakness of the story could have been salvaged in 2Wish with a better script. Unfortunately, while things get a bit more intense towards the last ten minutes or so, the are too many missed opportunities. Instead of showing meaningless scenes of the couple cleaning the house or introducing a practically irrelevant side character like Art, the motivations and struggles of Two could have been given more focus. In this regard, the character of Wish is handled a bit better, with him turning from someone who can't cook to someone who would make meals for his boyfriend out of love (unfortunately, even this comes across as being rather random).

In the end, the viewer is left nonplussed by Wish's behavior--what is he really so upset about, and the reconciliation between the couple seems rushed.

There's quite a bit of sweetness that could have been satisfying for BL or Mean/Plan fans if only the characters have been developed as characters viewers actually care about.

Read More

Cute and nicely made with a bit of unfulfilled potential

Semantic Error is nicely produced. There isn't much that is original about this BL, be it the enemies-to-lovers plot, the 'opposites attract' sort of romance or the problem that one party is going overseas. However, the production value is high and the computing metaphor is nicely sustained throughout.

There is nice attention to detail. I like how Sang Woo's costume changes reflect the changes in his personality, like how he stops wearing checkered shirts and then stops wearing a cap everywhere. And while the enemies-to-lovers plot may have at least one party being rather toxic, in this case, they are mostly just being childish.

While the series has been very well received, I somehow find that an additional something could have brought it to greater heights. The BL couple is likable; they look cute together and the kissing scenes are nicely shot. Yet, I can't help but feel that something more could be done about the depth of their love. We see them thinking about each other and pining for each other after they have a fight, but perhaps the complexity of each of their feelings could have been more strongly depicted. And I'm not talking about the introduction of passionate sex scenes or things like that. But when Jae Young gives Sang Woo a birthday present, for instance, perhaps the process of how he prepares the present could have been shown to show how much he really cares. Sometimes the scenes that do help to show their feelings are a little too brief. The symbolic significance of the scene in which Sang Woo looks at a picture Jae Young has drawn on his hand could have been explored more deeply. It could show Sang Woo's sadness when he thinks that Jae Young is disappearing from his life. It could also show how Sang Woo is being wistful thinking about how quickly the time he spends with Jae Young has passed although Jae Young has been a nuisance to him at first. Of course, it can also show that he is thinking of how they won't last long as a couple even if they start a relationship. Unfortunately, the scene is a little too brief to really help explore Sang Woo's thoughts and emotions fully.

The characters are people who are easy to like and care about, which is always a good thing for a BL series. However, I think I could have felt more for them if the full potential of the scenes had been fulfilled.

Read More

Excellent intertwining of mystery and romance

In case anyone is wondering, the reason this series has an 18+ warning has (probably) got nothing to do with the BL elements but everything to do with the crimes depicted, which are pretty dark and involve sexual exploitation, including the exploitation of underage people.

I believe there are many BL fans who are drawn to the series because of the promise of BL. Personally, I was somewhat unsure about it (as someone who watches a lot of BL) because the the crime/thriller story in the synopsis doesn't seem to cohere well with the BL genre, but I was pleasantly surprised to see how nicely the main characters' romance is woven into the story involving some rather heinous crimes.

We can perhaps see this series as a thriller with romance in it, like many series that focus on straight relationships instead of a gay relationship. This story happens to feature a gay romance, but perhaps the "BL" label shouldn't be used here. I personally think that not every story with a gay romance in the main plot is BL, which is a genre that has certain quirks. If you are looking for a series that is largely focused on the love between them like many other purely BL series, you are better off watching something else. Nevertheless,, this series has a prominent romance narrative thread that is nicely intertwined with the narrative involving various murders.

The relationship between Tan and Bun (played by Max and Tul) is beautifully developed. The mutual attraction between them from the start is nicely portrayed, with Bun barely able to conceal his disappointment when he thinks that Tan is his female friend's boyfriend. Yet, despite his attraction to Tan, Bun is unable to trust him unreservedly at first because of how Tan is possibly involved in the crimes. Bun's complex emotions towards Tan as the mystery starts to unfold make their relationship interesting. The audience is also, for a while, left guessing what sort of person Tan is. Is the attraction purely sexual? Is it deception? Or is there genuine love on both sides?

Even without the romance narrative thread, the series is already pretty solid as a thriller, with the mystery being unraveled at a nice pace with some twists. A couple of twists are somewhat predictable but they don't weaken the story. One may be incredulous that, in an age of easy digital reproduction and dissemination, people can still think trying to getting back the original digital video of their incriminating acts. However, the flaws of the series are fairly minor. The story is well paced and nothing seems too rushed or draggy.

The strength of the series as a thriller makes the choice of featuring a gay romance commendable. After all, the story can very already do very well on its own with bromance or straight romance. In fact, there is a risk in featuring a gay relationship. It can either be a hit (since BL has a lot of fans) or a miss (since audiences beyond the BL fan base may not like the gay romance plot). The series does target and pander to BL fans, but not in a childish way. There is a kiss between Tan and Bun in the first episode (and even at least one possible side BL couple for us to ship), but the elements made for BL fans are worked quite seamlessly into the story. The final episode also has one of the tenderest gay romance moments I have seen in BLs in the past year or so.

I'm not sure how popular the series is currently, but I wish it will prove to be commercially successful. This will be a good impetus for a higher visibility of gay characters in mainstream productions.

Read More

A lot of hollow cuteness, and also somewhat disturbing

Cats. Cute guys. BL. Lots of affection and friendship. What could go wrong?

Well, if you isolate the different parts, it's all good. I wish the real cats appeared more frequently. They are adorable. The leads are cute and sweet too. There's even a bit of GL thrown in as a bonus.

But even if we don't care about the lack of a story in quite a number of episodes (the danger of Meow getting into deep trouble because his ears are revealed isn't really made use of fully), there is the awkwardness of the human-evolved cat romantic pairings. At what point does love for the cuteness of cats become romantic love for the human form of the cat?

Even if we just take the evolved cats to be more like humans who can transform into cats, the characterization of Meow is problematic. Meow doesn't seem all that young, but he behaves very much like a really young kid who does not know anything. Come on, cats grow up much faster than human beings, and why would a cat remain like a kid when a human kid has grown up into an adult who has been working for a number of years? And then the talk about Meow "growing up" in the future and Meow's seeming ignorance of romantic love makes the whole relationship between Dermdem and Meow pedophilic. Such a portrayal of Meow is very much unnecessary. Can't he simply be a young grown-up who is really innocent but is still aware of his own romantic feelings for Dermdem? (Even young teenagers are often curious about romantic relationships and sex, so Meow seems more like a toddler in a young adult's body.) There's no need to exaggerate his innocence given that this is a live action series featuring human actors.

Some parts of the series are quite nice, like the first half of Episode 8, which brings some of the significant events together. Unfortunately, overall, the potential provided by the cuteness of cats and the cuteness of the actors isn't really used.

Read More

Nothing new, but made very well: sweet and cute but serious enough

Cherry Blossoms After Winter does not score with a highly original plot. The story is simple, even predictable at times, but everything is put together so nicely that you might not want it to be any different.

The set-up is simple: Hae Bom is an orphan who is taken in by his mother's friend, Tae Sung's mother. Being the adopted child, he predictably knows his place and is grateful to Tae Sung's mother. One thing that I wasn't expecting, however, is how the supposedly good looking and popular guy (Tae Sung) is the one having a crush on the other guy (Hae Bom) first, and not the other way round. So while we the typical attractive but seemingly cold male lead, the story is not about how the supposedly less attractive and socially awkward guy has a crush on an attractive, practically unattainable guy.

The flashbacks to the leads' childhood time are brief but effective in showing their relationship and how their personalities have been shaped by their childhood experiences. At the same time, the way they transform each other is endearing, with Hae Bom becoming more sociable after Tae Sung opens up to him and Tae Sung becoming more cheerful.

One thing that this series does especially well is the way it suggests the undercurrents of homophobia in society that may get in the way of the leads' relationship, whether it is through the school bully who taunts them by calling them a gay couple (even before they are one) or through how Tae Sung only tells one friend, Yong Hee, about his love for Hae Bom even though he has more than one close friend. There is hardly anything original about this, but I could clearly feel the characters' awareness of the situation they are in and their latent pain, such as when they see a straight couple holding hands on campus but they can only walk together and remark that they, too, are a couple.

This is not a series that breaks new ground. It is very conventional in many ways, but everything comes together nicely. The acting is on point, the scenes are beautifully shot, and hardly any time is wasted on unnecessary dialogues or scenes. From early on, the characters are people we can care about and want to see having a happy ending.

Read More

Quite good in some ways, but ....

Because of the title, I thought at first that this would be a BL about vampires with some low-brow references to kinky sex. But because I had forgotten everything I had seen in a trailer I watched long before stumbling on the series, perhaps I started watching with different or no expectations than others who have found it a total disappointment.

Unlike many who complain about the slow pacing, I only started disliking the pacing in the last two episodes. The series takes its time to show the character of Aek, letting us know of his interests, background and personality. We may see that he has a certain complex about his humble background, and does not want people to do things for him out of pity--he really wants to be appreciated for his talent. We also see how close he is to his mother and his unwillingness to cause her to feel disappointed in him, even if it comes at the expense of casting aside his own interests and studying accountancy. So when he realizes that Aue is in love with him, he finds himself having to handle many issues like whether Aue has been grooming him as a chef because of a romantic interest in him rather than a true admiration of his talents and how his mother would feel seeing him caught in such a situation. This is despite his own feeling towards Aue, which he himself hasn't become conscious of.

The characterization of Aek is rather interesting, and I think Mark Siwat has done a fine job in this role. Rudklao Amratisha, the actress acting as Aek's mother helped a lot by being very good with her role in the scenes she appears with Mark Siwat. I've seen him in a number of shows, and he seems to be able to take on a good range of roles. It's not an easy role for him in Bite Me, for he has to bring out the character's personality (sweet and innocent but also somewhat headstrong and assertive) without much dialogue to help show it. His growing affection for Aue can be seen, but in ways that don't make it clear whether he is aware of it. Some of the scenes of mutual gazing between Aue and Aek are overdone (they don't even do that so much when they are finally together), but there's little the actor can do about it.

On the other hand, the characterization of Aue isn't half as good. We can tell that he likes Aek quite early on, but the back story about his apparent feuds/tensions with Eve, Moo and Chef Viphob suffer from an utter lack of elaboration. I suspect there is a lot more going on in the book that the series is based on, but somehow the scenes are deleted or not filmed for the series. (Given that the series is 11 instead of the more common 12 episodes, I wonder if there are scenes that have been sacrificed due to budget constrains or some other reason). In a flashback, he is shown clearly telling Eve that he only regards her as a friend, but since he has made it clear to her and not dumped her or anything, it doesn't explain her animosity towards him. Chef Moo is another character whom Aue has worked with in the past, but it is not clear why Moo would suddenly appear to taunt Aue. Viphob is yet another character who seems to have a huge back story that has largely been left out: when Aue tells Aek what Viphon's character is like, I was surprised that he even knows this guy. I do like the way Aue is established as the boss and chef of a restaurant where the workers seem to be working quite happily, especially with Aue's support for Nuna when she faces relationship problems. (I was really glad that the toxic-but-somehow-charming CEO trope wasn't used.) Unfortunately, this ability of bring out aspects of the character and his past is largely lost when it comes to the Aue's relationship with those who seem hostile towards him.

In short, I loved how the story took its time to develop the aspects of the story related to Aek and his background and didn't mind the slow pacing at all. But if the same development had been done for Aue, the story would have made a lot more sense. Even Aue's longstanding friendship with Prem, the chef who makes desserts in his restaurant, leaves one wondering what is going on between them because Aue is obviously closer to him than to other colleagues. The fact that they are old friends is eventually revealed in Episode 11, when it doesn't quite matter anymore.

What weakens the series is also the strangeness of the pacing in the last two episodes. I wish it had some of the maligned (IMO) slowness of the earlier episodes. The part of the story about the chefs' competition, which is like the climax that the earlier episodes have been building up to, is confusing and rushed. (Why is Aue suddenly able to take part in the competition? Are there two different competitions? Huh? Aek has recovered from his injury to take part in the competition when he earlier on seemed to be saying that he could no longer go on with the competition because of his injury? What affected his performance?) Aek realizes that he likes Aue and comes out to his mother, but before we know it he is hugging Aue in the kitchen (huh?). And yet, after rushing through things in Episode 10, someone decided to make Episode 11 one consisting almost entirely of filler scenes. The part of the story about Aek's talent for cooking, so integral to the story, could have been followed up on but wasn't.

My complaints about the series may differ from those who dislike it from the start. I liked it quite a lot and was hoping that Episode 10 and 11 would help to reveal the right back stories and end the story well. It was possible but somehow not done. (And can you believe that the only kiss between Aue and Aek is a forced kiss, with Aue acting very much out of character after Aek has just said that they cannot be lovers? I don't need them to even kiss at all throughout the series, but tis is rather awkward.)

Read More

Feels formulaic and too commercialized

TharnType 2 was the series in which the main couple here (Leo/Fiat) was introduced. In my eyes, Leo/Fiat is one of the most gorgeous couples in BL (whether we see the two as individuals and as a couple), but more needs to be done of their story.

TharnType 2 was really a vehicle that capitalized on the success of the first season of TharnType while serving to introduce Leo/Fiat and perhaps see the market potential for a series on them. I think this was one reason the Tharn/Type plot in TharnType 2 was weak. Unfortunately, I see a similar strategy in Don't Say No: The best part of the Leo/Fiat story is already in TharnType 2 even though it lacked full development, and Don't Say No seems to be a vehicle to test the commercial viability of the Leon/Pob side couple here.

While the production is generally polished enough to be rather watchable, it wouldn't be too much to ask for a more compelling story for Leo/Fiat. Essentially, the Leo/Fiat side of the plot in Don't Say No is simply: crisis, sex, crisis, sex, crisis sex repeated ad nauseam. The plot feels somewhat fragmented and can mostly be summed up as: various things in Fiat's past come back to haunt him. The part of the story involving Fiat's mother seems to be the most compelling and could have been developed further into a tighter plot for the entire series.

And really, the sex borders on being excessive. The sex scenes are actually quite nicely shot and I guess fewer people would complain about them as compared to the number of people who complain about the lack of skinship in series like 2gether. Nevertheless, the repeated mentions of sex as a "punishment" for Fiat cheapens the Leo/Fiat relationship even though the characters never mean it seriously. The sex scenes fail to show the couple's deep love and instead feels like the bells has rung, announcing, "Time for some fan service!"

The other couple in Don't Say No fares better in some ways. Leon (Leo's brother) is an a playboy reformed by love, not a very original sort of character. However, Pob is rather interesting. He seems like the soft and innocent type of character (like Wayo in 2 Moons, he takes care of a cat), but he is also someone with a mind of his own and not a pushover.

The ending for Leon/Pob isn't nice, unfortunately. While the Leo/Fiat story in TharnType 2 ended happily and it does not really matter whether there is a separate series on them, we are left hanging with Leon/Pob in Don't Say No. I'm not a fan of this sort of fan manipulation when there may not be a follow-up season for the couple. The turn of events for Leon/Pob in Don't Say No is actually quite unnecessary: the couple could simply have ended happily in Don't Say No, and, if a separate series is made on them, the turn of events can be introduced at the start.

I think the No. 1 rule of milking a successful series commercially ought to be: Ensure that the milking is not felt by the audience. Unfortunately, this isn't the case in Don't Say No.

Read More

Not very good either as horror or BL

If bare skin could compensate for other weaknesses in a film, this would be quite a good film. For no good reason, the male characters spend more screen time in just their underwear or less.

However, there isn't much of BL here except that one man has a one-sided love for another, and it doesn't feel at all like BL. As for horror, there are plenty of the usual tactics (ominous music, ghosts appearing in mirrors, etc) to scare those who would *not* want to watch horror because they are easily scared. The film isn't at all likely to appeal to those who actually enjoy horror.

Still, this isn't a lengthy film and if you are not expecting groundbreaking work in either BL or horror, it isn't altogether bad. There is a bit of a plot twist towards the end, though it seems like a twist that seems to exist for the sake of having a twist. One might also appreciate the characterization of Obet--the motivations for his behavior and the struggles he undergoes lend some semblance of depth to an otherwise superficial film.

And while I'm not averse to nudity in film, the focus on the men's bodies is pointless. The characters may simply be in their underwear, but does it serve the story for the camera to linger on ... whatever region the clothing is covering with more eagerness than an underwear commercial. It would actually seem more respectable if an underwear company had sponsored the film and asked for product placements. Perhaps the filmmakers are eager to have something to attract audiences, but if this is so, it is baffling why they have not gone for full-blown BL and steamy sex scenes.

Read More

Would have been better if it didn't leave so much unresolved

This is probably one of the more unique series from Hong Kong's TVB in recent years. It's pretty solid in many ways, but roughly halfway through the series, it gets unnecessarily complicated and leaves too much unresolved (the "cliffhanger" for a Season 2 starts way too early for the ending to be satisfactory.

The series adopts an unconventional approach to several conventional elements. In a way, it is a series about a serial killer and also a detective series that has several mysteries. It is also about mental illness. The unconventional approach: the identity of the serial killer is revealed surprisingly early, and he is also caught but we are kept guessing if he might be the main villain of the series. There is no single straightforward detective figure--even the serial killer is at one point one of the detective figures. And there is a surprising load of mental illnesses featured in the series, with various characters suffering from them at some point, including the (apparently/likely) good guys. It's not the same old "killer with multiple personality disorder" plot for sure.

It seems, unfortunately, that the HK audience has not taken very well to the series, finding it confusing. Actually it is not confusing--perhaps the ending is a tad confusing because it deliberately leaves major questions unanswered, but it is quite easy to follow most of the time. To me, the problem is that, halfway through the series, that narrative trajectory suddenly splits into several mysteries (as though the series itself is getting a sort of multiple personality disorder). It isn't confusing, but it is quite a risky way of telling the story. It demands patience from the audience, and the fact that some of the mysteries do not get solved by the last episode may upset those who patiently follow the series.

If there's anything that makes the series worth expending patience on, it's Kara Hui and the character she plays. Her performance is remarkable throughout in her role as someone with schizophrenia. She convincingly portrays a pitiful victim of mental illness, a fiercely loving mother afraid that she would harm her children but also willing to go to extremes to protect them, and even a person with a somewhat sinister and menacing presence at times, all in one character. She has to be convincing as a victim and as someone who might just be playing the victim at the same time. It's a very difficult role to handle, especially when she is a character who has secrets right to the very end: if she overdoes one facet of the character, the overall effect would be compromised.

I was also interested in how the police would be portrayed in the series, given the controversy surrounding the HK police since 2019. Glamorizing the police would perhaps make people upset while an overly negative portrayal may cause the series to be more politically provocative than it wants to be. The portrayal turns out to be somewhere in between. Some of the police characters are flawed and self-centered, but they can also be smart and competent. I don't see any overt political messages, just a number of complex characters motivated by different things.

I still feel a little cheated that so many things brought in so early in the series do not find closure by the last episode and there's no promise of a sequel. But the series is also intriguing enough to keep me watching.

Read More

Not that much solid sleuthing and even less BL, but quite a good period drama

The title made me expect that this would be a period detective drama of sorts, and there are some aspects of the detective genre at the start. However, the more interesting part of the series actually start when the detective genre conventions get ditched as the characters become embroiled in political intrigue.

I'm somewhat undecided about how good the story is. On the one hand, it is quite an engaging story. On the other hand, it can be infuriating at times because of the characters' occasionally illogical behaviors. Despite having anticipated that there would be people coming to rescue a prisoners, Tang Fan someone sits down in the prison, talking to the prisoner as though he were waiting for the people to arrive to rescue the prisoner (and kill him in the process). Yes, a large number of people had to be deployed for some other mission, but to make no attempt to hide the prisoner elsewhere or take care of his own safety is just senseless behavior coming from a person who is supposed to be really intelligent.

The story actually gets better after a while, as the different cases investigated by Tang Fan get more complex and are intertwined. The series does have characters who are likely to be endearing or intriguing to the audience. This helps in the series' less interesting parts. Tang Fan is cute (to me) and intelligent although he can be silly and even exasperating at times. The eunuch Wang Zhi, is intriguing because he is by turns ruthless and compassionate. He is politically astute and knows how to maneuver his way around. However, he is also fiercely loyal to the emperor. The other main character, Sui Zhou is the one whom I actually took time to get used to because of his deadpan expressions (physically and verbally), but he is quietly caring rather than emotionless. I think the actor does quite a fine job of portraying a soldier with PTSD.

This is a censored adaptation of a BL work, and the BL is largely taken out. We do get occasional hints of it, especially in the later parts of the series. It seems that there was some indecisiveness as to whether to give Tang Fan a female love interest instead. There are points when Tang seems to be romantically interested in Dora but eventually this does not get anywhere (possibly because someone realized that turning BL relationships into bromance isn't quite as bad in the eyes of many viewers as turning BL into straight romance). As for Tang's relationship with the imperial guard, Sui Zhou, even if the relationship has been transformed into bromance, it would have been good to show the intimacy between them early on. Instead, this gets shown clearly (whether as bromance or potential romance) somewhat late in the series.

The image of Sui Zhou putting a cloak on Tang Fan followed by a shot of them standing next to each other towards the end of the last episode does hint at something between them despite being subdued. It gives a nice conclusion to the series and leaves their relationship somewhat open-ended.

Read More

A little formulaic, but a nice BL with a dash of bromance

I've seen some people commenting that the flashback takes too many episodes and the story is too draggy, but I have on issues with the pacing or the flashback.

There is indeed a flashback that starts in the very first episode: we briefly first see the main characters in the university and then we have a flashback to their high school days. The story could very well have been told chronologically, but I find that starting with the characters' university days creates some suspense by letting us know that the main couple (Itt and Pai) are not (yet) a couple at the start of their university days. For me, the tension-with-a-hint-of-affection between Itt and Pai at the start of the series piques my curiosity enough. Furthermore, seeing Wan's friendship with Pai also gets something out of the way during the flashback episodes.

In some ways, the relationship between Itt and Pai is cliched. Pai, a reserved guy falls in love with the seemingly straight Itt (who has a girlfriend). They become friends, but the love seems like it could be one-sided until the point when both of them are locked up in a room in school overnight. Unfortunately, the moment when Itt seems to have fallen for Pai does not last as he discovers a secret and stops being friends with Pai.

Or so it seems--later it is revealed in a twist that Itt does not really mean to stop being friends with Pai but merely wants to turn him into a more confident person who is able to express himself. The twist is somewhat surprising, but it is also one of the series' weak points. Apart from seeming a little labored, the twist makes Itt seem rather presumptuous--who is Itt is try to make Pai the sort of person Itt thinks he should become? Also, it would be hard anyone who cares about Pai to ignore his desperation to mend the friendship? I get it that Pai has helped Itt a lot in putting Itt on the path of fulfilling his ambition and Itt wants to return the favor in some ways, but Pai hasn't asked for the favor to return in this manner.

Nevertheless, if one ignores the problematic nature of Itt's actions, one can appreciate the love they have for each other. Each of them really wants the best for the other. Pai tries to help Itt even when he knows that his love may not be requited while Itt tries to turn Pai into a more confident person even if Pai ends up loathing him. The moment when the misunderstanding is cleared is touching.

Besides the story of the main couple, I find that the series has brought in a side couple in an interesting way. Spoiler: The other couple is Pure and Folk. Pure is, to me, the most interesting character in the series, sensitively played by Fiat (who actually has quite an impressive acting range). I like the fact that we have an unabashedly bisexual character without much fanfare and effort to harp on the issue of bisexuality. Pure's most prominent trait is his promiscuity, but he is a character whom one can sympathize with. His mother does not really care about him and his first love, and the traumatic experience of seeing the guy he is in a relationship with stand by and do nothing while he is being beaten up by a gang of literal gay bashers makes him lose faith in love. From then on, it's just sex and no love--unprotected sex at first and then only protected sex after an HIV scare. However, after knowing Folk (who turns out to be a much more pure person than Pure), he falls in love again.

The Pure subplot is interesting as Pure's bromance with Wan (Pai's best friend) makes us wonder at first if they would end up being a couple. Interestingly, it is Folk, who is initially in love with Pai, that Pure ends up with. (Wan, on the other hand, ends up with a girl. Yeah, BLs can feature straight couples too.)

This is one of the surprisingly well madeThai BLs of 2020. I wasn't expecting much more 2gether and My Engineer, but both were surprisingly good. The 2gether, this may not be everyone's cup of tea. Unfortunately, unlike 2gether, there may not be enough cuteness and star popularity to make this a classic BL in the hearts of many. However, I think it is engaging and interesting enough, particularly in comparison with weaker productions like the En of Love trilogy. Win and Fiat turn in rather impressive performances as Pai and Pure, and I hope to see them in more series.

Read More

Maybe the series is not getting attention because the English title isn't very catchy and the official YouTube videos don't even show the English title. But I'm glad the series is subbed. It's one of the more unique series that I have watched from GMM, starting with the idea of a supernatural shop that sells things for someone you hate.

It is ultimately not the shop that is frightening, but how people make use of it. The shops customers can be petty, vindictive, psychotic, manipulative and downright selfish. At first, the series seems to relentlessly show how everyone has a dark side, as if to emphasize that human beings are really ugly and horrible creatures. One character sends gifts to harm a girl he "loves", hoping to manipulate her into loving him back. A politician, in an incredibly heinous act, sends his own daughter gifts that kill her so that he can advance his political goals.

Yet, there is more to the show than simply saying that human beings are terrible. Despite their disturbing behavior, we may still find ourselves empathizing with the characters at some points. For instance, Khim, the teacher who wants to kill a corrupt politician partly to take revenge and partly as a form of vigilante justice, is by turns creepy and pitiable. Num, who goes overboard and kills several potential enemies because he doesn't know who is after him, is a caring and loving brother. Chut, the policeman who is the only unambiguously good main character for a large part of the story, eventually succumbs and sends death-causing gifts to two of his superiors. However, with corruption so entrenched that there is absolutely no way for him to bring the perpetrators of certain crimes to justice, what options does he have? He does not believe in vigilantism, but his only other option is to let injustice be perpetuated.

In an interesting plot twist in the final episode, it turns out that Ploy, the politician's daughter, has ordered gifts for all the customers of the shop. They get gifts labeled as Level 4 gifts (those that kill the recipient). But it is obvious that there is no way she has enough years left in her life to buy the gifts for so many people--payment for the gifts is in years in the buyer's life, not dollars and cents, and her own father's life already costs 80 years of life. We can understand, then, that these gifts are not the usual gifts from the shop despite how they are labeled. Indeed, inside the gift box is simply a piece of paper with the word "hatred". It is a reminder that what the thing that really kills others is hatred, not the gifts or the shop. Ploy's father becomes so guilt-ridden that he kills himself. Of course, not everyone really hates those they buy gifts for, but I guess hatred becomes a sort of term that also encompasses other negative human traits like ambition, vindictiveness and selfishness.

The ending of the series is somewhat disturbing but realistic. The shop continues to exist. There will always be hatred in people. But the characters ultimately have to live with their decisions. The shop does not force anyone to buy gifts, and every prospective customer can decide to say no. So even if one feels hatred, one can decide whether to act on one's hatred.

A lot of accomplished within ten episodes for a story with such heavy themes. There are quite a number of characters, but the story does not become confusing (even if a second watch will make certain things clearer). I'm particularly impressed by the acting of Ying who plays Khim, the teacher, but the actors have generally done a good job too.

Read More

The premise of the story is straightforward: Five people (Don, Ryo, Plan, Por, Mo) are chosen to play a game created by this person or entity known as Wolf. If they complete 5 missions, they win a sum of money.

There are several questions that remain unanswered. Firstly, the missions take place in many countries, but somehow Wolf is able to film the action, even in private places like people’s homes and hotel rooms.

Secondly, the action is broadcast, and people can watch the game. Why do so many of the people approached by the contestants seem to be unaware of the game and why do people not bother to tell them even though the game seems to be such a costly and major production?

Thirdly, Wolf seems like an omniscient, godlike presence who knows more than what any hidden cameras can reveal, but the characters are unperturbed by how Wolf has access to information about, say, one’s ex who has died ten years ago and the locations of people one has met years ago?

However, if we ignore these oddities, each of the five main characters’ stories can be interesting, particularly Don’s.
At the start, Wolf’s missions simply seem utterly unethical. However, it soon becomes clear that the missions help the players change for the better while also helping their targets learn something even if they learn a lesson (such as not to trust others too easily) the hard way.

Overall, the series is interesting and entertaining in its parts, but when there doesn’t seem to be anything more when the parts are added together. Apart from the intersection of Por and Mo’s stories, the other stories barely converge.
My favorite of the 5 contestant’s stories is Don’s story followed by Ryo’s.

Don’s story is well-developed, and the changes in his character are clear. At first, he seems to be the most callous person of the lot because of his willingness to charm an innocent girl into having sex with him by claiming to love her, but it is later shown that he has become like this because of a past relationship. By the end of his second mission, in which he has to stay with a girl without touching her, it is clear that he has changed. At one point, we see him ignoring Wolf’s message when he completes a mission to get a woman to smile again, which is a hint at how he is helping her sincerely and not to complete his mission.

Ryo, the youngest character, vacillates between exuding youthful innocence and developing toxic masculinity. Like the other contestants, the process of playing the game changes him for the better. His innocent crush on a schoolmate, something which he has kept to himself for a long time while boasting to his friends about his non-existent sexual exploits, remains one-sided, and he learns to accept rejection and respect women in the process of the game.

Plan’s story is good but somewhat predictable. He is shown to be a troubled character from the start. His preoccupation with money stems from the death of his mother because of the lack of money for her medical expenses, and it’s not hard to guess what lesson he has to learn. He starts off being someone who can be callous to others for the sake of money, but later becomes truly sorry for what he has done. Unfortunately, the reason for his change is not clear. The mission in which he forms a friendship with a lady addicted to shopping because of her emotional issues is more memorable than the other missions he has, and is probably the turning point in his development.

Por starts off being a playboy with no qualms about hurting the women he has relationships with. In the process of playing the game, he changes somewhat, deciding to be brutally truthful to an ex about his mission to make her fall in love with him again so that she would hate him instead of continuing to miss him. Nevertheless, the change in him does not seem all that deep.

Mo, an ex-girlfriend of Por, is still recovering from her breakup with the philandering Por. She learns to come to terms
with her feelings. She’s a likable character, but there isn’t much development.

Ultimately, the players are all winners—even those who don’t complete all 5 missions have undergone experiences that change them for the better. Their individual stories are at least quite interesting, but when put together, they don't quite give any extra satisfaction.

Read More

Nothing really stands out, but it's nice to watch

Mr. Unlucky Has No Choice but to Kiss

If the titular Mr. Unlucky were truly unlucky, he would not meet and become the boyfriend of someone who can make his luck much better. But don't try to ask questions when watching this. Just enjoy the cuteness.

There is some sort of story going on. Mr Unlucky meets Mr Lucky and asks Mr Lucky to always hang out with him (because Mr Lucky changes his luck for the better). However, Mr Lucky takes it to mean that Mr Unlucky is him to be his boyfriend, and agrees. Because he desperately wants to have better luck, Mr Unlucky goes along with him. Eventually Mr Unlucky also falls in love and you can guess the rest.

This is the sort of show one would watch for some escapism. Nothing that bad really happens, and we know everything will end up well. Mr Lucky is really a sweetie, and we are spared the sort of potentially toxic interactions that are in some BLs. What we have is a series that may not have a gripping plot but we can love the characters and we may just want to keep watching them. In this sense, the series has its peculiar way of getting the audience hooked. I can't rate the story all that highly and the acting isn't astounding (though it is at least ok), but somehow the rewatch value is there.

Read More

Nicely shot, but something seems lacking

This 2-episode miniseries doesn't have much of a story, but it probably isn't meant to have one. A group of boy scouts go camping. Wut and Ram partner up, and Wut develops a crush on Ram. Run-of-the-mill growing up issues are portrayed in the two episodes: the pangs of having a crush on someone of the same sex, the bullying of someone who does not seem masculine enough, sexual curiosity, etc. But the depiction of these scenarios is sensitive even if not exactly deep. Those who have been through similar situations will likely be able to identify with Wut.

Still, there is potential for the miniseries to be better. How Ram feels towards Wut isn't clear, and this isn't a bad thing in itself. But perhaps there could be more shown about Ram to show the complexity of the situations the youths go through. He may stand up for Wut, but couldn't this seemingly heroic figure have his own struggles too, especially when he is one person against two or perhaps more. Does the bullying come and go so easily? (Could there have been flashbacks of how Wut has been bullied in school previously?)

Read More