TakoOo
This review may contain spoilers
Varying quality but enjoyable all around
1) Pretend Lovers (Ohm/Fluke)
This one, unfortunately, felt like a half-formed thought. I was confused about the direction this was going and the ending didn’t help either. At first I thought it’s about Pierce falling out of love with Typhoon bc a chunk of the story alluded to that through music, Pierce’ lack of attention towards his bf, as well as the actual title of the story.
He even corrected Mark that Typhoon was his “brother” even though he could’ve easily told him that Typhoon was his lover.
In the end I wasn’t sure if that was really the case though bc Pierce chased Typhoon and tried to talk to him to clear the air. After Typhoon got emotional, he suggested for them to take a break but kissed him right after Typhoon said he didn’t want to break up.
Im still not sure what was going on in Pierce’ head. The start of the episode alluded to him falling out of love but the end alluded to him still being in love with Typhoon. What is going on with this direction? Lol
Is it about people realizing they need to part ways or is it about the changes in couple-dynamic when one starts a working life of an adult?
The acting was good and I’m always ecstatic when I see settings other than universities in a BL but I can’t give this more than 6 stars. The direction of the theme needed to be clearer.
6/10
2) Just Friend (Ja/First)
Well now, that was just strange. It could’ve been a cute idea but ended up being highly disturbing.
They could’ve at least added a bit of magical realism to make the audience wonder if Moojoom became an actual human being but instead the episode never missed an opportunity to remind us that Moonjoom is, in fact, an actual cat. And there was definitely some implied romantic tone to it. There’s just something very disturbing about an owner seeing their pet as a hot human being.
And the only reason a girl was introduced, was to make Ja tell her that he’d rather prefer cuddling with his cat than spending time with her.
As an asexual person, I would prefer cuddling with my cat to...almost anything lol
But this scene made me a bit uncomfortable bc it felt like Ja was refusing her bc he realized he had feelings for his pet??
Firsts acting as a cat was very cringey. It takes very high skill level to believably portray an animal. First simply wasn’t up to the challenge. Either him or the director thought that it’d probably be enough to “act cute” to succeessfully portray a cat but it’s not. None of his moves felt “cat-like”. He rather came across as a spoiled child instead of a cat. And what was with the decision to mix his human language with some random meows?? Why couldn’t he just speak human language, when he was perceived as human and meow when he was perceived as a cat? So strange.
2/10
3) Willing or Not (Max/Nat)
Nothing special but enjoyable nonetheless. It barely had any story and heavily relied on the chemistry between Max and Nat and some humor sprinkled in between. But It worked for me bc the chemistry was strong and I did enjoy the comic-like humor. I’m a fan of Max and Nats goofy acting style.
7/10
4) Just One Life (Yoon/Talay)
This is probably my favorite episode. It was light-hearted and heart-warming and I liked the colors in this one. The story was simple but executed very nicely. The ending might’ve felt a little rushed but not overly so. The tone reminded me just a little of yyy, just less crazy. The chemistry was there and I like Yoon and Talays unique acting style!
9/10
5) Dear My Star (Jimmy/Tommy)
Had the best pacing out of all the stories. As a 90ies kid I loved all the nostalgic feelings it brought back. Very well executed, very atmospheric. I wouldn’t call Jimmy and Tommy the best of actors but they did a decent job and overall I really liked it.
9/10
6). Imagine You. (Kim/Cop)
An unusual premise with some light yet unexplained sci-fi elements.
It was an intriguing plot and the unexplained elements didn’t really bother me.
I was positively surprised with Copters acting in this short! I always felt like he was a little too wooden in 2Moons and Gen Y but in this one he did a pretty good job!
8/10
Overall I really liked this anthology and that’s mainly bc the themes and tones of these stories were so different from the usual BL stuff that we get. It was short but very refreshing. I hope the BL industry decided to expand more into such different settings and premises
This one, unfortunately, felt like a half-formed thought. I was confused about the direction this was going and the ending didn’t help either. At first I thought it’s about Pierce falling out of love with Typhoon bc a chunk of the story alluded to that through music, Pierce’ lack of attention towards his bf, as well as the actual title of the story.
He even corrected Mark that Typhoon was his “brother” even though he could’ve easily told him that Typhoon was his lover.
In the end I wasn’t sure if that was really the case though bc Pierce chased Typhoon and tried to talk to him to clear the air. After Typhoon got emotional, he suggested for them to take a break but kissed him right after Typhoon said he didn’t want to break up.
Im still not sure what was going on in Pierce’ head. The start of the episode alluded to him falling out of love but the end alluded to him still being in love with Typhoon. What is going on with this direction? Lol
Is it about people realizing they need to part ways or is it about the changes in couple-dynamic when one starts a working life of an adult?
The acting was good and I’m always ecstatic when I see settings other than universities in a BL but I can’t give this more than 6 stars. The direction of the theme needed to be clearer.
6/10
2) Just Friend (Ja/First)
Well now, that was just strange. It could’ve been a cute idea but ended up being highly disturbing.
They could’ve at least added a bit of magical realism to make the audience wonder if Moojoom became an actual human being but instead the episode never missed an opportunity to remind us that Moonjoom is, in fact, an actual cat. And there was definitely some implied romantic tone to it. There’s just something very disturbing about an owner seeing their pet as a hot human being.
And the only reason a girl was introduced, was to make Ja tell her that he’d rather prefer cuddling with his cat than spending time with her.
As an asexual person, I would prefer cuddling with my cat to...almost anything lol
But this scene made me a bit uncomfortable bc it felt like Ja was refusing her bc he realized he had feelings for his pet??
Firsts acting as a cat was very cringey. It takes very high skill level to believably portray an animal. First simply wasn’t up to the challenge. Either him or the director thought that it’d probably be enough to “act cute” to succeessfully portray a cat but it’s not. None of his moves felt “cat-like”. He rather came across as a spoiled child instead of a cat. And what was with the decision to mix his human language with some random meows?? Why couldn’t he just speak human language, when he was perceived as human and meow when he was perceived as a cat? So strange.
2/10
3) Willing or Not (Max/Nat)
Nothing special but enjoyable nonetheless. It barely had any story and heavily relied on the chemistry between Max and Nat and some humor sprinkled in between. But It worked for me bc the chemistry was strong and I did enjoy the comic-like humor. I’m a fan of Max and Nats goofy acting style.
7/10
4) Just One Life (Yoon/Talay)
This is probably my favorite episode. It was light-hearted and heart-warming and I liked the colors in this one. The story was simple but executed very nicely. The ending might’ve felt a little rushed but not overly so. The tone reminded me just a little of yyy, just less crazy. The chemistry was there and I like Yoon and Talays unique acting style!
9/10
5) Dear My Star (Jimmy/Tommy)
Had the best pacing out of all the stories. As a 90ies kid I loved all the nostalgic feelings it brought back. Very well executed, very atmospheric. I wouldn’t call Jimmy and Tommy the best of actors but they did a decent job and overall I really liked it.
9/10
6). Imagine You. (Kim/Cop)
An unusual premise with some light yet unexplained sci-fi elements.
It was an intriguing plot and the unexplained elements didn’t really bother me.
I was positively surprised with Copters acting in this short! I always felt like he was a little too wooden in 2Moons and Gen Y but in this one he did a pretty good job!
8/10
Overall I really liked this anthology and that’s mainly bc the themes and tones of these stories were so different from the usual BL stuff that we get. It was short but very refreshing. I hope the BL industry decided to expand more into such different settings and premises
Was this review helpful to you?
