Reviews

Not perfect, but close

I’m not a fan of baseball or prison stories, so you’d think this drama wouldn’t be for me.

You’d be wrong. It's excellent.

PRISON PLAYBOOK walks a narrow line-sometimes basking in sappy pathos, and at other times careening into hilarious caricature.


The creators of PRISON PLAYBOOK get it mostly right-with a few flubs. Is it always believable? No. But the story is original and entertaining enough for viewers to overlook the relatively few flaws.

Park Hae-Soo nails it as Je-Hyeok, a lovable, honorable lunk-head, who winds up in prison. But shows he has some brains when push comes to shove.

Jung Kyoung-Ho's portrayal of Je-Hyeok's loyal best friend is so convincing and touching that I now want to watch every drama he's ever been in. Another stand-out was Choi Moo-seung. He brought tears to my eyes more than once. What an incredible performer!

Captain Yoo, played by Jung Hae-In, enters this drama as a supposed vicious murderer. Yeah, right. This sweet-faced actor is about as scary as a kitten. In every other drama, he plays the perfect boyfriend - see LOVE NEXT DOOR. Not to worry. He improves throughout--as do most of the others.

A few negatives: Lots of product placement going on-which mostly didn't interfere with the meandering plot. The wrestling and fighting between the cell mates often looked staged. And when Go Park-sa was suddenly rushed out the door, a promising secondary plot involving corporate malfeasance was cut off at the knees. What was that all about?

Soundtrack: When a mournful oboe is wailing in the background or a saccharine piano melody is plucking at our heart strings - additional sound effects interject a note of humor and frivolity (dharma drums, off-key chords), as if to say, "You guys aren't taking all this too seriously, are you?" Nice.

I could have done without the incessant bird whistles.

In a real prison, things aren't quite as benign as presented in this series. Or so I’ve been told.

Here, the seven or eight rotating cell mates-a unique collection of lock-down losers-are all endearing and likable. Most are societal victims. Some get justice, some don't.

Sort of like life.

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Watched this about a year ago but forgot to review here goes nothing

It was not bad but it was also not great it was okay

There were times where it was unnecessarily stretched and I think it showed in some of the episodes that the writer was just trying meet quota

But all in all it was a good watch great acting from the actors and amazing pictures

The entire family having character development was one of the best thing for me but I also don't blame them their grandmother raised them like that causing division between siblings to the point where when they all were adults they couldn't stand being in the same place with each other for long and always made a point to hurt each other emotionally (it was more visible with the sister)

And the ML mother was too kind for my liking and even when she did take the very much hurtful decision she was always late which made things harder for her son and the family in general because she was such a pushover for that family

Granny was a pain in the butt but became better as the show went on

If you are planning to watch just watch without any high expectations since there are a few episodes that really really dragged

Episode 1 to around 13 it was very entertaining but from 14 to 26 it became bland and a bit boring then picked up again in episode 30 till the last episode

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Mr. Plankton hits a home run

I’ve been waiting for months to be able to give an enthusiastic endorsement of a (recent) K-drama. Now I can. This series is laugh-out-loud funny. But it also has more depth and originality than the fare we’ve been served up lately by Netflix and others.

It’s nice to see a female lead in a K-drama who shows some agency and energy. Some of what she does is misguided, but so what? She’s a fully formed human being. I can think of other series–IT’S OK, THAT’S LOVE and MY DEAREST come to mind--featuring strong female leads. But most K-drama heroines seem like passive players in their own lives. Not this one.

Woo Do-Hwan commands the screen and gives a nuanced, affecting perfomance.

Crazy hilarity abounds. Some of it works, some–not so much. Nobody’s perfect in this drama. Characters hurt each other–but eventually understand that the secret to a meaningful life is to love another flawed person more than yourself. (Nobody hits you over the head with this message–but it’s subtly implied.)

Because the writers are willing to take risks, believability flies out the window here and there. Another problem is with the editing. There are a lot of slow sections that could have been tightened up. I loved the way the soundtrack moved from classical, to folk, to rock. I especially liked the music played when the credits rolled at the end of each episode--always a pleasant surprise. Kudos,

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refreshing story with good start but underwhelming ending

i started watching this on a whim, hearing it was one of the better jbls of 2025
scroll to bottom for summary
i'll try to go deep into some things i noticed about this drama
things i liked
-interesting backstory with hayakawa and his love for music
to me it wasn't tropey and it felt original
i feel like it could have been fleshed out a little more to add more like depth to the way hayakawa acts in the beginning
like maybe they could have added more scenes with him and yama chan (forgot his full name) to make his actions later on make more sense like showing their relationship more so that the betrayal in the end hits harder
at times i could see an effort to create a complex character using his backstory but it somewhat fell flat as well for hard hitting scenes where the directors wanted us to feel something but it's not hitting the way i felt like it could have
but either way hayakawa as a character was quite interesting and was well rounded compared to some other jbls where the mc is just one dimensional
-in the beginning the music was well done, especially with the crescendos of the piano in the bgm during tense moments
or in the first episode where we see how hayakawa seems basically depressed
however one thing i noticed is near the end the choice of music somewhat felt a little out of place compared to the choices the directors had made earlier in the show
like (spoiler) at the end of the last episode we see them lying in bed together after konno stayed the night and for some reason the poppy happy music they had been playing during their kiss scenes was still playing during that calm scene
for me it just kinda threw me off and felt odd since i'm used to bed scenes like that having softer music especially in jbls
-the shots were well done, nothing felt off in terms of the cinematography which in fact i enjoyed a lot
many pretty shots with hayakawa in yellow lighting (that actor is so fine btw)
-the tension (not sexual more like just their dynamic) between hirukawa and konno was well written like hayakawa feeling happy around konno but still having that frustration with him

things i didn't like as much
-that scene with the girl in ep 1
see at first i was like chill with it cuz okay the directors wanna show that he's like unfeeling and depressed and lets himself please others
however, (spoiler) they included a scene where hayakawa imagined konno instead of the girl with him and to me i thought that scene would somewhat set up a tension later on. they did attempt it with him kissing konno later on and him constantly having dreams about him, but it felt kinda underwhelming. it was more romantic tension than sexual tension to me
more like he was realizing his feelings but the writers decided that they should start that realization with that scene, which felt out of place by the end to me because nothing between them was inherently sexual at any time
except one scene which connects to this scene with the girl
-the scene where hayakawa bursts out at konno and kisses him (TW and spoiler)
i won't say much about the actual scene but to me hayakawa asking konno that and pushing himself onto him felt so odd to me
like one second he was mad and upset at him and just frustrated and then the next second he's pushing himself onto him
like i can somewhat understand the kiss, hayakawa wanted to see konno not composed as he always was
but the question afterward really felt confusing to me
i wasn't sure if the writers wanted us to understand that hayakawa was escaping his truth again and resorting to distractions like he's seen doing earlier with a girl, or if he just wants to shake konno up more because he was frustrated and annoyed at him
either way i hope it's the latter reason because if it was the former reason , the writers could have developed that point about hayakawa a lot more
-the last two episodes (lots of spoilers here)
honestly during these two episodes i was just kinda confused with the mcs
it all felt a little fast and not as developed at the first 4 episodes
i feel like they needed to add at least 2 more episodes to flesh out that misunderstanding that hayakawa had and konno's realization
-also the new york thing, i heard that wasn't even in the novel and genuinely i wish it wasn't in the drama
-i'm sorry but the kiss/confession scene in the last episode made me cringe
like one second konno is confessing that yeah i kissed you cuz i wanted to and then the next second, like a flash of realization and suddenly hayakawa is like joking around and asking to kiss him
i felt like considering all that hayakawa went through, they should have slowed down that realization a little more and also not have made that weird dialogue where it sounds like he's asking a teacher or smth, lwk ruined the tone of that moment
it would have made more sense in a cute scene between them but this was a vital scene
also the part after he kisses him and hugs him and then says i want kisses from the last 3 years
i'm sorry i could not handle that i legit paused the drama and i was just cringing
like it could have been cute but idk it felt so odd and also a little cringe
reading that dialogue doesn't sound weird but the way the dialogue was made to be said sounded so off compared to the emotional scene he just had
that might have just been me thought but that part of the drama, if i rewatch it i'd prob skip it


in conclusion
watch this show if you want a refreshing interesting story, but don't expect much from the last two episodes
good cinematography, cool premise, amazing music, and cute chemistry too
no dumb one dimensional mcs hereeee
this bl will stay in your head for some time

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Faithful adaptation of the novel, worth watching

This novel (Four-Faced Budda, Su Erliang) was born for a tv adaptation. I loved seeing the characters come to life, and the casting was perfect. Hao Yi Ran and Yun Qi both do a great job with facial expressions and nonverbal acting. I dropped after episode 10 only because I didn't have the heart to watch the post-breakup arc so soon after reading the novel, but I'll surely pick it back up one day. The story is captivating, morally twisted, and fun to watch. It's the kind of story that makes you think about your own life in the context of You Shulang's. Many of us know what its like to be betrayed by a romantic partner. Watching the show had me asking myself -- what does someone have to do to break my trust? How often do I excuse someone's behavior because of their past trauma? What are the limits of my forgiveness? The story has received some criticism and moral policing, but at the end of the day it's just an extreme portrayal of a feeling many people can relate to. It's a thought expirement and an exploration of common real-life problems like trust, betrayal, the risks of falling in love, regret, forgiveness, healing, and the old adage -- time heals all wounds.

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Suspend All Your Disbelief, And Then Some More

This... is pretty awful. There's not a single character or plot point that is believable.

NONSENSE PLOT AND MALE LEAD
The ML becoming super strong and well trained like an assassin after being left alone in a cage for 4 years where he was able to observe and imitate drug cartel training is... entirely unrealistic to say the least (you mean to tell me that he became an expert in hand-to-hand combat without every sparring with another human being? And he learned how to quickly assemble and aim a gun in record time without ever holding a gun - just by imagining it?). And then after the memory loss, every time he gets into a fight (and there are sooooo many of them), his fighting abilities download in memory form like a video game - way too cartoonish and surreal.
And then there are the villains who are completely irrational; they seem nerfed, petty, and appear to have endless free time. There were way too many fights in the first few episodes simply because the ML thwarted their plans once and they kept trying to gang up on him in a fight and vent/get their revenge (like once okay maybe, but they went after him like twice per episode for a while there to no avail, as if the only purpose for their stubborn revenge was to create circumstances for the cops to arrive and cross paths with the ML, and paint him in a negative light in their eyes).

NPC SIDE CHARACTERS
And then some characters do some completely out of left field stuff, and the way that the others just brush it off as if it is not a big deal is alarming. Like an heiress climbs to the top of a skyscraper building complex because she's sad she got dumped, then she nearly falls off the building and the FL and ML rush to save her in the nick of time (and their reflexes, upper body strength, and defying of time and gravity in this scene is totally unrealistic and unbelievable to say the least). BUT THEN - they just bring the girl down and take her to the police station casually, and only the FL feels like this suicidal girl needs to be dealt with or lectured in the slightest - everyone else thinks that she should just go on her merry way, no contacting her family, putting her on suicide watch, obtaining medical/psychological examinations. Her friends are not worried for her either, but are instead like, "let's throw a party, we heard you found a new love interest!" Like HELLO??? Was this scene really that inconsequential? It can only be so if these major plot points are only done for the sole purpose of making the ML look like a hero and giving the CP more chances to interact. All other side characters are 2-dimensional, so of course none of their actions are met with the amount of gravity they deserve.

BAD ACTION SCENES
Another gripe is the unrealistic action scenes (the girl loses her grip on the FL's hand and begins to fall before the ML lunges forward, yet he has time to jump down to a lower beam, THEN jump across to the adjacent beam, AND THEN grab the girl's waste before she can fall even TWO FEET... ok, sure. ).

POOR VISUALS
Then the last thing is the OVERALL UNATTRACTIVENESS of everything I'm seeing on screen. Many of the scenes have poor color grading, and the characters end up looking super pale but also super green, like they are sickly (or aliens). And the ML is styled TERRIBLY. The actor himself is already not good-looking, and then in the first few scenes he has long hair, but not a cute long haircut. And its evenly long around the head, so that the front strands are longer than the back, and the hair falls to the sides of his face in a middle part, looking like an emo teenager who wants to hide his face. And on top of that, with the thin facial hair, the best way I can describe it is looking like Vasco from Lookism (which is not attractive, but more like creepy, doofus ahjusshi). So I thought he could only look better once he cut his hair after returning to China - AND I WAS WRONG. They give him this hideous bowl cut (what's with these "mom cut my hair" teenage boy looks - are they doing it to make him look younger because his character is supposed to be 27 but he looks like he's 40). I think he looked best in the flashbacks of him celebrating his dad's birthday when he was a teenager, he needs to LOSE THE FACIAL HAIR and style his hair up, not down. And when you look that unattractive, you should at least be a great actor to make up for it. The ML's portrayal is very wooden, no emotion, no expressiveness with the eyes, no sub-context, no micro-expressions, - his acting is like watching paint dry. Ma Si Chun looks BEAUTIFUL AS ALWAYS (like her eyes, her nose, her lips, how can one look so angelic?), and even though they over did it with her whitewashing (she and ML straight up look like they are different races), I can't deny how beautiful she is. And of course her acting is good too, the only cringe moments the FL has are when they give her an excessive amount of flashbacks (but that's not her acting, that's the post-editing, making her character more lovesick than is believable).

flashbacks, Flashbacks, FLASHBACKS
Also the LAST last thing - TOO MANY FLASHBACKS. Every fight scene is filled with flashbacks galore, and every time the CP parts ways with each other, they have to give them at least one flashback scene to show that "I've been thinking about you", "I'm probably falling in love right now".

CONCLUSION
These writers are so bad at writing a convincing plot, and the producers are even worse at cutting the scenes together in a way that produces good storytelling. I kept trying to find comments on the Youtube clips for each episode hoping someone else felt the same way I did, but all the fans are clearly delulu. I'm dropping it after episode 9, I'm giving it a 4.5 because I can't bare to give one of my most favorite actresses (Ma Si Chun) a low rating, but if it weren't for her this would probably be a 1.0/2.0.

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Sweet with no angst and a good cast!

For the most part, I enjoyed the drama. It was sweet and there was no angst which is a good change from most dramas. The cast was also perfectly chosen. And that is why I think I was able to overlook obvious flaws... at least until the final episode.

My pros:

- 2nd couple - i really wish we'd gotten more of them
- the friendships - i loved how everyone melded together in their friend groups.
- the music - i'm not a big fan of traditional music of any country, but I found myself kinda liking the music here
- the cast played their roles very well. there wasn't a single character i didn't like.
- the food. food corn that lasts the entire series!

Cons

- the main couple (mostly towards the end where their faults were glaringly obvious) which I sort of delve into below
- it was too long. it would've worked just fine as a usual 24 episode drama.

My biggest issue:

The ML's pushiness (control issues could be a better thing to say, maybe) and the FL's childishness and sheltered self really came out full force in the final episode and the sweetness without angst was no longer able to blind me. At that point, though, I just finished the drama. Honestly, this is one drama couple where I feel like if the FL ever grows up more and comes into her own... I don't really see this couple being endgame forever. But if FL stays her sheltered self who is fine with others choosing everything for her, then good luck I guess.

That said, I gave this a 7.5 for my pros. Would I recommend it? It's a toss up. But, I guess I'd say if you're thinking of it, try it for yourself and see what happens. Maybe the sweetness and no angst won't cloud your judgement and have you watch the whole drama like it did me.

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Breezy and cheerful

This one is strictly for fun - breezy, cheerful, and playful. A bit of mind candy for anyone who needs a break from the soul-draining rigors of romance.

It's such a relief to see a female lead who uses her powers to right the wrongs suffered by damsels dating dastardly dudes.

OK, it was a bit over the top. The FL's fighting chops were on a superhuman scale, and the second couple's courtship was so abbreviated I barely had time to register it.

But thanks again, Netflix, for giving us a female-centric story with a strong lead (mostly) devoid of victimization, weepiness, and heartbreak. Loved it.

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Weak FL, uninteresting ML

It's interesting to see how dramas have changed the way they stylize characters compared to more recent dramas like Story of Yanxi Palace. The styling really surprised me and caught my attention. I love the colors and some of the costumes, but I admit the hairstyles make me laugh a little (especially since this style only became popular towards the end of the Qing dynasty, while this drama takes place at the beginning). But I liked it a lot, and I also like the filming style.

The protagonist is interesting; I generally don't like characters that are so weak, and weak not in a physical sense, and I also didn't expect her to intervene, but weak in her inability to control her own feelings even knowing what's going to happen. Her insistence on trying to change what's already destined to happen is also a bit irritating; there were moments when I rooted against her because of it. All she does is cry. On that note, I also like that she knows what's going to happen to the characters and thinks about it; it feels like I'm watching a prophecy come true.

Regarding the MLs, it was certainly a journey. My favorite is the tenth; I love his boyish and innocent style. I never really liked the eighth because he's married to the protagonist's sister (I know it was a different time, but she's not from that time, so she should understand how strange all this is) and he took away her freedom. I don't like the fourth as much either; I found some of his actions very odd. The thirteenth is cute; I liked that he has a more open mind and awareness of not imprisoning Princess Min Min (btw, my FAVORITE character) in the forbidden city just because of his feelings (looking at you, eighth). The fourteenth disgusted me when he comments on the thirteenth's "prostitute".

But I had to drop this drama (at least temporarily) because I was on episode 15 and skipping scenes. I found FL very incompetent for a 21st-century woman who basically sees the future, and the way she deals with the harassment and grooming (if we're honest) from some of the MLs made me feel too nauseous. I don't feel like I would be happy for her regardless of the relationship.

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Shine on Me is Shining!

Shine on Me is a must watch.

Perfect casting – it’s like Lin Yusen and Nie Xiguang were written for Song Weilong and Zhao Jinmai. Their chemistry is top tier making it feel like their meeting is a destiny and their love journey is one of mutual growth. They both didn’t just fall for each other – they chose each other. The romantic scenes are textbook-level perfection yet feels so relatable.

My love for Song Weilong grew tremendously after watching this. His portrayal of Lin Yusen is incredibly charming and sweet (not afraid to voice out his feelings, daring yet with gentle approach, longing but patiently wait – every decisions are guided by respect).

Overall, a warm and satisfying watch with lovely romance full of trust without unnecessary misunderstandings because both ML and FL choose to communicate keeping each other in the loop before making any decision.

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All Hype, No Heart: A Disappointing Watch

Love In The Clouds is the definition of “It’s good waiting for it to be great.” I was originally intrigued because many people were hyping this up to the sky. You know that feeling you get when you’re watching such a great drama? Well, unfortunately, this drama didn’t give it to me.

My main problem was the continuous lying of both the ML and FL, and there is only so many misunderstandings that a couple can go through before it becomes utterly ridiculous. This was a main portion of the drama, and most of the issues could have been solved by a simple conversation.

The plot is also not very propelling and has major flaws, and I reached a point where I just wanted this drama to end already. The screenwriting is very poor, and at times it’s confusing to understand why things occur or why characters acted the way they did. It seems very sudden and rushed.

The actors’ performance was great, however I strongly do not recommend this drama. Love in the Clouds does not really bring anything to the c-drama scene, and your time is better used watching something else.

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Just…ugh. The first couple episodes, I thought the reviews were exaggerating and it wasn’t that bad. But it just kept deteriorating. By the end I was watching at 3.5x speed, I was so bored.

To be honest, there’s nothing egregiously wrong about this. A lot of the time, when I dislike a show, it’s because of toxic relationship dynamics, consent issues, or other outright events in the show that piss me off. That’s not the case here. The couple is relatively green flag, and nothing bad really happens in the show.

But that’s the problem. Literally nothing happens in the show. There were two overarching plot lines - someone stealing designs and embezzling from the company, and the past life dreams. Both were so lackluster and anticlimactic that they felt like side plots and not the overall storyline. Both storylines drag for too long and resolve too easily. I think if they had played into the secret relationship aspect of things and had actual consequences for being together, that would have been a much more interesting storyline.

The dream storyline was just worthless. First of all, it didn’t even make sense. This woman (Lin) loved a man (Sun) who loved her sister, but the sister loved someone else and ended her engagement with Past-Sun. Past-Lin tries to kill her sister’s lover (for reasons?) and ends up killing her instead, so Past-Sun rips off the necklace she gifted him and locks her up in a cave. It ends when Present-Lin gifts a replica of the necklace to Past-Sun, therefore freeing Past-Lin and everyone lives happily ever after. Except why would Past-Sun want to free the woman that killed the woman he loved? Why did he forgive her so easily? And Past-Lin says that she and Past-Sun are destined to be together in the next life when she’s freed, so she clearly learned nothing. And none of that storyline paralleled the present storyline whatsoever. So what was the relevance? It would have been better if they just cut it altogether and stuck with the office rom-com concept.

Also, the CRINGE. I cannot tell you how many times I had to pause and just do something else because I couldn’t bear to watch. Khun Dad, for one. I find the term “daddy” gross enough, let alone straight up “dad”. The poses, the dialogue, the interactions…just everything was so goddamn cringy and also unbearably awkward. The pose Sun does when Lin opens the hotel door, the one-sided foot massage on the first date, their first kiss attempt, the dancing…please kill me. Like even in the special episode when they’re supposed to be effectively married, they were still awkward with each other. If it wasn’t for the cringe and awkwardness, this would have been so much more bearable.

Lin’s outfits were tragic. I have never seen more ugly clothing in my life. His high heels were particularly awful. His shirts and pants were ill fitting and his make up was so strong that I just kept wondering why his lips were so pink. The sparkly date outfit in episode 1 was a real choice. It was giving 14 year old on first date that picked something sparkly from the department store clearance rack. Also, it was a jewelry company but every single piece of jewelry was ugly as hell.

And the nepotism and rich-people-privileges were outrageous. Sun just gets handed the entire company when he wasn’t even working there before. His brother was secretly working as an intern, but when he’s discovered, he suddenly gets to take charge of the entire department. Sun was constantly throwing his money around — dates and trips and gifts that frankly would have made me feel bought and not wooed. Sun gets son-of-owner privileges because he can up and disappear for a week with no consequences, and Lin gets so much boyfriend-of-president special treatment that it’s actually ludicrous. He skips so much work to go out with Sun (basically unlimited PTO), his designs are obviously preferred, he’s guaranteed a job after graduation, he gets selected for work opportunities like work trips, and he gets to turn said work trips into romantic getaways.

There were plenty of stupid things as well. Like Lin saying he was never upset about Sun lying and just wanted to get back at him. Or Sun agreeing to be someone’s fake fiancé but not bothering to explain to Lin in advance. Or in the special episode, where they’re suddenly concerned about costs of clothing and accommodations when they’ve been throwing money around with no concern the whole time. The special episode in general was unnecessary. The finale already felt like a long, extended epilogue. We didn’t need another one.

I also felt that this show was heteronormative. I’m careful when using that term, because it is completely valid for a gay couple to have one masculine individual and one effeminate individual. That happens all the time in real life and isn’t inherently heteronormative. But the issue is when it’s depicted in a stereotypical, shallow way in a fictional series. You’ve got the masculine top that pursues and takes the lead and pays for everything, and the feminine virginal bottom that never returns the favor. Their outfits are very masculine / feminine accordingly. Lin initiates physical affection exactly once, in the finale, and he also takes the lead exactly once, in the finale. But Sun takes back control after like, 10 seconds, so did it really count? And it turns out that Lin is rich as well, and while he offers to split the bill once, Sun pays for basically everything. Why, if Lin is also rich? In the special episode, Sun doesn’t have a shirt and Lin is wearing 2 layers. He could have easily given his over shirt to Sun, but it’s Sun’s job to take care of him and not vice versa, and so he doesn’t. All of those things I could maybe excuse as cliched, bad BL tropes, though. The real clincher for me was when in the special episode, Sun looks at and rubs Lin’s stomach when they’re talking about having kids, as if 1) he can get pregnant and 2) he would be the one to get pregnant just because he’s the effeminate one / the bottom.

Also, it started off so overly chaste and ended so overly explicit. I mean, Lin was so extremely virginal. It’s said that Sun is around 30 and Lin is 8-9 years younger, but what 21-22 year old acts that overly innocent? Him puffing up his cheeks when trying to kiss for the first time, what even was that? He shies away from even hugs, let alone kisses. When they make it official, they do a forehead kiss instead of a real kiss. AT 30 YEARS OLD. They exchange couple rings before they’ve even kissed, and Lin gets shy after they do kiss. By episode 5, they’ve basically exchanged one peck and a few hugs and that’s it. But then it goes from hugs and cheek / forehead kisses and one solitary peck to a full on NC scene, no middle ground or build up in between. Then in the finale, we get a stimulated in-pants hand job, and in the special episode, we see crotch groping, nipple touching, and visible tongue kissing. The switch up was insane. I didn’t even feel like the NC scenes were particularly good. While both were both active participants, even if Sun took the lead, they felt overall mechanical, and just contributed to the overall awkward vibe that the couple had.

In terms of boundaries / consent, this was relatively green flag, especially considering it was a boss / employee situation. There were many instances of asking for verbal consent, even including hugs and kisses, and of taking no for an answer. When Lin says he’s uncomfortable, Sun respects it, apologizes, and backs off.

But that’s not to say there weren’t still issues though. On their first date, Sun spies on Lin taking a bath. They make it out to seem like Sun’s a good guy for moving on relatively quickly, as if it was acceptable for him to have been watching at all. There was also one scene where Sun takes off his shirt and kisses Lin’s knee while he’s on a call. Given their dynamic at the time, where Lin was uncomfortable with even hugs, I’d say Lin was probably uncomfortable. And afterward, even though Lin verbally consents to a hug, he seems uncomfortable anyways and keeps pulling away / trying to escape.

The boss / employee dynamic didn’t really bother me because they met before working together and Sun immediately told Lin to talk to him normally and act normal around him. So the power dynamic was instantly dissolved. When Lin’s mad at Sun for hiding his identity as the company’s president, Sun does chase after Lin, but he’s not super aggressive about it. Realistically, it’s sexual harassment because Lin indicated disinterest and Sun persisted despite the inherent power dynamic, but in relation to other BLs, at least he wasn’t forcing the issue to the point that Lin wasn’t able to say no. But that being said, he does manipulatively arrange a trip to Hong Kong with just him and Lin when Lin is still upset and seemingly disinterested, and Lin didn’t have a choice in the matter. So maybe that negates the whole “was able to say no” thing I just said.

The second couple (Sam / Yo) was more questionable. Sam follows Yo home, says he’ll tell everyone about Yo’s mom if he doesn’t give him something and then says the something he wants is Yo, outs their relationship without Yo’s consent, and is pushy about their first kiss.

Also, Lin’s friends spy on Chan / Juldis, non-consensually record them making out, and use it to blackmail them. First to get a ride, and then to prevent them from spilling about Sun / Lin’s relationship. Juldis was meant to be an asshole and comedic relief, but I actually thought their relationship was the sweetest out of all the couples, even though they were the fourth couple and barely got any screen time. I liked that Juldis was an ass to everyone but was so sweet to Chan, and their relationship dynamics were the healthiest and most consensual.

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Just…ugh. The first couple episodes, I thought the reviews were exaggerating and it wasn’t that bad. But it just kept deteriorating. By the end I was watching at 3.5x speed, I was so bored.

To be honest, there’s nothing egregiously wrong about this. A lot of the time, when I dislike a show, it’s because of toxic relationship dynamics, consent issues, or other outright events in the show that piss me off. That’s not the case here. The couple is relatively green flag, and nothing bad really happens in the show.

But that’s the problem. Literally nothing happens in the show. There were two overarching plot lines - someone stealing designs and embezzling from the company, and the past life dreams. Both were so lackluster and anticlimactic that they felt like side plots and not the overall storyline. Both storylines drag for too long and resolve too easily. I think if they had played into the secret relationship aspect of things and had actual consequences for being together, that would have been a much more interesting storyline.

The dream storyline was just worthless. First of all, it didn’t even make sense. This woman (Lin) loved a man (Sun) who loved her sister, but the sister loved someone else and ended her engagement with Past-Sun. Past-Lin tries to kill her sister’s lover (for reasons?) and ends up killing her instead, so Past-Sun rips off the necklace she gifted him and locks her up in a cave. It ends when Present-Lin gifts a replica of the necklace to Past-Sun, therefore freeing Past-Lin and everyone lives happily ever after. Except why would Past-Sun want to free the woman that killed the woman he loved? Why did he forgive her so easily? And Past-Lin says that she and Past-Sun are destined to be together in the next life when she’s freed, so she clearly learned nothing. And none of that storyline paralleled the present storyline whatsoever. So what was the relevance? It would have been better if they just cut it altogether and stuck with the office rom-com concept.

Also, the CRINGE. I cannot tell you how many times I had to pause and just do something else because I couldn’t bear to watch. Khun Dad, for one. I find the term “daddy” gross enough, let alone straight up “dad”. The poses, the dialogue, the interactions…just everything was so goddamn cringy and also unbearably awkward. The pose Sun does when Lin opens the hotel door, the one-sided foot massage on the first date, their first kiss attempt, the dancing…please kill me. Like even in the special episode when they’re supposed to be effectively married, they were still awkward with each other. If it wasn’t for the cringe and awkwardness, this would have been so much more bearable.

Lin’s outfits were tragic. I have never seen more ugly clothing in my life. His high heels were particularly awful. His shirts and pants were ill fitting and his make up was so strong that I just kept wondering why his lips were so pink. The sparkly date outfit in episode 1 was a real choice. It was giving 14 year old on first date that picked something sparkly from the department store clearance rack. Also, it was a jewelry company but every single piece of jewelry was ugly as hell.

And the nepotism and rich-people-privileges were outrageous. Sun just gets handed the entire company when he wasn’t even working there before. His brother was secretly working as an intern, but when he’s discovered, he suddenly gets to take charge of the entire department. Sun was constantly throwing his money around — dates and trips and gifts that frankly would have made me feel bought and not wooed. Sun gets son-of-owner privileges because he can up and disappear for a week with no consequences, and Lin gets so much boyfriend-of-president special treatment that it’s actually ludicrous. He skips so much work to go out with Sun (basically unlimited PTO), his designs are obviously preferred, he’s guaranteed a job after graduation, he gets selected for work opportunities like work trips, and he gets to turn said work trips into romantic getaways.

There were plenty of stupid things as well. Like Lin saying he was never upset about Sun lying and just wanted to get back at him. Or Sun agreeing to be someone’s fake fiancé but not bothering to explain to Lin in advance. Or in the special episode, where they’re suddenly concerned about costs of clothing and accommodations when they’ve been throwing money around with no concern the whole time. The special episode in general was unnecessary. The finale already felt like a long, extended epilogue. We didn’t need another one.

I also felt that this show was heteronormative. I’m careful when using that term, because it is completely valid for a gay couple to have one masculine individual and one effeminate individual. That happens all the time in real life and isn’t inherently heteronormative. But the issue is when it’s depicted in a stereotypical, shallow way in a fictional series. You’ve got the masculine top that pursues and takes the lead and pays for everything, and the feminine virginal bottom that never returns the favor. Their outfits are very masculine / feminine accordingly. Lin initiates physical affection exactly once, in the finale, and he also takes the lead exactly once, in the finale. But Sun takes back control after like, 10 seconds, so did it really count? And it turns out that Lin is rich as well, and while he offers to split the bill once, Sun pays for basically everything. Why, if Lin is also rich? In the special episode, Sun doesn’t have a shirt and Lin is wearing 2 layers. He could have easily given his over shirt to Sun, but it’s Sun’s job to take care of him and not vice versa, and so he doesn’t. All of those things I could maybe excuse as cliched, bad BL tropes, though. The real clincher for me was when in the special episode, Sun looks at and rubs Lin’s stomach when they’re talking about having kids, as if 1) he can get pregnant and 2) he would be the one to get pregnant just because he’s the effeminate one / the bottom.

Also, it started off so overly chaste and ended so overly explicit. I mean, Lin was so extremely virginal. It’s said that Sun is around 30 and Lin is 8-9 years younger, but what 21-22 year old acts that overly innocent? Him puffing up his cheeks when trying to kiss for the first time, what even was that? He shies away from even hugs, let alone kisses. When they make it official, they do a forehead kiss instead of a real kiss. AT 30 YEARS OLD. They exchange couple rings before they’ve even kissed, and Lin gets shy after they do kiss. By episode 5, they’ve basically exchanged one peck and a few hugs and that’s it. But then it goes from hugs and cheek / forehead kisses and one solitary peck to a full on NC scene, no middle ground or build up in between. Then in the finale, we get a stimulated in-pants hand job, and in the special episode, we see crotch groping, nipple touching, and visible tongue kissing. The switch up was insane. I didn’t even feel like the NC scenes were particularly good. While both were both active participants, even if Sun took the lead, they felt overall mechanical, and just contributed to the overall awkward vibe that the couple had.

In terms of boundaries / consent, this was relatively green flag, especially considering it was a boss / employee situation. There were many instances of asking for verbal consent, even including hugs and kisses, and of taking no for an answer. When Lin says he’s uncomfortable, Sun respects it, apologizes, and backs off.

But that’s not to say there weren’t still issues though. On their first date, Sun spies on Lin taking a bath. They make it out to seem like Sun’s a good guy for moving on relatively quickly, as if it was acceptable for him to have been watching at all. There was also one scene where Sun takes off his shirt and kisses Lin’s knee while he’s on a call. Given their dynamic at the time, where Lin was uncomfortable with even hugs, I’d say Lin was probably uncomfortable. And afterward, even though Lin verbally consents to a hug, he seems uncomfortable anyways and keeps pulling away / trying to escape.

The boss / employee dynamic didn’t really bother me because they met before working together and Sun immediately told Lin to talk to him normally and act normal around him. So the power dynamic was instantly dissolved. When Lin’s mad at Sun for hiding his identity as the company’s president, Sun does chase after Lin, but he’s not super aggressive about it. Realistically, it’s sexual harassment because Lin indicated disinterest and Sun persisted despite the inherent power dynamic, but in relation to other BLs, at least he wasn’t forcing the issue to the point that Lin wasn’t able to say no. But that being said, he does manipulatively arrange a trip to Hong Kong with just him and Lin when Lin is still upset and seemingly disinterested, and Lin didn’t have a choice in the matter. So maybe that negates the whole “was able to say no” thing I just said.

The second couple (Sam / Yo) was more questionable. Sam follows Yo home, says he’ll tell everyone about Yo’s mom if he doesn’t give him something and then says the something he wants is Yo, outs their relationship without Yo’s consent, and is pushy about their first kiss.

Also, Lin’s friends spy on Chan / Juldis, non-consensually record them making out, and use it to blackmail them. First to get a ride, and then to prevent them from spilling about Sun / Lin’s relationship. Juldis was meant to be an asshole and comedic relief, but I actually thought their relationship was the sweetest out of all the couples, even though they were the fourth couple and barely got any screen time. I liked that Juldis was an ass to everyone but was so sweet to Chan, and their relationship dynamics were the healthiest and most consensual.

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Red Flags and Green Flags

I really love the style of this show—the cinematography, the characters, the complex chemistry, and the darker themes. I enjoy a wide range of dramas, from cute and funny to realistic and dark. To me, a good story isn't defined by its genre, but by its ability to make you feel something and draw you in completely. This show does exactly that.

If you like cinematography that tells a story and characters that have layers of psychological gray areas, watch this. It’s not just a romance, it’s a story about what it means to be "true" versus being "perfect" and so much more.


Spoiler:



It starts with what seems "obvious" but quickly begins to flip your emotions (at least for me). At first, I could totally see what Jira sees in Pheem. Pheem appears to be the perfect person to "heal" Jira’s burnout and low self-esteem. Jira feels like he is on a chaotic, stormy ocean, and Pheem looks like a stable rescue ship, someone who is calm, logical, and reliable. He seems like the "good guy" opposing the "bad guy."

However there was something that did not feel quite right, upon re-watching some scenes, I clearly noticed the actual "fake green flag". Pheem is essentially a persona with no real personality. He goes to the Burnout Bar to "heal" people at their lowest point, but in reality he just wants to sleep with them, masking his selfish desires and ego behind a "noble healer" costume. Pheem doesn't actually want Jira to get better he wants Jira to stay in a bad state, so that Jira needs him. To Pheem, Jira is just a challenge to his own superficiality.

On the other hand, Koh is an obvious "red flag," but he is (mostly) honest. He is transparent about his flaws, which gives people the choice to "take it or leave it". For me, one big point is, Koh sees actual value in Jira’s art. This gives Jira the perspective and self-esteem he was lacking. While Koh is toxic, he doesn't pretend to be someone he’s not. He shows moments of true vulnerability and slow growth. His "bad personality" feels more like a defense mechanism that softens over time.

In my eyes, that is the biggest difference: Pheem is a (superficial) finished drawing who wants to keeps Jira in his position, while Koh is like an unfinished sketch (imperfect and raw) that gives Jira the desire to grow and create something real.

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