love like a storm

A masterful portrayal of the maladies of fledgling teenage love. Confused emotions from failing to separate friendship and romantic attraction, longing , pain from unrequited feelings, utter joy from being together, jealousy and the desire to possess; love is like a storm sweeping through the mind, enmeshing all the emotions. A teenage love is indeed special. Unlike the managed emotions of an adult who has learned to protect oneself , it is desperate and total. Such intricacies are rarely portrayed in dramas, more so in gay-themed dramas which unfortunately have a general lower quality. A must watch for all lgbt fans.
From a general reading of the comment section, people please remember they are not experienced in love and cut Teh some slack . On one hand , he wants to do right by his friends, but the bitterness of unreciprocated feeling takes over making him manipulative and hurtful to others. Only when you grow up, you gradually learn to exercise restraint. So don't be to quick to judge him by adult standards

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A rare gem

Writing a review after watching episode 3. This episode gave me goosebumps. Felt compelled to write one.

This is a work in contrasts, a brilliant interplay of the heavy and light in life. Takeuchi Ryoma plays as himself and we see slices of his life as he gets unplanned breaks from his filming work. The way he spends these breaks is nothing spectacular, but we see the richness hidden within the mundanity of everyday life. Trivial occurrences can fill you with joy or prick like a thorn on your self-worth. He looks at his own experiences in almost comical but kind way and derives deep lessons about living. The viewer joins him in this journey and can identify with not only this weight that can pull you down everyday, but also the desire to live fully that breaks through this heaviness. The simple lessons about life delivered in a off-hand way leaves a mark on you. If you appreciate a good black coffee you will surely like it. Go watch this!

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A hilarious and poignant rom-com with a dash of the supernatural.

A hilarious and poignant rom-com with a dash of the supernatural. A selfless devoted love confronts a good natured guy suffering from indecisiveness and low self esteem. But being loved and supported so completely helps him grow as a person. He gradually becomes courageous enough to break out of his cocoon and confront his own true feelings. A serious story presented in a hilarious manner, which is actually quite difficult.
I love how sensitively the director portrays the persistent nature of low self esteem. There is this scene where the character realizes that he is the center of attention and everyone around actually has feelings for him, but instead of thinking of himself as a stud, he still manages to find flaws with himself.
Looking forward to a happy ending. Don't miss it if you are bl fan and tuck it in the bookmark section to watch it again in future. Will bring a smile on your face on a sad day!

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A gritty tale of a disgraced chef clawing back his way up the Michelin ladder and beyond. After causing an international incident, French cuisine chef Obana is spurned by his brethren and christened as "Shame of Japan." The superiorly talented chef wants to make a comeback after a brief interlude, but realizes the cooking world itself has changed. The drama centers around his challenge, his personal growth attempting to evolve his cooking to fit the new world and the multifaceted difficulties he faces in his path. The chef also evolves personally becoming more amenable to work together as a group with his friends around him.
Delectable dishes appear one after another. The making of each dish is deconstructed from basic ingredients to every cooking idea which turns the dish into an absolute delicacy. A good cooking Jdrama is not rare; one is reminded of 'Dinner' which similarly centers around French cooking. The difference is this drama has a more specific theme where the chef is trying to Japanize French cooking . He wants to maintain the complexity of flavor of French cooking by utilizing simple Japanese ingredients and his culinary skills rather than depending on expensive imported ingredients.
The personalities of the characters also shines through the drama. Themes of friendship, aspiration, loyalty, jealousy, courage and redemption are explored making this cooking show a very human affair.
One can easily lose oneself in this world of visually stunning dishes, the life cycle of a recipe from its inception to its completion and the clash between the various personalities in this drama. A must -watch for anyone interested in cooking genre.

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A story about the redemptive power of empathy

Ok, so I just binged the first 10 released episodes and I am consumed by the lingering feeling of dissatisfaction that it went so quick, it was just not enough!! This drama tells the story of a group of "trauma cleaners", people who are responsible for the proper disposal of the personal possessions of the deceased. They do so with deep sensitivity and care, providing the last shred of respectability which life may have stolen away from . The drama deals with the victims of the various malaise of society like economic inequality, homophobia, gender violence etc , the misery of the sufferer and the numbness of society towards them. Society guided by petty self interest denies them their basic dignity, and the trauma cleaners step in to restore some of it after their death. In this process, the cleaners work through their own problems and learn to value what is important to them.
It s directed and acted magnificently. The acting is understated and natural and there is hardly any dramatic hyperbole for sensationalism. You can savor each episode slowly as it draws you into its world leaving behind a bittersweet aftertaste and loads of food for thought. A must watch as a serious but deeply entertaining drama.

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This series is a melding of fantasy and weirdness. The weirdness creeps me out, but the burning sensuality of Nuah's overtures keep me coming back for the next episode. There are some scenes which have this very special quality, like one where Toh fantasizes about Nuah lying next to him and loses himself in the pleasure of this dream; I felt I lost myself in the same dream with him. Overall very unbalanced and silly but still I am going to finish it. The debonair beauty of Nuah and the shirtless scenes flaunting his slightly emaciated but chiseled physique will keep me hooked till the end.

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