Reviews

sunshine/softie, friends-to-lovers, crush, bisexual identity, out gay, rich/poor

BL grew up with this one - a truly lovely and special little show featuring the extremely rare pairing of sunshine/sunshine AKA the cinnamon roll couple. Mature explorations of relationships using one of the softest, sweetest and most innocent friends to lovers vehicles.

Delayed from 2020 from LineTV My Ride has been fraught with production issues but worth the wait. Screenplay by Fluke Teerapat (AKA Wad in SOTUS & Golf in My Bromance) and featuring most green actors, it was a well-paced story with well-drawn characters that shone. Endearing. And I really liked the general earnestness.

Kindly overworked doctor Tawan meets broken-hearted dimpled motorcycle taxi driver Mork in an “other side of the tracks” romance. Also featured a sunshine/tsundere (young/older) doctors side couple, and even a pretty good het relationship side couple with Tawan’s bestie and a local barista.

With great friendship groups, family dynamics, and support cast this show reminded me a bit of Nitiman (in a GOOD way & non-university) only better because the courageous storyline never wavered. We got to watch Mork & Tawan meet and slowly fall in love with each other first as genuine friends, and only later as lovers. It’s quiet, and all the drama feels genuine not manufactured, coming from previous relationships. So we watch these two support each other and build a foundation together, even though they don’t yet realize it themselves.

With older gay rep, in the form of Mork’s uncles (the Gay Advice Dads trope - so vitally queer and so underused in BL), casual references to things like having to care for his alcoholic brother’s child, and coping with being the “other man”, these are grown ups with complicated lives and a adult problems. And yeah, both Mork and Tawan are a little beaten down by the world, but both of them are trying hard and willing to fall in love again, even as they don’t realize it’s happening.

This is a sweet slow burn romance, so all we get are a few tentative kisses at the end, but I still consider it an unexpected gem. With honest queer rep that adds to, but doesn’t impede the story and genuine conversation about the nature of class, wealth, and classism, not to mention communication, honesty, and respect for boundaries, you can’t go wrong with this show. It is, for my money, the best Thai BL pulp we’ve ever gotten.

In other news, I’m a sucker for a single dimple.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Read More

Love at first F***

He f*** a ghost and he liked it...

This is the very short story of the selfish guy who wanted to own another guys body and the sweet kind guy whos body the selfish guy wanted to own + the very fine ghost who was caught between them.

Mr Selfish most probably lonely, two faced hottie acted all kind and all but is actually dark and evil deep inside as he puts a curse on the man he wants to own... And well he does that part really well he does seem sweet, we do get the feeling that mr sweetheart really trusts him and likes him as a friend and he does not come off as evil in anyway. He uses this position to curse him, however the details of the curse are kind of foggy and not very well executed so adding 10 minutes or so to clarify the curse part would have been good.

It is however clear that the curse backfired as it seems to have become love at first f*** for the ghost and everybody's sweetheart instead of whatever mr evil was aiming for... As there is little dialog between mr. ghost and mr. sweetheart most of their screen-time together is very naked and very sexual...

I am not going to say that this short film is tastefully made, good or the type to bring out the thirst in you. It is more of the funny type of sexual content and pretty entertaining at times as well as slightly odd, dark (literately) and different than what I have seen before.

Definitely an indecent watch...

Read More

There are better ways to waste your time

This drama is a mess. And I tried, I really tried, to give it the benefit of the doubt and watch to the very end. But in the end, all I ended up doing was wasting 16 hours of my life. I'm sure you'll see plenty of reviews like this, so I do want to mention the very, VERY few good aspects of the show as well to be fair.

The first 2 or 3 episodes were actually pretty good and I can easily see how the jumbled up pieces of it could have been turned into a really solid drama if it had a much better writer and director. The actors were all good, it was the roles that they were given that created all of the problems we saw and not the actors themselves. What stood out to me in the first episodes was how some things were handled. HBS finding out about OJI's circumstances with her mother was done well. Despite how poorly they got along at that time, he stopped everything to help her get to her mother even while not fully understanding what was going on. It may seem like common sense that you would help someone in a tough situation like that, but it's surprisingly not handled that well in most dramas. Another thing I have to give it props for was the arguing, oddly enough. In the beginning. Not after the stupid break-up episodes. But at the start, when they started to fight there weren't any big blow-ups where one would storm out or OJI would tell him to leave. They worked through it, maybe not amazingly but better than most fights in dramas. So again, props to that. There were some things like these that were handled nicely. In the beginning. And never again.

The drama after the first 2 episodes had no plot. Nothing, not even one bit. The characters would just lamely wax poetics at each other for 20-40min of an episode, we'd get the really annoying side couples to pop in and waste time, an unnecessary love triangle was thrown in to, again, pad run time, and then we had the cliche 'I'm breaking up with you to protect you' mini arch that was about where I had to start skipping through. And I never skim dramas. Usually even the worst trash I'll sit through, but I just couldn't.

The 'disappearing' aspect of the show was both stupid and unexplored. It isn't the first time a drama has given a character who has died or was going to die a second chance with a time limit to do things over and set things right before they leave. Off the top of my head, I can think of Please Come Back, Mister (which had a lot of problems of its own, but wasn't as bad as this) and Miracle That We Met (which doesn't have a time limit but is close enough that I think it could fit). While neither is a perfect show and has problems too, they at least had a plot. They had plot, they had character growth, and they were entertaining, even if some aspects were frustrating. They were watchable. But with Ladylord, after being hit, HBS spends so much time not even fully realizing the situation. It's only around the halfway mark that he even understands that he's going to just... pop out of existence. Which is weird to me. I don't know why they didn't just have him die 49 days later. I guess then they wouldn't have been able to do those weird 'disappearing' scenes... which probably would have been better for the drama anyway. But no, his biological father is apparently an angel there to tell him that doom is at his doorstep and 49 days from now - poof! Gone. Like magic.

That's the problem with the drama. Well, the biggest problem. Nothing is thought out and everything is haphazard. Instead of focusing on the plot and the details of what is happening, it gives us scene after scene of the leads being 'cute' together that amount to nothing long-term. It feels like the writer and director didn't actually care about what was going on with the show or whether their audience enjoyed it. The angel is seen only, what, 3 or 4 times throughout the whole series? The end game is an afterthought. The supernatural aspect of the show never should have been added to this drama because they weren't willing to flesh it out enough to make it a real part of the plot. It was just a consequence. It's just like how the step-father was so heavily in the early episodes and then after the mom found out, they just didn't need him anymore and it was like he never existed in the first place. And it doesn't even matter because he was just playing a cartoon villain anyway.

The writer didn't bother trying to make this drama good. I really feel that there was no effort put into the script at all beyond maybe the initial set-up. They should have tried to add a plot to the characters' everyday lives instead of these one-off instances of drugging and abduction, a dating scandal and a random accusation of plagiarism that came out of nowhere and left into nothing. Their lives had no structure. And it's not like structure can't be added with plots like these (I use 'plot' very loosely here) because we've seen it done in plenty of others. There are really amazing cohabitation dramas. Heck, Lee Min Ki himself was in one that was done really well! And there are plenty of great supernatural dramas out there, too. There are dramas dealing with a character's last days/months alive, there are ones that deal with a second chance of life after death, and most of them are better than this.

I'll stop there before I get more depressed over my wasted time. I've never said this about a drama before, but don't watch it. Don't even try. It's not worth it. The few positive points I mentioned disappear a few episodes in anyways.

Read More

Never thought I would find a drama about boxing so interesting…

Story- It’s about loss, finding love through that loss, and forgiveness. Really well written in that, the writers managed to balance the love-lines and boxing theme. There wasn’t a single episode where I felt bored and the episodes flew by fast. There were some things that I didn’t like about the story though. This includes all the scenes involving the CF President (obsessed with the female lead character) and also all the angst in the second half of the drama. I really really wish they had only a few episodes where the main female character can’t forgive the male lead character. You have to make it through to the very end before forgiveness/reconciliation occurs. The ending wasn’t bad but it was kind of disappointing for what the writers made us go through with all that angst.

Acting/Characters- Shin Min Ah was perfect and her character development was interesting. She starts out as a likable character but halfway through her character changes physically and emotionally, and not for the better. And Can I just say how awesome Joo Jin Mo is?! He is a versatile and phenomenal actor. I’ve seen him in so many things and this character is just so different and out of the box for him. I seriously loved his character because you could tell he loved the main female so much and my heart kept breaking for him during all the scenes the main female character showed her hatred for him. The other main male actor (who seriously is no rival) was just awful. His lack of acting skills and the fact that the writers made his character so unlikable just made his scenes (unfortunately he has a lot) unbearable to watch. His character wasn’t even that evil but he had no redeeming qualities and I had no sympathy for him at all. I mean he doesn’t even give up the female lead till the very end! He is pathetic and just a worthless character who didn’t offer anything to the drama. On a different note, the supporting cast was perfect. I liked that the writers gave the supporting cast prominent roles and I enjoyed the love triangles of the female lead’s 2 female friends.

Music- Matching angsty music but also has Christina Augielera’s “Stronger” as a running theme which matches the boxing theme of the show.

Rewatch- I am going to rewatch this cause the acting was really good but not for a couple years cause of the high angst.

Overall Punch plays like an extended top quality sports movie. Whether you like sports themed dramas or not you will be able to watch this. Your enjoyment of the drama might dwindle towards the last quarter though, because the female lead character becomes really unlikable and there are misunderstandings and too much angst!

Read More

It’s beautifully made and performed drama with unpredictable plots and comedy twist. Exciting!

It’s refreshing, it’s different in a good way but yet an epic historical drama! Love it!

Court lady is a perfect combination of a classic historical drama with amazing and vivid details setting of inspired the Tang Dynasty; with a good balance of comedy vibe and impressive natural acting from the lead cast (Xu Kai and Li Yi Tong are adorable together!) as expected; and surprisingly the main supporting cast as well (e.g. Tan Jianci; and another adorably cute couple, Kris Fan and Wu Jiayi) which are the plus plus of this drama. They are a picture perfect of young people life with their love and life trials. The comedy is hilariously fun and the love is cleverly romantic but not cheesy and not over the top. So far, it makes me smile a lots and makes make happy watching it :-). However, I also was super excited to watch the built-up conflicts which I believe that would be happening sooner or later as the story progressing in historical drama to test the in depth acting of each of the characters. Oh well, Li Yi Tong and Xu Kai are the guarantee of great acting and never disappointment. Thus, I suspected that it’s going to be a fantastic journey to watch despite of whatever the ending would be. It’s historical drama, so of course there would always be painful scenes which I couldn't wait to watch. Then, my wishes came through. Since the ending theme was started to change from ep 28, the painful scenes have started pilling up. That’s actually got much more interesting to watch and I was hooked to the sweet ending.

My final verdict, Court Lady surely is one of the most interesting historical/political drama to date. The unpredictable story line with cleverly comedy twist and amazing cast and acting have made this drama refreshingly exciting, lighter but yet epic historical drama. Many complaining about the surprising plots and deaths. Well, how many good characters in a master piece tv drama like Game of Throne were killed unexpectedly?! Court lady is beautifully made and performed drama with brilliant story line and characters development. I just hope they make more than 55 eps to make the plots flowing in perfect pace (which I’ve heard it’s not possible now based on new rule in china, hence, it’s made shorter). But, the crew and cast has done amazing job already! So yes, Court Lady is definitely a must-watch one now! The production, story, cinematography, music, cast and acting are worth your time! It is one of the most exciting drama to watch by far; not as heavy as other historical dramas but it’s still epic. Highly recommended!

Read More

I'm a big fan of the Korean version "Miss Granny" (2014), so when it was announced that a Japanese version was being made, I was completely extasiatic! I followed the casting news, the release of the first poster, the trailers etc. So today, I FINALLY had the chance to watch the movie for the first time, and I must say it didn't disapoint me.

Tabe did a fantastic job as "Setsuko"/Katsu. Sometimes you would cry with her, other times laugh at her and even be angry with her. PLUS: her character had a great sense of fashion, I want to buy all of her clothes, haha.

The musics were amazing, as expected. I liked especially the last one (loved the lyrics). The OST will be a must on my ipod.

Read More

I couldn´t believe this movie has no review. I think it´s underrated, so I decided to write one.

Regarding the story, its a light mixture of melo and comedy, I would rather say it´s more melo. It problematizes the life of those less happy ones, who are imprisoned in mental institution due their illnes. Have they the right to live their own lifes behind the walls of these institutions, if they are harmless for society, despite of the resentment of their own families? May they find their happiness out there? Isn´t the society to unjust and overflown with prejudices to them? These were some of the questions which cropped up in my head, while I was watching this movie.

The cast was from the beginning guarantee of great acting, especially Kim Soo Mi and Lee Sang Woo.

I have to disappoint those seeking action in this movie. The movie is more focused on the inner lifes of the movie characters, so it seems sometimes more static or slow. Despite of this fact, it remains great and worthy to watch, cause it has got its own unique depth.

Read More

For anyone who likes to watch Gourmet channels and/or Travel shows, this would be highly enjoyable and recommended. It doesn't really have a plot: Goro-san has a job that is related to importation goods, so he goes here and there to meet his clients. That takes around 3 minutes of the show. Then he walks down the neighborhood where he is visiting, makes some remarks about the place, while we the audience can enjoy beautiful sights of the Japanese town. There are mostly in Tokyo, but he also visits the outside, like Chiba. That takes around 3 minutes as well.

Then, he suddenly stops and makes a funny expression. "Ah... I am hungry". Zoom out, zoom out, with a funny OST. This happens all the time, and after that, he goes looking for a restaurant/dining, which is mostly a familiar, cozy, simple one. He orders his food.. it is always different, but 99% of the time, one of his side dish would be rice. Goro-san loves rice (there is an episode where he even eats his Neapolitan spaghetti with rice!). Actually, he loves any kind of food. He is the happiest man on Earth when he is eating. While he is eating, internally he is commenting about his food. ""Ii janaika", is mostly his remark XD He loves it, he is so happy to have picked THAT place and THAT food. And how he eats! You wonder how such a skinny man can eat so much and be that thin. Sometimes he orders 2, 3 different things. And he eats so fast, even when the food is super hot.

The last 3 minutes is the author of the dorama going to the same dining and eating almost always the same food. My, how happy his author is! You can't help but be happy with him, he is 100% smiles.

I loved this, I realized I had to have my dinner first before watching an episode, since all dishes are mouthwatering.

Recommended specially to people who is going to visit Japan and are looking for places to eat. The restaurants Goro-san visits are real; the rest are all actors.

Read More

SHALLOW & MEANINGLESS

This dating-reality-show drama is an example of what happens when there's sensuality without romance, because the kissing is great but there's NO romantic chemistry, butterflies 🦋 or story-depth. It all just felt shallow and meaningless.

True to K-drama production quality, the filmography and sound is good, especially for a vertical short. However, the script was uninteresting and the pacing was too fast. Everything felt one-dimensional. The characters didn't have scenes with sufficient self-reflection and the acting was so-so. Most of the characters seemed kind of flat, except for the FL's ex-boyfriend. He had *some* expression, but then why at the end did he seem unfazed that the girfirend he'd been pining for the whole drama, ultimately picked another guy? The FL herself didn't even seem like she was interested in ANY of the guys, and the one she decided on at the end was kind of mean.

Well, there's a first for everything. Out of the hundreds of K-dramas I've seen, this is my first GARBAGE K-drama. There was bound to be one.

Read More

The series long awaited and we all needed

Like the title says this series is the one that made us wait a few good months, but that was not for nothing. I've already fallen in love with this series concept back in 2019 when the 1st trailer was released. Literally everything from the story through the music to the cast intrigued me. We have waited quite a long time until we got the 2nd trailer of this series. It was slightly different, but the most important was that the series was said to finally happen. Then the release day finally has come...

Going into the 1st episode I was freaking excited. After it finished I was totally enchanted by every aspect of it. The plot was smooth and at the same time detailed. I felt that my expectations were met and kept my hopes up for the remaining episodes. As the plot had gone further I could feel totally involved in this story. The scenes following each other made every time sense without having any unnecessary scenes (okay maybe just one scene but that's only one out of hundreds). I don't want to spoil the ending of the series but it is was executed PERFECTLY. To see me getting emotional while watching a series is quite rare and the last episode made my tears flow quite frequently. Wonderful job P'Aof! That's why I want to give this series a perfect 10 for the story telling.

I think we all will agree that the chemistry that Earth (Chief Phupha) and Mix (Tian) had was one of the best that a Thai series ever served us. Of course the fact that they knew each other for a long time beforehand and that Earth recommended Mix for the role of Tian is the main factor for the chemistry. What matters is that they managed to get into the role despite their characters in real life. First of all, we have Mix who played Tian. No one would be able to handle Tian's role the way Mix did it. It was his debut and he nailed every single scene. He put his whole heart into acting as Tian and it totally paid of the effort. On the other hand there's Earth who portrayed Chief Phupha in an amazing way. At first cold and bossy he kept on getting warmer towards Tian. The way he kept being serious throughout most of the time and smiling once in a while in an episode made me totally feel the role he played. Such a lovely and non-toxic relationship growing episode by episode. Also shoutout to the actors who had amazing supporting roles and the kids who did great job. I have to give them all a 10 for their HUGE effort.

Music made me feel every time so good. The OST did fit very well in the trailer. I'm very glad they picked such good songs for the whole series. I'm very happy that the actors took part in it as well. Both Earth and Aye did great job covering the song. Actors should always have some cover or a song and I'm glad to see that often in Thai series. Also shoutout to Earth playing klui which was very comforting. Furthermore, the song "Lom" (Wind) in episode 10 made me cry instantly. It fits so damn well there! The only thing I regret is that they didn't use the song from the 1st trailer at all. That's why I have to cut off a half star so the music gets 9.5/10.

To be honest, it's hard for me to tell anything about rewatch value. I love this series the most of all the series, but it's just too early to elaborate on that. I'm certainly gonna rewatch it soon, but I don't know when. This series is PURE and with this word I want to end my review.

PS. I certainly want to recommend this series to everyone who want to watch something genuine, educational and beautiful to the core as an escape from our reality.

Read More

A PLEASANT SURPRISE

Until We Meet Again is the best BL series created till date. In this 10-page essay I shall...

Just kidding, I'm not going to write 10 pages even though my mind is clouded with an overbearing number of emotions right now. This review isn't even going to be coherent but it's going to act as an archive for my thoughts for when I want to convince friends to watch this.

Story - 10/10 for a great plot, amazing writing and for connecting loose ends perfectly. Every character had a part to play and helped the story progress in their own way. What started out (to me) as a cute little fluffy show with cooking interludes turned into a full fledged character development journey showcasing the healthiest relationship in BL I've ever seen.

Their relationship impressed me so much. P'Dean is not your typical "top" BL lead. He respected the boundaries set by Pharm, is communicative and shows how much he cares for Pharm through his words and actions. He respected him when he said he needed a break. Same goes for Pharm. After nearly a decade of being plagued by nightmares, they became each others' safe place. I pray that I have a relationship that's as healthy as DeanPharm.

I would like to thank the writers for acknowledging the existence of homophobia and the effect it has on teenagers. All the other shows either don't focus on it at all or brush it aside after talking about it for a few minutes. But the way it was portrayed in this show was relatable to be in so many ways and as a queer person, it made me happy to see a BL drama which was more than fanservice-filled moments catering to a fujoshi/fudanshi audience. A gay relationship isn't going to be sunshine and rainbows. Thank you for showing that.

I would also like to thank the writers for not portraying female characters as a tool for making the MCs jealous or as their crazy exes or merely people who fetishise gay couples and so on. Positive light on all female characters? Who would have thought this day would come?

Pacing - 9.5/10. When I first heard that this series had flashbacks and present time scenes shown back to back, I didn't want to watch it and this is the only reason I postponed watching this for so long. I expected it to be messy and confusing but it wasn't. The time skips were shown in a very clear manner and didn't leave me bored.

Acting - 9/10. I'm not sure why I'm rating this as 9/10 instead of 10/10. Perhaps it's because Dean had three expressions most of the time - anger, shocked grief and whipped (Honestly same.) Not saying his acting was bad or anything though. Most of the scenes required him to act whipped anyway. Pharm's acting was great too. The sub cast's acting was so-so but Dean's grandma stole the show even though she didn't have that much screen time. Her acting skills were phenomenal. The emotions, the pain, the longing; it was all evident in her eyes. I cried with her every second she was on screen.

Music- 10/10. I don't have much to say expect they did a good job. Loved the OST :'0

I usually don't give high rewatch values because I'm the type of person who prefers to binge a lot of shows and never touch a series for a second time. But this one, I will make an exception for this show. I would definitely rewatch it and like the experience the emotions all over again. Forgive me for repeating myself, but this show really kept the fanservice to the minimum possible (almost negligible) level. I was seeing a gay real relationship and it's progress here.


(SPOILERS START)

A complaint most people had against this was that they didn't understand why Pharm said they needed to stay apart in the last episode. In my opinion, that was a very crucial part of the show. Until then, Pharm had trouble seeing Intouch and himself as two separate people. He wondered if the love he felt for P'Dean was only because In and Korn were in love in their past life. The nightmare he had about P'Dean cutting off the red thread of fate and moving on was a very valid and understandable fear on his part. After suggesting time apart, Pharm dreamt about In and Korn again. But this time, it was not from the perspective of In; he was watching it from the side because he was Pharm. He was a different person, not the Intouch from the past. That realisation was important for him to put aside the insecurities he had about his relationship with P'Dean and confess his feelings once again.

(SPOILERS END)

That's all I have to say. Of course, our tastes might not be similar but please give this series a chance. The chances of you regretting it are very less. And towards the beginning you might feel like dropping it but please stick till the end.

Read More

If you're looking for a good dorama with the non-complex kind of time travel and good stand-alone episodes to pass the time, I highly recommend you make the wonderful decision to watch Suteki na Sen-TAXI. (Sorry for the pun, I simply HAD to.)

This series is about Eda-san, a Taxi driver with a special Taxi that can bring his customer back to a time of their choosing to ''set right what went wrong'', to quote another great - and underestimated - series about time travel called Quantum Leap. So each episode is a stand-alone story about this or that customer going ''back to the futur--'' I mean... the past, till they get it right. There's a sort of continuity as well between the episodes with recurring characters (the staff at the Choice Café for example), the hilarious scenes from the impossibly confusing ''dorama'' Hanzai Deka, or the recurring no-time-slip-feeling joke, which gets more and more hilarious as time passes - even going so far as subtly referencing Doctor Who, at some point.

With the exception of the first episode, which was kind of weird, compared to the rest of the series, the stories are mostly light-hearted and funny, or bittersweet at most. Please don't let the first episode influence your viewing. It kinda sets the series to be dark and heavy, but that episode was really the odd one out.

I mentioned early in the review that this series is about the ''non-complex'' kind of time travel - that means, this is not Primer, you can watch this series without getting confused about timelines and paradoxes and stuff. That said, there are some paradoxes in the series that bothered me a lot, so, if you're like me, they're gonna bother you too. But the series doesn't address them - maybe the writers didn't even notice them - so just try and find some explanation for yourself or try to accept the matter as it is. Shouganai.

I liked the acting a lot, especially from the main cast. The guests were all good with some exceptions, but the fact that they were there for just the one episode makes it so it doesn't ruin your viewing. The Henzai Deka cast was delusional and over the top, so they were brilliant as well.
Fun fact: the creator of the series is actually one of the main cast's actors. I was a little surprised when I found out.

The music, especially the instrumental OP was great! I didn't like the ''time-slip sound effect'' very much, though - it became annoying after a while.

You can easily rewatch this series whenever you want, and you don't even have to watch it altogether because of its stand-alone episodes.

So then, I guess you have a general idea of the fact that life has many turning points, right? What kind of job will you land? What kind of house will you live in? What will you have for dinner? Will you watch this dorama or not?

Well?
What kind of choice will you make?

Read More