Surprisingly good mini series with some bromance

This is an example of a mini-series (a series with super short episodes) done mostly right. For some reason, most parts do not feel too hurried. The main weakness of many mini series is the pacing and erratic storytelling, and while Decline isn't entirely spared from it, I'm surprised by the plot development and character backstories.

I don't what the relationship between the two main characters is like in the novel, but I would classify it as bromance in the series. I was wondering whether to describe it as censored BL, but I think it is a case where we are left to imagine things if we want to but there isn't really that much BL innuendo. Sui Han Bai realizes that Su Chengxi is someone he has known since his childhood days quite early on although Su, who has lost his memory does not realize it till much later. We see Sui's devotion to Su when he blocks an arrow shot at Su with his own body and even in his semi-conscious state, calls for Su to stay safe.

The story unfortunately does seem incomplete, but to its credit, the series does have at least a tentative happy ending for the main characters and does not end with a silly cliffhanger when there may never be a Season 2. There is potential for a Season 2, but Season 1 at least ends satisfactorily.

Despite the synopsis, I think the series shows more promise if it is marketed as bromance rather than mystery/detective series because it thrives on our interest in the characters, and the mystery aspect leaves too much unaddressed.

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Implied BL with a puzzling title

I stumbled upon this mini series by chance. It's gratifying to see that implied BL series from China can still exist despite the pervasive censorship. However, I'm not sure if BL series in which the romantic elements are at best heavily implied will continue to be released. Without publicity, even viewers who do not mind the fact that the romance is implied may not get to even hear about them. Yet, publicity will likely draw unwanted attention to such series, causing them to be cancelled.

Another problem with the current censorship rules is the fact that it will almost certainly affect the production budget, particularly for shows that are low-budget to begin with. After all, not many would risk investing in productions that most likely will not be commercially successful. The form that My Sweet Professor takes reflects this problem. It looks quite clearly like a condensed version of a story with much more substantial development. The story does get told, but the depth of character development, which can help viewers immerse themselves in the story and empathize with the characters, is gone. Additionally, the creators of the series have to resort to rather choppy editing to tell the story in such a condensed manner. The scenes quite haphazardly switch from the time when Gao Yuan and Huo Shang are high schoolers to eight years after, when they are adults. Furthermore, the reason behind Huo Shang's disappearance (critical to the story) is done through the speech of another character rather than through actual flashbacks. (And the revelation isn't even quite complete or convincing.)

What I can appreciate about the series, though, is how the leads' attraction to each other is quite obvious despite being implied rather than directly portrayed. It is clear from the start that Gao Yuan's resentment towards Huo Shang for disappearing eight years before is that of a lover who is coping with his boyfriend's unexplained disappearance. The way Huo Shang tries to approach Gao Yuan again is also clearly the behavior of someone trying to patch things up with his lover.

Unfortunately, there are many loose ends in the series. There is no real explanation of why Huo Shang does not try to look for Gao Yuan earlier. The corporate power struggle that Huo Shang is facing at work is also barely explained (it feels as though the truly censored parts of the story are not even the BL elements.) In the end, My Sweet Professor is a series that would have been much better if it had even been an eight-episode series with standard-length episodes. As a sign of how underdeveloped the story is, we do not even know why the series is entitled "My Sweet Professor".

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Detective, mystery, supernatural, revenge, bromance, comedy ....

The story crosses multiple genres in intriguing ways and it cannot really be judged by the standards of any particular genre. There is mystery, for instance, but it would seem to fall short in some ways if we judge it according to what we expect from the genre.

Despite the somewhat convoluted plot, the assortment of characters, who are comedic at times but also multifaceted enough to be interestingly complex, makes the show a delight. Qiu Qingzhi, as one of the main characters, manages to keep the viewer wondering whether he is a good person right till the penultimate episode (though it does become progressively clear). His back story and friendship with Li Bing (the titular white cat) is beautifully portrayed. One might well ship the two characters.

Quite a bit of the humor, however, is unfortunately lost in translation in Alibaba's misuse of Chinese idioms. (I have to admit that I did not get quite a number of the idioms.) Yet, the approach is quite refreshing and adds to the entertainment value of the series.

One oddity of the series is that it clearly has a supernatural element, with Li Bing being able to shapeshift from human to cat form. Yet, Li Bing is the very character who insists that none of the strange cases he encounters involves the supernatural (simply because he does not believe in the supernatural. This seems a little odd.

At one point, I was wondering if the series would be one of those that would end without a proper resolution and leave the viewer hanging in the middle of nowhere because the plot is getting a little too complicated. However, the story does have a proper resolution even if one may find it a little unrealistic--basically the good guys manage to escape being killed by the villains because they public trusts them and will go great lengths to rescue them.

And while the story does not end with a silly cliffhanger, not all the loose ends are tied by the end of the final episode. Most prominently, for instance, the (female) emperor remains a mysterious figure whose face is never shown. At one point, it is mentioned that she seems to be getting younger and younger; later in the series we see her basically having the height of a child. Given that the central mystery lies in the pursuit of some immortality concoction that can reverse aging, one wonders if she might be tied to all the trouble caused by the pursuit of the concoction. Unfortunately, with the apparent death of Qiu Qingzhi, if there is going to be a Season 2, it may lack a significant character.

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Love the story (mostly) and characters, but it is not flawless for sure

Apart from the fact that the series is adapted from a BL work, I see no reason it would be taken down. In fact, suggestions of BL are few and far between even though the relationship between the two main characters approaches the intensity of romance.

I think the story has some basic changes from the original work, but the story in the series is pretty strong overall. It is highly engaging as the characters enter the virtual world represented by one door after another. The progress in the dangers of the different levels of the virtual reality game is also nicely calibrated. But the story would have been much less engaging had it not been for a group of interesting and likable characters that the audience will care about. A case in point is the character, Tan Zaozao, a female actress who starts off being a character one doesn't take seriously but ends up with one we might cry over.

It is a little ironic that a series that toes the line in so many ways is taken down after an hour, with most attributing the cause to censorship. If one has no idea that the series is based on a BL work, one might not even imagine that there is any romance going on between the main characters. No doubt, there is a strong bond between them, but it could either be a strong friendship or romantic interest that never really gets a chance to be expressed. I would even say that one of the major flaws of the series is how it toes the line politically, making it thematically simplistic. In the series, it is none too subtly suggested that America = Capitalist = Evil. (No prizes for guessing which country it is antithetical to.)

As a critique of capitalism, what the characters say may make sense at a certain level. However, it is a different matter to posit that evil Western capitalists will go out of their way to corrupt a virtual reality game (or some sort of game where the line between the virtual and the real is blurred) and fill it with violence. Look, in the series, it is not as though the capitalists can make money when:

1. people who start playing the game have no choice but to continue--they can simply go through any door and be transported to one of the worlds of the game even if they do not wish to play and presumably even if they are too poor to pay to continue playing the game.

2. people who die in the game also die in real life, so they cannot continue playing (even if we assume that they have to pay each time they play)--and it it VERY easy to die in the game.

3. people actually actively discuss the game on the Internet and it is quite possible for the game to gain such a bad reputation that not many are adventurous to even start playing it

4. such a game must take an immense amount of energy to power even if it were technologically possible: which profiteering capitalist will foot the bill?

Another issue here is the pitting of the main characters against the agenda of the evil capitalists. You mean as long as the main characters triumph, the evil capitalists won't be able to replicate an older, corrupt version of the game that can cause people to die?

I suspect the original work is more coherent than this, but alas, it probably runs into censorship issues. But if only someone had the foresight to see that the series would be catapulted to the status of a cult classic because it would be taken down after one hour of release, perhaps a decision could have been made to stay more faithful to the original work.

In the last couple of episodes, the series becomes quite perplexing. It does not make sense to have an "it was all a dream" sort of ending, especially one that ends up being self-contradictory. There are at least three key interpretations we are invited to consider:

1. It was all a "dream"--ok, but why would Ling Jiu Shi's dream reveal to him the names and even personalities of people he sees after the dream and not before, and why isn't Ruan Lan Zhu amongst these people?

2. The game has started earlier than Ling Jiu Shi realizes at first, but when he completes the game, he is transported to maybe 15 minutes after the start of the game. This would mean that all the so-called real-life characters for most of the episodes are game characters. Ok, but why are these characters so similar to random people Ling Jiu Shi later sees around.

3. Ling Jiu Shi is still in the game (not mutually exclusive with 2). Maybe there is a challenge he must overcome. Who knows? He chooses to spend the next 50 years creating a replica of the game (presumably without the awful parts) or basically Ruan Lan Zhu and other people he cares about during the previous 70+ episodes we see him. Ultimately, though, this seems to be an act of self-deception... it it suggested that no matter how real we make the virtual world or "merge" it with the real world, we can escape the fact that our physical bodies age in the real world. That is unless we ditch our physical bodies (die physically) and upload ourselves into the virtual world (which can be sustained by god knows what)... I guess this is one way of achieving a happily-ever-after for our leads. Then again, it is a solution that involves cutting oneself off from the people in a different realm.

I think the series makes things unnecessarily complicated and not quite in a purposeful way. This is where it falters despite being a really engaging series to watch about 95% of the time.

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Quite funny and entertaining at times

The premise is quite nonsensical. A woman viewing a series is suddenly transported into the series--there is no explanation of any sort. I do, however, like how the protagonist has some "superpowers" as her remote control can do certain things like pausing the scenes without pausing herself.

I'm not sure why, but there seems to quite a number of mini series involving characters who are transported to a fictional world. This one isn't the best, but it is entertaining enough. One of the merits of the series is that it does not take itself seriously. Yet, this is also the Archilles heel of the series as the last couple of episodes descend into incoherent chaos. And since the series is so nonsensical anyway, I don't understand why the series ends with the protagonist being transported out of the fictional world. It would have been better to just let it end more happily, especially since a Season 2 seems unlikely.

It is best not to take this series seriously and watch it for whatever mindless entertainment it offers.

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Consider this series underrated even at the current 8.4 MDL rating

My impressions may not be accurate, but it feels like not that many people out there are raving about this series. Or at least there should be more people raving about it.

Amongst all the BL series, censored and uncensored, that I have watched over the years, this is one of the few transcends the boundaries of typical BL series and is deeply moving. Although I watched the uncut version, which has longer episodes, the series feels much longer in a good way. The plot and character development are done impressively well.

The bulk of the series is set in the 1920s, which facilitates the treatment of issues like homophobia and the subjugation of women in society. There are LGBTQ characters, but the series does not give the impression that it is including lesbian and queer characters as a token act of inclusivity, to generate hype or as a means of creating humor. Even relatively minor characters are presented with nuance. Impressively, the series even broaches potentially controversial issue of reproductive rights, with one female character deciding to get an abortion when she finds herself pregnant after a traumatic incident of marital rape. One may also appreciate the added layer of complexity when the issue of class differences enter the relationships that are already taboo due to sexual orientation.

If I have to specify a flaw in the series, it is that the story is incomplete. We see Jom traveling from 2023 to the 1920s and meeting Yai. However, it is hinted (actually quite directly shown, especially at the end of the uncut version after the closing credits) that Yai has a previous incarnation before the 1920s. A monk they meet also say that the two of them are destined to meet each other. Unfortunately, at the end of the uncut version, we catch a glimpse of Jom traveling to the unspecified era before the 1920s (assuming he's not dreaming or anything). This also means that Yai will inevitably be separated from Jom in two of the lifetimes. There is obviously a Season 2 tease, and I hope Season 2 gets made.

The seemingly happy ending of the current season leaves one feeling a little perplexed because it is unexplained. How does Yai turn up in the house where Jom is? Has he traveled to the future (impossible since the belongings he left behind suggest that he does not meet Jom again in his lifetime)? Is he a ghost? Is he a reincarnation of Yai (but how would his reincarnation know about Jom)? In the end, the saddening truth we know is that after Jom disappears from the 1920s (and returns to 2023 involuntarily), Yai spends the rest of his life pinning for Jom.

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This one didn't rise well

Bake Me Please is a rather watchable BL. It could even have been quite good for those who do not mind predictable stories. However, certain weaknesses in plot development affected the characterization.

Shin is a baker in a bakery he has started with his friends, Oab and Guy. One might wonder how he even had friends to begin with because of his cold demeanor, but we can overlook this. Oab's mother makes his brother, Atom, join the bakery, and Atom in turn pulls his friend, Peach in. As you might guess, Shin and Peach fall in love.

The story doesn't quite impress with originality, but to its credit, it doesn't. It can be a fairly good run-of-the-mill BL. Unfortunately, some flaws do compromise the watching experience. Some parts lack coherence in somewhat bearable ways. Peach's grandmother has been clearly open to Peach and Shin having a relationship, but Peach behaves as though he is surprised when his grandmother is totally fine with it when Shin announces that they are dating.

The worst moments in the series are the rather forced turns in the behaviors of the characters to fit rather forced turns in the plot. The first of these turns is when Guy quits to join another bakery, tired of playing second fiddle to Shin all the time and probably because he is jealous that his crush, Peach, is a couple with Shin. Guy is a fundamentally good person, so it is odd that there is no sign of hesitation or struggle when he does some of the less than honorable stuff he does. Then there is Shin's behavior. Although he is socially inept and even harsh with his words, he is not an unreasonable person, especially after meeting Peach. However, he refuses to let Peach continue his friendship with Guy and breaks up with Peach simply because Peach goes for dinner with Guy. The poor plot development mars the characterization as well.

I think the writers should have opted for the feel-good factor throughout by developing the plot in a different direction. The story does end pleasantly, which salvages things somewhat.

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Be patient with this one

It is easy to give up on Home School halfway through. After all, we may not really care much about most of the characters at the start. The teachers at Home School are either cold or creepy (often both, actually). And the students can be pretty unlikable too. But I guess the creators took a bit of a gamble here. The characters do become more interesting and likable apart from the one who turns out to be the main villain of the series.

It is unfortunately very easy to be frustrated with the series if you start off with the assumption that Home School and its teachers are part of an unrevealed dark conspiracy. This is because of the ambivalent way in which they are portrayed. They seem every bit like the bad guys who have tricked parents into enrolling their children in a school that ends up abusing the children and cut off the children's contact with the outside world. However, some of the "lessons" the teachers try to teach seem to have values even though the teaching methods are highly unconventional and manipulative to say the least. There were times when I was left incredulous, thinking that the writers have made the teachers laughable villains. At times, the teachers seem to place emphasis on conventionally good things like love and trust for one another; at other times, they seem to be cruelly teaching the students about the ugliness of the world. The ambivalence in the portrayal of the school does, however, have a purpose. There are early hints about this and it becomes increasingly clear to us--the school has not always been what we think it is like.

To be honest, the ethicality of the tactics employed by Home School to educate the young people remain questionable all the way even though a twist in the story makes us focus more on the main villain or the mastermind behind the villainy. Regardless of what Home School aims to do, I can imagine how emotionally scarring it can be for a young person to go through the school, especially for someone like Pennhung who appears to be a character with unspecified special needs. This is one of the weaknesses of the story, making the plot twists less convincing than they could have been.

At times, I also wished that the writers had written in more interesting lessons. Some of them are just too predictable. Take for example the game in which the students are made to play a musical-chairs game. They are told to find a place to sit down before the music stops--the number of chairs keep decreasing, but those who fail to find a place to sit down will be punished. Of course, it turns out that the students did not have to sit on a chair. They could literally sit anywhere. In another game, they students are made to play a game in which they have to identify the lizard, who can order anyone of them around. Of course none of the students turns out to be the lizard. The atmosphere would be different if there had been more interesting "lessons" written into the script.

Despite the flaws of the series, there is enough in the series to keep me watching. The strong performance by many of the actors and the good story pacing contribute to making the series more watchable. There are holes here, but the story is quite good

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Even 2 suns can't heat this one up

Characters exist, characters inexplicably fall in love. And some possible, muddled ships. That's about it to this BL.

The storytelling is rather incoherent. Sun is sent to collect a debt from Athit--Sun is part of some debt collection company (it seems) and somehow Sun's own father engages the company's services, which sends Sun to collect the debt. (Weird.) And Sun is a debt collector who never manages to collect any debts--it is not clear why; it is not as though his colleagues have superior debt collection tactics, but I digress like the series keeps doing.

Anyway, it turns out that Athit does not even owe Sun's father anything. In fact, it's the other way round. So what purpose does it even serve to get Sun to collect a debt? Boun and Prem are the leads playing Athit and Sun respectively, and the acting is understandably weak because ... how are they supposed to act with such randomness? It is not like there's any nuance or depth of character to bring out.

Another couple, Ashing and Mangkorn, has an even thinner storyline (if you can call it one). It seems that Mangkorn is basically enslaved because of a debt his father owes (Ashing's father is the boss of the aforementioned debt collection agency). They don't get along well at first but suddenly fall in love.

Then there is an assortment of characters whose behaviors are often inexplicable. One vaguely sees some possible ships here and there, but everything ends up being quite confusing.

The storytelling style makes things worse. One quirk of this series is the use of flashbacks to show how what is happening in a scene happens to begin with. This style is most of the time purposeless and does not enhance our engagement or appreciation of the story.

The only really entertaining thing in this series is the ending. And I don't even mean the happy ending for the two couples. It's how the boyfriend of Athit's brother (a terrible person) is left stranded on an island, with everyone forgetting he's there. Initially, I thought that the careless scriptwriters simply did not realize that they had left him on the island. Perhaps they did, but it is funny how they made use of it at the end so generate some humor.

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Awkward piece of work

This one is clearly supposed to have been a BL series. This is not to say that it isn't BL. I won't even group it together with censored BL series from China in which the romance is turned into bromance or in which there are clever suggestions of romance between the main leads. This series can't be labelled easily and not in a good way.

As I said, it is quite clearly meant to be BL with some vague enemies to lovers trope. Apart from how it recycles songs from other Thai BL series, there are the tropes of Thai BL that by 2022 have mostly either gone out of fashion or become controversial, such as an effeminate side character and a conniving ex-girlfriend. Yes, what is the ex-girlfriend doing if not to break up the lead and his newfound love? I mean, she already seems quite unhinged if we assume that the deliberately causes her her ex's new love interest to be locked up in a sports facility--how much more unhinged would she be if we assume that she merely sees her ex playing basketball with his roommate and gets to jealous that she causes him to be locked up somewhere?

Unfortunately, even though the BL elements are not simply turned into bromance despite the mention of friendship on more than one occasion (at least in the Chinese dubbing and I don't think there is an uncut Thai version something), there aren't enough attempts to cleverly suggest romance. Instead, the emotional intensity of the scenes are lost. For instance, instead of fully exploiting Qin Jun Hao's jealousy when he sees his "roommate" with his arch-rival (or rather old friend-cum-rival) to suggest romantic interest, the portrayal of the jealousy is rather muted. When Yuan Zhi Ming disappears because he is locked up in the sports facility, Qin's panic is obviously not merely that of a friend, but again, there is no attempt to exploit it.

To make matters worse, the scene that best suggests romance is not between Qin and Yuan but between Qin and his friend-cum-arch-rival, Yi Tang. In a haphazardly inserted scene, Qin tries to trick Yuan into going into a room only to end up being locked up together with him there. Filled with a top/bottom joke, the scene ends with tenderness as Qin carries an injured Yi away. No one watching the scene can be blamed for thinking that Qin and Yi are the main ship. The series would have been better if there had been such a scene between Qin and Yuan.

I cannot help but feel that the series could have been so much better even with censorship. Qin, Yuan and Yi all have back stories, but these are not really fleshed out well. The change Qin undergoes after meeting Yuan is not clearly portrayed. Yuan has a guitar he treasures because it's a present from his father--something happened after he gets the present, but we don't know what. Yi has a brother who drowned (a storyline that is reminiscent of Between Us)--Yuan is the spitting image of his brother, but there is no attempt to show whether Yi manages to overcome his trauma and guilt because the subplot lacks development.

It is not clear why what is essentially a Thai BL (the studio, director and many actors are all from the Thai industry) is dubbed in Mandarin. It seems intentional given that even the songs have Chinese versions. I can only speculate that there are Chinese investors involved who wanted to promote the Chinese actors, though this may not explain why what is clearly supposed to be BL is turned into this awkward thing that can't even be qualified as a censored BL. (Perhaps it is meant to be streamed on Chinese platforms?)

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Quite lovable, but one support character could have been fleshed out more

I love both the main couple and the side couple in this BL. I wonder, though, if it might be better to make the side couple the main couple instead.

The main couple, Tae Joon and Won Young, have a rather solid if predictable story. I think much of the credit goes to the development of Tae Joon's character. I can understand how he has trust issues after being betrayed by his ex-boyfriend, so I can empathize with him when he finds it very difficult to simply forgive and make up with Won Young after he finds out that Won Young has been originally tasked to try to persuade him to come out of hiding and exhibit his works. Won Young is, on the other hand, also in a predicament we can sympathize with--he is suspended from his job through no fault of his own and can be in serious debt (also not really his own fault) if he does not get back his job. (It's unfortunate that the series seems to neglect the serious problems Won Young is facing after the initial exposition. Some timely reminders would perhaps have been good.)

The side couple, Dong Hee and Ho Tae, are quite economically portrayed. There is so much potential for fleshing out Dong Hee's back story. From the start, we are given hints that Dong Hee is in love with Ho Tae, but when the latter (who keeps changing girlfriends) shows an interest in him, he refuses to accept the love. Dong Hee's main explanation is that Ho Tae is the son of his mother's friend, but one wonders why. This is revealed later in the series in a flashback with Dong Hee suffering from abuse from his parents because of his sexuality and Ho Tae's mother being the only one who comforts him. Why Dong Hee does not accept Ho Tae's courtship because of Ho Tae's mother is less clear. Is he afraid that Ho Tae's mother might blame him if she is unable to accept it if her own son is gay--and she is someone he owes something to? Has he internalized homophobia in some way and thinks that Ho Tae and his family will be better of if Ho Tae goes on dating women? In some ways, Dong Hee can make for a more compelling main character than Tae Joon. The abuse he has suffered and the years of quiet one-sided love for Ho Tae make him the most emotionally complex character in the series. If only he were a more fleshed out side character or the main character!

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I confess to bingeing this one, but it isn't really great

My first response to this series was: "Another tyrannical-boss-and-quirky-subordinate story?" The story relies on several familiar tropes, including a disapproving mother towards the end. Nonetheless, I did find it fairly watchable. It is rather stress-free watching because we more or less know how the story will develop and end. And the BL couple is fairly likable.

Be warned, however, that there are several poor transitional points. First of all, although we know that Xia Shangzhou (the tyrannical General Manager) takes a liking to his new secretary (Yao Shunyu), it strikes me as a little too sudden when Xia frantically rushes to the rescue of a kidnapped Yao. Clearly, there weren't enough scenes to show that Xia had already fallen so hard for Yao. Other poor transitions include Yao's own struggles with his own emotions. Yao goes through several stages:

1. he notices Xia's interest in him and freaks out;
2. he struggles with his own sexuality but eventually comes to terms with the fact that he is in love with a man;
3. he struggles with being uncertain if he is just a fling to Xia despite being in love with Xia and accepting it;
4. he realizes that Xia really loves him but decides not to accept Xia so that Xia can avoid being embroiled in a scandal.

Although things cannot possibly be entirely clear-cut, the shifts from one stage of Yao to another is a little too muddled to be truly moving.

Despite the flaws, I did enjoy some comic moments in the series. Unfortunately some of these moments also fall flat despite having potential. A case in point is when Yao is given the task of sabotaging Xia's blind date (arranged by Xia's mother). Somehow, Yao ends up buying a whole lot of condoms, causing the woman who was arranged to go on a date with Xia to think that Xia is a pervert. (Erm.... excuse me, first, Yao shouts to Xia "You are mine" but the woman mistakenly thinks that he is speaking to her. Then the condoms fall out ... and the woman thinks Xia is a pervert even though all Xia does is to help Yao, who is slipping. ????)

Somehow another Taiwanese BL, Stay by My Side, is listed as Related Content in MDL. I'm not sure about the links, but Stay by My Side is overall much better. Despite the cliches and predictability, I think You Are Mine had the potential to be much better than it has turned out to be. It is somewhat enjoyable, but nowadays, there are probably better BLs to watch.

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Likable main couple, decent BL with significant flaws

The story of the main couple is fairly decent, with Sailom and Kanghan taking a familiar enemies-to-lovers route. There is some awkwardness in the transition though. Kanghan and his gang's bullying of Sailom and his friends is really malicious, but quite abruptly Kanghan saves Sailom from actual gang members while he's on a quest to intimidate him.

It may or may not be a good thing that the story can be a little unpredictable. Just when things get really serious, the plot takes a markedly light-hearted turn. Then just as things seem to be pretty light-hearted, the situations suddenly become serious again, such as when Saifah (Sailom's brother) is arrested for allegedly shooting Kanghan's father. Even the characters vacillate: we see Kanghan promising to stand by Sailom no matter what happens, and the next moment, we see Kanghan telling Sailom to leave because Saifah has confessed (falsely) to shooting Kanghan's father. He even makes a totally unwarranted remark about poor people to his grandmother. Then almost just as suddenly, Kanghan is helping Sailom again.

There are certainly commendable attempts to show the changes in Kanghan's character, but the explanations are not really compelling. It is true that he changes after his mother's death, but it does not seem convincing that the problems he faces would cause a reasonable person to become a nasty bully. Ultimately, the story seems torn between giving us BL fluff and dealing with more serious themes, and the two impulses are not juggled well.

One thing that is done quite nicely at first is the presentation of inequality in society. This is clearly represented in the uniforms worn by the students. The poorer students' uniforms look yellowed and washed out. Together with how even the authority figures in school blatantly favor the wealthy students when it is obvious that Kanghan, a wealthy student with an influential father, is viciously bullying others. Unfortunately, the issue of the rich-poor divide is not developed well in the course of the story. While the story starts off by pointing out the gross injustice that exists, it eventually glosses over things by presenting the wealthy characters as good people. In fact, problems are ultimately solved by the benevolent wealthy. Kanghan's grandmother intervenes when there is injustice in the school.

When Sailom is engaged as Kanghan's tutor by the latter's grandmother, it is not even just a matter of the wealthy helping to solve problems. Sailom is fired after Kanghan fails a subject despite showing improvement in his grades. I was hoping that it would be revealed that the grandmother can tell how much Kanghan cares about Sailom and has come up with a ploy to make him ask for Sailom to be his tutor again. However, there is no such revelation, which also makes the characterization of the grandmother a little uneven. It seems to show that the wealthy can ultimately be callous if they wish to. Kanghan manages to get his grandmother to let Sailom be his tutor again, and the debt that Sailom's family owes will be paid off if he manages to help Kanghan do well enough to get into the university. Perhaps unintentionally, this shows that the wealthy have the power to make or break the lives of the poor. There could have been some strong social critique here, but somehow things are glossed over. Eventually, the lives or Sailom and his brother are improved because of the benevolent wealthy. This is symbolized by how Kanghan's grandmother takes the trouble to get a medication for Saifah. (Yes, there's that unevenness in characterization. She is generally a reasonable and kind person, and the way she fires Sailom is off-character.)

I do like the series simply as BL. Apart from how Kanghan's bullying of Sailom is too over the top, the couple dynamics are actually great. However, the stories of other (potential) couples are underdeveloped. The series spends a fair bit of time showcasing the tension between Guy and Nawa and not enough time on their romance. A couple of flashback scenes in the last two episodes show how they noticed each other in the past but these flashbacks do not complement the hostility they show each other. There are also hints of romantic interest between Saifah and his friend, Name. However, Name only appears in the series when he is needed in the main plot, and there is barely any attempt to show their relationship further. Why bother with these other couples then?

I did enjoy this series, but it has some flaws that make it less than great.

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Engaging if you can bear with the shifts

I was expecting a fun/funny time-travel drama in which the protagonist accidentally gets transported from the modern world to the Tang Dynasty, Initially, the story went very much as expected, and this may or may not be a great thing. On the one hand, I do enjoy the time-travel part of the drama, with the protagonist using his modern knowledge to get his way around in the past. On the other hand, when things fall within expectations, there is hardly any surprise.

But the series comes with some surprises. And this may or may not be a good thing once again. For about half the series, we see the more innocent side of the main characters. The Crown Prince whom the protagonist meets is a reasonable and righteous person, and we have typical rom-com vibes with two couples. However, after we have gotten used to the general rom-com trajectory of the story and characterisation, the series takes a dark turn. It makes some of the important characters more nuanced and rounded, showing a more realistic picture of political figures. Yet, the viewer has not been watching a drama about political intrigue for about half the series, so the shift becomes hard to swallow.

On their own, the two parts of the series are quite well done and engaging. Nevertheless, it doesn't work out that well when put together. Then there is the rushed and clumsy ending with (spoiler coming .........) the protagonist sustaining a fatal injury, This part was unnecessary. To make matters worse, he is transported back to the modern world seemingly because of the fatal injury (apparently it is impossible for him to die in the past) ... and his physical injuries disappear when he finds himself back in the modern world. (??!!) And while he does not magically get dressed in Tang-dynasty dressing when he travels to the past, his Tang dressing and fake hair conveniently get replaced by modern clothes and his original hairstyle when he returns to the modern era. I was almost expecting the series to end with some silly "it was all a dream" nonsense.

There is an additional 5-minute segment for the finale that seems to have been released separately from the final episode. This is where we get a happy ending, with the protagonist time-traveling back (we don't know how) to the Tang Dynasty and reuniting with his lover. (Time travel gets rid of fatal injuries?)

The drama is overall an interesting watch, and there is a lot to like about it. However, I wish the story had been steered back from its darker turn, which will make it more coherent as a whole.

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Time-Travel BL Done Right

This is one of those series that does things right for better or for worse, but mostly better.

(Wait, what could possibly be worse about doing things right? Well, it just feels so safe and doesn't take risks that some other series might take. I am reminded of series like Bad Buddy here.)

The time travel premise is used well and fully exploited, and with the nature of the time travel being supernatural rather than scientific, it avoids having to be too logical. It's a wise move that Kawi manages to get his father to go for a heart surgery when he travels to the past but doesn't get to prevent his father from dying, As one of the scenes seems to suggest, there are some things that cannot be avoided or brought about (such as winning the lottery) but there are also many things that can be shaped by personal effort.

Kawi and Pisaeng are an adorable couple, but the cutesiness isn't overdone. There is a good balance of serious moments and light-hearted ones throughout. I don't know how deliberate it is, but I somehow don't get the sense that Krist and Fluke are going to be the sort of pairing that will stoke the fantasy of fans, the way many BL actors are meant to. (Perhaps this often does not end well, and it is just as well.) Krist and Fluke have played their roles well, and in my opinion, Krist's performance in Be My Favourite has exceeded that in SOTUS. His acting may seem to some a little exaggerated at times, but I feel that it is according to the demands of the role.

What this series excels in is the side characters, who are interesting without being distracting. I like the portrayal of Kawi's friendship with Max, for instance. Although they are really good friends, the portrayal doesn't get too idealistic because of the time travel premise. Max, who is gay, falls out with Kawi at one point due to a misunderstanding that Kawi doesn't like others to think that he is Max's boyfriend. In the original timeline, their friendship is not mended, but in other modified timelines, they become close friends again. Another interesting character is Pisaeng's mother. In many BL series, a parent who can accept that their child is gay is idealised, but not here. Despite her acceptance of Pisaeng's homosexuality, the mother and son still have issues to sort out. Then there is also Not (classmate of Kawi and Pisaeng), a talented writer who is also an asshole. Not does not turn out to be the villain of the series (there isn't any), and he also doesn't really suffer for his assholery. (Quite realistic, I guess.)

If I must have complaints about the series, perhaps it would be that a lot of the positive points that I have mentioned feel a little calculated. Yet, even then, the series must be given credited for being able to handle everything skillfully. There is a scene towards the end when Kawi is hospitalised and the doctor asks if Kawi has any relatives to be contacted despite being told that Kawi lives with Pisaeng, who is his lover. While other series with less skillful scripting may have the characters directly discuss the issue of marriage equality and remark on how unfair it is, the finesse with which the issue is handled here is commendable. We can feel a sense of the how the lack of marriage equality affects gay couples without the characters commenting on it directly, and this is the way to go even though the series as a whole does not really seem to be focused on such issues.

For me, Be My Favourite ranks up among the best Thai BL series from late 2022 to 2023, together with My School President. While My School President really excels in telling a compelling and lovable story about innocent high schoolers, Be My Favourite its its more mature counterpart. They are both signs that the Thai BL industry can really up its game if it bothers putting in the effort.

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