Reviews

Pattaya, pop psych, real psych, pastries, planes, and bike pedals--lots of bikes to pedal

This series swirls around three adoptive brothers. One is a psychologist. One is a former pilot suffering from PTSD after an accident. Now he works as as a bike mechanic. The third brother works at a host bar, where he sells his companionship to the highest bidder each night. The family, which also includes their mother and a much younger sister, operates a combination bike shop and cafe. The brothers' love interests turn out to be an exchange student suffering from PTSD related to childhood trauma. A baker so deeply in debt that he will take any job at all. And a client at the host bar harboring a secret. The series makes good use of its setting in the beachfront city of Pattaya--in fact, it makes such good use of scenic overlooks and city beaches that one surmises that the Pattaya tourism office helped underwrite the production. Not a complaint, since that is how BLs get produced in Thailand, but the city promotion was quite noticeable here. In nearly episode, after all, one or more characters spends the episode biking around the city and its environs.

Somehow, the psychologist fails even to notice his brother's PTSD, but he induces his new acquaintance the exchange student into therapy by episode 3. Then, he promptly passes the new patient off to another doctor in the same practice. Unfortunately, it takes until the finale before the student realizes the doctor punted on his treatment for ethical reasons, even though everyone in the audience twitted to that reality almost immediately. On the bright side, let us cheer a Thai BL production that acknowledges professional medical ethics so directly instead of building a fantasy romance around a psychologist dating his own patient. Will eight episodes be enough to cure the patient's PTSD? You've seen BL before. Guess for yourself.

Meanwhile baker and bike mechanic enter into a tempestuous relationship. (The story drops the pilot angle after e 2, until it abruptly resurfaces in the finale. Silly me. I had forgotten it existed at all.) Ostensibly, this duo manifest an enemies-to-lovers story frame, but the enmity comes across as artificial, even forced. Their early interactions consist of throwing punches, then fucking. Naturally, true love will not be far behind. The debtor's financial situation drives the most dramatic scenes in the eight episodes, as the whole family deploys familial solidarity to defeat the cruel debt collectors. Does any of it make sense? Shh. We are watching BL, and all that matters in the end is the good guys win. Oh, and that baker and bike mechanic grow closer because of the crisis. That matters, too. But they will still throw punches in the finale, just for the nostalgic callback value.

Finally, we have the host and his owner--err, his client. I don't have much to say about this plot, as it is the least compelling of the three and least impactful on the other characters. In keeping with the rest of the series, this couple's sublot also features a serious problem that requires fixing. Like all other problems in this series, the solution arrives too easily, too prettily, and with too much reliance on a convenient deus ex machina. The result proves less than completely satisfying. But it's nice they went through the motions.

In short, Love Like a Bike ranks as a below average BL. Not terrible, but in the end, the final result lacks the complexity in execution that the ambition of its multi-faceted storylines would suggest. To its credit, the series manages to feel different from most of Thai BL, whether by escaping the environs of Bangkok or by focusing primarily on adult non-students. I would not dismiss it out of hand as a complete waste of anyone's time. Well, unless you have important things that need doing. But if you're looking for a brainless lark while on holiday or just want an excuse to procrastinate, you could do a lot worse than this one.

One other note: Netflix has suddenly decided to grace North America with proper BL series. That gives an additional motivation to watch this series--so they keep giving us more. Sooner or later, they're bound to buy an excellent one, right?

Read More

Restart and rewind

There are some great seeds of storytelling in this fantasy tale, but it is a winding road from beginning to end, and not enough is explored more deeply to be truly profound or memorable among the myriad fantasy shows out there. Themes of belonging, love, and brotherhood are touched upon but then are dropped amid the tendency to focus on sudden shock reveals and reversals that may be exciting for the moment but then are ultimately a bit empty in the return. Some parts are redundant when focused on a particular character that did not give any more added weight by the 3rd or 4th time the same aspects of the character were reemphasized. At the end, we arrive at the beginning, and one has to wonder if the whole journey was worthwhile.

Still, this is a pleasing production bolstered by a talented cast that make you care about the characters even though not enough is spent developing them all. The music is creative and certainly adds to the world and makes it come alive. The middle of the story was the standout to me - all the strands of the story build together nicely to an exciting mid-story climax. I only wish I could say the same for the finale.

Ultimately, this is worth checking out for the cast and for its sumptuous visuals and sound design.

Read More

Great standard for cdrama

Kudos, to the production team!! A good mix of romance, comedy and mystery.

So many people have come to watch this series because of Wang Xingyue, me included. He has stared on three mystery shows but this one is the most well balanced. Good story, good cast. It focus on how the story developed and doesn’t overwhelm us with visuals. What I love best about it because it’s something I personally think most cdrama are lacking is that the script extracts all actors full potential. They act well without having to sell their looks to get famous, to outshine each other. Everything is harmonious.

The story is interesting and easy to digest. An easy watch after work. I appreciate the efforts they put in to make the crime scene realistic. The lightings, music and settings are all wonderful. Good transitions between scenes. Portrait the 19th century China do well. I can see how much they put in the effort to capture the essence of that time through small details in their office, cafes and hospitals. Good costumes and designs.

This is how series should be made. Excellent team. Well made. Respect audiences. Much underrated. I hope more people discover this gem.

Read More

its an interesting addition however...

It's an interesting addition, but I find the plot quite basic. The concept was engaging, but the acting felt shallow, and there wasn't enough emotional depth in the story. Watch it only after you've seen the previous Nanno shows, as this might discourage you from watching the other seasons. While it's not bad, I feel Becky is more suited to the GL genre. I know she's been trying to diversify, and for a first attempt in a foreign genre, she did pretty well—so please don't criticize her too harshly. She's trying her best and seems very sweet. However, overall, the show lacks the emotional depth that I appreciated in previous seasons.

Read More

Dislike the abuse faced by FL but overall lighthearted family-focused drama

I was writing a reddit post about vertical drama actors aged 35 and above when I discovered this drama on iQIYI. I wanted to see if this could be my favourite Sean Pai drama so I watched it just before I published the post. This isn't my favourite drama of his.

What I liked:
1. FL characterisation - She was kind & self-reliant. Her medical skills were good but amusing.
2. Supporting characters - I really liked ML's family. They were welcoming despite being rich folks. I also liked the twins even though they seemed too wise for their age.
3. Romance - It was sweet even though the romance arc was underwhelming to me. I liked that FL initiated the kiss.
4. Tone - It started off dramatic with the torture then slowly progressed into a lighthearted tale. One of my favourite scenes is the twins whipping ML into shape!
5. Ending - That abrupt moment was cute!
6. Family - This value was the focus of this drama.

What I disliked:
1. Abuse - I hated that FL was tortured & bullied by various people in this drama.
2. Antagonists - ML's pursuer who proclaimed to be ML's fiancee was annoying & behaved like a petulant kid. I wish she had gotten retribution - I disliked how the character was wrapped up. Now FL's senior was horrible for imprisoning FL and the twins.

Favourite scene
When FL cooked porridge for his brother-in-law

Read More

Sometimes, when trouble comes knocking, you have to stand and fight.

This was emotional, entertaining, action driven, humorous and a fitting S2. Keeping most of S1 formula with minor improvements. No lagging. A more ruthless villain. The gore, agony, broken limbs and fight scenes were epic. Not going to pretend that it was too graphic, for me it was perfect. They delivered again, one hundred fold.

Sometimes unknown adversaries attack. Your only choice is to fight back. S1 Geon U's mother created the initial access. S2, without provocation or invitation, they came for Geon U. They got beaten but always got back up. The heart of a boxer. What Geon U had to learn the hard way, nasty opponents have to be fought in the same vein.

The brotherhood was stronger than before and beautifully portrayed. U Jin's love for Geon U's mother and vice versa, was heartwarming. The support they gave each other without jealousy was wonderful. Every actor delivered in their performances. The ending would suggest a S3 and I'm looking forward to it. Hopefully, we get to see more of Du Yeong and his knives.

Read More

Lighthearted boy love disguising as bromance

I watched thia drama after Reach for the Stars because I wanted to feature them in my new reddit column, Drama Duo. I prefer Reach for the Stars.

What I liked:
1. Duration - This drama is under 2 hours.
2. Tone - Lighthearted with some funny moments. Different from Reach for the Stars which was more melodramatic.
3. Dynamic - I found this drama presented itself more as bromance unlike the other version.
4. Styling - Outfits for Ye Hao Ran really suited him - are those his dailywear? I also liked the outfit of antagonist's assistant - seem like something typical ML would wear.
5. Supporting characters - I really liked antagonist's assistant. Zhou Yi Li's assistant was adorable.

What I disliked:
1. Antagonist - He was possessive of Shen Ji Xing.
2. Writing - I felt that the relationship between the two leads and antagonist's arc were on the surface. If I had not watched Reach for the Stars first, I would say the antagonist posed no harm towards the leads.
3. Acting - Both Ye Hao Ran & Duan Mei Yang were ok in their roles but their chemistry was lacking even for bromance. I didn't sense any 'I'd die for you' vibe from those two.

Favourite scene
When Shen Ji Xing gave the password

Read More

I watched so many episodes and it never manifested into anything.

I wrote this review some time ago. Apparently the drama just made me angry. I watch Asian dramas every day, so believe my ratings and words. Where to begin and end. I gave it a 4 out of 10 because I would watch a 2nd season if she gets with 2nd male lead and they make it better. The strong female positions in this movie were great, but a little overdone. If you watch this, there are about 10 episodes, 30 through 42, that you think will go somewhere but they don't. I can say that the fight scenes and cinematography were fairly good, but not great.

At times, I was confused about who the male lead was, and I think the writers were too, not to mention the director. He did not know how to direct the lead characters to be believable and in love. At no point in this story did I ever root for the male lead and actress to end up together. I just wanted him to die; he was just a bad person. Seriously, most of the time, they just insult the viewer's intelligence. What woman would want a man who keeps her slave bell as a memento, really! Just remind me that I am a slave. The 2nd male lead was meant for her, and once they realized that people were getting more into them, they did an about-face and started making the 2nd lead look bad. They told us in the beginning she had special powers, but they never surfaced. Romance, what romance, when will directors understand what makes a great drama? If there is no romance, it just falls short. This had the potential to be a great story and drama, but it fell way short. There are just many unanswered questions and a bad direction.

The rape scene for the princess was so unnecessary that I almost stopped at that point. I hate to see a rape scene in dramas. I will chalk it up to writing for ratings and nothing more. It is not a happy ending, not even satisfying

Read More