Saeng

There is absolutely nothing I would change about this series.

Aspects I find especially outstanding:
* The class: Even the background characters had their own personality. They weren't just there, the actors seemed to know what their characters were like at any time. I found myself rewinding some scenes just to watch them doing their thing in the background. There's not only our favourite drama couple (the original Cinderella & her prince) but also look out for: the guy who alsways has his little notebook with him, the foodie, the two boys playing games... I would actually watch a second series just to see what they were all up to during the whole relationship drama of Aoki and Ida. (The same is true for the volleyball team btw.)

* The whole atmosphere in the class. It reminded me of my own last two years of school. We had much less dramatics, or at least I wasn't aware of any, but this is what it can be like if young people are allowed to be whoever they are and respect that about each other.

* I liked every single character in this show. Yes, even the student teacher. They were all genuinely trying to understand and to grow.

* The friendship between Aoki and Hashimoto. Hashimoto could easily have been that stereotypical love rival but she wasn't. I love how we gradually get to discover that she is more than just a timid or shy girl.

* I haven't even said anything about the two main leads. They earnestly try to discover how they feel and what to do about it. I like how the drama focuses on the awkwardness of trying to figure out who you can be as a romantic partner, and what you want your partner to be like. I remember being this awkward at 16 and 17, so for me, it's actually quite an accurate portayal of a first love, if a bit exaggerated -- but it IS a Japanese show and adapted from a manga, so it is kind of expected.

Overall, this little series has become of my favourites, and is one of the series I choose to watch if I need a pick-me-up.

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From a single line you can draw a wall -- or a bridge.

This is one of those dramas that leave me with a lot of feelings and with many thoughts, none of which I am able to express in words.
I often give some insight of what I think a drama is about, what I believe its core themes are. I won't do so here, I think this is one you should go in as blind as possible.

But maybe as an advice for those who think about watching this drama, this is what you should *not* expect:
* fluffy, steamy or whirlwind romance,
* kissing or sex

Instead, you *will* get this:
* a slow paced drama about grief, about loss, about trans-generational trauma,
* a drama that focuses on the relationships between four people, one of them dead,
* many dialogue-heavy scenes,
* a slow reveal of what exactly happened in the past and what it means for the present,
* complex relationships,
* an ending that you will have to decide whether it is a happy one,
* excellent acting, minimal sets, and extremely intentional camera angles,
* metaphors,
* and did I say that this is slow? It's slow. And the story is not in what is happening, it is in what the characters are feeling and what they have to say (or choose not to say). And in that, it doesn't feel slow at all -- every short dialogue, every camera view is filled with meaning.

Don't expect a "BL", don't expect a drama that is focused only on a love story between two men.
The story is at least as much about the triangle between the mother, the father and the father's best friend as it is about the relationship between mother and son -- and the lines that can divide or connect them.

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What will you sacrifice to make your loved ones happy?

What might be important to know:
* This is not an action/crime series.
Yes, there are some action scenes. And yes, there is a crime ring, drug smuggling and a murder case. But it's not at the centre of the plot. The main characters are even only marginally involved -- but the crime sub plot majorly influences certain reactions and decisions.
* This is not (only) a fluffy rom-com.
Actually, after the meet-cute and the scenes when Min follows Q in episode 1 and the preview for epiosde 2, I was convinced that this would be a shallow rom-com full of tropes and over-the-top Thai humour.
It IS very fluffy at times, very cute, with two soft boys who fall deeply in love with each other. But it is not only that.

In its core, the drama explores a much deeper question: How much will you sacrifice for the people you love?
Will you sacrifice your money, your health, your prospects in life? Your life itself? Will you do things you would never do otherwise? Will you sacrifice your own happiness?
And are these sacrifices you make -- are they the right choices? Will they make the other person happy?

I love how these questions are slowly asked and how they are answered differently over the course of the series. Both Min and Q search for the right way to achieve happiness for their loved ones -- with twists and turns, with laughter and tears. As the audience, we get to slowly learn about their lives and history, what made them who they are now and how traumatic events in their lives have shaped their views.

The script is well-written in that regard, there are no dragging parts, and the events of the present and the past are told in a way that they make a cohesive whole.

There are several inconsistencies, both in the writing and the execution. Just to mention some of the most obvious: the scene in front of Q's house in episode 7 would have had more impact if the actors hadn't swapped places for the close-ups, which brought me out of the immersion into an extremely emotional scene. I don't understand why Min's bedroom was restored to its original state after Min had taken care to rearrange everything in episode 2. Also, Min was shown as speaking English very badly (ep. 1), but later, he has no problems with instructing tourists at the surfing school.
One major flaw in the writing is the character of "James". I think he should have been two characters -- because he both has connections to the criminal underground (which are never explained nor explored, and Yada or indeed anyone else doesn't even really seem to know or notice him) and he is this good friend and mentor for Min with connections in the film industry, who is supposed to be extremely likeable and trustworthy? It would not have been hard to write a second character for the criminal connected side (another stuntman, maybe?), and keep James for the rest.
Mhen was unfortunately a bit bland as a character, he was never able to become more than "little brother who is ill and loves his older brother very much" -- and though Ohm Thipakorn obviously tried his best, he was not able to give his character much more colour. (Also, how does he get a heart transplant that quickly?)
Throughout the series, it's never clear how much time has passed, so that some scenes seem to happen very fast after another, when it's probably not the case -- a flaw a lot of Thai BLs seem to share.

But I can overlook these flaws because of the solid technical execution and mainly because the script gets the emotions right, and knows how to tie them together with the main theme of the drama, -- and because of the acting. Both Ohm Pawat and Leng Thanaphon are very convincing in their roles. They were able to make me feel with their characters, to be immersed in their story and to believe their emotions.
Leng surprised me, because I was a bit sceptical if a rookie would be able to portray a character that is at odds with himself and with the world -- and indeed, especially in the beginning, when Q is trying to show one kind of emotions to the outside, while he has opposite emotions on the inside, Leng reaches his limits fast. In his defense, these scenes would have been a challenge for more experienced actors, too.

Overall, I find, again, that it's best to follow a drama's story without preconceptions about what it "should" be, but instead listen to what the writer, the director and the actors are showing us -- and here, they showed us a story about how traumatic experiences can shape your world. They showed us a story about about devotion, about love between parent and child, between brothers, between lovers and what it means to make another person truly happy.

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Based on a very cliched premise, "Individual Circumstances" nevertheless had the potential to be an entertaining way to spend a slow evening.
A conflict based on miscomminucation, the inability to face your own insecurities, or external influences that stop one of the two main characters to act and resolve the conflict on time: This all has been done before in many, many dramas and novels. So, in order to stand out, you need to be meticulous in the writing and in the execution. The crew for this production was not.

There was much potential in the imagery -- the sterile house vs. the perfectly manicured garden, which Ha Yeonwoo crashes into, vs. the wide spaces of nature. There was good potential in the non-linear story-telling, so that we only get to know of their back story bit by bit. There was some potential in the meta-narrative where the feelings of our protagonists are mirrored in the feelings of the fictional couple.

Unfortunately, none of it was used well. It starts with the writing itself: The meta-narrative and non-linear story-telling interfered with each other and reduced the potential significance of each. Parts of the flashbacks seem at odds with each other -- at first there was something about a sweater, and later about a kiss; and both times I had the impression that this was the last time they had seen each other. Some scenes in the later part added nothing to the story (like when they broke into the museum) -- and considering that the whole runtime is just under two hours, the screen writer should have asked themselves: What story do I want to tell?

And in my opinion, the screenplay is the base for everything else -- if it already doesn't work, then the rest will struggle.
The thing is that "the rest" also doesn't work well. The cinematographer had an eye for nature shots (those were great) -- but that was it. The house, the garden and the world outside had interesting lines and light to use. None of it had any significance on screen.
Scenes were edited to be too long or ended abruptly. Microphones were seen on screen. At times, there were some audio issues. And let's not talk about the "kiss" in the "rain" at the end. (Not that I don't mind closed-mouth kisses per se, but here the camera held and held, until it felt awakward for everybody.)

Most of the time, the actors tried to save the mess, and I do think that their abilities were the only thing that made me sit through this film. But even they dropped the ball near the end -- if you are that uncomfortable kissing your (male) colleague, then you should make sure to either not act in a production that requires kissing or at least make sure that it's not as obvious in the finished product.

Overall, I have the impression that most of the crew didn't want to be there and rushed through everything just to get it done. I wonder if they are able to take pride in the product?



Was it good?
No. There was potential but none of it was used.

Did I like it?
I liked two aspects; the rest was ... meh. It was short, though.

Would I recommend it?
No.

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This drama was a strange one, and I don't mean it in a good way.
It felt as if it was two different dramas -- one that ran for about two thirds of the total and another that started around the end of episode 7 or 8.

The drama starts like quite a few Japanese detective dramas do: An eccentric main character, often a genius, accompagnied by one or two equally eccentric (or very straight-laced) side-kicks solve a "case of the week" , often with a twist or using unusual methods. Their "lair" is appropriately colourful and chaotic, the way the first few cases are laid out follows the pattern of traditional mystery dramas.
And I do love this kind of mystery drama, I liked 99.9 Criminal Lawyer, The Locked Room Murders, and more.
But Inheritance Detective failed to connect me with the team members. It neither develops their quirks well enough for them to really become a running gag (for example Tomonaga is supposed to often speak very quietly, so that nobody can understand him, which is used only occasionally in the earlier episodes, and never in the later ones. Haie himself eats dry coffee beans when he takes on a case, but it's never explained why or at least commented on or, I don't know, *something*, he just does.)
The drama's cases are neither good detective cases, where the audience can either guess along or be astonished at the genius detective's abilities, nor are they connected by a common thread (except by inheritance and wills), unlike the themes of "identity" and "mother-child-relationships" in Don't Call it Mystery.
I could have followed either direction -- comedy, mystery, philosophy -- but this drama failed to evolve any of these possibilities to a depth I could have been satisfied with.

And then the "showdown" with the real villain started, and it felt as if I watched a completely different drama. Any hint of levity was gone, characters suddenly seemed to change (from antagonists to supporters), and it felt like a revenge thriller or court drama, complete with seemingly life-threatening situations.
But this too was never developed deeply enough, even the villain stayed one-dimensional, the speech Haie gives in court near the end felt more contrived than moving -- mainly because I wasn't invested in anything.
Actually, I went through the first five episodes like a breeze, slowed down later, and the last episode took me long enough that I watched both seasons of Minato's Laundromat (which were at least not boring, just frustrating), *and* 8 episodes of Monster Next Door in the meantime.

And it's a real shame that the script was so bad, because the main actors were brilliant. I almost didn't recognize Akaso Eiji, he completely disappeared behind his role.
I think, based on the actors' abilities, I could have loved the team -- but not with this script.

However, there *is* one thing in the script I loved: When Haie tries to sideline his female sidekick "for her safety" (not his male sidekick), she doesn't let him, but involves herself again without his consent or even knowledge.

Was it good? -- It had some good ideas, but wasn't consistent in theme or tone. The actors were brilliant.

Did I like it? -- I would have given the first part a 7/10 or the second part a 6/10 -- but put together, no.

Would I recommend it? -- No. Neither to mystery nor to thriller aficionados.

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Short and Sweet

"My Damn Business" is a short, tropey-but-sweet romance drama, that could happen "next door to you".

With "My Damn Business", GND studio (formerly Guy Next Door) have released their second multi-episode mini drama. Before this one, "Fake Buddies" was released as seven loosely connected episodes, and before "Fake Buddies", they only made short comedic skits.
It's maybe also a good idea to keep in mind that they posted a note on YouTube in summer 2024 (unfortunately deleted by now), in which they mentioned that the "channel is run by three people who handle all the content creation".
So, GND Studio is very much a small start-up, with extremely limited ressources and even less experience with longer dramas.

As with "Fake Buddies", they used their experience with the short form and with working with a minuscule budget to their advantage:
1. They chose a plot that did not require a lot of actors, only few simple sets, and that could be told in a few short scenes.
2. Each episode was comprised of one simple and short story arc, which could begin and end within the same episode -- and still moved the relationship forward.

Other things I noticed:
* I mostly like the chosen background music -- especially the percussion piece in the first episode but also the melancholic piano piece. The jazzy tune at the bar was a bit annoying but we've heard worse.
* The company is called GND International.
* Acting, wrinting and editing came together to create a story that gets to the point quickly but is still slow enough in the important moments for the emotions to unfold.
* One thing that should have been made clearer for the viewers was the intention of Han U Jin in the first two episodes. I think quite a few viewers (me included) felt his actions toward Yoon Su An were too much -- when it was just his extremely awkward way of flirting, where he tried to use any opneing he saw to get closer to Yoon Su An.
* Both Han U Jin and Yoon Su An were a bit awkward, fumbled interactions, and still managed to solve their issues in the end by expressing their concerns and desires. Apart from their too good looks, they really felt like two "guys next door" to me.

With an overall runtime of just over an hour, this drama is a quick sweet snack in between longer and heavier dramas.

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Since the synopsis is rather non-descript, let me start by giving some more information:
After the owner of a Japanese publishing house has died, a power struggle ensues. Hayami is appointed as the managing editor of the magazine Trinity by one side -- and editor Takano is also caught up in this, even though she just wants to publish well-written and interesting serialized novels. Both will try to save Trinity in their own ways.

The writing is tight -- every dialogue has meaning, so this is not a casual watch. It took me a while to get who is who and who wants what, which is important because this is very much character-driven, I had to rewind some scenes in the first half hour.
The characters' motivations and ambitions are only revealed by what they say, or don't say; sometimes by their actions -- and a lot of it means you have to read between the lines. The movie's title -- 騙し絵の牙 -- Fang of Deception -- or, the official English title Fangs of Fiction -- hints that at least of these characters may be hiding secret motivations.
There are several plot twists in the end, one of which I did not anticipate at all, but, in hindsight, made a lot of sense.

Also, I want to point out that the office sets, like in many other Japanese productions, are excellent! For example, I love how cramped and busy the editors'room of Trinity is, the mountains of paperwork of every available surface. The space of the much revered Kunpu Reviews, in contrast, looks much more organized and still as realistically used.

Fangs of Fiction is both really funny and shows us the contemporary struggles (of the publishing industry) at the same time. Both the external struggle as a traditional company against the new online world, and the more internal struggle about traditional values and old styles of story-telling versus modern innovation and showing more diversity in stories (I loved the cameos of the disabled and the old model and of Ladybeard.)
It also subtly touches on issues of how women are treated in fiction: The main female editor is constantly trying to point out how outdated the depictions of female protagonists in the fictional novels are -- and is instantly shut down by her male companion. I am glad to see that the female protagonist in this movie is at least as important as the male main character -- and how she found her own successful way of dealing with the issues of the publishing world in these modern times.

Recommended! Maybe you'll find more subtle deceptions when you watch the movie, I'm sure I did not catch them all.

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I watched until episode 11 -- then I struggled for one-and-a-half years to even pick it up again. I finally managed to work my way through the last episodes in the course of another six months.

One main reason for this is the main male character, Lee Ahn, who I thoroughly disliked. He is cocky and self-assured without having any abilities to support it -- and it feels that he thinks it's enough that he is himself and has this psychometry to be allowed to flaunt rules.

Another is the romance, which felt forced and superfluous. Is it not enough to share the same traumatic childhood exerience? To have the same goal? Why does it have to be romance, when partners and eventual friends would have made enough sense?
I did not feel any sexual or romantic attraction between them. For the longest time, Jae In seemed to be more annoyed than romantically interested.
They wouldn't do a romance arc if the young people had the same gender, so why force this into a good mystery?

Because the mystery plot was quite good otherwise -- the storyline of the dangerous stranger whose identity is slowly revealed and how he connects to the mysterious Kang Seong Mo was delightfully muddied by the storyline about corporate fraud.
It seemed that we knew everything already in episodes 11 to 13 or so (which is also part of why I had trouble continuing at that point) -- but then there's a surprising plot twist!
(The story telling though was a bit too slow in the last episodes.)

Kang Seong Mo was by far the most interesting character, and his actor subtly portrayed his emotions -- emotionless robot, even though it seems to the other characters, he is not. Without him, I would probably not have made it through the drama.

An honourable mention for Jae In -- one of the few female characters in a drama who can hold her own -- yes, she "needs" to be saved by the male lead at least once, but other than that, she is indispensible to the plot, and actually more competent than Lee Ahn.

Overall, it's not bad -- just not something I liked. If you don't mind romance in your mysteries, cocky male characters and slow pacing, then it might be for you.

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This is one of the series that end up being right up my alley: It has comedy, a mystery to solve, solid character development, and heart.

When I started this, I had, once again, no idea what would await me -- I like choosing things based on the title and the poster. After the first episode, I still had no idea, except that there seemed to be ghosts? But was it comedy? Tragedy? Supernatural mystery?
As it turned out, it was all of them. And the ghosts were ... something very special. I don't want to spoil anything, but the ghosts are (with one exception) not the classic spirits of the deceased.

The horror element in this series is minimal, there is some gore in the first episode -- but later there is no such thing anymore.

In the presentation and the way the serious themes were mixed up with the comedy -- and how the important bits of character development were at times almost hidden by the comedy, it reminded me of the Thai way of telling stories about the human condition. And in its core, this story is very much about the human heart; about the desire to belong, the love people have for family (parents-child-relationships specifically play a large role here), the hole that remains when a loved one is gone.

The screenplay develops this theme slowly, but with intent. I didn't feel that there was a misstep or that it lacked anything. Grief was bundled into laughter and that softened the hard parts of the story -- more than once, I found myself crying gently and laughing softly at the same time.

We mainly follow Pu Yiyong's journey, who must find out how to handle his new powers, and at the same time, struggles with grief and guilt, since he believes that it's his fault that his family was involved in the accident. He forms a trio with two other characters: a young police women with an abrasive personality and his one-time victim of school bullying, a young man who now studies medicine. I loved the dynamics of the group, who all have some growing-up to do (and in that, the series also includes a coming-of-age element). And I love most that there is not even a hint of romance between them! (And it's obvious that the writer is aware of how unusual that is; they included comments from other characters who seem to think that there is something going on either between Pu Yiyong and the young woman or between him and the yong student -- and all three react with confusion each time.)


Was it good?
Yes, the screenplay was solid, the balance between comedy and serious was good, and the actors and editors did a great job.

Did I like it?
A lot! I love stories like this that mix supernatural mystery, comedy and underpin issues of the human heart.

Would I recommend it?
I would, yes.

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There are stories that are just simple entertainment, to be consumed without much thought.
There are stories that push their message, whichever it might be, on their viewers/readers.
And then there are stories that try to do both -- be entertaining for those who just want to relax after work and still convey messages that go beyond the moment.
"Let's Go Karaoke!" is one of the few films (and series) that really manage to balance the two without one overpowering the other.
The plot itself is engagingly narrated with a clear arc of development for the story -- a viewer can just sit back and be entertained. And yet, the film clearly also talks about the first steps into adolescence: Both the physical changes and the way these changes force children to adapt their own lives and the way children, now teenagers, step into the adult world, and start to understand that adults are not less quirky, not less insecure, not less searching for the right path -- not less human! -- than the children. They start to think about love and friendship. They leave their childhood behind.
I am quite sure that there are also some thoughts about masculinity and machismo to be found.
In "Let's Go Karaoke!", the viewer doesn't have to consciously search for these themes, and neither are they forced unto the viewer.

The unlikely friendship between the Yakuza, who wants to learn how to sing to avoid punishment from his boss, and the middle schooler, who has always sung as a sporano but whose voice is about to break, is the scaffold with which these themes are built. Their power dynamics -- the adult is physically stronger and even dangerous but he still submits to the perceived superior knowledge of a fourteen year-old -- provide an interesting, and often humorous, frame for the story. When Oka Satomi steps into the adult world, he also leaves his childhood pursuits behind, ingeniously symbolized by choir member "Wada" who feels betrayed by Oka's leaving.

Of course, if JFF Theater includes a film in its line-ups, I'll expect high quality regarding the actors' performances and the technical execution; and I was not disappointed here. I was not only impressed by the actors' overall performance -- especially Narita Kyoji who is convincing both as a dangerous Yakuza and as a vulnerable man -- but also by the quality of singing in this film: you have to be very good to sing *that* badly.
The film mostly focuses on the two main protagonists, so the supporting charaters remain mostly quick sketches, but their actors also give them some personality -- for me, it's very clear that Wada, Nakagawa, Izawa and Hyena all have enough backstory that they could easily have their own film.
There were a very small amount of characters' action that only made sense in a "because the plot needs it" way, but these were very easily ignored.

Was it good?
Yes. Not only was I entertained but there was also a not-small amount of depth.

Did I like it?
A lot!

Who would I recommend it to?
To those who love coming-of-age-stories.

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Too much and not enough, no middle here.

I understand why fans of "Bed Friend" were angry about "The Middleman's Love". This might be set in the same universe as the dark-ish "Bed Friend", but the genre couldn't be more different. What's more, the series isn't even very good as a stand-alone comedy.

If you have read enough fanfics, you might be familiar with a specific type: A fan decides they want a fluffy feel-good happy-ending with some elements of crack for their "fav charrie" -- and why not throw in some cross-over characters or OCs in there as well? -- and then to their own astonishment the fic suddenly has plot? And they don't quite know what to do with it, so they decide to throw in another few comedy scenes and a sex scene or two and call it a day.
This is what "The Middleman's Love" feels like.
We get the OOC scenes of a ghost hunt and a "company sports day" with children's party games; we get the catchphrases and the OTT humour, we get a lot of snacks, we get a "workplace" that is a joke and has no bearing at all on the story, and so on and so forth -- and then, suddenly, character backstory and angst? Which breaks the style and the established rules of the story.

What doesn't help is that director Cheewin Thanamin wasn't able to create a vision from the mess of a script. He re-uses elements from his previous dramas; for example the animation from Why R U? or the over-acting from YYY or Toh's character design from Secret Crush On You or the background music from Bed Friend, whether it fits or not. But he does not manage to make it a cohesive whole. In the beginning, he chose to use elements of parody and over-done narration, like when Jade and Mai "ride" in the obviously parked car or in the day-dream sequences, as well as the use of the "mandee" logo for the company. But then he switches the style to that of an average rom-com later on, while he still tries to keep Jade's over-the-top character.
That the sex scenes neither have any kind of narrative function nor round out the characters' relationship dynamics (on the contrary, they break them completely) is only the over-ripe cherry on top.

I wish that both the screen writers and the director had committed to one singular vison and style for this drama. Either go completely overboard with everything and make something unique or follow the title of a "คนกลาง", "a middle/mediocre man", and make Jade really an absolutely ordinary, unremarkable and middling man. The latter also would have had its own potential for a good and special story, be it comedy or serious drama, in its own right.

One positive thing that can be said is that Yim, who plays Jade, does his utmost to fill the role. He doesn't hold back and obviously is not afraid to look ridiculous, which is a must-do for his role. Unfortunately, he is neither directed with good vision (see above) nor coached well enough to use his whole body for the comedy; and it does not help that (for whatever reason) he doesn't move all his facial muscles to the extent needed, so his Jade doesn't reach the kind of physical comedy that would have been required for the series to work.
There is not much to say about the other actors -- none of the roles required much acting skill, even for a romance.


Was it good?
It had some good elements for a crack fic or a parody but didn't dare to go all the way. Both the script and the style of direction muddied any potential vision.

Did I like it?
I didn't think of dropping the drama, so it wasn't that bad for me. But I also would not say I enjoyed most of it.

Who would I recommend it to?
I wouldn't.

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Young Love with three Sweethearts

Oh, what sweethearts these three teenagers are! This is a love-triangle done right, and the film hits all the highs and lows of a first love.

And this is a story with one of the narratives I love: The "ugly duckling" doesn't change.
Takeo is, while well liked by guys, shunned by girls at every turn. His appearance and his deep voice -- the first image that came into my head when I saw him was one of a middle ranked yakuza -- is definitely not what teenage girls look for in their next crush.
The film makes is very, very clear in the first minutes, however, that this boy is a complete sweetheart, a loyal friend, and a gentle soul. From his many rejections in the past, his confidence regarding love is non-existent and he thinks his crush on Yamato is hopeless; and still he puts on a smile and tries to make his friend and his crush happy.

And this is why the film works so well; the three main actors convey the feelings with apparent ease -- when their characters smile with a broken heart, when they try to stay calm but would rather break down and cry; it's all there to see.

The humour is over-the-top as for most adaptations of comedy manga, but sprinkled throughout, and never laughs at the characters.

One little thing I loved a lot was how the writer let the mother causally accept the possibility of her son dating a man. Progressive mums, yay! Also, I love how they hinted that Suna's feelings might be not quite the platonic friendship he would like us to believe. I hated the after-credits scene though, it broke the style of humour and the characterizations of Takeo and Suna, so if you see Suna's characters the way I do, you might want to give the after-credits scene a miss.

Was it good?
Yes, both actors and writers knew what they were doing, and they told us a beautiful story about young love and friendship.

Did I like it?
Absolutely.

Who would I recommend it to?
People who want to watch a different kind of coming-of-age / young love story.

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This film is not a rom-com. It's a rom-com parody.

And the film makes very, very clear from the first few minutes in that it is a parody -- the "heroine" looks at herself and the people around her as if they were in a story. The exaggerated acting in the typical Japanese comedy style paired with stereotypical extras (like the thuggish bullies or the canteen cook) as well as the constant fourth-wall-breaking are another clue -- and then the story tones the physical comedy down in the second half but still proceeds to follow every single beat of an average rom-com: With a light twist, like when the "summer" date is filmed in the middle of winter. And they follow this concept until the very last scenes, with the hundereds of lanterns and the kitschy snowfall, and then tie it up with an uplifting message.

And yet, they somehow smuggled in some very real character growth. The aggressive playboy, who pursued the heroine "just because" and initiated a sudden and unwelcome kiss, learns to let go. The shy and awkward girl learns to stand up for herself, not with lies and deceit but with honesty and integrity. The "hero" learns to make a decision and commit to it. And the "heroine"? She learns that love doesn't just happen because she wants it to.
Maybe the writer and the crew were too good at that, so that MDLers caught real feelings and thus don't understand that this is supposed to be a parody?


Was it good?
Yes! It starts out as a physical comedy where absolutely everything is exaggerated, and ends up with real feelings.

Did I like it?
I did! I was hesitant to watch another youth focused het romance but I am glad I did.

Who would I recommend it to?
To people who get on with the exaggerated Japanese style of comedy. And to those who are able to understand how a parody works.

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Sometimes, all you need is a short-ish rom-com drama with a solid but unsurprising story. "Love Tractor" is exactly that.

Neither the character dynamics (excitable puppy vs. cold cat / country mouse vs. city mouse) nor the backstory (controlling father, betrayal by lover, thwarted dreams) are in any way new. The setting is an appropriately romanticized village, complete with stereotypical overly friendly villagers and out-of-season fresh fruit and vegetables. Wounds heal quickly without scars; the surroundings don't change with the progressing in-universe time.

And yet, it works.

The story, tropey as it is, takes its time to develop Seon Yul's character from being closed-off and exhausted to a confident young man who has found his own way of life. Events around him fit neatly into the narrative, and everything resolves without becoming too cheesy.
Ye Chan's antics are the eye-catcher of the series (and another proof why you should hire actors who know what they are doing -- according to MDL, the actor Yoon Do Jin is a stage actor in SKorea), and the main aspect that elevates this rom-com above the average. Yoon Do Jin gives his character an endearing quality, child-like but not childish, with unexpected words of wisdom, delivered with perfect innocence. In contrast, Do Won ("Seon Yul") gives us a subtle performance of a jaded man that you need to look closer to see. Both of them balance each other quite nicely.

Technically, I find this to be a solid production; I am not a fan of the sung OST but overall the background music fit well with the rest. I wish they had used the countryside to more effect -- most of the time it was just there -- but we all know that in reality, country life looks nowhere near as idyllic as on screen.


Was it good?
It was a solid, if predictable, rom-com with well delivered performances.

Did I like it?
Yes, and I even have rewatched it a few times.

Who would I recommend it to?
To someone who is looking for a rom-com with comedy elements, with a relatively short runtime.

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This film has stayed with me for a while now, and I still don't know what to write about it. I feel that this is a film with layers, but I am not sure how to put it into words -- I'll try anyway.

I am not quite sure what the film is about. Is it about gay life in the year 2000, with all that it entails? Is it about heteronormativity, and its consequences for women and queer people alike? Is it about lonely people who try to find comfort in a harsh and hectic society?
Is it about he question what a *family* is?

And I'm not sure if they put too much into the script (there are several scenes and side stories that don't advance the main plot at all, the scene where they try to mate two dogs in front of a kid is still burnt into my brain), so it's core theme isn't clear -- or if it's done intentionally, because, well, life is messy and everything is intertwined. I tend towars the latter reading, especially with the more than hectic beginning and the parallel telling of the story lines of the three main characters.

Whichever it is, for me, the most intriguing thing was not the gay couple -- their story is interesting as well -- but the three women who encounter the restriction of society's expectations in their own way.

There's, of course, the film's main character: Asako. Who has had different sexual partners in her life (not always by choice, as the film makes very clear; cw for an on-screen non-con sex scene), and is shamed by medical professionals for it. Confronted with the possibility of infertility, she tries to take desperate measures to become a mother -- outside of society's norm of marriage.

By contrast, we meet Katsuhiro's sister-on-law Yoko, who tells us that her marriage was arranged and she didn't have a choice in it. That her mother-in-law expected a grandson. Yoko has resigned herself with this kind of life, and has started to identify with it. She, like her mother-in-law, perpetuates the toxic ideas of a "good woman" and of "family". Because if she didn't, her whole life would be meaningless.

And this comes to head in a climactic scene, where both women meet and their views clash. One of the exchanges stayed with me:

Asako says: I wanted to choose a family the way you choose lovers and friends!
And Yoko replies: You don't choose your family, they are just there.

And in addition to their contrasting worlds, there's a third woman, a co-worker of Katsuhiro's, whose attempts at pursuing him become more desperate over time. She suffers not only from the expectation to marry and start a family -- her disability also makes it much harder to find a partner at all, so she latches on to the only man who treats her kindly.

Core themes aside, the film is gloriously messy. No single character is perfect here, no motivation is "green" -- even Naoya, who is a sweet man, chooses his partner not because he is in love with him, but because Katsuhiro is the one who stayed. There are many things that stay unsaid or unresolved, some character arcs never get what I would call a stopping point.
The cinematography and the side stories give the film a hectic and disrupted feeling -- and occasionally this will be contrasted with slower scenes.

While there are light-hearted scenes, which are occasionally very funny, and while the film gives us an overall optimistic outlook about three people who carve out their own space in this world, this doesn't make the film gentle or light -- it's more that we find laughter and happiness *in spite of* reality, not because of it.

I'm not sure if I *liked* the film, but it certainly stayed with me for weeks now, and that is always a good thing. If I ever have another chance to watch this again, I will definitely do so.

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