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MusicalVeggies
What a difference an extra 10 minutes can make
Whether you've watched the original mini-series or if you're considering checking out this version, look no further because this is the version you should watch if you can. Why?1) Because this version has the entire content of the original mini-series. Not a single scene or dialogue or soundtrack has been changed or omitted. So, if you watch this version you'll miss nothing from the original mini-series. The only difference for those who watched the mini-series is that you will become extremely well-versed with the opening and ending theme songs because you'd have heard them 4 times within the 4 short episodes, while in this movie they only turn up once.
2) There is a 2-minute extra scene in this Director's Cut [it's at the 1:02:06 to 1:03:58 mark] not in the mini-series which provides additional context and explanation to the decision and action of one of the main leads.
3) There is an extra 8-minute ending in this Director's Cut which isn't featured in the mini-series. The extra 8 minutes were really what the whole show needed to round it off properly. The original mini-series felt a bit too rushed and cut-short at the end and while I still loved it, the ending never really properly satisfied me. But here... what a difference an extra 8 minutes made.
Personally for me, this show is the most balanced and complete BL show I've ever seen so far. I really liked it for its adorable beginning and subsequent realistic depth of struggle. It provided an introduction to our main characters from an early part of their life, and it tracked the growth of their relationship throughout the years that followed.
The show also efficiently depicted their ups and downs, whether it be internal insecurities, societal & familial pressure to conform, and the hurt and pain of bad decisions and mistakes. It's actually a surprisingly realistic and reflective representation of the everyday normal pressures of the average LGBT person living in society.
There are also not many BL shows where one can truly visualise or see the couple really outlasting the distance but here, it's all that and more. The ending here is one of the most satisfying endings ever and it will leave you with tears in your eyes but with a smile on your face.
ACTING/ CAST
Both actors did well in their roles but I was particularly impressed with Shirasu Jin in his portrayal of Itou Akira in this show. Itou Akira had the heavier weight and the bigger character development & personal growth in the show and I'm so glad Shirasu Jin was able to wonderfully portray Akira's nervousness, fears, anxieties, worries, sadness, pain, joy and happiness (it had not escaped my notice that all of Akira's biggest smiles were for Yuki) all in the right place and time.
MUSIC
Can I just say that I LOVED the soundtrack in this show. Some scenes were made extra memorable simply because they came paired with an amazing and catchy song whose lyrics were also very meaningful and fitting for the occasion. To me, the music score was one of the best things in this film, along with the story itself.
RE-WATCH VALUE
Considering that this Director's Cut is just under 2 hours long this movie is so very easily rewatchable.
But it's ultimately the realistic, moving and heart-warming love story, and the lovely couple, that really keeps me coming back to it again and again and again.
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A story of a cat and a cornered mouse
Note: This character-driven movie has explicit sexual content and nudity.STORY (No spoilers)
What happens when a cat who fell in love with a promiscuous mouse long ago decides to back it into a corner? Both are from different worlds and both come with their own personal baggages. Can they make it work?
I've read the manga on which the movie was based - it's one of my favourites because the main characters in it were incredibly flawed and insecure people but their insecurities and issues were just so relatable and understandable, I found myself immersed in their characters and in their story. Now, as an adaptation of the manga itself, I'd give this movie a 65% score in terms of its closeness to the original work i.e. it was generally faithful in broad strokes and in some detailed places, but there were still fairly noticeable differences, especially in terms of character vibe and personality and in some event modifications. Hence, I can understand why fans of the manga might feel disappointed or dissatisfied with this adaptation.
However, I'm going out on a limb here to say that I actually still appreciated this work despite the changes made to it. The movie had none of the internal monologues of the original but through the way scenes were presented and acted, we could still understand the internal turmoil and struggles of the characters and their changing perspectives/ feelings and that was a personal testament that both the acting and the direction of the movie was excellent.
There were also quite a few things about this movie that really fascinated me - some of the dialogue, the choice and arrangement of certain scenes, the camerawork, the use of imagery, lighting and sound, etc. The way it was filmed and presented gave off a gritty, moody, sometimes lonely and desolate vibe, and there was something about the whole combination that made me come away from this movie feeling this interesting mix of unsettled yet at peace, curious yet satisfied, sad yet happy. It's a movie that somehow struck certain chords with me and resonated in a curious way.
The best analogy I can give for my experience of this movie was like listening to a piece of music being played in minor key - the melody has certain notes and chords which give the piece a sort of asymmetrical form or disharmonic sound, but the overall tune still flows as a cohesive melodic piece which somehow evokes a myriad of feelings for the listener after it's all finished. It was beautifully haunting to me.
ACTING/ CAST
OKURA TADAYOSHI as Ootomo Kyouichi. He played a rather different Ootomo vis-a-vis the manga.
Manga!Ootomo was sort of your weak-willed-straight-guy - too accommodating, too eager to please and too easily seduced by women. Movie!Ootomo was a lot more reserved and inscrutable, more introverted and quiet, hiding a lot of thoughts underneath a silent facade. Viewers who don't know about Ootomo's background, habits and tendencies will probably find this movie!Ootomo to be very difficult to read or understand, and sometimes, even I had to pause a scene or rewatch it to try and figure out what was going on inside movie!Ootomo's head.
But, to be fair, if one takes the time to observe a little closely and to put his actions into the movie context, I found that movie!Ootomo was a very interesting and enigmatic character whose inner thoughts can actually be perceived through his actions (or non-actions, as it were). It's like, you can almost see the wheels in his head turning as he observes the situation and the people around him, especially Imagase, and internally forming his own conclusions and decisions. I liked this very subtle and nuanced portrayal.
NARITA RYO as Imagase Wataru. Again, another different portrayal from the manga counterpart.
Manga!Imagase was a very cold, aloof and well-dressed man who, only in Ootomo's presence, would become hysterical and paranoid due to his insecurities and fears. Movie!Imagase had a more laid-back and Bohemian vibe but I liked how you could so totally see his constant desperation and insecurities over Ootomo which he tries so hard to hide beneath a lackadaisical and nonchalant facade. His constant questioning and inquiring, his constant snooping and monitoring, totally expose his paranoia and his fear, and personally for me, some of Imagase's scenes were particularly beautifully directed and shot to show just how lonely and forlorn and pained he felt at times. I liked how the actor Narita Ryo was able to give off this fragile feeling during the key moments of the movie.
MUSIC
Honestly, this was the least memorable part for me. Very subtle soundtrack and score which is probably very suitable for the subdued and muted mood of the film.
RE-WATCH VALUE
If you're not too put off by the disappointing adaptation or by the fickleness and weirdness of the characters, I'd like to encourage you to consider rewatching because I personally found that I understood a lot of the hidden and subtle messages and scenes better upon a rewatch, and that made the movie even more fascinating and interesting to me.
The movie might feel a bit abrupt and truncated vis-a-vis the manga but it still a complete cohesive piece and I found the choice of certain scenes and the way the whole thing was directed gave this movie a very different style, tone and story from its original work, and I personally appreciated its almost indie-like feel.
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Don't look down on househusbands!
What can I say, this show was pure comedy with Tamaki Hiroshi totally hamming it up on-screen as a yakuza househusband dead-set on establishing a well-run home for his little family. His approach to everything is totally gangster and it's hilarious to see how everyone reacts to his antics as he goes about his business. His facial expressions are just gold!Side characters here are totally comic caricatures with their own quirky theme songs and cartoon personalities, and if you're expecting anything meaningful from either a plot or story or even character development perspective, forget it! Each episode is gag-driven with over-the-top hijinks and in-jokes and parodies meant to bring on the laughs.
This whole drama is like an amusement park - each episode is an individual attraction on its own - so you can either savour the whole show as a day-tripper bingeing on all the rides, or you can take your time and enjoy an episode or two here and there as a mood-lifter or distraction.
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Screwed-up adults living in a screwed-up house
I'm probably going to get a lot of stick and downvotes on this review but I still want to share my dissatisfaction with this show.STORY (No spoilers)
This show is about 4 adults with various emotional and psychological problems living together and, as a result, messing each other up with their screwed-up-ness. And fair warning: there is sexual content in this show with issues of a sexual nature raised. If you're in the mood for a rather disturbing, ambiguous show with heavy sexual content but with no proper character progression or story development then this show is for you.
With 10 episodes at around 30 minutes each, this show has very limited time to address any of the deep, fractured emotional problems and psychology the characters have. Unfortunately, this ambitious undertaking falls far short of its mark because seriously, nothing really gets addressed. The show never really delved deep into the psychology of our screwed up characters, nor into their healing process. It's a glorified 'slice of life' show about dysfunctional people being dysfunctional with a sexual twist embedded, period.
I personally thought that this show could be really intriguing and even ground-breaking with the kind of issues it raised in the early episodes but was sorely disappointed with the lack of development, growth and progression of the characters as episode after episode went by. There was no effort made by the show to address any of the problems the characters were facing in a healthy and considerate way. These people need help - serious help - but the show doesn't tell you how to get it. This drama came across pointless and aimless and I have no idea what sort of message this show wanted to send but I was certainly getting nothing positive from it.
ACTING/ CAST
Serviceable. Nothing particularly outstanding because each character seemed to represent an extreme end of the spectrum of dysfunctionality.
I have to hand it to Masaki Nakao who plays the withdrawn and socially inept Hongyo though - the ability to deadpan some of what would be the most embarrassing lines under some of the craziest situations is noteworthy.
MUSIC
Nothing particularly outstanding or memorable.
RE-WATCH VALUE
I personally disliked the show. I have no problem with shows that introduce dysfunctional people who suffer from emotional, psychological and sexual problems but I do have an issue when a show does that without really addressing the problems it raised and simply lets its characters mess about with one another, stirring up pools of muddy water for the sake of entertainment.
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This review may contain spoilers
Since the synopsis didn't really tell us that there are 3 lifetimes/ reincarnations of our main leads, I thought it might be useful to let those who are potentially interested in watching this lakorn have a rough overview of how the lakorn panned out.STORY (mild spoilers)
1st Lifetime (Episodes 1 - 8):-
The first lifetime, set in the 1900s (King Rama V reign), takes up bulk of the lakorn airtime. I guess this shouldn't be a surprise because the 1st lifetime has a lot of groundwork to cover. It has to introduce the background of our main characters (our male lead is of noble blood, while our female lead is essentially from the servant class), set up the groundwork for how they met and fell in love, drip through ingredients that make the situation ripe for all sorts of misunderstandings and conflict, put our main characters through this recipe of a wringer and then spit them out bloody and broken at the end.
Typical lakorn formulas abound like flies in this section.
One of my pet peeves - screaming characters - was out in full force here. It wasn't only the females that were guilty of this offence, even the males here were screamers and shouters. Considering the fact that one of the reasons I prefer to watch period lakorns was due to the fact that most period lakorn characters tend to be more soft-spoken and dignified in their speech and demeanour, the number of screamers in this show was an unpleasant surprise.
You also have your famously evil 2nd female lead, all decked out in her signature bright red lipstick and flaunting her two-faced personality with impunity. Thankfully, our male lead has got her number and never really falls for her tricks or for her. It's one of the saving graces in this show - our male lead stays faithful and single-minded on our female lead all the way to the end.
This lakorn also has your honorary villains and bad characters seeking to stir up trouble or increase their powerbase. Irritating, over-exaggerated side characters with their bulging eyes and twisted smirks are not exempt from this lakorn too, and strange leaps of logic or missing pieces in the plot puzzle are not uncommon. Convenient plot devices are regularly used (I can't count the number of times a character 'conveniently' leaves behind or forgets a significant item), and illogical reactions or situations can also feature in this show.
In short, this is your cookie-cutter Thai lakorn.
The pacing in this section can be inconsistent too with some parts or scenes being very long drawn or dragged out with lots of slo-mos, while others skip abruptly onwards to the next.
2nd Lifetime (Episodes 9 - first half of 12):-
This section of the show is set 50 years later after the 1st lifetime and had a lot of supernatural elements with ghosts being the main feature. Our main female lead is a vengeful spirit here and she has plenty of company with her too.
Some of our reincarnated characters undergo quite significant character changes too which can be a nice relief, and the plot starts to come together, or at least head towards a resolution. This section has more unpleasant and scary scenes with vengeful ghosts and weird CGI so viewers with a more squeamish heart might want to be aware and prepare themselves accordingly.
The interesting thing about this section? Our male lead falls in love with a ghost. Welcome to the world of 'Pee Mak'!
3rd Lifetime (last 30 minutes of Episode 12):-
The calm after the storm as our main leads get reborn in modern day time and meet again without all that crazy baggage and issues that featured in the first 11 and a half episodes.
ACTING/ CAST
While I have always liked Bella as an actress and thought she did not disappoint here, it was really the 2nd female lead actress (Kao) who played the more interesting and multi-layered character. Bella's character in the 1st lifetime was very subdued and her 2nd lifetime was full of resentment and anger so I found her characters to be quite fixed and almost stereotyped, rather than complexly nuanced.
Grate was very handsome and very fine in this lakorn in all his incarnations/ lifetimes, and his character stayed very much consistent all the way through but again, it was the 2nd male lead actor (Alex) who played the more interesting role.
The side and supporting characters were pretty much forgettable, really, except for our female lead's father's moustache which was terribly distracting in its monstrosity and degree of inconsistency. It made him look ridiculous but certainly very memorable.
MUSIC
Very heavy-handedly done. The music score literally bludgeoned you over the head with its 'mood' music and it is SO OBVIOUS what the show is trying to tell you within the scene simply by its background score. I found it clumsy, in-your-face, distracting and uninspiring. One of the worst music scores in a drama, for me.
RE-WATCH VALUE
I watched this through all the way to the end because I was intrigued with how our main leads' lives get so complicated that it needed 3 lifetimes to unravel the problem (it's definitely an interesting story, lakorn formulas aside). It's an interesting plot and story but I personally wouldn't be interested in re-watching it again after knowing what happened plus it had too many lakorn formulas for my liking.
The romantic scenes were softly sweet and even sometimes sexy. I would only re-watch this if I wanted to see more of Grate's beautiful and warm smiles and hear him say some of the cheesiest love lines, or to see him in his shirtless glory (because there's quite a lot of that to be had in this lakorn).
It is not a bad watch if you're interested in plots involving star-crossed lovers and re-incarnations and ghosts.
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It was by sheer luck that I came across a random recommendation for this seriously overlooked show and since the title intrigued me (it had 'Kyoto Love Story' in it, how could I NOT check it out, lol), I decided to check out the synopsis and when I read that the show was about a traditional Japanese confectionery shop in Kyoto, I excitedly decided to watch it because I've always had a soft spot for shows which depict age-old traditions and cultures - there is just so much rich history and traditional customs embedded within them that really fascinate me.
Well, this show did not let me down or disappoint me, both from a traditional and cultural standpoint but also from its cinematic and absolutely breathtaking shots of historic Kyoto. This show is a marvellous showcase of the city, of its famous cultural landmarks and of the lives of the people who descend from established traditional families with the grand weight of history and legacy supporting them. While the show does centre around the 3 daughters of a traditional Japanese confectionery and the interesting workings and operations behind it, there are also brief introductions to other age-old Japanese cultural aspects such as kabuki, tea ceremony, ikebana, geikos, etc. And characters all speak with a delightful Kyoto accent. For me, to be able to see all this come alive on-screen was one of the absolute best things about this show.
Within such a rich cultural context are our 3 leading ladies - the daughters of an old established Japanese confectionery shop, the 450-year-old 'Fukuyado Honpo'. The show depicts their budding love lives and it's quite interesting to see how each girl grows into her own skin through their different characters and personalities. Their own love interests present different challenges to them and it's quite the ride to see how each couple work through their own issues and their own imperfections.
There is one thing worth mentioning though - a lot of the characters have one thing in common which is being TIGHT-LIPPED. Perhaps this is a natural result of living in a city so steeped in ancient culture and traditions but our characters all tend to hide away their thoughts, feelings and their emotions, maintaining a strict sense of decorum and propriety as far as they are able. This problem seems to be prevalent in almost all our characters and is the source of bulk of the conflicts within the show. It can be a source of frustration for viewers but patience is a virtue because thankfully our characters learn to work through their weaknesses and grow into better understanding of themselves and their partners. The ride can occasionally be rough but there are rainbows after the storm!
MUSIC
The OST for this show consists mainly of our opening and closing songs which are lively and catchy and very memorable. I particularly loved the closing song - the way it comes in at the end of the episode always lands with impact and gives additional oomph to the drama.
RE-WATCH VALUE
While the show might have been interesting in terms of its setting and the character journeys, it was not captivating enough for me to want to rewatch. I might just check out some of the scenes here and there but certainly not a full rewatch by any means.
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STORY (No spoilers)
I can't recall how many times I've laughed while watching this J-drama but if I had to give an estimate of the funny in this show, I'd go with 80% of the time. That's a massive amount of funny, but I absolutely loved it! It's normally unusual to have so much humour in a rom-com but this show is able to do that because of its very simple plot line which doesn't require too much setting up nor too much development to move the show forward. The show is wonderfully focused on the dating hijinks and love trials of a career-successful man who is also woefully under-developed when it comes to human relations or romantic relationships. One man, one target, one mission. Stat.
Because it is so single-person focused, the actor playing our main male lead had to basically carry the entire show on his shoulders and wow, Ohno Satoshi, I have to hand it to him, he did his role brilliantly. I've not seen him act in any drama prior to this, had no preconceptions about his acting ability and was even mildly unimpressed with him in the first episode because his character was such a serious sullen man he came across rather unlikeable. But I was wrong! As the episodes progressed there was so much more opportunity to showcase his expressive and comic ability and it was such a joy to see him flit from one mood to another, or to see him switch from scary boss persona to little man-child cuteness to teenage emo-sulks. His enthusiasm and energy in the courting arena is practically boundless, and he's such an adorable dork through it all! The undisputed star of this show and the absolute main-stay to all the comedy.
He was wonderfully supported by his two trusty side-kicks - his personal secretary, Muraoki, and his chauffeur, Ishigami. Both have their own ways of encouraging him but it's so cute and heart-warming to see them cheering so hard for their boss to achieve success in love all the way through the drama. Reiji Samejima really struck gold when he employed these two.
His own staff members had varying degrees of screen-time but they were hilarious in their little concerted reactions whenever it came to anything relating to their boss. Great supporting cast with pitch-perfect comic timing.
As for our female lead, as far as I'm concerned, she was a complete foil for all these crazy hilarious hijinks going on with her boss, her colleagues and everyone else around her. She was like the steady anchor that grounded the whole show and gave it a foundation to dance its magic on. And what a performance this was.
For those who want a pure fuss-free rom-com with plenty of cute, hilarious 'com', you're seriously missing out if you've not yet seen this show. I need to download the episodes for this one - this show's a complete keeper.
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STORY (No spoilers)
The script/ plot for this show can be pretty loose and sloppy, unlike BBJX's strongly and tightly woven one. While you do have a lot of time skips which you will need to figure out by yourself, this is nothing compared to quite a few incidents of script illogic peppered throughout the show which got worse towards the end. There were quite a few incidents where I found myself wondering what was going on with a certain situation and never really got an answer so I had to make up my own in order to just move on with the show. Some people might not find this to be bothersome but I personally found it off-putting and I couldn't really immerse myself in the story because of it. It somewhat spoiled the watch experience for me.
Also, aside from our main leads, other key supporting characters were left hanging without closure by the end of the show. It's a bit strange how the show kept introducing new characters as it progresses but never really brought many of them to completion. Again, this might not be too bothersome for some people but I personally was a little dissatisfied with how they got shafted, especially for characters which the show starts introducing and giving quite a bit of screen-time towards the last 5 episodes or so. They were brought out into the limelight at the last minute but at the end I was left wondering why and for what purpose. I get the uncomfortable impression that they were toddled out to either introduce new actors/ actresses or to pad out drama episodes.
The politics and throne-fight were interspersed throughout the show but, in my opinion, it really took a backseat to the romance so for viewers who like shows with deep and complex political machinations, you will be disappointed. However, for viewers who are uninterested in this aspect of a show, you'll likely enjoy it more because this show comes across quite heavily romance-weighted.
And that's the drama's major strength, really - the strong emphasis on Romance in this show. For romance-junkies (like me), this will be a huge draw and can offset a lot of the drama's weaknesses. Our female lead, having the title of 'most beautiful woman' among the Jurchens, will inevitably attract a lot of suitors, some of them creepy and some of them swoony. The show spends quite a generous amount of time focusing on her romances and as the main couple eventually get established, the drama gives us quite a bit of sweet-cute couple time and goosebump-inducing love declarations or love actions which would delight any shippers' heart. This is actually quite a delightful surprise, considering that this is a historical C-drama where romantic gestures and skinship tend to be extremely limited and constrained due to the cultural and historical setting. So, viewers will be pleasantly surprised with this drama's romance offerings.
Our main couple are also left in a very good place when the drama ends so for those viewers who dislike the way historical C-dramas tend to have tragic or open endings, well, you don't have to be worried about that for this drama.
ACTING/ CAST
I found the acting here to be more than serviceable across the board - a pleasant surprise considering the youth of some of the cast. I didn't think any particular actor or actress stood out from the rest and the characters felt that they had equal weight in their screen presence.
Our main leads and key supporting characters did well in bringing their characters to life but if you're looking for handsome flower-boys as eye candy, you will likely be disappointed. I do like my pretty/ good-looking male leads, but the broad masculinity and bulky manliness of our male characters on show here, couple with their authoritative air of walking, standing and moving, is very attractive to me.
One also needs to get over the Qing hairstyle shaved-head look for the males, but I hope such an aesthetic won't deter new viewers from watching because it would be a shame to miss out a potentially interesting show just because of hairstyles. I'd like to encourage fence-sitters to consider overcoming their misgivings and to give this show a try.
MUSIC
Limited soundtrack which can come across rather repetitive towards the end. Background music is serviceable.
RE-WATCH VALUE
For me, the romance scenes are the only ones worth re-watching. There are several nice ones!
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STORY (No spoilers)
For the C-novel readers:
To manage expectations, I'd like to take a short section to address those who've read the C-novel on which this drama is based and are thinking of watching this show. Firstly and most importantly, please kindly put aside your preconceptions because while this show does follow the novel, it does it in very broad strokes. Key events and key character actions are retained but the journey/ route to those events and actions can be very different. This might disappoint some of you if you're going into the show thinking that it will be a completely faithful reproduction of the novel. In order to help you enjoy this show, I'd like to encourage you to watch it with an open mind. If it helps, I personally found that by doing so and by following the story the drama itself is trying to tell, the plot-threads and character portrayals all hold together very well and this show becomes a more substantial adaptation and, I'd even venture to say, a more glorious homage to its original source material.
For non-novel readers & newcomers:
This show is more than just a pure xianxia romance. I was pleasantly surprised with how meaty and more substantial this show was, and how multi-faceted it can be. It will surprise you with its twists and turns, and with the evolution of our main characters as it progresses. Love (particularly star-crossed love or ill-fated love) and obsession are key themes but they are not the only ones. Themes of filial piety, integrity, loyalty, ambition, vengeance/ revenge, sacrifice, atonement and redemption are also wonderfully built into this show. This is a dish of many flavours. It's not pure sugar though it may start off on the sweet side. It will surprise you with its turns of fiery spice, bitterness and sweet-and-sour, with a touch of savoury thrown in.
Also, to help you understand a bit of what the show is like so that you're prepared, here's a broad outline:
The first half is full of sweetness and comedy, light-hearted and fluffy with some small build-up of plot threads. The romance development here is eminently ML-focused (he falls in love first and fast) and it runs the gamut of playful to moving as it progresses.
The 2nd half will start to bring together several plot threads introduced in the 1st half and so side characters have more screen-time as the show fleshes their story arcs and motivations. The main couple will also encounter love trials along the line of star-crossed love/ ill-fated love (hence the Romeo & Juliet premise). The trials have sound basis and foundation though, so it's not stupid misunderstandings and noble idiocy type issues. But the trials eventually prove and confirm their love and in the end, they overcome them for a suitable end.
I'd really like to encourage you to watch this show as it is quite amazingly crafted and if you like romance shows with a bit more complexity to it and to have more substance to it, this will suit you very well.
ACTING/ CAST
With over 60 episodes, this show's cast is not small. Screen-time for our characters will fluctuate depending on the plot thread in focus at the time so please don't expect our main characters or main couple to continuously dominate the screen. The show takes some pains to explore and flesh out some of its key side characters too, which is really great because it makes the show less riddled with one-dimensional/ cardboard cut-out characters. Even our 'stock villains' are given realistic internal motivations and drivers, and the 'comic relief' characters surprisingly have a core of values in them too. I personally found myself growing fond of many side characters (e.g. Yuanji Immortal, Moon Immortal, Yan You, Water Immortal and Lian Yuan) which makes this show extra enjoyable/ watchable to me. Love them!
Spotlight on our main leads:
DENG LUN as Xu Feng (aka Phoenix), the Fire Immortal. C-novel readers will probably be a bit surprised at Deng Lun's portrayal and take as our God of War, but I liked this different characterisation of our main male lead in this drama. He's not your perfect male lead, not by any means, but he has a strongly loyal, warm and loving heart. This central and core aspect of his character is wonderfully and consistently portrayed throughout the show and Deng Lun's less imposing physic and his warm voice (I just loved the fact that he voice-dubbed his own character!) makes him a more approachable and less dominating character than his C-novel counterpart.
Acting-wise, I think Deng Lun did well in portraying Xu Feng's emotional and character development. I think he does his character justice and that's good enough for me.
YANG ZI as Jin Mi, our Little Grape and Flower Immortal. I personally think that this is not an easy role for any actress to portray as her character undergoes a lot of ups-and-downs, internal conflicts and changes in this show, but kudos to Yang Zi for being able to make her a naively cheerful Little Grape at the start, and to showcase her evolution as the show progresses. She had me invested in her character and in her character's story and progress throughout the show.
LEO LUO YUNXI as Run Yu, the Night Immortal. Like Jin Mi, his character also undergoes a lot of ups-and-downs, internal conflicts and changes in this show and I have to also hand it to this actor, he rose to the occasion in this drama. As one of the 3 main leads in this show, he certainly has not been overshadowed by his fellow co-stars on the acting-front and some of his key scenes really brought the emotions out through the screen.
I personally think that our 3 main leads were well-balanced on the acting-front. No one consistently overshadowed or out-acted the other, everyone was on more or less equal footing in terms of screen-presence and screen-impact, to me. The well-balanced nature of it made the show good, because there is nothing worse than to have a co-star consistently overshadowing or out-acting you in front of the screen, making the scene imbalanced and making the actor and character being overshadowed to be out of place.
MUSIC
There appears to be 3 theme songs for this show (male and female version of the opening, and the ending theme song), and while they are lovely and beautiful in their own right, and when well-employed in a scene they really elevate the moment, I personally felt that the limitation of songs later on became a bit of liability to the show as, with over 60 episodes, there is going to be inevitable song-fatigue. I personally think that this is one area in the show which could really do with additional work and improvement to make it truly great, but well, it is what it is.
RE-WATCH VALUE
I personally loved the first half of the show to bits and can see myself re-playing a lot of it in future. The second half where the real business end of the show starts picking up steam is compelling and addicting to watch for the first time because of the breathless anticipation of wanting to know what happens next. I am not sure how re-watchable this section will be in future once the suspense and excitement is over but it doesn't make this show any less impressive on its own merits.
EDIT: Since writing this review, I've re-watched almost the entire show twice more so clearly my fears about the watchability of the 2nd half was unfounded. In fact, a lot of the emotional scenes in the 2nd half were some of the best scenes in this show.
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STORY (No spoilers)
This show is a mix of action (fight and battle scenes), politics (plotting, backstabbing, betrayals), history (it is set in ancient history aka 'boran' period), and romance (not a lot of it though).
The show's primary focus is on Por Haym, our main male lead. It practically acts as a story of his life as it charts his life-history: from his privileged lifestyle as a son of a noble aristocrat; to his fall from grace as his father was betrayed and framed; and to his eventual rise back into the ranks. There are also side-plots as the Siamese kingdom during that period (the Rattanakosin period) was in conflict with the Yuan kingdom (now Vietnam) so this show also has a war setting and features several war-related issues.
While I am not a person generally interested in such a premise (i.e. war and politics), I still found this show to be insightful in showing us the culture and history of the times. We get insights into various parts of Siamese culture such as their dance troops, their royal court patronage system, their army, and (the most interesting aspect for me) the elephant troop. I find it interesting that there is a 'Elephant Corps' or 'Ministry of Elephant Care' in their government administration - shows how much importance this particular animal has within the culture and as a fighting force for the country. It was fascinating for me to see this aspect via Por Haym's reduction as an elephant keeper (i.e. 'mahout'), and I have to admit that I personally enjoyed this part of the drama the most.
Concerning the romance, well, I personally don't consider this show to be primarily romance-centered and felt that the romance was treated more as a side-story against the overall war backdrop and tale of redemption. The romance is slow and conservative with quite a good foundation for its development hence not unrealistic, but not the main focus of this show either.
Also, this show does descend into typical lakorn territory towards the last one-third with all the antagonists coming out of the woodwork like maggots and causing all manner of disruption. You have your evil villains hell-bound in exacting revenge or in wrecking havoc; your second leads (both male and female) going insane from jealousy and cooking up all sorts of horrible schemes; and you have our main couple falling into their trap and being led around. I personally found it frustrating and was disappointed with the lakorn's direction in this later one-third as I felt that it was unnecessary drama and inconsistent character portrayal on our main female lead's part. The only positive thing out of this unnecessary drama is the relative quickness in which our main couple overcame these trials.
Cinematography-wise, this lakorn has been pretty faultless. Great period sets and costumes, and the forest shots and the aerial scenes of the country were pretty spectacular. It brings to mind Discovery Channel or National Geographic-style panoramic frames. Lovely.
The pacing of this show is a bit weird, at least for me. Perhaps because it is a focused life-story of an individual hence the emphasis is on his growth and maturity over time - this leads to quite a bit of time spent on his trials and training and relationship-building. But sometimes, key moments in his life or key events in the story are glossed over in a narrative - we are just told that so-and-so happened and the scenes move on. Such abruptness sometimes makes the pacing and emphasis on scenes a little lop-sided but this is a minor gripe.
Overall, for a period lakorn, this is quite well done, and if you're a person who's interested in history, warfare, zero-to-hero life stories with a side-helping of romance and some crazy drama sprinkled in, you should definitely consider watching this show.
For me, personally, this show's overall genre is not exactly my cup of tea hence my less-than-enthusiastic rating, but I can't deny that for its genre, it is a well-done show.
ACTING/CAST
The supporting cast of characters playing our leads' families are well-portrayed and well-developed. There is more than enough screen-time for us to get to know them and their various personalities/ characters. Even the various antagonists and villains in this show are not completely one-dimensional. They may be very single-minded in their own personal agendas but script and the actors and actresses portraying them also gave us viewers enough insights into their personal motives behind their schemes. So, while this show may occasionally descend into crazy drama at times, it is never really because of too much over-exaggerated acting or over-the-top portrayal of characters (unlike other crazier lakorns). So, acting-wise, this show is actually one of those better lakorns out there.
MATT PEERANEE - as Lamduan, our main female lead. She doesn't have half as much screen time as our main male lead (no surprise as this is not a show centered around her), and she only comes in as her adult self after 3 episodes. As another reviewer commented, she did look tired in this show, and she also did look older than her male lead (who was supposed to be much older than her). So, from a visual perspective, I would say that she was probably not as suited for this role as perhaps other younger and more ethically-looking actresses might have done. She was serviceable in her role and in her acting, but not outstanding nor particularly memorable, unfortunately. And her chemistry with the main male lead was neither here nor there. Perhaps she was too tired (she apparently was filming multiple shows at the same time) so the lack of zest and energy may have undermined her performance.
JAMES MA - as Por Haym, our main male lead. As the show's main character and frontman, James had to work very hard here, and I think he really did try his very best. This lakorn is his second lakorn after 'Khun Chai Ronapee', therefore it's not really a surprise if he came across still a little green and raw in the acting department, but one can't fault his energy and dedication to his role here. He had a lot of action scenes as well as elephant-management scenes to do, and I thought he did them as well as anyone else could have done so credit where credit is due. The only place I felt he needed improving on was his emotional scenes or his conflicted scenes as they could be more impactful or nuanced in the hands of a more experienced actor. A serviceable acting performance, considering his age and experience, so kudos on that front.
MUSIC
Lovely music score and background music in this lakorn. Very fitting for the premise and setting of this show and considering its topic and genre.
RE-WATCH VALUE
As mentioned before, this show is not my genre of choice so while I generally did like chunks of it, it would not be a show that I would eagerly or voluntarily return to watch again as there was nothing particularly memorable that stood out for me. As a romance-junkie, even the romance was too understated to entice me back. Hence, this show scores a low re-watch value from me because of personal preferences.
However, as mentioned, if you are a viewer who enjoys history, warfare, zero-to-hero life stories with a side-helping of romance and some crazy drama sprinkled in, this would definitely be the show for you.
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'Bpoop Phaeh Saniwaat' is a wonderful light-hearted romantic-comedy lakorn which feature underlying themes of history, karmic retribution and fate.
STORY (No spoilers)
Time-travelling dramas are not new, even amongst lakorns, but I think that this show is a bit more inspired because it certainly knows how to make use of this premise and give us a lovely light-hearted walk through 17th-century Ayutthaya without making either the history-bits or the political-bits too heavy and overwhelming. On the contrary, from the title of the show itself - ‘Love Destiny’ - it makes it pretty clear that this show is primarily a romance show, which it fulfils to a tee.
It was very clever of this show to transport a budding archeologist back into ancient history because the show gives us a natural teacher in her. As she gradually meets one historical figure after another, we get wonderful internal monologues about the various characters’ positions and their impact on history. And when she gets all excited over ancient historical sites, we get lovely little expositions of the significance of those sites. And through her fish-out-of-water personality and conversations, we are seamlessly introduced to the culture and customs of the times, as well as their hilarious reactions to her modernisms. History becomes so much more accessible and digestible as we follow Kadesurang/Karakade through some of the definitive times in King Narai’s reign in history. It’s a brilliant piece of writing and a brilliant way of introducing a slice of Thai history to viewers without making it too heavy or boring.
One would think that with so much historical setting, background, characters and events, the romance would be short-changed to accommodate it all. Wrong! Very wrong! As a romance tale of hate-to-love, and of fated love, this show not only provides generous amounts of time to introduce our main leads and develop their relationship, it actually also spoils us with plenty of fan-service and squeal-worthy scenes. If you’re a romance-junkie like me, you’ll be pleasantly surprised with how much fixes you’ll get.
This show does many things well but one of the best things about it is the character and personality of our main leads, particularly our main female lead.
Suddenly transported from the 21st-century into the 17th-century, she is very much a fish-out-of-water and it doesn’t help either that the body she inhabits is one which has a reputation of being a rather evil witch. Having to not only adjust to her new environment, but to also redeem Karakade’s reputation amongst the community, is a tall undertaking but Kadesurang rises to the occasion magnificently. To see her slowly but surely win person after person around to her side is a lesson in human gentleness, kindness, patience and poise which has personally inspired me to try and do the same. She is resilient, resourceful and empathic, and she takes every hit she receives in her stride but without losing a shred of her dignity or determination. She is beautiful and amazing.
Our main male lead is very much a product of his status and his time but his evolution from him despising the woman he is affianced to, to learning to see her for who she is in her new personality, and then to be curious about her, and then to accept her (quirks and all), and then to love her - deeply love her - is both funny and very heart-warming.
They also make a pretty compatible couple. They don’t dwell on their fights for long; they take pains to listen, understand and learn about each other; and they learn how to accommodate, give-and-take, and be flexible with one another. Theirs is no childish playground-bickering juvenile romance, nor is it those demanding, personality-clash, dramatic ones. It’s quite wonderfully mature and steadfast, but losing none of its charm or warmth. I love it!
Before I say a few words about our supporting cast (because they are deserving of their own little section), I would like to say that another good thing about this lakorn is its great absence of your typical thai lakorn tropes.
No evil nangrais (aka second female leads)? Check.
No love triangles? Check.
No mad antagonist/ crazy villain? Check.
No plot-filler? Check.
No long-drawn-out misunderstandings? Check.
No lack-of-communication angst? Check.
No revenge plots? Check.
No slap-kiss? Check.
No cartoon/ cardboard characters? Check.
No inconsistent or irrational character portrayals? Check.
Wow, too good to be true? Yes.
There is, however, one - ONE - lakorn cliche that does feature itself heavily in this show and I would be remiss in not pointing it out. It’s your ‘tripping-and-falling-into-arms-followed-by-long-stares’ trope. Not gonna lie, this one gets quite a bit of air-time but they’re all variations of the trope so it might be interesting to see just how much they can stretch it, lol. They do water it down to just ‘turning-and-staring’ as the show progresses, and perhaps it may be a matter of taste but I personally thought the show did okay in giving this particular trope quite a bit of spice through its variations.
Finally, a word about the supporting cast. SOLID is the word that comes to mind. This show’s supporting cast have added extra layers of life, depth and breadth to the show. They sparkle and shine in their own different capacities, and while some might be a little more intense and heavy in terms of presence and personality, the show also gives us little insights and glimpses into their thought-process which makes them all comes across believably real and human. The scintillating supporting cast is truly a massive plus.
ACTING/ CAST
POPE THANAWAT - as Thun Muen Suntorndewa/ Por Date. I’ve seen Pope before in the 'Suparburoot Juthathep' series as the 2nd brother and I knew he had it in him to give his character an aura of gentlemanly dignity and authority where needed. And I also knew he could act and pull out the emotions and the tears if required. He did not disappoint. Our main male lead did a great job in taking us through his emotional journey from start to finish, and if he has not won for himself new fans after this show, I would be very much surprised. His eyes and his smiles are his best assets here as they are beautifully expressive.
BELLA RANEE - as Kadesurang/ Mae Ying Karakade. I’ve always liked Bella from her 'Padiwaradda' and 'Khun Chai Puttipat' days, but she blew me away here with her incredibly versatile portrayal of Kadesurang/ Karakade. I think this show/ script is also great as it allows her to really expand her acting ability and show us just how versatile and capable she is as an actress. I am so glad that she took the script by the horns and threw herself into it with gusto. She really is the main character and the lynchpin to the entire show and she shone brilliantly all the way through. Wonderful performance.
Best of all, the chemistry between these two in this show is on fire! No words - It has to be seen to be believed and after you’re done curling your fingers and toes, squealing into your pillow and rolling all over the floor in romantic ecstasy, you’ll get up and want more. For a show that doesn’t have many skinship scenes, this is a masterclass on how to do restrained romance in dramas. Goodness.
The supporting casts of actors and actresses are all stellar. Standout performances for me were:-
Nirut Sirichanya as our dear old Khun Loong/ Ork Ya Hor Thibadi (Por Date’s dad) was absolutely lovable.
The girls playing Karakade’s personal maids P’Pim and P’Yam killed every single one of their scenes - they are a dynamic duo and such an example of sisterhood girl-power.
Ampha Phoosit as Nang Prik, and Chamaiporn Jaturaput as Khun Ying Jumpa (Por Date’s mom), were an unforgettable double-combo act.
Punjan Kawin was charming as Khun Reung, and Chartchai Ngamsan had that on-screen gravitas as Kosa Ban.
Louis Scott added vulnerable dimensions to a power-hungry Constantine Phaulkon, while Got Jirayu stole all his scenes as a charismatic and hot-looking Luang Surasak.
And the actor playing Joi? Adorable.
Really, the supporting cast all outdid themselves here and I’m so glad this show’s hit-status has brought them into the limelight.
MUSIC
The OST for this show has apparently been outselling itself so it can't be bad. Holistically, taking into account everything from the soundtrack, the background music and the sound effects, I thought this show did very well in incorporating the various elements of it into the scenes. I particularly enjoyed the way they employed their sound effects - it definitely added pep and pop to the scenes!
RE-WATCH VALUE
This show has so many things going for it - sweeping romance, liberal sprinklings of humour, good introduction into Thailand’s ancient history, beautiful sets and costumes, a memorable set of cast of characters, and a storyline which doesn’t spin itself into unnecessary knots or is packed with fillers.
One of the best light-hearted romance dramas I’ve seen to date. Definitely re-watchable.
EDIT TO ADD:
There are 2 versions of this lakorn - it's original 15-episode (1 hour 50 mins per episode) version, and a Director's Uncut 40-episode (40 minutes per episode) version which features a few hours worth of extra footage scattered throughout its entire run.
This lakorn became such a massive hit in Thailand during the year it ran (2018), it single-handedly cleared Bangkok's notoriously terrible traffic jams on the evenings when an episode was airing and spawned an Uncut version release. Unheard of. Yes, this lakorn was THAT good.
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STORY (No spoilers)
Set in a fictional time with three fictional kingdoms just barely maintaining a fine balance amongst each other, this lakorn nicely sets the scene by immediately introducing a key circumstance which threatens to throw this fine balance off-course. The King of Kasik has engaged himself to the Princess of Danta in what looks to be a win-win situation for both countries. Bandurath, stuck in the middle between these two countries, nervously observes in anxious anticipation. On the day when Kasik was to receive the Princess of Danta at the tri-point - the place where all three of the countries were connected - things took an exciting turn when said Princess fled into Bandurath soil to escape from the marriage. Clearly a diplomatic faux pas on epic proportions, this event sets off a whole series of future events and circumstance which would impact all three royal families like never before.
Does this premise sound intriguing? If it does, then you should really consider watching this lakorn despite its 1996-age tag. Yes, the video quality is not as sharp nor as bright and pleasing to the eyes as the newer HD lakorns these days, but I have to admit that considering its over-20 year age tag, it was not a completely fuzzy blur either. The outdoor open-air scenes were more than serviceable in quality with the indoor and night-time scenes being a little more patchy. It was still a decent watch, so if this is a sticking point, be encouraged to give this show a try because it is the story that will pull you in.
Being a romance-junkie, I am naturally a sucker for fairytale romances, especially of fairytale romances done right. This one charmed me off my feet with its delightful characters and simple but nicely-developed story. The romance between our main leads was this slow simmering bubbling burn with the intensity ratcheting up a little more episode by episode, and I don't know about you but I found myself getting goosebumps from it despite its restrained and conservative nature. So delicious!
Our main leads weren't the only ones to have a love story too - there are two other secondary couples also slowly being created alongside our main one. Each couple has its own very different dynamic from the others which can make for a refreshing change to the tempo, if you like that sort of thing. I, for one, was heartily absorbed in our main leads' romance, but I did appreciate the change of scene and intensity whenever it was these couples' turn on-screen. I think I might have slowly self-combusted under the main male lead's smouldering gazes if there was not a change of scene, lol.
And on that note, it is worth mentioning that the pacing in this lakorn is one that is measured and sedate - there are quite a few scenes where the camera takes its time to pan on the scenery or on the characters, which allows the scene to sink in and sit with you. This heightens and draws out the emotional scenes but some people might also find it to be too slow and too draggy. It is definitely a directorial style and dramatic license employed by the production team but I personally think that it adds and builds on the fairytale nature of the show, and therefore appropriate.
The kingdom politics does feature itself fairly regularly in between - inevitable considering the whole setup and premise of the show. It is not too over-powering though, and not too complicated to have lost you either. While some may be tempted to fast-forward through these scenes, I would like to encourage you to try and sit through them because they're not too heavily political but it does lend the show a more weighty and rounded dimension and it gives you added insights into the internal motivations of our characters too. And some of the banter between the ministers of each of the three countries can be rather amusing too.
Which brings me to one of the best parts of the show, in my opinion: the dialogue. I love the dialogue. It's not face-value words but, like your old classic literature, there are implied things and under-tones hidden amongst what is being said, and the repartee between our main leads, or those between the King of Kasik and his two loyal bodyguards (Benli and Rajik), are full of humour and hidden, implied statements. Such witty and clever banter is such a rarity in shows these days that I particularly appreciated and enjoyed it here. And the King of Kasik's romantic lines? Goosebumps-inducing stuff.
Final word on the production value. Not very high but I personally think it was decent considering its time and the scale of the story's setting. I surprisingly liked the unpretentious nature of this show but I also acknowledge that there are weaknesses in some of its sets. Minor issue for me, but I know this is a subjective opinion.
ACTING/ CAST
While the show does provide generous amounts of screen-time for our main leads, it didn't forget to also allow its supporting and side characters to shine by giving them space to grow too. There are plenty of different personalities in this show, which is one of the things which make it charming for me because they add a lot of variety and spice. No real cardboard cut-out characters or crazy antagonists here. Another refreshing change from your modern-day lakorns. Each character down to the ministers, the bodyguards and the ladies-in-waiting were nicely and humanly portrayed, which helps to make this show come alive.
Spotlight on the main leads:
NAT MYRIA BENEDETTI as Darshika, Princess of Bandurath, was a good casting choice. She was beautiful and carried herself regally throughout the show, befitting her character as the intelligent, noble and strong-willed princess who captured the heart of a King. I loved her character in this show, and I loved how Nat portrayed her throughout. She was entirely believable as someone born into royalty from birth and given all the education and teaching in kingdom politics and operations so that she would be an able support and helper to her brother, the Crown Prince of Bandurath. She had the haughty dignity of her station, but could also be warm and kind to those serving around and under her. In short, she was royalty personified. Well done to Nat here.
NUM SORNRAM TAPPITUK as Rangsimant, King of Kasik, was also great casting choice. His complexion, his hair and his looks which gave him a tribal, warrior-type vibe was very appropriate for the savage reputation of Kasikans. Especially when you contrast him with the Crown Prince of Bandurath who had a very european look (the Bandurathian royal family have very european looks in this show - nice consistent casting call here).
I liked how Num was able to show so many sides to this initially enigmatic and mysterious King. There were so many rumours about him, and his reputation as a savage had definitely preceded him, so it was interesting to see whether he would live up to them or not. Num did have this aura of command, and his serious, stern facade added weight to his kingly character. But it was his ability to show how differently Rangsimant's approach to Darshika was (which was very sweet) that sold his character for me. You could see his passionate, tender and caring side through his interactions with her. The soulful, smouldering looks he gives her, coupled with his romantic lines, can genuinely incur goosebumps. His King of Kasik was my favourite character in this lakorn - many thanks to Num for bringing him to life here!
MUSIC
I liked the music in this show. The background score reminds me very much of the old epic HK dramas I used to watch - very much a product of its time but one which I enjoyed. I also liked the songs in this show - those with vocals or their instrumental versions. I thought the background music and score were generally very well-employed throughout the show and there were some scenes which were made a lot more impactful because of them. Nicely done.
RE-WATCH VALUE
I don't have many Asian fairytale romance dramas in my database to enjoy so this show has entered my store of shows with a very high re-watch value as a result. Dated production value aside, this show has been enthralling, captivating and charming. I wished I had more episodes of it to watch, gah.
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a) its age. Aired in 2000, it is not only buried under all the newer productions over the years, but its video quality is not as bright and sharp as these modern HQ shows, and its availability is pretty scarce; and
b) its last 5 episodes are un-subbed, which is probably the biggest stumbling block to any lakorn viewer. I think only the really hardcore would venture to watch it despite knowing they will never be able to fully understand and appreciate the full show in its entirety.
I fully admit that I wasn't really planning to watch this show despite hearing echoes of its quality along lakorn corridors because of the above issues but thankfully, a respected fellow MDL-er took the time and effort to explain and sell this show to me, and after seeing a small video clip which she linked me up to, I was eventually sold. And I'm glad because I would have missed out on a real quality lakorn had it been otherwise.
So, now that that's been said and done, on with the review.
STORY
I've begun to notice that older lakorns tend to have better and tighter stories and plots, along with more fleshed out characters, while the newer lakorns these days tend to rely on plot devices such as side-stories, fillers, crazy villains and antagonists, obsessive-to-the-point-of-insane nang'rai's, over-acted and over-dramatised characters, etc. to pull their shows along and keep the viewers' attention focused and excited about their shows.
Well, all I can say is, if you're looking for the latter i.e. the newer lakorn format, then this show will very likely put you off (or let you down) because it has none of those formulas. None. Zero. Nada. This show is old-school in that it has a very focused and tight story to tell, and it remains that way for as far as I could see i.e for the 15 subbed episodes with the rest raw.
I personally would consider this show's primary genre to be a Family Drama. It is extremely character-driven and character-focused. The story focuses very much on the relationships, events and characters in the 2 diamond families, and all the conflict is set and kept within this context so it makes for a very dense and concentrated viewing. If you like dramas like this, then this will be right up your street.
In line with its very focused plot-line and premise, this character-driven show then naturally needs to spend plenty of time to set up the background, the personalities and the internal motivations of each main character as a solid foundation in which to build its drama structure. The pacing is therefore very deliberate and slow because it gives plenty of time for scenes to breathe and for the situations and emotions of the characters to sink in. And because each character within the 2 diamond families in this show has very realistic personality flaws, in some cases even realistically dysfunctional, the show takes its time to show us why, instead of leaving us in the dark.
This is something I really appreciated because for all their biased and sometimes twisted thought-process, you actually understand and get why the characters think or end up that way. You can't hate them or despise them the way you do for one-dimensional stereotypical characters, and this is not an easy feat to achieve without the show setting up their characters so well that you end up understanding them.
Some people might also term this show as a 'social commentary', and I can also understand why because, being so heavily character-driven, it takes the opportunity to introduce to us different characters and different personalities that exist within that social context, and it also wonderfully shows us how each character reacts and deals with a similar situation in different and varied ways because of their different personalities and way of thinking. It's very insightful and eye-opening, and it can also be very thought-provoking because it shows you different perspectives on the same issue. We may not always agree with their way of thinking but I think our minds are broadened by being able to see their viewpoint. There are not many shows that actually allow you to deepen your insight into the different workings of humankind, but this show is one of them.
As for the romance in this show... well, it is a very slow build romance because I don't think romance is this show's primary focus or importance. It does play a very important role in shaping and changing some of our key characters but I see that as just one of the many catalysts embedded in this show. But that's not to say that there is no chemistry or no emotional connection. There are plenty of emotional connections here in this show - maybe even too much sometimes because this show is too good in drawing out the emotional moments of the characters and making you FEEL them for each key scene. Powerful stuff considering that it is able to do this without the help of loud, dramatic music or in-your-face overacting. Serious quality, this.
The only reason I am not able to give a very high rating on this aspect of the show is entirely because of the last 5 un-subbed episodes which I tried to watch but found myself broadly guessing what was going on and what was being said. It is a real pity and shame really, because the dialogue is absolutely key for this show. It explains and clarifies the actions, decisions and motivations of each character so without understanding what was being said, a lot of the context and understanding is lost. I'm dying to know how it all went down in the last 5 and being unable to do that, I cannot, with all the goodwill in the world, complete my rating on the story and execution aspect of this show. But because it has been quality stuff since the beginning, I've still given it a high 7.5. Huge concession for me considering I am sort of left hanging without a proper resolution for this show.
ACTING/ CAST
Every single cast member here played their part and were well-rounded, well-fleshed out characters. Impressive achievement in an age where lakorns are filled with one-dimensional or stereotypical supporting or side characters. No filler or character fodder. Amazing.
Lots of characters stood out for me in this show. Lots. And while I am sure this is partly thanks to solid character scripting and assured directing, some credit also needs to go to the actors themselves for bringing their A-game to the show regardless of their screen-time. From P'Manut and his wife P'Orn, to Rasa's two besties, to all the members of the 2 diamond families themselves, all were memorable and relatable characters to me. This show is choc-a-bloc full of quality acting on all fronts, and if I spent the time to talk about them all, I would never finish this review.
I will, however, put the spotlight on one person whose acting really stood head-and-shoulders above the rest and that is Mr Andrew Gregson.
ANDREW GREGSON as Chanon, was a revelation for me. I've not seen any of his lakorns prior to this show so this was my first introduction to this man. My respected fellow MDL-er sang lots of praises about his acting in this show and so my eyes and my expectations were already perked up even before I clicked on episode 1. I didn't think that my high expectations would be met but wow, boy were they met!
I admit that the first 2, maybe even 3, episodes didn't really make me stand up and say wow because, again, of the show's slow and deliberate pace as well as Chanon's personality which was one who carried the weight of his family and the family's diamond business on his shoulders.
This made him into a very serious, no-nonsense and stoic person who had to internally bear and carry a lot of responsibility. He could not allow himself to be too emotionally open because it could worry and burden his family. He had to be the head of his household and so had to be a very self-controlled, strict and shrewd person lest his soft-hearted father and brother be manipulated and exploited by greedy, ill-meaning persons.
His childhood trauma of being abandoned by his mother had also made him wary and rather distrustful of women. Personally, I wouldn't blame him for being distrustful of women even without the added factor of his mother because being heir to one of the largest diamond companies in the country is enough to attract all sorts of mercenary or status-hungry women.
But as the show progressed and with the re-appearance of his mother who had left some over 20 years ago, Chanon was faced with feelings and issues which he had been suppressing and denying to himself over the years, and the way Andrew Gregson brought all of that internal conflict out in Chanon was seriously emotionally heart-breaking to behold.
The scenes which really sit with me were the scenes where he is trying so hard to keep his emotions and his tears under control but they come leaking out despite his best efforts. The way his voice quivers, the way he hesitates as he tries to give voice to some of the turmoil going on inside, and the way he quickly spits his sentences out as though he has to quickly get it out before he loses the courage to say it, hits you right in the heart. And the way he tries to explain his reasons and his rationale while fighting back tears while he speaks to his father or his brother is so heart-breaking.
For me, there is nothing more emotionally powerful than having to witness someone emotionally distraught and on the verge of tears but trying their damn hardest to NOT break down, to NOT burst into tears.
It's easy to turn on the tap and give in and cry, but to try not to cry even though you want to? Bam! Sold. I'm in.
Of all the characters in this lakorn, it was Chanon who had me empathising and sympathising with him every single step of the way. He was brought believably into life by Andrew so, for that, Andrew gets the gold star from me.
I can't say enough how much I wish the last 5 episodes were subbed so that I can see this entire lakorn to the finish, but suffice to say, even despite not being able to complete it, the first three-quarters of the show was already amazing in being able to show us how quality lakorns look like. It's truly a damn crying shame that they don't make them like this anymore.
MUSIC
Good background music and score. I particularly appreciate how they don't bludgeon you over the head with continuous playing of character theme songs but relied a lot more on instrumental versions and appropriate mood music.
RE-WATCH VALUE
If some kind soul could sub the last 5 episodes so that I can have my closure on this wonderful lakorn, that would be greatly and deeply appreciated. I'd love to re-watch this if I could but not with an inconclusive ending...
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STORY (No spoilers)
A simple storyline about a 30-year old single Thai woman (Mei Li) who is rather untrained in the dating game feeling the pressure of finding a boyfriend after all her friends are married. She meets Lung who is a night-shift engineer for the Bangkok Transit System and goes about attempting to start and build a relationship with him.
As a movie, such a simple plot-line works very well because the show focuses a lot on Mei Li's everyday life and if you like slice-of-life shows, this will really appeal to you. There are lovely little snapshots and scenes of Mei Li and her middle-class chinese family interacting with each other, of Mei Li and her rather funny workplace boss and sale products, and of Mei Li trying to come to grips with how to date a man she is interested in.
There is also an introduction to the Bangkok transportation system, from motorbike taxis, to riverboat taxis and of course, the rail/ train system. As this film was also released as part of the BTS 10th anniversary, there are a lot of scenes of the inner workings of the Skytrain infrastructure and operations, which is pretty insightful.
The comedy is most prevalent in the first half of the show where we get an introduction to our lead girl in rather amusing circumstances and it already sets the tone of future comedic scenes to come based on her rather quirky, naive and rather oblivious character. Bulk of the comedy in this show is carried by Mei Li - either character-related or circumstance-related - while Lung (our male lead) is a rather good foil to her character by being the more restrained, grounded and pragmatic of the two. It is a nice little play in their dynamic which comes across cute and sweet.
The romance is under-stated but sweet, and rather mature in spite of Mei Li's inexperience and naive-ness, and I personally quite enjoyed the simple-ness of the movie, and its depiction of a modern single woman's life and struggles in Bangkok.
ACTING/ CAST
CRIS HORWANG as Mei Li, is the unsurprising and undoubted star of this movie. As the movie's main character and main focus, she did a great job in carrying the whole show on her shoulders and her portrayal as the inexperienced and clueless Mei Li is cute, funny and endearing. She really brought life and sparkle to the entire movie.
KEN THEERADETH as Lung, was, as mentioned, a good foil and match to Mei Li's naive and ditzy character. Easy-going and pragmatic, his reactions to Mei Li's hilarious antics prevented the movie from going too far into over-the-top-theatricalism, and grounded it very well. His scenes and screen-time were not as eye-catching nor as extended as Mei Li's, but his screen-presence was always strong.
I also particularly liked Mei Li's family scenes and the lakorn inserts (with Aff Taksaorn) in the movie. They lend another dimension and aspect to the show which was a nice addition.
RE-WATCH VALUE
As a romantic-comedy movie, it certainly fits the bill very nicely.
I liked the movie's simple plot-premise and the characters, but as enjoyable as it was to watch the film for the first time, the whole show did not excite nor moved me enough for it to sit strongly with me after it ended so on this basis the re-watch value is not that high. But it is a light-hearted and easy watch so for those who are in the mood for something like this, this will be a very good show for you.
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I wasn't too keen to watch this initially because it appears to be a food/cooking-centered show. This sort of setting normally does not appeal to me because I find that most shows with a chef don't tend to do realistic portrayals of proper chefs and their difficult and highly-skilled work in the kitchen. Unfortunately, I can't really say that this show made the cut in this aspect, so for those who are a bit more picky in terms of accuracy of portrayals of people in a professional capacity, you might want to close one eye and shut the other on this show when it comes to such scenes.
So, toss accuracy of the chef profession aside and use the cooking theme as the main storyboard on which the whole show rests on. Or rather, use the cooking theme as a main storyboard on which the character of Alin rests on, because this show is really about her.
Alin is an interesting, quirky and rather funny main character on which the whole show revolves around. But what, I think, makes her character pop and stand-out for me (and probably a lot of viewers too), is that she is surprisingly headstrong, assertive and quite marvellously able to stand on her own two feet throughout the entire show. She fights her own cat-fights, and is practically fearless in action whether it be facing down a sea of reporters in press conferences, or facing off against her potential mother-in-law, or in making demands and throwing a tantrum at the point of a gun. She's such a Diva, but yet we can't really hate her, even in her most manipulative, exploitative moments. For crafting a memorable leading lady, this show is pure gold.
The pacing of this show is steady and solid, with side characters and story-arcs being given more than enough air-time to establish personalities, character motivations, back-stories, and forward-movement of plots. I also thought that the script and the way the show evolved was very well-written and I was actually so absorbed in watching the first two-thirds of the show that I hardly used the fast-forward button (which is normally in action for stock character appearances). I personally thought that the show lost some of its amazing momentum in the later one-third, and I wished they could have fleshed out the ending a bit better so that we could sit back and sigh in bliss as we watched our main leads together, but these are minor gripes in the whole scheme of things.
Overall, this is a solid romantic-comedy with a scintillating main character who brings lots of sparkle and pop to this show.
ACTING/CAST
Most of the supporting cast of characters are great. You do have your villains in this show and they can be pretty one-note in terms of character and rather over-exaggerated in terms of portrayal - typical of Thai lakorns - but the main characters are all well-rounded and well-done.
KEN THEERADETH - as Kru Cook/ Pasu/ Din. Ken won another acting award for his role here, and while I can appreciate why because Ken is as good as ever with his ability to emote on-screen, I personally enjoyed his earlier character portrayals in his earlier dramas ('Oum Rak' and 'Sawan Biang') more. His character here is less of a stand-out compared to the main female lead, so I think he was a little over-shadowed here. But still, over-shadowed or not, Ken is as good as ever in being able to bring to life his characters to the screen and make them as different and as distinguishable from other characters he has played in the past. His versatility in the acting department is truly outstanding.
ANNE THONGPRASOM - as Alin. This is Anne's show, without a doubt, and she deserved her best actress acting award in spades. Alin is such a multi-faceted and mercurial character, with mood changes and temperaments as changeable as the wind, but yet Anne is able to hold it all together and knit the various clashing colours of the character into one amazing garment. She is somehow able to make the character of Alin winsome despite all that diva temper-throwing and self-entitled arrogant huffs. We can see why Kru Cook fell in love with Alin despite her crazy character flaws, and in the hands of a lesser actress, this show could have gone completely off the rails and self-destructed. Anne was brilliant here, just absolutely brilliant from start to finish. Standing ovation from the floor.
Chemistry-wise, both Ken and Anne had them in spades, which I've come to expect as par for the course for this pairing. This on-screen couple is incredible at generating that kind of gravitational force that pulls you into their orbit and every single one of their scenes together, regardless of which drama, is just mesmerising.
MUSIC
I admit that the music did not really catch my attention in this show. There was not a lot of over-playing of character theme songs or repetitive soundtracks here which is also a nice change from some of the dramas which bludgeon you over the head with their music score. I guess it must have been sufficiently subtle and good enough to have passed unnoticed and yet not jarring the show or the scenes.
RE-WATCH VALUE
I confess that among the 3 Ken/Anne dramas I've seen, this one currently stands lowest on my re-watch list. Don't get me wrong, this is a fantastic romantic-comedy show, and Anne is just outstanding here, but the relationship dynamic and the emotional feels this show and this coupling incites was not as mesmerising nor as emotionally-provoking as 'Oum Rak' and 'Sawan Biang', for me. But as a stand-alone Thai lakorn, this is still one of the best out there, because really, the Ken/Anne coupling is just head-and-shoulders above their compatriots.
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