Nobody's SuperStar

Be Mine SuperStar can be summed up in single word: disappointing. This was a drama that had a potentially cute story, good actors, gorgeous filming locations, and yet still managed to completely fail. The plot is all over the place, the characters were a combination of cringe, problematic, and charming, the comedy aspect was boring, and the supposed love between the characters ranged from almost nonexistent to only about sex. Getting through those last few episodes was almost physically painful. If anything, this drama gets the reward for most pretty crying scenes in the shortest amount of time.

The premise didn't sound ground breaking, but it doesn't need to be either to tell a good story and be fun. I mean, how many of us have dreamed of meeting our celebrity crush and them falling in love with us? It seemed like if nothing else, it would be relatable and an entertaining rom-com. It wasn't. Frankly, I don't even know where to start with this mess. The plot was a bit all over the place and very inconsistent. It was only towards the end that it became a bit more cohesive. The comedy aspect was forced and overdone. Very little of what was played for laughs was actually funny. There were a few amusing parts, but they were few and far between. The angsty drama, mostly centered around the managers, was excessive and unnecessary. It was, I think, supposed to be amusing. It wasn't. It got old very, very quickly and took far too long to get resolved. Some arcs felt a bit unfinished, particularly with Priew and Title. Priew was arrested and Wan released the video of Title threatening to hit her and then that was it, there was no real resolution as to what happened to them. There didn't need to be a huge deal made about it, but something along the lines of mentioning that Priew was being prosecuted or Title was thoroughly disgraced and no one wanted to work with him would have wrapped up their stories a little more cohesively. The love stories were both very lacking. The romantic chemistry between Achi and Punn was almost nonexistent. Achi was too passive and Punn seemed more obsessed with Achi than in love with him. It just wasn't well developed to make it believable that these were two people in love. Lack of communication is almost always the source of conflict in dramas and this one is no difference. Despite being advised to communicate with each other, we never see them communicate effectively. Throwing Title in as the villain to their love was cliche and boring. He was not an effective or interesting villain. Muang and Ning's story was both troubling and boring. Muang was a red flag multiple times during his pursuit of Ning. The way they actually entered a relationship was glazed over and rushed. One second Muang is clinging to his leg begging him and the next they're having a drink and talking. There was too much left in the air. And once they finally did get together, pretty much every scene they had together was a NSFW scene or they were talking about their friend's problems. Other than obviously being sexually compatible and physically attracted to each other, I have no idea why they even liked each other. In general, both relationships lacked substance and meaning. The pacing was inconsistent, it positively dragged toward the end and ended being mostly filler with a lot of pretty crying and staring wistfully into the distance. It was a very anticlimactic ending to an anticlimactic drama.

The characters were lacking...a lot. Very little background on most of them which was disappointing because having that background can make or break a character. In this case, that lack didn't allow viewers to get a better understanding of the characters and help them understand their actions and behaviours. I had initially gotten the impression that Punn's history with Achi was going to play a bigger role in their story, but it was pretty casually brushed aside and basically only served as the starting point of Punn's love for Achi. A lot more could have been done with that to enhance the story and characters and I was disappointed that didn't happen.
-Punn was a struggle for me. There was a part of me that kind of liked him, but mostly I just found him to be incredibly immature and his behaviour to be very cringy. I don't know what they were going for with his character, if he was maybe supposed to be socially awkward or neurodivergent, but it didn't work. One of the questions I feel like his character brought up is whether the love we feel for our celebrity crushes can be romantic love or just a form of hero worship. True, Punn met Achi before he became famous, but it's clear they never actually knew each other and Punn's love for Achi did seem more hero worship than romantic to me. He came across as obsessive at times and he also didn't seem to fully appreciate or understand the boundaries Achi set for when they were in public given that he broke them multiple times. He just didn't seem mature enough to really be in a relationship. And some of his actions made zero sense. For example, when Priew was blackmailing him, rather than going to Wan who he knew would be in his corner, instead he went to Muang who also didn't suggest going to Wan and told him to sign the contract. What exactly were they thinking? And then there was the absurdity of his reaction to Achi's notes which served as the catalyst for their fight that took up the last couple of episodes. I feel like it's fairly common knowledge that actors and artists in general infuse their emotions and real life experiences in their art. That's part of what makes it realistic. So Punn taking Achi's notes as a sign that Achi was using him seemed unreasonable. Also, Punn had proven himself to be gullible at times, but to so easily believe Title when he knew Title didn't like him and was in love with Achi just seemed unrealistic. I really wanted to see Punn grow in maturity and come into his own as the drama progressed, but that just never seemed to really happen.
-Achi was a bit of an enigma. I struggled with his character because he seemed too passive at times. His words and actions just didn't match up for me. He said he loved Punn, implied that he was the love of his life, but I didn't feel it and didn't really see it. He seemed to find Punn's hero worship of him alternately amusing and, at times, vaguely annoying. I can understand if his character wasn't meant to be overly demonstrative but there needed to be something to show that he truly loved Punn. The build up of his love for Punn was also lacking. You could see him coming to tolerate Punn more and developing a certain level of affection for him, but where that crossed over to love wasn't clear. Essentially, there was a clear physical compatibility between them, but not so much a mental or emotional one. His lack of setting up boundaries with Title became an issue and why he didn't communicate that he was off the market, even if he didn't specify who he was with, is beyond me. In general, he was just a bit too trusting and seemed almost naive at times which didn't quite track with someone who'd been in the entertainment industry for a while.
-Muang was the highlight of this drama for me and for the most part I really loved him. He was funny, loyal, selfless and generally just a gem. Except for one glaring fault which would be with Doctor Ning and their second encounter together. I get that Muang was head over heels for him, but the fact that he was willing to take advantage of him when he was inebriated was a huge red flag. And then it was pretty much brushed aside and never mentioned again. That didn't sit well with me and felt out of character. In general, Muang's behaviour regarding Dr. Ning prior to them getting together was not great. He essentially stalked the man and wore him down, but not in a healthy way. Their relationship in general didn't seem particularly healthy and I was not a fan of it. For all that Muang said something to the effect of their relationship was not just about sex, that's pretty much all we saw them do. So that aspect of his character, I didn't like. Muang as a friend though was great. I liked how he took Punn under his wings and really did in some ways become a father figure to him, helping him, guiding him and supporting him. He was also a good friend to Achi, serving as a sounding board at times and supporting him as well.
-Title was boring. I know he was supposed to be the big bad coming between Achi and Punn and causing issues between them, but he was such a cliche that I just found him to be pointless and ineffective. His whole spiel of if I can't have him nobody can was eye rolling. The thing is, I think he could have been more interesting if he was given more depth and purpose.

The actors did a decent job given the garbage they were working with. Both Ja and First are talented actors. I've watched almost every drama they've been in so I've seen that they have good chemistry and work well together. Here though, the story and the script just failed them and they seemed to struggle. I was excited to see First in a more serious, mature role and I think for the most part, he did a decent job except for when it came to the romance aspect. He was too stoic and, like I mentioned before, I struggled to tell if he truly had feelings for Punn or not. For Ja, again, I'm not sure what they were going for with his character, the level of second hand embarrassment he generated was extreme, but he was consistent with it. I wasn't overly fond of the character, but Ja did commit himself to the role. Their chemistry was lackluster, nothing like in previous dramas such as Don't Say No or Remember Me. Bosston did a good job as Muang. He generally lit up the screen when he was on and was the one overall bright spot in this drama. His physical chemistry with Jo was good, I just would have liked their characters to have more than that. Wayo worked well with what he had. His character was just lacking in addition to the script and I can't really blame him for not being able to save it. I hope he has better opportunities in the future.

The one production aspect of this drama that really shone was the costuming. The costumes, whether within the drama they were filming or their regular clothes, were so well done. The sets were also well done, particularly the filming ones. Beautifully designed and they were well used. The cinematography, particularly in Japan, was beautiful. They really made use of the snow and snowfall to create some really beautiful shots. Some of the shots on the drama set were well done too, I particularly liked the one of Achi and Punn looking at each other through the fan. It was creative and oddly beautiful.

I was excited for this drama and the seemingly fun, romantic story it was going to tell. I was excited to see Ja and First again since their last drama, Remember Me, wasn't particularly good. And I was excited for the beautiful scenery the trailer showed and all of it's possibilities. The only aspect that didn't disappoint was the scenery. The rest was a bust. I kept hoping that things would get better, but they never did. It got to the point where I was looking forward to the next episode just because it was one step closer to the end and I wanted to be done with it. This isn't a drama that I recommend. It's got a few good parts, but overall, it's just not worth it.

Leia Mais

Sweetly Sung

Sing My Crush is a sweet, breezy little drama that manages to keep a good balance of fluff with a little bit of angst and drama to keep it from being cloying. It's easily bingeable and can be completed in an afternoon and is a great de-stressor after a long day at work. I speak from experience. The characters are endearing, the plot simple, and the music divine.

The story is simple and it's simplicity is an asset considering the limited number of episodes. There are no deep dives into the characters' backgrounds, no real flashbacks, just a steady progression as the characters grow and it works. The story is overall cohesive, there are a few loose threads, the issue with Sangin doesn't feel fully resolved, for example, but nothing huge to complain about. The pacing is steady and overall well done despite a few laggy moments, but they're not enough to hold the story back too much.

The characters aren't overly complicated; on the surface, they're fairly transparent.
-Han Ba Ram is a sweetheart who, after being burned by love, is a bit hesitant to confess again. Being gay also complicates the matter and elevates his fear, so he keeps it a secret and continues living with the man he loves until his first love re-enters his life and complicates things. There's an element of frustration with him, the feeling that wouldn't it be better to just confess and get rid of the proverbial sword hanging over his head. But, having been in his shoes, I can also understand how incredibly difficult it is to confess, especially when you're afraid of ruining the friendship that you have. I was impressed with the character growth seen in such a short period of time. You can really see his confidence grow both in his music and as a person.
-Im Han Tae has to be one of the most dense characters I've seen. I truly thought he was already in love with Ba Ram up until Ba Ram confessed and he was totally clueless. His actions and behaviour afterward left me alternately laughing in exasperation and wanting to bash my head against the wall. It's a good thing he's cute. Nevertheless, I appreciated his loyalty and steadfastness when it came to Ba Ram and even when he wasn't 100% certain of his feelings, he still took care of and protected him.
-Sangin annoyed me from the get go and just got worse from there. He was far too handsy for any kind of reputable teacher and the way he baited Ba Ram into trying to kiss him to prove his love was disconcerting. Coming back after the fact and trying to steal Ba Ram's song was the cherry on top. I found it disappointing that he never once took responsibility for his actions, but continued to blame Ba Ram till the end. As a side note, he seemed too old be debuting, not that I'm any kind of expert on that and frankly I think expanding the age range would be great, but realistically, I didn't buy it.
-While they didn't play huge roles within the story, I liked Young Mi and Jeong Pal. They were cute as a couple, but I also liked their friendship and dynamic with Ba Ram and Han Tae.

The acting was good all around. Do Yoon and Hyun Woo had good chemistry. Even their first kiss, which I would normally consider a dead fish lip press, actually worked for them. It was hesitant and sweet and felt realistic for a first tentative kiss. They just seemed very comfortable around each other and I liked them together. I felt both actors did their character's justice.

I loved the music. Both "Letter of Apology" and "Second Wind" are beautiful songs. "Letter of Apology" was utilized throughout the run but it was done in such a way that I didn't get tired of it or feel that it was overplayed. The rest of the music was pretty generic but those two definitely stood out.

This is not a deep drama, it's too short to delve into any kind of real issues, and again they were smart to keep it simple. But simple doesn't mean without it's merits and it does touch on elements like having confidence in yourself, growing as a person, and pursuing what you love. I found it to be an enjoyable diversion for an afternoon and one that I would recommend and will likely come back to in the future.

Leia Mais

Star in Their Own Minds

Star in My Mind is unique in that despite the fact that it has a decent sized cast, everything revolves around a single character. There are no side couples here, no side stories even, everything and everyone is solely focused on this one person. It's a unique take and with a better character and stronger actor, it could even work. The problem though is that Dao isn't the most interesting or likeable character and this was Dunk's breakout role and he simply didn't have the experience to essentially carry the entire show. It's not bad, it's simply mediocre and at times, incredibly frustrating.

Such a laser focus on a single character is really the only unique aspect of this drama. Otherwise, it's a pretty standard college BL story with a lot of the standard BL tropes. The story is simple enough in that you have two characters in love but one of them doesn't know how to express their feelings and the other, having been rejected in the past, is afraid to confess those feelings again. Miscommunication is the name of the game here and it pervades nearly every aspect of the drama. If Dao and Kluen had simply sat down and had an actual conversation, this drama would have been done in maybe two episodes. But where's the fun in that? No, it's much better to have our leads running around in circles for six or seven episodes before they finally get their heads screwed on straight and get everything sorted out.

Initially, the lack of communication isn't terrible. Dao and Kluen meet again after being separated for a year. Their last meeting involved Dao confessing his feelings for Kluen and with Kluen responding by telling him to have a safe flight, thus breaking his heart. The kicker here is that Kluen is, in fact, in love with Dao as well, he just royally sucks at expressing himself and giving voice to those feelings. So when they meet again, Dao is faced with the fact that he still has feelings for the guy who rejected him and Kluen is continuing to say nothing while getting irritated at all the guys hitting on Dao. Speaking of which, having three guys pursuing Dao was a bit much, plus Papang, can't forget her. Don't get me wrong Dunk is cute, but not quite to that degree and the character of Dao wasn't nearly interesting enough to garner that level of attention. In any case though, the miscommunication just keeps ballooning to the point that everyone else is aware that these two have feelings for each other, except for Dao who is oblivious.

I've seen a lot of people give the character crap for being so obtuse, but I can understand where he's coming from as well. As far as Dao is aware, Kluen essentially rejected him previously. Not explicitly, but he also didn't accept Dao's feelings. Why would Dao expect that a year had changed anything? Even with the signals that Kluen was sending, I can see why Dao would second guess whether he was reading those signs correctly. And then Kluen tells him that Typhoon is a good guy and essentially tells Dao to be with him. There was also the matter of Gia. As far as Dao was aware, Kluen and Gia were still together and Kluen doesn't say anything to dispel that notion. That simply adds to Dao's confusion because why should he believe Kluen would be pursuing him when he's already got a girlfriend. Again, I know people like to give Dao crap, but frankly, Kluen was sending so many mixed signals that even if everyone else knew that Kluen liked Dao, I can see why Dao was so uncertain. Essentially the majority of their miscommunication boils down to Kluen being entirely too close lipped for his own good. Also the fact that he seemed to be able to communicate with others just fine, it was just when it came to Dao that he suddenly was unable to communicate in any way meaningfully.

There is one scene that I was very much not okay with and was extremely out of touch. Dao and Kluen finally have a conversation and Kluen essentially confesses his feelings when he receives a call from Gia. It's later revealed that Gia had a fight with her partner that turned physical and she called Kluen. There are numerous issues with this scene, first and foremost though the use of domestic violence as a gimmick to separate our leads. It is both tactless and tasteless and should never have been used. Almost any other excuse would have been better. Dao's reaction is another issue. He uses that moment to try to force Kluen to choose between him and Gia and then gets butthurt when Kluen still leaves to help Gia. Again, he's purported to be this very caring guy, but apparently he was temporarily struck deaf since there was a clear urgency to Gia's call and Kluen was obviously very concerned.

When it comes to the characterization, neither Dao or Kluen is particularly unique or interesting. Dao's big thing was that he's supposed to be caring and compassionate, but in reality, he was frankly a coward. His inability to say no to people wasn't a strength or a sign of a good person, but rather that he was afraid. He tried to make it seem like he was thinking of the other person, but in reality, it was simply selfish. When it came to Papang, he didn't reject her right away because he didn't want her to get hurt the way he had when Kluen didn't accept his feelings, but did he really think that time was going to make the pain any less? Wasn't it in fact more cruel to give her hope and then dash it on the ground later? Similarly with Typhoon, he obviously didn't want to actually be his boyfriend for the day, but rather than rejecting such a ridiculous idea, he went along with it and, of course, there were consequences which he never really took responsibility for.

With Kluen, I got real tired of his whole "am I too late" schtick. Like, dude, you are literally doing this to yourself, if you would simply open your mouth and communicate, things would not be so messed up. I really needed more from him to try to wrap my head around his mindset and how he was thinking and why he did and said some things, but we're never given that opening and so he remains a bit of an enigma and not in a good way.

The acting was nothing spectacular. Frankly both Dunk and Joong were outshone by some of the supporting cast with more acting experience. That's not to say it was completely terrible either. Dunk did a decent enough job for his first main role, but clearly struggled with the more emotional scenes. He also lacked nuance in his expressions, though not to the same extent as Joong. While I understand that Kluen was supposed to be a stoic character who didn't show a whole lot of emotion, Joong's acting came across not as deliberate, but as wooden. He needed a greater balance in his facial expressions so that the audience could see that he wasn't just a robot.

This drama started out pretty well and seemed promising but then it was just a steady decline from there. There are still some cute, fluffy moments, but it could have been so much more than it wound up being. It's not unwatchable though and it's short enough that it's not a total waste of time, it simply gets frustrating as the story progresses. For this one, I would say watch at your own risk.

Leia Mais

Save the Date

Our Dating Sim is a drama with a lot of heart in a small package. It manages to combine a lot of well known tropes into a cohesive, well paced story that's cute and entertaining without overdoing it on the fluff factor. It presents characters that are likeable with enough of a backstory to also make them compelling. The game component added another layer that was engaging and further drew the viewer into the story. It was an all around fun little romantic comedy.

The story is relatively simple and uncomplicated which, with such a short air time, is smart. Flashbacks are kept to a minimum, just enough to give the viewer the gist of the characters' past relationship and it's importance. The pacing is very well done. It's not rushed, but the story is constantly moving and it never gets boring. It is very much a fluff fest, but there are a few tenser moments and some angst thrown in to keep it from getting too overbearing. Those scenes also allowed glimpses of characters in their more vulnerable moments.

Lee Wan and Gi Tae both presented as compelling characters. I liked that Gi Tae was a confident character, but he wasn't a bully like those types of characters often can be. He was clearly comfortable with himself and he shared that positivity with those around him. Underneath that confidence and positivity though was the pain of having lost Lee Wan and once he found him again, that pain turned to fear, the fear of losing him again. The scene where he thinks Lee Wan has disappeared again and he goes searching the streets for him is a poignant one. You can feel his fear and distress. And then once he does find him, his relief that he hasn't disappeared again is almost palpable. Much like the plants that he loves and cares for, Gi Tae takes root and really doesn't change much. His character is pretty much unwavering, but that simply allows Lee Wan's character to grow more.

Lee Wan is a bit more complex. One of his defining characteristics, at least initially, is his flight instinct which is very much active. Interestingly enough, they're typically preceded by moments of bravery like confessing to Gi Tae or accepting the job interview. He's an admirable character. He throws himself into his work, pushing himself, striving to learn. He's not a wallflower, but he also doesn't stand out. His journey has more ups and downs than Gi Tae's as he discovers more about himself, finding that in a way, Gi Tae is his roots, the reason he started drawing. He stops running away, instead accepting and declining opportunities after considering what is the best option for himself.

Lee Seung Gyu and Lee Jong Hyuk absolutely delivered with their performances. Physical intimacy is generally poorly done in Korean BLs but they brought their A game and everything about them was so effortless and natural. They both had clear understandings of their characters and their performances were believable and nuanced. I also really liked Sung Ryung as Sunny. She had a great presence and while she didn't say much, what she did say held weight.

The production value was fabulous. Having the dating game theme continued through pretty much every part was very engaging. The game stages at the end of each episode were cute and fun. I personally took them as an example of how the game they created was played and thought it was nice way to incorporate it.

This is not one of those dramas with a lot deep, thought provoking content and it doesn't try to tackle any issues, but it doesn't need to. It serves as something light and fluffy to take your mind off things and give you something to smile at for a bit. It's a very well done, short drama that I would absolutely recommend for multiple viewings.

Leia Mais

The Gift of The Thousandth Star

Going into this final stretch of Our Skyy 2, I found myself with conflicting feelings. I was not expecting to see Bad Buddy and A Tale of Thousand Stars combined. None of the other stories were connected and I'm wondering why they decided to do so here. It's not bad, but I feel like the focus is more with the Thousand Stars story and Bad Buddy is the side piece. Like many other viewers, the Bad Buddy and Tale of a Thousand Stars episodes were the ones I was looking forward to most. They're the two oldest and so the nostalgia is stronger with them since it's been a couple years since we've seen these characters. As much as I anticipated these episodes, I found the first two just fell flat while the last two and particularly the final episode served as a suitable ending .

When it comes to Bad Buddy, I'm not sure how much of a fan I am in going back in time to just after Pat and Pran pretend to break up. I feel like a lot of the plot in that first episode is a rinse and repeat of what we've already seen. I would have preferred if it was a continuation from the end of the series after they graduated. We'd seen the rift between their parents starting to heal and things had reached a point where they weren't going to need to hide their relationship. Going on from there, continuing to show that healing, the novelty that they could be together openly, all would have made for a great conclusion to their story and would have focused solely on them. Its placement also limited the amount of character development that could be done since it did need to coincide with the ending of Bad Buddy.

Their relationship, while very similar to how it was in the series, does have its differences here. There was a good balance in Bad Buddy of mischievous/playful and sweet moments between them. I liked that it was a series where both leads were strong minded young men. It gave a whole different dynamic that worked very well. In the first two episodes though the sweet moments were few and far between while the mischievous/playful moments take precedence. And those few sweet moments are by and large initiated by Pat at which point Pran pushes him away or something interrupts them. It's been a while since I watched it, but I felt like they were on more of an even keel in the series of who initiated physical intimacy of any kind. That's not to say there aren't some sweet moments between them, there are, it just overall didn't feel quite in harmony with the series. And I was expecting a lot more of those sweet moments once they were away from their friends and parents since they wouldn't have to pretend anymore, but they took a back seat even then. As a side note, Pran's reaction to up and leave without Pat because of Pat's comment felt over the top. Since they were pretending to still be enemies, it would make sense that Pat would be bad mouthing him or making it seem like he was superior. Considering that Pran typically came across as relatively level-headed previously, his taking that comment to heart and deciding to abandon Pat didn't seem to quite fit with his character.

And while I wasn't a fan of those first two episodes, it was like a flip was switched for the final two. Suddenly we're getting more sweet moments between them, little ones as well as some genuinely heartfelt moments like when Pat finally admits that he can't live without Pran. It's a really beautiful little scene the likes of which were completely lacking in those first episodes. There are also little throwbacks to Bad Buddy like Pat asking Pran to rate his "performance". Things just seemed much more harmonious and back to normal between them in those final episode. I loved the play. I don't know why exactly, but I actually teared up a bit watching it. It was just well done and it was fitting that the two of them played the parts of Tian and Phupha. Their ending was both sweet with their kiss as well as funny with Pat's sister interrupting them again. It just suited them.

There were a couple of things, however, that just didn't quite work. Pat and Pran are supposed to be broken up and back to being enemies at this point. However, they don't act like it at all. They're constantly together in public without showing a bit of animosity and we're supposed to believe that their friends are in the dark. Yes, they're questioning it to some degree, but seriously, those two are so obvious a blind man could see they're still together. Besides that, it also appears that they're living together. Living across the hall from each other and sneaking into each other's rooms is one thing, but how on earth does them living together work? Do they just not have any friends who aren't in on their secret over? What about their parents? The other part that didn't work for me was how little time they spend together. With the first episode they spend a good portion of it together, but once the second and third episodes hit and they're in the village, they're pretty effectively separated for much of it. I would have preferred to see more of them working together rather than their divide and conquer strategy. There's also the matter of the play. If memory serves, Pat's father gives him grief for acting in Pran's play in Bad Buddy. But here, it's made out to be no big deal. Even with their kiss, Pran comments that his mother is proud of him and knows it's just acting. Um, did his mother have a lobotomy or something? She would have flown off the handle over something like that in Bad Buddy, but suddenly she's chill with that, no questions asked? That explanation really didn't work for me.

Ohm and Nanon are both very talented actors and two of my favorites. Their chemistry together in Bad Buddy was phenomenal and their interactions were just very natural. I've heard rumors of some kind of conflict between them, it's not something that I've really looked into, but after watching the first two episodes, I did have to wonder if there was something going on between them. The spark they had previously just wasn't quite there. I can't put my finger on it, but something felt a bit off. And then, with those last two episodes, the flip was switched again and it felt like they were back to normal. They seemed more comfortable with each other and everything between them went back to feeling natural. I have no idea what changed, but I'm so glad it did because it made a huge difference.

A Tale of Thousand Stars was a series that I really enjoyed. I liked the story which I felt was overall well done as well as the characters and acting. I was very excited to see Tian, Phupha and the rest of the characters from their story again and I have to admit I'm a bit disappointed at how few of the characters were brought back. For their story, I was hoping for a continuation from the end of the series focusing on Tian getting reacquainted with the village and villagers and settling back in with them and into his relationship with Phupha. I was not hoping for angsty, teenage drama between two grown men.

The inconsistencies between the series and Our Skyy 2 are grating. Phupha seems to have undergone a personality transplant because initially he's just coming across as an unreasonable jerk. He was a serious character in Thousand Stars, but he wasn't totally unbending and there was a tenderness about him whenever he was with Tian that was very endearing. That was just gone. Their conflict felt very contrived. In the series they generally came across as two reasonable adults, here though they feel more like sulky teenagers. I was hoping to get a better explanation for why Phupha didn't want to accompany Tian than he doesn't like crowds. That reasoning just seemed like BS since we saw him at at least two gatherings in the series. I was glad that was cleared up, but it still felt a bit BSish. I don't understand the popularity of keeping a secret from your SO that's causing damage to your relationship just so you can surprise them later. It doesn't work. Sticking with Phupha for a moment, his fainting just as he meets Pran also felt off. This is a man who very rarely showed any kind of weakness, so to see him keel over because he hadn't had breakfast felt out of character. There was also Tian acting like he didn't know how to get to Pha Pun Dao initially when he went there alone, in the dark previously. And besides that time, he'd gone at least two other times, if not more so his uncertainty of how to get there didn't make sense. When Phupha meets Tian's parents, it almost seemed like he didn't know Tian's dad, which, if memory serves, he had been Phupha's superior officer at one point or something along those lines so I didn't understand the disconnect there. There are a few other minor details that don't quite jive with the series which was more just annoying than causing any actual issues.

The final two episodes mostly made up for the crap from the second one. I liked that Tian and Phupha started to at least try to communicate to some degree. Not well necessarily, but the scare of Tian being lost seemed to knock some sense into the both of them and make them realize how much they actually cared for each other. Phupha surprising Tian in Bangkok was kind of fun. Again, I don't approve of those kind of surprises, but Tian was obviously thrilled so all's well that ends well, I guess. They felt more in tune with each other during these scenes, and I'll attribute part of that to Phupha finally reading Tian's diary and gaining a better understanding of him. Again, not a fan of the whole birthday surprise, though it was kind of adorable to see how happy Tian was when he saw Phupha standing in front of him. That scene though when Phupha essentially proposes to Tian and gives him their thousandth star was beautifully done and had me in tears. That scene alone made up for everything else honestly. I also found it hilarious how the final scene was basically a mash up of the ending of Bad Buddy and Thousand Stars. Perfection.

Similar to Ohm and Nanon, Earth and Mix didn't have quite the same spark between them in those first two episodes as they did in the series. Even when they were in conflict, you could feel that magnetic pull between them. Maybe because their bickering here just felt petty more than anything, that pull didn't seem to be there as much. But, again, flip switch with those final two episodes and it felt like they were back to themselves which made me very happy. The angsty teenage drama and attitudes were gone and they were back to being reasonable adults. It also reminded me just how good these two are together. They communicate so much emotion just through their eyes and it's amazing to watch. Truly phenomenal actors.

Having these two series combined did create some interesting and entertaining moments. Pat and Phupha waking up and panicking about what they may have done together was a particularly funny scene. Also the fact that Phupha offering Pat his shirt was a direct call back to a scene from Thousand Stars. Phupha asking Tian to rate him after their night together as well as the ending between them both called back scenes from Bad Buddy. The friendships that developed between Pran and Tian and Phupha and Pat were really neat to see. Tian and Pran had the more heartfelt moments and you could feel a real connection between them whereas Phupha and Pat were pure chaotic entertainment.

While I love both Bad Buddy and A Tale of Thousand Stars, I didn't think I would love them combined. To an extent, I still feel like we were robbed of Pat and Pran's story in favor of one centered on Phupha and Tian. I don't think combining them was necessary and I think there needed to have been a really good reason to do so which I just don't see. If it could be redone, I would ultimately prefer them to be separated and each have their own two episodes. However, since that is not what we got, I will say that the final two made up for the severely lacking everything of the first two. There were some really beautiful and heartfelt moments and it felt like things got back on track. All in all, I would say that they served as a fitting conclusion both to A Tale of Thousand Stars and Our Skyy 2.

Leia Mais

Seek Your Destiny Elsewhere

Destiny Seeker gets added to the list of mediocre BLs that have some interesting aspects, but are underdeveloped and try to get by with steamy NSFW scenes and little else. To make matters worse in this situation, there were the absolutely ghastly English subtitles, some of the worst I've seen which did nothing to boost my opinion. It is, for the most part, a mess, but hidden in the mess are some little treasures that made it bearable and even enjoyable at times.

I will give this drama credit for actually having a plot. It was a very thin plot, but there was one which was a nice change after a string of plotless dramas. The majority of the drama revolved around Ai and Songkhram and their slowly developing relationship. There's really nothing new here, no groundbreaking revelations, but it's not horribly done either. Their transition from rivals to boyfriends feels relatively natural and not overly forced. That being said, there were some aspects that didn't make a whole lot of sense, like Songkhram claiming he'd been in love with Ai since their freshman year and making comments that he'd been pursuing him all that time which we don't really see or get the impression of. There were also a number of flashbacks scattered throughout which were not clearly demarcated from the rest of the story so there were a few scenes where it took a moment to realize that we had suddenly jumped back in time. The sorting of the boys into different dorms based on their talents was an interesting concept and I wish more had been done with it. It's only purpose here seemed to be using it as an excuse for why Ai and Songkhram had to be rivals. Which, that was another aspect that was not well explained. I get that there was the rivalry between their dorms, but why? And was it just their two dorms that had a rivalry or were there rivalries between the other dorms as well? There was, in general, a serious lack of information about this college. Again, the translation was garbage, so I may have misunderstood some information, but it seemed like they had all gotten their degrees at other colleges and were there to get their master's degrees, maybe? Also, it was obviously a coed college, but where were all the girls? I think I saw maybe five or six girls throughout and that was it. I know some of that's nitpicking, but information like that just deepens the world building and allows the viewer to become more involved. And lastly, is anyone else getting sick and tired of every BL being centered around engineering students? Is that a requirement? Must be gay in order to be an engineer. There are so many other degrees out there. Get creative for once!

Destiny Seeker did feel trope heavy, particularly with the whole engineering background. But we also get the sick mother, though of a less serious nature here and thankfully they didn't feel the need to kill her off for dramatic effect. We also have Ai moving abroad, but this was less annoying than in previous dramas because it didn't cause unnecessary drama between our leads. Ai gets caught in the rain once and is instantly sick, but he and Songkhram get caught in the rain in the final episode and are just fine. There's a hint of the gay for you trope. It's not explicitly stated, but it is almost implied with both Bright and Plustor.

The characters felt very one dimensional. They were all just kind of thrown in there with very little background information or information regarding their motives, their reasoning or anything that would allow the viewer to get a handle on them. The villains especially. For one they were very disappointing villains. They were so pleased with themselves when all I could think was, really, guys, that's the best you can do? But why were they the way that they were. Tum showed up only a couple of times and no information was given as to why he was such an ass. And he went from wanting Ai for himself to wanting to ruin his chances of getting the funding for his idea. Again, no reason as to why unless it was because Ai was with Songkhram at that point and it was some weird if I can't have him then I'm going ruin him kind of thing. Ohm was similar. His relationship with Ai wasn't super clear cut. He seemed to have an unhealthy attachment to him which may have been because it doesn't sound like his father was very present. But his actions seemed way over the top. Ai didn't side with him one time and he decided the best course of action was to betray him by selling his project to Tum? And then he tried to flip things around and blame everything on Ai. Like what? And wrapping up our villains, I didn't get why the other team seemed to have it out for Ai's team. Maybe I missed something, but I don't recall anything happening between any of them to cause any kind of friction. All in all, they were just a pathetic group of villains that really can't even be called that.

As for the good guys, they lack a lot as well. We get a little more background with Ai and Songkhram since their our leads, but there's still a lot left out. Things like they're both children of single parents, but what happened to their other parent? I think it's mentioned in passing that Ai's father died, but I don't recall any explanation for what happened to Songkhram's mother. They both also have their quirks that could have been delved into a bit more, things like Ai's aversion to dirt and Songkhram's apparent interest in plants. Little things that could have been used to flesh out their characters and made it feel like there was more to them. I did appreciate their relationship once they got together. Although Ai's over the top reactions every time they were almost caught was overdone. The rest though, I liked. They were just genuinely sweet and adorable together and if nothing else, they did give me warm fuzzy feelings with their interactions. The scene where they keep sneaking kisses while watching something in the final episode was just perfection. I was very happy they didn't throw in any unnecessary drama between them in the last couple of episodes. Songkhram came through as the quintessential boyfriend, supporting Ai through everything life kept throwing at him from losing the project funding to his mother's collapse and moving to Germany. As for the rest of the gang, they don't really get much of a backstory aside from Meen and Bright since they knew each other since middle school. We get some flashbacks of them to show how their relationship has progressed. They were a confusing couple, mostly in Bright's case because so little was revealed about what he was thinking. He's been in love with Meen for years, but pursued Ai to try to forget him? It made no sense, which, I mean love doesn't always make sense, but that seemed really out there. I would have been interested to know more about him just because he was so hot and cold with Meen. I also would have just liked to have seen a more gradual development of their relationship. It felt like things happened very quickly. Plustor and Nano, similarly to Ai and Songkhram, had the rivals to lovers storyline, but like with Meen and Bright, their relationship progressed very quickly and without a whole lot of build up. One thing I was not a fan of in the cases of both relationships was the way that both Bright and Plustor forced themselves on their love interest. I will give credit to Plustor for apologizing to Nano for his behaviour, but we don't get any such apology from Bright. Touch was an entertaining addition to their group and I enjoyed his interactions with everyone. Again, there wasn't much too him aside from comic relief, but he served that purpose pretty well.

There were also a number of characters that just didn't make sense or weren't explained. There was the woman who was seen addressing the boys several times and flirting with them which just seemed inappropriate. No idea who she was other than some kind of administrator, I guess. There were also the two token girls who joined the guys group at one point. I know the one was Amber's daughter, but they stood out like sore thumbs. They just didn't seem to fit in well.

The acting wasn't bad, but also wasn't anything to write home about. However, considering the fact that for most of the cast this was their first drama or one of their first, I really can't be too hard on them. Even Earth, who has the most credits to his name, has only been at this for about a year it looks like. So considering their inexperience, I think they were overall solid. All of the couples had pretty decent chemistry. Bank and Earth had the least natural kisses initially. They seemed a bit awkward, but it also kind of worked for their characters with starting a new relationship. I look forward to seeing them all growing and improving.

The production was okay, nothing really spectacular. I did find it both interesting and somewhat helpful the way they differentiated Dorms 2 and 3 by the colors their characters wore. It was relatively unobtrusive and like I said, it was helpful at times to keep track of who was in which dorm.

There were a couple of other things I liked that I'll mention here. The way that there is never a scene where Ai is afraid of telling his mother that he's gay or her being shocked when she finds out was so refreshing. It felt very natural. There was no need to make a big deal about it, it's just who he was and this is his boyfriend and welcome to the family! The ending with Ai and Songkhram apparently having adopted a baby was pleasantly surprising. I don't think I've ever seen another BL where they took that next step to their characters actually having a family and I really liked that they added it in.

There's nothing that really stands out about Destiny Seeker to make it memorable. I saw a lot of reviews talking about how the first part of it was meh, but the ending was brilliant. I have to admit that I didn't see any brilliance here. It's one of those dramas that I have a feeling I'll pretty soon forget about. But, that being said, it's not horrible, it has it's good moments as well as it's disappointing ones. I don't think it's good enough to warrant multiple viewings, but watching it once isn't a total waste of time.

Leia Mais

Mechanic Needed

Going into Love Mechanics, I was expecting something pretty special. I'd heard some pretty high praise for it, not to mention the high rating, and based on the hype, I figured this was going to be one of my new favorite dramas. But after watching it, I really don't understand that hype. It was decidedly mediocre, certainly nothing to write home about. The plot, what little there was of one, was repetitive. Miscommunication ran rampant, more so than in a lot of other BLs. It got to a point where it was just tedious. What other absurd reason are the writers going to come up with to keep our leads separate? And what makes it even more disappointing is the fact that Yin and War have fantastic chemistry, but we get so very little time of them actually together and happy, not fighting or sulking or some other terrible emotional state. This drama gets added to the list of ones that had potential but just went nowhere.

Love Mechanics gets added to the ever growing list of dramas without a plot. I know I've said this before, but why is it so hard to write a story that actually has a point? What happens essentially is that Mark and Vee get together, or almost get together, something or someone comes between them, they fight, one or both gets blackout drunk, rinse and repeat. I'm not kidding, that is exactly what happens and not just once, but three or four times. It's ridiculous and sad. Especially the drinking. Almost every character here needed to go to AA. I don't think I've ever seen a drama where drinking was so prevalent. Scenes of characters going out and getting drunk were featured at least once an episode, sometimes more. And besides the drinking being repetitive, the conversations that went with it were equally repetitive. It was a constant conversation of who liked who, trying to force confessions, or woe is me I'll never find love. It got old very quickly, especially with people, Yihwa especially, trying to find ways to force others, namely Mark, into revealing their feelings. Who needs or wants friends like that? It was all very toxic.

Ploy, Vee's ex-girlfriend, was a repeat offender when it came to separating our leads. That being said though, I didn't hate her. She was not portrayed as the villainous woman who deliberately came between them. Her cheating on Vee was, of course, unacceptable and she acknowledged that and that she had made a mistake, but when she found out that Vee had moved one, she didn't maliciously try to sink her claws into him to stay. That final kiss between them was a mistake on both their parts, Vee for putting himself in a situation where it could happen and Ploy for letting her emotions get the best of her, though considering what she'd been through, it's understandable that she'd be a bit emotionally fragile and unstable. But she still tried to make things right, explaining what had happened to Vee's friends and trying to explain to Mark as well. Having her become a source of contention between Vee and Mark three times though was just overkill because then you had Mark misinterpreting their relationship during the photo shoot. What I found most disappointing in regards to Ploy and Vee's relationship is that there is an element of Ploy being depicted as the bad guy for cheating on Vee, however, at the same time, you have Vee cheating on Ploy with Mark and not only does he never tell Ploy of his philandering, the fact that he was cheating as well is never really brought up. That aspect felt very sexist.

Miscommunication is always a popular method of causing drama and moving the story forward, but Love Mechanics took it to the next level. It was just miscommunication after miscommunication between Mark and Vee and it got to a point where it felt very lazy. I began to wonder if they were ever going to get together and there were more than a few moments where I just hung my head because, yup, here we go again with one of them saying or doing something stupid and causing the other to misunderstand them. I really wanted to see these two sit down and have a long heart to heart conversation which, naturally, never happened.

Everyone falling in love with Mark was just weird. Yes, he's cute, but to have multiple men positively pining over him seemed highly unrealistic. Krat especially came out of literally nowhere and started pursuing Mark hard. That whole plot line was just super weird and out of left field. It really didn't fit in well and since by that time I was beyond sick of all the roadblocks that kept popping up for our couple, I was never going to be a fan. Nuea's relentless pursuit of Mark wore thin pretty quickly as well. Consent was not a strong point in this drama as Mark told both men that he wasn't interested and that didn't faze them in the slightest and they just kept coming on to him.

The characters were a mix of good and bad. Mark, Vee, Bar, Kan, Yoo, Mark's mother and Vee's and Yoo's parents were the sum total of characters that I overall liked. Despite the drama between them, I did mostly like Mark and Vee. Mark's moments of immaturity towards Vee when he was trying to push him away and the way he essentially taunted Vee with whether or not he would forgive him were his less endearing traits, but overall I don't think he was a bad guy. Loving Vee was certainly not easy and there is an element that some of what he did was done in an effort to protect himself from further harm. He was shown though to be a good and loyal friend. And even though it hurt, I appreciated his maturity in letting Bar go once he knew he was taken. His sassiness was entertaining and I liked his strength of character. Vee was basically a teddy bear. He never seemed to learn from his mistakes and his heart ruled his head most of the time, but he was overall such a sweetheart. He kind of liked to play the bad boy, but he obviously wasn't and he had a nobility to him that I found endearing. I liked how Bar and Kan to a lesser extent were the only two of Vee's friend group who were actually supportive of he and Mark together. Bar as Vee's best friend was featured more prominently and it was refreshing to have someone who actually seemed to have Vee's best interests at heart and was a kind and sympathetic friend. Unlike Vee's other friends who constantly razzed him and got in his business, Bar was the quiet voice of reason and someone Vee could actually trust. I really enjoyed their friendship. Yoo had some great moments as Vee's brother. He had some very entertaining one liners, but he was also a voice of reason for Vee, trying to shake him out of his stupors after yet another misunderstanding with Mark. He acted very much like I imagine a big brother would in the situations he found himself. I liked that Mark found a second home and a second set of parents at Vee's home. Vee's mother especially was wonderful, just warm and sweet and understanding. She immediately took Mark in without question, loving him and taking care of him like he was her own. Vee's father was not demonstrative in his affections, but I really liked him. His tidbits of wisdom, like the one he bestowed on Vee regarding his motorbike, were a subtle display of affection and a way to prepare his son for the world. His defense of Mark and his family from Mark's own father was a great scene as was the one shortly thereafter when he has a one on one conversation with Mark's father. Mark's mother was also very sweet in her own way and I liked her quietly momma bear ways. She was certainly more moderate than Mark's father and it was clear that she loved her son and only wanted what was best for him.

The majority of Vee's and Mark's friends were overwhelmingly annoying. Everything with them felt like a cliché from their entire friend group being gay except for Yihwa who filled the gap of the female straight friend to their over the top antics. Mark's father came across as a very unpleasant person initially, I truly wondered how he and his wife ever got together, but after speaking with Vee's father and revealing a bit more of his concerns, he became much more understandable character. I still would have liked to have a bit more information on him and what exactly made him tick, not to mention an actual conversation between him and his son where they came to some kind of understanding, but I liked that he was given some depth and wasn't a raging asshole for no reason.

Yin and War are the standouts in terms of acting. They both expressed their characters so well and seemed to have a real understanding of them. Their chemistry was one of the few high points of the series. They were just phenomenal together and had a real connection that translated very well to the screen. It's a pity that everything else didn't reach their level.

The production was overall pretty decent. I really liked some of the cinematography, there were some great shots and angles in there. The music was another highlight. Aside from one or two tracks that I wasn't hugely fond of, the rest of it worked very well.

This is one drama where I wish I'd read some of the reviews beforehand to have a better idea of what to expect. I don't think I would have been quite as disappointed in it if I had. I'm not going to say that it's a drama to avoid. It has it's redeeming features, though not many. I think in the end, I would say it's worth watching once. It's not one that's worth watching more than once though. Then again I'm not a fan of that level of angst and miscommunication and drama, so I'll leave repeated viewings to your discretion.

Leia Mais

The King Has Fallen

I have rarely watched a drama that put me through such emotional highs and lows. What it did well, it did very well, but where it struggled in pacing, it struggled epically to the point that I shelved this drama for several months and very nearly dropped it. It is, in my opinion, a fairly flawed drama with an interesting concept but not nearly enough background or explanation for how things work. That being said it overcomes those flaws with colorful characters and an underdog story that keeps the viewer engaged.

The storyline as I mentioned before is, at its heart, your typical underdogs take on the big guns and come out victorious. It is also a comeback story for lead character, Ye Xiu, after being forced to retire from e-sports. It's overall quite heartwarming. It's fun to see this team slowly taking shape, to see the many personalities coming together and forming a cohesive unit. The first half or so of the drama focuses more on Ye Xiu and his comeback as Lord Grim, building up his new weapon and establishing his new character and the second half focuses more on the building of the team and their efforts to turn themselves into a professional team. Pacing during the first half is an issue with some real highs and then a lot of just filler that kills the mood. In particular, I believe it was around episodes 16-20 the pacing got so bad that it very nearly made me drop the drama. Thankfully things picked up again around episode 21 or so and the pacing improved significantly, but it was less than stellar there for a minute. One of the things I really appreciated about this drama was the lack of romance. I kept waiting for it to happen and was pleasantly surprised when it didn't. I enjoyed the focus on the friendships and felt that it was stronger remaining as such rather than evolving into something more.

This drama, overall, had a stellar cast. But there were a few that really stood out and a few that really didn't. Jiang Long as Shao Tian was a riot. I absolutely adored him and he was so entertaining to watch. He completely brought his character to life. I enjoyed his chemistry with Gao Han Yu as Yu Wen Zhou, they played off of each other really well and I overall just liked their friendship. Lai Yi is always a pleasure to watch because he just disappears into whatever character he's playing. He was so entertaining as the goofy Bao Rong Xing and I appreciated the chance to see him in a new kind of role. Daisy Li as Tang Rou did a good job of bringing her character's aloof arrogance while also showing her softer side. I've seen Yang Yang in a few dramas now and, in my opinion, he's mostly just a pretty face. He's not a bad actor, its more that it doesn't seem like he's really acting, like he's just being himself. He's not quite able to showcase more complex or subtle emotions. There's just a sameness to a lot of what he does that makes him a bit boring to watch. I really didn't find his character all that interesting and in part that was due to his acting. Lai Yu Meng as Su Mu Cheng had similar issues in that I felt she was very stale in her acting. Same facial expressions, same reactions throughout with very little variation throughout the drama.

Despite the large number of characters, I was overall quite impressed with how most of them were given enough screen time to make a meaningful contribution to the story. I was also impressed with the character development of many of the characters, particularly Sun Xiang. I really appreciated the fact that while his character improved and he wasn't the irredeemable jerk from the beginning, it wasn't like he'd turned into a saint either. He was still himself, still cocky, but not quite with that same I'm-better-than-everyone attitude. Chen Guo is another one who goes through quite a dramatic development from bullying internet café owner to supportive team manager. Her journey is definitely a bit more up and down and I found myself alternately really liking her character and finding her incredibly annoying. When she was being her bossy, badass self, I really liked her. She was a no nonsense, get stuff done kind of girl and I appreciated that. But once she found out who Ye Xiu was, I found her pandering to him to be annoying and out of character. And then once she became the team manager initially, her wishy washiness and weak willed attitude also seemed out of character. Once she snapped out of that and got back to being a girl boss, I enjoyed her character again. (As a side note, I had zero issues with her age. I didn't think she looked too old at all.) You also have characters like Yi Fan who starts out lacking confidence and acting as a doormat for others and by the end has gained confidence, is vice captain, and helps lead the team to victory. Each character has their own journey and there are a lot of characters who make personal discoveries through playing Glory and finding themselves better for it.

I was not overly fond of Ye Xiu's character for a number of reasons. First and foremost, he was just too perfect. I find characters like that supremely annoying because of how completely unrealistic they are. They're unrelatable and because of that I personally find them uninteresting. Similarly, the fact that he goes undefeated in the game until his weapon breaks, again, just seems unrealistic. I don't think he thought of himself as superior to anyone but his preachiness got irritating after a while. No one always knows the right thing to say in every situation.

Though limited, I really enjoyed the OST. The opening and closing songs were amazing and I enjoyed the other songs as well. My only complaint is that I felt they were overused. You had the same songs used repeatedly and it was noticeable after a while.

Despite overall enjoying this drama, there were definitely some flaws/things I didn't love.
-I like knowing how things work so one big issue I had was not having more information about Glory and the game's dynamics. With that I was left with a number of questions regarding Ye Xiu's Myriad Manifestation Umbrella. Could any player create their own weapon? And how exactly was that done? Were there any limits? And so on and so forth. Obviously not all of those questions could be answered, but I feel like a few of them could have been to give some basics.
-Sticking with game dynamics to an extent, more information on the guilds too and how they were laid out would have been interesting. They didn't play as big of a role after the first half of the drama, but during the first half it would have been nice to have a little more information.
-One aspect that I consider a flaw is that no one seemed to suspect Lord Grim of being Ye Xiu. Ye Xiu retires and suddenly this new, extraordinarily skilled player appears and no one finds that suspicious? Really?
-In these kind of underdog stories, I hate when they throw in gimmicks to make it so they win when they actually lost. They did that twice in this drama, the first time due to an issue with the referee's timer and the second in the finale they only won because Ye Xiu broke a record. To do it once is bad enough, but twice, especially in the final competition is just lame.
-I know Team Happy needed certain types of players for their team, but I didn't love the way they manipulated people to get them to join. Yes, they gave back game cards even after they'd taken them and ultimately no damage was done and people joined willingly, but they were still manipulative and that didn't sit well with me.

To sum it up, this drama left me with a mix of emotions. There were several scenes that left me feeling quite emotional, for example, when the captains and Shao Tian meet Ye Xiu in the Heavenly Domain and welcome him back and when Team Happy all assembles on stage at the conference. Those scenes were so well done, but a lot of the time, those highly emotional scenes would be followed by filler episodes or scenes that just kind of killed the mood. This drama was truly an emotional roller coaster and not necessarily in a good way. I'm glad that I finished it, but if Season 2 ever comes out, I don't think I'll be watching and I don't think this is a drama that I'll be rewatching, certainly not anytime in the near future.

Leia Mais

Poetry in Motion

Chinese dramas are always hit or miss for me. I often find that they struggle with pacing, overinflated casts, and solid storylines. Ancient Love Poetry, to my extreme pleasure, suffered from almost none of these and is on par with Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms in terms of quality. Nearly everything was perfect from the acting to the sets to the OST. I enjoyed every moment of watching it and will definitely watch again in the future.

The story is relatively simple, but I found that to be a strength. Instead of getting bogged down with multiple side stories or an overcomplicated plot, it pretty well stuck to the main story. And that story is played out very well, with enough action and slow moments to balance things out and keep the viewer engaged. It is, at its heart, a love story, and not just romantic love, but also the love of family and friends and how that love changes and shapes the characters. Pacing, something that I nearly always find fault with in Chinese dramas, was actually quite good. The first few episodes are necessarily slow in order to set the background and build up the characters and story, but I didn't find it boring. There are certainly a few episodes that seemed more filler than substance, but I can't even really complain too much about those as I didn't feel they dragged too much.

The acting is superb, I truly couldn't find much to fault with any of them. Zhou Dong Yu and Xu Kai were excellent in the leading roles. I was very impressed with how they both created such unique and separate character for Shang Gu/Hou Chi and Bai Jue/Qing Mu/Bo Xuan respectively. While they appeared the same, obviously, their characters were so different that there wasn't any chance with confusing one for the other. Jenny Zhang was fantastic as Wu Huan, just every part of her performance was flawless. She made Wu Huan into such a complex character and I really enjoyed watching the character development or devolvement, in her case. I've always enjoyed watching Lai Yi, he's an excellent actor and he just blends into whichever character he plays. While I enjoyed his performance as a younger Gu Jun, I was truly impressed by his acting after the fall of the God Realm. He perfectly played the role of doting father as well as aloof god. His interactions were Zhou Dong Yu were so sweet to watch and I was impressed with the both of them considering there's only a two year age difference. Liu Xue Yi was very entertaining to watch as Tian Qi, I imagine he must have had a lot of fun with that role. As I said before, this was just such a phenomenal cast, from the leads to all the side characters, they all just did such an amazing job bringing this drama to life.

While I often find that Chinese dramas have overinflated casts where there's no possible way to do justice to all the characters, I found that Ancient Love Poetry didn't suffer from this nearly as much. There were a handful of instances where I wondered what had happened to a character since they just seemed to be forgotten, but overall, I was very impressed with how well all of the characters were incorporated and given their own stories. I enjoyed the side couples and was pleased to see that they weren't neglected and actually had solid storylines for the most part. I truly enjoyed each and every character and I didn't really feel that any of them were overly superfluous or unnecessary. I also appreciated the amount of character growth seen, whether good or bad, in many of the characters. Even some more of the minor characters showed significant character growth and I enjoyed seeing that.

Another issue I tend to have with primarily Chinese dramas is their tendency to let off the villains lightly after they've hurt or killed countless people. I have mixed feelings about how Wu Huan was dealt with. On the one hand, her going mad seems to be letting her off easy, but if she was just killed, that would have been too good for her. I also felt like Jing Zhao got off pretty easy with just losing her voice. However, what offsets the disappointment of the villains getting of lighter than I would like, is the fact that nearly everyone who dies comes back. I was so happy to see Hong Ri back there at the end, as well as to hear that Gu Jun and Jing Jian were going to be coming back as well, though I would have really liked to see them reunited with their loved ones.

The OST was gorgeous, the songs fit with the story and emotions of the episodes. I was really impressed with it and have been enjoying continuing to listen to it.

The production was well done, it was obvious that this was a higher budget drama. Despite the extensive use of CGI, for the most part, it didn't look or feel fake. I particularly liked how each location had its own theme in terms of style and how it fit with the characters. The costuming was gorgeous as it always is in these dramas. I liked how the character's costumes changed depending on where they were in life. There's a subtle, but distinct difference between how Shang Gu dressed and how Hou Chi is dressed and the same goes for Bai Jue and Qing Mu as well as other characters. It was all very well done.

I really cannot recommend this drama enough. It captured me from the opening credits and held me until the end credits of the final episode. It was a very enjoyable experience and one I look forward to repeating in the future.

Leia Mais

Unexpectedly Lovely

I didn't have particularly high expectations going into this drama. The synopsis sounded relatively promising and it was short, so even if it was terrible at least I hadn't wasted a huge amount of time on it. This drama, however, proved to be anything but terrible and is one of the best I've watched in a while. I literally stayed up until 4 am just to finish watching it.

The story for me was a fascinating combination of simplicity and complexity. The overall plot is fairly simple, friends who make videos investigating the paranormal. The complexity comes from how the character's lives interweave with that simple story and how their relationships with each other change and grow. Its truly beautiful to watch. I was never bored, despite there being a few parts during the middle when things were a bit slow, but I don't feel like those moments really take away from the drama either. My only qualm is that I feel like they could have used the mystery of the nunnery to better effect. I was really fascinated with it in the beginning and it just kind of fell by the wayside eventually and only cropped up when convenient.

The acting was so good. Erek Lin in particular as Amber was amazing. Every time he was onscreen, I was just riveted by his performance. The depth that he managed to portray with simple looks was truly impressive. Lukas Huang as Le was also quite good. Where I could really feel Amber's pain and distress and believe it, I didn't find Lukas as believable when having to portray more extreme emotions. I really noticed at the end when he talks to his mom. The scene and dialogue are beautiful, but his acting just feels a touch forced and inauthentic. Otherwise though, I really enjoyed his portrayal of Le. Tannie Huang also did a lovely job as Yu He. She portrayed a character that could very easily have been annoying but she managed to find a balance that really worked and I ended up really loving and feeling for her character. Lin Wei Jie and Leo Guo were equally good as Li and Gwan. Though I found Li's portrayal to be a bit over the top at times, he was overall a loveable guy and not too terribly annoying. Gwan sometimes felt like he was just kind of there and I felt like Leo could have used his facial expression to better effect at times, but overall enjoyed his performance as well.

One of the things I loved about this drama was how overall well-rounded the vast majority of the characters were despite its short length. Particularly the characters of Le, Yu He, and Wen-Wen. I know a lot of people found the flashbacks to be annoying, but I personally found them to be very interesting in comparing their personalities as children and then as adults and seeing the ways they were still the same and the ways they had changed.
- Wen-Wen aka Amber obviously had the biggest change, both physically and mentally. Even when he is first introduced as an adult, you can see how mentally and emotionally fragile he is. He is no longer the carefree child. But what is also obvious almost from the get go, is his love for Le and how that has never changed. He is such a sweet character and his story is so unique in terms of BL stories, I've never seen one with a similar character. His rawness and vulnerability are so beautifully portrayed by Erek. And his fear of being found out and rejected is almost palpable. I honestly spent half the drama just wanting to give him a hug. I really enjoyed watching his relationship with Le grow, in a different way from when they were children. The ending with the two of them was just so heartwarming and I was so happy to see him accepted and loved unconditionally.
- I knew I was going to like Le from the first moment; everything about him just screamed that he was an honestly good person. And he did not disappoint. He was a bit of a typical BL guy in that he wasn't interested in anyone and wasn't really looking for love. His sexual preference is never really overtly discussed. Wen-Wen was his childhood sweetheart, but aside from her, there's no impression given that he's ever liked anyone else. But there is an obvious connection between him and Amber pretty much from the first. He's protective of him and far more affectionate towards him than his other friends. While its obvious to anyone else that he has feelings for Amber, he's oblivious to those feelings until Yu He talks it out with him. I think all of it is handled very well. His confusion regarding his feelings is understandable. Are they because he loves Amber for Amber or is it because Amber reminds him of Wen-Wen? And what I love is that he's able to separate the two. He loved Wen-Wen because of who she was when they were children, but he fell in love with Amber because of who he was before he even knew he was once Wen-Wen. Their conversation at the end when they're in the forest was just sheer perfection and really showed to me how far Le had come.
- I was not sure what I was going to think of Yu He initially. Her loud mouth and big personality gave her the potential to be annoying, but this drama did what a lot of BL dramas don't and actually utilized their female character. Instead of having her serve no other purpose than comedic relief or just to push the story along, she was her own person with her own hopes and dreams. I really came to love her character and to appreciate the hard situation she found herself in. I truly admired and appreciated the grace with which she gave up her love for Le, which had to be so incredibly hard since she'd loved him since they were children. They could have turned her into an absolute harpy and used her to hurt both Amber and Le but I'm so happy they didn't. Her reaction to finding out about Amber was completely heartfelt and I really liked that their friendship, though definitely changed was still intact. With that in mind, I can't agree with everything that she did, but I never felt that her intentions were in any way malicious. She came across as very human and relatable. She was just an all around fantastic character and I wish BL dramas had more like her.
- I'm going to lump Li and Gwan here together as I didn't have particularly strong opinions about either of them. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed them and I thought they made a cute couple, but I wasn't hugely invested in their story and they kind of faded out after their little tiff and making up. There just wasn't a whole lot there to really interest me. What I did like and found unique was having a secondary couple that was already established; they'd been together for four years. And with that was the simple domesticity of their living together. Most dramas are so fraught with the drama of the couples getting together that scenes like that are few and far between if present at all so I did like that addition.
- Le's mom was frankly awesome. She was such a tolerant and supportive mother and that last scene with her and Le was just so heartwarming. I also just loved how she was basically everyone's mom and always welcoming and caring to all of Le's friends.

I really enjoyed the music. The opening song was fun and catchy and the song they used for closing several episodes was really beautiful.

Gorgeous cinematography. Sweeping view of Taiwan's stunning country will never get old.

I adore this drama. It was beautiful and heartfelt and so worth the watch. It had a few minor bumps, but overall I felt it was a well-rounded, well-told story with characters that truly drew you in. I highly, highly recommend watching it. The first couple episodes are maybe a tad slow, but its well worth sticking it out.

Leia Mais

Fired the Weatherman

It's been a minute since I've seen a drama so completely lackluster and pointless. My expectations weren't high, frankly I wasn't sure what to expect, but I certainly thought it was going to be better than it was. I truly don't understand the relatively high rating this drama has. The relationship is toxic, which is fine, not every relationship is sunshine and daisies and it can be interesting when those kinds of toxic relationships are explored. But there is no exploration here, no sense of why these people are together, and no character development to bring clarity. It's just eight episodes of nothingness that left me wondering what the heck I'd just watched.

Plots are apparently boring as there is barely one present. I kept waiting for something to happen, for some kind of progress, but nothing ever happened. It's basically two men going around in circles and nothing ever gets accomplished. It was incredibly frustrating to watch and I kept wondering, how on earth are they going to give this a satisfying ending? The answer quite simply is that they didn't. The pacing is mediocre, just good enough to keep me watching to the end. That's the best I can say for it.

The characters are frustrating and weak. They're supposed to be in love, but neither one is good at expressing that love or even admitting to it. They can't even communicate to any real degree. Their conversations are by and large short and stilted. There are several instances of miscommunication because they are both incapable of opening their mouths. Segasaki is a meteorologist who's charming on tv, but at home is less than agreeable. He treats Yoh as more of a servant than someone he cares about and that never really goes away. Rather than developing positively as the series progresses, he grows ever more possessive of Yoh to the point that he literally ties him up to prevent him from leaving. Yoh, for his part, is a very passive person who fails to speak up for himself or really do anything for himself period. He takes Segasaki's treatment and while he contemplates leaving him, never actually does anything to facilitate that idea. He's just such an ineffectual character. The ending is very similar to the beginning, except they're supposedly happy. Yoh has apparently come to the conclusion that he likes Segasaki's abuse and Segasaki is ever so slightly more attentive, though still very possessive. They both just lack any kind of real depth of character and there's nothing present to make me care about either of them. It's a huge disconnect between them and the audience. And despite the fact that their initial history with how they met and connected is shown, the in between of that time period and the present is left a mystery. The character development is basically nil which is disappointing because there could have been a lot more to it.

Both actors are fairly generically cute and that was the biggest thing they had going for them since their acting skills left something to be desired. Even if characters lack in vocal communication, a lot can be conveyed in other ways. Unfortunately that didn't happen here. Their overall performance was as lackluster as the story. Funnily enough, their chemistry during the intimate scenes was actually quite good. It's just a pity that didn't translate to the more mundane scenes.

The production value was good as is to be expected with a Japanese production. The opening and ending credits were very aesthetically pleasing with music that meshed well.

Ultimately I found this drama to be disappointing and incredibly mediocre. It's aesthetics are about all it has going for it and that's simply not enough. With a stronger story and characters, it could have been compelling and unique but unfortunately, it is neither of those. If you want a drama that leaves you feeling unsatisfied, this is the one for you.

Leia Mais

Letting Go Of This One

Of the dramas being continued with Our Skyy 2, Never Let Me Go is my least favorite. I didn't think it was a great drama to begin with and it's one that seemed to have a pretty conclusive ending that didn't need any further embellishment so I didn't have high hopes for these two episodes. That turned out to be a very good thing as these two episodes were completely underwhelming and frankly, quite tedious to watch.

The story just seemed ridiculous. To go from the more serious tone of Never Let Me Go with being hunted down and trying to survive to these two episodes where we suddenly have fortune tellers and magical bracelets and curses and jumping through time, it was incredibly jarring. Introducing a rather complex concept in such a short period of time was foolhardy and it doesn't flow well. There are far too many plot holes, too many questions left unanswered and not nearly enough time to properly flesh everything out.

The acting, as I've come to expect from Pond and Phuwin, was a mixed bag. Pond continues to bore me with his lack of expression and Phuwin varied from decent to over the top. I was, however, pleasantly surprised by Pawin and Marc. They both played minor characters, but I liked their acting. It felt more natural to me than either Pond or Phuwin and, honestly, I would have preferred more of them.

The few things that I liked were that Palm and Nueng did communicate. Not necessarily well all the time, but they made the effort. Compared to Never Let Me Go where I felt like they never really communicated, this was an improvement. Despite not feeling like it really fit with the drama, I was intrigued by the historical setting. If the special had fit in better with the original drama, I think I could have liked it, but that disconnect just killed it. It also didn't help that Palm and Nueng really didn't make any effort to blend in, Palm in particular. They stood out like sore thumbs and it ruined the atmosphere. The power swap was interesting with Palm suddenly being the rich and powerful one and Nueng as a servant. It created a bit of a different dynamic between them at times. I think it could have been played with to a greater extent to reveal more about the characters and allow them to grow both as individuals and as a couple, but I'll take what I can get. I liked the side couples of Phum/Petch and Kan/Kla. I found them more compelling than Palm and Nueng, particularly as Petch and Kla. Their romance, though brief, was sweet and innocent, a breath of fresh air. And while they couldn't be together due to the time they lived in, it was gratifying to see their descendants able to be together without fear.

These two episodes were just a mess. They didn't add anything of value to the story and just felt really out there and disconnected from the drama. If you're like me and not a fan of Never Let Me Go, don't waste your time on these episodes, you won't be missing anything.

Leia Mais

Midnight Mess

I am going to start out by saying this drama is a hot mess in almost every way. Going into it, I overall enjoyed it. Searching for the missing artifacts was fun and interesting and I enjoyed the cameos from other GMMTV actors. But the sudden departure from that into some weird religious/sci-fi/fantasy combo really didn't work for me. The ending was rushed and I would say unsatisfying in some ways. The farther I got into it, the more obvious the plot holes, underdeveloped or abandoned plotlines, repetitiveness, lack of world building and character development became. I really wanted to like this drama. The trailer made it seem so entertaining, but I found myself disappointed in it. It's one saving grace is its actors who clearly gave their all and managed to keep me invested.

For me, Midnight Museum felt like two stories that were smashed together and nominally linked. The first part, as shown in the trailer, revolves around stolen cursed artifacts and the search for them. This was the most entertaining part of the drama for me. It wasn't perfect, the main story didn't seem to progress much due the episodic nature focusing on a single cursed object each episode, but for the most part, it worked well. The second part is where it lost me as it takes a sudden religious/sci-fi turn introducing gods, the four horsemen, the concept of a multiverse, the ability to communicate with people from the past, and more. These episodes also have a weird combination of excess dialogue with characters monologuing to try to explain the unexplainable and a fair amount of action. It's like the writers decided to suddenly make this a much deeper drama than it was initially and failed completely. In the end, none of it was properly explored or explained.

Besides the story itself, the pacing was also a mess. The pacing with the first half or so of the drama was okay. A bit slow at times, but not awful. It kept moving and I was still invested in the story. The second half is, again, where the issue was for me with another weird combination of being simultaneously too fast and too slow. As a whole, it felt rushed, but there were numerous scenes that felt incredibly slow. There was also the issue of repetitiveness, namely in that Dome ended up unconscious every single episode and Khatha repeatedly got his ass handed to him, and the predictability of the characters who all acted exactly as one would expect them to.

And speaking of characters, the lack of character development in this drama was shocking. The only character with any kind of progression I felt was Anthika and even hers was pretty nominal. Frankly, some of the side characters early on were better developed than the main ones. I did enjoy the bromance between Dome and Khatha which stayed just this side of romance. It definitely had the potential to go there and if there's a season 2, I could see them going that route. However, as the main characters, they just weren't particularly strong. The side characters just existed. They didn't add to the story in a meaningful way and the lack of background and opportunity to really get to know them meant that I wasn't invested in them and didn't feel much of anything regardless of what happened to them. That being said, I did like them, I just needed and wanted more.

While the characters were a bit of disappointment, the actors were not. This was a strong cast that was unfortunately underutilized. Gun is an incredible actor and his ability to portray multiple characters, while not surprising in the slightest, was fantastic to watch. I was not familiar with Tor prior to Midnight Museum, but I was also impressed with his acting. He absolutely held his own alongside Gun, he was expressive in all the right ways and I overall enjoyed his performance. He and Gun had great chemistry. The supporting cast also performed well aside from Tay whose performance I found underwhelming. Of the guest actors, Nanon stood out far above everyone else. I know he's a talented actor, but I haven't seen him portray multiple characters within a single drama before and he absolutely nailed it.

The production value was hit or miss. The museum was huge, but we only get to see a very small portion of it, and it felt far too empty. The CGI was good at times and painfully fake at others. It didn't help that a few of the actors didn't seem either familiar or comfortable acting with nothing which made the CGI for those scenes that much more awkward. I don't normally mention costuming, but leaving Dome wearing the grey tracksuit for a large part of the drama was just weird. And the women were often dressed in completely unpractical clothing for what they were doing. That being said, Anthika's dress at the auction was gorgeous and both Khathka's and Triphob's clothing were generally hits. I enjoyed the soundtrack for the most part. Other than a few moments, I didn't find it distracting but rather complementary, appropriate for what was going on in each scene.

Midnight Museum had the potential to be an absolute masterpiece. It's a true shame that it failed so hard to live up to that potential. Frankly, I should rate it lower than I did, but it was just entertaining enough to keep it at a 7. It's worth watching once, but no more and even then just for the first half and the acting. The ending, leaving it open to a second season, was disappointing and unnecessary. I honestly cannot picture a positive outcome for a second season.

Leia Mais

Stronger Than Together With Me

I did not love Together With Me. While I really liked most of the characters, I found Knock to be incredibly frustrating and downright idiotic. I wasn't sure whether to be happy or sad when he and Korn got together at the end because I felt Korn deserved so much better. At the beginning of The Next Chapter, I found myself feeling much the same way. Even after three years, Knock was still an immature pain in the ass and Korn was left acting as more of a parent than a partner. It was honestly sad to watch.

What this show did so beautifully, was show how complicated relationships can be. It had a realism that I really haven't seen in any other Asian dramas. Most of the time, if cheating is featured in the story, it is made very clear who is good and who is bad in the situation. The ambiguity here, was far more realistic, and I really enjoyed that. In the cases of Korn and Yiwha, yes, they were in the wrong, but their reasons for unfaithfulness were, while not justifiable in any sense, understandable.

In the case of Korn and Knock, you have, as I mentioned earlier, Korn acting as more of a parent to Knock. He wakes him up, makes sure he has money to buy food, puts toothpaste on his toothbrush and basically everything else other than physically dressing him. He shows physical affection, worries constantly and basically his love and care of Knock is very much on display. And then you have Knock who's so obsessed with his online games and going out and partying and generally still acting like a teenager that he's barely functional. He's constantly running late and constantly tired because of his complete lack of responsibility. There is a serious unevenness in their relationship that was bound to cause issues eventually. And then Pete comes in playing both of them, acting sympathetic and understanding, particularly towards Korn who's understandably frustrated with how things are playing out with Knock, especially concerning coming out to his parents. A combination of Pete's manipulation, alcohol, and Korn's own conflicting feelings, basically wishing that Knock would be as understanding and mature as Pete appears, and the mistake is made. It's understandable, again, not justifiable in any way, but understandable and realistic because I think that's how it is in many cases of cheating. I think both Korn's and Knock's reactions to Korn's cheating were well done and realistic. Korn, obviously, feels horribly guilty and he apologizes repeatedly, but Knock's reaction is understandable in not wanting to immediately accept that apology and feeling extremely betrayed. And here is where Knock finally starts to grow some. When the two finally reconcile, Korn asks to take care of him again to which Knock says he doesn't want him to take care of him but to just love him. It's a sweet moment and a telling one to see that Knock has grown as a character. The only thing I would have liked to see a little more of is Korn earning back Knock's trust.

Coming out to their parents becomes a big issue between them with Knock showing frustration that Korn won't tell his parents. This issue left me with some questions because Korn's dad tells him that if he's gay, he's no longer part of their family. Korn never explicitly says and Knock never mentions if this fact was communicated between them which I think is hugely important. If Korn told Knock and Knock was still willing to force the issue, frankly, to me, that makes him a colossal ass. I understand not wanting to hide something so big, something that is such a part of you, but to expect and keep pushing for Korn to basically just give up his family would be incredibly cruel and insensitive. On the flip side, if Korn never communicated that to Knock, then that makes him a colossal idiot. Knowing Knock's character, if he knew what Korn's father had said, I feel like he would have been more understanding. I think the fact that its never specified if the two discussed this was deliberate to feed the drama.

In Yiwha and Cho's case, it provided a different point of view. In their case, they seem pretty happy together aside from Cho working too much. Yiwha has a semi-flirtatious relationship with her senior, Art, and eventually that flirtatiousness leads to mixed feelings. The reasoning of Yiwha's infidelity isn't quite as cut and dry as with Korn. She finds her senior attractive, they're thrown together more frequently due to working on a project, spending time alone, and then a few instances that push them together physically as well. Despite both being in relationships with other people, they ignore the warning signs that lines are starting to be crossed and eventually end up almost sleeping together. The difference is how they each react. Like Korn, Yiwha is almost crushed by her guilt and betrayal of his trust while Art continues to pursue even when she tells him to stop even dragging her to meet his girlfriend and announce that he's fallen for Yiwha. I do want to take a second here to commend his girlfriend, Mint, for her poise. She doesn't lash out at either Art or Yiwha and even afterward remains calm despite obviously being hurt. She didn't get a lot of screen time, but I really liked her and that they didn't set her against Yiwha. Anyway, in regards to Yiwha, I really appreciated how her emotions and reactions were played out, particularly the fact that she specifically tells Cho that she's betrayed his trust. She absolutely understands the mistake she made and she regrets it hugely and even though Cho is willing to forgive her and get back together, she struggles to forgive herself. Again, her portrayal felt realistic and nuanced and I loved it, though I really wanted to give the poor girl a hug.

Farm's relationships were more complicated. I have to admit, I missed the Farm from Together With Me, all innocent and sweet. I didn't like this Farm nearly as much, though his insight into his friend's relationships were helpful and spot on at times. He's basically a horny, cheating bastard for most of the drama. I was honestly disappointed in him. He gets his happy ending and all, but I don't think he really deserved it. I totally understand that Bright messed him up in Together With Me and he probably needed therapy after the abuse he suffered, but to see him turning around and basically doing exactly what Bright did to him just to get back at Bright was disappointing and just a continuation of the cycle of abuse. He obviously went back to Bright to get revenge, to hurt him the way he had been hurt, but the fact that he didn't stop when he realized that Bright had truly changed and continued playing both him and Rit was infuriating, especially since Rit did nothing to deserve that kind of treatment. Rit was such a sweetheart, he clearly really loved Farm, to the point he was willing to put aside his own feelings and help Farm get back together with Bright. He deserved so much better and I hope he found it. While on the one hand, I hope Farm and Bright work out, on the other, I honestly wouldn't have minded if he got dumped by both Bright and Rit, it would have been fitting. Of all the characters, he showed the least growth, in my opinion.

Which leaves Fai, who I was honestly disappointed in there for a while. I loved her no nonsense, tough girl attitude in Together With Me and how she was willing to stand by her friends and support them. I felt like they dialed back her character some in The Next Chapter, but not in a bad way. She was still Fai but a little more mellow. My disappointment came from her reaction to her friends' cheating which was so incredibly cold and judgmental, I lost some respect for her, especially since she wasn't willing to listen to any kind of explanation. It's understandable for the rest of the world to react extremely negatively, but you would hope that your friends, especially ones that you've had for so long, would at least listen and not make a snap judgment. Her lack of relationship experience also didn't play well in her favor and made her seem very shallow. I was glad when she finally seemed to come to her senses, at least with Yiwha, and offer comfort and support. There were a couple of scenes between the two that were very sweet and touching. I felt like her growth was a bit more understated than the others, but it was still present and I really enjoyed watching it.

This drama proved to be really solid and enjoyable. It was a bit slow to start with, but once it got going, it was unstoppable. There are very, very few things in this world that are black and white and I really liked how this drama showed that in such a real and grounding way. But what really made this drama is the characters and their continuing friendship. This proved to be one of the best dramas I've watched in a while and I will definitely be watching it again in the future.

Leia Mais

Not My Type

Am I beating a dead horse with writing a review five years after this drama came out? Absolutely. Am I going to do it anyway? Yup. I've been in a bit of a slump lately when it comes to dramas and decided to go back and re-watch one of the first Thai BLs I ever saw. I remember TharnType being toxic and really not that great despite some cute moments, but was it really THAT bad? It was so much worse.

When I first watched TharnType, I think I was very much in that oooh, new shiny toy phase. I did not have a 100+ dramas under my belt so my standards were low and I was easily distracted by fluff. Now much more seasoned, that wasn't going to fly and what I came away with was a new appreciation for just how incredibly toxic this drama is and how poor the writing is and by poor I mean I think a child could write a more cohesive story. I know that's mean, I'm sorry, but seriously, how do you read through a script and not see all the glaring errors?

One of the more benign issues with this drama is the timeline. It's not at all clear cut and trying to figure out how much time has progressed is just a waste of brain cells. We do get a brief "three weeks prior" in the first episode to show Tharn and Type meeting and that they do initially hit it off, but that's about it.

The lack of any more than that one scene is another issue in that Tharn's love for Type is never properly established. We know that he fell for Type, if not at first sight, then sometime during that three week period before Type found out that he was gay. The fact that isn't shown though was an error on the writer's part as it makes Tharn seem like some kind of crazy masochist or something who fell in love with Type despite his abusive treatment.

Tharn and Type are both walking red flags as far as I'm concerned despite the fluffy moments between them in the latter half of the drama. While I found redeeming qualities in them in the past, at this point, I really can't. Though I guess from that standpoint, I can figure that they deserve each other.
- Tharn lost any respect I may have had for him by sexually assaulting Type not once, but twice. I'm not excusing Type's behaviour, I'll get to him in a minute, but acting like a child and destroying personal property was not an excuse to assault him. Nor was any of his other harassing behaviour of getting into Type's personal space. The mature thing to do would have been to report the damage. Also, he liked Type, okay, but all the touching and forehead kisses, again, when Type was asleep, was he oblivious to how inappropriate that was or did he just not care? It wasn't romantic in the slightest, it was actually downright creepy.
Tharn is supposed to be the good guy. He's the one we're supposed to root for and he does get better, but he's also a contrarian. He likes to come across as this understanding person with his puppy eyes, yet at the same time, he can be utterly oblivious or downright selfish. That shower scene. Type said no, that should have meant he backed off immediately, no questions asked, but he chose to sexually assault Type again. Other moments include when Type had his panic attack. Common sense would dictate when someone is panicking and telling you to let them go, you do so. Instead, Tharn continued to crowd his space and then got ticked off when Type kicked him. There's also the fact that he didn't realize something was going on with Tar when it was painfully obvious something was wrong or that Lhong was in love with him which was also quite obvious. And while Tharn could be a sweetheart, for some reason it felt surface level. He never initiates a conversation with Type about his mental health, about the toll his trauma had taken on him or how he can help and support him. That being said, though it's not presented as such, it's likely that he has his own trauma from losing his virginity to Thorn's friend San. There's not a lot of detail given and ages are unknown, but the way it's presented makes it seem to me like Tharn was also potentially a victim of sexual assault.
- Type is quite simply an ass. How he has any friends when he's an abusive jerk to essentially everyone he meets is beyond me. And he is abusive, certainly verbally, potentially physically as well. His redeeming qualities are pretty much nil and while he does mellow, he's still an ass in the end. His character was also frustrating to watch in terms of his mental health. One of Thai BLs favorite things is using the power of love as a way to heal anything and everything. In this case, it magically cures Type of his PTSD. This was back when the only gay for you was going strong so it didn't cure that and Type still hated gays. But yeah, love, oh, and one sexual assault blowjob and he was good to go! No more panic attacks for the rest of the drama. Why waste your money on therapy when that's all you need? Seriously though, the inconsistency was grating.

One of the things that I found really frustrating about this drama and that I have found is pretty consistent with Mame's writing, is that she likes to take issues like depression, sexual assault, rape, etc. and use them as plot devices, but in a very flippant manner. A number of these characters went through serious trauma, but it's not treated that way. It's there when it's needed and convenient and forgotten when it's not. There were opportunities here to actually have meaningful dialogue about these traumas within the story, but instead we were subjected to a writer who apparently couldn't be bothered to do any kind of research and who exacerbated the characters' traumas. Tar, despite the absurdity that no one, especially Tum, caught onto his depression, was the one character who's mental health issues felt realistic. They actually tried to show the symptoms of depression. He was also, coincidentally, the one character who had been to therapy. That's one character out of four with likely trauma who was shown some effort. Sad.

The acting was good. Mew and Gulf had serious chemistry and that's the main reason why this drama was and still is so popular and why it worked. That being said, did Mew look in any way like a 19-year-old? Absolutely not, he looks his age which would be fine if not for the fact that Kokliang, who played Tar, looked about 15-years-old despite them actually being only a couple years apart. It created an awkward, borderline predatory dynamic between them that was just uncomfortable to watch. It also made it really hard to imagine Tharn falling in love with Tar and them being together.

While there is a lot of negative, there are a couple of positives besides the acting. The biggest one is Techno. He's the one bright spot in this drama and I loved him. He was entertaining and uncomplicated and a genuinely likable person. Mild did a great job portraying him. The music was good. I liked it then and I still like it now. There are some sweet scenes between Tharn and Type that I do like. The production quality as a whole, minus the writing, was pretty good honestly.

Going back and re-watching this, I was hoping for a bit of a fond, albeit slightly toxic (it is Mame after all), trip down memory lane. Sadly, my mind had apparently blocked most of the negative scenes and just remembered the sweet fluff. As you can imagine, there actually wasn't much there to remember after all. I will say that watching it, it's nice to see that progress has been made in the industry, there are fewer BL dramas like this being made though there's still room for improvement. It's safe to say I will NOT be going back to this one ever again. However, I am still left with one burning question: how the heck is Lhong not in prison?

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