Subtitles Are SO Bad
The subtitles are ridiculously bad. I mean, really REALLY bad. The acting is also pretty flat all around. I had zero buy-in with the MLs because they have no chemistry at all. Not even a redeemable hint of chemistry from the first meeting to the present. Also, there are inconsistencies throughout that should have been caught in the scriptwriting. For example, blood where blood shouldn’t be and absent where it should be; bruising absent when there should be; a 7-year flashback that doesn’t add up, etc…Really, the whole first episode was a mess. Dropped.
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want to see actors in something else (watch suggestions)
Overall: this is an old school Thai romcom/drama that should have been left in the past. 8 episodes about 45 minutes each aired in Thailand. I watched the WeTV version that had 10 episodes but most of episode 10 was the actors talking about the series. Aired on WeTV https://wetv.vip/en/play/e36k7s4okwtoesy-A%20secretly%20love%20(Uncut%20Ver.)Watch Suggestions (this avoids a lot of a guy harassing his ex-girlfriend, hazing and second lead syndrome)
- watch episode 1 from 5-19:20 (flashback to them in high school)
- start episode 4 at 37:40
- watch episode 5
- watch episode 6 from 23 to 34:20
- watch episode 7 from the beginning to 6, then GL at 16-17, watch 23-29 or continue to the end if you want to see a lot of music practice/performance
- watch episode 8 from 4-18:40 and then 41-42 has a nice message about funding rural schools
- watch episode 9 from 18:30-23, 26-29:40 and 34-39 (or can watch to the end)
- either start episode 10 at 6 minutes or you can watch the whole first 12 minutes (the rest is behind the scene stuff)
Content Warnings: slaps, manhandling, blood, beaten up, stalking, harassing, hazing, slaps played as comedy, non con touching
What I Liked
- clear premise
- supportive friends (the twins)
- the GL after they communicated/were honest with each other
- episode 8 message of the importance of funding rural schools
Room For Improvement
- for the majority of the series viewers saw an utterly unlikable character, he's harassed his ex, was immature, acted like a jerk, there were almost no redeeming qualities so I did not want him in a romantic relationship with anyone
- cliche (more than once) saw something and didn't communicate
- comedy sound effects that didn't make it funny, nor was the toilet humor in episode 9 funny
- was not a fun way to start a series (and I hope unrealistic)
- confusing parts, based on the summary and what was shown they first met in high school when Khon was a Freshman and Pluem a Sophomore, in the present they were a Sophomore and Senior in university, Khon didn't interact with Pluem for 2 years at the same university? he's just started the hazing/initiation stuff with Pluem?
- kind of a 'gay for you' trope
- episode 5 had a flashback montage of what we just saw in the episode
- very confusing subtitles (didn't take off points although it did negatively affect the ability to understand what was happening, Necklace was the ex-girlfriend)
- the title should have been "I Secretly Love You" or "A Secret Love" (didn't take off points)
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barely passable
What to say about this series?I guess, it started stronger and ended weeker.
The plot was uninspired, the acting below average (only Kimmon had the aura of a professional actor), the kissing nearly not existent and without energy or conveing any feelings, the chemestry lackluster and no real fluffy scenes. Production quality was also sub-par. I guess the best part was the intro :)
If you didn't see it, you did not miss a thing, as soon you watched it, you will forget it.
Overall I would rate this show as boring.
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just why?
where to start.the “plot” has been done to death. high school to college and then the sick mother, all basic and cliche… and this is probably the worst version of this I’ve seen.
the acting is below average.
the subtitles are hysterical, my favourite is Soi suddenly saying “avoid” and Pluem saying “necklace” and Soi saying “I said avoid”.
So bizarre.
I’m not sure why they even bother wasting the money to makers these subpar BLs when you have so many other BLs being made that are so good
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The Show was Good, Subtitles Not So Much
In the vibrant tapestry of Thai series, “A Secretly Love” stands out as a gem, weaving a tale of unspoken desires, tangled relationships, and personal growth against the backdrop of school life. At the heart of this narrative lies the magnetic performances of Kimmon Warodom, one of the best actors in the Thai entertainment industry, whose portrayal of Pluem captivates audiences with its depth and nuance.Read the complete article here-
https://the-bl-xpress.com/2024/05/07/a-secretly-love-series-review-ep-1-to-12/
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Never fulfilled potential
As everyone knows, the subtitles are horrible. However, with a dash of context, open-minded-ness and very basic Thai understanding you can somewhat follow the plot without issue.Some of the actors deliver great work, some mediocre and quite a few clearly could use a couple more workshops or better directing.
As for the storyline, it could have been so good. And at times I were thoroughly entertained. But, and it is a big but, very cliché in my opinion. Cliché doesn’t always mean bad, as there is a reason why it’s popular. However, the production isn’t good enough to carry it and it falls flat at times.
It gave BLs anno 2020, and sadly not in the good way for me. Better production, directing, acting talent and chemistry between most of the cast could have made this into a great series because the foundation and potential was there, although very hidden.
Worth a watch if you are bored and have nothing better to catch up on or rewatch, but I think I’m gonna pass on watching this a second time to be fair.
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go with no expectations
even with terrible subtibles, i thought it had a lot of potential so i kept watching but of course as a typical thai BL, they rushed the ending making it ridiculous and lacklustered. I was ok with the storyline and the main actors did ok but some of the supporting need to work more on their skills. I watched more BL than GL so i am not sure if I am an unbiased critic; i thought the GL couple fell flat and a bit forced. Do I recommend it? yes but i wouldn’t rewatch even they add better subtitles.Was this review helpful to you?
2024's snoozefest
I have absolutely no idea how I finished this without dropping but I did and even I'm surprised that I did complete this one. Judging from my headline, I'm sure you'll have figured how boring this one was. It was a bland show with nothing much to offer through it's story, acting and the abhorrent subtitles surely didn't help it's case. There's so much and so little to talk about that I have no idea where to begin and structure this review properly.Nevertheless, let's start with the show's weakest point: The acting and the chemistry between the main characters. Thankfully the acting was not very cringey from the main actors but still it lacked some emotions or rather didn't evoke any emotions in me as a viewer. In simpler words, it was not impactful. Besides that, I didn't really "feel" the chemistry between the two leads even when they progressed their relationship status as lovers. To be frank, I didn't really care for them as a couple, probably wouldn't even have cared if they didn't end up together.( Jet seemed like a better option tbh.). Another minor point would be that I didn't really like the acting of prod's sick mum, she seemed so robotic in a sense(?)
Next point would be the story of course, the core of this show. Being upfront and all, I really wouldn't have watched this show at all if it didn't include the classic "unrequited love" troupe. It's my go-to when I crave some angsty story to make me feel sad, it makes me empathize with the characters. This is actually the only reason why I even continued the show. Other than that, the story is very cliché, boring and there isn't even much to add to this
Review wouldn't be complete without talking about music and overall production value, both were poor in this show's case. The music wasn't my forte and the production value was visibly outdated for a show airing in 2024, it felt like I was watching something from 2015 to 2017. One of the biggest complaints for this show is it's ridiculously inaccurate subtitles which I have to agree is very irritating and affects the overall viewing experience. However, in my case the other poor aspects of the show didn't make the subtitles seem like the biggest issue as context clues could still be applied to understand what's happening, just maybe not in high levels of accuracy.
Overall the best part of the show was the side lesbian couple, everything else was mid tier to downright "never do this again" tier.
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I feel robbed
(SUBTITLES ASIDE) okay, I didn't mind this series, I think the main reason I enjoyed it is because I know Thai so the subtitles didn't bother me but I completely understood those who couldn't watch it because of the subtitles
I liked the slow burn of Prod and Pluem getting together, we had Prod who was head over heels and Pluem who had no clue what he was doing or wanted, HOWEVER, when they were together, it was completely rushed and unfinished. We didn't get to enjoy them together in the relationship. Seeing them struggle with whatever issues and then seeing them happy. The last episode was extremely rushed and unnecessary, they could've added all that in episode 9 and made 10 the behind-the-scenes
Furthermore, I wanted to see Tum and Suea's relationship because that was extremely out of left field because nowhere in the series does it indicate that they even liked each other, I would've liked to see how they realized they liked each other and how their relationship developed.
Also, I really liked Jess so I wanted to see him happy, also towards the end, it seemed like Nick kind of liked Jess, idk if that could be something but I wanted more of Jess being happy and not just chasing Prod
I think the only true relationship development we got was Soi and Froi's because they showed us pretty much from start to finish.
I almost feel like this was GL more than BL because from the BL standpoint, we really didn't see much but a few kisses, but with the GL part, they sort of had a spicy time and better kisses, in my opinion
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Hoo Whee
Wow. This is rough. And I'm not talking about the subtitles.The subs are bad, but I didnt factor them into my rating and they don't factor into this review. Aside from episode one, the subs are mostly understandable even if theyre still a mess. What really made me give this such a low score is the plot.
It's bad. No way around it. The characters are irritating but, more importantly, don't seem to know what to do with themselves or have any real incentive behind their actions. Prod likes Pleum because............????? Pleum is suddenly interested in Prod because.......????????¿¿¿¿¿¿ Sroi knows Prod because???? Pleum is jealous of anything that breathes in Sroi's vicinity because????? Pleum wont take no for an answer but immediately gives up when Sroi starts dating someone else because?????¿¿¿¿¿?????? It's all so aggressively contrived with no care for giving the charcaters any consistency. Throw in a mother who's sick with some undescribed disease (and coughing up blood because how else would we know she's sick) and you've got yourself the world's most boring series.
I wanted this to at least be unintentionally hilarious because bad subs really lend themselves to that sort of thing, but I watched at 1.5x - 3x speed absolutely stone-faced. I forced a laugh at one point just to see if it'd kickstart things, like maybe I'd forgotten to laugh and just needed to get it started up. Nada. Nothing. And the show is actively trying to be funny. But between every single character just reading lines (except Pleum, for whom all lines are overacted in comparison) and weird ass interactions, all opportunities to laugh just inspired grimaces from me.
Speaking of weird ass interactions; the story is tied to like one eating area outside a faculty, the SOTUS room, and The Bar. Bold, underline, capitalize, and italicize The Bar because that is the primary location of all things in this show. Prod works at The Bar. Everyone seems to go drink every night. Pluem frequently acts like an ass at The Bar. Sroi goes there daily with her friend-turned-gf. I wouldnt be suprised if Prod's mother moved into The Bar so they could shoot more scenes in it.
Lastly, the main CP have negative chemistry. I dont even have examples of this to give because its just inherent? Like, Prod has more chemistry with the guy who's obviously going to become a love rival later. He has more chemistry with Sroi, Pleum's ex. He has more chemistry with a random extra who asked for the flowers he was going to throw away. He has more chemistry with the extra who punched him.
Watch this if somehow all of the above sounds like a good time, but I'm tapping out. I really hope Kimmon gets something good in the future because I missed him since 2 Moons but not for this. Never for this.
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"I'm traveling. I'm getting mashed into pies."
In the special, the actors introduce themselves and their characters. My favourite subtitle: "Hello. I'm traveling. I'm getting mashed into pies." which is the intro for Pure Papawan who plays Pie.This is such a mediocre series with no real story and stilted acting. But the English subtitles are so bad that it makes it a binge watch for comedy value.
On the plus side I now know that "Khon Prod" means "favourite person" and "Sroi" means "necklace" so maybe it's a good series to watch to learn Thai vocab (unless they redo the subtitles, which would just ruin the fun).
Watch on 2x speed and enjoy the ride.
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