Doesn't try to do too much
This is a 30 minute film that focuses on a single conversation between two boys. Because that's all there is, the writing and acting have to carry it. I thought they did a great job!They somehow manage to get backstory in there without an infodump (I hate those), the conversation never gets slow, and it's always going somewhere. By the end you feel like you understand where they came from to get to this place.
Then at the end there's a surprise, which I won't spoil, but which seems to signal a sequel?
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You are only skin deep
If short clips series are becoming a trend, this series raises the bar among the lot.Although this series is short, each character has a personality and motivation that bring its own color to the show.
Shi Qi is the loyal, determined female lead who values relationship and integrity above all else; while Shen Qin plays the foil to Shi Qi's light, a woman who equally puts love above all else, though has walked the obsessive path instead. As for the male leads, I like Xiao Han Sheng's premise, who trust his instincts above all else; and King Ning rounds up this cast perfectly with his obsession of an "impenetrable front", only to reveal a vulnerable soul within after getting hit by our Shi Qi - literally (in one of the scene) and figuratively (referring to his "front").
Familiar stranger has the familiar troupes, pun intended, we know well. Shi Qi and Xiao Han Sheng are the fated characters who shared a short, unforgettable encounter in the past. which eventually blooms into a love that transcend physicality. i.e. Xiao Han Sheng is able to recognise Shi Qi at the core of who she is despite black magic is not something that is common in this world's setup. Prince Ning is the typical frivolous second male lead that wants the 1 girl who sees him beyond his status of King and who he is within the tough front - a vulnerable, lonely soul who pushes everyone away. And Shen Qin's questionable acts have a proper link to her childhood days, as revealed during the climax.
Familiar stranger shows that what audience laments about familiar troupes ain't because they are familiar, it's about the execution - the care it gives to the characters, the care it gives to a well woven plot, care it gives to find a cast who can act their roles proper. When proper care is given, familiar troupes be damned, I will watch your drama and rate it well.
The intensity of a complex plot and dark villain (she does use black magic after all) is balanced well with supporting cast who has a more lighthearted personalities. I love love love the banter between Xiao Han Sheng and his military advisor. And yes, even if I know it's another cliche, I buy-in the adopted cute daughter as our main leads' romance catalyst.
All in all, if you like suspense romantic drama but don't have much time, this short 10 mins of18 episodic series will serve you well.
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A Dish Served Best In Longer Runtimes
Many who watched this probably had similar thoughts to mine. These are like 15 min eps and they are TOO SHORT! But the production quality is still SO GOOD! Dammit Korea lol. They really need to stop with these and continue with the full length series. It clearly worked with "Light on Me" and it'll continue to work moving forward.This series was still alright though. My first thoughts were: Okay why was him pulling him around and towards him via the belt on his apron hot AF (lol). This is cute I like the dynamic, though I have no clue how these 2 are gonna end up lovers lol. The ways that they finessed these 2 together were alright considering the lack of time to do so. They had me hooked enough to finish the series! But it made me want more and disappointed by the rush in conflict by the end. There's been better Korean BL series, even with shorter run times. However this one is somewhere in the middle.
Also Jung Woo wearing that purple floral granny hat was everything, while Do Gun be chasing him with a literal kraken. That I will keep in my heart forever
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Saved by the long haired devil in Prada.
This is one of those dramas with many, many flaws but somehow still manages to be so very enjoyable to watch that it commands higher ratings than it deserves. It is also one where for me, a secondary lead playing a dark character completely steals the show and wins my heart.This is the story of Hua Qiangu (Zhao Liyang), a cursed orphan who has a tendency to attract demons. She is rescued from angry and fearful villagers by a powerful immortal Bai Zihua (Wallace Huo) who after many trials, reluctantly accepts her as his disciple. Of course they can't help falling in love but if the master disciple relationship is not obstacle enough, she is also fated to be his calamity and it is his duty to suppress the demon goddess within her by killing her. They come regularly in conflict with factions of the Demon Sect, who are out to steal a number of magical artifacts that when put together unleashes the demon forces. When her master Bai Zihua is mortally injured, Hua Qian Gu goes on a quest to recover all of the artifacts regardless of the consequences. This is a result of the machinations of a mysterious antagonist that results in a good surprise plot- twist.
As a couple Qiangu and Zihua would have worked better if Wallace Huo had not appeared to be icy-faced practically all of the time. He is a good enough actor that he must have just been a bit lazy in this role. As a result, his Bai Zihua came dangerously close to crossing the line of being cruel and indifferent to Hua Qiangu. I was still rooting for them as a couple but there were many moments where he really angered me. This made Hua Qiangu seem a bit silly for being so devoted to such a cold fish when she was surrounded by so many other more worthy suitors. Huo's rather flat performance left the door open for the secondary leads to steal the show and indeed they did. Andy Zhang was really very convincing as Dong Fang but it is Kyle Ma's Sha Qian Mo that shocked and awed.
I would probably have given this show a 7 or 7.5 without Ma's Sha Qian Mo. He was equally compelling as the fearsome and deadly Demon Lord as he was as Hua Qiangu's tender and protective Sha Jiejie. He is a total fashion diva that embraces his feminine side, pulls off these colorful, exotic and unambiguously female outfits and hilariously exchanges beauty tips with Qiangu. He would sadly advice her not to love her callous sifu so much despite sagely knowing she wouldn't be able to help herself. This was one of the characters from the show that really resonated with me and saved the drama. I'd like to see this actor again in some better roles!
The overall story-line is very interesting it moves at a nice pace for the most part and then at the end the story gets garbled, a bit confusing and then it ends abruptly. It is as if they ran out of time or something. This is really absurd because they wasted hours and hours on this super annoying, whiny CGI caterpillar character that turns into a noisy, talkative and thoroughly irritating girl. The directors and scriptwriters really deserve to be spanked for wasting time they did not have on this now hopefully unemployed actress. This could have and should have been a much better show. Still while rushed, the ending was not as terrible as some have described as the two leads did manage to click well in the finale. Its is still overall enjoyable and worth watching.
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Soo sweet the cotton candy turned in to goo
Any review of this drama can probably not include spoilers as this drama is pretty much the type to spoil itself with so many known c-drama tropes you will feel like you are watching all the c-fluff dramas you have previously seen all at once. As even the product placement of Rio is back alongside fluffy feathery snow.. .The male lead is the typical icicle god. A swimmer who only has eyes for the female lead, completely lacks verbal communication skills but does seem to have some kind of basic respect towards women when he is not jealous.
The female lead is the typical insecure bubbly lovable gal who if you put aside her self doubt is actually pretty smart and funny... giving us a lot fun scenes and some pretty amusing lines a long side the misunderstandings and very odd assumptions.
The rest of the characters range from so annoying you want to shove them off a cliff to smart and pretty decent some will go between these two, while others are consistently annoying witch it too bad.
What ups the score is the ab-humour, abs and the female leads overall lovability. What keeps it from going up is its draggieness predictability and the over use of gestures and cheese turning this cotton candy fluff piece in to melted goo... covered in cheese.
So if you are in need of som goo and a lot of cliches + can handle over acting and annoying characters come along this is the place to be. If not then I suggest you move along and watch something else.
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NEW favorite BL series!
I usually don't write reviews, but this series is too amazing.The story may sound boring, like it's been done before. BUT Nanon and Ohm make this series SPECIAL! First the acting was top-notch. Nanon and Ohm are such great actors with great chemistry together. You can really see it throughout the series. The whole cast did a great job as well. This show breaks the stereotypes! P'Aof did an amazing job directing.
The music scores in this series were beautifully done. It fit the mood of the scenes so well. We have 3 OST's. I loved them all. Definitely check those MV's out!
I would totally rewatch this series. It is now my comfort show.
Overall, this show can join ITSAY as another masterpiece. ( for me at least). If you haven't watched the show, I highly recommend watching this series!
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This drama has everything: lovable chraracters, great humor, deep meaningful plot, interesting supernatural power usage, wonderful character development, cross dressing, love triangle and just completely entertaining from the beginning to the end!
If you are a fan of high school dramas this is a must watch, you will love this, I can't wait to rewatch this unsubbed once my Japanese is better
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This review may contain spoilers
I have lost count as to how many times I have binge watched this drama
I don't usually write reviews but I wanted to for this drama even though there are tons of reviews out there. I have thoroughly enjoyed watching, and binge watching this drama over and over again.The story is good, the characters are freaking precious and their bond is something that's even more precious. I love Pete and Kao so freaking much. Thier chemistry is no joke. This is honestly my favourite drama and they are my fav ship right now. I fell in love with them and I even fell for the side couple Sun and Mork.
And the cool gang, especially June, I love him so much. There hasn't been a single scene with him where I haven't laughed. Sandee and Thada were equally likable.
I have read a tons of reviews on this drama and some people voiced out that Pete's possessiveness is toxic but honestly I enjoyed seeing him get possessive and protective over his boyfriend. On top of that, Pete is someone whose confession started from "I am possessive of you". So I couldn't expect any less honestly. His possessiveness defines him.
Talking about Kao, damn how can someone be so adorable. Kao is independent, intelligent and very caring. He doesn't voice it out much but he really loves Pete a lot and I love him so freaking much. All hearts to this cute polar bear.
Okay it's a messy review. I don't even know if this can be called a review. Anyway I recommend this drama. It's really really worth watching.
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This review may contain spoilers
The Story Has Its Flaws But Ohm and Nanon Carries The Show Effortlessly
I’ve been reading some of the other reviews to ascertain where I stand in terms of Bad Buddy as a whole. And after all that back and forth – reading both the negative and positive reviews, I can objectively say, with definitiveness, that Bad Buddy is the BEST BL that GMMTV has produced so far. Relative to other BLs produced by other studios, Bad Buddy easily soars up high in the list. Now, this isn’t to say that Bad Buddy is perfect, if anything, it tries to be (and it almost comes close) but is held back by a few faults of its own, but not for lack of trying.MUSIC
I don’t think I need to say a lot in this aspect. We had three original soundtracks created specifically for this series, and that alone is enough to tell you that the music is on point (as it should be for music created for this specific show). One genius move they made was to hold back the lyrics of the opening melody until the very last episodes. This was a pleasant surprise for the fans as the song had been hiding under their noses!
ACTING/CAST
If I were to specify the one thing that carried the whole show from start to finish, it would be Ohm and Nanon, and I’m not saying this lightly. Both Ohm and Nanon have received praise for their acting chops in their previous work. And so it is no surprise that a combination of them is deadly. With their experience and being friends in real life, their chemistry could only have been absolutely and effortlessly phenomenal, and it is. They have delivered what is arguably the best kiss in a BL, and more! As for the other casts, aside from the older actors and Love, it's just that their characters and the story did not lend them enough screen time to flesh out any outstanding performance, but that isn’t to say they’re bad.
Ohm and Nanon’s chemistry is unquestionably the best asset of this show, but you would be pleasantly surprised about Ink and Pa’s chemistry as well. Although they only have a very limited amount of time, it wouldn't be easy to miss and feel that spark between the characters. And of course, we got a tease of WaiKorn, but I never expected that ship to sail anyway. Overall, aside from Ohm and Nanon, the acting and cast were ok and are nothing to worry about.
STORYLINE
The story is nothing new. And where Bad Buddy stumbles (sometimes slightly, sometimes on its face) is in its story. The first few episodes were the weakest (no surprises there) with the seemingly incessant and objectively childish quarrels between the two gangs. The story tries to subtly redeem these characters through dialogues that try to correct for what we would consider toxic traits and mindsets in today’s world. Ultimately, we see the culmination of this Act as a way to bring the two lead characters closer together.
In the latter parts of the story, we are introduced to the conflict arising from the two characters hiding their relationship from their friends. Wai’s redemption arc is another matter that sparks debates even among avid lovers of the series. In my opinion, the resolution to this conflict was ok yet unsatisfactory, it leaves me on the fence.
The main thing that keeps on coming back, the biggest outlier is the seeming resolution of the conflict with the parents plus (*gasps*) another time jump. This is also not surprising given the fact that our expectations have been set from the beginning that this familial feud is the root cause of their rivalry in the first place. For some, time jumps are lazy and most of the time jarring.
I have some misgivings about the time jumps if I'm being honest to myself... But if it serves to move the story forward, then so be it... But I need some morsels and crumbs, please? My only wish is that we’d been given more time to see the parents’ relationship progress. Alas, I also understand that it may have been too wieldy (story-wise) trying to fit all these sub-plot points into what is already a dwindling number of episodes. And even now as I write this review, I'm conflicted about how I feel about it. Leaving this to the viewers' interpretations maybe is its biggest shortcoming.
Stumble it may, Bad Buddy redeems and picks itself up and brings itself up to new BL heights through the subversion and callouts of some of the most common tropes and stereotypes in BL (and did I mention the insane acting performance and chemistry of Ohm and Nanon, yes).
It rightly calls out and corrects the errant ways of previous GMMTV BLs when Pa explicitly takes a jab like “I’m straight but Pran is the only guy I like.” Its side female characters diverge from the usual and tired trope of a crazy ex-girlfriend or a secret admirer; the show instead turns this on its head by creating them to be wholesome supporters and reliable catalysts for the lead characters’ relationship. It also pokes fun at the seme/uke/top/bottom/wife/husband expectations in a queer relationship which is inherent in a heteronormative society – “Does calling me a wife make you feel superior?” Its GL side couple is given space to breathe and grow and not serve as fillers.
Moreover, and this is VERY important, there is no homophobia in this show. What this does is it normalizes queer relationships as if there’s absolutely nothing wrong with them, which there isn’t (not debatable)!
I know that I’m missing many more points that I could add to tell you that this show is worth your time. But to summarize, Bad Buddy’s flaws and imperfections are totally outweighed by all the positives about the show, chief among them Ohm and Nanon’s performance. There may be times when you may feel slightly disheartened by the turn of events but Ohm and Nanon are sure to compel you to stick to the ride for the rest of the way.
OVERALL, Bad Buddy is a show that puts a spin on the old Romeo and Juliet story, doing it well enough and in a queer context at that. It gives you enough and may leave you wanting more. IT'S A DEFINITE MUST-SEE!
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This review may contain spoilers
In my opinion, the first part of the drama, which focused more on Lee An and Jae in's romance and back stories was boring, but that was because I didn't like or care that much about both of them although they are the main leads. But then on episode 7 or so, the plot started getting more intense and it got more interesting to me.As mentioned before, in my eyes the main leads weren't my cup of tea, they weren't able to captivate me. The secondary leads (Seong mo and Jisoo) were more charismatic. And it didn't help that Seong mo's story seemed to be the central plot of the story and Lee an's could as well have been a secondary plot. Seong mo was a better main lead material.
Sadly they did my 2 fav characters dirty...
I felt indifferent towards the romance between the leads (and that's a rare thing to me because i'm a romantic at heart) and felt that some of the romance scenes were unnecessary.
Two things annoyed me: The show seemed to like to remind us that Lee An is dumb, I guess they thought it was funny but I just cringed every time there was a scene showing that. And the second thing was the two leads' recklessness (going to places on their own without calling for help).
In my opinion this drama was just okay: Not good enough (imo) main leads, wasted potential of the second leads, some parts of the plot were confusing and the first and second part of the drama seemed liked 2 different dramas, it should have found a balance (the first part was more light-hearted with hints of comedy, and the second part got too serious and dark out the blue).
This drama doesn't have a happy ending at least to the one character who deserved it the most, considering what he went through his whole life, so beware of that.
I'd save myself of the pain had I known before I started watching this.
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TAIWANESE BLs ARE FIRE! Must watch
"YOU ARE MINE" is a Taiwanese BL series that has left a strong impression on me. I appreciate how Taiwanese BLs tend to be bolder and more daring, and this series is no exception.One of the aspects that I particularly love about this show is the actors' performances. Not only are they talented, but they are also incredibly handsome, which adds to the overall appeal of the series. Having watched the trailer, I can sense that there might be some sad moments ahead, and I'm hoping they will be brief and not overshadow the positive aspects of the story.
Coming back to the BL genre after a break, "YOU ARE MINE" has successfully rekindled my interest and kept me engaged. The anticipation for upcoming episodes is palpable, and I'm eagerly looking forward to witnessing the further development of the relationship between the characters.
In my opinion, "YOU ARE MINE" is absolutely worth watching. It offers a captivating blend of bold storytelling and impressive acting, making it a must-see for fans of the genre. I can't wait to see how the story unfolds and the relationship between the characters evolves. 🧡
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Perfect female lead
Female lead is perfect almost like Mary sue butAs a princess, Her difficulties lies in planning revenge against emperor , so she cannot be not perfect when facing them . She is kind, calm , smart and plan many steps ahead , so without martial art she still badass. She is the best physician but got framed in lots of life and death situation from minor to the biggest.
So, Male lead who is martial art and equally smart as her should be the one who will protect her when she is in tough situation.
FL is perfect that she is also loved by other three men which means it is unique in this drama .All men are likeable ,each with their own style. Here, FL has married thrice before ML that we can imagine as three life time in Xian Xia , just kidding.
Chemistry between leads is amazing ,
everytime ML suspect her as chu jiu Ling ,not only sparks flying between the two, it looked like it is rolling inside of them too
Jiu Ling keeping emotion in and ling jiu letting emotion out. Haven't seen such an intensely emotional scene based on convincing conflict in a long while.
There is no misunderstanding between leads not even a bit, only joking about how they jealous each other unlike other drama which they put mainly a little.
It was really worth watching!
Highly recommended !!!
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please watch it, its really really really worth your time. the matches are really good and makes you feel nervous and proud at the same time. its literally the best cdrama of the year. the plot was good, just like the anime. i dont really like sports dramas but this made me woosh bc its so good. please support this drama and love it with all your heart. tyy!!!
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my fav novel became my fav drama ♡
Words are not enough to express how much I love this drama.I am very excited every time I get new news about the making of this drama until it is broadcast and until it ends.
Before the filming process for this drama, I had finished reading the original novel, so I know how the author carefully arranges an innocent puppy love story to turn it into an adult love story.
I am very satisfied with the drama's cast, all of them are very suitable, especially Zhao Lusi as Sang Zi, Chen Zheyuan as Duan Jiaxu, and Victor Ma as Sangyan.
I'm glad that this drama is following the original novel, with a perfect story, a very beautiful ost, and a cast that fits the characters. I would say Hidden Love is one of my favorite dramas of all time!♡
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