Not Me

Its a MASTERPIECE ✨

Hi its my first time writing a review, I'm sorry in advance if my English is bad.

I just wanna say that this series is a Masterpiece. When I was watching it I didn't feel bored nor skipped some scenes, I didn't even know that I was already watching the last episode.

I really thought there was something going on between GRAM AND BLACK then I was wrong. GMM you fooled me😭.

I like this story because it set a new standard in bl industry its not like other bl's genre.

STORY- 10/10
The story was beautiful because it also focuses in LGBTQ+. And its not like other story that if you've fallin in love with a boy you will deny it.

ACTING/CAST- 10/10
Salute to GUN ATTHAPHAN for portaying WHITE/BLACK. You can differentiate them apart. He nailed his roles. He's really a versatile actor. I think nobody suited to play this role except for Gun.

Off Jumpol portaying SEAN was so freaking good. I really liked his Character.

And also to some actors they did great. They nailed their roles.

MUSIC-10/10
Their background music is beautiful. I loved it.

REWATCH VALUE-10/10
I'm always rewatching this series everytime I miss the cast. Please GMM TV I want this series to have a season 2🥺.

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"Dura Lex, Sed Lex."

Cassandra Clare's books were the ones that introduced me to this term, popularly known as the Brocard Law, which when translated from Latin means "The Law is harsh, but it is the Law." Thankfully, she found a strong counterpart against this which is the family motto of the Blackthorns: "A bad law is no law."

Not Me reminded me a lot about this. If you are looking for romance in particular, then this drama might not be for you as it deals more with politics and justice than with love.

It delves into the depth of the social injustice faced by humans in the hands of law and the higher officials. Personally, I did not find it as 'dark' as viewers had said. Moreover, it brought forth certain shady topics that one would not dare to openly do so in a country. I applaud the production team and the whole crew for their bravery in putting this forward.

Four university students who work part time in a motorcycle garage decide to push the limits of law and commit acts of delinquence in order to shine light on the illegal activities being done by the major influential personalities, with businessman and politician, Tawei as their main target. When Black, their ringleader gets beaten to the point of unconsciousness, he is replaced by his more capable and refined twin White, whose existence is hidden as a result of his parents divorce.
As he seeks too find the culprit who caused his brother's injuries with the help of their mutual friend Todd while on incognito mode, White slowly starts to realize that Black was not whom he had known many years ago.

First and foremost, Thai dramas are literally the only ones listed on MDL where I feel genuinely like a useless pile of snack wrappers while watching them. All the characters are students who are passionate about their studies and what they do —- may it be Political Science, Law, Art or even Dance.
They really work hard to study and knows very well the consequences of their actions, right upto the years they would be sentenced to, once they are caught. They are purposeful and know their cause, fight for their rights and want their voices to be heard.
Issues such as LGBTQ+ rights and the loopholes of the Law of Impunity are discussed in detail and for once, I sat down to actually listen instead of fastforwarding. I aspire to be even as half as brave as them.

The entire drama follows their chronicles. And they do it as a final resort since nobody would help them. They are not the bad guys, per se. I even rooted for them. I predicted the ending since the very beginning, so I was not let down by the final episode.

The cast was spectacular, particularly Gun Attaphan who played the dual role of Black and White. It was so well done that I'm convinced that these were two different individuals instead of the same person. Same goes for Sean and Yok. The actors practically made the characters alive. Minor supporting roles such as Eugene, Namo and Nuchi and their rapport with the main characters were interesting to watch. I did not feel that any character was added in as a 'waste'.

The OST was beyond amazing and captured the essence of the drama perfectly. The opening song is so beautiful even without understanding what was being sung. (Not Me by Kang Songks.)

This was an experimental, yet a didactic experience for me. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute and would not mind rewatching it again.

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New #1 BL

Never have I felt so down that I've come to the end of a series, and neither have I felt the need to write a review on a show just to let people know how much more this show deserves.
Despite the lack of budget, this show delivers in all aspects.
The focus of the entire series itself (politics, injustice) is just so extremely fresh in the BL industry that makes you doubt how interesting the story can get (imo politics are boring lol). But when such a genre of BL becomes so educational and lets the viewers understand more about the world, you know the director is amazing. The story goes deep into topics like monopoly and impunity and how it affects the society as a whole, and such a fresh take in the BL world really draws you in.
Not to mention, the casting for the characters is spectacular. You know nothing can really go wrong when Gun takes on the main role of Black/White, even though its hella challenging. This show really stretched him as he needed to show the stark difference in behaviours of the twins, and if you ask anybody that watched this masterpiece, they would all agree that Gun nailed his characters. I don't really have to say much about OffGun as a pairing because who doesn't know how good their chemistry is lol.
Moving on to DanYok/GawinFirst damn yall have no idea how hard they robbed my hearts. Every tiny bit they had in the show brought so much impact in the emotional aspect. Gawin did so well in showing his eternal dilemma of whether to follow the system, and First shattered all our hearts by displaying the yearning pain felt by Yok from seeing Dan betray him after putting in all his trust. Really didn't expect the chemistry of this pairing to be so phenomenal, would really like to see them act together again.
Now on to the music, I really didn't notice myself cringing at the background tracks and it shows how well P'Nuchy picked out the songs. Each track helped amplify the emotions felt by the viewer and didn't feel unnecessary (which happens rather often in BLs for some reason). The OSTs suited the show so much too (although the ending track sang by OffGun ruined my crying sessions after certain episodes LOL) Overall the music in the show is amazing.
THE CINEMATOGRAPHY. It reached a whole new level in the BL industry in a way that it perfectly conveys the characters' emotions. The 4Kness of many shots really embraced the idea of 'no filter' and I really sat through the scenes with content. It's just unexplainable. The rawness of the shots really showed how realistic this BL could get (in the aspect of both plot/love scenes).
In conclusion I'm so glad that I watched this show and I think I would have equally loved it even without the love aspect in it because IT REALLY DELIVERED. Would definitely rewatch it if im craving for tears or even just really good acting.

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You're missing out on a GEM if you skip this, trust me

A beautiful story that comes from a cruel world.

The first time I read the summary and watched the trailer, I’m very skeptical about the theme and concept. Sometimes even the most basic themes of BL series (high school, college, family) failed at making things look realistic, LET ALONE a complex non-relatable story about gangsters and political drama. I’m worried that they might not be able pull this off.
But, boy was I wrong!

-----THE REVIEW-----
Not Me series has proven their quality in storytelling game in its own unique way.

A story told from the perspective of White, with his inner monologues and voice-over style narration, this series make it works like magic. The way they capture every moment, along with the acting, music, cinematography, and as I mentioned, the voice-over, everything somehow fall into place in a beautiful way to deliver both the right message and the right emotions.

STORY
The story surely is something fresh from the typical “everyday life” theme. At first, I thought it’s just gonna be about gangsters, violence, generic fight scenes, but it was definitely more than just that.

The main idea is about how we all live in the same planet, but most definitely not the same “world”. Life is unfair, yes, but things can change to make the world a better place, also a yes. But then where do we set the boundaries of creating those changes at the expense of lives? Where do we draw the line between our idealism and empathy? Not Me explores on how the characters deal with these questions.

The romance part of the story is very well written too. Despite all the political dramas going on, they show the journeys of character development, relationship development, while accepting and sharing their vulnerabilities and longing feelings that has never been addressed before.

ACTING/CHEMISTRY
I don’t have much to say about this, we all know how good Off & Gun are at delivering their characters, and how amazing their chemistry is.

But I do have to mention, that the MCs in this story are not easy to pull off, as they have very strong backgrounds and mindsets, and the 2 actors did amazing bringing them to life. Their eyes remind me of the sayings “eyes are the windows to the soul" with those silent scenes that speaks a thousand words and emotions just from the look in their eyes. Also, Gun did amazing portraying 2 very different twin brothers.

PRODUCTION
- The cinematography is to die for. I love good visuals (especially after watching ITSAY) and I don’t get how they make abandoned buildings, concrete walls, and rooftops, look both beautiful and melancholic at the same time.
- The editors deserve a raise for the amazing montages and of course, great music choices. The music fits all the shots and the feelings that the scenes are trying to convey.

OVERALL
- no cringy screenplay & editing
- no unlikely turn of events
- realistic relationship & character developments
- outstanding portrayal from the actors
- a solid story foundation
- beautiful shots and montages

In these 5 film aspects: story, screenplay, characterisation, acting/chemistry, cinematography, Not Me is mostly scoring high in all 5.

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Not Me started off as a slow burn but eventually expanded into a huge flame that, unfortunately, lost a bit of steam near the very end. While I enjoyed the gritty ambiance and production value from the very beginning, I don't think Not Me will have every single one of its viewers hooked from the start. It takes times for both the plot and romance to really get rolling but once it does, this series proves itself to be one of the best Thai BLs as of late.

Maybe I am speaking from a subjective standpoint but I think that Sean/White's slow burn enemies-to-lovers dynamic is one of the best yet. I really enjoyed seeing them and seeing how they gradually became lovers in a world where they prioritize social justice over their own lives.

There are decisions in Not Me's writing that I think could have used some fine tuning. For one, I find the whole "Parent Trap" arrangement to be completely unrealistic. It would have been easier to believe if Black and White had occasional reunions throughout their years apart. It could have easily been explained away with saying that Black visited his brother and father in Russia on certain holidays; that way, it would still be justified that Black's gang had no idea about White and it would have made the scene between White and his mother near the end of the show more impactful. Tbh, that entire scene between White and him mom felt shoehorned in, considering he never concerned himself with the whereabouts of his mother, nor was it mentioned beforehand that Black and his mother were on bad terms. With 14 episodes, they could have easily explored that relationship deeper.

And don't even get me started on GramBlack. As much as I was rooting for a GramBlack relationship, I'm not faulting the writing for the bait-and-switch with Eugene being Gram's endgame. I just think it was overall sloppy writing that the audience was given the illusion of Gram and Black being best friends. After Gram was done with the exposition dumping and being used as red herring for hurting Black, it's as if he never had a friendship with Black at all. Gram didn't seem to care about Black being hospitalized for weeks, or the fact that he kept his twin a secret for their entire friendship. Any chance that I had for liking the Gram/Eugene pairing was ruined when the flawed execution presented itself.

And, lastly, I thought the entire final arc of the show could have used a different direction. For a show about a gang conspiring corporate espionage, there was very little action in the last episode. The scene in the van was tense but it soon fizzled out right after the gang got saved. While I do understand the message about how the fight against an unjust system isn't over but has just begun, I think the last arc could have used a big bad. Other than Sean and White's relationship, everything about the final episode felt underwhelming.

Still, despite all of that, I still think Not Me is one of the best BLs yet and I highly recommend it.

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Why should you watch this?

Because it's amazing!

Not Me is one of the best BL series I've seen so far. The story makes you think and opens your eyes to issues you might otherwise be blind to. It evolves in a natural way that makes it very believable.
The acting is of an entirely different level. Off and Gun were perfect for these roles. Their chemestry is palpable and their skills undeniable. I especially admire Gun for the way he pulled off playing both Black and White. With just one look you could tell the difference between the two.
The OST is beautiful. It goes along very well with the episodes. The songs are part of my daily routine now.

I will definitely rewatch this! And I wouldn't mind a second season at all. In fact, I would very much like to see how their fight continues.

My heart goes out to the entire cast and crew. May you all continue to thrive!

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THE BEST BL I HAVE EVER WATCHED

I honestly don't have much to say other than watch this BL. It was SO GOOD. I was completely entranced every episode, I didn't want it to end. The acting, the music, the cinematography, the story it was all so good and I can't get it off my mind and literally no series hits the same anymore. Also like I loved every single side character and was invested in all their stories which is so rare for me. GRAM AND YOK AND DAN their stories like held their own but were also beautifully entwined with the main storyline. And don't even get me started on the level of acting Off and Gun brought to this show. the characters were all so complex and the actors DELIVERED. The soundtrack was so good I have OEOEOEOEOEOE playing on repeat on Spotify (if u kno u kno). Lit just rambling but that's how good the show is I can't even think straight. I can't wait to rewatch it. I'm praying for a season 2. WATCH IT!!!!

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This is quite a big mash-up of BL in the thick of action-drama series about social issues.

THE STORY: In short, I like both the BL story and the non-BL story, it's a rarity that both stories actually work. I love the theme, I love on how the script could cover a lot of social issues in Thai (read the news, folks, three fingers salute) without having to bore the viewers, but yet simple enough to understand. Looks like, everything can be outfront, except the monarch. One more thing to appreciate is this BL series does cover LGBT rights, something that often missed out on other popular BLs. However, I have to admit there are some parts that doesn't go: the heist and escape drama needs more thrill, White's journey disguising as Black are filled with "side" quests that gave virtually no point other than "our gang members can be fucking cool", and twice the episodes are ended with fake alarms ("it was just my friend testing me").

ACTING: We've seen Gun Attaphan's award-winning acting in The Gifted, so it's no surprise that Gun can play two different characters of a completely different aura. We've seen White for so long and when we finally get to be introduced to Black, it feels amazing, I'm once again in awe of his acting skills. I also give applause for other actors and actresses: Off's acting is an upgrade (his acting under the rainbow flag scene is on point!), First and Gawin's love story stole the show, and others too.

DIRECTING & OTHERS: Nuchy herself is an award-winning film director, so I feel relieved the series is on her hand. Otherwise I cannot imagine how horrible the series would be without her (and her amazing team). The series put excruciating details on the visual; and notice that many of the camera techniques used throughout the series were cinematically different than other GMM TV series; I feel like watching a movie rather than a TV series. How about the music? Rather than staying with a set of basic scores, Not Me has put some 200 different songs sampled to accompany different scenes and moods, and this creates another cinematically different experience compared to other GMM TV series.

CONCLUSION: I see BL fans might get disappointed because the non-BL story dominated the overall series, but this is what I want from BL series. Many BL series put too much effort on romance and fan service, abandoning overall story and other aspects - Not Me successfully balanced it. Kissing scenes and other romantic moments were built without stereotyping and while they are intense, they don't hypersexualizing it. While Sean & White's love story were built under poorly made bricks, Yok & Dan's love story is concrete and solid. Looks like the action and non-BL drama needs more improvement, but Nuchy still can cover it and make it enjoyable, quite decent for a TV drama standard.

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This was not just another BL

It was obvious from the beginning that this was going to be in another level. But, it still exceeded all of my expetations. Gun nailed it in playing two characters, you could really see the difference between White and Black, you could actually think they were two different people. One complain I have is that I really wish we had seen more of Black, maybe more flashbacks or having him come back two episodes earlier, he pretty much only showed up to be hot and kick ass, but he did those two things VERY WELL.
Off, Papi really went off with this role, everytime I see the scene when they break in Tawi's factory and they have to act only witb their eyes, I still have chills, his voice breaking when he called Black's name while he was beating his ass up...
Now, the story, the polical satire, pushing for diversity, and the fact that they were doing that through art is what really got me. The show ended with a reminder that things can't and won't change over night, but as long theres people willing to fight, there will be hope. The van scene, the people saving them gave me teary eye, because it show how much power the people have if they unite in one cause.

The relationships:
White and Sean. Chemistry on point as we would expect from OffGun, well devoloped, cute, hot and the right ammout of angst. They were surprisenly good at communication even with the secret identity between them
Yok and Dan: the acting was on point, they were so emotional and cute. Yok's pain of being betrayed by Dan really hit me, and I loved that by the end Yok fargave Dan without knowing why he did what he did, It was like saying that all he needed to know is that he was sorry and was ready to change and that punch was weirdely satisfying
Gram and Eugene: NOOOO. That made absolutely no sense, we were led to believe Gram was in love with Black and I understand not having time to develop something between Gram and Black wich Im convinced was the initial plan, I know they had to reshoot most scenes from the last episodes so ... I understand, but I was fine with Gram having a one sided crush, why stuck him with Eugene ? Also, who does that to a friend? To me it just doesn't fit Gram's character to go after his friend's ex. It doesn't fit Eugene either, she was obviously not over Black, it also bothered me when Eugene is having her flashbacks remenbering her relationship with Black, most scenes was the ones with White. They did had chemistry, it just didn't make sense.
White and Black: weirdely enough, it actually work, never mind that we had a scene with the twins where Gun actually got naked but had to be cut from the waist down. They had amazing brotherhood, their supernatural connection played it well on the story without being cringey. I dont know what else to say, they were very good together despite the fact that it was only one actor playing both roles.
The Gang: so, this is where the story gets me, the trio Gram, Yok and Sean were awsome together. The rooftop scene, the banter when they were making plans, especially the hug when Sean gets shot, everything was well scripted and the loyalty and brotherhood was there, but, White felt out of place in it which made sense in the first episodes, but towards the end it felt like he still wasn't part of the gang despite telling them the truth, it was like he was just taging along. While Black was barely part of the group, at the beginning we were told that he was their leader but when he comes back and they learn the truth about White nobody stops to ask where the hell have Black went.
PS: those parkour jumps were awful.

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Talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique

For everyone who plans on watchign this show: It's important to note that this BL doesn't follow the typical BL formular and isn't mainly about the love story. A huge portion of this show is focusing on the social political issues in Thailand and how the gang and other people are suffering from it and trying to fight against the system. If you find yourself totally uninterested in anything regarding politics or anything that ISN'T a very romanticized version of a Wattpad mafia/gangster story than this isn't for you. I highly recommend this show to everyone, but it's important to go into this show with the right idea in mind of what to expect.

Story: I think this is one of the Thai BLs that actually swept me off my feet. When it first was promoted as another OffGun show, I wasn't expecting too much of it. And I don't mean that in a negative sense, I mean that I didn't expect OffGun to take part in a show that was more serious and dark, since I've only seen them play in lighter and typical BL stuff. But HOOOOH BOY WAS I WRONG. It's way darker and more realistic than I thought it would be, but there were enough funny and cute moments to balance things out.

There went so much love and care into this show and you can really tell. I adore every character. They were all incredibly facinating to watch and flawed. They all deserved so much more screen time and sadly, some of them didn't get their deserved time to shine.

While the main love story of White and Sean (Gun and Off) is never an afterthought, it takes its time to be developed and doesn't take away the attention from the main plot or the development of each character. There is no unnecessary drama or abusive bs.
The side couple with Dan and Yok (Fluke and First) was a great addition that was not only really sweet but also relevant for the main story (and I do love when there are side couples that actually contributes to the story). They are the total opposite of White and Sean but were created with just as much care and love in mind.
The third couple I will not talk about for two reason 1) it would be a spoiler and I wouldn't want you guys to miss out on being shocked by that plot twist and 2) I wasn't really invested in them.

The friendship was really wholesome and really sweet to watch and aside from like the political scenes, one of my favorites. The relationships between the characters were all unique and deep and complicated.

Acting/Cast: The whole cast was great and I thank whoever was in charge of it. They all acted their ass off and it really shows. The whole crew did an amazing job. But I have to mention two actors specifically whose performance stuck with me.

1) I was seriously impressed with Gun being able to pull off playing White and Black and White pretending to be Black and Black pretending to be White pretending to be Black. You always knew who was talking and he managed to play them very differently. The way he smiled, talked and even cried. Just amazing really! I know that there were a few people criticizing the show for not using actualy twins, but seeing what Gun did with these characters, I can't imagine anyone else in these two roles.

2) Also not to forget: First who had some really great scenes all filled with different, complex emotions that he all nailed. But the ones that stung out to me the most were the ones where he was able to perfectly capture the rose-colored glasses look, the puppy eyes and just the absolute adoration in his acting and the one where he totally broke down in tears, crying his eyes out.

Music: Amazing. This show wasn't afraid to use silence when it was necessary, but it also shone with the choice of music. There were many great songs that I still listen to daily, but the one that got to me the most (musically and storywise) was Everlast (if you know you know).

Rewatch Value: Super mega high.

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I will be rewatching this until I can reference scenes by timestamp

Remember how we were so excited about Manner of Death?

This has the same level of realism, wonderful acting, and no-nonsense plot progression. (though the mystery of Thai college schedules persists, like, how are they managing law school /and/ bamf rebel things?)

Each character is intricate, and grows throughout the series, with fleshed-out backgrounds. While they don't spend a ton of time on campus, they do remind us now and then that the boys are studying the legal system etc.; and White's confusion therein is realistic given that he was in Russia for so long, and probably only being taught the palatable version of Thai history and politics.

Each relationship progression is intricate and (slightly) unexpected, instead of the typical BL ship checklist. The Yok/Dan ship is beautiful and compassionate, and Sean's differing relationships with Black and White are both powerful and logical.

Gun does such an excellent job of playing twins that we don't have to rely on costume changes to differentiate the two (though they do wear different things from each other). The way Sean reacts to Black and WhiteasBlack are openly discussed between the rest of the group in a way that gives us insight into who Black is before we even officially meet him in the present day. Black and White's relationships with their parents are also believable and complicated, and it is even possible for the audience to sympathize with the adults; whereas usually bl's place us firmly on the MC's side.

Overall, definitely top-tier content that I will be returning to often.

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