Love, like life, is a series of steps, and we must start with the first one
Imagine 'Hotel del Luna' (2019), by South Korean Oh Choong Hwanm without ghosts walking through the rooms, 'Meet Me Outside' (2020), by Filipino JP Habac, without dating apps, or 'Hit Bite Love' 2023, by Thai Yuan Tin Tun Danop, with two lovers enjoying the pleasures and dangers of BDSM (something that breaks the tone of the series towards the end), and you will get 'The Renovation'.If this setup sounds generic, that's because it is. However, the Thai miniseries of the romantic genre by Nob Sathanapong Limwongtong, director of numerous BL series, such as 'La Cuisine' (2022), 'Ai Long Nhai' (2022), 'Gen Y' (2021) and 'Gen Y Season 2' (2022), among others, manages to find some new angles and emotionally effective ways to examine those turbulent feelings that arise when two people fall in love.
There are many much more urgent and exciting Asian BL miniseries with similar plots, but 'The Renovation' more or less falls into the above-average range of this crowded genre due in large part to the authentic and nuanced performances of its young actors.
Scripted by Wittavat Sungsakijha, the short drama of two episodes lasting one hour each, revolves around Manu (Kunavut Jirattikorn), a young architect unlucky in love who seeks to heal his heart, and P (Peter Paratthakorn Duangsawang), a nerd who recently graduated abroad, who dreams of being a writer and is looking for both a plot for his first novel and true love.
Their lives intersect when P arrives at a hotel complex under renovation owned by Manu, located on Hua Hin beach, one of the most famous tourist destinations among Thais thanks to its proximity to Bangkok, with a reservation confirmation and previously paid stay via social networks, waiting to find inspiration for his first novel.
While Manu assures that there could have been an error in the reservation system and that, as a solution, he could disburse his money through the same payment mechanism, but it could take around fifteen days, P will claim that he likes the atmosphere of the hotel, even being under renovation, so it doesn't bother you to stay in those conditions.
Without staff to attend to him, P will demand that Manu himself, as the owner of the resort, be the one who receives and cares for him during the days of his stay.
And although that is a perfect and quiet place to vacation or wait for the muses, it will also be a place for a palpable romantic tension to arise between Manu and P, and they develop an emotional evolution quickly, making it possible for one to find that person in the other. May it heal your heart, and the other that first true love that you were waiting for, and maybe, maybe, the inspiration for your novel.
I like the quotes of song lyrics, poems and phrases from musicians, poets and businessmen, such as Bob Marley, Ralph Ransom and Sam Walton, visible on the walls of the hotel.
I like how Manu begins to laugh and gains affability after the night in which he drinks with P and then takes him, when he is in a state of intoxication, to the guest room, gives him a dry bath and, with great modesty, He changes his clothes so that he can sleep peacefully. His distant and cold personality gradually transforms once he comes into contact with P and they begin to get closer.
Peter recreates P's open, frank and expressive personality with great success. The young actor is a pleasure to watch for his portrayal of the flirtatious visitor, eager to realize his dreams as a writer and find love.
Some other scenes establish flirtation and obvious sexual tension between the two: invitations to eat the food prepared by one of them in the absence of service personnel, that one visits the other in his room, worried, to make sure he is well, that Manu offers P a strong black coffee for a hangover, the way in which one takes care of the other, the games in the pool or those in which one paints the other's body, their dates for ice cream, on the edge of the pool or among lit candles at the Moonlight to eat squid…
Where did these two debut actors come from who, with their presence, fill the screen and demonstrate a chemistry that goes beyond the physical realm, being emotional, psychological and fully satisfying. I would like to see them in other projects with a better budget and script, in more complex characters.
Simple and direct, the romantic comedy emits refreshing and relaxing vibes, about two boys who, due to the circumstances described above, live together in a beach resort one summer and little by little open to love.
Filmed at the Paskani Hun Hin Resort, the beautiful photography by Nattapong Pakdeesri ('Gen Y 2, 2022), also shows the beach town that is 3 hours from Bangkok (200 km), and the 3 kilometers of little beach busy Hua Hin, a place famous for being a family-friendly and friendly destination, also thanks to its relationship with the Thai monarchy, since several kings have frequented this beach city usual.
The interest is not in the narrative arc as presented, but in the understanding of what they think and feel: the resort owner who heals the wounds of a recent breakup and feels confused, uncomfortable, in the presence of P, and the visitor who raises suspicions as a person interested in discovering the secrets of the hotel and its owner.
I'm looking forward to the second and final episode.
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A very original story telling and great Actor!
This story is beautifully executed and a very easy to binge watch.
I felt all the emotions watching.
The ML going through the rest of his life feeling someone else's past life
and the woman is attracted to the ML because of her late husband heart
inside of the ML which brought them closer but he was already married
which made things complicated. I felt it for the other woman as she earns for
her husband's attention while he only care to learn about the heart of the man
he is living with. I enjoyed it and as I love watching the ML in series it was easy
on my eyes lol. He is just so flawless with his acting skills that he makes everything
so natural. I recommend if you like series with no action in a country side setting.
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Over done amnesia
First , I actually love Jeremy Tsui, will watch anything with him in it. This is a good performance by him, but surely not one of his best. Wasn’t impress with FL or the wanna be girlfriend. 2nd leads were pretty good. I definitely agree that the amnesia bit went on too long, who ruined the story it would’ve been better with more romance especially since Jeremy was so romantic as the grand tutor. Could have done without the love triangle. Tired of women who chase men and are delusional about the man having any type of love for except in a sisterly way. Thinking the other woman that the man is interested in is a problem so she needs to be removed. Over played too much. I would hard pressed to watch this again even with Jeremy in it the amnesia wore me outWas this review helpful to you?
When Laws Can't Make Someone Satisfied
The story is about someone who got killed and mistakenly went to hell. But before going to hell, She goes into a judgment room where most of the people who come there are killers. But She's not a killer and the judge from hell is sending her to hell which makes her get into punishment by his superior (Bael). The punishment is to kill 10 killers in the world as a judge by using a human body She's mistakenly sent to hell. That's where the story begins.Was this review helpful to you?
Do emotions gradually fade away as the years pass?
This is one of those movies that is really good for you to check: Are the emotions in your body gradually fading away as the years pile up?After 30 episodes: For me - at my age of 52 - the emotions are still there, so much so that I can't accept this movie being rated 7.9 stars and am writing this review hoping it will be higher, even though the movie belongs to a genre that I never want to watch.
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Underrated
This drama is a true example of an underrated gem. Song Kang's performance in this is really good and underrated. The scenes where the elderly man is trying to learn ballet dancing is just so pure. The girl who plays the granddaughter is really good and has a good chemistry with the ml only wished that had little more scenes.Was this review helpful to you?
Fun, Romantic, and Charming
It was a fun ride. Each actor contributed a special charm to the series. Cartz Udal as the vibrant and unusually interesting friend, Aning. Mac Alonzo as the alluring and handsome Magic, brimming with sex appeal. Larence Brenches as Jack, who emanated the aura of a charmingly handsome young prince. And Leilani Kate Yalung who portrayed so well both the gruesomely terrifying Gina and the innocently beautiful Gina.In the last scene together...of Jack and Magic...when they are standing by the piano, the music was hypnotizingly ethereal. It was so beautiful that when the episode ended I went back to that scene and replayed it over and over again.
Although it would be nice to have a Series 2 with Wizard and Jack, I think that it would only detract from the original love story of Jack and Magic. Sometimes it's best to leave a beautiful piece of art be as it is...without trying to replicate it or add to it. It shines brilliantly in and of itself.
As an avid BL fan of Thai, Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Taiwanese BL series, would I recommend this one? Although it lacked the sophistication of the more recent continental Asian BL's , it made up for this lack of an unlimited budget sophistication by exuding fun, romance, and charm in an offbeat and sometimes campy fashion.
So...my answer is Yes. Absolutely yes
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Fantasy justice and criticism for real world laws
Justitia is an extremely educated demon, having not only learned demon laws, but apparently all of the law and procedures of the South Korean court system in addition to memorizing the Christian bible and who knows what else. I do wonder if it was also a form of torture for her to endure in addition to being the heir to Bael, but whatever the lore about that, her skills makes her uniquely suited to play the system to her own ends. Manipulating humans while dealing with new feelings that her human body sends her is another issue. She did not understand how crushes causes dangerous impulses like fluctuating with wanting and not wanting the attention of a guy by taunting the police with dead bodies that would lead back to her being a glaring suspect. It's so ridiculous that she knows how the investigations work, but she still leaves the bodies with an extremely unique stamp on the forehead of the bodies around. Her cases draw attention to how the system both in the show and in real life can give slap on the wrists for the most horrific crimes and even in the case of serial killers, they can become "innocent" by just waiting out the clock on the statute of limitations, as well as corruption from the rich and powerful in the justice system.Although Justitia falling for Da On is a big turning point, it's merely one part of her softening towards humanity. Her heart also pains for other people and she sheds tears for them as well. The Satan hunting Demon charity volunteer group leader and demon crime scene cleaning crew shows that this is a danger and possibility for all demons to become sympathetic to humans, so it's not only Da On causing this in Justitia. I really like that when she asks for 3 years in the human world, it's not to play house with Da On, but to live as an actual human judge full time. She's not at this point centering her life around this man at all, so I'm find with the romance. The awkward immobile closed mouth kiss scenes never look good, directors need to wake up and accept the fact. The actors show in a much later kiss scene that they can do a normal kiss scene just fine. Also the interrupted kiss gag is also never funny, especially when it's multiple times. The ending has Justitia suddenly given another deal about killing 10 killers to remain human forever and also there is the fate of the original human Judge Kang Bit Na uncertain. It seems to suggest a second season rather than closing out cleanly with room for more, which would have been better as there is never any guarantee for a second season, especially for asian dramas.
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BOOM SHAKALAKAAA
I LOVED THIS PREMISE. I've not watched many transmigration shows, but this one is AMAZING. Like the transmigration to lowkey enemies to lovers...this is everything I needed in a c-drama. I don't really read synopses when I start c-dramas, but I think watching this while not knowing anything about the plot made it better!!! Especially when it got to the transmigration plot.Originally, I thought the story would go to palace drama where it's real Yang CaiWei versus ShangGuan Zhi (like Yang CaiWei has to fight to make Pan Yue to believe it's actually her), but I pleasantly enjoyed the route they went.
**SPOILERS AHEAD***
One thought I had though...Zhuo LanJiang and Bai XiaoSheng's little side relationship was giving situationship 😭because what do you mean he won't say I like you or I love you but he's gonna say "I feel at peace when you're near me" and then they're doing the dirty LIKE I KNOW THEY ACTUALLY LOVE EACH OTHER but I kept thinking of it LMAO they were very cute though and justice for them fr
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What a thrilling + love edition!
I don’t know why I want to watch this drama at first. But once ai started, ai cannot stop! I fell in love with the couple. Their chemistry is good. The storyline is power. All the actors are amazing. Very stressful to wait every week.Now i have crush with Yoo Yeon Seok and I had my eyes on Chae Soo Bin. At first I thought it was just only a simple romantic drama. Anyway, everything is good. 😍
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The entire plot could have been avoided with a ten minute conversation
This is one of the most generic BLs I have seen. I honestly had no intention of watching it, but after seeing Joong and Dunk in other shows, I decided to give it a shot. It was extremely predictable, with drawn out back-and-forth conflicts that didn't actually help build the characters. If Joong and Dunk's characters would have just sat down and had a conversation, the entire show would have been avoided.Daonuea (Dunk) confessed his feelings for Kluen (Joong) in 11th grade, and with no response from Kluen, Nuea went on his study abroad trip for 12th grade and tried to forget about it. That is, until the two reunite their freshman year of college. Trying to forget about the confession, Nuea pretends to have not known Kluen, but it seems the feelings are still lingering. When others start pursuing Nuea, he's torn between trying to move on and staying true to his own heart.
Thank god this show was only 8 episodes, because it took forever to get anywhere with the plot and if that was drawn out any more I would have dropped this. The only reason I didn't rate it lower was that the relationship does become very sweet and cute, and that part is fun to watch. However the miscommunication and constant "you should move on and find someone better" got old SO fast, and I think the entire first 6 episodes could have been condensed to two, and the couple could have had some more interesting challenges when they were together. Instead, we got a very stereotypical show that didn't really do anything new, besides an ending that clearly just wanted to set up a sequel. This is probably only worth watching if you're a fan of Joong and Dunk and are waiting for a new show from them....
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What a sad compilation ghost story!
At first I watch this series because of Ju Ji Hoon, Park Bo Young and Uhm Tae Goo. But now I already stuck with every one in this drama. At first the story a bit confusing. Not a bit. But quite a lot confusing. But episode by episode, the story became clear and soon to be more clear.Most of the scene are creepy and scary but sad too. Applaused to Kim Hee Won (one of my favourite ahjussy) and other crew. I cannot wait for the next episode to complete all.
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Excellent drama. I don't know why i put it off so long.
This is my favorite work Zhang Ling He has starred in. I didn't care for the plots in "Princess royal" and "My journey to you". But story of Kunning palace is awesome. In fact, all the actors were awesome in this drama.The plot is nothing we haven't seen before, but what makes it riveting is the character's and seeing their internal frustrations.
And omg, was i blessed with so many hot kissing scenes towards the end lol.
I only took off .5 rating because the xue family plot was getting annoying at the end. I think they could've made it like 2-4 episodes shorter between dragging on the main enemy and female lead's indecisiveness.
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Just because it's common, it doesn't mean it's the best for everyone
If this is the type of propaganda the South Korean government is making to fight the "marriage crisis", I can see why it's not working.I wasn't expecting much from it. It goes along what's to be expected from a web drama. It was maybe more well produced and not as obviously reliant on "in your face" advertising, which made it easier to watch.
I don't agree with the plot. I believe it's forced and doesn't make sense. The woman who didn't want to get married is the only one who ends up married. That's not a plot twist because it goes against what she wanted for herself. It comes from an ultimatum. Both situations are ultimatums. The only way you can get women to do what men want is through ultimatums and social pressure and not through their own accord.
The woman who was taking in information that made here weary of marriage was the one who only had the choice of either getting married or breaking up with someone she was only seeing for a year. They obviously had different goals in life, she was still figuring out what she wanted and was made rush a decision against her instinct.
The other couple was obviously very immature, even if they had been together for longer. It doesn't make sense to break up because she's doing an internship in another country, especially after he was in the military and they didn't break up because of that. It was good that he came to his senses and didn't try stopping her from pursuing the career she wants. It doesn't make sense breaking up because you're trying to better yourself as a person. A relationship is supposed to be common growth and shared growth as well. It must be an Asian ideal I don't think I'll ever understand.
The single girl didn't make sense in all of it. Why would she intentionally mess with a taken man? She wasn't even in love with him, she just wanted to get married and she thought they were a match because he wanted to get married as well. It's really grim when basic manners are perceived as affection or even love. That should be the basics of human relationships.
In conclusion, this show makes it seem as if every woman wants to get married and to a man. The truth is that more and more women are choosing to be single. A recent study showed that single women are the happiest and most satisfied demographics. Maybe we should start reflecting that in our media instead of trying to push an outdated model that doesn't server and wasn't designed to serve women at all.
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Cheers to Love!
Brewing Love (2024)================
WHAT I LIKED ::
⎯ ♡ ⋆ A really relaxing and refreshing drama to watch with great pacing
⎯ ♡ ⋆ I loved the fact that they compared sensitivity to the amount of hops in beer
⎯ ♡ ⋆ All the supporting characters were so sweet and lovable
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯ ✧ ❤ ✧ ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
WHAT I DID NOT LIKE ::
⎯ ✦ ⋆ I wish they would address more of the obvious mental health issues seen here and show some growth for those characters, especially Oh Chan Hwi
⎯ ✦ ⋆ I wish the main couple had better conflict resolution skills for their arguments
⎯ ✦ ⋆ I did expect a little more from the ending
OVERALL,
I am obssessed with this drama, because the whole message is really relatable to me. I cried more than I thought I would, and I learned more about myself too. I came to find out that there are other people out there like me who experience the world the same way I do and that we all have varing levels of sentivity.
Brewing Love filled my cup! It's the best drama of the year, in my opinion.
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