A tired story hidden behind good looks and fan hype
I really do not understand how Duang with You is getting so many perfect scores, because for me, it is completely overrated. It is a boring, everyday story in a school setting about two young people falling in love. It feels like a story I have already seen soo many times before. The plot is just a long line of episodes where one character keeps flirting and chasing the other until they finally give in and fall in love.The young actors are good for their age, but they just do not feel real or believable as characters. The show relies too much on the fact that they are young and good-looking. While they are okay at the kissing and intimate scenes, even those moments do not feel natural to the story. Instead of showing the characters grow, the series just fills the long episodes with repetitive scenes and predictable problems that are not exciting at all.
Maybe I am just getting too old or have watched too many simple shows to enjoy another one like this. The high ratings seem to come mostly from dedicated couple-ship fans who give good scores because they love their idols, not because the show is actually good. It might be a nice show for a newer, younger generation of viewers who have not seen other similar BL shows before. But for anyone looking for a fresh or well-written story, this one is a disappointment.
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Not the best drama, but still good
I'm not even gonna lie, this drama was EXTREMELY successful at making me experience the deepest second-hand embarrassment imaginable.This review is probably going to sound ridiculous because I'm basically about to criticize the very essence of Thai drama humor... but seriously, it gets me every single time. So, I decided to make a little ranking of the moments that made me physically cringe...
The "DUUUAAANNNGGG" in the opening song. Which, by the way, is a perfect representation of Duang himself. Please..
The whole "num num good boy" scene... I was fighting for my life. And honestly, feeding someone isn't even that cute to me in the first place, so when you start making airplane noises and singing on top of it... absolutely not.
Duang suddenly switching to that "cutesy voice" of his and referring to himself in the third person.... Even the way he'd get all excited whenever he got closer to Quin in the first few episodes... sir, compose yourself.
Jamie and Marvis constantly switching between Thai and English.
During the first episodes, Duang's friends (and honestly Quin's friends too) being present every single time he desperately tried to flirt with Quin. Their presence was neither wanted nor needed.
The Gucci slides. (This is just a personal remark.) Why?
Duang literally acting like a dog, panting and barking to show affection. STOP THAT.
There were honestly plenty of other moments that managed to make me curl up from embarrassment, but I've decided to keep them to myself because, in reality, this BL is undeniably good.
Duang is obviously someone who knows exactly how to express and declare his love. But what impressed me even more throughout the series was how much of a driving force he becomes in Quin's personal growth.
I absolutely loved Quin's development, and Por portrayed it beautifully. His character evolves so naturally and progressively. Watching Quin slowly let his guard down, accept his feelings, and finally come to terms with his past was genuinely touching. I honestly wasn't expecting that level of emotional depth.
I also have to mention how beautifully Duang and Quin's growing intimacy is filmed. I totally forgot how to breathe during Episode 6. Since the drama is generally lighthearted and playful, I wasn't expecting the intimate scenes to hit that hard emotionally. So THANK YOU for that.
Those scenes genuinely gave me butterflies. You can feel every ounce of the tension, tenderness, and love between them, and it was refreshing to see something so emotionally sincere in a drama that usually doesn't take itself too seriously.
In the end, I think this is truly a feel-good drama. Beyond all the cringe moments (which, honestly, end up becoming part of the show charm) you just have a really good time watching it. It's nice to watch two emotionally healthy people passionately fall in love.
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Cute but dumb
This one is more of a guilty pleasure watch for me. The story is fine, the music is great, and the entire case is adorable. It's not that the actors are bad at their jobs, it's just that the characters are truly written that way. Duang is just soooo over the top clingy and optimistic. I really though this was going to be a kind of Junior from Perfect 10 Liners situation where he uses being happy to cover for darker feelings, but it appears to just be who he is. I don't mind it, and I'm enjoying watching the series, but it's not really one that you are going to take seriously.Was this review helpful to you?
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Overhyped...But The Chemistry of the ML kept me going
The series owes much of its success to the music, sharp editing, and incredible cast chemistry, particularly between the leads, TeeTee and Por. If it weren't for the perfect casting of Duang, the entire show could have fallen apart. While some might find his childlike voice and behavior a bit over the top at first, it definitely grows on you. The leads are incredibly cute together, and it’s easy to see why fans are obsessed with their onscreen dynamic.The plot itself is straightforward: a happy-go-lucky guy falls head over heels for a popular, highly unapproachable introvert and decides to pursue him. Once they officially become boyfriends, they navigate and overcome various obstacles together. While this trope isn't usually my cup of tea, it kept me hooked until about episode 8, where I started losing interest. Unfortunately, like many Thai BLs, once the main couple got together, the writers seemed to run out of ideas, and the remaining episodes felt mostly like filler.
Does this series really deserve a 9 like The Untamed? In my opinion, it's a firm no. I honestly think it lacks depth.
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Not worth watching
I really tried to give this series a chance, but after finishing it, I honestly feel like it was pure flirting with barely any actual story to support it.After Episode 5, I was already complaining about the pacing because it felt like the story was going nowhere. Unfortunately, things didn’t really improve much for me. The whole series kept circling around the same thing — flirting, flirting, more flirting — without enough plot development to make me genuinely invested.
Don’t get me wrong, there were definitely funny moments. Some scenes genuinely made me laugh, and the cute interactions between the characters had their charm. But cute flirting alone can’t carry an entire series. 😭 At some point, I was just waiting for something to actually happen.
The pacing was painfully slow, and there were so many scenes that felt unnecessary or repetitive. A lot of the material could have been trimmed down significantly. Honestly, I still stand by what I said after Episode 5: this would probably have worked much better as a movie or a much shorter series.
And then there’s the acting and direction. 😭 I really struggled with both. Some scenes felt awkward rather than naturally romantic, and the lack of convincing emotional delivery made it difficult for me to connect with the characters or take certain moments seriously. The direction also didn’t do much to elevate the material.
By the end, I found myself thinking, “Is this really all there is?” 🥲
At this point, if I had to choose, I’d much rather rewatch Me and Thee than spend my time on this again. Unfortunately, for me, Duang With You ended up feeling more like a waste of time than an enjoyable watch.
I really wanted to like it because the premise had potential, and there were moments where I could see the cuteness everyone might enjoy. But overall, the lack of story, slow pacing, repetitive flirting, acting, and direction just didn’t work for me.
Final verdict: Cute? Sometimes. Funny? Occasionally. Romantic? Definitely. But a good story? Sadly, not for me. 😭
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The most boring series
I have watched many Thai BL dramas and this one is the most boring drama ever. Acting skill was a disaster, the background music is so disturbing that gives one big NO on to of everything I don’t like. It is surprising for high scores from others but I can understand. The only “positive” is that lately Thai BL actors are trying to look a like Koreans. We can see in Thai BL’s Americano coffee, they dressed like Koreans and even the haircuts are similar to Koreans. Over all, for me it was a waist of tiome, even though I have tried to be very objective.Was this review helpful to you?
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Frustrating fluff
Okay, let me start by saying that I wanted to like this. I started off liking it. Golden retriever and black cat characters? Excellent. I found the cringe to be endearing at first. It seemed like the show understood that it was silly, and was having fun. About episode 9 is where I feel like it lost its way. Introducing Qin's backstory at that late stage was like a slap in the face. It was around the same time that the characters finally became boyfriends and were intimate. Off screen. Don't be fooled, there's zero NC scenes in this show. They build sexual tension and then do very conservative fade-to-black cuts. (even the actors seemed surprised by the cuts when watching) ANYway. That episode was the death knell for me, but I kept watching to see if it could recover.There are many, many singing scenes. Probably the actors are also singers so I guess this is required. As usual, I skip through the songs. What made me give up entirely is how the plot line with the parents was resolved. It was just so bad. Totally unbelievable. All those years of staying silent, and in one scene it's all fixed.
The redeeming quality is the lead actors. Even through all the ridiculous doggy panting, Tee managed to seem genuine. And Por somehow made Qin to be likeable despite how cold his character is supposed to be. I hope that the next show they're in has a better script.
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DUANG Really Said "TO BE CRINGE IS TO BE FREE"
Not The Best, but Still Good -->> Lives upto the novel's name.To be honest, I had no hope in starting this series because I knew this would one of those cute-cute series again. But as someone who desperately wanted to see Por's acting onscreen again, i gave it a go. This series is mostly eye candy as the acting isn't that great to which I'm not blaming as they are new to industry. But they have somehow managed to bring emotions to it via
• Qin's past
• his traumas
• his complicated relationship with his parents • his reserved nature (to which I mostly resonate with)
• of how Qin views duang's family
Some scenes were jumpy, abrupt character development with reckless bits of story in between.
Hope to see more of NorthOtto (JamieMarvis) and ThiWave (TongPae). Overall lowkey my fav characters were Jamie , Tong and Pae. (& obvi, Duang's parents)
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The Plot and the "Cringe" Factor
Great Cast, Too Much Cringe:The biggest hurdle of the series is its script and comedic timing. The show frequently relies on over-the-top tropes, cartoonish sound effects, and highly exaggerated reactions. For many viewers, the sheer amount of second-hand embarrassment is overwhelming. There are multiple scenes where the dialogue and behavior of the characters feel so forced that it genuinely makes you cringe and want to look away from the screen. Instead of feeling sweet or funny, the romance often crosses into exhausting territory due to how childishly it is written.
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Forget Seinfeld — this show is really about nothing
I’ll start by saying this: Duang With You is a show I genuinely enjoyed (excluding the last episode).Which is confusing, because on paper, it checks off almost all of my pet peeves:
1. First, the fillers. So many fillers. For a 12-episode series where each episode runs over an hour, there’s really no justification for how padded this felt. We get Duang sitting solemnly. Qin sitting solemnly. Duang and Qin sitting solemnly together. Entire sequences of a basketball game, a gym lesson, multiple meals (ramen, shrimp and rice, shrimp and rice again and again), and even full songs played out in their entirety.
2. Instead of a cohesive arc, the show operates on a chain of “and then” storytelling. One thing happens, and then another thing happens, and then another without much connective tissue. The final episode is where this becomes impossible to ignore. With most of the already-thin plot wrapped up, it turns into a string of loosely connected scenes rather than a conclusion.
3. Side characters don’t help. It’s clear there’s an attempt to give as many DMD artists as possible screen time, but many characters appear once and add absolutely nothing to the story (or what little there is of it).
4. Unnecessary side couple (?) The Jaime–Marvis side story is particularly baffling.
If North–Otto are supposed to function as a couple, the show doesn’t really commit to it—
there’s virtually no intimacy shown. And if characters are going to switch to English because that's their mother tongue , it would help if the delivery felt natural. As it stands, the English dialogue is awkward at best and completely unnecessary at worst. It would have been better to have just dropped that part (from the novel, i guess?) all together.
5. infantilization. I can tolerate a certain level of childish charm (it’s part of the genre) but Duang With You pushes it past the breaking point. At times, it feels less like watching adults and more like watching animated characters in human form.
And yet, I still had fun.
A big part of that comes down to Teetee, who absolutely steals the show. His character could have easily been unbearable, a walking red flag with no nuance, but instead, he’s magnetic. Even at his worst, you’re rooting for him. That kind of charisma isn’t something you can manufacture.
The “fearsome threesome” (Duang, Jaime, Pae) is another highlight. Their dynamic is exactly the kind of friendship representation I wish we saw more often: messy, loyal, and genuinely entertaining. I could have watched an entire series centered just on them.
TeeTeePor also bring something special. Their chemistry, both physical and emotional, feels natural and grounded in a way that cuts through the show’s more artificial elements. There’s real potential there, and I’m excited to see where they go next.
And while the musical numbers can feel forced, they’re undeniably well done. When the show leans into them, it actually works.
Overall, Duang With You is a fun, frustrating, oddly charming series that desperately needed tighter editing and a clearer narrative focus.
It’s a show about nothing, but sometimes, that nothing is still enjoyable to watch.
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Holy snoozefest
I saw edits of this and wanted to watch it. Episode one was nice, characters funny. Then it went downhill from there. The whole plot is Duang chasing after his crush, then a ton of useless dialogue which doesn't even move the plot forward. You could definitely tell that they didn't have a huge budget, often showing them in the same three places. If you don't like fluff just skip this. Another typical college romance where they sing and try too hard to make the mc seem like a "puppy" by the way he constantly whines and grabs onto the ml. I recommend skipping over the first 5 episodes all together. I had it on 2x speed and I STILL skipped over. Boring and unoriginal. The actors did a terrific job tho so I hope they'd act in a more interesting bl!Was this review helpful to you?
A Perfect (Almost) Story Well Acted By A Perfect Ground Breaking BL Ship
This BL was fantastic and though it got a slow start it seemingly at first had a lot of similarities to Your Sky. TeeTee was very Teerak. Over The Top in all the good ways.Meanwhile Qin was very Muenfah the way people saw him. Straight Faced with unapproachable demeanor.
And that is where rhe similarities end because Muenfah already loved Teerak and he was softened just by the name Teerak and in his presence he was all smiles and lovey dovey.
Qin was damaged by a childhood that almost seemed parentless and it hardened him mostly because of the child abuse he faced and that's what took the perfectness out of this series. The abusive nanny or babysitter. I've seen this on other social media from some fans and I have to agree.
These parents, Qin's parents find out their child is being abused and they confront the babysitter and at first she's all apologies but then she turns demon nanny and they just kick her out more or less. No police no reporting her. Essentially allowing a woman like this to work with and abuse other children. That was selfish. Think about people that could know before hiring her that she has a record to prevent another child from what destroyed Qin's childhood.
The story was great and well acted and deserves all the accolades it is getting but that babysitter being let off the hook just didn't sit right me. Child Abuse in any form should not be excused or go unreported. Period
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