Flowers, colours and love

So with a cryptic title like this, I needed to do a bit of research. Here it is:

Tuberose symbolizes attraction, lust, and obsession for someone else. It can send a message that you're having a hard time letting go of someone ...
In many cultures, Tuberose flowers are considered a symbol of good luck and prosperity...
The blue tuberose flower represents fidelity, reliability, security, and extravagance.
The light pink tuberose flower stands for excitement, ecstasy, and promises of a great romance
Contrary to the typical interpretations of white, the white tuberose (carnal) flower is the ultimate symbol of lust and gratification. Its long-lasting sultry scent is guaranteed to sinfully and treacherously enchant your partner. It indicates anticipation of rapturous times and is commonly used to decorate the bridal room of newlyweds in Asian cultures.
The yellow tuberose flower embodies a love that flourishes openly and bravely under the sun and breaks away from the secrecy of closed curtains...
All in all, the tuberose flower symbolic meanings are: passion, obsession, decadence and dangerous pleasures!

What does all of this has to do with this short film?

Ming has been in love with Song, his sister's boyfriend ever since he met him ages ago. There has always been a certain hesitancy in their relationship then but Ming lacked courage to pursue him. Suddenly, Song shows up at Ming's door after not being in touch for ten years. He wants a relationship. Now. Ming has never been able to get over his crush. Now that Song is back in his life, will he finally find the courage and move forward with Song?

The film is very ambiguous about everything, the basic story including. And the ending leaves you with the impression that everything that happened was just Ming's wishful thinking. There is a lot of symbolism going through this film: firstly the flower tuberose I mentioned above, but also the colour yellow (yellow balloon, yellow envelope). Yellow is the practical thinker, not the dreamer. Yellow is non-emotional, coming from the head rather than the heart. - this applies to one side of Ming. The way the director showed us Song mostly as a shadow, I think also confirms in a way that the whole story is just a dream.

The film is made in a rarely seen format now days 4:3, the colours a bright and oversaturated, the sound is rather badly recorded and the acting is correct.
Interesting short film by a creative and talented director which can be taken in a few different ways.
Either it is this symbolic meaning through the flower(Ming's heart) showing one man's difficulties of letting go and the colour yellow (Ming's head) indicated his having made peace with reality....
Or is it really just a love story that finally came to its happy ending, suddenly, after 10 years?

What do you think?

Cast:
River Watcharapong Kanjankrit starring as Ming, short film written and directed by him as well.
Teerajate Somboonaburana starring as Song

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My today connects to+ tomorrow!

WOW, just WOW!!!

Unmet is a japanese drama which is as perfect as it possibly can be! But before writing more about it, I would like to thank HPriest for the amazing job subbing this drama.

So if I think it was perfect why only 9.5? Well, I decided to nitpick and complain about the ending! It was a happy ending, don't get me wrong, I just wanted to watch them some more and not only the main couple being lovey dovey but everyone! I needed ten minutes more!!!

Japanese dramas have turned out to be my favourite asian dramas: there is an unmatched skill in storytelling where they are toeing the fine line between the reality and ideal world while never stepping over, one way or the other! Unmet is a perfect example of this!

There is rarely a truly evil character in j dramas: the majority are perfect human beings while the others which seem greyish (professor, head nurse, heiress...) turn out to be just hiding their true character really well as they are trying to survive in a difficult world. But they are all brave, smart, loving and eventually sincere. Except for the creepy rich grandfather eating snakes and frogs loudly while controlling everyone around him but he got his comeuppance and was never heard of again! This character was really a caricature of a person!
But we have such a nice cast of characters here : doctors, nurses, patients and of course main leads Miyabi and Sanpei. Miyabi, the FL is a doctor with amnesia who does not let a little thing like that ruin her optimistic and kind nature. Sanpai, the ML , is a doctor who comes back to Japan in order to find a way to cure her.
I was a bit upset with this story to be frank, they seem to have had a whirlwind romance and then they split and it took him two years to come back to her?!? Why? Gaining medical experience I guess, and leaving her to deal with amnesia alone, with friends and family?

The plot was perfectly structured: there is a main story dealing with the FL's mysterious accident and the ensuing memory disorder stopping her from being the doctor. When Sanpai arrives, he incites her to treat patients and there is a "case of the week" in every episode dealing with different neurological disorders.The balance between the two plotlines is perfect: just enough of the both to make you continue watching. Some cases were tugging on my heartstrings and I almost had a tear in my eye (I never cry when watching! NEVER!). I also kept wishing I could find such nice and devoted doctors to treat my ailments (Not lucky so far! Doctors here are so full of themselves and lack compassion!). As I said before, I needed about 10 more minutes at the end which was rushed and a lot of things happened over a very short period of time. While the earlier episodes had slower pace and covered longer periods with patients staying in hospital for weeks, the last episode seemed condensed, urgency was paramount and the speedy presentation of events past and present, needed more time to settle in. That's why I was left wanting for more! The reasons behind the FL's accident were rather flimsy but I found it so because I am used to the ruthless cheabol world in K drama (I tried to figure out why they did not kill her in order to keep the secret!) so the big baddie being punished easily and quickly in j dramas is always a surprise!

I do want to apologize at this point because I am writing this without any notes having finished the drama half an hour ago so I am only writing my impressions and feelings.

The acting was excellent, especially the main actress Sugisaki Hana: I loved her freckles and her cute smile and sweet nature. The main actor, Wakaba Ryuya portrayed the unkept medical genius with brio, managing to show his care and love buried behind the bed hair. The whole cast was excellent, they had a great team chemistry, friendships, bromances and romances all were just right. The music was nice and right for the drama, the intro animation very original and illustrating the drama well! The medical part of the drama (surgeries etc.) were not overpowering or off-putting: very often we never saw the procedure, just the before and the after. That is how I like my medical dramas: when they show the human part of the profession and not focus solely on the technical one.

I cannot recommend this drama enough. It is highly bingeable (well, I just watched it in day!) since they finish every episode with a cliffhanger. But apart from that, it is so nice to see a drama where people are genuinely kind to each other, not expecting anything in return. Well, that is a japanese drama for you!

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Hero worshipping to love?

And again, the hype got to me and I watched this drama. And, again, because of the hype, I was more attentive to details. And because I paid attention to details, I did not like this very much. And what I did not like the most is the character of Wei Zhi Yuen: what a manipulative little cocky jerk of a person!

Here starts the rant:

Wei Qian, a lonely orphaned boy, taking care of his sister while working for the local mob, takes in a stray boy he keeps seeing sleeping in the street. He adopts him and gives him a name. Few years later, that boy, now adult, first comes out to WQ (so he is gay but the only man he was ever attracted to is WQ?!?!) and then professes his love to WQ (apparently he has been in love with him ever since he met him as a child?!?!?OK...), who shocked, sends him to school abroad. WZY comes back four years later, changed, matured but still in love with WQ and keeps attacking him until WQ surrenders.

WZY has basically two personalities: before and after going abroad. Before, he is hero worshipping WQ who saved him, gave him home and future. He imagines himself being in love. He is stubborn, has one track mind and does not take NO for an answer. When he comes back, older and wiser he manages to get what he wants by smartly manipulating WQ.

WQ has always been more of a father than a brother to his younger sister Lili and to WZY. He has a physical aversion towards women due to his mother's abuse: he gets literally sick when a women reminds him of her. So he has never been in a relationship: between trying to survive, working hard and looking after his siblings, being in a relationship was the last of his worries. He has never had any romantic feelings or even an idea of love (except as a family member) towards WZY. So when WZY comes back, WQis happy to have his brother back, he is family and he loves his family but he caves under WZY relentless bullying. Is he really in love with WZY? Allow me to doubt! They do end up happily ever after but..... During the first half of the series, WQ is the man in the house. But when WZY comes back, suddenly WQ loses all strength and every brain cell and turns from the ML into the FL while WZY takes the initiative....The change of relationship pace comes with WZY's maturity which catches an exhausted WQ off guard. WQ eventually just gives in and 5min later they are heavily breathing on the bed!

This whole love story failed to convince me.

The story about WQ's struggles to take care of his family while being a child himself was inspiring. The child actors were extraordinary. The whole cast was at the top of their game especially the main pair. The problem is the writing and messy storytelling and the editing with too many flashbacks. But this is a BL so what do we expect.? It is a romance which wants to look like real world but we all know it does not! Maudlin music, nice sets and average cinematography completes the unremarkable production values. One more thing I noticed: why did the costume designer make WQ wear those granpa jumpers in the second half: to make him look older, more experienced, wiser?

There are two exactly the same love stories developed here though the other one should have been fleshed out more. It is a parallel story between Lily, WQ's little sister and San Pang his best friend. The older boys knew them (Lili & WZY) when they were kids, so they treated them as siblings. Now adults, those siblings do not want to be considered siblings any more but lovers. The major difference between these stories is that SP did not save Lili's life, he was just a helpful big brother's friend.

There is even a mafia story somewhere in there (blink and you miss it!) and the inkling of a possible love story between the doctor and the mob boss. Now, that is the drama I would like to see: those two characters practically stole the show and they were in this 10min max!

Some people said there is incest and grooming. No not really! They are not blood relatives so no incest and when they eventually get together they are full grown independent adults. Grooming? Absolutely not! The older brother was never attracted to the younger one. it is the younger brother who relentlessly pursues the older one.

The drama is relationship trope filled: from sponge baths, feeding porridge, fastening seatbelt....think of it, it's in there! The music is all the time on: the songs end up being extremely annoying since they translated the lyrics. Every song explains the emotions felt by the main characters: loneliness ("I am lonely...."says the song), missing someone ("I miss you, I want to see you..."says the song ), flashbacks ("We met in the past, you helped me..."says the song), kissing ("I love you, I want to be with you forever..." says the song)). They are probably not exact lyrics but thereabouts, as if we could not understand what the characters are feeling. Better safe than sorry, the producers must have said. Last but not least, there seemed to be an issue with editing in episode 11: I actually quite liked it. It gave us the flashbacks of their every important moment edited with their lovemaking!

I liked these quotes at the end of every episode which correspond to events taking place:
The first-ever family that will never abandon you.
The second kind of family always leaves the light on for you
The third kind of family is the kind that always makes you want to stay
The fourth type of family member is someone who is always there for you
The fifth kind of family is too good to let go
The sixth kind of family pretends to be strong and doesn't say goodbye
The seventh kind of family is always waiting in the distance
The eighth kind of family shows care in his own way
The ninth kind of family is always there to protect you when the end comes
The tenth kind of family loves you so much that they want to leave you.
The eleventh kind of family indulges you unconditionally because they love you so much.
The twelfth kind of family stays together for life.

In conclusion, I am probably not the target audience since these kinds of dramas, half serious half fluff and nothing whole, are really tiring me.

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Misunderstandings and missed chances

This drama had two halves for me: a rant inducing first half and the butterflies inducing second. It is a story of teens, full of insecurities, behaving like teens i.e. immaturely and without the courage to ask for what they really want! Fast-forward 10 years later, those teens are adults now and are well aware of the chances they are given so they take them albeit reluctantly but they still do!

What I liked:
- two stories told in parallel: past and present. In the past we see how they go from best friends to lovers to enemies and in the present from enemies to lovers. The pacing was excellent!
- Ji's character in the present and Achi's in the past timeline
- Ji's parents, especially father in the end
- Junior's singing voice (if that's him singing!)
- Achi's manager and Ji's friend
- absolutely zero PPLs (incredible but true)
- good chemistry and excellent NC scenes

What I did not like:
- unnecessary second couple (Ki and the farmer)
- Achi's behaviour in the first half
- too much lipstick on Achi
- sound effects (even a little bit of those is too much!)
- lack of communication causing a 10 year rift between them
- lack of communication
- lack of communication

The rest is here:

PERSONAL RANT: pay no attention to my lucubrations! Thank you!
1. I have started this only 10 min ago and want to drop it already. Why? Those awful unnecessary sound effects! Really? Still doing those? Please producers, give some credit to your public that they will know when a scene is supposed to be funny! And, OMG! the lipstick on that dude!? But Fluke is so pretty without looking weak. Makes me think of James of Bed Friend fame!...Fortunately, no shiny lipstick on him! He's making it worth the watch! ?
2. So, I haven't dropped it yet but again was very close to it in ep 2. That actor is annoying, apparently has never heard the word NO, has no boundaries and he thinks himself cute. So not cute and even less romantic! This is turning into a hate watch accompanied by rants. It sounds fun! Go Ji, stay strong!
3. I was hoping that the sound effects have just been an accident at the beginning of the first episode. No way! They are back with vengeance at the beginning of the third!??This drama has all the tropes from three years ago. I had thought they had moved on. No such luck! Moreover, the actor is being creepy, using a kid and not cute at all! And now he wants to be friends! I think I have definitely seen too many bls!??Pushy ml, disregarding other people is definitely to my liking. What is the most infuriating is that the doctor is going to let him do everything he wants and since he's had a crush on him for ten years it is not going to take long. I noticed one item of progress in this dramas: everyone is wearing a helmet nowdays when they are riding a motorcycle: it was not the case a couple of years ago so the new law must have been implemented in Thailand? I love that "doctors saving lives" mission dramatic music, slow motion walking through a long corridor with hands in the air: I could not stop laughing: they look like kids playing doctors! The flashbacks a spaced nicely and giving just bits and pieces of the backstory which correspond to present events. Nicely done! But why does Ji carry a tote bag? This is just another infuriating bl trope: ukes carry totes and semes backpacks, even though they gave him a backpack in the present too but it is colour coordinated with his t-shirt!? Fluke looks so much like a typical bl actor from three years ago (he's the spitting image of the guy from UWMA!) That bridge in Chiang Mai is always empty when they are crossing it together: but you can see in the background that the production stopped the traffic at the entrance to it!
One HUGE positive point so far: not one single PPL! Amazing! Incredible for a thai bl! At least two points gained on my final rate for sure! If they manage it until the end!
4. So I went and got myself a pot of ice cream (B&J Cookie Dough) convinced that it would calm my ranting mood down. I am sorry to say, it did not! I am getting angry with Ji now: I thought he was strong but he is buckling so fast under pressure from the Achi that it is quite disturbing and disappointing. Achi is a charming and selfish man who thinks his pushy behaviour is cute but I thought Ji was better....I guess when you've been in unrequited love for ten years, you admit defeat quickly. And then, they threw us a curveball: Achi has had feelings for Ji forever, he never wanted to be his friend! The whole story gets turned upside down! What happened between them 10 years earlier? Why did Ji pretend to be interested in Pear, a girl from Achi's school? The plot thickens!!!
5. Achi telling a bedtime story with puppets was the cutest ever, in the flashback. Poor guy, he keeps confessing to apparently completely clueless Ji. This is getting better! Yey! So much cuteness in this episode. They have both calmed down and are going slowly...Nice! Nothing to rant about!
6. Some very long scenes with a patient in hospital: his cancer made Ji think about his own mother and yada yada yada....They wasted over half an episode on it. But then they went to flashbacks and to ten years earlier: cute and fluffy! More please, I want more! And I was given more! Junior, the actor playing Achi, sings a song: he has such a lovely warm unusual voice....Fingers crossed they finally start talking to each other and not skirting around the most important questions in their minds!
7. I wonder which gay arthouse film did they watch that made them all hot and bothered like this? The lovemaking scene was beautiful and the aftermath of teens not talking probably typical, separating because of a misunderstanding.... While trying to save some face, they ruin everything! Actually, now I am getting angry with the young Ji. I know, teens explore, do not understand and all that but it's been months that Achi has been giving him hints and signs that Ji keeps ignoring. He is a smart kid so...Why? Poor Achi....Poor me! My rant has made a 180° turn and now I am not happy with Ji, the one in the past not in the present!???Yes, finally they talked! It only took them ten years. Better late than never!
8. Well, nothing runs smoothly in heaven, apparently. They are together, but things are not all cleared up and Ji is hesitating. Again. So his best friend tells him the simple truth: "Stop playing games and just be together!" It falls on deaf ears? I hope not! One thing has been bothering me since the start: why does Ji constantly wear his doctor's coat outside hospital? He doesn't have time to change before going home? Ever? I am not a medical professional but isn't reattaching a finger a more sensitive operation than placing a hip screw? I'd say yes! So he was an expert surgeon in the first episodes (and that was already hard to believe) but now in the last episode he needs to be supervised? [Microsurgery: Reattaching a finger and restoring blood flow is delicate work, since each digital artery is a millimeter in diameter, decreasing in size (as it moves from the top of the finger to the bottom) to fractions of a millimeter before branching into capillaries. ] Of course they had to ruin the last minutes with Achi's concert and his awful hair and too much lipstick. Who finds that quantity of lipstick on a man attractive?

This turned out to be a great watch after an iffy start.

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Magic mirror...what magic?!?

I was actually really afraid of watching this last instalment of My Universe anthology because of the director who made three of the arguably worst parts, where story amounted to 15 min of footage filmed and the rest are those 15 min shown as flashbacks repeatedly. I did not think I could live through another flashback hell.
Well, lo and behold, a miracle happened: not one single flashback in these two episodes. But now I've seen this, I actually wish there were more flashback and less of the story which was messy, incomprehensible and just plain boring and extremely cringy(the proposal in the pizza place had me running for the door screaming!)!.

The synopsis made me expect a fantasy story which would have made a lovely ending of the series. Yeah, well fantasy...I don't think they understand the genre!

Pond is a narcissist, always looking at himself in the many mirrors he owns. One day he breaks one by accident. With a friend's help, he finds another one dumped behind the building. He brings it home but the mirror turns out to be weird since Pond keeps hearing noises and seeing shadows in it. Until one day he recognizes the person in the mirror: a student he used to tutor long time ago and with whom he lost touch. He goes to see him and discovers that Marvin is dying so he takes it upon himself to make Marvin's last days memorable. They kiss. The end!

The first problem is the casting of a 44yr old actor to play a 29yr old Pond: him acting cute and cheerful was not convincing: he just looked like an immature kid - ridiculous! The second problem is the storyline. With the magic mirror involved, I was expecting a major twist in the story, using this mirror. Nothing happened: the mirror was just the device to get them to contact each other again. And that's it! Wasted potential! But maybe it is only my mind refusing to admit the existence of sad stories. Somehow this kind of a story does not fit into this bl genre, this is just a tragedy without happy ending but with Pond finally figuring out what he wants to do in his life. So this is actually the story of Pond and his search for a meaningful employment.

This is quite bad: I liked Fake Love more which was so badly filmed (endless silent shots, flashbacks of flashbacks of flashbacks... Watch this video, it is hilarious: https://youtu.be/i60dsk4m_vc) and written but the story made sense somehow. This is just a mess trying to be meaningful but completely loosing the plot! This director just does not have luck with scripts! Don't give up! This one should have been good

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Optimistic, uplifting, amazing!

It has been a long time since a drama made me feel so many butterflies and actually moved me almost to (happy) tears. I never cry: happy or sad! Never! But this was perfect as perfect can get in this imperfect world made by us, imperfect humans. Maybe this was just exactly what I needed at this moment in my life.

This is the story of Sayako, who, 30 years old, faced with a wall in her life and challenged by a young man met by accident, decides to try to realize her dreams of becoming an architect. After finally entering college, she finds a room in a house shared with 5 other architecture students. Initially she is scared of age difference, but her bubbly optimistic disposition wins everyone and she finds great friends and love amongst them.

Sayako is an amazing character, brave, persistent, refusing to have regrets later in life and therefore doing everything in her power to succeed. She gives us all a great lesson in life: it is never too late to realize your dreams!
The whole cast of characters is amazing: her roommates, her landlord who is interested in her but has trouble showing it, her parents who support her in her endeavour. And of course Tako, the ML whose remarks have shaken her life far beyond the imagined. Just like in many j dramas, there is not one single mean character. Everyone is sweet, helpful, understanding and it is not annoying or boring.

There must have been flaws in this drama: unwillingness to communicate about the crucial decision in life, could be one rare one...but I cannot think of anything major and frankly, I am feeling so good at the moment that I do not want to think about it!

This drama should be prescribed by doctors because it makes you feel good, leaves you with a silly smile plastered on your face and the need to gush to everyone about its effect.

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You've got a friend in me!

So I have just spent over half an hour trying to find out the name of the actor playing Tat/Radar and all I could find are two names: Ajun and Charles without a photo to accompany those....It is often so frustration when there are webdramas like this one, hidden gems which could use more exposure because they are original and fun, and I cannot find any information about it save for what's mentioned on youtube which is not much. I don't speak cantonese but even their wikipedia page (which I translated using google!) does not offer more! Why?

This webdrama is first and foremost a sitcom about two best friends living together. They'd been friends for twenty years, they even tried dating once but without success so they remained friends, closer than lovers, which eventually put strain on their respective romantic relationships. Zik is gay and after his 10 year relationship comes to a close, he seeks solace and a place to stay with Tat (or Radar in final episodes. I don't get different names!). While Zik is messy, Tat is a clean freak and their cohabitation is marked by many bickering scenes because of their differences.

The drama has actually 25 episodes: there is an episode 0. Except for a few last ones, all episodes are about 5min long including a behind the scene part. The originality of this drama is that it is presented as a mockumentary: with characters being interviewed and the single camera filming style seemingly simple and cheap. Well, they obviously did have a very low budget (sound recording is atrocious!), the sets are hideous (but probably realistic, HK way of living in cramped high-rises!) but the writing and the acting are stellar!

The sitcom mostly explores the cohabitation of two men of completely different disposition. But underneath the funny bit, we can also see their relationship changing even though they try to pretend that everything is the same. They themselves seem not to realize the real depth of their connection. Which is is very obvious to the set of support characters gravitating around the main pair: Tat's mother convinced they are dating, the neighbourhood fujoshi and a young man who has grabbed the life with both hands and is exploring his own sexuality in depth (asking Zik for advice), Zik's ex Steven and even the building guard.

Since this is mostly a sitcom, there are no bad characters, some can be overbearing and a bit annoying but that is life. I liked how they included HIV testing into the plot making it important but without panicking.

The plot developed smoothly: from the initial comedy sketches, the slow inclusion of additional characters makes the plot move forward slowly but naturally. Nothing is forced. Kudos to the writers, whoever they may be!

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Alcohol + love = cure for mental health problems?

How do you rate a drama which you just binge watched while perfectly aware of many of its flaws? It was well acted and filmed, smoothly written though the story is often wrong and senseless. My title says it all! I wish depression can be solved by being drunk on a daily basis with a friend/boyfriend you love!

The story follows two doctors struggling with mental health: the first one is depressed due to a burn out while the other one suffers from PTSD after an operation room death. Suddenly they find themselves living in the same building. They used to be high achievers in high school, top grades and popular. They lost touch after school and only now, 15years later they renew their acquaintance.

What I liked:
- the actors all had good chemistry and were surprisingly very convincing as teenagers in spite of advanced age. Were there any special filming procedures/SFX used for those scenes, I wonder?
- funny but supportive side characters
- the FL's ideas for a fun date (I thought she was pulling his leg!)
- the second couple who saved the second half of this drama

What was wrong:
- mental health issues were treated poorly: neither of them, as they were written, seemed really ill but tired, overworked, disappointed. Most of the time, which they spent together, they looked happy and content, because they finally got to rest!
- causes of the mental distress were not treated well: the peer pressure, the cut-throat competition and the horrible gossiping judgemental society were just mentioned without criticism since the things are as they are and apparently cannot be changed!
- the cure for mental health issues, according to the writer of this drama is: rare consultations with a shrink, a lot of pills, enormous quantities of alcohol and love which turned out to be the main ingredient (she solved his PTSD problem just by being there.... Really?!?
- immature adult main characters: 30yr old virgins, being shy, using baby voice etc. The ML , as a teen, was presented as someone who enjoys life, has a lot of friends, goes out and still has the best grades. The FL on the other hand is the opposite: a loner, without friends or life for that matter, constantly studying in order to have the best grades. Basically, they are saying that he is smarter and more competent than she is since she has to study all the time. Even during her unemployment period, she is seen studying while he is only seen studying with his tutor a little bit in high school but never as an adult professional. At one point, after dating for about a year, they sleep together(I think!Or maybe just a lot of kissing...) and a couple of days later when mentioning that night, they become shy and self-conscious. They are over thirty: behave like adults!They are adults at work. But they are actually rarely that in private: they become the 15yr old versions of themselves, which is cute for about 10 seconds!
- the ML's horrible parents: he is definitely someone extremely intelligent, if he managed to make abstraction of his parents and be successful. But even that is only mentioned and not dealt with as it should have been. Or maybe they decided that nothing is to be done, "leopard never changes his spots" so the parents were a lost cause. They should not have left this hanging because those parents caused a lot of misery which they were never called out on.
- drinking practically non stop: the characters spent the most of their time drowning their sorrows. The question arises here: why? They are in treatment, taking medication and yet still drinking heavily. Nobody thinks, the doctors included, that antidepressants and alcohol maybe should not be mixed?
- pacing: the causes of their mental health issues were resolved rapidly and by ep 12, everything was sorted out and they were in love. The last three episodes are just the fluff and dealing with the minor issues of scheduling! I have to give it to them though, they managed to make these empty of the plot episodes, run smoothly. I was never bored and I fail to comprehend why?
- the voiceover: every character gets to do their part of narration which is a kind of cop out instead of showing us their sufferings. Sometimes it was difficult to understand which character does the narration and I stopped worrying about it after a few episodes and just went with the flow not really paying attention to the narration!

I did not drop this drama, I was hooked from the beginning, and I think it is because of the actors only. And even though there is so much wrong with this drama, I somehow enjoyed it and finished it quickly. Maybe it was that I needed some brainless, unrealistic but convincing fun.

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Adorable and endearing: a hidden gem!

Believe it or not, I dropped this drama twice! I tried watching it but could not get past 20min of the first episode. Twice.

Then, a couple of days ago, I decided to fish it out of my dropped list and give it another go! Kind of scraping the bottom of the barrel. I thought! I was so wrong! This drama does not belong in the bottom of the barrel. No way! It is sweet and cute, a normal romance!

The story about straight laced, rigid ad executive's repetitive clashes with his complete opposite, a messy painter were sweet, charming and adorable.
Singto is so hot as an adult in well tailored suits. Tae as the painter, is perfect: a big child lacking maturity and seriousness but brimming with talent and charm, is a fitting opposite. To my enormous surprise, I found myself enjoying this childish character: for once in my drama watching career, I was not annoyed by such a character! He was endearing. I wanted to grab him and hold onto him and cuddle him and tell him "well done"! I mean, look how cute he is collecting animals amongst which a cockroach named Steven! Too cute!
Singto and Tae had great chemistry together. So their characters' relationship was credible: both are in love but both suffer from a ton of insecurities which keep them closed off. They are attracted to each other so much so they sleep together. But what they do not do is really talk to each other. Add to the mix some, unavoidable for a romcom, misunderstandings and you have the makings of an excellent romcom.

While the romcom part stayed on rails and followed its natural development through every possible romance trope (misunderstandings, drunken confessions, break up, time jumps -only three months, but still....) some other plotlines were abandoned quickly (a series of suspicious accidents which led to believe someone was behind it but it turned to nothing) or just skimmed (cute office romance, the CEO's friends: how, why?). It was nice seeing the actor who played Techno in TharnType again...

I simply loved the music: they managed to do away almost completely, with the usual thai funky songs which are all similar and they used some nice arrangements of classical music. The animated opening credits were my favourite and I never skipped them (which I usually do when watching a drama!)

But of course, they had to almost ruin everything with an unconvincing second couple and the creepy manager. The second couple had zero chemistry and ...does Yacht EVER close his mouth? His mouth is always slightly open and when I noticed that early on, every time when he was on the screen, I was watching his mouth and wondering if he was ever going to be sitting still and listening to others with his mouth closed? No, NEVER! Sorry to say but Yacht is not a main lead actor: a comic relief support actor? Oh, yes, any time! But main roles in romcoms? Please, don't!
The other problem this drama suffers from, at least for me, are the characters of actors' managers. I still have to find a Thai drama where the manager/agent is NOT a trans or femgay character, overacting and screeching. Here the trans character was particularly caricatural. Maybe, they are like that in real life? I don't know. I would like to know! Does anyone know?
Or another thing I noticed which looked off: when the painter decides to paint wearing a white spotless shirt and when he is finished with the painting, his shirt is still spotless!His hands as well! Try simply drawing something with a felt tip pen and your hands will be dirty within five minutes.

In conclusion: I loved it. It is not the masterpiece in storytelling but it is a solid enemies to lovers drama oozing chemistry, charm and fun while giving me butterflies. There is character development: Maze becomes less stiff and the painter more serious in each other's company: their relationship is mutually beneficial.

I am only surprised at myself: why did I drop it twice in two years? I remember finding their initial relationship too cringy. Twice. Not this time! Maybe, just maybe, a string of highly hyped dramas which I did not like at all, are to blame? My taste has been honed and learned to appreciate a simple love story to its true value! Which is 9/10 with points being taken off for annoying managers.

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Hosts & Princesses

While slowly sliding into a period of slump and dropping many dramas as if they were hot potatoes, I started watching this with the same mindset. And I almost dropped it during episode 3 but I kept on watching since the episodes are really short. Moreover, the ending was surprising for someone well versed in the immutable laws of drama tropes. But more about it later...

The synopsis made me think of thai drama Mama Gogo. The plot: a woman, unsatisfied at her dead end job, unexpectedly inherits a debt ridden club where handsome men entertain bored women they call princesses and treat as such. The clash between two universes is fun, though a bit cringy, to watch. Eventually they end up changing each other.

The cast was excellent and the writing did them all justice by highlighting the lives of a few of them, their backstories and how they view their lives: they are all vulnerable human beings. That made them all the more lovable and still be complex characters which show growth.

Truth be told, I wanted to drop it very quickly: the childhood connection/first love was almost to much to bear and I watched the 3rd episode with my eyes closed: too cringy when she dresses up (unconvincingly!) as a man and tries to work as a host. But I soldiered on and it ended up being worthy the time spent.

I would like to thank the subbers who explained all the details of the host terminology in their notes on screen since the majority of watchers here are not really familiar with host clubs and the way they work. This was indeed a fascinating cultural aspect of japanese society.

Still, that is not the reason why I gave this drama a higher note then I wanted to. When I discovered the childhood connection in episode 2, I literally groaned "Oh, nooo!". But they managed to surprise me in the end by not making them a couple as we were all taught to expect: "first love is forever". This drama trope is so omnipresent in romcoms. I am glad they went with a more realistic approach and therefore I gave them one point more because dramas upending the expected solution are few and far between. The problem is that the happy couple has no chemistry to speak of. Unfortunately the first love couple had more chemistry, maybe because they were of the same age? Don't get me wrong, I love noona romances but I need to see the spark between them. Yagi Yusei is as pretty as an angel but his acting skills are lacking: every time he was on screen I thought I was watching Utsukushii Kare, the same laid back "cool, don't care about anyone" type of character pouting and busy looking handsome.

In conclusion, a nice light summer watch which will not task your brain too much! Just fun!

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Wrong title, right drama....

...if you are in the mood for some IT start up shenanigans! The title is so misleading making you think that this is a makjangy sort of tropes filled drama. It definitely is not! A man who cannot remember faces meets a woman who is unforgettable and she changes him.

Just like amnesia, prosopagnosia is an extremely rare condition which is overused in dramas. Here it is taken as a comedy factor, as he seems not to remember the faces of a grand total of two people, apparently. The rest is just laziness and lack of attention, which she helps him with. The ML's behaviour and the lack of empathy and of the understanding of emotions, is almost autistic. In contact with the FL, he grows and matures emotionally. She, on the other hand lacks self confidence. Both of them together is a fertile ground for misunderstandings which we end up getting a lot of!

ML's best friend and associate turns evil when his frustration and the lack of talent gets the better of him. He foments evil
conspiracies, and when he wins he laughs like the worst of James Bond villains. But it does not last long and his redemption is speedy. I still have to find a j drama where the evil character is not evil only for about 5min. Maybe it is a good thing that they insist on redemption but it does not make for a gripping viewing experience.

The plot was interesting. The music excellent. The main actress has a beautiful smile, just stunning. The main actor (excellent acting skills!) has a terrible haircut, just awful which almost ruined the overall cuteness!

It was an excellent watch!

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Love is better the second time around?

I started watching this last night and did not stop until now: so no sleep for the wicked (me!)! Actually, I was not going to binge watch it but I had some things on my mind and I could not sleep so I kept hitting the next episode button.

What a ride it was! Beautifully filmed and acted, fast paced and interesting except for the last, filler episode! But more about that later! The synopsis here is a bit messy, to be frank and in spite of reading it few times, some things became clear only when I watched them.

The story follows Jo, a stuntman who meets and falls in love with a rich and spoilt brat Ming. But that turns eventually into a disaster and Jo gets killed during a film shoot. His soul is somehow transferred into the body of another man, a model called Jo as well. He meets Ming again and the whole cycle of lies and abuse starts again. Will the issue be different the second time around?

What I liked:
- adult characters doing adult jobs and behaving like adults
- background music: there were some interesting musical choices I liked a lot (violins and piano but so different from the usual fare)
- pretty sets and cinematograph: I loved those shots of two birds on a wire (electric/telephone posts?!?)
- no sponge baths, not even one: I was pleasantly surprised when I realized that!
- soul exchange mechanism as explained by the blind Master: Jo the model wanted to die after his huge row with his mother. Jo the stuntmen did not want to give up even when falling down the cliff. Heaven decided to exchange their souls and eventually gave Jo another chance to chose because he had a strong will to live
- side characters: Mike and Jim, funny, smart and overflowing with chemistry!
- role reversal: seme/uke, two semes. Jo is a seme and Ming looks like an uke but prefers to be a seme so Jo lets him and eventually really becomes an uke (carries a purse!) even though he is dressed like a seme. This is the first time I see this role distribution in a very coded bl world. Refreshing!
- the character of Ming: a cocky, self-centred and egoistical rich young man who is convinced he can get anything if he demands it while actually hiding deep insecurities behind this bravado and power attitude brought on by his money.
- Jo's character growth: he turns from a naive young man with stars in his eyes to an experienced adult who is not to be taken lightly.

What I did not like:
- actor playing Ming! The character is supposed to be the youngest son but he seems the oldest which was very confusing. this role was miscast.
- Mek's bad acting. It does not help his case either, that he looks as if he were Khaotung's twin brother with the same talent(none!) and expressivnes(OTT grimacing)...
- Jo's toothpaste smile: I was squinting every time his face was in close up. He is beautiful and a very talented actor but those shiny teeth....
- minimal chemistry between them even though they obviously gave it their all: I could not feel it
- Sol, the idol: how is that even possible? He is not pretty nor talented and cannot sing to save his life....
- Sol's hair. And everyone else's perfect hairstyles when they woke up: especially Ming in hospital!
- some boring funky songs with the obligatory a cappella beginning in crucial love scenes
- loan sharks with turbans and jellabas: are they muslims? I don't really care but it was weird to see!
- cliché Moms: the poor Mom is overweight while the rich one is slim
- the last episode! The final conflict was resolved in the first 5 min and the rest was just pure boring fluff!
- we get to see very little of the model Jo's appearance(only in mirrors) since the whole story was told from the point of view of Jo the stuntman (the narrator!). It would have been interesting to see the chemistry, if any
- Ming is a lovely toxic character in a lovely toxic relationship but who gets a sudden and unconvincing growth!

In conclusion: one of the better thai bls in a long time, worth the watch!

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Fluff and candy

Earlier today, I came upon two reviews for this drama, two reviews with completely opposite take on it i.e. one loved it while the other one found it boring. I did not need more in order to watch it and form my own opinion. Which is between the two: it was not boring but rather superficial, not great but mercifully short, easy to watch and they did not waste time on silly subplots and even sillier misunderstandings between the leads.

But firstly, I would like to thank @Nicksden for the subs and for the explanatory notes!

The story follows childhood acquaintances: japanese inn owner's son and the inn's chef's daughter. They fall for each other as kids but their respective social status forbids them from any closer contact. Until, one evening, he accompanies her home and is seen leaving so a scandal breaks out and he takes the opportunity to offer to marry her and at the same time escaping an arranged marriage. And all of this is only the first episode. Out of six: the next five episodes are a bit slower as they deal with them getting to know each other and dating while newly-weds.

It is a cute, short drama. The leads are nice and as usual there are not mean or evil characters. Well I guess a shoujo manga is for romantic young girls. Everyone is nice: when he overhears rumours about his marriage being fake, he acts upon it immediately and takes her out on a date. There are a couple of "suspenseful" moments: a test meal for her and the visit from the estranged brother for him but even those are sorted out in the same episode they appear.

The plot is not very complicated but I would not go as far and say, as they did in the comments on the drama's page, that it was "an excuse to have hot people kiss a lot and be cute together. they wrote the plot around that ?". I wish they did that because if you are looking for hot people kissing, you should look elsewhere! There is a grand total of 4 chaste (=fish) kisses and a bit of skin (ankle, leg, shoulder: him in the shower and one make out scene!) shown throughout the drama with the consummation of marriage left for the last minute of the last episode and under the final credits. I usually do not care about these scenes but I read the comment before I watched this so I paid attention and looked actively for hot people kissing.

There was one thing I absolutely hated in this drama but which is something frequently seen in asian dramas so I guess it must be cultural: women falling over and screaming when they see a handsome man go by. It is the ultimate cringe moment for me! I know that asian cultures put a huge stress on appearance and that the beauty is the most important asset one can have but I am finding it difficult to understand this kind superficiality within such rich cultures.

I did not like the cinematography very much: I watched the first episode in high quality and it was too sharp, to clear and eventually too cold! Other episodes looked better, a bit softer but maybe the video quality was lower too. I don't know but it made me realize that I prefer when the images are fuzzy, not too sharp because it gives the drama (or a film) a dreamy feel and it becomes a vector for our escape from reality. And that's what the entertainment is supposed to be in my book!

One more important thing: I want those star shaped candies. They look so pretty and yummy!

In the recommendation section on this drama's page, you will find two dramas with the similar plot but a lot heavier if you do not enjoy light and fluffy! This one is a perfect Sunday watch: short, sweet, cute and short!

The main actor was a support actor in Utsukushii Kare (and he gave me a severe SLS) and I couldn't help being reminded of that drama every time I watched the intro here because there were yellow bath ducks in it. Did they do it on purpose, or were there yellow ducks in the original manga for this drama too, I wonder?

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Lost powers & con artist

Well, this was interesting to begin with, then annoying only to end exasperating stupid.

This year, I have been dropping k dramas as if they were hot potatoes. Moreover, about a month ago, I went into a serious drama slump, going from watching at least three episodes a day in the week and triple that on the weekends to barely half an episode a day. Actually, nothing grabs my fancy any more and I am finally rediscovering the joys of reading.

What do you get when you mix Marvel superhero films with a con artist series like Leverage? You get this minus fun which equals a waste of time!

The premise is interesting: superpowers lost due to modern time diseases like depression, greed, food. In comes a con artist who wants to con them out of their fortune but she falls for the depressed son. The plot unfortunately takes itself too serious and starts veering into serious territory, which is a wrong way to go. They should have kept it light instead of going for healing and turning the new leaf. Most of the characters are annoying, starting with the main couple. He is depressed and therefore unkempt with a very bad haircut. But even when he is happy again, the very bad haircut remains a very bad haircut. He has absolutely no chemistry with the FL. The actress manages to pull of a rather credible teen in spite of being over 30! Kudos for that! The rest of her character is steeped in contradictions: is she sincere or is she lying? She's been working off the debt her dead father contracted with a loan shark for the past 13 years. The loan shark is a horrible cruel person who deserves a serious punishment but all she gets is a redemptive sob story arc and now she is the kindest soul alive. As usual, korean parents are not painted in favourable light.

What made this drama watchable are the support characters: the kid (amazing actress!), the sister (deliciously bitchy) and the taciturn uncle (kinder than he looks).

The story managed to draw a few laughs especially the main couple's date under the surveillance of the uncle: "Do you feel happy now?"

The last ten minutes of the drama are rage inducing: he can finally be seen by everyone (why?) when he goes to the past so what does he do? Does he save the person eh couldn't before? Of course not: he just stares at him with teary eyes while saying nothing for a very long time! Does he save the girl? Yes but before saving her, he spends a long time talking to he in the fire instead of jumping to safety and then talking. How stupid can you be?!?!? I guess they needed that to introduce their son. But again, is she an idiot to send her 5 year old son look for his father in the fire? They came out unscathed but still....

There was another thing I liked about this drama: the unusual end credits song, it was really original! And last but not least, I was blow away by the way they filmed the obese version of the sister: it was the most believable foam suit I have ever seen and the actress managed to portray an overweight person credibly. Well done!

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Regrets?

And here goes another sad, sad, gay, unrequited/restrained love story. And they are tugging on each and every heart string. And it is annoying! But it is also probably very real!

This short film stars two BL actors but it is not a BL: it is a gay story. It is not fantasy, it is the real life.

Two young actors meet at a film workshop. They hit it off immediately and one falls for the other immediately. But the other has different plans for his life: he wants to get married and have kids. So the first one carries on with the crush for years, making it seem real only while filming different BL films. Until he dies of heart failure.

Spaceless is, thankfully, a very short film but even so they managed to cram a maximum of useless flashbacks (they do so love those flashbacks in thai bl productions!). I would have preferred to see that time used differently: to show their relationship in depth, to explain their life choices, to see how his wife takes the eternal presence of her husband's love of his life through their daughter's name. Actually, I found it creepy and not fair to her: it seems like she is the second chioce, someone he decided to be with in order to comply with the society's requirements of what is acceptable!

It was never really clear, to me at least, if he loved him as a friend or as a man but refused to act upon those feelings. Whichever it was, it was tragic and useless. But on the other hand, they managed to remain friends! So go figure: I guess he accepted any crumb that came his way. A life (8yrs!) spent pining after someone who refuses to accept his feelings, though he recognized their existence, is such a waste.

The actors were good, they had correct chemistry for the story. The cinematography is very pretty and the music unfortunately unremarkable considering the film was based on a song!

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