Here for PeteKao, stayed for SunMork

Kiss Me Again was a doozy to get through, but fortunately, I enjoyed everything about this series except Pete. He was a condescending, self-absorbed brat that was too wrapped up in his own reality to understand that his boyfriend is a human being and not his toy. Pete telling Kao not to tutor (the job he needed to help out his mom and sister) just because he was jealous of a CHILD is ridiculous. I don't care how stupidly hot Pete is, his actions were so unattractive.
I don't like how they went about developing Non. I really enjoyed him in the beginning; I actually shipped Non and Kao a lot more than I did Pete and Kao. Obviously, they weren't ever going to get together in any universal setting (cause everyone loves taynew), but still, I loved him until they turned Non into this overly-obsessed, vengeful-for-no-reason little brat. #justiceforNon2k21.
I'm not the type to cry at any series (no tears for UWMA or History: MODC. I'm weird.), but when it's a coming-out scene I will ALWAYS cry. Kao coming out to his mom was so breathtaking and so perfect and beautiful that I get teary-eyed just thinking about it. New and whoever played his mom did an amazing job.
Sun and Mork saved this series. Why do you think my overall score is so high? I don't know if it's because Pod is so shippable, or if it's because I'm in love with Gawin (most likely all of the above), but Sun and Mork are the best side BL couple EVER. It was fluffy, it was cute, it was captivating and I miss them. #bringbackgawinwherethefuckdidhego2k21.
The OST was a FUCKING BOP. I usually always skip the intro videos, but there was something so unskippable about this one. Loved it.

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Two cuties Falling in Love and They just Might Kiss...

Another one of the JBLs that just does it for me. Nothing jaw-dropping, nothing fresh and new, just a quaint little love story that put me at ease and in a good mood. Even If I Try to Fall in Love With You exemplifies the true meaning of catching feelings and going for it even when it might scare you.

Let's Dive In.

Oh, such a wonder little love story. Amane, who used to hooking up with older men due to his past trauma of coming out finds himself falling for the walking green flag that is Ryuji, his school classmate who works at his late father's restaurant. And eventually, through trial and error, through some awkwardness and being truthful, they end up happily ever after. This JBL is everything that I love about Japanese series: The plot, the dialogue, the inner monologue, the way they go about confessing -- it's put into such a perfect order that it's really hard not to enjoy it, even if the series isn't long.

The chemistry was off the charts. It detailed perfectly the awkwardness of dating for the first time and going about having a crush and someone you like at such a young age. Ryuji saw through Amane's mechanism of smiling and laughing as a way to shield himself from getting hurt, along with Amane noticing the hurt and exhaustion that Ryuji was experiencing because of the loss of his dad, and keeping up with a restaurant he has no passion for. I think what makes or breaks a couple for me is when they can notice details, they're usually very subtle, yet when it's noticed/called out, I get all gooey on the inside cause -- omg you're paying attention. But most importantly, I just loved them as they were. Amane, although being afraid of his past experiences, is right off the bat open about his sexuality and not afraid to be blunt and honest about what he's feeling, only afraid of the aftermath of his truthfulness. And of course, Ryuji is just a sweetheart, letting it be known that it's okay to feel what he's feeling, there to listen and to tease, and to care. They were just such a delight to watch and such a joy seeing them start off their relationship all giddy and clumsy-like. I only wish that I could see their relationship develop even more (omg when Ryuji asked to kiss him again?? Hello that was so stinking adorable??).

With how short this series was, I'm glad we didn't have any secondary plots or otherwise, this would've been messy and felt rushed. But with saying that, I do wish this had maybe 3-4 more episodes so we could have a more fully fleshed-out series, go more in-depth into their past lives, and maybe see them build that connection even more.

Ratings:

Story: 8.5/10 - Just pure fluff filling my screen. I would've liked it to be more fleshed out, but what we did get was still really good.

Acting: 9/10 - Both leads did a job well done! I loved how expressional Takato (Amane) was with this character.

Music: 6/10 - It wasn't distracting.

Recommendation Value: 10/10 - It's just pure fluff so I don't know anyone who wouldn't want to not watch this. So good, so pure, so lovely, and I'm going to miss them.

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Wowza

I kind of knew going into this, it was going to be way below mediocre, but Hotdog, was this a trash fire of bad acting, an even worse script, and a god-awful theme song (I mean seriously who in production allowed that??) Hit Bite Love is terrible, which is the main reason why I watched it cause sometimes I need to not think and just watch.

Let's Dive In.

There's not much to say. This series is horrible in all aspects, and if you're wanting to watch, watch it specifically because you want to watch garbage, because you want to have a good laugh, because you need background sound while doing homework, etc. Anything but actually take this series seriously.

I didn't realize how young some of the actors are. Especially with the subject of BDSM which plays a part in all relationships. Talking about BDSM, it's so laughable in this, but quite honestly, it utilizes BDSM more than I've seen other series involving BDSM do. It's cringey, it's very awkwardly quiet (even the music doesn't help), and I skipped most of it by the end.

The only couple I decently liked was King and Burger. I think they could've had a really cute series had it just been the two of them, a proper plot, and a longer runtime. They were giving me MSP vibes that I was kind of digging, but whoever was behind the script completely obliterates their cute little rom-com romance.

Ratings:

Story; 3/10 - the plot is cheap writing and even worse storytelling. Everything's a bit rushed, and there's so much happening (murder mystery..?) that it hurts my brain. I'll give the only two stars I feel like giving to King and Burger's plot. The other star is because it's so bad that it's almost entertaining.

Acting: 5/10 - The acting is bad, but it's not the worse aspect of this series, so it's not unwatchable. Jur (Burger) and Vic (Hida) actually seem to have some potential, they just need a better crew to back them up.

Music: 1/10 - Who the fuck green-lighted that theme song? They sound so excruciatingly terrible that I kind of wanted to cry for the boys that sang it. Cause now it's out for the world to hear and years later, if any of these actors are to grow in popularity, they will be made fun of for it until they die. I know they're already probably regretting it.

Recommendation Value: 1/10 - Again, watch for fun, turn your brain off, and have a good laugh. But don't watch for any reason other than that.

I think they teased a season 2??? Really??

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Not My Cup of Tea

I've never been the type to enjoy ghost love stories, but I feel like this one isn't necessarily the same thing, however, it still wasn't my cup of tea. I think the romance side of the story was way too fast-paced. The building-up was going well, and then they just went straight to it, and once you've passed the intimate stage, I usually lose interest because there's nothing else to be excited about. And that's exactly what happen and I just had no interest at all. I pretty much skipped a few episodes after episodes 4-5 and watched the last one fully. I think the ghost plot itself was nice, but as I said, it doesn't intrigue me very much. Seenam and Prim's story was very tragic, yet beautiful, but still wasn't enough to keep me interested. There were a few nice plot twists, and I think Seefoon is the cutest.

Ratings:

Story: 6.5/10 - the ghost story is nice, but the romance happened too quickly for me. Nothing was enough to keep me very inspired though.

Acting: 8/10 - Good! The cast all did a good job. A few "eh"s here and there but it was decent.

Music: 5/10 - don't remember but it wasn't distracting so that's good.

Rewatch value: 1/10 - No.

I can see why a lot of people enjoyed this. The main leads had very good chemistry, I just think it happened too quickly for me to be interested in the entire series. I wouldn't mind seeing them again. I personally don't recommend it, but if supernatural plots intrigue you, go for it.

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Lost

I must've been half asleep for this episode because I'm having a hard time remembering anything good I liked from this episode besides them being attractive.

Let's Dive In,

The guy was in love with his famous step-brother. Yay, we are once again romanticizing incest. God, I love BL.

Don’t ask me what happened in this episode cause I have zero knowledge. Meng Meng was a BL fan and was trying to deliberately get her best friend and his step-brother together. With her whole chest, she thought there was nothing wrong with shipping a brother and his step sibling. I just gave it a four cause I don’t know where my head was at during this episode, and I would go back to re-watch it, but I’m really not interested.

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Oh Lord

I feel bad for being just another review that skips the main story and jumps straight into the BL. But, sadly, I m another reviewer that is skipping the main story and jumping straight into the BL part of this series. don't get me wrong, I tried watching the actual series in hopes that I would turn out to like it more than I thought I would, but I couldn't get past the first episode. So I just skipped for Pete and Kao's parts. Ooops.

Let's dive in.

Production: I can't remember too much ( I watched this a while ago) but I do remember that there were a lot of ads stuck in the middle of the stories. It takes away so much of the characterization when half of their scenes is them promoting a company. Other than that, just your usual production.

Story: Obviously, I didn't watch the majority of the series, but from Pete and Kao's story, it was okay. Not a fan of enemies to lovers, and they had a lot to do with that. Not that I despise it, but the thought of your enemy falling in love with you never felt quite realistic to me.

Acting: Tay and New are incredible actors and I once again enjoyed them very much in this series.

COUPLES

Pete and Kao: 7/10

Like I said, not a fan of enemies to lovers, so Pete and Kao weren't my favorites, But I did enjoy watching them. Some of their scenes did come off as being super cringe, and at times I really felt like I should just turn it off completely, but I'm glad I didn't since their story carries over in DBK. Their relationship felt a little rushed, and they got together so fast. There was just such a weird switch in them hating each other and then loving each other.

FIRST KISS RATING: 1/10 - cringe-fest. No, accidental kisses are the death of me. I only accept Ae and Pete's.

RECOMMEND? No. Absolutely not. You can watch DBK without the need of watching this one, which is what I should've done, but oh well.

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Wasn't a Huge Fan

I guess I'll have to act as the anomaly here and say I wasn't a huge fan of this one. Not because I think it was bad, but just because I felt like I was constantly confused and had to look at comments to kind of get a sense of what was going on, or just to give a guest-ment and hope I was right. Nonetheless, the acting was stellar in this, including the overall concept that's unique to the genre and one that I can appreciate.

Let's Dive In.

This concept is absolutely genius. Myungha is stuck in a virtual reality game with stakes, and objectives, and missions in order to get Yeowoon, a stoic track athlete out of his slumps and make him happy. I loved the little pop-ups, the errors, the objectives, the countdowns, and whatnot. It's a very neat idea, drawing in on video game tropes, leaving Myungha with very high stakes, sometimes some that I myself was finding hard to choose. The conclusion that I've drawn up since the end of this series is that the male that Myungha kept talking to in the bar was some type of god or guardian angel, and by that time, Myungha had already died. When he wakes in this virtual world, he has a mission to achieve, but so does everybody else. From my observation, it seems that everyone in this universe has died in the real world and this entity has placed them in this virtual one to give them a sense of peace, which is why Myungha sees his grandmother who already died in the real world; the entity gave her another chance to be with her grandson that she missed dearly in this new world. Again, this is why this series is so creatively good, you can draw on so many ideas and analyses and none or all of them are necessarily wrong or right.

Now, this is why this series still kind of didn't hit the nail for me. It was very slow. It took me longer than I'm willing to admit to finish this 8-ep series, and that's because some episodes felt draggy and slow with nothing high-stake happening. By the end, it definitely picks up more, but first, you have to go through lots of filler and it's boring. Another reason is because I kept staying confused as to what was going on. Multiple times I'd have to pause to come here to remember names, read in the comments what was happening and how we'd somehow gotten to this conclusion. On top of that, the editing was extremely choppy at times. Like one moment Myungha was crying and looking devastated and in a split second he's in a different location looking completely fine in some car with some lady. It was whiplashing to say the least. Some of the character arcs aren't so clear. Like especially Sangwon who just became besties with them after bullying them?? I feel like I definitely missed something. Kyunghoon should've ended up with his online dude, or maybe even gotten with Sangwon, but whatever.

The acting in this is stellar! I'm not a fan of Myungha and Yeowoon's relationship, but that doesn't mean they didn't act their asses off. Individually, these two were so complex in every aspect, in backstory, and then their overall development. Myungha's story is tragic, and it might seem beautiful that he's in this new world, but to me, that also seems tragic and will always have that underlying "this is kind of sad" energy. Yeowoon smiles and I'm like, "Yes". What a gorgeous actor, who I hate comparing looks to other Korean entertainers, but my lord, did he look like TXT's Soobin at some angles. When it comes to their relationship, there was a lot about it that just didn't a hundred percent work with me. The chemistry was weak, perhaps not as bad in the beginning, but for sure once Yeowoon starts being fond of him. They really did look more like good friends than two people together -- I liked that Myungha got comfortable around Yeowoon, but it didn't look like it was much more than that. The kisses weren't as bad as I was expecting, but still pretty bad.

Ratings:

Story: 8/10 - Great creativity! Loved the inclusion of lots of aspects in this. I think at times it was confusing and a little slow, but nonetheless, really entertaining.

Acting: 9/10: Great! Taevin (Myungha) did amazing, with everyone else falling immediately after.

Music: 6/10: Didn't pay attention to it, but it wasn't distracting.

Recommendation Value: 7.5/10: I think the concept is really cool, but the BL part of this is lacking for me, so it's not the first K-BL I'd recommend, but it's not the last either. But both actors are beautiful, so I actually might recommend this to you earlier.

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Great Story

I really enjoyed this! A very nice, very laid-back BL you can finish in less than a day that has mild stakes and some very handsome leads. Although I Love You, And You was a great little BL gem of 2024.

Let's Dive In.

A love at first sight trope? Oh I'm seated. Obsessed with Soga, the adorable little working man who recently got divorced but is still so happy go lucky. He meets Sakae whose very outgoing and energetic, and wallah, you have a previous little couple. The stakes aren't very high, and this seriously is just a very precious, very short BL love story.

The chemistry between the leads is good! It works because Sakae is so head-over-heels and Soga is super sweet and just go-with-the-flow who ends up feeling the same way. Their on-screen romance isn't anything crazy, I just think these two actors know how to act and they did it to the best of their ability. Some dead fish kisses, and some fade-to-black NC scenes, but I liked the connotations behind them, so I won't complain too much. Other than that, I think they navigated their relationship in a very clumsy, very awkward, very delicate way -- all in which I absolutely loved.

Couldn't get enough of the close friendship between Sakae and his friend, so enjoyed that they spoke openly to one another and they felt comfortable. All the women in this played such great people instead of being jealous and conniving. The ex-boyfriend was a bit of a hinderance, and the only real argument I have is that I wish Sakae would've really but his foot down with him and actually kick him out instead of being stand-off, and especially letting him speak over him when it came to Soga trying to confess. The side characters didn't have much of their own story besides moving the main plot along, which isn't bad since this series is only 10 episodes around 23 minutes long.

Ratings:

Story: 8/10 - very simple, yet very catchy. You won't get bored with the story, it's engaging since the leads are always together, and their build-up is so good. Some parts or eh, but most of it is good.

Acting: 9/10 - Jun did an incredible job as the soft-spoken Soga. Kan is so young, but he did really well as playing the lead. Every one else did good.

Music: 6/10: didn't pay much attention to it, but it wasn't distracting.

Recommendation Value: 7/10: Super easy watch, super quick watch, and it's a nice happily ever after. Not super plot heavy and the characters aren't very complex but if you're looking for a nice little love story, then you can find it here.

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OffGun Does Cute Well ... Obviously

There was no doubt in my mind when starting the first episode that Off and Gun were going to give exactly what I wanted: sweet, sexy, and silly -- all of the Ss! What a cute little series, packed with some great comedy and some lovely characters. However, for me, something doesn't entirely click.

Let's Dive In.

For starters, this series felt entirely like Off and Gun instead of their characters. So much to the point where I don't even remember their characters' names outside of their nicknames. If I'm not mistaken, I read somewhere how this was a series Off and Gun created themselves, which is maybe why it feel so offputting. The acting isn't bad per say -- because they can act, obviously, and there are scenes that they do great emotionally in, but something in their acting didn't reach for me. It might be because they're so comfortable with one another that they start acting like themselves instead of how their characters would act. Either way, this is kind of my only argument, that it feels disingenious somewhere in the middle. However, that doesn't mean I don't love seeing these vets do their thing on screen, and of course, I was still smiling all big and happy.

So going frrm there, I'll try leaning into the relationship of Doc and Chef outside of the actors. The first few episodes sold me. I was absolutely in love with the concept of this, something not original, but such a spin with having a culinary student and another working on becoming a doctor instead of the typical majors BL supplies us with. Chef is very endearing, going for a goal that isn't all that easy to reach while still providing for his family. This is how he gets into this situation in the first place, with needing Doc's money to help his sister out. Doc is silly, he has an edge to him when it comes to his father and stepmother, but yet we see such a precious side around his friends and Chef. Their build-up is great, and their executions in other scenes set their tone perfectly, except, I was bewildered by some of the bad kissing. I'm going to assume this is more of a director's choice, but their first kiss and a few more throughout the series were just -- really bad. Others were great, just like how you'd imagine OffGun to kiss. Closer to the end, their relationship kind of plateaus for me. it's no longer exciting in the sense of Chef and Doc, and more so, again, just Off and Gun. Their individual stories capture how they come about now as adults, but there are some scenes that seem nonsensical, like Doc's dad having a nurse that was identical to his mom, which they could've played more on like being his mom's twin sister, or maybe his dad is crazy and cloned her or something. That just felt very too circumstantial. Another was Doc punching the celebrity chef guy, which yes, he deserved, but in such an environment like that one, pulling Chef away and giving a stern talking to would've been enough too. There are some others, but overall, they are good stories.

Moving onto the secondary couple, Firefly and Dynamite. So in love with their dynamic. Dynamite has this major crush on Firefly who saved him in a bullying accident, doing whatever he can to get this cute guy to notice him. In the beginning, it's a little zany how much Dynamite goes after him, especially without a backstory, which I think they should've shown earlier in the series so I didn't just think Dynamite was kooky for thinking someone is so handsome to the point where he liked them so much. Near the middle, it's when they get a lot closer, and a lot cuter. I like this aspect of their characters that pick and tease at one another and then can become so cheesy and in love the next. Their chemistry and build-up take a little bit to get there, but when it does, it's strong and very tensional. Firefly's whole problem is that he's too loyal to his strict mom, doing everything he can to please her even if it means he ignores his own feelings. This is given a resolution by the end, with Firefly's mom walking away, but then they give her a terrible redemption arc in the last episode, and it's like, okay whatever. Overall, I liked them in the beginning more than I did in the end, only because they didn't do physical very well, even with the couple of hugs and cheek kisses they gave one another. It threw off their connection to me when they did, and them not getting an actual kiss felt weird, but whatever. Aungpao did great for his very first GMMTV series. I liked his dynamic more with the trio, which is where part of this series does it for me.

Talking about the trio, they were golden. I loved when friend groups feel genuine, and you can see the different personality each of them bring to carry this heartful friendship. I loved Samsi, quite literally my favorite character to see. Such a loving guy, who just loved being around his friends, that felt heartbroken with their secrets, but in the end, knowing that they were always going to be there for him no matter what. He does comedy better than any of the other's did, except, there were some weight jokes thrown in there, which is normal for Thai BLs to do with bigger characters, but nonetheless, still pinching a nerve somewhere inside of me. I'm glad he gets his own partner, but my only argument with that is that he and Metha had built such a great enemies-to-lovers trope, so why not just have them get together?

The production value was great, with a bit too many production placements, but I'll digress. The food looked amazing, I liked that each episode starts off with showing a menu item.

Rating:

Story: 7.5/10 - Great! it flowed rather nicely, with a few hiccups, but nothing not watch-worthy.

Acting: 8.5/10 - Everyone did good, with Dome (Samsi) playing his character the best IMO. OffGun felt too much like OffGun, but they can still act. Neo did a great job, but he always does well with comedic roles. Aungpao did amazing for his first time, especially with such an already-established cast.

Music: 6/10 - I didn't pay attention to it.

Recommendation Value: 7/10 - this is cute in lots of aspects. Even with my little critics of this series, I still recommend it. it's lighthearted (for the most part), pretty funny, and an easy watch.

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Pavel Was in This, So I was Seated

Boy-oh-boy, what a series. There's so much to unpack that a lot of people have kind of already done, but I'm here to throw in my 2 cents like always. Pit Babe was wild, in so many aspects, but particularly this new subject that's being bought up, and that's omegaverse. While this is a slippery slope for a lot of people, specifically for me, I think this series handled it perfectly without making it too cringe (sort of) or too wolf-ish. Pit Babe had Pavel in it, nonetheless, so of course I was seated.

Let's Dive In.

This was such a huge project that I was so excited for Pavel to be the lead in. I wasn't fond of his Coffee Melody series, so I'm just so glad he was put into something with a beautiful production value, great actors, and a complex story. This series has become huge globally, and I'm so happy he's getting his recognition since the 2 moons disaster.

Okay, so getting away from my pleasantries of Pavel, let's talk more about the series. Starting off, The production value is high. The sets were so perfect, so many different locations, so many different mansions and cars and motorcycles and the whole nine yards. The story is so compacted and flows perfectly, like it's scary how perfect it kind of was. We go from point A to point B with detail and understanding and I know the character's names. I loved it. There were so many astounding plot twists in this that I never knew what was coming next, seriously. The writers did a fantastic job producing this series. They were able to make it story-heavy and BL-heavy without too much or too little of either.

Moving onto the couples, of course, to no one's surprise. Jeff and Alan stole the show. Their build-up, their chemistry, their dynamic, it was like a present being left at my doorstep. Their kind of trope is my favorite; the uke whose stoic and quiet, and the seme whose outgoing and bubbly and kind. They were what kept me watching when Charlie and Babe's relationship got a little complicated, so I appreciated seeing them on my screen. Their NC Scenes were so good, so perfectly sculpted to be individually theirs and so precious how it was handled. Both actors did an amazing job. Moving onto Charlie and Babe, I think it went a little fast for my taste. I'm a slow-burn lover till the day I die, and obviously, this couple is the complete opposite of that. Their dynamic could be fun, until it just wasn't, until it got complex and all over the place. Do I think Charlie and Babe stay together forever? Maybe, but probably not. Their dynamics were a lot for one another, with Charlie being so quick to try and make Babe feel better without thinking of his own feelings, and Babe being needy for something that he can't quite find in Charlie unless he's in his pants. Either way, I liked them in the beginning, I think their story made it hard for me to see them together with all the secrets and lies and such, but it is what it is. Also, their NC scenes were heated for sure, I'm glad they know how to do physical well.

The omega verse shenanigans was kept pretty down-low and wasn't overly thrown into your face (other than a couple of times). I think the mention of male pregnancy was a bit of a nuance if it's not something they were going to parallel in the future. It confuses the watcher (me) and makes them go on a 2-hour spiral on what the hell that even is. But I think everything else was pretty watered down and could be a normal conversation between mlm relationships (yes, even the mama and papa, I've seen it before).

The side characters did really well. I wish North and Sonic's relationship would've been explored further, seeing as they would flirt and mention their overly friendly relationship, but whatever. I think Way and Pete would've been really cute too, and I just really wanted Kenta to end up with someone but oh well.

My real only problem: This series kind of feels a little draggy. There are a few episodes I sped through or kind of skimmed and still got the point of what was going on. I think this could've been 10 episodes max if they took out some unnecessary NC and commentary scenes.

Ratings:

Story: 8.5/10 - Well done! Flowed at a perfect level, had so many different aspects to be excited about, including the relationships.

Acting: 9/10 - Oh Pavel, the man you are. He did an excellent job as Pit, he cried so many times, I know he was exhausted. I think Pooh's acting still has loads of work to go through, but I think he did decent nonetheless. Nut did really well too, and everyone else played a great role.

Music: 6.5/10 - I remember the theme song being kind of annoying. It felt like I was watching the intro to a Power Rangers series.

Recommendation Value: 8/10 - It's a well-put-together series, so I highly recommend watching it. The men in this are insanely hot if that helps too. You'll be a bit spooked by the mention of Alpha and all that, but after the second episode, you get over it.

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Wowza

Wowza. This series had me feeling things that I haven't felt in a long time from a J-BL or just a BL in general. Were there plenty of plot holes, some rough character development, and some editing errors? Of course. But my love for everything, especially the story, makes those little problems seem frivolous. Tokyo in April is ... the best-told story of friends to lovers that I've seen J-BL come out with.

Let's Dive In.

This might look like a simplistic friends-to-lovers story from the gist of the synopsis, but when watching -- wow, it truly was so complex in details and factors. One of my favorite things about this series was the delicate touch to specificities and the complexity of the flow of the story and the way it's told. Through each episode, something new is brought to light about Ren or Kazuma, or their coworkers. It was planned so accordingly and just led to bigger and better reactions from me.

Now, my all-time favorite trope is friends to lovers, so it was no surprise that I wouldn't have liked this to some certain extent, but like omg, when they dive into Kazuma and Ren's backstory, I might've gotten teary-eyed more than a few times. The revelation of the intimacy that they went through at their age was not something I saw coming at all. But the intensity of it all was almost too much for me to bear, so I know two young and curious boys going through something as serious as sex can't be an easy pill to swallow. Especially the aftermath of it all -- Kazuma getting sick, Ren faulting himself for what they did, him being sent off to France, Kazuma to America. Urgh, just the pure intensity of it all was enough for me to love it. Even outside of their adult relationship, I could feel the genuine love they had for one another as kids. Now, as adults, their romance is a lot more obvious to see and interpret. And did I mention that these actors did a phenomenal job? I felt the chemistry very head-on and it was a mixture of awkwardness, a large tinge of something sexual, and just a great connection.

The only problem I really had trouble with was Kazuma's mom. Her reaction to them doing something so serious as children is understandable, but to continue your hatred of a grown adult that you know your son loves is idiotic. Then turning around and being like "No it's fine ya'll can love each other" is crazy. You're the reason Ren ran away the second time and caused your son more hurt, so it's just absolutely crazy.

I wanted more of a backstory from Hide and Ryunosuke. Hide seemed so full of dread when seeing Kazuma again, and it's never really revealed why. Is it because he was the one who told Ren that Katzuma was back in America and alive? If that's it, then it doesn't feel like that big of a deal. Also, why would Ren prescribe to Kazuma to never talk to him for that very minor reason? It's not the exact same for Ryunosuke, cause it's obvious he has feelings for Ren when he explains that they've tried having sex before, but maybe just something more in-depth as to what he does outside of being Ren's wingman.

The editing was kind of funky. Not terrible, but sometimes they lingered too long on certain scenes when you could tell the momentum from it was over. Along with that, I hate when at the beginning of each episode, they give us a recap of what happened last episode, just very irrelevant. But that also could be because I binge-watched this (also finished it all in like the spam of a few hours lol).

Overall, I really really liked this. I know that it was adapted from a manga and a lot of people had complaints about what they did differently from the manga and the live-adaption. However, I never read the manga, so this review is purely based on my satisfaction with the live-action.

Ratings;

Story: 8/10 - So good. Even the office jargon was important to the plot. Everything flowed well and had me seated and ready to hear all of it. The best part was the flashbacks to their complicated childhood friendship. Some work could've been done to improve the overall behavior of some of the choices they chose to make.

Acting: 9.5/10 - So so so so so so so good. The best is probably coming from the actors playing the lead's younger selves. Omg, they did so well, to tell a story as intense as theirs was and do it was so much poignancy. Chef's kiss. Along with that, the actual leads did really well too. The side characters told the stories they needed to tell and drove the plot to where it needed to be.

Music 6/10: I didn't pay much attention to it.

Recommendation Value: 8/10 - This is very deep, so I wouldn't recommend it to just anyone. Definitely someone ready to hear something as deep as this story was. But other than that, I highly recommend, so nicely told, has such a wonderful story, and is super entertaining.

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Ehh

So, this was on my plan-to-watch list for some time now, and seeing as I have plenty of that, I decided to finally give it a watch. Final conclusion: ehh. The plot involving Yuma was more fun than the actual leads of the show, but Ritsu is very beautiful, so I'll forgive it. The end of The World With You that SPOILER!! doesn't actually end. And I think the part that I'm most upset about is that it doesn't end and we're given a happily ever-after ending when I honestly wish it could been the opposite.

Let's Dive In.

So Yuma's plot was fun, the leads weren't bad, it's just their relationship was very toxic, so for me, not so fun to watch. Of course, people can change in a decade, so maybe Ritsu will turn out to be a better person, and I can kind of see the growth at the end, but still, dealing with that type of trauma in Matsumi's perspective must've been hard. Good thing he's not stubborn like I am.

Hmm, no wonder this show got good hype, didn't realize I was going to be watching PORN. But on a more serious note, the NC scenes were good, albeit maybe a little much for this series in particular. I also liked that they didn't play music in the background during their intimate moments, and we actually got to hear the ecstasy and all that jazz.

Ratings:

Story: 7.5/10 - Like I said, would've liked for the world to actually end, but that's a personal preference. I loved Yuma and I loved his story. I've read most of the theories on his character, and I believe all of them. Semi-god coming down to protect the earth, supernatural miracle boy -- all of it. And obviously, the NC scenes were good, again a little much, but good.

Acting: 9/10 - Great acting, especially from Toshiki (Matsumi) who did a fabulous job. Great growth between both leads and Sousyo (Yuma) was a freaking cutie.

Music: 7.5/10 - I liked the music that played at the end of each episode.

Recommendation Value: 5/10 - Didn't play out how I would've liked it to, so maybe not the first thing I'd recommend. Does have some pretty good NC scenes, so for someone looking to be horny, I'll recommend them this one.

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Surprise Little Gem in the K-BL Sea

Immediately, I thought that I wasn't going to like this. Looking at the MDL overall rating (which I don't pay much attention to, but still, it was pretty low), browsing through the comments briefly, and seeing some of my fave MDL accounts rating it pretty low -- like, I knew what was coming. But out of the blue, I find myself enjoying every little bit of this short series, beginning to end, which is definitely not like me.

Let's Dive In.

For a fat minute, I thought this was some kind of sequel to "Happy Ending Romance" but it's not, just coincidentally they have very similar title names. but anyways, the first episode swept me off my feet, and it's very rare that a series does that for me. It's alike many series I've seen before, but at the same time is something different entirely. I love that they first met and fell in love at a wedding venue, I love that this series dips into mental health struggles, I loved a lot of things about this series.

I think I can make the same argument that I always do with K-BLs which is that this series is severely too short to have played everything out perfectly. We still have a lot of things unanswered, and the romance is slightly abrupt, but I don't mind only because I loved these two. Their chemistry was off the charts. And the kissing?! Being more than decent?! Them kissing each other back?! I nearly fell out of my chair.

Again, I wanted more on Seungjun's mental health and how he's working towards helping himself. We obviously know that his best friend ended up having some sort of feelings for him, so I would've loved to see more of that too. If this series was longer and added maybe 4-5 more episodes, it would've been perfect.

Rating:

Story; 8/10 - Fun! Well, not all parts, but everything was good! It kept my interest and I'm happy with how everything turned out. Again, things are just rushed due to timing.

Acting: 9/10 - Amazing! Especially our main character who plays a very bottled-up person who has so much to deal with from his past. Sungtae (Jaehyun) is such a cutie and plays a perfect boyfriend.

Music - 8.5/10 - Good! Surprisingly I loved it!

Recommendation Value: 9/10 - It's short and an easy watch, along with being pretty good with the allotted time they had. Chemistry is great, skinship is even better. Give this one a watch for sure!

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KBL Ruined by Lazy Writing

Oh! My Assistant has one of the strongest starts to a K-BL that I've ever seen. Budget-wise, story-wise, production-wise. Everything was great. Finally, a K-BL that's labeled rom-com and I'm actually laughing. The first two episodes had me on my ass laughing, having to pause and replay just so I could laugh again. And I wasn't laughing because it's cringey, I mean I was genuinely laughing because the scenes were set up so perfectly for a comedic moment. And then suddenly, out of nowhere, a buzzkill tsunami hits, and everything is flooding in forced lack of communication and pitiful conflict.

Let's Dive In.

Like usual, I judged a book by its cover, its terribly edited, cheap-looking cover. If someone gave me 30 minutes and two shots of tequila, I could've come up with something 10 times better, I'm sure. So I went in thinking the budget was going to be lower than I'm used to, but to my surprise, and in less than 10 seconds into the series, the settings and the shots we're seeing are gorgeous. And I understand where they were trying to get at, with the series mimicking the setup of a manwha, but it just doesn't work for me. Anyways, I went in thinking this wasn't going to be very good, but then I turned out to be pleasantly surprised and fell in love with the first two episodes. The perfect balance of plot setup and comedy, the sorting of feelings and character structure on point. And then it's completely ruined when the writers run out of creativity and decide they will do the laziest writing ever and just have Muyeong and Seonho have terrible communication skills and numerous misunderstandings.

Tell me Muyeong, why would Seonho confess to liking you if he were in a relationship with Minyeong? And if that was your consensus, why not -- I don't know -- ask? It was incredibly infuriating, along with the pretend boyfriend, and the half confessions before the actual confession -- urgh.

I believed Muyeong and Seonho's chemistry in the beginning, but like most K-BL, they show a teensy amount of physicalness, and it's ruined. Their kissing, their hugs, all of it, negative ten out of ten. Then after that, it's just completely unbelievable that these two humans like each other. But also, Chanbin's (Muyeong) acting seems to get worse episode by episode. He's a beautiful human, amazing lips, gorgeous eyes, his height's everything -- but that's about all he has.

But besides the bad, like I said the comedy in this is handled perfectly. the settings are gorgeous, and so is the color palette they use and even the music, which I rarely pay attention to, but was pleasantly surprised by it.

Ratings:

Story: 6/10 - It's so good at the beginning, but it collapses into itself and the lazy writing ruins the series. I sped through the last three episodes full of incredibly agonizing conflict that isn't real, genuine conflict. But besides that, and the comedy, I actually liked the side story that was going on with Muyeong's friend. Part of me wanted them to get together, just because they've been through so much life together, and I'm a sucker for friends to lovers.

Acting - 8/10: I think everybody's acting was great, the only person's acting that struggled was Chanbin's. It might've been the writing, but he had one emotion and an impeccable smile every now and then and that's it.

Music - 8/10: I liked it! for once I made sure to pay attention not it.

Recommendation value: 5.5/10 - I'm sad I'm giving this such a low score, cause I really did like this in the beginning, and the rest of the series wasn't so bad to the point that I didn't at least enjoy it a little bit, but if you're asking for my recommendation, there are just so many other K-BLs out there that do it better. But if you want something short, cute, and funny, I might recommend this one.

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Good, But Too Long to Binge

This was a really good series with some really good (and pretty) actors with some good story (aside from the talking furniture..). This is one of those series that you have to watch while it's airing because it's incredibly too long to binge. Had I watched this during its airing, then I think I would've appreciated this series more, but most of the time, I was ready for it to be over.

Let's Dive In.

TMOTB is another wacky plot about a human falling in love with -- a tangible object -- a teddy bear-turn-human. This concept was way beyond me, I was sure it wasn't going to be good, but -- in reality, it's actually really well thought out, and with In's (Tofu's) acting, it's believable that he's a human who knows nothing about basic human things (until later in the series). It also worked out for them because they didn't just have him be some teddy bear, he was a bear in a human's body who had bad implications for Nut and an even sadder tale for Song and his father. Like it's really good.

I shipped Tathan and Nut as soon as we get a glimpse into Nut's backstory. I love first-love stories. And Tathan was such a genuine person, with even more genuine intentions. Their kiss was -- incredible. I'm glad they're end game, which is why my score for this series is a bit higher because I would've been upset had Nut and Tofu stayed together. He's a teddy bear, it just wasn't going to work (for obvious reasons)

I think Tofu and Nut were cute, but something in me didn't care much for them. His death was sad, just because seeing Nut so distraught was hard (Job's acting is superb). But in the end, I couldn't be happier about the ending. he's still there (just in tangible object mode) and Nut still gets to be happy with his first love (who is played by Judo who's the prettiest man I've ever seen and I can't wait for his series with Fluke from UWMA).

I also mostly watched because the guy with the glasses was so freaking cute, playing alongside Tee (Song). They were a good addition to the show, and I liked how their plot played along.

I won't lie though, I skipped through a lot of TMOTB, like a lot. So the mother's plot is a little wonky for me, along with the girl with the curly hair (who seems to have a crush on a woman by the end). But I get the gist of most of the other plots, so it's fine. But this was just really really long. They could've cut out a lot to keep it mid-length (and given the rest of the time to Korea/Japan). So most of the episodes past episode 8 were lightly skimmed through.

Ratings:

Story: 8/10 - It's complex, it's deep, it has a nice flow, and all conflicts are resolved. It's good, but it's just too much and too long.

Acting: 9/10 - Job can ACT for real. In was good too, but I think Job just surpasses what he has. The others do an excellent job too.

Music: 6/10 - I didn't pay attention to it, but it wasn't distracting so good!

Recommendation Value: 5.5/10 - I would've recommended this higher had it been airing, but I can only slightly recommend this while it's over because it's a lot to sit through. Unless you're patient and can watch an episode per day, then go for it, but I like to finish a series (when I'm binging) in at least less than a week. But the story is good, it's compelling and it was an okay watch (only okay because, again, it's too long).

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