Reviews

It was okay, until it wasn't

Be prepared to watch this only for the ML (who is not only handsome, but also really kind as well), because the FL is nothing but an annoying, selfish, self-centered jerk who should have no business being married to ANYONE, let alone this dude.

There's being independent and working for your dreams, and then there's trampling over everyone and sacrificing every single person in your life to get there.

But all that aside, EP 22 in particular was the one that dropped this rating from a 6 to a 4.5. If you can't see how spending a night in the hotel room with another man - and then defending your poor choices to your husband - could be detrimental to your marriage, then you don't deserve to be in one.

I truly wish the ML ended up divorcing her, but we all know how this stuff works. They always do forgive after a one (barely sincere) apology, don't they?

Read More

Winner Takes All

Squid game is a South Korean children’s playground game that was popular back in the 1980s. It is similar to hopscotch but with a more expansive playing area and team-based approach. It forms the basis of the game setting that is featured in Squid Game.

Production Details

The drama is written and directed by the award-winning Hwang Dong Hyuk, known for critically acclaimed films The Fortress and Silenced. Jung Jae Il, who is known for composing the score for Okja and Parasite, serves as the music director. Produced by Siren Pictures exclusively for Netflix, this is a pre-produced drama with all 9 episodes released worldwide on 17 September 2021. It is given an R-18 rating and contains sexual references, nudity, and violence. Strobing effects present in certain episodes (especially episode 4) may cause discomfort for photosensitive viewers. Other trigger warnings include scenes of violent deaths, as well as gratuitous blood and gore.

Premise and Plot

456 participants competing in a “Hunger Games meets Battle Royale” series of challenges modelled after traditional South Korean children’s playground games for a chance of winning the jackpot of 40 million won, rising up to 45.6 million won with the elimination of all other participants right to the last person standing.As for who the organisers are and the reason for the competition, all shall be revealed as the story unfolds..

The story revolves around the points of view of a number of characters who share one thing in common - they are in serious need of cold hard cash to resolve their respective predicaments. Central to the core narrative is the main character and protagonist, Seong Gi Hoon, a gambling addict down on his luck who is facing debt problems and child-custody issues, as well as dealing with his mother’s deteriorating health.

What I Liked

As expected of a Netflix original series, I enjoyed the production quality and values, unique set designs and costumes, exceptional cinematography especially during some of the stunning choreographed action sequences and the game or challenge settings.

The cast is outstanding, comprising veterans in Lee Jung Jae, Park Hae Soo, Heo Sung Tae, Kim Joo Ryung and Oh Young Soo, among others. The newcomer Jung Ho Yeon gives a decent debut performance complete with the North Korean accent. I was pleasantly surprised to see brief appearances by Gong Yoo and Lee Byung Hun. Even with limited screen time, their charisma absolutely shines through to light up the production.

The edge-of-the seat thrills and suspense plays out in a riveting pace. This drama is well worth the binge because it is as captivating as it is addictive to consume in a single seating. Moments of extreme tension are aplenty along with the heart-wrenching emotions which are deftly interspersed amidst the high-octane action sequences throughout. I particularly enjoyed the epic final showdown between the finalists in the concluding arc of the drama.

The music score composed by Jung Jae Il is sublime, along with classic compositions used courtesy of the Budapest Scoring Orchestra and Big Band. They include The Blue Danube by Johann Strauss II, Trumpet Concerto in E Flat Major by Franz Joseph Haydn and Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings. A cover of Bart Howard’s Fly Me to the Moon also plays a major part as the BGM for one of the more stunning game sequences in episode 1.

What Could’ve Been Better

As much as I enjoyed the drama, I thought 9 episodes were somewhat overlong. 6 or 7 episodes would have made the storytelling more compact and compelling. A significant portion of the drama was taken up by the story-building of the main character as well as four other major supporting characters. I appreciated the respective backstories of tragic circumstances and such but those components impacted on the pacing of the more engaging aspects a little bit. In addition, the final episode did feel dragged out unnecessarily.

The characterization of the ML Seong Gi Hoon (no 456) wasn’t convincing to me, although I accepted it as part of the drama’s depiction of “character growth”. How an irresponsibly hopeless father, unfilial son, and washed-out gambling addict suddenly developed a moral compass, sense of righteousness, and leadership traits came across as somewhat unrealistic.

Overall

Notwithstanding the qualms I had and as long as expectations are tempered, Squid Game represents great entertainment value complete with a sufficient dose of suspense, thrills and excitement in a nicely packaged production that makes it the perfect binge-worthy viewing experience for an evening at home.

Read More

The Reality of the Industry

Story: Wow, I’m so amazed at the quality of this series, including the cinematography, production, and fantastic directing. This series really exposes the worse sides of the industry, specifically the BL sides. We see the subtle homophobia when choosing actors, and prioritising NSFW scenes over a healthy, slow and natural bond forming through Gene’s writing. I love that the series he wrote is called “Bad Engineer” because I feel like it might be a subtle dig at all the Engineering BL’s that have slowly gone downhill. There have been several overused themes in other series such as the “kissing while drunk” scene that was taken here and well played out. Despite Nubsib repeatedly chasing after Gene, he didn’t accept Gene because he knew Gene was drunk and couldn’t really consent to anything. Although Nubsib is still very pushy he also respects personal boundaries and takes good care of Gene, which makes me very happy as sadly a lot of BL series tend to romanticise sexual harassment, which is not okay. We also see homophobia from parents that should love and support their children, yet will turn their backs on their own family members just to make themselves look better, which is really sad. Although I was a little annoyed with the jealousy and childhood friends plot line I’m glad they turned it around and demonstrated what a healthy relationship should look like when Nubsib and Gene actually started communicating properly. I do like that Nubsib waited for Gene and never forced him to come out, but I think he could have been more understanding before the press conference about how Gene must have been feeling. I was happy that things turned around in the final episode where we saw Nubsib and Gene exchange sweet kisses and interactions, and they got the happy ending they deserved. I also loved the multiple alternate endings from different romance films/novels/plays as it was a bit of hilarity to distract from the fact that the series was ending.

Characters: Poompat as Gene- When this series was first announced I recognised the actor from somewhere, and later realised he was from the famous KA lip care and sunscreen ads. However, this is his first series as a main role, which you would not have guessed based on the quality of his acting. For me, a good actor is someone who can create a character the audience can really relate to, and Poompat did a perfect job of this. Gene is such a sweet, innocent guy and I love that despite not being able to write the stuff he truly loves, he makes the best out of it and isn’t afraid to call out his boss and the directors of their (less than desirable) thoughts and words. Gene is just as clumsy, awkward and embarrassing as myself, which I think is why I love him so much. I really love that despite Gene’s awkwardness, we can still see his emotions through his eyes such as his jealousy during the interviews. I can completely understand Gene’s fears of coming out but I’m glad that he’s surrounded by people who can love and support him for who he is.

Kao as Nubsib- Kao has already cemented himself as a fantastic actor after his role of Korn in Until We Meet Again, and has further demonstrated his amazing acting abilities here. Nubsib is definitely the personification of “serious guy who is only friendly around his lover” and Kao did a great job portraying this. One little thing I did notice when he was talking to other characters like Tum, he always looks very serious but when suddenly seeing Gene his eyes light up and entire expression changes. I love how naturally Kao can pull this off, and yet again I’m being dazzled by his good looks. I also love how, despite knowing that he messed up by not being honest with Gene, he admits he was wrong and makes the effort to communicate and let Gene know what he’s thinking. He’s very understanding and does’t force Gene to come out when he’s not ready which made me happy to see no pressure from him. Finally he chose Gene over all else and wanted both his own happiness as well as Gene’s so he waited for the best time so he and Gene could be together without any constraints.

Bruce as Aoey- While Aoey is a character I have a lot of mixed reactions, I can’t deny that Bruce is probably the best actor in this series. Although he seems cute but far too needy/clingy/annoying, I do like that he was already openly gay and doesn’t try to hide this fact (fun fact, Bruce is gay in real life so we have another LGBT actor which is fantastic), which is a nice step up from the typical “I’m not gay I just love you” lines. However, in episode 5 we really got to know his character more, including why he acts and behaves the way he does. If my parents and siblings were so unsupportive like that, then I honestly think I would have rebelled and spiralled off the deep end, so I admire that Aoey doesn’t let his family hold him back. Although Aoey is quite selfish at times, whenever he cries I automatically feel really bad for him, especially the episode 11 scene on the live video and even more in the final episode after he finished the live stream with his fans. One of my favourite sayings is that “A good actor can make you experience different emotions even from the slightest change in expression” which definitely goes to show just how amazing Bruce’s acting skills are and I hope we can see more projects with him in the future, maybe as a main role this time.

Music: The music and sound effects are perfect, they are well placed and really help the overall mood of scenes. In a funny scene sometimes they’ll add little sound effects which make it even more hilarious, and the music is really nice to listen to.

Overall: I absolutely loved this series and how they weren’t afraid to call out specific aspects and show the reality of what the industry is really like. Both Kao and Poompat have a lot of chemistry and all intimate scenes with them made me almost feel invasive, like I shouldn’t be watching something so personal. I hope to see all the actors in this series again, especially Bruce in a main role, and I’ll definitely be rewatching this very soon!

Read More

A lot better than expected

It's an interesting drama based on the reality of how the kpop industry works. I came to this drama because I know OnlyOneOf as a group. Because of that I thought this drama would be really cringe to watch (they are rookie actors and have no experience in acting), but I was honestly surprised with the overall quality. It's a low budget drama, but it's ok in terms of korean BL dramas.
The story was compressed in 8 episodes of 15 minutes what made it feel too rushed. Things were happening too quickly so they used a lot of flashbacks to tell the story. It was smart in storytelling, but as a viewer it feels like you are being attacked with a lot of information from all sides. But that's my only complaint about the script per se. The adaptation from the webtoon was well done and I honestly think it was WAY more sensitive about the topic than the original work.

Like I said before, they have no experience in acting so I wasn't expecting much, but some of them really have a lot of potential. Hyunbin is an annoying, but really charismatic villain. You can know the actor for a villain is good when you feel angry the moment he shows up. In the terms of acting, I think KB was the best one. He looked evil for real. Eden and Jihoon were good as main characters. Eden did look innocent, but not dumb (so common in BL) and Jihoon was an experienced sunbae, but he wasn't an annoyingly cold character for no reason (also common in BL). The characters were well balanced and the actors did well. Nine did a specially greater work in the scenes he was angry which seems a funny thing to actually happen. I don't know if he rehearsed those parts more or if it was fun to him to manhandle KB, as he's the youngest and KB is the oldest.
Jay was an adorable character and I hope to see more characters like him in BL. A character that will back off after hearing a "no". As any BL fan know, characters in Bl usually thinks a "no" means a "try harder".

About the whole plot, I GET that some people will get angry with it. K-pop fans will probably get kinda pissed too. The plot says "the K-pop industry uses gay fanservice to please fans". But is it a lie? EVERY K-pop group will do that and that's set by their company. If you read that and thought "those two (any ship name) don't do that because thy are really close for real", then you know the industry made it work and it already got you. Yes, most idols from same group are probably close, but the fanservice IS REAL, so please don't fool yourself. They will do things on stage, they will lovingly look at each other, they will hug and hold hands and do all that and 80% of the time all this is for show.

All that being said, the whole plot of this is great. It shows how the industry works and how fans respond to it. Now imagine this: companies make their idols do fanservice and among them there are straight people, but there will be queer people too. Imagine working in a place that forces you to PRETEND to be gay as a job, but WON'T ACCEPT you if you ever come out. In this story every main character is canonically queer. Eden even represent a queer kid growing up with a heteronormalized mindset. His first love was a boy, but he never really accepted that part of himself until adulthood.
In the story there's even a part that one of the trainees say there are rumors about Eden and Jihoon as a real couple and he make it sound like a bad thing (as if they weren't pretending to be gay to begin with). In a place like South Korea it' ok if you pretend to be gay, but it's not ok for you to be actually gay. The story is kinda fluffly and soft, but there's a real critique behind it if you pay attention.

Read More

The story of this drama and the manga its adapted from, as everyone has pointed out, is not original. Girl and boy start living together and have to hide it from the people at school.

I enjoyed almost every episode, some felt like "filler" episodes but were still enjoyable. I didn't care much for Yuri's storyline. Girl needs to get it togther and stop unloading her problems on teenagers! It was also very annoying how cold Uehara was, but I still loved him because I am a sucker like Nao.

I enjoyed this drama so much, staying up till midnight on Thursdays, waiting for the new episode! The acting was very good, I really liked everyone's portrayal of their characters. Nagasawa Koya as Abe and Arai Moe as Marina were my favourites, such good comedic timing! Fukuhara Haruka was very, very good and I look forward to seeing her in more dramas.

I would definitely re watch this, and I really hope they do another season. I would recommend this drama for anyone who likes romantic high school dramas.

Read More

I was really hooked around episode 8

I'm a Wuxia fan but I always enjoy a great Xianxia, and this happens to be one of them. Xiao Zhan is an incredible talent. Xiao Zhan is a consummate actor, able to play any role and become that character. I had just finished his beautiful & latest drama The Youth Memories 2023 not too long ago, where he played the confident, assertive, and gregarious Xiao Chun Sheng. That drama was a slice of life/coming of age. In The Long Promise, he played Shi Ying, a loner, calm, quiet, and introspective with a tragic past. Very few artists can reach that depth of acting in two totally different types of characters as successfully as Xiao Zhan has.

The overall story is solid and the chemistry between all characters is excellent, it's not just 2D between ML and FL so that's another really strong point about this drama that many other dramas lack... The different relationships between all the characters and their character growth. Loved Gen Qing, Chong Ming, & Yuan.

I wanted to add that at first, I was skeptical about the FL because she's not a big-name star but she stepped up to the plate and played Zhu Yan wonderfully. A young, strong girl, who stands up to bullies even if she has to face adversity, and isn't afraid to show her true emotions. I always found little games like playing hard to get so annoying in other dramas (pet peeve) but that isn't the case in this drama.

Finally, the CGI, cinematography, and fighting scenes are so well done. The usage of natural geological landscapes is stunning. Scenes have a Zen-like quality. My favorite parts are usually the marital arts scenes since as I said, I favor the Wuxia genre. They were seamless and fluid, with great choreography. The color, the lighting, and the movement were done very well. It's just a stunning visual treat from beginning to end.

Highly recommended., especially if you love Xianxia.

Read More

Playing Peek-a-boo With the Interesting Plotline

Khun Dad!?! Dafug you mean Khun Dad??? And what the hell was that dancing pose? Dude out there looking like a confused triangle. Look, I’m used to people in love having ridiculous nicknames like my Mosquito net, Donut lips, Baboon butt and Chicken thighs. But I draw the line at effing Khun Dad. Dafug?? Can’t believe Bank was able to say that with a straight face and Mos didn’t throw up on him every time he said it.

Anyway, I’m sure y’all remember that abomination when Pit Babe made us throw up our lunch going ‘Mama, Papa’ *race car noises*, right? Yeah, prepare to wanna throw up last christmas’ turkey, cuz there’s a whole new cringe in town.

This week on BLs Cringe Hot 100
#1 Khun Dad. [NEW]
#2 Mama, Papa, Pitbabe. [-1]
#3 I’ll Kiss You Till You Drop, 2gether. [=]
#8 I'll Be Your Vaccine, Fish Upon A Sky [+3]

This was legit me when I heard that nickname for the first time.

SALIN: We are soo in love, let’s have cute nicknames. I’ll call you, Khun Dad. *in love noises*
ME: Did he just say…nah, *shakes head.* I must have misheard.
SALIN: Khun Dad.
ME: God forbid!

WHY Child??? May this level of inlove-ness-ness never locate me! Mister effing Dad?? Why? Peoples, he said Khun Dad with his whole chest!! Maybe I found this repulsive because I’m as romantic as those bl scenes where they think giving their partners that yellow ice tea and drinking it slowly is romantic. Khun Dad. The devil is a liar!

Listen, thanks to dramas, single people have not known peace in this fandom. There’s always some romantic nonsense to make people look 1000 times more single. And in this show, there are so many romantic scenes from both the first and second leads that make single people look like they live in a hole, alone, with 21 cats. And yes, good for them, they are in love. But gawwwd do some of the romantic gestures makes me cringe.

- The Khun Dad
- The I love you in 6 languages or more
- That woman/Salin prisoner who turned into a light in the finale and promised to spend her next life loving Sun in a wig, who is a half snake lord of something. It vexed me, cuz the eff you mean after he locked you up for centuries you wanna be born again and love him? People in love should be abandoned at disneyland on their birthdays.

And do y’all remember that dancing Salin and Sun did on their first? date? That pose at the end was the most effing awkward, embarrassing, unsexiest thing I’d ever seen. Homeboy out there looking like the cousin of that one gingerbread from Shrek. Literally, what the hell was that? Whose idea was that? Get the hell outta here.

Khun Dad. Why, just why? What did we do to deserve this? What did I do to the writers? Why they gonna subject me to that? People In Love Are So Disgusting. Ew.

PLOT
SunsetXvibes feels like a fancy arse dessert I ordered, but when it came, it tasted like cupboard paper with pink sparkles. Cuz, why was the show playing peek-a-boo with the interesting storyline? Mfers had a naked guy napping in some water and spent 98.6% of the drama in the office talking about necklaces. Going in, I thought we were going to see behind the scenes of what happens in these sort of companies. You know, there'd be fashion shows like in the finale, biddings wars to see their designs worn by famous celebrities in magazines and events, you know, the ins and outs of the glamorous world. Instead we got them clicking on computers, talking about designing and meetings.

And okay sure, what I got wasn't want I expected, but interning at a jewellery company, cool, nice, but what about that butt naked dude? When are you going to tell me about him? How does it connect to this main plot?

The screenwriters were like: how many random flashbacks you want with no context or development?

Director: Yes.

Literally, were the flashbacks supposed to intrigue us? The first two times sure, but after we kept getting barely there glances with no correlation to the current plot-line, I straight up went and filled in my own thing.

ME: Ahh, so in his past life, he used to moonlight as a naked river god, who knew some woman. Either that or he went swimming one time and someone stole his cloth. Then I was like ‘hmmm, is it like The Sign? It reminds me of the sign, is a dragon looking snake gonna show up? Then bam, it showed up.

No, but the writers? ruin this. They had a good plot on paper, but they were so busy having the leads act all cutesy, and acting below their adult age with unnecessary nonsense misunderstandings, that, they forgot the actual plot, dragged the flashback reveal and forgot to connect the two stories. Plus that flashback seems to just be hanging around, you know, like that one uncle who comes for christmas and just sits in the corner? He there, we can see him, but like, we all pretending he has on one of them Harry Potter invisibility cloaks. When they finally told us what the hell the flashbacks were about, I’d lost all interest and was like ‘Oh, okay, sure, whatever, move it along. Did I remember to turn off the iron?... Wait, I don't own an iron.’

Although there was no connection of that flashback plot and this current one, cuz it's randomly inserted with no follow ups, it felt far more interesting. Because, the flashbacks plot had: unrequited love, Salin being the reincarnation/spirit? of the trapped lady, Nagas, Sun in a wig from Shein was like some lord or another and Salin killed someone. Interesting stuff, tell me more.

Instead, we get Salin designing something that always gets stolen/patented, the company turning into a dating app for Salin and his friends. Also, what does Yo and Pim do all day? Sure they on the computer but are they designing stuff or just ordering lunch? Then of course in-between the two things happening there are lots of NC scene. From the pool table to that artsy painting room, to Sam's office sofa, to that dressing room... which were all...hihi...yeah...stuff. Having soup while watching/hearing that NC in the finale was unfortunate.

So yeah, I wanted a correlation between the two stories, instead the writers threw the plot with the Naga and murder away to make room for unnecessary stuff. And what the hell was that finale? Talk about if irrelevant lived next door to uneventful and anti-climatic. The finale was filled with awkward cringy scenes. Which meant the flashback plot was quickly wrapped up with nonsense. Literally when did we see lord Sun in a wig always being there to protect Salin? And that was it? that woman who has been trapped for forever turned into a light and died? And since when can Salin close his eyes and summon Sun in a wig? LIKE??? arrgggg. meh. I’m sure the writers wanted the flashbacks to intrigued us, but with no real connection to the main plot it became uninteresting. Cuz really, what was I supposed to be looking forward to with 3 seconds flash back every two episodes?

Also, that man person with a gun in the finale. Who the hell was he? What was his job, and why the hell did he want to steal designs? I'm sure he was introduced in the start, but he's so forgettable and irrelevant that he could have been replaced by one of those necklaces and it wouldn't have made a darn different.

And can we talk about when Salin finally found out what the flashbacks were about? I expected more reaction from him, but homeboy came out of the flashback, ignored everything he saw, and instead went to design a necklace. CHILD??? You not even gonna wonder how this lord who looks like Sun in a wig likes you in this lifetime?? You gonna save your past self or? What kind of dollar store arse reaction was that??

Literally this was him when he finally found out what his dream/nightmares were about.
ME: Wow, Sun's the reincarnation of the lord/guy in the wig???
SALIN: Did you see his necklace?
ME: OMG your past self, who is still in the cave, is alive. There's two of you. You gonna save her?
SALIN: She was the one who gave him the necklace.
ME: You killed that woman. You murdered a person with dark smoke magic.
SALIN: I'm gonna design that necklace.
ME: But---but there's literally two of you in existence right now, and you killed a sister.
SALIN: Anyone have some crayons, I need to start designing.

HOW? Just---HUH? No, but really, dafug was that reaction? If the character himself doesn't think it's important, how are the viewers suppose to be interested or take it serious? That whole flashback story-line felt like it was written so Salin can design a gothic looking necklace to win the competition, which was completely unnecessary. Not gonna lie, that whole award competition felt awkward with unnecessary cringy dialogue from the staff. I'm gonna comfort myself by believing Lin's design won cuz it was different looking than the rest...cuz ain't no way.

And while the flashback plot wasn’t giving us much, the main plot wasn’t keeping my interest either. Lots of cutesy stuff, with adults acting below their age and not much else going on. Cuz the plot with who has been stealing/patenting designs ended in 0.2 seconds. It was so anti-climatic and ended so quick, they needed another character to overact and explain it to the viewers for 5 unnecessary minutes complete with an ad. No but the finale was... did they run out of ideas and had 1 hour to fill? Cuz literally, the eff was that work bathroom scene? On the plus side, some of Sal's outfits in this drama slays, so at least I can comfort myself with that. yaay me?

I think MosBank can do so much better than this plot. I saw them in Big Dragon, so seeing them act different here, all calm, cute and innocent, and being all in-true-love is refreshing/different to see. Although they are the leads, I don’t think they are the reason for how unremarkable this turned out. The plot is just very mediocre, sort of repetitive and boring. They didn’t have much to work with. Yes, they had the chemistry to keep fans watching, but unfortunately, their chemistry couldn’t save this. Everything was so meh that in some scenes they seem to even loose their chemistry, and those two has a lot of it, even on random Tuesdays. And there was only so much the supporting cast could add. I hope in their next work, the plot is more interesting, and it doesn’t rely heavily on the actors carrying the show of a poorly executed story.

CHARACTERS
The supporting cast didn’t have much going for them. Still, they each had something small going on, though the ones that stood up the most were the second couples. They were cute. I was cheering for Sam and Yo from the start. Their chemistry was chemistrying. And they knew the correct way to call each other, P'Sam and Nong Yo, very cute, no vomit in sight. Also, was everyone as surprised as I was to find out Sam goes to the gym in-between buying hair gel?

LMAO, was I the only one who laughed at Sam's new look after his secret of being the second son of the company was revealed? Homeboy showed up with a whole new hairstyle, minus glasses, and a single strand of hair threatening to poke him in the eye. I was like, okay, arite, I guess poor people don’t use hair gel, good for you. LOL.

I feel the gl couple could have developed more, instead of Prim spending most of the series being nonchalant. When they did get together, I couldn't really vibe with their chemistry, they cute, but I wanted more reason to cheer for them. Like with Sam and Yo, where they had those little moments that all added to them falling in love. Looking back all I recall of the gl couple is Prim always saying no to whatever Pim was asking her. So yeah, they were there.

My fav scene in this whole series might be when they found out Lin’s dating the CEO. Sam’s face going ‘I can’t believe I’m related to this dumbass’ made me roll with laughter. I also liked when Lin dropped kicked that weirdo. Oh, and how the friends were not surprise that Sam and Yo were dating. I mean, you could cut the intense with a bread knife.

Oh, and what the hell was up with those random foreign language one liners they kept inserting? Is that whats cool these days or am I not chronically online enough to be in the known? First it was just Pim, but then everyone was suddenly doing it...okay? And like, was it me or did the finale never seemed to end? Whenever I thought it was over, another scene popped up.

Now, Back to the Khun Dad debacle. Anyone else wanted to throw tiny rocks at Lin every time he said Khun Dad? That shit was corny and cringy as eff. People in love deserves no rights. And Salin didn’t even say it once and got over it. Every second he was like, Khun Dad do you want to dance? Khun Dad do you want to eat shrimps? Khun Dad see my necklace. Child!! will you keep quiet??? I’m gonna be haunted by this until MosBanks next drama.

Anyway, in the end, it is what it is, and the bad execution of the plot ruined an otherwise interesting story. I expected a lot more from this. I hope MosBank gets to work with a great story(well executed) for their next project, so people see how talented they are. I'll still recommend this to fans, and anyone interested in boss-employee relationship. And to those who like CEO sons pretending to be poor stories, cuz you'd like Sam and Yo.

EDIT: HAHAHAHAHSKJWPRISKEJR.... soooo in the special episode.... Lin is pregnant? Or is gonna get pregnant. Literally, what in the random arse plot was that? sudden... mpreg? well it was planned, but whomst?? who's driving this thing? what's even happening?

That being said, the main song of this drama was soooo good! At least they got one thing right.

Anywho, Khun Dad I guess.

Read More

Truly wonderful series

I think this is only the 3rd time I've rated something a 10. Note that this is a review of the uncut version - the cut version is significantly less good, and it also cuts out almost all the love scenes, which are mostly very well-done and lovely kissing.

The writing is excellent, and personal to the author, which shows in the realism of the writing. The characters are not 2D archetypes - they are complex and flawed, and there are no villains or heroes. The plot is well-thought out, and does not go for a cheap ending. The writing respects the intelligence of the audience, which is a nice change, and there are none of the tired cliches that seem to clog every BL. The two leads don't fit into two neat seme/uke boxes - they are fully realized characters, who react like normal people to situations. Even the house's protecting spirit is a complex character.

The acting is some of the best I've seen in a BL. Partly that's because there are a lot of adults with important parts and they cast very experienced and effective actors - but the two leads are fantastic in this. I thought Nut was terrible in Oxygen, but that must have been bad directing because he's amazing in this - he does the most realistic crying I've ever seen, managing to communiate real grief without childish sobbing. Green has a 2-ep role and he's truly spectacular, putting in a powerful performance (and he's clearly a trained dancer), again contrasting with The Tuxedo where he's distinctly underwhelming. Plan Thanawat as Phat is so cute I can't stand it, and on top of that he can really act - his character can be childish and self-absorbed in a realistic way, balanced by all his good qualities. I really hope we see a lot more of him.

This is not just a cute ghost meets boy story - it really explores how things don't always work out like we hoped, and the need to both seize happiness wherever you can find it, and let go of things you can't change, like the tragedies we all have to face - and even how sometimes you can't completely move on.

There was not a single episode that I walked away from disappointed. None of them are filler, and there is no manufactured drama in Ep 9. There are a few plot lines that probably seem pointless in the cut version, like a lot of Dream and Luck, but their story reinforces the importance of respecting each other's beliefs.

The music is great, from the theme to the use of classical music to the instrumental score, which which does a great job of supporting the story.

I really loved this, and for me it's the best BL of this year so far, and this is turning out to be a fairly strong year.

Read More

I'm going to be that one person who wasn't hyped about this drama... just kidding?

I loved the first couple episodes. They were exciting and unpredictable (most of the time). But after the eighth ep, it slowed down a lot, so I got bored. Why did I stick with it till the end? I was already halfway through, so I stayed for the romance (haha, this isn't the first time something like this has happened) ;-)

Try this drama if you love light school dramas with a bit of mystery. I was really impressed by the acting of the cast, especially rookie actors Kim Se Jung and Kim Jung Hyun. Their chemistry is over the roof. I found myself skipping through episodes just to get to their scenes. The side storylines were incorporated well. Like sunah said, School 2013 has the best bromance, School 2015 has the best second lead syndrome (rip), and School 2017 has the best male lead. I personally enjoyed School 2015 the most out of all the School series (except for that last episode), but go ahead and give School 2017 a try. It might be your type of drama. :-) It was a fun kdrama, even if it lost steam in the second half.

The final verdict: watch if you enjoy predictable fluffy dramas

Check out:
- Sassy Go Go
- Reply 1988
- Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo

Read More

Epic Romance and Outstanding OST

Don't be deceived by the negative comments and reviews from these haters. Their complaints stem solely from the fact that the plot didn't align with their desired expectations. If the storyline were too predictable, it would result in a dull and unengaging experience.

1500 years of yearning, yet love's embers still glow. That's the spellbinding essence of this drama, where a man's devotion to his lost lover transcends time itself. It's a testament to pure love, beautiful in its rawness and heart-wrenching in its longing. Tears welled in my eyes more than once, especially during Han Ri Ta's hauntingly poignant flashbacks.

But the magic extends beyond the visuals. The soundtrack is a masterpiece, a tapestry of melancholy and yearning that perfectly echoes the story's bittersweet resonance, and its emotional impact is undeniable. It's easily one of the best this year, every note is a whisper of the characters' unspoken desires.

And the acting? Both leads deliver performances that are simply breathtaking, their raw vulnerability tugging at your heartstrings with every scene.

This isn't just a romance; it's an experience. If you're searching for a drama that will sweep you away on a tidal wave of emotion, look no further. This is a must-watch, a testament to the enduring power of love.

Read More

Interesting short stories only told at surface level, and a lack of understanding in AI

Okay, this movie is... weird. It feels like an incomplete draft with missing scenes, actually it's almost like they had shot a short series and edited the key scenes into a movie. There is not enough context and world building which makes it confusing. I get that the science fiction aspect of this movie is not its focus, but it really needed an extra 15-20 minutes at the start to properly explain how exactly this Wonderland service works. Like how are the AI characters programmed and what are they programmed with? There are so many ambiguities but they'll be spoilers. It's almost like the movie itself doesn't know the answers. I can't tell if the director is inexperienced in the sci-fi genre or they cut out those scenes because the basic foundation to make a coherent story wasn't there. At one point towards the end it was straight up a fantasy movie and not science fiction anymore lmao.

But then, I actually like the subject matter, the actors and parts of the movie especially in the first half. Most of the scenarios were actually interesting and complex -- but they weren't fleshed out at all. Which brings me to the point that this movie just has too many characters. Basically every story was only on surface level, some were just left hanging or abandoned. Suzy and Park Bogum's arc especially suffered from this, it needed way more screentime to be properly developed. I hate to say this but some of their parts felt half-baked and wasted their onscreen chemistry. Tang Wei on the other hand had the most complete arc and probably the most touching one.

It's a shame because I think if they expanded the material and went more in-depth for each arc, or removed all the arcs other than Suzy/PBG and Tang Wei's, it would have been way better. But alas the potential was wasted. Nonetheless, I think at the very least this movie can spark some interesting post-watch discussions.

Read More

CEO loses his memory and learns to experience emotions !

This drama is your somewhat cliche drama of the male lead losing his memory and the female lead pretends to be the financee, regaining memory . I must say the first half is quite slow and not very interesting!

Female lead use to be the student of the male lead( He was her instructor). He eventually becomes an investor of a company basically a CEO. The male lead is special because he doesnt experience any types of emotion. People think he is stone cold but doesnt know that his personality was due to trauma family incident. His ex fiancee couldnt get pass that he doesnt love her. Also in male lead's company the vice president/vice ceo tries to do the male lead dirty by trying to get hi injured in a car accident in Thailand.

Female lead is the secretary of her good friend's company. She is the one that deals with the business which so happens that the male lead's company is also interested. She follows him in Thailand to find him in an car accident. Male lead loses memory and the female lead takes care of him. During this time she knows there are still people after him , so she protects him !She lies and makes up stories about her relationship with the male lead. Honestly those episodes were quite boring. There was also flash backs to when she was a child and the interactions she had with her mom.

I stuck around because I wanted to see the cute lovey dovey kissing scenes!Honestly the intro song shouldnt put all the cute scenes in! It was a lot better when the female lead finally fell in love with the male lead. Man... where there some steamy kisses! Their relationship is super cute!

The storyline picked up fast after he regained his memory! It went in a good direction and a lot of the story flowed well! It was hilarious to see the ceo male lead kinda take revenge on the female lead for lying to him. It was cute that she helped cure him of his not being able to sense emotion! He fell in love with her again! So cute.

There were some side characters that was also the evil/annoying characters, but they didnt have too much screen time!Which is good, too much and this drama would of been complicated. However I felt some characters were kinda unnecessary, like her dad and older brother. I mean her dad was a cute dad who loved the daughter. They dont really have a good relationship until up to the very end.

I would recommend this drama but be ready to skip/forward the first half/ >_<

Love their chemistry, relationship , their kisses !

Read More

It's a disappointing conclusion to the 1st season, not through any fault of the actors or the production, but due to the omnipresence of censorship. It's aggravating to see such an awesome drama forced to re-write the entire last segment so that it would make at least some sort of sense after CC-scissorhand went through it. We can clearly see and hear where it had its scissor on. From mid-part onward, words started to not match the lip movement. A clearly sign the dialogs were re-recorded. The story flow suddenly became choppy. One scene didn't logically lead to another. Important clues seemed to fizzle away to oblivion. All were signs of re-editing existing footage to remove certain "offending" plot line.

I give the production kudos for effort, especially the special effects. They were awesome! They look so real, they merged seamlessly with the real world. I can honest believe that their world is real with all those stuffs in it.

Acting wise, 10/ 10. They cannot pick a better cast.

Read More

More than just the simple BL it appears to be

Story:
Wow, although I know that there have been various BL series where the couple adopt a son, this series took that theme to another level. I think it’s important that this is a Taiwanese series as Taiwan is the first and so far only (not counting Israel) Asian country to legalise same sex marriage and allow partial adoption for same sex couples. This series deals with some serious and prevalent issues that unfortunately many LGBT couples still face to this day, including homophobia, child bullying, and adoption as prime examples of this. It’s clear both Jerry and Damian don’t have supportive parents due to the simple fact that they are hiding their marriage and adoption from their families, and in episode 2 and 3 I understood why that was when watching Jerry’s mum. I’m honestly really happy to see LGBT dramas portray such realistic aspects of gay relationships, such as societal pressure and trying to come to a consensus with something both Jerry and Damian can agree on (in this case it’s having children). I love the fact that they dug deep into Kai’s confusion with having 2 dads instead of a mum and a dad, because it really shows the heteronormative society we live in where children are expected to have a mum and dad despite this fact not affecting anyone else except the family. Episode 5 was by far my favourite because it does such an amazing job to present the fear of coming out, especially to conservative parents which I’ve definitely had a lot of experience with. It was so heartwarming that their love could be accepted and I nearly cried at the final scene. Unfortunately episode 6 was when everything went downhill and they left it with a cliffhanger which will cause a lot of drama if a second season is made. I’m hoping that people uploading episodes illegally won’t affect the production from season 2, because I really need to know what’s going to happen now.

Acting/Cast:
—Melvin Sia as “Damian”- Melvin was such a great, natural actor. He has fantastic expression management and his acting is so natural and realistic, which I’m not surprised about knowing he’s already won several awards for his acting prior to this series. His interactions with his “son” and with Mike are so natural I could hardly believe this was the first drama where he played a gay character.
—Mike Lin as “Jerry”- Jerry is another amazing actor whose acting has such a natural feel to it and really draws you in. Jerry is definitely a very relatable character who just wants to travel the world and has such high aspirations yet, with a supportive partner, is still able to settle down while doing whatever he wants. In episode 5 he did an amazing job portraying the fears that those in the LGBT community still face to this day when coming out to close family members and friends. With Melvin I wasn’t surprised to see he was already a successful actor, but I was shocked that Mike is still so new to the industry, having only acted in 1 other series and 2 movies prior to this. Despite being so new he did an amazing job and I really hope to see him in future series too.

Music:
Other than the opening and ending there is nothing particularly memorable about it.

Overall:
A definite 9.5/10 for me. This may only be a short series, but despite its length there is a very strong portrayal of a married gay couple and their adoption, versus how those around them and society as a whole reacts to these connections. It’s definitely worth a watch but I would recommend avoiding the last episode until news of season 2 is officially announced, otherwise it’s going to be a very inconsequential watch.

Read More

Love confidently, a sweeter & lighter version of its original story

Before I begin my actual review, yes, FL & ML are non blood related step siblings. Though FL & ML knew each other as kids, they didn't grow up being raised together. It seems as if the parents married much later while the ML was abroad for many years. Even when he returns, it doesn't feel like a family dynamic. There are no family pictures with him at home nor does he have a room in the household. He speaks to FL's father, his mom's husband, like a neighborhood uncle & vice versa just like FL speaks to ML's mother as an auntie rather than a mom. Regardless, I know that it can still be weird for some (& I too would've preferred they didn't have that connection) so I wanted to clear that up for those that would feel uncomfortable watching.

When I first saw that this was a SITR remake, I wanted to stop watching as that drama left a bad taste on my mouth & I was worried this drama would do the same. However, though certain plot points were the same or similar, the feeling was entirely different. The tone of this drama stayed light, even when conflict was happening, and made this drama easy to watch. I think part of the reason was because of how the leads communicated & solved problems together rather than lying & attempting to do things on their own, like in SITR. Another reason is because of the way this drama was directed - it didn't have that dragging & dull feeling that SITR had nor unnecessary scenes of scenery & such. There were a couple of transitions from scenes that were choppy but nothing too jarring. As for the music, while it's nothing that I will go out of my way to make a playlist for, it sounded nice, there was different songs used, & they actually fit the scenes/drama. Basically, what I disliked about SITR was fixed here. The only thing that was better in SITR was the acting & the passion of the relationship, though I would say it actually works better here that they kept the relationship sweet instead. (Also, I'm only comparing it to SITR for those that are wondering how is this different from it.)

I was dreading having an overbearing horrible character like the SITR mother but, thankfully, there was none! While FL's father made me roll my eyes with his comments about her work & marriage & he crossed boundaries, he actually cared about FL & thought he was helping her. (No, that is not to excuse his actions but rather I was noting how I didn't get that feeling from the SITR mother.) His wife made a comment that his bark was worse than his bite & that accurately sums him up. He has reasonable reasons for objecting to her relationship but they have a heart to heart & he listens to her words & respects her decision. As for ML's mother, she was always on FL's side & supportive so that was great to see.

However I feel about the relationship, I liked that once FL made up her mind that she wanted to be with him (which didn't take too long) she stuck to her decision & didn't waver. (In SITR, even though they were loved up, FL gave the feeling of seeming not to be too sure or really not being on the same page as ML.) Their relationship made her trust in herself, as well as in him of course. She didn't hide things from him but was honest with him. Though they helped each other solve their individual problems, it never came across as them doing so because the other was helpless. They genuinely respected and believed in each other, which was a reason why they were able to stay strong, not breakup, & convince others of their love (her father really being the only one that they needed to convince.)

While the leads were cute, I will admit that I liked FL's friend, Yi Ran, & ML's boss, Chen Ye, more. I wish we would've gotten more screen time for them (they should've got Xiao Mian & Yi Bo's screen time). I think their story had potential to better be developed but it was okay as is & I quite liked seeing them together, especially with Chen Ye's son. As for the other couple, Xiao Mian was so annoying & a useless character so I didn't like her with Yi Bo. Yi Bo didn't need her as a lover when they could've only focused on his livestreaming career. Their scenes together were ones that I didn't care to watch.

Once the majority of conflict was solved, the last 6 episodes did begin to feel a bit like filler episodes - like they needed conflict to have content. It wasn't necessarily bad, nor was I bored, because that's when we got Yi Ran & Chen Ye together. I would say the only thing I didn't like that happened in those episodes was how they lowkey tried giving FL's ex a small redemption arc, but I didn't buy it & it didn't last long so it was whatever. Fans who loved SITR may feel a type of way that others like this version more but some of us prefer something that isn't as intense, doesn't have an unbearable parent character that brings down the show, & has an end that is more satisfying. So, if you didn't like SITR or dropped it, then I would say don't let that stop you from watching this version. I won't say this drama is the best but I think it's a drama worth giving a try if you have time & want something that is an easy binge watch. (In case you're wondering about my ratings regarding the acting/cast & the rewatch value, overall the acting wasn't excellent but it was okay enough for the characters they were playing & I rarely rewatch dramas so that's my standard score, unless I love/hate a drama then it will be higher/lower.)

Read More