Shasha

Badass Bunny and her recent article are to blame for me loving this drama.I will be forever grateful to her for making me discover it. This drama definitely has its flaws but I do not really remember the last time I enjoyed a K drama so much. Maybe The Forbidden Marriage over a year ago? Anyhow, that is the one K drama which pops up in my head when I try to remember any!

The story is based on japanese manga and drama which I dropped after the first episode. And even though I found the japanese FL cuter and more charming, I just could not watch that animé manga overacting and excessive grimacing. So when I started this one, I did not expect much. I thought I'd give it one episode and drop it. The next day I had three episodes left! I got hooked immediately. The story is basically the same but the Koreans toned down the manga and made characters more or less ordinary humans.

I was particularly impressed by the ML's character: he was surprisingly decent and realistic and very smart, where you'd expect someone hugely talented to be arrogant and obnoxious to others. God knows I don't like the actor playing him (I dropped every drama of his I ever started!) but here he was perfect as a handsome and talented pianist and wannabee conductor. I liked how he grows from a loner to a person surrounded by friends, how he opened up and became more approachable under the FL's influence. But what I liked the most was his lack of ego, willingness to do anything to achieve his goals, his warmth behind the brash exterior. I liked how unexpectedly down to earth he was.

His character changes when he meets the FL, a quirky piano prodigy living in a pigsty. While trying to sort her out, it is actually she who sorts him out. She is loud, without a filter, colourful, easy going and completely unconscious of other people. In contact with the ML she gradually changes, calms down a bit and becomes less childish. She grows as a character as well. Surprisingly, I did not find her annoying as I should have: the childishness from the beginning was limit unbearable. And still, I was not annoyed by her. The actress did a great job finding the right balance.

I loved the music. The actors "played" their instruments convincingly except for the violin player who was obviously struggling! I loved every support character: from the rivals-to-lovers pair of violin players, to a gay timpani player to Mini Min Hee a poor always hungry student whose instrument is twice her size! Kudos to the producers because they managed to keep the quintessential japanese drama spirit in as much as there are no really evil character though a few showed promise but they turned out to be just sheep in wolves' clothes and eventually be good and just!

What I did not like:
- Franz character: first he is completely over the top and then the actor is unconvincing in this role. This character was supposedly adopted to Germany as a child and can barely speak Korean. That lasts the airport run: he tries to speak slowly with an accent but a few episodes in, he speaks a perfect Korean only to lose it in the last episodes.
- somewhat predictable plotlines in the second part: both main characters have childhood traumas which, of course, act up when they should not.
- noble idiocy and the breakup for" your own good" are so useless
- SLS for a few episodes
- why did they wait for the closing credits of the last episode to have her play the piano with his orchestra. There were so many occasions throughout the drama when that could have solved many problems....

I enjoyed watching this immensely.

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Gentle giant & Scaredy cat

Unfortunately this is a very low budget production: they must have filmed it in producer's office!
Fortunately, this again goes to prove that you don't need loads of money if you have a good story and a good writer.

Unfortunately there is the height difference.
Fortunately, the gentle giant is cute.

Unfortunately the cat is 32 year old virgin who does not know what he wants. Such a typical situation for an asian drama. He has a crush on the giant but when he asks him out, he choses to misunderstand!
Fortunately the giant knows that so he starts playing hard to get.

Unfortunately the cat is so embarrassingly inexperienced.
Fortunately there is the female coworker teaching him the ropes of dating.

Unfortunately they have zero chemistry.
Fortunately, the gentle giant is rather proactive.
Unfortunately the cat is not.
Fortunately, eventually he needs to be so he is. Hooray!

Unfortunately they did not make this about teenagers. It would have been more convincing. Or would it?
Fortunately, they did not make this about teens it would have been ridiculous. Teens usually jump before thinking. This is the opposite: the cat thinks and then does not jump!

Unfortunately they kept those boring manga tropes like clear distinction between seme and uke roles.
Fortunately the kisses were nice.

Unfortunately this reminded me of She Who Cooks: the same awkward uncomfortable relationship.
Fortunately the guys here seem to get over it by the end.

Fortunately, Nicksden subbed this expertly so we get to enjoy it a lot! Thank you!

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How to lose lifelong friends?

Lie and cheat!

I love messed up characters! And here I was served well and in abundance!

The plot is complicated: three lifelong friends, two men and a woman, meet only occasionally now that they are adults. One man confesses to the other one but is rejected because he does not want to ruin their friendship. On the rebound, the first man accepts the woman's confession. But it does not work. The men end hooking up eventually. The friendship is ruined. The first guy's ex appears and breaks them up.

I watched the cut version and again, it was confirmed to me that in order to follow a story, NC scenes are not necessary. I can get a hint: the heads get closer, lips touch and the next scene is them cuddling in bed....it is up to me to fill in the blanks and it is pretty much obvious!

The production is very, very low budget: sets are limited, colours are pale and cold, there are no extras. But the soundtrack is exceptional: there are some beautiful songs there!

The plot is too much for such a short drama and the second part in particular needed more time to develop. The ex seems like a real psycho only to be shown as cute and end up a coward: too much of an inconsistent character.

Moreover, the subs are not that good so I failed to comprehend what the ex tried to achieve with his last antic: posting a fake story accusing himself of being under influence. I think....

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Love that dares not say its name....

Not as good or as heavy as Skate Our Souls and Side By Side which dealt with serious mental health issues, this instalment of Project S series is a worthy part of it. It deals with the issues of abandonment, violence, self-worth, family pressure, friendship and love through sports. After skateboarding and badminton, it is to volleyball to be put forward as the means of healing and personal growth.

The writing and the acting are stellar as usual but the intensity of the other two series is missing. I am probably watching these out of order (I saw the trailer for SBS at the ending of this drama's final episode!) so the mounting pressure is not there. Spike is more in line with ordinary teen dramas: the angst, the discovery of love and the fragility of friendship are all the usual topics of such dramas.

I needed to keep reminding myself that this was made in 2017 because the bromance was romancing c drama way. Maybe there was a bit of romance there between the boys but it was never openly said. Unless you count as the indication the moment when Puen, the main lead, jokingly says to his best girl friend that the gender is not important for him in love, crushing all her hopes...Am I seeing a BL story where there is none? I am not sure...

I guess I was looking for romance in this one because the mental health issues were not the topic here. Puen had to deal with the abandonment issues since he was little but sports helped him overcome it and gain confidence. This was all explained in a short flashback.

The songs' lyrics did nothing to make me think differently: it was all I love you, you are the most important person, you make me better etc.etc. whenever the scene was about the three particular boys. A burgeoning love triangle if I never saw one...

An excellent drama! I only hated Puen's haircut! The rest is a great watch!

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There were five in a flat....well, almost!

This third season continues the main character's quest for love while sharing a flat with friends. This season is the weakest so far: the new characters are an unlikeable lot, loud, misbehaving and annoying making Zik's life harder but he is resigned to it so he just sighs and rolls his eyes.

After Sammi left, Zik was poised to enjoy the flat all by himself. But the peace was shortlived as Radar came back from abroad with a friend in tow, all mysterious, refusing to explain why he was fired and why is this guy stuck to him. Unfortunately we never get to learn that. There is the annoying and promiscuous neighbour and Zik's university friend, a high school PE teacher claiming to be straight but giving every gay vibe known in the universe. Just like Radar! Knowing he cannot have Radar, Zik starts dating Shawn but that relationship is not bound to last very long since they have nothing in common. Sometimes opposites attract but they are not even that!
The ending is open announcing another, the last, chapter in Zik & Radar's story.

I don't know how realistic this drama is behind all the comedy and mockumentary bits but it seems steeped in reality of contemporary gay scene in HK. The writing is still excellent; the acting is amazing (the long suffering Zik is played to perfection by Pan Zhuo Lun) and I wish I could find more about the actors, not only their first names on youtube! The comedy parts are excellent, the banter is fast and lively but they still haven't found the way to make the transition from sitcom to a serious drama and back, smooth so the change in pace and tone can be jarring. There is not much depth in any of the characters, we do not know much about them or their lives outside the apartment building. But, just like in previous seasons, they touch upon some serious issues like family, the problems in a long-term relationship, teacher/student relationship, drug use...

This whole series was actually a fun watch: the mockumentary parts were the funniest. I hope they make another season in which we will finally find out the outcome of the Zik/Radar relationship!

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Cute & bland & quick

Well, this was underwhelming! This simple and colourless love story between two beauty advisers in a make up store was a forgettable fare.

The plot was simple: a dazzling, confident BA falls for a super kind coworker. One man's kindness blunts the edges off of the cynical and highly talented colleague. Very quickly they start dating and a few minutes later they are living together: the plot moves forward quickly. The conflicts are minor and solved quickly: none involving the society codes but interpersonal relations such as a former coworker or distant family. The relationship is almost ruined by the kind man's lack of self-confidence, but that is sorted out quickly when he is made to understand that he is also highly valued. The last conflict is completely incomprehensible: why does the kind guy dread the handsome guy becoming a model? Is he afraid of being abandoned or he does not want an excellent make up artist waste his talent on modelling? His insecurities moved up a higher gear while suddenly the communication was lacking..the whole conflict was illogical...

The cinematography is bland, soft and somehow lacking in colour and peps. The actors are cute but have minimal to no chemistry: when they were kissing they seemed miles apart.

Cosmetic Playlover (how do they come up with these titles which are senseless, is beyond me!) is a nice quick watch, nothing is messy here, everyone is nice and kind even the people who seem threatening when seen the first time....a typical j drama romance.

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Is it too late?

This should have actually been a comment since there is not much to say about this 2 part special episode which comes right after the ending of the first season. But since this page is quite empty, I said to myself, what the heck and now I am trying to figure out what to write about this special.

The story focuses on Steven, Zik's ex. Meeting Zik a year after they broke up stirs the forgettne feelings in Steven so when Tat(Zik's roommate) leaves, Steven jumps to the occasion and asks Zik for some friends with benefits time at his place. But before they could do anything, Steven's family shows up and what follows is a very uncomfortable family dinner. After being abused by Steven's mother who never liked him during the ten years they spent together, Zik storms out and refuses to talk to Steven anymore. Still horny, Steven turns to online app and hooks up with a random guy but everything they do or say, keeps reminding him of Zik and he eventually ends up just spending the whole night talking to the guy and nothing else realizing that he still loved Zik.

The whole drama still being a sitcom, this special is not void of humour: Steven's bickering family is a treat and the way the hook up guy tries to get Steven excited is priceless. It is a fitting continuation of the story letting us know more about Steven and his relationship with Zik. We already got to take a few glimpses into their life as a couple in the second half of the 1st season, but it was the bad part: here everything is just fluff, cute and loving moments.

Depending on the stage in your life, where you are and who you're with, your memories will reflect that mood: when you're unhappy, you tend to remember the moments of love and happiness while saying, I was happy then, why did I behave in that manner. And vice versa!

Now on to the second season to see what will happen between Zik, Steven and Tat...

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Can we seize the chance?

Why is this drama called Love All Play when even the subs say Going to you at speed of 493? I guess it is easier to remember but it is such a boring title: makes you think of all those insipid c dramas....

Love All Play is not a drama about badminton. It features badminton heavily but if you hope to learn something about the sport, the rules and the gameplay: go watch something else! The badminton training centre serves just as the backdrop for a slice of life story of a redemption of a fallen prodigy.

There are too many characters called Park here so I won't even try to mention them here. It took me about half of the drama to sort the main leads out. They are both damaged individuals.

The FL made a mistake a few years earlier which made her a pariah in the badminton community. But her love of the game was too strong to keep her away so she is willing to suffer all kinds of bullying and rejection in order to win the right to train and play. She's overly cheerful, replying to insults with a big smile which seems frustration and annoying until she declares to prefer to smile when she wants to cry! Her tenacity finally wins her teammates over. She used to be best friends with another woman from the team, she loved her and at one point she declared that her friend was her first love. The FL is bi?

The ML grew up in the domineering shadow of the star, overly talented big sister so much that he felt neglected by their parents. With his sister away due to an injury it is finally time for him to shine.

The story is well written, the topics dealt are balanced and fairly treated: guilt, redemption, love, talent, family. Unfortunately, nothing is outstanding in this drama.
The acting is correct though the chemistry is missing across the board.
There is a slight "criticism" of korean society or rather the repetition and confirmation of usual society norms: the whole family is responsible for a mistake committed by one of its members (the FL), a divorced woman with a child is not allowed to get into a relationship because she's THE MOTHER and therefore it is unseemly, a father getting berserk because his 25yr old daughter wants to date, across the board virgins who never dated (because family and sport, of course!).....I wish someone would show us the current generation of Koreans rebelling against these awfully strict and coded societal norms. This is not the case here!
The badminton matches were filmed with brio but we could not actually see a match just the players running and beautifully jumping in order to catch the shuttlecock. Moreover, the venues where the competitions were held were completely void of the audience. So it is either COVID restrictions (the drama takes place in 2022) or they didn't have the budget for extras. Whichever may be the case, the empty seats were gloomy and ridiculous!
The music was boring: one funky song playing endlessly but luckily it is not a song good enough for it to be memorable.

This was not a drama to be remembered: even though I binged it and the actors were cute, I'd recommend it as a light slow burn watch.

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Japan strikes again!

Trust the Japanese to come up with a novel twist to the usual BL story. They do know how to surprise us with their choice of topic: here it is a May to December romance between an older man who is a cooking writer and his editor, half his age.

Ishida is a lost 27 yr old man, bored doing a job he does not like. On the cusp of resigning, he is suddenly sent to see a cook who writes a monthly column for a women's magazine. The cook feeds Ishida who is immediately smitten by the quirky character and his cooking. But there are a lot of obstacles on their way, the main being the age gap.

And the total lack of chemistry!

I just could not feel the attraction, the emotions. So I tried to figure out why he would fall for a father figure but we find next to nothing about him (raised in a loving family with 3 other siblings! Apparently!). I did not find the romance convincing. While the cook was dignified and calm like a sage man, Ishida was all over the place: jumping around, his thoughts showing on his face for the world to see. But, as they say, opposites attract!W

But, when the Japanese talk about the food, everything else, the storyline included, is left behind!

What this drama has going fot it is its length (very short!), nice music and cinematography (well, they are filming food preparation!), some beautiful photographs at an exhibition, the dog (what a great actor!) and.....that's it.

An easy watch which will be remembered for its topic: an age gap romance....

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Wish it were longer

I am trying to figure out why this has such low ratings. It is definitely not a groundbreaking BL but it is cute and simple, a nice Sunday night watch when you do not want to see anything heavy.

2Wish is a short follow-up to ReminderS in which Two and Wish met and started dating in university. Here, they have graduated and moved in together. And while Two's career is taking off, Wish is stuck at home, unable to land a job and therefore running in circles and overthinking things. His insecurities show and then when a girl makes a move on Two, Wish completely loses all confidence and leaves.

This 50min short film in two parts, deals with their first steps as adults in a real world. The more Two tries to reassure Wish, the more Wish feels useless and a burden. He feels incompetent: unable to find a job and unable to look after the house and cook. Due to its length, the problems and misunderstandings were solved mercifully quickly and it is a big positive in favour of this drama.

As I managed to figure out, there are mainly two reasons people do not like this:
1. this is not LBC and the characters are not Tin and Can: are these actors allowed to play other characters? Mean is so cute and really an excellent actor here, showing the character's depth and maturity. Plan played a depressed boyfriend hiding behind his bangs well.
2. nothing happens, no depth, no connection with reality: the story is too short to have depth but they managed to convey the young people's struggles when starting out, the doubts that a change in a power balance brings to a relationship, they even touched upon how fame changes influencers. But most of all, this is a BL i.e. a romance, a fantasy which does not bear any likeness to reality!

The only problem I had with this one, beside its length, is the sound recording and editing which was bad. More often than not, we could barely hear them speak either because of ambient noise (crickets were very loud!) or the boring stock piano background music which was too loud.

I wish I could see more of Mean: he is a talented actor that we do not see in main roles enough.

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Mission to find love...in a Mall!

Marry's Mission is a mini drama promoting a shopping mall through a story about a girl looking for love.

Marry is a young woman running a café/flower shop and hoping to expand her business with the financial help of her grandfather. He agrees under the condition that she gets married by the age of 30. The catch is, her 30th birthday is only 30 days away. So with her friends' help, she starts dating. Unfortunately, each new man she meets is worse than the one before.

This was cute and fluffy. No big life questions, no bad guys, just a simple romcom, sweet and a nice quick watch when you want to empty your head of accumulated stress and get to be familiar with a shopping center in Thailand. The characters are all clichés especially the potential boyfriends: a shopaholic, a health freak, a self-centred actor, a sweet but taken chef, a gay youtuber and a salesman. After meeting all of them she gives up completely unaware that there has been someone in the background helping her and observing her with kindness. Her friends were fun to watch. And while I really cannot stand those shrieking trans characters, the bl couple working for her were so cute. I want a series just with them, please!

In conclusion, this ad drama needs more love because it is better than the majority of such productions, it is funny, sweet and short.

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Pretty sunsets and...that's it!

Well, this is just another thai bl under my belt which I probably will not remember in a week. It was pretty : the scenery and the sunsets are stunning. And that's it.

The plot is fairly basic, made to pull on heartstrings, very maudlin! The drama tells the story of a rich violinist who goes to the countryside and falls for a poor painter. But the painter has a heart disease, so he breaks up with the violinist very quickly (noble idiocy and all that!). Some time after, the violinist discovers a childhood connection, and goes back to the countryside looking for the painter but cannot find him.

The writing and the acting are bad, really awful. The writing is a series of tropes badly presented. At one point, after having spent a lot of time together, the painter kisses the dozing violinist who just gets up and disappears for a few days. When he comes back it is as if nothing happened, they do not talk about it and just continue on the merry road of romance. Then of course there is the noble idiocy break up because of an illness and finally the ultimate trope: they knew each other as kids. And the ending is: what? Is the painter dead or gone abroad or hiding somewhere: no body knows and they all seem very sad when they mention him. And the violinist stays put waiting for him to return or does he just live in memories?
Now another problem connected to the writing are the subs: they are very bad so maybe my impression of the bad script comes from that. But not only!
But I would not have minded all of the above if the actors brought something extra with them, like more chemistry?!? Because the two main actors are completely without acting skills at the start of the drama: the lines' delivery is monotone, without any expression one way or the other. To be frank, they improved towards the ending, I could actually see some fleeting expressions of emotions. Also, I have the impression that the actor playing the musician can actually play the violin (unlike the actress playing the mother!).

So what are the good sides of this drama: nice cinematography, nice music, actors who are not afraid of skinship and who have a tiny bit of chemistry. And last but not the least: short duration!

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Devil is in the details!

While watching the last episode, it had all of a sudden dawned to me: every single makjang that has ever been made originates in The Count of Monte Cristo. Just like Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice is the blueprint for every enemies to lovers romcom ever made (and Darcy is the original tsundere heartthrob!), Dumas' Monte Cristo is the same for the revenge dramas!

The book is a classic I read many times. I have also seen many adaptations for cinema and tv. So I wondered if the japanese would manage to give it that particular japanese flavour. Unfortunately, they failed in this.

They faithfully follow the major plot points and that's what is wrong with this adaptation: it is not japanese enough. The first thing I found grating was the name: Monte Cristo. Why did they keep it? That name passes all right in Europe but it sounds
weird in Asia.

The next was the fake country and a terrorist organization. And even though I enjoyed immensely the first episode, the terrorists and then finally the name managed to make me completely lose interest.

Another huge problem were the subs which, from the episode 5 to the end, were badly timed and showed up before the characters spoke or even appeared.

The pacing of the drama was also off: too fast but at the same time too slow, too much time spent on certain characters (like crazy wives) and not enough on others (Dan and Airi). On the other hand they successfully managed to transpose the 19th century story to modern world. The actors were exceptional, Dean Fujioka was the best by far and his transformation from the happy go lucky fishermen to a cynical billionaire was amazing. And he sings!

You know when you watch a piece of fiction, the question is not whether the story is true but whether they managed to make it so believable it sounds true. Here they failed completely and only because of a few details they did not but should have changed.

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Fear girl & temptation guy

We all know that there is one thing that is next to impossible to see in korean dramas, in particular, korean BLs : real kisses. Oh boy, and do they go for it here!
I watched the free, cut version on youtube. If the uncut version has more explicit NC scenes, I refuse to pay for it because those scenes most of the time add nothing to the plot. As we have seen with many recent thai bls, excessive NC content is not the recipe for a good drama. People fall for it a few times but then afterwards, when they'd finished being titillated, they want some other content (i.e. a story, solid writing and acting!) beside shiny abs. At least, I do!

Blue Boys is a drama about two high school friends NamYi and JaeMin who reconnect as adults. The sparks fly and they start dating. But the honeymoon period is of short duration when and wannabee girlfriend scares one of them off. As soon as they make up, there is a temptation in the shape of another man. Throughout the drama, they keep getting together and then breaking up mainly because of JaeMin and his lack of trust and self confidence.

This short web drama is a typical korean fare: low budget which shows. No cinematography to speak of (cold colours, classical feel: though on second thought, it might be on purpose since the title has blue in it!), sound recorded in a cave (echo is terrible in the scenes filmed inside), no extras. Only when they film scenes outdoors, the feeling is mellower.

As for the writing: the background story of characters is missing. We know next to nothing about where they come from except that one is rich and the other one poor (though he has a Mac laptop, keeps sitting in cafés and never seem to work in order to pay for his nice flat!). Well, I think that we are not supposed to think of all those details but when the plot (wannabee girlfriend blackmailing) insists upon it, it is somehow hard to do it. The topic of the drama is the first gay love: one man has only dated girls so far while the other one has not dated anyone yet.

The biggest problem this drama has are the bad, bad subs. I had to rewatch the second episode a couple of times because the phone conversation makes zero sense. Another translation made everything look extremely creepy: NamYi wrote an article for his blog about the first gay experience and he called his partner a child, as translated by the production. That could not be any worse as a translation in this context. I was just happy not to have paid for the VIP membership: with such horrible subs, I would have regretted it for a long time.

The temptation guy, TaeHa is the star of his own BL: Bad Guy.

The rest was correct: the actors had correct chemistry, the acting was correct, the two side characters suspicious from the get go. A typical korean web drama just a bl. Not bad but memorable only for those sincere kisses which earned them an added point in my ratings. It is short and watchable. Go for it without any expectations, and you'll spend 90 min resting !

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Basketball is so...2022 BL!

I wish I knew why I like Meen and Ping so much that I am willing to gobble up every bad drama they make with a huge smile. And ask for more! I fell for them in their first outing Ai Long Nhai which surprised me with unusual characters: Meen's was unapologetically adult and open while Ping's was cute and deceptively immature without being a doormat as ukes usually are! Through their subsequent two dramas they kept the characters just changed the setting (mafia, high school).

What I liked:
- the chemistry
- the players especially being supportive of Shogun
- the grandma
- the original title song which was so different from the usual funky fare
- basketball games particularly with the imaginary ball
- the poor third wheel Atom
- unrequited love by Que
- cinematography: urban landscapes and the rain were breathtakingly raw!

What I did not like:
- the setting: why high school and not the university: it would have made for a better drama
- mountains of plotholes and illogical events (they have money for the big houses and the latest flip phones but are struggling financially and need scholarships?!?)
- Lin: annoying busybody
- the mother: I still think she's the villain behind everything
- gay basketball mafia clan
- ridiculous last scene

Apparently there are more thing that I liked than those I did not but what I liked are just the details. The biggest problem is the writing which is all over the place. This is a kind of drama you watch while doing something else, stop to look at Ping's puppy eyes and sweet smile and basketball games for a couple of minutes and then go back to doing something else while this is playing in the background! It still is a fun summer watch....

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