Feardorcha

The first half of this series was phenomenal. The second half was a steady decline toward comparative mediocrity. Not to say it was bad but the first half was just so very good, the second simply paled in comparison. The romance was ultimately the least interesting part of the story, for me, and felt like it lacked, in the end, the emotional weight and raw dynamic of other elements of the story. Not sure what happened with the second half but the series just didn't finish as strongly as it began. It seemed to lose...not so much steam as gravity.

Nonetheless, it is absolutely worth the watch. The production was generally solid, excepting occasionally baffling editing choices, and the cast was an absolute delight.

Of all the ridiculous in this series, what's testing my suspension of disbelief the most is that a veterinarian, a professional dog lover, and an idiot with empathy of gold have all completely missed that Uno has some form of cynophobia. Dae Byeol even seems convinced Uno gets his jollies harming dogs, based on a limited interaction where Uno spent most of it looking like a spooked deer and as if a dog hair landing on his arm would've made him piss his designer pants.

Of all the annoyingly weird bits, that is the most annoyingly weird to me.

Mew was never a good actor but I can't tell if the issue here is Uno is meant to be a closed-off character or Mew filmed the whole series while gravely constipated.

The vet and the agent are doing the most trying to make this engaging. At least when they're on screen it feels like something is happening, that there is a story somewhere in all this nothing.

Nothing Por did as a gang boss, a father, or a sentient Human being made a lick of damn sense. Who were you, Por? What on Earth was going on in your brain before you put a bullet in it? Strange, strange man.

It's all so very retro.

Middling series, neither phenomenal nor horrendous. Decent enough way to spend a few hours but, honestly, "Hellbound" and "Sweet Home" offer up similar thrills with characters and story threads that are simply more engaging. I had hoped this series would explore more of the invisible maker who decided to do something so drastic to stop the ecological menace/existential threat that is Humankind but I suppose they're saving that for part two. Or, maybe it's fundamentally irrelevant, an apatheistic theme underlying the narrative. "Hellbound" handles theological underpinnings better too.

Anyway. Watchable, would recommend for a chill day on the sofa.

(Note: I haven't read the manga, watched the anime, or seen the Japanese movies. I am judging this Korean expansion pack on its own merits, and it was fine. Just...fine.)

Same. And when I first saw the poster, I was briefly excited thinking Fluke would finally have decent hair in a series.

Granted, I've never secretly knocked up a mistress and then abandoned her and our child for a couple decades while waiting on my cancer-stricken wife to die but if I wanted to build a relationship with that now grown child, "Meet me or else I'll destroy your life" would not be my approach. But that's just me.

I also appreciate the visuals here. I like pretty-boys well enough, but I do so enjoy when leads get to look and feel seasoned. There is a sensual sizzle about Senpai, in particular, that I think is directly connected to his age and appearance. Delicious.

The dead fish kisses are almost whiplash confusing. I'm trying to put them down to gestures toward cultural sensibilities about PDA but then they'll do it in private just before trying to swallow one another's faces. Perhaps it's like a polite knock on a door: "Hello, pardon, I'm about to try to suck your lips off your face, just FYI" and then you go in for the kill.

I think the fact that the series is so very good is why this misstep was so jarringly disappointing. But, perhaps it can be redeemed. We shall see.

Not a single person on this thread has said one word about NC scenes, or even mentioned physical intimacy. Why does that topic keep coming up whenever even slight deviation from total approval of a BL series is made?

There are many quality, character-driven BLs and BLs with quality characters out there; this is absolutely one of them. That does not, however, make this series immune from criticism of story elements. In this particular case, I feel the separation was mishandled, and a lost opportunity to further develop Yuan's character.

That's what disappointed me. I was eager to have them separate because I wanted Yuan to build a life that didn't orbit around Wei Qian. I was hoping we would see him do that, and do it well and with every intention of moving on, ultimately to have those experiences reinforce for him the nature of his love in an Adult context.

I was hoping to see him grow beyond what looked in many ways like puppy love/hero worship/obligation in a pubescent teen rescued from the streets. While I'm glad we saw Wei Qian's quiet self-analysis and emotional progress (and it was lovingly handled, from the subtle to the overwhelming), I didn't sense any evolution in Yuan. It's difficult to believe he had any kind of journey of self-discovery.

Maybe we'll see more in latter episodes but the preview suggests to me we're done with this part of the story and that's that.

You responded to my comment. You're free to stop responding if you're confused.

I never once said I didn't like the series (quite the opposite, actually). What I wanted from the separation was for Yuan to become a self-realized individual. To find and define himself outside of his love for Wei Qian. My hopes for the episode were to see him making friends, exploring hobbies, pursuing a career, going on dates, building a life for himself. In other words, actually trying to move on, and discovering in that process what elements of his love were true and deep, and not rooted in hero worship of, familiarity with, or proximity to Wei Qian.

Had that happened, I might find validity in the notion that he's accepted rejection and/or he's seeking to maintain familial ties. As of this episode, and the preview, however, I find no substantive evidence for that being the case. It may be what the script intended but the episode simply didn't sell it.

None of that has any relation to why I was disappointed in this episode. I said last week why I was looking forward to them separating; this episode didn't deliver any of what I'd hoped that separation would be in terms of seeing Yuan actually mature and try to move on, and the preview has given me reason to believe the series is now introducing in him behaviour I find annoyingly childish (playing hard to get, using jealousy as a weapon, deliberate coyness, etc.) The sigh I sighed at "What makes you think I still like you?"...

The shallowness of the separation, Yuan returning as basically the same person with the same feelings, just less effusive, are communicating to me that what you said is exactly what will happen: Yuan will taste one crumb of hope and immediately revert back to the lovesick puppy he was before he left. I was hoping for much, much more from a BL so mature in other story aspects.

I have enjoyed this series so much, episode-after-episode, but this one has made me feel my expectations climbed entirely too high. Which isn't to say it's not a good series, it certainly is, just one that isn't quite as outstanding as I originally perceived. I simply must adjust my expectations accordingly.

As you brought up "We Best Love": honestly, I thought their separation and reunion was a beautifully layered arc, the emotional storms complex, their personalities and their interactions gesturing loudly toward what we didn't see of those years they spent apart—the hope, the despair, the effort, the rage, the love that just wouldn't die and the raw, open, angry wound of it. THAT was a phenomenally handled time skip, in my opinion, one in which the separation truly mattered and changed their dynamic, and that made watching their reconciliation so richly satisfying.

Anyone else waiting to watch until airing is complete? I found the first season after it was complete and I was able to binge it. If I had watched it while it aired, I would absolutely have dropped it; I figure season two has the same energy.

I found episode 7 disappointing, rather treacly in a series that has been emotionally deft so far and, unfortunately for me, it didn't do anything meaningful with the separation, other than have Wei Qian mope about in his finally semi-acknowledged feelings. And the suggestion in the next episode that Yuan is going to play hard to get/try to make him jealous has really dampered my enthusiasm for the rest of the series, as it seems this will ultimately trod a well-worn BL formula, just in better style and with exceptionally better writing. Think I might just put this one on hold until it finishes airing.

Well, that was certainly a series of things happening in a row.

I knew it would end on a HEA, because it's a fairly typical BL, but, honestly, I think I would've rated it higher if Ever 9 stayed "dead".

The series never did manage to live up to its concept, and all the angst over Ever 9 not being Human that was crammed into a handful of minutes in the penultimate episode felt both shallow and entirely unwarranted. It never mattered that Ever 9 was an android—his not being Human was only relevant in so much as it granted access to immortality, making it possible to ressurect him from the dead, which cannot (yet) be done with the Human consciousness. It was clear by how much the series avoided any meaningful exploration of Ever 9's existence that there would be no great moral or material quanderies, so watching Yi Ping doing all that sobbing was more tiresome than emotionally impactful.

The only interesting gesture to the questions of sentience, autonomy, and agency was Ever 9's memories refusing to be erased. That was a fascinating development that would have really made his "death" effective and elevated the whole series. If he can resist a reset, then does that make him sentient? And if it does, does his creator have the right to deny him life, liberty, or love? If he could live in digital space but without a physical form, would Yi Ping still want him?

Ah well. My own fault, I think, for expecting a BL to tackle anything so hefty as sci-fi of this concept. Though I do appreciate the effort, and it's a sweet little love story and a decent enough watch, anyway.

Well, that was all really rather stupid. What a terrible series.

Xiao Yuan has a lot of growing up to do (today's episode heavily reinforced that). I'm hoping for at least one full episode, 1.5 if we get to watch Xiao Yuan forming a life in the US.