Reviews

We have one of the Sweetest ML with a great character development. (2nd watch)

It is hard not to like Jang Uk. There are so many reasons to like the character, including that he was such a understanding person even to those who hurt him. The creators did a wonderful job picking the cast, especially, Lee Jae Wook who is too damn attractive and charming in all his roles. He was such a green flag in the first season and had great character development throughout it. Even though he started out a bit childish and lazy, he grew into his role and it was just amazing to watch. During my first watch, the story got a bit boring with the other characters but I still completed it. However, during the 2nd watch, I'm focusing on the scenes that include Jang Uk, Mu Deok, & Seo Yul.

Naksu, who soul shifted into Mu Deok's body, sometimes failed to convince that she used to be an Assassin who a lot of people were scared of. While she dropped the ball in some places, there were others that were very convincing. This includes all the crazy ticks she pulled to ensure that Jang Uk grew into his power. (For some reason, this time around, they reminded me of the Sae Roy and Yi-Seo from Itaeon Class, Yi-Seo and Mu Deok's character share similarities in the way they out of their way to ensure that their partners succeed no matter how it happens. Both Jang Uk & Sae Roy had to teach their partners about loyalty & care)

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I need you to understand what level the acting is on here

This is the purest Enemies to Friends to Lovers arc I've seen in a drama. The fact that both leads have ride-or-die friends at uni indicates early that neither is fundamentally toxic. They're just young and newly moved away from home and figuring themselves out. But then, as they stop looking at each other through the lens of their families, they absolutely bloom under the other's regard. By the time they are head over heels... I can't think of another first kiss on this level. They kiss like it's a confession. No words, just a tidal wave of emotion and complete openness between them. Every acting choice tells a story on multiple levels, down to the final episode. A must see.

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If you can look past the slapstick comedy elements it is a hidden gem rom com

9.5/10 is my rating. This is a 2024 Thai Dystopian Romantic Comedy Series with 6, 63-7 minute episodes.

First I provide a unique synopsis then review

Synopsis

The show is set in a dystopian parallel universe where a virus has resulted in males representing only 1% of the population. The rarity of males has lead to the government raising them from birth in a controlled, secure, and luxurious environment (a gilded cage) called The Farm. Every Four Years a contest is held in the form of an elimination dating game where ladies are able to choose to marry an individual from a group of the young bachelors. In previous games, the contestants were chosen from elite families only but, for the first time, they hold a lottery to choose an average femalecitizen to compete. Darika Chokwithee or “Day” (Belle Kemisara Paladesh) is a hardworking young lady whose life centers around making sure her sister, May (Neen Neennara Boonnithipaisit) who has cancer, gets the best care. Her sister May though has always fan girled over the boys on the farm particularly Son (Blue Pongtiwat Tangwancharoen) who she particularly admires. While Day is busy working a variety of jobs, May focuses on getting as many entries as possible to the lottery. When a miracle happens and May’s entry is chosen, she talks Day into going in her place. Day could care less aboit some frivilous show until she discovers if she wins, and marries one of the men from “The Farm”, she can secure the future for herself and her sister including top quality medical care. But, things are not as they are portrayed and the game has been rigged for the top elite to have their choice of the men. Day’s friend, Valentine (Jane Jaytiya Naiwattanakul) is working with a counter group, and goes to work for the show as the spy inside. Can true love overcome odds so heavily weighed against it?

Review

If ypu can see past some of the siily slapstick aspects around the game show, it is a hidden gem. It can be hard to find a truely feel good romantic comedy like this one. This is cute, not super complex, and ends happily with all major plot elememts neatly resolved. It is short but the number of episodes were enough to tell the story well. I would rewatch it in the future and recommend it as a heartwarming romantic comedy. I could habe done without the boy love and girl love elements but it was not hyper sexualized content in general so it was not a big deal.

Spoilers

The only very slight detractor for me was some of the three stooges level comedy. But it did make me giggle a couple of times as it was so incredibly silly.

Despite the relative light fluff of the main story, there are some deeper messages. What is health and safety without freedom? The men on the Farm are living in the highest level of safety with every luxury but they are not free.

If there was ever a situation like that we can all envision where the elite would likely control it. Natural selection and genetic diversity is what keeps a population strong and healthy. So their “selection” system would be horrible from that perspective. But if you think of inbreeding among royal lines in the past, and the genetic issues that caused, it is not surprising.

Almond’s (Man Trisanu Soranun) fear and decision to stay behind makes sense considering the psychology of a situation like that. It is like opening a cage and the bird or whatever either does not leave or uses it as a home base.

#ReadySetLove #BelleKemisaraPaladesh #NeenNeennaraBoonnithipaisit #BluePongtiwatTangwancharoen #JaneJaytiyaNaiwattanakul #ManTrisanuSoranun

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A simple series that still somehow manages to break the mold

yk what? i really liked this!
i know the ratings really high but a lot of the comments kinda diss this but i think it had some great points and broke out of the mold a bit more than a lot of korean bls i've seen.

the points that i liked:

- Tae ti was a quiet, pessimistic and stubborn trope and he held it out. he really stuck to it and made a lot of plot points more difficult than it needed to be, but all in all it made it more realistic which a lot of types in that realm does not - they usually kinda go from hating and being pessimistic to a sun beam in one ep (like New Employee).

- i liked the back and forth of the couple. See heon didn't just lay flat down - well kinda but 'll come back to that.

- i liked that we got to see the couple together and acc in love.

- THE KISSING being an actual kiss at the end. a problem i've had with a lot of korean bls. i kinda thought after the first kiss that it would be the same but no! v nice surprise .

- LOVED the second couple so much and i wished we had more time with them. And i liked that they didn't just get together immediately but they kinda was just dating at the end - would've liked to see their 5 years later tho. im kinda a sucker for bully/ bullied couples (toxic traid from my side sry:/)

what i didn't like:

- the way that Tae He reacted after See heon kissed him.... they should've tackled that bc wtf was that? and the fact that See accepted it was kinda crazy:/

- The brothers story was not really my cup of tea but i see that it tied it all together nicely i just don't like love stories with a bad ending...:/

- what's up with Tae seeing so so so much of his brother in See but still wanting to be with him romantically?!!? kinda weird imo i feel like they could've made a crucial distinction at some point to make it less odd.

- The central plot line in the beginning was that See couldn't play jazz bc his dad didn't want him to, but it loses its form a lot and they just don't address it later really. it just seems odd that his whole life was planned from him but then he runs away when his dad finds out, and when he comes back he gets the most whatever "go to your room" from his dad and we never see the dad again? like what?


But overall a very good series and even though it's quite repetitive they still change it up to not make it boring - simple but good series

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Poetry lost in translation

It certainly needs a better, brand new English translation to allow non-Korean speakers to re-translate it from English into their own languages. I can't believe the current translation is a faithful one, because that means the original script wouldn't make much sense and logic. In English, the back-and-forth dialogues show too much nonsense. IMHO, it is unlikely that director and screenwriter Lee Son Eum would have liked it this way, not a chance... unless there is still too much inexperience, naivety or lack of skills, but I wanna hope not.
Seriously, whoever produced this mini-series needs a new translator, I beg of you! Otherwise, you are missing on a good distribution and reaching the real intended target.

Although the poverty of lines is clearly on purpose, to be honest and objective, setting aside the bad
translation, here and there there are indeed some tiny holes in the script, to the extent that you might feel confused, for example, the staging (the mise en scène) lacks something.
Another fault I perceived is the editing, which is not very clear and, again, a bit confusing: the viewer fights to get the moment in which a particular event is taking place and the general timeline of the events. When you miss that, you kinda fail to grasp the story that wants to be told, not so good, is it? We are not in Christopher Nolan's Inception, right?
Such a shame, because, otherwise, it would be one of the best korean BL (finally NOT-BL!) series I have ever watched!

That said, I loved it!

Minimalist, hermetic, realistic, mature, intense, absolutely original and out of the chorus!
Zero clichè, zero cheap and cheesy scenes, no more cringe and unrealistic stuff that wants to trigger viewers' emotions but looks ridiculous rather than romantic.
You can definitely see a production trying to pursue its artistic style instead of luring the audience with fan service gifts or marketing expectations. BRAVI!

And so, we have fine characters, both main and supporters: real people, full of flaws, sinners but not monsters, often selfish, childish and opportunist, but also caring and capable of self-denial, sacrifice, devotion. And it concerns both sons and parents. We are finally out of stereotypical gay characters, we just watch true boys with their friends and families.

Yoon Dae's devotion and desperate love request after a life of abuse are poignant, while his perseverance in making his voice heard is admirable. He seems to be a slacker, taking advantage of other people's kindness, but deep down he is also struggling to regain a sense of belonging. He screams that he wants to love and be loved, he still believes, even throwing a tantrum, but then he endures and waits.
His sweetness in stealing kisses from Soo Hyuk shows us his most vulnerable side, almost pitiful: "Leave me tomorrow, but tonight, please, just pretend and let me have one last gift: let the warmth of your lips be my last memory of you".
There is such a sorrow in this behavior that your heart is tightened, you feel his resignation in accepting that he must live alone, but at the same time your heart is filled with love by the force of his desire. So passionate, so beautiful.

You can feel the same from Soo Hyuk: watching him carrying alone the burden of his family's failures is excruciating and yet his determination to survive and not to give up, despite fatigue and sacrifice, shows strength and courage. He has always behaved as a trustworthy adult without being able though to express his feelings and desires, to the point where he is no longer capable of dreaming for a better future. We can sense he feels guilty about abandoning Yoon Dae years before; we feel his sense of duty and how much he wants to make it up to Yoon Dae. We can also guess he has always had feelings for Yoon Dae, conflicted intense feelings that frighten him. He is exhausted from being the reliable guy, always taking care of others, he can't bear it anymore. Now he needs help, someone to rely on, someone who takes care of him; he would need Yoon Dae to man up and become the adult and so he is tempted to run away again, to put distance between the two of them.
But then he stops and waits.
In different forms, they’re both fighters.

In the series there are incredible gloomy atmospheres that deliver the characters' feelings and moods, full of pain and sadness, filled with desire or rage too often suppressed. That kind of desire and anger daring to explode and surface only when there is an intimacy you finally succeeded in building with another human being you feel connected to.
That is why they easily end up hurting each other.
You can spot the exclusivity of their relationship when they confront themselves and show their true selves only to each other.

Nice choice in picking closed and confined spaces, soft lights and dull colors to portray not only the sense of no-way-out of the two leads but also the attachment, their bond and their intimacy, whispered, in total contraddiction with outdoor or open spaces, noisy and always full of light, where the both of them face their own, somehow abusing, parents. The open place, the rest of the world, is dangerous. The closed one, the two of them, is the safe zone, indeed the shelter; no more the cage that previously locked them up and isolated them. Loneliness creates anxiety though, so Yoon Dae refuses or struggles to live that solitude in places he wants to call home, places he will eventually realize he wants to live with Soo Hyuk.

Beautiful photography, pure and clean use of the film camera, nice close-up shots: essential, rough, but also touching and emotional. Good acting performances.

The beauty of this work lies in the unsaid, the unspoken, the untold. You get its poetry through the lack of explicit scenes and lines, which creates a very strong tension in the viewers who crave developments in the plot and focus on every detail in order to follow the story. This leads them to imagine the unseen, to create by themselves the love story line that eventually, despite everything, brings to a very happy ending. The light at the end of the tunnel.
I found this to be a very powerful narrative style.

The series starts with "I reject and resent you but I love you, I want you and chase you" on one character, while the other goes with "I care about you, I help you, I love you but I have to run away from you and everyone else".
Immaturity and emotional openness versus maturity and emotional block. Two mates under the relentless effect of attractive and repulsive forces, even after a long time.
And yet, despite the absence of words, the protagonists' mutual tenderness and love are revealed by their taking care of each other’s shoes, which symbolizes so much: I cherish and keep my love for you for years only to myself, because I am too scared to believe in love. Because I don't dare to show you anything, because I can't deal with you and put myself on the line, because I can't be brave enough to hope for anything... until I do, we both do.
Wonderful, disruptive, romantic message.

However, the ultimate content I found is: "We can support and help each other, but that doesn't mean we genuinely love each other or that we are ready to commit, so what's the difference between LOVE and NEED?
I must test myself, find my own path, complete my coming of age and understand that I don't love you because I need you, but I do need you because I love you.
So, once we get this naked truth, do we really need to take our separate ways in order to love each other dearly?
Can't we just simply have dinner together?"
And taking a leap of faith, while resolving yourself, your answer becomes: "Yes, please, do wait for me, let's have dinner together, shall we?".
Home.

The OST is amazing, no kitsch melodies and rhymes: strong opening and ending songs. On the various, all the instrumental themes edited are wisely dosed and therefore suggestive, powerful and
impressive. It felt like glimpsing a mix of familiar sounds from Coldplay, Radiohead and David Bowie.

In the end, when Yoon Dae says to Soo Hyuk - "Don't call me. You seldom call my name." - tell me, please, who didn't suddenly think they were somehow quoting "Call me by your name"? I certainly did. ;)

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Beautiful Story

This was a beautiful watch and one I’d highly recommend. The plot was a creative time travel drama and loved how they connected all the dots without leaving holes in the plot. The acting was done very well from each of the major players of the story. I was very drawn in and invested in the highs and lows of this drama as it’s very relatable since everyone wants to be accepted, loved and to find their happy ending. The OST was beautiful and paired well with the drama. The production and visuals were pretty standard but doesn’t take away from the show.

I know there is also a remake Korean version that I’ve also seen bits of and there are some minor differences but overall either story is a recommended watch.

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This Drama Will Make You Believe in Love Again.

One of the best storylines I've seen recently. It really is a great drama.

The lead roles, side roles, supporting roles, and even the antagonist all brought me to tears. The story paces slowly, but it hits you right in the feels at the perfect moment.

Hong Hae-in and Baek Hyun-woo's couple faces a lot of struggles, but their final reunion is truly tearful. Their life, their struggle shows us that life is not going smoothly all the time. It has ups and down but most importantly we have to hold and trust onto our closet person, our beloved person tightly in the time of hardship. Shining days will come ones again.
Eun-seong's character also plays a strong role in the drama. His determination and illusion perfectly portray one-sided love.

Overall, I'm happy to have watched such a well-done drama.

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A Story of Friendships & Love Built in a Tiny Courtyard While Overcoming Personal Hardship.

After watching LX in Will Love in Spring and hearing good things about this one as another slice of life story, decided to check it out. Glad I did; he was able to play a more smiling, joking character though with no less responsibility on his shoulders. I've only seen Crystal Liu in A Dream of Splendor where she did very well. This was a story of friendships and love built in a tiny courtyard while overcoming personal hardship.

Pros: I really love the friendships that were built in the courtyard and how they went beyond the courtyard but into the rest of the village and were intergenerational. Also though FL or XHD lost her best friend in the first episode, she was never far from her mind especially when she finally told her new friends about her. ML or XZY (lovingly called A'Yao) was my favorite character because of just how much he shouldered and was always still joking and smiling. He was essentially taking every major project from the village on himself. When HD and A'Yao became friends, it was nice to see that it wasn't a rushed romance but a real bond that grew. We saw that he caught feelings first but she wasn't far behind. The other great characters were DM, NN, HY, Mr. Ma (when he wasn't flipping his hair), granny Xie and a few of the other grannies, XC, XX (girl) and XX (guy). The 4 kids were cute too. Joseph Zeng's two episode guest appearance was surprising but good. How all the courtyard folks and others would rally around those going through a hard time was very heartwarming. Brought hope to humanity.

Chemistry between the leads was awesome and comedy within the story was pretty good. I really wish they had more time on screen as a couple as opposed to giving that up to her 3 episode leaving and town revitalization towards the end. Their kisses were very good so that as always was an added bonus. The OSTs and BGM, locations, were all very on point. Though there were times when there was maybe a bit more verbiage than necessary, a lot of it was beneficial. Really loved the growth of the characters into better versions of themselves. Found out afterwards that the person who played XC's ex-husband was actually the show's assistant director. Pretty cool when the directorial staff can play extras or do cameos.

Cons: Too many side characters and plots that I felt took up too much of the story. You already had so many important supporting characters that everyone else should have been left alone. Most of the time that XQ girl that had a yen for A'Yao for a while or the embroidery lady who had a heart attack but for the life of me I couldn't remember who she was, there were others too but I don't remember. The leads could have had more together time since this was billed as a romance and they only technically had 9 episodes but most of that was taken up by things and people not important to the story. It would have been easier to focus on the quality not quantity and have the leads maybe get engaged by the end. Show more couple time in those 9 episodes. Wish NN and male XX's friendship/feelings were better fleshed out too.

Forced propaganda was so unnecessary here. You can revitalize a village without sticking propaganda into it. Even the poor kids were singing an indoctrination song. It stuck out like a sore thumb especially when the friends in the courtyard would be just shooting the breeze drinking and making toasts to each other and out of nowhere someone pops out with "may our country prosper"; like who says that when they're just hanging out with friends? It's not a political or even business meeting. Made me role my eyes on more than on one occasion because it was not the series for that. If you're going for a country living romance with friends, you just don't need that. Not realistic at all when there's a juxtaposition to everything else.

Would I recommend it? Despite those few baubles, I enjoyed this story and glad I listened to people in the other comment section. Look forward to LX's future dramas. Check this out if you haven't yet.

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Loved this

Funny, I found this show by accident. I am a baby Treasure fan and I just created a Treasure playlist last month. I love their songs but I didn’t know much about them.

This show was so fun. I got to know the members on a more intimate level. These boys are so cute, sweet, sensitive, and fun… on top of being super talented!

I felt so bad that some of them were super nervous and shy. But, being idols, we know they aren’t allowed or don’t have time for dating. This experience was priceless for each of them and they all grew because of it.

I will watch and listen to Treasure a lot more because of the series. I love them even more!

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When more is not better!

Well, I gave this series a chance. The series started off interesting (despite the very bizarre beginning) but this faded away with each following episode. I realized 3 things after watching episode 6. I didn’t care about the storyline, about the characters, and how this series would end. I actually love slow pacing storylines, but this was mind numbly slow. The script was a mess that had many elements that didn’t fit together or make sense. Everything about this story feels too forced. Especially the reasoning behind Piuno needing to work at the dog café. The overall acting was good. There were some actors that were better than others. However, I give the cast kudos for doing their best considering the script they had to work with. I like they didn’t waste screentime with opening credits, but they did waste it by doing unnecessary flashbacks from the previous episode. I may be old, but I can still remember things that happened in the last episode when each one is only 16 or 17 minutes long. There was also shaky camera work with some of the scenes and some scene placements that was weird.

Random Notes:

I’m probably one of the rare few that likes and enjoys Korean BL series with shorter screen time with a small episode count. This usually forces them to be more mindful of the pacing and story quality, but of course there will be exceptions.

At the time of this review, Viki has this listed as a “Hidden Gem” on their website. Of course, this is just my opinion but this is one stone that can/needs to stay hidden.

Once again, I’m going to sound like a broken record because the synopsis on Viki does not give an accurate describe of this series.

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Possui um ritmo lento, um bom enredo e um casal principal apaixonante.

No geral, é um melodrama bem feito, com diálogos profundos e muitos personagens cativantes. Traz muitas lições de vida e constrói um romance lindíssimo. O casal principal pra mim se sobressaí muito em termos de construção de relação, o que pra mim não acontece da mesma forma com os outros casais da trama, que acabam possuindo pouco desenvolvimento e finais bastante abertos. A profundidade das cenas, a beleza dos cenários e a trilha sonora fazem desse drama uma experiência inesquecível. Apesar de no final não ter cenas que eu esperava com ansiedade ainda sinto que foi um bom final para a maioria dos personagens.

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Wasted Chae Jong Hyeop performance

I'm on episode 6.

Caveats:
I'm fine with a sappy romance, and I know that complications are part of the deal with any rom-com. I'm also OK with fantasy thrown in. And even though CJH is doing his sweet puppy thing, I'm very OK with it!

However:
As much as I love CJH, the FL irritated me to no end. Once again, I'm left wondering why a Green Flag ML, has any interest in the FL. It's fine that she's conflicted and confused, but there has to be a sense of humor, or intelligence, or creativity, or genuine sweetness for me to believe that the ML would overlook her cold, push-me, pull-you behavior. I literally skip through her scenes, they're so tedious.

Furthermore:
I've never seen Nikaido Fumi in anything, so I don't know what she's capable of as an actor, but the character is written very badly. How can a 30 year old women (albeit a traumatized one), not be able to see that her behavior is hurtful? I get not being mature or experienced enough to be in a healthy relationship. But for someone who is so "tuned in" to other people's feelings, her treatment of the ML is rotten.

Conclusions:
I'll skip my way to the end for CJH, and the supporting actors, who I like.
I'm really frustrated with writers who think that a woman who is pretty and can cry sweetly is a fully dimensional character. As a woman, it makes me cranky.
As an enthusiastic Kdrama fan, I enjoyed hearing both Korean and Japanese in this show, and I'd like to see more crossover casting.

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Bad writing, not worth its watching time

This is a great example how a terrible writing can ruin a production.
It is not cheap, it is really bad, I hope the writer changes the job after that.
All the beautiful acting of the main leads and of the secondary ones is lost.

This writing is at his best when it does not exist. Fortunately, about 40% of the 16 times 1.5 hours
nothing happens, and that is the best of this writing. The remaining of the story is either
100% foreseeable or disrespectful towards the spectators or simply of bad taste.

The music is carefully chosen and nice, though probably not at all perceivable outside of the show.
The music would not stand out by itself as is the case with the music of other shows.

It is one of the rare cases, where I had to struggle with myself to keep watching; I did it only
in order to be able to write this review knowing it all. Do not repeat my mistake!

In short: this show is not worth the time of watching it because of the terrible writing and despite of beautiful and good actors.

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