Zii3

Too much focus on unhinged antagonists.

(I rate vertical dramas on their own sliding scale. General spoilers only.) I really wanted to like this more than I did. I really liked both leads and loved them together. It was a fun twist that the ML this time around became the air traffic controller because of his secret crush on the FL, while she was a top-tier pilot (there are multiple shows with a similar set-up but with the roles the other way around).

BUT there was way too much time spent on thoroughly annoying and deranged people; three of them: the SML, SFL, and the SML's mother. The show is only 2 hours long and the first half is all about the FL learning about her boyfriend's affair and detangling herself from him. Which was fine; the FL is good and got me invested in her.

However, I was looking forward to the focus shifting off of the SML in the second half. As most of the other shows with a somewhat similar set-up put a lot of focus on developing/building the relationship between the leads, I was expecting this to happen again. But nope. The SML's side of the story (and the people related to him) continues to get as much screen time as the "ML" (in quotes because overall the SML definitely got more screen time).

The relationship between the leads suffers depth because of this. There's definitely magnetism, and it's obvious how much the ML respects and cares for the FL. But there's not enough time for the FL to fully heal from her last relationship, and not enough time with the two leads doing everyday things together. Many of their interactions happen arround the antagonists approaching/interfering with the FL.

It felt like the screenwriters thought, "You know, the audience knows the ML has loved the FL for 7-8 years and is a good guy. We all know they will end up together, so we can just take that for granted and not spend so much effort developing their love story. It's more fun to write obsessed and unhinged people anyway."

The writers also decided to overlook common sense, laws, security, hospital privacy, and airport regulations. So many things happen that just defy reality. Nothing stops the antagonists from going anywhere they want to at anytime, and that includes any area of the airport and it's offices. Restraining orders also don't exist in this world, apparently. And it's the first time I've seen an antagonist put many dozens of innocent people in peril just to take out the FL. Yeesh.

My favorite scene was around the middle of the show, early on in the lead's interactions. The SML comes to get the FL to agree to get back together when the ML is dropping her off. The ML stands away, not interfering. He only steps in to force the SML to let go of her hand/arm after the FL has told the SML to let go. Then the ML steps aside again and lets the FL continue to handle things however she wants to. This happens a couple of times in this scene, as the SML doesn't want to listen to reason, and I just really appreciated the respect for her autonomy and mental strength that this kind of back-up support shows (instead of deciding to take over and try to "fix" things for her without being asked).

So far, my favorite show with a pilot and air traffic controller (that is more realistic and focuses on building the romance) is with Wang YiRan and Hou ChengYue:
https://mydramalist.com/779096-san-wan-ying-chi-de-an-lian
Personally, I recommend watching that one instead.

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Unrealistic plot but sweet, mature slow-burn romance.

(I rate vertical dramas on their own sliding scale.) General spoilers only.
I enjoyed watching the leads fall for each other through mutual respect blossoming into attraction. Though their relationship started as boss and subordinate, they both learned they could trust and depend on each other.

The leads are both into the 1-month waiting period of their divorces before they start letting themselves entertain the idea of liking the other more romantically (not knowing that they are, in fact, each other's "long-lost" spouses). Things start out professionally and then they try to keep it that way for a long time. They are also aware that the other thinks their own spouse hasn't treated them well. So, their relationship didn't feel immoral to me in this specific context.

As for the plot, it's the same as many others, and it's one I'm a little tired of. But I started watching because of Yang Han and ended up enjoying it more than I thought I would, though I did employ fast-forwarding at times. Is the plot ridiculous, yes, but I liked the romance anyway! It's slow-burn and not that steamy. There are more moments of romantic and sexual tension than there are kisses (but there are quite a few of those moments!).

I did really like the ML's internal dialogue about not blaming the kid for his mother's "cheating" (misunderstanding), and their interactions were really nice. The kid is written more like an 8-10 year old (than a 5 year old), but quite cute anyway.

If you are a stickler for logic, this story will drive you nuts. But if you can shrug off glaringly obvious plot contrivances, then give it a try. Just imagine it's an alternate reality where people can't make calls or send emails or letters outside of the country they are in. Also, that a woman has absolutely zero contact with her own family or her husband's family without him. That's the only way to explain why the leads never communicated for 6 whole years while the ML worked abroad immediately following the wedding night when the grandma's drugged both the leads so they would consumate their marriage. And that would explain why the ML's grandmother, and he himself, never knew that the FL was pregnant and gave birth to his child. And that the FL appears to have no relatives at all even though she had a grandmother at the wedding. Lol.

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A different take on this plot premise.

(I rate vertical dramas on their own sliding scale). General spoilers only.
Has the same starting premise as a couple other shows (example Professor Qi Borrowed A Marriage) but a noticeably different take on the story from there.

Things that are different:

The FL did not have a toxic/abusive relationship with the SML.

Both the FL and ML are serious, dignified, and capable. They are not hesitant, soft people.

It is apparent to the FL pretty quickly that the ML has liked her for a long time and had designs on her.

The FL is a bit cold but it came across as guarded and jaded. She knew her godparents coveted the money her parents left her, and also knew once she got her grandfather's inheritance upon her marriage that it would be a target for any family she married into. (Similar to the other shows, she starts to show more warmth and some liveliness as her relationship with the ML progresses. She also starts to smile more, and more widely, as she falls for the ML and enjoys their relationship.)

The FL can fight back well enough to protect herself from sexual assault; doesn't need to be rescued. Yay!

The ML is a bit eager and pushy in progressing the steps of their relationship (in everything, but doesn't over-push sexually at least). He is possessive and a bit shameless. But he is also a good communicator, admires the FL as she is, and does his best to support and protect her. He is also quite lustful.

The SML does care about the FL but even though they are about to be engaged to be married, he feels like she's too cold. So he gets drunk and pretends to hang with another girl while saying disrespectful things about the FL. He was hoping to force a reaction from her to show that she cared about him. So his endless pursuit of her after she breaks it off with him makes more sense than the shows with the cheating guys who do a complete 180. He's still not likeable, but he's not a bad guy either.

Other notes:

There are lots of realistic kiss scenes, though most are quite brief. As their relationship progresses, the kisses become mutually passionate. There is also some flirting and sexually charged dialogue along with moments of romantic and sexual tension. There was enough sweetness to have me smiling at times.

There are some dramatic plot elements, but it felt like most of the focus remained on the leads.

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Push & pull dynamic into sweetness and partnership.

(I rate vertically filmed micro dramas on their own sliding scale.)
Fantastic chemistry with lots of intimacy, great acting all around, good plot with people using their heads smartly, the lead couple has a captivating push and pull dynamic (between seduction, true feelings, and misgivings) and then transition into sweetness and working together, and a satisfying happy ending. The leads are also together officially quite a bit before the end, which was awesome and increased satisfaction. Even the music was well done with this one and enhanced multiple moments.
Intimacy was fairly realistic and passionate, lots of high sexual tension moments, lots of kisses from lip presses to big movements, multiple makeout scenes, and some skinship. Breath sounds were kept in. Actors looked very comfortable with each other.

The ML manhandles the FL a couple times when he's hurt/frustrated, but is basically a green flag. The FL takes a long time to get over her misgivings and the ML makes a good argument on how selfish she's been now and in the last 5 years. But they finally clear up the misunderstandings and from there move forward together with full trust and support.

I love how the leads are smart enough to be successfully proactive with the main SFL antagonist. It's very satisfying how they, and their friends/family, deal with her craziness.

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Cleverish plot with humor and some romance and mystery.

(I rate vertically filmed micro dramas on their own sliding scale). General spoilers below. Made me chuckle or laugh out loud multiple times. Overall smartly written and quite enjoyable and satisfying; left me with a smile on my face. Gu Ming Han's facial expressions as the ML are fantastic and so fun to watch (a large part of the high rewatch value for me).

I loved the premise and thought the show did a good job with it. It was fun and interesting that the ML could hear all the FL's thoughts, and the audience gets to hear plenty of the ML's thoughts too. Because the FL gets reborn in the body of a girl that was lazy and desperate for attention, it takes her awhile to change people's opinion of her.
The mysteries of who was behind what schemes was pretty quickly obvious to the audience, yet the leads figured things out at a believable rate and in a logical way (especially the ML).

Though this has a higher rating on my personal sliding scale, my guess would be that the ML may turn some people off. Because the overall tone of the show stayed light, I enjoyed this despite the ML acting like more of a d*ck than he needed to (with his words) for about 2/3rds of it (not sadistic, though there are choke holds very early on before he starts believing the FL is a different person than before). He does start to redeem himself and I can imagine him fully redeeming himself over time (we just don't see their life past their wedding). His actions improve fairly early on as he gets over his suspicions of the FL and starts to like her, but his words send mixed signals as he tends to mask his intentions; he'll protect her, but then make light of it. Two things I appreciated about this character that many in vertical dramas don't do: 1) It's a process, but the ML is willing to question his perception of the SFL and starts to put his guard up around her even before he fully believes she's as bad as the FL's internal thoughts indicate. 2) Later on, he recognizes in his own thoughts that he has some work to do to win over the FL because of how he's previously acted (though his words still take a while to catch up).

There are a couple moments of sexual tension, a couple suggestive lines, and a satisfying lip press kiss near the end. The FL shows and has thoughts about desiring the ML too. Happy ending with their wedding and another brief lip press.

All actors were good and fit their parts well. The SFL and SML have some psychological issues and try to murder multiple people to get what they want, but they stay plausible and believable (did not turn into caricatures).

Watched with good English subtitles on licensed channel @RomanticDramaTV (浪漫短劇社RomanticDrama) in Nov 2024:
https://youtu.be/crwP_GO0OYo?si=kc8O7c1IK5OQ43RJ

Update: I rewatched in May 2025 and it made me laugh out loud multiple times again. I really enjoyed it and didn't fast-forward anything even though I remembered most of the big plot points. I'm pretty sure I'll even watch it again. So I've raised the rating in my list to 9.5 instead of 9. I wish there were just a few more sweet/romantic scenes, but I do appreciate that the story is tightly woven.

Watched with good English subtitles on an authorized channel:
https://youtu.be/x0aQ0braMxY?si=hw499vK8knUIuByG

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Surprisingly Good

A vertically filmed micro drama (I rate these on their own sliding scale). The screenplay and acting (of the leads) is better than many stories with the same basic plot points (I will refer to these as "plot clones" below). This one had multiple things that exceeded my expectations and thus I've rated it a little higher than I might otherwise; it managed to be more fresh, interesting, and even thoughtful in spots (when compared to other plot clones). I may even rewatch this after some time has passed.

Both leads are good actors (enough so that I'll be looking up their other works) and they have great chemistry, and that's a good enough selling point for many.
What sets this production apart from many plot clones, in my opinion, is that:

General Spoilers below:

- Both lead characters were likeable
- While there was some push-and-pull between the leads (due to misunderstandings from other's lies), there was never any real animosity
- There were a couple of clever/funny/memorable lines.
- The FL was written as a genuine and smart character who was hardworking and had some skills beyond looking pretty.
- The ML starts to admire her quickly, and it actually makes sense, and he looks at her with warmth a lot.
- There are more kisses and intimate scenes than just the one at the beginning (though short they are satisfying).
- There is a wonderfully unique reaction of the FL to an advance made by the ML while he's drunk (I don't want to spoil it by saying more, but you will definitely know when you see it!)
- The screenplay actually shows the leads figuring out and processing all the lies they were each told and some of the emotional impact of that.
- There is satisfying retribution for the main antagonist.
- The SML (childhood friend) remains respectful of the FL and her feelings/choices.
- There's a cute/sweet proposal moment.
- Though not subtle, there are some good messages
- There are likeable and supportive parents or grandparents for the leads.

Now, there IS a reprehensible SFL who is desperate for the ML and does all sorts of shenanigans to get him, but that was expected (it's integral to these plot clones).

The costumes were good and flattering for both leads, and the red wedding dress at the end is gorgeous.

The English subtitles where I found it are sufficient; not great but not the worst I've seen either. The Humor in dialogue still manages to come across. The pronouns are often wrong ("he" instead of "she" for example) but that's a common mistake because, as I understand it, Mandarin doesn't have gender pronouns (just uses "ta" to refer to another person).

Thank you to Jwells who shared in a comment on the main page multiple links for this series on YouTube with English subtitles.

SPECIFIC SPOILERS below on the ending and the very basic plot points that this series shares with other plot clones.

... ... ...

It's a HE with the leads starting the walk down the aisle for their marriage. The actual ceremony is not shown but it's a joyful and sweet ending shot.

Basic plot for this and other clones:
- A drunk/drugged one night stand with a stranger
- FL finds out she works for the ML who is a CEO
- ML doesn't recognize her
- The SFL takes advantage of this and pretends she was the one night stand and makes the ML "take responsibility" by becoming her boyfriend
- The SFL tries to sabotage the FL at work but this only enables the FL to showcase her good qualities
- The FL turns out to be pregnant
- The SFL pretends to be pregnant to force the ML to stay with her
- The ML eventually figures out that the FL was his one night stand and he is the father

There were a few other things that happened with the plot in this version in addition to the basics listed above.

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Memorable. Ep 1-4 are very thoughtful & Ep 5-8 are more melodramatic.

General spoilers only. "You can't help if you fall for a boy or a girl, or someone else." About multiple characters who feel different from "normal" in various ways. Characters experience a lot of yearning and pining (a lot of it is romantic in nature though characters also yearn to fit in or to find their place in life too), internal struggles and insecurity, and waivering back & forth.

The two main characters are blood-related siblings, so this is best watched with a non-judgmental approach, otherwise you might want to skip this one. There is also an openly gay secondary character and a tertiary character who loves their step-sibling (not related by blood).

There are great messages explored throughout the screenplay about questioning societal norms, mores, and expectations (especially when it doesn't hurt others- the people who feel like outliers are the ones that are hurt by trying to conform to other's opinions), deciding what's right for one's self, not being passive in one's own life, and more in that vein.

Nothing is handled lightly, by the story as a whole or by the individual characters. Various concerns about each character's feelings and their situations are explored. There are voice-over thoughts from multiple characters.

This is NOT a spicy story. There is some skinship but not a lot, two light lip presses, and one brief scene near the end that only implies the two lead characters slept together.

Technically I would rate this a 7.5/10 overall, but there were a few things I loved about it, and it engaged my thoughts and emotions enough to be quite memorable so I'm giving it an 8/10.

The first half is well crafted and thoughtful. I would give Ep 1-4 a 9/10. The second half gets more melodramatic in ways that I found excessive at times and I would rate Ep 5-8 a 6/10; the plot starts feeling less realistic and increasingly stretches credulity. A couple of actions or reactions didn't feel quite in line with a character's previous build. Overall I still found it pretty satisfying though; it helped that the show starts at the end before going back in time so I already had an idea of how things were going to work out. That allowed me to mostly shrug off the frusterations in storytelling and character actions as I watched things unfold in the second half.

All of the actors (except the mother) were very well suited for their rolls. Suzuki Jin, Yamashita Mizuki, and Ito Asahi were especially enjoyable to watch and almost immediately got me invested in their characters. The mother, on the other hand, is extra in a way that is not written or acted particularly well. Which makes her even more annoying. Luckily she's not around much.

General Spoilers below.

The number of times people dramatically drop to the ground (in faints or illness) is ridiculous. I could handle one, but after that it breaks credulity.

I loved one of the internal thoughts of a character with unrequited love. The character being daunted by the difficulty and hopeless pain of it was so relatable; "You want to be best friends forever? Then I can't tell you forever."

FYI SIDE NOTE ON SUBTITLES:
I could only find this streaming in the USA on KissAsian (as a last resort) in February 2024. Ep 4-8 all had lagging subtitle issues. It would be fine for about the first 15min of every episode and then the rest would lag behind by multiple sentences.
So I recommend checking if this is going to happen in whatever platform you find it on before starting to avoid frusteration.

Edit: I ended up downloading the video and subtitle files on my computer in order to re-watch it properly.

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Lovely, With Heart-Warming Plot Twist.

The plot twist is easily missed because the translation of a word at the end is ambiguous in English! When the word "couple" is said during a phone call, think of it as "life partner" or "romantic partner". That will clarify the twist. This is based on Stongberry's (the production company) responses to viewer's comments here & on other platforms.

20min. Loved this, only wish there was more, but it ends at a good spot. The 2 leads actually interact like an established couple. It's realistic and so cute/sweet. The arrival of the brother leads to both humorous and emotional moments. The twist at the end made me rewatch the film immediately and I enjoyed it even more!

Yes, the brother is rude and annoying when he arrives, but there IS a reason for this that the shift in perspective at the end explains. (Details under "spoilers" below, but I highly recommend watching the movie first.)

A nice comment from Strongberry on Vimeo said, "Sometimes we argue, but I think trying to understand each other is a true family. This movie wanted to show that kind of family."

Watch the movie first, then, if you still want clarification on why the brother acts as he does, I've shortly explained it then pasted another viewer's comment below that summarizes the situation AND Strongberry's response confirming it:

.........

SPECIFIC SPOILERS

.........

At first, the brother is rude on purpose to test out his brother's partner. At the end, a month has passed and the way all three of them walk up the hill with arms around each other shows they have grown a strong comaraderie, which indicates the brother doesn't stay unlikable.

Comment by estar:
"This was so sweet - especially when u get to the end and u "get" that the mother and brother know all along, and are just checking up on the big-brother's partner to make sure he is an "ok" worthy person. Yeah at the start Yeong Min is a total abrasive brat, that u wanna punch - but "getting" that he's not being a d*ck just to be a d*ck, it was a sweet conclusion to a otherwise fun, well thought out plot."

Response by Strongberry:
"...You have a good grasp of the meaning of this movie. Thank you."

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Good For 1 Watch. Missing Some Emotional Stepping Stones.

Very general spoiler on the ending only. Definitely good for one watch but I may not rewatch as it wasn't very emotionally engaging for me. The fight scenes are great, intimacy is fairly realistic and there's more of it than the average Korean BL, the acting is strong (9.5/10 for the two leads, 7-8/10 for everyone else), and the plot-twist is surprising. I was glad I watched it but didn't feel completely satisfied afterwards, even though the ending is happy.

The review by Rent343 on MDL puts into words some of what I was feeling (my own notes are below this quoted excerpt): https://mydramalist.com/profile/Rent343/review/63835
"...I dunno, it felt like I was reading a sparknotes summary for a great novel. I got all the big facts/ plot points but the delivery took little to no time to make those facts emotionally significant..."

MY NOTES:
That's what I felt too- like it was the Sparknotes to a greater story. I missed the romantic build of the connection between the characters (both by text before they met and then after) so when conflict came, the stakes didn't feel as high as they could have. They still felt like a few-dates-old crush. I mentally knew they were in love because the audience was told so, and they were certainly cute/sweet to watch, but I didn't feel it emotionally. I was rooting for them and the plot-twist scene did tug at my heartstrings, but I kept feeling like too many chunks of the story were missing/skipped to feel fully connected and satisfied.

It didn't help that there was absolutely no sense of time. It felt like they had only known each other for a few days, which is why their love confessions didn't feel that strong. It's possible multiple weeks passed, but who knows!

Some side threads are annoyingly left in the air, like the reason behind the plot-twist. A character says they will tell another everything but the audience never gets to hear it!

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Tongue-In-Cheek Clever-Silly And Romantic.

Lighthearted, fun, sweet, and cute with emotional depth that kind of sneaks up on you.
It's special because while it has many tropes/clichés that are often predictable, they're purposefully taken 1 to 2 steps further in unexpected ways. Because of this, the whole series is very humorous instead of cringworthy. They do it very well. Things are done/acted a little dramatically but earnestly at the same time. I was really impressed with the whole cast.

In real life the type of behavior Noey exhibits towards Thi is full of red flags and could lead to trauma bonding (unpredictable hot/cold, threatening/rewarding, etc). In this fictional tale however, I was able to enjoy the well done tropes of enemies-to-lovers, bully/nerd, and hard to others but soft to the love interest. It takes some time but Noey's character does mature and redeem himself beautifully.

FYI in the last episode keep watching because the epilogue continues through the credits and all the way to the end.

It was a little tricky for me to tell the grades and age difference of the main characters, especially at the beginning. I believe Noey starts the series about 16 yrs old and Thi is 5 years older as a junior in college, so about 21. Noey starting so young in the story works because he's young enough to act as immature as he starts out being.

The age difference was never made weird in this story, which I appreciated. Young people can fall in love too. And as MidwesternLibrarian says on Reddit, "I don't mind their fictional age gap because there is no way Thi is manipulating Noey. Noey is going to do what Noey wants to do." Truer words were never spoken, lol!

General Spoilers below.
There is a good amount of romantic attraction/tension that is tastefully done keeping the age of the characters and actors in mind, two interupted almost-kisses, and a very basic kiss at the end. (Which I was totally fine with, especially since Tar who played Noey would have been 17-18 at the time of filming.)

I loved how the miscommunications in the first few episodes lead them into falling for each other instead of falling out, lol.

There is some medium angst near the end but it is resolved and the ending is satisfying.

I likely won't watch again on my own but it could be fun to see with other people.

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Emotional Platonic Bond, Heartwarming & Heartbreaking.

Not a BL and I feel it's misleading to market it as a romance. There was maybe potential for that but then you learn the angel is around 16 while the adult is in his 30s. It felt more like big and little brother to me. Seemed like a redemption of sorts for Koki's guilt about his own little brother.

Heartwarming and heartbreaking with an ending that is hopeful and really sad at the same time.

General Spoilers below.
It started somber but with some lovely understated humor and then got really heavy. It did get more positive and hopeful but it was heartbreaking at the same time because the angels's wings filling in meant he would leave at some point. The very last couple shots were weird and not satisfying; it seemed to imply an open ending but just left me confused.

It's too heavy and unsatisfying for me to watch more than once but it was well done, and well acted. I'm glad I watched it once as it did have some poignant messages handled in a tactful way.

Trigger warnings for accidental death, suicide, violence, and bullying.

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Epic Friendship More Than Romance

Overall I enjoyed it and I would recommend it, just know you'll be watching for an epic friendship more than a romance. As a story it's an 8, as a romance it's a 6. A good ensemble show.

The sci-fi element was really well thought through and there were no plot holes or threads left hanging. Everything stayed true to the "rules" that were set for this world. There were quite a few moments I laughed outloud and only a couple of spots I fast-forwarded (either because it felt slow or because the messages were repetitive to what I've seen in other shows).

All of the characters were written and acted like real people (no 2-dimensional caricatures), except for maybe the main character Kawai who was borderline a little shallow as a character. Kawi did have some character development but he was often annoying and rarely acted his age (both in how he was written and acted).

Krist and Fluke (Gawin) have best friend vibes but not romantic chemistry. Fluke was believable as a gay character who is somwhat attracted to Kawi and wishes for more, but it never feels truly reciprocated. Krist has difficulty acting attracted, and the writers and director didn't help by making his character freak out and avoid physical affection apart from a few kisses.

Even after they've been together for many years Kawi seems put-off by touching, teasing, and sweet words. This trend in BLs is so unrealistic, annoying, and frustrating to me. It's like disguised homophobia that is supposed to be viewed as "cute". It's not, and it negatively affects my satisfaction with the series.

There are a couple of catchy songs, one of which I added to my playlist.

Great for one watch but I probably won't see it again.

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Cute & Sweet With Earnest & Thoughtful Characters.

Edit Jan 2024: increased my ratings after re-watching with proper subtitles after the international release. These two boys do actually put effort into communicating with each other, and keep trying even though they are interrupted at almost every turn. I think the only thing that didn't interrupt them was an animal, lol.

A simple but very well done childhood friends to lovers story with good acting, soft cinematography, and no unlikable characters. Lots of mutual uncertainty and sweetness. All angst is resolved by the end.

An easy watch with eight 20min episodes. Also known as "I Cannot Reach You".

In the USA, I first watched it in Nov 2023 with fan subtitles, which were obviously awkward but better than nothing. In Dec 2023 it was released internationally and became available on Neflix and I re-watched it. The proper subtitles made a big difference! It noticeably increased my enjoyment and satisfaction with the characters, their bond, and their efforts at navigating their complex feelings with each other. Though I tried to give the dialogue a pass in my initial review because of the circumstances, I have now raised my rating a full star (to 9/10). I will watch again.

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Great Sci-Fi Idea But No Character Growth.

GENERAL SPOILERS below.
What the hell was the point of what they went through? The relationship arc could have been the exact same even if there had been no cyber lover. You could just jump from 7min into the movie to the last scene because the characters are pretty much emotionally and psychologically at the same point regardless of the stuff in-between. "Happy ending" my foot. *They didn't re-learn to love each other, didn't even put any effort into doing so*, but somehow they're back together at the end anyway. Mutually grieving the loss of their happy early days does not equal a good reason to stay together.

I wasn't able to root for any of the characters because they were unlikable without enough reasons/examples to make it understandable why they were that way. I did end up feeling the most pity for Wen, but that didn't translate into liking, and I really couldn't understand the last couple of choices he made for his own sake at the end.

The ideas in the movie are definitely new and intriguing. That's what kept me watching all the way through. Unfortunately, the exploration of themes felt shallow to me. The main characters started, stayed, and ended sadly reminiscing about the beginning of their relationship. They were stuck regretting that their relationship was no longer like that *without actually doing anything or taking any steps to make it better going forward*. Even at the end! Lots of regret but very little shown of their growth (individually or as a couple). That's what frustrated me the most about this story.

The sci-fi stuff does require a lot of suspension of disbelief but they do an okay job world-building their own rules with what's possible.

The timeline is so unrealistic. It took 2 days to "love" a cyber "person" with no real personality of their own; he was like a 1-dimensional puppy. The story jumps around abruptly and simultaneously doesn't give enough build-up to either the past human relationship or the current cyber one.

There are some hot intimate moments and there is kissing and making out. Unfortunately, the intimacy lacked emotional depth, so it felt flat and unsatisfying to me.

The audio track was really low quality. Most of the time it sounds like listening through a phone call or under water, especially whenever Wen played music. It's bearable, but definitely noticeable. It's so bad I'm wondering if it was an issue with where I streamed it from or if it is indeed the original sound? (Found on GagaOOlala Nov 2023).

Other than the idea of the plot and the decent acting, this felt like a waste of time.

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Lead Actors Are Great, The Rest "Sucks".

Vampire BL. A General Spoiler on the ending only. Acting 8.5, Chemistry & kiss 10, Plot & script 3, Cinematography 5, Music 6, Rewatchability 2.
Pointlessly stupid choices by ALL of the characters at least once, and an unnecessarily sad ending. Left me with an incredulous and irritated "WTF, WHY???" feeling. Most of the contrived angst could have been so easily avoidable.

I can't recommend this unless you are a fan of the lead actors (as I am). Watch them in Roomates Of Poongduck 304 instead, which is a fun and better fleshed-out series. Then after that, maybe watch the kiss scene here as an extension of those characters in your mind. It's at the beginning of Episode 8. I would have found that immensely more satisfying than how I felt watching this whole series. I will say Kim Ji Woong's visuals really work well as a vampire though!

The two leads and their magnetic chemistry with each other are the best reason to watch this very short series. Seven 10min episodes and the eighth episode is 20min. It's obvious why they were cast in Roomates Of Poongduck 304 after this. Their kiss is realistic and full of passion and there's even a brief morning-after scene, which is uncommon in Korean BLs.

The story is very generic and the only surprises are how stupid and unrealistic character choices are. There are also an untenable amount of plot holes because the world building is so poorly done.

There's not enough time spent building up the connection between the lead characters to warrant the deep love they have. The "explanation" of the lead vampire's past, which drives all his current decisions, was barely touched on and left a lot of remaining questions. Like, what lead up to him being in that state in the first place? The female friend, and certainly the male vampire "friend", are arguably unnecessary. The time on them would have been better spent focusing on the emotional and relationship arc of the leads.

Also, MJ Koontz's review is absolutely hilarious:
https://mydramalist.com/profile/soundinfinite/review/195237

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