Arclei
Arms of a femboy
A Heartwarming Story Through a Wacky Plot.
TLDR: A wacky and outlandish but tender plot with respectful social commentary and good themes and messages.
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SHORT VERSION:
┊┊WHAT I LIKED:
►Heartwarming story.
►Interesting role reversals.
►Good pacing.
►The wacky setting and plot.
►Good (and progressive) social commentary and themes.
►Overall production quality.
┊┊WHAT I DISLIKED:
►Some plot threads were a bit rushed/glossed over.
►No transman representation.
── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅
LONG VERSION:
┊┊CHARACTERS:
The two leads are workaholic friends-with-benefits (I believe anyway, their relationship status is ambiguous throughout the entire drama). ML goes from being a corporate slave at the peak of his game to a softer, more understanding version of himself, still fighting for his dreams but now with a fresh perspective and more respect not only for himself but also for those around him. FL is the typical douchy-boyfriend character. She fluctuates between being supportive and not depending on what's in it for her 9/10 times. In the end she does come around but it takes a bit. Though I didn't dislike her as much as others apparently did, I did think her character could've been tackled better. Because of all this, this drama is NOT a romance (which I admittedly thought it was despite not seeing the genre or tag anywhere, whoops).
Supporting characters were all quite nice and served their purpose well. ML makes a bunch of pregnant male friends, and we get to see others' experiences as well—albeit, admittedly brief.
┊┊ACTING:
Very solid. I honestly bought everything pretty much everyone was selling me without a second of doubt. ML especially delivered (heh) the process of acceptance so nicely, going from confused and angry to slowly understanding more and becoming more gentle. Some supporting roles were more 'eh' but no one broke immersion, so still a win!
┊┊STORY:
The plot is wacky and outlandish, yes. An immediate turn-off for a lot of people, but once you settle into the absurd premise, the story told is respectful and tender. The reversal of roles IS what sets this drama apart from similar social-commentary dramas, and that's personally a win in my book. Some things that should've been addressed due to the premise unfortunately weren't (yes, the 'how' mostly), but at the same time, it wasn't that big of a bother. They worked well with the setting and gave various perspectives on the situation.
As for the themes, I must say, I was positively surprised. With such a wacky plot, it could've easily turned into a laughing stock or a mock, but that didn't happen. They took their story seriously and used it to tackle themes of diversity, inclusivity, labels, feminism, gender roles, and general expectations tastefully and respectfully without really being preachy. Admittedly, a transman character was greatly lacking, and I feel this would've elevated the story tremendously, if even only as a supporting character.
The pacing is very well done; the show neither drags nor feels rushed despite being only 3 hours long. Even the conclusion felt satisfying, wrapping up everything with a nice little bow. Honestly, I don't really have a whole lot of complaints.
The only issue, which was more of an unfortunate thing than an issue, would be the fact that certain arcs, mostly those relating to the lead's parents (FL especially), weren't all that developed.
┊┊ANYTHING ELSE:
Pretty much everything else about the drama was good. The music was good to honestly, really good; I enjoyed quite a few tracks. Production value was also very solid! The drama even has some comedic scenes despite the overall more grounded tone. Overall, I have like no complaints!
── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅
◇ Was it what I was expecting? Yes.
◆ Did it live up to its potential? Yes.
◇ Would I watch it again? Yes.
◆ Would I recommend it to others? Yes, as long as they can handle wacky premises.
── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅
SHORT VERSION:
┊┊WHAT I LIKED:
►Heartwarming story.
►Interesting role reversals.
►Good pacing.
►The wacky setting and plot.
►Good (and progressive) social commentary and themes.
►Overall production quality.
┊┊WHAT I DISLIKED:
►Some plot threads were a bit rushed/glossed over.
►No transman representation.
── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅
LONG VERSION:
┊┊CHARACTERS:
The two leads are workaholic friends-with-benefits (I believe anyway, their relationship status is ambiguous throughout the entire drama). ML goes from being a corporate slave at the peak of his game to a softer, more understanding version of himself, still fighting for his dreams but now with a fresh perspective and more respect not only for himself but also for those around him. FL is the typical douchy-boyfriend character. She fluctuates between being supportive and not depending on what's in it for her 9/10 times. In the end she does come around but it takes a bit. Though I didn't dislike her as much as others apparently did, I did think her character could've been tackled better. Because of all this, this drama is NOT a romance (which I admittedly thought it was despite not seeing the genre or tag anywhere, whoops).
Supporting characters were all quite nice and served their purpose well. ML makes a bunch of pregnant male friends, and we get to see others' experiences as well—albeit, admittedly brief.
┊┊ACTING:
Very solid. I honestly bought everything pretty much everyone was selling me without a second of doubt. ML especially delivered (heh) the process of acceptance so nicely, going from confused and angry to slowly understanding more and becoming more gentle. Some supporting roles were more 'eh' but no one broke immersion, so still a win!
┊┊STORY:
The plot is wacky and outlandish, yes. An immediate turn-off for a lot of people, but once you settle into the absurd premise, the story told is respectful and tender. The reversal of roles IS what sets this drama apart from similar social-commentary dramas, and that's personally a win in my book. Some things that should've been addressed due to the premise unfortunately weren't (yes, the 'how' mostly), but at the same time, it wasn't that big of a bother. They worked well with the setting and gave various perspectives on the situation.
As for the themes, I must say, I was positively surprised. With such a wacky plot, it could've easily turned into a laughing stock or a mock, but that didn't happen. They took their story seriously and used it to tackle themes of diversity, inclusivity, labels, feminism, gender roles, and general expectations tastefully and respectfully without really being preachy. Admittedly, a transman character was greatly lacking, and I feel this would've elevated the story tremendously, if even only as a supporting character.
The pacing is very well done; the show neither drags nor feels rushed despite being only 3 hours long. Even the conclusion felt satisfying, wrapping up everything with a nice little bow. Honestly, I don't really have a whole lot of complaints.
The only issue, which was more of an unfortunate thing than an issue, would be the fact that certain arcs, mostly those relating to the lead's parents (FL especially), weren't all that developed.
┊┊ANYTHING ELSE:
Pretty much everything else about the drama was good. The music was good to honestly, really good; I enjoyed quite a few tracks. Production value was also very solid! The drama even has some comedic scenes despite the overall more grounded tone. Overall, I have like no complaints!
── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅ ── ⋅ ⋅
◇ Was it what I was expecting? Yes.
◆ Did it live up to its potential? Yes.
◇ Would I watch it again? Yes.
◆ Would I recommend it to others? Yes, as long as they can handle wacky premises.
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