Reviews

Movie Review – Colony (2026)

Colony (2026) had a good and interesting plot with a lot of potential, but the biggest problem was the pacing. Everything happened too fast. Instead of letting important moments build naturally, the movie kept moving from one event to another without giving enough time to connect emotionally with the characters.

There were too many things happening at once, and because of that, many ideas and scenes didn’t feel fully explored. Some emotional moments could have been stronger if the movie slowed down and gave more depth to the characters and their relationships.

The story itself had potential, but it felt rushed, making several important parts feel underdeveloped. Overall, it’s entertaining and has a solid concept, but it could have been much better with slower pacing and more emotional depth.

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Sweet but a bit psycho crown

This was an easy binge, with several sweet, intreating bad ass and evil characters. The plot was not really mind blowing or particularly suspenseful but it was just enough to keep me interested in pressing that next episode button.

The leads are both sweet, hot, cold and all round bad ass. While hot on their own, their chemistry is more of a puppy love, cuteness fluff than an exploding, longing sexual tension type o f deal. Its not that they do not deliver some pretty decent kisses and physical scenes, because they do but you can sense more sexual tension elsewhere.

All in all an not a bad watch.

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Lost it’s spark, too rushed

It’s no secret that I was never the biggest fan of squid games season one, but watching the second season, I finally came to appreciate the first season in its entirety. I strongly believe it should’ve been a show with a single season… but of course they couldn’t not take such a big opportunity to make money.

In the first season, everything felt so… well, real: the characters and their struggles were so intense yet realistic. Now the first mistake this season makes is introducing too much characters. How am I supposed to get invested in a character if their struggles are never shown? Secondly, the real world scenes of these characters were basically not there??? Why??? The second episode of the first season may have been boring to some but it was so freaking important for building the character and impact of their unavoidable demise.

Now, I cannot say that the cast isn’t immensely talented and that there aren’t some great cinematographic moments (not as great as the first season though) but it’s just… rushed.

Okay I’m tired of ranting about this show but just watch the first season and leave it at that. Otherwise the whole show will lose it’s impact and that really sucks.

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A beautiful story, but far too short

Love Like a Bike was definitely not a drama that caught my attention at first. Honestly, the synopsis sounded so random that I had simply added it to my watchlist as part of my very serious life goal of “watch every BL in existence”, with absolutely no intention of actually starting it one day. And yet, I ended up giving it a chance almost by accident because I had seen someone mention it under the “drama” tag and I recognized one of the actors. Surprisingly enough, it turned out to be a genuinely pleasant surprise.

One thing I really appreciated about this story was the contrast between its appearance and what it actually delivers underneath. On paper, everything sounds ridiculous in the best possible way. We have three romances starting under completely absurd circumstances: a psychiatrist on a bicycle crashing into a student before the two somehow end up mysteriously transported to a beach, a pilot getting hit in the head by a can thrown by a man running away from debt collectors which somehow evolves into a fight and then a very… direct bonding moment on the ground of a skatepark, and finally an escort beginning a relationship with his client. At that point, everything makes you expect a chaotic, fun, brain-off kind of drama.

Except it really isn’t.

Behind that almost comedic surface hides a surprisingly heavy collection of themes. The psychiatrist has just been dumped on the very day he proposed. The student carries deep childhood trauma after experiencing sexual abuse, leaving lasting scars in his relationship with physical intimacy. The pilot lives with overwhelming guilt after causing the death of a child in a flight accident. His partner is constantly drowning under financial pressure while taking on endless jobs to support his grandmother. And on the side of the escort-client relationship, we discover that the client has cancer and refuses treatment because he has already given up on his future.

So yes, this is very far from the simple, lighthearted drama I thought I was signing up for.

What surprised me, though, is that despite all of this, the series somehow manages to maintain a generally warm and uplifting atmosphere. It tackles difficult subjects with sensitivity without becoming emotionally suffocating. There are touching moments and even genuinely emotional scenes, but the story never feels overwhelmingly heavy. I think the writers found a surprisingly delicate balance between depth and lightness, which made the overall viewing experience really enjoyable.

The characters themselves were also one of the strongest aspects of the drama. I especially loved Nabnueng, the psychiatrist. I’ve always had a soft spot for doctor characters because they often tend to be very human and caring, and he fits perfectly into that category. He quickly understands Sailom’s trauma and is extremely careful not to push him too far. He respects his boundaries and moves at Sailom’s pace, which creates a relationship that feels genuinely healthy. I also appreciated how Sailom’s decision to seek therapy was handled, especially when Nabnueng refuses to become his therapist himself in order to remain ethical and avoid interfering with his healing process. He feels like the kind of character who consistently makes the right choices, which is honestly pretty rare.

Sailom himself is also incredibly touching. His vulnerability feels believable, his trauma is not magically erased within two episodes, and his growth feels natural. Their relationship is soft, sincere, and genuinely heartwarming.

Tawan and DinDin bring a completely different energy to the story. Their relationship is much more explosive and chaotic. Tawan is a full tsundere who seems physically incapable of expressing his feelings without being irritating, while DinDin spends his life struggling to survive. Their dynamic is filled with tension, arguments, and occasionally fists before shifting into something more passionate. It is dramatic and excessive, but somehow still fits their personalities. I only had one small issue with Tawan disappearing at an important moment and then returning as if absolutely nothing happened, but apparently in their world a punch and a kiss are enough to solve everything.

Then we have Sky and Nava, the quieter couple of the three, but equally touching. Sky could have easily fallen into cliché territory as an escort character, but he ends up being incredibly caring and respectful. He genuinely invests himself in his relationship with Nava, even making major changes in his life for him. Nava’s illness adds an emotional layer to their story, especially through his resignation and gradual change in perspective. Thankfully, for the sake of my fragile little heart, the story doesn’t fully dive into tragedy and leaves things with a more comforting feeling.

For me, the biggest issue with the drama is simply its length. Eight episodes are nowhere near enough to properly explore this many themes and characters. Even though the pacing never feels rushed all the time, it still feels like everything only gets touched on briefly. Every story deserved more time, more depth, and more development. The potential here is honestly huge because some of these topics are rarely explored this directly, which makes it frustrating not being able to fully dive into them. The foundations are all there and the important moments exist, but the story lacks that final layer of polish that could have turned it into something truly special.

Overall, Love Like a Bike ended up being far more interesting than I expected. Under its light and occasionally absurd exterior, it delivers touching and human stories filled with likable characters and meaningful themes. It wasn’t a full-blown favorite for me, mainly because of the frustration caused by the short format, but it was still a very enjoyable and genuinely good watch. Definitely a pleasant surprise that I absolutely don’t regret picking up.

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The Comedy Timing in This Drama Was Top Tier

As someone who is not a regular C-drama watcher, I was very hesitant to start Pursuit of Jade. Before this, I had only watched Hidden Love, The First Frost, When I Fly Towards You and Falling Into Your Smile. This was actually my first historical/ancient-style C-drama, so I was unsure if I would enjoy the genre.

The main reason I picked this drama was because of all the hype around its rating. Seeing it rise to 9.3 and later settle around 9.1 made me curious, although I was still very picky about starting it because 40 episodes felt like a huge commitment. Thankfully, the beginning made it very easy to continue watching.

The story starts off very strong. The first 15–20 episodes were simple, entertaining, and extremely enjoyable. Later on, once more twists, secrets, and court politics were introduced, the story became much more complex compared to the earlier episodes. While the plot was still interesting, it definitely became slower and harder to follow at times.

One of the biggest strengths of the drama was its comedy. The humor felt natural, and the comic timing from the cast was excellent. Watching a historical drama mix emotional scenes with genuinely funny moments made the show much more enjoyable. The comedy never felt forced and became one of the highlights of the entire series for me.

Both leads, Zhang Linghe as Marquis of Wu’an and Tian Xiwei as Fan ChangYu, did an amazing job. Their on-screen chemistry was one of the main reasons I kept watching. They both carried their characters with strong presence, and I really enjoyed how their character development was handled throughout the drama.

For the villain side, Deng Kai as Qi Min did a great job creating tension and fear whenever he appeared on screen. His relationship with Snow Kong/Yu Qian Qian had an interesting hate-love dynamic that made their scenes memorable. However, I do feel the writers could have done more justice to the villain arc because the character had a lot more potential than what we eventually got.

The third lead couple, the Grand Princess and the Headmaster, were unexpectedly one of the most lovable parts of the show. Their scenes were hilarious, charming, and refreshing. I honestly wish they had more screen time because every moment involving them was entertaining.

Overall, I really enjoyed the drama. The first 20–30 episodes were especially strong and very addictive to watch. Once the heavier court politics and twists started taking over, the pacing became slower and more complicated. Since I personally enjoy war scenes and action moments, I also wish we had gotten more battle scenes and more fights involving Marquis of Wu’an. Most of his major action moments happened only when Fan ChangYu was involved, and I would have loved to see more of his battlefield aura and fighting abilities throughout the drama.

Even with some pacing issues in the second half, Pursuit of Jade was still a very enjoyable experience for someone completely new to historical C-dramas. The chemistry, comedy, and performances made it worth the watch.

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A seemingly joyful world that hides traumas

Love You Teacher was not a drama that immediately caught my attention. Honestly, the trailer mostly gave me the impression of something a little too much, almost cartoonish at times. But the pairing, the setting, and especially the colorful aesthetic convinced me to give it a chance… and honestly, it turned out to be a really pleasant surprise.

Right from the beginning, GMM does something refreshing by stepping away from the usual Thai BL setting. Instead of following university students, we are introduced to two teachers who have already been in a relationship for several years. I absolutely loved that choice. Rather than throwing us into an already established relationship and expecting us to instantly care, the drama takes the time to show us flashbacks of how they met and how their relationship evolved. It keeps that feeling of romantic progression that I really enjoy while still allowing the present storyline to remain the main focus.

And that present, which initially looks like a simple happy life between Solar and Pobmeck, two teachers who love both each other and their work, quickly turns into something much more complicated when Solar gets into a car accident. After the accident, he begins mentally regressing until he develops the mindset of a seven-year-old child. Needless to say, this creates an incredibly difficult situation for a couple. Pobmeck, who was never particularly comfortable with children despite loving his job as a teacher, suddenly finds himself having to deal with Solar’s condition, his behavior, both their students, and the pressure of keeping everything hidden.

One of the things I appreciated most about this series is that it never limits itself to Solar’s trauma alone. The drama explores a lot of sensitive themes such as the difficulties of being a teacher despite loving the profession, burnout, depression, toxic family relationships, abandonment, and childhood wounds. Unlike some series that throw countless themes together until the story suffocates under its own weight, here everything actually contributes to enriching the narrative. The result is a story filled with emotional nuance that remains engaging and easy to follow. You quickly realize that Solar must have experienced something deeply traumatic to erase his entire childhood from his memory, which naturally makes you want to uncover what really happened to him.

Fortunately, Love You Teacher also knows how to keep itself balanced. It never becomes overwhelmingly heavy psychologically. Instead, it constantly shifts between drama, romance, and comedy in a very natural way. Sometimes we dive deeper into the characters’ trauma and personal struggles, sometimes we revisit memories from their relationship, and sometimes we simply watch seven-year-old Sun completely exhaust Pobmeck with his antics. Because of that, the viewing experience stays emotional and touching without ever becoming exhausting.

That being said, I can’t deny that some story choices bothered me because of the lack of realism. Thai dramas often have a tendency to soften situations to make them easier emotionally, and as someone who loves psychological realism, even when it completely destroys me emotionally, I sometimes find that a little frustrating.

For example, while Solar’s psychological condition is handled surprisingly well overall, especially through smart details like him referring to Sun as a separate person by saying “his mother” rather than “my mother,” and thanks to Perth and Santa’s incredible performances, I personally would have preferred a complete regression rather than an alternating state every other day. I think it would have made Pobmeck’s emotional exhaustion feel even more believable and made the flashbacks of their relationship hit much harder. We would have felt his loneliness more strongly, along with the pain of watching the person he loves slowly become someone he can barely recognize anymore.

There are also certain situations that feel a little too convenient. The school administration and parents accept everything surprisingly easily considering one teacher does not even have a license while the other is dealing with a severe psychological condition. Realistically, they probably would not simply be “put to the test.” The same goes for some family conflicts that are resolved perhaps a little too quickly. Pobmeck’s mother, who essentially destroyed her son’s dreams and traumatized him regarding music, returns with a simple apology, and Solar’s father, who abandoned him after his coma, is also forgiven rather quickly. These choices certainly protect our fragile hearts, but personally I felt they softened the drama a little too much.

Still, despite these flaws, they ended up feeling secondary compared to my overall experience. What stayed with me the most was this incredibly supportive and healthy couple with a balanced relationship that honestly feels rare in BLs. Their romance feels deeply human and touching. The drama also creates a warm, colorful world with a strong identity of its own. There are plenty of adorable scenes, genuinely funny moments, a lot of emotional depth surrounding childhood trauma, and of course several moments that can very easily make you tear up.

Overall, Love You Teacher ended up being a really beautiful surprise that I would absolutely recommend because of its emotional richness, its balance, and the sincerity that comes through its characters. I was especially touched by how deeply human Solar and Pobmeck’s relationship felt. It was also a great opportunity to see Perth and Santa carrying a story entirely centered around them, allowing them to really develop their chemistry and dynamic together.

I can officially say now that this is a pairing I’m genuinely excited to keep following.

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Plot is nothing new, great chemistry, great actors

Splendid Match surprised me in many ways. It’s not a drama with groundbreaking storytelling or shocking twists, but what it does well is create a balanced mix of family drama, romance, friendship, and political schemes that slowly pulls you in.

Plot & Story

The drama can roughly be divided into three stages.

The first part focuses on the FL right after her coming-of-age ceremony, where we mainly see her dealing with family conflicts, social expectations, and the complicated environment around her wealthy household.

The second part is where the story becomes emotionally stronger. After facing the tragedy of losing her mother, the FL slowly matures and becomes more grounded. This is also where her relationship with the ML truly shines. Instead of rushing into romance, the drama allows them to slowly build trust, friendship, and mutual understanding first.

The final part shifts more heavily into politics, marriage, and power struggles. We see the ML navigating dangerous political schemes while trying to protect both his position and the woman he loves. The political plot itself is not particularly new or complex compared to heavier political dramas, but it blends well with the romance and family themes without becoming overwhelming.

Overall, the drama’s strength lies in its balance. It gives viewers a little bit of everything — family, romance, friendship, and political maneuvering — while keeping the emotional focus on the characters.

Male Lead – Ci Sha

Some viewers may find the ML “boring” because he is not written as the typical revenge-driven or emotionally explosive male lead. Instead, he is portrayed as mature, intelligent, and emotionally restrained from the start — a young Grand Secretary who is already powerful, politically clever, and respected.

Ci Sha was honestly a pleasant surprise for me. At first, I thought he mainly relied on his strong physical presence, masculine aura, and intense gaze. But as the story progressed and the layers of his character slowly unfolded, he showed far more acting range than I expected.

He convincingly portrayed:

* a soft-hearted man deeply in love,
* a calculating strategist and cunning politician,
* a disappointed uncle to his adopted nephew who failed him
* and a ruthless warrior during battle scenes.

The best part is ne delivered everything with full commitment.

Female Lead – Ren Min

The FL starts off somewhat immature, but the drama clearly establishes early on that she is intelligent, observant, and capable. She is beautiful, wealthy, and sharp-minded — qualities that naturally draw the ML toward her.

Perhaps because Ren Min and Ci Sha had worked together before, their chemistry feels incredibly natural. The tension between them is not loud or exaggerated. Instead, it comes through subtle pauses, lowered gazes, awkward silences, and restrained expressions during their early encounters. The internal tension between the characters is obvious even when very little is being said.

Ren Min portrayed this beautifully. As the character matures emotionally throughout the story, her performance also becomes stronger and more layered.

Overall, Splendid Match may not reinvent the genre, but it delivers a very satisfying slow-burn romance with layered characters, strong chemistry, beautiful visuals, and enough political intrigue to keep the story engaging.

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Unapologetic gore horror with a weak script.

“Omukade” is a film that plunges viewers into a relentless and intense thrill ride, filled with graphic violence and in a claustrophobic setting. The plot takes place inside a mine cave, where the dark and cramped space skillfully creates the atmosphere of dread and exhaustion. This backdrop is the ideal setting for the film's main source of terror: a giant, man-eating centipede based on Japanese folklore. The creature itself is regarded as unsettling, designed to provoke maximum discomfort and fear in the audience, especially if you have entomophobia (fear of insects) or chilopodophobia (fear of centipede).

While the movie excels in creating a tense and disturbing ambiance, it falls short in other critical areas, particularly in storytelling and character development. The script offers minimal depth or growth for its characters, making them feel pretty flat and one-dimensional. While the ensemble cast brings their best performance to the table, the characters' relationships and backstories are heavily sidelined to make room for the next monster attack. The lack of character complexity makes it challenging for me to form a connections or invest emotionally in their fates. Plus, the theme related to war gets lost in the shuffle, overshadowed by the focus on gore and suspense and diminishing the film's overall coherence. Another issue with this film is its cinematography. While the CGI is considered solid and ambitious for a Thai monster film, the erratic, shaky camera movements during action sequences left me feeling dizzy.

Overall, "Omukade" stands out as a chilling, nightmarish horror film that masterfully uses its eerie mine setting and the unsettling creature to create fear. In my opinion, it's a fresh twist on the typical Thai horror style. It suits the taste of fans of extreme creature features and unapologetic gore. But if you are looking for a character-driven story with a deep plot, Omukade isn't the ideal pick.

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Some good ideas, but an absolute mess

Battle of the Writers was not a drama that particularly caught my attention. I’d even go as far as saying I had absolutely no interest in watching it. But after seeing TutorYim in Love Upon a Time, I wanted to discover them a little more. Unfortunately, while the pairing went far beyond my expectations, the story itself left me feeling pretty conflicted.

The first episode actually seemed extremely promising. We are introduced to a young writer juggling two jobs who, in the span of a single day, gets accused of plagiarism, loses his second job, and gets kicked out by his roommate. The tone felt fairly dramatic, and I genuinely thought the story would follow that path with a one-sided enemies-to-lovers setup. I expected O-baun to resent Shan for everything happening in his life before eventually falling for him after realizing Shan had always been supporting him. Add in a stalker, literary scandals on social media, career struggles, and you have something fairly classic but effective, with a romance naturally growing in the middle of all the chaos.

The problem is that while we definitely got plenty of events, coherence somehow got lost along the way. Everything feels fragmented and disconnected. I can’t even say the story itself is bad because honestly… it isn’t. It’s actually pretty engaging. But the storytelling is absolutely terrible.

I still struggle to understand how you can start with such amazing foundations and somehow end up with such a mess. The drama keeps throwing ideas at us nonstop, completely out of order, with little development and almost no payoff. We get a plagiarism storyline that lasts one episode without really knowing how it was resolved, a stalker who seems completely obsessed and disappears for nine episodes before randomly reappearing just to end up in prison, five writers who barely know each other suddenly becoming best friends while writing a novel together, and a protagonist moving into the ML’s house after meeting him twice… well, twice in real life anyway.

And on top of all that, the story is constantly interrupted by imaginary wuxia sequences from the novel being written, which somehow take up almost 80% of the drama.

As someone who absolutely loves this type of universe, it surprisingly did not work for me at all here. I would have much preferred a slow burn development for the main story and side couples without being interrupted every five minutes by scenes from an imaginary novel that, at some point, I honestly stopped caring about. The drama throws both time skips and imaginary jumps at us constantly, often during important moments. It becomes exhausting, especially with episode endings building up cliffhangers only for the next episode to suddenly throw us into the future instead. The story is already a walking narrative disaster, so taking away one of the few genuinely interesting elements certainly doesn’t help.

Because yes, the romance was very clearly the thing keeping me invested. Beyond the absurd comedy of certain situations, like the bathtub misunderstanding or that episode involving hallucination mushrooms that had me literally crying from laughter, my attachment mainly came from the characters and their relationships. The cast is adorable, likable, and has fantastic chemistry together. If we ignore the narrative train wreck happening around them, I ended up falling for almost every character, especially the main couple who gave us an incredibly green-flag relationship based on communication, softness, and mutual understanding.

Well… soft, at least until Tutor and Yim’s chemistry enters the room.

I already knew this was a Domundi production, but somehow they still manage to surprise me every time with their intimate scenes. Everything feels extremely choreographed and artistic while balancing sweetness and passion at the same time. So honestly, I definitely got my money’s worth because things got very hot very quickly, especially when Tutor and Mark apparently decided that clothing was optional. This production company truly refuses to leave us starving.

I also thought it was pretty interesting how the drama only switched between worlds during intimate moments. The scenes in reality start off soft, sweet, and fairly restrained before transitioning into the imagined wuxia world where things suddenly become much more passionate and intense, with less music and much heavier breathing. Personally, I would have expected the opposite, but it creates a really interesting contrast between reality and fiction that I ended up enjoying a lot.

And honestly, Tutor and Yim completely won me over. It’s official. I’ve adopted them.

Overall, it would be a lie to say that watching this drama was painful because my viewing experience worked on two completely different levels. My analytical side found itself walking through an endless field of scattered Lego mines with absolutely nothing connecting them. Structurally, the drama is a complete disaster that somehow feels understandable only if your brain decides to split into multiple personalities for the day. Nothing feels properly connected or fully developed despite the fact that the story had enough potential to become one of my favorites.

Meanwhile, my emotional side was completely satisfied by the characters, the romances, and the explosive chemistry between the actors. So as usual, if a drama gives me a strong enough emotional experience to overpower an apocalyptic storyline, my overall feelings toward it will naturally end up more positive than negative.

Still, I can’t help feeling disappointed because seeing so much wasted potential hurts even more when the starting point was genuinely great.

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