One of the Best BLs I've Seen

I'm completely re-writing this review after seeing this a third time. I've seen maybe 30 BL dramas now and this is among the best. The story about two guys who grow up near each other and fall in love rings true. There's a profound message under the surface when straight Cake declares he'll "be gay" just for Seeiw. Who cares who you love? Who says it has to be someone of the opposite gender? And when Seeiw apologizes for being gay, Cake asks him why he thinks he's gay. I think the point of Cake's question is, "who cares?" Why all these labels? Overall, this drama hits all the right notes. The score is beautiful, highlighted by Boy Sompob's OST, which brought the series to my attention in the first place. I had given "My 12 Percent" 10 across the board but in this revision I'm downgrading it to 9 on Seeiw's character. All of his crying wears thin pretty quickly and, toward the end, becomes almost comical. It's one-dimensional and really needed a stronger arc to have some kind of crisis for Cake where Seeiw could have stepped up to help him. On the other hand, I loved Santa's enthusiastic performance of Cake. BL dramas tend to be pretty timid when it comes to romantic scenes and Cake's unbridled kissing really sells his relationship with Seewin. It's even more remarkable when you consider Santa is only 19 and has much less acting experience than Earth. The great kissing scenes aside, this drama is surprisingly timid when it comes down to romantic scenes where Thai BL films like "WhyRU" and "A Chance for Love" have already set a high bar. This isn't to say that a bed scene is required, but please note there are endless references to Cake and Seeiw taking a shower -- separately. So there was a missed opportunity to show a change in the intimacy of their relationship to shower together. The supportive secondary characters are welcome departure from the homophobic cliches that seem to infect so many LGBT-themed dramas. In sum, a few minor complaints aside, highly enjoyable with a top re-watch score. I look forward to seeing this edited down to a two-hour movie.

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A Happy Surprise

I'm really puzzled by all the negative reviews. Korea has always lagged behind other Asian countries in the BL Genre and "Oh! My Assistant" stays faithful to being pretty conservative, but this drama proves they're catching up. As expected, the production values are first rate and the quirky direction is absolutely wonderful. It was also refreshing to get a departure from the "two guys in Engineering school" cliche. The camera loves Song Sung Hyun as Soon Ho. His charisma just lights up every scene. Mu Yeong's character was a bit subdued for my taste, but I suppose it's fairly realistic for a shy guy. I wasn't expecting much from the third character in the love triangle, Joon Seok, played by Lee Do Ha, but this turned out to be a wonderful, three dimensional character with, perhaps, the most moving performance in the piece. I should also point out that even at 8 episodes, this drama never felt padded to fill time. I'm curious to see the movie edit. I'd love to see this director travel to Thailand to shoot one of their less timid BL dramas with the high level of Korean production sensibilities.

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A Solid 10

It's been quite a while since I saw the series and I honestly can't recall what score I gave it, but having watched the Director's Cut with only a partial recall of the plot I found it highly enjoyable. Like most BL dramas this remains primarily a bromance relationship, but I'm fine with that. I find graphic, simulated sex scenes (same or opposite sex) are unnecessary and often cringeworthy. There is a brief and romantic bed scene at the end, which I think is new. It's tastefully done and appropriate for the story. What earns a Solid 10 is the unusual ending. We have a brief montage of Akira and Yuuki's happy bromance from 39 to 40, then we fast forward to age 82 where a patient named Yuuki Itou is in the hospital. He has 2 rings, so we know one partner has already passed, but the inference is it wasn't so long ago that the survivor moved on and forgot about him. I say this is unusual because same-sex relationships tend to be portrayed as something that won't last. And this ties up the metaphor of connecting the dots (Akira and Yuuki) and following life's path to the end of the line. It's not clear from the patient name which one survived to the end, but apparently it's Yuuki who took Akira's Surname. Maybe someone else can clarify. That being the case, it's not in keeping with the promise Akira made not to leave Yuuki ever again (also Akira is the main character), so maybe I got it backwards. But that's just a minor complaint. I hope this is released on BluRay because it's a keeper for repeat viewings. Well done!

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Old Fashioned but Enjoyable Bromance

The Korean film industry is second to none in production values and "Cherry Blossoms After Winter" is no exception. The music is a stand-out here. There are none of the usual distractions of multiple plots and, for the most part, the drama avoids most of the BL cliches. But Korean BL dramas are still pretty conservative, compared to those coming from Thailand and the Philippines. We get many excellent kissing scenes but nothing more, which is a bit of a let-down after 8 episodes. The Korean BL drama "Mr. Heart" ingeniously implied sexual intimacy by putting the characters in a jjimjilbang (Korean bath house) -- even while that drama, ironically, barely had a kissing scene. The mother's concern about homophobic prejudice is a plot point that is now out of date. Presumably the script is taken from an existing novel that may very well be 10-20 years old. At least the actress who plays the Mom manages to rise above the 2-dimensional character cliche, as written. Overall, "Cherry Blossoms..." is a highly enjoyable bromance with wonderful music, beautiful photography and passionate acting.

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Engaging story smolders but never bursts into flame

This is a beautiful story and the production values are top notch. The characters and actors are appealing and the 16 episodes never felt padded just to fill time, yet "Light on Me" sort of smolders but never bursts into flame as a bromance. This may be a cultural thing, because this seems to be common to the Korean BL dramas when compared to the gold standard of Thailand. The plot is your basic love triangle. Woo Tae Kyung, who has always been a loner, makes his first friend in Shin Da On, which evolves into a romantic interest. Meanwhile, Noh Shin Woo has fallen in love with Woo Tae Kyung at first sight, but he is sort of invisible to our hero for the first half of the drama. In fact, they are enemies for the first half due to the fact that Noh Shin Woo is forcing himself not to get attached to Tae. The series peaks at mid-point when Tae and Shin Woo have a sleepover, but Tae falls asleep on Shin Woo's shoulder -- that's as bromantic as it gets. Shin Da On rejects Tae for reasons that are not exactly clear -- it's suggested he's from a prominent family where a same sex relationship would impair his career or disappoint his parents. There's a scandal at school about a rather innocuous picture of two guys with hands outstretched, as if shaking hands. Certainly a photo that tame could be written off as hand shaking -- the boys were 3 feet apart. The central plot of Tae realizing that Noh Shin Woo has been there all the time, sort of in the background, never quite delivers the impact it should after 16 episodes. We finally get a kiss at the end, but even that is far too subtle -- and, frankly, too late in the drama. That should have occurred about episode 13 with more romantic scenes taking us to the conclusion. Meanwhile, the storyline for Shin Da On feels unresolved.. So, as much as I loved this drama, I'm left feeling a bit underwhelmed. The real oddity here is why was the first episode incorporates graphic gay sexual references (apparently visual aids for a high school sex education class) but the rest of the drama is strictly a G-rated, almost asexual story about ordinary friendship.

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Loved it!

Honestly, the first episode was a bit dull. The whole sports theme we've seen so many times before, as with Water Boyy, but the three main stories are interesting enough to overcome the familiar miniseries wrapper. Thailand continues to set the gold standard for boy love dramas with gorgeous photography, first rate acting and realistic storylines. The main story concerns two childhood friends who grow up to play basketball together at university. This plot line gets the most screen time but it the least interesting of the three stories; nevertheless the leads are appealing and there's an interesting revelation about how long the Torn character has been in love with Fah. The love triangle with the two male characters, Dome and Vee that involves Vee's sister (and Dome's girlfriend) is the next most interesting, but this romance doesn't get very far by the end of the series. Too bad because the two actors were quite good. The most interesting plot concerns the characters Sean, a track athlete, and Aii, who serves as a staffer for the track team. These guys have by far the best romance scene in Episode 6. Jump's shy Aii is a perfect paring with Boom's sexy Saen. "You're My Sky" doesn't rise to the steamy sexiness of other Thai BL dramas like "WhyRU?' but at least these (most likely) straight male actors can pull off intimate guy-guy scenes without making them cringeworthy. I'd love to see Jump and Boom paired again in another drama.

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Engaging story, great acting

I'm not a big fan of supernatural themes but at least this one sets some ground rules and sticks to them. The main storyline is very engaging, I was totally hooked and couldn't wait for the next episode. I'd give this a 10 if it were edited down to a 2-hour movie but at 16 episodes there's plenty of padding and way too many comic relief characters. The tone is a bit uneven, shifting abruptly from serious melodrama to satire. The main character, Professor Cha Young Min, spends most of the drama in a "ghost coma" and, given all the padding, it would have been more interesting to resolve his coma a few episodes earlier, expanding the secondary story of Intern Seung Tak to see him evolve as a surgeon in his own right. I think other viewers would agree that we were rooting for him to succeed but the conclusion of this storyline doesn't quite deliver. And given all the padding I think the audience would have enjoyed seeing the bad guys face the jury and hear the prison door slam behind them as they were being placed in their cells. After 16 hours all we got was a routine arrest. We don't even know if they got their "just desserts." Overall, highly enjoyable with. a great cast and high production values. The special effects were nicely done.

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Cute and Engaging

In this refreshingly altered state of reality, boys are nice to each other and can even cry over a broken bromance. Ok, there is a bully in their midst but even he sheds tears at the end and is comforted by his bros. There are girls here, but they seem to be sort of asexual cheerleaders to the boys in love. The basic plot elements we've seen before, but they seem fresh here. Mawin Tanawin Duangnate is the standout as Chris. His character seems to be the glue that holds all of these bromances together -- and he has the acting chops to pull it off too. If I were just rating him, I'd give him an 11. But the other actors are giving it their all too. "Second Chance" doesn't get too distracted with the cultural taboos of same sex romance, but we still get a bit of the male gender role discomfort of displaying any kind of affection. "Second Chance" also spares us from the girly-man stereotypes -- all of these guys are handsome, masculine and even play sports! Wow! Thailand continues to set the gold standard for BL dramas. "Second Chance" is beautifully photographed and the direction is right on point. I regret I can't give it a full 10 score because we never get past kissing with these couples, but that seems to be as far as audiences (and the straight boys who play these roles) are willing to go. But, we're making progress.

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Almost Perfect!

In re-assessing my review on this one, I'm reducing the story score a bit. While I was wildly enthusiastic after finishing the last episode, it has since occurred to me that we never really get a payoff for this drama. Among the major BL drama producers, Thailand, Philippines, China, Korea and Japan, the Japanese shows seem to be the most timid about showing same gender intimacy and, indeed, the final scene has the elevator doors closing just before our two heroes kiss. Nevertheless, this was a highly enjoyable show and I loved the chemistry between the two leads. I hope to someday see the movie edit where they may show a little more realistic relationship. The story is also a bit old fashioned compared to, say, the Thai BL dramas that have mostly moved away from well-worn gay relationship cliches.

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Overcomes the formula plot with great cast and beautiful dancing

The heart of “You Make Me Dance” is a beautiful love story about an debt collector who falls in love with a young dancer that owes his agency money. The fatal flaw of the plot is presenting the debt collector as someone who’s just out to manipulate the dancer into repaying his debt. The better subplot has to do with a rival dancer who is out to undermine our hero’s attempts to win the lead role in an upcoming production. It would have been better to forget all the cartoonish business about the collection agency and use the rivalry for the dramatic tension. The whole script feels like a first draft that was rushed into production without some much needed rewrites and polishing. But the show is saved by a great cast and some beautiful dancing scenes. The production values of Korean BL dramas are always top notch but the romantic moments are pretty tame by Thai and Filipino standards. It’s definitely worth watching with a few fast forwards through the unnecessary debt collection agency scenes.

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Childhood Friends Reunite During 2020 Pandemic

Childhood friends Ben (23) and Jim (25) are reunited during the 2020 pandemic. It seems a stretch to think these guys were close friends and Jim was never aware Ben was attracted to boys, but I suppose people see what they want to see. This little bromance drama moved along pretty quickly without a lot of padding. Both leads, Teejay Marquez as Ben and Jerome Ponce as Jim, have a number of strong monologues throughout the series. Both actors have a long list of acting credits and this experience shows on the screen. I really enjoyed the story and my only complaint is I really wanted to see more of the main characters interaction. We sit though 7 episodes and only get to a kiss, so it's kind of underwhelming. At least it wasn't 27 episodes to get his far.

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Interesting Character Study of Young Adults Sharing Cramped Quarters

Having most of the main characters live in the same house really enriched this story. The first episode, in particular, shows the chemistry and camaraderie of the guys. Unfortunately the focus on their collective home life fades pretty quickly and we get into more cliche, out-of-home relationship themes. Nevertheless, the overarching theme of unconditional friendship combined with the drama of 20-somethings struggling to find their place in the world sets out a satisfying banquet for the audience to savor. Wrapping it up with one of the characters getting married gives a logical stopping point to the series, as these dramas are too often just come to an abrupt stop with the storylines left dangling. My only complaint is somewhere around mid-point a second set of characters was added to the house, even when we'd barely gotten to know the first set. This made for "too many cooks in the kitchen" and we never really learned how the new set of characters lived in the house. Indeed, the first episode is by far the best, as it shows the household interactions among these young adults. Rather than introduce a second set of guys to the house it would have been much more interesting to have the girlfriends move in, then contrast that with the guy-only household. Early in the series the Mikey character makes a statement that he often feels lonely, even while surrounded by so many people living in close quarters -- that was a missed opportunity to explore that feeling. Instead, we get too many repetitious scenes of his in-and-out relationship with his love interest.

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Too many characters = weak character development

In my next life I want to be a Thai casting agent. What a great job to be surrounded by these beautiful faces all day. Spoiler alert: The marketing with the scantly-clad actors oversells this series quite a bit. I think I only saw two underwear scenes. The situations are realistic but there are no real surprises. The most original scene is the gay friend who comes out to his lifelong buddy and gets rejected. I won't give away the ending, but the resolution is a nice change of pace. Got Liewrakolan as Due is the stand-out actor of this series. Ten episodes was enough. There were too many characters for my taste. I would have liked fewer triangles with richer character development.

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Familiar Story Rings True

This is a familiar formula of boy who bullies his love interest because he doesn't know how to properly express his feelings or even understand them. The big plus for this series is we get to focus on our two lovers without the distraction of sub plots. The kidnapping sequence was a bit over-the-top while the scene between Din Jun Jie and his long-time female friend Meng Yao was more realistic. I thought there was going to be a love triangle with Ding Jun Jie's childhood friend Jiang Zhihao but that didn't develop. Too bad because the storyline was a bit bland and a love triangle would have made this much more interesting. Nevertheless, Jiang Zhihao's outrage at being dumped for a girl is a very real dramatic moment -- maybe the best second best scene in the piece. The ending, while tragic, also rings true and the writer does a good job of giving our heroes a hopeful future. I'm giving the music a 10 -- particularly the song used to underscore the snow montage in the final episode, which I assume is called "Buried in the Past." This snow scene is beautifully rendered and really sells the cold misery of our two lovers. Well done.

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Engaging Love Triangle

Overall, I liked this drama. I give it high marks for avoiding the worst of the gay cliches. Hai Qing (Aric Chen) is gay and in love with two slightly older men, wealthy and self-centered Fei (Tom Wang) and kind but poor and hardworking Pin Jun (Tim Huang). We're spared the usual BL agony of the characters trying to come to grips with being attracted to guys. Big bonus points for that. There are a couple of gay hate scenes from outsiders, but never more than hazing. We're also spared the cliché awkward bed scenes. Director Adiamond Lee moves the story along quickly and more or less logically. I never felt like the drama was padded with unnecessary scenes to fill time. I would have given the drama a 10 except for the abrupt and confusing ending. I had to watch the final scene a few times to figure out what happened. Apparently, Hai Qing chooses not to pursue either relationship and, instead, goes to America to finishing his schooling. Not the ending I was hoping for, but probably the right choice for the story. It does make sense that 19-year-old Hai Qing is too young to settle down just yet. In the final seconds he's writing a letter to Pin Jun, so we're left to speculate he may go back to him some day. The storyline of Fei's other boyfriend Jimmy (Charles Lin) is left unresolved. Maybe we're being set-up for a sequel? The main characters are well drawn and three dimensional, even the Jimmy and "Pinky" (Zahn Ya Han) characters. The character of Hai Qing's father could have used a few more scenes to better foreshadow the drama's conclusion. Hai Qing's apparent preference for Fei could have used some more exposition. We're left to assume it's more of a physical attraction or perhaps his wealth. It's pretty clear that Pin Jun is his soulmate, though. Happily, this is only 12 episodes so it's worth your time to enjoy the characters and their romantic encounters.

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