Missing Romantic Conflicts
This show was not what I expected it to be. From the description and trailers, I expected a lot more romantic tension and miscommunication between the leads. Instead, this story ended up being a lot less about the relationship and more about family circumstances.Dokrak (Bonnie) agrees to help her brother Kawi (Sing) win over Pam (Emi) by drawing her postcards. Everything seems to be going well between Kawi and Pam, but as Dokrak and Pam also become closer, it's clear that Dokrak has feelings for her. As Pam insists on learning more about Dokrak's strained relationship with her family, it's hard to tell what Pam's motives are - her feelings for Kawi, emerging feelings for Dokrak, or personal gain. Once Pam and Dokrak become closer, the two will have to choose between keeping the peace or revealing their feelings.
I wanted so much more from this relationship. I was super excited to see Emi and Bonnie together, and while I loved their portrayal of these characters, everything felt too easy for the relationship. I wanted more conflict with Kawi, more angst, and more hardship for the main two. It just felt like after they were together, the relationship immediately had no impact on the story. This show definitely revolves more around family issues for both characters, and their relationship fades into the background after the first few episodes. While I thought they had great chemistry (and hope to see them act together again), I do wish we could have gotten a little more relationship drama and a little less family drama. Still a fun watch, but left me wanting a bit more.
Was this review helpful to you?
Incredible Thriller to Binge
I think some of the low ratings here are from people that expected this to be a BL because Fluke is a main character. It's not. But it is an amazing thriller series that will have you constantly wanting to watch the next episode.Dan is a new transfer student to St. Lawrence all-boys school. He quickly learns of a kid named Trin who went missing the year prior, and the other students found it strange that Dan sat in the exact desk that Trin did. Dan begins looking into Trin's disappearance a bit more, with the help of his friends, and it seems as though things are more complicated than he thought.
However, Dan has more pressing matters than Trin's disappearance. A shadow figure keeps appearing in his dreams and attempting to kill him. This worsens, and begins to happen even while he's awake. With the help of his friend Nai, who can see ghosts, Dan tries to keep his reality separate from his dreams - though the ghosts and shadow man make this difficult. As these encounters worsen, Dan realizes these visions may be tied to Trin after all...
This show had me on the edge of my seat every episode. Watching the main character start to lose his mind in his attempts to distinguish what's real and what isn't was truly a highlight for me, and Singto's performance as Dan was outstanding. The effects were good, and the twists and turns the storyline took were absolutely excellent. The only reason this wasn't a 10/10 was because the ending could have been wrapped up a bit better, but overall it was excellently done. However, if you're looking for a new BL with Fluke, this isn't it. Still, give it a shot if you like thrillers/supernatural horror/etc.
Was this review helpful to you?
A Business Gay Performance
This show is not good. I'll start there. However, it is hilarious. If you watch it like you're watching a badly scripted SNL skit, it's AWESOME.The plot is Nine and Mill are debuting together in a group with the concept of "business gay performance," which is essentially fanservice. Naturally, the two of them realize that they have feelings for each other as well. The pacing of the show is totally off, the script is bad, and the acting is worse. It's basically them acting out poorly-written fanfiction. It's never as queer as you want it to be, and instead you're left laughing at the absurdity of the show. I enjoyed watching every episode of this and laughed real hard at it. Don't go in with high expectations. It's probably only worth watching if you're a fan of onlyoneof, in which case the plot seems very fitting considering the group's concept.
Was this review helpful to you?
Cute!
Being honest here: I only watched this because I'm a fan of Omega X. However, I was pleasantly surprised by how good it was! I'm always going to criticize the typical format of KBLs, because there's rarely enough time to actually accomplish what they want to do with the show. I feel like this show had the perfect amount of romance, plot, and conflict for the time that it had! Was it the best show ever? Maybe not. Was it super fun to watch? Absolutely.Na Aejoon (Kevin) is a high school teacher and long-time fan of idol group A-One. It just so happens that his bias, Choi Siyeol, ends up doing a variety show at the high school Aejoon works at - and asks specifically for Aejoon to show him around. Aejoon tries to play it cool around Siyeol, making sure he doesn't know that he's a fan, but when Siyeol starts flirting with Aejoon, that becomes much more difficult. However, Siyeol's motives for flirting with Aejoon aren't clear, especially as conflicts with other group members resurface.
Like I said, I mostly watched this for Kevin (and he was ADORABLE in it), but I ended up really enjoying it! If you're looking for a short, cute, and fun show, this is definitely a good one to watch. I wanted more for the side couple but, again, this show was short. If you like idol romance, or are just a fan of big height differences in couples, give this one a try!
Was this review helpful to you?
Surprisingly Predictable
Overall, I thought Knockout was a solid show. I really enjoyed the boxing plotline, and I'm glad there was a good evil villain. However, I felt that none of the twists were all that surprising, and that I was never fully invested in the story because of it.When Keen (Nice) loses his father, his father's friend tells him that if he ever needs help, he should call him. Soon after, Keen learns of his father's debt and the debt collectors won't leave him alone. In a desperate moment, he calls his dad's friend, who sends Thun (Gunner) to help. Keen learns of his dad's friend's boxing gym, and starts staying there along with Thun. Keen becomes the gym's promoter and starts setting up fights for Thun. The two develop a relationship while navigating the debt collectors and other drama in the boxing world.
This show would've been better if I had waited until it all came out to watch it I think. The twists just weren't quite interesting enough to keep me fully invested. That being said, I really enjoyed the couples in this show and thought it was a fun watch. If you like boxing and action, it's worth giving this show a chance.
Was this review helpful to you?
CUTE!!!
I honestly had no intention of watching this show, but decided to give it a shot when it started airing and oh BOY am I glad I did! This show was unexpectedly good - the characters are realistic high school boys with the exact type of problems you'd expect high school relationships to have, and this realism really makes the show enjoyable. I think that Kim and Mon (ChokunAston) stole the show, but I really loved all the characters and would highly recommend this if you're looking for something cute and lighthearted.Shane (Mick) is top of his class and the first pick to be a tutor for Kit (Luke), who has never cared about school. While Shane is attempting to get Kit to care about his grades, Kit tries to get Shane to loosen up and have fun. As the two try to teach each other, they become closer and feelings begin to emerge. Meanwhile, Mick's friend Kim (Chokun) has always had bad luck with love, with most of his relationships ending before they can even really begin. It's love at first sight when Kim sees the new transfer kid Mon (Aston), and even though his friends fear it will end within a day, this crush blossoms into much more as Kim and Mon get closer. However, all relationships come with problems, and navigating the end of high school while figuring out a relationship is never easy.
Truly, the best word to describe this show is "cute" and I mean that in the sense that every couple was adorable! This show reminded me a lot of s1 of Heartstopper, mostly because of these new relationships and high school problems plus some super fun and cute editing in the show. While none of these couples were known pairings or anything beforehand, they all did a WONDERFUL job portraying these characters. It might not have the deepest or most intense plot ever, but the lightheartedness of the show was such a breath of fresh air. I'd highly recommend this one if you're looking for something on the lighter, more fun side!
Was this review helpful to you?
Great Characters, Messy Plot
Obviously, when GMM announced a Taming of the Shrew adaptation about hitmen with Firstkhao, it felt like they designed a show just for me. I had super high expectations going into this, and the actors delivered. I found myself super invested in all four of the main characters and both couples felt well developed and explored. Unfortunately, the plot (especially towards the end) felt like it was missing something to tie it all together.Kant (First) is blackmailed by a cop to investigate two brothers running a burger joint, since there's reason to believe these brothers are actually hitmen. When Kant learns that the younger brother Bison (Khaotung) is his one night stand from the other night, he sees an easy way in. However, Fadel (Joong), Bison's older brother, cotinues to get in his way of pursuing Bison. Bison, who clearly has feelings for Kant already, convinces him to set Fadel up with someone to get him out of their hair. Kant bribes his best friend Style (Dunk) to help, but it winning over Fadel seems nearly impossible. As the two friends get closer to the pair of brothers, they start falling in love for real. When the pressure of the cops and the fear of the hitmen collide, Kant and Style have to figure out a way to save their love and themselves.
The Heart Killers starts out mostly as a romcom, but with hitmen. It's fun, it's oddly light, and the random bowling alley dance scene didn't even feel all that out of place. As the story ramps up, it's clear they wanted a bit of a darker vibe, but totally missed the mark on it. I feel like if they set the tone in the beginning, it could've worked a lot better. It also felt like the last few episodes were rushing to get in all the plot, and left aspects of the story feeling unfinished and unsatisfying. I think it's been super fun to watch GMM try out more genres, but it seemed like their ratios of sexy scenes to plot-relevant scenes was a bit too high. That being said, it was still a super fun watch and a great performance from all the actors involved.
Was this review helpful to you?
SO different from the description
This show being described as some high schoolers getting into illegal business does not describe what's actually going on here. It's not about some little petty crimes these high schoolers commit - in fact, I'd argue it's not about the crime at all. This show is about the downfall of Oh Jisoo, our main character.Oh Jisoo is a high school student that fully supports himself. He's got no family or friends to lean on, and no drive to seek help. He takes care of himself; however, he needs money to do that. Jisoo runs a protection service for sex workers, but remains anonymous to his clients. He sends in help when it's needed, takes a cut of the pay, and never has to meet his clients face to face. However, when Gyuri, a girl from school, starts learning of Jisoo's activities, she wants in. You watch Jisoo, who was doing just fine on his own, slowly crumble as everything he has built falls apart with no way for him to right his wrongs.
I was super excited about this show, especially because of the high ratings, but was fairly disappointed. The first 8 episodes felt like minor conflicts were being drawn out for no reason, and honestly I wasn't really rooting for a single character in this. However, I will say that the ending was perfect and the last episode kept me very entertained. For a shorter series, it was a fairly enjoyable watch, but I found myself not paying attention to large portions of it because it felt like a lot of conflicts didn't matter. I do think if you go into it knowing that the true story here is not about the sex work or the crimes, but about watching our main character fall apart over the course of the show, it would be a much more engaging watch. Every issue he faces builds on top of the last, and with no ability to resolve his problems, Oh Jisoo slowly loses his mind.
Was this review helpful to you?
More romance than fantasy
I expected this to be a fantasy romance similar to Tale of the Nine Tailed (also starring Jo Boah), but was a bit disappointed in the lack of fantasy elements! The plot revolves around Hongjo (Boah) who is given a spellbook from Shinyu (Rowoon) and decides to use the love spell to make her work crush fall in love with her. Naturally, things go wrong. Meanwhile, Shinyu desperately needs her to cast a spell to cure his disease that is seemingly incurable, and worsening. After the first few episodes though, these fantasy elements seem to be totally lost! While past lives and family history get brought up, I thought there would be a lot more going on with the spells/generational curse/etc. than there was.Watch for the romance and it's a fantastic show. Rowoon and Boah have great chemistry as the main couple and are super fun to watch. But if you wanted to watch this for the fantasy elements, they're not there in much capacity when compared with other fantasy romances.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Unfinished and Unsatisfying
While watching this drama, I LOVED it. I had recently finished Devil Judge with Ji Sung and wanted to watch something else with him in it and this seemed like the perfect drama for me. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time and it was super fun to watch.Then, as we neared the end, I started to wonder how they could wrap this show up. So many loose ends, so much unsolved still. I was excited to see how they would pull it off!! And then they didn't pull it off at all. It felt like when an American show thinks it'll be renewed for another season but it gets canceled and doesn't have an actual ending to it. If it had a proper ending, it would've been a FANTASTIC drama.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
AMAZING
This review might be a bit lengthy because I have a lot to say about this show so here we go.I was super excited for Moonlight Chicken, mostly because of First but also because everything I've seen by Aof has been amazing. The hype around this one was just crazy, especially for an 8 episode series, so I was a little worried that it wouldn't live up to my expectations. It surpassed them.
It tells the story of Jim (Earth), who runs a chicken rice shop with his nephew Li Ming (Fourth). One night after close, Jim sees Wen (Mix) still at the diner, passed out from a night of drinking. The two hook up and as much as Jim wants for it to not be complicated and to stay as a simple one night stand, of course it gets complicated. While Jim and Wen work things out, there's still Gaipa (Khaotung) who has been in love with Jim for some time now, and Alan (First) who Wen broke up with after a five-year long relationship. In short, things are messy, complicated, and wonderful to watch.
In terms of the unmessy events, we've got Jim's nephew Li Ming (Fourth) and Heart (Gemini) who end up becoming friends when Li Ming has to work for Heart's parents to pay off a debt. Heart became deaf three years ago, and while his parents still refuse to learn sign, Li Ming is quick to learn it to communicate with him better. The clearly intentional lack of subtitles on the signing was a brilliant move; the viewer is put in the shoes of the parents (and other characters) who do not know sign and must rely on Li Ming's translations (when he gives them) or use context to figure it out. Coming to the realization that I didn't know what Heart was saying, and watching the same realization cross his mother's face when they get into an argument, was a wonderful touch on this already amazing series.
The storyline between Jim and Wen begins as plenty of BLs do: with a hookup. While I'm not typically a fan of this trope, I've never seen it done as well as it was here. Jim telling Wen he only wants a one night stand that is uncomplicated leads him into an entire mess that he seems to just want out of.
I might be biased because he's played by First, but I thought that the introduction of Alan added an entire layer to the story that was missing from the first few episodes. Seeing a five-year long relationship that crumbled and ended with a simple "I don't love you anymore" was devastating, especially because only Wen felt that way. Alan, trying desperately to hold onto the relationship, couldn't stop Wen from seeing other people. Wen, who still hadn't moved out of their shared apartment months after the break up, got mad at Alan for still treating him like his boyfriend--even though it seemed that Wen was still hesitant to let go too.
This show was an extremely emotional one, and it was done extremely well. There are four separate but important dynamics between characters. There's young love (HeartLiMing), stale love (AlanWen), unrequited love (JimGaipa), and new love (JimWen), all of which allow the viewer to sympathize with different characters at different points in the show. The way this show is shot was beautiful, and the intertwining of the characters' lives wasn't rushed at all even though it was a shorter series. In fact, this being a shorter series cut out any unnecessary scenes or conflicts, which meant every scene was important.
The parallels between characters help to enhance their interactions and showcase the different sides of them. Wen yells at Alan for not taking his break up words seriously--then Jim says the same thing to Wen. Alan yells at Jim for taking his pen because it doesn't belong to him--and then laughs and tells Gaipa it's fine that he took it. These little hints at past actions help to round out the story and keep the viewer looking for easter eggs in every scene. Beautifully done, wonderfully written, and worth a watch (and rewatch).
My only complaint: I want more AlanGaipa screen time. And honestly more content from this show in general.
Was this review helpful to you?
No matter how many BLs I watch, I always come back to this one.
One of the best BLs I've seen, if not the very best. Gun's acting as both Black and White was phenomenal. The slight differences that he manages to portray between identical twins is so convincing, it feels like there are two actors playing them.The relationship is paced perfectly. Definitely a slower relationship development than a lot of shows, but that's exactly what makes it so convincing. The actors have amazing chemistry and really sell the development of the characters' relationship. No conflict is overly drawn out either, which saves the viewer from unnecessary frustration.
The plot outside of the romance is fantastic. You've got this gang of college students attempting to fight for justice in a way that they see fit, except each individual has their own idea of what exactly this means and how to go about it. Naturally, this causes conflicts between them. I thought this helped to make the relationships between all the characters that much more convincing. You really sympathize with the cause behind why they're fighting, and root for them even when they might not be in the right. Following them through this justice-seeking journey is a thrilling watch when paired with the development of Sean and White's relationship.
Was this review helpful to you?
Little Substance
When I saw the trailer for Break-Up Service, I was hoping for something similar to Peaceful Property, where the show starts off silly and episodic and slowly turns into a more cohesive story. However, I felt that Break-Up Service never fulfilled what I wanted for an overarching storyline, and instead felt predictable and lacking substance. The romance took so long to develop, even though I feel like it could've been an interesting office romance plot if they had started it earlier. The romantic conflicts were pretty pointless, and while I enjoyed the main couple, their storyline didn't even feel all that important until the end. I just wish the storyline was less predictable and that the show was a little less episodic, especially since some episodes I found myself totally not invested in the couple they were trying to break up.While this was a light and fun watch, it didn't feel like anything special. I really like Off, which is why I watched it in the first place, but just felt that this show missed the mark.
Was this review helpful to you?
Fiction vs. Reality
Wow. WOW! Deep In delivered an absolutely stunning, captivating show that made the viewer feel exactly what our main character felt: what happens when reality and fiction start becoming blurred? The way this story is told is probably the most unique storytelling I have ever seen in a BL, probably in any show ever. The back and forth between the show within the show and the lives of the actors was so well done, with the aspect ratio changing just to make sure the viewer knew, but having every storyline in the show within the show parallel something happening in the lives of the actors was GENIUS! Even when I thought there was no way they could make it work, they did. And I loved every MINUTE of it! In fact, I ended up so engrossed in the show they were filming that I would get mad to hear the director yell "cut!" and would sometimes forget which characters were the actors vs. the characters in the show. Absolutely brilliant writing and directing.Zhang Zhun (Shu Yuan) is a struggling actor trying to make enough money to propose to his long-term girlfriend. He finally manages to land a role alongside a big actor, Zhen Xin (Ollie), in a queer film. The two of them are tasked with building chemistry before their roles begin, and as they start filming, they begin to blur the line between the feelings of their characters and their own feelings.
The actors did a FANTASTIC job portraying these characters, with amazing chemistry and fantastic acting. It was so insane to watch them portray TWO different characters each in this show and be so good at it. I can't believe how much I enjoyed both the actor's storyline and the show they were filming. Both were so engaging, with great tension in the plot and between the characters. This one is 100% worth watching.
Was this review helpful to you?
Already Iconic
I can't believe how quickly this show became a hit - and it is incredibly deserved. I'm typically not the biggest fan of comedies, but this one had me laughing out loud every episode. My usual problem is that the jokes don't translate well or cultural differences in comedy are too large, but in this case, they managed to make this a show that everyone will find funny. Pond and Phuwin do an INCREDIBLE job portraying these characters, and I think they'll go down as their most recognizable and famous characters for years to come.Mr. Thee (Pond), the CEO of perfume company Arseni and first son of a major mafia boss, wants to sleep with Arseni's top model, Aran (Santa). Luckily, before the bodyguard kidnap the poor model, the freelance photographer currently working on Arseni's new project Peach (Phuwin) steps in. Peach convinces Thee that threatening someone is not the way to their heart, and Thee convinces Peach to help him learn how to date by going on dates with him. Quickly, Thee forgets all about Aran and falls head over heels for Peach. Peach, oblivious to this, is baffled by every single move Thee makes.
The combo of "mafia boss obsessed with old timey soap operas" and the play on mafia CEO x y/n made this show HILARIOUS. Truly, even if you don't like comedies, it is worth watching because it is that good. There were a few major downsides to this show though: (1) There were two side couples, neither of which got much of a storyline. It felt like two half-baked plotlines instead of giving just one side couple a decent plot; and (2) the climax/main issues seemed to go away WAY too easily - a rival mafia boss and Thee's dad's rule about not falling in love barely seemed to actually matter. Still, this show was super fun and the most interesting characters Pond and Phuwin have played yet. Definitely give it a watch - just don't watch it for PerthSanta or WilliamEst, because this show is pretty much only about PondPhuwin.
Was this review helpful to you?
