Destiny and pegasus

Well, this was strangely addictive and at the same time just plain awful and ugly! Moreover the produces cand definitely beat GMMTV where the PPL is concerned. This drama was apparently completely sponsored by Subway....a new romantic place for a dinner date! Not!

So this review is just a long rant and a string of notes I jotted down as I watched. Here it goes....

ML has a horrible haircut! And grimacing like he does, he reminds me of Jang Hyuk in Fated To Love You which I absolutely detest! I love the concept of this drama but sometimes little things ruin the viewing experience too much! Another thing that made me drop this drama three times while watching the first episode is awful cinematography and camera image quality: it is too sharp and therefore sterile, very uncomfortable to watch....It looks like something from the 70/80s: ugly! Now on ep 4 and the FL's attitude is getting me more and more annoyed: she is the epitome of a brainless sports professional cliché! Limited vocabulary and immediate violence...and a huge chip on her shoulder!
Episode 6 and the FL is seriously getting on my nerves: self-righteous, stupid, jumping to conclusions, giving those disappointed, hurt, holier than thou looks with trembling lips and unwilling to listen or compromise. Those righteous know it all characters are rage inducing....
I decided not to pay attention to the childish pouty FL and the plot seems to be chugging along smoothly but very very very slowly. One thing is rather amusing: the 45 min merge sometimes seems hours long: they have time to talk, to go on a walk, eat at Subway, walk some more very slowly and then gaze into each other's eyes for a very long time! Time well used! Sometimes they are together for what seems 5min, they argue and poof! the end of the merge mid sentence!
Even though I said I would not pay attention to her, I cannot not notice her biting her lower lip all the time....what an annoying habit!
Ep.15 another extremely annoying character is the prosecutor: sensible to victims' tears has no respect for defense lawyers "How dare you defend someone who is obviously guilty?" and asking a survivor of a crime to apologize for being alive....What a jerk! And of cours the FL is even worse than that: "You are a horrible person for defending alleged criminals but who are really criminals because the tenderhearted prosecutor said sao even though he has no tangible proof!"
OMG that FL is going to be the death of me! Still, in ep 17 she does not want to believe anything the ML says but she believes and trusts EVERYONE else, literally everyone else and particularly the prosecutor who is the same as her: stupid, too emotional and self righteous! And she, with her big round shiny puppy dog eyes, turned up nose and slightly open and trembling lips is the epitome of a bad FL. Why would someone like ML fall for her is beyond comprehension since he is her complete opposite! I guess it's opposites attract even with zero chemistry! Urghhhhhh!

Now it is getting to be seriously messy: ep 18 he tells he she's going to die but didn't she already know that two episodes ago?!?!?! The writers are slowly starting to do whatever: ManMan in present talks to future ML about the FL's death that has not happened yet. A mess!
Could the events be called plotholes if they are illogical? The guy breaks into someone's house and then sits back, rests and lights up a cigarette throwing it away after a couple of puffs and leaving the smell and ashes behind? Maybe he does it on purpose ? The characters are doing more and more stupid things. The worst still being the FL: no one is taking her stupidity crown away!

Ep.21 Now even the ML is biting his lower lip when he's worries! It must be contagious.... And in ep 22: the relationship between brother and sister is a weird one to say the least: there is definitely much more going on there that meets the eye. That much was evident from the start but now they are really showing it to us in case we did not get the hints! I did not really! I noticed the odd behaviour when they were together but incest was not one of the options I was considering (more like gaslighting, control, abuse). Maybe one of them (him?) is adopted?

No, it is actually her!Fake siblings then attempted murder then amnesia! This is looking more and more like a makjang: secrets, fake families, hatred and revenge for obscure reasons. In any case being like siblings or brothers, is not really recommended by this drama: just a recipe for disaster! Fortunately though, our FL is still her stupid gullible self! Glad some things never change?

And of course the last episode? The ML plays the hero and ends up in a coma for months.When he wakes up, months later, his head is still bandaged since it apparently did not suffice, all those MONTHS, in come for the wound to heal over! The FL is doing her saintly wife duties, kindly talking, being nice to everyone and all in all being angelical! I was half expecting a halo above her head, her eyes turned towards heavens and divine light shining around her! Well it almost happened every time she drew back the curtains....
So, of course, perfectly natural and logical and realistic, when he wakes up from his coma, there is nobody around in the hospital, he has his full strength back immediately even though he had been in a coma for months. Therefore he pulls out the IV drip, goes home and on the way does some shopping because he has his wallet in his hospital garb: nobody in the hospital notices that he's missing and of course FL doesn't know anything. Come on, give me a break!

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Prophecy & coincidence

This two episodes special is a part of a BL anthology series My Universe.

It takes place at the university where Bud, while trying to avoid his mother's prophecy from coming true by escaping from one guy, ends up falling for Korn and unwittingly making the prophecy come true.

This is a true romantic comedy: there is a lot of romance and a lot of comedy though not smart but slapstick comedy mainly by support characters(Bud's best friend Emmy and a pursuer Fong) making faces, extreme gesturing and sound effects, in case we did not understand it was supposed to be funny!!!! The main actors are cute and so is the story. The actor/actress playing Emmy was just over the top and I did not like her/him! The mother had too much weird make up on so I kept wondering how anyone can take her seriously. The costume designer apparently spent most of their time taking the buttons off the shirts the cast wore! Cinematography was rather nice and they managed to show some love magic and special connections the two had through light effects: nicely done!

It is definitely not my cup of tea though I would not mind seeing the main couple in another series, together or separate, I don't care! I haven't seen other episodes in this series but I might now since this was not that bad! It probably would have been bad if it were longer: most of recent thai bls could and should be shorter because there is as much plot there as there is here! I'd rather watch a 2 episode version of a story than a 12 episode one!

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Women & love

An anthology or omnibus series about four women in different stages of their lives but that can be seen as an example of a woman's life and struggles throughout the first half of her life from dating, marriage, career to mid life crisis. All of the stories are connected to each other by a common thread, a female friend/acquaintance who shows up in every episode either offering an advice (first two stories #23 & #29) or creating problems (#35 & #42). The numbers in the titles are actually ages of main female character in each episode.

#23 A polyamorous woman finds out that dating three men at once is not such a good idea after all!
#29 A woman on the verge of getting married is upset by her own mother's unexpected life choices.
#35 A writer and a one-movie-wonder director is looking for inspiration
#42 A woman takes her husband for granted and can't bear the consequences.

The first story was fun though it showed the dark side of the internet and its power to destroy people's lives. A young woman is also taken on her own game without knowing which makes her wonder if her choices are really well thought out!
The second FL was so annoying; a woman about to get married but only thinking of her mother and never wanting to part with her: such an unhealthy relationship and an immature young woman. Only when she really talks to her mother who clears things up for her, is she able to move forward with her life!
The third story had a very theatrical feel to it: I felt as if I were watching a play. The way the characters moved, the way they talked, the events...everything was rather static and limited. It was my favourite story since even the plot was very theatrical full of lies and deceit.
The last story was the worst. It was about a childless couple, high school friends married for 20 years. She's obviously a ball breaker and he is a conciliatory kind of guy letting her get away with it to keep the peace. Over the years they have become more of a brother and a sister than a married couple (she hides behind a T-shirt so her husband wont see her in a tank top!). Some friends of theirs come back for a school reunion which sends their peaceful equilibrium into a tailspin and making her a jealous screaming harpy!

Omnibus is one of my favourite formats in dramas and this one is particularly well made: the production values are high and the writing is excellent. While the three out of four stories had their roots in reality and were really good (in spite of annoying female characters in 29 & 42), the third one is my favourite: it is a bit over the top dealing with publishing, writing, producers etc. but suspenseful and with a movie kind of ending. The mood was very much like in the thai series 180 Degrees, heavy with secrets and darkness. It is a bit different from the other stories.

Definitely worth the watch but you need to be in the right mood. The drama really manages to paint the women's struggles and questioning in a very intimate way.

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Life & emotions

Who plays the main role of your life? How do you play the main role?

Here is another proof that you do not need huge budgets to make an extraordinary drama. Writing, writing, writing! Someone should tell this to K drama and thai bl screenplay writers....

On the surface a simple story of young people on the cusp of adulthood: finishing school, looking for job, finding love, figuring out who they are and what they strive to become. Slice of life drama, about 12 young people and their main life questions shown, explained and solved in a series of short but tight and to the point vignettes. The characters are a bit stereotypical but the drama is better for it since it talks to everyone.

And we have all been there: how to become a responsible adult?

The acting is top notch especially the actor playing the empath, someone with capacity to understand other people's emotions beyond the ordinary. He brings solace and proposes solutions for his friends' questions about life.

This web drama has that indie feel, the cinematography is actually pretty good since it correspond to the feelings the characters are trying to figure out: sometimes sunny, sometimes blue, sometimes sad.

Definitely worth the watch!

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Tea and magic

I liked this very much; it is funny, fast paced, cute and fluffy!

The synopsis above is nonsense though! So let me try and correct it a bit. There are three distinct parts of this drama. In the first part Modem tries to discover the identity of the boy she met when she was in school by using magical tea her aunt makes on two men she met recently: Light and Boss. But her magical experiment goes haywire. The second part is dedicated to Boss, who has been in love with Modem for a very long time but when he sees her moving away from him he uses the aunt's magical tea to hold her with disastrous effects. In the third part of the drama, Modem has to deal with the consequences of her playing with magic at the beginning and the solution turns out to be rather radical!

My Bubble Tea is about magic so your brain should be left on sleep mode. The events are happening at high speed and there are some developments that are difficult to believe because of that speed. There is rarely a calm moment but it is so much fun. The characters are amazing. Light is a bike driver, he is silly, sweet and a bit stupid but immensely kind. He is played by Mean, I remember from Love By Chance. I also remember having impression of him being much taller. His posture is different here: he played Light to perfection and had nice chemistry with Ploy who played Modem. Then there is Modem's family, her aunt and brother and their bickering was priceless. Her friends were a mixed lot of quirky and funny people.

This drama is worth the watch if you are looking for something light and relaxing with a compelling story, a rollercoaster ride of fun and magic. The character names are a blast and there is Cupid helping the story along.....

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A Love Story

Two guys meet as students. The connection is instantaneous and they start dating. But Xiaole needs to go away in order to pursue his acting career. Su Wei stays in college and they continue being together through long distance relationship. But then Su Wei's mother discovers her son is gay and the whole hell breaks loose. Su Wei moves in with Xiaole who puts his acting career on indefinite hold. But living together is not all fun and roses so when SuWei's mother begs him to leave her son, Xiaole obeys and leaves. He comes back two years later.

The story is a classical love story going through the usual hardships after the initial honeymoon period: family acceptance, money, jobs, friends, sex and so on! Problems keep piling on until everything breaks. But fortunately it is not broken beyond repair.

This short web series was made by the main actor Xiaole. The production is low budget but the story is well written and the two main actors have great chemistry. The problems are small but important things : actresses playing cousin and mother are both far too old for those roles so it is really distracting. The clothes they wear do not change over the years of the relationship. The sound is badly recorded and there are scenes where they are having a conversation subbed in mandarin but we do not hear it nor is it translated into english. Those conversations look like lovey dovey talk but still....I may be mistaken. I liked the characters lines written vertically in certain scenes.

The main actor is handsome and talented and I wish we could see him in more roles than those self produced ones!

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Read the tags NOT the title!

The title sounds like a comedy. But this drama is everything but a comedy. Upon reading the title I was expecting something along the lines of The Full Monty. No such luck!

This is a very basic mystery show. A murder took place 10 years previously. The only witness is looking for the culprit who has a scar on his back. In order to find him, she puts an ad out looking for nude models. The fireman needs money to help a friend out so he applies. But the real culprit is close by, trying to stop the girl looking for him by framing the fireman.

The plot is very basic. Fortunately it is only 4 episodes long, but I felt it dragging nevertheless with the usual tropes started showing up more and more towards the ending. At one point the fireman is on the run and has to share a hotel room with the girl: all of a sudden HE turned into a shy victorian heroine, walking slouched and stiff and almost crossing his arms over his chest in a real virginal mode. Ridiculous. And let me tell you about the ending: the fireman is in danger and we cut on to two months later and everything the characters do just confirms that the L is dead. But,we seasoned k-drama watchers, see through this lying game!

The side characters are more interesting than the vanilla main ones. The girl's aunt is in love with fireman's best friend. >They d bring the needed touch of lightness and humour.

I was actually really bored and I definitely need to read tags in future. But I keep forgetting. This could have been a nice crime mystery drama if not that title!

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Season 2/5: On with the fun!

I don't know by what miracle, but they managed to continue with the same quality drama.
The story is fast moving, there is no time to rest and still it does not seem rushed. The writing is solid, very funny, the acting is perfect, actors have great chemistry and the music is beautiful.

Our novelist is finally in the Cold Palace with Emperor pining for her outside and trying to figure out a way to bring her out without breaking his promise. She is getting bored doing nothing so she dresses up as an eunuch and goes out to the market. Unwittingly she messes up Queen Dowager's conspiracy plans provoking her wrath. There are more subplots there as well: fake poets and poetry competitions, imperial exam candidate who lost the will to fight (so funny!), the doctor she tries to set the Emperor up with only to realize she has feelings for him too, her bickering but adoring parents, her caveman of a brother I want to see more of!

What is surprising is that there is not one single annoying character. The FL is a strong and smart woman with a fast thinking head on her shoulders and who does not let anyone think otherwise. The ML has become a smitten emperor but still keeping his cool when faced with problems.

I am loving this. It has been so long since I laughed so much. It is worth every second spent.

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Season 1/5 The writer falls, the mess begins!

This is hilarious! Nothing new but really funny! And I am very difficult when humour is concerned. I hate slapstick and similar kinds of humour. This is smart funny.

The plot is the usual short c drama plot: a novelist falls into her own book and has to complete tasks in order to get out. Here, she needs to be punished and spend 100 days in Cold Palace in order to leave. But her quirky personality is very much liked by the cold emperor and she has trouble being condemned no matter what she does.

What makes this drama fun are the characters. All of them: main and support ones. They all have their unexpected sides. Even the cold and distant emperor sees his high walls shattered to smithereens by the FL's antics.

Just like any other hitorical c drama, this one is well produced, rather pretty to watch, runs smoothly (I watched edited full version) and is extremely well acted. By the whole cast. The main couple have great chemistry and you cannot help but root for them.

This is the first part of the series so the story is far from over. I just hope they won't mess it up by adding too many new characters. I am curious to see where the story is heading. The emperor is head over heels for the novelist who is currently only interested in leaving her novel and is not particularly drawn to the Emperor.

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Run of the mill revenge drama

Well, actually, since this revenge drama had absolutely zero originality, here are my notes in guise of a review.

Makjangs always start the same: a dramatic scene preferably a fire and the main antagonists facing each other. And then flash forward or flashback depending whether the scene is the root of the revenge or the endgame!
Half an hour in and this screams stupid abused FL oblivious of being set up! I don't think I can deal with another annoying FL.....And of course it looks like her abusive husband is behind it all! So 45min in and she has lost everything: her reputation, her career, her husband (not much of a loss there!), her house, her bank accounts! All she is left with is her life and the clothes she is wearing! Such a typical makjang beginning! Though nothing is ever what it looks what it is in a makjang ...So, then, paf! the surprise ending! Promised cliffhanger is well and truly there! On with the show!
In ep 2 we are introduced to the chaebol heiress and her father. They look the same age so I looked the actors up: and, guess what? They ARE the same age! Really good casting choices?????? The plot thickens! What is the connection between the lawyer and the FL? Apparently she does not know him, but he....?
Ep 3 so the lawyer is on the revenge path against our FL as well: while pretending to be nice to her, he actually hates her guts. And now they're involving a kid? I do not like it when the kids are being used like this....The FL and her husband are in a mud battle? Who will win?
On ep.4. Fine! I admit it! I am hooked and can't be bothered to notice insignificant details! The revenge on a sleazy CEO acted! Nice! Now for the whiplash!
In ep 5, the FL after the initial success has become arrogant and starts again behaving as an idiot. Back to the beginning! Are you kidding me? An ultrasound photo of a fetus? On a grave? How pro life! Americans would love this!
And the makjang keeps on makjanging: the guy has been stabbed and she asks him if he is ok?Really?!?
Ep 6 is even better: loan sharks human organ trafficking! The writers are using every possible trope there is! Yey! How original!
I have seen my share of makjangs but every new one I watch seems to go further than the previous one. Frankly, Koreans are amazing here! Secret remains my first and favourite one but all the others are just mindboggibly addictive in spite of lacking credibility and realisme.
Ep. 9 and our lawyer is having a change of heart, impressed by our FLs guts. He is starting to feel more than he should and thinks that maybe she is not what he thought her to be! Well we have reached the halfmark of the drama: they must be in love now according to the drama rule book, whether they know it or not! On the other hand, the FL's stupidity rises along with her arrogance and she is being set up again: how can she believe a tv company who is owned by the insurance company she is fighting against, would help her? I cannot watch her any more! And the lawyer is falling apart as well: going down the stupidity road as well and playing the way the big baddie wants him to! The more the revenge develops, the more brain cells are the main leads losing!
I am currently on episode 10 and want to rant about the lack of cliffhanging cliffhangers. Nothing was really surprising anymore after the first episode!
Do people really not notice when a car has been following them right behind for miles, stopping when they stop? It looks so obvious but the bad guys do not suspect anything?!?!?
Would it be possible to have for once a chaebol family where every member is not out to get the other family members, preferably get them killed?
The lawyer, the FL trusted betrays her and she's OK with that? He takes her son away, and she says nothing and continues working with him? Now, in ep 12 they are friendly! She does not seem to care he was instrumental in her probably never seeing her son again!
Ep 13 and the lawyer is working diligently for the big baddie, helping him cheat. I hope he is not because the big baddie is getting a trp ready to get rid of the lawyer. The battle of smarts! Who will win? Do we really need to ask?
So the big baddie has been arrested, but guess what?Surprise! A rotten politician bails him out in ep. 14. Wow, so unexpected! Not! Can't they be more original? Fortunately there is the big baddies daughter who is even worse and completely mad because of a traumatic event and therefore killing everyone who stands in her way. Chaebols are not considered human, right?
Security guards must really be particularly stupid, right? That seems to be the first requirement: be stupid and obey. How can anyone find the private detective credible, disguised as a cook with her hair flying around? Very sanitary! The music in last episodes is like something from american heist movies from the '70s!
So going into the last episode after that ending which wanted to be suspenseful but it was expected: everything that happened was obviously a trap set up by the crazy chaebol daughter. I just hope they have a live streaming camera in that ambulance!
Really how stupid can you be? The mad daughter is attacking the FL and instead of pushing her away you decide to become a human shield? Yes, it is more cinematic, sacrifice for redemption and all that idiocy.....
Last episode and the kid is dressed as a baby chaebol and not a kid!
And of course a corny ending with a hint of romance for the second couple and the "revenge task force" taking on another case and walking all importantly towards new victories.....

Otherwise I could just say that this was another cliché filled revenge drama, with predictable heroes and villains doing predictable things. It was an OK watch, rather suspenseful but apart from the first episode cliffhanger, every other fell flat. The acting was decent, the cinematography classical, the writing lacked originality.

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Sometimes we need a fairy tale!

Do people really fall in love when they are 6 years old and never forget about it? Allow the cynic in me to doubt the veracity of this trope and just consider it a fairy tale! Once this is accepted, this drama can be watched!

It is pure fluff: childhood crush, bickering neighbours, generous friends. This is what I like about j dramas: evil exes never found in these romcoms (unlike the korean ones...) and everyone is kind and sweet, nobody holds a grudge, mistakes are forgiven quickly. Fairy tale, I am telling you!

Two main leads met as kids when Kosuke helped Mako with her toy bunny. They met again only 22years later and get off on the wrong foot: Kosuke ridiculing Mako speaking about her first love. They both have two best friends each who are spectators of their love story, helping them along unwittingly mostly!

The series is a pure romcom. The main bickering couple are fun to watch while they are refusing to admit what is obvious to everyone. The rich friend and the photographer friend like them separately but nothing works out for them. And there is the bar owner who falls for a divorced other but that does work out either.

The MDL rating is reflects perfectly the quality of this drama: fun but nothing more. In spite of short episodes, it is a bit boring in the second half.

The actors had decent chemistry though I was sorry to see Machida Keita be treated as a second lead (and losing but that is the fate of second leads! lol). Production value is nothing to write home about, just classical and ordinary!

And they lived happily ever after!

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University bubble world BL

It has been a long time since I actually enjoyed a korean BL. This one was not half bad but rather unequal. And it was depressing gray and sad: and even one actor's radiant smile only managed to lift the heavy veil of misery for a few seconds!

The drama follows six guys and how they become couples. Three highschool friends enter the same university. The first one is looking for his old tutor who suddenly disappeared one day without a word. We find out later that he has a heavy life baggage. The other two are best friends and maybe more? The third couple is formed by a TA hit upon by a senior art student.

Here we have an ordinary university bl. The guys are nice and sweet and somewhat hot. The story is one already seen many times (hello Thailand!). The cast of characters is only the guys and two side characters: a best girl friend and an evil ex. The girl BFF helps while the evil ex of course wreaks havoc! The story is smooth sailing a bit slow in the beginning because the six main characters needed to be introduced. Those first two episodes seem messy, the conversations are incomprehensible but that is obviously on purpose. We are given the privilege to spy, look on these guys' lives so they are not going to start explaining everything they say to each other! I liked this process! We are allowed to see a part of their lives. Moreover, they are adults, legally, so we never see their family and therefore they are not worried about being accepted for who they are by friends and family: a question frequently arising in bls.

This series is just the bones, the basics of a drama. But even that suffices! The story is told and we are even given so much fluff in ep.10. Pacing is fine, the cast is a varied collection of cute and handsome and talented. Each couple is give a different level of intimacy: while the oldest couple (art student & TA) start by a one night stand, the others slowly explore sleeping together and the youngest guy (student/tutor) practices dead fish kisses. To each according to their level of maturity!

The drama is filled with usual tropes: childhood friends, friends to lovers, teacher/student, unrequited love, misunderstandings, evil ex, fake triangles etc.

The issuI have with this (as well as with most korean bls!) is the production values. They obviously have a bit more money, but money does not make up for the lack of vision and laziness. The cinematography is the usual ugly colourless sad one. The sound is atrocious, as always: those sounds of kissing are not romantic, they should have maybe switched the mikes off when they filmed those scenes or the echo on empty sets.

One tiny pet peeve: Lee Kwang Hee who plays one of the leads has an uncanny resemblance with Jung Hae In from Something in the Rain and every time he was on screen, I was reminded of SITR and would lose attention. Really annoying! So I tried to look him up on Google: the search result comes out as Hwang Kwang Hee, a korean singer!!!!Not even google knows him! Hope he develops his career and changes the hairstyle!

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Married or divorced, that is the question!

This is a stage play. Probably too long therefore they made it as a series. But nevertheless, it is still a stage play.

The drama tells the story of matrimonial troubles of two couples. To stay married or to divorce, that is the question! And mostly why? Love, companionship, society or family pressure?

There are four main characters who all like talking a lot so often they just talk to strangers or occasional acquaintances about their lives without expecting anyone to answer they flow of words.
The first couple are Hamasaki and Yuka. He is a rigid, serious and set in his ways man. He likes peace and order the most. His wife is the opposite: messy, exuberant, lively and friendly. They have been married for two years and they spend all their time together bickering and fighting over small things. He keeps threatening to divorce her until one day she goes through with it. He is surprised and for the first time he actually sees his wife for who she really is and realizes he loves her very much!
The second couple are Ryu and Akari. Ryu is a man child, spoilt, unconscientious and unreliable. He's married but that has never stopped him from sleeping around. Akari is the serious one in this relationship. She knows what he is like but she loves him and is happy to pretend not to see his wayward ways. Until her sister puts her in front of the mirror and Akari sees she had become who she hated the most: her mother. She breaks it off with Ryu who, just like any child when a toy has been taken away from him, starts a tantrum and decides he wants her. A typical child behaviour: the toy became interesting only once it had been taken away. He does not really care about Akari.

The drama is about the relationship between these four people. There is a host of support characters but they are there only to show the main characters' off.
The cinematography is original. Very static. There are not many different sets and the drama rarely ventures outside. First there is the interior of the first couple's tiny apartment which is filmed with CCTV cameras placed in ceiling corners. The fisheye effect is disturbing. And then there are many static scenes with the cast just talking without any music, and camera barely moving. Another thing giving it a theatrical vibe! And they talk a lot! And they talk very fast! In spite of that the drama is gripping, never boring but because of all the talking you need to pay attention while watching because in those torrents of words, the truths are told and secrets are revealed. Definitely not a lightweight watch but a high quality one!

By the end, most misunderstandings have been resolved though that does not mean they are going to stay together forever. They know each other's qualities and flaws but their personalities are too strong and too different for the compromise to last long time.

The actors are all excellent. Moreover, Eita sings beautifully!

The cherry on this excellent cake are the closing credits: a dance number slightly different in every episode! Amazing!

The only good version I found was on kissasian.mx but the site does not allow ad blockers. The version present on other sites is of atrocious quality! I could not find any official link! Unfortunately!

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Dead fish kiss country musical

In a gist! LOL

Coming from the makers of campy, silly and highly enjoyable Love Poison, SSN is another offering featuring Isaan, the region, the language and the music!

The story is nothing original: your ordinary enemies to lovers in high school while playing football and singing!

Ruk comes to Bangkok from countryside Isaan on football scholarship and immediately clashes with IG, school and internet star. They are friends with a group called Good Guys Gang within which there is another couple in the making, (friends to lovers trope) . During school break they discover they originate from the same region where they both go for vacation. There, their respective brothers (cousins?) are in a relationship they are hiding from everyone. Relationships are created and undone and afterwards they all go back to Bangkok to finish the school year. The misunderstandings are eventually resolved, there is overall acceptance and they all live happily ever after. The usual BL plot format!

Cue in, the musical part where these couples all suddenly burst into song expressing their love for each other. Read the lyrics of these songs, they are hilarious :
"It melt, melt I want to swallow you whole"
"The economy is bad, my house is in trouble"
"Wanna feed your dog and cat, just order me to do so"
"In Bang Khae you help your mom sell chicken rice"

The guys can barely sing, it is bad but the feelings are there and they are really invested in it.

The support characters are a colorful lot: the all accepting and understanding fujoshi mother, the authoritarian and funny grandma, the macho set in his ways father, the girl childhood friend who wants to be more and cannot, the ex girlfriend who keeps going back and forth. And the comic relief Good Guys Gang! As if the series was not funny enough!lol

The main characters are all the usual high schoolers: immature, high on hormones and thinking they are invincible! I did not like the height difference (another one of my pet peeves!) between Ruk and IG but they had decent chemistry.

There is a lot of kissing in this series: there are so many accidental kisses it became hilariously ridiculous. Unfortunately the majority of kisses between Ruk and IG, even when consensual and not accidental, are cute but frozen in time dead fish ones. The other couples go at it with gusto: not these two!

A fun watch, though not as good as Love Poison! It might be also that the novelty wore off pretty quickly as well: the first time was amazing, the second serving of the same is not as amazing. Production is low budget but they managed to make it look nice, nothing exceptional but nice.

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Komorebi is not a word, it's a feeling!

Komorebi{ 木漏れ日 } is the Japanese word for sunlight, which is filtered through the leaves of the trees. In particular, it means the visible light rays. “Komorebi” is composed of several parts of the word: “Ko” means tree or trees. “More” means: something that comes through, something that shines through or seeps through. “Bi” means: sun or sunlight. The word “Komorebi” reflects the romantic and emotional love of the Japanese for nature. Komorebi is that feeling, walking through the forest in the morning when the day wakes up or the afternoon when the sun goes down and the sun shines through the trees. When the sunlight kisses the ground. This light wind, this smell, this unique moment that makes every morning a special morning.

This short movie is just like that: it is all about feelings! Sometimes things not need to be said, just alluded to and felt!

The story tells of tergiversations of a man: he would like to tell his mother about being in love and getting married to his boyfriend but is afraid, he thinks he's going to hurt her if he comes out to her. But as the story progresses, we see the looks she keeps giving them and by the end we realize she knows without ever having been told. And of course, there are the socks....

The feelings are everything here: insecurities, love, kindness, understanding, possibilities, hope, happiness. The mother expresses all of these with a look, a gesture, a smile. Everything is so subtle so one needs to pay attention.

Nice short watch about how parents can unexpectedly and pleasantly surprise us when we are dealing with difficult issues.

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