Competently made though unexceptional

This BL follows a tried-and-tested formula in many ways: one-sided love on the part of an awkward unpopular guy for a popular guy, that is until it turns out to be anything but one-sided. The production values are, nevertheless, rather high. The scenes are beautifully shot, and there are no scenes that feel unnecessary or digressive.

Hira, being the awkward, stuttering guy who is bullied by others, is the character one sympathizes with first. Yet, it may be hard to understand his obsession with Kiyoi, who is one of those who order him about in school even if he is somewhat more reasonable than others. Is this some sort of Stockholm-Syndrome romance? He supposedly falls in love with Kiyoi because Kiyoi saves him from embarrassment, but Kiyoi does not even do so intentionally--he saves Hira simply by walking into the class and grabbing everyone's attention.

Kiyoi isn't the worst bully for sure, but his behavior towards Hira can be regarded as abusive too. But this is BL in which some borderline perverse sorts of relationships are par for the course. Even though we finally see things from his perspective in Episode 5, his behavior towards Hira isn't exactly very nice. Could he blame Hira for having no inkling that his love is not one-sided? In contrast, Hira's friend in college, Koyama, is such a sweetheart that one either wishes Hira would end up with him or that he would be able to find happiness. But I guess the equivalent of the second-male-lead syndrome in BLs is the third-male-lead syndrome.

The issue of romanticizing a somewhat abusive relationship aside, the series is nicely made. There are only six short episodes, but the storytelling does not feel rushed or inadequate. The young actors are surprisingly good in their roles too. It is worth a watch.

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Enjoyed it though some parts are unintentionally hilarious

There is a lot to love about this series.

First of all, I was surprised by how prominently the gay theme is foregrounded from the start. The story isn't entirely focused on the gay romance, the issue of homosexuality is central to the plot. I was thinking that the subject would be a minor issue, but it seems that the production has decided to take a risk by focusing on it throughout even when the story isn't dwelling on the romance. For a show that doesn't pander much to a BL fanbase, this is quite amazing.

Secondly, the bromance is wonderful. The close bond between Tian and his brother, Yang, was what made the series, which involves a lot of characters scheming and plotting against one another, more palatable. And while a lot of series featuring "bromance" make it borderline romance, in this case, the Tian and Yang are biological brothers, and there is no hint of possible romance at all. The sibling bond between them is pure and moving. I really love the scene in which Yang realises that Tian is gay and runs to him to hug him, half chiding himself for not understanding what Tian has been going through, half wanting to comfort Tian without revealing that he knows his secret.

As a bonus, the straight couple, Yang and Pin, is also cute.

Yet, some of the scenes and turns in the plot may leave one incredulous. A case in point is the scene in which Jiu was attacked by a group of people sent by Tian's father. The attackers (some of them anyway) had guns, but nonetheless fought with knives until they were about to lose. So far it is simply not very logical, but the next part is truly absurd. Another group of people do not want Jiu to be killed but do not want to clash with the attackers. So guess what? They spotted a couple of birds on a tree and somehow manage to catch the birds and send them flying into the hut to create chaos, so Jiu has a chance to escape.

Then in a plot twist that isn't exactly unexpected, a man who has been "killed" by poison turns up alive . . . because he has the antidote. Okaaaaay, but he was rendered unconscious by the poison and couldn't have taken the antidote--especially when the one who wants him dead dumps him in a body of water to drown him. No proper explanation is given for how he manages to stay alive apart from the fact that he has the antidote.

And the main villain in the show is ridiculously hard to kill. It's perhaps another soap opera thing, but it's quite funny how he could survive having a couple of fingers cut off, having a sharp object stabbed into his eye, being hit viciously with a stick several times (including on the head, I think) and getting knocked about by some drug that caused him to lose consciousness--all at the same time! I thought that the loss of blood while he's unconscious would kill him. But not. Not only does he survive the attack that takes place in the wilderness, but he also soon turns up at Tian's house (with his injuries already bandaged) with a few soldiers and go on a rampage despite all the injuries he has sustained.

Additionally, the portrayal of homosexuality may be somewhat controversial. It seems ridiculously easy for characters to guess that Tian is gay. Yang sees Tian helping Jiu, whose sleeve is stuck somewhere, by cutting Jiu's sleeve, and Yang can suddenly, with a few recollections of events in the past (like Tian pretending to be a female protagonist of the opera, Madam White Snake), surmise that Tian is gay. Is anyone suggesting that it's a sign of homosexuality if a kid who is into opera and pretends to be the female protagonist in an opera? By all appearances, Tian merely loves opera and isn't into crossdressing.

Although the series is flawed, I did find myself quite invested in the bromance and romance. Tian, Yang, Jiu and Pin are characters that one will care about enough to keep watching. However, do make sure that you can take soap opera plots and their levels of exaggeration.

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Cute, sweet and sometimes funny

There's nothing really exceptional here. The characters are lovable and cute even if often more like anime featuring human actors. There are a lot of exaggerated expressions, but I think this is the style of the production--it's not necessarily a flaw in itself, but whether one likes it or not is another matter.

There is some supposed crisis about Yanase's career that I don't entirely get. I think it is written in just for the sake of having a stumbling block to Yanase and Kaneda's relationship. In the last couple of episodes, the couple meets again after parting for one year because Yanase goes overseas for work, but it seems strange that they don't even seem to have contacted each other in the course of the year and become awkward with each other. It seems as though the writer knows how absurd this is given how easy it is to communicate without meeting nowadays, and they have one character commenting that the two of them have been so busy improving themselves that they haven't contacted each other. (Really?)

While the plot is far from perfect, I find myself liking this BL production a lot. The characters are cute and the love between them is so pure, and in a way, that's what I happen to want to see from time to time for a dose of escapism.

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Compelling plot, but the characters could have been more interesting

The Long Night is a sequel (or sorts) to Burning Ice--it features the policeman Yan Liang solving a different case. The story of The Long Night is set a few years after the story of Burning Ice. Nevertheless, Yan Liang is a much more charismatic character in Burning Ice. While Liao Fan does a decent job of portraying Yan Liang, there isn't really any depth or nuance to the character. The character who is the most interesting in The Long Night turns out to be Jiang Yang, and Johnny's Bai's performance is impressive in this series. (It's not the first time I've watched a series with Johnny Bai, but I could hardly recognize him in this one at first.)

Unfortunately, the characters in The Long Night are generally not portrayed with much complexity or nuance, and I think this isn't really because of the acting but because of the writing. At times, the series even feels almost like a sort of propaganda for the police force and legal system of China, with barely disguised motherhood statements about them. (Perhaps this is obligatory, given that there is at least one corrupt policeman in the series?)

This series really stands out in terms of its compelling story, with twists that are interesting without being over-the-top. What seems to be a simple case of murder at first turns out to be an elaborate last-ditch attempt to expose crimes committed by powerful individuals who have managed to cover up their crimes by silencing those investigating them and destroying practically every bit of evidence that is found against them.

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A decent follow-up that perhaps tries too hard in some ways

This sequel to Tientsin Mystic isn't as good as the first season despite an obvious attempt to rev things up.

I found the casting change a little hard to get used to: the most important character in the series, Guo De You, is played by a different actor in Season 2. To be fair, Kingscar Jin who plays the character in Tientsin Mystic 2, has done quite a competent job. However, he gives rather different vibes compared to Li Xian who plays the character in Season 1. Whether it is intentional or not, the roguish side of Guo De You is amplified a little too much by Jin. In contrast, Li Xian's interpretation of the character in Season 1 juggles the playful, righteous and sentimental sides of the character with more nuance.

I must say, however, that the actors who play the villains (some better hidden than others) in Season 2 are very compelling. They steal the show from the main characters in many ways. The actor who plays the governor (not really a key villain) is particularly good with the part, exuding a subtly sinister aura even when he is at his most harmless.

The storytelling in Tientsin Mystic 2, however, is not as good as in Season 1. The story itself is actually quite interesting, but it seems to have been worked into a climax early on without any denouement in sight. (It's like bringing water to a boil only to leave it boiling for the long time before finally using the water for its intended purpose.) I also found the tensions between Guo De You and Ding Mao that crops up in some parts rather unnecessary. The same goes for the tensions between Ding Mao and Xiao Lan Lan, his girlfriend. At times, it feels like the writers are clumsily creating tension for the same of doing so.

Another flaw of Season 2 is how it emphasizes the "scientific" explanations of all the occurrences even if the explanations seem rather labored (such as the explanations for Guo De You's ability to use smoke to trigger visions that help him investigate crimes and for how he loses this ability). Season 1 has a more touch-and-go approach to this, making it easy to ignore "explanations" that stretch the limits of credulity. Season 2, on the other hand, takes itself too curious.

Tientsin Mystic 2 is bound to alienate some fans of the first season. It is watchable, but it does lose some of the charms of the first season.

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This is the best part of the three EN of Love series despite having the thinnest plot, but it has only 3 episodes instead of the usual 4. It was apparently shortened due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The cast for the main characters and the couple dynamics are the cutest amongst the three parts, but there is no chance to really develop it into a better story. If you watch BL simply for couple cuteness and sweet boy-boy flirting moments, this is good enough. Both the actors and the characters are cute, and the acting is reasonably good even if the actors aren't really challenged.

There are potential points of tension in the story such as the objections of Param's brother to the relationship that aren't really developed further. I'm actually not sure if the span of one episode would have been enough to develop This is Love Story into something better, so I won't solely blame the pandemic for it. Overall, it feels like there is barely any plot development (let alone climax), and we just see: 1. boy meets boy, 2. boys fall in love. It feels like the story has just started and then it ends.

I think the series could have been really good if someone could continue the story and make Episodes 4-8 or even 4-12. (The EN of Love trilogy is based on a novel which I haven't read, so I'm not sure how much more of a story there is in the book.) It is theoretically possible to continue with another 5-10 episodes and turn This is Love Story into a nice story without changing the first three episodes at all. It is such a pity because Param and Nuea make a very likable couple. (I wouldn't mind seeing the same actors in more BLs too.)

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Surprisingly good mini series with some bromance

This is an example of a mini-series (a series with super short episodes) done mostly right. For some reason, most parts do not feel too hurried. The main weakness of many mini series is the pacing and erratic storytelling, and while Decline isn't entirely spared from it, I'm surprised by the plot development and character backstories.

I don't what the relationship between the two main characters is like in the novel, but I would classify it as bromance in the series. I was wondering whether to describe it as censored BL, but I think it is a case where we are left to imagine things if we want to but there isn't really that much BL innuendo. Sui Han Bai realizes that Su Chengxi is someone he has known since his childhood days quite early on although Su, who has lost his memory does not realize it till much later. We see Sui's devotion to Su when he blocks an arrow shot at Su with his own body and even in his semi-conscious state, calls for Su to stay safe.

The story unfortunately does seem incomplete, but to its credit, the series does have at least a tentative happy ending for the main characters and does not end with a silly cliffhanger when there may never be a Season 2. There is potential for a Season 2, but Season 1 at least ends satisfactorily.

Despite the synopsis, I think the series shows more promise if it is marketed as bromance rather than mystery/detective series because it thrives on our interest in the characters, and the mystery aspect leaves too much unaddressed.

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Be patient with this one

It is easy to give up on Home School halfway through. After all, we may not really care much about most of the characters at the start. The teachers at Home School are either cold or creepy (often both, actually). And the students can be pretty unlikable too. But I guess the creators took a bit of a gamble here. The characters do become more interesting and likable apart from the one who turns out to be the main villain of the series.

It is unfortunately very easy to be frustrated with the series if you start off with the assumption that Home School and its teachers are part of an unrevealed dark conspiracy. This is because of the ambivalent way in which they are portrayed. They seem every bit like the bad guys who have tricked parents into enrolling their children in a school that ends up abusing the children and cut off the children's contact with the outside world. However, some of the "lessons" the teachers try to teach seem to have values even though the teaching methods are highly unconventional and manipulative to say the least. There were times when I was left incredulous, thinking that the writers have made the teachers laughable villains. At times, the teachers seem to place emphasis on conventionally good things like love and trust for one another; at other times, they seem to be cruelly teaching the students about the ugliness of the world. The ambivalence in the portrayal of the school does, however, have a purpose. There are early hints about this and it becomes increasingly clear to us--the school has not always been what we think it is like.

To be honest, the ethicality of the tactics employed by Home School to educate the young people remain questionable all the way even though a twist in the story makes us focus more on the main villain or the mastermind behind the villainy. Regardless of what Home School aims to do, I can imagine how emotionally scarring it can be for a young person to go through the school, especially for someone like Pennhung who appears to be a character with unspecified special needs. This is one of the weaknesses of the story, making the plot twists less convincing than they could have been.

At times, I also wished that the writers had written in more interesting lessons. Some of them are just too predictable. Take for example the game in which the students are made to play a musical-chairs game. They are told to find a place to sit down before the music stops--the number of chairs keep decreasing, but those who fail to find a place to sit down will be punished. Of course, it turns out that the students did not have to sit on a chair. They could literally sit anywhere. In another game, they students are made to play a game in which they have to identify the lizard, who can order anyone of them around. Of course none of the students turns out to be the lizard. The atmosphere would be different if there had been more interesting "lessons" written into the script.

Despite the flaws of the series, there is enough in the series to keep me watching. The strong performance by many of the actors and the good story pacing contribute to making the series more watchable. There are holes here, but the story is quite good

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Even 2 suns can't heat this one up

Characters exist, characters inexplicably fall in love. And some possible, muddled ships. That's about it to this BL.

The storytelling is rather incoherent. Sun is sent to collect a debt from Athit--Sun is part of some debt collection company (it seems) and somehow Sun's own father engages the company's services, which sends Sun to collect the debt. (Weird.) And Sun is a debt collector who never manages to collect any debts--it is not clear why; it is not as though his colleagues have superior debt collection tactics, but I digress like the series keeps doing.

Anyway, it turns out that Athit does not even owe Sun's father anything. In fact, it's the other way round. So what purpose does it even serve to get Sun to collect a debt? Boun and Prem are the leads playing Athit and Sun respectively, and the acting is understandably weak because ... how are they supposed to act with such randomness? It is not like there's any nuance or depth of character to bring out.

Another couple, Ashing and Mangkorn, has an even thinner storyline (if you can call it one). It seems that Mangkorn is basically enslaved because of a debt his father owes (Ashing's father is the boss of the aforementioned debt collection agency). They don't get along well at first but suddenly fall in love.

Then there is an assortment of characters whose behaviors are often inexplicable. One vaguely sees some possible ships here and there, but everything ends up being quite confusing.

The storytelling style makes things worse. One quirk of this series is the use of flashbacks to show how what is happening in a scene happens to begin with. This style is most of the time purposeless and does not enhance our engagement or appreciation of the story.

The only really entertaining thing in this series is the ending. And I don't even mean the happy ending for the two couples. It's how the boyfriend of Athit's brother (a terrible person) is left stranded on an island, with everyone forgetting he's there. Initially, I thought that the careless scriptwriters simply did not realize that they had left him on the island. Perhaps they did, but it is funny how they made use of it at the end so generate some humor.

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Quite lovable, but one support character could have been fleshed out more

I love both the main couple and the side couple in this BL. I wonder, though, if it might be better to make the side couple the main couple instead.

The main couple, Tae Joon and Won Young, have a rather solid if predictable story. I think much of the credit goes to the development of Tae Joon's character. I can understand how he has trust issues after being betrayed by his ex-boyfriend, so I can empathize with him when he finds it very difficult to simply forgive and make up with Won Young after he finds out that Won Young has been originally tasked to try to persuade him to come out of hiding and exhibit his works. Won Young is, on the other hand, also in a predicament we can sympathize with--he is suspended from his job through no fault of his own and can be in serious debt (also not really his own fault) if he does not get back his job. (It's unfortunate that the series seems to neglect the serious problems Won Young is facing after the initial exposition. Some timely reminders would perhaps have been good.)

The side couple, Dong Hee and Ho Tae, are quite economically portrayed. There is so much potential for fleshing out Dong Hee's back story. From the start, we are given hints that Dong Hee is in love with Ho Tae, but when the latter (who keeps changing girlfriends) shows an interest in him, he refuses to accept the love. Dong Hee's main explanation is that Ho Tae is the son of his mother's friend, but one wonders why. This is revealed later in the series in a flashback with Dong Hee suffering from abuse from his parents because of his sexuality and Ho Tae's mother being the only one who comforts him. Why Dong Hee does not accept Ho Tae's courtship because of Ho Tae's mother is less clear. Is he afraid that Ho Tae's mother might blame him if she is unable to accept it if her own son is gay--and she is someone he owes something to? Has he internalized homophobia in some way and thinks that Ho Tae and his family will be better of if Ho Tae goes on dating women? In some ways, Dong Hee can make for a more compelling main character than Tae Joon. The abuse he has suffered and the years of quiet one-sided love for Ho Tae make him the most emotionally complex character in the series. If only he were a more fleshed out side character or the main character!

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I confess to bingeing this one, but it isn't really great

My first response to this series was: "Another tyrannical-boss-and-quirky-subordinate story?" The story relies on several familiar tropes, including a disapproving mother towards the end. Nonetheless, I did find it fairly watchable. It is rather stress-free watching because we more or less know how the story will develop and end. And the BL couple is fairly likable.

Be warned, however, that there are several poor transitional points. First of all, although we know that Xia Shangzhou (the tyrannical General Manager) takes a liking to his new secretary (Yao Shunyu), it strikes me as a little too sudden when Xia frantically rushes to the rescue of a kidnapped Yao. Clearly, there weren't enough scenes to show that Xia had already fallen so hard for Yao. Other poor transitions include Yao's own struggles with his own emotions. Yao goes through several stages:

1. he notices Xia's interest in him and freaks out;
2. he struggles with his own sexuality but eventually comes to terms with the fact that he is in love with a man;
3. he struggles with being uncertain if he is just a fling to Xia despite being in love with Xia and accepting it;
4. he realizes that Xia really loves him but decides not to accept Xia so that Xia can avoid being embroiled in a scandal.

Although things cannot possibly be entirely clear-cut, the shifts from one stage of Yao to another is a little too muddled to be truly moving.

Despite the flaws, I did enjoy some comic moments in the series. Unfortunately some of these moments also fall flat despite having potential. A case in point is when Yao is given the task of sabotaging Xia's blind date (arranged by Xia's mother). Somehow, Yao ends up buying a whole lot of condoms, causing the woman who was arranged to go on a date with Xia to think that Xia is a pervert. (Erm.... excuse me, first, Yao shouts to Xia "You are mine" but the woman mistakenly thinks that he is speaking to her. Then the condoms fall out ... and the woman thinks Xia is a pervert even though all Xia does is to help Yao, who is slipping. ????)

Somehow another Taiwanese BL, Stay by My Side, is listed as Related Content in MDL. I'm not sure about the links, but Stay by My Side is overall much better. Despite the cliches and predictability, I think You Are Mine had the potential to be much better than it has turned out to be. It is somewhat enjoyable, but nowadays, there are probably better BLs to watch.

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Likable main couple, decent BL with significant flaws

The story of the main couple is fairly decent, with Sailom and Kanghan taking a familiar enemies-to-lovers route. There is some awkwardness in the transition though. Kanghan and his gang's bullying of Sailom and his friends is really malicious, but quite abruptly Kanghan saves Sailom from actual gang members while he's on a quest to intimidate him.

It may or may not be a good thing that the story can be a little unpredictable. Just when things get really serious, the plot takes a markedly light-hearted turn. Then just as things seem to be pretty light-hearted, the situations suddenly become serious again, such as when Saifah (Sailom's brother) is arrested for allegedly shooting Kanghan's father. Even the characters vacillate: we see Kanghan promising to stand by Sailom no matter what happens, and the next moment, we see Kanghan telling Sailom to leave because Saifah has confessed (falsely) to shooting Kanghan's father. He even makes a totally unwarranted remark about poor people to his grandmother. Then almost just as suddenly, Kanghan is helping Sailom again.

There are certainly commendable attempts to show the changes in Kanghan's character, but the explanations are not really compelling. It is true that he changes after his mother's death, but it does not seem convincing that the problems he faces would cause a reasonable person to become a nasty bully. Ultimately, the story seems torn between giving us BL fluff and dealing with more serious themes, and the two impulses are not juggled well.

One thing that is done quite nicely at first is the presentation of inequality in society. This is clearly represented in the uniforms worn by the students. The poorer students' uniforms look yellowed and washed out. Together with how even the authority figures in school blatantly favor the wealthy students when it is obvious that Kanghan, a wealthy student with an influential father, is viciously bullying others. Unfortunately, the issue of the rich-poor divide is not developed well in the course of the story. While the story starts off by pointing out the gross injustice that exists, it eventually glosses over things by presenting the wealthy characters as good people. In fact, problems are ultimately solved by the benevolent wealthy. Kanghan's grandmother intervenes when there is injustice in the school.

When Sailom is engaged as Kanghan's tutor by the latter's grandmother, it is not even just a matter of the wealthy helping to solve problems. Sailom is fired after Kanghan fails a subject despite showing improvement in his grades. I was hoping that it would be revealed that the grandmother can tell how much Kanghan cares about Sailom and has come up with a ploy to make him ask for Sailom to be his tutor again. However, there is no such revelation, which also makes the characterization of the grandmother a little uneven. It seems to show that the wealthy can ultimately be callous if they wish to. Kanghan manages to get his grandmother to let Sailom be his tutor again, and the debt that Sailom's family owes will be paid off if he manages to help Kanghan do well enough to get into the university. Perhaps unintentionally, this shows that the wealthy have the power to make or break the lives of the poor. There could have been some strong social critique here, but somehow things are glossed over. Eventually, the lives or Sailom and his brother are improved because of the benevolent wealthy. This is symbolized by how Kanghan's grandmother takes the trouble to get a medication for Saifah. (Yes, there's that unevenness in characterization. She is generally a reasonable and kind person, and the way she fires Sailom is off-character.)

I do like the series simply as BL. Apart from how Kanghan's bullying of Sailom is too over the top, the couple dynamics are actually great. However, the stories of other (potential) couples are underdeveloped. The series spends a fair bit of time showcasing the tension between Guy and Nawa and not enough time on their romance. A couple of flashback scenes in the last two episodes show how they noticed each other in the past but these flashbacks do not complement the hostility they show each other. There are also hints of romantic interest between Saifah and his friend, Name. However, Name only appears in the series when he is needed in the main plot, and there is barely any attempt to show their relationship further. Why bother with these other couples then?

I did enjoy this series, but it has some flaws that make it less than great.

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Engaging if you can bear with the shifts

I was expecting a fun/funny time-travel drama in which the protagonist accidentally gets transported from the modern world to the Tang Dynasty, Initially, the story went very much as expected, and this may or may not be a great thing. On the one hand, I do enjoy the time-travel part of the drama, with the protagonist using his modern knowledge to get his way around in the past. On the other hand, when things fall within expectations, there is hardly any surprise.

But the series comes with some surprises. And this may or may not be a good thing once again. For about half the series, we see the more innocent side of the main characters. The Crown Prince whom the protagonist meets is a reasonable and righteous person, and we have typical rom-com vibes with two couples. However, after we have gotten used to the general rom-com trajectory of the story and characterisation, the series takes a dark turn. It makes some of the important characters more nuanced and rounded, showing a more realistic picture of political figures. Yet, the viewer has not been watching a drama about political intrigue for about half the series, so the shift becomes hard to swallow.

On their own, the two parts of the series are quite well done and engaging. Nevertheless, it doesn't work out that well when put together. Then there is the rushed and clumsy ending with (spoiler coming .........) the protagonist sustaining a fatal injury, This part was unnecessary. To make matters worse, he is transported back to the modern world seemingly because of the fatal injury (apparently it is impossible for him to die in the past) ... and his physical injuries disappear when he finds himself back in the modern world. (??!!) And while he does not magically get dressed in Tang-dynasty dressing when he travels to the past, his Tang dressing and fake hair conveniently get replaced by modern clothes and his original hairstyle when he returns to the modern era. I was almost expecting the series to end with some silly "it was all a dream" nonsense.

There is an additional 5-minute segment for the finale that seems to have been released separately from the final episode. This is where we get a happy ending, with the protagonist time-traveling back (we don't know how) to the Tang Dynasty and reuniting with his lover. (Time travel gets rid of fatal injuries?)

The drama is overall an interesting watch, and there is a lot to like about it. However, I wish the story had been steered back from its darker turn, which will make it more coherent as a whole.

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Possibly intriguing premise marred by a silly twist

Perhaps I should start by spoiling the series because it can be quite confusing to talk about the series without spoilers, though spoilers might just show how messy it us instead of lessening the confusion.

The premise is fairly interesting: a cafe that grants a wish miserable people. Of course, as with all stories about wish-granting, you can expect something to go wrong with the wishes made.

It is heavily suggested (though not confirmed till later) that the woman in the cafe, who facilitates the wish-granting stuff, is the woman in the scenes where a young woman gets pregnant only to be ditched by her irresponsible boyfriend. It seems that after wishing for a better life for her son, she is stuck to granting wishes in the cafe. (Again, it is not clear why this would be so until the final episode because the other people having their wishes granted do not seem to have to replace her role in the cafe.)

One thing I didn't like about the woman in the cafe that mysteriously appears is how the woman (now much older than the time she is pregnant) gives an evil laughter and an evil smile. In a way, the cafe does not have to be a sinister thing. This seems like a cheap way of adding tension to the story. After all, the cafe is largely a neutral wish-granting entity, and it is not like it is deliberately causing things to go wrong after granting wishes.

Here's the biggest spoiler (if the series is not already "spoiled"): The main story has two parallel sets of characters that turn out to the be same set of characters at different stages of their lives. The series feels at first like many BL series that shifts from the story of one couple to the story of another despite the lack of any connection between them except that the characters are roughly in the same place. Nonetheless, for me, the series does give a sense that the two sets of characters are the same people--so much so that it tries to get us to think otherwise with a supermarket scene that seems to feature Ryou and Phathit (Patis?) in the place at the same time although they are supposed to be younger and older versions of themselves respectively. There is no reason for using a filming/editing style shows the younger version and older version of a character in the same scene, so it's probably there just to tell us a lie that Ryou and Phatit are different people.

To make matters worse, Phatit seems surprised when he finds out that his friend, Naphat, likes him. If Phatit is indeed Ryou, then he should not be surprised that Naphat is in love with him because the same friend confessed to him years ago.

OK, let's not care for a moment about the wishes or the plot "twist" revealing that the two sets of character are actually one and just think of the series as BL.

The story of Ryou and Mai isn't very special though it can be likable in many ways. The love triangle (Nack is in love with Ryou too) isn't very intriguing . Things don't get better when the love triangle turns out to be love square ... basically everyone is in love with Ryou: Mai, Nac, and their female friend, Dena.

The story of Phatit and Thana also isn't very special though it is a tad more realistic. They obviously love each other, but Thana has issues about being not good enough for Phatit whereas Phatit is so busy with his work as a doctor that he does not have enough time for Thana. However, I don't seem why Thana would hide from Phatit the fact that he has resigned from his job (partly to get the severance money to help his mother financially. Also, why would Thana cheat on Phatit with another guy (I think he is high on drugs, but even then, event feels forcefully written into the story.)

The wishes, though, screw up the story even more.

First, Thana's wish: he wishes for a job. Lol. I'm not sure how that would solve his problem since he has had a job previously and has been feeling (or has been made by others to feel) like Phatit is too perfect for him. Why not wish for status, wealth, equality, a life of happiness with Phatit, etc? (Perhaps we can have a Season 2 in which another plot twist reveals that they cake and beverage the characters have to eat before making the wish has the effect of lowering their intelligence drastically.)

Next, Nack's wish. He wishes he can kiss Ryou. LOL! He's not wishing that Ryou would love him back or if that doesn't sound ethical, how about wishing that he would not be in love with someone who does not love him back? Anyway, this guy only gets his wish granted many years later when Ryou is no longer Ryou but Phatit.

Then it's revealed that Phatit has also made a wish (when he is still Ryou). His wish is for Mai to love him wholeheartedly, and he gets it. But does Mai even not truly love him to begin with? Mai is under pressure to behave in a certain way and is in denial. Anyway, Mai, who is leaving for another province with his parents, suddenly goes back to Ryou after the wish is made. I think Ryou has more than what he has asked for because Mai can simply love him wholeheartedly and leave for another province.

And finally, the most bizarre wish of all is Dena's. Just what on earth is going on in her mind? It seems that she cannot wish for Ryou to love her (why not, if Ryou can wish for Mai to love him?) and so she wishes for the four of them in the love square to be remembered not as Ryou, Mai, Nack and Dena, but as Darin, Phatit, Thana, and Naphat. Wait, what???? Is she wishing to rename everyone? Is she, in some sinister and sadistic way, wishing to write everyone's fates? (The dark twist in her character, in the revelation that she is the one who locks Mai up in the locker room despite seeming like a supportive friend to all the other three characters is probably is most interesting twist. So maybe she is capable of something truly sinister.

Did someone manage to find the cafe in real life and make a wish to get away with making a BL series that does not make any sense?

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Fascinating in its individual parts, but frustrating to piece together as a whole

What starts off as somewhat conventional horror becomes a mixed-genre story that gets increasingly far-fetched. I can't decide whether to give credit to the creators of this series for daring to try something like that or to lambaste them for going more than a little too far in merging paranormal elements with parallel-universe concepts.

What I did enjoy a lot was the bit of BL in the story. I'm not just talking about the ambiguous relationship between the main characters, which may be interpreted as "bromance" of sorts but increasingly becomes like one of those censored BLs from China (where you kind of know that the characters are in love even though it's not said). There is really a BL couple fairly late in the series (Tum and Phone), and I'm glad that despite the loose threads and plot holes in the story, there is some effort to give closure to their story.

Some of the individual subplots are actually quite decent. Sometimes, the series even manages to inject palpable pathos into the characters, such as in the subplot involving Ton (played by Nanon). However, perhaps the writers should have kept the plot simple. When it tries to merge sci-fi, paranormal, mystery and horror, it turns out confusing rather than intriguing. At times, one feels like yelling at the scriptwriters: "Just tell us who these characters are already!" Who the hell are the different characters played by Gun Atthaphan: Dome, Chan, The One? And then we have characters dying and coming back to life ... because of some dark forces at work? ... because of "faith"??? (what faith could they have if they are dead?)

Interestingly, the series gets into all sorts of messy entanglements without being unwatchable. We can kind of follow that A, B, C, D and E and happening even though we can't really see A, B, C, D and E forming a coherent whole and even though we might find ourselves wonder how A, B, C, D and E can even be happening. The cliffhanger after the closing credits in Episode 10 also leaves one with the impression that there isn't a serious attempt to tell a coherent story. What we have is a weird pastiche of narrative devices that serve to bait viewers. This has sustained the series for 10 episodes, but is it sustainable for another season?

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