Unpopularopinionbydemand
watching BL in the corner of my room
This review may contain spoilers
Wish I Would've Watched This in 2024
This could've easily been my favorite BL of 2024 had I been on my zoom. Unfortunately, like most years, I am almost completely behind on BLs, and generally watch weeks, if not months after the show has aired. Monster Next Door was the complete package of everything that I ever need in a BL, plus some. Also, Big is beautiful.
Let's Dive In.
I remember watching the trailer for this months ago and thinking, "man, this looks cute." I thought nothing more of it, heard some hype about it a tinny bit during its air time, but mostly, this was under wraps. Decided to give it a go cause I remembered the synopsis and I remembered what we were going to get, so I decided that was the best option for me. Immediately, I was hooked. Most first episodes are boring and take me five-ever to get through, but this had me on the edge of my seat. I finished the first episode in one go (which you're thinking, "that's not that impressive" but I very rarely finish an episode, especially the first, in one sitting), and then I ended up finishing this all in one day. Monster Next Door was so a breath of fresh air, and even though nothing about it was entirely unique or brand new, this was everything I could've ever wanted wrapped in a bow and handed to me.
Starting with the plot, oh my gosh, it was perfect. Diew, a shy little dude who has a turtle for a best friend ends up living by an extroverted big-guy who is really loud and annoying, They never meet, just talk between the wall of the balcony, through sticky notes, through drawings on the table, and it's absolutely everything to me. I'm in love with how perfect the characters are. I love how Diew is suppose to be introverted and incredibly shy, and he actually performs that to a T. He doesn't make eye contact when talking, his voice is quiet, when God wins a competition, he just smiles and claps while everyone around him is screaming and jumping for joy, he does the perfect "I'm shy" body gestures and mannerisms. Which is completely opposite of God whose loud and knows everybody and plays basketball and the drums who draws on tables and gets drunk form time to time, who is also the most gentle giant ever. When they meet for the first time, I kid you not, I got the worst case of butterflies. I just loved how complete everything was, from them not meeting, to them meeting, to them taking things slow, to them figuring out their feelings, to them dating. And then on top of that, they also had their own personal problems they were working through, like Diew and his mother along with his ex, God and his bandmate, along with dealing with his feelings for Diew and navigating how to control them. They aren't just one dimensional, they aren't just there to get together and that's it, they have flaws that they end up working out and then develop into even better people. Gosh, I loved it.
Moving onto their romance, what can I say? It was flawless. I'm a sucker for slow-burn, and they gave me exactly that. We don't even see them kiss until (I think?) episode 7, and it's the must butterfly-inducing moment ever. Big and Park work very well together. I loved their chemistry, I could tell the characters actually liked each other, and they did being physical very very well. One of my favorite scenes is when Diew stays the night after finding a spider in his room, and they're just yapping and smiling and cuddling, and it's the best thing ever. I can't wait to see these two again on my screen, they were meant to partner up, for sure. Also, the height difference meant so much to me, you don't understand.
Moving onto the side couple, usually I'm more obsessed with side couples than I am main, but this wasn't the case with Beer and Wan. Still, I really liked their story, and I do love a friends to lovers trope, so of course, I was seated. They did a really good job, other than the fact that Wan was incredibly weird about being together, which I understood, but still, it caused unnecessary tiffs for no reason. I think they were cute, I liked their banter and how organic their conversations were, and they worked well with the rest of the story.
A couple more things I loved about this series: The graphics were some of the best I've seen in BL. Their devil/angel characters, God's face on Diew's puzzle, the words on the screen and how they fit the environment around them. Really great job. One thing that I think was hilarious was Diew's turtle, who in every scene looked like he was miserable and wanted to escape (why didn't they give him a bigger terrarium?? like seriously??). I liked that Diew's ex boyfriend didn't get a redemption arc, and he does actually just suck and Diew doesn't forgive him for it. I liked that Diew eventually stood his ground with that one girl after her prodding behavior. God's friend group was amazing, everything just clicked, their banter, their laughter, their mannerisms. They looked like actual friends, and I loved it.
A few things I didn't like: There's this scene were this little girl comes up to them to ask if they've slept together (as in sleep) and God says yes, but then she starts teasing them about not just sleeping, and it was so... weird? Like, that's a child, and I'm not sure why that's a conversation she needed to be a part of. Theirs a pretty giant miscommunication on Diew's part that cause some unnecessary tiffs between the characters closer to the end. It feels like they added it so that there could stretch this into 12 episodes, but it's entirely uncalled for. The singing in this was so bad. It was completely off-tune and just not good. Not sure how that Win guy got to be the main vocalist of that group, but God (the actual God, like up-above) so help them.
Ratings:
Story: 8/10 - Loved, loved loved!! The romance romanced like it should, the plot flowed really nicely, and I was able to watch all of this in one go (very rare for me). I only give it an 8 for some uncalled for conflict, and a couple of odd moments within the series, but other than those, the story was (almost) spotless.
Acting: 8.5/10 - Big did rather well in this. I remember him in Gen Y with his 2.5 second cameo, and that's it. When I saw he had a main role in this, I was nervous, but he delivered perfectly, Park did amazing with being shy and introverted. He struggled with some of the scenes where he was obviously suppose to cry, but it gets better in the end. The rest of the cast did a good job as well.
Music: 5/10 - didn't really pay much attention to it at all, but the singing in this was god awful.
Recommendation Value: 9.5/10 - Hell yeah, watch this, and watch it right now. The plot is damn near perfect, the character's have flaws, but are still so relatable and fun to watch. If that doesn't do it for you, Big look incredible shirtless, and Park looks like a little cinnamon roll beside him.
Let's Dive In.
I remember watching the trailer for this months ago and thinking, "man, this looks cute." I thought nothing more of it, heard some hype about it a tinny bit during its air time, but mostly, this was under wraps. Decided to give it a go cause I remembered the synopsis and I remembered what we were going to get, so I decided that was the best option for me. Immediately, I was hooked. Most first episodes are boring and take me five-ever to get through, but this had me on the edge of my seat. I finished the first episode in one go (which you're thinking, "that's not that impressive" but I very rarely finish an episode, especially the first, in one sitting), and then I ended up finishing this all in one day. Monster Next Door was so a breath of fresh air, and even though nothing about it was entirely unique or brand new, this was everything I could've ever wanted wrapped in a bow and handed to me.
Starting with the plot, oh my gosh, it was perfect. Diew, a shy little dude who has a turtle for a best friend ends up living by an extroverted big-guy who is really loud and annoying, They never meet, just talk between the wall of the balcony, through sticky notes, through drawings on the table, and it's absolutely everything to me. I'm in love with how perfect the characters are. I love how Diew is suppose to be introverted and incredibly shy, and he actually performs that to a T. He doesn't make eye contact when talking, his voice is quiet, when God wins a competition, he just smiles and claps while everyone around him is screaming and jumping for joy, he does the perfect "I'm shy" body gestures and mannerisms. Which is completely opposite of God whose loud and knows everybody and plays basketball and the drums who draws on tables and gets drunk form time to time, who is also the most gentle giant ever. When they meet for the first time, I kid you not, I got the worst case of butterflies. I just loved how complete everything was, from them not meeting, to them meeting, to them taking things slow, to them figuring out their feelings, to them dating. And then on top of that, they also had their own personal problems they were working through, like Diew and his mother along with his ex, God and his bandmate, along with dealing with his feelings for Diew and navigating how to control them. They aren't just one dimensional, they aren't just there to get together and that's it, they have flaws that they end up working out and then develop into even better people. Gosh, I loved it.
Moving onto their romance, what can I say? It was flawless. I'm a sucker for slow-burn, and they gave me exactly that. We don't even see them kiss until (I think?) episode 7, and it's the must butterfly-inducing moment ever. Big and Park work very well together. I loved their chemistry, I could tell the characters actually liked each other, and they did being physical very very well. One of my favorite scenes is when Diew stays the night after finding a spider in his room, and they're just yapping and smiling and cuddling, and it's the best thing ever. I can't wait to see these two again on my screen, they were meant to partner up, for sure. Also, the height difference meant so much to me, you don't understand.
Moving onto the side couple, usually I'm more obsessed with side couples than I am main, but this wasn't the case with Beer and Wan. Still, I really liked their story, and I do love a friends to lovers trope, so of course, I was seated. They did a really good job, other than the fact that Wan was incredibly weird about being together, which I understood, but still, it caused unnecessary tiffs for no reason. I think they were cute, I liked their banter and how organic their conversations were, and they worked well with the rest of the story.
A couple more things I loved about this series: The graphics were some of the best I've seen in BL. Their devil/angel characters, God's face on Diew's puzzle, the words on the screen and how they fit the environment around them. Really great job. One thing that I think was hilarious was Diew's turtle, who in every scene looked like he was miserable and wanted to escape (why didn't they give him a bigger terrarium?? like seriously??). I liked that Diew's ex boyfriend didn't get a redemption arc, and he does actually just suck and Diew doesn't forgive him for it. I liked that Diew eventually stood his ground with that one girl after her prodding behavior. God's friend group was amazing, everything just clicked, their banter, their laughter, their mannerisms. They looked like actual friends, and I loved it.
A few things I didn't like: There's this scene were this little girl comes up to them to ask if they've slept together (as in sleep) and God says yes, but then she starts teasing them about not just sleeping, and it was so... weird? Like, that's a child, and I'm not sure why that's a conversation she needed to be a part of. Theirs a pretty giant miscommunication on Diew's part that cause some unnecessary tiffs between the characters closer to the end. It feels like they added it so that there could stretch this into 12 episodes, but it's entirely uncalled for. The singing in this was so bad. It was completely off-tune and just not good. Not sure how that Win guy got to be the main vocalist of that group, but God (the actual God, like up-above) so help them.
Ratings:
Story: 8/10 - Loved, loved loved!! The romance romanced like it should, the plot flowed really nicely, and I was able to watch all of this in one go (very rare for me). I only give it an 8 for some uncalled for conflict, and a couple of odd moments within the series, but other than those, the story was (almost) spotless.
Acting: 8.5/10 - Big did rather well in this. I remember him in Gen Y with his 2.5 second cameo, and that's it. When I saw he had a main role in this, I was nervous, but he delivered perfectly, Park did amazing with being shy and introverted. He struggled with some of the scenes where he was obviously suppose to cry, but it gets better in the end. The rest of the cast did a good job as well.
Music: 5/10 - didn't really pay much attention to it at all, but the singing in this was god awful.
Recommendation Value: 9.5/10 - Hell yeah, watch this, and watch it right now. The plot is damn near perfect, the character's have flaws, but are still so relatable and fun to watch. If that doesn't do it for you, Big look incredible shirtless, and Park looks like a little cinnamon roll beside him.
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