Nearly.

Rated= 7.5~ 38/50 ~ 7.6
RPG Scene // Mages armed with Staffs, Venturing into Enchanted Forest.

This was my 2nd venture into Chinese fantasy and much like it's predecessor, I found that there were so many characters I could barely keep up. I am slowly learning that this is very common in Chinese shows. The casts are huge. My poor brain.

This one starts with just full on attack of information that it's a little hard to digest at first. I can tell this has come from a book series because they were just info dumping all over the plot.

For me, at it's heart, this a redemption tale for the two male leads, and I loved the set up. Zhou, a tormented assassin's group leader and Wen, Chief of Ghost Valley. Both of them essentially the 'bad guy'. Neither of them have any will to live, Zhou is consumed by remorse for his past behaviour and is basically torturing himself while he drinks himself into a stupor waiting for death. On the other hand, we have Wen who is consumed with grief and hatred, and pretty much has the attitude that if the world is going to set me on fire and laugh as I burn, I'm going to take as many mofos as I can with me.
It's deep and it's complicated, and I love that since this is meant to be a romantic couple. It's not so much a 'love conquers' theme, it's finding a reason to live beyond pain, even in little every day things.

Having said that, there is very clear homosexual feelings from the get go. My first chinese series was Untamed, and it was much more subtle. You could pass it off as just a deep brotherhood. This is not. This is outright flirting and sexual feelings. At times I was in shock that this was allowed. But it adds to the romanticism of finding something to live for. In this case, it's each other, which ultimately leads you to th ending sequence. I think we jumped a little too quickly into 'soulmate' but that might be a culture clash. I don't know if soulmate has a more platonic meaning in asia since the sages of ajni were called soulmates.

What first started to let me down, was the constant back and forth between the two leads. I think they broke up about 4 times, only to be normal again 3 scenes later. I found that a little jarring and unnecessary drama, another pet peeve in writing. Speaking of which, there is major unnecessary drama towards the end and even though I saw it coming from about episode 15, it still sucked to see. I understand this happens in the novels so it's on the OG writer but still, it's something that really peeves me off in many types of shows. It was deliberately built up over the show, just to hurt your feelings at the end. I don't feel it added a whole lot to the actual plot.

I did not know about the extra episode, 37 or MV style ending so when I got to the end of 36, I was punched in the face. Understandably with the censors and they wanted to keep a happy ending, but it's such a random place to end a show. It really does feel like we're missing episodes and apparently they did cut several down due to the budget running out. (or they were actually shut down but that just might be me) When I managed to get the ending online, I was fairly satisfied with it. It's pretty romantic and ironic that the show started with both characters, alone, wandering and wanting to die, where now together, immortal on a mountain.

I feel like what let the series down were the cuts the most. As we were reaching the end, there were a few things just being forgotten about or happening off screen.

Visually, it's the usual dream like, chinese fantasy but I have to admit that I didn't like the styling on this one. I found Wen's robes to be unflattering on him the most. I liked the first one he's in, the white silver ones, and the Chief red robes. Both of which we barely see him in. I found the shoulder cuts and colours just to be unflattering on him. I think keeping everything soft and lose on him, would have looked better. I can tell by the hair they were trying to keep things a little more in line with historical accuracy but I just didnt like it, or Zhou's hair. You can tell it's a choppy cut with extensions. It's a good looking cast but the styling definitely needed more work.

I would still rewatch it but I feel like there would be scenes I would be skipping.

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Comfort Comic Book Series

Rated=9 ~ 44/50 ~ 8.8
RPG Scene // Elf Warrior Blazing through the Sky City. Excalibur on fire.

This has become my comfort series. It touches on deep matters of forgiveness and power without taking it's self too seriously. Sometimes, I can find the sense of humour in these sorts of shows a little childish but this surprisingly manages to blend the cartoonish humour with a deep subject.

The lead is described as being like a comic book character and that's how I feel about the serious as whole. It's like a visual comic book. It is both fantastical and believable and appeals to my sense of humour.
Kim Nam Gil is glorious to look at and is clearly a pro, believably conveying a variety of emotions from cartoon hell raiser to a vulnerable man begging to God on his knees. His character, Kim Hae-il is one of my favourite types of characters. He's hot headed and passionate but has a strong sense of himself and what he stands for. He's also hilarious. He's the type of hero I love to see. When he wins a fight, I'm applauding him or I know he's about to eff up some assholes. What can be described as mistakes were enemy retaliations.

This is why I love the comic book feel to it all. If it were a regular drama, I would feel like he's a bit much. He has to slip up somewhere but because of that added element, I find myself routing for him like Batman. I want the hero to be the hero. Someone everyone can rely on. It's that 'I will find you and I will kill you' kind of badassery and you believe him.

The villains are gloriously hateable just simply for being greedy people. No big evil plot, no mastermind, just plain, old human greed. They even have them slow-mo smile during moments of them winning. And I thoroughly enjoyed watching them be brought to justice one by one.

Both sides managing to walk the fine line being comic book character and relatable human, and for me personally, I just simply love the idea of a Batman type priest. That added element of spiritual peace, forgiveness and redemption just feels like that added touch at the end of a hero plot, where you are left with an uplifted satisfied feeling.

I am looking forward to season 2 .

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The bone structure thing bugged me LOL

Rated= 6~ 25/50 ~ 5
RPG Scene // Fairy leading me off a cliff on the Mountain Pass. I think the Battle Axe is a flower

This started off not bad and I was genuinely enjoying it (and the accidental asmr in episode 2) but once the two characters got together, I kind of lost interest. There was also a disturbing scene that happens in a school that actually shocked me, that the chinese censorships let this through. I think that was my breaking point. I had decided to give it a rest for a while but after some time, I've just genuinely lost interest in the show.

Plot - The face swap thing kind of seemed a bit silly to me. A soul swap would have made more sense. We have a guy who can train bugs and the face swapping seems to have been done by witch doctors/dark arts practitioners anyway, so why not? Just peeling off someone's face isn't going to change bone structure or the body. If it was just her face, she would still have her body but the FL talks as though she is in another body entirely. (Or maybe it was just my subtitles.) So my brain kind of winced at that logic but I went with it. I did however, really love the slight chase between the FL and the ML because that is a perfectly understandable drama there. He thinks the FL, with her new face, killed the love of his life and the FL thinks the ML wanted to kill her.

Once we get through that trial, it becomes more of a build up romance with the leads that you would expect.
I felt like the characters kind of accepted this face swap like they had ran out of milk. It seemed more like an inconvenience than holy snowballs, I have a completely new face and body and along with that a completely new identity and lifestyle. That would really traumatise me and feel like maybe that should have been showcased a little more, esp for the FL. She goes from being a very bullied and hated woman because of her job and scarred face, to being someone who is supposed to be the most beautiful woman around, also from a wealthy family. That's quite a jump that's not really explored fully. For the most part, the FL just mentions that she's stolen the other girls identity and she must be mad for being murdered in her place. Umm, honey, she stole your identity LOL

The side couple was just sad to watch. The side ML was clearly devoted to the FL and suddenly, and the most randomly I've seen so far, the side FL is in love with the side ML and acts jealous. It just comes out of nowhere. It has 'rebound' all over it.
I have read spoilers to the end of the series and if I continued watching, I don't think I would feel sad for the couple. I would feel sadness from a friend perspective.

Acting - The ML is really at good crying. I felt that.
There are complaints about the FL's acting not matching the portrayal of the first actress. I kind of agree to an extent. It does kind of feel like a slight dissonance between them. They tried to use the flower petal plucking as a habit but I feel like they should have used some sort of personal expression to bridge the visual crossover for the audience. Like each girl having a set of habits and expressions that the audience could pick up on, other than good girl and bitch, so when the switch is made, it feels more natural for the viewer to see the character just change faces. Instead, it does feel like there's a personality change as well. The FL as the second actress, although still very intelligent and kind, does seem a lot more outgoing. If this is the character's natural personality, it's not shown very well in the first two episodes.

Music- I remember liking the background tracks to this one, although nothing to add to my playlist.

Rewatch - Since I've decided to drop this, I won't be rewatching.

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Meh

Rated= 3~ 13/50 ~ 2.6
RPG Scene // Goblin's Swamp with only a rusty dagger. Forget it. Just Run.

I was swinging between boredom and wondering if this slightly racist.

Wealthy 'pale' Bangkok writer is tricked into going to a southern island as inspiration for his novel and conveniently doesn't believe in love because of family trauma, but continues to try and convince himself that the islander he's sleeping with is just a sugar baby.

The first 3 episodes reminded me of those tacky holiday romance novels I used to read as a teen and think that's what romance was. Then by ep 4 we switch to a contractual agreement because Rak doesn't believe in love, despite agreeing to stay on the island previously. There's also a lesbian side plot trying to happen but the assistant is just too much of a nerve grating character for me to feel anything for. The whole 'he needs to be tested for std's but I shouldn't be hearing about my boss sex life' may have made me wince like I had stubbed a toe.

Half way through 5 I realised that I don't care about any of the characters and I just wanted to join in on the chat in the BL thread.

Meh. I'll move on. It's not my kind of plot and none of the characters are appealing.

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A sensitive approach to an Old Trope

Rated ~ 9.5 ~ 42.5/50 ~ 8.5
Scene ~ Elf in Sky City with Excalibur ~ Dazed, dazzled, addicted and unable to look away.

This was a ride through the feels.
Asian media does have a habit of blurring lines between siblings sometimes, so I'm pretty immuned to that kind content. Having said that, this was very sensitively approached.

Our ML, Qian, loses his abusive mother to drugs, and is left alone to fend for himself and his little sister. Working as a cleaner for a local mob boss, he finds a homeless Yuan on his way home one night. After several times to help him, Yuan eventually follows him home and becomes an adopted brother to Qian and his sister.

While watching this, at first, it appears to be 3 young people just trying to survive in a world that isn't equipped or prepared to help. Qian works and sacrifices himself tirelessly for his younger siblings and treats them as such. Even agreeing to a boxing match that leaves him permanently injured, in order to escape the mob.
What lessens any feelings of awkwardness is when Yuan realises that he is gay and his feelings for his brother were never platonic. He has been devoted to him for years. There is a very compassionate approach to Yuan's self revelations and it draws out a lot of sympathy from viewer. He's in love with someone he shouldn't be and doesn't know how to walk away, so he resigns himself to silence but knowing that he won't be able to control his jealous.
When the emotional moment finally arrives and Yuan confesses to Qian, it is devastating to watch as Qian is understandably enraged and confused. There is a scene of the two cuddling while sleeping, so it is possible that, as Yuan later tells him, he also didn't have brotherly feelings but was afraid to admit or to even feel his real feelings.
Qian has dedicated his life to his sibling's happiness, creating the family environment they were robbed off early, so it is understandably hard to move from brother to lover.

I've found a lot of the 'adopted sibling to lover' tropes miss a very important step, which is the change it's self and how the characters work through it. Personally, I found this has been the best representation I've seen so far, where it's not a quick hop from one to the other because the writer is eager to get to the romance/sex. It's a genuine, painful questioning of Qian's real feelings for Yuan vs letting go of the life he envisioned for his siblings.
He consciously viewed Yuan as his brother, but subconsciously knew his feelings were deeper and we have to walk with him as he processes what he's never dealt with, including his mother.

I also really liked the progression of the sister. It's obvious early that she has a mind of her own and is a little promiscuous.
Much in the same manner a parent must face their child, Qian has to come to terms that his siblings are their own person, with hopes and wants of their own and Qian can't plan and control everything.

What held me back from giving this a full 10 was that I was reminded a little too hard of BL manga I used to read years ago. The older male being looked after by a younger and emotionally forceful male. It's not an issue for me and I was never uncomfortable with Yuan's motives and actions. I was just reminded a little too much a BL trope and it dampened the viewing pleasure just ever so slightly.

Having said that, I thoroughly enjoyed this and the music fit the scenes very well without being distracting. I would absolutely watch this again and it's possible that may even be a comfort series as the relationships between the characters, I found genuinely touching and heart warming.

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The Wild Young Things

I was enjoying myself comfortably before I found myself moaning, "Ohh God! Why am I relating?" LOL

This was gloriously trashy and all but one character is pretty morally questionable - Either through careless arrogance or vengeance but not irredeemable. Either way, I enjoyed this waaaaay more than I thought I would.

The thing is ~ I'm a major dropper. So quick am I to drop kick a show, I've annoyed the BL thread LOL And I honestly thought, this was going to be another one.

The thing is, this was relatable to me. This isn't a soft watch. All the characters will annoy you but it's in a way where, it's very human and understandable. I've known people, and have acted, the same way these characters do. They are troubled, insecure, have low self esteem, addictions and they feel very deeply, whether love, lust or hate. For me, this is how I experienced my youth, and honestly, I've seen people do worse to each other, than what these characters do.

This is the first time, I have enjoyed watching all three of the couples. My favourite were Sand and Ray, partly because FirstKhao knocked it right out of the park with their acting and chemistry, and they dealt with alcoholism. It's so common for characters to drink themselves into a stupor every night, that it was kind of interesting to see a show finally tackle an addiction like this.
The attempted threesome in the final episode was a little gratuitous but, maybe I'm just crazy enough to understand Ray. He has already made his feelings clear, and trying to get his relationship with Sand, finally, off the ground, after all the drama. Getting even the slightest sniff of another obstacle, and that wild dog persona we saw at Mew's birthday party came right out and drew a line in the sand....with Sand LOL He said, 'absolutely not - I have made my choice. I'm not doing this again' ....and I respect that lol ~9/10 ~ Loved their plot. I'd watch a whole other series with them.

Mew and Top ~ Hmmm, 7/10 a little less interesting because it was pretty straightforward. Top wants to bang Mew but falls in love. Pursues him. Cheats. Mew falls in love. Is told of the betrayal, spends the rest of the series hating Top, going off the rails and finally forgiveness LOL I did enjoy it but it was the least interesting to me. I think what I liked about it was just simply the character evolution of Mew. He's presented as the meek little nerd but we see early that he's not a push over, and as his plot develops, we learn just how passionate and savage he can be. It felt more like Mew coming into his own, than it being about Mew and Top's relationship.

Not an actual couple but I honestly loved Ray and Mew's friendship. When Ray makes the choice to move on with Sand, we see just how strong the friendship is, and I loved that.

Now - Nick and Ton ...... Ooooh boy. There's a conversation we could have had here about a poly relationship but the writers had to bring in the ex for the other couples just simply to get Nick to realise what's happening LOL
I think that's the biggest downfall of this series. But having said that, it's very clear from the start, that Nick wants Ton to himself and Ton can't give that. So it's left with Nick, finally choosing himself and wishing Ton the best, while Ton is left alone, to start his new life in New York.
Personally, don't actually mind that ending. Would like to have seen Nick's next move but, that may have been left open in the event of a season 2.
Did feel a little on the nose though from the writers. It's the bad bitch finally getting their comeuppance, which is, if you want to ride alone, then you will end up alone, and that's never fun. This may feel like slut shaming, but when we consider Nick wanted an official monogamous relationship, Ton is not seen in the best light.
Which is why myself, and so many other reviews have said the whole Boeing story, really was a waste, when we could have explored poly relationships. But I guess Ton was just simply our villain in this series and he got a villains ending. ~ 8/10

Would also have liked to have gotten more on the lesbian couple and the bar couple. Because there clearly was a story happening in the back. If the whole Atom and Boeing story had been dropped, and used for them instead, would have been nice.

They also started doing this reality tv show thing of the characters talking to the cameras at the start, and then it just kind of stopped. Why bother starting then? LOL

Overall, it was messy ride that did it's best to explore different types of relationships but it ended up just following the same bl narrative i'm used to. I do feel some potential was wasted, but I enjoyed the heck out of it nonetheless.

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'You dont have to be perfect, You just have to be yourself'

I don't cry at shows easily. It takes a lot to pull a tear out of me. This one made me cry 3 times because it got personal.

I can understand the more negative responses because I partly agree with them. There were times it got a little cheesy or what made Kuea feel like he had to be a certain way for Lian to love him? But after finishing, I just wanted to rewatch it again, and when I did, I instantly fell in love and my 7.5 rating went to 9.

The story is pretty touching, just in a typical Thai BL way. If you've never lived with the pressure of having to keep up a fake persona to keep others happy, then it might get a little lost.

What's the point of your life? Who are you living for? When you live a false identity, who are you really pleasing, and is it worth it?

In this case, it's not only about LGBT identity, it's also about personal identity. Just wanting to be loved for who you are. No fluff. No glaze. Just raw and real.

It turns out, that both were pretending for each other but I would have liked to see more of why. Kuea isn't a soft as he appears and Lian isn't as cold. Both love each other and when they see the true version of the other, they fall more in love because authenticity will trump every time. They're insecure, they're can't talk about their feelings and are awkward with each other.
Lian just wants to make Kuea happy but doesn't know how because Kuea just smiles and nods all the time. He loves Kuea but doesn't know how because Kuea keeps his real self hidden. It's hard to love someone like that when all your efforts are met with an expressionless glaze. I understand his frustration.

I felt this one. I've lived it, so it hit me hard and only strengthens my determination to be real.

I did feel that both 'tops' had that daddy dom feel but it did soften out as the characters opened up.

I also really loved the music in the show, which I don't normally so an extra point for that.

Perhaps a more biased review but it is what it is.

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The Guilty Pleasure

Rated ~ 22.5/50 ~ 4.5

I had just finished watching Not Me and was in desperate need of more motorbikes. I initially was going to ignore this because it's MAME but decided to watch it anyway.

I am not a fan of MAME. S*A appears in her work like a fetish but your one true love will heal you, and her female characters are guaranteed to be trash. It's quite sad.

But I was in a mood to turn my brain off and just be dazzled by all the pretty men and their motorbikes.
There's really nothing new here. Both stories follow the same narrative.
Story one - Genuis architect falls for naive young student and manipulates the situation to let him think student is pursuing him. They fall in love and have hot steamy sex. Kidnap episode for drama.
Story two - Naive student's so called bestie, despite the pair telling each other very little, is forced into having hot steamy sex with genuis architect's friend in order to get out. hm. Rich wealthy who happens to be the fastest biker, because he has to match the excellence of his friend, proceeds to stalk and force his way into a relationship before realising he's in love. The sassy bestie turns tsundere and then a meek kitten as we see his ptsd emerge, get retriggered, retraumatized by the ex and friends who assault him again, but being in love will make it all better.

Really... This is why I dont like MAME. It's not a hate wagon. There's a lot of issues happening here and surfaces in her work. The plot is absolutely wack.

But I watched with my brain off and just enjoyed the visuals. And I absolutely enjoyed the visuals. The actors are gorgeous. I wanted to fix pyah's hair a little but he kept it back for the most part so I dealt. The actor for Rain is stunningly beautiful and they kept putting him under warm lights, which lit up his eyes and skin tone. The scene in the kitchen, with the sunlight behind him is screensaver material.
The sex scenes were very heated and more like how het couples have sex which is probably why they are enjoyed so much. Anal is a little trickier to keep to a position so it has you thinking that the bottoms are really flexible and the tops are really big lol But I have to give credit to the actors for going full on with those scenes. I was a little turned on. Cant lie.

And that's all I can really say about this series LOL The actors are pretty, the luxury visuals are enjoyable and the sex scenes are hot.
I dont even remember the music.

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Cute and Trendy

Rated = 9 -~ 39/50 ~ 7.8
RPG Scene ~ I'm being seduced by fashionable elves into an enchanted forest, and the staff in my hand is just a twig lol

I am noticing that I have a preference for Korean BL's as they suit my taste more.
Heavily criticized so naturally I'm going to like it. It's not a deep thinker. It felt like a warm hug. Just a character with failed dreams trying to fit into the world. There's only 8 half hour episodes so it's nothing dramatic and a lot of stuff is quickly glossed over but sometimes I want that. Just something sweet to counteract the bitterness. I don't need to be philosophizing life at every moment.
It follows the dense cutie that everyone loves harem trope but I didn't mind it so much as it's not overly exemplified and felt more like naivety to me than just purposefully stupid. I also enjoyed how the character's spoke with their eyes a lot.
A sweet and easy watch.

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Human's are limited but our possibilities are endless

Rated ~ 7 ~ 28.5/50 ~ 5.7
RPG Scene ~ Mage in the crumbling castle with a battle axe armed robot boyfriend ~

I actually kind of enjoyed it. I loved the A.I film and Bicentennial Man growing up so robot love stories don't bother me lol I would have given it a 6 generally, as it was a casual watch, a little cliche but cute. It was an ok watch, at first.

But the last episode got to me, because I got the old Momento Mori feeling. A friend of mine had an asthma attack at a halloween party and died. She was 23. I have not celebrated Halloween since. Human's are limited. You aren't guaranteed tomorrow, and if you knew you were dying, what would you do for your loved ones? Terminally ill people often prepare mementos for their family.

That's how I felt watching the final episodes. Although it gets rounded out at the end not to leave you too depressed, it's a story teller's way of facing human mortality through a fluffy, cute story of a robot falling in love.

And although the 7 year gap is cliched and kind of cruel in this plot, it also makes sense because the uncle admits to himself that he'd make the same decision. He wanted his nephew to be with a real person and ultimately was just forced to give in because Chu won't move on with his life, and Ever 9 gave the ultimatum to either let him keep his memories or destroy him so, after 7 years, with neither letting go, what was he do?

Overall I rate it a 7. I probably wont be rewatching it but still enjoyed it for what it was.

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Short and Sweet

RATED = 7.5 ~ 28.5/50 ~ 5.7
RPG Scene // Two confused homosexual Mages separated in the crumbling castle and it's pesky moving corridors, and using their magical glowing battle axes to find each other again.

There's not a whole lot I can about this one other than I enjoyed it. It's just a short, sweet and fluffy BL about our ML Daonuea who confesses to his crush before he is to study in Germany for a year, and is awkwardly crushed. They coincidently meet up again a year later in University, where both have been selected for a 'Freshy Boy' contest. This all seemed like a beauty pageant to me honestly, where the boys have to live together in a dorm while the competition takes place. This is only half of the show while the boys grow closer, and the second half is to allow for some truths to reveal themselves.

Overall, it's nothing complicated, nothing major intense. It's just a sweet afternoon watch. Dunk and his adorable little face gracing the screen for a few hours.
Acting did feel a little 'stiff' for me. I don't know why. Maybe for the more emotional scenes, it felt a little held back? But nothing too major.

The side characters did make me laugh though. Between forcing the two leads together, being over with the drama and the two Moment Killers of the show and, damn....those....phones.... LOL

You'll either like it for what it is or just move on. I suppose I could watch it again just for the fluff.

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A Speed Run BL LOL

Rated= 7~ 26.5/50 ~ 5.3
RPG Scene // Mage trying really hard to fix the Crumbling Castle. No magic, just an Axe

The biggest thing I can say about this series is f**kin LMAO
Dear jeebus, what just happened, and what makes it even funnier is that whoever subbed the show on iquyi clearly hated us all LOL
This is probably more for fans of the the actors because the average watcher will probably just be left wtf-ing into the night.
To be fair, if it was fully developed into 12-14 episodes, it would have been a really sweet series.
It's pretty light hearted, fluffy and the humour is there. Having said that, I still enjoyed this for what it was. It was like watching a really sweet island BL at twice the speed LOL They just made sure to hit all the major points to get the plot across and nothing more.
There was obviously something happening in the background for it to have lost half of it's time but whatever, I came for Boun and Prem and wasn't disappointed. I've been distracted by Boun in Between Us, and both guys were support characters in Until We Meet Again, so this time, I got to see Prem in a more adorable light this time and he's gone up the rankings of my favourite's list <3

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The Soul's Journey & the Characters it Plays <3

Rated= 8.5~ 36.5/50 ~ 7.3
RPG Scene // Mermaid's Invitation for tea in the Enchanted Forest. Staff summoned all the Food

In my usual awkwardness that has plagued my life, I watched Between Us first, UWMA's sister story showcasing the side couple's journey. And honestly, I actually think I prefer Between Us over this one but that's more to do with it being closer to my own personal tastes. I rated this one slightly higher, so my own personal aesthetics do not take away from how touching the plot is for Until We Meet Again.

The show opens in 1988, with the tragic ends of two lovers, Intouch and Korn driven to suicide by their domineering fathers determined to separate them.
In modern 2019, we meet our MLs, an extremely petite and delightful little cinnamon roll Pharm, a first year at University, and our tall, dark and brooding Dean, President of the swim club. The two connect instantly and slowly begin to piece together their tragic past lives while falling in love.

I usually don't like the constant flashback style type of plot flow. It's too much of an info dump and I find it jarring but they managed to keep it's consistency by being relevant to what was happening to our modern MLs. So it didn't bother me as much.
I absolutely fell in love with Pharm in Between Us and he was just as adorable in this series. Both ML's were very stereotypical however, their relationship was, I found, surprisingly healthy as my usual experience with BL's is very sex driven. This wasn't. The characters started off already with a deep unexplained connection and it was allowed to slowly unravel. Dean was a green flag most of the time and I almost take offense to Pharm being tagged as 'a crybaby male' as his reasons for crying were pretty legit. He was however, a little babied by Dean but I didn't find it too much and it suited the characters and situations.

I did feel like it followed the kind of Japanese BL I would have loved as a kid, and the show's consistent nod to Japanese culture feels like I may have picked up on those vibes a little.

As reincarnation is a theory that I personally believe in, this one hit more of a spiritual cord than my heart strings. A little detail that I really loved was Pharm's signature colour was yellow (one of my favourites too) and Korn is wearing a yellow shirt the night they die. Another detail is how confident and pushy Intouch is vs how soft and meek Pharm is, yet both characters have a generally cheery disposition, or his love for cooking & baking Thai desserts, and how the first thing he ever cooked was an omelette. It's those little details that tie back into the reincarnation belief, that our soul's carry little things from one life to the next, like picking up it's favourite things to bring with it into it's new life. The mind forgets, the body dies but the soul goes on and it takes some of it's memories with it. I personally loved that little touch.

My foresight was strong with this one. I absolutely called those twists LOL because it allows, not only for the ML's to finish their karma but also the family as a whole as well.
I was a little stumbled on how easily the surrounding characters believed in Dean and Pharm being reincarnated loved ones but I suppose it allowed for some healing for those characters, so it's a minor complaint. I would have loved to have seen an outcome for Intouch's bestie who, although only seen 3 times, clearly cared a lot about him and I would have liked to have seen him appear somewhere just as a conclusion for that character.

As for side characters, I think if I had watched this one first, I would still have been in love with Win's character. In fact I actually found him funnier in this one but that's usually the job of the support leads lol

The acting over all was pretty good. It wasn't too over the top despite some of the scenes, and the crying felt natural. Surprisingly, it was actually a scene at the end, when Korn's brother finds his candy in the fridge. That one little scene hit me the hardest perhaps because it was simple. It was a reminder for the viewer, or perhaps just for me as a viewer, that it was those little things, that even though Korn has been reborn and is alive as Dean, Korn is still gone and he left behind two little brothers who had to continue living without him. It's a sad truth within my own spirituality. I may go on to where ever I need to go, but I'll never be me again.

There is, and will only ever be, one of you <3

I have to confess though, that I didn't really like the music. I'm finding that those vocal tracks over emotional moments are the norm for Thai dramas but I found it a little cringey at times with this one. But again, that may be just down to personal tastes as I didn't like the music in general in this show.

Overall, I would have no issue watching this again. Often BL's seem to focus on the BL aspect and everything else is an add on, but this time, it actually focused on the plot, which was reincarnated lovers, and the karma is that they are two men, and I really appreciate that for the genre.

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Well, now, that was just Fricking adorable

Rated= 8.5 ~ 34.5/50 ~ 6.9
RPG Scene // Mermaid Vibing in the Flower Meadow. Sword Dancing practice.

I was having a drama slump and my years on the internet have taught me that when I feel like that, bored and restless and searching for something to die for, just randomly start clicking on things. It's like pasta on the wall. You will absolutely find something. And find something I did.
First 2 seconds I fell in love with Boun who plays Win. Daaaamnn, that man is FINE with extra emphasis on the F. God damn, I think I drooled through the first few episodes LOL
Unbeknownst to me, thanks to my randomly clicking, I have learned that this is a sister story to the original plot which follows Dean and Pharm, who are featured as a side couple in this one. I did find it hilarious, since I havent watched the original series, knowing that there was a whole drama happening in the back and I know nothing about it LOL I can just feel that the heat happening off screen LOL Having said that, Pharm, for his little appearances absolutely stole my heart and I feel like I'm about to lay down my life for him when I start watching his series, which is definitely coming next. No question. When I sit my butt down next for a series, I am clicking for Pharm and Dean LOL

Anyway, back to this series. This show follows Win, a punk'd out Vice President of the swim team and Team, initially a very innocent and sheltered young swimmer with a tragic past. Since I havent watch the parent story, Win seemed liked the kind of guy who had his eyes on Team previously and when he finally gets his moment with Team, Team jumps head first into bed with him, much to his delight.
It's a casual fling which naturally develops into heavier emotions, which casual sex usually does, for at least one of the people involved. That's how the brain works. We like to get attached to things lol
Overall, I found the couple pretty cute. The consistent nod to consent for me, was very sexy. Boun's acting is pretty piercing. He says a lot with his eyes. Prem, I felt was a little off at times but that may have just been me. He had a lot of very emotionally powered scenes and I think he did well through most of them.
His character has a legit tragedy in his past and his reactions and behaviour are very understandable for someone who has to carry that for the rest of their life. Normally, I would find the tsundere types annoying but I actually understood his moods here. I did really feel for his pain and felt the relief with him when Win comforted him.

As for the other couples, wow, there were so many.
Pharm and Dean, for what I seen, looked very stereotypical but were nonetheless adorable. 8/10
Bee and Prince - I actually really loved this couple. They seemed very genuine and Bee was an absolute sweetheart. 9/10
Win's Brother and Tol - I felt like this one was a little random. Like they had to squeeze some more gay in but I went with it. 4/10
Manow and Pheuk - this seemed like a really sweet and genuine straight couple in a BL and Manow was adorable and kind of funny. They looked cute together. 7/10

Overall, it's not a tense show despite it's content. It has a very warm and heartfelt BL that deals gently with life's more serious questions but doesn't leave you feel empty or hopeless.
I left with a big smile on my face for everyone. Definitely worth a rewatch.

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Hide's Art Student Film For His Fans

Rated= 7 ~ 33/50 ~ 6.6
RPG Scene // Mage having weird dreams in the Flower Meadow. Sword might have become sentient.

I didn't know this was on here LOL
There's a certain kind of person who loved/s the bisexual disaster that was Hideto Matsumoto - HIDE.
This was a short art film by HIDE that honestly to me, was just a representation of hide as a man. Confused, overwhelmed and over-sexed, if not really struggling with his sexuality but seems very likely.
I watched this a few years ago on youtube. From what I can remember, it has an alien-esque visual to it of 2 'angels' or other worldly creatures would rebel against their 'God' and are sent to earth as punishment, where, as a fan, I really felt like was just a glimpse inside the man's head.
There's no talking, it's just 'babble' speech, running around Tokyo with a lot of grainy footage and symbolism, with a scene of sexual assault that turns a little homo-erotic. The characters are attacked and abused into suicide where they return to their God and abandon it entirely for it's cruelty.
It makes me think of the kind of films I would have made as a student. It's more of a self expressive visual piece that set the stage for hide's solo music.
R.I.P Hide 🌤️

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