Short fantasy movie super impactful, left me with a deep lasting impression

This movie is apparently a shorter new take (with a gender swap) of the original movie which I have not seen. I'm truly impressed at how in only 31 minutes this movie managed to convey a super compelling story. I loved the fantasy aspect of it, it is very well exploited with a strong narrative. I found the overall scenario properly gut-wrenching with an interesting and rather grey morale.

There are only 4 actors in this movie and their performances are pretty good: especially for Ding Cheng Xin, who has maybe the most room for range for acting and is very convincing in his role.

I enjoyed the music as well as the production value. It does not feel cheap. The special effect and make-up are far from perfect and could have been scarier but overall I found it adequate.

I would recommend this to people looking for a short wuxia / fantasy movie. Given the way it manages to convey so much in so little time, it is totally worth taking the time giving a shot to this gut-wrenching tale. The story is so interesting and has so much potential that I cannot help feeling greedy and to wish that it would have been a full length duration movie.

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Love or lust...Intricate and layered with jealousy, fear, passion and a lot of bad decisions

This historical movie tells the story of Hong Rim, the Chief of King's guard and his relationship with King Gong Min who ruled in the latest half of the 14th century of the Goryeo Dynasty. I find very interesting the period of history in which the film is set as well as all the the romantic premise which build up in a gut-wrenching love story.

Story-wise, I really enjoyed the imbalance of power in the relationship and in the romance. Nothing is as simple as it seems as the feelings get more and more intricated and layered with jealousy, fear, passion and a lot of bad decisions (which frustrated me a lot as they were not super logical sometimes)...It was really love and lust leading to madness in a heart breaking way.
Despite it relative long length, I found the pacing of the movie quite good. My only regret is that we do not spend enough time on the beginning of the relationship between Hong Rim and King Gong Min: I would have loved to see their kinship and affinity evolve in something more, especially with the difference in status in the context of the court. The ending was very satisfying to me because the final actions of the protagonists made it very clear to me as to where their affections were truly lying. I am convinced that it is NOT what was said that is the most telling regarding the romance but rather what was left unsaid and rather shown by the characters.

The acting performance for the three main roles was pretty solid. The trio of Zo In Sung (as Hong Rim), Joo Jin Mo (as King Gong Min) and Song Ji Hyo (as Queen No Guk) worked very well together. I found the relationship between the two male leads the most compelling one but Song Ji Hyo hold her own quite well in these very tortuous relations. Regarding the secondary characters, it was quite good overall, no obvious stand out on the support roles with the exceptions of some of the guards. It was really nice to see some familiar faces acting as secondary characters: Song Joong Ki, Noh Min Woo, Jo Jin Woong ,Yeo Jin Goo and Park Sung Hoon.

The production value was really impressive, even looking at it 16 years later. The fight scenes were very good and the more gruesome parts felt very effective in conveying the violence of the story at that period of time. I loved the decors, it felt rich and well put together. The numerous (but purposeful) sex scenes were also very well filmed. I enjoyed the soundtrack, in particular the scenes were some of the characters were singing: really beautiful and poetic.

I would recommend this movie to people looking for an historical movie with a gut-wrenching love story. The romance is really interesting in the dynamics that it explores. I wish the scenario would have spend more time on some aspects of the relationship and I got frustrated by some choices made by some characters...But overall, I was very satisfied by this movie and its ending as well.

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The script failed in making me understand the characters' choices...and therefore to care about them

Let's face it, watching this movie was not an enjoyable experience for me...But at the same time, I must admit that I will remember some scenes for a long time as some images and ideas in terms of production and filmmaking were quite striking.

Despite acknowledging this, the flaws of the movie outweight its qualities in my watching experience. There are a lot of issues with the story itself. It is very difficult to empathize with (or even simply understand) the characters' choices. The way the scenario handles the heavy issues that face the protagonists in their relationship is clearly more "poetic" than relatable and does not make a lot of sense.

The casting did an okay job, I was not particularly convinced by their portraying of "love". For me, it was clearly more lust than love but I am not sure if it is linked to the acting or rather more because of the script itself which really prevented me to understand why the two main male leads would love each other.

I would not recommend this movie to people because it was not an enjoyable watch for me even if I must admit that I will likely remember some scenes for a long time because of a few striking images. Be aware that this movie can be very very triggering, be mindful of the tags if you have any.

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A BL with a quiet and meditative charm...Not very memorable but harmless and sweet

This drama is a sweet and summery BL coming-of-age story with a really appeasing slice-of-life feeling. The romance is very platonic as well as heartwarming as the feelings evolve between the two protagonists. It is a subtle and quiet series which is likely to brighten your day with his luminous character and almost meditative charm. The counterpart of this is that the drama lack ambition and punch, and its short lenght makes it difficult to go deep into the turmoil and feelings that the protagonists could be facing. It remains relatively surface level on a lot of ways in an amicable and agreeable approach.

The casting was good overall. The chemistry was not really overwhelming but the script did not require a lot of demonstration of affection or overpowering passion...Therefore the acting was totally appropriate at depicting a very youthful first love kind of story. There was a bit of imbalance in terms of skills level, as Hyuga Wataru did in my opinion a better job than Okura Takato in conveying the story and adding additional layer to his character. Overall, both did okay but it could have been stronger in terms of nuances.

I love the soundtrack, it was totally fitting the drama. The production value as well was lovely: there was a lot of pretty picturesque sceneries in addition to mouthwatering food scenes.

I would recommend this to people looking for a BL with a really appeasing slice-of-life feeling. It depicts a sweet coming-of-age story with a platonic and heartwarming romance in a summery setting. If you are looking for an angsty show with passionate characters and a lot of turmoil, this is really not the series you should watch. But if you are looking for a charming and calming drama, this might be a good pick for you.

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Disturbing: I'm not sure about the what and why, icky but kinda grossly fascinating

This very short movie of about 15 minutes is very indie as it focus on a very odd and relatively disturbing topic as one of the character has a strong secret kink. No judgment from my part, but I personally found it quite gross and icky.

The camera does not shy from the disturbing details and the main actor does an overall convincing job. The filmmaking has a very strong approach on featuring the specific kink of the main character. It is kinda fascinating in a way and I felt a bit sick watching it.

It is impactful in a way but I am absolutely not sure of what the movie is trying to say or why...Honestly there are many fascinating elements in the psyche of the main character that would be interesting to explore...But the short length of the movie prevent any kind of plot & character development.

I would not recommend this movie as I am so unsure of what to think of it after watching it. It is pretty short so you might want to give it a shot if you like indie movies featuring somewhat obscure and disturbing topic.

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Not an essential, more a nice side quest to 'The Untamed' series' lore

After watching the amazing series The Untamed, I was looking forward this movie set up in the same universe as I truly enjoyed the parent drama. Here, the film features a side quest led by two secondary characters of The Untamed that I like a lot: Ghost General Wen Ning and Lan Si Zhui.

Even though I like the universe and the characters, I must admit that this movie is not a "must watch" but rather a "nice to see". Indeed the story is very predictable, I guessed everything very easily. There are almost no characters growth / development and very few links / references to the parent series. The scenario, quite classic, felt very "shonen" / "video game" and the film is too short to get truly emotionally invested in what happens to the protagonists.

I still enjoyed it thanks to the production value. The budget seems higher than in the drama for the special effects and make-up. There is an elevated feel to the monster / fantasy elements which is very enjoyable, especially in the fight scenes. The soundtract was pretty nice, though not memorable but with some lovely tunes as well as a soothing ending song.

I would recommend this to people that are missing The Untamed series. If you watch it without any big expectation, it is an easy watch featuring lovable secondary characters from this amazing drama. It does not bring anything new to the universe and original story but it is a quite short and entertaining watch.

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Despite a trope I love, disappointed by the writing, acting and production value...

This BL drama contains one of my favorite trope: the "master-servant" relationship, and here more specifically in a "heir-bodyguard" format. Unfortunately, it fell apart in many ways despite this very interesting premise. I was very disappointed by the series, in particular by its second half.

Story-wise, the writing is pretty bad and get more and more bonkers as the scenario unfold. The protagonists are making unlogical decisions most of the time for dramatic purposes and there are very little character's development. The dialogs are super cheesy but not swoony enough.

Acting-wise, it was such a let-down. Chemistry between the leads was okayish but I think it is the trope that carried their relationship for me (in particular in the first half). In terms of acting skills, I felt a relative disbalance: Phuwin really lacked nuances and mostly acted pouting/upset as the young heir. I enjoyed a bit more the acting of his counterpart Pond as the bodyguard...Overall, I feel that both really really need to work on their acting chops. They were not believable in the over-the-top dramatic moments. The story got very melodramatic / soap-like and it requires good skills to make a bad script appealing to the viewer...Here the acting prevented me even more to connect to the story. The side couple was not better, I love Perth but I could not get onboard with the secondary relationship portrayed in the drama.

Production value is pretty low: the sound, the fights scenes, the props, everything feels super cheap. Music did not leave a lasting impression on me at all. I think it was a bit heavy in terms of amping the dramatic elements, and it felt flat for me.

I would not recommend this to people because there are BLs out there featuring much better that kind of relationship (for example "Where Your Eyes Linger" with also "heir/bodyguard" relationship, or "Utsukushii Kare" for more a "master-servant" bond)...At first, I was full of forgiveness regarding the weaknesses in the production, the choppy editing, as well as the flaws in writing and acting...But it became so nonsensical that even a trope that I usually like very much could not save the drama.

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Despite heavy/manipulative way to handle the life lessons...Still enjoyed some of the cases & hero

I enjoyed certain episodes more than others, it felt very episodic and lacked a strong common thread. There was some elements coming back over the course of the story, but I wish those would have been more developped. Still, I had some "favorite cases" of the week: namely the arson case and the Raika case. I also enjoyed the hero Totono and his relationship with the world and others. I was pretty interested by Garo, and by Seiko (the female inspector) but it felt rather flat overall. I wish they mined much more the (b)romance between Totono and Garo. There was a lot of unexploited potential there.

Even if that was heavily handed I appreciated some of the societal critics brought up by the series. It remained overal relatively superficial but at least there was an attempt at it. I wish they would have gone much deeper on some topics (for example regarding the women discrimination at the police station which was overall fairly lightly handled) but some were insightful.

I was pretty satisfied by the acting. I feel the main lead made a proper job portraying his unconventional character. There was no obvious bad performances, most were okay. I really enjoyed some of the guest actors, there were a few familiar faces, which is always nice.

The production value was quite standard, no outstanding but sufficient for conveying the story. The editing choices, with a lot of flashbacks, made the script feel a bit redundant. The scenario (and therefore the filmmaking) had a tendency to overexplain things, to make sure the viewer understood what happened and how the mystery was resolved. To that effect, the music was really heavyly handed...it lacked subtlety and felt almost childish somewhat...Each time the central character told a life lesson, there was a (pretty) melancholic music popping up in the background, which felt a bit manipulative to me...

I would recommend this to people looking for a mystery formulaic series. If you enjoy drama with kind of "case of the week" stories, you will likely enjoy this. I also think there are a lot of "reflective"/"life lessons" moments that could resonate with the viewer. For me, those were too heavily handed to appreciate all of them and I wish the various episodes had a stronger common thread allowing me to be more investing in the overall story. The show has a relatively open ending, so I will definitely watch the Special Episode...And then maybe the movie to round it up.

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Despite its undeniable qualities, story did not grab me mainly because of pacing and editing issues

This movie is about the encounter of two gays men: Kosuke, a fashion editor quite well-off and Ryuta, a younger guy that tries to make ends meet, doing a lot of side jobs...The movie takes its time exploring their budding relationship in the context of Japanese society where gay marriage is still forbiden and overall gay relationships remains marginalised.

The premise of the film is interesting but unfortunately it did not manage to grab my attention as I would have wished to. I felt quite detached during most part of the movie and I blame foremost pacing issues about that. Indeed, the movie felt sluggish to me and I truly think it would have benefited from a sharper editing. Despite I truly found the characters and their dynamics super interesting, I also felt that the romance was a bit lacking. The scenario took its time to catch me and it mainly brought up some reflections and feelings to me in its last third.

The acting was very good, especially from Suzuki Ryohei. He was astounishing in his role: he managed to do a lot with just his eyes, making the emotions so real and raw with what his character was going through...Each one of his micro expression as he was suffering was truly gut wrenching and believable. I also felt under the charm of Miyazawa Hio, who makes his character very appealing as well as Agawa Sawako which was pretty good in her role.

There was an indie feeling to this movie with a lot of what felt as experimentative camera movements and angles, it made some shots very engaging but clearly, I wish the filmmaking would have helped the rythm of the plot. The camera work seemed sometimes to slow down a lot on details and I think it is too the detriment of the pace of the story.

I would recommend this movie to people looking for a realistic life BL. It dives into deep topics (much deeper than what the poster would have left presupposed) and it will for sure not leave the viewer indifferent. Despite its qualities, I cannot omit the fact that the watching experience for me was not the best, as I felt bored at various points and the movie catched my interest concretely almost at the end....Still, I think it is worth to give it a try.

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Dark mature BL with strong psychological elements, wish it was longer to even better explore those

This movie depicts certainly not a standard BL story. It is dark and gritty with some strong psychological elements. After watching it, I discovered that it is an adaptation of a manga of Setona Mizushiro that I loved to read. It does not fully adapt the whole story but it does a great job taking some of the most interesting elements and putting them together to form a cohesive and captivating story. I think the storytelling would have benefited of a bit more time for some of the developments but overall I was quite satisfied by what the movie achieved, especially in terms of character growth.

I think the chemistry was pretty good between the two main actors. You can feel the intense obsession of one for the other as well as the indecisiveness of the other regarding his feeling for the former. There are numerous sex scenes which all have a purpose in terms of characterization and development of the relationship. Nothing feels gratuitous but it is instead meaningful in regards to the evolution of the protagonists. The actors really went for it and worked very well together, making those scenes raw and really believable.

The production value was good with a lot of little details in the filmmaking allowing the viewer to understand the evolution and change in the relationship, not only because of the script but also even visually through the sets and accessories and how they evolved within them. There was some moments were I felt the editing a bit abrupt, especially jumping between some scenes toward the end, but nothing too distracting for the understanding of the plot. The soundtrack was fitting the dark theme of the film without really being memorable.

I would recommend this to people looking for a mature BL story. It is a dark story involving a lot of heavy topics, toxic elements and it can be triggering in the way the relationship forms itself. If you enjoyed this movie, I would strongly advise to give a chance to the manga from which this movie is an adaptation.

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BL Movie with an interesting intention but too short to really captivate me

This very short film (only 28 minutes) is mostly a slice-of-life within a Taiwanese family with siblings who reunites for their mother's birthday. The story is centred around one main question: will the gay son comes clean to his mom ? Given the short duration, there is not a lot of content but the film does a good job setting up the stakes for the various characters.

In terms of casting, I feel that the actress playing the mother did the best job in interpreting with nuances her role. You feel her stress and care for her family. I was slightly less convinced by the actor playing her son, I felt the chemistry was a bit lacking in his couple. Still, he manages to be very real in displaying the emotions and hesitations of his character.

The film felt very indie: there are clearly on a budget but the decors and filmmaking was totally suitable for a proper storytelling. The ending song was nice but not memorable.

I would recommend this to people looking for a short BL indie movie. The question approached by the story feel very real and the way it is discussed makes sense. I did not find it very captivating as it was too short to feel connected with the characters. It is of course a very personnal opinion as I think it could really touch the heart of some other viewer. As it is very short, give it a shot ! I enjoyed learning about what Komorebi means.

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Worth it for amazing Didi Yuan Zhi and high production value, not for the central romance

The series resolves around the encounter of nobleman Gong Zi Yu and spy Yun Wei Shan who is in an infiltration mission within the very powerful Gong family. The central romance felt very boring to me: the growth of the main male lead was not believable and not paced well enough, the main female lead felt too emotioneless (almost like a blank canvas) for me to want to root for her. Fortunately the stories from several other characters (cunning Shangguan Qian, Dark Gege Gong Shang Jue and feisty Didi Gong Yuan Zhi) kept me interested.

The acting was pretty good overall with some really striking performances (namely the ones of Ryan Cheng, Lu Yu Xiao and Tian Jia Rui) compensating for more middle-of-the road / average performances. Zhang Ling He and Yu Shu Xin (aka Esther Yu) pairing did not work at all for me...I did not feel the chemistry between them, their acting felt very blank. They were not helped by the script but still, it was pretty plain and unconvincing. Ryan Cheng and Lu Yu Xiao had amazing chemistry together which made the main romance feal even weaker just by comparison.

Tian Jia Rui, the actor playing Didi Gong Yuan Zhi made the show for me. Each of his scenes was a delight to watch and truly impressive (especially knowing that this is his first acting job in a drama). He is credited as a support role but he had much more screen time than some of the main roles, which was the right directing choice because his performance shines through even in the background. He was from far my favorite part of the series and I will be looking forward his next drama (hopefully casted as main lead).

The filmmaking and production are really awesome. The accessories, the sets and decors, everything looks so pretty and rich...I liked it a lot. It is so so pretty, I took so many screenshots while watching the series to immortalize some of the scenes. The OST was nice as well, not too overly present but delicate and melodic.

I would recommend this to people looking for a martial arts historical drama with some fantasy elements, high production value and featuring an interesting family conflict mixed with internal politics. The central romance is not the best aspect of the show but there are some storylines around more "secondary" relationships that are really well done and keep the viewer invested. This series allowed me to discover newcomer Tian Jia Rui who amazed me with his strong screen presence in the role of Didi Gong Yuan Zhi. Just for him, I think it is a really worthwhile watch despite some flaws in the pacing and in the writing, as well as an ending that felt too rushed.

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BL addressing captivingly a difficult topic, very memorable moments but wish for different ending

This drama revolves around the relationship of Day who faces partial blindness and Mhok who is hired as his caregiver. This BL has a very interesting plotline which addresses in a gripping way the topic of disabilities. The subject is discussed in the series through several angles: the perspective of the person having the disability, the perspective of his entourage, the way the world see him and how he perceives the world...I liked a lot some of the parallelisms done in the story, in particular thanks to a very special book featured in the drama.

The story is not without flaws but those are minors comparing to the overall quality and excitment the show provides. The pacing could have been a bit better as well as the treatment of some of the secondary characters. There was also a certain predictability to the overall scenario. I was expecting some scenes, it lacked a bit of surprises but was still very well done. I regret a bit a specific scenaristic choice made for the ending. I was expecting the series to take that road but still hoped the series would have gone into another direction as I think it could have been even more meaningful in that way.

The casting was generally good. Mark Pakin has a support role and is excellent (as usual) in it. I personally think that the overall series would have been less good without him to carry a storyline that could have felt flat and one note with a less talented actor. It is my first time watching the Jimmy X Sea pairing and they were very good together...Their chemistry was very convincing, it is not about lust but rather about love and care in each other...It was truly pure and enjoyable.

The OST was quite standard with one nice romantic song but I was bothered by some of the background music, the melodramatic music was sometimes overused and overwhelming..It was supposed to amps up the drama but it lacked subtlety and was a bit too much for my taste. In terms of production, there are some really memorable scenes with some good filmmaking and directing choice. The production value is quite in line with most of similar production but it is the way some scenes were filmed and some of the direction choices regarding for example the disability of the main character that are making the difference and elavating the series.

I would recommend this to people looking for a BL story quite deep and which is very healing while approaching a difficult topic. Its treatment of disability feels relatable and real. The acting was solid and despite some minor flaws in the writing and questionable scenaristic choice in the ending, it is very worth the time as it will leave on the viewer a lasting and resounding impression.

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Meta and cute, wish they would have developped more the side story which really intrigued me

This special drama is made of three episodes of 45 minutes (which is quite a sizable duration for a Japanese BL). It is about the encounter of a very trendy actor at the peak of his hype and a former child actor not really known as much to the public. They are both hired to play a couple in the live-action adaptation of a popular BL manga.

I love the premise of this story: it is super meta to have BL actors playing BL actors hired to play in a BL series. I really enjoyed the series but I wish they would have taken the concept even further. It stays very light and fluffy with a lot of comedy. Doing so, it feel a bit limitative in the emotions the main actors are portraying. They are doing a suitable job with the fun and goofy parts, as well as when they are playing characters but I wish I would have felt a bit more the attraction between them in their "real life" arc.

The secondary roles were very nice. There are no crazy woman part used to antagonize the main characters, which is always a good news. I found the two secondary female roles pretty good and wish I would have seen more of them. My biggest regret is coming from the fact that the most interesting relationship in the drama (the one between the two managers of the actors) was not developped enough. The scenario hinted a complicated romance with those two characters and I really would have loved if the show had elaborated much more on that.

The production value was standard for the genre and the songs were not memorable but suitable to the pop and manga atmosphere of the show.

I would recommend this to people looking for a fluffy, cute and fun BL with some interesting meta references and a cohabitation trope. I wish it would have been more angsty and complex but it was clearly not the objective of the story. I would have really loved for the series to develop much more some of the sides characters (especially the secondary romance) but it was still a very easy and pleasant watch pretty entertaining.

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Pacing issue + unlikeable character made it impossible to enjoy, despite great acting of Lee Joon

I have very mixed feelings regarding this movie centered around Young Oh, a young rookie actor facing the tough reality of the entertainment industry as he rises to famedom. The story could have been interesting but I got honestly bored because of the huge pacing issues as well as the unlikability of the main character.

Lee Joon is truly impressive in the role of Young Oh, especially knowing that it is one of his first big role, and a posteriori, it feels like it was decisive in pivoting his career from idol to actor. Despite the fact that he delivers a solid and convincing performance, his character remains unlikeable all along the duration of the film. I blame the script and not the cast for preventing me to care and root for the main protagonist.

The direction of the movie had some real good ideas, there are a lot of scenes that mirror each other as well as help the viewer to see the unstable mental state in which Young Oh is. The first part of the story was interesting but it got very repetitive and long because of the lack of suspense as it was very clear where the scenario was headed. The OST was average at best and the ending soundtrack was really an odd and bad choice.

I would not recommend this movie unless you are a big Lee Joon's fan and want to see the movie which really made him prove to the public his skills as an actor. Be aware that this movie can be pretty triggering as it is graphic, violent and with depictions of sexual assaults.

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