Reviews

This was such a refreshing change of pace from the bulk of BL dramas out there. It was a nice twist on the childhood friends - to - lovers trope that felt new yet comforting in its familiarity at the same time. It was also a great dynamic having the third friend in the mix to show the evolution of feelings and how the friendships differ from each other (platonic love to romantic love to unrequited love) and how they compared to the past verses the present.

The flow of the story was a little weird although I can't say it was bad.. just a little confusing. From the very start, we see a potential car accident so right off the bat, it is hinting at a tragic conclusion. We are made to believe it will become even more tragic over the course of the series as we see Amber's clear affection for Le but his reluctance to say anything out of fear. This would be a quintessential "secret crush" story if it weren't for the added depth of Amber actually being Wen Wen whom Le has always been in love with and had been waiting for to return. We see this through a series of flashbacks though the truth of Amber's identity is not actually revealed until pretty late into the series so unless someone read a detailed synopsis or spoilers, it may not make much sense. Maybe they did this to encourage multiple viewings so that we see it in a different light, who knows? But again, I didn't find it to be bad, just strange. It was as if they wanted people to already know the big plot twist before it actually happened.

I was very happy to see that they could create a drama without needing a "villain" or someone coming in to try and mess with the MC. There was a little bit of a hint of that with Yu He but I thought her journey was very realistic and very well executed that you couldn't help but feel bad for her. She never once tried to get in their way but she was honest about how her feelings were torn between being happy to find out Wen Wen was back yet knowing it all but demolished any chance she may have had with Le. Oh, and her brother is ultimate BF material... she's sitting there crying and alone and he just puts on music and gives her cake while he listens to her pour her heart out. Sometimes, that's all we need.. an ear to listen to us while we eat cake.

I honestly didn't understand the purpose of the car accident.. I mean, there was barely a scratch on Amber so why make us think it's going to be much worse than it is if it was barely a blip on the radar when it actually happened?

But that's probably my biggest gripe with the series. I knew going into it that it would be a slow burn which I generally do not prefer. But it definitely worked here and made sense. Also, honestly, that was probably the most satisfying kiss I'd ever seen.. not so much the kiss itself but just the fact that it FINALLY happened. 12 episodes of tension and buildup ultimately get released and it's like letting out a breath that's been held in for way too long. Then from that point on, it was seriously adorable.. I liked how they showed them as normal friends at the end with the flirty undertone. They were just so comfortable with each other after all that uncertainty throughout.

Honestly, I wasn't sure what to expect with the synopsis I'd read somewhere else but I'm so glad I watched this series and would certainly recommend it to anyone. Truly beautiful and enjoyable watch.

Read More

BEST BL SERIES IN 2023

Everything is a top-notch! ((not biased)) The story is well-explained, not too fast or too slow. The acting from the casts are amazing. The casts ability's to show us a wide-range emotions from the character deserves a standing-ovation. For the production, from the camerawork to the color grading, it's just perfect!! The way they ((sometimes)) blurred Jom –put the focus on Khun Yai– is a smart things to do! I'm not going to give any spoilers here, but there's a logical explanation why the team decided to do that, and that's brilliant! This series has 4 osts and all of them are nicely made! If you ask me to choose the best from those 4 songs, it will be a hard decision for me because every songs have their own meanings and it perfectly aligned with Khun Yai - Jom story.

This series ungraves deep in my heart. I'm happy that I've waited for almost a year for this series because every hours that I spend waiting for this is all worth it.

Read More

Call it Satisfying

When I finished Call it Love I I honestly felt like I was satisfied in a well that was a grand days work kinda way as opposed to oh my god im totally blown away kind of way. But yet i look back at this as time well spent it kind of grows on you and you go through a certain kind of coming to terns with whats happening along with the characters.

At times this drama really had me moved and totally absorbed and at times I was feeling this is getting dull only for it to pull away from the edge and remain engaging and it makes you interested to hear what others thought.

Pros:
Some great chatacters and exploration of same and a sense of understanding them gradually in a satisfying way.

A really good fairly realistic story not OTT and well brought together. I genuinely felt any number of endings would satisfy me no anxiety re a happy vs sad vs open ending a few episodes out as the story was making sense to me (eventually) regardless.

The Secondary characters were all really engaging and not filler material and no really extreme characters (though some might say close to)

For a drama with virtually no comedy it was still not gratituosly depressing.

Some genuinely powerful moments.

The normalised and gentle treatnent of sister struggle with mental health issue, note not a central part of plot but nicely introduced and explored with subtlety and normality.

Cons

The leads at times were too monotonous and almost unable to express any emotions outside of a narrow range of stoic silence and underlying sadness.

The FL in particular some of her scenes were like oh come on say something, its actually getting weird now. Tropes were not rampant in this script apart from the miscommunication/no communication between leads trope which weared just a little at times.

The chemistry between leads lacked i felt I dont know if it was directing acting or both but it was a bit too low key to match where they get too in their relationship. However this may be because this was not just a story about romance it was that and a bit more so even the romance had to be in balance.

To put it simply the acting was anazing to capture a certain tyoe of mood or moment which was then repeated a lot so while many fekt the acting was great i felt it was within a narrow range and not mind blowing sorry.

The use of the split scene then flash back was done really well except maybe a bit too often esoecially where verbal communication was sparse it was at times a long wait to find out what was actually said when.

Overall I feel like this is really really a great watch but maybe not all in one go. I have a fulfulling sense of satisfaction even though at times i was not sure what to make of it. Somehow this drama didnt neccessarily always go they way I wanted and yet i never felt cheated or had an oh i hate this type of story moment. I still havent settled on a no for my rating im curious what people feel.

Read More

I was really lookingforward to this because Chimon is one of the actors I appreciate most from Thailand. I think his acting was just fine in this, I just feel bad for him. I feel like he had to force himself. I always wonder how much of a choice actors have, or moreso, how much pressure actors face to be in BLsespecially being an actor for GMMTV and being in a counrty where their BLs are world reknowned meaning they're being pushed by the literal government.
Has he been limited to BLs because of he has been side characters in them before? I always worry. I just can't imagine trying to act a sexuality that's not your own. Ok, actually I can all to well given that's what I do every day of my life. It fricked me up. And to have to do that for the world at large? It isn't the same because you can go back to your straight life, but the shadow will always be there. I'm sure stranges on the street will stop them and ask, and they'll always be wondering if that's something the person across from them is judging them for.
Summary: I have never seen a couple with less chemistry in my entire life. but not in a bad acting kind of way (there are all too many of those). It was just two straight guys that couldn't reach that far into their psychy nor escape the world we live in that tells us that gayness is weird and wrong. I 100% can't do it.
Anways, the chemistry was so lacking, awkward, and embarrassing that I can't even watch them attempt anything more intimate. Hence stopping at ep 7. Reading theough peopel's comments and seeing that they had to do the most intimate types of scenes makes me shudder to think of it. And it seems like I wasn't the only one,
And still, Chimon's smirk. CHimon's half smile. We love to see it.

Read More

Another bad RomCom with bad acting, don't waste your time.

Only for Love is a rom-com about a cold CEO and a financial reporter.

I watched about 8 episodes of "Only for Love"; don't waste your time. Here are the reasons why I am dropping it:
- Only For Love: The plot is boring, and the character Bai Lu playing is weak and a waste of her talents.
- Dylan Wang is not convincing as a cold CEO. There is no on-screen chemistry between the lead actors.
- For Dylan Wang's fan, I am sorry, but to me, he is a one-dimension actor who can't act.

I have wasted almost 8 hours with something so boring and unreal. Just because Dylan Wang is popular in LBFD doesn't mean that he should be teamed up with everyone, even the good actress.

I heard he will team up with my favorite actress, Zhao Lusi. I hope it will not disappoint me. I am dropping this drama because the plot is stupid, and the ML does not do justice to team up with Bai Lu (one of my favorite actresses.)

I give it a 5.0 rating because of the bad plot, acting, and production quality.

Read More

Surprising complexity buried in a straight forward romance with a happy ending

9/10 is my rating. This is a 2021 Chinese romantic comedy drama with 24, 44-57 minute episodes. Also known under the alternate titles: “Accidentally Found Love”, “I Accidentally Picked Up Love”, and “You Succeeded in Attracting My Attention”

First I provide a unique synopsis then review.

Synopsis
Gu An Xin (Zhao Lu Si) is leading a simple, though impoverished life, as a delivery driver when she accidentally hits Ling Yue (Liu Te) when he stumbles into the road. She does not realize he is crawling out of an accident where rival heirs tried to get rid of the heir apparent. Ling Yue allows An Xin to think she is the primary cause of his injuries in order to use her as cover and her apartment as a hide out while he investigates who is behind the attempt on his life. AnXin also has a secret and is hiding. As they live together and get to know each other it seems fate may have had a hand in things. Can two who seem so opposite actually be each other’s ideal?

Review

Overall it is a good, heart warming romance with some surprising plot twists and complexity. There were some minor plot elements that were not neatly resolved. But the main story is interesting and compelling. It ends happy for all but one side couple.

Spoilers*
I have to say when the apartment flooded that whole incident was a little unbelievable just because of the amount of water and how easily she cleaned it up. In fact, she was never very upset when he did major damage to her apartment like the kitchen fire and the flooding. All of that would’ve taken a lot to repair. Also when she listed the expenses related to that it wasn’t anything about the water damage that that would’ve created. It made it a bit silly in those parts that her response did not mirror reality.

This one takes the cake for most surprising plot twist. At this point I’ve watched over 300 dramas. Because I have watched so many dramas it makes it to where I can predict a lot of the plot twists. So I usually have figured out who is doing what to whom by halfway through. In this one when it turned out it was the little brother behind all of the attempts on main guy I was completely surprised. That level if surprise us rare..

They made such a big deal out of Anxin being kicked out of her family I wanted her to have a big reveal with her dad. She did not get a chance as he wound up with a brain tumor that led to dementia. That was disappointing. He also did not understand how messed up the actions of the current wife were. She denied him his daughter by swapping the paternity test and essentially drove his wife to end herself.

I wish the brother never expressed romantic feelings for her. They had such a cute brother sister relationship before he made it all weird and awkward by telling her he was interested in her romantically. It was ironic to me, because early in the series I kept saying Ling yue was being unreasonable toward Anxin’s brother because that was just her brother. Turns out he sensed all along that he had more than brotherly feelings for her. I was glad the two men mostly bridged their differences at the end and became friendly with each other.

Anxin’s sister was just straight up cruel to her so I did not feel warm fuzzies when she started being nice. I thought she was horrible to both men too, Ling yue and his little brother. She would work on Anxin and get her doubting herself in the relationship and it would either cause problems or break them up temporarily, and there was no reason for it because he had all the opportunity in the world to get with her previously and didn’t.

I did not like how they were willing to forgive the little brother and say he’s just young. The fact that he tried multiple times and showed no remorse would be highly indicative of a sociopath.

An Xin’s sister was a bit redeemable because at least she showed remorse for her actions at the end although I thought Anxin forgave her way too quickly. The little brother and the mom, on the other hand, never showed remorse so it was wrong for them to forgive them, or seem willing to forgive them when they did not even sorry themselves. They were only sorry that they got caught and so they felt bad for themselves.

Two of my favorite characters were his bodyguard and his doctor best friend and I thought the romance between the two was so cute. When he went into the boxing ring to defend her honor and show his sincerity and took a serious beating for her I thought that was so cool. I really started rooting for them then.

It was complete bonus round that Anxin’s manga business took off. It was really cool to see her be successful in her own, right.

#PleaseFeelAtEaseMrLing
#Zhao Lu Si
#LiuTe

Read More

Incredible thai BL

I’m not usually someone who leaves a review, but this show is worth it. The story is intriguing and well executed much better than most of the thai BL’s this year. It truly is a love story between two people who are trying to be together in a time where love between the same gender was unacceptable. This is further complicated by the fact that one of them is from the future.
Many thai BL’s have an interesting concept like this, but “I feel you linger in the air” manages to do this plot justice.
I would also like to point out that the chemistry between the actors and the acting itself was superb.

In summary, I highly recommend this series to people who are looking for a well executed story, with good acting and great chemistry. It has funny, sad and absolutely heartwarming moments. Moments that are further enhanced by well times background music.

Absolutely recommend 10/10!

Read More

OMG! Can we have better script and plot. It is bad in so many levels. Don't waste your time.

Love is Panacea is another drama about a top-notch, intelligent doctor who falls in love with his student.

I watched about 6 episodes of Love is Panacea, and don't waste your time on both. I love Leo Luo, and Zhang Ruo Nan has better on-screen chemistry with William Chan than Leo Luo. Here are the reasons why I am dropping these two:
- Love Is Panacea: Leo Luo and ZRN's on-screen chemistry is cheesy and non-existent.
- The plot is so stupid, and they try to make things more exciting and dangerous, but the delivery of it is so bad.
- This one is similar to South Winds Know, which was so bad that I don't want to invest any more time in it after I have watched 5 episodes.
- Like South Winds with doctors go to M Country to help the poor and needy, then run into local terrorist-terrified people. In Love is Panacea, Dr. Gu went to Lacaya with a similar plot; instead of speaking English, they speak French.

I fell asleep watching it because it was so boring, and the 2nd CP acted so badly as well. It seems that Leo Luo did better with historical drama than modern one. I give it a 5.0 rating.

Read More

Great actors, badly aged writing

So I wanted to watch a spooky drama for the spooky season and I've had this one in my list for a while. Park Bo Young is one of my absolute favorite actors and she does not dissapoint in this one either. Although you can see my score isn't that high for this one. Overall I think it's a great concept BUT I don't think it has aged very well. The ghost comes on veeerrryy strong and in 2023 it's kinda hard to watch TBH. This is being justified in that she is a desperate ghost and does not think about anything else but they really paint it as fun and innocent... On the other hand the character Na Bong Seon is the polar opposite, really shy and has no self confidence whatsoever which just makes both the characters very annoying at a start. However they do become better and even likeable as the story progresses. It's very impressive playing two characters and a chracter playing another character etc. It goes meta and Bo Young really does a stellar job. I think what makes me not like this drama so much is the writing which hasn't aged well. Watching it with comments on on Viki really got me through it at times but the last couple of episodes were really enjoyable. Would I watch it again? No, I even thought of dropping it at times ngl but the actors and the stunning corgi kept me in it. Characters that pulled through was the Shaman character, the mom and the restaurant gang. The leads were a lot at times. So actors did an amazing job, concept great, writing not aged good. Those are my thoughts. Feeling warm about the drama now as I just finished it but I also remember the journey... Of to watch Daily dose of Sunshine now. ☀

Read More

meglio lo special del dramma principale

In un'atmosfera molto più divertente e rilassata, per quanto con un paio di momenti più tesi, i nostri piccioncini ci fanno ridere e commuovere mentre ricordano l'accoglienza che il padre di Type ha riservato al suo ragazzo quando l'ha presentato in casa qualche anno prima. Una brutta accoglienza davvero!
Non manca una obbligatoria scena romantica, in cui possiamo apprezzare il duo principale con una chimica decisamente migliore rispetto a quella presentata nella serie.
Un modo più che degno per concludere un ciclo, con uno special che lascia un buon sapore in bocca.

Read More

Chinese version of Mr. & Mrs Smith. Decent Spy drama of a couple from different sides.

Mr. & Mrs. Chen is a spy drama set in the 1940s. Former lovers Zuo Shuang Tao and Chen Jia Ping unexpectedly reunite and rekindle their love in a sea of spies as they pursue the same goals.

This is the Chinese version of American Mr. & Mrs Smith (played by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.)

It is not a bad drama with a lot of suspenseful moments. The acting is good from the lead actor and actress (Elvis Han and Guan Xiao Tong.)

I would rate it higher if it showed more romance between the lead actors. It is a good watch, and I enjoyed it. I give it a 7.5 rating.

Read More

Solita storia ma bello sempre.

Non si puo dire che è una storia originale e che sia qualcosa di mai visto,tutt'altro e la solita storia che però piace sempre.Lui ricco ed eccentrico lei lavoratice e brava ragazza.Si incontrano prima si odiano e poi si innamorano.Il tutto in mezzo a una lotta per l'eredità e la voglia di emergere di lei.Vincono tutti loro una fantastica storia d'amore con il classico happy ending e pure intorno a loro va tutto a gonfie vele.
Tutto raccontato con divertimento e con i soliti cliché e impreziosito da una bella colonna sonora.
Fantastica la chimica tra i due protagonisti.
Se piace la classica storia d'amore romantica questo è il dramma giusto.

Read More

The best medical drama that I have seen in 2023. Excellent acting from the entire cast.

The Heart is a melodrama about the lives of doctors at a hospital that specializes in cardiology.

I would say that this is the best medical drama I have seen in 2023; actually, the best of all time since I started watching Cdrama 3 years ago.

The plot was excellent, and it focused on the professional and personal lives of doctors at Dongli Hospital, especially the cardiology department. I love Mark Chao; his acting is superb. Mao Xiao Tong played a bubbly sister who adored her brother, but they are half-brothers and sisters. It also showed the complex relationships that Zhou Xiao Feng (played by Mark Chao) has with his superiors, co-workers, girlfriend, sister, and mother who abandoned him when he was young.

The acting of the entire cast, particularly some supporting roles, was excellent. Like Yang Gui Lan, played by Fang Qing Zhuo; Jiang Yi Ning, played by Zhou Yu Tong; Fang Zhu Qing, played by Joan Chen; and Qiang Wei, played by Ma Yin Yin. They were fantastic.

I really enjoyed and loved this drama. I give it an 8.5 and highly recommend everyone to watch it.

Read More

One of the most beautiful series I've watched so far!

I've never written a review on here, but I really wanted to say something about this masterpiece.

I have seen numerous BL series and movies over the past few months but none of them touched me as much as this one did.

It's just such a beautifully written story that captivated me from the beginning of the series. The acting and the remarkable chemistry between the actors is just AMAZING. I enjoyed every single minute of it!

Although the ending was a bit confusing for me, as I didn't read the novel, it was still a beautiful ending, definitely worth the watch!

I'm really happy that I discovered this gem. It's definitely worth watching, I can only recommend it to anyone looking for a beautiful love story, you won't regret it! (At least I didn't :) )

Read More

Good crime drama plot out of HK, but acting is so bad from entire cast.

Dead Ringer is an HK crime drama about Wei Xiao Chen, a Chinese-American female captain who leads a SWAT team that breaks up the base of a human trafficking syndicate and discovers the body of a woman who turns out to be her twin sister, Liang Xi. Xiao Chen is devastated and vows to spend the rest of her life tracking down the truth behind her sister’s murder.

Wen Xiao Chen disguised as her twin sister and came to Hong Kong to investigate her death. As she unravels the evidence, surprising twists happen when her twin sister, Liang Xi, is not dead. Her sister was involved in money laundry and did illegal kinds of stuff.

The plot is interesting, but the acting was bad from the entire ensemble, especially the FL, Chrissie Lau, and Raymond Wong. They both cannot act. Serious and emotional, she has the same stoic face without much emotion. Raymond Wong is the worst actor I have seen out of HK drama.

I give it a 6.0 because the acting of the entire cast is below mediocre. The production quality is much better than those from Mainland China, with bright light, and everyone is white, especially in historical/Xian Xia costume dramas.

Read More