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BeepingMoon

United Kingdom

BeepingMoon

United Kingdom
SOTUS thai drama review
Completed
SOTUS
9 people found this review helpful
by BeepingMoon
Feb 14, 2021
15 of 15 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 5.5
Story 4.0
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 6.0
Rewatch Value 6.0
This review may contain spoilers

Mmmmkay, it's overrated.

(This is my first review.)

Okay so, to be honest, my opinion of this show is largely about the framing of the Sotus system. The sotus system is abusive in this show and the presentation of it as some sort of courting ritual for Kongpob and Arthit is kinda disturbing to me. The tone and the content are so at odds they are almost mutually exclusive from one another. Sotus is a system that exists in real-life in Thailand and hazing/initiation rituals exist in many other places. People die and suffer serious physical and psychological trauma each year due to this system in Thailand. This only makes this series more disturbing to be quite frank. There is a short film (not a BL) made in Thailand which tackles the sotus system (it is against it). The tone of the film and the content match far better and it is honestly a far more rational presentation of a system in which power can so easily be abused. Here is the link if anyone is interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NgYr6GqofM

Now, with that out of the way let's talk about things other than the plot.

The acting is fine. I have seen many of the actors in other things since this and their acting is better. So, it's okay but it often could be better and I've seen better acting from them since then.

The chemistry is mediocre at best in my opinion. This is something a lot of fans love about ArthitKongpob as a couple, but honestly their chemistry felt very platonic the whole way through to me. I never bought into the romantic or sexual attraction between them. This is not because of the minimal PDA, it just didn't feel like they were attracted to each other to me.

The music itself is okay. Sometimes it felt unnecessary and frequently it was too loud.

The series does have a somewhat nostalgic feel, so for people who love the series I can understand the re-watch value is probably high.

When the sotus system was not the centre of the scene I generally enjoyed it. (I have seen Sotus S and the Our Skyy special and preferred them a lot more, especially Our Skyy.) Hazing is personally something I hate. I have been close enough to it in real-life to have a visceral reaction to seeing it (especially in the romantic way it is presented here). But there are scenes that are well made. The scene in Arthit's apartment was sweet and the phonecall/almost confession scene was my favourite performance throughout. But yeah, it felt like propaganda for a controversial system more often than it felt like a story of love between people.

Of course, many people love it so I'm probably missing something. I actually would recommend the sequel and Our Skyy special. The main relationship and friendships are far more equal and easy to feel comfortable about for me.
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