Not what I was expecting at all

The synopsis here on MDL is too generic to give a clear picture of what this is about. I had only seen a few short glimpses of this drama here and there and I was expecting something packed full with action and maybe comedy. It turned out to be a lot more sentimental and introspective than I thought, but I actually enjoyed it a lot!

This story is about Bu Yiyong, a high schooler with a passion for drawing. Despite having a hereditary talent for calligraphy and a grandfather who keeps encouraging him to refine his skills, he has no interest in it. Things start to change when, after an accident that leaves him in a coma for two years, mysterious creatures start approaching him and asking for his help.
The plot mainly revolves around Bu Yiyong solving mysteries that involve supernatural beings, so if detective stories with fantasy elements are your thing, you will probably enjoy it! What you might not expect is how these stories actually involve a lot of introspection for all the people involved, including Bu Yiyong himself. The themes are mainly about past trauma, grief, and overall about overcoming the shadows of the past, on top of bringing comfort to those who were left behind. (If you're particularly sensitive, get some tissues ready, maybe?)
The characters are all introduced and used very well in the story, especially Chen Chuying and Cao Guangyan, who stay by Yiyong's side all the way through. The three of them develop their friendship in a very unusual way, but it works and it's amazing - I was afraid that they would feel out of place with each other until the end, but instead I ended up feeling like something was missing whenever one of the three wasn't present. There were also some hints of romance and bromance scattered here and there (between Yiyong and Chuying, and between Yiyong and Guangyan, respectively), but the drama never seemed to take any of those moments too seriously and were mostly used as comic relief. If you're looking for romance, this is definitely not the place.
The only part of this series that left me unsatisfied was the final resolution of the plot - I couldn't help feeling like something was missing and that not everything had come to a proper conclusion, which is why I gave it a 9 instead of a 10. I really hope there'll be a second season for this drama.

TL;DR: excellent drama if you're into detective stories, supernatural elements and tear-jerking themes with a touch of good humour, definitely not for you if you want romance. I personally enjoyed it a lot, so consider giving it a chance!

Leia Mais

Overall so mild it's almost flavorless

I debated with myself for a long time about whether I enjoyed this series or not. It was definitely entertaining enough for me to finish it, which is a start, and I liked the actors and the effort they put in their roles. The plot, however? It was just so confusing, with excellent ideas scattered in a sea of bad and boring writing, that I still can't decide whether it's just horrible or there's still something good inside.

The school is depicted as this horrible and tyrannical place to be in, but I found it hard to identify with the "rebels" as there was no actual element that made me believe it was a horrible place. The only rules I saw being applied were the dress code (everyone must wear school uniforms) and the students not being allowed to use their phones. It just felt like seeing any other school, except that Suppalo brags about being traditional for no real reason other than the plot saying so.
Because of this, the behavior of the students doesn't make much sense. They made some good points in the plot, but the overall context lacks the power to make them feel strong enough. I don't want to spoil anything, but some of the most extreme actions taken by the characters lack the right motivation; on top of it, many of these extreme actions aren't met with the proper reactions or consequences. It felt like the writers just wanted to make me feel agitated no matter what.
The couples are cute and the actors did a good job, but unfortunately I can't say anything more than this.

In conclusion, now that I've watched all the episodes I felt like I watched something, but I can't pinpoint what I watched exactly. I feel disappointed because the trailer felt mysterious and I was curious to see what would this series be about, but apparently the writers don't know either. I don't recommend watching unless you like the actors in it.

Leia Mais

Something new and well-made disguised as something old and badly-made

While watching the first episode and seeing who were the main characters, I immediately started guessing what would happen in the story. I expected the usual clichés: the main guy with glasses and a goofy smile would get a makeover and suddenly turn conventionally attractive, his panicked friend would get consistently (and uncomfortably) hit on, and their feminine friend would just be the comic relief of the show. Anyone's stalking or harrassment would never be addressed and the bad behaviors would be just romanticised. If it wasn't for the countless positive comments on this page saying that this show is actually good, I wouldn't have been able to keep watching.

In the end, all my expectations were destroyed for the better, which I guess says it all about how actually good this show is. The usual tropes were subverted, making the series a lot more interesting to watch. After feeling a lot of second-hand embarrassment for some ridiculous scenes at the beginning of the show, I got so invested I finished watching everything in the span of a few days. The actors were all amazing and I really hope I'll get to see them again in other future projects.
I also want to compliment the translation team, because the subtitles were some of the best made I've ever seen - providing not only the translation for the dialogue, but also captions for sound effects, and context and cultural information about what was going on at given moments.

I recommend watching this one at least once!

Leia Mais

Very good and underrated

During the first episode, I admit I wasn't too interested - it felt slow and not very interesting, and was tempted to drop the series altogether since I didn't feel like checking out the second episode at all. After the second episode, the story becomes more interesting and I ended up binge watching the rest of the episodes.
The story is not perfect and there were one or two plot holes that made me frown, but there's something very intriguing about the plot and the characters that made me want to stay until the end to see how things would go. I was afraid that the setting and the plotlines would be handled very badly, making it look like the hospital was some kind of romance playground or something, but instead they did it justice and I was fully immersed even in every case of the patients that were shown.
The acting is also very good, and I have to say that Yacht was the one who surprised me the most: I've always been used to see him as "the comic relief" in other series, so seeing him as a serious character for once was very refreshing.

Overall it was a bittersweet series, not one that I will pick back up easily as I'm more into sweet and fluffy stories, but it was a pleasant surprise. In the end, I'm glad I gave it a solid chance to amaze me, because it did.

Leia Mais

Very fun show

The story is about five girls with very different personalities and lives, but all sharing the name Ploy, being the same age and going to the same high school. Despite being good friends in school, things don't go as smoothly as they hoped they would afterwards, especially with their respective crushes. Fifteen years later one of the girls realizes that the Ploys' phone numbers were switched around in their yearbook, leading to multiple misunderstandings and heartbreaks.
The main theme of this series is about being able to forgive (both others and ourselves) despite the mistakes, but most importantly about healing after your heart broke, about looking back to make sure that there are as few regrets as possible, and about moving forward without letting past wounds slow down the pace.

The story is not flawless - in fact there were multiple times when I felt like certain events or behaviors from the characters were just a little too convenient for the plot, or a little too easy to achieve. I also had the feeling that some of the scenes were included less for the sake of the plot and more for the sake of "wouldn't it be awesome if this happened?" and such. The reason why I still rated this pretty high is that, despite this, I still had a lot of fun watching! The friend groups in this series really feel like friends, the emotional moments were delivered very well and I was invested in most of the story.

The casting was just impeccable. I decided to give this show a chance because Earth was in it, but I really feel like everyone did an amazing job. Most of the couples felt like true couples, which is one of the most important things for romance, but the parents, the friends and all the support roles were impeccable as well.

Pretty Ploy and Mek were by far my favorite couple of the entire series. At the very beginning I was convinced that I would end up hating Pretty Ploy, but instead she became my favorite out of all the Ploys. It's not easy to portray someone as concerned with beauty and dating as Pretty Ploy and make her so likeable, so props to Punpun for the great performance! As for Jimmy, I already saw his acting in other series and I can confirm that he can handle about any role; he was believable as the nerdy high-school boy, and he was still completely believable as a successful businessman, all without ever looking like he was interpreting two different people. These two also proved that you don't need kisses to prove great chemistry, and you don't need an elaborate plot to make a love story more compelling.

Prof Ploy and Khram were very sweet together, but not too convincing to me. I believe that Prof Ploy was one of the hardest Ploys to portray well, but Jamie was able to show a sweet and kind character while blending it with the subtlety and the cleverness that make her character so fascinating. I wasn't completely sold on her role as the chairwoman, but I'm not sure if this was something expected since Prof Ploy isn't supposed to be experienced. Despite his screen time, Mond didn't get too many chances to show off his acting, but I'm placing the blame on the overly elaborate plot this couple got. I don't believe they needed things to get so complicated, really.

Punk Ploy and Tawan were the couple I enjoyed the least, which is a shame since I was sort of looking forward to see them, but I also don't believe this was because my expectations were too high. Their plot just didn't convince me overall: it got overly elaborate very quickly and at some point I realized I was merely waiting for it to finish once for all. While Film was able to show different sides of her character, Joong wasn't as lucky, which was truly a pity. Last but not least, since their story wasn't convincing, I never really felt like their couple was as convincing as the others.

Plain Ploy and Pimai were great, but also penalized by a plot that forced me to suspend my disbelief more than I like to. There's only a handful of questions about the plot that I can ignore before I start to feel like the story was not polished enough, and this was one of those times. Despite this, both Aye and Toy did a great job with what they had and their acting was impeccable from start to finish. Props to Toy in particular for being able to act as both Pimai and his twin brother Plaimas, switching between the two so perfectly that I kept forgetting they were the same actor. This love story was also the most touching despite everything.

Prez Ploy and Thap were the frame for the entire series - the couple that started it all and the couple that was able to heal their scars and solve all the unfinished business in the end. I found this choice very satisfying, although some choices for their share of the plot felt a little too good to be true for my taste. I already saw both Earth and Namtan in other projects before and I already knew that they were great actors, but I feel like their casting for these role surprised me even more about their talent. They portrayed characters that felt human, making them the most real out of all the couples. I also wasn't expecting them to make such a romantic couple, and I mean it in the best way possible.

The production might not be everyone's cup of tea since it's full of time jumps between the main characters' high school days and present days. I didn't have any issues with it and was able to follow the story without trouble, but it might not be the same for everyone. The audio on YouTube sounded pretty bad, but I wasn't overly bothered by that either. One good plus is that there were absolutely no product placements getting in the way of the story here - something I'm not used to see from GMMTV shows.

This is one of those stories that deserve a chance, at least for one to make an opinion for themselves about it. If you enjoy love stories that involve lots of misunderstandings (done well) and plot twists, this might be for you.

Leia Mais

An unexpectedly fun drama

This drama has an interesting premise: the female general Wei Lin is looking for clues to redeem the late Crown Prince, but during her mission she ends up marrying Gu Mingzhu, whose family is involved with the case. She doesn't know, however, that the man she marries is actually Jiang Juan, leader of the Ling Pavilion, who has his own reasons to disguise himself and infiltrate Wei Lin's home.

I was a little skeptical at this premise at first, since the episodes are short (if we don't count the opening and ending themes, all the episodes together amount to a little more than three hours), but the plot flows nicely and gets to its resolution without becoming too complicated in the meantime. I don't recommend expecting anything too refined (there were multiple moments when I had to forcibly suspend my disbelief at how certain events were unfolding), but for a short drama it works.
Rather than being dramatic and with an overly serious tone, this drama is actually more fun than anything else. From General Wei's attempts to adjust to a life with her new husband, to Jiang Juan trying all sorts of tricks and schemes to get closer to his wife. Not to mention all the secondary characters! Every episode felt lively and irresistible, I ended up binge-watching the whole drama in the span of a few hours.

The chemistry between the two main characters is great. I've never seen these two before, but I will definitely be looking forward to any new productions including them. They managed to make the love story believable and charming, and it was very satisfying to see their dynamic: a strong female hero who is actually believable as a general, and a sick male anti-hero who acts all sweet and clingy.

Definitely worth watching: it's fun, it doesn't have any unnecessary drama, and the actors did a great job from start to finish.

Leia Mais

Good for the dynamics!

I was looking forward to watch this drama since it features the same leads as "To Sir, With Love", which is another underrated gem (and actually includes a couple more actors from the same series). I might have waited a little to long to finally get to it, but it was definitely worth waiting for all the episodes to be released with English subtitles.

The premise is very interesting: when Tinn's nephew, Tonkhao, dies from being hit by a car, he immediately decides to speak up and fight to bring her justice and make sure that her murderer is punished, but he doesn't have the power nor the knowledge he needs to do so, and his opponent, Thatthep, is too powerful. On the other hand we have Charn, who is a charming lawyer who only works for rich and influential people, and doesn't shy away from shady means to get what he wants, and is also Thatthep's lawyer for this case. At the very beginning, Tinn and Charn are enemies in this matter, but when Charn is dismissed by Thatthep, he starts to suspect that the case might be bigger than it looks, and decides to use the situation to get his revenge.

When it comes to executing the plot in a satisfying way, I can't bring myself to say that it was done too well. I can say, at most, that it gets the job done: the search for clues starts smoothly, and it comes with multiple dramatic plot points that make the story more engaging. Unfortunately the murder mystery ended up being much more simple and unsurprising than I hoped, and even some moments during the investigations felt like they were brought by sheer luck, rather than the wits of any character.

What I believe made the series so interesting and worth watching was the character dynamics: they were impeccable. Charn and Tinn are very different in terms of personal values and sense of justice, so seeing them work together and arguing with each other was always great to watch - and I can't deny that those words also made me think about it over and over after the episode was over. It was also satisfying to see two main male characters who are both openly attracted to men, for once! It made their interactions more fun, especially as Charn was flirting with Tinn every now and then, and it also let the series focus more on other aspects of the characters without the whole "who am I, what do I like" introspective bit.
The series also left room to deepen the information about Tinn and Charn's respective pasts, and the relationships with the people around them. Even the villains were shown properly, rather than being put there as cartoonish bad guys, which led to a secondary couple to have their moments as well.

The production was good enough, although I had the feeling that the budget was a little low here and there. The series only had 8 episodes and I believe that this time was used well overall: there was no time when I thought that a certain part of the story was taking too long to unfold, nor did I ever feel like anything was rushed. My only complaint would be about the slow-motion effect, which was used way, WAY more than necessary.

If I had to compare it to other Thai BL series I've seen in the past, I'd put it in the same category as Manner of Death and Triage. It doesn't quite reach the same charm as those series, but I thought it was just as intriguing for its execution and themes. Worth watching at least once!

Leia Mais

Beautiful love story!

This xianxia revolves around a powerful "evil" lord, Dongfang Qingcang, and the little Orchid fairy who accidentally frees him from the prison he has been in for 30,000 years, and puts him under a spell in the process. The plot follows them as Dongfang Qingcang does all he can to take advantage of the situation and rise to power once more, and Orchid does her best to hide her new companion from the other immortals, and change him for the better.

What stands out immediately in the story is the characterization of the two protagonists, who couldn't be more different from each other: Dongfang Qingcang is practical, strict, always serious and straightforward, and has little to no care about what others might think or feel; Orchid, on the other hand, is very emotional and innocent and always tries her hardest to make sure that the people around her are happy and at ease, even at her own expense. The two of them grow to appreciate each other from the little things, and slowly grow and evolve emotionally as well. I really liked how the changes in their behavior and their attitude toward each other felt very natural; both protagonists are very different people in the second half of the drama, and I didn't question this change even for a moment. The story takes place in four different "arcs", so to say, each of them very relevant for the evolution of Orchid, Dongfang Qingcang, and their romance.
Overall the plot felt very solid to me. There were a couple of times when I felt like it was getting too slow, and also a moment when I actually wished the events had more time to unfold properly, but it didn't hinder the story.
All the characters were amazing. The two protagonists gave amazing performances and I was very impressed by their versatility to portray such complex characters in particular: the cast was just perfect for all the roles.

The quality of the production was pretty good, I really liked the props and the costumes and the CGI was pretty impressive in my eyes as well. The OST also has to be one of the best I've heard in a drama; I don't think I'll ever be over the opening theme in particular.

There are some elements that might stop people from watching (namely: Orchid's voice in the first half of the drama), but I feel like you should still give it a try if you like the genre. I did and I certainly didn't regret it!

Leia Mais

Fun and thrilling adventure with an awful pace

This story is mainly about two young men, Huzi and Qi Xiaoxuan, who team up with each other and fight to overcome a crisis that threatens to destroy the world. The structure of the story and the way it develops in each episode reminded me a lot of certain action tv shows I watched as a kid, in a good way: I really felt like I was embarking in a great adventure and the setting was very charming to me. Despite this, the plot was not easy to follow because of its pacing, which is just terrible: the story seems to slow down or even come to a halt at the worst moments, it speeds up way too much right when it's supposed to take more time to let the events develop naturally, and so on. I felt confused multiple times as I wondered why were certain events in the story taking so long to finish, all while some very important parts of the story felt rushed for no good reason. If anyone dropped this drama because they were getting bored or they couldn't understand the plot, I wouldn't be surprised.

The strongest point of this series is definitely in the characters. The main characters, the antagonists, even the secondary roles and a good chunk of the supporting cast were very captivating and well-detailed, most with a well developed story and personality that made for a very colourful cast.
Huzi and Qi Xiaoxuan are amazing as the main characters and make a very good pair: seeing their mutual dislike slowly turn into quiet acceptance, then respect, friendship, and even brotherhood was very satisfying. I'd go as far as calling it a bromance, because I feel like the chemistry they had with each other was unmatched. Seeing someone like Huzi as a main character was also a pleasant breath of fresh air to me, after seeing male protagonists who are always elegant and refined in all the Chinese fantasy dramas I've ever watched. Zhao Xintong and "Brick" Wang Yuqian completed the quartet very quickly, and their characters were explored to an extent that left me pleasantly surprised. I was afraid that their group would feel like "Huzi, Xiaoxuan, and friends" for the entire story, but that wasn't the case at all.

The production looked pretty good to me: the entire drama looks incredibly pretty to look at, and the fighting scenes are probably my favorite. I wasn't a huge fan of the CGI monsters, but that's something that I could overlook easily.

This series could have been a 10 out of 10 to me, if it wasn't for the bad pacing, which might easily discourage anyone from watching more than a handful of episodes. I still feel like Tiger and Crane deserves a chance despite this, because it's still a fun adventure and the characters are just too easy to love.

Leia Mais

A fun Xianxia adventure!

I started watching because I heard that there would be a dragon as a main character and I was curious to see what would the story be like. I can easily admit that I only watched a handful of Xianxia dramas in the past, so this review is only based on what I've learned to appreciate when watching dramas of several different genres, rather than watching other Xianxia stories.
I just finished watching the last episode and I can say that I enjoyed myself.

The story starts off as a quest to find Tianyao's missing body parts, with Yanhui as a fundamental part of the plan. The rhythm at the beginning of the story is lively and addictive, the setting also feels welcoming even when there are dangerous situations. The dynamic between characters, however, takes the crown for being the real show-stealer: Tianyao's cold and stubborn attitude seem to clash with Yanhui's just as stubborn and fiery character, but they immediately complement each other and they are quick to become reliable partners, even when there are no romantic feelings involved. The arrival of Bai Xiaosheng also contributes to make the story even more entertaining: he has to be one of the most charming characters in the entire drama!
I felt like the dynamics among characters got ruined around the middle of the story. I'm not saying that this was unjustified (there are valid plot reasons for that, I believe), but a big part of what made the show so compelling was reduced to almost nothing in the span of a couple of episodes. The arc in the middle was also not very interesting, so I'm not lying when I say that at that point I was just hoping for things to get better as soon as possible.
Luckily for me, things did get better later on. On the other hand, the worldbuilding started to look a little fragile, with powers and magical effects coming and going according to what the writers seemed to need at any given moment. While it was still fun and I felt like the story was saved toward its conclusion, I also couldn't help feeling a little unsatisfied for this reason.

As I said, the characters were definitely the best part. There's almost always some characters that I end up finding too annoying or boring, but that wasn't the case this time around: Tianyao, Yanhui, Xiaosheng, even antagonists such as Suying and Lingfei were all interesting and fascinating to see on the screen. Now that I watched all the episodes, I have the feeling that I'm going to miss them a lot.

The production was good enough. The special effects weren't very good, but I'm also not the kind of audience who is too picky about that.
The music was another great part of the drama. All the songs are amazing and touching, they give the story the right amount of dramatic and majestic energy it needs, making the important moments even better in terms of delivery.

This drama is definitely not perfect, but the story and the characters are all charming. They kept me looking forward to the next episode, which is the most important thing for me. I'm definitely recommending this series to whoever is looking for an epic fantasy adventure with themes revolving around trust, betrayal, obsession, and most importantly finding your own place and your own path in life.

Leia Mais

A fluffy and soft slice of life

I started watching while assuming that this series would be some kind of silly comedy, and to some extent it is - there's a lot about it that is mostly for comical relief and it would be unfair to say otherwise. What I believe makes this series so intriguing is the way the writers managed to put in good balance comedy, introspection, and romance.

The plot of the story is pretty simple, and to be fair, at the beginning even the characters are. As the episodes go on, however, there's more and more that is revealed to the audience through dialogue and meaningful scenes about the characters and the relationships they have with each other. This method of unveiling the world of Cher and Gun was what caught my attention the most and made me want to watch more and more: I really felt like I was sinking deeper and deeper in the story. Multiple situations that seemed simple were revealed to be much more complicated than they might have looked at first, and the characters showed multiple facets of their personalities and lives little by little.
The romance between Cher and his Boss was truly sweet to watch as it developed. The two characters are very different, but it's also obvious how the two start growing fond of one another, and the way they seem to suit each other perfectly despite having very different lives was a huge satisfaction. The two actors have some solid chemistry and they are blatantly at ease and comfortable when they're together.

Something I didn't like as much about this series was the way some problems and situations were put aside without a proper conclusion (I don't want to spoil anything so I'll avoid mentioning anything in particular). I believe that leaving more room to show certain secondary characters and their lives better would have made the ending much more satisfying to me.

I can recommend this series to whoever is looking for something cute and sentimental, with themes that never get too stressful or heavy to watch.

Leia Mais

Barely finished it

The theme of the story was interesting, but that's the only good thing about this series, I'm afraid.
The plot had good potential, but the pacing and the portrayal of the characters ruined everything. For the first three episodes things were more or less stable, then from episode 4 onwards I found myself unable to follow the thought and emotional patterns of the characters. The way they changed their mind about certain situations or even about each other were not shown properly, so I found myself thinking "wait, how did we get here?" more than once as I watched. It felt like the writers were more concerned with showing Ha Ram's cute pursuing of Lee Jun than actually putting some care in their emotional growth and the development of their relationship. Things got even worse during the last two episodes, where I actually struggled to finish the whole drama (which is the reason why it doesn't even reach a 6 out of 10 for me).

The acting was decent from Lee Jun, but unfortunately I can't say the same for Jeong Ha Ram, who often looked like he was just faking his personality. Since Ha Ram wasn't explored in the least as a character, I was fully expecting some incredible plot-twist about him, but that didn't happen, so I guess that's just poor acting. Yun Do Kyung was the worst of all as he really looked like he was reading his lines out loud rather than acting.
The chemistry between the two main characters is not there either. The two of them never really bond with each other, so I wasn't impressed.
The production is nothing impressive, and the music isn't anything worth noting either.

Overall it felt like a waste of time. Can't recommend watching it.

Leia Mais

Cute and pretty series

With "cute and pretty" I mean that it's a mostly fluffy series with a good production. It captured my attention from the very beginning and I didn't struggle to finish at any moment, so it's great for whoever wants to take a break from more dramatic and tense shows.

The plot is not one of the most original, but its execution made it stand out a lot. The multiple parallels between Tawan and Mork made me very curious to see how would the two get closer over time and what would their dynamic look like, and I have to say I wasn't disappointed. Both Tawan and Mork are sweet souls, two men who are ready to help the people around them no matter what, even at the cost of neglecting themselves, and I really liked how they slowly became each other's safe space.
What I wish was done better is the overall message of the storyline. The material was right there for the writers to grasp and use, but they seemed to prefer cliché situations and tropes instead. While I didn't mind the cute and romantic moments, I couldn't help feeling like it was a waste of good material in the end.
The secondary couples were cute, but to be entirely honest they didn't stand out to me all that much. Boss and Toy's dynamic wasn't really my cup of tea (I felt like Boss was being forced to get out of his comfort zone for no real reason other than Toy's personal satisfaction, on top of the usual "being an introvert is bad" message), As for Nadia and Mayom, I felt like their story just sort of... happened? Nothing caught my eye about them.
Something that I really want to mention is how much I liked Yoon's performance here. The contrast with his character in Unforgotten Night is very strong, it made him stand out to me a lot as an actor. The same goes for Ging: this is the first series where I don't see her as the evil love rival/antagonist, so I was really happy to see her as a warm and supportive friend of the main character for once.

If you like fluff and cheesy romance and don't mind the lack of passionate love scenes and kisses, this is for you!

Leia Mais

This one was pretty cute!

I didn't know what to expect exactly from this drama, but I can say that it was a pleasant discovery!

In terms of story, the premise is actually not very exciting - it's about a man who decides to live a peaceful life as the sole owner of a coin laundromat, and about a high schooler who starts to hang out at said laundromat every day. What I believe makes this series much more interesting as it goes on lies in the character dynamics, their introspection and their slow but steady development.
Shin is at his last year of high school, and he's a delightful mix of mature and youthful personality traits: he's responsible with his duties and takes good care of the people surrounding him, even when he doesn't really like them, but he's also very passionate about what (and who) he likes and never afraid of being straightforward and honest with his feelings.
Akira is comfortable in his skin at first sight, but it's also a comfort that he created by building a wall around his feelings: he can be affectionate with other people, but he also makes sure to draw a clear line so that nobody crosses it, not even himself. For this same reason he'd rather hide what he actually feels and put on a facade.
As the story goes on, we can clearly see how both of them influence each other's attitudes in a positive way. Shin gradually learns to compromise and to accept things that he doesn't like for the sake of the people he loves, while Akira slowly comes out of his shell and comes to terms with the painful events of his past, as well as the feelings he has in the present. The feelings they have for each other take time to fully bloom, but the result couldn't be more satisfying in my opinion.
I was half expecting to hate the secondary characters, but I actually ended up loving most of them. Even the secondary couple, while not explored as much as I would've liked, was very cute. The only character I wouldn't say I liked was the fujoshi, as I saw both her and the events tied to her as pure fanservice.
I can't recommend this series if you're looking for steamy love scenes, as there isn't any. If you're looking for a cute slow burn romance, make sure to watch this one!

Leia Mais

Like a fix-it fanfic

If you watched Present Perfect (go watch it if you haven't yet), you'll know that it didn't have a very happy ending. I don't blame the fans of the first movie for wishing for Toey and Oat to have a chance to be happy together, or even just to be together again one more time, but I don't believe this sequel was necessary at all.

After watching for a few minutes, I immediately felt like I was watching the cinematic equivalent of a fix-it fanfiction. The director/screenwriter is the same as Present Perfect, but here in PSP it seems like a big fan of the series wrotetheir own fanfiction of the story, then somehow was able to gather back all the original actors of the first movie and turn it into a sequel.
I can't say it worked too well. The quiet and dream-like atmosphere of the first movie is completely lost here, and the pacing overall is a lot more lively. The writing also got a LOT more cheesy, with dialogues where the main characters put into words their feelings way more often - and this for some reason made the whole story feel less sincere and the characters' feelings less believable.
Present Still Perfect also tries to tie itself to its prequel with elements that have no reason to exist in its plot - Kenta himself being one of them. They also tried to explain multiple untold things to make the reunion of Toey and Oat "acceptable" or at least "understandable", but overall it felt more like the plot was doing somersaults in the attempt to let the two of them be together.

I gave this movie a 6 because despite everything I was able to finish it, but I was truly unsatisfied with all of it, and now I kinda wish I didn't watch it. I only recommend watching it in case you want to see Toey and Oat together again at all costs, and I really mean AT ALL COSTS, including plot and common sense.

Leia Mais