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Chained To My Bully Stepbrother (AI Vertical BL Drama)

By Golu
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 ...
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Man On High Heels (Korean)

By Golu
This 2014 film had an interesting premise and an entertaining take on modern masculinity with some world class action. The story of a tough transgender detective whose tangles with the mob jeopardise his plans for a sex change operation seems very good on paper and honestly, it is to. Great extent. But there are so many unanswered things in the film that I felt lost at few places. Also in a lot of places the motives and actions by a few people are quite questionable.

Yoon is a no nonsense cop who is known for ruthlessly taking down criminals with violent methods, famous for his fighting skills and general manliness. However, Yoon hides a secret from his admiring colleagues, struggling with his gender identity and having long nursed a desire to become a woman. He has bene trying to save money to his operation. But things are not same when he launches a crusade against a criminal which lands the mob boss in hospital. His brother decides to take matter in his hand and a cat and mouse game begins. Yoon occasionally uses help of a girl for his police activities and is the only one who he cares about. Turns out she is the sister of the boy whom he dearly loves as a child and before his death, he promised to always take care of the sister. When Yoon is about to leave the country as a final goodbye to get his sex change operation, the mo kidnaps this girl, which forces Yoon to leave everything, come back and take revenge and save the girl. He eventually decides to stay back and live as a man to protect the girl I think they end up getting together in the end.

The film's premise was nice but how I wish there was more to Yoon's personality, more background on how, why and also his childhood love. It just felt convenient to just say that this macho cop has a hidden personality where he wants to get his sex change operation. Which even if we believe for. Amount, why does he kiss the girl at one point? Thankfully, Yoon’s sexuality and transgender yearnings are never played as a cheap gimmick and treated with respect, showing he is struggling with the whole thing. Yet, the whole angle just never lands itself properly. Also, the film does have an odd tone at times, frequently shifting suddenly between delicately emotional moments or farce and extreme violence. The whole angle of the mob boss' brother wanting to make a deal with Yoon felt more comedy to me rather than serious action. It was a decent one time watch for some action and a novel story idea but the overall picture and the whole trans angle just didn't land properly. The film could have made some string commentary on the lives of trans people , their struggles, social standing etc, but I guess the focus was more on Yoon as a cop. Nevertheless, it is still mildly engaging movie with high quality production value and some real good action sequences. And the lead actor did a great job of a man struggling with his social cop image with what he truly feels inside. He is definitely the one thing that you cannot find fault with in this film. (4/10)
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