Notification (2018)

I honestly don't know why this drama isn't that much famous. This is a comedy gem for all your manga loving people out there. Hell it isn't just for them but for all. The comedy is on spot without it being cliche or stupid. This is one of the only Thai dramas I've watched where the comedy is just perfect. Everything in the story was gold. The ending (I won't spoil) was a twist. I almost cried at the end of the 3rd part of the last epsidoe thinking that's how it all will end.

The story line is one that has been used in few mangas but the way that it is portrayed here is just amazing. Like I mentioned the comedy XD sorry if I'm going on about it too much. They've creatively added the manga trope into it without making it cliche.

I'll confess the real reason I started watching this was for P'FirstClass ( For those who get my reference XD) and I'll say he won't disappoint you here. He's the same old sweetheart. Maybe even a bigger sweetheart. The ending was satisfactory. Almost turned into a tragedy but satisfactory. August I want you to act with Apple again!!!! Lol XD

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The premise is interesting: Using an old phone, Min receives social media notifications from the future. The notifications reveal what would happen to Min in the future, so Min and her friend Sonia are excited about it.

What sets the story back is that the future based on the notifications seem unimaginably ideal to Min, so she shouldn't do doing anything except to let things happen, notifications or not. However, Min and Sonia embark on a mission to make the future come true, which is pretty odd. Needless to say, by trying to make the future come true, they are changing the past (their present) and therefore threatening to make the wonderful future fail to come true.

Logically speaking, Min should have ignored the notifications (though, understandably, it is hard to do so). There is also this idea that the notifications are meant as a sort of message from the future. But Min does not find out till the very end of the story, so she spends most of her time trying to make the future come true (which is rather bizarre if you ask me).

Having said that, the story does turn out to be rather interesting. Min meets the handsome junior, Napat, and they fall in love. There is a love triangle though, because Min's friend, Tong, is also in love with her. Sometimes Min seems to really be happy with Tong, but she also seems averse to the idea of being romantically involved with Tong. Often enough, she accidentally changes the future and the notifications from the future show her ending up with Tong instead of Napat, and she tries hard not to let that happen.

Spoiler:
There is a twist in the story later on that doesn't please many viewers: Min breaks up with Napat and ends up with Tong in the future. Tong is actually a really lovable character and his ending up with Min shouldn't be a problem. Except that the series spends too much time focusing on what a nice couple Min and Napat are. Even by the end, I wonder if Min thinks she doesn't love Napat or if she merely finds it too difficult to change herself to be with him. (Also, Napat loves Min as herself before she changes for him, so it doesn't seem that the two are not really in love).

As for Min and Tong, the chemistry between them as good friends is wonderful, and it is a bit harder to imagine them as lovers, though this is perhaps more a matter of casting and direction rather than a flaw with the story.

The story is quite enjoyable, but I don't find myself entirely satisfied with the ending. Admittedly, it's hard to end the story well. If Min and Napat have a happily-ever-after ending, then he notifications would seem to have no meaning at all, and would seem to be a fantastical element added in for no reason. On the other hand, the Min and Tong pairing (done via a changing of the past that undoes the Min-Napat pairing and involves some strange paradoxes that are best left unconsidered) is not very satisfactory. The Min that we know over seven episodes or so isn't someone who would suddenly realize that Tong is the one for her just because she finds out that he is in love with her. After all, it is not as though she doesn't already know. In fact, she is resistant towards the idea until suddenly* ... Still, it is a very watchable and lighthearted series.

*We are left wondering how many pasts and futures there are. I think there are 3:
1. The past and future without the notifications (Min breaks up with Napat, and Tong dies)
2. Modified past and future 1 (Min who has received the notifications ends up breaking up with Napat, and Tong dies)
3. Modified past and future 2 (Min who has received the notifications realizes how much Tong loves her and that she loves Tong too, and she doesn't start a relationship with Napat).
The last one is the happy ending of the story. But with this sort of stories, there is a paradox. The story has it that, if Tong doesn't die, the notifications to the past will not be sent. And if they aren't sent, then Min can't possibly end up with Tong because of the notifications.

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