Love by Chance (2018)

For the record, I based my review mostly on AePete because they're the main couple, and the show spends most of it building their relationship.

With that being said, Ae is probably my favorite character in a BL (don't listen to me; I have more favorite characters than there are babies in China) but seriously: he's so open and honest and he doesn't give a damn what others say about him. That kind of strong character is important for someone like Pete, who's very docile and reclusive. I don't believe in the saying "opposites attract," but this is a case of: my weakness is their strength, and they grow from it. It's honestly a wonderful, heart-felt story all together.

And the acting? THE ACTING. In case you didn't know, Saint (Pete) is ANYTHING but shy in real life (he's actually mischievous and playful) with Perth (Ae) being the shy one of the two, and I think that makes this drama that much more amazing because you would NEVER guess that with how great their acting is. if you watch this show because of nothing else, watch it for AePete.

TinCan. Tin-freaking-Can. I know they have their own story in the book (and it's has a better ending) and (now) I know they're having a second season, but, before, when I watched this, I had NO idea I would love them as much as I did. Honestly. Like Can, Tin pissed me off SO BADLY that I cheered when Can hit him. BOTH TIMES. I was like, "Hit him again." But then, also like Can, I was won over slowly, and my eyes opened to what Tin was a person, and I hate him for making me love him if you wanna know the truth.

The acting for these two is just as impressive as Perth and Saint, honestly. Mean (Tin) has a good talent for showing emotions on his face, and it hurts THAT MUCH MORE. And Plan (Can)--I mean, I've loved Can since his Make It Right days, so I'm a bit biased, but he's also a great actor.

Because it needs to be said even though their storyline isn't as intertwined: I don't like Kengkla and Techno. I love Techno as a character (I literally adore his ditzy, air-headed personality), but I think he deserves better than Kengkla. Kengkla was manipulative, forceful, and just downright NOT a good person, and it actually made me feel bad for the naive Techno. I know they have their own story (and the book is translated into English, fun fact), but I can't get past the rape, and make NO mistake: it was rape. And it's downright distasteful, especially when you have Tar's story in here revolving around why rape is TRAUMATIZING.

Tar (Earth, whom I love as na actor as well) and Tum's story wasn't as... filled out as I had hoped, so I can't say too much about them. I originally liked that the story was trying to touch on something as important and TRAUMATIZING as rape since I have watched BLs where people just look RIGHT PAST IT like it's nothing, but I felt like they could've expanded it more and given Tar more time throughout the story to grow (which I understand the reason he didn't is because the book for TumTar isn't out yet to my knowledge, but still). With the stupid KengklaTechno storyline, however, Tar's story seemed washed out.

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Okay, everything about this series is absolute perfection EXCEPT for the two random subplots that make no sense to me whatsoever. Which would be the brothers whose names I can't remember, and the football team captain and his little brother's classmate or something? THEY COULD HAVE REMOVED THESE ENTIRELY AND FILLED THAT TIME WITH THE COMPLETION OF FUCKING TIN AND CAN! I'm not even going to go into why these stories are unnecessary. They are confusing and half-baked and out of place. Also, the latter of the two is HELLA NOT OKAY. And I normally don't mind me some fictional lack of consent here and there, but it just wasn't okay in this case. Let's just erase these two from memory and focus on the rest which is entirely made up of PERFECTION.

Gosh, it started so long ago I'd almost forgotten what happened at the beginning. Ae and Pete literally collide in front of their school, and then become fast friends. Pete is gay, and is being blackmailed by a jerk guy, and when Ae finds out he gets fiercely protective of Pete and saves him from the situation. They become closer, and while Pete already knows he is all gay for Ae, he knows he can never act on those feelings because Ae is straight. Or he thinks so, although Ae has never actually been in a relationship or had feelings for anyone before... Until now. And I love that it is him. That Ae goes through all his confusing feelings and is the one to pursue Pete. Their relationship develops so well, and it establishes itself solidly in the middle and they just love each other so wholly throughout the remaining episodes.

And then we have Tin and Canteloupe. Oh. My. Goodness.

Healthy, mature relationships are always going to get a ten out of ten from me, but for some reason my poor fujoshi heart just can't stop doki doki-ing at a toxic tsundere pairing. ESPECIALLY this one, because it takes it to a new level. Can hates Tin right off the bat, and Tin just loathes everyone, so it's like tsundere times ten up in here and I've already died. I love that they come together through so much negativity. And I like how it happened. There is a moment when Can let's his hatred get out of hand and he essentially cusses out Tin after Tin tells him a story about his life and then pulls back and pretends it isn't true because he doesn't trust people, and then Can feels so guilty and goes out of his way to apologize to Tin. I really liked this because it was so much character development in one scene, and was the turning point in there relationship. Literally, Can had to childishly become the villain in order for them to become friends, and then more. It was just well done, overall, and even if it wasn't finished and will never be finished, obviously they were intended to be together. I like how uncertain Can was, even though he agreed to be courted, consented to kisses, and even got jealous, and I like that he was so overwhelmed by all of those new feelings that he broke it off in the last episode. I know he just needs a minute to sort it all out because the feelings are there and they are strong and unfamiliar, and that he would have pursued Tin relentlessly in season 2 and that they would have been together forever.

I hope that whatever drama happened between whoevers managers can be put aside and they can do a second season, or at least that they do a spinoff series to focus on Tin and Can and maybe even explore the other two storylines, make them less useless. It would actually work well, because Ae and Pete are as established and as solid as they would ever be at the end of season 1, their story could easily be closed there. Here's hoping.

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I am usually very critical of most shows.

I love this show. It is such an amazing coming of age drama. It has less to do with coming to terms with being gay, and more to do with coming to terms with being in love. Which I absolutely ADORE!

I love Ae. He is uncomplicated and simple. I love that his dilemma isn't that he is having feelings for a boy, but rather that he is having feelings at all. Period. I think that's one of the reasons I love this show so much, because I relate to Ae so much in this regard, because for me love is about who a person is. I love the awkward UST between Ae and Pete.

Pete. He is so adorable and innocent. I think my favorite interaction between Ae and Pete is when Pete smack's Ae on the chest and say "You don't have to say everything that crosses your mind." He is so adorable in that moment. It hurts me how self-sacrificing he is - like "Boy! Chompoo will get over herself! She isn't even friend's with Ae. She has met him all of ONE time! You've been spending every day with Ae for WEEKS!

Perth and Saint were adorable as Ae and Pete. I don't know about the drama that went down, and I honestly don't care. I just know that even though Perth is a baby, he exudes this maturity as Ae and even though Saint is older he has this innocence that is so amazing to watch. Yes, there is a lot of room for growth, they are still young and fresh, and it is important to remember that this is new to them, and they may or may not actually be attracted to men, so to be new to acting and to be put to far out of your element and to still have such palpable chemistry is amazing.

Pond - OMG another nosy best friend that I loved. What an adorable yet annoying character. He kinda grows on you. Like Ae says, if he keeps talking, he'll be your friend. Hahah. He is so cute. Ae's clueless Love Guru.

Can - I love can. He like a little kid. I actually thought Plan was younger than Mean, but he's actually older, whodathunk! I love how fiercely loyal he is towards Ae and Pete. I love how he sticks up for them. How he defernds them to the end of the world. First, going from "gay is disgusting" (because Tin is trying to provoke Can) to "gay is only disgusting if you (Tin) are gay" (when he realizes that Tin is saying that Ae and Pete are gay and so if Can says "gay is disgusting" that would mean his friends are disgusting, and Can only hates Tin, so he has blind acceptance for his friends, not questioning it, not caring that they are gay, he loves his friends, he will stand by them till the end of time). I love him so much. I hate that he is so preoccupied in his brain by all his thoughts, and is so haunted by them. I hate that it causes what happens at the end. I can't wait for LBC2.

Tin - My least favorite character, but I get it. I don't like that he coerces Can into going on dates. That he uses physical affection as "payment" for things, like Can is a prostitute or something. I hate that. But I also hate that he is so broken and so unloved. I feel for him. I really do.

Tum/Tar - I miss Tharn/Type!Tum, he was hot. LBC!Tar is cute, he can stay. I am glad we got to see some of their relationship, but I could care less. It was not related to Ae/Pete or Can/Tin in anyways so it didn't matter I didn't understand why it was in this series. Like Tum/Tar never even meet the main characters.

Techno/Kengkla - the non-con made me cringe. and the manipulation made me double cringe. Not looking forward to more of that in LBC2... >_<. I miss Tharn/Type!Techno. He was such a spaz I loved him! Again, I didn't understand why this pairing was given as much importance as it was. But at least Techno interacted with Can to some extent.

Type - Earth is cute. But I miss the harsh accent and abrassiveness that Gulf gives Type. Also, are Type and Tharn having problems? Or was Type just super involved in everyone's business because he was so happy in his own life and had nothing better to do with life?

Are TharnType series and LBC series gonna continue to have different actors playing the characters that overlap? Like Techno, Tum, Tar, Technic, Kengkla, Champ, etc? That'll be confusing... also all of them play the characters differently which characterizes the characters differently.... >_<

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4 Couples with some sweet plots and some highly infuriating ones

I will be honest right from the start. The only reason I decided to give this one a watch was because of Earth Pirapat and Earth Katsamonnat. I have enjoyed their acting in all the series that I have seen them in so far and this was no exception. But it would be unfair to rate this series only on the performance of 2 characters. Love By Chance is a series that tells a story of 4 separate couples, so let’s judge it on the basis of these 8 characters and their stories starting with the 2 main characters.

Pete and Ae: Pete comes from a rich family where he has been protected by his mother and he is shown to be rather simple and easily over-powered. He is closeted gay and hence is blackmailed by another student for money. Ae has a humble background and one day they accidently meet each other. From that day onwards, whenever he encounters Pete, he needs saving and Ae helps him out. Ae even encourages Pete to come out to his mom which he does. It was good to see a coming out scene in a BL series and the mom accepting it for her child’s happiness. Post this encounter, a strong bond develops between Pete and Ae that takes the shape of love and they start a relationship. Their relationship is shown to be sweet and passionate. There are some ups and downs but any issues they encounter are swiftly resolved through dialogue. There is jealousy but also a strong sense of trust between the two throughout the series. It was only during the last few episodes that I feel Ae behaves rather differently where Ae and his friends plan a 3 day vacation at a beach and he refuses to take Pete along because he is afraid of some handsome friend who will make fun of him.

Tin and Can: Of all the 4 couples, these 2 had the best storyline. Tin also hails from a rich family but initially you feel something is wrong with him. He has a superiority complex and looks down upon people who are not as rich as he is. All this stemming from experiences he had as a child and multiple betrayals suffered from parents, elder brother and even his friends. He now does not trust anyone and feels money is the solution to all problems. Can is a fresher at the university and a football player. He is talkative and enjoys food especially when paid by someone else. He is a simpleton through and through and picks up a fight with Tin because he rubs him the wrong way. However, as the story progresses we find they both interact and have a positive impact on each other. Tin has a backstory that is worth expanding upon and I believe Part 2 of this series does that. There is a different dynamic at play in this relationship as Tin is straightforward and Can is naïve. Their story reaches a crescendo in the last episode and to me feels justified. Their story picks up steam by ep 10 and I was left wishing that it should have started way earlier to flesh out a lot of things.

Tum and Tar: This is a complicated one as Tum and Tar are introduced as siblings where Tum has serious feelings for Tar and this just made me uncomfortable. Its later revealed that they are step-brothers but not sure if it really helped at the end. Tar is a victim of rape and hence suffers from a trauma leading him to be afraid of love and intimacy. Tum is caring towards Tar but has no idea about Tar being a victim and misunderstands the whole situation. There is a deep emotional moment in the last episode between these 2 characters which pulls at your heart strings but with a lot of things left unanswered or being spoken in passing you fail to connect with these 2 characters and hence aren’t involved in their stories.

Techno and Kengkla: Finally talking about the most problematic couple. Kengkla loves Techno and would do anything to be with him. He straightaway bribes Techno’s brother to keep an eye on him and constantly call him to know his whereabouts. You don’t understand Kengkla’s infatuation with Techno because that is not explained. In fact they hardly share any scenes together and have no dialogues between them. Kengkla at the end devices the most ridiculous and in my opinion an illegal plan to get Techno. Techno once comes home drunk and Kengkla takes advantage of this situation and rapes Techno (Techno is too drunk to consent and this cant be described as anything other than rape). To make matters worse, the next day when Techno wakes up sober, he finds himself in the same bed as Kengkla, naked with no memory of the previous night. Kengkla guilts Techno in to believing that he took advantage of Kengkla last night and should now take responsibility by being his boyfriend. This storyline started ridiculous and ended up infuriating me especially when you already have another character who is a victim of rape. What were the writers and director thinking?

In conclusion, this series is a watch only for Pete and Ae, and Tin and Can. Their stories are sweet and has a lot of depth and there is certainly character development. Can’t say the same about the other 2 couples. Feel free to fast forward their parts for better entertainment value.

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A sweet and relatively simple series with a great supporting cast

NO-SPOILER REVIEW

This series has a lot of strengths as well as some weak spots but is still a fun experience. It starts out with some naive characters that we gradually see mature as time goes on in an overall simple and sweet story. The series also touches on some social topics like LGBT issues, class, money, appearance, divorce, etc. which not every series will acknowledge. Also keep in mind that this series takes place in the same universe as TharnType, but was made at a different time and by a different company, so the characters that are the same in each series aren't portrayed by the same actors, which can be very confusing.

Pros
- The main couple is very sincere and earnest, which is refreshing.
- The story does acknowledge the difficulties of being LGBT in society and how that impacts the relationship.
- The side characters provide a lot of the energy for this series and end up getting more and more attention as the series progresses. One side relationship ends up becoming even more exciting than the main relationship.

Cons
- The main plot and characters could be considered a bit simple to some.
- Class, money, and appearance are some themes in this series, which were good to comment on socially, but never felt resolved.

Overall
- A sweet and relatively simple series without too much unnecessary drama.

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This is a great mixture of reality and the fantasy world of BL. It deals with subjects that most gay people go through at this crucial point of life. I would highly recommend this series to any young gay man coming out or dealing with boyfriend/ friend issues. Is a great series but just feel Tin and Can relationship could have been better. This issue is resolved by Cathy Dolls short 4minute film. Ae and Pete relationship is what carries the series they are great chemistry and what true love relationship is all about, (happy ,sad and hopefully forever).
which now leaves me with the parts I did not like . The Tar and Tum is hard to watch because of the subject of Rape
and because they are step brothers.
In terms of acting , I personally feel that Mild Suttinat would have been a better person to play Techno because he is perfect in TharnType the prequel to this series.
The great thing about this series is that it got me started to learn Thai and watch other Bl movies and Dramas from Thailand.
Overall is a must see for the Music, Acting and great plot twists

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It's just nostalgic at this point

I really like AePete and TinCan. Maybe you think that TinCan has too many cliches, but Tin was made as a parody of the typical male protagonist of a K-Drama so I don't really care. And I just love a pairing like TinCan, the dynamic of stupidsunshinexcoldandserious lol. But I think it should be just about this two pairing and not also about all the other pairing, especially because most of them are toxic. Just look at TechnoxKengklas, I read the book and it was painful, poor Techno. It started as a joke but it escalated, from "lol he is stalking him" to "he rapes him". But the Author of LBC (she wrote Tharntype) loves rape and toxic characters and giving this toxic characters a happy end, but I wish the toxic characters would not steal the other couples screen time. All in all, it's very cliche and the story isn't innovate but it's still very enjoyable.

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Really good serie, the cast is very great. For the first time there's no naughty girl that mess up relationships...

The story line is nothing really interesting or special but characters are appealing.
It's a sweet drama that will make your heart rest. You will never be frustrated! (yeah there's real kisses and not some fake one made with angles that make you want to end your life lmao)
It's also very funny, you can make memes out of characters, I love them.

Unfortunately some couples are absolutely forgotten even tho their stories could have been really interesting with difficult topics(Tar and Tum). Others couples are really interesting and not really expected in my opinion?

It's will be great to have a season two cauz many things still without answers or lefts as is it. I don't have a lot of hope but let's believe in the possibility!
Conclusion : Watch it, it's great.

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When I first watched this series, many threads about side characters seemed strange to me. First of all, the story of the two brothers seemed to me shallow and pushed in forcibly. I also did not understand the behavior of characters such as Type and I was not able to explore the relationship between Type and Techno and other older boys in the series. It all made sense and depth to me when I saw the "TharnType" series, which is basically a prequel.

Main couple: Pete and Ae present a simple, sweet and innocent story about first love, first sexual experiences and first steps into adulthood. It's cute and light. It makes watching them a real pleasure.
Second pair: Can and Tin don't get enough time on the screen to show how great their simple and yet deep relationship is, but I know they will have this time in the second season. And I can't wait for it. I absolutely love Can's character, which makes me always laugh. I totally understand why Tin loves him!
Third pair: brothers, as I wrote above, you need to know "TharnType" to really enjoy watching them. Although their story is much darker and heavier in reception, they eventually find their way to the light and it is beautiful.
Fourth pair: Kla and Techno are another cup of tea. This is the story of a big bad wolf and a stupid red hood. Or a wolf in sheep's clothing who completely deceived a silly sheep named Techno. It's a really complicated story, a bit twisted, a little fucked up and not for everyone.

LBC is one of my favorite BL dramas. It is multi-warrant despite apparent simplicity.

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This is the best bl drama I have ever seen. And, trust me, I'm super picky with a plot and acting skills. I'm the type of person who loves a good movie from Cannes... and guys, I loved this series a lot. Made me cry and day dreaming of it... well, here's my review:

Acting:
The main characters Pete and Ae, played by Perth and Saint, are just... amazing. They did an exquisite job, their acting was so natural and realistic. Pete (Perth) speaks with his eyes, you completley forget this is a series, it's like you are watching true life events. Their pauses and hesitations are also so natural.

I also loved Pond! He made me laugh so much, another talented actor. This story was so enjoyable to watch due to him.

Plot:
It's a simple story, not too complex, but it's fresh and enjoyable to watch.
Ae and Pete have an healthy, romantic, pure and innocent relationship, it grows naturally and with a perfect timing. I've never felt bored. Their relationship wasn't rushed. This story is magic, emotional, beautiful, super captivating such as the side couples.
They don't hide their emotions so you will see some hot moments.

Music and edition:
Well, I fell in love with the background music and this show couldn't have been perfect as it is if they hadn't had this edition. Wow, just wow.

Conclusion:
I highly reccomend you to watch this drama and I do a standing ovation to the director. I hope I can watch something similar to this in the future. It's super hard to find a good story AND good acting skills. This show has the best of both worlds. THANK YOU!

(Sorry for my English I'm not native)

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