I hope this is really coming out soon. I loved the En of Love series and its spinoff Love Mechanics. Looking forward to seeing how this 2nd En of Love spinoff fares!
Huh. Cautiously optimistic. At least it's not as toxic as the supposed movie version of this was supposed to be? I do like the casting so for that alone I'll give it a shot.
This is looking to be a very interesting project. I'm cautiously optimistic! Just the synopsis alone looks heavy. Might be Fluke's best project in the last couple of years.
Yes! I'm excited about this. Welcome back P'Na! Always thrilled when an alumnus of Love Sick is heading a BL project. He's one of the few major supporting actors from Love Sick who hasn't been involved with dramas since the end of Love Sick, so I'm thrilled to see him and get him in a starring role! Loved him as the 2nd season P'Ohm, looking forward to the character he will portray in this new drama!
So finally managed to pull myself kicking and screaming to watch this. I tend to hate the latest trend of TikTok videos being promoted as if their full length dramas and try to avoid them as much as possible. So I didn't realize that the protagonists of this mini-drama are played by two notable actors from 'GenY/GenY2'!
While I still can't really stand this type of format, I consider this mini-drama a 'proof of concept' of what a full length drama starring Junior and Kad might look like. And honestly? I'm itching to see them headline a full series in the very near future. While the storyline is thin and there's not really a great deal of complexity to the story or characters, Junior and Kad's vibes were on point. The progression of chaotic tension between them as roommates to love as boyfriends was really sweet to watch.
I actually hope that Star Entertainment will consider making this a full-length series and bring these two actors back to reprise their roles again. Or if not, another story starring the two. They have good chemistry, and it only reminds me of how we were cheated of potential storylines with their characters in Gen Y 2.
Just commenting in response to the review left above by niso2020. A lot of interesting notes are made about some of the technical shortfalls of this and many other Filipino productions. I don't necessarily disagree, but I also want to point out that a major difference between these productions and that of countries like say, Thailand for example, is the fact that the majority of these BL projects do so without major sponsorship, international donations, or the support of the big name media groups in PH like GMA, ABS-CBN, TV-5, etc.
While a few big name and high quality productions have been made over the past two years, these have been the exception rather than the rule. These corporations need to commit significant resources to finding and working with production studios to get the best level of actors, and production crews in order to ensure that future productions are of a higher quality that we get from countries such as Thailand, Taiwan, and South Korea.
The Philippines has such rich ideas for BL stories and despite the 'low production' quality of several releases over the past two or three years, the actual concepts themselves are so good - in fact later on they have been replicated in other countries such as Thailand. If bigger media groups could commit in similar way to Thailand's GMM TV/CH 3/WeTV, etc. then there's no doubt that future productions will be of the highest quality. The potential is there, I personally enjoy the majority of Filipino BL productions, regardless of the quality of the productions presented. Hopefully these networks will pay attention and support BL's soon...
It seemed poly to me. I'm praying it is because I've wanted to see a poly relationship in a series for forever.…
Agreed. Poly relationships are an extremely underrepresented type of relationship that should get its moment in the sun. Stories depicting the difficulties of being in that type of relationship and more importantly, the joys of being in that type of relationship would be amazing to watch....
So...loving the drama. Wasn't expecting the supernatural elements but pleasantly surprised at how they included it. The visuals were actually not that bad for a tv production. The leads are great, actors did amazing job in portraying the characters.
One thing though: Noticed in the comment section that people are getting riled up by the concept of the FL falling for the ML despite her apparent sexual assault. Stockholm syndrome and all that, but I have to violently disagree. The FL thought she was raped, but if there was any stockholm syndrome, she brought that on herself. Why? I'll be the first to admit that I'm not female, so I wouldn't know how that type of situation could impact someone emotionally and mentally. But I still can't believe that the FL actually thought she was being raped 'every night'. She's being portrayed as an intelligent lead and for the most part she is, but in this situation, she was dumb as bricks and brought that mental toture on herself. If I suddenly woke up after drinking or whatever and found myself in the bed, naked, the first thing that I'm going to do is check to ascertain if I was actually sexually penetrated or not. It's not rocket science, and even though she is a character from the 1950s, if she was really smart, she could have easily realized after the initial panic that she hadn't been touched sexually at all. How? Simple: 1. Check the sheets. If she had been raped as a virgin, you better believe that there would be blood on the sheets. 2. Check for semen. Now, you might say that she was an innocently raised woman of privilege, but that's bs. She's widely read and on top of that, she definitely knew what semen was because she tried to effectively poison the ML by overdosing on plants that could support semen. So check for it. Smell the damn sheets. Does it smell like somebody ejaculated? You might say that the ML could have jerked off and splattered semen all over her but then we have.... 3. Body check. As an intelligent female raised in Europe, you cannot tell me that she couldn't figure out that you lose your virginity when your hymen is broken? She could have asked herself, do I feel pain between my legs? Does that area feel sore like something was jammed up in there that should not have been?
Since there was no soreness between her legs, no evidence of blood on the sheets, and no semen on the sheets or on her body, how in the hell is any intelligent girl who is widely read going to think out of the blue that she had been raped. And all the other times she believed he 'raped' her, she never bothered to check with these basic measurements to consider the fact that maybe, just maybe he never touched her after all? True, he went along with her bs, but again that's on her. His priority was keeping her alive long enough for the police to take out the bandit village so she could go home. Maybe the misunderstanding could have been solved if they had communicated properly to each other, but if she was stupid enough to think that she had been raped, of course he's not going to say anything; because the most important factor is that everybody else in the village needed to believe that she had been sexually penetrated that night and every other night as well! So why would he tell her beforehand?
So other than that case of stupidity, everything else flowed ok for me. Sorry for that rant, but the comment section pissed me off, lol. I feel that before everyone goes crying for her character going through that mental torture but still falling for her 'rapist', keep in mind that she didn't even have the common sense to do basic checks that she was more than intelligent enough to do if she had actually stopped to think before acting crazy, trying to kill herself/him and having a mental breakdown. Oh, and before anybody wants to start to call me out as a non-female for not having sympathy for her character; to be clear, I've had sexual experiences where I was the receptive party. If I'm in a situation where I wake up naked, this is the basic stuff I would do to check myself and determine if I had been sexually assaulted/raped. It's common sense.
Spoilerific rant over, lol! But the show is really good. Super enjoyable. Watch it! The story of their love despite the stupidity and misunderstandings that are part of the lakorn world is quite beautiful. Action is great. Story line flows fairly well. All in all, a great show and a 8.5/10 for me!
So despite the fact that this drama is very cheesy, it's surprisingly a very watchable drama. However there's a couple of questions that I'm finding hard to answer since there aren't any english subs available currently. First, who is the father of Fahsai's baby? Is it Mawin or is it his brother (assuming he is his brother) Chatchawee? Because it seems that Chatchawee (as of episode 7/8) seems far more interested in the fate and condition of Fahsai's son than Mawin whose supposedly the lover and basically husband of Fahsai!
Um question? Why is this found under the LGBTQ+ tag? I mean, no lie I am obssessive over good historical/pseudo-historical kdramas and this show seems very interesting (though I'm waiting for all the episodes to be uploaded before binging it), but seriously. Why does MDL include so many K-dramas that don't have any LGBTQ content under this tag?
Completed this finally. Love this show. Finally, a show with interesting FLs that aren't irritating plastic models of lackadaisical writing! The cast is divine, Bai Jing Ting is gold and I can't praise Tian Xie Wei enough for the way she brought her character to life. All the main cast members were fantastic! And don't get me started on all the luscious food...
And btw, I don't know if I'm just crazy, but...am I the only one who felt like they were low-key hinting at Prince Han not being straight, and potentially involved with Chef Xiao Yang? I probably am, but idk...
I can never forget this drama. Love it so much, especially as it serves as the first time as far as I know that they introduced an LGBTQ storyline that was positive for the most part in a mainstream Korean broadcast. Outside of that particular aspect of the show, I loved the crazy, family dynamics of the family. Each member of the family, even the grandmother has such interesting depth that gets explored. This is also where I fell in love with Kim Hae Sook as an actress. I don't watch everything she's in, but every time I come across her work in a project I'm invested in, I adore her versatility, and ability to shine as a protagonist or antagonist. She's a gem! All of the main actors and actresses in this did such an amazing job. Life is Beautiful will always remain one of my favorites that I will (eventually) re-visit time and time again!
What to say about this drama? It took me a long time to watch this drama because of the fact that it purported to pull a 'Maleficent' for the historical figure Jang Ok Jung. I wasn't expecting much, but surprisingly this is a very entertaining and fascinating look at what could have been behind the motivations of this fascinating woman and give a different look at why she was the way she was.
Have to say, the King is the best character in this drama for me. A lovesick fool, but equally menacing and seductive. The way he outplayed everyone, including Jang Hui-bin was wonderous to behold. And I was super entertained by the villain version of Choi Suk-bin that was portrayed in this drama. While her character was easily the most distorted one of the three major FLs, her brash attitude and candid determination to steal everything that Jang Hui-bin had was delightful. It would have been lovely if the character as portrayed in Dong Yi had some of that energy instead of trying to play Mother Mary.
Biggest complaint was that the timeline was super distorted. Also, Choi Suk-bin was still technically a virgin in this which made no sense in terms of historic accuracy. If the drama had been extended to 30 episodes, it would have given the latter half of the story when Jang Ok Jung has fully broken bad more room to breathe.
Still, a good re-interpretation of a classic story. Solid 7.75/10 for me.
No. This is different than Vincenzo in many ways. In Vincenzo everyone felt like fully fleshed out people where…
Huh, that is so interesting. For me its the exact opposite reaction. Agree that its very different energy from Vincenzo, but for me its far more thrilling and interesting than Vincenzo turned out to be - a shame because I am in love with a good mafia-themed action/thriller. The humor and the way they wrote the FL's dialogue made that show a real disappointment for me. I can see how one might consider many of these characters in RR 'flat' though.
Wow. This show is such a pleasant surprise. What a way to end the year! SJK's best project in years. So far a near-perfect revenge story. Super excited for the next half of this drama to start airing!
Even though I have to disagree strongly with you about this being a badly done drama, I can't help but burst out laughing because you totally read my mind about a lot of the things that pissed me off about this drama! I do disagree because I think this drama was superior to quite a number of dramas that were highly rated and recommended on this site, yet turned out to be woefully disappointing, but you made some good points. Hopefully the writer catches this review and tries harder in the next project made.
While I still can't really stand this type of format, I consider this mini-drama a 'proof of concept' of what a full length drama starring Junior and Kad might look like. And honestly? I'm itching to see them headline a full series in the very near future. While the storyline is thin and there's not really a great deal of complexity to the story or characters, Junior and Kad's vibes were on point. The progression of chaotic tension between them as roommates to love as boyfriends was really sweet to watch.
I actually hope that Star Entertainment will consider making this a full-length series and bring these two actors back to reprise their roles again. Or if not, another story starring the two. They have good chemistry, and it only reminds me of how we were cheated of potential storylines with their characters in Gen Y 2.
I would say this is a solid 7.5/10!
While a few big name and high quality productions have been made over the past two years, these have been the exception rather than the rule. These corporations need to commit significant resources to finding and working with production studios to get the best level of actors, and production crews in order to ensure that future productions are of a higher quality that we get from countries such as Thailand, Taiwan, and South Korea.
The Philippines has such rich ideas for BL stories and despite the 'low production' quality of several releases over the past two or three years, the actual concepts themselves are so good - in fact later on they have been replicated in other countries such as Thailand. If bigger media groups could commit in similar way to Thailand's GMM TV/CH 3/WeTV, etc. then there's no doubt that future productions will be of the highest quality. The potential is there, I personally enjoy the majority of Filipino BL productions, regardless of the quality of the productions presented. Hopefully these networks will pay attention and support BL's soon...
One thing though: Noticed in the comment section that people are getting riled up by the concept of the FL falling for the ML despite her apparent sexual assault. Stockholm syndrome and all that, but I have to violently disagree. The FL thought she was raped, but if there was any stockholm syndrome, she brought that on herself. Why? I'll be the first to admit that I'm not female, so I wouldn't know how that type of situation could impact someone emotionally and mentally. But I still can't believe that the FL actually thought she was being raped 'every night'. She's being portrayed as an intelligent lead and for the most part she is, but in this situation, she was dumb as bricks and brought that mental toture on herself. If I suddenly woke up after drinking or whatever and found myself in the bed, naked, the first thing that I'm going to do is check to ascertain if I was actually sexually penetrated or not. It's not rocket science, and even though she is a character from the 1950s, if she was really smart, she could have easily realized after the initial panic that she hadn't been touched sexually at all. How? Simple: 1. Check the sheets. If she had been raped as a virgin, you better believe that there would be blood on the sheets. 2. Check for semen. Now, you might say that she was an innocently raised woman of privilege, but that's bs. She's widely read and on top of that, she definitely knew what semen was because she tried to effectively poison the ML by overdosing on plants that could support semen. So check for it. Smell the damn sheets. Does it smell like somebody ejaculated? You might say that the ML could have jerked off and splattered semen all over her but then we have.... 3. Body check. As an intelligent female raised in Europe, you cannot tell me that she couldn't figure out that you lose your virginity when your hymen is broken? She could have asked herself, do I feel pain between my legs? Does that area feel sore like something was jammed up in there that should not have been?
Since there was no soreness between her legs, no evidence of blood on the sheets, and no semen on the sheets or on her body, how in the hell is any intelligent girl who is widely read going to think out of the blue that she had been raped. And all the other times she believed he 'raped' her, she never bothered to check with these basic measurements to consider the fact that maybe, just maybe he never touched her after all? True, he went along with her bs, but again that's on her. His priority was keeping her alive long enough for the police to take out the bandit village so she could go home. Maybe the misunderstanding could have been solved if they had communicated properly to each other, but if she was stupid enough to think that she had been raped, of course he's not going to say anything; because the most important factor is that everybody else in the village needed to believe that she had been sexually penetrated that night and every other night as well! So why would he tell her beforehand?
So other than that case of stupidity, everything else flowed ok for me. Sorry for that rant, but the comment section pissed me off, lol. I feel that before everyone goes crying for her character going through that mental torture but still falling for her 'rapist', keep in mind that she didn't even have the common sense to do basic checks that she was more than intelligent enough to do if she had actually stopped to think before acting crazy, trying to kill herself/him and having a mental breakdown. Oh, and before anybody wants to start to call me out as a non-female for not having sympathy for her character; to be clear, I've had sexual experiences where I was the receptive party. If I'm in a situation where I wake up naked, this is the basic stuff I would do to check myself and determine if I had been sexually assaulted/raped. It's common sense.
Spoilerific rant over, lol! But the show is really good. Super enjoyable. Watch it! The story of their love despite the stupidity and misunderstandings that are part of the lakorn world is quite beautiful. Action is great. Story line flows fairly well. All in all, a great show and a 8.5/10 for me!
And btw, I don't know if I'm just crazy, but...am I the only one who felt like they were low-key hinting at Prince Han not being straight, and potentially involved with Chef Xiao Yang? I probably am, but idk...
Have to say, the King is the best character in this drama for me. A lovesick fool, but equally menacing and seductive. The way he outplayed everyone, including Jang Hui-bin was wonderous to behold. And I was super entertained by the villain version of Choi Suk-bin that was portrayed in this drama. While her character was easily the most distorted one of the three major FLs, her brash attitude and candid determination to steal everything that Jang Hui-bin had was delightful. It would have been lovely if the character as portrayed in Dong Yi had some of that energy instead of trying to play Mother Mary.
Biggest complaint was that the timeline was super distorted. Also, Choi Suk-bin was still technically a virgin in this which made no sense in terms of historic accuracy. If the drama had been extended to 30 episodes, it would have given the latter half of the story when Jang Ok Jung has fully broken bad more room to breathe.
Still, a good re-interpretation of a classic story. Solid 7.75/10 for me.