labcat

So bad, in so many ways

Some series are bad because of a weak story. Some are bad because they try to tell the story of multiple couples, shifting uncomfortably from one couple to another. Some are bad because of haphazard editing despite a story that is ok. Some are bad because they are exploitative. Some are bad because of an uneven tone. Some are bad because they pretend to deal with interesting themes only to disappoint. Rarely do we get a series that is bad in all these ways. But Hit Bite Love is one of those rare gems that is bad in all these ways and probably more.

There are three sets of main characters, and although the characters are all schoolmates, the drift from one set of characters to another is tiring. There are some hints every now and then at a major event that happens later in the story, but they are barely enough to sustain interest. In fact, viewers might even wonder if they are random scenes (the characters being interviewed by police officers) that represent their state of mind.

Perhaps one could give the series credit for daring to cover themes like BDSM and teenage sex, but there is a difference between sensitively dealing with such themes and using them as excuses to sexualize teenagers. The actors are very young (some below eighteen) and the characters are even younger. Yet, the seems to be no hesitation in bringing in gratuitous scenes of sex and bare skin. Even the most innocent and youngest couple, Burger and King, was given a bed scene with some suggestion of penetrative sex--while the characters do not have sex, someone seems to have found it appropriate to let King's mother be mistaken and show what is going on in her imagination.

The series could have dealt seriously with some themes, but it did not. There could have been a sensitive portrayal of Ken's predicament when he has to decide between coming out of the closet because of his boyfriend, Shogun, and remaining in the closet because of homophobia in the society. Unfortunately, the characterization is all over the place. He is selfish and sometimes seems to only want sex from Shogun. And for someone who is afraid that people will find out that he is gay (or is he??), he seems to be uncannily daring in trying to make out with Shogun in places when his schoolmates can suddenly appear. What's even worse is that at first he seems to be dating a girl to cover up his homosexuality, but later it is shown that he has not only have had sex with that girl but another girl as well. So perhaps he is bisexual or whatever--I don't think it really matters. Everything is just not very coherent, and it is thus too difficult to sympathize with this character or to see any important point being made about the difficulty of coming out in a homophobic society.

Then someone also decided that it was appropriate to throw in some BDSM into the story. It would still be fine if the point were simply that BDSM is just a sort of fetish that some adults engage in consensually. It's not something that everyone is into, but I am fine if some people enjoy it. However, the story goes out of its way to emphasize that the characters involved are considered too young for it and yet ALSO present them engaging in BDSM in scenes that can be considered sexploitation. And did I mention that Shogun is basically pressured by Matteo into engaging in BDSM in exchange for securing budget for the music club? I can't be convinced that Matteo really loves Shogun after this, but that's what the series tries to persuade us of anyway.

The only saving grace in the series is Burger and King, but guess what? There is an uncanny similarity between Burger and King's story and the Japanese BL series, My Love Mix-Up. And even then, the copying isn't that well done.

Read More

Not really bad

I actually enjoyed this one overall although it isn't exactly impressive.

I don't quite have a great reason for my enjoyment. Perhaps it is because of the likability of the characters, perhaps it is because of the great looking actors playing the leading roles, perhaps it is because the execution is pretty decent in general.

Muyeong's belief that his love for Seon Ho is one-sided is portrayed sensitively even though the situation could be clichéd and even silly. The flashbacks to Muyeong's experiences in high school help to make him a character we can feel for. Of course, the fact that we know that Seon Ho is attracted to him too makes the scenes quite lighthearted. There is something to appreciate about how the series is generally lighthearted without degenerating into utter banality.

Perhaps the most disappointing part of the series is the last episode. The main couple did end quite well, but while the characters have been generally lovable, Seon Ho suddenly turns a little toxic in the last episode, threatening Muyeong that he (Seon Ho) would never see him again if he goes off and look for his friend. Muyeong's friend, Jun Seok, is also a little off character in the last episode, suddenly becoming a little manipulative. Additionally, Jun Seok is an interesting but underdeveloped character. His feelings for Muyeong are hinted at fairly early on, but the ending does not leave one satisfied.

Despite its flaws, this isn't a terrible BL series. It is likable but the story is somewhat weak.

Read More

Moving but beware the ending

Moon Ji Yong, the actor playing Jae Woo, looks particularly good when he smiles, but he doesn't smile very often in this series. It's perhaps very astute casting as the contrast between the moody Jae Woo and the person he could possibly be if not for what has happened to him at the age of ten.

What sets this series apart from many BL series is the way the sweetness of the couple comes with minimal fluff. The cinematography and the music are really commendable, but I wish the editing had sometimes been a little difference. Given how short the series is, there is really no need for scenes to be repeated, such as when Episode 2 doesn't take the story further from Episode 1 but merely provides additional details.

There is a bond between the two main characters that becomes stronger although the bulk of the romance does not take place over a long time frame. Jae Woo's first feelings are gratitude towards Ji Hoon for saving him when he is young and remorse about how Ji Hoon has sacrificed his life to save him. However, when he travels back in time as an adult to the time he is ten, his romantic attraction to Ji Hoon is quickly apparent. Yet, it is obvious that the time the couple has together is limited.

When it dawns upon Jae Woo that he can perhaps do something to save Ji Hoon, the situation does not become much more hopeful. First of all, there is the likelihood that Jae Woo is unable to change the past and save Ji Hoon. Secondly, if he does, we will end up with a paradox: if Ji Hoon does not die, then adult Jae Woo will not travel back to the past and meet Ji Hoon in the first place. In short, a happy ending for the couple seems unlikely. Still, one hopes . . .

Spoiler:

In the end, Ji Hoon discovers that adult Jae Woo has traveled back in time and is trying to save him. However, he decides not to be saved because his logic is that if he doesn't die, then Jae Woo the kid will die (with no one to save him) and the adult Jae Woo who travels back in time and falls in love with him won't exist. (But if so, who will travel back in time and save him then? It's one of those paradoxes of time travel stories that one should probably not think too much about.)

Perhaps in a bid to soften the impact of a sad ending, there is the suggestion (which does not make a lot of sense) of time infinite loop and/or split timelines. It more or less goes like this: the Jae Woo we see throughout the series (let's call him Jae Woo A) goes back in time and does not save Ji Hoon, but because of JW A's time travel, we already have a slightly different version of the past. This means that a split timeline emerges with the Jae Woo who is saved when Jae Woo A travels back to the past, so there's a Jae Woo B (who has slightly different childhood experiences from Jae Woo A). Jae Woo B will grow up and then travel back to the past and meet Ji Hoon in this split timeline, and this will lead to the creation of yet another timeline with Jae Woo C and so on.

I don't know if this really softens the impact of the sad ending for the couple. After all, it would seem that there can be infinite versions of the Jae Woo/Ji Hoon tragedy.

If I get my way, I would simply have the adult Jae Woo helping Ji Hoon save the kid Jae Woon. Let the two grown men fight and overpower the killer. They can even call the cops beforehand or something. And then the kid, who is saved, can be told what to do to travel to the past when he grows up.

Read More

More of the same old, but you won't dislike it if you liked Season 1

AKA: A Man Who Defies the World of BL Season 2

When I reviewed the first season, I said that it might get better in Season 2. After all, Season 1 is largely about the protagonist's gay panic as he realizes that he is a character in a BL world. Although there are many couples featured, the main character himself only comes to terms with his love for another guy at the end of Season 1.

I thought then that Season 2 would be more interesting because there may finally be development. Unfortunately Season 2 is more of the same old stuff. It starts where Season 1 ends (i.e. where the protagonist confesses to another guy his love). Unfortunately, the confession amounts to nothing as this other guy's ex-boyfriend appears and our dear protagonist runs away.

So he basically reverts to his previous self, resisting all possible ships with other men. Until he meets that guy he has confessed to again.

In a way, perhaps there isn't really much of a way out of it. The series would undermine its basic premise if it does not do more of the same stuff. (The protagonist is supposed to be a man who is aware that he is a BL character and tries his darn best to resist being shipped with another man. So if he no longer resists, the series either ends of takes on quite a different character.)

Nevertheless, the mini series is still quite delightful as a BL series that is able to laugh at itself. There is humor and lots of cuteness. And being rather short, it doesn't feel at all draggy. Some might even be craving for more.

Read More

Sweet gay-themed comedy

Yaoi or Boys Love series may be very popular now, but it seems to be increasingly rare to see an actual gay-themed short film that doesn't pander to yaoi fans. We Are Both Grooms is special in this regard, and those who are thinking of watching it should know what to expect. There are no passionate sex scenes or even kissing scenes. There isn't dramatic sexual tension between the characters the moment they meet. The story is not set in a world in which any random straight man can suddenly become gay.

What we have is more of a gay-themed short film that deals with the issues faced by gay people. The leads are ordinary people (a teacher and a farmer) and certainly not the idealized characters we often see in BL. We don't even see that much about how they fall in love, but we can see that they are in love. The problem: Ryosuke is going through a wedding ceremony with Mizuki, but none of his guests (including his family) knows that he is marrying a man. The premise is somewhat implausible, but it perhaps does not matter so much because it is a comedy in which things like that can happen. There is empathy for the way the main characters behave, such as when Ryosuke plucks the courage to tell his parents that he is marrying a guy and shows them a photo, but they mistakenly think that he is marrying the girl in the group photo. Once that moment of courage is lost and his parents start commenting in relief that they had suspected that he was gay, it became so much harder for him to come out.

A non-linear structure is adopted to tell the story, and it can seem a little messy at first, but the story is competently and economically told. Appropriate details are revealed through flashbacks at the right times. It may not be the most interesting story ever, but it is engaging enough.

I wish there were more support for productions that portray gay people without making themselves, strictly speaking, BL. There's a certain risk taken because BL fans may not be really into them.

Read More

A BL with a somewhat atypical flavor

This little series seems to be underrated. Visually, it is beautiful. As a BL series, it gives different vibes from a lot of BL series.

Without knowing it, Eun Ho travels back in time and meets Heon, an ex-crown prince on the run after being falsely accused of treason. Geum is his loyal guard. The couple is cute, but the cuteness is not excessively emphasized. There is sweetness, but the series doesn't become cloying. The scenes are tinged with melancholy because of Heon's plight.

The story is there but there is a lack of development. (How on earth does Heon become accused of treason?) Some of the action that takes place can be more fully fleshed out. At times, there are forward jumps in the narrative with can be slightly confusing. However, it is a likable short series.

Read More

A short film that makes good use of its 16 minutes or so

The acting of the actor who plays Fan is rather good. The character's eagerness and longing as he meets his ex, Tien, for a meal is effectively conveyed. He hasn't gotten over Tien and doesn't really understand why they have broken up, but just as he broaches the question to Tien, the waiter serving their food interrupts the conversation. And it is clear that Tien is all too eager to evade the issue and the awkwardness that would ensue. The dialogue is seemingly casual, but it reveals the dynamics of the relationship between the two. Fan is the one who cares and gives: he would order the food Tien likes (even after they have broken up), and we can see that he is the one who thinks about and talks about the past whereas Tien is more concerned about getting his passport, and comments on stuff like the food. The only thing Tien really does for Fan seems to be eating the onions that Fan doesn't like, and even then, he seems to be doing so out of guilt. And eventually, almost immediately after getting his passport, Tien initiates a hug only to tell Fan to take care (which basically ends the meet-up).

It's perhaps not that Tien is meant to be the bad guy in the relationship. His actual emotions are often opaque. He does seem to realise Fan's feelings and he cares for Fan as a friend rather than as a lover. His facial expression during the embrace is not one of callousness. If nothing else, at least he doesn't give Fan false hope? Ultimately, what the film shows is that when it is time to move on from a relationship, it is time to move on. We see how Fan tries to connect his Bluetooth earphones to his phone unsuccessfully (a symbolic unsuccessful pairing). At the end of the short film, we see him deleting the device which fails to pair properly, signifying that he has finally given up on the relationship and is moving on even if it is not without sadness.

Read More

Quite good but has a happy ending that isn't all that well done

Despite the flaws of the series, I love the two BL couples in this series. I think Bank and Pitch are the cuter couple to watch but Sky and Sun (the main couple) understandably have the better story.

The story has strong potential that is sufficiently but somehow not totally fulfilled. The unfolding of the events in the story is quite well executed for at least the first seven episodes, which salvages the series from being one of those BLs with potential but fail. Though there is BL fluff, we don't get the sense that nothing all that significant happens until the last two episodes.

Gun and Boat performed their roles as Sky and Sun really well. I thought Boat would simply be quite expressionless throughout given his role as Sky's bodyguard and someone who cannot or does not want to betray his emotions. But we see the moments of tenderness in Sun that cannot be too obvious too. The transition of Sun from someone who largely hides his love for Sky to someone who no longer hides his love is convincingly portrayed without affecting the coherence of the character.

The flaws of the series, unfortunately, are also significant. The early characterization of Pitch is bewildering, for one. He's practically presented as a toxic relentless bad guy in the way he pursues the Toktang but suddenly becomes a rather sweet and helpful guy who would stand up for his juniors. The tensions between Pitch and Sky/Sun/Bank at first are not only unnecessary but also confusing.

The two female characters, Toktang and Juno, seem like possibly important characters at first, but turn into jokes by Episode 2 when it becomes clear that the two guys they like are going to be paired with the other two guys around them. And Juno, who is simply a stock character at first, inexplicably becomes quite brash is her behavior, going all out to pursue Sun who shows no interest in her.

Even the main character, Sky, begins to act somewhat out of character when he pretends to date Toktang just to make Sun jealous. This is simply not the sort of asshole behavior that I was expecting from this guy who may be a little bratty but has a sense of justice and fairness.

Another flaw in the series is in the less than skillful handling of the last part of the story involving the objection of Sky's father to his relationship with Sun. The father's objection, while quite plausible, is written in too clumsily as the final obstacle to their relationship. You can practically see the the heavy hands of the writers adding it into the plot. First, the father seems to want to go as far as killing Sun (he's a mafia figure, after all). But perhaps someone realizes that this would make the father too much of a villain, so, very quickly, the father's tactic turns out to be one of wanting to "test" the relationship and see if Sun is worthy of Sky. This unconvincing and quite obviously added to bring closure to the story. If he really just wants to test the relationship, it means that would actually accept their relationship if they truly love each other. But he still seems to hope to break them up.

The second half of the last episode is unnecessarily draggy. I would have liked to see more of Bank and Pitch in the episode. Though the fact that Sun and Sky are still in love with each other despite being separated for six years by a manipulative father is supposed to be touching. But it wasn't some inevitable tragedy that separates them to begin with, so their reunion isn't exactly moving. There's a similar turn in the plot in the Taiwanese BL, We Best Love, and it's better handled because because one of the main characters do not really know what his father has done. In Golden Blood, Sky and Sun agree to be separated without being able to contact each other. Really, both of them are adults, and could have just rebelled against the father's "test" but decided to submit to the test of this homophobic, unreasonable father who may not even be serious about letting them be together after passing his "test".

The series would actually have ended quite well without the homophobic father part of the plot. The crisis created by the enemy of Sky's father is sufficient to bring the story to a climax and could have been more prolonged. The father's objection isn't really necessary to form the material for one episode either since more could have been shown about Pitch and Bank becoming a couple while Sky's father could have "redeemed" himself by at least just accepting Sun and Sky's relationship.

Read More

Quirky and funny

(AKA: A Man Who Defies the World of BL Season 1)

This is one of the BLs about BLs that are released this year. It has quite an interesting premise: the main character realizes that he exists in a BL world and tries his darn best not to be “contaminated”—which means that he has to avoid falling in love with a man. Of course, we know where this is going: if he even has to try not to fall in love with a man, he might as well give up.

There is potential for this short series to both entertain and disappoint. The main character’s efforts to avoid falling in love with guys are funny. Sometimes his attempts cause other characters to become couples (so there’s good deal of BL even though there isn’t a focus on a particular couple throughout), and his attempt to prevent his brother from being “contaminated” are a total failure.

On the other hand, some may not fancy watching an hour and a half of the main character’s gay panic only to have a cute part at the end in which he does fall in love with a guy anyway. There is supposed to be a second season that promises further development for this relationship—I don’t know if it will eventually be made, but I think the series is one of those that will be better when you get to watch all the seasons at one go.

Read More

7 stories, the series gets better from Story 3 (Ep 5) onwards

I thought the series would be a confusing mess with seven different couples, but luckily it simply focuses on one couple at a time for Episodes 1-14. (Ep 15 features all of them but is rather pointless.) This approach is similar to the En of Love approach, but Y-Destiny does it better as it sufficiently introduces characters in the later episodes before the focus is on them.

I find the first two stories the weakest though the couples are cute.

1. Tue and Ake: The line between tension and attraction is blurred as two boxers’ hostility towards each other suddenly turns into attraction. Sometimes Tue looks bashful, but the dialogue is full of sexual double entendre, with references to “itchy”, “blowing” away the itch on chickenpox blisters, treating chickenpox with “injections”. I don’t mind this but wish there had been more subtlety.

2. Sun and Nuea: Sun is given an assignment to tutor a wealthy brat (they are both college students though) who is hoping to get an internship. Despite his initial dislike for Nuea, Sun starts finding Nuea cute, but it’s harder to tell whether Nuea really likes Sun or is playing a prank. The “story” seems more like an excuse for lots of BL scenes.

3. Mon and Team: A playboy competes against others of his ilk by trying to score maximum points in their depraved game (of seeing who can score more victories in bed). Managing to get an innocent virgin scores the most points, so this is what Team sets out to do. Oncewe know the premise, we can predict most other things, including how the playboy will fall in love for real and how he has a sob story of his own. Despite the cliched story, the two episodes of this story are competently made and the best of the three episodes so far.

The story is largely coherent and paced well. The acting and cinematography are quite on point too. Mon can be rather exasperating in that he isn’t even really being cheated because he has been warned about Team, but the actor manages to convey the foolishness of someone in love and arouse sympathy for him. The second episode could simply have ended happily at the point when Mon and Team patch up, but an additional scene after it helps to end the story more nicely, hinting at the trust issues that can continue to plague a relationship after the trust has been breached once. (There’s still a happy ending, but it’s not a simplistic one.)

4. Thurs and Pao (Pae): a ghost story with a dash of time travel. Thurs (Mon’s friend from Story 3) meets a ghost but soon enough falls in love with the ghost. Pao is cute though the cutesiness may have been overdone. There is a happy ending though the explanation of the events is a too reliant on the revelations of an apparently all-knowing monk. There seems to be some inconsistency in the script as sometimes Pao seems to be so clueless that he doesn’t even know who he is (Thurs gives him the name) but at other times seems to know more than he is telling Thurs. (It could be because his ghostly powers increase with all the merit that is accumulated for him, but there’s no clear explanation.)

This story has the cutest couple of the four stories so far, dispensing with the sexual tension in the earlier stories and presenting an innocent and sweet relationship instead. A pity that the subtitles were a little confusing, with a tendency to turn singular pronouns into plural pronouns and (I think) even reverse the subject/object of sentences (e.g. “I seem familiar to you” instead of “You seem familiar to me”),

5. Puth and Kaeng / Payu: Puth and Kaeng are both promiscuous players. Surprisingly, the focus seems to be a bit more on Kaeng – despite his reputation for being promiscuous, he is obviously in love with Puth, his sex buddy (a relationship that they can barely conceal from their friends). We see his inner thoughts and jealousy as Puth begins to fall for Payu. The characterization of Puth is a little baffling for he is a multi-timing promiscuous guy but he also appears shy and innocent when he is with Payu (and doesn’t seem to be pretending).

I thought the story could head towards a sad ending, but it doesn’t.

6. Sat and Choke: another story with supernatural elements, An eleven-year-old boy makes wishes that are granted by a wish-granting gundam. After wishing that he is a popular grown-up, he wakes up in a world where he (and everyone else) has aged by seven years. He does not remember what has happened in the last seven years, and visits his best friend, Choke. He has forgotten why he has stopped being friends with Choke (which doesn’t make sense since the broken friendship happens before he makes the wish to be an adult). This story is somewhat slow-moving at times, but it is fairly nice to watch. Nonetheless, it can be a little disturbing that Sat, who magically becomes eighteen years old but is still mentally eleven, starts doing adult stuff with Choke.

7. Masuk and Tir/Jia: This story gives quite a different feel from the rest of the stories in the series and one may wonder how much of a BL story it really is. The decision to put it as the last story may be because of this. The drawback, however, is that putting it as the last story may cause audiences to dislike it because it isn’t what they are expecting.

My opinion may not be shared by many, but I think this is the most serious and mature piece in the whole series. It is rather slow-moving in the first episode, but this helps to bring across the grief that Masuk feels after the death of his boyfriend Tir. Masuk’s grief is mixed with remorse as he feels that he could have prevented Tir from dying had he been punctual for their date. The story doesn’t let him change fate like the characters in in Stories 4 and 6, but he manages to find out something that helps him get over his remorse and move on even as he cannot forget Tir. Thematically, this story echoes Stories 4 and 6, but is more nuanced in the theme of the good being rewarded. It’s also surprisingly realistic in terms of how Masuk doesn’t just suddenly get over Tir and lovey-dovey with Jia.

Overall:
My favorite stories: Masuk X Tir/Jia, Thurs X Pao and Puth X Kaeng
My favorite couple: Thurs X Pao

Read More

Wish it had paid more attention to the details

At first, this series seems to be just a B-grade horror comedy with some BL thrown in. The ghost carrying a head and scaring people is just one of the things that give this impression.

However, as the story progresses, it becomes more intriguing. As a group of students is quarantined in a dorm and frightened by ghosts there, they gradually find out more about the deaths of two students there ten years ago. The mystery of what causes the deaths of the two students, a same-sex couple, does get interesting as the revelations of the past lead more more mysteries that to be solved.

Unfortunately, while the general trajectory of the story is rather good, the devil is in the details. Sometimes the details are contradictory. At one point, one of the ghosts seems to have regained a physical body and is surprised by it. Yet, this is not really explained and he still seems to have no physical body anyway. At one point, one of the students (ten years ago) is two-timing, dating his boyfriend while also flirting with their female best friend. But when the boyfriend finds out that they are meeting secretly, it is as though he has misunderstood the both of them when they are planning a birthday surprise for him. (Hey, the boyfriend isn't wrong. Later, it seems that the two-timer realizes that the one he truly loves is his boyfriend, but these revelations aren't entirely satisfactory,) The relationships amongst the side characters are also poorly developed. In one episode, Pao Pao has a crush on Met. In another episode, it's Joker having a crush on Met.

Another loophole in the plot is how people can suddenly appear in the dorm under quarantine. The caretaker, Auntie Ann, is suddenly revealed to be there, providing food for the students from the start of the quarantined. (It's like she is there out of good will, and the students could have been left there to starve to death during the quarantine.) Then several episodes later, the female best friend (human) of the gay couple (now ghosts) from ten years ago turns up. I don't think this is how quarantine works.

The flashbacks revealing the past bit by bit with additional revelations giving a twist to what one might assume from earlier revelations is conceptually good but ends up being poorly executed. This is such a pity because, if it had been done properly, this series could well be elevated a few notches.

It is commendable, nevertheless, that the series manages to integrate the BL storyline with the other elements like the mystery and ghost elements. It could simply have been a horror comedy with some BL romance thrown in as a selling point (like Ghost Runner, a lackluster horror series with BL romance thrown in). Admittedly, the series exaggerates the contrasts between the attitude towards gay couples ten years ago and contemporary attitudes. Even in the most open societies today, there is still quite a bit of homophobia, and Thai society is likely no exception. (Of course, the attitudes of young, college-age students may have changed more significantly.) Nevertheless, it conveys a clear message now how toxic homophobia can be.

Read More

The potential could have been fulfilled if this had been a time travel drama instead

I find the story fairly interesting though I also find it more difficult to suspend my disbelief compared to when I watch dramas in a similar genre.

This is not a time travel drama though it is similar to one. The protagonist simply tests out a newly developed VR game. How a bug in the game could cause her to be unable to simply exit the game by simply removing the VR device is possibly one of the first questions we may ask, but we can possibly assume that the technology is so advanced that the human-device connection is something much more complex than we can imagine today.

For a number of episodes, the game premise disappears and it seems no different from a time travel drama. I think this is the best part of the series. Unfortunately, the game premise returns with a vengeance, which makes things a little odd. For selfish interests, the bad guy (or the closest to one), who is the boss of the company creating the game, wants to end the game by letting one of the fictional game characters die. The protagonist (of the series) is against this, but the bad guy actually has a fairly convincing argument: nothing in the game is real, including the characters, so one should have no qualms letting the characters die. The behaviors of the game characters are determined by algorithms. (Yeah, I guess falling in love with one of the game characters is like falling in love with a chat bot.)

The only argument I can imagine using to support the protagonist of the series is that the game characters are sentient and have a mind of their own--perhaps they can even comprehend the idea that they are game characters in a computer program. (It's like if we one day find out the entire world we live in is a sort of simulation. Would our lives not matter then?) It does feel like this in some ways, but the series does not really push his point of view. This issue marred my enjoyment of the series at least a little.

The characterization of the game characters does not always help. I like the two generals in the game, but the emperor and the princess he is supposed to marry are less compelling. The princess is, at first, interesting because she's not the clear-cut villain (of the game) I had guessed she would be. However, her descent into complete villainy isn't convincing. Because of the portrayal of the game characters, I end up being reminded that they really are just game characters, as the boss of the game company says.

I suspect that the story would have been much better if it had simply been a time travel drama, so perhaps we have yet another potentially excellent series compromised by the need to comply with censorship laws.

Read More

Satisfactory but not all that satisfying

There seems to be a trend of detective dramas set in the Chinese Republican era recently (Detective L, My Roommate is a Detective). Perhaps the setting allows some circumvention of censorship to some extent--it's probably easier to get away with portraying the police or some policemen somewhat negatively in a made-in-China series since it represents a bygone era not under the current political regime.

The Case Solver is a somewhat decent addition, but it is hard to sing praises of it. The series can roughly be divided into six main cases, with links between a couple of them. About half the cases involve some fake supernatural occurrences, and perhaps this could have been a feature of the series though I guess making it a feature would not really allow the historical context to be fully exploited.

What we end up with is a few rather implausible cases, some with a better story than others. The weakest story is probably the one involving a magician who uses hypnosis. The main revelation is a little too predictable and the crimes committed are simply quite impossible to execute with the supposed methods. If you do not care too much about plausibility, most of the stories are interesting enough.

The final case is clearly meant to be the most exciting, but it is also one of the more erratic ones. To be fair, the last episode does not end up being as rushed as expected, but the turn of events does not really fit the rest of the series. Furthermore, the dialogue sometimes seems a little too silly (like the male leads wishing each other a happy new year after the villain gets his just desserts--it just seems silly coming after the spate of violence that have resulted in the deaths of a loved one).

Sometimes interesting characters and relationships may compensate for flawed stories, but this series doesn't shine in the characterization department either. The romance between the second male lead and a female reporter isn't very interesting or touching. Although they clearly like each other, they spend most of the time bickering with or teasing each other. There is a hint of potential romance between the first male lead and the forensics pathologist, but there is no development.

The bromance between the two male leads is better handled--they become closer progressively. Although the first male lead seems like a somewhat cold person, he clearly cares a lot about the second male lead, putting a coat over him when he gets drunk and shedding tears when he has to point a gun at him and arrest him.

There also seems to be a missing back story about the first male lead and his teacher (who happens to be the father of the forensics pathologist). It also remains unclear how the first male lead has sustained an injury that gives him frequent headaches. The acupuncturist who is able to relieve his pain is an intriguing character, but nothing much is revealed about her.

The series does turn out okay, but it isn't really outstanding in any particular way.

Read More

Cute and Sweet Add-On to Why R U?

I believe this three-part "series" consists of scenes that would have been in Why R U? if not for the pandemic. If it is watched alone, it may not make much sense even if the scenes are cute.

It would be fairer to review these three episodes as part of the Why R U? story, which has Saifah and Zon as a side couple. The three episodes here keep up the sweetness and cuteness while also filling in some of the missing gaps in Why R U?, like how Zon overcomes his resistance to his own feelings for Saifah. It is best watched at one go. Ideally, the scenes should be edited into Why R U?, but the audience may not want to watch Why R U again for the missing scenes.

Perhaps there could have been an attempt to inject more to this add-on to Why R U so that it work a bit better as a standalone mini-series, but I guess there are constraints in budget and all. If you've enjoyed the Saifah and Zon segments in Why R U, you will want to watch this for a sense of completion.

Read More

BL "nonsensical" comedy that gets somewhat serious with the BL

This is not a typical series, let alone a typical BL. Its brand of nonsensical comedy is probably not everyone's cup of tea though I actually enjoyed it. It isn't nonsensical in a truly bad way, but you have to be prepared for random magic-realist events, including people disappearing into a washing machine, apparently teleporting and traveling in a spaceship. The anarchy resulting from this sort of comedy can be really fun especially if executed well. I guess this series is a bit of an experiment, and the makers haven't gone all the way with the peculiar brand of comedy, which is a bit of a letdown though it may have saved the series from losing fans.

There are plenty of allusions in the series (I'm pretty sure I didn't get a huge chunk of them) and a lot of self-reflexive moments. Porpla the landlady appears in a different costume in almost every scene (including as Annabelle the horror-movie doll), and Nott the main character muses about what love is in semi-serious moments only to be asked by Porpla at one point whom he's talking to.

As for the BL segments, they start off rather randomly but get quite serious. Don't expect the couple Nott/Pun to become a classic BL couple though. There isn't that much of a story though there are plenty of BL moments. Which makes it a little hard to critique using the usual criteria. True, the story isn't exactly strong in the usual way, but this is not a usual series. It's quite a different creature altogether and the conventional categories of evaluation won't work. If it's your cup of tea to watch a somewhat coherent but thin BL story with random elements that have been hallucinated by someone high on drugs, then you should absolutely go for this. Otherwise, watch it with an open mind and you will find at least something enjoyable.

Strangely enough, the mostly bizarre characters end up being rather likable to me. When they bid Pun farewell in the last episode, acting all emotional, I actually felt like I wanted to see more of them. Season 2 has been announced, and I'm not sure how it will go. Will the nonsense comedy elements be toned down to appeal to more people? Or does the series have a strong enough fan base to get away with taking the hilariously nonsensical elements further?

Read More