I was relieved they picked other actors for the younger version of the characters because Kondo Shori looks way too old to pass as a high schooler and just having Yutaro play his younger self would have been weird. The cast is even not too bad. Props to them for that!
That 7.6 is a travesty. If they keep it up till the last episode this will be in my top 3 Japanese BLs for sure. Yutaro (the actor playing Mahiro) improved a lot since Cherry Magic, but will he someday play in a BL without being a delivery man? :'D
Separating again after just reuniting is not really a happy ending..
It’s only one month and a great opportunity for Ian so it looked a bit like Eddy was holding him back with his separation anxiety. I know they gave Ian a reason of his own for not going but I would have preferred if Eddy had told him « I want what’s best for you, so go and I trust you to come back to me ». Then either Ian goes or he says he doesn’t need to go because now he knows why he draws. Just so Eddy shows growth and maturity. But like I said: minor complaint.
A slightly clumsy (metaphors were bulldozered in, like Eddy’s plants for instance) but enjoyable short series, mainly thanks to Lee Seunggyu’s acting, Eddy’s playful personality and the chemistry between the leads in some scenes (those one takes!). In terms of K-BL ranking it’s definitely in my top 5.
Instead of having Ian decline the proposition because he found the meaning behind his drawings I would have maybe preferred they had Eddy learn to overcome his anxiety and let Ian go abroad trusting he would come back to him. That’s a minor complaint though, everything else was good enough for me. It’s impressive they managed to make something cute with so little time.
You don't find all the cliches and tropes cringey?
They didn't add any slow motion, weird filters or sound effects so I find them pretty harmless (unless a ballad starts playing, then I'm out). Yeah, it's cliché after cliché, trop after trope, that's for sure. But somehow I'm not that offended and still watching haha.
This show is just one gigantic liar revealed but I can't stop watching. :') Second couple has mad potential. It's quite a chill series so far, no big ups or downs that'd squeeze your heart but nothing bad either. I think we didn't even get a cringy slow motion moment yet!
Also love the episode length that allows for something more than instant love for no reason. I think the only other Korean BL I watched that was also this close to a slow burn is Semantic Error. Oh and I saw people complaining about Gongchan's acting so I was worried but turns out I find even that ok.
Remove the cringy slow motion + romantic ballad combos and this show would be quite solid, especially considering they're all rookie actors and there are a couple of challenging scenes.
I would agree that the soccer ball interception was a cliched BL trope of the sort we see in crappy Thai BL's…
I actually like that idea, but the execution was poor in my opinion. They make up for it with the ridiculous amount of fluff, chemistry and natural acting in episodes 5 and 6 so I'm not even mad haha. Overall this is one of the few BL's I enjoyed in the last 6 months, despite the clumsy soundtrack and editing. Watching the confession scene in the beginning of episode 2 again knowing that Eddy does understand Ian's like breaks my heart every time, Lee Seunggyu really does a great job. Love the reversal of his character too.
Episode 4 was amazing in the tension-building department, and the fight on the football field had me holding my breath… but then they ruin it all with an unnecessary confession (it was already heavily implied, sometimes less is more the viewers are not dumb) and the ridiculous « let me shield you from that ball » slow-motion moment that immediately followed. It went from solid little K-BL to high school thai BL in 2 regrettable seconds.
Ouch, that first episode was not convincing. Kwon Hyuk’s acting does nothing for me and I don’t like the way they grey-green washed everything, feels like an instagram filter from ten years ago. Watcha really went from Semantic Error to this? Ah well, I will still give it a chance because Moon Jiyoung was great in Once Again, maybe they’ll let him show his skills in this one as well.
That NC scene... Rain becoming more proactive... my gosh... if the level of editing kept up with the level of acting we'd truly be done for.
The main problem is that the cuts don't show how much time has passed, which makes it seem like Phayu flipped Rain against the wall only to flip him again two seconds later, and they always finish in record time. They could fix that by fading shots, zooming or panning out and maybe adding a bit of slow motion at the very end of the cut. Sharp cuts like they always use imply very little time has passed. But I get that they don't want to interrupt the tension building.
Just two unfair criticisms I'd like to address though:
"The actors are anticipating each other's moves, Rain slams his own hand up against the wall and then Phayu grabs it." To me it looked more like Rain held onto the wall edge then Phayu covered his hand.
"The dialogue doesn't make sense, Phayu asks Rain if he likes the suit when he's already removed it." Phayu is still wearing the suit up to his waist. "Rain tells Phayu to do him even though they're already at it." That's Rain taunting Phayu, which explains Phayu answering with "naughty boy" even though they're indeed already at it. "The dialogues are cringy." Considering the show's level of writing, dialogues were more than decent, and the actors sold it. Better that than a silent scene with a corny and distracting ballad blaring.
That glimpse of Phayu's boxers though... that's inexcusable. There was no need to pan down and they should have caught that during editing. I'm this close to thinking they must have done it on purpose for some reason...
Hi, can you please tell me who was mean spirited, if you remember? I didn't notice that in the first episode so…
I would have to watch the episode again to remember the 2-3 moments where they were all mean except Khaojao saying « I like it » or « I think it’s fine »… and I really don’t feel like subjecting myself to that, sorry. :’)
Toh and his friends are all way too loud, cringy, creepy, mean spirited and overly dramatic for me, except Khaojao. Thank god for him and his kindness. They might have been fun as written characters but it really doesn't translate well on the screen. Unless they calm down and Toh gets a roller-coaster tier character arc I'll only watch the second couple's parts.
Instead of having Ian decline the proposition because he found the meaning behind his drawings I would have maybe preferred they had Eddy learn to overcome his anxiety and let Ian go abroad trusting he would come back to him. That’s a minor complaint though, everything else was good enough for me. It’s impressive they managed to make something cute with so little time.
Also love the episode length that allows for something more than instant love for no reason. I think the only other Korean BL I watched that was also this close to a slow burn is Semantic Error. Oh and I saw people complaining about Gongchan's acting so I was worried but turns out I find even that ok.
The main problem is that the cuts don't show how much time has passed, which makes it seem like Phayu flipped Rain against the wall only to flip him again two seconds later, and they always finish in record time. They could fix that by fading shots, zooming or panning out and maybe adding a bit of slow motion at the very end of the cut. Sharp cuts like they always use imply very little time has passed. But I get that they don't want to interrupt the tension building.
Just two unfair criticisms I'd like to address though:
"The actors are anticipating each other's moves, Rain slams his own hand up against the wall and then Phayu grabs it." To me it looked more like Rain held onto the wall edge then Phayu covered his hand.
"The dialogue doesn't make sense, Phayu asks Rain if he likes the suit when he's already removed it." Phayu is still wearing the suit up to his waist. "Rain tells Phayu to do him even though they're already at it." That's Rain taunting Phayu, which explains Phayu answering with "naughty boy" even though they're indeed already at it. "The dialogues are cringy." Considering the show's level of writing, dialogues were more than decent, and the actors sold it. Better that than a silent scene with a corny and distracting ballad blaring.
That glimpse of Phayu's boxers though... that's inexcusable. There was no need to pan down and they should have caught that during editing. I'm this close to thinking they must have done it on purpose for some reason...