I know I'm in the minority here and you don't have to agree with my opinion but for me the biggest let down of this drama was Shi Yoon. And honestly nothing against the guy I just think this role just wasn't for him. Honestly that hoodie and hair style made him look like a Yang Se Jong reject. It's like someone told him to channel the actor and somehow he'd get it right? And when he did finally did start having his own personality toward ep 10 ish it was all still pretty disastrous. But I will say this, the reason I kept watching was definitely Sung Hoon and also the writing, while nothing special, provides for an entertaining watch at least. And the violence is done rather well but while the idea itself of a psychopath dairy was intriguing enough, the rest of the story was a very typical plot -- main lead gets framed for crimes he didn't do and then the villain is found guilty and gets his comeuppance blah blah.

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Okay my honest opinion.

I liked it, a LOT all of the men were freaking gorgeous and total eye candy!

And you know I really like Gun, and Off, White, Mike, and Earth, he's so hot. But when I kept watching I found something was off. And I couldn't put my finger on it and then during a scene it dawned on me why I'm not able to like Off and Gun's chemistry as much as I should. And ok, there's a few reasons for this.

Gun's character pissed me off for a number of reasons.

First, I got the SAME feeling I got watching Tin Can! I know Third keeps SAYING he loves Khai but the thing that used to ruin my viewing pleasure of Love by Chance was that Can seemed borderline homophobic! And Third was THE SAME.

I don't know what it is but there was no conviction in Can's eyes that he was actually enjoying being in close proximity with Tin, and Gun was the same. Like none of their kisses felt REAL. And it definitely wasn't Khai's fault just as it wasn't Tin's fault and their characters actually end up being better people than they were, there's growth and the love feels SINCERE.

This is why I love Shao Fei and Tang Yi, Knock and Korn, Jack and Zhao Li. And even not my favorite but you gotta give it to Ae Pete, Kris and Singto, because both sides CONVINCE you that they freaking are obsessed with each other, every gesture shows it.

And the reason even though I absolutely adore Addicted, I think the character of Gu Hai gives me the same uncomfortable feeling when Tommy Huang seems so sincere and heart felt.

I don't know if this is the fault of the director entirely but yes, they do have to be responsible for not choosing the right person or not making their actors comfortable or whatever it is.

Anyway, I'm still rating it high because despite this fault, this is a good story that I think you should absolutely watch because the script was really good and kind of honest.

But I also feel that Gun's character was again, supposed to be SINCERE, you keep hearing about it, but the only sincerity he does is toward some guy who is super hot and who he doesn't even like as much, but Khai was sincere with him from the beginning, and it's not cheating on Third because they're not in an actual relationship!

Another thing that MAJORLY bugged me was that they kept calling Khai a whore and the insinuation was that he's a bad person because he sleeps around and Third is a good person because he doesn't!

WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK

This is such bs.

So, yes. Entertaining but also problematic like Sotus with their 'bullying is actually good for you' narrative. You have to give it to Love by Chance, Tin and Pete both slept around in their pasts but were never judged for it. Honestly, even bromances have better chemistry than these characters, Hello Monster, Seo in guk makes you feel he'll die without Park Bo Gum and Bo gum is the same. The Guardian bromances, just freaking awesome to watch, The Lost Tomb is full of bromances that will make you feel and love and cry and care about them.. Seondal, Xiumin and Yoo Seung ho. In Family We Trust. The list is endless.

So, it's not impossible.


Oh, and by the way I absolutely adore Two and Aun! Freaking gorgeous and great chemistry! And actual good people. As for Bone, he's gorgeous, but his story line was fine but that ending, just made the entire relationship with the teacher pointless.

Anyway, so that was my honest opinion.

I still liked a lot of it and like I said some of the parts were really sincere and the writing is good.

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This was so good!
Some thoughtful writing and even when there was only six episodes I didn't feel like it was rushed or incomplete! It was just the best couple chemistry from the very first scene!!!

I just feel like that ending I don't like it usually when the guy goes away Where Your Eyes Linger and Your Name Engraved both had it and I read it in Call Me By Your Name ages ago and I loved the book so much but the ending left me in a depression hole lol back when there was no thought of a movie so I still haven't gotten over it.

But somehow it felt really frustrating and similar to Call Me when Your Name Engraved did it ffs that movie broke my heart . But in Linger it doesn't feel as heavy because the overall feel of the show is light angst and honestly this one is even lighter angst so I wasn't hurt by the end just a little disappointed.

I generally don't like bittersweet endings ngl so that's probably just me I prefer either Happy Endings or just plain tragedy. Because tragedy is when someone literally dies for another person. That's HEA for the couple right? But Call Me By Your Name and Engraved where one person chickens out or "goes away" leaving someone you're supposed to love STRANDED just isn't love to me.

So yeah back to WBL I think there's a next season and I won't mind if it becomes a regular thing like History

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From the first frame I was sucked in and couldn't get up till I finished watching. The cinematography is excellent and every scene invokes a distinct, raw feeling inside you as you get deeper into the rabbit hole of poverty and start rooting for this odd family - your first mistake because that's what will break your heart. I know a lot of people compare this with Parasite and sure while the whole poor and strange family unit is there but Parasite is very absurdist and bleak through and through while for the most part Shoplifters is genuinely upbeat providing you with a false sense of security until the rug gets pulled out from under your feet. Because you keep learning more about the characters right down to the last frame. So the sadness you feel in Parasite is also of an existential depressing nature where in Shoplifters its the sadness of loss and grief that feels personal.

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Convoluted and unconventional definitely gruesome and doesn't pull any punches. It's kind of stylistically gives a post-apocalyptic feel like 1984 and Battle Royale, it's going to depress you. I loved the usual eccentricity of Japanese fiction and there's a touch of dark humor as well. Basically, Zera wants to create a society where there are no adults and he has help from a demonic entity who warns him against an uprising and certain death from 'adults' and 'traitors.' And this fear drives him to be ruthless toward everyone and creating a society aka Lychee Light Club to control other young boys. These boys are not allowed to fornicate, or do anything that goes against Zera's orders. All so they are forced to become Zera's minions, including a gigantic machine named Lychee that is programmed to be human and find girls and be Zera's killing machine. But when one of the boys starts raising his voice against Zera's insane level of cruelty, he starts finding other boys who share his distaste of Zera and his rules. At the heart this film shows how evil people try to control others by instilling fears and taking away their basic human rights like being able to find pleasure, in sex and otherwise. How they're propelled by their own fears and end up becoming heartless. And the other recurring motif is of beauty and ugliness, and how no matter how beautiful someone might be, they will eventually get tarnished if nothing the people who were so taken by their beauty alone will see them as ugly when they find something better. That's the superficial nature of beauty worship.

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Some films you see and they change you.

This is one of those films. It comes in the form of something familiar, something nostalgic and becomes more sinister until you feel like you're no longer just watching but living it. And that you were in the nostalgic past and then stepped into a convoluted nightmare where nothing makes sense, and nothing is as it is.

There are rarely any far away shots, the entire movie is shot in extreme close ups, so what you see on screen is actually consistently partly concealed. So even when you're looking at someone there's a sense of secrecy always present, like you're only seeing parts of them and the rest is always off-screen, so much like the characters are trying to figure out the puzzle, so are you.

But the most beautiful effect was the way Rengo LITERALLY brings color to Daikis life in the end. Just mindblowing. This and the scene where in the black and white Daiki goes to meet Suda and when Suda is on the other side he's in bright light but Daiki is half-light half-dark. It was so beautiful because you see that despite being a bit rude the actor is more aware of the puzzle 'who is Rengo,' and also shows that the actor was also way more 'himself' and open than Daiki who seems very closed off in comparison.


And when there are far away shots, they're always usme color and tonal elements to show what a certain character is feeling, especially the use of dark and light, is just pure brilliance.

All the actors feel like a part of the canvas and not just good looking props.




And thanks to kaisrexci for recommending this one I'm so grateful, I might have taken me forever to find it otherwise ! !

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Problematic with flawed characters but beautiful. Just not for people who get triggered easily. For me their passion was just amazing on screen. Both the actors played their characters beautifully and Yashiro was the ultimate kawaii character, you watch them struggling.
But what I absolutely loved about this film was it's portrayal of dysphoria which they did with the utmost sensitivity showing how sad it is to feel like you don't belong to the label society has placed on you.
And a lot of people with dysphoria also suffer from an insecurity about the way they look, and they even touched on this.
Even the confusion of liking someone who isn't the gender you're supposed to like, this fiom in my opinion, did it realistically.

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Asian movies are ruining me for anything else. For the first time a transgressive veteran like me had to keep asking What the hell did I just watch ^_^ I mean I have seen everything from American Psycho to Audition and even I was completely blown away! This movie is a total mind fuck, and one of the best ones at that like Kang Hanuels Forgotten which I honestly never got over and this one delivers the same punch. Seriously if I say anything about the plot it would be a spoiler so if you like dark, mind fuck, and a but gory you'll love this. It's not too much jump scares or gore or even scary faces, mostly just a dark plot.

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Honestly this movie has everything I find engaging in a movie or drama, a brothers story, handsome leads, great actors, and well written angst. Sometimes a movie gets hyped up so you make this image inside your head of what it might be like right? And sometimes you watch the movie and maybe they took a different direction but it's still good, and other times you watch the movie and you knew what you're going to get but the delivery is so predictable it becomes boring. Ok, so what category does this one fit? The category where all your predictions come true and you still haven't moved an inch for about two hours because even though you know how it's going to end, you've become hopelessly involved in the characters. I don't always look for happy endings but for this one I wanted it so bad. Anyway just wow, super intense movie but the brothers relationship it brought me to tears. DO did an excellent job portraying someone with a disability and who's living a life of complete darkness after an injury and his trashy older brother just got out of prison on parole giving the excuse that he's going to take care of his recently disabled younger brother. And even though they start out having some trouble accepting each other when the truth comes out with time and both of them realize what the other must have been through they start getting closer.

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The same brilliantly executed desperation and melodrama that's the beauty of Asian films while being intense and jarringly violent.

I know a lot of people don't like screamers but I can hear Suda Masaki scream at me all day.

I kept thinking about Double Mints when I was watching this. The relationship Shinji (Suda Masaki) has with Barikan (Yang Ik Jun) or with his ex gangster boss had the same undertones of Fuchikami Yasushi and Tanaka Shunsuke's relationships in Double Mints.

The way Suda and Ik Jun bond is so organic and just so much feels ㅜ^ㅜ

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This film made me rethink all my previous rating decisions. I don't know what it is but the kind of projects Suho picks are the kind of stuff I live for. If you know me even a little you'll hear me raving about One Fine Day which is a literary masterpiece and now this, another soulful, profound story that just grabs you and you find yourself helpless. Yes, it's a hard watch because there are no guns blazing, no chaebols, and the story is about real people. The cinematography is beautiful and every single scene is choreographed to tell a story so you don't just experience the plot through spoken dialog. This movie made me extremely sad and just as happy. I don't know what I'll be able to watch after this one. Anyway I fell in love with Kim Hwan Hee's acting who played the role of Jang Mi Rae so well you couldn't see the actor but a sad, lonely girl who just wants to find her place in life. Absolute masterpiece.

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Lee Minki, just wow. So dark and messed up, I seriously ended up hating the brother after everything he did for the older brother, he couldn’t wait to stab him in the back, quite literally. There's this coldness in Minkis eyes that makes you feel both terrified and thrilled at the same time. The indifferent way he reacts to killing especially that chopsticks scene is still in my mind. Honestly, I'm a fan of Go Eun she's great in Goblin but I found her so annoying in this! I don't know if it's just that character probably, but still it was hard to relate to her. Still it's a nice helping of sociopathic serial killer and the revenge of a not so normal girl.

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So, I'm RUINED by this show. Been hours since I watched it last night but I still haven't gotten over it. I don't think it's possible. Because Duel is the kind of show that takes your heart, kicks it hard, keeps kicking, and just when you think you can't take it anymore it grabs it and smashes it on the floor, starts stomping on it repeatedly. You think I’m exaggerating? I'm not. This is one of those shows that get under your skin, you know? Change you. You'll never be the same person. What I loved about this one was that no one sat around drinking soju and eating pork chops ???? (nothing wrong with that, just making a joke) every scene was integral to the story. No filler content. Just sixteen hours of fast paced action, chase, and mystery. Naturally, this is officially going on the list of my top rated shows with I Remember you and White Christmas. I'm in awe of Yang Se Jong who played both characters so well, they felt like two distinct people. A lot of times, I see actors relying on props and make up to play different parts and it comes off as kind of gimmicky. But Se Jong does it all in a subtle way, there's nothing loud or gimmicky about his acting. Of course, he's a great looking kid, with real acting chops. Everything from his body language, to his facial expressions morphs, you start to worry if he has multiple personalities inside his head. His eyes are so expressive, you'll be able to differentiate between the villain's stare and the male protagonist's stare. Se Jong is an amazing actor. The way his whole face, his body reacts to the things and the people around him, it's just mind blowing to watch. So much maturity for such a young age. I don't usually like 'double role' shows where the same actor plays two roles, usually they're not convincing, and like I said end up being corny, but this show is believable. I know I'm going to watch it a million times.

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