Kiwi

This is Grornopaphic Comedy

This is neither sexy nor romantic. It is, however, highly amusing, absurdly (and strangely) sweet, and utterly devoid of story. If it wasn’t so perfectly set up to keep the giggles coming it would be bloody awful.

I admire the actors more than I can say. They both managed to film downright Escheresque gaynastics for long enough to give us an hour of quite explicit comedy that was completely free of corpsing, breaking character, or smirks. They are both godlike in their professionalism.

The plot is one that focuses purely on self-discovery and, I think, falling in love. There’s really no story. There’s just this weird process between a man and his therapist, with the only twist coming early in chapter one, when the client let it be known that he was expecting a woman. He isn’t disappointed for long though. it turns out the therapist can drop him to his knees just by touching his forearm… no, not his firearm. His forearm. It’s magic…✨

Anyway, the flustered client ends up being completely seduced by the first kiss, and decides maybe men aren’t so bad (he’ll learn). The rest of it is the client’s prolonged and energetic embracing of his therapist’s methods, from a range of angles, and accompanied by a rather silly soundtrack, and the clients moans, cries, and grunts. It’s not a series that could have been longer, nor is it one that should be treated as wank-bank. It’s too absurd to be sexy, and too basic to be rewatchable. it’s just a romp.

I liked it, but for what it was. I’m glad I had no expectations going in…

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Spoiler-heavy safety review from PTSD perspective

I’m reviewing this as a survivor, as a queer, and as someone who loves fluffy escapism. My first point is for survivors of violence: this drama contains triggers for bullying, domestic violence (paternal), and homophobia. It’s not suitable as a source of safe, fluffy escapism.

*******
*******
*******

The romantic leads are prone to the “bad communication”, “carrying the weight of the world”, and “noble idiot” tropes. Otherwise both are green flag characters. They, outside of the tropes mentioned, treat one another well, being affectionate, forgiving, and respectful. The chemistry is nice, and both actors are skilled. It’s beside the point, but both are absolutely gorgeous too. They get a happy ending.

The two other principal characters are the villains. They are the source of the triggers. One is the coach’s son, who is homophobic and a bully. He bullies one lead, and blackmails the other. His conduct probably stems of the violent abuse, corruption, and bullying of his father. The son partially redeems himself by confessing his own part, but the father just gets exposed before the press, so any justice for him is implied, rather than explicit. I found it satisfying that it was his son who outed his vileness though. This leads me to hope that the son alienates his father.

As someone in treatment for lifelong PTSD it took me a long time to work my way through this series, and I do not recommend it for those with unresolved or relevant trauma.

Otherwise, this is the highest quality vertical short series I’ve seen. For those without trauma sensitivity I recommend it.

Offences depicted:

Assault with a weapon.
Blackmail.
Intimidation.
Hate speech.
Shoving.
Deceit.

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Deeper Than Expected

I saw the trailer. We all probably did. It’s probably what brought you here. And yes, this drama does start off in that vein: toxic, deeply unhealthy, and raunchy as hell. That’s just to hook you though. It might start with smutty melodrama, but it turns into a pretty classic star-crossed love story. It’s very romantic, the cast manages to be pretty solid, and the quality of production is way better than you’d expect of a mini-drama in the vertical format.

If you want the absolutely outrageous implausibility we normally get from the verticals this might not work for you, but if you want an on-the-go vertical that brings a bit more classic K-drama style to your BL table, this will definitely suit.

Please note I’ve rated this with the general standard of vertical dramas in mind, so, yes, it’s an eight-plus by those standards, but it’s not an eight in the full length, landscape format sense.

The casting is well done, the costumes are obviously made of modern materials, but are well-made. The budget always shows when there’s a gat in the offing. There’s not a single horse hair in one of them, and I doubt there’s any bamboo either. Nylon and wire all the way.

Anyway, that’s smart use of budget. They used the money where it was needed, and it ensures a polished product. It’s the best vertical I’ve seen, once they get past the bait (sexy bits), and move into the actual story. The sexy bits definitely feel like choreographed and rehearsed shenanigans, rather than practised erotica. it’s far too techical to be organic or improvised by gay men who know the drill, pun intended. I doubt many MLM hookups go down the way these guys go at it. It just doesn’t look that fun. it’s very elegant though, and carefully conceals the undoubted presence of underwear 😏

Anyway, you can watch this in the Lezhin Snack app. It cost me around $NZ12 (USD7), and I don’t feel ripped off, so that shows how extraordinary it is for a vertical. Enjoy, or don’t. It’s up to you.

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Beautiful People, Beautifully Shot, with Solid Writing

I’m impressed. I don’t think they spent huge amounts on this, but they spent every penny well. The production was slick, and really well filmed. The direction was good, the acting was naturalistic and quietly human. The locations were very minimalist and nicely lit. The story and writing were sound. The music wasn’t intrusive, but was evocative. I might be over-rating this, simply because it did everything reasonably well, but I feel like it’s one of the most consistently polished things I’ve watched recently, and it’s nice to have no complaints. Even the nut job sasaeng was rendered with restraint and style. If any BL series represents the South Korean Aesthetic it’s this one.

I feel like this production sets good precedent, because despite having a very tired central conceit (amnesia from head trauma), it made a lot of sense, and was admirably restrained, while keeping me interested. The added melodrama of the sasaeng plotline wasn’t overdone. Nothing distracted too much from the core romance, keeping it as a love story, despite the genre blending, and the annoyance of the third party trope wasn’t dragged out too long. I think they balanced the various threads of the story well, resolved the main tensions, and resisted the temptation to fill in too much detail on some things.

That said, it’s neither groundbreaking or even hugely original. I’m not rating it as high art. I’m rating it for what it is: a polished, budget queer romance with a very mild thriller element, and free of irritants. I give queer content a head start on ratings, based on the fact that it rarely gets the budget or production standards that straight content does, and gets treated as second-rate very often. As a result I’ve really piled on the stars for this one. It’s nice to see our demographic so well served by talented people. Recommended.

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Standout Newcomers

Cast: Punn and Boat, neither of whom I’ve seen before, stood out and are both gorgeous. The BoatOat chemistry was pretty spectacular. I’m not a fan of Yoon, but he was good in this.

Direction: I wasn’t impressed by a few directorial choices. The sex scenes between the main couple in particular were more like a director rendering their fantasies, than likely love-making or plot-driving tools to convey anything meaningful. The more in love the leads got, the rougher and more bestial the love scenes got. They went from tender and loving, to pure lust, which seemed like a reverse gradient in a love story. The consent dynamics were not great. The classic sunset/sunrise mechanic was used to great effect repeatedly, but as a result jumps in time longer than 12 hours were jarring and unexpected.

Writing: The story was fine, but depended too much on lousy communication tropes for my liking. The characters themselves were consistent to themselves, and had arcs, though nothing deep or even remotely sophisticated. The humour was grounded, and gave me a few laughs. I got attached to and invested in the two main leads, who were both flawed but lovable, but the rest of the characters were very uneven, as was their utility in the story.

Production design: Not fabulous, but I think that was more limited by budget than design chops. I suspect a lot was made from very little. Exterior locations rocked.

I enjoyed the drama and the main characters, but it felt cheap, and I think the direction was bad. If nothing else, it’s a string of stimulating sex scenes, but if you can engage with the main characters you’ll get more out of it. I’m looking forward to more of “Champ”, and of the BoatOat CP in future shows.

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A BL Seriously Short on Queer Credibility

This should have been a bromance, or have cast different leads. Nobody who can’t convincingly portray queerness should be cast over gay actors. Marginalised groups, even one of the more privileged of the queer demographics, should only be played by non-queer actors if they bring something really special to the role. Both of these gorgeous actors played male friendship well, but the straightness was so pungent, it obliterated the attempts to inject gay romance into the story. This would have been a perfectly nice story about two actors who had one another’s backs, with this cast. As it is it smacks of cashing in on queerness.

Both the leads are gorgeous, and for the most part the dub is great. The male manager was often cartoonishly voice acted, but everyone else was mostly good. I liked how much they did with an obviously low budget, and I there were some really pretty locations. It’s an easy watch, and worth watching. Just don’t expect any kissing worth seeing, or sexual tension. both are entirely absent.

It’s just so damned straight!

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Soft Porn (Entirely NC)

I don’t have a problem with sexually explicit content, or even plotless slices of life, but when we have both, and it’s badly lit and woodenly acted, it seems a bit pointless. The only convincing parts were those when they were actively shagging, and I suspect that’s because they were actually shagging. All this is really good for is wank bank. There’s zero romance, outside the student’s awakening to his own enjoyment of the male body, which was quite sweet. Its nice when an apparently straight man discovers his own queerness without being homophobic about it. The self-loathing trope is depressing as hell, and it’s nice when it’s not used. I’ve given this half points on every measure, because it’s really just adequate in every way. This kind of content could be fabulous, if well shot, but the production design is so meh, it needed a good story to make up for it. If you want to see a much more amusing round of MLM soft porn, with better production standards, check out Therapy. The sex is not as realistic, but it’s much more entertaining. I’ve reviewed that too.

Marked as spoiler end, but only because I let the lack of story out of the bag.

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Vignettes

This micro-drama is loaded with chemistry, cuteness, and very little else, aside from product placement. There’s no plot. It’s a series of tiny slices of life through a couple’s beginnings. That’s it. It is charming though, as are the actors. It’s set and filmed in Korea, the cast are Thai, and the gay is strong. I enjoyed it, but the lack of plot does mean it’s not hugely memorable. The most outstanding thing is the cast. A must-watch if you like them, but otherwise it’s just a pleasant few moments. I recommend it, but only to fans of BL or the actors, and I wouldn’t press it.

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Huge spoilers. Read after watching. Adults Playing Adults Being Stupid and Messy, Like Adults.

This is quite possibly the first time I’ve seen plausible, gritty, uncomfortable relationships done really well in a Thai BL. For that messy, uncomfortable, and very human reason this is now my favourite Thai drama. For now.

I honestly don’t like the system of set pairings. I can see how it might make an inexperienced young actor produce better performances if they have a trusted acting partner, but once they reach the point these two have it seems counter-productive. I thought by having Dew play such a sweet suitor we might actually get a different outcome, but sadly not.

I consider Pheem, Ing, and Mawin to have been the heroes of this story. The worst thing Pheem did was throw his toys out of the play-pen, which is much more healthy than Koh’s coping strategies. Rage room violence and bad-mouthing Koh were probably very cathartic, honest, and relatively harmless. Ing and Mawin both exemplify kind, honest support without pandering. I kind of hoped Mawin and Pheem were going to fall in love, but that’s just a trope, and the way things played out supported the feeling of naturalism that made me love this show. The cast is stellar, but these three kept me from getting too caught up in the toxins Jira and Koh were putting out, because I fell in love with all three of them.

AJ (Mawin) is quite possibly my favourite Thai actor. He’s able to keep me watching, even when everyone else is annoying me. I’m getting incredibly fed up with him being relegated to second friend and similar. Someone give this boy a f#@king lead! He’s got what it takes, and it’s frustrating that he’s never front and centre.

I really respect the work of Off and Gun, but as mentioned, they need to change things up, and work with other love interests. They’re veterans. I really enjoyed Gun’s chemistry with Dew. Think what he could do with him as primary love interest, or one of the other really talented, leading men out there. The same goes for Off. They completely nailed these two extremely believable, incompatible characters though. Bravo.

If you’re like me, and hate suspense and stupid decisions, stories like this are quite hard to watch, but the believable characterisations, warts and all, were so well rendered that this is a rewarding watch. For those wondering if that reunion is realistic, I think so. Jira and Koh were never going to be a wholesome, peaceful, or even a happy couple, but they’re passionately in love, in a gritty, slightly selfish way, that better reflects real life than any other TBL I’ve seen. It actually made uncomfortable sense to me. At my age you get pretty cynical, though…and let’s face it, love tdoesnt turn arseholes into nice people.

As a final touch, I love the little morality discussion about AI being trained on scrapings and the work of creatives without consent. It’s an important discussion to have, so I’m glad it’s being turned over in series like this.

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Characterless, Aimless, and Pretty.

This is a nicely shot sizzle reel for the actors, and very little more. It’s overindulgent in the time it took to tell an incredibly thin story. It could have been done in three of these short episodes, or one full length one. I was skipping forwards more than I ever have watching any K-drama for the first time. I feel like they started filming while the script was incomplete, but the writer pulled out, so they just edited together what they had, and did some VO. There was zero plot, character arc, or depth to either of the protagonists. Two men meet under a business arrangement. They liked each other. They extend the arrangement and end up in love. The motivation for the sub was a sick mother. The dom’s a mystery, and a weird kisser. Watch it if you like naturally lit pot plants, and a bit of incredibly tame BDSM.

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Spoilers so TLDR: Cute, Inane, & Low Stakes

Despite some rather melodramatic supernatural crises this was an incredibly flaccid supernatural romance. Character stories never went anywhere; so much of what was begun ended up just hanging in the air, never to be resolved. The actors were cute, but unconvincing, the third wheel was unlikeable, and one of the supporting characters was more compelling than the leads, and he kind of got a resolution of sorts. I honestly did come back to this each week, despite its deeply mediocre production and writing, but only because the cast was so decorative.

I will never be even slightly tempted to re-watch this, but I hope to see the actor who played Tong (Yuuki) put to better use in other dramas. He was the best of a very middling group of cuties, and his character had an actual arc, which nobody else did, not even the leads. It would have been so easy to pull an arc out of phloeng’s disbelief, or Win’s fears, but no. Neither was apparently at all changed, either by events, or the relationship.

Speaking of which, there was never any apparent deepening of the relationship. Win just suddenly welcomed Phloeng’s intimacy, so they were intimate. The relationship felt like it went on off-screen, while we were dealing with other plot elements. seriously, I had no idea what Win was thinking or feeling at any point.

Namo was into Wayu, but it never went anywhere. The rabbit ended up paired off, despite being a total loose thread, so I guess that was a resolution. I’m at a loss, really. I don’t know what the minds behind this were thinking.

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I Didn’t Experience Any Confusion

I’ll open by dealing with the confusion mentioned by others in their reviews. I didn’t feel any. The flashbacks were not entirely conventional, but I was clear about when each scene of the first few episodes were set, and I experienced no issues understanding motivations, reasons, timing, or context. Maybe the writer, director, and editor have the same kind of funky brain I do, but these reviews surprised me. Perhaps the cues are not tuned to everyone, so watch with that in mind. I’m happy to throw out a spoiler marked comment thread clarifying these scenes if anyone wants.

I agree with one of these other reviews about the kisses. Total duds. I also agree with that one about the going behind the lead’s back trope being in really poor taste, given how the second romantic interest had conducted himself. I got a good handle on the whys and wherefores of every step taken apart from that. It really annoyed me, and was the only misstep by the lead’s main romantic interest. Other than that piece of utter f***wittage he was a walking green flag.

I tend to watch these fluffy romances with my critical faculty running at a low idle, and though it’s not at the pinnacle of any of the related crafts, I loved the set dressing and lighting in this series. The decor of the tiny publishing firm ticks all my Scandinavian sensibility boxes, with the warm, beautifully designed wooden furniture, and the clear case of book hoarding that was in progress. His flat, however, felt pretty lacking. Anybody who would kit out their office with such warmth should also have a warm, cosy home. The rest of the locations were as well dressed as the wee publisher, though.

As mentioned, the kissy moments were badly directed/performed, so I assume the gorgeous leads are both straight, and/or the director is a prude. Other reviewers have used the “dead fish kiss” phrase, and it was never more appropriate than in this instance. It’s a shame, because the lead pair are both gorgeous.

This is a romance where all three of the romantic triangle of leads end up better off than they were at the start, which makes for a deeply satisfying piece of mind-candy. And this series is mind-candy. It’s not profound, logically robust, or powerful. It’s a sweet romance based around three people with similar dreams, but very different ways of seeking them, and everyone developed for the better, even if the internal logic of the writing showed some gaping holes 🕳️

Enjoy. I did.

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