A very aesthetic fairy tale that also has some depth
At first, the story is so stereotypical that you would expect to read it in an encyclopedia entry on BL as an example story: sweet little weakling is heavily bullied in school until the savior comes along. And of course, they are stepbrothers. All the good stuff :)
But upon closer inspection, some things aren't as stereotypical as you would think - or judging from quite a few very bad reviews here - not as stereotypical as some would want it to be. This is not for you if ...
... you like a simple story stretched out over 12 episodes of 45 minutes each, spelling everything out for you
... you need a clear seme/uke relationship with no deviations
... you are looking for somewhat realistic cinematography or a very realistic story (but please, which BL ever has that?)
To elaborate on the above statements:
- The episodes are 25 minutes each and every episode is a new chapter in their life. So it is somewhat fast-moving and spans over a year or maybe even more. But to me, it was very nicely paced and it is easy to fill in the gaps that you didn't see.
- In the beginning, the smaller boy is indeed the weakling and the tall guy is the strong protector but over time it becomes apparent that the smaller guy is actually the stronger and more confident one. This culminates in the nice twist in the finale. I don't want to spoil, so let me just say: as this is Korean, it is especially nice how being gay is such a non-issue.
- The cinematography and set design and makeup and styling and everything visual in this is just from another world. Everything is in soft pastels, with extremely nice sun-lit views, sun flares and lovely interior design and architecture. And of course he has a part-time job in a flower shop that's straight out of an AI's mind with the perfection level and the pink level set to maximum. So in that regard, it is all very fake. At one point there is an outside scene on the street in an actual neighborhood and it felt a bit out of place to me, as it was - surprise - realistic looking. Some might hate this style, I love it. It is a fluffy fairy tale - enjoy it! The story and how the step-brothers act towards each other and with their mother is also a bit unrealistic at times, but even that for me adds to the positive fairy-tale experience.
Smaller details:
- The two friends are such nice characters, as I said before, especially as this is Korean.
- The smaller actor is so unbelievably good at conveying emotion with his eyes and face: the looks of fear and love and happiness from the tiniest of facial changes are so convincing - at least for me (I have read contrary views on here).
What a blossoming cherry tree is to nature, this piece of art is to BL.
But upon closer inspection, some things aren't as stereotypical as you would think - or judging from quite a few very bad reviews here - not as stereotypical as some would want it to be. This is not for you if ...
... you like a simple story stretched out over 12 episodes of 45 minutes each, spelling everything out for you
... you need a clear seme/uke relationship with no deviations
... you are looking for somewhat realistic cinematography or a very realistic story (but please, which BL ever has that?)
To elaborate on the above statements:
- The episodes are 25 minutes each and every episode is a new chapter in their life. So it is somewhat fast-moving and spans over a year or maybe even more. But to me, it was very nicely paced and it is easy to fill in the gaps that you didn't see.
- In the beginning, the smaller boy is indeed the weakling and the tall guy is the strong protector but over time it becomes apparent that the smaller guy is actually the stronger and more confident one. This culminates in the nice twist in the finale. I don't want to spoil, so let me just say: as this is Korean, it is especially nice how being gay is such a non-issue.
- The cinematography and set design and makeup and styling and everything visual in this is just from another world. Everything is in soft pastels, with extremely nice sun-lit views, sun flares and lovely interior design and architecture. And of course he has a part-time job in a flower shop that's straight out of an AI's mind with the perfection level and the pink level set to maximum. So in that regard, it is all very fake. At one point there is an outside scene on the street in an actual neighborhood and it felt a bit out of place to me, as it was - surprise - realistic looking. Some might hate this style, I love it. It is a fluffy fairy tale - enjoy it! The story and how the step-brothers act towards each other and with their mother is also a bit unrealistic at times, but even that for me adds to the positive fairy-tale experience.
Smaller details:
- The two friends are such nice characters, as I said before, especially as this is Korean.
- The smaller actor is so unbelievably good at conveying emotion with his eyes and face: the looks of fear and love and happiness from the tiniest of facial changes are so convincing - at least for me (I have read contrary views on here).
What a blossoming cherry tree is to nature, this piece of art is to BL.
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