asianblreviews
Classic love story of childhood friends
The characters in Kimi ni wa Todokanai capture the delightful tension that comes with falling in love with a friend. A flick of the hair, a touch on the wrist, the way the sunlight falls on their cheeks. The slightest of gestures that make your heart feel like it’s about to beat out of its chest.The show takes the viewers through the whole process of discovery, denial, awakening and finally, happily ever after.
But as far as stories of childhood first loves go, it doesn't quite hit the perfect combination of sexual tension, jealousy and anticipation.
Nevertheless, it's a decently well-paced show with relatable characters and an easy-to-follow storyline. It's just that nothing stands out in particular... perhaps that’s my biggest criticism of the show – the fact that it’s rather forgettable.
Full review: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2023/12/28/kimi-ni-wa-todokanai-bl-review/
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A little illogical and unrealistic but I still enjoyed it
If you’re looking for a show that you can binge-watch within a couple of days, this one will do the trick.As a pouty but highly sensible and emotionally sensitive teenager, Zongyi can be a little cringey at times. There is no shred of subtlety in this man. Remember when you were young and dumb and felt the need to proclaim your love as loudly as quickly as possible? That’s Bai Zongyi.
The love story between Chenyi and Aidi was slightly more interesting because of their backstory – both were orphans who grew up in a life of crime after being adopted by a gang leader – and had potential for some real emotional depth. They had good visuals but their acting was a little weak during the emotionally-charged scenes.
An interesting point that the show brings up: “Is this love or is this admiration?”
But overall, the storyline is a little cliched, there are some gaps in the storytelling, and the story is rather illogical and unrealistic. But is it still worth giving it a try? Yes, absolutely.
Full review: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2023/11/30/kiseki-dear-to-me-2023-bl-review/
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A little unusual & confusing, but worth the watch
There are so many stunning shots of the two men going about their daily routines, sitting in baths, eating meals together and laying on each other’s lap. It hurts my eyes because the both of them look so ridiculously beautiful from every angle.But beautiful men aside, My Personal Weatherman is perhaps one of the most unusual and confusing Japanese BLs I’ve watched recently.
The relationship between Mizuki and Yoh is insanely ambiguous and yet, painfully unambiguous at the same time.
When Yoh ties his self worth to books he has sold, it’s only because he wants to be good enough for the wildly successful Mizuki, who has made a name for himself in his field.
When Mizuki is quiet around Yoh, it’s because he has dropped his mask – he is finally free to be his exhausted, introverted self around a person he trusts the most. Not Mizuki the talented meteorologist, not Mizuki the popular weatherman, not Mizuki the handsome idol.
Just Mizuki. A man who has found a place to rest his weary soul.
Full review: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2023/11/24/personal-weatherman-2023-taikan-yoho/
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I hated the homewrecker vibes!!
Some may call it romantic – Sailom makes plans to get closer to the guy he likes, and pursues him via these different (planned) encounters.But you can also think of it this way – it’s quite creepy for someone to pursue their wedding planner??The bulk of the first few episodes is Nuea desperately trying to get the couple – who are clearly not interested in marrying each other – to provide him with all the information he needs to plan their dream wedding.
Nuea, who is hopelessly attracted to Sailom, is faced with an uphill battle: 1) Plan a wedding for 2 people who have no idea (and possibly don’t quite care about) what they want, 2) DON’T FALL IN LOVE WITH SOMEBODY ELSE’S TO-BE HUSBAND.
I wish the plot didn’t involve an elaborate lie just so I could properly enjoy the budding relationship between Lom and Nuea. Especially since the chemistry between Nuea and Lom was pure fire.
Full review here: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2023/10/01/wedding-plan-2023-bl-review/
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Hmmm maybe better with another pairing?
The main premise of the show is described to be centred around Souta's love for “naked dining”, and how another person comes to learn about his secret. But the series doesn’t dwell on this too much throughout the episodes.Perhaps, in reality, the nakedness is intended to be far more profound, going beyond this silly imagery.
As Souta spends more time cooking the recipes in his grandmother’s book, he discovers his grandmother’s world – a world beyond the colourless and dreadful universe of a salaryman, filled with endless potential.
He also discovers another facet of 'nakedness': being honest with one's feelings and learning to live an authentic life.
Zenra Meshi’s point is this: You should be taking chances and introducing adventure into your life, even if you don’t know whether you will like it or not. And yes, this nifty little metaphor applies not just to cuisines, but also extends to love.
Unfortunately, the romance, with its standard share of misunderstandings and jealousy, came off as superficial and formulaic. While some kind of character development was hinted at for Souta, the storyline couldn’t quite capture why or how the change was meaningful.
The questionable chemistry between the male leads – but perhaps this is an issue with the casting rather than the actual premise of the show – also explained why some scenes fell flat.
Full review: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2023/07/23/zenra-meshi-2023-bl-review/
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Best watched with a headspace that is ready for heartache
Compared to the usual BL fare, The Eighth Sense deliberately creates curated gaps in its storytelling, leaving the viewer to piece the story together and fill in the ambiguities with their imagination.It is also an emotionally intense slowburn that demands patience – if you’re looking for a breezy show to chill out with after a long day, this may not be what you want. Eighth Sense is best watched with a headspace that is ready for the heartache.
Jaewon and Jihyun are drawn together during a string of chance encounters. This infuriating yet thrilling dance around what will become of them is what makes The Eighth Sense so remarkably relatable.
Curiosity towards another person. The constant searching gaze, only to be met with disappointment when you don’t see the person glancing back at you. Stolen moments that become a shared secret.
The series concludes with a finale that fills one with a vast sense of possibility and yearning for a romantic excursion, however fleeting.
Full review: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2023/06/04/eighth-sense-2023-bl-review/
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Wholesome & cute show, but conflict was poorly resolved
In BAAB, it’s clear that Force and Book have chemistry. In fact, BAAB was a smoother watch than Enchante. But on the whole, I didn’t really feel emotionally invested or connected to the characters.Plus points for the show: Easy to watch, very cute, and filled with wholesome interactions. The show makes perfectly meaningful points on how people may not be who they seem, and how love is really about accepting someone for who they are beyond the surface.
Iffy points: The boss-intern trope wasn't done so well here. This boss-intern tension culminates in a baffling and also somewhat lame resolution. In order to tie up loose ends, the conflicts resolved themselves in rather superficial ways.
Overall, was this a perfectly enjoyable show? Absolutely. But was it GMMTV’s best in terms of writing? Nope.
Full review: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2023/05/25/boss-and-a-babe-2023-review/
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Predictable storyline
Our Dating Sim starts off with an interesting first episode but turns out to be terribly predictable in how it unfolds. The leads have some chemistry but the tension didn’t feel as tense as it should have most of the time.Perhaps many people will find this thrilling because it’s about the one who got away and returned, making the reunion even sweeter and more satisfying.
But was it just the way I liked? Hmm, not quite. The relationship wasn’t particularly memorable and the story got way too predictable and stale after a while.
There could have been more depth to their characters instead of taking a shortcut with the cliche (and also unrealistic??) “I have always liked you” / "I have been waiting for you to return" narrative.
Full review: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2023/05/17/our-dating-sim-2023-bl-review/
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Everything about this was disappointing :(
I thought I would really enjoy this because 1) It involves sports (I LOVE SPORTS-THEMED SHOWS!) and 2) the rivals-to-lovers trope usually never fails to sizzle. In this series, both aspects managed to fall miserably flat.Dayeol was a fairly bland character and I seriously struggled to connect to him in the earlier episodes.
The other character, Tae-hyun, was slightly more interesting. I appreciated that underlying his extroverted, playful behaviour is a tragic backstory. This provided more context and complexity to his character, but overall I didn’t really enjoy watching him.
Taehyun was way too much of an emotional trainwreck for me to root for the couple. There was also no satisfying resolution to their conflict, let alone meaningful character development. What a baffling happily-ever-after.
Full review: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2023/04/26/a-shoulder-to-cry-on-2023-bl/
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Lives up to its expectations
In the second installment, it becomes clear why the show is titled “Glory”. Everyone chases glory in their own way and all the characters are led down a path of destruction in their pursuit of it.There’s no judgement on whether particular interpretations of ‘glory’ are good or bad – the point that this show makes is that all glories must come at a cost.
Here's the thing: If you thought part 1 had absurd moments and events that were timed almost too conveniently, part 2 is the same. It's unclear how some parts of the revenge plot unfolded the way it did because there was a huge element of luck and coincidence in so many events.
If you're looking for an elaborate, heist-style revenge scheme, this doesn't really scratch the itch. But the colourful characters and constant drama is enough to compel.
I also wish more time (or a new season?!?!?!) was devoted to Dong-eun helping Yeojong with his revenge.
Overall, this was a good revenge story with decent pacing and interesting characters.
Full review: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2023/04/20/the-glory-s2-2023-review/
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HIStory5: Love in the Future
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Seriously regrettable waste of a promising storyline
Gosh, how I have missed HIStory, Taiwan’s most reliable BL series. But this one only disappointed with a plot that spun out of control. Towards the end, I spent most of the episodes praying for the end to come swiftly.This season of HIStory has a mix of both predictable and original romance storylines. The story about the manager and the new guy is a typical BL narrative while Johnny and Haiyi’s story was filled with more surprises and unpredictability.
The time travel plot is certainly a creative one, but wasn’t as well-executed as I expected.
All in all, the show has several conflicts/tensions stretched out across 20 episodes. Some episodes (the earlier ones, especially) are better than others. Unfortunately, the relationships go downhill in the second half of the show with a lame, poorly-written conflict. It’s supposed to make sense at the end but ehhhhh… I’m not sure it changes my review.
Full review here: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2023/03/17/history-5-2022-love-in-the-future-review/
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No truly meaningful points being made
TKTAK features a classic trope: Dorky guy falls in love with the popular guy in class. Turns out, popular guy secretly likes dorky guy as well.The conflict for this series centres around how this seemingly odd pair strives to maintain a distance in school even though they’re dating. And naturally – as the couple faces social pressures from school cliques, Amagi constantly worries that Takara will abandon him.
Unfortunately, TKTAK dips its feet into the messy tribulations of adolescent romance without having any truly meaningful points to make about young love. Overall, I wish there was more depth to their relationship and more time spent on building the story to a satisfying conclusion.
But maybe it’s not supposed to reflect the range of emotions that come with real life. Maybe it’s supposed to be a romanticised snapshot of two youngsters in love, who in that moment believe that when tomorrow comes, they will love each other the same.
Full review: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2023/03/13/takara-kun-to-amagi-kun-review/
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The Circumstances of Pungdeok Villa Room 304
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Several tropes rolled into 1 rather formulaic show
Roommates of Poongduck 304 features several classic tropes rolled in one. Rich man meets poor man, rich man annoys poor man, they fall in love. Roommates turned lovers. An office romance involving a boss and his subordinate.South Korean Bls often suffer from terrible pacing and at times, poorly-executed edits and transitions. ROP304 is situated slightly above the 50th percentile for South Korean BLs, but overall failed to mesmerise me in the first few episodes. Their chemistry only improves exponentially after they start dating (seriously prepare yourself for sticky sweet love-drunk moments), but I wish this came through earlier.
The conflict was an interesting and somewhat meaningful one – it explores the strain that is placed on the love interest of public figures. Sadly, few BLs have been able to explore the tensions in a way that is comprehensive and meaningful - ROP304 was no exception.
My full review: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2023/02/19/roommates-of-poongduck-304-bl/
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Lives up to its promise but struggles to surpass expectations
I’ve been following BounPrem for a few years now and Between Us is by far the best story they’ve been in.If you haven’t managed to catch UWMA (you totally should, btw) and are wondering whether you have to watch it to understand Between Us, I have mixed feelings about this.
The developments between Win and Team are much more rewarding when you consider what the audience already knows (or rather, doesn’t know) from UWMA. This sequel is intended as an expansion pack of UWMA, essentially filling the gaps of how Win and Team’s story started and evolved. And wow, it really provided a surprising glimpse into their relationship.
Perhaps it’s the length of the series (two whole seasons + fluffy side stories in Between Us Special), but I thought Win and Team lost steam after starting out pretty strong in the first half.
The good news is, one of the side couples (Tul and Waan) actually caught my attention. I became increasingly invested in this couple over time, and by the final few episodes, I was way more interested in them than WinTeam.
All in all, Between Us is a perfectly good show with emotional depth, character development and excellent romance. It lives up to its promise as a sequel to UWMA, BUT, struggles to surpass expectations. Perhaps with all the anticipation that has been built over time.
My full review: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2023/02/02/between-us-2022-review-bl/
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The Director Who Buys me Dinner
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Straight outta Wattpad
Kudos to South Korea for always having innovative plots that tend to involve time travel or supernatural occurrences.This time, it’s a cursed soul looking for a specific person, and desperately trying to fall in love with them because if he doesn’t, they will end up dying. Just like in all their previous lives.
If not for this plot, the behaviour of the director would actually have been reallllyyyyy creepy and unacceptable. Imagine taking your employee out for dinner on his first night and telling him, “We need to date” / “If you don’t date me, you may die.”
Frankly, the whole thing gives me the heebie-jeebies and all this could have easily been a HR/police case in the real world… But I’ll cut this story some slack because it’s clearly straight out from Wattpad.
Let's be clear: I don’t have anything against Wattpad-esque shows. Sometimes, a cringey, back-you-up-against-a-wall-and-tell-you-they-won’t-hold-back-any-longer show is exactly what you need. DWBMD is big on these tropes, but thin on the actual love story. It was puzzling how Yudam and Dongbaek fell in love rather quickly, and I couldn’t vibe with their chemistry that much.
The plot, while seemingly promising at first, fell flat on the execution. It was super confusing at some parts and took about 6-7 episodes (OUT OF 10, MIND YOU), for the show to start revealing the backstory of what’s going on. And by the end, I was still left with some unanswered questions.
Full review here: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2023/01/14/director-who-buys-me-dinner-2022-bl-review/
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