Blossom Campus (2024)

expected more (watch suggestions)

Overall: I normally really enjoy Strongberry productions because they focus on the couple, have good kissing and are well paced. Unfortunately, this series only did 1 of the 3 well. 6 episodes about 20 minutes each (there are actor interviews after the end credits). Aired on GagaOOLala & iQIYI country dependent.

Watch Suggestions (if you want to avoid a love rival and slow pacing)
- episode 2 watch 15-16:20
- episode 3 watch the beginning to 3:50 then 16:30 to the end
- episode 4 watch the beginning to 1 minute (or could skip)
- skip episode 5
- watch episode 6 from 6:30-19:15 and then watch the beginning to 4 minutes to avoid a cliffhanger ending

What I Liked
- easy to understand premise
- visuals
- good kissing/ongoing physical affection

Room For Improvement
- presence of a love rival and too much screen time focused on it
- pacing, almost all of episode 5 was moping
- cliche miscommunication/refuse to communicate
- why did the 1 character like the other so much/aggressively pursue him? I'm not a fan of the childhood rescue trope but at least that would explain it
- comparing m/m romance to biological relative romance was odd
- cliffhanger/non ending
- the comedy sound effects did not make things funny
- explaining things briefly instead of showing them (ie why the guy was worried about a romantic relationship)
- I realize they didn't have much of a budget but setting it on campus and having zero extras took me out of the story, they could have removed the love rival and the professor and paid some extras instead

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the ending?

I’ve got some mixed feelings if I’m being honest. at first the sound effects annoyed me, it honestly didn’t feel like I was watching a KBL, more like a Thai BL. fortunately, they died down a lot as the series went on.

this is a very simple, sweet, story which we all need at times. there isn’t a lot of depth and there are a lot of plot holes still left… however I did enjoy it… well up until the last 2 mins. I had no idea this was going to end on such a cliffhanger. BUT with that being said, because of the cliffhanger I’m wondering if we’ll get more episodes that will fill in some of the missing bits.

I do have to note it was really weird for it to be a university campus and there were no students anywhere in the background. it gave the whole things a weird vibe, but if you can look past that, I think overall it was a decent watch. especially if you’re looking for something light, some good kissing, and a handsome cast.

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Boring and pointless

Sorry, but it seemed like more like a half-baked mid-sem student project than a bl from a popular production house.

The actors looked like novices, esp Yoo. chan who felt like he had taken one too many roundhouse kicks to his head during practice. I understand he is supposed to be a "puppy seme" but he was literally acting like 3yr old on a sugar high.

The other love interest, I didn't care much for. He had too much screentime and absolutely no character presence. They could have replaced him with a lamp post to the same effect. I know he was supposed to be a love rival but his chemistry with KMJ was negative and I couldn't see him as anything other than some classmate who got a lot of unncessary screentime.

Same with that weirdass professor. Why even have him in the drama or give him so many lines while the leads make awkward small talk to humour him? It felt like the drama was centered around the old guy and they just added some leftover bl plotline as an after thought. The only consolation was the kissing scenes in ep 6 (which was ruined by that weird ending).

I honestly expected more from Strongberry, but after Our Happy Ending and now this, I feel maybe I shouldn't have.

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Geez...

This is obviously a small production with an even smaller budget, but I was appalled at the actuality of the K-BL. On top of a whole mess of things (production, acting, plot) this series just made... no sense? I feel like I watched everything and nothing at all. Everything that happened felt too coincidental, and I really don't even know where to begin.

Let's Dive In.

So let's start off with this plot that's already extremely wonky. Minjae is a new transfer student who keeps coincidentally bumping into the bubbly Yoonchan, who happens to have no friends and immediately falls for Minjae for no apparent reason. Then they add the most irrelevant thrid-wheeler into this that has zero correlations to the characters and immediately shows signs of having feelings for Minjae, again, for no apparent reason. The ending doesn't even serve this series justice cause they end on a cliffhanger as if I'd be back to watch another season (no!!).

This is obviously a small-budgeted series, but it felt more like a student-made series than an entire company behind it. It's hard not to realize that there is literally nobody besides these few actors on screen. Nobody at the cafe, nobody in the library, no one around the school, and no one also taking taekwondo classes. Some of the conversations ran on for far too long, like any conversation with the singular professor who works at the school, or the only senior that Yoonchan had. This series is already rather short, but then they had these long-drawn-out conversations that I definitely zoned out on more than once.

To make matters worse, there's a scene where Yoonchan is confronted by his senior about his relationship with Minjae, which Minjae overhears, in which he tells him that they're "just friends" because, get this, they are just friends! But Minjae gets butt-hurt about it, mind you, the senior came off as extremely homophobic and they quite literally were only friends. So there's a whole episode where they go around mopping and it's hilarious because it's so bad.

Moving onto the relationship...eh. Honestly, I didn't hate it, and they did extremely well during the kissing scenes, however, I will say that they needed to cut the kissing scenes in half because they went on for far too long. Other than that, I think they were okay, but nothing special.

Ratings:

Story: 4/10 - Just not good at all.

Acting: 8/10 - not bad, a little mediocre, but it's okay.

Music: 5/10 - I don't remember.

Recommendation Value: 1/10 - Not a lot of K-BLs came out this year, so I'm sad to say that you can go ahead and skip this one.

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What Campus...

While I don't mind low-budget productions, an empty campus without any other students is just ruining the premise of the title. And what's with the over the top lipstick in the opening scene (and other), but forgetting to face-powder the one actor in the next? I don't really feel a professor who gives "love" advice. And finally why end a series with a cliffhanger? Sometimes I was reminded of Thai shows with the silly sound effects which are still annoying as hell.
This was an easy story but I guess the third person could have been spared and they should have more concentracted on character building. So few cast was a downer for me, but at least we get sensible kissing scenes which don't look forced at all.
So, this is an ok show with some length in the story telling and for me some unneeded scenes and a cliffhanger. I suppose an ex will come up in Season 2, if there is a Season 2.

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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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Background Noise at its finest

Yeah NGL this BL is so mid lol.

Blossom Campus, despite the cool name, is nothing special. The plot is as cookie-cutter as a BL could get and doesn't even try to stray away from the formula. Sure this BL was cute and I enjoyed it overall, but I feel like you could go on your phone for a hot minute, look up, and then still get the entire jest of what is going on in any given scene. The one sliver of true drama we get is given to us at the very end of the show before it ends on what I can only call a cliff-hanger.

Honestly only watch if you're bored and want something GAY in the background.

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“You fell in love with your cousin?”

First of all this drama was incomplete. Abruptly ended on what would appear to be a cliff hanger for the next episode. I was glad.

What bothered me the most is that the elder man who was the professor and life coach said he fell for his own cousin. Then proceeded to give love advice to the main characters. I dont know about you guys but im not taking any form of advice from someone who thinks my falling for my friend is a similar situation to him falling for his COUSIN! like WHAT? then the MC said “I dont think it’s wrong that you fell in love with your cousin” LIKE WHAT ? HELP? Is this a KBL or a southern white family dating show?? I cannot. 😭

The main leads were cute i guess but UGH Like who wrote this show?? i feel like you need help!

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Super Cute

Yes, it would have been better if it was longer and with a better plot. This was definitely low budget (with only 5 human beings in the whole series).

But, I really want to give them some love. I think the actors did a great job with what they had. And, since Choi Dong Ho admitted he is not a cheerful person in real life, it had to be the director’s choice. And what he produced was super cute.

We hear the reason Minjae is so cold and stand-offish in the last episode. But things turned out well and I thoroughly enjoyed this. It was sweet and lighthearted and made for a perfect lazy afternoon binge watch.

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Cute show 6 episodes in

It started off great.
Not to heavy on the drama
Characters haven’t revealed their back storage yet, but I’m sure in future episodes that will come.
I’m six episodes in and I love it.
I need to know more about the characters to make them friendless and afraid of love like they were in the start.

Not too heavy on the drama aspect at the moment. Couple of good kissing scenes 🔥 (just not at work boys ✋ you’ll get fired doing that behind the counter) the 2 lead characters have good chemistry.
I Can’t wait to see more.
Fingers crossed for a happy ending for Minjae & Chan

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AT LEAST THEY TRIED, MIN JAE SAVED THIS DRAMA

Was there even a Story ? I have not seen anything that is happening here but a lovey dovey confused guys throughout the 6 episodes, the scenario's are too common, and I have seen so many blank parts .. like why was Yoon Chan have no friends ? why did he want MIn Jae to make him his friend no matter what ? the conversation with the professor ate too much part of the story I felt irritated with him having so many lines and he consents too much ! will a professor give a love advice normally ? i guess not ! but they would rather tell you to study hard ! , about the Senior of Yoon Chan , was he only come to shame and reprimand yoon Chan? Min Jae and Woo Hyuk have more chemistry than with Yoon Chan. I am so sorry I am not good at acting but The professor and Yoon Chan was so terrible in their acting , Only Woo Hyuk and Min Jae have acted good in this drama as only four of them was the only people I saw in this drama, like the school have no student at all ? and when Yoon Chans Senior reprimand him again, he was not even wearing a taekwondo outfit , the both of them. Woo Hyuk is more polite and more decent If I were MIn Jae I would have chosen him, thankfully they had a part here which is the only thing that I like here. At the cafe' when MIn Jae was working a part time job, was it allowed in Korea to let your employees friend work with you even not hired ? there was even no other people at the cafe , I only saw one person ordering and the resit was just kissing and hugging. Woo Hyuk suddenly disappeared in the last part,
and on the ending , MIn Jae suddenly see someone he seems to know from the past , so i am sure that there will be a part 2 of this, I hope it gets better there, The beginning was promising but went downwards in the middle to the end, the reason why I finished it anyways ? it is because of Min Jae, he was so cute and very good at acting thanks to him I was able to finish this drama . that's all , If your standards in dramas are high like mine, just don't watch it .

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