Duang with You

Not bad, but, not that good either.

I know not to trust the high ratings on MDL and yet I fall for it every single time. I guess I thought that because this is a new pairing the reviews wouldn't be biased and I am not judging people's preferences here I'm really not, but a 9.1 rating for this is a bit much.

There is nothing new or exciting to this plot, just an average University BL that follows pretty much the standard script. Both mains are extremely unlikeable, Duang is annoying and Quin is rude, obnoxious, cold, jealous and insecure for absolutely no reason, the side characters are not so bad but they are barely in the story,they're just there for the sake of being there mostly. I did laugh a lot at the first couple of episodes, despite Duang's childishness, the actor is so cute that I was willing to put up with it, but it's way too much the episodes are long and nothing interesting happens, nothing. I wanted to finish it mostly to see if there is a logical explanation for why Quin is so awful, but I don't care anymore, my guess is neglectful parents and maybe physical abuse 🤷‍♀️ which really sucks but still...

I am dropping this, it's just not for me.

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A Simple Romance Told with Heart

Duang With You may follow the familiar formula of a cliché romance, but what sets it apart is the sincerity with which it tells its story. Rather than trying to reinvent the genre, the series embraces its simplicity and uses it to explore themes such as childhood trauma, emotional healing, and healthy relationships with genuine care and sensitivity. Although these topics are not explored in great depth, they are never treated lightly, allowing the emotional moments to feel meaningful without becoming overly dramatic.

One of the series' greatest strengths is its character development. The personalities of many characters can initially feel unusual or difficult to connect with, but as the story unfolds, their motivations and personal histories gradually come into focus. This thoughtful progression makes their growth feel natural and ultimately rewarding, encouraging viewers to understand them rather than judge them based on first impressions.

The relationship between Duang and Qin is undoubtedly the heart of the series. Their romance develops through honest communication, patience, and a mutual willingness to understand and support one another. Instead of relying on unnecessary misunderstandings or exaggerated conflict, Duang With You portrays a relationship built on trust and emotional maturity, making their journey both refreshing and heartwarming.

Overall, Duang With You is a gentle, comforting drama that proves a familiar story can still feel special when it's told with heart. Its combination of thoughtful character development, emotionally healthy relationships, and endearing friendships makes it an easy series to become attached to.

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This show was an absolute rollercoaster of emotions and I completely loved it! I went from having full-on laughing fits and giggling with a goofy smile on my face to crying a river. It’s a silly, chaotic, and intentionally over-the-top rom-com that perfectly balances its wild moments with more vulnerable ones that totally won me over.

The charm of the show is hands down Duang. How can anyone resist his impulsive, optimistic, naive, and vibrant energy? I love when he says he’s going to win Qin’s heart and that he’s not asking for permission, just letting him know. But while Duang is an open book and completely transparent about his feelings, Qin is the exact opposite. Seemingly cold and emotionally guarded, he slowly gives in to Duang’s chaotic, over-the-top, yet incredibly tender charm.

Qin was actually the character that surprised me the most. He’s complex, and the show gradually reveals the reasons behind his reserved nature and emotional distance. The nanny scene had me sobbing. Huge props to the young actor who played child Qin, because that was a really difficult, heavy scene.

TeeTee and Por have perfect chemistry, it feels so natural and they delivered all the emotional weight their characters demanded. Casting Yim as Duang’s older brother was a stroke of genius. Loved it! The entire cast gave solid performances, with North being a major standout. Plus, the OST is just as sweet and vibrant as the show itself. Duang with You has definitely made it onto my comfort show list.

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The stupidest lovable man you'll ever see

Plot 🗯️🗯️
Our golden retriever protagonist duang one day locks eye with the misterious qin and decides to win his heart no matter what.
On the other hand qin looks really cold and distant. Will he fall into duang's love trap?

This drama is the cutest shit you'll ever see. Duang is the quintessential golden retriever boy. He is lovable, funny, cute and unbearably cringe. He is also very stupid but with a heart of gold. Just watching the drama to see his shanenigans on screen Is worth it.

On the other hand with have qin which is the classical cold, cool guy. He is a musician and a very popular student among his peers.
Even though they are a stereotypical pair they work quite well together and complement each other.

The drama🗯️🗯️
The show starts on a very silly note but it gets way more emotional towards the end. I didn't expect to find such depth in something that appeared so shallow and just fun to watch.
Duang pursuit of qin is a blast to watch but seeing how they are able to really understand each other and support each other was wonderful and even touching sometimes.
They start by just locking eyes (sort of) but end up in a very profound relationship that brings them to heal past wounds.

Stuff I did like✅
Duang: I just love him. His character is fun, cute, lovely, caring. I could go on and on, but the best part is definitely the actor! He is really talented, switching from playful to deeply moving. I was amazed.

Duang's friends group: they are a very important part of duang's life and over all lovely characters. They supportive, caring. Something you wish to have in real life.

Qin's back story: I really like that the show explored why qin is the way he is. It added depth to his "cool" persona.

Stuff I didn't like❌
Qin: as much as I loved duang's actor, I cannot say the same for qin. I am definitely not a fan of this actor. At the very beginning he basically looks like a dihydrate fish always keeping his mouth open and looking lost. Later on his acting gets better, but especially in emotional scenes I felt he lacked the skills to be honest.

Lack of other stories: I don't know why, but the drama tries to insert Jamie's love story. To be honest I didn't care about that dynamics. It felt boring and unnecessary especially because no other characters get explored on any level.
If you want to insert another dynamic just do it right.

Duang's backstory: as much as I loved this character, duang doesn't exist outside of qin or his friends dynamics. He has no backstory, struggles or ambitions outside of qin. He is the main protagonist but also works as the comic relief. I wished they gave more depth to him.

Last episode: felt totally unnecessary. I loved how sweet they were to each other during the whole drama but reaching the end, I couldn't take anymore "I love you so much, I'll never leave etc". They just added random stuff like the dog or the last concert. For me, they could have ended things before their trip to Japan. There weren't any loose threads that needed to be pulled.

In conclusion:
I highly recommend this drama if you are looking for cute stuff and some emotional moments.

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I've never been happier that I was wrong about a series

Needless to say, if you choose to approach this series with a lens focused on 'what-you-see-is-what-you-get' characters with a plot-driven narrative, take a step back and adjust before continuing on. This series isn't intense, overdramatic, or overly romanticized. It's an extremely 'human' story with flawed characters learning to navigate life together.

Before I get into more detail, I'm going to be honest - this one was actually pretty difficult for me to get into at first. I'm not the biggest fan of the trope where one character, seemingly childish by nature, is obsessed or a fan of the stoic unemotional one. Admittedly, I assumed that these characters were ONLY that - 2-dimensional and used as devices to play up the comedy and nothing more. However, with everyone raving about it, I decided to rewatch the first few episodes along with a few reactors I adore to get additional perspectives. As more episodes came out, I found myself pleasantly surprised by the characters' natural growth towards each other within their relationship. And as we learned more about the characters, I began to see that the "hollow" personalities I judged them for were, in fact, deep reflections of their inner wounds and anxieties. What I thought was going to be mindless slop ended up be subject to one of my favorite character studies this year.

QIN'S TRAUMA --

Okay, here's where my headspace was at the start - I have become so desensitized to the BL-series trope where they make it known Episode 1 that the main character, typically the 'sunshine' character has trauma, and that inadvertently leads the emotionally-stoic character to begin to have feelings for them. So I just assumed that Duang was going to be the character with the trauma. However, the writers and Por did such a great job at naturally sprinkling in little hints of Qin's trauma affecting his everyday life, that I almost didn't even notice. Once we witnessed his first 'flashback', I paused the episode and found myself rethinking everything I thought I knew about his character. I remember saying out loud "Ohhhhh. Wait. This makes sense. I was so wrong."

I'm not sure if other people also felt this way, but I feel like the writers intentionally had us learn about Qin's traumas and fears whenever Duang learned about them: naturally and honestly. Childhood trauma seeps into our everyday life, subconsciously controlling every decision, confrontation, and defense mechanism we have. Even though we didn't know exactly what Qin experienced until later in the series, it allowed us into his mind for a split second as he experienced a trigger. This completely changed how I looked at Qin's character in the following episodes. I analyzed everything he did through the lens of someone deeply wounded and deeply guarded. Por did such a great job portraying the layers of a character that cannot express how he feels to those around him - you can even see Qin's physical response to wanting to tell Duang how he feels but is too deeply afraid to feel anything at all to tell him. It was such a phenomenal and accurate depiction of trauma in the everyday life. Well done writers and well done Por.

DUANG --

I also assumed this character was 2-dimensional going into the series. I'm so happy I was wrong. Duang is one of the best examples of trope-diversion where the 'sunshine' character is NOT a naive/innocent damsel in distress needing protection, but instead is so emotionally grounded that he provides the security needed for Qin to open up. Yes, Duang may feel everything 10x more than everyone else and may come across immature (which, I admit, I judged him unfairly to be early on), when, in fact, he's the most emotionally intelligent character on the show. While his crush on Qin started out semi-obsessive, it turned into care and the desire to take care of him. Duang, while often over-the-top around Qin, understood the importance of restraint and when to hold back to allow Qin room to express himself as well. Some of my favorite moments were when Duang could tell when Qin needed someone soft spoken and calm to listen to him and create a safe space for him to feel emotions he wasn't comfortable with expressing yet. He anticipates Qin's needs and meets him where he's at rather than expecting him to fulfill some idea of what a perfect boyfriend should be.

Watching the last few episodes, I found myself tearing up at the sheer care and patience they have for each other, and I'm honestly in awe at how much Duang helped Qin become a better version of himself. It's incredibly heartwarming and makes their relationship 100% believable.

And I need to applaud TeeTee for a sec (since a lot of this review is focused on Por); he did an AMAZING job at showing these two sides of Duang while still making it feel like both are Duang, which is hard to do. I think the trick that he really leaned into was to make Duang so unbelievably earnest that it makes EVERY aspect of his personality that much more believable. I don't think many actors could pull off a character with equal parts stimming chaos and equal parts emotionally calming.

QIN'S PARENTS --

Okay, touchy subject here that many may not agree with, but I think these are some of the most realistic parents portrayed in a BL so far. Let me explain. I feel like in BL's parents are either amazing, perfect, and kind parents OR unsupportive or emotionally/physically abusive. Here, they're loving, but human. We can tell they love Qin, but they also have deep-rooted guilt and a LOT of shame surrounding what happened to Qin as a child, ultimately leading to Qin's emotional neglect. While I don’t agree with their choices, I get it. Sometimes, out of fear and shame, we hide traumatic memories in an effort to not feel them again or hurt the ones we love. HOWEVER, this only strengthens whatever pain the affected parties feel. Even the scene where Qin finally confronts his parents felt so accurate. They didn't get it at first, and you could see the instinctive push-back they had towards Qin calling them out. Their deflection was out of a place of deep shame. But it wasn't until he broke down in front of them that they finally allowed themselves to see how they affected him. I both hated and absolutely loved that scene. So while I hate that they took this route to protect themselves first, I get it. They're human and flawed.

I was lucky enough to have parents that emphasized communication above everything else. But even though I never doubted their love for me, they also made mistakes that I still see the side effects of in my everyday life. Parents are living for the first time, too. They're going to do things wrong and hopefully, when confronted, they'll see how they need to improve to better the lives of those around them. I really appreciate how the writers took their time for us to see both the love and the neglect the parents displayed and how that affected Qin.

It was heartbreaking and refreshing and raw; utterly human.

CLOSING THOUGHTS --

Needless to say, I went on a journey with this one. I went into it with previous pre-conceived understandings of what I judged as a typical BL show, and I came out with a gentle appreciation for humanity, flaws and all. I'm so glad I was wrong. Was it an out-of-this-world, astounding series? Probably not. Was the plot a thrilling adventure with plot twists around every corner? Not at all. It was simply a story of a group of people navigating life together while learning about each other and themselves along the way. Like the director himself stated, this series, much like humanity, is "not the best, but still good." We aren't perfect, but we try. And that's good enough for me.

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side characters have stronger story appeal

i was excited for this series going into it and massively enjoyed the first two episodes but i’ve lost interest for the main pairing by the end of episode 5. I did read some of the novel to get an idea on the characters and storyline. Five episodes in and not much has progressed with the main pairing, it feels like i’ve watched the same episode five times. While I know it’s still technically relatively early in the series, I’m slightly bored and find myself skipping a bit. I’m much more fond of the secondary characters and their interactions with each other. If I pick up the next episode it will be to see what lies ahead for Duang’s friends vs Duang & Qin.

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Lot of cute sence r in uncut version hate it

This is not a new kind of story—it’s a very common BL setup: a grumpy boy and a funny, clingy boy. Just an ordinary drama.

Duan and his friends are hilarious—they’re like the perfect example of “the blind leading the blind.” I even started thinking he might be Khun Thee’s son from Mee and Thee, especially because his way of expressing love is so awkward and funny.

And then there’s Chucky—oh God. His almost-love-confession scene was pure chaos. He walks in like he’s about to confess, but everything turns messy and he doesn’t even say it. I was literally thinking, “Is anyone really going to confess like this… as a ghost or what?” which made it even funnier. Since he’s basically like a creepy ghost dog character, the whole scene just feels even more ridiculous. That’s why he reminds me of Khun Thee—they both have that same chaotic energy with love confessions. It’s been a long time since a drama made me laugh this much—I really enjoyed this scene.

As for the acting, there’s not much to say—it’s pretty average and not really mind-blowing. But because the characters are well-developed, the acting doesn’t become a big problem, so it still works overall. Duan is really funny and genuinely feels like a puppy-type character. A lot of dramas try to create that “puppy” personality, but this is one of the first times it actually feels real. That said, sometimes his character goes a bit overboard and becomes too lame or overly chaotic, almost like he’s acting insane. If that was toned down, it would be much better. His acting is okay, but there are quite a few scenes with overacting, which I didn’t really like. Still, I’m not saying I dislike Duan—I actually really love him. It’s just that the character can feel a bit too much at times. Overall, the acting is decent, just average.

One more thing I noticed in this drama is that a lot of well-known main actors appear in small roles. I kept spotting familiar faces throughout, which was a nice surprise.

One thing I didn’t like is how they split scenes between the cut version and the uncut version. It feels unfair. A lot of the flirting and small important moments that we see in YouTube clips end up only in the uncut version. It makes the experience feel incomplete if you’re only watching the main release, because you already know there are extra parts you’re missing. It would’ve been better if everything important was included properly in one version instead of separating key scenes like that.

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We have been told this story so many times, yet they were able to put their own twist on it

Disclaimer

What I am writing here are my views and thoughts about this series. Some of you may not like it. That does not give you the right to try to come at me with your opinions on why this series should get a higher or lower score and why it is better/worse than I think it is. You have your own opinions, and I have mine. Kindly respect that.

This may seem like a typical Thai BL university story – a boy meets a boy and has a crush on him, the boy confesses to the boy, and both boys are thrown into a situation where they have to work closely together, where the boy who is being crushed on is now developing feelings for the next boy, and then things progress from there.

While this may seem to be the case, it is so far away from just that being the story. We are also introduced to Qinn's ordeal and what he had to face when he was younger, which shows us why he is the way he is and why his relationship with his parents is the way that it is. We are also introduced to Duang and his personality with how positive he is and that nothing can bring this down (a scene with him saying it's okay that the ship is sinking, he can swim and then proceeds to swim on his bed comes to mind to me). I will admit that there were parts where Dung was a bit annoying to me when he was acting like a puppy to Qinn (it got annoying at a point for me, personally).

It was also a plus to see Duang and Qinn when they interacted with their friends and how their friends were so positive with them and supporting them along the way, because sometimes you don't see that in series, so it was a plus here. I felt that this series was able to handle things well, and the progress of the two relationships here (the main and secondary couple) was handled well. I am going to miss Duang, Quinn and the gang and whatever shenanigans that they end up in every week.

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it took me a while to finish watching, i stopped at episode 9 when it was airing and only continued two months after the series ended. to me, it was a little underwhelming because it lacked complexities but i think that was the point. it's overall a simple and straightforward university romance and i think that's what people love about it. i think the story's pace is really good, not too slow and not too quick, and i loved that. for teeteepor's first ever lead roles, they did such a good job, especially teetee. he was phenomenal.

i think the conflict with qin's parents was remarkable to me because it really shows that a child's development is deeply affected by how they were raised and the environment they were in. and it only took a plain apology and a hug, which to me is kinda unrealistic. proves to show that all a child would ever want from their parent/s is affection. hits close to home.

p.s. the cinematography is just *chef's kiss*

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Shocked by all the 10 star reviews

I have watched a lot of BL's and this doesn't even make my top 100. I was hopeful since it had a 8.9 star average rating. There was nothing new or original with this show. Duang was very childish, was whiney and screamed WAY to much. Qin was emotionless and for saying how much he liked Duang there was zero emotion or anything for that matter to show that. There was no depth to the writing so couldn't even feel the trauma that Qin was suppose to have. I was going to stop watching after Ep 6 (and wish I would have) but I thought surely it must get better with that high of a rating. Sadly it does not. I am truly baffled by the ratings and reviews on this one.

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