RomanticRosebud_BL

Not without Flaws but I loved it more than Part 1: Epic and Legendary

I may be in the minority, but I got to say that I loved Alchemy of Souls: Light and Shadow more than I did part one. Yes, maybe the writing wasn't as good as part one as it lacked some of the action and mystery that part one provided us with and concentrated on Uk and Naksu's love story more but since I'm a sucker for romance I was very satisfied with how the story was told. Sure, I had some frustrations as some of the audience at times but hey I'm a sucker for angst and tension between the couple and I feel like the writing here gave me what I needed & wanted. Not to mention the amazing, amazing chemistry between Lee Jae-Wook and Go Yo-Joung. Their intensity is what kept me coming back episode after episode. I also feel like the buildup to when the action finally hits was executed well. I also feel like the writers closed off all the loose ends of season 1 satisfactory. I guess they left it open enough for more but as much as I'd like a S3 I feel like the story is pretty much over and I'm happy with how it ended. My babies got the end that they deserved and for that I'm very thankful considering how part 1 ended haha. Actually, all the characters got the ending that they deserved. Two gripes tho: I feel like the villain deserved a more awful end than he got and Naksu deserved more action in the end than what she got but oh well.

Now let's talk about the acting:
Go-YoJoung- I loved her! I'd say for this being her first lead role she handled it extremely well. I loved how she played Naksu's spunkiness, independence and comedic timing so well. Her portrayal of Naksu's innocent was very well done too. Also her switch to darkness when she remembers who she is? CLAP. This young woman is gonna go far! She's truly talented. I also adored her chemistry with Lee Jae Wook. As mentioned, they really made me feel the love of their characters.

Lee Jae Wook- This young man is exceptional. He really was the standout in this series for me. The way he changes his portrayal of light Jang Uk to dark and broody Jang Uk was amazing. He really made me feel like he was two different characters and not surprising with all Uk had to go thru since the past 3 years. Losing his life and the love of his life is not an easy task. LJW did an incredible job at showing all of Uk's emotions: sadness, confusion, coldness, love and rage. If he won an award for this role he certainly deserved, it. I hope what he did in AoS gets him more leading roles because he deserves them.

As for the rest of the cast they were all good. Made me love all the characters and hate the ones I needed to.

The OST is beautiful, I'm in love with "I'm Sorry" from Ailee, in fact I already listened to it more times than I should lol.

Overall 10/10. And I will be watching this over and over again especially since I don't know what to do with my life now that I finished it. Rewatch coming soon. I highly recommend this series for anyone who loves fantasy, romance, action and mystery. This is definitely one of the best Kdrama's i've watch and is going in my top favorites.

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A true masterpice BL lakorn

when I heard about this lakorn at first, I wasn't that interested because One 31 does tend to release similar lakorns over the years: To Sir, with Love, I feel You Linger in The Air, Century of Love and while I've loved all of them, they do tend to get repetitive. But I decided to give LITM a chance and boy did it surprise me! Although it does share a lot of similarities, I do feel like this went more into the neaty- gritty of the era 1960's when the small countries around Thailand were facing crises in needed to find a way to survive. It's a tale of forbidden love between a price and a commoner. Not only that but they are both men completely taboo. Love in the Moonlight really gets into the homophobia of the time, the struggle young Asian man faced i n those times and although they still face that prejudice it's good to know that we've come so far since then, even if we do still have a way to go. Saenkaew's story is a heartbreaking one when he has to face prejudice even from his own father. Those scenes were so hard to watch because the homophobia he faced was coming from the one person who was supposed to protect him. I wanted to kill Kamfah myself at times. Despite that, Saenkeaw perseveres never letting his father break him even when it seems he has. And that's why I loved his character he may seem weak at first, but I got to say that despite the harsh reality he faced he never really gave up and fought for the man he loved. Sasin was the best compliment for him, smart, outspoken, sassy, protective, romantic and so full of love! He did everything he could to make sure Saenkaew was always protected and loved no matter if he got hurt at time.
Although Sasin and Saenkaew's story may be hard to watch at times, it is important, so the audience knows how history shaped who we are today as a society. I feel like stories like this need to be told. They may be fictional but there is some truth to it too. Who knows if there was a Sasin and Saenkaew back then after all. Hopefully, if there was, they were able to find their happy ending like Sasin and Saenkaew did.
The ambitation of the story really made me feel like I was in the '60's One 31 did a good job with the costumes & the sets but overall the feeling of the series. The immenent homophobia surrounding these men, It broke my heart all the pain that Sasin and Saenkaew went thru.
Pin's character was a tough one. Her tale and suffering was akin to a lot of women of her time, told to shut up, and take any marriages of convinience their family chooses for them. But that was not my problem with her, my problem was how she handled everything when she found out the truth. She became the worst of society back then even if she was a victim herself. It was hard to feel for her. I'm happy that they redeemed her in the end. She realized that she was only hurting everyone and helped. Her redemption worked for me way better than Kamfah's did.
After what that disgusting pos father did to Saen and Sasin thru out the whole series, he deserved a miserable death. Not to be forgiven and happy for the end of his miserable life. I hate when bl writers never have the cajones to make the biggest villains pay. Who cares if they are the parents just wrong to let them off. They write then so much like villains for the whole story and then just expect the audience to accept that? I don't think so! That was my only complaint in this story and disappointment.
Aside from the rapament homophobia I'm so happy that Sasin had people with him, who loved him enough to back him when he needed them Even if his friends were not 100% comfortable with Sasin loving another man, in the end that didn't matter to them. All they wanted was for him to be happy. I'm glad that they were here because they were a breath of fresh air among all the other homophobes. Sasin and SaenKaew's love story was a beautiful one. It touched me deeply. Even though they went thru so much pain, they never stopped loving each other or gave up on each other either. Sasin's love for Saenkaew was breathtaking. Like I said, tough story to watch but an important one. The writers did an excellent job! They took me thru an emotional ride every episode and the payoff was worth it. Just wish the Kamfah end would have been handled better.
First time watching PearPeak but I'm going to say that they won me over! Not only with their incredible acting but their chemistry was top notch! They easily became my favorite new cp this year and I can't wait to see what's next for them. Perth was also amazing as Pin, first time seeing her too but she's an amazing actress hope she continues getting roles that make her shine.
The music was gorgeous. It accented every scene and moment where the OST was played. I listen to the songs frequently and I can picture the scenes in my head. Over all 10/10. Such a masterpiece from beginning to end. I know I will be watching over and over because Love in The Moonlight has now become one of my favorite BL's ever. I'm going to miss it.

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With every series they make JImmySea prove to me why they are my favorite CP

and two of my favorite actors in all of GMMTV. JimmySea never disappoint in their choices, in what they choose to say yes to in a series. They know how to pick them. I thought it was going to be very hard for them to top Last Twilight similar to how hard it's been for OffGun and Not Me. But then low and behold My Magic Prophecy came along. Although it didn't quite surpass LT for me it got very, very close to. It's definitely my second favorite series of theirs. It's going to be on rewatch a lot because it deserves it. I love how the series dealt with grief particularly well. Sea and the writers made me feel Inthu's trauma and loneliness so well in each and every scene. Until Thapfah came along and changed everything. I love how ThapIn started out as enemies to lovers (first time JS do this trope and they did it so well, the way they change their dynamics in every series is spectacular.) then slowly fell in love. Jimmy and Sea are so talented that I really felt like I was watching two people fall in love and felt like I was intruding in their private time a lot, honestly, they have that romantic chemistry thing down to a pat. It's also cute how they let their real-life bond slip into their series all the time. Those little touches that make them JimmySea: cheek kisses, forehead touches, head boops and head pats, nose rubs and nose kisses into their characters I feel like that makes them even more real. Also JimmySea are so versatile that every time they make a new series, they never seem like their old characters at all. There was no Puen or Mhok in Thap just like there was no Talay or Day in In. If all these characters are played by the same actors it's hard to tell, that's how good JS are. ThapIn were also their healthiest and sexiest cp yet. Plus, JimmySea get better in acting in every series just like their chemistry gets better and better everytime they work together. I can't wait to see what's next from them.
Ok moving away from JimmySea because I'll talk about them the whole review if I don't lol. SaveFrank and Acare were great in their roles, their characters fit in perfect and felt so real. Acare for being a newbie also did an excellent job wiht Dao, she was so cute. Got to give it to First! first itme he really plays a villain, and he did an amazing job with Karn. Hopefully he can get more troubled characters like this in the future. As for the Director and Producers they all made sure to make My Magic Prophecy be the big hit it was along with the actors. I hope JS can work with this director again in the future he is so good.
MMP is going into my top favorite BL's because it was a masterpiece. It kept me glued to my seat every sunday and now that it's over I don't know what I'm going to do with my life.
10/10 if you haven't watched it, please do! You won't regret it.

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Started off really strong but for me fell off in the last 12 episodes.

I feel like the writers did a good job in world building and how it presented its characters. One of its strengths was how well the writers were able to write the villains and even the gray parts of the story. The first 27 episodes kept me glued to my screen but when we reached episode 28, I felt like the writers were stuck and didn't know how to finish the story. A lot of what we saw in the last 12 episodes or so was already rehashed from episodes before. Granted it was elaborated more and showed the audience what had happened. It still dragged for me. I had a hard time keeping interest and mostly kept going back to rewatch Moonlight Mystique episodes. I think this is where the writers/story failed. Other than that, I think had the plot had weaven everything together better my rating would be higher. Also, the ending had this feeling of rushed but I guess that can't be helped with just the 40 episodes cap.
The best part of this series was definitely the FL. I loved Mu Xualing so much and I liked how she wasn't the typical female lead. SZN did well in portraying MXL: strong, detemined, fiery, seductress, bad ass, innocent, cunning etc. I think after this she will get many more opportunities because she deserves them. As for VZ I had trouble connecting with his character another reason why I rate this an 8. If I can't connect with actors, then I'm not going to like the drama that much. I feel like he did a good job with Xie Xuchen but he was also missing something that made me not care as much about XXC. VZ and SZN did have good chemistry which made the drama watchable. Despite NYX being the villain, he ended up being one of my favorites. Sometimes I liked him more than the ML.
In the end my rating is 8/10.

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Surprised I didn't think I would like it as much as I ended up doing it.

When I saw the trailer, the story intrigued me, but I wasn't sure if I'd like it or not. But I did and a lot. I know a lot of people were disappointed in the end because it was billed as a crime, thriller bl and well it's not. Ok, it is for like the first 5 first episodes and after that- well- it just focuses on the love story between Min and Q. And Q learning how to heal from his past trauma thru Min's love. That may sound cheesy to a lot who were expecting more from this series. But to me it didn't bother me at all. I really liked watching the love between MinQ develop , for me it was handled perfectly. Plus, the OhmLeng chemistry was on fire. I really fell in love with them. Many thought that after what happened with Ohm's past ship, he'd never have chemistry with anyone else. Wrong! Kidnap proved that the kid is a chemistry magnet. He is so talented that he knows how to create magic with all his costars.
Leng surprised me for a rookie he was not bad at all. He stayed with Ohm in most of their scenes together and was at ease in the romantic scenes. He still needs work, in some areas, yes but he is much better than other actors: rookies and not. He has the potential of being one of the good ones on GMMTV. If he stays with Ohm, I have no doubt he'll continue growing.
As for the story, yes it had it's faults but I liked it and it kept me entertained every week. I know I'll be rewatching it and putting it in my faves list for sure. 9.5/10

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Be My Favorite? Yes it definitely is!

When I heard about this series I wasn’t going to watch because I wasn’t a Krist fan at all at first. But, that’s another story for another time. All I’ll say on that is that I’ve changed my mind on Krist and he’s now one of my favorite actors. Now on to the meat of this review: when I watched the trailer I was intrigued and decided to give this bl a chance. I’m so glad that I did because it ended being my second favorite bl of all time. There was just something about this story that resonated deeply with me. How many of us want to be Kawi? To be able to go back in time and change past mistakes in our lives? I’ll say most of us do. But like Kawi we have to learn the same lesson: “live a life that we are proud of so we don’t want to go back and change it.”
I appreciated the life lessons this series taught me as I watched. I cried, loved and cheered along side Kawi and Piseang.
Kawi may not be an easy protagonist to like because he’s so human and makes a lot of mistakes in the first episodes but I understood him. I’ve been there so I got it. I loved having a protagonist I could relate to so well. As for Pisaeng it was so easy to love him because he was one of the greenest flags ever. The way he loved Kawi is the way we all want and deserve to be loved. Pear was a queen, I loved that she was her own character not just there to be a problem between PisaengKawi. And Max was the friend we all want.
As for Pisaeng and Kawi’s love story, i loved it. It was told so well. I love how the writers took the time with it and how they completely showed us Kawi falling in love. I have to say GawinKrist’s chemistry was pure magic! So much so that they became my favorite pairing ever. Their chemistry bordered on soulmates, plus they just had this naturality to it. Krist &Gawin just balanced each other out so well. I love them that as all.
As for rewatching value? This is definitely on my rewatch list and I will do it over and over again. BMF is worth a thousand rewatches. Highly recommended to anyone who hasn’t watched yet.

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Low budget drama that hit all the right beats for me.

It’s not perfect and the story gets repetitive in some parts, but it’s still enjoyable. The romance was the best part. It’s pretty non toxic with a touch of Harlequin romance. The ML and FL go thru so much stuff on,y to realize that they are 100% soulmates.. I also like the character growth the FL, Yexi, goes thru. She starts as the normal, run of the mill female lead but by the end she’s totally different and stronger. I like that the writers did that. I also liked the complicated relationship between the ML and the 2ML. They hate each other but at the same time, share a strong bond of understanding, respect and friendship between them. The supporting characters except for maybe one, don’t do much for the story. But I guess they were needed because this couldn’t be a 3-4 cast member drama 😂. The story wasn’t much to write home about since it’s mostly centered around Yexi, her journey and her journey to find love. But I did enjoy the journeys. It is a small budget drama but I feel like the cast and everyone in the production company did a good job. The main villain as annoying as he was, I think was one of the best I’ve seen lately. I felt how horrible he was and his actions made sense. I love LHY so I watched this for him and I’m glad I did because it was a good watch despite its flaws.
Overall I give it an 8.5 because I feel the story stalled a few times but overall I pretty much liked it. Will I rewatch? Probably.

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An epic Masterpiece in all proportions

An amazing drama that I'll never forget! Everything about this was amazing. The chemistry between Soo Ming and Lee Bae Wok, the characters, the character arcs and development, the worldbuilding and the acting. I got to say that both Jang Uk and Naksu/Mae-Duk are two of my most favorite characters ever in drama. And that has a lot to down to how both Soomin and LBW potrayed these characters with so much nuance and realism. They lived these characters and so did I thru them.
Uk and Naksu's character development was also a delight to watch. Nothing forced at all their changes they experience realistically, as they grow and change and grow as the story moves along.
Now onto the story, I'm a big fantasy lover and I was super excited when I found out AoS was a Korean fantasy drama. It had all the aspects that I love: magic, worldbuilding, the characters, the friendships, and of course the romance. I also loved the touch of comedy sprinkled throughout especially when the episodes were dark. It offered a nice balance.
Loved all the emotions AoS made me feel, I regret not watching this when it was airing I feel like watching live would have left me on an emotional rollercoaster every week! phew.
Got to say that Alchemy of Souls is one of the best dramas I've seen and one of my top ones too. Can't wait to get on and watch part 2. After that ending I need it lol.
10/10 for everything.

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Simple, Cute, Slice of Life Drama

that I completely enjoyed. What I enjoyed more about this series is how mature the characters were. Takara and Amagi behaved way more mature than a lot of Male Leads that I have seen in other BL series. For being teenagers, they sure knew how to communicate and fight for their relationship. Whenever there was a problem while yes, the drama was there it didn't take long for Amagi and Takara to solve it. When that wasn't enough, it was time for their friends to step up! Katori has to be one of my favorite best friend's in BL. He was always there for Amagi when he needed him. I really loved their bond. The friendships were good here even Tanaka stepped up when he needed to.

Yes the story was simple and not much too it but I loved how realistic the plot was to teenagers like Amagi coming to terms with his feelings of first love and all that entailed. Although Takara wasn't as epressive as Amagi, it was good to get inside his head once in a while. Also his love for Amagi was the cutest thing ever. Bubbly and Cold protagonists is one of my favorite tropes and I feel like it was executed well here.

The actors did a fine job with their characters.

The only thing that bothered me a bit was the use of timeline. Those flashbacks to tell the story where mighty confusing, esp in the first episodes. I think that's why I give this a 9.0. Because overall this was a fun, fluffy & just what I needed kind of series. I liked the minimal use of angst and the overall cuteness because with all the ugliness in the world this is the kind of series that is needed. One that I'll probably rewatch a lot and one of my favorites of the year.

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For GMMTV's first period costume drama it was good, Both GreatInn's and AouBoom's chemistry

did make up for the flaws in the story. I enjoyed the intent GMMTV did and I do feel for the most part they did do a good job even if the story did stall at times. Whoever said that it was disneyfied I do agree with that. At times it felt like I was watching a Disney channel movie. But hey that's not neccesirily bad since I did grow up watching those movies. It's true that some of the heaavier themes in the series could have been handled better but I could see why the writers didn't want to push it. Inn Sarin and Great Sapoldid a great job with their characters and I did feel the emotional moments heavy. It's true tho at times it did get boring but I'm glad that I powered thru because I didn't regret it. I'd say that AouBoom were the break out stars here that's why I'm glad that they are finally moving onto leads they more than deserve it.
All in all I give it an 8.5. Yes it could have been better in certain areas but for the most part i highly enjoyed it.

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Dark and hauntingly beautiful at its core.

A story of two men that should not be together, right? Well, that's only at the surface but there's so much more to this story. Haoren and Chihiro are two young men who are completely damaged: mentally, physically, and emotionally. One because of his tragic past and the other because his family is homophobic. When they first meet it leads to a toxic relationship where there's a lot of pain, abuse and humiliation in the beginning. The first 3 episodes are extremely hard to watch because of the emotional abuse. But in the end, it's a road that both Haoren and Chhiro needed. To a normal bystander this is a relationship that should not succeed. At least it's what it looks like at first. Underneath the toxicness that surrounds them at first both Haoren and Chichiro come to understand each other, value each other and heal together. Their journey takes them to a place where they can learn to love each other and make one another happy. Despite all the pain they have been thru in their lives they give each other a peace they have never had before. That peace is what not only becomes healing from one to the other but also within themselves.
And that's the beauty of this story. The writers knew exactly what they were doing here and giving these characters character development in 8 episodes where the audience can feel that it's worth it to root for them. Not only as a couple but as individuals. It also leaves the viewers with hope that no matter how dark life may get there's always a light within a tunnel be it in the form of another person or your own persona.
Highly recommended tho it may trigger some esp in the first episode. All I'm going to say is stick with it because it's all worth it. The cast was amazing in this too. One of Japan's best BL's but it may not be for everyone, I enjoyed it fully.

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An interesting look at the school system and parents with a mature romance.

I'll admit that this drama made me think about things. About how some parents are willing to destroy their children as long as they achieve academic success. It's sad what lengths they go thru and how the school system actually highlights this instead of finding a way to protect their students. But I guess if the kid's parents are not going to protect them who else can. Before watching this I never really thought about this, but I got to say this series is thought provoking. Not only on the parents and school system but other heavy subjects as well. I feel like the writers handled all the sensitive subjects well: like eating disorders, school and parent pressure, mental illness, abuse both physical and mental, cyber bullying and social pressure.
Sometimes this series got to dark tho but the lighthearted romance did lighten the mood. I like how the characters were older. We rarely see a romcom centered on a woman in her thirties, so this was a breath of fresh air. I like how it was handled and the characters made me root for them. The teen romance was also handled well imo and didn't take much away from the main storyline. What did take away from it was the serial killer plot. I understand what the writers wanted to do here and how abuse can lead to someone becoming a monster. Important to tell but not always necessary in a romcom. Especially, when the plot is centered too much on this one plot and forgets the main story. However, I did like how it was resolved in the end. And I also liked how the characters were smart FL especially.
The cast did a great job and I found some of my favorite actors while watching this.
Overall I give it an 8.5 because like I mention I feel like the killer plot took away too much from the central story. Other than that I really enjoyed this series and would recommend.

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The acting really caried this series. The story was meant to be intriguing

and while yes it touched on very important issues like: corruption, greed, abuse both physical and mental, mental health issues & prostitution, I mostly felt meh about it. I don't know what it was but for the most part I felt like the episodes dragged until there was an action part in the story. It was actually the cast that kept me engaged. Off Jumpol is one of my favorite Thai actors so of course I'll watch him in anything and while he was pretty awesome here, I'd have to give this to Mond. He stole the show with his incredible acting. He's definitely a rising star imo. It was a pleasure to watch Off and Mond working together again. I loved them on Not Me and felt like Mond and First were the actors that have had the best chemistry with OffGun as a group. Off and Mond proved that again in this series. Jan was incredible once again, she's rapidly climbing on my best actress list too.
I think the series accomplished what it needed to do and set the tone up for the next two series in the Midnight Series. Will I watched it again? Unless I have to figure out a hidden connection to the other series, I'll probably not.
I give this a 7 because I liked how smart Mote was and the acting but the story was so-so. The OST was ok, mostly just loved the song they played at the end. If people want an action/thriller that's not that thought provoking this series could be it.

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Emotional, satisfying and beautifully written

Wow! What a ride this series was from start to finish. This is how angst is done. When I first heard that the original miniseries was gonna get a full series: I was skeptical. To be honest I wasn't much of a fan of the original so I wasn't expecting much. To say I was pleasently surprised is an understatement. Although the story/plot can be considered the normal cliched one: Love Mechanics was more than that. I enjoyed how fleshed out everything was. The characters weren't cardboard cutouts, they were layered and multifaceted. That's what made them real. Vee could be frustrating at times but at the same time the audience could see and understand his inner struggle. Like wise with Mark sometimes he made people want to hit him, when he didn't stand up for himself but like with Vee it was understandable why he put up with Vee's bs. That's the makings of good writing. Not to mention how well War and Yin portrayed their characters. I wasn't a fan of their acting in the miniseries but I loved them here. Both grew so much as actors and were able to transmit everything and make the audience feel with the characters were. They are in my top actors list now. The rest of the cast was good too.
The ending was incredibly satisfying in the end everything leading up to it made sense. I also loved how the boys father's were layered. All the characters felt real on Love Mechanics. So much so that it's hard to say goodbye. And for that reason and how good the writing is it's going in my top of the year. The series may not be perfect to everyone but it was to me.
That's why OVERALL I give it a 10. Definitely going in my rewatch list too.

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I enjoyed this more than I thought

Not Much into Sport Dramas but I quite enjoyed this one. For the most part it was an easy and peaceful watch. I loved all of the characters and the couples. It definitely surprised me, the first episode doesn't emphasize what this show is about. At first it seems like a regular sports/college drama but it's so much more than that. The characters get good development and so do the couples, the friendships are one of YMS stronger points and I like how they handled Thor's coming out. Though, I feel like Vee and Dome's storyline was left open ended but understandable with the subject matter their story faced. I'm satisfied with the conclusion of the other two couples esp Saen and Ae since they were my favorites from the beginning.
All in all I give this series an 8.0. I say give this series a chance because it's so much more than what it seems.

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