The Love of Winter (2022)

Too Short but Super Cute

The Love of Winter was a too-quick watch that took me less than an hour to finish. There was so much good about this little mini-series, and I hate that it ended right when it just began. Beautiful scenery, gorgeous looking leads, and a plot basic enough to fit into 2 20-minute episodes; The Love of Winter is a simply sweet and lighthearted BL that gives you enough feels to not mind that you blink and it's over.

Let's Dive In.

The plot is again, rather simple. A city guy comes to the countryside to take a break from the big city when he meets a local and they hit it off instantly. We also meet these two girls that add some comedy to the show. Although their roles were not as important, they were likable enough to watch since they helped Thitnuea get with Kinn and supported him throughout. I believe the company behind this series is brand-new and just trying to create a platform for themselves, which they do decently with, and why I wasn't all that mad at this being a very short series. if this is the content that we can continue to see from them in the near future, then I'm not upset. This BL was super cute, and just something nice to watch that doesn't have any complicated parts, or anything off-topic. It goes straight to the point, and I loved it.

What I liked: The acting was pretty good. I think Kinn's actor could've done a bit better. He has this stare thing that makes it look like he doesn't want to be there (and imagine the irony in that), but overall, it wasn't so bad that it was unwatchable. Everyone else's acting was satisfactory.

The moments between Thitnuea and Kinn were super cute. Again, they didn't have much time to cross out of the story into something else, but it just leads to some fantastic moments that were super endearing. My favorite was probably them at the tint and the almost-kiss.

Production is way better than expected from a brand-new company, It was giving "1000 Stars" feels and I will take that anytime I can. The scenery was gorgeous, the wardrobe on the actors was excellent, and the cinematography of it all was just so beautifully done. The only argument I have is that the subtitles get pretty wacky in the midst of the first episode. It's not so bad that's unwatchable, but just a little annoying.

What I didn't like: In the last few minutes of the second episode, we see Kinn struggling with his seem to be ex-boyfriend. It was pathetic to put something so out-of-the-blue into the last 6-5 minutes of the series. There was no need for any type of conflict in a series like this where it's so short, and it served to be irrelevant as Thitnuea basically forgives him at the drop of a hat. I hate when plots like these are introduced, especially when a series is almost over. It feels like lazy writing, which I'm sure it was. Again, I hated how short it was. I can imagine this being a 12 episode 40-minute series that could add so many little details and bigger characters to make this even better.

Ratings:

Story: 7.5 - The story was as simple as it could be, but with the time that this series had, it was okay.

Acting: 8.5 - Again, the acting is satisfactory, Kinn's actor could use more work.

Music: 5 - decent, nothing spectacular, but it wasn't distracting.

Rewatch Value: 1 - this series is really short, so there's no point in rewatching it.

I recommend this show. simple? Yes. Short? Yes. But it's a cute and lighthearted watch that can take you out of whatever bad time you're having to dive into the lives of these characters.

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The Love of the Countryside

Overall: a gentle miniseries (two 20 minute episodes). Watched on YouTube. I'm assuming it's lower budget so I'm grading it on a bit of a curve.

Content Warnings: mild stalking* (his two female friends)

What I Liked
- the countryside setting
- Kinn had some nice flirting moments
- that North's friends were supportive, *they went a bit overboard though
- there was a nice consent hug

Room For Improvement
- wish Kinn didn't take North's picture/post it without consent
- the subs aren't correct which generally is fine but in the first part they talk about significant others and it's translated as Kinn broke up with his girlfriend but it should be Kinn broke up with his boyfriend. Also, the note wasn't translated at the end but in the youtube comments someone nicely posted the translation.
- bad lip press kiss
- I don't like the bowl or mullet haircuts, but I didn't deduct points for that

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