Reviews

Soft friends to lovers

If you like slow burns taking their time and letting the characters become gradually ready for their future relationship, this one is for you. We follow two friends that gradually fell in love without knowing thé other felt thé samen wat but we discover them at the moment when they truth is about to be revealed. Thé story is not about the discovery of love but thé acceptation of it and it's more unusual. It can be frustrati'g and yet it's a reality for some and I love it got to be told.

I love soft stories, so I'm biased but this made me smile all along. This was just fluffy and I crave for fluffy shows.

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Slow as a snail, but the tiny daily life moments makes it special

We all know some JBLs are extremely slow, but this is slow to a standstill. On one hand we have Wataru who is aware of his feelings but to frightened to give into them and on the other hand there is Minato a steady, courages character who has his goal in mind all of the time and that is to be with Wataru.

What is especially mind boggeling is that the director of this show also did "My Personal Weatherman" and both shows could not be farther apart as they are. Weatherman is about miscommunication but both characters show a special desire to have sex with each other - not just for the sex because they do love each other. This time the countdown starts at 3698 days more than 10 years and it's a very slow process.

Especially for western viewers to watch this snail pace is a bit hard and frustrating, because it's not in our culture. While life is very fast paced in Japan, in Europe we have something called "life-work balance". Our goal is not life for work, but just work for life and enjoy life as much as possible and this contradiction also shows in this show. Minato got a job and left for three years not because he wanted to, because he needed to. This was also the point in the story where Wataru realized that he is really in love. But when Minato returns after three years he still denies his feelings and hurt Minato as well.

Of course, because of the title, we all know they will end up together, but it was a really slow process. I personally would have wished they would have packed all the eleven episodes in just eight with less flashbacks, which would have led to a better pacing. But even while it was slow they created a special atmosphere. There is no drama per se, there are many small moments which drive the characters, the glances, the intimacy in just doing little things. Also of note is the positive messaging even with grandpa who said "I don't understand it, but as long as you are happy, I'm happy" which pulls this show closer to reality.

Production quality was very good, except the "night scenes". I can see clearly that many where not filmed at night but done with not so good CGI especially the star night. And of course I wished they had the kiss-scenes like in "My Personal Weatherman". But besides that, there is nothing to complain about. In the times we live in this show gives us a little bubble to be happy and to slow down ourselves. I can only say, I liked it regardless of it's flaws.

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Great potential but dwindled halfway through...

The series started off as a solid 8.5, particularly around our main lead. His beginnings were intriguing and unique compared to many other cultivation series I've seen. I really appreciate the time they took to build this foundation.

The ML's cultivation journey kept me locked on the screen until about halfway through the episodes. I've never read the novel but the plot started to feel discombobulated as well as his interactions with those around him. His thought process of consistently living for only himself is actually what makes his character quite brilliant. Someone who only wants to continue to surpass himself no matter what methods he needs to take to get there - but without crossing that fine line. However, the execution of this for the latter half of the episodes were poorly done and it wasn't able to maintain that same draw for me. A huge part of this was his reactions to the tons of people who were sacrificed for his growth. While it might make sense for his to have just a fleeting moment of sorrow or perhaps not much at all, it also felt much too repetitive and the timing of the momentary wistful to the excitement of finding yet another artifact was too abrupt. I also appreciate how he manages to overcome not being born as a genius for cultivation by utilizing creative methods but it also doesn't make sense why he's the only one who is capable of them when the same tools and resources are there for others to also take advantage of. He can't be the only one who is ambitious in the entire sect. It didn't help as well when he also became almost everyone's saviors, undermining everyone's abilities and experiences.

Outside of the ML, there are some great supporting characters who brought a lot of fun to the series. But (with exception of the mortal female), all of the other females falling for him were annoyingly distracting to the plot and there were too many unnecessary scenes around this.

Overall, I get the gist of what it's trying to portray and appreciate the thought behind it but they tried to squeeze way too many moving parts into the series. This caused the flow to just fly off and the chemistry to get chopped off. The action scenes were okay - a little corny as usual but not terrible. I finished the remaining half by lots of fast-forwarding only for a meh ending with tons of plot holes. It's always hard to rate shows that start off great with a story of great intentions only for it to dwindle off.

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I can watch it finally...

at first, I thought I can't watch it because the legal ott are not available in my countr, but turns out I can watch it on viu SO HAPPYY

I can't deny that I watched it because of phuwin, but I'm not regretting it at all. I discover other talented actors and all are pretty!! also the storyline is very relateable. It smells like teen spirits and adolescents. love it so much that I'm relate to the story.

the characters are all great, but my fav of all is White 😌 (sorry Lune) he's not only a green flag, he is a forest himself 🌳. at first, I thought White's character would be a red flag, but he's the greenest. the most red flag character? hmm, at first, I thought it was Lune. but after learning that he had reasons behind it, I can't say he is a red flag character. he is also green flag, but he's still improving. love him and star 🥺😭 sooo cute!

love the friendship and all the conflicts included in the series 🥺☝

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It is a very questionable drama

I am pretty late in reviewing this show because I recently came across it and without even realising I binge watched all the episodes despite it having so many questionable moments and morally grey decisions on the part of our two main leads. It is a story about two couples who are in existential crisis because they are sort of cheating their partners but do not want to admit it at the same time yet still yearns for each other but still would not come out clean with their other halves. Sigh*
I mean this drama would have been something else if the story was not involving the main leads but their partners, then it would have been a revenge drama and then they wouldn't have justified their actions like that. The first two episodes were honestly...hard to watch, and I thought where is this going? How am I supposed to like a ML who is like THIS! But story took another turn and he told his side of story after SO MANY episodes (it took him some time aright) but you are still like...meh.
The SFL, she was so pathetic to watch. I mean generally I despise such clingy sort of characters but at least actress did justice to the role. Despite doing so much for ML she was like a third wheel all the time and I did not find anything likeable about her damsel sort of behaviour who just want to remain a wallflower all her life willingly and for what? (A man who hadn't talked to her properly in the last10yrs.)
SML on the other hand could not even do that either. His acting skills weren't really great to emote anything to begin with and they even tried all their best so that viewers could hate his character yet he was the least intersting character in this whole drama. Storyline had so many flaws and too many coincidences that began to irk me after a while but it was a 2019 drama so I thought from that perspective as well...it was the time where such dramas were in vogue. (Forced relationship sort). Now you may wonder despite everything why did I watch it? It is simply because of the acting and chemistry of main leads. They could have done so much to make it all seem alright, we would have hated the second lead from the beginning but they spend so much time showing how good they were and that ultimately made main leads look pathetic instead. The best character was FL's best friend/roommate. She was a total blast I just wished they shouldn't have tried to mould her into normal standards towards the end and should have tried to give her an arc but the drama was only about main leads so...rest of cast did not matter.
It had so many flaws and frustrating prolonged sequences yet the main actors held the attention throughout the drama. I just wish they could have given more substance to story than making it only an angsty torture.

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Something Different - Watch, Watch, Watch!!!

I went into this drama with zero expectations, but it completely won me over. I hadn’t seen this pairing in a while, and now they’ve become one of my favorite ships. Thee was such an endearing character—fierce yet incredibly naive. I felt every bit of his pain as he grew, and his emotional journey really stayed with me. Peach, on the other hand, felt like the anchor and glue holding everything together—while still battling his own inner demons. Their chemistry was undeniable, and I appreciated how their relationship was portrayed with just the right amount of lovin without being overdone. Thee will always have a special place in my heart, and honestly, I can’t imagine a better partner for him than Peach. Can’t wait to see more of PondPhuwin!

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Character Dynamics are written well

Personally the story had too many politics for me but I stayed to watch the character dynamics and like the general plot of what would happen to our main characters. I feel like the last ten episodes weren't as interesting as the first 20 but that's cause I personally prefer when shows focus more on the characters rather than politics.

Anyways I love how much tension the writers wrote between the main characters especially when they were having misunderstandings. It wasn't frustrating but more so exciting. I just loved how the relationships and friendships played out.

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We all could have written a better ending

Aghh so hard to rate this an 8 but I’m doing it anyway, this show was so good and then derailed big time. Why oh why oh why do you dumb writers do this. Dynamite Kiss did the same thing. Don’t need to try to act clever, just send her home and give us 3 episodes oh how she went back to get to know him and now hes here or something. This was on track to be a solid 9 for me, but best I can do is 7.5. I love these leads and all their shows. This just made me mad. Was so weird!!!

I dunno, what the point of it was once we hit the first proposal-the whole plot stopped plotting and from then on, it didn’t stay true to what we had just watched 3/4 of the show. It’s like the writer was just like “now what” and pulled rando ideas out of a hat.

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Countdown that fizzled out . . .

Was the mutual pining/yearning great? Yes! Did the flashes through time and tracking of days/the date add a unique element to the drama? Undoubtedly. It felt painfully nostalgic and sincere. Like a private school scrap-book.

However—a big however—one character did the majority of the heavy lifting, emotionally speaking. One character put themself out there, opened up, and took steps forward for the relationship: Minato.

At first, Wataru's hesitancy to cross the line of friendship was relatable. Change is scary. A start risks an end. But refusing to acknowledge what's there . . . Doesn't make it disappear. And delaying can cause others pain: It did here.

And while Minato was self-sacrificing, pushing his feelings down for Wataru's sake, taking time to sit with himself and try to see a way forward . . .

Wataru leaned on his cowardice like a faithful crutch. Practically moping around in self-pity before he finally got it together.

It made the romance feel so unfairly one-sided and unearned once the "yes" finally came.

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I Wish People, Who Are Opposed to the “Subject Matter,” Would Watch

This is a beautiful story about a boy born in the wrong body and the doctor, who wanted to offer this person a better life.

No matter what you think about the subject, if you would watch this with an open mind and heart, you might understand what transgender people go through and the hardships they face. If you watch this, you might gain some insight and some empathy.

This movie is a delicately-told story of one young person facing uncertainty and the unknown, but with the hope and willingness to do anything to be who they always knew they were, and hoped they could be.

I admit, I’m more than a little surprised this came out of Japan, but it goes to show this story is, truly universal.

The fact is Japan is a highly conservative society, where most people, especially, older people, know nothing about this subject.

It makes it more difficult for gay & transgender people, overall, because they have no rights, can’t adopt, and, I guess, surrogacy’s not an option, either. This all makes it more stressful and difficult for the LGBT community.

But, this film is a gem, which may open a few eyes—hopefully, not only in Japan, because there are closed-minded people everywhere.

We can only hope.

PS All the actors were excellent, but Mochizuki Haruki, as Ai, was stupendous! And he’s only 18 years old!!! Incredible!!!

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