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Masks, metaphors and speaking through the words of another
"Sonnet 18" is a short film that, typical of its genre, hints at underlying themes, characterisations and even the plot itself, rather than telling us everything.With this genre, I find that either you either relate to the characters or you don't -- since there's not much time to tell the story, the viewer must make their connection quickly and easily, or they will feel like I did with this one -- able to appreciate the beauty of the storytelling but not really liking it.
Was it good?
Absolutely. It's an artistic short film that tells its story with a specific aesthetic, and it's very consistent with that.
Did I like it?
Somewhat. I can appreciate the story they wanted to tell and the artistic way they told it. But I wasn't emotionally invested enough (that's me, not the film's fault).
Would I recommend it?
I wouldn't *not* recommend it, since it's so short; and it is well-done. People who like their plots spelled out for them might not find it engaging.
I liked that almost everything was filled with meaning: Where the characters are and what they are doing there (and in what state of mind), how they speak or don't speak, and at what times each one wears a (metaphorical or real) mask. The romantic classics (Debussy, Chopin, Brahms) are used sparingly, and with clear intention -- mostly we hear no background music, and the starkness of the silence underlines the characters' emotional state.
As for the use of Sonnet 18 -- we hear it three times. The first time we hear it is when the actor recites it on stage. To be honest, I did not like that one at first -- it felt almost farcical, with the overly theatrical hand gestures and intonation. The second recitation, however, made it clear that this was very deliberate -- and the third recitation confirmed it. If you watch the film, I urge you to pay some attention to how the sonnet is spoken each time.
Dialogue was used very sparingly -- and I wished they had used even less. The long stretches of silence felt more powerful to me than any of the dialogue (except for the recitations of the sonnet); and I think some of the dialogue could have been shortened even more.
Let the sonnet and the way both characters recite it and the silence in between, do the talking. Just as no single word in a sonnet is meaningless, so the dialogue in this short film could have been.
Overall, this is a well-crafted short film, obviously made with dedication and love.
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This review may contain spoilers
This is a solid Taiwan-typical BL rom-com, that unfortunately goes off the rails in the last two episodes.But first, what I liked:
* The characters (except for the father) were all very down-to-earth in their living circumstances, occupations and characteristics.
* Bai Liang's character is consistently written -- his passions, his fears, his experiences in childhood, his resulting way of life -- they're all parts of one picture.
* His actor takes this, and deepens the character by wonderful acting. His expressions mask the characters insecurities, his tics hint at his emotional state, and the anxiety attacks were beautiful to watch.
* The sets did not feel like sets, they all felt like real places (except for the mirror in the clinic, which was always a bit too conveniently placed).
The main flaws for me were
1. Too many couples. Seriously, why do some writers think they have to pair up all of their characters? Four couples in ten 30-minute episodes are too much; two of them don't even get more than a few minutes of screentime. The second couple (bartender/young man) also was not needed, its development did not connect to the main couple. I'd rather the writer had taken the precious screen time to delve deeper into Jin Yun An's character, because I did not understand some of his actions.
2. The father-son sub plot in episode 11. It comes out of nowhere (there were only some very minor hints that Jin Xu An was not on good terms with his family), is squeezed into one episode, the father's actions don't make any sense (he's so much against his son being gay that he hits him, and after that's done, he is fine with it???). It seems as if the writer feelt that Bai Liang and Jin Xun An must have an obstacle to overcome and couldn't think of anything else but this contrived cliché.
So, up until the end of episode 10, this drama is good, if a bit tropey (with a meet-ugly, a tragic childhood background, wooing through food, an old love interest and more), which is tempered by excellent acting, solid directing and editing, and a good depiction of mental struggles caused by trauma. Sadly, the afore-mentioned "conflict" decreased my enjoyment of the series.
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Finding closure and moving on
This is mainly a story how people who are stuck in limbo after a close person's death (a brother, a friend) find closure so they can finally move on.(Through the power of Love!)
... and I think this is why some might find that the romance part doesn't get enough screen time. This has been a point of contention in other recent (BL) productions too, that as soon as another story line gets more screen time, the romance part has to be cut a bit, which upsets some people.
If seen from this angle, writing choices make a lot of sense -- because grief needs time, grief is remembering the past, and letting it go. Trying new things can help, as can reliving the old things.
Neil needs someone to push him out of his fugue -- which Sea finally does. And only now that he is able to finally face the loss of his brother, his friend Reese, who until now had dedicated his life to help Neil, can also finally find his own new goal in life.
So, with these thoughts in mind, these are the things I loved:
* The time that was dedicated for flashbacks, and the way we got to see them bit by bit, to understand why the loss of Matt hit all of them so hard,
* the ugly crying -- crying is not cute, and if you really cry, then you don't care what you look like, you don't care about the snot and the mucus, you are just crying,
* the talks between Reese and Neil, which were so important for both, and obviously did not happen before,
* the way they found closure -- and that the writer chose to not go the route I expected in the beginning. This is obviosly onbly the start of a new part in the characters' lives.
Other aspects I liked:
* no romance arc between A-Liang and Ting Fei,
* the choice to show Sea's and Neil's first time as sensual rather than sexy,
* the way they chose to bridge the language barrier -- whenever Orca talks to anyone but Reese (as long as he doesn't want to rile someone up), they all talk in English. Heavily accented English, with grammar mistakes -- just as you would expect from people who speak English as a second language. For Reese and Orca, on the other hand, the writer makes it very clear that they both have been learning the other's language in secret -- they just choose not to speak it as long as they are at odds with each other.
* Actors were great -- I liked how Reese's actor gave it his all during the crying scenes, and I could watch Neil's eyes forever.
One story arc that got lost a bit for me, was Sea's story -- mainly how his feelings evolved from adoring his idol to loving Neil as an equal. I don't even think it would have taken much, just a small gesture or look here and there. It's already there, just not clearly told.
(I also wish they'd given him a different hair style, at least for the concerts. Especially during the last concert, his hair and his make-up made him look even younger than usual.)
I'm not too impressed with how the makers chose and used the background music. I'm not talking about the songs the characters sing, those are all right, if not my kind of music. I do think though that in a drama with music as a main theme, there should have been more focus on the effects background music can have. In several scenes, I found it distracting (silence is also very powerful! And it could have been used to its adavantage!) and overall, it was mostly bland.
All in all, it's a solid production, with a well-rounded cast and no glaring mistakes. "Finding closure through the power of Love" is a well-used trope and it's not badly implemented here at all.
Worth a watch.
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This review may contain spoilers
This was extremely hard to watch for me, and also to write a review, because my mother heard exactly the same diagnosis - and there was one scene in the film that came very close to how my mother died. Mother-daughter-relationships are also at the centre of this film, not all of them are good or even resolved at all.
So, if you're also sensitive to the topics in this film -- late-stage cancer, death of a parent, mother-daughter-relationships - then you might want to avoid it.
That being said, the actors are excellent! This is one of the reasons I couldn't not finish the film, because the actors, child actress included, portrayed their characters so well that I was already invested in their story and needed to know how it all ends.
Regarding the story, apart from my personal hang-ups: The three main characters, are all female -- and they are who are shown as the ones who shape the family, who take on the challenges life throws at them -- while the men are more passive, even weak.
The thing is, the mother is shown too much as the "self-sacrificing prototype", which really got on my nerves after a while. I wish the mother had been given a bit more time for her own struggles, her own pain, her own grief for having to leave her family. There was only one scene, right after she heard her diagnosis, when she broke down, alone in the hot bath (excellently filmed, btw), and then, once, near the end. All of the rest showed her being dedicated to her growing family -- but a mother is also a person with her own life, and I really wish the writer had given her that. It wouldn't even have taken a lot, maybe just her wiping away a stray tear, looking at an old photo, hugging herself in the kitchen ... just show us that there's more to her than just "devoted mother".
Overall, I can see how many people would love this film, even maybe find solace in it -- and most of the aspects I did not like are more related to myself than to the film -- so if you think you can watch something with the above-mentioned topics, then you should definitely try this one.
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oof...
That was surprising.What starts as a one-night-stand, awkward testing of interest via small talk and slight kink included, ends as something ... very different.
(tw for violence, maybe murder, rape)
This is only 16 minutes long, and the plot could be summerized in no more than three sentences, but there's so much to pick apart in the characterization of one of the main characters, especially in the second part, that it easily feels much longer.
Everything, from the dialogue (small talk to sex talk to only few words), to the use of space (the short film is only set in the apartment and the short hallway outside, and in the end it focuses more and more on tighter and tighter spaces), the use of light and shadow (brightly lit to shadowy), and to the excellent acting by both the actors -- all of it forces the viewer deeper into the darkness, and in the end it's clear that there will be no escape.
I'd recommend watching this at least once, but only if you're prepared to know that this is not a fluffy piece but a graphic depiction of the lengths an obsessed person will go to get what they want.
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In "Sumodo - The Successors of Samurai" the director is allowed to enter two prestigious sumo "stables" (that's the word given by the subtitles in JFF Theater) to film the daily lives of sumo wrestlers. He films them during training and during downtime -- I was amazed at how close the director got to the wrestlers, and how open they were with him about their hopes and struggles.
Given that Sumo wrestlers do see themselves as the successors of Samurai (which is historically not quite unreasonable, as the documentary explains), and that Japanese society is not known for people openly speaking about their inner world, this is quite the feat!
(The film team is even invited to a wedding.)
Because of the closeness, the documentary is able to show us both the exterior of Sumo (the history, the stables' PR and, of course, the competitions) and the workings "behind the scenes". This documentary could have been a film focused on the fights, on the powerful bodies and the excitement of the tournaments -- it is that, but it is tempered by what we learn about the people -- real people with profound thoughts, with feelings, with bodies that sometimes fail; people who continuously push their boundaries and strive for perfection, even if it means to endure pain and suffering.
I started without any real knowledge about the sport -- the documentary was still easy to follow and I learned a lot. Since it's made for a Japanese audience, there are some things left unexplained, but it's still an educating watch.
If you have the chance to watch it, then I recommend to do so!
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How to survive in a heteronormative world
A poignant short film about two queer people trying to survive in this heteronormative world.A young woman who loses her fanancial support and tries to find a way out of the situation.
A young man deep in the closet and hopelessly in love with a married man.
A married hetero man, who rather believes unsubstantiated rumours than listen to the subtle hints of his friend.
Two-and-a-half locations, minimal music, details are told with the camera, not with words.
I wonder if people who are not LGBTQ+ can easily understand this short film, but I hope they'd choose to look closely and will listen better than the straight friend here.
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The premise is simple: Artist Phap (easy-going, living from day to day, a bit of a slob) meets entrepreneur Poramaze (money-loving, very controlled, a clean-freak, basically your tough shell, soft core type) and personalities clash.
And there's the first of the three major weak points:
For a story that has to be character-driven (there are very few external obstacles to overcome), the script doesn't give the actors much to work with. Maybe it's stronger in the novel, I don't know. But here, motivations for our main characters are very unclear. It's not so bad for the artist, whose character is stereotypically colourful enough we can fill in the blanks ourselves. But for the more complex Poramaze, who is both both a cold and strict type who "loves money" and still obviously likes his friends and his team, this is more of a problem. We never really know what exactly made him the way he is. Why does he feel the need to be always in control? Was it only that his step-brother left him? But then, why did this have so much impact for him? The few minutes of back-story does not explain things sufficiently. And that's a problem in a story where for several episode the main story arc is this character's inner struggle with his own emotions.
This is saved by the drama's best feature: its actors. Both Singto ("Poramaze") and Tae ("Phap") portray characteristics and emotions that are never explicitly stated and break their characters out of the confines of the strereotypes the script gave them. I love their scenes where they lash out against each other -- both actors show their hurt and their heartbreak very well, and my heart broke with theirs. I'm sure that with weaker actors this series would have been flat and boring.
The same goes for Maengmum ("Nae") and Soodyacht ("Tharn") who both don't get a lot to work with. But Nae, who should have been the stereotypical airheaded rich girl, becomes a steadfast and intelligent friend, and Tharn is being shown as a guy with a long-term secret crush from the very second we see him.
Yoon ("Nueng"), on the other hand, is the drama's second main weak point. He does absolutely nothing with his character -- I think Yoon has about 1.5 different facial expressions: "amused", "gently amused" and "gentle". It's most obvious when he directly faces Soodyacht, who is acting circles around him. And that's a problem. Nueng has had a huge influence in Poramaze's life, and he still is the major point of conflict for the relationship between Poramaze and Phap. But he doesn't have a character at all! Why does he act that antagonistic towards Phap, even until the end, and at the same time encourages Poramaze to voice his feelings? What is his motivation here? Is he not aware of how his words hurt Phap and disripts their already fragile relationship? We don't know. Neither the script nor Yoon give us any hint for us to fill in the gaps. I also don't believe that he was ever attracted to Tharn -- no longing glance, not secret smile, nothing -- until the confession, and even then he only shows expression number 3 ("gentle").
There are several aspects in this drama that I love:
The wardrobe choices are excellent -- Nae's outfits are gold (Does she even wear the same thing twice, except for her pyjamas?) and I love how both Poramaze's and Phap's clothing reflect their change and growth.
I'd love to live in Phap's house, it's messy and cozy at the same time (although the gleaming wooden floor is a bit unrealistic, especially in the area where Phap paints) and his little garden is a small oasis -- contrasting nicely with the modern look of Poramaze's office and condo. On that note: I do wonder about the plants in Poramaze's condo -- the first time we see their corner is in episode 9. Were they there the whole time or did he only add them after he started to like Phap and his little garden? Whether it's option 1 or 2, this shows that the people responsible for the set design put a lot of thought into it, but it was not used to its full potential by the director.
I love the opening credits. Painting-like animation is not something we see often, and it fits with the premise of the story, and I also like the almost chaotic orchestral music.
The background music choices are also well done -- I did not notice them most of the time, which is a good sign for me -- and I loved that there are some emotional heavy scenes that don't use any kind of music at all, which is a rare thing in Thai mass-market productions.
So, all in all, it's apparent for me that the production team put a lot of thought and effort in this. Which makes the third major weakness all the worse.
Phap is commissioned to paint an abstract work "The Love", which progresses along with his feelings and his relationship with Poramaze. It's a central point of the story, and we see him working on it. But then the set design team and those responsible for continuity dropped the ball -- after his second time working on it, we see the painting again several times -- in the form it had after the first but before the second time Phap painted it. And since its so huge, and right in frame more than once, this is a glaring error I could not ignore.
And a last thought, I love Phap's names: ภาพ /phap/ means "picture, image, vision" and his legal first name ศิลปิน /sin-la-pbin/ means literally "artist". Love that. (And not to spoil, but if you watch episode 12, pay attention when they talk about "the artists" emotions, the knowlegde that it's both his job title and his name makes this all the more enjoyable.)
And, another aside regarding names: The GagaOOLala subtitles sometimes transcribe คุณภาพ, which is clearly spoken as /khun Phap/, i.e. "Mr Phap" by the characters, as the word /khunnaphap/ "quality; value; worth" but used as a name "Kunnaphap". I wonder where that comes from, is Phap's name shortened from Kunnaphap? Or is it a genuine error on the subtitler's part?
So, all in all, this drama could have been a failure, if the actors and the team responsible for set design and props hadn't done an excellent job.
As it is, they managed to elevate a sub-par script to a perfectly watchable and even enjoyable drama.
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When you find your calling in life
I always admire people who have found their calling in life, and dedicate large parts of it to their passion. This film is about this kind of people -- who work steadily towards one goal, with a lot of hard work, attention for detail and perseverence.It's very Japanese in it's slow story telling, the lights and colours and the detailed sets. It's, again, a story about a small group of outsiders doing a work which is underappreciated by others, who find solace and satisfaction in what they do, not necessarily in what others think of it.
I'm not a het romance fan, but I liked the love story between the main protagonist and the landlady's granddaughter. They are full of respect for each other and the other's passion and interests, even though they don't quite understand them.
And one aspect I also liked: It's a story about words, but in moments of great emotion, the characters fail to find the right words to express them; and in the story telling, silence and the gentle background music is at least as important as the dialogue.
Well worth it.
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I don't mind the rather predictable story about the men going on a drunken trip, and the ensuing entanglement with the local drug dealing ring -- but did they have to make it sexist? Especially the scene at the beach on the first day was terrible to watch. Also, the other female characters were at turns harassing the men and being the weak victim.
The stars are for the acting, the drug dealing plot, and the overall cinematography.
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This review may contain spoilers
What a ride!
You think, yes, now I know what will happen next, now I know how it will end -- and no, you probably don't. While it was always clear that Trillion Game would win in the end, the "how" was very much not clear. I thought I'd know how Haru would do it, but, as it turned out, I didn't. Even at the last scene, there was a bit of a twist.That said, the obstacles were overcome a bit too easily; and even now, I'm not clear about Princess Kiriri's motivations at times. I'd have liked to see maybe one or two fewer obstacles but better ones, or at least I'd have liked to see Haru having a bit more trouble in succeeding. As it was, his plans were a bit *too* perfect. More attention to details would have been a benefit to the story.
Speaking of details, one aspect that continuously irked me: The way that the actual *doing* was just disregarded.
For example, the opening of an e-commerce flower delivery: Where do you get the flowers from? Who will do the actual arrangements, even if they are planned by an "AI"?
Oh, and "AI", as Haru said himself: "It's a buzzword." Even if you can program an AI to do the things it does in this series, the costs for building and maintaining servers with enough processing power are enormous! Not only the material cost, but also the energy cost needed.It's why any company investing in AI has not seen a penny of return investment and it's expected to remain that way in the forseeable future.
It's a shame that the series doesn't pay attention to this sort of details.
Another aspect I found disappointing was the writing of the female characters. Yes, it's the story of the journey of Haru and Gaku -- but as the third partner Rinrin deserved better than to be used as scapegoat (even if she got her own happy ending), and that Princess Kiriri had to submit was also disappointing (even if it was for character-appropriate reasons). I would have liked to see them both put on a more equal footing with the men.
What I really loved though, and what made everything I just said insignificant overall, was the excellent acting -- by all of the cast. Meguro, of course, as the inscrutable Haru -- and until the last show-down I wasn't quite sure what exactly went in in his head -- but also Imada with her cool and calculating presence as well as Sano's depiction of an awkward nerd. I could list all of the actors, but then this will get too long.
Another plus in my book, there's only a hint of romance towards the very end, and even the sizzling chemistry between Haru and Kiri is always turned into rivalry, never romance.
The actors, together with the outstanding music choices and the fast-paced editing made the drama a wild ride, and I was hooked from the first to the last minute.
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And when I say, slow, I mean slow. We get to see too many flashbacks, and too often the same scenes, from the same perspective. The story has been edited into a 2:30h film, which I expect is not that bad in this regard.
What I liked:
* The acting performances of both main leads, they portrayed the emotions of their characters, their fears, their anguish, their hopes really well.
* The soft, washed-out colour palette. It supports the slow pacing of the story well.
* The setting is in a rural area, with normal people in normal surroundings.
* There are none of the usual BL tropes here, wich is always nice to see. This is what you can call a universal love story.
* Overall an unusual story for a BL series, although not for a "traditional" (romantic) show; expect a story that deals with a heavy experience and how both main leads deal with it. Extra points for that.
What I did not like:
* I don't know why the brother and his friend could not have just stayed supporting background characters. Their relationship distracted from the main leads.
* As I said above, there are too many flashbacks. The pacing could have been more concise and still alllow for enough space to show the motives and emotions of all characters and have a slow pacing.
* Why do the doctors tell Nut about his friend's (their patient's) medical situation? This is not ethical behaviour and it irks me.
Was it good?
The premise had much potential, and I liked that it stayed soft throughout but it was underwhelming because of the lengthy and repeating flashbacks.
Did I like it?
I did, and I loved the characters and their story, but I wouldn't watch it again, not even the movie version.
Would I recommend it?
Not the drama. Maybe the movie. If you watch it, be mindful that it is not light-hearted, so if you are prone to crying in emotional scenes, keep your hankies ready!
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I appreciate what they wanted to do...
... but this was not it.The premise of the mini-drama, that a normal guy finds it completely normal to help others in need -- and to make a comedy out of it, I love it.
I loved the message that a "Super-Maen" can exist in each of us , and that society might be better if we would be more like Maen.
I liked the criticism of modern "journalists" who in its pursuit of stories not only disrupts ordinary people's lives but sometimes go so far as to fabricate stories out of thin air.
I liked how it shows how fickle society can be, when people flip from adoring to condemning in an instant.
I liked the problems that were touched upon, like domestic violence and poverty.
I loved Maen's family -- the parents with their hobbies were comedic gold!
Unfortunately, the other actors tried too hard -- quite a lot of their scenes could have been funny, but something was lacking. Sometimes it was the acting (which was either too much or not enough, especially Mew Suppasit's scenes with the young boy it seemed as if he forgot how to act), sometimes the script dragged (some comedic bits were just too drawn out -- comedy is all about timing, and it's missing here).
Honestly, I found it hard to get through both episodes.
Overall, I could have lived happily without watching it, but it's only two hours, so I'm not too bothered.
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This is how you do a teenage rom-com
I love this.The comedy is spot-on, both all of the characters (the students of class 8/1 are a hoot!) and the comedic timing. It's very silly, and still the film has some depth.
The eternal desire of highschool students -- I want to fit in -- is tackled for several characters' perspective. Whether it is that your secret crush is exposed in the most demeaning way, whether you have a condition that sets you apart form the others, or whether your nipples are inverted -- all of us want recognition, and even love. But how to achieve that?
This rom-com is not only funny as heck until the last minute, it also surprised me not only with a positive message, but also with excellent acting, a good pacing, great animation(!), and very, very likable characters.
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This review may contain spoilers
Solid Thai BL with blue-collar characters
If I had to recommend some Thai BL dramas, then this one would be among the recs for someone who has seen a few already and wants to explore the genre some more.What I liked:
* Highest point: Blue-collar workers in a lot of roles and as love interest, which is a refreshing deviation from all the super-rich college boys, who I am sick of. We need more normal people in Thai BLs. In connection to that, a gentle critique of classism.
* Very gentle and smooth evolution of the main couple. I love how they care for and respect each other. The dynamics between them feel very equal from the first time they meet (which is reflected by the use of names instead of titles and the pronouns เรา /rao/ and นาย /naai/).
* Workplace setting; hospital with a good balance of medical jargon and not too much nonsense.
* middle-aged long-term same-sex partners as advisors and role models, who get a decent amount of screentime.
* a trans gender person in a non-comedic role.
* the three riders, who provided not only comedic relief but also gave Mork the occasional insight.
* The acting is decent, if a bit uneven on Fluke's part (Mork). Pat (Por) was excellent as the slimy boyfriend.
What I did not like:
* the doctor-only couple. I'm allergic to bullying (and what Toy does, can only be called bullying). Yes, he does apologize in a way, but even after, he "teases" Boss, and runs rough-shod over his mental needs, we almost never see Toy respect them. Boss is shown as an introvert, with a sensitivity to explosion noises and a need for his order and rules. In their progression, it's Boss, who has to change much more than Toy and "overcome" his needs. Also, there's no real connection to the main couple , other than that they both work under Tawan. I would have liked to see more of the love story between Fueng and Kru Ai than them.
* The critique of classism ends when the relationships get serious -- only after Nadia learns that the barista owns his café and is a famous YouTuber, she accepts his advances. Mork starts his college education to be able to "care for Tawan" (which shouldn't be needed, Tawan should earn enough as a doctor.) and even ends up with the same hairstyle (helmet-like and styled upwards) as all of the higher-class characters.
* A bit of inconsistency in how and when Mork realises his feelings -- he does so twice in ep. 4 and in ep. 7.
* The sub-plot with the kid could have been improved with a bit more room -- as it is, it doesn't feel like an organic part of the whole story. The kid appears, is there, and disappears again. At least, maybe show him in the epilogue scene?
* Por and his boyfriend have more heat between them than the main couple -- either tone one down or give the other a bit more intimacy.
Was it good? -- There are certainly better BLs out there, but it was solid all around.
Did I like it? -- I loved the gentle progression and the respect in the main couple and the blue-collar characters.
Would I recommend it? -- I would, it's smooth, and easy to watch.
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