Worse than the title suggests

I truly don't want to write a review of this, because it can essentially be summed up this way.

IT IS TRASH.

But here we are. And I will write an actual review because I need explain just how bad it is.

Imagine a bad What's Wrong With Secretary Kim knockoff. Now imagine it's nothing like WWWSK except for the fact that there's a boss who doesn't want his secretary to quit. I haven't watched the K Drama, but I've been told that's the basis of the story and it's the same here, and that's also where the similarities end.

The story is horrible, the characters are even worse. It's like a power struggle between all the characters, it doesn't matter what kind of relationship they have, it's a relationship where one person is trying to one - up the other at all times. That's basically your story and an overview of the characters. You have your usual beach trips, your jealousy, your Stockholm Syndrome, and gun wielding businessmen. The usual. Characters come and go, the story shifts from one storyline to another abruptly and they're all trying to outplay each other all the time. Whether it's two people in a romantic relationship, work rivals, exes, whatever. We get to watch the world's most boring chess match where no one is even following the rules.

And the characters..
I've watched a lot of dramas where every character is beyond horrible. But there's at least one, just one character, who you can root for. And even if all the characters are utter trash, they're entertaining. You can see where I'm going with this.
All the characters in this series needed therapy, that's what they needed. A ton of therapy and no contact with any of the other characters.

I would've dropped this like a hot potato if it wasn't for me not being able to drop dramas, but if you're stuck in the middle or if you're stuck in the first episode, or stuck deciding if you should watch it, toss it. It's like that pile of laundry just sitting in your room, waiting to be washed. Toss it. Not the laundry.

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None of my damn business

The best thing about this was the chemistry between the leads, it just worked. And when you have seven episodes, around 10 minutes each, you're kind of depending on the chemistry to pull through and lucky for them, it did.

Because the story tried to fit ten different tropes into one series and I honestly couldn't right up to the finale if they resolved everything or not. You had your phone call misunderstandings, you're jealousy of an ex who's not really an ex, the kiss after a drunken night out, and of course, the moment where your boss discovers an 18+ webtoon on your pen drive which was supposed to have documents. And I'm racking my brain to see if they resolved everything as I write this review, and I guess they did..? Kind of, because once you get past the point where the writer and the audience (me), stops bothering about the story, you hinge on good acting, and good chemistry, which two thumbs up.

It's a K BL, the cinematography was obviously beautiful and it's so incredibly short that it can be watched in one sitting. Or you can take your time. It's just basic, trope filled fun and.. yeah. It's good, fun and you can watch it or not, it's none of my damn business.
(See what I did there? Yeah?)

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Sweet and chaotic

I'm so pleasantly surprised by this, it was a simple and uncomplicated love story made so complicated and funny because of how chaotic the leads were.

And not just that, they avoided so many tropes I thought would definitely crop up, there was no love triangle, no exes popping up without reason, and while there was plenty of miscommunication and misunderstandings, it was most definitely part of the story's charm.

Though it got frustrating at times, Hiroko and Ayaka made it worth the watch. The charming mix of hopelessly crushing on each other inadvertently turning into panic in both of them was amazing to watch, and the tight script that made time for not just this but delved into their backstories, friendships and workplace histories meant that there wasn't a lot of time being spent on one storyline to the extent of it becoming boring and repetitive.

Hiroko was definitely the more frustrating lead, at least for me, because despite the fact that I could see where she was coming from and what she meant to express through her confusing actions, the lack of communication on her end sometimes made me genuinely angry.
They had a good balance though, Ayaka definitely knew what she wanted and went for it, and her positive, sunshine attitude was so refreshing to watch.

Even the supporting characters were exceptional, though we didn't get to see much of them, their presence in the story was irreplaceable and just made me more invested in them and the leads.

There was just so much to this series that I enjoyed and I highly recommend.

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Fool me thrice..

Oh Club Friday, I should've gotten used to the fact that all the stories with that label are burning garbage, but here we are..

I mean, it's not bad storytelling by a long shot, it's just that everything that happens and almost everyone in it is.. trash. That's about it and watching horrible people be horrible people has some weird appeal because I ate this up. I hated it, I hated all of it and yet, I binged three episodes and watched the last one without subtitles.

Sometimes, you just want to watch it all go down in the worst possible way and I got that. Mom and son are in love with the same man, mom doesn't know her son and her husband are hooking and no one knows if this guy actually likes either of the people he's seeing! You've got other characters who are also interested in the leads and undoubtedly bring the chaos with them, I mean, it's so messy and messed up but so entertaining.

Since it's told from the perspective of one of the leads (the son), I thought the narrative was very well done without it seeming too far off and descriptive, in a way that he couldn't have known. The acting was good, the mess was messy and I happened to watch this right when I needed something terrible, so it was great.

Maybe it's worth a try, or maybe not, but it was strangely enjoyable. Even despite the fact that there wasn't a single kiss. You would think there would be at least one, but no! They always went straight for the neck, like vampires!

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Red flags but chemistry?

I'm incredibly confused by this because by all means this was one of the most morally ambiguous things I've watched in a while, but sometimes you just want to watch dramas like that.

Look at this objectively and the basis is just so bad. The leads meet each other (for the first time I'm assuming) after their breakup and start seeing each other again despite the fact that one of them is engaged. Obviously this leads to a ton of cheating, morally questionable behavior from both of them and just a lot of frustration all around.

So why did I enjoy this? The two of them should by no means be in a romantic relationship, the amount of self destruction and co - dependence actually made me scoff, red flags flying all around but sometimes you just want to watch something that makes you a little uncomfortable, but also entertains you. The chemistry was great, the production value was good, so was the acting and even though the plot was, I'm saying this again and again, so morally ambiguous, they way they wrote it to be angsty with that open ending just felt right.

It's a very short series and if you're just looking for something that will invoke a lot of feelings in that short span of time, give this a try!

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A cute special

Ugh, damnit. I weirdly enjoyed that.

Like with all specials, it was just an epilogue kind of deal, four years later, what's going on with the characters, all that, and they tried to incorporate newer fantasy elements regarding the dreams, but besides that aspect being new in a special, this was as tried and true as it gets.

I would've liked, just like the series, if the fantasy aspect had been developed more. I actually think the added complexity of Ai being able to control his dream, Yu being able to venture into Ai's dream would have been so interesting to explore and they should have done that in the series itself. The fantasy aspect overall was just very underdone, thirteen episodes and I wanted a little bit more, even though I loved the romance.

That being said, I have no complaints about the romance. It did take me by surprise when they said they've been dating for four or five years, and that's only because I didn't bat an eyelid when I thought Yu was proposing to Ai after maybe a few months of dating, lol. I don't know what happened there, but both the couples had plenty of moments and the chaos and comedy that comes with these catch ups.

It's nothing new and nothing brilliant, but it was sweet and funny and they wrapped up what was already well wrapped up, even better.

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Tried to be chaotic and heartwarming, but didn't really come across that way

First off, this would've worked way better as a miniseries, there was just way too much going on for it to be a good hour and a half movie without it feeling like one character got too much screentime and an another got too less.

Second, making it a miniseries may have helped with getting the audience more invested in the characters because by the end, I didn't really care much about any of them. Maybe one or two, but they were focused on way too little for me to actually determine just how well they could have been developed.

Even the story came out very rushed and a little insensitive. The points they were trying to make and the things they tried to address were quite serious and genuine, and while there is a way to talk about them and develop comedy from other aspects, they pushed it all together and it just came out quite badly at times.

I love a good chaos comedy, but you need to do it well for it to be enjoyable and unfortunately, this didn't hit all the marks for me. Some better writing and longer runtime may have helped because I have no complaints acting wise. The rest? Should've been better.

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It feels like I can hear only YOUR voice..

Watching the movie after I've already watched the series made me see sides of the story I didn't think I could discover and gain more respect for Kohei and Taichi as characters.

The movie in itself was a beautiful story and represented the experiences and struggles of those with hearing disabilities while having an incredible bond between the leads develop steadily.
When you look at it as a parallel to the series, you can fill in some gaps that I think would have been left up to interpretation in the movie and have more dialogue for certain scenes in the series that I thought could have been explained better or rather, clearly.

This was a great watch, for the story, the emotions, the thoughts it provoked and simply for Kohei and Taichi ♡

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Komorebi

A profound and introspective look on everyday life.

This may have been a slow burn but it never bored me even once. There's a sort of satisfaction in the mundane, repetition may not be exciting, but finding the happiness in the smallest of things, the sun that shines through the leaves, birds chirping early in the morning, a child waving to you. There's even happiness in the chaos, a move away from the schedule can bring about cathartic and moving experiences.

The entire movie may have been the story of a week or two, or that of months, but the essence and emotions were just the same. With a minimal amount of dialogues, the acting and depth created a great balance.

“Komorebi - is the Japanese word for the shimmering of light and shadows that is created by leaves swaying in the wind. It only exists once, at that moment.”
The final frame of the film, and an apt description of the film itself.

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Burn that house down

Metaphorically speaking, they did. This crashed and burned in the most pathetic of ways, even the retribution felt unsatisfactory after that sub par build-up.

A good revenge drama needs a captivating plot, complex characters and good acting to bring all this forth, but what good is the third for when a drama lacks in the first two? Although technically the description doesn't promise much revenge, there is atleast the expectation that the female lead, the outsider, the “fish out of water”, would have a much more satisfying character arc. Instead, she's written in such a manner that all you can do is root for her and hopes she picks herself up while everyone around her mistreats her like they have no tomorrow.

This kind of treatment doesn't end with her, in an intricately weaved web of power dynamics, everyone you can root for is on the recieving end of the mistreatment. The only character who can be considered neutral doesn't get much screentime for us to deduce her intentions, she stays on screen as long as it takes her to leave. Everyone else is trash.

SA, violence, harrasment, these are just a few of the many heinous things these people did. They're overall complete trash, but watching them just sit and have their way while innocent people feel the brunt of their actions gets real tiring, real fast. The individual stories of all the characters they wanted to tell gets lost in the pointless power struggle in the family, and the stories that you want highlighted become a plot point move along the torment and tormenting nature of the characters.

The ending was unsatisfyingly satisfying. The kind of retribution provided against the actions was like a slap to the face, and even the fact that it all played out well for the lead was downplayed by the fact that she was tossed around left and right without a chance to stand tall throughout her journey to get her revenge.

Through the frustration and psychological torture, this was not a drama that was worth it.

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The worst possible solution

Even if the only way to solve a problem or right a wrong is to go to a magical café and make a wish, please don't go about it like all the characters did. I know it's fiction but oof-

The story was confusing from the beginning to the end, despite the fact that they revealed almost everything and answered most of the questions that built up during the beginning in episode six. I watched all the characters make the messiest decisions and then immediately run to the café to fix the result of their actions, without ever knowing how the magic and wishings of it worked. Understanding that part of the appeal was the mysterious aura they maintained around the café, it still would have been engrossing for the viewers to have the world building revealed bit by bit in each episode as opposed to revealing everything in the finale. Long story short, they either needed more episodes to fully delve into the mysteries of the café, the beginnings, turmoils and eventual conclusions of all the characters and romances, or they needed better, more crisp writing that focused on the important aspects instead of giving backstories and screentime to characters who were only present, in a way, to fuel the decline of the leads.

None of the characters were especially interesting, no one could be deemed likeable, and the romance between these characters was as likeable as they were.
I wanted them to showcase a situation where the adult leads are caught at a crossroads, going through a bad phase in their relationship, a slump in their careers, that's what the summary promised! Instead, I got a mess. I didn't want to see a loving relationship but they kept pretending that everything was hunky dory, then all hell broke loose, and boy how! Thinking about how to explain their relationship is making my head hurt, it was that kind of a mess. I never got why they were a couple until they made that reveal in the finale.
The other couple was much better, and despite the lack of proper development (which is a recurring theme with everything in this series, nothing is developed or explained well until the last episode when it's all dumped on us in an information overload), they had me rooting for them. Until, of course, the reveal in the finale ruined their story as well.

The big reveal that we were seeing the same characters as their younger and older selves didn't work either, this was the only thing that became glaringly obvious as I watched and it should have been the biggest plot twist. They tried several others too, but at that point, I was too exhausted to care about some half done suspense. The cherry on top was the fact that when everything suddenly made sense, I just hated it even more. It was such a tedious process to get answers that simply made me angrier, and then just tired because of the realisation that an interesting premise had been melted beyond recognition and turned into a steaming pile of nonsense.

I'll be outright, reading this review will make it seem like this a series you need to watch to understand but even having watched it, I'm still confused. And a little nauseous because of how confused I am. And furious to the level that some of this may make no sense, but at least that's in keeping with the series. Give yourself a break and don't read too much into anything that you watch in this, and if you're as confused and angry as I am when you finish it, you know this review is here to help give you a little more clarity.

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The actual lead isn't listed

It's coffee. I learnt more about coffee than I did about either of the leads.

This is a concept that should work on paper. A song writer with writer's block and café owner who's lost direction of his passion. A man with a scarred heart and a man who can't write a love song, tell me this doesn't sound good as a concept. The thing is, this story would have worked much better as a melodrama as opposed to the comedic route they took. Even then, they didn't really know how to pull off the angst that is guarantee when you have a drama with two lost individuals.

Even if it doesn't work as a slice of life/melo series because it may be too long or have too many inconsequential scenes, it makes no difference. It's not like that's what they didn't already do with this. Put aside the concept and this was just.. boring.

It says a lot about a show when you would rather watch the side couples who barely have screentime over the leads. The leads didn't have much screentime together either, but I'll get to that in a while. They were cute for a while, all the blatant flirting was bound to come home to roost though because after the initial episodes it was conflict upon misunderstanding upon conflict. They even had the ex return for a conflict that ended as weirdly as it began. They didn't talk to each other and when they did it was all very surface level deep. The more I describe it, the more it sounds like angst, but it just didn't work.

Instead of spending time on developing their relationship though, they spent so much time on the band, their label, the coffee shop. Even though they were integral locations for each of the leads and several of the supporting characters, most of the scenes and characters in those locations felt like filler.

I did however love the friendship between Yi and Jao, the one between Nuea and Plaeng, all the friendships in fact. The band, Gene and Plaeng, the employees in the coffee shop, I loved it all. I also liked Yi's family, again not showcased much but realistic and supportive.

I don't mind the ending as much as I should since there is a special, but that was indeed a weak ending to a weak story. At its core, it was indeed a filler series.

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Behind the screen

Starting this series, I never imagined I would be feeling and writing half the things I did and am about to, but here we are.
One thing before I say anything else: this is an extremely slow drama. Not slow burn romance, just the pacing is extremely slow. The story is actually quite simple and could have been done concisely, and after the first few episodes when I didn't think it would ever pick up, it did.

The principal reason why I actually began liking it as much as I did, was because of the leads. Two green flag leads who communicated, supported each other and never argued. Well, they disagreed, but instead of having full blown out fights, they stated their point of view, expressed their support and love for the other person and just moved on. And even better was when every other character in the drama was just as much as a green flag as the leads. Just as supportive and kind and reasonable. One of the very few dramas where it's entirely reasonable to love all the characters. Of course, there were a few people who were incredibly annoying, but watching the rest of the characters deal with them with the utmost poise and integrity made it better. For a series so focused on romance and interpersonal relationships, they nailed it.

I was kind of let down by the rest of the story though. They tried to tackle so many difficult and relevant topics and kind of addressed them only halfway. By the end of the series I just asked myself, “Is that how they really tied everything up?”, because I was dissapointed. There was was a proposed "solution" involving the app, and let's just say, I was left wanting more.
Building upon that, the app that pretty much set up this story, was way underutilised. It was barely mentioned at the beginning and just when they needed it to save the day, they brought it back in the script. It genuinely could have been used several times during the series, but oh well.

This was the one thing I wished they had done better, because otherwise this was a pretty good (albeit slightly slow) series. The couple was genuinely green flags all around, in addition to being incredibly cute and just all around amazing, the characters felt well rounded and were likeable and the romance really hit. It was worth giving a shot on a whim and I quite enjoyed the watch.

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Keep giving it a try..

This review is also a LONG time coming and this, like Senior High 2, is a continuation of my review of Senior High. In that review, I mentioned that both seasons had sort of become one in my mind because I watched them at a stretch, but that I did vaguely remember where they made the cut. Now I can also say why my rating has reduced if both seasons really did feel like one.

⚠️ CONTENT WARNINGS ⚠️
The show contains depictions of bullying, violence, SA, murder and much more. I found it pertinent to include this because the depictions are rather explicit, and caution may be exercised before watching.

The reason my rating went down is because like a lot of school based series, Senior High took the decision to have the adults be more involved in the story. Season 1 mostly focused on the students and the school itself, but suddenly you have the adults thrown into the mix in much larger roles, which here meant all the horrible scenes from season 1 were happening double fold.
I always noticed that the viewing experience is brought down significantly once adults are throw into the equation in a thriller set within a school or university, and this was no exception.

All of a sudden, the content was much more explicit, the plot twists that much more improbable and the characters much less likeable. The feeling that they were probably dragging this along far too much started to creep in and by the time the finale rolled around, it was a little dissapointing since a lot of the story had become predictable.

While dragging out the series may have made it a bad, it was still engrossing most of the time. To even out the truly horrible scenes, there were ones that weren't as horrible, and maybe even kind of nice.
It was kind of a step down from season 1 for me, but not by much.

Once again, give it a try and see if you like it. If season 1 was your cup of coffee, this may probably be as well. Maybe it will surprise you just the way Senior High did.

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