gela
Side characters stole the show
This had to be said - this series would be a forgettable mess if it weren't for the side plots.To be honest, the main plot is so unfocused which did not allow proper emotional investment from the viewers at all. Jim's running a chicken shop - and then there is the problem of his business not being profitable enough, his landlord wanting to sell the building, Wuen being a part of the project that wants to demolish the building, and then all the unresolved issues with their exes. None of these issues were properly fleshed out and discussed and their plot just feels so unfinished and messy which I did not appreciate. I just wished they had a more focused issue that they fully focus and not just handpick a bunch of drama cliches they could add as a conflict point.
HOWEVER, the silver lining of this movie is the excellent excellent side couples and characters. Gemini and Fourth is becoming two of my favourite emerging actors - they delivered a stellar and emotional performance as two youths trying to find their own paths in life, while also building each other up. Their struggles, emotions, and connection feels so raw and real which is so engaging to the viewers.
Another standout is Khaotung's performance as Gaipa. I might not always buy into his performances (especially where he plays the "bad boy") but he was absolutely excellent here. The emotion he managed to evoke out of me was insane - and not only once but he is just so consistently emotionally transparent which allows us to really sympathize with him. Khaotung as Gaipa and First as Alan is glorious and I wish we had more of them on the screen.
Lastly, the soundtrack is actually tear-jerking. The nostalgia of this song while also having the song played at the most pivotal emotional moment in the series really is a genius move because now I can't stop crying whenever I hear 月亮代表我的心. Not to mention I was obsessed with Teresa Teng as a child so this was an excellent song choice by them.
I have to give this a 7.5 overall because of how forgettable the main couple's plot is, but it's more of a writing problem than anything else. If the main couple were even half as engaging as the side couples, I would've given this an easy 8.5 at least.
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YooJun Hard Carried
This drama has an interesting plot but honestly the execution could be heaps better. Everything feels half baked including the acting. YooJun gave a solid performance, but you can tell that the other male lead is still developing his skills. Unfortunately eventhough there platonic chemistry is amazing, I don't think they had any romantic chemistry. I just wished the other male lead look slightly more happy to kiss men.Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
100 cliches forced into one show
I wanted to like this drama so bad because ep 1 was such a strong start. However, this is the polar opposite to Light on Me where the drama gets better with each episode - this one gets progressively worse as time goes. I have to give it to the actors, this would have been way more unwatchable if the actors were slightly less competent. Choi Jun's flirting skills saved the drama, but even then this drama is what I would expect a story written by a teenage girl with a fetish for gay man would look like. The regular misgendering of Lee Jun, the forced love quadruple thing (I will never be convinced that Simon ever liked Jun), fake fiancee that added literally nothing to the plot, they irk me to no end. I can't see myself ever rewatching this.edit on 16/09/24: so I rewatched this because of a clip I saw on tiktok. I have gotta say, all my points from above still stands except for the part about the rewatch value. Because this relied so much on vibes and chemistry, it gets better on your second and third watch because you already know the plot is not going to give you much. However, the chemistry and vibes really shone when rewatching. I found myself highly enjoying every interaction 2Jun have with each other. So if you watched this once and did not like it, I reckon you should give it a second try because my second experience was much more enjoyable than my first one.
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Star and Sky: Sky in Your Heart
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Cute AND has actual plot
This drama achieves that amazing balance of being an easy watch and still has interesting plot. I find that most dramas with interesting plot can fall into a trap of being too melodramatic and easy watch dramas usually don't have memorable plot. This one somehow manages to be an easy watch and I will be remembering this drama for a long time.Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Star and Sky: Star in My Mind | Sky in Your Heart
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Cute but that's all there is
The key to watching this drama is to not have an expectation. This is a cute (seemingly) one sided love of college students and everytime they do something stupid, I think of myself at 18 which makes it tolerable really.Most people have issues with Kluen (Joong) being the literal worse at communication but honestly I have found so many men older than him who's the same or even worse. Like his case is way more tolerable because he's inexperienced really, and this is his first time experiencing romantic love.
I also found Dao extremely endearing - he's still in his people pleaser era and is still learning how to be kind and not just "nice", which he admitted! Gotta appreciate him for self reflecting.
So I like this drama better than some of the MDL reviews here, but I just don't think the storyline is memorable in any way at all. Like the whole plot is just about a long winded high schooler/college love story which I have experienced firsthand within my friend group previously which is a bad indication cause I'm a wholly boring person.
Anyways it's still worth a watch if you don't have anything else to do. Not for the plot but more for the cast.
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I'll Vouch For These Two BAs
This drama gives me fluttery feelings and no anxiety which is a huge win in my books. It is not a perfect drama by any stretch, but it serves its purpose of being entertaining.Let's start with the bad, because there aren't too many:
- Sahashi's eyebrows. He has such nice eyebrows in real life, I can't figure out why they made it so dark in the series. I have such a huge hatred for his overdrawn brows that this has to go at number one for the "bad" list.
- Some plot points were not properly fleshed out. There were a couple of things that I wish they just don't introduce because they end up not properly resolving it (family stuff and work stuff mainly).
- Okuno So as Mamiya is too beautiful and amazing at his job for the whole lack of confidence thing to be fully believable. Yes, hot and talented people can be insecure too but it seems like external people don't really compliment his looks which is incomprehensible to me because he is just too damn gorgeous.
- I do think they could up the intimacy a little bit. I don't mean sex - but casual touches, close proximity to each other, and stolen glances. I just don't think they do these enough for me to fully buy into their chemistry.
Now onto the good:
- Gorgeous gorgeous men on my screen. I'm sorry that this is my first point on the good list but Okuno So is just ethereal. He is like the combination of TVXQ's Changmin and ZB1's Gyuvin in the best way possible. I am utterly in love.
- Actual character growth! Both characters have their own flaws but the conflicts in this series actually helped develop their characters and relationship. It is refreshing to actually see conflicts used as a personal development moment and not just as a way to progress the plot.
- They are actually decent people. Mamiya is genuinely one of the kindest people I have seen on screen. He is so selfless and genuine, almost to a fault. Sahashi has a prickly exterior but he is never malicious on purpose, which I appreciate.
- Internal/relationship conflicts handled promptly, which is awesome for people who are prone to anxiety like me. I hate misunderstandings and miscommunication - thankfully there aren't a lot of those here. If there are, they are usually handled quite promptly.
- Most side characters add value to the show!
Overall the good heavily outweighs the bad in my eyes and I would recommend if you like mindless workplace fluff.
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A huge commercial with some story sprinkled
I'll just preface this review by saying: I treat this drama as a separate entity to the manga and the JP live adaptation. However as someone who has watched MSP and Moonlight Chicken, I do have a lot of expectation for this drama as GemFourth has proven themselves to be acting powerhouses. They still are really good actors, however the script does not give them an actual chance to shine, which is a huge failure for this series.I have a couple of things that I particularly enjoy:
1. Kongthap defending Atom against the homophobic jokes made after their stageplay.
2. The stageplay itself.
3. Kongthap and Atom scenes where they have actual heart to hearts.
4. Mudmee when she is endearingly honest.
5. Kongthap's confession episode.
6. Any emotional scenes with Atom.
7. Amazing OST.
The above were done really well, but here are my main issues with the storyline:
1. Series feels aimless - not sure how to explain this but there are no clear climax and therefore no clear resolution.
2. Pacing is off.
3. Script does not play into GemFourth's strong suits.
4. Horrible amount of product placements.
Look, I don't think this is a bad series. However this is far from being GemFourth's best. Objective rating would be a 6.5 from me but I am a sucker for mindless fluff so I have to give it a 7 for personal bias.
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Would be an amazing prequel
This would not be everyone's cup of tea but this sure is mine. I think the biggest issue with this series is that this is not a fully fleshed-out story, this feels more like a set-up to a really amazing story.Let's start out with the really good - because the good are so good:
- Tension between the two leads are amazing.
- The complexity and background of the story is fleshed out very organically - they peeled each layer one by one and not presented as a huge exposition monologue.
- Acting is so so so superb, both actors are so good with micro-expressions.
- All scenes are made with intention and contributes to the story. No scenes felt like a filler to me.
- A lot of impactful shots that are incredibly memorable such as the typhoon laundry scene, the curry scene, and the bed sheet scene.
- Well written characters and increasingly complex dimension to each character as we continue to watch.
- Cinematography is kind of excellent to me.
- Actors are both beautiful. I just have to put this out there.
Now moving on the the good, but can be improved:
- Depiction of the BDSM relationship: by the end of the series, we can clearly see that this relationship is not as toxic as what was initially presented, and that they are in some sort of a BDSM relationship agreement. However, there is a huge room for improvement because they should work towards communicating on a clearer relationship contract so there is no ambiguity on what is still within their role as a dom and a sub. I am assuming that Dayo is a bratty sub who loves to push Segasaki's buttons and Segasaki is a brat tamer but even in the end I feel like both of them are still unsure of their limits. This would be acceptable if this is only a prequel but if this is a standalone drama, then this is a huge room for improvement.
- Dayo and Segasaki are very complex characters. Dayo in this still has a huge level of self-acceptance that he needs to do - we see how much internalized homophobia he has and his reluctance to make BL comics even though his strength (as mentioned by the editor) is not in ero-manga. There is a huge storyline they could have developed out of his journey of self-acceptance and the simultaneous finding who he is as a mangaka. Segasaki is someone who masks so much in social situations and builds up such a high wall. Eventhough he said that he doesn't have his walls up with Dayo, he is also unconscious of his lack of communication. There is so much character development that is needed because for a BDSM relationship to be successful, both parties need to be good at communicating their needs and limits, but these two are a bit of a trainwreck at the moment. As I have said multiple times in this review, this series is an amazing set-up, but now we need more.
Unto the bad (there's only one):
The whole series feels like a set-up for another follow-up series. The story does not go anywhere far because the whole thing just does not feel finished. They have set up a conflict, built characters, established the current relationship dynamics, but there has not been any climax or resolution at all. I think this is the main reason people's opinions are so divided on this. Because there is no confirmed sequel, I have to rate the story on the lower end because there isn't much of a story here.
I need a sequel to this. There is so much potential to the story that they could make as a sequel, because we still have so many unresolved conflict. I want to know more about Dayo's future as a mangaka, their relationship evolution, and character development. All in all though, I absolutely adore this series for what it is and I will continue to rewatch because all in all, the good really trumps the bad.
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The Perfect Highschool RomCom
This is a belated review - I have watched this series around 6x now. I must say, this series really holds up even now that it's a couple of years since it's first released.As someone in their mid twenties, I didn't expect to have a series in a highschool setting to be my biggest comfort series ever. It somehow has the capacity to be relatable to someone who can't even remember their highschool days, which is kind of magical. The writing is consistent and almost every scene feels intentional. The humor is not understated but it is also not too outlandish, which worked really well for me.
The premise is not special - it is a regular highschool one sided enemies to lovers, with a side of band life. We all have seen this formula before, but where MSP excels is the purposeful writing and excellent cast. It subverts a lot of normal tropes and fixes a lot of common issues the exists in regular highschool romance. I love how the series focuses on both platonic and romantic relationship as those things are equally important in my eyes. I hugely enjoy found family tropes and this one nailed it. I also love how the story progresses so smoothly - there is a clear climax (hot wave competition) but also there are smaller conflicts throughout that all contributes to build up the climax. I love how all small conflicts are resolved which left us with not much hanging questions. It is also incredibly refreshing to see well developed, multi-dimensional characters. Tinn and Gun is more well written than most and it is clear that they have identity aside from liking each other - this is more than I can say about a lot of other series. I also love how they are just both really good people. I have never understood people who have crushes with horrible personality (a very regular occurrence in the BL world) but with TinnGun I could fully understand why they would like each other. It wasn't merely one moment of kindness followed with tons of assholery, Gun is consistently kind throughout. I could continue to rant about how good this series is but I'll end this section with: how good is Fourth's voice? I wish he never stops singing.
Of course there are room for improvement still and the editing of the last couple of episodes are the biggest one for me. I enjoy them using clips of "imagination" but those weren't the most well placed in the last couple of episodes. I also would love it if we could have had more buildup between the ThiwPor side couple as I can feel that they have cut off pivotal ThiwPor scenes. Something was missing in the middle which didn't provide the smoothest transition of their relationship. I'm also not the biggest believer of the WinSound relationship, but that's more of a me problem more than anything.
This will continue to be my comfort series for a long time. I can't recommend this series enough and I just have to say that this is an insane debut series for Gemini and Fourth as a main couple.
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Looking at camp right in the eye
The script for this could be modified into an absolute crack up of a parody with like a 5 minute review probably.I absolutely can't believe that the series is somehow funnier than the reviews written here because reading the reviews already got me rolling but the series itself made me accidentally howl in laughter at 3am.
It is actually hillarious how much of a failure Kamol is as a mafia AND as a potential boyfriend like baby please be good at just ONE thing I beg. The pink drink product placement is just so put of place that I absolutely howl everytime it appears. The multiple random montages throughout the series is also giving the vibes of a 10 year old with a phone saying "I made this for mother's day". I am also absolutely in LOVE with the random bodyguard threesome thrown in literally out of nowhere.
But the funniest thing from this series is probably the ending montage because the half assed BDSM themes, half assed romance, and half assed mafia theme combined with the music is just constantly funny no matter how often I watch it. Also I find it hillarious that apparently the lead actors are dating irl bc there is absolutely no sexual tension on screen that I have to believe that they are actually dating so there's no tension left on cam.
Please watch it, I haven't laughed this much in a long time. I seriously unironically love this series.
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Guaranteed Good Day to Everyone Watching
Wandee Goodday is not only good in BL standards, it's just a really really good romcom overall. It is technically your standard fake dating + FWB to lovers trope, but every aspect of it was done to perfection.Here are the things they have done right:
1. These dudes are just so tender towards each other even without the status of "boyfriends". I think because both of them are well developed characters who are just generally kind, their relationship works out insanely well. Eventhough the timeline is short, they developed such a quick friendship and the process of them falling for each other is so organic. Yoryak doesn't immediately let go of his crush on Taem, which is expected, but I love that he subconsciously kept picking Wandee even when he hasn't fully acknowledged his feelings for him. When he does acknowledge his feelings for Wandee, he instantly just had tunnel vision for Wandee. Although Wandee is more hesitant and he isn't as "all in" as Yak is, he is insanely thoughtful and is committed to making their relationship work.
2. No toxic hypermasculine mess! Idk what's up with these men but Yoryak especially is so emotionally well adjusted?? Yes he has unresolved trauma but both him and Wandee are so good at ensuring that their trauma and issues don't affect other people negatively. Not once did they ever lash out at each other because of their own issues and insecurities which is often the case with other dramas.
3. Found family vibes with the 4 Phadetseuk boys. Yei, Cher, Yak, and Dee all have excellent chemistry with each other and there is just so much love between them. Cher stole the show for me, he is literally the biggest angel and I absolutely love how considerate he is towards everyone.
4. Aspec rep in Kao along with casual LGBTQ rep with other casts!!! I have longed for the day where I see aspec rep on BL series and I have finally gotten to see it. I also love that bisexuality is not demonized in this series - Yoryak definitely is attracted to men and women and there's no "oh I'm only gay for him" type of crap pulled in this series.
5. Great world building! I love that the series does not just revolve around their romance but also their professional goals, aspiration, and family life.
6. The characters are unapologetically horny for each other and it's not just one sided. I love how the sex are kinda silly too and they just really enjoy each other both emotionally and physically.
Ok now onto the not so good:
There's only one really - I just don't get why Yoryak would go to an orthopaedic surgeon for PHYSIOTHERAPY??? girl go get an actual physio. The medical aspect of this drama is so off base that I'm not sure whoever they hired as a medical consultant knows what they're talking about. Also very minor issue with the preachy nature of Kao's aspec identity, I wish that his love journey is more like an onion where you slowly peel the layers and it's not just a monologue of what asexuality is.
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