Sakura_Falling

Fired the Weatherman

It's been a minute since I've seen a drama so completely lackluster and pointless. My expectations weren't high, frankly I wasn't sure what to expect, but I certainly thought it was going to be better than it was. I truly don't understand the relatively high rating this drama has. The relationship is toxic, which is fine, not every relationship is sunshine and daisies and it can be interesting when those kinds of toxic relationships are explored. But there is no exploration here, no sense of why these people are together, and no character development to bring clarity. It's just eight episodes of nothingness that left me wondering what the heck I'd just watched.

Plots are apparently boring as there is barely one present. I kept waiting for something to happen, for some kind of progress, but nothing ever happened. It's basically two men going around in circles and nothing ever gets accomplished. It was incredibly frustrating to watch and I kept wondering, how on earth are they going to give this a satisfying ending? The answer quite simply is that they didn't. The pacing is mediocre, just good enough to keep me watching to the end. That's the best I can say for it.

The characters are frustrating and weak. They're supposed to be in love, but neither one is good at expressing that love or even admitting to it. They can't even communicate to any real degree. Their conversations are by and large short and stilted. There are several instances of miscommunication because they are both incapable of opening their mouths. Segasaki is a meteorologist who's charming on tv, but at home is less than agreeable. He treats Yoh as more of a servant than someone he cares about and that never really goes away. Rather than developing positively as the series progresses, he grows ever more possessive of Yoh to the point that he literally ties him up to prevent him from leaving. Yoh, for his part, is a very passive person who fails to speak up for himself or really do anything for himself period. He takes Segasaki's treatment and while he contemplates leaving him, never actually does anything to facilitate that idea. He's just such an ineffectual character. The ending is very similar to the beginning, except they're supposedly happy. Yoh has apparently come to the conclusion that he likes Segasaki's abuse and Segasaki is ever so slightly more attentive, though still very possessive. They both just lack any kind of real depth of character and there's nothing present to make me care about either of them. It's a huge disconnect between them and the audience. And despite the fact that their initial history with how they met and connected is shown, the in between of that time period and the present is left a mystery. The character development is basically nil which is disappointing because there could have been a lot more to it.

Both actors are fairly generically cute and that was the biggest thing they had going for them since their acting skills left something to be desired. Even if characters lack in vocal communication, a lot can be conveyed in other ways. Unfortunately that didn't happen here. Their overall performance was as lackluster as the story. Funnily enough, their chemistry during the intimate scenes was actually quite good. It's just a pity that didn't translate to the more mundane scenes.

The production value was good as is to be expected with a Japanese production. The opening and ending credits were very aesthetically pleasing with music that meshed well.

Ultimately I found this drama to be disappointing and incredibly mediocre. It's aesthetics are about all it has going for it and that's simply not enough. With a stronger story and characters, it could have been compelling and unique but unfortunately, it is neither of those. If you want a drama that leaves you feeling unsatisfied, this is the one for you.

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Seek Your Destiny Elsewhere

Destiny Seeker gets added to the list of mediocre BLs that have some interesting aspects, but are underdeveloped and try to get by with steamy NSFW scenes and little else. To make matters worse in this situation, there were the absolutely ghastly English subtitles, some of the worst I've seen which did nothing to boost my opinion. It is, for the most part, a mess, but hidden in the mess are some little treasures that made it bearable and even enjoyable at times.

I will give this drama credit for actually having a plot. It was a very thin plot, but there was one which was a nice change after a string of plotless dramas. The majority of the drama revolved around Ai and Songkhram and their slowly developing relationship. There's really nothing new here, no groundbreaking revelations, but it's not horribly done either. Their transition from rivals to boyfriends feels relatively natural and not overly forced. That being said, there were some aspects that didn't make a whole lot of sense, like Songkhram claiming he'd been in love with Ai since their freshman year and making comments that he'd been pursuing him all that time which we don't really see or get the impression of. There were also a number of flashbacks scattered throughout which were not clearly demarcated from the rest of the story so there were a few scenes where it took a moment to realize that we had suddenly jumped back in time. The sorting of the boys into different dorms based on their talents was an interesting concept and I wish more had been done with it. It's only purpose here seemed to be using it as an excuse for why Ai and Songkhram had to be rivals. Which, that was another aspect that was not well explained. I get that there was the rivalry between their dorms, but why? And was it just their two dorms that had a rivalry or were there rivalries between the other dorms as well? There was, in general, a serious lack of information about this college. Again, the translation was garbage, so I may have misunderstood some information, but it seemed like they had all gotten their degrees at other colleges and were there to get their master's degrees, maybe? Also, it was obviously a coed college, but where were all the girls? I think I saw maybe five or six girls throughout and that was it. I know some of that's nitpicking, but information like that just deepens the world building and allows the viewer to become more involved. And lastly, is anyone else getting sick and tired of every BL being centered around engineering students? Is that a requirement? Must be gay in order to be an engineer. There are so many other degrees out there. Get creative for once!

Destiny Seeker did feel trope heavy, particularly with the whole engineering background. But we also get the sick mother, though of a less serious nature here and thankfully they didn't feel the need to kill her off for dramatic effect. We also have Ai moving abroad, but this was less annoying than in previous dramas because it didn't cause unnecessary drama between our leads. Ai gets caught in the rain once and is instantly sick, but he and Songkhram get caught in the rain in the final episode and are just fine. There's a hint of the gay for you trope. It's not explicitly stated, but it is almost implied with both Bright and Plustor.

The characters felt very one dimensional. They were all just kind of thrown in there with very little background information or information regarding their motives, their reasoning or anything that would allow the viewer to get a handle on them. The villains especially. For one they were very disappointing villains. They were so pleased with themselves when all I could think was, really, guys, that's the best you can do? But why were they the way that they were. Tum showed up only a couple of times and no information was given as to why he was such an ass. And he went from wanting Ai for himself to wanting to ruin his chances of getting the funding for his idea. Again, no reason as to why unless it was because Ai was with Songkhram at that point and it was some weird if I can't have him then I'm going ruin him kind of thing. Ohm was similar. His relationship with Ai wasn't super clear cut. He seemed to have an unhealthy attachment to him which may have been because it doesn't sound like his father was very present. But his actions seemed way over the top. Ai didn't side with him one time and he decided the best course of action was to betray him by selling his project to Tum? And then he tried to flip things around and blame everything on Ai. Like what? And wrapping up our villains, I didn't get why the other team seemed to have it out for Ai's team. Maybe I missed something, but I don't recall anything happening between any of them to cause any kind of friction. All in all, they were just a pathetic group of villains that really can't even be called that.

As for the good guys, they lack a lot as well. We get a little more background with Ai and Songkhram since their our leads, but there's still a lot left out. Things like they're both children of single parents, but what happened to their other parent? I think it's mentioned in passing that Ai's father died, but I don't recall any explanation for what happened to Songkhram's mother. They both also have their quirks that could have been delved into a bit more, things like Ai's aversion to dirt and Songkhram's apparent interest in plants. Little things that could have been used to flesh out their characters and made it feel like there was more to them. I did appreciate their relationship once they got together. Although Ai's over the top reactions every time they were almost caught was overdone. The rest though, I liked. They were just genuinely sweet and adorable together and if nothing else, they did give me warm fuzzy feelings with their interactions. The scene where they keep sneaking kisses while watching something in the final episode was just perfection. I was very happy they didn't throw in any unnecessary drama between them in the last couple of episodes. Songkhram came through as the quintessential boyfriend, supporting Ai through everything life kept throwing at him from losing the project funding to his mother's collapse and moving to Germany. As for the rest of the gang, they don't really get much of a backstory aside from Meen and Bright since they knew each other since middle school. We get some flashbacks of them to show how their relationship has progressed. They were a confusing couple, mostly in Bright's case because so little was revealed about what he was thinking. He's been in love with Meen for years, but pursued Ai to try to forget him? It made no sense, which, I mean love doesn't always make sense, but that seemed really out there. I would have been interested to know more about him just because he was so hot and cold with Meen. I also would have just liked to have seen a more gradual development of their relationship. It felt like things happened very quickly. Plustor and Nano, similarly to Ai and Songkhram, had the rivals to lovers storyline, but like with Meen and Bright, their relationship progressed very quickly and without a whole lot of build up. One thing I was not a fan of in the cases of both relationships was the way that both Bright and Plustor forced themselves on their love interest. I will give credit to Plustor for apologizing to Nano for his behaviour, but we don't get any such apology from Bright. Touch was an entertaining addition to their group and I enjoyed his interactions with everyone. Again, there wasn't much too him aside from comic relief, but he served that purpose pretty well.

There were also a number of characters that just didn't make sense or weren't explained. There was the woman who was seen addressing the boys several times and flirting with them which just seemed inappropriate. No idea who she was other than some kind of administrator, I guess. There were also the two token girls who joined the guys group at one point. I know the one was Amber's daughter, but they stood out like sore thumbs. They just didn't seem to fit in well.

The acting wasn't bad, but also wasn't anything to write home about. However, considering the fact that for most of the cast this was their first drama or one of their first, I really can't be too hard on them. Even Earth, who has the most credits to his name, has only been at this for about a year it looks like. So considering their inexperience, I think they were overall solid. All of the couples had pretty decent chemistry. Bank and Earth had the least natural kisses initially. They seemed a bit awkward, but it also kind of worked for their characters with starting a new relationship. I look forward to seeing them all growing and improving.

The production was okay, nothing really spectacular. I did find it both interesting and somewhat helpful the way they differentiated Dorms 2 and 3 by the colors their characters wore. It was relatively unobtrusive and like I said, it was helpful at times to keep track of who was in which dorm.

There were a couple of other things I liked that I'll mention here. The way that there is never a scene where Ai is afraid of telling his mother that he's gay or her being shocked when she finds out was so refreshing. It felt very natural. There was no need to make a big deal about it, it's just who he was and this is his boyfriend and welcome to the family! The ending with Ai and Songkhram apparently having adopted a baby was pleasantly surprising. I don't think I've ever seen another BL where they took that next step to their characters actually having a family and I really liked that they added it in.

There's nothing that really stands out about Destiny Seeker to make it memorable. I saw a lot of reviews talking about how the first part of it was meh, but the ending was brilliant. I have to admit that I didn't see any brilliance here. It's one of those dramas that I have a feeling I'll pretty soon forget about. But, that being said, it's not horrible, it has it's good moments as well as it's disappointing ones. I don't think it's good enough to warrant multiple viewings, but watching it once isn't a total waste of time.

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Letting Go Of This One

Of the dramas being continued with Our Skyy 2, Never Let Me Go is my least favorite. I didn't think it was a great drama to begin with and it's one that seemed to have a pretty conclusive ending that didn't need any further embellishment so I didn't have high hopes for these two episodes. That turned out to be a very good thing as these two episodes were completely underwhelming and frankly, quite tedious to watch.

The story just seemed ridiculous. To go from the more serious tone of Never Let Me Go with being hunted down and trying to survive to these two episodes where we suddenly have fortune tellers and magical bracelets and curses and jumping through time, it was incredibly jarring. Introducing a rather complex concept in such a short period of time was foolhardy and it doesn't flow well. There are far too many plot holes, too many questions left unanswered and not nearly enough time to properly flesh everything out.

The acting, as I've come to expect from Pond and Phuwin, was a mixed bag. Pond continues to bore me with his lack of expression and Phuwin varied from decent to over the top. I was, however, pleasantly surprised by Pawin and Marc. They both played minor characters, but I liked their acting. It felt more natural to me than either Pond or Phuwin and, honestly, I would have preferred more of them.

The few things that I liked were that Palm and Nueng did communicate. Not necessarily well all the time, but they made the effort. Compared to Never Let Me Go where I felt like they never really communicated, this was an improvement. Despite not feeling like it really fit with the drama, I was intrigued by the historical setting. If the special had fit in better with the original drama, I think I could have liked it, but that disconnect just killed it. It also didn't help that Palm and Nueng really didn't make any effort to blend in, Palm in particular. They stood out like sore thumbs and it ruined the atmosphere. The power swap was interesting with Palm suddenly being the rich and powerful one and Nueng as a servant. It created a bit of a different dynamic between them at times. I think it could have been played with to a greater extent to reveal more about the characters and allow them to grow both as individuals and as a couple, but I'll take what I can get. I liked the side couples of Phum/Petch and Kan/Kla. I found them more compelling than Palm and Nueng, particularly as Petch and Kla. Their romance, though brief, was sweet and innocent, a breath of fresh air. And while they couldn't be together due to the time they lived in, it was gratifying to see their descendants able to be together without fear.

These two episodes were just a mess. They didn't add anything of value to the story and just felt really out there and disconnected from the drama. If you're like me and not a fan of Never Let Me Go, don't waste your time on these episodes, you won't be missing anything.

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Stronger Than Together With Me

I did not love Together With Me. While I really liked most of the characters, I found Knock to be incredibly frustrating and downright idiotic. I wasn't sure whether to be happy or sad when he and Korn got together at the end because I felt Korn deserved so much better. At the beginning of The Next Chapter, I found myself feeling much the same way. Even after three years, Knock was still an immature pain in the ass and Korn was left acting as more of a parent than a partner. It was honestly sad to watch.

What this show did so beautifully, was show how complicated relationships can be. It had a realism that I really haven't seen in any other Asian dramas. Most of the time, if cheating is featured in the story, it is made very clear who is good and who is bad in the situation. The ambiguity here, was far more realistic, and I really enjoyed that. In the cases of Korn and Yiwha, yes, they were in the wrong, but their reasons for unfaithfulness were, while not justifiable in any sense, understandable.

In the case of Korn and Knock, you have, as I mentioned earlier, Korn acting as more of a parent to Knock. He wakes him up, makes sure he has money to buy food, puts toothpaste on his toothbrush and basically everything else other than physically dressing him. He shows physical affection, worries constantly and basically his love and care of Knock is very much on display. And then you have Knock who's so obsessed with his online games and going out and partying and generally still acting like a teenager that he's barely functional. He's constantly running late and constantly tired because of his complete lack of responsibility. There is a serious unevenness in their relationship that was bound to cause issues eventually. And then Pete comes in playing both of them, acting sympathetic and understanding, particularly towards Korn who's understandably frustrated with how things are playing out with Knock, especially concerning coming out to his parents. A combination of Pete's manipulation, alcohol, and Korn's own conflicting feelings, basically wishing that Knock would be as understanding and mature as Pete appears, and the mistake is made. It's understandable, again, not justifiable in any way, but understandable and realistic because I think that's how it is in many cases of cheating. I think both Korn's and Knock's reactions to Korn's cheating were well done and realistic. Korn, obviously, feels horribly guilty and he apologizes repeatedly, but Knock's reaction is understandable in not wanting to immediately accept that apology and feeling extremely betrayed. And here is where Knock finally starts to grow some. When the two finally reconcile, Korn asks to take care of him again to which Knock says he doesn't want him to take care of him but to just love him. It's a sweet moment and a telling one to see that Knock has grown as a character. The only thing I would have liked to see a little more of is Korn earning back Knock's trust.

Coming out to their parents becomes a big issue between them with Knock showing frustration that Korn won't tell his parents. This issue left me with some questions because Korn's dad tells him that if he's gay, he's no longer part of their family. Korn never explicitly says and Knock never mentions if this fact was communicated between them which I think is hugely important. If Korn told Knock and Knock was still willing to force the issue, frankly, to me, that makes him a colossal ass. I understand not wanting to hide something so big, something that is such a part of you, but to expect and keep pushing for Korn to basically just give up his family would be incredibly cruel and insensitive. On the flip side, if Korn never communicated that to Knock, then that makes him a colossal idiot. Knowing Knock's character, if he knew what Korn's father had said, I feel like he would have been more understanding. I think the fact that its never specified if the two discussed this was deliberate to feed the drama.

In Yiwha and Cho's case, it provided a different point of view. In their case, they seem pretty happy together aside from Cho working too much. Yiwha has a semi-flirtatious relationship with her senior, Art, and eventually that flirtatiousness leads to mixed feelings. The reasoning of Yiwha's infidelity isn't quite as cut and dry as with Korn. She finds her senior attractive, they're thrown together more frequently due to working on a project, spending time alone, and then a few instances that push them together physically as well. Despite both being in relationships with other people, they ignore the warning signs that lines are starting to be crossed and eventually end up almost sleeping together. The difference is how they each react. Like Korn, Yiwha is almost crushed by her guilt and betrayal of his trust while Art continues to pursue even when she tells him to stop even dragging her to meet his girlfriend and announce that he's fallen for Yiwha. I do want to take a second here to commend his girlfriend, Mint, for her poise. She doesn't lash out at either Art or Yiwha and even afterward remains calm despite obviously being hurt. She didn't get a lot of screen time, but I really liked her and that they didn't set her against Yiwha. Anyway, in regards to Yiwha, I really appreciated how her emotions and reactions were played out, particularly the fact that she specifically tells Cho that she's betrayed his trust. She absolutely understands the mistake she made and she regrets it hugely and even though Cho is willing to forgive her and get back together, she struggles to forgive herself. Again, her portrayal felt realistic and nuanced and I loved it, though I really wanted to give the poor girl a hug.

Farm's relationships were more complicated. I have to admit, I missed the Farm from Together With Me, all innocent and sweet. I didn't like this Farm nearly as much, though his insight into his friend's relationships were helpful and spot on at times. He's basically a horny, cheating bastard for most of the drama. I was honestly disappointed in him. He gets his happy ending and all, but I don't think he really deserved it. I totally understand that Bright messed him up in Together With Me and he probably needed therapy after the abuse he suffered, but to see him turning around and basically doing exactly what Bright did to him just to get back at Bright was disappointing and just a continuation of the cycle of abuse. He obviously went back to Bright to get revenge, to hurt him the way he had been hurt, but the fact that he didn't stop when he realized that Bright had truly changed and continued playing both him and Rit was infuriating, especially since Rit did nothing to deserve that kind of treatment. Rit was such a sweetheart, he clearly really loved Farm, to the point he was willing to put aside his own feelings and help Farm get back together with Bright. He deserved so much better and I hope he found it. While on the one hand, I hope Farm and Bright work out, on the other, I honestly wouldn't have minded if he got dumped by both Bright and Rit, it would have been fitting. Of all the characters, he showed the least growth, in my opinion.

Which leaves Fai, who I was honestly disappointed in there for a while. I loved her no nonsense, tough girl attitude in Together With Me and how she was willing to stand by her friends and support them. I felt like they dialed back her character some in The Next Chapter, but not in a bad way. She was still Fai but a little more mellow. My disappointment came from her reaction to her friends' cheating which was so incredibly cold and judgmental, I lost some respect for her, especially since she wasn't willing to listen to any kind of explanation. It's understandable for the rest of the world to react extremely negatively, but you would hope that your friends, especially ones that you've had for so long, would at least listen and not make a snap judgment. Her lack of relationship experience also didn't play well in her favor and made her seem very shallow. I was glad when she finally seemed to come to her senses, at least with Yiwha, and offer comfort and support. There were a couple of scenes between the two that were very sweet and touching. I felt like her growth was a bit more understated than the others, but it was still present and I really enjoyed watching it.

This drama proved to be really solid and enjoyable. It was a bit slow to start with, but once it got going, it was unstoppable. There are very, very few things in this world that are black and white and I really liked how this drama showed that in such a real and grounding way. But what really made this drama is the characters and their continuing friendship. This proved to be one of the best dramas I've watched in a while and I will definitely be watching it again in the future.

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Middleman's Disgrace

It's hard to believe that Middleman's Love and Bed Friend are in any way connected. They're so completely different, it's almost jarring. While I wouldn't say that Middleman's Love was a series I was hotly anticipating, I was curious about it and looking forward to it to some degree. Bed Friend had a host of issues, but Jade was not one of them. I thought Yim's portrayal of him was a bit one note and there just wasn't a whole lot to the character, but with the focus on him and a proper storyline, there was potential. Unfortunately what we got was a complete disaster. Where Bed Friend tried to be darkly sexy with a healthy dose of trauma thrown in, Middleman's love went for a rom-com feel, heavy on the slapstick comedy. It doesn't work and it was almost physically painful to get through. If it was any more than the eight episodes it was, I would have bailed and I very nearly did within the first fifteen minutes, but clung on because of comments that it improved. And while there is some improvement in the last two episodes, it's far too little, too late to make a difference.

The story is a pretty generic office romance between an employee and his intern. It had the potential to be cute, but there's so much crap and unnecessary drama to bog it down that it's anything but. And sometimes that's redeemable if the characters are likeable, but they weren't. I guess there's the theme that there's someone for everyone, but it definitely could have been done better. I was put off almost immediately by the animation sequence that started things off. It was weird and unexpected and pointless. There were a couple more instances of that and they failed to add anything beneficial. They just continued to be weird and pointless. Equally off-putting was the abundance of comedic sound effects. Those were eventually toned down, but still very much overused. Given the title, I anticipated the fact that Jade always found himself in the middle would play a larger role than it did. In effect, it really played no role as it was mentioned a couple times, but that was about it. I think the drama could have been much more interesting if they had leaned into that concept and how always being in the middle really affected Jade. The NSFW scenes were...interesting to say the least. The scene between Gus and Tong felt abrupt. There had been the whole push and pull between them for a while, but when they finally got to the point where they were a couple, they immediately jumped into bed. To me, it felt out of character and out of place. Jade and Mai's scenes were even more out of character. Considering how Jade is Jade and that he was a virgin, the level of sensuality he gave was not believable to me. There needed to be some awkwardness and fumbling and not straight to sex god. Also going to say that the two of them eating the rose was just weird. There were, however, a couple things that I did appreciate like the theme of consent that continued over from Bed Friend. Gus actually verbally giving consent to Tong was nice to see. I also really liked both Jade's and Mai's families and how supportive and loving they were. With Jade's family, the conversation they had where they acknowledged his feelings was very well done and I wish we'd had more scenes like that.

The characters were pretty much irredeemable trash.
-Jade in Bed Friend was cute, a bit quirky and eccentric, but not in a bad or obnoxious way. He was a good, loyal friend who seemed to have a solid head on his shoulders. But with this series, it's like they took his eccentricities and magnified them a thousand times to the point where it didn't even seem to be the same character. And that was a major downfall because Jade ended up feeling more like a caricature than a character. He was loud, awkward, and painfully self-conscious, not at all cute. Other than getting over his fear of rejection to pursue Mai, there was very little character development. There was a lot of potential for Jade and if they had retained his original character, I think the romance between him and Mai could have been quite sweet.
-Mai was a besotted puppy who truly was essentially perfect. He was not one of those characters who seems perfect on the outside, but as things progress his flaws are shown. No, he was portrayed as being the perfect employee, the perfect boyfriend, the perfect son, everything. He lacked any kind of dimension or interest. He revolved around Jade and that was it.
-Ueau and King returned to serve as love advisors for Jade and Mai. We didn't get to see a whole lot of them outside that role, but the few moments we did revolved around petty drama. The fact that Ueau couldn't have a simple conversation with another man without King getting his hackles up was absurd. And while Ueau was still pretty much himself, they neutered King. In Bed Friend, he was confident and sexy, and while he pretty much always caved to Ueau, he had a personality and was his own man. Middleman's Love saw him turned into a simpering puppy whose most frequent line was calling Ueau Teerak (darling). Sort of cute the first time or two, but it quickly became redundant. He as a name, King, consider using it. Also, be done with the jealousy. It's not cute.
-Gus and Tong were a cute secondary couple, but their back and forth and where they stood got confusing at times. It would seem like they were getting somewhere and then next scene Gus would be sulking for some inexplicable reason. They needed more screen time to really build on their relationship. Also found Tong's comment that Gus never annoyed him and that he was just foul-mouthed to be utter BS. You were acting very annoyed a time or two there, sir, being foul-mouthed had nothing to do with it.

I'm not going to hate on the actors because they had garbage to work with. The script was a disaster and should have been shredded then burnt. Watching the behind the scenes, you can see how much effort they put into it, but there was just no saving it. As much as I couldn't stand Jade, I will give Yim all the kudos because I can only imagine how hard portraying him was. Playing high energy characters like that is exhausting, but he remained consistent. Tutor, again, just had nothing to work with. I know he's a good actor, but there were so many close ups that I don't think he had a chance to really spread his wings. He wasn't wooden though which he easily could have been and there was expression in his eyes so I'll give him that.

The production needs to be fired. How they looked at any of this and thought, yeah, this looks great is beyond me. They let down their actors who deserved so much better and they let down the fans who had been looking forward to this. There were some awkward scene cuts as well as a few scene jumps that didn't help matters and made the story progression more confusing than it needed to be. The opening credits with the bobbleheads was not cute or funny, just bad. That was one of my first indications that this series was not going to be what I expected. And the music, particularly during the NSFW scenes was either forgettable or distracting. For the NSFW scenes, it didn't fit and I ended up muting eventually. I don't understand why they feel music is necessary for those kinds of scenes. If you have to have it, use instrumental pieces, it flows better.

To sum it up, Middleman's Love was a dumpster fire that should never have been made as is. The few cute or wholesome scenes are buried so deep, you have to sift through a mountain of garbage to find them. This is such a case of wasted potential and I hope Tutor, Yim and the other actors are given better opportunities to show their talents cause this was not it.

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A Snail Might Be More Interesting to Watch

I'll admit I went into this with high expectations. The Chinese version was the first Chinese drama I ever watched and I adore it so the stakes were high. As far as I'm concerned, the Thai version does not come close to it, not even remotely. Even with a longer run time, rather than a more fleshed out, better developed story, there's just a lot of nonsense that goes on and while it had promise, it doesn't live up to it and goes up in flames with an absurd and disappointing ending.

What I was pleased with initially was that it was not a carbon copy of the Chinese version. It has a vaguely similar plot, but they ultimately made it their own so I wasn't able to guess what was going on exactly. The tone is also significantly different. The Chinese version played like a serious police drama whereas the Thai adaptation was far more humorous, especially towards the beginning. All of the characters had their comedic moments and Vita's cluelessness regarding romance was played up for laughs whereas it was a slow burn in the Chinese version. The romance in general was treated much differently with more of a focus on it in the Thai adaptation and the pair discovering their feelings and getting together while that was more on the backburner of the Chinese version though still present. But the plot did eventually become predictable and when the villains were revealed, I wasn't surprised at either one of them, having figured it out multiple episodes prior. It was honestly amusing because they seemed so proud of themselves like here's this huge reveal and I was just like, yeah, it was kind of obvious if you thought about it. Oh, well, kudos to them for trying. It really wasn't too bad until the last couple of episodes where the writing just really fell apart and it turned into a giant mess. It had potential up until that point.

The characters, for me, were just weaker versions of their Chinese counterparts. Bie was probably the closest and the one I liked the most because the man, for the most part, had a level head on his shoulders and got stuff done. At least until the end where his whole change of behaviour towards Vita, which despite the explanation, did not make sense to me because he'd been shown to be too level-headed up until that point. Vita did not come across as a genius to me. Taking a civilian along on a potentially dangerous mission screams stupidity. She lacked the reasoning to make her thought processes stick and actually seem like a genius and the fact that she kept putting herself into dangerous situations, not once, but repeatedly despite her lack of physical skills, again, just further spoke of her stupidity. She had moments of intelligence, but I would not call her a genius. I hated Ming's character. Her Chinese counterpart is an absolute badass in every sense and the Thai adaptation reduced her to a crying mess at the drop of a pin. She came in and I thought she was going to be amazing and then there was just nothing to her. She had no grit or guts to her and don't get me started on how unprofessional her wardrobe was for a supposedly elite police officer. I'm all for women wearing what they want, but the impracticality of it just irked me. Ta was cute, but again, I liked his Chinese counterpart better because there was just more to him. He was more forthcoming in his pursuit of Yao Meng than Ta was of Ming for one and he seemed more capable of acting as a second in command. In general, for a crack police team, I found them largely unprofessional.

Sen was just annoying. The fact he refused to get a clue that Vita wasn't interested made me dislike him even more. Also, what kind of police station allows civilians to just waltz in and out and about , just because of how rich they are? Mook and Wasu's romance was cute, but largely unnecessary aside from providing some cute and dramatic moments. Even their characters were largely superfluous, though I did enjoy some of the back and forth between Vita and Wasu. Badin and the police director were, quite frankly, weak villains. Both of their reasoning for what they did was, again, weak and there was a major lack of explanation for why two seemingly upstanding men would turn and commit such horrific acts. Loving your spouse is one thing, but the things they were doing were extreme. Also, the ending and the implication that Badin had once again cheated death was absolute bull. This is not a show that needs a second season.

The acting was okay, but nothing spectacular. The only one who really stood out to me in any way was Poppy because he has such good comedic timing and he made it work here. Otherwise, the rest of the cast was hit or miss with some good scenes and some bad scenes. I definitely felt the acting was less than stellar in those last couple of episodes. I wonder if the cast could feel how bad the script was too.

The Thai adaptation was not the worst thing to watch, but having seen the Chinese version which is so crisp and clean and to the point, it made the wandering plot here much more obvious. The characters of the Chinese version are also just more refined, exposing the weakness of the Thai characters. And while I did enjoy the comedic take here from time to time, I think I prefer the more clinical approach the Chinese version took. It was fun to watch the one time, I can appreciate the greater focus on the romance for one, but I'm afraid it's the Chinese version that I'll keep going back to and watching again and again.

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Not My Type

Am I beating a dead horse with writing a review five years after this drama came out? Absolutely. Am I going to do it anyway? Yup. I've been in a bit of a slump lately when it comes to dramas and decided to go back and re-watch one of the first Thai BLs I ever saw. I remember TharnType being toxic and really not that great despite some cute moments, but was it really THAT bad? It was so much worse.

When I first watched TharnType, I think I was very much in that oooh, new shiny toy phase. I did not have a 100+ dramas under my belt so my standards were low and I was easily distracted by fluff. Now much more seasoned, that wasn't going to fly and what I came away with was a new appreciation for just how incredibly toxic this drama is and how poor the writing is and by poor I mean I think a child could write a more cohesive story. I know that's mean, I'm sorry, but seriously, how do you read through a script and not see all the glaring errors?

One of the more benign issues with this drama is the timeline. It's not at all clear cut and trying to figure out how much time has progressed is just a waste of brain cells. We do get a brief "three weeks prior" in the first episode to show Tharn and Type meeting and that they do initially hit it off, but that's about it.

The lack of any more than that one scene is another issue in that Tharn's love for Type is never properly established. We know that he fell for Type, if not at first sight, then sometime during that three week period before Type found out that he was gay. The fact that isn't shown though was an error on the writer's part as it makes Tharn seem like some kind of crazy masochist or something who fell in love with Type despite his abusive treatment.

Tharn and Type are both walking red flags as far as I'm concerned despite the fluffy moments between them in the latter half of the drama. While I found redeeming qualities in them in the past, at this point, I really can't. Though I guess from that standpoint, I can figure that they deserve each other.
- Tharn lost any respect I may have had for him by sexually assaulting Type not once, but twice. I'm not excusing Type's behaviour, I'll get to him in a minute, but acting like a child and destroying personal property was not an excuse to assault him. Nor was any of his other harassing behaviour of getting into Type's personal space. The mature thing to do would have been to report the damage. Also, he liked Type, okay, but all the touching and forehead kisses, again, when Type was asleep, was he oblivious to how inappropriate that was or did he just not care? It wasn't romantic in the slightest, it was actually downright creepy.
Tharn is supposed to be the good guy. He's the one we're supposed to root for and he does get better, but he's also a contrarian. He likes to come across as this understanding person with his puppy eyes, yet at the same time, he can be utterly oblivious or downright selfish. That shower scene. Type said no, that should have meant he backed off immediately, no questions asked, but he chose to sexually assault Type again. Other moments include when Type had his panic attack. Common sense would dictate when someone is panicking and telling you to let them go, you do so. Instead, Tharn continued to crowd his space and then got ticked off when Type kicked him. There's also the fact that he didn't realize something was going on with Tar when it was painfully obvious something was wrong or that Lhong was in love with him which was also quite obvious. And while Tharn could be a sweetheart, for some reason it felt surface level. He never initiates a conversation with Type about his mental health, about the toll his trauma had taken on him or how he can help and support him. That being said, though it's not presented as such, it's likely that he has his own trauma from losing his virginity to Thorn's friend San. There's not a lot of detail given and ages are unknown, but the way it's presented makes it seem to me like Tharn was also potentially a victim of sexual assault.
- Type is quite simply an ass. How he has any friends when he's an abusive jerk to essentially everyone he meets is beyond me. And he is abusive, certainly verbally, potentially physically as well. His redeeming qualities are pretty much nil and while he does mellow, he's still an ass in the end. His character was also frustrating to watch in terms of his mental health. One of Thai BLs favorite things is using the power of love as a way to heal anything and everything. In this case, it magically cures Type of his PTSD. This was back when the only gay for you was going strong so it didn't cure that and Type still hated gays. But yeah, love, oh, and one sexual assault blowjob and he was good to go! No more panic attacks for the rest of the drama. Why waste your money on therapy when that's all you need? Seriously though, the inconsistency was grating.

One of the things that I found really frustrating about this drama and that I have found is pretty consistent with Mame's writing, is that she likes to take issues like depression, sexual assault, rape, etc. and use them as plot devices, but in a very flippant manner. A number of these characters went through serious trauma, but it's not treated that way. It's there when it's needed and convenient and forgotten when it's not. There were opportunities here to actually have meaningful dialogue about these traumas within the story, but instead we were subjected to a writer who apparently couldn't be bothered to do any kind of research and who exacerbated the characters' traumas. Tar, despite the absurdity that no one, especially Tum, caught onto his depression, was the one character who's mental health issues felt realistic. They actually tried to show the symptoms of depression. He was also, coincidentally, the one character who had been to therapy. That's one character out of four with likely trauma who was shown some effort. Sad.

The acting was good. Mew and Gulf had serious chemistry and that's the main reason why this drama was and still is so popular and why it worked. That being said, did Mew look in any way like a 19-year-old? Absolutely not, he looks his age which would be fine if not for the fact that Kokliang, who played Tar, looked about 15-years-old despite them actually being only a couple years apart. It created an awkward, borderline predatory dynamic between them that was just uncomfortable to watch. It also made it really hard to imagine Tharn falling in love with Tar and them being together.

While there is a lot of negative, there are a couple of positives besides the acting. The biggest one is Techno. He's the one bright spot in this drama and I loved him. He was entertaining and uncomplicated and a genuinely likable person. Mild did a great job portraying him. The music was good. I liked it then and I still like it now. There are some sweet scenes between Tharn and Type that I do like. The production quality as a whole, minus the writing, was pretty good honestly.

Going back and re-watching this, I was hoping for a bit of a fond, albeit slightly toxic (it is Mame after all), trip down memory lane. Sadly, my mind had apparently blocked most of the negative scenes and just remembered the sweet fluff. As you can imagine, there actually wasn't much there to remember after all. I will say that watching it, it's nice to see that progress has been made in the industry, there are fewer BL dramas like this being made though there's still room for improvement. It's safe to say I will NOT be going back to this one ever again. However, I am still left with one burning question: how the heck is Lhong not in prison?

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Not Much Cooking

I watched this series solely for Off/Gun because they were so phenomenal in Not Me, but Not Me and Cooking Crush are polar opposites in every way. Cooking Crush is a rom-com but unfortunately neither the rom or the com was done particularly well and as a whole it lacked substance. It was generically cute with nothing to make it stand out from the legion of other Thai rom-coms. The cooking aspect, which could have made it more unique, was not utilized well enough to make a mark. With such a stellar cast, I'm disappointed that it didn't live up to it's potential.

Cooking Crush really leaned into the comedic side of things from the get go with heavy use of sound effects and exaggerated acting from its cast. But it wasn't well thought out, intelligent humor, it was simply cheesy and, in a number of cases, cringeworthy. In fact, it was so painful and not to my taste that I very nearly dropped it then and there. The main plot centers around Prem, a cooking student, who meets Ten, a med student, in a series of unfortunate events that eventually leads to Ten trying Prem's food and finding it to be absolutely delicious. He proceeds to ask Prem to teach him to cook which Prem refuses until he's in need of money to pay for his sister's school and agrees, though he charges an exorbitant price that Ten is all too willing to pay. From there they slowly fall in love, facing a few up and downs with time spent apart, the disapproval of Ten's father, and a brief scandal. The secondary couple of Dynamite, Prem's fellow cooking student friend, and Fire, a pharmacy student and Ten's friend, focuses on Fire separating himself from his domineering mother and finally having the freedom and opportunity to discover himself and come to terms with his own sexuality. Dynamite, having fallen for Fire some time previously, relentlessly pursues Fire, sometimes stalking him, in an effort to win him over which is eventually successful though they still have to contend with Fire's mother once she finds out. Secondary to the romance is Prem and his friends journey to be on a popular cooking show and the various challenges they face with it. It's a very simple series without much depth and it can stray into being downright tedious times. And for a show called Cooking Crush, I expected a much greater focus on the cooking and, once the cooking show began, on it. But while food is certainly woven throughout the story and is utilized well at times, there was a lack of detail that made it seem shallow. For all that Prem was supposed to be teaching Ten to cook, it felt more like a cooking demonstration as Ten wasn't seen doing a whole lot. The show, which could have been a great way to lean into the cooking aspect, was not well defined and key elements like the tasting and judges' comments on the food were left out. The pacing was slow. It could have very easily been condensed into ten, maybe even fewer episodes. There's a fair amount of filler with nothing going on or just sweet scenes between the couples which were not needed.

The characters themselves had both highs and lows to them, though Ten and Prem were certainly the highlight. One of the biggest downsides was that they were all supposed to be college students and yet the immaturity level made them seem more like high school students or even younger. There were also a few character inconsistencies, namely, Ten's father scolds him for using his fists to defend Prem, but a few episodes earlier he had slapped Ten himself. Despite that, there was some decent character development which I did appreciate.
-Prem is a budding chef who has the skills to succeed but lacks the confidence to do so. Prem's journey, besides romantic, is learning to develop his self-confidence and have faith in himself and his skills. Of course there's also his relationship with Ten, which starts out rocky, but quickly takes on a romantic note when the pair develop mutual feelings. Though there are moments of immaturity between the two, having their friends run messages between them being a big one, they are generally pretty solid together. Other than the aforementioned case and one or two other instances, communication is generally a strong point between them. Their support for each other is also quite endearing. I was, however, surprised when he started making unilateral decisions for his team after the drama with Ten punching Chang Ma. It felt out of character for him.
-Ten is a shy med student haunted by his past. He can be a bit of a hot head, but he learns from the mistakes he makes and more importantly is willing to admit to those mistakes and apologize for them. His love for Prem pushes him out of his comfort zone and helps solidify what he wants in life. His unending support and encouragement of Prem was very sweet. We should all have such support in our lives.
-Dynamite is characterized by his fiery personality that refuses to be contained or in any way diminished. He loves fiercely and gives his all, no matter the situation. Though his pursuit of Fire does stray into downright stalking, he's not creepy or threatening about it, just overenthusiastic, not that that makes it okay. He does eventually learn to respect Fire's boundaries and gains some maturity. Hiding their relationship from their friends though is not one of their smarter moves and does cause damage when Unky finds out he was left in the dark when Prem knew. It's a learning experience for all involved. And while he does grow and mature, he also never loses sight of who he is which I found admirable.
- Fire is the one character who experiences an identity crisis when faced with the fact that he might not be straight. Controlled and suppressed by his domineering mother, he is only allowed to explore his own wants and desires after she allows him to move out. And while he is clearly drawn to Dynamite, he is reluctant to voice the possibility that he may be into guys. One thing that I appreciated throughout this drama is that there are no labels. No one is identified as strictly gay or straight and none of the challenges they face in their relationships are related to their sexuality. It's refreshing. Once Fire recognizes his own feelings and accepts them, he's all in, quickly turning into a sweet, loving boyfriend. Perhaps a little too abrupt of a change for my taste. And while he may not see eye to eye with his mother, I did like the way their relationship was portrayed and how once he gained the courage to actually tell her how he felt, she respected that and was open to talking.
-Unky stood out to me with his passion and determination. The oldest of his friends, he faces the fear that they'll eventually decide to leave him behind, a fear that is the driving force behind his fight with in Ep 9. The way that they assuage those fears is very wholesome and creates a sweet scene. I do wish we'd seen a bit more maturity from him given that he was older than the others, but I suppose that's a fairly minor complaint. His budding relationship in the last episode with Pang was cute though I wish it had been introduced earlier.
-Chang Ma was an unnecessary character, at least as a love interest. I would have much preferred for him to be left as a mentor and friend for Prem rather than someone who came in and tried to stir up trouble. I actually quite liked him at first, but when he started pushing boundaries and vying for Prem's affection even though it was obvious he had feelings for Ten, official or not, he lost my respect. He did eventually get the message and helped to take the heat off of Prem's team after Ten punched him, but the damage was done as far as I was concerned.
-With the parents, I liked the fact that the gender of their child's partner was never an issue, even with Ten's father. He was concerned about Prem trying to scam Ten, not that Prem was also a man. And I loved Prem's grandmother and how supportive she was of Prem in everything. She was an absolute gem.

The acting was not quite as strong as I was expecting. I know how strong of actors Off and Gun are and this was not their best work. While the chemistry was there, it just wasn't at the same level as it was in Not Me or even Theory of Love. Neo was good as always, though having just seen him in Only Friends, his performance wasn't quite as strong here. Newbie Aungpao was entertaining as Dynamite and while it was obvious he wasn't quite as seasoned as the other actors, he still did a good job and was fun to watch. Dome was one of the stronger actors and I thought he did a great job giving a nuance performance.

The production value was decent. The uncut version has a much better flow whereas the cut version had some choppy scenes and cuts. I would definitely recommend the uncut version as it provides more insight into various characters and their actions/interactions. However, even in the uncut, there are still some awkward jumps and tonal shifts. With the cooking element, no offense to the actors, but not once did I believe they were actually culinary students. Their knife and cooking skills/technique was not up to snuff. This is where clever camera angles, close ups of hands and the like, etc. could have been utilized to fool viewers into thinking they were far more skilled than they appeared.

Ultimately I found Cooking Crush to be disappointing. Given the caliber of its cast, it could have been so much more, but the overly campy nature of it really suppressed their talent and it didn't have the weight it could have had. I would have loved to have seen a more serious take, with some humor still thrown in, and more of a focus on the food and how it brings the characters together. But that's just me, I prefer dramas like Not Me over ones like Cooking Crush. If you're an Off/Gun fan, you may very well enjoy it or if camp is your genre of choice, but if you are looking for something more akin to Not Me, this is not the drama for you.

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Bury the Dinosaur

There is really not much, if anything, to love about Dinosaur Love. The only reason I even took an interest in it initially was because of Pepper who I liked in Love in the Air. But I found that I wasn't a fan of either his character or acting in this series, and I saw far more of his tongue than I ever wanted to. This isn't even one of those dramas that could have been better if X, Y, Z was different. This is one that probably would have been better off left on the cutting room floor in it's entirety.

The plot is completely nonsensical. It jumps from point to point without necessarily wrapping things up and the transitions are abrupt. The beginning with Mek and See-Kram getting together and cheating on Rak was poorly done. Why either of them chose to betray their friend and lover was not well explained. The fact that they both came back begging for forgiveness was pretty rich of them, particularly Mek considering he'd tried to rape Rak. That mess really only served to make Rak single and available to get together with Dino, but could have been utilized far more wisely to establish the characters and build on them. There are a few plot holes that are more annoying that they're not explained than anything terribly critical and multitude of unanswered questions. The passage of time is not well established either. It would have been nice with some events to know how much time had passed just to get a grasp on how quickly things were progressing. The ending, if you stop at Episode 8 is jarring and doesn't feel like a conclusion. The pacing was all over the place and generally just frustrating. I got to episode 6 and very nearly dropped this drama because I was so done with it. Not that I got anything out of finishing it. It really wasn't worth it.

Dinosaur Love suffers from an overinflated cast. There are so many supporting and guest characters that it got really hard to keep all of them straight, especially Dino's multitude of friends. There was no need for all of them and they took away time that could have been better spent trying to sort out the mess of a storyline. There was also a tendency for characters either pop up unexpectedly after being absent for a while or just disappearing. After apologizing and saying that he would win Rak back, Mek was never seen again. See-Kram is last seen in the hospital and then is absent for multiple episodes before suddenly popping up to ask for Rak's forgiveness. Guy had a mental break down and was suicidal last we saw him, but suddenly he's out and about and fine? Unsurprisingly the few ladies of the cast were completely underutilized. Sammy as Plabu was there for the jokes and Michelle as Please was present to be a "rival" for Dino's affection, but not really, and once she and Rak had their talk, she was another one who disappeared. I will never not be disappointed when they do that. If you're going to cast women, use them.
-Dino simply looked too old to believably be in college. I think the story would have worked better with him having already graduated from a realistic point of view. He was a weird combination of red and green flag moments. He had moments where he was an absolute green flag like when Rak offered to be his boyfriend in a panic after almost being raped and he declined. But he had other moments where he pushed Rak's boundaries and was pushy in general. He did generally back off, but sometimes Rak had to say it more than once. His temper was also a serious concern. It took very little to set him off and make him turn physical and that was not addressed in a satisfactory way. Also, what exactly was Dino a part of? That's never established and once that point was no longer useful, it was thrown out, but I was genuinely curious if he was part of a gang or just a good old fashioned thug.
-Rak's whole personality almost was him being cute and that got old really fast. He was this odd combination of naive and innocent and yet at the same time, not. I will give him credit for his consistency, once he'd made a decision, he really didn't waver. And despite his kind and innocent nature, he never led any of the multitude of men pursuing him on if he wasn't interested in them. Why he had that many men interested in him in the first place, I cannot begin to fathom. While I generally would commend his honesty, there were times where he kept secrets from Dino despite knowing it would cause conflict since Dino hated lies and secrets. While I have no doubt that Dino's temper was the primary reason, it's something that Rak should have felt comfortable addressing.
-Chalam was moderately amusing initially, but quickly grew boring and repetitive. He just had no personality outside his obsession with omelets and he was featured far too heavily to have that and his manner of talking be his only traits.
-Suea was fairly entertaining and was one of the sole bright spots. Not a great character, but Aomstin was expressive and that helped.

The acting was fairly disappointing. I was not a fan of Pepper here, he didn't suit the role for me. Kong was boring. He lacked any kind of diversity in his expressions and mostly just walked around with this wide-eyed, innocent look. The chemistry between him and Pepper was overall lacking. There were a few moments where I felt a spark, but for the majority of the series I was left unimpressed. Again, Aomstin was entertaining as Suea at moments if nothing else because he knew how to use his facial muscles. Even if a lot of is expression were a bit exaggerated, he had some variety. I love Sammy, but this was such a stupid role she really did not get a chance to shine unfortunately.

The production was lacking a lot. The lighting within scenes was off at times with one angle being bright and another being dark. It lacked consistency. The comedic sound effects were severely overused and had me hitting mute more than once. That horrible bird sound was used so much. The music was extremely generic and at times annoying. The transitions were also very poorly done. They'd go from relatively intense music to something perky and upbeat which did not work. The opening credit song wasn't bad though and I ended up kind of liking it.

I can't recommend this drama in any way. It was a positive chore to get through and I don't feel like I gained anything from it other than disappointment and lost time. Go find something better to watch and avoid this one.

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Save The Dance

This is a short and sweet drama that despite the limited run time still manages to deliver a decent story with relatively well-fleshed out characters. Both leads were interesting and nuanced though I would have liked it if their backgrounds were delved into a little more; there was a lot left unknown or just hinted at. But their chemistry was quite good, more of a slow burn than hot and heavy which I quite liked. The relationship does feel slightly rushed, but I think that's more due to the short run time than anything else. They still make it work. The dance aspect was unique and I really loved how it was actually a key part of the drama and not just a side note. The choreography was well done and quite lovely to watch. The OST was also quite good. I felt it matched the story well. Overall it was an enjoyable interlude from the daily grind. It's not a masterpiece by any means and, again, the short run time limited it in various ways. There are certain aspects I would have liked to see fleshed out more, but even without that, as long as you don't delve too deep and are able to suspend one's disbelief I think you'll find a rather lovely, touching story.

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Simple Magic

I had high expectations going into Cherry Magic because I've heard so much about it. However, it left me with some mixed feelings. For the most part, I enjoyed it, but I don't think it quite lived up to the hype. The premise of the story was interesting and was pretty well done, I liked the characters and the fact there wasn't a villain, but the pace lagged towards the end and things started feeling repetitive. Even so, I found it to be a pleasant enough experience watching it.

I liked the story premise, though I can safely say it is, regrettably, not true. The way people's internal thoughts were portrayed, while not accurate, was still well done. The thought processes were too linear and too conversation like to be realistic, in my opinion, but within the story it worked to get what was needed across. I do think more could have been done with it. Adachi seemed to struggle more with the morality of his gift, while I feel like responding to people's thoughts instead of what they said would have been a challenge as well. We see that touched on twice, but only with Kurosawa and only towards the end of the drama. I think it would have been interesting to explore that aspect more. I also would have liked to have seen more of Adachi's life after he no longer had his gift and the change that created. Lastly, though not a huge deal, I didn't necessarily appreciate the kiss baiting between Adachi and Kurosawa. There are multiple moments where they are about to kiss, but something always interrupts and in the end, we never actually see them properly kiss. There was a fairly good distribution of humor and serious moments. There's more humor earlier on and then it gradually turns more serious though still with enough levity to keep things balanced. There is absolutely no judgement towards any of the characters being gay. While Fujisaki is the only one at work who is aware of Adachi and Kurosawa's relationship to any degree, outside of that, there's never any indication that they or Tsuge and Minato I did like the relationship development between Kurosawa and Adachi. Though that was part of what got a bit repetitive and slow towards the end, it held strong for the majority of the drama. Tsuge and Minato's relationship was less well developed and seemed a bit more implausible given their very limited access and knowledge of each other, but was still cute. The pacing was inconsistent. This drama is a slow burn, which I don't mind at all, but slow burn dramas needs to have steady pacing to keep the viewer from getting bored. And unfortunately the pacing here started to lag a little over halfway through and didn't pick up again until the last two episodes. It didn't feel like much was happening during those episodes and some aspects started to feel repetitive. At that point, the focus was starting to turn towards Adachi feeling a moral dilemma regarding his gift and what advantages it might be giving him. Outside those scenes though, a lot of what transpired felt unnecessary and didn't contribute much to the story or, like I said before, felt like a rehash of past scenes.

The characters were all fairly solid, again, I liked that there wasn't a villain and it was more a focus on dealing with our internal demons. One aspect that I particularly liked was the use of Fujisaki. I'm so used to BL dramas making poor use of their female characters or making them into the villain that it was a pleasant surprise to have a woman portrayed in a positive light.
-Adachi was a favorite character probably because he was the one I could most identify with. He's socially awkward, shy, self-conscious, and a bit of a wallflower. He struggles to see his own worth and positive aspects of himself. That is until his gift kicks in and he starts connecting with his colleague Kurosawa and discovers that Kurosawa likes him. His character growth is gradual but well done as he slowly gains confidence in himself and learns to step outside his comfort zone. He has a symbiotic relationship with Kurosawa beyond just their love for each other. Kurosawa is able to be himself around Adachi while Adachi learns from Kurosawa and is encouraged by him. Adachi finds his new gift to be both a benefit and a curse. From the beginning Adachi was shown to be unobtrusive, comfortable in his shell, however, he was also shown to be kind. Maybe not overtly, but he's attentive in his work and helpful where he can be. Once he finds that he can hear people's thoughts, though he doesn't generally go out of his way do so, when he does hear someone's thoughts and he has a way of helping them, he does so. And it's not just Kurosawa, though he does go more out of his way to assist him. But with Tsuge, Rokkaku and Fujisaki, he does his best to help them as well, often stepping outside his comfort zone to do so. Eventually though he begins to question the morality of his gift and if it's really okay for him to have the access to people's thoughts that he has and whether that gives him an unfair advantage. It comes to a head when he impulsively uses what he heard to help him in a work competition. Whether using his knowledge is cheating is left up to the viewer, but Adachi believes that he has. This event coupled with hearing about several surprises that Kurosawa has for him, eventually leads him to a breaking point and he tells Kurosawa about his gift before they end up breaking up. That is, until he finally realizes that he truly does love Kurosawa and want to be with him, regardless.
-Kurosawa is the golden boy. He's attractive, he's smart, and he's well liked, but we come to discover that he pushes himself to maintain a facade of perfection not only because that's what expected of him, but also to prove that he's not just a pretty face. He's attracted to Adachi because Adachi sees beyond what he projects and actually sees him and appreciates him. As they begin to interact more and he gets to know Adachi better, what started as something more akin to a crush blossoms into love. The positive aspects that many people miss about Adachi and that Adachi doesn't notice himself are seen by Kurosawa and appreciated. Kurosawa is conscious of Adachi's moods and behaviour and works to make him comfortable all the while wanting more. He's careful to not cross the line, no matter how much he wants to and he's very respectful of Adachi. He becomes a support for Adachi, building his confidence and helping him as he can, but also slowly learns that he can rely on Adachi as well and find equal footing. When he finds out about Adachi's gift, he's not judgmental or accusatory, instead he again puts things in Adachi's hands and let's him take the lead, even if that means he gets hurt. And in the end, he reveals that he doesn't think ill of Adachi for hiding his gift, but is instead grateful for where it brought them. He's just such a pure character and you have to really appreciate him.
-Tsuge is Adachi's friend from college and they are similar in many ways. Tsuge is also an introvert who doesn't like to step outside his comfort zone and is socially awkward. Despite being a virgin himself, he writes romance novels, and is the person Adachi initially goes to for advice when his gift manifests. Tsuge doesn't believe him, at least not until he hits his own 30th birthday and has the same gift. Tsuge is an interesting character because he looks very scholarly and put together, but he's actually a bit haphazard and his reactions are very over the top, amusingly so. His initial reaction when he meets Minato isn't exactly favorable, until he hears his thoughts and starts to fall for him. For Tsuge, he has to overcome his own perceptions of his self-worth and learn to communicate. His growth is quicker than Adachi's, necessarily so since he isn't a central character, but it is still present, and despite entering into a relationship with Minato and starting to learn how to be in a relationship, he is still very much himself. He doesn't change for Minato, they simply learn to coexist.
-Minato isn't given a whole lot of background and he remains a bit of an enigma throughout. He's on the younger side and we know he likes cats, wants to make it as a dancer, and is gay. That's about it. I would have liked to see him developed more and known more about him. His feelings for Tsuge and how they developed are relatively vague. He things Tsuge's a good person for rescuing Udon, but what more there might be is pretty much left in the dark. Nevertheless, I liked his character and thought he was good for Tsuge, pulling him out in the world more and exposing him to different experiences. We don't get as much of an impression on what he gets from Tsuge other than likely someone more mature, in age at least, and stable as well as encouragement as Tsuge doesn't find Minato's dreams foolish and supports him.
-Rokkako was adorable and unpredictable, I never knew what to expect from him. While he seems like he's good at his job, he's not as wise when it comes to interpersonal relationships and reading social cues. I was initially a bit wary of him, wondering if he was going to prove to be romantic competition for either Adachi or Kurosawa, but he quickly proved to be just a generally very decent guy, if a bit of a dope at times, though an adorable one. I liked how he admired both Adachi and Kurosawa and looked up to both of them. I also appreciated his loyalty to Minato and the way he was willing to fight Tsuge. That bein said he is a bit of a hothead and once he gets something in his head, he tends to run with it. Still, nothing he does is meant maliciously and I really enjoyed his character.
-Fujisaki was the lone supporting female character, but she brought a lot to the table. Initially introduced as a possible love interest for Adachi by his supervisor, she instead becomes a friend and supporter. Her thoughts reveal that she likes Adachi, though based on the interpretation I saw, it seems that like is as a person, not romantically. Adachi's initial support of her leads to a greater friendship between the two and she is seen acting as a support for Adachi later on and a bit of an advisor for Kurosawa. Unlike Rokkaku, she is perceptive and she can read the signs between Adachi and Kurosawa and she fully supports them, even orchestrating a firework show for them there at the end when the real event is cancelled. I loved her character and found her to be such a sweet soul.

The acting was quite good all around. Akaso and Machida had a subtle chemistry that really worked for their characters. It was quiet, comfortable, but also obviously not any kind of buddy chemistry. And the buildup of it was portrayed very nicely. Individually, I thought they both did a good job. Akaso's reactions as Adachi tended to be more over the top than Machida's but it didn't feel silly unless it was supposed it. He brought a good balance to the role. Machida was very steadfast as Kurosawa but he wasn't boring. He was consistent throughout and remained engaged regardless of the scene of what he was doing. Asaka was similarly over the top in portraying Tsuge, though his was certainly played more for laughs. He did it well though and despite the fact it was comedic and exaggerated, it didn't feel overdone. He also had a good balance of portraying the bookish author who tended to overreact. Yutaro was good as Minato even though he didn't get as much screen time. He brought a certain boyish innocence while at the same time showing that he wasn't naive. He had good chemistry with Asaka and they played off of each other well.

Japanese production is always a bit hit or miss for me. I don't always love the lighting choices, it can come across as a bit dark and gloomy to me, and the sets can have a sameness to them that just blend with other dramas. Cherry Magic, however, had a pretty decent balance with the lighting and with the office setting, it worked. While I didn't find the sets to be anything extraordinary, there were some aspects, mostly with Adachi's room that made it feel a bit more personal. I liked the opening and closing music, but didn't find them to be anything spectacular, although they fit well with the credits. I did, however, really like the visuals of both credits. The opening credits had an almost ethereal quality to them and I really appreciated the artistry of it. I would have liked to seen more of that quality in the drama as well, but you can't have everything. The ending credits gave a very comfortable and warm vibe, that I also appreciated.

I mostly watched Cherry Magic in anticipation of the Thai version that's currently being filmed. I wanted to get a feel for the story and characters as I find it interesting how various countries tell the same story differently and alter aspects of the plot and characters. Despite the fact that it didn't live up to the hype, I enjoyed this drama. The story was interesting and kept me invested for the most part and I really enjoyed the characters and their development. This is a drama I would recommend and while I don't know if I will watch it again, I do consider it worth the watch.

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"To Truly Love Someone, Is For Them To Become Your Only Exception"

The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese is a beautifully melancholic movie that is very artistic. Everything feels very deliberate from the choice of lighting down to the clothing color choice. And it all comes together into this intricate web and it just draws you in. It's not a movie that leaves you smiling at the end, but rather one that leaves you silently pensive.

This truly is a dark and gritty movie. The characters are deeply flawed human beings engaging in a toxic relationship and that relationship is not romanticized like it is in so many other BLs. On the one hand, you have Otomo Kyoichi who, despite being married has engaged in repeated affairs and has no real understanding of what love is. And on the other hand, you have Imagase Wataru who has been in love with Otomo for some 8 years, since their university days. Neither character has very many redeeming traits. Otomo can't remain faithful to anyone, is deeply selfish, cold, cruel even. He's manipulative and remorseless at times. And Imagase is a study in unrequited love, but the kind of love where there's not really a reason, you just love them. Because why would he love Otomo with the way he treats Imagase? But he does love him, not that it's in any way healthy. It's the kind of love that he's willing to do anything for a chance, even blackmail or stalking. And also under that love is a level of fear and paranoia that eats away at him until he breaks.

The character development achieved is very impressive, particularly with Otomo's character. It's a natural progression that feels well done and organic, not at all forced. His journey is not an easy or pleasant one, but it is a necessary one for him to grow and become a person capable of loving and being loved. Imagase's development is less overt, though no less powerful. His is a battle with self, the yearning to stay while also knowing that it's time to let go. The pacing in general of the movie is practically perfect. No scene feels extra or out of place, it all just flows together seamlessly.

The acting is absolutely phenomenal. Okura Tadayoshi had the challenge of playing Otomo who's fairly reserved, but the beauty of his acting was the sheer subtlety of it. Even if his face wasn't necessarily displaying a specific emotion, you could see wheels turning in his head. And Narita Ryo, oh my goodness, did he pull at heartstrings. Between the scenes where he breaks down, the beach scene, and the ending, he just broke my heart. He also has some of the best lines of the movie and he delivers them beautifully.

Yes, there is nudity in this movie, no full frontal, and several NSFW scenes, but I would not classify them as pornographic. They are tastefully done and they play a key role in revealing the development of the characters' relationship and emotions. If such scenes are off-putting to you, this is not a movie you should be watching.

I said this was a movie about flawed human beings and part of what gives it so much depth is that very nearly every single character in it is flawed, some more so than others. It doesn't try to rationalize or over explain, they simply are. I think there's a certain beauty in that rawness and lack of perfection. Theirs isn't a relationship to aspire to, but it feels real, more real than the pretty fairytales so many of us watch. But in the end there is a hopefulness, I think, however fragile, that they can rise above their flaws to create something beautiful.

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My Space is Here

The Eclipse is one of my favorite BL dramas and I was really looking forward to these two episodes. I found what they did with these two episodes really interesting and creative and even though it wasn't a hit with every scene, the characters are what really made these two extra episodes special. It was the characters that I fell in love with in the drama and they are what made me really enjoy this continuation of their stories.

Of the episodes that have aired thus far, I felt these two had the best combination of story and fluff. There's a good balance of both. Unlike with Never Let Me Go, the story is a continuation that fits with the original drama and unlike Star in My Mind, it's more than pure fluff. I thought going with a continuation of Wat's moviemaking was a unique choice since it played a relatively minor role in the original, but a good one. The scenes with the characters imagining themselves in various movies was incredibly cheesy, but also rather entertaining. It does feel a bit rushed at times, but with just two episodes, they didn't have a ton of time to fully flesh out the story and it's still good as is.

I did like that there was a clear progression in the character's growth. They were not exactly the same as they were in the original which makes sense since time has obviously passed and that was refreshing since a lot of times specials or subsequent seasons pick up acting like no time has passed when in fact it's been years. I liked that Akk and Aye were shown as having to actually work at their relationship. It showcased that relationships are something that require effort and aren't something you can just neglect. With everything that happened in the original, they didn't really have a chance to get to know one another on a more personal level. They were always a study in opposites, but with the drama behind them, that comes to the fore, and they need to learn to communicate and compromise. I do wish there was a little more of a focus on them learning to communicate. Akk keeps things bottled up and there's no way for Aye to learn from or try to rectify the problem, when he's being tight lipped. Kisses are great, but they don't solve the problem. On the flip side, I liked that Thua did communicate his feelings to Kan. There was still the element there that kisses solve problems, but I felt it was a better progression than with Akk and Aye.

I love the friendships here, especially between Akk, Wat, and Kan. The way they support each other is just so wholesome and I really love that even though Akk and Kan aren't into the indie movies that Wat is, they are still willing to encourage and support him in his dream.

The acting is, of course, fantastic. This is such a great cast and they all play off of and interact with each other so well. First and Khaotung have such a level of authenticity and I think that just comes from the fact that they've known each other for years and are comfortable with each other. That can be good or bad as sometimes actors who have known each other for an extensive period time seem to struggle with bringing romantic chemistry to the screen. That is not an issue with these two though. There's an almost perfect blend of romance and friendship between them that just works. They have such warmth and I adore how they've brought these characters to life. Neo and Louis are also very talented and I really enjoyed their portrayals of Kan and Thua. They did a good job showing how their relationship has developed since the original drama and their chemistry together is equally good. They're more subtle than First and Khao in how their relationship is shown, less demonstrative, but there's a lot communicated between them simply by eye contact and body language. AJ, Pawin, and Ploy all brought their A game as well.

I cannot even begin to express how much I love the song Akk and Aye sing. It is perfect and I am anxiously waiting for it to appear on streaming so I can listen to it on repeat.

My biggest qualm, honestly, was Aye pretending not to remember it was Akk's birthday. I know he was trying to surprise him, but every time I see that come up in dramas, I can't help but think it's just a recipe for drama as it nearly always leads to issues. If you want to surprise someone, then find another way to do it. Don't do something that can hurt the person you care about and potentially damage the relationship.

I really enjoyed this special. Some of the lines from it just really hit home, like when Aye talks about the difference between "place" and "space". I think its safe to say that The Eclipse and many of these other dramas became a space for a lot of us where we feel warmth and love and I think that is just beautiful. This was a wonderful addition to The Eclipse story that you don't want to miss.

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The Five Senses Aren't Everything

This drama is quite simply beautiful in pretty much every way possible. The cinematography, the story, the characters, the acting, all of it comes together to create something truly enchanting. It's authenticity is breathtaking. It tells a story that is real and raw, touching on subjects that many BLs and Asian dramas in general avoid. The Eighth Sense is honestly the best BL drama I've seen in a while and it is well worth the time to watch it.

The story is amazing for all it's simplicity. This is not a big and bold drama filled with pomp and drama. It is wonderfully subtle and realistic. Every part of it feels natural, organic. It's well paced and the delivery is exceptional. Yes, it's a romance, but it's also about two people helping and healing each other. Jae Won gives Ji Hyun the courage to step outside his comfort zone and Ji Hyun helps Jae Won begin to heal from the trauma of his past. And I appreciated that it didn't feel like the pair of them getting together magically fixed everything for Jae Won. It felt like a combination of his therapist's and Ji Hyun's boss's words that finally got through to him and helped him take that first step forward. Sure, Ji Hyun is there to help and support him, but he also has to put in the work himself to continue to heal.

While the first few episodes focus more on Ji Hyun and his growth as he learns to step out of his shell and begin to interact with other people and the world around him, the latter part of the drama focuses on Jae Won as he begins to face the trauma from his past and take steps to move forward. Both characters experience huge amounts of growth in a very short time and it's done so well. They grow both together and separately. And that's part of what was so great. Instead of the pair of them existing in their own world surrounded by barely there supporting characters, they had a life outside of each other. In fact, I think they had more scenes with their friends than they did with each other. But I loved that because it added depth and meaning to both them and the supporting characters who are so often only there to move the plot forward. Here though they're fully developed characters and amazing ones at that.

The acting was fantastic all around. Im Ji Sub and Oh Jun Taek were nearly flawless in their roles. Their chemistry was just so natural and believable. The supporting actors were equally fantastic. Lee Mi Ra and Seo Ji An as Yoon Won and Ae Ri respectively were both fun and insightful as the male leads' friends. I really loved the relationship they had with the two of them and the way that Yoon Won and Jae Won supported and loved each other. Lee Mi Ra and Im Ji Sub just had a very natural chemistry that was great to watch. Jung Seo In was fabulous as Ji Hyun's boss. She was equal parts funny and the deliverer of sage advice. I loved her. Park Hae In as Eun Ji and Jang Young Joon as Tae Hyung were believably villainous. I couldn't stand either character, so kudos to their acting prowess.

One of my absolute favorite things about this drama was how mental health was addressed. The fact that we actually got to see Jae Won going to therapy, the knowledge that he was taking medication for his mental health, and that he even admitted himself that he had depression was huge. Most Asian dramas downplay mental health issues or just ignore them completely. That it was so openly addressed and delved into was gratifying and I hope more dramas do the same.

The cinematography was truly stunning. It had a very stylistic feel to it that I appreciated as well as the fact that it was maintained pretty much throughout. My only complaint was that some of the night scenes were a bit too dark which made it difficult to tell what was going on. That may have also been a stylistic choice but it wasn't one that I felt worked well.

I loved the music. It all worked very well with the drama and felt like actual effort was put in to finding songs that fit with what was going on and they really did enhance the mood for those scenes.

I did have a few things that prevented me from giving this a perfect 10. The main one was the "twist" in Episode 7. I don't know if it was a subbing issue or if it was deliberate, but either way, I really don't like having my emotions played with and that's exactly what it felt like they were doing. It seemed like they went for shock value and then jumped out and yelled, "Psych!" It really killed the mood for me and made me question why I had started this drama. The other part was the handling of Eun Ji and Tae Hyung. Both were terrible, manipulative people, so the fact that they got a happyish ending didn't sit quite well for me. Considering the way mental health was addressed, I feel like dealing with the two of them could have been a good continuation of that because Jae Won did not need such toxic people in his life, particularly Tae Hyung. I would have preferred to see something where they cleared the air between them, but Jae Won made it clear that he could no longer have Tae Hyung in his life. Actions have consequences and I don't feel like either character really experienced any kind of meaningful consequence.

I truly cannot recommend this drama enough, particularly to people who enjoy dramas that are more than just the romance. With a meaningful story and characters, you really have nothing to lose.

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A True Fish In The Sky

My initial impression going into this drama was that it was going to be a fun, lighthearted romantic comedy. The characters seemed promising as did the story. But it very quickly imploded and what was left was a drama with a problematic romance, very little genuine comedy, disappointing characters and a story that was an utter disaster. Top that off with poor acting, a mediocre OST, terrible pacing, and unnecessary drama and as a whole it just was not worth my time to watch.

The story is a mess. It's not told well and the more you watch, the worse it gets. And it started off relatively promising. I liked the idea of Pi as something of an ugly duckling, unpopular, clearly deeply insecure, someone that was easy for others to take advantage of. And I liked the idea of Mork who loved him unconditionally, regardless of his looks. It seemed like a set up for a sweet story. Except that Pi likes Mork's best friend and thought Mork was his love rival and his animosity towards Mork because of this goes on for far too long. It's clear that he's fallen for Mork, but he keeps resisting and resisting, and eventually it just gets boring because nothing is happening or changing. It also didn't make sense that Pi can't believe that Mork would like him and he keeps pushing him away because he's afraid that he'll be affected by his lack of popularity, and yet, he confesses to Nan, so would none of that be an issue if Nan reciprocated his feelings?

As the drama progresses, it becomes more and more obvious that Pi is a selfish, bitter person. He becomes very difficult to like because he's generally just a jerk a lot of the time. And Mork, for all that he professes to love Pi, not only essentially stalks him and manipulates him, but also clearly doesn't respect him. Pi asks him to stop doing various things numerous times and Mork just keeps doing what he wants to do. Getting Pi is clearly more important to him than respecting his boundaries, thoughts, opinions and feelings. Furthermore, their relationship just felt uneven with Mork constantly giving and Pi constantly taking. Mork, despite his flaws, was always there for Pi and Pi would take advantage of that care and then push Mork away the second he didn't need him any longer.

The second couple is better. The progression of their relationship is smoother and more believable over all. They seem to be on more equal footing and have more of a mutual respect for each other. And when Duean does disregard Meen's boundaries, once he realizes it, he reflects on it and then he apologizes. Kind of ironic that the most immature guy in the show is the one who is the most self-aware, at least in that aspect. However, I did struggle with understanding why exactly Meen liked Duean. They were such polar opposites, and while we got to see Duean's feelings develop through his eyes, we didn't get that same benefit with Meen. Duean, with his juvenile antics, disinterest in school, and general attitude just did not seem like the type of person that would catch Meen's attention.

To top it all off, we had Prik and Kluea as the crazy fans. I know they were supposed to be there for more comedy, but I just found them creepy. How do you not realize that stalking people and secretly taking their pictures and posting them without their consent is a huge no-no? I wanted to like Prik initially because she did delete the fan page and seemed to realize that what they had done was wrong, but I was very disappointed when she gave in to Kluea so easily when he wanted to start it back up. Like seriously, girl, likes and views are more important than someone's privacy? I kept hoping that they would learn their lesson and realize that what they were doing was not okay, but then at the end we have them shipping a new couple so clearly they learned nothing. And then there was Bam. For all that these networks have to know that women are probably their primary audience when it comes to BLs, they love to vilify women in them. This drama had a grand total of two women with any kind of real roles, aside from Pi's mother, and I was really hoping that Bam would be a positive one. And at first it seemed like she was. She came across as the supportive friend, determined to help Mork and then, once he and Pi got together, helping to disguise their relationship. It was disappointing when that all turned out to be a lie and she actually wanted Mork to herself. I am glad that she apologized to Pi, but there were no consequences for her actions. Mork seems to have forgiven her, Pi immediately forgives her and acts like it wasn't a big deal and she gets a new guy right after. Basically, if there's a theme to this drama, its that your actions don't have consequences, everything will turn out sunshine and rainbows no matter what.

The pacing is horrifically slow in large part because everything is so incredibly repetitive. It just feels like there is no progression in the story really for the first nine or ten episodes and then suddenly we're blazing towards the finish because we have to try to wrap everything up. I hate that so many Thai dramas do that. I truly don't understand why it is so hard to write a script that has a measured pace.

The acting was underwhelming to say the least. I've seen both Pond and Phuwin in a few things now and I have officially come to the conclusion that they are pretty faces and that's about it, Pond in particular. The man is just so one note. There is no depth of emotion, no feeling to his expressions or his voice. I recently saw him and Phuwin in Never Let Me Go and frankly, there's not that much difference in their acting between this drama and that one despite the fact that they are totally different characters. Phuwin has the opposite problem from Pond and tends to overact more, but there's a repetitiveness to the way he overacts. In both cases, they just get boring to watch. Their chemistry is negligible and what there is comes across as more buddy than romantic. Normally I like Neo. He's a good actor and he has range, but he was so over the top here that I found him more annoying than endearing. The comedy felt forced a lot of the time. I blame the director for that though, not him. And despite everything, he did have some genuinely funny moments. Louis had the strongest performance. Like Neo, he's a good actor with range, and I felt he did a good job in his role. He and Neo have great chemistry and I would love to see them together as leads in their own drama.

The few positives I have are that I do like the title. I'd never heard that phrase used before and I found it unique, sad, and beautiful. I also liked the subtle touches that went along with the title. Things like the star pillow on Pi's bed, the way he kept Nan's picture in the slats above his bed like a star, the clips that Pi and Duean had, the fish keychains Duean has, and the conch shaped light fixture at Mork's house to name a few. I also liked that when Pi and Mork were having their conversations, the lighting turned blue and you could hear the sound of waves. To me it signified that they were supposed to be a match because ultimately, they were both fish in the sea and were within reach of each other.

This could have been a good drama. With a better script and better characters who were actually developed and grew with the story, it could have been. Instead, what we got was something mediocre and even that's being generous. It tried so hard to be funny and so many of the jokes just fell flat or were just unnecessary. And the main romance was just toxic and unnecessarily dragged out. All that being said, this isn't a drama I can recommend. There are others out there that are far superior and actually worth your time.

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