Tongue-In-Cheek Clever-Silly And Romantic.

Lighthearted, fun, sweet, and cute with emotional depth that kind of sneaks up on you.
It's special because while it has many tropes/clichés that are often predictable, they're purposefully taken 1 to 2 steps further in unexpected ways. Because of this, the whole series is very humorous instead of cringworthy. They do it very well. Things are done/acted a little dramatically but earnestly at the same time. I was really impressed with the whole cast.

In real life the type of behavior Noey exhibits towards Thi is full of red flags and could lead to trauma bonding (unpredictable hot/cold, threatening/rewarding, etc). In this fictional tale however, I was able to enjoy the well done tropes of enemies-to-lovers, bully/nerd, and hard to others but soft to the love interest. It takes some time but Noey's character does mature and redeem himself beautifully.

FYI in the last episode keep watching because the epilogue continues through the credits and all the way to the end.

It was a little tricky for me to tell the grades and age difference of the main characters, especially at the beginning. I believe Noey starts the series about 16 yrs old and Thi is 5 years older as a junior in college, so about 21. Noey starting so young in the story works because he's young enough to act as immature as he starts out being.

The age difference was never made weird in this story, which I appreciated. Young people can fall in love too. And as MidwesternLibrarian says on Reddit, "I don't mind their fictional age gap because there is no way Thi is manipulating Noey. Noey is going to do what Noey wants to do." Truer words were never spoken, lol!

General Spoilers below.
There is a good amount of romantic attraction/tension that is tastefully done keeping the age of the characters and actors in mind, two interupted almost-kisses, and a very basic kiss at the end. (Which I was totally fine with, especially since Tar who played Noey would have been 17-18 at the time of filming.)

I loved how the miscommunications in the first few episodes lead them into falling for each other instead of falling out, lol.

There is some medium angst near the end but it is resolved and the ending is satisfying.

I likely won't watch again on my own but it could be fun to see with other people.

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Lead Actors Are Great, The Rest "Sucks".

Vampire BL. A General Spoiler on the ending only. Acting 8.5, Chemistry & kiss 10, Plot & script 3, Cinematography 5, Music 6, Rewatchability 2.
Pointlessly stupid choices by ALL of the characters at least once, and an unnecessarily sad ending. Left me with an incredulous and irritated "WTF, WHY???" feeling. Most of the contrived angst could have been so easily avoidable.

I can't recommend this unless you are a fan of the lead actors (as I am). Watch them in Roomates Of Poongduck 304 instead, which is a fun and better fleshed-out series. Then after that, maybe watch the kiss scene here as an extension of those characters in your mind. It's at the beginning of Episode 8. I would have found that immensely more satisfying than how I felt watching this whole series. I will say Kim Ji Woong's visuals really work well as a vampire though!

The two leads and their magnetic chemistry with each other are the best reason to watch this very short series. Seven 10min episodes and the eighth episode is 20min. It's obvious why they were cast in Roomates Of Poongduck 304 after this. Their kiss is realistic and full of passion and there's even a brief morning-after scene, which is uncommon in Korean BLs.

The story is very generic and the only surprises are how stupid and unrealistic character choices are. There are also an untenable amount of plot holes because the world building is so poorly done.

There's not enough time spent building up the connection between the lead characters to warrant the deep love they have. The "explanation" of the lead vampire's past, which drives all his current decisions, was barely touched on and left a lot of remaining questions. Like, what lead up to him being in that state in the first place? The female friend, and certainly the male vampire "friend", are arguably unnecessary. The time on them would have been better spent focusing on the emotional and relationship arc of the leads.

Also, MJ Koontz's review is absolutely hilarious:
https://mydramalist.com/profile/soundinfinite/review/195237

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Adrift Characters Find Determination In Unusual Somber Yet Hopeful Tale

Cinematography 7, Lighting 9. GENERAL SPOILERS ALLUDED TO below.
I started out hating Ritsu, as Nishini does, and normally I'd have a hard time forgiving that kind of character if they made those choices as an adult, but he's a stupid, young 20 year old. I have seen people in real life change their priorities by their 30s, especially when fueled by regrets. With the 10 years that have passed since they've seen each other and the looming end of the world in 7 days, the story manages to make Ritsu's imperfect-redemption possible. It's not a fairytale, and Ritsu's character does NOT get a knight-in-shining-armor make-over. And I think that makes the story more real and compelling.

The extenuating circumstances (the end of the world) acts like a pressure cooker; puting force behind Ritsu's contrition and speeding up Nishini's absolution. Each episode smartly reveals to Nishini and the audience a little more of who the present Ritsu is, how his past impacted him, and how he's being more thoughtful (it's subtle, but it’s there). He's still a flawed person, but Nishini's shifting attitude towards him is, at the very least, understandable. I was with Nishini all the way and able to feel happy and satisfied for the solace they find in each other as some of their wounds are soothed.

The series does a good job overall balancing some really heavy topics with hope (in various forms but can't explain without giving too much away!). Trigger warnings for suicidal ideation and attempts (with a pill, non-graphic). Plus some existential ruminations, as one might expect with the end of the world in sight. Even though the ending is positive and life-affirming, it would have been too hard-hitting for me to get through if I had watched it while in a severely depressed state myself.

Seto Toshiki completely redeemed himself from his simplistic acting in Senpai, This Can't Be Love. He portrayed a wonderful range of nuanced emotions in face, voice, and body in this series. Nakata Keisuki was a good match with him. He's a little more subdued but it works for his character and he and Seto have good chemistry together. The other actors were great in their roles too, there were no weak links.

The intimate scenes, of which there are a few, are definitely NC-17. They are more rough than artistic, and the actors seem pretty comfortable with each other so their interactions are believable.
I SO appreciate the line "...it feels so good." Finally, a 'bottom' character who expresses that it's pleasurable (and pain free)! As it can be, if properly prepared! It aggravates me how many BLs treat "being the bottom" like it's humiliating, painful, or a chore.

The time the characters are at a cabin was my least favorite part of the series. Not a huge deal, but the plot felt more contrived during this part, some character decisions didn't quite make sense, and the pacing felt slower.

The music was beautiful, sentimental, somber, and hopeful. It blended with scenes well and enhanced emotions. I will listen to this soundtrack as background music.

I love asianblreviews very thoughtful, insightful, and well-worded review of this series. I recommend reading that too. Full review here: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2023/03/21/bokura-no-micro-na-shuumatsu-review-bl/

SPOILER ON THE ENDING:

I loved how they shot this and at what point they decided to stop filming. It's meaningful to have Nishini and Ritsu facing a new dawn together. Symbolic of the new and hopeful path of their relationship, as well as their individual selves that have done some healing and been reforged; ready to face life again individually as well as together.

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Naito Shuichiro Makes It Watchable

Cute premise and starts out fairly strong then becomes less interesting for a couple of reasons. You might enjoy this if you're looking for something kind of cute, awkwardly funny, light & easy, and with one really good lead actor.

The most disappointing thing for me was that the sincerity of character attraction felt one-sided by the actors. Naito Shuichiro acted in-crush then in-love so convincingly. You could see the intensity and depth of emotions in his eyes and his face was full of nuanced reactions. Compared to him, Seto Toshiki felt miscast as the main character. He did okay at the beginning with the simplicity of being in awe of his idol and nervous, but his portrayal of deeper emotions fell flat. He became more and more of a disappointment to me as the series went on. (Also his bleached-orange hair didn't suit his timid/self-conscious character and was distracting; poor judgment on someone's part.)

The story itself became more boring as it started to rely on clichés to keep it going. If it wasn't for Naito I probably would have stopped watched sometime during episode 6 (out of 8).

There were more physical interactions to build tension than there were affectionate ones after the characters fell for each other. I might not have felt the lack of physical closeness as much had Seto been able to match the affection and desire Naito showed with his eyes.

I did think the end credits were very clever as they they showed a little bit more of the background scene with every episode.

There were multiple moments of second-hand embarrassment that made me cringe and want to fast-forward, but I am fairly susceptible to that. There were a few non-cringe comedic moments too.

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Better Upon 2nd Viewing.

Updated Jan 2024. I watched this again knowing that I had found both characters really unlikable the first time, and was actually able to appreciate the story more. So I've raised my rating from a 4.5 to a 6.5.

While both characters are morally dark grey (cheating and coercion/dub-con/stalking), Otomo does have character growth. The changes are incremental and very subtle until the end when his actions suddenly make the extent of his internal growth obvious. Upon second viewing, I was able to empathize with his character a lot sooner (40min before the ending instead of 7min before).

Imagase, on the other hand, has no growth and is not fleshed out. He was just as 2-dimensional in my second viewing as he was in the first. Also, it's hard *not* to feel like whatever misery he feels, he brought upon himself (multiple times). He may be kind of pitiable, but I still struggled to sympathize with him because he was just one thing on repeat: an obsessed gay man who was very insecure about his straight friend/lover whom he kept pushing into an intimate relationship.

The way Imagase is written remains my biggest dissatisfaction with the film.

As with the first viewing, I was not that invested in the characters because, first, they aren't likeable, and second, because their connection lacks depth and affection (there doesn't seem much reason for them to like each other except for maybe being able to be comfortable around each other, which isn't nothing, but there's not a lot of that shown either). However, already knowing what I didn't like about it, I found the second viewing more mentally intriguing and enjoyable, and was able to better appreciate how the cornered mouse metaphor came into play throughout the story.

Another thing I was able to roll with better the second time around was the very loose sense of time. The movie somewhat disjointedly jumps from scene to scene and exact markers of time (days, weeks, etc) are never mentioned. Knowing where the story was going allowed me to string things together in my head. For the first watch, it was like reading a book with chunks of pages torn out at random; I could piece the story together, but it felt like multiple scenes were missing.

The sex is very realistic and the atmosphere created with light, colors, and cinematography was very well done and cohesive.

GENERAL SPOILER On The Ending:

......

It is an open ending, but I think the pattern of what will happen is pretty clear, only this time there's more hope for stability in it. The only thing left in question, in my mind, is when.

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Sweet and A Bit Different

The plot was different and made the twists unexpected. Cuteness, sweetness, and light angst. Because there was a lot to cover in the plot and only eight 15min episodes, the story zipped by. Because of this it was difficult for the emotional journey and relationship to build, but it was satisfying enough in this short story format. It kept my interest from beginning to end; I did not fast-forward through any parts.

Son Woo Hyeon was the most impressive of the actors. He suffused his character with an endearing puppy-dog energy, but was able to play serious moments with weight and intensity where it called for it. Kim Kang Min worked fairly well for the role he was cast in, but was a little flat.

At first, the dead-fish-kiss made an appearance and I was worried that would be all we got, but the lead's romantic interaction became more life-like at the end.

I think this is the first rom-com I've seen that shows some mutual grooming as a love language, or at least the first one that has registered as such as I watched it. I know couples that do this, it's just rarely talked about. So that was interesting.

Music worked but was unremarkable.

Fun for one watch but I don’t think I'll need to see it again.

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Toxic Angst On Repeat

Unrelentingly toxic, homophobic, and emotionally abusive dynamic between the lead characters. And started off with the sexual harassment of a character who happened to be a victim of pedophilia (an issue which is brought up near the beginning but then never discussed again, which is weird and frustrating. The dude obviously needs a therapist). Also romanticization of over-the-top jealousy.

Their dynamic does not improve enough over time to be considered sweet in any way. The same issues kept coming up with little improvement in how the characters reacted. I did watch the whole thing hoping for more character growth but was left disappointed. Acting is middle-of-the-road. The leads are a bit flat in emotions they are able to portray; they do well with extremes but lack range and nuance. I don’t remember the music. I was unable to like, let alone fall in love, with these characters.

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Love OffGun But Losing Brain Cells.

You should be able to tell if this show is for you within two episodes. You may enjoy this if you love Off/Gun, want something light and easy to watch with some sweet/cute moments, and are in the mood for simple/silly humor.

At Ep 9/12: My previous review of Ep 1-5 holds. I decided to give it a try again for OffGun's sake and watched Ep 6-9. Apparently the YouTube version is cut (in the USA). I switched to the uncut version via Telegram after Ep 5, but it didn't change my lack of enjoyment with the show.

Previous review: At Ep 5/12. This may not be a popular sentiment, but from my perspective, this show is a slog through simplistic boredom. Apart from Off & Gun's characters, most everyone else acts like middle-schoolers (around 11-13 years old) instead of university students. The 'humor' is extremely basic and simple. There's no cleverness in this screenplay at all. Most characters are more like caricatures and what little plot there is, is so far predictable.

I was so impressed with the series Not Me and Gun and Off were so fantastic in their roles. They acted with nuance, depth, and authentic emotions. The production of Cooking Crush is a huge downgrade for what their talent is capable of.

I'm watching the scenes with Off & Gun together at normal speed because they manage to elevate the generic material to bring some interest and depth to their interactions. For everything else I'm watching at 2x the speed to keep myself from dropping this show entirely.

I really want to support OffGun, but the screenplay is so shallow/simple/boring/predictable, and the secondary characters so annoying and often over-acted, that I really can't bring myself to rate this higher currently. If OffGun weren't a part of this show, I would have no qualms about rating it a 4 and dropping it.

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Potentially Frustrating, Character Study, Sweet & Angsty, Dreamlike, Great Chemistry.

(General spoilers only.) The atmosphere and sweet tension are alluring but there is more character based angst than a viewer might initially expect. If you like character studies and growth you might enjoy this. Love is the main theme and catalyst, but this story is about more than just romance.

Very General Spoilers below.

Things that frustrate some viewers (but didn't frustrate me, as I explain further down):
- Vague sense of time and non-linear flashbacks.
- Night continuously struggles to understand his own feelings and then communicate them.
- Dream is avoidant as a self-preservation mechanism.
- Love triangles.
- The ending is positive but a bit rushed (this one I agree with).

I like character studies and there is an interesting symmetry between Night and Day: Night mentally "runs away" while Dream physically runs away. They often hinder themselves from getting what they truly want because of their personal coping mechanisms for fear. I found watching them navigate that interesting, pretty realistic, and meaningful.

I thought the actors did a great, naturalistic job, and got me emotionally invested in their characters. The magnetic pull of affection and attraction between Dream and Night is palpable.

Namwan, Night, and Day seemed kind of unlikable shortly after being introduced to them, but as more of their character was revealed, the more I was able to empathize with, and like, them.

Night DOES have character growth but the process is messy and everyone, including himself, gets hurt. A lot. But Dream contributes to that too. Both Night and Dream are young and still figuring life out, so that came across fairly realistically to me.

I didn't mind the love triangles in this so much because they really do serve a purpose in propelling Night's character growth forward. Especially since there aren't that many episodes in which to tell this story. Night has to get to a certain point emotionally and mentally so he can gain clarity, self-resolve, and purpose in the whole of his life.

The cinematography and editing felt dreamlike in a way that I was surprisingly not annoyed by. There were partial flashbacks that, after awhile, would be returned to with more of the flashbacks shown. They also aren't shown in chronological order, so they add to the *feel* of the past relationship without having to tell the full story. It was slightly confusing at first, and then it drew me in and I was able to roll with that and the unspecified time skips through the series. Reminded me of how it feels when just waking and mentally replaying bits of interesting dreams and trying to remember what connected them. It wasn't linear but it all tied together in an atmospheric way. I'm not sure if I've explained it well, but it worked for me.

My only disappointment with this show is I wish the ending had had more to it. It was sweet but just too short to fully balance out the tension from the whole series and the recent heavy feels. If the show had frustrated me, as it did some viewers, then the ending probably wouldn't have been enough to soothe that and leave me in a good mood.

The reason the professor gives for not passing Night's thesis is realistically ridiculous and requires suspension of disbelief.

MEDIUM General Spoilers below.

If the following resonates with you, you may find this story moving, as I did. If not, you may find Night, and even Dream, annoying (as some reviewers do):

Being unfamiliar with, and confusing different types of love. Never seeming to be able to meet parent and teacher expectations. Not receiving approval or emotional support from family members. Sibling rivalry. Worrying about and being stifled by societal norms. Severe insecurities about self-worth. Being so scared of more failures that it hinders trying for desired things.

Dream's biggest flaw is his main coping mechanism of running away and ghosting.

I may not rewatch often, but I know that I will want to watch again.

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Great Idea, Disappointed With Writers

Absolutely loved the premise but the execution by the writers was problematic in a couple of ways. The actors are good and the series is interesting despite the shortcomings. Overall worth a watch, especially since it's so short. Possible triggers for child molestation (though details are not shown or talked about) and... I don’t know what to call it, read the next paragraph for more.

As the series summary states, one of the main characters has a split personality disorder. Noah is the adult protector identity and Yu Shi is a stuck in childhood identity.
The biggest issue for me that made me uncomfortable from the start was the sex scene with the Yu Shi identity, who is mentally like a child even though the character is physically around 30 years old. And it's implied that Yu Shi was molested by a man when he was 5 years old, which makes sex with that identity even more cringe. (And later in Ep 1, the costuming decision to dress him in a shirt with Sesame Street characters was disturbing). Thankfully, all further intimate scenes were between Noah and Wu Zheng.

This morally questionable dynamic with Yu Shi stayed uncomfortable in my mind and negatively affected my overall rating. I like that Wu Zheng accepts both sides of YuShi/Noah, but he seems to have romantically fallen for Yu Shi first. Falling in love and getting physical with Noah, who is an adult mentally, is completely different than doing so with Yu Shi, in my opinion.

STRENGTHS
I loved the interactions between Noah and Wu Zheng. They were both natural and believable actors. Their chemistry was strong and their intimate scenes were full of desire.

Once I was parteway into Ep 2, I was invested and wanted to see how Noah/YuShi and Wu Zheng's relationship would play out.

All of the music chosen fit the mood and enhanced scenes. It blended well and was never distracting. The cinematography was consistantly good and created a cohesive feel.

FYI watch past the end credits in Ep 4 for another short scene!

WEAKNESSES
It would have been much less confusing and easier to connect with the characters sooner had the story progressed in a linear fashion instead of jumping around. It felt like they started in the middle of the story just to grab viewers with a sex scene, then jumped backwards to fill in more of the emotional connection, then forwards again to finish where they left off.

The secondary relationship was completely and utterly unnecessary. I wish they had spent the measly 5min of their story on the main couple instead. The ending for the main couple in ep 4 felt rushed and all issues and lingering questions just swept under the rug for the fairytale ending.

The therapist seriously violated doctor-patient confidentiality in two different scenes, which irked me (a careless, inaccurate, and insulting portrayal of that profession).

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Weaknesses Kept Pulling Me Out Of Immersion.

Slow yet mentally intriguing. I really wanted to like this but the frusterating and unbelievable aspects kept accumulating and pulling me out of being immersed in the story. Mentally I was really intrigued by the premise and curious about what would happen so I kept watching. At 7 episodes in, however, it was not really engaging my emotions.

Update: I completed the series on 11/19/23 and episodes 8-11 were the best to me. The story was more focused and things did start to get emotional, mainly due to Bright's acting as Yai. There's also a little less stupidity by characters overall. I did love the change in family dynamics with the mother, that was one thing that was written well. The intimate scenes were full of love and emotions and beautifully shot. I appreciated that the eroticism of undressing each other was frequently included.

Ep 12 was rushed, choppy, not explained well, and thus not very satisfying. The set up for a second season was interesting though and I will probably give it a try out of curiosity if it gets made.

The director and screenwriters have worked together before and their weaknesses are consistent throughout their work. This series is their strongest work to date though. Maybe it helped that they had a whole book as source material to work from.

There's a lot of telling vs showing. It's like we get the highlights but the stuff in-between is skipped over so sense of time is really muddled (and not in an intentional way). Characters will say things like 'we've been together a while now' or ''you've been avoiding me for a while' or 'since this time' and we see the most recent example of being avoided but not the multiple times leading up to the current conversation. Because of this, the emotions of the characters feel rather shallow and mercurial because we don't get to experience the building of their emotions in-step with them.

We see Yai's process of falling for Jom over multiple episodes, but not the other way around. Yes, Jom has to go through some things/emotions before he can fall for someone new, but Yai is obviously drawn to Jom like a magnet and that doesn't feel reciprocated.

At the same time, the way the story is directed and shot is super slow. I would have dropped this series if I didn't have the ability to watch at 1.5 to 2 x the speed. And even then I still skipped through some bits. So the script could have fit in more examples of the main characters interacting and growing their connection with each other.

There's also a huge lack of self-preservation instincts in an era that was even less accepting of queer relationships, which is unbelievable enough to pull me out of the fantasy they are spinning. Especially since they are depicting social sentiments in a serious manner and in-line with an older era. So to have a 20 year old young master (Yai), with a very strict and traditional father, and frequently in the spotlight, who is not at all paranoid about showing affection out in the open or in broad daylight (but will jump apart and act nervous when caught), is ridiculous to me.

GENERAL SPOILERS below.

Example, in a later episode Yai's dad confronts him about his relationship with Jom and tells him his man has been watching them. Yai is alarmed and nervous and says "we never do anything explicit in public". Yet, even knowing the above, the very next day he has his arms half around Jom & is holding his hands out in the porch on the river in broad daylight when, gasp, someone "unexpectedly" comes upon them. JUST like someone did before at that exact spot. It's so reckless it's just dumb and obviously contrived by the writers. It makes the characters seem way less believable AND of low IQ to boot! *Facepalm.

Other things that keep pulling me out of the story:
Jom is acted pretty woodenly and he comes across as a simpleton the way he's written, directed, and acted (seriously, the amount of times he's asked a question and takes 10 to 40 seconds to answer while there's not much going on in his face or behind his eyes is frustrating).

Yai is supposed to be 20 but isn't written or acted like he's that young until a much later episode when young naivete and determination bubble up.

Robert is reportedly able to be charming because he's won over Yai's father, but all we and everyone else sees is a very obviously bad man, which makes that important plot point unbelievable. (And it's a missed opportunity to make in interesting two-faced, charismatic but dangerous antagonist.)

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So Poorly Executed And Toxic Relationship

Through ep 5/8. Struggles with writing (dialogue, plot, and characters), acting, music, and heavy-handed makeup. It comes off like it's trying really hard but has ended up campy.

Max and Nat do have good chemistry, but that's not enough for me to think positively of this series.

Possible trigger warning if you've ever been in an emotionally abusive relationship, or with a narcissist, or someone who uses an illness to compell you to stay with them.

The script is juvenile. Dialogue is shallow, cliche, repetative, and awkwardly unnatural. Like, "Don't overthink things. It's probably nothing to worry about... You should take this time to really think about your feelings and things." But you just said to stop thinking? *Facepalm.

The plot is convoluted and requires a ridiculous amount of suspension of disbelief. There's a lot of generic/bad elevator music and it's really obvious in spots.

The main character Yi is a compulsive manipulator. It casts an uncomfortable shadow on all the romantic scenes thus far; it feels more like purely selfish coercion. Because of Yi's long-standing and blatent disregard of Khondiao's mental and emotional well-being, it's difficult for me to enjoy the pressured-seduction heavy plot (which is a trope I often enjoy). More on this under the "general spoilers" section at the bottom of review. I really didn't like the emotionally abusive way Yi treated Khondiao in Cutie Pie and he's just as bad here. Though he's supposedly trying to make up for his horrible past treatment, Yi's current approach still includes lies and misdirection, and is not respectful or even thoughtful of Khondiao. *His actions, both previous and current, do not match his sweet words.*

Nat shows some potential as an actor and I'd really like to see what he can do if given a decent script. I most enjoyed the moments when his character starts showing some backbone and pushing back. There's a fire behind his eyes that makes those moments engaging.

Max's acting hasn't improved from Cutie Pie. He postures a lot and his emotions stay on the surface in almost everything he does. In other words, he's not good at pretending. He doesn't internalize and embody what his character experiences.

I am impressed with NuNew; how he manages to infuse such sincerity into his few, inanely-written lines here is beyond me, lol.

Now onto the emotional (and sexual) manipulation. GENERAL SPOILERS below.
If Yi doesn't remember any of his relationship with Khondiao, then it's so not romantic for Yi to all of a sudden start getting heavily sexual with Khondiao. The audience may know that Yi's miraculously and quickly gotten his memories back, but Khondiao doesn't because Yi is purposefully keeping that from him. From that perspective Yi is just a guy, with no emotional attachment, trying to get into Khondiao's pants. And going after that hard. Yi forces attention on Khondiao, and while Khondiao tries to put up boundaries, he keeps relenting to the seduction and sweet-sounding words because he's trauma-bonded and co-dependant on Yi, thinks he loves him, and is touch-starved. When really, there has been nothing redeeming about their relationship for years (or ever).

The approach written for Yi to take in this series is not putting things to rights in a way that is at all respectful to Khondiao. I can't believe Yi truly loves him. To me there is nothing sweet in that dynamic.

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Started wonderfully clever then weak writing turned it simplistic and unsatisfying.

General spoilers only. Most people will like this, and I'd encourage giving it a try. I, however, was left quite disappointed, so I'm posting this review to give an alternative to popular opinion.

If you've never seen the Japanese live version (series, special episode, and movie), then you might enjoy this more. For me, the only thing the Thai version gave in the second half of the show that wasn't already far better portrayed by the Japanese version, was the physical intimacy.

This started so strongly then became yet another Thai BL let down by weak writing. At first, the screenplay was clever in how it honored the original material while adjusting things here and there to add some new depth to the characters and their interactions. I would give Ep 1-4 a 9.5/10. It was familiar in a comforting way yet fresh and interesting.

Then it slid into simplistic & shallow writing, it rushed plot and pivitol moments, became cheesy & corny, character arcs plateaued, the number of overheard thoughts dwindled away even when people were being touched, and an increasing number of plot points required suspension of disbelief (I'm not talking about anything magic related- that's just a natural part of this story). It started to feel more like a string of fan service moments than an emotionally moving story.

Because work and life challenges became so easy to get through, it felt like Achi and Karan didn't really get to grow as a couple. There wasn't a meaningful learning curve for them in navigating life as a team. (Especially when compared to the Japanese version.) Their words to each other are very sweet, but the further in the story goes, the more their love is told to the audience more than it's shown by examples (which wasn't the case in the beginning, which is why those episodes are stronger).

Tay and New kept me watching. Especially Tay; he's just a perfect match for the character of Karan. His energy and earnestness were endlessly endearing.

The theme song is great; it's so catchy I watched through the intro credits every week just to hum along.

I will rewatch Ep 1-4 at some point because I thoroughly enjoyed them, but I'll never sit through the rest of it again. I'd rather just watch the Japanese version.

GENERAL SPOILERS below.
My thoughts on episodes as I watched the weekly releases:

Ep 1-4: A great adaptation so far. It's clever in the way it added depth to the characters and in the differences from the Japanese live version. I'm excitedly looking forward to it every week. The casting is great, Tay in particular. I absolutely love Karan's zaney internal dialogue and Tay's vocal acting with it.

Ep 5-7: Good but not as great; it's feeling less clever but I'm still invested.

I wish I had skipped Ep 8 (or just watched the last 5 min)! It's is soooo awful. The plot of this episode is so contrived, idiotic, frusterating, ridiculous, and requires a stupidly high suspension of disbelief. The boss's reasoning and interference is shallow and cliche, and the fact that he let things get that far with the awful power-play client before intervening makes him a terrible boss and unlikable human being. And Achi stayed quiet too, which was frustrating.

Ep 9 was better than 8 but it felt like it rushed the really pivitol moments. There was a lot of sweetness but also a lot of cheesy-ness. This script is just not as good with slice-of-life writing as Japanese ones often are. It feels like the quality of the script has been unraveling for the past few episodes. I doubt I'll keep re-watching it like I do with the Japanese version. I felt the first few Eps were a 9.5/10 but I am now reducing my overall rating to a temporary 8/10, I'll see if that holds.

Ep 10 was better in pacing and content. The script did a better job building up to and proceeding from the pivitol moment of Achi reaching out to touch because he doesn't believe Karan's as okay as he says he is. I'm still feeling let down with the script; there are moments that are supposed to be hearfelt but miss the mark because they are a little too cheesy to me. Also, the plot stretches credulity to force certain things to happen and it makes things feel clunky and less believable, pulling me out of immersion and reducing my ability to stay emotionally invested. Tay and New are doing great with what they are given and are the reason why I'm still watching consistently (I'm also fond of the girl Pai). I'll probably be lowering my rating but I'll wait to see how the last two episodes pan out.

I do like how Karan and Achi talk things out every episode and never let misunderstandings simmer for long before resolving them. On the other hand, the fact that they do this consistantly (every episode after they start dating) and reletively easily, undermines the validity of how uneasy Achi feels about them being in different cities for 1-2 months. Half a year I would understand, but 1 month? When you have been able to communicate with each other well every time there's an uncertainty? They haven't even used the mind reading much. Achi's voice over thoughts have been much less systemically insecure and yet the script is having him act like that's still a big issue.

Ep 11: Only the last 2 scenes (42min in, aka the last 9min) with Karan and Achi exploring intimacy were really enjoyable. The rest of it was too cheesy, shallow, and rushed. The challenges and uncertainties of life (work and relationships) that were brought up were laughably easy and simple to navigate. The screenplay dumbs everything down to the point that it's not interesting and barely enjoyable. I had to speed watch most of this episode to get through the cringness.

Ep 12: So simplistic and cheesy it made me keep cringing and itching to skip forward. Again, potential life challenges were built up but then easy to get through once the time came (all of the family stuff felt so hollow). I was left feeling disappointed.

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Okay but lacks follow-through on some aftermaths.

Okay for 1 watch but lacks details in general and follow-through on some aftermaths. The idea of the story is better than it's written/directed execution. 6 episodes.

The two spoilers that I discuss below and the complete lack of follow-up on them REALLY sours my feelings about this series. The flow of the story and editing were consistently choppy, but it raises some good issues and the acting is good (Kiko especially was very natural).

I don’t know if I would recommend this. It's a more realistic, adult story, which I appreciate. However, while it raises some good issues to think/talk about, it also doesn't properly address some of the things it brings up. It just doesn't quite feel finished or complete.

Other reviewers list the positives of the series well, so I won't reiterate. Because the story sensitively handles some other complex issues, it is especially disappointing that the two assaults get swept under the rug.

Spoilers on Trigger Warnings below.

Ep 1 & 2 uncut makes a little difference because there's more of Kiko and Mark's initial interactions during massages that show their growing attraction to each other. But the uncut versions of Ep 4-6 don't add much, except for a few more lines about getting tested and more shots of the rape scene in Ep 6.

Some of Kiko's distress about it is shown when he has flashbacks in Ep 6 but the rape issue is never addressed beyond that. It's not talked about, the perpetrator has no reprocussions (apart from feeling guilty), and Mark never comforts him despite Kiko's line that 'what happened was nothing I wanted' (approximate line, I don't remember the exact wording).

Instead, Mark aggressively goes after Kiko with a hand on his throat in a jealous rage. His scary physical abuse is also not addressed beyond Mark saying sorry for that day in general.

That scene also played up the imbalance in their relationship in an unsettling way; Mark holds all the power in and outside of work and is physically much stronger. At that time, the surest way for Kiko to have a good job and better way of life is to forgive Mark, at least to the extent where Kiko can continue working for him. Even if Kiko wants to forgive because of love, the fact that he doesn't have many options really casts a shadow over that decision.

A decent low-budget production. Apart from the editing, the only technical thing that was distracting was the lighting/coloring. Sometimes one angle would have a blue hue while another angle looked orange (of the same scene). Or the tint/filter on a shot would flicker.

Spoiler On The Ending:

The ending is abrupt; right after a pivitol decision is made by a character, all of a sudden the story jumps years ahead. The characters are in a good place and happy, but it didn't really feel satisfying because it didn't quite feel earned, if that makes sense. It feels like a fairytale ending slapped onto what was a more realistically-approached story. Kiko deserves it certainly, it's just that we aren't shown any of the couple working together to get to that point.

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Comedic Melodrama Odd Mix, Worth 1 Watch For Leads.

General Spoilers only. The interactions of the two lead actors make this worth one watch. They are endearing even when their characters are written frustratingly. Without them I would not have enjoyed this series much. It starts as a romantic comedy, then spins into a melodrama, then whip-lashes back.
Story: Ep 1-7 are 7.5/10 but Ep 8-10 are 5/10. Acting 9, Chemistry 10. Nothing great or distracting about cinematography or music.

The story itself is trope heavy but mostly cute, though the character Shang Zhou is rather pushy (the cliche excuse is that he's never learned how to communicate feelings). There's a lot of tension with physical (and mental) attraction between the leads.

The storytelling starts to fall apart in episode 8. Up until then it's very obviously a comedy with an over-the-top feel. It's not my favorite type of humor, but Hsiao Hung as Shun Yu has very dynamic facial expressions with a good sense of comedic timing and did make me laugh.

In Ep 8-9 the melodrama starts to build and gets really heavy. It does pull at heartstrings thanks to the acting, but it’s also annoyingly unnecessary. The angst requires a lot of plot contrivances in addition to miscommunication. The dialogue doesn't sound natural or realistic because the plot obviously needs certain things to remain un-said.

In Ep 10 it's like a switch is flipped and all of a sudden we're back to romantic comedy without a care in the world for realistic technicalities. The bits with Shang Zhou's mother were weirdly contrived/written and completely awkward. The only thing I liked was that we got a good amount of screen time with the leads being happy together, though I had to just throw up my hands to roll with it.

I would easily watch the lead actors if they were in another show together, but I probably won't re-watch this one.

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