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Contrast (Japanese Series)

By Golu
This is basically a high school BL where two guys who have nothing going on in common somehow end up getting really close to each other, and that's kind of the whole point of the title too. There's barely any drama or fluff packed in here, it stays pretty straightforward the whole way through. A little bit of friction pops up here and there, but it's nothing compared to what you'd normally get in this kind of show. Runtime wise you're looking at 8 episodes, each one sitting around 25-30 minutes. The two guys carrying the story are Akira and Kanata, and funny enough they knew each other's faces way before they ever knew each other's names. Kanata's the type everyone likes, always got people around him, popular guy, but there's this distance to him that people can't quite place. Turns out he had an injury that ended his football days, and that's what pushed him into being more withdrawn, and it only got worse once his younger brother got picked...
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Close To You (Korean Anthology series)

By Golu
4 bite size love stories is what this anthology series is all about. Spanning eight episodes in total, each story unfolds across two episodes, each around 10-14 minutes. Keep your expectations low, since these stories are simple, fluffy, and cozy romantic. An easy breezy watch overall, with just enough time spent to capture the vibe and give away those warm fuzzy feelings without dragging things out.

Riding a Bicycle - This is the quintessential ‘friends to lovers’ tale. Two friends have just finished school and are looking forward to university life at different places. The two friends spend the night and next morning together, cycling along the Han River and it's pretty obvious they are smitten with each other and want to be more than friends. This one feels like a slice of life captured in soft light, no big declarations, just two adorable friends slowly leaning into something more. I loved all of the caring and sweet moments. The actors were very cute. I would gave preferred to show a little more of love, but it was left more of an open-ended thingy.

Friendship Bracelet - An offbeat but very unique tale about confessing your love. Si-hwan loves Joo-chan, and on a drunken night confessed his feelings to him after being friends for 7 years. Now face to face, he uses a time-travel friendship rainbow bracelet to rewind their meeting. Each time he rewinds time, he attempts to confess his feelings in a “better” way. The time-loop adds a touch of comedy, though the chemistry between the leads is a bit lukewarm. It could definitely have been better.. The ending is a pleasant surprise where it turns out that the other friend had also used time loop previously to confess his love. Quirky, funny, heartfelt and very unique and novel. Loved it.

Last Diary - A young man is vacationing in their country home when he is told by his mom that her friend's son will also be staying. After an awkward and unfriendly beginning, they eventually bond, get closer, a kiss follows and after a sleepover on the same room, he disappears the next day. The twist? He was sick, and now he’s passed. And he gets to know it a year later.The diary entry that says "he’ll come see him again". An emotional story that somehow missed the mark for me. It's tragic with beautiful locale and good looking leads but this story failed to tug my heart as it should have.

Sunset Boulevard - A workplace romance where two former buddies from the film club reunite. When the new guy in the office sees his senior at the same workplace, they bond and remember their movie nights in film club. The junior then confronts the friend if he kissed him one night at the movie, forcing the senior to confess that he has been in love with him all these years. This was also a quirky short film where you see that the senior guy is longing to hold his love but he is also the serious nerdy types at work and have to keep up the appearance. The kiss timed perfectly with the coworker walking out was too good.

The overall tone of all the stories was very refreshing. There was no unnecessary drama, no toxic love triangles, and thankfully, no cheating plots. It was simply a collection of heartwarming short stories about love. It felt refreshing to watch a drama that stayed light throughout without resorting to overused dramatic twists. Somehow it gave just enough time to catch all the different vibes of romance. The production quality seemed pretty solid too- clean visuals, nice editing and it all felt put together really well for a mini-series. Some people may complain that there was no deeper character development, but this is precisely what happens in short films. For what it set out to do, I think it pulled it off really well. Overall, I thought this was a very well done mini-series, charming, easy to watch, and honestly better than a lot of crap out there. (7/10)
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