MJ Koontz

Yes, episode 3 made the story about our two leads and focused almost solely on their development together and was a joy to watch.

If I were to rate each episode, the premier was solid somewhere in 7.5-8 territory, but episode 2 fell to a very average 5.5-6, and had me worried.

But episode 3 swooped in and showed what this series may be capable of delivering with the strongest episode so far, very much in an 8.5-9 arena.

I really do enjoy our main leads together. Ohm and Nanon do spark and they do prove they have more to offer acting wise than the average Thai BL leads. While Ohm I have come to love from The Shipper (Yes I am a fan of that show, it has a great META dissection of the psyche of female shippers of gay romances and problems that exist in BL as a genre. I loved it) and He's Coming to Me, this is my first time with Nanon. While I found him cute enough, he didn't have that instant sex appeal at first glance that other stars carry. However, his charisma, charm, and acting are winning me over and raising his desirability quickly.

I also want to give a shout out to Jimmy who plays Wei. I have never seen him before, and he is proving a fresh face to watch. Cute, expressive, and up-to-the-task of his role, Jimmy is so far the largest carrier of story outside our main leads and he is doing a very good job with the material. I am taking notice of him, and I like him, and that says a lot considering most of the friends have been around Thai BL for a while and even had lead roles and yet here are as utterly forgettable as they come.

The gear shift in this episode was needed, and it moved the story forward. You finally got to spend entire segments in the energy of just the two leads being together and yes I found myself whole heartidly smiling (Elevator Scene for example). Here is hoping we stick to them moving forward as much as possible.

And now that it has finished, I did my review.

https://kisskh.at/profile/soundinfinite/reviews/175453

I had fun writing it, more fun than watching the show.

This was laughable. Oh God the ending was horrendous. If you scroll down exactly 1 week ago, you will find my knee jerk reaction to episodes 5/6, when I was still invested in this "series," and where I thought the drama was going for its last 2 episodes.

I also specifically stated what they should not do and what I would NOT accept as a viewer.

And everything I thought was going to happen happened like check-boxes on a checklist. Every damn thing I said I didn't want and that I thought they would do just to muster a "Happy Shipper Ending" for everyone point by point by point. Showing how uninspired and insipid this plot and script were....

This was ridiculous, so so so plastic, empty, and fake and yes nonsensical.

Whatever...

And if you ever become senile and forget the meaning of anticlimactic, bookmark this page...so you can quickly be reminded its definition.

If you ever want to teach a class on how NOT to write conflict resolution, or you maybe have your own story you are working on, then this can be played as a step by step warning guide.

And lastly, If you ever want to know what its like to watch two straight guys who have no connection what-so-ever pretend to be in love, and all the squirmy cringe moments it brings.......

Then this is for you!!!!!

KH is ridiculously adorable....I am excited for the next episode of that one!!!

The girl tried to commit suicide if he wouldn't marry her. When did I trip into Days of Our Lives?

Rowoon, you a looker, but stop running and do some squats...those chicken legs....everything else is great though.

And a "pretend romance," to top it off....

Oh dear...This one hell of a mixed bag so far!

LOVED episode 1!!!! Seriously loved it!!! I mean weak in the knees loved. Loved the characters, loved how the episode developed and ended. I just can't say enough on how strong I thought the 1st episode was!!!!

SERIOUSLY AMAZING!!!

I'm 22 min into the second episode and I HATE IT!!!!!

How dare he! How dare he do that to her! How controlling, how arrogant, how disrespectful!!! I understand he had to show her and not just tell her. But to remove ALL HER AGENCY!!! To bring her there against her will under pretense of blackmail, hitting on her constantly during the travel, with her not knowing where she as going, why, or what his motives were. To confess his feelings en route to what he is about to do....HELL NO!

AND THEN ONCE THEY GET THERE LOCK HER IN A ROOM SO SHE CAN DO NOTHING ABOUT WHAT SHE SEES. SERIOUSLY!!! FORCE HER TO LOOK AND KNOW BUT THEN STAND IN HER WAY AND REFUSE TO ALLOW HER HER OWN DECISIONS, HER OWN DIGNITY, HER OWN MOMENT, HER OWN ANGER!!! When this is her life, her relationship, her hardship!!!

Why because he knows better? Because he doesn't want to ruin his establishment? Because it may come back and bite her career and livelihood?

F*CK HIM!!!

She is a grown ass woman who has managed so far and can handle what comes her way!!! HER DECISIONS ARE HERS!!!! She got that job on her own and she can lose it on her own!!! He has no right! NONE at all!!! Zero!!!

GOD!!! I am so livid. I'm disappointed. I'm completely with our FL, don't ever look in my direction again. Do not speak to me.

Can he recover? I mean he was perfect in episode1, utterly perfect, loved him and this is only episode 2.


But he just assassinated his character in my eyes.

I'm not giving up yet..

Core customer base is important, and they come for whats tried and true. Also Michelin Star rankings secretly come and re-eat regularly to reevaluate their stars and make sure the restaurant maintains quality. If the chefs can't reproduce the award winning cuisine the star will be removed. It happens a lot.

So Laura wanted the staple dishes and the award winning dishes for the ranking and regulars, but wanted a NEW CHEF with NEW CUISINES to draw in new business that was Instagram-able.

I haven't seen this yet, but it seems my write up in the comments section from last week after episode 6 was DEAD SPOT ON and the show did exactly what I said I DID NOT WANT TO HAPPEN...so my disappointment is just certified now I guess.

Overview of this, my honest review:

https://kisskh.at/profile/soundinfinite/reviews/175391

I will watch everyone of these actors in something else, but never again will I watch them in this.

Finished it. Whew!!!! Congratulations to me....

1) The main lead is not a Sociopath. Those that keep claiming this, and if the author intended this to be so, need to have a better understanding of their psychology and psychological terms.

Sociopaths and Psychopaths are buzzword diagnosis of the larger realm of Antisocial Personality Disorders. (APD) And like all diagnosis work on a sliding scale. Both Sociopaths and Psychopaths have a large breadth of overlapping symptoms and "tells" or signs. However it is the key differences that matter here.

Sociopaths = Are not born but made through trauma, abuse, neglect, and other extreme environmental factors during the formative and adolescence stages of development.
Psychopaths = are believed to be born as such and actually have a mental deformation or malformation in the brain around personality center that deals with emotion and empathy.

Sociopaths = are erratic with almost up to manic swings in mood and state. They act rashly and impulsively. If they commit crimes (Which has a higher % chance but is not always the case) the crimes are normally not thought out but many times knee jerk reactions to situations or stimuli.

Psychopaths = are calm, detached and collected. The do everything in their power to control themselves at all costs. If they commit crimes (Which again isn't always the case but has a higher % chance) they are meticulous and methodical. They seek to never be caught or known and will ensure that whatever retaliation, act, or crime has escape routes and back-ups to ensure success.

Sociopaths = find it hard to hide their issues and problems. Holding jobs, performing well in social settings or having romantic relationships are very difficult. They understand that others have feelings and emotions they do not and have varying degrees of empathy for those emotions.

Psychopaths = hide themselves and project normalcy. They fake emotions and masquerade as sincere. They hold jobs easily many times in highly methodical, technical, and high power or paying careers. They many times have families and many romantic relationships. However, they do not understand others feeling and emotions and honestly have no empathy or care for them.

Thus using this understanding our main lead is very much a Psychopath. Born this way, admits to Seol he doesn't understand her difficulties but pretended too, acts like a perfect student and citizen, being primed to run an empire and when he commits his revenge plots they are planned out and executed flawlessly leaving no to very little traces of his involvement. Psycho.

If there is a sociopath that would be In Ha. She is the closest and would explain why she feels connected to our main lead and is one of the only people that understands him.

2) The rapist side character is never dealt with in anyway and is with us till the very end.

3) Our female lead may possibly be suffering from Battered Wife Syndrome. Her response to the story-lines in the end are very unrealistic unless she is suffering from some type of psychological disorder. They she is so attached to our main lead and forgives everything that he does, and claims to love him and understand him like no one else and willing to never leave him no matter what....even while in a hospital bed....is very much inline with someone who has been repeatedly abused by their lover. In her case it actually is a mix of psychological abuse as well as physical. The psychological the greater of the two.

I also have to say how much I love Seol's turmoil over the 2nd male lead In Ho.

I love it because it shows how bankrupt she is.

Her boyfriend admits that he got angry because he overheard a conversation where the 2nd male lead admitted to having pity for him and that our main leads father asked him to watch over him.

In response he manipulates an entire group of men to beat the shit out of the 2nd ML and stands idly buy watching as they smash his hand (Hes a piano playing prodigy).

After him telling her this, Seol says how hard it must have been for him to not have a way of expressing his feelings and...as always...wraps her arms around him.

Already In Ho, the second male lead, has become one of her closest friends and confidants. He works for her family, walks her home and takes her to school. They have study sessions together. He has helped catch multiple predators that have tried to hurt her. And they have been pow wowing around for well, I guess at least a years time.

Her boyfriend just confessed that In Ho didn't lie, and that he is responsible for destroying In Ho's future in an act of extreme violence that left him hospitalized with casts. And she doesn't flinch, hold him responsible, or have any issues that he did this to someone she claims to like and care for.

But then for the past 2 episodes has ruminated in guilt on if she can just drop In Ho like her boyfriend wants her to. If she can ignore him and betray the promises she made to him. ON and on.....

I'm just here to say....Child, in what world, WHAT WORLD, have you not already betrayed the fuck out of In Ho. Have you not already shown he is worthless to you. Why are you even pretending to care about his future or health?

I guess the audience goes along with all the lies she tells herself.

And no it isn't a case of 2nd male lead syndrome. I don't want Seol with In Ho at all. In Ho needs to get the fuck up out of her life, both of these people lives, drop his sister too...and just make a life for himself free from all of these people. Hell no.

Seol and the Male Lead can live in fucked up tortured sicking bliss for all of eternity. I hope they do. Seol's life will be hell and she deserves it.

I was going to delete or reedit these posts, because I understand my reactions are very harsh. Its a show right. It's not like these are real people and these events really happened. Its entertainment. Lighten up.

But then I got to the end of Episode 14. And no, I will not delete these are take back my words.

The main female character is undoubtedly the worst waste-of-space, piece-of-trash I've ever unfortunately followed in a series.

Yes the male lead is an atrocious human being. But he is clearly painted as such from the start. This is not hidden from you as a viewer. If you choose to like him, that is on you, because the writing has been VERY CLEAR on what type of man he is. (You can speak to your therapist on why you would like him. Please do.)

However, the female lead is handed to us as NOT a monster. She is sold as a smart, determined, focused, hard working, intelligent, humble, and kind young woman. She has scholarships, great grades, and navigates her world independently.

She also doesn't fall for, fawn over, like, or trust the male lead.

Yet, in a matter of episodes, and for no true apparent reason, she suddenly is the male leads secret girlfriend. And we have watched as she as accepted, one by one by one, the atrocious things the male lead has done until we now reach episode 14.

Here a side character, because of course it can't be her own friends, her family, or the other male lead-you know, characters that have emotional impact on her, but instead a sort-of-evil themselves side character calls out her b*llshit. We as the audience get to watch it happen. (I guess good for us) But no one that has any significance is there to bare witness. Yet, Seol, is put right on the spot that she knew, witnessed, allowed, and was complicit in a plot the Male Lead just ran against another student. She was even called out over the fact she was playing innocent, being helpful to this person, being kind to them, and acting as if she didn't know what was just done to them.

It is a great moment, and those involved in the scene do a great job. However, as our Female lead clinches her jaw in resolve under the weight of the accusations you come to understand why these are the characters present.

The show is manipulating you. Everyone present in this scene is a certain level of awful. Technically the female lead has done nothing wrong ACTIVELY, her crime is just stayed on the sidelines and letting everything play out without stopping it. So compared to those there she is still technically the "cleanest" or "purest" or most "noble," of the bunch. And it has to be that way. Otherwise the audience would easily see how f+*king horrible she actually has become.

But if that wasn't enough, you have the final scene of the episode where she shows up to visit our male lead and finds him physically accosting another person, threatening them, degrading them, and well being his monstrous self in the flesh.......

And like I wrote above previously her response is to throw her arms around him and say, "Don't worry I won't leave you. I understand you."

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is her final nail in the coffin of being a redeemable human being.

I too thought the time frame was 2+ years with how the seasons changed etc...and some of the dialogue about when they said they did certain things. I was shocked by the 1 year and change stamp at the end. In fact further down in my comments to specific reactions I had to go back and put in an edit because I said 2+ years then.

I've made it through episode 12....and well...I just stopped writing here because there is so much, just so much about this story, characters, and the path this show follows that is broken. Just utterly unbelievably broken.

Rage Inducing.

I have come to learn that this is based on a webtoon and written by a woman...

The drama adaption is by a man, but the original story by a female.

If the webtoon writes Seol in the same way and has her make the same decisions and follow the same path....and is a character written by a woman.....for women.....I just don't know what to say about it. I don't have words to describe how much that pains me and disappoints me, and breaks me.

I find it devastating. Honestly devastating. That women would want a man like this and find anything about this relationship and the things he does attractive. It makes me rethink all the morals taught to me growing up on what a makes a man good. Because he exemplifies everything I was taught not to be.

That girls or women see themselves and or would want to be Seol is one of the saddest, and hardest, things for my 30 something year old male self to reconcile and swallow. I would feel like I failed as a father if my daughter thought this relationship was desirable in any way and all that she deserved. I would feel like a failure if my daughter thought a man like this was a true man or anything worth her time. I would feel like a failure if my daughter had such a small voice in her own daily life as Seol. I would feel like a failure if my daughter was a person who could rationalize and accept the amoral, criminal, and repulsive actions the male lead perpetrates.

Seol is not a good person. She is a horrible human being who has decided to be with a man who actively terrorizes people around her. She has learned the bulk of the truth of what he has done to her (NOT ALL MIND YOU) and that the largest problems in her life have all been caused by him. It is not in question anymore. Every episode for the last 3 or 4 she has either actively watched plots he has designed unfold, not stopped them, and understood they were his doing OR has learned, by his own confession to her, of horrible-ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE-acts that destroyed futures and lives of people she claims to also care about and like.

But she wraps her arms around him, and says its okay, and she still wants him. Because she is a horrible broken human being and not someone I, as an audience member, have any respect or caring for at this point.

Hahaha, thanks...some of these shows just really get to me and I need to vent..I like sharing that with people and getting feedback!! Makes it more fun

Which episode did you just finish?

I haven't seen that drama. So I can't compare. I did write these reactions here, as I watched the series, I also wrote an overall review after I completed it for my holistic feelings and opinion.

https://kisskh.at/profile/soundinfinite/reviews/173847

While I can't say if you particularly will or will not like it. I will say, that I enjoyed it, even though there were things that I didn't like about it, and there were many faults. Its not a great series, IMO, but it wasn't bad either.

YEAH AND WANTED TO MAKE A SEPARATE POST FOR THIS SO IT DIDN'T GET LOST!

Are you telling me that there is a college student whose MO is that he gets girls drunk until they black out and then rapes them and no one turns him in?

People still hang out with him and invite him to bars and groups?

He still has actual friends and a life, a healthy social scene and a future when everyone knows this about him?

HE IS A SERIAL RAPIST!!! And not a single person cares....

Is this for real?

And even our ML chooses to ignore this with the line "I Can't control what you do elsewhere, but don't do this on campus." Last I checked rape is illegal no matter where its done....just sayin.

And then threatens to make it so he can't get work if he KEEPS DOING IT, (Really its fine what hes already done...but just no more and oh yeah only not to campus girls) and eludes to having the ability and knowledge to let the world know that this guy is a rapist....BUT CHOOSES NOT TO.

What about the lives of all those girls hes ruined and destroyed? Seriously...he still gets to keep his future....

Are you effing kidding me?

Where are cops in Korea? Only in the corrupt shows where they all work for evil people?

Yeah, written by a man for sure.

Getting through episode 1 was rough. Episode 2 was an uptick...

Now on episode 3....and I HATE the female lead.

Am I supposed to like her? Am I supposed to feel sorry for her? Is she supposed to be put-upon? Is she supposed to be intelligent? Is she supposed to be hard working? Is she supposed to be original or stand out from those around her?

Because she acts like an immature child. She lies and covers the truth about the most ridiculous things. (Like a can of Tuna cut her instead of being attacked in the school? Why? What was the purpose of this lie?) She is swayed by every person around her by them just simply saying No, I didn't do it, or you should do this. She has no self resolve. Three episodes in and everything seen in those first 11 minutes I talked about above have been wiped clean when it comes to her feelings towards the male lead. How and why? When she gets stood-up by an entire group of her peers for group work, gets angry, hunts the ring-leader down and then sits down and gets drunk with him without ever saying a thing about why she is there. Is she that weak and meek? Is she that much of a push-over and easily controlled by others? Do real people actually behave like this?

I went to check and yeah, this is written by a man. I literally went and checked because I couldn't believe these characters and premise. I couldn't believe that a WOMAN would write a female character in this manner...there is no way right. This is utter bullshit.

This is a very biased, sexist, male gaze driven version of a female. Of a "good female". Smart, pretty, and demure. She is a roughly 21 year old (College Jr.) who has never even kissed a boy and is too shy to hold hands (Like an 11 year old girl.) She must be saved constantly. She is swayed easily. And she does not trust herself. She also keeps becoming the victim of all the men around her. And even worse, she forgives them all for it and accepts this behavior...

Its killing me on the inside.

But this is directed by a woman....so that confuses me, and there are a long list of people here talking about how much they love this series, these characters...yadda yadda yadda....

So what do I know...I'm a guy.

The male lead is still an a-hole. Am I supposed to think his plastered kindness and niceties towards the FL make him dreamy? Because so far everything I have thought about him has come out true, and the more I learn behind the scenes of what he knows and allows to happen to others and sets up and manipulates people and situations...ie lets look at that whole tuna can vs homeless attack mentioned at the beginning of this rant.....He is a POS.....and yet, I like him more than the FL at this point.....

WOW.

I'm sure at the end they will try to flip the entire narrative and say, but he did these things for x reason, or so it wouldn't hurt x, or because he just cares so much for x etc...and I'm just gunna laugh manically and roll my eyes until they are stuck in my sockets that I sat through this trash....

Here's hoping I'm wrong!!!

I am 11:21 seconds into the 1st episode and.....

The female lead is proving herself to be a moron and I hate the guy (I guess the male lead).

This isn't spoilers, because again its 11 mintues into the 1st episode.

But the male lead purposefully spills beer on the girl who has a crush on him, smiles about it and then acts like its an accident and our main lead watches it all.

She finds the male lead watching a fellow senior in a staircase skimming money from dues and on his phone and then later finds herself accused of outing this senior and getting him in trouble when she did not do it....she confronts our male lead as he openly helps pin it on her being the rat of the group and she watches him smile in amusement as she finds herself alone against him.

He then ignores her presence at a coffee house,(Oh the horror!) only to find her being chided by a fellow classmate over her not asking for forgiveness from accusing him of pinning the whole above scenario on her. To this, he shows up, with his smile and hands her a drink acting as though Mr. Nice Guy and above it all to make her look ungrateful and rude...

But AFTER all this the main female lead acts dumbfounded by his behavior, confused over his actions, and says the line "there was a scary duplicitous behind that smile I didn't know at the time."

Seriously, you've only already commented on it repeatedly, and have WATCHED HIM BE DUPLICITOUS in action, and are already the victim of his schemes and aware of it.

Are you having temporary amnesia and WHAT ARE YOU QUESTIONING? How are you claiming you didn't know at the time...you the one who as pointed all this out to us, the audience, and made us aware of his behavior....

Is there some head trauma that we have not yet been informed that would make there be any question from our female lead that he is a pretty effed up no good guy, and that would make her want to have anything to do with him?

Who wrote this? Oh man, I am dreading this already.....

I didn't go into it expecting that, but by halfway through, I knew it was coming. In fact I kinda wanted it. If you scroll a little further down, there is an area where I I was commenting (all under spoiler tags) of my emotional reactions and thoughts on the characters and plots while I was actually watching it.....I also did an overall review in the review section that is spoiler free and talks about the over all feel and quality of the drama by my opinion.

But you can see how I started to expect them to part ways and even reasons why I wanted them to as I was watching.....

It is already filming and most project it it to be released in the 1st quarter of 2022.