Try it, it's fun if you turn your brain off!

This is another one of my favorite types of shows, the best/worst short dramas to watch! And I can't believe it looks like I'm the only person watching this in the world? Spoilers ahead (though it won't matter to the story at all, trust me).

The Pros
The cast is very good looking. The hair, costumes, and accessories, for the most part, are excellent. The sets and scenes are beautiful, and if you watch a lot of cdramas you will see some familiar places. The wirework that the ML and FL performed was excellent, you can tell they must have done a lot of practicing to make the flights look so effortless. The music was really fun in some places, like the series couldn't decide if it was a light romcom or an exciting costume drama and the music showed that. The ML and FL are both really good actors and they could almost pull off this trainwreck of a show, but not quite!

The Cons
What the heck is up with the editing. The scenes go like this: they are in the middle of town in the daytime, no they are in the forest at night, wait, they are now in a dungeon? wait no they are in a bamboo forest in the daytime, no night time, where the heck are they now? No transition just flittering back and forth between times and locations. You could make a fun drinking game out of this. Every time there is a sudden confusing switch take a shot!

I never did really figure out what the story was. They were all looking for a chart and then somehow said fck it all we'll forget about that aspect of the story and it wasn't mentioned again. And the ML and FL were married (contract/temporary?) but how/why we'll never know. The FL and ML were both in disguise, one was an assassin and the other a marquis? Maybe? The fight scenes were so bad they were like a high school production. Keep that FL away from a sword please!

The villain was over the top cheesy and not in a good way. Even his wig was bad!

All in all I had fun watching this one. Try it, you might like it too. I have found that I really enjoy these short series, where you never know what you are going to get. The episodes are only 10 minutes long, less then that if you don't count the pre and post credits.

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I need to learn how to use a fan

Another completely biased review from me to you!

This series is sheer perfection! I won't go into tons of details as to why I love it, it's all been said before. Between the music, the sets (mostly) and locations, and the actors (oh my lord the actors❤️‍🔥) this series to me is perfect. I will forever rate any love story on the 'Wen Kexing flirting with a fan' scale, with 10 being Wen Kexing himself and 1 being most other cdramas 😉

I always play the opening and credits when I watch. The music and clips are magical. And yes, I do have the soundtrack and play it often.

The fight choreography is incredible! And I don't mean the closeup of the actors themselves 'fighting' I mean the distance shots where it looks like they are doing aerial ballet. Stunning! My favorite episodes are:
Episode 2, when Zhou Zishu and Wen Kexing are fighting among the flowering trees at Mirror Lake Mountain Villa - some great fight scenes there!
Episode 4 Where Zhou Zishu fights the beggar clan. Gorgeous!
Episode 6 where they go from spying to fighting drug men to sucking poison out of wounds to fighting to the big reveal of Zhou Zishu's actual beautiful face. All while flirting outrageously!

Wait, this was supposed to be a short review. Enough of my favorite episodes, just watch and enjoy.

Please, whatever you do, if you watch this on Netflix hurry up and find a way to watch the REAL finale episode, which is 37 Epilogue on Viki. If you only watch till the end on Netflix your heart will break.

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My face hurts from smiling so much

Another completely biased review from me to you!

What can I say, I absolutely love this series/movie! It's on my permanent playlist. If I'm feeling down I will watch it. If I'm in a good mood and want to stay that way I watch it. It's a sweet easy show to watch with adorable boys, a great soundtrack and background music, and an interesting story. This is another show to please disconnect the logic portion of your brain and just go with it. If you start thinking logically you'll get bogged down into the why's and lose enjoyment. Just go with the flow. Also, I recommend the movie version instead of the series. There is an extra scene there that doesn't change a lot but gives me bigger smiles.

The music is spot on. I know I've read other people complaining about the background music but I beg to differ, it's great. And as soon as I hear the song Star by Runy I start smiling, it's so infectious and fun. I'm listening to it now on repeat. And the title song Florida is sung by the cast members, which makes it extra special. The MLs are incredibly cute together, just watch them smile at each other. Can you say dimples? And also can I say, what a waste of the best abs ever, not seeing more of a shirtless Yoo Hwan! Really, the entire cast are just adorable. Fun fact - zeze and joon together make up seoulitestudio https://www.youtube.com/@SEOULITESTUDIO . I watch all their videos, even though most of them don't have English subs. They are so fun together.

Highlights for me that makes this so special SPOILERS AHEAD:
The opening scene, chasing the suitcase down the hill and into each others arms. Much better than the usual trip into each others arms trope 😉
The zoom in with hands to see a close-up. Yes, it's cheesy and it's been done before, but it's executed so well and Hae Won's smile is just so....
Absolutely love the "Place your left foot back...that's your right foot" then the little hop/skip to switch legs. Cute!
How adorable Hae Won looks when putting on his uniform first time!
Sexiest way of putting an apron on someone ever... 'a little harder' and then the tucking the hair behind the ear is a sweet little swoon-worthy scene
The additional scene mentioned above isn't much, just showing the MLs in bed together, 2 pairs of bare feet tangled together, 2 naked (well, shirtless anyhow) bodies cuddled up together sleeping.
The tight, tearful hug at the end 🥲

I really wish there was an additional episode where we can find what happened with Yoo Hwan's father!
What was up with that throw away line in the beginning "the guest house's owner came". Does that mean Hae Won own's the guest house? Inquiring minds want to know 😊

So anyhow, watch it, enjoy, smile more 😁

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Incredible Music and Eye Candy

This is another extremely biased review of a movie that I absolutely adore!

The first thing I fell in love with is the music. The soundtrack is fantastic. The movie (and series) starts out with wonderful cello and violins playing a variation of the title song Wish You. Now, I'm not a strings person at all but something about this song and the sound the cello makes is completely magical!

Then one of the male leads hears the other singing on the street, stops dead in his tracks, starts watching and listening, and falls instantly in love. You can see it and feel it at the same time. Seriously, pure magic. That's what makes this a complete 10 for me, just the feel of the story. I mean, just listen and watch! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4opvypXJQ30

When you watch this be prepared to fall in love with a couple of really really adorable guys who are lucky enough to have found their soulmates and who want to make beautiful music together. Yes, the story isn't deep or complex, there are a lot of leaps and assumptions, but I don't care. The music and these 2 guys make it all perfect in my eyes.

The only disappointment is that not all of the songs are part of the soundtrack album and there are some songs that till this day I can't find anything about. Neither Shazam nor googling finds anything about these songs. One in particular has moved into my brain rent-free and has been living there for 4 years now. If anyone reading this knows please share! The song starts with "If it all comes crashing down we'll be just fine." Damn I love that song!

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Different and fun romcom

I was looking for something to watch that wouldn't require a large investment in time and wasn't too serious. This series definitely did it for me.

The hair, makeup, costumes, and sets were all great and quite different for the usual cdramas I've been watching. The OST and the background music were just perfect for the show. And I loved the little bit of animation added. Just enough to be cute but not over the top.

Honorable mention to some things that just cracked me up:
Shave and a haircut at the end of the opening song.
The FL's steampunk-looking hair and costumes.
The brother's curly locks that are so bad they look like the cowardly lion's after they get spruced up in Oz.
The dance off.
Sausage lips.
I know it's not a BL but the doctor and the brother story, especially with the sexy saxophone playing every time they shared the screen together, makes me giggle. If you want to see what I'm talking about please play the first few minutes of episode 20! OMG.
The brother and doctor in disguise as puppets with their arms locked together skipping through the enemy!
Episode 19 around the 16:40 mark - ML's tighty whities showing through his robes just cracks me up. They had to have noticed that at the time of filming, and definitely in post-production, but they kept it in for our viewing pleasure.

All in all, a fun watch that I definitely recommend. It's worth your time.

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Tori Matsuzaka is mesmerizing

Tori Matsuzaka was the perfect choice for this role! After watching this movie I can't imagine anyone else playing the character. To tell you the truth, he is the only reason to watch this. The perfect, gorgeous, psychotic killer with the mesmerizing eye and devilish grin!

The FL was ok, at least she didn't turn into a damsel in distress. For some reason Mackenyu was in this even though his character was almost non-existent. The rest of the characters were pretty much Japanese crime movie 101.

I would love to see the story fleshed out more. Who is this captivating ML and how did he get his powers? Turn this into a series and watch the cat and mouse games continue!

Another movie to watch after turning your brain off. Don't worry too much about a deep story line and don't expect any life lessons from this. Just enjoy the ride. And the eye candy.

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What a fun ride!

I've watched this around 4 or 5 times so far. This is one of my absolute favorites to watch when I need to take a break. I have no experience with the original manga so I came into this with no expectations. The movie has everything I love about this genre of Japanese movies/series. Awesome eye candy, incredible music, unbelievably good sfx. Sota Fukushi is so good as Ichigo in this. He completely lives his character. Hana Sugisaki is fantastic as Rukia. The montage of her teaching him how to fight is just so fun. I only wish there were more movies and/or a series with the same characters, especially since they mention the Soul Society Arc. Give it a try and hopefully you'll find it as fun as I did. 🥳

NOTE: I'm definitely not an impartial reviewer. I tend to leave reviews and ratings for only things I love which means almost everything is a 10 for me 😉

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Silly Sexy Little Romp

Another completely biased review from me to you.

This short series seems to get a bit of hate, but I have to say I loved it. Even though the one ML is a walking talking redder than the Sorcerer's robe red flag, he's still sexy as hell. And the other ML is a cute but dim little chipmunk. The 2 of them together strangely have a ton of chemistry. Lots of nice skinship. The shower scene....

The story is not ground breaking. There are some bits in there that you wonder why they were added. Watch it and see what you think.

All in all I really enjoyed the hell out of this one too. Turn off your brain, stop criticizing so much, smile and enjoy!

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Fan Service Done Right

Now this is how you do fan service! Absolutely sweet and adorable added episode that I wish all series, BL or not, would tag onto the end for a nice fan service. (Oh, only series with happy endings! Unless they were sad endings and the xtra episode would make it happy!😕 )

BTW, I love the new look for our MLs. Their hair styles are awesome. And the tuxes were gorgeous.

Yes, the series itself maybe was a little problematic, the one ML was a huge walking talking red flag, but damn if I didn't love it anyhow. Lots of cringe but also lots of heat makes this a fun little gem to watch. And it's short so won't take up your entire weekend.

Give it a try. I'm going to go rewatch the rest of the series now 😉

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Now that's how you do a sword fight

Though it's actually sword vs scabbard fights, but still awesome! Saotome Taichi is mesmerizing to watch. I can't imagine how many hours of training he goes through to be that beautiful to watch. Each fight scene seems like a well choreographed dance. Just beautiful! Add in Endo Yuya to the fighting and it's over the top good!

The series is known as The Sealer on Viki in case anyone is looking for it. The series itself is quite short but doesn't suffer too many from that. The story is quite interesting and different and very dark, so not my typical happy smiley type of series to watch. But damn, it is really good. Even though it looks like a few people have complained about the music, I think the music adds a perfect touch to this intense drama.

The look is gorgeous. I love the costume design for most all of the characters. The Osagami character looks especially good with his flowing black outfits. Gorgeous!

The only complaint I have, which is a repeated complaint from me for a lot of series, is the FL. Good lord, could they make a more irritating, useless person? The FL's only purpose seems to be to fall over and have to be rescued! I do like that there seems to be subtle diss'ing for the character cause she is the only one that wears just awful outfits and hair. Sort of like no one can stand the character so they punish the poor actress. Or maybe that's just me 😁

Anyhow, give this a watch. It's short so won't take up your entire weekend. It's worth it just to watch the lovely Saotome Taichi.

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One of My Favorite Adaptations of a Priest Novel

Where to start to unpack this series? First of all, the main leads Bai Yu and Zhu Yi Long are magical together! Even though this is a censored adaptation (thanks china) you can see and feel the characters love for each other. Somehow this series got away with a lot more physical contact then others I have seen 💖lots of touching of hands and shoulders and even my favorite scene in the car with Zhao Yunlan sleeping on Shen Wei's shoulder! Yep, magic. Oh my, the necklace! 🥲 That one got me.

The rest of the cast is pretty much a hit or miss. The purple-haired villain was so bad I was waiting for him to say "And I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for you meddling kids!" I would have loved to have had more Cat (Da Qing) story, who wouldn't like to know more about the Cats? Would love to know more about Chu Shuzhi too! What a cool ability with the puppets! The delusional snake lady's story really didn't add much to the series and they could have taken it out completely. And I really wish that the Guo character would have died a horrible death, sorry. 😂He just irritated the hell out of me and by all rights should have died early in the series. The rest of the team pretty much sank into the background for me so not much to say.

The actual story itself was kind of all over the place, probably because of all the changes that had to be made to satisfy the censors. Read the novels! I'll admit I got lost a few times and had to rewatch some episodes to try and figure out what the hell the story line was. The FX was either really good or really bad, like they ran out of money and had to half-ass most of the special affects! And the sets were either really good or really bad too, money again?

So even though this series had some issues with cast and story and FX and production, it's still one of my favorites and I will still give it a 10 because of the leads and will rewatch it over and over.

And the ending, oh boy, be prepared to cry. However, I believe they ended up finding each other again, someday.

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