thereluctantshoweater
This review may contain spoilers
Die hard BL fans: this is not for you.
After many months of diving deep into the BL genre of films and shows, I think I can safely say I have a pretty fair idea of what the crowd pleasers are, so I'm gonna straight up call this a no for you BL die hards.
For starters, this show is interesting and creatively presented. The story lives within the inner workings of the fashion industry and they didn't just put up some mannequins for the illusion or pretence - it feels like the film team did actually do some research about fashion design and modelling. The plot is not spelt out for you. Rather, it is presented to us through a series of encounters and conversations and allows the audience to glean subtle details. The acting was just wonderful - the three leads (yes, I'm gonna say three, because it was a love triangle and I feel like they all got equal screen time) were convincing, compelling and natural. The chemistry between all three of them was also superb, and I'm such a sucker for good on-screen chemistry, hence my high rating. There are no awkward moments here between amateur teenage-y actors who haven't actually done any acting classes and have just been thrown in front of a camera to pucker up their lips. There are no "accidental" slip-and-almost-fall-but-he-caught-me swoony woo moments. There are no shower scenes, no wiping food off lips, head pats, teeny tiny scratches on knees that supposedly need a first aid kit and band aid, no shippers, no crazy ex-girlfriends who are trying to ruin their lives, nope nada none of that stuff. Thank the TV Gods for that!
Instead, we have a complex love triangle, and these people talk to each other about it like grown ups. There is no self-discovery angst because everyone involved is gay and the people around them either know it and support it or it's not a thing. We discover a story about dreams and love and how to chase both so damn hard without any favours, thank you very much. I didn't have a problem with the editing at all - come on, peeps, do we really need everything spelt out for us and in a clear, obvious and predictable (read: BORING) way every single time? Sure, this show was clearly low budget, and maybe they could have better cinematography, smoother transitions and better sound treatment. Did it detract from the show? Nope. Not for me. My one complaint is that there were still quite a lot of flashbacks, and with 8 x bite size 15 minute episodes, we really didn't need reminding. But hey, that's part of the K-drama style so I get it and accept it.
Look, when it comes to BL, I am as die-hard a fan as the next person, but like any genre of film/TV, they all get predictable and cookie-cutter after awhile. Why can't there be room for more kinds of storytelling? More, I say, please!
Small spoiler alert, just because the other reviews on this page annoyed me: Gi Jin did NOT go to New York, you numbnuts, listen (or read the subtitles) PROPERLY to the conversations. #facepalm
For starters, this show is interesting and creatively presented. The story lives within the inner workings of the fashion industry and they didn't just put up some mannequins for the illusion or pretence - it feels like the film team did actually do some research about fashion design and modelling. The plot is not spelt out for you. Rather, it is presented to us through a series of encounters and conversations and allows the audience to glean subtle details. The acting was just wonderful - the three leads (yes, I'm gonna say three, because it was a love triangle and I feel like they all got equal screen time) were convincing, compelling and natural. The chemistry between all three of them was also superb, and I'm such a sucker for good on-screen chemistry, hence my high rating. There are no awkward moments here between amateur teenage-y actors who haven't actually done any acting classes and have just been thrown in front of a camera to pucker up their lips. There are no "accidental" slip-and-almost-fall-but-he-caught-me swoony woo moments. There are no shower scenes, no wiping food off lips, head pats, teeny tiny scratches on knees that supposedly need a first aid kit and band aid, no shippers, no crazy ex-girlfriends who are trying to ruin their lives, nope nada none of that stuff. Thank the TV Gods for that!
Instead, we have a complex love triangle, and these people talk to each other about it like grown ups. There is no self-discovery angst because everyone involved is gay and the people around them either know it and support it or it's not a thing. We discover a story about dreams and love and how to chase both so damn hard without any favours, thank you very much. I didn't have a problem with the editing at all - come on, peeps, do we really need everything spelt out for us and in a clear, obvious and predictable (read: BORING) way every single time? Sure, this show was clearly low budget, and maybe they could have better cinematography, smoother transitions and better sound treatment. Did it detract from the show? Nope. Not for me. My one complaint is that there were still quite a lot of flashbacks, and with 8 x bite size 15 minute episodes, we really didn't need reminding. But hey, that's part of the K-drama style so I get it and accept it.
Look, when it comes to BL, I am as die-hard a fan as the next person, but like any genre of film/TV, they all get predictable and cookie-cutter after awhile. Why can't there be room for more kinds of storytelling? More, I say, please!
Small spoiler alert, just because the other reviews on this page annoyed me: Gi Jin did NOT go to New York, you numbnuts, listen (or read the subtitles) PROPERLY to the conversations. #facepalm
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