LightHouse74

The Perfect Home

I placed spoilers at the end of this review.

This was an incredibly cute and funny series. It had a very well planned out script with a lot of heartwarming sections. I love scripts that successfully connect multiple storylines and characters together. This was also very endearing and addressed many important issues with grace. I do have one criticism, but it’s very minor which did not distract me from enjoying this. I usually don’t like series with a lot of side characters because it often weighs down the script. Thankfully, it worked in this series because the script gave just the right amount of side storyline information for each character. It did not get bogged down with the details. The entire cast was great and did an outstanding job portraying their character.




******Potential Spoiler Alert******

My only minor criticism it the relationship development between Hatano and Sakuta. It started off with a good pacing, but went a little too fast at times. Again, this was only a minor problem for me.

Am I the only one that was hoping for Yoshida Ryota to end up with Hatano Genichi’s male co-worker???

Read More

Very impressive start for a new production company

I was very hesitant to watch this at first because of the time travel love storyline. I’m usually not a fan with this because the scripts often are messy and rarely end well. However, I am really happy that I did not skip this series.

I placed spoilers at the end of this review.

The series was incredible. The script did an amazing job keeping me interested from beginning to end. Although the first episode was a little confusing with the multiple time jumps, it still did a great job setting up the story and characters. I also like how it did not take the completely predictable route with some of the story elements. They did a nice job interweaving some of Win’s memories in some of the episodes, but wish they used this more. The script was a little weak with not fully explaining some aspect of the storyline and characters. The entire cast, new and old, did an incredible job with portraying their characters. I usually don’t get impressed with the songs used in a series, but this had an outstanding soundtrack. Because the actors actually know how to play and sing, it helped me really get into their characters and storyline. The production team did an amazing job with the attention to details involving the costumes and props.

Random Note:

The Behind-the-Scenes footage at the end episode 10 was cool.

The location used for Win’s house was used in the movie “My Boo” (Joe’s house). It was also used for the series “Leap Day” (Ozone and Day’s house), “Bake Me Please” (Peace’s house), “Shadow” (Dan’s childhood home), “Sing Again” (Piano’s childhood home), “Mama Gogo” (Annie’s house), and “21 Days Theory” (Q’s house). I’m 90% certain that it was also used in the series “Happiness” (Dr. Beam’s childhood home).

The location used for Ek’s house was used in the series “Tale of Thousand Stars” (Tian’s parent’s house) and “SOTUS S” (Kongpob’s parent’s house). Yes, I’m a proud nerd about knowing this kind of stuff.

The English subtitles were actually very good on GagaOOLala for a change.



******Potential Spoiler Alert******

It was very wise for Win not to tell Biu about personal information regarding the future of the other.

There are some aspects of the script that could have been better explained. One example is it hinted that Ek has some type of social anxiety, but it did not fully explain this and how he overcame it. Another example is Chai. I had no clue he was in a gang until episode 5. Before this episode, I just thought he liked to fight and/or had a short temper.

I wish they did a quick flash-forward to the present to confirm the suggested happy ending with all the characters. However, I understand this was probably not in the budget because this would require more actors to play the older versions of Nut, Chai, Ek, and Biu.

Read More

This was such an impactful and heartwarming series. The main theme is everyone has a part to play in times of emergences. No job should be overlooked or downplayed. The first episode really helped showing this and drawing the views into the series. The script had the right mixture of drama and lighthearted moments. It also did an incredible job interweaved the personal and various 119 call storylines. This had the right number of characters which were very well written. It also helped that the entire cast was excellent. They did such an incredible job making you care about their characters. I found myself caring about all of them and their side stories. However, I do have two minor complaints. One is the editing job was not that great involving some of the flashback scenes. The other one was some of the CGI and special effects were not the greatest, but I’ve seen worst.

Read More

A Hilarious Satire Sequel

I placed spoilers at the end of this review.

Just like the first season, this was a hilarious, cute, and heartwarming. It is a very obvious tongue in cheek series which means you should watch it with an open BL mindset and a sense of humor. The script had the most widely used lack of/miscommunication story elements to a hilariously absurd level, but in a good way. They also gave just the right amount of info/time with the side characters and storylines. Once again, it had a lot of components that shouldn’t work but somehow did. The cast was awesome and did a great job with their characters. I also like how the actors didn’t take things too seriously. This had great cinematography and graphics, but had one (sort of) negative aspect about this series.

Random Note:

Although this had more episodes, it actually has less running time than the first season. Either way, this is a good example that you don’t need a lot of episodes to tell a great story.

I liked that they separated the running time with 6 shorter episodes rather have 3 long episodes.

There were a few times throughout the series when there are no English subtitles on GagaOOLala, but it was during some minor scenes and I was still able to figure out what was going on.




******Potential Spoiler Alert******

The sort of one negative aspect was the kissing scenes in which we see the standard dead fish lips. However, I have a feeling this was done on purpose to add to the BL satire.

Read More

A Delightful Meal

This was a great, heartwarming series with a well written script. It did a successful job connecting various characters and their storylines together. I especially loved each costumer’s personal storyline that added more seasoning to the main storyline. This also gave just the right amount of background information of all the characters for an 8-episode series. In fact, this is one of the rare occasions when the story content is a good match for the number of episodes. The cast was great and did an excellent job with their characters. The cinematography, food visuals, and editing were incredible.

Random Note:
There is a romance element to the main storyline, but it did not overpower the series.

I like that the series name has a double meaning.

Reasoning for the music rating. The background music and closing songs didn’t hurt the series, but it was not rememberable either.

Read More

It was the thought that counts.

This was a very quirky series that had some well-meaning intent. Unfortunately, the meaningful messages were not very well executed. On the positive side, the friendship development between all the characters was great. This series really suffered from a poor script quality and director choices. It was funny at times, but it was often mix in with a lot of cringy scenes. It gets a little better later on, but it then takes the old miscommunication story element to a ridiculous level. This also had a lot of random scenes used as filler screen time. Although it was great to see a character that identified as pansexual, they introduced key story points about Latte too late in the series. Because of this, the character came across as very unlikable in the first half of the series. The cast was great considering what they had to work with.

Random Note:

The English subtitles on GagaOOLala was not the greatest.

The flash forwards at the beginning of each episode were too gimmicky for me. I started to skip them completely after the 4th episode because it was very annoying. I understand they were trying to create dramatic interest, but it was not needed for a series attempting to be quirky and fun.

The scene in the last episode involving the main actors from “Monster Next Door” was cute.

The location used for Max’s apartment was the same one used in the “Bad Buddy” series (Pran and Pat’s apartment location).

I went in with low expectations and was happy it was not horrible. I don’t regret watching it, but I would not watch it again. I basically did because I was bored. That being said, this is one of those series you can wait to watch until you have some time to kill and have nothing better to see from your must watch list.

Read More

Need More BL’s Like This

I placed spoilers at the end of this review.

This was a very cute series, most of the time. Overall, the script was very good even though it has my least favorite story component in it. My only criticism is the direction of the series took a sharp turn with having overly cute vibes (in the good way) to a more serious vibe. However, the serious tones were handled with care and were not overly dramatic. The entire cast did a great job with making you care about their characters. Kudos to the new actors which held their own with the more seasoned ones. I really enjoyed the songs/music. They did a really great job incorporating this into the series which is a good thing considering the music industry was the overall setting.

Random Notes:

I give them praise for trying to be original with the old “accidental kiss” story gimmick.

I actually liked the animations and sound effects which I usually don’t go for. Both somehow worked and added to the very cute vibe in the beginning.

As always, I love seeing familiar locations from different series.


******Spoiler Alert******

I’m not a fan of time jumps because it’s usually not used successfully and/or add anything to the storyline. However, it actually served a purpose and was done well here. The first one let us skip the unneeded watch of them going through the Idol process. I must admit I wonder what happened to the A-Hole that cased the conflict at the end of episode 10.

As for the slightly drastic vibe shift, I apricate that they didn’t wait to do this in episode 11. This made the ending, which was perfect, not feel rushed.

Read More

???Why 2???

I placed spoilers at the end of this review.

This special episode was just like the one for Coffee Melody, cute but unnecessary.

Once again, this had an old concept that was not well executed. It suffered from the same problems that main series had. The pacing was a little off and had long useless filler screentime. The cinematography was stunning, but had some poor background music choices that became annoying. Overall, the acting was ok.

Random Note:

This special episode really was not needed. This could have been easily included into the last episode of the series.

This also had the weird two opening credits.


*****Spoiler Alert******

It was just weird how everyone acted like they were all best friends and that nothing bad happened between them in the main series.

Read More

Great Start; Ok Ending

I placed spoilers at the end of this review.

The series was enjoyable in the beginning even though the boss/employee office romance concept is nothing new. Unfortunately, this fades away as the series continues. The script started off strong, but gradually gets weaker towards the end. The last episode was ok, but a little bizarre and has my most hated story element. The script also had some very weak points. There are times it introduced things without any context to it. I also find the timeline a little confusing because there were no indications on the time progression. On a positive note, the script at least sticks with all of the storylines that were introduced. Well, sort of. See the spoiler alert at the end of this review if you want more information. Overall, the acting was ok. The new actors were not horrible, they just need to improve their skills. The more seasoned actors are the ones that shined. The co-workers’ actions seem overly dramatic, but I think this was done on purpose to emphasize how toxic some work environments can be. The cinematography was good most of the time, but there was some shaky camera work.

Random Note:

It was cute how they incorporated several nods to Lovely Writer. It was also great to see many of the actors from that series in this one. It was like a mini reunion.

I usually can keep track with how all of the characters are connected to each other, but I’m still confused on how everyone actually knows each other.

The English subtitles were good with the exception that it didn’t show English subtitles when printed content appears on screen a few times.

Although I was not bothered by the pacing, there was a lot of wasted screen time. Many of the episodes had a lot of filler scenes that were not needed. This should have been an 8- to 10- episode series because it really didn’t have enough content for 12-episodes.




********Spoiler Alert********

It was bizarre how the sexual harassment case was handled, but this is probably a cultural thing.

The storyline between Jaab and Jane was ok in the beginning, but became tedious and annoying by the end. I was not a fan of how Jane flirted with Jaab in the beginning when he knew Jaab obviously liked him.

I don’t understand Pat’s actions in episode 9. He acted like he was the one that confessed to Jeng and that Jeng turned him down.

As for the ending, it was a little weak. We get a 2-year time jump that serves no purpose. I hate series with time jumps because it’s just very lazy writing. It has a happy ending for Pat and Jeng, but Jaab and Jane’s storyline is left to the sideline. We see Jaab packing to see Jane, but we have to assume things are good with them with the little information we get in that scene. Once again, I’m confused at the time progression during the end.

Read More

Great ideas with some weird script choices

I placed spoiler alert at the end of this review.

This series had a very interesting story concept. Unfortunately, the execution was not the greatest. There are some major issues with the script. The main problem for me is the middle of the series, episode 6 to the middle of episode 9, seems very out of place with the rest of the series. There are also some parts of the script that don’t make sense. See the spoiler alert at the end of this review if you want more information. The pacing is also very off. It started off very strong, then lost steam in the middle. I started to pick-up again towards the end, but didn’t gain the same momentum. This had a great cast which did a wonderful job with their characters considering the script they were given. The cinematograph was good with a few exceptions and there were some problems with the sound quality in some sections. The songs used throughout the series was outstanding. However, there were some poor background music choices that did not match the mood of the scene.

Random Note: Despite the major flaws with the script, the series is not that bad. I think it just has a weird mix of crime, drama, and comedy. Just don’t set your expectation too high.

******Spoiler Alerts******

The writing for the middle of the series, the island episodes, had a weird mood to it. The underline tone came across as Nuengdiao and Palm only ran away to just be alone with each other to find themselves instead of our parents just got shot and we were almost killed. There was no real sense of danger or urgency.

Some examples of problems with the script include Palm’s father healed way to quickly from getting shot in the shoulder, the weird backstory involving Palm and his mother, and the random same-sex wedding during the island episodes. It was nice to see the wedding but I thought same-sex marriages were not legal in Thailand. If this is the case (please correct me if I’m wrong), this seems very out of place considering both men were not from Thailand and were just on vacation.

Read More

I placed spoilers at the end of this review.

Overall, this was a very enjoyable series. The first episode really grabbed my attention which kept me engaged to watch more. They also did a great job introducing all of the characters. Some of the main characters start off unlikable, but the script does a decent job explaining the reasonings behind their actions. For example: I didn’t like Oh Yi Young at first but grew to like this character as the series progressed. I thought the script was good with the exception of a few aspects. My main complaint is it did not fully focus on all four main characters. This was supposed to be about all of their experiences as first-year residents, but I felt the focus was mostly on Oh Yi Young in many of the episodes. They do show some character development with Pyo Nam Gyeong, Um Jae II, and Kim Sa Bi, but most of the screentime was devoted to Oh I Young. My minor complaint is they didn’t fully explore the four main characters’ backstories. This is mostly due to another minor complaint which is the romantic storyline in the script. However, the cast was incredible.

Random Notes:

You don’t have to see “Hospital Playlist” to see this series.

It was fun to see all of the actors’ quest spots from the parent series. The good thing is they were written into the script without the need to see the parent series.

This will probably be a very unpopular opinion. I enjoyed this more than “Hospital Playlist”. It took a while for me to get into that series and also found some section boring.

As much as I would like a second season to further explore Pyo Nam Gyeong, Um Jae II, and Kim Sa Bi’s characters’ backstory/development, I would not be heartbroken if we don’t get it.


******Potential Spoiler Alert******

I was not a fan of the romantic storyline involving Oh Yi Young and Koo Do Won. This is weird because I like the characters separately and the actors had good on-screen chemistry. However, I found their storyline not very interesting and it removed the focus, and screentime, from the other three main characters.

Read More

The Cast Really Saved this Series

I placed spoilers at the end of this review.

Overall, I enjoyed this series. This is a good example of why picking the right actors makes a big difference. I usually don’t start my reviews about this, but the entire cast are the VIP’s that really saved this series. No, I’m not just saying this because we get to see most of them shirtless and occasionally in their underwear. A big shout out for Frame. Considering this is his first series, he did a great job creating unique personalities for Sprite and Zee. The rest of the actors also did an outstanding job with the script. You would not know that many of them are relatively new actors. At first, I was really worried about the amount of side characters they introduced. However, I was pleasantly surprised that they did a very good job making all of them interesting. I actually remember who they were and cared about their side stories. Why were the actors the VIP of this series. It’s because there were two main culprits that prevented this series from receiving a 10 rating, from me at least.

The first culprit was the script. For the positive aspect of the script, most of the storylines are actually interesting and did a decent job laying out the major plot points. As for the negative aspects, it failed on giving us a proper follow through. Best way to describe the script is it’s like a bleary picture. You can almost see everything but just can’t make out the finer details. For me, the main storyline of the twins trading places became very frustrating towards the end. What is weird is they introduce some very interesting side storylines, but once again we don’t get the full picture about most of them. Instead of introducing even more story plots towards the end, they should have just focused more on the side storylines they already established in the beginning of the series. I appreciate a good plot twist, but they could have incorporated some with the other storylines. It does have a happy ending, but everything felt very rushed.

The editing was the second culprit. It didn’t do a really good job at indicating the passing of time throughout the series. For example, the first episode came across like it all is happening in one day. If it was not for some of the lines, I would have not known this was happening in a few days (weeks?). They also have scenes that seemed out of placed which caused information inconsistency.

Random Notes:

As always, I’m fascinated by seeing familiar location used in different series. The location for Sprite and Zee’s childhood/father’s house is the same one used in the series “Something in My Room”.

(Edited/Added on 7/15/2024): As I originally stated in this review, it was annoying me that I couldn’t place what other series used the café location. I finally figured out which series it was. It’s the same café location used in the series Baker Boys, Enchanté, and The Eclipse. It was recently used in the series Wandee Goodday. I’m sure I’m the only nerd that loves seeing familiar locations.

Maybe this was intentional, but the actors were actually wearing the “Twins” logo promotional uniforms in the practice scenes in the first episode.

******Spoiler Alert******

Despite my long rant in this section, I did enjoy watching this series and would rewatch it.

They did a decent job explaining some of the past events, but it could have been better. There is no explanation why Sprite and Zee’s parents separated or why the twins were split up. We also don’t get a real explanation as to why Sprite and Zee’s relationship is tense or what happen to make Zee become such an arrogant A-hole. What is really weird is we get a better explanation of why First and Zee hate each other.

The twins trading places made sense in the beginning, but gets really annoying towards the end. Once again, the editing did not do a good job indicating when Sprite and Zee were switching places. There is also no explanation why they are switch off different days. Why not just let Sprite continue in Zee’s spot and vice versa full time? Another thing that became frustrating was there were so many opportunities where Sprite could have explained everting to First about what was going on.

Instead of introducing more unnecessary storylines towards the last few episodes, they should have focused on the ones they started off with. For example, the storyline between Jack and Mike. They should have also focused more on showing Zee trying to expose his attackers instead of completely forgetting this storyline and then rushing it in the last episode. They should have also kept it a secret from the audience and let us see the mystery unfold as Zee looked for clues/evidence.

Read More

As I stated before, I need more than good looking actors to make a series good. The series started off ok, but went downhill very quickly. The script is not the greatest. The pacing was very off and everything was happening at a rapid speed. It seems to have the same “I don’t like men, but I like him” concept from Tonhon Chonlatee that was used which I can’t stand.

Random Note:

I should have listened to my initial gut reaction to not watch this series, but gave it a shot when it became available on Viki. I was also giving a MFlow production another chance before I completely give-up on them. Yet again, I was proven wrong.

The English subtitle on Viki were pretty bad (I didn’t take points off for this). It seemed they stopped caring and gave up after episode 2. The subtitles had a lot of spelling and grammatical errors. There were times they were so incoherent that I had no idea what the actors were saying. There were other times that there were no subtitles at all.

Read More

Not What I Expected

I watched the first 3 episodes and the beginning of episode 4 before I dropped this series. On a positive note, the acting was great. Kitty Chicha Amatayakul did a great job with her character. Unfortunately, it fell short on what the series claimed it was about. The series had an interesting story concept but failed on the execution. The first 2 episodes were ok, but I began to see the flaws by episode 3. I realized by the 4th episode that I did not like the series and could not finish it. I usually can stick with a series if it is somewhat entertaining. However, not this one. This was my first Non-BL series that I dropped.

Read More

You can skip this meal.

This series started of ok, but it was evidently clear the script was not the greatest by the second episode. Weirdly, it had many elements that should have made it interesting and enjoyable. Unfortunately, the time travel, comedy, mystery, and romance elements were not blended together successfully. It also did not help that many of characters were not likable, with the exception of Heo Gyun and Eun Sil’s mother. The acting by most of the cast was ok. It was neither horrible nor outstanding. On the positive side, it had great cinematography.

Random Notes:

Granted, I did not watch the whole series but they tried to incorporate to many ingredients. This could have worked if they focused on one or two storylines. Sometimes the best dishes are the simple ones.

Read More