Love Stage!! (2022)

Silly, but Cute

Overall Impression: A cute and fun story. If you're not looking for something serious or deep and you're a fan of BL romcom, you'll probably enjoy this show. Don't take it too seriously or you might not enjoy it.

Pros:
- Funny/cute characters and story, a feel-good type of show
- Music is really catchy
- Actors have good chemistry together
- Follows pretty closely to original story, but some changes are made to fix some controversial material from the original and apply to a live action format (more serious than original)
- Scenery/sets are really beautiful
- Anda's character is still cute and somewhat innocent, but not nearly as childish and naive as the original
- The side characters are loveable
- Cute fanservice
- Anda's friends are so awesome!
- Uplifting ending

Cons:
- messy international release and subtitles (now available on AISPLAY official YouTube)
- Character and relationship development feels somewhat lacking with the leads
- Ryo's character is a bit unlikable at the beginning
- There is quite a bit of "filler"
- I wonder what happened to the side plot sometimes?
- Sometimes story seems inconsistent or repetitive
- Sometimes takes itself too seriously for a comedy

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A comedy that lost its way

Overall: I've seen the anime and also the Japanese live action series, so I have a couple things to compare it with. I have not read the manga it's based off of. AIS Play has released the episodes on their YouTube channel.

Content Warnings: non con touching (ripped off his shirt), non con repeated kissing (sleeping), homophobia, blood with an injury, body policing (don't eat that or you'll get fat), manipulation

What I Liked
- there were some crack comedy moments, especially in the beginning episodes
- the kissing/steamy scene was done pretty well (but I didn't like the overlap)
- at first I liked that Anda's brother was taking care/looking out for Anda, but then it just felt like he was infantilizing Anda and taking Anda's agency away
- I'd like to see the actors in other projects

Room For Improvement
- really wish they had removed the non con kissing, it was so uncomfortable to watch
- the relationship between Anda's brother and Jet was odd, I thought it was something and then suddenly it's something totally different? I wish they had a bunch more crack comedy moments between them.
- useless added love triangle
- gay for you trope
- cliche ending drama
- they should have kept Anda terrible at drawing and used that as a part of the comedy
- it has silly sound effects which aren't really my thing
- the cliche evil manager

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childhood crush, sunshine/tsundere, unrequited love, secret identity

Delayed from 2019, staring Kaownah & Turbo (Nitiman), adapted from a yaoi manga (and the Japanese live action and anime of the same name) I didn’t expect much from this on. Japan’s version of Love Stage!! wasn’t successful and didn’t highlight the crossdressing element of the original manga & anime. Fortunately, Thailand had the guts to do the original yaoi justice (I am ashamed for doubting them) although they didn’t resolve it in the same spectacular way as the anime.

Stymied by lack of international distribution this BL surprised me with its charm. The acting was good, the leads were appealing, support cast on point, and the production values high. It’s gave me Lovely Writer vibes (although with a lot more Japanese slapstick and way fewer egregious sound effects).

It followed the original manga story arc relatively closely with some quintessentially Thai changes. We got the nose bleed, the dub con sleeping kiss, and a few other questionable yaoi derived tropes, but all-in-all what Thailand did to mellow the content, mellowed it in mostly the right direction. We also got solid side characters and couples and some pretty high heat levels prettily handled.

Demonstrating the advantages of a Thai long-form adaptation, this version gave us a chance to really watch the two leads become friendly and like each other beyond just a crush and then fall into love. And I believed it, despite their rocky start, in a way I never did with the previous adaptations. Particularly Anda’s character.

One of the things I’ve always appreciated about this story is that the climax is about coming out as a celebrity couple as well as gay. I like the examination of the nature of celebrity versus privacy. And I love that they depicted two couples with two different versions of this choice. P’Jet is such a a great advice giver for Anda and I love the “gay advice auntie” rep. It ended well, different from all prior adaptations and very Thai about it. A solid and enjoyable show.

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Positive Changes made from the Manga

I'm biased because I love fluff and I loved the manga series, so I think that Turbo and Kaownah did a great job! Turbo brought the essence of Izumi (Anda) to life. In the manga, Izumi is stubborn, a little naive and passionate, and I feel that Turbo showed those sides of Anda. This adaptation toned down the obsession that Ryoma had, and I think this translated better in live action. While in the manga, it could be shown as comical, but it would be a little too much in real life. Kaownah balanced Ryou out by making him very much in love with Anda, but not turning stalkerish. I was looking forward to the press conference scene, and I think they did a good job.

The changes that I liked were the rewrite of the Rei (Jet) character and the addition of Bank. Although I'm still irritated that they took Rei's glasses away, I like how Jet was warmer and more receptive to Tee than Rei was to Shougo. I also liked that they completely dropped the father subplot. The addition of Bank as a possible antagonist was nice, since his character was not in the manga. Bank started off in an ambiguous way, but in the end, showed his true self after being abused by his previous manager.

The changes I didn't care for were the loss of glasses of Tee and Anda. In the manga, Anda starts as a total otaku with glasses. I also didn't like that they improved Anda's drawing because the viewers did not get treated to the really bad drawings done by Izumi.

I prefer this version much more than the Japanese movie. I feel the actors did not have chemistry in the Japanese version and that some of them were a little too old for the characters.

I don't know if they will film more of this series (manga has 7 volumes) but if they do, I hope they bring back this cast.

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Na, na-na-naaaaaaaaa

Listen, not every show is going to be prestige prime time drama, and that’s ok.
Sometimes, I just want to watch a show with actors I support and I hope it’s not awful.
I wanted to see how KaownahTurbo would fare as leads and I was pretty pleased.
I haven’t seen any source material or other versions of Love Stage so I know absolutely nothing about the original series and can’t say how great or not of an adaptation this version is, but from the trailer and music video, I felt like I had an idea of what this show would be about.
It’s campy, it’s juvenile, it sometimes approaches serious dramedy, but overall is a pretty light and fluffy show.
Some scenes, I fast forwarded through. Some scenes I genuinely enjoyed.

Pros:
The beach/double hook up episode was easily the high point of the series for me.
It’s cheesy fun and silly
I think Film/Tee was a scene stealer/best of the series
Sometimes the B couple was better to watch than the main couple.
The main female character, Aigo, was pretty solid
Theme song is catchy af

Cons:
Definitely a lot of scenes got fast forwarded through
A big cast for so little development or usage of most of them
I defy you to tell me a difference between Oat and Book or Nick and Big (and one of them I had to look up their name)
A tad disjointed/poorly paced but also meandering at times
Subplots would appear and disappear with a quickness

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Cute

I enjoyed this version better than the Japanese version. I did not read the manga, but there were a few things that were kind of left hanging in this version. The comic career of Anda being one of them. I agree with other reviewers that the subs were awful for those of us that don't speak Thai. The re-translating in my brain took a bit away from the story. I liked some of the side stories as well, the chemistry with P'Thee and P'Jet was pretty good, if a bit confusing for a while. There were some really funny and silly moments, and sad and sweet moments. Overall a good in between live-action manga show.

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A dreary mess

The source material for this is an OTT whacky comedy-fantasy, but for some reason this was produced as a drama. The Anda analog in the original is so cute it drives everyone crazy, and half the joke is that he's totally useless. For example, his drawing is so awful that people aren't sure if it's the work of a small child or something abstract that they don't understand. Ryo is so blinded by love that he that he thinks it's really good - again, humor. Lala isn't a person, she's a manga character that Anda fantasizes about all the time (not sexually - she has superpowers and fights evil).

Jet is basically Darth Vader and everyone is scared of him (he's still a good person underneath), and it's Ryo that hates Tee, not the other way around (they're both narcissists and Tee always steals his spotlight - it's major to the plot).

Anyway, nobody ever really sticks to the source material in BL, which is usually a good thing, because they're different media. But the problem is that the original Anda isn't a realistic character - he's not really a character at all, he's more of a plot device, like Ryo's marble. It doesn't work in live action to have a character that is terrible at everything, so they just made him mildly bad at some things, and he never really gets to do anything except look petulant. I also wonder if a story with undertones of pedophilia and incest is the best basis for adaptation.

In this series, which suffers from a terminal case of Penultimate Episode Syndrome, the dramatic tension builds up to intense homophobia (a real bummer) and everyone huddling in tears to a montage of happy times together and a sappy ballad. In doesn't fit the tone of the story. not that anything could, because the tone is so schizophrenic. There are outrageous things thrown in, like Bank's cartoonishly evil and gluttonous manager (so both trans and weight shaming), but these don't fit into the dreary seriousness of everything else.

The writing is poor and wanders all over the place, because they deviated so far from the original story that almost all the plot threads were abandoned just so that we could have people crying in Ep 9.

Most of the characters are bland, and the acting is flat, which is directing and writing, not a lack of ability. There are a couple of moments where you can see how talented Kaonah is, but mostly he just looks mildly confused. This is another case where the soft-focus filter is so cranked up that everyone looks wholly photoshopped. There might have been oscar-worthy performances in this, but we'd never know because it's all a blur.

There really isn't much chemistry, largely because Anda both looks and acts like he's 12 - you can only have one of those, not both. But it' also the writing. I will say that both couples seriously committed to the love scenes, and high scores for that - they were really good. Bonus points for giving us lots of scenes with Film in a muscle shirt or no shirt - he's so hot you almost have to look away.

I can't recommend this series - I was excited to see Turbo & Kaonah as a proper couple, but this was a disappointment. I would love to see this cast in a better production.

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Idk what I just Watched..

I think a lot of people might've liked this cause of the Japanese version, or maybe they're big fans of the Love Stage Manga. Maybe it's because the show stayed pretty authentic to the book, or maybe because they are deeply connected down to the roots of these characters after following them for so long. But for me, someone who hasn't done any of the former, this was chaos thrown into a blender to create a cohesive series, but they left out the most important part of the drink, and now we're left with a terrible aftertaste that we can't get rid of.

Let's Dive In.

This was...something. I went into this pretty exciting cause I had seen some pretty good reviews and comments, again, could be that those were the ones that just love Love Stage for what it is, but anyway, I went into this with some pretty high expectations. All of them besides a few were let down. Love Stage is the story of Anda who was forced to play a girl at a young age for a commercial and meets Ryou, his castmate. Years passed, and for whatever reason, Ryou just can't get that "girl" out of his head. Until he finds out that little girl was actually a dude, and goes through a mid-life crisis. Some shit happens and then it's happily ever, bonus is the brother and his secret love with their family manager.

Now we'll skip the authenticity sake of this series cause I've never read the mangas and I have no plans to. This was just a wild manga to adapt into a series if they were staying true to the original story. It could've one-hundred percent worked for the book, but here, it's just insane. The fact that Ryou, a now-grown adult who has been through the hoops of fame and fortune, is still hung up on a one-time encounter when he was a child is ridiculous. I can't even name to you the kids in my elementary school, much less the people I had crushes on at that age (and I'm only 19). The entire main plot is foolish, and once I was able to look past that, I shrugged and moved on. Then some more idiotic things occur, some of them cute, and others just plain boring, and I pretty much just wanted to skip to see the brother and the manager, the saving grace of this series.

Anda and Ryou felt stupidly rushed. one minute Ryou hates that Anda's a man and hates the fact that he has feelings for him, and then with the flick of the wrist, he's flirting and pretending like he didn't just assault Anda in a bathroom that left his tooth chipped and manhood exposed (that scene...?? was incomprehensible..?? Definitely had to be from the manga cause there's no way they put that into the series and thought, "Oh yeah, this is it!"). Then they had no time to really develop (the one thing that was getting me through the series. I love watching the build-up to the relationship), but then they go and rush for them to be in a relationship, and after their sufficient in that, they just become insufferable and the plot becomes too predictable, and I mean tooooo predictable. To the point that I skipped episode 9 and just went straight to the ending, and look at that! Exactly what I thought would happen happened!

The acting is just not all that great besides Turbo and the brother, everyone else could use some work. Kaownah was okay at times, and then it just wasn't clicking anymore. The friends were straight trash and the fake laugh that Bank give somewhere in the first episodes completely turned me off, and I actually wanted to like him. The manager was okay too, nothing great, but at least he was more appealing to look at. The parents were fine, Lala was bearable, and I skipped that lady manager cause she was perverted and screeched each second she had the time to.

I absolutely loved the brother's and the manager's story. I think the way they implemented it to where the viewer starved for more, and for just a second when we thought we weren't going to get a canon, boom, they reveal their secret relationship. I love a good secret, especially when it comes in six-packs and tattoos. I loved Thee's charismatic side and the way he played the protective older brother. While trying to secure his brother's happiness, he also had to go looking for his own, which he found in his manager. Man, I really liked this duo, they fell flat a few times, but their trip on the beach was the best part.

Great bed scenes, great kisses, something I will always applaud to. But even that got a little stale after a while, and Anda having the body of a 12-year-old didn't help much either. I'm tired of touching on non-con in BL, so it is what it is, and I'm moving on for the sake of my own sanity.

Ratings:

Story: 6.5: The beginning was a bit fun, I could play into the laughable plot for a bit, and then I wasn't really feeling it. Once they get together (which is heavily rushed) things get boring and predictable, and then I doze off and forget I'm even watching. I skipped an entire episode cause I could care less about the main couple and it just got so boring that I thought I would drop this at one point. The brother's story was cute. Anda makes for a beautiful bride, and evil Bank honestly counts as a highlight.

Acting: 7: Ehh, Turbo was their best bet, everyone else needed more workshops. The parents were okay I guess, and the brother and manager had a cute enough story that I wasn't all that much bothered with their acting, although the brother was actually good. Anda's friends were talking robots the entire time, and tried too hard to be funny, it came off forced and unwatchable.

Music: 7.5 - there was one song that played during their sequence at the beach that I absolutely loved. I watched this on YT where for some reason, during a few episodes, the music is cut out, so after that, I didn't bother remembering to listen. It was decent I guess, the brother couldn't sing to save his life, but whatever.

Rewatch value: 1 - highly unlikely unless I want to watch Thee pop out of the pool in slow motion again on a loop.

Watch this if you want, I wouldn't recommend it, but at least if you watch, the actors weren't afraid to touch one another and weren't afraid to get down and dirty. The story is a mess and not one that I'm particularly a fan of. Another BL that will be long forgetful in like 6 months.

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NOTHING SPECTACULAR, MAIN ROLE IS MISCAST

Turbo is miscast as Anda here, for me. He is supposed to be shy and timid, but he always appears to act like a brat who is always pouting. His acting is very amateurish, too.

In the entire cast, it’s only Bank and Jet who are consistent with their characters. P’Thee is overacting. Ryo is so-so, nothing special. His face has changed since his THARNTYPE days where he played Lhong, the friend-turned-fiend. His wardrobe is tends to be over the top though. And his makeup and lipstick, too.

Chemistry between the two male leads, to me, is almost zero. I cringe when they kiss or have bed scenes. It seems that there is more chemistry between Ryo and Bank.

In the technical department (cinematography, camerawork, editing) and production design, there’s nothing to brag about here. Average. Nothing spectacular, but not too bad either. It’s not “film quality” like ITSAY or CHERRY MAGIC. Music is ok though.

I really wasn’t blown away by anything so there were quite many fast-forward moments.

I’m not familiar with the original story, but I guess this Thai version added more characters. Thai series tend to overload their series with so many characters so the tendency is to have the story all over the place.

7 / 10

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Toxic Adaptation Removes The Fun.

An unsettling adaptation from both the manga or the Japanese movie. The comedic elements that make the manga and movie work, get twisted oddly in this melodramatic re-imagining. The plot and characters (especially the secondary and tertiary characters) are all over the place and poorly written. I only got through these 10 episodes by watching at 2x the speed and fast-forwarding in addition to that.

General Spoilers below.
There is so much toxicity in this series. Everyone treats Anda like sh*t and emotionally manipulates him. He's always made to feel like he should say sorry when other people are the ones out of line. Parents are abusive (forcing him to do entertainment work when his stage fright is so bad that he can faint or get fevers) and his brother is massively controlling and secretly installs a gps tracker on his phone. Ryou does become supportive eventually but before then his actions are disturbing.

The way Ryou forcibly removes Anda's shirt to make him "prove" he isn't a girl is so wrong. And he NEVER apologizes, instead turns what happens in that scene into a way to coerce Anda into doing a photoshoot with him- knowing it's going to trigger his anxiety but wanting to make him "conquer" it, which is also the wrong way to go about that (and Ryou doesn't apologize for that either). Ryou non-consentualy kissing Anda repeatedly when he's sleeping is uncomfortable enough in the Japanese movie but at least they try to keep the tone light and only do quick pecks on the lips; though it's tasteless, it's kept as a joke. In the series, Ryou very seriously fully makes out with Anda's lips while he's dead asleep and it is flat out creepy.

The makeout scene in Ep 6 part 4 and love scene in Ep 7 part 3 are passionate (though the characters have drunk a lot for the first one). Sadly, that's the best thing to say about this series.

There's more that is uncomfortable/unsettling, silly, or frusterating with this series, but I don’t want to waste any more time on it so I'm ending my review here.

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If not for anything, watch it for Kaownah

I just completed binge watching the series. I must say Kaownah's acting is off the chart!

Personally I am super impressed with him because he was able to be in character in the numerous series he acted. He was a 'maniac' as Lhong in TharnTyre, a 'free spirit' as Song in Nitiman and a smitten celebrity in Love Stage. You can see and feel the love he, as Ryou, has for Anda. I don't know if Kaownah's look was due to the different years the 3 series were shot but I must say, he looks gorgeous in Love Stage!

I despised Llong in TharnType but simply adore Kaownah in Love Stage. That speaks volume of his convincing acting.

I like Turbo in Nitiman but as Anda, he came across as immature and irritating at times.

I definitely must mention that Ryou/Anda and Tee/Jed making out concurrently in the hotel rooms. It was hot, hot, hot! Someone get me the fan!

The chemistry between Ryou and Anda was indeed good. Probably KaoTurbo being an actual couple contributed to it. I also enjoyed the stolen moments between Tee and Jed.

Love the parents except them trying to force Anda doing stuff he hates! I believe the father knew about Tee and Jed given the way he advised Tee when Tee was facing difficulties writing new songs.

I don't want to spoil it too much. Just watch the series without comparing it to the Japanese and anime version. You will enjoy it.

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