They NEVER Really Kiss!

You sit there in anticipation. Then, it starts. Kurosawa slides his hand behind Adachi’s neck to get a firm but gentle hold. He is in charge. Everyone knows what is about to happen, especially Adachi. He moves his lips closer and closer until he is just about to touch Adachi’s magnetic pout, then BAM! It is either someone interrupting, a telephone going off, or the elevator closing, but there is NO contact! It is the most unusually disappointing expectation. Of course, as the old saying goes, “If you have expectations, you will be disappointed.”
Maybe it is Japanese, often so formal and polite. I thought it was only in China, but even in China, they kiss! Oh well, enough of my disappointment. I hope there is a season two, and they actually SMACK! No tongues, just smack right on the lips.
Other than that, this is undoubtedly the BEST BL series, so far. A close second might be Sam and Yu in We Best Love, and a host of what now might be called vintage: Tay and New, Max and Tul, and Zach and Fandy, et al. Kurosawa and Adachi’s chemistry is so vibrant you almost believe they are real. Even the compilations and follow-ups on youtube make you believe they are or soon will be together for life.
If you haven’t seen it, you must! There is no fault. Oh, sure, anyone can find fault, in fact one guy on this review page wrote that the ending was at fault. It went too fast or something, and the secondary characters were not to his liking or some such rot. And, another complained Kurosawa’s co-workers talked behind his back saying there wasn’t much to him other than his looks, yet he is continually praised for his excellent ability at his job. This is not unusual. Good looking people’s accomplishments are often overlooked by others out of jealousy. Many prefer to think of good looking people as objects not abilities. And, there was still another who said it left a bad taste in her mouth. Wow, PEOPLE!
There really is no fault! I have watched it three times already, and I fall in love with both of them each time. I couldn’t possibly chose which one I love more. They currently reign supreme: Kurosawa and Adachi!

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I Liked It!

Everybody’s a critic! You know how lucky we are to even have BL movies and series to critique? I know most take these little gems for granted, but not I! I am grateful for each one, except maybe The Shipper, but even that, despite my review, was still liked by many fans.
I think the problem with this was the mismatched leads. On the one hand you had the devastatingly handsome Boat, and on the other the goofy Gun. But, I think one of the messages of this story was that you can’t pick who or why you fall in love. I have seen some odd matches, and this was no different.
But, despite this, I disagree that Gun is a bad actor. He actually did a bang up job. Of course, he had most of the opportunities for animation: laughing, tears, anger, despair, joy. Poor Boat was so restricted by his character he hardly got to compete. Again, Gun is not your typical handsome lead; although, there were times when I thought him quite attractive. Most of the time, however, he was twisting and contorting his face into some fairly unattractive configurations. But, that is just who he is. Gun got to exercise his acting skill here, and he did admirably. Let’s face it, it’s hard to convince the audience that you are the handsome dramatic leading man when you are paired with such a looker! I think Mark was a better pair for Gun, and that doesn’t mean that Mark isn’t a looker. They just seemed more suited to each other. Actually, Mark might have made a better choice than Gun for a love interest, but what is done is done, and it is nice to see that Gun is not being over-looked. In fact, I can see a bright future for him.
As for the series, the music was very good. The story was good, too. I pretty much take all of these BL stories at face value. I am just glad they keep making them, and I love them all. Tea and Bun were a little annoying at first, but I grew to love them. Jane and Apple didn’t need to be in the story at all, but it is always good to see Apple. It flew by. It would have been ok if it were 12 episodes, but it had a happy ending, I guess. I really don’t know what those two boys are going to do in the future. Gun has a degree. Boat still has nothing, and six years have passed. I suppose he won’t go to college. I guess he will just live off Gun, which doesn’t make for years of contentment. Oh, well.
The last thing I want to mention is Gun’s wardrobe. Those clothes were fabulous. I couldn’t wait for the next scene just to see what Gun was wearing, and he wears clothes very well. They really helped make him appear handsome, and his hair cut wasn’t bad, either. Oh, one or two more, the sets and locations. Sky's bed! French provincial cane! To die! And, who wouldn't want to live in Sky's house?
Ok, now that I am finished, I am going back to watch the whole series again.

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Unacceptable!

Absolutely, with the possible exception of History 3: Make Our Days Count, the most disappointing, horrendously shocking, worthless, nonsensical BL series I have ever wasted my time on! There is NOTHING redeemable about this except maybe the presence of FIRST! But, what a waste of FIRST! However, he did get the lead, which he should have again soon, and he got to exercise his brilliant acting chops. Other than that it was an enticing journey to nowhere! The music was fine, I don't really listen to the music anyway. And, all of those who wrote postive or semi-positive reviews are so desperate for any crumbs the boylove producers toss them that they put up with these idiotic plots and unhappy endings.

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Wow! I have just finished watching this for the second time, and plan on watching for a 3rd before New Year’s Eve. This is probably the best fantasy I have ever seen. It has everything: love, hate, revenge, good, innocence, evil, callousness, redemption, rebirth, and best of all, MAGIC! I started watching this because I saw that Adonis - Daniel Jin Feng Liao (Lord Pu Chi / Yan You / Snake Immortal) was in it, and aside from being unbelievably handsome, he is quite mesmerizing to me as an actor. Surprisingly, I fell in love with Deng Lun, Yang Zi, and Leo Luo. They were entrancing, along with the rest of the cast. They were all superb. The sets, costumes, and flow of the drama were all spectacular. There were only a couple of times I felt it was a little slow, but that is by no means a criticism. Bravo to the entire experience of Ashes of Love!
The problem I had with watching this as an English speaker was the translation. The drama critic, Artemide, described it, “The action takes place in the prehistorical era, in a time when the six realms were reigning independently in harmony.” After reading his description, we know that this was LONG before the “Age of Slang.” But, slang and culturally specific terminology determined by modern concurrent events abound in this translation. Two examples are “Buy 1 Get 1 Free” and “Have a casual hang-out and chill together.” Another example is “Roger that!” This was repeated time and again in the drama and could not possibly have even been dreamt of due to the lack of technology during the ancient times. Roger came from the WWII use of two-way radios as a verbal signal of recognition and confirmation. Its use in this drama was just silly! Also, the calling of women LORD or GOD (this occurred mostly in the beginning of the drama and was later corrected) would not have been permitted since women were NOT equal to men even in Heaven. They would have been called Lady or Mistress or Goddess or something appropriate that has recently been discarded by the PC police of this era. The prime example would be calling a female an actor instead of an actress to eliminate gender.
The list of the following were used. I have reinterpreted them to better suit this particular drama’s era. Phrases used in the drama are followed by something like it should be. Roger that!- Right away, I understand, I will get that done; No Worries!-It’s alright, or It can easily be remedied; My bad!-My fault, or It was my grievous fault; Freaked me out!-Scared me, or Frightened me; Sure!-Yes; Pushing my bottom line-Pushing my patience, or Endurance; What a joke!-This must be a jest!; Every Jack has a Jill-Every man has a woman; It’s a deal-We have an agreement; I’ll be darned!-I am amazed: This is weird-This is very strange or odd; Stuff!-Should be specifically named; Tough nut to crack-Difficult person; Whatever!-It is of no consequence; The bigger picture-The larger scheme; Get it?-Understand?; Buck the trend-Go against convention or tradition; Hit below the belt-cheat or harm; Buck up!-Try to feel better; Some new-fangled thing-something new; It’s a piece of cake-It’s easy; Get back on the right track-Begin again correctly; You jerk-anything appropriate would do: ingrate, monster, traitor; True THAT!-You speak the truth; No such thing as a free lunch!-nothing is free; You WISH!- That is only your desire; Same to YA!-You are, or do, exactly the same. (I truly expected to hear “Dude” or “Back in the day,” which is the most ignorant of all phrases. If you don’t know it was back in 1920, or back in the 30’s, or 25 years ago, or back at the turn of the century, then just keep quiet. Using a phrase like “back in the day” doesn’t make you sound knowledgeable, intelligent, or credible.)
As to the song that keeps playing over and over again, it translates to let’s get drunk again when the flowers bloom. Honestly, that is such a crass translation for such beautiful, touching moments. I thought, let’s drink wine again, or let’s share wine again would be softer. The consequence of drunkenness is expected and doesn’t really need to be expressed as the outcome, and it is NOT very romantic.
I let many of the grammatical errors “slide” because I would not have a clue as to how to translate any language since I only speak English. I am in awe of anyone who speaks another language. But, I will point out one example: Phoenix asks Jin Mi, “Will you marry me?” She says, “You know I do.” Of course it should be, “You know I will.” This is of no consequence; I mean “no worries.” We knew what she meant.
I would have just liked the translation to have been a little more AUTHENTIC for the supposed era and a little CLASSIER for such a grand endeavor. These ARE Gods and Goddesses conversing, NOT common street hipsters, and since they are considering a second season, even if it is about the children, the verbal exchanges would still be antiquated, not contemporary.
Again, I think this is one of the finest offerings ever, and I am thankful to whomever translated this masterpiece into English, no matter how incongruous. It has been THE HIGHLIGHT of my 2018 Christmas season!

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Ecstatic Disappointment

While I know this review is a little late, I still was driven to contribute.
First off, I have to say that I don’t remember ever being so upset by a revelation. Secondly, I don’t watch very many lengthy Asian dramas, or Asian dramas at all. I discovered them around 2018, and this is only my fourth. I was fortunate enough to have stumbled on three of the GREATEST Asian dramas of all: Ashes of Love, Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo (South Korea), and Nirvana in Fire, and even though I was open to another, each one I tried to watch after those ended in the first three of four episodes, if not the first.
But, Joy of Life has everything: good looking leads, strong character actors, fabulous sets and costumes, interesting score, great writing, and I could go on and on. I really don’t have anything bad to say about it. But, as I grew near the finish, I kept wandering how they were going to tie all of it together in the remaining episodes. Well, I finally got my answer, and it was a completely disappointing revelation.
The ending was so shocking, I was just left hanging after the last episode and was completely dumb struck. Surprisingly, the last episode was followed on youtube by a review (be sure to watch) Joy of Life – First Impression AvenueX where a gal shares her knowledge about the production in a semi-critique. It is actually more informational, but her comments are generally spot on. Anyway, as I sat there listening to her, she informed her audience, in the third part of her dialogue (around 11:00), that this was actually a trilogy, and this was just the first entry. OH! The first part of my revelation. She went on to say that this was originally set to spread out over 5 years of production. FIVE YEARS! The revelation went on. They may not have even started to film the second entry in the trilogy, yet. She went on to suggest that because it will take so long, many of the actors could be replaced. Ok, now I am palpitating. I could imagine some of them may even die.
I was just innocently searching for something to watch when I spied an interesting picture of a striking young man in costume, and it was episode 01! I thought it looked promising, as I always do, and by the end of the first episode I was hooked. I binge watched three, four, five, episodes, no more, at a time trying to stretch the enjoyment out over time. I got so wrapped up in it I even dreamt about it. It became, as did Scarlet Heart Reo, Nirvana in Fire, and Ashes of Love, part of my daily thoughts and imaginings. Now, it is revealed that the image of that horrible ending, cliff hanger, or whatever you want to call it, must remain stuck in my craw for MONTHS, MAYBE YEARS! What a dirty trick!

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Just hasn't got it.

It is unfortunate, but I am on episode 8, and I am already done. This is becoming such a bore. Why is Mek so taken aback by Kim's confession? And, as for that, who really cares? Bomb is just not that interesting, although Bear is cute; Lee and Park are just not necessary. And, what is the problem with Tim and Mai (both so cute)? That should have been resolved last episode or the one before. I am sorry I have lost interest, but the story is just not that riveting, and it just keeps dragging on. 12 episodes is just too monumental for this little piece of fluff. It should have ended at 8.

So, many unnecessary scenes like the one with Kim sick and Mek taking care of him. They should have just gone through when they finished filming and deleted, deleted, deleted, and deleted. Then it would have been 8 episodes.

Now, don't get me wrong! I am a BIG supporter of BL: Semantic Error, History 3 Trapped, In Your Heart, Old Fashioned Cupcake, Plus & Minus, KinnPorsche, etc. This one just couldn't keep me in my seat. Gotta go!

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