Suspensful But too "Hip" for its Own Good

I was curious about this movie because of singer Jeong Dong Won's acting appearance. I thought he did quite well and they caught him just at the right age. One year later he'd look to old to be so naive. ** SPOILERS AHEAD ** "New Normal" is full of suspese and black humor. I'm not big fan of horror movies because most of them are too gruesome or play fast and loose with supernatural themes. These 6 chapters are supposed to have a linked payoff but it must be too subtle for me to get it. I think it has something to do with human organ harvesting. During the premier, Jeong Dong Won publically questioned the director about the conclusion to his chapter and the director seemed to agree it was too enigatic. Really the same could be said about all of the episodes and it's too bad because this movie could rate a "10" if the conclusion connected all the dots like the famous ending of "Citizen Kane" with the Rosebut sled device. Well, I'm glad I was able to see it but it will be quickly forgotten. Thanks for the other commenters who pointed me to HiTV to see it.

Read More

Great Cast in a Paint-by-the-numbers Gay Cliche

What a waste of a great cast. I had high hopes for this, given the previews and other reviews. This has all of the classic gay tropes like self-denial of one's sexuality, all of the characters have to die a violent death in the end (only the straight one lives), dysfunctional broken homes, tragic upbringing. OMG. These pilot lines were tired back in the 1990s. Was this an old script that finally got produced after 30 years? The only thing original about 2 Cool 2 Be 4gotten is only the straight character has a nude scene. There was so much that could have been done here but we've seen it all before -- especially the suicide ending. I hate to be so harsh but it's time to leave bury the gay romance stereotypes one and for all. Here's a tip for aspiring screen writers of gay-themed dramas: If you've seen it before, leave it out of your script. Also the audience should never be screaming at the screen: "Why is he doing that?"

Read More

Great Leads and OST

"Bed Friends" gets off to a slow start but builds to a strong conclusion, giving my final rating a solid 10.. Net and James are outstanding in the lead roles, probably because their off-screen chemistry is off the charts. Unfortunately, this is the main weakness of the plot in that Uea (James' character) plays it a bit too cool with King (Net's character) right to the end of the drama. Yes, Uea and King do get a bit closer as King comes to understand Uea's backstory on sexual abuse, but even in the final scene, Uea seems a bit too surprised or skeptical of King's offer of marriage. I think there was a missed opportunity to do more with Jade's (Yim's character) as he's a real scene-stealer whenever he appears. HIs best scene is when he joins King to select a ring for Uea. (I'm going to have to go look for dramas where he's the lead.) Thai BL dramas set the gold standard for romantic scenes and "Bed Friend" breaks new ground over its DOMUNDI predecessors like "WhyRU?" Still, it seems a bit odd that shows like this go out of their way to avoid shirtless scenes. Maybe the actors don't feel they have the "6-pack" physique to pull it off? I also have a minor complaint with the Uea being drawn as a stereotypical BL uke. These dramas would be far more interesting -- and realistic -- if the characters were equally masculine. If you're new to BL, "Bed Friends" is probably one of the best dramas you could start with. The 10 episodes move along without being burdened by too much padding. The plot is fresh and the main characters are all likable. Highly recommended. I'd love to see Net & James in another drama where their characters are more like their real-life personalities, though.

Read More

Audition Reel?

This seems like an audition reel for new actor screen tests. I was actually drawn to this series to see Santa and Earth's episode (#1) after enjoying their performances in "My Only 12%." The episode looks a bit like a screen test for Santa, since Earth is clearly an experienced and confident actor. Santa did a good job here, although his performance greatly improved for the later film. This isn't meant to be a criticism of his acting skill because the script is rather weak and riddled with cliches. The bullying scenes are difficult to watch and the audience really wants karma to kick the baddies in the butt at the end. The final scene leaves the conclusion to the audience -- or perhaps another film, but I'm not holding my breath because the writing is so weak here. I think the audience is beyond ready to accept same gender romance (or even just bromance) without the homophobia cliches and find more interesting plots for same sex couples. Let me end with a question to anyone familiar with Thai culture: surely high school guys don't bathe in their underwear or with a towel wrapped around them? I get this was staged this way to avoid nudity for family-friendly show, but I assume Thai culture has it's own version of a Korean Jjimjilbang or Japanese Onsen?

Read More

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.

Read More

Loved the Movie Version Even More

I really loved this series, which got a lot of luke warm reviews with many comments directed to not believing late 20s guys wouldn't be aware of their sexual orientation. That's a fair complaint but certainly earlier generations were so far in denial that they got married, raised a family, and only later in life accepted their preference. I suspect that still goes on today, even with younger people. For me, this seems like a pretty realistic plot and we're spared a lot of the cliches of BL/Gay cinema. No one dies (always with the subtle message that straying from the "straight" path will lead to a life of misery or violent death). These are adults with established careers rather than college engineering students. There aren't endless scenes of anguish about coming out to parents, although there are two flashback scenes with each lead recalling a homophobic encounter with school classmates. I won't repeat my full review of the episodic version, except for a few highlights: The Korean film industry sets a high watermark for production values and I love the quirky, fast-paced direction of this piece. Nothing seems padded here. All three of the male principals are absolutely great together. Like other Korean BL dramas, this one is pretty timid. We get a couple of shirtless scenes and some lightweight kissing. There is one rather amusing scene where the main lead has trouble walking due to some sexual excitement. But this drama definitely doesn't push beyond conservative sensibilities. Aside from that the only real plot weakness is the unresolved fate of the third guy in the love triangle, but maybe there's a sequel where we meet him again? Anyway, this is one I could rewatch many times. Highly recommended.

Read More

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.

Read More

Familiar BL Theme Leads to Dead End

Well, I was really looking forward to a final episode where Mitsuru wakes up from a dream to find Koichi really isn't dead. But you really can't have a same gender love story without one (or both) of the heroes dying a violent death or living out their lives in misery and loneliness. Here we get both cliches. That kills any re-watch value for me. But I'll give the writer credit for the dad accepting the same-sex romance of his son without question or the usual parental hysterics. Yuki Matsumura gives the stand-out performance as Mitsuru's dad, with a lovely speech in the final episode. As for the two leads, Sora Inoue is a bit too stoic for me. He seems disinterested in nearly every scene. He does get one good crying scene at the end, but even that's a bit too subtle. Fortunately, his love interest Koichi (Rio Komiya) steps up to do the heavy lifting in the kissing scenes. These actors look good together so I'd give them a look in a better story. The music may be the best part of this show. It's simple but on point in every scene. I rewatched sections just to hear the music again. The theme of dead partners has become a bit of a cliche in boy love dramas. As these are written for girls, I assume the message to guys is -- get back to dating girls or you'll end up lonely and miserable chasing after your dead boyfriend. We probably need more guys to write these Y stories to impart more empathic plots.

Read More

Refreshingly Different Plot

A lot of BL dramas take place college but the twist here is two guys are taking a couples relationship course (thus the name, "Love Class") and there aren't enough girls to pair up the genders equally so our two male leads are forced to pair together. One of the guys immediately tries to get into another class but they're all filled. Presumably this is a required course so he has no choice but to do the assignments with the other guy, as if they were dating. This seems like a stretch but somehow it works. (It did occur to that a more plausible plot would have required all of the men and women to pair up with the same gender for the kick-off class assignment to learn empathy, but I digress). Korean BL dramas are still pretty tame compared to their more racy Thai counterparts and "Love Class" is no exception. We do get a good final scene with our heroes but their chemistry is a bit uneven throughout the drama. I'm guessing the writer isn't aware that stalkers with baseball bats is a horrific gay drama cliche, so it's an unnecessarily ugly and offensive scene in an otherwise G-Rated drama. There were a lot of missed opportunities to beef up the plot but what's here is highly entertaining and worthy of a strong 9.

Read More

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!

Read More

Lots of Eye Candy, Not Much Meat

In an early episode of "Just Say No," we get a pretty steamy solo love scene, but the scenes featuring the two leads never quite reach the Thai BL gold standards set by dramas like "Love By Chance" or "WhrRU?" The plot is a bit old fashioned, better BL dramas have moved beyond the "O-M-G will my parents disown me if I tell them I'm gay?" cliche. Since Yaoi fiction lives in an alternate reality, it has always seemed to me that boy-boy love should just be taken as a matter of fact so that plots could revolve around more interesting ideas. I had expected we would have a big, romantic finish but, like the rest of story, it's like a series of fire crackers that just sort of fizzle out without delivering an explosion. The strength of "Just Say No" is that the two leads are given a good back story and their intimacy quickly develops on a logical path, without the usual cliche of having one character in denial. Aside from the solo scene, it's not at all clear why this has an R-rating. But given that "R" seems to be the default rating for two guys kissing, the producers certainly had wide latitude to include more interesting romantic scenes with the leads.

Read More

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.

Read More

Winning Story Idea ... Goes Nowhere

I was really looking forward to this drama as I'm a big fan of Zee and the idea of an arranged same-gender marriage sounded like a winner, but I had to read other reviews to see if I was missing something. It seems like one dysfunctional scene after another. The actors do their best with a script that looks like it was made by a committee -- or a computer randomly sorting every cliche BL stereotype together in a chaotic order. I liked the scenes with Kirin (NuNew) and Khondiao (Nat) the best. Having watched quite a few of these BL dramas now, I have to say that if the source material is more than about 5 years old, the screenplay writers need to bring the story up-to-date. I'm so sick of seeing a kiss taken like a threat of violence. If the writers think that's the appropriate response then let the characters shake hands instead ... until a kiss can be accepted for what it is. Sorry, Zee. I'll look forward to your next performance in a show with a better script.

Read More

Lovable Characters are the Strength of this Bromance

It's a simple plot but the characters are likable and engaging. Naoya (Sato Yusuke) plays a strong lead as a guy who has no baggage about liking guys --- Kota (Sota Ryosuke), in this case. Kota is "questioning" his same sex attraction, and this is fine but his character is just a little too slapstick -- and that's the main failing of this drama, it can't seem to find the right tone. Is it a serious drama or a farce? Thankfully the Naoya character keeps us grounded for most of the series. There are a few secondary characters that seem unnecessary and overly slapstick. The sub-plot of the "lucky" vs "unlucky" wears thin quickly and should have been dropped at mid-point, but I suppose that's going to be the payoff where the "unlucky" guy finally get's lucky? Like the story, the music score is pretty subtle but perfect for this kind of drama. Overall I'd love to see these characters in a more inwardly focused story -- like two guys on a camping trip, removed from the cliche themes of university life. And despite my reservations about the slapstick moments, Sota Ryosuke plays them well.

Read More