My Love Mix-Up!

My sons never disappoint me

I liked the japanese original, but I was so damn happy to hear Gemini and Fourth would be doing the Thai version. I just love Thailand so much dude.
First, they removed all the homophobia from the original and I loved that!!!!! I'm so tired of homophobia being a plot - everytime - to make the story go wrong, it's 2024 I want these cute gays being cute and having problems without having to be victims of hate, duhh.
Kieta Hatsukoi was good and innocent, I think that's why they chose GeminiFourth for the roles because they were always great at being teenage shy lovers, and they proved that you can have that and also have lil kisses.
I wasn't such a fan of the straight couple in Kieta Hatsukoi, the boy was very annoying and didn't seem to be a nice guy either. Half, on the other hand, was perfect. A saint, even. It was very funny how two chill guys like him and Kongthap were able to easily deal with such melodramatic and paranoid teens like Mudmee and Atom.
I don't think I have to go into detail about the main casts' acting, Fourth and Gemini always bring everything they have to the scene and make it really emotional because they act and match so well.
I really like everything and I even loved the straight couple 'cause they were really cute, attractive and had great chemistry. I hope to see Pahn and Chokun again soon (not necessarily together), especially Pahn (I fell in love with her).

Read More

A frustrating story that squanders its potential to be something great

It's frustrating because this show squanders its potential to be a great story. It never tries to be more than a cute, sometimes silly, low-stakes teen romcom, even though the creative team for this show had access to good source material, good actors, and even some good ideas.

Let’s face it. This show was written for Gemini and Fourth. Its purpose is to promote them, advertise merch by capitalizing on their popularity, sell products they endorse, reference their past work, and even showcase their talents. The characters and story suffer because of this.

Fourth portrays a teenage mess, albeit exaggerated, by putting in actual effort to create a character. Atom is frustrating and flawed at times, but also sweet and thoughtful. He’s the only one who shows proper vulnerability in this show. Fourth gives it his all in the conversations with the moms. In the final ep, he felt like the sole main character of this show.

The creative team, and to some extent Gemini, did the bare minimum to create the character of Kongthap. The screenwriters allow him to show some interesting sides for very brief moments but never actually fully commit to any of them, for example, him getting frustrated with Atom for the first time in ep 7, him getting jealous of Atom being close to Sin, or even his yearning for Atom. We never explore the “can’t leave people in need alone” part of his character as was part of the original story. In the end, he felt like a secondary character in the story.

The writers do not seem to understand intimacy. Small moments that make a relationship feel real are few and far between which is frustrating because they spend two whole episodes showing us the fact that Atom craves physical intimacy and Kongthap is comfortable with it. Long stares and head pats can only portray so much. Also, Atom takes all the initiative in their relationship. He even has to come out to Kongthap's mom for him which is a shame because a conversation between Kongthap and his mom would have given his reserved character some growth.

One of my favorite moments is in ep 10 when Atom holds Kongthap's hand in public on the train and gets all giddy and shy. This moment is consistent with what we learned about their characters and the story being told. I wasn't even surprised to find out that this moment was improvised because it was more intimate than anything the writers came up with.

At least this show is a positive watch for teen LGBTQ+ viewers as it deals with internalized homophobia and coming out, and does it fairly well. I will always support high school BLs because shows like these are positive representations of queer youth in Thailand and can provide teens like this who are figuring themselves out the proper language to verbalize, even indirectly, their feelings and identities. I just hope the characters and their stories are the priority for the writers next time.

Read More

So... what happened?

I noticed the low ratings before starting to watch this series, so all my expectations lowered from the beginning. I wasn't expecting MLMU to be exceptionally good or exceptionally bad: I just hoped I would enjoy it at least a little.
In the end, I did enjoy it, but I also feel like that enjoyment came from a handful of different moments here and there, all engulfed of very long and draggy segments. Oh, and lots of different product placements - probably the most invasive case of advertisements I've ever seen in a GMM series.

I don't think anything reached its true potential here.
- The main plot points of Kieta Hatsukoi worked in the Japanese drama, which consisted in 10 episodes of about 20 minutes each, but it felt very diluted in these 12 episodes of about 40 minutes each. After enjoying the first three or four episodes, I started getting impatient and frustrated while watching, and often found myself too bored to even pay attention during the important bits.
- The characters felt flat. The acting was amazing and I'm not taking it back, but it was hard to watch such good actors work with characters written so poorly. At their best they felt like caricatures, and they felt like cardboard cutouts at any other moment.
- Kongthap and Atom felt more like classmates who get along rather than potential lovers, and even their friendships with other characters didn't feel as sincere as they should have. Some scenes were heart-fluttering, but they felt like they were put there to make the relationships work, when it should be the exact opposite: the rest of the story was supposed to make the romantic moments hit the spot, but they never delivered fully for this exact reason.
- There were multiple themes for the series that could have been included and explored much better, but they weren't. Whoever wrote this didn't put any true passion into the story and didn't care to fix any continuity issues.

In theory, this series is supposed to work. The director and the main actors are the same as in My School President, which I've enjoyed A LOT, and the source material is a pretty good Japanese BL. In practice, it really looks like the production team threw these elements together (Fourth, Gemini, several MSP references, and the Kieta Hatsukoi plot points) and just expected things to work fine without putting extra work into it.
Since I don't like to make comparisons between series in my reviews, I'd rather avoid making them here, but it's truly hard not to. The main reason why I felt so frustrated is because I've watched Fourth and Gemini in My School President and Moonlight Chicken before, so I know that they can truly shine when the production team puts actual care in the quality of their work.

If this is your first Thai series, or you never watched My School President nor Moonlight Chicken, this can work as a cute, low-effort rom-com, as long as you have no high expectations for it. If that's not the case, then you're probably going to be very disappointed.

Read More

Thai remakes have been so good lately!

If you liked the premise of Kieta Hatsukoi, the Thai adaptation mostly follows the same narrative structure as well. So, what was different from the Japanese version and did it work?

Atom is an awkward high schooler who wears his heart on his sleeve, but he doesn’t come off as cringey or overly childish. His behaviour was also less exaggerated compared to the Japanese version, which I preferred (because the Japanese version is a little over the top for my liking).

NOBODY are better suited for the Thai remake than Gemini and Fourth. Fourth’s ditziness translates well into the role of Atom. And Kongthap’s cool demeanour and steadiness is also similar to his performance as Tinn in My School President.

I’m glad that the Thai remake also took the chance to spotlight how difficult it is for teenagers (or anyone really) to come out to their family. This is something usually not explored in Japanese BLs, especially since a big appeal of Japanese BLs is the utopian bubble that its characters live in.

Fourth and Gemini have so much potential given that they’re still so young. My wish is that they will get an opportunity to try something different with more mature roles and complex characters.

Read more: https://asianblreviews.wordpress.com/

Read More

It's A No From Me

I realize this is adapted from the manga, and not the Japanese series Kieta Hatsukoi. That being said isn't Kieta Hatsukoi also an adaptation from the manga.

My understanding is gmmtv is adapting 9 volumes of the manga but if what I saw in Episode 3 is from the manga I can see why Japan left it out.

Why would Mudmee (Hashimoto) be coaching Atom (Aoki) on how to win a man when all she's doing is writing that man's name on an eraser.

Hashimoto and Aoki were adorable and wonderful because they were so inept in the romance department. They provided one another comfort and friendship and bounced ideas off of one another and supported each other. They were best friends once Aoki realized she would never love him and Aoki realized Ida was his love.
So in conclusion I think gmmtv did what it does best in it's remakes. That is cast a popular pair that has amassed a large fan base that supports them no matter what allowing them to serve "questionable" script that will be accepted without question because it's Gemini and Fourth.
I will not argue my opinion because that's all it is, is my opinion.

Read More

Better than the Japanese version.

This longer take on the original material is far superior to the Japanese version. In that one, there is a toxicity to how the main character treats his love interest that borders on homophobic. This version makes it much cuter, far more fair, and substitutes in friends and adults to add value and balance the story. The side couple is actually the one that is less healthy with a bit too much lack of self confidence leading to jealousy and bad choices. Overall, this is a more fun more relatable version with two actors who have become very familiar with each other in previous BL couplings.

Read More

Masterpiece!

I just don't know understand why some people say this series is not up to their expectations. even though this is a remake, i loved it. now im so thrilled to watch the original series. GeminiFourth was out of league. just 🔥. im upset about the fact that the series has come to it's end.

this would be my first detailed review.

first of all story. i heard that the original series was also a masterpiece and it's true. i love how they made this a friendly series. it is very soft and i love how they portray Fourth. his acting was out of this world. he expressed the character's emotions as his own. like a normal person who is living in fear because of this homophobic world. and how this series puts in that there are people who support the LGBTQ++ community. it also is a message that love doesn't have boundries. overall the story was the best.

acting and casting was like wow! Gemini was so into character. he is like so boyfriend material. i love the way he makes the drama so pure. and the GeminiFourth moments are just 🔥. and my best FotFot. he is the best. i ain't showing partiality. but i love Fourth's acting more. and im sure he and Gemini has got a big world ahead. im not only speaking about them but Chokun(Half) and Pahn(Mudmee) was also great. it's my first time seeing them. but they have a place in my heart now. and i have become a fan of Mudmee The Hulk.

music was also great. im sure Re-Move On would be everyone's favorite. i love Re-Move On and Whenever I see you. both are great songs.

I could rewatch this series a hundred times. but still MSP is my favorite. I liked MLMU but I loved MSP.

Read More

Don't expect anything

One of my favourite and most re-watched Japan bl series was kieta hatsukoi. May be that's why, I'm a little bit disappointed. I'm not saying this series is boring or something like that.. but the 1st episode didn't work for me..
May be I compared it too much with the original one..
But the chemistry was awesome and I love fourth as always.. and he tried to be cute as aoki as possible.. but no-one can beat Aoki for his cuteness..
In my opinion, Gemini was not like the original ida.. the confusing face was there but he was missing something.. I don't know.. but it would have been weird if he copied exactly like him, so some Gemini touch is necessary.
Sometimes I felt like they added the extra scenes just to make a 1 hr episode. Some did work and some did not (They could have executed a couple of scenes beautifully, but they didn't ) don't worry guys.. luckily the chemistry always works..
And the production also was not that good.. or may be because of the editing.. no idea, something was lacking
And the music was not that good in the 1st ep.. we expect the best songs from gem4th series and the original version is famous for their music.. so let's wait for the best to come in the next episode onwards.
Overall I like to see more of Gemini fourth and the stories of atom khongthap but also, I'm always comparing this series with the original one..
So those who didn't watched kieta hatsukoi, then it's the best series.. for those who watched it, then don't worry you get to see more of their hidden stories and Gemini fourth chemistry..
For me first episode was just average.. as I said something was missing, may be I expected too much.. but my review can change in the future, because I don't have any expectations from now on.. and I'm surely going to watch the rest of the series because of gem4th and I trust the whole team.
Oops forgot to mention mudmee and half, they were cute and lovely. Loved the whole cast.

Read More