A Boss and a Babe presents 6 episodes with solid interwoven plot problems. It then loses momentum, finally paying off the problems in episodes 11-12. Love By Chance 2 has a solid narrative arc for the main characters, Can and Tin, alongside several subplots that could easily be cut. Until We Meet Again, despite a fascinating premise, is the slowest thing I've ever watched in my life. My School President, however, never flags.
The difference, I suggest, comes down to pacing around internal pay-offs that relate to a central problem. My School President, the best paced of the four, proposes several regularly-spaced hurdles around the need to keep the band as a club: a new band member, the application to a contest, first try-out, second try-out, the band members' final trip together, graduation. The main problem and character development all relate to these hurdles/events.
Likewise, although most of Love by Chance 2's subplots drag, the main plot between Can and Tin doesn't. Can and Tin's courtship arc circles around the issue of trust--Tin's desire to have a lover he can trust and Can's need to make a leap of trust. The mini-payoffs include Tin's disclosure of his family's dysfunctions; Can's announcement to his sister that he and Tin are dating; the interference of Tin's brother in the relationship, which is paid off when Can punches him and Tin then reconciles his brother with his ex-lover. In the end, Tin and Can figure out their dating life.
Until We Meet Again is not marked by much. I watched it avidly the first time around. Since then, I've never been able to get through it. It is soooo long. The main premise or idea is that two young men are meeting after they killed themselves in a prior life. Okay. That's pretty fascinating! Except the entire point of every single episode (until the end) is that Pharm and Dean are figuring out that they know each other from a past life. It takes something like four episodes for the beginning of that knowledge to kick in, which is entirely too long to wait for the equivalent of a thesis statement.
In fairness, I think the series falls into shaggy dog territory. It is more about the setting and the people and their friends and their lifestyles. That is, it is more about the soap opera than a narrative arc.
A Boss and a Babe is odd because it is established as having a narrative arc--in fact, the various plot points are well-presented, believable, and engaging. Gun and Cher's relationship as boss and intern and the potential problems that arise when a subordinate dates a boss is the main focus. Other problems include the theft of programming by Gun's previous fellow company director, Thyme (Thyme's defensiveness is extremely well-rendered: here is a guy who thought he was good enough to go out on his own, only to discover that he needed Gun's acumen and the team's skills); Cher's worries about the brother of the young woman he knew growing up; and Cher's efforts with his friends to win a gaming contest.
And for six episodes, impressively enough, these plot points weave together quite effectively. Until everything gets rather "huh."
The main issue in My School President, again, is the band staying together as a club. Every episode and episode hurdle relates back to this issue.
The main issue in A Boss and a Babe is that Gun is dating his intern, which causes negative reactions within the company. The issue is raised, then dropped, then raised again, finally addressed, dropped again, then paid off.
Take a similar episode in both series. In both My School President and A Boss and a Babe, the main characters head to the beach. In My School President, while at the beach, Gun is tasked alongside his co-leader, Sound, with creating an original song while his band members rehearse. Sound and Gun end up talking about relationships and Gun confesses (only to Sound, at this point) that he is sort of dating Tinn.
In truth, I think the episode is not entirely necessary but it still relates to the overall arc.
In fact, the episode feels rather like an advertisement for Thailand beaches, which, in all honesty, I would consider more forgivable than sloppy writing.
Non sequitur tangents and subplots show up in manga. However, in manga, they don't get in the way. I suspect that many viewers approach these television series with similar expectations and an acceptance of shaggy dog meanderings. And they are wise.
But if one is interested in narrative arcs--and how they function--the differences between the two series here go a long way towards explaining the importance of pacing.
Sometimes, 12 episodes truly could be 8.
