A Quiet Message Received Loud and Clear

This was a really beautifully executed short film that addresses in a subtextual manner the importance of equal marriage rights - something that is still not seen in South Korea even 4 years after this film. Our female lead is faced with the fact that she has no legal rights over her partner's medical treatment - compounded by the disapproval and homophobia of her would-be in-laws. It's not a happy film, but it's not supposed to be. Because this is a reality faced by numerous LGBTQ+ relationships. And it bears the answer to the oft quoted question "why do gay people need/want to get married?"

The music was understated but very fitting to the tale. The cinematography was also quite gorgeous and clear. And I liked how the film didn't shy away from intimacy like many others - even if it (and a few other scenes) felt poorly-acted. But these are new actresses, so I think that the scenes they did well are more of a testament to their ability.

There's not really much to be gained message, nuance, or enjoyment-wise from a rewatch though. The film is pretty "take it and leave it" in that regard. The only thing that really inspired deeper attention, in my opinion, was the ending. I believe that might stick with me for a while.

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Lesbian Fluff, Fancy Tea, and Gorgeous Aesthetics

Honestly, this might be my favorite lesbian story out right now.
It almost didn't feel like a mini-series because of how well it was constructed. And since the story took place within a span of 2-3 days, the pacing felt organic and natural. I didn't feel like I was missing something.

And the characters were really well-established. I really felt like I knew them. Tea Master Hong is stubborn and proud, but passionate. Marketer Cha is a knowledgeable professional, realistic in business but romantic at heart. And Lee Dan's teasing dramatics and straight-to-the-point approach to life made her my favorite character in the story. You could tell that the tea shop workers are really close with each other from their silent communication. And the two female leads had good chemistry (for the timeframe they had anyway).

It was well-constructed pure fluff. And a very effective advertisement if I do say so myself - I am definitely going to have to stop by Altdif if I ever wind up in South Korea. That is the most fanciest tea I've ever seen in my life.

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A great idea, but something was missing.

It was a good short production with a great story. I absolutely loved the metaphor at the end. However, the show didn't feel as flushed out as I would have liked. Not because of the open ending (which I think had a good purpose and significance), but rather their relationship development. If it was a matter of time that kept the producers from making this a longer series, then they could have cut some of the basketball scene at the beginning and added a segment where we see them talking about themselves at a table or something. Because the majority of their scenes made them seem like they were a casual fling, but the seriousness at the end didn't match up.

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The set-up:
The vast majority of the movie was very much told in a recap-video style manner by the two MLs over the events that occurred in "2gether" and "Still 2gether." The first half of "2gether" is told from Tine's narrative point of view, while the second half of "2gether" were told from Sarawat's POV. The events of "Still 2gether" (as well as all of the support couples) were more of a montage than a recap and I think Sarawat continued narrating into this segment. I say "I think" because it seemed like they either got different actors for the narration (which I couldn't find support of in the credits) or purposefully made them sound different. This entire narration is told while the leads are getting ready for their graduation ceremony - which we are reminded of by a handful of intermission scenes between recapped plot arcs, and at the end which is all new content.

The analysis:
Among the recap scenes, I think a handful of moments were either edited or used alternate takes in such a way to provide a slightly different emphasis that reflected the narrated inner monologues of the characters. Thankfully, this recapping also eliminated the more cringe-y scenes that I hated from the drama. But, Tine's inner monologue was even more narcissistic in nature than the drama had presented him at the beginning. Nor did some of these thoughts seem true to the longer scene versions and context from the drama. It made it seem like Tine was narrating the lies/excuses he was telling himself, making him a mildly unreliable narrator at times (from my reading of the character in the full drama). Also, for new viewers, the suddenness at which characters appeared at key moments in the recap may be confusing, as they would largely be missing beforehand.

Of course, it's not "2gether" without the Scrubb-centric soundtrack. And because of the recap-like glazing over the content, this felt more fluffy and nostalgic than the previous versions. And, like i said, the exclusion of the most cringe-y scenes was much appreciated as a viewer. However, "Still 2gether" being my favorite part of the franchise, I'm a little sad that they basically turned it into a montage. I also think that there would have been more value if we had Sarawat narrating over the beginning half of 2gether, since we know so little about his perspective in this portion of the story.

Overall, this is decent. Fans may like to compare scenes and have explicit intel into characters' thoughts. The overarching story surrounding the recapping was cute. Non-fans might appreciate being in-the-know without having to sit through the entire franchise (so long as they are okay with not knowing quite how everything and everyone fits).

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Straight-faced dramatics for a perfect mindless watch

It's a strange one. I contemplated dropping for a bit there. What kept me watching though was how likable all the characters are. Every single one. That's very rare to come by. From the little girl who watches too much John Wick, to the hired help with the perfect facial expression changes, to the little boy from Colombia giving the ML a run for his money, and yes, even to the ML who just wants to stack cups but keeps getting interrupted.

Eventually, the straight-faced dramatics and comedy grew on me. I found myself chuckling and shaking my head at the ridiculousness quite often. It's perfectly mindless.

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More of an outline than a full documentary

Put simply, it's an outline of a BL industry documentary. Lots of relevant points were brought up, but in such a brief and unspecific way that only really early newcomers might see as useful.

Topics included:
- History and rise of Yaoi, Y series, and BL
- Fan club opinions of the appeal of BL series
- Popularity in the novelty of the illegal
- Romanticized and normalized portrayal of sexual harassment and rape in BL
- Homophobia among BL crew members during film shootings (apparently some may have turned around and puked afterwards)
- The separation of actor and character when filming
- How controlling the industry is over the actors
- How some activism needs to stay backstage in order to avoid collateral damage to the actors
- Shipping culture and the tendency to see characters (and by extension, the actors/idols that play them) as their metaphoric children
- BL actors' activism and presence in society

I suppose this information could prompt curiosity in newcomers, but the trick would be to get it in front of them.
I did however enjoy seeing cameos and interviews from some familiar faces, as well as several clips and references to shows and headlines I remembered or missed.

I do think that another documentary should be done on this topic - to elaborate on the topics, give more testimony, and (no hate intended) find better fan club spokespersons (it's not that they particularly said anything wrong, it's just that they really didn't add much to the conversation - despite being in an excellent position to do so).

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I started watching the show because of a clip I saw on social media where the FL stands up to her demanding ex at their workplace. I loved that she wasn't shy and timid like the majority of Korean female characters I've seen when faced with a similar situation. And her arguing points in the scene showed how intelligent and professional she was - qualities that stuck with her through the entire show. In fact, my favorite part of this show is how great of a grasp the writers and actors had of their characters. They were consistent, multi-dimensional, and grew with the story. In fact, even the most grating of characters which I had a deep distaste for in the beginning, all showed excellent character growth by the end - even resulting in me rooting for some of their successes. Furthermore, the fact that of these characters, some had a sort of redemption arc without the forgiveness aspect (that so many stories feel is necessary for redemption) was refreshing. The presence of a lovers to enemies to friends dynamic was refreshing as well.

And the cinematography of the show was gorgeous - clean, bright, emotional, and fitting for every scene. The narrative style, in which a plot relevant quote was used to start and end each episode (often with a double meaning for weather and life), was really well executed. Honestly, despite the very different genres - it reminded me of the style used with the US show Criminal Minds. The music was also well chosen, and many songs were added to my own collection to listen to later.

Despite my high rating, I'm not gonna say the show is perfect. Some characters went way too far in my opinion to get the happy ending they did without the amount of work they should've done. And I would have loved it if the show went an even rarer route of keeping estranged family members estranged (they were estranged for a reason).

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A cute teen romance directed at teens, though the final stretch was rather clumsily handled.

There are a lot of things to enjoy about this short webdrama. The premise rather reminded me of some of my favorite movies and shows growing up (anyone remember "Good Witch" (US/CA)?). It made me feel nostalgic. I also really liked the supportive dynamic between the Female Lead and her mother. The Female Lead herself was interesting - a well-balanced combination of insightful, angry, and awkward.

Under it all, there's this message of being the kind of person that doesn't let hatred affect you. To be forgiving. To clap back with facts and proof. There's some merit in these messages, for sure. Especially for the teen/kid audience this was obviously geared to. And in the end, these messages paid off. But I feel like with the prejudice and harassment being as heavy-handed and center-stage as it was, that more action should've been taken. Especially prior to the end.

The romance had its cute moments too. It was definitely one of those awkward teen romances that I think many viewers could relate to. It also had this touch of maturity that comes with 2 teens that were forced to grow up too fast in single-parent households. My problem though came in at the end of episode 4, where the Male Lead acted completely out of character. And then, just as fast, was back to being his normal self immediately into episode 5. Not only did the fact that this was out-of-character bother me, but also the fact that it was introduced and disbanded so fast that it might as well not have been there at all. There were other ways to up the tension just that little bit more.

Also, just a petty complaint: I wanted magic. :'(

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Just watch the cheating scenes on social media. The creep factor is too high.

Here's the thing. I actually really enjoyed the plot and the plot scenes. It rather reminded of US films "Max Keeble's Big Move" and "Sydney White." "Sydney White" the most (and yes, I know Sydney White came later. I'm not claiming it's a remake or inspired by or anything like that). Instead of a stuck up sorority though, the leads in this movie are going against an immoral professor who sees a certain group of students as not only useless to society, but a thorn in his side in the way of getting what he wants. He sets an extremely high bar and promises that it's the ONLY way for the leads to be able to keep their dormitory and stay in school. That bar: all A's across all exams for all the students of that group. Even if they had been traditionally good students, this is a bar with too high of a fail rate. Their solution and perceivable only chance at success? All of them cheat on all the exams.

The cheating scenes are so enjoyable and humorous. I loved them and even replayed a few of them.

But that's the thing. That is all this movie has good to offer. And you can find all these scenes on social media without having to resort to sitting down for this.

Because the cheating scenes and the over the top villain are not the only comedic tools in this film's arsenal. No. In between all these plot scenes is creepy sexual humor. Every male character (you know, except the main male lead that pushes the plot forwards) is so creepily interested in the female lead. Teachers goggling her bare legs. A dormitory manager supposedly drugging her food in the hopes of her seeking him out that night. A whole group of guys getting into her bath water after she leaves to "taste" her. A predatory staff member making sexual advances on a student in order to get information from him about the cheating ring. The students being strip searched for cheating answers, and then getting peeped on and walked in on before they get dressed again.

In essence: the appeal is the plot (aka the cheating scheme), but everything in between just puts a very bad taste in my mouth that left me disgusted. Perhaps this was funny when the movie released, but it didn't age well at all.

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We open the film with the male lead realizing that his movie showing on love and loneliness is putting people to sleep. No one seems interested in what he has to say. Yumi, a ticket seller at the venue, mentions that it might be because there's no people - and she volunteers to act in his next film. What happens next makes reality and film bleed together in a rather beautiful manner that kept me watching. Is the new film reflecting reality? Is reality mirroring the new film? Are the two indeed different but conflated to us real-life viewers? I can't say. But it resulted in a pretty, calm, and mellow short film which I did quite enjoy. But it was definitely a more atmospheric/vibe sort of watch, rather than a story-centric sort of watch.


"Why do you shoot a movie?"
"Because it's pretty."
"Then you only film things that are pretty, do you?"
"If you care about something, then it becomes pretty."
And that does seem to be the general idea behind the film.

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A mellow ode to the barter system, object value, and storytelling

This film is slow and mellow, like most slice-of-life tales, and I very much came to love it. In the beginning, I was quite put off. Where is this going? When will Josie start running her decisions by Doris? Will we see the less aggravating side of their sister relationship?

The first thing that really drew me in is the fact that their business is based around the bartering system - something I am quite fond of myself. While the coffee and baked goods are still sold using money, the collected items around the store are all for exchange. It's something that they kind of fell into by circumstance, but quickly proved to be the best thing to happen to them. We also got to see how it meant different things to each of them. To Josie, it was an opportunity to exchange up for both parties. Item A means more to me than Item B, while Item B means more to you than Item A, let's trade. Meanwhile Doris saw it as a peek into lives and dreams she never had. Each person's experiences led them to being able to make an exchange and carried memories through the exchange themselves. In these perspectives, you could see these alternative aspects of the leads' personalities that they previously didn't get a chance to explore.

"In this city, surely there's someone looking for bone china, and surely there's someone with a spare set. Surely someone has an empty sofa, and surely someone else is looking for it. They just haven't found each other."

I also like how stories got incorporated. The overall film is sort of being told as a story. Then we have a storytelling traveler who becomes a frequent and important presence. We also have stories being told by visitors about why they want certain goods or are there in the cafe to begin with, and the stories being told by Josie to serve as an exchange for something Doris wanted. And throughout it all, Doris never had a story to tell herself. Which made the ending just that much stronger and memorable.

"You were right to say that by running an exchange, we'd hear lots of stories about things we haven't experienced. But the more of them I heard... the more I wanted stories of my own to exchange."

And it make the subtle subtextual romance a mellow sort of poignant too. Did Doris like the storyteller, or was she romanced by the stories he told and the wanderlust he inspired?

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Turn your brain off and detox with laughter, ghost ships, and pop culture refs

I laughed the whole way through. The half "that was funny," half "what am I watching" sort of laugh. But laughing nonetheless. Truly a good choice for when you need something 100% mindless (and don't mind Thai humor). It's quite similar to YYY in randomness but, unlike YYY, this drama actually does have a plot with some degree of emphasis (thus why I was able to finish this drama, and not the other one).

They picked a great ensemble cast for this production, many of which you don't really anticipate being in a drama together. But they work together really really well. I really want to see them on the same screen together more in the future.

On a similar note, it was FULL of gif-able and meme-able moments to share. And it is probably heaven for the ghost shippers out there (fans who ship together actors/characters that have almost no hope of ever actually being a thing). Because where better to put ghost ship fan service than in a ghost drama, with a fangirl ghost who can make it happen - using inspiration from all her favorite stories (which are of course unnamed to us, but can easily be identified by fans).

Besides the laughter and mountain of screencaptures, I think I enjoyed the intertextual/pop culture references above all else. And the music was extremely catchy (and able to be found on Apple Music!).

A great brain-off, detox drama for when the drama in standard dramas is way too much.
Also, probably a pretty good fit for kids, imo.

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Hard-hitting and precious

"When I wake up in the morning, I wonder if I'm qualified to open my eyes."

Female lead Seulgi has been beaten down by life just a few too many times. With no one listening to her pleas for help, not even her family, her ability to go outside gradually decreased until she could no longer step outside of her apartment. She had been in this state of living for the past 2.25 years before a Lia wandered into her life. Lia, a sock-loving dog with a technological device that allows her to talk, settles into Seulgi's life easily and adapts into a sort of Emotional Support Animal for her.

Seulgi's pain felt all too real for me, both in dialogue and performance. And it was beyond precious seeing her try to be the best person she can for Lia. It's a cute healing microdrama.

However, the story introduced an extra point of tension to the climax that the story didn't really need, and currently shows no signs of possessing an episode 3 to resolve it.

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Equal parts comfort and recipes

Let me paint you a picture:

Each day, Natsuki writes in her journal. She tells it (us) about something notable about her day. Her favorite bookstore closing down. Her mom sending her a package. Something small that reminded her of a moment in her childhood. She takes us on a journey as she tells us what that event made her think about. Sometimes, it's something that gives us a peek into her character. Sometimes, it's something larger and rather philosophical.

As she's speaking to us, she's also deliberating her next meal. What fits her mood/energy? What ingredients does she need to finish off? Sometimes she's sharing a favorite recipe. Sometimes she's experimenting. But by the end of it, she's able to move past whatever thought she was stuck on and is ready to move on to the next thing. Cooking is a sort of therapy for her. And it's so clear, that it makes you, as a viewer, feel like perhaps it could be for you too.

Her voice is so soothing. And the entire atmosphere that she creates is rather eclectic grandma-esque, despite her only seemingly to be in her mid 20s. She's not hung up on trends. When at home, she wears off-the-wall patterns and colors - whatever makes her happy. She's got herbs growing out of old tin cans, and an old-school radio playing a new tune every episode. It feels cozy and like coming home - despite my own home feeling nothing like it. It was the perfect drama to put on at the end of a long day.

I wish there was more, but I will definitely be rewatching this. Both for the atmosphere, and the recipes (which are written and subbed in detail at the end of each episode).

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