This review may contain spoilers
Far from Perfect, But Better Than Expected
Thanks to the other reviewers, my expectations for this were sufficiently lowered that I actually ended up enjoying it. I would never say this was great, but it had some fun moments and a very attractive lead.
The negatives are this is pretty low budget and it shows with rudimentary lighting and cinematography, and frequent poor audio recording. The setup (the relationship between the boss and the employee) has got to be the most used trope in BLs so that was a little tired. The plotting frequently felt forced and lacking surprises -- you knew he was going to become the star employee despite his early struggles, you knew the fiance wasn't really a fiance from the get-go, and you knew who he was going to end up with from the opening credits. A little more nuance and surprises could have elevated this rote plot. I would have loved to see more shenanigans about his hiding and eventually being discovered as a former idol. I think his character would have felt more developed if they dove deeper into why quit being an idol, which was never explained. A little more back story on how the two boys felt after the were separated as children would have been good. Some more serious work struggles before Lee Jun succeeds at work, and maybe some more authentic feeling of inadequacy when he compared himself to his coworkers, would have made his eventual success feel more triumphant. Some misunderstandings used at twists weren't played out as dramatically as they could have. We knew the moment we heard about the fiance thing that it wasn't real. Wouldn't it have made the drama that more impactful if we thought it was real? Finally, what was up with Song Hyun Jae unrequited love. He never even confessed. Seeing as he was portrayed as a saint, if the writers had really pitted his interest in Lee Jun against Choi Jun's pursuit of him, that would have really given the audience something to pick a team and get behind. Fans would have been much more invested and there probably would have been endless debates on My Drama List about which one was the right boyfriend for Lee Jun. Unfortunately, this production didn't want to think that hard about what was going on.
However, the second lead actor, Ki Hyun Woo, is super easy on the eyes and that goes a long way in holding your attention. Since this series was mostly supported by him being eye candy, I think they could have pushed it a bit further and turned up the heat even more. They could have added some sex scenes or at least shown him shirtless. I appreciated the frankness of where things were going with the box of condoms and the one in his hand at the end, but given the recycled and thin plat that the producers ran with, a little steaminess would have helped a lot. In the end, even despite the recycled plot, Jun & Jun is light, breezy, quick, and mindless -- I watched the whole thing in one night and mostly enjoyed it.
The negatives are this is pretty low budget and it shows with rudimentary lighting and cinematography, and frequent poor audio recording. The setup (the relationship between the boss and the employee) has got to be the most used trope in BLs so that was a little tired. The plotting frequently felt forced and lacking surprises -- you knew he was going to become the star employee despite his early struggles, you knew the fiance wasn't really a fiance from the get-go, and you knew who he was going to end up with from the opening credits. A little more nuance and surprises could have elevated this rote plot. I would have loved to see more shenanigans about his hiding and eventually being discovered as a former idol. I think his character would have felt more developed if they dove deeper into why quit being an idol, which was never explained. A little more back story on how the two boys felt after the were separated as children would have been good. Some more serious work struggles before Lee Jun succeeds at work, and maybe some more authentic feeling of inadequacy when he compared himself to his coworkers, would have made his eventual success feel more triumphant. Some misunderstandings used at twists weren't played out as dramatically as they could have. We knew the moment we heard about the fiance thing that it wasn't real. Wouldn't it have made the drama that more impactful if we thought it was real? Finally, what was up with Song Hyun Jae unrequited love. He never even confessed. Seeing as he was portrayed as a saint, if the writers had really pitted his interest in Lee Jun against Choi Jun's pursuit of him, that would have really given the audience something to pick a team and get behind. Fans would have been much more invested and there probably would have been endless debates on My Drama List about which one was the right boyfriend for Lee Jun. Unfortunately, this production didn't want to think that hard about what was going on.
However, the second lead actor, Ki Hyun Woo, is super easy on the eyes and that goes a long way in holding your attention. Since this series was mostly supported by him being eye candy, I think they could have pushed it a bit further and turned up the heat even more. They could have added some sex scenes or at least shown him shirtless. I appreciated the frankness of where things were going with the box of condoms and the one in his hand at the end, but given the recycled and thin plat that the producers ran with, a little steaminess would have helped a lot. In the end, even despite the recycled plot, Jun & Jun is light, breezy, quick, and mindless -- I watched the whole thing in one night and mostly enjoyed it.
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