Love upon a Time

10/10 - Absolute Masterpiece!

I just finished the finale Episode, and I am honestly so sad that this journey of waiting for new Episode is over. I used to look forward to new episodes every single Friday, and now it leaves a huge void. To be fair, I don't usually watch historical dramas, but this Series completely blew me away. It is easily one of the best series I have ever seen. Before this, I didn't even know JJ, but his performance along with the entire cast was absolutely phenomenal. On top of that, the music and the soundtrack are incredibly beautiful. Everything about this production is just perfect. I am heartbroken that it's over, but at the same time, I cannot recommend it enough. If you haven't watched it yet, please do yourself a favor and stream it. It deserves all the love! 💖

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Historical, Romance, Fantasy? All three genres fit this series perfectly.

If you like stories like this, you won’t find anything particularly new here. It’s the same old tale that’s been rehashed a million times. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes you just want to sit back and enjoy a familiar story done well.

This was actually a very pleasant, beautifully shot, and emotional series that kept me hooked enough to look forward to a new episode every week. The pacing is solid, even though it slows down a little after the midpoint. The characters are easy to like or dislike, depending on the situation.

As a romance, it was mild, incredibly cute, and charming. I genuinely felt that the love between Phop and Klao was real and deep. You could see their feelings in the way they looked at each other, how they talked, how they touched, and how they cared. The teasing, the sweet moments, and the times they showed vulnerability were absolutely adorable. I was really grateful that the story didn’t rely on over-the-top drama to prove their love.
Seeing them reconnect was delightful.
And can we talk about the side characters? Kaew and Jom were the cutest! It was a bit frustrating at times because they just needed to sit down and talk, but I loved how everything turned out perfectly in the end.
Romance aside, I really loved this show for the friendships and the overall warm vibe.

As a fantasy (time travel) story, I understand how difficult it is to do something truly fresh in this genre — and that wasn’t really the main goal here. What mattered more was why he ended up in the past and what he needed to do to find his way back. That emotional core was handled nicely.

As a historical drama, it captured the atmosphere beautifully. It gave me enough detail to imagine the world and how people lived at the time.

Overall, I had a lot of fun watching it. It’s a really good series. My only small complaint is that the miscommunication was dragged out until the very end, and I wish I could have enjoyed their time together in the present a bit more.

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Love never ends

I saw NetJJ in The New Prince with Zeenunew so thought i would give this a try and I am glad I did... The story isn't unique as it has been done before in I feel you linger in the air, (literally the only reason i dropped it half a point on story) but the acting is wonderful and makes this a stand out watch for me. JJ is so likeable, cute and enthusiastic, whilst Net is just so effortless, in the best way. 10 minutes into the finale and i was bawling like a baby, Net is so good at showing emotions, i really felt it. I am so glad they got their happy ever after, as well as the second couple...Kim as Kaew /Pun is so beautiful and Latte as Jom/Thee - I am a sucker for a happy ending. I dont do sad!! I dont feel like it dragged at all and looked forward to it every week.

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A well arounded achievement that will dwell in your heart

LOVE UPON A TIME - Review

Yesterday I finally watched episde 12, the finale, and what a finale it was; one of those, if you went along the dangers, the love, the challanges, the sadness is like a great triumphant ending of a symphony, one of the kind of ending that sticks for you long thereafter.

Since it is the premise that is know Natkun is send back to the time 400 years ago into the Ayutthaya period of Thailand with a task that he needs to bring completion and justice. Net and JJ are the ship as Phop and captain of the guard and Natkun/Khlao, who lives Phob's family household due to previous tragedy.

Personally I admit, I didn't understand why JJ playing so overreating and partially comedic felt so out of place. A GenZ kid suddently in a 400 years before place, I didn't find this overreaction misplaced and giving a bit a fun into an otherwise non-comedy series wasn't even noticed by me until others mentioned it as strange.

Anyway, even if the first or the first two episodes put you off, I am not overstating when I say, LOVE UPON A TIME is one of a few really great BL's, it achieves to be more than even some other great series: it creates a place you feel like you live in it alongside with all the others. Like a not connected invisible person being THERE. And it is especially that achievement that will make a great impact on my rating, since even other great series like Me and Thee or Khemjira, I felt to be great, but only in LOVE UPON A TIME I felt like I AM THERE.

The series managed to balance perfectly between a love story, a crime story and a period drama, where none of the parts loses or overextends at the expense of the other, they are more than balanced, they perfectly intertwine over time. There are many reveals, many very special moments of BL, crime and drama, a wonderful scenic place and cinematography, and good and not intrustive music and each character, from the MC to the Second Couple and the "background" characters, every single one was doing great in their role and place.

I will take this series in my heart as a place I have been, not merely a series I have watched. I know nothing of the actors previously, and I prefer it that way. Sure, there are things of preference when it comes to acting, but I felt all the right buttons pushed and all characters plausible. And that finale of finales! I assume some may have seen it spoiled but I shall do none of the like. If Net and JJ had the stardom level of Pond and Phuwin or Fourth and Gemini, the series would have been even more recognized, but Net and JJ didn't show being any less good in these role, if you ask me.

This with my heart still being somewhat in old Thailand, I comfortably give this a deserved

10/10
Must have seen.

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One of the Best Period Dramas I've Watched

Recently, I have been getting more and more hooked on period dramas. So far, this is one of the best ones I have watched.

I love all the characters and the casting. Everyone fits their roles perfectly.

There are a lot of period dramas and stories where characters are sent to the past. With LUAT, I like the fact that Klao was given a mission to fulfill before he could return to the present, which made the story unique. The plot twist involving Phop being fully aware of what would happen when Nakhun was sent to the past was something I did not expect.

Net and JJ fit their characters perfectly. Their chemistry really shines throughout the series. The same is true for Latte and Kim. I like how their story developed.

Overall, I love the story and how it ended. Kudos to the writers and the production team.

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I went in with high expectations, and I wasn't disappointed.

ACTING: I found a couple of the actors acting to feel very by-the-book, but it honestly didn't bother me; they still did a good job. I particularly liked JJ's acting; I found his energy and facial expressions (especially his smile) to be perfect for a comedy series. This isn't a comedy series, so we didn't get much of that side of him, but you get a good judge of his acting from seeing this and the more serious side that he has for the majority of the show. I'd only seen JJ in "I saw you in my dream" and "The Next Prince" previously and I found his acting very stiff in "I saw you in my dream" which was understandable for his first role, and we honestly didn't get enough of him in "The Next Prince" but based on what little I did see I can tell he's really improved. On a side note, I love it when JJ speaks English, something about it is really cute. JJ & Net really know how to cry.

OST: Was pretty & not overbearing. They went with the mood really well, and the lyrics often matched what was happening in the story or between the characters.

PRODUCTION: Very well done. My only complaint is that there were some moments where we were just staring or rotating around the characters when we could have just moved on, and there are way too many moments where the characters are just standing in silence for too long. Even when we are getting internal dialogue from Nakun, the silence stretches long enough to be awkward.

PLOT: As time-traveling stories go, I think this is one of my favorites. I like how it worked. I do think they spent a little too much time trying to explain it as if it could logically be explained, but it was also nice to hear some of the different viewpoints. Normally, I'm really disappointed when the characters in a series have to investigate something because it feels like they either aren't doing enough or they are overlooking the obvious, which makes them look stupid. Not in this series. I liked it, and the historical setting (which I normally don't like) made it better. I liked that gathering information and proof was harder than it is today, where literally everything can leave a paper trail or video evidence. I also liked that Nakun was noticing the small details; he was really trying to Detective Conan this shit.

ROMANCE/CHEMISTRY: I liked both couples, but the chemistry wasn't anything explosive. For Nakun and Phop, it felt like a natural progression, but with Jom and Kaew, it felt very reserved, which I guess fits with the time period. For Thee and Pun, it didn't make me feel anything at all, and that's probably because we don't really see their progression from passive to interested. Besides My Stobborn, this is the first time I've been interested in the NC scenes.

PRODUCT PLACEMENT: Made no sense, but I found it funny.

SPOILERS:

I'm so used to the main character traveling through time mentally that it was a bit shocking that Nakun physically traveled clothes, jewelry, and all. It makes sense because Klao is dead and there's no living body for him to enter, and honestly, I think I prefer this because it's like Klao's death was the trigger for the time travel. It reminds me a little of Two Worlds, where they can only travel if the other world's version of themselves is dead. I'm assuming that age matters as well, but it was never brought up in all the explanations they were giving us, so I'm not sure.

When Nakun is randomly sent back to the present day, we spend a lot more time mourning than I expected. I love that we got to see everyone in the past mourning for Klao/Nakun, whereas a lot of series would just move on to them meeting again in the future and living happily ever after. We get to see Phop find Klao's body and then slowly waste away till he dies. I do wish we had gotten to know how long after Nakun returns to the past that it took. Nakun is given time (no idea how much) to heal and become more mentally stable after he returns before he meets Phop again. I did tear up a couple of times seeing both Nakun and Phop become so lifeless. Nakun at least had hope that Phop was alive and that he just had to find him, whereas Phop found Klao's body.

I was upset about them just missing each other because it's so overused, but it's probably in the novel as well.

(I may read the novel, actually.)

I also REALLY love that Phop used a wishing stone to wish to be reincarnated near Klao with all of his memories. He got his memories back on his 20th birthday as well, around a year before Nakun traveled back in time, and it was interesting to see him put the pieces together and then set things up for his trip to the past.

Nakun gets his ring back! It's apparently Phop's family heirloom, which I found interesting.

I would have liked to have seen more of their time together inbetween them meeting again and their marriage, but this is me wanting too much, and I'm aware of that. The "wedding," if it can be called that, was literally just an announcement and signing the paperwork, which they somehow made sweet.

What was the bracelet about? What did it actually do, if anything? We see it vibrate or something a couple of times in the first episode, and then it literally does nothing. Did I miss something? If I did, please, someone explain it to me because I was watching for this darn bracelet to do something or mean something in every episode, only for it to amount to nothing. Now that I think about it, this is the thing that annoyed me the most out of the series, and I thought all the scenes with the mom went on WAY too long, especially the one where Nakun realizes that she's the reincarnation of Klao's father. Why did we have to rotate around them, hugging for so long?

A couple of annoying things aside, I really loved this show.

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Slow Start -> EXCELLENT Finish

Love upon a time is a show that started off slow and somewhat predictable, but slowly turned into a show that was unique and exquisitely done. I was really excited to see Net and JJ in main roles for a series, and they absolutely delivered on these roles! I am partial to soul mate/reincarnation tropes, so if that's not something you're into, this probably isn't for you - but if you're into it at all, this one is DEFINITELY worth watching! Just get through the slow start and it becomes a masterpiece.

Nakun (JJ) has been having the worst luck ever, right as he turns 20. Thinking it can't get any worse, he has a few too many drinks and goes and watches the stars fall - only to end up transported back in time 400 years. There, Lord Phop (Net) informs him that he, now known as Klao, has been missing for awhile, and Phop is glad he has returned. Nakun now has to try to play the role of Klao, figure out why he got transported there, and how he can get back, all while falling in love with Phop.

The first few episodes were a little too silly, and had a few too many stereotypical/repetitive elements of "oh I'm not really back in time, I must be dreaming!" type plotpoints. However, as the actual plot of the show picked up, this show began to wow me. I don't know what has been happening with Mandee/Domundi recently but WOW they are killing it! I loved the attention to detail in this show, from the costumes to the language (and the slow assimilation of Nakun into the past dialect was wonderful). I think that as long as you're willing to watch the first few stereotypical sent back in time episodes, you are in for a real treat with this one! The amount of emotion these actors delivered was fantastic to watch, and NettJJ killed these roles. Not to mention, Latte and Kim as Jom and Kaew was such a nice addition! I loved all of the characters in this and cannot recommend it enough, especially if you like period pieces.

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Beautiful and interesting

I can't say anything about the authenticity of the sets, but they looked very real to my untrained eye. I think they must have put a lot of time and effort into the sets and clothing. The story was a beautiful romance, but I think the backdrop of the distance past made the love story more incredible and sometimes heartbreaking. I also truly enjoyed the additional plot of the opium smuggling and trying to clear Klao's father's name. The music was good and I really thought the cast outdid themselves. Everyone played their parts so well and I would definitely watch this again.

That said, please don't hate me, but I miss James. I don't hate JJ, but honestly, sometimes he has such strange expressions that I can't totally fall in love with his character. Its like the comic, Not Sew Wicked Stepmom where the stepmom is one of those people who looks like she's evil every time she smiles, even if she's really nice. JJ has that smile. Not really resting b face, but the smile that makes it look like he's untrustworthy and plotting evil behind your back. Even when he's supposed to be making a loving face, that's the smile I see. I'm sure other people don't see it, but for some reason every smile in this series reminded me of the evil stepmom smile. I loved Net, as always. I honestly thought the whole cast was so talented, despite the evil smile. Sorry to all fans of NetJJ. Still love the series and would recommend!

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Gender doesn't matter for true love

I will give a solod 10 out 10 review for this as it is like the real world where in some countries the same sex marriage is not legally accepted and many of them are affected by that like can't be with there true love. I got happy tears for phop and nakhun when they got officially wed in the last episode.. they believed that they will re born in a generation where they can love without fear... i am soo happy that this is the best series in 2026.. we want a special episode for this series.... Please DMD please grant our wish... This series is like OH MY GOD i can't get out of this series....

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You Who Came From The Stars.

If you ever had a chance to meet a version of you from another life and timeline, what would you do?
Love Upon A Time's underlying theme rests upon this fact. Like any other time travel drama, it comes with the same caveats, but what I admired about the story as it wrapped up, was how consistent the characters and rules of time were.
You just know that there existed a distinction between the past and the present, almost as if the flow was rough around the seams. But, it is this little point that made me add an additional half stars to my 8.5 rating.
Well, here goes my thoughts.

Time travel and History are two genres that rarely do well in synergy. The suspension of disbelief becomes a necessity to admire its beautiful and often tragic elements; something that viewers find highly disconcerting as the existence of paradoxes makes the former impossible to ignore. And melancholy is a feeling desired by none.
But, without a doubt, none can deny that they are always suspenseful, regardless of what genre of time travel the story is attempting to convey. Was it going to be a romance? Doomed for sure. Were they going to change the past? A price has to be paid.
Hence, isekai dramas, although a deluge of them are already present, tend to scare away viewers.
Like all drama viewers, I too, have had my fair share of the same genre. The Eternal Love, my first Chinese Drama, happens to be of the exact same kind as Love Upon a Time. If you think Nakhun Patthanathada was over the top, Qu Tan Er would have given him a run for his money — the girl got transported a thousand years back and she did not even attempt to hide that she was not the same person as she was before.

Scratch all that, I love time travel dramas and novels. Unfortunately, our male lead Nakhun Patthanathada doesn’t.

★ A rational English Literature student. Nakhun, finds himself plagued by a series of ill omens, culminating in him spectacularly failing Thai History as well as inciting his English Professor to grant the class an assignment on whether they believe in time travel fiction after he trenchantly refuses to divulge from logic. Fate offers him a chance to fix both his academic issues - sending him back directly to Ayuthaya Kingdom, 400 years ago.
Forced to assume the identity of a certain “Klao”, he attempts to navigate the past with his non-existent knowledge and find out what had happened to the real Klao. All while being constantly monitored by Klao’s childhood friend, Lord Phop, who starts to suspect that the new Klao indeed might not be the one he had known.

★ The drama begins with a pilot episode that goes a tad bit overboard with emphasizing how exactly unlucky Nakhun was. It takes its sweet time, introducing characters very much earlier while slowly building up the plot around them, letting their personalities and relations simmer and settle. Particularly characters such as Jom and Kaew.
Moreover, Klao’s storyline is literally buoyed by an ensemble cast - particularly Phop and the servants Chuay, Sai, Phong and the cooking Lady, who offer insights and flashbacks into the mysterious Klao’s past. Something that Nakhun himself might not be able to provide.

Personally, I liked how they managed to instill the truth about how high the stakes were for Nakhun - he was nowhere close to the real Klao and his modern shenanigan and detective work combined with the classic historical set up that characters such as Phop lived by gave an amalgamation of two different genres in a rather comic manner - it was romance for Phop while it was a mystery for Nakhun.

★ I’ve always admired JJ’s skills after seeing him in The Next Prince. (Yeah. Considering that his plotline was pure smoke, he managed to create something out of nothing just through sheer talent, which is why I remember him.)
But, Love Upon A Time gives him the opportunity to portray a variety of emotions - Nakhun is a versatile character who changes according to the person he deals with. He is rather funny with Thee, doesn’t mess around with Pun, careful with his words when it comes to Phop and manipulates both Phop and Chuay to get his way. He is also sharp and knows to defend himself quite well.
While Nakhun is more serene, the character Klao is hinted to have had a miserable existence. Moreover, we can make out exactly how different those two were.

★ They do not kid around with time travel. The prickly part? The viewers are stuck in the past as Nakhun is. This can be either thrilling or annoying, but as I am in the former category, I did not mind it much.

★ As for Nakhun and Phop’s romance? Nakhun clearly informs viewers about what he thinks of their relationship and I share the same sentiments as his.
Phop is already in love with Klao, which Nakhun perceives quite early in the story. From Nakhun’s point of view, the romance is fun and easy to follow and is evidently the lighter aspects of the rather tumultuous past of Klao. But, the caveat? It is bound to be doomed.
So, in spite of cheering for the couple, viewers can't help but feel despair. They were bound to the rules of the time and time itself was their biggest enemy.
Then, there is Phop. Who is clearly stuck somewhere in the middle of a modern romance and historical tragedy.
Net is an expressive actor and he does not disappoint, bringing Phop’s internal dilemma to life. He shines in the final episodes, both as Phop and Tinnaphob. I have to give it to him, his future self was a lot more calm and composed as compared to Phop from the past.

★ Jom - it's surprising that he received a lot of dislike initially. To me, he was a very interesting character and I found his actions quite different from how others perceived him. I might be in the wrong, though.
Latte plays the two very different characters extremely convincing – one was a goofball foolishly in love with Pun while the other was a very serious Physician who thwarts Kaew’s attempt at romance. Just like JJ’s Nakhun and Klao. Both characters are a stark contrast to their modern counterparts.

★ Kaew/Pun -- the most consistent character in both the past and present. Kim Pongsaton was absolutely ethereal in his role. Calm, quite and collected to both Thee and Nakun's, he was a scene stealer.
His romance with Thee was both endearing and heartbreaking to watch.

★ The Friendships, particularly between Jom/Thee, Pun/Kaew and Nakun was heartwarming. Not to mention Chuay, Sai and Phong

The story is almost told by an ensemble cast without whom the plot wouldn't move forward. Even minor characters like Varna exist to prove a point rather than simply being a plot device.

★ Nakhun and his mother -- initially glimpsed in EP1, her presence as a very important person in Nakun's life doesn't change, even when he goes back to the past. There was something deeply moving about seeing the simple love between a parent and child being portrayed on-screen. (I'm in a similar situation as him when it comes to college, which might be the reason it struck home.)

★ Villains -- the mystery is rather high stakes and dawdles as a result of the 'culprit'. But, it is not until the final half of the drama that things begin to become more clear. I have to say, by the end of the drama, I felt rather satisfied with how everything wrapped up.

★ The Soundtrack was absolutely beautiful. All the different OSTs, along with their instruments were absolutely wonderful. Particularly the one by Bowkylion and JJ.

And so were the traditional outfits. I loved Kaew's in particular as it seemed to simple suit him perfectly. Also, Phop's uniform and Varna's outfits.

★ Is the drama perfect? No way - but that's the thing about time travel dramas. Considering that we had only one and a quarter episode to reestablish Nakun's life back into the future. There is also an upsetting truth when it came to this, but I understand why it had to happen that way.
But, Love Upon A Time acknowledged these inevitable changes and boldly pulled the story closed without leaving any loose threads.

★ This is definitely one of the best works by Mandeep Channel, perhaps following Khemjira, Your Sky and Duang With You. There was a story and characters to build up and they managed to arrive at a neat denoument without stepping off line.
Kudos to the cast and crew and I'll definitely be looking forward to Net, JJ, Kim and Latte's future works.

I began this as an experimental watch, but three months later, I have completed it with satisfaction. A solid 9/10 for being one of the most wholesome dramas I've seen this year.

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Must Watch Series A Masterpiece

Like I said it's a must watch It was such a masterpiece from storyline to everything specially JJ because his acting was top notch ....... Greattttttt I'm saying as a person who's been here since Bed friends the series when Netjames broke their ship and cast was changed for this show I totally lost interest in this and thought it's not going to be good or it'll be weird to watch net with someone else BUT after that series finished airing then It was in my watchlist for so long then finally I watched it and It was one of the Best historical BL I've ever watched so detailed that a person wants to be part of that ERA.......... Seriously a must watch.

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time travel DONE RIGHT

oh my god! what an amazing amazing series!!
as someone who's obsessed with you know, being together for life after life, and reincarnations.. this was a treat!

this series makes you travel with it. you're right there beside Klao figuring out why did it all happen!
it perfectly balances being a romance, a mystery, and a time travel story. as Klao gains memories, you gain clues as to what actually happened.
you feel betrayed, heartbroken, and happy as Klao, Phop, Kaew, Jom figure things out while navigating their own feelings.

I was a bit afraid as to how will they sum up their now life, meeting each other, knowing each other, in just one episode at the end but it was the most beautiful thing!

a must must watch! so well written. not a single plothole!
would've loved to see Chred being miserable tho :/

however, kinda left a sour taste in my mouth with the whole "i started watching over you for 2 years and planned the whole thing". i kinda don't like it when BL series do that, but especially this. if they were destined to meet, all of that wasn't needed

i would like to end this review by saying, KAEW/PUN. IT IS ILLEGAL HOW PRETTY YOU ARE!!!!
okay bye <3

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