The pinnacle of amateur writing

I don’t know where to start so let’s start with the story. The ‘story’ was chaotic and all over the place. Actually, there was no continuous story, just random plot points thrown here and there. It felt more like a boring anthology that mostly sustained itself on showing Leo and Fiat looking at each other with overly fake affection.
I want to be honest here and admit that I was quite interested in some of the plot points, like Fiats overly controlling mother or Fiats estranged relationship with his father but, as expected, neither of these issues were given proper screentime and development. I would’ve like to know more about Fiats mother like f.e. what kind of mental issues does she have? Is she getting any help? Does she want to get better? How will this affect their mother-son relationship going forward? None of these questions were even remotely addressed. I also wish they didn’t make her behave in a comically evil way. It might’ve been more interesting to see her behave incredibly nice and indulging to Fiat, while also manipulating him at the same time. Her choice of words was very on the nose and the whole issue could’ve been handled with a lot more finesse but this applies to the whole drama, not just that one plot point.

And now that we’re on the subject, the dialogue was baaad. I’ve rarely seen such badly written dialogue but here we go. Embarrassingly cheesy and superficial. I felt like I was listening to preschoolers role playing at recess or smt.
Which leads me to to actors. Most of them weren’t good. Some were decent and some were bad. Especially First and Ja, their acting ability was pretty weak. Ja is only marginally better than First and that’s not saying much. I know that they’re still pretty much amateur actors and to hone your skills does take time and dedication, not to mention the sh*tty story and script of this drama, so I won’t give them much flag for that but still. They performed without much feelings. Any feeling they showed was only surface-level. Badly written scripts and characters do present an additional challenge to the actors and it shows. The director didn’t seem of much help here as well.
I do hope the boys get to start in a better drama with better written characters next time.

The make out scenes weren’t good either. They felt perfunctorily at best, like two robots going through the motions. I understand that the actors were probably tired and all but this shouldn’t translate onto the screen. Leo and Fiat are supposed to be totally into each other and horny 24/7 but their make out scenes made me believe the opposite.
I feel like there are two types of BLs. Either story-driven or skinship-driven. There’s nothing wrong with either and I feel like DNS was supposed to be second but bc of the robotic acting it fell flat. In TharnType, which story was a similar mess, Mew and Gulf at least delivered on that front. First and Ja unfortunately didn’t.

Ultimately, “DSN” suffered from similar problems as “TharnType”, meaning it attempted to showcase some serious issues but astronomically failed in its execution because the writer didn’t know how to either conduct proper research or simply wasn’t willing to deepen the subject and rather used it as plot device for the ‘romance’.

The directing and editing was slow and boring too and that one creepy soundtrack didn’t fit most scenes it was used on. But credit where it’s due: I did like the Op and Ed songs

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A boring softcover porn with questionable acting

There is no main storyline and the characters are one dimensional at best, with Ueas main trait being a gratuitous trauma dumpster.

The first part of the show mostly consists of strung together, cheap, gratuitously long, softcore porny looking scenes with some random office moments thrown in between and some random blackflashes to Uea being assaulted and abused by his family members. Overall a strange concoction but let’s move on.

We have King, who is apparently a player, and Uea, who’s hates King bc he is apparently a player. This could work as the most basic concept idea but not as a finished script. There’s so much information that’s lacking. When did King and Uea meet the first time? Was it at the bar when King tried to hit on him or was it at the office? Ueas hatred towards Kings doesn’t make much sense either. It’s not like King cheated on him or promised him something, hell I don’t think he even managed to ask Uea a question at the bar, before Kings apparent date or one night stand showed up and Uea took offense to it like a scorned, betrayed and cheated on wife.

Kings obsession with Uea also comes off as random and nonsensical. Why is he so hellbent on getting someone who holds nothing but disdain for him for no good reason? It would make more sense if King actually had some sinister ulterior motives in mind but that’s not the case at all and therefore his actions and decisions come off as incomprehensible and random.

At some point Uea drinks himself unconscious and King takes him home and takes advantage of him but I guess that’s not his fault bc Uea asked him too lol. I actually don’t mind non consensual situations if they get addressed later on, at least to some degree, but I don’t think it happened here. Anyway, Uea gets angry the next day but still decides to become fuck buddies with King later on, for no good reason. Maybe it’s bc King gave some money to Ueas mother but I’m not sure. It’s hard to pinpoint the moment when and why Ues decided to keep banging King, especially knowing his random hatred towards playboys.

The latter half of episodes concentrate on the cartoonishly evil Boss, who randomly wants to get into Ueas pants and King being jealous bc of it. The boss gets fired and the last two episodes are pretty much unnecessary, endless, boring fluff and sex with no semblance of a plot whatsoever.

I don’t even understand why King and Uea decided to become fuck buddies in the first place bc their dynamic never reflected it, even from the start. They acted and behaved like they’re in a perfect, monogamous relationship right away. There was no tension and no conflicts that one would expect to see from such concept idea. Even the sex scenes were always portrayed in the same way, which became very boring very quickly.

The trauma aspect wasn’t addressed properly either. It’s like Uea didn’t have a personality apart from being a victim. Everything evolved around his trauma and how it was magically fixed by him dating King. It’s like the trauma was a romantic trope instead of an actual serious issue for Uea to get through. There was no logical build up to Ueas decsions at all. He let himself be abused by his irredeemably evil mother for years and just suddenly broke off their contact, seemingly at random. I know that the rapey Boss came by but it didn’t reveal any new information for Uea to suddenly be able to stand up for himself.

The acting wasn’t good either. James isn’t someone who is ready for a main role yet. All of his emotional scenes were laughable at best bc he wasn’t skilled enough to pull them off. He needs a lot more workshops and practice. I can’t really say much about Net bc his role wasn’t as demanding as James‘ but I didn’t cringe as much when he was on screen in comparison to James. I’m sure they’ll get other projects to work on and I hope that they, especially James, will acquire more acting skills till then.

I guess Dimundi‘s works aren’t really clicking with me but I have to give them some serious credit though bc while their works might not be for me, they certainly are popular enough. They isolate a specific audience and appeal to them, which I think are mainly very young, straight girls in their late teens to early/mid twenties that are mostly looking for fluff and sexual content with a typical cookie cutter Uke as a self insert and a perfect, hot seme to take care of him/them.

Good for Domundi though.

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Watching this show felt like reading a 2006 BL manga

For a HIStory series this show was pretty mediocre but it had some enjoyable moments. The overall storyline is brimming with cliches, typical bl tropes and some annoying stereotypes, yet I still ended up enjoying some of it in a guilty pleasure-y type of way.
This show had two couples and I’m going to talk about Li Chen and Muren first.

I really liked the comedic tone of this couple. I wasn’t expecting to laugh as much as I did throughout their interactions. A lot of times it was over the top but in a fun way. The acting was decent enough for their comedic exchanges and I really enjoyed their exaggerated expressions. The story wasn’t necessarily realistic or even believable but it was enjoyable and made sense in a BL-tropey type of way.
And while I said that the acting was decent, their first kiss was strange enough. I assume it was supposed to be accidental bc Li Chen specifically told Muren he wouldn’t kiss him and the kiss happened excatly at the moment when Xsing came into the room but I swear it looked so fake lol It didn’t look accidental at all. I actually rewinded the scene bc I wasn’t sure what happened.
A lot of Murens fashion choices were a tad weird too. He is very tall and lanky so the oversized clothes made him look even taller and lankier and his head looked a lot smaller in comparison. It just looked strange to me but I’ve seen people liking it so maybe it’s just me.
Another thing that bothered me was how they implemented the fujoshi girl. I didn’t like that she was basically the catalyst for Lichen and Murens relationship. It honestly felt very disrespectful in how Lichen decided to pretend to be gay in order to get to her. That is just wrong on so many levels. First of all it’s deceptive and kind of predatory, secondly it’s plain disrespectful towards lgbtq. Having said that I still let it slide for the most part bc of the comedic tone and nature of this couples storyline. Regardless, the whole shtick left an arguably bad taste in my mouth.

Now let’s get to the second couple. This one was hard to stomach and that’s not bc of the step-brothers-trope. I personally don’t have a problem with that. My main and maybe only problem stems from how creepy and manipulative the younger brother was. He was obsessed with the older brother to an extremely unhealthy degree. It was actually very scary. First of all he was introduced to the audience as a stalker, dressed all in black with a cap and we barely see his face. Then he stalked his brother and even got into his room, when he was asleep. And don’t get me started on the actual rape scene.He obviously had some serious mental issues that made him rape his drunk brother while he was half-conscious and also thinking that it’s somehow going to help the brother in the long run.
I kind of understand where his f*cken up ‘logic’ was coming from, he basically explained it himself :
Older brother can’t come out to the family bc father will be mad-> If he rapes his older brother and showed it to the father, the father will be mad at the younger brother instead of the older one -> older brother would be out and the father would be too mad at the younger one for raping his son to even acknowledge his disappointment about his (older) sons sexuality. This seems to be the logic that the younger brother was going for but that’s just sick. He has a sick mind.
I absolutely have nothing against f*cken up and/or sick characters but they need to be portrayed as such. The younger brother was definitely not portrayed as needing to have some mental help and while the other characters did comment on how wrong it was for him to rape his brother, that’s literally the only consequence he gets. He just got slightly reprimanded by everyone. Great. He didn’t even feel sorry for his actions but felt like it was a necessary evil. This way of thinking is just abhorrent. And the older brother getting together with him felt like a consequence of him suffering from Stockholm Syndrom after being sexually assaulted by the younger one.
The younger brother was very manipulative and had no remorse while the older brother was a complete pushover with an apparent Stockholm Syndrom on top of that. This couple was very uncomfortable to watch, truly.
I want to reiterate that I don’t mind the portrayal of unhealthy relationships if they are presented as such. In this case it was a unhealthy relationship presented as healthy.

The difference in tone between the two couples felt jarring as well. Li Chen/Muren couple had a very strong comedic undertone while the step-brothers couple had a much more dramatic and serious tone. And both of them worked against each other. It felt like I was watching different parts from different shows instead of two couples from the same show.

All in all I’m giving this series 5.5 stars. 3 stars for Li Chen and Muren, 1 start for the wonderful portrayal of Xsings (older brothers) father, half a start for the nice soundtrack and an extra star for the portrayal of a gay wedding which was incredibly nice. The camera work and editing won’t get any starts from me, it was too amateur imo. The acting was watchable even though the younger brothers actor was a bit stiff. I know that the character wasn’t supposed to show many emotions but it still felt way too artificial

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Not bad but could’ve been better

I’m a bit surprised to see this show having a relatively low rating. It wasn’t perfect by any means but it was pretty decent imo.

To be honest I absolutely loved every episode right until the twist (8th episode). The acting was pretty good especially from Force but Book wasn’t bad either. Theo and Akk both had distinct personalities which I truly appreciate. Usually one of the characters is either a self-insert or a perfect guy with no flaws. That wasn’t the case in Enchante. All around up until the twist the story made sense, maybe it even would make sense with the twist if it had better foreshadowing.

So the twist is that Theo himself is Enchante. I’m gonna be honest, I didn’t expect that twist but instead of feeling like the show smartly fooled me with a red herring I rather felt surprised at how nonsensical it is. He supposedly did it bc he was afraid that Akk would leave him (?) or wouldn’t want to spend time with him for some reason so he made up the Enchante mystery himself to have an excuse to spend time with Akk by looking for Enchante. It technically could work but the show never made me feel like Akk wanted to distance himself from Theo. He did act a little weird around him sometimes (hot and cold) but it made sense bc they haven’t seen each other in around a decade and Theo has grown up in a completely different country at that. Considering that Akk also had feelings for Theo his strange behavior made sense to me. It never came across that Akk wanted to completely distance himself from Theo though, so Theos manipulative plan didn’t make that much sense.
The series shows us just one flashback on how Akk supposedly didnt want to spend time with Theo but that wasn’t enough. That particular moment didn’t even seem that serious and apart from that Akk did spend time with Theo and still would’ve done anything he wanted, that was pretty clear. If the writers wanted for this twist to work they needed to make it unapologetically clear that Akk wanted to distance himself and maybe didn’t even want to be close friends with Theo but it never came across that way.
I actually thought that Akk might be Enchante bc the series did drop some interesting hints like him wanting Theo to stop looking for Enchante and him being left-handed etc. I thought maybe he did it for a reason but couldn’t tell Theo the truth but then the truth would come out and that would be the main conflict of the story and their relationship.
Anyway let’s talk about the last two episodes. They were bafflingly redundant. By that point Theo and Akk got together and everything seemed hunky-dory but of course the writers needed to shoehorn some last minute drama bc why not? The twist with Theos parents was just random. It wasn’t foreshadowed either and didn’t add much to the story. I guess it presented a challenge for Theo to realize that he can’t force people to do what he wants just bc he wants it and it’s a good lesson to learn but I never had the feeling that Theo ever forced anyone to do what they didn’t want to do. He was a bit of a manipulator cosindering his Enchante plot but he never really forced Akk to do anything. He asked Akk to help him but he never tried to seriously force him to do anything. If Theo had been forcing several people to go out of their way to do things for him then the lesson with the divorce would make sense but Theo never forced anyone. People wanted to please him themselves. Akks self-confidence problems were also a little random, they were never foreshadowed properly either. Im getting tired of all the strange BL time skips that somehow happen a LOT in the last episodes. I truly don’t quite get the appeal or the necessity.

All around though I still liked it, I just wish the foradhowing would‘ve been written better and clearer. I wasn’t really satisfied with the Enchante conflict resolution in the 8th episode though. It felt too unemotional. Theo lied and manipulated the situation and he couldn’t be bothered to be a bit more emotional when he explained everything? Even if Akk had a hunch it’s not an excuse to be unemotional. I don’t really know if it’s the acting or the directing but I wasn’t really satisfied with that resolution. I don’t have any complaints when it comes to Force’ acting skills but Books emotional scenes were a bit lacking especially when it concerned the divorce of his parents. Otherwise I think he was quite ok.
It was still a pretty enjoyable ride for me.

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I’m giving it 8.5 stars even though I actually want to give it 1 star

„Lovely Writer” was a consistenty great show throughout the first 10 episodes. The 11th episode had some serious pacing issues and the 12th episode felt like a delusion in itself but on that later.


The Positives:

Let’s start by saying how this show touches upon some serious issues that involve the
BL industry. It is pretty self-aware in that aspect and I love it. For example that overly feminine gay actors apparently aren’t selling but also how they could profit from inclusion and progressiveness by casting less feminine gay actors from time to time.

Then there are some other issues that the show discusses, like people’s entitlement to your personal life and sexuality.
The scene where Gene has dinner with his friends and how they expected him to be gay simply bc he writes BL novels and even tried to pressure him into a coming out, regardless of him being comfortable with it or not. The friends even tried to come off as supportive, kind of, but ended up being incredibly insulting instead. One girl even thought that by shipping Gene, it would somehow make her supportive of him. This was incredibly uncomfortable to watch bc there are in fact people who think that shipping two (gay) people together somehow equals acceptence and support.

My absolutely favourite scene though was probably Gene and Sibs dinner with their parents, when they finally decided to open up about the romantic nature of their relationship. This one was even more uncomfortable to watch. Not just bc of the parents’ take on homosexual relationships but also their take on the whole of BL-genre.
When the topic of BL came up, the parents seemed to get pretty awkward and uncomfortable but they still tried to come off as kind of open-minded, but not really. They talked about BL as if it was a trend and wasn’t to be taken seriously. It’s something to laugh at and maybe it can be enjoyed at times but it’s nothing to be discussed at dinner in a respectful and serious manner. And while the parents seemed to be kind of open-minded about BL, the moment their sons tell them that they’re dating, their fake acceptance crumbles at lightening speed.
The whole scene depicts some very serious conflict but I’m glad it wasn’t turned into an overly melodramatic mess. Everything felt very realistic. I feel like this is the reality for many lgbtq people when they deal with their families.

Another point that I would like to applaud this series on is the way it portrayed how writers are pressured to write what the publishing house thinks the fans want. Their own wants and concerns seem to not matter at all. I never hated or even really disliked Bua and I think it’s bc she has such a quirky personality and she has to shoulder a lot of responsibilities too. I certainly understood where she was coming from by pressuring Gene to write NC scenes bc she thinks it’s the main selling point of BL, but it is just as important to understand where Gene was coming from.
NC scenes are, ultimately, not necessary for portraying a love story. They can be a great add-on if the story demands it but adding them simply for gratuitous reason can either be boring or even distract from the actual storyline and I think it’s great that Gene and Hin had a conversation about it.
The term Yaoi may have originally meant something like “porn without plot” but there is a reason why this term is nowdays mostly replaced by “BL”. Because BL evolved throughout the years as a genre and keeps evolving. It’s so much more than the simple term “yaoi” describes. I personally really dislike this stigma attached to BL, that it’s mostly smut and that the main selling point of BL dramas should be hot guys. I’m not saying that there isn’t any truth to it but there definitely is a stigma.

All in all I liked the non-preachy tone of how the show drew attention to these issues. Everything felt natural and not forced. I didn’t feel like the story tried to condescendingly push the issues into my face. It didn’t feel like the show put itself on a high moral ground and thought itself to better than BLs or other BLs. It actually made me care about the issues more. I loved that instead of actively bashing the industry and fans it simply served as a mirror to the fans and the people in the industry. I hope that these issue will become less and less prevalent over the next years. The change might be slow but I’m happy as long as it’s happening at all.


The Romance:

It was ok. It was cute but nothing special. While at some points the romance certainly broke away from stereotypical tropes or even subverted them in a way, it stayed staunchingly loyal to others. I liked the scene when Gene was drunk and wanted to kiss Sib but Sib prevented him from doing so. Their communication was usually pretty open and mature too, something that is usually a rare find in BL. But then again, while Gene seemed to be portrayed as an actual human being with some depth, Sib felt like a cardboard cut-out. He was the typical BL “top” (I don’t like using this word to describe characters but I feel like it’s the best way to describe him here).
His whole motivation for everything was Gene. He was there not to be his own character but to be perfect and capable and to basically fawn over Gene. He had no real depth and it’s disappointing. At least Gene behaved like a human being and speaking of Gene, Up did a wonderful job of portraying him. His acting was consistenty good and even phenomenal at times. Can’t really say much about Kao bc Sib wasn’t a well written character but I guess he did a decent job with what he had.


Aoey:

. The storyline did him so dirty. I know that some people as well as the characters in the show love to treat him as a villain simply bc he initiated some conflicts for Sib and Gene but he honestly wasn’t a villain. He was a very real, very flawed character. He actually felt more human than any other characters in this show.
While he unquestionably did some very assholish things, he was nowhere near irredeemable. He wasn’t a cookie-cutter villain, he had a personality, backstory, depths and a lot of unfortunate happenings as well as a difficult family. If I were to call someone a villain it’d be his sister. He had a motive for what he did and he was on a self-destructive journey. Does this excuse his behavior? No. But the circumstances of a person shouldn’t be overlooked either. He’s 20 years old, he’s a lost kid, he needed someone to help him getting out of his toxic mindset and the only person who seemed to be genuinely willing to do that was Mork.
We only ever got minimal scraps of their storyline so we don’t exactly know what happened between them but we know that Aoey has some very deep-seated resentment towards Mork while Mork has some deep, romantic feelings for Aoey. For that reason it’s understandable that Aoey wouldn’t want any help from Mork. Aoey circumstances are very tragic. I could never bring myself to hate or even dislike him. I mostly felt sorry for him and wished for him to be happy or least to stop being so self-destructive. It’s like he knew what he was doing but couldn’t stop.
Anyway, the Aoey/Mork dynamic is very interesting and I would love to see it unfold more. Maybe we’ll get lucky and get a second season with them as the main leads, fingers crossed.
Bruce is a great actor btw! He did this wonderfully complicated character so much justice.

Tum and Tiffy:

I was never invested in their romance and it’s not bc they’re a heterosexual couple. I warmed up to Tum pretty fast but liking Tiffy was...difficult. At first she seemed ok even though I disliked her simply for assuming that Tum was gay for no reason at all. They were a heterosexual couple who were supposed to break the hetero- stereotypes and in a way they did, but why did they make Tiffy be so adamant about perceiving Tum as gay even though he openly told her many times that he wasn’t? And what was the deal with the ridiculous rapping-shtick? Tum rapped about not being gay and suddenly she believed him? Even though she didn’t believe him before but rapping it somehow did it for her? I don’t get it.
And what about her awful treatment of Aoey? At first she seemed to care about him. They weren’t super close but at least she seemed to genuinely care about his well-being but then drops him right before an interview? Not even telling him why? She said he supposedly knew why but that’s just cheap and awful. She should’ve at least talked to him. And she’s supposed to be older and a professional at that? lol
In the end she was a very judgmental and selfish character. Ironically, I disliked her instead of Aoey.


The last two episodes:

Finally let’s talk about the last 2 episodes. There’s not really much to say about the 11th episode apart from how it disrupted the pacing of the story. For some reason the show decided to go full-on melodrama for this episode. It was strange bc nothing really warranted Sib and Genes break - up.
Yes, shit happened, they got exposed (kinda..they weren’t even intimate, just playing around in the sea) and were told to stay away from each other for a couple of months. They could’ve easily done that without needing to break up. They could’ve called and texted each-other, they could’ve even lived together (maybe get some delivery service if they’re not allowed to be seen together). Knowing how mature they usually were in dealing with other conflicts I was amazed at how childish and melodramatic this specific conflict needed to be.

The 12th episode was especially weird. The first half might seem ok (not a fan of time jumps) but the moment Sib appears in front of Gene it gets very strange, to say the least. First of all it’s kinda unexplained how and why he appeared in front of Gene and we also never really get to know what was going on with him throughout these 4 (or maybe 8) months. The only thing we know is that he apparently ended his contract and is free to do whatever he wants.

That’s not even my main issue here. The tone of the show kind of changes when he suddenly appears. The scenes feel unnecessarily long but also almost too “perfect”. Like I’m watching a fairytale. And then we get a scene when Gene complains that he doesn’t know how to finish the his novel and Sib tries to help him by whispering some ideas into Genes ear and we get a 4th wall break! Both of them suddenly interact with the camera. They’re looking directly at it and even touch it to symbolize the transition between the scenes.
Suddenly I felt like I was watching a special episodes of YYY. The humor suddenly didn’t fit the overall tone of the series. This show had never had any other 4th wall breaks and while “Lovely Writer” is undoubtedly a comedy it never had the same type of comedic style, like for example YYY. This change in tone felt incredibly jarring.
And what exactly were these ridiculous ending scenes even supposed to be? What was their purpose? They were long and unnecessary and the screen time could’ve been used so much better.

Now let’s get to the weirdest and most reciculous shtick they pulled in ep 12:
Sib and Gene are fictional characters.

Yes, the audience understands that “Lovely Writer” is a fictional story, Sib and Gene don’t exist in real life but...did they have to be fictional even in their own story? Why was the scene, where we see Rose writing about them, needed? It just left me baffled, lost and completely unsatisfied. This scene alone made me debate if I wanted to give this show 1 star, and one might think that’s too harsh but I humbly disagree!
This last scene put everything in a new context; Sib and Gene are fictional characters written by a BL author. While I respect and love what Rose has done with her story, I didn’t want her to be IN the story, at least not like that. It would’ve been fine if they showed someone being inspired by Sib and Gene to write their own novel but why did they have to show that it was Rose and that she simply imagined their story?
Ngl, I feel very cheated by this...twist. Especially bc nothing in the story even suggested any 4th wall breaks or anything else that would’ve shown that they were fictional characters.
I remember reading a comment on ytube which said that this show was so meta that the last scene adds a new level of metanarrative to it and that’s why it’s great. Well, I have to disagree.

Yes, the show is meta but it still has its own reality. It shouldn’t have been connected to our own reality bc again, what was the point? If the point was to remind us that this is not a real story then that’s moot bc we, as the audience, know that it’s a fictional story. If the point was to remind us in the midst of a fictional story that we’re watching a fictional story (with no forewarning) then they did a stellar job! And it’s the worst decision they could’ve made.
They did their best to show some very dark and very messed up things that are permeateing the entertainment industry (in this case BL specifically but I’m sure it can be applied to other fields) and they did it in a pretty serious manner. Suddenly being aware that all of it is fiction, creates an estranged feeling towards these issues. Almost as if they’re not real or at least not as important. Now, I understand that all of these issues are very serious and are based off of some real happenings. But you’re not making a documentary, you’re making a fictional love story.
And usually, when you want to make a fictional story, you’d want to make it be as immersive as possible.
You’d want your audience to believe that it’s real. At least while they’re watching it. And while “Lovely Writer” does portray some serious issues that are very common in the bl industry, they’re not excatly a secret. Maybe an open secret at most.

What the series did well (till the last episode) was that it made the audience connect and feel emphaty for people that are suffering from such issues through the lenses of Sib and Gene. As audience members we feel a connection to Sib and Gene. They’re like our friends or family. We want them to do well, to be happy. Sometimes when you know that similar things are happening to the actors and their loved ones, it’s not always easy to experience the same type of intense emphathy bc actors are often not even perceived as humans but a fans possessions. I think Lovely Writer did well in showing us what it would feel like if we or our loved ones suffered from the same issues many actors suffer from. So, making the whole show feel like it was a fictional story was a wrong move. It makes the emotional impact much less intense imo.

And if the writers, for some reason, wanted the audience to be aware that Sib and Gene are fictional characters even in their own story then they should’ve made it obvious early on bc using it as a twist is the weirdest, stupidest decision made. It actually makes it seem like the actual author of the novel (Rose) is the protagonist instead of Sib and Gene. They should’ve called the series “the BL author” like you know,...”the Shipper”?

Excuse me for the long review and thanks for staying with me throughout this rant

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A meandering mess

If plots are skeletons of stories then Vice Versa is full of broken bones. It’s a meandering mess that doesn’t have a red thread to guide it. The idea of traveling to a parallel universe is an original one, considering how most BLs barely expand the university setting but unfortunately its execution falls flat because it’s used as merely a concept for the setting rather than a mechanism for plot progression.
The rules of how and who excatly travels between universes was never made clear as weren’t the rules of how to return to your own universe. To get back you have to find a person who‘ll be your portkey and then start dreaming. How is this person determined? How to find them? No idea! Apparently that person will be somehow connected to you or the body you inhabit in the parallel universe but it’s never truly explained how the supposed connection works.
As for the reason to these exotic travels? Well, apparently people travel to learn something and our main characters traveled to learn about love and that’s the most nonsensical idea the writer could’ve come up with! Why did they have to travel to another universe for that? They literally could’ve done the exact same things and learned the exact same things in their own universe. In fact it would have been much better if they never traveled anywhere and Talay got to know Puen by working with him on the same set. Nothing would’ve changed, the same interactions would‘ve happened.

Now let’s talk about the meager semblance of a plot point that there was: the filmmaking shtick which btw was painfully oversimplified in its portrayal.
Talay wanted Pakorns attention, so he used his position as Tess to approve of Pakorns script. That far it kinda makes sense, I can suspend my disbelieve for that. It crossed the line to unbelievability though pretty fast because our young friend group apparently managed to make a feature-length film in a span of only a couple of months (lol). Their movie bombed - no surprise there, they’re amateur filmmakers with no experience whatsoever. Also, it’s impossible to release a full feature-length film in a span of a couple of months. Maybe that’s why it bombed? They half-assed the job because that’s the only way a full fledged movie could ever be released in such a short amount of time. It’s honestly hard to say because none of the reasons why it failed were explained or even mattered in the great scheme of things. Then they decided to give up bc apparently that’s what determined people do but then they changed their mind again bc they seemingly change their mind at the drop of a hat, for very shallow reasons.
Talay and Puens romantic development was done very superficially too. How or why did they fall in love? Who knows. Their feelings don’t ever go beyond the kitschy „I love you“s bc the story wanted to zoom in on superficial fluff rather than explore the depth of their feelings.

Considering all this silliness and naïveté, Vice Versa felt more like a childrens series, apart from the insertion of gratuitous kisses of course, and tbh I could forgive it if it was targeted at preteens but then again I don’t think it was.
The twist at the end of ep 10 was probably the most interesting thing that had happened but was never truly explored in depth or even explained at all. Weirdly enough it had no real impact on the story either - again, no surprise there since that would actually introduce an interesting plot point to Vice Versa and that clearly wasn’t what the screenwriters ever meant for this series to have.

Another thing that’s hard to ignore was the unending string of sponsorships that Vice Versa needed to include. Considering that 11 out of 12 episodes were filler I can’t say the product placement took away important screentime but it did make the series look like an extended string of ads instead of an actual continuous series. Added to that, the actor’s way of promoting the products felt like a Bad Buddy 2.0
While the ads in Bad Buddy were funny and creative, Vice Versa pretty much copied them, which made it feel forced and annoying. Pat and Pran cleaned each other’s faces? Talay and Puen needed to clean each other as well. Pran shoved his black inhaler halfway up his nose? Talay or Puen needed to do it as well.
I understand that Vice Versa wanted to ride on Bad Buddy’s coattails which is obvious by Jimmy being the ML and by the insane amount of sponsored products it had gotten but there is a reason why copies almost never get as good as the original. It seems Vice Versa bombed in Thailand and I’m not surprised.

The plethora of random GMM actor‘s cameos and different BL lines that were taken from their more popular BL works (and were used as passwords?!) were distracting at best and felt like GMMs biggest ego stroke. Why? Were they too lazy to think of their own original memorable lines for Vice Versa?
Anyway, the acting was mostly ok, Sea is a great newbie actor but I think Jimmy isn’t quite ready for a main role yet. On the first glance he seemed to be doing ok but as his scenes went on, it became obvious that he’s struggling, especially in longer scenes. Also, he has a pair of the deadest, most unexpressive eyes I’ve seen on an actor, which didn’t help.

Now onto the positives: I liked the idea of parallel universe traveling even though it sadly amounted to nothing. I also really liked the soundtrack. Sea is a good actor and I do hope to see him again in a different and better series this time. Visually Vice Versa was aesthetically pleasing to look at, as the colors were nice and vibrant and the settings and moods were well conveyed. I liked Ohm and Nanons cameos bc they reminded me of Bad Buddy and my boy Neo made every scene he was in actually enjoyable.

In conclusion:

Vice Versa consists of 11 filler episodes full of forced romantic interactions and kitschy lines, interspersed with product ads. My favourite moment was when Talay ordered his sponsored chicken but actually ran away to find Puen before said chicken arrived. A true twist! bc I didn’t expect him to abandon a sponsored product like that.

I’m usually not a big fan of Jittirains stories but this one has to be her worst one yet..

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It’s not perfect but

I gave it a 10. I support and want to see more plot-heavy BLs where the romance is not the main theme but rather an additional sub-plot. The Eclipse took definitely that turn even if the actual plot was chaotic, a little confusing and not tight enough.

Having said that, ironically, the main reason I gave it a 10 is bc of the romance. I loved the characters dynamic, the way they flirted with each other and their overall relationship development. This is the second BL that imo managed to portray a so called „tsundere“ character realistically. A lot of the time BLs tend to portray a dynamic where one boy relentlessly pursues another boy and the other boy usually reacts in an irritated, cold and annoyed manner which heavily implies romantic disinterest. In contrast, First portrayed Akk as flustered and defensive instead of annoyed and uncomfortable - huge props to him for that! That way it never felt like Ayan was harassing him. They became pretty quickly aware of their mutual attraction and they kept pushing and testing each other and it felt more like Ayan was playfully trying to gauge Akks comfort/discomfort level regarding his attraction.
The dynamic was great, the acting was great. I’m honestly surprised that GMM was sleeping on First for so long, he is one of their best actors. Khaotung too is surprisingly versatile.
Neo and Louise did pretty well too and I’m glad they allowed Neo to explore non-comedic roles.
Also, thank god none of the characters were BL-straight!

I have a lot of questions regarding the story though, too many really. I understand and like the idea they were promoting about equality and the criticism of overly stiff rules that are still very prevalent in a lot of collectivist cultures/societies, even if the way they did in the story is rather simplistic.
There were a couple of twists that seemed very strange to me. I thought maybe they needed backflashes to properly build-up and explain them. I didn’t quite understand what happened between Dika and Chadok. Did Chadok transfer Dika without his consent? What exactly prompted him to comment suicide? There seemed to be a couple of people suffering from depression or other mental conditions and I wish they showed the progress of these mental issues better. I also didn’t understand why it took everyone so long to deal with 3 students. I’m not knowledgeable in Thai legal and human rights so I’m not going to complain further. Overall I thought the build-up could’ve been done a lot better.
Maybe I’ll have a revelation while rewatching it a second or a third time, who knows. All around I really liked it and hope to see more of similar projects, hopefully with better/tighter written plot next time.

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I don’t know how I survived this series...or why I even bothered

No, I know why I bothered. It’s because I’m interested in seeing love mechanics and decided to get to know the overall story/side characters in Tossara. I gave it a chance but the series didn’t amount to anything even remotely watchable.

The plot was incredibly cliche and shallow. And while there’s nothing wrong with being cliche, the shallowness of the plot in Tossara was horrible.
A cliche story can be saved by interesting and multidimensional characters but this wasn’t the case in Tossara. The production is obviously low budget so I won’t be commenting on that. I’ve seen a couple of bl shows with low production value which still managed to be entertaining and dare I say even deep. Not this one though.

While this show has many problems, I’m mainly going to talk about my main problem and that’s Guns actor. His acting skills are absolutely atrocious. He cannot act to save his life and it’s strange because all the other actors were actually pretty decent - In comparison at least. Every time Guns actor appeared on screen I felt my insides twist and the temperature drop around me in anxious anticipation of second hand embarrassment.

And what prompted the hair styling and fashion choices for the character of Gun? He obviously is supposed to be the hottest guy that’s ever hottet, yet his styling choices and aura scream the opposite. Idk why they decided to give him this slicked down, nerdy hair and old school glasses and put him in a uniform, in which he looks like an overgrown middle schooler. I’ve seen people criticize the actors looks but I’ll refrain from that bc looks are subjective. While the actors looks may or may not be below average, he projected zero confidence and had no charm whatsoever. He even slouched a bit when he stood or walked. This is simply not the way I’d expect the hottest, most popular guy in school to be like. He neither had the aura of a popular person nor the enticing mystery of a loner. Idk why so many would be interested in him, lest confessing to him a thousand times a day (?!)

I feel like I know what kind of character Gun was supposed to be. I think he may have initially been written as a little pushy and teasing but mostly charming, and flirtatious person who is supposed to confidently pursue Bar until Bar falls in love with him. Maybe a little like the Ming/Kit dynamic from 2Moons (maybe). Yet Wins lack of acting skills make Gun look like a pushy, rude and stalking creep.

I regret watching this series. Damn, I wished I’d fast forwarded directly to the side couples. I also feel really bad for Folk. It couldn’t have been easy to act alongside such a stiff actor like Win. I hope he’ll get more opportunities to show off his acting skills in the future. And Win should seriously consider getting some intense acting lessons if he wants to continue in this business.

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If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to have a basic shojo story with a male lead

For me it was watchable and enjoyable to some degree.
It was reasonably well-written and didn’t have much of a pacing issue like, let’s say a lot of Thai BLs do but it was still a predictable, basic, Shojo-seque story with a nondescript male lead and two Love Interests. A moody/broody Love Interest and a cheery/helpful Love Interest.

What I found especially interesting is that the atmosphere felt a lot like a webcomic or a manga. Maybe it’s bc of the vivid colors and make-up or bc of the camera work and editing. I’m not sure what it was but it felt very much like reading a comic. The atmosphere wasn’t really realistic but rather fairytale-like, which I actually liked.
The love triangle was very well-done. I mostly had the right hunch but there were times where I wasn’t hundred percent sure who TK is gonna end up with. It wasn’t pointless, it was understandable and it propelled the story.

I’m usually a sucker for slow burn but in this case unfortunately the story became dull and kinda boring towards the end. I think it’s bc when the time came to level up the drama the makers didn’t do the same with the pacing and it ended up being kinda out of sync with the all the drama happening in the series. The feeling was similar to like when you’re getting on an ride in an amusement park but something just keeps pulling you back. It prevents you from speeding up and enjoying the climax of the ride. That’s how this story felt to me in its third part.
My biggest problem though was the non-existent personality of the main lead. He simply didn’t have any core personality. He just did what felt best for the story at the moment. He was constantly changing his personality from awkward to blatantly honest or even aggressive to shy. These changes didn’t necessarily stem from character development but were rather random. It really bothered me. Everyone else did have a core personality, only TK was left to be very vague. He literally felt like a half-baked main character of a Visual Novel for the audience to identify with.
He was also fsr completely showered in make up. With his over-painted and strangely non-expressive porcelain doll face he looked like an alien to me. He somehow felt human but also kind of didn’t. It’s like he was in the Uncanny Valley. It was probably the directors fault but...who knows.
The overall development of romantic feelings in this series was a bit underwhelming too. While I could kind of understand why TK would fall in love with Da On and maybe vice versa, I had a hard time getting why Shin Woo fell for TK. It seemed like he fell for him in that study room while TK told the other boys that he wasn’t interested in games and they should just go bc they were disturbing other students but I still don’t get why that would make him fall for TK. ShinWoo’s development of romantic feelings didn’t really make much sense to me and TK too, fell for ShinWoo way too fast. I personally didn’t mind them getting together but tbh I felt like it would make more sense for him to end up with Da On. But both of them kind of worked so it’s fine.
Oh and btw. could somebody pls explain to me how in the hell did TK win that princely contest or whatever it’s called? That just straight up pulled me out of the story bc it was so unbelievable! What happened there? He was super awkward and couldn’t even talk properly and he won? How? Why? I don’t get it. Somebody explain it to me.

Anyway, regardless of my enjoyment level I’m still very grateful that Korea slowly decides to put more effort und budget into BLs. Hopefully Light On Me will become an important milestone in the history of Korean BLs. I’m truly thankful for that.

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So bad it’s good! And sometimes it’s genuinely good

Let me explain the rating please

This show had a very specific brand of humor. It’s very campy, it’s trashy and intentionally hilariously bad. You remember how Shyamalan tried to recreate a b-movie feeling with “The Happening”? Well, Y Destiny gave me a similar vibe - from its campy acting to its hilarious dialogues.

They’re mostly feel-good stories, usually not to be taken seriously. The show reminded me a little of YYY in a sense that it’s funny and ridiculous but also has a very heart-warming a genuine message at the heart of it.

There’re seven different couples with seven different stories. It’s a bit hard for me to rate them individually as they all had a similar vibe. I’m going to say that the first story (Tue and Ake) felt uneven in its execution if compared to other stories. It didn’t start out as obviously campy as the others but it very suddenly shifted gears right in the middle. It became incredibly ridiculous and senseless and this sudden change caught me off guard. I had a hard time adjusting and even contemplated dropping it until it hit me that the change was deliberate, so I buckled up for the ride and in the end I had a great time! I just wished they didn’t make the first ep to be so deceptively “normal” in the first half of its runtime lol This storys cinematography and editing was inferior to the other episodes though.
A shout out to episodes 9/10 bc it’s many people’s favorites (mine too!). It had some campiness for sure but it was unironically entertaining. Great chemistry, effortless acting and a comparatively unique storyline in a BL. Even if you don’t enjoy trashy humor you might still want to check this one out.
Talay, Yoon and Perth’s story was a bit different as it was permeated by sadness and melancholy. I personally think they should’ve given them a less tragic story. All three actors are decent and they can pull off this specific type of trashy humor very well (like Bruce Campbell). Especially Talay and Yoon (both did a great job on yyy and it’s sequel) and Perth was great in my Engineer and let’s be honest, that show was kinda campy as well. My point is that they didn’t utilize these three to their full capabilities. I did laught my ass off at the cinema scene though!

The last episode is probably my favourite. It didn’t feel dragged out like most others did and it was nice to see all the couples being domestic and just all having fun together. I even got a little emotional at the end when they were all thanking each other. It felt familiar in a way, like when you’re having a wonderful time and just want this moment to continue forever. Saying goodbye to this series felt like saying goodbye to a good friend. It’s a bittersweet feeling.

Last thing I want to say is that this show did a phenomenal job in utilizing colors in each story and did great with the characters‘ styling choices. The uses of symbolisms were great as well and the op song is super catchy and never fails to put me in a good mood!

My very subjective rating of 10/10 for the enjoyment I got!

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Varying quality but enjoyable all around

1) Pretend Lovers (Ohm/Fluke)

This one, unfortunately, felt like a half-formed thought. I was confused about the direction this was going and the ending didn’t help either. At first I thought it’s about Pierce falling out of love with Typhoon bc a chunk of the story alluded to that through music, Pierce’ lack of attention towards his bf, as well as the actual title of the story.
He even corrected Mark that Typhoon was his “brother” even though he could’ve easily told him that Typhoon was his lover.

In the end I wasn’t sure if that was really the case though bc Pierce chased Typhoon and tried to talk to him to clear the air. After Typhoon got emotional, he suggested for them to take a break but kissed him right after Typhoon said he didn’t want to break up.

Im still not sure what was going on in Pierce’ head. The start of the episode alluded to him falling out of love but the end alluded to him still being in love with Typhoon. What is going on with this direction? Lol
Is it about people realizing they need to part ways or is it about the changes in couple-dynamic when one starts a working life of an adult?

The acting was good and I’m always ecstatic when I see settings other than universities in a BL but I can’t give this more than 6 stars. The direction of the theme needed to be clearer.
6/10


2) Just Friend (Ja/First)

Well now, that was just strange. It could’ve been a cute idea but ended up being highly disturbing.
They could’ve at least added a bit of magical realism to make the audience wonder if Moojoom became an actual human being but instead the episode never missed an opportunity to remind us that Moonjoom is, in fact, an actual cat. And there was definitely some implied romantic tone to it. There’s just something very disturbing about an owner seeing their pet as a hot human being.
And the only reason a girl was introduced, was to make Ja tell her that he’d rather prefer cuddling with his cat than spending time with her.
As an asexual person, I would prefer cuddling with my cat to...almost anything lol
But this scene made me a bit uncomfortable bc it felt like Ja was refusing her bc he realized he had feelings for his pet??

Firsts acting as a cat was very cringey. It takes very high skill level to believably portray an animal. First simply wasn’t up to the challenge. Either him or the director thought that it’d probably be enough to “act cute” to succeessfully portray a cat but it’s not. None of his moves felt “cat-like”. He rather came across as a spoiled child instead of a cat. And what was with the decision to mix his human language with some random meows?? Why couldn’t he just speak human language, when he was perceived as human and meow when he was perceived as a cat? So strange.
2/10


3) Willing or Not (Max/Nat)

Nothing special but enjoyable nonetheless. It barely had any story and heavily relied on the chemistry between Max and Nat and some humor sprinkled in between. But It worked for me bc the chemistry was strong and I did enjoy the comic-like humor. I’m a fan of Max and Nats goofy acting style.
7/10

4) Just One Life (Yoon/Talay)

This is probably my favorite episode. It was light-hearted and heart-warming and I liked the colors in this one. The story was simple but executed very nicely. The ending might’ve felt a little rushed but not overly so. The tone reminded me just a little of yyy, just less crazy. The chemistry was there and I like Yoon and Talays unique acting style!
9/10


5) Dear My Star (Jimmy/Tommy)

Had the best pacing out of all the stories. As a 90ies kid I loved all the nostalgic feelings it brought back. Very well executed, very atmospheric. I wouldn’t call Jimmy and Tommy the best of actors but they did a decent job and overall I really liked it.
9/10

6). Imagine You. (Kim/Cop)

An unusual premise with some light yet unexplained sci-fi elements.
It was an intriguing plot and the unexplained elements didn’t really bother me.
I was positively surprised with Copters acting in this short! I always felt like he was a little too wooden in 2Moons and Gen Y but in this one he did a pretty good job!
8/10

Overall I really liked this anthology and that’s mainly bc the themes and tones of these stories were so different from the usual BL stuff that we get. It was short but very refreshing. I hope the BL industry decided to expand more into such different settings and premises

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Typical. But funny and enjoyable

I expected FUTS to be rather mediocre but ended up positively surprised. It wasn’t anything earth-shattering but it was better than the average Thai BL. The story was a typical university-setting but with some nice and surprisingly enjoyable moments.

I liked Pi a lot. He was a well-written and well-acted character (Phuwin did a great job). He had depth and his concerns and anxieties were legitimate and believable. His insecurities had a reason to be and the way he explained them made sense. As someone who was bullied in school I could definitely relate. Mork on the other hand didn’t have as much depth and was written as a rather typically perfect fantasy-boyfriend. I wish they’d given him some palpable faults but alas, haha. I still liked him though. All in all, their story wasn’t anything special but I still enjoyed it a lot.

For me, the show absolutely nailed the comedy. The comedic timing was great and the series had a lot of lovable characters (Duean and his crazy gang of friends!) I savored every second Duean was on screen and especially his screen time with Pi. Their brotherly shenanigans and relationship was great! It felt very natural and their family actually seemed like a real family. When the eldest brother came home and they had dinner and afterwards talked in their room. I loved those scenes. Oh and how could I forget Meen? Such a breath of fresh air! He had a unique personality that meshed well with Dueans. He was cute but bold, seemed a little shy but also confident. Truly a wonderful character!

I can’t say much about Pi and Morks relationship bc it wasn’t really anything special. It was cute but the drama was predictable in a way. What I did like was the fact that Mork wasn’t the only one trying to kiss Pi. Pi openly expressed his desire to kiss Mork too and that was so nice! I’m a little tired of all these “typical uke/mia” characters who never want to kiss their partners, even after they’ve been together for years lol.
I want to say that the show did surprise me when it decided to put some serious drama into episode 8. Usually you see Thai BL overburdening their last two episodes with all the crazy drama and ruining the pacing in the process ;)
I was actually excited to seem them correctly build up the drama and let it have time to resolve itself in a natural, non-forced way. What I didn’t expect though, was that they straight up ruined it by introducing another big (and unnecessary) drama in the last 35 minutes of the final episode lol It was a very strange move bc that specific conflict didn’t make sense and needed to be resolved pretty forcefully, not giving it enough time to ebb down naturally.
Not to mention that I really thought we were slowly getting past the trend of villainizing female characters in BL but I guess not -_-

I was also pretty annoyed by the inclusion of super crazy fujoshis/fudanshis. They weren’t really necessary for the story and were mainly used as comedic relief in a story that already has plenty of good comedy (come on, we have Duean and the gang!) Not to mention that I personally didn’t really find their scenes that funny. At this point Fujoshi and femme gay or trans people have become a synonym for a personality trait. I hope this changes soon.

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Overall well- made but not without issues

I personally am of the opinion that Day shouldn’t have regained his eyesight bc, as some people have already pointed out, it not only doesn’t add anything to the story but actively takes away from it.

I was actually positively surprised when Day didn’t regain his sight when he received the first eye donation. It brought more weight and depth to the story bc before the surgery, even when he slowly started to get used to the situation with Morks help, Day still lived with the hope that one day he will become “normal” and will be able to see again.

The fact that the surgery didn’t work was an important story point and a huge milestone for Day’s character development. After that, Day needed to come to terms with the fact that his blindness will (most likely) remain permanent and that forced him to let go of the hope of regaining his previous way of living and forced him to accept a new one.
An end of something is simultaneously a beginning of something else and the story made a wonderful example of it. After the unsuccessful surgery Day slowly started actively dealing with the situation and ultimately embracing his new way of living. He started seeing himself as part of the society, albeit a bit different from most people, and he still wanted to participate in life as actively as other people do. This was a huge deal for his character development and he managed to do all that by the end of the series so why was it necessary for him to regain his sight? It wasn’t. It didn’t bring anything new to the table and actively undermined the message of the story, which I find quite sad tbh.

When it comes to the romance, I liked it overall but I wish they gave the characters a bit more time before Mork confessed. The whole relationship build-up felt a bit awkward bc at first it seemed like the both of them started to slowly like each other around the same time (kind of). We see Mork starting to become more aware of Day and the same could be said about Day ( the “goodnight” moment etc) but the show suddenly decided to blindside it’s audience with Days confession towards August. Still, till then I was still on board with it, even after Day told Mork that the latter wasn’t his type, but then they got together pretty quickly after that and it felt slightly off. The show should’ve given them about one or two more episodes to develop Days feelings more before he accepted Morks confession.

The break up felt quite forced too. It makes sense that Rungs death would weight heavily on Mork but if that was supposed to be a big deal and part of the break- up reason the story should’ve incorporated the plot point way sooner and not quite so randomly. The worst part of it all is that we don’t even get to see Mork getting to terms with the situation.
There is a 3 year time skip and suddenly we are supposed to believe that he has dealt with it now and therefore is super happy and heathy and ready for a new start. It doesn’t work like that though.
These issues need to be explained and dealt with properly - by actively showing the audience how a character gets over it. You can’t just invoke a time skip and announce that everything is in the past. It’s called “Show, don’t tell” and not the other way around for a reason. Overall the last two episodes were ridiculous but the rest was good and the topic was unique and important so I’m giving it a high rating.

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