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).

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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.

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Thought-provoking exploration of relationship dynamics. Lots of fuzzy feelings.

A wonderfully intriguing exploration of relationship dynamics. Sweet, cute, thought-provoking, and romantic with lots of fuzzy feelings.

The amount of comfortable and very close skinship, cuddling and snuggling, hugging, and petting is maybe the highest of any show I've seen. And it is so cozy, comforting, heart-warming, and satisfying.

I loved how the dynamic between Sumire and Momo managed to be mostly balanced despite growing into codependency. They are both capable people yet they feel better when taking care of someone other than themselves and they feel more grounded when they are needed by somebody else. She needed him just as much as he wanted to be needed by her. Sumire is extremely bad at self-regulating her emotions and Takeshi is really good at helping her with that even though he's 10 years younger. The balance in their emotional maturity made their age gap a total non-issue.

Their master/pet relationship didn't come across as a power-play dynamic to me. There were moments where an imbalance of power would bubble up during arguments (with Sumire being the home owner) but that can happen with any couple.

This was so close to being a 9 out of 10, but the screenplay choices in the last couple episodes let me down in terms of character development and resolution. The ending was still moderately satisfying, the plot just gave into clichés at the end, which was disappointing and a waste of potential (further explained under the "specific spoilers" section at the bottom of my review).

The actors were great, especially Shishon Jun as Momo. He was also completely believable as a professional-level dancer.

FYI: Extra footage!
During the end credits of each episode there is a background video that is repeated and then a smaller box with scenes that change. At first, the small box shows repeated clips from that episode, but when the background video goes from the dog under to bedsheets to the drawer of shirts, the small box starts showing things unseen before! There's no audio, but it shows little snippets of scenes that could have happened to the characters in that episode that are otherwise unshown to the audience. There are some really cute and/or steamy-ish moments between Momo and Sumire that are fun to see as a little bonus.

SPECIFIC SPOILERS BELOW

My critique of the things that disappointed me in the last few episodes. (I had no other notable issues with the otherwise wonderful series.)

... ... ...

HASUMI & FUKUSHIMA:

I felt like saying Hasumi was "weak to seduction", like it was a character trait, was a bit of a cop-out. I think he was weak to being needed, just like every other main character was! And when Hasumi misses Fukushima and realizes how much he wants to be with her, I wish the screenplay had highlighted more than it did. There was repetition around her sexiness and big chest, her good cooking, and being weak, but I think there were more differences between her and Sumire that drew Hasumi in. Not only did Fukushima show vulnerability (often times faked or exaggerated as a seduction ploy), she showed Hasumi a wider range of emotions period! She showed excitement, happiness, eagerness, and desire to be with him. Hasumi could feel secure in her affection and be himself, instead of constantly and nervously trying to navigate the potential minefield of inscrutability that was Sumire. Fukushima allowed Hasumi to feel relaxed in a similar parallel to Momo and Sumire.

SUMIRE & MOMO / TAKESHI:

- I wish Sumire had at least made a decision to hold off on marriage to Hasumi and moving to Seoul, if not breaking up altogether, BEFORE she found out about him and Fukushima.

- The whole point of Takeshi not contacting Sumire first after he leaves is because, as he previously told Fukushima, Sumire doesn't go after what she wants. She may be greatly effected by losing someone yet she won't ever go after them, which is part of why he has never truly left before. So what was really needed was for Sumire to go after Takeshi. Maybe not right way, but to show her calling him first, to visit him first, to finally show her feelings in actions and words while supporting and encouraging him from afar while he pursued his career goals. NOT just WAITING 3 years in stoic silence for him. And while eventually it shows that Sumire has received letters from Takeshi, there's no indication that's she's reciprocated in any way.

- And then after 3 years she actually goes to a performance of his in Japan but leaves flowers without trying to see him! WTF? So in the end Takeshi is the one who, yet again, has to come to her. Sure, she accepts him romantically this time, but her lack in character growth negatively impacted her worthiness of him, in my opinion. So the resolution was far less impactful, meaningful, and satisfying than it easily could have been otherwise. It felt like the writers wanted a specific final scene of them meeting in the rain and sacrificed character integrity while resorting to clichés to make it happen.

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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).

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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.

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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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Memorable. Ep 1-4 are very thoughtful & Ep 5-8 are more melodramatic.

General spoilers only. "You can't help if you fall for a boy or a girl, or someone else." About multiple characters who feel different from "normal" in various ways. Characters experience a lot of yearning and pining (a lot of it is romantic in nature though characters also yearn to fit in or to find their place in life too), internal struggles and insecurity, and waivering back & forth.

The two main characters are blood-related siblings, so this is best watched with a non-judgmental approach, otherwise you might want to skip this one. There is also an openly gay secondary character and a tertiary character who loves their step-sibling (not related by blood).

There are great messages explored throughout the screenplay about questioning societal norms, mores, and expectations (especially when it doesn't hurt others- the people who feel like outliers are the ones that are hurt by trying to conform to other's opinions), deciding what's right for one's self, not being passive in one's own life, and more in that vein.

Nothing is handled lightly, by the story as a whole or by the individual characters. Various concerns about each character's feelings and their situations are explored. There are voice-over thoughts from multiple characters.

This is NOT a spicy story. There is some skinship but not a lot, two light lip presses, and one brief scene near the end that only implies the two lead characters slept together.

Technically I would rate this a 7.5/10 overall, but there were a few things I loved about it, and it engaged my thoughts and emotions enough to be quite memorable so I'm giving it an 8/10.

The first half is well crafted and thoughtful. I would give Ep 1-4 a 9/10. The second half gets more melodramatic in ways that I found excessive at times and I would rate Ep 5-8 a 6/10; the plot starts feeling less realistic and increasingly stretches credulity. A couple of actions or reactions didn't feel quite in line with a character's previous build. Overall I still found it pretty satisfying though; it helped that the show starts at the end before going back in time so I already had an idea of how things were going to work out. That allowed me to mostly shrug off the frusterations in storytelling and character actions as I watched things unfold in the second half.

All of the actors (except the mother) were very well suited for their rolls. Suzuki Jin, Yamashita Mizuki, and Ito Asahi were especially enjoyable to watch and almost immediately got me invested in their characters. The mother, on the other hand, is extra in a way that is not written or acted particularly well. Which makes her even more annoying. Luckily she's not around much.

General Spoilers below.

The number of times people dramatically drop to the ground (in faints or illness) is ridiculous. I could handle one, but after that it breaks credulity.

I loved one of the internal thoughts of a character with unrequited love. The character being daunted by the difficulty and hopeless pain of it was so relatable; "You want to be best friends forever? Then I can't tell you forever."

FYI SIDE NOTE ON SUBTITLES:
I could only find this streaming in the USA on KissAsian (as a last resort) in February 2024. Ep 4-8 all had lagging subtitle issues. It would be fine for about the first 15min of every episode and then the rest would lag behind by multiple sentences.
So I recommend checking if this is going to happen in whatever platform you find it on before starting to avoid frusteration.

Edit: I ended up downloading the video and subtitle files on my computer in order to re-watch it properly.

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An okay watch for a Suzuki Jin or Noona-romance fan.

Suzuki Jin is what got me through this. He is a good actor and charasmatic enough to keep me watching and to make me want a good ending for his character even if the screenplay is written simplistically.

While the screenplay does bring up various concerns one might have with an age gap romance, and social and familial navigation, it doesn't explore them well or deeply. It's not very insightful or thoughtful. A couple things come up repeatedly though they feel only partially discussed (like they're being used as a writing crutch), while others are resolved with unrealistic ease. There's way too much going on with the plot and side people so there's no time to explore things with more meaning. Character psychology and development stays simplistic as a result.

The set up is insanely fast. There wasn't adequate time for me to get invested in the characters before they started doing things that strained their likability. The first Ep of 20 min has Mayuki confess to Shino and them starting a relationship of sorts and growing some feelings, then it's all angsty struggles from then on. Shino's character was bland and I couldn't get invested in her.

There is a good amount of sweetness, skinship, and hugs, and a couple of kisses. The hottest scene is in the first episode (shows a bit of the lead up to the two main characters sleeping together).

Some suspension of disbelief is required for various things throughout the story.
General Spoiler below.
(Ex: who would start living with the person they are in love with and *immediately* leave their home in that state of disarray every day? Especially when it's a usually thoughtful character who is still trying to secure the other person's affection! That really came across as a forced plot point because the writer needed it to happen early on to prompt the "kid" arguments.)

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Ep 1-5 are the strongest. Light & easy watch with great chemistry.

Ep 1-5 (and 9-10) were better than comments lead me to expect. The story is simple and not that memorable, but if you want an easy watch with sensual, realistic making-out, some sweetness, and decent acting, then you might enjoy this. Or at least parts of it.

Viewing recommendation: If you like jumping back to see the ML's point of view, watch Ep 9-10 after Ep 3; it integrates well with the story at that time. Then Eps 4-5 would have been a satisfying ending to me, so you could stop there. If you want to see the leads navigating their life choices at the end of college watch Ep 7-8. Skip Ep 6 altogether (I explain why in general terms below). Eps 6, 7, & 8 aren't very well written and aren't needed to have a satisfying conclusion.

The intimacy between the leads is both hot and sweet. The kisses contain emotions and are realistic. And there are a lot of them (in Ep 1-5, not so much after that). Very satisfying in that regard.

GENERAL SPOILERS below.

Notes for Ep 1-5:
The ML lead's revenge thing is short lived once he and the FL talk through their mutual misunderstandings from 4 years ago. They are uncertain of their footing but really sweet and do communicate (even if there are lags in communication it's not super drawn out or unresolved ).

I liked how the ML and FL never wavered in their affection, and really appreciated how the ML *didn't* get upset at the FL when he learned that the SML had forced a kiss on her. I was expecting all the usual unreasonable jealousy clichés, but the ML handled that whole scene/situation really well.

Kazuha (SML) and and Nina are horrible "friends" to Kaeda. Their one-sided feelings, for the FL and ML respectively, are obviously not reciprocated yet they do morally grey things because they can't accept that. They are the most annoying and trope-filled thing about this show.

Skip Ep 6 because almost the whole thing revolves around Nina being nasty in ridiculous ways. At the end she's given excuses and understanding and not only forgiven, but praised. I get the point they were trying to make, but she didn't deserve such consideration, and the writing was really ham-handed with it. It detracted from the story instead of adding value.

Ep 7-8 are full of telling vs showing and thus feel rushed, a bit empty, and not that satisfying (in my opinion). The writing is clunky and the time skips don't help.

I can see re-watching parts of Ep 1-5 (& 9-10) at some point, but I won't re-watch the rest.

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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.

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Fun, sexy, & with likeable characters.

Ten 25-30min episodes. Some of my thoughts below. I also recommend reading the review by Virgievirgie, which sums things up well: https://mydramalist.com/profile/voicelesslove/review/330409

I will add:
I thoroughly enjoyed this. There are some moments where the manga-style humor and situations made me feel secondhand embarrassment, but it was still funny.

All of the character's are likeable and well acted. The male lead really grew on me. The female lead was written differently than many Jrom-coms and I loved it!; she's a little goofy because she's so zealous about her work but she's not ditzy or annoying, she's a bit naive but not dumb, she's not great at reading social cues but she can be empathetic, and while she has moments of shyness, she is also an engaged participant in physical intimacy and even instigates some things herself.

There is a lot of very well done, hot eroticism in the first 2/3rds, and then that fades a bit as things become more emotional in the last 1/3rd.

I expect that I will rewatch this.

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Main couple is fun in 1st half, but best romance is the second couple's in 2nd half.

Good for one watch. Fun premise and some interesting characters.

Very slow start but otherwise Ep 4-20 were great, Ep 21-29 were okay, and Ep 30-40 were mediocre. Despite the weaknesses, there was an addictive quality and always something that kept me binge-watching to the end, though I did fast-forward more and more in Ep 30-40.

Fun premise. A few unlikable characters that do have character and moral growth. Melodramatic in a mostly fun way. Had more of a soap opera feel in Ep 30-40.

The chemistry between the leads wasn't great. A lot of that had to do with the way Ling Cen was written and Eugenie Liu's portrayal. She was bland and flat. It was okay for the first half but in the second half, her character became irritating because there wasn't enough emotional depth to keep me invested in her character. It didn't help that I watched this immediately after Lost Romance in which Marcus Chang had fantastic chemistry with that female lead and that actress had great emotional and expression range.

The sister Jing Fan and Yu Quan were always awesome. Great characters, great acting, and good chemistry and romance. They were what I was most invested in for the 2nd half of the show. Loved them.

The girl's parents were well written. Their concern for their kids was well balanced with trying to respect and support their own decisions.

There were some positive messages about queer love too.

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Healthy relationship dynamic, Good for one watch, Toki is the best.

(General spoilers only.) The only highschool-teacher story I've seen (so far) with a truly well-balanced dynamic. How their strengths and weaknesses line up made them equals and they grow together. I found it sweet, endearing, and non-cringy. This is NOT a sexually charged, passionate, or taboo-focused story.

Overall light, sweet and easy fun that's good for one watch but isn't that memorable (except for Rintaro as Toki).

I really liked and greatly appreciated that Toki and Sahara communicated, supported/encouraged, and TRUSTED each other. They both had character growth and thrived with the attention and care of the other.

FYI: Japanese highschools are 3 years, so Toki being a second year student is equivalent to being a junior (third year) in the USA.

Rintaro as Toki was awesome and always fun to watch. Toki is bigger-than-life yet acted with nuance. Though Toki is wild in the physically over-dramatic Manga-style way (and often funny), multiple aspects of his personality and approach to things are admirable and even mature for his age. He is a 'doer' and doesn't think too deeply, yet he is thoughtful and puts effort into understanding others. He came across as an actual highschooler with a good heart who was a 3-dimensional character and not a caricature. He's sincere, straightforward, and totally lovable.

General Spoilers below.

There was an obvious balance in Toki and Sahara's personalities and their relationship that made their age gap a non-issue (for me anyway). Especially since they consciously kept their interactions PG, and Sahara had them wait until Toki graduated highschool before verbally making their romantic relationship official. There is a brief lip press at that time.

I mostly didn't mind the time spent on Sahara's past because it highlighted the differences between Nekoto and Toki and further demonstrated why Toki would make a good partner even though he's younger.

What I didn't like:

Takumi as Sahara was okay but not compelling. I liked him but didn't fall for him. He didn't do anything poorly, just didn't have much charisma and felt a little flat in his acting.

The school play bit made me cringe hard. It wasn't necessary and felt like pure contrivance to get an oops-kiss moment. The only thing that made it better than a trip-and-fall accident kiss was the humor of bigger-than-life Toki trying to act demurely as Snow White.

The end felt super rushed. There's a time jump, happy ending scene, and it's over. In that regard, I would have preferred less time spent on Nekoto to get more of Toki and Sahara (or even more of Todo's story since he kind of gets left out after halfway through).

The past connection was a simplistic, cliched, writing cop-out for tying things together. At least it was obvious from early on that it was coming due to little flashbacks and wasn't a complete surprise in the last episode as it is in so many shows.

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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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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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