Reviews

I'll stay with you from now on, I'll stay with you forever

A lovely little epilogue to the show that helps to really solidify the bonds between the characters and does away with any lingering fears or insecurities they may have still had about forming a permanent family unit together.
I was a bit worried by the summary as I absolutely detest the miscommunication trope, but those worries were absolutely unfounded. The characters actions and thoughts are all perfectly reasonable and in character and the "conflict" is resolved very quickly and satisfactorily.
The only thing I can think to criticise is that I personally would have liked to see just a touch more physical closeness between Minoru and Yutaka, just a simple hug or something of the sort, but honestly the deep love and affection between those two is always so palpable that any physical display is hardly necessary.
If you liked the main show and want a quick watch that is guaranteed to make you smile, then give this a watch.

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Married or divorced, that is the question!

This is a stage play. Probably too long therefore they made it as a series. But nevertheless, it is still a stage play.

The drama tells the story of matrimonial troubles of two couples. To stay married or to divorce, that is the question! And mostly why? Love, companionship, society or family pressure?

There are four main characters who all like talking a lot so often they just talk to strangers or occasional acquaintances about their lives without expecting anyone to answer they flow of words.
The first couple are Hamasaki and Yuka. He is a rigid, serious and set in his ways man. He likes peace and order the most. His wife is the opposite: messy, exuberant, lively and friendly. They have been married for two years and they spend all their time together bickering and fighting over small things. He keeps threatening to divorce her until one day she goes through with it. He is surprised and for the first time he actually sees his wife for who she really is and realizes he loves her very much!
The second couple are Ryu and Akari. Ryu is a man child, spoilt, unconscientious and unreliable. He's married but that has never stopped him from sleeping around. Akari is the serious one in this relationship. She knows what he is like but she loves him and is happy to pretend not to see his wayward ways. Until her sister puts her in front of the mirror and Akari sees she had become who she hated the most: her mother. She breaks it off with Ryu who, just like any child when a toy has been taken away from him, starts a tantrum and decides he wants her. A typical child behaviour: the toy became interesting only once it had been taken away. He does not really care about Akari.

The drama is about the relationship between these four people. There is a host of support characters but they are there only to show the main characters' off.
The cinematography is original. Very static. There are not many different sets and the drama rarely ventures outside. First there is the interior of the first couple's tiny apartment which is filmed with CCTV cameras placed in ceiling corners. The fisheye effect is disturbing. And then there are many static scenes with the cast just talking without any music, and camera barely moving. Another thing giving it a theatrical vibe! And they talk a lot! And they talk very fast! In spite of that the drama is gripping, never boring but because of all the talking you need to pay attention while watching because in those torrents of words, the truths are told and secrets are revealed. Definitely not a lightweight watch but a high quality one!

By the end, most misunderstandings have been resolved though that does not mean they are going to stay together forever. They know each other's qualities and flaws but their personalities are too strong and too different for the compromise to last long time.

The actors are all excellent. Moreover, Eita sings beautifully!

The cherry on this excellent cake are the closing credits: a dance number slightly different in every episode! Amazing!

The only good version I found was on kissasian.mx but the site does not allow ad blockers. The version present on other sites is of atrocious quality! I could not find any official link! Unfortunately!

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Noone deserves to be lonely, we are all worthy of love

I think this show may have been written specifically for me.
A quiet, tender tale of finding human connection after an extended period of loneliness and learning to find joy in little things each and every day? Yeah, I fell absolutely head over heels in love with this story. The fact that it was also heavily themed around food was just the cherry on top of the absolutely glorious sundae.
The cast were all truly pitch-perfect in bringing this sweet little slice-of-life drama to life and displayed an unbelievable chemistry with each other that made the bonds between all the characters feel breathtakingly loving and achingly real.
If you want a show that teaches you about finding connection, leaving behind loneliness, coming out of your shell, and learning to fall in love with the world and the people in it again and again and again, then Bokura no Shokutaku is most definitely what you're looking for.
Even if you're just after a warm comfort-watch to pass some cozy evenings, this show is for you as well.

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Accidental Child Acquisition - The Show

This was an absolute delight of a special and serves as a perfect little epilogue for the main show. It's basically just a short glimpse into the domestic lives of Puen and Talay with an overarching theme of "Pursuing goals and self-fulfillment is a priority, but so is actively making time to spend with your partner and creating little moments of joy and togetherness because loving someone is important and meaningful". As someone who loves nothing more than soft, meandering explorations of ordinary people just loving each other, this was basically perfect for me and I honestly couldn't be more happy with it.
If you enjoyed the main show you'll definitely like this as well, so give it a shot.

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A Compromise Between a Fairy Tale and a Shakespearean Tragedy - Worth your time

(I made an account just to write reviews lol, so here's my first one.)

Spoiler-free part:
Whenever a series starts with some silly, weird, and just generally strange thing, like for example in this show, Mando dreams about how he's Rapunzel trapped in a tower and they do that overacting thing, I usually lose faith in the writing because it's usually just some throw-away gag to draw the local audience, and apparently piss off people like me-- But anyway, I was pleasantly surprised how relevant it was. If you like coherent stories that actually uses themes and narrative devices, then this is worth a shot. It's only 6 episodes long anyway. If you just like watching hot guys, then I definitely recommend it. Alex Diaz is so damn sexy here - he must have been bulking because he looks a bit bigger here than on Instagram - and episode 5 is a bit of a treat (I'm going to hell for saying that). Just beware that there are scenes of self harm and suicide as well.

Spoilers section:
I'm going to assume you've seen the show already.
This show is basically about how society fails LGBT people in the Philippines. I don't want to call any character here a villain because ultimately, societal pressures were the key driving force in all the conflict that happens.

Let's start off with the teacher: Mr Siwa, or rather Ms Siwa. She is transgender, but only found out later in life, and was ALMOST forced to quit by the school for her identity. Thankfully, she actually doesn't make any mistakes or anything. She's just sort of the iconic drama teacher. But I think her little bit of story is a nice addition to the themes at play and is worth mentioning.

Next, Mando, and by extension, his mother. In case it wasn't obvious, him being trapped in a tower was an allegory for being "in the closet". His hair being cut off by dream Krisha symbolized that he's cut off any way out of that closet by being with her. And of course, in the end, he did eventually escape the tower after he was fully out and accepting of himself.
The whole thing with Mando having a gay affair while being in a relationship with Krisha clearly mirrors his mother's very similar mistake as well, which Mando initially resented her for. The common denominator here IS societal pressure. Mando's mother was pressured by her parents, and so was Mando. This is pretty much the only reason I can understand what happened. I was a bit afraid that they were going to gloss over the affair, but nope. It was actually taken very seriously.
To be honest, with the affair, Barry was the most at fault. He was the one that made it happen. He could have just been like "Oh. But you're with my sister." and just left it there. I mean I get it, he just got through a breakup and he's lonely, but he REALLY should have known better. And he did at the end, begging his sister never to forgive him.

Now it's interesting that the play they perform is Romeo and Juliet, which is as much a tragedy as it is a romance. I guess you could say that the author wanted it to be both Shakespearean in nature but also a fairy tale - instead of people dying to settle the karma, people continue living and forgive each other, and Mando and Barry even try to start over. And tbh, I can't think of a reason why not since conflict only happened because of society. If Mando had known his true self from the start, then there would have been no drama.

But anyway that's just my thoughts on it. I don't think I'm 100% accurate in the interpretations but all I can say is that I did enjoy watching it, and I'm sad it was so short.

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Do not miss this gem!

This drama is not your typical drama. When it comes to topics this important in the society, i'm always cautious about it. But since i liked the first season i guessed i would like the second one and i wasn't wrong.

Each and every episode was important, a powerful story, a sad story , much more because part of it is true, real people in real life have actually suffered these abuses and that was the scary part.

The acting was fantastic, i mean Jung Hae In was phenomenal in this, i have loved him since his drama "one spring night" and it was an absolute delight to watch him in this one too, it's always nice to watch a versatile actor. Son Suk Ku i noticed him in " my liberation notes" and i was impressed! i am looking forward his next projects. Unfortunately i can't write about each and every actor, they all did a very good job.

If you are looking for a down to earth drama, with realistic acting, and heartbreaking stories and maybe a ray of hope, this drama is for you.! A 9/10 for me, i recommend it.

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Why were the best episodes behind another pay wall?

The two final episodes were the best in terms of acting, story and consistent editing and yet you needed VIP Premium to watch them whereas the rest of the series you only needed VIP Standard on IQIYI.

The final episodes had more story than the first 8 put together. The acting was closer to what I’d expect from a series and there was less of the comedy sounds added over - apart from the scene with Ai. The use of music there really confused me and gave me a slight headache.

Pepper’s acting shined in the final story where he got to express a full range of emotions. I hope he gets to act in more shows that will be able to platform his talent.

I understand that the production needs to make money but why would you hide your best content behind an additional paywall and let the mediocre content be what the masses are consuming?

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a breath of fresh air

Absolutely loved the story! I am a huge fan of such characters where both of them are head over heels for each other <3 Both the boys were a delight to watch especially Kiyoi-he is really handsome The story takes time to develop but if you love the Japanese way of production then you will enjoy each episode. I didn't skip a single second which in itself says a lot about how good this series was!

If you were once a shy person who fell head over heels for someone and just couldn't confess then my friend this one is for you
Be ready to jog some memories with this beautiful story

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breath of fresh air

Absolutely loved the story! I am a huge fan of such characters where both of them are head over heels for each other <3 Both the boys were a delight to watch especially Kiyoi-he is really handsome The story takes time to develop but if you love the Japanese way of production then you will enjoy each episode. I didn't skip a single second which in itself says a lot about how good this series was!

If you were once a shy person who fell head over heels for someone and just couldn't confess then my friend this one is for you
Be ready to jog some memories with this beautiful story

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"It's time for you to stop playing hard to get" -Jang Hyun

My Dearest is about a noblewoman who is separated from a mysterious traveler upon the Qing invasion.

The pacing is great and I like that the external conflict is quickly set-up, along with Jang Hyun mysterious background. The fact that he’s a stranger coming to a new place is intriguing. The most enjoyable part in the series was the invasion, especially the one in ep 4. Regarding Gil Chae’s character, I’m a bit lukewarm to her as she’s a bit wild and too proud of herself.

Production-wise, it is stunning! Seeing as it is a miniseries, it doesn't have to worry about stretching its budget so every single shot looks like a movie. There are a lot of breathtaking scenery, everything is so wonderful. The use of color was both very artistic and engaging.

But to be honest, I was a bit struggling as I don't fall in love with the main plot which is the romance T.T
I enjoy the couple when they're together, but I was not enjoying their constant push and pull. So in most episodes I couldn't feel the emotional engagement of their scenes. Since the closure doesn't feel very "ending" as it is a two-part show, I'm curious on how the story goes; more on Jang Hyun’s story and I am anticipating for on point romance beyond all these emotional sufferings.

(SPOILER part) I think both of them need to be more honest. Gil Chae keeps in denial and does not confess her thoughts to Jang Hyun, while desperately crying for him when he's not around. However, I understand her hesitation because Jang Hyun chooses not to marry, so I agree with her final decision. Even though Jang Hyun finally shows his true feelings too, he still chooses to consistently leave, without enough explanations and believable promises.

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Incompleted

This drama is not bad, i will even say for a low budget drama it is really good, i liked the actors and actress and the chemistry they had, the cinematography was not bad either, the way they shoot it was interesting, good job!
i really hope they get a bigger budget for they really deserve it.

So! you are now asking yourself why i am rating it a 7/10 if i liked the acting that much, well it's because of the story line, i'm sorry no matter how much i liked the couples and their chemistry, i still can't wrap my finger about how they managed to get that happy ending , not that i didn't like it (i am a sucker for stories with happy endings), i just can't understand it. It seems like some pieces of the puzzle are missing .

overall it's a 7/10 for me , i would not rewatch it and i am not sure about recommending it to anyone; but if you are in for a romantic story whitout much logic to it then this drama may be a good watch for you.

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Some people here aren't doing this series justice - it's good!

The reviews and comments led me to believe this was going to be a fest of miscommunications and bad comedic acting, but it's far from that. The acting is subtle, the chemistry feels natural, and the characters are understandable and nuanced. It's true that some dramas use bad communication to drive the plot forward and I find it as frustrating as the next guy, but don't forget that there are real people who find it very hard to figure out and communicate their feelings, and this drama falls in the latter category. Whatever lack of communication there is comes from their clashing personalities and ways of approaching someone they like, but they're both upfront about their interest in each other, and they don't intentionally hide things from each other for an absurd amount of time (aside from near the end, that felt a little forced). For the most part, I thought the tempo at which the information and feelings were revealed was organic and kept me invested.

The directing was simple, but very effective. Often there was a scene with just two steady cameras showing each of the characters or one long uninterrupted shot, but that setup allowed a more natural flow of a scene and emphasised how good the actors are. I enjoyed how this budding workplace romance intertwined with the subplots stemming from their job as journalists for a tabloid, and I thought the characters were layered enough to make the main romance plot work well.

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Delivered what's expected

I started watching without minding what the rating says. i usually skip series with low ratings but I made an exception for this one since I want to watch more series that has chimon on the cast. Watching this was fun, I was never bored in any of the episodes. But it's quite predictable like most series, and it doesn't make the series any less. Gave this one a high rating cause it's hard to find bl series that satisfies me. The acting can still be improved but I must say, they did good but still far from perfect. The color grading and cinematic feels so calm while watching. I like the ost as well.

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