La Pluie (2023)

RAINED ON THEIR OWN PARADE

T'was actually good until they decided to rain on their own parade - and when it rained, it poured.

Started out well. It wasnt perfect but lets say it was light and enjoyable and it was a breath of fresh air compared to the second-rate concurrently aired Thai BL (oh no I will not confirm or deny that I'm talking about Step by Step). The fantasy premise was intriguing and new.

The cast were all perfectly good looking. - i fell in like with Pee, its as if he was plucked from a Korean show and like he is always glowing, I already love Title in My Only 12% and im glad he finally got a starring role (also the main reason why i watched the show). Suar - i just love Suar, he is so lovable as Tian! I loved him im Youre My Sky but here he was even more adorable. Copter is gorgeous! I was also hoping to see more of Dream and although it was too short, her budding romance with Nara looked promising. ! I also appreaciate the fact that to some extent almost no one is made intetntionally annoying.

The pacing is alright, I was actually surprised when the main pairing happened quite quickly in the first few episodes without too much fuzz.

It was a perfect cap off to a busy week. I even considered it a must watch that I even subscribed to Iqiyi after watching the first episode just to see the episode earlier.

Leading to the 7th episode, I get the sense that the series was written a little blandly, and true enough that's when the series turned 180 degrees and decided to check all the tropes. Episode 8 and 9 were acceptable, and then the dreaded obligatory breakup episode 10 and 11 were things turned to crap.

First of all, both Pat and Sengtai's actions leading to the break-up scene were both very out of character, and I strongly feel that they were unnecessarily added just to make it more dramatic.

Second, I'd argue that there are still so many things to explore regarding their relationship and the phenomenon that they were in - I wanted to know more about them being soul mates - what was so special about Tai's family, and all the characters who were given this gift. That alone could be a throve of stories to explore. The makers are marketing it as an almost fantasy series so why didn't they sell us that mystery. And oh my, do I need to emphasize my jaw-dropping annoyance in one scene where one shout literally rid them of their connection to their soulmates.

I couldn't buy the soul-mate thing of Tai's parents. I just cant see the chemistry between them, and to be honest, the reason for their separation doesn't feel huge enough to break an enchanted love.

I am also sad that they ruined Lomfon.

Lastly, the last episode was so uneventful and uninspiring that I almost didn't finish it. I can't even fathom why they spent quite a long time with the new couple - what's the connection to the overall plot. They got more screen time than Patt in the finale, they even have their own flashback scene. And when the leads finally meet again, did you also notice how blank Patt's face is?

Against everything I hated, I also loved a lot of things. Overall its an uneventful 7 for me. Will I re-watch - not a chance.

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A master class in bad writing

This series had so much potential - a talented cast, good cinematography, scenic locations, and everyone involved was giving it their all. This is all wasted on a terribly written story. It's as if they were about to start filming and realized they forgot to get a script, so they sent an intern to go grab the first thing they could find on Wattpad.

The story leans heavily on the implausible-misunderstanding-caused-by-showing-up-at-just-the-right-second-to-misinterpret-something-causing-them-to-drop-the-token-of-affection-they-were-bringing-and-walking-away-sadly trope. If they were to show up one second sooner or one second later there wouldn't have been a misunderstanding. This happens many times, in every case a simple conversation would have cleared it up, and characters never learn from it and make the same mistake over and over.

Everyone behaves wildly out of character to suit plot points. Tai becomes a lying cheater, and the gentle veterinarian exhibits horrific violence. The discussion forum didn't seem to have a problem with this, presumably because Lomfon deserved to be savagely beaten for being a confused teenager. That there were absolutely no consequences to the violence is astonishing and disturbing, and Lomfon neither presses charges nor has even so much as a scuff mark after being the target of what can only be described as attempted murder. Again, lazy writing.

Lomfon, who is so emotionally constipated that he can't tell Tien how he feels, suddenly bursts into a long monologue, while Tien has just stormed off from seeing Lomfon's film, which explicitly and unmistakably showed him how Lomfon feels about him, yet he says he doesn't understand what Lomfon was trying to say with his film. Seriously?

People in general don't act like people. Patts doesn't seem at all surprised to see Tai in Chiang Mai and stands there expressionless for the entirety of Tai's long soliloquy.

There is an enormous number of extraneous characters that materialize out of nowhere, have no effect on anything, then are never seen again. In the finale, the friend who gives advice to Lomfon claims to be a close friend to both him and Tien, but we've never seen him before, or at least I can't remember him. He and most of these characters pontificate about love and life with the profundity of a motivational poster.

In the last episode, in a long and completely pointless sequence, Tai runs out of gas in front of a nice man's house. The man tells him it's very difficult to find gas in the area and that he should spend the night. His girlfriend shows up then they have a long conversation where the couple tell Tai the story of their love. In which THEY HAVE A FLASHBACK. Almost the whole flashback is a random character giving a long expository dump to a friend. The next morning Tai drives off, presumably having filled the tank with his overflowing love. None of this has the slightest effect on the story.

Perhaps most confounding of all, you can just sever your soulmate connection, which negates the entire story, the plot of which is based on destiny - without that, this is just a pile of stupid coincidences, like Tai's grandmother living next door to Patts since his childhood, and he and Tai even communicate by notes and kind acts to each other, but never meet. Really? Tai shows up at the precise moment to misunderstand Patts being kissed by his ex, but never ran into his actual soulmate for 20 years despite his living next door?

That's how awful and frustrating the writing is.

I loved the cast. Title is much improved, Pee is as good as ever, Suar is charming, and Copter is the MVP with a fantastic performance as the repressed Lomfon. I hope to see them in something better than this series.

I can't recommend this. I gave it a 5 because the cast was great, but unfortunately there was only enough material for three episodes and the rest is a jumbled mess that will cause you to dislike all the characters. Except, apparently, Patts, who is consistently called a big green flag - I guess becoming so enraged by jealousy as to try to beat someone to death isn't the red flag I thought it was.

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forecast looks cloudy

if you are expecting depth, a nuanced storyline, or even chemistry, this is not it.

the attempt to break the soulmate trope was a swing and a miss. this could’ve been introduced differently, but I also saw the potential in their idea, it was just bad writing like usual.

the storyline suffered a lot when the (valid) dramatic reaction to seeing patt kissing his ex just ended up being them confessing again. I also was not a fan of the overtly violent reaction patt had since he literally hit his boyfriend too. that was a game ender for me personally.

I didn’t see any chemistry here, at least not the type that fit the storyline. it’s a shame since I really wanted to like this series.

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La Pluie is a show for the mature bl audience

Let me just say this upfront because there seems to be some confusion in the reviews here: the most important thing to understand about this show is that it is not, in fact, a soulmate romance, but rather a direct subversion and dismantling of the soulmates trope. La Pluie is a brilliant little show with tight writing and clearly laid out themes, and most viewers who are disappointed with it seem to be reacting more to what they wanted the show to be rather than what is actually is.

This is a show about the importance of choice and putting in the work in your relationships. It’s a rebuke of romantic fantasies that fate and destiny will take care of your love life. It is directly in conversation with the romance genre and the way it can warp our perspectives on love. There are no villains in this story - just good people trying their best and sometimes making mistakes anyway. It emphasizes that we need to communicate and treat our partners with respect. And it says that while some kind of fate may be at work to give us opportunities in life, what we choose to do with those opportunities is what actually matters.

The show is excellent - writing, story, pacing, directing, editing are all confident with no real wobbles. There are some less experienced players in the cast but the acting is all around up to the demands of the script. Pee and Suar in particular are very impressive and really rise to the occasion when the time comes for their characters to light up the screen. The romantic pairs also have fantastic chemistry and the show makes the intimacy scenes an important part of the relationship development - there is no fan service or fluff in this show.

This show is really meant for a mature audience that wants to think more deeply about its themes, and that can handle emotionally mature characters who tend to resolve things via quiet conversation rather than high drama. It’s not the typical fluffy bl that a lot of the audience prefers, so I’m not surprised that it didn’t resonate for everyone. But if these themes are of interest to you, and if you are someone who likes to see couples actually be in relationship with each other and work through their issues, I cannot recommend it highly enough.

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Promising take on ‘soulmates’, cringey execution

The whole soulmate / destiny thing is horribly cliched unless the plot is properly thought through and executed.

I couldn't get myself to like Saengtai and Patt either. Saengtai is a petulant, somewhat unreasonable individual, and always in need of rescuing. His fight with Patt was a product of his poor decisions and even poorer communication, exposing the fragility of any relationship built on “destiny”. Also, their relationship was really cringey.

The side couple, Tian and Lomfon, turned out to be more interesting and in my opinion, more compatible than the main couple.  Their conclusion is not one that’s unexpected, but the writing could have been a lot smoother.

Verdict: What was this? The plot had potential but the execution was just awful.

Full review: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/2023/08/05/la-pluie-2023-bl-review/

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La Pee-ew

La Pluie started off promising enough with an interesting concept and characters that worked within that concept, however, it quickly snowballed with ridiculous, unnecessary drama that contributed nothing to the story and eventually concluded by ghosting one of its leads for almost the entire episode. It could have been much better than it was if the creators had a more solid grasp on what kind of story they were wanting to tell as well as how exactly the "disease" that is central to the story works. As it is, it just strays into the absurd and eventually loses any kind of credibility. This is one drama that almost isn't worth the watch because the script is just so bad.

The concept of rain related deafness was interesting where the person is unable to hear anyone except their "soulmate". It's not well explained or really developed medically, but at least initially that was fine. You have Saengtai and Phat who have experienced this hearing loss for at least two years at the time the story starts and they are soulmates. However, due to his parents divorcing, Saengtai doesn't believe in soulmates any longer and actively ignores Phat whenever he tries to communicate with him. The problem here though is that Saengtai had the hearing loss prior to his parents' divorce, but Phat talks about how Saengtai never really responded to him. If Saengtai lost his belief in soulmates after his parents' divorce, why wouldn't he have responded to Phat before that? It's not a great start when there are already holes in the story from the get go. Even with the holes, I was willing to look past that because the concept was still interesting if not well planned out. And I liked Phat and Saengtai initially. The fact that both of them were determined to defy their destinies and then ended up falling for each other in the end was cute. There was a decent build up and I liked their interactions. What ended up killing it for me was throwing Lomfon into the mix. The drama that created was unnecessary, particularly suddenly having Lomfon develop hearing loss while it rained and hearing both Phat and Saengtai, which it was conveniently exempted that he evidently heard both of them. From there it was just a constant back and forth of misunderstandings that was tiring to watch. The final episode sent Saengtai on the hunt to find Phat and we spend almost the entirety of the episode Phat-less which was certainly a decision. He finally shows up with about 5 minutes remaining and they make up and everything is great. Throughout there's the side couple of Saengtien, Saengtai's younger brother, and Lomfon who start to develop feelings for each other, but it's complicated by Lomfon's feelings for Saengtai as well. Basically everything gets very neatly and conveniently wrapped up and leaves you wondering why it took so long to get to that point as well as feeling like nothing was really gained.

I do feel like a lot of issues would have been cleared up if the parameters of the whole rain deafness were defined. This is supposed to be a medical condition and yet there is absolutely no rhyme or reason to how it works and I lost interest in the idea of it as it was manipulated to forward the story. Lomfon, who has feelings for Saengtai, doesn't seem to have a chance because he's not Saengtai's soulmate until he very conveniently develops the hearing loss and can hear both Saengtai and Phat which, again, it is never addressed or explained that he seemingly can hear both of them, he just focuses on the fact that he can hear Saengtai. They also talk about how it's not possible that they can hear more than one person which makes it seem like this is a complete anomaly and again, isn't that just convenient. And then when Lomfon and Phat start fighting over Saengtai, all Saengtai has to do is yell that he doesn't want this destiny and suddenly they're all cured? It just completely strayed out of the realm of plausible within the confines of the story to the absurd and took away any and all credence it had to begin with.

I started out overall liking most of the characters, particularly Phat. They each had their own distinctive personalities and I was hopeful that there was going to be some real character growth, but I was frankly disappointed the farther along we got. Besides manipulating the rain deafness to suit the story, the characters also became a casualty of this manipulation so we ended up with several of them acting very out of character to suit the drama that the creators wanted.
-Saengtai was one of my least favorite characters from the get go, but I also found him interesting in his decision to defy his destiny. I didn't approve of his treatment of his mother and his childish behaviour regarding his parents' divorce. The fact that he laid the full blame on his mother and evidently made absolutely no effort to understand why his parents had reached the point of concluding things were not going to work out was frustrating the more that got dragged out. The fact that his parents had to basically sit him down and explain things in detail that really didn't feel like they should need an explanation was ridiculous. He was old enough that he should have been able to figure a lot of that out himself. Aside from that, I also found his passiveness to be frustrating as the story progressed. Things that seemed like they should have caused a reaction didn't and especially after he and Phat broke up, he was just far too calm about everything. I really didn't feel like he actually cared that much. And then there were other times he just made unilateral conclusions without waiting for any kind of explanation. All in all, he came across as quite selfish and self-absorbed at times. The decision to have him lie to Phat about meeting up with Lomfon was what felt out of character as he did it not once but twice. Considering his character up to that point, it didn't feel like something he would do. The events that followed could have been completely negated if he had simply been honest, but then where would be the drama?
-Phat started out pretty perfect. He was friendly, kind, compassionate, and an all around good guy. He was incredibly patient and considerate with Saengtai, he communicated and communicated well both with Saengtai and with his ex, Nara. Even with Lomfon he was initially polite. He was an absolute breath of fresh air. And then Episode 10 hit and his character went up in flames. His reaction to finding out Saengtai had lied to him and finding Lomfon kissing him was to beat the crap out of Lomfon. Um, what? The sudden aggressiveness that permeated his every action that episode was completely out of the blue and out of character. And he never shows any real remorse for those actions. He never apologizes to Lomfon for attacking him nor does he apologize to Saengtai for going off the rails. It's all very neatly swept under the rug. He later goes to try to make up with Saengtai, sees him talking to Lomfon and immediately interprets that as them being together and decides the best course of action is to disappear. We see him in Episode 12 for a grand total of about 5 minutes during which he mostly stares blankly at Saengtai while he monologues. It's a disappointing ending for the character.
-Saengtien is Saengtai's younger brother and I quite liked his character. He's a loveable, mischievous brat and I absolutely loved his relationship with Saengtai. I don't recall a good explanation being given for why he and Lomfon are at such odds initially, other than they are very different people. Lomfon is obviously more introverted and Saengtien is much more extroverted. I liked the way that Saengtien's attraction to Lomfon was developed as it felt natural. I truly felt bad for him when he saw Lomfon and Saengtai kissing and his reaction and his behaviour afterward felt justified. His obtuseness though when Lomfon showed his video didn't quite fit. He's not stupid so to have him play dumb felt out of character. I could understand him being hesitant to accept those feelings after what had happened, but to not get that Lomfon was confessing his love for him didn't work. The ending too where he suddenly develops hearing loss was ridiculous. I don't know if they're shooting for a second season or what, but that was completely unnecessary.
-Lomfon left me feeling conflicted regarding his character. On the one hand, I liked his interactions with Saengtien and I liked the build up of their relationship. And initially there was nothing wrong with him liking Saengtai because at that point, Saengtai was single. His continued pursuit though of Saengtai even after he had entered into a public relationship with Phat was over the line. At that point, it didn't matter if his feelings were conflicted as to whether he liked Saengtai or Saengtien. Even with developing the rain deafness suddenly and being able to hear Saengtai, the fact that Saengtai was already in a loving relationship should have told him that he was now off limits. His continual pushing of the matter made me lose a lot of respect for his character. And while I was glad he did apologize to Saengtai, he also owed an apology to Phat which he never does.

The acting was overall decent. I liked the chemistry between Suar and Copter. I felt it was lacking more between Title and Pee, but I think that's in part because there were times where it felt like Title forgot to emote and his expressions were just dead. They did have their moments though, just not enough to be consistent. Aside from the last episode where he just seemed devoid of any real emotion which felt out of place, I liked Pee's performance. Suar was great and I was impressed with his chemistry with everyone he interacted with. Copter was a bit wooden at times which worked to an extent with his character, but I did feel he could have given more.

There were several elements that were thrown in without much explanation that really didn't contribute much to the story. One of the main ones being that both Phat and Lomfon had history with Saengtai without any of them realizing it. It's revealed that Phat's grandmother used to live next door to Saengtai and he and Phat had communicated for some time via notes passed back and forth over the fence, however, conveniently they never saw each other which feels a bit implausible, but at this point it's better to just go with it. They both essentially see it as a further connection confirming their soulmate bond. But wait, then we find out that Lomfon also has a connection to Saengtai since Saengtai saved him from being hit by a car. And apparently that one brief encounter made Lomfon fall in love with the stranger who saved him so Saengtai is Lomfon's first love which doesn't make sense to me, but again, we'll just go with it. The only purpose it seems to serve is to attempt to give credence to Lomfon's feelings for Saengtai as if, besides his sudden hearing loss, the fact that they have history puts him on more equal footing with Phat. The developing relationship between Nara and Dream came out of left field. On the one hand, I'm all for it, but on the other hand, it didn't feel like it got the attention it needed to really make sense. It felt like Nara moved on from Phat far too quickly. I love the idea of them, I just don't feel like it was well executed. Also thrown in, in the last episode no less, are a couple who help out Saengtai when he runs out of gas. He stays with them and we're treated to this random couple's whole story which felt out of place. They get more screen time than Phat does in this last episode.

This was essentially a drama with an interesting concept and a decent cast that was just completely let down by the writing. It started out well but really went downhill during the last couple of episodes and the ending was disappointingly anticlimactic. Frankly, this is one drama that you're not going to be missing out if you skip it. There are other better dramas that have been released recently that I would watch first and leave this as more of a last resort if you have nothing better to do or watch.

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Twisted a Serious Medical Condition...

To accept this series, you have to buy into its core belief or concept. This core belief was a functionally based condition that I simply could not wrap my head around either logically or scientifically. Apparently, for some individuals with ‘sudden sensorineural hearing loss’ when it rained, you lost your ability to hear but could still communicate and hear your ‘soulmate’. While I am all for ‘poetic license’, this was carrying something real so farfetched that it simply is not believable whatsoever. Even if it were remotely possible as a medical condition, you would not suddenly develop it nor suddenly lose it as the series implies. I am all for ‘fantasy’ but this one I had a hard time wrapping my head around. Even as a good story. And therefore, I could not. So, I stopped trying.
The true issue here is the lack of communication, not some misused medical condition that sounds fanciful. Not a particularly good or interesting series except for the character of Lomfon.

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Did it raise my expectation?!

I dived into the show with no expectations at all but damn did it raise my expectation? Oh hell! it did. It started pretty good but it fell short towards the end. The whole premises of soulmates and hearing loss disease was so unique and I really liked the overall premises and even enjoyed the episodes. But then it messed up a tiny bit in episode 9 and totally in episode 10 with all the drama rising and the whole Lomfom coming in between. Damn I love Lomfom and more so Saengthian. I felt so bad for Saengthian. I was like come on Lomfom look around how can you not notice a sweety like Saengthian mahn. How can he not see? Confused? He did all that because he was confused. I don't know. I mean it was so clear then it was all over the place. Saengthian deserves better. Anyway they got together in the very end and I won't lie it did make me smile. I had been cheering for them for ten freaking episodes mahn. Then, we have the main couple, Phat and Saengtai, their chemistry surely is off the charts. Damn those stares, kisses and smiles it had me smiling. But the whole writing messed it up with that unnecessary drama and it totally felt like the soulmate thing meant nothing. It broke so easily that it left me pondering on what I had even watched. Moreover it just happens, just like that. For instance that end, the freak was that even hinting to. I don't know anymore.

Overall it's still a series worth trying but honestly only till episode 8.

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unique premise let down by writing

Overall: this could have been a 10/10 with solid writing but the writers wrecked the plot and the four main characters in episode 10 except Tien. 12 episodes 45 minutes each. Note: La Pluie means The Rain in French. Airing on iQIYI .

Content Warnings: punches

What I Liked
- a unique premise
- sweet moments
- couple funny parts
- pretty good consent with stopping in the middle, but realistic offering to do something else (except did not like the "can't hold back" in ep 10)
- how the brothers have opposite personalities and how Tien gave some solid advice, Tien was my favorite character (best line "talking to you is a waste of a good mood")
- Tai's dad
- supportive friends
- NSFW/kissing were decent
- GL (but introduced too late/underdeveloped)

Room For Improvement
- episode 10 ruined most main characters, they all somehow became more immature than Tien
- cliche plot points (the ex girlfriend and Nara had way too much screen time, how characters just happened to be at the right place at the right time and see misleading things and then storm off, etc)
- an exposition dump for most of the world building and then convenient/poorly done world building later on
- though episode 2 was nice from Patts perspective, it re-told too much of episode 1
- sound stuff (music during a serious part was comedy like, no noise at the bar in episode 3, awful gulp noise)
- episode 4 discovery was very anti climactic
- too many flashbacks
- unrealistic things (why is Tai always wearing sweaters in very hot Thailand?, he couldn't have walked very far, it took a whole night for a car to reach them? neighbors never ran into each other?)
- how they characterized the mom as it more of her fault (who was the breadwinner and likely trying to get 4 kids thru school without crippling debt) as the flawed one and the dad didn't have any flaws
- Tai was too immature to be in a relationship, I understand that even adults can be traumatized with their parents divorcing but walking out of a certain something was the nail in the coffin for his character's ability to be in a relationship
- what Lomfon did could be seen as manipulative and embarrassing instead of romantic, which he had talked to Tien beforehand instead of afterwards
- crying without tears
- I took a half point off my review for the nonsense at the end with Lomfon and Tien

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Rain that Dried Out

To be frank, I must admit that as the story progressed it just got worse. The beginning of the story was refreshing, and the storyline intrigued me, particularly the concept of two soulmates losing their hearing during rainfall, leaving them only able to hear each other. It's quite an endearing concept. The idea of having someone to communicate with on gloomy days and eventually meeting that person sounds incredibly wholesome. I still love this aspect of the story, but I have to confess that towards the end, when they started tampering with this unique element, causing it to disappear and involving Lomfon in all the confusion, it really irritated me. Why did they have to portray him as such a villain?

I absolutely adore Saengtai as a character. He's a loving individual who consistently tries his best, despite having certain traumas that may influence his judgment. This remains evident throughout the drama. His brother, Saengthian, is also a character I adored. He's a pure cutie pie, and the way he protects and wishes the best for Tai was just so heartwarming and had me melting.

I have to admit that I'm not a big fan of Phat though, and this sentiment became even stronger when the climax of the drama unfolded. The way he handled things and communicated with Tai seemed selfish and self-centered, a stark departure from his previous character just a few minutes ago. Moreover, simply disappearing and cutting off contact due to a simple misunderstanding infuriated me. I understand that such misunderstandings are common in these types of dramas, but what happened to resolving issues through communication? It felt like a sudden and out-of-place breakup, especially considering how happy and supportive they were in the previous episode. Really said 'who she? cause I don't know her.' It left me genuinely shocked in the worst way possible.

Despite these setbacks, the acting in the drama was outstanding. The emotions conveyed through the actors' eyes truly immerse you in the story. The quality of the filming was also breathtaking as well, especially when it comes to the settings in which the scenes were shot at.

Overall, if we set aside the unnecessary drama and sudden plot twists, I did enjoy the drama. The concept was unique, and the actors delivered remarkable performances in their respective roles. The message of the drama, emphasizing the idea of loving and being with the one you truly love, rather than conforming to the universe's idea of a perfect match, was both sweet and on-point as well. Love can take various forms, and this message was well-conveyed.

If they ruin the relationship between Thian and Lomfon with that ending though.... the rain will become a river which I will then drown the screenwriter in. :D

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Let the Rain Make a River So I Can Go Drown In It

I LOVE a good soulmate trope, but THIS? My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined. It was set up for success: interesting enough plot, good and known actors, under a big production company…what happened?!

When I started watching La Pluie, my interest was peaked as it follows people in a universe where, when it rains, they can only hear their soulmate no matter if they are close to them or not. I was really interested in the worldbuilding of this universe, but as it took a more surrealist approach, I let it never being explained slide.

To break down this broken narrative, let me divide it into sections:

Chapter I: Plot
We follow Saengtai (Tai), a writer, and Phat, a veterinarian, as their love life unfolds after they meet each other in a café one day. This was a very interesting set up with them starting to like each other but both being unaware of their role as each other’s soulmate. It was a nice aspect for the viewer to have a leg-up on information. And it remained interesting to watch their dynamic unfold, with Tai soon finding out Phat *is* his soulmate, and him facing the complication of navigating this. But, why would that be a complication, you may be asking. Well, that brings us to my biggest problem…the characters! (yes, many of them!)

Chapter II: Characters
Saengtai is our main character. He is one of four sons to a divorced couple. After his parents split, it tore his world apart and it caused him to not believe in the whole “soulmates” thing; resulting in him always ignoring Phat whenever it rained for ~2 years straight. Ummm. Rude. This wasn’t the best opening to Tai’s character, as I have always seen him as selfish for this matter. He held on so strongly to the anger he had for his mother, and he was never understanding of their decision for their happiness. Maybe this is my own experience as a child of divorce coming out, but he was very extreme in his irrational grudge regarding the divorce. And, in terms of him as a soulmate to Phat, I thought he was the same level of poor character.

Phat is a sad result of the third-act break-up trope. Phat was great — he was a walking green flag, even. He was communicative, sweet, sometimes shy but also upfront about his feelings. He was protective and sensitive. You could see he really cared for Tai and wanted their relationship to go far. He dealt with Nara (his ex) decently (wish he didn’t let her kiss him, but it’s ok). And then episode 10 hit, and everything (I mean EVERYTHING) went downhill (just like Tai on that countryside trip).

Ep 10 in short: Phat found out Tai lied to him about where he was, so he went to confront him. After seeing Tai with Lomfon (more on him later), Phat goes absolutely insane and starts plumbing him (Lomfon, a literal college student). I, honestly, stared at my paused screen for a good five minutes because I was so taken by surprise. When I say this came out of left field, I’m saying it came out of left field from another country. After this, Phat and Tai fight (Tai was very rational in this conversation), and then part ways…until Phat shows up to Tai’s place drunk and they fight some more and THEN they break up. *sigh* WHY WHY WHY?? Last Saturday, I closed my laptop with only “what happened?” running through my head.

We don’t get any scenes of them directly interacting in ep 11, and I was praying that Phat would show me *some* reason to find him the tiniest bit redeemable, but I was left disappointed. Sure, Phat was sad, but he was sad because they broke up, not specifically because of how insanely abusive he acted. I have no clue what drugs the writers were on for this last bit of the drama, but I hope they never experiment again.

The aforementioned character of Lomfon is the classmate of Tai’s brother, Saengthian. Initially, the two hated each other, but after some school group projects, they both began to develop feelings. Lomfon hung out with Tai because for some weird reason, he can also hear Tai in the rain (soulmates??) and he wanted to figure out why. He kisses him, and then Phat finds them, chaos ensues. BUTTT Saengthian also shows up with Phat, so he sees his crush kiss his brother…hard thing to get over. In the end, Saengthian iconically delivers this line: “Because I like you, a**hole.”

And this brings me to another issue: Random plot points

Chapter III: Randomness
There were some things I found a bit odd that were just thrown in the watchers face and we are supposed to accept it:
• In ep 9, Tai and Phat were revealed to have been childhood neighbors who helped each other through hard times by passing notes to each other. You’re telling me they NEVER saw the other walk outside of the house? Not even a glimpse?!
• When was Lomfon able to hear Tai and Phat? He mentioned that it was after their visit to the countryside, but he expressed interest in Tai long before that. Was that out of a crush??
• Tai saved Lomfon from getting hit by a car the day his parents divorced…okay…
• Tai and Phat can no longer hear each other in the rain all because Tai screamed, “This f*cking destiny, I don’t want it anymore!” Like…okay, why was it that easy…

Chapter IV: Conclusion
The fantasy element is okay-ish. It is nothing that special, and it rained so. much. to a laughable amount and I began to question if it is really like that in Thailand YEAR-ROUND. The script is honestly mediocre, and the pacing sometimes fell a bit flat. I liked the second leads at times more than Phat and Tai. The cinematography also isn’t that special, but the few countryside eps were pretty.

Overall, I am so sad by how this series is ending, and the bad taste it will leave in my mouth. I already know it’s going to end with the two couples getting together and that’s honestly so messed up. It’s giving Love in the Air…detour!

Love in the Air follows two couples: first is Rain and Payu and the second half of the series is on Sky and Prapai. Both couples are toxic in their own way, but would you guess it, they all end up with each other. Writers need to acknowledge that, for a realistic and more impactful ending (and in this sense/context, a positive one), it is perfectly fine for a character to not end up in a relationship they were building them towards if something drastically changes. For LITA, I would have wholeheartedly understood if Sky told Prapai that he was not ready for a relationship after being mentally and physically harmed by his ex again. For La Pluie, I would understand if Saengthian says he doesn’t want to be with Lomfon if he’s not confident in his own feelings. Or Tai if he is uncomfortable with how cruel Phat acted without even trying to understand him (Phat became a traffic light with a broken yellow light). People change, so relationships and hopes do as well, and it is fine for a character to divert their desires based on their needs.

It hurts me to say, but I honestly would not recommend this series to others. Go watch Until We Meet Again for a soulmate trope, Be My Favorite for another fantasy, or You’re My Sky for more of Suar’s (Saengthian) acting <3

EDIT: i finished. i have thoughts.
• Saengthian and Lomfon- whatever, they can end up together. But it would be very weird knowing my partner had a crush on my sibling first.
• I don't like how Tai apologized to Phat and he didn't even apologize back. Tai was saying he was being selfish...NO. You just had good boundaries, babes.
• LOVE LOVE LOVE Nara and Dream <3
• I was going to actually bump my review up to 5 stars (a result of too much coffee and sleep deprivation), and then the ending with Saengthian getting a soulmate happened and I was like...wait...what are you thinking?? I have no clue if they plan to do a spin off, but I honest to god hope not.

Pinterest plug: https://www.pinterest.com/ed3nelle/drama-la-pluie/

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Like when you're rained on and left wet or damp and unhappy with that feel.

The premise was interesting and the series had a great start with good themes and some depth.

From the second half, it started losing it's interest on me. The pacing, for one, felt inconsistent. Sometimes it was good and other times, it dragged. Too many unnecessary flashbacks. It's not hard to forget something we just saw five or ten minutes ago or even an episode before for Pete's sake. Needless to say, some information could have worked as just being mentioned without the need for a flashback. I'm beginning to think some of these flashbacks are used to just fill out episodes and give a series more content. Episode 12 turned out to be more enjoyable for me than any of the preceding five episodes, which was a good thing at the very least.

The actor who played Tien did a good job and made this whole thing more interesting. It didn't hurt that I also liked Lomfon. I honestly preferred Lomfon and Tien than Phat and Tai. Phat was great, but Tai... I didn't like how the character was played and wish the actor would have been different.

And then there was the communication issues. I hate it when communication problems become the essence of the whole plot and are dragged on til the end. That it took almost the entirety of the drama for Tai's parents to have a talk with him, and even then, it wasn't anything so mind-blowing and was something he understood in fewer minutes than he spent fuming about. I get that they had to use that to fuel the other plot of him not believing in soulmates, but them hinging on that conflict for nearly the entirety of the series made it even more annoying. Since they were subverting a trope, they could have also done this one and have that conversation happen as soonest possible, but oop! then they'd have nothing to hang on.

Also having a gaping plot hole just for the sake of furthering a plot isn't it. It just seems lazy. Given that that wasn't the usual restaurant Tai went to, and it wasn't one they'd been at before and there was no communication of any meet-up to Tai, how Phat knew the exact restaurant to go to to just happen to see Lom and Tai and have his great misunderstanding, so he could quit his job and move out of Bangkok and Tai would have to take us on a tourism trip to look for him, is a mystery. At least he didn't find him on his first day.

It would have been much better if he was just going there and coincidentally happened to see them, but him showing up there with flowers, (and full intention of making up) makes no sense cause it leaves so many questions. Just lazy.

I wish I could have liked it better, especially since they took the subverting a trope direction, which is not often used in bls, but I just couldn't. The director had a good vision, but it wasn't put together so well. Too many annoying things that would undo any enjoyment I'd had and unfortunately, the main cp weren't enough to pull me in and make me ignore those, so really low attraction and rewatch value.

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