wholesome with a touch of mystery
Baker's boys is a sweet show that's both wholesome with a touch of mystery. It's not a BL but it does have some gay characters which is always nice to see in any media. Also you will get to see the fliratious Weir (Singto) giving a cheeky wink here and there.What is the show about? Well it's about four guys who work in a bakery - Punn (Lee) a rich guy who is the owner of the bakery which he does to find his lost love. Weir (Singto) is a flirtatious gay chef who is looking for a place to work but is scared of women. Krating (Pluem) an ex-boxer due to a medical condition and is now trying to become a pro-baker. Pooh (Foei) Punn's bodyguard who is quite clumsy and always making a mess. The show follows the four as they become a family and we see all of them tackle their particular traumas that was affecting them. It's a bit of a mix of comedy with a who did it mystery storyline.
What did I think about the show? The production was top tier as GMMTV is always able to deliver. Cinematography was on point and in general the camera angles and piecing of scenes was done well. The actors all had great chemistry which is the main element that makes this show fun to watch. The acting overall was great and I felt they all really conveyed the characters' emotion well. Overall the story is not bad but it's probably the weakest thing about this show. It is not mind-blowing plot that's particular clever but it was still interesting enough to keep me coming back every week. Some scenes did seem out of place at times, like some of the characters behaviours and dialogue and I felt some scenes and drama could have been approached differently but as a whole the show does come together. It does tackle character growth really well which is something I think every character from this show went through which is actually quite rare.
For me, Baker's boy is the perfect Sunday afternoon show that's not overly full on but it does have some extra spice with the mystery aspect of the plot. If you are looking for exactly that then this may be the show for you.
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Another show let down by the ending
I'm going to admit straight out of the gate that I'm not the most neutral person in the world when it comes to this show. I've seen the original anime (though I've had no chance to read the manga) and whilst I started out being impressed with how closely this series was following it along, I stopped being impressed by the end of episode 12.Firstly, all the acting in this was great. I always enjoy watching Singto bringing his 'A' flirting game, and this was no exception. He's such a talented young man.
Foei was great as Pooh. Not a complete carbon copy of his anime counterpart, but still giving off the same vibes. A sweet, naive, innocent man doing his best for his young master and his daughter (adorably named Piglet.)
Pluem put just the right amount of emotion into his Krating, and I really enjoyed his character development over the series.
Lee was just about perfect as Punn, the boss, and he has excellent comedic timing.
Those are the positives.
There were a lot of changes made from the original anime, and some of them are understandable because Thai culture is very different from Japanese culture, and some things wouldn't work.
I still don't like Weir's ex, and I'm in two minds as to whether it was better or worse that they changed him from a abusive asshole to a lying, two-timing asshole, but either way he was still there for at least one episode too long. I was already sick of him.
My biggest gripe with this show is the omission of the BL storyline. Antique wasn't a full BL, but the Japanese counterparts to Weir and Pooh did have a BL storyline. And this was teased in the earlier episodes, which was good.....except it was just a tease.
Production writers then gave the middle fingers to the viewers by having the guitar playing scene and then stopping the storyline right in its tracks. And Pooh ended up living with Piglet and her mum in the end and leaving the cafe.
Most people in the comment section were delighted at Weir and Punn being left alone together, and I'm happy their getting to the ship hearts fulfilled, but I'm also very disappointed at the same time for anyone like me (fi there was anyone like me) who wanted the original BL storyline represented properly.
I'm not going to say this was the worse series I've ever seen (that dubious honour goes to En of Love: Love Mechanics) but it just could have been so much better.
It does have rewatch value, though, if only for the first two thirds of the series where things are great between the characters and you don't want to scream.
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Ok Day
Don't lie, most of you are here for Singto but I gotta say, I'm incredibly disappointed in all of this. It started out with a decently average BL drama thing but suddenly took a flying leap into a pile of poop. Everything became scattered and smothered everywhere and they threw in new characters and even plots that had no business being around! There's a few familiar BL actors/actresses but honestly that's the only reason to watch this. It got to the point I was skipping bits and pieces of each episode in hopes it would get better but didn't want to drop.Really disappointed in total performance.
Enjoy...
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Comfort show
Can we have more Singto dancing in the bar please? 'Cause, dang!Thoughts:
--I loved the way Weir teased Punn, causing the gay panic. I also love that Punn accepted him for who he was despite Weir's teasing.
--I liked Pooh's comedy relief, although I thought it was too over-the-top sometimes. For instance, I burst out laughing when he threw himself into the bedroom door to break it down....I can't imagine that the cast didn't fall in the floor laughing. But it just didn't fit the feel of the show.
--I loved that Krating finally made a move on Mone at the end, it was seriously sweet. I also think that it wasn't enough.
--I think that Singto did a fabulous job as Weir, but I didn't like the character's 180° turnaround. He lost a lot of spark when he was chef. I do like that he explained that he had other facets to his personality, as we all do, but a lot of the time it just seemed like he was playing a totally different character.
--I enjoyed the Pooh/Piglet storyline. I'm glad that the character got to say out loud that he fathered a child naturally. That gave dimension to Pooh's character.
--I think that Pluem's acting made Krating's character my favorite out of all of them.
As far as my ratings: Music....was there any?? LOL. I didn't even notice, so I am not including that in my final rating.
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It's... fine. Kind of.
The Good ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Found family dynamics are nice. That message was nice.
The acting, for the most part, was good. Especially in the earlier episodes, which were more focused on the 4 main characters rather than the larger plot, the acting created a good balance between the comedy and the heartwarming messages about finding family in friendship. The lighthearted vibe of the early story paired nicely with the acting style and dynamics - so when the story was focused on comedy, some of the acting was exaggerated, but they reined it in nicely for serious scenes to make them all the more touching.
The first ~6 episodes were pretty nice, fun, and pleasant to watch!
The Bad ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The writing was really a mess, especially at the end. We have multiple plot holes, things felt rushed at times and slow at others, and while I don't mind a little suspension of disbelief every so often, a lot of this didn't make any sense.
The way serious subject matters (kidnapping, murder, mental illness, and trauma/victimization) were portrayed was uncomfortable at best and disturbing or even harmful at worst. On top of it just being very clumsy, the show actually gets preachy at times, but the messages it sends don't make sense and send damaging messages. An attempt to be progressive gone wrong. Not sure whether the writers just did surface-level research, or if it's an issue with the source material, or if they had limited time and simply misused it, but it comes off very abrasively and makes the show much less enjoyable to watch.
The villains. Their characterizations were super inconsistent. An attempt was made to generate sympathy or pity for them, but it really fell flat.
Is it worth watching? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
... Maybe. If you're sensitive to unrealistic portrayals of trauma, victimization, murder, kidnapping, and/or mental illness, I'd say no. If not, and you've got nothing else on your list to watch, it will probably be an alright distraction for you.
If you're looking for a BL, with a focus on two guys falling in love, this isn't it. If you're looking for a show with some gay representation, this one has it. One of the main characters is gay and while his portrayal isn't perfectly wholesome, I didn't find it bad either. 7/10 for Weir's gayness I guess. I liked that they didn't hide it, didn't love the whole "I make straight men gay" thing but also it was on the tame side of that trope - it was lighthearted enough, not super aggressive, and felt like it became a sort of sarcastic inside joke to some of the characters after a while.
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It's a mess
I was really interested in watching this because I've watched the Korean version 'Antique Bakery'; however, there's just so many problems with this show that I cannot ignore.1. The murder mystery feels like an extra segment that was added to make the show longer when it should be one of the main elements.
2. The journalists were completely unconvincing and annoying.
3. The romance seemed to come out of blue and a lot of the the show's side stories seemed to pop out all of a sudden without any hint of it in earlier episodes.
I feel like this show tried to be a lot of different things, which made the show messy and confusing. The friendship between the four main characters was cute and I liked how they realistically showed that trauma is not something you get over immediately, but that's all I liked about the show.
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It takes guts to re- enact the original series "Antique"..
Kim Jae Wook, Ju Ji Hoon, Yoo Ha In...all three fabulous Korean actors from the original story (Antique, 2008) went on to become well known and respected TV and movie stars...Singto and the rest of the crew, including directing and producing will have to work really hard to match up...I try to like the Thai version, but so far though it's early on, I feel it's dragging and lacks excitement. It may be that I liked the original version with the original cast so much, it makes it hard to compare favourably...I will continue to watch and hopefully enjoy this version as well.Was this review helpful to you?
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Cadê o BL?
Iniciei essa série pensando que fosse um BL, a sinopse não deixava claro, e os atores já são figurinhas carimbadas em BL´s da GMM. Enfim, não era BL, o máximo que tivemos foi o chefe pâtissier Weir (Singto), que era abertamente gay e reencontra seu ex namorado em um dado episódio. Shipei ele com Punn? Shipei! Mas quem nunca shipou errado atire a primeira pedra.Em relação ao roteiro, eles conseguiram deixar uma história que tinha muito pra ser pesada, com o desaparecimento de crianças, ex tóxico, jovem abandonado pela família, Punn que não tinha a aprovação de seu pai, enfim, um compilado de histórias tristes numa série super leve e divertida. Muito alívio cômico, mas sem exagero, na medida para deixar a série gostosa de assistir.
Aparentemente não é uma série com muito orçamento, não tem locações diversas e o núcleo de atores é reduzido, mas esses poucos atores deram um show de atuação, junte a isso uma ost linda e uma fotografia muito boa, a receita dos Baker boys deu ótimos resultados.
Como não é meu estilo favorito (BL), provavelmente não tornarei a assistir, mas recomendo muito essa série, com certeza você irá se divertir bastante.
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