Should be watched at least once

I've known about this series since the first teasers arrived on YouTube. What the trailers promised me was a story about the actual world of BL series made in Thailand: the work behind the scenes, the way the novels are written and published, the relationship between the audience and the creators, and even the harsh truth about the industry. While I do like BL series and I watched multiple shows, I'm not part of the fandom and I can't say that I know much about it, so I was looking forward to this series especially as an eye-opener for what do the actors, the writers and more in general the people in the industry have to go through.

In the end, I got exactly what I was expecting: a cute story that also showed the multiple facets of the BL series that I love so much. From this point of view, this might be considered a flaw: there was nothing about this story that caught me by surprise or that I didn't expect to happen. It was satisfying to watch and a cute story for sure, but I'm afraid that I can't praise much else about the story. A couple of things were left without a clear ending in the end, but I haven't read the novel, so I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt and I'll just assume that there wasn't the chance to show everything properly in just 12 episodes. There's little angst and lots of fluff, which is something that I personally love, but there's also enough conflicts to make the story interesting.
The acting was VERY good, and so was the characterization. The characters have their own multiple facets and I can't think of a single character that was left with a one-dimensional personality. The chemistry between the two main characters was especially good: at no point of the series I felt like there was the tiniest bit of awkwardness in their moments together. Most of all, I was impressed by the acting from the rest of the cast: perhaps I'm too used to be let down when it comes to secondary roles, but everyone did a great job and I felt completely immersed in the story whenever I watched a new episode.

In conclusion, while I wouldn't call this the best BL ever or a favorite, it's definitely a good series that deserves to be watched at least once. I enjoyed myself while watching and it was interesting to watch a show that doesn't follow one of the usual plotlines that have been used so many times in other BL series.

Citeste mai mult

A failed slice-of-life

This series revolves around a group of friends and follows their growth across different stages in their lives, from childhood to adulthood. There are multiple plotlines for each main character, two of which I assume are supposed to be the main ones.

I want to stress that I believe that the ideas for the series are actually very interesting. I really wanted to see how would Gun and Golf's relationship develop after being semi-anonymous pen pals for so long, I was curious about what happened in NoName's past that led him to almost entirely stop talking, I was curious to watch Nan's character development after getting to know Chompoo, and I was even curious to see what choices would Champ make in his life and how would that affect the relationship with his family. There was a lot to show, a lot to unpack, and to be honest I was even ready to shed some tears.
As you might have guessed by the overall rate I gave this series, I was very disappointed. I could complain about every single thing that I found annoying about it, but to be entirely honest, watching this series was tiring enough and I don't have the extra energy needed to navigate all the details that got on my nerves.

What I believe is the main and fatal flaw of this series is that it's supposed to be a slice-of-life, but it wasn't treated as one. There are no major plotlines, we simply follow the lives of these kids/boys/men, so to compensate the lack of an interesting plot, there should be more characterization, more character introspection. The feelings should be vivid and intense, I should be able to empathize with the characters, feel sad when they're sad and happy when they're happy. Unfortunately this was not the case with Remember Me: all the characters are awfully bland, their feelings seem non-existent, and the only reason why I can understand how they feel at certain moments is because they actually explain it out loud. The dialogues describe their (supposed) inner turmoils, their hopes and their dreams, while the actual scenes and the acting barely say anything at all.
The inclusion of some little details that hinted at the year the characters were in was a nice idea, but it was executed poorly, with characters going out of their way to stress that a certain thing was trendy or that a certain event was happening, even when it had little to nothing to do with the story - they oddly reminded me of the usual product placements I saw in other Thai series. The time skips every now and then were also very confusing, and they were also not used properly: it often felt like the characters actually skipped from a certain date to another and their lives just didn't exist in that timespan.
As a result, the series felt awfully long and slow, with no real plot and no solid characters to make things interesting. Since I believe that the actors weren't bad, I have to assume that this is all bad writing and bad directing.
The music was very annoying as well, with the same 3-4 tracks being played depending on the situation. Also, I'm not sure if this was just a Viki problem or what, but the audio mixing was pretty awful: sometimes the dialogues were too quiet and the music too loud, and there were even moments when the voices couldn't be heard or were out of sync.
While the wigs did represent more or less what haircuts were fashionable during certain years, they were not even remotely believable and broke my immersion every time I saw them. They weren't even necessary in my eyes since there were multiple characters with modern hairstyles in the same scenes.

I don't recommend this series because while the ideas are good, they were executed so badly that it was frustrating to watch.

Citeste mai mult

Somewhat cute, but it felt empty

Like many others, I started watching because there were some actors that I really enjoy watching in other series (Gun, Off, Singto and Krist). Just like I was expecting, the acting was VERY good and the emotions were well-portrayed in every scene.
What I felt was lacking spark was the plot itself. There isn't anything big going on for most of the series and even the little tropes sprinkled in don't do much to make it more lively. For the most part I kept watching for the main actors, but after a while I struggled to finish because of how monotonous the story was. I'm usually a big fan of fluffy stories; I manage to enjoy them even when they are predictable for the simple fact that they bring me comfort. This time around it simply didn't happen, and while there were some moments that caught my interest every now and then, by the end I was forcing myself to finish.
I believe it's a pity, because the potential for an interesting plot was there (maybe by making the characters interact more with each other, beyond their respective phobias? Or by creating good foundations for the "climax" of the series, which fell on us completely out of the blue and only managed to confuse me instead of making the show more interesting?). It can be a good series for someone who is looking for something light to watch, but that's it.

Citeste mai mult

Cute, but it should have been shorter

I never read the original Japanese manga and I never watched the anime either. I did watch the Japanese drama and I remember enjoying it a lot for multiple reasons (and it encouraged me to give this Thai adaptation a chance), but it was three years ago and I've forgotten too much about it to make any kind of comparison. This review will be solely about this Thai series.

The first six episodes were the most enjoyable for me. The characters and the plot were introduced nicely and without too much confusion, the events and the introspective bits found their place and most importantly their pace. From episode 7 to the last, I had the distinct feeling that the story was already over, and I was simply watching "bonus" episodes. The plot for each episode seemed to be crafted more to fill an empty space, rather than to tell a story: the development and resolution of many aspects of the characters felt rushed and unsatisfying, when they didn't feel irrelevant.

I felt like Achi and Karan got the best treatment out of all the characters. I appreciated the portrayal of what seems to be a very healthy relationship - one where the needs and the problems are openly discussed without staying quiet about it for the sake of "not being a burden" for too long. Achi's development was steady during the first episodes, then started going much faster than I thought it would, which is a pity. As for Karan, as charming as he was, I didn't feel like he changed at all compared to the beginning.
The secondary couples felt very bland in comparison. Jinta and Min's moments felt too comedic for me to see their interactions as romantic - if anything, the second-hand embarrassment I got from Jinta's antics forced me to fast forward their scenes multiple times. Pai and Rock were even worse as a couple somehow, it really felt like they were turned in a pair for no reason other than to make the episodes longer.

If I had to choose, I'd say I liked it, but I wouldn't put this among the best BLs out there. I can recommend it to anyone who is craving a story that isn't too angsty or demanding.

Citeste mai mult

I couldn't suspend my disbelief any further

When I opened this MDL page I read in the comments that there will be no second season, which is awful since it leaves this drama without a proper ending - not even for its own season. The last episode ends with a cliffhanger, so we will never know what was supposed to happen to any character, even the protagonists. I was very tempted to lower my rating when I read the news, but I guess I'm feeling generous.

The story is about Su Yu and Wu Bi, two high-schoolers who come from very different environments (Su Yu lives with his father in a poor neighborhood, Wu Bi lives a comfortable life with his rich father), but end up in the same classroom and gradually become best friends thanks to a series of coincidences. Little do they know that Su Yu's mother, who abandoned him after divorcing from his father six years prior, just got married to Wu Bi's father, who had been a widower for a few years.
The initial tangle of different relationships between the characters was very interesting to follow and actually made me more and more interested in everyone, even the secondary characters. The resolution of the first main conflict between Su Yu and Wu Bi, however, led the story to a less interesting and much more annoying part: one full with misunderstandings and lack of communication between the main characters. After that, the plot got a lot slower and fluffier, with cute and touching moments between the two main leads and also lots of "fanservice" moments. There were some events here and there to make the plot more lively, but for some reason everything felt much slower and I had trouble getting through the second part of the drama in particular. I also had to suspend my disbelief in multiple occasions, because the abilities of certain characters and the convenience of certain elements of the plot were just too much for me to take them seriously. I could have ignored it if it was just one thing or two, but there were too many times I rolled my eyes at the screen.

The main highlight of this drama are the two main characters. I felt like Su Yu and Wu Bi's feelings were truly genuine and that was great to watch. I know that this was an adaptation from a BL novel and that the love story had to be censored, but the production team managed to include lots of lines, gazes and moments that were just ambiguous enough to make it in the final version of the episodes. The main theme of the story was the idea of "family", in theory, but to be entirely honest I couldn't feel much of a bond between the characters other than between the two protagonists.
The secondary characters did an okay job, with some shining and others not so much. The parents of Su Yu and Wu Bi definitely had a better treatment as their characters got explored.

The production felt a little lacking. I am not aware of how much budget did they have, but there were multiple times when I just thought "oh, I guess they couldn't afford doing this thing properly?" and similar.
The OST seems to be made of two songs that are played at least once per episode, sometimes at moments that didn't fit the mood of the scene at all. To be entirely honest, sometimes I wished they didn't use music at all.

Overall I can't say that I'm entirely unsatisfied, because I felt like the relationship between Su Yu and Wu Bi developing and getting stronger and stronger across the episodes was definitely worth my time. However, considering that this drama is not finished, I'm not sure I want to recommend this to anyone. If you like bromance and you don't mind an open (VERY open) ending, go ahead.

Citeste mai mult

Stayed for the main couple

First of all, here's a recommendation: make sure to find good subtitles for this series. When I tried to watch the first episode with English subtitles, they were so bad that I seriously considered dropping the show altogether. I was lucky enough to find good subtitles in my native language, but if I hadn't, I don't think I would have watched anything past the second episode. Also, the first two episodes are very slow and the pace only picks up from the third episode, so that wouldn't have helped either.

The plot of the story is not very convincing. There are good tropes that could have made the story interesting, but all of them felt very superficial and inconsistent: some elements were introduced and then forgotten, some others stayed for the entire story but never felt as crucial as they were probably meant to be (like the rivalry between Dorm 2 and Dorm 3, which kept being brought up and then suddenly forgotten at every turn). I was under the impression that the writers came up with different ideas, then were indecisive about which one they could pick, and finally chose to include all of them. I felt like I was being swept left and right by the plot and its constant changes in direction, so after a while I just stopped questioning anything that was happening in the story, and focused on the romance.
The story of each couple isn't much less confusing than the overarching plot, but the chemistry of the main pair made up for it. Ai and Songkhram have to be one of the most adorable on-screen couples I've seen and all their moments together had me glued to the screen; the development of their relationship was also pretty good despite everything. The secondary couples didn't get the same care, unfortunately: I feel like Pipe and Meen could have shown much more, but the pacing was off and their story ended up feeling unsatisfying to me. As for Pluster and Nano, they didn't really have any sort of subplot of their own to begin with - either that or it was just so insignificant that it didn't even catch my eye.

Overall, I'm sure I will remember this series just because of Ai and Songkhram and not much else. I only recommend watching as long as you don't have high expectations for the story.

Citeste mai mult

Good enough...?

I started watching with no expectations other than "I'm probably going to hate this one", but after watching 20 episodes I can say that I actually enjoyed myself. There are also some things that I found really annoying about it as well, but I wouldn't say they ruined my experience entirely. I'll list what I didn't like first.
- The worldbuilding isn't very solid and it shows on multiple occasions. The magic systems of Daeho are never properly explained, which allows a lot of freedom for the writers to get creative with the events, but also lots of plot holes. There were multiple moments when I thought "wait, they could do that all along?!", and also moments when I wondered why didn't certain characters do anything.
- For a show that is supposed to be based on magical swordmasters, there's not many fights overall, especially for the main characters. It's even worse if we consider that the FMC is supposed to be one of the most powerful mages in the country AND an infamous assassin.
- The introspection of the characters was pretty awful. I could have ignored this if it was just for the secondary roles, but Naksu/Mu Deok herself is never explored as a character all that much. Since she's a protagonist I was expecting better for her.
- Some of the interesting ideas that were introduced during the first episodes were never used later on. One of them is the idea of the Four Seasons mages: I was looking forward to see them shine each in their own way, or at least to see an interesting synergy between the four of them in some fight, but none of that happened. It made me wonder why they got that introduction in the first place.
- The female characters are, for the most part, all imprisoned in the same old stereotypical roles. I was looking forward to see some beautifully written female characters, but they all resulted pretty flat. Mu Deok herself wasn't properly explored even though she's the main character, but she's also the only female character who is an actual swordswoman. Jin Cho Yeon's sole personality trait is her wish to be a wife, Kim Do Ju is just a parental figure, and I'm still trying to understand what was Heo Yoon Ok's reason to be in the story at all. So Yi seemed kind of interesting, but she got so little time on the screen that even her story turned out unsatisfying.
- I'm SO TIRED of love triangles, seriously. They weren't necessary at all. I'm starting to think that the writers include them in the plot just to get on everyone's nerves.
- I'm not mentioning anything specific here so that I don't spoil anything, but the resolution of many sides of the story were very unsatisfying in the end. I felt like some characters were given greatly important roles for no real reason, and also that some other crucial situations of the story got resolved very quickly and quietly. The last two episodes in particular felt extremely rushed compared to the rest.

On the other hand, there were multiple things that I liked.
- First of all, the themes of the story were portrayed pretty well: the struggle for power and for survival, life-or-death situation, the will to sacrifice something important in exchange for something else that is just as important... all these themes keep coming back in multiple situations of different characters and they were pretty consistent.
- The idea of a dangerous mage being stuck in a weak body and the son of a powerful mage who can't use his powers needing to team up was VERY compelling. The dynamic between the two of them was also amazing, with Mu Deok being a very strict, even cruel master and Jang Uk being a talented but also terribly spoiled disciple. They made a great duo and also complemented each other very well. I would have loved them even without their feelings being remotely romantic - I believe they worked just fine together as master and disciple. The way Jang Uk managed to develop his skills over time was also very entertaining, making me root for him all the way.
- Mu Deok is a merciless assassin, but she's also smart and good at acting as a certain role. The way she switched between being a meek and pandering servant to a strict and firm master was fascinating, I always looked forward to see her on the screen.
- The dynamics between other characters were also very good and endearing. The friendship between Jang Uk, Seo Yul, and Park Dang Gu was lovely to see in their interactions, and the tenderness between Park Jin and Kim Do Ju was another favorite of mine (along with their bickering). Jang Uk and Go Won were also a duo I didn't expect to love as much as I do.
- I believe that every single actor was chosen perfectly, really. Everyone did amazing. Jo Jae Yoon was the perfect antagonist, charismatic and scary at the same time. Props to Jung So Min as well for being amazing in her role, despite how difficult it was.
- Last but not least, this drama is visually amazing. The sets, the props, the costumes, and even the styling of the characters is varied and always beautiful. I really appreciated how characters had both long and short haircuts, even with different colors and accessories, instead of the usual period drama styles that can be seen everywhere else. I want to shake hands with whoever decided to give Yoo Joon Sang a beard: I kept thinking how handsome he looked every time he was on the screen.

My conclusion is that, while it's not a perfect drama nor a masterpiece in any way, it was a fun watch. If sword magic is your thing, you will have fun - if not, you might not find anything worth your time here. I'm looking forward to see if the second part of the story makes me change my opinion.

Citeste mai mult

Enjoyed it way more than I expected to

I went in being fully aware of what was I going to watch, but it was still hard trying not to laugh the entire time.

The story is pretty simple: two guys are an arranged couple. One of them, Mint, is new in the business and not very popular, so he was matched with Pink in hopes of getting a popularity boost. However, while Pink is very popular when he's alone, he gets ignored when he's with Mint. The two of them end up jobless, which leads Pink to hold a grudge against Mint for this.
Shortly after they meet Black, who lost his job after being involved in an accident.
There, now imagine Mint as a box of melon-flavored biscuits, Pink as a box of chocolate-flavored biscuits, and Black as a box of digestive biscuits. It reminded me a lot of when I was a child and used to assign personalities and habits to certain objects, including food, which is what probably makes this so endearing to me.
I can't lie, at the beginning I thought it was just too silly, but it's actually a silly concept that was taken very seriously, which I really appreciate. The dialogues are especially good and it's even more fun when there are multiple readings for them.
The atmosphere of the story resembles a lot a theatre play, specifically a musical, and I really enjoyed the songs a lot. I expected to be weirded out or bored, but the singers are all amazing and they chose the perfect melodies for different moments of the story.

It's about 20 minutes long and it's worth every second. Go watch it if you haven't yet!

Citeste mai mult

Pretty and quiet

I believe this short film deserves at least one watch. It's a coming-of-age story about a boy, Yi Jie, who slowly comes to some realizations about his feelings toward his girlfriend Pei Xuan and his art teacher Cheng Qi.
I don't recommend watching if you're looking for an exciting plot, because this short focuses for the most part on the feelings of the characters. Rather than looking for events, it's important to pay close attention to the reactions of the characters to certain things and the dynamics they have with each other. The acting is pretty good and the camera work is interesting as well - I was able to understand what was going on without being spoonfed the entire picture.
The tone is a little bittersweet, as it usually is with coming out stories about high schoolers, but I didn't mind at all. The 100 apples idea was actually pretty cute and made the ending sweeter to me.

Citeste mai mult

Full of flaws, but somehow still enjoyable...?

Like I said in the title, this series is full of flaws. I don't believe it would be fair to pretend there isn't any: stiff acting, slow pacing (and slow dialogues!), plenty of overused tropes, plotlines that were introduced but never developed, and even the English subtitles on the official episodes on YouTube being pretty awful.
The reason I'm giving this series such a high score is that, despite all of this, I was still able to finish all the episodes without much trouble, and even enjoyed myself. So, for a change, I also want to list the things that I appreciated in the series, just in case you have nothing better to watch and you're looking for reasons to give this show a try.

- The couple dynamic isn't overly polarized. It might look like the typical combination of rich+caring and childish+innocent, but it's not exactly like that. Sure, Ai IS rich and takes care of Nhai in many ways, but Nhai is an actual adult with a few childish traits and not just a baby in an adult body. It's shown multiple times in the show that he can make his own mind about things, that he can be equally as romantic and loving to Ai, and that he can be determined enough not to let other people walk all over him.
- The group of friends of Nhai and Ai is one of the best I've ever seen in a Thai series. They get a good amount of screen time, and while their side couples were not explored much, they are fleshed out well enough and they don't just function as a convenient "frame" for Ai and Nhai's love story. Most importantly, they are NOT ditched after Ai and Nhai become a couple and the characters hang out together throughout the entire story.
- The parents of both Ai and Nhai are pretty cool and fun (with an important exception, iykyk). I also heard that the two actors interpreting Ai's father are an actual couple in real life, so it was fun to see queer people representing queer characters.
- The story is fluffy and romantic. It might have felt slow at times, but I was just so endeared with all the cute moments I could watch here.
- The lives of the characters are explored enough to show some clear likes and dislikes, and they weren't another instance of a show revolving entirely on two guys kissing or anything like that.
- While there were some typical tropes here and there, there was also a significant lack of annoying tropes that are way too popular, such as: miscommunication, unnecessary angst, break-ups for the sake of the other person, and stuff like that.

This being said, I understand that this show is not for everyone, and probably not even for most people, so watch at your own risk. All I know is that I had fun watching, and wouldn't mind watching again sometime either.

Citeste mai mult

Beautifully intense

I found out that this drama exists because of a list of enemies-to-lovers BL recommendations, and went to dig up the episodes out of curiosity despite not being a huge fan of the trope.
Turns out, this is a beautiful coming of age story. The acting is perfect and the OST never felt out of place; if anything, it made every scene better. The camera work was also quite interesting to see, making the whole series a delight for the eyes.
I gave it a low rewatch value for two reasons: the first one is that the pacing of the story is quite slow, which means that while it might make every emotion more intense and tangible along the way, it can also get very frustrating if you already know what comes next. The second reason is more personal: there's a lot of pain and tears in this story, and while conflict is necessary for an interesting plot, it's not my cup of tea, so I might be hesitant to pick this series up again in the future unless I forgot what happens in the story.
Overall, I strongly recommend watching this series. It raises the bar for all the BL dramas out there, and I hope that it will motivate the industry to put more effort and artistry in their BL works in the future.

Citeste mai mult

Was ready to hate it, ended up loving it.

I saw the mild/bad review scores before watching, and was fully prepared to be disappointed, but I guess there are some factors that make me the ideal audience for this series:
- Despite watching SO MANY series set in university and seeing similar tropes here and there, I'm not tired of them and I'm still willing to give them a chance.
- There have been a few titles in the past that I had to drop because they bored me. This one is absolutely NOT one of them. I didn't have to put any effort in finishing all the episodes either, I just played them one after another without being able to start anything else.
- The flaws of the characters didn't make them insufferable for me. I ended up finding them endearing and more real instead.
- I happen to like stories that have more fluff going on. No unnecessary tragedy in the family, no random violence, no silly attempts at sounding edgy or adult just to make a love story more interesting.
- I don't care about actors stripping and grinding on each other as they make out to make their love more believable. (Hint: if you think that passionate kisses on camera are called "chemistry", then you don't know what chemistry means in the first place. Also, if the characters need to kiss to make you understand that they're in love, then it's a very badly written story.)
- The secondary characters weren't fleshed out as much as the ones in other series (there wasn't time for any subplot, so putting more work in personalities without exploring them would have been pointless I think), but they did their job just fine and I never felt like they were filling gaps or anything like that.
- As much as the misunderstandings and the lack of communication were annoying, they somehow got me even more invested in the series, and the ending turned out to feel even more rewarding than I was expecting it to be.

This series is now among my favorite BLs. It feels sweet and comforting in a special way, and now it has a special place in my heart. I really hope I'll get to see Dunk and Joong in other projects in the future.

Citeste mai mult

Very painful romance but I have no regrets

I was hesitant about picking up this one because I had heard that there was lots of drama and angst in the story, but I saw it being recommended too many times (and I saw Bai Lu being praised all around A LOT), so I had to watch it and make an opinion for myself.

The story is about Tantai Jin, the demon lord who is destined to bring chaos to the world, and Li Susu, the immortal who witnesses the destruction brought by Tantai Jin and travels 500 years back in time to prevent his rise to power. What Li Susu doesn't expect is to be reincarnated as Tantai Jin's wife, and Tantai Jin to be a mortal who is hated and mistreated by everyone. Just like that, Ye Xiwu's plan becomes more complicated: she has to find a way to neutralize Tantai Jin's evil core, but she also needs to make sure he doesn't die in the meantime.
The story flows very nicely. There is a lot going on, but the pace is not too fast and it allows to follow all the events well without getting confused, all without ever needing to slow down too much. There's also a very good balance between the dramatic plot elements and the more fun, romantic, and fluffy ones, which was a huge relief to me.
The cast was amazing all around, with very likeable characters and great villains as well. I was impressed by the ML the most for his performance as Tantai Jin: he was able to portray a very complex character, managing to show warmth and coldness as needed without it ever feeling unnatural. I've seen a good amount of anti-hero protagonists, but this is one of the few who were actually unsettling to me, in the best way possible!

The quality of the production was very high, with special effects that never looked out of place nor overdone. The OST also matches the core moments of the drama and enhances them very well.

I can't lie, the story made me suffer a lot. There's lots of moments that made my heart ache for the characters, and after almost 40 episodes I was starting to feel a little tired from all the heartbreaks I had to watch. Despite this, I enjoyed this story and its characters a lot, and I can easily recommend it to any fan of the Xianxia genre.

Citeste mai mult

Warm, touching depiction of pining

Yes, I'm aware that this drama is about two childhood friends slowly discovering new feelings they have for each other and coming to terms with the changes in their relationship, which is something that has been shown multiple times in other stories as well. With this high score I'm not trying to say that this drama is revolutionary, groud-breaking, or anything like that. All I can say is that it was touching, warm, and just so lovely to watch.

Yamato and Kakeru are two childhood friends who are also very different from each other. Yamato is smart, good in all the school subjects and in pretty much anything he attempts to do, conventionally attractive (based on the number of times girls are shown fawning about him), and also very shy and introverted, with Kakeru as his only true friend at the beginning of the story. On the other hand, Kakeru is really not good as school and doesn't seem to excell at anything at all, which causes him to have lots of problems with his self-esteem, but he's also kind and thoughtful, and very good at making friends and getting along with people. It's instantly obvious how fond Yamato is of Kakeru and their friendship, but Kakeru is also blatantly proud of Yamato and somewhat protective of him. Their dynamic was absolutely endearing, I can already see myself going back to certain episodes to rewatch their moments together.
I was afraid that the story could feel too slow, or like it wasn't developing properly, but in the end I was actually satisfied: the two of them don't resolve their problems and conflicts in a heartbeat, that's for sure, but they don't waste their (and our) time with excessive overthinking, and the blossoming of their romance is steady and well-paced. I also appreciated the fact that while there is a certain amount of angsty feelings, it never gets too heavy, and there's a quite satisfying amount of fluffiness as well.
The secondary characters weren't explored all that much and they were there basically as tools for the main characters' story to go forward, but this is a short drama (only 8 episodes of about 20 minutes each), so I wasn't expecting much to begin with and I can't say that I'm unsatisfied with this. If anything, I appreciated the fact that Hosaka seemed to have his personal BGM every time he had an important scene for himself.

I didn't feel like giving a 10 to this drama because, in my opinion, Yamato and Kakeru deserved an even better depiction of two best friends, but that's just my personal preference. Overall, I absolutely recommend it to whoever is in the mood for a simple drama about high-school romance!

Citeste mai mult

They completely won me over!

I heard nothing but good things about Unintentional Love Story, so I was really looking forward to watch it and make my own opinion about it. I'm not going to lie: I was also a little bit skeptical about it for some reason, and ready to look for flaws that would make me dislike this drama at least in part.
As you might have guessed by the overall rate I chose, Unintentional Love Story ended up winning me over, and became one of the best Korean BLs I've ever watched.

The story starts off with multiple circumstances involving the main characters, Ji Wonyoung and Yoon Taejoon, that need to be kept in mind in order to make the watch more enjoyable. This is not the kind of drama that one can watch while half-asleep or unable to keep track of the plot details being revealed little by little in the story, you've been warned!
If I had to pick one recurring theme for this story, I'd say it's about freedom, in particular the need to break free from what hold people back in life. At the beginning Ji Wonyoung finds himself being swept away by situations and people much bigger and powerful than him, so he ends up acting against his own morals. At the same time, Yoon Taejoon is trapped by an intense feeling of loss and betrayal that made him unable to truly trust anyone around him. Not much is revealed in detail about these two protagonists, yet their interactions on screen and the way they slowly start taking space in each other's life and adapting to one another is a wonder for the eyes. I also really liked how they indirectly made the other people in their life change as well.
The pacing of the story was just perfect: I felt like the characters took the perfect amount of time to get to know each other and build up their chemistry, and the obstacles they found along the way were all reasonable. Even when things looked bad for their romance, I didn't feel frustrated nor annoyed at anyone's decision or train of thoughts a single time, precisely because the characterization AND the writing of the drama were so perfect - something that even dramas with the highest budget get wrong sometimes.
The two couples were very good and I really liked how different their respective dynamics were. Neither of them were a "passionate making out moments" kind of couple (if you're looking for steamy kisses and love scenes, this is not for you!), but they were both very cute. Wonyoung and Taejoon especially made a very warm and romantic couple; the secondary couple wasn't shown enough for me to make a clear opinion about it, but I've heard that a spin-off about them will be coming soon and I'm curious to see how they will do there.

In conclusion, I consider this a must-watch for any BL fan, and I also strongly recommend it to whoever wants to watch a nice romantic drama in general. Each episode lasts about 35 minutes, so it's about 6 hours overall - not too demanding at all, so dive in if you have the chance!

Citeste mai mult