Turning low budget into good-quality production
For a short BL drama in the late 2010s, this is absolutely a good one with a nice portrayal of gay individuals who happened to be part of an infamous gang. The main characters have strong chemistry and their acting is top-notch. Despite having been easily detected that the production has a low budget, they made every part of it to be worth it and presented such a good quality of storytelling.I thought that the ending may give us a tragedy but I am happy that they can survive ad start a new life outside the brutal world of gangs. Yet, I feel like it is more of an open-ending one since I can visualize that the gang may take their revenge on the couple. Anyways, this is good for a short K-BL; not too strong but not too bad as well, just average.
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Interesting ideia, execution could be better
I really liked the ideia of mafia and the secrets around it. The plot was really good, but the way some parts of the narrative were delivered made me annoyed. While you are trying to connect with the story, some dialogues are delivered in the most akward way possible and are very expositive. I mean, it dosen't feel natural and it pulled me out of the story.Even tho, it has problems, the acting and plot compensate, at least, in my point of view. I saw truth in the characters and felt the effort of the actors. Also, the production was nice and well thought. The way they filme each scene showed that they cared about the series/film.
Overall, It has flaws, but I believe it's worth to watch, because of the incredible acting and interesting plot.
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Worthy of a rewatch
I appreciate so much about this film. The acting, the dialogue, the attempt at reality during the love scenes. I really, really liked it. I am one to gloss over missteps, mistakes, and plot holes in order to enjoy the effort put forth by the cast and staff. I understand that it's all acting. It's fantasy for our enjoyment. Mistakes will be made, people will have opinions, and not every thing is for every one. But this is honestly a pretty dang good story.For you (me) to completely understand what actually transpired in the story, a rewatch or 2 is necessary. I watched this as a movie on GagaOoLala as opposed to the original 'shorts' that it was released as. Watching it in the original would probably have helped with the (however slight) disjointedness of the show. But other than that....after watching a second time, I understood much better about the pulled punches, the slight hints here and there, the noticing of the med kit, etc.
I am glad that Strongberry read and replied to the reviews. That shows me that the company is willing to find out what the public thought about the show in order to continually improve their productions, as well as giving the public what it wants to see. (I do not expect for Strongberry to read or comment on this review, as it's been over 5 years since this came out, and people/companies have to move on, but that's not going to diminish my respect for the company.)
I recommend others to watch this....and then rewatch it for a fuller understanding.
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good potential, bad execution
The story, even though cheesy, had good potential, the charecters were charming and had a decent chermistry, but because of how fast the plot flies, there is no time to get emotionally invested. I didn´t feel happy or sad for the characters, i felt nothing, If this was a (at least) 5 eps with one hour each, this could have been amazing. So many plot holes, things left unadressd, and at this point I think it´s a lack of budget and not just lazy writing. Had this been a long and well elaborated series with the same plot, but just more deeply explored,, it would have been AMAZING. Wasted potential tbhWas this review helpful to you?
Betrayal and Loyalty Sums Up this Story
Although I love the BL genre, I value stories that have a deep meaning, not just light relationships with sex scenes as a bonus; and after a major hunt, this is one of those stories I would rather have amnesia for and re-watch over and over and still not regret.What was mind-blowing was not the story, honestly, or rather what gave the story immense credit was the ACTING. The actors knew what they were doing, both during the serious arcs and the bonding moments; something absolutely rare specially in a BL drama -- nothing too exaggerated, nothing too less; a PERFECT combo giving a balanced focus on the nerve-racking realities and their fragile but faithful relationship.
I do wish there were more, something like a long lasting series, but then again, out feelings about this drama will likely not be the same unless the consistent care and thoughtfulness put to these short episodes remains as they are; a tall order for any professional (and my poor soul doesn't let the two couple exhaust themselves further by the harsh world we live in).
I do hope that whomever come across 'Long Time No See' in the future will find peace in their minds by being able to empathise with the characters and enjoy the adventure being portrayed to the fullest.
Cheers!
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killer ending
other than the ending. The whole thing was bad. The acting finally got better at the end. with the fight scene at the end, but other than that, I was confused, and the acting was bad. I'm sure it was good six years ago, but it is no longer good. The lowest star I gave was a 6, and the highest was an 8.5. I feel like if it were longer, then there would be room for more plot development, but it wasn't, so it was bad. Watch it if you will; I just don't recommend it. The sex scenes felt in your face, and not in a good way. They were random and confusing. Uh, okay, bye.Was this review helpful to you?
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If you haven't seen it, please do
Long Time No See is really good.It did feel like I finished it quickly but it wasn't because of the amount of time, rather the fact I enjoyed it very much. There was chemistry and connection, love and anger, truth and betrayal, everything was well put together.
I felt pity seeing Chi Soo getting pissed on as a young boy, no nice soul deservs that.
There isn't much about Gi Tae's past but I would've liked it if there were, I wanted to know more about him.
Found it very cute that Gi Tae's sister was very supportive of the two, wished they have givin her a name though.
I just loved the sweet moments between the two main leads, I wish I'll have that one day. Minus the fact that they are working for the mafia or whatever it was.
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Oh, man... OH MAN.
🔸️The most distinctive trait of this movie: uncompromising. Some very decent acting somehow works its way through very weak directing, while some decent fight choreography and a brutal bullying scene are still visible through very unflattering lighting, trembling camera (how tf did you make it tremble when it's on a tripod?), and a terrible music choice.I was fucking rolling on the floor of laughter watching the characters first kiss scene. A minute ago they were just strangers, and now they're jumping out of their pants and tripping over the table like they haven't had sex for twenty years. (Dang, i wanna see a behind-the-scenes of it) The criminal part of the two assassins' lives didn't make sense for a long time. I couldn't even understand that Ki Tae was a killer too before I read the synopsis.
🔸️What I find different in Long Time No See is that it's not entirely a "Boys Love". It focuses specifically on two gay men and their struggles to find their place in the society they have to literally fight for. BLs though tend to not focus on that struggle but rather on just the relationship and background of the characters (in most of the BLs I've seen). Therefore I can suggest the movie to be assigned to the LGBTQ+ category.
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It's a series that I would seriously consider watching again. Its THAT good!
Its an amazing series!!! My heartful thanks to whoever was involved in this amazing production!!! I really appreciate this gift to mankind!!!Everything was amazing about this story. Right from the acting ( OMG, the acting!!! Especially in the scene where Tak Woo Suk confronted Yeon Seung Ho, OMG!!! It was literally the best acting piece I have ever come across!!) to the story, to the CHEMISTRY - I mean, for 2017, no scratch that, even for 2023, its a GREAT job!! Most BL actors look like they wanna puke just at the thought of romanticising the other person, but this pair, really did a great job at keeping aside their personal preferences to depict character emotions!!
Basically, I liked everything >w<
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a masterpiece, go watch it
Overall: in addition to being a record setter as the first BL series (later combined into a movie format) in South Korea, Long Time No See had an innovative plot that was well executed despite its limitations. My advice is to not read summaries of the plot as some give away a huge plot point. Available on GagaOOLala, purchase on Vimeo or if you are a member of Strongberry's YouTube page you can watch it there as well. Part 1 is free to watch here: https://youtu.be/QrImtUu1aJk?si=oW6H_NKb0_OlBPrRContent Warnings: there are major ones and I've put them in a comment with a spoiler tag, you can kind of tell when they will happen and fast forward
What I Liked
- innovative premise (this was an original script, it was not based on a book/webtoon/etc)
- good kissing/intimacy
- fight scenes looked cool
- sweet moments
- supportive sister
Room For Improvement
- I know they were crunched on time/budget but 20 more minutes including explaining Gi Tae's background/how he got to where he was would have raised this series to 10/10
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BE GAY, DO CRIMES
this is a bl series/movie so good for a korean bl of 2017, so I think "long time no see" needs to be more appreciated. a lot of korean bls of 2020 and 2021 dont have a developed plot and this shows are already more acceptable for the people, so...
the lead actors have chemistry and its enough, nothing disappointed me. I hope to see more of them in the future.
the plot twist worked for me and the best scene was the "sofa scene", it was so funny
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Se mira con la mente relajada, sin altas expectativas.
Ya dije esto en otras reviews, pero personalmente, disfruto muchísimo de las novelas policiales. Y ésta es una de ellas. Sí, admitiría que es un poco cliché, pero el plot me gustó mucho. Opino que hay un par de cosas que quedaron "sin solucionar" o "sin explicar" aunque tal vez sólo sea yo en busca de saber más, algo como "y después? qué pasó?", pero me puedo conformar lo suficiente con el final que nos dieron.Pongo diez estrellas en actuación/casting sólo por los personajes principales junto a la hermana de Gitae, son actores GENIALES y se merecen esas estrellitas y más. El resto es muy meh, especialmente el padre adoptivo de Chisoo.
Se nota que el drama en sí es de bajo presupuesto pero también se nota el esfuerzo de todos para el mejor resultado; las coreografías en las escenas de peleas son muy elaboradas y entretenidas, los actores son geniales y preciosos. No hay ningún "efecto especial" relevante que pueda señalar así que no sé qué opinar sobre eso...
En fin. Es un drama súper cortito pero disfrutable. Aunque advertía sólo que cuando lo estés mirando, no esperes uno de esos dramas SÚPER producidos ni una historia muy única, porque no vas a encontrar eso. Sólo mira con la mente relajada y sin expectativas.
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