Reviews

MY NEW COMFORT KDRAMA

I was in a HUGE kdrama slump. i had no interest in watching any new releases especially ongoing dramas… i was even in my cdrama era for awhile but Twinkling Watermelon brought me out of my slump. I had like no expectations for this drama. I just kept seeing it on my TL and saw it was highly rated on Viki so i wanted to give it a chance. The first 2 episodes were really depressing and confusing for me so i kinda had to push through and i’m so glad i did because i instantly got hooked on episode 3 and i’ve been tuning in every week since episode 7 from then on. I love everything about this drama from the storyline, family, friendships, romance, music, comedy, angst, acting, etc. It’s everything i look for in a kdrama. ‘90s youth band dramas will always be my comfort. I know people refer to this as a time travel drama but i see it more as a youth drama. Anyways, we have 4 more episodes and i’m wishing for a happy ending because i can’t really predict the ending at all… I just know i’ll go back to this drama a lot and you’ll see my talking about it 3 years from now.

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The first ever kdrama I've watched!!

This was the first kdrama I've watched. When my mom was watching this, I used to watch this. I was very young and I couldn't understand anything but I can remember I really loved its music. That's why I watched it along with my mom. so when I grew up, I watched this again and yes I love it despite its sad, tragic ending. Song Hye Kyo was very young and beautiful and all the child actors did an amazing job. Song Hye Kyo was the reason why I rewatched it and ofcourse my childhood memories made me watch it again. Unique plot and amazing actors. the ending broke me but still I like it but I will skip the ending if I watch it again. overall, I recommend this drama but let me tell you, it's full of sad scenes than the happy scenes. Happy scenes are very limited in this drama!!

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Deserve higher ratings

Impressed by the story and great acting of the two major actors, desperately looking forward the season 2.
By the way, do I have the chance to watch the season 2 in rest of my life? If not, i will die with my eyes open. Bright and Nonkul, i know you two from this series, but it’s not enough. I hope both of you to show us more good work in the future.
Who haven’t watched this excellent series yet? It’s a great pity you know! Just watch it immediately. It won’t let you down .
Finally, the story and bright &nonkul will linger in my heart for a long time!

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If Perfection has a visual representation that is this drama

First, let me gush a little bit why this show is so prevalent for me. Frangipani flowers hold a really special value to me. I have some of the best memories with it. My school premises had a huge frangipani tree that was teeming with flowers almost whole year. My best friend and I used to collect the flowers that fell from the tree on the ground, beautiful white petals with specks of gold in the centre and the heavenly scent was both of our favourite.

Then we grew up, moved cities to find our lives. We are in touch but not as much as we were before.
And now that I go to office, I found another frangipani tree on the way, smaller than the one I knew, but full of bloom. They remind me me of my sweet time of childhood. Out of habit, I collect them and take them with me.

Never did I ever imagine that someday, someone will make a whole series using frangipani flower as a symbol of love. Because it is not a fancy flower. It is not used in traditional worship offering, it is not something one gifts their lovers with, it is not even given a second glance. So when I saw the flower used as a symbol of love I was delighted.

The seemingly insignificant flower gets such love is also a proof of every ordinary person has their own extraordinary story . Jom is an ordinary man in his timeline but his story of love is extraordinary.

Now that I got it out of my chest , let us move to the series itself.
The plot, the storytelling, the characters, the writing, the acting , the cinematography, the music - everything is superior.
I Fee You Linger in the Air is not a series, it is feeling, a vibe, a piece of pure art. A gem of production.

I know Nonkul is a very strong actor. And his previous works show that. Bright on the other hand is fairly new but their chemistry together is absolutely marvelous. And the support characters have done such a great job that I am speechless. The portrayal of the 1920s Chiang Mai is enacted beautifully.

Tee Bundit has exceeded my expectations with this. One of the best drama series ever and not just in the category of BLs.
I am eagerky waiting for the special episode and the season 2.

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A Windless Windmill

The title Dangerous Romance is very much an oxymoron. There's nothing dangerous about the romance in this drama unless you want to very loosely connect it to the fact that it's an enemies to lovers story. It's Thai title, Heart in the Wind, is far more suitable and poetic. The name aside though, Dangerous Romance is a fairly fluffy drama with a few doses of angst and a touch of drama towards the end to spice things up. It's not complicated, it doesn't break the mold, but it's fun and I was mostly entertained by it.

The drama follows the fairly common enemies to lovers trope. Kanghan is the school's rich boy bully whereas Sailom is the school's scholarship whiz kid. Predictably and quickly, the two clash and then fall in love. Too quickly for my taste. Kang and his friends aren't just your garden variety bullies. They're not only physically abusive, but Kang takes things several steps farther by threatening Sailom's jobs and even takes a gun, albeit not a loaded on, to threaten him with at his home. However, when Kang saves Sailom from getting beaten up by debt collectors, suddenly all the issues between them dissipate and their relationship starts to develop. While Kang does acknowledge and take ownership of his actions, he never really faces any consequences for them and it all gets swept under the rug so to speak. Given how Sailom was willing to stand up to him, it felt a bit out of character that he so easily forgave Kang. Their romance, while at times a tad dramatic, is never dangerous. There's nothing forbidden about them being together, there's no impression that either of their families would object, and while they do have several instances where they're in danger, it's not because of their love. Aside from the first and last couple of episodes, the rest was mostly filler. Kang's moment of teenage rebellion lasts a couple episodes in the middle but doesn't really accomplish anything other than some very slight character development and a few sweet moments. The plot line with Name and his boss and cronies at the end was very nonsensical and generally just a mess. As a side note, the series is rife with tropes, from having actually met when they were younger to the accidental falls to the ever present sponge bath and on it goes. The pacing left something to be desired. The beginning was fairly fast paced, but quickly mellowed and became almost laggy at points before picking up again in the last couple of episodes. Part of the issue was the number of time jumps. It make things seem like they were happening faster than they were, like the development of Kang and Sailom's relationship.

I struggled with Kang's character in large part because there were aspects that made no sense. He clearly started developing feelings for Sailom early on, and then quite suddenly seemed to be torn between his feelings for Sailom and the sudden development of his feelings for Pimfah. Now whether he actually had feelings for Pimfah or he just didn't want to acknowledge his feelings for Sailom and so was deflecting, who knows. Regardless, it didn't work and was confusing to watch because up until that point, we'd had no indication that he viewed Pimfah as anything more than a friend. Similarly, after Saifah confessed to killing Kang's father, Kang distanced himself from Sailom and was, at times, quite cruel to him, despite obviously still caring about him. When he and Sailom reconcile, he tells him that he never wanted to leave him, etc., etc., however, no one ever forced them apart, it was his decision. There's also the underlying current that his family life and the issues with his father somehow justify his bullying others. It does not and it didn't sit well with me how quickly his actions were overlooked. And once he and Sailom did get together, he was almost too sweet. I would have liked a better balance between the sweetness and the bad boy persona he had. Sailom was enjoyable just for his razor sharp tongue. He had some fantastic comebacks to Kang's bullying which immediately increased his appeal. I appreciated how he stood up for himself and his friends and refused to back down. Some of his sass though was lost once he and Kang got together. There were moments where I expected him to fight for their relationship, but instead he just moped. In general, his character just became less compelling as the story progressed.

As side characters, I really enjoyed Auto and Guy. They were good, solid friends for Sailom and I enjoyed their interactions. Max and Nawa left me with mixed feelings because while I did enjoy the development of Guy and Nawa's relationship, neither character ever acknowledged their part in the bullying started by Kang other than to joke about it. I would have liked to see them owning up to what they did rather than it, again, just be swept aside. Pimfah was generally likable, although her inexplicable crush on Sailom came out of nowhere and was so quickly resolved that it felt almost pointless. Saifah left me feeling a bit frustrated, because he was obviously not dumb and yet some of the things he did made no sense. The hinted feelings between him and Name were sweet, but ultimately left underdeveloped and not needed. Same with Pimfah and Napdao. Kang's grandmother was a queen and I'm so glad they didn't kill her off as I was afraid they would. She was one smart cookie and I really appreciated how even though she loved Kang and clearly doted on him, she also didn't just brush aside his misdeeds and she didn't just view him through rose colored glasses. Kang's father, on the other hand, was a disappointment. His reasoning for how he was raising Kang was incredibly weak and he just came across as someone with weak character. I will admit that I did cheer when he showed up to Kang's football game though, if for no other reason than it made Kang so darn happy.

Perth and Chimon are both incredibly talented actors, but this was not their best work. Their chemistry lacked consistency and there were more than a few awkward scenes. The kissing scenes in particular just did not work and were almost uncomfortable to watch. Chimon also seemed to struggle with several of the more emotional scenes where he had to cry. It felt forced. The acting wasn't bad, I've just seen stronger performances from both.

There were several episodes that were unnecessarily flashback happy. I'm generally fairly ambivalent towards the sound effects used, but there were instances where they really didn't fit and stood out. The wind/windmill analogy was cute the first time or two, but then just got repetitive thereafter. One thing I did like though was the costuming, particularly the school uniforms. While not shabby, you could definitely tell that the scholarship kids' uniforms were older and less pristine. It added a dimension to the characters that was appreciated. I also liked the music, particularly the theme song although it was overused per the usual. I liked it enough though that it didn't get too annoying.

Based on the trailer for Dangerous Romance, I was expecting far more from it than I got. I was expecting it to be more fast paced and, based on the title as well, to have more at stake. Instead, it turned out to be a fairly generic piece of fluff that, while entertaining, didn't give anything deeper. It's underlying theme, Do you think all people are equal? poses an interesting and compelling question, but ultimately doesn't give a particularly satisfying answer. Nevertheless, if your expectations aren't too high and you go in with an open mind, you may find it to be a pleasant diversion.

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The stupidest drama award of 2023 goes to … you guessed it right: Arsedal Dumbronicles

Character Consistency? Who. Logical Storytelling? Who. Emotion, heart and substance? Who.
I feel so disappointed, that we have to get into it.

❌ Acting:
I have said it before and I’ll say it again- Lee Joon Gi and I vibe. I think he is a better actor than SJK, does killer action scenes, has a lot of range and knows how to play complex and dynamic characters. That said, he sucked absolute ass playing a dual role in this drama.

Oh, don’t get me wrong, the man acted more than some actors will in their entire careers. He made all the right faces, all the right moves and you could see how hard he was working. Yet, it was like he accidentally brought Moon Lovers’ script with him and played the Fourth Prince for 12 episodes straight and nobody said anything,

Because whatever LJG played was definitely NOT Eun Seom or Saya. He played his own characters that lacked the essence of the ones we saw in the previous three seasons. I mean sure he didn’t have much to work with because the writing of the season was absolute trash but still- his Eun Seom and Saya were the exact same people. There was no difference at all and it was just annoying to watch. They knew it too which was why they just yeeted Saya out of the script and called it a day.

Other than that, we had Shin Se Kyung, I don’t wanna talk much about her cause the thought of her acting makes me wanna stab myself with a chopstick. She’s one of the worst actresses alive and this writer duo keeps giving her strong female characters to play which she effectively dumbs down with a portrayal that mostly consists of her wide eyed and sputtering like a fish outta water. The rest of the actors were good but really, when the two main leads who are constantly stuffed in our faces are so meh, what’s the point?

❌ Writing:
This has to be some of the worst writing done by these usually awesome writers. It’s abnormally bad. The characterization completely goes to shit in this season. Saya, who was arguably the most loved character of the first three seasons, becomes as useless as a doormat and has major side character energy. They completely dumbed him down and made him act like a cowardly weasel who keeps running from his enemies. I was so so so frustrated because it was like they wanted to effectively break all of his fan following so they could champion Eun Seom and make him a convincing hero considering he was Beta as hell in the first three seasons.

Speaking of Eun Seom, they decided to shove him down our throats as this overpowered God who was one-note as fuck, could never lose, was suddenly Machiavelli in a wig, hardened and ruthless as Inaishingi- which as we all know is a complete 360 from what his character was supposed to be. I really came to dislike Eun Seom because I didn’t connect with him at all. They killed his emotions and stuffed him with one dimensional heroism which was boring to watch after a while. All the rest of the characters were on some spectrum of dumb to dumber and lacked basic sense.

The best character was undeniably still Taealha- the vicious, tigress of a queen and mother. She’s the only person interesting to watch. It’s funny to me how the villains had more heart and emotion than the good guys who were just robotically going from one battle to another with surface level feelings.

❌ Lore:
What lore, really? They just made up whatever they wanted to. The prophecy that was driving the whole shitshow came into being with the most underwhelming climax of all. They totally ditched it last minute and added new stuff that frankly, insulted the audience’s intelligence.

❌ Direction:
Let’s be honest, the direction wasn't great as well. The previous director jumped ship and without him they never landed on their feet again. I hated the editing and abrupt cutting in this one and the camera work for a production this big was just average. That’s not to say the cinematography and special effects weren’t good, cause they were - especially with the fight scenes, it is to say that as far as scenic shots are concerned, none of them were good enough to be memorable. They focused too much on the fight and gore to really give a shit about anything else. Also I can’t believe that they decided to put an English song and used it as OST for literally a historical show based on the early civilizations of Korea. Make that make sense.
Every time it dramatically started playing as one ancient warrior slashed another ancient warrior, I stopped taking this shit seriously.

✅ The Good Stuff?
Honestly, there wasn’t much. The hype action scenes were exciting, yes. The strategies and politics were slightly interesting but they dragged way too much. Taealha kicked ass as always and the instrumental was good. It was fun to watch the gorgeous and talented LJG do his thing even if he was completely out of character for the roles he was playing and I sincerely believe his talents got wasted on this script.

❌ Other than that, this was a waste of time. I get that there were a lot of hiccups, I get that the time was short with only 12 episodes and I get that there were new actors but honestly, if you know all of these things, then you should be focusing on a few important themes than just overstuffing the drama with plot lines and hype scenes with no real substance.

I think this is one of those very few shows that had such a big budget and a lead actor that I absolutely love with so many strong female characters and still ended up being a complete basket case.

100% Jeana Disapproved
#JusticeForSaya

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Albeit the Slower than usual Pace, The Chemistry is Chemistrying

From the pilot we knew this was gonna be a brawler to some extent and there were expectations for the series given the casting of seasoned actors for the lead characters.

What I liked about this series was the beautiful cinematography, dialogue and pace (which was slower than usual and reflective of the pace of life then), the impeccable acting by Nonkul and Bright (never heard of them before this series), and the character designs. Majority of the characters were likeable, even with their flaws. The main leads truly hard carried this series, but the supporting cast and characters were equally amazing (albeit some awkward acting by the extras in the market scene). I have never seen an actor (Nonkul) act coy so well (without being cringe) and Bright was able to pull off that innocent yet hungry look effortlessly.

And their hands! The way they moved their hands during the intimate and emotional scenes, the choreography and their hands need an Oscar. The chemistry between the two main leads was sensuous, genuine and natural, and beautiful to watch. The main characters feed off each other and together made each other whole; when one was weak the other was strong, when one was lost the other led. It's been a while since I've seen such great chem and acting in BL (in general). There was also notable effort put into set design, costume and even CGI, to give us good production quality.

While the choice of music was rather predictable, I'm thankful there was no overuse of the theme song which can get irritating by the time viewers reach mid-point of the series. The plot line and character designs were also good, except for maybe ep 10 and 11, where there was some in-congruence in character (Yai, and his mother).

What could've been better for me was the context setting and ending. I thought more effort could have been put into building up the 1920s universe, especially since this could be interesting for international fans who may not be familiar with Thai history and way of life. That context setting would've also helped understand the impact created by Jom. The ending also needed some damn explanation... I hope they help put a proper conclusion to the series with a special edition. *Spoiler* and personally I don't really want to go further back in time...

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Xiao Yu’er

I had low expectations given the reviews, but I was pleasantly surprised. The cast and the “handsome siblings” won me over, even if the storyline wasn’t that stellar.

I’d have to say that this drama made me a fan of Chen Zhe Yuan. I saw him in Hidden Love and was shocked he was the same actor portraying Xiao Yu’er, which he nailed. Depending on the situation, his facial expressions were expressively spot on, especially towards the latter episodes.

The story could have been stronger and the drama shorter to make this story more fast paced, but regardless, I enjoyed watching it for the bromance between the two brothers. It started it well, got slow in the middle, and finished strong in the end.

The good
- Chen Zhe Yuan as Xiao Yu’er
- bromance between the brothers
- well choreographed martial arts
- Yan Nan Tian’s comeback
- Su Ying’s smarts that rival Xiao Yu’er’s

The bad
- could have been condensed into 30 more substantial episodes
- storyline could have been stronger
- Tie Xin Lan’s character started off tough and capable but somehow just became weak and helpless

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O maior feito da China

Chorei que nem uma cadela carente nesse cdrama. Os vlogs da Zaizai são a coisa mais linda e o fato que ela documentou todos os momentos especiais durante a vida dela mexe muito comigo. Todos os momentos inesquecíveis, as despedidas no pôr do sol, as aventuras inesperadas com os amigos, o cuidado com eles mesmos, o Guan Fang, a escola, o vestibular, a faculdade, estágio, emprego... me fez questionar se estou realmente vivendo o presente da minha juventude. A cinematografia é linda e eu amei ver a trajetória do Rangrang se apaixonando aos poucos por ela.
Não dei 10 porque eu merecia mais da Jiang Jia com o Gu Ran, muito lindos💗💗🥰🥰
enfim, se consolidou o pedido de casamento mais lindo dos doramas.
"Quando conheci você, eu passei a ficar ansioso pelo dia seguinte."
Saudades do meu quinteto já!! 🎉🎉

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I did not want to give this ratings, as it would be unfair, so ignore that and read the review only.

I did not really attempt to watch this, and I got through episode one and had a feeling that YooHan would not be here. And reading the other reviews, it seems I was right. The main reason I had wanted to watch season2, was entirely because I wanted to watch YooHan and YeonWoo's relationship develop, while solving the mystery of the disappearances.

While the mystery bit seems to be present, YooHan is not. And that is a huge no for me since there was no point for me to continue watching if not for their relationship. S1 left me hanging as I did not feel romantic sparks from them and I came for s2 for that, albeit there was sparks in s1 but I couldn't really say they were very romantic per se. I gave it a 7 so it doesn't affect the overall ratings that much.

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A bit of a letdown

So I went headfirst into this series after watching beautiful edits, and obviously having pretty high expectations. Unfortunately, it did not end up as good as I had thought it would be.

The 8 episodes did not give it enough time to flesh out their 'Mono n Probe' relationship, and I felt like the love they claim to have, is not entirely clear whether it stems from obsession, or curiosity, or just because they believe it is their fate. There was no clear feelings of romance between the 2 leads, and I thought what came the closest to being romance would be when Probe was teaching Mono about colours, again is that really romantic?

I wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt, thinking that it would develop more before the end, but it never really did.

I do give it that the settings of the story is quite interesting, and the actors are fitting for their parts. But it was very rushed, and many scene was choppy and lacking congruency.

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Maybe every single BL series will suck from now on

I started watching this series when it got released, ever since the first ep, I have never read the novel and neither watched previous trailers, just started watching because I thought the title was very poetic. Because of that I wasn't caught up on the hype around this series, that made me watch it with pretty much zero expectations and it was an amazing and beautiful surprise.
99% of the series is set in the late 1920's and yet the discussions that were brought up are still relevant nowadays, such as homophobia, sexism and social inequalities, even though these topics were never directly named throughout the series.
Every episode is an emotional rollercoaster, with perfect balance between light and heavy scenes, and even the heavy ones are displayed with a tragically beautiful sensibility. The actors brought to life such complex feelings with their expressions, that most of the time no lines were necessary to makes us guess what's going on inside the characters' mind.
I fear it'll take a long time until another BL series tops I Feel You Linger in the Air's plot, acting, music, (the soundtrack goes accordingly to the historical moment the series is set and no one pulls out a guitar out of nowhere and starts singing out of tune), simply everything about this is beautiful!
Time travel and lovers in different lives are such a cliché plot, yet this series works with it in a very smart way and it's totally worth it to watch the one hour long episodes. I'm eagerly waiting for a second season!

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Mixed feeling with this drama

I love this drama enough to write a review for it.
Perfect score for the acting. Story pacing was also great, OST was also amazing too. I dont hate secondary couple, for me they are not annoying, acting is superb for everyone, especially for ZY and WXY.
And I can say it's a happy ending. Just not a very satisfying one. If the director and storyboard can change so much from the novel, they might as well change how the story was told.
This is why I have mixed feeling with this drama. I don't want to spoil the ending for those who read my review.
TBH, I don't know if I like it or not. IT IS the ending that I wanted.
If there is one drama that you should go in watching it knowing the ending, it's this one. So you won't be so disappointed.

As much as I love ZY and WXY, this drama has zero rewatch value for me, not even any sweet scene clips because this drama has almost none. And because of that, I downrate this drama to a 7.

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Thai Harry Potter Meets Thai Draco Malfoy but make it BL

This is a through and through enemies to lovers trope. I got to know about this drama after I watched Dangerous Romance.
The plot is weak, sometimes it's ridiculous enough that they had to force add some drama.

The whole series stands on Pawin, Fiat and JJ's acting honestly.

Pawin's expressions are what I was screaming abut during the whole series. The confusion, the slight fear, soft smirks and teasing eyebrow raises, puffing out cheeks in mock anger, even some sassy throwbacks, he is the best part of this whole series, even if the crying scenes made me laugh sometimes.

I liked Pawin more in Dangerous Romance and noticed many similarities.

Extra points because of the portrayal of HIV, Sex-Ed and proper protection during intimate relationships. Not many BL series speaks about these. Fiat ate up his role. He is quickly climbing my top fav actors list .

A subtle throwback to SOTUS and I loved Neen.

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