Blkittykat

You are my soulmate in every storyline

What I thought would be a series about soulmates turned out to be just that, but delivered in an entirely way than I expected. This was a very innovative and fresh anthology, but the fact that the leads remained the same throughout and so did a majority of the cast made for a really interesting watch.

The eight episodes are split into five storylines and each of them is almost like a representation of some kind of romance trope or that's what I thought. The more you watch, the more the story develops and the huge reveal comes slowly and surely. It is a multiverse series, but not really, and the plot progression is so simple yet makes complete sense.

The individual stories were really nice as well, some of them were simple fun, some others completely wrecked me and for the most part, they were all written very well. My favourite one was probably the fourth storyline (episodes 5-6), but that's not a reflection on the plot itself, more on my personal preference.

But the best part was the chemistry between the leads. They portrayed so many different characters and did that seamlessly of course, but I was so impressed with the fact that the chemistry never really dwindled. The chemistry they had changed based on the kind of plot their characters were a part of, some them required emotional chemistry, some physical chemistry and considering each storyline was only an episode or two, I think they did an excellent job portraying the chemistry and connection between their characters without taking too much away from the story itself.

I very much enjoyed the series and the great chemistry between the leads, they pretty much carried the show and did a wonderful job at that.

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A pleasant surprise

I don't know if this was because I started the series when I was desperately in need of something light and fluffy, or because it was genuinely good, but I am so pleasantly surprised by how good it was.

It's your basic pretend relationship but I was sold from the get go. Add to that Thomas looking like he does and chemistry between the leads, and I was double sold. The story moved at a brisk pace (bar the little lull in episodes 8-10), and it wasn't repetitive. They actually stuck to the pretend relationship instead of completely forgetting about it at some point like I've seen other shows do with their main plotline, which I really appreciated. The relationship between Rak and Fah developed very nicely, again surprisingly the writing was pretty solid.

In the same vein, I loved how the characters themselves and the romance between the leads were written. I'll admit, overly cutesy characters are not my favorite, mostly because they can never seem to get some kind of depth written to them. Their cute and that's it. But Rak was more than that, and I got to see this through a storyline I thought was unnecessary but turned out to be really important. Same with Fah, he's supposed to be a stoic character, but throughout the series, there were moments where he didn't take himself too seriously and showed his vulnerability which I loved to see.
And every other supporting character was written just as well, I found myself appreciating their presence on screen and in the lives of the leads with every passing episode. They were entertaining, endearing characters.

The romance between the leads was also written so well, they showed the character development clearly without being too explicit, created scenarios for us to see just why they liked each other, what's not to appreciate? I would have appreciated more screentime for both of the side couples though, I feel like that's a complaint I have with every rom com I watch though.

The acting was good, there were some unnecessary scenes and some of them were dragged out too long, but for the most part the pacing was steady and crisp, and the music was pretty cute as well.

The series was nothing new, it had the same ten clichés every romance title has and yet I enjoyed it to the fullest extent. It was truly a pleasant surprise.

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A nice start to the anthology

Sometimes we tend to get wrapped up in the idea of fantastical romance with the grandest, strangest meet cutes, the hilariously charming leads and the mind blowing romance in series.
But there is also something about a story as simple as two people meeting and falling in love. Maybe it's me, maybe I've gotten hung up on the idea of watching two people fall in love in slow motion while music plays in the background, but watching the cringey pick up lines the female lead hit the male lead with, or watching the two of them sit together and finish their assignments or have dinner together was also kind of fun.

There was a ton of angst of course, not a lot of communication going around but the romance and chemistry between the leads was too good not to root for. Their past dynamics paired with the present "will they/won't they" relationship they had was not only sweet and angsty, but kind of relatable.

I did have a few things I would have liked to be developed better. I won't say further because I know there are like three (five?) more parts of the anthology, but better because they pertain to the leads in this series Luna and Kalix, or because they would have been helpful for setting up the rest of the parts.

First was the character development. I'm guessing each part is going to focus on one couple based on how this was executed, and I would have liked if the character development and explanations came before the last two episodes because coming at the last moment it felt like a last ditch attempt to get Luna and Kalix together.
Second, I would've loved to see more of their Ride or Die gang interact with Sevi. They were all Luna's friends and leads of their respective parts, and I don't know how the source material had written their friendships, but I personally would've loved to see more of all six of them interacting as a group.
Third, and this is more of a me thing, I wanted a bit more depth to the characters. Similar to the character development but also kind of different, but I wish both Luna and Kalix had more to their personalities than just being incredibly ambitious and driven individuals. Especially Kalix, I don't think his character had much progression beyond that character trait and his love for Luna, and Luna's was ambition, love for Kalix and a past experience that left her unable to completely trust someone. I thought I saw glimpses of other personality traits but they were never fully developed and I would have liked them to be.

Overall, this was a nice start to the "University series" with good chemistry and romance.

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Aww..

I didn't think I was the target audience for this, but you know what, I absolutely was, lol. A cute love story, adorable leads, and a story with a PSA that actually worked? Nothing about this sounds unappealing to me.

I've also never watched a drama about animal trafficking before, and it just worked out perfectly because in the first few episodes, my immediate thought was that the animal transformation aspect wasn't quite necessary. But that aspect added quite the depth to the PSA part of the story and to the depth of the leads relationship. Who were quite adorable together, might I add. The execution was also up to the mark on the same front, it had the right amount of focus without taking away too much from the leads themselves.

The romantic relationship between the leads also had a well crafted development, but before we get to that, let's talk about the leads themselves. Junior was adorable. His penguin truly penguined and I loved it. His mannerisms, his confident yet guarded demeanor, his adorableness, and his awkwardness, at times were the absolute best. Sun was the exact opposite, and just as adorable. Introverted, but with this aura of strength and bravery and completely awkward as opposed to Ju. Made sense, since they were a penguin and black panther respectively before they transformed after all.

Together, they just fit. The middle pieces of the puzzle, and everything about them complemented the other person. Watching them go from awkward friends to awkward maybe lovers to cutest boyfriends was a genuine pleasure, truly. They had an incredible support system in the side characters, who were always around to directly or indirectly push them towards each other.
The supporting characters were no joke either, by the end of the ten episodes, it wasn't just Ju and Sun who had clearly grown up, every single supporting character had grown in some way or another, and that's not something we see in a lot of dramas.

By the end, I was absolutely into it. Did it maybe get incredulous or a little off track sometimes? Absolutely, but it did nothing to take away from the enjoyment of the story. It was fun, a little campy and just a whole lot of sweet.

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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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Good story, bad writing

That headline pretty much sums up everything about Kidnap by the way, the sheer amount of potential a story like this had was ruined by the horrible writing. I'm assuming it's based on a novel and I'm a little scared to find out if the source material itself was this bad, or if it was just somehow messed up beyond recognition while being made into a script.

The weirdest part is how fragmented the story was, it was like watching three or four completely different shows, that was mashed up into one series haphazardly. There was romance and comedy, mystery and thrill, and in the same vein but not really, trauma, moving on and moving ahead. Even just saying it this way would make it seem like these genres won't work great, all together, but let me save you some time, it didn't work.

The genre shifted multiple times in an episode, there was comedy at moments where it made no sense and the whole kidnap plot was the weakest thing in a series called Kidnap. The audience is also left to connect the dots for most scenes, it's never outright obvious how the characters and the story got there, but you think hard enough and you can make the connections. But sometimes you just have to say eh- I guess it just happened that way, so let's move on.

I was genuinely shocked with the amount of potential this story had, I mean, written well and this could have been a masterpiece. But writing it in a way where you introduce different conflicts every episode only for them to be solved (or mostly solved) by the end of that episode, whereas you have the main conflict show up when it's convenient for you.. that's not how you keep the audience invested.

Most of my dissapointment is with the writing though, because despite that weak plot, the chemistry was actually decent, I did find myself invested in the characters to an extent and the acting was pretty good. Min and Q had this great loser in love energy between them and despite the weird way in which I think they started out (it was incredibly fast), they did have that soulmates thing going for them, but the story.. what could have been.

Technically, I should rate this lower than I actually did, but I have a soft spot for Ohm, he was amazing in this. And Title. He was amazing as James, James gets a 10/10. But even with them, I can't give this a high score, a kind of high score I genuinely thought I would be giving this before I started, and even a bit after I started.

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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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I Can Hear Your Voice

This is a gem of a show filled contemplations, heartwarming moments and one of the more genuine stories out there. The nuanced and deep representation of disabilities, friendship and bonds really shone in a story driven by it's characters.

The growth displayed by the leads was the strongest suit they played, Kohei and Taichi were incredible characters as they were, and watching them grow as they grew closer was extremely well done. Kohei came out of his shell, interacting with the world on his terms, and as he did, Taichi did as well, trying to understand what Kohei is going through and familiarise himself, both with Kohei and his disability.

Another aspect I think they handled well was the representation of disabilities. There wasn't a one fits all mold in place here, it was ensured that the dilemmas and experiences of those hard of hearing were shown to be different for each person.

The romance didn't quite pan out the way I thought it would, while it was clear that Kohei and Taichi had an extremely deep and amazing bond, it was hard to visualise this as a romance when the focus shifted onto another character who was neither Kohei nor Taichi.

I did think the introduction of Maya as a supporting character was a double edged sword, she added nothing to the plot, because with or without her, the essence of the story would've remained the same. Her rude, and sometimes demeaning attitude didn't really come across well, and though I believe there was a bit of depth to her character and actions, ultimately, they came across as self centred and her development seemed like it never came even though it did.
The other supporting characters felt much more genuine, not perfect, just genuine.

With Maya's introduction, the tone of the drama shifted into more of drama than a romance, and that wasn't solely because of the new character. The focus was later shifted onto Taichi's personal growth, which, while I loved to see, kind of took away the focus from Kohei and their bond, the very things I had come to love in the first half. The romance then came much too hard and fast, and despite it's genuineness, felt too rushed.

Don't let any of that take anything away from this brilliant story though, because despite it's flaws, it was pretty perfect. The beauty of watching two people become someone the other person cannot see themselves without to each other, while still being themselves, understanding and recognising each other, it's a special thing.

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Slam Dunk or Fouled Out?

I didn't know basketball could be this dangerous, nor did I realise how easily you could mess up something with potential. I decided I would just list down the good and the not good, because as it stands, the things listed could easily be two different dramas.

The Good
- The Basketball Club. Just as a whole, the focus on the sport was something I really enjoyed. A rag tag team, an unconventional and unexpectedly good coach, a key player recruited from an unexpected place who has a complicated past with the team captain, this is the stuff that makes a sports drama.. a sports drama.
The way they went from a group of completely uncoordinated individuals to a team was amazing. I saw an actual bond between all the characters part of the basketball club, great teamwork, the underdogs who stood by each other through all the ridiculous plot points that were thrown at them.
That club of fifteen or so individuals were by far the best thing about this series, I found myself cheering for each of their baskets, rooting for them to get where they wanted.
And the actual game scenes were so aesthetically shot, except for some of those cartoon effects, the shots were precise and visually strong.

- Romance. Although it came by far and few times, I actually liked the romance. Just to clarify, this was a coming of age drama with two kisses, but I'm thinking romance wasn't the first thing on the director's mind with this story. And even then, there's something about Meen and Ping that I've never been quite able to figure out. Whether the story is nonsense or if the romance is minimal, they have some sort of charm as a pairing that I've never understood the logic behind, but I've stopped trying to figure it out. I just go with the flow and I can confirm they serve as much as they possibly could have.

- Friendships. Once again in relation to the basketball club, but I have to highlight the friendship between them. Fifteen members who went from being practically strangers or from having strained relationships to developing friendships and relationships that were refreshing to watch amidst all the frustrating and unnecessary scenes. I genuinely believe there isn't a thing they wouldn't do for each other, between the players, the managers and the coach, these people were the most genuine and well developed characters in the series, with good reason.
They may have started out on the wrong foot, but true to form, basketball is a team sport, and they became the best of teams. The scene where the team literally showed up for the coach when he was going through a tough time actually had me in tears, and that's the thing, they always showed up for each other. I really wish they had spent more time developping this, compared to, well.. the points that follow.

The Should Have Been Better
I say should have been better, but I really mean completely unnecessary.

- The Basketball mafia. What was the purpose of the most aggressive villain in the series except to introduce Ryu? The entire focus on Ryu being forced to play street basketball was nonsense and it eventually led nowhere. There, I said it. They introduced this as if it were a big deal and would form a major crux of the story, but oof. It was concluded so lamely I had to laugh.

- One dimensional opposition. This was horrible. Ryu's mother and the science man who hated basketball were, I believe, literally added in to stir up drama that never existed. Maybe the drama with Ryu's mother was set up well, but the science man had no excuse being that extra about his funding. These could have been proper points of contention against the team, but a lot of yelling and whining that suddenly turns into unbounded support, it was as lame as it sounds.

- Unbalanced screentime. The basketball mafia, the one dimensional opposition and one more person who I'm yet to mention got way more screentime than they deserved. I wanted the majority of the focus to be on the game and the romance, but it sucks that things that were entirely unnecessary got more or at least equal screentime to the aspects that were worth watching.

- ATOM. No. Just no.
I mean, what was it that he actually did? Except for showing up unannounced at Zen's house and changing his hairstyle every next scene? I was convinced that he was a fictional character within the series who appeared like Beetlejuice, Ryu says his name out loud three times, and he appears in Zen's house out of thin air. No luck though, he was a very real character who played against Ryu and Zen in one match, played with Ryu and Zen in one match, and then caused a major confusing situation that was resolved in the last five minutes of the episode to give us the most anti - climactic of endings. I was hyper focused on Frank in this series, for all the wrong reasons.

Overall, this was a bag of mixed emotions. I loved some of it, didn't care for the rest. I think this could have been something worth it's while with a few changes, there were so many interesting characters and things to focus on, but when it comes down to the line, it was only okay.

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A story of friendship

Even though there was a whole lot of shipping going on from one of the leads, the friendship had to have been my favourite. There were weirdly more kind of friendships than there were relationships for a series with three couples.

I will say, I quite liked Gap and Wah. They started off on the wrong foot, quite literally using each other (and being very open about it/not at opening up about it), but I loved the way they developed their relationship by actually having both of them take an interest in each other's passions. They were a good match for each other, their energy vibed, they were understanding of each other and had minimal misunderstandings, and even when they had arguments, each of their points of views were totally valid.

On the other hand, I very much disliked the Shogun - Maitoh - Green love triangle that was obviously never going to go Green's way. There wasn't anything particularly likeable about any of it, it was never going to break Green's way, and even then, the way they seemingly presented Shogun's crush on Maitoh as something that developed suddenly after watching Green and Toh interact closely didn't sit right with me. Didn't help that Green and Toh had more chemistry, and Shogun had better chemistry with Toh's younger brother in that one very short scene than he did with Toh the entire series.

I did want to see more of Paul and Nice though, they established their crush on each other and their relationship pretty early, but they barely got any screentime after that. They had their moments, both good and bad, but I liked the scenes of theirs that we got very much.

More than anything though, I really appreciated the friendship in this series. There was a massive friend group, besties, friends who are like your siblings, every kind of friendship vibe going on. I liked that they showed that it may not always be sunshine and rainbows, that you may not always have a great relationship, but you can have a great friendship in that moment, and in those moments they will stand by you. These scenes had a lot of comedic moments which were quite nice as well, and some genuinely moving scenes as well.

Another thing I really loved was how they called out toxic fans, throughout the episodes, all of them. There were a few instances where certain things the characters did felt very uncomfortable, but I love a show that is self aware enough to call that out. It was well done.

Even if there wasn't anything great to rave about, this series managed to make some good points while still maintaining it's light mood introduced in episode one. A casual watch with it serious moments, it has something for everyone.

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Childhood connection, and something more

One of the major aspects of J BLs is that they're usually too short to develop character depth when the story focuses on developing romantic relationships and emotional depth. At least, that's what I thought.

Living With Him is a sweet, slice of life drama about two childhood friends who unexpectedly find themselves living together after years of no contact between them. But when feelings develop between the two of them, they have to deal with their own emotions before addressing those of the other.

The series delves into the thoughts and emotions of Kazuhito and Natsukawa as individuals contemplating a change in dynamics between them before anything else. Showcasing their relationship as children and later as teenagers and adults, we get to see the passage of their relationship that led to them living together and also why they develop feelings for each other.

Amidst all this though, we barely get time to actually see their relationship develop as adults. It is incredibly and increasingly clear with every episode exactly why they like each other, based on aspects of their personalities and their experiences that led them to become the people they've become. But we just don't get the pay off we deserve after the massive buildup. The romance inevitably had to take a backseat to allow their personal growth, but when the story required it, it delivered on moments to establish their solidifying romance.

The result was a simple and sweet story of an understated transformation of a relationship from childhood friends to virtual strangers, and then lovers. I could spend hours analysing how their personalities reflect their thoughts and actions since this is a character driven story, but I'm just going to reflect on how much I enjoyed it as a love story.

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A life alone doesn't necessarily mean a lonely life.

Tsutomu lives a life of solitude, alone in his mountain cabin, with rarely a visit from people. His only companions are his dog, his gardens and nature. Living season by season, month after month, life just goes by for the writer.

As he experiences nature bloom and wilt it's way as time passes, he reminisces his past and contemplates his future. Harvesting seasonal produce, cooking it the way he was taught to as a novice monk, reminiscing about his childhood. Meeting his editor, who worked with his late wife, who he cannot move on from, still hanging onto all remnants of her. His carpenter friend, his mother in law, his gardening, everything around him is a reminder of his past and it continues to dwell on his present.

A few unexpected events then allow him to contemplate on his future, whether he should embrace his past and gain closure. His slow life, seemingly devoid of meaning suddenly has more and less meaning than it did before.

An introspective, slow burner, even if doesn't manage to keep you on your toes, I don't think they ever meant it to.

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What Did YOU Eat Yesterday?

Every once in a while, when the drama and conflicts feel too much, when you find the need to watch something that feels like a warm embrace, when you want to watch people navigate real issues with grace and sensitivity, I hope you'll think about this series.

I'll keep this short and sweet. Watching two people in love, handling their lives in the best possible manner makes you incredibly happy. Watching them influence the lives of those around them and get influenced by the very same people, watching them grow and evolve as they solve problems big and small, issues important and relevant, all while maintaining the healthiest of relationships is something admirable.

So I'll just say this. If you ever find yourself searching for a drama where every scene feels like a conversation you can witness in real life, where food plays an important role, whether it's to discuss issues or bring people together, or simply satisfy your craving, where you may get the sense that you're somehow part of this huge family, where it's just genuine happiness on screen, I hope you'll think about this series.

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A few ups and downs, but mostly serves

Man Suang is a solid production.

Though this may be a fictional story, it is intricately connected to the events of the time period, including the societal norms of the time period. The movie also showcases the political and cultural landscape of Thailand in a realistic way. When you produce a fictional account set in a very real and turbulent political and historical period, it is bound to get confusing at times, but for what it's worth, they did an admirable job.

Coming to the actual story, it was quite predictable. Like I mentioned, historical stories require a certain amount of explanation and background to be fully appreciated, and while I would have preferred that, the storytelling was solid for the most part. The characters are well fleshed out, the motives were clear and despite the fact that the mysteries were easily solved and the plotlines were succinctly wrapped up. The ending left something to be desired, but I guess that's what the sequel's for.

One thing that needs to be cleared up: there's no romance. This is a political thriller through and through, and even with the occasional glances, I'm glad it didn't develop into a romance. Including a full fledged romance would have taken a lot of time, and this was already chock full of events that including more scenes would have messed up something that already felt like it lacked a few things.

I probably wouldn't re-watch this, maybe if I wanted to see if I missed some details. More than anything, it was a pretty good watch and it will keep you invested.

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