Girl Rules

Girl With No Rules

I understand why many people were disappointed with this series, although I think some of the reactions were blown out of proportion. At its core, Girl Rules was meant to be a fun story with a more mature approach, offering a somewhat realistic portrayal of lesbian relationships and friendships in modern times. Unfortunately, what it delivered was a shallow script that seemed to lose its direction along the way, underdeveloped characters, and drama that, rather than advancing the story, only served to bore the audience.

It wasn't even a case of the characters being too toxic to root for; they were simply too empty to relate to. They didn't feel driven or distinctive enough for me to become invested in their stories. While I have nothing but praise for the cast's performances, specially Namtan, Film and Love. They were not given much to work with so even the best performances fall flat with a weak script.

What I missed most from the show was a greater focus on the friendships. I think it would have been far more interesting to see the girls interact through different dynamics rather than placing so much emphasis on the romances. We've already seen NamtanFilm, we've seen MilkLove, and we'll see more of ViewMim, but we will probably never get another chance to see all six actresses together in one series. It's disappointing that such an opportunity was ultimately wasted.

One of the biggest flaws in this show is its reliance on telling rather than showing as those relationships evolve, which is also one of the recurring weaknesses in Jojo's projects. Example, we didn't get to see much of Bambie and Shasha's friendship, so their scene together at the end didn't carry as much weight as it could if their friendship had been developed organically throughout the series instead of only being highlighted when the plot required. It's worth noting that Jojo didn't write the script. Girl Rules had six writers working on it, and I've heard that the two halves of the show were written by different teams. In my opinion, however, both parts were equally weak and made many of the same mistakes. If anything, that detail proves that quantity doesn't necessarily equal quality.

Characters constantly swing from barely tolerating each other to being deeply in love, and that inconsistency does a disservice to the couples' chemistry. Rather than building meaningful romantic development, the show rushes through the progression of their relationships, leaving many emotional moments feeling unearned. The cast had the chemistry and skills to make these moments work, but the writing rarely gave them the time or depth needed to fully capitalize on it.

Overall, the series leaves behind a sense of dissatisfaction, not because it lacked the tools to tell a compelling and engaging story, but because it never fully committed to using them. It sold itself on the promise of nuanced characters, meaningful friendships, and a mature exploration of WLW relationships, yet it rarely delivered on those ideas in a satisfying way. More than anything, Girl Rules will likely be remembered not for what it was, but for what it could have been: a show full of potential that never quite lived up to it.

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They promised us a messy toxic gl and it did deliver (to an extend)

I might be in the minority that actually did like this show.

Yes, it had its big flaws let's get that out of the way. The editing was ass and the song choices were horrible. We had music every 5 secs and it would have a different feel than what the scene is conveying. The fashion was bad too. All of these were very noticeable in the first few episodes but they got better by the end.


Story wise it had its flaws and inconsistencies but come on, very few gmmtv shows have good scripts. I would say this one is slightly better than most gls I have watched.
The pilot trailer hinted at mixing of pairs but I knew to not expect anything crazy, even then I was surprised at how much mixing and matching there was. Adding EmiBonnie was so much fun. All the 3 couples have different plots and are mainly connected through their work. My ranking on the couples would be ShashaGorya>PrimBambi>MinPraew.

Shasha-Gorya are MilkLove's best roles. Both of them gave their best performances as these characters. The chemistry was sizzling. They were the epitome of enemies with benefits to lovers (unlike the ewb which is airing rn). The way we could see their attraction to each other in the beginning but they both pull away due to their own reasons. Gorya was such a complex character even though we don't have a backstory for her beyond her feelings for Prim. She had her strict boundaries but that never meant that she would not help someone when they were in need, even if they aren't her friends. Shasha was so hot and deep, her trauma being shown at the middle of the show explains so much of her behaviour and how she builds a wall around herself to never be used like that again. All the girls gathering to support her was a sweet moment too. Shasha and Gorya's bickering was so fun and I'm glad some of it carried out into their relationship. The big let down of their plotline is how they got together, we had good jealousy moments which push them to be together but then we have a lacklustre scene where they become a couple. Honestly I don't even remember the scene where they decide to be a couple, that's how unmemorable it was. Shasha's mother plot also was boring and out of character, she made it clear from the beginning that she is not close with her mother so for her to come in the last episodes and suddenly have so much power over her career and nobody doing anything about it was so out of the blue. Other than these two things they were a 10/10 couple. Like I said, MilkLove's best roles, way better than whalestore.

Prim-Bambi were fun at first but it quickly got toned down. Yes, Bambi was unlikable and annoying but she was so much fun. She was bratty and bitchy i.e iconic. She didn't care who was getting disturbed or annoyed she just wanted to get what she wants and that was Prim. She was not shy about it and had so much audacity. But then we lose it. Prim's reason for getting back with Bambi was not good in the first place, but we can ignore it thinking its pity and codependency. Then we have Airy reveal Bambi's mistake (Bambi was at fault for Zee's death, not completely but still she has a huge part in it) and then suddenly Bambi has a personality change. She suddenly doesn't want Prim's love if it is out of pity. I was very confused at this. The Bambi we met didn't care how she got Prim, she wanted her in any way, why care about the details now. And then suddenly she seems to question whether she is a burden to Prim and that she doesn't want to be with Prim if she is going to be in her way. That whole thing was ridiculous to me. Their breakup in the past was lame in itself, you know for a fact that an independent filmmaker is going to be 10 times more busy and desperate than anyone else, but then using the same reason now? But in this present Bambi was with Prim 24/7, she always walked into the studio like she owned the place so what more does she want? Plus if she was so reluctant to be a burden why do all that in the beginning? Why come and force yourself in situations when your plan was to leave in the first place? I know that Bambi has mental health issues but they are never explored properly. It would have been better if she was this bratty character throughout the series.
All this to say Prim sucked too. Her fight with Min about the leave was so illogical. Like you are not a corporate worker, you are running an indie film making company, you can't just ditch big clients because you think your girlfriend needs a break. All those issues could have been solved if Prim opened her mouth and talked with Bambi but I guess that makes up the toxic aspect of their relationship. At least Prim was consistent. Their reunion would have hit more if we had developed it over many episodes
I think so many inconsistencies with this couple could have been addressed by highlighting the class difference between the two and how it affects their relationship.
This whole couple dynamic was toxic af but was entertaining to watch in the beginning. Chemistry was good, but not as good as pluto.


Min-Praew, my biggest disappointment. From the pilot trailer and the official trailer I thought Min would be fresh out of a relationship and wants to experiment with a girl and Praew offers to be an experiment- Praew falls first and then develops even deeper feelings and prepares herself for a heartbreak and then as a shock she finds out that Min likes her too and then they navigate their relationship. But here they almost instantly become a couple and even though Praew says that Min can take all the time that she needs she starts pressuring Min almost immediately to go public and put a label on herself. There is nothing more to this couple than this plotline getting repeated. They were also very weird about bi ppl. Such a waste (just slightly better than OatNene)

Another complaint I have is their kissing scenes. These girls know how to kiss so why did it look like they were kissing for the first time in many scenes. Someone pointed out that all of them kiss with their mouths closed and I can't unsee it now. There were some high emotional moments which end with a kiss but they end up kissing each other on the cheek like friends.

Even though I have all these long ass complaints I enjoyed watching this show more than most gls. Idk why ppl are acting as if its the worst gmmtv show, this is better than most gmmtv gls. Ppl saying 4elements is better than this when that show barely has any plot and is just insta love. I think people are ultimately not ready for an ensemble gl, if all these 3 couples had 3 separate shows with the exact same plotline they would be showered with praises.

The main ost was bad but the rest all were amazing. The fashion got better but still, these girls are ambassadors of luxury brands, u could do better.
The integration of the friend group was nice and felt very natural. Gmmtv should just get rid of the fixed pair system cause the potential all these pairs have is insane. Namtan-Love, Milk-Film, Emi-Love, Milk-Bonnie, Emi-Milk.....like i need shows with them all yesterday!!!! I'm sad that my girl Tu wanted to appear in this but was not allowed to, there goes my Milk-Tu dreams.

I had a great time and will definitely be seated for a s2 with EmiBonnie as KrisBaipor. Add all the new couples too!!!

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started with a bang, ended with a whimper

Oh boy...... So I really enjoyed the first episode (for the most part) and for the first 2/3 of the show, I was looking forward to the new episodes but then it just kinda fizzled out imo. Episode 9 made it really clear how MinPraew was sidelined as they're fully removed from the A plot to have Praew meet Min's family while Prim, Bambi, Shasha, and Gorya have been all tangled up in each other since day 1, and noticing how disconnected they are and the fact that Praew has no ties to the group outside of Min.......... something about that made the friendships feel kinda hollow and really dampened my enthusiasm for the last 3 episodes. Anyway, let's talk about the relationships bc that's the reason why anyone is watching this lmao.

PrimBambi is a horror story disguised as a romance. Prim is still deeply in love with her ex, Bambi, who completely vanished from her life a year ago. Gorya has harbored feelings for Prim for years and is finally ready to make a move on Prim on her birthday, but, unfortunately, Bambi shows up on Prim's doorstep before things progress past a kiss. Prim, furious that Bambi is just barging into her life again, tells her to leave but Bambi just bulldozes her boundaries, forcing her way into the apartment and refusing to leave. She then shows up at Prim's work and starts harassing her and when Prim makes it clear she's not going to hire Bambi, Bambi then tricks her way into being a client, meaning that Prim has to spend time with her. Bambi is just a full on stalker, and because of their extensive history, she knows exactly which buttons to push to get the desired reactions from Prim. Upon Prim learning that Bambi's most recent ex died in a car accident, Prim immediately folds and gets back together with Bambi — even despite Bambi's own mother suggesting Prim would be better off cutting Bambi from her life. Bambi forcing her way back into Prim's life doesn't even make sense to me in the first place when she dumped Prim for missing her birthday when Prim had a work obligation, but I'm supposed to handwaive away this rich girl's refusal to listen to her partner bc trauma 🙄 Also don't get me started on when Prim's father came around asking for money and Prim refused to see him, but Bambi gave him money and was even trying to convince Prim to maybe be open to reconnect with him 🙄 After that bullshit, I skipped all their domestic scenes bc I was so f*cking sick of Bambi and her bullshit.

MinPraew started out fairly cute — Min noticing an attraction to Praew but being scared to act on it since she'd always assumed she was straight and Praew being a supportive shoulder to lean on (albeit also a little pushy about trying to convince Min to give her a shot). They have their moments here and there where I found them cute, but imo their dynamic got really tiring bc Min (understandably) was learning a lot about herself and needed to process all these new feelings and was navigating an extremely homophobic family and Praew was just not understanding about this at all. Yes, being forced into the closet by your partner f*cking sucks, but you can't chase a straight girl and then be angry that she's not ready to be out???????? like... come on. Tbh I feel like the writers could have done a lot more with Min's confusion about her identity too, there are definitely things to be said about her immediately jumping into this relationship with Praew after leaving her abusive ex and the show doesn't engage with that as much as I think it should.

ShashaGorya wasn't flawless, but it was by far the best dynamic of the three main pairings. Shasha has been harboring a crush on Gorya since she watched her stand up for herself against an asshole photographer who blamed her for things going wrong on a shoot. Shasha has been repeatedly asking Gorya out and only manages to get Gorya to agree as payback after Gorya uses Shasha's name to get clothes for a styling job. After learning that Prim and Bambi have gotten back together, Gorya starts a friends with benefits situation with Shasha to mask her pain, but as they spend time together, she gets to see beyond Shasha's icy facade and realizes she does actually like her. They have their ups and downs as Gorya believes Shasha to be a player and keeps her walls up, but as they grow closer and Gorya learns about Shasha's horrifying intro to the modeling world, Gorya accepts her feelings and they soon become an official couple. Honestly, I am not doing justice to their storyline with this summary lol, their chemistry was the best it's ever been for MilkLove and I love both Shasha and Gorya so much. As underwhelming as I found the show as a whole, I wholeheartedly think ShashaGorya's story is worth a watch.

As for the friendships...... like I kinda implied already, it left a lot to be desired in that area imo. Praew barely has scenes with any of the girls except Min, so she borderline feels out of place when she's in group scenes. I literally don't think she even shared a scene with Shasha until the last 10 minutes of the finale??????? That's WILD. Bambi and Shasha's friendship makes sense bc they both have their menace tendencies in trying to win the affections of Prim and Gorya. Prim and Shasha's dynamic also felt pretty realistic, as Prim doesn't really like Shasha, but upon learning about her manager stealing from her, Prim offers support, and they come to a cordial place of understanding. Prim and Min are established to have been friends for years and I felt that, but then the writers make the inexplicable decision to have them get in a fight about their company in episode 10 of 12 and honestly I don't feel like that was ever properly resolved lol. Min showing up on Prim's vacation to try to convince her to come back to work was so out of pocket and their make up in episode 11 felt underbaked. Bambi and Gorya's "friendship" genuinely pissed me off. Bambi spent the first half of the show terrorizing Gorya for having feelings for Prim and then bc Bambi needs to cry and have a pity party about Min and Prim's conflict, Gorya is comforting her and saying they're friends. This show lives up Bambi's ass, it's so infuriating. It honestly didn't feel like the show even tried w other friendships among the core 6 which is kinda sad when the show very clearly wanted to be about how these girls are each other's support systems.

Anyway idek what I'm saying at this point. There was so much potential with the concept, I just think the execution was severely lacking. I have high hopes for the shows that will follow in its footsteps, hopefully there are many more ensemble GLs to come!

SHASHAGORYA YOU WILL ALWAYS BE FAMOUS!

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This show sucked, it was nothing like what I seen in the trailer. The trailer made it seem like something it was not going to be. Everything was all over the place. The editing is horrible. I watched every Monday though. Goryabambi should have kissed and shashakris should have kissed as well as krisgorya but that didn’t happen. This show is not 18 plus like they said it was. There were only implications of it. Praewmin whole relationship was just a mess. I wouldn’t say min is even gay, praew was pushing so hard I feel. Min obviously wasn’t interested in her but she just got along with it due to pressure. They don’t seem like a couple, their chemistry in the show is not giving couple. Praew is a yellow flag I would say because she keeps trying to push a relationship onto min even though she clearly don’t want that, but at the end min gave in because she felt bad.

Overall:
Pretty shitty show but I probably would rewatch it again only for shashagorya though because their storyline and characters are the only interesting thing about this show.

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HAD SO MUCH POTENTIAL...

ok so this was my first my gl, i started watching bls a year and a half ago, i had too many bls to watch so i never really started watching a gl, but then girl rules trailer dropped and i was so obsessed with that trailer, and then episode 1 was so good, i was addicted to this show, don't ask me how many time i have watched the trailer and the first episode. so coming to the review

this show started so strong and it had so much potential, all the girls were workingwomen and no more in the college or stuff, the first episode did set a good base and i was really looking forward and had huge expectations, luckily those expectations were met in the first and second act of the show, the story was interesting and made me excited to watch it every week and wait for it too... but then happened the third act of the show, they ruined everything they did before, they just started doing random things, doing random plots, and cutting scenes from the episodes they already showed in the preview, it went so downhill, honest i had too much expectations from this show and p'jojo and i also got to know how much anticipated it was since the pilot, i hate how gmmtv shows gets stretched just to fulfil a certain amount of episodes.. i expected mess from this show, they gave primgorya they first ep and it was over too early, shashabambi kiss was unnecessary too, Manu people will say mess is not everything but i will expect it from shows like girl rules and ofdo..

the actresses did a really great job though, i would give this cast a 10/10 no notes, they were really amazing for whatever had given to them, and my MVP FILM she really did an amazing job in playing bambi and her character will be forever iconic for me and gorya too, her character was written well, yeah until the third act happened where they ruined the personalities of everyone, bambigorya are my favourite duo, as enemies or friends bothh!!

things i liked and disliked about each couple:
PRIMBAMBI: I LOVE BAMBI, SHE IS AN ICON, well in some things she is not, in the start they portrayed that bambi left without breaking up but that was sure not the case, and i am still confused that in the first episode when bambi came (AHHH I LOVE THE FIRST EPISODE SO MUCH) her mother said to her that i sent you aboard, which was also not the case, they were really acting like that zee thing didn't happen, coming to zee, what video did airy make with ai? they never showed that to usss, honestly all that zeebambi storylines was so confusing and poorly written, it was a good ex to lovers storyline with too much confusion, but still i love primbambi but i don't like the way they did it in last episode, all that angst of episode 11, ended with 2 seconds of motivation from shasha and everything resolved?? didn't gorya say the same thing to bambi in washroom and prim said the same thing while breaking up, so what different did shasha say?
but NAMTANFILM ATE!

SHASHAGORYA: well there is nothing that i can think of that i dislike about them, except that mom storyline, wth was that, the writers were like now they are dating and 2 episodes left what to do? let's take her mother back, like i know her mother was mentioned beforehand too but Sasha could've just said no to her decisions the first or second time, they just did random things just to stretch it 2 more episodes, like it'd be fine just make 8 or 10 episodes. i love gorya's character so much, she was actually a baddie and knew her worth, i liked the pacing of shashagorya's storyline until they actually started dating because that's when writers had nothing.
milklove has such a great chemistry and it goes without saying, they were so good together!!

MINPRAEW: there relationship had actually many realistic problems and stuff, they had a good storyline in first and second act, but they were nowhere in third act, they never showed us them asking to date officially, not to forget, I HATED THAT FREAKIN BIPHOBIA, why was everyone like a straight girl turning lesbian, she switched teams, a straight girl like you plays with lesbian's heart, like are we forgetting that bisexuality exists!!?
min's family issue was actually a good plot until they decided that oh it's last episode and we haven't really given min's family any character development and just showed them 1 or 2 times, let's just make them accept her in 2 seconds, like yeah it is this easy to deal with homophobia? it would be better and realistic if they had shown that they didn't accept her. also that storyline when another girl came, I don't remember the name, it was so poorly written and they cut that scene too in which min and praew were arguing about having no lesbian friends except prim, they showed that in trailer.
also at many times praew was so pushy and forcing min, while she herself as queer should've known that everyone has their time to come out!!? i loved viewmim as a pair tho, like I said everyone did a great job but the writers!!

KRIS AND BAIPOR: I WANTED KRISBAIPOR TO HAPPEN BUT not like that, it felt too unnecessary and forced, it felt like just for the sake of making fans happy? like how did they even got to know each other, they have just met once at that bar and they just said hello and stuff!! like if you wanna show them atleast give some scenes prior to it, it was so sudden and poor writing to just make them dance together out of NOWHERE!!

also ciize did a really good job in playing airy, she plays a ragebaiter very well, and she ate in episode, her expressions and everything was so on point, did the writers forget that she was still an employee of lady bird, they made her disappear like she never existed!!?

THE GIRLS CARRIED THE SHOW! i loved NAMTANFILM's acting and it really felt like they are a couple known each other since college and need i say anything about MILKLOVE, they were really great and VIEWMIM's chemistry is so good and their height difference is differencing, i love themmm!! i am gonna miss watching girl rules on mondays, i hope it had better writing and screenplay.
it's my first timing writing this detailed review, i have yapped to much 😭

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Woke Soup Turned Sour

When this was announced everyone was thinking "this is the GL version of Only Friends!" and like... We did get it right, actually. It is Only Friends. Just fucking Dream On, I guess, maybe worse.

We start off with an environment that's poorly explored. Ladybird is meant to be a company created by and for women to fight off the struggles within the industry, which is great, the problem is that we never really get to see what those issues within the industry were besides 1 (one) singular mean director and Shasha's story arc. Prim, Min, Praew, Bambi and nearly all the other workers seem to go unscarred by whatever it is men are doing.

But the series goes further with this trope. Min gets constantly harassed by men during the 1st half. It's that certain brand of "feminism" (I put it like that because real feminism acknowledges that ALL people suffer within patriarchy, including men) that's just so unnecessarily hateful towards men like they're evil by default. And then BAM: Praew appears and harasses her just like the guys before did. The best example of this is at the bar. She tells a guy off for not taking Min's no as an answer only to proceed RIGHT AWAY not to take her no for an answer. Insane behaviour.

On top of this, on multiple occasions, though I specifically remember the situation with Oil, they frame women as sensitive and even emotional beings, like that's not just misogyny 101.

And, to end it all, the series continuously disregards Min's sexuality and tries to push the lesbian lable on her (they do try to fix it at the end by having Praew say she can take her time to label herself and whatnot, but really the message that sticks isn't that one).

It's like every single relevant and important topic was shallow and played out for people on Twitter to say "slay" and move on. Yes, even Shasha's arc, which ends after a single press conference and then the world carries on. As if that wasn't massive for her and her career. As if that wasn't important to her character.

And these are just major issues, I'm not even mentioning the rest. Bambi getting away with the most toxic behaviour ever, Prim having no self-worth, Praew and Min giving lukewarm at best, whatever the fuck was the point of having Kris as a character (I love Emi and I loved her on screen, but narratively: why?), KapookCiize continuing to be doomed yuri... The things pile up. Not to mention the atrocious editing wth those big ass colourful lines, of centre images and windows movie maker frames and transitions.

Needless to say, therefore, that I ain't happy. I got nothing of what I wanted, nothing that was worth my time. I watched 12 episodes in hopes I'd get a crumb, at least, because I wanna support women and their acting and I want more GLs. I want GMMTV and other companies to think of queer women's stories as highly as they think of men's. But this just wasn't it. Whatever they tried to do, this wasn't it. And nobody is more disappointed in this fact than I am.

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Entertained me in a way it definitely shouldn't have

As most of the reviews said, the show is truly dissapointing.

The pilot and the show are completely different. The investment in couples is uneven. PrimBambi storyline is absurd, MinPraew is too corny and boring, and ShaGorya is probably the only reason I didn't drop the series.

I know that the plot is a major problem in thai GLs, but this is genuinely a nasty cash grab, no offence. This only plays out because it's GL and it has gorgeous popular actresses. I wouldn't see any other reason to watch this. It gets so ridiculous to the point I was laughing during apparently sad scenes.

Oh, and one thing. The editing makes me pull my hair. Video and audio wise. The music is boring and sometimes not on point for the scene. Video editing in the first episodes is bizzare, but it gets much better near the middle.

Yet, despite all of this, it was weirdly entertaining, mostly thanks to acting and eye-candy facecards. Even though Bambi's inadequate decisions (seriously, it's not even about her being a brat, it's about having the total lack of intelligence and morality) and MinPraew's boring storyline is hard to haul. At least the show made me cackle every 5 minutes, either out of frustration or ridiculousness of events.

I honestly don't understand why people attack Gorya for being 'a bitch', when she has the most mature behaviour among all of them. I do know she slept with Shasha for attention seeking, but she let Shasha know about this at the start, and I don't think that instanly giving in to a disloyal playgirl would a better move. Instead, people praise Bambi for being fun. Well, she IS fun. But I wouldn't let her be even at 1 km near me. The way she treats Prim is simply insane and stupid. And Prim's giving in to this bullshit is even more wild.

I'm not even sure if the show should've had less or more episodes. The storyline did get more interseting and deep towards the end, but they just rushed the finale with a boring scene.

Anyways, it's a good show to watch when you just want to see pretty women and good acting with a need of big laugh and your brain turned off. You have better fish to fry though, even in this low-budget series field. My overall rating is not 1.0 merely because Mate exists.

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OF, but make it GL

Allora, capiamoci, non mi è dispiaciuto per nulla, anzi. Oggettivamente io la gente non la capisco, ma alla fine dei conti ho imparato che alle persone quello che fa la GMMTV non va mai bene. E questo a conti fatti è un loro problema e non oggettivamente un me problema. A me la storia è piaciuta, ho avuto un po' di caos, ma non troppo e non stata felici dei cameo che ho visto. Insomma, considerando che io GL tendenzialmente vedo solo quelli della GMMTV non mi ha dispiaciuto, anzi. Poi ho visto bene le coppie storiche consolidate e devo dire che ho apprezzato anche ViewMim, che sarò sincera, mentre in Us non avevo apprezzato perché non mi piaceva per nulla il personaggio di Mim e che onestamente non avevo molto capito in STGD. Devo dire che dei cast con coppie in ensamble della GMMTV solo uno veramente non mi è piaciuto ed è la serie che ha ispirato tutte le serie del momento, quindi con me si va abbastanza sul sicuro con queste serie. Detto appunto ciò mi sta piacendo come ci stiamo gradualmente espandendo rispetto al mondo degli universitari, anche se voi sapete (e se non lo sapete ve lo dico io ora) che le serie universitarie resteranno comunque le mie preferite di sempre, e ho apprezzato il mondo dei film/moda per introdurci al modno delle nostre Girl. Ora come per OF aspetto anche GR2.

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The Girls Definitely Rule

A very decent series that addresses a lot of issues, many of them that women face in their everyday lives, and sheds light on others that aren't getting mentioned by the media as often, which was something I appreciated a lot as a woman myself. The overall writing was pretty solid and the characters as well as the pairings were very distinct from each other and were developed nicely. A few parts maybe felt a bit rushed by the end, but no loose ends were left and it didn't bother me that much as a viewer, personally.

Acting-wise it was very strong. Some really difficult and heartbreaking scenes were aced by the girls and even in the scenes that depended solely on the use of micro expressions, they were excellent, showcasing their abilities. I do have to mention Milk and Love separately, though, only because I felt this was the first time they were given a chance to fully utilise their skills and show their range. They surprised me in the most pleasant way and I absolutely loved them in the roles of Shasha and Gorya. They stood out the most to me as a duo and shone brighter than ever.

Overall, this series is worth giving a chance if you're looking for a bit more grounded approach in romance. It certainly has its fictional traits, but for the most part it's down to earth and doesn't shy away from showing flawed characters and the unhealthy aspects of human relationships.

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Girl Rules, where the first rule is don’t break your own rules.

That sentiment also goes for the writers too.

This was designed to be messy, and if you’re hoping to see good things with established ships, then for the most part expect to be disappointed. If you view GL from a more neutral standpoint and are looking for something different to the usual couples falling in love and ending up together, then this might be one to watch.

Each episode is written around a specific rule, and how each of the characters either breaks it, or show how they handle it. That aspect of the series is well written and directed, and credit should be given for that.

When writing, directing and producing a series like this, your first rule should be to research the content you are using, and the second is ensure you proof read it before using it, especially when using different writers for each episode. They clearly didn’t do this, and at one point they mixed up a gender expression with a sexual orientation, completely erasing bisexual identities in the process. They did reference pansexual, but with the lack of any butch mascs and other transitional gender roles, it leaves a bad taste. If you are going to write about LGBT+ issues, then proper research is essential, and good proof readers need to ensure mistakes like this don’t happen.

As for the plot, it focuses on three main couples, two are established ships, and a potential new pairing. In reality, it centers on one story focused around Namtam/Film, with the other two couples, Milk/Love and View/Mim, getting less attention and screen time, which hasn’t been received well in the fandoms.

There are three guest couples, one is a romantic couple who play Blossom’s owners in the plot, Kapook/Ciize who represent exes that interfere with Namtam/Film, and Emi/Bonnie who get involved in the messiness with Milk/Love.

The setting is split between their homes, work, vacations and nightlife. The work settings are a fashion house, production company and a photographer, that overlap with each other. The nightlife is mostly within a lesbian bar called Blossom, which shockingly has almost no butch representation at all.

It’s fast paced, with quick transitions between each sub-plot and high-octane music that changes frequently within each scene. That’s important, because this doesn’t follow the usual slow burn of a couple getting together, being torn apart by family tradition or homophobia but somehow ending up together anyway. In general, the music matches the messiness that unfolds, and that for me is the best part of this series, although others have expressed a dislike to it. Compared to other GL’s that lack the depth and emotion of the music, this one is on point. The OST reflects this, with upbeat tracks and decent beats.

There were some sound problems though, especially with the live music scenes and the screaming fans, which was largely distorted and lacked quality. In those episodes, I had to adjust the volume down quickly, or remove my earbuds.

Three of the established ships cross over, with Love hooking up with Namtan, Film hooking up with Milk, and to a certain extent, Emi trying to win over Love. For me, the writers missed an opportunity here. They had 12 episodes to completely screw with the ships, but all we got was one quick interaction with each that ended as quickly as they started. I would have liked to see more of these new pairings, and more involvement from Bonnie.

I understand why they didn’t though. They knew by messing with established ships that it would cause problems, which has already been shown with the series being received poorly within the fandoms. If you want something that has good kissing and love scenes, this is not a good choice. The focus is more on day to day lives rather than their intimacy.

Overall, it was a good first attempt at a more soap style GL, but the mistakes they made were poor. Trying to use the established ships meant they had to tread too carefully, when in reality we need to see the more realistic POV of messy lesbian and bisexual relationships, and the difficulties chasing straight girls. They have a good pool of actresses to choose from that are not already paired, and they should have used them. They need more butch and trans representation too.

It would have been better with more episodes, and to slow down the outcomes with more drama and more crossover of the ships. but maybe this was deliberate so they can carry on into a second series, although that seems unlikely. It has almost no re-watch value, because it doesn’t really have an overall storyline, although you might want to relive some of the specific drama scenes.

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So far, Girl Rules has done a great job building a complex and emotionally layered story with multiple relationships that all feel interconnected. Even just halfway through the series, it’s already clear that the show isn’t afraid to explore messy love, past relationships, and difficult choices in a realistic way. Each character has their own storyline, and instead of rushing, the series takes time to develop their emotions and conflicts, which makes everything feel more meaningful. The chemistry across the cast is strong, and the way their stories overlap keeps things interesting every episode.

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