Heartstopper gone wrong!

The Day I Loved You is what you get when you mix the fluffiness of Heartstopper with the pathos of Philadelphia: a terrible mistake!

The first half was a fluff fest:another MSP is just what the doctor ordered. I was loving the chemistry, the banter, the comedy. The three main boys were a delight to watch and I was regretting that this has only 10 short episodes! I was getting ready to start a riot and ask for more. Nikko is a delightful character to watch: sweet, smart with a repartee, looking like a "nerdy wimp" but actually exceptionally strong! Eli is a fake rebel, an unhappy boy looking for attention who falls hook, line and sinker for Nikko. It was so beautiful to watch as Eli fall more and more in love with Nikko. They had lovely chemistry as well. And then there is Justin, Nikko's best friend secretly in love with him suddenly realizing he had missed his chance. Eli and Justin vying for Nikko's attention is so funny.

I loved the direction, the animated images and icons, I loved the school principal, I even loved fake mean girl Ashley. This first half was filled with all the usual romcom tropes and it was so much fun to watch.

And then the second half happened and we were thrown into misery and suffering: both the characters on screen and us, the viewers, who were forced suddenly to change the genre from light comedy to heavy drama. And everything became so cringe worthy, full of right things to say and lacking sincerity of the first part which was replaced by politically correct pathos!
Nobody can convince me that people are all so open minded, helpful, sincere, caring. They were tugging at our heart strings with a bulldozer and there was nothing subtle about it.

The ending was horrible: I am still shuddering and my skin is crawling with horror: the uplifting and optimistic speech by Eli was the cringiest thing I have ever heard!

This series went from 10/10 for the first half to 4/10 for the second. I do not like when they mix genres like this: it wwas not subtle or slow it was like a white truck of doom coming out of nowhere on an empty street and I was there frozen not knowing how to react!

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For fans only!

What have I just finished watching? I am so weak: I keep succumbing to the hype and then I do not understand why I am always disappointed. Definitely, I will never learn! I understand why the japanese never released this movie subbed: it is really only for those already familiar with this story's light novel/anime universe!

I won't even try to write the gist of the movie down: a fantasy world, families with powers, and of course a court conspiracy.
The first half of the movie is Cinderella. The second: any zombie/crazy virus movie! I actually liked it very much at the beginning. Cinderella meets her prince who is cold and forbidding. He stays like that for about 5 seconds and then he falls in love and turns all mushy and the only thing he's interested in is her while there is a virus or whatever outbreak all around! And of course, she saved the day and they live happily ever after.... I was really hoping for a more developed story between them. The ML character actually lacked depth and the sudden change from a block of ice to fluff and cherry blossom was a bit too much to take! I guess he was hiding his kind side behind the cold soldier exterior: it took the girl 48h to make him fall hook line and sinker for her mousy submissive demeanor! Truth be told that demeanor hid a strong willed person who knows how to fight for what she finds important!

I have no knowledge of the source material so I am judging this just like an ordinary member of audience who happened to watch a movie because the title and the poster looked nice! No more, no less! The movie has very high production values: the cinematography is stunning, direction has a sense, writing is solid, the editing is suspenseful enough, the special effect efficient. The actors did their job well, the main couple had good chemistry. Music was really good as well. There is nothing wrong with the product and yet I was bored. Definitely not my cup of tea!

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Korean gl cc. 2017.

A RANT
A high school story, not really a romance, about three girls and secrets and the consequences of betrayal. The story is well written, the actresses are excellent, the cinematography, all in the cold grays and pale blues filmes with a shaky handheld camera which conveys urgency and doom! There is no music whatsoever!

I loved it until the last 5 minutes ruined the whole film for me! Teens are impressionable but here it was taken too far for my liking! The girl is ostracized by the whole school because of a scandal, she bravely comes back and accepts to give an interview which goes haywire. So she cannot deal with a stupid little secret being revealed when the first time around it was even worse?

Why oh why oh why do they keep doing this? Why do we need to have things end tragically like this? Because real life is like that I guess but can't we just have a little bit of optimism in entertainment industry? Because queer stories are not the society norm so they should have the appropriate ending as a warning to those who veer of the right path?

Oh, give me a break!!!!!

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Love & Ghost

Contrary to the majority of watchers, I am enjoying a lot My Universe. The stories are short, to the point, fast paced, original and fun to watch. This one was no different.

Talay and Camp have been friends since highschool but have lost touch. They meet by accident at a camp site and secrets start being revealed. At the same time, the campsite seems to be haunted.

The story started as an enemies to lovers one but very quickly became a ghost story. The transition from a simple romcom to horror was natural and believable. But very soon I started thinking that thee was more than meets the eye here. And while expecting one twist (kind of , one of them is a ghost as well thing!) I got a completely different one. I am very happy about it because it allowed us to get a happy ending. But I was also a bit disappointed because the story suddenly was not as straight forward as promised and some of the backstory was missing. I wish they had just mentioned, in passing the origin of the tale.
The actors are cute and have good chemistry, the cinematography is correct, though often cold even in the nature (digital camera?)

There is just one huge problem with this series(My Universe) which is the music: the same song being played again and again and again....I cannot stand it anymore! Good thing I am not binging this otherwise I'd go nuts because of the annoying song.

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An Actor & His Fan

The bl drama about a couple of actors filming a bl drama could have been a hit or a miss. Either you take it the slapstick comedy cringe way, or you make it into a sweet romcom! Fortunately, they chose the right way, the romcom way!

Frankly, it is a perfect ,light watch for the first day of the year. The story of two actors: one , a former child star, trying to have a grown up's career and the other one a huge star and secretly, the other actor's huge fan. The first one has a big self-confidence issue while the other is so impressed to bi in his presence which of, course, leads to many misunderstandings. Since the drama has only three episodes, all misunderstandings were sorted out relatively quickly, the plot progressed at a steady pace and there was no time wasted. And still it did not seem rushed!

The actors were excellent. The support couple (the actors' managers) were deadpan and interesting, sneakily observing the main couple and scheming to get them together. Deliciously twisted and cute!

Of course, it is full of tropes but here they have taken advantage of them and I really did not mind it (fujoshi producer!). They managed to find the right balance between the comedy and the romance: trying to get together but being afraid to speak up, so they decided to pretend to practice being in character which led to a number of funny (interrupted kisses were many!) and sweet moments (date). We are also privy to their inside monologues which contradict so funnily with their actions: they are cool on the outside but falling to pieces inside! They also toned down the often exaggerated comedy they use when adapting mangas!

Cinematography is great, misty and dreamy. This is going straight on to my feel good list! Just the first best romcom of the year! Last year has really been the japanese bl year! They outdid themselves with a string of amazing and different bls! Hope they continue into this new year!

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Short and funny

These two episodes are a pilot released to see if the audience is interested in concept. Apparently they were since two seasons were made.

The story follows three best friends, students at the university, meeting regularly in a restaurant called Just One Bite to eat deliciously spicy food and talk about their love lives. This pilot focuses only on one girl and her dating adventure.

The drama is full of clichés about young women: excessive drinking, blackouts, misunderstandings, bitchy rival. Again, and I find this a repeat offence in K dramas: drunk women are considered cute and amusing. I really do not understand that. I wish somebody would explain to me what is cute about someone staggering around, talking nonsense and stinking of alcohol? Her friend, eats too much as well as drinking and her boyfriend also finds it cute. Any kind of overindulgence is just too much for me.

Fortunately(for her!), her boyfriend is the epitome of understanding, respect, honesty, fidelity....as well as being really smart and handsome! And of course, there is the rival: his friend who wanted to be more but did not succeed.

The production is on the normal webdrama level: cold, underfunded (awful make up) but not too terrible. The music is nice. It is just a typical Playlist Global web drama. From the bottom half of their list unfortunately! I should watch the full drama to see if any improvements were made, but this is actually quite good for a pilot!

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Two can keep a secret if one of them is dead!

A soapy mix of friendship, lies, death, sex, family and abuse. And secrets! It is very difficult to watch because it is relentless in a negative way: bad things are happening all the time and nothing good happens to anyone. Ever! There is no time to breath, to rest and it did take me almost a week to go through first eight episodes. The rest I finished in a day. The pace got a bit slower and the suspense a bit lighter as the secrets were starting to be revealed one by one. Just like in any drama, the misfortunes have to keep on piling up for a long period in order to have them sorted out slowly.

This is a story of five best friends whose friendship was put on a test and eventually destroyed by the sixth girl. All characters are flawed, trying to survive in a jungle they were thrown in. They are all controlling and trying to manipulate each other with more or less success. They also thought that knowing each other's secrets protected them but it actually made them more vulnerable. And the secrets kept coming to the very last minute of the drama where the grand manipulator was revealed. There was not a dull moment or any major inconsistencies or plot holes. Everything was wrapped up nicely. The only shiny moment in this drama is the cute bl couple who had too few scenes for my liking but luckily for them they were not too important for the plot so they survived.

The acting was perfect. The writing and production flawless: I particularly liked the short pauses between the scenes with a few seconds time lapse views of the city.

PS I Hate You was an excellent single watch , but I do not wish to watch something like this again for a certain amount of time. It is just like korean makjangs: one revenge melodrama every six months is more than enough.

SPOILERS BELOW

WATCH DIARY
The plot: with friends like these, who needs enemies!
Question: who is the Narrator of the series?
So after three episodes here's what I see: on the surface best friends, but really hate each other immensely. The girls cannot stand Meen. She was in love with Pitch but his sister told her friends he was off bounds so they broke up. The sister is dead. Pitch is still in love. Meen has been dating Non for years (since high school) but refuses to be intimate with him. Non sleeps with Wan a rich entrepreneur. What I don't understand is why does not Non break it off with Meen? Does she have something on him? Does not look like it!
The hatred the three girls have for Meen is rather impressive. Why do they hate her so much? Because she's kind and honest (at least so far!)?
There was a 6th girl in their group who dated Wan's brother Win but died and shortly afterwards Win had an accident which left him a vegetable!
Each on their own, Meen and Pitch are investigating what happened at Prae's wedding and why?
The series is amazing: there has not been a dull moment so far as they are hitting us with one revelation upon another constantly! I realized I cannot multitask while watching this!
Can someone explain to me one thing: why are there two women hell bent on keeping Non? Have they actually looked at him? He is a sleazeball, ugly, squishy and at a first glance not worthy of trust. He is not even a handsome bad boy, so why? He looks like an incompetent mob offspring! And squishy! In those godawful tiger & leopard shirts!
And why is Saras scared to death of her grandmother?
Questions just keep on popping in my head while watching but for the moment, no answers!
Ep 5 and Meen is slowly starting to get on my nerves with her self righteous attitude; she's been dating Non for years, barely letting him kiss her let alone more, not really in love with him but refusing to let him go. And then she cries because he cheats on her?!?!? Non is a wimp. Why is someone like Wan in love with him, go figure! Meen is not a nice person behind her sweet attitude!
We found out that Saras has a rich grandmother from hell who never accepted her and who has been abusing her and her mother for years. She is so creepy!
Thank god for Khun and Phu: they are comforting each other. After the initial jerk phase, Phu turned out to be just a little boy lost! Maybe there's more than meets the eye between those two?
Ep 6 and I am starting to feel sorry for those four women: unappreciated and abused by their families and the society: it is no wonder why they turned out to be so hard and unforgiving!
Ep 7 slowly but surely the cracks are starting to show and the girls' real personalities are coming to light! Meen is the first one. She does not love Non, does not want to sleep with him in spite of dating him for years and has the audacity to feel hurt when she finds out he'd been sleeping with her friend. What does she do? Goest to see her ex sleeps with him and then cuts him off because he slept with another one of her friends before they knew each other! Get off of your high righteous horse, Meen and feel the real life!
I am impressed by the way the rape storyline was presented and victim's position made clear. But also, the whole thai society's position on rape and the obligatory woman's fault! It was clearly stated that it is wrong!
Ep 8 and I want to drop this so hard! I cannot stand the creeps surrounding the girls using the fact that they are weaker physically to threaten them and to abuse them. The worst, so far is Wee. He was a charmer but he is actually the most venomous snake.
I know I am only halfway through, and the drama needs to reach its peak for the things to start getting sorted but this piling of misfortunes and extremely frustrating and instead of wanting to match more I want to watch less! The balance in the events is missing!
When they are together the girls are invincible and they managed to save May but it is not enough. Definitely not over yet!
Ep 9 and Prae's mother hears some home truths but does not accept responsibility. What a surprise! And of course she goes off and blames Prae's friends, Meen in particular! What a horrible mother!
Sidenote: maybe I should make a list of others from hell?
Thai men are such machos: they fall for the "damsel in distress" play every single time. I guess the women have learned how to use the downsides of being females in a very traditional society to their own profit. And the men eat it up and ask for more! Goody!
Ep 10 They ALL hate Meen. Why so much hate? Everyone seems to blame her for everything since high school. Prae's death was just the last drop. But...Nothing that she's done so far justifies such amount of detestation. So why? We do not know everything but so far Meen seems to be an honest and a nice person.
And that Wee is a sleazy creep still going around and threatening Wan mostly!
Is there anyone nice in this drama beside the bl couple who is there just to look happy? What's with Wan's mother and her scheming by keeping her son sick? She's a real snake! Just look how Wan recoils when her mother hugs her! Motherly love is hard to find in this drama! The richer they are the worse they behave! The amount of abuse the characters are subjected to is insane! I guess this is a lakorn, right? And this is just 10min into ep 11! Insane!
And don't get me started on incompetent and corrupt police! It is in every single asian drama: a lone wolf policeman fighting against against the entire organisation which is corrupt !
Ep 12 seems like calm before the storm. Some secrets came out in the open. Suicide, abortion...what we need now is a little known trope called amnesia even though it does not fit with the plot here. Maybe the brother when he wakes up will remember nothing.
With the following episodes more and more secrets keep being revealed: drugs, addiction, sex, blackmailing and everything wrapped in dysfunctional parenting with young people trying to break free but using the wrong tactics.Prae was obviously in love with Meen, of the unrequited kind unfortunately. Meen and Pitch are in an on again off again kind of relationship: one secret: we get together, another secret: we break up, the next secret, get together again and so on.... Pal seems to have been a deeply unhappy girl who searched for love and friendship by blackmail. Saras's secret (fake name she gave the policeman boyfriend!) is also about to be found. The final showdown is approaching but the pace of the drama is somehow slowing down. Which is good: I can binge watch it now!
Ep 15 does not matter the circumstances but murder is a murder so how are they going to get away with it? Because they certainly will....
PPL: for the last couple of episodes or so, we are seeing a lot of ads for Suzuki cars which are nicely fit into the plot: a getaway car!
Another thing I need to mention is the short city view time lapse intermissions between scenes: really pretty scenes of Bangkok skyline at sunset or sunrise!
Back to the ep15: they are not getting away with anything, it's impossible!
Ep 16 and Wan's mother is shedding crocodile tears because she messed up and the company is going down the drain so no more money for a lazy drunk like her!
So people are dropping like flies. But Saras managed to tell her grandmother from hell to go to hell. Poor May. But we get to see our cute bl couple bickering at a funeral. We definitely need some light relief because this drama is relentlessly throwing complications and revelations at us.
And again in ep 17 flashback there is that girl with glasses watching them. Who is she? A red herring! In present, in spite of everything that's happened, they are all moving on with their lives, unafraid of any consequences for their actions (dead people keep piling up on their path: they just keep stepping over them going forward!) WOW!!!
What a mother! Stealing her son's inheritance, framing her daughter for murder...Well she's not their real mother! But the kids' father is the worst of them all, taking the easy way out in order not to deal with the toxic family he created!
The only character here with a bit of conscience and naivety is Saras. Though what's with her hair in the end: frizzy but coloured and with visible roots.....
Meen is on her high horse but it somehow seems to good to be true! She's being lied to as well by the person she trusts the most.
The Narrator was finally revealed to be Palana writing a suicide note to her father but ending up changing her mind when she saw the Blossom Squad and decided to create the mayhem which resulted in a number of deaths. All the time looking like an innocent child with a lollipop: Lolita!

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Food & Travel

Drama titles and posters. It just sometimes drives me mad that the producers of dramas do not put in a better effort into naming and illustrating their creation. I do not know haw many times I was so pleasantly surprised at a drama with an ugly poster(Tsuiraku JK) or un incomprehensible title (Hot Stove League). This one is another example. It should have been called Our Food Journey To Love or something like that

This drama should not have been named Naked Dining because it evoked in viewers concepts and ideas that were nowhere to be found here! The ratings are low here because the majority of watchers were expecting a lot of naked frollicking but there is not even a kiss in this romcom! Naked dining is just a quirky habit the ML has to release the stress: it has no incidence on the plot other than that it is the source behind the first misunderstanding which starts the ball rolling. Immediately afterwards, cooking takes the stage and stays in the center!

ML, Sota, is an intelligent, competent, overworked civil servant who likes eating ramen et midnight, after work, naked. One day he receives a letter from his recently deceased grandmother and goes finally to visit her house. There he meets the local fruit&veg store owner, Mahiro who was close to his grandmother. Sota found the grandmother's notebook with recipes from all over the world (she could not travel due to illness and decided to travel through cooking) and decides to try them all out as a tribute to her. Mahiro helps him cook and they fall in love.

The drama deals with a lot of themes: workplace induced stress, family relationships and the lack thereof, and finally sexual orientation. Sota works too much and the weekend trips to his grandmother's house for cooking lessons are making him realize that there is more to life than just work. He has always worked too much, so much so he had never been in love so when he starts developing feelings for Mahiro, he does not understand them. On the other hand, Mahiro has had a crush on Sota since high school but thinks that Sota is straight so does nothing which confuses poor Sota even more. There are a lot of misunderstandings but when you look at the path that both characters needed to go over it is understandable that they are afraid to say anything in order not to lose the fragile friendly relationship they developed! Slowly, with the accidental help from friends and coworkers, they eventually really talk to each other are meet in the middle of the path.

There are some great support characters in this drama: coworkers and villagers and as per usual in a japanese drama, not an evil character in sight! Even those who might have been turn out to be nice and misunderstood!

The actors were fine and had a correct chemistry. Even though I am not a fan of height difference, it was not too bad since there was no skinship at all involved so it was not too blatant! The cinematography was classical and since it was filmed in autumn or winter, everything was gray and rather depressing: the colour was definitely missing. Hair styling leaves a lot to be desired: practically the complete cast has bad hair!

The drama reminded me a lot of the korean BL Love Tractor but as a much more interesting version especially since the adults were behaving as adults here and not like immature kids in adult bodies as in korean bl! Actually, this is what the korean bl should have been like and it was not!

I enjoyed very much this drama about self discovery and realisation of one's dreams! A lovely drama featuring some mouthwatering dishes!

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Love and ugly blouses

Is it possible for a couple of actors in a romcom to completely lose chemistry they had by the end of the drama? Well, yes and this is the drama!

When she gets dumped by her boyfriend a few days short of her 29th birthday Yoshiko is devastated: her life plan is ruined. She accidentally meets Yuki, her 23yr old co-worker who consoles her by offering to marry her in a year. Unbeknown to her, he has been in love with her ever since he saw her for the first time. His promise o of marriage makes her really notice him for the first time and within days she falls for him. Misunderstandings make the most of the rest of the drama (7 episodes out of 8).

Actually everything felt off about this drama. First, the narrative process: the main two characters often stop, turn around and talk into the camera which in itself is an interesting way to tell the story. Here, it is used so much that often we do not see the line between the real and imaginary things they say in their minds so it is very disconcerting and confusing.
Secondly, what possessed the costume / hair designer to make the FL look ugly and old? The hair is a disaster: the basic bob was ruined by unnecessary hair/head ornaments. The clothes she was made to wear...I cannot believe someone actually makes those. They made her look like an overweight 40yr old victorian spinster. It has been a long time since I'd seen such ugly clothes. And finally, her behaviour was inconsistent! She's just wallowing in misunderstandings, drawing wrong conclusions, blowing hot and cold (I like you, kiss me, let's sleep together, why do you want to sleep together again, let's give us some space, why don't you want to sleep with me again, are we dating, why are you kissing me, why don't want to kiss me again....and on and on and on like this!) and behaving kawai like a good japanese FL. The ML was a bit better: at least he was rather nice and consistent, kind and full of understanding. But why did he constantly speak in that breathless voice. It made me think of all those chinese dubbed dramas! The chemistry was going from bad to worse in spite of the main actor giving it all but her character was ultimately so unlikable (not even annoying) that their being in love was not credible.

The story is fluffy enough, rather basic as we do not see any member of their respective families (except for her mother, blink and you miss it appearance). They are adults so the parents have no say in their lives. Rather refreshing. There is a group of friends at work who are a varied and a very fun lot to watch. As usual with these romcoms there is not one single "evil" character, no jealous exes or worried parents who know the best...

The best part of this drama are the opening credits in which two of them run around the beach.

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Someone said obsession?...Ready to watch!

Recently I keep coming upon series where the main theme is obsessive love. Well, this one is in a class of its own!

Double Mints is a story of two men with a same name who cannot live apart no matter how bad they are to each other. We know nothing about the two characters: what is known is their relationship: toxic, codependent, raw, addicted, obsessive, damaged.

They met in high school where one becomes the owner of the other one calling him "the dog". Every time "the dog" tries to break free, he is pulled back into the weird relationship. So much so that "the dog", even adult, has no will of his own before his master. But when he realizes that his master is someone else's dog (in this case, he has become an errand boy for the local yakuzas), he starts to change. They are still addicted to each other but the erstwhile dog decides to become equal. And they understand that they are the two halves of the same . Soulmates sounds too fluffy for this damaged relationship. But that is what they ultimately turn out to be! Unhealthy it may be but they need to stay together.

What is it about these toxic , obsessive relationships that is so fascinating?

The movie is dark. The cinematography is appropriately black and bleak. The acting is perfect: the actors managed to portray complex feelings through posture, voice and facial micro expressions. The cello music is ominous and rather scary not allowing for a glimmer of hope in this world filled with cruelty. The editing is a bit messy: the timeline seems stunted and it is difficult to understand how much time has passed between the scenes.

It is a hard watch, long and draggy at moments with minimal dialogue. They did not need to say anything, everything was crystal clear from the way they walked and behaved.

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BL version of a Korean romcom drama

The year 2023 is the season of office bls. Last year we had an abundance of sports and mafia series and the year before, 2021, cooking was most prominent theme while 2020 was the school centered bl year. Step By Step is one of the better office romcoms if not the best.

So there are two versions released: the uncut version has episodes 20 to 50 min longer than the 45 min/ep TV version. Usually when we talk about uncut version of a BL, viewers think that the steamy scenes had been cut. Considering that there are the grand total of two hot scenes in all of the uncut version of the series, I do not think it is the case. Probably just plenty of regular scenes though I do not understand what they managed to cut since there is not one single unnecessary scene . The flow of the story is steady without idle time and in spite of it being a slow burn romance and full of usual tropes, I was not bored for a minute.

Story is a rather simple office romance about Pat and Jeng. Pat is the youngest member of the marketing team and is regularly asked to do chores for his coworkers. One day while carrying coffee cups, he bumps into Jeng and the connection is immediate. They accidentally meet like that a few more times and it seems like they really like each other. Until it turns out that Jeng is Pat's new boss and the developing feelings need to be put on a back burner because Jeng as a boss is a completely different person, so much so that Pat is scared of him and gets to be very insecure and emotional. Jeng on the other hand proves to be rigid, controlling, micromanaging and inflexible.

The love story develops slowly over 10 episodes, step by step while they are learning about each other and changing and mostly because of the boss/employee relationship which makes any other kind of relationship a very risky business. When they eventually get together, the whole hell breaks loose and they split only to get back together two years later (trope).

There are a few side stories involving Pat's ex, who wants to try again, of course (trope), Jeng's father doing everything to discredit Pat (trope), a straight couple getting pregnant (trope), a long term gay couple (fem gay trope), and Jaab, Jeng's rebellious younger brother having a crush on a taken coworker (trope).

Main couple is comprised of a tsundere Jeng and doormat Pat. And while Jeng is perfection, I never managed to understand what could have possibly attracted him in Pat. He is short, too emotional, ugly, weak of character (can't say NO to anyone), too sensitive, not particularly smart and very unlikable (this last is due to the poor choice of actor: he is so wrong for this role!). I watched this Man, who played Jeng wonderfully well. I believed him to be in love even though the chemistry with Ben (who played Pat) was minimal almost non existent. Man literally carried the whole drama all by himself, he's the one who made the drama worth watching to the end! Ben cannot act nor is he cute, casting director made a huge mistake there!

The writing was on the spot because they managed to show us over time (the first 11 episodes take place over about a year) the slow , step by step progression of their relationship, how they get to know each other better and go beyond boss/employee relationship fully understanding the problems that that may cause (which of course happened!). I was also surprised by an almost total absence of misunderstandings: they regularly talked when problems arose and when they didn't, it caused major rifts between them. So the writers learned the lesson of communication being important and managed to find other issues to create drama about.

Another actor who actually stole the show is Saint who plays Jaab, Jeng's younger brother who decided to stay away from his rich family and their big corporation. Jeng is a heir to the company but when he needed to choose, he chose happiness. Jaab is the same: pursuing happiness. Though his relationship with Jane is not resolved, they keep dancing around each other for a long time with Jaab trying not to cross the line since Jane was dating someone already. Their relationship also grows slowly, step by step through misunderstandings and lack of courage.

A special shout out to the costume designer. The clothes were nicely color coded for characters and all were in light dull colours: Pat was always wearing oversized shirts in stripy and beige while Jeng was in slim mustard coloured suits at work or jeans at home! The rest of the characters were similarly dresses: Put, Pat's ex was always in black etc.

Few miscellaneous notes:
- supportive friends you can call any time: they were fun to watch!
- why are drunk people considered cute? Because they tend to talk without a filter so you get to find out their secrets?
- at a usual mid-series beach escape(trope), a room was missing in a hotel so Jeng asks Pat to share his room not his own brother? Smooth!
- this is the second series (after La Pluie) where an adult has a meltdown because the parents divorced though here it was solved in an evening by talking about it.
- the most horrible scene that i have ever seen in an asian drama: a woman was giving birth on a bus and the other passengers were filming her while the Police was standing on the side and only the threat of a lawsuit had them lower their phones. These smartphones have created monsters out of all of us!
- we never really got the answer to Jeng's mysterious departure from the company two years before the beginning of the series
- and of course a totally unnecessary two years later time jump: they could have sorted everything out two months later or even better two days later when everyone has cooled off.

This is not so much a BL as it is a regular romcom. It is on the same level as the ordinary korean rom coms: cute couple, hot ML, great group of friends, awful ex who tries to butt in,a horrible rich parent, understanding middle class parents, supportive fem gay friend (no screaming trans characters, yey!!!!), final fight and a time jump until the honeymoon happy ending.

I want to see Man in something else. Stat!

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I Am What I Want To Be

It is a sign on the wall of the tea shop owned by Peung. It is a story of getting a second chance in life and how to use it to realise one's dreams.

I wanted to see this actually because of Mew: I wondered if he could make me forget TharnType! Well, he did here and with brio! But more about that later!

Peung is 50 years old. One night after drinking too much she sleeps with a much younger music industry manager Pop who disappears in the morning. Pop has a lot of problems at work and when he finally goes back to see Peung, she'd gone away. Pop goes back to work putting together another girl idol group and one of the candidates who show up at the audition is Bee. Pop falls under her charm unaware that Bee is Peung but only 20 years old!

This is a short comedy series, quite silly with the usual comedy silly sound effects, silly story touching onto a serious issue (ageism!) and a group of colorful sweet and charming characters. They actually made the drama worth the watch. The plot is boring, the writing rather lazy and the issues they wanted to discuss are treated in a totally wrong way!

Love Me Again is actually a noona romance and I would have preferred the solution to this problem (older woman's insecurities and doubts) were dealt using fantasy more than the totally unrealistic plastic surgery answer to ageing. No matter how good the doctor is, you cannot look 20 after medical procedures: one can tell that the scalpel/botox were used! And that is what this comedy drama desperately needed for it to be perfect: a little bit of magic (talismans, wished, time lapse whatever!) but not surgery! I was enjoying this drama immensely until the explication came and then I was: "What a shame!".... My rating went down because of it but also because it reminded me of Birth of a Beauty a terrible and awful drama with a similar solution to age and obesity! We are made to believe that the only way to be loved is to be thin and young! I thought we had gone beyond these notions!

The characters were those I liked the most. Mew as Pop was charming and cute and just perfect as a kind idol group manager. He would be serious trying to sort a problem out and then he would smile and he'd be so cute and sweet and just scrumptious! I liked Mild as Peung/Bee as well: when she played a 20 yr old she looked like a 50 yr old in 20 yr old's clothes. I did not like her character very much until I read what I just wrote and realized she was an extraordinary actress: that it WAS her role to play and she played it to a perfection. The chemistry with Mew was rather low key unfortunately!
Then there was a ragtag group of girls as Bee's team members: all different and funny and kind. And of course, the obligatory screaming trans character, as a rivel manager.

But the one who completely stole the show was Jimmy (Played by Max...), daddy's son and a famous rock star with a crush on Bee. He was the funniest of the lot: talking about himself in third person (Johnny wants this, Johnny wants that!), using basic english phrases to be cool and listening to his daddy. He was sweet, kind, naive and so lovable and Max played him so well!

I have a very sophisticated cringe detection radar in my head so at the slightest notion of a second hand embarrassing moment, the alarm goes of and it is Bye, bye, drama! I was so pleasantly surprised as they managed to strike the right tone in comedy: making it silly but never crossing the line into the cringe territory!

Fluffy and funny though a bit problematic drama but with an amazing cast of characters so if you have little time try this, you may like it!

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Domestic martial arts bliss

So in order not to upset chinese censors (who must be blind and deaf after not seeing or hearing much in the"bromance"; because, frankly speaking, the drama was hot and steamy in the round about way!) they give us this 11min whatever!

I was expecting a normal length episode and what I get was two songs recapping the series and a scene showing us that our heroes have become immortal and are going to live happily ever after in seclusion on top of the mountain practicing martial arts and loving each other! Eeeerk! This additional scene moreover, contradicts in everything last 10 min of the drama and the fan guy's monologue explaining he was going to become powerless if not dead.

They were pretty to look at, dancing around each other in the glittering snow and with sparkling sun above them wrapping them in a halo of immortality! They had gone through so many trials and have earned their place in the land of happily ever after!

Never mind! The fans needed to see them being happy together so to hell with continuity just give them what they ask for!

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"I am the chosen one!"

I have to admit to having surrendered to chinese dramas! I never wanted to but these short dramas managed to put their claws into me and now I cannot break free. Especially when I just watched this cute gem of a mini drama!

I Want To Resign Every Day is a perfect blend of two K dramas: What's Wrong With Secretary Kim and A Good Day To Die. The first one for the relationship between the self centered high maintenance boss and his long suffering and highly competent secretary while the second one offers the original take on groundhog day time loop and the comedy stemming from it.

This one is a high production value drama, well filmed and written. The plot moved on swiftly without any wrong points or plotholes. The solution was perfectly executed. The actors were amazing: they looked like the carbon copies of WWWSK cast though the ML was so much better: and that single dimple is to die for. (I am shallow, sue me!)

The writers managed to create a smooth flowing story where the two main characters grow and change faced with the challenges of the time loop. It was so nice to see the ML going from a jerk(hence the title!) to a human being and the FL admitting that he had a nice side as well beside being a jerk! Everything was nicely wrapped into a layer of not too cringy comedy.

If somebody recommended this to me as a movie, I probably would not have accepted to watch as I'd be scared of limited time and the lack of character and story develpment. But this is actually a movie. The producers did a great job editing all the episodes together so much so that the transitions from one episode to the next are invisible!

This is a great watch if you have a little time and need a palate cleansing after a heavy or a boring drama. (I had just finished Sherlock: The Untold Stories which was boring unfortunately and this is the right cure!)

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Open your eyes and see what's right in front of you

A classic friends to lovers story. It reminded me of When Harry Met Sally and Harry's final confession that went something like "When I realized I wanted to spend forever with you, I wanted that forever to start right away!" That scene popped into my head as I was watching this cute short movie!

Stand-in Love is a part of an omnibus series (short movies based on true stories) and this one is about Cess and Zia who are the best of friends, confiding in each other, supporting each other, being there for each other. Until one day, Zia asks Cess to pretend to be her girlfriend in order to practice pick up lines. Cess is happy to go along with the pretense until an off the cuff remark by her friends makes her realize she has developed feelings beyond simple friendship for Zia. That scares her and she bolts away. But one day she hears Cess is dating a girl and that gets her in the panic mode and she accepts that she really loves and cherishes Zia.

I loved the story. It was nothing very original but the actresses managed to bring forth the feelings of love, doubt, hesitation, rejection very convincingly. They had great chemistry and were obviously very much at ease with each other. The development of their relationship was not rushed and the stages were clearly shown. A quick and a nice watch....

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