MidnightReader

It took me so long to finally watch this one. I've had this show in plan-to-watch, undecided, back to plan-to-watch, to currently watch, then back to plan-to-watch over the last 10 months & I finally decided enough was enough and forced myself to sit down and start it. After the first episode, I started watching it at X1.5 & X2 speed, mostly X2, because everything just felt slow. Not the pacing per se, but the line delivery felt so slow that even at X2 speed I had to check a couple of times to make sure I wasn't watching at normal speed. I also knew that I was going to have to push myself to finish it in one sitting, or I was going to have a hard time making myself pick it back up.

That's not to say the series is bad; it's just that nothing really happens. It's definitely a coming-of-age story that focuses more on the friendship and romance of our main characters than actual problems. Except for episode 8, we actually got some drama there.

Before I really get into spoilers, let's talk about the things I liked
* The OP was sung by Phuwin
* Dunk and Lookjun's chemistry
* Dunk & Phuwin's kiss; it gave me a good laugh. The music room scene right after was also funny.
* The acting was all around great. Dunk's was especially good. White was my favorite character. I need more series with Dunk and Phuwin together.
* The sleepover was probably one of my favorite scenes because of how White and Lune were getting dragged into things.

Now into the spoilerly complaints!

Starting from the very moment Lune is introduced. It is utter bullshit that Lune isn't noticed by anyone. Were they going for a Kuroko's Basketball angle where he has such little presence that no one noticed him? I'm not buying it.

Another thing that bothered me just a bit is that Zen (AJ's character) comes back in episode 4 for what reason? Why was he there? Why did he get kicked out of school? What does that have to do with Lune? I was actually interested in knowing these things, but I will also acknowledge that they aren't important.

Ivy annoyed me a lot in the beginning because of how possessive and outright aggressive she was. It wasn't until she found out about Star and Lune dating that I actually started to like her at all.

Most of Star's friend group is in love with her. *Eyeroll* I hate this mainly because it's so overdone. Ivy and White going back to being her friends like nothing happened also felt unrealistic. It's almost like they didn't need any space from her at all before they were back to being her friend and watching her love someone else. That would hurt way too much to continue being around them like nothing happened. She didn't really treat them the best either; in my opinion, her lying to them felt more like avoiding the problem than sparing their actual feelings.

I don't think Lune agreeing to keep their dating a secret was right either, but he at least had a good reason. Trauma. Honestly, I'm more upset that he started the relationship in the first place. He knew White liked her, and even if she didn't like him back, that is still your current best friend. Someone who helped make you not invisible to everyone, who included you in things, who made sure that you knew you were welcome. At least do the boy the courtesy of telling him that you like the same girl. I know that Lune is introverted and is afraid of stepping on toes, but he's already doing that by sneaking around and lying.

When Star was being threatened by Sunny/Nana, it led to even more sneaking around and lying, & they ended up hurting White more than if they had just told him the truth from the start. The thing White fears the most is being alone, and while they were dating & Jewel was finding out what love is, that is all they did to the poor boy. It only got worse after the threats, and to be honest, he forgave them way too easily. I don't think it would have gone as smoothly if everything with Nana hadn't happened & Lune hadn't tried to find any way possible to help. Also, I don't think Lune should have taken most of the blame. You've known the boy for a few months (maybe a year), & Star is one of your best friends from middle school. She should have been the one telling White that she liked Lune.

Star was easily my least favorite of the main characters. She was too much of a damsel in distress. One that apparently can't do anything wrong. Not only were she and Sera literally the same character, but also she explains to the 2 people that love her about her problems with Lune instead of the boy himself. SHE was the one who said they should include Sera in things to make great memories of her remaining time with them. The moment she became insecure or felt like he was spending more time with Sera than she should have spoken up. Not talk to other people. Not wait until she became irritated and angry. But talk to Lune and change how things were going. Did she have a right to be mad? Oh, 100%. Sera is Lune's ex who still has feelings for him, and Lune is still attached to her even if it's mainly guilt. Doesn't change the fact that she started it and then was too afraid to speak up and then played the victim like she was the only one in the relationship trying to make things work when she never spoke up. So yeah, she had the right to be mad, but I don't feel sorry for her. The only thing Lune did wrong here was be blinded by the guilt he was feeling and failing to compartmentalize. He deserved an apology from her, but never got it.

The only other thing that I didn't like was that Jewel & Tan didn't get enough screen time to make it believable that a playboy like Jewel just stopped being a playboy for him and got serious. I also wanted to see White and Ivy find love at the end. It didn't have to be with each other, even though I would have liked that, but even a hint would have been nice. They are the characters that get emotionally hurt the most in the series, and they got no love at the end.

So yeah, this is a series that I will never rewatch unless you pay me.