Welcome to my Saturday blog post where I give thoughts on dramas I’m watching, whether at the beginning, middle, or end. Whatever I want, because I’m petty that way.
This week I recapped episodes 3-4 of The Boy Next World. Is it a story of parallel worlds or creepy stalker love? Not sure yet! But we do have a mind reader.
I also recapped episodes 7-8 of Love Game in Eastern Fantasy which has some fantastic dramatic fantasy moments. Are sexy gray-haired demons your thing? Check these episodes out!
What did I watch this week? I’ve got full series reviews for two rather different shows. Let’s start with:
High School Frenemy – มิตรภาพคราบศัตรู – 2024
Recently aired Thai High School Bromance with 16 episodes.
Two High School campuses that want to murder each other are combined and two high school students who used to be friends end up in the same class. One is a puppy in human form, the other wants to kill him.
I decided to watch this drama because the two leads have become one of their company’s most popular BL couples despite this NOT being BL. But barely. Let’s get into it.
The “Plot”
The story is based on Korean drama School 2013 which I’ve heard good things about but never watched. I have no idea how closely this show follows that one.
We’ve got actors all over their 20s playing High Schoolers with teachers played by actors barely older than them. There’s a feud between the two campuses that started when the characters were babies. Because of this, every time the two groups encounter one another massive fights erupt.
Now the two groups are forced together under a pair of teachers with issues.
Our not-BL couple are Saint and Shin. Saint is willing to do anything to make up with his old friend and Shin wants to punch Saint in the face. We don’t know what caused the rift between them, but we see Shin angry about it episode after episode. Meanwhile, everyone else is constantly fighting.
Which isn’t enough to fill 16 episodes
The main weakness is that the bromance doesn’t have a natural “happily ever after” point and the over-arching plot is vague. Romance has built-in “endings”, the couple getting together, moving in, declaring love, getting married, any of these work. Friendships tend to be depicted with fewer milestones. You become friends and then maybe you stop.
The show has some vague larger plot about the school and the student performances, but it’s only mentioned for extra conflict from time to time. The reasons behind the feud are pretty flimsy and they don’t build it into much.
As the show progresses the teachers learn the real monsters are the other adults, and help their students overcome their lame parents.
Eventually, the teachers also triumph over their own demons, although one bizarrely only in VO. At this point, the show has gone from near-constant fighting to near-constant hugging and it’s a lot. But there is still some fighting at the end at least.
But we’re not here for the plot
We’re here for Saint and Shin. This is not a BL but that’s because there’s no kissing. There is skinship. Undying loyalty. Declarations of love. Parental interference. Sacrifice. Tears. Hugs.
And the show knows what it’s doing. We’re being teased by an endless will-they-or-won’t-they where we already know they won’t. Is it queer baiting? Is the depiction of strong friendship as important as romance? I don’t know.
But Saint and Shin are great together. The feelings, they are deep. Even in the beginning, you can tell Shin’s hatred for Saint comes from a deep, disappointed love. Saint’s willingness to openly declare his (bromance) feelings for Shin is equally powerful.
The other characters get much less screen time but I enjoyed the character arcs they were given as each overcame their parents. The parents were, as usual, forgiven too easily. But what can we do?
So should you watch this if you like BL?
It depends. A show that flirts with being a BL but isn’t a BL can feel manipulative and problematic. If that, or the lack of a strong plot, keeps you away, I think that’s fair.
I’m glad I watched it. I liked Saint and Shin, and their devotion to each other. The other friendships (because there is no romance) were similarly sweet and touching. There’s something powerful there.
And now for something completely different:
Alchemy of Souls – 환혼 – 2022 – Seasons 1 & 2
Through the “alchemy of souls,” an assassin’s spirit is transported into a weak servant’s body. A young nobleman with mysterious origins recognizes her and wants her to be his master. Then there’s a second season.
Here’s a link to the trailer for season 1.
It’s impossible to talk about the second season without spoiling the first so skip the later part of the review if you want to stay spoiler-free.
Seems like a good idea to start with the first season, it’s the better one
No hot take here, like most people, I liked the first season. It’s an exciting fantasy adventure with fun power dynamics.
The basic setup reminds me of Love Between Fairy and Devil. There’s a super powerful character whose strength is neutered by their circumstances, putting them at the mercy of a weaker character. But here the all-powerful character is the woman, Naksu, and the weaker character is the man, Jang Uk.
Jang Uk is a frustrated young man. He’s a young master of a magical family who has no power. His parents are dead and his guardian is strict for reasons he won’t explain. He’s gone through a dozen masters and can’t do magic.
Under other circumstances, Naksu would have nothing to do with this mess. But with this weak body and low status, she needs to use someone to get the revenge that got her into this mess in the first place.
It’s fun watching this cold, capable, confident character navigate being stuck in a weak body. Just because her body and situation are weak, doesn’t mean she is. Sometimes she plays her part with deliberate, exaggerated loyal servitude to get what she wants. Other times she coldly gets Jang Uk into a life-or-death situation to force him to grow.
It’s these interesting dynamics that sell the show for me. We’ve got a young man who should be powerful but isn’t, and a woman who shouldn’t be powerful but is.
What’s this whole “alchemy of souls” thing?
For the first season, the world-building is engaging. There’s typical magical stuff, but the show takes time to build it up. To become stronger, Jang Uk has to solve puzzles, perform various feats of magic, and grow. In the process, we get to enjoy experiencing the world.
Even better, these magical items, puzzles, and lessons become important parts of the story. They’re not only there to teach Jang Uk, but have their own life.
The alchemy of souls magic, to me, is a bit disconnected and hazy. It’s used to make magical zombies by the caster switching bodies with another. It has some icky consequences involving petrification and becoming energy vampires. This is, of course, forbidden. But people still do it. It’s a problem.
Besides Jang Uk and Naksu we have a whole population of noble, magical families engaged in power struggles with one another. There are lame villains we spend too much time with them, but they make the plot happen.
On it’s own, season 1 is worth a watch.
Then the second season happened
Spoilers for season 1 incoming as I break down why Season 2 is less than satisfying.
You’ve been warned!
The problem starts at the end of Season 1, with a final episode that feels disconnected from the rest of the season. Through some sudden plotting and magical items from our lame bad guy, both our main characters “die”.
Season 2 starts and it’s three years later and everything has reset to some other story that has little to do with season one. Jang Uk came back to life and is now all-powerful. Side characters who had romances in season 1 are now separated. Everyone now knows the bad guy is evil and lets him go around doing what he wants and I have to watch him on screen even more.
Naksu is gone and in her place is Bu Yeon, who doesn’t look like Naksu but is somehow using the body Naksu used. Or maybe she is Naksu because the bad guy recognizes her as Naksu even though no one else does. But she doesn’t act like Naksu.
It feels like the writers are winging it.
And instead of Love Between Fairy and Devil, we have Rebecca. Bu Yeon falls for Jang Uk, but discovers he’s still in love with his dead love Naksu. Who she may or may not be but no one notices except the bad guy. Jang Uk though, is slowly charmed by Bu Yeon and starts to fall for her. So is he falling in love with someone new or Naksu? I cannot tell you.
Between that and the lame, lame, lame bad guy who does whatever he wants most of the time, the second season is a slog to watch.
So what do you do? Only watch 1 season?
I mean, it is a good 1 season. So you could do that. It is fascinating to watch everything that was built in season 1 get tossed away and fall apart in season 2. While I watched, I wondered what kind of conversations behind the scenes led to such a wildly different second season.
So, if you want a good fantasy story and don’t mind an ending that leaves you hanging, you can just watch season 1. If you want to see how wildly wrong something can go, you can also watch season 2. Otherwise, skip it.
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