The Boy Next Door (2017)

Easy to watch

Are they poly, are they gay, is this a bromance or is this a romance?

I honestly do not know, are they punching up, down or just right out in the air I do not know that either... what I do know was that the quality of acting varied but that could be me expecting to much of these really talented actors....

Mistaken or gay or not, these guys were pretty chill about it and there is some pretty decent gay rep somewhere in there as well. I did enjoy some of the humour and found the characters to be pretty decent human beings. I can understand why some people view this as a rewatchable comfort drama as it does have a lot of fluff (literally) and not much anxiety or drama. So in short it is just one of those easy to watch kind of deals.

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An Overdue Queer Review: Dark Chocolate

I've watched this show like 5 times now..... So let's talk about it. The first time I finished this, I was super confused because I found it funny, but was also like this feels like queerbaiting, but they actually have gay characters in it??? So let's break it down.

So the POSTER is v romantic, however it's still implied to not be romantic. How so? We got the shojou-y flowers surrounding their faces in the poster. And yet, the two are separated from each other facing the audience. So the poster is both kinda implying romance, but also implying not-romance. I think that's an excellent way to express the show.

The GAY JOKES: This whole show's humor and drama is based on misunderstandings and assumptions. The thing that confused me the most was "the jokes are about being gay, but are they being bad about it?" So here's my take. I think I was on the defensive when I first watched this because I expected the jokes to be making fun of gay people because I grew up in a time where being gay WAS the joke. But the jokes/drama are actually misunderstandings-based with gayness being the vehicle of the misunderstandings (instead of the gay people being ridiculed through jokes). Okay okay so far so good.

Another positive point? First episode they got some "it's okay to be gay" dialogue, and it's actually sprinkled in throughout the show. +1 for good intentions.

Okay but is it still QUEERBAITING? Yeah. -1
Queerbaiting breakdown: The chemistry. Okay so some of it is obviously not actually queerbaiting despite the homoeroticism. Why? Because it's actually just a joke set up with the reveal of a misunderstanding being the part that makes you laugh. We aren't actually supposed to think they're gay, and the beginning of each episode is supposed to make you feel like "WAIT I KNOW THIS ISN'T GAY SO WHY DOES IT LOOK SO GAY?" However there is still queerbaiting! What does it look like? So early on we got some moments where there are literal sparks between the two. We got your typical kdrama "oh it's hot in here" when they're blushing so that's hella queerbaity. There's some moments of chemistry in other places as well, and an entire song dedicated to how much they miss each other. By the end of the show I was torn because I was like, if there's a season 2 I can't tell if I want GyuTae to end up with Mina or Sung JiJae. Ah the bisexual conflict T_T

Moving on to the GAY REPRESENTATION. So this show actually has a gay couple in it! (Can you have queerbaiting and also have gay representation? *cough cough Teen Wolf cough cough*) The coming out and gay relationship is actually kinda precious. The gay couple become really confident in themselves. +1!!! However.... When Gyu Tae is like "oh shit (gay guy's ex-girlfriend) Mina is upset because this man broke up with her and immediately got into another relationship!" so he wants the gay couple to be on the down-low so Mina won't feel sad. Good intentions right? Except he goes about it in a cringe way. He's telling them that they should keep their relationship on the down-low because they're gay. -1 points. He does later say "if you found someone you like then that's worth celebrating" so .... +1??? See this is why I get confused.

OVERALL: This show feels like its written with good intentions, but it didn't always go about it the best way possible. Whether or not this show is right for YOU as a queer person, I can't say. For me? I like it honestly. I think it's a funny show. I think they could do better with the gay rep, and Mina especially kinda felt homophobic. Not like "i hate gays" homophobic but like "uhhhuhuhuhuhh I think I'm tolerant of gays but actually I feel weird about it" kinda homophobia. -1 Because of this, I can't rate it higher than an eight. So in that way, I want the show to be better and I want to see shows be better about it in the future. But like yeah, as the show is right now, I'm not gonna lie. I think it's funny. Could be better, and I feel kinda weird when I watch the more cringey stuff, but it's a short series that gets me to laugh. An easy rewatch for me. Hmmm. I'll call it dark chocolate. It's sweet, I like to eat it sometimes, but it does have a bitter flavor to it.

Also I love Choi Woo Shik. He's just so extra in this role. :)

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Came across this by accident and found it on YouTube, OMG what a funny series, especially episode four : I laughed so much and long that my side started hurting, What a great story and a must watch, you will not regret it. Both guys when great, love them both. This was series was by far one of the many mini series I watched with a lot of humor since I started watching DramaFever this last March. I don’t even watch any more America series or TV. DramaFever has become my main must watch series. I had no idea how many Asssian shows, movies a series are actually better than what I seen. Best ever.

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I wasn't expecting much of this series but it really got me entertained. The 15 episodes are under 10 min each and you can easy binge watch all of them.
It's about two boys that live next door and under circumnstances of the story they have to live together for a while. But they are always caught in confunsing and misleading situations that led people to believe that they are more than friends... but it's not the case.
The cast did a good job. Choi Woo Shik and Jang Ki Yong did a god job and they were really funny together and that is the main focus of the story. Yes we have the friend Mina but the main focus is on them and the funny and akward situations they are in.
Enjoyable and really funny, it really deserves your time.

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I personally love this show. Though the storyline leans towards the basic side, the casting was done really well for this show. It was easy to become invested with the characters and feel their embarrassment.
I was not so happy that this whole show revolves around the idea of queer-baiting. Several of my friends watched it through 'til the end, hoping for them to become a couple. This never happens, however. If you are okay with this dramatic concept, then I bet you will really like this show. If you really want to watch a show with LGBTQ+ representation, then I would suggest watching another show.

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It's Okay

A pretty fun show, I wouldn't say that it's groundbreaking but definitely one of the funnier entries into the genre.

THE GOOD:
First I'll start with some of the things I really liked about the series. It doesn't overstay its welcome as a mini-series with a tight 90 runtime that you can easily watch in parts or marathon all at once it you feel like it. The first few episodes do feel solid just in terms of style, editing and humor. And the first episode is a really good introduction to the general feel of the show so I was really happy that it had such a solid foundation to build from. The classic ultra melodramatic K-pop needle drops were also really funny especially playing Ann Hyeji's 'I Loved You' during the Ramen eating scene. I really appreciated the amount of jokes that had an early set-up and only reached the punchline at the end of the episode. I think that the patience payed off instead of only having quick sight gags.

THE BAD:
I would say that it does loose steam mid-way through the shows run and I wish that the last few episodes were more focused on coming up with some kind of resolution to the set-up of the show and the tension between the main characters and their mutual friend. The comedy of errors style gags also do start to feel a little exhausting midway through. I was under the impression that the 'misunderstanding' scenes would move the plot but eventually they started to feel narratively aimless. No idea if this is the case. but I did get the impression that some of the issues I had with the plot likely just stemmed from the inherent limitations that come with filming and writing for a short form web drama.

Final Thoughts: Pretty fun although not really a drama. The series is probably closer to a sitcom/comedy but It was dumb mindless fun and honestly it was significantly more interesting than some of the actual 'BL' series I've been watching recently so I have to give this series credit for that.

Overall Score : 8.0

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