La Pluie started out on a fast track to being an all-time favorite of mine. It started out so strong. The aesthetic and cinematography of it all caught my attention before a word was even spoken. Then we got that gorgeous monologue overtop Tai riding the bus in the rain. We're told immediately what kind of fantasy world we're getting into. A world where people believe in and even trust in soulmates - because on your 20th birthday, people with rain-affiliated hearing loss can hear another person, and only that person, so long as both of them are in rain at the same time.

An interesting premise. Made all that more interesting by the fact that our main character is stubbornly refusing to acknowledge his soulmate. And that his parents are divorced, despite being soulmates themselves. It had all this set up to create a memorable message about not putting all your faith in destiny, that relationships take a lot more than love to make work. A message that they did exceedingly well throughout.

I fell in love with our 2 main leads immediately. And was giddy when ever they were on the screen together - with all the adorable awkwardness of getting to know and getting comfortable with each other. They were respectful, fun, and very cute together. They both had insecurities stemming from their pasts, as well as all the miscommunication/misunderstanding trappings that a new relationship and those insecurities are prone to. In theory, this all fit who the characters were. Tai, who learned from a young age that talking before things are resolved doesn't do anything. Who prefers to solve things on his own. Patt, who reached out for love and acceptance, and got shot down with silence instead - making him wonder if he's worthy of the love and acceptance he sought out. But when push came to shove, when it was time for the writers to deliver, it felt out-of-character. In one singular fell swoop, it undid all of the progress, development, and communication the leads had had prior.

The major support characters were also so fun. Tien was an adorkable brat and fantastic (and accurate) little brother to Tai. I wish we got more background to why he was so pettily antagonistic to Lomfon in the beginning, but by the end I was solidly sold on the Tien and Lomfon couple. They were equally as adorable as Tai x Patt when they let themselves relax, and they had the benefit of similar interests and passions to keep them talking, even when they clashed.

We even got a lesbian couple! One that felt pretty natural, even though they had very little screen time. But I am a little bit salty that the other pair of girls, who got quite a bit of screen time, did not become a couple. In fact, they gave one of them a HEA with a character we never even saw or heard about! Even if they didn't put Bow in the lesbian couple they seemed to had been hinting at, they could've ended her story in a different way that didn't feel as out-of-left-field. Even just her flirting with a coworker or thirsting after guys as usual. In a story where we literally get told that love can come in several forms, it felt artificial.

But the thing that really put a sour taste in my mouth and changed my overall view of the story isn't any of the above oversights and pacing changes. It's not even about the fact that it started feeling like a different screenwriter took over in those last few episodes. But rather the fact that we have several plot holes.

In episode 1, minute 1 of this drama, we get told how this world works:
- Certain people have a form of hearing loss where they can't hear anything when it rains (as suggested by the fact that everyone knew Tai had hearing loss already before the rain on his 20th birthday, and that he apparently never heard the sound of rain before).
- These people with hearing loss start to hear their soulmate on their first rain after turning 20 years old.
- That hearing loss is irreversible.
- That everyone is only able to hear 1 person

But suddenly, Lomfon spontaneously develops hearing loss. Spontaneously, Lomfon can hear Tai. And Patt. And Patt and Tai can hear him. No where near a birthday that we know of either. Oh, and spontaneously, you can just yell to the universe that you don't want the soulmate bond, and suddenly you won't have it anymore.

Absolutely none of this is questioned. None of this is explained. None of this is even pondered. In fact, in the last few minutes of the drama, we quite literally get told that it doesn't matter. "In the end, the hearing-loss and soulmate stuff are still questions that no one has an answer to. Rather, no one chooses to find an answer anymore." That love is all that matters.

I'm sorry. I'm all for making us and the characters question how the world works, but you don't get to just set rules for the world, break them, and expect us to be content because everyone gets a happy ending. That's not how worldbuilding and writing works.

And the fact that technically, Tien and Lomfon don't have a happy ending yet. Because, what do you know? Tien suddenly, spontaneously develops hearing loss and a soulmate bond too! And not on a birthday!

There's also a few smaller plot holes. Such as how Patt knew where to go to see Tai - when that was not Tai's usual café. And no one knew Patt was going there/went. Also, Patt apparently has had a long-time desire to resign and open up a vet clinic in rural Thailand? That definitely wasn't set up in the story. But the reason for it's existence was apparent: gotta have a good ol' ill-placed and ill-timed tourism ad for that final episode.

I love these characters. Some I loved almost immediately. Some, grew on me as their characters shown more depth in the story. And I loved that this drama didn't go the typical "villain" route, even while it did go the typical "misunderstanding" route. For probably 75% of it's runtime, this drama was a favorite. I was in a rush to get through the week to see the next episode. I scoured every corner of the internet for fanfictions and fan-edits of this story or similar premises. And I still highly recommend it. But I don't know what happened in those last few episodes. The writing went downhill along with the plot conflict's impact on the happiness of our leads. It stopped being thought out, and it shows. But can a terrific start truly make up for a lackluster ending?