Love Tractor (2023)

Adorable and calming

It was adorable! I really enjoyed the simplicity of the plot and of the farm life we got to see. It felt calming and refreshing, different from what I usually watch. I really liked the cinematography and how they used it to portray some of the differences between the main characters, especially in the ending scenes.

Yul & Ye Chan: Ye Chan is an absolute sweetheart! He was cute from the start to finish. Him realizing his feelings and trying to deal with them had me smiling. And his whinny voice when Yul did something that got him mad? Adorable! Yul came to the countryside to escape both his life and father. He might not fit in right away, but he does start to adjust and relax quite quickly. He is older than Ye Chan and also more mature, but their dynamics still worked. Ye Chan is the golden retriever boyfriend, while Yul is similar to a black cat boyfriend.

My pet peeve with the drama is their portrayal of the country folk. It often portrayed them as dumb. They might lead a simple life in the eyes of many, but just because they spend most of their time working outside does not mean they are stupid. That is something that has been implied a few times and it didn’t really sit well with me.

Let’s talk Mark for a second. He stole the show whenever he appeared. He is a foreigner who settle down in the same village as Ye Chan and became friends with him. He’s advice is always very solid and realistic, but he also makes sure to remind Ye Chan that there are certain boundaries he should not cross. I liked that. But it also annoyed me how this whole foreigner thing played into the idea that the rest of the villagers are not very bright.

I still have some questions about the ending, but all in all, I am happy with the way it ended.

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Nostalgia of TOTS is Why This Series Means Everything And More to Me

If anyone knows me, you'll know my incredible love for TOTS (A Tale of Thousand Stars) which aired back in 2021. Even still to this day, TOTS is my favorite BL of all time, and nothing has surpassed it. Some series have come close, some even teetering over the line, but at the end of the day, TOTS came first. It drove something in me so hard that I still had never felt what I felt when I watched that series. And boy oh boy, has Love Tractor rekindled some of those feelings.

Let's Dive In.

Now, Love Tractor was amazing times 10, but still, TOTS comes in first, only because TOTS had more detail and just a tad bit more story to tell than LT did. And if my comparisons of the two series haven't made sense yet, then let me clarify. Both TOTS and LT involve my all-time favorite trope -- city boy meets country boy. We don't often get these kinds of tropes, so when we do get them, I'm all over that shit like butter. And what makes it better is when they take place in the very rural countryside where the wifi half works and motherfuckers are feeding cows and shit. Both shows even had similar characters (Tian's dad/Yul's dad, Yod/the-white-dude-who's-name-I-can't-remember-and-he's-not-listed-on-MDL), similar plot moments (Leads helping with the children, playing in a river stream, fainting, playing music at night hoping to serenade the other, etc), and similar settings (Countryside, city boy learning to adapt to a rural lifestyle, fruit/vegetable harvesting, the nice villagers that welcome the newcomer). My love for this trope will never die, and I think it's actually impossible for me to ever rate a series like these ones lower than a 9.

Anyways (and I'll try to stop comparing things to TOTS because both series are still very opposite of one another as well) Love Tractor immediately grabbed my heart in the first episode. I was actually here for the mildly terrifying setup of Yul embarking on a dark and stormy night in the middle of nowhere (Cause sadly I've been there), and as a viewer, it drew me in immediately. But what drew me in more is getting to really meet Yechan for the first time and learning that he's a big ass teddy bear stuck in a macho man's body. No seriously, I want more Yechan's in my life and in my series. I can't describe to you how much love I have for him. This quirky, kind, loving, nurturing, perfect man who is down to do anything for anyone with the fattest smile on his face, whilst walking around with a God-like figure. And bravo to Dojin (Yechan) who blew his performance clean out of the water. The best I've ever seen an actor perform a character. His facial expressions, his postures, the emotions in his words -- like literally magnificent.

This series doesn't have much more time than the usual K-BL (about 20 minutes each 8 eps) but still, everything was well set up, from the beginning to the end. No plot holes, no bad pacing, and the best slow-burn money could buy you. I know lots of people hate a slow burn, but I, for one, am never going to turn my head away from amazing yearning, longing stares, simple touches, and underlying dialogue of confessions. And Love Tractor gave all that to me wrapped up in a pretty bow.

I also appreciated how this series gives us very minimal conflict given that we don't have all the time in the world, because again, the series is a bit longer than most K-BLs, but it's still not long enough to have a fully flesh-out conflict. The conflict that we did have was resolved rather quickly, and without deterring the connection between the two characters. Yul's ex-boyfriend's plot made sense (a little out of the blue), however, I wish we would've seen the flashback to him and his boyfriend before we see Inseo visit. Honestly, that's my only critique. Also, they had some colorism going on there between Yechan and his mom, which was *an image of finger guns to my head*, but this is Korea, so I'll give it a scoff, and just walk away.

One more thing, the series does an amazing job of not paying too much attention to Yechan discovering that he likes a man, or is queer, and it's literally just a cute little series with him having gay panic, but make it fluffy.

Ratings:

Story - 8.5/10 - flowed like a perfect wave. The only argument I have is the ex-boyfriend setup.

Acting: 9.5/10 - spectacular! I think Dojin outshines Won who's like our main main character, but he still did a good job too.

Music: 8/10 - paid attention this time. Really good! Especially Yul's song!

Recommendation Value: 10/10 - I would recommend this in a heartbeat. It's going on my potential of being my favorite for the year, already being placed as my favorite K-BL of all time. Beautiful storytelling, gorgeous actors, and a light-hearted romance. What more could I ask for?

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Enjoyed the thematic and the bromance, less convinced by the romantic side of the relationship

I enjoyed the story for what it was: a sweet and platonic (b)romance between a city student emotionally wounded and a joyful and simple farmer. I found interesting the fact that farmer was younger than the city guy because that allowed the development of a refreshing hyung-dongsaeng relationship where the older man has a lot to learn from the younger one (in terms of farming work but also on life outlook).

Unfortunately, I was less convinced by the last third of the series. For me the romance never really picked up the pace: it remained quite at a more friendship level than at a romantic one. I had trouble believing in the chemistry between the actors. I honestly appreciated a lot the performance of Do Won as the city boy: he is to be fair super good-looking and I found him pretty charismatic in his role. However, I did not appreciate as much Yoon Do Jin, acting as the farmer: he played well enough the simple-minded guy but I had trouble enjoying his scenes when he starts acknowledging his feelings. He acted in a much too young / boyish / "simp" way making it not really possible for me to see how the character could move from a dongsaeng figure to a potential love interest.

The production was rather nice with some pretty and cute scenes in the countryside. I appreciated also the soundtrack of the drama: a few pop songs balancing well with the show.

I would recommend this to people looking for a cute and rather platonic BL story in the countryside with little angst. It has a likeable pairing which for me lack a bit of chemistry and passion, but it is still a very sweet watch.

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Where to start? (I loved it!!!)

First, Love Tractor is my all time favorite webtoon, I am still hoping someday it will be published as a manhwa in English. I fell in love with the story, characters, and village. It set the bar high, and I have not been able to find a BL webtoon as good since. All of this made me so happy when I saw it had been made into a series. But for that same reason I was nervous about watching the show. How would the actors be playing these roles I didn’t want to not like this show. So, I put it off until now.

I was not upset; they did a great job with the show. It really felt like they brought the webtoon to life. The actors for Yool and Chan were a great choice, most of all Yoon Do Jin as Chan. In the webtoon Chan is a big loveable puppy like character and I was most afraid they wouldn’t find someone who could capture all that was great about him and not make it cringy. But Do Jin did great, I found myself smiling every time he was cute just like I did reading the webtoon.

Sadly it only took me a few hours to watch the whole series but it will not be the last time I watch it.

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So far so (really really) good…

Finally, a korean bl that has lived up to my expectations, somehow.

(I’ve been quite disappointed with the recent releases except for The Eight Sense and Our Dating Sim, those two are good - really recommendable)

Anyway, my review will be updated since it’s still on going.

So far.. I like the cinematography, the setting, the location, the feels it give. The music is good too, it matches every moment. It’s really refreshing. The pacing of story and build up was just about right. Not too fast, not too slow.

The backstory is realistic so it’s fine, the actors were able to give me the vibe of the characters they are portraying. I like their acting so far, for some reason it made me forget my problem with most korean bls *the acting* I was focused on the relationship devolpment rather than paying attention to their acting skills. Which i think is a good sign.

Hyeon Yul is SO HANDSOME. I just have to say it. Lol. I’m giggling everytime, like I can totally relate to Yechan. The man is so fine.

One thing that I hate though…

Is that I started watching it already, now I have to wait every week for the next episode.

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Healing show!

the first 2 episodes might seem blant or slow, but once it took off, it is really good.

I am happy that Yul not only rekindled his passion, he found new love and most importantly, found back himself.

It's a lighthearted, heartwarming yet meaningful show. It carries room for reflection and lessons for our daily life

I also love the village setting where it's a community style living, we can use reminder to care a little more about people around us. It's also healing just looking at the scenery

Overall, it's way better than I thought, even better than some of the more popular BL.

It seriously deserves more hype! Not to mention Chan is SO funny, a perfect himbo to add some fun to the show! I also love the song in the ending!

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Bite Sized Slice of Life Series for Peace.

Following the tradition of those adequately paced, capsule sized, fluffy BLs, Love Tractor is not groundbreaking by any means. However, its charm lies within the characterisation and aesthetics, which were beautifully planned.

Within the first two episodes, it's evident that Yun Sul, an excellent law student, has absolutely zero interest in pursuing law. He rebels against his father's wishes and escapes to his grandfather's village. There he meets the humble and honest Ye Chan, who despite leading a simple life of farming, is happier than most people.

The story has romance as one of its main elements, but what caught my attention was how every character, including the cameo-like In Seong, had a personality and aura of their own. They have a life outside of the bubble, which also plays an important part in shaping who they are.
Yun Seol, perhaps was the most calm, struggling and composed character out of everyone. We see the half of the show from his perspective, while the other half is from Ye Chan's point of view, which was plain hilarious.
Open as a book and innocent as a child, he was smart, but an emotional and confused mess of a kid half the time. An easily likable character.
The comedic timing of everyone in the village was awesome; the village head, Ye Chan and his mom specifically.

In terms of acting, everyone seemed faultless to me. In a manhwa like manner of course! I know there were complaints against the village head, but even he seemed okay to me. The Soundtrack was beautiful - particularly 'Rainbow' by Coldin. (He sang the OST of Semantic Error, last year's breakthrough KBL.)

Mind you, it's kind of a long drama; every episode increases in duration and the final ones were almost half an hour long. I appreciate the team responsible for this as the runtime was sufficient enough to at least attempt to convincingly portray Ye Chan's budding romance. (Ham was more mature and closed off, so I am not sure where and when he fell for Ye Chan.)
The last one I saw, Starstruck, had everything tightly packed into 'exactly' 15 minutes and it was deeply disappointing to see all that potential wasted. Sigh..

All in all, Love Tractor is a beautiful and peaceful watch to cool off your mind.

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Design to deliver an extreme amount of cuteness

This has to be one of those K-BLs that perfectly blend neatness and uniqueness. It features that masculinity can be tough and soft at any given time. Korean BLs consistently provide us with clean transitioning and setup of their scenes that look too perfect for the eyes of the viewers. The rural town seems too peaceful to live in without too much drama and stress from the villagers. Cinematography is always winning and makes the show more appealing.

The distinctive role of Ye Chan is one of the best foundations and contributions of the story. It is a rare sighting for us, the audience, to get to see that a big man can effortlessly slay having a jolly and fluffy personality. He is indeed my favorite character in this show. There are no cringe moments and he acts with ease and confidence. Hearing his voice in a local accent is alluring, and I want to listen for more. Ye Chan is a big baby; always wearing those pouty lips to make him even cuter.

Another masterpiece presented in these BL is the robust selection of OSTs. It sounds refreshing and at the same time, it can make you dance with its groovy vibes. I even felt happier when I caught on to the fact that Coldin sang the main OST of Love Tractor too. He is the man who gives birth to the iconic Romantic Evil and Can You Stay, two songs from another god-tier BL, Semantic Error.

Love Tractor showcases dreams can be simple and special, it just depends on one's self-value. Just like Seon Yul who chooses his long-term ambition of turning his passion into music as his chosen path of professions. The same case to Ye Chan who founds simple happiness in his simple life as a farmer. The storyline, cast, and overall production are entertaining to consume. I enjoy watching all eight episodes and they give justice for having delightful kissing scenes that feel too passionate and innocent at the same time.

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Breaking the top and bottom stereotypes

Sep 27, 2023

WHOA, I finished this drama in like one sitting, I kid you not.

First of all, I was a bit shooked about finding the seme and the uke of this drama. It is good that they are breaking the stereotypes placed among mlm relationships. The plot of the drama is okay, it does feel a bit inconsistent but apparently this was adapted from a manhwa. SO guess who is about to read that manhwa since I want more details regarding the plot prognosis and such.

Yul and Chan's chemistry is so amazing. Chan really embodied that baby girl type of behaviour especially with the acting and the actor's delivery of lines. As for Yul, the switch up from his grumpy cold nature, to the more smily and carefree vibes later on was chef's kiss.

Love Tractor is definitely part of the generic and fluffy type content of korean BLs that are released this year. But something about it is just so interesting to watch. I feel like they really ate with the country side type of drama. I hope there are more like this to be released in the near future.

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Cute short series

This was probably the 3rd or 4th k-drama I've seen that has the overall storyline of a big city boy goes to the countryside and meets a farm-boy. But even though the trope is becoming fairly popular, I can see the reason for it and still quite enjoy them.

This was no exception as I thought the story was cute, the acting was good and the pacing made sense. One thing that stood out to me in this one was that I found myself laughing so much more throughout, mostly because of Ye Chan's antics and bumbling nature. He is just so clueless and it's absolutely adorable. It made for some great chemistry between the two leads because Yul's reactions were just as comical.

While the series was nothing groundbreaking for me, I would still rewatch this for a feel good short engagement when I need a pick-me-up. Highly recommend.

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