This review may contain spoilers
This review is intended to be a personal opinion. I do not encourage or discourage people from watching what they like. It is intended to give you an idea of what to expect, but I always say, "watch and make your own judgement."IF you like a series that has drama and gives you a heartache as well as headache, this is the one for you. Be warned, you will find yourself wanting to go through the tv or computer screen (what ever device you are watching this from) and shake all of the characters and yell "snap out of it" (thank you Cher!) I for one enjoyed the story.
Why the warning? Because...
This series it's frustrating, it's not fluffy, it can be annoying at times, but it's also funny, it's engaging, it tears at your most basic needs when it comes to love and unrequited love. The characters are so flawed that most times we either cheer for them or boo them. While some may find the premise of the story annoying, I'm actually happy that we got to see a different side of relationships. Not all relationships are stable, not all relationships are rainbows and unicorns, sometimes they are a bit toxic or imbalance in the sense that someone gives more than 50% while the other takes more from it. It was a well acted drama nonetheless.
Khai is an unlikable character in the beginning of the story. He is narcissistic, arrogant, self-centered and a man-who*re. But he is a college student who lives his life as he sees fit, regardless of who he hurts so long as he gets what he wants. Those attributes are a turn off for many viewers, but Khai is a character that does exist in real life. By the middle of the series, we still don't see what's so great about him other than his looks, but we are told to believe that he has some great redeeming qualities. It is why Third is in love with him. Which brings me to another point, WHY IS HE in love with Khai? We never really get to know this. However, Khai does start to show some good qualities, such as when he tried to not interfere between Third and An when he believed them to be together.
Third in the beginning of the series was a character many people empathize with and wanted to protect, but from my point of view, he was equally to blame for his own misery. He had plenty of reason to move on from his love from Khai (specially when Khai treated him like crap) yet didn't. But, this type of character again, does exist in the real world and some people have a hard time learning to love themselves enough to say "I'm better than this and I can find someone better than him."
CAST:
Gun as always takes on the character's story and gives it life. He is able to portray the flaws of the character excellently and you believe him 100%.
Off's acting has improved quite a lot from his previous works, While many may be used to his comedic side, it's nice to see that he can have range in acting. He portrayed an unlikable character quite well, evident by how many viewers did not cheer for him.
White: His character was a great supportive friend to Third. At times I actually said, "Third go for Two"
The rest of the cast did really well in driving the story along and while I would have loved to see more of the side BL couple of Earth and White, it's typical of Thai BLs to never truly develop secondary couples.
onto the Technical stuff
Cinematography: Amazing use of color, wide-shots, close shots, Etc. The team took great care in the way they filmed this .Music: Amazing music and great use of it in the drama. Did not seem out of place at all.
Inspiration: I really enjoyed that the drama was centered around classic romc-coms and that each episode was titled after those movies.
Cons: I didn't like the trope of the teacher and student relationship. It wasn't organic and just belittled both characters in my opinion.
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Off really looked like a matinee idol here, and Gun is such a believable actor. And that train scene?!
No cheesy high school-like scenarios. The story and the lines are well written for the age of the characters. Thoroughly enjoyable. This is the first Thai BL so far that i wished there were more than 12 episodes, i almost didnt watch the last episode cause i didnt want it to end.
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What I didn't like are too minor and does affect my view of the series in any way. Example, you know those crazy girls stereotyped in most bls? Well it had that.
Overall, go watch and be sure to have your tissues ready in every episode.
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This review may contain spoilers
The series is a cliché, which carries many problems. We have Third who is in love with his best friend (Khai), and he's a complete jerk. Not because Khai does not return his feelings, but because he is a terrible friend. In the first episode I even sympathized with Third's problems, but by the time the second one arrived, I was already full and wanted him to take the reins of his life and go after someone else, or be alone. What's wrong with being alone?We have the main couple consisting of two unlikeable characters, one is an idiot (Khai) and the other is extremely annoying (Third). Does anyone really step into the shower with clothe on to cry and pity himself? It took all the drama out of the scene and made me laugh.
On the other side is Two, which the series tries to make us think he is a good friend, but he also takes some pretty stupid moves, such as selling the friend, even though he doesn’ t agree with the situation before (I won't spoil this further). He even has a nice story with another character, but it is never well defined what they are.
Finally we have Bone, who was probably the only main character that didn't piss me off. Unfortunately his story with the teacher was boring and even a little uncomfortable.
BLs, mostly Thai, often ignore sexuality, but this time it was done as strangely as possible, with characters who never showed attraction to a particular genre creating an overwhelming desire out of nowhere. Another issue is the female representation, which bothered me more than the problem of sexuality and I am a gay man. Women were either crazy or just plot device to make Khai look like a womanaizer. All the characters made extremely sexists comments at some point.
They did have some cute scenes, but I was already so angry at the toxic relationship of the characters that I wasn't even touched. Instead of shipping them, I hoped they wouldn't end up together.
The positive side may be that the acting was good, especially from Gun, Off was fine most of the time, but at times it was forced. It could have had fewer episodes. It isn’t horrible, but could be a lot better, even approaching the same history.
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A Wasted Potential
This review is a personal opinion of mine. Theory of Love is a hit or miss kind of show. It’s one of the most popular and most talked BLs in 2019 and people love this show a lot. So of course, I have to watch and see why. While I’m glad people love this show a lot, sadly for me, it’s missed by a margin.Before I start, let me talk about what I like in the show first before we get down to the downside of this. Firstly, the cinematography is great! I like the editing and I like the movie names being the title of each episode portrayed. It’s creative and it’s nice to see filmology major students instead of the same old engineering, science/medicine or economics major students in Thai BLs. I also enjoy that they split two POV for the two main leads, Third and Khai. Acting-wise I say is quite decent. I usually don’t judge acting much so I won’t comment much. Gun’s acting is great and does a good job playing as Third, the lead character of this show. The train scene is also great, it’s shot really nicely and for me is the saddest scene in the show itself.
Now the downside of this show. Let’s start with the main plot which for me, was the biggest let down of the show. I got hooked from the first episode not gonna lie. I saw 2 flawed and realistic characters and I was excited to see some good character development here since I’m a person who loved to see that and this was one of the reasons why I continued watching it. As I continued, I got disappointed.
Khai’s character development was not good enough. While I never liked him for the entire 12 episodes, him falling in love with Third was so rushed and for me, it didn’t make sense. I was questioning the show while watching it and I never got my answers in the end. How and why Third did fall in love with Khai? (I know that Third fell in love with him at first sight but that can’t be the only reason right) What were Khai's good qualities and traits? Why couldn't they show some actual good traits of Khai to the viewers so that I could understand as well instead of wasting so much time on the subplots? Instead of Third writing 10 things I hate about you, why not 10 things I love about you? If Khai never saw the video in the first place, would he still be in love with Third? Did he force himself to fall in love with Third because he felt bad or was it for his personal gain or did he really fell in love with Third? I wanted to know WHY. This part made me angry and I probably screamed on the inside when I saw that part. It happened so suddenly which made me not trust Khai at all. The amount of time for the subplots in that show could have been used in the main plot. The show could at least show some good parts of Khai. I couldn’t judge Khai as I only knew him for 12 episodes compared to Third who basically knew him for 3 years, but based on those 12 episodes, I was just frustrated. While I appreciate that he’s trying his best to improve within the last 3-4 episodes, I'm still not impressed with it.
Thus, leading to romance. I couldn’t bring myself to like the main couple. I was sick of Khai just taking advantage of Third and being a bad friend in general based on the first 6 episodes. I rather watch the other side couple, Two and Aun. Bone’s story with the teacher wasn’t that interesting I say but I did like Bone as a character.
Was it a bad drama? No. But it’s not good either. For me, this drama could have been better. This was a wasted potential for me. Do I recommend people to try this show? Watch it and judge it yourself. You might have a different opinion from me. That's all I could say for this show.
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This review may contain spoilers
I didn't expect to love this drama a lot with all the rollercoaster of emotions that I have experience in this show. I loved their theme of filming throughout the show and loved how it was included through mugs and necklaces. They also mention a lot of films and have made me want to watch some of themStory:
Khai and Third:
Personally, I expected this drama to drag the Third's unrequited love for ages until like episode 10 but I am glad they didn't. It carries up to around episode 6 and throughout watching it has made me sympathise and cry along Third's journey. Khai was frustrating and annoying and I did not like his personality at all. It goes downhill after the countless heartless actions Khai did to Third.
Finally Third wants to move on which I am glad that he does. But soon after Khai realises that he does love him and wants to chase after him, his character changes. It was surprising how different he acted from his usual arrogant self to this boy who is in love! Throughout the rest of the series, Third distances himself from Khai and gets busy by participating in making a new play. The countless rejections that were bound to happen make me sympathise with Khai now even though he deserves it. Oh how the tables have turned!
Towards the end of the series, there was another obstacle with a certain misunderstanding but I am glad that they did not drag it out at all and was rather resolved and played out perfectly to them making up. I also loved Khai's proposal for Third to be his boyfriend. He tried once which was beautiful but when Third was doubtful as he still doubted if Khai actually knows what love is, Khai did not give up and his second attempt was actually a MASTERPIECE!!! It made me want to cry and squeal of happiness aghhhh!
Bone:
I liked the other side characters stories. Bone might not have a happy ending and does end up having an unrequited love letting this person go. At the end of the series, even though it may not be happy, I think he did the right decisions and I am glad that he did not try to sabotage the relationship between his lover and her bf. Anyways I truly believe he did have a happy ending since he found a gf as well!
Two and Aun
I lovedddd this side storyline as well. At the start Two does have a crush on Lynn but when meeting Aun this changes. I have to say, Two does end up asking out Lynn but later she finds out Two doesn't actually like her that way anymore. Lynn handled it exceptionally well and they both remain as friends now. I liked how she didn't turn out evil.
Even though they did not have a lot of screentime together I am glad their story played out well with a happy ending! I'm hoping they have like a spin-off drama because I absolutely adored them together!
Acting and Cast:
The cast was amazing and their acting was superb! Off's and Gun's acting has massively improved and their relationship does not feel awkward at all.
Third's acting made me cry and loved his journey throughout the series with the massive downs and ups.
Khai's amazing acting made me hate him but suddenly loved him when he changed. They made me feel these deep emotions maan.
Their kiss scenes(apart from the first one) weree amazing as well!!!
Music:
I loved their music especially the opening and ending theme songs. I also loved the style of their opening and endings matching the theme of filming.
So yeah, there might not be a ton of cutesy or fluffy scenes but personally, I would recommend watching this drama even tho it may be frustrating, I just liked the development of the two characters (and the side characters) in their journey and the bumpy rides they had. However, it all ended out well and I am glad everything turned out great!
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Only for the appeal of the popular stars
Aside from the general appeal of the actors, this was a total fail for me.Khai is one of the most unlikeable characters I've ever come across. He's not just oblivious, he's incredibly selfish. Clean my apartment, make my food, do my homework. I don't know why anyone would ever want to be friends with this guy, let alone be romantically interested. Plus, he's totally straight. I don't believe for one second that he could change to being head over heels in love with Third. It wasn't properly motivated, his transformation was too sudden and the manner in which he "questions" himself felt like trite cliches from someone who has never experienced love - let alone gay love - let alone discovered their sexuality was something other than what they had thought at first (trust me, I've been through it. It wasn't a day or two of "Huh? Maybe I'm..."). So with all that, I could never believe the love story.
Third is rather pathetic. I get it. That's his character. But the writers and director did very little to try to make me root for him beyond the lovesick/pining over his best friend set-up.
ZERO romantic chemistry between these two. Do they seem like buddies... absolutely. But there is never that look in their eyes that says, I love you. Watch Perth just GLANCE at Saint in "Love by Chance". That boy is IN LOVE. Or Gulf looking at Mew. Love, lust, desire and even more. Those guys can ACT. These guys are eye candy (and not the bext eye candy either)
So, you've got one straight guy who inexplicably falls for a gay guy. Why do we need the EXACT SAME STORY for Un and Two? Even worse. After Two SUPPOSEDLY starts to feel something for Un, he lusts after the very next hot girl with "big boobs" to walk by. Hello, Screenwriter! Have you forgotten your characters motivations? Oh, that's right. You were never really paying attention to them anyway. It was all in service of the ridiculous plot.
I really like Off. He's charming. But he's not a real actor. It's all surface level. A lot of times he was just spitting out dialogue rapid-fire without emoting. Gun is better, but with a character that has this much internal struggle going on, I didn't think he truly rose to the occasion either.
This was one of White's better performances. I don't typically like him very much. He had more going on here, and he did an okay job. Likewise, Earth's best performance to date. I finally saw potential for him to be a leading man (since he certainly has the leading man looks). Mike was strong, yet again.
Best thing about the series is the comedy. I chuckled a few times.
When the story, script, characters and acting are this lame, good cinematography and music can't save it. I will NEVER watch this again. I don't recommend you watch it at all.
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This review may contain spoilers
I Have A Theory, This Drama Kind Of Sucks
I decided to watch this because I really enjoyed Off and Gun in Not Me and I've also really enjoyed Earth's acting in dramas I've seen him in. But as much as I liked Not Me, Theory of Love really didn't do it for me. The conflicts just kept dragging on and on, back and forth, and it got really tiring after a while. I wanted to see the characters settle into their relationship and have a chance to see that relationship grow and we really didn't get that which I found disappointing.The story concept, while nothing new, was still promising. I liked how it revolved around different rom-coms. It was the execution and the characters that just didn't work for me. I get unrequited love, I've been there myself, it absolutely sucks. But Khai is such an unredeemable ass at the beginning that it didn't take me long to stop sympathizing with Third and thinking that he really did need to just over him because the few nice things he did really did not make up for the amount of mean/cruel acts he suffered at the hands of his supposed best friend. Also the repeated scenes of him standing in the shower fully clothed, I don't know what reaction they were going for with those, but they were awkward bordering on amusing. And then, of course, once Third finally gets of Khai, Khai realizes he's actually in love with Third and the cycle repeats with Khai pursuing Third and that turns into a whole other level of tedious with countless scenes of Third getting sulky and suspicious of Khai. On the one hand, I don't blame him, but I also feel like it was severely overplayed and the lengths he pushed Khai to show his love were a tad ridiculous. The ending was kind of cute, but also felt a bit abrupt? I'm not a big fan of time jump endings like that because I feel like it leaves a lot of questions unanswered of what's happened in the interim and where everyone is now in their lives and few, if any, of those questions really get answered. Ultimately though, I think what I struggled with the most was the why they fell in love with each other. For Khai, I can understand it more. The video was the catalyst for him realizing his feelings and Third has always been there for him, has always care for him, but for Third, I don't get it. Love at first sight, okay, sure. But there has to be more to it than that and with Khai being such a colossal jerk, I just don't see how he could have done enough nice things for Third to continue to love him for three years.
The side stories were not my favorites. I actually think I would have really liked Two and Un's story, but like with most Thai secondary couple side stories, it was just severely underdeveloped. I suspected that Un liked Two when he dragged him out of the pond and again when he asked Two to help him with his project, but then they just kind of abandoned them and there was nothing until you suddenly hear him telling P'Shane that he's heartbroken. And then he somehow knew where Two and his friends were there at the end so he could confess his love? Don't get me wrong, I'm all for them getting together, despite their somewhat nonsensical story, they had good chemistry and I liked them together, I just would have liked a better developed story. As for Bone and Paan, as much as I liked Bone's character, I was not a fan of their story, mostly I was not a fan of Paan because it was so obvious that Bone was into her and she did not shut that down and basically led him on. I'm also just not a fan of teacher/student relationships even when it is in a college setting and they're consenting adults. There's still a power discrepancy there that makes it questionable to me. I did admire Bone's conduct for the most part. Other than going in for a kiss when she was drunk, which was not okay, he did make sure to give Paan the information she needed so she could make an informed decision about her relationship with Gap. I was really glad that they did not end up together in the end and that it seems like he found someone better.
I liked the acting overall. Gun seems to possess the ability to slip into whatever character he's playing. His eyes are so expressive and while I certainly found Third to be incredibly annoying at times, Gun's ability to show his character's pain was spot on. Off naturally has a bit of a tough guy look, so portraying Khai as a jerk seemed to come pretty naturally. But I also felt he did well with the softer scenes. Like Gun, he was able to express a lot with just his eyes.
I really liked the OST. The music really fit the mood for each scene. I especially liked the piano pieces that were used for several scenes. The cinematography was fantastic. They did such a great job . I really liked that they used movie names as the title for each episode. I thought that was really creative and fun. As a side note, I also really liked that the characters were Film Majors. It was a nice departure from the typical Engineering/Medical majors in most BLs.
One of the biggest issues I had with this drama though was the way women were treated. There were so many comments made about women's bodies, objectifying them. Every comment was about how pretty she was or how big her breasts were or something along those lines. There was literally never anything positive said. And when it came to Khai, the way he went through women and how it was minimally addressed. Also, with the reputation he had, I can't imagine that many women being okay his treatment of them and willingly putting themselves into that situation. In any case, just the overall objectification of women in this drama left a very bad taste in my mouth.
Considering how popular this drama was and the lead actors in it, I was really excited to watch it and was hoping it would be a new favorite. Unfortunately, it just really didn't do it for me. I feel like it could have been so much more and had a lot of wasted potential. It wasn't a bad drama, but it wasn't a good one either. I think this is one you have to watch for yourself to see if you'll like it or not.
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This review may contain spoilers
This series is probably most notable for having popular actors Gun, Off, White and Earth. It wasn't one of my favorites, hence my low rating. I'll give my pro and con lists here:THE PROS:
ACTING. Gun is always exceptional (I don't know of any BL actor who can cry on cue like he can!), Off was also very good... based on the way the characters were written, I have no complaints about any of the actors.
CINEMATOGRAPHY. Everything looked very professionally done.
CLOSURE TO PLOT LINES. Unlike some BLs, which often begin a plot line which mysteriously disappears (cough*Cause You're My Boy*cough), or build up a plot line and then kill it with no real explanation (cough*Love By Chance*cough), Theory of Love did follow story lines through to conclusion.
THE CONS:
THE LENGTH: For me, this should have been a 2-3 hour movie, not a 12 part series. One could easily skip from Episode 1 to Episode 7 without having missed a thing. Between Episodes 8-10, at least one of them could have been omitted. There simply wasn't enough story content to merit 12 episodes.
WHO'S GAY/BI/STRAIGHT? Okay, I guess we can assume that Third and An are gay because, while they don't come out and say so (why not?), they also don't ever discuss having an attraction to women. I suppose we can assume that Bone is straight, because he has the crush on the female teacher and ends up with a different girl at the end. But what about Khai and Two? Are we SERIOUSLY supposed to believe that Khai, who has had sex with more women than anyone can count--and with no mention of ever having slept with a guy, nor ever having a physical attraction to a guy--is suddenly horny for Third, never to sleep with a woman again, as they fall in love forever? Sorry, that never, ever happens! It would have made more sense if Khai was openly bisexual to begin with, but not this way. Same with Two... he spends much of the series salivating over women's "big boobs," and suddenly he's in love, physically, with An?
Come on... making a sudden change in sexual orientation is a HUGE moment in someone's life, and a step not taken lightly. At least give us some explanation of the transformation! All I can say is that this story must have been written by a delusional woman who enjoys nothing more than fetishizing men together.
THIRD: I know we're all supposed to feel sorry for and root for him but, for me, Third was the least likable character. At the beginning, he is obviously in a major depression over his secret love for Khai, but he's hardly blameless. Sure, Khai takes advantage of Third all the time, but consider three things: 1) Khai has no idea Third loves him, 2) Khai's other friends (Bone, Two) would have either said no or not cared that much one way or another and, 3) Third allowed himself to be taken advantage of.
When Third started standing up for himself, he claimed to want to remain friends with Khai but, instead, Third treated Khai with utter contempt and disdain, until the end of the series. Khai may have been an assho!e, but much of it was unintentional and/or out of naivete. Third was an assho!e on purpose.
PAAN: For me, she was very cold and unlikable. If Bone had just a physical attraction for her, then okay, but he apparently fell deeply in love with the teacher. Why?
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Pros: The cast was very important to me in this drama. Again, it is a lot of familiar GMMTV faces. I really like Earth and I enjoy seeing him in BL's as he has a certain vulnerability that he portrays that is so in contrast to his tough guy exterior. Off-Gun won me over with their performances and I am definitely a fan now. Particularly Gun, who was so good at portraying a heartbroken victim of unrequited love. As a film lover myself, the theme of film making was so interesting.
The subplots were GREAT. I liked that we had a surprise second BL couple as the trailers did not tease it at all and although their conclusion was very light and subdued (no kiss), the way it unfolded was so refreshing in the BL drama world. The unexpected ones are the best.
Cons: While I liked Bone and Pan's actors and their performance the whole subplot was .......pointless? I didn't hate it but I felt like it could have been without.
Overall: The story never had a moment that made me want to fastforward and that is almost impossible with me. The OST is amazing and has an English version everyone should check out.
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This review may contain spoilers
I finished Theory of love weeks ago and I am now trying my best to refresh other details. Anyway TOL is a god tier BL!!! It is by far the most well put together BL I have seen. Also, since it was a GMMTV BL, I expected a great production and it did not disappoint.First off, the concept was brilliant. The integration of popular romantic movies into the storytelling and episode titles was so well done. Everything made sense. Movies were used as metaphors to their relationship.
Next, the acting of the whole cast was topnotch especially Gun. You know that boy will always deliver. The dynamic of their friendship was really nice. Personally, it's kind of rare for me to focus on all side stories especially when they are too many but in this case, all of the storylines were interesting. KhaiThird's friends were all given depth. They weren't just used as decorations or shallow characters who were just there to advise the MC.
The first episodes felt repetitive to me but I did understand it was for us to really get deep into the emotions of Third. Along with that, I can't really blame Khai. During the first half, Khai was portrayed to be an asshole who always hurt Third but I actually think he was a nice friend. He was a jerk, yes, but he was a good friend. The only thing I hated with Khai as a friend to Third was his bossiness and constant bailing. But when you look at it, he was unaware of Third's feelings! How he acted was normal for platonic friends. Whenever he did something wrong, he did make up for it. He apologized when he felt like he hurt Third's feelings. Even with Third's POV shown to us, I still felt how Khai treasured their friendship---it was just that he overlooked it sometimes. Khai as a man who dated girls was a different story though.
The build up to the finale was well phased. The final episode was the best one out of all the Thai BLs I had seen. Everything---nothing in the progression of events was off or I felt was rushed. Things fitted so well in the last episode.
One of my main problems though was the negative representation of female characters. It has been done so many times in BL shows to emphasize even more the male to male relationship. But then it brought me back to the narrator of the story. We saw them from Khai and Third's perspective---Third who always had to face the aftermaths of Khai's breakups and Khai who moves on so easily.
Also I think I didn't really catch why Third likes Khai so much aside from their close friendship? They could have given us an insight or like a short montage of the reason/s why. Another thing that I felt was lacking was how Khai came to terms with his sexual orientation. I get that the episodes before 'Flipped', Khai was already developing his feelings but we were still on Third's perspective. The shift was abrupt but maybe it was just a matter of POVs.
Nevertheless most of the negative things I noticed in the series were not really about the scriptwriting or directing, but more on the nature of the characters themselves. They were flawed and raw. For example when Khai pretended to be drunk when he kissed Third and again when Khai was about to kiss Third while he was asleep. It was in his flawed character. Still, nonconsensual kiss isn’t the way lol.
And can we talk about that intro? Classy, I say. Also Getsunova's OST really hits you in the feels. They lyrics and tune are literally Third's perspective. Also, the kissing scenes, chef’s kiss. They are literally the most natural and best kissing scenes I have seen in BL ISTG. They were a lot of unforgettable moments too (the train station scene that for sure made everyone cry, Khai’s final confession to Third, Third’s shower scenes).
It is so rare for me to not want a second season but TOL is good as it is. It is THAT good. But I mean, more OffGun content so why not lol. If they ever make a second season, I just hope it is as quality as the first one.
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