This review may contain spoilers
Join me in the Akin protection squad
This is only my second live-action Bl drama, but I have been reading BL/queer stories for like a decade and I read Dakaichi when it came out so I’m familiar with the genre and story.
Acting:
Ho-ho-ho-ho-holy shit.. Boom. BOOM. BOOOOOOOOOM. My god, man. I was blown away. I did not expect to be so moved by this man; no one spoke to me of his power. Good god, episodes 6-7?? His reaction the morning after the assault. That car scene was so insane. His reaction in the elevator. Like every other damn scene. I just… wow.
Smart left a lot to be desired. He was so expressionless, and I felt little to nothing from him aside from the anger/frustration/hurt he expressed in the elevator. I needed him to have more depth, move his face, and fit his expressions and body language to the scene better. Boom might as well have been acting out most of these scenes with a mannequin.
Characters:
Akin deserves all the happiness and success in the world. Jin was kind and loving, but a bit too boring and forgettable, like there was no depth to his character.
Writing/Inconsistencies:
Love the direction they went in as an adaptation with this for the most part. Wish there was a bit more of a rivalry vibe to it in the beginning, but overall I’m just glad they strayed pretty far from the original story and made this a far more wholesome story. There weren’t too many inconsistencies that stood out to me. The first 7 or so episodes were very well done. Loved the story, besides the very odd decision to have Jin drive an unconscious Akin on his MOTORCYCLE instead of doing like anything else.
However, things get a little wonky when they started making this the “let’s make Akin’s life a living hell” story, where bad things happen to him and we don’t communicate properly with him just so the audience can see him suffer for a little longer. There were also a couple of plot points that felt off or didn’t make as much sense as the rest of the story.
Chemistry/Romance/Kissing:
Chemistry was alright, not bad overall. However, Boom’s acting skills brought Akin’s emotions to life. I believed that Akin was frustrated, angry, apathetic, sad, confused, happy, in love, ect. But I don’t think Smart’s portrayal of Jin brought the same to the story. There were a handful of scenes throughout that I felt a spark from him in a scene with Boom, but for the most part, he just didn’t express much of anything. The story as a romance was good.
Nothing big stood out as odd about the kissing.
NC scenes:
RIP that rug frfr. Honey scene truly iconic. Loved the black honey cut or whatever it was called, it was very pretty. Besides the obvious insanity that is not only inserting honey into the booty and dealing with the consequences of that action alone, but also following that up with intercourse using said honey as lube… like, besides all that… The thing that gets me is that these two love birds doused themselves in honey and got freaky with it, then proceeded to take a shower in what I am assuming is the ensuite to the main bedroom. And instead of going to bed in the bedroom they are presumably already in, they grab a comforter and return to the scene of the crime, which, mind you, must be absolutely covered in honey. I mean, the rug is obviously a goner, but there is just no way the couch came out unscathed. And then there is the shower scene. There was just no reason for Jin to pull them into the bathroom, turn on the shower, and direct the showerhead at their faces. Wild. And I think they also ended up sleeping on the couch a couple of other times and not in very comfortable positions either. My man is over 30 and let me tell you, we gotta start protecting our backs. Can't be sleeping on the couch all the damn time.
Music/SFX:
One very positive thing I would like to note was the decision to not have any background music when Akin got home the morning after his assault. That was haunting. Just raw emotion depicted so well by Boom. Nothing about the music stood out to me as horrendous or anything. I don’t recall any issues with SFX either.
I am so shocked that I saw absolutely no one talking about Boom’s acting in this or the portrayal of what happened in episodes 6-7. I saw plenty of posts about the honey scene and whatnot, so I was entirely unprepared.
This storyline hit home because I went through a similar situation.
Akin had no memory. He didn’t know whether he was assaulted or if he had consented to sleeping with Johnny. (WE saw that he was too intoxicated, but he didn’t know if he could have seemed coherent enough to consent) Because it’s harder to accept that you were assaulted, he decided he must have slept with Johnny, and Jin’s reaction solidified that further in Akin’s mind. Not that it mattered, he was just so messed up by the whole situation that thinking clearly was obviously difficult.
There were definitely issues with the writing decisions after the devastating car scene. I think that if they wanted to go the no-punishment route, they should have made it more realistic with having Akin say he just wants it to go away and he doesn’t want to deal with it or something like that. I also think they should not have portrayed the aftermath between the characters and Johnny as cordial at all. He should not have been involved in the story past the play he was in if they wanted to move past the incident.
Idk man, Boom just really blew me away with being able to portray the complex emotions that come with such a complex scenario without any words.
Acting:
Ho-ho-ho-ho-holy shit.. Boom. BOOM. BOOOOOOOOOM. My god, man. I was blown away. I did not expect to be so moved by this man; no one spoke to me of his power. Good god, episodes 6-7?? His reaction the morning after the assault. That car scene was so insane. His reaction in the elevator. Like every other damn scene. I just… wow.
Smart left a lot to be desired. He was so expressionless, and I felt little to nothing from him aside from the anger/frustration/hurt he expressed in the elevator. I needed him to have more depth, move his face, and fit his expressions and body language to the scene better. Boom might as well have been acting out most of these scenes with a mannequin.
Characters:
Akin deserves all the happiness and success in the world. Jin was kind and loving, but a bit too boring and forgettable, like there was no depth to his character.
Writing/Inconsistencies:
Love the direction they went in as an adaptation with this for the most part. Wish there was a bit more of a rivalry vibe to it in the beginning, but overall I’m just glad they strayed pretty far from the original story and made this a far more wholesome story. There weren’t too many inconsistencies that stood out to me. The first 7 or so episodes were very well done. Loved the story, besides the very odd decision to have Jin drive an unconscious Akin on his MOTORCYCLE instead of doing like anything else.
However, things get a little wonky when they started making this the “let’s make Akin’s life a living hell” story, where bad things happen to him and we don’t communicate properly with him just so the audience can see him suffer for a little longer. There were also a couple of plot points that felt off or didn’t make as much sense as the rest of the story.
Chemistry/Romance/Kissing:
Chemistry was alright, not bad overall. However, Boom’s acting skills brought Akin’s emotions to life. I believed that Akin was frustrated, angry, apathetic, sad, confused, happy, in love, ect. But I don’t think Smart’s portrayal of Jin brought the same to the story. There were a handful of scenes throughout that I felt a spark from him in a scene with Boom, but for the most part, he just didn’t express much of anything. The story as a romance was good.
Nothing big stood out as odd about the kissing.
NC scenes:
RIP that rug frfr. Honey scene truly iconic. Loved the black honey cut or whatever it was called, it was very pretty. Besides the obvious insanity that is not only inserting honey into the booty and dealing with the consequences of that action alone, but also following that up with intercourse using said honey as lube… like, besides all that… The thing that gets me is that these two love birds doused themselves in honey and got freaky with it, then proceeded to take a shower in what I am assuming is the ensuite to the main bedroom. And instead of going to bed in the bedroom they are presumably already in, they grab a comforter and return to the scene of the crime, which, mind you, must be absolutely covered in honey. I mean, the rug is obviously a goner, but there is just no way the couch came out unscathed. And then there is the shower scene. There was just no reason for Jin to pull them into the bathroom, turn on the shower, and direct the showerhead at their faces. Wild. And I think they also ended up sleeping on the couch a couple of other times and not in very comfortable positions either. My man is over 30 and let me tell you, we gotta start protecting our backs. Can't be sleeping on the couch all the damn time.
Music/SFX:
One very positive thing I would like to note was the decision to not have any background music when Akin got home the morning after his assault. That was haunting. Just raw emotion depicted so well by Boom. Nothing about the music stood out to me as horrendous or anything. I don’t recall any issues with SFX either.
I am so shocked that I saw absolutely no one talking about Boom’s acting in this or the portrayal of what happened in episodes 6-7. I saw plenty of posts about the honey scene and whatnot, so I was entirely unprepared.
This storyline hit home because I went through a similar situation.
Akin had no memory. He didn’t know whether he was assaulted or if he had consented to sleeping with Johnny. (WE saw that he was too intoxicated, but he didn’t know if he could have seemed coherent enough to consent) Because it’s harder to accept that you were assaulted, he decided he must have slept with Johnny, and Jin’s reaction solidified that further in Akin’s mind. Not that it mattered, he was just so messed up by the whole situation that thinking clearly was obviously difficult.
There were definitely issues with the writing decisions after the devastating car scene. I think that if they wanted to go the no-punishment route, they should have made it more realistic with having Akin say he just wants it to go away and he doesn’t want to deal with it or something like that. I also think they should not have portrayed the aftermath between the characters and Johnny as cordial at all. He should not have been involved in the story past the play he was in if they wanted to move past the incident.
Idk man, Boom just really blew me away with being able to portray the complex emotions that come with such a complex scenario without any words.
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