Cute high school love triangle, with beautiful character development

I usually hate love triangles as there is often lots of unnecessary drama, but this series was exceptional in the way of portraying the love triangle as a chance for them to grow and change for the better. Da-on with his pushover people-pleasing personality, learned to love himself first. Tae-Kyung learned what love is, and the importance of friends. And my baby Shiwoon learned to properly express his feelings and communicate with others.

I love the side characters, Lee So-Hee (could be counted as the antagonist) is portrayed as someone who's arrogant yet extremely confident and brave in pursuing her love for Da-on. She made mistakes, but she learned from them and became a better person because of it. Namgung is that one friend we all need, always supportive care-free, yet gives the best advice and helps the most behind the scenes when it comes down to it. And their teacher is seriously such a ray of sunshine, and so supportive of his students too.

Would I say this series was perfect? Not exactly. But it is an amazing story of friends, love, and growth.

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Short, sweet, bite-size happiness

A lovely short story about 2 boys finding what love is, one with deep emotional scars, and one who heals them. They truly do complete each other in such an endearing and adorable one.

One thing I love the most about this series, is the amount of communication and talking they did. Ryuuji manages to coax Amane into being his true self, and talking about his past wounds. He really listens, and only listens, and that's enough for Amane, having someone who tries to understand him.

I love the confession scenes, it really show Ryuuji's character when he puts such deep consideration into Amane's feelings. It wasn't a simple rejection nor acceptance, he accepted his confusion yet at the same time embraced his feelings for Amane. That for me was just beautiful, and one of the most nicely done confession scenes.

The whole series is just fluffy and cute, except when we deal with Amane's past scars. I wish we had more time with this cute couple, and could've explored more of the development of their relationship after they got together, but then again, that's not the point of this story is it?

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Too draggy, a bit disappointing

Giving it 7 was me being nice, I had high expectations mainly due to the extremely high ratings of 8.6, but was very unfortunately disappointed.

I wasn't really even emotionally invested in the Main cp, and that's a huge flag for me. They really do lack communication, lots of unnecessary misunderstandings happening, lots of explanations that could've saved them from danger. But they were cute in a way, and it's my first time watching a BL with fantasy tropes, which was pretty interesting. (though it wasn't done nicely at all)

The fantasy bits were just confusing (slight spoilers) - e.g. why did the sister look for Phaya instead of Tharn? She could've explained everything to her ex-sister instead, but she chose not to for reasons unknown. It could've been a lot more cohesive, but instead it adds only confusion to the plot.

Now for the 'police' plotline that underlies the entire series, I found it pretty unnecessary honestly. Them being a police didn't add to the main focus of the series - aka Phaya and Tharn's relationship. It would've made no difference even if they weren't police officers, except maybe they would've gotten into a lot less trouble and danger.

Now for the ending, the most unsatisfying part of the show. Why the hell did they shorten the reunion to 2 minutes. That was just unacceptable. They decided to cut out everything that would show us the dilema Doc had to go through, Tharn trying to explain his love for Phaya. Just everything important was cut out. All we got was 2 minutes of Tharn and Phaya reuniting happily, and Doc the sea-dragon leaving. Why did they cut out all the emotional parts, the conflicts, the important scenes?? I could never understand this.

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Super cute, and definitely worth watching if you like OffGun!

This may be the first time I started a series because I like the bts chemistry of the main characters, and I don't think this series disappointed at all! It was quite sad seeing many people not enjoying OffGun in this serious, and I can definitely see why. But I love their chemistry, and the absolutely hilarious comedy (not everyone will enjoy comedy of course), and I love the friendship groups of both leads.

Prem's grandma is an absolute cutie, and need I mention the couple who everyone thinks overshone the main cpl Dynamite and Firefy! They really have such a great story and I enjoyed their relatinoship as much as Ten x Prem, although I won't say I liked them better, cuz i seriously love OffGun.

The premise of the show is supposed to be 'cooking', and I do think it's cute that we have a foodie x passionate chef pairing, that's always such an adorable trope! But admittedly the premise doesn't really add anything relatively important to the plot. But I did go into this mindlessly just to watch the sweet moments of the couples, hence why my rating is probably a lot higher than others.

But overall, I would definitely recommend this if you want some sweet OffGun / Dynamite x Firefy moments, they're definitely worth the time!

PS: Ten's step-mum is actually quite likeable despite her knack to cause trouble for Ten

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One of the best ones yet

This is truly a great series, from the plot to the characters, everything was executed beautifully.

I love the main couple, although I was a bit confused when they started falling in love, but sometimes love is just a mystery, I thought it was beautiful and very cute. I like how ML wasn't actually hidden in the dark, that he has his own guesses about MC's character. Second cpl is so cute too, though a bit more angsty in my opinion.

The plot twist was interesting, although my gut instinct actually told me this would happen from miles away. I was a bit confused about the motive of this character, and I wish they would've expanded on it a bit more.

Overall, i think the setting of the plot is very interesting, i haven't come across any plotlines like this, especially in bls dramas. And i especially appreciate how they perfectly executed their relationship, without it being purely explicit, sometimes just a glance and a hug can show a lot more than being super intimate.

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I liked it, but the ending ruined it

I've been scrolling through comments, and noticed that some are disappointed with how the 'mystery' bit was over-advertised. Good thing for me, I didn't watch any of its advertisements and jumped straight into it, so I wasn't expecting much of a mystery in the series. The mystery, if any, really wasn't done well, so fortunately it isn't something that I was expecting or looking out for. I had already expected the 'twist' for the curse from miles away, not sure if anyone else did too.

What I liked, was how both MLs actually acted like their age, they cried their hearts out, they're irrational, stupid, and do idiotic things. But I love how their relationship developed, from hating and suspicion, to curious and trying to understand each other. As a person who always puts others before myself, I actually relate a lot to what the characters are going through.

I'm sure something's going on with the side couple, not sure yet since i'm only on ep7, but I'm hoping they'll manage to open up their hearts to each other, something that every character seems to struggle to do so, considering they are in such a prison-like school.

Ep9 - ok the side cpl is seriously lacking some bravery, but its fine i can wait for them - as for Akk, I've been reflecting on his actions, and honestly, I realised that what he's been doing is literally a crime, at least assisting in one. I originally thought his intention was to 'protect the school's honour as head prefect', but now it's obvious his motive is also to obtain the scholarship for university, and he has to get on the teacher's good side to do that. That is selfish behaviour, and he's essentially spreading lies and causing fear around school for personal motives. That's really not right.

For main the couple, I thought they could turn out really sweet after Akk sorts out his feelings, so far he hasn't done so even after Ayan bares his heart. Although I can't say they are a good couple, Ayan has his ulterior motives in wanting Akk to confess to his crimes, and he keeps forcing Akk to do so, not even attempting to understand or comfort him despite knowing how conflicted Akk feels. I also dislike how he loves jumping to conclusion and assuming Akk is always the perpetrator

Ep10 - yep the couples are finally set, and then tragedy descends of course - seriously why is the school expecting students to act like friggin investigators in a murder mystery, they're really not right in the head

Ep11 - i'm so triggered sorry Thua is a little bish how dare he tattle on their relationship, that's such a foul move - also did everyone get hit on the head and experience a 180 personality change in this episode??

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This is the closure I needed

S3 for me was the perfect 'end' to the Gokusen series. It seems that Yankumi's way of teaching has finally been accepted , and she manages to not get fired for once in her life time, and surprisingly her yakuza background never came to light either.

Sawatari really deserves some applause for his character development, and Kuma is literally the perfect role model for Yankumi's current students.

What shocked me the most, is that things really did escalate more than they did in s1 and s2, and I love the freshness it brings. Mind you, I do sometimes skip over Yankumi's speeches as she usually utters the same words pretty much everytime, but I gotta admit that her fighting skills seems to be much better since s1.

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Don't worry, you won't be disappointed!

I was a bit hesitant starting this season, as I noticed the plot seemed really similar to s1. But it was actually a lot better than I had expected! No doubt s1 is still better imo. Obviously, we still have our naive and passionate Yankumi with her class of delinquents. But I love that the class in s2 just slightly differs from those in s1, and it just makes it all the more better.

We still have the cool and collected class leaders with their group of 5 friends, but instead of only 1 (Shin in S1 ma boi), there are actually 2 here, which I found quite interesting. And unlike Shin they seem terrible at keeping secrets too, which really made me crack up hard a few times.

I love that Kuma made so many appearances throughout the season, really proves that Yankumi still has connections with her past class, although Shin's still missing TT

Overall, I really love the story, it may be similar to s1 with her jumping into action for her students and all that dramatic life-speeches, but it still gives me the same warm fuzzy feeling, so don't hesitate and start watching it!

PS I actually love how Head Teacher seems to be accepting Yankumi's way of teaching, this is some great character development!

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Unexpectedly love it so much!

I've never watched any other genre apart from rom-com/romance, and this was such a thrilling surprise to me, the fact that I actually enjoyed the entire series so much!

This is a really really old series, so you can't expect much from the quality, it's slightly blurry and not very visually appealing, but the acting, the storyline and the overall warm fuzzy feeling just knocks this series right out the park!

I love the chemistry between Yankumi and the entire 3D class, the students all of their own stories, and the teachers have theirs too! Yankumi is a really great teacher, and it was lovely to see her being the only teacher who cares to actually teach the 'bad students' of 3D. The love interest of Sawada Shin was obviously there, but there was 0 romance since he was still underage. But i do know they're a thing in the original manga.

Yankumi can sometimes be seen as being very extra and over-the-top, but only someone like her, completely thick-skinned and shameless and even naive sometimes, can pull off being such a great teacher to the 3D students.

Overall, I have loved this series so much! I'm considering whether to watch s2 and s3, since I've seen that their plots are quite similar and perhaps repetitive, but I'm convinced that I should at least give them a go. So see you guys there!

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Very unique plot

Starting off, I'll just say that I've never watched a series where FL actually associates so closely to another guy - LuoYao. It was a very very adorable relationship and I even got confused momentarily to whom the ML was. But it was interesting how this prior relationship actually means something to the plot, and not just a simple stepping stone to FL and ML's relationship.

I love the exploration of family dynamics. Mostly seen through the family interaction of FL with her long-lost parents, it's interesting how its often a lot more difficult to maintain a good relationship within a family, but even so, they still love each other greatly. Family interaction is less seen in part 2, with more of the politics going on, so I quite treasure the scenes which explore FL's relationship with her family members.

Another thing I really liked, was how this was one of the rare series where the Monarchy wasn't trashy and stupid. The King was incredibly wise, and took care of his children, and especially so for LingBuYi. The Queen and the Royal Consort are both noble women, and they do not act stupidly like many royalties in other series like to. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said by the prince and princess, but then again, it wouldn't make sense if all the royalties had really acted as their noble title suggests.

FL and ML's relationship develops more in the latter half, as FL used to harbour suspicion towards ML, and did not like him due to his nature of being a war general. Personally, I did not think they're relationship got off to a great start, with both ML and FL having quite conflicting personalities. But I look forward to its development in Part 2.

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A bit of a letdown

So I went headfirst into this series after watching beautiful edits, and obviously having pretty high expectations. Unfortunately, it did not end up as good as I had thought it would be.

The 8 episodes did not give it enough time to flesh out their 'Mono n Probe' relationship, and I felt like the love they claim to have, is not entirely clear whether it stems from obsession, or curiosity, or just because they believe it is their fate. There was no clear feelings of romance between the 2 leads, and I thought what came the closest to being romance would be when Probe was teaching Mono about colours, again is that really romantic?

I wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt, thinking that it would develop more before the end, but it never really did.

I do give it that the settings of the story is quite interesting, and the actors are fitting for their parts. But it was very rushed, and many scene was choppy and lacking congruency.

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A bit too much political drama, a bit too little romance - only slight hints at spoilers

I was slightly disappointed with Part 2 of this amazing series. After finishing Part 1, I immediately jumped on Part 2, hoping to get a bit more fluff from the main leads' relationship. But unfortunately, I did not get such satisfaction.

The plot of the series remains to be spectacular, with numerous twists, and exploring difficult themes such as death and betrayal. And the political bit of the series was captivating, with ML seeking revenge, and the involvement of many other high-ranking officials as well. I love how the King, Queen and Royal Consort, always remains to be supporters of LingBuYi and ChengShaoShang, especially loving CSS's relationship with the Queen. I was missing scenes of CSS with her family, as she mainly stays in the palace for training, but this was redeemed with the Queen acting as her mother.

While ML and FL do have their sweet moments, they have always lacked communication. And this issue was never resolved, even until the end of the series. I felt that the ending of the series was too shocking, and let me down quite a bit, as I did not expect such a thing to happen, nor did I want to see such a short reconciliation. Both leads had ideals and beliefs that were too conflicting, even basically opposites, and this conflict was never resolved between them, with neither of them seen to reach a compromise. This leads to a worrying question - if a similar situation arises, won't that mean a certain break-off of their relationship?

While binging all 56eps have certainly kept me on my toes, and I did not feel bored even after finishing the series. I thought the sweetness of the romance was quite lacking. Although romance may not have been the only main focus, it should've been more elevated. And communication should've been established between ML and FL, with mutual trust, which was sadly sorely lacking in their relationship.

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A bit draggy, a bit disappointing

So I had high expectations for this, especially after watching MRIAD, but I'll try not to compare these two except for this one fact, there is a lot less bromance.

The cases did start out interesting, especially with Murder on the Oriental Express (an Agatha Christie og), but I'm currently up to ep15 and have been feeling that the cases are all incredibly long and a bit too complex. They are dragged out through episodes and have made me lost interest gradually.

I don't like the characters' personality, especially that of our great Mr. Detective. Unlike his counterpart in MRIAD, this one lacks any kind of personality, except maybe for the fact that he's mysophobic (if that's a word) and loves to find out the truth. His 'Watson' aka Mr. Rich Policeman, similarly lacks any personality except for him being loaded and prideful maybe. FLs on the other hand, were done much better i would say, they're skilled and have the brains to actually help with solving cases.

Overall, I haven't found this series to be very interesting, and giving it a 7 is generous to me. Hopefully it will get better.

Edit: I'm currently up to ep17, and I've unfortunately decided to drop it. The mystery of the plot truly either drags on too long, or is way more complicated than it needs to be. For some, the complicated cases might be interesting, but it really hurts my brain even though I'm even trying to use it in the first place. I'm really sad that there's no bromance, and Mr. Detective's monotone character and voice is really making me drift off to sleep.

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Unexpected gem, a definite must watch

I honestly started off with no expectations, the title seemed meh, the synopsis was slightly interesting, and I had only expected to see lots of fighting and revenge.

But this series really exceeded all expectations, there was fighting, yes, but lots of teachings and stories that the audience could really connect to. Especially those who might have family issues similar to those of our two main leads. The series touches on so many topics, and they really delve deep into them, and it brought me to tears countless times. Redemption, bravery, learning to be independent, learning to break free of control .. It was a brutal eye-opening to how a terrible up-bringing could ruin the lives of countless children, and how Deuk Pal's guidance literally brought them back to the right paths.

For my fellow BL fans, as we know this is adapted from a BL novel, but they turned it into a bromance (super unfortunately I might add). I've always enjoyed bromance series as well as BL ones, as they give off quite a different vibe for me. I really did enjoy that there is no romance in the series, and I imagine having it would make the story turn out quite different with a possible stronger focus on the love-line. That's why I usually treat any bromance adaptation as separate from their source material - which also means I will be on a desperate hunt to find a place where I can read the original novel in English (pls anyone help with this?)

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A masterpiece, a seemingly cute and bubbly series, but with pretty dark themes

One thing I must say, it's very rare to find a BL with such a special setting - transmigration. This is a pretty rare trope used in BL, and as a huge fan of this setting, I think that they had executed it perfectly in this series. The 'game' setting is well-written, and I love that there are consequences for MH to change the storyline of YW, and not just the typical butterfly effect without any serious consequences that many transmigrators experience.

We see MH as a seemingly kind(ish), up-beat, supportive Sunbae, but what we don't see (and what the series later explores), is what's hidden deep inside his protective barrier. His darker, vulnerable, hidden side. The series had taken an unexpectedly dark turn around halfway through, and I nearly cried at what MH had to go through. YW is such a cute character too, and I nearly got whiplash when he did a 180 in the way he acted towards MH haha.

I had many questions even after the series had ended, question that aren't super important but I wish they had clarified in the series. The last few eps of 7-8 weren't exactly easy to understand, but you will as long as you decide to switch on your brain if you hadn't already (since I usually watch with my brain turned off).

I enjoyed this series a lot, it's a hidden gem in not just KBL, one of the most special and heartwarming series I've watched yet.

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