Skip to main content

Chained To My Bully Stepbrother (AI Vertical BL Drama)

This is the second vertical AI BL drama I've sat through, and honestly I went in knowing better. I had it on while I was doing cardio at the gym, and what struck me was just how much the plot echoed the last one I watched. Same step brother romance angle, same mystery girlfriend showing up near the end, same extra guy pining after one of the leads. Genuinely the only thing going for it was the runtime, the whole thing wrapped up in forty five minutes flat.  The setup kicks off with Finn moving schools because his mom just married into money. He finds out his new step brother Aiden goes to the same place, and he's warned to keep his distance from him. Their first run in at school is rocky, just like you'd expect, but there's this odd pull between them neither can shake off. Finn keeps telling himself not to read into it because Aiden's straight and openly homophobic. Things shift when some kids start bullying Finn and the student council president, Ryan, steps in to ...

You Make Me Dance (Korean)

I have noticed that Korean BL dramas come out both as episodic series and also as movie versions. Both are ok, since they still show pretty much everything. Its just an observation. Coming back t o t his on, I think the premise could have been interesting with proper execution, but somewhere things faltered and the makers took the easy way out. The drama has lots of plot holes, characters have sudden change of heart, the love story’s pace is messy and many plot lines, like the mother issue, are left unsolved.

Shi On is studying dancing and he truly has dancing in his blood, as his mother was also a dancer. He is free spirited and does his best to fit in. Hong Seok works for a loan shark company and he collects debts for them. He, however, hates his job and who it turned him into. That is why Shi On’s case is his last one. But, he finds himself being drawn to the boy’s dance and he wants to help him pay up his dues. He forcefully moves in with me to help him pursue his dream which in turn will help him pay his debt. She On's senior tries to sabotage his chances of winning a major audition but thanks to timely intervention from Hong Seok, it is saved in time. Will the two lovers be able to reunite and take their love to the next level? Once She On pays off his debts, Unfortunately Hong Seok leaves him to fulfill his commitments to his CEO but eventually love wins.

The plot is thin as mentioned above and could have been tighter. The start was very interesting where every person is tied through a red thread and people trying to find their love but it just goes haywire. For a show which has dance in the title, the dance. Sequences were pretty ordinary IMO and very little focus was actually given to it, which I can understand. Also, it wasn't really clearly explained how or why did the boys fall for each other. Just because of. The red thread incident few years back or genuinely there is a spark. Because if there was a spark, we audiences never saw it. It was more like an elder brother taking care of someone younger. My biggest problem was the set up for the two main characters which led to a questionable power difference. Many actions done by them were there simply as a lead up for cute moments and interactions or for the plot to progress, but from logical standpoint: they should not exist. The whole CEO angle was very weird, to put it simply. The actors were ok, but it was the underdevelopment of the characters that lets us down in a major way. Few years back, I would have rated the film/show higher, but seeing how many good and well thought through shows are coming out there, I would rate this one as simply average. Its not bad, but there is absolutely nothing memorable or different about this. (5/10)

Comments

Sailor Maan said…
An average one indeed. Like you, I couldn't understand why the fell in love (which is pretty detrimental for a BL...). And many reactions were inexplicable. The only thing saving it is the usual "korean atmosphere"
Golu said…
yeah. I think I know what you mean by "Korean atmosphere". I am starting to notice a few peculiar things common to these Korean BL films/shows

Popular posts from this blog

Phor Lae Lukchai (Thai) [Father & Son]

I think the budget of this film was probably too small, but for that, the film definitely offers a different and unique storyline without over dramatizing anything. Yes, some scenes were a bit amateurish but in the bigger scheme of things, that can be overlooked. The film is both beautiful and sad in its own unique way. Aek is a gay dad, whose partner died right around the time their son Nueng was born through surrogacy in a road accident. The relationship between father and son is unpleasant and unstable. We are not really told why, but it seems the father has been unsuccessful in caring and loving his son because of his partner's death. Aek continues to hook up wit hookers. Also, Nueng is constantly bullied by everyone around him for having a gay dad. He has no friends, except Nat, a neighborhood boy, who also happens to be Nueng's boyfriend. In a sudden turn of events Nat is found murdered along with another boy naked. Saddened by the events, Nueng jumps from roof and k...

Sei no Gekiyaku (Japanese) [Dangerous Drugs of Sex]

Every person has their own unique way of dealing with loss. This film is as much a psychological thriller as it is a soft porn BDSM portrayal of two young men that makes the film overall horrifying as well as humane. It is really hard to describe the genre of this film in one word. Its important not that the film has some really disturbing scenes so if you go into seeing this film, please proceed with caution. Although any sexual non-consensual activity is not ok, this film has its won strange way of showing that suicide is not the only solution to all life's problems. Makoto is a regular office goer, who just finds out that his girlfriend is probably cheating on him. ON top of it, his parents sudden death coming back from a trip that he forced them to take, he gets completely dejected and decides to commit suicide. Unknown to him, he is saved by mysterious man Yoda Ryoji, and he wakes up finding himself tied up in leather and belts in a very BDSM setting. This mysterious saver soo...

The Shortest Distance is Round 3: Fallen Flowers

Continuing with the weird trilogy of "The Shortest Distance", I am so glad that finally I am done with part 3 and won't have to deal with this again in future. Thankfully, as of now the makers have not announced any further parts; which will save all of us on this earth from the embarrassment of watching this in near future. After the first 10 minutes are used in sort of recapping bits of first two parts, the story moves forward. Haruto is now starting to have feelings for Ruka, the mysterious pole dancer from second part. In a fit of rage, Ruka ends up killing the goat man and to save him and Haruto, Shibahara asks them to go underground. Meanwhile Shibahara continues the search for Seiya (the guy who had cut off Haruto's penis). It turns out Seiya is now also taking care of the original club owner from part 1. Both of them were released after they had informed Shibahara of Aoyama's secret location. Shibahara tortures Seiya's boyfriend leading to Seiya killin...