Pork blood soup with no flavor

Great recipe, they just forgot to follow it.

There wasn't a clear path with this story. I kept waiting for something to happen, just to be offered pork blood soup until they had to force-feed it down my throat. I get it, the first few episodes- no, actually; More like the first few minutes of the first episode were funny and entertaining, but did they really forget what this was about? It was almost as if they didn't know how to get out of the premise and started forming the plot around an insignificant thing that wasn't even worth being a plot point, much less the whole plot. It almost seems like this was a collection of advertisement videos for an actual pork blood soup business disguised as a drama. I wouldn't be surprised if the actors were also just workers of the business, because there was no depth in what they were expressing.

This was the most shallow drama I've ever completed. In the beginning, it seemed interesting. The setting had its perks and would've had potential to make a great story- however, the writers really gave up on this. I liked the idea of a modern day vampire and the creativity with their problems to adapt, especially in Thailand where the sun hardly ever sets completely- But overall I can't name anything else I liked other than these struggles they showcased. This became awkward very quickly.

Shortly:
The pacing was awfully slow, the story went nowhere even though we were introduced to our "antagonists" pretty early on, it seems that they just started focusing more on them building their pork blood soup business even though in the end I couldn't grasp what was so important about it anyways. It didn't bring anything to the plot and most of the episodes felt like fillers.

To note:
I watched the last 6 episodes or so while pressing the 10 second skip button continuously, so it might be that I've missed some details that would contradict something I've said but it's highly unlikely. This drama lacked depth, and honestly nearly everything a good drama should have. There wasn't really anything that particularly irritated me about this show, and there are plenty of worse out there, but I still wouldn't exactly recommend this.

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What?

The main character serves me a lifetime's worth of second-hand embarrassment. Everything is so incredibly underwhelming... This doesn't feel like it's made in 2024 at all, it's worse than Color Rush.

No but actually, what was this supposed to be? Really, what was the point? Korea, we talked about this, we have to have a plot in mind before starting to film a new series, the characters being gay isn't enough. This will now enter my top list of the most Gacha Life mini movie-coded dramas I've seen. Forget worse than Color Rush, this was even worse than Love Class; It's like they're cousins or long-lost siblings. I really wasted my time watching this, so I'm not going to waste even more of my time writing a longer review. There was no depth or emotions conveyed through this series, and I don't think I even spared a smile or a giggle even once. This just wasn't entertaining in any way.

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Rain with a hint of sunshine

From the first episode of La Pluie, no, actually from the early trailers and teasers of La Pluie, we can acknowledge what we're signing up for. This is more than just a love story surrounded by rose petals and glitter; the roses' thorns keep on scratching the wounds and the glitter attempts to cover the vulnerable bruises. We can't merely depend on love in order to stay together with our loved ones.

In order to truly understand the story of La Pluie, you must be willing to take part in it.

La Pluie is a realistic portrayal of love, misunderstood feelings, lack of communication, and morals. Each character is imperfect in their own way, there are no antagonists. La Pluie truly grasps the philosophy as such; "no one is a bad person, we just do bad things". That's human nature. Everyone makes mistakes, what truly matters is whether they'll be able to redeem themselves for them or not. La Pluie explores these feelings of regret beautifully.

While La Pluie has realistic characters with their own individual morals and ideals, the writing as a whole is astounding. Some comments stated that La Pluie didn't fully explain things and that the soulmate system didn't make any sense in the end, some even thinking that the story wouldn't have been all that much different without their soulmate connection- but that's where I want to step in, because that's exactly the point of this show.

The soulmate system supposedly not making much sense isn't a plot hole. What would make it a plot hole is if we were continuously fed facts about it while being assured that it's a solid connection between two people, but La Pluie didn't do that. It was made sure that we knew that the soulmate connection is still a mystery in their reality as well, so it doesn't really have any known logic to it.

The message of La Pluie was that whatever your supposed connection is, and no matter how much you love each other, what matters most is whether you can get through your hardships together or not. That's true to reality.

To put it shortly:

What I liked:
- Depth of the characters
- Realism
- Phasing
- Writing

What I didn't like:
- Awkward cutting of OST at some parts
- Using a similar plot device twice

Overall, you won't enjoy La Pluie if you're expecting to get confirmation and explanations for everything, this story is told from Saengtai's perspective and therefore we know as much as he does.

Slight spoiler ahead:
It was a pleasant yet significant detail that La Pluie is a book published by Saengtai himself, therefore the story is told in past tense and we get to see other viewpoints even while he might've not acknowledged them in those moments. An amazing end to a series and I can't wait for the hinted season 2.

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A cute story on a budget

Ahhh okay I admit it, this was super cute! I've bumped into this series multiple times, but because of the prejudice towards the Webtoon I never considered picking this up. But, since I saw many interesting tags, I decided to briefly skip through it- that was until I got so invested that I wanted to watch this properly later, but then in the end I ended up binge-watching the entire thing. I was worried about the "step-sibling" setting, but it turned out to be less awkward than I initially thought. Another thing that turned me off was the scene where Taesung attempts to force himself on Haebom- and I was scared that they would romanticize it, but thankfully they didn't and Taesung condoned for his actions. This wasn't anything great, and the pacing was all over the place- but it was cute and I wouldn't be surprised to catch myself rewatching this someday. One thing that brought me comfort was the healthy relationship both leads had with Taesung's mother.

To me this just didn't make me feel anything or think of anything new. It just exists, it's cute, nothing more nothing less, and it just isn't something I reminisce about, hence the semi-low scoring. Although there isn't much critique I'd give it just lacked something that would tie it all together.

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1 Star Michelin: Worth a Try

Honestly, the story wasn't all that interesting. What hooked me was mainly just OffGun's chemistry. I did begin to favor the side couple as time went by, but the main leads were definitely the reason I stayed. This was wholesome, hilarious, and surprisingly emotional at times. As a story, it's not special, but as a lighthearted show, it sure is entertaining. OffGun can truly make anything work! The only things kind of throwing me off was the lack of engaging story and the caricature designs of the side characters. Overall, I enjoyed watching this, and it was a pretty solid watch. A typical Thai romcom, nothing groundbreaking can be expected but it's like a sweet treat for a gloomy day.

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Dark story, underwhelming execution

Wow... This was way darker than I initially assumed. Although a lot of things about this show were kept underwhelming, some aspects shook me, like the plot twist in episode 7. I admired the psychological themes in this drama, but they could've explored them more; unfortunately they didn't. I feel like if this was made a bit later (2022-2024) it could've reached its full potential. I enjoyed it more than I had expected, but because of the lack of connection I could feel towards the story was kept low-key I wasn't able to like it as much as I'd want to.

The concept was interesting, the psychology was intriguing, and the bittersweetness of the leads was refreshing- but the aspects it lacked on overweighed these. The poor acting and directing managed to ruin the potential this had, and this is why I'd love to see a remake of this some day with better production. Seeing the great script behind this executed properly would be amazing, and once I manage to make it into the film industry one day I would definitely push for a remake best I can.

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This drama FLIPPED my expectations

This is a more personal review than I usually do, but if you're trying to decide whether to watch Theory of Love or not, I still recommend reading this!

Okay, where to start... First of all, this show has great phasing. I loved the way how 6 episodes were from Third's point of view while the remaining other 6 episodes were from Khai's! That way we could see everything that happened and how it affected both of them with no biases. The depth in characters was also amazing to see, and their morals were realistic. Another realistic thing was the portrayal of love in different shapes, or should I say "genres".

This show had an interesting and unique touch on the romance genre, and it showed us how simple yet difficult love can be. While it's easy to fall in love, falling out of love is way harder.

The setting was original. Even though the trope "I fell in love with my best friend and kept it a secret because they're a player" might sound generic or disinteresting, this drama handled that concept beautifully; Especially the fact that Third didn't just give his heart to Khai when he asked for it, but rather wanted to make sure and be convinced that Khai knew what he was getting into and why- to ensure their bond wouldn't break completely just because of their hastiness.

I really enjoyed them being film students, and actually this drama was one of the reasons I came to be more interested in pursuing that career, realizing I might prefer to be a screenwriter instead of a novelist with how visually my mind works. The movie references were also a fun additional touch, although I didn't recognize them, the characters did and that's what made it special.

The character dynamics were also fun! I liked how none of them had a clear thought about everything, and how they showed that miscommunication is still common even between long-time close friends.

I'm comfortable with giving this a 9.0 score. For a Thai drama, this was extraordinarily great. I truly believe that every fan of romance dramas should watch this at some point to see different perspectives on the genre.

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Wrongly interpreted tragedy

Bed Friend is a piece of art. The characters each bring something to the story and no one is useless, no one and nothing is a filler, and the story is fulfilled. This drama really raised my standards for Thai dramas.

Despite this, why did a lot of people not seem to like it? Here's why.

As I said, Bed Friend is a piece of art. Not metaphorically, but instead literally. This is not a lot of people's cup of tea. Most people on this site watch dramas for their entertainment value, scoring them based solely on that. If you're expecting a drama with a wow factor, I'd say think twice before watching Bed Friend. This isn't your typical drama, it's as detailed as if it was in the form of a novel.

Bed Friend can get rather boring at times, and it doesn't have an entirely original plot. Bed Friend is a realistic portrayal of life, especially dealing with mental health issues and the healing process behind it. What Bed Friend serves is the emotional impact, not entertainment. You aren't likely to enjoy this drama to the fullest if you're not willing to step into this world and take your time to get attached to the characters, soon enough you'll be eager to find out more about every detail, and you'll surely find everything if you have the time to look for it. Bed Friend is a fully completed drama, not only in its status but also in the plot itself. Nothing is left hanging, yet the drama isn't overly complicated either. It is all about how much you want to know, nothing is forced onto you. Everything is naturally depicted and you yourself choose what you'll focus on in the plot.

Bed Friend is a great drama, but it is fully up to your values whether you'll enjoy it or not.
Do you watch drama solely for entertainment? You might get bored of this easily.
Do you wish to jump into the full world and really live with the characters? Definitely pick this up.

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