Had So Much Potential

I'm not usually into the time loop trope, but I was so intrigued by the idea of a character reliving three years of their life 33 times - long enough to be able to periodically ignore the feeling of being trapped and suffocated within a time loop but short enough to constantly feel unfulfilled by the end of each cycle. There was so much potential for the show to explore the pros of living such a long time loop -- the ability to stay young forever, to live without consequences, to never see your family and friends grow old.

They could have explored the cons even more - the monotony and loneliness of living the same life 33 times, knowing that nothing you do will ever change the inevitable. I mean, the ML literally jumps off a building at the end of his 33rd life and he immediately begins his 34th life (happens in the first episode, so not a spoiler). That must be miserable!

The show spent more time navigating typical high school woes than they did on understanding and breaking the time loop. Every now and then the show would give us a little nibble of insight into the time loop and then ignore it for five, six episodes before the next feeding - just enough to keep us coming back. For example, halfway through the show, the ML and the SFL, who is also stuck in a time loop, begin studying quantum mechanics in hopes of uncovering the mystery behind the time loop. Ten, fifteen episodes go by before they even make a reference to studying quantum mechanics, and then the SFL suddenly drops that massive changes made during a time loop can break it! But what constitutes a massive change? The ML literally threw himself off a building in the first episode!

But then it also brings into question another compelling idea - if a massive change breaks a time loop, how massive does the change have to be so that you don't trash the life that you end up living past the three year mark? The SFL, in order to break her loop, changed schools, rebelled against her parents and fell in love - all pretty conservative changes but massive considering her personality. She had always been reserved in rebelling, so I'm sure she had tons of inner turmoil weighing the pros and cons of doing X, Y, Z action to break the loop, like running away from home or publishing her R-rated novel. It may break the time loop but then she would also be risking that whatever damage she does in this time loop becoming permanent if she breaks it.

Instead, we spent 45 episodes watching kids bully each other.

The characters were really charming and fun to watch, but with all these questions piling up in the back of my mind, I couldn't help but be disappointed by the final outcome. We are no closer to understanding the time loop than we were in episode one.

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Such Messy Fun

When GMMTV aired their first trailer for PS I Hate You, I was immediately intrigued and added it to my Plan to Watch. When I finally had time to sit down and check it out, I couldn't take my eyes off the show! The story's twists and turns are unpredictable, and every episode ends in a cliffhanger. I truly could not believe who ended up becoming the ultimate villain.

What makes PS I Hate You such a good show are the clues that the writers planted in each episode. The clues build up more and more as the episodes go on. Just when you have an idea who is really at fault of each of the characters' suffering, new information is uncovered and you don't know what to believe.

This show is unsettling, the characters become more and more sinister as the episodes go on. It's fascinating watching these characters ruin themselves over and over again, trying to atone for their sins and mistakes from the past but ultimately burying themselves deeper in their own mess.

You do have to turn your brain off at some points. For example, everyone just seems to agree that Meen is the one to blame for Prae's death. The evidence points to Meen but despite Meen being Prae's best friend and literally no motive, no one seems to question the evidence.

Despite these issues, I would say a fairly neatly written series (with some odd bits and pieces that aren't really explained but they're small enough to not ruin the experience). The main characters are consistent throughout the series (except one character at the end but I'm going to ignore it lol) but have very believable character development. The bad things they do are with (mostly) good intentions, and although I want to wring their necks at times, I found myself rooting for all of them at times.

(And just to be clear, I'm talking about the main characters. There are some rotten, ugly-hearted people in this show that deserve no sympathy and only a slow, painful demise.)

Don't even get me started on the acting! The only one of the main characters I wasn't familiar with was Pat who plays Wanwan, but I would say she was the strongest actress of the bunch. I hated her character to pieces, but Pat delivered! Wanwan's pain was my pain. All the actors were at their absolute best!

I wholeheartedly recommend this show. It was a blast to watch and 18 episodes went by in a flash. The last episode does end in a cliffhanger, but honestly, I'm not mad. What would this show be without cliffhangers!

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Yes, It Was That Bad

I have never seen a drama care so little about its characters.

When GMMTV released the first trailer of Enchante, I was intrigued by the reverse harem and the fairy-tale whimsy it seemed to promise, so I promptly added it to my "Plan-To-Watch" list. When I finally had a chance to settle down and watch the drama, the reviews were abysmal, but I thought, "No, it can't be that bad! This is right in the midst of the golden era of GMMTV!"

But yes, it was that bad.

Like many others have shared, the show quickly went downhill after episode 8, when Enchante was revealed to be... Theo himself! The twist itself was pretty dreadful -- so manipulative of Theo to even pretend that Enchante was a mysterious admirer, just to make Akk jealous. Akk sincerely tried to help Theo figure out who was the real Enchante, when in actuality, he was just stringing Akk along as he was trying to uncover why the hell these random men were claiming to be his Enchante.

I actually didn't mind that every fake-Enchante had ulterior motives because even after suspending my disbelief, it would have been pretty ridiculous to think that any of these men could have real feelings for such a manipulative, selfish physical embodiment of privilege.

But believe me, Enchante is nowhere near the worst drama I've ever seen. If the show had ended it there, right after Enchante was revealed, I would still have liked this drama. I could have forgiven all its flaws because I sincerely loved the chemistry between the male leads. Theo and Akk are playful, comfortable and genuinely happy to be in each other's presence. Akk lights up whenever Theo appears, it's so much fun to watch!

But after episode 8, it was like the show threw everything and the kitchen sink at the story. Let's make Theo have a temper tantrum when he finds out his parents are getting a divorce as if it's the end of the world, even though his parents think the absolute world of him and were even willing to lie about the separation until he was "mature enough" to handle the news. Let's throw in Sun, a mysterious older brother figure whose only purpose is to give Theo really shitty advice and make Akk jealous. Let's send Theo back to Paris right after he makes up with Akk to really test the limits of Akk's love, as if we didn't just witness him jump through hoops, navigating through Theo's unpredictable moods in practically every episode.

Don't even get me started on how they wrapped up the fake Enchante's, whose stories were so haphazardly thrown together at the end, like a half-hearted apology to the characters for making their stories so nonsensical.

I swear, this is not the worst drama I've ever seen. I really did enjoy the mystery of Enchante, the music was beautiful, acting wasn't that bad, but the only reason I made it through the last two episodes was because of Force's charisma and eyebrows.

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Slapstick Fun!

This is my first review, so apologies as I get used to reviewing!

I picked this up because I'm a fan of KathNiel. I haven't watched many of their movies, but their chemistry is clear to see, so I knew this would be a fun watch if anything. I went into it with no expectations and I was so pleasantly surprised by how fun and heartwarming this drama is!

The humor is incredibly slapstick and sometimes lowbrow, but the characters so boisterous, fun, and endearing that they make that humor part of their charm. Despite the large cast and only 20 minutes per episode, every character is well-rounded and gets their moment in the spotlight - whether it's Sylver struggling to accept that his daughter is growing up, Yaya Marie and Mang Roger on a sleuthing mission, or Rufus saving the day in his own distracted way.

At the same time though, these slapstick moments transition seamlessly into the heavy moments. The drama knows when it needs to be serious, so these moments never feel forced or out-of-place. And the writers have done such a good job building up the characters and making them feel real, we feel their emotions deeply and the issues the characters face feel oh, so relatable.

The heart of this drama is the family love. At the start of the show, the families are constantly at each other's throats, but as the pandemic rages on and the lockdown goes by, they help each other through the trials and tribulations that come from two warring families stuck together in the same house, and they begin to warm up to each other immensely. The growing love between the two families feels organic and natural. You know that the bonds that these two families created will last a lifetime.

It's been a long time since any drama has made me laugh out loud with as much joy as this one did. I introduced this drama to my mom and even rewatched a few episodes, and watching it was still as good as it was the first time.

Also, if you're a KathNiel fan, you will LOVE all the references to their past work. I almost want to watch their entire catalog so I can rewatch this drama again to spot all the jokes. Speaking a little more to their characters', Q and Korics, relationship - you can easily feel the love they have for each other. The chemistry is fantastic, and you understand both sides when they hit a rough patch. They felt very real.

If I could find any cons, I wasn't a huge fan of the song "Marry Your Daughter" by Brian McKnight which they play at all the romantic moments. I think the flow does dip towards the last few episodes but only because that's when it gets a bit heavier.

I recommend this to anyone who wants to dip their toes into Filipino dramas, anyone who likes to laugh, and anyone who loves family dramas. This drama will have a very special place in my heart.

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Give Me A Bone!!!

This drama had so much potential but lost itself in the melodrama.

I truly loved the potential of this show. The worldbuilding in the first few episodes had a ton of promise, but the show did an awful job developing the lore to keep us invested in the mystery. This writers didn't give their readers anything. Any of the lore came in drips and drabs. I was 28/32 episodes in and I still didn't know why Dan Oh can see into the future, why Haru can see into the past, why Dried Squid Fairy remembers everything from both worlds, who the hell the writer is. A show that hinges on mystery in a supernatural world needs to give its viewers clues to keep the interest going — red herrings would even be appreciated! Otherwise, we’re just padding through the episodes with blindfolds and with no trust that anything will actually make sense in the end.

Given the amount of care the show provided to the lore, as expected, halfway through, it lost steam. The drama got caught up in the melodrama and once Baek Gyeong became self-aware, the show shifted focus from Dan Oh and her mission to survive, to Baek Gyeong vs. Haru and their mission to save her. So disappointing. I didn’t care for Dan Oh, but I’d much rather watch an annoying yet charming girl try to change the world to live than two melodramatic men fighting for her affection, when it’s already very clear who she’s in love with.

It’s all so irritating though that Haru transformed from a quiet, doe-eyed extra to a moody, brooding bummer who instead of trying to make the most of his time with Dan Oh while she’s alive, sits on benches with his head in his hands, runs away from Dan Oh or just cries whenever he looks at her.

I was also very annoyed with how the show tried to romanticize Baek Gyeong. His realization of his feelings for her does not forgive his abysmal attitude towards her in the past. His love declarations weren't moving Dan Oh’s heart, nor were they moving mine.

Also so irritated how Dan Oh’s character was reduced to heart palpitations. Every fifteen minutes, her heart gives and she’s in the nurse’s office or the hospital, where we inevitably see Haru or Baek Gyeong taking care of her. C’mon, stop using the plight of female characters to drive male character development. I’m just so tired of dramas taking so much care of the male lead’s development while giving the female lead scraps. Dan Oh became a shell of the personality she started with.

And that's not to say that I even like Dan Oh to begin with. That baby voice had me cringing the entire show, and then towards the end of the show, her character cried way too much to the point where I liked her better when she was bratty and chaotic in the beginning. She was more interesting.

Her character wasn't really that likeable to begin with. She’s a rich heiress. As much as the drama would like to make the stakes high, they didn't do a good job making me believe that they were, so the only thing I could root for her was her love story and I couldn't see any reason why Ha Ru would like her except for the fact that she gave him his name.

Her unlikeability is evident in her friendship. Her best friend is Sae Mi, who terrorizes the FL (who tbh is such a Mary Sue that I don't even remember her name), but Dan Oh continues to be friends with her. You could chalk it up to the fact that their friendship existed way before Dan Oh became self-aware but Dan Oh still continues to call Sae Mi her best friend. I know Sae Mi is there more for comic relief than anything but I can’t imagine being friends with such a bully.

All in all, I was left with disappointment. Thank God each episode was 30-something minutes. I know, if you do the math, that's basically the same length as a 16 episode kdrama, but it was easier to stomach knowing that the episodes were going by much quicker.

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Your Expectations Are Accurate

I'm one of the few people that isn't tired of university dramas. I know that we've seen similar love dynamics thousands of times, that we can predict every single move these boys will make. I'm okay with that because just because it plays into common tropes doesn't necessarily mean it'll be bad. What determines quality is how the show executes those tropes.

Unfortunately, Hidden Agenda doesn't do anything revolutionary, and having seen so many GMMTV shows, I don't know why I expected any different.

My main issue with Hidden Agenda, and many other BLs in general, is that the plot is nonexistent. Even if a show has so much potential, the writers complete the entire plot in the first three or four episodes and then drag out the characters actually getting together for far too long. It's fine to have scenes where characters are being lovey-dovey for the safe of being lovey-dovey, but that can't drive a plot.

And it seemed like the writers understood that because then they started throwing plot points at the show hoping one would stick -- an evil ex-friend, a stalker, disappointed parents, a debate competition! But all of those would be resolved fairly anticlimactically in an episode and a half each plot point. So what was the point? To show that their love can withstand all? I'm not really believing it.

There was a surprising amount of depth and complexity to Jeng and Pok's relationship - hiding their relationship when one clearly longs to be public. It was actually so much more interesting than Joke and Zo's plot, and because the writers were taking their time in building out their exposition, I had hope that Jeng and Pok's relationship would be the redeeming factor of the show.

But of course, like all plots in Hidden Agenda, it was completed too soon, too hastily that I was left to wonder if I was imagining the potential their story had.

And then in the last three episodes, the show decided to finally show its worth with an actually substantive plot. Zo is stressing over the upcoming debate competition as he believes it's his one opportunity to make his mom proud, and we find out in the last episode that Joke is the black sheep of the family and he struggles with gaining their acceptance. The latter is criminally underdeveloped and cobbled together and concluded in just two scenes, and sadly this is where we see the best performance by Joong. Despite horrifically awkward writing where we get whiplash by the grandpa who in basically less than five minutes both cuts Joke down a few notches by practically calling him a degenerate in front of the whole family AND THEN asks Joke for a hug and tells him he's proud of him, Joong manages to move my heart with his tears.

I knew going into this show, I probably would be disappointed. And I was, but not nearly as much as other shows, and in fact, it almost became fun since I was hate-writing pages full of notes. You get what you expect and nothing more. I need to stop expecting GMMTV to blow me away with an underrated gem because that hasn't happened in a long, long time.

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Zombie Escapism

I am a sucker for anything zombies, so when Ikinokotta 6-nin ni Yoru to popped up on Viki, I immediately queued it up on my watch list, even though it has a pretty low rating on MDL.

If you're expecting a lot of zombies in this show, don't lol. A majority of the episodes don't even have a zombie in it! In fact, the stakes are so low that characters pass the time zombie-watching out of a huge floor-to-ceiling window, and the zombies don't even pay any attention to them. They just roam around the building aimlessly. The gang even has a favorite zombie that they check in on from time to time that's based off the infamous Keanu Reeves meme. It's hilarious.

You do have to suspend disbelief. The characters have been trapped in the mall for at least a month, but they all have electricity, running water, and a seemingly endless amount of food. There are no looters, raiders, bad people wreaking havoc in the streets. Also the zombie makeup is pretty mid, if even that.

Each character has their own quirk, some are kind of annoying, but at only six episodes, 20min each, it's bearable. Plus, the show progresses pretty nicely and doesn't linger on any character too much for their antics to be overwhelming.

All characters have responsibilities to keep the base in order - one does all the cooking, another does all the cleaning, but it seems rather imbalanced. One character is the leader but we rarely see him actually lead. In fact the one instance where he could've lead, he panicked until someone else stepped in. Another character, an influencer in her former life, serves as a record keeper, recording the gang's life in the mall, but that doesn't at all seem equivalent to cooking the entire gang's meals day in and day out. This is a minor nitpick but it did irk me lol.

The show is also very pretty. The color grading, the blurred backgrounds, the camera angles - it's very calming and reassuring, despite the juxtaposition of the zombie apocalypse setting. I find that it complements the show's escapism vibe very well. The characters aren't at all focused on saving the world or even really ensuring long-term survival. All six survivors just want to find love because what else can they do while being cooped up in a mall with no end in sight?

All in all, it was an enjoyable zippy show. I like zombie shows and I love dramas in general for an escape and it was fun to escape into this world where the stakes are low and the characters are just having fun!

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In A Class of Her Own is so very charming. Where it lacks in plot and character development, it excels in its comedic hijinks and in showcasing the tight camaraderie between the Above Clouds Quartet.

I'll first focus on the items that had me boiling:

- The show never gave me a reason to really root for Wenxi and Chengjun to be together. In fact, they never really dove into either of the characters' psyches. We knew Wenxi's motivation to enter into the school - to provide for her mother and brother - but we weren't given any deep glimpses into her relationships with them. Chengjun is even more of a mystery. I felt like I didn't know anything about him beyond the surface level until the last ten episodes.

- The romance. Where did it come from??? The bromance on the show was so high - between Wenxi and Chengjun, and Wenxi and Zexin. Both men were putting their necks out on the line, promising themselves to protect Wenxi until their dying breaths, but it was only until it was revealed that she was a woman, that that affection turned into love? I can assume Chinese censors were at play in sanitizing the romance, but c'mon. Wenxi is literally the same exact person, her personality never changed. There was absolutely no whiff of romance until her gender was revealed.

- The politics were dreadfully boring. I've seen worse, but I don't think the show was able to weave the politics into the story well. I often felt like I was watching two different shows.

Now the things that had me smiling:

- I love that the show didn't dwell on the typical cross-dressing hijinks in the early parts of the show, like the FL trying to take a bath and almost getting caught. While important in showing how out-of-place the FL can be in a men's-only situation, those jokes are tired and boring and don't really add much to the plot. Thankfully, if I recall correctly, there's only a handful of scenes, if any, where the FL is in this type of sticky situation, and they usually resolve it very quickly. Typically by using an excuse that she's frail and weak lol.

- The camaraderie between the Above Clouds Quartet was an absolute blast to watch. All four characters have distinct personalities and relationships with one another. They all bring value to the group and any hardships that one of them face, they are all willing to sacrifice themselves to save each other. Very heartwarming and lovable.

- Zexin and Lexuan are the most interesting characters in the show. The flashbacks to Zexin and Lexuan's past is what they should have done to Wenxi and Chengjun. We knew what was driving each of their characters, we knew their end goals, we could relate to them. Because the show did a fantastic job developing their characters, we could feel what was at stake when they ran into trouble. I wish I could say the same about Wenxi, especially considering she had the most to lose if her identity were ever to be revealed!

All in all, I did enjoy the show. It's been quite some time since I watched Sungkyunkwan Scandal, so I can't recall a lot about it but I do feel like In A Class of Her Own did a good job of capturing its essence. In A Class of Her Own is a very easy watch, definitely a good show to watch mindlessly with no expectations. The interactions between the Above Clouds Quartet are easily the best part of the show.

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Inconsistent Time-Traveling Rules But A Warm & Cozy Time

The magic and whimsy of Be My Favorite gives me warm and cozy memories. It's not a perfect drama for reasons I'll go into later, but it definitely is one of the stronger BL's I've watched. It felt much cleaner than other GMMTV dramas in that the story had clear direction and no loose ends (at least for the parts that mattered). There was clear character growth for both of the characters and it was so satisfying to see Kawi become happier and more confident once he realized that he didn't need to time travel anymore to live a full and satisfying life.

The drama was also so dang pretty. Some of the scenes were absolutely and unexpectedly breathtaking.

I love romcoms with supernatural elements, so this could've been a 10/10 win for me, but the time traveling rules were very weak, or rather nonexistent. When Kawi first went back in time and it was chaotic, it made sense because Kawi was too preoccupied with making the future perfect that he ended up fumbling the present. When he returned, he was much more intentional with letting things play out, but when he went back, it was a mess. So what’s the lesson here? There needed to be a clearer connection between past actions and future implications. Like with most GMMTV dramas, I just turned my brain off and I was able to just fully enjoy the show.

The show really showed its strength with its surprisingly mature ending. I was ready to throw hands when Kawi got sick because I assumed it was the writers trying to throw an unnecessary last minute twist, but instead the twist of Pisaeng going back in time really had me floored. Pisaeng, having accidentally gotten Kawi sick in the future, considers ending his relationship with Kawi to prevent Kawi from getting deathly ill down the line, but Kawi, having grown so much in his time travels, tells Pisaeng that he's content with his life with him, and wants him in his life no matter what happens. They lived a full life in love, no need to tinker with the past.

What makes me love this show is that it's strong on its own. A lot of BLs falter because the writers rely too much on the ship or the mere fact that it's a BL to get attention and create buzz. But Krist and Gawin aren't a massive ship (and doesn't really seem like that was an intended goal of the show anyway given the lack of shipwork between the two) and you could've made Be My Favorite a het drama and it would've been JUST as good. I'm glad we're no longer settling for subpar stories to push ships and maximize $$$. I hope we continue to strive for quality dramas.

All in all, I really enjoyed Be My Favorite, a very unexpected pleasant watch!

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Refreshing Story Couldn't Save It

I began watching Unexpected after watching The Romance of Tiger and Rose. There are a surprising amount of isekai dramas out there but something about Unexpected, despite the somewhat mediocre rating for a c-drama, piqued my interest. After discovering the joy of isekai dramas, I scoured MDL to find the perfect follow up to The Romance of Tiger and Rose, and I didn't find many male protagonists so Unexpected really stood out to me.

I really enjoyed the first ten or so episodes. Learning how the manga world worked was thrilling. The bond between He Jie and Lu Zu Xing was believable and heartwarming, considering they started out as bitter enemies, but then out of nowhere, it became so melodramatic, and it almost felt like they were adding plotlines to the story just to make it to episode 23. The show could've cut at least five episodes and I would have considered this a much cleaner story.

Don't get me wrong, the story was still pretty refreshing. The drama does a great job in creating opportunities for character growth within the manga concept, in ways you never would have considered, even for incredibly minor characters. For example, in an attempt to convince someone that they live in a manga world, one character (can't remember who) brings to the local noodle shop owner's attention that despite the popularity of the restaurant, she has never increased her noodle prices. Cue existential crisis for the shop owner.

But the heavier the story became, the less charm it had. Self sacrifice seemed to be the name of the game, which automatically knocked a few points off my rating. I don't mind when this trope makes an appearance but every character in this show seemed to just love to willingly fling themselves into danger without consulting their loved ones.

I would love to see this drama remade because as I said, the plotlines were incredibly refreshing and innovative. But I really slogged through the last third of the drama. I'm telling you, at one point, Viki's subs weren't working so I had to watch an entire episode without subs. The fact that I was still able to catch up in the next episode with no problem is either a testament to my Chinese skills (lol I wish) or how much filler was in this show.

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Lots of Expectations But Many Disappointments

I picked up Perfect & Casual because I wanted a drama with a sweet, nice, respectable male lead. And I was so happy to find out that he was that and more - patient, caring, thoughtful and more. He treats the female lead with respect from the start, always mindful of her own desires and ambitions. He seeks to support and uplift her and is genuinely happy in seeing her succeed.

The female lead on the other hand was a major disappointment. She was bright, spunky and charming in the beginning, but as her relationship with the ML deepened, her personality vanished. She seemed to only be a prop to showcase the ML's charm.

Every episode had at least scene where the FL would encounter an issue, dramatic music would begin to play in the background, and the ML would swoop in and save her using his wits. In one ep, a person cuts in front of the FL in the lunch line and I swear, the drama made it seem like the whole cafeteria's panties dropped when the ML stopped the person in their tracks and gave him a stern scolding.

Those moments were over-the-top but funny, but the consistent damsel-in-distress moments became tiresome when you realize that the FL's successes were only a result of the ML intervening. It became difficult to parse out the FL's personality, her interests and desires, beyond the ML.

The drama's early episodes fit the vibe of Because This Is My First Life, a kdrama of two pleasant, mature people who enter into a contract marriage and find themselves a perfect match, so I was thrilled when I began watching Perfect & Casual. But as each plot point wrapped up, I kept hoping the FL would find her personality again, but by the time I got to episode 17, I realized there was little chance the FL's personality would revive itself. I swear, at times, the age gap between the two characters felt like decades, rather than just a few years.

I would recommend this drama if you want an easy watch. The ML is one of the kindest male leads I've come across in my 13+ year drama-watching journey. But if you want a little more meat to your FL's, I'd pass.

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