Wasn't sure what I was going to say...

I read a very positive review before writing this because, I wasn't sure how to approach this series. We do get a sense of timeline based on the length of stay Nubsib is going to be a roommate. But, I still had to wonder why they had to make Gene's character so continuously abrasive. If more people would have reminded him to back off a little or, to apologize when mean - it would have been easier to connect with him earlier in the series.

This series is pretty well written. Because it is mentioned so much - without looking to the credits - I have been trying to guess if this was written by a woman or, a man or, a collaboration. I can usually tell it is a woman when they have the gay character make it sound like they are gay just for one person and are deciding at that very moment. There are so few BLs out there that show that those feelings and whom you are drawn to start at a very early age - whether in the closet or, not. Anywho.

Overall - well done. Love the detail. Love the uncomfortableness some episodes create. Love the reality. Love that many types of LGBT personalities are represented. This is one series where you will watch several of the episodes repeatedly. I would have scored it higher if they would have given the director's and Gene's manager less screen time - both of them are so irritating. LOL

What you will notice in this series is a lack of character development. Instead of spending more time to get to know everyone - we have to sit through meaningless boring, time consuming scenes that almost mean nothing. Great - they go to a temple before the series shooting begins - that could have been covered in a flashback conversation. And, the day to day scenes weren't strong enough to hold up on their own. In other series - those hanging out together moments show true friendship and bonding doing normal things. Here - it can clearly be seen as time filler - even though the episodes are so short. It's okay - that is what the fast forward button is for.

Let's look at the characters:

Nubsib - the kind of guy both women and men would love to have. Caring, patient and honest.
Gene - in the closet only because he has kept himself isolated most of his life - not daring to even see where his feelings lie.
Tum - an appreciated character - assumed gay because of the world/career he is in but, feet firmly planted where he knows who he is. Refreshing that he never gets as angry as Gene does when people "assume".
Aoey - my least favorite character for all the reasons we see. Even though Nubsib goes out of his way to avoid him - he still feels he has a chance at a relationship with him (sad but, with that character's personality - I can understand it). We needed this character to represent that large segment of the LGBT population. Happy he was part of the series.
Loved Korn's character - always left you wondering.
The director and Gene's manager hold the place for typical over the top annoying characters. There were several times when the director was speaking that I yelled at the TV for him to stop talking. Gene's manager is pretty awful. If I were Gene - when it came time for contract renewal I would ask for her replacement or, move to a better company.
Tiffy - pretty cool character - loved her transformation.
Hin and Mhok were cool - would have loved more time with them.

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This one intrigues me...

Chinese subbing of a Thai drama. I wasn't sure how I was going to like it but, I got hooked. Love the casting - it is strong. Love the music. Love how the characters interact with each other. And, I appreciate that even though they don't know each other well enough - they still look out for each other's wellbeing. I saw we can't find the original Thai version but, I will stick with the Chinese one to finish it.

One major irritation: The female chosen to voice for the FL was pulled off her anime duty. Typical grown women voicing in a way to make our FL sound like she is 7 years old with a mentality to match. The more she is on screen the more you hate her.
How do these people even get into college?

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Why are women portrayed as...

I don't understand why women are portrayed and conniving, evil, shallow people in so many Thai BLs. That is what ruined the Thai version of Why R U.

In Together With Me the women are loud, rude, manipulative and always out for themselves. Is this to make the men look better since this is a BL?

I liked the main characters - good chemistry. Good story development. Good cast - they got along well. The pacing is on point too.

I do appreciate that at least in this drama - there are some normal people who are part of the story. They offer some foundation to the series and some of the characters.

I still liked it but, it could have been so much better.

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Loved this drama!

What struck me the most about this drama was the detail. We truly get to know each character - little by little. We get to see them interact at such a realistic level that you feel that we are watching one of those reality shows where the cast has been together so long - they are like a family. Situations are real. What happens is real. Even the "screaming queens" put in for comedy become everyday people as we get to know them (they aren't empty fillers just there for comedy).

I will add to this in time but, I wanted to at least - get my feelings down here before I forget!

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Light and Fluffy - keep the remote handy to fast forward

Soap Opera - updated. Thank gawd it was over in 24 episodes.

Chinese Drama/Rom Com so, you must have:

- Really bad acting with the intake any kind of alcohol.
- The lead female must be really annoying for at least the first six episodes.
- Most side character females are not allowed to use their brains. No company would ever hire the timid secretary who preferred costume design and put her near such an important project. HR would have never let her get past a first interview.
- There must be at least three characters that talk too much but, say very little.
- Parents were window dressing. A good thing. The ML's dad propelled the story but, only through flashbacks - it saved so much time. His mother could have phoned in her performance.

After a few episodes, you can fast forward through whole sections and not miss a thing. ML does a good job of trying to atone for being a complete jerk. FL doesn't give herself enough time to process how awful he was to her. Having the two of them spending almost 24 hours together would be rough on anyone - especially, when one hurts you to the core. They should have had FL go home to the parent's house for several days after the rejection. She wasn't involved in the main project yet and it would have made her a more stable/mature character. Calling in sick for a couple days plus a weekend would have been perfect.

There must have been some social media stuff about her and eating. The director spent too much time with full face close ups of her eating - looking at her phone - and talking - all at the same time - annoying and a little disgusting. You'll notice that you almost never see ML eat more than a few bites before scene ends.

Fashion - honestly, loved all of it. Usually, they have them wearing the oddest styles and designs that don't always compliment. But, this one got it right in all ways.

The environment - too clean...too perfect. China understands that they can train a planet to believe life is perfect - just like everywhere else - in China. No real life mentions of life and its strict controls. Houses are gorgeous. Nary a mention of cost of living. Food is always plentiful and crime is always easily solved with four minutes of watching someone. Propaganda.

Life in the bedsheets is similar to how Korea treats its BLs right now. Once you get past a kiss or, two - you see them fully clothed in bed wearing clean bright clothes. In this one - it is 1950 America - you don't see them in bed together past a hug.

ML is a great actor. I went back to the scenes where he realized his terrible mistake. Perfect. He handled everything from that moment on perfectly. I stuck with it for him - I hope he has a long successful career.

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Great cast. Badly written. Red Flag city.

What do you do when you get a bad script, a lazy director but, great actors? You do the best you can. Honestly, this is a red flag story that never should have made it to screen as written.

I stuck with this until the end for the main story. But, so much of this needed fine tuning or, a page or, two in the shredder.

Tine: He requested the help from Wat when Green was becoming more and more aggressive. Why then - for the next too many episodes to mention - does he fight and become so mean each time he is looked at as being gay? He asked for it - what does he think his request means? And, he never truly gets to use Wat to keep - many times, creepy - Green away.

Also - Tine and a few of his friends are pretty awful people. They say and do hurtful things and care nothing of consequences. I followed some live comments for a couple episodes and I was not alone in thinking their behavior was pretty bad. I kept expecting a few bonus episodes like we have seen from other BLs when the writers get wrong and have to fix it to keep their fans happy and the advertiser dollars rolling in.

Green: Why was he even there? His character was a mess from beginning to end. He searches out Tine - sexually harasses him - yet - he is secretly in a relationship with someone else - who he is supposedly - temporarily for plot convenience afraid of? Physical abuse on top of that. The timeline of Green's story is a mess and nobody bothered to fix it. Approximately, 12 weeks pass from beginning of the series 'til the end but, Green's partner only gets involved towards the end? References are made to fights and running away but, none of that makes sense if you actually watch the characters go through each episode.

Sarawat: The only sane and decent person in the bunch. What he had to go through to hook up with Tine...I fell for him. Wat's gaydar must work really well because, no matter how much you pine for someone - this story gives you the illusion you can turn anyone you want if you stick with them long enough. Thank god the writers showed that Tine was unable to hold any male-female relationship - even though he didn't know why.

Mil: Notice that he never had to answer for getting Wat and Tine physically beaten/assaulted? He got a free walk on that one and everyone involved didn't even get so much as a slap on the wrist. Let's hire a group of thugs to physically beat two people with sticks and fists and gloss over the physical and psychological pain they cause and brush it off as over zealous friends helping another.

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Loved this series.

So well put together. You really get to hate him at the beginning and as the first episodes unfold - you'll find yourself getting anxious about if she will start to like him too early. He is so good at being bad that you fear anything good will be taken away the next time he is angry. That is good writing and great acting.

I don't want to dive into any of the details since so many other reviewers do that well so, I will just stick with that it is something to put and leave in your watch list. You will have favorite moments and go back to them often.

A little side note. In some dramas you can tell the actors/actresses aren't in to each other in the kissing scenes. They are just going through the motions. Not these two - the little details in how they kiss are perfect. Think Korean Odyssey when they kiss each other in the library or, when they finally spend a night together - those kisses/moments are perfect. Same with this series. They are trying so hard not to fall in love but, just can't help it.

You will enjoy this one.

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Good Story - had promise - have the fast forward button at the ready

Good story but, as is usual - they drag it out for far too long. This could have been finished in 16 episodes.

Character wise - good mix of nice cast but, the annoying characters are in far too many scenes. Have your finger on the fast forward button at all times. Xiao Mi is just awful and I can't stand anything she says or, does. Very immature. Self centered. And how on god's green earth did she ever make it into college? I would worry for her if she put her head in a paper bag.

I agree with many of the other reviews. As you learn more and more about the main characters - you will wish they WON'T get together. Really? Drag it out to the last episode?

I stuck with it. I agree with others - not enough time is spent when it comes to the actual fights/tournaments - it becomes a bad edit music video. Prepare for them to spend an eternity in prep for competition and then, the actual thing being over in just a few minutes because they want to spend 80 percent of the time on junk that means nothing. They REALLY take advantage of the stock footage they created of the school grounds. They are always exercising - always doing the same thing - always sunny and blue skies - always flipping the same tires in the same spots. Grinds my gears...

There are some WONDERFUL characters and the writers gave them some great material. That is why I stuck with every episode. Pick and choose - fast forward - and, you will get through this in half the time and still enjoy the overall story.

Want to be ready?
Lazy writing. Character gets abused and used by people with money but, there is NEVER any compensation.
There is a near death and AGAIN - no money - no compensation. Everything is handled under the table and the poor people get to stay happily poor. God forbid rich bad people get in trouble in a Chinese drama. That might give the common folk some dangerous ideas to society itself.
Grandfather stays pure evil until the very end. I kept yelling at the screen for him to have a heart attack or, something.
Xiao Mi - terrible. You can safely fast forward through everything she is in and not miss a single thing to the overall story. Her stubborn immaturity is a drag on the entire series.
Child actors - why couldn't they have been traumatized by something and not speak for 34 of the 37 episodes?
The on again off again of all the relationships REALLY shows the emotional immaturity of most of the cast (as written). College? Really?

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Great concept - Binged it - Rewatch? Yes.,..but,

Spoilers - but, maybe it will help you follow and figure it out.

Binged this because there was enough detail to make this an interesting and compelling series. But, with the choices made by the writers/director - it created issues that will have you reaching for the fast forward button - often.

With any time travel story - you will have issues. People still argue the existence of the pocket watch in Somewhere In Time (a movie you see on the shelf at the DVD store in this series). Where did the watch come from - originally - if the person from the past gets it from the person from the future but, the person from the future got it from the person from the past - in the present? See what I mean?

We see the DVD store owner becomes integral to the story. He initiates the contact and allows it to unfold - each time (three times). He is always there for guidance - a wonderful mentor/guide. He even makes a decision when the characters finally get it right.

Here's the issue...because we have been fed so much information, when the story moves through the second phase - we already know the outcome - there are almost entire episodes that are a waste of your time. Does it really matter that we get to see their relationship develop when we know the outcome? And, while I understand a time traveler choosing a moment - why wait until a week before the event to make an appearance? Love and sacrifice are already established and understood.

I would have preferred to see where Ongsa went before Suansoon rejoins the present than to see the relationship develop - in detail - the second time (a given that could have been handled with references and a few flashbacks). Create a story where we want to follow what everyone is doing. Not waiting while they have their five minute stares at each other while the soundtrack plays.

Spend less time in phase two and expand phase three/the end. I loved how every character realized that they went through this before but, couldn't quite put their finger on it. Let's see more of that.

I really liked this series for going so deeply into a thought/story that others have not gone before. Would love to see this done by the Koreans with their larger budgets and stronger writers.

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Hmmm I really can't decide

The one thing I got from this series is that it is near impossible to follow everything thrown at you without having to watch it again or, having to rewind and play scenes over again until you fill in the blanks and catch up. At times (an iQIYI issue) the subtitles were so fast you would need a photographic memory or, start a Duolingo course to learn the language. Also, when the writers/director realize that they only have two episodes left - they cram so much information in that it could be three days later before your brain finally puts it in the right order and you say "Ahhhh. That's why the father was such a..."

Yi's transformation from a**hole to nice person was never believable. It was never truly explained why he treated Diao so badly. Agree - Nat is not the best actor and agree - how can a medalist in martial arts be such a wimp and unable to fight?

Another reviewer posted other titles from this company and their seems to be a running theme...take a book and hurriedly and sometimes badly, convert into a series. Though, I must say that they are usually, good enough to plow through to see the ending. Not thrilled but, you know what I mean.

Side characters were entertaining. If you think of this as a Cinderella story - it makes a bit more sense and having the "extra" stuff thrown in is all there to help move the story along.

Hard to recommend. It is like both versions of Why R U. Thai one made all women to be vile and opportunistic. The Korean one cleaned that part up and improved it - a little. Do we wait for the Korean Naughty Babe and hope for more? Enquiring minds want to know...

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What a great series!

Love Masaki Suda in this series. When he makes his curry before going on his date and then processes that this is going to be a date - I have shown that scene to so many people. Always makes me laugh.

Love his character. Love the attention to detail. Love the stories and how they all tie together. I won't bog you down with a detailed analysis but, I will say that I keep this in my watchlist so, I can go back to it often whenever I need a Sherlock Holmes type fix. My favorite episode is when he encounters the bomber who has temporary amnesia - so well done.

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Love this one...

For me - the one person who makes this short series worth watching is Kakeru. Love his expressive delivery - no matter what he is saying - you want to watch and listen to him say it. When he first gets his schoolwork back and sees he has to do more to bring the grade up - his whole body tells the story. Yamato - while he does a great job - we have seen it before. I did love how he found a way to take any moment of physical contact and ask for it to be extended. Nothing like we see in Thai dramas with BLs but, just a hug or, when they are hiding - to not move for a few more moments.

Kashiwagi Haru (Kakeru) reminds me of Masaki Suda from Don't Call it Mystery. Expressive and fun to watch and listen to.

Like others have mentioned - no worries of friends or, classmates giving anyone a hard time - it is just part of life - refreshing and keeps the story on track. I will like coming back to this one for favorite scenes and episodes. I have to admit that I am a sucker for when a character takes care of another when they are ill or, injured.

The main frustration is in the lazy writing and direction. Part of the reason they can't communicate their feelings is the spontaneous friends always showing up to break up their conversation or, completely ruin their plans. Where is the respect? Why didn't either of them ever say - if you could just give us a moment to finish our conversation - we'll join you in a few minutes. Why was it okay for that friend to put all their books and plans away like what they want didn't matter - without even asking. Again - lazy writing and lazy direction. Forgivable but, it explains the lower scores from other reviewers.

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