Reviews

In my quest for the ultimate shoujo, this stands as one of the best. All the elements are there and, what's more, they feel perfectly done. It's so refreshing to see a coming-of-age ensemble piece that treats the subject matter the characters go through with the necessary weight that it should be treated with. In youth, stuff like first love, friendship, the future unknown... this is all stuff that doesn't feel earth-shaterring in hindsight but always does so in that moment when you aren't kids but not yet adults. Too many of these types feel flimsy—a side-effect of the adults that make it. This one levels with its audience, and that's why it soars.

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This drama is really great. In my opinion, 49 Days is the best drama in 2011. After i watched the first episode it hooked me up and it made me curious how the story went. There is a lot of surprise in this drama which is i never expected before.

The actors and actress have a great chemistry and all of them have a great acting skills and i thought Lee Yo Won is the best among the other casts. Lee Yo Won acted two different characters perfectly and it made me love her more.

49 Days is not all about romance but also about the meaning of life. This Drama teach us how to live your life, how to appreciate every second of your life.

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I really enjoyed this movie. I am particularly a fan of Anne Suzuki and that is the sole reason I was interested in this film. However I was blown away by multiple performances in the novel brought to life. Anne who I love pulls off a very convincing stripper which for her is a controversial role. Kengo's character who is a gambling addict and the black sheep of an esteemed family, always getting into trouble also plays a convincing role. The film was well written and pretty well shot for a low budget. The only negative I can say about this film is that it's not for the younger viewer's as it encompasses nudity,adult situations and even rape. However those who are old enough should certainly check this out.

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Done and redone

Nothing original
A poor female lead who’s actually the daughter of a wealthy family but has lived in poverty with her mom because of that scheming of others… her rich grandma/grandpa who suddenly wants to meet his/her granddaughter she never acknowledged, a crazy aunt who kills everyone around to get the inheritance, her crazy daughter who gets in rivalry with the female lead…
Extremely boring and predictable all along. Every character, every event has been done and redone in lakorns before.
Moreover, this is way too long for what it is : there are a lot of useless events, and it uselessly goes around in circles.
The acting in general is pretty average, except for some of them, especially the female lead.
On her side, I was actually surprised : Phatchaya offers a natural and graceful performance for a female lead who is smart, strong and able to take her own decisions. In other words, she’s not a Mary Sue. However, had she been played by an untalented actress (like the one playing her best friend), her character could have been very boring.
I consider her the only real asset of the series, as she was a nice discovery.

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I've watched a lot of series from Asian to Western and this one has really made it to my favourite list. I am a huge fan of fantasy - science fiction novels, movies and series and I can say that The Gifted is one of the best. Thai series is widely known for their BL series (and yes, I've also watched a lot) but The Gifted has truly proven that Thai series is more than that. The story is full of plot twists which will get your attention and kudos to the actors and actresses since the acting is topnotch (hats off to Gun. I really love his diversity in acting). All things considered, it is worth watching! The best.

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When it comes to movies about historical figures I tend to take them with a grain of salt, sometimes a whole bag. I'm neither familiar with Xuan Zang's life nor am I a scholar of Buddhism or this time period so this review is based sheerly on my enjoyment of this film as a work of art. Though I am sure there are discrepancies as with most historical films I have no quarrel with the filmmakers for at least the major characters were dealt with respectfully. I've also neither read the novel nor seen the movie Journey to the West which are based on Xuan's life.

Xuan Zang set out for India, when it was forbidden to leave the country, in order to bring copies of more accurate Buddhist scriptures home. Reason, laws, and the threat of death could not deter him from his holy quest.

The cinematography was extraordinary and a treat for the eyes as Xuan traveled through both cities and desert wilderness, often alone. Varying from lush green to desolate sand and stone, and later snow capped mountains, the scenery was breath-taking. Ancient ruins, temples, and shrines are visited. Often the scenery showed him barely visible, a tiny monk making his way through a vast and sacred world. The music fit with the mood perfectly.

This is a slow, reflective film as Xuan's faith meets up against disappointment and hardship. Living in a time when I can find information with the push of a button, I'm in awe of someone who was willing to risk death, imprisonment, starvation, and thirst to increase his knowledge and faith and then the overwhelming desire to bring it back home again to share. His journey took between 16 and 19 years depending on the source and he covered over 25,000 km (15,534 miles). This film gives a glimpse of what he accomplished, the people he met, the effect he had on others, and the joy the scriptures brought to him. There are a couple of narrative hiccoughs when an inexplicable time and place jump occur, but that's a rarity, and a small quibble. The censor's heavy hand causes a few shadows as well. For the most part this is a film to soothe the eyes, ears, and soul. Every moment and person is treated as holy and a gift. It may be the idealized version of his life but it was a pleasure to sink into it and let the beauty of the colors and notes and love for all life wash over me.

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Story dropped really bad

It was an amazing drama story and plot were good, however at the end the story dropped and it followed a weird lineup like break up time skip met again she's rich and just smile and talk, not getting back together or marriage it was a really but really bad ending. like c'mon they've could've done much better a better ending, not some weak ass ending like this I do recommend but you'll be disasaponted with the ending

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LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT BUT IT GETS MESSY

Overview:
Before going into this drama, I had very high expectations since Aum and Bella is one of my favorite Thai actors and actresses. It took me seven years to finally get to this drama, but here are my thoughts and opinions about this drama!
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Story: 6.5/10
As the synopsis stated, the story revolves around a rich man name Naantrai who fell in love at first sight with a beautiful village dancer name Nueanang. Naatrai pretends to be a middle-class manager who manages the village. Because Nueanang's mother died from a broken heart after being left behind by Nueanang's father who was a foreigner, Nueanang's grandfather refuses Nueanang to fall in love with Naatrai who is a city boy. Not only that, Naantrai's overbearing mother does not approve of a low-status woman such as Nueanang as her daughter-in-law and prefers the rich Kaekai. Through all these adversities, will Nueanang and Naantrai's love be strong enough to face all these trials?

Personally, I was somewhat turned off by the idea of love at first sight since the way they portrayed it in the story was a bit more on the lusting side. However, as Naantrai starts to know Nueanang more, he falls in love even harder. It was pretty sweet up until episode 7 when $#!+ starts to go down and the genre just turns 360. It becomes more mysterious and hateful. I mean, Naatrai's mother and "fiance" were already hateful enough but I guess the scriptwriter thought that wasn't enough. I would give the first half of this drama a solid 8 and a 5 on the second half. The beginning was so well-developed but the climax and conclusion had so many plot holes and didn't live up to my expectations. It was a decent ending but could've been worked on a bit better.
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Acting/Casting: 8.5/10
My, my, my is Aum just HOT! Aum as Naantrai is 100% believable. The way he expressed his emotions made me weak. Of all of Aum's works, the most notable scenes are his "I'm angry at you" scenes, "I'm sorry, I was wrong" scenes, and "I love you with all my heart" scenes. This drama no doubt had all of these scenes. It was nice to see how his acting style was pretty consistent even compared to his older works. On the other hand, Naantrai's character was a bit overbearing. Yes, he can be sweet and understanding, but no man can be perfect. Naantrai also has a bad temper and tends to make rash decisions and quick assumptions. [SPOILER] Personally, no matter how much I love Naantrai, I wouldn't have forgiven him that easily just because I love him. If he wasn't able to trust and listen and figured things out instead of being angry and jealous, I would've liked him way better.

Then there is Bella who plays Nueanang. Like most of Bella's drama, Neanang is a beautiful young lady whose beauty captivates men from far and near. But what shines even brighter is her beauty inside. And due to that, there tend to be jealous characters (which this drama provides 4 of them for entertainment ;D). Even though Nueanang is physically weak, she's mentally very strong. She knows what her morals are and sticks to it even to the very end. Although this is a very typical Bella role, she did pretty well.

And then there are other notable characters like Khamfai (best friend of Nueanang), Saengkum (second male lead), Daoden (second female lead), Aunt Wandi (servant of Naantrai's household), Tun (Naantrai's brother), and Mae Nai (Naantrai's mother). I've seen many of these actors here and there from other dramas and they always add spice and entertainment no matter what their roles are. It's the same with this drama, they had so many background characters that really added to the plotline.

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Music: 8/10
I found this drama after my sister sent me the OST to this drama and the singer's voice is so sweeeeet.

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Rewatch Value: 6.5/10
I would rewatch this occasionally, but it wouldn't be my go-to drama. I could definitely do without watching the second half of the series.
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Overall: 7.5/10
Overall, I'm giving this drama a generous 7.5/10. At first, I was going to settle for a 6 but felt generous enough to rate it higher because of the acting/casting. The main downfall of this drama has to be the loopholes. Although the scriptwriters did try to fill the loopholes in, it still didn't make perfect sense. Plus, the forcefully and non-consentsual scenes were a big turn-off. It was just kind of a "huh?" moment for me why the scriptwriter felt like they needed to add that, but again, this is a 2014 drama. Is it suppose to be romantic? Is it suppose to make you mad? Like, what's the purpose of those scenes? But overlooking all of that, character development was decent. There was a lot of unnecessary anger and vengeance, but what do you expect from a Thai drama? The most redeeming quality would be the chemistry between the main leads. I would've liked it if there were more screen time for the second main lead's stories to develop better, but this was a 15 episode drama so it was super rushed. All in all, casting and acting redeemed this drama. The storyline and characters were typical, nothing new here for the Thai industry. I would classify this as a filler drama, but if you LOVED this drama, good for you! Some other dramas I would recommend for you would be Hua Jia Sila, Jam Loey Rak, Badarn Jai, and Jai Rao (2008). Lots of anger and vengeance but are good typical entertaining dramas.

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The beginning reminds me of Love In The Moonlight, with the female lead being a eunuch and the Emperor male lead. But in all, it's a different story.

Most of the story is about the leads romance. It started out cute, a bit interesting, and then it flatlined. I start to lose interest once the rebellion arc become the main plot.

I like how they actually give everyone an ending. No one's forgotten in the end, even the side characters. That is really rare to see.
But the very last scene really bother me.
It would've been better if it's just the main leads. But no, they add other 2 couples. The other 2 couples doesn't even have that much interaction, so it feels like it's out of nowhere.

The leads chemistry was nice.
The acting was okay, you can see some actor's awkward acting, but it doesn't really bother.

The songs used were good, but one's was overplayed that made me felt bored and skipped the scenes with that song in background.

Other thing i noticed is they didn't use much facetune filter. So the actors skin look natural.

I like the comedy, but I don't think I'd be rewatching it just for that.

Overall:
It's a light hearted drama and it's living up to that.

If you're on the mood to shut off your brain or if you like the actors, I'd recommend this.

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Cheers to my 1st CH7 drama that I did not drop midway

Story is very solid on this one.
This is like marrying the styles of Innocent Man (Kdrama), Hua Jai Sila (less campy villains and no "forced things" ), Kluen Cheewit (with less irritating villains).
Paul (ML) has this solid motivation to take back what is rightfully his mothers after being abandoned by his father keeping all the wealth to himself and his mistress Net (Main villain).
His way of revenge is so timely and smart.
It's like he is calculative but not in a sexual manner like other lakorns. He meets the adopted child of his father Nai (FL) and the conflict starts from there on

Tbh, for a Ch7 drama, I was not expecting this, the production value is very high to the lines you can mistake it as a family kdrama or a cdrama. Mongkoldee really took notes and take it up a notch. Was not really expecting much due to the messy Nang Rai from the same production team but Episode by episode, it surely proved me wrong. Forget all the cliche, high pitch catfights, overbearing villains, here its all well acted. I can see the dialogue delivery is well thought out and all actors are not high pitched.

Actors and actresses on this series is an ensemble.
Donut gave justice to Paul like you can see a storm of emotions on him, whether on taking his father down while expecting praise from him at the same time. The gold one was the scenes both of his adoptive father and his biological father.
Prapye excelled as Nai, she is a strong woman tugged down by her debt of gratitude to the villain.
Jeab who played the villain is so detestable that she started a meme in Thailand. Her beautiful innocent face that can go devil in a second.
Also Jayda and Chayapol (Pat and Kashane) is really solid second leads.
Don't forget the office crew, they really carried the office scenes well.

Overall, its a perfect cast choice, they really did pick the best, P'Tle - the director really visualised the series and made sure the errors in Nang Rai won't happen here as he directed it also.

Lastly, the music choice, its perfect. Some of these are Thai Pop classics Its very rewatcheable and a good entry point to Thai Lakorns

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I just finished binge watching this, and I'm really glad I did.

At the beginning, I wasn't so sure I was going to like it. The girl Love character came off as really whiny and annoying (at least to me). Then there was the wish with the unicorn. Sure, I realized it was a fantasy but--seriously--if you had one wish, for anything you want, wouldn't you choose something like a long, healthy life, or great wealth... something really lasting? Okay, I get it, she was a young girl and crazy about Vier, but still... (I also found it weird that another girl, Rose, would have made the exact same wish just to get with Vier.)

But, of course, if girl Love had made a really sensible choice, we wouldn't have had a story, lol. Anyway, on to the characters:

Boy Love: I thought he was great, especially for not having all that much acting experience. His dance in the dress, in front of Vier and Tangmo, had me smiling a lot!

Tangmo: loved him. For me, the best and most convincing actor in the cast.

Vier: no question, the guy is smoking HOT. I thought he did a good job with the character and played some of the emotional scenes very well. He started off as this perfect, cool guy, but then turned into a villain of sorts. But we got his backstory and found out why he was such a jerk at times.

Girl Love: wasn't crazy about her at first, but I liked her more as the story continued.

Good: he was absolutely adorable. The scene where he discovers that boy Love is his sister (with a spontaneous hug) is so heartwarming.

Sean: he was okay. I've liked Captain in other things and, while he was fine here, there wasn't all that much to his role.

Rose: it was a small part, but the actress played it well.

Nuclear: mostly a smiley and cute supporting actor, but he really stepped it up when he confronted Vier toward the end.

Menn: no complaints, he was fine in his supporting role.

I liked a lot of the bit part actors, including Aunty, Vier's father, the teachers and the twin girls.

What I didn't like so much was the first part of "The Greatest" challenge, with the kidnapped girl. It seemed to drag on and on, and I found it extremely boring.

But I loved the final challenge and the last episode! The story brought forth a number of important emotional topics, which was great. And, except for Sean/Rose (poor thing), I'm really glad that everyone ended happy and staying friends.

Will I rewatch? Maybe (I've already rewatched a few parts). Do I recommend it? Definitely.

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A slow, slice of life story revolving around an estranged husband's and father's funeral. The funeral brings up old grievances and guilt. The mother must not only come to terms with her unfinished emotions for the man who left her but also deal with her three daughters' sense of loss and pain. Throw in a mistress, illness, divorces, family secrets, resentments, and Karaoke cab and there is enough to fill a drama much less a two hour movie.

For me there were too many characters and too many conflicts to fully connect with many of the characters. I enjoyed it but I didn't love it and likely would not visit this group of dysfunctional people again. Bittersweet and heart-warming at the same time, Big Little Women at least gave us a largely female cast and shined a light on the complicated female relationships and strengths within a family.

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Execution is not perfect but the drama is perfect nonetheless!

One of the most amazing story with characters that are so vivid amd understandable it's imposible not to feel for them. The Untamed has been graced with a cast perfect for the amazing chemistry they all have. And the script is so well done that the deveopment of the story can be considered even more cohesive than the original material of the novel. A must watch not only for the BL undertone between the two main lead but for the comment on our society that is one of the most interesting aspects of this drama.
This is a drama that proves how a well done script and a good casting can always overshadow techincal problems of the production.

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