Paint with Love (2021)

Really good series but why it isn’t that popular – an analysis!

I want to be clear from the start so I am going to tell you that Tae Darvid is my ultimate Thai person, so I will try to be as objective as I can. However, if you feel that I am playing favourites with him please let me know! Now, let me take you on a journey. I am going to review the series and point out some mistakes that didn’t help the series to be more popular and have more people talking about it. But before that, we must acknowledge the elephant in the room, and sorry for the following microaggression, but…

Can we all agree that the so-called rooster was a fuc***g CHICKEN? Like wtf? Do I not know animals? Is this an intended joke? Why didn’t they use a rooster? Plz help me… Don’t get me wrong I love Teriyaki (the chicken-rooster) but it must have an identity crisis. Here is what I think Teriyaki is thinking 24/7:

«Phap says that I am a rooster that knows how to have a slow-life and crows at 10 in the morning to wake everyone up”, Teriyaki thought. “But at the same time, they are eating the eggs that I lay”, Teriyaki continued his thinking and started to question its own existence. «Am I a rooster, or am I a chicken? »

CHARACTERS

Our main couple is Maze and Phap. Maze is the president of his company, is a money motivated person, and mainly uses his head to make choices. As his social status suggests, he has an extravagant lifestyle, wearing expensive clothes, living in a luxurious apartment, and driving a costly car. In addition to other rich BL characters (from other BL series), he is greedy with money and will do anything to have a bigger profit. He doesn’t carelessly spend money, and most importantly he will take advantage of every situation in order to gain anything. On the other hand, Phap is a carefree artist that specializes to abstract paintings. He is the exact opposite of Maze and uses his heart to make decisions. He is not rich, he believes in himself and his capabilities, and he loves nature and animals. He loves animals so much that he has three animals’ pals, Poco – a lizard, Steven – a cockroach (yeah, you read that correctly), and Teriyaki – a chicken-rooster with identity crisis.

The second lead couple is Nueng and Tharn. Tharn is an actor and Maze’s best friend (along with Nae). He cares for his friend’s emotions and is rather mature, soft spoken, and kind-hearted person. He is the balance between Maze and Nae. While Nueng is… Is it too soon to make this spoiler? Well, I am not going to tell you who is Nueng right now because it’s a massive spoiler, and you might not want to know that. However, if you keep reading my review you will eventually learn who he is. YOU WERE WARNED! Anyway, for now I will tell you that Nueng is a handsome actor, with a calm aura that everyone is jealous of.

The other supporting characters are the “As You Wish” gang, the employees in Maze’s company. The leader of the pack is Nae, Maze’s and Tharn’s best friend. She is not a company’s employee, but she is sth like an investor – or vice president, according to her – who helped the company when they were in need. Next, we have Noona, the mother of the gang; she has a colourful personality and is loud (“I am soooo confuseeeed”); Ruj, the workaholic one, who is complaining that has too much work, but always delivers on time; Kuea, the talkative one, and Elle, the quiet one, who becomes talkative when drunk.

Last but not least, we have the managers. Phueak is Nueng’s manager, and Pookky is Tharn’s manager. Between these two a “hate” relationship exists, as both do their best to promote their talent. However, Pookky uses “dirty” ways to get Tharn more famous. I loved and laughed with every scene with the managers.

PLOT

In the series we follow the storyline between our main and secondary couple. After a weird event sequence, Phap (played by Tae), the carefree artist, ends up being in debt to Maze (played by Singto), and to pay back his debt he is hired in the company. However, their polar opposite personalities and lifestyles, make their everyday friction difficult… at first! The aversion for each other could be seen, as they don’t address each other by their name, and they don’t use the honorifics “P” or “Nong”. Instead, they mainly use the informal way of saying “You” in Thai.

In the series we get to see how Phap is the first one to open up to Maze and how he does everything that he can to get the other person’s attention. Maze and Phap throughout the series learn more about and from each other. The artist teaches the young boss that relaxing is mandatory, that relying on other people is not that bad, and that living in the moment is important. However, the most crucial thing that Phap helps Maze with, is Nueng (more for that on “My opinion” section).

ACTING

I would like to start with Singto. To be honest, I don’t follow Singto that much. I have only watched SOTUS and SOTUS S with him (fun fact SOTUS was my first Thai BL series). In SOTUS, I was fascinated by his ability to use his facial expressions, and boy was I not disappointed in Paint with Love. For me, this series bring out the best of Singto and with the combination of funny scenes we have an amazing result. I know that I might not be in the position to say this because this is only the third series that I have watched with Singto, but this is my favourite series with him. He was sassy, angry, confused, mad, sad, and desperate when he needed to be, and trust me when I tell you that I believed him in every scene.

Moving on with Tae, I know that I said that he is my ultimate Thai person, but dude I am not a royal fan. The only series that I have watched with Tae is 2moons the series. DON’T CALL ME A HYPOCRITE! I really like his personality in real life that is why he is my ultimate. I was really happy when I learned that he would finally have a lead role, and I was not disappointed. In the series he plays a character that is quite different from him in real life, and I must admit that I really enjoyed his acting here. He portraits a handsome, goofy, confident, and a straightforward character, in a comedic way, which I loved. However, there were a few scenes in which his character was sad, and I was like “TELL ME WHO HURT YOU BABY!!!!”.

Regarding the second lead actors, everyone did an amazing job. Yoon and Yacht were able to captivate me in their story and you could see them grow together, be more open about their true feelings, and try to distinguish their work and personal life. You could see and feel Tharn’s (Yacht) internal dilemma on whether he should be honest to Maze about his feelings for Nueng, but not wanting to hurt his friend… Yacht did an amazing job there!!! As for Yoon, he was able to share his worries, concerns, and feelings for both Maze and Tharn. To be honest, I felt that everyone had a great chemistry with each other in the series, which is amazing! I think that my favourite for the other cast was Maengmum. Honestly, I love her! Her acting skills are off the roof, and she deserves every award ever! PLEASE GIVE HER A SERIES ALREADY!

MY OPINION AND THE MISTAKES THAT KEPT THIS SERIES FROM POPULARITY!

As an overall, I have a positive opinion for this series. The first thing that I really liked (beside the casting), was the fact that the story wasn’t developed in a university. I don’t understand why the majority of Thai BLs need to be in university, but I really enjoyed the change of environment. Now the second thing that I really liked, was the fact that even though Maze was rich, he was actually greedy and didn’t belittle the value of money, in addition to other series where usually the rich person doesn’t care about money at all. While another thing that I really liked was the lack of product placements! You don’t understand how much I despise straightforward product placements in series; however, here we have none of it, which I loveeeeeed!!!!

Another thing that I really liked, was the real interaction between the main couple. You know, something that I disliked in the other BLs is that they present false expectations on how two people flirt. The other series portray the couples in a cool way, and they only show us the handsome, jealous, confident, side of the characters, while in reality this is not true. In addition, in Paint with Love, we get to see how an emotional and touching scene could be “changed” by one of the characters. For instance, there is a scene in which Phap and Maze are talking about squids, and you hear Phap saying something deep regarding catching squid and how he does not enjoy doing that. For a moment you can see Maze softening up to Phap and looking at him with puppy eyes, but when Maze gets to say something to Phap, the later eats a squid and destroys the moment and atmosphere between them. Don’t get me wrong, but I love it. I feel that this behaviour is closer to reality, and I love it when it is shown in series. Take your always right, and correct behavioured characters, I will stay with the truer moments. Furthermore, you could see the dilemma that Maze had. He really liked Phap but he believed that the artist was someone lame, who wasn’t at the same social status as him. That is why he couldn’t openly say that he liked Phap and that he wanted to be him. Occasionally, he would bring up a wall between them and making more difficult for Phap to bring down that wall. In my opinion, Singto’s acting was on point in every scene. You could see his emotions through his eyes. He is an exceptional actor. Well done!

As for something that I didn’t like, was the story changes. I must admit that I haven’t read the whole novel, because I couldn’t find it anywhere with an English translation, but I must say that there is a huge difference in the novel and the series storyline. Before I elaborate more on the difference between these two, let me make the huge SPOILER right now. Nueng and Maze are stepbrothers since they were young boys, after Maze’s father married Nueng’s mother. That was the spoiler. Honestly, at first, when I was only watching the series, I thought that Nueng and Maze were ex-lovers, but I was wrong.

Now, let me go back to the main difference in the novel and the series. In the series, the two brothers fight with each other at an older age (when Nueng is trying to apply to university), while in the novel the brothers fight at a younger age, when Nueng was in Junior High School, after his mother’s death, for which he blamed Maze for. I feel that they should had followed the original approach and show us the true fight between the brothers, because this would explain Maze’s acting in front of Nueng in their adult years. In the novel it was stated that the two brothers were very close, and they cared for each other. Especially Maze, he adored Nueng, and he loved spending time with him; so, when Nueng blamed him for his mother death (whom Maze loved like his real mother), he is devastated and due to his really young age he cannot entirely understand what happens.

As someone with an older sister, I can tell you that I understand Maze’s actions in his adulthood. He is awkward, goofy, and trying too hard to be liked and acknowledged by Nueng. His true feelings come to surface when he is drunk, and he asks for Nueng’s approval and attention. Those are true actions. I remember when I was younger, I was doing the same thing and I was trying desperately to get my older sister’s attention. That is why I feel that they should have kept the original fight reason between them.

Now the second thing that I didn’t like was the lack of accessibility to the series. Actually, in my humble opinion, I feel that this reason was the root cause of why this series wasn’t that popular. You could only watch the series in GagaOOLala, by having a subscription, or in illegal websites where the episodes were uploaded in a few hours. However, there were cases in which an episode could take up to 4 days to be uploaded in any site with English subtitles. All of you know for which episode I am talking about! Episode 6…. It took approximately 5 days for the episode to be uploaded in Dram***ol. That didn’t help the series to build a momentum and have a loyal fanbase. Now, don’t get me wrong, but when I learned that the series are only available to a subscribed website, I knew that it wouldn’t be popular. I don’t want to use other Networks or Companies names, but it is important to look at what your competitors are doing in order to create your business and strategic plan. I believe that in this case this step wasn’t implemented. The majority of BL series that are currently on air, are offered for free on the official Youtube channel of the company that created the series (e.g. Bad Buddy was available with English subtitles, every Friday, on GMMTV’s youtube channel); while Paint with Love required a subscription. That was mistake No. 1.

Mistake No.2 was the lack of promotion. Pffffff… This series could have so much potential! The company could have created a promotion campaign to make this series more popular and to have fans to anticipate for it. They could use social media on their advantage, and arrange live streams with the actors and interact with the fans, or they could create funny compilations with behind the scenes videos (at first they did upload a few behind the film videos but they were too short), or they could have the actors appear to multiple shows (TV shows, radio shows, or social media shows) to make the series more known to the public.

Lastly, mistake No.3 was the inconsistency in the English translation. Before judging me and telling me that I should be grateful that we even have translation for the series, I will tell you that I know, and I am grateful for that. But please don’t underestimate the power that international fans hold. If I don’t perform research on the target audience on the BL series, I won’t be able to know for sure where the watchers are coming from; but from small research in the comment section of different BL series that are posted on youtube, the majority of watchers seems to be international fans. While watching Paint with Love, I felt that there were many scenes that didn’t make any scene, due to the poorly translation, and that kept me from fully understanding a point. I am not sure if I am the only one who had this issue with the English translation, but again something was not feeling right.

BONUS MISTAKE: I am not sure if any of you felt that way, but there were some scenes that didn’t make any sense because there was no built up. I just felt like they said, “Okay this is what we wanted to say in this scene, now cut!”. For example, in the business trip were Nueng was injured, we see that Phap was also injured but he didn’t say anything to anyone. And that’s it... There was no outcome from this incident. Why didn’t he say anything to Maze? Why was he so sad that day? He was the one who helped Maze make it up with Nueng. Did eventually Maze learn about his injury? WE DON’T KNOW!!!! And that’s bothering me! Another example is when Phap took a bunch of bananas to the office, and he handed them to Nae. THAT’S IT!!! NOBODY ADDRESSED THE BANANAS EVER AGAIN! WAS IT IMPORTANT FOR THE PLOT? WE DON’T KNOW! DID THEY EAT THE BANANAS? WE DON’T KNOW! For me a scene should have a purpose; an introduction, a climax, and a connection to future scenes! Anyway…

That’s it! Please let me know if I missed something, or if you disagree with my review! It is a shame, but this series could have been more popular than any other BL series that were aired at the same time!

P.S. GIVE THE STYLIST A RAISE!!!! EVERYONE’S OUTFITS WERE ON POINT AND I LOVED EVERYTHING! THANK YOU P’STYLIST!!!

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Everything Feels So Unearned

The way I would describe this drama in two words is 'wasted opportunity'. It could have been good. A simple premise. Good actors. But it fell apart before it could get off the ground. The writing is a big, big problem.

So, I went into this drama for Singto (fickle I know, but I feel like most people did so there ya go). The trailer looked promising. The premise was simple, light-hearted and sweet. I love art and draw and paint a lot myself so I also thought I'd enjoy some of the art side of things too.

But, writing, writing, writing. *shakes head like stereotypical disappointed parent* (am childless tho...)

The writing of the characters and the plot is a big problem. It's so poor that I'm actually not sure where to begin.

Let's start with Maze. Who is he? As in what are his external motivations? Money, just money it seems. That's fine. What are his internal motivations? I haven't got a clue. Like at all. What is his backstory? Dunno. He has this step-brother who he argued with once upon a time and never resolved the conflict with (for literal years, like huh?). That's it. What are his dreams? His fears? What does he love? Hate? What makes him feel comfortable? Uncomfortable? Safe? Lonely? Bored? In this script he is a one-dimensional boss who wants money, money and more money. He is not at all fleshed out and his whole character changes in the blink of an eye without any development or substance of character.

What about Phab? If you look at the comments on here everyone loves Phab and loathes Maze for the most part. I dislike both. Phab is as much a walking one-dimensional stereotype as Maze, it's just his stereotype is more likable. Phab is an artist. In spite of being enormously broke he can still afford expensive art equipment and a nice place to live. He can afford food and other necessities for himself and his various pets. He also, simply out of a bit of a dislike, tries to refuse well-paid work when offered. Bruh, come on now. Don't be stupid. I really dislike this stereotype of artists and other creatives that they just don't care about having enough money to live (and somehow get by happily and comfortably). Being broke and being in debt is f*cking stressful. It's not a personality trait. Who is Phab? What are his external and internal motivations? He needs to earn a bit of money (although he seems mostly chill about this). That's it. That's all. What is his backstory? Who knows, maybe he is from the moon. His fears? Dreams? What makes him feel happy? Sad? Disgusted? Lonely? Bored? Who is he?

All of the other characters are not at all fleshed out enough either, but I can't be bothered to list it all here. Most are more consistent in personality than the two leads however.

Each episode of this series is predictable and unsatisfying. It is the same arc each time. Phab and Maze are in conflict over something (usually a small misunderstanding or miscommunication). At some point near the middle they are on good terms (usually unprovoked, they just are, for some reason), either sweet romantic moments or some sort of friendly situation. Then a short while before the end of the episode there is another conflict (usually a small misunderstanding or miscommunication), this then carries through into the next episode where the cycle repeats. There are a few episodes that stray from this but not many. It is a tedious viewing experience as the arc is incredibly unsatisfying.

I have just finished watching episode 10. I cannot afford a GagaOOLala subscription right now and am cancelling so I'm reviewing as I take a financial pause from GagaOOLala. Please bear in mind I'm writing this before the ultimate conclusion of the story.

Let me rewrite the overarching plot for the two leads to make the series better (according to myself).

The series begins with the first episode largely as it happens. But you see Phab has a part-time job at university teaching an evening class for art students. With this he can pay for art equipment (like I said, it's expensive, stop sh*tting around) but it doesn't support his living. Maze comes to meet Phab and offer him the work. Phab declines. Maze leaves, annoyed. A while later Phab comes across a stray animal who is injured. He takes it to the vet. The vet treats the animal and tells Phab he needs to pay for it. Phab hesitates but calls Maze. He says he'll do the wedding job if Maze pays for the animal's treatment (and the original amount). They negotiate and come to some fair amount. At the wedding Phab brings the animal. It causes havok and Maze and Phab have a similar argument to the one seen. Phab gets the job with the pay from the series and starts working at the company to pay Maze back and keep up the ruse.

As time goes on Maze and Phab bicker but we see Phab trying to work well with everyone (like in the series now) and Maze's work ethic. At some point Maze and Phab argue about the work. Phab isn't being serious enough, according to Maze. Maze is unforgiving and brutal, according to Phab. Towards the end of this argument Maze falls ill (fainting or getting dizzy or whatever) from overworking. Phab stays with him and insists he rest. Maze insists he has to work. They argue. Eventually Phab leaves but calls the VP character to stay with Maze at the office. There follows scenes/montage where Maze is overworking and Phab is noticing. Phab asks around but everyone says this is just Maze's way. After a bit of professional success the team go for drinks (like in the series). While a bit tipsy Maze gets annoyed with Phab and complains about his way of working. He then starts to talk about his own backstory. He is from a family that struggled financially. He had some sort of issue that made his parents' financial struggle worse (illness, injury whatever). He blames himself for this and feels that he caused their early passing with the stress it put them under. He is now used to overworking because he distracts himself with work and it makes him feel like he is repaying his parents or becoming more like them and their hardwork or something along those lines. He also keeps his distance from others because he's afraid of burdening them. He doesn't like when people don't work hard because it feels like an affront to his most important values. He feels personally disrespected.

Phab still draws Maze (this is still the small conflict from the series cause it was entertaining to me).

Following this information Phab becomes more considerate of Maze. He starts to bring him a nice drink at the office on occasion and pays attention to his schedule. He takes the job more seriously and becomes a bit more mature in the workplace. In an effort to encourage Maze to stop working so much Phab encourages Maze to come and spend time with the animal they both saved (and invites him to his art class in the evening). They bond over this and talk about work and their personal goals/fears/pasts etc while together. Maze talks a little more about his family and Phab begins to open up about his. Phab doesn't know his parents but he grew up financially secure and stable raised by an aunt and his grandparents. He is still close to his aunt, but lies a little about being financially fine so she doesn't worry. His grandfather died a while ago and his grandmother is ill. Money he inherited from his grandfather he spends on his grandmother's health. He learned to draw growing up in order to give comfort to his grandfather, who had dementia and would tell stories and forget them soon after. He drew them so that there would always be images of his grandfather's memory, even outside of his mind.

They connect over these memories and feelings for family. Both begin to feel romantically for the other, but Phab is more expressive and open, whereas Maze is wary and reserved. Eventually they sleep together and begin dating. Phab is open, Maze is discreet. This begins slowly to cause a little conflict.

Phab starts to feel like Maze is pushing him away. He tries to talk to him but Maze freaks out and closes off. They argue and stop speaking for a while. When Maze decides to apologise he overhears the job offer for Japan. His immediate feeling is one of fear and he tries to stop it from happening. As they forgive each other from the previous argument and Maze and Phab begin openly dating etc Phab then takes Maze to meet his aunt and grandmother. Here they learn of Japan and are encouraging. Phab is hesitant and reluctant cause of Maze. Maze realises how much of an opportunity this is and starts to encourage Phab to go.

They then do long-distance for an epsiode or so. In the ending they reunite in Thailand a while later. Phab has an exhibition on in Thailand and has got work in Japan designing posters and covers etc which he can do from Thailand.

Maze has learned to have a work-life balance. Phab has learned some maturity and adulting lessons.

In my version Nueng would be a childhood friend of Maze's. They still had the same argument cause Maze was overly dependent of, and possessive over, Nueng. It was around the time his parents died and Maze felt abandoned by Nueng. He later regretted the argument but didn't apologise because it was too connected to those horrible memories, so he buried it and remained estranged from his closest friend for years. Although he accepted he was in the wrong, he was also always hurt that Nueng never reached out afterwards either. There is no jealousy plotline with Nueng at the centre. Conflict with him is work-related and whatnot. His relationship with Than evolves similarly to the series just with fewer bs games. He doesn't try and manipulate Phab and is always polite to him.

This series needed fleshed out characters, with room for development, which is satisfied through the story. Just because it is a light-hearted premise and story does not mean your characters get to be superficial in their characterisations, all one dimensional and whatnot.

There are so many individual scenes I love. Any sweet scenes between Phab and Maze are great. The bickering, especially at the beginning, was entertaining a lot of the time. I really like the side characters. I like a lot of the humour (which is rare). But there is no narrative to this series really. It doesn't flow. The pacing is tedious. It is often like you're missing all of the information for the character motivations. It's annoying. This could have been such a nice, enjoyable watch. I enjoyed scenes, not episodes, not the whole series. I enjoyed the scenes as independent experiences. So it wasn't all bad, but it is a sign of a somewhat incoherent story/plot. They should be trying to tell us a story, led by characters. Instead they show us scenes with the characters on puppet strings just doing as they're told with no motivation or substance to them at all.

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This show isn't popular - and for a good reason

This show turned out so bad that my brain feels rotten after finishing it.

First off, what was even the point? Like, you get great cast, veteran actors who KNOW how to act, but instead of giving it a good script, a good writing and good directing with GREAT music and sound design, you give it horrible script, terrible writing, what is even directing? And an atrociously, extremely horrible OST with sound engineering that feels extremely amateur and unprofessional.

I'm not going to lie, in the first few episodes, I was willing to ignore the faulty sound execution, because, of course, Singto - god bless that man. If it weren't for him, this show would get a zero rating. Like, literally, these 2.5 stars are just for Singto alone. You can't even blame him. If you think about, he played Maze extremely well, because I hated him so much throughout the whole second half of the series. I didn't think anybody could be that annoying, but Maze takes the cake. Good job, Singto, seriously, good job.

But, even him couldn't save the unbearable script and the path this show took.

1. "Misunderstanding"

Okay, I just want to ask... why? What was the point of making the whole show's plot point the misunderstanding where EVERYONE thinks Maze is in love with his STEP BROTHER?? And why the hell was that only resolved in the last episode? There were so many moments were it could've been said and pointed out that that's not the case. Maze could've said it a million times, Neung as well. Instead, we were left with an empty dialogue, sentences uncompleted, stupid, dramatic plot points just to not get this thing over with. Communication in this show just doesn't exist and, I must say, after finishing Bad Buddy which has such strong emphasis on communication, it was just unbearable to watch. I can understand like a moment or two, but a whole show based around the same miscommunication point? Yeah, no, you cannot sell me on that. Plus, I cannot understand how Maze and Neung had no problem with everyone believing they are together, or were together, especially their romantic interests, when they are BROTHERS?? What is wrong with them like seriously?? Neung could've also just easily been his ex then, if they wanted to go with the jealous trope. Why add the brother thing? The whole thing is just waste of time and space, that's it.

2. Dragged-out plot

This show did not need 12 episodes and it shows. They dragged out the whole plot so much that, by the end of it, I wasn't even sure where we started, what was the original plot point, and where we are now. Like I already said, they dragged it out with miscommunication so much that it just felt so forced. I feel like they didn't have material to make 12 episodes, so they took what they had for like 8 and just decided to drag it out as much as they could. It didn't keep my attention, it made me extremely annoyed, it made me want to pull my hair out.

3. (Unlikeable) characters and questionable morals

It's not even about having characters that you are not supposed to like, so you hate them on purpose and you applaud actors for playing such a good job. No, it's about having characters that you are supposed to ROOT for but you cannot make yourself do that because all of them are so dislikeable, especially Maze. I want to rip the head off of Maze's head because that dude has so many miscommunication issues, the personality so bad and it doesn't change throughout the series at all. He doesn't grow, doesn't learn from his mistakes, doesn't follow the advice from people around him. And I would maybe be fine with it if it was done with the purpose to show how not all people change. But no, it's done in a way where we're supposed to like him. We're supposed to relate to him and root for him and Phap.

Which brings me to the next issue, which is: questionable morals. Specifically, the scene where that dude I forgot the name of beats up Than's manager and all of that is spun in a narrative where the manager is a bad person so they deserved it. Social media is used to show the narrative of how the manager is bad, and everyone else was right in beating them up and standing and just watching that scenario. What's worse is that all the characters HELPED in orchestrating it and presenting it in that way, even recording a fake video to prove a point. All of that was, of course, run by Maze himself. You might think it's a good thing because it shows how easily people on the internet can be manipulated with. BUT NO. That wasn't the point at all!! The whole purpose of that scene was to show how that guy who beat the manager up didn't deserve to be "falsely framed" and that he did nothing wrong and how Maze is the hero for saving him. Eww.

4. Chemistry

The chemistry was just bad - plain and simple. There was no chemistry at all, especially between Maze and Phap. I felt nothing for those two, nothing. Even their "sweet" moments felt extremely boring and plain. That last scene, when they are kissing will forever stay engraved in my brain because there's literally a foot of space between their bodies, WHILE they are holding each other and it's so hilarious and sad at the same time, it made me laugh while holding back tears from the cringe. I'm not even making this up, it's that bad. Not to mention that the whole jealous and miscommunication trope ruined things even more for me. Because if you're that bad at communicating with each other, there's no way that the relationship will ever work out.

Neung and Than ain't any better for me. Neung is also so dislikeable and just comes off as a bad person throughout the whole series, and Than is like the most boring character to ever exist. He has no personality whatsoever besides liking Neung and getting jealous of Maze and Neung (even though they are STEP BROTHERS) and that's it. That's literally it. Plus, that kiss of theirs wasn't even a kiss. I'm not even sure their lips touched at all.

5. Music and sound engineering

And now we've come to the most important and irritating thing for me - and that's the sound and music. First off, I didn't think anything can annoy me as much as the music they used could annoy me. I swear to god, they use the same 3 tracks every time and it's at the most random and unfitting times that it just hits you like the most unpleasant brick and you're just supposed to go with it. I started to hate every single sound and song used in the series because they just don't fit and are so incredibly annoying.

And when it comes to sound engineering... You know, I thought I'll be able to handle it. The first two-three episodes I was able to sort of ignore it, but then everything just became unbearable. I'm sorry but whoever was doing the sound is clearly bad at their job. You can literally hear when the audio track of the characters speaking is added, and when it cuts off because at the same time the background noise disappears and then comes back again. Like, what the hell?? Who thought that was good? Plus, some audio files are obviously such bad quality that you can barely hear some of them. I don't know if I've ever heard the sound being done so bad in something that was supposed to be professional setting.


In conclusion, the only thing good about this show is the cast (thank you, Bruce for showing up and being the only good thing about the last two episodes), everything else is just a whole lot of crap that should be avoided at all costs.

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Almost Had It

Paint with Love was so close to being something so endearing and worthwhile, except, it throws itself under the bus after a good handful of episodes. This entire thing was just a roller coaster ride and one that you desperately wanted to get off of after the first drop. Some characters were likable until they continued to repeat their same mistakes and others were just such a nuisance that I continued to skip their scenes. It felt like we got somewhere, and then in the next episode, we'd take 20 steps back. The inconsistency and the lack thereof cause a shift in the overall mood of the series, and it sways you from wanting to finish versus trying to finish.

Let's Dive In.

I was happy to see a new BL that didn't follow down the usual paths we see. No uni students, no overplayed tropes, no bitter ex-girlfriend, no top/bottom slews, The characters were mature, career-driven, had the compacity to live like adults and work like one too. and I was excited. The overall mood and feel of the series was different too; a good type of difference, one that I was willing to accept. Singto plays Maze, this very stern workaholic serious about his company. A work inquiry requires him to hire an artist, Phap, who is the complete opposite of Maze. He's easy-going, laid-back, does what he wants, not what he needs. Their dynamics clash, causing drifts over and over again, until eventually, they realize how much they really do need each other.

Let's start off with what I really liked out of this series: I liked everyone's compatibility in the office. I never really disliked the scenes that consist of everyone. They were the funnier parts, the parts where I could tell the cast outside of their characters, got along very well.

Maze and Phap's intimate moments were handled very well. I liked how I didn't have to sit through chaste kisses, or awkward touching, it was genuinely a joy to watch. I enjoyed how the camera focused on their expressions, taking a moment right before they kissed to collectively draw in how much they wanted to touch each other. Excellent job.

Weirdly enough, I think I liked the dynamic of Kuea and Elle way more than I did with Tharn and Nueng. We didn't see too much of a build-up with them, similar to Tharn and Nueng, but watching Kuea being a shy mess around Elle was precious. When he finally does confess his feelings, I caught myself smiling. A good job indeed.

The wardrobe department did an excellent job, including the set designers. My favorite setting was Phap's house. You can see how detailed they were at making sure each thing matched his personality perfectly. The suits on Singto looked so nice, the outfits on the female characters were also a good touch. A big clap for those parts of the crew. Something I don't usually shout out, but the title sequence was gorgeous. Instead of skipping it, I found myself watching it each time. Someone really added their arm and leg into that thing. Really nice.

Moving on to what I wasn't so fond of: Obviously, Maze and Phap. I felt no chemistry whatsoever. I felt two characters who continued to bicker and bicker, which led them nowhere. When they do kiss for the first time, while a beautiful moment, it didn't bring anything out of me. No excitement, no butterflies, no nothing. it didn't feel like we were building up to anything, there was no climax during that kiss, there was no meaning behind it. Phap's sudden liking to Maze felt forced. Where did it come from? and What caused you to like him? Was it his nasty demeanor? His constant criticizing? I will say that it gets better by a couple of last episodes, but it's disappointing that it takes that long to get there. I wish the screenwriters would've done more. I think the connection between Singto and Tae wasn't really there. Whether that was because they were brand new to each other or not, we'll never know, but everything felt oddly one-sided. Like Tae would give it his all, and then in the next episode, it would only be Singto giving it his all. I think a better connection between them could've created a better form for their characters as well. On top of that, I didn't like how argumentive their entire relationship was. It's cute at the beginning, but by the end, it's tiresome. It felt like they would say one thing, and in the next moment, they're insulting each other. This happens multiple times and caused me to use the skip button more frequently.

Moving onto my next argument; the acting. I think my favorite was by far Tae. He did an amazing job at playing Phap. His charismatic side, his charming side, his dark side, all of it was so well. I loved how he was able to do such a good job of expressing himself. Singto, on the other hand, didn't feel as authentic. I want to blame it on the screenwriters, but part of me knows that's not the problem. Singto does a great job at expressing his emotions through his voice, but his face and eyes tell a different story. I don't know, I just could never really believe what he was playing. Instead, I kept seeing Singto and not Maze.

Tharn and Nueng were cute but that was it. They had no time for a build-up. So when they get together, you're just like, "awe, cute" but that's it. Nueng was a weird character for sure. I didn't like how he treated Phap, and I won't take the, "I-was-doing-this-for-you-so-that-the-guy-you-like-can-realize-his-feelings-for-you" crap. He was mean, the way he treated Tharn wasn't all that good either, but whatever. I've only seen Yoon in Y-destiny and Close Friend (cause I literally can't sit through YYY) and from what I've seen, he's not terrible, but could definitely use some work. He was used here as a pretty face, a "BL" celebrity, if you will. with some more work, he could definitely be better.

Ratings:

Story: 7.5 - Not as strong as it could've been. Some good points, but it's all taken over by the other not-so-good stuff.

Acting: 8 - Tae takes more than half this score. some others I liked were Yacht, Elle, Kuea, Sprite, and Nae. Singto and Yoon were probably the weaker links.

Music: 7 - Seemingly enjoyable to listen to. I liked watching the title sequence, which is where half this score is coming from.

Rewatch Value: 1 - Got to move on. This series was also incredibly long, with some parts being extremely boring, so there's no chance I'll rewatch.


Do I recommend this? Eh, kind of. If you love Singto or Tae, then yes. If you don't know who either of them are, then probably not. It's a long series to sit through, especially with some parts being slow and boring. If it were able to tackle some of the problems I bring up, then I think this would've been a very enjoyable series.

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A work in Art

Wow this drama was really cool, and funny, and totally awesome. For me the two characters that made this drama was Ne & Phueak, these two were amazing evening though phueak didn't get much screen time, as for Ne well she was down right hilarious as always.

So this was a really good series and everything flowed through really well, the main characters were well matched and the chemistry between was on point, the art work thrown in was a good twist and a nice change then the normal BL we get to see. I especially loved the whole animal scenes poko and Stephen then we added the chicken into the mix I am glad they made it to the end of the drama and not end up in a pot (LOL). Our main couple is Maze and Phap. Maze is the president of his company, is a money motivated person, and mainly uses his head to make choices. As his social status suggests, he has an extravagant lifestyle, wearing expensive clothes, living in a luxurious apartment, and driving a costly car. On the other hand, Phap is a carefree artist that specializes to abstract paintings. He is the exact opposite of Maze and uses his heart to make decisions. He is not rich, he believes in himself and his capabilities, and he loves nature and animals. He loves animals so much that he has three animals’ pals, Poco – a lizard, Steven – a cockroach (yeah, you read that correctly), and Teriyaki. They coming together by an accident that Maze was doing is what started this funny series. Then Ne is thrown into the picture, although she doesn't have any significant role, but her comments and attitude is what makes this series so entertaining.

The music was not so great for me, nothing that will make my playlist.

Overall it was a good watch.

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Cute But......

This series was overall good. However there are some things you should know before you watch it. The story line is lacking a real story if that makes sense. It reminds me of the slice of life dramas were its moving but not a lot. the characters stay true to themselves they don't change or grow much. I really like the overall theme . Its different and one of kind. Since most boy loves take place in similar places. This series takes a refreshing look at work place romance in a way most people haven't done before. I like that the main drama doesn't involve cheating. I like that it included straight and gay couples that the others accept.

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a beautiful and colorful story

This series has something special and positive about leaving the usual theme of young couples in the university environment or in the phase of self-acceptance. It's about two adults whose problems have more to do with their own insecurities. combining an artist and his world with an entrepreneur and his world gives it an interesting balance. the use of color linked to the artist is a very prominent resource and also gives beauty to the series. Tae acting is already a luxury, he is so special. and let it be Singto, then double luxury. different is that the chemistry between them does not flow naturally although the scenes are brief in that regard. The secondary couple Yoon /Yatch non-existent chemistry. I expected the series worse because of some reviews but it's good and it's nice to watch with those well-shot graphic novel sequences. the music is not invaded and is the emotional reinforcement of the scenes. beautiful and recommendable to see, if only for the aesthetics and the two great actors Singto and Tae Darvid who star in it.

Edit: it should be noted that in a final chapter there is a fight between him and her the artists' manager and it is a shame how violence towards the female manager is shown, even appealing to the fact that she is a woman and defending the aggressor who is not in that there is gender. the worst thing is that the artists look impassive as if nothing happened. that scene could be deleted because having mentioned the antipathy and fight would simply have been enough but it destroys the relaxed character of the series and is absolutely despicable

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A Repetitive Jealousy Story

This show really had the potential to be great but the execution of the story made it hard to love. I think the characters could have been very enjoyable to watch and at the start they all were. Unfortunately, after we got halfway through the series it started going downhill and from the ninth episode onwards it became a complete trainwreck.

Acting:
The acting in this show was absolutely amazing. It was really exciting to see all the actors from BLs we had seen in the past. We had BL royalty Singto, but we alsosaw actors from shows like Until We Meet Again, Love by Chance, Y the Series, Together With Me, Oxygen, The Shipper (sort of BL), and Lovely Writer. I really wish Bruce had played a bigger part in this show. The actors portrayal of their characters was fantastic and even though I didn't like some of the characters their chemistry was great.

Additionally, the chemistry between Singto and Tae was brilliant and it's probably the main thing I liked about this show. Yoon and Yacht were really great too and I wish they got a bit more screen time. It was great seeing Yacht acting in a BL couple as a more introvert person, as much as I love seeing him play more playful roles.

Camera Work and Editing:
The overall production was fantastic. The filming quality was extremely high. The show was beautiful to watch and the colours were fantastic. It was also great to see the beautiful art produced. The camera work was really great and helped in telling the story to the audience.

Writing:
The writing in Paint With Love was all over the place and is what I'm going to discuss the most. Paint With Love has a good premise. I love to see non-college BLs. Using art and painting as a big part of the storyline was very original. Initially it was meeting my expectations, Maze and Phap had the opposites attract thing going on and we also had an workplace story going with all the accidents. I was hoping to see both Maze and Phap make each other better people and see them tackle the work place. Unfortunately we didn't get that.

The writing really struggled to make me feel emotions that were trying to be conveyed. For example when Maze in episode 11 felt sad that Phap had left to Japan, it was almost like we were meant to feel sorry for him, but I honestly couldn't garner any ounce of sympathy for him since he treated Phap like shit for most of the show. Another example was Nueng's attempts to make Maze feel his true feelings by saying awful things about Phap. It really felt like an attempt to make him like some hero but he just came off as a prick and bully. Worse yet Maze never defended him.

Another issue I had with the writing was Maze's character was so inconsistent. He had three different personalities in this show - the professional stoic one, the kind sweet softie, the cunning guy (in episode 11). Also there was no development to each one. Basically the writers picked which ever one would serve their purpose for each scene. Unfortunately this lack of consistency made Maze annoying because half the time I was thinking why is he behaving like this now.

The misunderstanding conflict plot lines were the most annoying and overused part of the show. The main one being Maze and Nueng as lovers which was used countless times to drive a wedge between Maze and Phap, and Nueng and Tharn anytime any of these couples made any progress. Keeping the misunderstanding plot going, got in the way of any development of the romance and the characters. Maze was still quite a selfish prick even up until episode 10/11 and Phap had barely changed too. Any real development appeared to happen in episode 12 and this was limited. This made for an unsatisfying resolution when the couples did finally properly get together.

I think there would have been potential in the sabotage plotline a bit further and got rid of the repeated jealousy scenes. I still want to know who took out Nueng with that jetski.

Extra Note:
I want to talk about episode 11 because it was the most confusing. Episode 11 felt like a completely different director took over. We saw Maze and Nae break the fourth wall which was weird to me because the director hadn't chosen to engage the audience in any previous episode. Then we had this sort of deviation of Maze, Nae, Tharn, and Nueng tackling Pookie even though both were broken hearted. I have an issue with how transwoman are used in BLs. It seems all too common to vilify them. I was also disappointed that the way they took Pookie down was not by proving she is rips people off but finding out she sexual assaulted. It really ruined the suaveness of the Maze and Nae take down.

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Had so much potential but fell through for me

Note: I did not read the book so I am just going off what I saw from the show.

I am actually sad I am giving this such a low score than I wanted to. I had so much hope for this show and really liked the first few episodes. That being said once there started to be a pattern of the same dilemmas and misunderstandings it became dragged out. I love the story idea of a painter and a businessman. I find that to be such a great idea for a story.

However after episode four I started to get bothered by how the drama was going. Episode four was probably my favorite episode. The cute moment Phap and Maze had on the beach was a really great scene to show them develop (also think it was my favorite kiss scene in the show). But for some reason after this episode it seemed like things were going backwards? Like in terms of their feelings/communication/other.

Maze was being quite hostile towards Phap multiple times really without any reason to. Only till the last episode did we really get to see it was because everyone he loved has left him. There was no clear fluidity in this drama. The side couple just added nothing much to the drama other than Nueng being Maze’s brother. Honestly the side couple would of been good if they focused on their moments it felt like boom they automatically liked each other because we never saw the development.

A lot of things you were confused on in this show that they could have elaborated more. Lots of holes left filled with unnecessary arguments or other scenes. This show was 12 episodes long and there was just so much more they could of done with how much episodes there were. Too many cuts from different scenes in different timelines that confused me weather there was a time jump or something.

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I'll push and pull you up this hill, but you'll always take few steps back

This drama has weak and decent moments, like every other drama these days, but mostly is filled with filler scenes. The story was alright, but the toxic part of it is really boring at this point. Every second drama at this point brings in the toxicity troop into the relationship between the leads or the second couple. As a drama that portrays adults in a working environment, there are a lot of childish behaviour which after the first few episodes it gets boring and annoying.
The acting was nothing special. It felt like there is more to be done about that part. Neither the main couple was amazing at it, nor the side characters. The screen play was fine for the most part.
Even though this drama has more than decent actors, everything felt like a low-budget drama with rookies.
Really had high hopes for this drama, but as it progressed it became more and more annoying. Especially the relation ship between the leads- annoying, toxic, at moments felt like its pointless, no meaning... even though there is some-what decent chemistry between them, it felt all forced at moments. The love triangle was really unnecessary between the main couple and the side character. Extremely pointless and worthless. Most pf the scenes you are going to skip.
If you want to watch this, give it a go, but for me it was a major disappointment.

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PROCESS BY PROCESS ROMANCE

The story doesn't kick off with the most intense romance but you can be certain you wont be disappointed.

Watching the trailer I was very much in love with the two main leads especially Singto and now with the progressing moments the lead couple's love story starts to gain momentum.

You can feel the sincerity of the actor's emotions and slowly by slowly you find the couple loveable much as some of the intimate moments to me feel shallow I am still expecting that things would get better slowly and perhaps the characters might mature in the later episodes.

The series is full of funny moments and much as the story tends to wander far away from the original employer employee affair, you slowly get captivated in the tiny moments in a whole the series is less romantic and more funnier.

Definitely the series to get you through a heartbreak because primarily it's love is one which transcends all boundaries.

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I LOVEDDDDD IT

Gonna be honest, I had this for so long in my to watch list that I was't going to watch it anymore but I'm glad I did it because it was damn worth it.
Tae has doing an amazing job as an actor, this show and triage were both amazing.
I don't really need to mention Singto, he's such a great actor, the way he cries is a bless ahahaha
It was amazing to see Maengmum in another project I really missed her chaotic characters.
I really enjoyed this show, the story was amazing, I think the only thing that I didn't liked was the way that Phab was always waiting for Mazze with open arms even when Mazze was the guilty one.
I loved the fact that they didn't focus only on their gay romance but also in another "taboos" like how hard is to be famous, s*xual harassment and love between people of the same family... they also talked a lot about ART and I loved that.
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They did an amazing job making this BL, it really was worth it to watch.

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