Bake Me Please (2023)

The cake is too dry.

It looks great on the outside, but it tastes like sawdust.

The cast is special. Atom is fantastic at everything, including perfect comic timing, Guide is both adorable and sexy, Poom is gorgeous and an excellent actor, and Ohm showed up to work.

The chemistry of the main couple is non-existent. Or I should say Guide makes a valiant effort but he pours his chemistry onto a fencepost. If only this series had Poom in the lead role - he and Guide had so much better chemistry that it was nearly impossible to cheer on the main pairing.

It's a mercy this was only 6 episodes, but it should have been 2 or 3. Or it could have worked as 6 if anything ever went anywhere or was explored. Why is Atom & Oab's mother like that? Why didn't Atom's character arc go anywhere? Why was Atom always wearing a shirt? What happened to Guy's store? Why did they wait until the last 2 minutes to sell grandma's cakes? Everthing is surface and there's no real character development. Shin SAYS he's become compassionate, but we never really saw it. Grandma is cute, but she's a stereotype of grandmotherly grandmotherness. (It's a minor miracle that she made it to the end - I lost a lot of money on that bet.)

I can't recommend this - it's dull and pointless, although if you want to stare for a few hours at a bunch of gorgeous men and Ohm, you may get some pleasure out of this.

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A one hour plot stretched to a four hour snooze fest.

As Thai BL goes, the production values are good. And a nice set of attractive actors.

But the BL is only skin-deep.

It suffers from unimaginative writing with a minimum of plot. There is an hour's worth of plot stretched to four hours, hardly the first time this has happened in Thai BL, but still.... As usual, the first few episodes are somewhat engaging, and then they just keep stretching and stretching until you beg for it to PLEASE BE OVER.

Second, I had trouble figuring out who the target audience would be. The portrayal of human relationships seems really limited. Idealized grandmother-ness. Jealousy. Friends are forever. Even most tweens would want more than that.

Third, as the time is stretched, I found myself paying attention to extraneous details. As an example, anyone who has ever visited a bakery or coffee shop know that they are fairly busy places. But in this world, the kitchen has a few listless pretty boys on their smart phones while one takes forever to twiddle with one cake. And then they all meet up to take a chunk out of the ONE cake they've spent hours making for tasting purposes. I totally get the need to build a fantasy world, but when hardly anything happens the ancillary things start becoming more interesting than whatever counts for plot/character development and it becomes harder to suspend disbelief to live in the fantasy world.

Finally, they've managed to take a BL and remove any sense of LGBTQ, queerness, freedom or even gender. Many fans of BL / Yaoi come because this genre offers an escape from a reality in which everyone / everything is stuck in some cultural role / expectation. This offers none of it.

I'm definitely going to watch some Japanese, Korean or Taiwanese BL next. I need something with some life to it.

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good ingredients with a subpar recipe

Overall: they had a lot of great elements but unfortunately messed up the writing. 6 episodes 45 minutes each. Aired on GagaOOLala and re-aired on YouTube.

Watch Suggestions:
- watch ep 1-3
- watch up to 28 minutes in episode 4 and then 39-42 minutes
- skip episode 5
- watch episode 6 starting at 24 minutes to the end (although 11-15 minutes was good too)

Content Warnings: manipulation, shoves

What I Liked
- supportive grandma
- Atom (also the brother's relationship)
- Peach pushed back against Shin at times
- production value (cinematography)
- (neutral) comedy sound effects, they weren't overpowering

Room For Improvement
- too many love triangles for a short run time, needed to really build up 1 main couple
- I don't like either of Peach's love interests as they are both throwing red flags right and left (no you don't get to ban your significant other from hanging out with their friend, no you don't lie about dating and use a person as if they were a trophy)
- why did no one apologize to Peach, maybe Shin did off screen but we didn't see it?!?
- too little character growth too late, there seemed to be a little bit but Shin backslide too far
- rushed pacing and then wasted screentime on a bunch of angst, some choppiness as well
- cliche plot points: got sick after getting wet trope, saw something and made an assumption, failure to communicate clearly

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This one didn't rise well

Bake Me Please is a rather watchable BL. It could even have been quite good for those who do not mind predictable stories. However, certain weaknesses in plot development affected the characterization.

Shin is a baker in a bakery he has started with his friends, Oab and Guy. One might wonder how he even had friends to begin with because of his cold demeanor, but we can overlook this. Oab's mother makes his brother, Atom, join the bakery, and Atom in turn pulls his friend, Peach in. As you might guess, Shin and Peach fall in love.

The story doesn't quite impress with originality, but to its credit, it doesn't. It can be a fairly good run-of-the-mill BL. Unfortunately, some flaws do compromise the watching experience. Some parts lack coherence in somewhat bearable ways. Peach's grandmother has been clearly open to Peach and Shin having a relationship, but Peach behaves as though he is surprised when his grandmother is totally fine with it when Shin announces that they are dating.

The worst moments in the series are the rather forced turns in the behaviors of the characters to fit rather forced turns in the plot. The first of these turns is when Guy quits to join another bakery, tired of playing second fiddle to Shin all the time and probably because he is jealous that his crush, Peach, is a couple with Shin. Guy is a fundamentally good person, so it is odd that there is no sign of hesitation or struggle when he does some of the less than honorable stuff he does. Then there is Shin's behavior. Although he is socially inept and even harsh with his words, he is not an unreasonable person, especially after meeting Peach. However, he refuses to let Peach continue his friendship with Guy and breaks up with Peach simply because Peach goes for dinner with Guy. The poor plot development mars the characterization as well.

I think the writers should have opted for the feel-good factor throughout by developing the plot in a different direction. The story does end pleasantly, which salvages things somewhat.

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decently sweet, iced with drama and sprinkled with spice

The story takes place in a bake shop run by 3 friends, the first one is the rich kid using moms money to run the shop so he's stuck under her thumb, the second is a friendly outgoing baker who can't seem to beat his friend at cakes, and the third is a cold perfectionist baker who is closed off and has his walls way up. Until of course, our MC takes the stage, he's a simple and sweet aspiring baker who easily makes his place in their shop, and also their hearts.

I actually really like that his character isn't a huge pushover even though he's a sweetheart, what I dont like is how quickly we see our closed off perfectionist open up to him and do a complete 180, maybe because it's only a 7 episode show and they had to speed things up, but the development needed a little more time in my opinion. I also didnt enjoy how toxic literally every relationship turned at one point, full grown adults throwing fits like children, making a decision in the heat of the moment and then taking it back, the white lies and the unnecessary drama, but all things considered it wasn't too bad.

The actors are doing a good job playing their parts, and there are several cute scenes, the chemistry between the leads is fine as well but I do feel like it could be better. Was almos trooting for the second love interest just to see if they'd have better chemistry lol. A cute watch overall, short and sweet, just a little bit dense.

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This could have been so much better

What can another trite, tropey, cliché-ridden Thai series centering around a cooking theme say that has not already been said? Both from a positive and negative perspective that seriously does not sound like a broken record (I know that dates me).

The story could have been an interesting one as it certainly did start out on an entertaining note. We have a struggling young man named Peach (Guide Kantapon) who developed a great understanding and finesse for baking from his Grandma (actress unknown). Both make a living by selling Grandma’s chiffon mini-cakes. Her chiffon mini-cakes have been instrumental in changing the direction of one individual in an orphanage where she has been delivering her cakes for many years. She gently dispenses, as a grandmother ought to, not just wise advice on baking but on how to live. She is pivotal to this whole story and is the fulcrum to Peach’s transition to fully realizing himself.

Read the complete article here-

https://the-bl-xpress.com/2023/12/30/bake-me-please-series-review-ep-1-to-6/

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Lovely healing mini series

I did not expect that Bake Me Please would end up as the only November premiered series that I caught up with but alas here I am, writing down a review for this series.

I will not lie, I came to this series with super low expectations. Not because most are still rookie actors (except for Ohm), but because this was CH8 so I honestly braced myself for the worst thinking this is gonna go down the lakorn route, super melodramatic and average tv lakorn-style cinematography.

Never was I more elated to be proven wrong. The cinematography is not like earth shattering excellent but it's really beautiful and well done (especially the mouth watering pastries shots). The production value is much higher than I expected but I guess maybe it's thanks to the Toyota money 🤣 (I gladly accept those random Toyota car scenes).

The story is simple, so cliche and cheesy. sunshine boy meets cold ice prince, they fall in love, they change each other lives. It was predictable no doubt. Yet, I came back every week, fully engaged and determined to see how things played out. Guide Kantapon is just such a charming actor, although a relative rookie. His smiles completely melt me (as well as Shin's heart).

Ohm is once again playing the typical stoic cold tsundere male lead. Even though, Ohm may be type casted into these roles, I think he plays them extremely well. Shin just fits him like a glove. It's really nice to see Ohm playing opposite Guide too, which is totally different chemistry from OhmFluke but equally as charming and endearing.

I love all of our supporting actors Poom, Prame, Atom but if I had to give the MVP is definitely Poom Phuripan and his incredible performance as the heart throbbing second male lead - chef Guy. Guy's pain from losing his best friend, his unrequited affection for Peach, his pettiness. I felt every single emotion Poom was delivering. It breaks my heart to know Poom was hospitalized after filming his scenes with Prame in the final EP because he had caught influenza but he still persevered and gave it his all 😭.

I will miss waiting for Sunday every week for Bake Me Please so much. If you're looking for a cheesy as heck BL series about a bunch of baker boys in love, please consider checking out Bake Me Please.

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Wasted energy

Really did not like this series ,felt ohm was wasted in it tbh.
They made his character unfeeling stoosh and all over the place,no sense at all.
That peach dude just plain got on my nerve he seem to have no self control and lacked respect for himself totally no self worth where Chin was concerned i mean how many times do ya have to be sucker punched before you stay down😒 his character was cringy as was atoms brother dont really remember his name saw no point him even being in it to be fair,and again made me cringe felt embarrassed for him.
Atom and guy weren't to bad i guess just ploded along making the most of it.
Loved granma total sweetheart.
Was a disappointing series apart from the last episode however i dont really know if it was somewhat good or i just couldn't wait for it to finish either way doubt ill ever watch it again so not worth the electric ,thats just my opinion mind you.

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Trite, Tropey, Cliché-ridden

What can you say about another trite, tropey, cliché-ridden Thai series centering around a cooking theme that has not already been said? The story could have been an interesting one as it certainly did start out on an entertaining note. This series was disappointing. It could have been good but instead went down the usual path without any risk to storytelling to play it safe. I suppose many will find this enjoyable; I did not. The story moves too rapidly and unnecessarily bitterly to make any real sense; hardly any believable romance; a tease to a relationship that I would love to have seen extensively developed; and only spurious time for a character that deserved his own story as his conflict with himself as to what he wanted to do with his life and how to extradite himself from his controlling mother is worthy of a story. He was relatable at least.

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I like the actors and that's the only reason I watched to the end.

I was excited for this with Ohm, Poom, Prame and Guide casted but overall it was dry and unexciting and a big disappointment. Nothing in the episodes each week made me feel excited for the next weeks episode to air. As much as I like Ohm the character of Shin seemed to be kind of a mirror image in some ways of at least four of his others roles that I've seen him play. And just like I figured, the last episode of this show was rushed. I felt no different about Shin than I did on the first episode. That video that was put out for the customers was good for business but when it came to everyone at the shop it was just eye rolling. He should've been saying all that to everyone at the shop IN PERSON as well. Its not like he was unconscious somewhere. Guy really stepped up and made amends to everyone but with Shin, I'm sorry he never really sat Peach down and talked to him them getting back together required Shin to have a real CONVERSATION with the man. Even in the end to me JUST MY opinion is that Shin still came off as a cold person. Also the relationship between Peach and Shin just wasn't believable. I think there could've been some chemistry between the two characters but for me there just seemed to be something missing.
terrible script
terrible acting
terrible execution of story
The only thing I liked was the OST.

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Good Until it Wasn't

I'm not proud to announce how long it took me to watch this 6 episode series (approximately a week), but for my sake, this got incredibly dull after episode three. I was excited about this one, while a little unsure of all that it was going to entail, but I was super stoked to see Guide in a lead role since his minor one in I Feel You Linger in The Air, and of course, Ohm is a sight for sore eyes so I'm seated. But initially what had started out as a really good story with some interesting characters has ended with the weirdest and most rushed character redemption and a very sappy happily ever after.

Let's Dive In.

Again, I was super excited to see that Guide was given a lead role after IFYLITA because he was one of my favorite characters from that series. And with his counterpart Ohm, I was hooked to see how this quaint little BL would turn out. Turns out this BL could've done with a lot more work. In the beginning episodes, I was hooked on the plot, I was hooked on how Peach was going to get Shin out of his little stoic bubble, and I was hooked on all the side characters of the bakery. It wasn't until after episode three that this series just fell straight on its face. Shin is the most manipulative walking red flag I've ever seen, who's also narcissistic in thinking that he's the only one who can bake a good cake, while also being over-possessive of Peach and his life. Yes he was all these things in the beginning, but I thought Peach would "change" him and he'd have this amazing character development, but nope, he's the same stoic character that he was in the beginning at the end, just add on that he smiles and gives frequent kisses. The series is also just incredibly boring, There are very low stakes and nothing to look forward to after Shin and Peach get together. Because after that, it was a bunch of miscommunication and misunderstandings. The reason why it took me a week to watch this? Kept falling asleep. Honestly, this series could've ended at episode three and I would've given it a better overall score.

Moving onto Guy's incredibly ridiculous redemption arc; I only have two words -- terrible writing. I don't know what the writers were doing when it came to coming up with that ending, but it's the most rushed shit I've ever seen. Guy wasn't the worst character (Shin was actually) but he still didn't deserve the redemption arc he received, especially within a 30-minute time frame of the last episode. One minute Shin hates him, the next Guy's back working in the bakery and they're all besties again. The ending on top of that was just so overly-sappy to me, but then again the entire series felt the need to do flashbacks every 5 minutes, so I guess that's just how the feel of the series was supposed to go.

Onto Peach and Shin's relationship: yeah, no thank you. I was stretching to try and find the chemistry, and I think some parts worked, but most didn't. The beginning was better than the end, but Guide and Ohm just make zero sense to me. I feel like in a way they cancel each other out, and they just don't connect very well at all. They're both beautiful men, but together, I get nothing. The intimate scenes weren't bad, but I think Guide and Ohm should've done more workshops to work well together. Otherwise, their romance on screen was mediocre.

And to the character I love the most -- to Atom -- I'm sorry they didn't give you more screen time or even a potential partner.

Ratings;

Story: 5.5/10 - Not terrible in the beginning, but the ending is less than satisfactory. Characters are entertaining, others not so much. Chemistry between the leads was lacking, but they're both hot so it's not so bad.

Acting: 8/10 - Guide did okay, but to be fair, I think he played better as Ming but that might be more on the writing and less on him. Ohm was how Ohm has always played his characters + hot. I think I liked Atom (omg that's also his real name) a lot because of his character's personality, and I think he did a really great job. Everyone else was fine too.

Music: 6/10 - Didn't give it much attention, but it wasn't distracting.

Recommendation Value: 3.5/10 - Nah, skip this, really not worth it. I mean unless there's an actor you really want to see, but otherwise, this BL belongs in the land of the "what-if" which is really just a list of BLs I'll eventually forget about.

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