Bed Friend: Uncut (2023)

TL;dr: I started this show and dropped it after like 2 minutes, because I was so annoyed by the style and biased by the negative opinions of others. But then I saw an edit and wanted to give the show another try... and I fell in love! We really need to care less about other's opinions when it comes to shows, because I watched so many shows that a lot of people dislike, while I enjoyed them. What a pity, if I would have missed all those gems!

My Love Letter to Bed Friend, lmao:

I'm a huge huge huge fan of expressed consent, because this topic is really important to me. I also don't like to be touched without permission, so shows which tackle this topic are kinda special to me, because it's not often addressed. I just feel seen when this topic comes up, and I really really LOVE it. Furthermore, I giggle and smile like an idiot whenever this topic comes up in a show.

King absolutely respects Ueas boundaries with no doubt. He asks for permission and takes him serious. He isn't frustrated or annoyed by Uea stating his boundaries and saying "No". Not only that, but he gives Uea the time Uea needs to open up. That made me so happy and I smiled every time. But King also doesn't shy away to vocalize very clearly what he wants and needs. But he also makes clear, that he doesn't want to pressure Uea and respects any decision Uea would make, he is endlessly caring, patient and understanding. Nonetheless: It's not like King is only simping for Uea. But he gives him safety, and that's what Uea needs after all he went through. At the first look, it seems like King puts more effort in it, but he is just the more (talk)active part, who takes the initiative, because Uea is really careful and cautious, what is totally understandable.

The respect they have for each other is just so nice to see, especially since consent is still a topic that many people don't take seriously and belittle it/laugh about. So seeing a show portraying it that way made me really excited, glad and happy, because I can relate so much to Uea.

Good communication: Both leads reflect and apologize! Not one-sided attraction or love. That's often missing in other shows, but here it's stated as mutual in so many scenes, and I love it. They both see when they made mistakes and both take responsibility for it and don't expect the other one to apologize or take the blame. You can absolutely see that they BOTH want to be together and how they put effort into it, to make things work, to understand each other, listen to each other and support each other. It's healthy, mutual, full of respect, dignity and effort and I. Am. Whipped. 

King literally devours Uea with his looks in every scene, and I love it. He looks so proud, attracted and whipped for Uea in every shot and I. Am. Melting. Get yourself someone who looks at you the same way King looks at Uea. That's so heartwarming. Overall, Nets acting is just really impressive to me. There are scenes where he only breathes in a specific way, and I'm like "Damn, he expresses so much right now" I could totally see and feel every emotion that both of them wanted to convey. 

The acting could be a tiny little bit better here and there, because sometimes it felt a little bit off/stiff. That's also because the pauses between the lines, when they talk to each other, are sometimes unnecessarily long…but that's so little, that it didn't take away from my excitement and love for this show.

Also: Important topics get addressed, just as safer sex, STDs and testing, boundaries. Overall, their communication is just really wholesome, like I explained already.

Ultimate Plus point: No "love fixes all" trope. Yeah, King supports Uea all the way, but Uea puts work in it himself in order to get better! He works for the processing and healing of his trauma! Again: wholesome. He doesn't rely only on King. He doesn't think, just because King accepts and likes him the way he is, he doesn't have to change anything anymore. Furthermore, he works constantly on different things, he grows and he opens up, step by step. The development is great to see!

Likeable support characters: Jade and Gun are great friends, especially Jade. What a cutie patootie! I know…a lot of people dislike characters like him and I can totally understand this, but I love Yim (I fell for him in Cutie Pie) and maybe that's why I have a soft spot for Jade too. I knew that Tutor will appear in the last episode, and I still smiled from ear to ear when he was finally there, because I am just abnormally whipped for them, and I am really excited to watch their story in Middleman's Love, even though I heard a lot of negative things about the show. The other people in the office are also funny and entertaining, and I laughed multiple times when Faii and Muay appeared. You really have to like characters like them to find them funny, and I am surprised by myself that I wasn't annoyed by them.

Funfact; I started Bed Friend a while ago, to get a quick look how the vibe is, and I didn't even make it through the introduction, because I was so annoyed, LOL. And now, I am absolutely in love with the show, the cast and everything. x)

Low angst: Obstacles get solved pretty quickly. It's not dragged, it's not getting boring. I love that! The pacing is absolutely to my taste. Every time when I watched a preview that shows some drama/obstacles, I was afraid. "Okay, that's the moment, where the show will f*ck it up. Now there's drama incoming, and they will drag it :(" but nope, every episode I got surprised again. The problems were solved quickly and nicely. Maybe for other people, too fast and unproblematic, but I absolutely loved this.

Lovely Soundtrack: The lyrics for the OSTs are very fitting, what I also like. It's great to think back to a show, when I listen to the OSTs afterward and the lyrics tell the story again.

Relatable characters: The characters make sense. Their behavior is understandable. Uea is absolutely not annoying! If you understand trauma, you also understand him. People who say he's annoying just don't understand what trauma does to someone. I can absolutely relate to him, and he is probably my favorite character ever. I love how he teases King and how King loves every second of it. But I also see the little moments, where Uea steps over his shadow and pushes himself out of his comfort zone, to open up to King and give him something back. To show him that he trusts King and wants this thing between them just as much as King wants it. They also share some lovey-dovey moments, where Uea doesn't joke around, just to tease King, but gives him serious the confirmation King asks for. It's a great balance of teasing, but making clear that he wants him too. Bratty characters are often written in a frustrating way, because either they never admit that they like the other person, or they take too long to admit it. So it can get annoying pretty easily. Characters like this have a high chance to frustrate me, because I want to see a relationship that shows me a mutual love story. I'm not interested in one-sided love, but shows with bratty characters have a high tendency to fail to deliver this, because it's easy to miss the chance to turn the characters' behavior just slightly, so they don't fail to sell me their love. But yeah, like I said, Uea nails this balance and his teasing always comes off as very loveable, without the intention to hurt King or make fun of him in a disrespectful way and the serious moments always come off as very sincere and lovely.

The Ending: Usually I don't like time skips at the end, because I feel disconnected from the story. It is just not connected to the rest and the smooth flow is lost. But in Bed Friend, I didn't mind them much. Maybe because they happen on a casual basis, so it was kind of part of the whole vibe. I also don't like it much when they pack the last episode full of sudden happy events. Like wedding, Pregnancy (well, more in straight dramas, but if you know, you know) etc. It just feels kinda off. I know that dramas don't need to be realistic, and I don't have this standard either, but somehow it often feels like too much and not fitting to the rest of the story. It feels like the writers try to use everything to push the happiness to the maximum level. But here again, I didn't mind it at all. I am so in love with KingUea, that it really made me happy, that they got the full package of a happy ever after in the end, because - especially Uea - they went through so much shit, that they just deserve every inch of happiness they can get.

Bed friend became an absolute comfort show for me. I enjoyed every second and I love love love it. I felt so relaxed, watching the show. KingUea are both freaking attractive, cute, adorable and sweet characters. The show gave me so many tropes that I just LOVE and adore (and don't find often in other shows, so I was even more excited). I was glued to my screen, devouring the show just like King devoured Uea and I definitely don't regret it.

Kudos to everyone who actually read all of this. I don't even know how this could have happen. That's for sure my longest review ever. :'D

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something so special

This is one the very few drama that Im giving a 10 solely because this drama made me feel things that no other drama did/could/will.
Maybe it was me relating to Uea's charecter, or me falling head over heels for King or just Netjames insane chemistry idk what it was but it definitely left a huge impression on me.
it became my comfort show despite the heavy themes.
Net's eyes are so expressive, the love and adoration King had for Uea was so clearly visible. They also had a very healthy and understanding relationship.
Considering there's most likely no more netjames in future, maybe this is all I'll have left as a wonderful memory of them both together.
May king and Uea live happily ever after ❤

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I'm in love with Uea

Rated = 9.5 ~ 43.5/50 ~ 8.7
Scene// 2 Beautiful Starlight Elves living their romantic life of bliss in a high rise condo in Sky City. Excalibur hanging on the wall as decor for their triumphant love <3


This was beautiful and tastefully done.
I loved Uea from the moment I seen him. He has very beautiful eyes and lips and really suited the sex appeal of the character.

He is a beautiful young man with an abusive childhood. This abuse stems from the physical and emotional abuse he endured from his narcissistic mother and sexual abuse from his step father. And although as an adult, is now working as a graphic designer and earning enough to live in a very nice condo, he is still enduring abuse, financial abuse, from his mother who sees him as her own personal wallet.
So he already has a lot to deal with when he discovers that his boyfriend has been cheating on him.
His world falls apart so by the time he ends up in a drunken one night stand with his co worker, I honestly didn't blame him.
They agree to be FWB as a way for Uea to release his emotional tension and for King who clearly has a crush.
This evolves throughout the plot into a steady devotion while Uea faces his past.

I found the abuse scenes were tastefully done. Sometimes they can go over board but they showed you enough to make you feel like you were in the characters shoes. We really do witness the plot from Uea's perspective because of this emotional connection.

There is some comedic relief through out the show but I didnt find it took away or dampened the seriousness of the plot.
Karma came back in a very natural way for Uea's parents, and I personally really love that they didnt try to redeem his mother. People like that don't change and it should be acceptable and encouraged to break away from abusive parents, esp a narcissistic parent. You will never get an apology so I'm delighted that they didnt try to force one.

The sex scenes were also very beautiful and even though it got a bit kinky for one scene, I still found it quite sexy as they went with a more sensual and consensual approach.

I found both actors for the leads to be very beautiful, with stunning eyes, so I thought visually they made a beautiful pair.

The side characters, thankfully, didn't take away from the plot with side relationships. They were side characters that either added to the drama or were a relief from it. With such a tragic plot and only 10 episodes, I much prefer just focusing on the leads.

Overall, I did really enjoy this one. It dealt with abuse in a respectable manner while allowing the character to move on and find his own happiness, which was well over due and utterly deserved. It did use the rich boyfriend trope but I found myself at the end, really wanting that for Uea.

Definitely a rewatch for me.

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it is really that good

WATCH IT, GO RIGHT NOW AND WATCH IT!!!!!!!!

I don't usually go out of my way to write reviews unless a series really impresses me or doesn't meet my expectations. For this series, it has really impressed me. Being open about trauma and pain is something new I have seen in a drama, and it is so well done. There are no unnecessary cliche tropes where love heals all trauma or anything like that. Watch the series to figure out how they fix all this (lolz, is this a spoiler? I hope not).

It contains NSFW scenes, but none of them are awkward or unnecessary. A lot of BL series add NSFW scenes just to boost views, but in this one, it felt natural. I'm a sucker for the storyline this series follows, so I might be biased, but I enjoyed the series. I just finished watching it for the third time just minutes ago.

Non-CNC: Yes... not more than once.
NSFW: Hell yeah!
Tugs your heartstrings: TUGGED!
Brings up sensitive topics: Really well done.
Overall: Really well-made and deserving of a 10/10 rating. Also, both the main actors and even the side actors are eye candies. I was drooling over them for the entirety of the series.

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A Mixed Bag

Bed Friend wasn't quite what I went in expecting. I planned to watch it for just something sexy to break up the serious shows I have been watching, and it delivered on that element but also had more of a foundation than I thought. As with many BLs, there is a strong line of trauma from one of the characters, and you catch on fairly quickly. I personally could do without this, particularly some of the more time lapsed scenes they depicted (nothing explicit, but I think hinting at it would've been fine or just one brief scene). At some point, I was also frustrated because it felt the trauma was just too much of a plot crutch and not enough of something that needed to be dealt with carefully.

That being said, this BL did a lot of really good things. It handled several topics not often discussed -- STD testing, condoms, and mental health to name some. I was quite impressed that they put these things plainly on the table. On top of that, the boundary setting and partner respect (for the most part) was refreshing. Despite some unhealthy moments, I found their relationship to be quite positive outside the nuance of labels.

I really enjoyed the couple, but what was unfortunate for me was that I felt like it basically wrapped up at episode 8, so I had lost interest for those last two episodes. Still, the intimacy and connection of the characters paired with the handling of some often left out topics gives it a decent rating.

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MAGNÍFICO E SURPREENDENTE

Assisti essa série com a versão original primeiro e depois conheci essa perfeição que é a versão sem cortes.
Como eu disse na resenha anterior desse mesmo drama a história é perfeita e tem a dose certa de humor e profundidade, existem muitos momentos leves e gostosos de se acompanhar e também tem seu lado sensível por conta de todos os traumas do Uea.
A amizade com benefícios funciona muito bem e tem cenas eróticas excelentes nos primeiros episódios (e no último episódio também), tudo cria um clima perfeito pra cena, a música, as cores, o jeito que é filmado. É muito bom, sério.
As atuações são excelentes, as cenas são bem dirigidas, os diálogos são maravilhosos independente de ser uma cena fofa, engraçada ou triste.
A trama é fluida e você nunca quer que acabe, quando acaba você fica triste e quer mais. Espero ver mais romances nessa pegada pois ele tem um toque muito diferente que me fez amar desde o primeiro episódio.
Se fosse pra fazer algum tipo de ressalva eu só diria que o King poderia ser um personagem mais trabalhado e que no final a relação deles deu uma regredida a pedido do Uea (senti um pouquinho de sadismo da parte dele querendo que o King se humilhasse por ele sem poder encostar), foi um pouco contraditório levando em conta o ponto do relacionamento deles, mas não apaga o brilho de todas as outras coisas presentes na trama.

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Read the reviews on the 'cut' version.

For a series created in 2023 I would think the BL film industry and audience would have a higher standard. This story was very shallow even though the subject matter was about some serious subjects: abuse in all forms. I watched all eps waiting for a deeper story to emerge, instead the quick examples of abuse seemed to just be 'rage bait'. Mom does a good job of spitting out all that vitriol. The actors werent given much to work with so I cant blame them for the poor acting. EXCEPT James. This person should NOT have had a main role. Him looking stiff and blank does not create a feeling of poignancy.
Also, the pacing in most scenes was poor, I thought I had the playback speed set incorrectly on youtube. Nope, it was the directors fault. I can forgive a few continuity mistakes but whats the point of dragging each scene out?
I started a 2018 Taiwanese series** that was SOOOOOO much better, so why did so many people think this Bed Friend was good? The music was orchestra- loud, intrusive, and irritating. If this show was for the younger audience, shouldnt the music have reflected that? I would recommend avoid this show.

** HIStory2: Crossing the Line

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JUST LOVED IT.....

Don't judge the book by it's cover
And Don't judge the story by reading the negative reviews..
Just go for it.... It's a lovely and wonderful story...And you will surely love it..
Uea and King are so sweet...King is probably the mature one because he understands Uea's problems very well and he comforts Uea as much as he can... Since they are in Friends with Benifits relationship, throughout the story we can see Uea and King love each other from the bottom of their hearts...
There are no major misunderstandings between the couple and they are sorting out all the things very quickly.. Just loved the series..

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Confronting but beautiful

This is an amazing story of working through complex trauma. It has scenes that can be very triggering, so it's important to make a careful decision about whether to watch it.

Seriously, I loved this drama. It's a beautiful presentation of a healthy but complicated and unconventional relationship that requires work to get right. Uea has been severely and repeatedly traumatized, and he can be very reactive and impulsive and is a bit of a mess, which gets him in a lot of trouble and makes him an easy target for predators (which is scary realistic!). King has good intentions, but he's human and has his own needs, and he's inexperienced with trauma and sometimes makes bad calls. But together they grow as people, support each other, and their relationship is beautiful. By the end, they've both grown stronger, broken from old patterns, and freed themselves from toxic people. It's wonderful.

And I particularly appreciate that the characters are equals in their relationship. Both have agency (with each other) from the start. It would be so easy for the whole story to be about King serving/saving Uea, but it's not like that. King has his own wants and needs, and even though he is obviously head-over-heels in love, it's clear he wants to be a partner and support for Uea, not a 2D servant/knight. Sure, it takes them a while to figure everything out, but they can BOTH be themselves with each other. There's sometimes drama, but they support each other and can be a safe space for each other, and that applies to both characters equally. I love these characters, and I'm so glad they get a happy ending.

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