An office lovestory ... something different from uni and highschool love affaires

The story did sound good, employee and heir/boss falling in love ... only that´s it at all.
The characters did not really develop, which is not the acting, but the storyline. Chot is over the top exalted and portraits a caricature but not a real character. He had his own love story which developed ... The lead characters but stuck in the not developing script but do their best. Why but Pat has to be that whining and immature, especially having been abroad in USa is a total miracle to. His character could more be in an antifeminist plot as a women ... Jeng is controlled and calm partly reduced. but that I can understand, he is an heir and under special surveillance ... He has to be cautious and can´t be too "familiar" with his employees. Those persons are most the most lonely in any labour situation.
The crying of Pat is like an Ariadne thread till the No12 and is most anoying ... incl. the missing tears when crying the soul out. Men hetero and gay are allowed to cry ... but here? For the drama? For portraying weakness? Secretly the writer wanted to have a "weak women" for a strong man?Or is the charakter of Pat designed to please / mirror women? If so ... what an antifeminist shit. Women? Weak? Okay to many men die die from a simple snot ... and if they had to give birth ... the Homo Sapiens might already be extinct, without climatechange. And then the monthly pain. No man would stand it ...
The 3rd love affair in the show, Jaab and Jen ... disapointing, but Murphy´s Law ... or sit happens and not all relations go smooth from attraction and good vibes into a real relation ... some encounters are just a flutter.
Crybaby Pat and an own company ... hm ... veery realistic ... and then there he is still unstable ... as I said, Pat stays unstable from beginning to end. And very realistic that a love affair is looming in 2 for 2 years ... and then they are switch together? Dreamland ... okay these shows are dreamlands but sometimes one is wishing for realism. And most LGBTQIAplus are realistic and move on after a break up. Especially gay men.
The story is too flat, despite a spicy potential as an office romance. Most relations are starting in the workplace today ... and there is a huge potential for telling not only one story.
Rewatching value? No!
I forced myself through the shows.

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A seldom staged age gap BL

I loved to watch one of the very few BLs with a age gap, 180 Degree Longitude Passes Through Us got ridiculous negative critiques for the age gap ... would it have been a male female love story and the female was the younger ... no problem. Those critics showed just their Medieval mindset.
The age gap between gay couples is often to be seen, similar often as within the heteros. It´s normal or standard.

The teachers lonelyness could be fealt, underlined by the music and how it was used. The student ... I fealt from the 1st view while watching what would happen and it did ... and satisfying enough they gor their happy end. Even one that was/is most realistic when 2 guys find themselves ... They want to unite ... and obviously they would do, while walking into the night.

The student attacked virtuous the walls of the professor which he had errected to protect himself ... but the young lad got a breach into and stormed the besieged fortress and was victorious ... He, that indicates the storyline and final talking, his prize ... a lucky uniting with the professor.

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One mistake in the storyline

A good performed and directed BL show, with characters dislplayed quite well, but not a real development in them. Professional created never the less. AND not the Thai Bl typical "oh no kissing" or shouting "pervert" or such when it comes to body contact. And thankfully no anoying female character interfering ... This is not meant as antifeminist statement! ... But the end ... I have seen another VL with MH17 in as reason for the end of that relation ... I feared the same here ... But luckily NO! But why the hell got Nan later home than the anounced missed flight which got off later, despite being upgraded to an earlier flight? A later flight would be logic! And about the change of flight Gigi could/should/must have known ... or is/was Ken not communicatiing the change after the news about a desaster???
That twist for drama in the end was useless and makes the the show less adorable and sorry less professional and logic. (Don´t tell me we need no logic in BLs) a propos drama ... why are Thai BLs or or Lakorns with seemingly no tears when the actors cry? I can´t remember seeing one actor sobbing and crying out their souls with tears ...

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Story line ...

The main lead Ohm was good and carried a lot and seemed to get Leng along with improvings ...
The story is, as promising it looked, a dampening affair. Some juvenile shows for teenagers have a better tension ... and yes I know those shows where someone is taken hostage and it was filmed with teens.
The idea of taking the story out of the overworked school/university surroundings is good, but with the story ... and dialogues ... even the english translation lacked. In Germany we have a brilliant voice over culture, which is resuing a lot a shitty story lines and plats. The English crime show The Persuaders! floped in UK, anyhow German broadcast system ZDF bought and made new dialogues for the show and it was an imediate hit. Undertitels can´t do that. But here they showed the original dialogues ...
For the productplacements ... yes they are too often as here too a slap in the face and made this show a advertising sometimes with unnatural behavior while showing the procuct. Such can be done, and it´s not only here in this show, far better and more subtle. Ads, productplacement is a way of financing ... sometimes I wish Films all over the world could be financially backed as Europe is doing it. Productplacement there is forbidden.
A great chance has been send down the gurgler ...

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A remake surpassing the original in length

The Korean remake of the Thai Bl original is surpassing in all aspects you can think of the original pruduction from Thailand. Comapred to the Thai production the Korean production is straightened, slimlined and on the point. The Thai production dragged on and on and seemed to lead into ... I don´t know where. It looks in retropective to me, that the Thai Bl needed nice boys of all kind to get a wide enough audience to get their advertising (productplacement) done.

2 couples and their struggles to get to each other is by far enough.

I like the professionality of the Korean productions to be honest and prefer them. And I really hope that the Korean BLs don´t become such a mass MeToo, fangirl catching, klick baiting, low level production.

The cast: great
The acting: plausible and good
Storyline: straigthened and slimlined, á point
Directing: good
Rewatch value: top

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Hidden Truth

Originally, Yi wanted to shoot the film in the PRC. In mainland China, homosexuality is not forbidden, but it is treated as taboo. However, after the temporary disappearance of actress Fan Bingbing, there was an appeal from the film bureau not to make certain films. For this reason, Yi rescheduled seven months before shooting began and decided to move to Taipei, Taiwan. A two-year casting process in China had preceded, but actors had dropped out after accepting commitments. According to Yi, it would not have been possible to engage Taiwanese actors because the audience would have noticed the language difference immediately. So for pragmatic reasons, among others, the Chinese actress Zeng Meihuizi took on three roles in Yi's film.

Filming took place over 39 shooting days from May to July 2019 in Taiwan. The production was supported by the Austrian Film Institute, the Vienna Film Fund, Eurimages, Creative Europe MEDIA, Aides aux cinémas du monde, Taipei Film Commission, Belgian Tax Shelter, the Ministry of Culture of Taiwan and Totem. The Austrian Broadcasting Corporation and Arte were also involved.

The film is about the tension between traditional life with children and starting a family and free life in the anonymity of a city. He found a beautiful, unobtrusive aesthetic form for this tension. In the film, one can clearly see how quickly progress in China has torn the generations apart.

The film is visually appealing and cleverly deals critically with the issues of prostitution and homosexuality. However, a few lengths and many plot lines that go nowhere ensure that the hoped-for social criticism and tragedy of the film fizzle out.

The film's clever use of colour should be emphasised. Different spaces and places (e.g. the village, the hip spaces of the big city) are characterised by colours in the film, which also mix again and again in individual scenes. The director is particularly interested in the colour gradients, the "movements" between the different spaces. The complexity of the film saves it from obvious genre formulas, the "sense of images" protects it from narrative conventions. In the process, the director's visual interest in the cinematic world creates a film that is as consistently ordered as it is emotionally stirring, penetrating the rigid structures of world cinema.

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Troubled individual finds potential heeling in Love

Light a deeply troubled and disapointed individual, abused and raped, turns into hustling for a living, Too often this is a reality, more for the social "underdogs", those spit out by a brutal materialistic world/society than with upper class members. Falling without a net can be deadly. But prostitution, highly criminalized in most societies is one last net to fall in. But as being criminialized a most dangerous one. His name gives a hint for his future!
Shuo, the undercover policeman, is thankfully not described as hetero, his being gay is thankfully to be seen in the beginning ... A reflection of the moved forward into 21st century Taiwanese society? I guess yes. And as a gay man, loving cinema, I am thankful for.
The story shows the difficulties and troubles in such a relation between a white knight, Shuo, and the beaten up (in more than 1 meaning) Light. It is starting dark and sinister. With no hope to escape ... But is Light willing to escape? It seemed not ... And Shuo showed forgiving based on real love.
A heart warming story rising out of the mud and darkness of streetlife in a criminal surounding. Yes it can happen ... especially when no drugs are playing a vital role.
The acting was realistic and good, they showed a good research propr to the filming. The directors work / lead must have been with compassion and the aim for a good story to be told. A mission? I would not say! The film was made professional and showed within 44min what can be shown too in an epic length of 1,5hs to 2hs ...
Worth rewatching, with the possibility to become a LGBTQIA+ film classic ... it should only be know and recognized by a wider audience.

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Victorian motivated struggles

A very profeddional made BL show, typical for Korean productions in general nowadays (hallyu). As they had been since long.
The accident and the end of Ep.6 was disturbing. A cliffhanger and 1st peak from where the story develops further on. And what followed in Ep.7 + 8 revealed slowly what we had been hoping for ... BUT ...
Jae Won´s behavior reminds me of an on and off love affair I had being in a position like Ji Hyun. only not being a novice back then. The surfer scene is similar conservative and mirrors the same toxic masculinity like soccer ... but why is rugby but so different?
Another aspect in the show is portraied brilliantly, the old feudal born senior / older towards freshmen / younger members in Korean society and the demand for authority by seniors even if the don´t have any ... Too the fatefull antifeminism especially portrayed by Tae Hyung. Actually the Korean society is still thanks to Konfucianism and Evangicals a very conservative one. And they too have a president now who is a pronaounced antifeminist ...
Yoon Won as the "tomboy" and Ae Ri are well portrayed as the progressive part of the Korean society, while Eun Ji is the psychopathic like bitch queen.
Jae Won ladden with psychological problems and high parental expectations is well portrayed as the fast learning Ji Hyun, country bumpkin crash landed in a highly competive Seoul accademic society.

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Good Manager (2017) - Corporated greed and corruption

The Korean society must have quite a big number of issues ... especially with hirarchy, based in the old feudal structure of the Korean society which seem ro be manifested till today and despite a functional democracy.

The story evolves around the TQ Group and its corrupt and power and money greedy CEO.

Namkoong Min as Kim Sung Ryong paired with Nam Sang Mi as female counterpart Yoon Ha Kyung and Lee Jun Ho as capitalistic sociaphat Seo Yool and Jung Hye Sung as enthusiastic undercover agent Hong Ga Eun give a wonderful set of characters which develop quite well in the story line and acring their alias.

Accounting is the key to uncover even most creative strategies and placing numbers in imaginairy companies/accounts. Slush founds/black money and labour rights and abuse of employees is the theme in this white colar crime story.

Sung Ryong and Sang Mi seemed to be the love affair of this story ... with Seo Yool as the rival? ... but arn´t. But sparks flew. Even with their counterpart Seo Yool ... incl. homoerotic flashes acted against a bit homophobic, taking in accounting the ridiculous anti LGBTQIA+ attitude and lack of womensrights in ultraconservative Korean society. Jokes made on the back of LGBTQIA+ is still not to accept and won´t!
Sang Mi distrusted Sung Ryong but got convinced by his fight for what is right, as she herself cna´t stand injustice, especially done by her company she is working for.
The back and forth bewtween Sung Ryong and Seo Yool is one of the highlights in this show for sure

Some bosses for real think they are the masters of desasters, or better a godlike given entity to whom everybody has to obey and bow.

Decisions are made ... with an good end the revenue is privatized and if its going wrong ... the result is socialized and empolyees are "set free", succed out and spewed out like waste. the Financial Crisis of 2007/08, in which we still are, has shown this drastically and paved the way for the far right poppolists (populists) which fish/ed among the vast numbers of losers. Which by far did not drink too much latte ...

The show shows us protesting employees for beeing succed out and lousy paid for and other employees even not paid. And the reaction of the boss? Angry and still sitting on its slush fonds, which ruined not only one of the subsidiaries.
The reations Sang Mi gets from the rivaling department and the ladies fight in the canteen but pictures too the disrespect of women as equal to men ... and the sispite 2017 when staged.

The film is a loud cry against corporations behavior and missing respect for their employees who create the lavish lifestyle of the chaebols and their family.
Here the son (Dong Ha Park Myung Seok) and heir is going a similar way as the main male heros Sung Ryong and Seo Yool from prick and sociophat to getting a social concience. His arrogance is based as usual on missing education and here accounting in special. Tzhe brat got his lecturwer in Sung Ryong. He ends as the key figure for saving his mother´s corporation.

When the guys in the cellar and Seo Yool unite their forces the team of not so white knights start to walk the winners lane ... and its a fun to see them acting one step ahead of the bosses blended by their greed in incompetence.

Only one couple does found itself as a sideline during the fierce battles ... but okay. GOOD MANAGER is not a love show.

The original CEO is ending with his croonies in front of the bar and is sentenced and even then can´t see and accept his guilt ... like so many CEOs and company owners when going down the gurgler because of fraud, shitty decisions. We can use their cases as tapestry for our homes.

Therefore we need more and stricter control mechanisms to prevent cases like pictured in GOOD MANAGER and strong and effective unions for employees.

The show staged 10 years after the ww Financial Crisis, starting 2006 with the Subprime Crisis and collapse of LEHMAN BROS. in 2007 calls for regulations of corporations. Not only for their employees, but for the nations economy and with that the ww economy.

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A lot of potential never dared to use

The show had potential and it wasn´t used. A pitty.
The Bad Guy his Boss stayed "monochrome" and did not develop from Ep 1 to 12. The Mafia guy and his lover looked a bit like we need to have them. The friend with benefits ... the most attrctive is the cast, in my opinion (everybody has his own taste). The 3ed couple disintegrated when the lover was forced to be criminal and failed ... And his lover made the "irrational move". Btw. the fighting scenes ... there cpould be improvement to make them better than a shitty dance.
For the subs ... don´t they control what they write? I know it´s hard to do and get it done quick. But Mr. Elyse writing as Alice so often, and then so often the wrong tense. I am not a native English speaker, but such was hammered into us when in school. While reading you stumble over and get lost, or near to. It´s allready stressing enough to read the subs an follow the show.
The storyline of the show lacked from the 1st moment on and never improved. This triggered me for an own story to write about an abusive CEO/manager. I am a writer who´s 1st book will be published end of March 2025. A seroies, spanning from 18th to 21st century a 4 gay main leeds deciding for the family businees at important turning points. Mixed with gay love.
Anyhow this story lacks a lot and looks more like something hasty glued together to make investors happy a take a share in the BL market.
I watched till the end, despite all of my complains ... as it got me inspired, but not for the good work done here. In the end the show way a puddle of max 1mm depth max.

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Miracle ... a miracle of wasted chances

Luice, Lee So Rin and Min Shi Woo form a Love triangle ... which ends in the Nowhereland. Luice was smitten, but did nothing to get into a relation with Lee So Rin. While Min Shi Woo´s "position as the besti from schooldays is in love with Lee So Rin, but too afraid to confess out of anxioness to lose the friendship they have ... Understandable. Dut even he made no advances only childish or boyish testosterone games with Luice. This storyline could have been worth the 14 episodes. But there was no development, despite being hinted with "slaps".

When the cooperation between Luice and Min Shi Woo started, another storyline could work for 14 episodes ... it was handled like a nuisance sidestory. The cooperation caused too envy with Do Woon of N&S, the idol group Min Shi Woo is part of. But that storyline was touched and left in ? what really happend. The accid attack on Lee So Rin which got Luice injured. came quite out of the blue not really reasoned.
And Do Woon, the actor Moon Ji Yong can do fae better, made as for the storyline anattempt of jealousie but it stayed as attempt when talking with the injured girl idol ro be.

Luice´s managers created a tax scandal and left him with nothing. This storyline could be okay for 14 episodes too ... but it was dealt like something on the sideline like orddering water for a meal.

The problems within N&S could have been better written and staged ... but the end ? Like the acid attack out of envy went into smoke and All is Good ending.
The friction within the group could have been worth for more and a general look into the idol/K Pop industry. But nothing. This storyline could do for an own show of 14 episodes. Despite the shown pressure and physical stress for the idols and trainees. And how they can become broken personalities. But such is not easy to "wash away" and the offered solution is just a joke. As the storyline.

And with all the Good ending the love triangle ended open and unsolved/undealt with on a stage ... but in nowhereland.

Given the shitt storyline the direkting was okay and the actors played their roles in the given frames like templates, but good enough that it wasn´t too obvious.

Rewatch value? If you have to kill time and nothing better to do.

Even days after watching and writing the review srill I am searching the miracle the show was named after ... evtl. I have overlooked it and someone else may have seen it ... ? ...

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Greedy egoists bite other´s throats

The Film portrays assaultive. egocentric, quite narcistic men, and selfobssesed women ... but men treating women as their posessions, aside of the elder arrogant "bitches", Yoon Hyang Sook, Madam Jo and her "stupid" demanding daugther. There is way too much boozing shown and an antediluvian image of and objectifyed women, when it´s coming to the younger women. Mistreating and beaten up employees be their chefs. An abusive father. And generally men who don´t have their emotions in too many situations under control ... and a picture of the 2011 fallen NAZI Galliano in Yeong Gul´s office ...

The use of other people to get the to the goals one want to achieve is unfortunately common ... but this K Drama is toping such misbehavior. Even the bad treated Lee Ga Young who seems innocent, no naive.

Jung Jae Hyuk the chaebol´s son as love blinded, and out of contol character is sometimes portraied quite loveable, especially when getting overdemanding, abusive and playing the tough guy ... in the end as toxic, as his father, and Yeong Gul.

Yeong Gul end in New York is disturbing in 1st sight, but he said min 2 times in the show that he never will end like his father.

But that Lee Ga Young did not hear the bang ... literally or in the meaning of ... while talking a last time with her hate love is significanr for her charakter. She went to Jung Jae Hyuk to stay with him ... does she love him, as Jung Jae Hyuk suggested near the end of the show? The phone call evtl. was prior to the shoting of Yeong Gul who wasn´t bleeding out his head despite the bullet hit him there ...

The show is by far not a picture of the fashion industry ... but the abuse of models is quite common. And its with male and female models. Some are used as horizontal hosts and hostesses ... while others are used as nude display puppets ... or are raped men (like Bratt Pall and others, as from Abercrombie & Fitch, and others) and women, which can be destroyed by their abusers. And its not only by the fashion designers or photographers and their team.

For the fashion designers in this show ... Michael J and Director Kim ... playing obvious gay charakters. Stereotyped? Given to a scene in the elevator with Yeong Gul and Jung Jae Hyuk, hands at their throats; stop it or they think we are dating ... is so typical then more than today the conservative homophobic society of Korea. But that is changing to openess actually, despite an antifeminist and anti equality president.

... rewatch value? NO, not really.
... why did I watch till the bloody end? I just wanted to see the end ... as K Dramas are somehow addictive.

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Homosexuality and "churches", a bitter darkness

A devout Christian, Yoo Han, feels a desire against the "Christian" `doctrine´ towards Joo Won, a newcomer at the congregation. And alone Won´s appearance got him against his homophobic indoctrination intrigued. Therefore he is eagerly praying to cover his nature and tries to deny the nature and sexual desire ... in vain! Han but can´t stop looking at Won.

"The story began with the question of how far human desire can be controlled under intense religious beliefs and what the believers could look like when dominated by a desire that is contrary to doctrine."

I will give some facts. as a historian.

The bible, the fairy book, started to be written by the Jees in their exile in Babylon, where they copy pasted oringinal Sumerian and Babylonian texts, not even religious ones and created the scripture we know as Thora - the Old Book. The Genesis alone is 95% such a copy paste. Adam and Eve and the paradise is the original Sumerian storytelling about the beginning of civilisation somewhere at a sunken coast on the Arabian Peninsular. The Great Flood and Abraham is the story of the dramatic changes with the end of the ice age and the melting of the massive iceshields. And the worst for devoted "christians" is the Gilgamesh Epos, which is as well integrated into the book Genesis. That story is f.e. including gay sex between Gilgamesh and his friend Enkidu ... SHREEK! Later implemented anti gay passages are 1st some anti greek text passages after the conquering of Palestine by Alexander the Great. And then this totally misinterpreted and translated passage "a man should not lie by man like a woman" the original says "a man should not lie with a bioy like a woman" IT IS FORBIDDING CHILD ABUSE / SEX!

The English best in denying all nature and natural made it homophobic in the James Bibele translation ... despite James being gay as hell ... with several courtiers being his lovers.

With the English the Catholic into the same idiotic doctrine latest in 19th century when the English "culture" dominated the world from Asia around the world back into Europe.

This stance is based in the original development of Protestantism in the beginning age of Renaissance, where the Homo Sapiens was placed in the center and no öonger the god figure, like in Medieval times. They had been too ultra conservative and wanted to stay in the darkness of Merdieval times. Something we see again actually with the Evangicals who fight against Human Rights everywhere, here they have set their feet.

The congregation or "church" of Han is obviously such an Evangecal nature denying assembly ... These brainwashing assemblies push their victims into isolation and lonelyness to be 100% subjected to the hate doctrine they preach. Alone the homophobia these promote or that Human Rights violating Conversion "therapy". It´s plain breaking a mind and life threatening and mentalhealth- and bodyharming!
Han sits in his sterile house and reading in this fairybook seeking sence for his life ... and then desire strucks in form of Won. Near the end Han is dressed in black, indicating his "sinming" ... Oh my ... what an arrogance of anybody slaming/forbidding love. "Very `christian´". "I am the lord, who makes you holy" Han prays ... in vain, he allready had sinned. Prayer, prayer against his nature ... Han ends in an darkened "church" room prays for solace against his lonelyness which this imagined figure can´t give. Such terrorised figures like Han are the next suicidal vistims, despite their "strong beliefs".

The film tells what religion is is: in the last end a life threatening, deeply depend and insecure making cult which is denying everything connecting with nature and real love ... Holding up the companies brand name but not able to get the soulö into is a fake.

And before one "christian" may try to missiomnary me ... I am atheist and humanist and believe in science , not fairy tales and imagined boyfriends.

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