Vanilla despite what the script tried to convey...I got bored halfway through it

I quite enjoyed the drama in its first third, but then the series quickly lost me, especially from its second half. I felt that they dragged some aspects of the main relationship, giving the viewer constant fluff but also very one note plot as they maintained the status quo on the fake boyfriends aspect for much too long to make any sense.

I was very surprised and entertained at first by the fun take the production team decided to follow regarding the story. It worked on some level but as the story progressed the vibes of the series made it impossible for me to get invested into the seemingly more traumatic storylines...I did not feel the tension or angst at any point because of the way the filmmaking made it is so over-the-top cute and vanilla. Despite the fact that there were definitely some steamy scenes featuring the actors, it was definitely more a vanilla angle than a gripping / passionate take on the friends with benefits relationship. I'm left to wonder what an another production company and director would have been able to make with the same plot. A darker and more mature take on it would certainly be interesting.

The casting was doing an okay job but nothing exceptional. Great was my favorite, not sure if it is because of his acting or simply because he was the best part of the show. Inn was alright as his counterpart, maybe a bit too rigid. As his role was supposed to be withholding and not going all in the relationship, it might be a voluntary directing choice though. The side characters were really bland. I did not feel any of the secondary relationships and I really did not appreciate how the second male lead got seemingly redeemed.

I would not recommend this to people as there are better BL out there. The beginning was very entertaining but it got very boring. I can't help to hope that the production made other directing choices and that the writing would have been better. I think that a darker and mature version of the story where a doctor falls in love with a boxer would have been more exciting.

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Liked the insomnia / sleeping concept, they should have exploited it more

This sweet sport BL set in university was not memorable but still super cute. I liked the insomnia topic and the solution found to it, it led to very charming scenes between the two main characters. The story is not very deep nor intricate, just a simple and relaxing watch. The flashbacks were incorporated in the right way to make the viewer really curious about what happened between the characters.

Chemistry-wise there were some good points between the male leads but overall it felt a bit too timid. Especially given the fact that both the sport and the sleeping concepts could lead to a lot of skinship, it was not exploited enough. Same for the kisses, it was very tame. The secondary characters also were totally bland.

Despite the fact that I liked the snippets of the OST spread through the series, it felt very strange in the way those were edited. The music feeling both too overpowering and on the nose at many moments while leaving me at other points with the impression there was not enough time to listen to it for the songs I liked...It was quite jarring and strange. Other than that, I found the rain sequences and summery vibe enjoyable.

I would recommend this to people that are looking for a short and sweet BL in a university setting with some sport element. It is cute but not really memorable and I think they could have done better in terms of chemistry as well as exploiting the insomnia/sleeping concept that led to some charming scenes.

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How to escape toxicity and self-loathing in the midst of (b)romance

This very short BL series brought me a lot of conflicting feelings. I really enjoyed the ending of the story as it showcased the growth of both main characters. Some steps were taken towards less toxicity and self-loathing overall and that's clearly a win in my book as I was really afraid of a conclusion lacking nuance and realism.

On another side, I kind of wish the series would have been longer because even if the point of the scenario is very clear, the fundamentals of the relationship are a bit brushed off. There are a lot of elements that felt rushed and the storytelling definitely was more about a bromance than a romance to me. I indeed think that to go into a more romantic territory, the chemistry would have needed to be bigger and the scenario did not really provide a lot of opportunities for the actors to get there.

I love the opening generic of the series: the drawing effect in addition to the song was a winning combination. Overall, the production value was okay. The budget was not there but it had a strong indie feeling perfectly fitting for the drama.

I would recommend this to people looking for a more serious BL story. Rather than being about a romance, it is more a bromance to me and what makes it really worth it is its realistic and nuanced ending. I wish there had been more time to develop the romance but I appreciated the overall take of the scenario regarding the evolution of the characters.

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A beautiful journey to heal yourself thanks to music, brotherhood and 1990's vibe

This youth drama with a fantasy twist and set mainly in 1995 provides a great nostalgia throwback feeling as you follow a group of high schoolers starting a band together. The drama approaches in a wholesome way profound topics about friendship, family, as well as differences and disabilities that overall resonated well with me as the characters grow and learn. Though both romances were pretty cute, it is the brotherhood within the band and especially the father-son relationship that really got me invested.

In terms of storytelling, I truly enjoyed the set up and introduction. However, I cannot help to think that the conclusion would have deserved more time to reap properly all the rewards of the set-up done in the show. I was expecting the way it ended, there was a lot of satisfying emotional payoff but it could have gone deeper on the aftermath for all the characters following one of the major event happening in the last episode as well as regarding the evolution of the main protagonists and their relationships (especially regarding the female leads where it felt a bit short).

Overall, the quatuor of main characters work very well together, and I am pretty satisfied by the performances of the ensemble cast (especially for some of the more secondary characters). Choi Hyun Wook delivers a consistent and reliable performance in the role of the frontman of the band. I loved him in Weak Hero Class 1 and I love him as well here. The only little flaw I see is that his character tends to be very shouty. I think it is both bound to the role as well as to some of the directing. It is not at all detrimental to the story but it prevents some range in the acting as the character is always at 100%. Despite this, he (and his character) was clearly my favorite part of the show.

The filmmaking is pretty great with a colourful and boyish atmosphere perfectly fitting for the scenario. I love the soundtrack with its "older indie rock" feels. Every song done by the band is super catchy and the musical scenes each time delighted me.

I would recommend this to people looking for a very solid youth drama set in the 1990's. If you enjoyed movies like "Back to the Future" and dramas such as the "Reply" series, you will for sure immensely enjoy it! If you are a fan of musical genre shows, this one is also clearly made for you. I personnally really loved it despite some issues with the pacing of the script and the way I would have liked a bit more development on some elements, especially towards the ending.

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Too bad the storytelling around the stakes and the editing hindered my enjoyement

I was quite disappointed by this action movie. More specifically because the most interesting aspect of the plot (with the submarine scenes, all involving a deep and gutwrenching psychological aspect) is only coming up past the 2/3 of the movie. I'm left to wonder if I would not have appreciated much more the film if it had been edited in another way around rather than creating a false suspense regarding the identity of the antagonist.

The performance of the casting was overall good but not stellar. At the end, surprisingly enough, it is two of the guest roles (played by Cha Eun Woo and Lee Min Ki) that grabbed the most my attention. I wish that Lee Jong Suk would have been given a bit more room to shine and do more in terms of dialog as well as characterization. Once again, maybe a different edit of the story would have allowed to have much more powerful stakes for the story.

Regarding the production value, it was pretty good. There are some rather thrilling action sequences and good ideas in terms of directing. There are a lof of variety in the dangerous situations faced by the main protagonists. The soundtrack is quite absent from the movie, not that memorable but there is a pretty sorrowful song that I enjoyed during the ending generic.

I would not necessarily recommend this to people as I did not particularily enjoyed my watch. My main issue with the film is coming from the scenario and the way the story is building up the characters. I did not manage to engage with the main roles and in an action movie, rooting for the good guys and understanding from where they are coming from is critical to really get me invested and care about the story. Here, I started to care much too late and felt that the 2/3 of the movie was not as exciting as I would have wished.

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Some amazing performances and discoveries among the cast, lost some steam towards the end

I loved the premise of this survival show with the objective to found a vocal boy group of only 4 members. It felt fresh and original as a concept. Unfortunately, it fell a bit short concept-wise: it almost looked that mid-way the producers changed their mind on the initial idea. They lost their concept on the way, with no real differentiation compared to other singing competition that I have seen. The way they organised and splitted the episodes / missions felt also quite strange, as well as the voting rules and principles. The episodes were quite short for such kind of program but I felt they could have spend a bit more time in building stories around the candidates. Indeed, maybe the episodes were too short to fully get attached to the more subdue candidates...

While it felt short in story-telling and production, I must say that I found the cast quite good overall. No obvious bad / fillers singers, just talented individuals with of course some being shown more than others. Nothing outrageous, except maybe for some missions where I think they could have shown all performances rather than scratch off some with just a better editing and split of content between episodes.

Regarding the cast, I was truly happy to find back some very familiar faces met in others tv shows (such as Geonu, Jay, Lee Hwan Hee and Wumuti) and I felt I really made some interesting discoveries among individuals I did not know before (e.g. to name a few: Kim Min Seo, Choi Su Hwan, Jeon Woong (from AB6IX), Lee Kwang Suk, Park Je Up, Kim Seung Hun (from CIX), Seon You (from UP10TION), Bain (from Just B which is a group I like but did not know a lot about the members -except for Geonu), Bitsaeon (from M.O.N.T), Kim Seo Hyung, Jung Soo Min, Kang Ha Yoon, Park Joo Hee, Choi Haram and so much more...). I liked as well the MC and judges casting...I knew most of them, but again, episodes felt short to get attached to the ones I did not know from before.

In terms of rewatch value, I know that there are some performances that I will gladly rewatch (and already do) in the future...I will for sure rewatch again Dangerously, River, Bad News as well as honestly every interactions of Milky-up who were just so lovable and wholesome...Overall, I am happy with the results of the finale. The winning team was my favorite but honestly all the candidates were so good that there were no "bad" choice. However, I was disappointed by the finale production, it lacked strongly in entertainment value and felt draggy as well as super expected. The best performances of the show are all coming from the first third / half of the contest...It is a bit of a shame that the orginal songs did not grab as much my attention.

I would recommend this to people that are looking for a survival show with some great singers and performances. It is pretty entertaining with a good cast and the concept of forming a vocal group is quite fresh. It lost some steam along the way and production could have done a better job to spread out content and to make the finale more exciting.

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An exciting game show that will put your brain on fire in a very entertaining way !!!

I loved the concept of this TV show: teams of students from different universities face each other around games requiring a lot of brain power. Some games are more exciting than others, but the showrunner managed to have a nice variety and rythm all throughout the lenght of the show.

I enjoyed the casting: there were clearly some players that had a bit more screen time but overall it was quite well-shared between the universities and the various students. My favorite team wins which I highly appreciated. I was expecting it given the editing which made it relatively obvious, but in any case it was in overall very satisfying to watch and super exciting to follow as the competition unfolded.

Production was adequate in conveying the essence of the games, with the rules being very well explained and allowing the viewer to even participate and try to find the solutions as well. The soundtrack was not very noticeable (neither in a bad or good way). The budget felt a bit limited at some point as I think the producers could have let students use more hi-tech and technological means to take notes and define strategies in order to make it even more visually appealing for the viewers.

I would recommend this to people looking for an entertaining competition show with a lot of mind games and exciting intellectual battles. This show is really all about participating with your skills foremost and your brain power. There is some strategies but no tricks nor manipulation nor hidden alliances...The objective is clearly to prove yourself with your intelligence alone and that's really refreshing overall.

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Wei Wu Xian and Lan Wang Ji stole a place in my heart ~~~

The story is beautifully built. Each of the narrative arc is interesting not only for the storylines but as well because they participate so much to characters development. There are a lot of clues spreaded through the script that results in highly satisfying payoff. The characters are very well written: they remain consistent during the whole saga and their motivations and actions make sense, which given the length of the show is quite an achievement in itself. The pace of the series was very good, you feel immediately compelled to watch the next episode. There might have been a bit of overexplanation scenes toward the end (it can feel slighlty repetitive, especially if you guessed some of the revelations like I did)...But at the same time the ending offers so many rewarding and great moments for the viewer that I was really happy with it.

The acting was really good. Especially regarding the actors playing the central protagonists: Wei Wu Xian and Lan Wang Ji. Wei Wu Xian was my favorite character and Xiao Zhan portrayed him with a lot of charm, candor and charisma...The variety in his acting game really seduced me. Wang Yi Bo who portrayed Lan Wang Ji had a difficult job as his character is very cold/reserved but he managed to do a lot in terms of micro-expression and you can see the evolution of his character as the series progresses. The secondary cast was also very convicing in incarnating the support roles (such asJiang Cheng, Jiang Lan Yi, Wen Ning...so many interesting parts who shined through with amazing and emotional scenes.) Overall, the ensemble cast was very good with maybe some weaklinks on a few very secondary roles.

The production value was good but lacked in some way. I'm probably nipicking because I loved this series very much but I truly wish they had a bigger budget for some scenes (the battles ones), the fights in small numbers were good and special effect were okay in overall. But clearly there were some obvious limitation when showing scenes in an impactful / big picture way, the grandiosity was not there (or at least not as much as I feel the story deserved). I wish the special effect make up would have been much better because it was frankly not good. The music was lovely: mainly the musical themes, as some of the characters plays instruments to fight, the soundtrack theme was of utmost importance. It was very nice and pretty.

I would strongly recommend this to people looking for an historical saga splendidly built, with amazing characters and relationship developments as well as some great acting. It is an adaptation of a Chinese BL novel (which I have not read -yet) and despite the censorship in China regarding those, they manage quite successfully to make the viewer understand the subtext behind some of the relationships.

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Lack a point of view, too middle-of-the-road screenwriting making it rather bland despite the topic

This movie is kind of an adaptation of Cinderella fairy's tale but involving Little Riding Hood and centred around the resolution of a crime mystery...I unfortunately did not enjoy this film but it might be just a case of "it's me...not you".

In terms of fairy tales adapations, I think it is lacking a strong point of view. It is sweet but not much else. I wish they went darker but the scenario went for a middle-of-the-road tone that I found a bit boring. There are too much comedy / overacting to take anything seriously, so the ending with the "life lesson" felt totally flat to me. At the same time, they are adding grim touches with the crime itself and some of the elements relating to the characters, but it is done superficially and it never get even midly frightening...

I was not impressed by the acting but the production value was alright. Special effects were overall well executed and costumes were really pretty. The music was not memorable at all but fitted well with the movie.

I would not recommend this movie if you are looking for a darker take on fairy tales. It is really a matter of taste and expectations. Personally, I enjoy a lot Kaori Yuki mangas where she often revisit in a very dark and grim way various fairy tales...I would have wished the movie to take a similar approach. Here, it is more a family movie with a mystery for which I found the resolution pretty clumsy as well.

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So many issues, grotesque but somewhat entertaining in a confusing way.

This horror movie is such a mixed bag for me. It has some gripping and really WTF moments...But it failed on many elements. Indeed, in terms of horror, unfortunately, I was never really frightened. I often cringed and was quite appalled by some scenes...But the visual effects are quite bad and the acting is also very limited, which is problematic for the horror to properly work.

The main issue is that some characters are part of a theatre club doing grotesque and gruesome pieces, so they do "fake horrific scenes" BUT the real horror situations seems to be put at the same level...You cannot be really scared therefore because everything feel unreal due to the context in which the characters evolve. If they had a bigger budget to make the horror part frightening enough and different enough from the theatric club part, that would have worked so much better...

Regarding the acting, it got a bit better in the second half but most of the actors were average at best. Some were saying their lines in such an unconvincing way that it was comical. Some were clearly under-acting (instead of over-acting) which is an error because it did not match the craziness of the plot.

Regarding the story, it is a bit of shame that they did not lean more into characterization for the main protagonists. It makes it super difficult to care for whatever was happening to them. I think they were too many to be properly developped given the length of the movie. The adults roles were pretty limited and boring but there was a lot of interesting aspects relating to the students. It could have made a fascinating series expanding on each of the characters with all their kinks and unhealthy relationships.

I would not recommend this movie because I am very ambivalent about my feelings about it. It is objectively bad on so many aspects but still it is so WTF that it might be worth a watch (?). It is super gruesome and graphic, so if you are squimmish, it is definitely not for you. The scare level is not really there because of the acting and context in which the characters evolve make everything pretty unconvicing.

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Despite frustrating ending + writing flaws, worth it for the butterflies that the romance provides!

I have watched the previous chinese adaptation "Addicted" of the novel and was curious to see the newest adaptation and how the director and screenwriter will be able to build up this BL relationship while meeting the censorship criteria. Fortunately enough, I think they did a very good job regarding the development of the relationship.

They choose to develop the story in a less toxic way. I liked how toxic it was in the previous adaptation, but here they made it something else and it is as interesting and much more wholesome and candid. They managed to handle the censorship very well: the relationship between the two guys is clearly romantic and with a lot of chemistry despite not being able to show much. Everything is in the subtext, which I really enjoyed.

The downside of the story resides in the last third of the series with a not very inspired resolution to some of the familial conflicts as well as an abrupt ending that felt very much open and which was to me super frustrating. It seems that once again an adaptation of the novel is stopped in the middle of a narrative arc. A season 2 would be more than welcome to conclude better the series but sadly enough, I don't think anything is planned in that respect.

The two actors casted as main leads were really good. They had a great chemistry together and I totally believed in their characters' strong feelings for each other. They managed to convey so much with just their eyes, the looks they were throwing to each other as well as each of their very innocent touching. That's impressive to express so much with so little skinship: every little hints they gave regarding their affections and even more felt like a precious gift to the viewer. The secondary cast was more of a mixed bag in terms of performances.

I enjoyed the production value of this drama. There were a lot of very pretty and memorables scenes between the leads showcasing very well sweet moments between them. I also enjoyed the soundtrack: I liked less the opening song but the other three songs were very solid and such a vibe fitting the romance very well.

I would recommend this to people looking for a Youth BL that really put the focus on developping in a wholesome and believable way the relationship between its main leads. The scenario might be a bit wonky at time as well as the actions of some of the side characters but the main relationships (as well as the two actors acting as leads) is really worth the time invested. Be aware that the ending might be frustrating, but the journey of the romance really offset this point to my eyes.

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Disappointing, tries to do too much in too little time / do not convey a convincing BL story

This BL drama is centred around the encounter of Toki, delinquent highschooler and Sahara, his homeroom teacher for which he develops a one-sided love...The premise of the series was super interesting and there were quite a few good ideas in terms of characters background and even regarding a storyline for secondary characters that was super promising (another rather taboo romance that went regrettably nowwhere).

Unfortunately, the overall scenario is a deception at several levels. First, they really embraced a comedical tone for the first part of the drama instead of really deep-diving into the more taboo aspects of the various relationships...The writing and directing wanted to keep things light and relatively surface level which is clearly not the direction I wanted the show to take. Secondly, the series tried to do too much in too little time. We get a lot of background story on some side characters or on the past but in fact it is to the detriment of the build up of the relationship of the main couple.

I was utterly unconvinced by the relationship between both main male leads. They had no romantic chemistry. Separately they were a bit better (especially Hachimura Rintaro who managed to make his character rather endearing when he could have been very annoying) but sadly it was very difficult to feel engaged into their relationship...The others actors playing secondary roles were quite okay overall, nothing really remarkable but nothing bad neither.

The production value was rather poor, you can feel the limits in the budget with the repetition of the sets and decors, as well as the limits in the directing (fight scenes were just cringe). The music was forgettable but I enjoyed listening to the opening and ending generic.

I would not recommend this to people as there are better school BL out there. This series had some really nice tropes but completly failed to exploit them. I wish they would take the two same storylines (teacher/ student as well as the other side romance) and make it very gritty and dark...I wish they focus solely on those two relationships and give them enough room to develop and be believable. Anyway, too many wishes...It could have been really special but was rather plain instead.

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Societal critic supported by a strong cast and impressive storytelling: very deep and impactful!

A beautiful movie very impactful and that made a deep impression on me upon watching. The scenario is one of the strong point of the movie: it almost felt like a theatre play in several acts. Every question find an answer, every element showcased at one point of the script has an importance for the rest of the story... The film approaches some very important societal topics and provide a sound critic of Japanese society without being preachy and with a lot of subtlety.

The cast is really great: the characters are multi-faceted and the actors and actresses manage to provide plenty of nuances to their roles. There are a lot of angsty and emotional moments that are played with expertise for the adults parts and candor for the children parts.

The production value is good, I loved some of the decors as well as the editing which really enhanced the various storylines intertwined with each other. The soundtrack was not overly present but there are some critical scenes involving music with a very interesting set up.

I would strongly recommend this movie to people looking for a film providing a critic of Japanese society, discussing important topics and very well acted. The ending made a very strong impression on me...I will not spoil it but the message behind it really moved me deeply. There are some triggering aspects to the movie but it is not too graphic, a lot happens in subtext and is understood as the story unfolds itself. If you are looking for some fluff or slice-of-life movie, it is not the film for you. But if you are ready for some great and poignant storytelling, give it a shot!

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Solid drama with great acting: some of the incarnations stole the show !

Death's game is a series about a man who decides to kill himself and is therefore forced to play an horrific game with Death herself (or at least a personnified version of it) as a punishment for insulting her while committing suicide. He will be reincarnated in several individuals facing imminent death circumstances and needs to find a way to survive in order to win the game imposed on him.

The idea of the series as well as the visuals and production value are really great. You are totally immersed in the drama and it is super interesting to follow. The soundtrack is not overly present but I enjoyed a lot the songs ending each of the episodes.

The cast is fabulous. The incarnations are played by good and different actors, each bringing his own touch and nuances to the role with their characters' own unique background. So far, my favorites stories were the ones of the 3rd, 5th and 7th incarnations. And the most traumatic for me was the 6th one...I really was impressed by the way the stories are somewhat interconnecting within each other, making the bigger picture more and more intriguing.

The series is not totally without flaws. I personnally do not like as much the parts that are set in the limbo with the main male lead and Death chatting and bickering. Those parts are critical for the set up of the story, as well as to see the evolution of the main character as he goes through failures...But I think they are missing something to make it as captivating than the incarnations scenes. I would have loved also to be more invested in the romance side of the story but the ending of Part 1 improved on that.

I would recommend this series to people that are looking for a thriller with a fantasy twist. Given the topic, this drama can be very triggering and is super violent. There are some elements I wish would be better developped but it is overall a very solid show which manage in only four episodes to keep you on your toes...It is never easy to review a series at the halfway mark, I hope the second part will successfully manage its landing because Part 1 raised my expectations.

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Painful to watch, I had moderate expectations and was still very disappointed and annoyed

This BL series is a sequel of Bed Friend but focusing on the side character of "Jade" and his romance with his new intern "Mai". Unfortunately it was super disappointing, Bed Friend was full of flaws but rather entertaining. But here it is really catastrophic, I was pretty annoyed during my watch.

The biggest issue with the drama is coming from the shift in tone vs its parent series. The director has chosen to make The Middleman's love a really over-the-top comedy. The story feel simply empty and the main character "Jade" is written as very dumb and not likeable at all. The character just does not feel like a real human but rather a caricature.

I was really not impressed by the acting of Yim... In the role of Jade, he is overacting a lot and screaming most of the time, making his character properly insufferable...To his defense, he was not as bad in other dramas I saw him playing side characters in (even when playing the exact same one in the prequel of this), so a lot of it might have to do with the director choice. To be honest, I'm not sure if another actor would have done a better job given the material to play and the overall tone of the series for which the director seemed to want to go for. The other characters felt a bit transparent compared to him and are not interesting. The main couple of Bed Friend has almost nothing in the scenario to play with, which makes them unfortunately kind of purposeless.

The series remain very platonic with almost no advancement for the main relationship during almost 7 episodes. The two main male leads are just running in circle...There are some hot scenes in the last episode but even though they were well filmed and that the chemistry between the actors Yim and Tutor is pretty good, I did not manage to be invested and believe in it. It did not feel organic or in line with the characterization done so far...

I would not recommend this to people as there are much much better BL series out there. Unless you really like one of the actor and/or over-the-top comedy as well as you do not mind overacting, I would suggest to do yourself a favor and avoid this at all cost.

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