2 MLs HAVE NO CHARISMA AND NO CHEMISTRY AT ALL
I can say this: GAP (Mon) and MHING (Soh) are my least favorite pair in lead roles – both physically and acting wise. So, it was an effort to finish this series. It’s good that there is lang NEW (Tan), POON (Pond), MEW (Tack), and ZAX (Tim).Acting is understandably below par because all cast members are newcomers. So, the awkwardness is expected but that’s no excuse if 1) they screened the cast well 2) the director guided the actors. My prediction: actor Gap (who plays Mon) won’t go far in the acting business. I suggest he change careers. Same with Mhing (who plays Soh). Both are ham actors. The good actors in the cast are those who played Pond, Saint, Tack, and Tim.
STORY: Nothing new here. Hate turns to like. Execution is also not fresh. You feel that you’ve seen all that before. It was an ordeal.
PACING. Super slow. And the way the characters talk, they are like in slow motion. You always feel like taking the words out of their mouths. Lots of dead air, tbh!
SCRIPT: One of the worst. The only characters with good lines and delivery are the coach, Pond and sometimes, Saint. I feel like their lines were written by a different writer from those who wrote the ML’s lines (there are four writers, including the director).
Most of the comedy lines/scenes fell flat – except that of the COACH’s and POND’s. They’re both natural and likeable, unlike the two MLs.
DIRECTING. I checked out the filmography of the director. Just 1 drama before this. And only 5 MDL users have seen it.
Cinematography and camerawork: Below average. But there’s a big improvement beginning with Ep 10. It seems that they changed their DoP starting with that ep. Music and sound effects are irritating, to say the least. I had to stop using earphones while watching.
This is one of the least favorite Thai BL series that I’ve seen..
5.5 / 10
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sports romance, messy gays be messy, cohabitation, crush, love triangle, tsundere
Enemies to lovers meets forced proximity (boarding house) in which I couldn’t decide if the unlikable main character was stupid or depressed (story of my life, see also Physical Therapy) but I can’t take yet another emo POV.There was no chemistry from the leads and great chemistry from the ex-friend/second lead.
Saint’s dad punishing him, when he doesn’t realize it’s because Saint is gay and heartbroken, really had meat to it as part of a basketball story. But it was such a tiny part of the overall show it felt like eating a meal when all I liked was one ingredient.
I’d like to see the actor who played Saint (Offroad) in other stuff but otherwise this one can fade and be forgotten. It was a mess, and not a hot one. Fatally flawed.
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What?
I was very excited about this drama. I thought the drama started out in a very exciting way, but did not turn out that way. I have watched so many of these dramas, and I am disappointed in this. I found the timing so slow! Mon, not the greatest talker, spent hours formulating a verbal response. There were times he seemed happy and participating in his surroundings, but most of the time he seemed like he did not understand what people were asking him. I wanted to like Mon, and I think I did a little at the end, but overall, he was not memorable. I think that was the character's issue in the show. No one, not even So, really liked nor remembered him, except his brother.So was not the best character either. He was either non verbal or just stupid. I did not understand his movements. He went out of his way to be worse than Mon.
The other couples were ok. Mon's brother and the senior, weird, but ok. Saint and the cutie pie who was after him were much more exciting than any other couple in this.
I am disappointed in the ending. All that non verbal staring, crying, him-hawing left me with questions. I understand that not every love works out, but the main character ended up by himself on a beach. What was that?
I
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Sadly slow and boring
I have to start with the actors are cute and some are very talented, but the storyline and development left much to be desired. The series is super slow and drags on for too long. there is a lot of confusion at times and there is a strong lack of growth. The characters show almost no growth by the end. Mon and Saint are great actors, So i found it to be annoying and tiring to watch. The friends were funny at times and had little moments to shine but sadly still no real development. This was a slow and childlike bl to watch. Sadly would not recommend it and hope to see the actors in other series. The ending was horrible, with no real happy ending, and left you hanging with everything. Found this to be an annoying slow series that lacks story and character development.Was this review helpful to you?
Storyline
Unfortunately this Series is like so many BLs being made dull and boring.The two main leads had no charisma at all. Scriptwriters need to stop making so many dull BLs and more with a decent
storylines.Getting drunk.. Unbuttoning shirts..long stares like they have forgot their words.Its awkward viewing.Mon and So we're completely unmatched and main leads need to appeal to the female watchers. Saint was my favourite actor easy on the eye and he needs to star in a series as a main lead
with Pond or Micky.Mon I couldn't work out..he looked totally depressed about everything and everyone he came in contact with. SO wasnt much better.Putting these two as the main leads was a disaster. No charisma whatsoever. The moments Saint and Mon were together was a different vibe. At least Mon smiled more.I hated So for humiliating Mon by deliberately kissing a girl.I wish he had ended up with Saint.He did love Mon.The ending wasn't an ending.I am none the wiser wether Mon ended up with anyone.
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Gave it a second change, glad I did!
Overall my biggest issue was the start of the show, which given the in general slow dialogue, was a turn off. Somehow I ended up giving the series a second chance (coincidently just as the last episode was about to be released) and overall I was blown away by the show as a whole.Long story short the BL is subtly romanced based, but you have to get pretty far in to see what that really means.
A positive point about the series is that even though it is early college/high school flashbacks based, the story for the most part kind of pulls you away from that and focuses on the character development, which is pretty good and easy to follow through. Acting overall was pretty good, minus the occasionally obnoxiously long slow dialogues. Quality of the episode recording overall was excellent. Music was good, some great songs by Palmy.
I think in the future I may do a speed rewatch, probably not a full rewatch like some other shows but I think it would be worth it. I tend to rewatch *not going to spoiler* certain (yes rated PG) emotional moments that really highlight the character development / maturation points of this show has to offer.
Overall great show, highly recommend. If you’re not into high school/college themed BLs (I’m kind of middle way growing out of them) I think you would be surprised by the way this show more or less finds a way to distract from reminding you that. No field trips and team building filler like almost all their other shows.
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IT IS A LOOK INTO AN ADULT LOVE
The series is a showcase of adults' love lives. It's not the kind of love that you would commonly find in the other series. You may think that wearing university uniforms would mean this series would be as lovey-dovey and buoyant as the rest, but you will be wrong. There are some plot holes and intentional story-prolonging takes, yet, the love in the series was profound, emotional and well-thought-through.First of all, I don't think people would find the story pace enjoyable, at all. It was long and draggy, the characters were given short sentences in intervals with long pauses and sloppy speaking pace. I myself had to put it on x2 speed (on less important scenes) just so that I didn't have to wait too long for them to finish 10 sentences. However, the greatest compliment I had for the dialogs was every single one of them has supportive meanings for the process of developing the characters and for the story itself. Nothing was redundant.
Looking at the acting, the actors did not do so well. They acted very well in scenes where the characters were happy and were enjoying themselves, on the contrary, in scenes where the characters were depressed or sad or crying, they didn't had it in them. I was even annoyed by the feigned cry. But still, there were far less crying and being sad in this series than laughing and being silly.
On the other hand, the camera work was so refined and beautiful, I thought I was watching something made with a billion budget. Except for when they play basketballs, every other scene was filmed beautifully and carries within itself a span of emotions. For someone who adores picturous camera takes like me, this was a candy for the eyes.
The biggest praise I give is to the written characters. The 2 main characters were a lot of things, and some of those, might be you; I know plenty of those were me. Zo/Zoe/Soh/So was a calm, chill, caring, silly, selfless and mainly matured character. His interactions with the second main character would always revolves around (and can be explained through) these qualities. Anything he does, he does for a good reason. His desires conflicting with his rationality was true and understandable. The only illogic action he did was refusing to confess his love until episode XXXX. But as I said in the beginning, the series was intentionally prolonged on some things; Next, we have Mon, he was going through mild-severe depression (which made him inactive and socially distant), he was also a sensitive and stubborn loner. Therefore, If you don't understand this type of person or that you have never seen one, it would be really upsetting to see him interacting with the Soh, nevertheless, if you do know/understand this type of people, you will surely sympathize with him. The funny thing is, because they were both so sensitive that they mistreated each other many times, yet, they were the match that you could have never replaced.
On top of that, the music was brilliant, the music was not magnificent itself but it was placed at the right time, in the right scene, in other words, was used to its fullest. Thai series don't usually pay that much attention to music but this one really hit the spot, in every important scene, you have the music guide your feelings and sometimes, even tell you things that the characters didn't say aloud. It translated, it conveyed. They really deserves a standing ovation with the music.
Lastly, I would like to quote a dialogue from the series: "You did the right thing. You were right. You were so right...that it was irratating...Being a good person, doing the right thing, I say it's bullshit. Don't you want to follow your heart ?"
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I just finished this show and I really don't know what to say. Was it engaging? Yeah... sort of and it was kind of confusing along the way. I feel like the story kind of bland. It doesn't have a lot of meat to it. The storyline circles around and around and at the end of the 12th episode, I am so confused. What happened to the main couple? Did they split up or are they together...? In short, there are a lot of holes to the plot which causes you to make some assumptions along the way especially in a couple of the episodes towards the beginning, which I found to be super confusing. The cast was okay... I don't have much to say about them. Music was also okay but it felt like the music was there because it had to be. I wouldn't really rewatch the show personally but if you are watching it for the first time, its good to pass the time or have in the background but don't expect to get lots of exciting moments or contents from the show. Was this review helpful to you?
Background music.
The very very loud Spanish guitar in the background is a total distraction. It is impossible to enjoy the series. I cannot watch another 10 episodes while listening to that guitar. Background music should be just that. It should not be overwhelming and dominating. The accordion and the piano are bad enough but the Spanish guitar is obnoxious. You should not even notice the background music. Not unless you are really listening for it. The title of the series should have been “Spanish guitar“.Was this review helpful to you?
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Péssimo
Vamos dizer que eu não tinha grandes expectativas, e ainda bem que eu não tinha, senão a minha frustração seria grande.Meus sentimentos são contraditórios, mas é mais para ruim do que para bom. O drama tem muita qualidade, belas locações, uma ost perfeita e fotografia excelente. Onde foi que erraram? Na construção do romance do protagonista!
Pra começar, a forma como Mon e Soh se conhecem é bem sem sentido. O personagem Mon, não sei se é o ator ou algo exigido pelo personagem, simplesmente nunca tinha expressão, uma eterna cara de paisagem, um personagem que nos incomoda, não dá pra shippar ele com ninguém. Junte a esse personagem Soh, que já tem uma construção mais interessante, mas que no final simplesmente decepciona com aquele motivo idiota de término, término de algo que nem ao menos começou, diga-se de passagem. E por último, por que dois era pouco, colocam o pobre Saint (que homem lindo Gzuis) com a única finalidade de deixá-lo sofrer no final. As histórias paralelas não fluíram, algumas vezes parecia que ela nunca tinham acontecido.
A única coisa que salva essa série para mim, é o ator que faz o Saint, fiquei totalmente apaixonada por ele, pela energia dele. No mais, sinceramente não recomendo essa série... a menos que vc seja muito paciente e tenha muito tempo livre pra tentar entender a bagunça que ela é.
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