Skip the last episode :)

Overall, I thought the show was enjoyable, especially since there was a bit more "spice" than your average BL. Still tame by America's standards, but it was a nice reprieve from the norm you get from Thai BLs.

I think the cast of characters were basically perfect. Usually, when you watch a BL, in show we're told, "oh these people are best friends", but then they usually don't have any chemistry or believable interactions with each other. In this show, the friend group was very believable. If you told me that they hung out with each other off set, I would very ewll believe it, because... (if I had friends) I would be doing things like that.

Another thing that was believable was the progression from enemies to lovers. Shi Gu (one of the male leads), was such a cutie patootie. He was such an upright, straightforward student but the other male lead. Xiang Hao, was like the "popular kid" who could get away with anything. The juxtaposition between the two was evident from the very first episode and the series never failed to show the difference between the two males. The impressive thing, however, was how they cam to understand one another, especially in the case of Xang Hao. He was such a stereotypical "rich boy" type character, that it was a bit expected that he would turn into the typical 'sugar daddy' type rich boy that you see all the time in BL. While, this stereotype did manifest itself, it was still handled in such a way that you felt as if Shi Gu was never disrespected or belittled because of his circumstance. His wealth was never made a focal point for any point of the story.

Personally, I don't think I would rewatch this show specifically because of the ending. I'm not typically a rewatcher, but this really cements that for me.

Would I recommend this show? I would say yes, because if you like BL, it doesn't go with some of the usual tropes. Such as, the "ex girlfriend" drama or the "cheating drama". Lowkey, the show is pretty drama free, and that something to be appreciated. If you want something a little more "dramatic", look elsewhere, but if you're just looking for some fluff (besides the ending) this is a perfectly reasonable show.

Like, the final episode could have been so much better and fixed a lot of things. I don't want to get too much into it for the new watchers, but they could have made it so the viewers could have connected more to what went on in the final episode and made it more meaningful without being melodramatic.

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It's bad. Like... really bad.

I see a lot of people "cutting this show slack" because it came from China.

But like... so? I mean, yeah I commend them for sneaking an LGBTQ story through the strict censorships of China but, if the final product presented is bad, does it really matter how much effort they put into it? If you're going to potentially risk your career to tell a story, I would HOPE you would make it a story worth telling.

But nope. This show falls flat in every regard.

I've seen shows with shoestring budget, but this absolutely takes the cake. I think all of their budget went into the soundtrack, because the songs they did play at least didn't make me want to claw my ears off. But everything else was sorely lacking. The locations were so uninspired. The sound team didn't know up from down. The costuming. The goddamn North Face bomber jacket.

The actors were... fine, but the biggest problem was the script. With roughly 15 minutes per episode, you would think the showrunners would cut out unnecessary plotlines to really do something with the main characters relationship.

But no. We get long shots of people gossiping, insipid storylines of side characters who love the lead actors and then just vanish from the story, and just a bunch of other cliché nonsense that appears just as quickly as its swept under the rug.

I don't know. The only thing positive I can say about the show is that it will make you laugh. But never for the right reasons.

Give it a watch if you want to make fun of it or if you just hate yourself.

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Good, but could have been better

I'm not going to lie, the first episode had me instantly hooked and intrigued and at first, the steady build up of intrigue and mystery surrounding the main character, Kang Yeo Joo, was veeery interesting.

By episode 5-6, my interest began to wane but I stuck it out, because to be honest the characters were entertaining enough and I was curious to see what this was building up to and the inevitable fallout that would follow. And to be fair... the final 3-4 episodes of the series delivers, and by the final episode I felt like I was in a jet plane compared to how fast the story was moving previously.

But... I wasn't satisfied. The final episode "attempts" to tie up (some) loose ends and wrap the story into a bow, but at the same time, so many plotlines are just dropped, glossed over and leave you wondering why they were ever introduced in the first place.

I think "pacing" is the biggest issue this story has. Don't get me wrong, the groundwork they lay before slowly peeling away the layers is fantastically done, but 80% of the show shouldn't be set up with the final episode making a mad dash for the ending. I almost felt like they were setting up for a season 2, but I don't know if that's something K-Dramas are generally known for.

I felt like more things could have been fleshed out. I felt like Yeo Joo's backstory left a lot to be desired. They basically just give lip service to the fact that her father cheated. Also, I don't understand why the Special Force Unit or whatever, was in her dad's pocket? Because he helped the president get elected? They kind of explained it away in another throw away line and thought we'd just move on with our lives.

I'm probably about to get a little nitpicky but I feel like I have to. What the fuck were those Special Forces guys doing with their lives ? Like, imagine if Bill Gates or something had the head of FBI using a large chunk of their resources to follow his children around. Like... huh? Why are these highly trained officers literally being treated like common security guards? And speaking of this special unit, I didn't understand the dad's (and by extension the Burn Guy's) motivation at all. He was going to kill his daughter but then decided not to? What the heck? There was just a lot of stuff like this going on. Plotlines that were presented but never really went anywhere.

Onto my next biggest gripe: the husband, Han Woo Sung. What the heck were the writers trying to do here? At first I thought it was going to be a sort of redemption story, like how even though he had cheated (multiple times), he still loved his wife and he would somehow come out on the other side a better person. I also thought they maybe they were gonna 180 twist and have it so, no, he never cheated at all! But.. no. It's established very early that hes a cheater. HWS and KYJ relationship was never put to the test even once. They were never in danger of having an argument, much less being pushed to the verge of breaking up. In fact, the way they string the audience along with the idea of KYJ finding out about the infidelity is criminal. I'm not even kidding but 80% of the cast knows shes being cheated on before she does.

And the thing that KILLS me is that... she can't find out on her own. This could have been explained away by her being blinded by her love for her husband, but she DOES suspect him of cheating and regularly investigates his goings on, so... huh? How did this total idiot out maneuver her for years and she not find out?

While I'm on the subject, what does he see in her? She treats him like an ugly stray cat that she occasionally decides to show interest in. I can count on one hand the amount of times she seemed to genuinely love her husband. I know she's a cold person by nature but, c'mon, no one wants to actually marry a block of ice.

Honestly, the story would have been SOOO much better if the cheating was revealed in the first half of the show. The husband added nothing to the plot to be honestly, and every plotline connected to him fizzled out, went nowhere and had me wondering why it was even in the story at all.

I would have much rather watched a SINGLE Kang Yeo Joo romance the officer who was posing as her assistant, with the rest of the plot happening exactly the same. And NOTHING would change. The husband's involvement in the plot is literally NOTHING.

Phew. This was more of a rant than a review but I feel it needed to be said. I could go on and on but those are my BIGGEST gripes and everything after this would just be my personal nitpicks.

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Leave Your Brain at the Door

Girl from Nowhere is an anthology series that follows Nanno, a mysterious girl who literally appears from no where. Each episode generally shows Nanno at a new school with a brand new cast of characters, and each school Nanno gets into insane scenarios that rocks the school's foundation.

The ideas inside of Girl from Nowhere are a mixed bag. Some are groundbreaking and unique, and I wished they had been fleshed out further. Others are shallow and make no sense, or the potential is there but the writing doesn't quite do it justice.

Girl from Nowhere is popcorn nonsense at it's best. The lead actor who plays Nanno is fantastic, and no matter what insane things you see her doing on screen, you can't help but root for her or shake your head with a lovable, "Oh, Nanno." The other actors on the other hand can be hit or miss. Sometimes the side characters really hold their own and show off their acting chops, and other times its just a flop and you wondered who let them onto set.

Personally, I enjoyed the hell out of it, but that's because I didn't think about it too hard. When you really try to nitpick and criticize everything this show does, that will kill ALL enjoyment. This show does not require more than 2 brain cells, so all I can say is sit back, turn your brainpower down to low and just enjoy the ride.

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