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So close to being a master piece
Everything about this drama was perfect.... except for the scenario.
With such an original and interesting trope, I was hyped from the first episode. It unfortunately didn't last long, but let's start with the things I enjoyed:
-The characters. They all had such great, complex, and human personnalities. Their developpement was also on point, and all the characters grew up and changed in their own ways. Even Boss, who was pretty much your basic mafia villain had some traits that made him interesting. My favorite ones were definitely: 1, Joke. A bit stupid and playful, makes everything look simple, but is very emotionally sensitive in all the good ways possible. 2, Aran. Spoiled brat who has a very good heart and loves his father no matter what. He is very human, for someone who started off as the daddy's princess stereotype. 3, Rose. I expected her to be the tipical annoying BL female rival when she was first introduced, but turns out that, while she still is a bit of a spoiled princess, she thinks logically, makes smart decisions and respects/supports Jack no matter what.
-The acting. I know I'm not taking any risk by saying that War's performance was phenomenal. But even if it's hard for the others, especially Yin, to stand out when playing alongside War, I still think they all did an amazing job and none of them stuck out with bad performance, EXCEPT for most of Boss's guards (especially in episode 12. I laughed a few times at how ridiculous their acting was, but I'm gonna say it was probably a director's choice to make them look stupid).
-The relationships. Let's put the romance aside for now and focus and the relationship itself. I really liked the dynamic between Jack and Joke. It weren't some clear Top/bottom bullshit were the bottom is basically treated like a woman or a weakling the whole show, and even during the NC scene, it wouldn't have shocked me if they had decided to switch roles. I also liked Aran and Tattoo, Tattoo and Hoy, Hoy and Nang, Nang and Rose, Joke and jack's grandma, with his family, with Toi Ting... all of the relationships, although not always developped, had some importance to the story and made everything look very natural.
Now... let's dive onto what didn't work at all: the scenario and the romance.
I am aware that this is fictional and that it doesn't need to be realistic. But there are some limits that should not be crossed if you want your story to be taken seriously.
It started from the very beginning, with the first time we saw Joke steal. I remember thinking "there is no way he got away with that." Same goes for the scene at the bank, and then for every single action/stealing scene. The employee at the bank sending a regular customer (jack) to the headquarter manager (joke). Joke knocking over a whole box of fish and icecubes in the guard room at Rose's mansion and them sitting there later like it never existed. The security camera screens giving also acess to Boss's bombing system in the last episode. Nonsense. If it were just that, it would be acceptable, but there are sooo many more moments where nothing makes sense because of the lazy writing and easy short cuts. Even though it doesn't have to always be realistic, a story must keep somewhat of a logic otherwise the audience will just stop taking it seriously. It was especially annoying in the last episode with the guards being completely useless and stupid, Boss not thinking a single time Joke could have written Zorry (and I checked, he didn't even try the W! He just pressed whatever), Joke kicking the tablet instead of bringing it closer to grab it, Jack jumping to Joke instead of grabbing that tablet later.... And I was glad the ring turned out to be the horsemen playing with Boss, because I was so done when all the sudden he was seen as this unstoppable villain just because he got his hand on some ring.
This could have been mostly ignored if it was supported by a good romance, but it was mild. A lot of people mentionned it already so I won't talk about it for long, but Jack and Joke's realtionship was treated more like a bromance than an actual romance. They had a few sweet moments, but I didn't feel that emotional/physical attraction between the two before the first kiss. Also, there were so many characters and things going on that they rarely got to share a moment just the two of them, or when they did they were surrounded by others. I really liked the scene after Rose's rescue in the first episode where Rose is trying to talk and the two guys are just looking at each other like they're the only ones to exist, but the only moment we got to enjoy this vibe again was in the last episode when they were about to die. Plus, they hurt each other so much during the whole show, that I would have wanted a more intense moment only between the two at the last episode after everything was over. We only got to see a sweet ice cream eating moment where as we should have had something more serious, more deep that could have end up in them finally and properly putting behind them all their struggles to be able to make the most out of their future. At least that's how I felt.
Anyway, it was overall a good watch and I'm gonna miss them a lot.
With such an original and interesting trope, I was hyped from the first episode. It unfortunately didn't last long, but let's start with the things I enjoyed:
-The characters. They all had such great, complex, and human personnalities. Their developpement was also on point, and all the characters grew up and changed in their own ways. Even Boss, who was pretty much your basic mafia villain had some traits that made him interesting. My favorite ones were definitely: 1, Joke. A bit stupid and playful, makes everything look simple, but is very emotionally sensitive in all the good ways possible. 2, Aran. Spoiled brat who has a very good heart and loves his father no matter what. He is very human, for someone who started off as the daddy's princess stereotype. 3, Rose. I expected her to be the tipical annoying BL female rival when she was first introduced, but turns out that, while she still is a bit of a spoiled princess, she thinks logically, makes smart decisions and respects/supports Jack no matter what.
-The acting. I know I'm not taking any risk by saying that War's performance was phenomenal. But even if it's hard for the others, especially Yin, to stand out when playing alongside War, I still think they all did an amazing job and none of them stuck out with bad performance, EXCEPT for most of Boss's guards (especially in episode 12. I laughed a few times at how ridiculous their acting was, but I'm gonna say it was probably a director's choice to make them look stupid).
-The relationships. Let's put the romance aside for now and focus and the relationship itself. I really liked the dynamic between Jack and Joke. It weren't some clear Top/bottom bullshit were the bottom is basically treated like a woman or a weakling the whole show, and even during the NC scene, it wouldn't have shocked me if they had decided to switch roles. I also liked Aran and Tattoo, Tattoo and Hoy, Hoy and Nang, Nang and Rose, Joke and jack's grandma, with his family, with Toi Ting... all of the relationships, although not always developped, had some importance to the story and made everything look very natural.
Now... let's dive onto what didn't work at all: the scenario and the romance.
I am aware that this is fictional and that it doesn't need to be realistic. But there are some limits that should not be crossed if you want your story to be taken seriously.
It started from the very beginning, with the first time we saw Joke steal. I remember thinking "there is no way he got away with that." Same goes for the scene at the bank, and then for every single action/stealing scene. The employee at the bank sending a regular customer (jack) to the headquarter manager (joke). Joke knocking over a whole box of fish and icecubes in the guard room at Rose's mansion and them sitting there later like it never existed. The security camera screens giving also acess to Boss's bombing system in the last episode. Nonsense. If it were just that, it would be acceptable, but there are sooo many more moments where nothing makes sense because of the lazy writing and easy short cuts. Even though it doesn't have to always be realistic, a story must keep somewhat of a logic otherwise the audience will just stop taking it seriously. It was especially annoying in the last episode with the guards being completely useless and stupid, Boss not thinking a single time Joke could have written Zorry (and I checked, he didn't even try the W! He just pressed whatever), Joke kicking the tablet instead of bringing it closer to grab it, Jack jumping to Joke instead of grabbing that tablet later.... And I was glad the ring turned out to be the horsemen playing with Boss, because I was so done when all the sudden he was seen as this unstoppable villain just because he got his hand on some ring.
This could have been mostly ignored if it was supported by a good romance, but it was mild. A lot of people mentionned it already so I won't talk about it for long, but Jack and Joke's realtionship was treated more like a bromance than an actual romance. They had a few sweet moments, but I didn't feel that emotional/physical attraction between the two before the first kiss. Also, there were so many characters and things going on that they rarely got to share a moment just the two of them, or when they did they were surrounded by others. I really liked the scene after Rose's rescue in the first episode where Rose is trying to talk and the two guys are just looking at each other like they're the only ones to exist, but the only moment we got to enjoy this vibe again was in the last episode when they were about to die. Plus, they hurt each other so much during the whole show, that I would have wanted a more intense moment only between the two at the last episode after everything was over. We only got to see a sweet ice cream eating moment where as we should have had something more serious, more deep that could have end up in them finally and properly putting behind them all their struggles to be able to make the most out of their future. At least that's how I felt.
Anyway, it was overall a good watch and I'm gonna miss them a lot.
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