This review may contain spoilers
Nothing Like a J-BL to Cleanse My Palate
Oh, what a lovely little J-BL this was. While being everything but normal, this still served a rather telling story about true love, infidelity, and the importance of intimacy. I can't believed I even liked this cause I hate infidelity storylines with a passion, but this was much more than that.
Let's Dive In.
Also want to phrase this in the beginning to say I do not, whatsoever, agree with cheating in any circumstance. If anything, that's the reason this series still can't be a 10 out of 10 for me, even if the premise, the storytelling, and the actors all did a job well done. It's such a weird feeling to want to root for two people are are inevitably doing harm to their "partners" but also are somewhat in the right.
Kazuaki dealt with intimacy problems with his long term girlfriend (the separate beds was crazy wtf??) and the cause of their relationship to fumble being that they had no sexual relationship. This one aggravating me a lot. Kaori, while extremely beautiful and extremely sweet, was still so aggravating as a character. The advances Kazuaki tried to make on her, the separate beds, and you're telling me she had no idea that her boyfriend of three years might've been struggling? But on that same wave-length, how could you be in such a long term relationship and not know how to communicate? Like, would it really be so hard to have a sit down conversation with your girlfriend of three years and ask why ya'll haven't been intimate? That whole thing was insane to me. Sei is a little different. He basically had a partner who pitied him, which I could tell from the get-go was the problem. But at least Sei, even if not entirely in heath ways, was able to communicate with his partner about wanting to be intimate.
But I can't lie that I love this story. You want to hate it, you want to root for the ones being cheated on, but you look at their relationships and you want it to end too. While I would've loved a story where all of this took place when they had broken up with their partners, the point of the story was that they looked for solace in someone else when they couldn't find that in the person they were suppose to love, and I (toxically) think that's beautiful.
Both actors do such a good job in their roles. Their characters have very different personalities, but mixed together, they were perfect. Great NC scene, decent kisses. I liked how the intimacy played a huge part in this, and it's obviously needed and not thrown in for the "vitality" of BL, which is how most shows tend to be nowadays.
Ratings:
Story: 8.5/10 - Beautiful story. Had me roped in till the end. I think I would've like some slight shifts in character traits and just the overall vibe of the series, but nonetheless, this was perfect.
Acting: 9/10 - Both leads do a wonderful job. I loved Kaori's character, as much as she aggravated me. Everyone else did a decent job.
Music: 6/10 - didn't pay attention to it.
Recommendation Value: 8/10 - this one is a little hard to sit through if you're not ready for a story full of cheating and infidelity.
Let's Dive In.
Also want to phrase this in the beginning to say I do not, whatsoever, agree with cheating in any circumstance. If anything, that's the reason this series still can't be a 10 out of 10 for me, even if the premise, the storytelling, and the actors all did a job well done. It's such a weird feeling to want to root for two people are are inevitably doing harm to their "partners" but also are somewhat in the right.
Kazuaki dealt with intimacy problems with his long term girlfriend (the separate beds was crazy wtf??) and the cause of their relationship to fumble being that they had no sexual relationship. This one aggravating me a lot. Kaori, while extremely beautiful and extremely sweet, was still so aggravating as a character. The advances Kazuaki tried to make on her, the separate beds, and you're telling me she had no idea that her boyfriend of three years might've been struggling? But on that same wave-length, how could you be in such a long term relationship and not know how to communicate? Like, would it really be so hard to have a sit down conversation with your girlfriend of three years and ask why ya'll haven't been intimate? That whole thing was insane to me. Sei is a little different. He basically had a partner who pitied him, which I could tell from the get-go was the problem. But at least Sei, even if not entirely in heath ways, was able to communicate with his partner about wanting to be intimate.
But I can't lie that I love this story. You want to hate it, you want to root for the ones being cheated on, but you look at their relationships and you want it to end too. While I would've loved a story where all of this took place when they had broken up with their partners, the point of the story was that they looked for solace in someone else when they couldn't find that in the person they were suppose to love, and I (toxically) think that's beautiful.
Both actors do such a good job in their roles. Their characters have very different personalities, but mixed together, they were perfect. Great NC scene, decent kisses. I liked how the intimacy played a huge part in this, and it's obviously needed and not thrown in for the "vitality" of BL, which is how most shows tend to be nowadays.
Ratings:
Story: 8.5/10 - Beautiful story. Had me roped in till the end. I think I would've like some slight shifts in character traits and just the overall vibe of the series, but nonetheless, this was perfect.
Acting: 9/10 - Both leads do a wonderful job. I loved Kaori's character, as much as she aggravated me. Everyone else did a decent job.
Music: 6/10 - didn't pay attention to it.
Recommendation Value: 8/10 - this one is a little hard to sit through if you're not ready for a story full of cheating and infidelity.
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