Potentially Frustrating, Character Study, Sweet & Angsty, Dreamlike, Great Chemistry.

(General spoilers only.) The atmosphere and sweet tension are alluring but there is more character based angst than a viewer might initially expect. If you like character studies and growth you might enjoy this. Love is the main theme and catalyst, but this story is about more than just romance.

Very General Spoilers below.

Things that frustrate some viewers (but didn't frustrate me, as I explain further down):
- Vague sense of time and non-linear flashbacks.
- Night continuously struggles to understand his own feelings and then communicate them.
- Dream is avoidant as a self-preservation mechanism.
- Love triangles.
- The ending is positive but a bit rushed (this one I agree with).

I like character studies and there is an interesting symmetry between Night and Day: Night mentally "runs away" while Dream physically runs away. They often hinder themselves from getting what they truly want because of their personal coping mechanisms for fear. I found watching them navigate that interesting, pretty realistic, and meaningful.

I thought the actors did a great, naturalistic job, and got me emotionally invested in their characters. The magnetic pull of affection and attraction between Dream and Night is palpable.

Namwan, Night, and Day seemed kind of unlikable shortly after being introduced to them, but as more of their character was revealed, the more I was able to empathize with, and like, them.

Night DOES have character growth but the process is messy and everyone, including himself, gets hurt. A lot. But Dream contributes to that too. Both Night and Dream are young and still figuring life out, so that came across fairly realistically to me.

I didn't mind the love triangles in this so much because they really do serve a purpose in propelling Night's character growth forward. Especially since there aren't that many episodes in which to tell this story. Night has to get to a certain point emotionally and mentally so he can gain clarity, self-resolve, and purpose in the whole of his life.

The cinematography and editing felt dreamlike in a way that I was surprisingly not annoyed by. There were partial flashbacks that, after awhile, would be returned to with more of the flashbacks shown. They also aren't shown in chronological order, so they add to the *feel* of the past relationship without having to tell the full story. It was slightly confusing at first, and then it drew me in and I was able to roll with that and the unspecified time skips through the series. Reminded me of how it feels when just waking and mentally replaying bits of interesting dreams and trying to remember what connected them. It wasn't linear but it all tied together in an atmospheric way. I'm not sure if I've explained it well, but it worked for me.

My only disappointment with this show is I wish the ending had had more to it. It was sweet but just too short to fully balance out the tension from the whole series and the recent heavy feels. If the show had frustrated me, as it did some viewers, then the ending probably wouldn't have been enough to soothe that and leave me in a good mood.

The reason the professor gives for not passing Night's thesis is realistically ridiculous and requires suspension of disbelief.

MEDIUM General Spoilers below.

If the following resonates with you, you may find this story moving, as I did. If not, you may find Night, and even Dream, annoying (as some reviewers do):

Being unfamiliar with, and confusing different types of love. Never seeming to be able to meet parent and teacher expectations. Not receiving approval or emotional support from family members. Sibling rivalry. Worrying about and being stifled by societal norms. Severe insecurities about self-worth. Being so scared of more failures that it hinders trying for desired things.

Dream's biggest flaw is his main coping mechanism of running away and ghosting.

I may not rewatch often, but I know that I will want to watch again.

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Comedic Melodrama Odd Mix, Worth 1 Watch For Leads.

General Spoilers only. The interactions of the two lead actors make this worth one watch. They are endearing even when their characters are written frustratingly. Without them I would not have enjoyed this series much. It starts as a romantic comedy, then spins into a melodrama, then whip-lashes back.
Story: Ep 1-7 are 7.5/10 but Ep 8-10 are 5/10. Acting 9, Chemistry 10. Nothing great or distracting about cinematography or music.

The story itself is trope heavy but mostly cute, though the character Shang Zhou is rather pushy (the cliche excuse is that he's never learned how to communicate feelings). There's a lot of tension with physical (and mental) attraction between the leads.

The storytelling starts to fall apart in episode 8. Up until then it's very obviously a comedy with an over-the-top feel. It's not my favorite type of humor, but Hsiao Hung as Shun Yu has very dynamic facial expressions with a good sense of comedic timing and did make me laugh.

In Ep 8-9 the melodrama starts to build and gets really heavy. It does pull at heartstrings thanks to the acting, but it’s also annoyingly unnecessary. The angst requires a lot of plot contrivances in addition to miscommunication. The dialogue doesn't sound natural or realistic because the plot obviously needs certain things to remain un-said.

In Ep 10 it's like a switch is flipped and all of a sudden we're back to romantic comedy without a care in the world for realistic technicalities. The bits with Shang Zhou's mother were weirdly contrived/written and completely awkward. The only thing I liked was that we got a good amount of screen time with the leads being happy together, though I had to just throw up my hands to roll with it.

I would easily watch the lead actors if they were in another show together, but I probably won't re-watch this one.

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Weaknesses Kept Pulling Me Out Of Immersion.

Slow yet mentally intriguing. I really wanted to like this but the frusterating and unbelievable aspects kept accumulating and pulling me out of being immersed in the story. Mentally I was really intrigued by the premise and curious about what would happen so I kept watching. At 7 episodes in, however, it was not really engaging my emotions.

Update: I completed the series on 11/19/23 and episodes 8-11 were the best to me. The story was more focused and things did start to get emotional, mainly due to Bright's acting as Yai. There's also a little less stupidity by characters overall. I did love the change in family dynamics with the mother, that was one thing that was written well. The intimate scenes were full of love and emotions and beautifully shot. I appreciated that the eroticism of undressing each other was frequently included.

Ep 12 was rushed, choppy, not explained well, and thus not very satisfying. The set up for a second season was interesting though and I will probably give it a try out of curiosity if it gets made.

The director and screenwriters have worked together before and their weaknesses are consistent throughout their work. This series is their strongest work to date though. Maybe it helped that they had a whole book as source material to work from.

There's a lot of telling vs showing. It's like we get the highlights but the stuff in-between is skipped over so sense of time is really muddled (and not in an intentional way). Characters will say things like 'we've been together a while now' or ''you've been avoiding me for a while' or 'since this time' and we see the most recent example of being avoided but not the multiple times leading up to the current conversation. Because of this, the emotions of the characters feel rather shallow and mercurial because we don't get to experience the building of their emotions in-step with them.

We see Yai's process of falling for Jom over multiple episodes, but not the other way around. Yes, Jom has to go through some things/emotions before he can fall for someone new, but Yai is obviously drawn to Jom like a magnet and that doesn't feel reciprocated.

At the same time, the way the story is directed and shot is super slow. I would have dropped this series if I didn't have the ability to watch at 1.5 to 2 x the speed. And even then I still skipped through some bits. So the script could have fit in more examples of the main characters interacting and growing their connection with each other.

There's also a huge lack of self-preservation instincts in an era that was even less accepting of queer relationships, which is unbelievable enough to pull me out of the fantasy they are spinning. Especially since they are depicting social sentiments in a serious manner and in-line with an older era. So to have a 20 year old young master (Yai), with a very strict and traditional father, and frequently in the spotlight, who is not at all paranoid about showing affection out in the open or in broad daylight (but will jump apart and act nervous when caught), is ridiculous to me.

GENERAL SPOILERS below.

Example, in a later episode Yai's dad confronts him about his relationship with Jom and tells him his man has been watching them. Yai is alarmed and nervous and says "we never do anything explicit in public". Yet, even knowing the above, the very next day he has his arms half around Jom & is holding his hands out in the porch on the river in broad daylight when, gasp, someone "unexpectedly" comes upon them. JUST like someone did before at that exact spot. It's so reckless it's just dumb and obviously contrived by the writers. It makes the characters seem way less believable AND of low IQ to boot! *Facepalm.

Other things that keep pulling me out of the story:
Jom is acted pretty woodenly and he comes across as a simpleton the way he's written, directed, and acted (seriously, the amount of times he's asked a question and takes 10 to 40 seconds to answer while there's not much going on in his face or behind his eyes is frustrating).

Yai is supposed to be 20 but isn't written or acted like he's that young until a much later episode when young naivete and determination bubble up.

Robert is reportedly able to be charming because he's won over Yai's father, but all we and everyone else sees is a very obviously bad man, which makes that important plot point unbelievable. (And it's a missed opportunity to make in interesting two-faced, charismatic but dangerous antagonist.)

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Healthy relationship dynamic, Good for one watch, Toki is the best.

(General spoilers only.) One of the few highschool-teacher stories I've seen (so far) with a truly well-balanced dynamic. How their strengths and weaknesses line up made them equals and they grow together. I found it sweet, endearing, and non-cringy. This is NOT a sexually charged, passionate, or taboo-focused story.

Overall light, sweet and easy fun that's good for one watch but isn't that memorable (except for Rintaro as Toki).

I really liked and greatly appreciated that Toki and Sahara communicated, supported/encouraged, and TRUSTED each other. They both had character growth and thrived with the attention and care of the other.

FYI: Japanese highschools are 3 years, so Toki being a second year student is equivalent to being a junior (third year) in the USA.

Rintaro as Toki was awesome and always fun to watch. Toki is bigger-than-life yet acted with nuance. Though Toki is wild in the physically over-dramatic Manga-style way (and often funny), multiple aspects of his personality and approach to things are admirable and even mature for his age. He is a 'doer' and doesn't think too deeply, yet he is thoughtful and puts effort into understanding others. He came across as an actual highschooler with a good heart who was a 3-dimensional character and not a caricature. He's sincere, straightforward, and totally lovable.

General Spoilers below.

There was an obvious balance in Toki and Sahara's personalities and their relationship that made their age gap a non-issue (for me anyway). Especially since they consciously kept their interactions PG, and Sahara had them wait until Toki graduated highschool before verbally making their romantic relationship official. There is a brief lip press at that time.

I mostly didn't mind the time spent on Sahara's past because it highlighted the differences between Nekoto and Toki and further demonstrated why Toki would make a good partner even though he's younger.

What I didn't like:

Takumi as Sahara was okay but not compelling. I liked him but didn't fall for him. He didn't do anything poorly, just didn't have much charisma and felt a little flat in his acting.

The school play bit made me cringe hard. It wasn't necessary and felt like pure contrivance to get an oops-kiss moment. The only thing that made it better than a trip-and-fall accident kiss was the humor of bigger-than-life Toki trying to act demurely as Snow White.

The end felt super rushed. There's a time jump, happy ending scene, and it's over. In that regard, I would have preferred less time spent on Nekoto to get more of Toki and Sahara (or even more of Todo's story since he kind of gets left out after halfway through).

The past connection was a simplistic, cliched, writing cop-out for tying things together. At least it was obvious from early on that it was coming due to little flashbacks and wasn't a complete surprise in the last episode as it is in so many shows.

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So Poorly Executed And Toxic Relationship

Through ep 5/8. Struggles with writing (dialogue, plot, and characters), acting, music, and heavy-handed makeup. It comes off like it's trying really hard but has ended up campy.

Max and Nat do have good chemistry, but that's not enough for me to think positively of this series.

Possible trigger warning if you've ever been in an emotionally abusive relationship, or with a narcissist, or someone who uses an illness to compell you to stay with them.

The script is juvenile. Dialogue is shallow, cliche, repetative, and awkwardly unnatural. Like, "Don't overthink things. It's probably nothing to worry about... You should take this time to really think about your feelings and things." But you just said to stop thinking? *Facepalm.

The plot is convoluted and requires a ridiculous amount of suspension of disbelief. There's a lot of generic/bad elevator music and it's really obvious in spots.

The main character Yi is a compulsive manipulator. It casts an uncomfortable shadow on all the romantic scenes thus far; it feels more like purely selfish coercion. Because of Yi's long-standing and blatent disregard of Khondiao's mental and emotional well-being, it's difficult for me to enjoy the pressured-seduction heavy plot (which is a trope I often enjoy). More on this under the "general spoilers" section at the bottom of review. I really didn't like the emotionally abusive way Yi treated Khondiao in Cutie Pie and he's just as bad here. Though he's supposedly trying to make up for his horrible past treatment, Yi's current approach still includes lies and misdirection, and is not respectful or even thoughtful of Khondiao. *His actions, both previous and current, do not match his sweet words.*

Nat shows some potential as an actor and I'd really like to see what he can do if given a decent script. I most enjoyed the moments when his character starts showing some backbone and pushing back. There's a fire behind his eyes that makes those moments engaging.

Max's acting hasn't improved from Cutie Pie. He postures a lot and his emotions stay on the surface in almost everything he does. In other words, he's not good at pretending. He doesn't internalize and embody what his character experiences.

I am impressed with NuNew; how he manages to infuse such sincerity into his few, inanely-written lines here is beyond me, lol.

Now onto the emotional (and sexual) manipulation. GENERAL SPOILERS below.
If Yi doesn't remember any of his relationship with Khondiao, then it's so not romantic for Yi to all of a sudden start getting heavily sexual with Khondiao. The audience may know that Yi's miraculously and quickly gotten his memories back, but Khondiao doesn't because Yi is purposefully keeping that from him. From that perspective Yi is just a guy, with no emotional attachment, trying to get into Khondiao's pants. And going after that hard. Yi forces attention on Khondiao, and while Khondiao tries to put up boundaries, he keeps relenting to the seduction and sweet-sounding words because he's trauma-bonded and co-dependant on Yi, thinks he loves him, and is touch-starved. When really, there has been nothing redeeming about their relationship for years (or ever).

The approach written for Yi to take in this series is not putting things to rights in a way that is at all respectful to Khondiao. I can't believe Yi truly loves him. To me there is nothing sweet in that dynamic.

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Okay but lacks follow-through on some aftermaths.

Okay for 1 watch but lacks details in general and follow-through on some aftermaths. The idea of the story is better than it's written/directed execution. 6 episodes.

The two spoilers that I discuss below and the complete lack of follow-up on them REALLY sours my feelings about this series. The flow of the story and editing were consistently choppy, but it raises some good issues and the acting is good (Kiko especially was very natural).

I don’t know if I would recommend this. It's a more realistic, adult story, which I appreciate. However, while it raises some good issues to think/talk about, it also doesn't properly address some of the things it brings up. It just doesn't quite feel finished or complete.

Other reviewers list the positives of the series well, so I won't reiterate. Because the story sensitively handles some other complex issues, it is especially disappointing that the two assaults get swept under the rug.

Spoilers on Trigger Warnings below.

Ep 1 & 2 uncut makes a little difference because there's more of Kiko and Mark's initial interactions during massages that show their growing attraction to each other. But the uncut versions of Ep 4-6 don't add much, except for a few more lines about getting tested and more shots of the rape scene in Ep 6.

Some of Kiko's distress about it is shown when he has flashbacks in Ep 6 but the rape issue is never addressed beyond that. It's not talked about, the perpetrator has no reprocussions (apart from feeling guilty), and Mark never comforts him despite Kiko's line that 'what happened was nothing I wanted' (approximate line, I don't remember the exact wording).

Instead, Mark aggressively goes after Kiko with a hand on his throat in a jealous rage. His scary physical abuse is also not addressed beyond Mark saying sorry for that day in general.

That scene also played up the imbalance in their relationship in an unsettling way; Mark holds all the power in and outside of work and is physically much stronger. At that time, the surest way for Kiko to have a good job and better way of life is to forgive Mark, at least to the extent where Kiko can continue working for him. Even if Kiko wants to forgive because of love, the fact that he doesn't have many options really casts a shadow over that decision.

A decent low-budget production. Apart from the editing, the only technical thing that was distracting was the lighting/coloring. Sometimes one angle would have a blue hue while another angle looked orange (of the same scene). Or the tint/filter on a shot would flicker.

Spoiler On The Ending:

The ending is abrupt; right after a pivitol decision is made by a character, all of a sudden the story jumps years ahead. The characters are in a good place and happy, but it didn't really feel satisfying because it didn't quite feel earned, if that makes sense. It feels like a fairytale ending slapped onto what was a more realistically-approached story. Kiko deserves it certainly, it's just that we aren't shown any of the couple working together to get to that point.

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Well-Crafted, Practically Perfect Romantic Drama With Rom-com Feel.

I loved the strong female lead; both the actress and the way her character is written. The actress had great comedic sense and portrayed a wide range of emotions with nuance. Her eyes are very expressive. The male lead is well matched with her and they have great chemistry. He was good at acting stoic as the character with emotions underneath the surface. I couldn't always tell what the emotions were, but I could see they were there. I also had second lead syndrome (for the actor and the way the 2nd male lead was written) and I liked the way the triangle was sorted out in the end.

Consistent build of emotions and tension through all 8 episodes. Did not fast-forward through anything, even the third time I watched it. The blend of sweetness/cuteness, humor, desire, pining, love, and angst lead to a very satisfying experience. There's a lot of well done comedic moments, many of which nade me chuckle or laugh out loud. I'm especially impressed with the consistent undercurrent of emotional angst that was built on easily believable emotions, perceptions, and misconceptions based on story situations. Yet the plot never felt forced. The angst was so well balanced with feel-good moments that it didn't make the series feel heavy, even though there was a lot of it. It was satisfactorily resolved, so it hurt perfectly!

The ending is a clever twist on a common rom-com cliché and was very satisfying.

The mostly instrumental music fit very well and there were some beautifully shot scenes. The script and dialogue are very natural and didn't have any clichéd lines (at least none that I remember).

Ep 7 is from the ML point of view.

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Ruined By The Writers

Starts strong but became less enjoyable, then the writers completely ruined it in ep 10-12. (General spoiler on this at the bottom of the review.)
Gets more and more cheesy. It's also very heavy-handed and preachy in it's messages. After the two best friends start dating they keep having conversations about things like they're still getting to know each other, instead of having been with each other constantly for 20+ years! One of them doesn't know what the other likes to have for breakfast even though they eat together every day. But it creates a cute scene, so it's okay that it doesn't make sense, right? (Sarcasm) Ridiculous.

*It's like the writers didn't know how to continue with their own premise and so they resorted back to a generic relationship approach.* It was so disappointing. Also, the writer's style is more about 'telling' than it is about 'showing' through actions and interactions. This type of storytelling gets old fast for me.

The acting by all is good. Shi Cheng Xuan as Fu Li is especially good and I was drawn to watch him the most. Chemistry is also satisfying. I really appreciated the two fathers, they were written and acted well.

The secondary couple is cute/sweet but the fast-paced love-bombing by one of them kind of put me off. The family dynamic between them and the laundromat's kid is mostly sweet, but again, very fast-paced.

GENERAL SPOILERS:
The EXTREMELY CONTRIVED and NONSENSICAL plot twist in ep 10, PURELY for the sake of angst, was inexcusable. It was completely unnecessary angst that could only be achieved by making Fu Li act out of character and in the complete opposite to everything he had expressed previously. And then the end of ep 11 resolved it in a cliche manner and in a way that just swept it all under the rug. The whole thing was so inane it made me quite mad with frustration!

In contrast, the sweetness in ep 12 was so over-the-top it made me roll my eyes and cringe. So much so that I actually had to fast-forward through a lot of it.

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Mindless Fluff, Weakly Written

You might enjoy this if you like cute, mindless fluff and don't mind newbie acting. The main couple's "love language" seems to be bickering but their more intimate romantic moments are very sweet.

The chemistry between the leads is undeniable and they are most natural when interacting with each other. However, they are still newer actors and their inexperience shows (in line delivery and reactions). Joong's acting is a 5 and Dunk's is a 3 (out of 10).

The actors aren't helped by a weak script with stiff, contrived dialogue and a boring, poorly executed plot. I'm glad for JoongDunk that they are getting some experience (it's a great way to continue improving their acting skills), but I just got too bored by the end of episode 8. After pausing for a couple of weeks I decided not to continue at all.

Both the actors AND the writers could benefit from more workshops to work on their craft before doing another project. At this point, I won't be looking forward to whatever they produce next.

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Short & simple but better than nothing while in withdrawal.

Extra 1 is 2min 18sec and Extra 2 is 7min 59sec.
Honestly, there are fan made music videos on YouTube that are more fulfilling, but if you loved the series it's easy to watch these 10 minutes. It doesn't add much, but the show was a 10/10 for me so I'm giving this an 8/10.

Spoilers Below:

Extra 1 is a voice over by QingCang giving a very generalized recap of the 300 years he and Orchid have been together so far. The lines are new but all of the scenes shown are clips taken from the original series (except there's a little bit more of their kiss by the lake after they leave the mortal realm that is shown from a new angle). It's simplistic but still sweet.

Extra 2 is like two music videos. A montage of clips and dialogue from the series play during the first song.
During the second song, that continues and then it shows two things that weren't in Ep 36:

1) Shows Orchid writing something and sending it into the sky while a few lines of Chinese script play onscreen. Unfortunately, iQIYI didn't add translations for the text so I have no idea what it said. Does anyone else know?

2) Shows the bone moon re-materialize into QingCang, which wasn't shown in Ep36, but his line "I'm back" is left out, and he kisses her on the forehead instead of the lips (which is a visually pretty end tableau but not as satisfying as the original end).

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Thought-provoking exploration of relationship dynamics. Lots of fuzzy feelings.

A wonderfully intriguing exploration of relationship dynamics. Sweet, cute, thought-provoking, and romantic with lots of fuzzy feelings.

The amount of comfortable and very close skinship, cuddling and snuggling, hugging, and petting is maybe the highest of any show I've seen. And it is so cozy, comforting, heart-warming, and satisfying.

I loved how the dynamic between Sumire and Momo managed to be mostly balanced despite growing into codependency. They are both capable people yet they feel better when taking care of someone other than themselves and they feel more grounded when they are needed by somebody else. She needed him just as much as he wanted to be needed by her. Sumire is extremely bad at self-regulating her emotions and Takeshi is really good at helping her with that even though he's 10 years younger. The balance in their emotional maturity made their age gap a total non-issue.

Their master/pet relationship didn't come across as a power-play dynamic to me. There were moments where an imbalance of power would bubble up during arguments (with Sumire being the home owner) but that can happen with any couple.

This was so close to being a 9 out of 10, but the screenplay choices in the last couple episodes let me down in terms of character development and resolution. The ending was still moderately satisfying, the plot just gave into clichés at the end, which was disappointing and a waste of potential (further explained under the "specific spoilers" section at the bottom of my review).

The actors were great, especially Shishon Jun as Momo. He was also completely believable as a professional-level dancer.

FYI: Extra footage!
During the end credits of each episode there is a background video that is repeated and then a smaller box with scenes that change. At first, the small box shows repeated clips from that episode, but when the background video goes from the dog under to bedsheets to the drawer of shirts, the small box starts showing things unseen before! There's no audio, but it shows little snippets of scenes that could have happened to the characters in that episode that are otherwise unshown to the audience. There are some really cute and/or steamy-ish moments between Momo and Sumire that are fun to see as a little bonus.

SPECIFIC SPOILERS BELOW

My critique of the things that disappointed me in the last few episodes. (I had no other notable issues with the otherwise wonderful series.)

... ... ...

HASUMI & FUKUSHIMA:

I felt like saying Hasumi was "weak to seduction", like it was a character trait, was a bit of a cop-out. I think he was weak to being needed, just like every other main character was! And when Hasumi misses Fukushima and realizes how much he wants to be with her, I wish the screenplay had highlighted more than it did. There was repetition around her sexiness and big chest, her good cooking, and being weak, but I think there were more differences between her and Sumire that drew Hasumi in. Not only did Fukushima show vulnerability (often times faked or exaggerated as a seduction ploy), she showed Hasumi a wider range of emotions period! She showed excitement, happiness, eagerness, and desire to be with him. Hasumi could feel secure in her affection and be himself, instead of constantly and nervously trying to navigate the potential minefield of inscrutability that was Sumire. Fukushima allowed Hasumi to feel relaxed in a similar parallel to Momo and Sumire.

SUMIRE & MOMO / TAKESHI:

- I wish Sumire had at least made a decision to hold off on marriage to Hasumi and moving to Seoul, if not breaking up altogether, BEFORE she found out about him and Fukushima.

- The whole point of Takeshi not contacting Sumire first after he leaves is because, as he previously told Fukushima, Sumire doesn't go after what she wants. She may be greatly effected by losing someone yet she won't ever go after them, which is part of why he has never truly left before. So what was really needed was for Sumire to go after Takeshi. Maybe not right way, but to show her calling him first, to visit him first, to finally show her feelings in actions and words while supporting and encouraging him from afar while he pursued his career goals. NOT just WAITING 3 years in stoic silence for him. And while eventually it shows that Sumire has received letters from Takeshi, there's no indication that's she's reciprocated in any way.

- And then after 3 years she actually goes to a performance of his in Japan but leaves flowers without trying to see him! WTF? So in the end Takeshi is the one who, yet again, has to come to her. Sure, she accepts him romantically this time, but her lack in character growth negatively impacted her worthiness of him, in my opinion. So the resolution was far less impactful, meaningful, and satisfying than it easily could have been otherwise. It felt like the writers wanted a specific final scene of them meeting in the rain and sacrificed character integrity while resorting to clichés to make it happen.

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Memorable. Ep 1-4 are very thoughtful & Ep 5-8 are more melodramatic.

General spoilers only. "You can't help if you fall for a boy or a girl, or someone else." About multiple characters who feel different from "normal" in various ways. Characters experience a lot of yearning and pining (a lot of it is romantic in nature though characters also yearn to fit in or to find their place in life too), internal struggles and insecurity, and waivering back & forth.

The two main characters are blood-related siblings, so this is best watched with a non-judgmental approach, otherwise you might want to skip this one. There is also an openly gay secondary character and a tertiary character who loves their step-sibling (not related by blood).

There are great messages explored throughout the screenplay about questioning societal norms, mores, and expectations (especially when it doesn't hurt others- the people who feel like outliers are the ones that are hurt by trying to conform to other's opinions), deciding what's right for one's self, not being passive in one's own life, and more in that vein.

Nothing is handled lightly, by the story as a whole or by the individual characters. Various concerns about each character's feelings and their situations are explored. There are voice-over thoughts from multiple characters.

This is NOT a spicy story. There is some skinship but not a lot, two light lip presses, and one brief scene near the end that only implies the two lead characters slept together.

Technically I would rate this a 7.5/10 overall, but there were a few things I loved about it, and it engaged my thoughts and emotions enough to be quite memorable so I'm giving it an 8/10.

The first half is well crafted and thoughtful. I would give Ep 1-4 a 9/10. The second half gets more melodramatic in ways that I found excessive at times and I would rate Ep 5-8 a 6/10; the plot starts feeling less realistic and increasingly stretches credulity. A couple of actions or reactions didn't feel quite in line with a character's previous build. Overall I still found it pretty satisfying though; it helped that the show starts at the end before going back in time so I already had an idea of how things were going to work out. That allowed me to mostly shrug off the frusterations in storytelling and character actions as I watched things unfold in the second half.

All of the actors (except the mother) were very well suited for their rolls. Suzuki Jin, Yamashita Mizuki, and Ito Asahi were especially enjoyable to watch and almost immediately got me invested in their characters. The mother, on the other hand, is extra in a way that is not written or acted particularly well. Which makes her even more annoying. Luckily she's not around much.

General Spoilers below.

The number of times people dramatically drop to the ground (in faints or illness) is ridiculous. I could handle one, but after that it breaks credulity.

I loved one of the internal thoughts of a character with unrequited love. The character being daunted by the difficulty and hopeless pain of it was so relatable; "You want to be best friends forever? Then I can't tell you forever."

FYI SIDE NOTE ON SUBTITLES:
I could only find this streaming in the USA on KissAsian (as a last resort) in February 2024. Ep 4-8 all had lagging subtitle issues. It would be fine for about the first 15min of every episode and then the rest would lag behind by multiple sentences.
So I recommend checking if this is going to happen in whatever platform you find it on before starting to avoid frusteration.

Edit: I ended up downloading the video and subtitle files on my computer in order to re-watch it properly.

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Gentle and Genuine Strangers to Friends to Loves. Comfort Show.

So sweet, thoughtful, and heart-warming in such a gentle and earnest way that it's 100% smile-inducing without being saccharine-sweet or cringworthy. There are multiple thoughtful messages explored with the story and a couple poetically worded lines.

Very slice-of-life with low angst that does get resolved. Yutaka and Minoru (with Tane) positively effect each other and Yutaka and Minoru show growth in other parts of their lives because of it. They are very caring and supportive of each other.

There is a lot of care and love in this friendship that grows into more. It's gently and realistically romantic. This is *not* a spicy BL, and it wouldn't fit the story well. The desire of the leads to be in each other's presence and the appreciation they have for having the other in their lives is the focus, and it is palpable. And it is not just platonic; fairly early in the story Minoru is aware of his growing feelings for Yutaka and that he yearns for more than friendship. The actor, Hiroki, is so expressive with his face and eyes that his emotions are easy to comprehend.

There is not a lot of skinship, but when it happens it is meaningful. Later in the story, the hesitancy and awkwardness in direct touches is completely in character, especially for two inexperienced 23 year olds. The desire to connect despite their nervousness is there, and it's romantic in a soft and heart-warming way.

Every actor was perfect. I loved the family dynamics and Minoru's Dad is the best! He gently and deftly encourages Minoru to follow his heart but let's him handle things on his own. He genuinely just wants his son to be happy. The younger brother was written his age and the actor was very natural. Every character was totally lovable yet very distinct.

While there is a lot of eating, it's more about the company one eats with than the food itself. Food appreciation was done much more naturally in this than in other food-focused JBLs; people actually take a moment to taste the food before saying it's good, and while there is enthusiasm, it's not over-the-top.

The gentle pacing, to me, was perfect and every episode felt satisfying while holding my anticipation for the next one.

This has become one of my go-to comfort shows, and it would be a good one to see with other people too.

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General Spoilers below. Bittersweet and open-ended but well done 11min short.
Very good acting and great nuances in the different tensions ebbing and flowing between the two leads. It was very believable that they had a history (though it's not explained in detail) and had complicated feelings.

I really want to go further into the story of these two. The ending is maybe, possibly, slightly hopeful- despite many years passing, they both seem to still be a bit stuck on each other. Just as the dish they made didn't "taste quite right" without the lemon, they are still missing each other in their lives.

I probably won't re-watch (unless they happened to film more of this story, then I would definitely keep watching).

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Story has potential as a psychological thriller.

General spoilers at the bottom. If you want more specifics on the ending, I've added a few hidden spoiler comments to the posted review. Direct link: https://mydramalist.com/profile/Zii3/review/327061

A good stopping point for a happy and hopeful ending is at 55 minutes & 55 seconds in! Or watch until 58 min & 58 seconds AT THE LATEST, though an underlying tension that leads to the ending starts to become more apparent.

I'd say this is more an M/M story, or even a psychological thriller, than a BL. If you like BLs but are not familiar with darker Japanese dramas, you may have a very hard time enjoying this (any appreciation likely requires a bit of a masochistic mood).

I'd say only watch if you're in the mood for something weird and likely unsettling but intriguing and with some bits of sweetness. While there are sexual themes and lots of shirtlessness, there isn't much physical intimacy shown by the camera. Some things are implied, but even the kisses are head-blocked (so lips aren't seen). Which, honestly, I was thankful for as the two brother characters are under 18. Some situations were unsettling enough without actually watching through them.

The plot and it's multiple twists is interesting and clues/explanations are revealed at a slow but even pace. In that regard, I thought the film did a good job. It kept me mentally engaged.

It's not a great film but it will linger in my mind for awhile. Yet I don't feel mentally scarred by it, unlike I was by The Shortest Distance Is Round, for example. I almost wish a longer remake of this was made because the foundation of the story is strong and has a lot of potential for a gripping psychological thriller if things were fleshed-out and if the production had a higher budget so more could be done with cinematography, lighting, sound, and costumes.

GENERAL SPOILERS below.

I knew the ending was going to be disturbing because everyone says so. I even knew the basic plot point of why it ends tragically. Yet I was STILL shocked by the final minutes and the ending tableau, lol! Wow.

The ending is tragic and creepy and there are Machiavellian characters, though who exactly is the driving force and for what reasons are revealed slowly. The audience doesn't get all the puzzle pieces until the end.

The acting was better than I expected. I was rooting for the main couple and happy when they reconciled. I wasn't deeply emotionally invested though, which helped me watch through the end without being depressed about it. It did tug at my heartstrings a bit though.

I thought the screenplay and the director did a fairly good job with symbology and tying together visual repetitions. For example, Sho's favorite color is white. Ritsu held a white towel around Sho's head in the past to dry his hair. In a present scene, white cloth is held around Sho's head that Ritsu will turn into a shirt for him. Later, Ritsu holds up the shirt as he waits for Sho and we can imagine Sho's face there. The camera then shows that Sho's face is indeed surrounded by white, but someone else has subverted the sequence.

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