If it's the last show I see...

I'd be alright. I've rewatched most of the series at least twice already. I will continue to recommend this show until the day I die.

Pros:
The acting and directing are amazing. Jimmy and Sea and P'Aof did so well and really brought life to these characters - even the side characters that we barely see. Like good job to Mark and Namtan, Film and Ohm, Kun and Emi - just everyone.
The music is full of bangers. I've put those things on repeat and watched the music videos extensively.

The whole team did a great job of really getting at your emotions, whether with the lighting, the camera angles, the music, the facial expressions, hell - the clothes. It became a game of "what shirt or hidden words in the background will we see this week?!"
The show was so well put together. They really had an amazing team for this project.
I felt every emotion for 11 episodes and... most emotions in episode 12.

This show didn't fall into the dreaded weak episode 11, but episode 12 did have some weak points. I'd say episode 12 was the weakest episode of the series, and I think it's because they really needed a whole 3-10 more episodes to really get into more story.


Downsides - some spoilers:
The show never really addresses Mhok's PTSD or trauma responses. The one time Mhok finally tries to bring it up, he's dismissed as feeling pity for Day and kicked out. When he comes back, he thanks Day for breaking his heart and apologizes for pitying him - which is something he never fucking did. I really wish the show had given more time to developing Mhok's healing process instead of saying it all happened off screen during a time jump.

Day's mom is a bitch, but we're meant to forget this because she also apparently had character development during the time skip.

Not enough time with our side couple, honestly. I could use half a show about Night, please. Mark was amazing and he barely had any screen time.

MAJOR SPOILER: Other people's downside: Day's eye surgery. As someone with legal blindness, seeing someone who is super rich manage to get an eye surgery did not bother me. Not in the slightest. I didn't think it detracted from the message of the show or from Day's character development. I was very happy for him. I think he's using his experience to be a better person. I liked it.

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An Emotional Timey Wimey Time

The plot is original and it doesn't fall into a lot of BL trope scenes. The cast was good, and Tae and Tee led the show very well. I didn't feel like anyone was dragging down the show.

I think the drawbacks of the show are the music - sometimes it all felt kind of random or weak. And while I loved the time loop idea, it did get a little confusing at times trying to keep the events in order, and during the final loop several previously known facts were changed to ensure certain characters got the endings the creators wanted.

For example - Sing and Gap suddenly dating and Sing being the lead doctor trying to expose Sak. Tol's classmates being suddenly reasonable and Doi going insane.

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Personality Swap Into a Decent Show

Ok. First of all, your show can't get a 10/10 if you personality swap your main character in episode 3. If you're reading this and hated Kang in ep 1 and 2, and you're debating if you should keep going? Keep reading.

Was the show sweet? Yes. Did the mains have chemistry? Yes. Perth could get chemistry from a wall. But the plot and the actors and the music can't make up for the drastic alteration in the show from episode 2 to 3.

In the first two episodes, Perth's character, Kang, is a grade A asshole. A bully to the extreme. He corals his little gang into tormenting people, making them strip for blackmail photos, condones his friends burning other people's possessions, encourages videos to spread on the internet to embarrass others, tells his little gang to drop water and things on people from high up, rips up Sailom's property, tried to interfere with Sailom's school work and studies, destroys Sailom's reputation by falsely accusing him on being a pedophile on a public forum so he lost all his jobs, and was about to threaten Sailom with a gun. Why? Because Sailom tried to show a teacher what he was doing, and then Sailom refused to bow down to him and kiss his shoes in apology.

When episode 3 starts? Kang is a misunderstood puppy who gingerly considers Sailom's feelings and financial situation all the time. He tries to sound tough, but everything is very transparent. It's obvious he is suddenly and fiercely protective of Sailom. His face goes from "fuck the world" to "pet me, I'm lonely".

Do I love version 2 of Kang? Yes. Version 1 almost made me not want to watch the show. He was that awful. But it should have been a more gradual shift and not such a stark and sudden switch.

The show post ep 3 is a mix of sweets and light drama that are good for most BL fans. The dynamic of the mains works and is satisfying for most people. I enjoyed the hints of the side couples and wish we'd gotten more from one couple, but that's another story.

The show still gets docked points for the personality swap, though.

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B-Movie, with heart.

So for movies, it's pretty B-rated. That being said, the main cast does a great job and I did root for Tendo. I took joy in his joy, and I understood his zombie-like work mentality. Some of the side actors left something to be desired. The music was nice but didn't always feel like it was used as well as it should have or could have been. While I was having a good time, the final zombie problem in the movie was very sharknado and overly ridiculous. I mean, if they made a sequel, I'd probably watch it. I do like Eiji Akaso. But the movie itself could have been better.

Also, shows keep trying to suggest Eiji Akaso is a fighter or an athlete, and I continue to laugh at his lack of muscle mass. I try to suspend disbelief, but he does not look like someone who used to be a running back in American football.

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Not Cute Enough to Hide the Flaws

The story idea is good, but several flaws drag it down.

I get that Fumiya is trying to save his relationship with Ritsu by pretending they weren't dating... but why does he never try to start a new relationship? He keeps insisting they're just friends even when it's clear Ritsu likes him. Ritsu, on the other hand, never just guesses they were together even though it should be obvious. They live together and yet there's only one bedroom? Fumiya sleeps on the couch every day. All their clothing is in the same room, to the point that Ritsu grabs Fumiya's sweater thinking it's his own. And you expect me to believe Ritsu never got curious about that?

Their reason for breaking up is a good one if you put thought into it, but it's not executed well so it felt a little pointless. However, if the relationship was truly that strained, Fumiya wouldn't have been so unerringly in love with Ritsu anymore. Basically the two plot points don't match well for me.

Other reviews have said the chemistry is good, and yeah the two guys get along well and they didn't have a problem being in each other's space, but I'm not sure I'd say their romantic chemistry was good. Their kisses felt like a caricature of real kisses - the barest press of faces in a lip-oriented location. Their first time having sex had an awkwardly blocked hand on what I assume was meant to be Ritsu's crotch, but the lack of reaction or motion made it obviously unrealistic.

Overall, the show had some good moments and a good premise, but the execution wasn't always well done, the acting was passable, and the scenes don't entice me to want to rewatch the show.

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Soft and Adorable, with a Sprinkle of Drama

The show is so sweet that some reviews say it's too simple. The actors do very well, even those with very little screen time.

The main couple develops over time and avoids some old stereotypes. For example, (SPOILER) when Chan finds out Yul is dating someone, his mentor does not encourage him to fight for Yul. In fact, his mentor tells him to do the right thing and back off. The meat of their romantic development comes only after Yul breaks up with his boyfriend. (END SPOILER)

KBLs tend to have shorter run times, and this is no different. As usual, it would have been nice to see more development on some of the plot points - (possible SPOILERs) what actually happened in high school? What really happened between Yul and his dad back then and what finally made Yul want to rebel? Why is Yul having trouble sleeping? (END)

I think the cast was great, the music sweet, and the plot cute. The characters were funny and fun to watch.

Pros:
-- Nice chemistry and the actors looked nice while kissing (which is not something you can always say)
-- good acting, scenery, music, and pacing.
-- Funny and fun
-- Includes a little whump

Cons (with spoilers):
-- Where TF is grandpa? He's away for a medical reason in ep 1 and he never comes back home. Where is he? They said he was fine, but is he? Did he die? Why did he never go home?
-- Minor detail, but Ma's accent when speaking Korean sounded very Italian. It's not so much a con as a quirky weirdness.
-- Would have liked more depth on Yul's relationships with Inseo and his father.

-- Another review mentioned colorism being in the show, but assuming my translation was correct, they really only mention Yul's paleness twice while describing him as handsome. ie, "He's so good-looking. So pale." Every other mention of paleness is about people not taking care of themselves and being ill or needing to rest.

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Not the Strongest but Still Worth It

The premise is fantastic - some people being monos and having a probe in the world that can let them see colors so long as they're around. It's a soul-mates plot if ever there was one. With a dash of worry about becoming too obsessed.

The series is coded heavily as a metaphor for being queer in a world that doesn't accept/villainizes being queer. The lack of color that Yeon Woo experiences can easily be interpreted as varying levels of self-isolation, loneliness, and depression that he only gets relief from when around Yoo Han, to whom he is attracted. Yoo Han represents being accepting of your sexuality, presenting as more flamboyant and effeminate than Yeon Woo. Yoo Han never shies away from invading Yeon Woo's personal space or touching him. He instantly recognizes their mutual benefit from being around each other, their mutual interest in each other, and he latches on instantly. Yeon Woo, on the other hand, tries so hard to resist the pull Yoo Han has. He denies and denies his interest until he can't.

The desperation shown by Yoo Jun as Yeon Woo is well done. His emotions come across very well and I never doubted his struggle. On the other hand, Hyun Jun's acting felt weak and basic. He's got a decent face and his soft voice worked for making the coloring scenes feel intimate, but his tone in every scene felt the same. He only had one setting, and it felt incongruous with many scenes.

The script had some great parts but it felt rushed or weak in others. I filled in spots I felt were emotionally lacking or where information should have been put in, or however else the scene felt weak, but it was me subconsciously giving leeway to the show. The script shouldn't have needed as much forgiveness as I gave it while watching.

The cinematographer needs a raise - or whoever was in charge of the color rush scenes. Yoo Han explaining the color palette was so intimate and innately sexual (without being sexual) that I got literal chills. The color rush scenes were beautiful, moving, intimate, and definitely coded as sexual experiences, however small. They were very well done.

Overall, I'm not against rewatching it with a friend, and most of the movie was well done.

TW: there is a scene of attempted suicide.

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Surface Level Emotions and Inconsistencies Abound

Are Gun and Cher cute? Yes. Do we have friendship shenanigans that make for an enjoyable time? Sure. The show tries to tackle important and serious topics? Absolutely.

HOWEVER, the relationships in the show always felt skin deep. We had moments that felt deep, but they were immediately followed by whole episodes that ignored or otherwise disregarded those moments. The deep moments felt like they had no effect on the rest of the show. Characters randomly fall ill but then get better with no hidden meanings or consequences. Characters declared bold and intense intentions that are seldom followed through. Grave consequences are threatened but never enforced because of some very minor possible solutions Cher or Gun come up with? Gun and Cher regularly discuss how they will stay together forever, and yet they almost break up (or do break up) just about every episode after they officially start dating.

Depression is brought up but then waved aside like it's an illness you can simply get over. Child abuse and rape begin like a major plot point but are settled off screen and with no payoff for the viewer. Social class divisions are a problem but it never feels serious. Homophobia is treated like a simple office gossip problem. Loss of dreams/innocence rage amongst our game players but everything is always solved with basic apologies.

Overall the show gets points for being cute and having some fun characters, but it loses points all over for an ill executed plot with a lackluster script riddled with inconsistencies and base level emotional depth.

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Sweet but feels like it's missing something at the end.

The plot was nice and the actors did a very good job. Seeing them struggle with who they're in love with when it's a story of reincarnation was interesting. The crying scenes were very well done. I never doubted their sincerity.

Downsides: Yeon Seok being scared of bl at the start was a minor turn off at the beginning.

The ending was a little too vague. So Ha Yeon wasn't leaving? Then why did he have a suitcase and get asked if he forgot anything? What are the lasting effects of him remembering his past life? It caused tension in their relationship but then got brushed aside in order for a quick ending.

It's suggested that Ha Yeon has a lot on his shoulders but we never learn what any of it is.

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Too Little Too Late

With 8 episodes, it's kind of awful to wait 6 episodes to get past Woo Jae being cold and not communicating. The show is based on the idea of a series of circumstances in college that led to misunderstandings and then the two of them never seeing each other again. When Yeon Woo finds Woo Jae, he does everything to try and get on his good side and Woo Jae scoffs in his face for 5.5 episodes. They finally talk in episodes 7 and 8, but by then it feels like too little too late. They get closure, which is great, but it felt unsatisfying after wanting to shake Woo Jae for the past four episodes. Even at the end, Woo Jae is treating their relationship like inspiration or a simple crush and not like they're together. He's still being coy and a little hard to be near. He's smiling more and teasing, but it doesn't feel like he's as committed as Yeon Woo.

The actors weren't bad, but their chemistry was a bit lacking. The writing wasn't bad but it wasn't great. The music was nice but unmemorable. The chance of me watching the series again is minimal since it's such a drag at the beginning and no scenes stand out until episode 7 and 8, and even then it's only like two scenes.

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The Torture Kills The Rewatch Value - unless you're into that

The Good: The acting is good. The sensuality is good for the main pair. The side couple of Chay and Kim is bittersweet but ultimately very nice. The main couple will stay together forever until the Earth explodes - I have no doubt about this, so the show has that going for it. Some shows struggle with chemistry, but Mile and Apo are all-but-married in real life, so it makes sense that their chemistry is on point. The music is beautiful. Jeff wrote some of it, so obviously those are good. But whomever took the opening song and turned it into beautiful instrumental pieces also needs a raise because it was gorgeous.


The Bad: The drama of being in the mafia is hit or miss or how realistic it is. This mob spends, conservatively, 200% of its budget on their bodyguard training facility, and almost every bodyguard we meet is objectively a nice guy and not actually cut out for being in the mafia. Kinn is too soft to run an effective mafia. Of the brothers, Kim seems the most cut out for the role of leader and he would rather die. This mafia managed to spit out three heirs, they're all on the lgbtq spectrum, and none are as ruthless as you need to be to run a mafia. This family is gonna end the business with this new generation. Also the plot twist in the last ep or two is actually pretty fucked up and was soooo unnecessary. This show really has it out for the whole "kidnapped and held hostage" trope.

THE WORST: Speaking of! The main reason I rated it so low for rewatch and overall is Vegas and Pete. The side couple of Vegas and Pete is a huge point of debate in the fandom. Some people love it. I personally hate it and had to start skipping their scenes. There's bdsm and then there's torture and then there's Stockholm syndrome, which is what we have here. Pete does not love Vegas. He's mentally broken and beaten and abused on screen, and then convinced that Vegas cares about him, and he buys it. He can't function in normal society after his capture. And I wouldn't trust Vegas to pet my dog much less to own one. I trust nothing that comes out of his viper mouth. We've seen him lie and play the sad vulnerable part and then turn around and betray everyone in his life. He warped the mind of multiple people in the show, tries to then kill them, and even had whole speeches about how much he hated people or was going to murder them or whatever. And yet the show wants us to believe he's just misunderstood. He may be a victim of abuse but that doesn't change the fact that he is also an extreme abuser.

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Stupid(Affectionately) cute and worth every minute

The plotline is cute and we don't waste a bunch of time on miscommunication and will they/won't they. Both our men are learning to communicate better, but the drama doesn't come from crazy jealousy and being misinformed about things. The drama comes from the very human, realistic scenario of not wanting to disappoint your S/O with something and so you don't come out and tell them stuff, but eventually you have to.

Wan is baby and needs to be kept in warm hugs and blankets forever. His fear is mostly from the societal pressure of being a gay man who doesn't know how the people around him will react if they find out about his sexuality. He's the one who worries about others seeing them being affectionate, about letting people in. His fear is why he ran away in the first place, seven years ago.

On the other hand, Gi Tae is afraid of losing Wan. He presents as having his shit together, but the show does a great job of showing us how anxious he really is, all the way until his fear finally boils over. It was refreshing that Gi Tae - the character who seems in control - was the one to have a breaking point and not Wan - who seems less emotionally steady. The culminating scene was very well acted and the editing really pulled on the heart strings.

The main downside is the same as most shows. Meaning, I'm pretty sure this is not how game development works. These timelines seem unrealistic. The team size and workload also probably don't match reality. But if I ignore the logistics, I can only find fault in the fact that the music changes every episode and so there's no unifying song that we'll be stuck in my head forever.

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Enough Heart to Probably Ignore The Biggest Issue

Overall it was cute. I liked that it didn't forget that it's main character struggled with self confidence issues and concerns with his image because of years of bullying and that they circled back to that as it's main character growth story. They could easily have forgotten that storyline. I like that Duean and Meen dealt with the issue of forcing someone to do something they didn't want, especially since the writers completely pushed this issue aside with the main couple the whole time.

Duean is dumb as a boulder, but that is part of his comic relief charm, and his story with Meen is innocent and sweet 90% of the time. The relationship between the brothers is also very nice and is often amusing and feels authentic. Duean alternates between being gross and invasive of his brother's privacy and space and being protective and caring of his brother's relationships and feelings. I think anyone with siblings can relate to that.

My main downside is that I didn't like how Pi's dislike of being publicly discussed was completely dismissed by literally everyone. His concern was first that his chances at confessing to the guy he liked were being dashed and then that people were talking about him without his consent and invading his privacy and then that Mork was letting people spread false rumors about them and then that people were talking badly about him. and every time, people would pretty much gaslight his concerns. "oh you actually like it, you're just being proud/shy/stubborn". So I didn't vibe with that. The show offset this with enough cute and enough honest emotion from Mork that I watched the whole show and enjoyed it overall, but this could easily be a make or break issue for a lot of viewers. Because it definitely annoyed me a lot and takes up a LOT of the plot.

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Practically Perfect. Practically.

The development of the plot, the mystery of his murder, the growth in their relationship - all was done beautifully. Thun seems dumb but he's got the heart to make up for any other inadequacies. All of his friends are developed a bit and interesting. Khem is mostly comic relief, but he's not entirely dumb. Prince and him trying to "help" but also thinking Thun is on drugs was very amusing and showed they cared about him. Praifah was honest and earnest and I get why she felt a little betrayed by her friends at the end, since she'd given them no reason to distrust her. I appreciate the show for not letting her character fall to the sideline as the only main female character. Med is wonderfully acted, with his minor emotional changes being read on his face. The show is fun and interesting, and I loved all of it. Except the literal like 5 minutes or so.

Spoilers:
The last episode is this big emotional build up to Med moving on, and then we get this emotional grave sweeping scene. And as soon as that scene is over, we make it pointless by bringing Med immediately back, still as a ghost and everything. I know why Thun and Med are happy, but wouldn't everyone else feel like they got all worked up for nothing? A big goodbye with lots of tears, and then Med doesn't even leave? If they wanted to bring him back, they could have reincarnated him, or miracled him into a new body or something, but the way they did it felt like it cheapened the entire episode leading up to it.

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Simple but sweet

The show is simple and sweet. Yes it's a giant commercial for a store during a pandemic, but it's only obvious because Tops is always bringing home food in the store's bags. It's part cooking show, part light drama BL. It's all domesticity, as 90% of the show takes place inside the same house. But if you want something sweet, simple, cute, and fun, and that will probably make you want to learn how to cook, then this is the show for you. Tops is genuine and quiet while Win is the definition of sweet but dumb. But their development is endearing and you root for them the whole time.

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