Departure From the Usual Thai GL Formula - No Cliches, Tropes, Aegyo and Cringiness
Roller Coaster's cinematography, screenplay and directing is truly stunning. It doesn't feel like the usual Thai soap opera there are no recycled or drawn out plotlines, cringey aegyo scenes, they didn't lean into the usual everyone's forgiven and there are no consequences for your actions ending and there are also no non-consent intimate scenes. Instead the story is realistic and grounded and all characters face the consequences for their actions. I also like how the acting isn't overtly dramatic which is common in Thai GLs instead the acting here is more natural and grounded.Was this review helpful to you?
excellent story, excellent acting and excellent song theme
I just finished watching episode 2 of the series *Mr. Kill*. My advice after seeing both episodes is: don't jump to conclusions. The story is compelling, and the actors—Dew and Tee—did a fantastic job portraying their characters; I’m really proud of them. I especially appreciate the way Tee conveys emotion through his facial expressions and tone of voice. The same goes for Dew; his portrayal of Kaye—particularly when showing his sadness—makes me want to give him a hug. On top of that, the choice of songs for the OST and the ending sequence is spot-on. waiting for true color in music platform.Was this review helpful to you?
1"You don't let go of anyone's hand now"
Tokyo Salad Bowl tackled immigration in Japan and the accompanying racism and discrimination that often arose from it. The heart of the drama was a green haired police officer who used food to connect with people and open doors, paving the way for healing and friendship.Koda Mari has recently transferred to the International Investigation Division where officers deal with crimes involving immigrants. There is a stable of interpreters including Arikino Ryo who can speak Chinese. Neither Ryo nor her new colleagues know what to make of her bright green hair, obsession with discovering new foods, and sunshine personality. They say she picks up the crumbs, small cases that they can’t be bothered with. But the crumbs she gathers often turn into discovering a bakery of wrongdoing. Mari takes a liking to quiet, pessimistic Ryo and cajoles him into helping her with cases, feeding him on a regular basis. As the two work together, Mari comes closer to discovering what drove Ryo from the police force and why he is so withdrawn.
I went into this drama hesitantly as it was based on a manga. Too often I’ve found manga heroines too effervescent with too little brain power. To my surprise, despite her garish green hair and terrible fashion sense, Mari had good cop instincts though she was in desperate need of a self-defense class. She believed that Tokyo was a salad bowl of ethnicities and that everyone deserved to be treated humanely. I was worried when she was chowing down on scorpions and ox penises in the first episode but the dishes became more palatable to me as the drama progressed. And like most female leads in Asian dramas that weigh 90 pounds/40 kg soaking weight she ate her body weight in food daily.
Japan’s dwindling population required a steady influx of foreign workers. Most ended up in low paying or manual labor jobs. Just as the country walked a fine line of wanting and not wanting immigrants, the drama sought to plea for better treatment of foreign workers and also subtly excused racism. It’s not racism---people just don’t trust foreigners, are quick to judge and blame, make snide comments about race, different cultures, customs, and are sometimes abusive towards them. Yeah, that’s racism. It was also telling that the Chinese often had scruffy wild hair and dowdy clothes. Baby steps. Most of the immigrants were shown as hard working and trying to make a better life for themselves and their families. As Mari worked in the police department they also dealt with foreigners who ran afoul of the law. (Important note-as in my country, immigrants commit fewer crimes than native citizens.)
The drama brought to attention the challenges of interpreting and how difficult it can be to translate specifically and for meaning. The language barrier when living in a different country can be daunting and absolutely terrifying if a person ends up in legal difficulty. Trafficking of vulnerable populations was explored though not in depth. Most of the cases were more about community building and understanding people’s needs rather than the actual crimes themselves. The main villain was weakly written and didn’t seem capable of running an international crime ring at such a young age.
Tokyo Salad Bowl was a good analogy for different cultures coming together in one dish. Different peoples bring their unique cuisines giving people strong reasons to bond over food. The drama tweaked the strong desire for conformity with foreign workers, a competent female police officer with shocking green hair, and a gay character. Aside from her ability to seek out the best sustenance in town, Mari’s super power was the ability to really listen and not let go of a hurting person’s hand. Anyone who knows how to care for a suffering person with an offer of Pajamas and tea knows the value of food and friendship. A gentle and entertaining drama about healing, treating people as valuable human beings, and finding the truth.
14 July 2026
Trigger warnings: Smoking. Drinking.
Continuity notes: Mari’s hair changed in intensity from scene to scene as well as her exposed roots. Girl could have used a good wig. I know it’s based on a manga, but when Mari was undercover, I just kept hearing a line from My Cousin Vinny, “Oh yeah, you blend.”
It could go from daylight to nighttime during the course of breakfast.
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Could have been better!
What a let down this has been! I had hopes for it in the beginning but by episode 5 it just became stupid silly. They behaved like 8yr olds. Who writes this stuff? Not sure I will watch to the end but i reallylike these two actors together. They meshed really well & nice to look at😳 The storyline was weak & seemed to go nowhere & I was bored by the 3rd episode. The intimate scenes started off well but then very suddenly switched to another scene like them in the kitchen. They barely ever kissed. It was over before it started. If those scenes would have been better & longer then i dont think i woukd have been too bored😂 I woukd like to these two actors in another series but with a beter story & better intimate scenes❤️Was this review helpful to you?
Mr. Kill: Why Nekros Holds the Key to a Mind-Bending Serial Killer Mystery
Mr. Kill is a brilliant thriller masterpiece that excels at introducing intricate, subtle details that serve as organic puzzle pieces throughout the story. The narrative's gripping tension is executed flawlessly, thanks to the stellar acting performances from the entire cast, particularly the two leads who bring immense depth to their roles. The true brilliance of the series lies in the domino effect of each new victim; rather than exhausting the audience, every new case addictively fuels our curiosity about the killer's identity and ultimate motive. The ultimate mystery that keeps you hooked is why the killer meticulously replicates the murders from the manga Nekros, out of all the famous thriller manga out there, hinting at a hidden message or a dark, deeply personal past waiting to be uncovered.Was this review helpful to you?
Pointless
I was excited for a TutorYim show......and boy was I disappointed. This show had no real plot, no real comedy besides sex jokes, no good kiss scenes (and you had TUTORYIM!!). It was truly a show of nothing. Tutor and Yim are great actors who can pull off a sexy show or a comedic show - and somehow, this one missed the mark on both. I was immediately hesitant when I saw the show was by Copy A Bangkok and I was right to be skeptical. They tried to use sex to sell the show and it didn't work. Regardless of how much you like these actors, this one isn't worth it.Erng (Yim) catches his boyfriend, who he runs a bar with, cheating on him. After confronting him and breaking up with him, Erng heads to a temple to pray for a new boyfriend. While there, he meets In (Tutor), and the two immediately hit it off. They become business partners in Erng's new bar, and fall in love while opening it.
I don't think I could even tell you what happens in this show, because it's basically nothing. Outside of a few things that happen with Erng's ex boyfriend, there is truly nothing that I can even remember from this show except the characters constantly being horny and making sex jokes. Sure, watching a comedy like this translated definitely doesn't help, but I cannot imagine it was very good even if you spoke Thai. It seems like the company was hoping that having TutorYim as their main actors would get enough people to watch that they could make money off it. While the characters could pull of sexual tension, after the scene it was back to a whole lot of NOTHING! I was so bored watching this show that I regularly would forget it was even on, and I'm not a person who does other things while shows are on. I stuck this one out because I constantly hoped it would get better and let me tell you, it does not. It started with way too much exposition thrown into the viewer's face in the first episode only to end up with nowhere to go with the characters. Some shows are so bad that they wrap back around and become unintentionally funny, but this one manages to sit at the horrendous intersection of bad and unfunny AND boring. Not worth it.
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beauty.
amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing. amazing.Was this review helpful to you?
Rise up korea
Finally, a Korean BL series actually hooked me. It's just a shame it has so few episodes.Even though the novel isn't short, and they could have easily doubled the number of episodes or the length of each episode.
Can't it at least have two seasons? It hasn't even finished yet and I already miss them so much.
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Good
I stopped watching BLs; I really watched very few last year and even fewer this year. I was curious to watch this one because I’ve followed Fourth and Gemini since their first BL together. The story is good overall. The religious aspect didn't really resonate with me; I think the real highlight is the chemistry between the two and how their acting continues to develop. The OST is great, and it seems like a good series to rewatch down the line. I hope to watch more BLs this year. Actually, I want to see stories like this ones that steer clear of minor tragedies and show how some endings really need to be happy.Was this review helpful to you?
Golden Kamuy: The Abashiri Prison Raid
3 people found this review helpful
The Best Installment Of The Series So Far!
If you like the prequels in this series, you'll love this one. In fact, it has an even better story, picking right up where the last one ended off in 2024.Once again, Kento Yamazaki plays the perfect protagonist and is truly great leading this cast. If you're a fan, like I am, you'll really enjoy his performance as Sugimoto. Along with Anna Yamada, Yuma Yumoto & Gordon Maeda ... it's two plus hours of great entertainment.
At times there are some strange and bizarre scenes, but that always seems to happen with this series. I think we're all used to it by now. A few of the antagonists fit right in with the weird sub stories and their off the wall behavior. It's a lot of drama, but it also is blended with just the right amount of comedy at just the right times.
As you get into the final fifteen or so minutes, you sort of figure out where the end is going ... so you think. BUT, without warning, a major event happens that gives us a really good and surprising cliff hanger, making room for another installment. I just hope we don't wait two years for the continuation.
Great series continues ... with more Citatap. Delicious!!!!
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This review may contain spoilers
Story...
I loved the series. I don't mind what goeson good or bad.. That's life for some people..
Life isn't always a bed of roses. I felt sorry for Lu Feng. His love was genuine but due to the state of his mind his love for Xiao Chen
bordered on obsession. Xiao Chen was the opposite he messed with lu chengs brain and the pairing became toxic. Lu Feng couldn't give more than he did to keep Xiao Chen and the beatings he endured by his father proved his love went deep. Xiao Chen to me couldn't make up his mind how he felt about Lu Feng.
Getting wed to a woman was heartbreaking
for Lu Feng. Xiao married to make his mom happy. If your deeply in love you don't do that to hurt someone you really love.His mother should be ashamed the way she treated her boys. Well after all the angst and trauma in the end everything turned out happy.. Xiao
finely realised who the most important
Person was... Lu Feng.. Great series.. Great actors and great production..
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A LOVE that felt like coming Home
Love for You succeeds because it understands that childhood shapes people without having to define them forever. The story begins with two children forced into an impossible situation by selfish, irresponsible adults, yet instead of repeating the cycle of bitterness, they gradually become each other’s refuge. The male lead’s resentment as a child feels completely authentic, while the female lead’s longing to belong never comes at the expense of her self-respect. Their bond develops naturally through shared hardship, and even their earliest expressions of affection are marked by remarkable tenderness and respect. By allowing the audience to uncover the truth behind the fire piece by piece, the drama keeps its emotional mystery alive without overshadowing the relationship at its heart.What I admired most was the quiet certainty of their love. The six-year separation, past relationships, and moments of jealousy never felt like threats to their bond but simply reflections of two people trying to survive while carrying deep emotional scars. They never judge each other for the lives they lived apart because they instinctively understand that they have always been each other’s constant. Watching them collect recyclables to earn money, care for one another when no adult would, and build a sense of family from almost nothing was unexpectedly moving. The female lead’s neediness, which might have felt excessive in another drama, becomes deeply endearing because she has spent her entire life searching for someone who would choose her unconditionally. Add to that the effortless chemistry between the leads—Song Weilong’s magnetic screen presence and the female lead’s ability to command every scene—and the result is a romance that feels both passionate and comforting. Their chemistry is both sizzling and soothing—like a warm fire on a snowy day, fierce enough to captivate you, yet gentle enough to make you feel completely at home
Thoughts After the completion at 32 episodes
Now that the journey is complete, Love for You feels even more extraordinary in retrospect. The writers not only closed every loose end with care but gave us the rarest of endings: one that feels fully earned. Chen Yi and Miao Jing finally get to live the ordinary life they once could only dream of, and watching them discover that their hard-won happiness is actually real is incredibly sweet. Their chemistry is almost unfair—sizzling enough to make you feel like an accidental third wheel, yet so tender that every embrace feels like coming home.
The cinematography, production design, music score and visual atmosphere beautifully carry the story from the harshness of survival into the warmth of belonging, while the performances make every glance, touch, kiss, and quiet moment between the leads feel alive with history, longing, and love. In the end, this wasn’t simply a story about two people finding their way back to each other; it was about two people who had spent a lifetime saving each other finally being given permission to stay.
Some love arrives like fire. Some love survives like an ember. Theirs burned brightly and endured quietly. ❤️
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It was good
All i want to say is that it started out very nicely and the plot was set from the very beginning. I love this kind of xinxia dramas but I think it was too predictable for me. After around ep 12 or something I felt that it started to get dragged which i personally didnt enjoy but others might like it. I wanted them to show more of the divine tree and demon lord past which we didnt get. Everyone's acting was great. for the CGI it wasnt the best but since this was filmed 3 years ago its understandable. I can say that I had high expectation since I was waiting for it to air for 3 years. thats all....Was this review helpful to you?
The Perfect Medicine…
I’m temporarily unemployed and what do you do in that situation? You binge. Healthier if it’s dramas and not Doritos. That’s how I ended up watching all of To the Wonder in one day.Honestly, it almost cured my job angst :). Instead of a stressful plot, this show takes you into the beautiful, quiet grasslands of Altay (I think that’s how you spell it?). The filming is amazing—every scene looks like a painting. Watching the FL, leave the stressful big city to live with a nomadic community will resonate if you need a mental break yourself. (I may do this!) The show moves slowly, almost luxuriously so, which is exactly what my fried brain needed.
Everything feels real. It doesn’t feel ‘written’. It lets the scenery and the local culture do the talking. It is a peaceful, beautiful watch. I recommend!
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This review may contain spoilers
I enjoyed this show and have watched it multiple times but ...
There are a few things that I was disappointed with. The start of this show was fun. The ML and FLs were lovely; I enjoyed their naivety and how their characters were slowly evolving. I liked the way the story was progressing and seeing the partnership and trust evolve between the FL and ML. The emotion and acting superb. The FL is young, impressionable, gullible, and emotionally naive. The ML has power but is irresponsible even though he is supposed to be a leader/elder with familial power/connections.Rant incoming:
The middle of the show sadly gave way to the normal Cdrama trope and had a ridiculous number of misunderstandings. None that made any sense for the characters and how they had lived and had matured up to this point.
The forced angst:
All the ML had to do was talk, trust and let the FL in on his plans. They had already worked together and survived death repeatedly. But he treated her so badly and said and did so many horrible hurtful things. He did this, knowing how young and impressionable she was. He did this, knowing how she only had him to rely on and took all her life cues from. She was a target of many. He then imprisoned her? He purposely hurt her? He broke her heart all just to save her? WHY?
He hurt her so deeply. The FL was in as much pain as he was, possibly even more so. The ONLY family she had was wiped out, and the one she LOVED had forcefully and nastily turned his back on her. He TOLD her he didn't love her. He TOLD her; he wished she had never been born. He TOLD her she was at fault for their entire sect and family to be killed. 1 of her only friends was imprisoned and was about to be put to death because the ML would not listen or protect them. She thought he had taken away any possibility of her ONLY surviving family (sister) to live so she thought he had KILLED her. What was she supposed to do? She was targeted, tortured, manipulated and confused yet what was she supposed to do? . He refused to stand by her and protect her. He was ignoring her, allowing her to misunderstand and be confused.
The FL, even though she was hurt and lied to put everything aside to protect and save 1 of her only surviving friends and this led to the saddest scenes I have seen in a while.
The ML was an actual GOD and had the ability to save the FL and protect her, after all the pain he had caused her, yet kept her in the dark and made choices for her that eventually led to her death. The lack of respect and trust that was shown to the FL was ridiculous.
Unfortunately, the last part and the story I found very annoying. The entire first part of the show was built to such a point where the audience deserved some reward, yet I truly felt we were stripped of any.
The FL had gone through 1000 years of rebirth and agonizing deaths. Some of which lasted longer than her first life, possibly even gaining more familial bonds and love, she had grown so much, showed maturity and strength when she finally returned to her original soul/body.
Sadly, the ML showed absolutely no growth, no maturity, and just wallowed in self-pity. For 1000 years did nothing. He resolved nothing; he did not mature or live up to the potential that was his birthright and respect the FLs' sacrifice.
Yet the audience and FL were supposed to now feel sorry for and root for the ML. We were supposed to see him struggle and hurt. Everything the FL was put through was ignored and her sacrifice was made out to be worthless. The show then made up some ridiculous plot point to say the ML had been sacrificing himself to fix 1 object that would show the truth. As a GOD that was his only option or was it to force us into feeling pity for the ML and have a cute and loving reunion at the end!?
The OST was beautiful
Rewatch value, fine as long as you skipped over the stupidity.
The actors, great
The characters, at the start, are fantastic.
The story line and progression ... ridiculous.
Oh and ... Xiu Yan / Ao Ge played by He Kai Lang .... Fabulous.
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