QUITE FAITHFUL TO THE ANIME BUT….

Since I’ve watched the anime version before this one, I can’t help but compare the two, of course.

This live action version is okay it’s faithful to the anime. The memorable lines were also retained.

BUT…

1 The irritating twitching of Uenoyama’s face is clearly meant to approximate or imitate the anime character. Why??? These are REAL people now, so why try to be an anime character?

2 THE CASTING: Akihiko and Haruki in the anime are hunky, lovable characters. Here, they’re not. To think that the next focus of the manga (and the anime MOVIE) are those two! The casting here was a big mistake.

Also Yuki’s actor. Can’t they get a better looking actor? This one has no appeal AT ALL! Makes it hard to believe that Mafuyu could’ve fallen for him.

I’m also not sure if Mafuyu’s actor was the right one. He has this facial expression that is clueless or, sorry fo the word, dumb.

3. The character of Ugetsu appeared from nowhere. He just popped up without any background. We don’t even know that he is a famous violinist.

4. Mafuyu’s background is lacking. Like there’s no mention of his dad beating him up – or what happened to his dad.

5 The concert number has lots of dead air – both at the start and the end of their set. Lots of awkward silence there.

6 That SUPER DRY kiss! That’s one of the WORST kisses I’ve seen in a BL series. Can you even call that a kiss? And they shot it closeup!!

7 The song in the anime is a lot more moving that this one.

8 In the anime, it was clear in the end that Mafuyu has developed feelings for Uenoyama and in the end is hopeful for their relationship. Here, it wasn’t even evident that Mafuyu has feelings for Uenoyama.

9 The ending: Why did it end with Mafuyu and a supporting character? What happened to Uenoyama? That’s the reason why folks who didn’t watch the anime feel that this is incomplete.

I give the anime 10/10, I give this live action 8/10.

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THE CHARMING BUT IMPERFECT SHORT FILM

Cute. Amateurish production with amateurish acting. But it has its charms.

Watching this is like watching a high school movie project by a friend of a friend.

It’s just 27 minutes long, so don’t worry about your time being wasted. It has some endearing moments, like when one of the main leads was playing the piano – and when wh went over to the other main lead’s house to give him coffee.

I am just confused about THAT notebook. What is its significance in the story? I hope anyone can give me an idea.

I would’ve given this 6 stars, but as I’ve earlier said, it has its charms, so plus a full star for that.

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ALL IN THE FAMILY!!!

When I finished the series, my first reaction was: Poor Mr. Yuan, he won’t have any grandchildren. Second reaction: Poor girl, he didn’t get any of the brothers. They don’t like her wares. Haha!

What’s memorable in this series is that kiss by the seaside. That was really picturesque.

The actors look good and acted well, too.

On the whole, I like the premise of the series, but in the end I found something lacking – even though the loose ends have been neatly tied up in the finale.

Like – that Evil Second Uncle in Episode 1. What ever happened to that plot line? Why did they put it there in the first place when it wasn’t even pursued? He was just gone from the series after the appearance!

Also, when the henchmen of Evil Second Uncle was running after Eldest Son Yuan, he accidentally bumped into Lin Xun, who turned out to be the “missing son” his father wanted them to find! That’s too much of a coincidence, I think. Does it mean that the Evil Second Uncle and Lin Xun live near each other? Seems contrived, this scene.

Also, why did Youngest Yuan get mad at his bestie when he (bestie) told his sister that he (Youngest Yuan) was a f*ckboy – when he doesn’t even want his bestie’s sister? Obviously, bestie said this to his sister just to get her off Youngest Yuan’s back. That reaction was eyebrow raising to me. Another contrived plot device to reach that “I can’t live without you” line.

I also think the actor who played the Youngest Yuan was miscast. He’s too white for the role. The actor who played his bestie looks more like a Yuan. They should have changed roles.

Little things like those made this series made the series lose points for me. Initially, I thought this will get a 9 or 9.5 from me, but in the end… it got only an 8. Too bad, because it looked so promising at the beginning. If even had the potential to be a perfect 10 BL. But, alas, it was not.

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HILARIOUS!!! MORE PLEASE!!!

This series had me in stitches. I was laughing hysterically at 2:00 in the morning! Great series, great script, love the effects. It is fast paced, no unnecessary scenes. Yes, some of the situations are ridiculous (some even absurd), but hey, this is a comedy! Just enjoy the ride.

The only downside is: Why doesn’t it have a sequel???

CAST

Perfect, wonderful, good looking cast. Choi Woo Shik made me cry and laugh at the same time in the finale. There’s also a minor role that tutor guy from LOVE WITH FLAWS. Mina (Jang Hee Ryung) is charming you’d root for her to get someone. Anyone.

MUSIC

Perfect musical scoring. It was not intrusive and didn’t catch attention to itself. That duet towards the end!!! Hahaha!!! I’d love to watch that over and over and over. That was the first hint that something was developing between our two leads.

MY FOURTH PERFECT 10 SCORE

I’ve watched dozens of BL series from Japan, South Korea, Thailand, China, Taiwan, the Philippines, and Vietnam, but so far I have given only THREE perfect 10 rating. Those are for I TOLD SUNSET ABOUT YOU (Thailand), CHERRY MAGIC (Japan), and GAMEBOYS (Philippines). I would have given it to China’s ADDICTED HEROIN, but that’s an unfinished product, so I gave it a 9.5.

Will I watch THE BOY NEXT DOOR AGAIN? If I have time, why not? Watch this if you want to laugh hard. It's a great series with a lovely cast and superb acting.

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Lovely funny movie about high school gay love. Cinematography is great, and so is the music.

Acting was okay, considering these are newbies in the movie scene. I would've given this movie a 9.5 rating, but I deducted a half point because of the following...

There are eyebrow-raising scenes:

1. Dominic said that his family doesn't know he's gay and he doesn't want to tell them because they might be disappointed. Really??? His actuations and voice are dead giveaways, so... really?

2. When Dominic revealed to his 2 gay friends that it's Luke who is the "boy foretold by the stars," the two friends were surprised. Why??? Didn't the entire school witness the "scandal" when Luke brawled with his groupmate to defend Dominic? They really didn't know about THAT?

A more fragile looking actor should have been cast as Dominic, so that it will be more credible that a straight guy (Luke) would want to protect him. I didn't feel any chemistry between the two leads, that is why their kiss didn't titillate, in fact it was quite cringey.

I also didn't like how the ending went. It seems to be lacking something. It left so many loose ends (what will happen to Karen now and the grand ball, for example). It felt incomplete. I also don't like the idea that Dominic was "forcing" Luke to love him or choose him over Karen because a fortune teller said they're meant for each other. That scene was quite cringey.

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SERIES LEFT UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

DNA SAYS LOVE YOU
OVERALL

The series is okay, but left some unanswered questions in my head:

1 What was Wen-Wen’s condition as a child? If he’s a MALE, then why did they dress her up like a girl?

2 Did he have a male organ or a female organ? If male, then why did they treat her like a girl? If female, then does she still have a female organ now? Or did he undergo surgery to have a male organ?

3 The mother knew Amber is Wen-Wen, so she just accepted this without wondering what happened?

I think they should have discussed this condition more, to help the audience understand it, rather than just glossing by it and therefore making the audience confused or uncertain how to react.

I know I’m in the minority here – but I find their kisses awkward. Maybe because I look at them more like siblings than lovers. I didn’t feel any sexual tension or chemistry between the two main leads.

Also, their kisses are so dry. They’re more like lip-touching than really kissing.

*****

ACTING. Yu-He is hands down the best performer in this series. She’s consistently good throughout the entire series. Next is Amber, then Li. Le’s acting is so-so to sometimes awkward (especially in that scene where he revealed to his mother about his love for Amber). That crying seemed forced. Or maybe it’s just his face. Same with Gwan. His acting is just so-so.

CINEMATOGRAPHY is really good and so is the MUSIC. EDITING is quirky and confusing at times.

Episodes 1-4 = 10
Episodes 5-8 = 9
Episode 9 = 6
Episodes 10-11 = 9
Episode 12 = 7

OVERALL = 8

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IT’S CRAP!

I like EarthMix in A TALE OF A THOUSAND STARS but... I guess I’ll never know why THIS series has gotten such a high average rating. It’s CRAP! This is the only BL that I had HATED a main character so much that I almost stopped watching. Well, I fast forwarded a lot from Ep 6 to the finale.

I really thought we made progress from Ep 1 to 5. I was enjoying it finally. THEN… Episode 6 happened. Win is back to his obnoxious self. We’re back to Ep 1 all over again. Sheez. Five episodes wasted. The remaining 5 eps could do nothing to salvage this series.

Even Korn’s character, however goody-goody, is actually a DOORMAT. Win threw his clothes and kicked him out of the house, right? If I were him, I’d swear to never go back there again. Then, from Eps 2-5, we’re good again. But in Ep 6, the shouting thing happened again and Korn became a doormat once again.

The stereotype villains are also present here like we’re back in the 1970s.

By Episode 9, I really wished Korn and Lin would get married. Yes, that’s how the writers made Win’s character so hateful and obnoxious!!

Of course the 2 MLs are our endgame. We could have skipped Eps 2-9 had Win not been an a***ole from the start.

BS line of Win to his mother: “Why did you want me to hate Korn?” Ijit!!! You did that on your own! YOU were the one who reacted like a prima donna, YOU were the one who threw Korn out of your house! What trash is this, writers??? LAUGHABLE!!! Who wants to watch the rest of the finale after that? Not me.

It’s the mother’s reason for doing what she did that takes the cake. Hello, writers?? Mother’s reason: She knew about Korn and Win, so she gives Korn a share in their farm, “knowing that Win will hate Korn”?? What kind of BS logic is that? And true enough, you succeeded in making Win’s character the most hated ML in the entire BL world! Congrats! NOT.

In the end, it seems like this is just an ad for a Thai farm. This is an overlong crap and a waste of time.

5 / 10

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USERS & SCHEMERS GALORE! THEO DOESN'T DESERVE AK

With so many toxic and obnoxious characters here (and MAIN characters at that!!), this should be retitled USERS & SCHEMERS. Haha!

The “contenders,” for me their reasons for doing what they did are forced and contrived. From PHUPHA (he wants to move away from his mother. Really??) to WAYO (used funds for gambling) to NATEE (for an exhibit and to keep a club from being axed, really?). SAIFA – It was Theo who asked him to be a part of his inane “Enchante” idea. Really?? Doesn’t make sense if you really think about it.

I hate who they wrote Theo’s part. To me, his character was cold, detached, scheming (yes, he was the one who masterminded this Enchante bs, right?) so he deserved the backlash/consequences he got from the “contenders.” His character was wayyyyy too unfeeling. He doesn’t deserve Ak. Ak deserves a better person. The give-and-take of affection between the MLs is lopsided at best.

Watching the first half of the finale episode, I couldn’t care less if Theo is leaving. Go! And let Ak find someone who will love him more than you do.

The series was too long. It could have been edited to 5 episodes and many scenes could be removed or shortened. Learn from ITSAY and CHERRY MAGIC (both 5 episodes).

But… despite these, the chemistry between the two actors is its asset.

Plus point also: cinematography and camerawork nito. Above average.

7.5 / 10

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MOULIN ROUGE OF BLs

ANTIQUE BAKERY
South Korea (2008 movie)
1:49

This is the MOULIN ROUGE of BLs! It’s different from the usual BL and it’s consistently crazy – from beginning to end. And I think the producers / director had MOULIN ROUGE in mind when they created this movie. Both were shown in the same year. MOULIN ROUGE was shown in May 2001 and this, ANTIQUE BAKERY, was shown October 2001. Coincidence? I don’t think so.

It might take a while before you get the hang of it, its style, its quirkiness.

This story has been adapted in Japan as ANTIQUE (series) and in Thailand as BAKER BOYS (also series). I haven’t seen them yet, but I’ll bet they won’t measure up to this Korean movie.

Superb cinematography and editing. It’s not perfect though. More of “style over substance.” But, hey, I love the style!

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I CRIED BUCKETS AT MIDNIGHT

One of the best Korean series of late. The story is so simple, so honest, no frills, pretensions. It’s like Si On’s dance body: muscular, lean and mean.

I have the same feeling while watching CHERRY MAGIC – maybe because of the age difference of the main characters. It also brought me back to the 80s – same feels while watching FLASHDANCE.

Super love, love, love this series. The characters grow on you as you go along. Get your tissues ready for episodes 3, 6, and 8. You’ll need them if you’re a crybaby like me.

No wasted scenes, no unnecessary characters. The music and cinematography are superb. Great acting, too, from the entire cast. Also well directed and edited.

I can watch this series again and again and again.

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