Reviews

Nuanced characterisation and amazing acting. Strong female characters. Great storytelling.

It's hard to find a women-centred series that isn't ultimately about the aftermath of a man's infidelity and the modern day take of harem infighting that goes on between wives, mistresses and empires. It's harder to find a female revenge story that's really satisfying. 'Burn the House Down' or 'Mitaraike, Enjou Suru' ticks both boxes. To say that I was blown away by this story was an understatement. The female characters are really strong and nuanced and the plot twists keep you guessing till the end. Ultimately, it was hard to draw the line between wrong and right and most of things were left in the grey areas.

What I loved about this story was how fleshed out and realistic it was. It's usual to have one character shoulder the burden, and hog the limelight, for the plotting and revenge work but to share the work between the two sisters was really unique writing. I really liked how the sibling relationships were explored in BtHD both between the Murata sisters and the Mitarai brothers as well. It's refreshing to see supportive, functional sibling relationships as well, having been so used to competitive and backstabbing ones from western shows. All the psychology behind the characters were also realistic. The ineffectual father, the only son from a family of dominant women, was on point. The fact that Makiko could handle the sisters' bullying better and the fact that Yuzu would be too young to fully understand the father's character and the dynamics at play.

Mitarai Makiko was portrayed as the villainess from the start but in the end, the audience is left wondering "what the hell?!" when we discover that her only crime had been envy and being a protective mother. Is she still someone we should hate? Does she still deserve all that bile buildup from the onset? Or was she also a victim of circumstance and only acting out of self preservation? It's all still up in the air. What's not up in the air was Suzuki Kyoka's acting though. From the moment she appears on screen she really captures the attention. Her micro-expressions when witnessing the fire was also excellently acted to portray both possibilities of what the audience was first led to believe was schadenfreude and also the immense relief at being able to start her slate anew that we later discover was the actual case. Kyoka really inhabits each scene she has with the confidence that comes from being a battler single mom Makiko, something that Satsuki desperately seeks. Makiko is a tremendous survivor of the odds and despite her major setback we see her endeavour to make a comeback again in the end. She is not a pure white character but a real one and though her methods were questionable one can't really judge the means by which she employs her resources to survive in a society and culture that is not kind to single, poor mothers. Makiko's juxtaposition against Satsuki was fantastic in that she brings out the "life" in the latter.

As the show developed there was a suspicion that Satsuki was an unhappily married woman. Satsuki's character was interesting in that she was only unhappy because she felt she could not be enough to help her husband in life and career, not because of problems with the husband. All her thoughts were for her husband and family. This was a character who wanted nothing more than to be an effective and competent homemaker, a stark contrast to most portrayals of stay-at-home mums being sapped of life because of their choice to be SAHMs. Despite being bullied by her sister-in-laws Satsuki wanted to develop confidence, not to defend herself, but to help her husband in the family more. She wanted to learn how to communicate what she wanted and felt, and to even know what she wanted to begin with. We see that her blog posts are described as lifeless and mundane. What a great little piece of information to show a facet of her character. In the end, Makiko's family's acts sets her on this path to self deconstruction and reconstruction. We hear harsh words from her that we'd never imagine could come from a selfless, kind, compassionate Satsuki. Words like "I've hated you from the beginning" directed at Makiko, "I will never forgive you" to Shinji, words that would be more fitting coming from villainess Makiko than pure Satsuki yet when she utters those words and feelings there is a life in the woman, for once. It dawns on the audience and now, with the flaws and the dark thoughts, Satsuki has found that confidence and life that she lacked and so desperately sought in the past. Having this contrast made it seem like Makiko and Satsuki were the perfect yin and yang, bringing out the little light and little darkness that balanced everything out to be more harmonious people. Both were not perfect yet both are real. And because of the diametrically opposite dynamic of their characters it was fitting for Satsuki to have been the one who brought down Makiko by doing something slightly Makiko-ish ie underhanded. By doing so, Satsuki became a less passive character and ended up being the one who saved herself.

Anzu is an incredibly strong female character that is so rare on the screen. Nowadays we are used to badass women who are badass on the male level ie they are warrior like amazons or compete well on a male dominated corporate level or similar. Anzu is none of those but still a badass because she is focused, disciplined, and resolute. She was scared of Kiichi but still plowed through those fears because her mind was made up from years ago. She was scared of other things going wrong, of being found out, of this, of that, but she still did it. She didn't meekly take the push from Kiichi but also pushed back. Courage is having fears but still doing it and Anzu is the embodiment of that. When she stood up to her father and b!tchslapped his phone out of his hands Anzu was really showing the strong feminine energy that's rarely, rarely celebrated. Being the firstborn, she's seen the father's role in the Mitarai family, acutely appraised his character from his behaviour during the 13 absent years and know where she stands in what she's doing and his place in it. Unlike Anzu, she has no illusions that he can be relied on to be even a chance of an ally to her plight to clear her mother's name. Where it is usual to portray daughters as being easily fooled by the excuses of errant fathers Anzu has long ago decided she has no place for his BS. The phone smack would be considered utterly rude and unfilial, in the cultural context, but morally correct in the universal justice context. Anzu showed that she was a bigger person in defying culture and her patriarch. The real badassery from that act was the fact that she did it as she was championing her family, which included her mother and her sister. Because, as Anzu so rightly contextualises everything to Shinji at his confession, it is all about protecting one's family, just as he did.

The reveal was a bit of a rollercoaster which hovered on comical in that it was too "Come on! What?! How 'bout the cat? Did the cat do it too?!" However, the flashbacks interspersed in between and the way the characters have behaved throughout (Makiko always refers to protecting Kiichi, Makiko discovers she still had the cardigan but it was in a box whereas the cardigan on the CCTV shows it being worn) supports it. Because the careful editing supported the conclusion the plot twists did not feel like a gimmicky add-on, which made the story even more masterful.

The ending, imho, was very satisfying. It wasn't linear but it was right. Everything that should happen did happen and the characters all found their own peace. Only let down was the odd soundtrack but it sounded like some 80s video games which I thought was an allusion to Kiichi's fondness for video games maybe. It's not a dealbreaker by any means.

I highly recommend this series for ppl who love great stories about strong women and aren't looking for neat, linear endings but real ones. It's refreshing to see a predominantly female cast in the testosterone filled film & tv industry, even more so that the characters aren't cliche and shallow stereotypes.

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Una gemma, non solo tra i BL

Ho voluto guardare quest'opera nella versione più lunga, in quanto ritenuto che fosse probabilmente più comprensibile e comunque più aderente a quello che doveva essere stato l'intento del regista. se ciò si è tradotto, in certi momenti, in qualche lentezza, penso che la mia scelta mi abbia comunque permesso di guardare un drama molto più ricco.
Sarebbe ingiusto incasellare e quindi declassare questo drama in una casistica denominata BL. siamo in gran parte propensi a pensare e a credere che un prodotto con queste tematiche debba essere per forza un prodotto di nicchia, un po' snob o magari un po' all'acqua di rose, fatto solo per passare qualche ora di divertimento un po' fuori dal coro, magari un po' pruriginoso.
se a volte può anche essere, e non vedo cosa ci sia di male, non è assolutamente questo il caso. Quello che ho appena finito di vedere è un drama che rasenta il capolavoro. Non assurge a questo titolo, a mio modesto e personalissimo parere, solo per qualche incongruenza, probabilmente dettata da necessità cinematografiche, di trasposizione dal libro originale che non ho letto, e così via. C'è una scena madre in cui al maggiordomo Jom viene consentito di interrompere un pranzo con personalità importanti per presentare un'esibizione che non si sa bene come sia potuta avvenire, c'è forse qualche coincidenza di troppo, e ci si potrebbe legittimamente domandare come un subacqueo con muta, pinne, e tutto l'armamentario, sia pronto a salvare il protagonista caduto in un fiume. Ma, per quanto questi accadimenti disturbino sul momento il fluire meraviglioso di quest'opera, sono peccatucci veniali che si perdonano più che volentieri perché sommersi dal flusso indimenticabile di tutte le vicende.
La prima cosa che si nota in questo dramma è la stupenda cinematografia. Colori, inquadrature, transizioni, sfumature, tutto grida professionalità e, prima ancora, arte. ambientazioni e costumi sono spettacolari, pur senza essere sontuosi perché non ci si trova in un ambientazione di palazzo. Ci sono molti riferimenti, allusioni, per esempio tutto un gioco sui fiori di frangipane, splendidi, profumatissimi, ma velenosi e proni ad appassire in fretta.
La storia ci narra le avventure di un architetto, Jom, che sta rimodernando una casa di un secolo prima ed è perseguitato da sogni e da quelle che crede di essere allucinazioni in cui si vede assieme a un uomo in quella stessa casa. Lasciato improvvisamente dal proprio compagno, si ubriaca e finisce con l'auto in un fiume, per poi risvegliarsi nello stesso luogo ma cent'anni prima. Lì conosce l'uomo che vedeva nei suoi sogni, che risulta essere il figlio di un signorotto locale, e i due avranno una passionale storia d'amore. C'è tutto un contorno di relazioni burrascose, forse un po' troppo concentrate per essere all'interno di una stessa famiglia, mentre il nostro Jom risulta essere pivotale al cambiamento nella famiglia, molto all'Antica e incentrata, come spesso all'epoca, su un patriarca duro ma con debolezze.
I personaggi di spalla e secondari sono tutti ammirevolmente recitati dagli attori a cui sono stati affidati, non assistiamo, se non forse in rarissimi casi, ad eccessi di recitazione, il che contribuisce a rendere questo titolo ancora più godibile.
Ma la standing ovation va sicuramente alla coppia principale, due attori magnifici che hanno saputo interpretare una coppia di amanti contrastati in modo persuasivo e coinvolgente, senza praticamente mai sforare nell'eccesso di melodramma. Le musiche e le canzoni hanno sapientemente accompagnato tutta la visione, molto adatte alle immagini e sicuramente coinvolgenti nei testi.
Dove forse è mancato qualcosa è nella contestualizzazione storica delle vicende: sappiamo che avvengono nel 1928 , periodo che nella mia ignoranza penso sia foriero di grandi cambiamenti in Thailandia, ma del quale non so nulla di più. Tutta la vicenda è concentrata nella magione padronale, che risulta essere un po' avulsa da spazio, tempo e accadimenti. Stiamo comunque sempre parlando di un isekai, e quindi questa cosa ci può anche stare.
Il finale, dopo le ultime due puntate costellate da tante lacrime impossibili da trattenere, è una chicca che perdura anche dopo i titoli di coda, per cui si raccomanda di guardare l'ultima puntata fino all'ultimo secondo.
Ci sono coppie e amori che trascendono lo spazio e il tempo. Non è vero, ma fa tanto bene all'anima pensarlo.

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Made my heart sing and my soul do a happy little jig

I adore this show to pieces. Everything about it is truly excellent, from the writing, to the cinematography, to the music.
It was apparently produced by the same team behind Blueming and it absolutely shows.
There is so much queer love, joy, and authenticity woven through the entire story, it completely knocked me flat.

The characters are all incredibly charming and well written. The supporting characters are well-rounded and unique and each contribute to the story in meaningful ways. Even the main antagonist is portrayed as a complex, multi-faceted human being whose motivations and actions are logical, even understandable to a certain degree.

The show also excels at portraying intimacy. The relationship between the main characters is perfectly, messily, joyfully real. Rarely have I seen (queer) friendship portrayed so lovingly and realistically, with so much open affection and casual physical closeness. This series really says "Cuddle your homies, tell them you love them." and it is absolutely right about that.
The slow progression from deep friendship to a more romantic relationship is flawlessly paced and the show makes a point of exploring the often blurry lines between different types of love and how those distinctions can both be almost completely unnecessary and deeply needed at the same time.
All of this is perfectly underscored by the editing and cinematography, whose expertly used close-ups and warmly-coloured static shots enhance the impact of each emotional scene tenfold.

So if you want a show full of queer complexity and subtlety, fantastic music, charming humour, and absolutely filled to the brim with joy and love in all its different forms, then this series is perfect for you. I honestly cannot recommend it highly enough.

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Good But Also Not Good???

This review will contain spoilers so just be aware moving forward.

We'll start with Music - way better than S1 due to the fact we didn't have the same song playing almost every episode that sometimes didn't even fit the scene. It was much more minuscule and fitting for this season. 10 out of 10.

Acting/Cast - All were great especially all the returning cast. I mean it's been years since they've last played their characters and all of them seemed to pick back up right where they left off.

Story - Here's where it kind of takes a hit.
For one I know they decided to make their own story away from the web toon which is why the second (and subsequently the third) will feel different but yeah...there are some let downs.
First off there are too many new characters that I really don't give a crap about. Why? Well pretty much the entire remaining main cast returned for this season and the only one to get decent screen time was Eunyu. Moving forward with some spoilers.
The fact that Jisu died so quickly into the season was disappointing. Not to mention the way she died. I know she probably would've died anyway due to what she went through (surgery and post-surgery) but at least make it due to that and not some random kill off. I know this is probably due to Park Gyuyoung receiving more main roles now but it sucks that they couldn't keep her around for another episode or two. It just felt rushed.
I really liked the new army characters (Inhwan & Younghoo) at the beginning but when they focused on them so much alongside Chief Ji I didn't care for them.
I liked Eunyu's story of her looking for Eunhyuk but I was a little disappointed she never commented about looking for Hyunsoo as well. I mean I didn't want a whole ark of that but it would've been nice to know that she didn't just forget about him. Which I know is common sense but come on give us a little easter egg or something that she misses Hyunsoo.
Moving on to Yikyung, her baby becoming a monster makes no sense to me since I thought the monsterization is due to desires. What desires did the baby in her womb have to be born one? Idk maybe I missed some key details I did skip around a bit because you know I came to watch the season 1 characters stories and maybe a few new characters along the way. (I will be re-watching sometime to catch details I missed.) Anyway I feel like they just needed another monster human and felt this was a new unique way to introduce one.
Moving on to Dr. Lim, I didn't mind his character. His character made sense to be added but he also was kinda meh. Also don't ask me what happened near the end during his scenes because I skipped a lot of them to focus on Hyunsoo, Eunyu, and Chanyeong. However, what was unclear to me is is it true that Sangwook/Uimyeong is MH1 or Sangwon? (Again I may have missed some details due to skipping around - it's 4am here and like I need to sleep but I wanted to know what happened.)
Next up, Chanyeong - aka my favorite new addition to the show. I loved every scene with him in it. His character fits right in!
Lastly, Hyunsoo - um...like isn't he the main main character??? Why did it feel like I saw 30 minutes of him in total this entire season??? Disappointing but what little we did get of him, well, after the stone scene was great! I wasn't a fan of his scenes before then because like wtf happened? We get no clear footage of what happened to him when he turned to stone and why he did?
Also back to Sangwook/Uimyeong - what is his problem??? Him and Yikyung's daughter are about to become a force to be reckoned with. And who knows maybe they are father and daughter?
Oh and surprise Lee Dohyun made an appearance as a cliff hanger as Eunhyuk?!? Um, yes...but he low-key seems evil so like...noooo.
Oh and last thing, I don't dislike Yikyung's daughter's storyline and I don't dislike her character. I have a feeling she'll bring a lot to the table in S3 but we'll see.

Long story short - too many new characters that over-shadowed the previous cast. The potential of Jisu's character was cut, Eunyu's shined, Yikyung did all of the just to be killed by her own daughter, dog girl dies off camera granted she wasn't a main-main character but would've liked to see her go, Suyeong dies? it was super sad, Yeongsu becomes an asshole which rightfully so but come on don't take it out on those that care for you, Hyunsoo didn't get near enough screen time, Sangwook's storyline is meh but could get better in S3, the military guys are meh, Chanyeong is *heart eyes*, oh the two randos the one with the crazy girl after Chanyeong and the guy they met early in the season meh, possibly Dohyun/Eunhyuk return/I don't dislike the idea of it. All in all it just felt rushed and all over the place but also I'm too much of a fan of S1 and some of the parts in this season to hate it.

Re-watch value - for now 10/10 because like I skipped some parts. I will have to go back and rewatch.

Overall, I will need to see season 3 and what occurs in it before I accurately say I disliked this season.

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Not worth the wait

3 long years after the insanely good and very high rated first season, I have to say I’m very disappointed with season 2. It fell way below what I was expecting, and honestly felt like a completely different show to me.

First off, I was very sad that the original cast made it so far for half of them to be killed off by the second episode. They introduced way too many new and not important characters with no character arch or background on any of them. The cast from season 1 is what gave the show such great charm, and these new characters had nothing to them at all. Not to mention, none of the good characters from season 1 remained except for obviously Hyunsu and Eunyu. Everyone else that was there I could care less about. Give me back Jisu!!!

Next, the storyline was just so all over the place?? There were 5 different storylines going on, all of which added barely any substance to the plot. We definitely could have done without Yikyung and her weird monster baby, that pretty much added no value other than, that monsters are evolving, which we knew would happen at some point. Didn’t need to be some weird sub storyline. Keeping with this thought, I could give a shit less about the people at that damn stadium. It became pointless to me after Eunyu left it to find Eunhyuk, but instead we spend most of our time here instead of the more important plot points. Who was Chief Ji? Why was she so suspicious? Was she harboring a monster? Was she a monster? Guess we’ll never know that because they didn’t explain anything. What was with the old man and Hanni?? What was their added value?? Why did they want us to care about these soldiers so damn much? They were a tad bit more important to the story though as they did come across more neo-humans, but why do I have to care about them? We were gonna end up at the research facility at some point with or without them.

And lastly, my BIGGEST issue with the show: where the hell was Hyunsu for half the show?? Main character but they gave him no main character energy. He was sidelined to make way for these less important characters. Last we saw him, he was petrified/turned to stone by Uimyeong at the research facility as it was crumbling, then what happened?? How did he get out? How did he become unfrozen? How did he find Yikyung and her weird monster baby?? And then he’s just gone? for three episodes? and magically shows back up for the last 2?? For a story about Cha Hyunsu and him being the only one that can stop monsterization (maybe) he sure was given dust. What happened to Uimyeong after he petrified Hyunsu? He was j chillin until Dr. Lim showed back up? I mean none of this story made any sense and lacked what made season 1 so popular.

All I can say is, I was very disappointed with the long and highly anticipated wait for season 2. With the return of Eunhyuk at the end, I have slightly higher hopes for season 3. I hope season 3 can redeem any lost hype that season 2 didn’t have and bring back the feeling of what made Sweet Home so incredible.

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Quite a refreshing plot

I did not expect to enjoy this drama as much as I did. The title sounded comedic, while the entire cast looked very young, but it was not really a comedy.

It was a drama on love – family love, relationships between family members and just a small portion on the usual love between man and woman. It was a rather refreshing plot to me. Simply put, it was mainly about a boy who travelled back in time to when his parents were at his age. He was able to see for himself the things that happened to them and what led them to become the persons they were. Seizing the opportunities to control his family's future, he tried to prevent all the bad happenings and hoped to eventually change his parents' destinies.

As in all Korean dramas, the pace was on the fast side. Things happened quickly, so there was never a boring moment. The first half was a little slow, but come the second half, you will want to keep watching till the end.

There were loopholes here and there, but I was still able to overlook them for the story and the acting. *Like in most Korean dramas, the leads were always able to run to one another’s houses in minutes, as though they were all living on the same street lol, not a major loophole, but still not very realistic after a while.

I give kudos to the main cast for their acting. The four main leads were young, in their twenties, in fact two of them were only 21 years old. However, their acting was convincing enough. I would not say impressive but it was sufficient for the roles in this drama.

The OSTs were melodious. The fast ones were catchy and full of life while the slow sad ones were touching and good enough to bring tears to my eyes.

All in all, it was one of those dramas I would not re-watch, not because it was bad but because I already know the story, the meaning of their actions and the ending, so I do not see the point of re-watching, but I think it was one of those dramas that was worth at least watching once.

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Femme Fatale?

Surprised to see only one review for this drama, I decided to put down in words some of my impressions.

Well, Japanese have done it again: they took an ordinary topic and gave it a typical unconventional Japanese twist.

The story follows a young woman who falls for her neighbour: a kind and sweet office worker. The alarm bells start to ring when she discovers that he is in fact, a rich heir:so why does someone like him live in a cheep rundown studio apartment? But she has already fallen for him, hook line and sinker and she does not want to think about every illogical thing happening around her. Until one day she enters his apartment and realizes he had been following her around, stalking her.

As I said only Japanese find a way to make stalking romantic. Here they did it by comparing him to another stalker. Poor girl, being nice to some men makes them fall in love with her and get obsesses with her to the unhealthy levels. The writers decided to show us two levels of stalking: one is just pining from afar while the other one slides down into violence very quickly. One is redeemable on its own if the stalker realizes the error of his ways. The other is punishable by law. This distinction honestly made me uncomfortable. Stalking is a scary, unhealthy and criminal activity. And even though a person might repent and regret, what is there to prove that he won't start doing it again? I wish they showed us him getting some professional help not just having her talk to him once and him finally being aware of his misbehaviour, to put it mildly.

The whole cast was perfect especially the ML who managed to show us the fine line between the madness and kindness in his actions. Amazing actor indeed!The FL was rather refreshing as well: a strong woman,competent with a tiny chip on her shoulder but knowing what is right and what is wrong and an excellent judge of character, when she wants to. Those who actually stole the show for me were her coworkers, her three friends who encourage her and help her when she needs them to. They can be fun and funny just as they can be serious and fierce when needs be. They are actually the ones who made me finish this drama when I realized the direction it was taking.

The episodes are very short (20min) though I had impression of every episode being at least one hour long: the event were moving on very fast, sometimes too fast. The story is told in voice over by both ML and FL taking turns from one episode to another. I like it since it gives us different point of view of same actions and helps with understanding characters' motivations.

Personally I do not find stalking cute and romantic so I am not optimistic as far as their relationship's future is concerned. They are happy now but for how long?

All in all, a typical j drama. And I love those!

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The feeling of winning for the country

Based on a real story, Boston 1947 follows the inspiring journey of Korean athletes who proudly wore the Taeguk symbol for the first time in an international marathon since Korea’s liberation and brought home the prestigious medal with them.

The movie tells a great story in a somewhat old-fashioned or even tacky way. It presents the real events of the 1947 Boston International Marathon using 2004 filmmaking techniques. The one who breathes life into the film is Yim Si Wan, who plays the role of Suh Yun Bok. He adds his own momentum to the character and propels the story forward. The highlight of this movie is the latter part of the marathon race. The film captures the vividness of the scene and makes the viewer feel like they are right there. It also accurately represents the distinctive characteristics of a marathon race, where athletes depend entirely on their physical abilities without the help of any specialized equipment.

My Rating : 7.5/10

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This show has what other K-drama doesn't have!

After Evillive, I've seen the trend of shorter drama, which I really like, coz it means

1. No unnecessary flashback or draggy story of ML past, just enough to give context

2. No filter scenes or cringey romance that only makes thriller more complicated than exciting

3. No "save me" princess FL in it

It's a pure 100% thriller, focusing on plot, story, action, this is how thriller should be done!!

I really love the pairing of Jiyong-Kang ok! Kang ok is like a big kid, so funny to watch. If you're pissed by FL in 1st episode like I do, stay on. She turned out to be a real crazy bitch you'll come to love for her bad-ass-ness!

I also love how Jo Heon in the end, and it's funny how he is like a korean hulk in this show lol...

All the casts come together to play their part, leading to a mega ending, its very impressive!

The ending is also unexpected, very well-done, although I am also sad when Seon Wook died, but at same time I am touched by his love for his friend and I believe this is what he'd have wanted as well, to protect and support Vigilante, right till the end.

This is cherry on the cake. Ji Yoing is SO handsome! It makes it easy to watch

It's really one of my favorite show where I don't have to fast forward at all!

The only thing is....my personal though is that such dark hero concept is sth that I would be happy in a fictional world only. In reality, I still think no murder can be justified

That aside, go and watch the show.

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definitely worth the recommendation if you want something faster phased story please skip it

I really loved it no dout on that also seriously the last episodes where super hard. Let me bring it i recently watched because it was leaving Netflix in my region and I just completed the beyond your touch. I wanted watch any one previous shows of his become he is so good on both show.
I really didn't anticipate the story will be slice of life style drama until the very moment i clicked play but it was so good. The character well developed no one felt left out and the writing is done in a very good manner.
Where did it go wrong the writer plot of the female career i still like did she decided to leave everything that so stupidity. Second after 14 episodes the writing went on to expand one episode into two instead of creating a two episodes worth content.
Other than these two it's so close to be perfect but still i really loved the show talking it value of writers and actors capacity to act.
Finally i definitely recommend if you want something fast pase please skip it. This is a slice of life drama to its core super slow and character driven story.

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J-BL Gem of 2023

Oh yeah, this was the shit. This was everything and more to me. This is the kind of story I crave more in BL -- simplistic first love stories that can tug at every heartstring until you're desperately crying out for more once it ends. I Can't Reach You was a spectacular J-BL that I'm so glad I found cause this was exactly what my little soul needed.

Let's Dive In.

Friends to lovers will always be my cup of tea, but add on childhood friends to lovers and you've basically sold me. And then on top of that, it's a first love story where we get to go through them experiencing their firsts with each other. And then on top of THAT, you throw in a plot without evil scheming characters or a third wheel -- just pure fluff, and feelings. I loved this, but I think that's obvious at this point.

Oh gosh, how I loved Yamato and Kakeru. They were flawed individuals with traits and odd perspectives like that of any hormonal teenager. Seeing Yamato so head over heels was nice, but getting to go through the story and finding these little moments when you can tell Kakeru is starting to feel something too -- the longing stares, keeping little memorabilia, laying his head on his shoulder, holding hands, the sparkling eyes while he smiles -- urgh, fuck, I love that shit so much.

Everything was so perfect, it was the right mix of awkward first encounters with figuring out feelings and how to go about them. The leads had great chemistry and great connection. Off-topic, but Kentaro (Yamato) is the prettiest J-actor I've ever seen and I could write an entire essay on his essence and soft masculine power. And yes I mean the prettiest (aka hottest) sorry I don't make the rule.

I just loved the plot too. I spoke a little bit about this, but there's nobody getting in the way of the main characters but themselves. No conniving jealous person, no evil parents or siblings, no troubling third wheel. Truly just feelings and a bit of miscommunication (which they fix by the end! Gosh, I love them). And yes, there were the girls practically throwing themselves at Yamato, but they were there as a jealousy mechanism for Kakeru and vice-versa, not an actual third wheel that you would have to worry about.

I love the other characters. I loved Yamato's sister, I loved the blonde-haired dude who was pretty much their love advisor and helped move their relationship. I loved that we didn't spend any time on them coming out or Kakeru having some deep contemplation on the fact that he liked a guy or the fact that others didn't react to it either. It was just a regular-smegular love story between friends and it's perfect. This was just such a gem of a series, seriously, it was so great.

My only little negative thing to say was that I hated when the sparkles would pass by their faces, it looked like some really cheap editing, but that might just be me. Also, the subtitles weren't it for a couple of the episodes, but again, just slight nit-picking.

Ratings:

Story: 9/10 - So so good! The pacing was perfect the storytelling was perfect and we went straight into the plot as soon as the series started.

Acting: 9/10 - great! They all did really good! I won't say their acting was the best I've seen, but still did really well! I liked Haru (Kakeru)'s acting the most!

Music: 7/10 - I didn't pay much attention to it, but it wasn't distracting.

Recommendation value: 10/10 - I rarely give something a 10 out of 10, but gosh lee, this really was so good and I highly recommend it. It's good for wanting something simple and fluffy and happy. I know I'm happy!

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