Reviews

"People do not pass away... they die and then they stay."

This is a drama deeply close to my heart; I thought extensively about this review before writing it. While there may be some articulation errors in my writing, I hope that it compels you to at least consider watching Mysterious Lotus Casebook (MLC).

At first glance, MLC is nothing more than typical. It has all the elements of your conventional Wuxia C-drama: an overpowered protagonist; an up-and-coming Jianghu hero; some jealous one-dimensional antagonists; uncomplicated female characters; not-so-difficult to solve mysteries; and many more I am too lethargic to name.

But as commonplace as it may seem, MLC refreshingly breaks convention. Unlike most Wuxia stories, there is no real climax or overblown melodrama. The story's events—no matter how curious—proceed with a slice-of-life-resemblant matter-of-factness. Furthermore, MLC evokes genuine skepticism of the too-often-glorified Jianghu. Through the lens of our protagonist, the Jianghu is an uncertain environment where heroism—driven by ruthless ambition and self-righteousness—costs human lives. Most importantly, though, is that MLC's protagonist Li Lianhua is not on a legendary journey to becoming a Jianghu hero; he is a former Jianghu hero accepting a lonely and tragic decline.

The character Li Lianhua (formerly Li Xiangyi) is what single-handedly elevates MLC from a mediocre, enjoyable watch to a haunting and empathetic story. Li Lianhua is indubitably a case of "overpowered protagonist", a trope I harbor deep skepticism for; there are simply too many opportunities for characterization inconsistencies, over-indulgent author self-inserts, and extreme uses of plot armor. However, Li Lianhua is a character designed so intricately that he not only avoids those common pitfalls but is relatable for average audiences. He is perspicacious yet uncertain; cold yet kind; arrogant yet penitent; a compulsive liar yet honest; and accepting of fate yet deeply loyal to those he loves from the past. The contradictions and his struggling attempts at reconciling them make Li Lianhua thought-provoking, likable, and most importantly, human. Cheng Yi's performance of Li Lianhua is superbly compelling but may tend over-empathetic for some.

However, in the same way that a good conductor cannot singlehandedly "carry" an orchestra, the characterization of Li Lianhua cannot single-handedly define MLC's quality. While the remaining cast of characters are comparatively one-dimensional (with the possible exception of Di Feisheng), their relationships/interactions with Li Lianhua give their presence meaning. For one, the doomed romance between Li Lianhua and his former love interest (Qiao Wanmian) is portrayed with an unusual level of maturity, modernity, and sensitivity (in the context of Wuxia dramas and historical gender structures). Additionally, while the main antagonist has independently shallow motivations, his relationship with and perception of Li Lianhua create plot intrigue. In the show's more cliche and over-explored relationships (E.g. Li Lianhua and Fang Duobing), MLC successfully uses clever dialogue and surprisingly worldly insight to substitute for the lack of storytelling direction.

Finally, I'd like to talk about the BGM. While the OST is catchy, the BGM is immersive and extremely beautiful. Much of (40-50%) the BGM is structured around 4 sets of "Variations on [X] Theme". Despite revolving around the same theme, the separate variations are rhythmically and creatively diverse enough to feature in scenes with vastly different emotional tones. The fact that they all revolved around the same theme, however, added a subtle and effective additional layer of cohesiveness. Beyond the variations, there are tracks that are intimately beautiful (my personal preferences are for "涟漪" and "诉说“, which both have excellent guzheng solos).

MLC may begin slow, so perhaps give it 10-15 episodes before deciding whether or not you like it. But while the production is simpler than many of today's high-budget cinematographic "making-of-a-myth" stories, MLC—through its simplicity—leans into inquisition, normalcy, and the destruction of kitsch, apathetic Jianghu myths. Even though it is by no means perfect, it has left an indelible imprint on my heart.

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i am crying

I really like this drama they had me crying on like the last episode and I just really wish that it could’ve ended differently like them meeting again and I wish I could’ve gotten more time of them together at the end the overall story was really really good it was just the ending that made me cry because it was so emotional and I was just really hoping that I was leading up to them meeting again like him going to Japan or him seeing him at the airport to stop him from going but yeah overall it was amazing and I would watch it 1 million times if I could I really hope they make a two and a part two so I hope it has a better ending this time and it’s a little longer than four episodes but amazing 10 out of 10❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

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World's Most Incompetent Cops

Going into this, I was super excited for the murder/crime aspect of this show, especially as someone who really loves crime dramas. If you're going into this for that like I was, SKIP IT! This show is a romance that happens to have a crime happening in the background. The cops can't solve a case for shit, and spend all their time flirting instead.

Jade (Joong) is the cop in charge of a new murder case when a new inspector Kamin (Dunk) arrives to help. The two of them investigate the murder of a college girl and the subsequent murders of the other students in her friend group. As murders continue to happen, Jade's brother Jay is also put at risk, as are the cops themselves. Even though the cops don't get along at first, they grow closer as they work on the case - and Jade's immediate attraction to Kamin is obvious to everyone.

I have never watched a crime show with more incompetent cops. These guys did not solve ANYTHING!! Even up to the very end (no spoilers here) they basically didn't do anything themselves. They quite literally just spent their entire time flirting with each other. The romance fully took away from the actual plot of the show. If you don't care about the crime and just want to see Joong and Dunk flirt, go ahead and watch it. If you care about the crime aspect at all, there are much better crime dramas....

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From Arranged Marriage to Unbreakable Partnership

Destined is much more than an arranged marriage romance. What begins as a reluctant union between two completely different people slowly grows into a deep partnership built on trust, respect, and shared struggles. Bai Jing Ting and Song Yi delivered beautiful performances that made Jiusi and Yuru feel real, relatable, and easy to root for.

Gu Jiusi was one of the most refreshing male leads I have seen. He started off playful, carefree, and a little immature, but he was always kind, respectful, and protective toward Yuru. Even when life forced him to grow up, he never lost his core personality. His maturity did not erase who he was. It strengthened him. Watching his transition from a sheltered young master to a responsible and dependable man was one of the most satisfying parts of the drama.

Liu Yuru’s journey was equally powerful. She began as someone focused only on securing a stable marriage because of her difficult upbringing. She lived cautiously and never allowed herself to dream beyond survival. But after marriage, she slowly discovered her own ambitions and strengths. Her growth into a confident, intelligent woman who built her own path in business was inspiring to watch. She was not just protected by the male lead. She stood beside him as an equal and often became his strength during difficult times.

What made their relationship special was their balance. They did not rely on dramatic misunderstandings or forced conflict. Instead, their bond grew naturally through shared hardships, mutual respect, and emotional support. They protected each other, trusted each other, and matured together. Their love felt steady, earned, and realistic.

The drama also stood out for its storytelling. It balanced romance, politics, family struggles, and personal growth without relying on exaggerated villains or unrealistic plot devices. The conflicts were grounded in society, war, business, and survival. The story showed how intelligence, resilience, and unity helped the characters overcome challenges rather than relying on luck or power alone.

The supporting cast and production were equally strong. The emotional scenes, lighter comedic moments, and political tensions were all handled well, making the story engaging from beginning to end.

Overall, Destined is a beautiful story about growth, partnership, and finding strength in each other. It shows how two people can enter a marriage as strangers and slowly become each other’s greatest support. It is emotional, inspiring, and deeply satisfying to watch.

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I wish it was so much better!

MAJOR SPOILER ALERT! BE CAREFUL!

I never leave reviews when I watch a bl and I've been doing this for 6 years but this is objectively one of the worst scripts I've ever came across. I was really excited when i found out joongdunk were doing a crime investigation drama but from the very beginning it struggles with internal coherence and narrative credibility honestly.

The issues start from the very begining, considering that Jade arguably should not even have been part of the investigation. This leads to one of my main beef with the series, Jay is protected by the police simply for being Jade’s brother and is never properly investigated even though he is one of the suspects. It just gets worse when Kamin casually moves into the house of one of the suspects (Jade's and jay's house)

The portrayal of the police is particularly problematic for other reasons as well. Officers conduct interrogations anywhere they please, arbitrarily entering people’s homes without warrants. At one point, Champ explicitly asks for a lawyer and is ignored, yet the interrogation proceeds as if due process were irrelevant. These procedural inaccuracies make the investigation feel unrealistic and poorly researched.

Even the fight scenes are poorly choreographed fight and shooting scenes make dramatic confrontations feel awkward rather than intense.

There are many problems with the plot development and the character's arcs are honestly weak. For exemple, Jay is just saved for the sake of the script cause it makes little sense that Puth would fail to kill him with that shot. Also, Jade and Yu’s backstory and motivation is so incredibly weak like why would you hate you colleague when you were the one who chose to save him like man...

In the last episode when kamin is alone with puifai and champ, why do you mean a trained policeman were tricked by a teenager?? He was pointing a gun to that girl's head and it didnt work, she did whatever she wanted in front of him. They didnt finish this case, this case finished them!

I also had a hard time understaning the moral framing of the story. I mean Jay literally assaults Puifai, he had sex with her when she was drunk!!! Yet the narrative treats his wrongdoing as if it were merely a failure to intervene and defend her from the rest of the group, it completely minimized the gravity of his crime.

Also pisses me off so much that after the explosion they chose to save champ and leave puifai to her own death. I mean, Puifai was only stabbed and could plausibly have survived, but the characters choose to save Champ instead. Like Puifai died just like that but Champ survived being shot and struck with an axe, and still manages to stab Puifai afterward?? There are so many exaggerations like that and it really undermines any attempt at realism.

There are also awkward moments like they flirt out of nowhere even in the middle of serious moments. Also, there's this scene that Jade and kamin are in the pool and jade's tattoo literally starts to fade and turn purple???

The script was bad, the directing was even worse. I never wrote such a detailed review like that but as i said before, I was excited for this new joongdunk series but i was severely disappointed.

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The most incapable police officers ever!

OMG... why did GMMTV decide to put this pile of crap on Netflix? If they wanted to promote BLs, this was the wrong series to do it. This series was also the wrong series for the actors. Would they be 15 years older, than their ranks would make sense, but so, it was completely unbelievable. While we all wish the actors do stuff besides school or university GMMTV does not comprehend that certain roles requires an certain age. What's even worse, they had considerable audio problems through many episodes where they (the production team) failed to check that the recording would be fine. For GMMTV this is inexcusable. It's not an independet low budget production where technical shortcomings can be overlooked, but not when they put it on Netflix.

The story itself is also boring as fuck, there is not even a real romance evolving, just one guy pushing the other and it just "happens"... no finesse, no real heartbeating moments... For a BL this was very disappointing. I don't have to talk about how incapable they both are as police officers, going first to eat and then go the location - while at said location someone dies... OMG.

Everyone rating this show high should take off their pink glasses and really question what they are rating. This shows has no heights at all. Yes, to watch JoongDunk is nice, but there are tons of tiktok/shorts seeing them together and that is WAY better than watching this. I did not expect much from GMMTV but even then it was a great disappointment and a waste of my time. I know the fanarmy will bash me and say I should not watch it if I don't like it, but the point is I watch it to write reviews for people who don't have the time to watch a lot and to tell them not to waste their time. There are ton more series even from GMMTV which are way better than this crap.

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hope to see the actors in something else

Overall: did not vibe with the plot. 6 episodes about 8 minutes each. Aired on Secret of Us YouTube Official https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7BSona1dmx5qAPZpNNjT9XEv_wyP_HzT&si=ouK5zhi2gVdEigwN

Note: in the trailer a character said they weren't related by blood, so they are step brothers who appear to have been raised together since elementary school aged based on that picture

Content Warning: manipulation

What I Liked
- the dreams
- visuals
- the younger character's plotting in the beginning*

Room For Improvement
- *he was way too manipulative later on, even when he came clean I didn't trust him
- the older guy was shown to be extremely straight and then the sudden 180 turn and open ending did not work for me

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a complete letdown

this was maybe my saddest watch in a while, not because the show was sad but it being so badly done it made me so sad.

I love joongdunk and was really excited. I love a murder mystery, a thriller and the og trailer really felt like this really cool balance of the push and pull of a relationship forming while working together in such a serious set of circumstances. The sad bit was that the final show was not that at all!

to start off with the good, I think the casting and most of the acting was really amazing! the acting is one of the things that kept me watching, otherwise I fear I may have dropped it. Another good think is Joong & Dunk chemistry, they do a good job at showing their tension pre-relationship and this pinning.

Now with the bad because there is quite a lot. I’m not one to think a show needs really spicy nc or kiss scenes or really either at all if the chemistry is good BUT their relationship literally hinges off of this sexual tension they have from the moment they meet and yet the show won’t even allude to the fact the they do anything more that give each other a peck on the lips and maybe kiss sometimes. Continuing with their relationship, it becomes such a weird intrusion in the show not because of them as a couple but because it becomes the main focus of most of the eps AND every time becomes a tonal shift. What I mean by tonal shift is that any time they have a sweet couple moment it seems like it’s a completely different show. ALSO why is the murder mystery bit treated as this side story??? The whole show feels sooooo dragged out but also wayyyy too short. They dragged out the romance and shortened the actual mystery. Now to the mystery, despite the reveal falling a bit flat to me my biggest gripe is with how it ended because wdym of all people Puth, Jay and Champ survived? OF ALL PEOPLE??/!!?!?! and don’t even get me started on the fact that half of the final ep was a cutie beach trip where right before the case is just done…

overall I’m just so heartbroken that to me this doesn’t really have rewatch value when my expectations for it being great were so high!

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Survives on the charisma of its stars but stumbles under the weight of its genre ambitions

Dare You to Death arrived with the promise of raising the bar for Boys’ Love productions by pairing one of the fandom’s most beloved duos, Joong and Dunk, with a suspense-driven police investigation. The premise is undeniably intriguing: a group of university friends burdened by dark secrets begins to be hunted by a serial killer who leaves behind “Truth or Dare” cards. What unfolds on screen, however, is a series struggling with a severe identity crisis, wavering between a grim psychological thriller and a sugary romantic comedy, never fully committing to either path.

The show’s greatest point of friction is its tonal imbalance. While the plot attempts to build an atmosphere of real danger, complete with brutal deaths and rising tension over who will be next, the narrative is constantly interrupted by extended flirtation scenes between the leads, Jade and Kamin. It is commendable that Joong and Dunk’s chemistry remains “smooth as butter,” but it becomes difficult for viewers to stay immersed when the investigators in charge of the case seem more invested in seaside banter and leisurely bath scenes than in solving the murders happening around them.

On the investigative front, the series falters with a glaring lack of plausibility. The police department borders on amateurish, with procedures that ignore even basic protocol, such as detectives taking entire episodes to interview victims’ families. Clues often appear out of nowhere or conveniently serve the script’s needs rather than emerging from sharp deduction. For viewers seeking a solid crime thriller in the vein of Manner of Death, Dare You to Death offers little beyond easy solutions and dialogue that occasionally underestimates its audience’s intelligence.

Despite its structural flaws, the series finds moments of brilliance in its supporting cast and its portrayal of villainy. Puifai stands out as one of the most complex and compelling characters, carrying psychological weight and trauma that justify her actions in a far more engaging way than the central arc. Her dynamic with Dr. Ruth delivers the kind of “fascinating strangeness” one expects from suspense, hinting at the denser, more provocative story the show might have been had it not centered so heavily on fan service for the main couple.

Technically, the production is uneven. The soundtrack effectively underscores moments of tension, yet the cinematography and editing fail to craft impactful action sequences. Some fight and chase scenes lack urgency, and the emotional continuity of the characters is frequently disrupted. Watching a group of friends continue attending university as usual after the violent deaths of two members, without displaying the expected grief or fear, creates a detachment that makes it hard to genuinely care about their fate.

The finale also suffers from poor time management. The last episode rushes to resolve the mystery while wrapping up romantic arcs, resulting in scenes that strain credibility, such as villains passively observing executions without meaningful intervention. The excessive focus on “cute” moments at the expense of a more detailed explanation of the survivors’ futures and the legal consequences of the crimes reinforces the impression that the series was shaped more like an extended fan meeting than a cohesive work of fiction.

Joong and Dunk’s performances show clear growth compared to their previous projects, and their effort to bring new layers to their characters is evident. Yet they seem constrained by a script that does not allow them to fully explore this different facet. For devoted fans of the pair, the series delivers exactly what they want: constant interaction and endearing moments. For viewers searching for a suspense narrative capable of standing on its own, however, the experience may feel frustrating, occasionally veering into secondhand embarrassment when serious moments are undercut by gratuitous sweetness.

In the end, Dare You to Death survives on the charisma of its stars but stumbles under the weight of its genre ambitions. It is serviceable weekend entertainment, unlikely to leave a lasting mark on Thai suspense drama. The series ultimately serves as a reminder that, even within the BL sphere, strong chemistry cannot replace the need for a tightly constructed script and direction that honors the tone of the story it sets out to tell.

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Started promising, ended up disappointing me

Honestly, this drama is so overhyped.

I was trying. I was trying so hard to keep my hopes up. I was optimistic. I wanted this to be good so bad. But it still ended up being slightly more than average thing. I will finish writing this review and then hopefully forget about this just like the writers of this series forgot how to write a decent story.

The writting is terrible. Especially when it comes to the romance part. Kamin and Jade's relationship comes out of nowhere, the progress is questionable and it's so unnatural. Especially since the romance is forced in scenes where it's so unnecessary and/or unfitting. I literally couldn't care less about them as a couple, because the series totally failed to sell it to me as a viewer. For the first time I had issues believing JoongDunk their love. And I believe their love irl. The writing here was so bad that it made JD romance uninteresting.

You blink and suddenly they are together. Jade is way too whipped, pushing the intimacy everywhere (including medical examiner's office or literal crime scene), which just feels out of place. Way too many times are Kamin and Jade way too busy flirting instead of focusing on the murders (the plot manages to conveniently forget that Kamin got 7 days to solve the case). It makes it feel like the romance is in the way of the murder mystery, to which I just desperatly wanted to get back to, but had to sit through Jade and Kamin's tenth couple moment.

But to be fair, JoongDunk have incredible chemistry and if you separate the scenes from the plot, they are lovely, cute and enjoyable moments. If only they weren't happening while kids were being murdered on daily basis.

That brings me to the murder mystery part of this story.

It started really good. The Truth or Dare thing worked, we had 7 kids and wondered, who of them killed their friend Fai. I was hooked. Then came letters and more deaths and it was awesome. The deaths were creative and chilling (especially Bell's, I needed a few minutes to recover, I was shaking and it really gotten to me). Slowly uncovering the truth worked at the start too.

But then we lost focus. We got lot of unnecessary romance (I did not expect to yell "skip the flirting and give me the murders" at my screen during a JoongDunk drama, but here I was, doing exactly that), for some reason focused on a drug dealer way too much (we could've linked it to Phut way more easily than with two eps worth of bs) and we got AouBoom for some reason (and don't get me wrong, I love AouBoom, but what was that, they were so unnecessary here, especially in the last ep where they just straight up third-wheeled).

The plot also seemed to want me to turn my brain off with that, because a lot of plot holes and issues started popping out. Let me name a few here:

1) Why was Time totally forgotten during the initial investigation? He was the most sus during the first interrogation and Kamin with Jade didn't talk to him at all.
2) When Jay didn't come home in the evening (the night he saw Kla's death), Jade nor Kamin were alarmed and went to sleep calmly, even though they were aware he (Jay) could be the next target.
3) Jade and Kamin never saw Fai's body nor never wanted to (despite doing so with other victims). Phut gave them the "autopsy" results in EP 2, yet later when they were looking into the ketamine, they had to visit Phut again to let him run tox screen (even though he supposedly did that, since he told them about the other meds in her body).
4) Kamin being suspended but then the drama acts like if that never happened, he just keeps investigating.
5) They haven't found the secret cameras in victim's places until the plot allowed them to.
6) The whole idea of Champ's plan being orchestrating Fai's rape to make her his girlfriend. ... ... What?
7) The biggest mystery of this series being if Jay was or wasn't shot and him being quite chill despite being shot. My guy was acting as if that was nothing but a bruise and Kamin with Jade taking it so calmly as if GSW was a minor inconvenience,
8) Them saving Champ (who somehow survived despite losing a limb) and leaving Fai behind (even though she was just stabbed in her shoulder blade and should have been way more okay than Champ).
9) Phut somehow survivng despite standing right next to a bomb when it went off.

I could go on and on.

The final big reveal wasn't really revealing, since I figured out the killers (yes, both of them) by episode 5. Never felt this awful for using my brain, because it made me enjoy the ending even less.

The last issue is the production.

The audio engineer took a vacation and their 5 year old child took over. That's the only way I could explain the sound issues. Sometimes the audio is so quiet you need to boost up your volume to 200% to be able to hear what the characters are saying. Another time the audio is so boosted it blasts off your roof. Sometimes the characters sound like they are underwater.

The director was probably very tired and done with their job because the consistency was inconsistent. As I mentioned above, throughout the plot, there is a lot of issues. But the inconsistency was even within the scenes. I understand that there are multiple shots, but director should be able to make sure that people's hands are not rapidly changing postitions each cut.

The cameraman also had their issues, because why were completely static shots shaking as if there was an earthquake?

CGI was also low quality, but honestly, that wouldn't be a problem if the rest was good. Sometimes the budget is not there for flawless CGI and that's fine.

The acting was carrying this all. JoongDunk are amazing (though Dunk did struggle with the English lines a bit) and their chemistry is undeniable. I totally adored Ohm and can't wait to see more of him. Sing and Pahn absolutelly killed it in the last episode and were honestly the highlight of this series. The other actors did a great job too, which is admirable, since they were given such a terrible script to work with.

If this wasn't a JoongDunk series, I'm pretty sure the overall MDL score would be definitely lower.

I watched Goddess Bless Your From Death along with this and let me tell you, that was a good murder mystery. Not this. I am very disappointed.

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Un drama hermoso

Comencé a ver Lighter and Princess después de haber visto a Chen Fei Yu en When Destiny Brings the Demon. La verdad es que no fue una decisión muy profunda: simplemente no tenía absolutamente nada que ver. Estaba aburrida y no lograba conectar con ningún otro drama.
Este drama es muy distinto al tipo de historias que normalmente consumo. Usualmente, en los dramas modernos que veo, los protagonistas masculinos son del tipo “green flag”, como San Yan de First Love, First Frost o He Suye de The Best Team.
Pero Li Xun… Li Xun es todo menos eso.
Él le rompió el corazón muchas veces. Sin embargo, ¿quiénes somos nosotros para juzgar las decisiones que ella misma tomó? Ella luchó por su amor porque veía lo que había dentro de él. Sabía que valía la pena.

Sí, se frustraba. Le dolía que él no pudiera abrirse con ella. Pero con el tiempo, él aprendió. No fue realmente un tema de confianza ni un trauma específico que lo hiciera cerrarse. No fue por la muerte de sus padres ni por una tragedia concreta. Simplemente era su personalidad.
No todos vienen al mundo siendo rayos de sol, ni tampoco completamente oscuros.
Esta historia muestra justamente eso.
Las escenas finales son profundamente nostálgicas. Ver los reencuentros y recordar que la historia realmente comienza cuando ya sabemos que su pasado juntos no terminó bien… y luego descubrir todo lo que vivieron, todo el amor que compartieron.
Puede que Li Xun no fuera de decir “te amo” constantemente, pero nunca hubo duda de que amaba.

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The Sweet Life Continues

I love seeing the authentic struggle of frugality and making of true authentic dishes wrapped up into one movie. It’s interesting to see the comparison of Shiro/Kenji and Kohinata/Wataru, how the two differ so much in terms of standard of living with Wataru living in a modern day palace but complaining all day, and permanently dissatisfied no matter how many chips bags he buys, he’s like a bottomless black hole starved of real love. Their relationship almost looks like a kind of bondage where Kohinata though he seems to be a high earner, he becomes like an overly spoiling parent to Wataru, slaving away to satisfy his tantrums. It shows that there is no real happiness in such a relationship, only an addictive cycle of tantrums, spoiling, and martyrdom in the name of love. Meanwhile Shiro and Kenji go through real struggles of finances, housework, and the challenge of overwork and not being able to spend meals together, and yet Wataru the black hole senses something in Shiro San’s relationship with Kenji even though he trolls them, he finds a kind of wholeness in them, a beauty of spirit that is not their in his codependent dysfunctional relationship with Kohinata. In the end it’s an exploration of relationship dynamics of push and pull and feeling out where the balance is… all while making delicious food of course.

My favorite was the Omurice- Kenji out of loneliness and a need to indulge and “do something for himself,” ends up making this decadent version of Omurice to have all to himself, and just as he’s about to dig in, Shiro San shows up from work and they end up sharing the meal instead- it makes Shiro San so happy to eat such a delicious dish, and at the end of the day, Kenji managed to save money for the month, which he seemed incapable of doing. I started to see a kind of balance restored from the starting point of Kenji the extravagant carefree splurging one vs Shiro the frugal, anxious, serious one, into Kenji taking responsibility for the cooking and money saving, while Shiro has to work harder. Since Shiro knows how much work cooking takes, he’s able to appreciate what Kenji does for him all the more.. Wataru also has his cooking moment, where Kohinata is given a surprise meal and a balance moment in their relationship too.. overall, very interesting themes explored and I enjoyed it thoroughly. On to the next movie!

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