This review may contain spoilers
absolutely needed better writing (watch suggestions)
Overall: I enjoy a series with a different premise, but unfortunately the writing/world building/pacing did not work for me. 12 episodes about 50 minutes each. Aired on iQIYI. Re-aired on Studio Wabi Sabi YouTube channel.Content Warnings: past death/grief, dub/non con touching, 10 year age gap with a highschooler*, manipulation
Watch suggestions: unless you enjoy very slow pacing, characters doing nonsense things, a bunch of crying and untold flashbacks here is my suggestion
1. Watch episode 1, at the end tell yourself that Ongsa died
2. pretend that Suansoon goes back in time and tries different things like having Ongsa avoid that location/day/time but none of them work, so then he tells Ongsa to not meet him at the movie theater
3. Ongsa ignores him, watch episode 7 (basically a retelling of episode 1 from Ongsa's perspective)
4. watch episode 8 where Ongsa learns the only thing to do is for them never to meet when in high school
5. Ongsa time jumps to the present, start watching episode 11 at 19 minutes (although there is a cute high school moment at the very beginning of episode 11)
6. Watch episode 12
What I Liked
- mysterious vibe/present
- how what happened in the first episode related to later episodes
- sweet moments
- Karn (Dear Doctor I'm Coming For Soul) in ep 12
Room For Improvement
- character actions didn't make sense, if Ongsa had actually died and then Suansoon went back and told Ongsa not to drive that day and he didn't but still died and we see Ongsa repeatedly going back trying to change things that would be interesting (like The Butterfly Effect) however Ongsa wasn't even dead and instead of being by his partner's side Suansoon started a romantic relationship with high school Ongsa in the past...
- *age gaps generally don't bother me but the adult Suansoon actor is 36 and he looked like it, past Ongsa is in high school (actor is 25 but looks much younger), it was very uncomfortable to see the adult Suansoon in a romantic relationship with a teenaged Ongsa (who didn't even know that they end up together for quite some time), and Suansoon touching Ongsa when he was sleeping was not romantic but came across as creepy, in general they should have shortened this time and focused more on young Ongsa/Suansoon and older Ongsa/Suansoon
- nonsense stuff, how did no one say anything about a highschooler romancing an almost 30 year old??? why wouldn't in the present Suansoon call Onga's parents/go to their house/look on social media/talk to mutual friends/do an internet search/hire a private investigator/hang up fliers/go to their old hangouts....he just cried
- slow pacing, there was a lot of hanging out in a coffee shop and crying
- a bunch of flashbacks
- really poor world building and a ton of "because the writer said so"
Was this review helpful to you?
I can’t decide it I love it or hate it
The plot seemed interesting, and I admit that the trailer really drew me in. I was sure it was going to be an emotional rollercoaster, but my expectations for it were still high. I was, however, ready to drop it after the first episode. It just didn’t catch my attention and it felt like very little happened. Things do pick up a bit in the second episode, but it has a lot of ups and downs in terms of how interesting it is.The switching between past and present got a bit confusing at times, it was hard to keep up with it in some episodes, especially when we were watching Ongsa and Suansoon each in a different time frame. I do think that we were left with quite a few plot holes in the end, especially those about the accident that occurred at the beginning and everything connected to it. Also, how the time travelling happened, was there any reason or a trigger for it (except the first one), how did they get back to their time, etc. was never fully addressed. It just was. Including both of their actions once they got “back” to the present. Why not do something about it instead of leaving it up to a chance, fate?
Ongsa & Suansoon: the two of them are soulmates, destined to meet and all that. I actually quite like both as characters, they seemed to be different enough yet similar to make them appear as a perfect couple. They are both loyal and willing to do a lot for those they love. But Ongsa appears to be friendlier and more open, while Suansoon seems to be more reserved and a bit cold. But that is understandable. I think all four actors that played the present and past couple did great. As problematic as I found the relationship development showed between the young Ongsa and older Suansoon, I think they had the best chemistry as a couple. It might be because they were the pairing we followed most closely, but I really loved their chemistry.
I liked the side characters, a lot. But again, I feel like there are quite a few plot holes around them. The biggest one being why does Suansoon acts like he has never met Ongsa’s friends when they have dated for ten years. It doesn’t really make sense.
While I understand the need to show a lot of the scenes multiple times – from different perspectives, with different outcomes, as memories, as flashbacks – I did find it excessive. At one point, it seemed like I have been watching the same few scenes over and over again. Maybe if it was in a smaller capacity, I wouldn’t be bothered with it, because it does make sense in relation to the plot. But it was too much.
As were all the crying scenes. I know, I know, it’s a very emotions heavy series and it was set as such from the start. But the tears are something that could have been cut a bit short. There are probably enough crying scenes to run for the length of a whole episode.
The ending was what it was. I’m not going to spoil it. It wasn’t really what I was hoping for, but it was what I was expecting.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Timeless Love
Maybe it's an age thing? I'm a Gen X and Im in love with this so far at episode 6! The timeless love is so precious. I was furious with the older one for his intentions to have them never meet. He doesn't want his loved one to die and he would rather lose all that precious time just to save his loved ones life. But on the other hand, it's very unfair of him to make that choice on behalf of his lover. I would have been creeped out by the 10-year age gap but they kept it very innocent and it was clear the kiss was not lip to lip. the whole time I'm like, "where is this kid's parents? why are they sleeping in the same bed? does the bar owner and everyone else just approve this behaviour?" it was weird but I refused to let it interrupt the flow of things for me. Yes, there were minor holes in the story But all in all I can considered it so freaking good so far and thank God I didn't go by the reviews here! Like I said in the beginning of this review, maybe it's an age thing. younger generations have less tolerance for age gaps and touching while one is sleeping. It's not like he fondled him, he gently stroked his hair. Anyway, eight and a half out of 10 recommend!Was this review helpful to you?
I loved absolutely EVERYTHING about this series.
As a binge watcher, it took me a day and half of watching only this show, zero torturous waits in between each episode, no other BLs dividing my attention, and I can honestly say that without a doubt, I loved everything about this show and I wouldn't change a thing. What an absolutely beautiful masterpiece of a series!!The story was so interesting to me, with so many details and layers that all came together to paint such an incredible picture. I loved seeing the story told from the viewpoints of both leads and seeing and FEELING what each of them had to go through. I felt so completely immursed in the lives that were playing out before. So much effort and time was put into making sure the viewer truly felt what the characters were feeling and I absolutely appreciate that.
The acting was absolutely top notch. I honestly think they could not have picked better actors and I really enjoyed the special episodes that really gave you a good look at what it took for those actors to emote so much emotion on screen. Oh the absolute appreciation I have for them all of the actors and I am beyond blown away by Tor and Mix. One would never guess this was their first main roles, they performed so brilliantly. The bond and the emotion was so brilliantly captivated and it was an absolute treat to watch it all unfold on screen.
The music was absolutely phenomenal, both sound score and OST songs. NuNew and Sompob outdid themsleves and the people that made the decision to have them sing those songs as well as use the score that they went with? They deserve and award.
The locations and the way this series was shot, the vision they created. It was perfect. That coffee shop is lovely, that restaurant with the bridge in the background, every location chosen, was a perfect choice to me. I am so incredibly impressed with this series and this is easily one of my favorite BLs of the year,.maybe even my favorite of the year and certainly one of my favorites of all time.
Was this review helpful to you?
This is a complex story, so complex that it needs a slow burn. What? A slow-paced series and stil a complex one? Yes. Two reasons, the director wants the viewers to immerse themselves on how each of the character feels. It won't be easy for someone that is not an empathy, or somebody who can related easily with other's emotions. The other is the time travel is what make things a lot complicated.
A viewer needs to understand, and feel, how an older person will get involved with someone younger. It is easy to forget that the young person is the other's first love. And coming from the future with an uncertain tomorrow, the older person is feeling both relieved and sacred. Despite what is inevitable in the timeline, you will cherish, protect and live in the moment. For the younger person, it is feeling of familiarity, as if he knows the older one somewhere, sometime.
The laying the groundwork to the youngers' timeline is exhaustively portrayed, much more than needs. Yes, much more than it needs. The director's thought process though if for the viewers to have that gut-wrenching emotion that you will be torn apart every single moment. Torn apart between interfering or letting things as it is, or it was?
It will take 5 episode to tell the "prequel" to Episode 1.
Keep in mind that there is one theory in time travel called butterfly effect. This concept is about changing something so small in the past can have a big change in the future, a snowball effect.
This is a make or break story for Thai BLs.
As for the actors, I only knew Mix from Until We Meet Again as Dean's younger brother, and he is an excellent freestyle dancer. Aside from, I knew Ongsa parents as the mother appears also a mother to Peeranut of The Miracle of Teddy Bear. While the father appeared in a lot of BL series as well.
Was this review helpful to you?
Beautifully cinematic, unlike any other bl/y series drama
This is one of the most beautiful pieces of television I've seen in any genre.From the start the series doesn't feel like any other bl/y series I've seen. The pace is very relaxed. Lead ins are long and cuts are often extended. The characters all have space to breathe, and we have the space to empathize with them. The series isn't littered with product placements, and yaoi tropes are kept to a minimum (partner feeding, wiping each other down, peeling shrimp etc.). There is very little of the standard Thai drama sound-effect punctuated drama-comedy dialogue. Important scenes often reach their crux in silence rather than against the background of a thai-pop crescendo. Overall the series feels more like a very well shot film than it does like a Thai drama series. It features a complex story, overcharged emotions (director New's hallmark), and touching romance. It's not a series for those in search of flesh however. Watching the series is an exercise in catharsis, not titillation. (Though I suspect that beyond the camera's eye that Ongsa is a pretty wild lover.)
The story is a romantic fantasy in which time travel is the fantasy element, embellished with magical butterflies and oracular shop-keepers. Time travel is the magic that the story uses to allow the characters to experience events and emotions that lie beyond what we experience in reality. This isn't a science fiction story. It's magical realism. Time travel here is some sort of spiritual miracle or miracle of fate. In fact I think that time travel is simply the way in which the author has chosen to tell an archetypal hero story. Ongsa and Suansoon are destined to be partners, but only if they can prove that their love is pure to the extent that they are willing to give up each other for each other's sake.
I suspect that the story's flirtation with causal loops (A causing B causing A) is going to upset some viewers, but it's pretty easy to accommodate them simply assuming some external cause to the whole loop. Call that fate or destiny, and it squares pretty well with the spiritual world of the story.
The acting is sound to phenomenal throughout, without dead lines or awkward sections of stiff manneristic acting. Tor Supakorn especially does an amazing job creating the role of young Ongsa. He's always very three dimensional, which makes it very easy to empathize with him. He manages emotional character arcs and ranges of emotions very well.
The key challenges to filming this story are making the various timelines immediately clear and motivating our empathy for the characters given their unusual predicament. Both challenges are met successfully. Changes in clothing, set dressing, and character demeanor help to differentiate the time-lines, and the use of flashbacks to tie the counterfactual regrets to something we can feel bad about serve to maintain the viewers empathy.
Overall I found the series very effective. It was easy to empathize with the characters and share in their emotions. It's very cathartic, especially at the emotional cruxes of the character arcs. I would add though that it's a story that needs to be enjoyed on it's own terms. If you try to watch it simply to follow the plot of story rather than letting the series engage you emotionally, it's probably going to seem a bit dull and repetitive with the various repetitions of events and flashbacks tying then and now together.
Was this review helpful to you?
1This review may contain spoilers
Nearly an Absolute Disappointment
It seems Thai BLs are now following a trend... first, we got the wave of stories taking place in a high school/university setting or full of engineering or medical students ("My Engineer", "SOTUS", and most of the mediocre GMMTV productions that give us a couple that ends up being shipped forever). Then, we got some with the mafia/gangster theme ("3 Will Be Free", "My Dear Gangster Oppa", "KinnPorsche"). Now, we're moving towards ghosts/supernatural stories ("Something in My Room", "The Whisperer", "Ghost Host, Ghost House") and time travel ("609 Bedroom Story", "Be My Favorite", "Past-Senger", "I Feel You Linger in the Air")... or even a combination of some of these topics. The problem: most of the examples I listed started in a promising way, only to end up being a sad disappointment. "Absolute Zero" is not an exception to the seemingly unwritten rule and here is why.NOTE: From now on I will refer to young Ong-sa as Y-O, to older Ong-sa as O-O, to young Suansoon as Y-S and to older Suansoon as O-S to avoid having to write young or old each time.
Here is some storyline, in case you are really not aware of it by now. Y-O and Y-S meet as high school students, fall in love and live happily together until the day of their 10th anniversary when O-O has a car accident and ends up in a coma. O-S is desperate not to lose O-O that he wishes for things to change and is miraculously granted the ability to time travel to fix things in the past. So far, so good... well, not so much... he attempts to go back and fails, then Y-O also tries to change things, O-O does so as well and in the end, they do fix the timeline and live happily ever after.
Now comes the bad and confusing parts:
a) Too many flashbacks and repeated scenes. We spent most of the middle episodes re-living the same storyline we've already seen from O-S or from Y-O's perspective but now told from their counterpart's perspective. So, that meant having to deal with the same exact scene 2, 3 or even 4 times throughout the series without adding that much new information to make look like it was worth our time.
b) The tears and the suffering. Oh the tears! This series could have put together 1 or 2 full episodes with just the main characters crying as it was a sea of tears for most of the scenes involving Y-O or O-S deciding not to meet Y-S or to leave. In the several time travel attempts, no matter the changes in the storyline, there were tears and more tears all the time. Which leads to...
c) Music. I like Boy Sompob, but he was over-used in this series. Almost every episode had either the instrumental version or the regular version of the series OST and also had the OST for "Until We Meet Again" included. Nothing different. The opening instrumental music with the graphics with the credits were great but they really promoted Boy Sompob's songs in the series.
d) Poor Writing and Directing. After episode 3, the series began devolving into something messy and confusing. First, O-S wants to alter the timeline to save O-O of the coma, I get that... especially as we later find out that their destiny marks that either one of them has to die in their 10th anniversary if they continue meeting when in high school. What I don't get at all is WHY O-S has to get involved romantically with Y-O... your actual partner is lying in a hospital bed, you time-traveled to change the story and instead of just executing that plan, you end tutoring Y-O's friends, living in P'Nan's café and romancing the younger version of your dying lover. I mean, it's just bizarre to see O-S and Y-O smooching and lying in bed despite O-S knowing that he needs Y-O to avoid meeting Y-S to change the story.
Second, the mystery of the role of the old videostore owner is never fully explained. He seems to be either a version of Father Time (when he tells Y-O that even time has its limits and the clock sounding when he walks out in the post-credit scene in episode 12). At the same time, why is the only possible solution for them never to meet during high school, how does that alter the timeline enough for you to end up happy and together years later?
Third, the surprising time travel. We see that not only O-S time travels but later we also see O-O facing an alternate version of himself coming to warn him to really try not meeting Y-S as I mentioned at the beginning of section D. Supposedly, each one gets a chance to change the timeline but considering the original O-O is in a coma, I'm not sure at what point Ong-sa had the opportunity to time travel.
Fourth, the amnesia of some characters. All have the sense of deja-vu but none can figure out why... except for the older version of Na (Ong-sa's friend) who seems to remember what O-S asked her about believing in time travel when she was younger and the old man from the videostore.
The only GOOD thing I can mention is Tor playing Y-O. Considering this is his first lead role, he had to deal with his parents, P'Nan, the younger versions of his friends and being romantically involved with both versions of Suansoon. He had to develop some sort of chemistry with both Mix (Y-S) and Teng (O-S) in order to convince the viewer he was really in love with him and also had to navigate all the emotions that come from being told that he would die in 10 years unless he doesn't meet the love of his life at the movies.
In the end, this series began in a promising way but began getting lost along the way and no writing/directing trick could bring it back from being a near absolute (and unfortunate) disappointment.
Was this review helpful to you?
Healing(heartbreaking)
i mean healing doesn't exactly mean that but whatever happens we can't change it but we should learn from it and move on . The people who we love leaving us at a time is soo heart breakingfirst his parents and next the person who he thought as family and the very next day his boyfriend.
i wish he would get a happy ending absolutely love this drama even only 1 episode is released. it's quite good.
going to past to change the future.
They choose a great story line and absolutely no cringe.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
While not perfect the acting was on a whole other level compared to any other 2023 Thai BL.
I have no idea why people find the story messy or hard to follow, especially if you take your time and re-watch the episode if you really can't follow.The concept is unique and while some writing is questionable especially avoiding the death of each main character. I have no idea if it's exactly the same in the novel, but they could have taken some leeway to change the story in this aspect. The show's highlight is the acting of Tor and Teng which is completly on an other level. It's neither cringe nor creepy to love whom you love especially knowing they have met at the same age. Their chemistry and acting is nothing I have seen in this years Thai BLs which is the main reason I can overlook all the faults this series has especially in the finale. I would have ended the series when they met again at the cinema, all the continued story was completly unecessessary and irrelevant and would have resonated more positively with the audience.
This series also did a great job to convey he feelings of the young Ongsa and old Suansoon which will move emphatic people to tears (as it did with me). Because the acting was so great I rate this show as high, because you can only watch in reverence of such a performance.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Most Disappointing Watch of 2023
This is a touching, sentimental journey of young love that was brilliantly done in the beginning but then got lost in its time journeys to recapture its past. While in some ways the story was exceptional, its execution was unfortunately lacking in logic. Initially it had me hooked on the strength of its young actors playing the parts of their younger selves. Simply put, they were brilliant.This is a story of destiny but not on a linear trajectory. It is a destiny of love between two young men who were meant to be together but had to traverse different directions to get to the promised land. The love story starts out so beautifully between Saunsoon (Mix Wanut) a pensive, withdrawn, perhaps a bit emotionally frail young man, pretty much a loner whose escape is to go the movies. His name literally means zero which adds to his feelings of self-loathing until he begins to realize the power and impact that the number zero has. Along the way, he meets Ongsa (Tor Supakorn) who is, without question, one of the most enigmatic and complex characters in any BL I have ever seen. Tor’s performance is one of the best as he has to traverse so many aspects to Ongsa’s dimensions.
Read the complete article here-
https://the-bl-xpress.com/2024/01/04/absolute-zero-series-review-ep-1-to-12/
Was this review helpful to you?
It's not a zero but....
I was so excited after I watched the 1st episode. I thought this is going to be a good one. Everything went to hell for me after the older Suansoon went to the past and met the younger Ongsa. I couldn't get over the creepiness of the younger to older. I kept waiting for someone in the series to mention how inappropriate it was. Yikes for sure!Then the double return to the past to keep one then the other from dying just didn't make sense. Also, no details on how the returns happened or why they happened. Did they just will it to happen?
Then the crying started between that and the constant rerunning of other senses from other life paths was just boring and uneventful. This series could have been great.
The younger couple was much more believable and genuine than the older couple. The producers should have seen that and utilized it more.
The music was overly dramatic and repetitive. Not enough variety.
I fast forwarded thru most scenes after episode 6.
This was a big disappointment.
I did like Nun played by Sine.
Tor and Mix should get the lead in another series. A typical BL with those two would have been an 8.5 for me for sure!
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
So happy I stuck with it!
This series' theme is one of my favorite: Time Travel, so I was very excited to start watching. It was soon clear that not all time travel is created equal, however and the slow pace turned me off. It took me ages to watch the first 3 episodes and I left the series in my CW list for a longgggg time after that, reluctant to get back into it while it was still airing. I found the adult SuanSoon a cry baby with toxic behavior, and the slow pace bored me. I got back to it though after a few months after it finished airing and BOYYY AM I GLAD I DID.The pace does not pick up speed, but the slow telling of the story appears to actually have purpose. It is to help us keep our sanity wit so much back and forth. We need breathing and thinking room to understand what is going on. theres still enough crying to fill an ocean, but the way the actors portray and express the characters and emotions is fabulous. I don't really get why SuanSoon goes back as an adult, and SongSa as a highschooler (although I have my theories), but we can feel how much they love each other right to their souls.
The soundtrack by the wonderful Boy Sompob does it's job and we get a huge tearjerker with a beautiful happy ending.
Honestly I do understand some of the critical reviews, but if you stick with it and go with the flow (of tears), you'll love it. Or maybe, it's just me who was in a fragile state while watching. Whatever, it will go on my re-watch list for sure!
Was this review helpful to you?
