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Will they stick the landing?
I never give 10/10 and I won't here either but there's never been a show that has come so close in my mind.The 9.5/10 are simply because I wish they would have addressed what Wai did and some audio issues I noticed throughout the show that surely could have been avoided.
Ironically, the weakest thing about this show (and that is "weak" with a hefty bit of sarcasm because this show has no weak points) is probably the storyline and that's just because it doesn't have any crazy twists and turns or reinventions of a popular trope. However, the story is still done fantastically: it takes the old Romeo & Juliette narrative and turns it realistic and earily understandable. Pat and Pran start out as rivals (but not really), turn into reluctant co-conspirators and friends before, inevidably, their true feelings for each other spill out. Brilliantly, the audience gets to understand very early on that, really, Pran has been infatuated with Pat for years, maybe even decades, and so the jumpstart of their relationship only happens after Pat - oblivious in the fact of clear signs - realized in episode 5 that he has madly fallen in love with Pran as well. Continuing their bickering rivalry into their courting process, watching them shamelessly flirt and tease is an absolute delight and when the next heartfelt turn of their relationship happens and they finally become boyfriends, it happens in a wonderful, peaceful way without anyone getting hurt. The fact that their relationship grows stronger and stronger and is the main focus of the show, never detracts from the tension, it is never boring to watch them flirt and bicker and fall deeper and deeper in love. In fact, it's an absolutely incredible watch, which Ohm's and Nanon's acting has to be tributed and lauded for.
Storywise it feels as if their first really conflict in episode 5, which gets resolves in two episodes, and their conflict in episode 7, which also gets resolved in two episode, are precursors to the biggest issues these character's will face - which, like a final boss, lurking in the shadows, being teased since the beginning, is their parents.
The story is simple, yet a combination of great writing, great directing, great acting and trust in not just the actor's history with each other but also their chemistry, really paid off with this show.
Now the only thing it needs is to stick the landing and present the audience with a satisfying ending.
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I wish I had more good things to say
I'm going to keep this short and vague because I feel everyone needs to make their own opinion of this one.The plot is a mess. You can tell the director herself wrote it and not a professional screenwriter. Everything that was important at first lost importance over the course of the series, resolved or not - that's not how a story is supposed to progress. I don't want to go into any depth about the most ridiculous plotpoints but let's just say that the overall story was much better done in it's japanese original, without any add-ons, things no logical person would ever do, characters that were just produced out of thin air to make the drama even more dramatic ... it's just not good. There were also some very serious moral issues that were so important in the beginning and then just disappeared into thin air.
The editing is junky and you can tell that this production went about three months over the normal production lenght. The editing feels exhausting and exhausted.
The music is too loud always, it soaks scenes in melodrama that aren't even supposed to be dramatic. It feels manipulative and cheap and made me role my eyes more than once.
Some of the acting was outstanding, first and foremost View. She was a breath of fresh air and the only character that I genuinely loved seeing on screen. Ohm's performance was equally as gripping even if his arc relied on crying and looking sober a lot - he did very fine with that direction however, while Tu on the other hand - look. I like Tu. I thought she was fine in F4. But whether it's the script, her abilities or the fact that she was paired when incredible actors this time around: her performance in this series is not good. In fact, it's boring, one-dimensional and plain tiring to look at. She makes one face throughout the entire series. She's exhausting to look at and at some point I just started zoning out whenever Kongkwang was on screen.
The actors for the parents were all impressive in their own rights but even with them I felt like the script was barely giving them anything to latch onto. Pluem as Sai was great and I wish we had gotten more scenes with him. Off was in this show. That's literally the only thing I can say about him, he left absolutely zero impression.
The romance is nonsensical. There is no development there, no explanation as to how or why or when these people fell in love. Unfortunately they have no chemistry either, no matter how hard Ohm is trying to work his magic. They look good together but their romance is just 'there'. No reason, no in depth look at their feelings or why they even like each other. With how little we really know about these characters, that's probably for the best.
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Probably one of the best BL dramas in recent years
I could gush about this drama forever and honestly, I probably will.The concept is fresh, very insightful and NEEDED. We needed a BL drama like this - that lays open how toxic the industry is, how much pressuring and discomfort there is behind the scene, how both writers and actors of BL stories get pushed way past their comfort zones for the sake of "the fans".
I adored this show, I loved the characters, I loved the development not just of Gene and Sib's relationship but of their coming out, of the double standarts, the hypocrisy, the shared learning.
Personally I found the angsty point of season 11 quite unneeded and it didn't make much sense to me when looking back at how Gene had been portrayed up until that point.
Nubsib is a fantastic character. I was initially a little concerned because his stalker-like tendencies creeped me out somewhat but I was glad they cleared up that this wasn't an obsession since childhood that he never got over, but just a crush he revisited when already an adult - that made much more sense to me. His tendency to be caring and so patient toward Gene, yet so protective and steadfast in their relationship was wonderful to see, not to mention his constant need for consent (a first in BL if I'm not wrong). I adored him when he was soft and pouty, and I loved him when he was straight-forward and outraged at others wanting to meddle in his relationship.
Gene too brought so much to the story and I loved going through his confusion and self-denial with him.
One thing I didn't like is something I just highly dislike in general:
The whole use of children to show how close they were in childhood. It's creepy and inappropriate to me and I really don't like it.
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Confused
Other reviewers have mentioned this already but while the drama is good, it suffers from being only around 15min per episode. I found myself at episode 6 thinking "Wait, how are they going to resolve all of this?".I found the plot highly intriguing at first but given that there was so little time to develope everything accordingly, the ending left many questions unanwered (what happened to Han Ji Woos parents, what was that taped-up house, who is that english-speaking reporter and why does she care about our fateful pair etc.).
However, the worst part for me was, that by the end of the show, I could genuinely not tell you why those two people are in love. And not that there always needs to be a perfectly understandable reason - but I didn't even see hints of Han Ji Woo falling in love with Kang Seo Joon. While beautifully acted, the scene where we find out that he does, indeed, like Kang Seo Joon as well was quite a surprise for me personally. Like "oh he does? Really? Why?".
I think part of that is because until around episode 7 Kang Seo Joon comes across as quite an irritating character who tries to get out of problems by paying people off. The whole range of issues that came with his scandal weren't explored either and so the issues felt very insular.
The relationships between the characters weren't all that well developed in general - I couldn' tell why some people were friends, how they had met, etc.
All in all, the production was GREAT, they filmed outside a lot and so it never felt like it was just two sets that were being used. The kitchen at their house in particular was absolutely stunning.
I wish they'd had time to develope everything futher, the idea behind the plot is great but severely underdeveloped, as are several other key points of the production. It's sad because the acting performances were seriously great across the board. And while the main couple didn't necessarily have the best chemistry, they absolutely made it work and I could tell they were physically comfortable with each other.
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A Tale of Thousand Stars
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Beautiful BL with a few issues
I binged this entire series in about 13 hours and it was well worth it. I really enjoyed the story, I liked all the characters (which doesn't happen often for me) and I liked the intrigue.Was it super innovative? Not really, the plot was pretty easy to see through but it was well executed and I was holding my breath the entire time, waiting for the other show to drop. And when it did, it was truly heartbreaking.
Now, what I do want to mention however is a few things I found very tiring. The pacing is SLOW. SLOW SLOW SLOW. I enjoyed it in the love story because it had me screaming "JUST KISS" at the screen multiple times (during the airport scene, I was both crying and laughing because lol the parents) but the overall story dragged a lot. Which is strange given that the show had only ten episodes.
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It's more of what we already saw in season 1, just spicier and dumber.
Given that I've rewatched the whole thing three times, I don't think I can give it a bad score.I'll keep this brief:
I don't think it's as bad as some people say it is, so if you're only watching the scenes of Tharn and Type, it's okay. But the technical aspects of this show are honestly horrendous - the lighting is super overblown, the audio still messy as hell, the entire production has a strange "sunset"-y orange glow to it, both Mew and Gulf are dressed and styled in a way that makes them look like they're in their 30s. The plot is paper-thin and Mew/Tharn seems almost like a secondary character in his own show.
There is a lot of frustration about this season and I wished the would've waited a little longer to film this instead of pushing it out in a rush.
There were some scenes I hugely enjoyed (Type decking his boss) but in general I wished they would've focused more on Tharn and Type and their relationship which often seemed like it was still in its beginning stages instead of seven years in.
All the other sides couples took so much time away from them and that was honestly such a shame and waste is time.
So in short :
Is this better than season 1: no. Definitely not.
Is there any plot beyond relationship stuff: they try, but no, not really.
Do Tharn & Type learn to communicate better: a little bit but not nearly as much as they need to.
Are their arguments relatable: yeah, somewhat.
Does this season include Type doing something completely out-of-bounds batsh*t insane that would've gotten him into jail IRL? YES (srsly wtf)
Are Tharn & Type ridiculously adorable and sexy in this: 100% YES, even more so than season 1.
Are there still dumb misunderstandings: yeah, a ton.
Did Techno sadly become an annoying dumbass: yes.
Are the side couples interesting: no.
Do they take too much time away from TT: absolutely.
Is Type still a ferocious powerbottom bitch? Yes and we love to see it.
Is Type's relationship with his Dad weird? Given that it's been seven years and his Dad is still an ass to the man he loves? Yes.
Gulf and Mew's acting as gotten a little better, Gulf still does the eyebrow acting every now and then but it's reserved for sassy scenes where it makes sense.
Listen, I can't sit here and tell you this season (or show lbr) is good. It's not. There is no plot, I still have massive problems with the inappropriate music (although the audio engineering is way better than in season 1) and at way too many points I just wanted to slap them both and lock them in a room together for a week so that they can just FINALLY talk it all out.
But I'm still absolutely obsessed with this show and still rewatch it all the time.
So clearly, they did something right.
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I get it
I have such a LOVE LOVE/hate relationship with this drama.I have watched it seven times at this point. And I will definitely watch it so many more times.
Is it a good drama? Meh.
Am I completely obsessed with it? HELL yeah.
Here is the thing - this drama had a great idea, but extremely poor execution. They threw away the one plot point that could've explained a lot of Type's actions even if it didn't excuse them. His abuse should've been the catalyst to explain and form a frame for his development but unfortunately they forgot about it after the fourth episode. This is beyond tragic because by including the trauma as a central "set piece", so to speak, it could've been not just referenced by Type, it could be used for him to explore and later accept the part of himself that hates his abuser but loves Tharn, who has nothing in common with that man. They could've made a clear distinction between his pedophilic abuser and gay Tharn, who only loves him and doesn't want to hurt him - unfortunately that was not the way the show went and it suffered a lot for it. The next time Type's abuse gets brought up is literally at the end of season 2 and that's just such poor execution for something that could've elevated the show greately. Can we as the audience still infer a lot from Type's behaviour? Sure, but it's never stated as such in the show so he could be traumatized and deeply confused and questioning himself - or he could just be a dick.
Plot? What plot? The relationship is the plot, if you are expecting anything else ... well, we get a semblance of a plot near the end of the show but honestly, how Tharn and Type become a couple and how they develop as a couple - that's the plot of this show, more or less. Again, is that really plot? I personally don't think so but some other people might.
Many of the things that don't make sense in this drama are due to the lack of time indicators - you thought Type first extremely refused, then propositioned Tharn the next day? Naynay, there's actually a gap of several weeks here that the audience just isn't privy to because the production made no indication of how much time passes in between scenes. It makes many things horribly confusing because it seems like Type is just flip-flopping all over the place.
Now onto the problematic stuff. It's there, it's unavoidable - Type is a loudmouthed ass and his development is first super slow, then even seems to go backwards in places, then just doesn't develop in a normal way. Who punches their SO when they are being kissed by someone else? Type's emotions are all over the place and again - if they had EXPLAINED THIS BETTER it could've made sense without excusing his behaviour.
However the production clearly was out to progress the relationship as fast as possible and so a lot was left on the cutting-room floor unfortunately.
Tharn is no angel either, they both honestly deserve each other with how toxic and combative they are.
Coming unto a guy who is so clearly averse to you? Uncool. Assaulting Type in the shower, no matter how much you "know" he wants it? Absolutely unforgivable.
The show also equates gay = pedo which is obviously completely unexcusable.
However - when they are sweet, they are unbearably, teeth-rottingly adorable and this is were Mew's and Gulf's chemisty is just out of this world. There is a reason this drama stays in people's mind: not just the chemistry but the absolute physical comfort they have with each other. When they kiss, you absolutely believing not just that they love each other, but that they are super sexually attracted to each other too - you buy them as sex friends, as a couple. There's a reason there were so many rumors about the actors at the time. It's the sort of dynamic that had been, until that point, completely unseen in the BL landscape. And they honestly sell it almost too well: they are intimate and lovely to look at. Which makes the scenes when they are tearing each other apart even worse because you SEE, you BELIEVE, how much they love each other, so the scenes when they are vicious are so heartbreaking.
The acting is for the most part, quite good. Gulf sells the trauma incredibly well, he's magnificent in all scenes where strong emotions are to be portrayed. His confusion towards his own feelings come across really well and you can tell he's an emotionally stunted young man who's sharp with his words but not a dumb brute.
Mew I found a little flat in some scenes, but he too sell high emotion really well, and he's fantastic when Tharn is being cheeky or forelorn.
Personally, I found that Tharn obviously looks quite a bit older than Type (Mew was 28 when this was shot) but when it comes to those two, I think that didn't stand out much. However, when it comes to the past relationship between Tharn and Tar, I was swallowing my disgust because Tar literally looks 13, no matter how old the actor was. It left a really bad taste in my mouth, especially because Tharn so nonplused talked about his own sexual experience at 14 with a 19 year old ... seriously, so messed up. There are quite a few of these aspects randomly thrown into the show that I found to be highly disturbing but that the drama absolutely did not acknowledge (see above). What happened to Tar and the fact that Lhong got no punishment for it is a big one here.
I HATE EVERYTHING RELATING TO THE MUSIC IN THIS WITH A PASSION! I want to rip whoever was responsible for the audio production in this drama a whole new gaping hole because - wow, does it suck. The mics were either too sensitive or someone had no idea what they were doing, because they pickes up sounds from the staff, background noise from filming, small bits like russling papers, people coughing even. Not to mention that the music so often overshadows dialogue in really unfortunate moments and IS JUST PLAIN TOO LOUD. I'm going to commit a serious crime againt the guitar player in episode 5 (or was it 6) who was way too loud over one of the most intimate scenes in the show.
The secondary character I found all to be lovely, they all added something or brought a new aspect or conflict to the show, some were hilarious, some were just nice, others were hugly annoying - but they all had their place.
Now the finale - was it dumb? Yes. Was it worth destroying Tharn's entire being over a really not-thought-out plan that nearly killed Type? Nope, not in the least. Did the Long get what he deserved? He's not in jail, so no.
I can readily admit that this show is not that good, okay. But I still can't stop loving it.
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I love this one an unhealthy amount but-
I can admit that the concept is what absolutely blows my mind the most with this extremely short drama!There are no words to describe how much I love it. It is, in fact, so interesting and has so much potential for further development, that I'm willing to overlook a lot of the rather unfortunate issues this drama has.
It is a very short, very small (in more ways than one) drama that completely took me over.
The production was clearly tiny, there are about two sets and some outside locations, the cast is really only centered around two people and each episode if only 15min long.
However, those 15min carry a punch! The concept between Mono's and Probe's is fascinating, especially since Choi Yeon Woo's fear of falling hopelessly obsessed with the one person who can make him see colors in his so-far gray-toned world is juxtaposed with Go Yoo Han's complete willingness and desire to be obsessed over, since he in turn is already infatuated with Choi Yeon Woo - the only person who's face he can recognize.
It's such a great concept and even though Go Yoo Han's actor Hurhyun Jun is still a newbie who was somewhat flat in some scenes, Yoo Jun's acting hit it out of the park in every. single. frame.
He was absolutely fantastic as the extremely conflicted Choi Yeon Woo, who is terrified of becoming obsessed with his Probe and his assumption that such obsession can only lead to tragedy.
There are some issues with the story that can't be overlooked - Choi Yeon Woo's mother has been missing for years and this is a plot that is supposedly the framing device of the lovestory forming. However it gets relegated to the sidelines and later forgotten all together. Choi Yeon Woo's suicide attempt gets exactly ZERO reaction from anyone, not his aunt, not his supposed love interest. I liked the plottwist that instead of hurting Go Yoo Han, Choi Yeon Woo instead decided to hurt himself so he can never hurt his Probe, but that whole aspect of the story got no further development at all and it literally felt like his suicide attempt had never even happened. He is also left completely alone with his fear of obsession and nobody, not even his aunt, tries to explain to him that a tragic outcome for a Mono/Probe pair is not a guaranteed ending.
It felt like many aspects were underdeveloped, unexplored or just thrown in at the very end to fill some holes. All in all the biggest problem this drama had was it's limited timeframe.
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Ahhh this show
2gether if one of those shows that you watch once and love and then rewatch again and find so many flaws with it that you are kind of left thinking "wait, why did I love this so much again" - but then you still keep loving it.This drama is SWEET! It's CUTE! It's inoffensive. And it was largely consumed by a whole lot of tense people at the beginning of the pandemic. I think that has lead to it being somewhat overhyped.
That isn't to say that there aren't adorable aspects to it and I did like the development of the love story.
However, there were quite a few problems with it:
1.) Bright (Sarawat) and Win (Tine) are not physically comfortable with each other at all. It's awkward to say the least. Bright is still the more comfortable between the two, but Win draws back whenever physical contact or even kissing is required. It makes it seem like Tine is not at all physically attracted to Sarawat and that's just weird for two young guys who are supposedly falling deeply in love with each other.
2.) The side pairings are painfully uninteresting and in one case have some of the worst chemistry I've ever seen in a BL.
3.) The last few episode are so disjointed and make it glaringly obvious that Sarawat and Tine have never succesfully communicated in the first place.
4.) A HIGH FIVE? SERIOUSLY?
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