Welcome to my Saturday blog post where I give thoughts on dramas I’m watching, whether I’m at the beginning, middle, or end. Whatever I want, because I’m petty that way.
This week I recapped episodes 3-4 of Japanese BL I Hear the Sunspot, in which our gloomy, hard-of-hearing introvert avoided his loud extrovert friend. Taichi isn’t going to be ignored Kouhei.
I also recapped episodes 9-10 of Thai BL Knock Knock, Boys!, wherein the parents finally show up and our housemates start to deal with the reality they’ve been avoiding.
What else did I watch this week? I finished up two shows. First:
My Sweet Mobster – 놀아주는 여자 – 2024
A recently aired Korean romantic comedy with 16 episodes.
An ex-mobster trying to change the lives of other former criminals comes into conflict with a children’s content creator and comedy ensues.
Here’s a link to my initial review.
This show was wholesome and comforting but had enough edge not to be cloyingly sweet. It’s a warm hug that gives you a tight squeeze.
Thankfully, the sweet mobster’s dark past was never whitewashed away
His criminal history and feelings of responsibility were important to his character arc. The actor deserves a lot of credit for convincingly portraying someone who was essentially a sweet dork but learned to hide that part of himself to be a menacing criminal.
As often happens in dramas, our female lead moves in with him and a half-dozen other ex-criminals. This quirky crew of various ages and crimes made for a fun found family that fulfilled my snow-white-and-the-seven-dwarves fantasies. We get to know these characters throughout the show and some get small character arcs that fully flesh out these characters. Their relationships are nearly as good as the main romance.
The female lead is the emotionally mature heart at the show’s center
She had a character arc and growth, but it wasn’t nearly as dramatic as the male leads. The two of them together were adorable, and their romance was more sweet than heart-wrenching.
The show excelled at staying in a nice place between silly and serious. The male leads past was dark and menacing, their love sweet and endearing. The public judges the former criminals harshly, the way they treated their new roommate absurdly amusing.
I recommend it to anyone in the mood for a sweet romance with a focus on found family.
A Random Comparison
The show reminds me of an all-time favorite, Thirty But Seventeen. The plots are very different but the tone and themes are similar. There are also superficial similarities, like cohabitation, a dog, and the female lead’s clothing choices. Anyway, if you liked Thirty but Seventeen, try this. If you liked this, try Thirty but Seventeen.
I also finished:
The Rebound – เกมนี้เพื่อนาย – 2024
A recently aired Thai high school basketball BL with 12 episodes.
A high school basketball team in trouble acquires a new player with a complicated history, both in general and with the team’s captain.
Here’s a link to my initial review.
As far as dramas featuring my weird bias Thai BL couple, Meen and Ping, this one does not disappoint. In many ways, it’s a more solid drama than their two other dramas I’ve watched, Ai Long Nhai or My Dear Gangster Oppa. “More” is the keyword here.
The Rebound has a plot, a lot of plot
So much plot. ALL the plot. Dangerous street basketball plots run by criminals. Criminal sex parties. Shared baths. Tragic basketball backstories. A dead wife. A dead dad. An evil mom. A creepy stalker (kinda). Broken promises. Shower make-out sessions. Bullying. One-sided crushes. Evil school administrators. Evil rival teams. Sleepovers.
It’s a lot. And it’s often very disconnected from the characters. They aren’t great communicators. Ping’s character Zen in particular likes to withhold information to create drama (though Meen’s character Ryu doesn’t seem to mind). Since they don’t talk about what’s happening, it’s hard to see how it’s affecting them. Then, when something causes one or both of them an emotion, it is often either solved on its own in some dramatic fashion or just fades away.
Rebound has side characters with character
A standout would be Ryu’s tragic friend Q, who goes above and beyond to try and help poor-tall-rich-boy Ryu. He’s been Ryu’s entry into the criminal world of street basketball but only with the best intentions. He goes on a strange and dramatic journey thanks to his unrequited love for Ryu.
The new coach has a tragic past that boils into an issue that comes and goes in one episode. Some of the other teammates go through little arcs, some so fast you might miss them if you blink.
Zen’s strange stalker, Atom, is erratic and confusing. Nothing he does makes sense but how Zen reacts to him doesn’t make sense either. So. Whatever.
Still, this is more than the wandering window-dressing side characters that we got in their other two dramas.
So is Rebound my favorite of Meen and Ping’s dramas?
And do I recommend it to others? Let me answer this first, probably not. It’s still a pretty silly bunch of nonsense. Unless you like Meen, Ping, or street basketball, I’m not sure what there is for you here.
I’m not sure that it’s my favorite of their dramas either. I hold a candle in my heart for the utterly plotless silliness that was Ai Long Nhai. The Rebound is missing the charm of the poor production value that Ai Long Nhai had, like that one apartment living room trying to be passed off as a bar. The Rebound had some actual dramatic moments and for that reason, I might prefer the purity of the conflictless Ai Long Nhai. It’s a hard call.