Reviews

Decent. Chemistry Could Be Better

Easily the best Korean BL I’ve watched. Though this is only the seventh one I've seen.

The story set up is interesting
The story telling is *chef’s kiss*
None of the exposition is explained to us. It’s all showing without telling.
Somehow I’m always drawn to these childhood romance reunite as scorned adults. Just like Sekaichi Hatsukoi.

The one thing I wish was different is the whole comedic “straight man/funny man” dynamic between the leads. Why do so many romances have the super serious character with no humor and the other character is always the carefree and joking around.

I feel like a strong story could have both characters alternate instead of going heavy handed with that single dynamic to create tension.

SLIGHT SPOILER:
The only real disappointment was the kiss was very dead-fish. I feel like a good editor and director could make the kiss seem better than the actors performed it. But the long shot of them staying perfectly still with their lips pressed together was just…awkward and flat.

And I wish there was more skin-ship throughout the buildup.

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Clumsy writing and direction

I just finished Suspicious Partner and Flower of Evil, and enjoyed them both (the latter more), and wanted more of crime/mystery drama so I was excited to give this a go. It was very disappointing to say the least.

It started off with a very intriguing premise: children trying to escape their abusers through the woods or some sort of abandoned area. Couple of kids manage to hide but right when it looks like they're about to be busted, we're brought to present day. Okay, nice, this premise seems to have a good potential to flesh out into a well weaved crime mystery thriller, and especially since this is based on a true story, I was hoping for a more realistic plot. But no! I was so wrong...

Before I start criticising, I'd like to clarify that everyone including the supporting actors did a decent job of portraying their characters to their best of abilities but the direction and writing are just awful. If you've watched true crime documentaries, you'll know right away the writer hasn't done enough research.

We're introduced to a detective (ML) who functions with a brain of an immature kid with anger issues. He's unnecessarily violent and handles every situation messily, and he's displayed this way for us to believe that he's one of those oddball genius detectives whose ways go against standard practice but he knows what he's doing so we should root for him. He has a tendency to put himself in the criminal's or victim's shoes to understand and analyse the situation better and he does this by doing odd yet very stupid things like putting himself into a plastic bag and rolling himself down a mound to mimic a possible scenario of corpse being rolled down that same mound by the killer... Why did he do that? The corpse was not even in a position it would have been if it was rolled down the mound and thrown away. It was in a perfectly sitting position. Was this not obvious enough from the start??? Even if the corpse was rolled down first and then put in that sitting position, there could be signs of damage from rolling down but again this may be determined only through post mortem so whatever he was doing felt so dumb. After this, it just felt like he was trying too hard to come across as eccentric to the point I cringed, like when he tried to mimic the killer by trying to slit the pathologist's lips and she called him a psycho for that. Why does he mimic the most obvious scenarios to understand a situation...? It doesn't make sense... Then he beat up a "junkie" for trying to hurt a girl, which could get him into trouble legally. Was he not trained to incapacitate and cuff assaulters? Why didn't he threaten him with a gun? He was on duty investigating a murder so he should have been prepared. Ugh it was so messy and he felt so amateur.

Some of the scenes were very unrealistic and didn't make any sense at all. The murder suspect stabs his lawyer with a pen in court and the police just stood doing nothing. He then proceeded to jump over the table and climb up to the judge and raised his pen ready to stab the judge who didn't flinch or worry he was going to be harmed, and the police were still nowhere to be scene!! ML was the only one who rushed to save his brother (judge) 😭. And while everyone was in a panic and the whole court was in chaos, the judge was simply sitting there giving his judgement/reasoning on the suspect and his crimes until he jumped up to him to stab him too wtf 😭😭😭

ML's brother just feels like a robot with no sensible reactions. His overconfidence feels more like a supernatural ability to withstand any and every situation. Heck if he was suspended upsidedown above an active volcano, he still wouldn't react. I didn't watch far enough to explore him or the FL so I'll leave it at this.

Then while the suspect was being driven, an accident happens where all the police on board were severely injured due to the police van literally being overturned because a motorbike cut through, but, BUT the murder suspect not only managed to free himself by finding the cuff keys (which was conveniently right in front of him) in all that wreck but walked out like a champ with his injuries and drove off on the motorbike... How the fork??

Then he went over to FL's house 3 hours later and kept her hostage all night and I'm guessing he called the police to threaten them to take back his jail sentence or whatever even though he also clearly says that he knows it won't work, and that he just wanted to kill her for revenge. Okay so why did he keep her hostage all night then? It's not clear who even called the police or maybe I missed it. Though he does later in the hospital say he was ordered to do this by the actual killer, and maybe it is explained later why all this was necessary so if you have the patience, go for it. Then our oddball ML crashes into her house and heroically shoots the guy and he falls over. I understand the FL is all tied up but he lets his guard down to let her loose and predictably the guy gets up and stabs him and then ML passes out... I'm so done with this drama.

I can usually tolerate messy scenes every now and then but the direction and ML's character is a flop. Idm hot headed cops but don't make him do dumb things and don't make cops look like they're useless. Some cops are but this is a story which you can shape however you want, you can make them look at least a little reliable to save the audience from frustration.

This would probably be watchable if you're not familiar with true crime. It has some thrill, just delivered poorly.

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"Journeying Through 'Macbeth': Unveiling Life's Truths and Redefining Paths"

"At first, I watched the show, thinking it was for joy and nightly laughter, but as I delved into the first episode, I discovered hidden tales, fragments of our perplexing reality, dancing on life's transparency and drawing us in.

I admired the idea of their separation, that group called 'Macbeth,' for we always rush after our dreams, dragging our ages within the folds of ambition, in a path that blends the pleasure of the journey and its pain together.

And sometimes, we reach an end, only to realize that a change of course is necessary, leaving moments of failure behind, regaining the balance of the journey, perhaps on a new path, wiser and more consciously, illuminating the trail of hope."

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Existentialism Gone Amok.

The drama portrays interesting apocalyptic scenarios, using philosophical undertones to convey its point.
We can see appropriate criticisms against the religious zealots and the tyrannical priest class abusing its authority to gain control over the mass, a retelling of Nietzsche's biting critique on religion. We also receive a neat existentialist prescription: Don't rely on man, rely on yourself and empirical data; face the helms of danger with courage; settle matters with your own choice and self-governance! Sounds great on paper. The issue?

None of the existentialist philosophers who encouraged us to exact our will encountered a supernatural floating head that damned people to Hell nor 3 bootleg grey Hulks eradicating people one by one! All of them presupposed that God did not exist, so the natural recourse is to take matters into our own hands. Although a slight distinction, that slight distinction makes for a understandable and reasonable argument into one that is completely untenable. In other words, the drama conveys the most radical idea: Even if God or supernatural beings exist, we ought to take matters into our own hands.

The antidote against an unstoppable supernatural force is cute, but flimsy. It is as if we encountered an encroaching catastrophic tsunami with nowhere to hide, and the writer confidently assures us we need to face it directly for it is our only option. Fueled by his inspiring words, we brace ourselves and await the tidal behemoth. Any sensible person running away from the crashing waves dies and perishes. However, we, until the brink of death, face forward and are rewarded as a portion of the tide splits and passes right by us. We remain undamaged for we did not despair! We have done it. Just as the writer said, we decided and accomplished our goal. The great irony? We relied on a divine force of the Writer to part the seas to save ourselves from this dilemma despite our proclamation to overcome the situation by ourselves.

Similarly, despite the cute prescription of the show, the characters rely on Deus ex machina to rescue them. The protagonists mindlessly retort their individualistic beliefs, yet escape their perilous circumstances with the writer's convenient interventions; a direct contradiction of the confused theme declared by the drama.

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Well…. Where to start. I was excited to start this drama given the seasoned actors. But it wasn’t quite what I was expecting. There’s no real angst in this drama… any angst is short lived or so questionable that I’d spend an episode trying to figure out what is wrong with the leads and writing my comments on Viki, only to delete them so I’m not being too negative… after all it is almost Christmas!!

Initially, I thought the writers were supporting independent and confident women… but then it seemed more like reverse psychology . I’m suddenly sympathizing with the men who are at home cleaning the ladies’ apartments, apologizing for everything, and basically groveling half the time. Was this done on purpose? All the ladies, including the BFF whose sudden transformation was hard to buy into were SO high maintenance . It was overboard.

For such experienced actors, this drama seemed stilted. I FF’d through moments that really shouldn’t have been cringey but sadly there were a lot of those moments. But overall it was ok I guess. Probably lower than at 6.5 but I feel bad for the men so to not further beat them down I’ll leave it at a 6.5!!

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as computer science student

"As a student immersed in the realm of computer science, I found tremendous delight in the show's vibrant narrative and infectious energy. Yet, I had yearned for a deeper exploration into the intricate world of coding terminals and its allied technical intricacies. Nevertheless, this remarkable series serves as a testament, illuminating the profound capacity of games to transcend boundaries across diverse domains, offering remarkable benefits. The essence of unwavering determination, steadfastly pursuing aspirations despite hurdles, echoes profoundly. Let this beacon of inspiration fuel your journey; persist until your ambitions materialize into reality."

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Uncomfortable Age difference

I honestly loved the story line, but the romance between ML and FL was low key pretty uncomfortable. Yeah, the male lead’s soul (?) is 37 years old, but his body’s still 18. It’s just weird to see a 37 year old in a romantic relationship with someone who’s her literal son’s age. And not to mention that it’s even weirder because I can’t stop thinking about it when I watch it. A drama with a large age difference I was fine with was song hyekyo and Lee dohyun’s relationship with in the The glory, and that was im assuming 14 years. That was okay because the entire story didn’t revolve around it so I didnt think about it that often and it didn’t ick me out.

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idea nice, excecution average

Soundtrack #2 (2023) - 8/10 kdrama

firstly they would do better if they named it differently. Aside of director[+ here aint only one as in #1] and some music theme this drama got nothing what would connect it to #1. They try ride on successful short drama just to make watchers disappointment.

Vibe and story type is different. Moreover chemistry is quite lacking[average]. Story about reunited exes was interesting, I could put up even with triangle which they forcefully got there. Still in these 6 eps they didnt managed to dig into it. I practically didnt felt any fear of FL ending with second male.

Only good points I can give is for FL... I liked her other dramas and got no much problems with her here.

plot - ML is workaholic rich CEO which ends up with medical troubles. As part of rehabilitation he ought to learn play on piano, but his piano instructor is his ex-girlfriend which broke up with him few years ago when he was still poor. Will these lessons heal even his old heartbreak injuries?

genre -romance

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Revenge by accident. And romance to distract you.

If you are looking for a satisfying revenge story, don't watch this! Watch "The Glory" instead - it is also not perfect, but a more satisfying watch. Here, in Itaewon Class, the ML is driven from the very beginning to get revenge, but he has no plan. He is successful in the end but only because he is lucky and somehow stumbles into it.
It feels like the narrative they wanted to push is: you just have to be a nice guy, then success will come to you. Also, it is very slow moving, the actual revenge only happens in the last episode. And even then we don't get a big finale with a bang.

The romance that is woven into the story gets a bit too much at times and is also a bit weird, especially the unconditional love the ML shows to the b*tch character for the longest time. Speaking of characters, the character development is quite weak in general, but two characters stand out to really behave erratically:
- The young heir: obviously a nice guy, he turns evil with the snip of a finger and hates himself for it all the while. And that while being the second character after the ML who should have the highest interest of getting revenge on the old scrooge, given his awful childhood.
- The second FL, the childhood "friend". She is an awful person from the very beginning and has no growth till episode 16. And all the while she seems to hate herself, judging by the single sad face expression she displays throughout the series. I'm surprised how many reviewers rooted for her.

The series was praised a lot for its diversity: a trans girl and a black guy. Well, the creators were probably meaning well, but it ended up being quite transphobic and racist. Both characters lack depth and they get no time to explore their stories. We have 16 slow-moving episodes and the black guy speaks what, maybe a total of 10 minutes? And while I don't think that only actors from the matching minority should play minority roles, I woudn't be surprised if they didn't find a trans actress who was willing to take on this simplistic role.

Some smaller observations:
- The story spans over maybe 15 years, starting in high school. But the appearance of the ML doesn't change at all - not even his hairstyle changes :)
- Of course, severely hurt people run from the bad guys following a street, instead of hiding in bushes. And of course the bad guys chasing them by car take forever to catch up. Enough time to stop for a little romantic scene. And of course, when you have the choice of running away by car or by foot, you choose the latter. I was screaming at this stupidity.
- What are the odds of running into your unknown grandma by coincidence in a country of 50 million?

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I hate everyone in this show.

Main female lead: vapid, miserable, stupid, and lacks any sense of self-preservation,
Male lead ... oh, wait. Is there a male lead?

I watched for Seo Ji Seok, but even he plays an irredeemable jerk.

Then, as if there weren't already enough absolutely USELESS characters in this drama,
they brought an extra pair of wastrels and con artists (the building owner's brother) into the story,
presumably to make show even more pathetic and miserable.

Meanwhile, the show had the audacity to play pathetically 'sad music' for the awful characters,
who should have been getting their legs twisted, instead.

I have never watched such a bad show in my life.
Did I finish watching? Oh, you bet I'm finished watching this drama.
Can't believe I made it to episode 11 without jumping off a bridge.

Thank you to the previous reviewers who saved me from watching any more of this drivel.
Did anyone even READ this script, before putting it into production? Wow.

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Buyer Beware!

We have an American expression that adroitly sums up this BL. ‘What you see, is what you get.’ The title puts in a nutshell what the series is all about. It is a story of two K-pop stars who are joined together to form a “Business Gay Performance”. I must further admit I was intrigued by them and its story. Perhaps because their acting is surprisingly entertaining and good and while I am guessing it is not much of a stretch for them to play K-pop stars since that is what they do, they were still rather convincing on screen. Honestly, this series overall is entertaining. It could have been better had it been longer and had a greater commitment to its message. For when it came to the actual fulfillment of the relationship, there was none. My further warning to viewers is: Buyer Beware!

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BEST BL OF 2023 ISTG!!!

Before Last Twilight even aired, I ALREADY knew it was gonna be a masterpiece!!! I like other fans, had to wait for MONTHS for LW and let me tell you so far it has not dissapointed me!!! Its already over half way done and every episode is just bussin xD! Like i dont really know what else to say i just wanted to write a review to support this show and let it be more well known because its REALLY GOOD YALL :3. This show actually has quite a unique plot and its not your stereotypical university bl and the cinematography is good so as the ACTING OMLLL GOOD ACTING xD! Anywayss if your hesitating 2 watch then ur insane.

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Draaaaaaag.

If this was a romance about Dao Ming Si and Shancai, it made no sense that the two of them maybe got about 60 minutes of screentime, with half of that all being in the first episode before everything went to crap.

It's all been said before, but there was absolutely no reason we had to wait 13 episodes for Shancai and DMS to meet again, and then ANOTHER 11 episodes for him to get his memory back, all for nothing to come of it until a 10 minute reconciliation at the end, all without any sort of meaningful communication between them before that.

I could write an entire thesis about why I hate the amnesia trope, and I know the source material is to blame for this arc even existing, but with that being said, I absolutely could not bring myself to care about anything that happened during the amnesia, much less any scenes between Ye Sha and Dao Ming Si. It was refreshing, sure, that she wasn't a manipulative mean girl like in the other versions, but amnesiac DMS was basically scrubbed so clean he wasn't himself. Most of their love story occurred in a world without familial or financial pressures, which made it feel low stakes. And all of that doesn't even compare to the fact that we, as the audience, knew how the story would end anyways and all the wishy-washiness just felt very dragged out.

We also get to see a little bit of Meizuo's romance and Ximen's family arc in this one. I didn't realize that Ximen's romance arc wouldn't get a conclusion (which is slightly disappointing as it was my favorite part of the Korean version), but overall I don't think I had the patience to appreciate either of these side stories because they took up screentime while the main story was still being frustratingly slow.

On the other hand, think my favorite part of this drama has to be Lei. He's come so far since the start of the show, and he got all the meaningful conversations Shancai should've had with DMS. I didn't have SLS in every adaptation of Hana Yori Dango, but this one...oof.

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Can Cupid also fall in love with me? Asking for a man

Whenever I watch a drama, I look for three things:
1. Is the story good?
2. Is the acting good?
3. Do I want to go lie down on train tracks?
And believe me when I say, it’s only a ten if number three has a 60% chance of happening.
In conclusion, My man is Cupid is a freaking good drama. I love the actors, the story of their forbidden love, and how, even tho both of them know they are possibly going to be hit by a white truck in the near future, they still fight for each other.
In addition to a good chemistry between the actors, the story itself is pretty good. Good mystery elements, funny moments, and romance filled scenes.

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