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Utterly brilliant from start to finish
Wow!From start to finish this is a brilliant drama. The main characters have so much chemistry (even when she does want to stab him in the eye with a chopstick) and their support teams are fabulous with plenty of amusing moments to further elevate this story. Fabulous costumes, fight scenes and attention to detail round off this production.
Not gonna lie, there is plenty of blood and drama with believable bad guys and the odd death thrown in..
Had me hooked very quickly and binge watched the whole thing as I just couldn’t put it down.
Will definitely watch this again.
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I loved Sprout because it really captures the essence of that first love, and it does so with great cinematography, beautiful piano music, catchy rock tunes, and lots of eye candy. The intense feeling that you're destined, the incredulity that you're not the one for the one you love, the fact that you can feel both agony and exhilaration at the same time when you catch a glimpse of the person you like when you're going down the steps in school. It also shows quite well how one refuses to accept that one has stopped loving someone and moved on to someone else--that first disappointment in oneself and in love in general.
The show is very slow, but I think this is because with the fixed images, the piano music, the seemingly simple scenes, they want you to savor how intense and unique the commonest of moments may seem to you when you're first in love. Perhaps this series works better for those over 30 who know love changes flavor after a few years, who knows.
The acting is a bit off, particularly in Jesse Lewis, who is gorgeous but has much to learn. Miku is awkward, but it does not go poorly with her character, and Chinen Yuri displays all the warmth and charm that one would need to fall for a boy in high school. All in all, I think this relatively young cast did a pretty good job.
I encourage you to give it a try if you enjoy romantic stories that are slow, understated, and emotionally honest. But it is certainly not one of those exciting shows that have you gripping the edge of your seat.
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Better than expected, less cringe than expected and some fluff...
With WeTV it's always a gamble, either we get crap or we get medicore and only sometimes we get something good. In this case I would say it was "good". While the first two episodes did not catch me it got better with every episode after but of course the finale did disappoint me. Not because it was very bad, it was just lazy writing. Solving conflicts with drama and of course the bad guy had to die and lots of fanservice. This could have been resolved in a better way.In this case I won't be too tough on them, because besides some cringe, they depicted the characters very well, all of them grow throughout the series and there were even subtle moments which I like the most. If facial expression and eye contact can tell a story without words, it's perfect for me. Compared to "Monster Next Door" this was lighyears ahead. Both actors excelled in their roles and they felt so much more into it too. The side-couple was the secret star of this show, because while they had not so much screentime, they did the best with it and the "cat and mouse game" was funny to watch.
Other reviews will depict all the ins and out, but I'm quite busy today so I will keep this short. Cinematography, music, settings, props and so on was top notch. I felt entertained and storywise they put some thought into it. The only shortcoming is the finale which felt rushed in the drama-department, because they needed time for the fanservice. But overall worth a watch.
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1A Good Foundation
So... you want to get into Pete and Kao's story but don't know where to start? That was exactly my dilemma! A quick Google search told me that this three-part compilation by GMMTV was all you really needed in order to continue onto Dark Blue Kiss, the sequel series. I do think it accomplished what it meant to do, as most of the reviews on the full series (Kiss Me Again) claim to have just skipped to the Pete/Kao scenes anyway. But that doesn't mean it was smooth sailing.The first half of this mini-series was rough for me to watch. It literally does what it claims to— it just shows the scenes with Pete and Kao. That's it. And with so much of the show and overall storyline cut out, there is really no tangible plot to follow. The animosity between the two of them, without any context, was boring at best and annoying at worst. Also— there were SO many fight scenes??? And it felt like they were one right after the other, so repetitive and boring, but that was mostly because this compilation doesn't show the scenes that happen in between. Still, it got to be a bit much.
I did end up enjoying the second half much more, especially once the jealousy and actual feelings emerged. I don't totally love the characters yet, but I'm looking forward to watching a full series about them!
Ultimately, this is probably the best way to give a viewer the background so they can jump into the next show, but I'm really hoping Dark Blue Kiss is miles better than this was.
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Eh.
The number of tropes in this drama is sky high, but luckily it's a relatively short drama so it's still palatable...Yes, we got the some lead loses their memory (that's actually the setup of this whole drama so this isn't a spoiler)
and then we got some parents that don't want the leads to be together
and some jealous second leads / random girls
leads thinking the other lead is together with a second lead
etc
you know, we got ALL of these -sigh- (just missing the Korean drama kimchi slap and the water splash scenes lol
But I still gave it a >7 because Li GeYang is real cute and I'm glad that our second lead Cai Yasi (from The Love Equations) finally got rom com first lead and doesn't have to watch his best friend fall in love with someone else!!!
And the leads' interactions are pretty cute. When they aren't fighting.
I don't know. This is a good time filler and cure for the Cai Yasi second male lead syndrome. But other than that, there are much cuter / more original rom coms than this.
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IT WAS SO GOOD I WANNA GIVE IT A 100000 BUT THATS NOT POSSIBLE SO I GIVE IT A 10
NOT ME WAS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE. I didnt review while it still aired because I was curious to see how everything would play out. If the writer could maintain the plot and keep it as good as it was until the very end.The storyline was one of a kind. I get to watch dramas with such unique plots once in a while. Both the characters and actors grew on me so much.
White and Black - their bond was just so lovely. No matter how far they were or how different they became they still managed to portray SIBLING LOVE/BOND at its best! I think this is the best character of GUN I've ever seen and it will forever remain with me.
Sean really grew on me. I found myself wondering what his character was about to rooting for him every sunday, crying while he cried and smiling while he smiled.
YOK & DAN - while some people may have hated Dan for his decisions. I understood everything he did. Sometimes loving someone is not so easy and I was so glad Yok could understand that. I loved this couple every step of the way.
Gram & Eugene - I had reservations about them and may have rolled my eyes at them until towards the end but I came to understand. As much as I wanted Black with Eugene, I admit he really did hurt her and she deserves to be happy with whoever she chooses.
Gumpa - Oh my Gumpa! What a character! And Grams ex girlfriend was such a queen! I was hoping Todd wouldn't be what I suspected but everyone cannot be good. He wanted same thing as Black but just choosed a different direction. It really hurt to be see how their story played out!
I'm not sure how they managed to make not a single scene boring in this drama. I cannot think of a single thing wrong with it. Watching dramas these good has raised my standard so high, even more higher than it was before. This was a MASTERPIECE! The plot, the actors, the music! I have to say i dont think any other show can beat this anytime soon.
One last thing! THE MUSIC WAS 💋 WHOEVER was in charge of the music deserves a Bonus!
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Story: Aside from loving the teen/school romance theme [Yuma and Tsubasa were pretty cute], I was mainly drawn in because of the mystery plot revolving around a certain classmate's death. As the story jumps between the past and present, the mystery begins to tie or "piece" all the main characters together and delve into their own personal lives and innermost feelings/secrets as they search for answers about their classmate's past. One thing I will say in advance is that you may love or hate the ending. I actually liked it, but the only thing I'm not completely satisfied with is that some questions were left unanswered. Nevertheless, the story itself is really engaging as there are so many twists and turns that have you guessing until the very end. You'll also find that the romance in this drama depicts a darker side of love as each character has their own secrets and struggles that prevent them from being true to the people around them or unable to let go.
Acting: I thought the acting was decent. There could've been a bit more improvement, but they still did a good job. I must say though that Nakayama Yuma played his distorted character Hikaru really well. I found myself charmed by him one minute, and chilled by him the next. Definitely a big step up from his Koishite Akuma days.
Music: Everything was great. The songs went nicely with the characters, I loved Yuma's opening song, and even the matchbox twenty song went well with the drama.
Rewatch Value: I'd probably watch this drama again because it was a refreshing take on a teen drama. I suppose the mystery being solved might not be as fun as the first time, but the relationships between the characters and the underlying messages about life makes it worthwhile to watch again. I'd say give this drama a chance if you like teen/school romance stories or mysteries =]
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This review may contain spoilers
This part is not yet the actual "review" but some sort of a disclaimer.There are scenes in the season that will show substance abuse with unsafe sex practice, rape, implied prostitution and self-harm. And they did not in any way sugar coat it. If these kind of scenes are the things you don't want to see, move on to a different drama/series.
From Season 1, no character is a student. That should give the viewer an idea and a mindset that this is very distinguishable from the typical Thai BL series/drama as it involves school and students. All characters since Season 1 are consenting adult.
Now with that laid out, the proper review:
STORY
================
This season, "Final Call", is how you ruin a good enough prequel.
The plot could have taken a more direct path and should not have included frivolous scenes.
Yes, in the novel Pop will become a Flight Attendant and Oat will be a monk... However, this season feels like it is beating around the bush.
Case in point: Bo and Pent. Even if you take away their scenes, when they are together, you can still get at the outcome of the drama. As for Mo and Nick, they should have limit their airtime. I for one like a proper "closure" for the character of Mo. For the characters of Newyear and Win, they did not directly interacted with Oat, Pop, Bo and Pree; so my question is: "Why include them?". The only logical reason I can think of is that the are preparing a spin-off for their relationship. And to think that their relationship is so messed up, I am inclined not to watch it if ever there would be one. But for Newyear alone, I might watch it.
If the production team did that, remove Bo-Pent and Newyear-Win; and lessen Mo and Nick scenes, they could have include more sweet scenes for the lead characters, Oat and Pop after all, they are the focus of series since season 1. Unfortunately, that did not happened. And give you the impression that they cut corners just to included the said "unnecessary" scenes.
Last rant on how could Oat-Pop more airtime. The side story. I know it is pretty important for series/drama to advertise their sponsors' products and services, however, in this specific series, it is lengthy to say the least. Like in My Tee/Cause You're My Boy. I am wondering, why WTD-FC did do what they did in SS1, when Pent was doing a liver stream, they should have infused the Blued app in this season. Like other thai series, they show their sponsors products within the scenes of the episode. If Blued had a big "advertisement investment" in this series, then sorry, it somehow ruined the series.
For the story proper... What is the greatest sacrifice that you can make to see the person you love most be happy even it means not being with that person or to achieve his/her goal in life. That where the script writer should have focus on this season.
And achieving your ambition or goal in life can make you happy? Will it make you feel complete and contended? Or will it leave an empty space in you knowing that someone made the ultimate sacrifice just for you to be where you want to be?
Unfortunately, Episode 8 did not salvage the entire season as it has damaged beyond redemption eventhough it is the best among the rest in terms of content and emotions.
The quotes: "Fortune favors the bold", "Fortune favors the brave", "Fortune favors the strong", for this specific series, did "Fortune" favored anyone? Or left everyone broken? Or do we need to see the silver lining amidst what happened? Try to be positive and hopeful perhaps? Ultimately, after you watched this series, you decide what will happen next. You make your own ending. Will you unearth the time capsule or just leave it buried for the years to come?
ACTING/CAST
================
Episode 8 showed how Strong and Oreo mature in their acting ability. Needless to say, how Strong shifted his personality from season 1 to this season is a noteworthy performance. For Oreo's improvement is his facial expression. It became more expressive and shows more depth in his emotions.
And as for the rest,they have just been consistent how they acted from season 1.
MUSIC/SOUNDS
================
I never thought when slowing the pace of this song, On Dao Dtok (Romanized) original: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiXp7xjDru0 and the slow version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4dujt2ObJQ , will drastically change your emotion. Evidently in Episode 8.
Boy Sompob's OST ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbLyKTGCH6c ) is a fitting ending for this series.
REWATCH VALUE
================
As it is badly produced with cringe-worthy scenes. I could not see myself re-watching this. With the dark themes (not in terms of cinematography) in the plot that did not have any bearing in the totally of the story can throw off anyone from liking this.
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No development, no depth, no meaning, but nevertheless, love, I guess...
What a waste of potencial, seriously. I don't understand how they took 10 episodes with the FML being the same as she was in the beginning: a girl with an insecurity about relationships. I liked Nabi in the first episodes because for me she's a real character and her emotions are really genuine. But we're talking about a drama, and us as viewers, especially women's, wanted a good development for her. Every character in any drama needs to be developed because we have to know that these characters learn something about the difficulties they were into. What Nabi really needed was a good time ALONE, to focus on herself but it seems like the message that this drama wanted to pass to us is that even Nabi being insecure about Jaeeon`s feelings and even him hurting her in many ways she just likes him so fuck everything. Ofc we can all have insecuritys in any relationship but I think that Nabi ending up with someone she's insecure about and almost went crazy for, was really wrong. At least they could have waited a little more and then, years later, when both characters matured, they could think about being together.And omg, it was so hard to empathize with Jaeeon. Sure, Nabi knew what she was into and Jaeeon not wanting to date isn't the problem, but a normal person who have a different thought about relationship wouldn't be chasing a girl that thinks way different than him. And beyond that, this character seemed so cynical for me... when answering Nabi's questions about the women he got involved with, he always blamed them, as if they were the ones who were chasing him. When Dohyeok tells him to stop fooling Nabi, he wonders if he could mess with her that much, as if he didn't knew he messes with her. I seriously couldn't understand him at all, even when he seemed to care about her and changed for her. Knetz blamed Song Kang`s acting but actually I think its the script fault as we saw before that Song Kang is in fact, a good actor. The character itself just don't have depth and it doesn't look genuine. For me, we end up not knowing important things about him and thats why I end up not liking him and not understand him. (and the script putting that scene with his mother to try to justify his personality was just cliche as well and not enough for me to understand him, he stills end up with no depth).
Dohyeok for the other side was perfect, but just another perfect SL. Altought I really liked him and preferred him over Jaeeon, Nabi ending up with him would be too forced because she never liked him or gave him any type of signs that she could like him. He really was there just to make Jaeeon`s character jealous. The side characters were definitely more interesting that the main characters and I really liked that we had a LGBT couple, I think that this is the first time I see a LGBT couple in a drama who isn't mainly LGBT.
Nevertheless had interesting topics such as the perspective of not wanting to date, abusive relationships and insecurities, but with main characters not having a good development and being persons who is difficult to empathize, its really hard to enjoy this. We can't say that the main leads doesn't have chemistry, because they really have an insane chemistry, but when we see how this drama is going, even the hot scenes with the main leads and even Song Kang being a really attractive character, things just won't be interesting anymore. And altought the drama tried to portraiy real things, the ending was just cliche as we had one more "problematic"guy who changed himself for the girl he likes. It’s a shame because for me this drama had a lot of potencial. Nabi`s emotions was real and I liked that Jaeeon was a different main lead with a different vision of relationship. They just wasted everything.
PS: One thing I really liked was the cinematography and the OST, they were really good. Besides that, the acting wasn't bad but not the best as well.
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I have no words on how much I truly enjoyed this drama. I have been meaning to watch this upon seeing the trailer, mostly because I have been a fan of Leon Zhang since V Love days and this will be the first drama I'll be watching with him as the main lead. He already had a few dramas with him as the main but sadly those are not subbed at all. Hence I thought this wont be subbed either and temporarily put it on the side. Thankfully though, it got completely subbed and I ended up binge watching this in two days lol. The chemistry between the two leads is off the charts and is definitely the main reason on why this drama quickly became one of my favourite cdramas this year. Their interactions and conversations are realistically convincing and amusing that I just want to squeal every time I see them on screen together. Their continuous bickering is just too funny to watch. And even though they did not become a couple till later in the drama, I still enjoyed watching their banters and flirty acts lol. No offence but Leon and Eleanor have done their roles so well that I don't think anyone could have pulled it off the same way.
The story is simple and does not have a lot of angst. I found the ocean research stuff interesting, as well as the Poseidon and Amphitrite backstory. Although I may get how not a lot of people will be interested with this and might find it boring (y'all can get away with skipping those parts tho lol). It did drag a bit in the middle, but I would say still manageable because of the two leads. The chemistry is truly the driving force of this drama I must say.
I loveeee the character of Ye Hai so much - how he's goofy most of the time but could also be serious and responsible when it needs to be. Although An Fei did not like him at first, he tried really hard and continued to show how much he likes her despite her indifference towards him. Ugh Ye Hai is just a boyfriend material alright?? I also like how they justified the actions of the characters - how they aren't really evil without a reason and how most of them changed towards the good in the end. I truly appreciate the writers for that.
The ending is a bit lacking but atleast it's a happy ending. As an avid fan of cdramas, I'm already thankful that the two leads ended up together in the end cos I honestly don't know what to do if they didn't T___T
Overall, I enjoyed this drama so much and would totally recommend it.
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honestly I am not a huge fan of this type of drama but somehow this one appeals to me
the girls in the drama wasn't annoying and I liked that they played nice side characters
Shiiba is such a nice character and this drama is basically all about how he never gives up
I marathoned this drama all the way til the end and enjoyed everything
The fights scenes were great
alot of Bromance
and there was a hint of romance but not that much
If you liked something like Gokusen I would say this is something you would enjoy
I LOVED the soundtrack the music in here rocked!
It's really fun to watch the main 4 fight and it never gets repetative
The main 4 were such great actors all in different personalities too
This is Highly recommended so 10/10
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Deeper than expected and not all is fluff and sometimes 2nd chances work out...
This was a surprising series. While the premise was nothing we hadn't seen yet, it was done in a good way. Some things can't be changed even when you try and some things change without you doing anything. While they could us not spare all of the clichés, most of the time they approached all the problems and conflicts in a mature way which is rare in thai BLs.We get a new cast which was not experienced but did a good job with the help of veteran actors in the form of their pas and mas. Flute playing "Win" is the only young actor with experience but he was also the executive producer and he founded his own company to bring this show to life which is quite impressive. And he did something right. It's not just fluff, it's also serious, it's not childish but the emotional stress of all the characters was played out very nicely. Of course they have room for improvement but for a first installment it was good. While chemistry was good, they struggeled a bit with intimate scenes. Of course the show did benefit that they could play the instruments and they can sing. The only thing not resolved in a satisfactory way imho was Nuts conflict with his father (and his dislike for music). It's quite open-ended but I won't nitpick too much on that.
Overall this was an enjoyable series with dark undertones, good OST and a nice vibe. If you have passed up this show so far, you should give it a chance.
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Story wise, it's unique. The whole seeing smells is something I never would've thought would work but it was all written in extremely well in my opinion. There was plenty of suspenseful scenes throughout the whole drama which kept me hooked for at least 14 episodes. I'd say overall the story was planned nicely, some things were left dry but had they gone into anything more there would've been more then 16 episode, and I think 16 episode was just enough for this drama.
Cast I really, really loved. I liked Yoochun and Se Kyung as the leads (heard people aren't fond of her acting but most like her in this) Their chemistry was enjoyable to watch, especially their comedic scenes. But what really made this drama was Goong Min and all the other character actors. I've never seen a drama with Goong Min and boy did he impress me. He played his character so perfectly it'll be hard for me not to imagine Kwon Jae Hee whenever I see him. The police force was always entertaining to watch. Jin Seo's serious character fit in too well with the three detectives, though they were somewhat useless at time, they were much needed comic relief at other times.
Music wise, I can't really remember much, just the music they always used for Kwon Jae Hee (which I weirdly liked) but OSTs weren't anything to remember.
Overall it was a good drama but nothing to be wow'd about. Unfortunately the last few episodes were kind of a disappointment considering how good the 13ish episodes were, hence the low score. I felt after a while they geared away from Cho Rim's ability and it was hardly used like I thought it would be. Even with the disappointment, I don't regret watching this, and I would recommend people give this drama a try. It's also nice that it's only 16 episodes so anyone could really plow through this drama.
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