Watch it. Waaaaatch it, you wont regret it, I swear
Literally the best of all the BL ive watched (and remember lol). Side couples could have used more time, kinda got left behind but everyone was well fleshed-out, dynamic, and loveable. I love this. I love love love love this. I had a blast. I couldnt stop smiling. The trope that normally pisses me off didnt even get a chance before theyd cleared things up. I want to go back in time and unwatch this just so i can watch it the first time again. I teared up at the end and i deadass do not cry for a n y t h i n g. This is lovely. This is a must watch. This is my literal fucking kryptonite because i am pissing shitting crying that its over or doesnt have a second season. For once in my happily critical life, ive nothing negative to say(Wait i lied the music choices in the first few episodes can be reaply deranged but it irons out)
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It Just Feels Edgy
I'd heard some vague things about this one before watching and assumed it'd be similar to Dangerous Drugs of Sex (DDoS) in quality. I was incorrect..Copius amounts of sex, but thats to be expected considering the setting. One thing I did like was that the sex scenes, literally every one of them, were not particularly sexy. Explicit, but they all maintained a relatively high level of discomfort and....anxiety, almost? The explicit scenes do feel a bit like they exist primarily for shock value because the story kinda fizzles out and loses itself. There's one implied gore scene that could have been interesting, but it's potential was castrated, making it also feel like a shock value prop.
Really good use of silence to build discomfort. Awful use of tongue, I've never seen a better campaign against french kissing. Good storytelling/editing for the first lart at least. Awful use of a goat, sir please.
Aizen type ending. This is what really ruined it for me. Its like the screenwriter just said, "fuck it whatever" at the end and used the laziest, most tired bs plot point. And the main character is just like "omg no youre so crazy anyway heres some money. okay lets fuck." Like Im sorry, what?????? The story was mildly interesting but they spent so much time adding sex scenes every other minute that they just nuked the ending.
A really disappointing watch. I enjoy watching dark content, but this was just....bad? Its not really dark, just edgy. I imagine one might rewatch this if offered a large sum of money to do so and literally no other reason.
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This Was Supposed To Be A Glowing Review
I am acearo but I am now also desparately in love with Man. The amount of times I said "goddamn," in response to his mannerisms cannot be counted– he exudes attractiveness, and I normally only find people pretty at best. Chot is a perfect character, I wish Chot was in every scene, but I am biased here as well as I have been ferociously interested in Bruce since Lovely Writer. Up until episode 8 or 9 this was an almost perfect series to me and I intended my review to be a dissertation on how wrong it is that the rating is 7.1. Obviously, my rating now is now far below that, so let's get into it.Pat is uniquely irritating. He cries at the drop of a hat, is never in the wrong despite always being the problem, and generally manages to make every issue excruciating to watch. I do not like the character. I actually did at first because he had a lot of pizazz and determination, but that kinda disappeared around the halfway mark.
The storyline gets more disjointed as the show progresses and, at some point, it feels distinctly like the writers forgot their own plotlines. The coworkers (Ying especially) are gossipy, mean, and basically bully Pat and then they all chat happily at badminton?? Jen tells Jaab he'll stay away from him and then....doesn't. Like at all. Not even for one scene. Jaab tells Jen they should stay friends but last we saw them, Jaab was still 300% cooked for Jen and we get no insight as to why he suddenly decided not to go for it. Actually, speaking of JaabJen, I've never been so disappointed by a formerly interesting couple. Up through the kiss, I was invested in them. Right after the party when Jaab for some reason decides to shoot himself in both feet, I had to force myself not to skip through their following scenes right through to the end. It was just so stupid, entirely unwarranted, and woefully under-explained.
The entirety of the Jeng's dad plotline was meh. Put was.....there? I was kind of indifferent to him (I love Up, so he was at least nice to see) and the story around him and Pat, especially after he's shown caring only about Pat, then taking him for granted the moment they get together, then caring only about Pat again once they're apart. He felt more like a plot device than a character. I really want to disparge Pat more right now, but we'd be here all day.
Jeng is perfect, I have nothing bad to say. except maybe he should leave Pat and the company and just vibe at his restaurant.
Tbh, I had a feeling that, to maintain my high rating, I should've just stopped at episode ten because we all know how ep. 11 goes, but I chose my path because Man is not in any other BLs and I do not like him enough to subject myself to any form of not-queer media. I enjoyed how much of the office we saw and the maturity (read: this is not the right word) of the characters (bar Pat and like, all the side character coworkers). It's rare to have older characters be the focus of a BL so I really appreciated it in this series— not being in high-school, college, or fresh out of school is really a blessing for this genre.
The music was okay at first but once the waterworks kicked off (so much fucking crying is2g) it got irritating hearing the sad piano all the damn time. The acting was ok to good. I can see why people might be underwhelmed with Man's acting, I thought he was good though, provided he wasnt trying to act sad. Pat was good provided he wasnt crying or being dramatic or speaking. Chot was perfection, as was Ae and her husband.
I will probably rewatch this, but really just for Bruce and Man, so make of that what you will. Maybe worth one watch if you stop at episode 10 before the bs. 3000% worth multiple watches if you drop it around episode 8. I actually like that the episodes were long, I didnt really get bored, but I always watch everything at at least 1.5x so.
I am once again trying not to hate on Pat but dear lord he is the entire reason this show went to shit. Like even the bullshit storyline between JaabJen has nothing on how annoying Pat's character was. I hate that he was babied throughout the show; everyone can hear mean or realistic things except Pat. But Pat is the one who needs the reality check the most. I had a lot of sympathy when he was being bullied at the office but the moment it stopped he became one of the most insufferable characters I've ever had the displeasure of watching, and I've watched some real garbage. Pat's character feels like the type of person to show up to a wedding in white and then cry when they're reprimanded. Just spoiled and self-centered. My rating was actually still a reluctant 7 until episode 12, at which point Pat wore through my already hair-thin tolerance and I dropped it. What a waste of good potential. Tbh, I'd give this a 9 if Jeng didn't take Pat back. Fuck Pat fr.
Thats about it. This started great and then shot its own feet until it was just mediocre.
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A Perfect Ten If It Wasn't For The Friends
The story is great, the music slaps hard af. I love the main couple and their chemistry, theyre sweet as pie. But.Their friends.
Their friends are all, and I do mean ALL, genuine awful humans. They drug Bbomb, interfere with their relationship over and over and over again. They badmouth Jin TO BBOMB and try to create issues because that's apparently supposed to make BbombJin closer?? The amount of boundaries absolutely trampled had me shaking with anger by episode ten. Its quite mild up until episode 8 or 9, and then suddenly we're shown its the entire friend group consistently ruining things. And its never addressed. This show should be called "With Friends Like These...." because I'm habing trouble believing they're actually friends at all. Everyone is allowed their privacy and to stress about whatever relationships theyre in, but when it comes to the main couple, every single side character is trying to get their fingers in the pie and it is infuriating.
Ultra was decent at first, making it seem like he understood the meaning of going to far only for him to be 100% on bored with drugging Bbomb's drink in hopes it'd make him sleep with Jin. Aim is the most unlikeable female character Ive ever come across that it being pushed as a fun, fresh mastermind. I hate all of their friends. I could barely get through episode 10 and am still trying to finish it as I write this up.
When I tell you this series would be perfect without the bullshit from their friends, I really, really mean it. Especially since their interference ONLY causes issues. It never helped even one time. Without it, this would just be a mature showing of two people realistically coming together, instead of the off the wall hijinks in most BL, and I was loving that. Was. But they stomped the life put of the good parts of the show trying to make the "friends" over-involvement cute or funny, which it still ended up being neither. It was legitimately concerning to me how many people loved their bullshit, because they never stopped doing friendship-ending type garbage. Even after they established that Bbomb and Jin probably weren't ready to go public. Its so aggressively frustrating because this series is good....without it. With it, its good for seven episodes and then strictly tolerable. Maybe not even that, because I'm considering dropping despite being on the last episode. I'm so annoyed.
Up till this point, I was crowing that it deserved so much higher of a rating, but I understand the seven. Tbh, I'd understand a six, too.
EDIT: Yet another "plan" from the "friends" i will in fact be dropping this halfway through ep ten. What a fucking waste
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Watched Again After 7 Years
I didnt remember most of the story (though i did remember most of the twists) and god, I forgot how good this movie is. I gave it a 10 in the past and Im keeping it as a 10 for my personal rating, but showing some restraint and giving it a 9 here.If you like dark anything, watch it. If you like unequal power dynamics, ooooh my god is this for you. I love obsessive love done well and this is done spectacularly. My kingdom for this to have been a series because i could absolutely gorge myself on these two's relationship.
Mitsuo is in charge but Mitsuo is in charge so, secretly, Mitsuo is in charge. Its a lovely watch, filled to the brim with violence and grimy living... ah, I just love it!!
So worth a watch. And a rewatch for that matter, this pair is just 🔥🔥. Anyway, if you watch things with your ethics or morals in mind, mayne skip, otherwise, jump in :D
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Everything is great except a couple things that make me wanna punt myself from the 8th story
This is a cute, predictable, childhood friendship turned romantic type story. The acting was impeccable, the chemistry between the boys (like all of them, even the friendships that are just friendships) was great. There are a lot of rough moments they have to get through, but they're handled really believably, there werent many moments where I felt kicked out of the story byecause something was farfetched and some of the conflicts gave me some heart squeezes, no tears for this one though.I think I could rewatch it if I really wanted, maybe in some years, but I'm also not big on rewatching anything, so take that as you will.
Cute as it is, I dont think I wouldve reviewed at all if I wasn't bursting at the seams to say:
wtf is the child + adult storyline???? A fifteen year old thirsts after a 20-sumn yr old and she ISNT immediately like no, absolutely not. And then her FRIEND (debatable, maybe her cellmate) is like, "i just dont want you to regret rejecting him like???? Babe??????? W h a t
And then shes going thru something traumatic and terrifying and this motherfucker is like "HI YES EXCUSE ME, I SEE YOURE GOING THROUGH A LOT RIGHT NOW BUT IM ALL GROWED UP HAHA plsdatemethx" i am flabbergasted because everything else was sooo good
Including that character until she failed to not fall for an actual child, the bar is in hell, how did you trip under it???
And Eiw's voice bro 🥲🥲
It didnt bother me until literally the second to last episode where theres an event he really has to get emotional for. I had to mute it until he was done which, considering the scene, REALLY took me out of the story. Up until that point, I think the whining wasn't the worst? Idk, ive watched things that have made me want to extract and pulverize my eardrums and this wasn't that for the most part.
Anyway, i would still recommend this because it's cute, the adult mentioned above has no sense but doesnt commit a felony (again, this is hell, would you like to meet the bar?), and the relationships between all the other characters are so fun to see play out.
(It would literally be a 9.5 without that one effing storyline.)
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Suprisingly Boring
Based on the premise, I really was expecting something with a decent amount of plot, but somehow, no matter what happens in an episode, it still feels like nothing happened? Its almost impressive because each ep is nearly an hour long but devoid of....anything.The acting leaves something to be desired, the sound effects are overdone/overused but dealwithable, but the primary issue is just the lack of any stand out moments. Krom supposedly hated Fueng but that cleared up so fast I forgot it was a plot point at all. The fans hated Krom (for.....no reason? Like no reason even for mob mentality fans) and got over it in seconds. All conflicts/obstacles are solved before they even dream of building tension. I wanted to wait to review until episode three as the first two episodes can be rough in any BL, but I'm still extremely underwhelmed. I'm not sold on the romance or the comedy.
Even now, I'm trying to figure out what I've liked about this show so far, and I'm blanking. There's nothing hateable either (though there definitely are unlikeabke parts) it's all very mild? It's boring. A literal bomb goes off and it's still boring. I'm happy to see Kimmon again, so thats a plus. The humor in this one didn't really land for me even one time or, if it did, it wasnt memorable. I think I'll give it another two episodes and then decide whether to keep or drop, but I'm thinking this might just not be my type of Rom-Com.
EDIT: One episode of two down. Epispde 4 is easily the most interesting of the released eps so far
A lot of manufactured bullshit, but things occur...kind of? I stand by my decision to decide on dropping next week if only to see if the new dynamic makes the story better or not.
EDIT 2: Just finished episode 5 annnnnd.... I'm dropping this. I added a star because I've watched much worse shows than this recently, so 2.5 seemed a toucb harsh, but we've returned to form since nothing really happened in this episode. There's a love confession that literally made me flinch backwards because, to the best of my knowledge, it's been days since they started talking. I really disliked the Krom's immediate willingness to distrust Fueng and trust Kor for....no reason?? They just got together and now he's happy to look for reasons to break up. It's also just brushed over as a cute lil thing, but it rubbed me the wrong way.
The kiss scene was cute or whatever, but I really don't think I needed 2 minutes of it? Or that many lip smacking foleys, but I digress. This feels like a specific class of BL that's "plot" is just scaffolding for kiss/love scenes to bring in fans. I'm bored. I'm bored to tears. Definitely wouldn't recommend this, but I also wouldn't advise someone not to watch. Idk, it's just meh.
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Dont Waste Your Precious Time
Episode one was by far the most confusing yet least intriguing thing I've ever seen. To be honest, I only held out because the reviews and comments made it seem like this would be hilariously bad. Unfortunately, it is just bad. Theres a lot of NC scenes and none of them look that awkward so far but every single one of them makes me fast forward. There's a flashback NC scene in episode two that should've been 30 seconds MAYBE, but it goes on for 6 minutes.I shit you not, six straight minutes. Which is a lot, considering the NC scene in episode one was at least five minutes. I do not know who these people are, why one man suddenly became the MCs dead bf, or, more importantly, why they are suddenly fucking. Matter of fact, I dont know who any one is because people keep getting introduced. (Also why is a child running a food stand???? She cant even reach the window¿)
By episode three, I'm now skipping chunks of dialogue because its making me cringe so hard my body is pretzeling. The MC yells at a man who doesnt know him from Adam like he didnt just do some fuckshit he deserved to be scolded for. He gets called selfish and that is 300% true, but then he's like, "omg youve never tried to understand me." This man met him less than two days ago, no shit. I hate time travel shows/stories/fics that refuse to make the main characters anything but brash and stupid. Its like hes not even trying to look sane.
Its so stupid, bro *its SO STUPID*. I cant stress it enough. And the acting...well, no, the reading-- no one is acting here, just reading lines monotonously. Its physically painful to listen to. I also take back what I said about the NC scenes not being awkward because omfggg they are. Once I stopped watching at 2x, I could see the MC desparately trying to introduce tongue to the makeout while the other guy was absolutely not having it. They cycle through three moves: kiss, kiss chest, kiss neck, and one optional grope chest move for spice. Every couple does it. Just those three things over and over for five plus minutes, AT LEAST once per episode. Its painful to watch. This is the first time Ive ever found myself begging BL actors to STOP FUCKING KISSING. I dont even know how to explain all that was wrong with it, you'd have to watch it to understand and I would, never, ever ask anyone to watch this.
The plot is nonexistent and, despite being called Time, they do a piss poor job of establishing how much time has passed, so we've got known-you-for-months-to-years energy in conversations between people who, presumably, met less than a week ago. The MC never stops talking to himself, out loud, in front of people. He also never stops standing directly beside people he's spying on, but if I get into that I might have a stroke from pure frustration alone. One of their coworkers casually sells sensitive personal information to some kid she met an single time. The conversations are so dull I had to seriously consider that aliens might exist and their first order of business was to sneak onto earth just to write the dialogue in this series. I could go on but holy hell have I wasted enough time on this dumpster fire.
Do something productive with your time like avoiding Time the Series. Idk, go water the ocean or count sand on the beach, it'll be more pleasant.
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If You're Exhausted From Messy Plots, This One's For You
I like this show and that is weird for me. It is refreshingly cute??? The character with an annoying personality is likeable¿¿¿¿ I'm baffled because there's so much I would normally dislike that I just enjoy in this series. There's the whiny character I mentioned earlier, usually it can make me drop a series if it goes too far but I like the kid, his sense of humor, and whatever bs he's doing at any given time. The characters have some depth but it's not gonna be anywhere near an ocean. There are interesting forays into topics I don't see discussed much in BL (like gender and parental neglect).The plot is....confusing? Like I'm about to be I'm episode three and I'm still not sure what the plot....is? But that's actually pretty normal for me for slice of life shows/movies, so this must be that. Even though it kinda just feels like watching these people's daily lives, I'm entertained. The characters mesh so well its surprising. It's also surprising that this review is so positive, I thought I was just feeling neutral but it really is fun so far. (I do watch nearly everything on 2x speed, so be aware of that. I've been on 1.5x for this show.) Every time the episode ended on freeze frame I would crack up because nothings happening and there's no cliffhanger, it's just friends hanging out and growing up and such, but it's suddenly like *shing* freeze frame *shing*.
Idk this show feels good. I really like it. I'm almost on ep. 6 now and they're really just living. It's really refreshing to get to see how characters mesh together instead of having to assume a lot because there's a lot of romance the writers are trying to get to. I like everyone so far. That has not happened to me in a show I've watched....ever. Like right out the gate, all the characters are fun and good and likeable??? Wild. You get to see the characters relationship from their interactions and the dialogue instead of from exposition or flashbacks. The dialogue is well-written. I've laughed at some of their antics and jokes which is also rare.
Yall I'm almost done and I'm so pleased, gosh. This is so refreshing. It covers some difficult topics but everyone is so normal. They respond like people, not actors, and they talk instead of...idk staging some huge unnecessary plan for something some words could solve. There was even a love triangle that was handled so well?????? I feel scolded just watching it because I kept predicting something messy would happen but everyone continued acting like adults. I've been watching on 1.25x for the last two episodes and I'm not bored??? It's absolutely mad.
I can easily see how some wouldn't like this one, but I'm not fond of messiness (even if it can be entertaining) so it's really nice to see something that just feels good to watch. I keep saying, "ah I really like this one!" out of no where and smiling because the characters are so sweet. Watch this, yeah? It's a good time.
(at this point, ive begun to assume that if mdl rates something as bad, it'll be good/great and vice versa (except PitBabe))
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Hoo Whee
Wow. This is rough. And I'm not talking about the subtitles.The subs are bad, but I didnt factor them into my rating and they don't factor into this review. Aside from episode one, the subs are mostly understandable even if theyre still a mess. What really made me give this such a low score is the plot.
It's bad. No way around it. The characters are irritating but, more importantly, don't seem to know what to do with themselves or have any real incentive behind their actions. Prod likes Pleum because............????? Pleum is suddenly interested in Prod because.......????????¿¿¿¿¿¿ Sroi knows Prod because???? Pleum is jealous of anything that breathes in Sroi's vicinity because????? Pleum wont take no for an answer but immediately gives up when Sroi starts dating someone else because?????¿¿¿¿¿?????? It's all so aggressively contrived with no care for giving the charcaters any consistency. Throw in a mother who's sick with some undescribed disease (and coughing up blood because how else would we know she's sick) and you've got yourself the world's most boring series.
I wanted this to at least be unintentionally hilarious because bad subs really lend themselves to that sort of thing, but I watched at 1.5x - 3x speed absolutely stone-faced. I forced a laugh at one point just to see if it'd kickstart things, like maybe I'd forgotten to laugh and just needed to get it started up. Nada. Nothing. And the show is actively trying to be funny. But between every single character just reading lines (except Pleum, for whom all lines are overacted in comparison) and weird ass interactions, all opportunities to laugh just inspired grimaces from me.
Speaking of weird ass interactions; the story is tied to like one eating area outside a faculty, the SOTUS room, and The Bar. Bold, underline, capitalize, and italicize The Bar because that is the primary location of all things in this show. Prod works at The Bar. Everyone seems to go drink every night. Pluem frequently acts like an ass at The Bar. Sroi goes there daily with her friend-turned-gf. I wouldnt be suprised if Prod's mother moved into The Bar so they could shoot more scenes in it.
Lastly, the main CP have negative chemistry. I dont even have examples of this to give because its just inherent? Like, Prod has more chemistry with the guy who's obviously going to become a love rival later. He has more chemistry with Sroi, Pleum's ex. He has more chemistry with a random extra who asked for the flowers he was going to throw away. He has more chemistry with the extra who punched him.
Watch this if somehow all of the above sounds like a good time, but I'm tapping out. I really hope Kimmon gets something good in the future because I missed him since 2 Moons but not for this. Never for this.
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A Robot Falls For A Human, But The Robot Is A Human
I was really excited for what this could have been. Robot + Human falling in love, delving into the progression of feelings for the Robot especially before (according to the summary) disaster strikes. Instead, I got two humans in close quarters liking each other really, really fast.We're originally shown that CYP isn't fond of people, has a harsh demeanor, and prefers to keep to himself. An assistant robot is literally forced upon him by his uncle, so it makes sense to assume he would be particularly displeased, but he is immediately docile upon meeting Ever 9. I could suspend the resulting belief from that if Ever 9 was in anyway robotic as it'd make sense that CYP was more confortable around something obviously inhuman. But Ever 9 is a person, period. Nothing about him is robotic at all. Maybe a naive person, but even still, barely. He speaks like a person, emotes like a person, feels like a person, has likes, dislikes, wants, and expresses displeasure at things he doesn't want to do. I feel robbed of the premise I was promised, because without the robot plot, literally nothing changes about the story so far.
Of course, all of this is explained away by calling Ever 9 super high tech and top secret, but it sincerely feels like the author/director/screenwriter is just constantly shushing me and telling me to "just go with it." I suppose, as of episode 4, this is more a compendium of "wouldnt this be cute" moments than the series promised by the summary. If you go in not expecting much or even just expecting that, it'll be a decent watch.
Edit: after watching episode five the first thing I said was, "this makes me want to eat carrots to go into anaphylactic shock." I am allergic to carrots, to be clear. Im dropping this for all the reasons stated above (plus a couple extra now), but in bold and underlined.
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All I Asked Was That Itt Suffer
I only got through episode one because I read the synopsis and knew Itt was gonna get his shit rocked eventually. I have never had a show push me to hate a character so effectively. I was s a l i v a t i n g for Itt to be punched or slapped or fucking pushed off a bridge. I was talking to my screen every five seconds to reiterate what a trash person Itt was. I was watching at 3x speed half because Itt is insufferable, half to hurry up and get to whenever he gets hit, specifically by Day. I went back to episode one after getting a quarterway through episode two to watch Itt get punched again. I agreed with Itt on his father only liking Day because Itt is useless. I yelled at his parents to scrap this one and just try again with a new kid. I considered my hatred of the phrase, "spare the rod, ruin the child," and concluded that maybe there's some truth to it because someone, ANYONE (Day. Make it Day) needs to hit Itt, and a lot. I rewatched the fight scene because Itt gets punched but not punched enough. I do not know if Itt can actually ever be punched enough, but I want everyone he comes into contact with to try.OK. So that's where I'm sitting after an episode and a half. I am waiting for whump. I am excited for Itt to have a bad time. I do not need a resolution, or for that bad time to end. The entire series could just be Itt having the worst time and I would be fucking euphoric.
IT IS HERE 👁👄👁
The joy I expected is exactly as sweet as I hoped, I feel so calm and collected now. There is something tacitly hilarious in Itt saying he's not crying, Day saying he is crying, and there being nary a tear within two square miles of Itt's face. Also, a lot of suspension of disbelief is required for all the bits in the hospital, the amount of things that just.....wouldn't ever happen is staggering. I've been grinning non-stop regardless though, because nothing can harsh the high of Itt being treated in accordance with the golden rule. Heaven is a place on earth and all that. If you don't hold grudges, this is probably an okay thing to watch. Me personal, I'm watching at 3x for everything in between Itt's feelings or body taking damage tbh.
Kamol just came in an f'ed things up, if Day is nicer to Itt because of this Imma start a riot. But I also might riot anyway because of all the flashbacks like bro pick a time period and stay there, PLEASE. Day is still mean, I'm jived. Kinda wild that everyone is so sympathetic to Itt when everything Day says makes sense??? Like he deadass can't do shit, and yeah, Day spoiled him, but Itt can't do.....literally anything??? As a grown ass adult??? The sad music is wild because I'm just continously agreeing with Day lmao
I'm now about to be on episode five and it looks like things are gonna get better for Itt. I can't say I'm happy about that, or satisfied with Itt's current suffering (reviews really had me thinking it'd go above and beyond.... alas) but I'm actually somewhat invested in seeing where this goes now instead of just being fueled by hatred of Itt. Never fear though, that's still very much there. I'm actually kinda concerned because I thought there'd be a snowballs chance in hell of Itt redeeming himself at least but I sincerely cannot see myself ever liking this character. I like Day, but only just?? Idk everyone kinda sucks here, actually, I might like Day just because he's currently like karmic punishment for Itt. Extremely mild karmic punishment.
Every time I almost smile at a cute moment there's a flashback to Itt being a shitshow that kills any good feelings 🙃. I'm tapping out halfway through ep. 7 because I suddenly just stopped caring?? If Itt is gonna have a good time and Day is gonna respoil him, I don't have much incentive to care about the plot. Which is minimal regardless so oh well lmao
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My Disappointment Is Immeasurable and My Day Is Ruined
I dont wanna see people I don't like kiss and fall in "love".
I felt it with cutie pie and I feel it here, some characters (or more specifically, their decisions) are just too unlikable to overlook. The leeway given to mediocre plot in exchange for decent, not awkward BL doesn't exist here, because even the BL parts left me conflicted.
If a show is GOOD, like really, sincerely good, I just watch it. Back to back to back until it's done. I was reading reviews while watching episode 2 because I couldn't fathom how this got that high of a rating and I've had fastforward held down since the beginning of ep. 2. I'm skipping forwards constantly because Porsche is so aggressively unlikable. For all that he was wary of the mafias, he starts working for them and immediately begins acting a fool. I was literally rooting for someone to shoot him-- not fatally, though I don't think I'd care regardless, but anything to just restart the brain he seemed to have left behind in episode one. I'm not even done with episode two yet and this is all I have to say about it. The only positive is that episode one was interesting enough to get me to episode two. Episode two might not be interesting enough to get me to episode three, but the reviews implied it'll be worth it to wait for the VegasPete storyline so I'm gonna see how long I can hang on.
If you hate cringe, this one's not for you. By episode two, there's no breaks between Porsche making Stupid Fucking Decisions™️. Every single scene, you can assume he'll take the stupidest, most deranged action possible, without fail. He seemed like a reasonable, serious young man in the first episode, but in the second, we learn he is your average, pos asshole. I'm being so real, it has been four minutes since I wrote the previous paragraph and every time he's on screen the urge to drop this show increases exponentially. It's not even stressful because I KNOW he's going to do something so stupid it feels patently unrealistic. It's annoying in the kind of way that just make you want to leave, there's nothing to be said. I like unlikable characters when done correctly, but this is a type of unlikable that I don't think some backstory can fix. He does something that should end with a bullet between the eyes (because they're the MAFIA, HELLO???? do actions not have consequences????) and all that happens is he gets lightly strangled to sleep. How the hell do you even gently strangle someone??? And everyone else in the room who are literally also mafias are okay with just that??? Sure, yeah, ok, I'll believe it even though me, as a viewer, was as unsatisfied as they should've been.
I cannot properly communicate how disappointing this series is so far. And every new scene I watch, I have to come back to type more because I hate it. I'm STILL IN EPISODE TWO. Every. Single. Scene. Is. Frustrating. I might just start skipping whenever I see Porches face and hope the second couple saves this.
I've made it to episode three with only a single lobotomy, yay. I can't tell if it's Porsche or the author who forgot about the brother he's supposed to care dearly for. He goes out (and thus definitely has service) and doesn't think of him once. Now that Kinn's brother is more front and center, I can see that everything I took issue with in the previous episodes was an attempt at comedy. Not one bit of it landed, including in this episode, but I can at least see where the director thinks I should be laughing.
Episode three marks Porsche taking things slightly more seriously. Unfortunately, I am already rooting for anyone who isn't him AND doesn't like him. He puts himself in more stupid situations that he KNOWS won't go well (and it's also never explained how doing what he wants somehow trumps everyone else's authority. He just leaves his new boss to go work for the old one without consulting either? And it just works out I guess, because it's never addressed 🙂 sure ok. But why write a mafia story?) Someone points a gun and Porsche holds his up for literally two seconds. Two seconds, and then just raises his hand instead? Like bro, at this point just say, "omg babe this isn't you, put the gun down." Wtf is a hand supposed to do against bullets????
Everything's apparently life and death because mafia, but everybody pulls guns out for fun and then doesn't shoot. I thought we were going to get something gritty and real because one dude gets shot for fun in episode one, but that is literally as interesting as it will ever get. The montages of "Oh fun drunk times haha" is literally the most engaging part of this episode and the last. I do not know if the bar can get lower than six feet under, but it's trying. Speaking of the second bar trip, still no sign of giving two shits about his brother. It's like the character from the start is absolutely gone. And they just established its only been a month, so it's not like he should've changed entire personalities.
The "romance" between Kinn and Porsche feels forced. And then it is forced, because Kinn forces a makeout on a drunk Porsche despite Kinn himself seeming almost sober. We're in episode four now, by the way. I haven't had much to compliment in this series, so I'll say this much: the opening song is great. No urge to skip it, especially when I know the episode won't be. The episode recaps go over the last two episodes, which would be awesome if anything happened in them, but is instead just entirely unnecessary. Even to this point, Porsche is unlikable, irritating, and just plain dumb. Takhun is currently the most likable character and, if you're watching the series, you'll understand why that's bad. Vegas was on screen for ten seconds and managed to be the best character so far. The best character otherwise would be Pete, but Pete doesn't dislike Porsche, so he gets points deducted. Jesus, this character is so annoying. I'm sorry, every time I press play, he's doing something fucking stupid. The best thing he's done so far is not be homophobic, which is not a high bar.
Have y'all noticed I haven't mentioned the story at all? It's because there isn't one. I have never cared less about a plot and I haven't even been able to locate this one to care about. Vegas just did something so lame bro, I can't breathe, I need one good character PLEASE. It's not as stupid as Porsche or Kinn's behavior so maybe I just forget it happened? I think this series gives me the ick because I'm just unsatisfied with every little thing at this point. Like the diamond auction?? I could understand gold but wtf gives a shit about diamonds???? A secret auction for a rock with no actual value?? Yeah, the ick. If anything else was believable, I'd overlook a lot, but the show never misses an opportunity to be shit.
Remember that forced romance I mentioned? Well now it's literal, Kinn fucks Porsche when he's drugged at a bar 🙃. I knew it was coming and I still was hoping it'd go different. I'm now in episode five (in about two hours since I began, that's how much I'm skipping and fast forwarding) and I think this is the last one. I can't stomach more of this waiting for a better couple, especially because now that I've seen a bit more of Vegas, my hopes are nonexistent.
I have now seen an additional bit more of Vegas and take back my previous statement. The first couple barely exists, the second couple has yet to acknowledge each other... why is there a third couple? They're cute, as in the people who play then are cute. The characters themselves I couldn't give less of a fuck about and they're scenes push me further out of a drama I was already way out of. Imma get into episode six though, because it's only taking 10mims per ep at this point. I don't know if I can still count this as watching, but I also still get what's going on because there's really not much so. Speaking of episode six, if you're stuck outside with no source of clean water, don't drink river, lake, or pond water until day three, when it's urgent. Parasites exist. Also, this shouldn't need to be said, but if you see a ravine, don't jump over it. Especially if you can clearly see the sides of it bro, fr just walk around, was this necessary???
There is no greater pain than trying to fastforward only to realize you've already been watching at 2x. At this point I'm now aware this is like a series of vaguely mafia themed fantasies the author had and then attempted to string together with a hair thin plot. Its actually a really bearable watch if you keep that in mind. That said, now that I'm on episode seven, I understand and agree that Vegas is saving this show. He won't succeed, but now I just skip to whenever his face shows up. Anyway, I watched about halfway through episode eight and then I was abruptly done. Nothing really happened to make it so, I just didn't want to watch anymore, even with all the skipping.
I won't say don't watch this, but if you're thinking of watching it, you should probably try walking your turtle or teaching your pet bird to swim first, it will be more entertaining 🙂
This was, obviously, written as I watched, so please excuse any confusing sentences/sentence structure.
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Pretend This Didn't Happen :)
Despite the reviews, Tin Tem Jai is one of my absolute favorite BLs. Its comforting, calming, and just has a fenerally feel-good vibe. That said, I dont know what the hell these special episodes were meant to be. Perhaps special in that they take every good part of the main show and replace it with the least compelling NC scenes I've ever had the displeasure of skipping through.I recommend Tim Tem Jai as a show to watch when some other messy BL is doing the absolute most. I recommend trying a coma before trying to watch these special episodes. My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is truly ruined because I was so excited My Show™️ had more episodes I hadnt seen. This was so bad I had to go back to the original just to make sure I wasnt under the influence of something for liking it.
There is no plot. To make up for this, characters go to the mall, presumably to do mall things and get food. After getting food, there is nothing to do, so they get food. After they're done eating, they split off into pairs and get food. Once they've finished their food, they meet back up to have a meal. Oh wait look a sex scene (hmm, weird, does it look awkward to you too? Why am I cringing? Why is the scene so long??) Now that the sex is over, they run back to the mall to eat with their friends. Time for bed. Once they wake up, its time to eat food. I was flabbergasted.
Also, how many times do we need to recycle the, "this thing is nice" "oh you mean the thing I am looking at?" "No, i mean you hahaharharharharlmaorofl" joke????? Is four times enough? Five? Is five times not enough??? Isnt once too much?
I feel towards these episodes what reviewers felt toward the main show. I am offended that this has a higher rating because Tin Tem Jai deserves a good rating as long as you pretend whatever the hell this is never happened.
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I AM BLOWN THE FUCK AWAY
Oh. My. God. Whatta beginning, hoo whee! That slap???? I was clutching my PEARLS. I have never been so surprised watching pretty much anything, the moment it happened I was RIVETED. And also so firmly on my anger muffin's side because bro fr?? You put in all that effort just to squander it? You deserve to be hit again (and hit again he was :D). Whooo I feel exhilarated, it's wild. I will sob and mourn this series like my nonexistent first born child if it goes downhill from here because this is absolutely the gold standard for how to start a sequel, holy shit.Aaaand, I'm done. This was a masterpiece, good from beginning to end. No time was wasted, even though I have some gripes with the side couples. The music was phenomenal, the ACTING jfc, I'm not recovering from the first few episodes anytime soon. Conflicts were handled understandably quickly considering its a six episode series. Speaking of the length, I really don't know if I want this to be longer. It deserves more time-- it deserves all the time-- but it utilized what it had very well and added absolutely no unnecessary bullshit, which I appreciate more than having a lot of episodes.
The side couple (specifically the mental illness bros one) irked me a bit because I liked their story and how it was handled (mostly), but I also never felt invested in it. I liked both characters as well, but with only 3 hours to see Anger Muffin and Shi De, I was almost counting each second their story took from the main couple. I didn't need their story, even if I liked it, so it was irksome.
All that said, this has my heart. I liked this more than the prequel, and I really, really liked the prequel. Shi De's acting in episodes one and two really cannot be overstated-- any compliment would be too little. Same for Shu Yi honestly. This is worth a watch, an immediate rewatch, and then several more rewatches without a ton of time in between, which I say as a human who doesn't rewatch things ever, really.
Ok bye, I'm gonna go rewatch the first two eps. Maybe the third too.
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