My first BL series ever

This was the show that introduced me to BL, and I kind of regret that I chose this one first because I feel like nothing will ever be as good. I've watched this series twice now. The first time I watched it, I loved everything about it, but I didn't know this site existed to talk about it or to read other people talking about it.

Since that first time, I've watched a pretty big handful of other popular BLs, and this one is still my favorite, and is the only one to have gotten a 10/10 rating overall so far.

This series ended so perfectly, that I actually don't want there to be a second season. I'd love a special episode, but I'd be scared that a second season might change the magic this series brought into my life.

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Starts off slow and builds into an amazing story

I wasn't sold on the first two episodes like many people seem to be. But I stuck it out, and I'm so glad I did because this is such a beautiful story, and honestly is probably close to the top of my list of favorite kdramas.

This show made me cry a lot, and I honestly love when that happens. The cast did such a great job in each of their roles, and I believed every emotion they were trying to convey, even from the children. It usually takes me a long time to get through dramas because my attention span isn't that great, but I got through this whole series in just two weeks, which is the fastest I've ever watched anything because I just couldn't stop thinking about this show and I wanted to do nothing but watch it as soon as I was home and able to. I already want to go back and rewatch it

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Unlikable characters and unsatisfying ending

I hated a lot of things about this.

Carrie? Awful. She didn't care about anyone but herself and she was a truly terrible friend to Jonathan.

Shane? Awful, but he was just doing his best. At least I thought so until the weird sex scene that came out of nowhere. Why did he do that? Did he have feelings for Jonathan or was he doing that to keep him from leaving?

Jonathan? He deserved better than what both the other characters put him through emotionally.

The ending? Awful. Where is the closure? It ended without actually knowing where Shane stands or knowing his motives for certain things he did. Is he picking Carrie? Is he picking Jonathan? Does he get to keep them both? Does he lose one? We just don't know and that made the entire experience of the movie a waste of time because nothing actually mattered and nothing is resolved.

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Lives up to the hype

I don't know how I managed it, but I went into this with no spoilers other than knowing that everyone I know cried when they watched this. I kept thinking to myself "Oh, is this supposed to e the sad part? This doesn't seem so bad."

First I thought it was the mixup thing. Then I thought it was when the two girls fought. Then I thought it was the train station farewell. Then I thought it was when the emails stopped. Then I thought it was the exhibition. Then I thought it was the brother explaining everything. With each moment, I kept thinking that's the moment my friends had to have been talking about, and I couldn't understand why they were so upset.

Then she put that damn VHS in the VCR. Even when it started, I immediately went "Ahhh it's gotta be this!" and was still confused because I wasn't getting the sadness or tears that I was promised.

And then that last minute hit. Literally just the last minute of this 2 hour long movie. That's all it took to break my heart and leave me in sobbing shambles.

Kudos to the team that created this move and their choices with the pacing, because I have never been caught so off guard while knowing I was in for a sad ending before.

And kudos to this cast for getting me so invested in the storyline in such a limited about of time. I've watched full 20+ episode dramas that haven't had me nearly as attached to characters as this movie did. Wow.

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What a fun ride

I wasn't too sure when I first started this. I found Seri to be incredibly unlikable in the beginning, and I felt the North Korean characters were very out of character for what I would expect their military officers to act like. But I powered through the first few episodes, and just like everyone else, I managed to fall in love with everyone and was hoping it was going to have the happiest of endings.

I've read in other forums that there's some disagreements on if this has a happy ending or not, but I feel like it's the happiest that it could have been given the circumstances. While I stand firm that this isn't a realistic story by any means, I think this is the most realistic ending the characters could have gotten.

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What a roller coaster

I went into this knowing absolutely nothing other than the fact it has won numerous awards and received a lot of praise. The plot changes quite a bit throughout this film. The first third gives the impression that this is a con artist movie, the second third gives the impression that this is a high stakes thriller with way too many secrets to keep track of, and then by the end it becomes almost like a horror movie slasher. It's not that I disliked any part of this film, but the whiplash I got as we jumped from one plot to another was quite jarring. I spent a lot of the last half of the movie saying "That wouldn't have happened if they would have just...." which took away from my enjoyment a bit. The ending seemed quite random to me, and it left me feeling a bit empty inside, but not the way I prefer when it comes to media usually.

This wasn't a bad film, but I highly doubt I will ever watch it again unless I'm with someone watching it for the first time because I want to see how they react.

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Short films aren't really my thing

Short films aren't really my thing. I always want more than what I get, and this was no different. I love EarthMix, but I've seen them do better in other projects. The kiss scene was abysmal, and I've seen them kiss in other shows where it looked pretty natural, so I'm not sure why it was so weird in this one. I know the plot called for a certain reaction, but it still wasn't acted out very well imo. Maybe it was the director, I don't really know. For 12 minutes, and a music video, it's cute and short enough to give it a quick watch. But I doubt I will ever think of this again after I click that submit review button

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Was not expecting this to go the way it did

I had know knowledge of the story this is based on, so I went into this 100% blind. When I started this, I was so into it and thought it was going to be one of those found family sort of tropes. And that's exactly what I got in the first 4 episodes. The first 4 episodes lulled me into a sense of comfort and I really enjoyed seeing the friendships build in between all the violence.

Then the last 4 episodes happened, and completely shattered that sense of comfort and my heart right along with it. Everything the first 4 episodes gave me was taken away by the last 4 episodes. It was heartbreaking seeing how quick Beomseok changed into a completely different person. And the result of that was absolutely devastating. This show was a huge rollercoaster, and I loved every second of it. (I have a thing for shows that make me sad and break my heart, and this did a great job of that)

I don't know if the next season will appeal to me as much with all new characters, but I know it follows the source material a bit more, since this was just a flashback to lead into the actual story.

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Fun quick watch!

This was a quick show to fill my afternoon with. Each episode is only about 15 minutes, so it's really easy to binge all at once, which is exactly what I did. This is probably the first BL I've watched where I've been invested in all the relationships. Usually there's always one that I feel the urge to skip when they're on screen, but that wasn't the case here. I loved each of these characters equally and loved every bit of screen time I could get with any of them. When it comes to plot, there's honestly very little, but I think that's kind of the charm of the show. It was short, sweet, and not too dramatic in ways that would be pointless. I wish there were more episodes though because I want to see more of these relationships. I'll definitely be watching this again in the future

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Knowing how it ends still didn't prepare me

I went into this already knowing the ending, and I'm really grateful for that. I knew the end was coming, but I was still caught off guard by Nuer's death and how little resolution there was. It ends with a promise that Porsche won't eve love someone else, and while that may be romantic to some, I find it to be one of the saddest endings to a story I've ever seen. Not just in BL, but in any story I've ever been invested in in my life. I can't imagine how sad I would have been if I didn't know the ending before hand. I'm glad I was able to prepare myself for what was coming.

If I can pretend the last 15 minutes or so didn't happen, this would be a pretty perfect show. I think it was sweet to see the way Porsche and Nuer's relationship grew, but more so I loved seeing the parents play such a big role. No other BLs (that I've seen so far anyway) have spent so much time focusing on the parents coming to terms with their children's sexuality, and I think it was a pretty realistic portrayal on both sides.

I also really enjoyed the conversations about how being gay isn't a choice. That's also something that doesn't get talked about in BLs. Most of the time, the characters like girls until they happen to like each other, and that's just how things are with no greater discussion, so it was nice to see this show in particular take a more serious note in that aspect. For just 4 episodes, it was a really beautiful journey to be in, I just wish it had a different ending.

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Basically no BL content compared to other Thai shows I've watched, but honestly the plot was cute and it was an easy 6 episodes to get through. Emma annoyed me at times, but I never found her to be unbearable, and I was rooting for her and Porsche from the beginning.

Pick and Rome didn't get much screen time since they weren't the main couple, but I hope that changes with the next season I don't feel like we really know them as single characters or a couple, so I'd like to see more of that going forward.

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Better than I expected

I came into this fresh from watching Addicted. Considering how that show went, I didn't have high hopes for this one but I was actually pleasantly surprised. American shows don't show many gay storylines, so I'm used to reading subtext and filling in the blanks when it comes to characters that I believe would be a couple if they just had different writers. So watching this really wasn't much of a different experience from what I usually watch anyway. It was very apparent to me that Xia Xao and Yuan Zong were a couple pretty early on. It's easy to tell which moments were leading to something we weren't going to see on camera. I was able to find a translated version of the book, and though I haven't finished it yet, it seems like everything matches up pretty nicely minus the intimate scenes the show cut out.

I found this to be quite enjoyable for what is was. I knew going into this that it was mostly an implied relationship, and it was implied much heavier than I was expecting it to be, so I'm counting this as a win.

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I was actually really surprised by this show. I knew about the ban going into this, and considering how strict the laws were, I wasn't really expecting a lot of intimate moments between the two main characters. So it surprised me that there were actually a few kisses and some allusions to them going even further.

I loved the first 10 episodes. The prank war had me giggling so much every episode, and the progression of the relationship seemed so organic and it was so much fun to watch. Things got kinda weird from episode 11 onwards though. There were definitely some non-con moments, but honestly I've learned by now it's kind of a common trope in BL, so I'm not unreasonably bothered by it. (Not sure what that really says about me as a person, but that's neither here nor there). But things seemed pretty choppy as far as the timeline goes. We don't really get to see Bai Luo Yin come around to Gu Hai. One moment he's completely against being anything more than friends (or step brothers) and the next moment he's teasing him, then against it again, then kissing him, and it was kind of confusing to me.

I think this show would have been better suited to 45 minute episode instead of 20 minute ones, but that's just a personal preference I have. I also hate that this ended on a cliffhanger I'll never know the conclusion to. Hopefully I can find a translated version of the book somewhere to get the answers I'm looking for.

I'm sure I'll rewatch this again in the future, but I'm not itching to do so nearly as much as some of the other BLs I've loved.

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