Neurodivergent Taishin and Trauma Influenced Takara Make a Balanced Pair.

(General spoiler only at bottom of review.) This is a very good watch for people who enjoy character studies, to others it will likely feel slow. It is a slow burn romance with a slice-of-life feel. To me, the unhurried but steady reveal of layers in the lead characters (their natures, inner workings, and how they view each other) and the growing bond between them gripped my attention and I fell more and more for them over time, as they did with each other.

The psychology and nature of both boys was interesting, well thought out and written, and very well acted. They were distinctly different people yet complimented each other well. They both accepted the other as they were and gave emotional support to each other.

To me, Taishin was obviously neurodivergent, not just "a country bumpkin" or stupidly naive. Taishin exhibited many autistic traits and was a great representation of a neurodivergent mind. The screenplay doesn't point it out or discuss it though, so I can understand why this is missed by those who are unfamiliar with it.

The way Taishin follows, approaches, and interacts with Takara makes sense when viewed as Takara becoming a special interest for him (a rough definition of special interest is a long-term fascination). Taishin is candid and straightforward and divulges more than most people would in situations (not having much sense of filtering), doesn't have a good sense of boundaries, has great confusion about dynamics between people and with romantic feelings, difficulty naming or categorizing his own feelings, has difficulty regulating emotions and crying when both sad and happy, mentally overwhelmed easily, slower thought and speech patterns, spinning thoughts, unable to discern hidden or false intentions, has special interests of birds and plants (knowing lots of names and facts about them), and his pet bird was as important as a family member.

What I admired about Taishin was that he was genuine and earnest, he cared about his friends, he could find joy in small things, he showed bravery in approaching things that were potentially daunting (both his hesitancy and determination is shown in things like approaching a group of new people), and even though there were times when he feelt insecure about himself or distressed, he also had a buoyant positive nature.

Takara has a negative, false narrative about himself stemming from childhood experiences that often leads to contradictions in how he responds to Taishin vs what he feels. He is deeply afraid of his own nature, becoming something he hates, and harming others in the process. I don't want to give too much away because unraveling his character and backstory as the show goes on was part of the enjoyment. Ep 9 has more of his POV, which was especially insightful. His character was indiscernable for quite a while but he is understandable by the end.

I found the romance believable and heart-warming, and the way the characters looked at each other was very satisfying. There is some skinship, wonderful hugs and cuddles (some where they just melt into each other), and a few simple yet heart-fluttering lip presses. This is a very gentle romance, not a steamy one.

I liked the secondary characters too. The group of friends was fun and we got to get a good sense of them even though they didn't get a lot of screen time.

There were no annoying aspects of the story for me. The music was fitting though unmemorable.

GENERAL SPOILER ON THE ENDING

... ... ...

Just shy of 10/10 because the ending felt a little unfinished- the question of what would happen once Takara graduated was too much on my mind to fully enjoy the happy point at which the story chose to stop. It looks like there will be a spin off or special episode that shows more of them though, so if that can resolve the hovering question, then I may be able to give full marks.

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Main couple is fun in 1st half, but best romance is the second couple's in 2nd half.

Good for one watch. Fun premise and some interesting characters.

Very slow start but otherwise Ep 4-20 were great, Ep 21-29 were okay, and Ep 30-40 were mediocre. Despite the weaknesses, there was an addictive quality and always something that kept me binge-watching to the end, though I did fast-forward more and more in Ep 30-40.

Fun premise. A few unlikable characters that do have character and moral growth. Melodramatic in a mostly fun way. Had more of a soap opera feel in Ep 30-40.

The chemistry between the leads wasn't great. A lot of that had to do with the way Ling Cen was written and Eugenie Liu's portrayal. She was bland and flat. It was okay for the first half but in the second half, her character became irritating because there wasn't enough emotional depth to keep me invested in her character. It didn't help that I watched this immediately after Lost Romance in which Marcus Chang had fantastic chemistry with that female lead and that actress had great emotional and expression range.

The sister Jing Fan and Yu Quan were always awesome. Great characters, great acting, and good chemistry and romance. They were what I was most invested in for the 2nd half of the show. Loved them.

The girl's parents were well written. Their concern for their kids was well balanced with trying to respect and support their own decisions.

There were some positive messages about queer love too.

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Lovely Slice-Of-Life Epilogue.

General spoiler only at bottom of review.
Cute and sweet, slice-of-life epilogue to the series. It's simple and light and I found myself smiling a lot. It’s a nice and very satisfying end cap to the series story. I wouldn't recommend it unless you've seen the series first, otherwise you'll be missing the emotional foundation of the main couple's bond. The secondary couple were less annoying to me in the movie (and didn't get much screen time, which I was fine with).

I appreciated how Adachi and Kurosawa learned to communicate better with each other and started to approach things in their lives as a team.

The lead actors are so good with their eyes and facial expressions. Everything is 100% believable until there's close romantic physical touch, then it feels ever so slightly stiff. Even so, there are some nice hugs and the way they look at each other holds so much emotion.

The cinematography is nice but the music is not memorable.

GENERAL SPOILERS.
The introduction to the families was a nice blend of realism and fantasy. Some realistic tensions were brought up, but then were resolved fairly quickly, which kept the overall tone of the movie bright. The family members with concerns showed a lingering internal worry even as they made efforts to be accepting, which I thought was a nice, more realistic touch than doing a 180 in 5 min.

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Subtle, Feel-Good, Sincere Romance.

To me, this series felt like a higher rating than the sum of it's parts (technically, more like a 9/10 but enjoyable and satisfying enough to be one of my favorites). It was like being wrapped in a cozy blanket of hopeful sincerity. It's slice-of-life with a focus on feelings and while there are multiple emotional moments, there's no big drama (other than school bullying at the beginning). I enjoyed every minute and will watch again.

Notes on general differences from the manhwa at the bottom of review.

There are eight 25min episodes. I liked that we got to see HaeBom and TaeSung's story over a couple of years even though the time constraints meant that time passed quickly. The passing of time was slower in the beginning so it was easy to understand and connect with the characters and watch the transition of their bond into something more romantic. Then time jumps became a little bigger and more frequent but still retained character arcs. The mother's arc near the end felt the most rushed but it still worked; it feels like she would have gotten to that point anyway so doing so quickly didn't really break character.

I would have loved to watch more details of HaeBom and TaeSung's relationship as it unfolded, but was still very satisfied with what was shown. The staying power of their bond is reiterated over time so their happy ending and hopeful future is believable.

Their dynamic may seem stereotypically simple and unbalanced at first, but over time it's demonstrated how their strengths compliment each other's weaknesses and they balance each other well. They also put effort into understanding each other. Fondueforkharpoon's review expands on that and pretty perfectly sums it up.

There is a lot of skinship and cuddling and a couple passionate kisses.

While HaeBom was adopted by his mother's friend when he was 7 and grew up in the same house as TaeSung, I appreciated that the story *didn't* feel like a fetishization of brothers.

I enjoyed the friendship that the side characters YongHee and JiAh had with TaeSung and, over time, HaeBom. They were very much supporting roles but still felt like real people, not caricatures.

Cinematography was often soft and lovely, though some of the handheld camerawork was a little unsteady for my preferences (the constant small movements felt like maybe it was done on purpose to underscore high emotions but I found it distracting). Music fit scenes and emotions well.

Notes on the manhwa:
General Spoilers below.
The show follows vol.1 very closely then makes a few adjustments when incorporating vol.2. The show smartly makes the give and take between TaeSung and HaeBom clearer and more balanced, which I love. The one thing the show left out that I felt missing when I watched it (before I even read the manhwa), was the Mom's concern that TaeSung forced HaeBom; that HaeBom was in a position where he didn't feel he could say no. That's one of the Mom's biggest issues in the manhwa.

The show also integrates their growing physical relationship smoothly and believably once they start living in their own apartment. The manhwa on the other hand, is very chaste except for some kisses for vol.1 & 2, while vol.3 is mostly all R rated scenes (which are well done, by the way, and focuses on the progression of their physical intimacy). I've just started to read vol.4 and it seems to be bringing in more plot from the world around them again.

Fondueforkharpoon has a wonderful review that says other things I was thinking as well.

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Satisfying In All Aspects!

(No spoiler until the bottom of the review)
This is the most fulfilling series! The acting, script, cinematography, music, production value, everything! The show is not 100% perfect, but it still FEELS like a 10/10. The mood it set, the tension that was built, the deep bonding between characters... it hooked me immediately and kept me enthralled throughout. I didn't fast-forward through anything, it was all worth watching.

Everyone is perfectly cast! Gun especially did a fantastic job as the two twins White and Black. His energy, the way he carried himself, and the look in his eyes were so distinct between them. Phenomenal acting. All the characters, even the secondary ones, felt like fully-fleshed people. The script, acting, and directing all supported this. I became invested in almost all of the characters! And I loved the different group dynamics.

I loved how this was done: It's hard to describe but it felt like the focus was on the slowly built bond and trust between White and Sean, NOT on the romance of it. Yet when it did become romantic, it was immensely powerful because of how carefully their connection had been built up. It felt so real/realistic and filled me with warmth, happiness, and satisfaction.

The politics of the story was interwoven very well with the plot. I appreciated that it often gave arguments from opposing viewpoints and mostly didn't feel too heavy-handed or preach-y. Instead it was easy to invest in the group's goals and root for their cause, even if they had disagreements amongst themselves (or with others) on the best way to go about it.

Most of the time I wasn't conscious of what the background music was doing. I like that because it means it was an effective support and not a distraction. Whenever I did notice it, it fit perfectly to enhance the emotions I was already feeling.

I already know this is a show I will watch again and again, at least once a year. It has filled my heart full of feelings and prompted some thoughtful thinking.

GENERAL SPOILER on the ending:
I liked the ending. It felt like a natural lull in a story that would continue. A time when our beloved characters are in a good spot even though their fight is not over. They still have goals they want to accomplish but we are able to be hopeful with them. It felt like a satisfying end to the show but didn't feel like an end to their story. Beautifully done.

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Started wonderfully clever then weak writing turned it simplistic and unsatisfying.

General spoilers only. Most people will like this, and I'd encourage giving it a try. I, however, was left quite disappointed, so I'm posting this review to give an alternative to popular opinion.

If you've never seen the Japanese live version (series, special episode, and movie), then you might enjoy this more. For me, the only thing the Thai version gave in the second half of the show that wasn't already far better portrayed by the Japanese version, was the physical intimacy.

This started so strongly then became yet another Thai BL let down by weak writing. At first, the screenplay was clever in how it honored the original material while adjusting things here and there to add some new depth to the characters and their interactions. I would give Ep 1-4 a 9.5/10. It was familiar in a comforting way yet fresh and interesting.

Then it slid into simplistic & shallow writing, it rushed plot and pivitol moments, became cheesy & corny, character arcs plateaued, the number of overheard thoughts dwindled away even when people were being touched, and an increasing number of plot points required suspension of disbelief (I'm not talking about anything magic related- that's just a natural part of this story). It started to feel more like a string of fan service moments than an emotionally moving story.

Because work and life challenges became so easy to get through, it felt like Achi and Karan didn't really get to grow as a couple. There wasn't a meaningful learning curve for them in navigating life as a team. (Especially when compared to the Japanese version.) Their words to each other are very sweet, but the further in the story goes, the more their love is told to the audience more than it's shown by examples (which wasn't the case in the beginning, which is why those episodes are stronger).

Tay and New kept me watching. Especially Tay; he's just a perfect match for the character of Karan. His energy and earnestness were endlessly endearing.

The theme song is great; it's so catchy I watched through the intro credits every week just to hum along.

I will rewatch Ep 1-4 at some point because I thoroughly enjoyed them, but I'll never sit through the rest of it again. I'd rather just watch the Japanese version.

GENERAL SPOILERS below.
My thoughts on episodes as I watched the weekly releases:

Ep 1-4: A great adaptation so far. It's clever in the way it added depth to the characters and in the differences from the Japanese live version. I'm excitedly looking forward to it every week. The casting is great, Tay in particular. I absolutely love Karan's zaney internal dialogue and Tay's vocal acting with it.

Ep 5-7: Good but not as great; it's feeling less clever but I'm still invested.

I wish I had skipped Ep 8 (or just watched the last 5 min)! It's is soooo awful. The plot of this episode is so contrived, idiotic, frusterating, ridiculous, and requires a stupidly high suspension of disbelief. The boss's reasoning and interference is shallow and cliche, and the fact that he let things get that far with the awful power-play client before intervening makes him a terrible boss and unlikable human being. And Achi stayed quiet too, which was frustrating.

Ep 9 was better than 8 but it felt like it rushed the really pivitol moments. There was a lot of sweetness but also a lot of cheesy-ness. This script is just not as good with slice-of-life writing as Japanese ones often are. It feels like the quality of the script has been unraveling for the past few episodes. I doubt I'll keep re-watching it like I do with the Japanese version. I felt the first few Eps were a 9.5/10 but I am now reducing my overall rating to a temporary 8/10, I'll see if that holds.

Ep 10 was better in pacing and content. The script did a better job building up to and proceeding from the pivitol moment of Achi reaching out to touch because he doesn't believe Karan's as okay as he says he is. I'm still feeling let down with the script; there are moments that are supposed to be hearfelt but miss the mark because they are a little too cheesy to me. Also, the plot stretches credulity to force certain things to happen and it makes things feel clunky and less believable, pulling me out of immersion and reducing my ability to stay emotionally invested. Tay and New are doing great with what they are given and are the reason why I'm still watching consistently (I'm also fond of the girl Pai). I'll probably be lowering my rating but I'll wait to see how the last two episodes pan out.

I do like how Karan and Achi talk things out every episode and never let misunderstandings simmer for long before resolving them. On the other hand, the fact that they do this consistantly (every episode after they start dating) and reletively easily, undermines the validity of how uneasy Achi feels about them being in different cities for 1-2 months. Half a year I would understand, but 1 month? When you have been able to communicate with each other well every time there's an uncertainty? They haven't even used the mind reading much. Achi's voice over thoughts have been much less systemically insecure and yet the script is having him act like that's still a big issue.

Ep 11: Only the last 2 scenes (42min in, aka the last 9min) with Karan and Achi exploring intimacy were really enjoyable. The rest of it was too cheesy, shallow, and rushed. The challenges and uncertainties of life (work and relationships) that were brought up were laughably easy and simple to navigate. The screenplay dumbs everything down to the point that it's not interesting and barely enjoyable. I had to speed watch most of this episode to get through the cringness.

Ep 12: So simplistic and cheesy it made me keep cringing and itching to skip forward. Again, potential life challenges were built up but then easy to get through once the time came (all of the family stuff felt so hollow). I was left feeling disappointed.

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An enjoyable 3 hour romance.

Having watched a string of mini series lately, I would say this is definitely good for one watch, though I likely won't re-watch. My rating scale for mini series is more lenient, and this was quite enjoyable with no aggravations, so it merits a high score.
It held my attention, was fairly well written for a mini series, and the dynamic between the characters was fun. I was mentally invested though nothing hit me hard emotionally, so it was an easy watch.

It did require some suspension of disbelief, but I did not feel annoyed at any point while watching. The plot isn't the most intricate but that's not the focus anyway, the focus is on the relationships between characters.

Pros:
- Chemistry between the leads was great and intimate moments/scenes delivered. Desire and dominance is shown by both leads. The love scene in Ep 15 is fairly risqué for a Cdrama (and there's an extra snippet of that scene in the montage of memories in Ep 24).
- FL remained a strong-willed character throughout with great martial arts skills.
- ML is smart, also good at martial arts, falls for FL for who she is, and becomes devoted.
- Nobody was totally evil.
- Nobody acted aggravatingly stupid.
- No delusional third wheels.
- The plot/angst didn't feel overly contrived (even when some suspension of disbelief was needed).

The fighting, music, and costumes were good (the prince's costumes were especially gorgeous).


GENERAL SPOILER ON THE ENDING:

... ... ...

Ep 24: For a rock solid HE, stop at 6:08 in (as they look up at the moon).

Otherwise, the last short scene leaves things open, though a HE can be predicted because the leads love each other. It is in character and presented light-heartedly, just feels rather abrupt for a stopping point.

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Tongue-In-Cheek Clever-Silly And Romantic.

Lighthearted, fun, sweet, and cute with emotional depth that kind of sneaks up on you.
It's special because while it has many tropes/clichés that are often predictable, they're purposefully taken 1 to 2 steps further in unexpected ways. Because of this, the whole series is very humorous instead of cringworthy. They do it very well. Things are done/acted a little dramatically but earnestly at the same time. I was really impressed with the whole cast.

In real life the type of behavior Noey exhibits towards Thi is full of red flags and could lead to trauma bonding (unpredictable hot/cold, threatening/rewarding, etc). In this fictional tale however, I was able to enjoy the well done tropes of enemies-to-lovers, bully/nerd, and hard to others but soft to the love interest. It takes some time but Noey's character does mature and redeem himself beautifully.

FYI in the last episode keep watching because the epilogue continues through the credits and all the way to the end.

It was a little tricky for me to tell the grades and age difference of the main characters, especially at the beginning. I believe Noey starts the series about 16 yrs old and Thi is 5 years older as a junior in college, so about 21. Noey starting so young in the story works because he's young enough to act as immature as he starts out being.

The age difference was never made weird in this story, which I appreciated. Young people can fall in love too. And as MidwesternLibrarian says on Reddit, "I don't mind their fictional age gap because there is no way Thi is manipulating Noey. Noey is going to do what Noey wants to do." Truer words were never spoken, lol!

General Spoilers below.
There is a good amount of romantic attraction/tension that is tastefully done keeping the age of the characters and actors in mind, two interupted almost-kisses, and a very basic kiss at the end. (Which I was totally fine with, especially since Tar who played Noey would have been 17-18 at the time of filming.)

I loved how the miscommunications in the first few episodes lead them into falling for each other instead of falling out, lol.

There is some medium angst near the end but it is resolved and the ending is satisfying.

I likely won't watch again on my own but it could be fun to see with other people.

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Lead Actors Are Great, The Rest "Sucks".

Vampire BL. A General Spoiler on the ending only. Acting 8.5, Chemistry & kiss 10, Plot & script 3, Cinematography 5, Music 6, Rewatchability 2.
Pointlessly stupid choices by ALL of the characters at least once, and an unnecessarily sad ending. Left me with an incredulous and irritated "WTF, WHY???" feeling. Most of the contrived angst could have been so easily avoidable.

I can't recommend this unless you are a fan of the lead actors (as I am). Watch them in Roomates Of Poongduck 304 instead, which is a fun and better fleshed-out series. Then after that, maybe watch the kiss scene here as an extension of those characters in your mind. It's at the beginning of Episode 8. I would have found that immensely more satisfying than how I felt watching this whole series. I will say Kim Ji Woong's visuals really work well as a vampire though!

The two leads and their magnetic chemistry with each other are the best reason to watch this very short series. Seven 10min episodes and the eighth episode is 20min. It's obvious why they were cast in Roomates Of Poongduck 304 after this. Their kiss is realistic and full of passion and there's even a brief morning-after scene, which is uncommon in Korean BLs.

The story is very generic and the only surprises are how stupid and unrealistic character choices are. There are also an untenable amount of plot holes because the world building is so poorly done.

There's not enough time spent building up the connection between the lead characters to warrant the deep love they have. The "explanation" of the lead vampire's past, which drives all his current decisions, was barely touched on and left a lot of remaining questions. Like, what lead up to him being in that state in the first place? The female friend, and certainly the male vampire "friend", are arguably unnecessary. The time on them would have been better spent focusing on the emotional and relationship arc of the leads.

Also, MJ Koontz's review is absolutely hilarious:
https://mydramalist.com/profile/soundinfinite/review/195237

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Adrift Characters Find Determination In Unusual Somber Yet Hopeful Tale

Cinematography 7, Lighting 9. GENERAL SPOILERS ALLUDED TO below.
I started out hating Ritsu, as Nishini does, and normally I'd have a hard time forgiving that kind of character if they made those choices as an adult, but he's a stupid, young 20 year old. I have seen people in real life change their priorities by their 30s, especially when fueled by regrets. With the 10 years that have passed since they've seen each other and the looming end of the world in 7 days, the story manages to make Ritsu's imperfect-redemption possible. It's not a fairytale, and Ritsu's character does NOT get a knight-in-shining-armor make-over. And I think that makes the story more real and compelling.

The extenuating circumstances (the end of the world) acts like a pressure cooker; puting force behind Ritsu's contrition and speeding up Nishini's absolution. Each episode smartly reveals to Nishini and the audience a little more of who the present Ritsu is, how his past impacted him, and how he's being more thoughtful (it's subtle, but it’s there). He's still a flawed person, but Nishini's shifting attitude towards him is, at the very least, understandable. I was with Nishini all the way and able to feel happy and satisfied for the solace they find in each other as some of their wounds are soothed.

The series does a good job overall balancing some really heavy topics with hope (in various forms but can't explain without giving too much away!). Trigger warnings for suicidal ideation and attempts (with a pill, non-graphic). Plus some existential ruminations, as one might expect with the end of the world in sight. Even though the ending is positive and life-affirming, it would have been too hard-hitting for me to get through if I had watched it while in a severely depressed state myself.

Seto Toshiki completely redeemed himself from his simplistic acting in Senpai, This Can't Be Love. He portrayed a wonderful range of nuanced emotions in face, voice, and body in this series. Nakata Keisuki was a good match with him. He's a little more subdued but it works for his character and he and Seto have good chemistry together. The other actors were great in their roles too, there were no weak links.

The intimate scenes, of which there are a few, are definitely NC-17. They are more rough than artistic, and the actors seem pretty comfortable with each other so their interactions are believable.
I SO appreciate the line "...it feels so good." Finally, a 'bottom' character who expresses that it's pleasurable (and pain free)! As it can be, if properly prepared! It aggravates me how many BLs treat "being the bottom" like it's humiliating, painful, or a chore.

The time the characters are at a cabin was my least favorite part of the series. Not a huge deal, but the plot felt more contrived during this part, some character decisions didn't quite make sense, and the pacing felt slower.

The music was beautiful, sentimental, somber, and hopeful. It blended with scenes well and enhanced emotions. I will listen to this soundtrack as background music.

I love asianblreviews very thoughtful, insightful, and well-worded review of this series. I recommend reading that too. Full review here: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2023/03/21/bokura-no-micro-na-shuumatsu-review-bl/

SPOILER ON THE ENDING:

I loved how they shot this and at what point they decided to stop filming. It's meaningful to have Nishini and Ritsu facing a new dawn together. Symbolic of the new and hopeful path of their relationship, as well as their individual selves that have done some healing and been reforged; ready to face life again individually as well as together.

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Naito Shuichiro Makes It Watchable

Cute premise and starts out fairly strong then becomes less interesting for a couple of reasons. You might enjoy this if you're looking for something kind of cute, awkwardly funny, light & easy, and with one really good lead actor.

The most disappointing thing for me was that the sincerity of character attraction felt one-sided by the actors. Naito Shuichiro acted in-crush then in-love so convincingly. You could see the intensity and depth of emotions in his eyes and his face was full of nuanced reactions. Compared to him, Seto Toshiki felt miscast as the main character. He did okay at the beginning with the simplicity of being in awe of his idol and nervous, but his portrayal of deeper emotions fell flat. He became more and more of a disappointment to me as the series went on. (Also his bleached-orange hair didn't suit his timid/self-conscious character and was distracting; poor judgment on someone's part.)

The story itself became more boring as it started to rely on clichés to keep it going. If it wasn't for Naito I probably would have stopped watched sometime during episode 6 (out of 8).

There were more physical interactions to build tension than there were affectionate ones after the characters fell for each other. I might not have felt the lack of physical closeness as much had Seto been able to match the affection and desire Naito showed with his eyes.

I did think the end credits were very clever as they they showed a little bit more of the background scene with every episode.

There were multiple moments of second-hand embarrassment that made me cringe and want to fast-forward, but I am fairly susceptible to that. There were a few non-cringe comedic moments too.

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Better Upon 2nd Viewing.

Updated Jan 2024. I watched this again knowing that I had found both characters really unlikable the first time, and was actually able to appreciate the story more. So I've raised my rating from a 4.5 to a 6.5.

While both characters are morally dark grey (cheating and coercion/dub-con/stalking), Otomo does have character growth. The changes are incremental and very subtle until the end when his actions suddenly make the extent of his internal growth obvious. Upon second viewing, I was able to empathize with his character a lot sooner (40min before the ending instead of 7min before).

Imagase, on the other hand, has no growth and is not fleshed out. He was just as 2-dimensional in my second viewing as he was in the first. Also, it's hard *not* to feel like whatever misery he feels, he brought upon himself (multiple times). He may be kind of pitiable, but I still struggled to sympathize with him because he was just one thing on repeat: an obsessed gay man who was very insecure about his straight friend/lover whom he kept pushing into an intimate relationship.

The way Imagase is written remains my biggest dissatisfaction with the film.

As with the first viewing, I was not that invested in the characters because, first, they aren't likeable, and second, because their connection lacks depth and affection (there doesn't seem much reason for them to like each other except for maybe being able to be comfortable around each other, which isn't nothing, but there's not a lot of that shown either). However, already knowing what I didn't like about it, I found the second viewing more mentally intriguing and enjoyable, and was able to better appreciate how the cornered mouse metaphor came into play throughout the story.

Another thing I was able to roll with better the second time around was the very loose sense of time. The movie somewhat disjointedly jumps from scene to scene and exact markers of time (days, weeks, etc) are never mentioned. Knowing where the story was going allowed me to string things together in my head. For the first watch, it was like reading a book with chunks of pages torn out at random; I could piece the story together, but it felt like multiple scenes were missing.

The sex is very realistic and the atmosphere created with light, colors, and cinematography was very well done and cohesive.

GENERAL SPOILER On The Ending:

......

It is an open ending, but I think the pattern of what will happen is pretty clear, only this time there's more hope for stability in it. The only thing left in question, in my mind, is when.

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Sweet and A Bit Different

The plot was different and made the twists unexpected. Cuteness, sweetness, and light angst. Because there was a lot to cover in the plot and only eight 15min episodes, the story zipped by. Because of this it was difficult for the emotional journey and relationship to build, but it was satisfying enough in this short story format. It kept my interest from beginning to end; I did not fast-forward through any parts.

Son Woo Hyeon was the most impressive of the actors. He suffused his character with an endearing puppy-dog energy, but was able to play serious moments with weight and intensity where it called for it. Kim Kang Min worked fairly well for the role he was cast in, but was a little flat.

At first, the dead-fish-kiss made an appearance and I was worried that would be all we got, but the lead's romantic interaction became more life-like at the end.

I think this is the first rom-com I've seen that shows some mutual grooming as a love language, or at least the first one that has registered as such as I watched it. I know couples that do this, it's just rarely talked about. So that was interesting.

Music worked but was unremarkable.

Fun for one watch but I don’t think I'll need to see it again.

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Toxic Angst On Repeat

Unrelentingly toxic, homophobic, and emotionally abusive dynamic between the lead characters. And started off with the sexual harassment of a character who happened to be a victim of pedophilia (an issue which is brought up near the beginning but then never discussed again, which is weird and frustrating. The dude obviously needs a therapist). Also romanticization of over-the-top jealousy.

Their dynamic does not improve enough over time to be considered sweet in any way. The same issues kept coming up with little improvement in how the characters reacted. I did watch the whole thing hoping for more character growth but was left disappointed. Acting is middle-of-the-road. The leads are a bit flat in emotions they are able to portray; they do well with extremes but lack range and nuance. I don’t remember the music. I was unable to like, let alone fall in love, with these characters.

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Love OffGun But Losing Brain Cells.

You should be able to tell if this show is for you within two episodes. You may enjoy this if you love Off/Gun, want something light and easy to watch with some sweet/cute moments, and are in the mood for simple/silly humor.

At Ep 9/12: My previous review of Ep 1-5 holds. I decided to give it a try again for OffGun's sake and watched Ep 6-9. Apparently the YouTube version is cut (in the USA). I switched to the uncut version via Telegram after Ep 5, but it didn't change my lack of enjoyment with the show.

Previous review: At Ep 5/12. This may not be a popular sentiment, but from my perspective, this show is a slog through simplistic boredom. Apart from Off & Gun's characters, most everyone else acts like middle-schoolers (around 11-13 years old) instead of university students. The 'humor' is extremely basic and simple. There's no cleverness in this screenplay at all. Most characters are more like caricatures and what little plot there is, is so far predictable.

I was so impressed with the series Not Me and Gun and Off were so fantastic in their roles. They acted with nuance, depth, and authentic emotions. The production of Cooking Crush is a huge downgrade for what their talent is capable of.

I'm watching the scenes with Off & Gun together at normal speed because they manage to elevate the generic material to bring some interest and depth to their interactions. For everything else I'm watching at 2x the speed to keep myself from dropping this show entirely.

I really want to support OffGun, but the screenplay is so shallow/simple/boring/predictable, and the secondary characters so annoying and often over-acted, that I really can't bring myself to rate this higher currently. If OffGun weren't a part of this show, I would have no qualms about rating it a 4 and dropping it.

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