Editorials 
What do you think is more important, the story or the story teller?
What do you think is more important, the story or the story teller? I think it's the story teller and this drama is the proof, this story of this drama for me is nothing new, from plots to overthrow the crowned prince to the crowned prince falling in love with a lowly palace maid, if you've been watching k-dramas for a while now then this drama doesn't offer much difference in terms of the story BUT it REALLY excels at the story telling. The entire cast of the drama have created this which is nothing short of a mesmerizing gem. Everyone, the actors, the directors, the producers, the camera crew, the editors, etc. have all contributed greatly and it shows. Their work demands attention of the viewers and as one of the viewers I couldn't help but appreciate their efforts. I have really enjoyed my time with this drama, hope you will too!Was this review helpful to you?
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STORY: 9/10
The story revolves around 6 gay men, with the main characters being Arm and Pom, two best friends who room together. Their lives, and the lives of the other characters, connect through a series of events that take place throughout the show. The writing and development for each character is well thought out and I grew attached to each character very quickly, despite it being a 5 episode series with each episode clocking in at around 29 minutes. What's really great about this show is the issues that it deals with are so taboo but yet eye opening and it was handled in such a smart and educational. As a gay man in my 20's I really appreciate this sort of series. It's all very realistic, maybe too realistic for those expecting a fluffy BL drama... this show is definitely not for kids and not for the close-minded. The romantic and kissing scenes are so on point. I don't know if the cast is LGBT+ in real life but they sure had me fooled.
ACTING: 9/10
The actors in this series are phenomenal. They truly were invested in their characters and each actor gave their respective role layers and depth. Highlight actors for me are the ones that play Arm and Nat, but every actor in Gay Ok Bangkok really gave Oscar worthy performances, in my personal opinion. Very raw and realistic performances.
MUSIC: 9/10
The sound track was super good and changed in each episode, but it still managed to maintain overall tone throughout. Fantastic!
REWATCH VALUE: 9/10
I would say this is an easy rewtach for me. Everything about this series impressed me and I did not want it to end OVERALL: 9/10 Excellent! The only reason I did not give this drama a 10 out of 10 is because it's only five episodes and I felt as though the last episode was a bit choppy, the way it ended. But they make all that up with season 2, which you should all watch if you have not!
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A Very Realistic Contemporary Drama
This drama was everything it promised to deliver, we had the free spirited female lead, the supportive family and 4 different male leadsPros:
1. the Story was executed very well and it was extremely realistic
2. Many opportunities to analyze psychology behind the character
3. Real life issues faced by women all over the world
4. Beauty comes with many many benefits but also just as many complications
5. great osts
6. Excellent cast - they executed everything to the best of their abilities
Cons:
there are 2 reason as to why this was not a 10 star watch for me:
1. The open ending did not make me feel content and the younger male lead was unnecessary in my opinion, his character was not done justice as he only got around 3 eps of screentime. I wish they gave the viewers closure on whether she is eventually happy ( more details on her ambitions for her future) or if they chose the romance route I wish they showed us who she chose and whether she remains single
2. THIS IS THE BIGGEST REASON WHY: The male leads (rose's exes) never fully move on from her, although she is able to leave them in the past they are always held back by the memory of her. This is very unrealistic, although ZGD being single makes sense (him being career oriented) , i don't see someone like FXW staying single for over 6 years just for her. In reality although it takes time to move on, you don't always stay in the past, whats more surprising is how only she moves on
Overall a great watch if you can deal with mature romance and love psychoanalyzing things
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It's about dreams, too (another banality on paper). And counterfeiting money. The better part of the plot could belong to an action movie, but the drama approaches it in a casual, slice-of-lifey manner. One arc turns very brothers Coen.
It's fun! In a quirky, gloomy way, with plenty of situational and visual humour stuffed in between tender moments. Beautifully written and directed, playing with conventions, often showing-not-telling and fully using the potential of each episode being a complete entity that can tell a story from a certain point. Highly recommended.
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This review may contain spoilers
Use your brain(pun intended) while watching
I'm stunned. One of the best BL I've watched. It's more on the serious tone and we don't have any comic relief in this one which is great.I was hooked from the first episode. Both couples were amazing. Great plot and execution. Not at all what is seems the start.
Now into some spoilers:
JEEEZ I thought i know what's going on but I was so wrong and WHAT A GREAT SURPRISE. I'm confused why so many people seem to don't understand what happened. Correct me if I'm wrong but the second timeline where Great and Tyme are shot is the original one and the first and third are projections of things they would have done different.(Of course Korn and Tonkla story is set the whole time in the real time, bonus points to mislead the viewer). So first and third timeline never happened and actually there isn't any future seeing. For me that was GREAT execution of this part. I was worried that it will be some parallel universe type of plot but nope.
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Beautiful piece of art. Highly recommended for the feels.
If you're into a deep discussion of what family, friendship, and relationships mean, and a lot of human observationthen works by Sakamoto Yuji (the screenwriter) are for you.
I've been a huge fan of the way he works his careful observations about humans and about how we interact as in a society into his *very relatable* and *very quotable* script.
Yes, this is a story about a woman and a "harem" of 3 ex-husbands, but the way they discuss this weird "family dynamics" is different from your typical rom com (let's be real, this isn't even a rom com... just a family comedy). It's super refreshing, and will give you vibes of some of his previous works, like Saikou no Rikon (a story about a divorced couple) and Quartet (also starring the same female lead and one of the male leads -- the first ex-husband). It's a drama I would never want to fast forward, because everything happens for a reason, and every character that comes and goes contributes to the main characters' development and growth. While the topics explored can get heavy at times, the way he handles it is light and unexpectedly funny.
You'll find easter eggs in later episodes referencing earlier happenings and how the characters have changed. And if you've watched previous works by this screenwriter (you should!), you will find that he's writing a love letter to his previous characters using his current ones. While this drama can of course be viewed as a stand-alone of its own, I especially love the continuity in his writing.
If this is your first Sakamoto Yuji drama, then be ready for a huge feels ride. This might be one of the best works I've seen of his. Grab a glass of water, sit down, relax, and get your screenshot hot keys ready. There are *so many* dialogues in this drama that are worth revisiting over and over again.
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Definitely sweet
So there is nothing new to this story, it's childhood friends turns to lovers kinda thing. Yes, full of misunderstandings, cheeky handsome male lead and charming hardworking female lead.Well than you might ask me: "why so highly rated then?"
- Because Leo Luo and Bai Lu deliver the best couple of Chinese drama of the year (Oh the romance is heavenly, and they did not spare on the kiss scenes or PDA).
OMG the chemistry was FIRE!! And while the plot is, in deed, a bit cliché they keep you interested in the drama.
There isn't too much angst, and the problems/misunderstandings are all resolved pretty quickly, so you don't get bored and you also don't get the feeling that the drama is dragging.
This is a lighthearted drama, that wraps all lose endings, that you should not miss.
Even the secondary couple is cute (Jun's best friend, Xu Li, is so nice and their friendships is really great and relatable), so you get your time worth even when the leads are not on the screen.
Yes there are bad parts (but honestly, all dramas have them) but they are not bad enough to put you off watching the drama, and they probably help the drama to get momentum and move the plot forward.
It was definitely worth my time and there are scenes I'll definitely comeback to watch again.
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Touching, progressive and informative
This movie is the type to shoot an arrow straight thru the heart, some people will watch this and think, oh a story about the struggles of a person with a trans identity, and do not get me wrong it does show a pretty clear depiction of the day to day struggles as well as part of the journey of a trans woman, the strength in this movie is its portrayal of motherhood and family as no one seemed to react when Tomo was living with her negligent, slightly alcoholic biological mother but put her together with a trans woman and suddenly people seem to care...I loved the family moments, the struggles the over protective mother and the great palett of motherhood showed here, what makes a good mother? what makes a family? I also loved how it showed realistic ways to deal with life outside the norm as well how relatable the characters are.
The show does a great job showing both the struggles and pain a child may face due to grownups %&€%#& €%#%#% "€("€("#B"##€="#€"€("=#(%"(%". Including neglect, bullying and loss of strength to live without neglecting the strong hold parents have on their children.
I am a little bit disappointed they casted a cis man as Rinko, he did do a good job portraying her but it would have been better if a tans woman or woman would have been casted to play this role. However I do not know much about the industry in Japan but in a better wold that will be done.
I have seen that some people complained about the obsession with boobs, however I think those matter more than many people think as they are clear markers and what most people notice first. "Imagine being a girl but never getting boobs".
I also love the humour here and there, there is a lot of funny kick up moments, family fun and so much love in this movie it is hard not to fall for the characters.
Definitely a movie I strongly recommend to all...
Story that needs to be told: 10
Bring out your anger towards society: 10
Family: 10
Exitment: medium
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This drama actually got me into the manga, which is rather backwards...
Story - Each character has a backstory and /grows/ throughout the series (except the background characters that only have 7 lines in the entire drama) in a way that reminds me of a novel, almost. It shows that they were developed, 3-dimentional characters that seem all the more real because of those facts. This is major kudos to the writers and original mangaka.
Music - I never focus much on the background music in movies or dramas unless it sticks me as wrong for that moment. I do know that they used the theme song throughout the story, which was interesting because it fit in every moment they used it in, even though they were vastly different. this part comes with a warning; you WILL have the song stuck in your head for a good while if you watch the episodes in a few (1-3) sittings. However it's a good song, so I didn't really mind.
Rewatch Value - I've already rewatched this drama once, my favorite parts about a million times, and created stories in my head for when I'm bored and want to play with ready-made characters. (Can't tell I'm a writer, huh?)
Acting/Cast - Yamamoto Yusuke is really just the cherry on top, in my opinion. His acting skills are so great, and he covers so many different rolls so efficiently and /well/ in different dramas that its just inspiring. He became an actor I follow after Tumbling and, after a few more of his dramas, he became my favorite actor. He's just amazing.
I feel I have to mention the others (that way it doesn't become another of my Yamamoto-ramblings). They cast this very well and everyone fit the part and acted their rolls naturally. Some of the actors were better than others (the Mizusawa character faded into the background too well and was rather emotionless unless the situation called for extreme emotion) but none of them were 'bad' actors, just differing styles.
Really, really worth the time to watch, rewatch, think about, and drive that damn song out of your head until the next watching!
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Life Changing
I suppose I have to write a review for GAP. I have said it in the comment section already, but this show was life changing to me. I have never seen a story that cares so deeply about representing the joy and beauty of being a woman in love with another woman, even in the face of adversity. Sam and Mon's love story is accurate to the real life sapphic experience in so many ways. From the way they show affection, the difficulty to comprehend their feelings at first, to the feeling of relief and plenitude when they finally allow themselves to feel what their hearts want to feel.I understand if it doesn't resonate with some people the way it did with me. It can be cheesy, the situations might seem absurd and exaggerated at times, the characters actions might not be the most logical, the side characters are not the most complex. But everything made it all the more delightful in my eyes. It is ultimately a fun, colorful story, that eventually deals with some more serious topics.
Give it a chance, especially if you are a woman who loves women. Even if you don't love it as much as I did, I believe you will at least have a nice time watching these characters fall in love.
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1An Oriental Odyssey.
Chu Sijing, a captain of theJinyiwei/锦衣卫 or Embroidered Guard is on a mission to investigate a strange epidemic that broke out on the remote Wumu Island in Liaodong province. The outbreak threatens the adjacent NInghai Fortress, a critical stronghold against the invading Jurchens. The powers that be have their own agendas and appear more interested in covering up the outbreak than anything else. Thus Sijing steals onto the island aided only by a Mongol Tartar official Bo Yan and a Fulangji/佛郎机 businesswoman Angelica. There he encounters mysterious, disease afflicted villagers who worship ancient Gods and is forced to deal with some monstrous truths. Can he weed out the root of the epidemic before it overwhelms them all?This story is set in the 3rd year of Tianqi, when the Ming Dynasty was in rapid decline. It was a time of many natural disasters from meteorites to a mini ice age, drought and famine. Superstition reigned high as the peasants were starving and the emperor was widely said to have lost the Mandate of Heaven. The drama invests heavily in world building and weaves in many themes from the period and fantastical creatures from Chinese mythology 山海经/Classics of Mountains and Seas and 神异经 / Classics of Gods and Spirits. Even though the CGI is not the best, I appreciate the effort that went into how they blended history, fantasy and ancient lore together to make this an Oriental odyssey.
Unfortunately all the research and creativity that went into world building is wasted on the story's plot which hints heavily at a complexity that never materialises. For such a short drama, there are too many subplots touching on many themes that go nowhere. Even ignoring Sandrine Pinna's appalling Disney cartoon character acting, the entire Angelica/Pirates of the Caribbean arc adds nothing to the story. The time would be better spent fleshing out the motives of the Henggong cult and tying up the many loose ends to the story. I usually like Huang Xuan's acting and enjoyed his chemistry with Bo Yan but this is not his best role. Maybe it is the overuse of green screens but I caught him frequently out of the moment and staring blankly into space. Shen Rang is the only character that really moved me and I enjoyed this character design and portrayal the most.
The best things about this drama are that it does try to be different, it is short, some of the action scenes are pretty good and it is oddly enjoyable despite its lack of logical consistency. The ending is anti-climatic, doesn't hang together well, leaves loose ends and is disappointing overall. I am being generous in rating this as a 7.0/10.0.
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I previously saw Shin Min Ah in My Girlfriend Is A Gumiho and I loved her acting as Mi Ho in that drama. Her role in this movie is different, but her acting is really well done. I've never seen Kim Kang Woo or Ryoo Seung Bum in anything else, but I really enjoyed watching them in this movie (:
The music isn't anything special, nothing really stood out to me.
I definitely can see myself watching this movie again, I loved it (:
Overall - watch it! If you're looking for something cute and funny it's definitely worth looking into (:
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"LOLOHMYGOD HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL IN CHINESE LOLWTF SRSLY"
Now that you're all over the fact that this movie exists at all, let me tell you that this is actually an official Disney production.
... And one would not want to believe that while watching.
The reason I decided to watch this movie was because it's strikes me as the kind of movie you can't know exists - and then NOT watch it. I therefore curled up in a sofa with my friend and had a go, and I cannot count the amount of facepalms that happened that night.
First of all, the story differs a little bit from the original HSM that we all (well, some) know and love. In the original movie, the story has quite deep substanse compared to this one (and it pains me more to write it than you can ever imagine). The characters hardly interact with eachother, but seem to be perfect best friends and enemies regardless of this. It just baffles me. I was also very confused by parts of the story, since I completely lost track of what was going on at some times. Not to mention, it took me about half an hour to figure out who the main characters were. That's never a good sign.
The acting was dreadful. At times it was just embarrassing to watch, and the characters were so shallow it hurt me to the bone. I can't completely blame this on the actors though, because the writers didn't exactly give them much to work with. The dramatic line coming from Poet (Chinese Zac Efron) after he was "betrayed" (seriously, what actually happened there?) by his Ning Ning (Chinese Vanessa Hudgens) will follow me in a sarcastic matter forever more - "I tried drowning my pain in water, but it seems my pain has learned how to swim." Deep stuff there, I'll give you that. It just doesn't work in the setting at all.
You're all probably wondering about my "high" music score. That is because of two specific songs in the movie - if they had been choreographed differently and sliiiiight modifications had been made to the vocals, I would not have hated it. I actually still find myself, annoying as it may be, humming to one of them.
If I ever were to rewatch this, it would have to be in 10 years when I don't remember what happened and want a good laugh. Though I really doubt it will happen. As I said, it's the kind of movie you just HAVE to watch, but one time is enough.
So why would I rate it a 5? Well, despite my negative attitude and low scores, I actually had a blast watching it. It was so awkward and embarrassing at times that I couldn't help myself from laughing (mostly at parts not meant to be funny...), and it has given me a lot of inside jokes with the friend I watched it with. And for that, I treasure it.
I would recommend people who haven't watched it to watch it just so you can say 'Hey, I watched High School Musical in chinese!'. People may look at you funny, but some may also laugh their asses of and join the epidemic themselves (because that is what I'm trying to start here - or maybe not). That's the kind of atmosphere you'd have to go for to watch this movie, because if you're looking for a movie with a plot and substance, then you ought to look elsewhere.
Still, I will never say I regret to have watched it.
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