Reviews

Am I a grasshopper while watching this series?

This series has no substance. The only good story that I find watchable here is Can-Tin relationship. How could you make a series with multiple main characters who seem like they are just part of the minor side story? I checked that there's a part 2 of this series. I just wished they just focused Can-Tin and Pete-Ae in this series and let the stories of Kla-Techno and Tum-Tar in part 2.

Poor camera angles of the kissing scenes literally make the fake scenes so obvious.

The actors portray their roles as if they were just like practicing their scripts. Everything is average.

I will be watching the part 2 though. Hoping to see a change.

(PS: I skipped way too many that I feel like I'm a grasshopper)

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WHAT DID I JUST WATCH? lolol

What in the low budget porn Twilight is this?? It was a never ending cringe fest filled with horrible acting, god awful writing, and some abysmal plot lolol

The worst BL...and series in general.....I've ever seen. It's SO bad that it's kinda funny.

PLOT: The movie starts with Wine's creepy ass smile (you'll see it every 10min or so lolol) as he look obsessively over his "straight" boyfriend Tee. They have sex immediately...and 10 seconds later Tee starts the "it was just sex, I'm not gay" speech. Wine gets into a deep but short-lasting depression. Tee's best friends are a bunch of jocks who decide to humiliate Wine even further by pulling a prank on him. They said Tee regretted his decision to break up and was waiting for him in this creepy abandoned building (oooh come on!!!).

Of course the poor soul waited the entire day and Tee never showed up. He was too busy "having fun" with his friends....ignoring the fact that he is indeed gay. But, when Wine finally decides to give up on waiting after hours, he hears an eerie cry for help. Basically everything in this movie is an obvious DON'T DO IT type of situation......but guess what? They all fucking do it lololol

Wine finds this weird looking dude that is a mix of a Wish version of Edward with a splash of 20s Dracula with the widow's peak. Yeah.....you read it right. And of course the second thing Wine does is let this stranger suck his blood and they fall in love. Like, who wouldn't? lolol And it all goes downhill from there. All the way down....

CHACARTER / ACTING:

- Wine (Fluke) is a basically an obsessed psychotic twink throughout the whole movie. That's his gig. And serving a creepy smile for no good reason. His character is based on his relationship with 3 guys and how far is he willing to go for the sake of "love" (which only lasts a few moments with him lol)

- Night: Our weird vamp that, in the end proves himself to be very ungrateful lol

All the actors were pretty bad in this, not gonna lie. Not even one redeemable thing about this whole movie. If you wanna watch just for the weirdness...have at it. But it is pretty bad lol

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It was a cute romance between a blind artist grieving the loss of his sight and a bubbly barista who met through a street mural he was working on. I loved the imagery surrounding the ML as he broke down and as he fell in love. And the way that his paintings started incorporating color was so touching. It very much seemed to speak to not only his feelings for her, but also his acceptance of his new state as a blind man.

But I had two problems:
We could obviously see Tou becoming soft towards Iris, with the subtlety that could easily be interpreted as love. But Iris could just as well have been interpreted as growing a friendship with him. Especially with the absence of romantic moments and gazes.

Secondly, Tou's voice tapes come into focus a few times as important. Rather like journal entries. But while I got the sense that they were important, we weren't quite privy to how important, or why. I would have appreciated a touch more time with this element, or a better picked out excerpt from it.

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Entertaining reminder of young love in it's first passion.

For males or females who can recall either being the object of the desire or being the desirer in a relationship.

The couple in this J romance have a lot to overcome before they open up to each other.
The female is an introverted bookworm who would rather lose herself in the printed page than anything else and this means relationships as well. The ML, in a tired and sensitive time at school, steals a kiss. This tiny action has a lasting impression on him and so 10 years later, when he returns to Japan, he contrives a chance meeting and pursues her. The timing of this encounter is perfect because the Fl need somewhere to live that will contain her many books.

Once they are living together he tentatively but relentlessly puts into action all the supportive, sweet romantic gestures he can without scaring her away, The Fl comes to like and expect these offerings and so their intimacy progresses,

What I liked was the ML straightforwardness. He also knows how to play the push pull game to get the Fl to initiate more. The Fl keeps believing her past trope of only needing books until she starts to realise she also needs him.

What stood out for me was the consistency of the ML's pursuit. At first I thought it was too one sided but as their relationship develops the Fl surprises herself with her awakened lust and jealousy.

There is a lot of fantasy and skinship all done in a soft dreamy way. Gentle but still far and away better than the K drama and C drama efforts that pass for romance.
Entertaining reminder of young love in it's first passion.

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Disappointment At The End.

This story intrigue me. They both had special power because of an accident. The lead characters are great. The story is really good and it even had a few twist and turn that surprises you. But the ending disappointed me. The way they hated each other because their powers was gone just totally did not fit with the story. Is like they lost their powers and the devil got into them with lots of hate for each other. I can't believe after all the years with the power that they did not get to learn about themselves and then about each other. The ending did not fit. It seem like they were in a hurry to finish the story and put no thought about the ending.

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Good drama to finish in 2hrs

So bored as I don't know what to watch, and this drama popped out in my YouTube recommendation. At first, I'm confused why it was 2 hrs, but it's a combined video in one.
The drama was not bad. I like the girl. She's so cute and honestly, both of them are a good match. Still shocked how the male is only 20 yrs old. Like look how tall he is... And the female is 28yrs old. I like the drama overall, I just wish THE KISSING SCENE WAS more of a kissing scene.
Like close your mouth or like make them touch more.... Please and thank you.
I like how they went straight to the point.
Nice and simple to drama to watch if you have nothing to watch. Lol.
12:34pm 1/25/23

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Superb acting!

This a great story that is elevated even more by the superb acting of so many but I have to focus on the master of moods in this story, the actor Jo Han Chul. He portrays the villian with so much depth. You see the character's vulnerability, his fear of his father, his anger and desire to be loved by his father. He is at turns scary, mean, crazy and despite it all --- sympathetic at times to the viewer. This is such an ensemble cast that make the whole show so good. I followed it with enthusiasm wondering what would happen next. I just finished episode 14 and I am sad that I'm nearing the end because it has just been the greatest show I've seen in months and months.

I plan to update my review when I've finished.

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Someone peaked in high school

This drama wasn’t magical to me at all. At first I was blindly watching but soon I realized all the problems in it, and specifically the problematic things.

It’s so weird that this girl really hated her life so much over some tiny that happened in high school. She hated it so much that she thought her life thereafter was miserable and there were no redeeming qualities compared to getting rejected in high school. Now it was a horrible rejection, but she was 29 and years out of high school.

The romance isn’t good. The lead actor is very pretty, the main girl is ok- but she wasn’t ugly at all so I can’t boy into the rejection at all. The lead actor was a jerk to her in a different timeline, but he is basically a different person in the new one- the guy really likes her for her looks and I found no reason that told me he didn’t other wise. He was weirdly possessive and their whole romance I wasn’t buying, neither was their chemistry. The acting is so stiff, but the dialogue wasn’t helping.

I seriously can’t understand why for 12 years this girl couldn’t get over a high school boy. She fantasizes about getting with a high school boy and I thought that was weird, but after he knew I really had to think- this is predatory at this point. He knows she is an adult but is ok with that? She is living in this timeline as her 29 year old self but just looks like she is in high school.. because she is wearing a uniform.. there is no difference in looks from 29 to high school. Like even if I was stupid and blindly watching- I can’t- the immersion is hopeless with this one.

The whole idea of love is so juvenile. I guess it’s because this is based off a manga… but there are things this drama could’ve done right but didn’t. That main point being the main actress not being ugly, not looking 29 when she should, etc. There is too much filler when this could’ve been straight to the point. The acting pauses for dramatic effect and characters act as if their whole life depend on romance. That is the main character; her personality is she is in love with male lead. I can’t support that with her being 29.. I am at a loss here. I watched just for fun but ended up being irritated.

This girl really wanted to give up her whole modern life so she could date a boy in high school. Everyone peaked so badly here. Male lead is so bland and is just pretty- off the bat she just likes him and we don’t get why? I’m so appalled and offended- this drama is for young kids- wait it isn’t because the main character is straight up grooming the male lead because she is actually 29. I wasted my time. Please don’t waste yours.


If you want a high school romantic comedy watch My School President. If you want a Japanese High School drama watch Keita Hatsukoi. If you want time travel with romance watch Scarlet Heart. If you want a straight Japanese Romance watch an anime because they adapt much better than this did.

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SHANGXIN.....

I only watched I Told Sunset about You and I Promised You the Moon in January 2023, when I found the series were on Netflix. I already knew about these two series, but was not able to find them. So how glad I was to know I could binge-watch all 10 episodes earlier this week. I have read other reviews which compared ITSAY and IPYTM (most favoured the first one), but for me I see IPYTM as a continuation. So these were just likes episodes 6 to 10 of the same series, especially because I watched them all at once.

I used "shangxin" as the title of my review because I find that being sad and heartbroken still seemed to be the dominant feelings of these two boys, despite being in a relationship at the beginning. If episode 1-5 (ITSAY) portrayed the growing pains of young teenage boys, episode 6-10 (IPYTM) definitely shows how people change. Yes, people do change, especially during the first years of university. You have a new network of friends, meet new people who for better or worse, would influence your life. Your dreams may become stronger, or weaker, or may change overall. This is the fact that Teh could not yet accept. He wanted people to remain the same, to be true to their dreams (or what he thinks are their dreams). He could not take it when Oh decided to change his major, and he just didnt get it when Khim, who was like a mentor to him, decided to become a flight attendant. When Khim said "Not everyone has the same condition as you" (these may not be the exact words), this should have been an insightful moment for Teh. But, no, he still thought that people should be true to their initial dreams.

I liked the way the two lead characters were shown to change, although Oh seemed to be more mature than Teh. He knew what he wanted in life, when he failed after his first casting. Although it might still hurt, he just accepted the fact that people said he was not manly enough. He found his passion in advertising now, and achieved in getting a job as he wanted. Teh, on the other hand, became a successful actor, but then came to realize that something was missing in his life. These reflective moments are what make people grow and develop, and I love the way it was shown.

There are three particular scenes I loved in IPYTM. None of them were really emotional ones, but for some reason these were the scenes which touched me most. First, when Teh moved to the dormitory, his mom gave him two lucky charms. The other one was for Oh. This was so sweet. So, yes, you just can't deny that a loving mother's intuition is always strong. She knew about Teh and Oh, and made no issue about that.

The next touching moment for me was the scene was when both Teh and Oh were strolling on the streets of Bangkok at night time, and saw a poster ofTop, an actor Teh idolised, and shared his dream of becoming a great actor and win the Oscar, together with Oh. I really loved the way Billkin and PP playd this scene. The last scene which touched me a lot was the rooftop conversation, after Teh told Oh that his dog Tuty has died. There was no crying or saying "I'm sorry", or flirting, let alone kissing, among the two. There was just a casual conversation asking each other how they both were, what they were doing now, and whether they had new relationships or not. But you can just tell that they both still loved each other and I sensed the "shangxin" feelings of both Teh and Oh. In fact, this was a scene which brought mist to my eyes, even though it was not a sad scene,

Overall I think this is a very well-made BL series. I already rewatched ITSAY last night and I am going to rewatch IPYTM after this.

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A beautiful sad love...and so much more.

First of all I just want to say that this series blew me away! If you even lost somebody you loved you can definitely relate to it. Well...to be honest even if you are luck enough to say that you've never lost a loved one, you will be moved by this story.

PLOT: Our narrator, Mitsuru, guide us through the entire 8 episodes. He starts by telling how his life changed after meeting Koichi. They were in the same class, but didn't know each other. Mitsuru is a classic smart sad loner, and Koichi a nice popular jock. Since the first time their eyes met, they fell deeply in love. Koichi did everything is his power to get closer to Mitsuru, and it took him a while to do it...but they became inseparable.

Unfortunately, while walking to school Koichi gets hit by a truck (those fucking white trucks that loves killing our beloved characters AAAHHHH **screams in pure hatred**) in front of our boy Mitsuru. Its pretty clear that Koichi couldn't have possibly survived the hit, but there he is...."alive" and breathing. Both of them go through an incredibly emotional journey.....going through all stages of grief.

The story was put together beautifully!! Their feelings were tangible....their interactions were 100% believable, even though I knew it was just a series about a walking corpse and his bf. But still it was very moving to watch those boys navigating through their loss and emotions. Definitely a MUST WATCH!

CAST / CHARACTERS: OMFG AMAZING!!!!! Every single actor hit their mark. I don't remember the last time I said that. Just beautiful work from everyone! Koichi and Mitsuru are wonderful! Supporting cast too. Zero complaints from me.

The writers are 10/10. I feel like a broken record but I am at a loss of words. Can't really describe the feeling after just watching it. You have to let it marinate a little....let the emotions settle. What a beautiful series.

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Hopes dashed, again

The euphoria I felt whilst watching the first dozen episodes is indescribable. Finally, I said, finally I found an intelligent series with strong characters and an intriguing plot that was truly riveting; however, by episode 20 the story and characters moved from the palace location to the barracks where we were then introduced to the other players in the game. Thereon, it appears characters that were previously intelligent became stupid, and certain plot points that had seemed inviolable at the beginning were no longer so.
How do the writers explain the Emperor and Empress sneaking out of the capital dressed as guards when the audience had been told previously that they were mostly grounded and rarely ventured outside of the palace grounds without permission? On the other end of the plot advance was Sima Yi who seemed clairvoyant and could deduce future events with almost no clues just because he was supposed to be the intelligent one. In a way the writers were their own worst enemy...they actually thought giving Sima Yi ( and to an extent, Guo Jia) all the clues without us seeing him(them) work through it themselves would make the characters seem smart. They were mistaken. It was lazy and unimaginative.

Enough about the screenplay, let's talk about the actors.

Wan Qian was the MVP of this series. She more than carried the show and had the most realistic character arc of the lot of them. She portrayed an Empress that was at the end of her tether and unwilling to go down with the ship but would rather find a way to right the rudder come hell or high water. Even I was on a knife's edge whenever she came on screen. All I can say is I hope she won an award for this series. Next is Ma Tian Yu. Sigh, I'm not sure I have anything nice to say about his acting skills. His face was either set at "resting stupid" or "slightly less resting stupid". His character was one-dimensioned to within an inch. There was nowhere for him to go so they made him run around in circles for the entirety of the series.

Then there were Cao Cao, Guo Jia, Man Chong, and the lot of them who were all caricatures of beard-twirling villains. If you want to see villains done right then watch Joy of Life or The Rebel Princess where even though you know these guys will kill their unborn babies to advance their positions, they could still evoke pity and even support from the audience. Objectively, I know these issues if isolated are not dealbreakers but combined, everything dragged. The pacing, the story, the characters, everything suffered.

While we're on this subject, did anyone notice when Sima and the Princess Consort fell in love? As in why and how? Lmao, theirs was the most boring and laziest "falling in love" I'd ever seen to the point I wish the writers had just left it out cos Elvis and Dong Jie had NO chemistry whatsoever.

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It was so close to being so good...

Tldr; First ~10 episodes--Fantastic. Last ~3 episodes--Hot mess.

The Good:
- Great characters
- Real chemistry between main couple
- Interesting time-loop storyline that for the most part is handled really well
- Gets better with every loop and keeps you on the edge of your seat
- There's a lot more going on behind the scenes that slowly but surely gets revealed as you progress through the show
- Genuinely unique and interesting storyline

The Not So Good:
- The ending was absolutely rushed; they bit off way more than they could chew in 13 episodes.
- Major plot points that appeared at the beginning were never touch on in the end
- Copped out at the end with the antagonist and just having him "go crazy" as opposed to actually having an ending with some substance
- They made some weird choices with how they wrapped up Tin and Tol's relationship at the end (it's still a HEA ending, but they really dropped the ball on a lot of things)

All the Thoughts:
I'm so sad the show finished the way it did. It legitimately had such great potential, and the first 10 episodes were great! The show got better and better with each loop--the characters were well thought out, and you could see both the individual character growth and the relational growth between characters--not only between Tin and Tol, but their relationship with others as well. The relationship between Tin and Tol developed really well, and they had really good chemistry together on screen. By the time they were officially together, you could clearly see a deep bond and love between the two of them.

As for the storyline itself, like I said at the beginning, it was SO CLOSE to being SO GOOD! It had a unique premise with the time loop, and the story had so much depth beyond the surface of "Guy goes back in time over and over again to save his lover." There was so much more that was going on behind the scenes, and it was really cool how interconnected everything was and how they teased it out from episode to episode and time loop to time loop.

But, unfortunately, the show really fell apart in the last 3 or so episodes, especially the last two. They really tried to do way too much all at once. It was like they bit off more than they could chew, and when they realized they still had all these things to tie up and only had two episodes to do it in, they just shoved it all in and said, "Yeah! That'll work!" And it just turned out a mess. The characters were making blatantly stupid decisions (especially considering these were supposed to be *adults* with freaking *medical degrees*), such as not calling the police or just running headlong into danger when there were *clearly* better, safer, and much more effective options. They also really copped out at the end with the antagonist, just making him "go crazy" as opposed to doing something substantial with the organ trafficking storyline--which is TRAGIC. They had SO much potential to do something with a storyline that I've never seen in any other bl, and it touches on a major issue that is prevalent throughout the world. But instead they just landed on him going crazy, which was so disappointing.

I was also not a fan of how they wrapped up Tin and Tol's relationship. Again, like a lot of the rest of the ending, it was rushed, trying to shove too much into too few episodes, and you had to overlook a lot of stuff that just didn't make sense or was never actually explained. This was also so disappointing, because like I said earlier, up until this point, their relationship had been developing SO well, and the chemistry between the actors was fantastic. I just wish they would have given the two the ending they deserved. They also really dropped the ball on issues they made a big deal about in the first half of the season, but in the second half, they were just never mentioned again, which was also frustrating.

For setting being in a hospital, it was really nice to have it in a unique place that hasn't been touched on in very many bl's. If you have any kind of medical knowledge, you definitely have to overlook a number of things that are clearly done incorrectly or overly dramatized, but I don't think anyone's coming into this show with the intention to learn about the medical world. But it is nonetheless really nice to be outside of a Thai college (mostly).

So, all that to say, I enjoyed the first ~10 episodes tremendously, but, unfortunately, the last ~3 were an absolute hot mess. Am I glad I watched it? Yeah, I am, but I'm also really disappointed the ending didn't live up to the rest of the show.

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Refreshingly different.

Interesting, complicated. Great acting. LGBTQ in a natural way. Minimal BL tropes. Maybe a little slow but also fully engaging. First episode is confusing; gets easier to understand from episode 2. Tries to tell various stories in parallel at different points in the timeline. This series is high on emotional/dramatic tension. Feels a bit like a mystery. The ending sequences are too short to release the accumulated tension. A bit more casual dialog in the final rooftop scene would have helped. Left me wishing for a few more loose ends to be tied up. A very nice change of pace, just be prepared for some confusion.

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"CAN I ASK YOU FOR ONE THING: DO NOT DISAPPEAR"

Such a beautiful story.

I only watched this series in January 2023 (together with its sequel I Promised You the Moon). I have seen the title mentioned on Youtube as a must-watch BL series in 2020, and just found it on Netflix earlier this week. I binge-watched all 10 episodes and could only say: wow, what a beautiful story line. You get to see all the struggles and anxiety that young people experience as they grow up, the awkwardness, confusion and strong yearning you feel when you fall in love with someone, and the struggles, and often times denial, you have growing up gay. But what is more beautiful is the way friendship (including animosity and mixed feelings) between the two boys was portrayed, besides romance and a little bit of eroticism.

The cinematography was superb. I loved the Phuket scenery (and still wish to go there), the shophouses, the Chinese temple/shrine and a glimpse of the Chinese-Thai culture in Phuket, scenes at both Teh's and Oh's houses, the Chinese language classroom, the cafes where the boys hang out, and of course the beach and ocean. One of the best scenes I liked was when young Oh was performing martial arts in the play, while young Teh did complementary movements backstage. This was so beautifully done. Love it so much.

There were also some symbolism and beliefs that were well-portrayed. Using your left foot on your first step (never knew about this belief), the scent of coconut and the red hibiscus all has deeper meaning which I can't describe, but loved it anyway.

I also just found out that Billkin and PP were the ones who sang most of the songs in the soundtrack. So cool.

Although sometimes the silence between the two boys can be a bit too long, I still loved the way the two boys interact with each other, even as they fight, they're still cute and you know that deep down inside they love each other. Surprisingly, Oh is the one who is more daring to expose his feelings compared to Teh (also in the sequel, Oh is somewhat more mature than Teh, in terms on how he sees his life moving on).

Other characters were also well-portrayed. The typical, proud Asian mother (hope I am not stereotyping), the loving, caring and understanding brother (also he may seem aloof at times), and Bas, the rival boyfriend who turned out to be such a sweet boy (could not help wondering what would happen to him after this).

Overall, I can only say I loved this series and just rewatched it last night (and am going to rewatch I Promised You the Moon later, after I write a review for that one). I also noticed that most reviews here gave ITSAY a straight 10 overall :-)

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