The worst rated BL I've ever seen

This show was such a disappointment. It started off so strongly - the premise was fantastic, the visuals were stunning, the leads seemed so promising, and then... A train wreck.

No chemistry between the leads at all, with almost next to no relationship development. Yeon Woo spends the majority of the show wondering if he's going to kill Yoo Han or go nuts because he can't bear to lose colour, and Yoo Han spends most of it just listing off an obsessive amount of colours and shades, with no explanation other than "I memorised them because I like you". (Btw, half the shades he said were just the English words for the same shade a billion times.) It would've at least been understandable or believable if he was an artist, instead of an idol. In fact, I'd have LOVED if Yoo Han was an artist, so Yeon Woo and he could appreciate colours and their knowledge makes more sense.

But that was sadly this shows entire downfall. Nothing was explained. Nothing was revisited. It was like they had a concept and messed around with a camera for 80 minutes - Not to mention messing around with the cinematography. There's a part in episode 5 where it jarringly cuts to a scene of them hugging in the rain, but the volume mixing is terrible and it's startling. They'd never hugged before and I couldn't understand or piece together why Yoo Han was crying. Their voices could barely be heard over the rain, and it was drowning out the music, too. It was so staggering that I went to another site to watch the episode to see if it was just Viki's copy glitching on me. No, that's how it was supposed to be.

But I digress. Some scenes make no sense and there's no need for them. What happened to his mum? What was the point of that? What was the point of Grandfather? His mask? They didn't explain how it even worked. What about the decolouring in his memories and the fit? What about the fact Yoo Han's friends already told Yeon Woo 6 episodes ago that Yoo Han couldn't recognise faces and they acted like it was a big reveal? Why even BOTHER making Yoo Han an idol? Why did he have to have such a powerful family when Mono's are already discriminated against and they could've easily lied about it without throwing their names around? Why did they have a random flier/drawing of Yeon Woo's mother framed in this apparently randomly chosen to attend school? Why was Yoo Han wearing his mask at the end? I thought they were together so Yeon Woo could see colour? You're preventing him from seeing it at school where Yoo Han can feel normal because he can see Yeon Woo's face, but Yoo Han won't let Yeon Woo see colour? All because, I quote, "He wants to make it a fashion trend". WHY did Yoo Han just COMPLETELY gloss over the fact Yeon Woo tried to kill himself? Not only that, but then he decided the best idea would be to take him off his prescription medication and break him out of a psychiatric hospital? And when the bleep did those two have time to even fall in love? Was it even love? Or was it just them both depending on each other to feel "normal" to an obsessive degree? We'll never know, despite Yeon Woo posing this exact question not 2 seconds before kissing Yoo Han.

This leads me to my other complaint. There is zero chemistry, or any semblance of love between them, besides when they're messing around with colour in the art gallery and being way closer than friends with literally no hint of "oooh, this isn't what classmates do". Yeon Woo was a wet blanket and the only thing he did well was cry (btw, how on *earth* did this pushover get in a fight with somebody at his old school for bullying him for being a mono?) and look psychopathic whilst contemplating kidnapping Yoo Han (which reminds me. Why on EARTH did he buy a security camera? They clearly weren't subverting expectations to fool you into thinking he was kidnapping him, and the whole point of kidnapping him was so that he didn't lose colour again. Why would you need a camera if you were so desperate to keep colour around you, when presumably you HAVE to be around that person - not via a camera. Otherwise, that defeats the whole emotional turmoil of this drama because they could've just face-timed 24/7. )

Yoo Han was the only redeeming feature of this entire thing beyond the lore of the world (which was pretty terrible and throw away anyway) and he spent most of it acting like Rain Man listing colours and doing very little else. We didn't even see him pretend to care about being an Idol.

Not a single plotline was explained, and the kiss was honestly pretty terrible, especially the cinematography angle - so I suspect the leads were both straight and uncomfortable doing much kissing, so they just put their faces near each other for the majority of the scene and filmed in an angle so you couldn't see.

This is absolutely my biggest disappointment of 2021. Thank god I didn't waste much time on this.

Read More

Unlikeable characters (apart for Yihwa), and bad casting in my opinion. The side characters bored me to the point I was skipping their scenes and just getting back to Korn and Knock, and even then I wanted to knock their heads together.

Knock is a really horrible person who plays with Korn's emotions, and Korn feels very lifeless in the show. I appreciated the steamy scenes, and for being one of the first and only BL dramas I've seen that even shows deep/extended kissing and implied sex scenes (and shirtless kissing!), so that redeems it a little.

It's also obvious Yihwa is a main character from the previous series, so it seems like she kind of takes a lot of time up on the screen, and it almost feels like they make a convoluted plot that didn't need to be so complex just so they could get Yihwa to sort it out.

Also, as a side note, the translations available are poor and not brilliant for English native speakers, so the subtitles can trip you up and take from the scene (especially since LazySubber on kissdrama actually translates the scene well, but adds too many translation comments at the top that get in the way, yet the youtube HD version completely butchers some scenes).

Honestly, I just watched it to the end because I wanted to say I'd finished it and given it a chance, but it's not brilliant. I much prefer SOTUS over this and I recommend starting with that one if you're dipping your toes into Taiwanese BL.

Read More

I can't complain, but I'm going to.

It isn't often that BL dramas are released in the asian tv world, so I was excited and happy to get another. It's especially not often to get a *good* one with two attractive leads and decent cinematography and competent voice dubbing over.

Sadly, the actual plot is a mess, especially when it stops following the manga. There's enough plot points to raise your eyes at, and for the most part, the "magic" is just a dime a dozen story beginnings that offer nothing new or interesting than "look, it's interesting enough because it's two men" which is *not enough* for the record. There needs to be a plot without having to depend on a shoe-horned second story to carry the first when the eye candy isn't entertaining enough, and there is no plot here, in my opinion.

And that was the main problem I had with this drama - it was cute, but it didn't really feel like a bl drama. I know most fans don't care about it, but there's no kiss in this show (probably because older asian cultures still aren't that comfortable with it all). BL fans don't want porn, we just like real romances expressed properly with their emotions properly explores, regardless of their gender, and I felt like it just took the hit as a show that it baited a kiss and then didn't show it.

Maybe I'm interpreting it the wrong way, but it just left a bad taste in my mouth after being advertised as a bold "30 year old virgin and a gay relationship" drama, and then we didn't even see a kiss. It was very reserved and I'm not sure that's a good thing.

Read More

An enigma

This review is quite difficult to write, mainly because the story has some "flaws" that only westerners would consider flaws.

For example, they are violent, there is rape and there are convoluted plots, some of which are only moved on by rape. Additionally, both leads are grade-A assholes to each other - or at least that's how WE, westerners, perceive it.

Thailand has very different social norms, comparatively. It isn't at all unheard of to joke about rape, give blunt (sometimes uncaring sounding) answers, and to be selfish like the characters can appear. But that's not a slight on the characters, but more the issue with Thailand as a whole, and with the "rape/internalised homophobia" that could very well be a situation in Thailand with how that culture is. Not to mention the stigma of all BL novels or manga in any asian culture that rape and exes and jealousy are sure to bring.

The story is better than the first half gives it credit.
Wait until they leave the dorms before you decide to drop this series. The actors are phenomenal, and I have never seen better chemistry on screen except for "Addicted" which was on par. Some characters I barely recognised when they played such brilliant emotions, and that really is the crux of why I gave it a 10. You can really FEEL the characters emotions, and many times, I felt myself reminiscing back to my past love life and feeling connections to the characters on screen.

I also have to quickly mention that I appreciate how the actors had a lot of kinship, kissed multiple times, had "sex" multiple times and had the discussion about who was on top or bottom of the dynamic.

I think this would be a brilliant show to rewatch, purely because you can ignore the angst on a rewatch and enjoy the fluff.

Finally, this doesn't have to be watched in order. I started with this series, and haven't watched anything else to do with Love by chance etc. But I still understood it well, and appreciate the story.

Read More

Lackluster

The music was *almost* good enough to make me overlook the poor writing, acting, and story of this drama. Almost.

It started so strong but was so disappointing. I watched the "movie" version of it, and by about 60 minutes in, they'd only had one conversation, and Sang-i was gaping at In-su like a fish the entire time.

There were so many montages, and not really much *talking* between them, so all you would see is two guys smiling at each other and patting each other's heads and apparently that, paired with some music was enough to make us believe they cared about each other, especially in a non-platonic way.

And it was incredibly cliche, there was instalove and a really sad, unfulfilling episode that made no sense and was "resolved" in about 8 minutes. Trust me, I counted. I kept hovering over the "time remaining" bar because I was curious how they were going to save this train wreck.

Not to mention, it's TW: implied that In-Su is going to kill himself at the very end, because his father won't let him pursue music in the industry. His friends desperately search for him and then- ... fall asleep? What- you didn't think to call the police after that note? And then he comes back after getting his ankles wet for 10 seconds to magically love the other lead, and find all the good people at the studio have quit their jobs and plunged themselves into financial chaos with no plan? Knowing his father is still out there actively harming his career? And what happened to the "no dating" rule? It was rushed and sloppy.

There was no chemistry between the leads, and Sang-i was all but robotic the entire time. It's a sad moment when the side characters are all so much better than the main leads - to the point it was laughable when they were on the screen together.

Maybe I just expect too much from Korean BL seeing as I've mostly come from Taiwanese BL, but I just felt it was so lackluster and disappointing.

I will say - the one redeeming feature (besides the music) was the "kiss" scene. One of the leads is drunk and passed out, and it looks like he's about to kiss him whilst unconscious - but he stops. I respected that. Consent is sexy, and not enough Dramas remember that.

Read More

Joseon itch? This show will scratch it.

It's good. Really. Not amazing, when I look back at it, but it had some great moment like when the Historians boarded themselves in the office.

I'll say no, I don't think Cha Eun-Woo is a *bad* actor. He got too much hate for his role in this, and I think he's fine, especially as he's better here than in his previous work and only improves as an actor throughout the series. I think the people who are complaining are maybe just not that used to Joseon dramas and don't realise the weight of the characters words. (That being said, I'm all set to never see that man cry again, because gosh I saw him do it enough in this show.)
I especially feel like he's gotten a tough time because it's hard to remember what an *amazing* cast is surrounding him. Not a single person was bad in this, in my opinion. They were very strong actors and it was probably just difficult for him in a big role for something of this budget.

Anyway. Yeah. It's a Joseon drama. If you've watched one, you know. The evil dude in the red robe, a crown prince is hurt or killed, there's ninjas and poverty and bitchy court women and a grumpy elder. And a plethora of great, epic songs and misunderstandings and run ins between the characters. I appreciate that Hae Ryung kept her independence as a person whilst still dating Yi Rim, but the plot beyond that is a mess.

It felt like the first half of the show started off incredibly strong, and then by episode 13 or so, it crumbles at the mention of the Seoraewon plot. It's like the show *forgets* what made it so great as it goes on, and found myself bored towards the end and squinting at plot twists and character motives. Really? The characters went through ALL that, just for Yi Rim to go "nah, I'm good. Really. I'm still renouncing my title and going for a walk around the world". Why did no one ask Yi Rim what he thought until *after* they'd won?

Not to mention the glaring issues;
What was the point of the weird romantic tension between U-won and Hae Ryung?
Why did they make such a fuss about sneaking Jean out the palace when Hae Ryung used a hole in the wall that directly entered Nokseodong? For a smart person, why didn't she mention that?

There's more, but I'd be here a while, and they were just examples of what I didn't like it and why it constantly took me out of the immersion and stopped me getting back into the plots. (Especially since the final scene was just one big conversation for 10 minutes where everyone surprisingly listened to the prince nobody took seriously at first).

That being said, it had a great production value, and everything was done well with good music. (One complaint is how strong the overhead lights actually were and how they looked too fluorescent in some scenes so you could tell and it didn't look natural, and that dubbing over in some parts is overwhelming and the actors are too close to the mics, and even in some scenes, the dubbing is timed wrong so they don't match the actors' lips.

AND ALL THAT BEING SAID, it was still a great drama with a nice ending. It's not Scarlett Heart Ryeo or The Moon Embracing the Sun, but it never claimed to be them. It was just a nice drama that didn't leave you bawling your eyes out at it.

Read More

Everything about this drama killed me. It had a sweet relationship that grew gradually in school and was fleshed out immensely with a real feeling of chemistry between the two leads before the time skip they introduced. The time skip was done well as well. The creators of this show stayed their hands at almost every point, and created a tension that was really rewarding when it paid off.

And honestly, I've never known a show that's made me pause it because I was crying so hard that I couldn't read the subtitles.

I promise it ends nicely, and I promise it's well worth the watch. It's perfect.

Read More

"This odd feeling... is not unpleasant"

The top review is correct. Korea delivered, but it's actually my first time thinking that when it comes to Korean BL. It's not that's it's *bad* by any means but there's always been something missing - a line they've never wanted to cross. It's always been friendly pecks or hand-holding, and though the cast has had "chemistry" it's been lackluster and I honestly thought that was because of the culture and maybe it's just that my culture gives too much affection and touchy-feelies. This drama proved me wrong, and I've never been more pleasantly surprised by that. There's skin-ship, kissing with their lips actually moving for once, and implied sex.

The second top review is also correct. Don't give up on this show until you've watched the 5th episode. It really starts to blossom and pulls on your heartstrings after it's laid a foundation you truly care about.

The actors have beautiful chemistry, and they act really well (I would've said otherwise about the debt-collector until I saw the modeling episode and realized tall dark, and handsome was an acting choice.) And I enjoyed their interactions.

This show is subtle. It's subtle in a way that may be difficult to realize if this is one of your first Asian dramas. The director and story stays its hand, instead choosing to show you important moments rather than explaining them outright in dialogue (for example, I didn't realize the mother *had* abandoned her son, and how she never responded to his texts - seen in the selfie birthday scene - until much later in the show when her number was no longer in service for him to call. Or that the debt collector pushed the dancer away after the first kiss purely because he already knew he was being sent to Vietnam and didn't want to hurt him.)

It does a wonderful job of building up tension, and really showing the emotions of the characters in subtle eye twitches and jaw flexes rather than overtly spoon-feeding you the knowledge, and it did it masterfully. Not to mention, on an artistic level, the dancing and his actions in the dance's story were incredibly well thought out (even if the name was a bit rudimentary to please the wider audience). I implore you - don't put this on in the background. Pay attention to every scene and notice the small details the staff included, which is why I believe it has such high rewatchability.

The only negatives I can really offer are the "logical" remarks most people can arrive at on their own when they watch it. There are definitely plot holes. The most glaring being the fact the debt collector turned on the podcast at the exact time to hear what the dancer was saying about him, which is pretty unlikely. The second being why no one went to the police about anything or how his ankle magically healed. The third being how the debt collector still had to go to Vietnam after the dancer got the lead role - if the debt collector had been honest with the dancer and just explained the ultimatum, they could've walked in together and bought his freedom and quit on the spot. But heaven forbid it to be that simple for the sake of drama.

I also really wish we got ANYTHING to do with the debt collector's past (as other reviewers have said) - it's too much to notice his hesitance at playing the piano, the fact he sleeps in an office and his line of work, and the fact he can cook well. What life did he lead until this point? I like to believe they've purposefully kept this hidden for use in another season, but I'm still dissatisfied.

I recognize this might be a difficult drama to watch that people might not enjoy if they want a *plot* to fuel the show, rather than the emotions and turmoil of the characters, but for those who are quite empathetic, this is a beautiful piece of media. It kind of reminded me of Yuri on Ice, actually.

Read More

"Holmes has Watson, Woody has Buzz, and Jin Won has Sang Ha."

"Do you know the similarity between a marathon and Love? That once you start, you can't stop?"

This was a wonderful show. It was somehow better than the previous installment of the anthology "Where Your Eyes Linger" and I found myself somehow laughing out loud at their interactions despite how short the show was.

There was chemistry, there was development, there was an actual conversation between the leads that led to a believable romance. There was even a *plot*, which is shockingly hard to find in BL drama lately.

And the weirdest part was that the relationship was *healthy*.
"Love only works when you're on equal footing."

Neither followed the toxic tropes of BL leads seen in so many shows and manga, and they genuinely cared for the other, even when the other was too thick-skulled to listen.

Man, I even loved the antagonists of the series - seriously, those loan sharks had me smiling like crazy at the end. They had their motives and their reasons, but they weren't cruel. And it made perfect sense how it all ended. I truly enjoyed this entire series, to the point I'm debating going outside at 5 am after binge-watching this and doing some running of my own.

This show will always have a fondness in my heart.

"Quit being my pacemaker, and be my rival."

As a note: Watch up to episode 5 before you drop it.

Read More

Really, really good. As close to perfect as I've seen a BL K-drama get.

I really enjoyed this. The chemistry, the actors, the cinematography. Even the story wasn't terrible (albeit it was rushed and I would've just told the father to take a hike and ran away, but what can you do with 80 minutes total screentime?)

It was lovely. The only thing I'd have like more is less "shy" kisses, that looked like something you'd give your family, after all that angst. Boy waited 3 years - he should've gone hard.

The music was... generic, if I'm being brutally honest, but it didn't distract from any scene, and I really adored the pacing. It didn't flow badly and none of it felt like "yo, what?" (apart from maybe being friends with Pilhyeon again. Eff that dude.)

Read More

Absolutely bizarre. I honestly can't remember much about it, which is a shame, but this is set within the same universe as "Refresh Man" and I enjoyed it thoroughly. It had me laughing and smiling throughout the whole thing, and it was a refreshing change from Korean drama, which generally makes the women either incredibly hot-headed and irritating, or weedy, girly things. This MC did a great job of maintaining the balance between being too irrational and bad-tempered, and sticking up for herself, all without compromising her femininity.
It's definitely worth a watch, and you'll probably know after the first couple episodes if you'll like it.

Read More

This was my first ever Taiwanese show that I found on Netflix, so it has a special place in my heart because of that.

It's hard to place this series in one category because it did have its flaws that I can still clearly remember 3 years later. The plot dragged, and became convoluted, yet kept me enthralled and invested in it just enough that I couldn't skip the boring parts and had to know what happened next. It was just so unnecessary, and I had to focus a lot just to keep up with the under-handed twists and schemes of the business world.

But the cast absolutely saved it. The first few episodes are still some of the best episodes of Asian dramas I've seen, and I adored the chemistry between the MCs (but who are we kidding, Aaron Yan is able to draw the best out of his costars and makes the whole scene flow well). Even the costume design was top notch and the supporting cast was brilliant.

It's definitely worth watching for a first look into that genre of drama, to wet your toes into it from english shows.

Read More