Bad plot development for a potentially fun series

My Ride could have been a nice fun and light BL series. No deep topics, no super complex relationships or plot twists. But the series has two problems: a boring protagonist and a super slow central plot.

Most of the characters on the show are quite okay. Mork is by far the best character, and Fluke in great in the role. The side characters are also entertaining, like the uncles and Mork’s friends. The two side couples work and their stores have a slow but steady development. I enjoyed ToyBoss more than I expected. Unfortunately, Tawan is a very dull protagonist. And to makes matters worse, he’s stuck in failed and uninteresting relationship for 8 episodes.

We get nice moments between Mork and Tawan during the episodes where they’re just friends, but the story cannot develop until Tawan is single. The story tries to show the audience that Tawan might have feelings for Mork while still “dating” Por. But Tawan tries to hold onto that relationship even after Por: ghosts him, lies to him, asks for time apart and cheats on him. Tawan caught Por in bed with another guy and he was still trying to stay together?! The issue is that Por and Tawan never had a relationship. There’s not a single nice moment between them after Por gives him flowers. There’s nothing to make Tawan want to stay together. They have no history. I hate the “ex comes back in the end to separate the couple” plot, but at least Mork and Fern were together for years and had good moments together. Episodes 8, 9 and 10 had nice moments for MorkTawan, but it ended up being too little too late. My Ride could have explored those moments better if the couple started to get together earlier.

I was not expecting a groundbreaking series, but My Ride still left me disappointed with how little screen time the main couple got as a an actual couple and how boring the central story was.

Leia Mais

Finished on the second try

This was actually my second time trying to watch Dear Doctor. The first time, a few weeks ago, I ended up no finishing the first episode because the rhythm was a bit off for me. But this time I endured episode one and finished the series. The first episode is a bit weird because we get dropped in the middle of the story, the protagonists already know each other and we have to understand everything via pieces of plot explanation.

The show actually doesn’t have all that much medical scenes in it, but there’s still a lot of scenes at the hospital, just not treating cases or during surgeries. I’m not the biggest medical drama fan, so that did not bother me. The whole competition to see who’s gonna get the chief surgeon position was a bit meh, because there’s a total of 5 doctors working there, and there’s not a single doctors that’s over 30. The two side couples are ok, I just wish their romances would’ve been developed better. All 4 characters get a good amount of screen time, just not for romantic scenes.

The main couple is probably the strongest aspect of the show. Karn and Nut have known each other for any years and are part of the first wave of thai BLs, with Grey Rainbow. They have great chemistry and their characters have a nice story. There’s no real twists and turns or plot twists, but it makes sense for their relationship to develop slowly at first. The whole thing about them meeting 20 ago and how that explain’s the fact that Prakan can see Tua makes sense. They have some nice sweet moment together.

Regarding the ending, I think it was nice to see Tua mention that, after sometime, he would not be able to accompany Prakan in social situations with his family and friends, since he’d not age. It’s a huge aspect for human x non human relationships, and many series don’t spend time on that. The scene with Prakan turning old and dying was done well, but I wish we’d seen more moments of them together doing stuff during those decades together.

The actual ending kinda surprised me, because I was expecting Prakan to become a reaper so he’d stay with Tua. But, since we don’t know how much time Tua has to stay as a reaper, the jump forward to reborn Prakan was a happy ending that fits with the show, and restarts the cycle. It's a very Goblin-esque ending.

Leia Mais

It didn’t work for me

I know that a lot of people love this series and always talk about the sad ending. I’ve seen “salt” listed as a big villain in the BL world because of it. But MODC didn’t work for me. I didn’t connect with any of the characters and thought that the main couple was a bit forced. To be fair, the ending was spoiled to me, so that could be part of the reason. I think the secondary couple is a bit better than the main one, but I expected them to have more relationship troubles. It always looked like there was gonna be cheating looming around.

Knowing how the ending was, I expected the last episode to deliver some drama. But it only showed a protagonist that’s unbearably boring and sadness about something that happened 6 years before, and that we don’t see. They stayed together for less than a year and he could not move on, besides now having a girlfriend.

I don’t think the show gave us enough moments to show how deep their relationship was and how madly in love they were. With 10 episodes, I think they could have developed a better romance. So, for me, it looks like too much drama. The hallucinations were a bit too much.

Leia Mais

In the end, it was a story about love

I understand who people might be unhappy with the ending or not like the show as a whole. It’s not a masterpiece but I did like it more than I thought I would.

It is a story about love. It’s just not the love we were expecting. It’s a story about love for your family. The dad expresses it well when say that he’s happy the mom died without finding out about the daughter and Ji Won. He loved her so much that he was happy he died that day and not on the next, for example. The same way that Ji Won knew that Naoko loved him very much, but he liked her enough to let her be free and loved his mom so much that he’d always choose to be by her side.

I specially like the ending. We see that both Ji Won and Naoko appear to be happy. Also like how Naoko chose not to tell about her mom passing. They cared about each other until the end. Nice to see the sister hanging with the basketball guy and studying.

Leia Mais

Not a "court case of the week" type of show

I planned to watch this drama from when it started airing, but I knew it would be better to binge it once it was over. For that reason, I completely skipped any news or comments about the show. I didn’t even realize that every episode was over 1h.

The initial premise of the show would make you believe that the court cases would be a big part of the show, once it’s actually just a tool for the main plot to develop. I can see how people that expected more court cases could be disappointed, but I was very happy with how the cases we got were part of the main story and had interesting twists. If we got any cases that were not 100% crucial to the big plan, I wish we’d seen a case with a split vote. I guess the closest we got to that was the electric chair one, where the public was not totally agreeing at first.

The team of villain on this show is outstanding. I completely hated all of them with my entire body. Kudos to the fantastic work done by the actors, specially the president. I never liked and trusted the professor, so I was happy to see that my suspicions were correct.

This is a prime kdrama, so we all knew that we’d not get a romance between the two male leads. But the hints and chemistry were there. The two hugs on episode 16 were the crumbs for Ga On/Yo Han shippers. I think there is a big issue that would difficult the plot going on that path: Ga On being the split image of Yo Han deceased brother. The same way that I think Elijah had a “crush” on Ga On just because he cared about her, then he kinda became her second dad, with Yo Han. I also didn’t expect the show to make Ga On and Soo Hyun’s relationship endgame. But I thought they’d do that by making her just move on after being in love with him for so long.

As much as I believe that Ga On liked Soo Hyun for real, when she died he cried and wanted revenge. While with Yo Han, he literally tried to blow himself up twice in one 1h. I guess the thought of a world without Yo Han was pretty scary…

Even though the ending of the show is not a “we’ll never meet again” situation, the fact that Elijah has such a strong connection to Ga On makes me believe she’d not agree to just go to Switzerland in the middle of the night. I doubt she’d go 1 month without contacting him, she’s a computer genius. I understand that Yo Han is technically dead in Korea, so they can’t live like a happy family at the mansion, but they’d still keep in touch.

The show is open ended and the ending we get is “happy”. But, in a weird way, Sun Ah’s plan worked in a way that Yo Han is not all alone, but Ga On is. By the end of episode 16, Ga On has lost his best friend, his “best buddy”, his mentor and his two work colleagues. He’s left alone in life and on the fight against the system.

Leia Mais

The bad outweights the good

I can understand how some people might like this show, it does have some strong points, but the story is so problematic that I had to force myself to watch the second half of the episodes just to be done with it.

TharnType has a good cast and the show is well done from a production standpoint. The chemistry between Mew and Gulf if off the charts, which explains why they are one of the biggest pairing in thai BL. The scenes where Tharn and Type are together and in peace are great. Unfortunately, these moments are rare and involved in bigger overall problems of the show. I don’t know if I can say that I like any of the characters (maybe Champ).

I can’t get 100% on board with the main couple because of the night Type got drunk in Tharn bad, early in the season. Yes, Type was being homophobic and an idiot for awhile, but Tharn did go to far by taking advantage of unconscious Type. It becomes even worse after we find out about Type’s past. I don’t feel like Tharn ever really tried to apologize for what happened that night.

This show has a major problem with romanticizing relationships with non consensual moments. At some points I almost felt like the show was implying that it was okay to do things if the other person didn’t say no too much. This is a show that centers around the sexual assault of two, I’d say three, teenagers, and the issue is not handled well at all. I can’t understand how TharnType manages to give a free pass to two abusers, that don’t face any consequences. San took advantage of younger Tharn and the only thing he got was a single punch from his still best friend, which in turn is the victim’s older brother. Thorn knows that what happened was wrong but he still forces Tharn to be around San. Regarding Lhong, I don’t even have word to explain how poorly the story fails to address what he did and why nothing happens to him.

PS: I have to highlight how this show manages to hard two terrible brothers. Thorn, besides his involvement who Sam, is also quite creepy around Thanya. And Technic is also a terrible brother for what he did to Techno.

Leia Mais

So close!!

The first 3/4 are perfect. The show explores fantastically the cliche scenarios para only happen in BLs time and time again. I love the fact that our protagonist is such an extra that he doesn't even have a name, he's just Mob. The fact that he's the only one aware that this is a BL world makes everything funnier.

I don’t hate the ending. It makes sense for the protagonist to end up falling for a guy. But it would have been so nice to actually see him escaping all the tropes and be alone in the end, judging everybody around him. Or at least have him fall for a guy without it being connected to super cliche, like what ended up happening.

Leia Mais

Simply a better series

Because it was obviously made with the criticism the first series got in mind, Still 2gether is a better show in every way. We catch up with Tine and Wat one the next year (as previewed in the last episode on the first series). That’s a smart move because it gives the show some leeway for making changes without jumping too far ahead.
That small jump specially benefits Mil and Phukong. I was not the biggest fan of their story progression in 2gether because it seemed to forced in the end. Jumping a few months ahead we can see them more comfortable without it being too unreadable for them to not have labeled their relationship or maybe have kissed (?) yet. On the other hand, Type and Man moved, literally, pretty fast. It was nice to finally see them being together and happy. I was surprised with the amount of Green and Dim we got, but I actually made me appreciate both of them a bit more.

Now, on Wat and Tine. I’m glad we got to see them having a nice and normal relationship. I was worried that we show would force conflict and fights when the clubs were are odds. But they managed to keep things separate between work and home life. I also think that Bright and Win are better as Wat and Tine, which made me believe more on the romance between their characters. But I still don’t really feel romantic chemistry. The last scene, between just the two of them, was the only real truly full on BL romantic scene we got from them.

The fact that a group of students managed to skip 2 whole weeks of classes proves that no one goes to that university to study.

Mike and Gunsmile together are the best scene partners in the show.

Leia Mais

More than just the return of MaxTul

First of, it's so refreshing to finally see Max and Tul playing somewhat functioning adults. It’s a major development from eternally teenage acting Korn/Knock.

I usually complaint about the pacing in dramas, especially BLs, because half of the time the main characters are either fighting or trying to get back together. Manner or Death, on the other hand, is more of a slow burn on the romantic front and has compelling plots happening at the same time. All characters are interesting and fit into the overall narrative of the show. I like how we get introduced early on to characters that might not look important at first and then we start to see them in a new way episodes later. The acting on this show is amazing, everyone brought their A game.

I feel like this show explores the mystery aspect very well. There are many twists and the mystery is being developed throughout the series, and not just in the last 2 episodes. It’s a very complex situation, so I thing the viewers can’t easy start to predict what gonna happen too much ahead. Unfortunately, as it’s the case with mystery series, the rewatch value is diminished greatly the the nature of the plot.

I’d really appreciate a reasoning for Tan’s enormous house having a kitchen on the back porch and several empty rooms. In my head cannon that’s the secondary kitchen they use because it has the view of the woods.

It’s not related to the plot, but I have to say this: I hate the main promotional imagine for this show.

Leia Mais

You'll laugh then you'll probably cry

I came into this drama not expecting much but it’s now it’s one my favorites. I had seen Suho’s work in How Are you Bread, so I knew he could act. The summary for Star of My Universe makes the show seem very “silly show with an idol protagonist” + a supernatural element.

But, in reality we got a fun and somewhat lighthearted show for 80% on the story. Then, once we got close to the ending, this show became deep and emotional. I was not expecting that turn.

The show about the ghost reaper that follows a pop idol made me cry a lot in the end, by actually being a show about consequences, choices and love.

Leia Mais

A fun show if you're mostly interested in seeing Earth and Mix

Cupid’s Last Wish was never a masterpiece. But the series had it’s moments. It’s undeniable that the chemistry between Earth and Mix is outstanding, and the series gives them a lot of moments to explore that. I'm sorry if this review ended up being a bit of a rant towards the end.

For those that were unhappy with the single kiss at the end of Tale of Thousand Stars, CLW delivers a lot more on that front. It also gives, in my opinion, very true EarthMix type of interactions, specially if you watch their show EMS, on Youtube. The content fighting and bickering is peak EarthMix behavior we see outside of the cameras. I also think that the casting of Mix and Jan as siblings was perfection. They look alike and Jan was great in the scenes where she had to behave as Win. Unfortunately, we didn’t see much of Mix playing Lin. But, at least, we got A LOT of moments of Mix playing sassy and bossy Win.

The journey to get the water across the country was nice. I think the show managed the use it well as a way of explaining the relationship between Win and Korn. It was also fun to watch very different locations, from forests to the beach.

My main issue with Cupid’s Last Wish is the “final twist” with the mom and, overall, the last episode as a whole. The mom is by far the worst character in the entire show. By the end of last episode I’m pretty sure she managed to get a spot int he worst BL moms list. She embodies a very rare combination of worst characteristics a character can have. She is: dumb, annoying, old-fashioned, homophobic and get’s in the way of the main couple. All of that while barely being on screen.

Her plan also doesn’t make sense. She manipulated her very sick husband to give 1/4 of the farm to someone outside of the family, so it would breakup Win and Korn, and allow her to marry Korn and Lin, so the family would control the farm again. To make it even worse, she kept the plan going even after BOTH OF HER CHILDREN ALMOST DIED BECAUSE OF THAT PLAN! In my opinion, that means she was more worried with the couple being together than with her family controlling the farm. The icing on the cake is that she tells everybody what she did, and they just hug her like it’s not a big deal! Did they not hear the part where she took advantage of her dying husband or the fact that the farm was loosing money because Win was a mess after his fight with Korn? Or how that fight, which was part of her plan, almost killed her children?

Since all that reveal and development happened at the start of the episode, I couldn’t really get on board with the rest, Yeah, using the farm as a touristic attraction is a nice idea. Sure, I like that Lin and Non are together. I’m obviously happy that Win and Korn are together. But it’s all overshadowed by the mom. Also, cowboy Win and Korn arriving on their horses to greet the tourists was very cheesy.

Leia Mais

Color Rush 2, a BL without the love and the color rush

Color Rush 2 is not bad. If this was a new series to even a side story I would have enjoyed the series quite a lot. The problem is: Color Rush 2 is a completely different show from Color Rush.

Season 1 is a teen BL romance with the extra spice of the mono/probe world, for that reason, the mom mystery not being solved in season 1 was not a problem for me. Season 2 already started with a big disadvantage when one of the protagonists chose not to come back. With that, at least 2 of the major aspects of the show were weakened. Without Yoo Han we don’t have the romance we spent 8 episodes developing on season 1 and we don’t have a Color Rush, since Yeon Woo doesn’t have probe anymore.

As far as the new stuff, I actually liked Sehyun, and Hyuk was great in the role. I was quite surprised with the dark tone the show took very early on. Despite the 1st episode starting with Yeon narrating how his boyfriend was kidnapped 6 months earlier, by episode 2 we have the death of a teenager by the hands of an evil organization. Yes, season 1 had presented us with several crimes related to the mono/probe relationships and a suicide attempt. But season 1 still had the, literally, colorful moments of the protagonists falling in love. Season 2 is a teen crime/investigation show, where people don’t go to school. That also means that we barely get Min Jae and Joo Haeng scenes.

Based on the post credit scene on episode 8, I’m intrigued with what they’re planning for Color Rush 3. I think it’s far to imagine that they’re recasting Yoo Han’s role, since I doubt the actor is coming back.

Leia Mais

Amazing first half, just okay second half

The structure of the series is pretty much divided in the middle. So, we basically have 2 miniseries with 6 episodes each. One is a BL and the other a bromance. Like most BLs, the “first season” is great and the second has unnecessary dramas and new characters.
In the case of this series, the first half is an amazing sweet romance. But then comes episode 7 and basically everything is undone. The later half of the season is a continuous set of miscommunications and backpedaling. The main characters don’t talk, don’t see each other and act like acquaintances. It’s almost a bromance series by the end. The second half is also greatly impacted by how annoying Maya is for most of the time. The chemistry between the main actors shines in the first half, but gets waisted in the last few episodes.

Leia Mais

Only worth if you can watch the uncut version

This series is not good, but it's a short show. The acting is OK in most moments. The protagonists have chemistry. The story makes zero sense, but it had potential. The main plot might have worked if it was scaled down, the evil company takes up too much time and the story goes nowhere. I can see it working out in a 15 minutes per episode, 8 episode series. Color Rush worked with a similar concept.

The main issue with this show is that you should only watch the uncut version. It’s not that it makes less sense with the cuts, but with the uncut version the central relationship works way better. Besides, the cuts are very obvious and you can kinda see that they simply chopped off the almost kisses and the final kiss in episode 12. It’s a Chinese BL with an actual kiss.

Leia Mais