Reviews

Disappointing historical BL

What you can expect from Spring of Crush is basically Nobleman Ryu’s Wedding, but with an expanded backstory + sideplots. I appreciate the effort into a wider backstory and plot involving other characters beyond the main couple, but it proved to be deeply uninteresting and hard to follow at some points.

There is a certain charm in arranged marriages and how 2 people can gradually come to love each other – a point that Nobleman Ryu’s Wedding made – but Spring of Crush’s characters just didn’t feel likeable or compelling enough. Frankly, I only got through most of the episodes by fast forwarding scenes whenever I got bored.

Geumsong was largely a bland character who didn’t have much personality, let alone memorable qualities. Hyeseong, while playful and feisty, came off as rather flaky (understandably so, since she’s fully aware of the nature of this sham marriage) and arrogant.

Similar to Nobleman Ryu’s Wedding, there’s a love triangle going on, but that plot is miserably weak as well, and takes a weird turn towards the end.

I don’t know about you, but I would love to see a BL involving 2 men, preferably martial artists, falling in love with each other. Please. No more of that wife-disguise bullsh*t, or portrayals of domestic life between a husband and ‘wife’ (who is really just a man pretending to be a woman).

Would I recommend you watch this? No, not at all.

Full review: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2022/07/08/spring-of-crush-2022-review-bl/

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Despite the title of the Novel "Stalker", Toh is a "Collector" not a sociopath or a criminal

First of all let's see what a " Collector" is, according to psychologists.

For people who collect, the value of their collections are not monetary but emotional.
The collections allow people to relive their childhood, connect themselves to a period or to a time they feel strongly about. Their collections help them ease insecurity and anxiety about losing a part of themselves and to keep the past to continue to exist in the present.
Toh thinks he will never be worth of Nuea love. He thinks he does not have anything to offer, that he isn't something special, no good looking, shy, nerd.
So he watches him from afar. Collecting mementos of moments that are precious for him.

Collecting may provide psychological security by filling a part of the self one feels is missing.
When one collects, one experiments with arranging, organizing, and presenting a part of the world which may serve to provide a safety zone, a place of refuge where fears are calmed and insecurity is managed.
In his room, Toh can openly fantasize about being loved back. He is bold and brave, he approaches Nuea.

Items in a collection are neatly organized, maintained, and presented or manipulated with ease.
(If a collector of 1000+ trains wishes to find a particular specimen from their collection, they can find it easily. )
Collections are often catalogued, sorted, and objectively maintained like books in a library.
Toh mementos are kept like treasures, handled with care and perfectly organized.

This is not a dangerous behaviour.
Although it still has its counterpart that is scary, creepy and dark. IT' S NOT THE CASE IN THE SERIES.
So judging Toh like he was a serial killer,( as someone did in their review) is really too much.
It's true he is a controversial character and his "obsession" might result uncomfortable but, please give him time to develop, grow and change.
Nuea seems to be aware and know a lot about Toh and his particular interest for him and never embarass him, or treat him harshly.

Please, don't just drop the series at the Synopsis or the 1st episode.

Cheewin Thanamin has directed a lot of other successful series : Why RU, YYY, Close Friends, Y destiny, You Never eat Alone.
He has a unique style, so you will surely get captivated by the characters, their stories and their growth throughout the episodes.

Idol Factory actors are mostly rookies but very talented and they all did a good job portraying the different characters who are part of this story.
They convey emotions, it's easy to connect with them, understand what they are going through and being emotionally involved in their struggles, joys and intimate feelings.
This series will make you laugh, cry and be all giggles.

Give it a chance.
It is really worth it!

It airs on Channel 3 Thailand every Friday at 23.00, watching live doesn't require a subscription but subs aren't provided on TV. Can be watched also on CH3 Plus App but without subs. ( no subscription, no VPN requiered)
There is an exclusive re-run on IDOL FACTORY official YouTube channel soon after the episode ends.( ENGLISH sub provided)
Other languages are added during the next days .

Thanks for reading

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Acting

The first thing I want to point out is , of course, their acting. Nothing to compared with any other BL actor, for me. They really set up the bar for BL actors, seriously.
Another thing I have to point out is their chemistry. Ohm and Nanon are already best friends before the series. That's one of the reasons why they are so comfortable around each other and not awkward at all. Every scene looks natural for me.
And the last one is PLOT. No unnecessary drama, no unnecessary plot twist, just acceptable problems between teenage friends and parents-children. There, you can also see how parenting works in Asia.
I still have a lot to say, but I will stop here because I want you to check out yourself.
You must check it out if you don't wanna regret.

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This is my first review ^_^
Everything will be solely based on my OWN taste and OWN standard of a drama pls.

Story:
I hav thot of a more suitable title for this drama : wo de ye man nan you (my barbaric boyfriend) :)

there is a plot but I do agree that some scenes are non-continuing and not everything was clearly explained, however if you are looking for a romance drama, this may be to your liking.
Note : its a bit draggy (abit only) and it would easily have stop at epi 26 or so) abit fast forwarding will help :)

Cast:
The Cast was ok... especially when I checked that the female lead was quite new and not many drama to date but I find her pretty :P

The male lead was barbaric that's why it make me thot of the title I made for this drama. however, u can quite enjoy or envy this kind of courtship if you are really into this guy.
the best friend was such a darling too. I would love to have such 'suitor turn friend' relationship too.

Music:
I don't really care about the OST ^.^ but of cos if a good OST comes along, I will rem it.
nothing special caught my ears ....

Rewatch Value:
maybe some scenes that you want to see the lovey dovey of the relationship. ^.^

Watch if you like :-

:- a difficult love-hate relationship (before getting together)
:- scheming spoiler (like Cinderella plot) make plans and schemes to breakup a relationship
:- family oriented environment

note: do u know that the 2 main (corrected) leads are true life partner....shhh..haha

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You Definitely Have to Watch!

It is so funny to think this is the show that got me to finally get an account to write a review. I have been watching BLs for years now and never once felt the need to write one but this show definitely did something to me.

I want to first start off by saying I went into this because I kept getting mixed reviews on the show and had to finally see what the issue was. And I can say the first two episodes had me iffy. I was not a fan of the start, especially seeing how weird they made Toh, but once the 3rd episode came around and things started getting serious I fell in love.

This show may have its crazy embarrassing moments that cause me to pause or hide but I think it plays into the trope of these issues. I think we all have our weird quirky moments especially with a crushes that make us do things that others find odd. And they are obviously exaggerating it to make a joke on it. And I think it is needed. Sometimes we have to see others being just as odd to feel better about ourselves.

But what sold me was the actual plot of each characters insecurities. We get to see everyone have an emotional side. It isn't just about Toh and Nuea. Or even just Toh at that. They delve into Nuea emotionally too which is rarely seen in BLs. But every character has something that is stopping them from what they want in life. They delve into body dysphoria, sexuality, gender, friendship and it is honestly moments that we can all connect too. Yes it is goofy and weird but it knows when to cut that off and show us what being human means.

Then the acting is another thing. The level of professionalism and skill you need to have to play these odd, quirky roles is a lot and Toh and the others are doing well in making us uncomfortable watch them. Us wanting to pause, hide, and scream means they are doing their job. But they all have this level of chemistry that feels real, especially the way Nuea looks at Toh. I didn't feel like any couple was pushed or forced on us. They all complemented each other well. Even the friend groups. It made me miss the group of friends that I once had.

So in all it may not be everyone's cup of tea but it is a great show overall in its messages it tries to send to the viewers. I think everyone should give it a chance!

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The spy is strong but spy show is weak

The spy genre has some of the biggest franchises in the global entertainment biz: Bond. Bourne. Jack Ryan.

“The Veil” takes being part of the spy family seriously, unwaveringly seriously. Namgoong Min as Han Ji Hyuk, ace spy, has all the physical attributes. He looks like he could step in any pro level MMA ring and hold his own. The business suit attire scarcely conceals Ji Hyuk's prodigious musculature. But playing a hero is more than muscle and while Han Ji Hyuk checks a lot of boxes (amnesia, rule-breaking persona, tactical genius, piercing glare), something is missing. He’s such a cold-calculating assassin type, the character ends up so robotic that he’s difficult to cheer for. The speech is monotone. The face is expressionless. The clothing is black and white. Even when he fights, he's so brutally efficient at it that there's not much entertainment value there either.

The other significant issue of “The Veil” is one of the necessary elements of any good vs. evil story - someone to root against. A worthy villain is indispensable. So here, a very bad guy (a drug dealer) pops up quickly early on. But the focus then changes as it turns out someone else is behind him. Then there’s a rogue NIS agent. No wait, it’s a whole secret gang. Or no, it's a secret faction in the NIS. And North Koreans are involved somehow? Wait, no there is some other bad guy pulling the strings. Not that one. Another one. But maybe let’s humanize the character.

[sigh]

Without someone to coalesce some healthy dislike towards, it’s difficult to care whether our not-so-symphathetic hero succeeds or whether the entire cast simply sets sail into deep space to never be seen or heard from again.

Plenty of spy show cliches too. The car chases. The computer hacking. The agency turf battle. Oy.

It’s not entirely bad. Jang Young Nam brings her typical intensity but this time to a more rounded character. Jung Moon Sung is strong as the rogue NIS adversary of Han Ji Hyuk but he hardly establishes a presence in a too brief appearance. Kim Ji Eun’s Je Yi is a fairly nondescript character, but she infuses Je Yi with a spark of humanity and warmth. Park Ha Sun doesn’t have Jang Young Nam’s gravitas to really sell a spy role, but her hairstyle is killer. Grasping for straws here? Seems to be the case.

“The Veil” has some good elements. There’s some fine actors. There’s good action set pieces. There’s some above average production in the sound and photography. But the pieces don’t connect thanks to a collection of one dimensional characters, an unnecessarily convoluted plot and dialogue that could be cut-and-pasted from any number of other entries in the spy genre.

Not recommended.

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A less tragic Nirvana in Fire meets Lord of the Rings!

I writing this review with 9 episodes left (I wanna take the rest nice and slow coz I don't want this awesome drama to end).

It's important to note that the drama went into production before the author finished writing the web novel, so if anything the movie version might be truer to the original work and differ from the drama.

OK, enough of OT stuff, back to the core of review:


Fans of Lord of the Rings will rejoice that FotD is essentially a reimagining. You have the Star Formation that gives power to the Empress that is essentially the One Ring. It is essentially detrimental to Empress (it's actually something evil that is controlling her), yet she has trouble letting the precious-s-s go.

Then, there is CCS dagger-like sword that looks like Bilbo's Sting dagger. And of course the little dragon ZS is modeled after Smaug the Dragon from The Hobbit, but a good kind dragon, not an evil one. Then, when LL teased ZS with hard-to-guess riddles, that scene essentially imitated "Riddles in the Dark" between Bilbo and Gollum in The Hobbit.

Superimposed over this are scenes remiscient of Nirvana in Fire: Sick guy returns to the Capital to attain his destiny, elite guards getting murdered to frame someone, the main hero can't actually fight against powerful villains but uses his cunning to subdue them, an Imperial ruler that is cold and "heartless" even towards her own child, etc.

Nevertheless, the drama packs an awesome punch coz let's face it there is nothing new under the sun, only inspiration from some works that existed before!

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A mind blowing drama

I have watched hundreds of tv shows and dramas , i can say that i have spent years of my life in front of the small screen and this drama is by far one of the best dramas i have ever watched. At the end of every episode ,you will just have mixed feelings , you will be overwhelmed , satisfied with that perfect acting and scenario , sad and glad... I recommend this drama for every person who is searching for something out of the box , for every drama watcher out there who is tired of those romantic cute cliché and wants depth in what he is seeing... This drama is just for you , It has thriller , action , love , melodrama and more in it.. It is as perfect as it can be and you will enjoy every single second of it...

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This story is about baseball. Something that I'm not really a big fan of but I still watched this because.... Well, I've been a fan of TFBOYS for a pretty long time now. I think I might have developed a crush (shhhh). Karry looks so cool and handsome in all the scenes. Also, it's a very funny drama. This drama really taught me some lessons like to never give up hope. I think that the TFBOYS are extremely talented. They each play an instrument, have amazing acting skills, and they sing pretty well. The thing about the story is Bai Xiao Song (Wang Yuan) is basically the glue to the whole story. Without him, the story would be very different. Also, the music was sometimes like... TFBOYS classic. Extremely upbeat and happy... but meaningful too.I would recommend this to people who just need a story about friendship and not love. I was tired of the love relationship breakups when I picked up this drama. This story really has some meaningful stuff and the storyline is believable. Some scenes are ones you don't want to miss... So WATCH IT!! :)

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SHOULD HAVE NEVER WATCHED

(this is my first time writing a review if anyone of you think it's inappropriate just comment anything i will remove it right away)
i should have never watched it atleast not now it's 2 am and idk what to do now... I'm traumatized what type of ending was that? writernim you really did us dirty this wasn't what we expected atleast not that? and what about the sphere nothing makes senses yes i never watched it idk i can't even rate it ik this script was hard to write, was hard to make, everything was hard but what type of ending is that? ughhhhhhhhhhh i can't help but be mad
i don't to talk bad about it as it's hard to make all these but it doesn't even make sense
everyone's death at the end of the episode was useless why did you have to kill everyone it just feels like ending was rushed
The "2 min scene" at the end of the episode what was that for after giving us such ending and about speheres why are they explained? not a fan of this
i will watch this drama everytime i feel like i have never watched some drama with such "good ending" and not rushed ending

thankyou writernim

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Worst writer of 2022

This is one of those cases, the writer only has the synopsis and nothing else so they use the forbidden book. Also, enemies to lovers is better for dramaland cuz sweet fl meets sweet ml and they don't play games, so they get together fast, and "breakup" or get thrown in a mess of we can't talk right now...


The story of a girl who worked at the funeral home that could see the ghosts in their final moment and grants them 1 wish
She had X amount ppl to deal with, some wanted small revenge, some wanted a message or a gift delivered. Sounds interesting right?
And it was until the writer stopped using that and instead went to the "sht my characters got together too fast, bring in the ex" honestly atleast 3 or 4 eps were wasted on the ex and her nagging.. and her mom...
Then the writer not only had the most basic past trauma, which was the exact copy of love is for suckers, but she made the three leads share the same traumq and worse, made 2nd lead a psycho..
And that took 3 more eps until poof, 2nd lead feels remorse and regrets it..... oh whoops, I didn't help a dying kid cuz I wanted a better life.. and I blamed my brother for it. And I tried to kill fl, omg I never wanted to be like my dad TT

And the last straw that black listed this writer... SHE MURDERED FLS DAD! the sweetest dad in dramaland, the most harmless dude... and how? By reusing another pregnant lady.. like where was her husband? Why kill the security guard/dad... why leave the house if you're not smart enough to not get near a movers truck..


Sure I knew with the countdown someone important had to die, which is another cheap mistake. But a big accident with multiple ppl would've been tragic enough

Maybe the itaewon tragedy made the writer change things but I doubt it. The story was laid out from the start. The writer obv used the "cliche kdrama guide for dummy writers" but things moved as planned

Cuz no drama makes the fls dad meet and like the ml unless what? They wanna murder the dad

Like there were 2 uncles they could've taken.. the fl was already momless.... just a few tears and she moves on for her happiness with the ml...

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