Daily dose of sunshine....

I think that the Japanese are the only ones who actually know how to make a gripping, bingeable drama without evil characters and murder subplots. I don't know how they manage to do it? Maybe solid writing?

Sleeper Hit is a drama I just finished watching and it has left me with a huge, happy and silly grin on my face.

It is a story about a weekly manga magazine, the editors working there and the mangakas providing the content. The whole set up is shown from the point of view of Kokoro, nicknamed Bear Cub by her coworkers, a former judoka who turned editor, as she learns the ropes of the trade and as she wins the tough editors over with her sincerity and inspires others to be proactive.

What puts this drama above the rest are the characters not plot. And they are a quirky lot. There is Kokoro with her eternal smile and optimism, open-mindedness and ingenuity. She is fearless and kind. Her mentor is Iokibe, always ready for a constructive advice while being mysteriously aloof, the chief editor Wada who is a baseball fan but has an incredible eye and instict for manga, striped T-shirt wearing cynical but with a heart of gold editor Yasui, there are also a group of mangakas of all ages and attitudes....The whole drama is character driven and it is so much fun to watch. The editor's work is explained to the minute details through production of weekly manga episodes: how the mangakas work and the input the editors give.
We do not know much about the characters' private lives or their background stories: only the details important to the drama plot are given and they are scarce. The important is the present!

It is also a story of books and how they are losing their place faced with internet onslaught: bookshops closures, book shredding, magazines not published anymore. "Books made me human!" How true!

The writing is perfect, the acting also, the music was nice but... Actually that is the only problem I had with this drama: the music. The soaring orchestral music at crucial moments made me think of those western movies when the leads reach the top of the mountain and the music just soars to heavens. It was a bit too much here! And the songs sounded very much like rearranged well known western songs (could not think of the name but they sounded extremely familiar! NB I do not listen to japanese music so it is not that I might have already heard them before!).

Each episode except for the last one, was told in a voiceover by one of the characters and that character is featured in the opening credits' animations (too cute)!

Just go watch this and have some fun! If you need a pick-me-up, this is a perfect solution!

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Foodie PD

I don't know why Netflix keeps this for Taiwan audience only so I would like to thank @tertiameimei for giving us perfect subs for this drama. Thank you so much for letting us enjoy this excellent drama!

What do you get when you mix an OCN crime drama and a japanese food drama? You get taiwanese Gourmet Affairs, a perfect mix of a cops&killers and mouthwatering food.

The police part of the drama is nothing outstanding: there are nice cops, there are corrupted cops, there are evil and good assassins, there are bad mobsters and there are mysteriously not bad mobsters. The plot is nevertheless gripping, always waiting for the good guys to figure out what's going on, always one step behind. Until they come on top, suddenly and completely! While the whole mafia plot was rather interesting, the solution fell flat, there was no major flamboyant reveal: the bad guy was simply arrested, far from prying eyes, and the whole mob fell apart. The character who was instrumental to bringing the whole setup down was the most tragic of the lot and I was really shaken by his destiny. One issue was not resolved though, the assassins' organization and who is behind it. Maybe they'll make a second season?

What made this drama outstanding was the food part, the friendship between three main characters and the bromance part thereof! I want to rave about that part. The bromance was bromancing big time: the two main actors had insane chemistry, the looks they exchanged over food were hotter than barbecue flames in front of them and they even kissed once. Unfortunately for us, BL fans, this was not bromance chinese style but your ordinary simple bromance, an amazing friendship between two men. Next is the food: filmed close up, lovingly and I felt I could eat it off the screen, yummy and pretty. I loved the question the two men asked repeatedly each other "Do you know how to eat this?" and then get into explanations about cooking, spices, temperature and the correct way to eat it to be able to taste every nuance of the flavours. The third main character, a rookie policewoman, joined them as a food loving little tomboyish sister.

The actors were all extraordinary and for once the FL was not annoying and held her place on equal footing with the rest. The police station was an amazing place: each one of those police officers was a foodie (and they used the deliveries to plug UberEats! Smooth!), they loved talking about food and when they ate they savoured it slowly. A fun group of smart characters!

The drama's cinematography is correct. It is slick and goes well with the mood of the events: dark and menacing except when food is concerned. Then we have almost slow motion and extreme close ups so I guess the cameraman must have filmed some cooking shows in his career.

The music is good, rocky, corresponds to the rough atmosphere of police vs. the mob fight.
Don't miss the mid final credit scenes which give us a view of a different side of these characters: they are mostly funny and have to do with the food.

This is definitely a good drama though a bit draggy in the second half but the acting and the food saved it.

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All style, no substance...

What a beautiful film!!! Literally so beautiful: the cinematographer deserves all the praise! But once you get your fill of aesthetics, what remains? Nothing much, unfortunately!

The plot is basic: a game of cat and mouse between a policewoman (did they exist in late Joseon?) and an assassin while investigating a case of counterfeit money and corruption in high places. They meet a few times, the sparks fly and then they are in love?!?!? I guess... But the case she's investigating comes between them.

The film is a mixture of genres and very often that mixture is not correctly dosed. First of all there is random comedy: a lot of it in the first half of the film. Unfortunately that comedy is not a very funny one: cringy and full of unconvincing and exaggerated grimaces. Secondly, the action scenes were expertly choreographed. So much so they were not action but dance scenes: beautiful and ultimately, for the most part, empty of action. And finally, the romance was sorely lacking chemistry for me. And for that I mainly blame the actress Ha Ji Won who cannot act to save her life. She tries so hard but it is just too awful to watch. I kept closing my eyes and cringing inside so much especially when she was playing the "crazy bitch" at one moment: so much grimacing, twisted mouth and googly eyes tells me someone is trying too hard but the result is disappointing. Kang Dong Woo, the Sad Eye assassin, was almost just as bad: a brooding silent type. Opposites attract and clash, the sparks are supposed to fly: I could not see one single one!

The second half of the film takes place in the winter so there is snow falling constantly throughout this second half. That must have been expensive and difficult to film though the result is stunningly beautiful.

The relationship between the policewoman and her boss was almost a father/daughter one and i wish they explored and gave us more details about it. The same goes for the relationship between the assasin and the Minister: what hold did he have ove the young man. The characters are just superficially sketched.

The praise goes to the director, the cinematographer and the choreographer who decided to paint a beautiful moving picture in which they succeeded. But I need substance as well: a tightly written story and some chemistry between the leads. The music was all over the place: going from classical western music, circus music, tango, modern beats and more ordinary original music. The background score during the final battle between the police force and the assassin was poignant and tugging at heartstrings. The final credits song was really nice.

What about the ending? Did he survive the battle and they live happily ever after now? Is the final scene just a memory or the confirmation of him surviving and now working with the police? I don't know and frankly, by the end of the film, I was so fed up and bored that I did not care anymore!

I do apologize to the fans for not seeing things they love about this movie....

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Universal story

Can I say I was a bit disappointed in this film? I expected more or different, and I found things I've already seen elsewhere!

Let me explain myself!
The documentary tells the story of homosexuality in modern China (from 1949) through interviews with activists, professors, journalists and artists. And it tells a very familiar story, reminiscent of what the west went through. Homosexuality had been banned, outlawed, punished, people have been ostracized, beaten, pushed into hiding. Slowly the laws changed, society's perceptions changed, decriminalizing sodomy and eventually homosexuality at the end of 20th century. At the same time HIV/AIDS epidemic struck China with its full force and the government had to do something in order to slow it down: prevention, condoms etc. This made the LGBT people more visible. The economic growth opened China, the people were given a taste of liberty and they used it to put forward the idea that gay people (or tongzhi) are just humans like everyone else. Gays and lesbians organized themselves into clubs and then they opened bars and gained more and more tolerance. These clubs were also used to promote protection and prevention from AIDS. There were classes at the universities in social studies about homosexuality, film festivals were organized, art exhibitions as well. The backlash from authorities seems to have been minimal. The movie ends on a high note. By 2008, the acceptance of LGBT community in China was high and they were even fighting for equal marriage (even though the majority of people interviewed here were against it saying why should they mimic heterosexuals?!?!?).

I do not know much about China but I expected this to show us a different story. It didn't! Should it be a comfort to know that we in the west went through the same motions as they did? Maybe! This is just to show that no matter which country, they were all at one time intolerant of different sexuality.

This film is divided in 8 parts, each covering a subject connected with the LGBT history with poetic titles like "From Pitch Black To Light Grey", "From Parks to Grassroots" etc. explaining the evolution of chinese society's views on homosexuality. There are some interesting interviewees: a 70yr old gay man talking about his recent promiscuity or the youngish blogger spending time proudly outing people who do not want to be outed who were the extremes (just to show us they do exist) while the majority were university professors, lawyers and activist.

What happened next? I wager that the story is different today! I would love to see a documentary about the last 15 years in China!

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Be polite or.....

I am trying hard to figure out whether this is a short film or the first episode of a series. The producers are asking for support in order to make new episodes in the multiverse!

The story is simple: when Te wakes up after a nap at the lakeside, he finds out his shoes are gone so he goes looking for the thief. The first person he meets is wearing shoes very much like his own so he gets so angry that that person hits him and he finds himself back in time, rebooted to the beginning of the conversation. The reboot happens a few times until he is politely asking about the missing shoes. Eventually, it turns out that the reboots were just a bad dream!

Parallel universes are an intriguing concept: here the different outcomes of the same situation were shown as if they were a dream. Be nice or you risk to miss out on important things: like a new and solid relationship!

The actors are super cute and they work well together even though they are obviously rather inexperienced which shows. In the end, even though a dream theory is delivered, a doubt remains. The drama is filmed and written well: there is a cute scene when Te trips and falls on the other guy also called Te, we see a heart shaped cloud in the sky! Tropes done well are priceless!

All in all, this is a cute short watch!

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Blast from the past

After the first, rather impressive Timeline movie where the plot actually justified the title, the three directors made a second one. This time it is just a simple omnibus movie featuring four stories. I watched it on youtube in appalling quality but since it had never been officially released, it is better than nothing!

The first story: Mind Reader is a typical early thai bl which takes place in high school and where pretty boys are followed around by fujoshis, girls and trans fans screaming. Amidst that noise, is Sun attracted by Boss's popularity and almost unaware that there is Kit, a boy with a crush on him. It is very cringy but the romance is cute and sweet behind the superfluous cringe. I almost dropped the movie because of it.
It stars Kritsana Boonroth as Sun and Phattaparong Chaibal as Kit.

I liked the second story the best: The Memory on Page 53. Nan is giddy with delight to go on a trip with Phu who had just broken up with his boyfriend. But this trip reveals the memories they are both trying to avoid remembering. They actually dated and broke up 5 years earlier.
This was a beautifully filmed story. The director Artistaya Bangpao filmed nature, their feeling and memories with sensitivity. The actors have great chemistry. The editing is amazing: the past and the present trips mixed together showing that nothing had changed in their feeling. The only issue I have is with the story itself: we never find out why they broke up since they were and obviously still are in love! I would love to see a longer version of this story by the same director with the story expanded and more details given.

The third story, Non-Verbal features a deaf character Ohm who meets the eyes of Tan (Chinoros Duangrat) and their gazes lock. But a misunderstanding almost ruins the beginning of a love story.
This is the shortest story in the movie. Fortunately they did not drag out too long the misunderstanding. The novelty is a deaf character who is on his guard because of his handicap and is quick to jump to wrong conclusion. Tan clears the issue quickly with the help of his doting, no nonsense mother.
Directed by Jitthinund Yodwongsakull

The fourth story circles back to school from the first one. Nine, a boy from that school, gets attached to Nong, a middle aged trans woman who holds a stand selling fried bananas Nine likes. Nong is affected by Nine's attention since he reminds her of her sister's son. Man, a boy from school who has a crush on Nine, finds this relationship suspicious and does everything in his power to ruin it. We eventually find out that Nine is the long lost nephew but the damage has been done and Nong moves away.
This was a good and a bad story at the same time. The good was having a trans main character (when in 2016 trans were just used as screaming over the top comic relief in bls). The very bad is the possible romance innuendo which was never really cleared and the conclusion we get to draw from her reactions in the last part is that there was more in her feelings that met the eye!
Cast: Jennifer Panot Ruangratanachinda as Nong and Natthaphong Charoenchaisombat as Nine. Directed by Passapong Throngprasit

The film was written by Passapong Throngprasit and Artistaya Bangpao. The stories are of different quality and each director's style is obvious. I definitely want to see more of Artistaya Bangpao: his direction is the most accomplished. The music is unremarkable pop songs which have the merit of talking about each story.

Unlike the first movie where the stories ended up being connected on a few levels here only the first and the last stories are loosely connected with the same highschool. As for the timeline, from the title, there is the influence of the past in present in the three stories (not the 1st one which is firmly anchored in the present)!

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Baby voice and scaredy cat

DISCLAIMER: This is my own opinion. No harm meant to the fans. The drama is bad NOT the actors!

If it had not been for the Watch Challenge this drama would have ended on my Not Interested list (where I put dropped dramas!) after the first episode. Since I promised to finish it, I used my time while watching to stop and rant which you can find below.

In short, this drama has not aged well and it is only 8 years old. The story idea is good, the acting is stellar, the production values are correct. And the writing is catastrophic: EVERY single character starts and ends as unlikeable (with the notable exception of three kitchen assistants), the WORST character ever in k dramas being the sous chef, a misogynist and sexist (he does not want to employ a married women with a kid! this was never ok or funny, as they used it here!) harasser. He might be a good cook but he is a despicable person. The main couple has no chemistry and the character development for the FL turns out to be the complete character change as in she takes all the traits of the ghost girl's personality together with the annoying baby cutesy voice!The plot is full of tropes, it is highly predictable (the murderer was obvious in ep 3). and therefore very boring.
I never watch anything in high speed so I only thought about ffw towards the end of ep. 15. Too late!

The music was correct, especially in the first half which was supposed to be a comedy and they used a lot of jazzy tunes.

THE RANT
I am spending more time ranting about this drama than watching it. I wanted to like it so much but, unfortunately, it is so bad. Ghost stories, possessions and romance are the tropes I like but here they completely ruined it with extreme characterization!
First of all, what is with this woke title on viki: Oh My Ghostess? I did not know the word existed!
4 episodes in and I am not really liking the drama: not a single likable character and everything seems to be set up as extremes. I guess they need to show the character growth but seems very predictable and cliché. I hope I am wrong....
One FL is a doormat, the other pushy harasser as a ghost but a cheerful optimistic girl in reality, the ML is arrogant, his mother annoying, the cop obviously a bad guy who killed the girl and no one knows how to say NO when even slightly pushed.
This drama is so full of tropes! I really hope it gets better!
Ep. 5 and the ML goes topless in order to put some skincare on his face! Nice; Good opportunity for the ghost girl to make a lot of lewd sexist remarks we are supposed to find funny and cute. Imagine if it were a man doing the same thing? Not funny at all! I can go with the idea that as a virgin ghost she needs to get rid of her virginity (how does that work, I wonder?) but does she really need to talk lasciviously?
Ep 7 we see the original, super shy, introverted and incompetent FL freed from the possession and the ML liking her more and more. Does she remind him of himself in high school when he was shy and bullied? But he likes the ghost as well because she's fun and extrovert, good cook and quick thinking!
A pet peeve of mine when I watch dramas set in restaurant kitchens is that almost always the female characters cook with their hair freely flying around: so un hygienic! I know, a FL with her hair tied or under a bonnet is not very appealing but still....when I see them like that, all I can think is "hair in my pasta" and not "how romantic, falling in love over a pan!"
I like the jazzy music on end credits: they should play it more!
Ep. 8 the wimpy FL asks for the ghost girl's help in seducing the chef. So many red flags rising! If she cannot muster up the courage to be more relaxed and brave, it is only cheating and this kind of cheating I hate, i.e. having someone else do your work for you and pretend it was you who did it all! NO NO NO & NOOOOOO!
Do writers & directors really think that women talking like babies are cute and seductive? The ghost is just being so utterly annoying with her cutesy voice and aggressive behaviour. This has not aged well! She can perfectly well stand up and walk but he insists on carrying her?!? Why do these men insist on treating the adult women as small, irresponsible and weak children? That ML is starting seriously to get on my nerves: it must be his caveman side - he likes the weak female more than an adult and competent one! He really needs to shed this macho mentality. He had a crush on the women for such a long time but never dared to say anything: now she's giving him strong signals to come and ask her on a date, he does not want to?!? What a cretin! Men are really afraid of independent women: how much low esteem does he have!
Please, can we get a likeable character in here?
And that ghost in ep 9? She is beyond annoying? Could not the writers find a middle ground where the fls are concerned and not make them complete opposites? And the ml falling for this behaviour: blowing hot and cold, shy and pushy? Did he really fall for someone with apparently split personality or is he just an idiot? My two cents worth of psychology would say he is still deeply insecure about his own qualities, he never managed to completely get rid of low self-esteem which made him a bullying target in his teens. He still seems to be that shy teen hiding not very deep inside the successful adult!
The extremely annoying ghost is still trying to get into the ML's pants, "seducing" him with baby voice and buckling his seat belt: this is the first time I've seen this in an asian drama. Usually it is the opposite: the macho man reaches over to take the girl's seatbelt as if she is not capable to do it herself (or it is the ml who tries to show his caring macho side).
I am watching ep 9 in short instalments: it is so hard to watch to the point of being unwatchable. The FL has definitely better chemistry with Cordon than with the ML.
So she goes drinking with the kitchen staff and ends up falling asleep in a motel room around 2AM. He gets all panicky and goes to get her, sobers her up and then they go home together I guess around 4AM. And his mother visits at that moment?!? Really?!? Ridiculous!
Ep 11 so the ghost is dating the chef and realized she is in love with him. He used to refuse her demands for sleeping together but now that he is ready to go further she is refusing. She'd turned from an aggressive female to a shirking violet, jumping as if electrocuted at the slightest touch! This dynamic is reminding me of Doom At Your Service which was the same: the FL stopped being forward once she fell in love! Another annoying trope!
I am only curious now to find out how the writers are going to sort this love triangle mess. Who is he really in love with the shy girl or the ghost? But by the end of the episode, the girl has realized that the one the chef likes is the ghost not her and told him that! Finally, some honesty! This is getting interesting....By the way, what happened to the nice jazzy music? Now that the things are getting serious, we are on to the soppy pop music?
So right at the moment when I thought they could not go any lower, the sleezy, creepy sous chef interviews candidates for a kitchen aid position. This is the pinnacle of sexism: do you have a boyfriend etc. and then he dismisses a candidate who is married with a kid! Not funny or cute just humiliating.
No, this is definitely not getting any better: just the opposite!
Ep 14 and the "pearls of logic"just keep coming: the ghost girl possessed the shaman lady but she is still incapable of turning pages and looking at her own diary? !? What is the point of possession? Just to talk?
Ep 15 Surprise surprise!!! The bad guy became evil because he was not loved by his parents! Boohoo! Give me a break! You are really going down that path, Writers, poor little unloved boy?!?!? His deeply buried resentment made it easy for the evil spirit to possess him?
And of course, the girl cannot tell the chef the news over the phone, that would be too simple! They need to see each other which will of course give the bad guy enough time to kidnap her or whatever so she would not tell anyone and bring out the ghost girl! I want to drop this so much! The last time a drama annoyed me so much was And I Married My Antifan!
And of course, the bad guy seems dead by the end of the episode! Why would he stay alive and face the consequences of his actions? Too complicated, right? How about he survives but with amnesia?
Finally, the last episode i.e. the wrap up or "they lived happily ever after" and the ghost girl is gone but she left most of her character traits with the other girl who is now cheerful, confident and speaking with the baby voice. At least the brilliant jazzy music is back.
The most repulsive and disgusting character is that sous chef: harassing the people working under him all the time. I don't understand why no one says anything? Still the hierarchy in the korean society? A person older than you is allowed to insult you and harass you as much as they want?

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Same as usual

This cute short movie popped up on my youtube queue and since it was short, I gave it a go.

The story is rather basic: three university students, two boys and a girl, Pukan, Paper and Bell, form a group for an art assignment. Two boys fall for each other. The end

As you see nothing much happens, they notice each other, they get closer while visiting a museum and then they confess, encouraged all the way by the girl best friend. I loved her, by the way! Great character and a talented actress.

As Always was made by an unknown producer (they have only this on their youtube channel) with unknown actors (who are cute in a sort of normal not model kind of way!) who probably never acted before but after the initial uncertainties, they obviously become more confident and the acting gets to be much better. The short movie looks like something made years ago by the way they used those pesky sound effects (my pet peeve, sorry!) in the first half. Cinematography is a bit vague and blurry giving it a dreamy feeling.

Thanks to Google lens I got this:
The cast: Pukan Akarawat Prathumthong
Paper Natthaphak Witsiri
Bell Sasikarn Singsi
Director: Patcharaporn Thiangsantia

And they used a song by PPKrit & Billkin "Same As Usual".

These are 17min well spent: noting earthshattering but for a basic story, it is really nice!

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Wrong time, wrong you?

After the vaudeville that were two previous episodes of My Universe, this is another theatre play but a drama not a comedy. Single setting: a house and three protagonists: Mai, her younger brother Mhok and her best friend Phat who came to stay with them after his boyfriend beat him up again. The synopsis is a bit misleading: there is no black magic involved!

Phat seems a happy person, always smiling and quick with a quip but all that is a mask hiding a person deeply hurt and having trouble leaving an abusive relationship. We have all heard the cases of women being beaten up by their spouses while drunk, stressed and in bad mood and women often excusing them when they came begging for forgiveness and promising to change. Phat had been enduring such a relationship for six years and then decided he could not bear it any longer.

In order to help Phat deal with the situation and take the right decision, Mai uses her hobby: witchcraft and tarot, through a series of healing rituals (burning and drinking and talking). She's helped by her brother who has had a crush on Phat for years and who thinks that now is the right time to make a move!

Unfortunately, no it definitely is not the right time to start a new relationship when the old one has not been finished properly. That is the major issue I have with this drama: Mhok is stubbornly forcing his way in when Phat keeps refusing him gently. Mhok does not want to accept that Phat may need time to recover. Now that he is free, Mhok won't let him breathe.

Frankly, I do not like how this ended but on the upside, I do not think they have a future together. Phat ended up by accepting to date Mhok but he has absolutely no romantic feelings for him! I am afraid he is in for another wrong relationship because Mhok does not look like someone willing to compromise or accept the refusal. It definitely is the wrong time and the wrong person for a new relationship!

The acting was superb: all three of them were extraordinary. The production values are high: well filmed, soft warm colours, hazy feel about it. Very slow burn but masterfully directed!

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Money, Money, Money....

...How funny, in a rich man's world!

Often compared with Black Mirror, this short series is pointing to the absurdities of contemporary society, focused on money. What would you do, how far would you go, how much does it take?

The main character of this drama is just such a person, a super rich man, bored and conducting a social experiment in order to answer those questions. The series tells stories of six people, on surface not connected but whose lives cross paths in crucial moments.

A women finally gets an office job but the work is absurd, mind wrecking and pointless. So she resigns. Her coworker decides to spend an afternoon with his daughter(who found out he was not her father) but while on the phone his car with her inside gets stolen. By a pyramid scheme salesman looking for money. While on a crossroad, the women from the beginning jumps into the car. Down the road they are stopped by a fake policeman who is trying to win money on an internet game led by a righteous justice warrior the salesman's mother was part of. After letting the car go, he hears a police call for a possible murder taking place in an abandoned office. The man there offers him a choice: a meaningless well paid job or the righteous justice.

Each story, with the exception of the last one is left without ending: do their action have repercussions? Probably, logically but we never find out! The stories are well written: succinct and to the point. The acting is excellent: particularly the little girl. The music, jazzy with 70's overtones, is perfect for these dark stories.

We might take umbrage or disapprove their choices but how would you behave in similar situations? I think that the answer depends on your age: the young people would probably revolt, stir the masses on the internet and move on to another crusade of the week. More mature adults would probably weigh the pros and the cons reasonably!

Whether we like it or not, we are all controlled by money. The question is how much?

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Depression & bullying

People like to believe that this is a BL. No it is not really. It is a slice of life, fantasy drama with characters who may or may not be gay...it is not really clear.

The story follows two broken idividuals. Koki is alone, friendless, inert and depressed, surviving and not living. The main cause of his unhappiness is his brother, lost to yakuzas because of him. One day an amnesiac angel moves in with him. Spending time with the angel and helping him, as if he is finally helping his own lost brother, makes Koki see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Every time there is a teen in a drama, there is also a bullying subplot. Though not only! There is homophobia as well! And of course the nefarious influence of the internet anonymity. The angel, a teen before becoming one, was pushed over the limit of endurance and gave up the fight. Spending time with Koki, basking in the kindness even Koki was not aware of having, the angel comes to terms with his passing and is finally happy.

I did not really like it very much. Mostly because Koki's character hits too close to home but also because of the bullying plot. I am really bored with dramas about it. Don't get me wrong, it is a hugely serious issue that needs to be deals with on ground, in schools and on the internet.

The actors were all excellent. The actress playing the mother looks so young: I thought she was the sister. Especially since the actor playing her 30 yr old son looks much older than her. He is also depressed and unkempt which does not help him look his real age....The production correct, though the angel wings looked uncomfortable and extremely fake (the limits of the budget, I guess!). The ending starts as rather optimistic since Koki had decided to sort his life out but apparently they quickly meet each other so I'm guessing Koki dies(he probably forgot to put the brakes on in his white van!) and they meet again in heaven.

The only thing this drama has going for it is the cute angel and the short length;

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Messy relationship & recycling

Wikipedia says: Polyethylene terephthalate (or poly(ethylene terephthalate), PET, is the most common thermoplastic polymer resin of the polyester family and is used in fibres for clothing, containers for liquids and foods, and thermoforming for manufacturing, and in combination with glass fibre for engineering resins.

Basically, PET is the material plastic bottles are made of. In this short series, the main characters liken their relationship to a plastic bottle and its cap: how long does it last and if they are going to meet again after recycling.

The drama depicts a relationship: meet, get together, live together, first glitches and then a major one sending everything up in the air. The relationship is told in short scenes over a period of time. That was the first problem I had with this drama: the timeline is not clear: months or years? Eventually we discovered that it took two years for the relationship to go bust(one moves out!) but it feels like it had taken much longer. Logically! Do you really break up with your boyfriend after a year because he does not want to come out to his family? In Japan? After a few years, maybe.... Moreover, they continue living together and seeing new people and still sleeping together. Messy, very messy but they seem fine with it!

The characters are rather sketchy as we never get to know much about them and their past, friends and family: one is bi the other one gay! They are obviously in love with each other but cannot live together. One is getting serious while the other is still behaving like a teen and throwing tantrums and running off in the middle of an discussion.

Production gives off the indie vibe: real and rough and cold (practically no colour to speak of!). Sets a limited to an apartment and a couple of outside shots. The story is straight forward for the most part though the final part has some flashbacks which are difficult to grasp (same sets, similar situation!). There are a couple of scenes after final credits suggesting that maybe they are not as over as they would like us to believe. The ending is open!

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More love needed....

I don't get it! I really, really do not get it! Why is this drama getting so much hate?

It has everything: hot abs, enemies to lovers, sponge baths, great friends, toxic story, regular pacing, mystery....and it is highly bingeable! It also has a lot of bad acting and some horrible main characters.

And still, I have enjoyed watching this immensely: binged it in two days.

The drama tells us the story of a couple who have been together for over two years. One is a former member of a local criminal outlet and the other is a spoilt son of a car shop chain owner. There is a mystery surrounding how they met and a bigger one as to why are they still together because they seem so incompatible: one is serious and hard working while the other one behaves like a spoilt 5 year old throwing tantrums if his cake is delivered too late. Strange enough, apart from parents, nobody finds his behaviour odd. They have a close set of friends who apparently know their story. One day the serious guy gets into an accident and ends up with amnesia: forgetting last three years and therefore not recognizing his boyfriend as well. They continue living together and slowly he and us, both, we discover the hows and the whys of their relationship.

I have to admit I started watching the cut version of this drama and dropped it halfway through: bad acting, bad filming, bad storytelling and awful subs. Then I discovered that there was the uncut version. A completely different story played out in front of my eyes: the first episode was completely re-cut and re-edited, the pacing was much smoother and more logical, the acting was still bad (someone should stop Frank from acting, please! Or if you have to have him, triple the number of acting lessons!) but the subs were much better and the story was gripping! It continued like that till the end: the secrets were revealed steadily throughout the series, nothing was rushed and we were given explanations needed (though I admit somehow rather illogical but I decided not to care about it!).

There were two side couples, apparently in long-term relationships but they are actually just parts of background for the main story: we find out just tiny bits of information about them since they are here only to act as supportive friends for the main couple. Maybe their stories were covered in depth in two first books.

There is an additional plot involving the spoilt brat's cousin who hates his boyfriend and repeatedly tries to kill him. It is a bit unclear and illogical why the cousin,( who by the way looks completely insane with those eyes just waiting to pop out!) is so jealous of him

The actors were quite cute, did not shy from skinship which looked so natural. The music was good and the production looked like they had a serious budget!

Love Syndrome III is definitely in need of more love from the audience: it is so much better than what we are led to believe here. It is a kind of fun, toxic and sexy guilty pleasure BL. No brain needed, everything is rather straightforward and in spite of illogical reasons, the plot moves on at right speed, right enough to keep us guessing and wanting to watch more.

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Pretty but ordinary

There has only been a handfull of korean dramas which surprised and amazed me with their cinematography: Search:WWW, Into The Ring, Call It Love and this one.

Unfortunately that is the only thing this drama has going for it. The rest is just a repetitive, subpar storytelling using the usual high school topics: bullying, suicide, gossip, internet. Here they added prostitution, kidnapping and corrupt politicians. And to top it all there are two half hearted romances. All of this has been crammed into eight 30minutes extremely long episodes. Each episode felt like it was two hours long!

The acting was ok though I am still trying to figure out why the main lead had to have such a heavy accent. I suppose that it was to show he lives in another region but he is the only character in this drama with such a heavy, singsong, uncomfortable to listen to local accent. His father does sometimes but that's it. No one else speaks with this accent so, why does he need to? The other main character, was also a stereotypical mountain of a person, taciturn and menacing in appearance (I mean, don't start me on that upside down triangle haircut!). I liked how their bromance made them each personally grow.

The main characters were rather realistic, all too human with very ordinary, normal reactions faced with extraordinary menace (bullying, threats, violence, blackmailing). They are not heroes so they are easy to identify with!

The rest of the characters were very sketchy, superficial and often clichés: the unsatisfied teacher, school bully in a colourful jacket (he has to be seen to be different!), nerdy insecure friends (they were quite interesting: the three such characters dealt with their insecurities differently. We were shown what should and what should not be done in such cases!), one pair of loving parents (the other teens seem to be orphans: we never see their parents!) and of course the bad guy or to be precise the bad woman, who was again such a cliché.

The music was fine: heavy rock which suited the topic of the drama perfectly. There were a couple of funny scenes usually involving the MC's best friend (hypnosis and candles!).

So why am I rating this so high? Because of the cinematography. That is the only feature that actually made me finish this drama!

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Unexpected quirky

I keep complaining about news articles on MDL homepage and how redundant they are but today one such article led me here! I saw that the main actress recently starred in a romcom movie and while scrolling down the movie page I came upon the link and the rest is, as they say, history! This was just what I needed one cold autumn sunday evening!

I am not particularly fan of either stars of the movie but I actually enjoyed their chemistry and comic timing here.

The story is nothing new! Two young people from completely opposite walks of life, meet, fall in love, get married and then start hating each other with a vengeance until they file for divorce. On the way from courthouse they get into accident and, first surprise, end up with amnesia. Both of them! In order to get their memories back, they start living together again chaperoned by her sister who has to do everything in her power to keep them apart. To no awail: they fall in love again!

The movie is fast, funny (though not hilarious in my book: too much slapstick!). Some events are a "must" in a romcom but they managed to find a novel way in presenting the outcome: rich parents vs. poor son-in-law; airport confession etc. Both main characters have quirky and supportive friends. While his parents, especially the mother, is a cliché chip-on-the-shoulder type, her parents are colourful and funny. Her sister is the quirkiest of the lot, dead pan funny. Last but not least, my favourite support character was the hospital shrink using dramas to explain the amnesia.

The only complaint I have is about the editing: the constant going back and forth, past and present, flashbacks out of timeline...that was a bit tiring to follow. Not impossible of course but confusing sometimes!

This is the kind of movie one can watch over and over again, it is light, not too serious, it's a high quality romcom and it delivers the goods!

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