Just..... No.
Straight to the point "Review" ---- I thought this show had some slight potential to be a somewhat okay show, plot wise. Sure the acting isn't fantastic, it's both a little stiff and overdramatic at times, but they're all somewhat newbies so we'll let that slide.....But then the end of episode 3 happened - and after doing a little reseach and realising that it's an 9NAA production... it explains everything to me ?
They did a good job at hiding the fact it was a 9NAA production (i only ever saw posters with Viu on it) otherwise I wouldn't have started it as I had vowed not to watch any 9NAA productions after the stuff that happened with Checkout the series and with Best and Cheque - and after checking out the bts vid for this episode it just confirmed my feelings for me, because they *once again* didn't seem to have any intimacy coordination prior to their NC scenes (it happened with Checkout too) and the crew seemed to be joking about the fact they should just get naked too so the actors would feel comfortable.
Also, I can handle some weird stuff, but the fact that they made ACTUAL twins lick each others nipples was weird af to me. Why not just hire actors that look similar to play the twins? I could then *maybe* deal with it that way but not when I know that they are actual twins.
Definitely dropping this one. Will be continuing my stance on not supporting 9NAA shows in the future because they do not seem like a company who has their actors welfare as a top priority. No wonder other companies have pulled out of collabs with them and all their actors leave the second their contractually allowed too.
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a travel ad with very explicit scenes (watch suggestions)
Overall: this had very slow pacing and then some of the most explicit NSFW scenes that I have ever seen from Thailand. Note that this has nothing to do with the Taiwanese BL Kiseki Dear To Me, also there isn't a chapter 1 (there was supposed to be but an actor left the company). There will apparently be a special episode with 1 of the couples. Aired on Viu (need to VPN to Thailand) and GagaOOLala. Later re-aired on 9NAA's YouTube channel (cut free to watch, uncut for channel members). The production company 9NAA also made: Venus In The Sky, Check Out, Skinship and I Am Your King.Watch Suggestions (unless you like a lot of eating, drinking, taking pictures and singing/guitar playing)
- read the synopsis
- skip episode 1
- episode 2 watch 8-12, 16-24, 28-31 and 33:30 to the end
- episode 3 watch 19-25, 40:25-45:40, 50 minutes to the end
- skip episode 4 (unless you want to learn about Japanese bathhouses which is in the 2nd half)
- episode 5 watch 22-24:30 (very NSFW) and 27:50-31 (very NSFW)
- episode 6 watch 22-24 and 27-30:30, could also watch the last few minutes
What I Liked
- centered on 4 characters with an easy to understand premise
- twins as lead characters
- the scene where a character splashed water on his face and pretended to be happy/smile
- the actors did a good job with their explicit scenes, they used some tongue which was realistic
Room For Improvement
- slow pacing, a lot of time spent hugging trees, singing, drinking, eating and taking pictures
- an actor said that they were totally naked in their NSFW scenes which made me worry about how comfortable they were (and apparently the director said he'd go naked to make them comfortable but that sounded more like a threat than being helpful), however, we saw a cord around 1 actor's waist, I'd rather they let the actors wear underwear and use creative angles/shots because the viewer's imagination could fill in the rest; update, the cord might be something religious (let me know if anyone knows more about this)
- wanted them to move from the stairs to a bedroom and I wanted to know what the character was going to say
- toilet humor/scenes
- in episode 3 I wish they hadn't shown a character as extremely drunk before what happened
- they didn't take out the chapter 2 from the title when chapter 1 might never air or if it does it would air after chapter 2
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Director needs training
Dropped: Unable to continue watching.2 CPs, scene started in Japan for location. Great location setting that gives viewer a look of Japan.
first 10 minutes is truly nothing worth watching. It was mostly nonsense chat. Scene transition isn't smooth on most. Acting by actors - I felt like watching a HS freshman school play. However, I believe this is on Director's shoulder. A good & talented director would only film an acceptable, good and excellent depiction of character/s. An artist will continue the way they act if they aren't told to correct or improve. Sadly, the artists are the ones who gets the judgment. The finish product was allowed by the executive producer.
I have to commend the production staff and the artists for their effort and work for this series. I may revisit this series later and start watching mid series to see if there's a reason to edit this review and rating.
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What was that?
Was this a tourist ad or should it be a soft porn?I have no idea... there was not much of a story, there was not really much of emotion, there was stiff acting, there was fan service.
The only upside are the nice places in Tokyo, otherwise this was very forgetful. At least it was not as a pain to watch compared to other series last year.. because besides some sex scenes not much happend at all. No idea why you spend money on such a production, because this could not have been that cheap, even when the actors didn't get much payment.
So, if you have not watched it, just skip it otherwise I feel your pain.
PS.: Dear MyDramaList Admins, why can't we vote with a 0? The rewatch value of this "show" is non existent, even a 1 is too much.
PPS.: Why there is a 6.5 rating overall I really, really have no clue...
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I Am Conflicted
Im always surprised by MDL comments/reviews because grace is given to garbage and withheld from....everything else lol. This falls in the everything else category: its not good, but its also not bad. It feels distinctly amatuer more than anything else, which I gave grace for considering this is most of the actors first/second series as a main character and its six episodes. The plot is thin to nonexistent: Beboy, Plai, and Pan are supposed be sightseeing but the only sight seen so far is some trees and a mall.I did find some of the antics funny, which is rare in and of itself. Half of each couple can act, so both couples average out to mediocre. Im not mad at it. The scenes feel....laggy. Like every scene stutters over a good ending spot and putters to a stop somewhere beyond it. It is also noticeably quiet. I've never begged a show for music, but this needs more of it. A lot of what felt awkward or excruciating could be fixed by not having only 30 seconds of music in a 35min episode.
Something I noticed was that the characters are just the actors??? Like they all have the same names as in the actors real names. That is...a choice, I suppose. A choice I dislike, mind, but a choice all the same. I'll reiterate that I don't think this is good, but I do actually want to see episode three, so I dont think its nearly as bad as the comments are saying. I'm usually a pretty harsh reviewer, so that alone makes me want to go easier on this, but I really cant give it more than a 6. This is average. This is....not really consistently entertaining, but there are moments (note: moments, not scenes, not minutes-- moments.) throughout that are funny or interesting. It could use a re-edit to shave the episode down by five to ten minutes.
Episode one is distinctly worse than episode two, but episode one almost always sucks for everything. Get past that, and the sailing gets smoother. In episode three we finally make it back outside which really helps considering the entire premise of the show. Interactions seem a bit forced, even for BL and the dialogue is....still awkward. I swear I like this show there's just a lot. For what its worth and absolutely not to be mean, most singing and guitar playing happens in 10 second intervals or is long enough to scrub past. Do with that info what you must. P's face plus sunlight really did the scene with translating lyrics a huge favor because the dialogue dropped the ball.
I have now finished episode three and I might drop this. The interactions between both couples are beyond forced, actually. P and Pan isnt as bad as Beboy and Plai but its not great. The sex scenes came out of nowhere. I was expecting a kiss, but not Venus In The Sky esque NC scenes for something like this. Even in VITS, scenes that teetered on the line between softcore and straight porn made me less than happy, and that was after 8 excruciating episodes. Scenes like that after two episode with no buildup or......reason?? Idk, maybe I'm not the fangirl for it, maybe its all someone else wants in a show, but I felt personally awkward and secondhand embarrassment for the cast. I had more positives to say before, but this episode made me want to stop watching. Tbh, once they started playing the king game with 4 people I was on edge because literally who does that????
Based on my rating, my overall score should be a 2.5, but I really wanted this to be good or at least average so I'm torn. It had the potential to be a solid C-student, but its kinda flunking now. I was hoping this episode would be what took the rating from 6 to 6.5 for me but, as you can see, it's 4.5 instead, and that feels generous after this episode.
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Not sponsored by the Japan National Tourism Organization
I just watched over three hours of a tourism advertisement for Japan. Four guys roaming around Tokyo, hugging trees, eating food and singing. Of course, making out, unnecessarily.I've watched a handful of movies and dramas where a lead travels to find themselves and unexpectedly ends up finding love, no, no, this isn't that. This barely came close. I genuinely love those kind of stories because they find a way to move you, bring out certain emotions, but this was nothing.
Two friends (one living in Japan, the other visiting him) meet two brothers and the four of them somehow end up living in one person's appartment for the duration of their stay in Japan.
They go out, eat food, visit tourist spots, sing all the time and.. that's it. It's just a repeat cycle of eat/drink/play a game/make out/go out. They also talk a lot, but most of it was inconsequential, nonsense conversations. And the ones that were supposed to deep and emotional didn't really feel that way.
This was just bad, and I have no way to assess what I actually feel about this series. I know I don't like it, so I guess that's something. At least the episodes were short, because I don't think I would have handled more of this well. I didn't handle what I watched well in the first place.
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i'm disappointed
from the storyline to the acting....Its really not good :(Its nothing like Kiseki dear to me. I started it with the high expectation but ended really unsatisfied. The storyline itself is really poor made and is not pleasant and funny to watch. Actors are good looking but skills are not great. There was no chemistry event tho there was some cute moments. Intimate scenes were not romantic at all, it honestly looked just stupid. It was not even funny.....Im sorry but i wont recommend this drama nor rewatch it.
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Unforgotten Bite
Alright, hear me out. I quite enjoyed this. Well, half of it. Well, maybe a third of it.There was a period when chaste, homophobic KBLs were getting on my last nerve, and I decided I won't watch any BLs without at least a bit of tongue-lashing, and so, I stumbled upon this. With generous skipping, I thought of it as a Thai Pinku Eiga, which made it a lot more fun.
Don't be under any illusion: this is very, very, very, very, very, very bad. Very.
But... was I amused to see a virgin twin(k) ride a hot stud like an acrobatic rodeo two minutes after saying, "I've never done this before"? Yes.
Was I also amused to see the other twin(k) be railed by another hot dude (my fave) on the kitchen table... twice? Also yes.
Did I hate that horrible loincloth on one of the twinks during that stairway two-way? Absolutely.
Was I also left with an idiotic smile at the end of it all, with a welcome reminder that characters in a BL can unapologetically enjoy sex -- something a lot of supposedly "good" BLs still have on their to-do list? Believe it.
***
Notes:
1. The score for acting/cast is based purely on the hotness of the actors, which, I know, is very deep of me.
2. The score for "rewatch value" is also based on hotness, but of the sex scenes, which, to be fair, ought to be deep.
3. I don't know that there was any *music*, but I remember seeing guitars -- this being a Thai BL, after all -- and promptly muted my computer.
4. As for story, it is as good as you get in any soft porn. Which is to say, non-existent. It did convince me to go to Japan, though!
***
Reader's Digest:
DO SAY: Don't you ever tell me... Love isn't true... It's just something that we do.
DON'T SAY: Let's ride this train... coming around the bend... I know it's coming again.
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Was this even a drama?
I don't know what happened. Like seriously. Wtf was this.When I started watching, I had some hope. The camera seemed nice, lightning and all that stuff were all right. And boy then it happened. The acting and screenplay itself. Like yeah, Japan is interesting, but I just felt like i was watching an add or a boring af vlog.
Listen, I watched a LOT of dramas, but this was not a drama. Where was the plot? Where was the actual drama?
I thought that maybe, atleast the spicy scenes will be good. I was wrong. Zero chemistry, zero vibes and 100% p*rn. I am sorry, it is, what it is. I didn't feel any love, or at least tension. I also didn't like the way these scenes were made. I guess the romance and some basic sense left the room. Don't expect any kind of cool, moody lightning, nice bed, slow kisses and a lot of passion. You will get none of that.
Honestly, I was just wondering wtf am I watching. I would have dropped the series, but I stayed for P. He was the only person, that I was willing to watch. He acted the best out of those four. And we can't deny that he is handsooome!
Overall, I did NOT like this series. It was really irritating and I wasted my time for nothing.
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Might never watch it again
Okay so here me out, it had potential.I think if it was directed by someone else then maybe it'd be better. I mean, which director in their right mind would make two brothers lick each other's nipples?!!
The story and the acting were okay but I think the best parts of the show were the NC scenes.
Do have to admit that the ending was a little sad but it didn't really do anything for me.
Maybe if the actors acted in something else with a different director then I'd have seen their talent but Kiseki Chapter 2 wasn't it.
Hope they get better roles, really do.
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Its Softcore
Is it really softcore? There are some pretty... erm, suggestive scenes that I'm sure some people are looking for. I commend the actors whom are all rather good looking but I am sad that they have to do this project which is almost p**n.The script is almost non existent, and they really wasted the beautiful sights of Japan by having much of the non acting runtime in the room itself. What I mean is that the sights of Japan are almost like a travelogue while the acting (which is erm, you know.) is mostly in that house of P. They should have leveraged on their Japan expenses by having more acting and plot within the gorgeous country of Japan.
In my opinion, they should not have used the name Kiseki which was that Taiwanese project with no link at all. I hope the 4 actors get better roles in the future, and I hope the studio gets better scriptwriters.
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Don't be fooled by the title...
I'm not a person to drop a drama/series, especially a bl, but in this case I have to.Honestly I don't have a single good thing to say about this series.
The acting is very bad, the story is just...yeah! It's also badly filmed!
The whole thing is very idiotic and cringe.
Too bad I can't rate it 0, or even -1...
As for the title, I think it's pretty much an insult to the Taiwanese series "Kiseki: Dear to Me".
I know that they are not related, but still it feels incredibly insulting even that they have the same name(almost)
This is gonna be the second bl I'm dropping!
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