Despite a few misgivings with the ending, I still strongly recommend watching this

Not Me is social commentary, it’s gay comraderie, and it’s a bunch of college kids who are trying to fight against systems that they see as unjust. The actors are fucking phenomenal, the soundtrack is a straight up banger, and I will shout praises for P’Nuchy from the (gay) rooftops.

It starts off so thematically robust. The characters grow on us as we slowly get to know them through White’s POV. The cinematography and depth of meaning in some scenes will straight up punch you in the gut and leave you breathless. In a short span of fourteen episodes, Not Me manages to address a wide number of important issues like LGBT rights, worker rights, disability, cops, and overall systemic corruption.

I will not deny that the ending (read: last few episodes, a little more for two specific characters) is plagued with messy character writing and pacing issues, but despite this, it never strays from its core values of criticizing societal inequality and forms of oppression.

Go watch it.

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The ending delivers, but not without frustration and head-banging

(I didn't read the manga nor did I watch the original Japanese version of the drama, so keep that in mind.)

If you've ever watched a HK-produced comedy, the type of slapstick comedy that you'll see in this drama will feel familiar. Unfortunately, the drama leaned too heavily into the slapstick comedy at times, dragging out the plot and drowning out themes that could've been interesting to explore.

It was rather distasteful to portray the older boss as a comedic character rather than a more mature and tragic one. He comes off as kind of creepy and manipulative, leveraging his power as the boss to coerce the main character into more or less "accepting" his feelings. His over-the-top displays of love feel like jokes, which does a massive disservice to the character. (I'm kind of bitter because they could've used his character to more seriously explore what it is like to come out of the closet later on in life.)

At times, the characters can be frustrating and dumb, and make decisions that literally no sane person would make. Given how many characters eventually develop feelings for the main character, this is probably one of the biggest gatherings of morosexuals I've ever seen in a drama.

This isn't really your typical bl, so there won't be many melodramatic scenes with flowery background music, but the endgame couple is pretty darn cute when they do have their moments. We do get some pretty solid female characters with satisfying development (which is rather uncommon in bl), and some of the cutest side couples. So it's not a terrible deal.

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Watch it for the lesbians and cinnamon topography

Pro: The camerawork and framing in this show is so so good in this show. It's stunning. It's breathtaking. It almost distracts you from the fact that the plot isn't actually going anywhere. Han SoHee and Song Kang look wonderful in this one, as they always do. Soljiwan supremacy.

Cons: The ending will definitely leave you wondering what kinda message this show was trying to send. Watching this feels like you're traveling down a river, and the scenery is generally nice and all, but nothing is really happening. Some of the twists and turns you're taking are a little concerning, and the destination is nothing like you expected it to be.

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If slow burn is your jam, this is the drama for you

It starts rough because one of the leads seems like a massive prick for about four episodes until we see that he actually has redeemable qualities and whole carousel of emotional baggage to unpack. There are high rewards for making it through the beginning though because then we get to see the characters really develop and open up to each other in the most heartwarming and fuzzy ways. Fluff with a healthy side of yearning and pining? What more could you ask for? Bone Apple Tea

But throughout, and I say this with a lot of love, there will be writing choices that will make you scratch your head and go, "Did this really have to happen? Did they have to write it like this?" Plot points will happen that will make you rub your chin sagely and say, "Ahhh. There is no other purpose for this other than to Advance Plot." And towards the end, the drama stumbles a bit and seems to lose its momentum, but the last episode brings it back together quite nicely.

It's really a cute watch. If you vibe with a burn so slow that it would give a sloth a run for its money, problems that are predominantly caused by the characters themselves, a slew of extremely supportive friends, surprisingly untoxic female characters (even the vloggers grew on me lol), and tooth-rottingly sweet endings, this is the show for you.

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