newgrl

I liked this, quite a bit actually. The only thing I can say is that it's not being advertised correctly at all. If there is an exclusivity clause in your list of rules, then you were never Friends with Benefits. You are dating... exclusively.... and having s&x... exclusively. The whole point of FWB is so you can have a f&ck buddy when you can't find someone else.
This was more a drama about pain and trauma. Uea's mom and step-father can both go jump off the nearest bridge for all I care. I haven't been as angry at a couple of onscreen parents since "Save Me".

Originally it was split into 32 half-hour episodes where commercials could be shown in between the two halves, which is not a normal thing in South Korea. On Netflix/Viki that's not necessary, so they stitch them up again to 16 episodes. There are lots of 2018-2021 dramas like this. You'll notice the little stoppage point in the middle if you watch it.

That bit of this drama reaaaally made me unreasonably angry. Hai Yi's biggest fear is to be forgotten and left, and because of some internal BS, Johnny just ghosted him during one of his darkest times. I was also like WTactualF????

I liked this... fine. I mean, it wasn't groundbreaking and the writing could have used some clean-up, but I think I liked this a bit more than many here on this board. That being said, I absolutely **hated** the way He Bo Wei / Tai Che Ni (whatever... the weird name change from one to another was annoying and confusing) treated Hai Yi when he lost his father. I get that you don't understand everything that's going on and your love interest has kept some secrets from you. I get that you want to be angry about that. But the man just lost his father. You left him alone and in pain by himself because you were selfish. Being alone and left behind is Ha Yi's greatest fear and you just... ghosted him. That part was really horrible to watch.

They're not related in any way. I don't get all the angst over it either. It's not weird or worrisome. It's not even a new trope in BLs. I don't get all the pearl-clutching over them at all.

Holy crap you weren't kidding at all. It was hard to even watch the lead up while watching Sky break down. I FF'ed through the rest of it. That's a big "no" from me, dog. Mame and her noncon scenes.

I'm on episode 2 and I absolutely HATE Rain. Like... calm down my dude. Please? I'm gonna keep going though. But, whew! He's one cringy actor.

USA and Canada unless you go to private or religious schools or go to school at an inner city public school where wearing the wrong gang colors will get you killed. Most of the European countries except for Ireland, Britain, and Malta unless you're going to private or religious school.

So, most typically considered Western nations do not and most of the rest of the world does.

"Moreover if there is no school uniform, the rich would be wearing new and stylish clothes everyday and look down on those who can't afford it, leading to bullying."

I ain't got a pony in this race (slang meaning, the rule will never effect me in any way... I'm over 50 and have no children or grandchildren), but it seems to me if the little sociopaths were going to bully you about your clothes, they'll just find some other reason to bully you if everyone wears the same clothing. Bullying is a power thing. If one way to choose their victims is closed off to them, the bullies will just find another thing.

"Cuz they have to wear school uni?"

I'm totally confused by this because, just going by the plethora of High School and University BLs we have, don't ALL the kids in school wear some kind of uniform? Black shorts, black shoes, white socks, and a purple button down for the HS students and white long sleeve button down (except for the engineers who get some more casual and colored button down), black tie, black pants, and black shoes for the Uni kids, right? I mean the blazers are a bit much, especially in the Thai heat and humidity, but freaking out because of uniforms? It seems like the norm over there.

I agree that folks are being way too hard on this. It's not really a BL, so I don't think the target audience is reviewing it here. The single camera work in Episode 8 around the resort where George commits suicide is really wonderfully done and beautiful. And George's suicide was heartbreaking even if it was a bit over-acted.

And George's suicide was heartbreaking, even if it was a bit over-the-top in the acting department.

The long single camera work in episode 8 is pretty amazing in this weird little drama.

You rock. Thank you very much.

Thanks for the heads up. I appreciate it.

Yep. I got that with @verlinarose7 's help.

If you want good, and a bit of skinship, give Tharntype or History 3: Trapped a watch. If you want great skinship and a mostly fluffy romance, give Cutie Pie a watch. It's not perfect, but it's good enough for all of the skinship involved. If you want good and but you're ok with not so much skinship, give He's Coming to Me, Not Me, or Until We Meet Again a whirl.

These are all my opinion, but these all get pretty decent ratings here on MDL and on their respective platorms.

>There's also a lot of non-consensual intimacy, which... yikes.
Ya.... I'm on the first episode and this is... not going to be my cup of tea.

Reading the tags for this drama before diving in is kinda scary y'all. Holy s**ual assault, Batman!

This is me.... I read the synopsis and thought, "Oooooo... this looks good." And then I saw it was on Mango and went... "Eh. " Their machine translations are... helpful... but whew! do they give me a headache trying to figure out after a while.