I was excited to see a new series of Bangkok Love Story in Netflix after I enjoyed Plead. However, after finishing the series I felt like it was just an 'ok' series. The first few episodes were interesting - mainly because it took time to introduce the four personalities but after then it felt a bit of a drag. The most annoying repetitive dragging is the 2-men gang appear to wreck havoc in the parking lot, in the studio, etc. It was like - uh - what? again? This probably happened like 5 times. Another annoying thing about the series is the Korean restaurant owner who I want to sleep everything she screams OOOPPAAAAA. She is the worst one dimensional crap character. It was not even funny. It was annoying.

A lot of circumstances are quite not believable. Why would a mother allow her daughter to be alone in Bangkok knowing her condition/situation? All along I thought she was dead just like her father. It makes zero sense. Granted tho, the whole flashback is probably my favorite part, it just feel a little contrived.

Going back to the 2-men gang, are they really stupid? Why they kept on asking for the phone when everybody knows the owner of the phone can copy the files - and why Jess did not do it immediately after the first run-sack of the studio? It is just stupid move. Not to mention, going straight to the cops and have them arrested would do the trick.

They have enough materials IMO to get a 13 episodes in, but they should have just fold the gang story in like 5 or 6 episodes and perhaps spend the latter 6 episodes on flashback and the teacher as a villain.

Overall, it was an okay series. To be honest, I don't really see and feel the spark between the two leads.

Read More

A beautiful drama that will make you laugh and cry

The story is nothing new. It's probably been told a lot of times and may be even cliche, but what makes this drama work are the characters, especially the main leads.

I love the chemistry of the main lead. The two are undeniably look good together. I know that there's meant to be a big age gap between the two, but honestly, aesthetic wise, the age don't seem to be off - it's just that at first glance the male lead has a baby face and look young. Personality wise and how they handle relationship don't show the age gap. At first they made a point of showing how young the male lead is by giving him a job with video games and playing toy guns with co-workers, but that don't really change much of how you see him when he is with Jin-A. The thing is, when it comes to relationship, the two seems to have similar approach. They lie and deal things on themselves because they don't want to cause pain or inconvenience to their partners. That's one thing I really did not like with this drama, the male leads did not evolve leading up to the end of the series to communicate well. They always end up patching things up with a cuddle and not really have an adult talk about issues - hence the break up and big fight. Moving forward, this probably is one thing the story should lead into, had there been more stories to tell.

Music is one thing annoys me in this series. The repetitive and at some point unnecessary 'what makes a woman'. I don't mind the other soundtrack, it was just this music trying to put the whole show's vibe into some 1960s, yet trying and poorly attempt to remind audience that the female lead is old.

I know some people hate the slow pace and repetitiveness. True, that some of the plots are repetitive. But I do enjoy the slow pace. The few extra clippings of them together, the look at each other, the artistic shots, they are beautiful - it brings the right atmosphere and to the world of the two leads. It makes everything realistic too.

As much as I like the ending, the happy ending felt like should be a lot longer.

I think all the characters did a great job, especially the supporting ones to build around the main leads. I know a lot of people hate the mother, but being asian, I understand the ridiculous POV. Im glad that the dad somewhat is on Jin-A's side to counter this.

It's worth a watch. Once you get to invest on the character, I can guarantee you will binge watch it to the end.

Read More

WOW

First of all, I was quite hesitant to watch this, because I was quite disappointed with Memories of the Alhambra, which was also written by the same writer. But I am so glad that I did. The story itself is told with great layers, and it is quite obvious that they did manage it well enough that it does not feel dragging like many series. So I can say it outright, the story itself hold the series high above.

Now to the nitty gritty. I find it in the first few episodes they 'recap' a lot of time. As someone who is binge watching this show, I kinda get annoyed because I was like - I just saw that in previous episode, no need to reiterate it. As the episodes go on, they do it less and less, and in fact when they have some kind of 'recap', it was because they are adding layers to the story - which is great.

The rules of travelling. They established at first how Yeon Joo travel into webtoon and how she exits. Ok, good. But then after awhile, this has been confusing as she was able to easily go back and forth. And then you also have Kang Chul, who can easily interdimensional travel too by will. I'm just annoyed, since they should have clearly make a rule on how these characters able to travel. But I guess they have to take leeway on those things to tell story.

It's funny how the series always draw car and syringe. Clearly the car is a product placement, I would have get a plane or helicopter - or why can't they just teleport people using the tablet? The evil doppelganger of the dad was able to get in and out of the studio with a screen, why did the main characters decide to use cars to travel? And seriously, you have so many cars passing by, none of them stops to help a bleeding man on a bus stop? Is that for real?

The ending was great and satisfying. Actually the show gave great setup and conclusions half way through at episode 13 where they can easily finish the series. So for those who are fans of the romance side of the series, I think it's very satisfying ending.

Music is great, I have no problem with it.

Read More

Toxic relationship is real

Is it still love when you are in a relationship where one party dictates your desire, plan and life?

This is beyond feelings and love. It tackles what more should be in a relationship and it is always a partnership. At first, it may be hard to watch - to see the two leads committing infidelity in their respective relationship, but then you realized there is a reason behind it and clearly there is something wrong with their relationship. What do you do then? Do you acknowledge the problem and deal head on, or do you pretend it does not exist and keep on? What happens if the other party cannot accept? Or does not change their behaviour? Do you want to get stuck in a cycle?

This whole thing is what goes on my mind while watching this show. And I think it is an important question to ask because we all know it happens in real life and for sure, there is a counterpart to every characters in the show. (The only non-real scenario in the show is actually the whole switcharoo of jobs of the antagonists).

The music/OST is great too. The acting for me is so-so. I feel like the characters are not over-acted, but feels that they mirror what it would have been reacted in real life. Nevertheless it's a good watch, the topic can be heavy, and emotions can be heavy especially in the part of the lead girl. But the supporting characters able to help ease those heavy moments, especially from KeFei and BaiYang (and later David).

Read More

The story is wacky and I think on paper, it is great, If you consider this series to be light, comedy and simple, then probably it works.

But I feel like this is such an odd series if you actually watch it more closely and really understand what's happening.

Mai Ying Xiong did not fully understand what is really happening. I think it is important for him to understand that. This made you think if Mai Ying Xiong fell in love with the real Gu Si Ren or fell in love with her girlfriend Lan Xi (who obviously is controlling the physical, mental and emotional aspect of Si Ren during the time they were together). At the end, did Mai Ying Xiong kissed Si Ren or Lan Xi? It was confusing especially the writers made it a point to show Si Ren as Lan Xi.

For me, it was disappointing because I can see Ying Xiong fell in love with Lan Xi in the physicality of Si Ren. Si Ren (his real self) was left unclear of what is truly happening and in the span of 7 days, it was not him who fell in love together with Ying Xiong. So in reality, the love between the two does not really exist in the span time Lan Xi is in Si Ren. I just think the whole backstory was a rushed way of saying to the audience that hey Ying Xiong fell in love with the real Si Ren, but IMO that's bullshit. And even then, Lan Xi deserved an apology even if she was dead (had Ying Xiong knew what happened - then this should happen and clear closure between the two is just right)

The execution of the story is cute and fun tho. I think it deserved a second run where the real Si Ren is with Ying Xiong.

Read More