Achievement unlocked ♥

- Breaking down “I’m straight but I like you” – achievement unlocked
- Breaking down “who’s top” - achievement unlocked
- Breaking down “wifey-hubby” nonsense - achievement unlocked
- Breaking down “yesterday I hated you, today suddenly I love you” - achievement unlocked
- Breaking down “Let me explain you” (but not explaining) - achievement unlocked
- Breaking down “I love you but if my friends and family don’t like I can’t be with you” - achievement unlocked
- Breaking down “a homosexual couple is something out of normal and under extra ordinary circumstances” - achievement unlocked
- Breaking down “use lesbian couple as a peripheral diversion” - achievement unlocked
- Breaking down “suddenly in the end everything is soooo easy for us” - achievement unlocked
- Breaking down “sexual scenes are awkward and not funny-normal” - achievement unlocked
- Shaking, shimmying and breaking down stereotypes - achievement unlocked
- Breaking down THE VERY ESSENCE OF BL FROM A STRAIGHTS VIEW - achievement unlocked, GOLD METAL AND GAME OVER.

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Don't read the reviews ...it's a matter of personal taste

Thank God I didn’t listen to bad reviews here…
Let me explain:
I’m writing this review as someone who liked the series so this is MY personal taste and MY certain need at the time. Most of the things viewers wrote are true, like slow rhythm, big pauses, common plot etc. Is that a reason for not watching this show? NO.
I saw all the above mentioned things BUT I also saw a lovable couple, nice acting, realistic scenes, unexpected dialogues (“Do you really thing we can be lovers?”), attention to details (real food preparations, all secondary actors put at least a minimum effort to actually act) and in general I saw a nice, easy going and (in some points) meaningful drama.
Yes it’s not the typical BL and I mean not a BL Drama where two boys meet and hate it’s other in episodes 1-3, trying to understand their feelings in episodes 4-10, kiss in episode 10, separate dramatically because of a misunderstanding or an evil ex in episode 11 and live happily ever after in the last episode….!!! That’s a typical BL.
BUT…I had the time to appreciate good acting, family matters, pursuit of dreams, friendship, all kinds of love (gay and straight), “evil” character with actual feelings and background and in general a GOOD DRAMA.
SO….it’s not the typical BL Drama BUT it is a Drama with a good acting, loveable main BL couple that will help you to relax, “realistic time” evolution of feelings and characters and a happy smile in the end because of the good work.
Of course there were plot issues in some points and some unnecessary scenes BUT in overall I truly truly enjoy it.

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NO.-

NO.- NO.- NO.-
I DON'T CARE IF IT'S FICTION, BLACKMAILING SEX IS NO, ALWAYS WILL BE NO AND FUTURE ACTIONS WILL NOT UNDO IT.
- NO.- NO.- NO.-
I cant believe I saw in a drama in 2022 the manual of "How to love your rapist".
First half barely decent I said ok let's have a try beside all the obsolete cliche of harassment, "husband-wife" etc
Second half...NO.
I can't be entertained by normalizing forced, blackmailed sex and then translate that into a twisted stockholm syndrome.
"Since he won't get out of my head, I won't let him go" says the one who forced someone to have sex with him.
How can someone read this and think "oh so cute! Keep up hunting your prey!" REALLY?!
Rape exists, blackmail exists, abuse exists but in NO WAY you can make me see them as "natural" or transforming.
NO.- NO.- NO.-

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Watch this to enjoy an honest and good work.

A truly honest and good work you should watch and have fun.
Pros: managing correctly toxic situations, dealing with most of the problems such as body shaming, obsession, social media, safe sex, variety of sexes, acceptance, nice aesthetic for the love scenes.
Cons: Some old fashion ways of portraying LGBTQIA+ like “husband-wife”, “the athletic top-the feminine bottom”, self-esteem issues etc.
Over all the pros are way more and you can add to this: good acting, good production, excellent subtitles, lots of topics but not chaotic, lots of funny moments, lots of sexy moments, references to Thai cinematography (always adds a taste), essential for the plot emotional scenes and more.
TAKE A SEAT! ☺

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YES....BUT...BIG BUT

This review contain spoilers

Ok... great expectations BUT... BIG BUT

YES...nice production, fair acting, nice soundtracks BUT ...the core of the story is basically a "spoiled - good in heart" rich boy trying to redeam himself and finds help and love in the poor handsome guy ...really? in 2021?!
There are tones of stories like this in the theater for centuries and in cinema for decades!
YES is trully touching and the good acting helps a lot BUT it's not new at all!
YES there were some clever ideas and turning points BUT ...one kiss in the last scene?! ...in 2021
Maybe I'm a little harsh due to the fact that I expected more since there is a high ranking... but I was a little disapointed
Have fun everyone :-)

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YES....FOR ALL THE BAD REASONS

Well well well....lets just be frank...

In FUTS you wont find the sweet bitter depth of "I told the sunset about you"....you wont find the anticipation of "Light on me"...you wont find the realistic maturity of "Kinou Nani Tabeta? " or "Life: Senjou no Bokura".
You will find the core of the urban legend called "Ugly Betty". The basic information of inner and outer metamorphosis,
So why should you see it?????
Because, exactly as life would ask you... Why so serious?

So it's childish stupid, it's provocative annoying and, above all this... I wish you love...no wait that's some lyrics from Whitney Houston .....above all these...IT IS FUN.
WATCH IT FOR FUN, FOR NOT TROUBLING YOUR MIND AND FOR HAVING A GOOD TIME. IT WORKS.
Why it works despite the above? Because the actors are capable and committed to that cause, because nobody will try to pass you a deep meaning (most of the times), because you see happy young boys and girls being stupidly cheerful just for you.

Enjoy their good work.

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The exposure of something intimate

Nominated for the Palme d'Or
Won Best Director at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival

I must have watched this film at least 6 times, one of them recently in 2021 a special event on an open summer cinema in Athens. Each time is better than before.
A couple from a “private hell” traveling, living, working, loving, hating in Argentina.
A relationship in breakdown and the arise of the most human fears and inner screams over the edge of the world.
A turbulent cycle of destruction and recreation, of hope and despair, of a world falling apart again and again.
A small but yet endless world through the colors of emotions or a black and white scenery of inner fears of emptiness.
A title inspired by the Turtles' 1967 song “happy together”… a song so romantic and happy on its own but yet so dark and omnibus when it is combined within this film.
Even a political view of the world and the significant dates of Hong Kong.
This story has no spoilers because no one is capable to put in words what you will feel when you see this drop of light.

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Splendid...simple splendid

I did not expect that much....I got more...first love story... everyones story...
Great acting from both young and older actors.
Exelent music (that song is engraved in my soul) that you will learn to sing regardless your native language.
Story...yes about that story...I am always a little harsh when the basic idea is so common and obvious...BUT...this is a lesson of how you present the oldest love story of the world, the first-love story, as bright as the sun and as beautiful as the night.

"Your name engraved herein,
making time go by without a trace.
One lie was told, that determined the rest of my life."

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IT HITS ME IN THE GUTS AND LEFT ME BLEEDING.

(This is my personal point of view, relay more on your instinct than a review from someone you don’t know ?)

I’ve just watched the last episode and I could not sleep without writing about it.
This series targets at adult minds and I make it clear that I am not talking about age I am talking about experiences.

It made an exceptional impression to me that, while there was no great event or shocking revelation, the whole series captivated you with comedy, cruel truth and realism.
The creator of the series, the writer, the director and the actors achieved something very meaningful for me. They "fooled" us by superficially using BL codes and forms to talk realistically about the truth of life, romance, love, friendship, family, self-confidence, personal growth, maturity, the all-mighty running time and about all the situations, we encounter daily, but everyday life does not allow us to recognize it as it is... LIFE. This is the life of all of us…this is “OUR DAYS”.

To achieve the above there are some smart writing and directing choices such as:

- No character main or secondary is completely good or bad.
- There is a smart, sophisticated, refined humour throughout, with the jokes slowly building up to the appropriate punchline.
- The development speed of the story and the emotions is in real time.
- All characters identify themselves firstly by who they are and not by how they feel about others. Even in their mistakes.
- All secondary characters have a minimum amount of time to show at least one deeper aspect of themselves and, for that reason, they seem real.
- The music selection is an EXCELLENT mix of western background sounds and classic BL songs (a big plus is that most of the music is played live and not on playback)
- Last but certainly not least, the romance and love in this series on one hand deprives us of the "fairy tale" we need for a happy ending but, on the other hand gives us the realistic perspective that you don't need a fairy tale to love or fall in love. All you need is to LIVE.

Some things could definitely be improved such as:

- Kissing scenes could look more natural and the actors less restrained.
- The speed of some dialogues is unnecessarily slow.
- Some relationships could be simpler at the level of pure friendship so as not to create the impression of running parallel-unresolved stories
- I would like the reasons that push the protagonists to make a big decision to be better structured.

Other than that, …If I may... Please watch this series.

PS. A personal observation: I have read that this series is a slow burn. What strikes me is that it seems difficult to recognize the real time development of things - unless our lives have the characteristics and speeds of a mainstream BL (!!!) and I don’t know it- while, at the same time, I've seen other series praised here as “masterpieces” … series that needed 12 hourly episodes, with the main characters on top of a mountain (I'm not writing a title for obvious reasons) to love and kiss in the last scene of the last episode...THIS IS WHAT I CALL SLOW BURN MY FRIENDS.

ENJOY ?

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FINALLY.... A STORY!

Finally an original idea!
Finally a concept with a concrete story behind it!
Finally a series that gives real space to the roles to develop!
Finally a series that you watch because you are interested in how its story will develop!
Finally a series whose twists have consistency and explanation!
Finally a series created by people who didn't get bored of their work.
Finally a series whose raison d'être is an idea and not an hour-long commercial forced by actors without a script.

PS Don't get me wrong... I high value the attempt of the series to bring something meaningful and new. It's not perfect in many ways and a lot of things could be fixed but it's miles away from the classic, boring recipes based only on fan love of specific actors. Also my perceptive...if you kept the sex part from the whole series, that's fine and it's perfectly legitimate, but that's probably what you were looking for in the series.

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I saw something else...

Sooooo….let's write about this…

Facts:

Yes there is a big problem with the subtitles – synchronization mostly - that will not let you fully understand it and enjoy it.
BUT ... except YouTube, there are several are sites (first page of google) that don’t have this problem so you can watch it there.

Yes it is said that this not a BL
BUT… There are lots of boy couples and the main couple express their feelings for one another …Sooo it has a BL – gay romance aesthetics - it’s just not the main issue here.

Personal opinion:

There were lots of people claiming that this is a mental issue drama combined with food comedy. For me, trying to watch it from this perspective, made it awkward, superficial - as far as the mental issue is concerned - boring slow and in many parts meaningless.
Instead of that I’ve decided that what I’m watching is a drama of a young boy who struggles in a society forcing people to “grow” without one another, without contact in person but only trough social media, with love and family affection being banished, with a society in which no one has time for the people that she/he loves and love her/him back. An extremely common truth in our days. Along the way he is trying to become “normal”, to make new friends, to understand them and their needs, to find a new love (in the face of another boy who shares his “abnormal” view of the world), to reconcile with the past and the people that he has lost and in general …to become an adult without losing his soul, love, sensitivity and affection for other people.
From this perspective, this drama is a sweet, deep enough and meaningful BL.

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Art imitating life in the best possible way

We are used to the BL dramas with extraordinary conditions, to the gay series and movies with a “series of unfortunate events” and suddenly you start watching this totally simple masterpiece.
You are waiting for the villains, for the waterfalls of tears, for the acts of unconditional love, for the dramatic scenes of love revealing or heartbreaking, for the “not always” smart gay jokes and so on. Stop waiting they will not come.
Instead something more powerful will take place. Something that no script, directing or acting skills can replace (although all of the above are great in this film) and that “something” it’s called LIFE.
There are no greater tragedies, happy moments or loving thoughts than the ones within our everyday life and these series are doing exactly that. It shows us what we miss, what we should admire, what we are doing wrong or right every day in our life and... it is done perfectly.

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Masterclass on BL Dramas

How will I continue to watch BL series after this?

Suddenly you realize how a BL Drama can be if :
1. You have committed, good and well prepared actors (main and secondary)
2. You have a scenario in which a 2 second scene in episode 1 solidifies a major plot choice in episode 10
3. You direct it using the minimum appropriate time for a reaction aiming for the greatest impact
5. You deal with delicate matters very carefully and with great respect, giving the appropriate time to mature
6. You use EVERY available tool (actor, timing, light, music) in the service of the scene
4. YOU KNOW YOUR JOB AS AN ARTIST.

"Unknown" reminded us the basic and most profound codes for a good drama...
and that we have tolerated and support too many poorly crafted experimental works who tried to please an insatiable for shipping audience regardless of the artistic effect.

It's almost a shame to admit it, but "Unknown" should have been the rule and not the exception.

A great applause and many thanks to the director, writers, actors and crew of this exceptional work!

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A questionable war with a pinch of romance

Season 3....well...the production's bad choices to create uncomfortable situations and the cast:
The youngest being the most mature person and least appreciated although he deserved the most.
The narcissist, passive-aggressive who thinks he owns people. He cries seeking attention for his own choices, being the big red flag.
The naive young boy who can't "read the room", being dragged by the red flag and excused only by his age.
The "seems to be" mature turning into an insecure person, finding too late the peace he could have.
The overacting cute guy who can not - but tries - to control everything without being able to control himself.
The "almost" green flag that the production decided to de-colorize in episode 14. He tries to "dance along" with the overacting guy and in the last episode becomes incomprehensible as to what was true or not all the time.
The "wanted to be" cool ex- future "go by the flow" guy, who does not try to be truthful to himself from the begging but becoming an interesting participant and..
The green flag by name Hwang Min Seon who tries to control the mess.

Although we have seen aspects of the above in previous seasons, in this one, we see the the predominance of negative characteristics at the expense of positive ones and with the help (missions, editing etc) of the production. Unfortunately these bad aspects ruled a big part of the first 9-10 episodes, then the show becomes enjoyable in episodes 11-13 with everyone acting as they should have from the beginning and finally the production decides episode 14 which... I still don't know why ep 14 exists but it is a big and major issue to the dis-likeness of the season.

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