"Love is like choosing a pair of shoes..."

It was when these words were spoken that I realised this series won't be entertaining anymore.
This was a hotchpotch of all the different ideas or tropes that you can imagine a generic love story can have. And the same ideas were contradicted by subsequent scenes.
1. Rivals to Lovers: The series starts with showcasing how the two protagonists (Mangkorn and Yai) are womanizers and are eyeing to get the same girl. They meet and try to one-up each other leading to a drinking competition and ending with spending a passionate night together a result of spiked drinks. Strangely the glasses of both the leads were spiked which made me wonder is it still rape when both are under the influence of drugs albeit due to the clumsiness of one of the male lead's bodyguards? After coming to their senses, Mangkorn keeps annoying Yai by bringing up that night and the recording that he possesses. He practically blackmails him to be his friend and in no time they fall in love. But in the later episodes we are told that Mangkorn liked Yai for a long time. So there was no reason for antagonising Yai.
2. Female Love Interest: Mangkorn's dad wants him to get married to his friend's daughter Hong. This plot is introduced while Mangkorn is trying to win Yai over. It made for an intersting twist as we now have a potential love traingle. This plot is later destroyed when we are introduced to Hong's girlfriend. So there was never a love triangle to begin with and Yai losing his mind over this was for naught as it could have easily been explained to him.
3. Male Love Interest: Yai has a friend Nine who returns to Thailand and starts showing interest in Yai while he and Mangkorn are having a bit of a misunderstanding. They also show Mangkorn and Nine fighting over Yai's affection. But in the final episode we find Nine actively helping Mangkorn to stay with Yai. No reason for Nine to give up on this pursuit. But now he is helping Mangkorn and it appears that the love rivalry had no reason to be presented other than extending an episode. BTW the second season has been teased to run on the same plot of another male love interest of Yai. If its anything like what they had for this season then please have mercy.
4. Multiple couples: Other than the 2 main leads we are shown a relationship between Hong and a girl student. They have a few dialogues in the penultimate episode and then we dont see them again. Their relationship is mentioned in passing and looks like they were introduced just to resolve a minor misunderstanding between the 2 leads. They also tease us with a potential budding relationship between Yai's 2 bodyguards. But nothing comes of it and for a good number of episodes we dont get to see them on-screen at all. May be they will using this as fodder for season 2
The story needed a lot of working on to make it more coherent. Instead of the mandatory 3rd act break-up being about Hong, they should have rather concentrated on Mangkorn's plan to travel to New York for 2 years for his Master's degree. This would have helped in showing the budding romance between the 2 leads and a genuine concern of losing each other.
In conclusion, the acting by the 2 leads and the supporting characters was great. If you are a fan of enemies to lovers genre then you should go for this series.

Read More

Plot...Rinse...Repeat

In this series you will see a heartbroken guy have a one night involving bondage with a stranger who is a mafia boss and later finds himself to be a target of the stranger's affection. The same old, good guy falls for a bad man. There is stalking, forceful home imprisonment, constant surveillance and much more presented as something endearing. But what do you know! It works and he falls in love with the mafia boss. It appears like the producers thought of making a BL version of 50 shades of grey and after the first few minutes of Episode 1 just gave up on that the whole BDSM idea.
Although the plot has nothing new to share, but the performances by the leads could have elevated the show. Sadly, no such luck. Kim, who plays the morally good guy just looks confused during the whole series and Kamol who plays the mafia boss wanted to go for a stoic performance but looks bored throughout. The supporting characters did a much better job at holding my attention with their performances. But the one character that takes the cake is Danil. As soon as he enters a scene he steals the show with his over the top acting and I was all the more happy for it.
I am always interested in a storyline where the 2 main leads don't immediately fall in love and it shows a gradual progress in the development of feelings. This series eats up 8 episodes before Kim even starts reciprocrating the feelings. Until then it just moves from one plot point to another. Kim complains about being stuck in the house under constant supervision. Kamol convinces him that its safer for him to stay indoors. Kim then escapes his imprisonment only to be captured by the antagonist and has to be rescued and then rinse and repeat.
There are plots here that don't help in furthering the story. The story of Itt and Day was a waste and they could have been completely removed after Ep. 1 and nothing would be lost. They tease a romantic relationship between Baiboon and Khom but there is no definitive answer. And the one scene with the bodyguards that I will not state in detail, just comes out of nowhere and had me wondering "Why" and "huh".
The story was stale, performaces not upto the mark and plot repeating itself but I still enjoyed the series for the sheer ridiculousness of it all. Though I would have been happier to see a little less of the blatant product placements in each episode. All in all an interesting watch which can be repeated when you have nothing else to go for.

Read More

An apt end to a great series

This is a 70 min episode to tie-in the story of the main leads. This is all about misunderstandings and reconciliations.
Rain witnesses Payu talking to a girl and misunderstands the situation and Sky is bothered by one of Prapai's ex. This enrages both of them and since talking it out with your significant other is never an option in these series, they decide to go on a vacation together leaving their boyfriends behind. After much of searching (well... not that much) they find the whereabouts of Rain and Sky. Although they catch up to Rain and Sky, they realise that their boyfriends are still angry. Rain and Sky design a punishment as a form of reconciliation and finally all is forgiven at the end. Later on confessions are made and vows are shared and finally all is well between them.
The story was simple and quite endearing with some really feel-good moments between the 2 couples. A nice ending to the series which is worth a multiple watch.
I feel there is certainly enough material to make a separate series detailing the life of Sky and Prapai since their individual pasts have just been mentioned in passing and a lot can still be brought to screen. The actors playing the characters are great and have a wonderful chemistry.

Read More

Good story with disappointment as it could have great

The story revolves around 2 guys at school that meet, fall in love, suffer minor hiccups in their relationship and stay together at the end. Takara (Sato Arata) is the silent type that really cares about his significant other and is out there to help and protect him. Amagi (Oriyama Nao) is the cute, energetic kind that has his small circle of friends and enjoys every moment. He also is in love with Takara and is not not shy about voicing his true feelings although is shy in certain other matters.
Both the male leads share a great chemistry onscreen however that develops gradually and its not rather evident in the first couple of episodes. Special mention should go to supporting cast of Katori (Suzuki Kosuke) who plays the ever-helpful friend of Amagi and Tanaka (Komiya Rio) who plays the oblivious but caring friend of Takara. Katori especially plays an important role in helping the 2 leads to reconcile their issues.

Now its time to discuss the things that I didn't enjoy and the list might be long. Warning: Spoilers ahead
Ep. 1 begins with a conversation between a sorrowful Takara and a crying Amagi wherein it appears that there might have been an event due to which they are no longer in a relationship or on the verge of breaking up. This hooked me immediately as now I am intrigued to know what caused this . The scene moves to the past where we are introduced to these 2 characters and how they decide to start "dating". Now I assumed I will be taken through a journey detailing their days together and how their relationship develops further but to my utter surprise ,in a rush the issue from the beginning is revelead to just be a simple misunderstanding and they get back together. So all that crying and weeping for nothing. That could have easily been resolved by having a conversation.
And this is where the series lacks behind many other BL series with similar themes and storylines. These 2 ML do not seem to have a natural conversation. They just happen to meet daily at school, they greet each other and go into mundane topics that dont further the narrative but is just a filler to move to the next scene. Every episode is - Amagi has a simple conversation with his friends about something random, Takara and his friends talk about something generic. Amagi and Takara look at each other. Then they meet and have another conversation about something random.
So what pushes the narrative ahead if its not the dialogue between the 2 ML? Its voice-over narrations. Takara will look at Amagi and will go into a long winded voice-over narration about how he feels about Amagi or Amagi will look at Takara will have his own voice-over narration talking about the past. This is how the series progresses from one plot to the other. Its not a smart dialogue but these 2 reminiscing about something from their past.
In one of the episodes they show Amagi's past when he was a kid, ignored by his parents and that revelation and his understanding that he is always ignored and abondoned by people could have been used as a plot showing his constant need for validation from Takara about their relationship. They teased that possibility by showing Amagi speaking to Tanaka that he is the only one who is in love but nothing came out of it at the end.
On one hand we get to know about Amagi's childhood, but on the other hand we get no information about Takara. Many such opportunities of improving the story was available but it was not grabbed.I understand that this series is adapted from a manga and I have not read it so not sure if anything like this was mentioned in there. Purely judging the story presented in this series, I can state that it could have been done differently with a lot of new concepts introduced but sadly we didn't get that.
I would recommend it as a 1 time watch and should be seen especially for the supporting cast.

Read More

Elements of power dynamics and dependency

Japanese BL series have a knack for venturing into uncharted territories when it comes to plotlines, and "Taikan Yoho" is no exception. The series presents a unique array of characters, albeit not entirely fleshed out, allowing viewers to gain a sense of their backgrounds. From the very first episode, it plunges into the heart of the main storyline, gradually peeling back the layers of our two central characters.

The narrative revolves around Mizuki, a renowned and attractive weatherman, who shares his apartment with Yoh, an up-and-coming manga artist. Their peculiar connection is defined by a verbal contract, obligating Yoh to obey Mizuki's every command. As the story unfolds, we delve deeper into their relationship, largely through Yoh's introspective monologues and Mizuki's enigmatic backstory. While the initial premise appears distinct, the series eventually treads the familiar ground of miscommunication, misunderstandings, jealousy, and an ambiguous romantic relationship between the protagonists. Predictably, a supportive friend enters the scene to resolve the conflicts.

The series boasts a promising start. It effectively plants the seed of uncertainty regarding Mizuki's true feelings for Yoh. Is it genuine love, or merely a means to fulfill his desires? This lingering doubt could have been an excellent foundation if fully explored. Unfortunately, the plot at times trivializes significant issues, using them as instruments to convey one character's feelings for the other. Themes such as consent, depression, and abuse are woven within romantic contexts, which might give viewers pause and detract from their overall viewing experience.

The actors, Kouhei and Atsuki, perform commendably, given the characters they are tasked with. Mizuki emerges as an enigmatic figure with clear dependency issues, while Yoh embodies a simple, solitary individual who follows Mizuki's whims without protest. A deeper exploration of Yoh's backstory and more comprehensive character development for Mizuki would have been welcomed.

In conclusion, this suffers from shortcomings in character development and the reliance on conventional BL tropes. However, it is worth a watch for the actors' performances and an outstanding original soundtrack that accompanies the series.

Read More

Bitter Sweet

The story starts rather promisingly where to oust a stubborn head chef, the owner of a restaurant hires an unknown but talented chef and at the end of the year one of them will lose their job. What starts as a rivalry slowly turns to love as they work with each other and get to know one another.

Here is where there is some food for thought. Although we get episodes after episodes of the 2 leads frolicking around the beach, amusement park and fish market, we see them getting to know each other slowly. But then we realise the 2nd chef (Choi Jung Woo) is not what he claims to be and we never get to see the real him. Is he a culinary genius that can replicate any dish that he eats or is he just a fraud? I was left scratching my head about it and I am not one to speculate what that would be. Don't make me define the character without giving me even a hint of who is truly is.

The actor playing Choi Jung Woo did a great job playing a goofy, cocky yet talented chef but I cant say the same about the actor playing Yoon Do Gun. I ain't saying he is a bad actor but somewhere he wasn't interested anymore. He seemed to have much more character during the outtakes.

Although the story was strong, the execution left something to be desired. The fault can't be placed on the fact that its a mini series. I feel a lot of scenes about them just looking at each other with no dialogue could have been cut and that time utilized in showing a bit of their back story to make the characters well rounded.

Give it a try if this story is something that you feel you are interested it. Since its a miniseries, you hardly lose a lot of time. Its a score of 8 for story as I feel there was potential but 7.5 for the series overall

Read More