Don't worry, it's not sad 100% of the time

It took my a long time to finally watch ITSAY because I’ve heard time and time again how sad it was. It’s sad but I was not balling my eyes out, and that’s perfectly fine.

In a show with few characters and places, like this one, the main characters need to have chemistry. In terms of chemistry, the bar has been raised after ITSAY. Billkin and PP work together beautifully. Yeah, they’ve known each other for years and have worked together before, but have other actors and the result was not on that level. In some moments, I felt like Teh’s crying was a bit too much, but he’s a high school students going through difficult times. Was the story super surprising? No. As soon as we find out Oh is the first person in the waiting list, I knew Teh would give up his spot. I know that the second part only works as a immediate follow up to ITSAY, but this is a rare case where I’d be OK with a 1 year time jump, so Teh could go to this top pic university. I think it would still work out with the theme of living with your choices.

As part of the BKPP Project, the actual show was very well planned, and it shows. The merch is integrated in the scenes, without looking like an obvious push to sell stuff. The music is also an integral part of the story, and it perfectly complements the story, visual and acting. With the BKPP Project in mind, watching the documentary was important to understand a few elements.

Citeste mai mult

Way more than a shippable couple

It’s important to mention that 1000 stars goes beyond the romance and the couple. It’s undeniable that Mix and Earth is a pairing that works perfectly well. Their chemistry on screen is off the charts.
Going into the plot, I feel like it would have been nice to see more of old Tian besides the gambling and street racing. But I understand that he show doesn’t want to show him in a bad light because we are supposed to like him. I enjoyed the village and it’s characters. I’m glad that not everything went well for Tian and that people didn’t forgive him easily after the “truth” came out. I thought that we’d have more supernatural stuff regarding the heart, maybe with Torfun communicating with Tian, but that wouldn’t fit the show.

The romance is very slow burning, and it makes sense for the relationship, but I feel like we could have gotten something before their fight and separation. I’m not 100% sure the whole dad knew all along thing was done well.

I have a hard time believing stories that forget they are happening on the 21st century, even in remote locations. Even before the “happy ending”, it’s not like Tian could never visit the village again. The “half of the couple travels to another country in the last episode” is my most hated cliche, but it has some reasoning in this case. Tian traveling to the US to do what he wants, on his terms, by himself is very important for the character’s development.

As much as I like Mix and Earth together, and the characters, I personally don’t think a second season would work well.

Citeste mai mult

A great surprise

Sometimes movies and tv shows are a case of the “whole is not greater than the sum of its parts”. A great cast with a not so great story and bland characters won’t shine. My Precious is thankfully not like that. I came into the movie thinking it would be a lighthearted first love story with a cast of young actors I already knew and liked. I started it aware that Tong and Lin would not end up together, so I was not hoping for the happily ever after. That might have contributed to the fact that, for me, My Precious was such a positive surprise. The story might not be groundbreaking, but I enjoyed the full 2 hours and the cast was fantastic.

Citeste mai mult

Just a good premise is not enough

The Heavenly Idol unfortunately suffers from a major case of good premise and weak execution. The idea of the high priest that has to pretend to be a kpop idol was fun and interesting, and Kim Min Gue really delivered on his performance of Yeon Woo/Rembrary. But the plot became stale quickly. To make matters worse, two of the central characters were terribly executed. The Evil One was a kind of villain that lacks everything imaginable. He’s not scary, nor charismatic or even has much to do for most of the time. His only quality is not being called Kim Dal... It’s been awhile since I’ve disliked a character so strongly as Dal. She’s extremely annoying and, I don’t know if thats on the actress, but... she’s got the same facial expression for every emotion. She’s extremely bland and had a serious case of bad writing. Sometimes she acts like she’s 12, other times she’s the best professional in the kpop industry. I almost stopped watching the series because she annoyed me so much.
On the other hand, most of the other characters and actors are great. All the Wild Animals members are amazing, as is the CEO. Although I expected him to do more, Gam Jae was great too.

Citeste mai mult

Bad plot development for a potentially fun series

My Ride could have been a nice fun and light BL series. No deep topics, no super complex relationships or plot twists. But the series has two problems: a boring protagonist and a super slow central plot.

Most of the characters on the show are quite okay. Mork is by far the best character, and Fluke in great in the role. The side characters are also entertaining, like the uncles and Mork’s friends. The two side couples work and their stores have a slow but steady development. I enjoyed ToyBoss more than I expected. Unfortunately, Tawan is a very dull protagonist. And to makes matters worse, he’s stuck in failed and uninteresting relationship for 8 episodes.

We get nice moments between Mork and Tawan during the episodes where they’re just friends, but the story cannot develop until Tawan is single. The story tries to show the audience that Tawan might have feelings for Mork while still “dating” Por. But Tawan tries to hold onto that relationship even after Por: ghosts him, lies to him, asks for time apart and cheats on him. Tawan caught Por in bed with another guy and he was still trying to stay together?! The issue is that Por and Tawan never had a relationship. There’s not a single nice moment between them after Por gives him flowers. There’s nothing to make Tawan want to stay together. They have no history. I hate the “ex comes back in the end to separate the couple” plot, but at least Mork and Fern were together for years and had good moments together. Episodes 8, 9 and 10 had nice moments for MorkTawan, but it ended up being too little too late. My Ride could have explored those moments better if the couple started to get together earlier.

I was not expecting a groundbreaking series, but My Ride still left me disappointed with how little screen time the main couple got as a an actual couple and how boring the central story was.

Citeste mai mult

Can't believe I cried because of a Teddy Bear

I’m writing this right after finishing the last episode. It’s a very bittersweet sensation to be “happy” that the couple you’ve been following for 15 episodes of 90 minutes doesn’t end up together, even though they are perfect for each other.

Once we had the confirmation of the connection between Tofu and Tarn, I knew this would not be a happy ending. As much as I loved Tofu, I was 100% sure the show would not let Tarn stay in a coma or die. This was never about the love story between Tofu and Nut. They never really had a chance. And that’s how I’m choosing to take this finale. I don’t have Tarn nor do I think him and Nut are a bad fit. I truly believe they are great for each other. I just don’t care much about him. We barely got to know the real Tarn, since we mostly know about him from Nut’s memories and point of view. So, he’s kinda of the perfect flawless guy. Nut always saw him as being perfect, being the polar opposite to Nut’s home life. I know, it’s true that Tofu was also kinda the perfect guy too, right until the end.

I thought Jan trying to poison Tofu would be a huge red flag. It was so obvious once the scene started. I was very surprised by that actually being how he dies. I knew he’d die in the episode, just as he did, but I expected that he’d die literally protecting someone from a bullet or a car trying to run someone over. He actually had a very, very sad death. And to make matters worse, we did not see that he got any justice. Sure, Saen was arrested, but we don’t know what happened to him. We also can’t forget that Jan was actually the killer. It looks like her punishment was losing Saen and Tarn waking up. The TRD lady got even less, the only think was that her project was stopped for good.

I’m happy that teddy bear Tofu came back in the end. I also love his scenes as a teddy bear running from the dog and reuniting with Nut. Them being together is the true happy ending of the show. Tofu will get the hugs and will be able to stay close to Nut. Gen and Song have their happy ending too, with both families both on board. BTW, Gen’s parents definitely earned a spot in the best parents in BLs. Nut’s mom does not, but he also missed the selection for worst moms [that actress being the mom of a BL protagonist is always a bed sign…]. If you really think about it, Na was responsible for everything bad that happened. At least, she was nice to Tofu.

I think 90 minute episodes was a bold choice. Airing three consecutive days also meant that a lot of people probably dropped the show because you don’t have time to catch up between airings. I know a lot of people that only restarted watching after the show was done, so they could do it at their own pace. Most episodes had a good flow. But, the amount of flashbacks annoyed me a bit, specially the ones centered around Na, Saen, Jan and Sib. I feel like we got flashback after flashback of the same things happening with them. The flashbacks centered around Saen at school were better.

Overall, The Miracle of Teddy Bear was a good show. I do think 16 episode of 90 minutes are a bit heavy, but that might be a bit selling point for people that like korean dramas. That aspect, plus the way this show is structured, makes this series more closely related to a kdrama than a regular thai BL. The cast is amazing and the chemistry is great. The acting highlight is obviously the dog. I’m glad he got his happy ending too.

PS: I find it really weird that not a single person thinks it’s weird for Tarn to open a studio right in the same living room where Tofu was murdered recently.

Citeste mai mult

The main couple is so bad that you HAVE to root for the guy kissing his brother in law

There are many instances where the main couple is not the best couple or the most entertaining to watch, like Until me Meet Again, Wy R U and My Engineer. But usually the main couple has some redeeming quality, like chemistry or a compelling story. You’re Me Sky fails miserably in that aspect.

Yes, I don’t love how much the sport aspect is a major part of the main story, but other shows have done is well. It’s the same problem for some high school BLs, where it’s all about the school. I think the problem for You’re My Sky is that I don’t get the sense that Fah and Thorn are that good at basketball. So, I kept waiting for someone to tell them that they’re not good enough, so they can face reality and move on.

We have three couples and, although I don’t love any of them, Vee and Dome are by far the best one. Yes, their relationship means that Pan is being cheated on by her boyfriend and her brother, but that’s just how things are on this series. They have more chemistry looking at each other from across a pond than the main couple making their relationship official. Aii and Saen are okay and they are cute together, But Saen annoys me a bit sometimes.

I actually like Suar and I think Tae is OK. Suar was great in You Never Eat alone, while Tae was good in Y Destiny, but I think he’s a bit to robotic sometimes. From episode 1 I could feel that Fah and Thorn didn’t have chemistry. As their story progressed, it was becoming more and more obvious that the romance was not working for me. To make matters even worse, their plot is extremely boring, at best. It’s all basketball all the time. We don’t learn anything about them nor do we see them getting to now each other better, since they last saw each other. They only talk about basketball. I couldn’t care less about how much Thorn wants the promises they made years ago to be a reality. Thorn took every opportunity he could to be an idiot at every turn.

Regarding the endings, Aii and Saen got the best one. They are making long distance work and the show remembered that Saen is rich and can just spend his vacations in Japan with Aii. For Dome and Vee, I understand it. They are still, basically, waiting for the time to pass. But it’s clear that they like each other and this is not a sad ending. As for Fah and Thorn, what a surprise, they got all they wanted. I really hoped that Thorn’s leg would get injured again or that he’d have to just keep playing with the university and wait. But no, he managed to get the opportunity to try out and play with Fah, even after that happened at the tournament. In the end, Thorn got everything he wanted, and I’m not to thrilled about that. Also, I’m 100% sure he’ll drop the university team as soon as he can.

Citeste mai mult

Remember 15 delivers gore and not much else

The thing about Remember 15 is that everyone sucks, so you’re not really rotting for any characters. I personally think that 12 episodes was too much. This could have worked better as a streamlined 8 episode series.

Everybody is guilty of something. Yet, I feel like the show wants the viewer to want Nest to “win” and survive, which I think is insane. Everything that happened is because of Nest. Yes, Mind recorded the video, but everyone suffered and died because of Nest sharing that clip.

I think the ending is a bit too open ended for this type of show. Was it all a dream? If so, from what part of the past? Did the clip get leaked or this is a timeline where Lilly was just jealous of Lyla and nothing terrible happened?
OR did everyone die, including Nest in the boat, and Lilly is just imaging how things could have been different?

The cast is overall OK but most of the characters a very one note, so there’s not much they can do.

Citeste mai mult

It’s a good season but I wish the answers came a bit earlier in the story

I went into season 2 straight after finishing the season 1 special edition. At first I was a bit annoyed that it looked like we were going back to square one regarding Shu Yi e Shi De, after a whole season for them to get together.

The second season is not bad or particularly worse than season 1, but the amount of time the show took to address a few of the question regarding the time jump bugged me. I obviously was not thinking that Shi De was dating a woman in the US and had a kid, but hinting that the kid is his brother only on the second to last episode was a bit too late. The fact that I was waiting for answers made me less open to have a good time. I wish everything had been explained once the deal with Mr. Zhou was revealed, in the first half of the season, so Shi De would also explain why he spent two years in the US, the blonde woman and the baby. I guess, as we saw on the bridge, that Shu Yi doesn’t care and doesn’t want to hear the explanation, but I do.

I liked that Zhe Yu and Bing Wei were still together and helped She Yi in the 5 years, so he was not alone. But I expected a little bit more of them in the story, they didn’t add much and got the last official scene in the series, with the proposal. The Zhen Xuan and Shu Yi story was weird. It started when Zhen Xuan was in high school, but nothing happened. Then he spent 12 years looking for someone that did not change his name, even though he’s supposed to be good enough with technology to hack the system without getting caught, according to Shi De. I guess they got a happy ending with that kiss.

Lets see what a rumored third season of WBL will bring us.

Citeste mai mult

Nice soundtrack and characters, not so much a great plot

I enjoyed this show, but I think the structure of the story is kinda bad. It should either be a show with a slow burn of the main characters realizing they like each other, culminating in the kiss on episode 6. Or a show that moved over that part quickly, so it makes sense to have their “happy life” destroyed by reality and fear. I think the “break up” would be more impactful if we got to see them living a happy life together, with the added layer of romance. Everything before episode 8 takes place over a month, so it’s not like they were together for months and then broke up.

I think the actors are great and that they have great chemistry. The soundtrack is amazing.

Citeste mai mult

The perfect companion episode

This type of episode is exactly how “extra” content should be. It doesn’t explain or develop something left out of the main story nor does’t do harm to the characters. I actually love how we got two mini episodes in one. The valentine’s day is sweet and very on brand for Adachi and Kurosawa. It’s nice how we get a flashback showing us Kurosawa trying to give chocolates to Adachi the previous year. I like how this episodes jumps forward just a few weeks, which means we didn’t miss months and months of the relationship. It’s still all new for them.

The Rokkaku’s story was 100% Rokkaku. I’m glad we get to see more of him, he was definitely a highlight from the show. He’s very oblivious to what is happening around him, but it’s not to a point where he looks stupid or forced. I would not mind a mini series focused on Rokkaku, since he lives 2 lives basically, the office life and the dancing life.

Citeste mai mult

I had to take a 1 month break from Andante

I had a real hard time watching this drama. The first few episodes made me stop the show for some weeks, most of the characters were just way too annoying and the story looked just silly. After those few episodes, around the halfway point, the story started to get better and became for mature.

The show that started out quite silly became a sad story toward the end. Besides the characters that most times are just annoying for no reason, the pacing is not good and some plot lines felt out of place (like the hospice closing down). So, end up with a big chunk of time dedicated to plots that don’t mean much, and a lot of Bom and Dad rushed in the last few episodes.

I think Andante might have worked better as a shorter series. I don’t think they would have been able start the dramatic stuff (Bom decease, Bom’s death, grandmas’s decease…) earlier and explore it better.

Citeste mai mult

One of the biggest surprises of the year

I was honestly not expecting much from Lovely Wrjter, specially because the first couple of episodes didn’t wow me. But things got way better quickly.
Right from episode 1 it’s clear that Sib is being shady and has ulterior motives to get close to Gene. Little be littler started to see layers and piece together that Sib doesn’t seem to be trying to do harm do Gene. At first I thought he was a con artist, I was sure he wasn’t even enrolled in the university, that just wanted to seduce the lonely and innocent Gene.

I did not see the twist coming. I’d never have guessed that they knew each other from childhood. It’s a bit of a stretch that a 10 year old would prefer to play hide and seek or with stuffed animals with a 6 year old, rather than playing with the other boys around his age. But, it serves to show that they have a connection since then.

I like how their relationship is developed within the 12 episodes. Even though they kissed pretty early, I like how things didn’t get rushed even after they start to date. I like how Sib has patience with Gene because he knows it’s all new to him. Yes, somethings Sib is a bit too obsessed with Gene, like telling him not to talk to stranger, when the “stranger” was one of the main characters on their series within the series.

I liked the supporting characters too. I’m glad that the show didn’t try to do a redemption act for Aye. He really gets a sad ending, all alone. I also like how the series uses him to criticize the obsessive nature of the shipping surrounding BLs. I wish we got to see Hin being a best seller and getting more respect from Bua in the end. He deserves that by being an amazing friend to Gene, jeopardizing his career. I also love how both older brothers are 100% supportive of Gene and Sib. If Hin gets the Best Friend award, Jab and Nueng share the Best Brother award.

Citeste mai mult

Should focus on 1 story

The concept is interesting and the actors are all great, but this movie should have 1 story. The issue with Wonderland is trying to present too many stories instead of focusing on one.
I particularly only cared about the couple story. The idea of Tae Joo waking up and Jeongin having to deal with the not so perfect reality while not wanting to let go of Wonderland Tae Joo was the best part of the movie. Two hours developing that story would make the movie so much better. But I would understand the movie also focusing only on the mom/daughter/grandmother story. That version could also feature a bit of the Wonderland employees, maybe just not trying to pull their family into the story too.
The other small Wonderland plots only waste time and don’t give us anything special.

Citeste mai mult

DFF tried too hard to be different

This series has probably the worst case of plot development/planning I’ve seen recently. The main issue is the wish to be different and way too mysterious. BoC loved saying this was the first BL with a murder mystery and that’s where they got it wrong. The first 4 episodes are terribly boring. Nothing really happens, while a lot of things happen. But how? It’s all filler.
Once the flashbacks are introduced, the series is light years ahead in terms of quality and actually starts to have a story. Episode 5, out of 12, is when the series really happens for me. BoC missed the mark by not including flashbacks since the first or second episode. We don’t even meet the main character, Non, until episode 5, that’s a bad move.
Regarding the ending, everybody dies is the best case scenario. I didn’t think BoC would actually go for it. The only character I could see living and it working well would be Tee. Being alive is his big punishment after causing everything that happened and literally killing his boyfriend, the only innocent person. Saving Jin would be a major letdown, since he actively caused Non’s spiral and helped destroy his life with that video. All because he was jealous.

I love Barcode’s original song for the series.

Citeste mai mult