Absolute Zero (2023)

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"

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Lack of logic drops the rating

It really isn't easy to write a review for this show, at least for me.

First of all, i would actually recommend this show!

The rating is low, but that's not because the show is bad. I enjoyed watching it and I like it a lot, actually! The problem here isnt the acting - because the actors did a really really great job! I especially fell for Tor, because he is so cute and cheeky. But also Toey did well. He managed to keep those cheeky, flirty attitude of Tor so well. Both adult actors nailed to keep the charme of the characters. I totally saw the younger versions of them in the adult actors and that's really nice to see, because they worked hard to achieve this. They talked about this in the special episode and I am just happy that they succeeded and delivered just fine! So the criticism for the show really doesn't have anything to do with the actors. Besides the acting, the OST is also beautiful. We also get to hear the OST from Until we meet again a few times, and for someone who watched UWMA, it's a cute and quick nostalgic trip. Especially if you know what the lyrics mean. They somehow fit for this show as well as they did for UWMA. (I really love when the OST is telling the story through a song and the lyrics here are so beautiful. I listen to OSTs a lot and i love to think back to a show while listening to their OST and if the lyrics are so matching, like it's here the case, it's even more emotional.)

Coming to the problems of the show and the reason for my low rating: the lack of world building and therefore the lack of logic. This show is a hot mess, when it comes to this point. There are literally no rules explained, so they can just do what they want, because if you don't explain the rules, no one can say you break them, right? I was so confused since episode 1, because I kept asking myself "how? why? that doesn't make sense!!!" :'D They really didn't care to make things make sense. And that's the biggest weak spot of this show. The time travelling plot is just full of plotholes, because they just went with whats convenient, not caring about the lack of logic. Another small criticism I have: I would kinda wish to have seen even more of their lovestory. It gets displayed as tragic, deep, dramatic and epic. And I kinda get it. But it fails to touch me emotionally, because they don't SHOW me, but just tell me. Ah, it's kinda hard to explain. But..I feel like it's a bit of this "Show, don't tell" problem. Maybe it's just me. I wasn't as emotional as I expected. But that's also because of the lack of logic. I was so frustrated and f*cked up almost till the end, so I was busy with ranting, instead of crying. :'D

Overall, give it a try. Don't let the bad reviews make you hesitant. The actors are great, the OST is great and if you can just accept the fact, that they really failed with the world building, it is indeed a heartwarming and comforting show.

All my love goes to Tor and Toey. <3

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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/

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ABSOLUTE BORING

I can't believe New directed this series. I mean the plot is weak and I couldn't afford myself to stay awake the whole time to understand the plot. Everything about this series is weak. From the plot, the acting, the music, everything is not up to average good series. Why is everyone say this series is good? It's not. It's just plain. The plot is going round at the same place and I wish there are more emotion in this series. Logically speaking, if you found out you travel back in time, wouldn't you lose your mind for a second and then try to figure out shit? Nah bruh. Suansoon legit say "aight imma just go with the flow" like ?????? I think Wabi Sabi is losing its touch with good series. I am sorry but they need to release more good series sooner and instead of this boring shit. I mean My Only 12% is having the same vibe but its not boring tho ? like there is a difference between plain boring and good plain. Like everything about this series is so boring, i applaud myself for finishing this series. I hope there is more conflict like murder, reincarnation or something. I dont know but this series is just not it. Bruh bye.

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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.

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Almost absolute zero!

Well, I finished watching it! Incredulous and hoping against hope that the producers would realize the mess they had created. And what is the most infuriating and disappointing is that the drama had a great premise and an even better start and then nosedived and barely resurfaced in last two episodes. I really, really wanted to like this! And what I liked the most were CGI butterflies!

DISCLAIMER: I am not shocked by age gaps or age gap romances, student/teacher love stories as long as they are both consensual, adult, legal and informed.

There are two parts in this drama: the first half is told from the point of view of Soon and the second from Ongsa. They were given the choice; either they get together as teens and one of them dies ten years later or they get together only as adults!

The story of star crossed lovers on a time travel mission to save each other was a great idea. And it starts great: Soon and Ongsa have been blissfully living together for the past ten years when Ongsa gets into an accident and dies. Soon, devastated, makes a wish upon a star and finds himself in the past. And that's when everything starts going wrong.

The following is really the biggest problem I have with this drama. Soon, a 29 yr old adult goes back in past and meets the 18yr old version of his boyfriend before he himself met him aged 18. The kid hits on him, and Soon falls head line and sinker for the teen! Never really telling him who he is. This whole relationship was odd, unhealthy and wrong.Yes they are both adults but the 10 year gap is something important at that age and the fact that Soon does not question his own behaviour towards the teen is huge red flag. Their relationship is neither cute nor acceptable. Another factor influencing the perception of that relationship is the actor playing adult Soon: an extremely wrong choice since the actor is 37 and it shows: he cannot pass for a 29 year old so his behaviour with the teen looks even more creepy! On the other hand, Soon's level of maturity is of a 7yr old while teen Ongsa behaves and acts like an adult. The whole dynamics between them is wrong! This plotline goes on for 5 episodes until Soon goes back to his own time! The method of time travelling: making a wish in a taxi going through a tunnel!

In the second part we follow Ongsa who, armed with the knowledge about the future from Soon (who ended up spilling the beans eventually!), gets in the relationship with teen Soon. Ten happy years ensue until that fateful day of the accident when a future Ongsa shows up in front of the present one and tells him he needs not change the future but the past and sends him back to his teen self. In order to save both their lives, Ongsa decides not to meet Soon as teen but to wait. They meet as adults, with all their memories from past timelines intact. Happy ending!

How does Ongsa time travel? That is never explained! In one instance he dies in an accident, his wristwatch starts going backwards and he is suddenly a teen! I guess there are many different means of time travel!

This series deals with grief (they cry a lot!): and the solution is time travel! Time travellers like manipulating their boyfriends by not telling them the whole truth. While in the first half, Soon was sleeping with the teen Ongsa, in the second part teen Ongsa stalked bigtime teen Soon! Ongsa had an accident because he knew he was going to be in an accident that day and was lost in thought thinking about the accident: could this be a self fulfilling prophecy?

Time travel stories are notoriously difficult to write and this one is at the base quite good. It is that everything that had been piled on the skeleton is wrong! The pacing and the structure of the story was correct for a slow burn drama. The side characters were really nice: the coffee shop owner, the loving parents, the friends. There was also a mysterious old man watching them from the sidelines and giving them cryptic answers with an old clock ticking and blue butterflies flying around (butterfly effect?). We never find out who he actually is: a god, a demon, an angel or an ordinary man?

Beside the wrong casting choice for adult Soon, the actors are ok though the chemistry between them is rather flimsy and literally sickening when the adult Soon is cuddling with teen Ongsa.
Music was annoying: the same song played over and over again with a lot of high pitch singing: my poor ears!

Every episode starts with an inspirational quote, very positive! The last episode ends with a 5min flashback of the entire series: so you may as well just watch that!

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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!

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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.

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Sad Time Travel mystery

I watched all the episodes stuck in an endless, sometimes long, repetitive state of dread. Asking the basic question, why are these two together? The script based on a book develops characters that are in love but have really bad communication skills, chemistry, or have any attraction beyond crying together.

Without any spoilers, WHAT's MISSING:

the moments that show the happiness of a relationship,
navigating a first romance,
or becoming a couple and showing the good and bad of a couple that likes each other enough to have intimacy.

Instead, we get a lot of unnecessary drama but never fully see a main couple with chemistry or

why they belong together is absent and the gloom and doom tone we get is the opposite of a butterfly stomach of first love.

The logic of some of the character's actions, or the mystery isn't enough to garner any re-watch value. But, if you get past the first episode you almost have NO choice but to suffer in silence until the end.

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EITHER YOU LOVE OR DISLIKE IT.

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.

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