Our Skyy 2: Bad Buddy x A Tale of Thousand Stars (2023)

A crossover I didn’t know I needed

When I learned we will get a BB x ATOS crossover, I wasn’t thrilled. I honestly didn’t see how they would pull it all together as it felt like the two stories have nothing in common. But I really like what they did with it. They made it make sense. While still giving us flashbacks to both original series. There are the iconic lines and scenes we get to see again, even if they are said / done by someone else. Pran deciding to make ATOS into a play was a nice way to connect the two series. And GMMTV gave us a little sneaky hint for it in the MSP episodes. Well played.

I didn’t expect that I would be enjoying Pran & Tian and Phupa & Pat dynamics as much as I am. I really though that Pran and Phupa will have more in common, while Pat and Tian would be the wild ones. But I was wrong. And I am not even mad about it! I do think I should be concerned about the fact that both Pran & Tian and Phupa & Pat have great chemistry though. And I am really enjoying that.

There were times when I really had to tell myself that Phupa and Pat are not a couple. I feel like the two flirted more with each other than they did with their actual boyfriends. I know they both know how to be flirty, we’ve seen that before, I just didn’t imagine how chaotic it would get when they are put together.

Pran is a total mood. Pouting and dragging his feet after Tian and Kampung. And Tian being his usual hot mess. I didn’t think Pran and his OCD would work that well with Tian and his impulsiveness. But they make it work. They are giving me either siblings or best friend energy, arguing all the time but also caring about each other. And blaming each other whenever they get the chance, of course.

And then we get to see Phupa & Pran and Pat & Tian together too! Phupa and Pran are quite level-headed and get along well, as one would expect from them. Pat and Tian are a stubborn and chaotic duo looking for trouble. There’s less chemistry when they are divided like this, but I really enjoyed their scenes as well.

I'm sure I could find things that bothered me (like the repetative getting lost in the woods), but honestly, it wasn't really that annoying. I truly enjoyed the two parts, they were really fun. I might be biased, but these are probably my favourite Our Skyy 2 episodes.

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Pat and Pran as Tian and Phupha's uncertified relationship counsellors

I'm writing this review when not all episodes have been aired yet. But after the two episodes that are out, I already have thoughts that I want to share.

I should start this off by saying that I have a big love for Bad Buddy, while I'm pretty indifferent about A Tale of Thousand Stars. It's objectively a good show with solid acting and chemistry, I just never really took that much of a liking to the characters, unlike with the boys from Bad Buddy. As a result of this, I was looking forward to the Bad Buddy episodes of Our Skyy 2 much more than the A Tale of Thousand Stars episodes. And I was pretty confused when it was revealed that they'd be combining the two.

I'm not generally opposed to mixing the two shows together for these special episodes. They came up with a plot combining the two which makes sense. I actually thought, it blended together really well, and I enjoyed seeing all these actors together. I also quite enjoyed the dynamics between Pat and Phupha as well as Pran and Tian. I think that Ohm and Nanon would've fit right in as actors in the original A Tale of Thousand Stars series. They would've made a compelling side couple if you ask me.

That being said, I would've still preferred if they kept the two shows separate. Or the mix would've needed to be more even. At the moment, this very much feels like the Phupha and Tian show, while Pat and Pran are just there to help them solve their relationship issues. Or at least they're trying. As a fan of Bad Buddy, that is pretty disappointing. I know that we got one whole episode that was focused only on Pat and Pran, but that just didn't feel fulfilling enough for me to now be okay with them taking the backseat in what is supposed to be their own story.

Pat and Pran's relationship still feels the same as it did in the original series for the most part, which is nice. At least it did while they were still on campus. There's a lot of playfulness, teasing, competitiveness, but also a lot of care and mutual support. However, if you ask me, there's a severe lack of sweet moments between the two. Part of what I loved so much about Bad Buddy is how they managed to mix this very playful vibe with so many cute and genuinely sweet moments. We don't get to see much of that in Our Skyy 2.
I know that they're in their "we're pretending to be broken up" era (Don't ask me how their friends actually believe them, they're being so obvious). But all the more sense it would make for Pat and Pran to be all over each other once they get to the forest. There, they don't have to hide their love. So it would only be logical for them to barely be able to keep their hands and lips off each other. But that doesn't happen at all. In contrary, when Pat kisses Pran, Pran pushes him away. I hate how that's a thing in so many BLs, because they oftentimes treat being kissed like this huge sin that one of the characters in the relationship is super opposed to. Pat and Pran never used to be like that in the original series, which I loved. They loved giving each other little pecks on the cheeks or on the lips, and somehow now, it just feels a bit off for Pran to react that way. Besides, them basically role-playing as Tian and Phupha in some moments just felt strange to me.

Also on a very different note... Did anyone else sense some romantic tension between Pran and Tian? Or is that just me? I honestly ship it. I don't ship Pat and Phupha, but the scene where they wake up shirtless next to each other, was pretty funny. Not only because of them drunkenly mistaking each other as their boyfriends. But because apparently still wearing pants is solid proof that you weren't doing anything inappropriate with each other. As if you couldn't just put your pants back on, or simply just have made out without getting undressed.

The acting is - much like in the original shows - still really solid in this. The story is very simple and easy to follow so far. However, it feels unfair to compare it with the other episodes of Our Skyy 2, because this is stretched across 4 rather than only 2 episodes. For that being the case, it definitely isn't anything riveting that I'd wanna rewatch.

So far, I'm having an okay time watching this. It definitely lacks the magic the original Bad Buddy series had. And Phupha is really unlikable in this. I remember him being pretty stern in the original Tale of Thousand Stars, but it didn't irk me as much back then. But in these episodes, he just comes across like he's having a bad day... every day of the week.

Anyway, I'll add to this / edit this once all the episodes are out. For now, I'll go with a 5.5 rating.

Edit: I did in fact not come back to edit this, because I couldn't be bothered to watch the other episodes, which is very telling in itself.

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