Reviews

You have to love the craxy

So I would recommend this if you like short dramas and all the dumpster fire craziness that they bring. It is a complete guilty pleasure but I do love this kind of drama. It's short, it's crazy and most importantly fun and entertaining. The chemistry between the leads was on fire. I wish I knew who directed it because I would totally look up the next one they did, it was beautifully shot. And lastly I wish that long dramas would take some cues from this kind of format because watching leads kiss - all that money and it's like watching someone kiss a dead fish. You certainly don't have that issue with this kind of drama. Also they're not related to each other and that's all I'm going to say about that. Definitely will rewatch when I want something fun and slightly wrong.

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C-Drama Chaos Mode: Activated

This one snuck up on me like “just one episode before bed” and next thing I know I’m fully surrendered to the chaos, snacks abandoned, morals questioned. It’s basically the Chinese cousin of A Business Proposal—same DNA, same unhinged joy, zero chill—and yes, I adored every second of it.

The vibe? Immaculate.
The pacing? On fast-forward in the best way.
The acting, comedy, chemistry? All firing on all cylinders like they had a group chat titled Let’s Be Unreasonable.

The leads are ridiculously lovable with sizzling chemistry that does not ask for permission, and because it’s a short drama, nothing overstays its welcome. No filler, no staring contests that last three episodes—just plot, banter, chaos, repeat.

And the side characters?? Absolute MENACES. Scene-stealing, mess-instigating, chaos-manufacturing legends. Every time they show up, something unhinged is guaranteed to happen and I was living for it.

I’m only on episode 14 and I am begging this drama not to catch the classic C-drama second-half flu where everything randomly collapses for no reason. Let me have this. Let the chaos live. Let me stay entertained.

Final verdict so far: a hidden gem for when you want joy, speed, chemistry, and nonsense served hot and unapologetically chaotic. Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys laughing loudly at their screen like a possessed gremlin.


✨Update (Ep. 15–24)✨

Oki y’all, sooooo, real talk—the second half got a tiny bit tits-up. Episodes 15–19? Absolute silly chaos on energy drinks., both leads waved goodbye to their braincells, and chaos briefly reigned supreme. But honestly, for this genre, we’ll mostly let it slide. The credit scene of ep. 19? Chef’s kiss hilarious—had me cackling like a lunatic.

The last couple of episodes smoothed out most of my frustration. The leads? Still absolute delights. The ML shines as a goofball romantic, and the chemistry never dips—it just flexes in slightly silly, chaotic ways. By ep. 23 they FINALLY get together and manage to cover pretty deep waters, bro. Enough to make you forgive all prior braincell casualties.

So yes, the second half stumbles a little, but it still delivers a cozy, mood-lifting rom-com experience. Ended up grinning, heart warmed, and fully satisfied. Sometimes you just gotta ride the chaos to the cuddly finale—and this one nails it 🫶

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1) The reason I watched this :

I’ve seen the anime so I was excited to see the film adaptation.

2) Storyline/Plot:

*I already saw the anime so the story was known to me; I would say it was a fast forward script from the one in the anime. Writers cut the 26 episodes in a two hours film which made it lose so many cores compared to the original one.

*Now the review for those who haven’t watched the anime or read the manga:

Positive points:

*The film was a light school romantic story wrapped up with some melodramatic feelings without falling into the tragedy level. It actually belongs to the “Slice of life” category.

*Main genres:

--->Romance: Like any slice of life melodramatic story, the romantic concept was sad while being innocent; it was interesting because the plot was divided between the past and the present.
However, the romantic development was way too fast to contain a lot of depth yet the important feelings were there.

--->Life: There were those moments where you feel that this story touches real life; it makes you think about your first love, your first relationship and the tragedies that can happen anytime when you least expect it. Although it was important to have those elements that touches life but the existence of hope is what made it more appealing.

--->School: It’s your usual Japanese school drama, it was an important concept to make plot changes happen.

Negative Points:

*It was very fast, it doesn’t leave you time to think about the story’s core. I did rather that they made it into a drama instead of a film.

Story: 7.5/10.

3) Acting/Cast:

*It was really good to see Ikuta Toma in this film since it has been a long time that I saw him in something; his Yano portrayal was actually quite well.
On the other hand, Yoshitaka Yuriko was good enough to keep me interested but I can’t say the same about the rest of the cast because many actors didn’t deliver enough feelings to make it sound real.

*As for characters, they were brought to life but I have to admit that they lacked depth in many aspects and it all goes back to the fast forward storyline.
Yano was a good character but it didn’t have many sadness moments like it’s supposed to.
Takahashi was less annoying than the anime (which is a good point).
I hated the way Takeuchi character appeared here, it was uninteresting when it’s supposed to be one of the most captivating characters in the story but again it’s all due to the fast script.

*Other characters were simply neuter to watch, no special feelings about them.

*Appreciated Character: Yamamoto Yuri was an impressive character here because many plot changes depended on her existence.

*Relationships:

--->Romance: The romantic concept was good enough but it lacked depth so the chemistry wasn’t that great.

--->Friendship: This is a school drama so it’s supposed to have many friendships yet there weren’t many moments to talk about.

--->The triangle: The one that had Yamamoto Yuri was interesting but the one with Takeuchi was simply ridiculous to watch.

Cast: 7/10.
Acting: 8/10.

4) The ending

*There’s Bokura Ga Ita Kouhen so this can’t be considered as an ending that’s why I won’t rate it for now.


5) My impression (how did it affect me):

*To start with I was impatiently waiting for this film to come out, I wasn’t fully satisfied but I wasn’t disappointed either because it was fair enough compared to the anime.
*It felt good to see some characters come to life while others seemed really annoying plus I was bothered by the quick script; the fast events didn’t allow me to feel the depth of tragedies presented in this storyline.

*Is this film memorable: Maybe, I am not sure if I should remember this because I rather remembering the anime instead. However, I may change my mind after watching Part two.

My impression: 7/10.

6) Overall:

*If you like innocent romantic school dramas then you would like this.
*If you watched the anime then you may want to give this a go.

*Bokura Ga Ita Zenpen was a good film on the emotional scale, it had many interesting turns but it was rushed in many plot changes. Overall, it was faithful enough as a live action adaptation.

Overall: 8/10.

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Herbal root to the rescue

I personally really like this type of genre, where a living thing/creature suddenly turns into a human. The female lead is an herbal root called ban lan geng. She practices for a 1000 year to be a plant deity. She basically has powers. The male lead is the herbal lord and he has been poisoned. The female lead as a plant gets eaten by a doctor's daughter, and now she shares the body with the daughter. The doctor's daughter really wants to marry the herbal lord, so she ask ban lan geng to help court the herbal lord. At the same time ban lan geng is attracted to the herbal lord for his herbal air If she gets hurt and takes a whiff of that she becomes better. lol of course for her to best take in the herbal air is to kiss. there is quite a few times the female lead and male lead kiss. Initially the male lead is turned off by her because she keeps asking for him to marry her. He slowly falls for her.

Female lead is a super cute , and silly character. The actress who played her is vey suited for ancient fairy/deity drama Wouldn't say the male lead is super handsome but he's not that bad looking. I would give their chemistry and romantic part of the story a 9/10. They are super cute and have a lot chemistry when they kiss. Some are pretty passionate, they make it believable. It's also just really cute when they are together.

However story wise, i felt it wasn't a smooth development. They basic storyline involves an evil witch/priest who is against the herbal lord/trying to take him down. The evil witch uses the doctor family's enemy and try to scheme them. The female lead often times protects the herbal lord. The beginning was more light i guess... getting to know the female lead, then falling in love with her, finding her true identity. The witch however tricks the female lead into believing she will cause him to die if she takes too much of the herbal air from the herbal lord. Then later she finds out about how she isnt just a ordinary herbal plant and that her past life had relations to the herbal lord.... and some other things happen which pushes the story in a weird way, in which the female lead deja vu / said the same lines before in her past life. ( hopefully that makes sense without spoiling too much) i would rate the story 7/10

Overall not a bad watch, it was interesting, except i skipped some of the annoying storyline >_< . definitely love the romance part of it:)

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"Why did you come into my life and make things difficult for me? Why?"

That scene and that line summarize the whole season. This shows us a cinema!

The whole cast is great. A script with quality and top-notch storytelling. The score and pace is everything. Even though it only has 8 episodes, this feels like a 16 long ep-drama for me and its a compliment.

It was really good, hence I recommended you to see it and better if you watch it slowly, don't binge it. Take time to grasp the happenings.

Anyways a great show. Just prepare yourself, for this series uses our brain cells. lol.
And worry not for all questions were answered in S1.

P.S
Excited for season 2!. I see you "No Caller ID". :')

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enjoyable content (update watch it on Shortime)

Overall: this was a well done short series, I was frustrated that it took 13 days on TopReels but later it was picked up on ShortTime and would take 5 days to watch (my invite link is https://playground.shortime.app/en/invite/NKNIWI - the code is NKNIWI (those are all capital letters, that's the capital letter i) and it should get you a bonus). Aired 64 episodes less than 2 minutes each. I originally watched episodes 1-5 on the TopReels YouTube channel https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9f1q9tF6gKx3gxFXFjxdfmSZtHIlrWDa&si=JmwUArr3ARBWhrBh (they also have episodes 6-9) and then the rest on the TopReels app https://topreels.com/

Content Warnings: non con picture taking/posting, stalking, blackmail, manipulation

What I Liked
- clear premise
- sweet moments
- mystery aspect
- production value (thought they framed things well for the vertical format)

Room For Improvement
- the addition of the (realistic) drama was good but too much time was spent on it, wanted more with the leads
- episode lengths were just too short for a drama, wish they released longer combined episodes or even a 2 hour movie version
- no or not enough consequences for two characters
- Siwoo had an odd lack of reaction to learning something about Doyun, wanted them to have even a short conversation about it

TopReels Different Watch Options/Costs (as of April 2024), bonus check in/7 ads reset every day at noon EDT
All - watch the first 0-5 on YouTube or app which are free (can watch 6-9 on YouTube but will have to re-watch 7, 8 and 9 because you can't skip to certain episodes in the app). All paid episodes 7-64 cost 2900 coins in total.
1. $24.99USD - buy the 2500 coin and 1000 bonus, if the bonus isn't all given at time of purchase, you will need to watch a few ads or watch over 2 days
2. (1-3 days) $21.99USD - buy the 4400 weekly pass (2000 coins immediately and then 2400 with daily logins) to watch episodes 7-64, will either need to watch a few ads or watch over 3 days
3. (6 days) $7.49USD - watch episodes 7-16 for free with ads, do the bonus check in and watch the bonus ads to give you episodes 17-19 (then need 2300 coins), Day 2 do the bonus check in/ads 20-23, Day 3 same thing 24-27, Day 4 28-31, Day 5 32-35, Day 6 check in/watch 4 ads then watch episode 36, 37 then buy $7.49USD first time recharge to get 700 coins and 700 bonus to watch all the way to the end
4. (13 days) Totally free option will take you about 13 days to watch all 64 episodes, need to do the daily check in (unfortunately resets back to 10 after day 7) and the 7 daily ads every day, on the last day you need to check in and watch 2 ads in order to get enough coins to watch the final episode (assuming you've done the check in/ads every single day previously)

App Pros
- there is a totally free option, it just takes longer
- didn't need to create a login, remembered where I left off
- episodes remain unlocked once you have unlocked them so you can re-watch episodes
- episodes will auto-unlock/play once you have enough coins

App Cons
- the daily check in bonus resets after day 7, should keep it at 50 coins after day 7
- the 7 free daily ads and check in bonus were not enough, people should be able to earn at least 6 (I'd say 10) episodes each day since the episodes are so short
- you can't skip to certain episodes, must watch all episodes in order the first time
- have to wait 30 seconds in between the 7 daily ads
- it was a bit buggy, I closed the app a few times and re-opened it which seemed to fix the "ads not loaded" message

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Some dramas just click with you. It doesn't even have to have a spectacular cast or an intriguing storyline (both of which, it had). I don't normally watch C-dramas, but the reason I ventured into this was because I'm a big fan of fantasy dramas and the plot looked interesting. I wasn't expecting anything, but boy, was I surprised. It was love at first sight for me. I was hooked from the first episode. I'll try to explain why-
For fantasy drama lovers like me, the premise of the drama is interesting. It is by no means, unique, but nevertheless exciting to see. It was one of the dramas I looked forward to every week. And I'm glad to say I really really enjoy it (well 98% of it anyway, for the remaining 2% I wanted to find the screenwriter and kill him/ her, lol)
Despite it not being unique, the drama was able to elicit the right emotions from me, which truthfully, only very few dramas are able to do. I loved the hero, I hated the villain- it was just the way it's supposed to be.
I specially liked Wu Julan's character. FSF did such a wonderful job in portraying him. He's definitely not just another beautiful face! And the way he would smile (although it happened rarely)...*swoon*
The main couple was adorable. I was so so much invested in them. The way they slowly but steadily grew closer. I loved every minute of their screen time! Even the secondary couple had me intrigued to see how their story would unfold.
The female lead's acting was a bit awkward at times, specially in crying scenes, but I grew used to it with each progression of episode.
All in all, I enjoyed this drama very much. The ending was a bit disappointing (to say the least), but I enjoyed the remaining so much, I can't really hate the drama for it.
The OST of this drama was also really good, specially the ED song 'Echo'.
Do give this a try!

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Since no-one has written a review for this heartwarming and tender drama I decided to write one to give it some attention it deserves. The drama focuses on Yuzu's story as a mentally disabled young woman who raises a child against all odds. I thoroughly enjoyed watching this endearing drama. Having experience of working with children who have severe learning difficulties I found Yuzu's story very relatable. Their behavior is unpredictable and they do have difficulty in processing information but they feel emotions just like everyone else and just want to be accepted. The discrimination she faces are real, the challenges she faces are real and to go through all this while raising a child is truly inspiring. The drama pulls away from being too heavy by providing many lighthearted and warm moments between Yuzu and her daughter. It focuses on the importance of family and friendships and it demonstrated that with the right support and loving care people like Yuzu can thrive and succeed in society. The acting was brilliant by all the cast and no doubt Yuzu's daughter Himawari will steal your heart away. Personally this is why I love Japanese dramas so much because their simple stories can really capture the audience's heart. If you like very good quality, heartwarming and meaningful dramas then I can highly recommend Daisuki.

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Ok I'll just start off by saying even though its a parody remake... it wasn't actually that bad...
The only similar storyline was the fact that he's a rich son of a big company and that they go to a rich school. Other than that nothing was similar to the heirs or YCCFTS. The main guy just time travelled.
This drama actually had SO MUCH POTENTIAL if they made it into a proper drama...
It could have turned out to be a really good drama if it wasn't for its super duper short eps.
I actually liked how the story played out, but it was too short so everything was rushed...
Also due to low production, some scenes were really fake.. but i generally didn't mind that

Acting
So I've personally never seen any of the actors/actresses before so it was a nice experience.
I would look forward to their future works.

Music
The music surprised me a lot, I really like the opening song and I plan to download it.
The other tracks were great as well.

Rewatch
Yea it was a nice experience but it was so short. Finished it before i even realise what was going on.
I still might rewatch it though.

All in all, i'm just so agitated about the fact that this drama had so much potential except due to low production or whatever the reason, it became a short short drama with eps thats 15mins long.
People who have the time and is interested in the story can sure check it out. It doesn't take much time anyway. :)

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Bad Buddy related thoughts and sort of a review

When I first heard that Bad Buddy would be created, I was both excited and sceptical. Excited to see 'enemies to lovers' trope finally being played out and finally seeing Nanon in a BL series. Sceptical because I didn't know how much skinship with Nanon there would be and how it would be produced. Would we be only queerbaited into a bromance-style of a show? Should we lower our expectations?

And the first two episodes were like that. They were nicely done (GMM can produce quality shows like they're off the conveyor belt), but nothing too groundbreaking on how this would all play out.

All the way to the episode 4 when Pran's feelings were almost laid bare and Nanon's acting just peaked. And then we're getting the most ground breaking, emotionally investing, absolutely incredibly acted episode 5, which I've watched on repeat for 2 weeks straight. Which of background music I played when I was falling asleep. Which of I didn't need any translation of the dialogue because I knew that by heart. It just speaks volumes of the way "The Legendary Rooftop Scene" was played, how amazing actors Ohm and Nanon are. Later on we'd read that there were only 2 takes (crying and no crying) and that it was incredibly investing for the actors as well. Their hard work shows, because finishing this show, I still think of that rooftop scene and feel like we're all riding high from that and everything that was posted after it, was just a bonus.

This is a really simple story, as old as time, of lovers from two families that hate each other. You get this type of story IN EVERY SINGLE CULTURE. So does it stand out? Does it bring something extra to for example, world of BL?

It does. Even if you get this simple story with a bit predictable plot, the director P'Aof is not afraid of breaking the stereotypes and having important conversations about sexuality and prejudice that we really shouldn't be having anymore, that yet still perpetuate in other LGBT dramas. And I'm thankful for that.

And what he really does is to let his two stars, Ohm and Nanon shine and show off their acting skills. As we'd wait for the new episode, we'd read comments saying 'this scene was improvised by the actors', 'I just let them vibe in this scene and work it out by themselves' etc etc. At certain point it felt like 90% of PatPran scenes were improvised. And the chemistry between the two leads is incredible.

It feels that BB should be put in a manual on how to make a good BL series.

Story 8/10 (you've seen this before and you're gonna watch more of this again)
Acting 20/10 (opening OhmNanon temple)
Production 9/10 (few hiccups with editing and translation)
Music 10/10 (headphones are not enough, I want to inhale and exhale the music, I want to BE the rooftop music)
Rewatch value 10/10 (I've already rewatched it around 30 altogether, gonna rewatch some more just to feel something)
Overall 10/10 (because legally I can't give a higher score on this website)

And a shoutout to the BB comments section on MDL, especially D Rey, CyreneB, kru, hanabii, Mermaid, TheGORJUSMARSH and BenedictTan - thank you for your thoughts, support, replies etc. You made the experience of watching BB even better!!

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Annoying Secondary Characters

Let me go straight to the points. For me, this is an annoying drama. Despite the fact that Deng Lun is one of my favorite actors, the story, dialogues and acting (apart from Deng Lun’s) are definitely lacking. Most of the characters are super annoying, making me want to throw the pillows at the TV most of the time. The story seems to go around and around. The logic of the story and characters is outrageous and unfathomable. On top of that, the dubbing is super bad with lips not synching. Everything is a cliche and predictable. 

Having being so critical of this drama, to be fair, I want to praise its music which is pretty good and I have truly enjoyed it.

If you have better dramas to watch, don't waste time on this one unless you want to watch Deng Lun, or you like Republic era dramas.

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This drama was a slow paced filler romance. (The story doesn't really start to go anywhere until around episode 6.) Although I love both lead actors, the first couple of episodes were sort of awkward, and I wasn't sure how I even felt about it. I wanted to support the actors, but the drama was just sort of...meh. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it. It was just average, and that's why it got a 7 overall for me. I rated much lower for the storyline because everything except the main lead parts and their romance was just superficial.

That was the one part of this show that I really did enjoy - seeing Soo Ho blossom and become his true self under the care of Geu Rim. I like that Geu Rim was the mature and stable person in this show. She didn't have really any character growth because she didn't need any. She was calm and forth-right. She always had the perfect response to Soo Ho's (and PD Lee's) childishness. There were no huge conflicts and no noble idiocy, just a pure and sweet romance (the radio part of the show was almost an after-thought after the first half of the show and seemed to take a backseat instead of being anything major to the story.) Soo Ho could be very possessive and jealous, but because he was so child-like, cute and innocent about it, I really couldn't muster up any indignation over it. I was happy that Geu Rim was a woman that didn't let the men (Soo Ho and PD Lee) get away with bad behavior without calling them out on it.

Here is where the not so great part comes in. The story-line was problematic. The side characters really didn't have much to do, and their parts in the story were too shallowly developed to bear any weight in the story. While that made things very comfortable and easy for our lead couple, it also didn't give them any true conflict to resolve, which bored many viewers. I was ok with riding along this easy river of romance because I liked the leads honesty with each other and their resolute determination that they wouldn't let things come between them. The 'villains' that the show set up just sort of petered out about 3/4 through. Towards the end, they decided to make these thorns more sympathetic and less troublesome. Most things were resolved in neat little bows for us, very tidily and quickly. And the rest was sort of just let go. If the pacing had been better, I think they could have written a stronger story that would have been more compelling for us as viewers. Instead, they weakened out their own plot and it was already thin to begin with.

I wasn't bothered by the age difference between the actors as some people were. I am well aware that an actor doesn't have to be the same age as the character she plays. I had no issues at all with the leads that they cast for this. Now, I do have to say that the first several episodes, I wasn't thrilled with the styling choices they made for Soo Ho and Geu Rim. Soo Ho had some horrendous red hair - and red eyes to match. However, with his transformation, I could kind of see that maybe they were making an allusion to him becoming more of his 'real' self. Geu Rim also had hideously poufy curly hair and this served to make Kim So Hyun actually appear younger than her actual age rather than older, as her character was. Thankfully, they also toned down this style and she became more believable as a woman in her early 20's vs. a high school girl.

For what it's worth, if you are just looking for something light and don't mind an extremely shallow plot that just serves as a backdrop for a comfortable easy romance, then I would say this is what you are looking for in a rom-com. It's nothing ground breaking or 'never been done before', and it can be pretty cliché, so know that going in. If you are a jaded viewer who hates that sort of thing and/or needs something faster paced and a more solid plot, then you are going to want to take a hard pass on this one - it won't be for you.

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A great memory with a scent of frangipani

The story is really interesting, it was so sweet, so beautiful and so emotional. Even though I might try to find some loopholes or negative things..I'm blind lol because that was so perfectly done. The slow paced was not that slow paced to me, it's like following them with each scenes and get along with what they want to convey. I was invested in this serie and these characters. I really appreciated to wait each week to watch a new episode but I feel like I was waiting for so long lol
I feel like we have not only the romance part but also, the mystery and other interesting subjects that have brought up in this and that's why, it's worth to watch it.

I also really liked the colors / lightening, the props, the atmosphere of the serie. It has a really beautiful cinematography, so pleasing to watch. Even when I'm taking screenshot, it's like a painting (I'm a bit exagerating but still, I'm impressed by the quality of the scenes and the landscape). Nice clothes as well and they did a great job to convince us, we have travel time back in the 1920s! Even the editing part was nice as well.

Characters are so well written, even the female characters (especially Ueung Phueng, Fong Kaew and Mei) and I even liked the side characters. It's a breath of fresh air and I'm so proud that they didn't forget or left them out but the three outshine too in my opinion.

Every actors have brought their characters alive, they really did an excellent job to portray their role!
I'm also impressed by the main leads played by Nonkul and Bright, it's their first BL and I must say, they nailed it, that's unbelievable but it says it all that they are indeed such amazing actors. I love how they were so dedicated to their characters.

Lastly, I want to mention the original soundstracks and even the instrumental, really, really beautiful to listen and I even felt so nostalgic about it. It also match the scenes very well.

To me, this is seriously the best serie of this year but looking back, it might be also a hit if it was released a few years ago. Even time flies, it's still the best or atleast one of the best that I've watched).

I want to thank everyone who was behind this project (Director, production team, actors..) because this is one of my greatest memory.

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