This review may contain spoilers
Happy I didn't skip this one!!
I placed spoilers at the end of this review.
I almost past this up because I'm not a fan of the friends with benefits/fake boyfriends to lovers story concept. This is one of the rare cases I'm happy I changed my mind. Again, I'm not a fan of the main story concept but the script actually handled this aspect very well. I also liked that the script was not very predictable and did not have cookie cutter characters. It was also great to watch a mature BL series. However, the script still had a few misplaced elements that were a bit puzzling to me.
One of the positive aspects in this series was the amount of diversity in it. Although it's not explicitly started, it is implied that Yoryyak is bi- or pansexual which was not made into a big deal. There was also an established BL couple that showed the ups and downs of a long-term relationship. They also had a wonderful story conclusion. It was great to see asexual representation with Plakao. Unfortunately, not much was done with this character. I didn't expect a full storyline for him, but at least a little more than what they gave us. Nevertheless, he had a nice story conclusion too. Another positive aspect was the overall way they addressed the topic of mental health. They addressed this issue with good sense of respect and care. The only problem was the unrealistic way they resolved it in the end. The main negative aspect for me is they felt the need to give a character a redemption story ending. Not all characters need one. As for the entire cast, they were amazing and did an incredible job with their characters. The cinematography was amazing, but there were some poor editing choices with one scene.
Random Notes:
As always, I love seeing familiar locations from different series. Ter's condo was also used in My School President and Good Old Days. The café is the same one used in Baker Boys (Café name was Sweet Day), Enchanté (Also called Sweet Day), The Eclipse (Shares the same name in this series, Café for all), and Twins (This was not a GMMTV series and had no name). Yes, I'm fully aware that I'm a geek about this.
******Spoiler Alert *******
I like that Wandee's reasoning for the fake boyfriend had to do with him getting the scholarship and not to get Ter jealous.
It was great that the series got the dreaded break-up subplot out of the way quickly in episode 7. I know they still considered themselves fake dating, but their fake break-up was more emotional than some of the cursed real break-up scenes that we receive in the second to last episode in other series.
The sexual assault scene in the beginning of episode 9 had a poor music choice. They picked music to make this appear cutesy to down play it. This is interesting considering they did a great job handling the same thing in the previous episode.
The storyline with Ter in the last two episodes did not sit well with me. If the end game was to have him and Taemrak together, they did a horrible job with making him likable. They should have toned down his pursuit with Wandee. It felt like they didn't want to fully commit in making him a bad character.
I almost past this up because I'm not a fan of the friends with benefits/fake boyfriends to lovers story concept. This is one of the rare cases I'm happy I changed my mind. Again, I'm not a fan of the main story concept but the script actually handled this aspect very well. I also liked that the script was not very predictable and did not have cookie cutter characters. It was also great to watch a mature BL series. However, the script still had a few misplaced elements that were a bit puzzling to me.
One of the positive aspects in this series was the amount of diversity in it. Although it's not explicitly started, it is implied that Yoryyak is bi- or pansexual which was not made into a big deal. There was also an established BL couple that showed the ups and downs of a long-term relationship. They also had a wonderful story conclusion. It was great to see asexual representation with Plakao. Unfortunately, not much was done with this character. I didn't expect a full storyline for him, but at least a little more than what they gave us. Nevertheless, he had a nice story conclusion too. Another positive aspect was the overall way they addressed the topic of mental health. They addressed this issue with good sense of respect and care. The only problem was the unrealistic way they resolved it in the end. The main negative aspect for me is they felt the need to give a character a redemption story ending. Not all characters need one. As for the entire cast, they were amazing and did an incredible job with their characters. The cinematography was amazing, but there were some poor editing choices with one scene.
Random Notes:
As always, I love seeing familiar locations from different series. Ter's condo was also used in My School President and Good Old Days. The café is the same one used in Baker Boys (Café name was Sweet Day), Enchanté (Also called Sweet Day), The Eclipse (Shares the same name in this series, Café for all), and Twins (This was not a GMMTV series and had no name). Yes, I'm fully aware that I'm a geek about this.
******Spoiler Alert *******
I like that Wandee's reasoning for the fake boyfriend had to do with him getting the scholarship and not to get Ter jealous.
It was great that the series got the dreaded break-up subplot out of the way quickly in episode 7. I know they still considered themselves fake dating, but their fake break-up was more emotional than some of the cursed real break-up scenes that we receive in the second to last episode in other series.
The sexual assault scene in the beginning of episode 9 had a poor music choice. They picked music to make this appear cutesy to down play it. This is interesting considering they did a great job handling the same thing in the previous episode.
The storyline with Ter in the last two episodes did not sit well with me. If the end game was to have him and Taemrak together, they did a horrible job with making him likable. They should have toned down his pursuit with Wandee. It felt like they didn't want to fully commit in making him a bad character.
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