The most heartwarming story, not only for BL.

I don't even know where to start. The show just ended yesterday and me, like all the regular users in this page, are still in a mess. Do you know the feeling of having to let go, even when you don't want to? It's exactly like that. I'm feeling empty inside knowing that the drama has ended and we have to bid farewell to the characters. For me, this is definitely one of the best and most precious dramas that I've ever encountered. I'm not exaggerating when I said I highly doubt I will ever find a drama like this ever again, that made me so captivated, engrossed and did all the stuffs I've never done before for a drama and their actors. During each very short episode, depending on the plot, they never fail to make me laugh, smile, feeling all fluffy inside, tear up or heartbroken. But that's the magic of Cherry Magic has done to all of us all over the world. It has become an unexpected international hit, and it's the first Japanese BL drama that ever got this worldwide attention.

STORY
The long title might put off some people but the story is actually quite simple. 30 years old virgin salaryman, Adachi Kiyoshi, suddenly finds himself having the power to read the minds of people he touches on his 30th birthday. With this magic, he accidentally finds out that Kurosawa Yuichi, the most handsome and capable sales ace in his company, has a crush on him. What happens after that is their relationship development, which is both hilarious and emotional. What makes this drama special is its careful approach to portray human story, even though it is based on BL manga, it is very gentle and delicate in depicting the feelings and emotions, and eventually it is a story about relationship of two human beings, regardless of their sex. All the fans who have fallen in love with this drama can somehow relate themselves to the story, which what makes it resonate with fans all over the world.
It has the perfect balance of cute and sweet plot, but at the same time also there are also intense emotional plot that literally squeezed the audience's poor hearts.

ACTING
Fans have fallen in love with the two lead actors (Akaso Eiji and Machida Keita) not for nothing. Both of them are not big names in Japan and Akaso can be considered newbie in filming industry. But oh my, their acting and chemistry are top notch. Both are able to portray their characters perfectly, from body movement, subtle facial expressions, their speech, they almost make you believe they didn't act. Their on and off screen chemistry are undeniable, and it literally flowing out of screen. You will smile and laugh at their funny and sweet moments and will cry and hurt when they are sad. Their chemistry is so strong even simple scene like having fun in amusement park can make me smile and grin like an idiot, I sometimes questioned my sanity as an adult female lol.

MUSIC
I fell in love with their music, from the OP, ED and the BGM. I put the OP and ED on Spotify as soon as they came out and been listening to them until now. That's how good they are. In addition to that, the OP and ED are carefully written from the two lead characters' perspective, which adds more meaning to the songs. The BGM also excellent, they fit perfectly with their respective scenes and add more emotions to them.

REWATCH VALUE
If I can give 100 point to this, I would. I lost count already how many times I rewatched all episodes (which is short one, about 24 mins per episode). Everytime I would find a new detail, new subtle facial expressions, new little gesture that I didn't notice before. Everytime I would also still smile, laugh or feel sad when watching it. It is so worth it.

So for all those who is still deciding whether to watch it or not, don't hesitate to do so. I was also not very interested before, since I often find Japanese BL rather cringey (except Ossan's Love), but I tried to watch Ep 1 and the rest was history. So, please don't miss out this rare gem and I'm sure you would fall head over heels with this little drama!

Leia Mais

Warm human drama

I am very excited to watch this drama as this is the first lead drama for Machida Keita, and right after Cherry Magic where he is currently at the new height of popularity. The drama is very short, only 6 episodes 24 mins each so it is an easy watch. I like it quite a lot, the story is warm and light, the characters are well-acted and overall it is a well-made drama. I really couldn't find any fault in this show, except that it's rather short and I don't see enough Machida ^^

STORY
The synopsis will remind you of Midnight Diner, where the episode focuses on the troubles of the customer who comes to the establishment. But due to the short duration, the story is not as deep as Midnight Diner and is not explored further. You also get glimpses of the background of the three main characters (Amamiya, Nakauchi and Kobayashi), even though at the end Amamiya's background is still relatively unknown. I think it is also because the original manga is still very new (only 1 vol released so far) therefore they can't really explore his background further. The possibility of any sequel is very much open at this moment.
I also really like the visual of this drama, it is dominated with yellow/brown color which exudes warm atmosphere.

ACTING
All the characters are very well acted, including the guest roles which include some famous figures such as Kaji Yuki and Nakayama Miho. Machida is great as beautiful bartender even though I wish he had more lines and more scenes to show more of his acting capabilities. Fujiwara and and Morisaki also did a great job portraying their characters and I find Kobayashi's character is very interesting.

MUSIC
I think this is one of the J-drama that has the best music imo (besides Cherry Magic). The OP (Entertainer by I Don't Like Monday) song is very catchy and addictive, and the ED (Tooi Hoshi wo Kazoete by Sard Underground) is the remake of song by one of my favorite singers, Zard. Definitely recommended!

Leia Mais

The best one among Light On series

The long-awaited The Long Night is finally broadcasted after long delay due to popularity of The Bad Kids. And I'm glad that it finally got to be aired since this drama is excellent and worthy of praise. Many people has compared it to The Bad Kids (which is inevitable) and in my personal opinion, I like it better than The Bad Kids therefore I gave it higher rating.

STORY
In terms of the story, I think The Long Night is more straightforward compared to Bad Kids. It is about people who tried to seek justice, came across so many obstacles along the way and the many sacrifices they had to make for their belief. The plot is very compact and there is no unnecessary scene that does not contribute to move the plot forward. The story involved three parallel timelines, and the director did excellent job in showing that clearly to the audience so that they won't get confused. However, I still feel that the director could have done a better job in increasing the suspense and tension since the story actually provides many opportunities for it. As much as I enjoy it, it still a bit lack of the gripping suspense that I usually feel when watching American or Korean crime drama. Nevertheless, the young director (Chen Yifu) did an excellent job directing this drama.

ACTING
Needless to say that all the actors in the Light On series are very capable, including those in The Long Night. Liao Fan is a veteran actor and there is no question about his acting skill. All the actors, main and supporting roles, did excellent job in their respective roles. However, the highlight of this drama is Bai Yu's role, Jiang Yang. He is the most tragic character in the story, losing everything in order to uphold his belief. I love Bai Yu from his previous role as Zhao Yunlan in Guardian, but Jiang Yang is a whole new level of acting. He perfectly shows the transformation of Jiang Yang, from the sunny boy with bright future to the depressed and broken middle-aged man. I am still heartbroken after watching the last few episodes.
I also like the three hotpot brothers a lot, I can feel their strong bond and their willingness to support and sacrifice for each other as they share the same common values. I also like Captain Ren who is the Head of Special Investigation Unit very much, it is really good to have a very capable and strong female role who is as qualified as the other male counterparts.

In the end, I think what makes this drama scored very high in Douban (9.1 as of current and rated by over 250k viewers), besides the directing and acting, is the lesson learned from this story. How much are you willing to sacrifice to seek and uphold justice? How far are you willing to go in order to shed light on the truth?

Leia Mais

Half-cooked meal that left me half-full

Should you watch it? Yes, if you are bored with the usual BL tropes and want to see a new and unique story that is rare in BL dramas. The concept is pretty interesting, reminding me of ABO world where instead of Alpha and Omega, you have Mono and Probe. However, sadly the unique story is not accompanied with great execution, making this a half-cooked meal that left me rather unsatisfied.

STORY
With such complicated theories about Monos and Probes and their supposedly dynamic relationships, it is impossible to fully explore them in just 15-mins 8 episodes drama. We only get short backgrounds and a little bit explanations here and there to understand this world and the characters. Until up to ep 7, I had no idea about Yoo Han's background and why he seems to be obsessed with Yeon Woo. We also only get glimpses of Yeon Woo's background and his issues of being a Mono. Many use the short episode as an excuse, but I'd totally blame this to the producer and screenwriter. If they were going to make this story as short drama, they should've worked a better and tighter plot rather than wasting some precious few minutes in some scenes that do not contribute to the plot. At the end, a lot of major plots remain unsolved for the sake of having cute ending, which is okay but rather unsatisfying.

ACTING
I would say Yoo Jun is a better actor than Heo Hyun Jun in this drama. Especially starting ep 6 onwards, his acting improved a lot and you can feel his emotions when he was feeling desperate. On the other hand, Hyun Jun felt rather stiff, I don't know if that's supposed to be his character's personality, but he was emotionless and even when saying romantic lines, his face doesn't change and his voice is flat. I could hardly feel any emotions from his acting, imho. Due to that, I felt little chemistry between them, it's definitely there but not so much.

In conclusion, it's an OK drama to watch and it's great that Korea has started to churn out BL with various themes, which I greatly appreciate. Oh, and the OST is amazing as expected from most of Korean drama ^^

Leia Mais

I first saw the trailer on Rakuten Viki before it was released and was curious to see what kind of Japanese BL drama got released worldwide on Viki. It was based on manga, so I went and read the manga first, which turned out to be a very good one.

STORY
It follows the story of two high-school students, Ito Akira and Nishi Yuuki who meet on the sidewalk white line they follow when going home from school. Akira is a serious and diligent person who is expected by his parents to live "normal ordinary life" like everyone else, meaning graduate, find work and settle down. He is drawn to Yuuki, who is carefree and child-like. The story follows their journey from high-school, university like and working life. The story is quite realistic in the way it portrays the circumstances of couples who have been in relationship for quite long, their issues and not to mention, problems related to same-sex couples. Both are pressured by their families and society to get married and settle down. The drama portrays this quite realistically.

ACTING
Both actors (Shirasu Jin and Raiku) are not very well-known actors, but Shirasu has been playing supporting roles for quite a lot of times. I have to say that Shirasu's acting has largely supported this drama, he is very good in expressing emotions with his eyes and facial expressions. I was quite touched a number of times with his acting, I really think he has a lot of potentials. On the other hand, I couldn't really feel Raiku's acting. He is supposed to be child-like, but I didn't feel that charm coming out from him. So most of the part, I kind of ignored him and just focus on Shirasu's acting. And ugh, his hairstyle is really weird, even for me who have been watching J-drama for the longest time, it still doesn't sit well with me :(

In overall, it is still a very good and decent BL drama, with good production, good story and good directing, far better than a lot of other BL dramas, it is worth watching!

Leia Mais

Extremely well-made drama but can be a bit confusing

I had a very high expectation of this drama, considering its huge popularity and rave reviews in China praising its dark and engaging storyline. After finishing the whole episodes, here are some of my thoughts:

STORYLINE
This drama is adapted from a suspense novel and according to some reviews that I read, the novel itself is much much darker and more "evil" than the drama version. Therefore the storyline in the drama version has to be modified in order to pass the censorship. Even the characters personality are modified in the drama version to make them more "likeable". I guess this is the reason why some of the plot can be a bit confusing and raised questions in regard to the plot logic.
The plot holes could be explained if the audience read and understand what the original novel's story plat is supposed to be. The drama tried its very best to convey the original story while at the same time passing the censorship, there are a lot of hidden details which if you pay attention to it may actually tell you what the original intention is. However, to the people who never read the original novel this can be pretty confusing.

The pace of the story is quite tight compared to the usual draggy plot of many Chinese dramas and a lot of stories are told within 12 episodes. I really appreciate it since I am used to relatively fast paced story and few episodes of Korean and Japanese drama. However, I still found that the pace was a bit slow to the point I stopped watching it after ep 8 and didn't continue until 2 weeks later. I can't help but compare it to my fave Korean suspense drama Signal, which I binge watched all 16 episodes in one go and was kept at the edge of my seat all the times.

ACTING
No need to say that the acting is TOP NOTCH. This is the aspect that makes me keep watching this drama. Qin Hao is excellent as the gentle but cold-blooded murderer, but my fave is the Rong Zi Shan who played Zhu Chao Yang. Wow, his acting really blew me away. Considering he is only 13 yo, it is already very impressive and he surely will have an excellent acting future ahead. Not only the main cast, acting skills of all the supporting roles are also top notch. I can't find any of the supporting roles whose acting is not convincing enough to make me believe that their character is real.

MUSIC
The music in this drama is excellent! Especially the opening music, it is dark and creepy and set the tones of the drama, I always get goosebumps when listening to it. All the accompanying music are also well made and enhances the atmosphere of the story.

Despite of its shortcomings, this is an extremely well-made drama, it has set many new standard for the drama making in China, including its script-writing, directing and overall quality of the acting. Chinese drama industry is plagued with poor quality of script-writing and draggy plot which only put emphasis on looking good on the surface, but totally ignores the importance of the logic and quality of story. This drama has garnered so much attention and hopefully it will set the standards for the future drama to follow.

Leia Mais

I felt complicated for this drama...actually I kinda feel the chemistry between the leads, it is very slow at first but as I watched more episodes, it is slowly building up as they start to care about each other. Yuan Yang is an arrogant a**hole and his character is supposed to be like that and even though the actor (Gao Ming) was kinda stiff and over the top at first, his acting is getting better in later part. Shang Bai is also doing quite a good job, he definitely has the look of the proud and elegant Gu Qing Pei.

But the reason why I gave low rating is how the story ends!! It was only 15 eps and the ending was so abrupt and just left me with the feeling "what the hell is going on? that's it??". There is no closure, no conclusion..it just ends like that. Maybe it has something to do with the China's censorship, I'm not sure about that. But it was such a pity since I believe that if given chance for longer episodes, it might actually get better.

The original novel is popular and loved by many fans, the two characters' relationship in the novel is very complicated and intense, especially Yuan Yang. He is so possessive of Gu Qing Pei, but it is very touching to see the development of their characters after they met and how they affect each other's life. If you felt disappointed with the drama, I suggest you check out the novel (it is available in English in Wattpad) to sooth your broken heart :)

Leia Mais

This is my second Chinese live action series which is based on BL novel after The Untamed and it has positive and negative aspects.
First of all, storywise is not the best sometimes to the point of confusing and doesn't really make sense. It doesn't follow the novel exactly since they have to rewrite the whole story to avoid censorship. But I really hoped they could've done better job to make it more logical and easier to follow. The CG effects are also quite bad and seems like a cheap production. The acting of the supporting cast are also not very memorable and some of them are downright third-rate performance.
The only saving grace of this series is the superb acting skills and amazing chemistry between two leads, Bai Yu (Zhao Yunlan) and Zhu Yilong (Shen Wei). Man, they are so pleasant to watch, from their interaction, dialogue and micro expressions between them. Gentle and beautiful Shen Wei and shameless Zhao Yunlan, it is as if they come straight out of novel to real life. To be honest, I watch this series and give good rating just because of them. Oh and the soundtrack too! Especially their duet song"Flying Across Time", it's really good and give you some feelings of their relationship.
I would recommend you to watch this, regardless of the story and quality of production, just watch for the main leads performance and you won't be disappointed :)

Leia Mais