Stronger Than Together With Me

I did not love Together With Me. While I really liked most of the characters, I found Knock to be incredibly frustrating and downright idiotic. I wasn't sure whether to be happy or sad when he and Korn got together at the end because I felt Korn deserved so much better. At the beginning of The Next Chapter, I found myself feeling much the same way. Even after three years, Knock was still an immature pain in the ass and Korn was left acting as more of a parent than a partner. It was honestly sad to watch.

What this show did so beautifully, was show how complicated relationships can be. It had a realism that I really haven't seen in any other Asian dramas. Most of the time, if cheating is featured in the story, it is made very clear who is good and who is bad in the situation. The ambiguity here, was far more realistic, and I really enjoyed that. In the cases of Korn and Yiwha, yes, they were in the wrong, but their reasons for unfaithfulness were, while not justifiable in any sense, understandable.

In the case of Korn and Knock, you have, as I mentioned earlier, Korn acting as more of a parent to Knock. He wakes him up, makes sure he has money to buy food, puts toothpaste on his toothbrush and basically everything else other than physically dressing him. He shows physical affection, worries constantly and basically his love and care of Knock is very much on display. And then you have Knock who's so obsessed with his online games and going out and partying and generally still acting like a teenager that he's barely functional. He's constantly running late and constantly tired because of his complete lack of responsibility. There is a serious unevenness in their relationship that was bound to cause issues eventually. And then Pete comes in playing both of them, acting sympathetic and understanding, particularly towards Korn who's understandably frustrated with how things are playing out with Knock, especially concerning coming out to his parents. A combination of Pete's manipulation, alcohol, and Korn's own conflicting feelings, basically wishing that Knock would be as understanding and mature as Pete appears, and the mistake is made. It's understandable, again, not justifiable in any way, but understandable and realistic because I think that's how it is in many cases of cheating. I think both Korn's and Knock's reactions to Korn's cheating were well done and realistic. Korn, obviously, feels horribly guilty and he apologizes repeatedly, but Knock's reaction is understandable in not wanting to immediately accept that apology and feeling extremely betrayed. And here is where Knock finally starts to grow some. When the two finally reconcile, Korn asks to take care of him again to which Knock says he doesn't want him to take care of him but to just love him. It's a sweet moment and a telling one to see that Knock has grown as a character. The only thing I would have liked to see a little more of is Korn earning back Knock's trust.

Coming out to their parents becomes a big issue between them with Knock showing frustration that Korn won't tell his parents. This issue left me with some questions because Korn's dad tells him that if he's gay, he's no longer part of their family. Korn never explicitly says and Knock never mentions if this fact was communicated between them which I think is hugely important. If Korn told Knock and Knock was still willing to force the issue, frankly, to me, that makes him a colossal ass. I understand not wanting to hide something so big, something that is such a part of you, but to expect and keep pushing for Korn to basically just give up his family would be incredibly cruel and insensitive. On the flip side, if Korn never communicated that to Knock, then that makes him a colossal idiot. Knowing Knock's character, if he knew what Korn's father had said, I feel like he would have been more understanding. I think the fact that its never specified if the two discussed this was deliberate to feed the drama.

In Yiwha and Cho's case, it provided a different point of view. In their case, they seem pretty happy together aside from Cho working too much. Yiwha has a semi-flirtatious relationship with her senior, Art, and eventually that flirtatiousness leads to mixed feelings. The reasoning of Yiwha's infidelity isn't quite as cut and dry as with Korn. She finds her senior attractive, they're thrown together more frequently due to working on a project, spending time alone, and then a few instances that push them together physically as well. Despite both being in relationships with other people, they ignore the warning signs that lines are starting to be crossed and eventually end up almost sleeping together. The difference is how they each react. Like Korn, Yiwha is almost crushed by her guilt and betrayal of his trust while Art continues to pursue even when she tells him to stop even dragging her to meet his girlfriend and announce that he's fallen for Yiwha. I do want to take a second here to commend his girlfriend, Mint, for her poise. She doesn't lash out at either Art or Yiwha and even afterward remains calm despite obviously being hurt. She didn't get a lot of screen time, but I really liked her and that they didn't set her against Yiwha. Anyway, in regards to Yiwha, I really appreciated how her emotions and reactions were played out, particularly the fact that she specifically tells Cho that she's betrayed his trust. She absolutely understands the mistake she made and she regrets it hugely and even though Cho is willing to forgive her and get back together, she struggles to forgive herself. Again, her portrayal felt realistic and nuanced and I loved it, though I really wanted to give the poor girl a hug.

Farm's relationships were more complicated. I have to admit, I missed the Farm from Together With Me, all innocent and sweet. I didn't like this Farm nearly as much, though his insight into his friend's relationships were helpful and spot on at times. He's basically a horny, cheating bastard for most of the drama. I was honestly disappointed in him. He gets his happy ending and all, but I don't think he really deserved it. I totally understand that Bright messed him up in Together With Me and he probably needed therapy after the abuse he suffered, but to see him turning around and basically doing exactly what Bright did to him just to get back at Bright was disappointing and just a continuation of the cycle of abuse. He obviously went back to Bright to get revenge, to hurt him the way he had been hurt, but the fact that he didn't stop when he realized that Bright had truly changed and continued playing both him and Rit was infuriating, especially since Rit did nothing to deserve that kind of treatment. Rit was such a sweetheart, he clearly really loved Farm, to the point he was willing to put aside his own feelings and help Farm get back together with Bright. He deserved so much better and I hope he found it. While on the one hand, I hope Farm and Bright work out, on the other, I honestly wouldn't have minded if he got dumped by both Bright and Rit, it would have been fitting. Of all the characters, he showed the least growth, in my opinion.

Which leaves Fai, who I was honestly disappointed in there for a while. I loved her no nonsense, tough girl attitude in Together With Me and how she was willing to stand by her friends and support them. I felt like they dialed back her character some in The Next Chapter, but not in a bad way. She was still Fai but a little more mellow. My disappointment came from her reaction to her friends' cheating which was so incredibly cold and judgmental, I lost some respect for her, especially since she wasn't willing to listen to any kind of explanation. It's understandable for the rest of the world to react extremely negatively, but you would hope that your friends, especially ones that you've had for so long, would at least listen and not make a snap judgment. Her lack of relationship experience also didn't play well in her favor and made her seem very shallow. I was glad when she finally seemed to come to her senses, at least with Yiwha, and offer comfort and support. There were a couple of scenes between the two that were very sweet and touching. I felt like her growth was a bit more understated than the others, but it was still present and I really enjoyed watching it.

This drama proved to be really solid and enjoyable. It was a bit slow to start with, but once it got going, it was unstoppable. There are very, very few things in this world that are black and white and I really liked how this drama showed that in such a real and grounding way. But what really made this drama is the characters and their continuing friendship. This proved to be one of the best dramas I've watched in a while and I will definitely be watching it again in the future.

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Not My Type

Am I beating a dead horse with writing a review five years after this drama came out? Absolutely. Am I going to do it anyway? Yup. I've been in a bit of a slump lately when it comes to dramas and decided to go back and re-watch one of the first Thai BLs I ever saw. I remember TharnType being toxic and really not that great despite some cute moments, but was it really THAT bad? It was so much worse.

When I first watched TharnType, I think I was very much in that oooh, new shiny toy phase. I did not have a 100+ dramas under my belt so my standards were low and I was easily distracted by fluff. Now much more seasoned, that wasn't going to fly and what I came away with was a new appreciation for just how incredibly toxic this drama is and how poor the writing is and by poor I mean I think a child could write a more cohesive story. I know that's mean, I'm sorry, but seriously, how do you read through a script and not see all the glaring errors?

One of the more benign issues with this drama is the timeline. It's not at all clear cut and trying to figure out how much time has progressed is just a waste of brain cells. We do get a brief "three weeks prior" in the first episode to show Tharn and Type meeting and that they do initially hit it off, but that's about it.

The lack of any more than that one scene is another issue in that Tharn's love for Type is never properly established. We know that he fell for Type, if not at first sight, then sometime during that three week period before Type found out that he was gay. The fact that isn't shown though was an error on the writer's part as it makes Tharn seem like some kind of crazy masochist or something who fell in love with Type despite his abusive treatment.

Tharn and Type are both walking red flags as far as I'm concerned despite the fluffy moments between them in the latter half of the drama. While I found redeeming qualities in them in the past, at this point, I really can't. Though I guess from that standpoint, I can figure that they deserve each other.
- Tharn lost any respect I may have had for him by sexually assaulting Type not once, but twice. I'm not excusing Type's behaviour, I'll get to him in a minute, but acting like a child and destroying personal property was not an excuse to assault him. Nor was any of his other harassing behaviour of getting into Type's personal space. The mature thing to do would have been to report the damage. Also, he liked Type, okay, but all the touching and forehead kisses, again, when Type was asleep, was he oblivious to how inappropriate that was or did he just not care? It wasn't romantic in the slightest, it was actually downright creepy.
Tharn is supposed to be the good guy. He's the one we're supposed to root for and he does get better, but he's also a contrarian. He likes to come across as this understanding person with his puppy eyes, yet at the same time, he can be utterly oblivious or downright selfish. That shower scene. Type said no, that should have meant he backed off immediately, no questions asked, but he chose to sexually assault Type again. Other moments include when Type had his panic attack. Common sense would dictate when someone is panicking and telling you to let them go, you do so. Instead, Tharn continued to crowd his space and then got ticked off when Type kicked him. There's also the fact that he didn't realize something was going on with Tar when it was painfully obvious something was wrong or that Lhong was in love with him which was also quite obvious. And while Tharn could be a sweetheart, for some reason it felt surface level. He never initiates a conversation with Type about his mental health, about the toll his trauma had taken on him or how he can help and support him. That being said, though it's not presented as such, it's likely that he has his own trauma from losing his virginity to Thorn's friend San. There's not a lot of detail given and ages are unknown, but the way it's presented makes it seem to me like Tharn was also potentially a victim of sexual assault.
- Type is quite simply an ass. How he has any friends when he's an abusive jerk to essentially everyone he meets is beyond me. And he is abusive, certainly verbally, potentially physically as well. His redeeming qualities are pretty much nil and while he does mellow, he's still an ass in the end. His character was also frustrating to watch in terms of his mental health. One of Thai BLs favorite things is using the power of love as a way to heal anything and everything. In this case, it magically cures Type of his PTSD. This was back when the only gay for you was going strong so it didn't cure that and Type still hated gays. But yeah, love, oh, and one sexual assault blowjob and he was good to go! No more panic attacks for the rest of the drama. Why waste your money on therapy when that's all you need? Seriously though, the inconsistency was grating.

One of the things that I found really frustrating about this drama and that I have found is pretty consistent with Mame's writing, is that she likes to take issues like depression, sexual assault, rape, etc. and use them as plot devices, but in a very flippant manner. A number of these characters went through serious trauma, but it's not treated that way. It's there when it's needed and convenient and forgotten when it's not. There were opportunities here to actually have meaningful dialogue about these traumas within the story, but instead we were subjected to a writer who apparently couldn't be bothered to do any kind of research and who exacerbated the characters' traumas. Tar, despite the absurdity that no one, especially Tum, caught onto his depression, was the one character who's mental health issues felt realistic. They actually tried to show the symptoms of depression. He was also, coincidentally, the one character who had been to therapy. That's one character out of four with likely trauma who was shown some effort. Sad.

The acting was good. Mew and Gulf had serious chemistry and that's the main reason why this drama was and still is so popular and why it worked. That being said, did Mew look in any way like a 19-year-old? Absolutely not, he looks his age which would be fine if not for the fact that Kokliang, who played Tar, looked about 15-years-old despite them actually being only a couple years apart. It created an awkward, borderline predatory dynamic between them that was just uncomfortable to watch. It also made it really hard to imagine Tharn falling in love with Tar and them being together.

While there is a lot of negative, there are a couple of positives besides the acting. The biggest one is Techno. He's the one bright spot in this drama and I loved him. He was entertaining and uncomplicated and a genuinely likable person. Mild did a great job portraying him. The music was good. I liked it then and I still like it now. There are some sweet scenes between Tharn and Type that I do like. The production quality as a whole, minus the writing, was pretty good honestly.

Going back and re-watching this, I was hoping for a bit of a fond, albeit slightly toxic (it is Mame after all), trip down memory lane. Sadly, my mind had apparently blocked most of the negative scenes and just remembered the sweet fluff. As you can imagine, there actually wasn't much there to remember after all. I will say that watching it, it's nice to see that progress has been made in the industry, there are fewer BL dramas like this being made though there's still room for improvement. It's safe to say I will NOT be going back to this one ever again. However, I am still left with one burning question: how the heck is Lhong not in prison?

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Bury the Dinosaur

There is really not much, if anything, to love about Dinosaur Love. The only reason I even took an interest in it initially was because of Pepper who I liked in Love in the Air. But I found that I wasn't a fan of either his character or acting in this series, and I saw far more of his tongue than I ever wanted to. This isn't even one of those dramas that could have been better if X, Y, Z was different. This is one that probably would have been better off left on the cutting room floor in it's entirety.

The plot is completely nonsensical. It jumps from point to point without necessarily wrapping things up and the transitions are abrupt. The beginning with Mek and See-Kram getting together and cheating on Rak was poorly done. Why either of them chose to betray their friend and lover was not well explained. The fact that they both came back begging for forgiveness was pretty rich of them, particularly Mek considering he'd tried to rape Rak. That mess really only served to make Rak single and available to get together with Dino, but could have been utilized far more wisely to establish the characters and build on them. There are a few plot holes that are more annoying that they're not explained than anything terribly critical and multitude of unanswered questions. The passage of time is not well established either. It would have been nice with some events to know how much time had passed just to get a grasp on how quickly things were progressing. The ending, if you stop at Episode 8 is jarring and doesn't feel like a conclusion. The pacing was all over the place and generally just frustrating. I got to episode 6 and very nearly dropped this drama because I was so done with it. Not that I got anything out of finishing it. It really wasn't worth it.

Dinosaur Love suffers from an overinflated cast. There are so many supporting and guest characters that it got really hard to keep all of them straight, especially Dino's multitude of friends. There was no need for all of them and they took away time that could have been better spent trying to sort out the mess of a storyline. There was also a tendency for characters either pop up unexpectedly after being absent for a while or just disappearing. After apologizing and saying that he would win Rak back, Mek was never seen again. See-Kram is last seen in the hospital and then is absent for multiple episodes before suddenly popping up to ask for Rak's forgiveness. Guy had a mental break down and was suicidal last we saw him, but suddenly he's out and about and fine? Unsurprisingly the few ladies of the cast were completely underutilized. Sammy as Plabu was there for the jokes and Michelle as Please was present to be a "rival" for Dino's affection, but not really, and once she and Rak had their talk, she was another one who disappeared. I will never not be disappointed when they do that. If you're going to cast women, use them.
-Dino simply looked too old to believably be in college. I think the story would have worked better with him having already graduated from a realistic point of view. He was a weird combination of red and green flag moments. He had moments where he was an absolute green flag like when Rak offered to be his boyfriend in a panic after almost being raped and he declined. But he had other moments where he pushed Rak's boundaries and was pushy in general. He did generally back off, but sometimes Rak had to say it more than once. His temper was also a serious concern. It took very little to set him off and make him turn physical and that was not addressed in a satisfactory way. Also, what exactly was Dino a part of? That's never established and once that point was no longer useful, it was thrown out, but I was genuinely curious if he was part of a gang or just a good old fashioned thug.
-Rak's whole personality almost was him being cute and that got old really fast. He was this odd combination of naive and innocent and yet at the same time, not. I will give him credit for his consistency, once he'd made a decision, he really didn't waver. And despite his kind and innocent nature, he never led any of the multitude of men pursuing him on if he wasn't interested in them. Why he had that many men interested in him in the first place, I cannot begin to fathom. While I generally would commend his honesty, there were times where he kept secrets from Dino despite knowing it would cause conflict since Dino hated lies and secrets. While I have no doubt that Dino's temper was the primary reason, it's something that Rak should have felt comfortable addressing.
-Chalam was moderately amusing initially, but quickly grew boring and repetitive. He just had no personality outside his obsession with omelets and he was featured far too heavily to have that and his manner of talking be his only traits.
-Suea was fairly entertaining and was one of the sole bright spots. Not a great character, but Aomstin was expressive and that helped.

The acting was fairly disappointing. I was not a fan of Pepper here, he didn't suit the role for me. Kong was boring. He lacked any kind of diversity in his expressions and mostly just walked around with this wide-eyed, innocent look. The chemistry between him and Pepper was overall lacking. There were a few moments where I felt a spark, but for the majority of the series I was left unimpressed. Again, Aomstin was entertaining as Suea at moments if nothing else because he knew how to use his facial muscles. Even if a lot of is expression were a bit exaggerated, he had some variety. I love Sammy, but this was such a stupid role she really did not get a chance to shine unfortunately.

The production was lacking a lot. The lighting within scenes was off at times with one angle being bright and another being dark. It lacked consistency. The comedic sound effects were severely overused and had me hitting mute more than once. That horrible bird sound was used so much. The music was extremely generic and at times annoying. The transitions were also very poorly done. They'd go from relatively intense music to something perky and upbeat which did not work. The opening credit song wasn't bad though and I ended up kind of liking it.

I can't recommend this drama in any way. It was a positive chore to get through and I don't feel like I gained anything from it other than disappointment and lost time. Go find something better to watch and avoid this one.

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Middleman's Disgrace

It's hard to believe that Middleman's Love and Bed Friend are in any way connected. They're so completely different, it's almost jarring. While I wouldn't say that Middleman's Love was a series I was hotly anticipating, I was curious about it and looking forward to it to some degree. Bed Friend had a host of issues, but Jade was not one of them. I thought Yim's portrayal of him was a bit one note and there just wasn't a whole lot to the character, but with the focus on him and a proper storyline, there was potential. Unfortunately what we got was a complete disaster. Where Bed Friend tried to be darkly sexy with a healthy dose of trauma thrown in, Middleman's love went for a rom-com feel, heavy on the slapstick comedy. It doesn't work and it was almost physically painful to get through. If it was any more than the eight episodes it was, I would have bailed and I very nearly did within the first fifteen minutes, but clung on because of comments that it improved. And while there is some improvement in the last two episodes, it's far too little, too late to make a difference.

The story is a pretty generic office romance between an employee and his intern. It had the potential to be cute, but there's so much crap and unnecessary drama to bog it down that it's anything but. And sometimes that's redeemable if the characters are likeable, but they weren't. I guess there's the theme that there's someone for everyone, but it definitely could have been done better. I was put off almost immediately by the animation sequence that started things off. It was weird and unexpected and pointless. There were a couple more instances of that and they failed to add anything beneficial. They just continued to be weird and pointless. Equally off-putting was the abundance of comedic sound effects. Those were eventually toned down, but still very much overused. Given the title, I anticipated the fact that Jade always found himself in the middle would play a larger role than it did. In effect, it really played no role as it was mentioned a couple times, but that was about it. I think the drama could have been much more interesting if they had leaned into that concept and how always being in the middle really affected Jade. The NSFW scenes were...interesting to say the least. The scene between Gus and Tong felt abrupt. There had been the whole push and pull between them for a while, but when they finally got to the point where they were a couple, they immediately jumped into bed. To me, it felt out of character and out of place. Jade and Mai's scenes were even more out of character. Considering how Jade is Jade and that he was a virgin, the level of sensuality he gave was not believable to me. There needed to be some awkwardness and fumbling and not straight to sex god. Also going to say that the two of them eating the rose was just weird. There were, however, a couple things that I did appreciate like the theme of consent that continued over from Bed Friend. Gus actually verbally giving consent to Tong was nice to see. I also really liked both Jade's and Mai's families and how supportive and loving they were. With Jade's family, the conversation they had where they acknowledged his feelings was very well done and I wish we'd had more scenes like that.

The characters were pretty much irredeemable trash.
-Jade in Bed Friend was cute, a bit quirky and eccentric, but not in a bad or obnoxious way. He was a good, loyal friend who seemed to have a solid head on his shoulders. But with this series, it's like they took his eccentricities and magnified them a thousand times to the point where it didn't even seem to be the same character. And that was a major downfall because Jade ended up feeling more like a caricature than a character. He was loud, awkward, and painfully self-conscious, not at all cute. Other than getting over his fear of rejection to pursue Mai, there was very little character development. There was a lot of potential for Jade and if they had retained his original character, I think the romance between him and Mai could have been quite sweet.
-Mai was a besotted puppy who truly was essentially perfect. He was not one of those characters who seems perfect on the outside, but as things progress his flaws are shown. No, he was portrayed as being the perfect employee, the perfect boyfriend, the perfect son, everything. He lacked any kind of dimension or interest. He revolved around Jade and that was it.
-Ueau and King returned to serve as love advisors for Jade and Mai. We didn't get to see a whole lot of them outside that role, but the few moments we did revolved around petty drama. The fact that Ueau couldn't have a simple conversation with another man without King getting his hackles up was absurd. And while Ueau was still pretty much himself, they neutered King. In Bed Friend, he was confident and sexy, and while he pretty much always caved to Ueau, he had a personality and was his own man. Middleman's Love saw him turned into a simpering puppy whose most frequent line was calling Ueau Teerak (darling). Sort of cute the first time or two, but it quickly became redundant. He as a name, King, consider using it. Also, be done with the jealousy. It's not cute.
-Gus and Tong were a cute secondary couple, but their back and forth and where they stood got confusing at times. It would seem like they were getting somewhere and then next scene Gus would be sulking for some inexplicable reason. They needed more screen time to really build on their relationship. Also found Tong's comment that Gus never annoyed him and that he was just foul-mouthed to be utter BS. You were acting very annoyed a time or two there, sir, being foul-mouthed had nothing to do with it.

I'm not going to hate on the actors because they had garbage to work with. The script was a disaster and should have been shredded then burnt. Watching the behind the scenes, you can see how much effort they put into it, but there was just no saving it. As much as I couldn't stand Jade, I will give Yim all the kudos because I can only imagine how hard portraying him was. Playing high energy characters like that is exhausting, but he remained consistent. Tutor, again, just had nothing to work with. I know he's a good actor, but there were so many close ups that I don't think he had a chance to really spread his wings. He wasn't wooden though which he easily could have been and there was expression in his eyes so I'll give him that.

The production needs to be fired. How they looked at any of this and thought, yeah, this looks great is beyond me. They let down their actors who deserved so much better and they let down the fans who had been looking forward to this. There were a number of scene cuts that were very awkward and really killed the flow and tone as well as a few scene jumps that were equally awkward. In both cases, they made the story progression more confusing than it needed to be. The opening credits with the bobbleheads was not cute or funny. That was one of my first indications that this series was not going to be what I expected. And the music, particularly during the NSFW scenes was either forgettable or distracting. For the NSFW scenes, it didn't fit and I ended up muting eventually. I don't understand why they feel music is necessary for those kinds of scenes. If you have to have it, use instrumental pieces, it flows better.

To sum it up, Middleman's Love was a dumpster fire that should never have been made as is. The few cute or wholesome scenes are buried so deep, you have to sift through a mountain of garbage to find them. This is such a case of wasted potential and I hope Tutor, Yim and the other actors are given better opportunities to show their talents cause this was not it.

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Save The Dance

This is a short and sweet drama that despite the limited run time still manages to deliver a decent story with relatively well-fleshed out characters. Both leads were interesting and nuanced though I would have liked it if their backgrounds were delved into a little more; there was a lot left unknown or just hinted at. But their chemistry was quite good, more of a slow burn than hot and heavy which I quite liked. The relationship does feel slightly rushed, but I think that's more due to the short run time than anything else. They still make it work. The dance aspect was unique and I really loved how it was actually a key part of the drama and not just a side note. The choreography was well done and quite lovely to watch. The OST was also quite good. I felt it matched the story well. Overall it was an enjoyable interlude from the daily grind. It's not a masterpiece by any means and, again, the short run time limited it in various ways. There are certain aspects I would have liked to see fleshed out more, but even without that, as long as you don't delve too deep and are able to suspend one's disbelief I think you'll find a rather lovely, touching story.

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Simple Magic

I had high expectations going into Cherry Magic because I've heard so much about it. However, it left me with some mixed feelings. For the most part, I enjoyed it, but I don't think it quite lived up to the hype. The premise of the story was interesting and was pretty well done, I liked the characters and the fact there wasn't a villain, but the pace lagged towards the end and things started feeling repetitive. Even so, I found it to be a pleasant enough experience watching it.

I liked the story premise, though I can safely say it is, regrettably, not true. The way people's internal thoughts were portrayed, while not accurate, was still well done. The thought processes were too linear and too conversation like to be realistic, in my opinion, but within the story it worked to get what was needed across. I do think more could have been done with it. Adachi seemed to struggle more with the morality of his gift, while I feel like responding to people's thoughts instead of what they said would have been a challenge as well. We see that touched on twice, but only with Kurosawa and only towards the end of the drama. I think it would have been interesting to explore that aspect more. I also would have liked to have seen more of Adachi's life after he no longer had his gift and the change that created. Lastly, though not a huge deal, I didn't necessarily appreciate the kiss baiting between Adachi and Kurosawa. There are multiple moments where they are about to kiss, but something always interrupts and in the end, we never actually see them properly kiss. There was a fairly good distribution of humor and serious moments. There's more humor earlier on and then it gradually turns more serious though still with enough levity to keep things balanced. There is absolutely no judgement towards any of the characters being gay. While Fujisaki is the only one at work who is aware of Adachi and Kurosawa's relationship to any degree, outside of that, there's never any indication that they or Tsuge and Minato I did like the relationship development between Kurosawa and Adachi. Though that was part of what got a bit repetitive and slow towards the end, it held strong for the majority of the drama. Tsuge and Minato's relationship was less well developed and seemed a bit more implausible given their very limited access and knowledge of each other, but was still cute. The pacing was inconsistent. This drama is a slow burn, which I don't mind at all, but slow burn dramas needs to have steady pacing to keep the viewer from getting bored. And unfortunately the pacing here started to lag a little over halfway through and didn't pick up again until the last two episodes. It didn't feel like much was happening during those episodes and some aspects started to feel repetitive. At that point, the focus was starting to turn towards Adachi feeling a moral dilemma regarding his gift and what advantages it might be giving him. Outside those scenes though, a lot of what transpired felt unnecessary and didn't contribute much to the story or, like I said before, felt like a rehash of past scenes.

The characters were all fairly solid, again, I liked that there wasn't a villain and it was more a focus on dealing with our internal demons. One aspect that I particularly liked was the use of Fujisaki. I'm so used to BL dramas making poor use of their female characters or making them into the villain that it was a pleasant surprise to have a woman portrayed in a positive light.
-Adachi was a favorite character probably because he was the one I could most identify with. He's socially awkward, shy, self-conscious, and a bit of a wallflower. He struggles to see his own worth and positive aspects of himself. That is until his gift kicks in and he starts connecting with his colleague Kurosawa and discovers that Kurosawa likes him. His character growth is gradual but well done as he slowly gains confidence in himself and learns to step outside his comfort zone. He has a symbiotic relationship with Kurosawa beyond just their love for each other. Kurosawa is able to be himself around Adachi while Adachi learns from Kurosawa and is encouraged by him. Adachi finds his new gift to be both a benefit and a curse. From the beginning Adachi was shown to be unobtrusive, comfortable in his shell, however, he was also shown to be kind. Maybe not overtly, but he's attentive in his work and helpful where he can be. Once he finds that he can hear people's thoughts, though he doesn't generally go out of his way do so, when he does hear someone's thoughts and he has a way of helping them, he does so. And it's not just Kurosawa, though he does go more out of his way to assist him. But with Tsuge, Rokkaku and Fujisaki, he does his best to help them as well, often stepping outside his comfort zone to do so. Eventually though he begins to question the morality of his gift and if it's really okay for him to have the access to people's thoughts that he has and whether that gives him an unfair advantage. It comes to a head when he impulsively uses what he heard to help him in a work competition. Whether using his knowledge is cheating is left up to the viewer, but Adachi believes that he has. This event coupled with hearing about several surprises that Kurosawa has for him, eventually leads him to a breaking point and he tells Kurosawa about his gift before they end up breaking up. That is, until he finally realizes that he truly does love Kurosawa and want to be with him, regardless.
-Kurosawa is the golden boy. He's attractive, he's smart, and he's well liked, but we come to discover that he pushes himself to maintain a facade of perfection not only because that's what expected of him, but also to prove that he's not just a pretty face. He's attracted to Adachi because Adachi sees beyond what he projects and actually sees him and appreciates him. As they begin to interact more and he gets to know Adachi better, what started as something more akin to a crush blossoms into love. The positive aspects that many people miss about Adachi and that Adachi doesn't notice himself are seen by Kurosawa and appreciated. Kurosawa is conscious of Adachi's moods and behaviour and works to make him comfortable all the while wanting more. He's careful to not cross the line, no matter how much he wants to and he's very respectful of Adachi. He becomes a support for Adachi, building his confidence and helping him as he can, but also slowly learns that he can rely on Adachi as well and find equal footing. When he finds out about Adachi's gift, he's not judgmental or accusatory, instead he again puts things in Adachi's hands and let's him take the lead, even if that means he gets hurt. And in the end, he reveals that he doesn't think ill of Adachi for hiding his gift, but is instead grateful for where it brought them. He's just such a pure character and you have to really appreciate him.
-Tsuge is Adachi's friend from college and they are similar in many ways. Tsuge is also an introvert who doesn't like to step outside his comfort zone and is socially awkward. Despite being a virgin himself, he writes romance novels, and is the person Adachi initially goes to for advice when his gift manifests. Tsuge doesn't believe him, at least not until he hits his own 30th birthday and has the same gift. Tsuge is an interesting character because he looks very scholarly and put together, but he's actually a bit haphazard and his reactions are very over the top, amusingly so. His initial reaction when he meets Minato isn't exactly favorable, until he hears his thoughts and starts to fall for him. For Tsuge, he has to overcome his own perceptions of his self-worth and learn to communicate. His growth is quicker than Adachi's, necessarily so since he isn't a central character, but it is still present, and despite entering into a relationship with Minato and starting to learn how to be in a relationship, he is still very much himself. He doesn't change for Minato, they simply learn to coexist.
-Minato isn't given a whole lot of background and he remains a bit of an enigma throughout. He's on the younger side and we know he likes cats, wants to make it as a dancer, and is gay. That's about it. I would have liked to see him developed more and known more about him. His feelings for Tsuge and how they developed are relatively vague. He things Tsuge's a good person for rescuing Udon, but what more there might be is pretty much left in the dark. Nevertheless, I liked his character and thought he was good for Tsuge, pulling him out in the world more and exposing him to different experiences. We don't get as much of an impression on what he gets from Tsuge other than likely someone more mature, in age at least, and stable as well as encouragement as Tsuge doesn't find Minato's dreams foolish and supports him.
-Rokkako was adorable and unpredictable, I never knew what to expect from him. While he seems like he's good at his job, he's not as wise when it comes to interpersonal relationships and reading social cues. I was initially a bit wary of him, wondering if he was going to prove to be romantic competition for either Adachi or Kurosawa, but he quickly proved to be just a generally very decent guy, if a bit of a dope at times, though an adorable one. I liked how he admired both Adachi and Kurosawa and looked up to both of them. I also appreciated his loyalty to Minato and the way he was willing to fight Tsuge. That bein said he is a bit of a hothead and once he gets something in his head, he tends to run with it. Still, nothing he does is meant maliciously and I really enjoyed his character.
-Fujisaki was the lone supporting female character, but she brought a lot to the table. Initially introduced as a possible love interest for Adachi by his supervisor, she instead becomes a friend and supporter. Her thoughts reveal that she likes Adachi, though based on the interpretation I saw, it seems that like is as a person, not romantically. Adachi's initial support of her leads to a greater friendship between the two and she is seen acting as a support for Adachi later on and a bit of an advisor for Kurosawa. Unlike Rokkaku, she is perceptive and she can read the signs between Adachi and Kurosawa and she fully supports them, even orchestrating a firework show for them there at the end when the real event is cancelled. I loved her character and found her to be such a sweet soul.

The acting was quite good all around. Akaso and Machida had a subtle chemistry that really worked for their characters. It was quiet, comfortable, but also obviously not any kind of buddy chemistry. And the buildup of it was portrayed very nicely. Individually, I thought they both did a good job. Akaso's reactions as Adachi tended to be more over the top than Machida's but it didn't feel silly unless it was supposed it. He brought a good balance to the role. Machida was very steadfast as Kurosawa but he wasn't boring. He was consistent throughout and remained engaged regardless of the scene of what he was doing. Asaka was similarly over the top in portraying Tsuge, though his was certainly played more for laughs. He did it well though and despite the fact it was comedic and exaggerated, it didn't feel overdone. He also had a good balance of portraying the bookish author who tended to overreact. Yutaro was good as Minato even though he didn't get as much screen time. He brought a certain boyish innocence while at the same time showing that he wasn't naive. He had good chemistry with Asaka and they played off of each other well.

Japanese production is always a bit hit or miss for me. I don't always love the lighting choices, it can come across as a bit dark and gloomy to me, and the sets can have a sameness to them that just blend with other dramas. Cherry Magic, however, had a pretty decent balance with the lighting and with the office setting, it worked. While I didn't find the sets to be anything extraordinary, there were some aspects, mostly with Adachi's room that made it feel a bit more personal. I liked the opening and closing music, but didn't find them to be anything spectacular, although they fit well with the credits. I did, however, really like the visuals of both credits. The opening credits had an almost ethereal quality to them and I really appreciated the artistry of it. I would have liked to seen more of that quality in the drama as well, but you can't have everything. The ending credits gave a very comfortable and warm vibe, that I also appreciated.

I mostly watched Cherry Magic in anticipation of the Thai version that's currently being filmed. I wanted to get a feel for the story and characters as I find it interesting how various countries tell the same story differently and alter aspects of the plot and characters. Despite the fact that it didn't live up to the hype, I enjoyed this drama. The story was interesting and kept me invested for the most part and I really enjoyed the characters and their development. This is a drama I would recommend and while I don't know if I will watch it again, I do consider it worth the watch.

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Super Special Commercial

So this super special episode is essentially an extended commercial for laundry detergent. It's like those ones you see where the kid brings in their super dirty clothes and mom or dad uses the detergent being advertised and everything comes out perfectly clean, except this commercial is 15 minutes long instead of 30 seconds. That being said, it's still fun and it's still cute.

The story here is simply that Tinn wants to hear Gun say that he likes him and he goes to various lengths to get Gun to say so dirtying his shirt considerably while doing so. Gun also dirties his shirt and so they need to wash them, hence where the laundry detergent comes in. We're also treated to Gemini and Fourth singing their song You're Blushing.

It doesn't add much to their story, it really is just light and sweet, a pleasantly short diversion. But after the disappointment of their episodes in Our Skyy 2, this was a much more satisfactory way to wish the characters farewell.

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"To Truly Love Someone, Is For Them To Become Your Only Exception"

The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese is a beautifully melancholic movie that is very artistic. Everything feels very deliberate from the choice of lighting down to the clothing color choice. And it all comes together into this intricate web and it just draws you in. It's not a movie that leaves you smiling at the end, but rather one that leaves you silently pensive.

This truly is a dark and gritty movie. The characters are deeply flawed human beings engaging in a toxic relationship and that relationship is not romanticized like it is in so many other BLs. On the one hand, you have Otomo Kyoichi who, despite being married has engaged in repeated affairs and has no real understanding of what love is. And on the other hand, you have Imagase Wataru who has been in love with Otomo for some 8 years, since their university days. Neither character has very many redeeming traits. Otomo can't remain faithful to anyone, is deeply selfish, cold, cruel even. He's manipulative and remorseless at times. And Imagase is a study in unrequited love, but the kind of love where there's not really a reason, you just love them. Because why would he love Otomo with the way he treats Imagase? But he does love him, not that it's in any way healthy. It's the kind of love that he's willing to do anything for a chance, even blackmail or stalking. And also under that love is a level of fear and paranoia that eats away at him until he breaks.

The character development achieved is very impressive, particularly with Otomo's character. It's a natural progression that feels well done and organic, not at all forced. His journey is not an easy or pleasant one, but it is a necessary one for him to grow and become a person capable of loving and being loved. Imagase's development is less overt, though no less powerful. His is a battle with self, the yearning to stay while also knowing that it's time to let go. The pacing in general of the movie is practically perfect. No scene feels extra or out of place, it all just flows together seamlessly.

The acting is absolutely phenomenal. Okura Tadayoshi had the challenge of playing Otomo who's fairly reserved, but the beauty of his acting was the sheer subtlety of it. Even if his face wasn't necessarily displaying a specific emotion, you could see wheels turning in his head. And Narita Ryo, oh my goodness, did he pull at heartstrings. Between the scenes where he breaks down, the beach scene, and the ending, he just broke my heart. He also has some of the best lines of the movie and he delivers them beautifully.

Yes, there is nudity in this movie, no full frontal, and several NSFW scenes, but I would not classify them as pornographic. They are tastefully done and they play a key role in revealing the development of the characters' relationship and emotions. If such scenes are off-putting to you, this is not a movie you should be watching.

I said this was a movie about flawed human beings and part of what gives it so much depth is that very nearly every single character in it is flawed, some more so than others. It doesn't try to rationalize or over explain, they simply are. I think there's a certain beauty in that rawness and lack of perfection. Theirs isn't a relationship to aspire to, but it feels real, more real than the pretty fairytales so many of us watch. But in the end there is a hopefulness, I think, however fragile, that they can rise above their flaws to create something beautiful.

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Doesn't Make the Cut

I expected more from this drama than what I got. The premise sounded interesting and I was especially intrigued by the fashion aspect. However, the synopsis was misleading and this turned out to be a terribly paced, terribly told story that was just disappointing. The worst part is that it had potential, it just completely failed to live up to it.

The story suffered from a serious lack of information and direction. I'm fine with minimal background information as long as it's done well and it explains enough to give meaning to the character's actions and motives. And parts of it did work. We didn't need a drawn out backstory for Ki Jin and Yi Bin's relationship. Likewise we didn't need to delve deep in Yeong Woo's history. In each case, just enough information was given to provide meaning to the story without any excess. However, the relationship between Yeong Woo and Yi Bin was never explained or explored which begs the question of what happened there? Were they former lovers? Friends? What? More information was needed than a handful of flashbacks that basically did nothing but lead to more questions. Also, the fact that they're suddenly friends at the end when the last time we saw them together there was definitely some animosity since they both liked Ki Jin made it seem like something was missed.

And then there was the complete lack of direction for the story. I have no idea what story was even trying to be told here. My initial impression was that it was going to be about Ki Jin striving to become a noted fashion designer and he ended up finding love along the way and that's kind of how it started, but partway through, it just completely lost its way and we're left with a lot of unanswered questions. What was with him suddenly turning all moody and morose? Yes, Yi Bin gave him his break, but did he really think he was chosen solely for that? What exactly happened during his last meeting with the chairwoman? Why did he apparently ghost Yeong Woo? The impression I got is that his show was cancelled in order for him to go to New York, but judging by the crumpled ticket in the trash that Yi Bin saw, that didn't happen either. So where was he for that year? Did he open his own studio? That's what it seemed like at least. And why did Yeong Woo forgive him so easily? They were both way too calm about that impromptu reunion. The farther I got into the drama, the more questions I had and almost none were ever answered. It was a very unsatisfactory ending to be left with so much unexplained information.

The acting was okay, nothing spectacular. Bum Jun and Choo Suk Young definitely stood out as the amateurs. They weren't bad per say, just definitely lack in experience. I think both have potential given more time. Eom Se Ung was the best of the three and gave the most solid performance. He was expressive without being over the top which I liked.

The production value was not great overall. The quality just seems pretty average, there were some sound issues, and the editing was obviously not great. Flashbacks were used far too frequently. The time spent showing the same scenes over and over again would have been better spent on fleshing out the story and answering some of the questions left unanswered. On the other hand, some parts of the cinematography were good. I particularly liked the ending shot with them on opposite sides of the street. The OST, while a bit repetitive, was still good and I did enjoy it.

One of the things I liked and I felt was a subtle nod to the fashion premise of the drama was the evolution of Yeong Woo's style. He starts out dressing, not sloppily, but very casually. Baggier clothes, oversized overshirts and the like. The actor's a good looking guy so none of it looks bad on him, but it's definitely not refined. By the end though, while he's wearing similar styles of clothing, there is a sense of refinement there. The clothing fits better and looks better, but it's still very much his style. I liked that it showed he had changed and yet, at the same time, he was still himself.

This is really not a drama I can recommend unfortunately. The lack of a concrete story and the need to try to piece all the parts together yourself just makes it a waste of time, in my opinion. There is no reason to ever rewatch it and this is one that I would just avoid.

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My Space is Here

The Eclipse is one of my favorite BL dramas and I was really looking forward to these two episodes. I found what they did with these two episodes really interesting and creative and even though it wasn't a hit with every scene, the characters are what really made these two extra episodes special. It was the characters that I fell in love with in the drama and they are what made me really enjoy this continuation of their stories.

Of the episodes that have aired thus far, I felt these two had the best combination of story and fluff. There's a good balance of both. Unlike with Never Let Me Go, the story is a continuation that fits with the original drama and unlike Star in My Mind, it's more than pure fluff. I thought going with a continuation of Wat's moviemaking was a unique choice since it played a relatively minor role in the original, but a good one. The scenes with the characters imagining themselves in various movies was incredibly cheesy, but also rather entertaining. It does feel a bit rushed at times, but with just two episodes, they didn't have a ton of time to fully flesh out the story and it's still good as is.

I did like that there was a clear progression in the character's growth. They were not exactly the same as they were in the original which makes sense since time has obviously passed and that was refreshing since a lot of times specials or subsequent seasons pick up acting like no time has passed when in fact it's been years. I liked that Akk and Aye were shown as having to actually work at their relationship. It showcased that relationships are something that require effort and aren't something you can just neglect. With everything that happened in the original, they didn't really have a chance to get to know one another on a more personal level. They were always a study in opposites, but with the drama behind them, that comes to the fore, and they need to learn to communicate and compromise. I do wish there was a little more of a focus on them learning to communicate. Akk keeps things bottled up and there's no way for Aye to learn from or try to rectify the problem, when he's being tight lipped. Kisses are great, but they don't solve the problem. On the flip side, I liked that Thua did communicate his feelings to Kan. There was still the element there that kisses solve problems, but I felt it was a better progression than with Akk and Aye.

I love the friendships here, especially between Akk, Wat, and Kan. The way they support each other is just so wholesome and I really love that even though Akk and Kan aren't into the indie movies that Wat is, they are still willing to encourage and support him in his dream.

The acting is, of course, fantastic. This is such a great cast and they all play off of and interact with each other so well. First and Khaotung have such a level of authenticity and I think that just comes from the fact that they've known each other for years and are comfortable with each other. That can be good or bad as sometimes actors who have known each other for an extensive period time seem to struggle with bringing romantic chemistry to the screen. That is not an issue with these two though. There's an almost perfect blend of romance and friendship between them that just works. They have such warmth and I adore how they've brought these characters to life. Neo and Louis are also very talented and I really enjoyed their portrayals of Kan and Thua. They did a good job showing how their relationship has developed since the original drama and their chemistry together is equally good. They're more subtle than First and Khao in how their relationship is shown, less demonstrative, but there's a lot communicated between them simply by eye contact and body language. AJ, Pawin, and Ploy all brought their A game as well.

I cannot even begin to express how much I love the song Akk and Aye sing. It is perfect and I am anxiously waiting for it to appear on streaming so I can listen to it on repeat.

My biggest qualm, honestly, was Aye pretending not to remember it was Akk's birthday. I know he was trying to surprise him, but every time I see that come up in dramas, I can't help but think it's just a recipe for drama as it nearly always leads to issues. If you want to surprise someone, then find another way to do it. Don't do something that can hurt the person you care about and potentially damage the relationship.

I really enjoyed this special. Some of the lines from it just really hit home, like when Aye talks about the difference between "place" and "space". I think its safe to say that The Eclipse and many of these other dramas became a space for a lot of us where we feel warmth and love and I think that is just beautiful. This was a wonderful addition to The Eclipse story that you don't want to miss.

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The Five Senses Aren't Everything

This drama is quite simply beautiful in pretty much every way possible. The cinematography, the story, the characters, the acting, all of it comes together to create something truly enchanting. It's authenticity is breathtaking. It tells a story that is real and raw, touching on subjects that many BLs and Asian dramas in general avoid. The Eighth Sense is honestly the best BL drama I've seen in a while and it is well worth the time to watch it.

The story is amazing for all it's simplicity. This is not a big and bold drama filled with pomp and drama. It is wonderfully subtle and realistic. Every part of it feels natural, organic. It's well paced and the delivery is exceptional. Yes, it's a romance, but it's also about two people helping and healing each other. Jae Won gives Ji Hyun the courage to step outside his comfort zone and Ji Hyun helps Jae Won begin to heal from the trauma of his past. And I appreciated that it didn't feel like the pair of them getting together magically fixed everything for Jae Won. It felt like a combination of his therapist's and Ji Hyun's boss's words that finally got through to him and helped him take that first step forward. Sure, Ji Hyun is there to help and support him, but he also has to put in the work himself to continue to heal.

While the first few episodes focus more on Ji Hyun and his growth as he learns to step out of his shell and begin to interact with other people and the world around him, the latter part of the drama focuses on Jae Won as he begins to face the trauma from his past and take steps to move forward. Both characters experience huge amounts of growth in a very short time and it's done so well. They grow both together and separately. And that's part of what was so great. Instead of the pair of them existing in their own world surrounded by barely there supporting characters, they had a life outside of each other. In fact, I think they had more scenes with their friends than they did with each other. But I loved that because it added depth and meaning to both them and the supporting characters who are so often only there to move the plot forward. Here though they're fully developed characters and amazing ones at that.

The acting was fantastic all around. Im Ji Sub and Oh Jun Taek were nearly flawless in their roles. Their chemistry was just so natural and believable. The supporting actors were equally fantastic. Lee Mi Ra and Seo Ji An as Yoon Won and Ae Ri respectively were both fun and insightful as the male leads' friends. I really loved the relationship they had with the two of them and the way that Yoon Won and Jae Won supported and loved each other. Lee Mi Ra and Im Ji Sub just had a very natural chemistry that was great to watch. Jung Seo In was fabulous as Ji Hyun's boss. She was equal parts funny and the deliverer of sage advice. I loved her. Park Hae In as Eun Ji and Jang Young Joon as Tae Hyung were believably villainous. I couldn't stand either character, so kudos to their acting prowess.

One of my absolute favorite things about this drama was how mental health was addressed. The fact that we actually got to see Jae Won going to therapy, the knowledge that he was taking medication for his mental health, and that he even admitted himself that he had depression was huge. Most Asian dramas downplay mental health issues or just ignore them completely. That it was so openly addressed and delved into was gratifying and I hope more dramas do the same.

The cinematography was truly stunning. It had a very stylistic feel to it that I appreciated as well as the fact that it was maintained pretty much throughout. My only complaint was that some of the night scenes were a bit too dark which made it difficult to tell what was going on. That may have also been a stylistic choice but it wasn't one that I felt worked well.

I loved the music. It all worked very well with the drama and felt like actual effort was put in to finding songs that fit with what was going on and they really did enhance the mood for those scenes.

I did have a few things that prevented me from giving this a perfect 10. The main one was the "twist" in Episode 7. I don't know if it was a subbing issue or if it was deliberate, but either way, I really don't like having my emotions played with and that's exactly what it felt like they were doing. It seemed like they went for shock value and then jumped out and yelled, "Psych!" It really killed the mood for me and made me question why I had started this drama. The other part was the handling of Eun Ji and Tae Hyung. Both were terrible, manipulative people, so the fact that they got a happyish ending didn't sit quite well for me. Considering the way mental health was addressed, I feel like dealing with the two of them could have been a good continuation of that because Jae Won did not need such toxic people in his life, particularly Tae Hyung. I would have preferred to see something where they cleared the air between them, but Jae Won made it clear that he could no longer have Tae Hyung in his life. Actions have consequences and I don't feel like either character really experienced any kind of meaningful consequence.

I truly cannot recommend this drama enough, particularly to people who enjoy dramas that are more than just the romance. With a meaningful story and characters, you really have nothing to lose.

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A True Fish In The Sky

My initial impression going into this drama was that it was going to be a fun, lighthearted romantic comedy. The characters seemed promising as did the story. But it very quickly imploded and what was left was a drama with a problematic romance, very little genuine comedy, disappointing characters and a story that was an utter disaster. Top that off with poor acting, a mediocre OST, terrible pacing, and unnecessary drama and as a whole it just was not worth my time to watch.

The story is a mess. It's not told well and the more you watch, the worse it gets. And it started off relatively promising. I liked the idea of Pi as something of an ugly duckling, unpopular, clearly deeply insecure, someone that was easy for others to take advantage of. And I liked the idea of Mork who loved him unconditionally, regardless of his looks. It seemed like a set up for a sweet story. Except that Pi likes Mork's best friend and thought Mork was his love rival and his animosity towards Mork because of this goes on for far too long. It's clear that he's fallen for Mork, but he keeps resisting and resisting, and eventually it just gets boring because nothing is happening or changing. It also didn't make sense that Pi can't believe that Mork would like him and he keeps pushing him away because he's afraid that he'll be affected by his lack of popularity, and yet, he confesses to Nan, so would none of that be an issue if Nan reciprocated his feelings?

As the drama progresses, it becomes more and more obvious that Pi is a selfish, bitter person. He becomes very difficult to like because he's generally just a jerk a lot of the time. And Mork, for all that he professes to love Pi, not only essentially stalks him and manipulates him, but also clearly doesn't respect him. Pi asks him to stop doing various things numerous times and Mork just keeps doing what he wants to do. Getting Pi is clearly more important to him than respecting his boundaries, thoughts, opinions and feelings. Furthermore, their relationship just felt uneven with Mork constantly giving and Pi constantly taking. Mork, despite his flaws, was always there for Pi and Pi would take advantage of that care and then push Mork away the second he didn't need him any longer.

The second couple is better. The progression of their relationship is smoother and more believable over all. They seem to be on more equal footing and have more of a mutual respect for each other. And when Duean does disregard Meen's boundaries, once he realizes it, he reflects on it and then he apologizes. Kind of ironic that the most immature guy in the show is the one who is the most self-aware, at least in that aspect. However, I did struggle with understanding why exactly Meen liked Duean. They were such polar opposites, and while we got to see Duean's feelings develop through his eyes, we didn't get that same benefit with Meen. Duean, with his juvenile antics, disinterest in school, and general attitude just did not seem like the type of person that would catch Meen's attention.

To top it all off, we had Prik and Kluea as the crazy fans. I know they were supposed to be there for more comedy, but I just found them creepy. How do you not realize that stalking people and secretly taking their pictures and posting them without their consent is a huge no-no? I wanted to like Prik initially because she did delete the fan page and seemed to realize that what they had done was wrong, but I was very disappointed when she gave in to Kluea so easily when he wanted to start it back up. Like seriously, girl, likes and views are more important than someone's privacy? I kept hoping that they would learn their lesson and realize that what they were doing was not okay, but then at the end we have them shipping a new couple so clearly they learned nothing. And then there was Bam. For all that these networks have to know that women are probably their primary audience when it comes to BLs, they love to vilify women in them. This drama had a grand total of two women with any kind of real roles, aside from Pi's mother, and I was really hoping that Bam would be a positive one. And at first it seemed like she was. She came across as the supportive friend, determined to help Mork and then, once he and Pi got together, helping to disguise their relationship. It was disappointing when that all turned out to be a lie and she actually wanted Mork to herself. I am glad that she apologized to Pi, but there were no consequences for her actions. Mork seems to have forgiven her, Pi immediately forgives her and acts like it wasn't a big deal and she gets a new guy right after. Basically, if there's a theme to this drama, its that your actions don't have consequences, everything will turn out sunshine and rainbows no matter what.

The pacing is horrifically slow in large part because everything is so incredibly repetitive. It just feels like there is no progression in the story really for the first nine or ten episodes and then suddenly we're blazing towards the finish because we have to try to wrap everything up. I hate that so many Thai dramas do that. I truly don't understand why it is so hard to write a script that has a measured pace.

The acting was underwhelming to say the least. I've seen both Pond and Phuwin in a few things now and I have officially come to the conclusion that they are pretty faces and that's about it, Pond in particular. The man is just so one note. There is no depth of emotion, no feeling to his expressions or his voice. I recently saw him and Phuwin in Never Let Me Go and frankly, there's not that much difference in their acting between this drama and that one despite the fact that they are totally different characters. Phuwin has the opposite problem from Pond and tends to overact more, but there's a repetitiveness to the way he overacts. In both cases, they just get boring to watch. Their chemistry is negligible and what there is comes across as more buddy than romantic. Normally I like Neo. He's a good actor and he has range, but he was so over the top here that I found him more annoying than endearing. The comedy felt forced a lot of the time. I blame the director for that though, not him. And despite everything, he did have some genuinely funny moments. Louis had the strongest performance. Like Neo, he's a good actor with range, and I felt he did a good job in his role. He and Neo have great chemistry and I would love to see them together as leads in their own drama.

The few positives I have are that I do like the title. I'd never heard that phrase used before and I found it unique, sad, and beautiful. I also liked the subtle touches that went along with the title. Things like the star pillow on Pi's bed, the way he kept Nan's picture in the slats above his bed like a star, the clips that Pi and Duean had, the fish keychains Duean has, and the conch shaped light fixture at Mork's house to name a few. I also liked that when Pi and Mork were having their conversations, the lighting turned blue and you could hear the sound of waves. To me it signified that they were supposed to be a match because ultimately, they were both fish in the sea and were within reach of each other.

This could have been a good drama. With a better script and better characters who were actually developed and grew with the story, it could have been. Instead, what we got was something mediocre and even that's being generous. It tried so hard to be funny and so many of the jokes just fell flat or were just unnecessary. And the main romance was just toxic and unnecessarily dragged out. All that being said, this isn't a drama I can recommend. There are others out there that are far superior and actually worth your time.

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The Lie Is That There's A Story

The challenge of creating short movies such as this is having a cohesive story and being able to tell that story in such a short period of time. This short failed in that. It has potential, but it either needs to be a few minutes longer or there needs to be more dialogue. As it is, it just feels very disjointed.

If you weren't aware that the character of Benz had feelings for his roommate and friend Riw going into the movie, the automatic assumption from the beginning is that both boys like Meen and are fighting over her. However, after that initial scene, it becomes clear that Benz actually has feelings for Riw. This is where things start getting disjointed. After leaving for the day and arriving in the wee hours of the morning to find Riw drunk, Benz very nearly kisses him before stopping himself. The following scene appears to be the next day, with Riw apologizing and asking why Benz is mad at him. They have a moment with Riw calling Benz cute and then insisting on feeding him some kind of snack. Meen shows up and looks upset seeing the two of them together. This then jumps to Riw and Meen apparently having a one on one study session and Benz looking on jealously. Riw walks Meen outside and Benz takes the opportunity to hit her with his car.

Again, the potential is there, but besides the disjointed story, the characters feel shallow. I know its hard to create meaningful characters in such a short time frame, but that's part of the challenge. Riw obviously likes Meen and Meen seems to like him too, but what are his feelings towards Benz? Just a roommate? Just friends? There seems like there might be more there, but its hard to tell. And Benz's reaction feels way over the top. There's no buildup to his apparently just snapping. Again, the first scene makes it seem like both he and Riw like Meen. His jealousy needed to be built up and explored a little more to make it believable he would do something so extreme.

In terms of acting, Singto is definitely the star which isn't hard since there are only three actors, but he does stand out. Kanin is pretty bland all around, not a whole lot of expression. This is his first and only acting role though, so I'm willing to cut him some slack. Ink plays a minor role, but despite her lack of screen time, she still managed to be engaging when she was on screen. And as I said, Singto was the stand out he was the most interesting to watch. Part of that is just him, he has an uncanny ability to command the screen with very little effort, but he also seemed to be the one putting in the most work. His acting was more nuanced and while not perfect, this was his first role it seems, he still made an impression, especially that smirk at the end.

The production was obviously low budget. Honestly, the most annoying aspect of it was the camera work. The in and out of focus in the middle of a scene was very distracting. The music, what little there was, was generically boring, but also not overly distracting, so a bonus there, I suppose.

I will say that it's not a waste of time solely because the short is a mere 7 minutes long. I don't regret watching it, but its certainly not what I was expecting or hoping for. As long as you don't have high expectations, it might be moderately entertaining. If nothing else, it's fun to see a young Singto before he got big with SOTUS.

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Avoid Under Most Circumstances

I never know what to expect with Korean BLs. They're hits just as often as they're misses. The one good, or bad, thing about them, is that they're always short so I don't feel like I've wasted a huge amount of time if they're a bust. This one, while not a total bust, was just lackluster. I didn't really feel anything while watching, nothing bad or good, which isn't desirable when it comes to entertainment. You want your audience to feel something and I got nothing here. Suffice to say, this isn't one that I would waste your time on.

The story itself isn't horrible, just a bit weak. Two separated friends who never had the cajones to put their feelings into words years earlier meet again. Woo Jae, who did make some effort to make his feelings known, has become a web novelist and he is not pleased to have director Yeon Woo back in his life. It turns into a back and forth of Yeon Woo trying to win Woo Jae's favor in order to turn his web novel into a movie in an effort to revive his directing career and Woo Jae resisting his efforts. In some instances, it was moderately entertaining, but not enough to draw me in. And Woo Jae's standoffish, jerkish behaviour toward everyone, not just Yeon Woo, was excessive and off putting, especially since it was explained far too late in the game and the explanation was frankly pathetic. "My love wasn't instantly reciprocated so now I'm going to turn into a raging ass for the rest of my life." Not a valid excuse, honey. Yeon Woo, I could sympathize with a lot more. He had a lot going on in his life and he was never even given the chance to voice his feelings for Woo Jae before he just disappeared. However, I don't condone his actions in hunting down Woo Jae and then setting up camp in his front yard uninvited. So basically neither character is without his faults, but Yeon Woo is the lesser of two evils by far.

The pacing is slow. There's a lot of repetition of Yeon Woo trying to "help" Woo Jae, Woo Jae getting cranky, things backfiring on Yeon Woo and repeat. That time could have much more effectively been used exploring their background together more in depth, having them actually communicate and have a conversation about what happened in the past and where things went wrong. They spent a decent amount of time focusing on that stupid hoodie and then never cleared that up which was so frustrating. I know that was back in their college days but there was enough of a focus on it that I felt it should have tied in somehow to when they were adults especially since Woo Jae wears that same hoodie at one point. As a side note, the scene with the police was weird and, I would hope, completely unrealistic.

The acting left a lot to be desired. Jun.Q as Woo Jae was just boring. He basically spent 90% of the drama brooding and had one expression. I'm exaggerating, but I really did find his performance underwhelming. He just felt repetitive to me. Jung Wan was an improvement, he definitely knows how to work a smile, but he also felt a bit note. There just wasn't a whole lot of nuance to their performances. And these guys had zero romantic chemistry. Their buddy chemistry was okay, not great, but okay, but their romantic chemistry was less than zero. I felt nothing, no sparks, zip zilch nada. And as others have commented, we get treated to the dead fish lip presses that some may call a kiss. I wouldn't.

The only positives in this debacle are the production and the OST. The cinematography is well done. The scenic shots in particular are my favorite. And I did like the OST. Nothing that really jumped out and grabbed me, but it was pleasant and not distracting.

Generally speaking, I say with dramas as short as this one to just go for it. It's only two hours, what the heck. But with this one, I would really say don't waste your time. At least with those other ones, they left me with some kind of emotional fulfillment and this one didn't. So I would say save your time and find something else to watch. This isn't one I'll ever come back to.

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Color Me Shy

I will start off by saying that I am aware the suggested rating and my actual rating do not match up. What started as a promising drama with a fun and unique twist quickly lost its way and floundered badly before managing to find its way in the end and conclude on a positive note. The good beginning and ending, decent to good acting and exceptional OST and the emotions it left me with are what led me to give it the rating I did. However, if you're looking at it from strictly a critical standpoint, it definitely gets a 6.5.

The synopsis states that after encountering accidents, Talay and Puen, find themselves in an alternate universe in the bodies of Tess and Tun, respectively and learn that Tess and Tun are now in their universe living in their bodies. These two, who would never have formed a relationship in their universe, come together in an effort to make it back home and in the process fall in love. It's a fun concept with huge potential. The problem is that the synopsis isn't really what happens. Their goal to make it home falls to the wayside for a significant portion of the drama and instead the plot revolves around their sudden aspiration to become screenwriters with their new friends.

Honestly there were parts of it that I didn't mind. I enjoyed the groups' friendship and seeing them come together and overcome obstacles as they pursued their dreams. For me though, these should have been two different dramas. Talay and Puen are literally ripped from their lives, dropped into an unfamiliar world with unfamiliar people and within a very short span of time, we're expected to believe that everything's great, they're adjusted and living perfectly normal lives. Um, no. I can generally go with the flow pretty well, but in this case, the absurdity of it was too much. Finding yourself alone or, in this case, very nearly alone in a completely unfamiliar place is scary, its stressful and confusing. Those initial emotions were just completely glossed over. And Talay at least was shown as having a close knit group of friends, he had family, yet at no point does he really mention them or say anything about missing them. This is where the drama really fails because instead of going off on the screenwriting tangent, the focus should have remained on the body and universe switching, exploring how Talay and Puen adjusted to their new lives, their thoughts and feelings, how they are affected differently by the change. For example, Puen's reluctance to go home is explained eventually, but because it takes so long, it lacks the emotional impact it could have had if it was mentioned sooner. That focus on their adjustment to their new world would have created more opportunities for their relationship to develop and grow not to mention creating some fun opportunities to show the differences between the two universes. The screenwriting could have stayed played a part, but a significantly smaller one, something for them to do so that they appeared normal as they looked for a way home. And finally, I would have liked to seen how Tess and Tun fared in Talay and Puen's bodies. Obviously they found each other and reconnected and I would have liked to have seen that. Again, I think bouncing between the two universes and the two pairs as they actually tried to make it home would have been a much better option. Plus, more Ohm and Nanon acting.

Another aspect that became a major annoyance was the product placement. I would have thought by now I would be used to it, but they really took it to the next level here. It wasn't too terrible at first, but they kept notching it up a couple levels every few episodes it seemed like until it was just impossible to ignore. It honestly killed some scenes for me because they were more focused on selling the product than they were on selling the story they were telling. That was just disappointing.

I enjoyed the romance between the two leads. The development felt overall pretty natural. My one qualm is that there is a time jump of a year and it doesn't feel like their relationship has a year's progression. Otherwise though, I really liked the portrayal of a healthy relationship. I was really impressed with their overall communication. They actually talked to each other, had mature conversations, and sought to work things out. There was also an equality to their relationship. It wasn't just one constantly taking care of the other, they took care of each other. I found that to be refreshing and I just really enjoyed their dynamic.

I feel like I'm going to be in the minority with this, but I found the vet storyline to be incredibly annoying, mostly because of how unrealistic it was. Unless vet med is vastly different in Thailand than it is in the US, vets are not running fancy clinics like that by themselves with no staff, nor are they letting volunteers waltz in and start handling patients with absolutely no clue as to what they are doing. That is a huge liability. And when Fuse grabbed Lucky after he'd been hit by the car, all I could think was, Sir, you are so lucky that dog didn't bite your face off because it was in pain. As a former vet tech, I spent most of those scenes with my face in my hands just shaking my head.

The acting was overall not bad. Jimmy has improved significantly since Bad Buddy but he does seem to struggle with keeping his expressions nuanced. I felt he could be a bit one note at times. More emotional scenes were also hit or miss for him. Sea I liked for the most part. I felt his acting was more dynamic than Jimmy's and a bit more refined. However, he also struggled with some of the more emotional scenes. Their chemistry together though, was excellent, no complaints there.

The OST is phenomenal, in particular the songs Sea and Jimmy sing. They can both sing and they can sing well. Those two songs are absolutely highlights of this drama for me along with the rest of the music. I feel like both those songs really capture the heart of the drama and what it should have/could have been.

I really liked how color was woven throughout the story, from the title of each episode which I thought was quite clever to the significance it took in Talay and Puen's relationship. It gave it all a certain beauty and its the one reason I would go back and rewatch this drama, because I feel like I probably missed some aspects of it.

Ultimately this drama just couldn't quite live up to the story it set out to tell. It has some sweet moments, some great scenes, but unfortunately those are almost bittersweet because they just remind you of what it could have been.

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