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Completed
Love in the Air
61 people found this review helpful
Oct 21, 2022
13 of 13 episodes seen
Completed 15
Overall 3.5
Story 4.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 4.0
This review may contain spoilers

MAME does it again.

I guess I should expect this from the creator of TharnType, but to be honest I didn’t know it was this author until I was 4 episodes in.

The actors are okay. I don’t want to say they have no ability simply because they have no reasonable script. I haven’t seen them in anything else, so maybe if they had something better to work with, they could have done well. The music is mediocre. I haven’t found anything great or terrible about the OST. As you may have gathered from the above: the plot is pretty much non existent. Outside of the relationships, there isn’t anything to be said so far. Not really a compelling plot and sometimes the storyline is nonsensical.

I can explain the whole story with some very simple dialogue:
Payu: “Let’s have sex.”
Rain: “No. I’m not gay.”
Payu: “You’re stupid.”
Rain: “I’ll make you love me so you can’t call me stupid.”
Payu: “Let’s have sex.”
Rain: “Okay.”

Pai: *Forces Sky to have sex with him.*
Sky: “What a jerk.”
Pai: “His sex was so good, I think I should make Sky my sex friend or boyfriend, as needed.”
Sky: “Go away..”
Pai: “You’re sick? Let me take care of you.”
Sky: “Okay, maybe we can have sex, but I won’t be happy about it.”

This is the gist of the show to this point (episode 10). It makes little to no sense and has very little plot. As usual for this author, imbalance of power in relationships and forced or non consensual sex that ends in loving relationships. I agree with another reviewer who asked if MAME has ever been in a relationship, cause this is not how people behave. This is soft core porn with very little story. And unfortunately the story you get isn’t worthwhile. We should expect more from our BL series.

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Completed
Don't Say No
7 people found this review helpful
Jun 8, 2023
12 of 12 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 5.0
Story 4.5
Acting/Cast 6.0
Music 5.5
Rewatch Value 4.5
This review may contain spoilers

Mame should not be a writer.

After watching the TharnType 2 and seeing the start of Leo and Fiat, I had high hopes for this series, but as with all of Mame's work, it was just a disappointment waiting to happen. I can't rate it absolutely the lowest, because at least in this series, she didn't make any of the happy couples come from rape or nonconsensual sexual scenarios. It's kind of a first for this particular author.

The story started out cute. Fiat and Leo have loved each other secretly for years and now they finally get together. First love's ship sails and two friends are trying to figure out how to move from just friends to lovers. Sounds like fun, but wait. So many problems await them. Unfortunately, most of those problems are overly exaggerated or self-caused. Some of those problems were serious mental health issues that got treated like a case of manipulation and cruelty rather than being dealt with or addressed appropriately. And some of those problems come from the simple inability to bear the consequences of your actions.

The acting was okay, but unfortunately, not great. Ja was pretty good, but it's easier to be the strong silent type. First was overacting so much in his emotional scenes that I really wish the director would have pulled him aside once and said, "Less is more." Yes, he had a lot of emotional and crying scenes, but he just needed to pull back a little and understand emotion doesn't always have to translate to loud wailing and whinging.

Music never makes much difference to me. It wasn't weird and it didn't distract, so it's good in my opinion. I didn't find any of the music especially awesome, but none of it was bad.

Overall, the rating has to fall in the middle, it wasn't awesome and it wasn't terrible. So in a way, that's a first for Mame. Usually her work makes me want to vomit, so since I am not puking, she didn't completely suck with this one.

Now, onto spoilers, because there are some. Again, I'm blaming Mame because she lacks the ability to write a relationship that isn't terrible and confusing and lacking in communication. Maybe she has relationship issues? I don't know, but her characters get to share.

One relationship in this drama is pretty decent. Second couple: Leon and Pob. They communicated pretty well and didn't have any bad issues that made you hate them. They were just a good couple. Pob decided to leave and didn't tell Leon about it until after it was decided, but I wouldn't call that a total lack on his part, because even if they were dating, they hadn't been together long enough for me to say it seems weird to make a decision like that totally on your own. If they were closer to marriage or in a long standing commited relationship, I would say, discuss so the other person isn't blindsided, but really, it was Pob's decision to make and he was coming back eventually. So that relationship gets an A- from me.

Now the Leo and Fiat pairing. What can I say? They were the main couple, so Mame couldn't leave them unscathed. Fiat was kind of a slutty guy, but Leo knew that going into the relationship, so I don't understand all the freaking out about his past. Anyway, that wasn't too bad, until we inevitably learn that Fiat was raped (I consider blackmailing someone for sex the same as rape) and naturally, Leo acted like a child, which put pressure on Fiat. He knew about it already, so why act childishly later. Shouldn't he have freaked out when he heard about it originally rather than behaving emotionally later? Oh well, he's young, so he's learning emotions sometimes hurt and that wasn't all that bad. But then some girl comes up and says, King is going to do something to Fiat and I'll tell you if you kiss me. And Leo does it! I mean, why not just say no and tell her that you'll tell Fiat and his friends to be on their guard. He must have known she was never going to actually tell him. The whole thing was obviously manufactuered and ridiculous. Fiat sees Leo kissing someone else and rather than confront Leo about this, he ignores it, says he's fine, and cries in private. Why? Because he feels hurt but doesn't trust his lover. Their relationship would have been so much stronger with some honest communication and expression of hurt, but Mame can't do that, because she equates good relationships with the ones where they hurt each other, lie to each other, and cannot trust each other. This is Leo and Fiat in a nutshell. They spend the entire time telling each other how much they love each other while deciding not to trust each other enough to be honest and talk about anything. Ugh. Still they eventually get together, and Leo talks about locking Fiat up and keeping him to himself, which is so possessive that it's uncomfortable. Kind of a red flag, but let's treat it like a joke. This relationship gets a C-.

Now the relationship between Fiat and his family. Problematic doesn't begin to describe this sh*t show. Fiat's dad finds out that his first wife is crazy. Rather than dealing with a mental health issue with a little dignity and reasonable actions (like maybe taking her to a doctor and talking openly to your son so he can learn to adjust and understand) the dad sends mommy away and leaves Fiat feeling like his mother was stolen from him. Then he immediately replaced Fiat's mom with someone else. Fiat gets in an argument and apparently pushes the step-mom down while she is pregnant. It could have been accidental, it could have been in anger but still he was a child and didn't understand. He didn't even remember, but rather than talking to him and working things out, again the father behaves badly and simply kicks Fiat out of the house for Leo's family to take him in. Way to make your son hate you, dad. Saying you suck at this point is just pointless. Isn't the father supposed to be the adult here? Mature and intelligent? No, he's an idiot from start to finish. Even I hate him and he's not my dad. Step mom and step sister are just side characters whose only screen time is supposedly to show how much Fiat has matured. Well if dad was mature, they never would have been in that situation in the first place, but sure, whatever. Now Fiat's mom. I feel bad for her. This woman clearly had mental health issues, but rather than talking about that appropriately, she was treated as though she was abusive and manipulatitive because she was hateful. What kind of man finds out his wife is losing her mind and rather than help her get treatment, he just kicks her out and tells his son that he's not allowed to see her? Are we making mental health a reason for people to be hated and treated like trash now? Is that the message we're sending with this? Sorry, but that was so wrong that it really makes me angry. Then once Fiat understands, rather than saying, hey dad, you could have explained this to me years ago and we might have had a better relationship, and let his dad take a little bit of the blame that was 95% his in the first place, Fiat apologizes to his dad and now everything's good. Dad lying to you, treating you like crap, and kicking you out of the house when you are a child is all your fault because your mother had mental health issues, right? The way this mental health issue was dealt with was 100% wrong and the way that Fiat was treated as a result was wrong as well. I'm going to give all of Fiat's family relationships a FAIL.

Bascially, this is another disappointing series based on characters and story by Mame. Please, stop producing her work. You're just encouraging her to continue writing trash BLs with very little thought and toxic relationships. I really hope to see Ja and First in another series, preferrably one written by someone with talent and maybe even some class and taste. By the way, why was Leo in tails at that party at the end? No one else was, seriously he was the only one and it was too long for him and not properly fitted. Just put the man in a suit! Sorry, that just had to be said.

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Completed
Military Prosecutor Doberman
9 people found this review helpful
Nov 8, 2022
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 3
Overall 6.5
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 5.0
This review may contain spoilers

Lacking but not horrible

The best thing I can say about this drama is that it isn’t horrible. It had two enjoyable songs but nothing amazing. Unfortunately, it was just a little too predictable and the twists felt contrived. The actors seemed fine, I think they did well with what they had. In fact, they were probably the best part. There were some good story lines in each episode but the overall was lacking. Would not watch again, but it was fine for what it was.

Spoilers for the rest: There are some definite flaws that don’t really make sense to me. The FL is actually the more interesting and relatable character but the story is more focused on Do Be Man (the ML who is not only selfish and arrogant but difficult to like). Maybe they thought it was interesting to make your ML seem like he was going to backstab his friends all the time, but it just made it harder to relate to him. Also, why did Noh Tae-nam end up being a good guy? As far as the Eng Sub led me to believe, he participated to some extent with the drugging, raping, and beating of a girl and then was not punished for it except to go for his mandatory military service. So no punishment. Then later he ends up in a situation where he is again in trouble and has to either admit to wrongs against his friend or allow himself to get out of punishment again. In this case, his guilt at betraying his true friend eats him up and he confesses — but doesn’t really get in trouble again. Are we supposed to believe that because he helped in some small way in the effort to stop his horrible mother that he is a good character and should not have been punished for rape? He should have gone to jail for his part in that crime and trying to make him look like a changed man simply because he did the right thing once isn’t good enough. Also there were some unbelievably stupid moments. For example, Woo Ki Choon who was the minehero had his leg amputated by an untrained woman and then days later was somehow able to go to his trial without any trouble? No. First off, who made his prosthetic leg that quickly? Next, how did he get through the surgery when a totally untrained person did it without even a doctor or nurse in attendance? How did he not just bleed out on the operating table? I didn’t know they taught leg amputation on DIY videos. And how was he used to having a prosthetic leg and somehow totally out of pain in a few days? That was ridiculous to the point of insanity. Yet, when I asked myself how the video could be true while he had a prosthetic a few days later, I realized that they came to this unrealistic conclusion because even though it was stupid, it was also a glaringly obvious plot device. Oh how I miss stories that actually have good writing.

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Completed
U-Prince: The Handsome Cowboy
5 people found this review helpful
Jan 31, 2022
8 of 8 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 1.0
Story 1.0
Acting/Cast 7.5
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 1.0
This review may contain spoilers

Another example of Thai romance at its worst.

One obvious spoiler, but how can I talk about a series without giving anything away?

The acting was good but the story was horrible. The story starts out with a sweet girl falling in love with her first love who happens to be a playboy. Over the course of the show he has to be a different person if he wants to be with her, because she seems to be a person who shockingly wants faithfulness (sarcasm, in case you don’t know it).

He cheats and lies and is controlling and bordering on abusive (both emotionally and physically). He encompasses pretty much every bad relationship trope available. He is basically the perfect example of a man that no woman should want.

You would think he might become a better man, but he didn’t. He lost the woman he wanted and he wasn’t used to being denied anything,. So he “changed” to get her back but that does not mean that he will stay changed. He lies and cheats because he wants to. People like that don’t just change. When she gets older or their relationship becomes boring over time and he has kids and diapers and work to think about, he will go right back to what he was — a cheating, abusive scumbag. I’m not saying no one can change, but he had no moment where he really looked at who he was and thought, “I’m a disgusting person and need to change” and then had to work toward that goal. He just watched her moving on and felt bad that he wasn’t in her life, so he forced his way back into her life and she let him.

There was plenty of him realizing that he hurt her by cheating and that his previous relationships weren’t as fulfilling. But they barely even scratched the surface of dealing with his controlling and abusive anger.

It’s so offensive to always see the male lead behave that way and not only does the stupid girl forgive him and take him back, but everyone says it was so awesome how “possessive and manly” he was. If controlling and abusive is being portrayed as possessive and manly now, I don’t want to meet a manly man. Give me the sweet second male lead any day of the week. He was 100 times better.

This entire ridiculous plot is so typical of Thai TV series. I don’t know if it’s because Thai culture is full of egotistical, abusive men (they are certainly found around the globe), but I find their treatment of woman in general to be degrading and contemptuous.

(I didn’t really pay attention to the music, other than to think some of the music was good and none of it detracted from the show. Normally, I wouldn’t rate soundtracks if I don’t pay attention, but this website forces you to rate each aspect.)

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Completed
Ai Long Nhai
10 people found this review helpful
Dec 6, 2022
12 of 12 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 1.5
Story 1.5
Acting/Cast 5.5
Music 5.5
Rewatch Value 2.0

Don’t worry, nothing happened.

I just finished watching episode 11 and so far I have found no plot and no point to this series. Basically, Ai meets Nhai and falls in love. Ai is a handsome, smart, rich boy. Nhai is an adorable boy with very little brain power. Honestly, I think they said he’s going to school for Aerospace Engineering, but I have doubts about this guy’s ability to tie his own shoes. Anyway, they get together. That’s pretty much the story, all told. There are other people introduced, other possible couples left hanging, a possible plot with Ai’s mother that seems lacking and isn’t driving the characters or the story. But nothing else.

It could be a cute, sweet little love story except for one fatal flaw: the dialogue is ridiculous. Either the person who did the English Subtitles is having a good laugh while he writes complete nonsense or the writers of the series couldn’t manage an entire conversation without asking their 3 year old nephew to help. Possibly both. The dialogue is that bad.

I made it to episode 11 and nothing has happened. I keep waiting for something, some vague reason behind the story, but no. Nothing. Nada. Zip. If the actors had a story, they might have been good but between the lack of actual story, no reasonable dialogue, and lackluster direction, it’s pretty much a no all around. If you don’t get around to watching it, don’t worry — nothing happened.

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Completed
The Eclipse
3 people found this review helpful
Oct 29, 2022
12 of 12 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.5
Story 9.5
Acting/Cast 10
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 9.0

Wonderful from start to finish!

I loved this story (and I do mean actual STORY not just a basic romance with no plot to back it up)! The acting was incredible and the relationships showed development so the actors had chemistry and a believable love. The emotions were spot on. The families, the school, the friendships were all well done. Good acting and dialogue and plot with twists and turns that made it enjoyable, interesting, and lovable. I don't pay as much attention to the music unless I found it amazing or distracting. The songs were good, and one in particular stood out to me as really good, but overall the songs weren't the strength of the show. Honestly the incredible story and acting was just so wonderful that I would recommend this to anyone. It's got some heart-wrenching moments, some truly romantic moments, a little comedy, and even a mystery to be solved. The main couple weren't the only amazing parts, each supporting character was so believable. As far as relationships go, another wow. Not only were the relationships portrayed well, but they showed real partnerships, experiencing hardships and overcoming them together in a very practical and realistic way. This is what all BLs should aspire to be.

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Completed
Bad Buddy
2 people found this review helpful
Mar 28, 2022
12 of 12 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 8.5
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 10
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 8.0
This review may contain spoilers

Great BL with a less than great ending

Though I loved the show from the very beginning, it felt disappointing in the end. First, without spoilers, the cast was amazing. The leads had great chemistry and the supporting cast were all well done. Great acting across the board. There were some wonderful scenes. Heartfelt moments, and of course, the big reveal as to why the feud, was very interesting. My only complaint about that part of the story is that it felt unfinished. You know why the feud but then you don’t deal with it at all. I get why, because no matter right or wrong sometimes people can’t forgive or other people can’t acknowledge their fault. But even the leads don’t deal with it — instead they choose to allow it to continue and even support it in their own way. Which to me felt unfinished and disappointing. Everyone seems very concerned about whether or not the series was enjoyable from a BL standpoint, but even that was disappointing in the end.

So here is where spoilers come in. If you don’t want them, stop reading. At the end of the series, they come back from their running away phase and go back to their own houses and break up. Or at least pretend to break up. They go about their lives, mostly apart and only their closest friends know they are still together in secret. They even go to their high school reunion and continue to act as though they dislike each other. Why? I can’t find a purpose. To annoy every person who believed in them? To lie to their parents until they’re on their own and can support themselves? To live in the world without ever having to face themselves? I couldn’t tell you. Eventually their families know that they are seeing each other secretly but they stay quiet because neither side is ready to give up their feud and no one wants to take the first step. Plus Romeo and Julian here don’t ever say, “Could you at least be polite so we can be together?” It’s just as much of a tragedy because to me, this spells the death of their relationship.
One goes off to another country to work and they are apart for two years. Then they seem very happy to move in together and be back but still pretending to most of the world that they are not together. In a story, maybe you can pretend this will work out. The parents will be okay and they will love each other openly eventually. But really good love stories make you believe that it did happen.
In this story, it did not. It’s all pretend. In real life, relationships do not survive this behavior. They don’t have trust in themselves so how could they trust each other? Deep down they are lying to everyone and to themselves. Why pretend? Because it’s too hard. If it’s too hard, I can’t face it. So what happens when it’s something else that is hard? Like coming out to your boss who is homophobic and losing your job? Or like if one of you gets cancer and needs a lot of care? Will you keep pretending you aren’t together in those cases? You came out to your family and the whole faculty but you can’t be strong in the face of an old grudge? You don’t care if they disown you for being gay, but to disown you for choosing someone from a family they don’t like well that is too hurtful so I will just give him up in public and live a huge lie. Disappointing in the end because they were weak and untrustworthy and I can’t pretend that a relationship with that kind of foundation will last the test of time and reality. So it was a great story but it’s not a great LOVE story.

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Completed
Dinosaur Love
2 people found this review helpful
Nov 8, 2023
8 of 8 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 5.5
Story 7.0
Acting/Cast 4.0
Music 5.0
Rewatch Value 5.0

Blank Stare

I don't really know how to review this without giving away everything. There isn't much of a story, once the basic plot is revealed (in the first and second episodes) it's pretty obvious what will happen. So without spoilers, the acting was not good.
Or the director made horrible choices and the actors did what he told them. No way to know for sure. Rak, one of the MLs was so blank that he looked stupid. Honestly, minus one or two scenes where he cried and once when he laughed, he just stared blankly at everyone around him all the time. No matter the situation, he just stared. He didn't speak, there wasn't any reason for the blank stares with no dialogue, it was just ... bad. I think the intention was meant to be that he looked innocent and didn't have any kind of bad intention but it just came off as him being too stupid to understand or not having any kind of personality.

There wasn't much chemistry between the two MLs. Mostly because Rak always looked like he had no idea what was happening. There was one exception to his weird face blankness, just before the first NC scene (I wouldn't call it NC really, but I guess the first sexy scene) between the two, Rak actually does not have a blank face. For this one, he looks like he totally knows what is going to happen and is anticipating. This leads me to believe that the director was the problem, not the actor, but I can't be sure. Another weirdness was that Dino, the other ML, seemed to need constant reassurance during the sexy moments. He kept asking how he was doing. I don't know about everyone else, but in my experience, if you're asking while you're doing, you're expending too much energy on the wrong things. Focus is important. I found that strange, but not bad. As far as Rak's reaction, "Dino is the best" with an almost comically wide eyed stare, was the best he could do, but the scene wasn't sexy, it was distracting and cringy. Later Dino was kissing him with so much tongue, it just made me want to wash my face.

Seekram (Rak's ex best friend) was creepy to say the least, but I'm not sure if that was bad acting or just poor directorial choices. Mek (the ex-boyfriend) was just a loser, but not necessarily a bad actor. In fact, Seekram and Mek weren't awesome, but they weren't terrible at their parts. None of the support roles were as weird as the main roles. The guest roles were plentiful. Seriously, they found people from a lot of BLs to come and be on screen for a few minutes without having much to say or anything to the story. Just cameos, I guess. Not really sure why they opted for that. To draw attention to the show? Who knows. Anyway, the story wasn't all that great and sometimes the acting was just cringe, so the show didn't really hit well for me. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't good.

The story is so predictable as to be boring and the jokes were too obvious to be funny. The OST was decent, but I never put too much weight into the music. Because of the predictability and lack of plot outside of the romance, this show has low rewatch value. If you like just a fluffy love story with not a lot of acting ability, this one is for you. I heard some of the support roles will have shows of their own, and I'm interested to see if they are any better than this one.

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Completed
Unintentional Love Story
2 people found this review helpful
Apr 25, 2023
10 of 10 episodes seen
Completed 3
Overall 9.0
Story 8.5
Acting/Cast 10
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 8.5

Definitely worth watching

Korean BL with a wonderful cast and actual plot. Korean BLs do tend to have plot because they don't have NSFW scenes, but this one stands out. The acting was superb. The plot moved along at a reasonable pace. They didn't throw in any last minute surprises like cheating or sudden forgiveness on the last episode. It actually had rising action, climax, falling action, the whole story. Real character arc. I am really impressed. Sorry, just so many BLs (especially in Thailand more recently) have been wowing me with the low quality of their work, so when I find a BL that I can really relate to and care about the characters and not wonder where the plot has gone, I get excited. I enjoyed the music, though none of it was specifically outstanding, it was enjoyable. I don't want to give spoilers becaue this one had a fairly predictable plot and if I say how it started, it will pretty much give away the whole thing, but it's still worth the effort. The presentation makes it worthwhile despite it being a little predicatable. As I said before, the actors were spot on. Emotions and imperfections and learning to work through the scars of your past. Seriously, I would watch this again and then probably a couple of months later again and then awhile later, again. Whenever I want a reasonable BL without any cringe and with a good story. Plus happy ending. Love that. Adorable and definitely worth watching.

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Completed
Venus in the Sky
1 people found this review helpful
9 days ago
10 of 10 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 6.5
Story 6.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 5.5
This review may contain spoilers

Simple plot with some good moments but slightly lacking.

First, the story was pretty good. Basic romance plot with a guy named Sky trying to win the heart of an old friend, Venus, who he had rejected in the past. Not outstanding, but a decent idea. Secondary couple is Venus's older brother and his boyfriend, who have to deal with learning to be partners and not just doing things on your own when you are in a relationship. Third couple is Venus's best friend and his boyfriend (who happens to be a friend of Sky) learning to work things out in a long distance relationship when they are both busy adults. All good ideas that are common relationship issues and definitely add value to the overall story. Honestly, the main couple's journey was a little underwealming in comparison to the two other relationships but had way more screen time.
Second, the cast was great. I was pretty surprised that they were so good with such a simple plot. The dialogue made sense and was well done.
Third, the music was okay. I didn't particularly love any of the songs and other than the little ditty they used for the theme, there really weren't other songs to speak of. I was not impressed, but it wasn't distracting, so it neither added, nor detracted.
Fourth is rewatch value. Well, its a pretty simple and predictable plot, so I wouldn't say it's hightly rewatchable, but it's got some pretty funny moments and some overall good storyline, so I think it has some value for rewatching if you are bored. But you probably won't go back to it again and again.
Overall): I would say it's worth a watch, but you should be careful when you watch it because there are definitely some NSFW scenes that can be pretty risque for TV. Don't watch with kids. Aside from my surprise at how graphic some of the sex scenes were (not graphic as in porn, but just enough that it was uncomfortable for me), I thought the plot was a little bit lacking for one reason. I don't consider this much of a spoiler since it was explained in the first episode, but just in case, this is a tiny bit of a spoiler: Venus was really rude to Sky in the beginning and didn't want to give him a chance because when they were in college they were really good friends and Venus fell in love with Sky but Sky didn't return his feelings. When Venus confessed, Sky rejected him, so when Sky came back later to confess that he really loved Venus and was wrong, Venus was rude and dismissive. Venus is totally allowed to not want to give Sky another chance. He was rejected and maybe he's moved on, so Sky has no right to expect anything. That doesn't bother me, even though Venus's behavior is a little over the top at first. But Venus's best friend and Sky's friend discussed this on the phone and the boyfriend says that Sky had done something wrong but had really changed. Now, unless the English Subtitles are lying to me, Sky did nothing wrong. He rejected his friend in a nice way (not cruel or anything, just rejection is naturally painful). It's not like he was a jerk or they'd been sleeping together, just basically said, I only think of you as a friend. I don't know how that is wrong. Maybe he gave mixed signals to Venus, especially when he was drunk, but people are allowed to say no to confessions. There is nothing inherently bad about not wanting a romantic relationship with someone just because they want one with you. The whole plot of the show hangs on this one point, of Sky having to work hard to win back Venus's love. Since he didn't actually do anything wrong, I felt like that was really thin. All they had to do was say they had been a couple and Sky had broken his heart by ignoring him or taking him for granted. Or maybe they could have been in a more confusing situationship, where Venus was justified in feeling that Sky had treated him badly. But to say that Sky has to work hard and Venus is allowed to be a total jerk just because Sky initially rejected his confession, is fairly lacking. I know, no one wants to make the ML a bad guy, even a past bad guy who has to change and be redeemed, but acting like he was a bad guy when he wasn't just makes it feel like lazy storywriting.

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Completed
What's Wrong with Secretary Kim
1 people found this review helpful
Nov 18, 2023
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 1
Overall 7.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 5.0
This review may contain spoilers

Funny and touching but nonsense.

The story is supposed to be funny with romance and maybe a little bit of drama. I can see where they tried, but the whole premise is off. The romance is fine, I actually think they had decent chemistry but if you watch it more than once, it will be more and more difficult to get into the fun of it. The side characters and romances were fun and some people said they were more interesting than the main pairing, but I have to disagree. I think they added to the show, but they weren't so interesting that they stole it. The main couple: Secretary Kim and Narassistic Boss don't have much character arc, considering the content of the show, but it was still very interesting and I enjoyed watching the entire series once. The music was good, but not outstanding. The acting was also good and I thought very in character. To understand why the underlying story behind the main couple, you have to hear some spoilers, but without spoilers, I can say it wasn't well done and was so nonsensical as to have been ridiculous. I would watch it once, but not twice because those moments of understanding will annoy you more if you rewatch.

With spoilers: the main couple have a history. This explains why a totally arrogant and impatient boss would pick a secretary who wasn't fluent in English and experienced enough in the field. She needed to work super hard to catch up to his needs. Over time as they work together, he grows used to how amazing she is and when he thinks of his life without her, he doesn't want her to quit. He tries mulitiple ways to get her to stay and eventually realizes that he loves her. Naturally, he has to overcome his gigantic ego to get to that point, but still. The process is funny and entertaining. She begins to fall in love with him as she sees his emotional sides. Naturally, the catalyst needed to make them both realize how they feel is the return of the boss's self-centered brother who decides that he wants Secretary Kim. Either because he's so arrogant as to think he can have anyone or because he wants to take her from his brother -- he causes problems between them just as they are getting closer.

The actual spoiler is why the premise is really messed up and nonsensical. You see, way back when Secretary Kim was 4-5 years old and her boss was 9-10 and self-centered brother was maybe 11-12, the brother bullies the young boy boss and eventually leaves him in a deserted street where he is kidnapped. Then baby girl Mi So (Secretary Kim) is also kidnapped. They help each other through the experience and end up home safe and sound but naturally with fears. Why Mi So's family doesn't tell her the truth when she asks if she was ever kidnapped makes absolutely no sense to me. Until you recognize and accept that you've been hurt you will never be able to deal with it on an emotional level. So keeping it from her is like telling her to pretend she doesn't feel the pain rather than taking her to the doctor. The young boss hires her because he remembers her, but she doesn't remember and he also doesn't explain. No reason, but that's more excusable. Last, boss's mom and dad who are supposed to be good, normal, loving parents, are actually full time idiots with hateful and stupid notions about family. When older brother feels bad for what he did, he has a mental break and decides that he was the one who was kidnapped. Then mom and dad decide that it's better to pretend that their arrogant, self-centered older son was actually kidnapped than to make him face his wrongdoing. Which is to say that young boss who was the one who was wronged, has to deal with an insufferable prick brother who treats boss as though he were the one in the wrong. Why would the parents take the side of the bully child over the one who has an actual trauma that needs to be dealt with? Because they are stupid, thoughtless, self-centered, and hateful bullies themselves. I mean, they did raise two sons who think they are perfect and hate each other. Who comes up with these plots? If you're going to make them thoughtless bullies, don't have the main character pretend with them. He was an adult, he should have told them the truth and said that their behavior was stupid and hurtful and then told them they needed to tell the truth and stop pandering to their favorite child (obviously the self-centered brother). I will never understand why people who are supposed to be smart and strong and well mannered never can seem to stand up for themselves or say no when something is wrong. Then again, if they were all people who had backbone and common sense and courage, the show would have been over in 3 episodes. Still, that's why I can't watch it twice. I want to ring the mother's neck and kick the older brother very hard in his self-centered face. I get too angry and annoyed at their behavior to be able to watch it twice, but that's me.

Ok, rant over. If you can deal with this amount of stupidity for the background story, the rest is really wonderful. I think they had great chemisty. I thought it was super funny and well acted. I enjoyed it so much that I was tempted to watch it twice (then I tried and had to go bake for 2 hours to get rid of my frustration).

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Completed
Love O2O
1 people found this review helpful
Sep 23, 2023
30 of 30 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 3.5
Story 4.0
Acting/Cast 4.0
Music 4.0
Rewatch Value 2.0
This review may contain spoilers

Romance over storyline and a Mary Sue as well

A lot of people had good things to say about this drama and while I am not one of them, it wasn't a horrible show. This show seems to value the romance over any actual storyline. Not an unpopular way to go, just not my favorite choice. I play MMORPGs and I was kind of excited to see where they went with this, but it wasn't very well done.

First off, the FL was boring and unimpressive. Other than the fact that she was supposed to be super pretty, she didn't seem to do anything that well. They did not focus on her intellect or achievements beyond the simpliest. She was a good player in the game, supposedly, but in the end had to be assisted by her boyfriend. It even made a point that she was better than her first in game husband but later she needs her new in game husband and boyfriend to do everything for her. Her dreams and asperations were not discussed. She didn't seem to be anymore impressive in school than her female counterparts, but still seemed to need help from her boyfriend and his friends. Are they all geniuses or do they just think men are naturally better than women at everything? Also, they kept talking about bullying a weak girl in the game, then why did they also keep talking about how men often played as women in the game and she was accused of being a man in real life? If you can't tell if it's a boy or a girl just by their character on the screen, then why talk about how it's bad to bully a girl in the game? That's just plain stupid and sexist.

A Mary Sue (very different from Mary Jane, in case you are wondering), is the type of character who is supposed to be so cool and awesome and wonderful, but then when you look at the actual story, they are just there to be acted upon instead of doing anything for themselves. Especially if there is a man around to help them. As soon as their boyfriend comes into the room, their brains drip out of their ears and they suddenly become useless as human beings and are only supposed to be eye candy. This is the FL of this drama in a nutshell. By the way, someone get that girl a sandwich. She's literally skin and bones. I was worried that she was going to die of malnutrition at any moment. The other girls in the drama are still thin and beautiful, but somehow manage to look more healthy. This FL was so thin, I was actually wondering if she had an eating disorder and needed to see a doctor. This beauty standard is really unhealthy. Also, the second FL, who is her best friend is supposed to be ugly ... they stated it several times, but she was far from. Why call someone ugly but get a beautiful girl to play the part? If she's supposed to be ugly, get a girl who isn't beautiful. If she's pretty, just don't bring it up and don't make a point of calling her ugly.

Okay, now to the ML. Oh my. Handsome, check. Smart to the power of ten, check. Perfect, we get it. Does he have to be so arrogant? He seems to think he can do no wrong and he's got the plot armor to prove it. Why not make him a real person? As a character, he didn't have any growth. He was the same, beginning to end. It was hard to relate to him at all. I've seen this actor in some other dramas and with the exception of "You Are My Glory," he was pretty much typecast. Okay, he was also typecast in "You Are My Glory," but he wasn't as wooden. He had flaws and worries and doubts. I could relate to him in that drama. In this drama, he was unrelatable. Smile once in a while. Laugh. Be sad and dishearted when things go wrong. Maybe have a goofy grin or lose a game and get upset once in a while. By the way, feed your girlfriend, she's starving.

I didn't really pay attention to the OST. Sorry, this one didn't really have anything great or anything bad. It was just middle of the road. Unimpressive but not distracting. Since I didn't love watching it the first time, I don't think it has a high rewatch value. Sorry, but for me, this drama just didn't meet my expectations. All of that being said, it was not a horrible show with no redeeming value. There are some funny moments. They was at least one time when the ML is talking to the idiot second ML and he asks if ML ever doubted FL. He said something like, of course, I didn't doubt her. She's my girl. While he did have plot armor, so he could say that with confidence, I did think that was pretty cool. If you doubt your girl, why are you dating her? So at least one redeeming moment in a sea of banality.

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Completed
Work From Heart
1 people found this review helpful
Jun 3, 2023
7 of 7 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 4.0
Story 3.5
Acting/Cast 6.0
Music 6.5
Rewatch Value 2.0
This review may contain spoilers

Nonsense

I'm not sure if this series was intending to make a mockery of itself or if it just happened naturally. Maybe it was the English subtitles, but nothing in this series made sense or followed logical patterns. The relationships were odd if not pathetic and forced. The whole thing was a let down minus the music, which was actually kind of cute. I'm sure the actors did the best they could with the subject matter they had and they were all very good looking, but it was still awkward and showed little to no character development. That's all I can say without spoilers.
So here come the spoilers: Dee is super cute, and I've seen the actor before and he's good, but honestly, this character was so poorly written. First, he argues loudly and forcefully with his grandfather about his right to intern at another company so that he can try to learn in an environment where is not already the boss. Seems like he's smart and brave. Nope, he immediately accepts a job as an intern in another company that his grandmother arranges for him. So even though he's not the boss, he's already being given a relatively higher status that regular interns won't have. Later, when he and his ex-boyfriend Ohm meet again, he is adamant that they not get back together but later decides to give in and be with Ohm again because the guy he thinks he loves doesn't love him. Where is the rule that you have to have a boyfriend? Where is it written that if you can't have the person you love, you have to go back to an ex-boyfriend because he likes you? Dee was alone during the time that he and Ohm were broken up, so why does he feel like he has to get back into that relationship? He could have just remained single. Later, when he is in a relationship with Knight (the guy he truly wanted), his grandfather got angry at him for being gay and rather than fighting for his beliefs or telling his grandfather that he can choose to have no contact if that's what he prefers and then doing what his heart wants, he absolutely refuses to fight for his love or his freedom. He lets his grandfather completely control him and acts as though he has no choice in the matter. Knight does all the fighting for them to stay together and the grandfather eventually comes around but Dee never acts. He is always acted upon. They have a name for characters who have no dreams or actions of their own and are simply reacting as the world moves around them, but it sums up to being stupid and pointless. So this is supposed to be the guy we want to get his man and live happily ever after? I'd just like to see him make an actual choice and stick to it. Like, have a little tiny bit of a backbone, please.
Knight makes almost less sense than Dee. First, he clearly behaves as though he hates Dee when they meet at work, but actually he is strongly attracted to him. He pretends to hate him and refuses to work with him until Dee blackmails him. That also makes no sense. What does he have against interns? And why play the jerk the whole time just to suddenly change and tell Dee that you love him? Why play games with people's feelings if you are attracted to them?
Ohm was another character who didn't make sense. He supposedly loved Dee so much, but he was so focused on work that Dee felt alone and broke up with him. Then when he comes back, he practically forces himself on Dee, while Dee makes himself clear that he doesn't want to get back together. Once they get back together, for reasons that I've told you escape me, and finally Dee decides to tell Ohm that he loves Knight and can't be with him anymore, Ohm suddenly decides to be a nice guy and wish Dee well. Why spend so much time following him around and forcing yourself on him if you're just going to walk away happily a little while later?
The side characters were wildly ridiculous and though most of them were clearly supposed to be the comedy of the show, they were more cringey than funny. The side relationships were awkward at best and lacked chemistry. Maybe this is just a really low budget production, but I've seen low budget before (the actor who played Dee did another BL production where he was a cook, I can't remember the name of it and I really enjoyed that series) and this is just not well done. It wasn't well written, and the director made some poor choices about how the characters should play their roles.
There is one other thing that I find strange, although I wouldn't say it was really bad, just weird. In the kissing scene between Dee and Knight in the last episode, they are laying on the bed, kissing and obviously preparing to do more than kissing. Dee (fully clothed) starts bouncing up and down awkwardly and making noises like the two are doing what couples do in the privacy of their room, while Knight is underneath him (also fully clothed). I get it, they didn't want to do a full NC scene. That's okay, but the humping and noises were just weird and out of place. If you're going to do a love scene, even fully clothed, it should be done with the idea of making a good scene that revolves around the feelings of the couple, not just trying to make it look exciting or erotic.
Overall, not a series that I would watch again. If you like awkward comedy and feeling confused, this show is made for you.

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Completed
Strong Woman Do Bong Soon
1 people found this review helpful
Mar 14, 2023
16 of 16 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 9.5
Story 10
Acting/Cast 10
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 10

Comedy, romance, and mystery combined. Wow

This series is so fun and amazing. I was hooked from the first episode. The comedy was amazing, the relationships felt real and made sense. The actors were so good. The music was nothing spectacular but it didn’t detract and the superpower girl song was pretty good. Male and female lead had amazing chemistry. The whole thing was funny. Love and family relationships showed development. The plot was good. The mystery was interesting. The whole show was satisfying to watch. Actually bought the series on DVD just so I could watch it again after they took it off Netflix. Would definitely recommend.

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Completed
Nice to Meet You
1 people found this review helpful
Mar 14, 2023
53 of 53 episodes seen
Completed 0
Overall 2.5
Story 3.0
Acting/Cast 3.0
Music 2.0
Rewatch Value 1.0
This review may contain spoilers

Daytime Soap Opera Alert

I was kind of hoping this would be a good show, but didn’t hold out for much. Unfortunately, it was even more disappointing than I expected. The only thing I can say for the actors is they seemed to give it their all. The music was forgettable. The scenes were overly dramatic — making it seem forced and ridiculous. The plot had very little substance beyond the FL’s attempt to rise to the top as a jewelry designer. She did have a sick mother and difficult life where she was treated badly by people who should have cherished her, but that can only make up for a little of the stupidity of this show. On top of all the other fails, this show was filled with toxic relationships. Even the FL and ML had a relationship that I could not support. After plotting and pretending nothing was wrong, he publicly humiliated and broke up with his fiancé at their engagement party. Who does that? Sneaky, hateful, arrogant pricks. And then she took him back because he helped her when she got kidnapped? No thanks, he did one decent thing, he’s not Superman. He didn’t deserve to get her back. Forgiveness, yes. Getting back together, no way. Some things just can’t be fixed and the fact that the drama spent so much time making everyone hateful and every relationship toxic and then basically spent two episodes turning everyone into happy, loving, trusting family members, just makes it unbelievably trite. Did they not have enough episodes to show actual character development rather than a rushed mass karma event? I thought 53 episodes was about 30 episodes too many. I admit to skimming through about 1/2 of the episodes because it was too daytime soap opera for me to care.

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