twiz aka unagibento

I've definitely been sleeping on Mik since Karn La Krang Neung... let me queue up his other dramas since I'm waiting on ep 16. But (silly moment) can we talk about the speed at which he reads a journal?

Mik: *slowly reading one paragraph a day*

Me, having lost years of sleep finishing novels and dramas in one night: o_O bruh...

I was definitely shipping Wasawat and the FL. I think also what kept me glued during the first half was it's really up in the air about which way the romance will go and it definitely favors Wasawat for most of the drama. Wasawat kept saying he just wanted to test Isara, but he definitely loved the FL in the purest sense of the word. He'd literally stand around in joy just watching her. That and his many sacrifices to save her - it was heartwarming. I actually felt that the writers forced the romance in its final direction; it was a spinning top that could have landed on either side and suddenly they were like, look! She really loves Isara! Definitely felt a sigh of disappointment at that, but with a drama clearly marked tragedy, I wasn't prepared for romantic satisfaction. Isara's character was balanced well and it was hard to root for him until almost the very end due to his immaturity. The FL deserved better - she literally did not have the time to waste on him. The tragedy on this was also a real knife-turn - they made sure every bit of karma came allll the way back around. A really sad, wretched death.

I really liked this! I heard that the second half gets boring but it was the second half where I started bingeing. If you're here for romance, you'll be frustrated and disappointed. But if you're here to see Athichart in a really cool character role and you're interested in karma/reincarnation, this is a solid watch. The story is all karma, karma, karma and merits - it's literally all the characters talk about and it's on everyone's mind. The pace is slow and quiet, except for the first episode which is a real ride. While it is fiction and surely deviates from more "official" doctrines, the karma elements were fascinating and made some things click for me, such as the concept of the "bedeviled" and what merits can and can't do. Most lakorns toss around karma in a really casual, fleeting way usually while insulting people, so this gave me some more to chew on.

Athichart is *excellent* in this and he's what will keep you watching - what will he do? What is he thinking? How will this character react to him? My favorite part of this was watching random characters losing it around Athichart and his 2 sidekicks, whom I also loved. Most of the effects are also good. I'll add my thoughts on the romance etc behind a spoiler comment.

The ending isn't very satisfying. The time wasted on that ending, they could have given it a better one.

This is fairly heavy on the comedic elements and both leads are pretty goofy. The quality was better than I was expecting.

It's on the English iQiyi app. The subtitles are pretty good.

Also my final hot take - I know pregnancy is a major theme in this (and many lakorns) but this was like the trope on steroids. Woman has intercourse twice (one of dubious consent) and has 3 children as a result. Poor woman. Imagine how high her anxiety would be for any future intercourse. And I'm saying this AS a parent.

I'm not sure about the chemistry, but I love Baifern's portrayal of the fiery FL. She delivers some truly spectacular, scorched-earth tantrums. This is not my favorite type of FL, but her temper is truly hard to look away from. Even in her more toned-down moods, she still owns every scene, so I'd say this is my favorite Baifern role so far. As for the ML... eh. I don't really feel anything from him. I couldn't even pick up chemistry with the leads until about the 11th episode or so. He looks bored in the role as an actor. Even in the outtake bloopers he looks bored. He seems indifferent as a romantic lead, and he spoiled the romance for me and made this difficult to finish. His character also isn't a good match for the FL. I think she just wasn't used to anyone being nice to her. She could have done wayyyyy better.

Even with it being cut down a few eps I had to struggle to hold onto this drama - the two main leads had good chemistry and they made me laugh a lot in the beginning. I held on to see them have a good ending. But any drama with MLs that have to pretend to be gay usually have some stereotypes that make me cringe. The FL's comedic acting is touch and go and hits the spot only about half the time. It feels like she was told to improvise and a lot of it falls flat and I ended up just tolerating it. I'm not surprised this was cut short. Near the end they had some weird time wastes on random side plots. There's also some blatant colorism themes with a couple characters that's gross. I'm sure that and the stereotypes probably come up more in comedy dramas, but I usually watch more intense, revenge-type lakorns. I don't regret watching, but I might have dropped if it wasn't shortened.

Wow, that ending - this may be the one story where I wasn't upset with an ending like that. It ended just like it should of, more real life and less fantasy. Nearly every lead in this behaved atrociously and it was hard to root for anyone - well, maybe one of the cheated partners, because they were willing to forgive and keep trying after so much. It was also amazing that this still managed to pack so many regular lakorn elements in 4 eps, complete with evil rival, tons of slaps and girl fights.

For those wondering, muse subbed this (and the majority of Club Friday 11, as far as I can tell).

Be warned, the leads in this both are "taken" so please heed the infidelity tag if it's not your thing. There's also a bit of gratuitous male dancing/topless scenes that aren't suitable for daytime family watching. The kisses are steamy, real and good stuff. I finally found this subbed and the chemistry between the leads is nice. Their initial flirts were some of the most natural conversation I've seen in a drama - it was believable and I smiled through most of the first episode. It's hard to empathize with them past that, though - their vibe isn't "star-crossed lovers" but "naive and reckless".

I think I'm ready to tap out on this one. I picked it up on the promise of good kisses - they're decent for a lakorn (read: not fake) but meh by all higher standards. This is on the longer side for a lakorn, and it gets way too redundant by the middle. Both the leads are naive, not just the FL - he is gullible, and she's a constant martyr. It's too frustrating to watch after a certain point which is why everyone is talking about the stupidity of this. Also, for an "innocent" FL, she does more lying than any FL I've ever seen, yikes. This drama started fun, but if you consider how it drags out, I feel like I'm stuck watching bad daytime soaps.

My goodness. This is RIVETING. I watched the first 3 hours straight without feeling time go by. Both leads do a fantastic job of playing two people trying to hate each other. I'm not a sweet tooth and I lived in Japan a few years so I've had quite a bit sweet bean paste (usually on accident when choosing the wrong filling for some snack), but these desserts are *gorgeous*. I wish this was out when I was still living over there because I would have went exploring traditional desserts with a vengeance instead of admiring the (still impressive) French pastries that abound in literally every food mall. The costumes are also gorgeous in this. The whole set is wonderfully immersive without being historical. The child actors also did a fantastic job.

I want to like this, but it just won't let me. There's definitely an interesting twist to the premise that I wasn't expecting, and I'm not familiar with the original manga so I have nothing to compare. Still, I think it's the ML that's turning me off. His character feels exactly the same as it was in Itazura na Kiss, and I do understand how he personifies the cool unreadable ML that's so popular in shoujo and josei. But it's time to see him in a more challenging or different role. The title is too accurate: he's playing a rerun of a typecast ML. A different ML actor altogether might have made this more compelling.

This is explicit right out the gate, so please read the tags and if they bother you, I'd recommend backing off this page. As you were. MDL does not even have the tags for half the things that happen in this but I know what they would be, which must be how I'm here. The first part of this played out like live-action h*ntai, but most of the explicit content was thought-out and well-done. It must be rocking the top lists of gcinee right now, lol. I've seen a similar grade of movie ( Playboy and the Gang of Cherry comes to mind) where the explicit content presented is both repetitive and illogical (and I believe that one won awards).

When they showed the captor's outside life as well as how his captive ended up there, it was endearing - I appreciated what the captor was hoping to accomplish. The ending is quite sentimental and satisfying. Obviously there's some Stockholm Syndrome at play, but what they accomplished for each other can't really be repaid. I'd recommend this if you're used to explicit content or BDSM themes.

I honestly believe some people enjoy being miserable, or learn to thrive in it. This was one of those "noble sacrifice" romances where you keep watching two people deny themselves any kind of happiness. The story is less about their romance and more about one twisted person with deep issues destroy everything around them. So if you like stories with similar psychological plots or a good villainous sociopath, this could work for you. Jdramas are also very good at making people creepy, and the villain certainly made my skin crawl. By the last episode the leads were still making the *same* choices and I wanted to push my TV out the window. The ML was not a therapist or psychologist. He could not have truly helped "heal" the villain because they needed professional assistance. They tossed in that last 5 minutes to give the story a conclusion, but I also believe many dramas end up "punishing" any type of forbidden love by making them abstain from being together even longer, even though these two were in the clear and deserved to start over.

I see this is tagged with "many kisses" but you probably won't enjoy most of them.

I'm gonna speak to this from both sides. First off, my take is that the ML was neurodivergent and perhaps also aromantic. My 15 year old is on the spectrum and they constantly ask me "who am I/what do I want" type questions that you would think could be easily answered with self-reflection. Maybe my kid will never be able to answer these so-called "right" questions - it is what it is. It's quite obvious the ML had difficulty expressing himself and he couldn't directly answer the FL, but he outright said how he felt a few times - that he "hated" the FL with the 2ML, that he was "attached" to her, that back in middle school, he felt "happy" and "lucky" to be dating her. Note even reflecting on their past, he didn't express himself in terms of "I liked you" - but rather his reaction to things that happened. He could explain his reaction but struggled to link it back to himself. When she came back in the end and told him how she thought he felt, he looked enlightened, like she'd explained an equation he didn't understand. She could probably lead him all the way to the alter if she wanted to. Believe me, there's a lot of couples where one person did all the pursuing, and the other was content to go along with it.

Now for the FL - she made the right choices. First she got stuck in a friend with benefits situation. It's real, it's TOO real, especially for those of us who've lived with roommates or in dorms. Sooner or later you fall and it's not sustainable anymore and you have to dig in your heels. If the other person won't play ball, you nurse your broken heart and move on. She was right to leave when dating him turned out to be so miserable, because it was painful and had some self-respect left. She was right to try dating someone else, even though it's tragic that women still have to get shocked when encountering someone who treats them with value. She was also right to leave the 2ML because she needed to be honest, and frankly I still think she should have moved out - also a necessary step with breakups. She was also right to be brave enough to go back and put her heart on the line. It's not the right choice for everyone in this situation, but she could see what he *was* expressing even if he couldn't answer her question. Like I said, she could probably march him straight to the alter, as long as she understood his personality and learned how to communicate with him.

I'm fascinated by how polarized the ratings are on this. I loved it and binged it in one night - it was sexy where it should be, and I'll always give props to jdramas for showing real kisses and real intimacy. The path of emotions for the FL was real - too real. How many of us have been here?! Honestly the writing room probably had half a dozen people who've been in this situation with rants ready. I just watched the same pair in Bungako Shojo, and I applaud Masaki - he was so different it was hard for me to tell that I was watching the same actor. He's come a long way. The second ML was really interesting and his moves were fun, but I wasn't rooting for him to win. As for the story, I agreed with the FL's decisions at pretty much every step of the drama, and I'll thread my spoiler thoughts below.