There was a plot to this, it was just very badly executed.

I think this story suffered from contrasting story perspectives behind the scenes. It may have been one person who came up with this story, but as it played out it felt like two people with different ideas were involved. On one side, there is the humorous somewhat pseudo-serious unraveling of quirky villainous events and odd supernatural powers, then on the other side there's a few cliche love stories. Unfortunately, these contrasting things are not well balanced, and that results in a messy narrative where the scenes go from following a linear plot with some action/comedy and superpower/bad guy reveals, to girls and guys falling in love (very quickly) and then lamenting over their poorly or barely developed relationships in every other scene.

The creator of this show, who clearly felt it was necessary to couple off everyone by the end, should have done a better job of managing the romance. They had 24 episodes, which was not much considering the intended plot idea of this show, and with those 24 episodes they should have chosen their romance moments more wisely. As it stands, the romance and filler side scenes took up so much screen time, that the actual plot wasn't tidy enough and fell by the wayside.

The acting of this show was okay, nothing special but for the roles they had, they did well enough. It was both funny and too obvious that Wang Yibo (Wei Yi Chen, the literal main character) was filled in with a body double in quite a few scenes (important and filler). I can only assume WY was not able to be present for filming, but I found it funny anyway. It honestly didn't change much or affect the story in any major way.

And I don't usually care much for the OST of any show, but this show had like two songs and they used them over and over which was really lame. Same with the wardrobe choices. It was fairly easy to tell which scenes were all filmed on which days by what the cast was wearing. There were also continuity issues. Also, I'm not sure why it's tagged for bromance, when Duan Mu Hao and Wei Yi Chen barely got along 90% of the time. Same with the strong friendship tag, makes no sense, by episode 24 I didn't get the feeling that the five of them were particularly close to each other, not even the couples. They felt more like five people who circumstantially ended up spending time together occasionally.

Eh, over all, I'd say it's okay to watch if you have some free time. The first half of the show is better than the second imo, and it was pretty funny in many places. I didn't have trouble watching it in the end, it wasn't a struggle to get through the episodes, it was just a bit jumbled up, but it wasn't horrible.

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Great Follow Up!

[REWATCHED 2023]

I still think it's a pretty smooth follow up to Together With Me , considering the order in which things were filmed (and if you ignore how terrible Bad Romance got toward the end with that Beauty & Tanguy drama). The Next Chapter is a more matured and more developed story line and continuation. The acting was good before and it remained consistent in this season, matching the slightly more serious plot but still maintaining the humor here and there. I'll admit I found Korn's character to be very ooc for a brief but major part of the plot, but it was interesting to watch how it unfolded, and it added some new dimensions to the story, especially seeing how dedicated Knock actually is to Korn, which was a nice change from the previous series' where Knock is such a douchebag most of the time. Everyone's else's stories were interesting as well.
This next show is just really good over all. I wasn't disappointed.

The only reason I won't give it 10 is because the writers sacrificed Korn's character to develop Knock's.

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The Messiness of Mixing Business, Pleasure and Family

It was really good. A story with a simple moral/warning that people know well but still don't heed, is that family, business and pleasure do not mix well and this 12 ep drama manages to tell the story of multiple people who do exactly that, mixing it all together in the worst possible way, and we see just how it destroys some relationships, brings some people dubiously closer and leaves a mess in it's wake for all involved.

THE GOOD:
- The acting of everyone in this is absolutely above the standard, no one got left behind on that front. The dialogue has a specific flow and tone that can easily convey the atmosphere and scenes and the actors all really nailed it.
- Likewise, I think the director of this also knew what they were doing. The flow of the narrative and the scenes were all so well timed and depicted.
- The editing and cinematography were great too. I have always preferred shows that don't drown their scenes in long drawn out shots and music. In real life, there is no sad soundtrack when bad things are happening and the deafening silence in a terrible moment is oftentimes what really makes the moment worse. I think this show had silences exactly where it was necessary and they were weighted and poignant. Also the scene cuts were good and not all over the place episodically, they actually line up well according to the timeline of the outing duration.
- Interesting yet relatable characters abound for most people. The human condition on display, well and quite realistically written.
- It was entertaining, which for any show is a must.
- Some of the conversations here are pretty interesting, insightful and highlight some good points about people and relationships.

Nothing BAD, just notes on the downside:
- I didn't like the lip syncing outro. That is a bit too extra. I mean, music is a great thing to listen to when someone is in a mood, but those scenes would have been less cheesy if the relevant people lip syncing had instead put in headphones or been listening to the song somehow and wallowing. This is just my irritation though, it doesn't affect the show at all.
- Ari's issue wasn't entirely clear in the end, I feel like she's the only one who's actual problem/actions were not too clearly defined, we needed some clarity there. Although, conclusions can be drawn, but they are vague.

THE HIGHLIGHTS:
- For me; MAXIIIN <3
- I also like Nonkul, so secondary <3
- THE ACTING. Kudos to everyone on the cast.

They honestly probably could do more with this series, because the fallout and aftermath of these situations could fuel a soap opera-esque miniseries, but even as it ended, it's fine. I really enjoyed this and I would definitely recommend it for viewers who are not here for ships, just for your fave actors or just for the hope of BL or GL scenes, watch it for the story and acting, because it's actually really good.

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If you like a plot that expands and progresses and escalates, S02 is for you...

...but if you're watching this because you just wanted to see the main actor on screen 98% of the time being a boss, or just because you want to fangirl/boy over the attractive actors you liked in S01, you should tap out.
As someone who has no particular affinity to anyone in this show (except for Lee Si young because the actress is amazing and so is her character), as I usually do, I wanna' cover the good, bad and ugly of this season's offering;

THE GOOD:
- High action and developing horror and drama right out the gate, and it stayed that way for at least 80% of the season, no holds barred, humanity at their best and worse, chaos and entropy and monsters abound. S01 covered the basics, which, great, it let us get attached to the respective characters as one must in order to continue watching something, but would I want to watch a whole other season of the same characters doing the same shit? No thank you. S02 brought the broader scale of shit hitting the fan and escalating, we saw the reality of a dystopian world crawling with monsters really impact everyone. The fact that so many people are complaining about S02 baffles me. To viewers griping about deaths of MC's; come on! People would DIE, whether they are popular, good, bad, kids, attractive or ugly. So many shows from other countries based in violent, supernatural horror worlds, cling to their full set of MC's (*coughs* The Walking Dead) to the point where it's eye rolling. I don't want ALL the main characters to survive and be besties, that's BS, because it wouldn't happen that way. Sweet Home was merciless on this front, I loved it (PS: I would have been super mad if Yi Kyung died tbh but I would've gotten over it and still watched S03)
- The story unfolded on a bigger scale, which gripped my interest immediately. They did a good job of showing the peak of escalation and loss the beginning and then the time skip was just long enough to show the bare minimum of what was salvageable, and how unstable it all was.
- They introduced many new characters living in the stadium, most of which I assume will come in handy in S03 for deaths and monsterization. Useful trick to stop killing off your entire main cast in your final seasons. They also set up old characters and some new characters to really shake things up in S03 with gruesome comebacks and they highlighted them well too.
- The acting is ON POINT for everyone. Seriously, everyone brought their A game.
- Lots of foreshadowing, probably the groundwork for S03 plot twists.
- The clever broadness of monster capabilities being based on their desires and hates also really leaves a lot to be explored.
- Hyun Su going dark under his monster because of pain is the PERFECT precursor to when he breaks out of that lapse. I am keen to see him take back control and throw down.

THE BAD:
- The thirstiness of the female characters in Asian shows. I don't think this is a Sweet Home problem, I'm not sure if it's a culture thing, but characters like the chief's daughter and that loopy chick with the old man, that borderline stalker sexual harassment vibe they give off is ick, I could really do without that. What's wrong with them just being flirtatious instead of obsessed with the singlemindedness of a small brained creature in need of love and marriage? Hard no.
- I think the writers are trying to make Eun Yoo likeable, which, PFFFFFT ????? no. just no. They already made her the most dislikeable wench possible in S01, uh, what do they think changed? Nothing, she could have died in S01 and I would have forgotten her, like I forgot her brother.
- The monster CGI is...passable-ish. But I wasn't expecting it to blow my mind so it's whatever.
- The survivors looked pretty healthy despite living underground and eating minimal rations and barely going out (if at all for some of them). So that was a ball dropped, but it was small ball.

The UGLY:
- If S03 involves any romance, it's gonna be a gross joke. There is no reason for it and zero sexual chemistry with literally anyone in the show so far. Even Uen Yoo and the nice soldier guy don't bring those vibes enough for it to come to fruition. So, that would be ugly. I hope they skip right over that shit idea. I want nothing less than to see any of these characters kiss or touch each other, ever. Not only because it's unnecessary story wise, but also because everything is unhygienic and filthy and it would be high key disgusting to see any physical sexual contact of even the barest kind when I could barely stop thinking of how badly everyone must stink in every way.

THE HIGHLIGHTS
None in particular, the show had too many moving parts for any big, standalone moments, but I'd say the acting was for sure a really great thing for this season.

Overall, I enjoyed it just as much as S01, I have no complaints and I am keen for S03.

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Tropey but with some modern tweaks turned up a good series

Is this series tropey? Absolutely. Is it bad? Absolutely not.
It's actually adorable tbh. Let's break it down:

THE GOOD:
- The MC's are likeable and dorky with good humor and the ML actors have great chemistry and they vibed really well in their dorky, awkward, tropey roles.
- The tropes are easily bareable, because it's like, in between each trope, there's a moment of modern clarity. The best of this was seen in the final ep, where Shunyu explains his tropey nervous, confusing behaviour up to that point and we promptly see that once he's sure about Shangzhou's feelings, the confidence we usually see in him around colleagues quickly rears up. Also, he points how ridiculous it was that Shangzhou's mother slapped him, twice ? saying what we're all thinking, really.
- The extra cast members were likeable too, no one was hateable, not even Shangzhou's overdramatic mother.
- Production value was quite good, mostly suitable. Good aesthetic.
- The post credit kiss scene of the final ep is officially in my TOP 10 BL kisses, it hit just right at exactly the right time and the kiss came across easy and natural. I loved the lingering smile on Shunyu's face.
- It's funny, like I lol'd a lot, and that always raises the bar for me. The scene with the Shunyu, Shangzhou and the condoms was pretty hilarious, and the company trip, moving the decorations off the bed? very 'comedy relief'.

THE (not really) DOWNSIDE:
- The story is made up of tropes unfortunately, however, this didn't bother me so much because it was modernized and updated in a nice way.

The BL is not something deep or tackling any major or complicated issues, it's sweet and fun, amusing and well acted. I'd recc it for something light and enjoyable.
9/10 because the BEST thing would have been to remove the tropes completely. It's 2023, we don't need that ish.

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[REWATCHED IN 2023]

Rewatching this after so many years and after so many new high budget, 'fancy' BL series, I can honestly say TWM is still better on almost all fronts and in almost all ways than new BL's. There are few other Asian BL's I enjoyed as much, let alone got so attached to all the characters. Especially Korn ❤️
Now that I've watched it again I was able to enjoy it even more than the first time.

If you want a show that's not overacted, over make up'd, over written, over bleach white, over messy and just overdone in general, with an entire cast with great chemistry, some easy flowing humor and of course, MaxTul®, this show still holds up in my opinion.

I'm changing my rating to 10.

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I'll take Episode 77 as my ending. PS: WOW I LOVED IT [9.9/10]

I'll take Episode 77 as my ending (or ignore the last 8 min of episode 38 in the new format)
It was really thoroughly enjoyable, I loved it. Everything from the acting to the complex plot of the game levels to the music. Def rewatchable for me, I'm already rewatching it with someone.
As for the GOOD, it was actually GREAT, and there wasn't anything BAD in this.

I've rounded it up to a 10 rating because I've come to terms with the ending.
But my non-MDL rating remains 9.8 because, while I love ambiguous endings, I think endings to stories where you end up having to wonder if EVERYTHING you saw in the series was meant to be real or just the MC's dream/imagination, is just lazy writing. These kinds of endings would honestly generally raze any and all feelings I had for the show under normal circumstances.

That said, even after finding out that Lanzhu was an NPC, I found myself still entirely invested in discovering the outcome, I wasn't actually irritated at all, and quite outstandingly, I enjoyed the subsequent episodes as much as all the previous ones. I was surprised by this, because generally out of sheer irritation, I'd drop a show that springs the nonsense on me of a very VERY important MC not even being real three quarter way through a series (this long too). But I didn't want to drop this because I was really interested and invested in the plot and characters and after finishing it, I can honestly say don't regret anything I felt or thought while watching this, and it's very, very rare that I shed tears watching a show, but I did for this, so I'll give it a 10 to round up, but if MDL allowed, it'd be a 9.9.
Overall, I'm walking away satisfied.

Also, I choose to consider the mini episode of 78 optional because I think it was unnecessary, especially since 77 was far more solid as an ending for this series. 77 ended on a much, much more engaging, strong and ambiguously positive note.
So for me, Ep 77 was the close of this series.

HIGHLIGHTS:
- Too many to mention all of them, but I enjoyed the Sanatorium Door and the Box Master Door SO MUCH and I love the ost song The Door by Xia ZhiGuang.

As for the BL aspect. The censorship is hella obvious, we're all too familiar with it now in Chinese BL's, it's always so clear, what with how the ML's don't even so much as hug each other even when they're emotionally staggering specifically because of something going on between them, but they're touchy feely with everyone else ? This is as common and unrealistic as ever. BUT the emotionally charged conversations between Lanzhu and JiuShi are SOMETHING ELSE. Really. As well as some of the scenes in which the way LanZhu looks at JiuShi is very intense. There is a quality to those moments that carries beyond the censorship. This show definitely goes beyond bromance, their feelings for each other, especially Lanshu's from very early on, is pretty obvious and only become more obvious as the show goes on.

I always briefly think it'd be great to see these shows redone without censorship, perhaps not by China, I thought the same thing about The Untamed a long time ago. But then I realize I don't ever want to see characters like Lan WangJi, Ruan NanZhu, Wei WuXian and Lin QuiShi played by any other person other than the actors in the Chinese version, and I quickly forget about that idea. When casting is perfect, it's perfect, it is what it is.

Edit: After finishing the novel and I gotta say, the ending of the book is 11/10.
That said, where I usually think the original is best, honestly, I'd say I prefer the series in more ways than the book.
Comparing the two;

Book preferences-
The Ending
Some of the door events and conclusions
The relationship (BL) duh

Series preferences-
Basically everything else
I even prefer the characterization changes and choices in the series when compared to the book, which almost never happens for me. What they did with the series actually added gravity and a lot of emotion to the plot that I didn't feel reading the novel.

Also, imo, I don't think this is bromance at all. I've always taken that label on Chinese BL's with a grain of salt, we know the original is not bromance and they basically HAVE to call it that, it's almost like a bad joke.

So, yeah, whether you like BL or not, I would recc it!

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The first BL that touched on an Epic plot theme and did so successfully!!

Over all a solid show with a solid closing. How a show ends can make a lot of difference and The Sign managed to bring it home nicely and on a 'happy ending' note, albeit a little rushed, it was still satisfying. So,

THE GOOD:

- The action scenes in all episodes were enjoyable.
- The same can be said for their intimate scenes, especially the final one in ep 12. I enjoyed the soft intimacy of it the most, the talking, touching and closeness was ? Many BL shows underestimate how much weight non-sexual intimacy and simple kissing carries but the The Sign really served in that department many times. We got plenty of non-sexual intimacy in this show, which was really awesome. That said, their sexual scenes (and the actors chemistry) was on point too. They rate third for me in BL actor male lead chemistry after watching this series.
- All of the cast really did a fantastic job acting.
- The portrayal of them being cops in physical fitness, fight scenes and weapons handling was very well done, I really enjoyed that aspect this show!
- I was also fine with the CGI, I'm not overly picky about that. I don't much care about how good/bad CGI is as long as it's passable, it's more about a story for me. CGI passed muster though, by a good margin.
- I like the mythical Thai culture story in The Sign, my first time learning more about the whole Naga origin thing (outside of fanfiction), and it was quite enjoyable.
- I loved how fluid Tharn (Babe) moved in the deep water scenes! I felt like he really gave water-being vibes! I'm not sure if it was edited that way, or if Babe is just a good swimmer, but it was really well done.

Nothing bad in this, so I'll say -
THE WEAK POINTS:

- Well we all know that the police work was often abysmal in this ?
- I am a bit disappointed we didn't get a bigger final fight scene between Phaya and Chalothon in the final, just a bit of a struggle, but it was still a great scene, quite intense, emotional and meaningful.
- On the topic of this being Babe's first role, he really did a great job. However I will say, that while Babe really nailed his heavy emotional/crying scenes, I do think he could improve a bit in the verbally and visually expressed anger/affection/shock area. In some instances when he was angry or shocked or affectionate, I found it was a little lacking, but not in anyway that badly affected Tharn's character. Perhaps because Tharn's character was meant to come across as quite level headed and a bit reserved, so it wasn't overly noticeable.
- Billy's facial hair shadow is ep 12 just did not work ya'll, his face kinda looked dirty ?
- Dujdao. I'm still not sure what the purpose or dead-like portrayal of this character was intended to represent.
- The final 2 eps did feel a little rushed.

There are no ugly points in this show, so next is,
THE HIGHLIGHTS:
- YAI/GAP!!! I was both attracted and experiencing body envy when looking at him.
- Billy's acting. My first time seeing him and I think he emotes very well honestly, across the board of emotions.
- The fight scenes! Super power/video game-esque and visually appealing!

There are unanswered questions and open ends, but HOPEFULLY that means we'll get a S02 and since all the main history and character intros are largely out of the way, we might get a more fleshed out story on the main characters, and even some insight into the history of Garuda Sakuna and Wansarat. I could easily go for more fight/action scenes tbh. That would be fun! I also wouldn't mind seeing more about Yai and Sand, I mean, we got Khem and Thongthai's backstory, now I'd like Yai and Sand's getting together story and more scenes with them. Their reunion scene in ep 12 was ? I would love to see more.

All said, I have no regrets about watching this, I would absolutely rewatch it in future and would definitely recc it IF someone is into action themes and supernatural plots! The Sign has met the latest BL standard (for me), which was set by IFYLITA last year.

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It's not some memorable masterpiece, but in the end I gave it an 8+ because...

...of THE GOOD:
1. It's an original story concept insofar as the average BL's go, while also tackling the difficult task of telling a non-linear storyline AND executing a totally unexpected plot twist SUCCESSFULLY. I don't think anyone watching this series saw that last ep plot twist coming. I certainly did not.
2. With the exception of the actor who played Phatit (sorry hard fact, but he doesn't rate, really needs an acting coach or a new vocation), the acting in this for all the rest of the cast is actually pretty good.
3. The writers were clever, using a 'second pairing' trope, when in fact, there is only one pair that the story is focused on.
4. The writers WENT THERE and most people don't like that because they want their happy ending BL story, but they made a BL story with a seemingly 'great' partner who is revealed to have major character flaws and he ends up cheating, which yes, it happens quite often. And even though the story is intermingling with supernatural elements which could be argued to have affected things, it turns out the wishing doesn't really have anything to do with it, people are just weak, and the main pair still had to struggle with the infidelity and other issues and they did NOT make it through like nothing happened. No blatantly happy ending. Only a little. Refreshing.
5. They tied up ALL the loose ends. Even Mai being so aggressively sexual as a teen suddenly made more sense when we compare it with Thana as an adult being a sexually aggressive and impulsive dumbass. And this story certainly wasn't rushed, in fact, six eps was more than they needed. (I won't list the details they tied up, but if anyone is confused about the story, I'd be happy to help with some answers)


So...The DRAWBACKS:
1. The unexpected plot twist could also be attributed to the fact that the casting for the teenage 'Thana' (Mai) and 'Phatit' (Ryou) didn't resemble the adult version even remotely. I don't know if the reason why they cast two sets of totally dissimilar (in appearance) actors was in order to bury the plot twist, or if it was just poor casting choices on the real, but truly, that was really not great. The same can be said for the adult versions of the school friends, ZERO resemblance. That said, the young and older version of the cafe' lady was well done and yet still, didn't really suspect that.
2. It was a bit long winded, which made eps 3 to 5 drag a bit, and so the pay off of episode 6's plot twist didn't hit quite as well as it might have, had the build up to the infidelity and the reveal happened a bit faster.
3. Was it messy? Yes, a bit,, because it's non-linear and it's past and present and they're trying to not let anyone catch on, but was it a total mess? Nope.

Overall, this is worth a one time watch.
NOTICE FOR: Anyone reading this who hasn't watched it yet, just be warned that it's a little slow to the point and heavy handed on some unnecessary scenes. Episode 5 was nearly a deal breaker for me to be honest, but I'm glad I hung in there.

Maybe it's just me, but I appreciate something that doesn't try to sell me a flowery story just to be a people pleaser, because honestly, if people had the ability to make wishes and have them actually come true, the amount of f*ck ups would be endless.
At the very least, if you're a patient person, give it a try.

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Back to Basics. Simple and sweet with a little cheese.

It's really simple and straightforward, without any unrealistically convoluted story lines of revenge or dangerous people lurking around doing weird things. Also, there are no toxic story lines of backstabbing or blackmail or devious characters and there are no non-con elements either.

It's very, very normal really. Not much drama of any kind and the characters are ordinary, everyday sorts of people with normal feelings, which may not be everyone's cup of tea. If you like something with more action or drama, this will not satisfy you. The two ML's have over all good communication, there wasn't too much delay or hemming and hawing about their feelings and there were some valid reasons for their hesitations, like emotional, social and family considerations.
Aside from that it's very soft and fluffy and sweet, also very bright (I had to dim my screen in some scenes because of the lighting) and there are many softness effects.

I don't mind this kind of show at all, and I might have given it a 10, but I don't like the 'simp' vibe they gave Tae Sung, it annoyed me. I don't enjoy the 'give up one's whole life' for a lover/partner idea. It's too desperate for my tastes.
That's my only complaint.

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I never once thought 'They could have done that better.'

Wow. Whatever you'd expect from a TV series about teens committing crimes, you can scrap it. This was intense and stressful and filled with drama and danger but also not far fetched or cliche in some eye-rolling way. There are no masters of their trades here, just regular people who are doing regular crimes and trying to keep their heads above water. Except for Mr. Lee, he's a BAMF, no contest. From start to finish it's a fantastic show, from feelings of wanting to strangle Gyuri and Oji's dad, to wanting to strangle Kwakkie, Minhee and that cop lady, and to wanting to strangle and comfort Oji in equal turns. Then wanting them all to just calm TF down and have a snickers bar. But also not, because stuff gets crazy and when it all sets off, it's awesome. It was entertaining all the way!

And the acting was so fantastic! Great casting all around. The show also had some nicely executed humor, which is always good, every show, no matter how dark, needs some humor.

Over all, I wouldn't change a thing, I never once thought 'Eh, they could have done that better', because everything was written, directed, acted and produced so well. If there is no second season, I won't even be mad, it has a solidly satisfying ending as far as I'm concerned.

Great show!

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I expected more, but it wasn't bad.

Honestly, I feel like the production value could have been way better, I could literally hear the poor sound editing in many episodes. But the technical stuff aside, in terms of the story, maybe more episodes would have been a good idea to flesh out the plot properly because it fell short, and it seemed a bit rushed. The acting was awkward and stiff in several places, MaxTul have a lot of natural chemistry for sure, every fan of theirs knows that, but in this show it felt like they were trying too hard to have chemistry instead of just doing what they do. Could have been all the pressure or just iffy directing. Many scenes also felt out of place (or, due to the low number of episodes, underdeveloped in the over all plot) But still, MaxTul carried this one home anyway, even with the super cheesy ending, I enjoyed it, it wasn't amazing, but it's not bad.

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REAL TALK

FINALLY got to watch this. China has had this movie on lockdown like it's some kind of national treasure. Yeesh.

Anyway, Real Talk, this is a legitimately entertaining movie to watch.
The beginning was a little rushed to get characters introduced, and it was about as predictable as one expects an underdog movie plot to be. Some dance moves were also exaggerated for cinematic flare, BUT those minor things did not take away from it being an entertaining movie.

It was well acted and fun and funny and emotional and heartfelt. I liked the cast and characters, and I don't just mean all of the familiar dancers, I mean his mother, uncle, love interest and various coworkers. All of them were likeable. I also like Jiang Long (I saw him for the first time in Luoyang and then briefly in Under The Skin) and I considered watching The Future Handbook, but it's unsubbed. It was nice to see him here, he's a very emotive actor. I would watch him more if he's cast in shows that appeal to my taste.

On a fan note, about Wang Yibo, imo, this movie is the best thing he has done since TU. I've watched the stuff he's done from before and after TU, and aside from Hidden Blade (which was good), the shows and films he's done have been very MEH. Just grazing above an average level of enjoyment and in some cases not even making it. One and Only was engaging and it held my attention to the point where I rewatched a few scenes and laughed a lot.

I would recc this. Not just for dance fans, but also for people who like a plain and simple underdog story.

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It really is more about Being a Hero than Being a Friend

So, over all this is actually a good show. That's an objective opinion based purely on the plot and acting. But the write up for the show is NOT accurate, since it makes it sound like it's about Chen Yu and Wu Zhengfeng, 'childhood friends', working together through some personal hang ups and misunderstandings as well as all the drug dealing mess to solve their issues and a case, but the show barely focused on them.

Basically, this show is about drug dealers and cops, in general. There are many characters doing many things and CY and WZF are barely a side story for 80% of the show. So if you're looking for a story about the MLs friendship struggles/moments with the cop/drug drama on the side, this show will not deliver, it's the opposite way around. It will however, tell an interesting story about some local cops and drugs dealers with some bad history and it has some good scenes and interesting developments.
Let's start with...

THE GOOD;
- As I mentioned, the acting is good for everyone here, but especially amongst the drug dealer/addict casting imo. Most of the characters don't behave all that predictably either, which is good in any show about suspense and crime. For example, at first we get the impression Hao Dong is very calm and dangerous, but as the show goes on, we see he's actually quite a mess and he loses his cool and composure quite hysterically. Quite a few characters had interesting behaviour as the show went on, ranging from serious to mildly amusing, to confusing.
- I like Lan AnRan as a female character in a cop show, I think she should have had more of a presence in the show.
- Good budget for this.
- Entertaining over all, albeit with a slow start.

THE (mildly) BAD;
- The show has a really slow start. I actually watched until episode six the first time, and then shelved it for months before I picked it up again. The show really only gets going in faster pacing around episode 20 or 21, which is not a good thing for someone who doesn't have the patience for a slow build story.
- Some of the dialogue scenes are waaaay too drawn out.
- Chen Yu's character is basically a clown (and comes across as a less than adept cop) for more than half of this show. I actually had no idea how he missed some things, was surprised by how no one noticed him tailing/following them, and why he did a lot of things he was doing. Also, his superiors and even WZF made him look like an idiot a lot of the time, but not out-rightly. Sort of like, they think he can't handle anything, so they leave him running around without a clue, making him look like a twat. I found this both funny and frustrating. But when he finally caught on, it was much better.
- Chen Yu and Wu ZhengFeng barely seem like friends, let alone good friends. They hardly seemed to give a shit about what the other was feeling or suffering for the most part, but then in the final episodes when they finally get on the same page, it seemed forced how they were suddenly all BFF's and gung-ho about protecting each other like it was a competition. LOL.
- Yang Yi being shot the way it happened was not well directed imo, because the way he tried to arrest Yang XingQuan didn't follow any logical police safety procedure (trying to grab his hands and cuff him from the front??) or proper training. An actual struggle between them or YXQ just shooting Yang Yi before he even got close enough would have felt more organic.

There was nothing UGLY in this drama, so I'll move on to...
THE HIGHLIGHTS;
- Chen Xiao as Wu ZhengFeng was good casting I think. He looked both shady and oddly innocent, which suited the character he was playing.
- When Chen Yu was pretending to be a drug dealer the first and second time, those were highly entertaining moments, once again making me want to watch WY play the role of a bad guy.

A one time watch for this is fine, if you can make it through twenty episodes of slow build.

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No doubt, one for the BL (LGBTQ+) books.

It may just be my opinion, but I've always felt there is a difference between BL shows and LGBTQ+ representative shows, and I feel like The Eighth Sense dipped into both genres, but definitely, and successfully, crossed the finish line in the latter.

It's been compared to SKAM in comments by many people, myself included, and as a fan of SKAM (multi), I can agree that 8th Sense resonates and has many parallels with it, but this show stands alone as well and had the grace to finish in a way that was satisfying as an ending, and yet leaves it open for a second season (if we should ever be so lucky).

As usual, I'll begin with the;

THE GOOD
- This show's story has RANGE, but not in that way where screen time is wasted taking us down deviating extra unnecessary character exploration which distracts from the point and causes frustration. Rather, we see many sides to many characters, and they all have a part to play toward the main story, but in a very succinct and definitive way, which adds perspective to the realistically unflowery plot; because life isn't all unicorns and cotton candy. However, the story remains focused on the developments and up and down romance of the leads, while also touching on the human condition and how difficult it can be to deal with and navigate and make sense of people, life and social norms. Even at the end of the last episode, we see the difference in temperament and personality between the entire group, but especially the two leads.

- The filming style is very much to my personal taste, and I'm not just talking about the use of angles, cuts and LUT, but the way the story is told in a way that keeps the viewer guessing about Jae Won and the state of his various relationships with the people around him. I also really appreciate the lack of suffocating music, in this show there is music where it should be, not all over the place, and the music is suitable. Additionally, there is also no obnoxiously, eye rolling and drawn out stares or lean ins between the two leads.

- I have zero complaints about the acting and certainly no complaints about the ML's chemistry with one another.

- The theme of surfing was utilized well, in that the show did not revolve around it, but instead we discovered Jae Won loves the ocean because it calms him, and the surfing theme was also used as a major plot device to develop the relationship between Jae Won and Ji Hyun. Very well executed in only 10 eps.

- This show has complicated but healthy conflict resolution relative to the circumstances, realistic problems between friends and non-friends, believable awkward, ugly, confusing and sad moments between people. Even the fact that Jae Won forgives Tae Hyung for the bullshit he pulled is believable, because people often struggle to cut bad people out of their lives, especially when they feel insecure about their own personalities, worth and feelings. And Jae Won's depression and hints of PTSD throughout was portrayed well without trying to overdo it, they introduced it with some mystery, and then even when it became clearer, it remained subtle but relevant. In fact, in all scenarios, I feel we saw and learned as much as we needed too to follow the story.

Honestly, I could say more, but really, the overall show was just fantastic in my opinion.

So there is no BAD or UGLY, but I will say;
People like Tae Hyung and Eun Ji are trash people, from the start they were jealous, rude, disrespectful, condescending, bitchy and self absorbed. Eventually Tae Hyung even became malicious in actively intending to get Jae Won suspended, and Eun Ji was revealed to be a flat out liar, clinging to Jae Won while blatantly lying about effing around on him just because she thought he didn't know. She was not sorry for being shitty, she was only sorry she was caught. Trash people my dudes. This show may depict the truth of how hard it is to shake them off, but honestly, trash people should be tossed out with the non-recyclables.

HIGHLIGHTS;
Jae Won and Ji Hyun's kiss in the ocean, a great depiction of how they were just looking for a reason to close that final distance between them.

Jae Won nervously joking when asking if Ji Hyun's boss would do something inappropriate to him.

JP and YW hooking up. I did not see that coming ?


The Eighth Sense is something I would definitely recc watching, it's up there for me with SKAM (Norway/Belgium/France/DRUCK), Young Royals, Sense8, HIStory; Make Our Days Count, and Not Me in terms of shows that manage to touch on different issues and situations while still incorporating LGBTQ+ and great love stories that are well depicted.
I have no complaints about this show.

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