jabofi

I wanted to love this

Another completely biased review from me to you

Jing Bo Ran as the ML is mesmerizing, and I could listen to him recite the phone directory and I would be enthralled. However, this series never really clicked for me.

The character Lan Jue was not a good guy, definitely on the darker shade of grey. 🩶I'm all for morally grey characters who are tormented because of something something in their past, but you know that the actions they are taking are all for the greater good. Here the character seemed to be doing bad things for expediency sake. His friend whose name escapes me but was the army dude(? ) had super good chemistry with him. Half the time I felt like saying guys, get a room already!💖 I did like their interactions.

The Zhang Ping character was, let's face it, just fucking irritating. In a real-world environment he never would have survived the first encounter with the empress. There is such a thing as a innocent, naive hero doing the right thing but this character was just dumb as dirt and would have deserved to be offed in the first episode. 🤣 His little noodle friend I guess was taking the place of what would ordinarily be the high-pitched voice toddler female in these shows whose purpose is to screech a lot and to fall down?

The empress was the typical evil queen. 👑What else can I say, nothing new here.

A long time friend of the grey guy, Shulin, showed up and it turns out that grey dude and him had quite a past together, including living together on an island in the middle of a lake, which was pretty cool. Seemed like they had a very special relationship happening, but grey dude hosed it up and they parted.

The ending sucked imho. Shulin, it turns out, was (maybe?) the empress's real son who was abandoned as an infant, so he planned to take down the empress. Which is what dumb noodle guy and grey dude wanted to do all along. But instead of working with Shulin to overthrow the evil empress they turned their backs on him and betrayed him, which in turn made him go batshit crazy 🦇and try to destroy the world. Cause, stuff.

Anyhow, it seems like more people liked this than not, so don't let me review stop you from watching it. You may enjoy it too.

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So much fun!

Another biased review from me to you.

I hadn't heard of this movie before, but when I saw an article about a possible sequel I thought it looked interesting and I decided to check it out and damn, I am so glad I did! This movie has a bit of everything: sweet family dynamics, action, comedy, and super badass FL, a dorky yet badass ML, an adorable feisty daughter (sumo wrestler, lol), and a whole bunch of other characters that are just hysterical! I loved every character and didn't think there was a single misstep in the actors chosen. If they do a sequel I hope they find a way of bringing everyone back. Would it be their trip to Disneyland? 😉 Anyhow, if you want some laughs, some action, some sweet moments, watch this. I think you'll like it.

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Barely a Death Note series

Another completely biased review from me to you.

This takes places 10 years after the original 2006 Death Note movie. In the first episode, there is a short, blink and you'll miss it, clip of Tatsuya as Light. There is some guy who is a Death Note investigator. Not sure who he is supposed to be replacing, maybe Light's father?

In the second episode, another guy who is supposed to be L's replacement but doesn't come anywhere near as close to the insane brilliance of Kenichi. Maybe in the next show they will flesh him out a bit? Nice hair though.

And finally, the best episode, we get the gorgeous Suda Masaki ❤️‍🔥as the new Kira, Shien. The entire thing could have been his story and I would have been happy. The first 2 were like boring fillers if that makes sense?

However, this 3rd episode focused too much on a guy who murdered a little girl with his bare hands during a home robbery. For some misplaced reason they tried making him a sympathetic hero? I definitely don't understand that at all! The saving grace is he finally got Death Noted 😉

And they only showed a very brief glimpse of Ryuk in the last few seconds. So all in all, a bit of a disappointment. Would have rated it lower if it weren't for Suda Masaki.

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Great Show Except....

Here's another completely biased review from me to you.

I absolutely loved the first 15 episodes of this series. This is a typical murder of the week show. What makes it so special is the cast. This is how you do bromance! Including the FL! She was there as one of the guys only, not as a romantic interest or damsel in distress. Well, except for the last episode but we'll get to that later.

When cdramas need to add a female to the mix to make a series not so gay🙄, this is the way to do it. The character is all those cliches that are used to describe female leads in these types of shows: spunky, fiesty, smart, cute, whatever. She is adorable. Plus, she was awesome. One of the team, pulling her own weight and then some. I really wish this type of character was used more often in cdramas instead of the toddler breathy baby-talking helpless females who need to be rescued all the time. And damn, this was a 2016 series so ahead of it's time.

So like I said, the first 15 episodes were great fun. The chemistry between all 3 characters was just perfect with their bantering. Loved it! And then did they get another writer or something? Cause all of a sudden it went from the fun murder of the week trope to the typical 'ML has a dark past with his father being unjustly murdered and him trying to find out what happened with a psycho stalker who is killing people to f*ck around with the ML and all of a sudden the ML is framed for murder and everyone thinks he did it except for his 2 partners'. And that's when they turned the FL into the damsel in distress that needed saving. Luckily this parted ended quickly but still irritating to me! This type of story has been done umpteen times and it's boring. Rather than do that to screw up a great series just keep doing what was working, murder of the week. 😢

I would watch the first 15 episodes again, then just stop watching after that. The stories are fun. Not a whole lot to the solving of murder parts, since they seem to solve them way to easily, but it's fun. The only warning is this series is hella graphic in it's portrayal of the autopsies so you want to watch this on an empty stomach and maybe turn away from the screen and turn the volume down some times. Just a thought.

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My face hurts from smiling so much

Another completely biased review from me to you!

What can I say, I absolutely love this series/movie! It's on my permanent playlist. If I'm feeling down I will watch it. If I'm in a good mood and want to stay that way I watch it. It's a sweet easy show to watch with adorable boys, a great soundtrack and background music, and an interesting story. This is another show to please disconnect the logic portion of your brain and just go with it. If you start thinking logically you'll get bogged down into the why's and lose enjoyment. Just go with the flow. Also, I recommend the movie version instead of the series. There is an extra scene there that doesn't change a lot but gives me bigger smiles.

The music is spot on. I know I've read other people complaining about the background music but I beg to differ, it's great. And as soon as I hear the song Star by Runy I start smiling, it's so infectious and fun. I'm listening to it now on repeat. And the title song Florida is sung by the cast members, which makes it extra special. The MLs are incredibly cute together, just watch them smile at each other. Can you say dimples? And also can I say, what a waste of the best abs ever, not seeing more of a shirtless Yoo Hwan! Really, the entire cast are just adorable. Fun fact - zeze and joon together make up seoulitestudio https://www.youtube.com/@SEOULITESTUDIO . I watch all their videos, even though most of them don't have English subs. They are so fun together.

Highlights for me that makes this so special SPOILERS AHEAD:
The opening scene, chasing the suitcase down the hill and into each others arms. Much better than the usual trip into each others arms trope 😉
The zoom in with hands to see a close-up. Yes, it's cheesy and it's been done before, but it's executed so well and Hae Won's smile is just so....
Absolutely love the "Place your left foot back...that's your right foot" then the little hop/skip to switch legs. Cute!
How adorable Hae Won looks when putting on his uniform first time!
Sexiest way of putting an apron on someone ever... 'a little harder' and then the tucking the hair behind the ear is a sweet little swoon-worthy scene
The additional scene mentioned above isn't much, just showing the MLs in bed together, 2 pairs of bare feet tangled together, 2 naked (well, shirtless anyhow) bodies cuddled up together sleeping.
The tight, tearful hug at the end 🥲

I really wish there was an additional episode where we can find what happened with Yoo Hwan's father!
What was up with that throw away line in the beginning "the guest house's owner came". Does that mean Hae Won own's the guest house? Inquiring minds want to know 😊

So anyhow, watch it, enjoy, smile more 😁

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Incredible Music and Eye Candy

This is another extremely biased review of a movie that I absolutely adore!

The first thing I fell in love with is the music. The soundtrack is fantastic. The movie (and series) starts out with wonderful cello and violins playing a variation of the title song Wish You. Now, I'm not a strings person at all but something about this song and the sound the cello makes is completely magical!

Then one of the male leads hears the other singing on the street, stops dead in his tracks, starts watching and listening, and falls instantly in love. You can see it and feel it at the same time. Seriously, pure magic. That's what makes this a complete 10 for me, just the feel of the story. I mean, just listen and watch! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4opvypXJQ30

When you watch this be prepared to fall in love with a couple of really really adorable guys who are lucky enough to have found their soulmates and who want to make beautiful music together. Yes, the story isn't deep or complex, there are a lot of leaps and assumptions, but I don't care. The music and these 2 guys make it all perfect in my eyes.

The only disappointment is that not all of the songs are part of the soundtrack album and there are some songs that till this day I can't find anything about. Neither Shazam nor googling finds anything about these songs. One in particular has moved into my brain rent-free and has been living there for 4 years now. If anyone reading this knows please share! The song starts with "If it all comes crashing down we'll be just fine." Damn I love that song!

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Off-Beat Quirky Gem of a Movie

Another completely biased review from me to you.
A lot of people have asked me what I base my ratings on since I seem to give really high numbers to most of what I watch. It's simple, if I enjoy watching the show a lot I give it a high score. If I don't enjoy the show I'll stop watching it. Sometimes I'll actually drop if there is something about the series that sorta pisses me off and I want to say something. Mostly I just quietly quit the show, using the 'if you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all' rule of thumb.
This movie is an unexpected gem! Bizarre, quirky, weird, however you want to describe it. I loved it!
First, Zhu Yilong is brilliant. I don't think I have ever seen him look more beautiful. That blue hair and those cheekbones to die for? Yes please! 🥰 His character starts off being a normal boring salaryman. With one difference...he sees aliens filming his life story as it unfolds. They are pretty awful looking aliens. Like Buckeroo Banzai bad! As a matter of fact they do sort of look like Lectroids don't they ? 🤣
I'm unfamiliar with the FL Qiu Tian but she just nailed her character. Mysterious, damaged, off kilter. Love her! 😍
I'm not even sure how to categorize this movie. Is it sci-fi, romance, comedy, drama, slice of life? The answer is 'Yes'! And also 'No' 🤣
Anyhow, this has just the right amount of strangeness to it to keep my attention.
And Zhu Yilong sings the OST. What more could you ask for?
And for people interested, yes this does have a happy ending! And please stay for all the credits so you don't miss something....
Anyhow, if you like weird and quirky give this one a try. And if you want to see the amazing Zhu Yilong with the most incredible blue hair and cheekbones...this is the show for you!

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Fun mini-drama

Another completely biased review from me to you.
Spoilers ahead.
This is another fun little series There's a bit more angsty feeling to it but still surprisingly light and fluffy.
The ML, Lin Ze Hui, is absolutely gorgeous. The 2 characters he plays in this series are so different from each other. And what makes it even more fun is he is only pretending to be 2 people, it's really just one guy putting on an act and pretending to be twin brothers. And damn, he does the 2 characters so well! There's the fun and flighty younger twin who loves to laugh and flirt. And then there's the dark and serious older twin who seems to want to kill the FL all the time. I'm really liking this ML and will be keeping an eye out for more of his shows definitely. He starred in Secrets of the Shadow Sect which is one of the sexiest little mini-dramas out there!
The FL was good too. I appreciate that she wasn't a toddler, she spoke like an adult female, and stayed pretty badassed through the entire series. That can't be taken for granted at all in these c-dramas! It seems like half of the so-called assassins end up losing most of their brain cells when they fall for the ML and become complete damsels in distress. Not this one though! She can fight. And I love the flexible sword, ala Zhou Zishu lol!
I do love the way the story ended. I know there were some comments that they hated the ending, but seriously, with that FL it was perfect! Exactly what you would predict a character like her to do.
So give it a try. It's short, fun, not too angsty, mostly fluffy.

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Fun light-hearted fluff

Another completely biased review from me to you.
Spoilers ahead.
This series was one of the better mini-dramas out there. The FL and ML were adorably fun together. The story was silly, wasn't complex, and it was just light and easy to watch. There were some 'dark' bits but they were more tongue-in-cheek dark, if you know what I mean.
The premise has been done before, the leads waking up in a historical setting with a comedic relief 'guide'.
The FL was a lot of fun, a tough badass who won't lose to anyone for any reason! Even her fighting wasn't too bad. I love how she takes over her own story. Her inner monologues were too funny. She is so funny with her knives and homicidal tendencies. And the character's 'acting' was so terrible it was funny. Her clown makeup was hilariously bad! And her 'dancing' omg, terrible! The dance and the makeup should win an award for best awful scene in a series. You will laugh! I loved her character and her style and costume designs.
The ML's character in the story was the typical bad guy prince. Or at least that was what you were supposed to think. The ML's hair, well, he seems to have that style for all of his short historical dramas. I guess I won't comment. But dang, he looks really good with his normal style. The ML's costumes were good too, nice and dark and flowy.
The downside, since I watched this on youtube, there were way too many times when all sound was gone. It wasn't too bad when there were subtitles but too many times there wasn't sound or subs so a lot of the story was lost.
The best, there's a nice happy ending. I enjoyed it.
Turn off the brain, watch and enjoy!

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The bromance is strong with this one

Another completely biased review from me to you.

I adored this series! It definitely doesn't take itself too seriously. The story has some ridiculous parts to it but is done so damn right! Both MLs are absolutely gorgeous, and their outfits are stunning. (Except for the hats, but oh well, historical accuracy and all that? I could do without that little bit of accuracy though) Seriously, whoever did their wardrobe, especially their three-piece suits, should win an award, just beautiful. I wonder if they get to take their suits home with them. And can we talk about dressing the one ML up in a frilly apron? Yep, strong bromance. And the other ML rocking an ascot? Yep, he does.

The sets, music, camera, lighting, everything in this series are really good. The music is wonderful and really adds to the story. As far as I can see, high production values for such a silly short series. Episodes are 10-11 minutes long. Opening is 1 minute 21 seconds. End credits are 2 minutes. So each episode is actually ~7 minutes long, give or take a few seconds lol. But surprisingly I don't mind watching the open/end credits. They are pretty darn good and show the strong bromance between these 2. And the end credits are different each time, showing a bit of a preview of the next episode so fun to watch. Plus check out the words of the ending song. Oh my, strong bromance.

Yes, this is a delicious, silly little series but so easy to watch. And perfect to get you out of a heavy drama and angsty things. A It's a light and fluffy republican era drama (who knew there was such a thing?) with 2 hot MLs shooting their way through the bad guys? Oh yes, sign me up for this one! Maybe I enjoyed this a bit too much! Would love to see more like this. And no annoying FL to mess up the bromance!

Here's the spoilery stuff.

There are so many bits to love:
The getaway with both of them on one bicycle with them bickering the entire way is so damn funny!
Defacing the family motto!
The blind date stand-in.
The way the one ML drinks liquor!
OMG, ML2 breaking the gun ML1's dad left him, then handing him his undercover Anti-traitor Corps badge LOL 'Crap! I got exposed.' So damn funny I almost hurt myself laughing!
Oh lord, 'No one is on opium guard duty tomorrow night' over and over and over. 'Do you think he heard us?
How f*cking cool the ML looks in his silver mask.
The ridiculous code names 'Starry Boy' lol.
'Fine, I'm mad now. Stay here for some introspection.' while wagging his finger at him.
ML1 and other anti-traitor corp dude wearing matching silk robes and pajamas and ML2 with different silk pajamas on sitting in the middle. Yep, other ML said it best, 'Idiot'
ML1 is trying to explain to ML2 that he isn't a traitor, and all the things that he's done to try and protect him, then it somehow morphs into a wife complaining about the husband's bad habits: 'You never wipe your shoes bottom when you come indoors, leaving the floor all muddy. You make a lot of noise when you eat and sleep. I can't fall asleep at all.' I am dying laughing here! The best part is you never know when these gems are going to come out, they just organically appear.
It's always nice when a gang attacks the good guys, but then all wait their turn to fight.
The slow, romantic music, while they are trying to find each other after being attacked, with lots of bromance flashbacks!
The look on ML2's face when he finally sees ML1. The look on ML1's face when he sees ML2. Oh my, this is a bit more than bromance.
If ML1 keeps knocking out ML2 all the time he's going to suffer permanent brain damage. And he's very slow to begin with!
The dynamite sticks duds pretty damn funny! Such a dramatic build-up.
The fight scene in the church, awesome!
The little smile on ML's face, priceless!
Snore/punch lol
Wonderful ending, including the gun fumble and door handle.

This light bit of froth is just a perfect binge watch. I highly recommend this. Enjoy!

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Fan Service Done Right

Now this is how you do fan service! Absolutely sweet and adorable added episode that I wish all series, BL or not, would tag onto the end for a nice fan service. (Oh, only series with happy endings! Unless they were sad endings and the xtra episode would make it happy!😕 )

BTW, I love the new look for our MLs. Their hair styles are awesome. And the tuxes were gorgeous.

Yes, the series itself maybe was a little problematic, the one ML was a huge walking talking red flag, but damn if I didn't love it anyhow. Lots of cringe but also lots of heat makes this a fun little gem to watch. And it's short so won't take up your entire weekend.

Give it a try. I'm going to go rewatch the rest of the series now 😉

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Now that's how you do a sword fight

Though it's actually sword vs scabbard fights, but still awesome! Saotome Taichi is mesmerizing to watch. I can't imagine how many hours of training he goes through to be that beautiful to watch. Each fight scene seems like a well choreographed dance. Just beautiful! Add in Endo Yuya to the fighting and it's over the top good!

The series is known as The Sealer on Viki in case anyone is looking for it. The series itself is quite short but doesn't suffer too many from that. The story is quite interesting and different and very dark, so not my typical happy smiley type of series to watch. But damn, it is really good. Even though it looks like a few people have complained about the music, I think the music adds a perfect touch to this intense drama.

The look is gorgeous. I love the costume design for most all of the characters. The Osagami character looks especially good with his flowing black outfits. Gorgeous!

The only complaint I have, which is a repeated complaint from me for a lot of series, is the FL. Good lord, could they make a more irritating, useless person? The FL's only purpose seems to be to fall over and have to be rescued! I do like that there seems to be subtle diss'ing for the character cause she is the only one that wears just awful outfits and hair. Sort of like no one can stand the character so they punish the poor actress. Or maybe that's just me 😁

Anyhow, give this a watch. It's short so won't take up your entire weekend. It's worth it just to watch the lovely Saotome Taichi.

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One of My Favorite Adaptations of a Priest Novel

Where to start to unpack this series? First of all, the main leads Bai Yu and Zhu Yi Long are magical together! Even though this is a censored adaptation (thanks china) you can see and feel the characters love for each other. Somehow this series got away with a lot more physical contact then others I have seen 💖lots of touching of hands and shoulders and even my favorite scene in the car with Zhao Yunlan sleeping on Shen Wei's shoulder! Yep, magic. Oh my, the necklace! 🥲 That one got me.

The rest of the cast is pretty much a hit or miss. The purple-haired villain was so bad I was waiting for him to say "And I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for you meddling kids!" I would have loved to have had more Cat (Da Qing) story, who wouldn't like to know more about the Cats? Would love to know more about Chu Shuzhi too! What a cool ability with the puppets! The delusional snake lady's story really didn't add much to the series and they could have taken it out completely. And I really wish that the Guo character would have died a horrible death, sorry. 😂He just irritated the hell out of me and by all rights should have died early in the series. The rest of the team pretty much sank into the background for me so not much to say.

The actual story itself was kind of all over the place, probably because of all the changes that had to be made to satisfy the censors. Read the novels! I'll admit I got lost a few times and had to rewatch some episodes to try and figure out what the hell the story line was. The FX was either really good or really bad, like they ran out of money and had to half-ass most of the special affects! And the sets were either really good or really bad too, money again?

So even though this series had some issues with cast and story and FX and production, it's still one of my favorites and I will still give it a 10 because of the leads and will rewatch it over and over.

And the ending, oh boy, be prepared to cry. However, I believe they ended up finding each other again, someday.

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Different and fun romcom

I was looking for something to watch that wouldn't require a large investment in time and wasn't too serious. This series definitely did it for me.

The hair, makeup, costumes, and sets were all great and quite different for the usual cdramas I've been watching. The OST and the background music were just perfect for the show. And I loved the little bit of animation added. Just enough to be cute but not over the top.

Honorable mention to some things that just cracked me up:
Shave and a haircut at the end of the opening song.
The FL's steampunk-looking hair and costumes.
The brother's curly locks that are so bad they look like the cowardly lion's after they get spruced up in Oz.
The dance off.
Sausage lips.
I know it's not a BL but the doctor and the brother story, especially with the sexy saxophone playing every time they shared the screen together, makes me giggle. If you want to see what I'm talking about please play the first few minutes of episode 20! OMG.
The brother and doctor in disguise as puppets with their arms locked together skipping through the enemy!
Episode 19 around the 16:40 mark - ML's tighty whities showing through his robes just cracks me up. They had to have noticed that at the time of filming, and definitely in post-production, but they kept it in for our viewing pleasure.

All in all, a fun watch that I definitely recommend. It's worth your time.

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Disappointing after I Am Nobody Season 1.

This is a completely biased review from me to you. And it's chock full of spoilers so buyer beware ⚠️
Finally got around to watching this. I Am Nobody was such an incredible series that I didn't want to watch the second season cause I just knew it wouldn't be anywhere as good as the first season. And, sadly, I was right. 😢
They took all the things that made Season 1 so brilliant and just threw them away. 🙁
Season 1 didn't take itself seriously. The story was so funny and over-the-top with so many laugh out loud moments. There were some cringe moments too (omg Zhang Chulan and his magical glowing dong the night of the bonfire celebration?)🤣
The zany goofiness of the actors and the story. The brilliant combination of wuxia and magic! Loved the fights! I still go back and watch the season 1 duel between Wang Ye and Zhuge Qing. Brilliant!💖
Oh, watching that silver-haired beauty Zhang Lingyu practicing with his headphones on? Pure poetry!❤️‍🔥🪭
The partnership and dynamics between Zhang Chulan and Feng Baobao. 🥰Their over-the-top silliness together. My gods, remember their 'fight' in the arena? The slomo? 🤣
Zhang Lingyu and Xia He. I wanted to see more of the pink and white romance! We should have seen what happens next in their story. 😍
Wanyan Luorong as Zhuge Qing and the amazing bromance with Wang Ye! Sorry, but maybe Luo Zheng is a bigger name so they thought it would better to replace him? Fuck no! The actor was completely wrong for the part. And to try and shoehorn a love interest for him? Was replacing the actor and forcing a romance with a female to keep it from being too gay? Double fuck. 🤬
It's a shame that whoever did Wang Ye's hair in season 1 didn't come back for season 2.😢 Just saying.
It seems that the writers lost focus on the storyline. Was this a story about the big bad company out to get the temp workers? Was it about stopping/killing Poison Girl? Was it about redeeming Poison Girl? Was it about Chief Ma and his kiln of doom attempting to take over the world and turn everyone into Outsiders? Who cares? It was scattered all over the place. 🤷‍♀️The story should have continued focusing on Zhang Chulan and Feng Baobao.
I missed the crazy cast of characters from season 1. How could you not have the Heavenly Master come back with his tennis shoes and ipad?👟📱
I wish we could have continued the story for season 1. What was resolved from the ending? Nothing, never mind? 😤
What about Feng Baobao and her memories and power? What about Zhang Chulan's supreme power?
They left way too much story to be told after season 1, just dropped it and ignored it and started entirely new storylines. And since season 2 ended on a cliffhanger too I imagine if there is ever a season 3 they will ignore the season 2 cliffhanger and have another entirely new story line for season 3. 😮‍💨
So anyhow, if you watched season 1 and loved it you will most likely be disappointed in the direction they took for season 2. Maybe there will be a season 1.5 released in the future to wrap up the season 1 storylines?😂

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