The Eighth Sense (2023)

So much to love here

I thought I would never like a K-BL as much as Semantic Error, but The Eighth Sense has moved in and completely taken over. What a beautiful and sumptuous and emotional ride...like surfing. Lots of falls and false starts, but when you finally get to stand up on the board and see the water curl around you, it's magical and like it's meant to be.

The eighth sense, as others have mentioned here, is interoception - the sense that starts deep inside a human being, the sensations that are both natural and learned. Some sensations we're born knowing how to attend to, and some we need to learn how to recognize.

This should mark not only a new era of K-BL but a new era of filmmaking and storytelling.

Lire davantage

Best Korean BL I've watched

I'll start this review saying that The Eighth Sense is by far my favourite Korean BL.
I watched without knowing what it was about, and I can say I was amazingly surprised, it's a great series which really has it all - great and natural acting, excellent characters, great story and fantastic production (and of course, incredible chemistry).

If you haven't understood by now, I really loved this BL!!

What struck me the most was how natural the characters felt.
There was no forced or exaggerated personality trait, or over the top character.
They all felt really human and really real, with their flaws and depth. With their multiple faces, none of them is pure evil or completely innocent like I've seen elsewhere.
The story is also really good, on the simpler side, but as the characters are really amazing, it easily makes up for it :D

This series made me feel many things, but mostly, it's been a while since I've felt this warm to the characters and the different friendships. I just really love the way they were written, they feel like a cosy bunch of people with whom you'd love to hang out everyday!

If I had to say one negative thing about it, is that it's still too short, even though there are more episodes which last longer than most Korean BLs.
I just can't get enough of all of them :3

Lire davantage

A cuddly piece of euphoria

So apparently you can summon your distant lover by playing a Conan Gray song to him. I'll make sure to try that out. Happy Valentines, my single friends!

🔸No matter how much you're lost in life, if you are with the right people everything else will come along. This incredible, thoughtful, sensual and inspiring work of art is a rare collaboration between a Korean and a foreign director Baek Inu and Werner du Plessis. It is coming-of-age genre, and explores such themes as adapting to the new environment (Ji Hyeon in Seoul), processing traumas (Jae Won and his depression), trying to live up to someone's expectations and finding your inner strength. You can tell right away that creating a safe space for queer people was the priority for this BL. There are no triggering scenes, hate speech, rejections based on orientation, but instead there are many understanding friends that support the main characters along the way. You can safely watch this drama. Without a single explicit frame, sexual tension and intimacy flood the screen in all the right moments. I'm hypnotized.

Stunning, stunning performances of Lim Ji Seob and Oh Joon Taek! Their expressions are so subtle, and you can feel little electrical sparks lighting between them on screen. From now on, I demand to see these actors in big successful projects only!

🔸The drama feels especially real because it's not isolated from the real world. It is full of references to such movies as I'm a Cyborg, But That's Okay or Hedwig and The Angry Inch, or the influential needle drop The Story by Conan Gray. Several quirky characters like the English-speaking bartender or the cheerful cashier with the K-Trot USB are always surprising and bring diversity to the table even if their influence is insignificant. I imagine this richness is the result of the collaboration. In this case, I'd love more international projects in Korea.

🔸As for the title "The Eighth Sense", I think it's nothing more than an homage to the creator's favorite movie The Sixth Sense. The plot is not even vaguely resembling the 2001 thriller. The only thing they have in common is the main character having counseling sessions about his mental struggles. From the other angle, the title doesn't make any sense as well. Eun Ji, the supporting character, says: "I realized the five senses weren't everything. Just follow your senses. Who knows what might happen?" But what are the other seven senses then? I feel like this particular line just appears out of nowhere to justify the title.

But hey, now I finally learned how to spell "eighth"!

🔸The Eighth Sense is by far the most vibrant and living K-drama (not just as a BL) that doesn't have that manufactured TV production touch. I actually felt a little bit high watching it (hahah) from how much I related and how bad I wanted to be in that campfire circle with the surfing club folks. I wish the cast and the crew good luck and a big success in the future!

Lire davantage

Great Acting, Confusing Motives

I loved the first few episodes and really enjoyed where the story was going. It is shown that one of the main characters goes to a therapist / psychologist and gets some sort of medical treatment, also his behavior shows that of someone who is mentally struggling. The confusing part is that when the 2 main people meet, it is fine, then it gets deeper and the guy shuts down. He feels guilty about some story stuff and in the end, obviously, they get together, but the guy doesn't seem to be specifically unwell anymore? What I mean is, I do not understand at all why and at what point he decided to open up to the freshman sweetboy and stop closing off and being careful etc. The switching point made little sense to me. I feel like the younger guy got mistreated way too often and while I enjoy the two, I feel like they have a lot to work on as a couple. They didn;t even state that they can always show their worries with them, which is important as half the drama is about mental health struggling mainboy.

Either way, the characters were good and entertaining. sweetboy had good friends who took care of him, listened to him and guided him. richboy kinda has friends he doesn't share his problems with, a friend thats super jealous who he cannot seem to cut off, and thats about it. The sufing club theme and the theme with the barbecue drinking place was fun, I enjoyed watching the scenes with the lady who owns the bar sweetboy works at. I enjoyed every episode, I was just mad at several of them in the middle for the motives, mostly richboy and female ex-love interest making things unnecesarily confusing.

What I will say is that the entire thing is probably the most realistic depiction of a BL I have seen. I don't know about the friends accepting them as gay (or just liking guys, its not defined) because there is a large conservative sentiment but maybe some are cool with it? If you think of the drama more realistically it is more appreciable. Both actors are handsome and they did a good job with this one. I also enjoyed the length as Korean BLs can be super short.

Lire davantage

the live actor

I love the show so much the characters the acting was amazing I need season two to come out I hope in the future they can release it.❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Lire davantage

Warning: Dont read this review, if you liked this drama

Okay, so after listening to the rave reviews on MDL and Discord that this series was the epitome of a BL production, I sat to watch this series. The cinematography, the acting, the OST, the story - everything was considered to be awesome about this series. By everyone.
So it was with a fair amount of expectation that I sat to watch this series.
To say it was a disappointment is an understatement.
Let me start by saying that I watched this drama on kisskh, which means the quality ain't HD, and that I haven't crossed 3 episodes in this drama.
The series starts off with a huge wet blanket and a downer by showing the main lead, who apparently only has vicious sticks as friends around him, sitting in a bar listening to his friends, spew jealous logorrhea about him... I mean, I take into consideration, that maybe they showed it that way, to show what a blockbuster life the ML has, but I still disapprove. It just makes me feel very uncomfortable and it's very off-putting to me as a viewer.
Alright, never mind. Maybe at least the MC might be a fresh breath of air, I thought.
Turns out he is a mighty prick, who doesn't have friends, but wants some, but still manages to do all things that would lead to the opposite. he is gloomy, unnatural, and absolutely has no friend-making skills whatsoever, which isn't as bad a thing as I make it out to be, to be very frank. I might have forgiven him for that if he could have been a little less pricky about it.
By the end of 1st episode and the start of the 2nd, we are shown that the boring, pompous, gloomy boy decides to start surfing all of a sudden. In my opinion, it doesn't sit right with his character... I mean, surfing? he doesn't have a single hobby or characteristic that would make us think, "Oh, it's natural for the MC to go surfing... it makes sense..."
No, it doesn't.
So that's another downer.
The two characters speak, but it's mostly Jae Won helping and Ji Hyun sulking. Just imagine this rolling for a few episodes and then out of nowhere, Jae Won kisses Ji Hyun... I mean, why? how? And seriously, whyyyy??
Oh god, was that flirting up until now?? Thank you The Eighth Sense, for making me feel better about my flirting skills...
But for your welfare, I would suggest you make the actors wear placards that state "Oh I am flirting ight now", cause otherwise we wouldn't know.
I didn't watch it beyond that... the dead fish kisses were the last straw for me, which allowed me to close the curtains on this boring shitshow...
If I have offended anyone with my review, I apologize.

Lire davantage

BEST KOREAN BL MADE YET.

I've watched alot of films in my lifetime, and alot of BL movies too (whether it be thai, japanese, taiwanese, etc..). But trying to watch Korean BLs was quite difficult. I could tell that in most casts there was a sense of comfortability preventing the chemistry from showing onset. And being a Kdrama lover this was very sad since i really enjoy hearing the korean language, and i know they're talented when it comes to plot lines and romantic situations; yet this wasn't being showcased in their BLs as nearly as good as it could've been.
I thought Blueming was the best of this... UP TIL NOW!!!
I'M SO BLOWN AWAY FROM THIS SERIES
THE CAST, THE QUALITY, THE CINEMATIC FEATURES.
Genuinely feels like a REAL KDRAMA.
The incredible plot too, it takes you on such an emotional journey which is just what viewers want!
I made this and an IMD account just to write reviews about this series but i'm seriously so thankful that such a BL was made..
The scenes feel so raw, so realistic. I really feel so blessed to see this - i thought the day would never come.

If you're looking for a hearty BL, that you isn't just a shallow mess of comedy and whatnot, then this is for you. It properly digs into the plot and really showcases what Boys Love really is.
Amazing.
Thank you for reading.

Lire davantage

cant wait for ep 3 its so good

literally ep 1 and 2 already has me SCREAMING, the tension, omg the chemistry is crazy and it has barley even started, honestly i cant wait for the next episode, some people say that this series is gonna have a sad ending but truly if they give me what to my star s2 gave me for the whole show ill start crying cuz please lets have hope for this couple. if u haven't watched it yet, start watching it already cuz WHAT ARE YOU WAITNG FOR (but i know waiting for episodes is trauma). anyways have to give this show a 10/10 early because i am fully committed to this couple. lets pray for that happy ending (PLEASE!!!!!)

Lire davantage

Its only been 2 episodes and I already know this gonna be in my top 10 shows of 2023

The main thing I seem to like is the colouring, cinematography and the way its filmed. The show shows a lot of thing abaut korean culture, the drinking, restaurant with the food and sticky notes on the walls... But it has this style of filming and camera movements that feel very European. Music is very important to me in tv and this show has such a great soundtrack. The song choices also feel different from other Korean shows. I like how the show has this coming of age vibe and the music adds to it. Acting is very good. I like the characters and the main character isnt potrayed as this lonely guy who doent have friends even though he is quiet. He just simply dosent want a lot of friends or people around him. Jae Won is this social person but I like the idea that later on even though he has many friends and gets attention he still will feels that Ji hyun is very special. Also Jae Won is so boyfriend material!!! I want to note out that Jae won realizes what kind of person Ji hyun is and makes him not dissapear in the surf group.
The shower scene... It shows how Ji hyun is nervous to be naked in front of other people. Jae won realizes after a while that ji hyun feels uncomfortable so he leaves. The camera moving and being so close to Jae wons face adds the feeling of uncomfortable. Also the camera isnt very close at the begining but gets closer as the conversation goes on. But obvously they were checking each other out.

Lire davantage