I watched this little drama - 6 eps 20 or so mins each - mainly and mostly for Yamada Yuki as Murayama. Murayama is truly one of his best roles so far, hands down. Why? Because Murayama is so very multifaceted: dumb yet wise, ruthless yet caring and loyal to a fault. And then there's his obsession with - and devotion to - Cobra-chan!

This drama is set during the 2nd and 3rd High & Low movies. And before High & Low: The Worst. It goes deeper into what had been happening in Ouya High at the time and it introduces many of the side-characters from The Worst. It's also interspersed with various flashbacks to the movies, all in the vein of "meanwhile in SWORD..." so that you can get a better idea of what's happening when.

Like I said, my favorite part was Murayama. His journey towards outgrowing them all. It was beautifully portrayed not just in scenes with Murayama himself but also through Todoroki who has always craved defeating Murayama - while Murayama never really cared. But here, you could see Todoroki realizing that Murayama was getting farther and farther ahead of him.

One of my favorite moments happened in ep 6, when all the other gang leaders talked in hushed, awed voices about SWORD going against Kuryu - together with Murayama and the part-timers. The moment they realized that this was completely out of their league.

Another great moment was when Murayama actually realized the same thing, that the full-timers were there, in Ouya High, to actually learn something and to graduate and that they could not do that if they meddled in SWORD's affairs. And thus he permanently divided the school into full-timers and part-timers who would, from that moment on, never cross lines. And he banned the full-timers from ever sticking their noses into SWORD's business again.

Not only did that prove that Murayama matured into a real leader, it also meant a clean cut for the future movies and dramas. From here on, even though those stories would be happening in the same universe as High & Low, they would follow their own line of storytelling.

Overall, a good series that became great whenever Yamada Yuki entered the screen. Goodness gracious, he's awesome!

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This drama will stay with me for a very long time. It's, hands down, one of the best Thai dramas I've ever seen. Actually... no, it's one of the best dramas I've seen, period. All the characters were so rich, so 3D and every single one of them - everyone but Newwiee's Khan - had his or her hand in what happened to Papang, even she herself because even she was not blameless.

It was so interesting, the way the layers were slowly peeled off, revealing to Khan - the outsider in this story - what happened to his sister, who her friends truly were, what they had done, what she had done, how much she hadn't been telling him because she didn't want him to worry, her sweet big brother. So much ugliness and toxicity...

"Don't let your comments kill another person."

Yeah.

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This is, hands down, one of the best BL dramas I’ve ever seen. It’s not a coffee shop fanfic. It deals with ugly stuff. Type’s PTSD is not at all pretty and it takes a lot of time and care for him to change and start making amends. Tharn himself is more than a little affected, personality-wise, by what happened to him, both at 14 and then by what one of the people he trusted most kept doing behind his back, again and again, ruining his life like that in the name of “love”. But all that makes the story and the relationship between Tharn and Type so interesting and worth following from start to finish.

Also, the cinematography is excellent. And the music, wow, the music, they sure knew how to use it to hype up the tension of the more suspenseful scenes - that deep bassy thu-thu-thu-thu just hit me really deep. Just amazing.

For me, the characters of Tharn and Type, their chemistry both in dramatic and in love scenes, really stood out. Their kisses, their lovemaking was hot but also very sweet and tender. I believed that these two were in love. Another character that clicked with me was Techno. Gosh, the actor just hit all the right notes!

Overall, I think the drama is really worth the hype and I’m so glad that it turned Mew & Gulf into big stars and that it made all that Mame had to do to make the series happen worth it. Kudos to everyone involved!

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There are altogether 10 side stories to the movie The Liar and His Lover starring Satoh Takeru and at least the ones that focus on Aki and the band, Crude Play, are even better than the movie!

The one where Aki first played his song to Shun. Or the one where Shun found out that Aki quit the band, his anger and sadness. Or the one told from the POV of their class president - I love outsider's POV! Or the one about Shinya, about his admiration for Aki - and about his inferiority complex, his certainty that he would never achieve Aki's greatness. The one about Aki's older sister. And the one about their manager, Takagi...

Holy smokes, the one about Takagi, though! That was honestly oh so creepy, the way he manipulated Aki, breaking him and remaking him into something else to "nurture" his song writing talent. When Takagi even sent his own lover to Aki and let her seduce him... Yikes! Takagi would've done anything to keep Aki miserable and under his control, the stuff in the movie was just the tip of the iceberg.

The side stories make the movie so much richer. After seeing them, I really didn't want to leave this "universe". There's so much untapped potential there. Ah-mazing!

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This was basically the kiddie version of the High&Low franchise. Oh, don't get me wrong, I liked it, but it was basically a rehash of the old plots just with high school protagonists. Genius friend studying in a good school, sister doing drugs, best friend falling in with the wrong crowd for the right reasons, big fight to bring said bestie back to his senses... yup, it was all there before. And it wasn't bad, it just wasn't, well, fresh.

That's why my favorite moments were the bits that actually did feel fresh. Like Fujio and Sachi's relationship that started with them as complete strangers becoming friends becoming enemies becoming friends again, relieved that the other wasn't a bad guy, after all. That was cute! Also, the way Fujio looked at Sachi? Hot damn!

Also, Murayama's graduation. It pretty much mirrored Tatsuya's departure from Mugen, true. But I loved that it showed that change doesn't need to be bad, that when something ends, something else begins and it might be just as good. And that there comes a moment when you feel that, yeah, this is it, it's time to move on now. And you are happy about that closure, not sad.

My favorite scene of all? When Murayama called Cobra and asked him to hear him out this time because he just needed someone to talk to, an equal. That just gave me warm fuzzies.

I wish we got more info on Sachi, though. Because he was a badass and I'm not saying that just because Shison Jun is my favorite actor. Sachi was... hot damn! But he and his sister and Housen in general felt underdeveloped because most attention was given to Fujio and his gang. Luckily, Shison Jun could carry the part with what little he was given. Oh well...

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P2 of S1 is much more serious than P1. And very whumpy since Wumei is - let me think - stabbed and poisoned, he almost drowns, then he's bed-ridden because of said poisoning for several episodes - and then he gets also shot on top of all that. Not to mention all the emotional whump. Lovely :P

What I really like about this drama is that despite having a bunch of gorgeous guys wooing for her attention, the FML doesn't waver, not once. Luojing loves Wumei. And that's it. There's no love triangle, no oohing or aahing about whom she should choose. Nothing like that at all. For a "reverse harem drama" that's, well, unique.

And Wumei! Once he finally admits to himself that he fell in love with this "little fool" as he calls Luojing - well, she calls him a "barbarian" - he's willing to move mountains for her. He goes as far as defying the emperor himself. Wumei and Luojing are so... so... mwah!

The finale is a clear set-up for S2, all the chess pieces are moved into place, the Big Bad(TM) is finally revealed, there's more plotting on all sides - but Wumei and Luojing are determined to face the upcoming challenges together, he gives up the throne for her, she gives up her chance to go back to the real world for him. Let their story commence!

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PeteKao

I finally watched this drama in its entirety. I was putting it off for so long not because I wasn’t interested in it, just the opposite. I knew that this was the last story of Pete & Kao that we will ever get and I did not want it to end. Because I love them so much. They are my Thai OTP to end all other OTPs. These characters made me fall in love with Tay & New - with Newwiee in particular, if you haven’t noticed by now 😋 - and their story, Pete & Kao’s, is what stuck with me ever since I’ve seen them on-screen together for the first time.

And DBK is simply amazing. Pete & Kao’s love for each other literally oozes from the screen. There’s no on-screen sex, there’s very little kissing and yet, there’s absolutely no doubt that Pete & Kao love each other so much it hurts. They’re the perfect proof that you can make a PG-rated BL drama and it can work. And Tay & New’s chemistry is really breathtaking here, honed to perfection over the years that they’ve worked together.

Their story in this drama was fascinating to watch. Pete’s love for Kao but also his unreasonable jealousy stemming from his insecurities. Kao’s love for Pete but also his reluctance to come out stemming from his fear of disappointing his mother. Pete’s desire to become better for Kao, to provide for Kao and Kao’s constant stress and need to work more, all the time, so that his mom and his sister won’t have to. And then the ultimate clash of their issues - made even worse by Non.

Gosh, whether you take book!Non or drama!Non, he’s a real creep. Yes, in the drama you understand him better but that doesn’t change the fact that he is a creep, obsessed with Kao to the point of stalking him and assaulting him, never taking no for an answer - and finally, almost ruining his life.

This makes for such a good, intense, interesting story, carefully build up and anchored in the characters’ traits, and the snowball effect of Non’s actions, the destruction of everything that Kao’s been working so hard for is heartbreaking to watch. But, gosh, does it give Newwiee some really juicy acting material to work with!

Truly an incredible, unforgettable story that sticks with you long after it’s over. PeteKao’s part of DBK deserves 10/10!

(Since I didn’t like SunMork, I’ll leave the rating of their story to their fans.)

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Under all the crazy, this is a sweet story of a found family: the madhat residents of an apartment building where girls are strictly forbidden, people get lost inside washing machines and the existence of aliens surprises exactly nobody.

I admit that the first couple of episodes didn’t really hold my interest outside of Pun - and by extension Nott - but slowly, as we got to know all the characters, I fell in love with most of them. Especially Porpla, the very eccentric owner of the building, crazy of mind and big of heart - it was her scene with Pun in the very last episode that made me cry so hard that my throat closed up and my nose got all stuffy.

It’s a very short series, 6 episodes only, but AFAIK S2 was already confirmed by someone on the show. I’m glad. But even if there is no S2 - you never know - I would be content with how the drama ended.

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Well, that was… underwhelming. And I’m not talking about the lack of sex or kissing - my top OTP out of all the Thai OTPs, be they BL or het, are PeteKao, another GMMTV pairing, after all, I knew what I was getting into when I started watching this drama - but throughout its run I kept waiting for the moment when Sarawat & Tine’s chemistry would click, for that one “There it is!” moment, if you know what I mean. Alas. Even at the very end, they felt like roommates and not a couple, let alone an established one. Bright & Win - especially Win - are good actors, I just didn’t feel them as a pair.

What will stay with me is Phukong, Sarawat’s little brother. And not because I was that happy that he got his man, Mil, in the end. I’ll keep remembering him because of the 2nd best trophy he received, basically, when Mil started paying attention to him - because he lost Tine to Sarawat. Not even because he really had romantic feelings for Phukong but because he couldn’t have Tine. And he didn’t even bother denying it. I felt so bad for Phukong. He allowed himself to become the consolation price because he liked Mil so much. And that’s just sad…

This drama did have a silver lining for me: It made me want to watch My Tee because of Frank & Drake, but mainly Frank who was great as Phukong. The scene where Phukong got mad at Mil for injuring his brother, Sarawat? That was, for me personally, probably the best scene in this drama!

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This is a very short Taiwanese series - short as in 10 eps, 13 min. each - and it tells the story of 3 brothers, same father, different mothers, who bicker as if their lives depended on it but they do love each other, though they would never say it out loud, they would rather die. And these brothers, they all fall for the various men in their lives: the younger two for their best friends, the eldest for the guy who their father thought might be his fourth son - spoiler: he isn’t.

It’s pretty funny and I especially like the pairing above, the eldest son, Yuan Jun Cheng, and their wannabe brother, Lin Xun. Because Yuan Jun Cheng? He has the behavior of a mob boss and Lin Xun is not impressed. And when Jun Cheng decides he wants Lin Xun as his lover, he steamrolls everything in his way while Lin Xun is still not impressed. There might even be some eye-rolling there. And yet somehow, Lin Xun still ends up in a relationship with Jung Cheng. I bet that till this day, Lin Xun doesn’t understand how this odd thing actually happened.

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If you want to watch a drama where the main couple has zero miscommunications, zero misunderstandings, where they trust each other and believe each other and have no doubts about each other, no matter what anyone says, then this is a drama for you!

At first, I wasn't so sure about the series. But once Tumi and Yaksha started actively working together and the main plot, the Mowu Pavilion arc, got going, I was blown away. And the last handful of episodes elevated this drama to 9/10 for me. Towards the ending the drama got so intense and the finale and especially the very last scene? Open ended - and we might never find out if Yaksha lives or not - but holy smokes, that was so very, very intense and so very, very exciting, the exchange between Han Wuwei and Yaksha, then between Chun Tumi and Han Wuwei, just the three of them in a room full of gauzy black curtains and candles, the setting, the acting, the music... wow. And I loved how torn Wuwei was and I loved the absolute, unbreakable trust and devotion between Tumi and Yaksha. It was just... wow.

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This drama completely took over my life. This hasn't happened to me since... since Word of Honor, I guess? And as much as I adored WoH, not even that drama moved me so deeply.

I wouldn't be able to tell you why exactly ALP touched me so much. I guess it was the theme of self-sacrifice? Of duty and honor and love? And of friendship that lasts hundreds of thousands of years and isn't treated as something, well, less?

Because one of the things that fascinated me was the bond among the three True Gods: Zhi Yang, Tian Qi and Bai Jue. They have known each other for hundreds and hundreds of thousands of years, they protected the three realms together and they died and were reborn in their service to the gods, the immortals and the mortals, and they did it with grace and dignity - and not a little mischief. They bickered and poked fun at each other and sometimes they didn't see each other for thousands of years but the warmth they felt for each other never lessened. And that was simply beautiful.

The main draw for me was Xu Kai as Bai Jue/Bo Xuan/Qing Mu - and he did an absolutely incredible job playing these characters who were one and the same person and not at the same time and at no point had I trouble telling the three of them apart. Even when Qing Mu and Bai Jue stood side by side, I knew who was who. Xu Kai is a truly gifted actor and this drama let him showcase that.

Many, many times was I moved to tears. The last two eps I pretty much bawled through. I stayed up way past midnight to finish the drama and I cried so hard that my heart is still aching this morning and my eyes are all swollen. It was so beautiful.

What I must mention and praise is the CGI. The scenery, the fights, all of them looked so amazing and so real that at no point was I torn out of what was happening, thinking "Looks fake." Especially the fights looked truly epic, like fights between gods should.

Thinking back, there were several moments that truly stood out for me:

When Bai Jue was forced to kill Tian Qi
When the True Gods imprisoned Xuan Yi - and when they later on defeated Wu Huan with the same method
When Qing Mu received Bai Jue's spear
When Qing Mu received the 81 lighting strikes and elevated his position to a demi-god
When Bai Jue and Tian Qi battled together at Bai Jue's second wedding
When Gu Jun died for Hou Chi/Shang Gu
When Tian Qi learned about Bai Jue's plan - and then the moment before the battle with Wu Huan, when he realized that Bai Jue was going to die soon
When Bai Jue talked to his son about the meaning of death
When Bai Jue gave himself over to the Doom of Chaos, dying for Shang Gu with a smile on his face because he managed to save her, after all
When Shang Gu came to the Swamp of Netherill and realized what Bai Jue had done...
So many wonderful moments, and that's just off the top of my head.

Also, the score. LAP's songs not only had a beautiful melody, their text was downright heartbreaking, "when she turns to ash, he guards the three realms for her."

This drama was... it was everything I could've wanted and more. I don't think I've ever rated a drama so high but, yeah, it's a 10.

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You know what I loved about this movie? Besides Shison Jun who was mah-rvelous again, of course? That there weren't any villains in this. There was no backstabbing, no hidden agenda, no spite. They were all honest to gosh good people, a sight rarely seen!

Even though Mio loved Yuzu, she helped Alice and taught her how to sing. Even though Haruyoshi loved Mio, he wasn't jealous of Yuzu, he wasn't angry at Yuzu for Mio's lack of interest. Even though Yuzu's writer's block was hindering the band's breakthrough, his friends did not pressure him. And Yuzu and Momo, your usual rivals in a love triangle and yet, when Yuzu found out who Momo was, he wasn't angry at him and when he realized how much Momo cared for Alice, then despite loving her himself, Yuzu tried to make her dream come true and get Momo to acknowledge her! And then, when Alice confessed to Momo that in the meantime, while he was gone from her life, she fell in love with Yuzu? Momo stepped back with no drama and no pressure. That was so lovely and actually mature!

What a feel-good movie! It made me feel all mushy and fuzzy on the inside. Exactly what I needed tonight!

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Holy smokes, as far as Cobra whump goes, this movie was a real smorgasbord. He was kicked, beaten unconscious and kidnapped, tortured - like, they went surprisingly far with that! - and on top of that there was the emotional whump too because a big part of his gang turned against him, preferring to give in to Kuryu instead of standing up against them, his guilt over not saving Smokey, his helplessness over how to defeat Kuryu... Ah-mazing!

But my favorite moments were when Cobra faced the big bads, first Yoshitatsu Zenshin who went all, "I like you. I'll remember your face!" and then later on Kurosaki Kimitatsu who even went as far as asking Cobra to join their side! Their meet-up in the underground garage at the end was *chef's kiss* I loved how Kurosaki was all, "You survived, after all!" and it actually looked like he didn't mind all that much that Kuryu was beaten because he really didn't seem to like the direction their company went in under Iemura and their henchmen.

Also, I loved how all the things from the drama and the previous movies actually came to a head and all the loose ends and all the hints dropped were connected. That was some real smart writing that showed that they put a lot of thought into the actual story!

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This mini-series (it's only 3 eps, 30 or so minutes each) takes place half a year after the movie The Master Plan / The End of the Tiny World and you really need to watch that first or this one won't make much sense to you. From the looks of it, the mini-series was much more cheaply made, it's more like a web coda, and it tells the viewer what happened to Kida after his world came crashing down on him.

First, if you're sensitive to topics like that, you need to know that at the beginning of the mini-series, Kida is suicidal and at one point, he is honestly tempted to just end it - before he's stopped by a chance encounter with a young prostitute who, in the end, after all it's done, prods him into moving on.

But honestly, Kida's state of mind is more than understandable. He lost everyone who ever mattered to him, he even handed his best friend the proverbial loaded gun and couldn't save him in the end. So all he has left is an empty apartment and his work for the mob. That's it. He has no friends left, no family, no real connections to the human world. The only person who actually cares about him is his boss and that's it. You can feel his emptiness.

My favorite moment was when Kida decided to negotiate for the young prostitute's release and he needed 100 mil. yen for that. And he went to his boss who didn't want to let him do it, especially after he told Kida that if he wasn't careful, he could die, and Kida replied that he knew that. And then his boss said, "You're the breadwinner of our company. It'll be troublesome if you die. If you can't come back alive, I can't allow you to go." And only after Kida promised him that he had no intention to die, his boss not only let him go but gave him the 100 mil., too! I loved the way his boss tried to make it sound like he only cared about Kida because he was their "breadwinner" as he called him but he was so worried about Kida because he knew that Kida kept doing dumb stuff for other people - first Makoto in the movie, now the prostitute - and he kept getting hurt because of it. And no matter how many times he told Kida that "dangerous bridges are meant to be crossed for your own good," Kida just wouldn't listen to him!

What I also liked was the ending. It wasn't really happy. It was more realistic. Kida decided to move on, certainly, but that didn't mean he became happy overnight. He still only had his empty apartment and his mob job and no real friends so...

I honestly love this "universe" the movie and the mini-series set up. I really wish we could see more of it. But I don't think we will.

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