Reviews

Simple Sweet Story

- Genre –
Contract Relationship/Romance/TV Star/BL

- Brief Synopsis –
Protagonist A is a failed mangaka and B is a meteorologist. A and B have a contract where B gives A food and shelter for free and A has to do everything B tells him to do, even if it involves sex. At the beginning, A is visibly uncomfortable with the sex because he doesn’t feel anything for B, but slowly changes as he spends more time with B and starts falling in love. While the summary might initially suggest a potentially abusive relationship between the two, it is not like that as B is in love with A before A falls for him so he treats A pretty well. The only angst in this story comes from miscommunication or lack of communication as neither A or B likes to tell the other what they are really thinking. This however improves with time and the story ends with them finally begining to embrace the nuances of being true, loving partners.

- Plot and Storyline –
This plot does not contain any plot twists that would make the story memorable in any way. The core of the story revolves around the characters grappling with their emotions and navigating the process of learning how to becomes lovers. While formal confessions might not have taken place, the sweetness of their interactions, tinged with both affection and sensuality, serves as a compelling testament to the depth of their evolving connection.

- Character Development –
A learns with time to open his heart to B and both learns how to communicate.

- Acting -
The two actors delivered commendable performances, effectively conveying the nuanced emotions between the two characters. Their acting prowess was compelling enough to authentically capture the tension between the characters and convincingly depict the evolution of their emotional states throughout the narrative.

- Production Quality -
Decent production quality with somewhat realistic sets and props.

- Writing and Dialogue -
Writing is okay.

- Pacing -
Pacing is good.

- Themes and Message –
The biggest theme is miscommunication. For a healthy relationship, you need to communicate with your partner and not assume you know everything.

- Audience Appeal -
N/A

- Standout Moments -
N/A

- Criticisms -
N/A

- Conclusion -
While the story may not be particularly memorable, lacking the emotional impact of some other shows, it still manages to offer a sweet and succinct tale. Despite not leaving a lasting impression, the narrative holds its own charm, providing a brief and enjoyable viewing experience.

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A Binge-Worthy Feel Good Series!

Well, I don't think I need to elaborate much. It was surprisingly a good watch. I haven't seen the two leads before nor have I heard of them but for amateurs, they did a pretty convincing job.
The story of course isn't something new, I mean for a high school/college-themed BL I suppose you don't need to complicate it anyway. You will get the usual cliche BL tropes but everything balances out cz the two leads have amazing chemistry.
It's a short series that will make you smile ear to ear at the end.
Can be watched in one sitting cz the episodes are only around 15-20 minutes each. It'll surely boost your serotonin levels and will leave you wanting more.

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Interesting plot that could've been more in so many ways

The plot was actually good, you have the two Ml with a tragic backstory but messed up on the aftermath of reconnection cause of too much back and fourth-ing and some things doesn't make sense.

Mls chemistry was quite awkward but there are moments that are sweet. Both of them actually look good together but in a way seems forced cause of the way they act towards each other was in a way to not be seen as a couple which is like.. what's the point of the acting in a BL as a couple pair lol.

What I don't like about the series is too much recollection/flashbacks, the whole episode 6 was seriously just Kazuma reminiscing his memories with Ren. Also some scenarios where the emotion and facial expression doesn't fit and in a way did not deliver to the viewers like when ren was hyperventilating and kazuma on the coffee scene with yagami; additionally, I also find it odd that yagami was so close-minded with kazuma and talks to him with attitude, it wasn't explained well if he actually likes ren but it doesn't give him any reason to treat kazuma whom he only met once but maybe it's because of ren's experience but kazuma wasn't to blame but his lines says other wise. he's literally blaming a person for being hospitalized which is weird..
Including also the fact that when they were kids and almost a teenager, I know hormones are crazy but I don't see how they showed a consensual adult & kid going to a love hotel is right... the adult is clearly a pedophile. should've changed their age to be appropriate when it comes to consent. The antagonist co-worker guy, I forgot his name, there was not that much background of him other than being a rap... cant say it.

What I like, the kid actors, It really does feel like they were kids excluding them doing it at the age that is inappropriate.. I like their story, it was more in-depth and interesting than their story now being adults. The chemistry was nice as well, I felt the ride or die vibes, like they only matter to each other and the attraction.

See what I mean? It could've been more if they switched and added things to the story to make it understandable and not rush it! Both of the Ml are talented but maybe should've made them get closer to get rid of the awkwardness.

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Last Twilight but Our First Twilight

"Last Twilight" emerges as an exceptional masterpiece, leaving an inerasible impact on us viewers. The year-long wait for this series was undoubtedly worth it, as it took time to craft its brilliance. My admiration for JimmySea, immersed by "Vice Versa," only deepened with "Last Twilight." Upon experiencing the series, I was left astounded. Jimmy and Sea surpassed my expectations for BL dramas, showcasing a well-developed chemistry not only on screen but also in real life. Sea's portrayal of a person with a visual disability demonstrated remarkable improvement, adding depth and authenticity to the narrative.

"Last Twilight" arrived at the perfect moment amidst a sea of hit-or-miss series. It concluded my 2023 on a high note and ushered in my 2024, infusing the transition with a renewed sense of optimism and possibility. What more is there to say? To truly understand the magic in "Last Twilight," one must embark on the journey themselves, engaging in its allure and experiencing its wonders firsthand.

Struggling under substantial debt, Mhok (Jimmy), a technical college student, seeks a well-paying job and lands a position as a caregiver for Day (Sea), a badminton player grappling with partial blindness caused by infectious keratitis. Mhok, in contrast to other candidates, shows no signs of pity for Day. As they spend more time together, a profound connection forms between them. However, when Day receives the news that he has approximately 180 days left until complete vision loss, the challenges ahead will test their bond's strength.

"And now here is my secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye." - Day (A reference from the Little Prince)

Read more here from LauLastWonderland. This is an excellent review to clear up the misconception, especially with the last few episodes. (Spoilers ahead) https://mydramalist.com/profile/LauLastWonderland/review/336399

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It was so good until the ending eps!

This is a completely fictional plot but with some realism: psychopathic genes. Should we abort babies with this gene or let them live? This ignores the nature vs nurture concept.

The beginning episodes starts off so strong, and so melo. We have a bunch of sad characters with a sad lore in this drama. I liked when it was focused on one case: the Moojin Serial Cases. I was into it, it was a little over the top alongside the broadcasting news show, but it was intense.

Then, it went downhill from there, when the writers started adding other cases and info on top, and the lines start to blur. There started being more harder to believe scenes. The show does a lot of cutting, and then going back to the scene later on to reveal a bigger picture, which is an unique directing style, but can be confusing for viewers like me.

Choi Hong Joo is the most unlikeable character in this show. She's literally in everyone's business and holds all the clues, but she doesn't reveal anything.

Despite the complicated plot that went a little all over the place in the rush to the end, the cast played an pivotal role in drawing me in to keep watching. And the kid actors!! There were so many.

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Do you love badly written, tropey toxic gay romance? Well this is the series for you!

Seriously, the main characters were both so poorly written it's not even funny. The main character can barely string a sentence together and has continuously talked about wanting to stay invisible and yet... he *checks notes* follows and actively seeks out the most popular person in their grade to take pictures of him..... sure, checks out. The main love interest is somehow able to abuse the protag both physically and verbally and yet decides to not even budge a little bit upon realizing his deep emotions? Both main characters so deeply unlikable I was actively rooting for them to hate each other because this took tsundere in the toxic sense and turned it up to 100. I gave it a 6 because I couldn't bare to finish this mess. TW for this show: abuse, bullying, IPV

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A beautiful short series about teenagers high school love; left me wanting more

The whole thing was very soothing to the eye, this be what reviewers say "realistic" cause it talks about the struggle of a gay teen in a society that is not open-minded then meeting a person who is open-minded cause not everyone is the same even if there's a majority, someone out there will understand. So refreshing to see a bl made in japan that is not about being in-doubt when in a same-gender attraction or relationship and wanting to become "normal", this series finally went out of their way to put this out and get the stereotypes away.

Whole cast & film was *chef's kiss* beautiful! it was not hard for the eyes to take, don't have scenarios that makes me wanna keep pausing to take a moment to either get my anger out or stay away from the second-hand embarrassment. lol the only thing that was bad is that it only consists of 5 episodes, I really wish for a continuation cause there's a lot of things that they haven't figured out yet!!

What I like about the series:
1. True Love(?) - they say a lot that love at first sight is real but in here it definitely shows the cliche of it, showing Amane first seeing Ryuji as his type and someone to sleep with. No one can fall in love that fast, it's really quite the lustful thought that puts the interest first when it comes to "love at first sight". Progressively, him spending a lot of time together with Ryuji actually made his like turn to love, it was understandable cause I would also fall in love from the way Ryuji treats Amane, he was seriously just someone who understands and you can trust would be there for you till the end from the way he always reassures Amane to stop putting-on a fake smile that only hurts himself and not judging him cause he's gay. The same goes for the way Amane treats Ryuji, he lifted the pressure and pushes him to become a better person of himself when he made sure to not worry anymore about his dad and helping him with studying. They complimented each other well.
2. Nothing forced - The chemistry was very good but not that much, it's very understandable since they did give me friends vibes but not till the end, I think it was on purpose since Ryuji didn't see Amane the way Amane does at first until the end. Even without that much intimate scenes, their chemistry carried the show. No awkward interactions or second-hand embarrassment.
3. Relatable - Amane's struggles as a gay teenager is soo relatable! it's very hard to trust anyone cause of judgement so we put on something to hide it which amane does by joking about it all the time

What I don't like about the series:
1. Purpose - Some things that are there were there but like for what purpose? Amane's side guy who he sleeps with didn't become anything till the end other than being Amane's fulfillment when it comes to being lonely for being gay. Amane's grandmother is just his caretaker nothing else, shouldve shown what she and ryuji talked about while amane was sick and ryuji's family, which ik the purpose was because amane's family is broken it welcomed him to another home but like hello?? it's ryuji's first time bringing someone over and talking about them a lot but they had like 0 idea about the possibility that he might be liking amane but i guess if it's a girl then they would've. I wished these characters had like a role or play when it comes to their love life if there's a second season.
2. Ending - it really do just ended with their first day being together.. I wanted to see more like the shyness and first time going out and things to do as a a couple and maybe.. their way to become a stronger couple by getting through their judgemental society and to see if their family would accept their relationship.
3. Sexuality - One thing that didn't sit right with me is that Ryuji only accepted the confession cause he thinks it's okay if it's Amane, it's giving "I don't have interest in anyone but you" which is cringy lol. It's another reason why I want another season cause Ryuji hasn't fully looked to Amane as someone he would sleep with- not that it's important but yk it kinda is, it's like he hasn't fully "loved" him yet as much as Amane loves him. Also seems like he hasn't figured out his sexuality since he had no interest maybe on any guy or it's just amane at first then progressively liked him, there's no background about it which makes me question if he's willing to sacrifice everything for him.

I really love this series and really wishing for a continuation cause that was sooo short!!!!!

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It feels like a school project film

The story was cliche. Pretty much knew how the story was going to be like. I watched it because it was a new BL filipino drama. First episode I was going to drop it, but I give it a try to finish it because it was only 20 minutes so why not?

I think the actors were pretty funny. It was like out of context funny.

Acting was just not there. Everyone was just too bland. The only good acting was Nikko's frustration. Nikko smiled the whole time, Eli was just handsome, Justine always looked annoyed. I think the group friends had more personality than the individuals, like Eli's buddies and the 3 girls. The song title was so cheesy. The special effects was kind of interesting but eh not really necessary. It kills the emotions when I visually see how the characters are feelings with the emojis and heart shapes like okay I get it. I didn't understand why Eli liked Nikko. Justine deserved better even though he was kind of creepy cringey. Nikko's plot reveal was errrrr insensitive. The love triangle was annoying but whateva needed plot somehow.

Watch the series without expectations and it will be okay.

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If 2 + 2 is 4...

and 5 + 5 is 10... then wtf is this?

I stg. I'm normally in the minority of badly rated shows, I end up loving them, but my time has come to join the hate parade.

This gets a 1 star only bc of Long and Frank. JUSTICE FOR THESE MEN BC WTF WAS THIS SERIES?

The biggest sin of this show was that horrendous dubbing. I don't mind dubbing. I've watched plenty of dubbed shows, but this was TRASHOLA. The hmm, uhhhh, and hehehe's were so funny and not in a good way. Jail for whoever was responsible for this decision and editing. Jail.

By episode 3 I watched this muted so I could judge the show itself objectively without the horrendous dubbing tempting me to drop this show.

Unfortunately for me, the show still sucked. When we got to the big plot twist I was DYING laughing because it was so STUPID.

Also, where exactly was the romance????

If the show hadn't been dubbed its maybe a 3/10. With the dubbing it's a 1/10. Give these actors something better.

I'm so glad there are people who liked this though. At least this show wasn't a total waste.

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I really want to like this show..

I've seen Addicted and I enjoy that show, so I was excited to see a remake of it.

I totally love the main characters. They are so cute and funny. I believe the chemistry between Wu bi and Su yu was the strongest. The little plots that happens keeps the series interesting. So much emotions happening. One moment I would be laughing and then the next I get speechless. The mood really hits you having happy, sad, surprised, and mad moments. The OST is beautiful.

There were several things I didn't like about the series. The fights were just cringey to me. I think it's ridiculous how a high schooler can beat up grown men and supposedly skilled men without getting hurt. He can't be that overpowered. As much as I like the OST, I was also getting tired of it every time they keep replaying it like around episodes 10ish. If it was instrumental, then I wouldn't mind, but it was literally the entire song every single episodes. It seem like it was used for fillers and it just ruins the beauty or "magic" of the emotional scenes once I keep hearing it all the time. Su Yu's family is just UGH so weird. But I guess they add interesting plots. But idk their personality is just psycho. Of course there's going to be characters I don't like, but I didn't see their intentions with why they're cruel besides just doing it for the heck of it.
I really adore Wu bi and Su yu's interaction, but I'm still confused to where they stand. Are they lovers or just close step brothers?? I guess they left that with our imagination. Still, I'd rather not have love interest with my step siblings.
Some plots were quick and some plots didn't make sense.
Of course, the ending was just :\ like huh??? For me, I think the ending ruin the whole series for me. As much as I love the characters, it just seemed like a waste of time once you finished it. Like you did this for what???

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Pretty good

I mostly watched it because Krist was the main character. The story was was interesting and relatable in some ways. Few moments of life lessons I admire from the characters. Cliche but entertaining. Just something to watch if you don't got other BL series in mind.

I really love Pearmai. Her character was just soooooo good. I kinda wished there was more scenes of Kwan because she was the only side character I rarely got in touched with. Otherwise, everyone was important.

The only thing I didn't like in the series is the love. I wasn't sure why everyone liked someone for a reason besides "you're cute." That was the energy I got from pretty much EVERYONE. Well besides Kawi and even Kwan. It just sounds like a little crush and nothing too deep. The love plot wasn't such a strong attribution to the story.

Again, this was a nice series to watch and pretty new storyline in the BL industry. Give it a try.

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worth a watch

Overall: an overall decent KBL. 8 episodes around 16 minutes each. Aired on iQIYI.

What I Liked
- sweet/cute moments
- that it centered on the two leads without a whole bunch of other characters
- supportive friends
- we got more than 1 kiss and they were a little better than dead fish lip presses
- production value

Room For Improvement
- I wish they had been more clear about what the issue was in the past/shown it earlier and that the issue didn't hinge on poor communication that a 5 minute conversation would clear up
- could have had stronger world building
- the last episode felt more like vignettes instead of an overarching ending episode and if they are planning a spin off/season 2 then that possible couple should have been shown at the very end or even post credits

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At first I thought that this drama was about a corrupt doctor being sent to prison and doing stuff but it turned out it was a revenge story of a doctor who unexpectedly got caught into a twisted plot and got sent to prison for a crime that he didn't commit. And while Na Ije strive to get his revenge he ended up unraveling the conspiracy between a big corporation involved in healthcare, the prison as well as the political scene.

Namgoong Min was really great at portraying the main character Na Ije, and Ilike the fact that there are scenes where he had to use sign language as Na's mother was deaf. And this was a very interesting twist in dramas involving doctors where the doctor was the one taking revenge.

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