1
1
Pinoy Ares
The good:
1) its so easy to watch - its just 6 episodes;
2) Off-Gun, do i need to say more? ;
3) the cats and the dogs, i wish they added more;
4) light hearted and fun.
The bad:
1) cliched story;
2) the never ending thai concept of a straight guy falling for another guy;
Its a good watch when you have about 5 hours to spare. See it while eating your dinner and dont think too much about the plots and loopholes, just enjoy. Will i rewatch the series - maybe, but id probably just skip to the BL parts. Is it awards worthy - hell no! Overall its an 8 for me.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Love knows no gender
Love knows no gender, literally. Im serious, thats what the series is all about - Love losing her real gender to find her true love, and by the end, her gender doesnt matter at all cause she did find the one she was promised. And yes, this is a BL fans clickbait show, cause this is just a show disguising itself as a BL series.First of all, i have got to say that the cinematography in this series is amazing. They obviously added an instagram-like filter of sheen/decoloration that gave it a unique quality that perfectly fits the fantasy theme.
Another good thing is the exceptional cast. I cant say much about girl Love cause she wasnt really present much but boy Love is amazing in his small eccentricities and subtle movements and expressions - he is after all a girl trapped in a boy's body. Vier is ok, but Tangmo is such a discovery - his character development from a guy on the sideline to the guy to root for is done quite well. Im sure everyone watching fell in love with him in the end. Great job for the writers for making us believe that Vier is the guy to watchout for.
And oh my Sean, right from the start you know there was something feminine in his actions (and of course i love watching Captain, the first reason i came watching this in the first place). Menn is cute, Nuclear is so so, and Good is just adorable.
The main concept of love knowing no gender identity is a good idea in paper, but for a girl to willingly change herself to stalk a guy is just plain creepy. And, to top that, 2 girls pretending to be boys to stalk this awesomely superduper hunk of a greatest guy is not just creepy but psychward worthy crazy batshit. Is this series telling me that what you are is not enough and that you have to disguise yourself to get that true love?
The subplots (im talking to you ghost Som, and yes that harrypotter talking book, and what is that challenge foe the 7 finalist, how do you judge which are the best 3 based on that) are just ridiculous that i constantly have to remind myself that this is a fantasy show. However if you look beyond the cheap and corny bits, you get a show that is entertaining and quite binge worthy. I also love that there's only 8 episodes. And did I mention about the exceptional cast?
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Half-Cooked, Dont Eat
A hard pass, unless someone buys you dinner to watch it. The plot synopsis here in MDL is a little bit different from the actual story, in the series Yu Dam has lived for 300 years and Dong Baek was in fact a man in his first iteration. And no, they dont die, only Dong Baek is bound to die.The format for Korean BLs are just too short to be properly appreciated. I just dont understand why they cant just increase the episode runtime to better tell the story.
There is an ambitious premise hidden somewhere. It is a fantasy romance and yes, they were trying to do something different from other BL by telling a unique love story that spans hundred of years. It reminded me of another Korean BL "First Love Again". However, just like that series, this story looks good on paper but has failed in execution. What we got are 10 16-minute episodes that spends the first 2 and a half minute recapping and showing the opening credits and another minute and a half end credits. The problem is there is just not enough story in the 12 minute remaining time for me to chew upon. There wasnt enough to savour the characters, it wasnt even enough to taste their chemistry.
The title says The Director Who Buys Me Dinner, but after the first 2 episodes the dinner between Director Min Yu Dam and Soel Dong Baek stopped. I would have loved to see it every episode like some sort of closing credit.
The fantasy side also wasnt fully explained, there wasnt any proper explanation about how the curse happened, or how the director lived for hundreds of years? Do we even really consider living a long life a curse? Did he meet any previous Dong Baek aside from the first and the current one? Who was that who possessed Dong Baek? Was the curse lifted by the end of the story or if he is still aware that he is or was immortal? Did he just suddenly also forget about his long life? What happens to Dong Baek at the end?
Also, whats the point of the Denis character?
What's sad is you can actually see the making of a good series under all the ingredients they were trying to shove in your mouth. If they just spent a little more time baking the story, and maybe just adding a little more sugary sweetness it would have been great.
I used to like short series but after a few duds i am starting to hate the format. It is very evident that in this series , the short runtime worked against their favor. Open ended stories are good way to end stories but here it just felt lazy.
Was this review helpful to you?
FULLY BLOOMED
I have to commend the show for showing us that short series doesnt have to feel rushed. With 11 episodes of about 12 minutes each, the series was beautifully developed and delivered with just the right pacing.I loved that almost all scenes (and characters) felt important with minimal fillers, sprinkled with just the right amount of cuteness, sillyness, adult kissing (and lovemaking) and a few obligatory shirtless trap scenes.
It also doesnt hurt that we got two very good looking and capable leads. Im not sure if it was intentional but the awkward acting of Jo Kyuk Joon somehow worked for his mysterious emo character, and Kang Eun Bin is like a younger Kim Min Jae, and i mean it in a good way.
On the other side, the series reminded me of the anxieties i felt while watching all other beauty transformation series that tried to deal with leaving an old life behind and trying to live with a somewhat fake beautiful identity to get acceptance - only this time, we see it from a guy's point of view. Or are we?
Cha Si Won can be played by a male or female actor without needing to change any of the script. The series was trying to say love is love and it has no gender, by emitting (or ignoring) any mention of homosexuality. However that for me was the weakness of the show - because in reality, same sex relationship isnt all rainbows and butterflies, and it could have added another layer to the love story of SiWon and Da Un. There are so many BL series nowadays who prefer to take this route and to be frank, it acts as a double edge sword that can sometimes work but sometimes can undermine serious gender issues and over romanticize the idea of an unconditional love.
The fact that they showed the mother feeling scandalized by being portrayed as a bad mother and yet has no concern about having a kid being in a same sex relationship, may prove to be a little too unrealistic and unrepresentative of the situation on the ground.
To be honest, what we have here is a shortened watery version of My ID is Gangnam Beauty.
Would i reccommend? Yes, definitely.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Satisfying series! Highly reccomended.Binged watched the whole series in one night. Engaging from the start till the end., the twelve episodes were used perfectly!
Coming in, you'd think you are watching a semi-fantasy scifi show. Its a story of a missing IT tycoon whose consciousness was mysteriously trapped inside a mobile phone. The phone landed in the hands of a seemingly unlucky jobless man who wasoffered to be the CEO of the company to solve the mystery of the boss' disappearance
I loved that the male princess cinderella transformation wasnt overdone. I specially enjoyed the main lead's boyish charm and acting and his dynamics with his family. I was also happy about the way they resolved the mystery of the trapped boss.
If there's anything con ts the fact that Chae Jong Hyeop's arms are so distracting, cause the guy oozes masculinity even without taking his shirt off.
Give it a go, you'd enjoy it too. Overall its an 8.5.
Was this review helpful to you?
MORE MORE MORE
Good story, good pacing, cute guys and good acting - what more can you ask for? I have one thing, I want more time with them!!! The series is too damn short!This is a testament why Korean dramas are leading all other its asian counterpart, this is a web drama but it certainly doesnt feel like it. The plot and the execution including the sets are well polished, and all the actors did a terrific job.
I even found myself singing with the song!
I will definitely rewatch this series and heres hoping that Korea will produce more, and hopefully next time it will be a full blown mainstream series.
Was this review helpful to you?
THIS IS ME BEING NICE
Cute cast - check! Unique storyline - check! Good location - check! But what started out as a promising fantasy rom-com slowly fell flat, and then fell harder on its ass with that lousy ending. Im giving it a 6 out of 10 and this is me being nice!The fantasy theme hooked me initially- after tens of high school and university themed BLs, I thought it was a breathe of fresh air. However, after the first episode when they tried to incorporate some cheap special effects, it became evident that they didn't really know how to utilize what was supposed to be its strength. The supernatural element was minimized that you almost don't feel it, until that brief moment in that episode when the cupid, Nite, disappeared completely (and that wonderful pink glow appeared again). By the end I was almost thinking if maybe the main characters Tae and Namwhan were just high on something and they just imagined the whole Cupid thing.
I love how cute the main actors were - Tee as Tae and Peace as Nite are so easy on the eyes and although the acting were a bit amateurish, i think they at least carried the show. Noey as Namwhan was also adorable and I loved that they didnt write the main female character as an annoying side show.
Also to be fair, although the story wasnt fully developed, I had a more pleasant experience listening to their lines - the script was written in a way that feels like the characters are real people, not actors acting in a drama.
Another good thing is the setting - Khon Kaen was such a wonderful background, and although at times it felt like a tourism ad, i still loved the way they showcased the city. Also, that brief moment in Chang Mai was mesmerizing to say the least. There was however, quite a lot of distracting establishments and product placements. I cant remember how many times they showed the Emma house model signage with its 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and 2 parking - i thought it was part of the cast.
I heard production was hindered by the pandemic, but I think what they should have done is waited a bit, to wrap the story properly with the same cast. The last episodes felt so detached and was filled with so many flashbacks to extend time- it was so obvious that they were just made to complete contractual obligations without really caring for whoever was left still watching.
And no, there was no real resolution to the story. When Cupid disappeared I was left heartbroken, and my heart hasn't healed properly, up to now. Id recommend skipping this one, unless you really, really need to watch something and there's no other option.
Was this review helpful to you?
However, this series has also created some of the most annoying characters on TV, ever - Aim, Jeed and Earn. Its not that these characters were written to be antagonists of the show - the characters, the way they were acted and the artists - were all annoying. Id like to scratch my tv everytime I see Jeed smirk on screen. These 3 characters were so unrealistic and unbelievable in their parts that everytime I see them on screen I just want to click fast forward. Grace was a villain and to say that i li ked her more than Jeed is just a testament of how annoying this Jeed character is.
Ive rated rewatch value to 6 because it is just painful to watch 36 episodes. If its 36 episodes of Phun and Noh being cute together, i would have rated it a 10. I give this an overall rating of 8, again, just because of Phun and Noh and if i can remove the Jeed, Aim and Earn from the whole series I would have given this series an overall rating of 10 - so just keep your remote handy and click when you see Jeed and Aim and Earn.
Was this review helpful to you?
CUTE CAST, is that enough?
Let me say that i misjudged it too early after the 13th episode, by that time rumor of a second season is floating and it made me worried they will leave the first season with all the relationship in cliffhanger mode just to make us come back for season 2.Lets talk about the series objectively. Story is nothing special and a bagful of cliches, in fact i would say that if you seen a few Thai BL, chances are, you know how and where this one is going. Pacing is also a little too slow for me, it feels like they stretched each scenes a little too long to fit it in 14 episodes. They could have squeezed the entire series in to 10 episodes and it will still feel the same.
If i watch another Thai BL with the 'i saw my bf kissing someone so i hate him and i want to breakup' scene I will just totally give up THai dramas. Comeon, dont tell me this is the only way writers in Thailand know how to create drama? They should create an eff*n real conflict and develop it properly.
Next, who the f goes swimming wearing shirts and pants? Are Thais really this prude? There was almost zero to very little kissing (and intimacy) in the entire series that it feels like a conscious effort not to show them, it made the entire series feel like a big bromance rather than a true BL story. Remember SOTUS? Yes i remember it too clearly, and its the same director, and is he aiming to bring in wider audience or what he has done is alienate hardcore BL fans?
The series, was saved by the beautiful cast. Bohn(Cooper) and Duen(Poy) are a really cute couple and yes id probably watch anything with Cooper. However, and this is a good however, the main couple is surrounded by an equally or maybe cuter couples - KingRam (Lay and Perth) and a more engaging BossMek (Intouch and Ryan). I hate to see the secpnd season without Ryan. Forget the fourth couple FrongThara as they were only annoying.
I am thankful that the season finale saved the series from being a total disaster by at least tying up the lose ends and never left us hanging with unnecessary cliffhangers. At least the entire series feels complete even if you dont watch the second season. Will i rewatch this season - probably not. Will i reccommend this series - yes!
Will I be back for the next round? Most probably yes, and I beg them to bring back Ryan or maybe atleast replace the actor with a different face but keep the same character Mek and not give Boss an entirely new love story.
Was this review helpful to you?
Im usually a fan of short series and to others, four episodes (er, actually more like three and a half) can be more than enough to tell a full narrative arc. However, this is clearly the show's weakness. There wasnt enough time for real character development and by the end of the series I wasnt really sure if the two leads are actually really inlove. Instead of getting to the point, the show is filled with too many useless fillers. After only 3 episodes they even have the audacity to show us that shi**y recap montage perfect with those rotating blue stars. Wait did i say shI**y? I meant shiny.
This is exactly how i felt when watching the director's "Make it Right" Series. He has a tendency of adding too many scenes and secondary characters that actually do nothing but waste our time.
Its such a shame because for the most part, they got a gem with their two lead cast - War and Yin are almost good and both are very HOT and charming.
Pacing could have been snappier but instead we got a collage of scenes that jump from one to another without letting us digest them. It felt like important details were left out. If only they used their time wiser, we couldve figured things out better. I think the makers forgot that not all viewers are readers of the book.
They intentionally diluted a strong sadistic affair and made it a forgettable tiny puppy love. I have to give them props for twisting and romanticizing an unsolicited sex predatorship and turning it to sunny yet full of rainbows love story. And for adding a girl character just to make her the villain, because yes, this is a BL and all girls are enemies. Yes, im being sarcastic.
Is it a good watch? Yes, if only for the eye candies. Dont put this in your priority though, just watch it when your flight is delayed for two and a half hours and youre stuck in the airport. They missed the opportunity of making this a meaningful watch.
Edit: A full blown series is coming our way soon, and i cant deny Im excited. They may finally be able to give justice to the story.
Was this review helpful to you?
The good:
1. OffGun, need i say more?
2. Krist, its refreshing to see him as a loving character, someone who shows his feelings. I wish they used him more.
The bad:
1) i used to like the straight couple before but now they're just whiny little waste of screen time;
2) where are the dogs, its Puppy Honey wihtout the dogs???;
3) whats up with the 5-minute opening credits and 5-minute closing credits, the run is 8 episode and you waste 10min per episode just for unnecessary crap;
4) i almost graded the show higher for not incorporating villains in the show but then come the last episode and that shiity way they treated Din's character. I wish producers will give Sing a better character than just being in the background. This guy is cute;
5) i wanted to jump to the screen everytime the female actress falls or trips. Why are women treated like weaklings, is this what you call romantic trait of a girl? ;
6) everytime there is a fight (in all thai series, not just in this series) the guys always have bloody lips. Its the same in the first season. How weak are the lips of Thai guys? There are 4 or 5 instances in this series alone where the guy characters get beaten up and ended up with a bloody lips. It is just so frustrating to watch;
7) Each episodes felt stretched and they wasted so many time with the slow senseless talking, especially for the straight couple.
They should have transformed this into a full pledged BL series (a la DBK) and gave us 8 full episodes of OffGun cause the 2 main straight leads were just wasted here. The magic is gone from the first season and what used to be a fun series became a sloppy slow soap that you wish would just fast forward and end. It would also be more believable if Emma ended up with Night and Porsche just ended up with Friend.
Would i rewatch. Probably not, not even the BL parts. Tired of seeing conservative BL guys in BL series. Do these producers seriously think that gay guy couples dont have sex and intimacy when they were dating for 3 years already?
Overall im giving it 6.5 but without OffGun would probably rate it lower.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
A nice cap off to the Ai and Nhai love story.Quite a few people hated the main series. I understand their concerns but it was different for me because i loved it. AI lhong Nhai was a guilty pleasure watch and its such a delight to see them end the series with this.
Lets not kid ourselves, it looks like it was shot within a day and on a limited budget but there was some good camera shots and sceneries here. The locations are amazing but they could have spent a little more time with the set - the empty bookshelf when Ton and Nhai is having lunch is so distracting they didnt even bother to put a single book or plant in it.
Like the main series there will be a few violent reactions again about the script (or the very poor way it was translated). I would also like to know how expensive it is to get the rest of the gang, at least Nhai's father, and why it wasnt possible for them to even make a cameo for this occassion.
I however love them bringing back Sippakorn and Jaonan. Seeing this lovely real life couple onscreen is like rainbow on a rainy day.
I am not sure if there is a demand or a clamor for this but i really appreciate them most for giving us this special episode to end the Ai Nhai story. The main series ended quite abruptly and this special felt like they planned to do it like this all along.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
SAD BOYS
When I saw the title it should have been a clear indication and warning that the characters are going to be really really blue.From the onset it was clear that this is from a small production - with just a few sets and very limited movement - just 2 guys who are mostly sitting (oh of course that couple of scenes where they were supoosed to be making love) and verbalizing scenes about their college past and the frustrations they currently encounter in life. There wasnt any big reveal or event, just two guys finding love with each other.
The thing that I liked most is that even though the series is too short, the story itself can be a throve of a much richer, better told story - if or should they want to make a full blown series out of it. The fact that this is a youtube production with obviously a chump change for budget, it still didnt feel cheap like a vlogger making a skit for youtube or tiktok - it feels like an honest to goodness genuine series.
One thing I hated is the insistence of amateur BL writers to put a despicable female character as a villain to a boy-to-boy love story. That was so unnecessary and i am willing to give this series a solid 9 if they didnt include that character.
The ending which obviosuly angered a lot of watchers, is actually ok for me. The seesawing of their relationship is understandable given the fact that even though both are adult men, they are both experienceing this kind of love for the first time - and the harsh reality is that not everyone can and will be able to accept this kind of relationship. It felt like although JaeMin wanted things to work between them, the sad truth is there are other things that he has to prioritize given his current financial situation. When he asked Na Mi if he will take responsibility if he loses this potential job, i didnt know why he didnt just answer yes! Do i prefer a happy ending? Yes i do, but the sad reality is not everyone gets their happy ending - and if they are really meant to be together both are young enough to maybe cross path again in the future when they are both in a better position.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
THE SIGN of Better BLs to Come
If anything, I am happy that Thai companies are expanding beyond the typical BL storylines. its A SIGN that the genre is evolving and has a lot of potential.Quick recap. Phaya and Tharn are reincarnations of Garudas and Nagas - mythical deities in the Buddhist/Hindu culture. Their connection was so strong that even at childhood, they were drawn to each other and Tharn became an unofficial protector of sort to Phaya. The end. Okay, Im kidding so many things has happened in this show that its so hard to make a quick recap.
What i like about the series:
1. I really love the first episode because it hooks you in to want to see more.
2. Great production value, you can see that they have really thought hard about the story and execution to deliver us a unique story. Even the action sequnces, which may often feel too rehearsed, is commendable. The CGi somewhat feels subpar but it is very acceptable considering that this is from a somewhat new production outfit. Hands off to them.
3. Maybe one of the best looking cast in a BL ever. Do i need to say more? Billy's scenes in those black boxers are BL gold. Babe is undeniably a gorgeous boy. I love all the support cast. The first episode with all the fake nude scenes is like a rain blessing to water the dryest dessert. And yes, the almost obligatory NSFW scenes in almost all episodes (but more on this later).
4. Im really happy that this is not just another university/high school story.
What i dislike:
1. I thought Tharn as a Naga is in female form, that were the dream sequences, werent it? They made such a big deal about it in the beginning but the later episodes Tharn Naga became just Tharn with long hair.
2. While a lot of the viewers like the weekly crime solving cases and the overall human baddie, i hated it. The truth is they weren't used to advance the story of Phaya and Tharn and their love story. In fact the big case turned out to be not important in the scheme of things.
2, Chalathorn turned out to be nothing but a dud instead of being the menacing villain.
3. There were too many subplots. The show wanted to be so many things. This show is worth at least 2 good BLs rolled together in one - the result is a mishmash, 2 half-baked pies and confused if its an action or a fantasy series.
4. One blatant proof of the show's identity crisis is with Tharn - one second he was this strong guy solving cases next second he is this soft crybaby blaming himself for whatever accident Phaya has gotten himself into. He is a police officer who will suddenly leave his post just to save the damsel Phaya. His character, lost consistency and could have been handled better.
5. While the male cast is the focus of the show, the young female support and the GL is acted so poorly. Even the grandmas who were suppossed to be lovable just werent. Their lines were so cringy and could have been edited out of the story to make it leaner.
6. The show got so convulated in the second half that i was watching the episodes in 2x speed. From being a must-see show it became a tedious watch, a show i just needed to finish because i want to see the ending of the fantasy story.
7. The almost obligatory NSFW scenes. For crying out loud, Phaya escaped the hospital in episode 9 just to answer a booty call.
8. The cashgrab finale. I get it, i get it, the producers wanted to capitalize and earn a little extra and god knows they deserve it for all their hard work, but it left a lot of sour taste in the mouth . Once i saw that ad showing the last episode will be shown in a streaming event, i almost decided to drop this show. What made it worse, the 3 week break between sepisode 11 and the free -to-air episode 12 turned out to be non-climatic after all, with so many plotholes and unexplainable things happening. Action scenes and that forest chase scenes became laughable, and that mythical love that is supposed to be epic in size just werent.
9. Please also explain to me how did Tharn saved Phaya from falling off that cliff from mid-air because that defied time and logic. That must have been a very very high thousand kilometer cliff because so many things have happened during that fall (the criminal was even able to get back to the base and shoot Chart) and yet Tharn still managed to save Phaya mid-air. and I watched it a few times to get a sense of it but just cant. Boy they didnt wrap this show properly.
Will i rewatch this series. No. It is tedious and there are tons of other contents right now. Im just giving it a 7.5 for all the effort and what it could have been. Will i reccommend? Sure, even with all the inconsistencies it is still a good watch, the boys alone is worth it.
Was this review helpful to you?
To be honest, the only thing that kept me watching is Cooper (Golf) - what can I say, Im a sucker for cute boys (that didnt sound right) - his acting was a still raw at this point, probably because he was still too young here, and Im judging from a very low bar.
What I dont like about the series:
1. Im sorry to say but I dont know why Guide is the other main lead here , his character Bank has not enough charisma and personality and not believable enough to convert a straight boy into loving another boy, let alone be the object of affection of 2 guys.
2. How they presented the timeline just didnt work for me, and it was too obvious that they want to explain everything.
3. This is telenovela at its worst, it has the most number of sick people in a show that Ive ever seen - MDD, Alzheimers, Cancer and Heart failure. It is a futile and lazy attempt to create drama. Golf has the unluckiest family in the entire drama world -all the old members are/were sick or was beaten by an ex partner.
4. The ending - i desperately tried to search the web for the next episode, I thought they pranked me but did the show really end like that? I get that at least the 2 leads were together, as expected, but all the other characters and events just became unimportant.
When i was about halfway through all the episodes all i can think about is when will this show end. Rewatcheability - im giving it a 4 just because of Cooper, if youre a fan of this guy, then watch but if not run for your life. Overall im giving it a 5
Was this review helpful to you?
