Welcome to my weekly blog post where I give thoughts on dramas I’m watching, whether I’m at the beginning, middle, or end. Whatever I’m feeling.
This week I recapped episodes 5-6 of Japanese rom-com Eye Love You, which takes us to the snowy landscape of Hokkaido and warm corn soup from the vending machine. I also recapped episodes 9-10 of 1000 Years Old, where we get a lot of vampires doing mysterious vampire things.
Today I have two other shows to talk about, let’s start with the initial review of:
23.5 – 23.5 องศาที่โลกเอียง – 2024
Currently airing Thai High School GL, I’m at 7 out of 12 episodes.
A social misfit starts at a new high school and meets the cool, beautiful senior whose social media account she’s been following. High School ensues.
This is pretty darn cute. It’s high school coming of age, which is nothing new, but it’s a full-length GL series, which is pretty rare still. I last saw our leads in Bad Buddy, where they were college students, so it feels like they’ve been demoted.
Our main character Ongsa is a social misfit, total dork, and coward. But she doesn’t let that get in the way of trying her hardest to succeed at whatever task she’s handed. As one character says to her, “for a timid person, you’re one hell of a fighter.” It’s pretty easy to love Ongsa.
Her love interest, Sun, is beautiful, kind, strong, and independent. She’s less interesting but it’s not hard to see why Ongsa falls for her. I hope we learn more about her in the second half of the series.
Our second couple is as charming, or maybe more, than our first. Aylin is also our second alien-obsessed Thai character this year. She’s a social misfit but unlike Ongsa, she’s withdrawn to the point that she considers herself an alien. It’s her armor against bullying, she can’t be hurt because they’re humans and she’s an alien.
She’s paired with super beautiful, sweet, and accomplished senior Luna.
There are a ton of fun side characters and a third couple that I’m excited about. The plot isn’t anything thrilling, there are clubs and birthdays and bullies. It’s a nice fantasy of high school where supportive friends and successes outweigh everything else.
If you need some sweet High School fluff, an escape from reality, or just a nice GL, so far this one fits the bill.
I also watched:
Ripe for the Picking – 瓜を破る～一線を越えた、その先には – 2024
Recently aired Japanese slice-of-life romance with 9 episodes.
A 32-year-old virgin eager to lose the title meets a shy copy machine repair man and starts an awkward relationship.
I first watched this in Japanese and was excited to see it on Netflix so I rewatched it over two days. It’s one of those interesting Japanese dramas that tackles a complicated subject in a simple way over a short run time.
Our main character is our older virgin, tired of feeling left out of the world of sex but unable to find a partner. She feels like she’s missing out on an important part of life and is curious about what other people have experienced that she hasn’t.
Her coworkers are also dealing with problems. One is married with a kid and unable to go out with friends. Another has received a promotion but her obsession with work has cut her off from others. Another is obsessed with finding a handsome boyfriend but considers herself ugly.
These aren’t deep or unusual problems, they’re the problems of everyday life.
Considering how much the plot revolves around sex, this isn’t a sexy show, which I like. I get tired of Western media’s confidence that hot, graphic, good sex = perfect relationship happiness. Instead, this drama explores how awkward and imperfect sex and relationships can be. It’s not graphic or sensationalized, it’s just sex.
At the center of this is a sweet relationship between two reserved people dealing with their insecurities and fears. At times things feel overly simplified, but maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe things don’t need to be so complicated all the time.