Reviews

Enemies, Lies, Amnesia Bring Forth A Formidable Power Couple with Great Tacit Fighting Skills

This went into my Watchlist because of ZWY; after seeing him in LYF, I was wondering if he could be versatile. I was pleasantly surprised here. I know WCR from various other series and this was such a great character for her as well. I knew some of the other CP's and supporting characters from other shows. But though according to novel readers, it deviated significantly from the novel, I still found it a good watch. It had a little bit of everything; enemies, lies, amnesia, fake identities, palace intrigue, that ultimately brought forth a formidable power couple with nearly psychic tacit understanding and fighting skills.

Pros: I gotta say, that fight sequence in episode 40 with the leads in the jail against the antagonist's goons was my favorite part in the whole show. It showed that both flowed as one unit, uniting and parting; almost dancing together as they annihilated the enemy. The show originally stemmed from CXZ finding LMT who he thought was the leader enemy's concubine but in reality she was the actual leader of the enemy. But because after suffering a betrayal and severe injuries that left her with amnesia of her past 3 years of life, ML decided to use her as bait to draw out the rest of the enemy. This first arc, though it seemed to have gone on for far too long, was the calm before the storm and comedic at times. It made CXZ essentially and for real fall in love with her but each time he wanted to tell her the truth something got in the way. When her memories did return she of course was angry and betrayed and took it out on him. Though what he did wasn't right, who she really was and did before all that was worse so it made them even.

The other characters to love though all were flawed in their own way were ZY (who had a yen for LMT) but he was a morally grey protagonist. His story with the empress was absolutely the best and I think by the end it was clear he had feelings for her and let go of the past aka LMT like the empress told him to do which was beneficial for him. I loved how she finally stood up to her bullying family and greedy father who was also put in place by the emperor. Just those two couples, would have been enough. The third couple I'll mention below, though I liked ZQ on his own because he provided comedic relief and he didn't need to be part of a couple. Also Li Mama, Moru, the two maids, the shadow guard leader and the rest of them, were the best little family. CXZ's brother in the wheelchair was a great support system (and I'm glad that they didn't make him into the evil guy like in the book), mom needed to endure hardship to open her eyes to the real world and truth about those around her. But she too was a kind soul. Grand Empress Dowager was also a big plus especially towards the end. As were LMT's family like grandpa, uncle, and others. Also the CXZ's main guard and everyone who supported LMT as the "madam" of the house.

We knew who the ultimate antagonist was and it was just about getting rid of him that took the time because he had a lot of backers and corrupt officials under him but he was a believable villain throughout. The wedding was fun but too short in my opinion given how long the previous arc was. Should have been grander. Costumes, locations, and OSTs were all very good.

Cons: This series had the fastest palace coup in history; literally a black screen with words saying it happened and a new ruler aka ZY (heir to the throne as the late crown prince was his father) had taken the throne. This was one of several whiplashes I got from this show. The 2nd couple was probably one of the most unnecessary in any series; they had zilch chemistry and it seemed like they were forced together. Furthermore, the actress was miscast because she always plays highly intelligent, kind, and gentle roles but is never a pushover. Here she barely spoke up, created misunderstandings from her own incorrect deductions, pouted a lot, always had a long face and was too pompous for her own good though she was insecure as hell. I fast forwarded her as much as I could. They even stuck that CP randomly at the end of the series even though the way it was done stuck out like a sore thumb because after this massive event at the palace, without warning it cut to a scene of them in the woods digging for special soil and they announce wedding plans; another whiplash. They should have closed them out before that whole capital thing ever took place. Totally lacking in cohesion.

Next was probably the draggiest portion of the entire series where LMT was holding on to her grudge for way too long while CXZ did everything in his power to win her back. That arc took forever and everyone was exasperated by it because LMT though supposedly "softened" still treated him in a very harsh and cold way that had many of us cringing. Like get over it already! He has told you on multiple occasions that he sees you as his equal and will only marry you in this lifetime; what more do you need? She only panicked when her grandfather committed a faux pas and declined the engagement on her behalf. Once it was ironed out and they signed the wedding certificate she went from an ice cube to melted butter in five minutes and again it was incohesive. These transitions need to be smoother not whiplashing the audience around. It honestly made her look like she had multiple personalities while CXZ was being turned into a simp as he even got himself hurt for her to break off a stupid engagement (x2 in this series). I have no qualms about the actors themselves as they acted their hearts out but this is where novel material comes in real handy and screenwriters need to have their heads examined.

Two of the most unnecessary characters were the old bat aunt and cousin that was originally meant to marry CXZ. Only good thing about that old bat was that she finally made the Consort Dowager open her eyes to reality and stand up for her son and daughter in law. That was a very well deserved slap. Otherwise, they were a waste of space and time. The obsessed with ZY daughter of the villain, I couldn't stand but in the end her own obsession was their downfall so kudos to her for being that blind and dumb as a brick!

Would I recommend it? Yes; the cons notwithstanding, the acting was awesome, comedy just right, real love and connections as well as the amazing tacit understanding of the leads. That ending fight was one of the best choreographed in a drama that's not a Wuxia, I've seen. There it is!

Read More

Although (Nothing) Changes, The Last Wind Breezes By

First, I'm grateful to catch up on every single thing in this sequel. 'Nothing Has Changed, Unless We Do Something' pinpoints out that they're not doing this for nothing. They did, for the betterment of all generations' future, even include the next as well. All I can say for sure is that they exceed my expectations, that I thought "oh, they're still not disbanding DP?" and I felt relief to watch. It's all good. And for the best

And definitely... I'm awaiting for the final season. It's gonna be a trilogy one, surely. And that wind (stands for wish and hope in Hangul), will passes to the rightful ones

Read More

Victims of Domestic Abuse do not Watch!!

Let me preface this by saying that every single actor in this was on point. The writing was stellar, the characters had depth and flaws galore. They were so human and, at times, painfully so. I enjoyed the music and the pacing of the show was, as most others have commented on, slow but it was not to the point where it bored me. The complicated relationships between the sisters, the mothers and the dissection of family dynamics was very enjoyable to me as well as the romance aspect. There was a point though where I started caring less about the main character and growing more and more frustrated with her and her victim mentality. I really enjoy Park Min Young's acting and she played this character really, really well so this isn't a commentary on that. However the character arc and development of Hae Won was the most frustrating thing and in the end I can't say I felt good about how it ended or that I even liked her at all the way I did at the beginning. This has mostly to do with the ending episode and how she dealt with finding out the truth about her mother, aunt, and father. Also the way the show dealt with victims, sufferers of mental illness, and other subjects-- I was not about it. It almost seemed to glorify it in a way? Or twist it so it seemed like the victims fault. If you get to the end of this please, let me know what you think.

The following contains major spoilers and TW for mentions of domestic abuse.

I did like Hae Won's inability to forgive Kim Bo Young at first. I thought and still believe that it was justified. Kim Bo Young was in the wrong and should have apologized outright instead of saying it was just a 'mistake' it was truly a betrayal and the fact that the friend tried to turn it around as if she was the victim was ridiculous. That mistake was a monumental one which lead to Hae Won being made out to be a pariah in school. Hae Won was clearly depressed and needed therapy but I know that Korea and mental health is a touchy subject so I'll leave it at that. But Bo Young couldn't just apologize and own up to her mistake and on top of that we later come to find out that she believes herself to have been slighted by Hae Won...
However, the longer that conflict was drawn out I started to get a little... annoyed with the way these two resolved conflict in their interpersonal relationships. Hae Won especially began to seem cruel, cold, selfish, and unforgiving...unnecessarily so. A little hypocritical as well.

THE BIG ISSUE with Hae Won:
The way she dealt with finding out what happened between her father, mother, and aunt. I found myself thinking "guess she'd rather have been raised by her abusive father who killed her aunt (Shim Myung Yeo) and mother than the other way around." Was this fair of me to think? Probably not. I realize that she had been lied to, kept in the dark since that incident but when has she ever been forthright with her own secrets, trauma, and life? I never saw her have a conversation with anyone except Eun Sub about the way she was feeling or the things she was going through. So why does she get to expect that out of others? Her mother was so in the wrong, I get that, but she was a victim of domestic abuse and the drama, at least to me, tried to pin the blame on her. AS if she was at fault for being abused. "Why didn't you leave?" "I felt sorry for him." Anyone thinking that this means that she consented to being physical abused, please don't believe that anymore. This is how abuse works, it's insidious and it messes with your self views. A lot of abused people stay with their abuser for various reasons, that doesn't mean that the victim is not a victim anymore.
Further, the fact that, to my understanding, Korea would have locked up the Aunt for x amount of years for defending her own safety and the safety of a beloved sisters knocks me tf out. That man was swinging away at them, threatening them with violence and death and yet the mother was locked up for seven years and the sister felt guilty over killing the man. THEN add on top of all of that, after years and years of unresolved trauma and living in misery, when Hae Won finds out the truth instead of acting like a compassionate human being she basically tells her aunt that she's dead to her. For an accident. A mistake. Like a true mistake that disrupted all happiness for Shim Myung Yeo and she's been paying for it ever since but Hae Won takes that truth and does what with it? Acts like a total brat.

I would love, love someone to discuss this with me either in agreement or disagreement (respectfully) because I am completely blown away by how much this drama got me angry and upset by the end. What kind of commentary is that? What are we supposed to take away from this?

Read More

Context: I saw this with English subtitles at the Chicago premiere on March 14th. Yes, Yuki was there and it was awesome. I will keep the rest focused on reviewing.

A better Story synopsis: Ryo is a young man living in Tokyo, mourning the loss of his girlfriend, Yuri. 100 days after her death he goes to the Bar Houdini and receives a box from the former owner that he left earlier. With this box he remembers his girlfriend said a doppelganger of her lives in Hokkaido, and he seeks her out, learning magic along the way and unraveling a mysteries in love, doppelgangers, and the truth of the magician Ryo’s disappearance.

The summary does not fully do it justice since there is a LOT of material in this film. I was genuinely surprised given the weak summaries I have read elsewhere. I was surprised that Yuki has graduated from cheesy shoujo’s into this type of role, but very pleased with this development.

Additionally, the director of this film is Kwak Jae-yong best know for ‘My Sassy Girl’. Seeing this type of collaboration between Japanese actors and a Korean director was really interesting. It lead to a really unique type of filming and mood for the film that was fresh and interesting.

Acting/Cast: There are really only two main actors; Furukawa Yuki and Fujii Takemi. However, it is important to acknowledge the supporting cast. The supporting cast really helped flesh out the story, where the main actor were not the focus or we needed a break from them. With their help the story moved a lot more fluidly.

Fujii Takemi was a real gem. Her ‘duel’ characters as Aya and Yuki (I will leave it at that) was really stunning. There was a very eerie similarity but distinct difference between both characters and she pulled it off really well. I was not completely sold on every scene, but overall a very sold performance from her.

Furukawa Yuki stole the movie, and as the main character(s) he should. Even more striking, probably because of the bad mustache he had a true dualitiy between Ryu, and Ryo. Both characters have distinct motivations as the story opens but slowly they merge together in a wonderful and natural way. Not to mention he did all the scenes on his own, with minimal use of a stand in which, a lot of the later scenes, for sure takes a toll on the body. I sincerely applaud him in his progress and can’t wait to see what he does next.

Other Comments/Overall: I was a little taken aback by the use of English music in the film. I was expecting Japanese or Korean so at times on a personal note it was off putting. I really appreciate that the more mature themes were handled with dignity and respect. It was very appreciated. It was also really cool that most of it was shot on scene in Japan mostly Tokyo/Yokohama/Hokkaido. When this movie comes out, hopefully on Netflix or something, I would watch it again for sure. (And I rarely ever re-watch films) It was really well done and incredibly compelling.

Read More

some hits, mostly misses

if I had to pick, the ones worth watching, to me the episodes are from Star In My Mind, A Boss and a Babe, and Vice Versa. they give what I wanted from their series and then more. there was growth, some development to the characters, their stories, and, dare i say it, some actual entertainment.

The Eclipse episodes were half-assed at best in terms of the writing and it upset me a lot they were given some weak story filler that, being brutally honest, felt like a waste of both first and khaotung's time and efforts. i also wanted more from NLMG. their episodes were good, though the beginning just felt like a car ad (get that coin, boys), but it just made me wish for pondphuwin to get another series. i missed all of these characters a lot. the MSP episodes were just okay, it was basically a speedrun of the show with a new song + merch drop. didn't hate it, just was boring.

When it came to the ATOTS episodes, which were the ones i was really looking forward to, ignoring BBTS characters made it so much better. I personally found no charm to both stories getting put together like this, so I didn’t really care for the BBTS story at all. it felt like a waste of time having their episodes if they were just going to be flat as they were, time that i think we could've spent giving earthmix the flowers they deserve for acting in one of the best series gmmtv ever made. a positive is that i did like seeing drake and jimmy give us their ghost ship one last hurrah, but that was all for me.

either way, there’s not much in terms of being groundbreaking here if that’s what you’re looking for, it’s all a mess to some degree and a lot of wasted potential for some of the better series from this company. i do have to say that VV and ATOTS were the only ones that genuinely made me tear up. which leads into me harping onto how i hope that we get to see more of earthmix, they've truly become my favorite pairing within the general bl world.

Read More

The story evolves as the show goes on, nothing is as straight forward as it seems. It is very satisfying to see story plots and ideas shown in the early episodes come to fruition in the later episodes. Everything comes full circle, things that may have been dismissed in previous episodes as not that important comes to be important in later episodes.

The acting by every single person in this show is amazing. From Goblin we already know that Kim Go Eun is a fantastic actress but she is absolutely brilliant as Jeong Tae Eul in King.

As Lee Min Ho's come back drama after being in the military, this was a great show to showcase his acting skills, in the heartbreaking moments, you cry with him and in the more light-hearted scenes you laugh and just want nothing but happiness for his character Lee Gon.

Woo Do Hwan as both Jo Yeong and Jo Eun Sop, was amazing, before this, I had only seen him in The Great Seducer, in which he was amazing but he truly shines in the double role here. Absolutely deserves all the praise he is getting and I am now going to look into more of his dramas.

Read More

Cloudy with a chance of meatballs.

This highly anticipated movie has all the elements of a huge fantasy, suspense thriller hit: an unlikely bromance between a demon sympathizer and a demon hater; a powerful demon hiding in plain sight; a murder mystery and above all; a desperate conspiracy arising from an intense, obsessive love that risks all for a dream of eternity. It is beyond doubt a visual extravaganza that leaves viewers in no doubt of Guo Jingming's cinematic virtuosity. Unfortunately the production tries too hard to impress with technical pyrotechnics at the expense of good storytelling. As a result, the glowing magic circles and time portals that are allegedly knocked off from Marvel's Doctor Strange are over-used and characters are gratuitously transported to odd places; all unnecessary digressions for a ~2 hour movie.

Despite the lavish images and sensationally choreographed action scenes that culminates in an apocalyptic clash with a demon serpent, the plot is flimsy and the characters are unevenly developed. This is a pity because this is hardly the first adaption of the popular novel Onmyoji; I have to believe the story has more substance and the characters are better fleshed out than what was served up in this version. The evolution of the relationship between Qingming and Boya from distrust, even antagonistic to lasting spiritual bond could have been more convincingly developed with better dialogue. The cursory development of the other main characters, stiff performances and stilted dialogue devoid of clever repartee or banter results in a lack of any tangible rapport and chemistry between the broader cast. This makes it difficult to empathise with most of the characters and what should be a moving, obsessive love story. But it is at least more convincing than the bromance between Boya and Qingming. I believe both Mark Chao and Deng Lun put in a decent effort but the script and storytelling falls too far short, there is only so much the actors can do.

Instead of peeling away the layers of the mystery after an intriguing introduction, most of the plot is just simply and abruptly revealed all at once so that we can get back to more heavy duty action and cinematic fireworks. In the thick of the fray, the story tends to shift to flashbacks, which would be frustrating if I am actually gripped by excitement. But even the climax of the action lacks intensity; there is no impending sense of doom or imminent danger. Boya and Qingming are just standing around chatting casually as if a gigantic demon serpent is not about to end everything. They are so lacking in a sense of urgency they could be discussing the weather forecast - "...cloudy with a chance of meatballs " while sipping beer. I never watched Doctor Strange so I have no view of whether some of it was plagiarised here but I have watched enough Marvel to know that the spirit and ethos of what makes the Marvel fantasy universe so enthralling is markedly not present in this movie. Anything that may or may not have been stolen is definitely in form over substance. All the ingredients for a good story are present but without even knowing the novel, I can already tell that the drama does not capture the essence of the original plot and characters. This sets a low bar for the Chen Kun version that premiers in a few days to beat.

Overall this is a decent watch for the visuals alone. I found many parts of it dull and draggy where it should have and could have really pulled me in. It is best watched in a group, whether virtually or in person. I rate this a 7.0 overall - I actually think its a 6.0 but I threw in 0.5 for the crowd pleaser shots of Deng Lun's cut upper torso (please PM me if you have his personal trainer's number) and another 0.5 points because my kiddie nieces really liked it and they always know better than I.

Read More

What a fantastic drama! It was definitely of of the best I've watched, not one of my ultimate favorite but still it was really well done.
From the not predictable story which is really rare to do with k-dramas because you generally always know how it's going to end; to the superb acting done by everyone, especially Kim Myung Min (he will for me be one of the best male performance in drama this year with Lee Sun Kyun and Ji Jin Hee). Not to forget the OST that mixed really well with all the scenes!
I don't give it a 10 because this drama had a little problem, like some people said in the comments, there was a little disappointment with one of the character story turn, he was quite important in the beginning because we saw him quite often but after we didn't saw him at all, so I was like why did they introduce this guy to us if at the end they don't even matter?? (people who watched it will know about who I'm talking).
I don't think everyone can like that kind of drama because a lot of people prefer to watch basic rom-com with young actors most of the time (and ofc I like it too), but I wish people would watch it, not many did thought it was really really good! If you like family, romance, fantasy and funny-tragedy (I don't know if this exist) you will really like it.

Read More

I probably won't see it agin but it was very nice to see...

This is a drama worthy of it's name showing the fear and struggle with the questions:
Will I see you again, did I see you again, do I actually want to see you again... Will the Yellow umbrella insure that I see you again...

As most of the characters are very lovable and fun to watch there are those that truly do make you wonder if you want to see them, on screen off screen in the past or in the present... The one character that is annoying na oddly/poorly written is probably the villain, which is kind of a drag and does drag down the score of this otherwise pretty good drama.

Hu Yi Tians performance here was lovely, even though he has a lot of lines he does seem to keep his mysterious cold side giving me a lot of gif material of him drinking coffee, drinking liquor, drinking boba,,, with a lollipop in his mouth, smiling...

The female lead is also pretty decent fun, a bit naive at times but no too naive, creative, bubbly... a person that can stand on her own even if she is poor. Showing us a drama where the writers both seem to have met a woman or two and actually seem to like them... All very lovely indeed.

The side characters (except for one of the villains), do their part well, they show great friendship (but not the annoying type) are a first for the eye, and though some scenes do come off as a bit stupid they do seem to make up for it as it goes a long... That said I do think they could have cut this one down to 24 episodes if they tried, as some parts just felt meeh or unnecessary, that said I do think they did a pretty decent job showing fear, toxic obsession, the difference between love and obsession, the difference between healthy fear and complete panic in fear of loosing some one as well as how that fear can paralyse a person... Not always fun to watch but well shown.

There is also some kind of boy that cried wold feel to it, as they do seem to put the audience to the test of how many times can a person disappear, the other panic and then show up again before the audience gives up and wished the male lead gone... (sorry).

There were several times where I wonder how the *** are they going to wrap this up, and without giving away anything I am willing to say they actually did a decent job with the last episodes, giving us an ending that almost makes sense... As much as a love story between a dude in the 30s and 2018 can make sense,


Also the umbrellas, clothes and cinematography in this was off the charts gorgeous... a bit to much slow mo... but oh so pretty
Deffientely a drama that was fun to watch, not a masterpiece and far from perfect but gif friendly and a joy for the eye...

Read More

A good love story with a great additional cast and many memorable moments

I remember the first episode of this series really annoyed me. Rival sons, rival dads, school AND tennis (yawn), I thought OMG too much cliche. Personally I find tennis THE most boring sports to watch there is. So it hit me with VERY adverse conditions.
That said, now in hindsight, I felt like this was one of the great series of the season, and Teshow and Ping are both great new discoveries especially with Teshow having his first MC role and I think first BL, I forsee a great career for him. I hate to say it, but he clearly shone out the most in the series. There is a bit that comedic element when you have seen the dads being so many dads and uncles by now, but then for them I am glad they have their steady income. It's still weird when you have seen them as evil dads, uncles and whatnot so often now. XD

Despite being not the first rival to lovers series and a sports added I am not interested in, the development of the characters, their love and the surrounding characters was all well made and fit good into a greater story. The plus side of the "nasty dads" was, they never were against their sons being gay, which was a happy change for one, so it was easy for me to see not a 100% turnaround but some sort of progress to coexistence and supporting their sons. We got good visuals, the sidecouple BoatKong could have had a bit more development (teacher Kong looks so handsome ^^), but then there is always the question what to spent time on, MC or SC, and in this case I guess it was best to push fully on the MC, especially given they are still both more or less new. Given what is so oddly called the "facecard" I wasn't surprised the followers of Teshow, now to the industy, really blew up rising during the show. He just has this natural charisma which is difficult to "learn".

Anyhow, I felt in the end the series did all things right, bringing a fresh air into a well know plot type and still feeling well and not boring at any moment, playing out a wide arrangement of emotions and situations. Espeically, unlike a number of BL series, Bay and Sun were "normal" and believable characters, one you could imagine to be real "like you and me", and not weird over the top caricatures. While not one of the totally sensational all time remember hits, I am confidentaly rating it a

9/10
Great career start, we hope to see more!

Read More

Definitely one of 2013's most underrated dramas. "All About My Romance" was actually quite refreshing to watch, since a lot of the dramas I've been watching have had melodrama tenancies in them, this one was definitely a good break from all the heartache and stress. It had the perfect balance of comedy and romance, while incorporating some political matters into the drama.. Speaking of the whole "politics" theme, I was a bit skeptical on how I would react to the cute and light romance colliding with the more serious debates of politics. However, while watching this drama there were never any parts I felt like skipping over. The writers did a pretty good job in making sure that the 1st episode really pulled you into the entire show, and while I will admit I found the politics scenes a bit uninteresting, I continued watching this because of the incredible "laugh-out-loud" moments and (I have to say it) the romance scenes that at some points left me giddy.

I loved the casting for this drama. I've seen quite a few of Lee Min Jung's dramas/films and I've previously watched Han Chae Ah, Gong Hyung Jin and Kim Jung Nan's dramas, so I was excited to see a cast I was well familiar with. And I absolutely loved Shin Ha Kyun's acting.. He may not have been your basic eye-candy, but with skills like that you can't complain. And his character did turn out to be one of those characters you just fall in love with because they are the way they are. When it comes to the certain character's traits, I wasn't a fan of Han Chae Ah's character. Not because she was an obstacle in the main couple's relationship, but because of how the writers wrote her out to be. This is just my opinion, but I found her character to be quite pathetic and petty at times, excluding some of her comedic relief in the drama, but I think the writers could have gone a slightly different route with her character instead of making her out to act like basically a jealous teenager who couldn't get the man she loved. But I will admit, her character did change quite a bit even helping the lead's relationship towards the end, so in the end all was well.

The OST was pretty good as well. Cute and upbeat songs that you might possibly find yourself singing along to over time. Overall I recommend this drama if you're searching for a cute and bubbly rom-com to watch. Don't let the politics matter psych you out.. I guarantee you'll see this drama's value as you watch more episodes!

Read More

Do not miss this if you enjoy this type of drama: Friends, Family, Career, Romance

This drama is so so so so so bingeable. The whole cast is perfect, the acting, the storyline. I adore Tamia Liu since Nirvana in Fire, and she really does not disappoint here. Strong female lead as usual. I usually watch period pieces but gave it a shot because of Tamia Liu. From the beginning, I could not wait to see the next one. It shows the prejudice in the workplace, the pressures of society, the depths of depression, and how each struggle to survive in their life. I find it highly inspirational and hope more and more people watch this gem. It is an adult drama, not the high school love type (which I enjoy as well) but as an adult in the workplace, and those of my friends who are new mothers, it is highly relatable, sometimes infuriating, and always interesting.

Read More

Highly entertaining and fun based on a movie called MacArthur's children 1984 which was watanabe's debut, this movie was a good remake and I loved it.
The story starts during the world war 2, in a small island in Japan far away from all the war, the only thing they know about war is that some of the young men on the island get chosen to serve in the army, and the little propaganda speeches they hear on the radio, the story moves on quick to when Japan was defeated in 1945.
The movie is about how the lives change after the defeat and how many things change from the point of view of war heroes who became war criminals after the lose, the students (10 year old) who lost their parents during the war, and the scary rumors about the Americans that was spread between the students.
The students and island people start moving on and adapting to good changes and go through life by sharing their love to a team sport newly introduced to them (baseball)
All these changes were perfectly narrated in this 2 hour long beauty.
Emi takei plays the role of the elementary teacher,
Movie quotes
"When dad died a gracious death in battlefield, he turned into a toothbrush"
"If you don't come back alive I'll be left hopeless"
http://kissasian.com/Drama/Setouchi-Shonen-Yakyu-dan/Full?id=30487

Read More

all my senses tell me I'm attracted to you

Let me just say. This drama feels more like a film project than a kdrama, and that is all meant in the best way.

I can't emphasize enough just how aesthetically pleasing this show is. The cinematography right off the bat is stellar, this drama simply isn't shot like any other k drama. It is done in a way that emphasizes scenes to be more intimate, intense, vulnerable, etc. With two episodes alone, and even with a first few seconds to the opening alone I can tell how every scene, every look, every thing is intentional in this drama. All the way around this drama is impressive because of that. I feel a lot of time and care because of how good the cinematography is, it feels intentional and that because the scenes and camera shots are.

For example of these scenes where it really shines is the shower scene, the changing room scene... I would get into them but I could go on and on all day.

This is just me telling you I feel bad for you if you don't watch this drama. It came out of no where it seems but it has a great start to it.

The acting is done so well and feels natural. The chemistry is so intense that I find myself holding my breath with most scenes between the two leads. Especially from the freshman, Ji Hyun. This is his first drama and he fits this role so well that I am watching without telling myself it is acting. It feels so natural and real, and Jae Won is the same. I can tell they both are attracted to each other, and I will see how they get together....... there is a lot I'm anticipating for this drama...

This is just a short and sweet review telling people to watch. This show I don't see as a BL, meaning to me it doesn't have the tropes and isn't selling itself out just because it is two males who will be together. This drama is like any other and is honestly better than most long k dramas I've seen. I don't even know what genre to call this other than excellent.


Let me just talk about the shower scene to emphasize how well done this show is:

So it is Jae Won's attraction that tells him to go. He isn't aware exactly what kind it is yet, but he wants Ji Hyun to shower with him and it gets across why pretty clearly.

The fact he tells Ji Hyun to come over tells me he is growing aware of how different his feelings are for him at this point. He tells Ji Hyun what is he going to do in the military if he is shy between them. To him they are both men, but also Jae Won just got out of the military. He just got done having no problem showering with other men, but now with Ji Hyun there is a problem. As soon as he realizes this he just leaves, and I found it so interesting because he was acting so confident before.. when he wasn't. I really thought the idea of him bringing up the military was so brilliant because it tells several things at once, it's efficient. That is why this drama doesn't drag on right now. It doesn't have to tell you in your face that Jae Won is curious and is getting confused about his feelings for Ji Hyun, because you feel them with him.
You are confused to why he would leave and can pick up on the fact that he is sort of being a hypocrite as he has been in the same positions like showering with others before. He is calling out himself really like he's trying to deny it.

I also really liked the scene of them walking across the shoreline together. Ji Hyun matched his steps with Jae Won's and that shows he pays attention to him and again begs the question why? It is curiosity I wonder how far that curiosity will take the both of them.


:

Now to sum it up... I really need a continuation of this story. It is amazing as a standalone, but there is so much potential that has been set up in this season that can be continued upon. I think the creators are aware of the demand and am anticipating any continuation from them and everyone involved.

Watch this show as a melancholic romance. It has mellow vibes and isn't campy, but it has its fun moments. It isn't over satirized on one way or the other. It's realistic, moving, thought provoking, and smart.

Read More