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Fondueforkharpoon
On a little rock somewhere, looking at the stars
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I'm not trapped in here with you, you're trapped in here with me
What an absolute thrill ride. I went into this expecting a fun, romantic romp disguised under the thin veneer of an action thriller and boy oh boy did I get more than I bargained for. What should, by all accounts, have been a slightly over-the-top, fanfiction-esque (which is not a bad thing, by the by, just a comment on the suspension of disbelief needed to enjoy certain types of stories) plot, somehow evolved into a fairly grounded and serious exploration of familial bonds and how they influence our lives, the concepts of forgiveness and betrayal, and the quiet deceptiveness of unsolicited acts of love. All this without ever losing its charm and comedy or its heartfelt, upbeat core message.And now off we go into the (mild) spoiler territory.
Some personal highlights (aka Things I Loved):
- The relationship between Shao Fei and Tang Yi. This may seem like an obvious one, wow you watched a romance show and liked the two main leads, what a hot take. But what makes these two so compelling and sympathetic to me and what makes their dynamic stick out against many other pairings in romances, is how honest and direct these two are with each other.
From the beginning there is respect and fondness between them, buried under a healthy amount of animosity though it may be. That fondness and respect grows and evolves as the show goes on, developing at first into unconventional but genuine friendship and then into a mature and, dare I say it, healthy relationship. As soon as Shao Fei realises his feelings he is upfront with Tang Yi, pursues him openly while still respecting his boundaries and giving him time to reciprocate or pull away. There is no dramatic jealousy, no endless waffling about, no will-they-won't-they. These are two people who decide to love each other and support each other and damn everyone who tells them they shouldn't, destiny is what you make it and problems are best tackled together rather than apart and I am so on board with it.
- Jack and Zhao Li An. While I do have some personal gripes with Jack (such as wanting to come after his kneecaps with a baseball bat for the way he sometimes acts but we're letting that go for now) I do find him a very interesting and compelling character (morally grey, true neutral bastard my beloved) and I absolutely adore his relationship with Zhao Li An. Their dynamic is funny, charming, and their connection seems genuine. I do wish we had seen a bit more of their character growth during the last episodes but I still feel the two have been set up for a happy future in which they can grow together.
- The ending. A happy ending that feels truly earned and makes a point about the importance of facing up to past mistakes and choosing to move forward together with your partner. That is pretty much all I have to say about that.
- Tang Yi's relationship with his fathers. I can't go into detail at all here or I'd end up spoiling big parts of the show, but whoo boy was that whole plot fascinating and the way it all wraps up gave me goosebumps with how serious and just plain good it is.
- Zuo Hong Ye. An interesting female character with a rich and complex inner life who is absolutely badass but is still allowed to be a real human being, warts and all, in my gay romcom?! It's more likely than you think.
Some personal lowlights (aka Things I Didn't Like):
- Gu Dao Yi and his whole plotline. To be fair this isn't so much a "thing I didn't like" and more of a "thing I liked sometimes and then disliked sometimes and felt neutral towards on the whole". I appreciate the important part he plays in driving the plot forward and enabling Tang Yi to have some character growth but something in me just does not like this man.
- Some of the more explicit scenes are a bit gratuitous and unneeded in my opinion, but for what it's worth these two do have great chemistry and the intimacy between them feels both touching and real.
In conclusion: If you are looking for an intelligent drama that explores some interesting and somewhat dark themes but won't drag you into any pits of despair and tragedy and will even make you laugh sometimes then you should definitely give this one a go.
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A great show that went off the rails somewhere along the line
Boy oh boy am I conflicted about this one! There are some things I adore about it, some things I absolutely hate about it and on the whole I suppose I'm just not quite sure where I stand.Let me start off by saying that the acting and cinematography in this show are phenomenal, the soundtrack absolutely slaps, and best of all: it has some of the most realistic and multidimensional depictions of queer people and their lives I've ever seen in a Thai show.
Relationship boundaries are complex and shifting, sexual roles and preferences are fluid, and monogamy is often not all it's cracked up to be. For that alone the series scored big points with me.
Unfortunately though, they completely flubbed the ending in my opinion.
This story could have had the perfect three act structure: the building of relationships, then the complete breakdown of those relationships, before finally rebuilding connections and salvaging whatever possible from the wreckage.
And for a while it really looks like that's where the show is going. I absolutely adore the first third of the series and am very much on board with the sheer chaos of the second third (I especially love the twist to Mew's character and think this could have been the perfect set-up for a truly interesting and subversive character arc).
But by the last third I was so furious about some of the writing choices made that all that goodwill pretty much went out the window.
I strongly dislike the way Mew and Top's relationship rekindling is handled (I think it's a great disservice to both characters to be honest) and I just couldn't get invested in their dynamic anymore.
Boston also gets done pretty dirty in that the show frequently blurs the line between "this character is a complete dick who is unrepenting and pretty much irredeemable" and "this character is simply polyamorous/prefers open relationships" which plays into negative and antiquated stereotypes.
And then there is Boeing whose inclusion is as unnecessary as it is deeply irritating. It detracts focus from two of the most important relationships in the show and pretty much ruins several character arcs in my opinion.
That being said the series does still have a great deal to offer: it is raw, touching, and real. It subverts a lot of tired old tropes of the genre while also skillfully addressing several important issues like consent and addiction. It is incredibly sex-positive and unabashedly queer and features several loving lesbian and trans couples (though none of them really get enough screentime).
And most importantly it's pure, chaotic fun.
In short I hope to see this production team create more shows like this in the future and hopefully learn from some of the mistakes here too.
I also would like to take this opportunity to grab GMM by the proverbial collar and inform them that they better wise up and make space for more authentically queer productions going forward without leading good projects awry due to unexpected audience demands dammit!
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Domesticity - The TV Show
I am a sucker for good, wholesome slice-of-life stories and this show most certainly delivers.It's not exactly a ground-breaking tale but it does what it sets out to do really well - It has charming and likeable characters (very much including the side characters, shout-out to Haruna my deeply beloved), a solid and compelling dynamic between the two leads, and the occasional moment of added depth to elevate the story above mindless fluff.
The romance is slow but sweet and the characters communicate very openly and respectfully with one another. There is little to no unnecessary drama or conflict, just the simple and calm everyday lives of two people who become increasingly irreplaceable to one another.
Sometimes some of the performances can be a little stiff and the ending feels ever so slightly anti-climactic, but all in all there is pretty much nothing to detract from the impeccably lovely and wholesome vibes of this show.
If you're looking for something calm and sweet with solid editing, pacing, and cinematography as well as some truly adorable character colour-coding, then this one is for you.
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A Tale of Thousand Stars
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Not quite 1000 stars
So I finally got around to watching this classic recently and it was... fine. It has parts that I loved, parts that I hated, and on the whole I feel surprisingly neutral about the entire thing.It starts of really well with great performances, solid cinematography and editing, and an interesting premise, but unfortunately loses its way somewhere towards the end.
The climactic conflict centers around the difficulties of living life on your own terms but rather than actually making a compelling point about self-determination, the story inexplicably does a hard turn in the opposite direction and completely muddles its message.
I strongly dislike characters martyring themselves for one another but here it could have worked really well if we'd gotten to see Phu and Tian communicate with another and actively work to resolve their problems both with one another and in regards to their respective personal circumstances.
The dreaded 2-year separation cliche could even have fit perfectly for the story if the whole thing had been Tian's choice, but no.
Instead we get a lot of incredibly hollow feeling rhetoric about valuing and living life for yourself all the while watching everyone around Tian make his every decision for him, often going against his explicit wishes.
The fact that Tian's parents face zero repercussions for their actions and that the damaging effect their behaviour has clearly had on Tian's mental well-being is never once addressed honestly made me so furious I couldn't even really enjoy the final episode, despite how delightful the ending is.
Mostly I'm just disappointed with how little this feels like a P'Aof show.
His projects usually skillfully address themes of class difference, privilege, and the everyday struggles of queer people, but here these themes are barely present, if at all.
There are also barely any female characters and those that do appear are pretty much exclusively used as plot devices before being discarded. (Poor Torfun deserved better)
There's also an incredibly off-putting scene in which the characters spy on a young couple during their wedding night which feels entirely unneeded and out of place.
I wouldn't go so far as to discourage anyone from watching the show - for what it's worth the first 7 or so episodes are genuinely enjoyable and are objectively quite good, both from a technical and a story-telling perspective.
As a whole, however, the series feels sadly hollow and lacking. Sort of like shiny, appealing packaging wrapped around an entirely empty box.
I'd recommend maybe watching it once if the premise particularly appeals to you, before moving on to other, better pieces of media.
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The bare bones of a good show
There's the foundation of a genuinely good story in here somewhere, but unfortunately you have to dig through a lot of meaningless-at-best, annoying-at-worst filler to get to it.But let's focus on the positives first. This show genuinely has a lot going for it, the cinematography is good, the pole and aerial silk performances are surprisingly great, and most of the characters are genuinely likeable, realistically flawed human beings.
My personal favourite being Wela, who honestly could have been milestone for the genre on top of being incredibly charming, if only the script had been, well... better.
There are also middle aged lesbians in a thriving relationship as well as polyamory representation which we love to see. Yes, the latter could have been handled a bit more smoothly and I think that plot line would have benefited from more of a romantic buildup between Pan and Ken as well, rather than just between Seji and the other two individually, but all in all it still works surprisingly well and I am hopeful that this casual inclusion will open the door for more series and films to showcase healthy, loving polyamorous relationships.
Finally, and arguably most importantly, the show focuses on sex work and sex worker's daily lives which is an incredibly mis- and under-represented group of people, so I was understandably excited for this story.
Unfortunately, however, this is where the series really crashes and burns.
It does treat its characters with the respect they deserve and even tries to address certain topics like social and systemic discrimination of sex workers, or the fact that sex work is a paying job like any other which pays the bills and puts food on the table (which is quite an important point to highlight seeing as, statistically speaking, quite a high percentage of Thai sex workers actively use their income to support family in their home towns). But any deeper exploration of these topics is hindered by bad writing, a meandering, unfocused plot, and So. Much. Product. Placement.
There is a certain point in the series at which I thought the story was going to address the vicious cycle of repeat criminalization which allows corrupt government forces to profit off the sex work industry endlessly while publicly condemning it, but no. To my great disappointment it's just another opportunity for the almost offensively cartoonish female villain to do her thing.
The series also spends way too much time on people making out with one another and while yes, the portrayals of physical intimacy are very good and yes, I understand this can be a draw for some viewers, these scenes take up vital screen time that could have been much better spent on more important things like fleshing out the plot and weaving more cohesive storylines.
Personally I also really dislike the ending of Wela's character arc, it feels completely contrary to his previous actions and kind of devalues most of the show's core messages.
All in all, this show tries, in its own convoluted way, to offer a nuanced and respectful portrayal of sex work and shine a light on the serious issues facing people working in that industry, and for that it is to be commended.
It does, however, mostly fail to achieve what it sets out to do, making it quite difficult for me to wholeheartedly recommend watching it.
Instead I would recommend doing your own research on the issues of sex work in Thailand and around the world before watching the show and forming your own opinion :)
P.S.:
If you don't know where to start you could, for example, read some articles published by EMPOWER, a Thai sex workers' advocacy group and non-profit, or by the NSWP, a global network of human rights organisations advocating for sex workers worldwide, which offer some highly educational material.
Hell, even just reading through the wikipedia entry on sex work in Thailand can offer some reasonably nuanced insights on the topic.
For any visual learners I recommend watching John Oliver's segment on sex work (it's available on youtube for free) - it does strike a fairly satirical tone and focuses mostly on America and other western countries but a lot of the points made are universally applicable and it covers a lot of ground in a relatively short time span, so I feel it could work well as an introduction to the topic.
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A diamond in the rough? Almost! Kinda...
I have crawled out of my hibernation hole back into the weird and wonderful world of Asian dramas and what am I greeted by but this show - simultaneously a welcome surprise and a massive letdown. Let me explain.Let's start with the positives:
While it is plenty obvious that the show didn't have a particularly high budget, the audio quality is occasionally poor, and the subtitles are sometimes just plain broken (this, to be fair, is not the show's fault as much as the studio's/distributor's), there is a familiar sort of cheesy charm to the series that the show-runners use to great effect.
The many flashbacks, soft filters, and extensive staring sessions that can be so deeply grating in lesser shows are given new life here, used as they are to tell the story of a man who is absolutely *haunted* by his first love and former best friend.
During the first episode particularly we see Ji being constantly bombarded with images and memories of Achi, desperately trying to escape from them only to bump into Achi by accident, meeting him again after a literal decade.
Cue the cheesy music, sparkly lights, and Achi's thousand watt smile.
Excellent use of time-honored cliches, this show has a Vision, it has Vibes, 10/10.
Later on these same tactics are used to showcase how much Achi has been haunted by Ji for these past ten years as well, which serves as a lovely balance for the first few episodes and provides deeper insight into the characters' motivations and general state of mind.
Furthermore, simplistic as the overall story may be, it takes the time to explore some real world issues - such as grief, loss, and some of the difficult realities of working in the medical industry - with surprising sensitivity and insight and even perfectly sets itself up to tackle complex topics like internalised homophobia and and the politics of para-social relationships ... only to utterly fail to follow through.
Yes, this is where we come to the negatives. This show was so close to telling a fantastically grounded, touching, and relevant queer story. So close and yet so far.
The series tiptoes around the realities of queer relationships , the complexities of self-image and social expectations versus internal desires and then just keeps tiptoeing, never committing to those plot lines even in a subdued show-not-tell kind of way.
Sweet as Achi and Ji's story may be, the lack of follow-through makes the resolution feel utterly anti-climactic, no matter how happy an ending we are provided with.
After a while even the previously so cleverly used flashbacks and filters lose some of their focus and effectiveness.
The show also tries to tell the side couple's story through the same visual tricks as the leads', which simply doesn't work.
Sickeningly adorable though they may be, these characters don't have a shared history, no complicated past between them to warrant such levels of cheesy drama.
You can't simply slap some sparkly effects on your show and call it romance, that's not how it works.
Then there are things like the completely unexpected and unnecessary parental abuse which rears its ugly head some time towards the end of the story and is then never addressed again.
Or the forced kiss in episode one which the show acknowledges as harassment only to then, once again, never bring it up again.
All in all, after I had finished watching I was left with a profound sense of... absolutely nothing. Of "Okay, and? Is that it?"
This is not say I wouldn't recommend watching this show at all. Give it a go, form your own opinion. For all my complaining I can't deny that it has lovely visuals, solid performances from the whole cast, a central queer relationship pleasantly devoid of hetero-normative dynamics, and some genuinely great portrayals of intimacy.
Also there is a very good dog if that tips the balance for you either way.
If you're looking for something sweet and light that won't take too much time to get through, then you might like this one.
Personally though, I'm just too hung up on what it almost was. Always the damn almost...
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The boys are back! Kind of...
This special feels like someone wrote 50% of a good follow-up to The Eclipse, someone else wrote 50% of a pretty bad The Eclipse fanfiction, and then they stitched it all together, electrocuted it, and produced whatever frankenstein-esque script spawned this show.Seriously, I feel like I got whiplash from how tonally dissonant so many of the scenes here are. Some of them are genuinely good, enjoyable to watch, and the actors clearly had a lot of fun filming them.
The rest of them are uncomfortable, extremely out of character, and just plain weird. They really did my boy Aye so dirty with this, it's almost offensive.
That being said, if you're willing to stick around despite the bad, there is still a very sweet epilogue to the series to be found here. The final scene especially made me tear up with how lovely it is, so for that alone I'd suggest watching at least once.
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A queer twist on a classic crime thriller
I liked this one! It's different, intriguing, and on the whole pretty good fun.The acting, cinematography, and pacing are all solid and make for an enjoyable whodunnit thriller experience.
The murder mystery is, for the most part, very well executed and fun to guess along with and is balanced quite well with the romance elements.
The characters are largely well-written and feel fully fleshed-out and three dimensional. My personal favourites are Sorawit and That, my beloved itty bitty gay sleuths, but the rest of the cast is, if not likeable, then at least interesting and compelling to watch as well.
This show isn't perfect by any means; in keeping with classic crime drama tradition it is more concerned with aesthetics and style, as well as making the viewers *feel* something rather than with telling an entirely logical and coherent story.
This to say there are several plot holes (although how bothersome these are is entirely subjective) and the story side-lines character development and gets a little too wrapped up in its own twisting, turning mystery for my personal taste towards the end.
I also wish there had been more plot-relevant female characters who don't wind up dead or otherwise disposed of, but for what it's worth the women of this story all get plenty of screen-time and agency, which sadly isn't a given in many male-centric queer media, or even in crime dramas for that matter.
All in all though, Manner of Death, despite its shortcomings, represents a step in a new direction for the genre and likely helped pave the way for later shows to deviate even further from well-established tropes and plots and for that alone I appreciate it greatly.
So if you're interested in watching a little piece of queer film history, or are looking for a well-paced thriller that is neither afraid of exploring some very dark topics nor of casually incorporating queerness into its characters and plots, then you should definitely give this show a try.
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Quiet, sweet, but nothing special
I actually really like this show. I'm not going to claim it's a particularly *good* show by any means, but it is very pleasant to watch.It's got a very calm, gentle atmosphere about it, a sort of warm mellow quality that I really enjoyed.
The plot is paper-thin, but the characters are charming and believable to the point where the actual story almost doesn't matter - you just want to keep watching these people living their lives.
The story could have explored alcoholism and Korean drinking culture and it is indeed disappointing that it fails to live up to that potential (oh the things that could have been).
Personally though, once I lowered my expectations a bit, found a lot to like about the series just as it is. The friendships depicted are wonderful, the humour is often understated but works very well with the story, and the pacing and relationship progression are absolutely perfect.
There is no huge drama, no pre-finale curse, there's honestly barely any conflict at all. I can understand why a lot of people lost interest in the show because of this, but I find it a refreshingly realistic take on a budding relationship that makes for a good palate cleanser from more intense dramas.
If you're interested in a low-angst, slice-of-life type drama about people appreciating good food and good company, which features a very wholesome, gentle slow-burn romance, then I'd recommend giving this series a shot.
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An oldie but a goldie
This movie is so aggressively 2000s in the best way possible. The hair, the fashion, the flip phones! An absolute delight.It also happens to tell a genuinely lovely story about a queer relationship which goes through rocky times but ends up stronger and better than before; a delightful surprise, in other words, especially considering the time in which the movie came out.
The story itself isn't particularly unique or intense, but there is a quiet air of sweetness and gentle joy about it that makes the whole thing feel groundbreaking in its own right. And it kind of is. It's a feel-good movie about a respectfully and lovingly portrayed relationship between two men in 2000s era Japan - that's quite a rarity.
All in all I feel this movie has stood the test of time; apart from the camera quality most of the technical and story-telling aspects hold up very well.
So if you're looking for a short, easy watch that's a bit different from most modern day entries into the genre, or are simply in the market for a romantic dramedy chock-full of 2000s nostalgia, then this is the movie for you.
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BL Drama no Shuen ni Narimashita: Crank Up Hen
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Half rom-com, half meta-comedy, all charm
Aw hell they really got me with this one. I wasn't expecting to be so thoroughly charmed by this little show, but they truly won me over.The balance between incredibly clever meta-comedy, classic rom-com shenanigans, and genuinely emotionally impactful scenes is absolutely pitch-perfect. The writing is consistently excellent, the editing is tight and precise and enhances both the comedy and the more serious moments perfectly, and the acting is frankly phenomenal.
This kind of over-the-top humour can be really hard for me to get into but here it feels weirdly natural and grounded and made me laugh out loud quite a bit.
And even if the humour isn't quite your thing you'd be hard-pressed not to fall in love with the characters. Not only are our two mains absolute sweethearts whose dynamic is highly engaging and honestly a joy to watch, they are backed up by a wonderful cast of supporting characters who are all uniquely weird but equally lovable.
I won't claim this is some sort of cinematic masterpiece which has revolutionised the genre, but for a relatively straight-forward romantic comedy, this show sort of has it all - I honestly can't think of anything they could have done better.
In short, this story is funny, sweet, feels oddly real, and is incredibly fun to watch. I highly recommend you go check it out for yourself.
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A genuinely lovely show, despite its flaws
This series belongs firmly into the "beloved messes" category of media I've consumed - it has some glaring flaws but it also does a lot of things so very right, on top of being damn charming and earnest.I'm a huge fan of food-centered romances in general so I might be a bit biased, but I strongly believe there is a lot more to enjoy about this show than people are giving it credit for.
The editing, visuals, music, and acting are all incredibly solid and the writing is, for the most part, genuinely excellent.
All the characters feel like fully realised three-dimensional human beings and their struggles and emotions are understandable and relatable.
Mahiro's defensiveness and general distaste towards confronting things head-on are almost painfully realistic and his internal struggle and frustration with himself over his shortcomings will likely hit very close to home for a lot of viewers. He's used to preemptively shielding himself from rejection so when his unrequited attraction suddenly turns out to be returned he has absolutely no idea what to do with himself and freezes every time he wants to openly communicate his feelings. How do you deal with suddenly getting what you want when you weren't prepared for it to ever happen?
Souta, on the other hand, has no such problem; he speaks his mind freely and clearly and is actually a pretty good communicator. It just often takes him a while to fully understand his own feelings which, combined with his inexperience, naturally leads to clashes with skittish Mahiro, who isn't interested in being nothing but a convenient opportunity for Souta to experiment with his sexuality.
Over the course of the show these two go through a lot of conflict and misunderstandings which, in a pleasant twist of fate, serve to further plot and character development rather than to string out the story longer than necessary.
Another strong point of the series is its respect and care for its queer characters. Souta's character arc in particular is incredibly well-written, satisfying to watch, and a fairly accurate depiction of discovering and coming to terms with one's sexuality. It's also a very gentle rumination of self-determination vs conforming to expectations and the many different shapes happiness and satisfaction can take, which I personally absolutely love.
Hao Shan is another stand-out character who adds a lot of humour as well as depth to the story.
Specific descriptors like "gay" or "bisexual" may not be mentioned (as is the case with a lot of queer Asian dramas, unfortunately) but the topic of sexuality and identity is explored much more thoroughly and carefully than it is in many similar shows, which is very much a step in the right direction in my opinion.
Unfortunately the writers also make some big missteps which muddle the story and slightly mess up the pacing at times.
The whole sleeping kiss cliche is a good example. At least it's openly addressed and does drive the plot significantly, but it still feels gross and unneeded.
Komachi's role is similarly dissatisfying, in that her story starts off strong but then goes downhill at the end, and certain things, such as the slap, just hugely detract from my enjoyment of her, no matter how important she is to the story.
Likewise the inclusion of Kosuke during the last two episodes just feels unnecessary and adds a weird element to the get-together scene. Don't get me wrong, I don't think a grand gesture or dramatic confession was needed here, but this strange combination of possessiveness and lack of clear communication feels some-what anticlimactic especially considering how much of the story revolves around the importance of honesty and openness in relationships, and the characters growing as people and learning to convey their wants and needs to one another.
The last two episodes are generally a little all over the place, although they do have some great moments and end on a very satisfying note. Personally I found these annoyances tolerable when weighed against the high quality of the rest of the story, though your mileage may very much vary.
All in all, I consider this show well worth your time despite its issues and if you're a fan of tame slow-burn romances with lots of genuine emotion and depth then you'll find a lot to love here.
This may not be the off-beat, raunchy romp the description suggested it might be, but it is an absolute diamond in the rough with a lot of charm, heart, and interesting things to say - and I think it can and should be appreciated just as it is.
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Ryu Sun Bi's Wedding Ceremony
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Silly, slightly off-beat, good fun... but nothing more
I was actually surprised by how much I liked this series. I went into it with very low expectations given the reviews but I actually had a pretty good time watching it.It's true, this show has many obvious flaws, the main one being how much plot the writers tried to force into such a short runtime and the choppy editing does not help.
These 80-90 minute shows are always pretty densely packed and most of them use these constraints to their advantage but here there was simply too much going on for there to be any time left to get to know the characters properly or even for them to get to know each other, which is obviously a problem when you're trying to tell a story centered around a relationship.
If they had done away with the love triangle (which isn't even really a triangle at all) and some of the sister's meddling and had instead focused on showing a growing connection between our leads then this story could honestly have been great.
That being said, the series is still engaging and entertaining as it is. The performances are solid, the visuals are beautiful and the overall production quality is pretty high.
The characters feel like actual, real people and they lend the whole set-up, contrived and ridiculous as it may be, a certain seriousness and credibility as well as some genuine emotional impact.
I personally also really enjoy the dynamic between the main characters. It would have been easy to box them into hetero-normative relationship roles, I mean one of them is literally playing "wife", but unlike so many other stories that's not what happens here. There are no "haha man in a dress" jokes, no cheap comedy at the expense of queer people's dignity.
Both mains treat each other with a lot of respect and each try to fix the situation as best they can.
Between the two of them Kiwan is the more energetic and confident while Hosun is slightly more reserved, but neither of them are particularly broody, bubbly, or generally over-the-top so they actually mesh quite well with one another.
Their dynamic also doesn't change when Kiwan drops his disguise and goes back to his regular appearance, they just continue on as before without any panic or sexuality crisis on Hosun's part which I really appreciate.
The ending is also very sweet and ties off the story quite well, even if there are many plot-holes left unaddressed.
All in all this show is worth watching if you're in the mood for something breezy, fun, and slightly different in the vein of Tinted With You. And maybe one day we'll get a historical queer romance that's actually good as well as fun. Until then this will do just fine.
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Senpai, Danjite Koide wa!
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Well... they tried
Honestly, there is a universe in which this show could have been great and I'm disappointed it failed to live up to its potential - I'm not all that surprised about it though.After having watched the show and seeing a lot of people bemoaning how it should have just stayed true to the source material, I decided to read the manga and see for myself. And it's... fine. It's just fine.
Sure, certain things are handled better in the manga (I think we can all agree Kaneda's weird shrine should never have made it into the script), but over all I feel the script writers made a valiant effort to expand on the source material and give the characters more depth.
Padding out a 5 chapter manga enough for an 8 x 25 minute TV runtime is no easy task but I actually think the show pulls it off pretty well, at least as far as pacing is concerned. The acting, editing, and cinematography are all extremely solid as well.
Where the series falters, however, is just about everywhere else.
The additional characters are all either completely unnecessary or ruined in some way, new sub-plots often start promising but then quickly go downhill and never quite manage to actually contribute to any character growth for our main leads.
The show adds a lot of little details to the characters and environments, but for every loving addition that gives the characters depth and makes the story more compelling, there's another addition that swings way too far the other direction and just makes things odd. It's a constant see-saw of one step forward, one step back and it gets a bit tiring after a while.
All in all this story has a very good concept which it only partially manages to make use of, but given that the source material never lived up to the potential either I personally can't bring myself to be too mad about it.
There's still a fair few things to enjoy about the show and if the synopsis interests you I suggest giving it a shot. Don't expect too much though, or you're unfortunately likely to be disappointed.
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That was... a show I watched
This show is fine. It's just... fine. To be honest, I wasn't sure whether to archive and review it at all or whether to let it fade away and never think about it again. But I have to admit that it did get one or two chuckles out of me so I suppose it at least deserves to be remembered for that.The plot here is basically non-existent and the editing is somewhat disjointed, but the series does have one strong point - its characters. I do find them all genuinely interesting to some degree and I think there's a lot of potential for a really good story starring these people, but this unfortunately just isn't it.
Such a short runtime just isn't a good fit for a story with a large-ish ensemble cast and the script simply isn't good enough to make up for that disadvantage. The characters therefore all end up feeling fairly underdeveloped and unfamiliar.
I really wanted to root for them but since the audience are given so little time to get to know even the leads, it was frankly quite hard to care about any of the characters at all.
Don't get me wrong, the show never does anything particularly offensive or problematic, it's honestly just... boring. Which is almost worse, in a way.
If you're looking for something completely devoid of substance to put on in the background and which will occasionally make you chuckle a little bit, then you might as well pick this show.
You might just as well pick literally anything else though, too.
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