Reviews

My Favo CP

Gosh, Esther and Ryan reunite!? MUST WATCH of course!!! Love this Duo so much since Moonlight! And I have to admit, Ryan in this project sooo HANDSOME! I can't!!! Either because of the coustume and make-up or what!? But for sure he's getting more handsome here.

And their acting and chemistry more and more mature and BETTER!!! Seems like they're already comfortable having to work together again. But I just can't with this DUO!!! Love them so much!!!

I wish they're getting reunite soon for the third time. And keep their friendship stronger than before! (Or if they want to be a couple in real life, I support them!)

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Like in the Movies: An Honest Trailer

[This is a review of "Gaya sa Pelikula" written in the form of a film trailer. Imagine an appropriately epic narratorial voice, hovering above images from the show.]

Are you a jaded BL fan? Are you sick and tired of the same high-school Korean BLs that come out once a season? Of the same engineering Thai BLs that come out once a month? Of the same food-themed JBLs that come out once a week? Do you feel somewhat guilty about the fact that BL is still almost entirely written by and cater to straight women? Do you often find yourself bemoaning — if only because you feel you must — the dearth of BLs written by gay men for gay men?

Are you looking for something fresh and innovative, something to revolutionise the whole BL universe? Something that avoids all the tired tropes of a bog-standard BL? Such as… a rich, confident bad boy; a poor, diffident, good boy; unreasonably hot men; strict Asian parents; absent Asian parents; fujoshis; “I’m an ally” divas; enemies to lovers; roommates to lovers; fake boyfriends; and ham-fisted metaphors about self-acceptance and being in and out of the closet?

Well, say hello to “Gaya sa Pelikula”. Just like in the movies.

Written by a gay man for gay men, here’s a show that constantly screams: “This is what representation looks like!!! Nkay?”

Prepare to be bowled over by a show that completely reinvents the genre, in a story that includes such revolutionary ideas as… ummm... a rich, confident bad boy; a poor, diffident, good boy; unreasonably hot men; strict Asian parents; absent Asian parents; fujoshis; “I’m an ally” divas; enemies to lovers; roommates to lovers; fake boyfriends; and ham-fisted metaphors about self-acceptance and being in and out of the closet.

Never mind all the allegations against the writer. Ignore anything that shatters our desperate hope that BL will finally do right by the LGBT community. Why care about all that when we have lines such as these?

“I refuse to be a plot device that trigger's somebody's identity crisis.”

“Have you ever felt like you’re not the protagonist in your own story?”
“I’m not always hurting because I’m gay, but because I always choose to love.”
“Jesus is too forgiving to be a Capricorn.”

They just sound clever, don't they? And they make you feel clever. The lines may be about as deep as spray tan on skin. Not to mention the fact that the show goes on to do exactly what these lines, and the show itself, purports to subvert. (Except the Jesus line. That's on him.) But the writer took a course on film and queer theory in the US, and he’ll never let you forget it. And if you recognise all the movie references throughout the show, from Cinema Paradiso (which to the student of film studies is what The Dark Knight is for straight men) to name-checking every film by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, go on, give yourself a pat in the back. You clever-clogs, you.

Out with your laptops, keyboard warriors. Tap away at your phones, fanatics. Here is a show that will have you screaming “die” at anonymous strangers on Reddit and MDL. Because if they don't like the show, they are monsters. Engage, once again, with that eternal question: is it BL or is it LGBT? Is it BL because two unusually hot men get together, or is it queer because they don’t stay together? Is it BL because being fake boyfriends in a homophobic country is about as real as "in the movies", or is it queer because the homophobia in the show, it turns out, is all internal? One thing is for certain. For a show written by a gay man, none of the gay characters in it end up truly happy — least of all the fat gay uncle whose only purpose is to be wise, and ruin (I mean, support) his nephew. Because, remember, the only true or realistic queer story is an unhappy one. And that’s what makes it a masterpiece.

Prepare to be charmed by these young and beautiful star-crossed lovers, and fall for a rich cast of characters, not one of whom is given any depth or complexity, but all of whom spout dialogues that sound as if they were written by a drunk boomer who spent a little too long on TikTok. Because every person in this show is a symbol, there to serve a particular idea, and a caricature of an idea at that. And that’s what makes it a masterpiece.

So, if you want to watch a BL without feeling guilty about its deep-seated homophobia, Gaya sa Pelikula is the show for you: with a familiar, comforting storyline made modern and profound through self-satisfied quips and specious aphorisms. For it turns out that, even if you have nothing but the bare bones of an unoriginal story, you can get around it by hammering in a reflexive self-serving meta-fictional framework on top of it. (See, we went to college too!) And that’s what makes it a masterpiece.

And if you cannot recognise this masterpiece for what it is, you are dumb as a piece of rock, and have no appreciation for great art. Go watch porn, you weirdo. Nkay?

***
This review was requested by dramaguzzler, a lover of this show, to whom it is dedicated. Be careful what you wish for.

***
Reader’s Digest:
DO SAY: Call Me By Your Name
DON’T SAY: Bad Education

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My On Repeat Watching KDrama

I know it might be boring and so typical it drama, but somehow we need this kinda drama where Kdramas out there getting more intense and somewhat sometimes out of the box!

But for sureeee this drama sooo FUN! I really enjoyed watching this drama and been rewatching this drama like multiple times in the nearest gap!

ImSol and SeonJae really love and care each other with their own way, but their communication getting better and growing day-by-day. I just love how they get mature from 19yo to 34yo. So far this one of some KDrama that I keep rewatching until I'm gonna feel bored.

If you love high school to early adult romcom drama with the hint of time travel and a little thriller, GO WATCH this drama!

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Jan 2025 Recommendation Challenge

Watch this for my Jan 2025 Recommendation Challenge. Let’s discuss drama.

Story about Alex, who was given a ring of virginity by his mother when he was a child. The ring represents a promise to keep his virginity for the right one at the right time. Young Alex is confused about the meaning of the promise, but he keeps the promise.

Now Alex is 17 years old, he still doesn’t really understand what his mother means with the right one at the right time. Although now he’s quite eager to lose his virginity, he's afraid bad things will happen if he breaks the promise.

Come the faithful night. Jedi announce he will have a party in his house, because his parents aren't at home. Before going to the party, Alex got a present from his late mother, an old polaroid camera, & he brought it to the party to take pictures of his friends. That day, all the classmates had a wild party at Jedi’s house & Alex also snapped some pictures of his friends. The next thing that happens, we see Alex suddenly as a gynecologist doctor, who is in the middle checking out his patient & he passed out because of shock. Yeah, we suddenly jump fast forward to the future.

When wake up, Alex tries to digest the situation as best as he can. Alex finds out he’s no longer friends with his best friends at school, See-ew & Nim, instead he’s a best friend with Army. He goes home just to find out his grandpa was dead & his smart brother, Ice, is a rock musician. He finds the collection of the polaroid photo that he snapped back then and is surprised to see the pictures in the photo are not the result of the things that happened at that time, instead it is something that hasn't happened yet. For example, Army took a photo of Alex in the trunk of the car, but the picture is Alex in a doctor uniform.

When Alex approaches See-ew to ask what happened all these years, just to greet with anger from See-ew. After some convincing, finally See-ew agreed to speak to him. And that moment Alex learns a little about the bad deed he did back then…. Alex showed See-ew the polaroid photo, after some discussion they decided to track back the people in the picture to find out what happened with their life that led to what happens in the picture. They thought if they crack the mystery of the picture, Alex can go back to his own time. And after Alex solved the mystery behind Molly’s picture, they became sure that the picture indeed can be changed & that's the key for Alex to go back to his time.

Fortunately all the friends still can be intouch. Although there are some altercation in the process, Alex tries his best to crack the mystery behind all the pictures. So with that, let's the chasing begin…

Overall this is quite a mature and daring drama. It has a lot of mature scenes & daring statements. But every picture has its own story and lesson that we can learn from it.

Below I’ll write what happened to each picture in order they solved the mystery, not in order of the storyline. But that also means SPOILER ALERT!!! Oh and fair warning, my language is gonna be a little vulgar too, cause not all the pictures can be described politely. Read it at ur own risk.












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SPOILER ALERT!!!
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Molly:
The picture shows Molly in a desperate state, it looks like she’s about to take her own life.
Story: Molly has been accepted as the FL in Jean’s movie. But because she's not ur typical pretty FL, a lot of judgment comes from people around. And out of desperation, Molly takes a photo & posts it online.
Message: How to fully embrace who you are, don't let people dictate who you are supposed to be, just let the people see how bright & different you are…

Army & Jo:
The picture shows Army laying down in someone's chest.
Story: Army is Gay and he's open about it. Jo on the other hand, he still hides it, cause he trains soccer for boys & being gay is not a good portfolio for the parents. Army & Jo begin their feelings in highschool, but back then Army still wasn't open about him as gay & he insulted Jo in many cases, making them separated all these years. But when they want to start their relationship, they're having problems not only in bed but also in communication. Army loves sex but Jo feels uncomfortable about it, it's not about the position (bottom or up) or the gender of sex partners, but about something that even Jo himself can't put it in words.
Lesson: Love is not only about sex or how to please urself. But also about you learning about your partner… Respect each other boundaries

Kat:
The picture shows Kat in bruises after she’s beaten up by someone.
Kat is a sexually active woman, she's not committed to anyone and has several sex partners. Unfortunately for her, one of her sex partners turns out to want to control her & because Kat doesn't want to comply with his request, he beats Kat. After the incident, Kat becomes afraid & paranoid, but with the help of her friends, Kat finally is able to fight her fear.
Lesson: how to fight ur fear & live bravely of ur choice. The one who loves you will always stay by ur side back u up.

Jedi & Rose:
The picture shows them in front of the doctor's office, in not a good state, like they’re just received bad news.
Story: Jedi & Rose are dating, but they're having an open relationship. One day they found out that Jedi is having HPV disease & they blamed each other for the one giving them that disease. So, who's to blame in the first place…?
Lesson: How to be truthful and take care of each other.

See-ew:
The picture shows See-ew in black bondage rope, like the one used in S&M sex.
Story: See-ew like role playing with his girlfriend, Liu, he as the dog & Liu as his owner. But one day, Liu just fed up with See-ew who can't grow up & she decided she doesn't want to role play again. See-ew who doesn't want to break up comply with Liu's request, but deep down he still wants to be pet. So See-ew is looking for a get-away online, when he tries to fulfill his fantasy and meet with the woman online, by his bad luck the police caught them red handed with the accusations pornography. That made Liu furious & broke up with See-ew. See-ew feel depressed about it & tell Alex that to help him, Alex needs to help his relationship with Liu.
Lesson: To understand your partner more, not only want to be understood, but instead try to understand each other

Nim:
The picture shows Nim getting ready for giving birth.
Story: Nim is a lesbian, at first Nim thinks the picture is no way to be truth for her because of the fact that she's never gonna sleep with a man. One day, her girlfriend, Bew, makes crazy suggestions for them to have a baby, but since Bew can't be pregnant due to her health issue she asks Nim for it. And because of Nim’s love for Bew she finally gives in & goes through IVF. But something happens that makes Bew & Nim finally break up, when she receives the news that the IVF is successful & she's pregnant, Nim doesn't know what to do. That's when her ex, Molly comes back to the picture…
Lesson: U need to learn to accept the hands that offer you help.

Jean & Alex:
Jean's picture shows her crying & Alex’s picture shows him wearing his doctor uniform.
Story: Turns out the one that hurt the most because of that night of Jade's house party is Jean. Because she's drunk at that party, Jean dances frantically, someone snaps pictures of her wearing inappropriate clothes & posts the picture on the school wall, which makes her get suspended from school & her life only crumbling down from there. To make the matter worse she feels no one offers a hand to help her & she's also got traumatized by Alex that night. But what's it, u need to watch it urself, I'm not going to spoil it even more.
Lesson: To learn that every action has consequences.

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Avenging your past self from a swindler is entertaining.

What would you do if your past self, whose failed marriage ended up with your own demise (financially and physically), was coming to meet you 7 years in the past as a man? This is the topic of this revenge drama. Would you trust a stranger who says he is you?

This drama is entertaining and sometimes goofy. The Female Lead is on the way to her own death and Male Lead has to save her, because he is her past self in disguise. I laughed a lot and I also was angry a lot watching this drama.

On a serious note, This drama asks the question about regret in life.
What if we could make up for our regretted actions. Would our life be better or worse? Is there a butterfly effect?
I take this drama for a beacon of hope at what life could be if the good choices are made. I loved to follow the steps of Gu Nian ( past-self and future-self ) struggling through all the contradictions of her persona. Would you take a road if you knew it was leading to your demise? Get ready to challenge your own understanding with this drama.


Pros :
- Strong and badass Female Lead and Male Lead.
- Good acting : First time I see Luo Zheng sensitive like that in a gender swapping role. I like it.
- Fast pacing .
- Goofy moments.
- I like the OST.
- Sismance and Bromance.
- This plot could go further to a long drama. I could see FL drifting into parallel spaces :)

Cons:
- The actress seems anorexic to me, FL is supposed to be a skinny tomboy. This is really it. I am afraid for her when I see her.
- Female Lead is annoying sometimes. She is so stubborn, it is almost unbearable.
- Time travel logic inaccurency throughout the second half of the show. If what we see is FL's real life experience. If all of this pure virtual reality, then it is totally logical and that would be a good point.
- The ending is great but some elements feel logically off. I still like the drama. So don't relate too much to the logic to appreciate this drama. So weird.Someone is born out of thin air.

Overall:
I like everything in this drama. The flaws are minors. The plot is well executed. I am annoyed because Female Lead is so stubborn. But I enjoy the show and I recommend it if you like revenge dramas with badass Female Lead.


The ending explained. SPOILER BELOW
Do not read if you have not watched the drama yet.
Or if you don't want to know the ending.

⋆·˚ ༘ *⚠️💣💥⋆·˚ ༘ *⚠️💣💥⋆·˚ ༘ *⚠️💣💥⋆·˚ ༘ *⚠️💣💥⋆·˚ ༘ *⚠️💣💥⋆·˚ ༘ *⚠️💣💥⋆·˚ ༘ *⚠️💣💥⋆·˚ ༘ *⚠️💣💥⋆·˚ ༘ *⚠️⋆·˚ ༘ *
















⋆·˚ ༘ *⚠️💣💥⋆·˚ ༘ *⚠️💣💥⋆·˚ ༘ *⚠️💣💥⋆·˚ ༘ *⚠️💣💥⋆·˚ ༘ *⚠️💣💥⋆·˚ ༘ *⚠️💣💥⋆·˚ ༘ *⚠️💣💥⋆·˚ ༘ *⚠️💣💥⋆·˚ ༘ *⚠️⋆·˚ ༘ *
The ending explained, in case it feels weird to you like it felt to me. I pledged not to spoil dramas, but this ending puzzled me too much. So I wanted to decypher it for those who, like me, were lost at the end of the drama.

Indeed, the last 4 episodes were supposed to be her going back to reality and trying to look after DouDou. So as usual, her subborness got in the way. Which logically leads to trouble followed by a happy ending with ML.

But, thinking about it more, given that at the end DouDou wasn't dead anymore.
I think that, the whole thing was her watching a vitual reality plot while she was dying on her hospital bed after she tried to commit suicide on episode 1.

Based on that, I would withdraw what a previously said, that the time travel logic was off . And I would say that the plot is very well crafted. It allowed ML to be with her but only through the game's interface.
Because she reunites with DouDou because she cannot stand to live without her. Even if in the (virtual) life she relived. DouDou was never conceived.

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This review is just my personal opinion, don't take it personally.

Warning the review will have many spoilers and will be extensive. Now let's continue.

I really don't understand people who didn't like the drama, who were too harsh and there really wasn't a compelling reason for it. You may not like it for a lot of reasons but the reviews were very harsh and had no real basis for the drama to be criticized in this way.

In my personal opinion it is a DRAMA that everyone should give the opportunity to see, I loved it, it made me return to the world of dramas, I firmly believe that it was a drama that brought something new, fresh, with top-level performances, a chemistry that is rarely seen today and is a very special drama I would say that of the 1000 dramas that I have seen in my life, this drama will always remain in the top 1 and I will always see it again, because it is a drama that penetrates very deeply.

The plot begins with a marriage of convenience, who in three years of marriage have never spoken or done things together in front of the public because the protagonist, Hee Joo, had to remain hidden due to her selective silence.

Although their marriage lacked all affection, it was peaceful. As long as neither of them interfered in the other's lives, everything was fine, apparently. I say apparently because the drama is like an onion, it has many layers that you will discover that what you thought was not true and each peel you took out gave you a different background.

Baek is not an easy character to analyze, he does not even fall into the category of a typical cold man who becomes sweet when he falls in love, nor does he become a tsundere. His past is too tragic, one day he witnessed something he never wanted to witness and suddenly his life changed forever, but for the worse. He was taken to a family with secrets that were too dark and totally lacking in affection. He had to be someone else's replacement, live a life that was not his nor did he want it to be his, where he could not express himself or have the same tastes. It was just a tool, which forced him not to know how to express his feelings correctly.

Here comes her dealings with Hee Joo initially, since even though he was in love with her since childhood and her silence gave him calm when he couldn't stand being in noisy places and with hypocritical and false people, he couldn't prove that he loved her because his initial plan was to save her (her family) from her prison, and then gain ground and power to destroy him family and then commit suicide. That's why he couldn't express what he felt and he held back too much.

Hee Joo, on the other hand, was between a rock and a hard place, she had to stay silent and pretend that she was mute because she had to protect her real father from her own mother and she didn't trust anyone either. Their hopes of being happy were. But everything changes when she is kidnapped by 406.

At first he said cruel things about her because he really thought it was someone else trying to blackmail him like it had always happened to him since he started his political career. But she took it very badly, because she still held out hope that her marriage would change, the fact that he would say that the kidnapper would notify her when she was dead. So all her anger towards him explodes and she takes 406's place to extort him and get him to divorce her, because she really thought Baek wanted to kill her. So she tries everything to get him to agree to give her a divorce and yes, she is clumsy during calls because she had never extorted anyone before, she didn't have a structured plan in her head so as not to be emotional. She would get angry and show her more emotional side when he refused to give her a divorce because she didn't understand why a man who apparently didn't love her, who she thought was a hindrance to her life, would find it so difficult for him to agree to a divorce.

This changes when he really finds out that yes, she had indeed been kidnapped and got hurt. From there the entire plot and secrets are resolved little by little, with an exact rhythm.

Nothing seemed out of place nor was any character put in as filler. Each character had a key role in the story and they fulfilled it perfectly.

Actually I am happy that most of the negative reviews were not because there were no +18 scenes like in the novel because I think we all understood that it was for a general audience and with a single look you could already see that desire among them. And that was a great job by both Chae Solo and Yoo Yeon, since their chemistry came naturally, it didn't feel forced. Even behind the scenes they still maintained that chemistry.

Although I know many are disappointed about the ending, some say it must have had 16 chapters and others say the last chapter was unnecessary. I don't agree with any party. Although in chapter 11 we were given a lot of information, if you were attentive to the drama the information provided did not feel confusing or too much, because they had already given us clues and even more so with the appearance of his stepsister. The last chapter was full of pain, drama, crying (honestly it's the first time he cried when a male actor cries, but Yoo Seok gave such a top-notch performance, you really felt his pain like his).
The fact that he disappeared and went to a war zone, which is actually how he started and it was his vocation, being a soldier fit. Because? Because even if he hadn't done anything, he was the son of a monster who took away his childhood, a brother and his dreams from the person he made who would change his mind and want to live again. Could you live happily, pretending that nothing happened when you know that your own father ruined the life of the person you love so much? I think in real life, if this happened, the guilt would simply be so great that you couldn't even continue or consider continuing with that person.

That is why leaving a war zone where his life was chaotic and he could die was a self-imposed punishment. Even for him, not being by Hee Joo's side was a real hell. But Hee Joo, who was a more coherent and understanding person, did not blame him for anything because she understood that both were always tools of the others. They were the same in many ways.

I liked seeing a protagonist who will not wait, but at a certain crucial point, she realized that she had to make her own decisions and actions. And she was also launched, she expressed her love for him without limitations. It was gratifying to see how the family paid for all the damage she did and it was a moment of commomevor when her stepfather finally accepted her as if she were a daughter, and her mother caressed her, telling her to happy always live. Also the last conversation with her sister, telling her that they will stop torment yourself about a past that they couldn't fix and be happy, because she was worthy of being happy just like her.

That she baptized him and gave him such a beautiful name with such a special meaning was simply beautiful.

Here she shows us two things, you don't need to be a damsel who needed to be saved by a prince. They both saved each other and could continue to work to make their relationship okay. You know it may sound cliché but it is beautiful to have a person who does not judge you, nor point you out and is with you through thick and thin. That type of healthy relationship is the one I like to see the most. And second, monsters are not made, they are born. And his 'mother' was also a monster incurring another monster because she never felt regret for the children her son had killed.

Overall the plot twists were surprising because you didn't really know what was going to come out next, so it kept that suspense until the end. The performances were first class, the characters had a very interesting psychological background and the music, although it was little, was good enough.

A review made me laugh where it said that if she fell off a cliff, she should have broken several bones and I agree but how many male characters have we seen who have been hit hard and look like Terminator because they are still standing as if nothing had happened? Too many times.

For me this drama is a 10/10 and I will continue watching it until I get hooked on another drama, although it left me with a very high bar when the phone rings. Furthermore, it is a drama that I will always carry in my soul.

Additional: I do not consider this drama one of those dramas where there are illnesses and loss of consciousness like the queen of tears. While they have their clichéd points, they balanced suspense, politics, and romance all too well. It is not unusual to actually see politicians make agreements and hide things that are too serious. In reality.
For me, drama is an invitation that gives us the opportunity to see how things work and the resilience on the part of some actors. Love does not save you from regrets, that is something that has been shown very well, but from looking for a person who will help you grow as a person. Also that revenge, no matter how justified it may be, never ends in something good. The most hopeful message it gives us is that no matter what happens, you are the master of changing your life and leaving the past behind. That although a father or mother (I mean the mother of the protagonist) can make mistakes when trying to choose the best for you, but that does not mean that they do not love you. To be honest with ourselves and act according to what we feel and think. And even if you think that no one in this world loves you, there will always be people who love you even if you are not able to see it.

I make another clarification about this drama. Chae Soo and Yoo Yeon Seok have won the award par excellence for actor and actress and the award for best couple. They deserves it well for his great effort, and if you don't like it, perhaps he will reconsider watching this drama Chae Soo in his speech she use sign language to thank the public, that shows the effort she has put into learning sign language and she also invited other people watching the drama to study sign language because she said it was an important language to learn. That not only shows what a great actress she is but the quality of person she is. No actor or actress made a speech with sign language. Made history. You may not like it but you can't give a low rating regarding the performances. They gave the best job of all their careers.

when you say this drama is overrated, think carefully about why they won this award. The rating has dropped a lot and understanding that perhaps this drama is not for you, but you cannot deny that they implemented a main character who most of the time had to use sign language, which is rare to see. I honestly don't think this drama is overrated, it offered many things not seen before and the performances were and will be first class, you can put a 1 in the story, but you can't put a 4 in acting because they acted very well. Although I didn't like the Queen of Tears at all, because I was a true Makjang in a time when these dramas are no longer fashionable, I never lowered my rating in terms of performances, because although I didn't like the story, the Performances were also very good and there was no way to deny it.

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Best show ever for the first 10 episodes

I was absolutely hooked on this show from the first episode. Even my husband who doesn’t care for Korean shows was hooked. The actors were phenomenal. The story was thrilling, fast paced and kept you guessing. It was so intense that it was almost stressful to watch. Loved everything about it. I’d say it’s the best show I’ve seen in a long time.
And then.. the ending just got weird. It’s like the writers of episode 12 didn’t even read the scripts for the first 10 episodes. Episode 11 was a bit out there, but they could have saved it. Episode 12 seemed to change the original story line and none of it made sense. Major cliffhanger events from episode 11 were completely ignored in episode 12. The events in episode 12 referenced a history that was never really mentioned in the previous episodes. Who got shot? Who died? How the hell did they end up THERE?!?! How is he involved with those groups? None of it made any sense. This would have been an easy 10/10 until the very end.

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"What Summer Likes" is a refreshing shorts romance drama. It is short and sweet and can finish it within a few hours. Seoyeon did a great job for her first acting role, especially as she didn't have any acting training prior to being a tripleS member. This drama is a perfect drama to watch during the spring or summer time - this drama gives a feel of something like, a summer breeze through the window and the curtains blowing. I believe the role suits Seoyeon very much, and I love that the storyline is about singing career. However, I was a bit disappointed that the song that was created through the drama was not released as an official OST under Seoyeon's name. It is a very catchy and nice song and I would have liked to listen to it on streaming platforms. But overall I would 100% watch this again

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It was so good, story, casts , ending . I like it so much and I will definitely watch it again!‌. ‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌‌

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Didn't Quite Hit The Mark

I wanted to like this remake or adaptation so much. In fact when I heard about it I was super excited because I have a love hate relationship with MAME since in my opinion she destroyed LBC 2. I mean I held a grudge for quite a long time and refused to watch her material at all until Love in the Air. BossNoeul and FortPeat had an amazing chemistry.
Now Japan is the inventor of Yaoi and I have so many Japanese BL Series that will always have my heart. So my expectations were high on this. No actors were bad per se in this remake but with the exception of NAGUMO SHOMA this series seemed completely mis-cast. A series with good actors yet bad casting are already at a lost in my opinion but since casting isn't my business I have to look past it and choose to watch or not to. I chose to watch.
I came to appreciate one more member of the cast in NAGATSUMA REO as Kai aka Sky. He brought a great attempt to understanding Kai and his struggles.
The NC scenes were a struggle for me. Fuma and Kai were basically okay but Arashi and Rei made me uncomfortable because Arashi like Phayu before him was passionate and kissed with tongue. BossNoeul made it work in incredible ways. However Rei seem to lie there with his mouth closed as Arashi licked his lips which almost seemed sexual assault like but Rei did manage to show enjoyment. Maybe it's just me, the chemistry was just off for me. However I did see the vision.
I give props for Japan adapting a MAME work but it did fall short. I do intend to rewatch and maybe form a different opinion which is why I gave the rewatch value a 10. If I somehow misinterpreted this I will update this review. That's just my take.

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Gorgeously off the rails

PROS:
- Most beautiful cinematography, costume designing, and production out of ALL the C-dramas I've seen. Obviously meticulous work was done in order to achieve the stunning visual effects (enhanced by the OST).

- Beautiful OST. I didn't find it so beautiful when I first listened to it (without the drama), but it melded impeccably with the drama's scenes. Most of the OSTs were used, too, so I wasn't left wondering why I didn't hear something when listening to the track list afterward.

- Good acting. I think this is one of Hou Minghao's strongest and most layered performances and encouraged me to look into his other dramas. As for the other actors, I think they all did the part that they could with the script (largely focused on ML alone; few other characters had any sort of development or growth).

- Good exploration of friendship between ML and 2ML. A lot of chemistry is in this performance, and I can actually see how the friendship developed.

- The humor is unmatched, especially if you're decently fluent in Chinese (I think the humor is on par with Falling Into Your Smile, which is a seriously funny drama).

CONS:
- Disjointed storyline largely reliant on flashbacks, side plots, and magical objects (which the fate of the world depends on, but they break super easily). I lost track of what was going on and the explanations for all the random scenes by Ep. 23 (?) Up until Ep. 10 though, I thought the story was wonderful. Beyond that, it barely passes as "cohesive."

- Too many people died for no particular purpose. A lot of tragedies happened in this drama, but I don't think they enhanced it in any way. Too much of something tragic/beautiful makes nothing tragic/beautiful at all. Additionally, there wasn't enough character development for me to feel attached to any of the characters besides ML so their deaths were "just another death."

- FL development in the script was terrible. I'm sure Chen Duling did what was asked of her, but there wasn't really much for her to work with. The FL's presence + romance feels a little like the director's afterthought (though I do think the romance was more developed than many viewers claim and occupied a decent number of scenes).

- A lot of missing/unbelievable character actions/explanations. Why was the main antagonist for 15 episodes redeemed? Nobody saw his change of mind until he actually acted upon it, and that left very little development for the actual "main villain."

COMPARISON TO SIMILAR C-DRAMAS:

1. Till the End of the Moon (Bai Lu/Luo Yunxi) compared to Fangs of Fortune
- Heavier on the romance
- Better written female lead and overall more cohesive plot
- Less beautiful visuals + cinematography; a lot of it is a LOT overdone (blood vomiting)
- Similar presence of side stories though generally less important side characters
- OST in FoF is more suitable/enjoyable IMO
- Similar tragic ML, though I think the ML here is less psychotic/intense

Personally, I think they're on a pretty similar level quality-wise.

TLDR; I thought this was a decently good drama because it was beautiful to look at (hats off to the costume designers, cinematographers, and everyone involved in that). It was enough to keep me watching, but do note that the story and character development arcs are pretty poorly done besides for the ML.

Do note that I did think about this drama for a very long time afterward and had trouble watching any other drama's cinematography (this was pretty insane). I'd give it a watch, and I do find myself going back to certain episodes/scenes to watch it again.

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Just watch it. It's not that bad.

It's not as bad as people claiming it to be.
If you have been watching Korean dramas, then you'll be fine.
But if not, and you are just watching this for the hype of S1 then you'll be a bit disappointed.

S2 is a bit watered down version of S1.
I would say S1 was gruesome. It was so brutal. In fact they It revealed the vicious nature of humans. Games were much more dramatic in S1 and were the main focus of the drama. And the world had never seen a drama like this.

But things have changed a bit now. Now we are in 2025. Kdramas are more popular now. We have seen these gruesome type dramas popping up here and there, like Sweet home, Parasite the grey, Gyeonseong creature, Moving, Shop for killer etc. So S2 was not that sensational since people are familiar with the recipe.

Compared to S1 games S2 games were not that dramatic. Games were not the main focus of the drama at all. It even starts with the familiar game Red light green light. And we only played 3 games within the 7 episodes. So there's much less thrill to the audience. And we're are left a cliffhanger for the grand finale.

What's there is more background information. What was ML upto? What was JunHo doing? etc. S2 also has some stories to tell. There's even a storyline of a Mask Guard as well. Also the main storyline progress and we have more screen time with front man ever before.
So there's some stuff to watch and enjoy.

You can wait till S3 is released to watch this season. That was my plan as well. But there are too many spoilers on the internet. So before it's too late I just watched it. Still 8/10 drama.

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