thingswithoutnames
Convoluted storytelling, romances fall flat
I don't have much confidence that the finale will save this series, because it has a lot of problems even outside of the hackneyed way it attempts to do things--there's a difference between a challenging, ambiguous narrative and being needlessly opaque/convoluted.I've got no reason to actually care about any of the main guys or their relationships, partly because of a severe lack of chemistry but mostly because the writing gives me nothing to hold onto (hello, insta love). For the most part, people don't act like people, they act like props. I'm always excited for ambitious Thai BLs trying to up the quality but they've got to find better writers to do it, these actors deserve better.
Edit after final episode: You have to automatically dock any Thai BL score on this site by 2-3 points to get something realistic, and it still holds true here. What in the heck was that. Hard to tell if Bible can't pull off less assertive characters when he's given little to nothing to work with. Skim through the first episode for the NC scene and pass on the rest.
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If you feel like the insane hype for this show has been lying to you, I know how you feel.
If you love basically everything GMMTV puts out, odds are you'll love this too. For me though, this show has everything I dislike about Thai BLs all in one place: mediocre directing and writing forcing mediocre performances out of otherwise perfectly good actors resulting in a story that, while it at least makes sense so far, I couldn't possibly care any less about. Everyone's kinda shitty, a couple guys are alright, a couple have room to grow, but it's all so bland and flat I could scream. Including the music, the try-hard lighting, etc etc. None of it has enough authenticity to feel even the slightest bit convincing.Even the sex scenes so far--the thing everyone is really here for--are just...bad. The making out is mostly fine, but the actual intercourse is *hilariously* awful. Hire better intimacy coaches, I'm begging you. And do they want us to watch these guys jerkoff or not? Because those scenes are so poorly and rapidly edited that it feels like they're trying to edit around their own eroticism.
I'm a firm believer in the right for "I didn't say it was good, I said I liked it" content to exist, and I could hardly begrudge anyone for liking anything because that's silly. But wow is this show not for me, and the way people go on and on about how great it is and how good the acting is makes me feel like we are literally watching two different shows. I'm only sticking around to skip through episodes in case the sex scenes get better.
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The most shameless KinnPorsche ripoff yet
I'm serious. Put a picture of these two lead characters next to a picture of Kinn and Porsche. Even the *hairstyles* are (poorly) copied.We all expected to see cashgrabs after KinnPorsche took off the way it did, and honestly hopping on a trend doesn't automatically turn me off. It's doing it so *lazily.* There is no script. There is no story. There is no concept. It's all nonsensical, unfounded emotions and the occasionally well framed camera shot. KP wasn't perfect, don't get me wrong, but it deserves WAY better copycats than this bull****.
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Weird tone, poor storytelling, totally unrealistic behavior
It's trying to be a lot of things at once--comedy, romcom, gangster flick--and fails to be any of them.I don't need everything I watch to be 100% authentic/realistic, but I need SOMETHING that feels genuine or is even remotely convincing and Kiseki just doesn't give me anything. On top of that, everything is extremely rushed to the point of absurdity. If a guy randomly blackmails you to take care of him otherwise he will *frame you for murder,* you're not breathless with attraction in two days. (The framing threat, btw, is unbelievably stupid. Fingerprints on a knife will not single-handedly convict someone with no record, motive, connection to the victim, or presence at the crime scene. Like, be serious.) I can turn my brain off and have fun, but only to a certain extent apparently.
No coherent plot, no chemistry, no clear identity, it's a mess. Ever seen a movie on the Hallmark channel? This is that bad. Though I guess if you think Hallmark is great then you'll love this.
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