Not so promising

It's funny because after I watched the first few episodes of this show, I was thoroughly excited and honestly had it in my 'could be a fav of 2023' category. However, this feeling didn't last long, as the initial promising feel of this was quickly replaced with irritation and disappointment overall.

#1 complaint is that this story was so drawn out, but things are never really resolved satisfactorily enough for you to really appreciate the four minutes they're actually together. We spend the majority of these ten episodes going through the struggle of one-sided love. For a large percentage of that time, you come to completely dislike Phu. And there's not really a resolve there to make it worth all the pain. It's quickly swept up under a rug and it makes Nan look like an idiot imo.

#2 complaint is the fact that the production company for this series liked to keep postponing things for absolutely no reason. First half of eps came out and then we had to wait a month for the second half. And not only that, but there were a few times where a day before the episode was going to be released, it was suddenly announced we'd have to wait another week. There were several times I almost didn't come back to finish this series out, but the curiosity of 'does it ever redeem itself' kept me in its grasp.

Sadly, it never got better.

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More like: Wilting Campus

As a loyal Strongberry enjoyer, Blossom Campus was both well looked forward to and also a serious disappointment.

This honestly felt like middle school fanfiction that was undercooked and abandoned without a proper ending. I'm not sure what the entire plot was trying to tell? I left the series with way more questions than anything.

Pros:
- Lead actors had good chemistry
- ??

Cons:
- No extras whatsoever and it was very noticeable and distracting
- Random love rival who looked wayyyy older and was seriously annoying
- Conversation relating falling in love with your friend to falling in love with your cousin?
- No point to the story
- Also DO NOT throw in BTS content behind an episode, I hate that so much. (Last 10+ mins of ep 6 was wasted with this)

Overall:
I'd say skip this one. I gave it 6.5 overall simply because I think the actors did the best they could with what they were given.

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The last image is a little blurry

Last Twilight spent it's time crafting a very beautiful story that captivated us flawlessly, for at least 10 episodes. But something went awry by episode 11 and the finale was underwhelming as a whole for me, because the final message delivered didn't really seem to respect the story it was telling. This trip up at the end is super disappointing to me because if they had stayed true to the story (at least the one I was hearing), this series was set to join my list of all time favorites.

Biggest Plus - Sea's acting as a whole. He's a powerhouse and he delivers again and again. The way he believably portrayed the vision loss and eventual blindness was executed perfectly. There was never a moment that I felt he wavered and it is because of his wonderful acting, that we were able to fall so in love with Day. Also, Jimmy's acting was amazing and he kept pace with Sea as well. The power they command together is wonderful, onscreen and offscreen.

Biggest Minus - Day breaking up with Mhok in episode 11, when he (Mhok) deserved an actual conversation about their future. I don't really like the narrative of Day doing it to not hold Mhok back or him not wanting Mhok to pity him. I never felt pity from Mhok, only care and genuine concern. Day also needed to remember that Mhok had lost his entire family, his sister even more tragically. I just think Day owed Mhok more understanding in that moment, and they needed a conversation. Furthermore, I am never a fan of time jumps. I hate them pretty much anytime I see them. And also, this seems to be a controversial topic, but I just don't think Day getting his vision back should've been the final selling point of this series. It feels a little unrealistic to me, and it just kind of takes away a lot of the beautiful storytelling and messaging that was told for the first 10 episodes.

Biggest Takeaways - JimmySea continue to be one of the best pairings GMM has. I enjoy the fact that they stray away from typical stories and tackle the more complicated. They put their all in everything they do and it is felt on the other side of the screen. The Last Twilight will continue to be one of the better releases from GMM in 2023/2024 and despite the trip ups at the end, it is worth a watch.

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Seeing Double (in anger)

Twins, on paper, sounds very interesting. Twins, on the screen, failed to deliver big time. The story is so convoluted, wasting large amounts of time for no reason, with little to NO resolve by the end.

Biggest Plus - Great acting. Esp for the Zee / Sprite actor. He pulled off the different personalities very well. I loved Sprite and wanted to shove Zee's head into the toilet a majority of the time. I commend him for sinking his acting chops into this worthless piece of script writing and giving it his full effort.

Biggest Negative - We call it Twins, give them this weird storyline and a not so clear wrench between them. We spend 11 episodes absolutely hating Zee and by ep 12, he smiles a little and all is forgiven? Same thing for First, he's lied to by Sprite for 11 episodes and get a half assed explanation in ep 12. It was just too much of all the wrong things for me.

Takeaways - Get these boys in another series because they're great and definitely deserve a lot better.

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WHY?

I think overall, this one faulters in comparison to the Thai version. This one had the potential, but it tripped over itself in the process. The source material was 13 eps that were 50ish minutes each. This one is 8 eps of 25ish minutes. That's a huge cut and not that it's impossible to deliver, but it makes it that much harder. There's less time to tell this reimagined story and I think that's the biggest issue. So we stumbled from episode to episode, unnecessary scenes are dragged out, necessary scenes are missing completely, etc. And then we find ourselves at the last 2 eps and it felt sloppily put together.

There were funny moments and the actors did their jobs well. I think if you watch this without comparing, you might enjoy it vastly more. But with the comparison, it does fall short and is the reason for my low score.

Also, just an added note.... the 'previous episode' time in the beginning of every episode was so long and it was annoying? You have a 26 minute final episode and 5 minutes of it is the previous episode rundown? Tbh, we needed those 5 minutes to tell a better story.

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Pit Babe wins 1st Place in my heart

Pit Babe's pilot episode is one of my favorite episodes of the series, it has the magic to pull you in before you even realize it. The story is fresh and sprinkled with omegaverse elements. Pavel shines on the screen, fully embodying Pit Babe, almost like he was born for this role. Pooh follows in stride and eats up the golden retriever boyfriend vibe 100%. The entire cast is full of talent and I enjoyed seeing them all onscreen together.

This series, while far from being perfect, still had me clinging to every episode desperately. And there will be a void felt for some time now that it's done airing.

Positives:
- Complex storyline that felt new and refreshing
- Solid acting, especially from Pavel
- Amazing cast through and through (hard to not love them honestly)

Negatives:
- Omegaverse or not omegaverse? I really think they should've leaned harder into these elements or they should've removed them altogether. For the casual BL watcher, who maybe doesn't read fanfic, these dynamics are confusing and create a lot of distracting points if aren't already brushed up on what omegaverse is.
- Too many characters / storylines - too little time to make them all worth it
- I love Pooh, but there were times he did pale in comparison to Pavel. Some of this is intentional, and some of this stems from lack of experience. They needed to give him some emotional depth, but it was missing and he felt one dimensional at times.

Overall:
Pit Babe captivates from the starting line, has a few bumps in the road, but finishes solidly. Will be adding to my rewatch list and to my favorites overall. Would love a s2, special episode, or movie.

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Cute but also frustrating

The pairing for this BL is really cute and they have insane chemistry (as most Taiwanese BL partners do). The story started off really promising, but I did find myself really tired of the cat and mouse episode to episode, especially in the last few. I just wanted them to be together. I also didn't like how dumb they made Shunyu out to be, when it came to Shang Zhou's feelings (and his own). So, that kind of took a few stars away for me personally.

All in all, the actors here deserve another BL and I hope we get to see them in another series with a better story.

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Star Struck didn't leave me seeing stars

Unfortunately this show fell into the KBL cog and wheel of 8 eps with 12-18min run time and the result was less than star worthy in my opinion. The story was too overly complicated with many elements happening at once, while execution of them was less than wonderful.

Childhood friends to lovers is a great trope, but instead of feeling the pining and the slow burn, I felt a huge annoyance {almost bordering complete dislike} towards Yoojae. There were points where I honestly questioned what it was exactly that Hanjoon had fallen in love with. Because even before Hanjoon confesses, to the confession scene, and afterwards--Yoojae was a jerk to Hanjoon. And even after they were separated and finally reunited at college, when Yoojae threw away those chocolates that Hanjoon had kept all that time {right in front of him}, I wanted to kick his face in.

I never felt genuine love or care come from Yoojae towards Hanjoon. He felt self absorbed, selfish, and at times cruel. These feelings couldn't be resolved by the last two episodes and those were the absolute worst ones out of the 8. They were a mess: spending too much time on family drama that isn't resolved for more than HALF of the episodes and leaving a small window of time for us to see Yoojae and Hanjoon together.

I'll never understand why Hanjoon was desperately looking for his mother, only to see her in the hospital and then leave two seconds later because he was late for his anniversary with Yoojae. And not only that, but afterwards, the boys never talk about what had happened and Hanjoon never discloses that he was late and lost his phone because he was seeing his mom in the hospital? Of course I would expect Yoojae {laughs} to understand, but instead it's pinned that Hanjoon has to apologize for disappearing and he promises to never do that again.

This was literally a mess and there's nothing really salvageable about it.

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Found Family

This is a great JBL from start to finish. The pacing, the story, the end game... everything felt right from beginning to end. The overall touching point being gathered around the dining table was very unique and really drove home the overall feeling of all of us wanting to belong somewhere. The navigation through both of their stories, of love, loss, and a sense of not belonging are very human concepts and are touched on beautifully. To love is special, a miracle in itself, and it does not come without risks. But to love, is to also risk the most of ourselves, and I loved how this was explored also.

I couldn't complete this review without mentioning that Tane was a highlight throughout, the actor did so well and the series wouldn't be half of what it is without him. He definitely has a bright future if he chooses to continue acting.

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Don't judge a book by its cover.

This show completely surprised me. Not only in the acting department, but in the NC department as well. I think this story was well crafted and executed and it makes you go through a journey of emotions. The way Ritsu is painted during he first part of the series is terrible, and I found myself really hoping Masumi never got back together with him {even if the world was ending}. But as we go along for their journey towards the end, things come to light and we have to rethink the past. Also, I really enjoyed the unexpected {at least to me} supernatural-ish touch we got in this series. Overall, this was an enjoyable watch and I would recommend.

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Refreshing!!!

This series really did something innovative in the land of Thai BLs and it is a welcomed refresher as a whole. Initially after watching eps 1 & 2, you'd think that every episode would be a new adventure entirely. But then 3 & 4 come and it starts to tie together slowly. (And maybe you're half destroyed with tears in your eyes like me with the end of ep 4.) Then the last episodes in particular, are like a series within a series. To me, it was great and I honestly could watch 10+ more episodes. (Maybe we can look forward to a special episode at least?)

And not only was the series refreshing, but the actors were just as equally refreshing and wonderful to watch. I felt like they were able to carry these different stories with the different complexities and emotions very well. The chemistry between them was incredible and I truly hope it's not the last we see of them together.

Probably one of my favorite series of the whole year.

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Beautiful Growing Pains

More than a BL, this felt like a realistic portrayal of LGBT / queer life with all of the complexities of growing up and the challenges of loving others and also yourself.

There's so much beauty in the story telling: the longing, the desperation and oh the loneliness of finding your own way in life. And the poetic justice of things not being perfect in the end, because isn't that truly l i f e? Sometimes the happily ever after is only in the acceptance of yourself and the capacity to find your own beat in the world. There's joy in that too, joy in the discovery that mundane days with a lost lover could be what you crave most.

This story truly is perfect in all of its imperfections.

Major kudos to Nam Yoon Su for bringing a needed story to mainstream media in South Korea. I give him major applause for choosing to fiercely charge ahead with leading this project, knowing that South Korea has such a long way to go as far as LGBT acceptance. He has faced backlash and has stood his ground, and I think he is exactly who was needed to tell this beautiful story.

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Hwang Da Seul does it again...

Oh the intricacies of life that are brought so achingly to the screen in such a brilliant way. This was masterfully executed, as expected from Hwang Da Seul. She continues to provide us with compelling and beautifully acted stories and she definitely didn't fail us here.

Let Free the Curse of Taekwondo is a series of growing up and fighting with the expectations that are set forth and how we can break from those cursed chains that try to destroy us down to the bones. Or, what one is pushed to do just to survive, even if it means leaving everything and everyone you know behind. Not only does this story pull us in and keep us invested, but it gives us flawed characters and challenges us to understand (and still love) them.

All in all, this series was a solid work of art that deserves the high praise and a rewatch or two.

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