Unpopularopinionbydemand

Bummer

Kinda of like what a lot of people have been saying, this was a bit of a bummer. It had been so anticipated by everyone everywhere, and to have been waiting so long and this be the solution just feels like we've been cheated.

Let's Dive In.

The first few episodes, probably until episode 6-7, are top-notch. At one point, I was thinking, "man, this is what everyone is hating on!?! This is great!" and then, it's just downhill from there. Of course, nothing wrong in the production of it all, if anything, that's what makes this series so hard to rate lower than an 7, unfortunately.

I hate that I didn't care for any of the romances in this until we're introduced to Calvin and Jay, and then...nothing. What a waste of an opportunity.

The only character I cared about was Chakri. Perfect, brilliant, amazing, lovely.

I skimmed through episodes starting at maybe 8-9. It was lovely to see Jimmy again after so long, but even then, I just don't care much for his story with Paytai.

Ratings:

Story: 7.5/10 - so good until we get into the latter episodes, and then everything starts to drag. Lots of potential wasted, like, a lot. Not so much into the romances, but I did get to see Zee's ass, so I'm not too mad.

Acting: 8/10 - Good. Not spectacular, unfortunately.

Music: 7.5/10 - I remember a lot of english songs (I watched this like a month ago from writing this review). Wasn't paying attention, but it didn't seem distracting.

Recommendation Value: 6/10 - Sure. By no means, is this a bad series, it's good cause it's Zee and Nunew and they have the production value to make a decent series. It just didn't hold up to the standards that I thought it would have, that's all. And Zee is naked enough to get you excited!!

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Nothing Like a J-BL to Cleanse My Palate

Oh, what a lovely little J-BL this was. While being everything but normal, this still served a rather telling story about true love, infidelity, and the importance of intimacy. I can't believed I even liked this cause I hate infidelity storylines with a passion, but this was much more than that.

Let's Dive In.

Also want to phrase this in the beginning to say I do not, whatsoever, agree with cheating in any circumstance. If anything, that's the reason this series still can't be a 10 out of 10 for me, even if the premise, the storytelling, and the actors all did a job well done. It's such a weird feeling to want to root for two people are are inevitably doing harm to their "partners" but also are somewhat in the right.

Kazuaki dealt with intimacy problems with his long term girlfriend (the separate beds was crazy wtf??) and the cause of their relationship to fumble being that they had no sexual relationship. This one aggravating me a lot. Kaori, while extremely beautiful and extremely sweet, was still so aggravating as a character. The advances Kazuaki tried to make on her, the separate beds, and you're telling me she had no idea that her boyfriend of three years might've been struggling? But on that same wave-length, how could you be in such a long term relationship and not know how to communicate? Like, would it really be so hard to have a sit down conversation with your girlfriend of three years and ask why ya'll haven't been intimate? That whole thing was insane to me. Sei is a little different. He basically had a partner who pitied him, which I could tell from the get-go was the problem. But at least Sei, even if not entirely in heath ways, was able to communicate with his partner about wanting to be intimate.

But I can't lie that I love this story. You want to hate it, you want to root for the ones being cheated on, but you look at their relationships and you want it to end too. While I would've loved a story where all of this took place when they had broken up with their partners, the point of the story was that they looked for solace in someone else when they couldn't find that in the person they were suppose to love, and I (toxically) think that's beautiful.

Both actors do such a good job in their roles. Their characters have very different personalities, but mixed together, they were perfect. Great NC scene, decent kisses. I liked how the intimacy played a huge part in this, and it's obviously needed and not thrown in for the "vitality" of BL, which is how most shows tend to be nowadays.

Ratings:

Story: 8.5/10 - Beautiful story. Had me roped in till the end. I think I would've like some slight shifts in character traits and just the overall vibe of the series, but nonetheless, this was perfect.

Acting: 9/10 - Both leads do a wonderful job. I loved Kaori's character, as much as she aggravated me. Everyone else did a decent job.

Music: 6/10 - didn't pay attention to it.

Recommendation Value: 8/10 - this one is a little hard to sit through if you're not ready for a story full of cheating and infidelity.

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Best Earth/Mix Acting, Mid Earth/Mix Show

I remember when Ossan's Love was announced, and I remember thinking "damn, am I gonna like this?" I'm here to say that I actually decently liked this. I think there were a lot of tough points to get through, I think you have to look at this through a completely different lens then what we're use to with these two, but nonetheless, they had another successful series and I can't wait to see them in the next one.

Let's Dive In.

This is coming from the perspective of someone who has not seen the original Ossan's Love (and probably won't), so I won't comment on what was changed or what difference the series' had, as I believe they were both most likely good in their own way. So, starting off, Heng is this young dude whose pretty bad at his job, but accidentally finds out his boss is in love with him. Through a couple of crazy mishaps and lucky guesses, Heng's co-worker Mo, moves in with him and then falls for him too. In the battle of "who gets Hengney?" Mo inevitably wins.

This series is incredibly silly and makes fun of itself numerous times throughout. You really have to throw away what you're use to from Earth and Mix. Usually we get dark, and brooding, and lust, and tragedy, but in this, it is the complete opposite. It was hard to make that transition within the first two episode, but once you get use to the acting (especially Earth's acting) you realize that this is some of Earth and Mix's best performances yet. Acting is hard, being funny and sad is hard, and they master that so well, especially Earth. It just goes to show how versatile these vet actors are, and they nailed this out the park. None of it was cringey, none of it seemed too much or too little, it was just perfect.

Which is why I feel bad also saying that the plot falls short in so many ways. In terms of their best series...TOTS all the way, and honestly, probably forever. But this series plays too many cat and mouse games, and honestly, it gets pretty old. Mo was very indecisive, and because of that, caused a lot of hurt for him and Heng. And some of his reasoning for why he does what he does is just really bad writing. It was like the writers couldn't come up with an authentic reason for Mo to leave or break up with Heng so they made Mo out to act out like a child would in these scenarios. But, nonetheless, Earth and Mix brought the chemistry, and I loved that Mix got to play the initiator in their relationship, the "top" if you will.

Krit, besides being the hottest man over 40, did an amazing job in his role. It was a little hard to feel sympathetic towards a man that basically coerced and used his power as a boss to enter into a relationship with one of his employees, but at times, I did feel for him. I have no idea why they didn't have him and Ten get together, but they would've made an incredible endgame.

I loved all the cameos we got, First and Khaotung, Drake, Fluke, just to name a few. Even one of the original actors from the Ossan's Love made a cameo, which was pretty cool.

Overall, I think this series did best with what it could do, with quite a lot of bumps and hurdle, but for what we got, I'm not upset.

Ratings:

Story: 7.5/10 - worked well in the beginning, not so much towards the end.

Acting: 9.5/10 - Like I said, some of Earth and Mix's best acting performances. I also really loved Meow's character and Cheraim. Krit as a vet actor also did really well.

Music: 8/10 - Okay, so I actually loved the theme song. It was so out-of-the-box to what I'm use to hearing, but I actually really enjoyed it.

Recommendation Value: 7/10 - I don't think I would recommend this series outside of an EarthMix lover. It's not something I think would garner a need to watch, but if you like comedy, and more so a few scenes with a shirtless Earth, then here you go!

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Starts Well, Ends Anticlimatic

The start of Cosmetic Playlover have me immediately seated and excited to watch. Except, it starts dipping a little starting in the middle and just completely fumbles the ball at the end. I think I would've liked this a lot more with a little more emphasis on the romance and a lot less, "let's add every single disruptive character ever to get in between the leads."

Let's Dive In.

The beginning of this series was excellent, I loved Natsume, mostly cause he gave off shy vibes, and a tad bit of jealously over Toma, his rival, who looks distressingly gorgeous. Their romance starts off almost immediately, but I didn't mind it too much, cause I think the overall vibe of the series is that its going to be fast-pace, also the series is incredibly short, so there's that too. Like I said, the story starts off pretty well, the setup is good, and I like the dynamic between the leads.

The only reason the score is relatively low is because they had about every single problem come about in almost every single episode. We even have somebody come in in the last two episodes to disrupt the leads, and it's so annoying. I think one to two problems was enough, but they dragged the story just to fill time.

Onto the romance, I think they were great. Not anything I'll remember in due time, but I liked them for the majority of this watch. Also, all these kisses were GOOD. This is me being me, but I needed more Taichi in my life, the towering giant cinnamon roll who was blessed with the best genes ever.

Ratings:

Story: 7.5/10 - Intriguing up until the end. Romance is good, characters are interesting. Liked that it was about men in the makeup industry.

Acting: 8/10 - So (Natsume) did a great job! I think Yudai (Toma)'s character was pretty stoic, so not as good, but good enough. Tomoki is beautiful, which isn't about his acting, but I don't care.

Music: 5/10: didn't pay attention to it, but the theme song was kind of annoying.

Recommendation Value: 7.5/10 - sure, if you're in the mood to watch a Japanese BL. Also the kissing is actually really good in this, surprisingly, so if you're shallow like that, then go for it!

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Went from Amazing to Great to Just Good

In the first couple of episodes, I was immediately hooked on the story. Toki, a delinquent falls for his PE teacher who is everything opposite, and it starts the tale of a wild, hilarious, and rather touching romance story. I loved this until I didn't, and for a minute there, I was assuming this might be my top J-BL of the year, but that has now been debunked.

Let's Dive In.

Starting off, I was a little thrown off by the topic of the plot. A high schooler falls for his PE teacher. I had to remember that, one, this is fiction, and two, morals of what's wrong and right are different everywhere, so having that mindset made my watch a little more bearable (but also my fave JBL of all time is Minato's Coin Laundry, and that's exactly what this series is in its own way). But the first episode until maybe the episode where we learn more about Todo and Takuya story is where everything was peaches and plums for me. And then it kind of all goes downhill from there.

I wanted to absolutely adore Toki and Sahara's relationship, but I realized that in the end, I didn't necessarily care for the "development" that we received. They make it seem like Toki helped Sahara discover himself, but that's not at all what I got from the series. If anything, Toki is extremely immature and Sahara falls for him because he's the complete opposite and gives him that breath-of-fresh-air feeling that he needs. Toki, on the other hand, is just so head over heels for this dude that he doesn't stop what he's doing for the better, but only because Sahara wants him to. This is why in the end, their relationship feels too unreasonable, even after Toki graduates.

There are some parts that hit the nail on the comedy, and while this series is heavily overexaggerated, that is probably my favorite part. Rinataro as Toki plays up the dramatics so perfectly in this, it's insane. From his facial expressions to the way he talks, to his body language, I loved all of it. But weirdly, what I think I really enjoyed most out of all the characters were the three girls that kind of followed all the guys around. Super over the top, so annoying, and in a way, I really liked it.

Ratings;

Story: 7/10 - Great until about halfway through. I honestly enjoyed Todo's and Nekoto's storylines, it added some dramatic moments, and it was honestly needed.

Acting: 9.5/10 - fantastic acting, I loved all of it. Takumi is a beautiful man and I need more of him in my life.

Music: 6/10 - didn't pay much attention to it.

Recommendation value: 7.5/10 - I feel like this series still has so much to offer, but at the same time, there's something lacking that I can't quite put my foot on. But nonetheless, Sahara is fine as fuck, so go for it.

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Pavel Was in This, So I was Seated

Boy-oh-boy, what a series. There's so much to unpack that a lot of people have kind of already done, but I'm here to throw in my 2 cents like always. Pit Babe was wild, in so many aspects, but particularly this new subject that's being bought up, and that's omegaverse. While this is a slippery slope for a lot of people, specifically for me, I think this series handled it perfectly without making it too cringe (sort of) or too wolf-ish. Pit Babe had Pavel in it, nonetheless, so of course I was seated.

Let's Dive In.

This was such a huge project that I was so excited for Pavel to be the lead in. I wasn't fond of his Coffee Melody series, so I'm just so glad he was put into something with a beautiful production value, great actors, and a complex story. This series has become huge globally, and I'm so happy he's getting his recognition since the 2 moons disaster.

Okay, so getting away from my pleasantries of Pavel, let's talk more about the series. Starting off, The production value is high. The sets were so perfect, so many different locations, so many different mansions and cars and motorcycles and the whole nine yards. The story is so compacted and flows perfectly, like it's scary how perfect it kind of was. We go from point A to point B with detail and understanding and I know the character's names. I loved it. There were so many astounding plot twists in this that I never knew what was coming next, seriously. The writers did a fantastic job producing this series. They were able to make it story-heavy and BL-heavy without too much or too little of either.

Moving onto the couples, of course, to no one's surprise. Jeff and Alan stole the show. Their build-up, their chemistry, their dynamic, it was like a present being left at my doorstep. Their kind of trope is my favorite; the uke whose stoic and quiet, and the seme whose outgoing and bubbly and kind. They were what kept me watching when Charlie and Babe's relationship got a little complicated, so I appreciated seeing them on my screen. Their NC Scenes were so good, so perfectly sculpted to be individually theirs and so precious how it was handled. Both actors did an amazing job. Moving onto Charlie and Babe, I think it went a little fast for my taste. I'm a slow-burn lover till the day I die, and obviously, this couple is the complete opposite of that. Their dynamic could be fun, until it just wasn't, until it got complex and all over the place. Do I think Charlie and Babe stay together forever? Maybe, but probably not. Their dynamics were a lot for one another, with Charlie being so quick to try and make Babe feel better without thinking of his own feelings, and Babe being needy for something that he can't quite find in Charlie unless he's in his pants. Either way, I liked them in the beginning, I think their story made it hard for me to see them together with all the secrets and lies and such, but it is what it is. Also, their NC scenes were heated for sure, I'm glad they know how to do physical well.

The omega verse shenanigans was kept pretty down-low and wasn't overly thrown into your face (other than a couple of times). I think the mention of male pregnancy was a bit of a nuance if it's not something they were going to parallel in the future. It confuses the watcher (me) and makes them go on a 2-hour spiral on what the hell that even is. But I think everything else was pretty watered down and could be a normal conversation between mlm relationships (yes, even the mama and papa, I've seen it before).

The side characters did really well. I wish North and Sonic's relationship would've been explored further, seeing as they would flirt and mention their overly friendly relationship, but whatever. I think Way and Pete would've been really cute too, and I just really wanted Kenta to end up with someone but oh well.

My real only problem: This series kind of feels a little draggy. There are a few episodes I sped through or kind of skimmed and still got the point of what was going on. I think this could've been 10 episodes max if they took out some unnecessary NC and commentary scenes.

Ratings:

Story: 8.5/10 - Well done! Flowed at a perfect level, had so many different aspects to be excited about, including the relationships.

Acting: 9/10 - Oh Pavel, the man you are. He did an excellent job as Pit, he cried so many times, I know he was exhausted. I think Pooh's acting still has loads of work to go through, but I think he did decent nonetheless. Nut did really well too, and everyone else played a great role.

Music: 6.5/10 - I remember the theme song being kind of annoying. It felt like I was watching the intro to a Power Rangers series.

Recommendation Value: 8/10 - It's a well-put-together series, so I highly recommend watching it. The men in this are insanely hot if that helps too. You'll be a bit spooked by the mention of Alpha and all that, but after the second episode, you get over it.

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Not my Cup of tea

Bad on my part, but this is serving as my first Taiwanese BL of this year that I'm seeing, and luckily, I thought this was good. Not great, personally, because these types of series are just not my cup of tea, but, the men are beautiful, they know how to do physical well, and the acting isn't all that bad either.

Let's Dive In.

I had heard so much hype about this series that I knew I had to hop on the train and see what this was all about. Now, I think generally, a lot of series that portray on a scale of mild to super toxic relationships outshine series that portray healthier ones (for reasons being above my understanding), and I would label the same thing with these characters as well. Homeboy definitely has the case of Stockholm's syndrome -- falling for the person who turned his life into a living hell, This is fictional, so I'll look past the, 'he-needs-therapy-to-get-over-this' mumbo jumbo, Yes, his captor turns out to be a good person, just some ill intentions in the first half. The only thing I think needed a little more time was Zong Yi'a falling for Ze Rui. It feels very out of the blue. One day he hates him, the next he's trying to bake him a cake and confess his undying love, on top of being a minor (geez-la-wheez). it just felt rushed in my opinion, even if Zong Yi needed that companionship or someone to care for him, what we get before he falls just isn't enough. Now moving on to their actual relationship, cute! But again, something about them doesn't work for me, maybe it's because of the age difference, but I'm usually a fan of that, so I don't know what it is about this couple that just doesn't sell me all the way. After about episode 10, I started skipping over their scenes cause I just really could care less.

Moving onto the secondary couple -- again cute, we have a little bit more fun with their dynamic, but again, and this is just for me, I just don't see it working out. One, their brothers, albeit not blood-related, but still they grew up together as siblings. Two, both of them seem too hot-headed and too quick to want to throw a punch or force each other into something. Again, just a very toxic couple that works for other viewers cause they're hot and can kiss (I'll give them that).

As individual characters, I really liked them all. Especially Zong Yi's family dynamic and the things he goes through to save his dad. Along with the cunning friendship between him and Ai Di. The cameos were nice, Wayne does a great job at being a bad guy, and looks great doing it. As I said before, I just don't think this was the series for me because I think too hard about relationships and don't see how they come about or how they'll last, especially when they're built on a rough/toxic path.

Sadly, my favorite part about this series was during the last episode, we see the behind the scenes of the cast and crew, and it just puts a smile on your face regardless of how you feel about the series because it just goes to show all the hard work everyone put behind this series. End credits get me all the time (sigh).

Ratings:

Story: 7.5/10 - Lots of it I skipped through by Episode 10 cause I wasn't really invested in any of the couples and just wanted to see their outcome and quickly. The beginning is nice though, a very intriguing starting point, and then it just kind of wanes for me. Not bad, but not the best.

Acting: 9.5/10 - They could all cry when need be! Great! Zong Yi's actor did the best for sure.

Music: 4/5/10 - Again, not my usual taste in music, so it's kind of loud and a bit hectic sounding. It distracted me so much that I actually paid attention to it.

Recommndation Value: 6.5/10 - I can see the appeal in the series and the reason why it was so hyped around. Great acting and a great story if you're into tropes/plots like this one. Not the first Tawinese BL I'd recommend, maybe the 8th, but these men are beautiful so there's that.

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Confusing Start but Thoughtful Ending

The first episode will have you in shambles, forewarning. I was given the impression that this would be the continuation of season one but it is not. Instead, Love Class Season 2 is the tale of three college couples, all with their own distinct story and conflict. But the only reason this series can't get much higher than the score it has now is because of the ample amount of editing errors that are just so unlike what I've ever seen come out of Korea.

Let's Dive In.

It's unfortunate that the first two episodes are so confusing and don't have a good start-up to the story at all. We're thrown into their stories without even an introduction to their person or who they are or what they do. It gets better by the third episode, by then, I can't remember names, but I can at least figure out who will end up with whom. And the story by the end is actually pretty nice -- it's all wrapped up in a neat bow and given proper resolutions. As well as the plot within the middle being very intriguing, keeping me super enthralled and ready to watch the next episode.

My favorite couple were the cafe cuties, Maru and Minwoo. Kwanghee's (Maru) incredible acting abilities was the reason I was so thrilled with this pairing, so I'm so excited to see that he has a lot of impressive projects lined up for next year. Anyways, I think this pairing worked so well being of their personalities and how they clashed so well together. Maru is super outgoing and bubbly, doing anything he can so that Minwoo won't keep getting bullied by the cafe owner anymore. and Minwoo is just quite the opposite, obedient and to himself, not letting himself share his feelings with Maru until it becomes unbearable. I like that once they get together, it's just that, not some unnecessary conflicts thrown in at the last minute. They're just happy and in love and can kiss (thank god)! And thankfully the friendly female character was able to end up with someone too.

Onto my second favorite couple, the TA and student, Joohyuk and Sungmin. Their story was pretty easygoing and just super sweet. They have a one-night stand that ends with both of them not being able to forget about the other and so they further that relationship by teasing and scheming and some miscommunication, but in the end everything works out. I loved Joohyuk, I loved how he really went for what he wanted and got the TA to fall for him so hard. The moment Joohyuk walked into his office, locked the door, and kissed him leaving without anything else to say?? Oh, I was hooked. Again, once they got together, they were just happy and cutesy and I liked them a lot. Also, Woojae (Sungmin) is gorgeous to look at so that doesn't hurt either.

Not onto my favorite couple that would gotten number one had it not been for the drop in chemistry and the god-awful kissing: An and Hyun. I hate that they ended up being my least favorite couple because they seriously had some great connection and tension build-up from the get-go. Even the flashbacks to when An was Hyun's tutor were so full of tension that I couldn't wait for them to finally get together. And then they do, and it's like all their chemistry drops to the ground. For one, their kiss was so terrible that I don't know how the director approved of it, especially seeing how intense Maru and Minwoo's kissing scenes were. And then they proceeded to kiss maybe 3-4 times after that and it's so gut-wrenching to watch that I just started closing my eyes. That's when their chemistry drops too, and it just feels off and not genuine. For them to also be the main leads, someone should've taught them how to kiss or just not have them kiss at all if it was going to be that bad. On top of that, An's stalker "brother" plot had the worst ending ever. He just suddenly doesn't want to stalk An anymore after years of doing it...? Okay...

Now onto the reason why this series is getting a low overall score from me: the technical/editing errors. I'm not a nit-picky person by any means, but oh my gosh, in each episode there was some type of technical issue that I started just screaming in my room each time I notice it. The amount of times you could see the boom mic had me wanting to reach through the screen and tear it out of the frame. Who edited this? How could you miss something so evident like that? The laziness and sloppiness in this department is embarrassing, and I've never seen this in any series, let alone a Korean series.

Ratings:

Story: 7.5/10 - harsh start, but by the end, it's really good. The main couple weren't as poignant as the side couples, so, you know, that's not good, along with the rushed stalker storyline. And then continuous editing errors threw me off completely. But I loved the side couples a lot, so a 7.5/10 will do.

Acting: 8.5/10 - Kwanghee stole the show! So excited to see him in future projects. everyone else did decent too, but Hyomin and J-min's acting was probably closer to the mediocre line.

Music: 7/10 - wasn't distracting so that's good. Also like how for certain scenes (cough cough, Maru and Miinwoo's beautiful and very crisp-sounding kiss) they didn't play music and let the moment be, which is why I wish that a lot of other series would do the same thing.

Recommendation value: 6/10 - Eh. It's cute and not terrible, but some things are better than others. Wouldn't be the first K-BL I'd recommend, but they're all hot, so why not?

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I Liked It!

Okay, so from first glance, this was not much of a fan favorite, but honestly, and to my surprise I liked this, Now, of course, this was far from perfect, especially in the acting department (I shall touch on this a little later) but I mean, come on -- a tall yummy boss has a slow burn with the cutesy idiot employee -- I can't pass that up. Step by Step is so legit in its title as this is the slowest of slow burns I've witnessed this year, and I loved it with all my heart.

Let's Dive In.

The plot is as basic as it gets -- the meanie boss stumbles upon the clumsy and emotional employee whom he immediately starts to admire. The end. It really is a simplistic plot with some more details on the side like a complicated side couple, a pregnant lady, and a confident fem-gay guy. Now the story flows pretty well until the end when it gets a little draggy. For one, they could've easily ended the series at episode 10 and saved us the sappy saga that was so not necessary. 11 and 12 are easily skippable, stop at episode 10 for your own good.

Now, was one of the reasons why I loved this series so much because of Man (Jeng) and his surreal looks including the body of a fucking god? Yes. It was. And I'll be shallow and say it was my favorite part of the series. but no seriously, I don't know where they found that beautiful man from, but I need more Man and any more that look like him. The way I just grunted so loud when we saw him shirtless for the first time, my goodness. Anyways, onto Jeng and Pat's romance -- I liked it. Was it because it was a slow burn? Of course, I'm a sucker for people slowly realizing they like each other, the little stares, smiles, gestures, silly flirting -- I loved it all. Though, Pat being overwhelmed by finding out Jeng was also gay was so dramatic, the writers must've been desperate for conflict. Imagine finding out that a fucking god-like creature also happens to like the same sex as you do and all you can do is wither and be sad -- tf..? I would've pounced, but maybe that's just me. They're cute -- nothing out of this world or top tier, but I did really enjoy watching their romance.

I don't love the ending of Jen and Jaab, but what we did get was everything to me. That kiss?? Top tier. show-stopping. Immaculate. Talentful. Perfection. For real, that might be the best kiss I've seen from a side couple. the emotion, the silence, the build-up, the slow to desperate -- so good. Of course, it's not good to cheat, but I can't deny a good couple when I see one. But they kind of leave off a little weird. I fast forward through the last episode so maybe Jen and Jaab get back together, but from what I see, it's left pretty open-ended. oh well.

I really loved all the side characters, specifically Bruce's character who stole the show for me. I also just love Bruce and his acting, and he did phenomenal. And Zorzo!! I love her, she did a fantastic job! And Poppy!! God, I love him too (and his body). Ying was kind of the only character that I could've done without in the series, but oh well.

Ratings:

Story: 7.5/10 - Good! Very unnecessary last two episodes, and also just a lot of office jargon that got to be a bit boring. But I loved the slow burn, I loved the side couples, and overall, I enjoyed the plot.

Acting: 7/10 - Okay so, Man is also beautiful and can act! He did a great job playing this boss role. Now for Ben -- eh. He wasn't terrible, him acting happy and goofy and playful was good, but being sad or crying was not his strong suit. The secondhand embarrassment I got from him crying so hard and yet not a tear escaped hurt. They could've at least given the dude some eye drops to sell it more, but there he was boohooing and not a tear in sight.

Music:6/10: I didn't pay much attention to it.

Recommendation value: 7/10 - I liked it, I would recommend it for many reasons, with one obviously being for Jeng's sake. I mean who would want to watch him on their scene being sexy and amazing and wonderful?

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Surprise Little Gem in the K-BL Sea

Immediately, I thought that I wasn't going to like this. Looking at the MDL overall rating (which I don't pay much attention to, but still, it was pretty low), browsing through the comments briefly, and seeing some of my fave MDL accounts rating it pretty low -- like, I knew what was coming. But out of the blue, I find myself enjoying every little bit of this short series, beginning to end, which is definitely not like me.

Let's Dive In.

For a fat minute, I thought this was some kind of sequel to "Happy Ending Romance" but it's not, just coincidentally they have very similar title names. but anyways, the first episode swept me off my feet, and it's very rare that a series does that for me. It's alike many series I've seen before, but at the same time is something different entirely. I love that they first met and fell in love at a wedding venue, I love that this series dips into mental health struggles, I loved a lot of things about this series.

I think I can make the same argument that I always do with K-BLs which is that this series is severely too short to have played everything out perfectly. We still have a lot of things unanswered, and the romance is slightly abrupt, but I don't mind only because I loved these two. Their chemistry was off the charts. And the kissing?! Being more than decent?! Them kissing each other back?! I nearly fell out of my chair.

Again, I wanted more on Seungjun's mental health and how he's working towards helping himself. We obviously know that his best friend ended up having some sort of feelings for him, so I would've loved to see more of that too. If this series was longer and added maybe 4-5 more episodes, it would've been perfect.

Rating:

Story; 8/10 - Fun! Well, not all parts, but everything was good! It kept my interest and I'm happy with how everything turned out. Again, things are just rushed due to timing.

Acting: 9/10 - Amazing! Especially our main character who plays a very bottled-up person who has so much to deal with from his past. Sungtae (Jaehyun) is such a cutie and plays a perfect boyfriend.

Music - 8.5/10 - Good! Surprisingly I loved it!

Recommendation Value: 9/10 - It's short and an easy watch, along with being pretty good with the allotted time they had. Chemistry is great, skinship is even better. Give this one a watch for sure!

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KBL Ruined by Lazy Writing

Oh! My Assistant has one of the strongest starts to a K-BL that I've ever seen. Budget-wise, story-wise, production-wise. Everything was great. Finally, a K-BL that's labeled rom-com and I'm actually laughing. The first two episodes had me on my ass laughing, having to pause and replay just so I could laugh again. And I wasn't laughing because it's cringey, I mean I was genuinely laughing because the scenes were set up so perfectly for a comedic moment. And then suddenly, out of nowhere, a buzzkill tsunami hits, and everything is flooding in forced lack of communication and pitiful conflict.

Let's Dive In.

Like usual, I judged a book by its cover, its terribly edited, cheap-looking cover. If someone gave me 30 minutes and two shots of tequila, I could've come up with something 10 times better, I'm sure. So I went in thinking the budget was going to be lower than I'm used to, but to my surprise, and in less than 10 seconds into the series, the settings and the shots we're seeing are gorgeous. And I understand where they were trying to get at, with the series mimicking the setup of a manwha, but it just doesn't work for me. Anyways, I went in thinking this wasn't going to be very good, but then I turned out to be pleasantly surprised and fell in love with the first two episodes. The perfect balance of plot setup and comedy, the sorting of feelings and character structure on point. And then it's completely ruined when the writers run out of creativity and decide they will do the laziest writing ever and just have Muyeong and Seonho have terrible communication skills and numerous misunderstandings.

Tell me Muyeong, why would Seonho confess to liking you if he were in a relationship with Minyeong? And if that was your consensus, why not -- I don't know -- ask? It was incredibly infuriating, along with the pretend boyfriend, and the half confessions before the actual confession -- urgh.

I believed Muyeong and Seonho's chemistry in the beginning, but like most K-BL, they show a teensy amount of physicalness, and it's ruined. Their kissing, their hugs, all of it, negative ten out of ten. Then after that, it's just completely unbelievable that these two humans like each other. But also, Chanbin's (Muyeong) acting seems to get worse episode by episode. He's a beautiful human, amazing lips, gorgeous eyes, his height's everything -- but that's about all he has.

But besides the bad, like I said the comedy in this is handled perfectly. the settings are gorgeous, and so is the color palette they use and even the music, which I rarely pay attention to, but was pleasantly surprised by it.

Ratings:

Story: 6/10 - It's so good at the beginning, but it collapses into itself and the lazy writing ruins the series. I sped through the last three episodes full of incredibly agonizing conflict that isn't real, genuine conflict. But besides that, and the comedy, I actually liked the side story that was going on with Muyeong's friend. Part of me wanted them to get together, just because they've been through so much life together, and I'm a sucker for friends to lovers.

Acting - 8/10: I think everybody's acting was great, the only person's acting that struggled was Chanbin's. It might've been the writing, but he had one emotion and an impeccable smile every now and then and that's it.

Music - 8/10: I liked it! for once I made sure to pay attention not it.

Recommendation value: 5.5/10 - I'm sad I'm giving this such a low score, cause I really did like this in the beginning, and the rest of the series wasn't so bad to the point that I didn't at least enjoy it a little bit, but if you're asking for my recommendation, there are just so many other K-BLs out there that do it better. But if you want something short, cute, and funny, I might recommend this one.

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Decent

Nothing spectacular, nothing disappointing. Amerio Paradox was simply just a series that existed. It's one of those series that will be quickly forgotten about once I move on to the next BL. However, it did bring on a fun little twist, some pretty complex characters, and a somewhat fresh storyline.

Let's Dive In.

This was my first BL that followed along with journalism and the life of being a paparazzi. It's fun to see the aspects of how being in such a career works, the ins and outs, the ups and downs. I like that Kaburagi has a specific way in which he likes to handle his news rather than other people. I respect this art and craft cause it's obviously not easy knowing that you could be the reason for destroying a person's life.

Moving on from that, the romance between the main pairing is just okay. Kaburagi can be too stoic at times, and Onoe sometimes looks like he doesn't like Kaburagi at all, even when it's revealed he does. They have good moments, and then other moments are pretty dead. This is why I'm 50/50 with this pairing because I liked them, except they barely brought on anything new for me to really like them.

I liked the story more than the romance. I was more intrigued with Jiro (I think that was the guy's name) and his character arc which was pretty complex for a supporting role.

Ratings:

Story: 7/10 - It was fun! like I said, I like the story more than the actual romance, so I'll take off a few stars since the romance should be more important, but it barely delivers.

Acting: 8/10 - Good! Kaburagi was a little stoic, but that was more of a character choice than the acting.

Music: 6/10 - I didn't pay attention to it so it wasn't distracting. Good.

Recommendation Value: 5/10 - Ehh, watch it, don't watch it, it's up to you. It's nothing spectacular, it's okay, a decent watch, but there are better J-BLs out there. This falls into the same category as other J-BLs I've watched - decent, but pretty forgetful.

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Fluffy First Love Story

I finished this way long ago, but I'm so busy that I just haven't found the time to write a review, but here I am! My School President was the perfect mix of fun, silly, serious, and enjoyable. We had some very lovely actors in this series that have made this so much fucking fun to watch. Here's to the start of a lovely new pairing *clinks wine glasses*!

My School President has about the most basic plot ever; some high schools are creating a band and falling in love, the end. But really what makes this series so great is because of the actors and the script. I've also missed watching these kinds of stories, especially between high schoolers and them falling in love for the first time. It's so new and perfect and brilliant and Gemini and Forth do such a good job at portraying such a simplistic, yet deep emotion.

Honestly, there's not much else to say, the story is just that good. The entire cast and crew were able to put together a series that is rather basic, but they make it thrilling and entertaining. I still am not a huge fan of the singing and such, so I kind of skipped through all of that, but besides that, this series is nearly perfect.

Ratings:

Story: 8.5/10: Again, it's a simple story, but it's depicted in the best way possible. That's due to a really good cast, and some even better directing.

Acting: 9/10: Forth and Gemini did a fantastic job, I literally can't wait to see them in future projects! The same goes for the rest of the cast, everyone contributed to this series being one of GMMTV's top 10's in my book.

Music: 8/10 - the singing that I did sit through was good (it's just that I don't like it in series), so because of that, I'll give it a pretty high score.

Recommendation Value: 8/10 - It's the perfect first BL to get into for anyone interested in starting. It's also very lighthearted (for the most part) and gentle to watch. I won't recommend it for anyone wanting some deep story, but if you're just looking for something fun to watch, then this is it!

GMMTV did right by having MSP be the starter of BLs for 2023. Now they've set a bar and I hope the rest of what's coming out this year doesn't disappoint.

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Good, But Too Long to Binge

This was a really good series with some really good (and pretty) actors with some good story (aside from the talking furniture..). This is one of those series that you have to watch while it's airing because it's incredibly too long to binge. Had I watched this during its airing, then I think I would've appreciated this series more, but most of the time, I was ready for it to be over.

Let's Dive In.

TMOTB is another wacky plot about a human falling in love with -- a tangible object -- a teddy bear-turn-human. This concept was way beyond me, I was sure it wasn't going to be good, but -- in reality, it's actually really well thought out, and with In's (Tofu's) acting, it's believable that he's a human who knows nothing about basic human things (until later in the series). It also worked out for them because they didn't just have him be some teddy bear, he was a bear in a human's body who had bad implications for Nut and an even sadder tale for Song and his father. Like it's really good.

I shipped Tathan and Nut as soon as we get a glimpse into Nut's backstory. I love first-love stories. And Tathan was such a genuine person, with even more genuine intentions. Their kiss was -- incredible. I'm glad they're end game, which is why my score for this series is a bit higher because I would've been upset had Nut and Tofu stayed together. He's a teddy bear, it just wasn't going to work (for obvious reasons)

I think Tofu and Nut were cute, but something in me didn't care much for them. His death was sad, just because seeing Nut so distraught was hard (Job's acting is superb). But in the end, I couldn't be happier about the ending. he's still there (just in tangible object mode) and Nut still gets to be happy with his first love (who is played by Judo who's the prettiest man I've ever seen and I can't wait for his series with Fluke from UWMA).

I also mostly watched because the guy with the glasses was so freaking cute, playing alongside Tee (Song). They were a good addition to the show, and I liked how their plot played along.

I won't lie though, I skipped through a lot of TMOTB, like a lot. So the mother's plot is a little wonky for me, along with the girl with the curly hair (who seems to have a crush on a woman by the end). But I get the gist of most of the other plots, so it's fine. But this was just really really long. They could've cut out a lot to keep it mid-length (and given the rest of the time to Korea/Japan). So most of the episodes past episode 8 were lightly skimmed through.

Ratings:

Story: 8/10 - It's complex, it's deep, it has a nice flow, and all conflicts are resolved. It's good, but it's just too much and too long.

Acting: 9/10 - Job can ACT for real. In was good too, but I think Job just surpasses what he has. The others do an excellent job too.

Music: 6/10 - I didn't pay attention to it, but it wasn't distracting so good!

Recommendation Value: 5.5/10 - I would've recommended this higher had it been airing, but I can only slightly recommend this while it's over because it's a lot to sit through. Unless you're patient and can watch an episode per day, then go for it, but I like to finish a series (when I'm binging) in at least less than a week. But the story is good, it's compelling and it was an okay watch (only okay because, again, it's too long).

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Color RUSHED...

There was no point in this series. Like none. It resolved one singular conflict that was unresolved in the first season and decided that nothing else was important.

Let's Dive In.

I liked the introduction to Hyuk's character (Sehyun). He didn't feel like a one-dimensional character coming into this story to do presumably nothing, but he had a motive and fell in well with the crowd. I was surprised to see that they were going to give Yeonwoo a new love interest, but (technically) he's not, more so a guy Yeonwoo might have feelings for, but it's not explored with at all (instead, we're given what looks like the real thing, but it was just a daydream).

The mother conflict was resolved from the previous season (whoot, whoot), which was my problem with it in the first place. But the resolution is so anticlimax and -- rushed. Same with how they find out about Sehyun's sister and who "killed" her. I'm still trying to figure out how they both were sitting in the facility bloody and hurt and then all of a sudden they wake up in the hospital with Yeonwoo's aunt and she's explaining everything was handled. ...huh? Okay then.

The punching and fight scenes were so bad I had to pause and just compose myself.

The editing wasn't all that good either, as it seemed their budget has lower than last season.

Ratings:

Story: 5/10 - was too rushed and all the conflicts were resolved in anticlimax ways.

Acting: 8.5/10 - It was good. Just like last season's was.

Music: 6/10 - I didn't pay attention to it, so at least it wasn't distracting.

Recommendation Value: 4/10 - Season 1 was enough, There was really no point to this other than resolving the conflict with the mother missing. If you just have to know what happens, then do watch. Otherwise, don't bother.

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