Reviews

Hopeful Bond Against the Dark Odds

“It bothers me when one out of every seven of us is missing. I don’t know why, but I just don’t like it. I hope we can be all together. When we are all together, I don’t even think about wanting to die.”

This drama is an adaptation of BU and I'm glad it's really good. Despite some changes, they did an excellent job on the build up between the characters and their relationships, along with the actors' portrayal and chemistry. From the awkward first meetings to building trust with each other and getting closer together. I love watching their friendship and brotherhood despite their different backgrounds and problems. They unite to become each others' ray of light amidst the struggles they faced during the darkness of their separate lives. This drama is so heartwarming with the precious found family trope. But at the same time, the dark themes about their childhood traumas and family secrets are so emotional and intriguing.

This drama is so meaningful and deep while tackling various social issues about dysfunctional family, mental illness, discrimination, poverty, politics, education and more. The mystery regarding the past of their parents and connection to the principal shows how generational trauma starts and their children bearing the pain of their mistakes. Innocent teenagers are forced to suffer due to the evil adults that comes from each of their different environments. This drama is a reflection of reality that conveys important messages while providing consolation and angst to the youth who are beginning to face the world.

From the original BU storyline, this drama acts like a prequel that introduces the 7 protagonists while adding more details about their backgrounds and families. Eventually, this drama left with an open ending where the fantasy aspect of time travel only begins at the end. Hwan, the oldest of the group, carries the weight of responsibilities and guilt, so he goes back in time to save all his friends and prevent them from their tragic fates. He sacrifices himself while being stuck in time loops. This leads to suspicions and demands for Season 2. There's no official confirmation yet, but I hope they really make it happen so the boys' stories can continue.

Leia Mais

About "good" partners in various senses. A pleasantly vivid and complex, well-rounded story.

“Good Partner” is about lawyer and divorce cases, while radiating quite some ´work life in Seoul´ feeling. The main focus obviously is on divorce and everything that comes with it. In South Korea so far, divorce has been an issue ´non grata´ sort of. But it has become quite hot recently. Being able to deliberately elaborating this topic in a KDrama is due to exploding divorce rates. Even the older generation is increasingly daring to take measures by leaving the unhappy marriage behind and finally daring to make a new start. Of course, separation is never easy and becomes even more complicated as children are involved. “Good Partner” tackles the hot topic fearlessly. Additionally, some still questionable legal issues surrounding divorce are mercilessly brought to light, as are the notorious cheaters and the tragic, far too frequent cases of misogynistic, domestic violence.

“Good Partner” also deals with the rigid chains of command, often enough turning lawyers in large law firms into mere underlings. On the other hand, the KDrama also confronts the question of the right dose of sense of morality, distance or even abstinence one should/must/may/want to emotionally attach to the cases. Furthermore, "Good Partner" also confronts the closed-meshed career culture in everyday office life, where employees can quickly lose themselves while living up to expectations. Work-Life-Balance ist still a fairly new concept. And last but not least, a critical swipe at the unfairly privileged “elite” (= “we have special status and are allowed to do everything”) should not be missing, too.

Embedded in the office world of the two protagonists, quite a lot of contemporary burning issues that currently concern and shape the lives of many people i.e. in South Korea, especially in Seoul, are carefully considered and illuminated from different sides. In doing so, the KDrama is opening up new space for contemporary approaches towards dealing with well-known life issues. A pleasantly vivid and complex, well-rounded story.

“Good Partner” feels like it gets better with each episode. This is also due to the development of the protagonists as they sincerely face their personal concepts and convictions again and again in the context of their cases (not least thanks to Han Yu Ri's untiring sense of morality)... Thus, in the long run, the KDrama is about "good" partners in various senses, not only when it comes to the female leads. However, together those two are creating a pleasant breeze of sisterhood, one that feels particularly good in the midst of a predominantly patriarchal world.

All of this makes “Good Partner” a deserved success. TV audience in the country more than doubled over the course of the 16 episodes. Understandably so. I can definitely recommend this series.





PS:
PLEASE do yourself a favor and give episode “0” a wide berth!!
It's a complete aberration and has nothing to do with the actual KDrama, except that someone apparently got bored during the temporary broadcast break during the 2024 Summer Olympics... You can definitely ignore that one, believe me.

Leia Mais

I was really hesitant to watch this after reading some of the reviews but after powering through so many episodes I can completely understand why some people gave it a high and why others gave it a low review. The series starts out somewhere upbeat and really entertaining. The banter between the two leads will be just enough to get you hooked. Our male lead is somewhat devious in a pleasant sort of way and the female lead is head strong, brave and tough. Of course you get to enjoy all of this banter between many scenes of politics and plotting.

The synopsis has already revealed that a female lead lost her family and was seeking revenge or justice. This plot of hers is how our leads cross paths. Initially you will find their banter really cute and you get the feeling that this is only going to get better and better. I honestly had a hard time figuring out our mail lead. This man did an amazing job portraying a strong person, a smart person, a weak person and a cunning person. His facial expressions were second to none.

What I liked about the series is that it is a historical film and I really do enjoy watching historical fans and if you manage to tie in a little bit of romance that is just a big bonus for me. I am truly not a fan of political plotting however the relationships of the royal family was so unique that you really somewhat hope that everything worked out fine. For me I found it somewhat odd that I actually like the villain. Not because they were feelings but because of the scene they were in with their brother and father and even their nephew at times were quite hilarious. This is rare that you get to see our villainess people in a somewhat comical yet plotting manner.

Now for the hard stuff. What I did not like about the series was that thing that hooked me in somehow died off. That’s right it was completely eliminated. That banter between our two leads that was funny and get you wrapped up for more of their entertainment died when or female lead entered the palace. Our feisty, brave, outspoken and tough female lead turned into a submissive palace person. It was a complete 360° change. I am really not exaggerating. It was just like she made a decision and that decision meant she was humble submissive and whatever else you want to call a person that don’t talk unless spoken to. That most certainly ruined it for me because her personality and our male lead personalities were on fire to begin with but because her personality change it just turned bland..
In addition to this, watching the beginning of the series you would naturally assume that there was gonna be this great love, great chemistry but oh was I wrong. There was no amazing love. There was no amazing romance. There was no amazing chemistry. There was no amazing anything about the relationship between the leads. It was just awful. She essentially turned into just another person that is obedient to the emperor and it was no longer fun to watch. After a major turn of events, I don’t want to spoil anything, our smart cunning and strong male leave turns into someone who does not handle pressure well. It was so conflicting and confusing at the same time.

If you’re into historical films and politics you’ll like this one. If you’re into historical romance I would advise you not to cheat yourself because you won’t get it here. This is 62 episodes of politics and plotting. Don’t go looking for love in this place. It ain’t here. Lol.
90% politics
10% palace/harem/romance

The acting was good in the first 22 episodes and it was entertaining. Anything after the 22 episodes was just a blur for me. A blur of going to war and plotting. Not exaggerating.

Leia Mais

Psychopath Diary was a drama I thought wasn't for me. The plot didn't sound like something I would really enjoy; crime-thrillers aren’t often very high on my lists. However, I tried it out for Yoon Shi Yoon and it captivated me and amused me from the very first episode.

This drama surprised me so much. The story is just as crazy as it sounds, memory loss isn't anything new in kdramas and often I shudder when I hear the words amnesia being used to advance the plot, but the story is told in such a amusing, cleaver and sincere sort of way that you can't help but be hooked by it. The show always seemed to be very aware of itself and what it was trying to do and just very comfortable with its absurdity.

The tone of the story is rather slice of life some places, but achieves those more dramatic moments when it needs to, humor is on the black side and takes advantage of how ridiculous everything is around what I appreciated and it always managed to blend it, thrill and more the mundane story of the characters we meet along the way.

I didn’t feel like the drama thread a lot of new ways with some of the tropes it used, or dives too deeply into them. It more so just has a lot of fun with them. There is a very nice balance between the comedy, the absurd and then the more thriller aspect of the show, which makes it stand out. It makes Psychopath Diary become unlike other kdramas I have seen before.

I expected the more serious side of the show to take over at some point, for the comedy to sort of step aside as the story got bleaker. But the story always seems to flow well between those different genres the show has all mixed up in there. It had a rhythm going on. There is always some twist to every aspect of the story, and the comedy interrupts the tension a lot of the time and vice versa. There was such a nice mix going on there, one that I didn’t think would work as well as they did. It never gets too tired.

They never make you guess too much, not even with who the real psychopath is; that makes us just in on the joke. You have a hunch about where this is going, but still the drama is so cleverly absurd that you do have a hard time guessing what will happen next. And the drama makes great use of it.

In Woo also always managed to be one step ahead of the other characters, and while it did feel a bit repetitive (and very annoying towards the end, but in a good way), that I still found myself very enthralled and excited about each new episode. In Woo is a killer I could really enjoy. He's just evil, no trauma or explanation needed, and it’s just great to watch. It worked out well for the story and you somehow never knew what he would do next.

Sometimes he seems a little too cartoonish as the bad guy, smirking and laughing in the background. But it felt so intentional and in the spirit of the humor within the show, that it sorts of works.

Sometimes the comedy goes a bit overboard, and sometimes you can sense when the switch between the tension, the more dramatic points, and the more comedic aspects of the shows (like when the twists are revealed) but it is always so very entertaining and just a very fun ride throughout. I was expecting it loose steam at some point, for the plot to become way to ridiculous, but it just went full steam ahead and just made this crazy plot its own.

There is very little romance here. I was expecting more, but I was very happy with how little we got. There was plenty else to do within the story already and adding romance on top of that would have been too much. We just got more solid character interactions and different relationship development instead. There was definite fondness, possible attraction between Dong Sik and Shim Bo Kyung. But there weren’t much more than a few longing eye-contacts and so on between them

I liked Bo Kyung, our female heroine, as a character. She was always very consistent with herself, rather sensible and smart and always went after what she thought was right. Her character was never set aside as the story went along, people listened to her, she was valued, and she had real impact on the story. So often female cops on these shows are just there running along with the men and just there to get into dangers. Not here.

Dong Sik who goes from being a pushover to someone who learns to stand up for himself, , and over the story does a good job with presenting the characters to us so we can understand them, and get behind their actions and why they did things the way they did them; despite the absurdity that is prevalent all around them. Yoon Shi Yoon plays Dong Sik so well. He is so good in this role and he gets to show all his aspects as an actor here. All the actors here are very good in their roles.

Leia Mais

Everyone is a walking meme

I've been waiting for this for a while, mainly cause of FL and also cause I wanted the haters comments to blow up in their faces. And I'm glad it did!! I had expections and I was not let down. From the comedy, to the acting and the production quality everything was satisfactory. Expect for the controversy regarding the Japanese clothing.

The chemistry between the couples were good like even the secondary couples made me root for them. Would have liked more romance tho. Most of the characters being a shipper for the main couple. I like how no one is necessarily the villian, regarding the FL father, I genuinely thought he was downright evil but his relationship with the FL mother and main leads was so cute to watch. It's definitely not a serious show, the dialogue is witty which makes it a easy watch. I died laughing a couple of times.

The characters actually got some decent character growth, the FL started as a lovestruck girl and was oblivious to anything except the ML but she learnt to hold her ground with issues she cared about. Her smile and laugh is so infectious. I love how the ML fell for her without even realising, and he fell hard. The way he winks just cracks me up.

The OST is good and catchy, caught myself humming it a couple of times.

Leia Mais

When a remake does what the original couldn’t

The Korean remake was much better than the Thai original, at least in my opinion. While there are many differences between the plots, I found this one much more interesting and enjoyable to watch. The original dragged on forever, there were too many couples and no logical continuous story. Korean remake of the series had a much better structure and story development, it also only focused on the main two couples which gave the two relationships time to develop. I also found the two couples in this drama much more interesting.

I think the visuals and the aesthetics are very nice. I really enjoyed the locations as well. I liked the change from engineering students to something a bit more artistic, I think it fit the whole overall vibe of the drama better. I do believe it has a lot to do with the cultural differences between the two countries, but I don’t know enough about that to actually say anything. I still think it was a smart move.

I think the pacing was not the best in certain parts, and scene cuts and changes were not the best at times. But I didn’t find that too bothersome.

Kim Ji Oh & Jung Lee Won: I absolutely loved them! I might be in the minority, but I actually really liked their bickering. I find it cute and funny, it’s not obnoxious or feeling awkward. Kim Ji Oh was obviously the first to realize he is enamored with the other boy. Jung Lee Won was just as in love but was living in denial. I mean, who would want to admit that their sibling was right about something? No one. Jung Lee Won’s reactions whenever something happened that was similar to what his sister wrote were everything! I think the two actors had great chemistry. I loved seeing the two on screen together, either being cute and adorable or bickering and annoying each other.

Ko Yoo Kyeom & Woo Sun Woo: I found the two cute. It was very obvious that Ko Yoo Kyeom was struggling with his feelings. He wasn’t sure how to act around Woo Sun Woo, but he knew he wanted him close. Ko Yoo Kyeom remembered a lot of little details about him. And don’t get me started on him wanting him for his project. Woo Sun Woo didn’t seem to struggle that much, but he still felt very guilty about possibly taking his friend’s boyfriend. I liked the slow progress between the two of them. The chemistry between the two actors was really good too. The longing glances and soft looks. How sweet!

I liked the side characters too. We didn’t really see that much of them, but what we did, fit well within the whole plot. Woo Sun Woo’s relationship with his sister was so adorable! I was really enjoying their interactions. Very typical siblings stuff, I assure you. The friend group was fun too, even the acting teacher!

Leia Mais

A very easily enjoyable, light-hearted show with classic romance-comedy tropes that ended up unconsciously becoming addictive to watch and hard to stop (especially at the end of Season 1...) (*trying my best to be objective in this review*)

While Master Devil uses many familiar romcom tropes reminiscent of Itazura na Kiss and Hana Yori Dango (amongst others), the show stands out well in being a GOOD well-written romcom WITHOUT all the unnecessary angst, frustration over stupid/extreme characters or developments, and exaggerated/pointless drama.

The plot is well-balanced and well-written in being reasonable in its developments, while staying true to the classic tropes of romcoms. There is not only a good balance of romantic development between the leads, but also ample time given for the female lead Chu Xia to independently develop her own story arcs and interactions with other characters without the male lead.

The plot is written in a more realistic way for instance, such that it is NOT a girl-against-the-whole-world trope like the desperation felt in Hana Yori Dango. Similarly, the characters are also written quite distinctively and developed in a reasonable way. Contrary to the title, male lead Qi Lu really isn't an ass at all, even if he may be unfriendly. Many of the supporting characters are really nice, and even the antagonists themselves aren't completely irrational or hateful in their behaviour.

Admittedly still, there is still about ~10% of plot development that doesn't quite make a lot of sense and requires suspension of disbelief, e.g. the first episode lol. (But all will be well once you get over that bridge.) However, I feel like the amazingly funny/cute character interactions would completely make up for this~ (especially interactions with the male lead ;))

It was really a breeze completing this show, helped by its short 20-minute episode length and addictive previews. Forgiving the laughable CG (from the first ep) and not-that-great OST due to its lower web-cdrama budget, the young actors and plot still held the show up well and hit all the right notes for me in delivering almost everything I'd have wanted to see in a classic romcom, without the frustration.

That being said, it's EXTREMELY important to leave a disclaimer that these 23 episodes is NOT a completed story and will be directly continued in the upcoming Season 2 (which I'm still dying in anticipation for). Hence, with the HUGE POTENTIAL for romantic development being left in the air for Season 2 to pick up from, I have been left in a state of withdrawal, which also makes for the high rewatch value of the show, simply from being classic, light and cute.

Leia Mais

Tragic but make it romantic!

If you ask me, how will I describe this drama? I have only 2 words: Beautiful and brutal. Contradicting but apt! The premise looks simple, but it is as deceptive as its characters. Kataoka Kinji, a yakuza boss, is being sent into hiding and his only companion is Odajima Ren, a stoic subordinate. What he isn't aware of is Odajima's true mission, which is to end his life.
In this journey of 6 episodes, it managed to take that thin thread of deception and tackle loyalty, guilt, and the terrifying intimacy of being seen by the very person who is meant to destroy you. The story is written on the fragile spine of betrayal, breathing in those long sighs and silences, and standing ashore waiting for the sound of the gun that may or may not fire.

Kataoka is written like a man who is trying to remain gentle in a world that keeps punishing softness. He is aware of the danger, maybe even of the betrayal brewing beside him, but refuses to meet cruelty with suspicion. His insistence on kindness may look foolish but it becomes an act of power. Odajima, in contrast, is the kind of man you mistake for cold until you realise he is just tired. Tired of killing, of surviving, of existing. His loyalty is both his prison and his weapon. Watching him falter, hesitate before pulling the trigger, linger too long in a gaze he shouldn’t return was devasting and made him and that world look so much human.

What follows between them isn't fluffy romance or love turning yakuza into a saint redemption arc...but something murkier. There is no rush, no grand declarations, just very long stretches of silence that are enough to drown the miseries of both of them. Somehow, the story stops being about whether Odajima will kill Kataoka, but more about whether he can still live with himself if he doesn't.
Their relationship is equal parts longing and equal parts regret, and the writing doesn't try to sanitise the messiness of it and I think that is where the drama won me over! Both of them are morally grey characters with twisted and tragic pasts. There is a glimmer of hope and laughter here and there in their interactions but it is fleeting. I won't say it balances the grittiness but it definitely softens it to not choke and trip on the darkness. Also, their kisses and NC scenes were done very well!

Coming to the antagonists, it feels comical calling them antagonists because in the yakuza world, it’s never about good versus evil. It’s more like figuring out who is less bad, or maybe bad in a way that still follows some twisted kind of principle. Kirii Keito, all arrogance and envy, wants to eliminate Kataoka not just for power, but for being everything he can’t be -loved, respected, human. On paper, he is a terrible person but once I stand in the worn-out shoes of a child who never felt loved and was neglected, he just seemed less monstrous.

If I am being objective, we could have used 2 more episodes to flesh out the journey better because the last episode did feel a bit rushed, and the editing was a bit messy. It just felt a little short. But in any way that didn't hinder my enjoyment at all.

Acting-wise, everyone overall delivered. It was my first time seeing both the leads, and I think they both did pretty well. The opposite attract trope was played well. I can sit and nitpick but I don't want to.

Cinematography was another aspect that floored me. I have a soft spot for anything filmed near water. And I liked how significantly it was used. The past and present colour grading was fabulous too. They managed to ace the atmosphere.

Overall, this isn’t a BL that hands you easy comfort. It’s deliberate, restrained, occasionally cruel in its honesty. It was such a delight to see two "dangerous" men realise that love in this world is not a promise of salvation but a mirror showing who you really are when all the worldly masks fall away.
I would definitely recommend it but please read the TWs (dubcon, violence) and don't go in expecting fluff. It is anything but that!

Leia Mais

A not-so-cozy mystery/thriller!

More on the light-hearted end but perfect for fans of Beyond Evil, Sell Your Haunted House and He Is Psychometric.

This series is a fabulous blend of romance and mystery. Right from the first episode, you see the actual mystery (and I mean MURDER mystery) unfold in no time! This drama is fast-paced and speculative. The opening scene is indeed very gripping. However, the main characters' encounters seem too cliche, abrupt and convenient—basically, there's too much plot convenience!
But if you are here for the thrill, the guessing game and can pull through a few cliches, STAY! It seems like we have an exciting mystery brewing. The past and the present follow two separate suspicious disappearances, so let's see if they tie together at the end. I like the alternating timelines, the flashbacks add multiple layers to the story. There is an equal degree of suspense surrounding the other people living in the neighbourhood whose past connects them all to each other. With so many characters to account for, the possibilities are endless. You can't help but keep speculating and theorizing.

The actors have such great on-screen chemistry and the acting is like—chef's kiss (get the reference?) Their relationship has the ideal amount of pushing and pulling, ideal amount of pining and ideal amount of jealousy and love.

The music also seems quite promising for this one, so look forward to the OST's!

Leia Mais

Why Are U Gay? Who Says I'm Gay?... You Are Gay.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooo. Dafug you mean this isn't a BL? All that tension is wasted on a bromance? Look, being friends is nice, best-friends? even nicer, but these two talks/look at each other like they tryna book a honeymoon suite. Respectfully, I think they should kiss each others faces and get marry... cuz aint no way that tension/chemistry/dialogue is of the friendship/bromance nature! Also, half of this cast should have died halfway through episode 1, in a coma or hospitalised from all that beatings and fighting.

What's more surprising about this show isn't that it's tag 'bromance' but screams bl. No, it's how we had 16 episodes, and no one died from all that violence. And who even showed this children how to fight and start gangs? Whenever there's a fight scene, I'm always like, 'Ooooh, is you dead?' only for them to show up the next day at school like 'who, me? nah, I should be dead but like...it's Tuesday, we have Thai language classes so...' People, how did these children survive for this long?? Especially when none of them knew how to call the damn police?

Anyway, Listen, I think the word 'Friend' should be permanently ban from Saint and Shin's dictionary, cuz these two would do/say the most questionable, inlove-ness-ness thing ever then go:
Shin: I would have forgiven you for every bad thing you ever did, if you'd have stayed. You left me behind.
Saint: I'm sorry, I thought leaving was the best thing for you. The best way for you to live your dreams and be happy.
Shin: Without you in my life, I won't be happy. Apart from soccer, you are the only thing I care about.
Saint: You are the only person I care about too. Let's take a couple picture.
Shin: Waking up to see your face is what I've wanted my whole life. I don't like you, I love you.
Saint: I love you too, Shin.
Me: awwwwwwwww *heart doing jumping jacks*
Shin: You are my friend.
Saint: You are my friend.
Me: Dishonour. Dishonour on you, dishonour on your cow, dishonour on your ancestors goat!

I can't do this anymore. And no, it's not that I want every thing to be a BL, but like the writers and director are purposely trying to drive me insane with how they are executing this friendship. Legit, every episode I'm just waiting for one of them to confess, or just lean in a little bit and kiss, so I can go... 'I KNEW IT!' cuz, friends don't look at each other's lips like that. I was legit going 'kiss, kiss, kiss' in episode 12, instead of going 'how dafug is yous still alive right now Saint, you should be in a morgue.' And when they hugged, I cheered and cried a bit. Imma need GMMTV to cast these two in a BL so my soul can rest, cuz I aint finna chill with his whole bromance thing.

GMMTV were messing with us throughout this show. In the finale, with all the longing looks, playful touches and promises of staying together forever, and the 'I love yous' in the rain with faces so close, I was screaming, yaay, finally, only for them to go 'bish you thought'. Why are they playing us like that? Never before had a bromance tug hurt so much. Well, there's The Untamed, but we don't talk about that. Cuz really, is the bromance in the room with us? Huh, you call that bromance?

Not gonna lie though, I do love their friendship. To have someone who is there for you and cares for you it’s beautiful. I love seeing them goof already and tease each other of having 'feelings' and 'blushing'. Their roughhousing is all I'm living for at this point. Seeing how close they were in the past made me sad they had a fallen out. And with the little sister, they seem like a family. Still, I won’t say no to friends to lovers XD

This show is a BL, disguised as a bad bromance, cuz we can all see the BL in neon colours. Literally every episode Saint's like 'I want you back, I love you, please be with me forever' then Shin will look at him with those longing eyes and they'd stare real hard into each other's eyes. Why is this a bromance? In what world is all that tension bromance? Nothing about Saint and Shin screams bromance. Those two are in love. Literally these was them, word for word:

Saint: The most important thing that I'm giving up is not school, it's you, Shin. I'm giving up on the chance to be with you.
Me: OMG, this a BL.
Director: No, it's a bromance.
Shin: You say, you're giving up what's important, and that means you're giving up on me. But you know what? You gave up on me a long time ago. Three years ago when you broke my leg. So, you don't get to leave me behind again.
Me: *in tears* Seeee, it talks like a bl, acts like a bl, it's a bl. They are in love.
Director: No, it's a bromance.
Me: No one asked you, Sharon. Damn!

First off, for half of the series I kept asking myself, 'are those teachers at that school even qualified to take care of the children?' It seems like no one knows what they were doing. The students just walked all over them, disrespecting them, hitting them, straight up treating them like trash. Literally, why were these children still in school? In the real world they'd have long been suspended, right? But, in the last half, the teachers pulled through. I did like how they were there for the children, and did their best for them. With how horrible those children were, they could have given up, but they didn't, and fought for them, which is all a good teacher can do.

Anyway, I enjoyed this show, a lot. The whole mystery regarding what Saint did to Shin to make him hate him so much, kept my interest. But oh boy, I was ready to pull my hair, because 6 episodes in and Shin is still going on and on, and on about how dirty Saint did him. 'You ruined my life. I will never forgive you. I will beat you up'. And I'm like sure, he's the scum of the earth, now tell me what he DID. Damn! Boy was so vague about what happened it got annoying. Cuz, my arse is nosy and I wanted to know what he did so I could judge and hate him too, but they kept dragging it. Literally, that plot device was like that one friend who always have sh!t to share but never does like:

That One Friend: You won't believe what happened to me today. I'm telling you, when the Pope finally left, the police had to fly the rest of us home on a helicopter. In the end, the president and his details had to sleepover at my house.
ME: OMG??? What the hell happened??
That One Friend: It's nothing really. I don't wanna talk about it.
ME: *Inwardly* I am stabbing you in my head.

No, but, I am so glad they finally told us what he did. And when I heard how Saint ruined Shin's dream by beaten him the hell up, broken his leg and ruining his soccer dreams, then disappearing on him after, I was like... Never forgive him. As a matter of fact, beat him some more, cuz... what?? And knowing Saint did that because he probably didn't want his 'friend' to leave him is even worse! Nah, but Saint did Shin sooo bad. Learning that and seeing how Shin still didn't seem to truly hate him made me feel even more bad for him. Yes, Saint deserved all the hate he got got from Shin. Hell, he deserved more than that, but I was so happy when he finally earned his forgiveness and they became 'friends' again, or whatever the hell they are with those longing looks.

I was all giggles in episode 11, that roof top and bike scene was everything. I won't even mention the jump on your chest hug, the lip stares or nothing. Cuz apparently those are things friends do and say, so imma shut up, and consider for the millionth time if I should open ao3 and write my own damn fanfic about these two characters with tags #notabromance #nobromancehere #saintandshinnotfriendsbutboyfriends

Anyway, my main issue with this drama is the violence. Like, what school would allow all that to happen and not expel those students? They are so violent and mean, then, they return to school the next day like nothing happened. Some of these people should be in a coma, have major injury or like dead dead. Literally, after all the beaten Shin got, he showed up to school like it was nothing. That boy should have been in a coma or in an obituary page.

PLOT: the story is interesting, though there's so many gang stuff and nonsense fighting violence going on it drags. The bad guys are so generic it hurts. Ken and the twins were so bleh and uninteresting in the beginning, but glad they got a redemption arc, an emotional one at that. That being said, it took be a while to notice they were twins and not the same person doing both part. My bad.

CHARACTERS: My fav was Chatjen, Mark really outdid himself in this role. I knew Mark was a good actor since Last Twilight, even when Boston was wrecking his heart, I loved him. And here I just loved how well he played his character. The leads, Saint and Shin are a close second, cuz I like the tension between them, the push and pull and how each makes me understand the characters they are playing. They were perfect for the role, and they managed to make it a very enjoyable show.

Secondary characters: I'd thought the supporting cast were gonna be background noise, but most of them had depth. Cable, Peeta, Chatjen. Everyone seems to have their own problems, even Ken and his friends. I can't believe this show managed to make me emotional about Ken. This character was unlikable for like 12 episodes, then bam emotions. I legit don't know if I should respect the redemption/depth arc or boo at it for being so damn emotional. The twins really pulled through for their friend, I thought they were just gonna be airheads.

Also who the heck was cutting onions during that classroom scene in episode 15?? When they all decided to be friends and sharing food... awwwwww like, I was going through it. Love how they came together in the finale as well to help Ken. See how beautiful friendship can be instead of them fighting all the time. And don't even get me started on Saint and Shin confronting the mother that they were friends and the little sister coming to hold their hands and calling Saint brother. My tears were everywhere. I aint saying it looked like one of those forbidden love story scenes, but it did. I really do love how they are ride or die for their friendship.

That shady teacher, being a bully was a surprise to no one, and that one female teacher is trying, but the poor woman is just sad. Her hitting her self had me going 'what even are we doing here?' I understand her wanting to quit, but damn woman, give yourself a break, nobody is perfect. And was I the only one who went 'My sister, enough already, just go back to teaching like we all know you will.' when they kept baby-ing her? Yes, I understood her, but it was getting to a point when I was over that whole arc. And also who the heck was her father? In the finale, she kept doing 'dad I did it, I'm a good teacher, bla bla voice over' and i'm just sitting there like, whomst?

I also like how the Eve and Airy developed from being enemies to friends. I'm satisfied with the finale we got. Was so emotional when Chatjen left. Poor dude was so happy with his friends. I'm glad the students came around, and Class 2 became friends. Loved how closer Shin and Saint seemed in the end, and how the mother had accepted Saint into the family. It seems their future is gonna be tangled together forever, cuz Saint's whole purpose in life right now is... 'Shin. I'll follow Shin everywhere. If it's not Shin related I aint want it.'

All in all, I went into this show thinking it was a bl, and was surprised when it wasn't, but the story and characters kept me watching. Plot-wise, the story has been done before. The violence was very savage and I didn't buy it that it didn't have more dire outcomes. The teachers and violence part got a bit boring, but all of them adds together, and we got a beautiful story of friendship, redemption and forgiveness, which was told with a good cast and team. I enjoyed coming back to it every week, so I'll recommend this to all drama lovers, trust me, it's as bl as it gets, so don't let the bromance tag keep you away. Trust me. This is going on my list of fav dramas this year.

ALSO. We are getting WU with Sky and Nani as leads next year!! Ahhhhhhh. I'm hearing it's another bromance. At first I was like. 'No, curses!' but knowing the chemistry of these two, that show is gonna be more intense and gayer than any bl next year. So, GMMTV, go ahead keep playing with us, make them 'friends' again, I don't care, as far as these two are in the same series together, we've won. Damn, it's gonna be a long arse wait for WU.

Aanyway, imina SkyNani.

Leia Mais

Disclaimer: Spoilers for the drama and novel ahead but I will try to minimise them as much as possible. I watched the cut version of the drama (56 episodes in total btw) but did watch some scenes from the DVD version that were cut; I also read the Chinese novel and I will be comparing both in one of the major points below.

I felt so strongly about this drama that I specially created an account to review it. It had the potential to become one of my favourite dramas ever but ended up being an incredibly flawed drama even if Lu Zhao Yao and Li Chen Lan are one of my favourite couples ever. They honestly deserved better. Let me point out what is so flawed about this drama while listing a few good points:

1. The editing of the scenes and the transitions between scenes

This was really just a mess, where random important scenes were cut here and there [I am looking at you ep 19 and 21] and for the last 6 episodes it just felt like random scenes were tacked together (not in chronological order). Nevertheless, I did enjoy the prologue at the start of each episode as it felt like a foreshadowing of what was to come. Also, the rampant use of '5 years later' felt out of place and over-used. Honestly, it didn't seem realistic at all that Lu Zhao Yao established Wan Lu Men and sealed Jin Xian in only 5 years.

2. Random plot holes/bad CGI/random mistakes

The CGI was bad but was quite typical for a Chinese drama. However, I did notice various mistakes in the Chinese subtitles, as well as some mistakes in some of the lines delivered by the characters e.g. they referred to other characters by the wrong names. Some of the scenes didn't make sense too, for example in some scenes it felt like simply using teleporting will have resolved a major conflict in the drama, but the character in question chose not to do so for some unknown reason. The props moved about randomly as well probably due to poor editing.

3. Changes from the novel [major major spoilers in this section]

The drama decided to change the whole 'possession' aspect of the novel, which is acceptable if they had explained properly why Zhao Yao had the same face as Qin Zhi Yan and how she got her face back later. I don't see how cleansing herself in the pool to purge herself of everything she ate in Qi Zhi Di would have helped to get her face back.

They added a lot of scenes for other characters to lengthen the drama as the novel was not very long. This was done well sometimes, when some side couples were covered more and their relationships explored in greater depth. However, this felt rather pointless as none of the side couples ended up with each other; they even killed off one of the side characters when the guy totally survived in the novel. Sigh, why will you make us care about the couple and then kill that character off unexpectedly?

As for the antagonists, I immensely disliked how they got a lot more scenes. No one cares about the nth scene of Liu Su Ruo moping about Jin Xian or the nth scene of Lin Zhi Yu moping about Li Chen Lan or the nth scene of some random antagonistic character plotting. Although Jiang Wu was portrayed a lot more sympathetically towards the end, I didn't like how he was essentially just a gigantic lightbulb in the OTP's relationship.

Honestly, if you wanted to make the drama longer, you should have included some of the scenes that were cut from the novel of the OTP or just included the long epilogue from the novel. I did however like the proposal and wedding scenes for the OTP that were not inside the novel.

They also made the OTP much weaker both in personality and powers. Li Chen Lan was practically invincible in the novel and Zhao Yao was always a strong badass female character. In the last 20 episodes, they became so weak that it almost felt as though they were not the same characters anymore.

4. The ending [also major spoilers]

Like I mentioned earlier, the last 6 episodes were just a mess and totally not in chronological order. It was kind of a happy ending, but I was really confused about how they resolved the whole conflict and whether the scene where Zhao Yao 'killed' Li Chen Lan was a cop out or not. Also, I thought it was weird that they used the same actor and actress to portray their children because I had to imagine them as siblings instead of a couple??? It would have been much sweeter using child actors with the couple...

So then, you all may be wondering why this drama is rated a 7.0 despite all my criticisms above. It's basically because of Li Chen Lan and Zhao Yao in episodes 5-41, as well as the general good acting across the board. This couple was the best with such good chemistry that I really felt as though they were in love. They really deserved the ending in the novel instead. The comedy was also pretty good and was one of the few things consistent about this drama.

Sigh this was such a major disappointment in the end...

Leia Mais

This is what all kdramas should aspire to be

My biggest issue with Kdramas is that they tend to get complicated for the sake of being complicated and there's a lot of them that are like that. This one, is not one of them.

Is the story original? No. Does it have to be? No. You get what you expect when you read the synopsis and everything stays in its lane which is very, VERY rare for a Kdrama. You expect a medical, bromance drama with a touch of supernatural and that's exactly what you get. There's a bit of romance but it only adds a bit of flare to the characters and story and it stays in its lane and does not take over which I find that WAY to many does, which is why I tend to stay away from anything that hints about romance in the synopsis.

The story ties itself up nicely and there's pretty much only one thing that I felt was a bit left out, a character that leaves in the early, middle-ish part of the story. I felt like he should've been there to tie some things up but never shows up again. Though it is possible that the character added some character development to the main characters that wouldn't have happened otherwise that I never realised. This is only a minor detail though.

Now the acting was great as usual. Rain and Kim Bum did great as the main characters and their chemistry with each other made the show. I've seen a lot of people complain about Uee and saying that they don't like her acting. I haven't seen her in anything else so I can't speak of her other stuff but here I thought she was fine, so I'm just gonna put that complaining to the usual hate I see pretty much every female lead/actress get because they are the female lead and the male lead is "so hot" and can't do anything wrong.

I also saw some stuff about Son Na Euns character. Not really anything about her acting but rather that her character didn't feel like main, which I kind of agree with. Amongst the "mains" she had the least impact on the show but she definitely was an important support character and I don't agree with the comments that the character is useless and doesn't do anything.
Of course we can't forget about the veterans such as Sung Dong Il and Tae In Ho which you'll see in like every other drama, doing what they do best as usual.

The music is not bad, just that the last couple of dramas I've seen has had amazing soundtrack and these ones didn't really hit me in the same way.

All in all, It's been awhile since I've followed a Kdrama from start to finish without any breaks which in my opinion speaks for itself. This is a great watch, that all I can say.

Leia Mais

Great potential and fairly decent execution, yet suffering from unnecessary complexity.

Let me elaborate.

Acting Performances:

The majority of the cast consisted of newcomers. All of them, old and new faces, did great! Ta, Mio and Us particularly stood out but it was Barcode who truly stole the show. He was a cutie in KinnPorsche. However, here he was as complex as a character could be and he performed it perfectly.

Storytelling:

The beginning:
The few episodes after the first one were hella boring and confusing. There was a missing part that wasn't hinted adequately to the viewer. While somewhat passable, this highlights the need for better-written hints and suspense in future mystery projects to enhance the stories.

The middle:
You’ll find the most interesting events of the series here. The moment Non came to the screen, the narrative underwent a significant evolution. I couldn’t help myself but to root for Non’s character, even when he was doing things that I’m usually very against. There was a decision of his I wouldn’t understand if I missed WHY he would do it. I feel clarifying the reason behind this decision could have enhanced the understanding of character motivations and justified Phee's future actions more effectively.

The ending:
While the last few episodes were interesting, the shock value could have been dialed back. Certain elements felt unnecessary and overly complicated, leaving loose ends and unanswered questions. The final episode felt rushed, and boy, I would have loved an alternative to it.

Chemistry between Characters:

Plenty. At one point I didn’t know who I was supposed to ship with whom, because every pairing had quite the tension between them. There were some really good spicy scenes too. Unfortunately, almost none of them were plot driven, but were there for... Well... You know.

Overall Impressions:

Despite its flaws, this series clearly aimed for a level of effort and quality often lacking in Thai BLs. The dedication of the actors, screenwriters, directors, and crew is evident throughout. This seems to be the beginning of a new era for Thai BL series, with higher standards and more refined storytelling. BoC's willingness to push boundaries is something I appreciate greatly, and I would love to see what else they can give us, especially with Sammon on board (*cough* 4 minutes *cough*).

Leia Mais