"To Truly Love Someone, Is For Them To Become Your Only Exception"

The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese is a beautifully melancholic movie that is very artistic. Everything feels very deliberate from the choice of lighting down to the clothing color choice. And it all comes together into this intricate web and it just draws you in. It's not a movie that leaves you smiling at the end, but rather one that leaves you silently pensive.

This truly is a dark and gritty movie. The characters are deeply flawed human beings engaging in a toxic relationship and that relationship is not romanticized like it is in so many other BLs. On the one hand, you have Otomo Kyoichi who, despite being married has engaged in repeated affairs and has no real understanding of what love is. And on the other hand, you have Imagase Wataru who has been in love with Otomo for some 8 years, since their university days. Neither character has very many redeeming traits. Otomo can't remain faithful to anyone, is deeply selfish, cold, cruel even. He's manipulative and remorseless at times. And Imagase is a study in unrequited love, but the kind of love where there's not really a reason, you just love them. Because why would he love Otomo with the way he treats Imagase? But he does love him, not that it's in any way healthy. It's the kind of love that he's willing to do anything for a chance, even blackmail or stalking. And also under that love is a level of fear and paranoia that eats away at him until he breaks.

The character development achieved is very impressive, particularly with Otomo's character. It's a natural progression that feels well done and organic, not at all forced. His journey is not an easy or pleasant one, but it is a necessary one for him to grow and become a person capable of loving and being loved. Imagase's development is less overt, though no less powerful. His is a battle with self, the yearning to stay while also knowing that it's time to let go. The pacing in general of the movie is practically perfect. No scene feels extra or out of place, it all just flows together seamlessly.

The acting is absolutely phenomenal. Okura Tadayoshi had the challenge of playing Otomo who's fairly reserved, but the beauty of his acting was the sheer subtlety of it. Even if his face wasn't necessarily displaying a specific emotion, you could see wheels turning in his head. And Narita Ryo, oh my goodness, did he pull at heartstrings. Between the scenes where he breaks down, the beach scene, and the ending, he just broke my heart. He also has some of the best lines of the movie and he delivers them beautifully.

Yes, there is nudity in this movie, no full frontal, and several NSFW scenes, but I would not classify them as pornographic. They are tastefully done and they play a key role in revealing the development of the characters' relationship and emotions. If such scenes are off-putting to you, this is not a movie you should be watching.

I said this was a movie about flawed human beings and part of what gives it so much depth is that very nearly every single character in it is flawed, some more so than others. It doesn't try to rationalize or over explain, they simply are. I think there's a certain beauty in that rawness and lack of perfection. Theirs isn't a relationship to aspire to, but it feels real, more real than the pretty fairytales so many of us watch. But in the end there is a hopefulness, I think, however fragile, that they can rise above their flaws to create something beautiful.

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The Gift of The Thousandth Star

Going into this final stretch of Our Skyy 2, I found myself with conflicting feelings. I was not expecting to see Bad Buddy and A Tale of Thousand Stars combined. None of the other stories were connected and I'm wondering why they decided to do so here. It's not bad, but I feel like the focus is more with the Thousand Stars story and Bad Buddy is the side piece. Like many other viewers, the Bad Buddy and Tale of a Thousand Stars episodes were the ones I was looking forward to most. They're the two oldest and so the nostalgia is stronger with them since it's been a couple years since we've seen these characters. As much as I anticipated these episodes, I found the first two just fell flat while the last two and particularly the final episode served as a suitable ending .

When it comes to Bad Buddy, I'm not sure how much of a fan I am in going back in time to just after Pat and Pran pretend to break up. I feel like a lot of the plot in that first episode is a rinse and repeat of what we've already seen. I would have preferred if it was a continuation from the end of the series after they graduated. We'd seen the rift between their parents starting to heal and things had reached a point where they weren't going to need to hide their relationship. Going on from there, continuing to show that healing, the novelty that they could be together openly, all would have made for a great conclusion to their story and would have focused solely on them. Its placement also limited the amount of character development that could be done since it did need to coincide with the ending of Bad Buddy.

Their relationship, while very similar to how it was in the series, does have its differences here. There was a good balance in Bad Buddy of mischievous/playful and sweet moments between them. I liked that it was a series where both leads were strong minded young men. It gave a whole different dynamic that worked very well. In the first two episodes though the sweet moments were few and far between while the mischievous/playful moments take precedence. And those few sweet moments are by and large initiated by Pat at which point Pran pushes him away or something interrupts them. It's been a while since I watched it, but I felt like they were on more of an even keel in the series of who initiated physical intimacy of any kind. That's not to say there aren't some sweet moments between them, there are, it just overall didn't feel quite in harmony with the series. And I was expecting a lot more of those sweet moments once they were away from their friends and parents since they wouldn't have to pretend anymore, but they took a back seat even then. As a side note, Pran's reaction to up and leave without Pat because of Pat's comment felt over the top. Since they were pretending to still be enemies, it would make sense that Pat would be bad mouthing him or making it seem like he was superior. Considering that Pran typically came across as relatively level-headed previously, his taking that comment to heart and deciding to abandon Pat didn't seem to quite fit with his character.

And while I wasn't a fan of those first two episodes, it was like a flip was switched for the final two. Suddenly we're getting more sweet moments between them, little ones as well as some genuinely heartfelt moments like when Pat finally admits that he can't live without Pran. It's a really beautiful little scene the likes of which were completely lacking in those first episodes. There are also little throwbacks to Bad Buddy like Pat asking Pran to rate his "performance". Things just seemed much more harmonious and back to normal between them in those final episode. I loved the play. I don't know why exactly, but I actually teared up a bit watching it. It was just well done and it was fitting that the two of them played the parts of Tian and Phupha. Their ending was both sweet with their kiss as well as funny with Pat's sister interrupting them again. It just suited them.

There were a couple of things, however, that just didn't quite work. Pat and Pran are supposed to be broken up and back to being enemies at this point. However, they don't act like it at all. They're constantly together in public without showing a bit of animosity and we're supposed to believe that their friends are in the dark. Yes, they're questioning it to some degree, but seriously, those two are so obvious a blind man could see they're still together. Besides that, it also appears that they're living together. Living across the hall from each other and sneaking into each other's rooms is one thing, but how on earth does them living together work? Do they just not have any friends who aren't in on their secret over? What about their parents? The other part that didn't work for me was how little time they spend together. With the first episode they spend a good portion of it together, but once the second and third episodes hit and they're in the village, they're pretty effectively separated for much of it. I would have preferred to see more of them working together rather than their divide and conquer strategy. There's also the matter of the play. If memory serves, Pat's father gives him grief for acting in Pran's play in Bad Buddy. But here, it's made out to be no big deal. Even with their kiss, Pran comments that his mother is proud of him and knows it's just acting. Um, did his mother have a lobotomy or something? She would have flown off the handle over something like that in Bad Buddy, but suddenly she's chill with that, no questions asked? That explanation really didn't work for me.

Ohm and Nanon are both very talented actors and two of my favorites. Their chemistry together in Bad Buddy was phenomenal and their interactions were just very natural. I've heard rumors of some kind of conflict between them, it's not something that I've really looked into, but after watching the first two episodes, I did have to wonder if there was something going on between them. The spark they had previously just wasn't quite there. I can't put my finger on it, but something felt a bit off. And then, with those last two episodes, the flip was switched again and it felt like they were back to normal. They seemed more comfortable with each other and everything between them went back to feeling natural. I have no idea what changed, but I'm so glad it did because it made a huge difference.

A Tale of Thousand Stars was a series that I really enjoyed. I liked the story which I felt was overall well done as well as the characters and acting. I was very excited to see Tian, Phupha and the rest of the characters from their story again and I have to admit I'm a bit disappointed at how few of the characters were brought back. For their story, I was hoping for a continuation from the end of the series focusing on Tian getting reacquainted with the village and villagers and settling back in with them and into his relationship with Phupha. I was not hoping for angsty, teenage drama between two grown men.

The inconsistencies between the series and Our Skyy 2 are grating. Phupha seems to have undergone a personality transplant because initially he's just coming across as an unreasonable jerk. He was a serious character in Thousand Stars, but he wasn't totally unbending and there was a tenderness about him whenever he was with Tian that was very endearing. That was just gone. Their conflict felt very contrived. In the series they generally came across as two reasonable adults, here though they feel more like sulky teenagers. I was hoping to get a better explanation for why Phupha didn't want to accompany Tian than he doesn't like crowds. That reasoning just seemed like BS since we saw him at at least two gatherings in the series. I was glad that was cleared up, but it still felt a bit BSish. I don't understand the popularity of keeping a secret from your SO that's causing damage to your relationship just so you can surprise them later. It doesn't work. Sticking with Phupha for a moment, his fainting just as he meets Pran also felt off. This is a man who very rarely showed any kind of weakness, so to see him keel over because he hadn't had breakfast felt out of character. There was also Tian acting like he didn't know how to get to Pha Pun Dao initially when he went there alone, in the dark previously. And besides that time, he'd gone at least two other times, if not more so his uncertainty of how to get there didn't make sense. When Phupha meets Tian's parents, it almost seemed like he didn't know Tian's dad, which, if memory serves, he had been Phupha's superior officer at one point or something along those lines so I didn't understand the disconnect there. There are a few other minor details that don't quite jive with the series which was more just annoying than causing any actual issues.

The final two episodes mostly made up for the crap from the second one. I liked that Tian and Phupha started to at least try to communicate to some degree. Not well necessarily, but the scare of Tian being lost seemed to knock some sense into the both of them and make them realize how much they actually cared for each other. Phupha surprising Tian in Bangkok was kind of fun. Again, I don't approve of those kind of surprises, but Tian was obviously thrilled so all's well that ends well, I guess. They felt more in tune with each other during these scenes, and I'll attribute part of that to Phupha finally reading Tian's diary and gaining a better understanding of him. Again, not a fan of the whole birthday surprise, though it was kind of adorable to see how happy Tian was when he saw Phupha standing in front of him. That scene though when Phupha essentially proposes to Tian and gives him their thousandth star was beautifully done and had me in tears. That scene alone made up for everything else honestly. I also found it hilarious how the final scene was basically a mash up of the ending of Bad Buddy and Thousand Stars. Perfection.

Similar to Ohm and Nanon, Earth and Mix didn't have quite the same spark between them in those first two episodes as they did in the series. Even when they were in conflict, you could feel that magnetic pull between them. Maybe because their bickering here just felt petty more than anything, that pull didn't seem to be there as much. But, again, flip switch with those final two episodes and it felt like they were back to themselves which made me very happy. The angsty teenage drama and attitudes were gone and they were back to being reasonable adults. It also reminded me just how good these two are together. They communicate so much emotion just through their eyes and it's amazing to watch. Truly phenomenal actors.

Having these two series combined did create some interesting and entertaining moments. Pat and Phupha waking up and panicking about what they may have done together was a particularly funny scene. Also the fact that Phupha offering Pat his shirt was a direct call back to a scene from Thousand Stars. Phupha asking Tian to rate him after their night together as well as the ending between them both called back scenes from Bad Buddy. The friendships that developed between Pran and Tian and Phupha and Pat were really neat to see. Tian and Pran had the more heartfelt moments and you could feel a real connection between them whereas Phupha and Pat were pure chaotic entertainment.

While I love both Bad Buddy and A Tale of Thousand Stars, I didn't think I would love them combined. To an extent, I still feel like we were robbed of Pat and Pran's story in favor of one centered on Phupha and Tian. I don't think combining them was necessary and I think there needed to have been a really good reason to do so which I just don't see. If it could be redone, I would ultimately prefer them to be separated and each have their own two episodes. However, since that is not what we got, I will say that the final two made up for the severely lacking everything of the first two. There were some really beautiful and heartfelt moments and it felt like things got back on track. All in all, I would say that they served as a fitting conclusion both to A Tale of Thousand Stars and Our Skyy 2.

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Seek Your Destiny Elsewhere

Destiny Seeker gets added to the list of mediocre BLs that have some interesting aspects, but are underdeveloped and try to get by with steamy NSFW scenes and little else. To make matters worse in this situation, there were the absolutely ghastly English subtitles, some of the worst I've seen which did nothing to boost my opinion. It is, for the most part, a mess, but hidden in the mess are some little treasures that made it bearable and even enjoyable at times.

I will give this drama credit for actually having a plot. It was a very thin plot, but there was one which was a nice change after a string of plotless dramas. The majority of the drama revolved around Ai and Songkhram and their slowly developing relationship. There's really nothing new here, no groundbreaking revelations, but it's not horribly done either. Their transition from rivals to boyfriends feels relatively natural and not overly forced. That being said, there were some aspects that didn't make a whole lot of sense, like Songkhram claiming he'd been in love with Ai since their freshman year and making comments that he'd been pursuing him all that time which we don't really see or get the impression of. There were also a number of flashbacks scattered throughout which were not clearly demarcated from the rest of the story so there were a few scenes where it took a moment to realize that we had suddenly jumped back in time. The sorting of the boys into different dorms based on their talents was an interesting concept and I wish more had been done with it. It's only purpose here seemed to be using it as an excuse for why Ai and Songkhram had to be rivals. Which, that was another aspect that was not well explained. I get that there was the rivalry between their dorms, but why? And was it just their two dorms that had a rivalry or were there rivalries between the other dorms as well? There was, in general, a serious lack of information about this college. Again, the translation was garbage, so I may have misunderstood some information, but it seemed like they had all gotten their degrees at other colleges and were there to get their master's degrees, maybe? Also, it was obviously a coed college, but where were all the girls? I think I saw maybe five or six girls throughout and that was it. I know some of that's nitpicking, but information like that just deepens the world building and allows the viewer to become more involved. And lastly, is anyone else getting sick and tired of every BL being centered around engineering students? Is that a requirement? Must be gay in order to be an engineer. There are so many other degrees out there. Get creative for once!

Destiny Seeker did feel trope heavy, particularly with the whole engineering background. But we also get the sick mother, though of a less serious nature here and thankfully they didn't feel the need to kill her off for dramatic effect. We also have Ai moving abroad, but this was less annoying than in previous dramas because it didn't cause unnecessary drama between our leads. Ai gets caught in the rain once and is instantly sick, but he and Songkhram get caught in the rain in the final episode and are just fine. There's a hint of the gay for you trope. It's not explicitly stated, but it is almost implied with both Bright and Plustor.

The characters felt very one dimensional. They were all just kind of thrown in there with very little background information or information regarding their motives, their reasoning or anything that would allow the viewer to get a handle on them. The villains especially. For one they were very disappointing villains. They were so pleased with themselves when all I could think was, really, guys, that's the best you can do? But why were they the way that they were. Tum showed up only a couple of times and no information was given as to why he was such an ass. And he went from wanting Ai for himself to wanting to ruin his chances of getting the funding for his idea. Again, no reason as to why unless it was because Ai was with Songkhram at that point and it was some weird if I can't have him then I'm going ruin him kind of thing. Ohm was similar. His relationship with Ai wasn't super clear cut. He seemed to have an unhealthy attachment to him which may have been because it doesn't sound like his father was very present. But his actions seemed way over the top. Ai didn't side with him one time and he decided the best course of action was to betray him by selling his project to Tum? And then he tried to flip things around and blame everything on Ai. Like what? And wrapping up our villains, I didn't get why the other team seemed to have it out for Ai's team. Maybe I missed something, but I don't recall anything happening between any of them to cause any kind of friction. All in all, they were just a pathetic group of villains that really can't even be called that.

As for the good guys, they lack a lot as well. We get a little more background with Ai and Songkhram since their our leads, but there's still a lot left out. Things like they're both children of single parents, but what happened to their other parent? I think it's mentioned in passing that Ai's father died, but I don't recall any explanation for what happened to Songkhram's mother. They both also have their quirks that could have been delved into a bit more, things like Ai's aversion to dirt and Songkhram's apparent interest in plants. Little things that could have been used to flesh out their characters and made it feel like there was more to them. I did appreciate their relationship once they got together. Although Ai's over the top reactions every time they were almost caught was overdone. The rest though, I liked. They were just genuinely sweet and adorable together and if nothing else, they did give me warm fuzzy feelings with their interactions. The scene where they keep sneaking kisses while watching something in the final episode was just perfection. I was very happy they didn't throw in any unnecessary drama between them in the last couple of episodes. Songkhram came through as the quintessential boyfriend, supporting Ai through everything life kept throwing at him from losing the project funding to his mother's collapse and moving to Germany. As for the rest of the gang, they don't really get much of a backstory aside from Meen and Bright since they knew each other since middle school. We get some flashbacks of them to show how their relationship has progressed. They were a confusing couple, mostly in Bright's case because so little was revealed about what he was thinking. He's been in love with Meen for years, but pursued Ai to try to forget him? It made no sense, which, I mean love doesn't always make sense, but that seemed really out there. I would have been interested to know more about him just because he was so hot and cold with Meen. I also would have just liked to have seen a more gradual development of their relationship. It felt like things happened very quickly. Plustor and Nano, similarly to Ai and Songkhram, had the rivals to lovers storyline, but like with Meen and Bright, their relationship progressed very quickly and without a whole lot of build up. One thing I was not a fan of in the cases of both relationships was the way that both Bright and Plustor forced themselves on their love interest. I will give credit to Plustor for apologizing to Nano for his behaviour, but we don't get any such apology from Bright. Touch was an entertaining addition to their group and I enjoyed his interactions with everyone. Again, there wasn't much too him aside from comic relief, but he served that purpose pretty well.

There were also a number of characters that just didn't make sense or weren't explained. There was the woman who was seen addressing the boys several times and flirting with them which just seemed inappropriate. No idea who she was other than some kind of administrator, I guess. There were also the two token girls who joined the guys group at one point. I know the one was Amber's daughter, but they stood out like sore thumbs. They just didn't seem to fit in well.

The acting wasn't bad, but also wasn't anything to write home about. However, considering the fact that for most of the cast this was their first drama or one of their first, I really can't be too hard on them. Even Earth, who has the most credits to his name, has only been at this for about a year it looks like. So considering their inexperience, I think they were overall solid. All of the couples had pretty decent chemistry. Bank and Earth had the least natural kisses initially. They seemed a bit awkward, but it also kind of worked for their characters with starting a new relationship. I look forward to seeing them all growing and improving.

The production was okay, nothing really spectacular. I did find it both interesting and somewhat helpful the way they differentiated Dorms 2 and 3 by the colors their characters wore. It was relatively unobtrusive and like I said, it was helpful at times to keep track of who was in which dorm.

There were a couple of other things I liked that I'll mention here. The way that there is never a scene where Ai is afraid of telling his mother that he's gay or her being shocked when she finds out was so refreshing. It felt very natural. There was no need to make a big deal about it, it's just who he was and this is his boyfriend and welcome to the family! The ending with Ai and Songkhram apparently having adopted a baby was pleasantly surprising. I don't think I've ever seen another BL where they took that next step to their characters actually having a family and I really liked that they added it in.

There's nothing that really stands out about Destiny Seeker to make it memorable. I saw a lot of reviews talking about how the first part of it was meh, but the ending was brilliant. I have to admit that I didn't see any brilliance here. It's one of those dramas that I have a feeling I'll pretty soon forget about. But, that being said, it's not horrible, it has it's good moments as well as it's disappointing ones. I don't think it's good enough to warrant multiple viewings, but watching it once isn't a total waste of time.

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Doesn't Make the Cut

I expected more from this drama than what I got. The premise sounded interesting and I was especially intrigued by the fashion aspect. However, the synopsis was misleading and this turned out to be a terribly paced, terribly told story that was just disappointing. The worst part is that it had potential, it just completely failed to live up to it.

The story suffered from a serious lack of information and direction. I'm fine with minimal background information as long as it's done well and it explains enough to give meaning to the character's actions and motives. And parts of it did work. We didn't need a drawn out backstory for Ki Jin and Yi Bin's relationship. Likewise we didn't need to delve deep in Yeong Woo's history. In each case, just enough information was given to provide meaning to the story without any excess. However, the relationship between Yeong Woo and Yi Bin was never explained or explored which begs the question of what happened there? Were they former lovers? Friends? What? More information was needed than a handful of flashbacks that basically did nothing but lead to more questions. Also, the fact that they're suddenly friends at the end when the last time we saw them together there was definitely some animosity since they both liked Ki Jin made it seem like something was missed.

And then there was the complete lack of direction for the story. I have no idea what story was even trying to be told here. My initial impression was that it was going to be about Ki Jin striving to become a noted fashion designer and he ended up finding love along the way and that's kind of how it started, but partway through, it just completely lost its way and we're left with a lot of unanswered questions. What was with him suddenly turning all moody and morose? Yes, Yi Bin gave him his break, but did he really think he was chosen solely for that? What exactly happened during his last meeting with the chairwoman? Why did he apparently ghost Yeong Woo? The impression I got is that his show was cancelled in order for him to go to New York, but judging by the crumpled ticket in the trash that Yi Bin saw, that didn't happen either. So where was he for that year? Did he open his own studio? That's what it seemed like at least. And why did Yeong Woo forgive him so easily? They were both way too calm about that impromptu reunion. The farther I got into the drama, the more questions I had and almost none were ever answered. It was a very unsatisfactory ending to be left with so much unexplained information.

The acting was okay, nothing spectacular. Bum Jun and Choo Suk Young definitely stood out as the amateurs. They weren't bad per say, just definitely lack in experience. I think both have potential given more time. Eom Se Ung was the best of the three and gave the most solid performance. He was expressive without being over the top which I liked.

The production value was not great overall. The quality just seems pretty average, there were some sound issues, and the editing was obviously not great. Flashbacks were used far too frequently. The time spent showing the same scenes over and over again would have been better spent on fleshing out the story and answering some of the questions left unanswered. On the other hand, some parts of the cinematography were good. I particularly liked the ending shot with them on opposite sides of the street. The OST, while a bit repetitive, was still good and I did enjoy it.

One of the things I liked and I felt was a subtle nod to the fashion premise of the drama was the evolution of Yeong Woo's style. He starts out dressing, not sloppily, but very casually. Baggier clothes, oversized overshirts and the like. The actor's a good looking guy so none of it looks bad on him, but it's definitely not refined. By the end though, while he's wearing similar styles of clothing, there is a sense of refinement there. The clothing fits better and looks better, but it's still very much his style. I liked that it showed he had changed and yet, at the same time, he was still himself.

This is really not a drama I can recommend unfortunately. The lack of a concrete story and the need to try to piece all the parts together yourself just makes it a waste of time, in my opinion. There is no reason to ever rewatch it and this is one that I would just avoid.

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A True Fish In The Sky

My initial impression going into this drama was that it was going to be a fun, lighthearted romantic comedy. The characters seemed promising as did the story. But it very quickly imploded and what was left was a drama with a problematic romance, very little genuine comedy, disappointing characters and a story that was an utter disaster. Top that off with poor acting, a mediocre OST, terrible pacing, and unnecessary drama and as a whole it just was not worth my time to watch.

The story is a mess. It's not told well and the more you watch, the worse it gets. And it started off relatively promising. I liked the idea of Pi as something of an ugly duckling, unpopular, clearly deeply insecure, someone that was easy for others to take advantage of. And I liked the idea of Mork who loved him unconditionally, regardless of his looks. It seemed like a set up for a sweet story. Except that Pi likes Mork's best friend and thought Mork was his love rival and his animosity towards Mork because of this goes on for far too long. It's clear that he's fallen for Mork, but he keeps resisting and resisting, and eventually it just gets boring because nothing is happening or changing. It also didn't make sense that Pi can't believe that Mork would like him and he keeps pushing him away because he's afraid that he'll be affected by his lack of popularity, and yet, he confesses to Nan, so would none of that be an issue if Nan reciprocated his feelings?

As the drama progresses, it becomes more and more obvious that Pi is a selfish, bitter person. He becomes very difficult to like because he's generally just a jerk a lot of the time. And Mork, for all that he professes to love Pi, not only essentially stalks him and manipulates him, but also clearly doesn't respect him. Pi asks him to stop doing various things numerous times and Mork just keeps doing what he wants to do. Getting Pi is clearly more important to him than respecting his boundaries, thoughts, opinions and feelings. Furthermore, their relationship just felt uneven with Mork constantly giving and Pi constantly taking. Mork, despite his flaws, was always there for Pi and Pi would take advantage of that care and then push Mork away the second he didn't need him any longer.

The second couple is better. The progression of their relationship is smoother and more believable over all. They seem to be on more equal footing and have more of a mutual respect for each other. And when Duean does disregard Meen's boundaries, once he realizes it, he reflects on it and then he apologizes. Kind of ironic that the most immature guy in the show is the one who is the most self-aware, at least in that aspect. However, I did struggle with understanding why exactly Meen liked Duean. They were such polar opposites, and while we got to see Duean's feelings develop through his eyes, we didn't get that same benefit with Meen. Duean, with his juvenile antics, disinterest in school, and general attitude just did not seem like the type of person that would catch Meen's attention.

To top it all off, we had Prik and Kluea as the crazy fans. I know they were supposed to be there for more comedy, but I just found them creepy. How do you not realize that stalking people and secretly taking their pictures and posting them without their consent is a huge no-no? I wanted to like Prik initially because she did delete the fan page and seemed to realize that what they had done was wrong, but I was very disappointed when she gave in to Kluea so easily when he wanted to start it back up. Like seriously, girl, likes and views are more important than someone's privacy? I kept hoping that they would learn their lesson and realize that what they were doing was not okay, but then at the end we have them shipping a new couple so clearly they learned nothing. And then there was Bam. For all that these networks have to know that women are probably their primary audience when it comes to BLs, they love to vilify women in them. This drama had a grand total of two women with any kind of real roles, aside from Pi's mother, and I was really hoping that Bam would be a positive one. And at first it seemed like she was. She came across as the supportive friend, determined to help Mork and then, once he and Pi got together, helping to disguise their relationship. It was disappointing when that all turned out to be a lie and she actually wanted Mork to herself. I am glad that she apologized to Pi, but there were no consequences for her actions. Mork seems to have forgiven her, Pi immediately forgives her and acts like it wasn't a big deal and she gets a new guy right after. Basically, if there's a theme to this drama, its that your actions don't have consequences, everything will turn out sunshine and rainbows no matter what.

The pacing is horrifically slow in large part because everything is so incredibly repetitive. It just feels like there is no progression in the story really for the first nine or ten episodes and then suddenly we're blazing towards the finish because we have to try to wrap everything up. I hate that so many Thai dramas do that. I truly don't understand why it is so hard to write a script that has a measured pace.

The acting was underwhelming to say the least. I've seen both Pond and Phuwin in a few things now and I have officially come to the conclusion that they are pretty faces and that's about it, Pond in particular. The man is just so one note. There is no depth of emotion, no feeling to his expressions or his voice. I recently saw him and Phuwin in Never Let Me Go and frankly, there's not that much difference in their acting between this drama and that one despite the fact that they are totally different characters. Phuwin has the opposite problem from Pond and tends to overact more, but there's a repetitiveness to the way he overacts. In both cases, they just get boring to watch. Their chemistry is negligible and what there is comes across as more buddy than romantic. Normally I like Neo. He's a good actor and he has range, but he was so over the top here that I found him more annoying than endearing. The comedy felt forced a lot of the time. I blame the director for that though, not him. And despite everything, he did have some genuinely funny moments. Louis had the strongest performance. Like Neo, he's a good actor with range, and I felt he did a good job in his role. He and Neo have great chemistry and I would love to see them together as leads in their own drama.

The few positives I have are that I do like the title. I'd never heard that phrase used before and I found it unique, sad, and beautiful. I also liked the subtle touches that went along with the title. Things like the star pillow on Pi's bed, the way he kept Nan's picture in the slats above his bed like a star, the clips that Pi and Duean had, the fish keychains Duean has, and the conch shaped light fixture at Mork's house to name a few. I also liked that when Pi and Mork were having their conversations, the lighting turned blue and you could hear the sound of waves. To me it signified that they were supposed to be a match because ultimately, they were both fish in the sea and were within reach of each other.

This could have been a good drama. With a better script and better characters who were actually developed and grew with the story, it could have been. Instead, what we got was something mediocre and even that's being generous. It tried so hard to be funny and so many of the jokes just fell flat or were just unnecessary. And the main romance was just toxic and unnecessarily dragged out. All that being said, this isn't a drama I can recommend. There are others out there that are far superior and actually worth your time.

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The Lie Is That There's A Story

The challenge of creating short movies such as this is having a cohesive story and being able to tell that story in such a short period of time. This short failed in that. It has potential, but it either needs to be a few minutes longer or there needs to be more dialogue. As it is, it just feels very disjointed.

If you weren't aware that the character of Benz had feelings for his roommate and friend Riw going into the movie, the automatic assumption from the beginning is that both boys like Meen and are fighting over her. However, after that initial scene, it becomes clear that Benz actually has feelings for Riw. This is where things start getting disjointed. After leaving for the day and arriving in the wee hours of the morning to find Riw drunk, Benz very nearly kisses him before stopping himself. The following scene appears to be the next day, with Riw apologizing and asking why Benz is mad at him. They have a moment with Riw calling Benz cute and then insisting on feeding him some kind of snack. Meen shows up and looks upset seeing the two of them together. This then jumps to Riw and Meen apparently having a one on one study session and Benz looking on jealously. Riw walks Meen outside and Benz takes the opportunity to hit her with his car.

Again, the potential is there, but besides the disjointed story, the characters feel shallow. I know its hard to create meaningful characters in such a short time frame, but that's part of the challenge. Riw obviously likes Meen and Meen seems to like him too, but what are his feelings towards Benz? Just a roommate? Just friends? There seems like there might be more there, but its hard to tell. And Benz's reaction feels way over the top. There's no buildup to his apparently just snapping. Again, the first scene makes it seem like both he and Riw like Meen. His jealousy needed to be built up and explored a little more to make it believable he would do something so extreme.

In terms of acting, Singto is definitely the star which isn't hard since there are only three actors, but he does stand out. Kanin is pretty bland all around, not a whole lot of expression. This is his first and only acting role though, so I'm willing to cut him some slack. Ink plays a minor role, but despite her lack of screen time, she still managed to be engaging when she was on screen. And as I said, Singto was the stand out he was the most interesting to watch. Part of that is just him, he has an uncanny ability to command the screen with very little effort, but he also seemed to be the one putting in the most work. His acting was more nuanced and while not perfect, this was his first role it seems, he still made an impression, especially that smirk at the end.

The production was obviously low budget. Honestly, the most annoying aspect of it was the camera work. The in and out of focus in the middle of a scene was very distracting. The music, what little there was, was generically boring, but also not overly distracting, so a bonus there, I suppose.

I will say that it's not a waste of time solely because the short is a mere 7 minutes long. I don't regret watching it, but its certainly not what I was expecting or hoping for. As long as you don't have high expectations, it might be moderately entertaining. If nothing else, it's fun to see a young Singto before he got big with SOTUS.

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Avoid Under Most Circumstances

I never know what to expect with Korean BLs. They're hits just as often as they're misses. The one good, or bad, thing about them, is that they're always short so I don't feel like I've wasted a huge amount of time if they're a bust. This one, while not a total bust, was just lackluster. I didn't really feel anything while watching, nothing bad or good, which isn't desirable when it comes to entertainment. You want your audience to feel something and I got nothing here. Suffice to say, this isn't one that I would waste your time on.

The story itself isn't horrible, just a bit weak. Two separated friends who never had the cajones to put their feelings into words years earlier meet again. Woo Jae, who did make some effort to make his feelings known, has become a web novelist and he is not pleased to have director Yeon Woo back in his life. It turns into a back and forth of Yeon Woo trying to win Woo Jae's favor in order to turn his web novel into a movie in an effort to revive his directing career and Woo Jae resisting his efforts. In some instances, it was moderately entertaining, but not enough to draw me in. And Woo Jae's standoffish, jerkish behaviour toward everyone, not just Yeon Woo, was excessive and off putting, especially since it was explained far too late in the game and the explanation was frankly pathetic. "My love wasn't instantly reciprocated so now I'm going to turn into a raging ass for the rest of my life." Not a valid excuse, honey. Yeon Woo, I could sympathize with a lot more. He had a lot going on in his life and he was never even given the chance to voice his feelings for Woo Jae before he just disappeared. However, I don't condone his actions in hunting down Woo Jae and then setting up camp in his front yard uninvited. So basically neither character is without his faults, but Yeon Woo is the lesser of two evils by far.

The pacing is slow. There's a lot of repetition of Yeon Woo trying to "help" Woo Jae, Woo Jae getting cranky, things backfiring on Yeon Woo and repeat. That time could have much more effectively been used exploring their background together more in depth, having them actually communicate and have a conversation about what happened in the past and where things went wrong. They spent a decent amount of time focusing on that stupid hoodie and then never cleared that up which was so frustrating. I know that was back in their college days but there was enough of a focus on it that I felt it should have tied in somehow to when they were adults especially since Woo Jae wears that same hoodie at one point. As a side note, the scene with the police was weird and, I would hope, completely unrealistic.

The acting left a lot to be desired. Jun.Q as Woo Jae was just boring. He basically spent 90% of the drama brooding and had one expression. I'm exaggerating, but I really did find his performance underwhelming. He just felt repetitive to me. Jung Wan was an improvement, he definitely knows how to work a smile, but he also felt a bit note. There just wasn't a whole lot of nuance to their performances. And these guys had zero romantic chemistry. Their buddy chemistry was okay, not great, but okay, but their romantic chemistry was less than zero. I felt nothing, no sparks, zip zilch nada. And as others have commented, we get treated to the dead fish lip presses that some may call a kiss. I wouldn't.

The only positives in this debacle are the production and the OST. The cinematography is well done. The scenic shots in particular are my favorite. And I did like the OST. Nothing that really jumped out and grabbed me, but it was pleasant and not distracting.

Generally speaking, I say with dramas as short as this one to just go for it. It's only two hours, what the heck. But with this one, I would really say don't waste your time. At least with those other ones, they left me with some kind of emotional fulfillment and this one didn't. So I would say save your time and find something else to watch. This isn't one I'll ever come back to.

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Color Me Shy

I will start off by saying that I am aware the suggested rating and my actual rating do not match up. What started as a promising drama with a fun and unique twist quickly lost its way and floundered badly before managing to find its way in the end and conclude on a positive note. The good beginning and ending, decent to good acting and exceptional OST and the emotions it left me with are what led me to give it the rating I did. However, if you're looking at it from strictly a critical standpoint, it definitely gets a 6.5.

The synopsis states that after encountering accidents, Talay and Puen, find themselves in an alternate universe in the bodies of Tess and Tun, respectively and learn that Tess and Tun are now in their universe living in their bodies. These two, who would never have formed a relationship in their universe, come together in an effort to make it back home and in the process fall in love. It's a fun concept with huge potential. The problem is that the synopsis isn't really what happens. Their goal to make it home falls to the wayside for a significant portion of the drama and instead the plot revolves around their sudden aspiration to become screenwriters with their new friends.

Honestly there were parts of it that I didn't mind. I enjoyed the groups' friendship and seeing them come together and overcome obstacles as they pursued their dreams. For me though, these should have been two different dramas. Talay and Puen are literally ripped from their lives, dropped into an unfamiliar world with unfamiliar people and within a very short span of time, we're expected to believe that everything's great, they're adjusted and living perfectly normal lives. Um, no. I can generally go with the flow pretty well, but in this case, the absurdity of it was too much. Finding yourself alone or, in this case, very nearly alone in a completely unfamiliar place is scary, its stressful and confusing. Those initial emotions were just completely glossed over. And Talay at least was shown as having a close knit group of friends, he had family, yet at no point does he really mention them or say anything about missing them. This is where the drama really fails because instead of going off on the screenwriting tangent, the focus should have remained on the body and universe switching, exploring how Talay and Puen adjusted to their new lives, their thoughts and feelings, how they are affected differently by the change. For example, Puen's reluctance to go home is explained eventually, but because it takes so long, it lacks the emotional impact it could have had if it was mentioned sooner. That focus on their adjustment to their new world would have created more opportunities for their relationship to develop and grow not to mention creating some fun opportunities to show the differences between the two universes. The screenwriting could have stayed played a part, but a significantly smaller one, something for them to do so that they appeared normal as they looked for a way home. And finally, I would have liked to seen how Tess and Tun fared in Talay and Puen's bodies. Obviously they found each other and reconnected and I would have liked to have seen that. Again, I think bouncing between the two universes and the two pairs as they actually tried to make it home would have been a much better option. Plus, more Ohm and Nanon acting.

Another aspect that became a major annoyance was the product placement. I would have thought by now I would be used to it, but they really took it to the next level here. It wasn't too terrible at first, but they kept notching it up a couple levels every few episodes it seemed like until it was just impossible to ignore. It honestly killed some scenes for me because they were more focused on selling the product than they were on selling the story they were telling. That was just disappointing.

I enjoyed the romance between the two leads. The development felt overall pretty natural. My one qualm is that there is a time jump of a year and it doesn't feel like their relationship has a year's progression. Otherwise though, I really liked the portrayal of a healthy relationship. I was really impressed with their overall communication. They actually talked to each other, had mature conversations, and sought to work things out. There was also an equality to their relationship. It wasn't just one constantly taking care of the other, they took care of each other. I found that to be refreshing and I just really enjoyed their dynamic.

I feel like I'm going to be in the minority with this, but I found the vet storyline to be incredibly annoying, mostly because of how unrealistic it was. Unless vet med is vastly different in Thailand than it is in the US, vets are not running fancy clinics like that by themselves with no staff, nor are they letting volunteers waltz in and start handling patients with absolutely no clue as to what they are doing. That is a huge liability. And when Fuse grabbed Lucky after he'd been hit by the car, all I could think was, Sir, you are so lucky that dog didn't bite your face off because it was in pain. As a former vet tech, I spent most of those scenes with my face in my hands just shaking my head.

The acting was overall not bad. Jimmy has improved significantly since Bad Buddy but he does seem to struggle with keeping his expressions nuanced. I felt he could be a bit one note at times. More emotional scenes were also hit or miss for him. Sea I liked for the most part. I felt his acting was more dynamic than Jimmy's and a bit more refined. However, he also struggled with some of the more emotional scenes. Their chemistry together though, was excellent, no complaints there.

The OST is phenomenal, in particular the songs Sea and Jimmy sing. They can both sing and they can sing well. Those two songs are absolutely highlights of this drama for me along with the rest of the music. I feel like both those songs really capture the heart of the drama and what it should have/could have been.

I really liked how color was woven throughout the story, from the title of each episode which I thought was quite clever to the significance it took in Talay and Puen's relationship. It gave it all a certain beauty and its the one reason I would go back and rewatch this drama, because I feel like I probably missed some aspects of it.

Ultimately this drama just couldn't quite live up to the story it set out to tell. It has some sweet moments, some great scenes, but unfortunately those are almost bittersweet because they just remind you of what it could have been.

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Left In The Dark

Wow, this movie left me with all the conflicting feelings and thoughts. I decided to watch it solely because of Fluke since he is such a strong actor. I don't necessarily love everything he is in, but even if the movie/drama isn't great, his acting is pretty much guaranteed to be solid and a highlight which was the case here. He is definitely the silver lining in this movie and I would actually say the acting is in general. The actors were all pretty solid, but Fluke definitely stood out.

The premise here was really interesting and had a lot of potential, but the problem, I felt, was that there was a lot left unclarified. I, like others, initially wondered if Night was a hallucination or figment of Wine's imagination, someone he created to help him cope after Tee never showed up to that building and he just kind of snapped. The problem with that though, I realized, was that Night and Wine did go out into public that one time and were seen by someone and interacted with him which, to me, knocks that theory out. So, if he is real, then what exactly is Night. He's not a vampire in the traditional sense, he seems to be a human being who requires human blood to survive. So was this some kind of disease? Has he been dealing with this his whole life? Why did they never think to seek medical treatment? For something that's pretty central to the story, nothing is explained about it. I also felt like more background was needed on Wine. Why was he the way that he was? He seemed damage, beyond the heartbreak that Tee caused and Boy's manipulation. Why was he so desperate to be loved? I found it a bit disappointing how surface level all the characters were, but especially him.

The story also felt rushed in terms of the relationships. We see Wine jump from man to man. The fact that he knew nothing about Night and was immediately ready to have sex with him made me think he was maybe a sex addict. But, no, we're expected to believe that in an incredibly short space of time, he's fallen so deeply in love with Night that he is willing to kidnap his ex-lovers in order to get the blood Night needs to live. Again, it feels rushed and implausible. With Wine's history, I didn't necessarily believe that he truly loved Night. And with Night being an amnesiac, I didn't really believe that he loved Wine either, certainly not initially since it didn't even seem like he fully understood what he was saying. This was the biggest issue for me because that's the core of the film, how far will you go to save the one you love. There needed to be way more set up for that and those parts needed to be drawn out to see the relationship develop if it was to be believable for Wine especially to have felt the depth of love required for his actions.

I did, however, enjoy Wine's descent into madness, if you will. Fluke plays the role brilliantly. You gradually start to realize that his love for Night isn't so much love as it is obsession and he truly is willing to do whatever it takes to keep Night to himself and preserve what they have. I also found Tee and Boy's reactions to being kidnapped really fascinating because it showed their true colors and how they truly felt about Wine. Tee, who really did love Wine despite his previous proclamations that he didn't, fought him initially, then stopped. He told him he loved him repeatedly, even when Wine refused to believe him anymore. Boy, on the other hand, who always seemed to view Wine more as a possession than as a person, raged at Wine for using him and cussed him out until Wine put an end to him. Their relationship was one of manipulation on both sides, however, due to his age, the power dynamic was definitely in Boy's favor and it was pretty clear that Wine was just doing what he had to do to get what he needed.

I found the ending to be equal parts stupid, lacking explanation and interesting. I found Night throwing himself away eye rolling frankly. It felt out of place. I could see the meaning in that particular spot because that's where they found the guitar, but still, I wasn't a fan. I wanted a little more information as to why exactly Wine was arrested. Did Tee end up telling the police after all, was Boy's body found, or what exactly transpired there? Not a huge deal, I just like details. I found the open ending though, to be interesting. I tend to prefer my endings all tied up with a neat bow, but there was something about that last shot of the guitar sitting in the cell that I really liked. Personally, I take it as both Night and Wine committing suicide. Aside from, again, Night appearing to throw himself away, he's obviously not willing to hurt anyone to feed himself so he's going to die of starvation anyway. And after losing Night, I think that would be the final straw for Wine. I view him seeing Night in the cell as a hallucination and the abandoned guitar as a sign that he's killed himself. If you're an optimist, I suppose you could also see it as they've escaped together and left the guitar behind, but based on the vibe of the rest of the movie, I'm kind of doubting it.

Ultimately, its not a god awful movie, it just doesn't live up to its potential. I think with some tweaks it could have been far superior to what it is, but unfortunately as it is, it feels pretty mediocre. The highlight is definitely the acting. I'm not going to tell anyone to avoid watching it, it's less than two hours long and I wouldn't say its a waste of time, but don't go in expecting a cinematic masterpiece.

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The King Has Fallen

I have rarely watched a drama that put me through such emotional highs and lows. What it did well, it did very well, but where it struggled in pacing, it struggled epically to the point that I shelved this drama for several months and very nearly dropped it. It is, in my opinion, a fairly flawed drama with an interesting concept but not nearly enough background or explanation for how things work. That being said it overcomes those flaws with colorful characters and an underdog story that keeps the viewer engaged.

The storyline as I mentioned before is, at its heart, your typical underdogs take on the big guns and come out victorious. It is also a comeback story for lead character, Ye Xiu, after being forced to retire from e-sports. It's overall quite heartwarming. It's fun to see this team slowly taking shape, to see the many personalities coming together and forming a cohesive unit. The first half or so of the drama focuses more on Ye Xiu and his comeback as Lord Grim, building up his new weapon and establishing his new character and the second half focuses more on the building of the team and their efforts to turn themselves into a professional team. Pacing during the first half is an issue with some real highs and then a lot of just filler that kills the mood. In particular, I believe it was around episodes 16-20 the pacing got so bad that it very nearly made me drop the drama. Thankfully things picked up again around episode 21 or so and the pacing improved significantly, but it was less than stellar there for a minute. One of the things I really appreciated about this drama was the lack of romance. I kept waiting for it to happen and was pleasantly surprised when it didn't. I enjoyed the focus on the friendships and felt that it was stronger remaining as such rather than evolving into something more.

This drama, overall, had a stellar cast. But there were a few that really stood out and a few that really didn't. Jiang Long as Shao Tian was a riot. I absolutely adored him and he was so entertaining to watch. He completely brought his character to life. I enjoyed his chemistry with Gao Han Yu as Yu Wen Zhou, they played off of each other really well and I overall just liked their friendship. Lai Yi is always a pleasure to watch because he just disappears into whatever character he's playing. He was so entertaining as the goofy Bao Rong Xing and I appreciated the chance to see him in a new kind of role. Daisy Li as Tang Rou did a good job of bringing her character's aloof arrogance while also showing her softer side. I've seen Yang Yang in a few dramas now and, in my opinion, he's mostly just a pretty face. He's not a bad actor, its more that it doesn't seem like he's really acting, like he's just being himself. He's not quite able to showcase more complex or subtle emotions. There's just a sameness to a lot of what he does that makes him a bit boring to watch. I really didn't find his character all that interesting and in part that was due to his acting. Lai Yu Meng as Su Mu Cheng had similar issues in that I felt she was very stale in her acting. Same facial expressions, same reactions throughout with very little variation throughout the drama.

Despite the large number of characters, I was overall quite impressed with how most of them were given enough screen time to make a meaningful contribution to the story. I was also impressed with the character development of many of the characters, particularly Sun Xiang. I really appreciated the fact that while his character improved and he wasn't the irredeemable jerk from the beginning, it wasn't like he'd turned into a saint either. He was still himself, still cocky, but not quite with that same I'm-better-than-everyone attitude. Chen Guo is another one who goes through quite a dramatic development from bullying internet café owner to supportive team manager. Her journey is definitely a bit more up and down and I found myself alternately really liking her character and finding her incredibly annoying. When she was being her bossy, badass self, I really liked her. She was a no nonsense, get stuff done kind of girl and I appreciated that. But once she found out who Ye Xiu was, I found her pandering to him to be annoying and out of character. And then once she became the team manager initially, her wishy washiness and weak willed attitude also seemed out of character. Once she snapped out of that and got back to being a girl boss, I enjoyed her character again. (As a side note, I had zero issues with her age. I didn't think she looked too old at all.) You also have characters like Yi Fan who starts out lacking confidence and acting as a doormat for others and by the end has gained confidence, is vice captain, and helps lead the team to victory. Each character has their own journey and there are a lot of characters who make personal discoveries through playing Glory and finding themselves better for it.

I was not overly fond of Ye Xiu's character for a number of reasons. First and foremost, he was just too perfect. I find characters like that supremely annoying because of how completely unrealistic they are. They're unrelatable and because of that I personally find them uninteresting. Similarly, the fact that he goes undefeated in the game until his weapon breaks, again, just seems unrealistic. I don't think he thought of himself as superior to anyone but his preachiness got irritating after a while. No one always knows the right thing to say in every situation.

Though limited, I really enjoyed the OST. The opening and closing songs were amazing and I enjoyed the other songs as well. My only complaint is that I felt they were overused. You had the same songs used repeatedly and it was noticeable after a while.

Despite overall enjoying this drama, there were definitely some flaws/things I didn't love.
-I like knowing how things work so one big issue I had was not having more information about Glory and the game's dynamics. With that I was left with a number of questions regarding Ye Xiu's Myriad Manifestation Umbrella. Could any player create their own weapon? And how exactly was that done? Were there any limits? And so on and so forth. Obviously not all of those questions could be answered, but I feel like a few of them could have been to give some basics.
-Sticking with game dynamics to an extent, more information on the guilds too and how they were laid out would have been interesting. They didn't play as big of a role after the first half of the drama, but during the first half it would have been nice to have a little more information.
-One aspect that I consider a flaw is that no one seemed to suspect Lord Grim of being Ye Xiu. Ye Xiu retires and suddenly this new, extraordinarily skilled player appears and no one finds that suspicious? Really?
-In these kind of underdog stories, I hate when they throw in gimmicks to make it so they win when they actually lost. They did that twice in this drama, the first time due to an issue with the referee's timer and the second in the finale they only won because Ye Xiu broke a record. To do it once is bad enough, but twice, especially in the final competition is just lame.
-I know Team Happy needed certain types of players for their team, but I didn't love the way they manipulated people to get them to join. Yes, they gave back game cards even after they'd taken them and ultimately no damage was done and people joined willingly, but they were still manipulative and that didn't sit well with me.

To sum it up, this drama left me with a mix of emotions. There were several scenes that left me feeling quite emotional, for example, when the captains and Shao Tian meet Ye Xiu in the Heavenly Domain and welcome him back and when Team Happy all assembles on stage at the conference. Those scenes were so well done, but a lot of the time, those highly emotional scenes would be followed by filler episodes or scenes that just kind of killed the mood. This drama was truly an emotional roller coaster and not necessarily in a good way. I'm glad that I finished it, but if Season 2 ever comes out, I don't think I'll be watching and I don't think this is a drama that I'll be rewatching, certainly not anytime in the near future.

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Strangely Charming

I am going to start off by saying this is NOT an example of a good BL. However, that being said, I kind of loved it. There was much awkwardness and less than perfect acting, dialogue, directing, cinematography, etc. yet it somehow managed to pull together a charming story that I thoroughly enjoyed.

The story was less BL and more mystery to be frank. The BL aspect really only comes about in the last episode. Like most BL's of this length, it felt like it could have been better if it was longer. There was just too much going on. The romance was rushed, the stalker aspect took up too much screen time, there was at least one unnecessary character as well as unnecessary drama. And then there are things like the class itself which makes little sense. Its supposed to be a Marriage and Family Occupational Therapy class, but all it seemed to entail was going out on dates and writing papers about it. Weird, but okay. Then there's the pairing up which I initially thought was going to be an opportunity to touch on the fact that being a heterosexual couple is not the only way to go and, yes, homosexual couples can have kids and a family too, but it was basically just a plot device to put our two leads together. And, of course, the post that gets everyone talking and is, for some reason, a kind of scandal. I never got a sense of why it was such a big deal and so incredibly overblown. It was pretty well established that Ji Woo wasn't really anyone people paid attention to and even Ro Ah isn't portrayed as being someone super popular, so what was all the fuss? All that being said, I was impressed that it actually had a linear storyline albeit one that was a bit overstuffed.

The acting was shaky. There were some really strong moments and there were some really weak ones. I felt like the more relaxed scenes like in the classroom, when Ji Woo and Ro Ah have lunch together, the double date, those were where the acting felt strongest. Especially the double date, it felt very natural and was fun and cute. The heavier, more dramatic scenes is where I felt the acting slip and seem more forced, not horrifically but enough that I didn't feel as much and wasn't as invested in the scene. Han Hyun Jun was definitely the stand out which is impressive considering this was his first drama role. I felt he embodied his character better than Kim Tae Hwan and was much better at using his eyes and facial expressions to convey emotion. Tae Hwan was more stiff and less expressive, almost robotic at times.

The characters were well done considering how short the drama was. While there was no way to give extensive background on any of them, I still felt all the information that was needed about them for the story to progress was present. I do feel like it would have been nice to have a little more background on how Ji Woo and Yu Na came to be friends aside from him drinking a bowl of liquor for her. And I also think that Ro Ah's friend, Nam Jun's role should have been greatly reduced. He didn't add much other than unnecessary drama and angst and I would have preferred to see that screen time used to develop the relationship of the leads.
- Ji Woo was fun to see him come out of his shell and become more secure in himself. He was such a sweetheart and I thought he was absolutely adorable. I don't think his character really brought anything new to the table, I've seen other BL's with very similar characters, but even so he wasn't boring. I feel like his change of feelings from Yu Na to Ro Ah was a bit sudden, but, again, since it's such a short drama, I can't really fault it for that. I do think the gradual change of his feelings was well done, little things that showed he was starting to fall for him. He was overall just a very likable character.
- Ro Ah, Ro Ah, Ro Ah, the man caused drama where there was literally no drama. I liked his character for the most part. He was a generally nice guy who fell for his junior and never expected to have that love reciprocated. But his level of self-sabotage was incredibly high. He spends the entire semester seemingly trying to win over Ji Woo, but the second Ji Woo says he likes him, he's like, nope, its all in your head and just disappears. His whole spiel of "what are the chances of your crush confessing to you" just had me rolling because, sir, pot calling kettle black. You're crush is literally trying to confess to you and you blow him off. And then we have his drama as he leaves with his talking about how he's made Ji Woo suffer and he's in pain. Exactly how did anything you do cause him to suffer? Literally nothing. He's the one who got his arm broken because he was trying to protect Ji Woo. And if Ji Woo was in pain at that point, it was because Ro Ah had just rejected him! There was just absolutely no reason for him to reject Ji Woo and it made no sense other than to up the drama factor and have the drama conclude with the two on the beach. This boy just had me face palming over and over again with his drama and shenanigans. He took falling on his own sword to the max.
- Yu Na was an interesting character and I liked that she actually had a personality. Most BL's fail to use their female characters as anything other than a way to cause drama between the leads, help get them together, be little more than props, or be the gay fangirls. Yu Na was her own person with her own story and I loved that. I also appreciated that she was willing to own up to her faults. She realized that she'd been using Ji Woo and manipulating him to an extent and she apologized for it. Despite using him though, she showed that she did truly care for him and I loved that their friendship remained intact despite his rejecting her.
- Hye Won just made me laugh with her strong/intense personality and also her crush on their professor. I don't know if some of those scenes between them were supposed to be humorous, but they were. That last scene between them was hilariously cringeworthy. Still, like Yu Na, I appreciated that she was her own person and she had her own agenda.

This drama tried to deal with some heavier subjects that aren't generally touched on in BL's and though the short length minimized their impact to an extent, it was still refreshing to have them presented. Stalking/the dangers of social media aren't issues that generally play a main role in BL's, but they are real issues, particularly for women. Social media like Instagram unfortunately serves as a hunting ground for predators where people post intimate details of their lives for anyone and everyone to see. I think it did serve as a good reminder to be careful about what you post and to keep in mind who may be looking. I appreciated that Yu Na learned that lesson and while she didn't hide, she did take precautions to make her new account private. Stalking is another issue that mainly women face. The fear Yu Na felt aware that someone was watching her was well portrayed and again, served as a reminder to be careful of what you put out there.

In terms of quality, it was hit or miss. There were some great shots where I really liked the lighting and other shots where the camera angle was good, but very few where I liked both. The sets were okay, but there were some not so great shots that I'm not sure were due to poor decision making skills or the set design. The music was okay but forgettable, nothing that I'll be adding to my playlist.

Despite the less than positive review, I really did enjoy this drama. It got a much higher rating than I think it actually deserves because I did enjoy it so much. Despite its many failures, it managed to charm me and convince me to see it through to the end. Its short enough that its worth the watch even if your unsure if you'll like it. Just consider it a short, fun, sweet diversion from the monotony of day to day life.

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Soul Stealingly Bad

I came to this drama shortly after watching Triage and I was very curious to see how the two would compare since they're both medical dramas. Triage is far superior in every respect. As with a lot of dramas, this one had an interesting and I feel like relatively unique premise, but the story got bogged down by inconsistent pacing, poor acting, lazy writing, and too many unanswered questions. I wanted to like it, but I just couldn't.

The inconsistent pacing was incredibly frustrating, there was just so much filler. It never found a good balance of moving the plot forward and explaining what was going on. There was a fair amount of pointless dialogue and scenes where nothing was accomplished. The result was insubstantial characters and rushed moments that really should have been drawn out more. For example, near the end when Prakan realizes that Raam had spread rumors regarding his father twenty years previously, he understandably wants him to pay for what he did. The whole process of he, Nuch, Metha, and Tuaphee deciding to find the evidence, actually finding the evidence, revealing it to Raam, and having Raam fired takes all of ten minutes maybe. It was something that felt like it should have greater significance than it did. The amount of repetition also slowed the pacing. There were numerous repetitive scenes of Metha and Nuch misunderstanding each other, Prakan going back and forth with being friends with Tuaphee and then hating him, multiple pointless scenes of him getting drinks, etc.

Since the drama revolved around the romance between a doctor and a reaper, I have to point out the complete lack of consistency and sense with the reapers. First of all, the rules of the reapers oftentimes didn't make much sense and were obviously just added in to suit the plot or alter it in some way. The punishments for breaking these rules also don't really make sense. And then there's the reapers' lifestyles. They're reapers, so why they would need to rent a place to live, eat, sleep, etc., basically all the things a human does is odd. And since everything they eat tastes bitter, it didn't make sense to see Tuaphee eating as often as he was. There's also the matter of the tickets the reapers magically pull out of their pockets. They're sent a ticket for the person's death, but then the person may still survive? That needed to be better explained along with everything else regarding the reapers.

The acting was really lacking. Nut as Prakan was the worst by far. His expressions were extremely limited and I got bored with them after a while. There just wasn't anything special about the way he played the character and I really struggled to stay interested. I also didn't feel a whole lot of chemistry between him and Karn, mostly on his part. Karn was really good at showing his affection with just his eyes, but I really didn't feel it with Nut. A lack of facial expressions was an issue with a lot of the cast. Yacht, Cookkai, and Pat as Metha, Nuch, and Kheeta respectively all had the same issue at times. It's like they would just get stuck for a while before shaking it off and then would get stuck again. I'm more than willing to chalk some of it up to the directing and the lazy writing since I've seen Yacht at least in other dramas and know he can be quite expressive. However, the fact that he was playing a serious rather than comedic role could also have been part of the issue. The chemistry between Yacht and Cookkai was pretty good, not amazing, but not bad. I actually thought they were strongest when bantering with each other than when they were trying to be romantic. Tae was overall pretty good in his performance as Nathee. The character was lacking, but I thought Tae did a good job with what he had. I didn't really feel the chemistry between him and Pat, but I put most of that on Pat. You could tell Nathee had feelings for Kheeta just from the way he looked at him. I didn't get that same impression from Kheeta. Karn and Singto as Tuaphee and Khett were the two major exceptions to the rule and were wonderful. I enjoyed both their performances very much. There were moments where Karn really reminded me of Saint as Pete in Love By Chance with his expressions which is not a bad thing at all. I really enjoyed seeing the different way he played Tuaphee when he was wearing his Hawaiian clothes versus his reaper clothes. It was almost like playing two different characters to an extent and I liked the way he did it, it added a greater dimension to the character. Singto just brought that very relaxed, chill mentor vibe as Khett. I honestly would have liked to have seen more of him.

The characters were all pretty flat. This series had a smaller cast than a lot Thai BL's but I felt like the characters were even less developed than in some of the ones with massive casts. What character development there was felt rushed and in some cases was almost non-existent.
- Prakan was frustrating from the get go in the way he treated Tuaphee. The way he treated him like a murderer made no sense. The man is supposed to be an intelligent doctor and he can't tell the difference between killing someone and leading a dead soul to the after life? That right there gave me a pretty low opinion of him. His hot and cold routine was also frustrating not to mention repetitive, treating Tuaphee like a friend one moment and then like a killer the next because someone he loved died. The one case I am willing to give him a little bit of leeway is in regards to his mother's death. Blaming Tuaphee for not telling him his mother was going to die was, not reasonable, but understandable. It felt like a human reaction and it was one I could understand. That being said though, his reactions to death didn't make sense as a doctor, especially one who works in an ER. His relationship with Tuaphee was further frustrating to watch, because Prakan starts to obviously have feelings for him pretty early on, but then we have a whole slew of crap thrown in to repeatedly push them apart and they don't actually get together until almost the very end. I also struggled to believe he, and most of the characters actually, were medical professionals. The level of immaturity and lack of communication was just off the charts at times. It felt like the hospital was being run by children.
- Tuaphee was a far more interesting character than Prakan and one of the only reasons I stuck through this drama. I found him to be very relatable in that he knows he should really stay away from Prakan, but also can't stand being apart from the person he loves. In some ways, I found him to be the most human character. His tolerance when it came to Prakan was truly admirable, especially since Prakan spent quite a lot of time treating him like dirt. His unwillingness at times though to communicate got old. I get that he thought he was doing the right thing by separating himself from Prakan but at a certain point he should have figured out that communication was the only way to solve things. I did feel like their relationship was uneven, with Tuaphee being the one to make the most sacrifices while Prakan pretty much skated on by. When they were reunited, I also felt like he should have more fully explained to Prakan what being with a reaper really meant before asking him to commit to their relationship. They had that conversation later, but some aspects like the fact he would never age and they could never get married or have children seem like they should have been addressed at that time.
- Metha was an overall frustrating character because of his failure to communicate. He liked Nuch but wouldn't come out and tell her. He obviously regretted how his friendship with Prakan had taken a turn for the worst, but refused to address it. He was one of the most repetitive characters, just constantly in the same situations without really changing anything. And then once he did change, it felt too abrupt to me. It was like one minute he was an ass and the next he was a relatively decent guy. His willingness to do whatever it took to become chief of surgery was disconcerting and I really didn't like that it was brushed off so quickly and easily. I felt like that was something that needed to be addressed and he needed to acknowledge and I never felt like he did.
- Nuch was mostly awesome, some times annoying, more so when she was crying. Her wailing crying was so fake it hurt to watch. But aside from that, I really liked her character. She was a badass with a big heart. I loved her friendship with Prakan, they were so much fun to watch together and the way they supported each other was very sweet. I honestly think she could have done better than Metha, but I will admit that they ended up being a relatively cute couple. I do think their relationship could have been better developed, it felt rushed to me which is part of why I'm not overly infatuated with them. Her two instances of illness were completely out of the blue and horribly developed. The first time with her collapsing from exhaustion was reasonable, but there needed to be more lead up to it. The second time with the GI bleed was just absurd and an excuse to finally get her and Metha together. I found it completely unbelievable and contrived.
- Kheeta was one of the characters I was not particularly fond of. I didn't find him at all interesting and didn't feel like he added much. It was awkward watching him try to confess to Prakan not once but twice. I found his determination to make Prakan love him uncomfortable. If someone says no, then the answer is no. To me it showed a lack of respect for Prakan and his feelings. His relationship with Natee was not believable to me. He confesses to Prakan a second time and then seems to almost immediately turn around and hook up with Natee and develop feelings for him. I was very thankful that scene was short. Besides the fact that it seems out of character for him to just sleep with Natee like that, there's also the lack of consent. Regardless of the fact that Natee was making a move on him, he should have realized that Natee was drunk and unable to properly give consent and simply left.
- Natee was a bit more of an interesting character, but I felt like his character growth was a bit choppy and inconsistent. Similarly to Metha, his determination to do whatever it took to win was disconcerting. I never got a good feel for why he was such a complete jerk to everyone. I get that he had a rough childhood with his dad, but his rudeness to everyone except Metha and his immediate loyalty to Metha was just weird. I needed more background for him to really understand where he was coming from. Also similar to Metha, I felt like his change from jerk to good guy was too abrupt but was more balanced. He became an overall nicer person, but he still had his prickly personality. His relationship with Kheeta was poorly developed. It was mostly one-sided on his part and then suddenly they were together. I needed more of a build up on both sides to get on board with it.

There are a few other little things that I felt the drama lacked that I'll mention here.
- How much time elapsed between scenes and events was rarely, if ever, discussed or shown. While not always a big deal, there were some moments where it felt necessary to have that distinction. For example, in regards to Kheeta and Natee's relationship, it felt like Kheeta got rejected by Prakan and then almost immediately did an about face and said he liked Natee. I'm going to guess that more time passed than it seems, but it really cheapened the relationship for me and I didn't find it believable that Kheeta's feelings had changed that quickly.
- All three couples got together at more or less the same time. For Kheeta and Natee and Metha and Nuch, it felt rushed. I think having the relationships all move at their own pace throughout the drama with the couples getting together more one by one rather than all at once would have made more sense and would have been more organic.
- The medical aspect left a lot to be desired. That was one of the reasons I was really interested in this drama so I was disappointed to see it so poorly executed. Patients underwent surgery without being intubated, surgical gloves were not always worn correctly, doctors acted like they had no idea what to do in some situations, and other instances that just pulled me out of the moment. The absurdity of it just left me banging my head against the wall. I also found it very odd that two such young surgeons would be up for chief of surgery. I get that they both had shares in the hospital but that's the kind of position I would see an older, more experienced surgeon taking. The lack of really any senior medical staff was off to me.
- The one thing I will give credit to is that while a lot of dramas that pair off humans and non-human entities fail to really address the consequences of said relationship, namely that nearly all cases, the human will continue to age while the non-human is ageless, this one did not shy away from it. I appreciated that. However, the fact that everyone else who died appeared exactly as they were and then Prakan dies as an old man and his soul is young again was vaguely annoying. I know it's a small thing, but after so many inconsistencies, it would have been nice to have one thing remain. But, moving on, the final scene where Prakan has evidently been reincarnated and he can still see Tuaphee was borderline creepy to me because it intimated that he was going to wait for him to grow up and likely pursue a relationship with him again. I already found it vaguely off-putting that he did that the one time, especially since he viewed Prakan as a younger brother when he was alive and then developed romantic feelings for him after watching him grow up, but the fact that it seems its going to be a cycle pushed it into creepy territory for me.

The cinematography was quite good, there were a few really beautiful shots, especially at the end, that I felt really encompassed the emotion the scene was trying to convey. The OST was good, not as memorable as other dramas, but I did enjoy it.

For all that this is supposed to be a romance, I felt it was more like 90% angst and 10% romance. The romance really doesn't kick in until the last couple of episodes and by then its too little too late. Its sad that such a promising concept wasn't given the proper resources to really shine because I think it could have been spectacular, but the overwhelming negative aspects make it mediocre at best. This is not a drama I would really recommend and its certainly not one I'll be rewatching.

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Unexpectedly Lovely

I didn't have particularly high expectations going into this drama. The synopsis sounded relatively promising and it was short, so even if it was terrible at least I hadn't wasted a huge amount of time on it. This drama, however, proved to be anything but terrible and is one of the best I've watched in a while. I literally stayed up until 4 am just to finish watching it.

The story for me was a fascinating combination of simplicity and complexity. The overall plot is fairly simple, friends who make videos investigating the paranormal. The complexity comes from how the character's lives interweave with that simple story and how their relationships with each other change and grow. Its truly beautiful to watch. I was never bored, despite there being a few parts during the middle when things were a bit slow, but I don't feel like those moments really take away from the drama either. My only qualm is that I feel like they could have used the mystery of the nunnery to better effect. I was really fascinated with it in the beginning and it just kind of fell by the wayside eventually and only cropped up when convenient.

The acting was so good. Erek Lin in particular as Amber was amazing. Every time he was onscreen, I was just riveted by his performance. The depth that he managed to portray with simple looks was truly impressive. Lukas Huang as Le was also quite good. Where I could really feel Amber's pain and distress and believe it, I didn't find Lukas as believable when having to portray more extreme emotions. I really noticed at the end when he talks to his mom. The scene and dialogue are beautiful, but his acting just feels a touch forced and inauthentic. Otherwise though, I really enjoyed his portrayal of Le. Tannie Huang also did a lovely job as Yu He. She portrayed a character that could very easily have been annoying but she managed to find a balance that really worked and I ended up really loving and feeling for her character. Lin Wei Jie and Leo Guo were equally good as Li and Gwan. Though I found Li's portrayal to be a bit over the top at times, he was overall a loveable guy and not too terribly annoying. Gwan sometimes felt like he was just kind of there and I felt like Leo could have used his facial expression to better effect at times, but overall enjoyed his performance as well.

One of the things I loved about this drama was how overall well-rounded the vast majority of the characters were despite its short length. Particularly the characters of Le, Yu He, and Wen-Wen. I know a lot of people found the flashbacks to be annoying, but I personally found them to be very interesting in comparing their personalities as children and then as adults and seeing the ways they were still the same and the ways they had changed.
- Wen-Wen aka Amber obviously had the biggest change, both physically and mentally. Even when he is first introduced as an adult, you can see how mentally and emotionally fragile he is. He is no longer the carefree child. But what is also obvious almost from the get go, is his love for Le and how that has never changed. He is such a sweet character and his story is so unique in terms of BL stories, I've never seen one with a similar character. His rawness and vulnerability are so beautifully portrayed by Erek. And his fear of being found out and rejected is almost palpable. I honestly spent half the drama just wanting to give him a hug. I really enjoyed watching his relationship with Le grow, in a different way from when they were children. The ending with the two of them was just so heartwarming and I was so happy to see him accepted and loved unconditionally.
- I knew I was going to like Le from the first moment; everything about him just screamed that he was an honestly good person. And he did not disappoint. He was a bit of a typical BL guy in that he wasn't interested in anyone and wasn't really looking for love. His sexual preference is never really overtly discussed. Wen-Wen was his childhood sweetheart, but aside from her, there's no impression given that he's ever liked anyone else. But there is an obvious connection between him and Amber pretty much from the first. He's protective of him and far more affectionate towards him than his other friends. While its obvious to anyone else that he has feelings for Amber, he's oblivious to those feelings until Yu He talks it out with him. I think all of it is handled very well. His confusion regarding his feelings is understandable. Are they because he loves Amber for Amber or is it because Amber reminds him of Wen-Wen? And what I love is that he's able to separate the two. He loved Wen-Wen because of who she was when they were children, but he fell in love with Amber because of who he was before he even knew he was once Wen-Wen. Their conversation at the end when they're in the forest was just sheer perfection and really showed to me how far Le had come.
- I was not sure what I was going to think of Yu He initially. Her loud mouth and big personality gave her the potential to be annoying, but this drama did what a lot of BL dramas don't and actually utilized their female character. Instead of having her serve no other purpose than comedic relief or just to push the story along, she was her own person with her own hopes and dreams. I really came to love her character and to appreciate the hard situation she found herself in. I truly admired and appreciated the grace with which she gave up her love for Le, which had to be so incredibly hard since she'd loved him since they were children. They could have turned her into an absolute harpy and used her to hurt both Amber and Le but I'm so happy they didn't. Her reaction to finding out about Amber was completely heartfelt and I really liked that their friendship, though definitely changed was still intact. With that in mind, I can't agree with everything that she did, but I never felt that her intentions were in any way malicious. She came across as very human and relatable. She was just an all around fantastic character and I wish BL dramas had more like her.
- I'm going to lump Li and Gwan here together as I didn't have particularly strong opinions about either of them. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed them and I thought they made a cute couple, but I wasn't hugely invested in their story and they kind of faded out after their little tiff and making up. There just wasn't a whole lot there to really interest me. What I did like and found unique was having a secondary couple that was already established; they'd been together for four years. And with that was the simple domesticity of their living together. Most dramas are so fraught with the drama of the couples getting together that scenes like that are few and far between if present at all so I did like that addition.
- Le's mom was frankly awesome. She was such a tolerant and supportive mother and that last scene with her and Le was just so heartwarming. I also just loved how she was basically everyone's mom and always welcoming and caring to all of Le's friends.

I really enjoyed the music. The opening song was fun and catchy and the song they used for closing several episodes was really beautiful.

Gorgeous cinematography. Sweeping view of Taiwan's stunning country will never get old.

I adore this drama. It was beautiful and heartfelt and so worth the watch. It had a few minor bumps, but overall I felt it was a well-rounded, well-told story with characters that truly drew you in. I highly, highly recommend watching it. The first couple episodes are maybe a tad slow, but its well worth sticking it out.

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Bordering on a Masterpiece

I started this drama immediately after finishing watching The Untamed, which many viewers commented was a masterpiece. However, after watching Word of Honor, between the two, it is the true masterpiece. Oftentimes when it comes to Chinese dramas, I find them to be far too long with too many filler episodes or repeats of similar events; it gets tedious and boring. This drama is exceedingly rare in that I wouldn't have minded in the slightest if it was slightly longer. The last five or so episodes seemed rushed and the ending felt abrupt, not to mention depressing. With that, be sure to watch Episode 37 (its not on Netflix if that's where you're watching) as it gives a far more positive conclusion. Overall though, I didn't feel like there were really any completely pointless episodes. There were a few scenes were the dialogue dragged a bit, but not horribly so.

The story is solid. It flows well and really only leaves one unanswered question that immediately comes to mind, which is pretty good all things considered. The dialogue overall feels realistic and not forced or awkward other than at a few points. The story telling with flashbacks also worked well I felt. My only complaint in that regard was how many characters or younger versions of characters were introduced at once. It got a little confusing trying to pair names with faces and what their importance was. I also liked that the villains all got the endings that they deserved. Dramas like to have these absolutely abhorrent characters who commit unspeakable crimes and then they get off easy, either being allowed to commit suicide or dying from an illness or something equally lame. That did not happen here which I liked. The characters are nuanced and flawed and realistic, or as realistic as they can be. No character is perfect, they all have their faults with some realizing those faults and striving to overcome them, others who realize those faults and don't care, and still others who are completely oblivious. There's a good mix. Another aspect I really appreciated is that the villain wasn't immediately given away. I hate when dramas have a character smirking evilly in the background and then act like its a big shock when its confirmed. Here I was unsure of who was the true villain for a decent while. I had my ideas, but they did such a good job of keeping me on my toes and second guessing myself. I really enjoyed that.

The acting was fantastic. Again, this drama is a rarity in that I didn't feel that any one actor was truly lacking. The chemistry between Wen Kexing and Zhou Zishu was flawless and their relationship was lovely to watch develop. As a side note, I was both surprised but also enjoyed their obvious romance. In The Untamed, the two lead's relationship is only hinted at, I assumed due to Chinese censorship, but in Word of Honor there was absolutely no denying that those two were a couple. Anyway, I also really loved the chemistry between Kexing, Zishu, and Chengling. Their relationship grew so much over the course of the drama and their little family was just perfect. I could go on and on about how much I enjoyed everyone's performance, but I'll leave it there.

Costuming as with most Chinese dramas was gorgeous. I appreciated the way their costumes reflected which face they were showing to the world. For example, Wen Kexing tended to wear more pastel colors when in the human world with Zhou Zishu and red when acting as ghost chief. Scorpion King wore black and leather when acting as Scorpion King but lighter colored, flowing robes when he was acting as the dutiful son. I also liked that Gu Xiang's clothing was made to be practical but also flattering. My favorite costume of hers is what amounts to a short layered dress with pants underneath; practical and feminine. The wigs, as always, looked terribly fake from certain angles, but I've gotten to a point where I'm not particularly fazed by that anymore since its so common.

The OST was gorgeous, I loved both the opening and closing songs and everything in between. The music was woven in flawlessly and really helped to enhance scenes and set the mood.

I will conclude by simply saying that this a very strong, well done drama and I highly, highly recommend watching it. It is one that I will absolutely re-watch in the future.

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Not Much Cooking

I watched this series solely for Off/Gun because they were so phenomenal in Not Me, but Not Me and Cooking Crush are polar opposites in every way. Cooking Crush is a rom-com but unfortunately neither the rom or the com was done particularly well and as a whole it lacked substance. It was generically cute with nothing to make it stand out from the legion of other Thai rom-coms. The cooking aspect, which could have made it more unique, was not utilized well enough to make a mark. With such a stellar cast, I'm disappointed that it didn't live up to it's potential.

Cooking Crush really leaned into the comedic side of things from the get go with heavy use of sound effects and exaggerated acting from its cast. But it wasn't well thought out, intelligent humor, it was simply cheesy and, in a number of cases, cringeworthy. In fact, it was so painful and not to my taste that I very nearly dropped it then and there. The main plot centers around Prem, a cooking student, who meets Ten, a med student, in a series of unfortunate events that eventually leads to Ten trying Prem's food and finding it to be absolutely delicious. He proceeds to ask Prem to teach him to cook which Prem refuses until he's in need of money to pay for his sister's school and agrees, though he charges an exorbitant price that Ten is all too willing to pay. From there they slowly fall in love, facing a few up and downs with time spent apart, the disapproval of Ten's father, and a brief scandal. The secondary couple of Dynamite, Prem's fellow cooking student friend, and Fire, a pharmacy student and Ten's friend, focuses on Fire separating himself from his domineering mother and finally having the freedom and opportunity to discover himself and come to terms with his own sexuality. Dynamite, having fallen for Fire some time previously, relentlessly pursues Fire, sometimes stalking him, in an effort to win him over which is eventually successful though they still have to contend with Fire's mother once she finds out. Secondary to the romance is Prem and his friends journey to be on a popular cooking show and the various challenges they face with it. It's a very simple series without much depth and it can stray into being downright tedious times. And for a show called Cooking Crush, I expected a much greater focus on the cooking and, once the cooking show began, on it. But while food is certainly woven throughout the story and is utilized well at times, there was a lack of detail that made it seem shallow. For all that Prem was supposed to be teaching Ten to cook, it felt more like a cooking demonstration as Ten wasn't seen doing a whole lot. The show, which could have been a great way to lean into the cooking aspect, was not well defined and key elements like the tasting and judges' comments on the food were left out. The pacing was slow. It could have very easily been condensed into ten, maybe even fewer episodes. There's a fair amount of filler with nothing going on or just sweet scenes between the couples which were not needed.

The characters themselves had both highs and lows to them, though Ten and Prem were certainly the highlight. One of the biggest downsides was that they were all supposed to be college students and yet the immaturity level made them seem more like high school students or even younger. There were also a few character inconsistencies, namely, Ten's father scolds him for using his fists to defend Prem, but a few episodes earlier he had slapped Ten himself. Despite that, there was some decent character development which I did appreciate.
-Prem is a budding chef who has the skills to succeed but lacks the confidence to do so. Prem's journey, besides romantic, is learning to develop his self-confidence and have faith in himself and his skills. Of course there's also his relationship with Ten, which starts out rocky, but quickly takes on a romantic note when the pair develop mutual feelings. Though there are moments of immaturity between the two, having their friends run messages between them being a big one, they are generally pretty solid together. Other than the aforementioned case and one or two other instances, communication is generally a strong point between them. Their support for each other is also quite endearing. I was, however, surprised when he started making unilateral decisions for his team after the drama with Ten punching Chang Ma. It felt out of character for him.
-Ten is a shy med student haunted by his past. He can be a bit of a hot head, but he learns from the mistakes he makes and more importantly is willing to admit to those mistakes and apologize for them. His love for Prem pushes him out of his comfort zone and helps solidify what he wants in life. His unending support and encouragement of Prem was very sweet. We should all have such support in our lives.
-Dynamite is characterized by his fiery personality that refuses to be contained or in any way diminished. He loves fiercely and gives his all, no matter the situation. Though his pursuit of Fire does stray into downright stalking, he's not creepy or threatening about it, just overenthusiastic, not that that makes it okay. He does eventually learn to respect Fire's boundaries and gains some maturity. Hiding their relationship from their friends though is not one of their smarter moves and does cause damage when Unky finds out he was left in the dark when Prem knew. It's a learning experience for all involved. And while he does grow and mature, he also never loses sight of who he is which I found admirable.
- Fire is the one character who experiences an identity crisis when faced with the fact that he might not be straight. Controlled and suppressed by his domineering mother, he is only allowed to explore his own wants and desires after she allows him to move out. And while he is clearly drawn to Dynamite, he is reluctant to voice the possibility that he may be into guys. One thing that I appreciated throughout this drama is that there are no labels. No one is identified as strictly gay or straight and none of the challenges they face in their relationships are related to their sexuality. It's refreshing. Once Fire recognizes his own feelings and accepts them, he's all in, quickly turning into a sweet, loving boyfriend. Perhaps a little too abrupt of a change for my taste. And while he may not see eye to eye with his mother, I did like the way their relationship was portrayed and how once he gained the courage to actually tell her how he felt, she respected that and was open to talking.
-Unky stood out to me with his passion and determination. The oldest of his friends, he faces the fear that they'll eventually decide to leave him behind, a fear that is the driving force behind his fight with in Ep 9. The way that they assuage those fears is very wholesome and creates a sweet scene. I do wish we'd seen a bit more maturity from him given that he was older than the others, but I suppose that's a fairly minor complaint. His budding relationship in the last episode with Pang was cute though I wish it had been introduced earlier.
-Chang Ma was an unnecessary character, at least as a love interest. I would have much preferred for him to be left as a mentor and friend for Prem rather than someone who came in and tried to stir up trouble. I actually quite liked him at first, but when he started pushing boundaries and vying for Prem's affection even though it was obvious he had feelings for Ten, official or not, he lost my respect. He did eventually get the message and helped to take the heat off of Prem's team after Ten punched him, but the damage was done as far as I was concerned.
-With the parents, I liked the fact that the gender of their child's partner was never an issue, even with Ten's father. He was concerned about Prem trying to scam Ten, not that Prem was also a man. And I loved Prem's grandmother and how supportive she was of Prem in everything. She was an absolute gem.

The acting was not quite as strong as I was expecting. I know how strong of actors Off and Gun are and this was not their best work. While the chemistry was there, it just wasn't at the same level as it was in Not Me or even Theory of Love. Neo was good as always, though having just seen him in Only Friends, his performance wasn't quite as strong here. Newbie Aungpao was entertaining as Dynamite and while it was obvious he wasn't quite as seasoned as the other actors, he still did a good job and was fun to watch. Dome was one of the stronger actors and I thought he did a great job giving a nuance performance.

The production value was decent. The uncut version has a much better flow whereas the cut version had some choppy scenes and cuts. I would definitely recommend the uncut version as it provides more insight into various characters and their actions/interactions. However, even in the uncut, there are still some awkward jumps and tonal shifts. With the cooking element, no offense to the actors, but not once did I believe they were actually culinary students. Their knife and cooking skills/technique was not up to snuff. This is where clever camera angles, close ups of hands and the like, etc. could have been utilized to fool viewers into thinking they were far more skilled than they appeared.

Ultimately I found Cooking Crush to be disappointing. Given the caliber of its cast, it could have been so much more, but the overly campy nature of it really suppressed their talent and it didn't have the weight it could have had. I would have loved to have seen a more serious take, with some humor still thrown in, and more of a focus on the food and how it brings the characters together. But that's just me, I prefer dramas like Not Me over ones like Cooking Crush. If you're an Off/Gun fan, you may very well enjoy it or if camp is your genre of choice, but if you are looking for something more akin to Not Me, this is not the drama for you.

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