Hands down, this is the best movie I've watched in a long time. In fact, the only issue I have with it is that it's too short, so sit back and enjoy my verbal spew of compliments. Oh, and before I begin: THIS IS *NOT* A TRAGEDY. I repeat, less obnoxiously, Long Time No See has a happy ending.

Story:
The story is well developed but a bit rushed since this is quite short for a movie. There are several things I could see being fleshed out better with more time, but they use the time they have well. I'd give a summary, but I probably would end up spoiling something.

Acting/Cast:
Alright, this is my favorite part. There were three scenes I watched maybe thirty times each because of how raw and real the acting was. The cast knows what they're doing. The gang boss we see the most of frequently over acts and it threw me off at first until, after a few more interactions, I realized his personality was extra, not his acting. Chisoo, our protagonist, almost pushed me to the brink of tears and I have literally never cried over a movie. The combo of Chisoo and Gitae and all the emotion the shoved into every scene didn't bother pushing me; it punted me past the sun and directly into a galaxy of ugly sobbing. And I was damn glad for it. Okay, let me not get to into this, the short version is simple: the acting is amazing. The cast is amazing.

Music:
If you watch this movie and happen to notice the music, I don't think you're watching hard enough. It took a couple run-throughs before my brain could focus on anything but the immediate action. The music that I did hear and process was good, more so because it fit and blended into scenes instead of snatching me out of them.

Rewatch Value:
I rewatch no movies. Ever. I just don't have the attention span, especially if I already know what happens. That said, I have watched this movie three times in as many days and I'm not bored yet.  In fact, every time I watch it again, I have a bit more fun (and bemoan how short it is a little harder).

Overall:
Watch this movie. Watch this movie because there is absolutely something in it that will make it a favorite of yours. I was wary at first, but it was 100% worth my money and I'd pay for it again even. The happy ending is just a bonus, because this would be my review even if it was a tragedy.

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I just noticed this was by Strongberry which means, as a die hard fan of LTNS, I had to watch it. So, this is short, but worth a watch, provided you can find it.

Story:
By far the weirdest premise I've seen moved to screen. In manga/hwa, I wouldn't be surprised by it at all, but I did manage to surprise me since it's not as cliche in this medium. That said, for all that the premise, which I am doing my best not to spoil, shocked me, it was executed well. The beginning of the short film is meant to confuse you a bit, you're meant to make some leaps and jumps and assume some things which will later be proved wrong. I like that.  I was thinking at first that this would be more serious but there's comedy and token cringe-humor spinkled heavily throughout.

Acting/Cast:
The actors did very well. I'm pretty used to short films having generally unconvincing acting, but they held their own okay. The actors weren't revolutionary or anything, the kiss scene was awkward as all get out, but, overall, I didn't actually focus on their acting at any point, which typically means it wasn't blatantly obvious that they were acting.

Music:
I remember a few (namely, two) tunes that I heavily considered Shazam-ing. Make of that what you will.
EDIT: no, I'm definitely going to go find the song at the end, it's cute. Kind of. Like amusing cute, I don't know.

Rewatch Value:
I had to watch it twice, actually. Mostly because cringe-humor is my kryptonite and I have to skip to when everything's okay, then go back and watch the awkwardness. That said, I'd give it three watches at most, and spaced out watches at that, before it's degraded too far to watch again. The premise can only really grab you once, the awkwardness can only curl you up into a ball of cringe so many times. As much as I already think realistic awkwardness might be Strongberry's forte, this is a short film, so it's not strong enough to support that weight. Nor would I expect it to be. It was a fun watch, both times. But I think I'll watch it maybe once more in the future, if that, and be done with it.

Overall:
This is a stupidly long review for a short film, I have no idea why I have so many thoughts on it so I'll be concise here: worth a watch, worth your time, but won't knock your socks off.

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A Great Series (Skip The Last Episode)

Normally I review around episode four or five, but I really wanted to let this series show me everything it had to offer first so I'm writing this after episode 11 and will come back after the finale. Dead Friend Forever is a work of art. I normally am irritated by mystery series because it frequently feels like all the answers are just being handed to you, but not only did this show not do that, it also didnt make me want to guess. I just wanted to keep watching, I wanted to see the story unfold, I was continuously entertained.

The characters are infuriating, Non included, which is what would typically make me tap out, but they also ensure the watcher has enough sympathy for Non and hatred for the rest to create a good, watchable balance. Regardless of what I thought of Non (or rather, Non's decision making skills), I was extremely invested in him getting justice. I didnt care how, I just felt in my heart of hearts that pretty much every other character should end up dead. To make a character so sympathy inducing that every other character becomes irredeemable is a feat on it's own, but to have Non's existence not end up irritating me in the long run is a miracle. This is spectacularly written. Awful people flock to a vulnerability and exploit it for all it's worth, and while each of them has their reasons, none of the reasons justify their actions.

This was an immensely fun watch. I'd watch it again right now if I was that type of human, but I'm more likely to leave it alone for some months to years to digest. The sheer amount of awful is really fun but also really, really sad.


Ugh, i just watched episode 12. Im not really sure how to rate this now. I wish theyd spread out the justice across more episodes intead of all at the end. I wish the ending wasnt open. I wish I never had to see Phee or Jin smile again. I wish New had a better ending. I wish they'd had the balls to end it decisively instead of some "did they, didn't they" bullshit. This was a 9.5 for me before episode 12, so I'll only dock two stars for this shitshow of an ending. The rest of this series was good, as far as I'm concerned, this has 11 episodes and the ending we all wanted is what happened, just off screen.

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I Hate Omegaverse and This Is My Review

I am a long time fan and then an even longer time proud hater of omegaverse. I was fresh out of bls to watch, except stuff by mame, so I was prepared to look at literally anything else. I didn't notice the omegaverse tag and was horrified when I jumped into this and it came up. It's my least favorite trope-- it's almost always used to make a plot go from (possibly) interesting to outright horseshit. My personal saying after nearly a decade of being an ABO fiction reader was: once every five years, there is a cold day in hell, and an actually good ABO fic is born.

All that to say: I now stretch that over to series as well with great prejudice because, despite how much I actively wanted to hate this

OMFG ITS SO GOOD WTFFFF
And damn did I wanna be a hater, I was so, so excited for it but...the ABO is not in my face-- normally I'm cringing every time someone says Alpha or some shit but the ABO is like a background element. WHICH IS THE BEST WAY FOR IT TO BE. There's so little bs here I had time to forget the ABO entirely some episodes. This part of the review is literally just for others like me: I see you, I feel your pain, and stand in solidarity with you because if you start watching this, you will finish it. It's hot, good plot, nice conflict, no misunderstanding bs storyline, characters just ask what they wanna know. (And even with the one misunderstanding plotline, it's set up right-- you can pick a side instead of everyone just being immature, annoying, and wrong.) I should also mention that it doesn't seem to be cut-and-dry bog-standard omegaverse rules, so that helps.

Anyway, if you enjoy whump there's a lovely, modest dusting of it in here which is enough, I guess. I was constantly grinning in anticipation of one of the characters having a bad time. And when that character wasnt, a different, equally whump-tastic character WAS. Perfection. I won't spoil anything so I'll just say this: the peak whump you'll end up hoping for will be satisfied ?????? (Please do remember that I described it as a moderate dusting of whump and don't get too excited though, there will be at least two moments where you beg a character to stand up or at least consider growing a spine/self-respect.) I'm having the bestest time though, friend, you gotta go watch it and get caught up.

Also, sidenote: I didn't think American culture affected me that much, but when bro sent 8 texts in a row in a single minute? I won't lie, it really threw me off. No bearing on the review or my rating, I just noticed myself counting how many messages he was gonna send lol.

I had a short period of being interested in racing/NASCAR a long time ago, so I thought I'd probably end up skipping most of the racing scenes (I just watched Love in the Air and skipped every single one there. Or at least every one in the seven episodes I got through.) I skipped the first race and then there was always some gimmick or plot point that made every following race interesting. This script is so offensively good bro, I'm trying to explain that as clearly as possible. A lot of times, I have to give BL a bellcurve to stand it up against other genres, but this is just good. It's just a good story with good acting and good pacing. It's a satisfying watch, nothing dragged out for too long (especially the dramatic scenes omfl, looking at you wabi sabi. So refreshing to not look at a character for ten straight seconds of nothing)

I had to do a stroke test a few times because I couldn't tell if the translations suddenly made no sense for a few lines or if I'd lost the ability to read. Luckily, it was the first. Unluckily, it was the first. Sometimes you're gonna miss stuff because the words on screen could mean anything at all except a coherent sentence.

Cute side couple is cute and doesn't make me wish they were the main couple but also doesn't bore me. Ads are as aggressive as usual so if you dislike that, good luck, but I just find them funny so I didn't factor them into my rating. Everyone in the series is an adult and acts like it and it is so damn refreshing. There are issues in it that I'm actually torn on!! Issues complex enough to not have an immediate and obvious right answer! Heaven really is on earth sometimes.

The music is good (that generic club beat gets me bouncing in my seat) but the one sad piano track does get repetitive and can be a bit annoying by like episode 5. Everyone's eye candy in this show to the point that it's almost irritating. The side side couple is also cute, it actually took me a bit to realize they were another pair but once I did? Whoo-wee, I wasn't made about that at all, nosiree! The side side side couple is also cute but kinda unnecessary? Like I dont need them there, but I'm happy they are because I like them.... but also they're also taking up valuable story time, idk.


I was a little sad they made the plot points that should've been mysterious kinda obvious but, if you're an overthinker, you should be able to gaslight yourself into thinking you don't know what's going on. And even if you can't, it's still entertaining regardless!

You have no idea how much my pride was smarting when I bought iQiyi premium to watch an ABO show, so I hope this review also convinced you to do the same and join me in the comfortable lap of hypocrisy lmao, it's worth it (I got it for $2, I think it was a sale or newbie benefit or something¿ mighta hesitated more if it was like $10.) Anyway, long story very, very short: watch this.

EDIT: Ive finished the show now and....wow, everything in the last few episodes (maybe since 9?) Really ruined this. I thought this would be an all time fave but it just devolved into a shitshow. Some points of contention and then Im outta here:

1. Jeff can seenthe future but never uses it to help in all the dangerous situations? "Yeah guys, lets go contront traffickers who have guns but Im too scared to see if anyone dies lol" Please dont pmo

2. The amount of time wasted in Tony's house doing shit they could do very much out of Tony's house??? Like is this your home? Do you want to be caught?? LEAVE. Or leaving guns in arms reach of people who want to shoot at them. Little stupid things that are infuriating.

3. The KentaPete plot was unnecessary and wasted time they obviously needed to make the plot less awful.

4. Either give your villains knives or, if the must have guns, dont give them stiff trigger fingers and stormtrooper aim. And the MONOLOGUING, GOOD GOD JUST SHOOT. IDC WHO JUST FUCKING SHOOT. Actually make it me, get me out of here.

5. They needed more episodes or more writer rooms. Or both.

6. The easiest acceptance of someone faking their death ive ever seen.

7. The ending wasnt just rushed, it was mach speed.

8. People dying is treated more like a slight sad inconvenience than... idk someone fucking dying.

9. Way deserved better fr.

Im so annoyed because this had such potential but then it BL'd itself into oblivion. Ugh.

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Cortisol, the Series

I like this drama. Theres a lot to love and a lot of things were done well. That said, there are some things I have to get out of the way before I start praising it:

THEY'RE SO DAMN STUPID OMFG
It doesnt seem like the story is going to punish the main couple's stupidity or at least if it does, it won't be punished too harshly, but their absolute refusal to be secretive in any single way had me more anxious than interested. Doors are ALWAYS left open. But, even if the doors were closed, don't worry, they're going to have their private conversations in the downstairs lobby. But, if they don't talk there, no worries, they'll kiss at the lake with 360 degree viewing angles from a mile away. But, don't worry, if that's too subtle, they'll chase each other out of a party in full view of all the guests because one of them got jealous that the other was within a meter of a woman. It never fucking ends omfgggg. I was on the edge of my seat FROM STRESS AND STRESS ALONE. Had me pausing every two business seconds to bemoan the dumbassery. Especially for Jom because he should know better, but also for Yai because HE SHOULD KNOW BETTER. He hears about a gay couple getting killed in the morning and minutes later he's backhugging Jom in public. Every single part of my body was clenched up like "this has got to be a tragedy because they really dont value life." It blows my mind that they don't get murked six ways from sunday because they're basically waving pride flags in 19-fucking-20 like bro please I'm trying to root for you. I've spent an entire episode just begging them to go inside. Is rain so nice to kiss in?? Just go inside, please. You dont even have to go into a room or close the door-- im reasonable, I can compromise, just, please, PLEASE go inside.

Around episode 9, my stress hit a critical point and I just sort of...stopped caring about the main characters because if they don't care anout themselves, why should I? I put down the series for nearly two months because I just couldnt take more anxiety disguised as cuteness. Like every time they had a heart to heart or romantic moment, I couldnt really get into it because all I was thinking was, "the door is open, isn't it?" (AND IT ALWAYS WAS. Which would prompt the thought, "these guys really wanna die, huh?" Because they MUST. Theres no other explanation.)

Much smaller gripe, but Jom losing his shit every time he sees himself or an image of the future really started grinding my gears. I can understand once or twice, but we're like 4 - 6 incidents deep and he still goes running and yelling after the image like he isnt aware every time it happens others can hear and see him running about like a chicken without a head. Like be chill, you already know you cant interact and you've literally experienced this all before??????? stfuuuu.

Ugh.
God.
Okay.

Lastly, the lack of consequence to any action (every action, really) took a lot of the tension out of this story. There's the romance between Jom and Yai for starters (I really relaxed after the father came to Jom to tell him to leave Yai alone because this is obviously set in 2028, not 1928), but it also goes for the lesbian CP, for Ming's decisions, for Fong Kaew's decisions, it's for servants speaking to masters like they're equals, it's for literally every single character. They'll do something that should have dire consequences and then they MAYBE get slapped for it. Maybe. Stern words and angry eyebrows do not build or deliver tension. The only consequences delivered are to a couple that's on screen once, for like three minutes. Very frustrating.


Now onto the good stuff:
The cinematography is beautiful, which I say as someone who does not care about cinematography or notice it unless it is insane. They did a good job making each scene very pleasing to the eye, this show is pleasant to watch. Even if you mute it, it will still grab your attention.

The music is great. It never felt unnecessary, overly loud or quiet, and more importantly, it never stole my attention from the show. A lot of times, unnecessarily sad music for shows can either irritate me or make me crack up, but each piece played fit the scene it was in.

The story is okay. I wasn't blown away by it like other reviewers, but I did enjoy the story once I released my hold on my disbelief and expectations. Without the expectation of too much realism, the story isdefinitely fun though it's not as nuanced as I'd thought it would be. I assume the book was better as shows usually have a hard time fitting a good story into 12 episodes while maintaining its quality.

Ignoring the depth of their stupidity, Yai and Jom's relationship was cute. They have great chemistry and really play off of each other well. I assume I'll enjoy the special episode more because my biggest problem with them was the time period. To the point that I did actual research on LGBT history in thailand, going as far as to find Thai resources, just to ensure I wasn't losing my mind and 1920 did indeed feel exactly what you'd expect for 1920 on LGBT issues. To put it more bluntly, neither couple would be alive, most likely, or at least out of jail, but ignoring that-- very cute couple.

I enjoyed the last couple episodes more than the first ten, the chemistry really is phenomenal and, when there's nothing else to worry about, it's positively showstopping. The music is occasionally overdramatic/mismatched but more often than not it's bangers after bangers (but in a classical sort of way.) I vivdly remember replaying a scene a few times (it was more of a transition, honestly) just for the music, so make of that what you will.

I'd definitely rewatch parts of this, but finally having finished it, it did not rock my world by a decent margin. Also, whatever accent it is that Yai has shows me the pearly gates every time he rolls an 'r' and that comprises of most of the parts I'd rewatch.



Today I learned that i cannot watch the special episode.

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I Am Conflicted

Im always surprised by MDL comments/reviews because grace is given to garbage and withheld from....everything else lol. This falls in the everything else category: its not good, but its also not bad. It feels distinctly amatuer more than anything else, which I gave grace for considering this is most of the actors first/second series as a main character and its six episodes. The plot is thin to nonexistent: Beboy, Plai, and Pan are supposed be sightseeing but the only sight seen so far is some trees and a mall.

I did find some of the antics funny, which is rare in and of itself. Half of each couple can act, so both couples average out to mediocre. Im not mad at it. The scenes feel....laggy. Like every scene stutters over a good ending spot and putters to a stop somewhere beyond it. It is also noticeably quiet. I've never begged a show for music, but this needs more of it. A lot of what felt awkward or excruciating could be fixed by not having only 30 seconds of music in a 35min episode.

Something I noticed was that the characters are just the actors??? Like they all have the same names as in the actors real names. That is...a choice, I suppose. A choice I dislike, mind, but a choice all the same. I'll reiterate that I don't think this is good, but I do actually want to see episode three, so I dont think its nearly as bad as the comments are saying. I'm usually a pretty harsh reviewer, so that alone makes me want to go easier on this, but I really cant give it more than a 6. This is average. This is....not really consistently entertaining, but there are moments (note: moments, not scenes, not minutes-- moments.) throughout that are funny or interesting. It could use a re-edit to shave the episode down by five to ten minutes.

Episode one is distinctly worse than episode two, but episode one almost always sucks for everything. Get past that, and the sailing gets smoother. In episode three we finally make it back outside which really helps considering the entire premise of the show. Interactions seem a bit forced, even for BL and the dialogue is....still awkward. I swear I like this show there's just a lot. For what its worth and absolutely not to be mean, most singing and guitar playing happens in 10 second intervals or is long enough to scrub past. Do with that info what you must. P's face plus sunlight really did the scene with translating lyrics a huge favor because the dialogue dropped the ball.

I have now finished episode three and I might drop this. The interactions between both couples are beyond forced, actually. P and Pan isnt as bad as Beboy and Plai but its not great. The sex scenes came out of nowhere. I was expecting a kiss, but not Venus In The Sky esque NC scenes for something like this. Even in VITS, scenes that teetered on the line between softcore and straight porn made me less than happy, and that was after 8 excruciating episodes. Scenes like that after two episode with no buildup or......reason?? Idk, maybe I'm not the fangirl for it, maybe its all someone else wants in a show, but I felt personally awkward and secondhand embarrassment for the cast. I had more positives to say before, but this episode made me want to stop watching. Tbh, once they started playing the king game with 4 people I was on edge because literally who does that????

Based on my rating, my overall score should be a 2.5, but I really wanted this to be good or at least average so I'm torn. It had the potential to be a solid C-student, but its kinda flunking now. I was hoping this episode would be what took the rating from 6 to 6.5 for me but, as you can see, it's 4.5 instead, and that feels generous after this episode.

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I Shouldve Known Better

All the bits in this go on for too long. In fact, the dialogue in general drags. I watched on 1.75x and it still felt like there was always too much time spent before letting a bit/joke/scene end, everything felt protracted and (considering how cringey this was obviously going to be with the premise) that really adds up to an unpleasant watching experience. If you've got a moderate to low tolerance for cringe, skip this one. It took me a minute to notice, but somewhere in episode two, my brain apparently just shut the fuck down to protect itself from critical levels of cringe. I was in part 2/4 and then I noticed I had taken in no information and was just staring blankly at the end of part 3/4. Like my eyes were watering, there is so much POTENT cringe every damn second. It's giving me heartburn. Indigestion. I didn't even know I was this weak to cringe but this is an unnecessarily strong brew jfc

I feel like I've maybe shaved a year off the longevity of my heart and I also learned that you can tense your heart today. Or at least it felt like I did. I've never had a show make me so uncomfortable my face literally ached from how furrowed my brows were.

I cannot stress enough how much this drags, so I literally counted how many seconds it took for Toh to overreact to something. Nuea says something and Toh reacts for 20 SECONDS STRAIGHT. Before. Responding. This happens more than once in a conversation. Hell, more than thrice in one interaction between the two, it is excruciating.

I can jive with slapstick comedy and like.... anime antics¿ but it feels like they weren't willing to let anything just end until they'd wrung all the life from it. The sheer amount of sound effects (horse neighing, "wow", bells, *!!!*) it's never ending and I think I'm in flight or fight mode rn??? Idk, I'm almost immune to the cringe at this point because my fear has evolved into anger, if only for self-protection. The constant heavy breathing when Nueas around oooooooh my fucking l o r d

I left to get cereal and getting back over to my phone felt like trying to put a cat in a bath, my body just didn't wanna get anywhere near it. Never once in my life have I rooted for the straight couple over the BL/GL, but I was rooting for Prao because Toh literally made me feel like I found a centipede crawling up my leg typa uncomfortable and creeped out. That's what his character is supposed to be, but at some point I had to wonder if there was any intention to make the character likable ever. And the music??? Why are we playing sad music when Toh doesn't get to be creepy???? Am I supposed to sympathise¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿



I blinked and two episodes passed but I don't remember them. I feel that I've aged in spirit. I'm going to drop this for my health, safety, and sanity.

Edit: I previously rated this a one but through the utter insanity of only finding absolutely awful series to watch lately, I decided to return to the trauma that is this one. I added a full star for the scene where Nuea appears naked for no reason because I spent about fifteen minutes straight laughing about it until I cried and my whole torso hurt.

Edit 2: its grown on me. Two more stars. Im understanding the cult favorite aspect because if you acclimate and survive the eye-watering cringe for long enough, it really is funny

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Suprisingly Interesting, Messy, and Fun

I went in expecting this series to suck and during episode one, I thought I was right. Episode one is cutesy but also shows that it's apparently going to be a murder mystery??? It just didnt jive to me. Ive never been so glad I stuck a show out because oh my god did I get invested.

I am desperate for season two. Please make season two. Dear god the cliffhanger at the end????? Im so hype for season two!!

Okay, let's get into this:

The couples are all a mess but in different ways that were all a mix of fun and frustrating to watch. One couple is BDSM heavy and makes you root for them so hard until suddenly one part of "safe, sane, consenual" is thrown out the window.

Another couple is quite literally "omg step bro what are you doing" but with a girl thrown in for funsies. And then thrown off a building for less funsies.

The last couple is a more typical BL set up with a straight guy jerking a gay guys chain but both are muffins so you cant just root for one of them and hate the other.

I love each and every one of them. I'm aggressively invested in all of them. I've never yelled at my screen this much, but god they just make all the worst decisions and it is BRILLIANT.

The murder mystery part of the plot becomes more interesting in the later episodes when everything is so messy that its possible to forget theyre in high school (which, seriously, is this euphoria verse??? The only thing missing is drugs). I won't say more to avoid spoiling that but this series really would be a ten if they'd had 12 episodes to really flesh things out. Considering the run time, I didn't remove stars despite it needing the audience to make some leaps on their own.

This was a wildly fun watch. Im still reeling because I was actively not expecting it to be good but I had the time of my life to the point that I'm about to go rewatch it!

(And you should watch it too, it's very fun I promise okay bye)

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Just Stop At Episode 9

This was kinda cheesy, kinda cute up through episode 9. I wouldve recommended it up through episode 9. I liked most of the characters through episode 9. Except Saengtia, but we'll get there.

Episode 10 ruined what could of been a solid, good BL series. Patt was my absolute favorite character and the side couple was excitingly cute with good chemistry. Saengtia was there, but let's get back to positives. The music was great, I actually tracked down quite a few of the songs and playlisted them. The chemistry was *chefs kiss*, you vibe? And then Saengtia decides to start lying for literally no reason. And I do mean no fucking reason.

I hate lying plotlines because, for me, a character can rarely come back from it. I already had trouble liking Saengtia, once he started lying (and to P'Patt ffs. Why??? Patt was an angel) I went from mild dislike to outright vitriol. I dont want to watch people I don't like fall in love. Lomfon was also part of the stupid fucking storyline that wrecked this show, so despite how much I'd liked his character, episode 10 - 12 was spent just fast forwarding or straight up skipping Saengtia and Lomfon scenes.

Saengtia irks me so, so, so much. He lies, gets mad at P'Patt for being mad at him for lying, stonewalls him when he asks Saengtia to be clear about who he wants, tells Patt he doesn't like his tone to shut him up like he didnt just spend a full day frolicking about with someone EVERYONE has said likes him, kisses that same guy (fucking over his own brother in the process), gets pissed at Patt for being pissed considering he just found his boyfriend cheating, stonewalls Patt AGAIN..... such a repulsive character, I was f u m i n g throughout the last three episodes. Even before episode 10, I had no sympathy for Saengtia. A grown ass adult throwing the worlds largest tantrum because his parents divorced. Amicably. All the blame on his mom with no knowledge of anything that happened. A. Grown. Ass. Adult. And then to be so overinvolved in overthinking about his parents divorce that he ignores his soulmate for TWO YEARS????? yeah, he never deserved Patt and Patt has my sympathy for apparently deserving Saengtia. I hope he has better karma next life.
Frankly, rip Saengtia out of the story (not replace, remove. Patt can kiss the air or something) and the rating would immediately go up to an 8.

I dont even want to get into the jenkiness of the trope. Wouldve been fine and dandy, but the writers were salivating to have Saengtia fuck everything up so bad they did it themselves. If you cant follow (or at least define, damn) the rules of your trope, skip the trope. You yell a bit and get real sad and now you can hear in the rain??? Youre nearby and stressed and now youre the third wheel soul mate???? S p a r e. M e.

I loved this series so much, which is really a shame, because I hate this series. Again, stop watching after episode 9, or dont watch at all, if only for your blood pressure.

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A Solid BL with Normal BL Pros and Cons

Great beginning/first half, good story overall. Some points of contention that took it from a 10 to a grudging 7.5:

1. Tawan liked the other doctor after literally one meeting and starting dating him after ten letters and literally nothing else (also 'letters' is way too generous-- they were notes at best.) He was way, way, waaaayyy too attached for how little they knew each other.

2. Mork knew the other doctor was cheating and lied to Tawan about it. Tbh even just keeping it to himself is fucked, but to lie?? Even when asked directly? No. I hate liars in general, despise lying plots, and I couldnt really get back to liking his character after. I still finished the series, but I really feel it the choice to lie to a friend for fear of being uncomfortable was brushed over too quickly.

3. ToyBoss was my least favorite thing in the whole show. Specifically Toy. Toy is an ass. Toy remains an ass, even after they kiss and make up or whatever. Idk, the scene where he fucks up Boss' bookshelf (books literally laying open FACEDOWN. LAYING ON THEIR SPINES DEAR LORD GIVE ME STRENGTH) got me heated. More than heated, actually. I didnt like the character to begin with, but I started skipping their scenes after that because, for me at least, it was unconscionable.

4. The barista couple side story was kinda contrived. Not the worst thing, but they didnt really do a great job showing why it needed to be that complicated besides one metaphor that very much didnt explain anything.

5. I wasnt a fan of the second obstacle in episode 9. Im aware that there must always be a second hurdle for the mains to overcome, but it felt really forced. Miscommunication is the fastest way to lose my attention, especially when everyone has smartphones and is an adult. An almost 30 year old adult.


Now for the parts I really enjoyed:

1. There were a lot of music hijinks/music based jokes that didnt just land, they destroyed me. I laughed extremely hard at the stop-start music jokes and I wish there had been more of them. Also, good music choices in general.

2. This is the first thai BL I've seen where people get hurt and their wounds are something I would give even one single shit about. Usually they just slap a papercut somewhere and freak out about it, but every time someone is injured in this series, I genuinely believe it needs a bandage. Not huge, but its one of the obligatory suspension of disbelief points I usually like the least.

3. Khai. I think his character couldve been ustilzed much better (and much earlier), but the episode in which he's pertinent was still well done.

4. The motorcycle trio. Literally best side characters in any BL ever. Period. Fight me if you disagree, Im ripped.

5. Serious conversations that delve into sexuality. It's interesting when BLs actually tackle topics related to LGBT+ anything instead of just throwing voyeuristic scenes in left and right and making everyone gay for the sake of it. I dont hate that-- here I am watching BL exclusively for the most part-- but it gets very old, very fast. Ive seen other series that delve into more sensitive topics more effectively, but it was done well here and that's really all I ask for.

6. I really enjoyed the progression of Mork and Tawans relationship. A lot of BLs montage to try and say "hey theres totally a reason these guys fall for each other lol, you imagine what that is based on these fun gifs" but we actually get dialogue and scenes to show how their personalities mesh or where they arent such a good fit. Again, I've seen it done better, but this is a rare gem of a quality to have, so I'm not going to nitpick it.

In conclusion, definitely worth a watch, it does go a bit off the rails in the last couple episode but if I ever find a BL that doesnt, I'll probably die ofbshock anyway.

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Something Crucial Is Missing But I Can't Figure Out What

When I started this series, I was convinced it was going to be my favorite BL of all time. And for two months or so, it was. The characters talk out their issues and seem very realistic. The friend group is a vibe and is consistently vibing. They play a lot but they also work a lot, and hard. They have aspirations and pasts. They're very well-rounded. The amount of cute and the way it was done had me damn near to tears (the confession scene with TanFang? Cant even think about it without tearing up. Peak cute in the most non-suffocating way.) Even though the opening premise kind of fell to the wayside faster than I expected considering the amount of episodes, I wasnt mad about it. The acting was believable to good at times and I was enjoying myself immensely. A lot of past tense there.

Somewhere around the halfway mark, the episodes started to drag. The plot thinned, which was impressive since it was never thick to begin with. Each episode seemed to contain more "cute moments of X CP" reels and less story. Montage, montage, montage. Peem went from refreshing me to irritating me with his back and forth, push and pull. The slow burn of it all really got annoying because it wasnt actual slow burn, it was just confusing. Phum and Peem kiss like four times, and circle each other constantly, and obviously like each other, but then, 75% through the series, Phum is going to START flirting with Peem?? What were the last 11 episodes for??? They'd BEEN flirting since episode one. Constantly. At first, We Are seemed mature and fun (which is a hard combo to achieve tbh), but it started to feel more juvenile than anything. That's not to say it's bad, but it's certainly nowhere near as good as it begun.

Personally, I dont care about slow or fast burn, or NC scenes, or kisses, or what have you— I care about plot and, even for slice of life, this didn't have enough of it to warrant 16 episodes. I enjoy watching relationship building in context with plot. This series should have been, at absolute max, 13 episodes. Episode 13 is when I finally felt truly tired of it (specifically, I felt like I was forcing myself to tune in), but after watching that much I figured why not hold out to the end? There are several episodes that feel like filler. Or at least primarily filler with one plot point to sticky tape the whole thing together. Between that and the amount of times I got deja vu thinking something had been handled only for the characters to say, "nah lets run this shit again actually," I was hoping they'd jam a lot more plot into the last three episode, even if it felt rushed, but no dice.

I am halfway through episode 15 and I gotta drop this. Which is insane considering how far I got, but I'm barely even watching anymore. Its boring. I love slice of life. I enjoy mature characters. Tin Tem Jai is one of my favorite series— I definitely don't need things to go crazy to have a good time, but it just isn't holding my attention at all. It feels like somethings missing but I cant articulate what. Its like trying to remember a smell– uncanny, frustrating, and really difficult to explain. Tbh, the only characters I still love and might return to watch the rest for is TanFang. If the later episodes were replaced with a more in depth showing of how they got together, I wouldnt complain, but as is, We Are ended up just being kinda mediocre to me. I recommend the hell out of the first half and do not recommend the second half literally at all.

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I wanted this to be what it thinks it is

I so badly wanted this to be good because Grey Rainbow is one of my favorite BLs of all time. Ah, alas.

Medical misinformation abounds, but I'm not thai, so maybe procedures are different over there??? Also every single character sucks except Tua and Nuch. Like, every single one. No one is likeable, especially the main character, which is wild. He's so stupid it physically pains me, and he keeps repeating the same stupid behavior over and over and over again at the expense of a friend. Holy hell he's annoying. Every time someone dies he melts down and goes on about how it's all his fault oh no boo hoo. Like he must think he's got the final say on who lives or dies. Even in shows where the main character is an established loser, I'm hard-pressed to think of them as one, but this guy??? Prakan is a certified asshole loser.

The rules of the people being reaped are inconsistent, the rules of the reapers dont make much sense and are inconsistent. The punishments for various reaper things are arbitrary af. The concept is cool, the execution could have maybe used like one brainstorm meeting. Maybe a writers room. Maybe even just someone to say all the plot points out loud so they'd notice the holes.

The music was wild. Something literally insignificant would happen and this loud, dramatic music would play and I was confused every time because again, nothing warranted it. All of the music was loud for no reason and almost always overdramatic. This is a drama, but its was *noticeably* overdramatic. It took me out of the story quite frequently, which is rough because the story itself was already taking me out of the story. Frankly, I'm not done yet and I want to drop it, but Tua is 1. Doing better than the rest of the cast (bar Nuch) combined and 2. Is pretty. That's all I'm in it for right now. I'm not even in it for Nuch, as much as I love her, because she's in love with the largest, most prolasped asshole I have ever had the displeasure of seeing. And yes, I do mean....uh Prakans cousin, whatever his name is. The side couple is insufferable, the higherups are insufferable for both the reapers and doctors. For some reason people keep getting hit by cars??? Like car, car, building, car, car, cancer type ahh.

This has been an exercise in frustration, which js more frustrating because it could've been SO. GOOD.

Could've.

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Mostly Minuses, But Not The Worst

Another story ruined by the irritating "I spoke to your family and now we cant be together" plot. "Its for your own good" plotlines rarely come across as anything but supremely irritating and this was no exception. I was okay with this show up until that point, then I began aggresively skipping and turned it up to 2x speed. I didn't even finish the episode before I had to accept that I really was too disenchanted to be bothered with the rest of the show. So, let's talk:

This show is slow. The plot is thin-- not spider silk thin, but it's not going to make you feel much. There is a gargantuan amount of fluff but with no plot to support it, it feels.....it's just missing something. I was suspicious of Yuki for almost seven episodes just because he decided he was in love out of nowhere. I was constantly looking for the additional plot in every situation only to find that it is always a matter of what you see is what you get. It is as deep as a tablespoon.

The main couple was cute up until the bullshit. The tension of "will they, wont they," was resolved in less than an episode, but the amount of emotion they resolved it with made it seem like theyd been apart for at least three (and they really should have been), so it felt a bit bizzare. I liked the side couple a decent amount despite the utter lack of....anything behind their relationship, but then they also got hit with the trope-mobile and had a misunderstanding three minutes of conversation and a five minute walk could fix. I'm being harsh, but these characters are all, presumably, close to or over 30. This shit would barely strike me as acceptable with college kids, I dont really have the tolerance for it at their ages.

The best part of this series was the cameo from Be Loved In House, and I dropped that series too, so make of that what you will. I am surprisingly disappointed with this series, most likely because the reviews implied it was much more put together. Which is why I normally ignore the reviews, but I suppose I hadn't been burned by them in awhile and forgot. There is a correct way to do slice of life and this was not it. The pacing is eclectic-- relationship things are rushed, but the surrounding plot (or lack thereof) is glacial. Characters lose or gain traits to better accommodate random conflict.

I had some good things to say about this, so I'll get to that and then wash my hands of this mess. I am always a staunch advocate for relationship building. Plus & Minus does a good job of showing the platonic bond between the main couple. They use key moments and habitual behaviors to show the weight of the years between them instead of a quick montage and, as a proud hater of montages, I really liked that.

The sets were always appealing to the eye, which matters very, very little to me, but I did notice it. I enjoyed the little things the main couple did for each other. A lot of BL make it seems like getting together is the happy ever after, or just have no idea what to do with a couple once they are together. This is not necessarily an exception, but they did cute little things for each other, and that, specifically, was nice to see.

Outside of that, nothing else stood out particularly much, definitely not enough to be worth mentioning so I guess thats it, bye.

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I'm Not Angry, Just Disappointed

Episode one is usually rough so I'm giving this the benefit of the doubt, but I have a strong feeling the entire series is going to require a lot of it. Cringe alone doesnt make for a good series and holy hell is there cringe. And not even good cringe or funny cringe, just.... "uh ok, i guess" cringe. We begin with a stalker who refuses to believe he's the weird one. And he is, somehow, slightly less weird than the person he's stalking. Slightly.

Also the 1000 year old supernatural being has no secrecy or self-preservation? Sure cool. I can suspend disbelief there if only because in the trailer we see that he's not exactly attached to living but something about the execution is.....suspect. Again, gonna chalk all this up to first episode growing pains and cross my fingers that it gets better.

After finishing episode two, it was much less excruciating. If we follow this trend, episode three (or maybe four) on should be watchable, so I'm in it for another two weeks, I guess.

After watching episode three, I finally figured out why this irks me: it feels like a middle school fanfiction. The sheer amount of characters repeating lines and staring with no talking, just awkwards giggles, is painful. I was watching on 2x and it took up a lot of the episode even still. Three episodes in and this is the first episode that feels like something happened, but it still feels like nothing is happening. Like the script has so few plot points that they really drag out what should be a cute lil siesta into a nine hour sleep.

Episode four kinda seals the deal, I'm dropping this. It feels like a middle schooler's crackfic which isn't necessarily an awful thing, but all the dead space also makes it feel like filming day was the first time any of the actors saw the script. The humor has not been landing for me, despite being able to see every moment thats *supposed* to be funny. The plot is thinner than one-ply toilet paper and the two new characters managed to somehow be even less compelling than the cast we already know (except Mild, who can do no wrong.) I'm not taking this series seriously at all-- not even remotely-- which usually makes things better, but it's still impressively bad. Alas.

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I LOVE THIS LIKE IT IS MY FIRST BORN CHILD (WHICH IS NOT A THING I HAVE, BUT I ASSUME).

It's so cute, the music slaps so hard, the story is chefs mothereffing kiss, the only gripe I have is that I thought it was ten episodes, so I went through five stages of grief when there was no 'next episode' button after ep.8. ALL THE SAME:

REWATCH THIS YOU MISERABLE LANDLUBBER.
It's cute and nothing hurts, which is the antithesis of what I typically enjoy, but dear god is it cute and heaven help me does nothing hurt here in the best of ways. All of my pessimistic predictions were met with MORE CUTE and MORE LOVE until my shriveled soul had to just give in and enjoy the show.

I giggled at parts. Not *laughed*, not *chuckled*, I GIGGLED. Like a schoolgirl, kicking my feet and shit. This is so unfathomably cute (but not toothrottingly, I still have my pride, thank you very much) and I love it. The acting was great, the characters were all likeable, and for 8 episodes at less than 30 mins each, everything was decently fleshed out. I have no complaints. **I have no complains** it's breaking my brain, I ALWAYS complain.

Anyway watch this when some other show inevitably makes you consider the worth of continued existence.

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