Got off to a good start, then crashed
Straight up let me just get this out of the way: The acting isn’t great and the writing leaves much to be desired.So why did I find myself wanting more??? What surprised me the most about Season 2 were the kiss scenes, which were way above average. The kisses were neither one-sided nor flat and the exchanges were actually pretty smooth. Best of all? It had initiative.
I enjoyed the first few episodes a lot more than Season 1, which moved at a slower pace. In season 2, Valen unfortunately, still isn't the most likeable BL character around. He's immature, selfish, clumsy and awkward. Now compare this to Non – portrayed to be a way better character with very few flaws, so perfect that he makes Valen look like a joke. But… Non is rather bland and boring.
Is Love Area is trying to make the point that we tend to fall in love with imperfect, deeply flawed people, preferring to adore them for who they are even when faced with other supposedly better options? Sigh.
Read my full review here: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2022/03/07/love-area-part-2-2022-review-got-off-to-a-good-start-then-crashed/
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This review may contain spoilers
Part 1 is ok, but Part 2 ruins it.
Part 1 was good and has good pitential. instead of having the main couple and just 1or 2 side couples, there was at least 4 side couples. By Part 2 there was still too much unresolved with all the characters. They took too long to build the relationship between Kaitoon and Valen, the main Couple. They also shoud have ended the relationship between King and Pete alot sooner and done more to build the King/Ink relationship. They could do a spinoff with them.From what they say in the description about the series Valen was born on Valentines Day, but has never known love, even from his parents. He is working in his Sister Nisa's restaurant and she seems to care about and straighten out his life. The only time they mention Valen's Birthday is in the final episode, while Valen is having a temper tantrum. I think Kaitoon and Valen have the potential to be a good couple, but Valen needs to go for counseling because of his temper and jealousy. Valen has a tendency to get a little violent when he is angry. They needed to spend less time on flashbacks to previous episodes and more time concentrating on character development.
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An unentertaining attempt to continue with a flawed story-line of season 1
The sheer confidence that the makers of this series must have displayed when they decided to continue with the story left off in season 1 is mind-blowing. Love Area Season 1 had its flaws like the lack of any story or even character development except for Pete and King which I was a little interested in. Instead of Season 2 being an attempt to right that wrong and genuinely try to tell a story about the 2 couples would have gone a long way in salvaging this series. But the makers decided to double down on their previous mistakes and decided to make some more.We end Season 1 with Valen and Kaitoon developing feelings for each other and Pete and King reconciling and giving their relationship another chance. A great material in my opinion to begin Season 2 no matter how little they showed in the 1st season. We however find that the makers abandon this opportunity and instead decide to create drama; first by introducing 3 new characters and have a love triangle going on. Fair to say I was not interested in that affair even a little bit.
Then we have the story of Pete and King, where their relationship is already rocky and 2 new characters are introduced to make this plot even more convoluted. We are left to ask questions like What's up with Pete? Is King falling for someone else? What has Sean got to do with Pete and what does he want and why? None of these questions are satisfactorily answered and we are left with more confusion than what we started with.
Finally, they decided to botch the relationship between Valen and Kaitoon. Like in Season 1, Valen continues to act like a douchebag and I fail to see what Kaitoon likes in him instead of going for Non who is a more caring and loving individual. Well, love blossoms between Valen and Kaitoon and we get the mandatory montage of them vacationing and having awkward conversations leaving you holding your face and wondering when will this end. After the mandatory montage, we get to the mandatory 3rd act break-up courtesy an illogical misunderstanding that is inflated because the two characters’ inability to listen. When eventually we reach the final episode, I was pleasantly surprised that Kaitoon reacts like a real human but the final few seconds robs me of that satisfaction.
This series ends up being a lesson on how not to extend your series to another season when you have no good storyline to showcase, main leads with no chemistry and think that more characters disrupting the ongoing relationships between the leads is what will make it successful.
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And now for the unpopular opinion
I've said many times, and I'll say it again: I am very easy to please and can overlook a multitude of sins when watching a BL. Even still, there were definite problems with this series. It was almost as if it were a 'choose your own ending' story, but they forgot to put in the options. It seemed experimental. You never really knew if the ending of each episode was going to continue with the next, or was it going to be a completely new story. If parts of it were supposed to be imagination, they forgot to include the dreamy, cloudy edges in the scenes. Maybe the writers were waiting for opinions from viewers after each episode, and if the viewers didn't like it, the writers started over....?However....most of the acting in this was pretty dang good. Jeff Satur (Sean) can act. Period. I'm glad he finally started to get better roles (ie KinnPorsche). Gun Tieosuwan (Valen) was extraordinary. Same for Ohm Napat Utsaha (King), at least if it's a dramatic crying scene (since he didn't get to do much else.) For the most part, the rest were also really good, and would have been better if they'd had better direction. The long pauses while talking, the extra-long stares into each other's eyes, the staring out at the ocean....I mean, all that can happen, but not as many times as they put these poor actors through. If you're filling up a time slot, that's not the best way to do it. The most naturally acting cast was the older generation, which is strangely surprising in my BL experience. (You would think those with more acting experience would be better actors, but rarely have I actually seen that in a BL.)
I watched it all and didn't skip, although there were a few times that I thought about it. I actually liked watching the acting. I actually liked most of the story. The actors did a great job portraying emotions. There were parts of the story where the reactions were more realistic, like when the characters refused to listen to explanations. (Lets be honest, when you're angry and hurt, you don't want to hear explanations.) There were legit, real kisses. There were believable touches and intimate moments. (I think it was in part 1 where it showed a flashback of Peat lounging against King's arm while reading a book that literally shocked me, because it was such a natural thing to do that you rarely see it on screen.) (And the scene where Valen is kissing Kaitoon before Atom started banging on the door....I wonder if they were still acting at that point....)
There is enough left unresolved that they could do another season, and I wouldn't mind watching more. I would ask that they clean up the direction and production a bit. But I can honestly say that those 2 scenes I mentioned are some of the most memorable that I've seen in all 150 or more BL's that I've watched. And the last scene, the last few seconds of the show, past the credits... many people didn't like. But it was everything to me.
And I love listening to Jeff Satur's voice on the soundtrack!
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waste of time
one of the boring bl series i have ever watched, writer don't even know how to write a story, the might be drunk while writing this series, just few characters that's it, i have wasted my time by watching this series, i should have read the review before watching this seriesone of the boring bl series i have ever watched, writer don't even know how to write a story, the might be drunk while writing this series, just few characters that's it, i have wasted my time by watching this series, i should have read the review before watching this series
one of the boring bl series i have ever watched, writer don't even know how to write a story, the might be drunk while writing this series, just few characters that's it, i have wasted my time by watching this series, i should have read the review before watching this series
one of the boring bl series i have ever watched, writer don't even know how to write a story, the might be drunk while writing this series, just few characters that's it, i have wasted my time by watching this series, i should have read the review before watching this series
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If you've watched part 1 skip this one
Part1 was okay, but this one was practically unwatchable.The story kept jumping too many characters.
They introduced a *t4t potential pair-up halfway through which I was shocked and a little excited for - but it came out of nowhere, made absolutely no sense in the plot, and was just a huge disappointing mess.
So many scenes in this were completely out of place, whatever little charm the last one had was completely lost here.
I fast forwarded through the last couple of episodes because I just wanted to finish them and see if it gets better (it doesn't).
Anyone is better off watching something else.
* t4t = trans for trans - which refers to trans people dating other trans people.
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Absolute terrible ending omg
Im not going to spoil anything but I hate this show ESPECIALLY the ending. Like what the heck. I don’t recommend anybody watch this show. The beginning was okay and then it went downhill for like the last 3 episodes. The last 3 episodes were SO bad it made me wish I didn’t waste my time watching the show in the first place. I genuinely wish that I never watched this. I was not satisfied with the ending I was just pissed and it was waste of my time. This story could have been so good and so beautiful but writers screwed it all up. I don’t know how you could mess up a show this bad but they did. I had such high hopes but I just ended up being SO disappointed. I don’t even have any other words to explain it other than. DONT WATCH THIS SHOW. You will be left unsatisfied I PROMISE.Was this review helpful to you?
Someone did a very bad thing...
Season 1 was nothing game changing....but it was okay enough as a stand alone series. II should have left well enough, but no. Between the final episode of "Paint With Love" and the premiere of "The Tuxedo" (I have a subscription to GagaOOlala) I had nothing to do one day so I decided to give it a shot. Why didn't I just ignore this, I wonder. The premise of each story (almost) is interesting enough - Valen is emotionally stunted and clumsy in love, and Kaitoon is oblivious to everyone who's interested in him. Okay fine. There's a lot that could be done there. Let's throw would be Dr. Non into the mix just to show how absent Kaitoon is. To call Non an underdeveloped character would be the understatement of the year. He's little more than a prop for Kaitoon to lean on whenever life roughs him up. There. That's Non's whole story. Then there's Pete (sometimes spelt "Peat" in the subtitles) and King. Not wanting to spoiler it, it's a pretty good premise - a lot to mine there but...the story just swirls and swirls like a dog trying to catch its own tail and getting nowhere. Then there's the lesbian triangle between June, Bill and Sonya. There. That's the whole story right there.Lazy, sloppy writing and half-assed performances. This is just one big nothing-burger. Finally I have to mention the music. I love Jeff Satur and his music, but boy...what is this tragic and sleepy soundtrack about? Was he trying to put the audience into a coma? He makes a guest appearance as an actor and that does not provide any absolution. Ugh. At least I can look forward to him in "KinnPorsche". What a waste this entire enterprise was. Miss.
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This review may contain spoilers
PART 1 AND PART 2 REVIEW
I watched this on Gagaoolala, The plot twist in part one was amazing like I was expecting that the leading man of Kaitoon is Non but it was actually Valen, and I love how their love for each other started from being 2 hot-headed man and pissed each other to 2 sweet couple. In part 2, I like the story flow but when I reached to episode 5-7 I was really really disappointed, how Valen treat Kaitoon like that without listening to his explanation, his ego and pride really pissed me off, and it's obvious that they still love each other but didn't do there best to take back the one they love. Hoping for part 3Was this review helpful to you?
I'll miss them with all my heart.
Man, I'm crying writing this, like whaaaaat????? I don't want this series to end. Last year and this year this sequel was the most series I talk about with my friends. The story is AWESOME, no one can beat them. This drama are amazing, the ost is one of the most beautiful ost that I ever heard, my heart explode with the highnote man Jeff rocks singing and acting I miss him. Now let's talk about how the production is awful, damm, EVERYONE notices the multiples changes on Valen's hair, and other things on the scenario... like man???? the only bad point was the productors. The main roles maaaaaaaan they BORN for theses roles. I can say this loud they catch me, they make me fall in love I will rewatch this over and over again, I cry with the end, I laught a lot, I feel amazing, and I'm addicted with the ost, I really really really hope to see more of them in the future, seriously. I F*CK LOVE LOVE AREA!Was this review helpful to you?
Love Triangles, part 2 (more triangles and a worse plot)
Overall: the writers thought that they didn't have enough characters/love triangles so they threw in another triangle and then made them into rectangles? Am I in geometry class? If you want to watch idiots and jerks totally mess up their love lives, then this is the show for you. I slogged thru ep 1, 2, 6 and 8 and cannot bring myself to watch the rest. Watched on Gagaoolala.What I Liked
- Valen's awkward attempts at moving their relationship forward in the beginning was kind of adorable
- overall production value was good, a few errors with the English subs but not bad
- the enjoyable OST is by Jeff Satur
- the kissing scene was fairly well done in ep 1, at least no dead fish lip press kiss
- I did appreciate that there was an apology from Mr. Goldfish Memory
Room For Improvement
- characters were really stupid and unlikable, I'm not even going to get into all the ways that they were awful
- a 16 minute recap of season 1 out of a 45min episode, 16 minutes! I like a short recap to center what happened before but this was way too long. And it wasn't clear where it ended. Weren't they lying in the sand/water at the end of season 1, that's where it should have started.
- a third love triangle, you've got to be kidding me (update they got even worse with even more characters added in to create love rectangles)
- Kaitoon is the stupidest protagonist, he has both the memory and brain of a gold fish. He can't figure out that either guy is romantically interested in him? And why can't they just tell him directly? Kaitoon and Valen stupidly started back at square 1 when I thought they were going to advance their relationship in season 2.
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