Watch Once For Ja, First, & Bosston.

Once again, the enjoyment of watching Ja & First act, especially with each other, is the main reason to watch their show. A 9/10 for their acting. The script for their two characters (but not the rest!!!) is more naturalistic than Don't Say No, but there are weaknesses in the plot/writing that they, again, do an admirable job of compensating for through their acting.

It was fun, impressive, and satisfying to see Ja (Punn) & First (Ashi) play such different characters than they have before. And their nc-17 scenes have gotten even steamier while still retaining an incredible amount of sweetness. A special blend! And those two do both sweetness/happiness and angst/sadness so well. Even when the writers forcibly contrive/prolong angst for the characters, Ja's and First's acting tugs hard at my heartstrings. Really hard. But because it gets resolved, it hurts just right ;)

Bosston as the secondary character Mueang was awesome too! Totally fell in love with the way he portrayed his character. Otherwise, the writers really did his character a disservice. His "love story" got almost no dialogue; it was mostly an excuse for nc-17 scenes. It felt so weird. Everytime the scene jumped to a "love" scene between Mueang & his Doctor, it felt like a separate movie had been randomly spliced in for a minute before jumping back to the main story. The actor who plays the doctor is greatly lacking in his ability to express emotions, let alone nuances, so he couldn't pull off making his character likeable, especially with the small amount of screen time and dialogue given to his character.

All the other secondary and tertiary characters (except Pun's mother), were written really poorly; over-the-top and/or shallow and/or annoying. I found myself rolling my eyes and fast-forwarding A LOT.

So if you like the actors Ja, First, and Bosston it may be worth one watch and just fast-forward through other scenes that you find dragging :)

Read More

Short & simple but better than nothing while in withdrawal.

Extra 1 is 2min 18sec and Extra 2 is 7min 59sec.
Honestly, there are fan made music videos on YouTube that are more fulfilling, but if you loved the series it's easy to watch these 10 minutes. It doesn't add much, but the show was a 10/10 for me so I'm giving this an 8/10.

Extra 1 is a voice over by QingCang giving a very generalized recap of the 300 years he and Orchid have been together so far. The lines are new but all of the scenes shown are clips taken from the original series. It's simplistic but still sweet.

Extra 2 is like two music videos. A montage of clips and dialogue from the series play during the first song.
During the second song, that continues and then it shows two things that weren't in Ep 36 (though they didn't have that much of an impact for me):

1) Shows Orchid writing something and sending it into the sky while a few lines of Chinese script play onscreen. Unfortunately, iQIYI didn't add translations for the text so I have no idea what it said. Does anyone else know?

2) Shows the bone moon re-materialize into QingCang, which wasn't shown in Ep36, but his line "I'm back" is left out, and he kisses her on the forehead instead of the lips (which is a visually pretty end tableau but not as satisfying as the original end).

Read More

Constant Insults Equals Love, Apparently.

General spoilers only. Not sweet to me. The ML calls the FL an idiot, stupid, useless, hopeless, incompetent, a hag, etc throughout the ENTIRE show. He insults, demeans, and belittles. He shouts at her and berates her when she asks for help. He has a very small character arc at the end that was not enough to redeem him in my eyes.

The SML, however, was sweet, sincere in his interest, earnest in his love, encouraging, supportive, and accepting. The FL even says he made the world seem like it could be a nicer place!

It was so frustrating that the FL instead fell for the emotional abuse with crumbs of care (and cooked meals) that the ML dished out. It seems love is through the stomach after all (sarcasm). A lot of the FL's insecurities even stemmed from how the ML treated her at their previous job when she was a subordinate that he was nasty to. His excuse for treating her like sh*t is that he was unhappy forcing himself to work at a job he didn't like but was good at. Poor him (sarcasm). I don’t think that justifies the extent to which he behaved badly.

At least the FL grows a bit of a backbone and starts bickering back to the ML. I didn't feel romantic chemistry from that however.

I kept waiting for a turning point in the ML's behavior and an increase in romance, but the change was miniscule. The few kisses were dead-fish-kisses and one of them was 100% non-consentual (FL kissed ML while he was sleeping, which I find creepy).

This felt unsatisfying and a waste of time; I wish I had dropped it partway through instead of hoping for improvements in character growth that never came. The actors did a good job with what they were given, I just really disliked how the screenplay was written.

Read More

In-lust to in-crush to in-love. Physically affectionate & healthy relationship with steady feelings.

The Ep 1 rooftop situation is odd, but equivalent to kissing a stranger at a club. I think it's the unfamiliar context that throws people off of what is a fairly common event used in many romance stories. After Ep 1, it's actually a very sweet, trusting, healthy relationship with a TON of chemistry.

I also think some suspension of disbelief is required to enjoy this story! But again, that's true with many rom-coms. This is a light, sweet, and steamy (but non-explicit) romance without much angst.

The age gap didn't feel fetishized because the lead characters felt so compatible (physically and emotionally). The way they get together IS super fast, but also believable as instant attraction. The physical attraction is what gets them started, but as they continue, they learn more about each other and go from in-lust and in-crush to in-love. Both characters try to take care of each other in actions as well as with words and make efforts to communicate. What's great to see is that both characters gradually grow through their relationship. As they feel more secure with each other, the FL grows more confident and relaxed, and the ML grows brighter and relaxed (less reserved).

The FL is 22 and very naive. VERY. But I don't think she's dumb, I just think there's a part of her social radar that is oblivious because life hasn't dealt her enough lessons yet for that part to improve. It's like a translation issue: she *does* notice shifts in people's moods (she's especially aware of the ML), but she can't accurately tell what those shifts indicate. She likes to be helpful and to see people be happy, and treats everyone with the same genuine enthusiasm. She can't see how she might be sending mixed signals to some people because the concept is so far removed from her intentions that it can't even register. The ML understands this, and though he naturally gets a little jealous, he is more worried about her being taken advantage of than he is about her feelings wavering from him (which was also refreshing to see).

I enjoyed the clever ways the script had the FL's naivete turn expected clichéd situations on their ear; some of them were pretty funny. In addition to that, there were multiple times I thought "here we go" when there was prime opportunity for a cliche to start, but the screenplay would do something different. Not in a groundbreaking way, but still different enough that I would be pleasantly surprised.

I also greatly appreciated that though the FL character was completely inexperienced with intimacy, that she had a desire for it and actively participated. The portrayal was, I thought, completely believable for a 22 year old virgin, and easy to understand why she would be physical with a stranger so quickly if she felt an instant attraction. Though she's eager she also has moments of shyness and I love how the ML is conscious of how she feels/reacts and never forces her past what she's ready for.

The ML is 38 and *not* standoff-ish to the FL after the first episode. His growing affection is steady, patient, and occasionally lightly teasing in a playful way. He tries to alert the FL to social dangers and though he steps in to disrupt some situations, he does not try to dictate her life. Ep 3 has a couple scenes where their dynamic is written a little uncomfortably/imbalanced, but thankfully that didn't continue. The ML didn't feel condescending or like a father figure (which would have been a turn offs for me).

Both the desire and feelings the leads have for each other remain consistant throughout the show. There is a ton of skinship and making out, and even a couple kisses with a little tongue. There's nothing explicit though. The passion, affection, and sweetness feels natural, comfortable, and realistic. It's more satisfying than most JDramas (or KDramas) in that regard.

The secondary characters were mostly fun too. Nothing memorable about the music.

I watched on Viki and they had the 2 special episodes included with the main series. There's Ep 5 then an "Ep 5 Special" and Ep 10 then an "Ep 10 Special". The specials are basically recaps but done as the couple reminiscing together about their relationship thus far. It was fairly realistic, as that is something that couples do, but I wish it had given a few more insights into their thought processes than it did. The specials gives a little extra information, but they are not that necessary. The recap after Ep 5 was too repetitive when binge-watching. For me, I would have preferred to watch both specials at the end as a way to extend the good feelings from the show before leaving it to figure out what to watch next.

The story and characters may not be the most unique, but it was an easy, enjoyable, and satisfying watch for me, and I expect I'll re-watch again.

I also really like dramadesciples review:
https://mydramalist.com/profile/dramadisciple/review/152525
They have similar thoughts but say different things and summarize the lead characters and their dynamic well.

Read More

Strong acting by all

The acting by all was 10/10 but the writing wasn't as good as Semantic Error. There was only one awkward thing to me. That was how intense the romantic feelings were from one of the Jun's from the very start. Given the fact that they've had no interactions for about a decade, it seems a bit odd. Being best friends at, like, 6-8 years old it would make sense to miss each other's company, but not to pine romantically. Just felt there were a couple of emotional steps missing for that one character just for the sake of the plot, but with only eight 30min episodes it's forgivable.

Read More

Very Satisfying Gender Bender Romance Balances Sillyness Of Screenplay

The bromance to romance between the lead couple gave me basically everything I want and hope for in a gender-bender relationship. It was so very satisfying in that regard that I'm rating this higher than I technically would otherwise. I've listed the main points of why I found the romance so satisfying under the "general spoilers" section further down in this review. Overall there's mutual respect and trust, giving support and working together as equals, great chemistry, romantic and sexual tension, a ton of skinship, some passionate kisses, flirting, and sweet words delivered in a heart-felt way. The set-up of the friendship is super fast and unrealistic, but then the progression of their relationship flows well and Yanuo is in male form for most of it.

There were things with the screenplay and direction that would usually annoy the heck out of me yet the production somehow kept things fun. The main romance is the focus throughout and the connection between the lead characters was believable and touching enough to balance out the other shenanigans in the show.

There was melodrama and many unrealistic and silly situations that the show leaned into (didn't take itself too seriously) so the cheesy, ridiculous, and low-budget-feeling moments had me laughing out loud along with it instead of feeling outright disdain. It did require a lot of suspension of disbelief, but the show's approach was consistent so I found myself mostly able to roll with it. Things in plot, settings, and characters come and go purely based on what's needed at the time. For example, except for one scene at the beginning the leads never practice their martial arts, yet when they need to fight they are always in top form. And the head of the triad doesn't seem to have much power or any access to bodyguards or underlings for protection. Those kinds of things.

The side couples were not interesting to me so I fast-forwarded all those parts. However, I did like the ML's Mother's story, she was a loveable character.

Ep 19 is a special episode. It recaps the lead's long romantic story, has an exaggerated yet still hot rough and playful heavy make-out scene, and some behind the scenes footage.

Why I found the bromance to romance so satisfying:

General Spoilers Below.

- The actress playing Yanuo actually has, not just the face, but the body and physicality to believably have been raised as a male who practices martial arts. She is tall, has broad shoulders, some stockiness to her arms, and large strong hands. She looks more like a grown man (with slightly softer features) than the 'cute boy' look that many other gender benders rely on.

- There's lots of time (many episodes) with the ML falling for Yanuo as a person who happens to be in male form, and many moments of both romantic and sexual tension.

- Zi Feng experiences and works through the confusion of his growing feelings and attraction, reaches acceptance, and makes the decision to act on his love *before he learns Yanuo's secret. There's no disgust or gay panic.

- When the Zi Feng overhears Yanuo's secret, he respects it, trusts there's a reason for it, and waits for Yanou to tell him.

- Once Zi Feng knows the secret, his approach towards wooing Yanou becomes more direct. There's a lot of time with them becoming romantic and quite a few passionate kissing scenes while Yanuo is still in male form (not knowing that Zi Feng has learned the truth).

- Zi Feng's family can tell his bond with Yanuo starts looking more like lovers than bros and ultimately show signs of acceptance through their actions *before the last episode.


While I was watching, I wanted to know the exact point that Zi Feng learned Yanuo's secret so I looked it up. If you're like me and want to know, the basic info is below; episode numbers are given but no other details.

... ... ...

SPECIFIC SPOILER BELOW.

In Ep 18 the audience and FL learn when the ML found out she was female (he overhears it in the eleventh episode).

Read More

Starts great, quickly slips into poorly written melodrama filled with air.

Watched 9/12 Eps. Overall: I wanted more quietly sassy and flirtatious Nail like in Ep 1 & 2. I was immediately intrigued by, and empathetic for, him. I also liked that he communicated boundaries but was straightforward and kind about it while being firm. It was a fresh take on a character, especially a Thai BL one, and I loved it. Sadly, the former fades away and the later starts weakening half-way through.

Ep 1 & 2: Interesting! The characters and plot mystery is intriguing and the sex/intimacy satisfying. The long bathtub scene in Ep 2 is sensual and hot and done extremely well. The action, cinematography, music, and editing all work together to build a sensual crescendo. Some of the music so far is great too. These two Eps are the highlight out of the 9 that I watched.

Ep 3 & 4: Nothing memorable, but I was still hooked on the slowly-revealing mystery and looking forward to the next weekly episode.

Ep 5 & 6: Much weaker. Ep 6 especially felt more like set up for the next episode (instead of continuing the story). A lot of back-tracking to fill in a lot of history gaps at once; the previous episodes did a better job of balancing the present with insights into the past while keeping the overall story moving forward. Stopped looking forward to the next weekly episode.

Ep 7 Things keep going downhill. The entire episode is Him working to get Nail to listen to him explain and when the scene comes nothing is said! In fact, not much is said the entire episode, it's a bunch of air and some spoken statements. It's like the writer is allergic to conversations that actually go back and forth between people. There are so many latent pauses that the director/editor kept in to fill out the time. There are stereotypical "bad guys" scheming, but doing it poorly (Tec is so clueless in his approach that he's not really a threat; he keeps blatently rubbing Nail the wrong way). The "comedic" silly sound effects were copious and inane, when nothing is funny and the overall mood should be serious to sustain tension. My interest and hope in this series is sinking fast.

Ep 8 & 9: I debated dropping, but decided to give it one more chance and watched 8 & 9 back-to-back. And I *am* dropping now. At least I finally learned what happened to Blue in Ep 8. The story starts making leaps in character relationships and the progression of scenes without showing how things got there. I was so confused about Him, Nail, and Tec's first scene in Ep 8 after the way Ep 7 ended. How they got there makes no sense whatsoever. I thought I had missed an episode or something, but nope. The secondary couple is annoying, especially Chao. Tec and the cousin are 2-dimensional, delusional, low IQ, and irritating. The intimate scene between Him and Nail feels oddly forced/over-exaggerated this time, and it lacked the 'crescendo' built with actions, cinematography, and music that Ep 1 & 2 did so well with.

Tor as Nail/Blue is the most charismatic and nuanced actor of the cast. Not awesome, but above average, especially for a rookie. Everyone else is mediocre. Dew as Him shows some potential, but he is not a rookie, and his lack of range becomes more and more obvious as the story gets more dramatic and emotional for his character.

I might rewatch Ep 1 & 2 for fun sometime, but I certainly won't bother with the rest of it again.

Read More

Nothing Redeeming.

Had a soap opera feel. Multiple dishonest characters repeatedly making stupid decisions and a melodramatic plot that is also boring. Nine is a very pushy, lying, toxic ball of red flags. The first episode was actually decent and interesting and then the things characters did after that quickly made me not care about any of them.

I watched some snippets of later episodes on YouTube to determine if I wanted to keep watching after Ep 4 and I saw nothing redeeming. The dialogue is ridiculously contrived. People stay dead silent for long stretches instead of pleading their case or even verbally reacting to what another character says. It's SO unrealistic, awkward, frusterating, and inane.

The intimate scenes are okay but feel rather flat- I've definitely seen better elsewhere. They are certainly not special enough to put up with watching the whole show.

The actors are at a 7-7.5 out of 10. I want to give them the benefit of the doubt because they were given such a crappy screenplay to work with. It'd be hard for anyone to make those characters and that insipid dialogue empathetic or realistic. No one was really charismatic but they weren't bad either.

Though it's a complete waste of time it didn't leave any mental scars, so I gave it a 1.5/10.

Read More

Lifeless Script, Acting, and "Intimacy".

After watching 2 episodes: I want more than just pretty faces! Melodrama with extremely poor writing, cliched and unlikable side characters (male, female, and trans), and weak/flat acting (and a lot of people using headshakes as fillers because they are inexperienced and because the script is so weak and unnatural).

I watched the uncut version on GagaOOlala.

It is *not at all* believable that these two characters (Foam & Chris) have been in an intimate, loving relationship for awhile. Their NC17 interactions are more what I would expect in a one-time Tinder/Grinder hook-up with two people who aren't very attracted to each other but couldn't find anyone else.

Ep 1: It's unfortunate that the first NC17 scene happens before we're able to bond with the main character (let alone the 2nd lead who's dead for basically all of Ep 1) so emotionally it feels pretty empty.

Ep 2: Fewer irritating characters but nothing else improved. The writing is so awkward, unnatural, and insipid. All of the actors are obviously rookies and can't compensate for the terrible script. The NC17 scene is just as lukewarm as the one in Ep 1.

Overall:
Camp shows some varied facial expressions and at least pretends like his character is having some enjoyment in the NC17 scenes. Jimmy however, remains very flat in expression and tone of voice no matter what situation his character is in (his response to highly emotional events or tragedy is not believable at all). Since the story so far is from his point of view, it's incredibly boring. And he doesn't look quite comfortable in the NC17 scenes; he doesn't look engaged or like his character has any interest, let alone much pleasure, in what is happening. Almost like his character is half asleep or bored.

Uncut on GagaOOlala vs cut on YouTube: in Ep 1 the NC17 scene (at 32min in) timed from first kiss to the watch glowing is 4min 20sec on GagaOOlala and 1min 30sec on YouTube.

While it's very poorly crafted and I have no interest in continuing, it didn't traumatize me in 2 episodes, so it gets a 2/10.

Read More

Ridiculously Exaggerated, Even For A Fantasy.

It's written, acted, and directed like a middle schooler's idea of porn. I barely made it through 1.5 episodes (rolling my eyes almost the entire time) before dropping.

The cinematography is gorgeous but everything else is aggressively awful. The "physical intimacy" is more like an attack by a boy who has never had sex before and doesn't know what he's doing. It wasn't seductive or enticing at all. It further erroded the "I'm a cool, competent, and manly mafia leader" facade they were going for. The male lead is trying so, so hard to look and sound cool that it has the opposite effect and had me laughing. Even for a short format fantasy, the falling in love part is so fast that there's no romance to it. Almost every line is cloyingly cliché.

It was cheesy and horrible but didn't leave any mental scars so it gets a 2.

Read More