Can we seize the chance?

Why is this drama called Love All Play when even the subs say Going to you at speed of 493? I guess it is easier to remember but it is such a boring title: makes you think of all those insipid c dramas....

Love All Play is not a drama about badminton. It features badminton heavily but if you hope to learn something about the sport, the rules and the gameplay: go watch something else! The badminton training centre serves just as the backdrop for a slice of life story of a redemption of a fallen prodigy.

There are too many characters called Park here so I won't even try to mention them here. It took me about half of the drama to sort the main leads out. They are both damaged individuals.

The FL made a mistake a few years earlier which made her a pariah in the badminton community. But her love of the game was too strong to keep her away so she is willing to suffer all kinds of bullying and rejection in order to win the right to train and play. She's overly cheerful, replying to insults with a big smile which seems frustration and annoying until she declares to prefer to smile when she wants to cry! Her tenacity finally wins her teammates over. She used to be best friends with another woman from the team, she loved her and at one point she declared that her friend was her first love. The FL is bi?

The ML grew up in the domineering shadow of the star, overly talented big sister so much that he felt neglected by their parents. With his sister away due to an injury it is finally time for him to shine.

The story is well written, the topics dealt are balanced and fairly treated: guilt, redemption, love, talent, family. Unfortunately, nothing is outstanding in this drama.
The acting is correct though the chemistry is missing across the board.
There is a slight "criticism" of korean society or rather the repetition and confirmation of usual society norms: the whole family is responsible for a mistake committed by one of its members (the FL), a divorced woman with a child is not allowed to get into a relationship because she's THE MOTHER and therefore it is unseemly, a father getting berserk because his 25yr old daughter wants to date, across the board virgins who never dated (because family and sport, of course!).....I wish someone would show us the current generation of Koreans rebelling against these awfully strict and coded societal norms. This is not the case here!
The badminton matches were filmed with brio but we could not actually see a match just the players running and beautifully jumping in order to catch the shuttlecock. Moreover, the venues where the competitions were held were completely void of the audience. So it is either COVID restrictions (the drama takes place in 2022) or they didn't have the budget for extras. Whichever may be the case, the empty seats were gloomy and ridiculous!
The music was boring: one funky song playing endlessly but luckily it is not a song good enough for it to be memorable.

This was not a drama to be remembered: even though I binged it and the actors were cute, I'd recommend it as a light slow burn watch.

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Short and sweet and excellent

A perfect little drama! I got it from drama otaku where a kind soul edited all episodes seamlessly together making it into a one hour movie and another one subbed it skilfully.

The story of twins, mistaken identities and true love is told from a double point of view: in the first half it is one of the twins telling the story and in the other half it is the boyfriend Chiaki's turn. The drama starts somehow suddenly (there are no opening credits so it is a bit weird!) and it takes a viewer a couple of minutes to settle down. But then the story smoothly flows (thank you again the editor!).

The writing is stellar, no unnecessary side characters just three main ones (four if you include the cat!) and only two actors. One plays the twins and does it with brio, subtly and it is very much clear which twin is on screen by the slight changes in attitudes and the look in the actor's eyes. Well they are the complete opposites: one is serious, studious and hard working while the other one is a happy go lucky, live one day at a time type. The actor playing Chiaki, the boyfriend, leans a bit too much into being excessively cute to the point of being slightly annoying. And those bangs hiding his eyes were unbecoming... But calling the twin he fell for Cat Prince and looking for him in the bins, among other places, was hilarious.

This short BL manages to tell a story about love at first sight gone wrong because of siblings' rivalry. But all's well that ends well and the brothers stop being jealous of each other eventually realizing they are different and so much better off for it.

This short drama is masterfully produced probably on a shoestring budget but the writing and the acting are top notch so the flaws are minor. It is such a lovely, uplifting short watch; so if you need something toxic free to cheer you up, this is a perfect solution.

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What if....?

According to this drama (and I did not fact check it!) our brains continue to function for 4 minutes after the oxygen supply had been cut off. What exactly happens during those 4 minutes? This drama gives us an answer.

The story is not as messy as I was made to understand. It deals with what ifs: would you react differently in the same situation if you are given the opportunity. Mostly, these four minutes give time and space for the characters to grow and mature: one from being a spoiled brat who cannot say no to his friends and is overprotected by his parents and the other one who almost ruined his life looking for revenge. They become aware of their mistakes and learn from them.

There are four distinct parts of the story: 4 episodes of Great's 4 minutes(the time before the brain completely shuts down and the person dies)of a near death experience in the form of time travelling in order to mend his mistakes, followed by two and a half episodes of the real life story, one episode of the Doctor's wishful thinking 4 minutes and finally a half an hour resolution! The first part is the longest, giving us, the viewers, the same time Great needed to understand what's going on! The rest is a bit rushed and a little unsatisfying: I would have liked to see the bad guys really suffer but even though they do get punished, the hope that the society is ever going to change and get better, is not there.

I am glad I binge watched this because the suspense would have killed me - especially when at the end of the penultimate episode every good guy seems to have died: none of the bad guys but EVERY good guy!

The production value here is exceptional, it is very much evident that they tried really hard to give this drama a special feel. And feelings there are just none of the good ones: it is dark and depressing, just like the story it is trying to tell. Mind you, it is beautifully filmed and acted. The special effects are just perfect. The costumes are consistent with the running theme of a depressing and serious drama: Great is always in white and the doctor in black when not in scrubs.

The writing is original and the story is wrapped up nicely (the author seems to like Until We Meet Again a lot given the star crossed lovers' second couple storyline!) though somehow ambiguously with the main couple in a boat on a river inviting the query: are they just out on a date or are they crossing the Styx?

Another important feature, apart from the number 4 are the clocks: every time Great looks at the clock it is 11:00. No matter how much time it passes, it is always 11:00. Until he realizes that he has only 4 min left to live when the clock suddenly changes to 11:01 etc. and everything that he's been experiencing is a coma dream due to a near death experience.

And finally there are cats everywhere; black and white plushies for the leads and a black cat which caused one of the second leads to lose his sanity. There are a lot of cat food ads. The question now is: were the cats originally written in the script or were they added because of the PPL?

The society this drama describes is a cruel one: it is the weak who suffer in the hands of the rich and the powerful, the poor are not helped by the people who are supposed to be there to protect them (usually known as the police) because of the overpowering corruption. So they either bow down and suffer in silence or deal the justice themselves. Unfortunately for them, it never ends well.

The cinematography of this drama is extraordinary: from filming angles, to colour scheme (everything is gray except for the ML's red car) to geometrical sets (there are lots of circles!) and everything is important for the story. It was pretty much obvious from the first episode that the events are not taking place in the real world: the lack of colours and the number 4 showing up everywhere, as well as the strange and ominous sounding music gave the very odd impression that not everything is what it seems.

Frankly I am surprised this drama has such high ratings give the complex story and the filming style: it definitely is not one of the usual BLs. Actually I would put sci-fi as the main genre here followed by crime and psychological and then, maybe, romance where characters happen to be gay. The tone of this drama reminded me very much of 7 Days to Valentine where the storyline and production were just as dark and depressing, not very romantic. What is different here is the main actor's cult following and the abundance of NC scenes (which were, by the way, beautifully filmed). I keep seeing the comments and the reviews saying in gist: "omg, those nc scenes are hot i want more!!!" but never mention the plot or anything else that is actually important and really interesting here. The producer knows its business and how to speak to teen audience just give them hot actors making out and they are happy. Who cares about the plot? Well I do and luckily for me, they managed to strike a good balance between an engaging plot and a few soft porn scenes (not as many as I thought there would be!) so everyone's happy now!

Actually, this drama should be watched just for its cinematography if nothing else! In conclusion, this is a difficult but a beautiful and a satisfying watch. Not for the fans of fluffy bls though....

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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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MAME's Bed Friend

Those who had seen Bed Friend, will have a terrible feeling of déjà vu while watching this one since the plot set up seems to be practically the same.: a no nonsense guy gets into a contract binding sex relationship with a fairy like writer saddled with some serious family trauma. I know that in fiction the topics (tropes: enemies to lovers "Pride & Prejudice", revenge "Monte Cristo" etc...) have been invented a long time ago and that it is just the writer's role to make it stand out with the way they deal with it. So MAME going with the plot similar to Bed Friend did not bother me very much. So much so, that this became the first Mame's drama I actually finished since Tharn Type. I really enjoyed the spin on the friends with benefits trope! Moreover, the actors reminded me very much of James and Net, same type of actor for the same type of roles!

Rak suffering from writer's block goes to an island to rest where he is taken care of by Mut, the local man of all trades. While Rak piles on injuries on Mut, he just laughs them off, playing along. Until, a few days into the stay, they find that they cannot keep their hands off each other. After the two week honeymoon period, Rak offers Mut to pay him if he accompanies him back to Bangkok.

I loved the character of Mut: he is honest to the core, does not gossip and respect other people's privacy, he has a solid moral backbone, a very unusual trait in dramas! He is of course a cliché seme: strong, masculine, often wearing dark colours and definitely a domineering presence in spite of being a younger character. He does not change much throughout the drama.
On the other hand, Rak is on the surface smooth, elegant, strong and rich man. But lightly scratch that surface and out come all the traumas and insecurities from his childhood. His character develops backwards somehow: when we first see him he is a mature, strong, smart, confident and cocky adult all dressed in black but as the drama progresses he changes for the worse becoming, insecure, weak borderline child, pouting and hiding. The ending sees him all dressed in white and talking in baby voice! How about that for development? From the onset of their relationship it was perfectly obvious that Mut is the more mature person there. The relationship dynamic is very much a classical BL trope.

I did not mind the pay to love theme of the drama because it was not the important part. Mut has seen that Ruk has many insecurities hidden and that he tries to hide behind the money so he accepts to be bought in order to try to break down Ruk's walls behind which he has been hiding. The payment he accepts is just means to an end!

I wish they had delved deeper into the trauma part, it was very superficial and the very person who could have and should have dealt with that trauma and its causes (Ruk's mother!) is nowhere to be seen. Why? She stays in the beckground and acepts not to see her children in years? There is so much story there that they should have explored more. Or really explained the reasons behind Prim's (Ruk's cousin) extreme jealousy: that whole subplot was badly developped!

The music is the usual thai bl music: funky and forgettable with the obligatory a cappella beginning of the song in emotionally charged scenes (kissing etc.). I wish they would at least try to be original and stop giving us a copy paste original soundtrack.

And yet, in spite of all these flaws, I enjoyed this drama very much: the chemistry was solid, the bickering relationship fun to watch, the best friend Vie and the part of the second couple GL was perfect (for once there was no second BL couple but only one GL) and the GL story was cute even though the actress playing Mook grimaced too much!

I liked this drama more than I thought I would!

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Glamorous world of ....proofreaders!

I was convinced that the Japanese could not surprise me with the drama topics anymore. I was wrong! Who would have thought that a drama about proofreaders (what is that?) can be funny, interesting and suspenseful? Not me!

Kono has been trying to realize her dream of becoming a fashion magazine editor for years without success. One day she gets a job at the magazine publisher's proofread department. Reluctantly, she accepts the job thinking that that way she is already one foot closer to her dream job. But the intricacies of the proofreading job she takes to new levels, unwittingly have her achieve excellence in it.

Kono is a fascinating flamboyant character, always dressed in lively colours who bring light in the drab proofreading office. She is brought to deal with different books and authors and at the same time accumulates extensive knowledge. She is always happy, sees everything in a positive way, talks too much and is mostly without a filter which takes some time getting used to. Her coworkers, after the initial reluctance, are drawn to her colourful personality and she changes them as well.

There is only one main character here. This drama is about Kono, her life and her growth. The other characters are there just as an mirror in which she can see herself though they cannot stop from being drawn to her sunny disposition. There is a half-hearted noona romance with a depressing and depressed young writer: unfortunately the actors have zero chemistry and the romance just fizzles out by the end when they decide to stay friends and work on their dream jobs rather than romance and life. Fine, that is a choice but why can't you have both?

From the get go, Kono crosses swords with an editor she nicknames Octopus. Now this is an interesting relationship, enemies to friends (I wanted them to be lovers!), bickering with oodles of chemistry: so much so I suffered a massive SLS!

This drama is a comedy dealing with the office life, stress and pressure people who work in publishing are put under. How do you keep your sanity in such a world?

Costume department worked a lot for this drama in order to provide magnificent clothes and styling for Kono: I particularly loved some of her hairstyles which made me think of the roaring 20' (1920s!!!), she was so beautiful. But apparently they had no budget left for the rest of the cast where EVERYONE was dressed in the same gray outfit throughout. Including the big star Suda Masuki, who looked unkempt and messy, I guess in accordance with his depressed taciturn character.

It is a fun comedy drama but you should not watch it for the romance which is rather superficial and unimportant.

I learned a lot about proofreading which, I guess they do not have with the publishers in the USA: I read a book recently where the author placed the year 1911 in the 19th century. Such a mistake would never be tolerated by Kono!

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Japan strikes again!

Trust the Japanese to come up with a novel twist to the usual BL story. They do know how to surprise us with their choice of topic: here it is a May to December romance between an older man who is a cooking writer and his editor, half his age.

Ishida is a lost 27 yr old man, bored doing a job he does not like. On the cusp of resigning, he is suddenly sent to see a cook who writes a monthly column for a women's magazine. The cook feeds Ishida who is immediately smitten by the quirky character and his cooking. But there are a lot of obstacles on their way, the main being the age gap.

And the total lack of chemistry!

I just could not feel the attraction, the emotions. So I tried to figure out why he would fall for a father figure but we find next to nothing about him (raised in a loving family with 3 other siblings! Apparently!). I did not find the romance convincing. While the cook was dignified and calm like a sage man, Ishida was all over the place: jumping around, his thoughts showing on his face for the world to see. But, as they say, opposites attract!W

But, when the Japanese talk about the food, everything else, the storyline included, is left behind!

What this drama has going fot it is its length (very short!), nice music and cinematography (well, they are filming food preparation!), some beautiful photographs at an exhibition, the dog (what a great actor!) and.....that's it.

An easy watch which will be remembered for its topic: an age gap romance....

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Wish it were longer

I am trying to figure out why this has such low ratings. It is definitely not a groundbreaking BL but it is cute and simple, a nice Sunday night watch when you do not want to see anything heavy.

2Wish is a short follow-up to ReminderS in which Two and Wish met and started dating in university. Here, they have graduated and moved in together. And while Two's career is taking off, Wish is stuck at home, unable to land a job and therefore running in circles and overthinking things. His insecurities show and then when a girl makes a move on Two, Wish completely loses all confidence and leaves.

This 50min short film in two parts, deals with their first steps as adults in a real world. The more Two tries to reassure Wish, the more Wish feels useless and a burden. He feels incompetent: unable to find a job and unable to look after the house and cook. Due to its length, the problems and misunderstandings were solved mercifully quickly and it is a big positive in favour of this drama.

As I managed to figure out, there are mainly two reasons people do not like this:
1. this is not LBC and the characters are not Tin and Can: are these actors allowed to play other characters? Mean is so cute and really an excellent actor here, showing the character's depth and maturity. Plan played a depressed boyfriend hiding behind his bangs well.
2. nothing happens, no depth, no connection with reality: the story is too short to have depth but they managed to convey the young people's struggles when starting out, the doubts that a change in a power balance brings to a relationship, they even touched upon how fame changes influencers. But most of all, this is a BL i.e. a romance, a fantasy which does not bear any likeness to reality!

The only problem I had with this one, beside its length, is the sound recording and editing which was bad. More often than not, we could barely hear them speak either because of ambient noise (crickets were very loud!) or the boring stock piano background music which was too loud.

I wish I could see more of Mean: he is a talented actor that we do not see in main roles enough.

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Mission to find love...in a Mall!

Marry's Mission is a mini drama promoting a shopping mall through a story about a girl looking for love.

Marry is a young woman running a café/flower shop and hoping to expand her business with the financial help of her grandfather. He agrees under the condition that she gets married by the age of 30. The catch is, her 30th birthday is only 30 days away. So with her friends' help, she starts dating. Unfortunately, each new man she meets is worse than the one before.

This was cute and fluffy. No big life questions, no bad guys, just a simple romcom, sweet and a nice quick watch when you want to empty your head of accumulated stress and get to be familiar with a shopping center in Thailand. The characters are all clichés especially the potential boyfriends: a shopaholic, a health freak, a self-centred actor, a sweet but taken chef, a gay youtuber and a salesman. After meeting all of them she gives up completely unaware that there has been someone in the background helping her and observing her with kindness. Her friends were fun to watch. And while I really cannot stand those shrieking trans characters, the bl couple working for her were so cute. I want a series just with them, please!

In conclusion, this ad drama needs more love because it is better than the majority of such productions, it is funny, sweet and short.

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Still lingering...

Where Your Eyes Linger was my very first BL.

Before watching it, I did not know what BL meant (thank you, google! lol!). This was the drama which led me down the BL rabbit hole I don't seem to be able to free myself of (just like CLOY led me down the k drama rabbit hole, I fortunately managed to get out of but that is another story!).

I remember loving the initial bodyguard premise, the chemistry, the dark cinematography, the beautiful ending scene. But I also remember there were things that kept bugging me while I was watching the drama. The first time I just decided not to pay attention to them. Unfortunately, I rewatched it a few times since then and even though I still enjoy it as much as the first time, I keep finding more and more flaws with it and consequently, my ratings keep dropping.

The drama was too short which left some things out: most importantly Kang Guk's backstory. We know NOTHING about him only that he has been Taeju's bodyguard for 15 years. Since Taeju seems to be in high school probably 18 years old, how old is his bodyguard? Probably much older than Taeju, logically speaking! Even though he goes to school with him, he must be older than 18. I am surprised nobody's screaming scandal, grooming!!!! Maybe the father? Taeju's father is a big company chairman but looks and acts like a mafia don. He sends his son away but lets him come back three years later?!? He must have had a change of heart? Yeah, right, like that is going to happen....

I haven't seen either the drama or the film in a long time so I cannot tell you what differences there are: apparently the voiceover, present in the drama is back in the film and it truly helps with explaining the plot and the title. It looks like they recorded additional voiceover for some of the final scenes.

I love this director's films and dramas: they are practically the only ones I rewatch regularly (To My Star is by far my favourite BL!). But that does not mean that I am blind to their flaws which, in spite of excellent stories, sometimes sound false and cringy...

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Kinou Nani Tabeta? GL

Finally finished it!The only thing I liked about it were the subs so thank you very much Furritsubs: if anyone else had made the subs, I would have dropped this snoozefest immediately.

I started work after a long holiday, so I was looking for something short and easy to watch. This came highly recommended. Still, I was reluctant to watch it since I did not like the first season at all. The relationship between the two women was so hetero cliché ridden that it was uncomfortable to watch. This is true of many BLs as well. This drama is the GL version of those norms: a smaller, finer woman taking on the "wife" part i.e. cooking while the stockier and bigger woman ("butch" type) is the husband here, working hard and eating a lot under the adoring wife's gaze who has the appetite of a bird. Their behaviour and attitudes align perfectly with the heteronorms.

This drama is smooth sailing: nothing happens! They do touch upon, fleetingly, on the rigidities and the too demanding japanese society: the pressure the traditions and families exert on women by the all powerful males. But there are no male characters in this drama: a father we hear on the phone, a coworker who has a couple of lines and a real estate agent. This is a fully female centered drama. We were introduced to a few new characters, representative of japanese society's struggles: a girl bullied in school by teachers, a women rejected because of being ACE and a wife getting a divorce because fed up with her husband's parents demands. I found each case interesting but I was at the same time disappointed by the lack of real drama: "these problems exist in the society and it is on each person to find the solution" seems to be the message.

What do we have here then?
A couple of women becoming friends and more through cooking and eating.
Fluff, fluff, fluff and more fluff.
Slow formal speech and extreme politeness by everyone: people seem to be perfect in an almost ideal society. Everything is monotone, no one raises the voice, there is no passion, no drama, no contrary feelings. They don't seem human but as I understand it, that is the way the japanese society works mostly?
The misunderstandings are resolved immediately, thank heavens!
Zero chemistry between the women. The reminded me of the couple from Kinou Nani Tabeta?: two men brought together by their mutual love of good food.
Do couples in Japan sleep in separate rooms? The two women, once they started dating, went house hunting for an flat with two bedrooms!
The cook was not very modest about her own cooking skills: she'd barely taste a spoonful of her dish before starting raving about it (oishii!!!)... Everything she ate was oishii and yukata: must have heard it a million times throughout this short drama. So, if I never hear it again ,it will be too soon!!!
Nishino Emi definitely stole the show! She was amazing as a woman whose growth was stunted by toxic masculinity. So much so that she almost became one herself: tough, strong and hard.

For a westerner like me, this representation of japanese society is rather scary. I do not know if it is true or not but according to this drama, it seems to be chock-full of traumatized and repressed individuals. Wrapped in fluff. Go figure....

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Creative use of kitchen surfaces

Well, this was bad, really really bad. A train wreck! I wish someone would explain to me how is it possible that this load of nonsense is so highly rated? I truly do not understand!

The premise is interesting. And that's where everything stops and goes awry. A chef wants to sell his restaurant in order to pay for his mentor's medical bills. In order to ensure that the restaurant goes into worthy (i.e. cooking loving) hands, he organizes a competition along the lines of Top Chef where the wannabee buyers need to show their skills. One of those is a cocky, completely incompetent, debt ridden aspiring model (because it is easy, he says!) working in secret for the chef's mortal enemy.

What I liked:
- the actor playing the chef: handsome and calm
- the second couple's bickering romance
- the way they filmed rare scenes of food preparation and presentation: the series director must have already filmed food.
And that's it for the good!

Everything else is the bad!

- the plot is illogical:
1. competition to find a buyer over several weeks. Wouldn't it be easier to sell it to the highest (or the second-highest bidder) if you are in dire need of funds? Why go this complicated route if you want to avoid your mortal enemy? What will stop the next owner to sell it to the mortal enemy?
2. the "aspiring model" with great eating skills, but zero looks and cooking skills, becomes a good cook in a few weeks. On which planet?
3. the love quadrangle between the main couple, one ex girlfriend and a sous chef!
4. can you really run a big gourmet restaurant with only four people?
5. are they going to end every BL now with the wedding?
etc. etc. etc.....

- a total lack of acting skills across the board. Not a single "actor" showed a sliver of talent. One was handsome, one was cute and the rest...I'd rather not mention them!

- styling: the model/eater's hair was something nightmares are made of. There were not two strands of hair that were of the same length, the fringe half covered his eyes. The chef was the only one consistently dressed well. The rest were awful but the worst was the mortal enemy i.e. the rich businessman dressed like a cliché mobster.

- no chemistry to speak of in spite of a lot of making out mainly on kitchen tops (the actors went at it with gusto!).

- the "model's" manager is a cliché femgay. Really?!? Again?!? Is every actor's manager/agent in Thailand either femgay or trans??? That's what every BL makes us believe!

I finished it although I still do not know why...probably I just could not believe what my eyes were seeing, how bad it was, thus hoping against the hope that it would get better. It did not.....

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Pretty sunsets and...that's it!

Well, this is just another thai bl under my belt which I probably will not remember in a week. It was pretty : the scenery and the sunsets are stunning. And that's it.

The plot is fairly basic, made to pull on heartstrings, very maudlin! The drama tells the story of a rich violinist who goes to the countryside and falls for a poor painter. But the painter has a heart disease, so he breaks up with the violinist very quickly (noble idiocy and all that!). Some time after, the violinist discovers a childhood connection, and goes back to the countryside looking for the painter but cannot find him.

The writing and the acting are bad, really awful. The writing is a series of tropes badly presented. At one point, after having spent a lot of time together, the painter kisses the dozing violinist who just gets up and disappears for a few days. When he comes back it is as if nothing happened, they do not talk about it and just continue on the merry road of romance. Then of course there is the noble idiocy break up because of an illness and finally the ultimate trope: they knew each other as kids. And the ending is: what? Is the painter dead or gone abroad or hiding somewhere: no body knows and they all seem very sad when they mention him. And the violinist stays put waiting for him to return or does he just live in memories?
Now another problem connected to the writing are the subs: they are very bad so maybe my impression of the bad script comes from that. But not only!
But I would not have minded all of the above if the actors brought something extra with them, like more chemistry?!? Because the two main actors are completely without acting skills at the start of the drama: the lines' delivery is monotone, without any expression one way or the other. To be frank, they improved towards the ending, I could actually see some fleeting expressions of emotions. Also, I have the impression that the actor playing the musician can actually play the violin (unlike the actress playing the mother!).

So what are the good sides of this drama: nice cinematography, nice music, actors who are not afraid of skinship and who have a tiny bit of chemistry. And last but not the least: short duration!

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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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Discovering yourself

Bedmate or Bad Mate is a fun little taiwanese bl web drama. I watched the 90min edit on youtube (easier than going through 10 episodes full of BTS footage!). It is obviously a low budget production but what they lack in funds is more than enough compensated by their enthusiasm.

The story is cute though it uses many familiar tropes: best friends to lovers, gay man in love with a straight one, but also "only gay for you but otherwise straight", seme/uke height difference etc. etc. which I thought were things of the past. Their cohabitation was fun to watch, their bickering cute. The straight guy's confusion about his feelings towards his best friend and how he tries to sort it out by talking to customers in a gay bar was hilarious. There were also scenes filmed during Gay Pride parade in Taipei and I was struck by the fact that these two actors looked the most "cliché gay" wearing costumes in the part of the crowd where they filmed.

I could not find out anything about the actors but I did not watch BTS so maybe it is mentioned there though not necessarily translated: I don't know, I am not interested in BTS....I would like to know also if this was based on a webtoon because it seems to be the case judging from the images on their youtube channel.

In conclusion, a short, cute & fun watch.

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