Cute drama with childhood friends becoming lovers
Cong Rong and Wen Shao Qing were childhood friends, until she moved away and since then he has been waiting for her to come back. Although the premise is a bit cliched, it really worked!In the beginning, the ML is the only one who knows that they were childhood friends and he's the one that is aggressively pursuing her while she is like nope, bye and then over time she grows to like him as well. This is a show full of cute scenes and sweet moments between the two leads.
I feel like the pacing slowed down a bit in the middle, once they were together, but overall it's an easy show to binge watch. The show also gives a lot of screen time to the second couple which was great. They were a bit unconventional but really grew on me and I got super invested in their relationship.
Two things:
--I legit had to go back to watch it again because in one scene the ML cut an avocado into quarters, the seed included LOL. I guess noone in the production crew actually eats avocado.
--I found the ML too pushy sometimes and it didn't come across as just being flirty to me - like her having to sleepover at his house when she had a concussion. I think the FL is stubborn and doesn't like to rely on people, but I found his behaviour too much at times.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
This story is refreshing ,highlighting the lives of the high school students. It is really relatable and enjoyable. From the first episode till the last it didn't disappoint me . I was able to connect with the show very well .It was amazingly showed what the teens face , in the starting phase of their love and it was also really cute to see how these six develop their relationships who were connected to each other some or the other way. Each episode showed one couple at a time, overall each couple's story has been shown in few episodes . It was very fun to watch the various personalities.I loved the music which brings out the sweet, fluffy and upbeat romance in the story. Just the interesting characters were enough for me to watch the series.=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Spoilers ahead ----
It shows different kind of situations -
-How first love is not recriprocated
-It also put some light on how people feel inferior to one another ( though for a short time) which goes for Gong yoo jin and Chae Si Yi and how we often compare each other unconsciously.
There are many more on the list ............
Althought I feel many episodes are meant for the expolaration of Yang Hong Seok and Nayun, characters's relationship development . But on the other hand I loved the other four more , and I wanted them to have more screen time. I loved Gong Yoo Jin and Gu Yun Seung the most and craved the scenes of these two very much when the series was ongoing . I wanted more of these two in the show as they are just so adorable together.
Was this review helpful to you?
The characters are great..the actors are great. Matsumoto Jun does a brilliant job as the kind hearted Vito. The lawyer and the girl are both central to the drama as well, and their roles and smiles are beautiful. Oguri Shun plays Hayashi, the dark shaded character, with great impact in the drama.
The story is uplifting in the end; ends on a happy note, has a great message throughout and is about facing life's difficulties with a big smile.
So, why was it so difficult for me to smile through the drama? Despite what the ending is, this drama was really difficult for me to watch happily. I had a heavy heart through all of it. There was so much injustice and the good people were too unlucky. Every victory they gained was only to be followed by more heartbreaking troubles.
The characters showed great spirit through it all, but I really couldn't share it. I was heavyhearted and sad throughout, and I was thankful when it finally ended, happy or not. In fact I don't think a different ending would have affected me anymore, I was already feeling so blue.
I definitely wouldn't re-watch it, though I assure you- this is a good drama.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
STORY: 2.5/10I usually fast forward past the theme song introduction as well as the ending of Chinese dramas since they are 98% about showing you *spoiler* clips before you've even started the drama. Even so, it's hard to fast forward perfectly that you don't find yourself catching a glimpse here and there that causes you to start into some scenes knowing exactly what will happen. This drama was the exact opposite.
I thought I had an idea how this drama would play out. At the time, the genre tags only listed "romance" & "drama". Boy, was I in for a surprise when those theme song *spoiler* scenes ended up being so different than I anticipated. Oddly enough though, this drama is filled with every type of melodrama trope you've ever come across sans amnesia. In almost every scene it was utterly predictable how things would play out. Halfway through you could start predicting scenes 10 minutes before it happened it was so obvious.
What I thought would be a nice rom-com that taught me a thing or two about the Tea Arts quickly turned into full makjang melodrama. By episode 10, the only thing about tea you found was some life or death competition with everyone betting everything they had on a stupid outcome time and time again. I never knew there could be such intrigue and terror surrounding a Tea House. Halfway through it devolved into characters that become actually quite scary. This verged on hitting Thai lakorn levels of melodrama. So, everything that I wanted to like about this drama faded into nothing, and although I continued to watch episode after sad episode hoping that there would be light at the end of the tunnel and we could come back to just a nice OTP doing nice Tea Art, it never happened. The melodrama was taken to the very end. It doesn't matter whether there was a sad or happy ending, because the predictability left the ending flat.
ACTING: 6.5/10
Zhu Peer was the best part of this drama. He acted his heart out. Great comedic timing and effort to give all to having good chemistry with his leading lady. He made melodrama actually look normal and natural. Acting beside some of the other cast made them look like they were reading a badly written speech, while he was playing along. At times it almost felt ad lib with him.
Pan Zhi Lin did her best to act her part. She maintained great chemistry with her leading man, but when apart from him, she struggled to pull off anything special in her character. She often came across as giving trite monologues clearly written for her to sound like some sort of sage of tea that often didn't go with the situation. She is made in to be this super powerful person who changes people with her tea, but there just wasn't enough invested in that aspect of it to warrant believability. She came here be taught but I don't recall her being taught very much at all. Those relationships and aspects were just glossed over in favor of all the quadrangle romances and scheming. It was a detriment to her character where they gave her so much drama her acting got drowned out by it.
The most confusing acting came from Dai Xiang Yu. If I'm being honest with myself, he did an excellent job in his part for what this drama was asking, but I struggled with watching his character. He has two sides of him and I can't put my finger on it actually other than to come to the conclusion that this guy, irl, is such a good guy that it comes through regardless of the situation. I think because of that, everything else had to be over-the-top to compensate. I'm not sure how to think about his acting because of it.
MUSIC: 6.0/10
The music was fairly cute. Nothing super catchy that I'd download any of the songs, but appropriate to whatever scene was happening. It wasn't overbearing or annoying and there were maybe 1 or 2 songs that could stick in your head later on.
REWATCH: 0/10 <= I gave it a 1 cause I had to give it something
NOPE, ain't gonna happen. Once was definitely enough. Not enough cuteness to even warrant fast forwarding a second watch.
OVERALL: 4.5/10
Honestly, I cannot believe I watched this whole thing all the way through without dropping it. I'll say that it was because of the two lead males that I did. One, because I liked Zheng Hao as a character and, two, because I was hoping for something wonderfully special from Cheng Feng that ultimately never happened. If the acting from them hadn't been so interesting, I'd have scraped watching this story. It was so not worth the price of admission.
Was this review helpful to you?
The actors/actresses did a good job, though the wig (at least I hope it was a wig) on the second female lead was a bit distracting at times. The second female lead was an exceedingly terrible character and it was impressive that the actress could convey that in such a short time span.
I'm not sure if I should recommend this one or not. It was not my favorite drama, because I wasn't a fan of the way the story played out, but others might like it. It's around 40 minutes for the whole drama, so if you don't like it, you've not really wasted much time and if you do like it, it's a quick little journey.
Was this review helpful to you?
Sawajiri Erika is quite convincing as Ikeuchi Aya, the character upon which the entire drama rests upon. Nishikido Ryo also does a terrific job as Asou Haruto, Aya's semi-love interest in the drama. The chemistry and the progress between these two is very beautiful and realistic. Every character in this drama is wonderfully portrayed and goes through development.
Another thing to say, the music in this drama is amazing and touching. Every song fits the scenes and tone of the drama to perfection.
Highly recommended for everyone who wants to watch a meaningful and touching drama.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Why couldn't I love you like the majority of the viewers!!!
I went into this series, trying my utmost best to love it as it was being hyped so much here as well as on Twitter. But for some reason- I just couldn't. I tried. I really did try with this series as I keep seeing episode [insert episode number here] is the best episode every week. And I just wasn't feeling it so I had to put this series on hold after watching up to episode four. I then came back and tried to binge watch episodes five to twelve. But even that took longer than I thought it would. But I have finally finished it!Story-8/10
I am giving this series an 8 due to the fact that it is not your typical BL. It shows the toxic side of the industry theought the fans as well as the company. The reason why I cannot give higher than an 8 is due to the fact that I felt I wasn't emotionally attached to the series.
I was watching the series and just...nothing. The only time I felt a form of emotion was in the last episode at 50 minutes (I think) when Nubsib and Gene got back together. Otherwise than that, I felt norhing. Also, I felt that the supporting characters were not developed properly, especially Aoey. I also felt more sad for Aoey than any of the other characters in this series, cause of what he went through. Yeah, he's a d#$k, but like the ending that he got, I felt that he didn't deserve it.
Also, I felt that the episodes seemed a bit too long and draggy. Like some parts were good. But some parts I really don't see the need for it.
Acting/Cast-7.5/10
I was originally going to give an 8. However, the last two episodes just made me like meh, so I am giving a 7.5.
Music-7.5/10
The damn OST is loie a bloody worm song. It's annoying as well as catchy. The other songs were okay too. So for that I will give a 7.5.
Rewatch Valu-4.5/10
I'm sorry. I felt that I took too long to finish this series and because of that I don't think that I need to watch it again.
Overall-7/10
As I stated before, I really did try with this series. I guess it wasn't for me in the end.
Was this review helpful to you?
Considering it's much shorter, with only eleven episodes and the average length being 45 minutes, a lot of the scenes were cut, though honestly, I didn't mind, as most of it was the comedy. Some great scenes were cut though, sadly.
The story is obviously the same, and it's a great story. It was faster-paced, and while it was natural in some points, at others it went by far too quickly.
The character development was differeing in comparison to the Korean version, obviously due to the time constraints. Something I really didn't like was Shu's character though.
We all know how heartbreaking Shin Woo's scenes were in YB (it's really ridiculous how much that guy made me feel so heartbroken), but I didn't get the same impact for Shu as I did with Shin Woo. I think it's due to the huuuuuuugggee lack of Shu-Mio talk time. We got a ton of adorable talks between Mi Nam and Shin Woo in YB, but there just wasn't enough sweetness coming from Shu. I didn't get that super adorably nice feeling from him.
The acting was pretty good, but nobody can beat Jang Geun Suk's experience. I think the Korean actors were better, putting all appearance biases aside.
A majority of the music was the same, except in Japanese, and while they were good, I like the Korean version better. A few songs were not translated/included from the original though.
I personally wouldn't rewatch it, but I can see watching some parts of it over. Maybe just for Jang Geun Suk's cameo in episode eight. ;P
Overall, it was pretty good. If you liked YB, you should definitely try watching this version out. It's fun, and it puts a Japanese spin on some of the scenes we all know and love.
Was this review helpful to you?
Very similar to Cherry Magic but ...
Just like everyone is noticing, I've found many similarities between this show and Cherry Magic, which isn't necessarily good or bad. From the adorable boss/office employee dynamic to the kind main lead who always seems to put others first (and the love interest who helps out when the main lead does this, of course), they resemble each other a lot.However, Old Fashion Cupcake has distinguished itself so far from CM. Aside from no fantasy aspects, OFC revolves around a unique goal/reason (hard for me to explain, but no spoilers) that causes the two main leads to spend more time together and experience new things. The chemistry between the actors and characters is also interesting and cute. Only being 5 eps, it's definitely worth a riskless watch!
Was this review helpful to you?
I am in love.
I put off watching this Drama for some time, because I‘m usually not a big fan of „impossible“ love stories, so ghost and human didn‘t really speak to me that much. However, since I absolutely loved Singto in Sotus I decided to give it a go, and I have to say I am more than glad I did. I put off watching the last episode for three days because I didn‘t want it to end.Actors first: Singto (Mes) as always had me 100% convinced, every expression, every emotion, every movement just felt right. The other main actor (Ohm), was also a perfect pick for the role Thun, and did a lovely job at conveying his role. The only thing about the cast that kind of threw me off was the choice for the „child actor“ because judging by looks I would have made him out to be about 10. Two years later they used the grown up actor who looks like he’s at least 16 or 17. So that was kind of a big jump in growth and looks for only two years. The child actor himself was actually pretty good though!
Now plot: what shall I say I am 100% in love, who would have thought such a constellation could ever make my realist heart fall in love. They developed the relationship beautifully over the course of the 8 episodes. And the chemistry between the two leads was just amazing. But not only that, the entire plot itself (Mes’ search for who he is etc.), even apart from the love story, really had me and my full attention.
All in all there’s really not much I can say that was bad about it. I didn’t like the ending as much, but as I thought about it, it was probably the best ending that we could have gotten.
One more thing I really need to mention is that this Drama managed to touch my feelings in a way they have never been touched by any series before. Yes, there have been series where way worse or more emotional things happened, that have made my chest feel tight, made me cry or feel, but this Drama brought tears to my eyes and made my heart hurt for the smallest things, things I probably would have just nodded off in other Dramas. I don’t know what it was about this Series, the story, the chemistry or just Singto’s acting, but it really really touched me.
So if you are still thinking about watching this, but are unsure, maybe because of the unusual constellation, give it a try, it’s (sadly) only 8 episodes anyways. For now this one has saved place number one in my heart and solely for that it deserves 10 stars.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
An Underrated BL Series That Deserves A Wide Ranged of Viewers
This is my first review for a BL Series. After watching ATOTS I have this urge to put a review to show how much I appreciate this series. This is undeniably "the best BL Series GMMTV has ever made", it is now gaining the attention and appreciation from fans all over the world but I fell like this needs more than that. This series should be available in different video streaming platforms so that many could watch and appreciate it. It also deserves at least to be nominated for the best drama series not just for BL category but in general.Story: I would be honest that the story or plot is kind of cliché especially the "heart transplant" part of it, but there's something unique on how the director, writer and production staff executed the whole narration of the story. The way they tell the story of each characters are above and beyond even Torfun was given character development. There's right amount of romance, comedy, action, and slice of life on it but you wouldn't expect that they would come out as a masterpiece. Societal issues were tackled here, the difference between the rural and urban areas, the education system, the unfair treatment of rich and poor, and of course the homosexuality. Kudos to this series for treating homosexuality as "normal" and not just part of the plot. You would really appreciate it especially if you watch the conversation between Tian and Tul, this is not your typical BL which has "I'm not gay but I'm in love with you" type of story. There's no too much skinship on this series but I think it was necessary since I was able to focus on the story. There were flashbacks but it was done perfectly, the editing was the best I've seen so far.
Acting/Casting: Earth is not new to BL but he didn't have the break he deserved until ATOTS, many only see him who has the "body" but didn't have the acting skills but when he was partnered with Mix everything changed. The chemistry was top notch they were able to convey their emotions in every scenes just only by staring to each other's eyes, small movements that speaks affections are overflowing. I was actually surprised that this was Mix first drama series but good thing P'Aof (the director) was able to see the hidden talent of him. He was a big help to Mix acting debut. The heartbreaking scenes would really wrench your heart so be prepared. EarthMix will be the front runner for GMMTV future BL Series.
Music: I'm in love with the music, very calming and relaxing, when you hear the theme song every time the series starts it's like you were being pulled by a new world and you would enter the ATOTS world, I might be exaggerating but that's how I felt.
Overall: Given the astounding reviews and ratings of "A Tale of Thousand Stars" it really stood its ground as the "Best BL Series Ever Made" maybe not just for GMMTV but for the whole BL industry. Life lessons are flowing here in this series. After watching it you'll have this internalization in yourself about the value of life. ATOTS set the bar so high that this might be a rare chance that we will watch this kind of series.
Was this review helpful to you?
amazing chemistry/dynamic (need Tod & Boy as main leads again!) but with lackluster writing
Overall: Pluem and Kevin have some of the best chemistry/physical affection of any m/m couple that I've ever seen. Unfortunately the writing was not great otherwise this could have been a 10/10. Also don't be nervous about the title of the series (see my comment spoiler). Aired on GagaOOLala and YouTube.Content Warnings: kind of something off screen, keeping this spoiler free, you can look in my comments
What I Liked
- Kevin and Pluem have some of the best physical affection that I have ever seen (hand holding/rubbing, side hugs, sniff kisses, etc)
- consent examples
- that Kevin is actually interested in ghosts/wants to see them
- mystery element/premise
- funny moments
- sweet fluffy moments
- production value
Room For Improvement
- the writing was the main weakness: confusing world building, plot threads that weren't fully explained, plot holes, too many characters (a random character kind of thrown in), a character did something super cliche (and out of character) in ep 7 and beginning of 8, I'd suggest just skipping to 14 minutes in ep 8
- the commercial breaks were kept in GagaOOLala (but I didn't deduct for this)
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
There's so much meaning we can get from this drama about family relationship. Interesting stories with conflicts that usually occur in families make this drama really look very realistic. In addition, the main role's excellent acting ability can bring the characters to each role so that the storyline is very interesting in each episode, especially how the stepmother's true love takes part in her daughter's life even though they have no blood ties. I like how the supporting roles play their roles with no less good role than the main roles, although some of them don't appear frequently in every episode but each character has a role and gives the impression of a distinctive character.
The background music seemed to describe each story so that we seemed to be taken to feel the feelings of happiness, sadness, despair, and hope of the cast.
Therefore, if you want to watch this drama again, then I will say that this drama is worth watching again. Maybe when viewed from the title of the drama you will think that this drama has a general storyline about family relationships, but in it you will be entertained by the character of each cast that makes this drama have a different story element.
Was this review helpful to you?
The story is about two generation of gay females – specifically the aunt and niece. Where the aunt grew up in a generation that is less accepting, the niece grew up in a more accepting environment. I really like and appreciate the way the drama explores how that affected each of them and how one was able to help the other gradually be herself and pursue what made her happy.
All the main characters got their spotlight. Had their own personalities and charms. They made me smile and giggle a hell of a lot. I love all the couples.
For a drama that runs for a little over an hour, they did a really great job tying the three couples together into the main story.
The ending is one of the best.
Was this review helpful to you?
Could have been so good without the romance...
I am conflicted about this drama, there is a lot of goodness in it pretty faces, funny scenes, decent acting, lovely gazes and some pretty deep thoughts between the fluff.Had they only made this a story of friendship support, pain and healing, though I hate the word healing this would have been great and would probably have gotten a much higher score, however having a romantic plot line between a dog and a human does not work for me at all and makes me feel really uncomfortable. I am trying to understand this phenomena as I do see it from time to time? Is wishing one pets became human a real thing? Do people actually want to have a romantic relationship with a human with the the mentality of a dog? Hot and muscular as the person may be, knowing this is the human form of the pet he once cared for? Seriously? Why? I get that there is a lot of love but romance? Really?
Losing my dog was one of the hardest things I have ever been through, going home to a dog less flat was unimaginable several years later I still miss my dog a lot. I have had pets most of my life, so I do understand that there is a strong bond between a pet and their owner, but the pet is completely dependent of it´s owner and is more like a toddler than a lover. Lee Jae Bin did an amazing job showing us that he indeed was a dependent dog that loved his owner unconditionally. Kim Seong Hyuk who played the cat was hilarious to watch, his love line was a bit more acceptable, as he was mentally less dependent and more mature. While still keeping cat qualities + his love interest is not with his owner.
Seeing these side by side made it even more clear that the romance between Choco and his owner was disturbing.
The production itself was pretty good for what I assume is a low budget production. So basically Sweet and interesting story but kind of disturbing... that could have been great if they just left out the romance.
Was this review helpful to you?
Recent Discussions
-
!! Thoughts For the Day !!5 minutes ago -
this OR that AND why ??7 minutes ago -
What was the last song (non Asian) that you listened to? #219 minutes ago -
GL Drama Lovers Club26 minutes ago -
TONG HUA's : XIaoJing drama & novel exploration 💜26 minutes ago
