Versus....

I needed a change of pace so I stumbled upon this drama and was hooked from the first minute in spite of terrible cinematography (I am really sensitive to pretty visuals and this one was cold and frankly ugly).

The story follows a disgraced, former bodyguard who is offered a second chance at it. Through a series of jobs, we discover his past, the reasons for his fall from grace and his redemption.

The bodyguard, Shimazaki Akira, is a complex character, all the nuances perfectly painted. He does not say much but sees everything, quick on his feet with dry humour. The relationship with his "rebellious" teen son is so on point: behind the sulky teen hides a boy who deeply loves his father. His coworkers, who know nothing of his pas career as a bodyguard, appreciate him barely considering him an oldtimer. As the cases pile up, his skills become evident and the reluctant colleague becomes a friend.

The drama also pits the official police security services who are armed against the private unarmed ones, proving over and over again that being armed is often a wrong solution. The police security boss is vehemently against the private firm, trying everything in his power to discredit them while they keep proving to him their competence and skill which the official bodyguards sometimes lack!

Beside "case of the week", there is a drama long arc following a female politician as she tries to make it in the macho world. She recognizes Akira's skills immediately and is drawn to him. There is a spark of romance here, very slight and which is eventually nipped in the bud: she choses her career over having a private life! This is another point this drama is trying to make: the gender disparity in Japan. How to make it as a women in a man's world? What sacrifices a woman needs to make which are never asked of men? In a way it is tragic but it is also, thanks to the women like this one, that societies evolve, open up and become more tolerant!

The drama is well written, the music is grandiose, sometimes even pompous for a bodyguard show (probably on purpose: sacrificing one's life to protect others and so on...), the actors are all perfect.

An excellent watch!

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A perfect lockdown confession

One thing is certain, Philippines have nailed it in the department of lockdown BL romance, nobody does it better! This short film must have been one of the first ones and it is practically perfect! So please, can someone tell me why is this so badly rated? It is a wonderful, well written, produced and acted short film. So why you don't like it, people?

When you finally realize that you are actually in love with your best friend, you want to tell him, in person, immediately, right? But with the lockdown, it is difficult so Tristan cries not knowing how to tell Chris about his feelings. To comfort him, Chris takes out a box of shared memories (tickets, toys etc.) giving Tristan courage to confess when he realizes that that box means more than just best friends!

The lockdown seems like a distant memory these days, we have all moved on and seeing this short movie brings back the memories of uncertainty, fear, doubt. The characters here feel all that which makes Tristam, in particular, take stock of his life and dating experiences and finally accept that the most important person in his life, the person he loves the most , is his best friend.

The three short songs are just the right means to convey sincere feelings. The actors are cute with those dimples (sorry, I fall for those every time!). The production values are high, the editing is excellent considering this is basically a static film where they both barely move. It is cute and butterflies inducing, so go watch it! Only 15min long but they managed to tell a story of a lifetime in it! Talent does not lie so I will start digging now and try to find their other works. If there are any. Fingers crossed!

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A robot and an idler

An absolute gem of a drama with a quirky and funny story and characters; the synopsis is accurate so I am just going to gush a bit about this drama.

A robotic girl and an idler meet, and reasonably decide to sign a contract and get married. But before that, the social convention says they should date. So they do! And it is hilarious. She shows up at the first date with a fake flower on top of her head and the duck mouth expression on her face, scaring the living daylights out of the ML. Through a series of such dates, they unwittingly and unconsciously start changing, becoming less rigid and stubborn! Eventually, they try dating other people without realizing they had actually fallen for each other. There is an emotional scene towards the ending, when their love is obvious to all except to themselves, and when they argue how unfit they are for each other! So perfect! So unexpected, though completely within their characters!

There is a number of support characters, helping them along the way: her long suffering widower of a father, the ML's mother and friends and of course the ghost of her mother (actually, the FL's subconsciousness).

Often, I had an impression of watching a theatre play: there are long dialogues, with very fast exchanges, no music and interior sets! The writing was rather good though I must admit that it became a bit repetitive and therefore boring in the second half: I did not laugh as much as during the first episodes and they could not help themselves: they had to introduce the most annoying and useless trope: a childhood connection! The actors were perfect. I admire japanese casting directors: how do they manage to find child actors who look perfectly like the main actors! It is uncanny!

This was a great watch, funny and uplifting!

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Ridiculous but fun!

One thing is certain: bls and mafia do not mix well together! This latest example is just so ridiculous that I really do not understand why they are still making this type of romance dramas? Trying to ride on KinnProsche's coattails? That one was already ridiculous enough but at least it was slick! This one is ridiculous and cheap looking.

Guy is a student who's had a crush on his only friend since highschool. On the day he planned to confess, his friend introduces him to his girlfriend. Sad and lonely, he goes into the fictional world of on line games where he has friends he's never met. They decide to meet in real life and one of them is Tew who turns out to be a mafia henchman. He falls for Guy but the mafia boss is reluctant to let him be free.

While the university, regular life parts were done correctly, the mafia bits are outrageously ridiculous. The writers must have said: everyone does mafia like this, so it must be the way it is. Allow me to doubt! And even though it is probably far from being realistic (and I am NOT looking for realism in a BL) but at least they should make it credible. The prime example is Kenji, an over the top mafia rival of Tew's with his silly hair and outrageous and grimacing behaviour: too cringy for words! Tew on the other hand, is cool, tall, elegant and taciturn, the complete opposite! While Guy is your typical, ordinary student!

The story is basically a love triangle : Wahl, Guy's best friend likes having Guy under his thumb, unwittingly, perhaps, wanting to control his life. When Guy finally manages to break free, Wahl is upset and tries to regain control. Unsuccessfully! Meeting Tew did wonders for Guy and he grows as a person. Wahl is ultimately shown as a creep who eventually learns to let go!

The online group of friends are a mixed lot, cute and fun to watch whether they bicker (Tom and Pim) or obliviously put their fut in (Muffin)! The least likeable character is Boss, Kenji's spy, and a weird, sleazy guy!

Fortunately, the chemistry was there! Meen and Ping are very much at ease with each other and it shows!

Production was a bit clunky and on the cheap side. The exception being the opening credits which were a mixture of webtoon and real images of actors: nice and original. The voiceover was a nice touch, giving us insight into their thoughts and feelings. The music was forgettable, though I noticed the usual, ominous, heavy on the percussions music in mafia scenes. The "action" scenes were iffy to say the least: the most violent bits happened off screen or were hidden by furniture while the fist fighting scenes were unconvincing, well choreographed but badly filmed and slow so it was obvious that nobody was getting really hit!

In conclusion, this was another miss for the mafia genre so I wholeheartedly hope they will stop making them! Nevertheless, because it was short and easy to watch, I give it a pass: not too bad!

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Photos and memories

Once in a blue moon, a miracle happens and a second season of a series turns out to be better than the first one! This is an example!

The drama starts exactly where the previous one ended: Yeesa has woken up from a coma but is completely lost. People know her, she recognizes them but the things are not as she remembers them to have been, something is slightly off. So she goes to the esoteric club who helped her during time travel and finds out that the man who sacrificed himself to save her life was never in it, they have never heard about him. But when she bumps into him in a bookshop, he does not recognize her. A few days later they meet again: he is a writer and ever since they met, he'd been having dreams about another version of himself. They conclude that he'd been getting images from the parallel universe Yeesa is from. In that universe, he reconnects with his childhood friend and discovers that the photos they took with an instant camera let you travel to the moment those photos had benn taken for 15min (i.e. the time it takes for a instant photo to be developped).

Basically we have two stories developing at the same time. In the one, Yeesa is helping the writer with his novel in order to figure out how to go back to her original universe. The other story is the plot of the novel taking place in that other universe.

Fortunately, in this season, the FL is different and Yeesa is just a guest character having no more than a couple of scenes in every episode so the drama is so much better for it! The story focuses on Ka Chung and his childhood friend Cu Ning. The drama follows them as they slowly figure out how the time travel through photos work and we see them as they regretfully realize they cannot change the past no matter how hard they tried. There is a scene where FL goes through a big number of photos in order to try to save her grandfather and is miserable when she fails! But they eventually realize, just like in the first season, that changing destiny needs the ultimate sacrifice.

The running theme of this season are memories!Memories hidden in photos that both main characters are trying to find and keep the important photos in their life.The grandfather's memories he is slowly losing but not only. The story is much more complicated because it keeps going back and forth between past and present in both universes. The director found a good solution for us not to be lost: the ML looks completely different in different timelines, if I did not know better, I'd think they were two different actors! That was very helpful in order to follow the story!

There is even a bad guy: someone so steeped in grief and guilt after his wife's death that he manages to find a way to time travel and provoke as much pain in the lead's lives holding them responsible for his own unhappiness. This was so frustrating! The guy turns out to be practically a caricature of evil: why do bad guys hum and whistle while doing evil deeds? Always! Just look at any crime thriller out there, every serial killer moves around humming or whistling! This whole subplot brought nothing because the main leads did not manage to save anyone with their actions and the final solution came from literally wishing upon a star. So just like in the first season, time travel depends on the whims of Gods!

The writing is excellent, without obvious plotholes but without time travel explanation either. Why is this particular instant camera creating time travel photos? The reason some people can do it is explained but not the means of transportation! On the other hand, the connection between the two seasons is established perfectly as the story of this season circles back to the beginning of the first one: the events of this season happened before the event of the Leap day and the conclusion to both series is the last episode here! This is headache inducing but time travel always is so....

940920 is a top tier time travel drama. The characters are interesting, the plot is tightly woven and manages to retain some logic but it is not very optimistic even though there is a happy ending for everyone involved. The cinematography is just as beautiful

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Annoying luckless FL travels aimlessly..

Leap Day has an interesting premise for time travel: the FL, Yeesa, who was born on a leap day travels to future on non leap years at the moment the 29th of February should be and isn't. I found this idea new and original and being a time manipulation trope super fan, I set out to see what they managed to do with it.

Unexpectedly very good! Time travel is a notoriously difficult trope to use since the very fact to travel in the past implies the butterfly effect repercussions to the present. Yeesa travels for one whole day every year between two leap years. She finds out about the future and tries to change it only to realize that changing destiny need an ultimate sacrifice.

The story is very well written and everything is pretty much straight forward. What would you do, how far are you willing to go in order to save yourself or a person you care about?

The major problem I had with the drama is the character of Yeesa: she was so annoying, does not know what she wants and is convinced to be the misery magnet! I disliked her, so much so I wished for her to fail! LOL
I must be frank, too, when I noticed the first plothole (idiotic one: during her first time travel, even though she does not speak a word of japanese and does not understand a japanese doctor talking to her, she understands perfectly a j drama dialogue and j TV news!!!), I was so disappointed that I stopped paying attention!LOL The characters are not really likeable, some are quirky but the mains are ...meh! There is lots of philosophical mambo jambo about life and responsibilities and sacrifice. The fl looks like Park Min Young's (WWWSK) twin sister: very distracting! She time travels once a year in the moment the leap day( Feb 29th) should be and then proceeds to aimlessly run around. Why does she time travel? It was never really explained: something to do with a Buddhist temple and a talisman: very spiritual! Another main character not in the cast list but it should be: the white truck of doom features heavily throughout the drama. There are two guys vaguely in love with her. There is something that really really gets on my nerves, extremely so: a guy is hit by the truck so instead of calling for help, she cries, wails, shakes the victim and hugs him!

The ending is open. She is single. She was in a coma for a year but is fully operational as soon as she wakes up?!?!? The dead guy never existed. She seems to be in a parallel universe. And the whole thing is just a novel!
I probably should watch the second season if I want to find out what is really going on!
Beautiful cinematography, though!

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Never too late for love

I wanted to watch something short and light and this popped out of nowhere. And since you can never go wrong with a rom com on a Sunday evening, I gave it a go. And I enjoyed the film. It is fun and unremarkable but a nice single watch!

The story is a bit unusual because the main leads are in their forties. He is a dorky researcher, working for a snacks company. His life is orderly, by the clock, every day the same as the one before. She's a single mother who just got a job in a loans company and she needs to get the money from his brother. That brother is an ex con and gambler, sponging off of his brother who goes to the loan company to pay the debt. They meet there and she falls for his humour. Meeting her changes him for the better: he gets to be more open and joyful so much so his boss gets worried!

The cast of characters are a quirky lot: not a mean bone in sight but odd! Apart from those already mentioned there is the rude daughter who does not want her mother to date; the pharmacist who has seen everything but the ML still manages to surprise her, the brother's girlfriend who falls for the ML's boss and turns out to be the FL's friend.....just a typical romcom! With a lot of funny scenes where the outcome is not expected (falling down the stairs!)...and of course, a number of obligatory scenes: a public confession, running into each other's arms etc.

The ML is the character who changes the most: or at least it is the most remarkable. The others develop slightly.

The movie is about ordinary people, living ordinary lives and trying to find happiness. The actors are all excellent: the ML is not the typical romcom material but the actor pulled it off brilliantly and they were perfect together!

Will I rewatch it? Not sure! Maybe in order to spot all the cameos....

NB The screenplay writer is amazing: look him up. He is hugely talented: wrote some of the best dramas and movies in recent years, and is better looking than the majority of korean actors! A lot of good fairies must have been present at his birth!

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Coming to terms with betrayal

Contrary to the impression given by the poster, this is not a horror drama! I am always so surprised when people whose job is visual and in the media, come up with such a horrible poster! The synopsis above is from the official site ( http://areyouok.jp/en/ ) and is just as incomprehensible and misleading! There are no clouds and nobody's getting married: it is just a birthday party! Basically, this short drama has been really badly promoted!

It is a story of Mikako, who shut herself up after discovering that her boyfriend and her best friend have been seeing each other for a year with all of their friends knowing it but no one telling her. This is an interactive drama: you are given choices to make for Mikako: does she leave the house or not and what does she do afterwards. The story is quite interesting: the choices she has to make all lead to a happy ending for her: she accepts the facts and decides to move on, stronger!

The concept is original and the story is well written. Actually, I wished it was longer! The playlist on youtube lets you watch all episodes without needing to choose!

The acting is surprisingly good. The cinematography is rather grey/blue depressing which they used for the poster! When she leaves the house, the colours change and the song's lyrics have a significant impact on Mikako's feelings: after dealing with the problem, she's OK now!

The web series has been made to promote a song "Are You OK?" by the girl band FAKY.

FAKY is a five-person Japanese girl group that debuted in 2013 under Avex's Rhythm Zone record label. The group has gone through two reformations and currently consists of Lil' Fang, Mikako, Hina, Akina, and Taki. The group name was derived from the word "fake" to challenge themselves to bring something "real" to the Japanese music scene. Their name also stands for "Five Ass Kicking Youngsters" and "FAntastic toKYo". The group defines themselves as a "Next Generation Girls Union" and tends to take musical inspiration from outside of Japan while incorporating Japanese culture and fashion.

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Road movie

I am judging this drama harshly because of a thing I utterly hate: a bad ending. And this one has it in the title and in the last episode. Fortunately, the manga author drew a special episode which actually gives us the ending any good BL should have!

I hate the end of the world trope: it is too depressing and it is giving me nightmares. Ever since I saw that Keira Knightly movie about it, I cannot watch anything dealing with the subject. But I have(almost) run out of BLs to watch and as I was looking for a short one, it was between this one and Kinou Nani Tabeta? Since I found that couple lacking any credibility in the romance department, I went with this one after making sure that the world does not actually end!

I also hate unclear endings. So did the end of the world happen or did a miracle happen like they showed in a ridiculous animation which looks like a 10 yr old did on his parents' computer! Fortunately, the manga author posted an extra episode of the manga as a direct continuation of the drama giving us the very much needed happy ending! Thank you!

And even though this drama comes highly recommanded (deservedly so) I wish the mangaka had found another reason for the plot to move in the desired direction. With the world coming to the end in 10 days, Misumi decides to spend it in the library, reading. But he bumps into Ritsu there. They used to date ten years earlier but they broke up because Ritsu cheated and Misumi never recovered from that. Ritsu asks him for help in disposing of a dead body in exchange for a pill of death. But the dead body turns out not to be dead but a strange highschool boy. The men decide to take the boy home to his parents and a road movie starts. Along the way they pick up another person.

This drama is a road movie. The characters reveal themselves, grow and mature as they travel. The story of two main characters is told through a series of flashbacks from their childhood onwards. Their relationship while they were students was doomed from the start since they were both damaged individuals: one shy and unassuming the other one flamboyant, cocky and irresponsibly superficial but hiding deep wounds. Neither is likeable but one makes you feel pity and the other rage and disgust. Time apart let them grow. Again, differently: while the first one remained stuck in time, hidden in his shell, the other one realized the error of his way, regretted his behaviour but continued on the self-destructive path he was put on by life circumstances.

I like the story a lot. They take their time to get to know and trust each other again which is a bit nerve wrecking because of all the world ending thing and not really having any time left! But on the other hand, they are very much aware of the urgency of the situation so even though they take their time, they do not waste it on unnecessary misunderstandings and jealousies. Was the end of the world as a premise really necessary?

There is a bit of fantasy here as well with the high school kid he seems to have some special powers or abilities or everything is just a coincidence? Freak weather or Divine powers? Who knows? The mystery remains....

One thing was surprising for me in any case: with the world coming to the end, the people are rather well-behaved, polite, the looting and destruction are minimal. Or at least they did not show much: but there were no burned or abandoned cars, no houses broken into...you'd expect people to go crazy knowing they were going to die soon. Not so much!

The drama is well written: in spite of frequent flashbacks, there is no confusion about the timeline. The acting is superb. The cinematography standard and nature pretty. The song is amazing: Futatabi by Hiroba. I have found my latest favourite song!

This should have been a 10/10 drama if it had not been for the end of the world !

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Healing by manipulation?

First and foremost, thank you for the subs HPriest! Extraordinary work, as usual!

Second and the most important: this is MY opinion and MY feelings about this drama.

I really do not know how to feel about this drama. On one hand, the story is interesting and original, the characters are so quirky and fun but on the other hand I did not like the actress playing the main lead: she somehow did not fit the role. And the more everyone swooned in front of her, the more I failed to comprehend! The FL is supposed to be someone kind, sweet and pretty. What we got was someone bland and slouchy. I know I am going to get a lot of flack for this, but this casting decision really ruined my viewing experience: I just could not see what everyone talked about in her. The actress unfortunately did not manage to convey that vulnerability and kindness: all I got was an annoying doormat! Everything she did felt somehow off!

Following a motorbike accident for which she was held responsible by her friends, Sui becomes komoribito/hikikomori, shutting herself away from the world for ten years. Looking for a way to earn some money, her father a failed mangaka, accepts to draw a story in collaboration with the hottest writer of the day using Sui's story. As she comes out of her shell and gets in touch with her highschool friends, the truth about the accident and its aftermath slowly comes out. Behind the scenes, the writer listens to everything(a bug in Sui's phone) that's going on and gives direction by gently nudging Sui where he wants the story to go.

The story is well told: we go from past to present with past events in black and white, and the truth slowly being revealed. The characters are great: the funny father, the silly photographer, the uppity editor...they are all hiding their serious side behind the quirky exterior.

The main topic of this drama is Hikikomori (Japanese: ひきこもり or 引きこもり, lit. "pulling inward, being confined"), also known as severe social withdrawal, is total withdrawal from society and seeking extreme degrees of social isolation and confinement. Hikikomori refers to both the phenomenon in general and the recluses themselves. The concept is primarily recognized only in Japan, although similar concepts exist in other languages and cultures. Hikikomori have been described as loners or "modern-day hermits". Estimates suggest that half a million Japanese youths have become social recluses,as well as more than half a million middle-aged individuals. There is usually no other psychological problem.
I cannot say if it was represented well or if the healing process, is correctly presented but maybe, it not really being a mental disorder, the healing can be faster. Whatever it may be, the drama has made me aware of the phenomenon.

Anyway, the drama is more interesting to watch for all the support characters not the main couple! I liked the atmosphere of the drama, the laid back attitude everyone seemed to have and the fact that there was a 7yr old kid in the background of every adult conversation. They took him away only once when they discussed having kids!

Another issue I have with this drama is the music. But that is valid for the majority of j dramas: the background music which does not fit the mood of the scene. Why do japanese love classical music so much that they put it is, apparently, every single drama? Here, I learned to hate Debussy. The piano piece they featured is such a mood killer, heavy, depressing and making me want to throw myself out of the window. Figuratively speaking! But if I hear this piece never again, it will be too soon! So, why do they put in so much classical music? Don't they have any background music composers? And the only song they had was an old song by an american band The Hollies: "Bus Stop".

Watch it for the support cast and you'll have fun!

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Insecurities can wreak havoc!

I actually liked this a lot. It is very different from the majority of thai bls these days. The truth is, GMMTV has completely taken over the bl market churning out repetitive fare so when something a bit different comes along, people are lost. NightDream is shorter, dreamier and one of the better produced recent bls. But it ha such a distictive korean bl feel to it because of that.

Night and Dream were best friends in high school but they lost touch after the death of Dream's parents. They meet again five years later.

The plot is very basic but it is well executed and beautifully filmed. There are usual tropes galore: friends to lovers, a girl best friend who wants to be more, disapproving parent, bullying schoolmates, helpful friends. The story is firmly centred on the main pair: there are helpful side characters but we do not know or need to know anything about them: so no annoying second couple taking up precious time.
Night is a character deeply conflicted and insecure, and therefore closed off. He has an older brother who is held in high esteem by their father, while he, himself, is regularly criticized for his choices and actions. So even though he has been attracted to (and probably in love with) Dream, he never dared to confess his feelings, afraid of his eternally disappointed father's reaction. Night even managed to convince himself that having feelings for another man is wrong, not normal and unacceptable: he is very scared of his father thinking that he would never accept him, basically!
Dream, on the other hand, has had a crush on Night forever but never dared confessing because he thought that Night was in love with their girl friend. Unlike Night, he is very much at ease with who he is.

Growing up is hard, coming to terms with one's feelings is difficult but once you decide which path leads to it, the happiness is within your reach.

This was a nice quick watch: not your usual thai bl and so much better for it! Added bonus: not one single PPL! Incredible, right?

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Game of love?

How can a short film tell more in 9min than many others in 90? The director's skills are amazing: the writing is original and the cinematography stunning!

A man has to find his mysterious and quirky girlfriend every night by 3:01 AM based on a photo she sends him. If he does not, he will never see her again. His wanderings around HK at night are filled with light, shadows, foreboding and challenge. But he is getting tired of her not letting him get any closer: he realizes he does not really know her and one night he misses her by a few seconds and never sees her again. He is resigned never to see her again but a lingering regret remains: he does not remember her face any more but the memory of her is still overpowering. he moved on but he is still somehow stuck on her....

This short film is a testimony to how charismatic people leave a permanent trace behind them and how difficult it is to get close to them and at the same time break free from them!

The cinematography, here, beautifully illustrates the fleeting nature of the girl: it is fast, fuzzy and interspersed with flashed of light.

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The King of Flashbacks strikes again!

I'm sorry but I have an axe to grind with this director. I decided to call him the King of Flashbacks while he calls himself Jedi....really?!? This is the third story he directed (and the main character is called Third! Ha, ha...get it?) and by now a pattern emerges. The screenplay is so thin that he needs to fill up 90min with something. And that something are flashbacks, very long silent shots and recaps of the things we had just seen. Here he went even further: the second episode starts with the 10last minutes of the first one! So basically, there is enough footage to make a lazy 30min episode but since he was asked to do two 45min episodes: this is the result. To be frank, even though this is pretty bad, it is not as bad as his previous two specials (Friends Forever and Fake Love) and I am scared to watch the last two episodes of this anthology series because he directed them!

The story is not that bad. Pai works as a travel companion for hire for an app. His girlfriend wants him to quit his job and when he refuses she breaks up with him. He drowns his sorrows in beer and is picked up, dead drunk, by his next customer, Third, who takes him camping and bird watching. It turns out that Third's girlfriend is also a travel companion who is spending the weekend camping with a customer at the same place. That customer is Pai's girlfriend. Realizing that the girls are actually dating, Pai drowns his sorrows and the boys console each other. Will they become more than friends?

I quite liked the story. The issue I have are with the director and writer. Lazy writing and even lazier directing. And even though there were fewer long silent shots here, the director's penchant for long flashbacks of the events we saw two minutes earlier, is still strong. It has been so long that I have not seen such obviously fake car driving as well. And even though I liked the final split screen scene as it announced the future, it was ruined by how fake it looked. The music is getting worse by the episode: I am fed up with the title song: they rearrange it differently to give it a different tone but it has become annoying.

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Flowers, colours and love

So with a cryptic title like this, I needed to do a bit of research. Here it is:

Tuberose symbolizes attraction, lust, and obsession for someone else. It can send a message that you're having a hard time letting go of someone ...
In many cultures, Tuberose flowers are considered a symbol of good luck and prosperity...
The blue tuberose flower represents fidelity, reliability, security, and extravagance.
The light pink tuberose flower stands for excitement, ecstasy, and promises of a great romance
Contrary to the typical interpretations of white, the white tuberose (carnal) flower is the ultimate symbol of lust and gratification. Its long-lasting sultry scent is guaranteed to sinfully and treacherously enchant your partner. It indicates anticipation of rapturous times and is commonly used to decorate the bridal room of newlyweds in Asian cultures.
The yellow tuberose flower embodies a love that flourishes openly and bravely under the sun and breaks away from the secrecy of closed curtains...
All in all, the tuberose flower symbolic meanings are: passion, obsession, decadence and dangerous pleasures!

What does all of this has to do with this short film?

Ming has been in love with Song, his sister's boyfriend ever since he met him ages ago. There has always been a certain hesitancy in their relationship then but Ming lacked courage to pursue him. Suddenly, Song shows up at Ming's door after not being in touch for ten years. He wants a relationship. Now. Ming has never been able to get over his crush. Now that Song is back in his life, will he finally find the courage and move forward with Song?

The film is very ambiguous about everything, the basic story including. And the ending leaves you with the impression that everything that happened was just Ming's wishful thinking. There is a lot of symbolism going through this film: firstly the flower tuberose I mentioned above, but also the colour yellow (yellow balloon, yellow envelope). Yellow is the practical thinker, not the dreamer. Yellow is non-emotional, coming from the head rather than the heart. - this applies to one side of Ming. The way the director showed us Song mostly as a shadow, I think also confirms in a way that the whole story is just a dream.

The film is made in a rarely seen format now days 4:3, the colours a bright and oversaturated, the sound is rather badly recorded and the acting is correct.
Interesting short film by a creative and talented director which can be taken in a few different ways.
Either it is this symbolic meaning through the flower(Ming's heart) showing one man's difficulties of letting go and the colour yellow (Ming's head) indicated his having made peace with reality....
Or is it really just a love story that finally came to its happy ending, suddenly, after 10 years?

What do you think?

Cast:
River Watcharapong Kanjankrit starring as Ming, short film written and directed by him as well.
Teerajate Somboonaburana starring as Song

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Do not try to understand everything. Sometimes....

...it is not meant to be understood. Just accepted.

This is a quote on the wall behind Tod and Nick. I liked it. So I put it here as well.

The stories in this anthology series are all of different quality, and this one is definitely one of the best. It follows or it takes place at the same time as the previous story, Pisces of Me with the same characters. While there Tod was a third lead, here we get to know his story and why he was the way he was in the previous episodes.

I like the synopsis above: it is poetic and completely incomprehensible if you have not seen these two episodes.

Tod was an unruly high schooler so his mother got him a tutor, Nick who managed to set him straight. They click together, they are close and spend a lot of time talking and confiding in each other. Tod likes and admires NIck. If ever there are feelings brewing between them, they are never told or explicitly shown. When his parents need to move away from Bangkok for work, the boys keep in touch, with Tod even planning to go back to finish high school there and live with Nick. But Nick has his own dreams and when they become reality, he is torn as to how to make everything work, how to keep his promise and how to live his dream. When Tod finds out the truth, he realizes he had been selfish and lets Nick go through a small white lie.

The title of the episodes, 1626, refers to their respective ages. This is a story of the first love which doesn't say its name. Nick is being a responsible adult and never crossed the line (there is a parallel story in Pisces of You: a tutor actually crossing the line and aggressing the admiring pupil!). Tod's feeling are never really clear, almost until the end: is he in love with Nick or does he want him for an older brother? Tod only admits to incredulous Kun when he tells him the story of Nick, that they only ever touched twice during the time they knew each other and both times was to apply ointment!

The parents are surprisingly open and warm even though they seem too busy, they notice more than Tod thinks they do which comes as a huge surprise to him. They are not judgemental and accept Tod's decisions within the realm of possible. They do not impose their opinions on Tod but let him make his conclusions as to what to do by giving him the facts.

The story is well written, subtle and emotional, a slow burn kind of story. I loved the space references: Pluto and Black Hole were the names the MCs gave themselves, explaining how they felt about their lives. The whole drama special has a poetic, ethereal feel about it, like a dream parenthesis in the harsh reality.
The characters grow and change and mature as the story progresses. The acting is better than in the previous episodes. The production is good: the cinematography, the sets... The editing is a bit messy: to story goes back and forth, past and present and sometimes is difficult to know when a scene is taking place. But that is just a minor flaw. I probably was not paying enough attention, or at least not as much as I should have since these four episodes(Pisces Of Me & 1626) demand and deserve full attention. The endings are open: the boys are young and they will grow and mature and meet new people and have new loves.

But these moments were those which formed their characters for the better!

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