Unpopularopinionbydemand

Ehh

So, this was on my plan-to-watch list for some time now, and seeing as I have plenty of that, I decided to finally give it a watch. Final conclusion: ehh. The plot involving Yuma was more fun than the actual leads of the show, but Ritsu is very beautiful, so I'll forgive it. The end of The World With You that SPOILER!! doesn't actually end. And I think the part that I'm most upset about is that it doesn't end and we're given a happily ever-after ending when I honestly wish it could been the opposite.

Let's Dive In.

So Yuma's plot was fun, the leads weren't bad, it's just their relationship was very toxic, so for me, not so fun to watch. Of course, people can change in a decade, so maybe Ritsu will turn out to be a better person, and I can kind of see the growth at the end, but still, dealing with that type of trauma in Matsumi's perspective must've been hard. Good thing he's not stubborn like I am.

Hmm, no wonder this show got good hype, didn't realize I was going to be watching PORN. But on a more serious note, the NC scenes were good, albeit maybe a little much for this series in particular. I also liked that they didn't play music in the background during their intimate moments, and we actually got to hear the ecstasy and all that jazz.

Ratings:

Story: 7.5/10 - Like I said, would've liked for the world to actually end, but that's a personal preference. I loved Yuma and I loved his story. I've read most of the theories on his character, and I believe all of them. Semi-god coming down to protect the earth, supernatural miracle boy -- all of it. And obviously, the NC scenes were good, again a little much, but good.

Acting: 9/10 - Great acting, especially from Toshiki (Matsumi) who did a fabulous job. Great growth between both leads and Sousyo (Yuma) was a freaking cutie.

Music: 7.5/10 - I liked the music that played at the end of each episode.

Recommendation Value: 5/10 - Didn't play out how I would've liked it to, so maybe not the first thing I'd recommend. Does have some pretty good NC scenes, so for someone looking to be horny, I'll recommend them this one.

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Surprise Little Gem in the K-BL Sea

Immediately, I thought that I wasn't going to like this. Looking at the MDL overall rating (which I don't pay much attention to, but still, it was pretty low), browsing through the comments briefly, and seeing some of my fave MDL accounts rating it pretty low -- like, I knew what was coming. But out of the blue, I find myself enjoying every little bit of this short series, beginning to end, which is definitely not like me.

Let's Dive In.

For a fat minute, I thought this was some kind of sequel to "Happy Ending Romance" but it's not, just coincidentally they have very similar title names. but anyways, the first episode swept me off my feet, and it's very rare that a series does that for me. It's alike many series I've seen before, but at the same time is something different entirely. I love that they first met and fell in love at a wedding venue, I love that this series dips into mental health struggles, I loved a lot of things about this series.

I think I can make the same argument that I always do with K-BLs which is that this series is severely too short to have played everything out perfectly. We still have a lot of things unanswered, and the romance is slightly abrupt, but I don't mind only because I loved these two. Their chemistry was off the charts. And the kissing?! Being more than decent?! Them kissing each other back?! I nearly fell out of my chair.

Again, I wanted more on Seungjun's mental health and how he's working towards helping himself. We obviously know that his best friend ended up having some sort of feelings for him, so I would've loved to see more of that too. If this series was longer and added maybe 4-5 more episodes, it would've been perfect.

Rating:

Story; 8/10 - Fun! Well, not all parts, but everything was good! It kept my interest and I'm happy with how everything turned out. Again, things are just rushed due to timing.

Acting: 9/10 - Amazing! Especially our main character who plays a very bottled-up person who has so much to deal with from his past. Sungtae (Jaehyun) is such a cutie and plays a perfect boyfriend.

Music - 8.5/10 - Good! Surprisingly I loved it!

Recommendation Value: 9/10 - It's short and an easy watch, along with being pretty good with the allotted time they had. Chemistry is great, skinship is even better. Give this one a watch for sure!

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KBL Ruined by Lazy Writing

Oh! My Assistant has one of the strongest starts to a K-BL that I've ever seen. Budget-wise, story-wise, production-wise. Everything was great. Finally, a K-BL that's labeled rom-com and I'm actually laughing. The first two episodes had me on my ass laughing, having to pause and replay just so I could laugh again. And I wasn't laughing because it's cringey, I mean I was genuinely laughing because the scenes were set up so perfectly for a comedic moment. And then suddenly, out of nowhere, a buzzkill tsunami hits, and everything is flooding in forced lack of communication and pitiful conflict.

Let's Dive In.

Like usual, I judged a book by its cover, its terribly edited, cheap-looking cover. If someone gave me 30 minutes and two shots of tequila, I could've come up with something 10 times better, I'm sure. So I went in thinking the budget was going to be lower than I'm used to, but to my surprise, and in less than 10 seconds into the series, the settings and the shots we're seeing are gorgeous. And I understand where they were trying to get at, with the series mimicking the setup of a manwha, but it just doesn't work for me. Anyways, I went in thinking this wasn't going to be very good, but then I turned out to be pleasantly surprised and fell in love with the first two episodes. The perfect balance of plot setup and comedy, the sorting of feelings and character structure on point. And then it's completely ruined when the writers run out of creativity and decide they will do the laziest writing ever and just have Muyeong and Seonho have terrible communication skills and numerous misunderstandings.

Tell me Muyeong, why would Seonho confess to liking you if he were in a relationship with Minyeong? And if that was your consensus, why not -- I don't know -- ask? It was incredibly infuriating, along with the pretend boyfriend, and the half confessions before the actual confession -- urgh.

I believed Muyeong and Seonho's chemistry in the beginning, but like most K-BL, they show a teensy amount of physicalness, and it's ruined. Their kissing, their hugs, all of it, negative ten out of ten. Then after that, it's just completely unbelievable that these two humans like each other. But also, Chanbin's (Muyeong) acting seems to get worse episode by episode. He's a beautiful human, amazing lips, gorgeous eyes, his height's everything -- but that's about all he has.

But besides the bad, like I said the comedy in this is handled perfectly. the settings are gorgeous, and so is the color palette they use and even the music, which I rarely pay attention to, but was pleasantly surprised by it.

Ratings:

Story: 6/10 - It's so good at the beginning, but it collapses into itself and the lazy writing ruins the series. I sped through the last three episodes full of incredibly agonizing conflict that isn't real, genuine conflict. But besides that, and the comedy, I actually liked the side story that was going on with Muyeong's friend. Part of me wanted them to get together, just because they've been through so much life together, and I'm a sucker for friends to lovers.

Acting - 8/10: I think everybody's acting was great, the only person's acting that struggled was Chanbin's. It might've been the writing, but he had one emotion and an impeccable smile every now and then and that's it.

Music - 8/10: I liked it! for once I made sure to pay attention not it.

Recommendation value: 5.5/10 - I'm sad I'm giving this such a low score, cause I really did like this in the beginning, and the rest of the series wasn't so bad to the point that I didn't at least enjoy it a little bit, but if you're asking for my recommendation, there are just so many other K-BLs out there that do it better. But if you want something short, cute, and funny, I might recommend this one.

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Fluffy First Love Story

I finished this way long ago, but I'm so busy that I just haven't found the time to write a review, but here I am! My School President was the perfect mix of fun, silly, serious, and enjoyable. We had some very lovely actors in this series that have made this so much fucking fun to watch. Here's to the start of a lovely new pairing *clinks wine glasses*!

My School President has about the most basic plot ever; some high schools are creating a band and falling in love, the end. But really what makes this series so great is because of the actors and the script. I've also missed watching these kinds of stories, especially between high schoolers and them falling in love for the first time. It's so new and perfect and brilliant and Gemini and Forth do such a good job at portraying such a simplistic, yet deep emotion.

Honestly, there's not much else to say, the story is just that good. The entire cast and crew were able to put together a series that is rather basic, but they make it thrilling and entertaining. I still am not a huge fan of the singing and such, so I kind of skipped through all of that, but besides that, this series is nearly perfect.

Ratings:

Story: 8.5/10: Again, it's a simple story, but it's depicted in the best way possible. That's due to a really good cast, and some even better directing.

Acting: 9/10: Forth and Gemini did a fantastic job, I literally can't wait to see them in future projects! The same goes for the rest of the cast, everyone contributed to this series being one of GMMTV's top 10's in my book.

Music: 8/10 - the singing that I did sit through was good (it's just that I don't like it in series), so because of that, I'll give it a pretty high score.

Recommendation Value: 8/10 - It's the perfect first BL to get into for anyone interested in starting. It's also very lighthearted (for the most part) and gentle to watch. I won't recommend it for anyone wanting some deep story, but if you're just looking for something fun to watch, then this is it!

GMMTV did right by having MSP be the starter of BLs for 2023. Now they've set a bar and I hope the rest of what's coming out this year doesn't disappoint.

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Good, But Too Long to Binge

This was a really good series with some really good (and pretty) actors with some good story (aside from the talking furniture..). This is one of those series that you have to watch while it's airing because it's incredibly too long to binge. Had I watched this during its airing, then I think I would've appreciated this series more, but most of the time, I was ready for it to be over.

Let's Dive In.

TMOTB is another wacky plot about a human falling in love with -- a tangible object -- a teddy bear-turn-human. This concept was way beyond me, I was sure it wasn't going to be good, but -- in reality, it's actually really well thought out, and with In's (Tofu's) acting, it's believable that he's a human who knows nothing about basic human things (until later in the series). It also worked out for them because they didn't just have him be some teddy bear, he was a bear in a human's body who had bad implications for Nut and an even sadder tale for Song and his father. Like it's really good.

I shipped Tathan and Nut as soon as we get a glimpse into Nut's backstory. I love first-love stories. And Tathan was such a genuine person, with even more genuine intentions. Their kiss was -- incredible. I'm glad they're end game, which is why my score for this series is a bit higher because I would've been upset had Nut and Tofu stayed together. He's a teddy bear, it just wasn't going to work (for obvious reasons)

I think Tofu and Nut were cute, but something in me didn't care much for them. His death was sad, just because seeing Nut so distraught was hard (Job's acting is superb). But in the end, I couldn't be happier about the ending. he's still there (just in tangible object mode) and Nut still gets to be happy with his first love (who is played by Judo who's the prettiest man I've ever seen and I can't wait for his series with Fluke from UWMA).

I also mostly watched because the guy with the glasses was so freaking cute, playing alongside Tee (Song). They were a good addition to the show, and I liked how their plot played along.

I won't lie though, I skipped through a lot of TMOTB, like a lot. So the mother's plot is a little wonky for me, along with the girl with the curly hair (who seems to have a crush on a woman by the end). But I get the gist of most of the other plots, so it's fine. But this was just really really long. They could've cut out a lot to keep it mid-length (and given the rest of the time to Korea/Japan). So most of the episodes past episode 8 were lightly skimmed through.

Ratings:

Story: 8/10 - It's complex, it's deep, it has a nice flow, and all conflicts are resolved. It's good, but it's just too much and too long.

Acting: 9/10 - Job can ACT for real. In was good too, but I think Job just surpasses what he has. The others do an excellent job too.

Music: 6/10 - I didn't pay attention to it, but it wasn't distracting so good!

Recommendation Value: 5.5/10 - I would've recommended this higher had it been airing, but I can only slightly recommend this while it's over because it's a lot to sit through. Unless you're patient and can watch an episode per day, then go for it, but I like to finish a series (when I'm binging) in at least less than a week. But the story is good, it's compelling and it was an okay watch (only okay because, again, it's too long).

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Color RUSHED...

There was no point in this series. Like none. It resolved one singular conflict that was unresolved in the first season and decided that nothing else was important.

Let's Dive In.

I liked the introduction to Hyuk's character (Sehyun). He didn't feel like a one-dimensional character coming into this story to do presumably nothing, but he had a motive and fell in well with the crowd. I was surprised to see that they were going to give Yeonwoo a new love interest, but (technically) he's not, more so a guy Yeonwoo might have feelings for, but it's not explored with at all (instead, we're given what looks like the real thing, but it was just a daydream).

The mother conflict was resolved from the previous season (whoot, whoot), which was my problem with it in the first place. But the resolution is so anticlimax and -- rushed. Same with how they find out about Sehyun's sister and who "killed" her. I'm still trying to figure out how they both were sitting in the facility bloody and hurt and then all of a sudden they wake up in the hospital with Yeonwoo's aunt and she's explaining everything was handled. ...huh? Okay then.

The punching and fight scenes were so bad I had to pause and just compose myself.

The editing wasn't all that good either, as it seemed their budget has lower than last season.

Ratings:

Story: 5/10 - was too rushed and all the conflicts were resolved in anticlimax ways.

Acting: 8.5/10 - It was good. Just like last season's was.

Music: 6/10 - I didn't pay attention to it, so at least it wasn't distracting.

Recommendation Value: 4/10 - Season 1 was enough, There was really no point to this other than resolving the conflict with the mother missing. If you just have to know what happens, then do watch. Otherwise, don't bother.

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Appealing

I had high hopes for these two since watching Kissable Lips -- an endearing tale of a vampire and is bait -- onto this series about office workers, tenants, and the whole shebang. I can say, they really did their thing here, and I really enjoyed watching.

Let's Dive in.

I have nothing new to say from the other reviews. This was a very nice change from university or high school settings. Although, the office jargon could get to be a bit boring, but besides that, I was continuously intrigued.

Both actors have grown since KL. It's very visible in the way they performed here. Who I'm surprised by the most is Jiwoong who played an incredible snobby-turned-sweet dude. I wasn't prepared to see him in such a comedic-like role, but he did very well. The same goes for Seobin. The chemistry was great. I think it felt a bit rushed just due to its being a bit of a short series, but they found times to really played into the relationship of one another.

Ratings:

Story: 7.5/10 - Good! The office talk could be a bit of a drag, and outside of the problems that Hojoon had with his dad and Jaeyoon with his toxic friend, it was just okay.

Acting: 8.5/10 - Excellent! The two old-timers did way better here than in KL. I can't wait to continue seeing more from them. The people in the office also did a good job, and everyone else was decent.

Music: 6/10 - Wasn't distracting.

rewatch Value: 7/10 - Again, I rarely rewatch anything, but if I were to recommend this, I'd say I do.

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Boring's Definition

I don't know why I made myself sit through this. I think only cause it was a GMMTV series because on any other given day, I would've just given this one up. But because I adore Jimmy (the world's precious face) and I rather did enjoy the unique plot of it all, I kept up with it. More than once I just forgot to read the subtitles cause, who cared, and more than a hundred times did I skip past the bothersome talking and singing and disrespectful amount of product placements. If anything I'll remember Vice versa as the series that spent more time commercializing others' products than it did its own show.

Let's Dive In.

Is GMMTV not one of the most successful producers of BL content? Didn't they produce two of the most successful BLs known to date? Don't they have Thai celebrities throughout their facility, giving them the power and the recognition almost, if not, every single day? Why oh why oh why did they spend as much time as they did on ads in this series?? A cute little pan to the toothpaste as they're brushing their teeth is fine -- even the occasional I-just-got-randomly-thirsty-let-me-drink-this-perfectly-hydrating-drink is okay! But to have almost every part of the episode have a least one PP -- and not just subtle but some, "LOOK I HAVE THE BEST FACIAL MOISTURIZER EVER." screamed in my face for up to 3-5 minutes. It was so irritating, to the point that I was able to quickly analyze when product placement were coming, and I immediately just skipped that entire scene. Because what makes it worse is that the scene was going off what the product was and not, well -- vice versa. Someone teach GMMTV subtly, please.

I was also just incredibly bored. Outside of the universe-building, everything else was pretty plateau. They did an amazing job at building up the excitement for the cross-over, showing the difference in the universes, the reality of being stuck in someone else body living their life -- but everything else was extremely tedious. While I enjoyed Talay's and Puen's little friend group, it was very dull watching them make a movie and whatnot. The only time I was genuinely excited to look up from what I was multitasking with was when Puen made it back without Talay. Other than that, my head was down. And usually, I get extremely bothered if I don't read the subtitle word for word, but there were times entire scenes would go by without me watching 1/3 of the subtitles, and I just couldn't care. Nothing more to say, it was just -- boring. Although, the series does one of the best jobs at making it feel like Talay and Puen have been in the other universe for a while (2 years if I'm correct) it didn't feel rushed or unrealistic, it genuinely felt like they had been there for a while.

I wasn't really feeling Jimmy and Sea. I enjoyed them more than Joong and Dunk, so that's saying something, but I wasn't crazy about their chemistry. I think for what it's worth, it works, but something was missing. Like when they did anything physically, I was just not for it. Honestly, Talay could've forever been stuck in the other universe, and I think that would've made for a much more entertaining storyline. Also, Jimmy starts kissing with his mouth open, and it made me cringe to an ungodly extent.

I was really into Aou and Fuse and wouldn't have minded seeing an actual thorough love story from them.

The guest appearances were nice. Especially Mix, he is beautiful.

Most people were wanting to see more Ohm and Nanon, but I think out of everything, their time on screen was a perfect amount. They didn't take up too much space from the actual main actors, but they still played very important roles and satisfied whoever viewers that wanted to see more of them. I also was surprised to learn that Tess and Tun don't end up falling in love, which I was sure they were going to do.

Me being nitpicky, but did anyone else have to keep changing their subtitle for every part of an episode, 1-10, from Korean to English?? It was just annoying cause I set my preferences to English, but for whatever reason, the Korean subtitles would always come up, and I hated changing it when I just wanted to lay in bed and let the parts/episodes loop.

Ratings:

Story: 7/10 - Great universe-building, great time-passing, a few compelling sub-plots, Aou and Fuse. Everything else was tedious as hell to get through.

Acting - 8.5/10 - Sea was good. Jimmy was okay. Neo did incredible in this comedic role as always, and Aou was better here than in Enchante. Strangely was obsessed with Jeab too. Everyone else did decently.

Music - 6/10 - Skipped their singing cause *gag noises*. Everything else wasn't a distraction so cool.

Rewatch Value: 1/10 - no chance.


Jimmy did okay in this role, but I was hoping for better. Honestly, I shit on this series but it wasn't terrible. It was just boring. Oh well. Not recommended, but who am I to stop you?

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It's a Meh

When I first started this series, I was obsessed. I have a thing for friends to lovers, and it just screams off the screen as soon as you tune in. The real problem with this series, however, is that it's slow, and as the series progresses, it becomes so freaking boring. I was very close to dropping this, and not because it's bad but specifically because it lingers on for more time than need be. They could've cut out the last two episodes and this series still would've sufficed. Plus and Minus is another good Tawinese BL, but it could be better if they just cut it in half.

Let's Dive In.

Plus and minus is the story of two best friends that each love each other without the other one knowing, oh, and they're also lawyers. We also have the story of a dry cleaning owner and a beautiful bartender. This is pretty vague, but this is really just the story in one point.

Obviously, things end happily ever after, but there is so much added in the middle that's just not needed. Like random turmoil that causes them to break up and then get back together within a flash. Everything is so well done from episodes 1-8 and then after that, it slows and becomes tedious to get through. especially the last two episodes.

The lead's story is very interesting in the beginning. You can see through their eyes just how much they have loved each other, and even how long they've loved each other. They had plenty of good moments together that just added to the intensity of their situation. I also love the implication of the plus and the minus keychains, it's literally just the cutest thing ever. But the problem I have with them is the weird conflicts that seemed to get in their way. Like how Li Gong finally admits his feelings, and Ze Shou feels the same way but for some reason chooses not to? And then their sudden break-up and get back together? It was just too many irrelevant problems that the writers threw in because they couldn't find a conflict between two people that have always loved each other and are now just realizing it. Anyways, aside from this, I really enjoyed them. Some things were just so freaking boring (like when they would get into lawyer mode) but others were nice. Ze Shou was very out-going and charismatic while Li Gong was studious and serious. I enjoyed them at best and wouldn't mind seeing them as another Tawinese BL cameo.

Yuki and Ying Ze's story was so precious, especially when you add his daughter into the mix. They gave us that very domestic/homey feel that the series needed, and I loved it. From beginning to the end, I was pretty much sold on this couple. I loved how Yuki had no problem with flirting and being open about how we felt and watched Ying Ze be nervous and shy. I don't like how somewhere in between they rush their whole relationship, but other than that, I was here for them (Their kisses?? Oh my god?).

I feel like nothing else in this series was of much importance. The dad of Ze Shou is annoying, low-key the sister is too. I can't remember the other's name, but they only add on more time to this very tedious watch. I'll give Ling Ling a pass though, cause she was brilliant and adorable.

Ratings:

Story: 7.5 - Good in the beginning, but boring after episode 8. The conflicts just aren't conflictual enough. I practically sped through the few last eps because I had been putting this off for weeks, but I hurried and finished it. Yuki and Ying Ze were fun, so I'll give them most of the credit for the 7.5 stars.

Actings - 8: Good. Qi Lei was a little dry at times and was really the only one who was noticeably not all that good (but he was beautiful) Still, it doesn't take me away from the story which is the important part. Everyone else did a great job.

Music: 9 - Very addicting and gets stuck in your head. I loved the melody and the lyrics.

rewatch Value: 2 - Ehh, probably not.

I recommend this to anyone that has an admiration for Taiwanese BLs, but other than that, Nah. This is a serious letdown since I ADORED DNA Says Love You, but whatever. The wedding does help with adding some type of hype for the ending but it still doesn't justify the unnecessary shit that just spills out in this series. Watch it if you want, or don't.

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No Purpose in this Show's Existence

I honestly don't know what to review because, at the end of the day, most of this series was pointless and served no real purpose by the end. it was a show within a show, which is why I'm not always the biggest fan of these types of plots. Because now, the conflicts and everything else that we were watching doesn't matter because it was fictional in their world. By the end, we see that Guy and Jing are actually in a perfectly healthy relationship and nothing conflicting was going on at all. That's My Candy had two of my favorite BL actors and was complete trash and a waste of valuable watch time.

Let's Dive in.

The first episode was promising, a bit weird, but I can usually get over that aspect as long as I see other elements in the show that has potential, but every episode after was just a huge bummer. That's My Candy is about a couple who's been dating for some years, and have trouble with spending time together because one of them is an ER nurse, who's constantly on the go. So the one who seems to have no life breaks up with busy boy and then that busy boy is given magical candy that can grant any of his wishes. Now I could go full depth into the real problems of this series; incoherentness, confusing plot, aggravating characters, and bad communication, but I'd be wasting my time because it doesn't matter. We find out the whole thing is just Jing's school film project, and in reality, these people are normal human beings with healthy relationship statuses.

But let's pretend it wasn't fake this entire time, and get into the root of the problem. If this was the real jIng, then he is a walking red flag. Knowing damn well his boyfriend is an ER nurse who is constantly on call and having to work and instead is so condescending that at one point he makes Guy choose between a person who's passed out or him. On top of that, they break up and get back together way too many times for me to give a damn by the end. So many misunderstandings and miscommunications that I could write a whole page on it. Overall, the professor should only give them a 3 on this movie, one point for Viking/Tamtam, one point for Kana, and the last one because Kim and Copter know how to kiss.

The acting was just weird in this. For one, there were way too many characters that could've been easily removed because I don't even remember half of them. Most of the acting isn't bad, it's just this script sucked ass. I'm usually okay with nonsense and cringe as long as it's intended to be that way and the acting is strong enough to do it successfully, like in SCOY, but this was just worthless ridiculousness. So many unnecessary "funny" moments that made me centimeters away from dropping this. The only reason I didn't is because I love Kim and Copter with all of me. I just beg that the next time I see them, they can be in something not so slapstick comedy. Something serious, and complex, and deep. Because they have the ability to do that, but no one has given them the option to do so.

Rating;

Story: 3 - Utter trash and irrelevant by the end. Viking and Tamtam's story was a bit fun to watch. I also rooted for Jing and Kana at some point, but my hatred for Jing took over and I didn't care for them at all. The plot and everything in it are worthless. I'll give it 2 stars because of KimCop and another for Viking/TamTam.

Acting: 7.5 - Not terrible, just weird, and because of that, the actor's acting came off as kind of bad. Also, way too many characters that I just don't care about. Kim and Copter did well, but I know with a better series, they could've been superb. I'll give it 4 for KimCop, 2 for the supporting roles because it was as good as it could be, and 1.5 because at some point I got to see Pak's abs and god lord.

Music: 7.5 - quite decent. I enjoyed it more than the story itself.

Rewatch value: 1 - If pigs fly.

Just bad. Bad. bad. bad. I wanted to give some leeway because it is KimCop, but not even they could do the series for me. The ending is cute, just because we see them together and being healthy and happy. They have some very cute moments, but you can skip this series and just watch it somewhere on YT I'm sure.

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..?

I felt like I was a Charlie Brown character and the entire time I was watching this, they only spoke in, "Wah wah woh wah wah," language. This was weird to me because the premise is pretty interesting, except its execution was unsatisfactory; actually, the entire series was just a big tumbleweed going across the road. Where is it going? And where did it come from?

Let's Dive In.

I'm surprised I'm only just now hearing about this series that ended earlier this year, but I had only heard of it because of my Korean BL endeavor on Viki, and I came across this series (it was also advertised IMMENSELY in the Oh Boarding House series, along with TWY). The story is about an ambitious fashion designer whose incidental run-in with a delivery worker causes them to interact and eventually, said fashion designer hires the young stud to be his leading model. But of course, it wouldn't be a Korean drama without adding a random ass third wheel into the equation (I don't call it a love triangle unless the lead also romantically likes the third option). for once I didn't get second lead syndrome, mostly because I was trying to keep up with what was going on.

What I did like: Love the father-son dynamic. It was the highlight of the entire series, just seeing a healthy familial relationship that wasn't full of toxic masculinity or an overbearing parent. Just a dude and his dad who had deep and important conversations with one another, while they both had an inside joke about the missing mom. I loved it. I want to see more of this in BLs. Let's get rid of the sorrowful dads and bring in more Yeong Woo's dads.

The production was pretty nice. Nothing outstanding, but definitely a lot better than the story it was trying to tell. The music was also something I could come around to appreciate.

It didn't hurt that the main leads were beautiful. Especially Se Ung who legit, and no pun intended, looked like he walked out of a Calvin Klein catalog. I wouldn't be surprised if they asked a model agency for their prettiest male with decent acting skills.

What I didn't like: I didn't necessarily hate the storyline, except, it didn't make any sense. There were parts where I swear the editor forgot to add in an entire plot. I couldn't feel for Yi Bin mostly because I didn't understand his sob story, or why in particular it had anything to do with the plot. The conflict is just super messy too, and not all that comprehensible. One minute they're crying, and the next, everything is fine? And it's happily ever after? Different, very different.

Some parts were kind of boring. You would think in a series that only had a 15-minute run time for 8 episodes, it would follow along with a plot cause it wouldn't have much time to sway, but there were times I had to FF to get through some very tedious talking scenes. Not good for a series that ran for less than about 2 hours.

The connection between the leads is just not there. Sure, Yeong Woo has very soft eyes and a bright smile, and Ki Jin has this attitude that is pretty radiant, but nothing about this pair screams, "Omg, what a beautiful romance". If anything, they got boring towards the end. They had one decent kiss (the first one kind of chaste) and yes, seeing two beautiful men pretending to be in love never hurts, but god, can it be mind-numbing.

Ratings:

Story: 5 - What story? If you can read the synopsis and guess what happens next, then 9 out of 10, you're correct. On top of being not a good story, it's annoyingly predictable. I'm giving 3 stars to the father-son dynamic and 2 towards Se Ung's abs.

Acting: 8.5. - The only part that didn't pretty much suck. Everyone could use improvement, but nothing too severely bad. The dad was by far my favorite.

Music: 8.5 - I really enjoyed the music. Another great aspect of the series.

Rewatch value: 1 - No. No further explanation is needed.

Give this series a shot if you want to, but don't worry, you're not missing out on much. I can only recommend this cause Se Ung's body is really something else, and I think others should be able to enjoy it as well.

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Wash Away Your Negative Body-Swap Ideations

I remember watching the trailer after the 2022 line-up and thinking, "this is how they're going to utilize this trending pair? In a god-damn body-swap BL??!" and this was right before I saw the masterpiece that was the Moonlight Chicken trailer. It was already so bizarre to me that Earth and Mix were getting two of their own series in just a year, and it also caused a little bit of fret since I, with no doubt, adored them in ATOTS and was concerned that them playing different characters would ultimately ruin their dynamic. They're so good in one thing that you hold up this high expectation for them in another, and while I won't say I loved this on the same terms as much as I love ATOTS, I for sure wasn't expecting to like it as much as I did.

Let's Dive In.

I went into this with very low expectations, since I was so ready to just be fundamentally let down, and I did that so that I wouldn't draw any lost hope. I'm happy that most of what I was expecting didn't happen, but then, of course, there were some other things I wasn't so fond of. Cupid's Last Wish is the story about Win and his family as they go through a great loss of losing their father and gaining his inheritance, including the family-owned farm. When Win founds out that his childhood friend has a part of his father's inheritance, he feels betrayed and like Korn was using his family. A year passed, Win finds out his sister was still in contact with Korn, and because of that, he storms off with her in tow, and sadly, they get into an accident, causing them to switch bodies. Win is given this task to find holy waters to return to his original body, causing this frenzied adventure, with Win being reminded how much he loves Korn, and by the time he gets back to his body, there's a little turmoil, but it's a happy ending. Genuinely, I think this was the best handle of a body switch in BL, and mind you, I was a die-hard fan of Great Men Academy (not a body switch, more like a body metamorphosis, but still). It didn't have any of the pathetic tropes that come with switching bodies, like the underlying, "I'm a guy but in a girl's body so it's okay for me to be in love with you." or, "I'm a girl in a guy's body which makes it technically okay for me to love you since I have the soul of a female". I worried that because this series had the same director as FUTS, it would be a total abomination, but I can say, this series is a knee-kicker compared to the disaster (excluding Meen and Duean (but not that kiss, ewe)) that was Fish Upon The Sky.

What could've been a lot better: The entirely of the conflict is just one big misunderstanding, and the problem with everything and everyone is not having decent communication skills. Of course, if communication were present, this series would only last maybe two episodes, but it's so daunting to watch everything spiral out of control when someone could've just spoken up and the situation would've been resolved. You could tell in the first episode that Korn wasn't doing anything that Win was accusing him of, and it's dragged on for too long, only to be made clear in the last freaking episode. I could've told you that! Also, I don't like how Lin just went along with getting engaged to Korn without even explaining the plan to Korn in the hopes that Win would speak up before they actually did get engaged. It's so mindless and stupid, what were the writers even thinking, and who thought this was a masterpiece of an idea??! Again, communication is so lacking, and I'm tired of watching BLs where their entire plot is ran off of human beings that don't know how to talk to one another.

This might've been a translation error, or maybe a culturally different custom, but in episode 9, Lin's mom asked Korn if he, "took advantage of her", in which he explains he did, but with his true feelings. Huh? Korn never, not even once, takes advantage of "Lin" (in my perspective of taking advantage of someone, it's taking their vulnerability or naiveness and using it to someone's advantage, physically, emotionally, mentally, and in most cases, sexually), nor did he ever do something for the likes of himself because of his "true feelings". Again, it threw me completely off my wagon, and I was hella confused. It made the conversation icky, and I know I felt icky thinking he would of course say no, but then says yes, and you just kind of want to vomit a bit in your mouth. I don't know if "taking advantage" has a different meaning in Thailand or culture-wise, but I know it through me for a loop.

Everyone knows that I love Mix, and I was so proud of him for being a rookie actor and giving us the performance he does in ATOTS, but here, his acting felt weak in a lot of spots. When he was goofy around with Korn, it's great, having heart-to-heart talks were great, the chemistry between them was off the charts, but in the scene where he was seemingly angry, I felt like it was severely weak, and it's really just him shouting with no desire behind it. Even in episode one, he's just shouting and yelling with such a monotone face. It's hard for you to play into his feelings, and you kind of just turn the volume down to save yourself from second-hand embarrassment. I wanted him to talk sternly and with emotion behind his voice when he was mad, not just yell in Earth's face.

Lastly, I wish that Korn was the only one that could actually see Win as himself, even in Lin's body. I wish that the Monk would've secretly told Korn that he was the only one that could see Win as his true form, and while Win is freaking out that Korn is only getting close to him cause he looked like Lin, it would be revealed that Korn never saw Lin and only saw Win, as he was before the accident. It would've made for a pretty good twist, and I was kind of waiting for it to happen, but then it never did, and again I had hope for something that went crashing. Because, sure, you're supposed to fall in love with somebody's soul and not care what they look like, but falling in love with someone also plays a part in falling in love with their appearance. So it's nice when Korn and "Win" kiss for the first time, but you can't help but think that's he's kissing "Lin", and while she might not be her actual self, it's still her body. I don't know, I wish they would've held off on the first kiss after Win returned to his body, but it was a really nice kiss, so who am I to complain?

What I liked: This kind of ties into why I like Great Men Academy so much, but I loved watching Win experience what it's like to be a woman. By far the funniest episode is the one where Win experiences a menstrual cycle and goes through the trials and tribulations of PMSing. Now, sure, most of it was exaggerated, but it was still fun to see. Even Korn trying to buy pads was just cracking me up. Because, if body-switching were a real thing, I believe it would be similar to what happens in tv series.

The chemistry between Mix and Earth is so much more poignant in CLW than it ever was in ATOTS. And I appreciate that we obviously see that they have feelings for one another before the switch happens, and it's even better after he switches back. They just give each other this look that is so vivid that you just gain butterflies at the sight of it. By episode 10, their chemistry is unmatched. The softness in their voices as they speak to one another, them kind of just being them for a moment and playing around in the bed, gosh I loved it all. It also didn't hurt that their make-out sessions were very intimate and sexy. Like literally I was shook watching them kiss, especially when you think back to their one and only kiss in ATOTS. Them boys got some mouths on them.

I loved seeing Jan again since FUTS (or at least that's the last time I remember her). She is such a versatile actor from playing a cute and shy girl to being tough once playing as Win. I really do hope to see her in more projects. It was also really nice to see Gun since the last time I saw him was Tonhon Chonlatee. Champ was so cute with his little curly hair, and It was nice to see him again, I'll always take my chances to see him again. White was adorable in those glasses, and while he and Lin end up together in the last episode, I would've liked to see them have that connection throughout the series. Na who plays the chef that has a crush on Korn is ridiculously handsome -- just throwing that out there.

The scenery was beautiful. the large oak tree that they sat under was mesmerizing, and I loved every second of it. I know some people were complaining about the color grading in the series on Disney+, and I can't make too much of a comment on that since I watched this through DC, but It does look fundamentally better on YouTube, so I'll give it that.

Rating:

Story: 8.5 - I liked watching "Win" and Korn go through their little adventure to get where they needed to be. The story was fun and a bit refreshing, but I'll take a star and half off for all the miscommunication errors that could've been easily avoided.

Acting: 9.0 - The acting was really good. Jan stood out to me the most, and Earth wasn't much far behind her. The mom was decent, but she struggled to cry. Mix was really good when he wasn't having to be mad. White and the rest of them were decent too. I'll take a star off for the struggle to show the emotional parts the characters went through.

Music: 5.5 - had a nice upbeat to it, but ATOTS is much more memorable. Cute songs though.

Rewatch Value: 2.5: I can see myself rewatching this series while it airs on Youtube, so that counts as a rewatch.

Overall, this might have been a body swap, but it's handled with much care. The director at least knew to switch between Lin and Win during their adventures, so it doesn't feel off (even though when Win gets back into his body, it's a little lackluster since we've pretty much seen him the entire time). I highly recommend this, it's super cute, super fun, and I can't wait to see Earth and Mix again.

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Still My Feel-Good Series

Wow, what a series. Kind of like I said with the first season, this would've been top tier back in 2016-2017. The series everyone was talking about, everyone was analyzing, critiquing, fangirling over. But we've moved on from that, we've BEEN moved on from that. Now we have complex character arcs, well-written on-screen romances, a great representation of a true gay love story, and creative new ways to tell these loves stories of men-loving men. But this is just down-the-drain bad. This is my feel-good series, and I can't even try and dig it out of the hole it kept digging itself in. Gen Y 2 is a laughable catastrophe of season one. So much happens, and yet nothing does. we get forced character redemptions. lacking romances, bullshit conflicts, and embarrassing forbidden kisses.

Let's Dive In.

Gen Y 2 is the sequel to the first Gen Y, which wasn't anything masterful -- oh nothing of the sort ---- but it was at least, entertaining. With this season, we get pretty much nothing. Again, we get this dream-like filter over all the actors that make them look so fake, and it's already something that hurts my conscience. On top of that, this season just felt off. Not something I could quite put my tongue on, but it was pretty telling.

Let's just roll into the real problem. Every single couple. Mark and kit get into a bullshitty rule about being apart, which causes them to not even have any scenes together for half the series. It was such a sad conflict cause Mark and Kit are what really make this series, so when they couldn't even be together half of it, you could feel like things were falling apart. But when they were together, I loved them. Yes, some kisses were *gag noises* but damn, the character development of Kit was surprising. I loved how he had trouble explaining how much he loved Mark, and by the end, he has no trouble saying it, showing it, literally marinating in it. I appreciate Copter and Kimmon. If we do see more of them, they're going to have to be in something that really showcases their acting abilities. I'm thinking something as deep as Manner of Death. No more stoic Copter and bubbly Kimmon. Give me something raw, conflicting, dramatic. That's what I want.

Onto Thanu and Wayu. Closer to the end, I did really enjoy them (I mean the literal last few episodes). Before then, it felt to come-and-chase-me, and it was tiresome. on top of that, Dun is the flattest actor I've ever seen. I was embarrassed to watch him at times. He showed no emotions, cracked a smile every now and then, and took off his shirt. That's it. Bas carried for half their romance, the already terribly-written one at that. Pha's entire story-arc was good until his death. It was intriguing to see the revelations of the characters learning he was sick, especially Wayu. But it was like a sandcastle getting hit by a wave. Somewhere in the middle everything comes tumbling down, and you're too over it to try again. it didn't make it better that their kisses were again *gag noises*. We get to see a somewhat credible intimacy scene, so you know what, I'm not that mad.

I was already not really invested in Pok and Tong, but their relationship this season was seriously done dirty. They break up, and really nothing happens after that, and to get them back together, Sandee gives some weak-ass reassurance, and then it's all good. All that and all Sandee had to do was open his mouth? It destroys the work they built to make their conflict seem important. It now looks stupid and frivolous. I wasn't a fan of Jack and Koh either, and their constant bickering was causing a headache. Everyone going around them and teasing them was tiresome too. Who are Jack and Koh? Like as people and not a squabbling couple? They tease at Phai and Sandee and then give us nothing. after two (or was it three..?) years they're still not together. Whatever. Overall, all couples were left anti-climatic and poorly written. It was like the writers had an idea at the beginning, but by the end, they forgot and just went with whatever they could.

Some nit-picky things. The bruises and cuts were so bad, just so so bad. I can usually look past it, but it looked like smeared ketchup instead of a bruise. Please, god, I know they could've done better. And while we're on the topic, the empty coffee cups aggravated me to the fullest. Adding water just to balance it out would be fine, but seeing Dun just swing the supposed-to-be-full-of-coffee cup around hurt, genuinely.

Ratings:

Story: 6.5 - Far from anything at least a bit good. I liked how evil Sandee was, but they just force a redemption arc on him and then it goes back to square one. Other storylines were boring, the conflict was seemingly embarrassing, and the romance is eh. I'll give 6 stars for the half-ass Markit we got, and a .5 cause Wayu is adorable.

Acting: 8 - I'm taking off two stars for Dun specifically. Not that the others were perfect, but Dun was just so bad that you don't care to pay attention to the others. God, it was so bad. Copter pulls through again, with Mark not too far behind. Supporting roles weren't that good either, but not distractingly bad.

Music: 6 - decent, I actually quite like it. Super catchy and fun.

Rewatch Value: 1 - no change I'm rewatching. That's the end of that.

Honestly, there's so much else to say about this series, but just know that it's not good. However, with all of this being said, this show is still my feel-good series. I waited every Tuesday just to join in on the fun, and laugh at how stupid everything was (and felt). This is cheesy, corny, not-good, laughable, but I can't help but want to watch it, want to tune into its silliness, and laugh at it. I recommend it only because it is really lighthearted (except the death, but then not really even that) and cute. A good first BL watch for sure. Star Hunter looks like they might have a decent series in the making right now. I really hope it pulls through, cause the shitshows Star Hunter has been giving is a shame, especially with the amount of talent they have in their company.

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Quick Entertainment

I wasn't anticipating anything more than what we usually get from Star Hunter Entertainment and My Mate Match kind of supports that. This felt like a quick money grab than an actual well-developed plot or any type of cohesive story, but for what we got, I wasn't all that upset. My Mate Match was a swift BL love triangle with terrible second lead syndrome.

Let's Dive In.

My Mate Match is simply a tale of one dude moving into a house and accidentally accepting two other dudes to live there when he can only have one roommate -- basically My Deal Lover but 10 times better and actually BL. I think this series was cute, it even had good potential, but it lacked cohesiveness and at times was extremely boring.

A few exceptions in this show: I enjoyed Big's acting here way more than in Gen Y. I feel like his acting in Gen Y is LACKING, big (lol) time. He's stoic, and pretty much sounds like he's reading off from the script, but here he played up on the personality, and gave us actual characteristics. For most of the show, I was shipping him and Match, which the show did a perfect job of playing at, except you know who gets together cause it's glaringly obvious.

I also thought that for a company that I complain a lot about for having terrible kisses, I think this one had to be one of the best. It was realistic, it wasn't chaste, and it didn't seem like the actors were uncomfortable. I'll applaud to that.

A few things that could've been approved on: I think the reason why we get a sense of Second Lead Sydrome is because Match and Ryu spent more time on screen together than Mix and Match (Just got that idiom. Love it). For the first couple of episodes, Match complains about Mix more than anything. They have a few cute moments, but those don't really come till the end, and then you're left wondering how they fell in love when nothing happened. That's my thought too. I don't think they had the best chemistry, I liked Ryu and Match much better since they actually got along and did stuff together, laughing and goofying around. The sudden connection with Mix and Match was offputting, and appeared out of thin air. Again, kind of ties into the plot, and how it should've been handled more carefully. However, I did enjoy Jet and Jame here way more than in Gen Y.

Them all sleeping in one bed was very senseless to me. I get what they were trying to do -- build up the skinship, created this lovey-dovey moment, in which we got once -- but it's irradical for three grown men to share one bed. Something that I continued to think about constantly and left me wondering what the heck the writers were thinking.

I didn't mind the vlogging until Match got into Mix and Ryu's personal buniess and decided to share it to the world. For him to go live and share Mix's song lyrics to everyone was a disgrace. Again, I couldn't help but ask, what the fuck were the writers thinking.

Production wasn't too bad. Star Hunter has this thing where they make everything look likes it's taking place in a dream, which I feel will hurt them in the future. The actors look great, but maybe they look a little too perfect? Also, there were some ad placements that took me out of the story and were a bit of a nuisance, but I've seen worse, so it wasn't all that bad.

Ratings:

Story: 6.5 - Could've been handled better. For what we got, it was fine, but the writers could've made different choices in the outcomes of some of their conflicts.

Acting: 8.5 - Nothing perfect, but nothing bad either. I think Jet and Jame did a pretty okay job. I think Big could do better, but he did show improvements from what we've seen in Gen Y.

Music: 7 - I actually was fully aware of the music, cause, for once, I liked it. I think it was the beat that caught my attention.

Rewatch Value: 1 - Again, got to move on, but I think some of these scenes are memorable enough for me to at least tune into a video edit.

Overall, this was an okay watch. Some parts are boring, some are funny, some are lackluster. I saw a lot of people say they dropped it after a few episodes. Understandable, but I don't think it was that bad to not at least tune in. I half-heartdly recommend this, there are some better ones out there, but if you're looking for lighthearted and fluffy, than this is it.

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The Perfect Korean BL

I was excepting this to be some type of tragedy where one of them dies at the end or has to move far far away, but finally, a gang-related movie that's a true love story that ends in a happily ever after. Long Time No See brings on some amazing cinematography with beautiful acting and an amazing plot-driven story.

Let's dive In.

Production is beautiful. The use of lights and darks and colors in this was amazing. The overall aesthetic was captivating and drew you into the story more. The music went well with their situations, and the setting were very nice.

Onto the plot. I really didn't see Wild Dog being an undercover hitman trying to take out Flying Dagger. I think that was the moment I was really into the plot. Of course, love prevails over all, so they don't end up killing each other, but that moment when Wild Dog's mask flies off and and flying Dagger looks him in the eyes was everything. You could feel the hurt, the confusion, the heartbreak. Both actors did an amazing job at showing what real love is suppose to look like. I loved their first encounter when they learn of each other. The tickling match, the perfectly clumsy first time that had me giggling the entire time. These two showed an actual true relationship to the T and I couldn't be more proud in their performances. The uncles in this situation were truly disgusting. Why couldn't these people just let them be happy and hitmans? Flying Dagger's father obviously took him when he was vulnerable and not in a good position (we won't even talk about him getting p***ed on in the bathroom; truly traumatizing). I'm happy he was able to stand up for himself and Wild Dog. Now they both can just do what they do and be happy. The sister was the sweetest human ever. She was truly just so excited to see Wild Dog happy, which made me happy for him.

Overall, this was so cute. It took me less that about 2 hours to finish, so it's a super easy watch. The plot flowed nicely and nothing felt irrelevant or slow. I highly recommend!

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