Reviews

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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Another good mini drama

I actually find the director that directed “A familiar stranger “ very good.
Although he is not listed for this drama, I am sure it is him. In either episode 1 or 2 , he dropped in scene from “A familiar stranger”, a drama which I adored and have re watch a few times.

This is about a mistaken identity for a stuntwoman who often do stunts for a famous actress.
The romance between a rich business man looking for the lady that saved him years ago when he had a temporary sight loss.
There are also another plot brewing with 2ML and 1ML. Both are good actors and eye candy. The 2FL is also from “A familiar stranger”, so far her character at ep 6 is innocuous.

There are lots of chemistry between 1ML and 1FL…..So far the interactions are interesting but nothing steamy. However the story has lots of twists… watch this and I am sure you will enjoy it.

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I enjoyed a lot of things about this drama. It's not completely realistic with how things really work in the idol music industry, but the drama is very intentional about showing the group actually doing the work of being an idol group. They're practicing their choreography, they're doing performances, they're going to photoshoots, they're writing their own songs, and they're facing some of the sorts of challenges you would expect for a group attempting a comeback after falling out of popularity. Group members struggle with figuring out the best pathways to take in their lives, they get into fights and disagreements because of stress and pressure, and they frequently recommit themselves to each other and the hard work it's going to take for the group to come back. It can admittedly get a bit saccharine and dramatic at times, but more often than not, I felt sympathy for these boys rather than annoyance or second-hand embarrassment. I would say this aspect of the drama is where it shines most.

There are some story choices towards the end that are admittedly head-scratching, even if they mostly make sense. The most head-scratching is when one of the members voices his very strong opposition to the leads dating. His opposition has nothing to do with the leads very sizable age gap (which I will get to in a minute), but because a relationship between them would divert the male leads focus away the group, and apparently, the group should trump every other area of his life. This is obviously a nonsense attitude (although it's certainly how the record labels themselves would like their artists to act), and it also comes semi-out of nowhere. There are hints leading up that this character is bothered by something, but you never would have guessed this was the thing they were bothered by. Personally, I think the drama would have been better served by either removing or toning down this plot point, because doesn't serve the story, and it actually ignores the very real problem with the romance.

And that is that this romance has an unnecessarily large age gap. If the male lead had been just a bit older or the female lead just a bit younger (or better, he had been a bit older And she had been a bit younger), I wouldn't have had a problem. But he's quite a bit younger than her, to a degree that the mental gap is just too wide. She was also his teacher in high school years prior which adds another uncomfortable layer. A better scenario would have been for her to be an assistant teacher when she worked at his school, maybe 23 or 24 years old and getting work experience so she could eventually become a regular teacher, thus lowering the age gap to more along 5 or 6 years. I could have been more comfortable with that. The romance is admittedly very subtle and left somewhat open-ended at the end. I think it's pretty clear they get together in the last scene, but other viewers got a different impression, so your mileage may vary.

And I can't end this review though without telling you my absolute favorite thing about this drama. The soundtrack. This drama's songs are literal Bops, nicely weaved into the storyline as songs being written and performed by the drama's fictional group, 8loom. It's amazing just how much they add to the drama. I'm 100% going to buy them on iTunes, and if you enjoy Jpop or Kpop, etc. I imagine you'll probably love these songs too.

Overall, this drama has its charms and its flaws. It's not one of my favorite dramas I've ever watched, but it was a fairly pleasant and satisfying viewing experience, flaws notwithstanding.

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If you wish for something with all your heart, it'll come true in an unexpected way

This Korean drama is a story of resilience, hopes, and dreams. It highlights the enduring spirit of a woman who continues to reach for the stars despite the odds. Mixed in are celebrity drama, family conflict, mystery, and doses of rom-com.

The series is the third collaboration of writer Park Hyeryun and director Oh Choonghwan, after Start-Up and While You Were Sleeping. They masterfully interweave humor with depth of emotion. The female lead, Park Eunbin, of Extraordinary Attorney Woo fame, brings quirkiness and charm, not to mention some impressive singing. The plotline is at times whimsical and imaginative. The visuals, sound, and design are polished, as to be expected from Studio Dragon.

Pacing is dynamic. Each episode generally contains some balance of serious problems and inspiring moments. The writer excels at portraying heartwarming friendships and is known to keep you guessing about who will end up in a relationship with whom. There are mystery elements here, and you're drawn in rooting for their dreams to come true. There is some rewatch value as you can notice the crumbs and intentional miscues throughout the story.

Parts of the first episode could be difficult to watch due to scenes of physical abuse. But I recommend you stick to it to watch a beautiful and inspiring story showcasing the struggle and merits of chasing your dreams and the value of loving family bonds.

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This was such a refreshing change of pace from the bulk of BL dramas out there. It was a nice twist on the childhood friends - to - lovers trope that felt new yet comforting in its familiarity at the same time. It was also a great dynamic having the third friend in the mix to show the evolution of feelings and how the friendships differ from each other (platonic love to romantic love to unrequited love) and how they compared to the past verses the present.

The flow of the story was a little weird although I can't say it was bad.. just a little confusing. From the very start, we see a potential car accident so right off the bat, it is hinting at a tragic conclusion. We are made to believe it will become even more tragic over the course of the series as we see Amber's clear affection for Le but his reluctance to say anything out of fear. This would be a quintessential "secret crush" story if it weren't for the added depth of Amber actually being Wen Wen whom Le has always been in love with and had been waiting for to return. We see this through a series of flashbacks though the truth of Amber's identity is not actually revealed until pretty late into the series so unless someone read a detailed synopsis or spoilers, it may not make much sense. Maybe they did this to encourage multiple viewings so that we see it in a different light, who knows? But again, I didn't find it to be bad, just strange. It was as if they wanted people to already know the big plot twist before it actually happened.

I was very happy to see that they could create a drama without needing a "villain" or someone coming in to try and mess with the MC. There was a little bit of a hint of that with Yu He but I thought her journey was very realistic and very well executed that you couldn't help but feel bad for her. She never once tried to get in their way but she was honest about how her feelings were torn between being happy to find out Wen Wen was back yet knowing it all but demolished any chance she may have had with Le. Oh, and her brother is ultimate BF material... she's sitting there crying and alone and he just puts on music and gives her cake while he listens to her pour her heart out. Sometimes, that's all we need.. an ear to listen to us while we eat cake.

I honestly didn't understand the purpose of the car accident.. I mean, there was barely a scratch on Amber so why make us think it's going to be much worse than it is if it was barely a blip on the radar when it actually happened?

But that's probably my biggest gripe with the series. I knew going into it that it would be a slow burn which I generally do not prefer. But it definitely worked here and made sense. Also, honestly, that was probably the most satisfying kiss I'd ever seen.. not so much the kiss itself but just the fact that it FINALLY happened. 12 episodes of tension and buildup ultimately get released and it's like letting out a breath that's been held in for way too long. Then from that point on, it was seriously adorable.. I liked how they showed them as normal friends at the end with the flirty undertone. They were just so comfortable with each other after all that uncertainty throughout.

Honestly, I wasn't sure what to expect with the synopsis I'd read somewhere else but I'm so glad I watched this series and would certainly recommend it to anyone. Truly beautiful and enjoyable watch.

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BEST BL SERIES IN 2023

Everything is a top-notch! ((not biased)) The story is well-explained, not too fast or too slow. The acting from the casts are amazing. The casts ability's to show us a wide-range emotions from the character deserves a standing-ovation. For the production, from the camerawork to the color grading, it's just perfect!! The way they ((sometimes)) blurred Jom –put the focus on Khun Yai– is a smart things to do! I'm not going to give any spoilers here, but there's a logical explanation why the team decided to do that, and that's brilliant! This series has 4 osts and all of them are nicely made! If you ask me to choose the best from those 4 songs, it will be a hard decision for me because every songs have their own meanings and it perfectly aligned with Khun Yai - Jom story.

This series ungraves deep in my heart. I'm happy that I've waited for almost a year for this series because every hours that I spend waiting for this is all worth it.

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Call it Satisfying

When I finished Call it Love I I honestly felt like I was satisfied in a well that was a grand days work kinda way as opposed to oh my god im totally blown away kind of way. But yet i look back at this as time well spent it kind of grows on you and you go through a certain kind of coming to terns with whats happening along with the characters.

At times this drama really had me moved and totally absorbed and at times I was feeling this is getting dull only for it to pull away from the edge and remain engaging and it makes you interested to hear what others thought.

Pros:
Some great chatacters and exploration of same and a sense of understanding them gradually in a satisfying way.

A really good fairly realistic story not OTT and well brought together. I genuinely felt any number of endings would satisfy me no anxiety re a happy vs sad vs open ending a few episodes out as the story was making sense to me (eventually) regardless.

The Secondary characters were all really engaging and not filler material and no really extreme characters (though some might say close to)

For a drama with virtually no comedy it was still not gratituosly depressing.

Some genuinely powerful moments.

The normalised and gentle treatnent of sister struggle with mental health issue, note not a central part of plot but nicely introduced and explored with subtlety and normality.

Cons

The leads at times were too monotonous and almost unable to express any emotions outside of a narrow range of stoic silence and underlying sadness.

The FL in particular some of her scenes were like oh come on say something, its actually getting weird now. Tropes were not rampant in this script apart from the miscommunication/no communication between leads trope which weared just a little at times.

The chemistry between leads lacked i felt I dont know if it was directing acting or both but it was a bit too low key to match where they get too in their relationship. However this may be because this was not just a story about romance it was that and a bit more so even the romance had to be in balance.

To put it simply the acting was anazing to capture a certain tyoe of mood or moment which was then repeated a lot so while many fekt the acting was great i felt it was within a narrow range and not mind blowing sorry.

The use of the split scene then flash back was done really well except maybe a bit too often esoecially where verbal communication was sparse it was at times a long wait to find out what was actually said when.

Overall I feel like this is really really a great watch but maybe not all in one go. I have a fulfulling sense of satisfaction even though at times i was not sure what to make of it. Somehow this drama didnt neccessarily always go they way I wanted and yet i never felt cheated or had an oh i hate this type of story moment. I still havent settled on a no for my rating im curious what people feel.

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I was really lookingforward to this because Chimon is one of the actors I appreciate most from Thailand. I think his acting was just fine in this, I just feel bad for him. I feel like he had to force himself. I always wonder how much of a choice actors have, or moreso, how much pressure actors face to be in BLsespecially being an actor for GMMTV and being in a counrty where their BLs are world reknowned meaning they're being pushed by the literal government.
Has he been limited to BLs because of he has been side characters in them before? I always worry. I just can't imagine trying to act a sexuality that's not your own. Ok, actually I can all to well given that's what I do every day of my life. It fricked me up. And to have to do that for the world at large? It isn't the same because you can go back to your straight life, but the shadow will always be there. I'm sure stranges on the street will stop them and ask, and they'll always be wondering if that's something the person across from them is judging them for.
Summary: I have never seen a couple with less chemistry in my entire life. but not in a bad acting kind of way (there are all too many of those). It was just two straight guys that couldn't reach that far into their psychy nor escape the world we live in that tells us that gayness is weird and wrong. I 100% can't do it.
Anways, the chemistry was so lacking, awkward, and embarrassing that I can't even watch them attempt anything more intimate. Hence stopping at ep 7. Reading theough peopel's comments and seeing that they had to do the most intimate types of scenes makes me shudder to think of it. And it seems like I wasn't the only one,
And still, Chimon's smirk. CHimon's half smile. We love to see it.

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Another bad RomCom with bad acting, don't waste your time.

Only for Love is a rom-com about a cold CEO and a financial reporter.

I watched about 8 episodes of "Only for Love"; don't waste your time. Here are the reasons why I am dropping it:
- Only For Love: The plot is boring, and the character Bai Lu playing is weak and a waste of her talents.
- Dylan Wang is not convincing as a cold CEO. There is no on-screen chemistry between the lead actors.
- For Dylan Wang's fan, I am sorry, but to me, he is a one-dimension actor who can't act.

I have wasted almost 8 hours with something so boring and unreal. Just because Dylan Wang is popular in LBFD doesn't mean that he should be teamed up with everyone, even the good actress.

I heard he will team up with my favorite actress, Zhao Lusi. I hope it will not disappoint me. I am dropping this drama because the plot is stupid, and the ML does not do justice to team up with Bai Lu (one of my favorite actresses.)

I give it a 5.0 rating because of the bad plot, acting, and production quality.

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Surprising complexity buried in a straight forward romance with a happy ending

9/10 is my rating. This is a 2021 Chinese romantic comedy drama with 24, 44-57 minute episodes. Also known under the alternate titles: “Accidentally Found Love”, “I Accidentally Picked Up Love”, and “You Succeeded in Attracting My Attention”

First I provide a unique synopsis then review.

Synopsis
Gu An Xin (Zhao Lu Si) is leading a simple, though impoverished life, as a delivery driver when she accidentally hits Ling Yue (Liu Te) when he stumbles into the road. She does not realize he is crawling out of an accident where rival heirs tried to get rid of the heir apparent. Ling Yue allows An Xin to think she is the primary cause of his injuries in order to use her as cover and her apartment as a hide out while he investigates who is behind the attempt on his life. AnXin also has a secret and is hiding. As they live together and get to know each other it seems fate may have had a hand in things. Can two who seem so opposite actually be each other’s ideal?

Review

Overall it is a good, heart warming romance with some surprising plot twists and complexity. There were some minor plot elements that were not neatly resolved. But the main story is interesting and compelling. It ends happy for all but one side couple.

Spoilers*
I have to say when the apartment flooded that whole incident was a little unbelievable just because of the amount of water and how easily she cleaned it up. In fact, she was never very upset when he did major damage to her apartment like the kitchen fire and the flooding. All of that would’ve taken a lot to repair. Also when she listed the expenses related to that it wasn’t anything about the water damage that that would’ve created. It made it a bit silly in those parts that her response did not mirror reality.

This one takes the cake for most surprising plot twist. At this point I’ve watched over 300 dramas. Because I have watched so many dramas it makes it to where I can predict a lot of the plot twists. So I usually have figured out who is doing what to whom by halfway through. In this one when it turned out it was the little brother behind all of the attempts on main guy I was completely surprised. That level if surprise us rare..

They made such a big deal out of Anxin being kicked out of her family I wanted her to have a big revealmwith her dad. She did not get a chance as he wound up with a brain tumor that led to dementia. That was disappointing. He also did not understand how ,essed up the actions of the current wife were. She denied him his daughter by swapping the paternity test and essentially drove his wife to end herself.

I wish the brother never expressed romantic feelings for her. They had such a cute brother sister relationship before he made it all weird and awkward by telling her he was interested in her romantically. It was ironic to me, because early in the series I kept saying Ling yue was being unreasonable toward Anxin’s brother because that was just her brother. Turns out he sensed all along that he had more than brotherly feelings for her. I was glad the two men mostly bridged their differences at the end and became friendly with each other.

Anxin’s sister was just straight up cruel to her so I did not feel warm fuzzies when she started being nice. I thought she was horrible to both men too, Ling yue and his little brother. She would work on Anxin and get her doubting herself in the relationship and it would either cause problems or break them up temporarily, and there was no reason for it because he had all the opportunity in the world to get with her previously and didn’t.

I did not like how they were willing to forgive the little brother and say he’s just young. The fact that he tried multiple times and showed no remorse would be highly indicative of a sociopath.

An Xin’s sister was a bit redeemable because at least she showed remorse for her actions at the end although I thought Anxin forgave her way too quickly. The little brother and the mom, on the other hand, never showed remorse so it was wrong for them to forgive them, or seem willing to forgive them when they did not even sorry themselves. They were only sorry that they got caught and so they felt bad for themselves.

Two of my favorite characters were his bodyguard and his doctor best friend and I thought the romance between the two was so cute. When he went into the boxing ring to defend her honor and show his sincerity and took a serious beating for her I thought that was so cool. I really started rooting for them then.

It was complete bonus round that Anxin’s manga business took off. It was really cool to see her be successful in her own, right.

#PleaseFeelAtEaseMrLing
#Zhao Lu Si
#LiuTe

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Incredible thai BL

I’m not usually someone who leaves a review, but this show is worth it. The story is intriguing and well executed much better than most of the thai BL’s this year. It truly is a love story between two people who are trying to be together in a time where love between the same gender was unacceptable. This is further complicated by the fact that one of them is from the future.
Many thai BL’s have an interesting concept like this, but “I feel you linger in the air” manages to do this plot justice.
I would also like to point out that the chemistry between the actors and the acting itself was superb.

In summary, I highly recommend this series to people who are looking for a well executed story, with good acting and great chemistry. It has funny, sad and absolutely heartwarming moments. Moments that are further enhanced by well times background music.

Absolutely recommend 10/10!

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