Reviews

Typical BL, but Not???

Yes, I won't try to act like this wasn't the typical engineering BL, but for some reason this felt way better than the others ones?? Nititman made this overused BL style feel more authentic and proficient. It brought along the cliché BL tropes, and some repetitive plot devices, but it was also a really nice love story that felt like you had seen it before, but with a few differences.

Let's Dive In.

This was a Thailand BL for you, the most thrown in plot devices you can think of mixed with a few side character problems and singing. Nititman felt like a mix of UMWA (y'know, without the suicide and stuff) and what My Gear and Your Gown wanted to be. It was pretty much just cuteness overload with the little slice of naughty cake and a scoop of comedy and angst to go with it. The only thing this series missed out on was character development. There was no change in anyone except feelings and that was it. Not saying that most engineering BLs do this on the regular, but it would've been a nice touch for this one.

As for production, it was decent. There were time when the lighting was nicely done and colors were used to show subtle moods and I loved it. This was another BL where I didn't see many ad placements, if any at all. The songs were actually really good and I found myself not skipping, so there's a bonus.

But no BL is perfect and this once can attest to that. Let's start with this whole "trying to get Jin and Bbomb to f*ck" situation first. I don't need to go on and on about how terrible this was, cause, you know, don't drug your friends?? At least Bbomb didn't act on those feelings much, and when Jin said no he listened, but something that Thailand BLs do and do only is take serious matters and make it laughable. Not funny?? at all??? At least U had enough sense to see that what they were doing wasn't okay, but of course, he was the anomaly in this situation so his feelings didn't matter. Moving on, The receptiveness of plot devices was astronomically pestering. How many times did Jin need to "break" his foot? How many times did someone need to be jealous of another? How many times did they need to be drunk? I mean, this list goes on, but my golly, I can't do it. I felt like I was watching the same episodes over and over again. There's no need for the repetition of these things, once is enough, and maybe had they done that, Ball and Keam could've gotten at least two more minutes of screen time.

Surprisingly, I didn't have too much of a problem with the overly-obsessive BL fans except for them posting it online. Find a life, I beg of you. And STOP WITH THIS GOD-AWFUL TROPE. It's okay, we can have a mlm love story without outsiders pinning for them. I think I didn't mind it that much cause I LOVED Aruy. He was HILARIOUS and I don't think this series would've been the same without him. (found out the same director here did Oxygen in which was even worse with Yaois, Lawd)

Onto Jin and Bbomb. While their start up was a little iffy, their execution was pretty nice. The one thing they did so good on was actually looking like they liked each other. Even with the way they laid in bed together, how Bbomb spooned Jin and even how he caressed Jin's hair when he was laying on his chest. It was the small things like that that attached me to this couple. Jom did a pretty good job, he was able to actually cry during sad scenes and his smile didn't hurt either. This was Noh's acting debut, so I'll forgive some of his very stale acting and one-and-only facial expression in the hopes that he'll do better in future projects. (But his character didn't have much of a personality other than liking Jin and being good at everything).

Let's move onto the biggest problem of the series, KEAM AND BALL. Ball was a ray of sunshine, and Keam was literally running away because he was too fucking cute. THEY NEEDED WAY MORE SCREEN TIME THAN THEY DESERVED. Ball was on maybe 4 or 5 episodes, and it felt like we were getting somewhere until nothing happens? We got a two-minute something at the very end of the final episode, but that was NOTHING. We need a second season, precisely for Keam and Ball to do literally anything.

They teased at Jay and Song a lot, and I loved their dynamic, so Imma need some more of them if we get a next season. U and Ultra seemed like they could've had something, even Singh and Jack had a little smidge of maybe something that could of happened, but they both had their own girl problems, so probably not. If anything, they had a great on-screen friendship that I really liked. Their comedic touch lightened the already lightened plot.

Overall, I honestly loved this series. Yes it was typical, yes it was cliche, but I loved every single minute of it. This is the BL that BL is all about. No actual act of importance, stupid lovey-dovey tropes, and singing. what more could I ask for? I do recommend for anyone trying to get into BL, it's an easy watch and entertaining one too.

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Short life is like a dream. Only my love, Shi Yi deserves my lifelong pursuit

First of all, this drama spoils up major things for One and Only in the beginning only. So, BEWARE OF WATCHING THIS DRAMA IF YOU PLAN TO WATCH {ONE AND ONLY} LATER…

Me personally, needed this drama so much after One and Only. The experience was simply healing but could have been better maybe…

Should I talk about Acting? No, it was up to the mark. Of course I will mention my favorite BAI LU. She's so phenomenal and her outfits here. Oh! I want them all. And Ren Jialun is fine Af. Together these two are not less than any eye candy.

Beginning got me like "ok, ok this is another Sweetness loaded C-drama that I watch every year." But slowly this made me realize No, there's more things in this drama. Tbh, most of the supporting characters felt numb to me in beginning and I was bored too at some points as I was comparing Both the 2 dramas. But later on every character got it's own track. If you have completed One and Only, don't jump into this directly. Wait for some days or maybe a week before you start this one as this Drama will feel bland to you after that emotional rollercoaster.

My only complain here is that they didn't show how their relationship developed in beginning via Emails…

Shiyi and Chen's journey after meeting each other officially was so precious that how they used to be awkward but slowly became each other's soulmates. I like how Shiyi was always the one to take the initiative. Chen was not good with words but when he finally said something romantic. It was so much more special. There were moments when it just came out of my mouth like "Aww so Cute". The ending episodes almost gave me diabetes.

[24/25 eps] mid-ending thoughts (spoiler free) —
The writer(Mo Bao Fei Bao) did it again! She knows how to create a complicated story and make us cry…
Once again it feels like I am watching O & O. Even though the dramas are different, setting is different, yet I got the same emotional rollercoaster from here. As I wrote previously in a post. I will be running out of tissues if this continues… And then that kick and back to back punches by Chen. Woah loved that scene. I was just thinking, it would be perfect to have a scene like that here… I kinda like Allen doing action scenes. Tbh, He nails the action parts!

[ OST time ]
♪Continued♪ — Shan Yichun
♪Heart Beats♪ — Bai Lu {her voice is so sweet. It felt like any little girl is singing it. Aww}
♪Time Froze♪ — Yan Ren Zhong {heard this singer for the first time and Wow this was so good}
♪Give you, Give me♪ — Mao Bu Yi
♪Where to go♪ — Lu Hu

♪Time Froze♪ is my favorite OST from the drama.

Conclusion – A healing drama for those who watched One and Only or it's yet another regular C-Drama including Awkward Professor Chen, Step-taker Shi Yi, few happy/sad supporting characters, a lot of family drama and nothing else.

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Very interesting show, not a bad watch at all..

This was pretty good, could have been better though and I'll explain why.

I loved the story a lot, I cannot complain much about that, the whole idea of the mysterious FL was pretty good, and the rich and goofy ML, usually its the opposite, its great to see this change.

I loved the FL character from beginning to the end, she was a no nonsense, i can defend myself, cool and classy FL without coming off arrogant. Her mysterious background really kept up the suspense which I liked a lot, and her outfits were all soo beautiful, definitely a plus for this drama, tbh basically all the outfits were out together really great, what a breathe of fresh air. The intro song or rather instrumental i really liked it a lot.

The ML was great, all the previous roles I saw him in he was always serious, who knew he was can also be this diverse and act like a total clumsy guy lol. His outfits were sometimes weird, but it matched his character haha, he was also pretty funny and crazy at times, but he did a great job with his roles.

The villains, and secondary characters were also very good as well, the one girl really makes you wanna go crazy lool.. The other supporting cast were all pretty good, the ML bestie and bodyguard, assistant, i think he was his everything haha, i loved his character as well, good characters.

The romance was nice, but tbh... at one point i was so sick and tied of seeing the supporting cast, like who's drama is this?!.. later on in the show you literally hardly saw the leads, it was so annoying, you got more romance from the side couple which is crazy, if they had worked more on that then i would have given a better ratings. I skipped most of those stuff in the later episodes, even the leads there was intimate things they didn't do until much much later in the show, weird.. but they did have good chemistry, that wasn't too bad.

All in all, I have seen some really terrible dramas, this was definitely not a bad drama though.. i have no regrets watching it.. it's good to watch after you seen something that's heavy

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Gratuitous violence

To begin my review, I'm someone who doesn't like gratuitous violence. But, if the story was interesting enough or if I had liked the protagonist I could still enjoy it. But that's not what happened. I didn't like the protagonist at all and that's nothing new about the plot, and the games were no fun either. There were times that the pacing was horrible, just couldn't stand it. The production it's amazing, but I've watched kdramas enough to know that they are almost always amazing. Overall if you like more of a battle royale story with good production and don't mind that the characters are mostly scumbags, give it a try. If you are more like me, who doesn't enjoy gratuitous violence and that needs to empathize with the protagonist to enjoy the story, there are plenty of better kdramas out there.

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Darkness That Truly Shows You The Light Inside

This drama was well done. Every movement was on point by each actor who was possessed. The music suited every scene perfectly. The supporting cast was so well assigned. I was even a huge fan of how the plot unfolded and moved forward. Every time we think we found something out a new twist would arrive.

Also it’s hella creepy and dark a lot of the time. Its supernatural aspects were so well thought out and depicted. It’s not easy to give life to this much level of detail of possession and the aftermath it leaves behind.

I love how each characters relationship was well fleshed out. You grew to love every character and understand why they would go to the lengths they go. Some actions at times feel too much, but with a new perspective you understand exactly why it’s that way. There was such good friendship depicted throughout the show. Not just our mains but their familial, coworkers, and old friends.

Tears happened in this drama so often. Emotions would well up and I love when dramas evoke emotion that way. Makes it the best kind of immersion one could ask for.

I’d watch it again most definitely. Give it a shot.

Sara Rojas SEPTEMBER 28 2021

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Surprisingly good rom-com that managed to tiptoe through the cliché minefield

This show has been on my watch list for a long time but the synopsis gave off the wrong tropey vibes for me so I kept skipping over it. Recently, I dropped a bad rom-com so I thought, "I can't do much worse". I'm glad I finally committed, it was surprisingly good.
First of all, this is not a big budget production. There are no big names or famous city as a backdrop. The production value is good through and there were not a lot of PPL, certainly not egregious. The OST is nice and totally serviceable. I liked that the ML's are handsome but not idol level good looking. The FL's are attractive and looked natural which made them more relatable.
The first half of the show is pretty much as expected. A head strong manhua artist decided to use a cold college professor as her template for the ML in her next comics. She has never been in love so she sucked at drawing romantic scenes. At first, he was just an interesting research subject but over time she fell in love with him. Of course, there were lots of push/pull and ambiguities. Nevertheless, she was brave and focused in her pursue of him. By the mid way mark, he was in love and they became official. Yes, there were cliché moments but there was no shock twists. Clichés were handled with a deft hand and you won't get worked up about stupid plots holes. But then I was overcame with anxiety because I have seen many shows expending all their energies in getting the CP together and then after a bit of CP bliss, they'd turn their laser focus on breaking them apart by any means just so that they can engineer a 11th hour happy ending. I'm grateful that this didn't happen. Sure, there were lumps and bumps along the way but their love was strong and they were the A-team and push back against all the Forces of Evil. Hazzah!
Another aspect which I found satisfying is the communication between the CP's. Of course, there were misunderstandings, jealousy and doubts but issues were never left to fester and they were resolved quickly with some straight talking. Another one is the age gap between the CP's. All the CP's have significant age differences and while some show will milk that for tension and be judgemental, this show just took it in its stride. It was part of the story fabric and you can take it or leave it. There was also growth in all the characters which was good to see. For example, the ML went from a cold and aloof character to become a kind, considerate and hot blooded BF. The 2FL was a bit of a seductress in the beginning but she became a super loyal GF to the 2ML.
In so many Chinese rom-coms, the 2/3OTP is either angst filled or just a convenient way to park the M/FL's best friends and provide a bit of down time for the 1OTP. Our 2OTP also had a rough start but while they did not have as much screen time as the 1OTP, their trajectory were similar well plotted and had more attention in the second half. Their love also grew stronger with every challenge. The strong 2FL definitely wore the pants in this relationship.
This brings us to the FL's. All three were forthright with their approach. They didn't hide or play dumb but push hard towards their goals. Ok, may be not so much for 3OTP because their pairing was a bit iffy but the 3FL knew what she wanted in her heart as well.
I'm glad that the show can see the tropes coming and it is wise enough to use them in a positive way and not be subsumed by them. Time and time again I expected the worse but good things happened instead. That made the show engaging and very watchable in my book.
The show is not perfect. There are script issues and some of the younger actors are still a bit rough around the edges but the positives outweigh the negatives. It is light, funny and sweet but not to the point of sugar overload nor was it overran by non-sensical plot twists. I enjoyed it so much that I binged it.
P.S. I watched this on Tencent official YouTube channel and every episode had the same audio issue whereby the dialogue track would randomly drop out for a minute or two and for no apparent reason.

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Grips you with each episode

Such a moving story of 2 true blood brothers and their beliefs / ideals about how their country and government should be like.

It was indeed 49 episodes but never felt like they were that many.
Weaved in was a very apt and sufficiently sweet romance between the younger brother and his wife whom he loved more and more only after marriage.

Story: 9.5
The spying within enemy lines simply kept me going . It was so intense and suspenseful that I couldn't help but to stay up late into the night to watch more episodes. It was very painful and heart-wrenching to see each of the communist individuals sacrifice themselves (most of the time via suicide) just to keep their comrades' identities and the mission(s) they had to accomplish, safe from the enemy/authorities. I ask myself often, why would the Chinese keep killing their own people as the torture scenes resemble so much like those of the Japanese . What was humanity like in the past ? This drama has caused me to back to my history textbooks on the worldwide RISE of COMMUNISM by Carl Marx. The only thing that I am pretty upset about such a storyline is that almost all of the key characters had to die at the end. Shen Fang's entire family (including his wife, his father in law and his house servant Uncle Hu) except for his elder brother Shen Lin, all had to die so tragically, some even did so sacrificially. How I wish there were more that survived.

Acting/Cast: 10
Each character was intricately weaved in and their emotions were clearly evident and full of realism from the 1st to the last episode. I cannot give anything better than a perfect score.

Music: 10
The lyrics of the OST are very appropriate
Music was also grim and relevant for the storyline throughout.

Re-watch Value: 9
Any spy story will always have a high re-watch value by me...This one is no exception because of the suspense that will keep you looking forward. Only thing was the torture and gruesome parts that might not be so comfortable for some viewers.

If you love spy dramas, this is another one highly recommended for you. At least it keeps your mind moving unlike those daily 'lovey-dovey' dramas which most times are pretty impossible to believe in reality.

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Unrealistic portrayal of romance

I was looking for more Song Kang dramas since I was quite impressed with his performance in Sweet Home. His wide-spaced doe eyes are so expressive, he makes it hard for you to look away. Unfortunately, this drama was not my favorite so I will move on to Navillera. The unrealistic storyline is what I had trouble with the most. Girls do date guys like Park Jae Eon, and I was one of them. However, they seldom end happily. You see, there is no way a girl can expect to have a friend- with-benefits type of relationship with a guy and expect more from it than what he offers. It never works and no amount of showering him with affection will change the damaged outlook he has on romance or how to properly date someone. You wind up with a mangled heart.

I have to agree with other reviewers that the chemistry was excellent between our main leads. The sexual tension was through the roof and the first 6 episodes were so well written, they made me feel like part of the action. The writers took their time and patiently set up the foreplay even before they got physical. The anticipation was almost unbearable and it made me want to keep watching.

Unfortunately, it starts to unravel at the second half of the drama. The students behave like middle schoolers, constantly preoccupied with each others' business instead of their own. They play spin the bottle, sit around teasing each other about their love lives and act lame teenagers instead of college grads. There were some interesting storylines among the supporting cast and girl love is handled in a dignified way. Kudos to the writers for that! The most disappointing and unsatisfying part is the end because I didn't get a real sense that our ML had really changed. He should have been the one to ask for a second chance, not her. Deep down, I felt it wouldn't last and it's almost alluded to. Young women will gobble up this type of drama, but it doesn't exist in any realm of reality, and giving them the message that it could is irresponsible.

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A quirky idol drama

Considering most were Newby actors with minimal drama/movies experience behind themI I felt they all did a great job. I thought it was cute and sweet and i loved the idea of the audience to pick out her Boy friend in the end. I wasnt even sure who i would of pick in the end as each one had different personality and traits. Once she had the bathroom incident and xxxx came to her rescue i figured it had to be him because that is definitely boyfriend material he paid attention to her❤️???? i do wish it was a little longer as they deserved more screen time hope to see more. Its worth the watch

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Great Drama with wonderful plot that the average viewer can follow. Actors were great and had great chemistry. Worth watching a number of times. OST was one of the best. Great location for shooting. The overall rating should be higher than the one currently given. Great watch for American viewers who are just beginning to watch C Dramas.

Great Drama with wonderful plot that the average viewer can follow. Actors were great and had great chemistry. Worth watching a number of times. OST was one of the best. Great location for shooting. The overall rating should be higher than the one currently given. Great watch for American viewers who are just beginning to watch C Dramas.

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Only 2 out of the 6 episodes worked for me

It’s hard to review and rate a series that has episodes that are not connected in any way. So my score is an average of the 6 individual scorers. I’ve also decided to write a mini review for each episode. I’d only really recommend episodes 3 and 4.

Episode 1 (OhmFluke): was that episode supposed to be romantic? Nothing is solved in the end, and the fact that Pierce doesn’t say he’s got a boyfriend proves it. I didn’t understand the ideia of the episode. Score: 4/10
Episode 2 (JaFirst): this episode technically works for the concept of different types of friendships, but it’s a bit too weird. It’s not a guy that transforms into a cat, it’s a cat the whole time. Score: 3/10
Episode 3 (NatMax): I liked this story. It was simple and it had a beginning, middle and ending. It worked well as a self contained mini story. Score: 8/10
Episode 4 (YoonTalay): Yoon and Talay always work well together. I can’t believe it was literally written in the shirt!! This one deserves a second viewing. Score: 9/10
Episode 5 (TommyJimmy: it was an ok episode, I don’t feel like it’s a developed enough story compared to a few of the others. Score: 6/10
Episode 6 (KinmonCopter): this episode doesn’t make much sense but it’s kinda sweet, if you don’t take it too seriously. Score: 6/10

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TL;DR - A pretty enjoyable slap/kiss lakorn. The last episode could've used more work as well as the romance, but it's not so bad that you can't enjoy the deliciously chaotic mess this is. If you like this genre, I'd totally recommend!

Against my better judgment, I enjoyed watching this. Like a lot more than I thought I would. I initially went into this thinking it was another kidnapping island slap/kiss lakorn with terrible characters and plot. Which if it was, it would've been fine by me as I only watch these as a guilty pleasure and don't expect anything deep or complicated. But this lakorn managed to subvert my expectations, and I would like to list some of the things this subverted from the typical slap/kiss clichés you'd expect:

1. a) The ML actually had a good reason and was "justified" in his kidnapping of the FL (I put this in quotations because in reality, kidnapping is never the answer. But this is a slap/kiss so I'm not gonna criticize something I know is a part of the story). I felt pretty awful at the way his sister died and there was so much shit that he was dealing with that the kidnapping felt warranted. By the way, Akkee was a complete psychopath in the lakorn, and watching him was like witnessing a car crash; it's terrible but you can't look away. He was hella entertaining and I couldn't take my eyes off him when he was being so bad (eg. lying to his gf/best friend's face about kidnapping Chabaa with a straight face). It also helps that he's surrounded by people who will call him out on his bullshit and question his cruelty. I could understand why he was pushed to that point and felt sympathy for him, which was absent for the MLs in other lakorns I've watched that are similar to this.

1. b) This is also the first lakorn with this plotline where the ML gets arrested and actually goes to jail for what he did (albeit for a short while). I was so happy when I saw that. I was also happy to see that the ML regretted his actions (and reflected on them) when he found out the truth and apologized to the FL and others he had hurt.

2. Our FL Chabaa can be too nice at times, but is not a doormat and can talk back/fight Akkee when needed. A lot of times in these types of lakorns, the FL has spunk but falters against the aggressiveness of the ML, which I get, but can be disheartening to see. However, Chabaa really stays true to herself and keeps fighting Akkee even when he's being aggressive towards her. She holds herself well against him and it makes for a better watch, especially when she's being sarcastic towards him. I also liked how she was honest with herself and took time in accepting her feelings for Akkee while also consistently rejecting Sarut, who would've been an easy way out from loving Akkee. As I'm typing this, I think I liked Chabaa a lot more than I thought haha. I credit this to the actress, who was a big part in making her character so alive and likable. 

3. Little overacting, good pacing and sensible characters with self-awareness. Oh man, it was shocking to me that there were not that many overacting/extreme reactions from our characters. When they were dealt with shocking situations, it would be me having my jaw dropped to the floor while the characters on screen just carried on like it was normal. Things were so messed up, but it was so so good. What helped me stop dwelling on the fact that things were messed up was the great pacing; scenes changed from one thing to another that felt seamless, and allowed enough time to digest what was going on, but not too long where it'd feel drawn out. Again, it was like watching a car crash. The sensibility of all the characters also added to how fun this was to watch; there wasn't a lot of convenient loss of logic or pretending that things were ok when they actually weren't (eg. 2nd ML/Chat knowing he was drugged by the villain, Adun saying to Akkee he knows he kidnapped Chabaa, Dad knows Chat is lying about knowing where Chabaa is). Things don't go on as I expect and it kept me interested enough to quickly click on to the next episode.

I honestly would've rated this higher, but there are two big things holding me back which is the romance and that last episode. I'm pretty disappointed with the romance, as it had the potential to be a good one and both leads had good chemistry with eo. The transition from hate to love was also done very well. But  they spent too much time on Chabaa accepting her feelings for Akkee and drama with the side characters instead of focusing on Akkee proving himself to Chabaa and developing their relationship (this was in the last third of the lakorn). Especially in that last episode ugh, it was so half-assed. Scenes were not in order and it felt like everything was rushed just to finish the lakorn. We see Akkee in the last half of the episode going from self pity to somehow conveniently being with Chabaa, forcing a kiss on her, saying their I love yous and then looking off in the distance. Like wtf? I was so confused. It was an anti-climatic end to a mostly fiery lakorn. 

Overall I still unexpectedly enjoyed this lakorn a lot. It's a well made slap/kiss lakorn. Music was good and appropriately played (except there was this one BGM where the chorus part sounded purposefully out of tune...). If you like slap-kiss lakorns, then I would totally recommend you watch. I wouldn't personally re-watch just because I don't tend to re-watch stuff and this doesn't have anything that would bring me back.

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Plot goes from Swimming to Drowning. Quickly

One of the few c-dramas I've watched.... and for a reason.
Most c-dramas are very long, including this one with 46 eps.
They start off well and spiral into nonsense.

Hon, I can't remember too much from this drama since I watched it a few years ago, however I remember that it was a nightmare. Towards the middle of the drama to the end, the eps were being dragged out so painfully that I can't help but try and click away. I'm not too sure how I was able to finish this drama lol. I think the only reason was to finish a c-drama, no matter how terrible it was.

The end was extremely unexpected and not in a good way. Like the 'antagonist' suddenly says she's pregnant? The sudden kidnapping also made no sense.

I can't really remember anything about the music, acting or the story so I left it at 5 stars. Edit: Changed to 1.5 stars to be more accurate. Since watching more dramas- my expectations have grown. Just watching the trailer again makes me cringe.

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