3
5
jpny01
A dull mess.
This is adapted from a manga, and it's the third time it has been so adapted - there are previous Japanese and Korean versions. The story is over 20 years old, and it shows. TBH, I can't understand why anyone would adapt this once, let alone three times - the original material does not lend itself to a series.
The story is a mess, as too much was attempted - there is a child murder/kidnapping plot (actually, there are TWO child kidnapping plots), plus all the characters have totally unrelated and clashing storylines, none of which are interesting.
The casting is OK, except for Singto, who is terribly miscast as "The gay conqueror" - he has zero sex appeal and thinks flirting is acting like a five year old pretending to be a cat. He's so totally unbelievable as a gay player that I'm not sure what possessed anyone to cast him - both Lee and Pluem are so sexy and beautiful either would have made much more sense.
The acting is good throughout (except for Singto - I'm not trying to rip on him, he's good in the also-airing Paint With Love - he's just not the right actor for this role and that's not his fault), but there are so many extraneous and unnecessary characters that it doesn't save the show. The Scooby Gang amateur detectives/reporters/social media influencers are tiresome, implausible, and add nothing to the story, nor does Pooh's family, which actually contradicts one of the main themes, which is of found family - it doesn't work if one of the main characters leaves the found family to recreate his real one.
If this was going to be remade, it needed to be refreshed with some new elements, like for example BL, since the cynical decision was made to cast actors that would draw in a BL audience. In the Manga, one of the main (male) characters falls in love with the gay chef - so why was that deleted from the series? The actor of that character has played gay, so he's not afraid of it.
I can't recommend this series. If you really hate kids, you might like it since you get to see many dead children, and childen violently abducted and tortured.
Story: 3 - I would rate the manga higher, because it's episodic, which works. This attempts a unified story and fails miserably.
Acting: 8 - good overall, with the exception noted above.
Music: 7 - Pretty good - nothing special but appropriate
Rewatch: 1 - I can't imagine any circumstance that would cause me to rewatch any of this. Nobody even takes their shirt off.
Overall: 6.5 - it's not terrible - it's competently made in every way (except the writing), but there was no reason to make it, and there is no payoff for watching it.
The story is a mess, as too much was attempted - there is a child murder/kidnapping plot (actually, there are TWO child kidnapping plots), plus all the characters have totally unrelated and clashing storylines, none of which are interesting.
The casting is OK, except for Singto, who is terribly miscast as "The gay conqueror" - he has zero sex appeal and thinks flirting is acting like a five year old pretending to be a cat. He's so totally unbelievable as a gay player that I'm not sure what possessed anyone to cast him - both Lee and Pluem are so sexy and beautiful either would have made much more sense.
The acting is good throughout (except for Singto - I'm not trying to rip on him, he's good in the also-airing Paint With Love - he's just not the right actor for this role and that's not his fault), but there are so many extraneous and unnecessary characters that it doesn't save the show. The Scooby Gang amateur detectives/reporters/social media influencers are tiresome, implausible, and add nothing to the story, nor does Pooh's family, which actually contradicts one of the main themes, which is of found family - it doesn't work if one of the main characters leaves the found family to recreate his real one.
If this was going to be remade, it needed to be refreshed with some new elements, like for example BL, since the cynical decision was made to cast actors that would draw in a BL audience. In the Manga, one of the main (male) characters falls in love with the gay chef - so why was that deleted from the series? The actor of that character has played gay, so he's not afraid of it.
I can't recommend this series. If you really hate kids, you might like it since you get to see many dead children, and childen violently abducted and tortured.
Story: 3 - I would rate the manga higher, because it's episodic, which works. This attempts a unified story and fails miserably.
Acting: 8 - good overall, with the exception noted above.
Music: 7 - Pretty good - nothing special but appropriate
Rewatch: 1 - I can't imagine any circumstance that would cause me to rewatch any of this. Nobody even takes their shirt off.
Overall: 6.5 - it's not terrible - it's competently made in every way (except the writing), but there was no reason to make it, and there is no payoff for watching it.
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