Older sapphic women deserves their stories to be shown on screen

I have been excited about Gagaoolala as a platform since I discovered it in 2020 when it wasn't even really available internationally and you needed a local number. Since then, they have opened internationally and I keep saying I should get a VIP account, but I am a PhD student and time not something I have in enough quantity to justify the cost. Which is why I was very happy when I got reminded about the fact that Gaga is making part of his catalogue free to watch every week. Encore Martha was part of the free release for this week and I could sit down for the less than 30 min it takes to watch it.
I have been trying to watch more queer Taiwanese productions recently and I am always on the lookout for good sapphic short films so it truly felt like the stars had aligned when I heard about it.

Starting with the story itself and as stated in the summary, this story is about two older women which is rare enough to be mentioned. I do love stories about teenagers and young adults as much as the next person, as someone in their late 20s, I do like seeing myself represented on screen. But representation, especially when it comes to queer representation needs to show everyone, including older people, both so that everyone can see themselves represented on screen, but also so that younger people can see a potential for their future (I'd say that it is also important for straight people to see it, but let's be real, this is an original production from Gagaoolala, the vast vast vast majority of the viewers are going to be queer). By only having young queer adults on screen, it can be difficult to project yourself in the future. But having characters of a different generation can also enable different themes to be explored. The path to acceptance in our societies is still long, even here in Sweden where it is very normalised. It was even more so 30 years ago when the main characters in this short film left each other as 20-somethings young women because society and families were not as accepting.

This story is about reconnecting after what feels like a lifetime ago and asking yourself once more "What is it that I want? Am I allowed to want this?" The same questions and the same fear that plagued this relationship 30 years ago are back, but society has changed, the adult children of today are not the grandparents of yesterday. Also special mention to the fact that one of the two main characters is a butch lesbian, we stan.
In a way because it is so short (it is after all the format) and while it does answer enough question to feel satisfying, it still feels like something is missing, like something more is needed (when can we get a drama with older sapphic women with flashbacks and enough episodes to fully develop their story??). Still it manages to ask a lot of good questions on self-acceptance, what we want out of life, our relationship to our families.

On the production side, the cinematography, the editing, and the general directing is very good (as expected from that kind of productions from Taiwan) and the theme song is both nice to listen to and meaningful for the story. The actresses are furthermore very good and really sell the story, which is good as the format means their acting is essential to developing what cannot be developed in the script and story itself.

All in all, I am very glad I took that half an hour to watch Encore Martha and I would encourage you to do the same.

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Should a film be good? Can it not simply be enjoyable and fun?

Should a film be good? Can it not simply be enjoyable? This film is a true example of the answer to those questions. For one of my weekly groupwatches, we decided to watch this film in between two shows because it looked fun and like it would have good fights. And dear reader, it did deliver on both of those.

The story was difficult to follow at times, jumping around way too fast, not developing anything and just dropping exposition in a perfect example of telling instead of showing. The investigation for who killed the convoy at the beginning and where the mysterious young woman that our hero must find it gets solved very quickly. But it is after all a 70min film. The costumes looked cheap, my cheap training sword I have for taichi which I bought for 300SEK looks less cheap than some of the swords they are using. The acting is not always the best and this film sadly makes use of some tired racist stereotypes (the evil people are from the steps, you see). If you just make a list of everything that is not right, it feel like this should not be a good time.

But the fact is that it is. The fights are enjoyable to watch (we joked that they had put all of the budget into the fight). The main male character is odd and fun. The main female character appeared on screen and we instantly said at the same time that we loved her. The side kick duo of silly assistants are, for once, women, which is both enjoyable and making me want a comedy GL centred around those two.

So is this film good? No, definitely not. But I also neither regret watching it, nor would say it is not enjoyable because it very much is. And this is why this is getting a 7.
In the words of one of my friends who watched it with me: "sometimes low budget trash just hits the spot"
So find some friends, gets some popcorn and a blanket, and watch this next time you want something fun that you will forget in no time, but will have a good time watching and laugh a lot at.

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Two girls on a date, but backwards

The story of a date, from the end to the beginning and then back to the end. This very short film is more reminiscent of a music video than an actual short film. Still it manages to a story through its images alone as the audio track is just an instrumental piece. It is so short that there is not much to say, except maybe that it makes you want to know more, to see more than just snippets of this date that brought the two girls all over the city.
The directing is trying something, the fact that the film is mainly told via rewind with the images going backwards and yet forwards at time. The editing is really nice too. The warm colours of the images add to the atmosphere. It is not quite a dream, not quite a memory. It feels warm and not just because of the country's heat.
In short, if you want to spend some nice 3 min, why not watch Swirl.

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Low budget lesbian short film about the end of a relationship

Why is it that no one ever finishes their food in fiction? That is a real question I have, but it is not at all the central question in this short film which manages to tell a lot with few dialogue lines and few scenes.
'Are we really done?' is a little short film that is queer without being a rom-com. It's centre point is the question in its title 'are we really done?' Are the two best friends who were dating in all but name in high school, who were always together, and who might have thought that this time would never end, are they done? Is their history over? Is that time in their life, this shared romantic moment over? It does not have time to develop this to a very large extent because of the low budget and short runtime, but it provides one answer. It uses flashbacks quite well to give us their backstory in few words and the actresses do a good job at sharing with their eyes everything that is left unsaid. Both asking the title question and answering it.

The production quality is lower than might be expected from Korean short films which usually have very high production values, but it's also nice to see more amateurish productions. The filming and directing is decent if simple. The sound is sadly too low throughout which can be a bit annoying and the editing could be better. But overall, this is a very decent short film and one that I would recommend you watch if you have 10min and want something else than the traditional romcom short film.

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A good idea that falls short in practice

I haven't seen the original version so I cannot compare it to this reboot. I always try to be nicer to low budget short films and shows because there is only so much you can do with a limited budget. But I do still expect a coherent script. This show had the potential to be a neat little show, but while the basic idea was decent for a short film (girl likes the slightly older student tutoring her and tries to figure out whether the other one likes her), the editing was confusing. I had difficulty telling what was the present, what was a dream, what was a flashback or a flashforward. It jumped around a bit too much in a way that many it was hard to get a coherent story. The actresses, especially the one who's supposed to be the younger one, looked too old for their roles, something but aided by the make-up, which took me out of the story even more. It's a shame because as I said, the storyline is simple enough that we could get a solid shirt film out of it. I wouldn't discourage you from watching. After all, I'm all for giving views to small lesbian creators because it's only through those that they can get more funding for better project and is only 15min total, but it's not a recommendation either.

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Lesbian friendships at the forefront of this little show

Soo not Sue is back with another delightful show. I love the fact that even though there is a romantic storyline, this show is about people. It is about friends, it is about women who are together because they are lesbians, not romantically, but because community is important. This is about the place, Dickinson’s Room (love a good lesbian reference in the name of a place), and the people in it above all else.

The main relationship is between Seol and her aunt Jung-won. They have always been close, but Jung-won never told Seol about the fact that she was gay and that she had left her job to open a women-only café/bar. Where Seol is bubbly, Jung-won is introverted and quiet. They are not that different in age, but they have very different outlooks on being out, being open, being in the public eye as a woman who loves women.
This show is about showing that neither way is better than the other, that sometimes, you might need to adjust, to be calmer or to be more open.

It’s also about how society and Korean society in particular acts towards wlw. Thanks to the several different lesbian characters, Soo not Sue shows us that there is not one way to be a lesbian in Korea today. That you can be an influencer and be a lesbian, but that you will be prevented from getting jobs by some homophobic people. That you can be out, but that some people are still too afraid for that and that it's okay and you should respect that. That places where you can be yourself exist, but that they’re often hidden away and you need to walk around the block three times before you see it.

It is about the friendship that is made between queer women (and the jokes that if you spend enough time in lesbian spaces, you will be meeting your exes a lot), about how lesbian relationships can be as toxic as straight ones and you really should dump once and for all your ex that keeps asking you to come back together before dumping you again. It is about the fact that friendship is so important and all too often in media, it is put aside in favour of pure romance.

She Makes My Heart Flutter shows us the reverse. A story about queer friendship and family with a healthy dose of a very cute romance on the side.

The cinematography and the production quality in general is tip top, as we have come to expect from Soo Not Sue and Korea in general. The actors did a good job with their characters, even those secondary ones that felt a bit more like stereotypes.

It is a short show, bit quite a bit longer than others when compared to other indie lesbian shows on YouTube. Contrary to some of the short K-BL we have seen in the past few years, this show manages its time quite well and even though I would have appreciated more time to develop the characters and their stories, it didn't feel too lacking because it knew to limit its stories to what fitted in its timeframe.

I had a really good time watching this show and I will be both rewatching it and recommending it to people. Sometimes in those reviews I recommend people watch it with the caveat that it is not very good, but beggars can’t be choosers and we should support wlw shows and short films to show there is interest. But no such caveat here, She Makes My Heart Flutter is good show with a good story, a good message, very high production value and at only 5x13 min, it is a quick watch.

Can someone with a lot of money give Soo Not Sue money to produce a long form drama with lesbians? Please and thank you.

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A lot of good ideas and thought-provoking scenes that sadly fall short of its potential

I first heard about this show on Ladyteruki's blog (which I highly recommend if you read French) and it touched on two things I am passionate about and also have experience with both practically and academically, youth involvement in politics and politics, especially municipal politics.

This show is highly uneven when it comes to its story and characters. It starts a lot of things, it has a lot of ideas, it even has several genres. That's a shame because it feels like it's starting a lot of threads, but never bringing them to their ends. The beginning and middle bits especially are very thought-provoking, especially re: our real life. The last two episodes are way more about the drama. Before I talk about the characters, I want to talk about those first few episodes. Because my thoughts when watching them was that this was the kind of show I'd love to study with students. I don't agree with all of the points made in this drama when it comes to administering a city for the future, but I think it is a great start for a discussion. It is asking a lot of important questions that we need to ask ourselves too. When watching this show, what do you agree with? What do you disagree with? What can we do about people becoming disenchanted about the current political system? What about corrupted politicians? How can we ensure that both young people and older people are integrated and have their voices heard? How do we integrate communities when we plan our cities? How to reconcile municipal development and traditions? Just how far should we integrate technology and AI in our political systems? Those are some of the questions I was asking myself when watching this show.
As I said, this drama is very uneven and it doesn't necessarily go far enough in exploring those questions, but it feels like a good starting point and I hope that more dramas will look at those questions. That is the benefit with TV shows looking at a near future, it calls back to current events and push them a little further to see a possibility. It is what I expect from anticipation as a genre (talking of a reference that maybe one other person will get, it reminded me somewhat of the French TV show Trepallium from a few years ago).

But as mentioned, the latter part of the show feels way more dramatic and less about those societal questions. Which is also interesting, but because of the structure and the length of this drama (only 5 episodes), it also feels undeveloped. It has interesting characters, but they're all mostly underdeveloped. I would have wanted more in-depth scenes with the main characters, more development of the young ministers (I really want more about them), just more. I wasn't as invested in what happens at the end because of this unevenness of the plot. Which is a shame because there's lot that could have been done there.

That being said, some things were actually on point. The cinematography was top notch! The CGI was constantly present, but seamless. I could totally believe all of the technology they had. It felt futuristic while also being something we could have in a few years. (The glasses very much reminded me of the glasses from the webcomics Space Boy.) Finally, the music was really good! It fitted very well with the drama and I need to go and see if it is available anywhere because I would like to add it to my playlist.

I think the conclusion I have is that this drama tried to do a lot of things, had a lot of good ideas, but by trying to do too much, it didn't manage to go through them all which is a shame. The production quality was nevertheless really good. It is still an interesting drama that I would recommend, especially if any of the questions I asked earlier interest you, even if only to make you think. I am glad for the NHK World putting it on their website so I could watch it. If you're reading this when the episodes are still available, go and watch it. It is only 5 episodes of 50min.

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A short Chinese GL with potential if only it could have been longer

Thank you once more to Douqi for the splendid work done subtitling this show and making it available internationally. I watched this show with the 52 minutes full version that puts all of the episodes together. As far as I know this is the version with the uncensored first half, but be aware if you go watch the series on Kuaishou that it is an even more censored version.

Anyway, let's get into it. This show, like pretty much all of Chinese GL, is made of very short episodes. This sadly affects the story. The story of this show with Pei Shuangyi transmigrating into the manhua she's currently reading as a young ingenue who accidentally and unknowingly befriends the ruler of the city she's in, Xiao Yi is nothing new. The vibe, especially at the beginning (as much with the pacing as with the relationship between the two), feels very similar to Legend of Yunxian, but more as a pseudo-historical than a xianxia drama.
In addition to just the relationship between the two women, the show tries to integrate a classic of historical drama with a power hungry court member who wants to overthrow the leader. It tries very hard and in the last third almost succeeds. But the first half of the story especially has issues with time jumps and the like that require a big suspension of disbelief. To put it another way (and it is a problem with the structure of the show and its limited time and budget), the story beats are presented, but there is not much meat to it. Character A doesn't know how to do something so character B helps her. We have half a scene of teaching and the scene after Character A is suddenly the best at it. There is a list of plot points to go through and we go through them without much development or transition.
That being said, if you take this story for what it is and are willing to put the work and forgive them for those issues, it is a pretty ambitious story and they do manage, especially in the climax at the end, to give us something interesting.

I quite like all of the actors who did a good job with what they were given. The directing was very classic, but worked for what they were doing. The costumes are overall pretty good (althoughsome really didn't work for me like Xiao Yi's light purple gown that looked too much like a cheap costume) and work for the setting. They manage to film on actual sets meant for historical dramas which helped with the believability of it all. The use of the music was also well done, it added to the story and they even managed to have a flashback that made sense for the story and didn't feel unnecessary or like it was taking too much space.

I know I say that almost every time I review one of those shows, but it really makes me want to see what the team could do with more time and budget (and less censorship, but that's another issue).
At only 52 min total, it is the length of a regular drama episode, but you get a whole show. If you want to watch a short historical GL and you don't mind watching a show that feels like it should have been at least twice as long (and everything that involves), then I had a good time watching this show and you probably will have too.

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A very gay short drama if you want a fun time

Our favourite group of women has just finished releasing their latest series and I am always here for it! This time, after the xianxia of season 2 of Legend of Yunze and The Vampire (which while modern, still had a SFF angle), we're back fully into the modern world with A Practical Guide to Being a Superstar's Assistant. This one is even shorter than The Vampire with a runtime of only 13 minutes.

Because of this very short runtime, the potential for development of the characters and their backstory is very limited, we're more in the short film territory than truly a drama. Still we can see who are characters are pretty quickly in the first episode, the über fan who gets the chance of a lifetime to be her favourite star's assistant and said star who is subject to all sorts of rumour but keeping her head high. The drama and its story are more like a series of scenes, presented as "lessons" for an assistant wannabe (keep your heart in check if you've got a massive crush on your boss as an example). It feels a bit too disjointed and I preferred the second half of the show to the first.

Wang Laoji and Shengwei are still delightful in their role and still ooze chemistry. Sheng Wei is perfect in the role of the superstar and looks honestly gorgeous in those dresses (not that it has anything to do with the story or its quality, she just looks very good and I am very gay). Wang Laoji is, for once, not playing the more, let's say, domineering character, which is nice for a change. But she still gets a scene where she kicks some asses, we like it. I also want to mention the little girl who appears in the last couple of episodes who is delightful and almost steals the show!

The production quality is higher than their first production which is always nice, even if the lack of budget could be felt regularly.

All in all, it is an interesting little drama that has just finished releasing. I do wish it had more time and more budget and less censorship (oh what we could have!), but if you have 13 min and go into it to have a good and fun little time with some women who are totally not gay for each other, what do you mean?! then go and watch A Practical Guide to Being a Superstar's Assistant.

And as always, thank you to douqi for her work with subtitling it, I am very grateful!

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A really nice xianxia GL that shows that you don't need a large budget to make it work

I've been saying since Legend of Yunze Special that their productions keep getting better with each new show. The funding looks to be larger, the costumes better and better (although that's to be expected), and the stories get more coherent. I enjoyed Legend of Yunze season 1 because I could see the potential even if it felt weak on other points. This season 2 is even better than the Special and I can see the potential finally getting somewhere.

But let's do it in the right order, shall we. On the technical side, we can see that the scale of the story, but also of the sets has increased. The ambition is clearly higher than for the previous season and it shows. There are some really nice moments in terms of cinematography (notably in that confrontation scene in the last episode which was doing interesting things in terms of colour and light). The costumes are better and better and so are the hairstyles. Some of them are truly a pleasure for the eyes, especially, I have to say, the demon ones of Zhaoyun. I commented in my review of Legend of Yunqian that they clearly had zero budget, but it's not the case anymore and while I don't think their budget is very large, they are clearly doing things right in terms of allocating it. This feels more like some low budget professional short (mid-length) films.

The story is much more coherent. I think part of it comes from the fact that they have a better grasp of the character, as well as because we, as viewers, already knew them, but even past that, I didn't have a moment when I was wondering what was going on or where that came from or thought "okay, that really came like a hair on the soup" (to literally translate a French phrase (meaning "came out of nowhere")). Not everything is perfect of course, but it is coherent. It feels epic on a larger scale than before and I felt much more into the characters and their relationships (both the main as well as the secondary ones) this time. We get some backstory for the different characters, we get some well-rounded-ish side characters.

Wang Laoji and Peng Jingxian once again do a good job as Zhaoyun and A-Ze. They're credible in their role and sell the story. Not all of the actors playing side characters are as good, but overall, everyone does a good enough job that I can suspend my disbelief and enjoy the ride.

All in all, this stands on its own without needing the caveat of "we don't get a lot of GL so we make do with what we get". It is real xianxia that I would recommend if you want to support an indie group of creators with ideas and ambitions that keeps on growing with every new project. It has demons and sects and choosing your paths even when it isn't the one that was given to you from birth and everyone else is telling you that you shouldn't be here. It is about people choosing each other again and again because that's just what's right. It is far from perfect, but it made me go "dang that's a good story and I want to know what comes next" several times. And that's personally enough for me. It delights me to no end that I can recommend a GL show, even a censored one, as good without a very large caveat. If you like xianxia and GL shows, beautiful costumes and characters who are all in for each other even when the world isn't, if you want to support indie creators who are trying and constantly improving, then this is a great show for you. Plus, it is short enough that the time commitment isn't too high. I, for one, cannot wait to see what comes next (and also more wuxia and xianxia GL, please and thank you).

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A wlw Chinese short film that will make you want more.

When will we finally get longer wlw historical Chinese fiction? I love those short films, but I dream of more. But we have to do with what we have and what we have right here is a very short, 4 min, short film with some known faces like Shengwei who you must have seen if you've ever fallen into the rabbit hole of wlw historical Chinese short films.

I am weak for good red and white colour coordinated outfits and this short film gives us that along with a taste of a larger story and a developing relationship between a stern general who wants to appear unaffected by this amnesiac young woman who stirs feelings inside of her and said amnesiac young woman (we do love a good trope in this house). There is so much potential, so much story that could be developed if only we had more than 4 minutes. There is even a cliffhanger at the end (which I hope will get resolved in a later short film or even better a longer show so we can get some backstory).

The costumes, as per usual in those short films, are visually appealing. The contrast in colours between the different characters works well and does a lot of the heavy lifting to help deepen the undeveloped story. I also wish they did not have to resort to contrived plot points to show some intimacy between the women, but such is the lot of queer mainland Chinese productions.

A solid watch if you're looking for your next historical Chinese short film of the wlw variety, it will make you yearn for more.

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A solid and cute short film about two best friends and a first kiss

I have been making my way through wlw short films for the past few evenings because I need more wlw content in my life and we still have to make do with very little. Often the quality is not there and the writing especially is lacking. Luckily for me, Korea and in this case 234 deliver.
The story is very simple, two teenagers, two best friends, two girls are chatting one afternoon and they are both stressed about their first kiss and one decides to take matter into her own hand to have some practice before her first kiss with none other than her best friend. And then, you know, feelings. The story is simple, but the film is short. A short film, especially one that short never works better than when it has a simple idea and doesn't try to do more than exploring that idea.

This film succeeds at that. It manages to be realistic about two teenage girls' experiences, about a baby gay panicking, and also to be very funny at times (one decides to play "the guy" who hits on the other girl and wants to kiss her). The actresses manage to do a good job (especially the scene mentioned in the previous bracket, I was smiling very hard).

The location is simple, a bedroom, but the production, as is expected of Korean productions, even the smallest ones, is pretty good. All in all, a solid short film if you're looking for your next wlw watch.

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Un gros coup de cœur pour cette ballade épique

Certains ont déjà posté de très bons avis sur la série que je vous conseille de lire. J'ai écrit cet avis pour partager avec d'autres fans de dramas sur un forum et je voudrais l'avoir dans un endroit plus accessible pour pouvoir partager mon coup de cœur pour cette série.

L'histoire est remplie de combats (les chorégraphies des combats sont vraiment très bien faites et comme ce n'est pas de la wuxia, on est vraiment ancré dans le réel) et de batailles (présentées de manière très originale et qui m'ont beaucoup plu sous la forme d'images animées, bien mieux que des effets spéciaux tous nuls), de stratégies militaires, mais également d'une vraiment discussion sur les conséquences de la guerre sur les populations civiles (et notamment sur les enfants et les femmes (pas que, mais il y a plusieurs arcs narratifs centrés sur elleux et notamment un très, très bien centré sur la vie d'un groupe de femmes dans un atelier de fabrication de textile)). Il y a une vraie discussion sur le rôle et les responsabilités des gouvernants qui n'auraient pas détonné avec certains romans historiques et épiques de par chez nous. Il y a une vraie attention portée au détail pour rendre le tout réaliste (des conséquences de la guerre et des famines donc, mais aussi dans les discussions des personnages (les personnages passent beaucoup de temps à cheval et c'est l'une des premières séries où j'ai vu une constante préoccupation en ce qui concerne les limites physiques des chevaux, plusieurs personnages féminins mentionnent leurs règles (oui, pas pour rien et ça va avec l'histoire et oui, la série est écrite par deux femmes)).

Tous les personnages sont complexes et vraiment développés. Les personnages principaux, d'abord : Li Changge, jouée par Dilraba Dilmurat et qui est vraiment un très bon personnage principal qui a une vraiment évolution au cours de la série et qu'on suivrait aussi jusqu'au bout du monde, Ashile Sun joué par Wu Lei, le général de la Division des Aigles des tribus de la prairie (car oui, la série inclut autant les territoires de la dynastie Tang que les prairies de Mongolie (et même le désert voisin avec ses tribus)), Li Leyan, jouée par Zhao Lusi, la meilleure amie de Li Changge et l'autre personnage avec une vraie évolution du personnage que l'on voit grandir et devenir plus indépendante et comme disent les anglais a force to be reckoned with. Pas que les autres personnages n'évoluent pas, au contraire, mais vraiment ces deux-là et Hao Du qui vient ensuite ont l'évolution qui m'a le plus marqué (et aussi les autres personnes avec qui j'ai parlé et qui ont vu la série). Tous trois acteurs ont d'ailleurs obtenu des prix pour leur talent d'acteurices par le passé ! Enfin les deux autres personnages principaux, Hao Du, le garde et soldat stoïque, fils adoptif d'un des ministres, que je ne portais pas dans mon cœur au début et qui a su devenir l'un de mes personnages préférés (lorsqu'il commence à sourire après pas mal d'épisodes, rhalalala, son visage s'illumine !) et Wei Shuyu, le rival et meilleur ami d'enfance de de Changge et Leyan, personnage envers lequel je suis ambivalente, mais c'est totalement voulu par rapport au personnage.
Il y a toute une galerie de personnages secondaires tous aussi complexes et intéressants les uns que les autres. On se prend à aimer des personnages qu'on ne pouvait pas voir en peinture au début (certains des ministres notamment) et même les antagonistes (dont je ne révèlerai pas qui iels sont parce que l'antagoniste principal m'a vraiment pris par surprise dans la dernière moitié de l'histoire) ont des personnalités et des histoires développées pour en faire de vraies personnes avec des buts, des sentiments (et des ressentiments) et même sans être d'accord avec leurs buts ou leurs manières de faire, on comprend d'où iels viennent et on en vient même à se sentir désolé.e pour elleux et ce qui a fait qu'iels en sont arrivés là. Il y a de nombreux parallèles entre les différents personnages et comment présenter avec des situations similaires, il y a toujours plusieurs chemins (parfois aussi bons/mauvais l'un que l'autre, parfois l'un plus au-dessus de l'autre). J'étais un peu perdue entre tous les personnages (j'ai mis plusieurs épisodes à réussir à différencier certains des personnages (et l'on m'a dit que je n'étais pas la seule et que de nombreuses personnes ont galéré)), cela dit on finit assez rapidement par reconnaître tout le monde et ensuite de nombreux personnages secondaires sont présentés pour les différents arcs de la série, certains que l'on ne voit que pour quelques épisodes et d'autres que l'on revoit par la suite. Il y a un vrai sentiment que ce qui se passe et les personnages que l'on rencontre ont un importance. Ce ne sont pas juste des pions pour faire avancer l'intrigue, mais de vrais personnes avec leurs buts propres et des vraies relations d'amitié qui se créent et tiennent. Il y a tellement de personnages que je voudrais mentionner et qui méritent qu'on parle d'eux, mais il y en a tellement et on ne rencontre certains que plus tard dans le récit et je ne veux pas spoiler, mais j'aurais quelque chose à dire sur tellement d'entre elleux (Mimi, Mu Jin, Zhenzhu (13 ans la gamine et pourtant déjà !), She'er, A'Dou, Gongsun Heng, Li Jing, Li Shimin bien entendu ! et tant d'autres (la liste sur MyDramaList donne 91 acteurices et je pense pouvoir dire un mot sur au moins 50-60 d'entre elleux). Toujours est-il qu'il y a non seulement une galerie de personnages, mais également une galerie de personnages féminins complexes et avec tous types de caractères et de capacités, certaines qui se battent, d'autres qui travaillent et essaient de survivre, des plus douces, des jeunes, des plus âgées, etc. Il y a une scène avec 5 personnages qui s'avancent dans une rue avec une musique épique et normalement on a 4 gars et une fille, mais ici, il y avait 3 filles et 2 gars, et c'est vraiment un bon exemple pour toute la série sur l'importance constante donnée aux personnages féminins.

C'est une histoire épique, digne des grandes ballades (ça ne s'appelle pas The Long Ballad pour rien) et les romances ne sont pas en reste que l'on parle du couple principal (que j'ai shippé dès le début, iels vont Très, Très bien ensemble et c'est quasi instantanément à la vie, à la mort, d'une manière qui fait complètement sens), du couple secondaire (dès qu'iels étaient à l'écran, je ne pouvais pas m'empêcher de remarquer à quel point iels étaient mignons), ou d'autres couples qui se développent dans les personnages secondaires et qui ont tous une place (comme j'en ai rarement vu parce qu'en général, ce n'est pas autant développé pour les personnages secondaires). Et puis comment ne pas mentionner les amitiés, très nombreuses dans le drama : Celles qui se forment au cours de l'histoire, mais également celles qui la précède (Li Changge et Li Leyan, mais aussi Sun et les autres hommes de la Division de l'Aigle qui forment assurément mon groupe préféré dans la série, j'ai beaucoup aimé tout l'arc narratif qui se passait dans la prairie parce que leur amitié et leur engagement à la vie, à la mort crée une vraie cohésion du groupe, malgré le nombre important de personnages).

L'histoire est vraiment solide, c'est rempli de rebondissements et je ne savais pas où l'intrigue allait aller à chaque instant. Plusieurs fois dans la série on voit les personnages jouer au jeu de go et cette série, c'est vraiment la même chose. On est surpris, mais jamais parce que les retournements de situation ne font pas sens, au contraire ! Les personnages ont des réactions sensées et sont tous suffisamment intelligents pour qu'on comprendre comment iels sont arrivés là où iels sont. Il se passe tellement de choses en 49 épisodes qu'il est impossible de faire un résumé succinct, mais je peux simplement dire que l'on ne s'ennuie jamais ! L'intrigue est rapide, mais pas trop, ça va à la vitesse qu'il faut avec certains arcs plus courts que d'autres, mais encore une fois, cela fonctionne. Ce qui a besoin de plus de temps en reçoit plus et ce qui a besoin de moins en reçoit moins. (Attention comme tout drama chinois et encore plus pour un drama historique, il y a des morts, certains auxquels on s'attend (mais ça ne m'a pas empêcher de pleurer, notamment vers la fin de la série où j'ai pleuré à grosses larmes) et d'autres qui nous surprennent (dont une à laquelle je ne m'attendais tellement pas que j'ai arrêté l'épisode pendant 30 min parce que je n'arrivais pas à me remettre du choc).)

D'un point de vue technique, la cinématographie est très belle et bien faite et c'est un plaisir à regarder. Je mentionnais les combats bien faits et l'utilisation astucieuse de dessins pour les batailles et autres moments qui nécessiteraient des effets spéciaux plus tôt, mais je les rementionne ici parce que c'est pour moi un gros point fort de la série, non seulement par son originalité, mais aussi parce que le résultat n'aurait sûrement pas été aussi bon si ça n'avait été qu'effets spéciaux. Mention spéciale pour les costumes et notamment les costumes de la tribu Ashile que j'ai personnellement beaucoup aimé ! Et puis la musique !!! La BO instrumentale qui accompagne la série fonctionne très, très bien et les quelques chansons de la BO sont aussi extrêmement bien faites (et les avis sur la question semble unanime). J'ai quelque fois sauté le générique de début et de fin (environ 2 min chacun) pour aller plus vite, mais sur la deuxième moitié de la série notamment, j'aimais tellement les deux chansons que je laissais les génériques défiler juste pour les entendre.

Sinon en moment ???, il y a une scène de danse folklorique dans un des royaumes du désert avec une musique moderne et une choré reprenant les gestes barrières contre le covid (distanciation sociale, lavage de main, se moucher et jeter le mouchoir) qui m'a fait réagir en mode ??? tellement c'était incongru et je me suis mise à rire pendant 5 min.

Rhalala, j'aurais tellement à dire sur ce drama (notamment en allant plus en détail dans les spoilers), il s'y passe tellement de choses, il y a tellement de personnages intéressants, j'ai passé un si bon moment, mais j'ai déjà écrit 1800 mots et il faut savoir s'arrêter. C'est un vrai, vrai coup de cœur que je ne peux que conseiller à tout le monde. Vraiment ne vous laisser pas effrayer par le nombre d'épisodes, ça vaut vraiment le coup. Je sais que je la reregarderai assurément (et je suis déjà en train de la reregarder) et en attendant je vais aller écouter la BO en boucle !

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A wlw anthology series with some cuteness, some smooth moves, and some realistic women

This series is an anthology series produced by Chinese dating app for wlw Rela (which has since changed name to "The L"). I don't know what it is with queer dating apps and short dramas, but I love it (there are also a few Filipino dramas I have watched produced by mlm dating apps). As it is an anthology series, each episode is independent and follows two different women. There are 14 different stories (one of the stories is divided between two episodes), each following one or two women that happen to have the Rela app on their phone.

There is a wide variety of women and a wide variety of stories that encompass a lot of different types of wlw couples and stories. There are meeting up stories, long distance relationships, the "I am in love with my straight best friend" story, a "my girlfriend had an accident and lost all memory of me" story, etc. A lot of different types of stories, each between 2 an 6 minutes. Some are more well-done that others, but all are enjoyable. Some are extremely cute and made me feel all fluffy inside. There are also a wide range of women presented from the most femme ones to the most butch ones (which you really don't see as much in wlw stories, I'd never seen women that butch in stories before), some students, some white collar workers, some bartenders, some musicians, etc. It's really thrilling to see such a wide range of experiences being represented on screen. There's also no homophobia. There can some heartache sometimes, but no story is fully sad and the majority have a full very cute happy ending.
Some of those women have some smooth, smooth moves. Like dang, teach me your ways jiejie because I need that level of skills. Shoot your shot and dare to dream!

You can see that there's not a lot of budget, but that's to be expected from those kinds of shows and it is really nicely filmed still. The audio quality is also good most of the time (there are section where it is hard to hear, but they are not that many and the subs are there) and the production values are quite good. I wouldn't necessarily rewatch the whole series, but some of those short films are nice enough that I could see myself rewatching them if I need some soft content and some smooth moves.

In conclusion, this anthology series only takes around 1h15 to watch and I would highly recommend you do if you need that sweet, sweet wlw content because there is something for everyone and it feels So Very Nice to see such a diversity of women, of gender expressions, and of relationships being shown on screen.

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A sweet (too) short film about breaking up and coming out

Sadly only one short episode so this is more a short film than a drama really, but there is potential even in this very short story. The aesthetic and cinematography is really nice (as expected from any Korean production) with some really nice colours. The music is very classic, but works quite well for the story.

It is very short so there is not much in terms of story, but there is enough for a short film. I am always of the opinion that a good short film story should not be more than a couple of sentences. This is your pitch. The importance is in how you present and develop it. The story of this short film is simple: "Two young women used to date each other, but broke up because one did not want to come out to her family. She realises she cares too much about the other to let her go, but can she come out and will the other take her back?" It is a story that can resonate with a lot of queer people. It is certainly one which I have talked about in other reviews I have written on this website. The actresses manage to show the longing, the regret, to make us understand everything that happened before which is only alluded to.

I liked the use of tarot cards, both for the aesthetic of it and for the way it was used with the cards that are turned to reveal to the audience what happened in the past and the one left unturned because it is what this short film's story is telling us.

Special mention to the kiss in this short film which is one of the best kisses I've seen in the Korean short films I have seen so far and I like that.

In conclusion, it is a little short which limits its potential and the rating I could give, but if you have 4 minutes to spare, this is a very good use of your time.

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