Imperfectly enjoyable

Not everything has to be top notch for you to enjoy a viewing experience. It wasn’t a perfect watch and nothing about this was truly unique or outstandingly mind-blowing, from the premise to the acting to its characters, but I have to say that this show felt unique to me from the get go. I’m can’t pinpoint it, though it may be that I’m still pretty new to BLs and Asian dramas in general, so it could be that this being more focused on a openly complicated plot, it having THAT much steam and romance not being the star of the show surprised me when compared to the other stuff that I’ve seen so far. But mostly, I felt like the people behind it had clear intentions and ideas going in, in ways making me think that, while wanting to try something new, they still didn’t do shit without a clear motive behind every shot or line of dialogue. It’s extremely admirable to me and I can honestly say there wasn’t a single second in this where I felt bored watching it. Of course this doesn’t mean that they were actually successful in making the product I KNOW they wanted to make. I do think there are a few issues that they need to fix going in into the sequel to make up for a confusing start. Before naming a few of them, I just want to be clear that by “confusing” I don’t necessarily mean the mystery behind the plot, and that I’m only critiquing the show out of genuine passion and excitement for what’s to come. What’s confusing to me is the script. I can see the ideas, I can see the potential, but then maybe the inexperience or the fact that they wouldn’t/couldn’t make this a couple more episodes long, there were moments where a scene would feel incohesive with the the previous or the next, as if they had to skip some content for them to be able to cram everything in an 8-hour long product. Mind you, I finished the last episode without feeling like I just wasted my time, so I’m sure they did the best they could with what they had. But then again, if the writing was somehow better, it would have benefited everything in here, especially with the characters. The main characters had some pretty fucked up things happening to them both in their backstories and their present, but with it being so plot-heavy and the writing having to make sure they didn’t leave anything important out, the character development itself suffered. Which leaves me feeling like they HAVE developed, but unfortunately I don’t get to see it in a satisfying way. That also means that, if the writing isn’t completely there, then the acting performance also suffers. The only case I felt where a character had a pretty much good arc is Korn, which felt pretty linear. The script did help the actor immensely with a pretty straightforward arc for him, and Bas is already a talent on his own, probably the best one out of the cast if I only have to judge from what you see in this series. That can partially be said for the actor and character of Ton Kla as well. I also KNOW Jes and Bible to be very good and expressive actors, and I did enjoy their performances, but unfortunately scenes weren’t written for them to shine and show their acting abilities.

In conclusion, yes, in a way this does feel like kind of a missed opportunity and there’s definitely some big room for improvement. But at the same time, this had remarkable photography, a pretty thrilling pacing, interesting ideas left and right and I had the best time watching, trying to guess all the possibilities and ways they story could go. I know it looks like I’m kinda bashing it, but I assure you, bullying is how I flirt. And I flirted a LOT with this BL. DEFINITELY worth a watch.

(EDIT: also, someone just reminded of the insane amount of ISDIN ads that were thrown left and right, it really did send me through the roof every time the camera sat for a few seconds on a bottle of sunscreen 😭though on a serious note, it surely aligns with my idea that unfortunately the people behind it needed the funding, so good on them if that helped with the production side of things!)

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watch it and sob

Allergies. I’m not crying, you’re crying!

(Not the most original story but it managed to have its own identity in such a short span of minutes. It’s sad that it’s this sad, but at least I knew that going in. I could see this developed into a full picture or a miniseries, though that would be the devil’s work ‘cause imagine a full hour or MULTIPLE HOURS of enduring the pain of just knowing. Don’t anyone there! Let it rest.

Anywho, I was testing this to see if Bible and Jes were good together and it totally managed ti convince me to go watch 4 Minutes now, so that’s about what I’m gonna do now!

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An incredibly good run that stumbles on its final steps

I’ll preface this review saying that you probably want to watch this series. I know people are usually turned off when they read that a show doesn’t deliver on the ending, but the truth is you can perfectly enjoy a trip even if the destination isn’t exactly the one you want. So don’t be afraid to give this one a try!

Now to the POSITIVES. I think that the premise of this BL is the cutest thing ever and reminded of a brazialian short-then-turned-into-a-movie called Eu não quero voltar sozinho, which was also very endearing. As per usual, I think it’s really rare to find truly good acting in the BL world and this is really
no exception to that rule, but do be aware that I’m quite demanding on that front and all the actors here did a pretty good job. Honorable mention to Mark in the role of Night, who I believe has the potential to be an astounding actor. He truly stole the show quite a few times, even though his character was secondary, and what I think helped is that his character was probably written the best among all of the cast. Jimmy, while not having the finest skills in terms of acting, also did a pretty good job and managed to portray Mhok in what I find to be quite a genuine way: emotional, witty, walking this fine line between macho and maturely silly but still believable. All the supporting cast was convincing and that makes the viewing experience worth in and of itself. Pretty sweet romance and and, all in all, an enjoyable story!

So what exactly went wrong? The WRITING. More specifically, the fact that I believe the scriptwriters were too confident in their skills and at some point decided they wanted to overkill it. Up until episode 8-9, maybe 10, I was still quite on board and thought the plot to be solid, even though they did take some unnecessary detours along the way. Like, let’s not kid ourselves: did the heart of this story really need more than 12 hours? I’m inclined to say no. Personally, I’m a big advocate of short and sweet and usually dislike longer narratives since they tend to have fillers and usually end up being a little bit messy, which is exactly what happened in a few instances with this show. There were times where I was ready for Mhok and Day’s story to end, and I was only at episode… six? I really can’t believe they truly needed 12 one-hour episodes, and what probably happened is that that’s what the producers told them they had to do on some business grounds, which I can get behind if done well. Soap operas can be enjoyable, too! But I guess if you binge them, then it becomes a bit repetitive and tiring and you want a change of tune. The danger with doing too much is that, in the end, it’s the characters themselves that suffer these “external needs” for the runtime to be longer, and that’s what happened in the final episodes. The whole thing with Mhok dealing with the dilemma of maybe going to work abroad or staying put because he’s in a relationship was badly handled in my opinion, mainly by the character of Day himself. I understand that, in his situation, I’d be upset too if I felt like my boyfriend was giving up on an opportunity because of me, but to infer that Mhok was refusing so go because he felt pity for him was actually distasteful, ‘cause that’s not it at all. I can understand that he’s young and pretty much a rich spoiled kid, so of course he’d handle a few issues immaturely, but I don’t know, that kind of behavior and lack of understanding of why Mhok was so afraid of leaving, also considering the sensitive topic of the trauma he has from his sister committing suicide, it kinda pissed me off that he reacted that way. I have this love-hate relationship with Day’s character, where I do understand he’s living in pretty awful circumstances, but there were instances where he was acting on such selfish and self-absorbed basis that I just found him childish. That’s confirmed by the way he treated his own brother, whom he did have good reason to resent, but again, he lacked the maturity to recognize that the accident was… well, an accident, and by that time he forgave him conveniently only when Night was helping him in a big way, even going against his mother and lying to her to protect him. I know, it seems like I’m speeding on my hate-wagon for Day, but I swear that I’m blaming this on the writing and not on the character itself, which I’m sure would have been lovely if they had given him a little bit more thought. Choosing to give him his sight back in the final episodes almost completely ruins the whole message and effort of the story in my opinion, but in the end I’m glad to have watched it knowing that, even when you lose something, you always find something back eventually.

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If the ocean was a show, it would be this

The more I think about it, the more I’m convinced it’s deserving a top spot in my personal favorites. I kind of agree with some users in calling out the “weight” of the story, which is quite simple, but I cannot stress enough how simplicity can and is a good thing when done right. There’s so much happening under the surface here and it’s all carried through with an incredibly expressive cast, all graced with such a natural gift for acting out the little moments. I felt like as a watcher I just jumped on a ship and navigated through the waves of every episode. LOVED how slow paced it was and how they took their time with what they felt was important to serve their characters. Definitely a more mature approach to the BL world. Thank you, South Korea, you’re raising the bar for everyone else!

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Tales of the City meets Queer as Folk

I felt inexplicably nostalgic watching this show. It was hilarious and it was painful and had me staring at the credits with a pit in my stomach and it was definitely imperfect. In fact, there’s bunch of things I wish were done differently, but guess what? That’s how most of us can feel about our own lives and it rubs us the wrong way when fiction doesn’t go the romantic way, the perfectly cohesive and sensible way, when it leaves us with uncertainty and unfinished business. I’d love a second season to wrap up a bunch of incomplete storylines, but in the back of my mind I’m kinda hoping this right here is all there is to it. It’s a strange feeling ‘cause I know I’d like to see more of the characters, though at the same time I feel like I’ve seen enough to say mission accomplished, they got their point across. Whatever doubts I have left, the biggest accomplishment for me here is that I saw people getting through life for 8 episodes and that it felt utterly real to me. The lines of dialogue were amazing, the cinematography was amazing, the acting was amazing, the representation was amazing. It was NOT perfect, but it WAS amazing. Probably one of the best things I’ve seen this year, not only in the BL side of cinema, but even among the western media. This, Imaginal Disk and The Substance made 2024 for me. Hoping to see more projects from this team in the future!

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