The story of Dao, the not so bright star

The biggest problem with Star in My Mind is the fact that it only has two real characters, and the entire plot is driven by one of them. Unlike almost every single BL in existence, this show is exclusively about Dao and Kluen, and every aspect revolves around Dao. There are no side characters, nobody has a story or plot outside of things that directly affect Dao. No character has motivations, a plot, interactions or even scenes if Dao is not a part, or is the topic. So, if you don’t like Dao, like me by the end, there’s nothing left to like. And that’s such a shame, because the friends showed enough charisma to help Star in My Mind.

Dao is the worst type of protagonist, the type that’s dumb, really dumb. And he’s paired with a love interest that’s not good with expressing his feelings. That’s a great combination for disaster. Dao was unable to get any of the signs from Kluen, when they were so obvious that everyone else knew. And that’s even worse if we consider that, the biggest moments were just between them, so other people didn’t even know about. Like the birthday dinner with the mom, the talk by the poll, the “have a safe fight” line, the backstage talk during the contest… I’m not even going to mention the “fake boyfriends for 24h” ideia. It’s probably the worst plot device ever created to separate a couple in a BL, even worse than the famous “someone is traveling to another country in the last episode”, which, in this case, was how the story started.

It also really rubbed me the wrong way how Dao handled the moment when Kluen had to go off to help Gia. That was the moment when he crossed into unlikable territory for me. Kluen was clearly shaken when talking to her on the phone. So, I have zero sympathy for Dao at that moment, specially when he tried to make Kluen choose between him and Gia. By looking at his reaction, you’d think Kluen was running away with his ex and leaving Dao at the alter. They weren’t even boyfriends at that point!

Dao reminds me a bit of Kao, from Dark Blue Kiss, who also suffered from a complete inability to tell people he was not interested, and chaos followed. But Kao had a major advantage, he was part of a pair that had several sweet and romantic scenes. Dao on the other hand, spent the entire series being in love with Kluen, but suddenly decides to play it cool when he finally got Kluen to admit he’s been in love him him for years.

These two have been in love for 2/3 years. They’ve given each other all the signs that the feelings are mutual. But even after the kisses and confessions, I got zero romantic chemistry between them even in their most romantic scenes, like at the end of episode 7. Honestly, I would’ve expected Dao to love hearing Kluen call him his boyfriend, kiss him or call him Dao.

I also have a major problem with how this show decided to use Georgia being in a violent relationship as a cheap trick to cause conflict. This series doesn’t have the capacity of tackling such a delicate and serious issue.

This was Dunk’s first role, and starting as a protagonist is not easy. But, it was very clear that the emotional scenes were very weak, specially if he needed to cry. I feel like Dao should’ve been way more emotional in several moments, like the conversation at the bridge or the confession in the parking lot. There were a few tears, but I didn’t really feel it from him in those moments. In happy scenes I think the acting was better. Outside of the show, be on social media or videos, Joong and Dunk really seem to have a good chemistry, but that didn’t translate into the screen, specially in the romantic department.

Episode 8 really didn’t need to exist, since nothing really happens, and the bracelet scene could’ve been the ending of episode 7. The connection between Star and Sky could have been a short bonus video after the credits.

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Nice cast, but messy series and so many plot holes

First, I really like the Pit Babe cast and I watched all the Boys’ Journey episodes. So it’s sad to see them being so underutilized in a terrible story. The show feels rushed, and it gets worse in the second half of the season. A lot of development happens off screen and there’s no intention of explaining things. I hope the cast will be utilized better in future projects, specially with some changes in “partners”. Nut and Sailub have so much chemistry, and Ping and Garfield was a great surprise in their scenes.
Now, let’s check on some loose threads:
North and Sonic: Are they a couple? Are they just friends? The series had no interest in trying to answer that because they needed another scene to try to create chemistry for Alan and Jeff. It’s wasted time because that chemistry never materialized.
Babe’s dad: Why? There’s no payoff with him being alive. How did he end up being part of the “cure” team? How did Jeff get to know him and the doctor that helped to fake Charlie’s death? I feel like that was a major plot hole. He just briefly mentions knowing them.
Pete/Kenta/Way: Does Pete like Kenta back? Did Pete like Way or just cared/was worried for him?
Guns that are not used: Why does Tony and his team not kill people?! Tony’s plans would’ve all worked out if he just shot people. Every single plan from Team Babe goes wrong and they end up with guns pointed at them, but the bad guys never shoot. That makes zero sense! We saw Tony killing a child with a sword in the last episode, he definitely would give the ok to just kill random people, like Alan, Kim, North and Sonic.
Also, why would Tony let Kim go?! Unless it was Kenta who helped him escape… but that’s doesn’t get mentioned.
All the kids from the Foundation: what happens to the kids? Did they get rescued? What about the kids that were already sold?

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This is a mess

I truly can’t understand where it all went so wrong. Well, I can. It was the middle of the season. The story they tried to tell in the second half of the series does not make sense. It’s impossible that the story was finished when the show went into production, or they had to wrap everything up in 2 episodes. We had several “case of the week” episodes in the start and not much happening to build an overall world or explain any backstory. I was not super worried because I thought the series had 15 episodes. But then, I saw the finale trailer after episode 8 and my jaw dropped. The last 3/4 episodes are so so rushed. It’s basically information dump. Suddenly we have 3 parallel worlds and 3 Guns. And the 200 year old protagonist doesn’t know about that. The true big bad, with the VERY original name of “The One”, is extremely boring and goes into long monologues. Not even Gun and Nanon can save that.

Another major problem is that there’s not a single episode where one of Gun’s characters is not unconscious or needed one to be saved/rescued. And then we have the effects… they keep get worse as the season progresses. It’s really bad green screen and CGI monsters.

The only good aspect is the solid cast. Which are completely wasted on a terrible plot and weak execution.

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It's not bad, it's just boring

I didn’t really care that much for Fiat and Leo on Tharntype 2, but I understood that they had potential to lead their own series. Ja and First are good in the roles and have chemistry, so that’s already half of the way. My problem with Don’t Say No is that the show was boring and I don’t feel like it’s got a real story to be developed.

Unlike many shows nowadays, we only get two couples to follow, even though he have a good number of secondary characters. That alone would be a good aspect. But, unlike the majority of people I see commenting about DSN, I don’t really like either of the couples. Leo and Fiat are OK, they usually give cute comments, and there are a fair amount of steamy scenes too. But the writers don’t have much to do with there story, since they start the season loving each other and can only “break up” towards the end of the season. So what do they do? The create a blackmail plot every few episodes. Fiat alone got blackmailed/manipulated 3 times in less than 12 episodes, by the weird guy at the start of the season, by King and, emotionally, by his mom.

Pop and Leon, on the other hand, bore me to no limit. I think the real problem is that I really don’t like the innocent all perfect type, which Pob fit’s 100% into. Characters that are too perfect are the worst type for me. Pob reminded me too much of the worse aspects of characters like Tutor (Why R U), Pharm (UWMA) and, specially, Meen (Fish Upon the Sky). I could not get invested in their story nor was I sad to see them end up apart.

But its not all bad. I like how both family’s are 100% OK with their relationship and are the biggest shippers of LeoFiat. I also liked that they addressed, briefly, the fact that Leo and Fiat live alone in a gigantic house, with no maids. The friend group annoyed me a bit in the beginning on the season, since they took up a lot of screen time. But, by the end, I was OK with them.

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Previously on 2gether...

This will be short. I think it goes without saying, but this movie is, pretty much, exclusively for people that have watched the two series of 2gether. It’s basically a “previously on 2gether” followed by 10 minutes of new content. With that being said, I like the ending. Was that a marriage proposal? I’m not 100% sure. I see it more as a commitment to stay together as life partners. I’m glad they didn’t go all out and tried to put an actual wedding at the end.

The movie obviously is focused on telling the story of Tine and Sarawat, and how they ended up a couple, with all the highs and lows. For that reason, the side couples just… get together without much explanation in the movie. Since, as I mentioned before, the target audience knows everything about how Man/Type and Mil/Phukong ended up together, that’s not a problem. I really liked the final song.

The movie receives extra points for the cute baby and puppy at the end.

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A very underwhelming ending for a good series

I overall like Not Me, but that ending… it does not fit with the tone of this series. The cast is great, I liked almost every character and the soundtrack is fantastic. But I can not understand how a series like Not Me could end up with a happy ending for everyone.

I’m not saying that i wanted everybody do die, nor that I was rooting for Tawi. But let's be real, that happy ending for every single main character makes 0 sense! Todd is the only character that did not get a happy ending, but it’s not like he had a terrible ending either. Everyone is alive and all the couples are together and happy. I really expected either Dan or Yok to die, because that would be the ideal way to show the stakes and move the plot. If Dan dies, he ends up showing his will to correct the mistake of his past and show that he cares about Yok and the gang, specially after betraying them. Yok dying would show that the fight and their methods have consequences, and would push Dan to fight with the gang (I know that it would be very hard for Dan to accept that he indirectly killed Yok by betraying the guys).

And what about Gumpa?! We get no explanation about him and his story. What’s his motivation? Where did he get all that training? How did he get all the information on Tawi? And most of all: How did his fingerprint unlock Dan’s car? (OK, the last one is not a major point, but it’s weird).

I feel like everybody knows this by now, but Gun once again proved that he’s one of the best actors at GMMTV.

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Once again BoC is trying too hard

4 Minutes has the exact same problem as DFF: too much time wasted on elements that feel like nothing at the end, and the plot gets dumped and rushed in the last 2 episodes. BoC is again trying too hard to make something different and artistic, without making it enjoyable. We know BoC can make a good show, like KinnPorsche, and we know Sammon can write nice stories that turn into good shows, like Manner of Death. Maybe the problem is BoC and Sammon together.
In terms of acting the highlight is Fuaiz. He’s constantly the best part of every episode. An interesting character played by a good actor. Bas and Bible are good, even though Bas doesn’t have much to do. The same can be said about Job, since his character is basically just there, like his girlfriend. I believe Jes is a good actor, that short film/MV he did with Bible was great, but I didn’t really enjoy him as Tyme, specially toward the second half of the episodes.

This series could work as a binge watch, but I’ll not be trying to test that theory.

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Not bad, but also not enjoyable to watch

I think there’s a difference between a series being good/bad and it being enjoyable. Let Free the Curse of Taekwondo has many of the elements to be considered a good show. The main actors are talented, the couple has chemistry when they are together and the soundtrack is nice. The scene on episode 2 where they feel shy and awkward about kissing is an amazing portrail of young love, and not something we see often in BLs. But, overall, I personally didn’t find the experience of watching this show enjoyable.

It’s the same feeling I had with To My Star 2, from the same director/screenwriter. Even before realizing that fact, I kept thinking the shows had so many similarities. For that reason, I know a lot of people might enjoy this show a lot more than I did. I really enjoyed To My Star, which reminded me of the first few episodes of Let Free the Curse of Taekwondo. But from episode 4 onward, it's To My Star 2, which I didn’t like at all. And I know I’m the minority on that.

I really have a hard time enjoying shows with protagonists that are not at least a little bit likable. They can be bad, they can be annoying, they can be grumpy, they can be irrational … but they also need to be likable. And I definitely had a hard time with adult Dohoe. Most of the time I just wanted the episodes to end because I couldn’t stand him any longer. Yes, I understand his life was tough. But it’s not like Juyeong had a perfect life after feeling guilty for 12 years. So guilty that he took care of the guy that physically abused him for all those years. He also didn't achieve his dreams.

Dohoe is directly responsible for his unhappiness, he let his pride win. He chose not to get involved when he saw Juyeong getting beat, he chose to remain friends with Hyeonho, he chose not to contact Juyeong and then go work close to him.

It’s been a long time since I wanted so much for a main couple to end up apart in a BL, simply because I despise one of the characters so much. Juyeong simply deserved better.

PS: Hyeonho’s constant presence also annoyed me a lot. It’s not like he had a major impact in the story, other than to cause issues to prevent the couple being together. The fake university diploma and the whole issue with the student’s mom could move forward without him.

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Sometimes couples just shouldn’t be together

I went into My Stand-In expecting that at some point it would turn into a revenge plot. At least for a short moment. But that means I was disappointed. Not only is Joe never trying to get revenge on those that HE KNOWS are responsible for his death, he’s also extremely stupid. He repeats every single mistake from his first life and gets involved with the same people. I would understand getting close to bring them down, but that’s not the case. So, at the end Joe ends up with Ming, who’s been trash during the entire series, and Tong also gets his happy ending. Worst part is that Joe almost died again because of Tong. I’ve not been this annoyed with a couple ending up together since Theory of Love.
The actors are good and the production is well done. But I feel like some characters just exist and don’t have much to do, like Jim and Mike.

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Deserving of all the praise and love

At first, the concept of the show looks very much like a cliché, it’s Romeo and Juliet (minus the deaths) in the 21st century, but with 2 guys. The team behind Bad Buddy was very smart in quickly resolving the win they/won’t they dynamics. Everybody knows that they would be together, so, by having them kiss on episode 4 and being a couple by episode 6, the show could explore the relationship way better.

It’s obvious, to anybody that has seen a series or movie with either Nanon or Ohm, that they’re both fantastic actors. Nanon had never been in a BL before, while Ohm has been part of the BL world for years by now. It’s not a fluke that Bad Buddy became a phenomenon from the first episode. GMM has had many successful couples before, from classic pairings like TayNew and OffGun, to recent powerhouses like BrightWin and EarthMix. But all those couples have something in common, the actors were pretty new faces in acting would. That’s a major difference when compared to Bad Buddy, where you have two actors that, despite their young ages, have been loved by critics and fans for years. I believe that a major part of the success of this series comes from the fact that the main couples REALLY works. The characters have chemistry and so do the the actors.

The side characters also work. They don’t really fall into major BL troupes. We didn’t get the homophobic family; we don’t get the best friend that’s secretly in love with the protagonist; nor the protagonist that pretends that he doesn’t like guys, he just likes THAT specific guy. And most importantly, we don’t have a couple that obeys by the ridiculous power dynamics for the top x bottom / big x small guy. Bad Buddy somewhat plays with all those tropes as jokes at some time. We learn that Plan’s family has no issue with him being with a guy, it just cannot be the neighbors son. We think that Wai has a crush on Iran, but that turns out not to be the case. Ink was not a character from their past brought it to delay the main couple being together, and she has her own agenda and A LOT of personality. We also got a official GL couple out of this show, and InkPa could not be a cuter couple!

Like every show, Bad Buddy also has a few small problems. There’s not real resolution for the fight between the families. though they appear to be okay with Pat and Pran being together, by the end. I actually think there would have been hard to try to fix the issue, since we only knew the reason for the fight quite late in the season. We also didn’t get the secondary couple that everybody was waiting for: WaiKorn. From a strategic business point of view, it makes sense. Drake is part of a famous couple, with Frank, while Jimmy will start in his own BL later in 2022. It would not be a very smart business move to “sabotage” the Vice Versa couple by making JimmyDrake a reality. But at least the show gives the public a few glimpses of moments between them, specially in the finally. They obviously knew that people would ship them together.

I don’t dislike the last episode, but I also don’t love it either. I think the episode wastes a bit too much time trying to make it look like Pran and Pat are not together anymore. That’s obviously way better than breaking them up or having them fighting and make up in a single episode, but still. I wish we got more moments of adult Pat and Pran together, on their own.I also think that we should have had at least a small kiss from InkPa, they’ve been together for 4 years by the end. At least the last sequence was fun and took advantage of that amazing chemistry.

Bad Buddy also shines in the way it uses music and the OST. Not since ITSAY and IPYTM have I enjoyed a soundtrack so much and felt like it perfectly complements the series.

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Remained true to its cute nature

Kieta has always been a cute show, from episode 1. I mean, the whole show is based on a misunderstanding about an eraser with a name on it. Besides, this a 25 minute show, so there’s not much time to develop much. I personally think the show used well the runtime. But I wish they’d focus a bit less on some side plot stuff, like the running around the forest in the camp episode, and show more moments between Aoki and Ida. I don’t know if the homophobic teacher episode really fits well with the rest of Kieta. I don't dislike it, but I was surprised that they chose to tackle prejudice.

I like the 4 main characters and think they all have chemistry with each other. Aida e Hashimoto are great on their “sidekick” role but also have their own story going on. Aoki and Ida have great cute moments and explore well the shy/super expressive dynamics of the couple. All 4 actors are great on the roles, specially Shunsuke as Aoki. I also love the theme song by Snow Man.

I know some people were unhappy with the show ending without a kiss. I honestly was never expecting a kiss because that was not the vibe of the show. This is a Japanese show about first love in high school, plus the same sex aspect, so, when we got the whole holding hand incident on ep 8, I knew that we’d probably get the love confession and hug ending. I understand those people that were unhappy because they might have thought the show would maybe "push the limits". [Small Cherry Magic semi-spoiler] The issue didn’t bother we in other Japanese BL’s either, like Cherry Magic. But I think it’s more obvious that something is missing in that show, since it’s about people that are 30 and we know that thinks have changed by the end of the show.

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More fast food than gourmet meal

This one is tough. In one hand I like the cast and I feel like the main couple had good chemistry. But I don’t feel like the story is all that interesting and I’m a bit disappointed by the ending. I’m happy that Chef Yoon remained true to himself, didn’t completely change and decided to finally follow his dream of opening a restaurant by the beach. The soundtrack was a highlight of the show.

I find it interesting that Do Gun knows that the result was rigged, since Laura told him that his dish was the best she’s ever had, but he didn’t say anything to Jung Woo. So, Jung Woo just saw, from afar the handshake, and might be living the lie that he won fair and square. That aspect also brings me to my main issue with the series, the ending. More specifically, the fact that Laura has an happy ending. She totally deserved to have the entire staff leave and she end up having to close the restaurant. But in the end she got the trendy and successful restaurant that she ever wanted.

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A rare sequel that's better than the original

I really enjoyed I Told Sunset About You, but I feel like I didn't connect to the show as much as other people. I think it’s because I’m a bit over the school dramas, since it’s been more than 10 years from my high school years. So, knowing that I Promised You the Moon would take me on a journey with the characters I liked from ITSAY, but this time in university, I was very interested.

I didn’t read much about IPYTM on purpose, to avoid spoilers. So, I was very surprised to see how the timeline was structured, each episode representing 1 year of their university journey. With 5 episodes of around just over 1h, the show didn’t have time to filler and to drag out stories. By episode two we already have Teh and Oh being together for over 1 year, Oh has already realized that he doesn’t wanna be an actor. From the first episode it was cleat to me that they’d break up at some point, so I was surprised that it took until episode 4 for that to happen. There’s not much screen time for the side characters, but they all had a reason to exist in this particular story.

I personally think it would have been nice to see more of Oh’s life. We see most of the academic and overall life with Teh, and just see small glimpses of Oh with his friends. Besides, we hear a lot about how Oh has changed since moving to Bangkok, and specially after changing his major, but I only see physical changes. Yeah, he dyed his hair red, started to buy designer pieces and got a car. But it’s not like he became a different person or started to treat anyone differently.

Just like many shows that have a second season, this show fall’s into the cliche of turning one of the protagonists into sort of the “bad guy”, in this case Teh. We hear about how Oh is a different person after meeting his friends, but, as the show proves in by the end of episode 4, Oh actually was able to create new friendships, while Teh did not. Oh kept the same friend group for all 5 years of the show, while Teh lost his “friends” along the way. The way he treated Khim after finding out that she was gonna start working as a flight crew member was insane. In that single moment he lost 2 out of his 3 new friends.

The situation with Jai is bittersweet because he obviously used the knowledge from the diary to exploit Teh’s weakness and use that in his favor. But in a twisted way, Jai was just following Teh’s own mindset: You have to follow your dream at all costs. The same way Oh could not give up being an actor after coming to terms with not liking it, or how Khim should keep going to auditions even after not landing any roles.Jai used Teh’s feelings to make his play better.

I think the ending was nice. We get to see that Teh realizes that achieving his dream does take him to the unicorns and rainbow life he expected. Oh is happy working in the advertising firm. We see that both have matured. Thankfully they spent a good while split up, because I think it was important for things to work out in the end. I also like how got a call back to Tarn in the end, with the instagram post reaction. I also find it interesting that the friend group from ITSAY didn’t stay together after going to university. They say at the wedding that it has been years since being together, even though a few of them went to study in Bangkok.

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Could have been good if they focused more on the romance and the main characters

This show is very weirdly structured. They spend so much time in side stories that go nowhere that by the end, I wasn’t really that invested in the main couple. Well, at least not until the time jump. The cast is overall good, with highest praise going to Nut.

I don’t really understand the role of most of the supporting cast in this show. We need the mom to have all the family drama and someone to care for Phat at home. And me need Dream so we have the connection to the supernatural world. But Nuan get’s so much screen time for nothing. She’s not a good person, she’s doesn’t really care about anything and her one “punishment”, after causing a lot of trouble, is not getting Kinn. If she didn’t existing, and Phob just ran aways from home because of anything else, would give us the same end result. The guardian spirit of the house might be important, but he didn’t need to have a connection to Nuan, adding to my last point.

The story is kinda simple, we don’t actually get must mystery about Phob’s death. We don’t hear about the fact that he was involved in an hit and run. Also, the way this show bends the rules stablished just a few episodes before is unbelievable. In one episode we clearly see Phob and Phat not being able to touch each other and the explanation for that. Then, on episode 7 Phat is laying on Phob’s leg and they are touching like it’s nothing. No mention of it being nice to finally touch or them being surprised. Only on the following episode do we see Phob asking the guardian spirit about the fact that they can touch now. I truly believe the show did that just so they could do the sponsored scene where Phob is applying a hair treatment on Phat.

Now, the family drama with Dream and her dad, and all the alien stuff with Luck… It did not deliver anything at all. We keep hearing about Dream’s dad, and in the end he’s just a post it note. And after hearing about Luck’s parents being, possibly, adducted by aliens and he seeing two weird flashes, we get… nothing. Am I supposed to be hoping for another series focused on Dream and Luck to learn about their mysteries? Sorry, but I’ll pass.

Now, for the good part. I have to admit, the time jump to adult Phat telling Phob his story was nice. It’s a plot device that can work in a situation like this human/ghost romance. It was nice to learn that Phat managed to live a fairly good life, get and married, but never forgot Phob. It was also, obviously, very nice to see them reunited in the end.

By the way, I’ve never seen a worst reedit of a show as the one that was upload in the official Youtube channel. They literally just cut several scenes to reduce the runtime. It's impossible to watch Something in My Room on Youtube.

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It really worked for me, but I understand how it might not work for everybody

I was very surprised when I saw that the reaction to this series has been very much mixed. I really enjoyed Peach of Time, even though I had been spoiled about the ghost part of the story.

I’m personally not much of a crier overall, but this show got me hard. I cried a bit with other shows, like Andante and He’s Coming to Me, but that happened mostly in the ending of both series. With PoT, I cried from espied 3 to episode 10 at least once in each episode. That’s a record. I don’t think the “mystery” aspect would reduce the rewatch value.

For me, something that works well in this drama is that we only have 4 main characters, so we just need to introduce side characters to help develop the 4 stories we have to follow. I enjoyed Mario’s story as much as I did Peach and Yoon Oh’s story. The mom’ story was not bad, but I felt it for a bit forced in bit forced in to connect everything, specially regarding Yoon Oh’ death. I understand that the journey the mom goes through, when he think her son might have committed suicide because of her, was important to her development and for their relationship. But the way it’s connected to the dad from the hospital was the weak point of the show for me. I would have preferred if it ended up being just an accident. Just like the mom says, some deaths don’t have an explanation or reason.

The acting is superb. All 4 main actors are great in their roles, specially Tommy as Mario. Tommy shines in both the lighthearted and heavier scenes. I know this is not the most popular opinion, but I felt like the chemistry between Jimmy and Choi Jae Hyun worked. I think it worked well for how shy/awkward, but obviously in love, Yoon Oh and Peach are with each other.

Yes, the ending is very open and a bit abrupt. It does look like a cliffhanger for a potential second season. In that aspect, I understand how it might feel like it’s not a fulfilling ending for many. It didn’t bother me too much, but at least it gives hope for them to meet again.

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