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The Chinese BL which took Dramaland by storm ! A fun and wild ride <3
I truly enjoyed this BL, especially in its first half. I did find some of the secondary storylines developped in the second half not very well handled but overall, I'm pretty satisfied with the outcome of the drama. The chemistry between the two main leads was very solid : I could totally see the sparks and the way they fell hard (and harder) for each other was amazing. The angst promised by the script was sold very well by the actors, I broke with them as the events unfolded.If I truly became enamored by the relationship between the main couple ( Wu Suo Wei and Chi Cheng), I have doubts regarding the secondary relationship. I adored Guo Cheng Yu and Jiang Xiao Shuai as individual characters but I clearly was less convinced by them as a couple. The potential was there but the payoff of their journey felt a bit underwhelming. Their relationship with the main characters was however fantastic and one of the best of the series.
Production was alright : nothing outstanding, except the soundtrack which I liked even if it was quite repetitive. There were an indie feel to one song that was very fitting some of the most memorable moments. Some of the actions scenes were a bit ridiculous but I liked the way they showcased the various snakes. The editing could have been better with the switch between scenes being sometimes jarringly awkward.
This unhinged Chinese (!) BL is worth a shot for all afficionado of the genre. If you are looking for some passionate and crazy relationships story, this one is for you. If you enjoyed series like KinnPorsche or Kiseki Dear To Me, you will for sure have fun with this one as well as they share similar vibes. Be aware that snakes plays a big role in the scenario, so if you are suffering fromn ophidiophobia, you might want to stay far away from it.
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Over-the-top cringy, I completed it out of sole stubborness
Full disclosure, I have not seen the original Japanese drama from which this series is an adaptation. I unfortunately really disliked this BL drama centered around "Heng", a real estate agent (with the IQ of an oyster) that discovers that his boss is in love with him. Strangely enough (because the main character is not that appealing in all his dumbness glory), "Boss" is not the only one pursuing intently "Heng", as "Mo" (one of his colleague) also declare his feelings to him... It could have been interesting but the writing, the over-the-top acting (for sure a directing choice) and the comedic aspects really did not made it work for me !There were so many elements intrinsic to the core of the story that I found very cringy, especially because of the power imbalance in the office setting. Indeed, the "boss" character irked me so much : he clearly uses his hierarchical position in the company to take advantage of the main character's naivety. In addition to the boss that uses coercion to make his employee literally date him, the evolution of "Heng" is so slow that until almost the end, it seems that he has not progressed on anything and still make the same mistakes until the conclusion. Last but not least, "Mo"'s character might have been my fave despite me having issue with some of his choices as they were based on noble idiocy and miscommunication tropes that I loathe.
My main issue is with the directing that made actors like Mix and Earth, whom I both liked a lot in other titles, acting in such an over-the-top / comedic manner that I did not bought the relationship between their characters. The acting was not atrocious but I truly feel it is not a very strong point because of the writing and directing leaving them with nothing impressive to do. I also was annoyed quite a bit by the soundtrack : mainly the opening song that I found absurdly annoying.
It is not all negative of course. In terms of production value, it is quite classical for a Thai BL, nothing outstanding but it good enough for the story. I found the set when they travel in the North of Thailand pretty nice. I had fun discovering some actors that I love playing cameos in the series. I also found the last 15 minutes of the last episode pretty enjoyable.
I would not recommend this to people unless over-the-top comedic BL in an office setting is in your alley. If you are a fan of "Middleman's Love" (-which I also disliked), you might want to give it a try as it is pretty comparable with the directing choices, dumb main character and cringy aspects. Overall, it was a miss for me but I think I might not be the right public for that kind of BL drama.
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A repetitive tale of lies and deceptions
This Xianxia drama focus on the intertwined fate of Tantai Jin, the demon Lord and Li Su Su who goes on a quest into the past to destroys him while he is still in human form. I found the premise of the series very interesting as the main lead is almost a "Cinderella" weak hero at first before becoming more and more cunning. It is almost a character study about wickedness and how a jinxed fate can entrap someone into the way of evil. I also loved the heroine from start: a strong and intelligent female lead which does not sound or act like a child: a real breath of fresh air.Unfortunately, the drama was not able to keep me interested all across its 40 episodes. There are some narrative arcs that I found less exciting. Some of the plotlines felt repetitive to me even if the timelines are different. There were always lies and deceptions between the main leads, conducting to so many misunderstandings. Some could have been easily avoided by communicating and trusting each other...It really frustrated me to see what felt as very low progress on that side as mistakes were repeated and repeated again.
The acting was quite good overall. Sometimes I felt that a few characters were a bit heavy-handed in terms of acting. Other than the main lead, the actors playing "villains" roles made it so obvious from scratch that they were bad guys, I would have appreciated a bit more subtlety in the acting and in the writing for those parts. Bai Lu and Luo Yun Xi carried the show on their backs, when I felt a bit bored during some arcs, it is their charisma that brought me back to care about the fate of their characters.
The production value was quite good, I like the variety in the costumes depending on the realms in which the characters were evolving. The special effects were not that great, especially the CGI animals. Some of the decors could have been better as they felt a bit plastic to me. I quite enjoyed the OST: there were a few good songs balancing well with the epic part of the story.
I would recommend this to people that love Xianxia drama. Even if it is a recent one, it certainly feels like a staple in the genre. There is a lot of qualities to the series overall but it unfortunately did not work enough for me to enjoy it all throughout my watch. There were a lot of things repetitive in the story that either frustrated me or bored me. The noble idiocy trope is a pet peeve of mine and I must say there was clearly too much of it for me in this show.
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Not messy enough, hated the way they portrayed some of the relationships
I passionately watched Only Friends Season 1 while it was airing and if it was not a perfect series, it left me very satisfied and entertained by the overall messiness of the relationships and the crossing between pairings.However, this season 2 was a real disappointment as it failed to recreate a similar magic, never messy enough nor really endangering any official pairing. That would be enough to tamper my enjoyment, but worst than that the way the story consistently insist that one character is in the wrong, totally ruined the story for me.
Overall the cast did a good job, with an outstanding performance of Mix. However, it is difficult for me to say that I really appreciated a lot of their moments because of the way the storylines put them in some strange situations that were very though selling to the viewer. Despite their commitment to the plot, some scenes that were supposed to be swoony, just irked me to no ends. I must admit I enjoyed some cameo but one of the past character definitely acted out of character at some point. Once again, proof that the writing was definitely the weakest part of the serie.
I would not recommend this to people as the season 1 was vastly superior. Maybe if this drama was not connected to it and if I had been able to watch it without any expectations, it would have been slightly better...However, this is not what happened so I cannot help myself to vent some frustration. I hope if a season 3 happens, the writer dare to make more ambitious choices and take us in a wild road rather than playing pretend with the characters.
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Can love and faith coexist? It feels taboo, it feels wrong, it feels right...A sizzling romance
This BL took me on a wild and emotional binge watch. It was about love, it was about faith and overall it was a very strong coming of age story, set up in 1996. It was pretty raw and brutal in a way, featuring in an angsty and beautiful way characters turmoil as they were grabbing at straws to be with each other.In addition to offering a solid and divergent from the norm BL scenario, the series provided also some very visually impactful and memorable moments. Acting from the leads was very good : Gemini and Fourth truly captured the essence of their characters. Each tempting looks, each nugget of affection felt like a scream...It was supposed to be hidden from the world but was so out there...I loved it.
The drama is not without flaws : I personally found the finale not really up to par with the previous episodes, more clunky both with its script but also with its production, with the aging of characters failing at convincing in any shape or form. In terms of writing, I expected more from the ending after such an intense journey : more nuance, deeper inner growth, less external factors.
I would strongly recommend this to people that are looking for a taboo coming of age story. It will leave you breathless and pondering for some time for sure. It is pretty short, so if you get has hooked as I was with the story, you might find yourself binge-watching it. If you like some pining and pain in romance, you are in for a treat with this very compelling series.
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Not perfect -but for sure an epic watch with memorable visuals ~
Was this perfect ? No. Was it at times overtly complex for the sole sake of complexity? Yes.Was I systematically entertained and marvelled at the great sense of esthetics, the acting achievement and high production value ? Yes, definitely !
I really enjoyed the journey on which the series took me, with its layered lore and amazing gallery of characters. Even if towards the end, it got a bit too convoluted and heavy to digest, with maybe some more apparent weaknesses in the writing, I did not mind it at all as I was really deeply immersed and invested into the storytelling of the romances and all the relationships.
This series is also (and maybe before everything) a feast for the eyes. The camera work, the costumes, the way they found interesting ways to sell the story was impressive. The fights scenes were good as well with enough variety and balance to never feel repetitive. I also really enjoyed the music, it was always hyping (or soothing) me at the right moments.
The casting was also amazing : the four main leads did very well as well as all the secondary characters. Tian Jia Rui did once again stand out to me, thanks to his ability to shift and morph himself into various persona, as well as shedding some of the prettiest tears to be shot on screen. Ju Jing Yi, Joseph Zeng, Chen Du Lin and Yan An also had all at some points some incredible moments. I'm finding myself very curious to see more of them all, as well as Wu Han who had an excellent debut role here.
I would recommend this to people looking for an epic journey featuring awesome characters, extensive lore, skillfull camera work and esthetics at all time. Even if the last arc could have been better articulated, the powerful storytelling and the characters build up makes definitely up for it.
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As amazing the album is, the documentary felt a bit underwhelming
The highly expected comeback of BTS post military service came up with a great album "Arirang", a rather impressive live in the middle of Seoul and the following documentary. And let's just said that the documentary feels underwhelming compared to the album release and comeback performances.It felt a bit messy in terms of storytelling, the point of view is mainly their reunion in Los Angeles to work on "Arirang" but it is strangely paced and felt kinda scattered. I would have loved to see more of the creative process, there are tidbits of it but clearly not enough to feel like it is "documentary" level. It just mostly feel like a bunch of vlog videos from that time, and I think there could have done better either at making it entertaining or informative. Don't get me wrong, it is a real pleasure to see the guys again, back tohether. It is not just up to par to the advertisement around it as well as the quality of the album.
I would of course recommend this if you love BTS. Watching it within the context of the comeback and the new album remains a good experience for fans.
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Despite flaws in the writing & editing, worth it for its angsty romance with obsessed male lead
This Wuxia drama is centred around the epic romance between Cai Zhao and Chang Nin with the main focus being if they will manage to build their own path, overcoming the past of their respective previous generations burden or will they be drowned by the weight of those family and clan ties.Overall, I truly had a great time watching this series. The beginning felt a bit butchered because potentially of the edits the production team had to make to fit the proper authorized number of episodes in order to get Chinese governmental approval for release. The middle part and the core of the story was amazing in taking the viewer through a great journey, driven by the passion of Chang Nin for Cai Zhao. They went through a lot and their relationship took various turns, with at his core the fiery (and insane) determination of the male lead of not letting go of the heroine, at all costs, morale and rationale be damned.
The chemistry between Zhou Yi Ran and Bao Shang En, as the main roles, was solid (even if I would have loved to see more skinship to match the intensity of the characters feelings). Zhou Yi Ran demonstrated an amazing range of emotions, a masterclass of acting as the obsessed male lead that you cannot help to fall in love with. There were also a solid gallery of secondary characters with some memorable scenes.
I would recommend this to people looking for a romance between a devilishly cunning male lead and a sassy heroine. Despite a butchered introduction arc and a flawed ending, it is worth a watch for the captivating romance between the leads.
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Icky romance but kind of entertaining
This Japanese movie is centred around the romance between a young highschool yakuza family heiress and her adult bodyguard disguising himself to protect her at school. If I did not find it boring, I for sure also found the romance icky from start to finish...I certainly can watch and enjoy a wide variety of romances : from very cute and fluffy to ultra dark and taboo... However, unfortunately it did not work for me here. The romance took the regular shojo road of pretending that problematic stuff are adorable and charming when in fact they were just not. I have nothing against age gap story per se, but here the following combination :
- 10 years gap between the main lead (26 years old) and the female lead (hypothesis of 16 years old as she is in her first year of high school)
- grooming
- overpowering main lead yakuza
was a bit much to sell as "cute". The fact the male lead is also a real jerk sleeping around while pining for the heroine certainly also did not help...Overal that's a lot to take in for the viewer to root for them !!!
Acting was overall average, with male lead being simply a big block of wood! Honestly, if I found him more handsome maybe I would be less severe but well, he is not exactly my style so better acting chops would definitely have helped. Female lead is better but nothing extraordinary...and definitely looking too old for the highschooler role... However, given the plot, I guess it is for the best because otherwise the romance would have felt even more unpalatable.
I would not recommend this to people as I feel there are better high school romance movie out there. In order to work better, the storytelling should either have remove the gap age aspect, either the tone of the movie should have be much darker without the classic shojo style to showcase properly the relationship, the gaslighting, the imbalance in power.
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Unfortunately, never got onboard as much as I wanted with the romance
This age gap love story between a young host and a teacher who became his tutor had everything to seduce me. I enjoyed the first half of it with the focus on learning and the night life topic providing a very griping context for the romance. I found fascinating the Kanji writing and learning issues discussion. I found interesting the way the characters were built : deeply flawed and mostly unlikable because it was understandable given their background. I also liked the OST overall and the production value, even if there were some awkward editing with abrupt fade to black between scenes.However, I never managed to get fully onboard with their romance. I believed in the tutoring relationship and found it even very touching. However I was never convinced by the romantic chemistry. I think it is part linked to poor casting of the two main characters as well as storytelling. Indeed, they never showcased real intimacy between the main leads as their relationship remained very pure, which given the respective age and job of both characters felt strange. In addition to not offering satisfying romance opportunities to the couple, the scenario also derailed quite a bit as it provided to the antagonists too quick change of heart and undeserved redemption.
I am left to ponder if another casting for the main actor and actress would have helped in making the romance more palatable and the relationship feel more passionate despite the flaws in the scenario. Here some of their scenes felt very fake and lacking in the more romantic as well as more angsty moments.
I would not recommend this to people as I feel there are better "older woman/younger man romance" out there. Maybe with another cast and without the scenario derailing in an over the top way, I would be less severe with my criticism of the series.
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Audacious proposal but deeply flawed. Hua Yong is such a memorable character!
How astonishing is it that we got a CHINESE Omegaverse BL ?! It was on the 2025 bingo card of no-one and still here we are...Kudos to the production team and cast for this wild proposal.Having said that, was it fully successful? Unfortunately, no. There were a lot of issues with this series and if I can give flowers for the daring choice to bring to light that relatively obscure universe, I cannot go past through some fundamental issues that hindered my enjoyment of the story overall.
There are some major issues :
- Pacing is atrocious. The series spent a tremendous amount of time on business talks rather than on the relationships progression.
- The secondary relationship is frustrating and has little to no screentime to the point I'm left to ponder if the series would not have been better without it.
- Ending is a real let down (and even more a deception for the ones that were fan of the secondary relationship).
There are also some minor flaws :
- The series does a commendable job explaining the lore as I found it pretty clear while being a complete newbie on the topic (beside just having watched Pit Babe). However, it felt a bit too much like a tutorial than really well interleaved into the story.
- Some of the special effects linked to the genre (the marking, the scent...) as well as the few fighting / action scenes felt really cheap and poorly executed.
- Casting is a mixed bag : Huang Xing (playing Hua Yong) is clearly the MVP of the series. He literally carry the show on his shoulders. It is a shame that I cannot say the same for his three costars that ranged from average to mediocre in terms of acting skills...
Of course, not everything is negative and there are quite a bit of positive as well.
- Following the series while it was airing was really entertaining.
- The universe in itself was quite interesting, even if I am still on the fence on some aspects. It was intriguing and felt fresh to me.
- Hua Yong character with his unhinged and obsessive love was amazing !
- Chemistry was quite good with the main couple. Even if I feel they tamed down some of the NSFW scenes, passion and feelings were quite believable.
Given all its flaws, I would not necessarily recommend this to people unless you are a fan of the genre and want to see it live-action. With a better pacing, less useless business stuff, more consistent storyline for the secondary couple and overall better writing, the quality of the series would have drastically increased.
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Not enough screentime for interesting elements + subpar acting: underwhelming overall
This BL series is centred around the encounter of two high school music students as they met and develop conflicting feelings for each other in the midst of their common interest / link with jazz music. Honestly, I'm not the biggest connoisseur of jazz music but I decided to give this drama a shot anyway. Unfortunately, this show missed the marks on many aspects in my opinion.Story-wise, it was super disappointing...I have the feeling that the most interesting part of the drama was not given enough screentime. There was a nugget of information regarding a specific relationship toward the end of the series but it was clearly not enough...I also had some issue with how the main and the secondary relationship evolved. All the heavy lifting were done (for both couples) mainly by one of the character and the evolution felt too abrupt to be believable. There was also on the last episode a "noble idiocy" move that makes no sense at all and just frustrated me a bit more...
Acting-wise, the actors were too bland. The scenario had some quite angsty moments as well as toxic scenes between the characters...Nothing against that, it can be entertaining and it is all fiction, so I'm not looking for always all green flags characters...But in order for it to work for me, it requires for actors to be emoting so much more than what was the case here. They needed to pour much more passion into the acting in order to make the chemistry much more exciting. The best performance on the series was Song Han Gyeom as Seo Do Yoon and I wish his character had been even more central to the story as it was my favorite.
Production-wise, it felt a bit cheap which is not really an issue for a school series. Here the main default is relating to the music scenes and soundtrack. The couple of pop songs that were used as opening and ending songs were okay to me but all the scenes were the actors were playing instruments felt totally unrealistic. The songs / tunes they used as playback for the music sequences were not really matching and it looked quite fake overall. A bit of a shame when the plot is focusing so much on music.
I would not recommend this to people as there are better BL in high school out there. There are a few moments that are cute (mainly relating to the friendship building between two characters rather than the romantic relationships), as well as some elements that could have been super interesting if more developed and better acted. However, the numerous flaws in terms of scenario, acting and production (especially of the music scenes) make it a series that I would not recommend.
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BL story with an original cute concept but not fleshed enough
I found the concept of the pets coming back to life as humans super interesting and cute. It was a chance to have a lot of fish-out-of-water moments and to have the characters act out all the stereotypical sides of their inner dog/cat. Unfortunately even if there was such scenes, it was not enough for me and I would have liked to see this aspect of the story more developed. Overall this interesting and fresh idea for the show's plot was not fleshed out enough. It required a lot of suspension of disbelief (which I was up for) but did not take enough advantage of the trope to make it totally fulfilling for the viewer.Despite the short episodes, the drama was kind of slow-paced and a bit missing in terms of feelings and passion because of the focus of the directing being more ambiance-based rather than scenario-driven. The atmosphere of the series was soothing but it still felt at some point a bit as a waste of potential for both the concept and the actors. Indeed, the acting was good overall (especially knowing that the main leads are rookies) and the dramatic scenes were well pulled off. It could have been better in terms of romantic chemistry but the friendship was very believable and sweet.
I would recommend this to people looking for a short story with a fresh concept giving off an healing vibe with very cute characters and who do not mind relatively slow-paced and platonic relationships.
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They went deep in...Entertaining and deeper than expected
If at first the story made me think that the drama was more or less a smutty fanfic story put on screen (which is not a dig, I can appreciate a guilty pleasure kind of drama), it was definitely much more than that. There are layerS to the story as well as I think also an activist message and some important criticism of society regarding LGBTQ+ relationships and their depiction on screen. It does not go very deep on the later, but it is clearly there and the ending is quite a statement in itself, worth the watch for its finale scenes.Regarding the acting, it was quite unbalanced. I was very surprised to see Ollie (that I had not seen since his Boys Planet participant day) in this assertive, very bossy lead, obsessed and demanding. Even if that was a lot to grasp at first (and that he definitely looked younger than the part would have required), he did amazing for a first drama role and totally ripped of his cutie teen idol image that I had of him. The other main actor Shu Yuan was a bit awkward at time and I wish I would have seen a bit more nuance from him portraying some scenes, even if I know the script did almost force him to act dialed up to 100% level of angst, leaving not a lot of room for range. It lacked something for me to fully get onboard with his way of portraying the role(s). If I liked overall the leads and their chemistry (carried a lot by Ollie), I also found the acting performance of the remainder of the cast average, with some over the top and exaggerated acting.
I also appreciated the overall filmmaking. They used smart visual tricks for the viewers to immediately get which level of the story they were looking at...And when the lines got blurry, the directing brought that convincingly to life. The soundtrack was also quite good and fitting in itself, even if probably not long lasting memory material.
I would recommend this to people that enjoy layered toxic relationships and dark romance. If you don't mind a solid touch of angst and melodrama in your series, you need to try this one. If the scenario in its last arcs tired me with its repetitive and somewhat uninspired conflicts, the meta elements of the series, the shift in perspective, the way storylines were feeding and bleeding into each other and the way they smartly concluded won me over.
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Enjoyable at first, it ended up being disappointing
This rom-com centred around a fictional contemporary south korean monarchy started pretty well : it was entertaining, a royal-commoner romance with a good cast, solid OST and obviously a good production budget.However, if I had fun at first, the drama totally lost me in its last third. The pacing of the story was all over the place, with a finale arc that felt both sluggish but still not spending enough time on properly setting up the evolution of the main characters and of the antagonists.
In addition to the weaknesses of the scenario, I regret the lack of imagination regarding the royalty concept and the lore. It was a bit explored at the beginning, but overall it felt superficial in its approach, making the endgame feel void of sense.
I enjoyed the acting and found that IU and Byeon Woo Seok had a good chemistry, even if their characters did not evolve has much as I would have expected. I really also want to salute the performances of Steve Noh and Gong Seung Yeon. They did a lot of heavy-lifting carrying some over-the-top arcs. I also really enjoyed Yoo Soo Bin and Lee Yeon, that both portrayed my favorites characters of the series, playing support roles, as assistants to the leads.
I would recommend this to people that are looking for a rom-com with some sparkles and visual appeal but that are not looking for something very deep. If you don't mind some overused overdramatic tropes, and you love royalty romance and/or one of the cast member, it might be worth to give it a shot, despite the weak writing.
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