Love Destiny

LUAT and LD They are incomparable, LUAT is much better. Went DOWNHILL after 5th Episode

Sorry but I needa Drop out of this mess.
You'll get my initial views as well as my changed views of this drama in this review, I'll try to separate themm.
I gave the acting and cast a higher rating because this is August and Leng's first drama together, so it's understandable that their kissing scenes felt a bit awkward. However, I really wish they had shown some improvement.
They honestly need to take notes from the youngsters or recent Chinese BL actors on how to deliver a good kiss scene.
They still could've done much better, honestly their kiss scenes looked forced and uncomfortable..

*Positive review*

I've watched many historical and time travel dramas, I thought I would get extremely bored if I try this one, I thought it would have very similar other storylines and the actors I thought would not be that professional.

This series is so good, not that different though, but it's watchable and nice, I don't mind watching something similar but not exactly the same..
Even though it's quite similar to Love Upon A Long Time, suddenly after some incident both the characters time travelled to recover the past mystery.
And then fall in love with someone in the past, someone they bicker with..

But honestly I understood stuff in this series much better, it's conveying every stuff clearly, actually LUAT the characters talked in a beautiful poetic harmonious manner, I don't really understand them well so, I wasn't able to understand many parts.
Well, those lines sounded very beautiful but sometimes they were quite hard for me to catch up.

The language used in this series is much more simpler, and the storyline is extremely romantic, the way P'Muen was blushing aww that was so cute, I loved his reactions after getting picked up by Gaew ( Great ) .
They always bicker, and from inside adorer each other..
Great and Gaew do they even have a thing in common except for their faces. I don't think so!
Gaew, something wrong with him, how can he do those things to those people who raised him like their own son. He's arrogant always getting into trouble, bringing shame to his own people.. Getting into fights, troubling P'Muen, arguments with elders, what good about himm
That was stupid, him literally trying to drown the boat..

It's so damn similar to Love Upon A Time.
I want more of the main couple really, there are many irrelevant stuff, Great is literally the exact opposite of Gaew, about personality, manners, talking and everything even eating.. Great is extremely perfect to be a member of that family, cooking, medicines he's so good at everything..
I like the way Dech is discovering his own heart, the way he feels his heartbeat and hide his thoughts, even though he likes it he won't ay so instead he would hide them to save his auraa or you can say self respect. He's blushing every time he's around Gaew.

Great is doing so well between them, making the people around so shocked about this drastic change, in his personality.

I loved the funny and detailed description of those chips, it's different and creative, but took a lot of time..
About the servants honestly I secretly ship them, umm they look so good together, their chemistry's fireee, so, I couldn't help myself much. Don't mind me, but I'm already getting a feeling that they'll fall in love and we'll see some of their scenes together.

Lady jumpa is so annoying I know Gaew was type of a thug only butt howw that Great is here she still blames him unfairly, using unfair tactics. She is still picking on Great, aww I feel so bad for Great, he's always trying his best, and I'm sure Dech likes this version of Gaew the best and the most adorable..

I don't know I'm getting kind of evil vibes from that Constantine, he had a very good relationship with Great but looking evil. He killed that person, when Great was asking for his help as he was caged because he was the one who was the biggest suspect of killing that person, I thought he wouldn't help instead put the whole blame on Great only, but I was pretty shocked when he came to confess everything was his doing and Great has nothing to do with it, gave the cops all the truth and got Great out, I didn't expect that much from him though...

The visuals are great and the setting is incredibly beautiful.
Historical methods of doing things are mentioned in here, extremely different and funny. They use herbal medicines and traditional way of eating, cooking, utensils and clothes they're using, old practices.
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*Negative review*

Everything was going welll, and suddenly all those unwanted storylines entered, it's nothing but a waste of time..
I take my words back, I really liked it initially but now I really want to end as soon as possible.. it already went downhill..

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Decent and doesn't deserve the hate its getting.

Everyone keeps comparing this to other series with a similar plot, and while I get it--I don't think that Love Destiny deserves the amount of hate it's getting.

Tbh I was stoked to see Leng back on the screen in a main role after the shit he went through, and August is so fkn handsome, I think they had great chemistry. I will admit the script was a bit weak. I think, given a better story, these two could make something great.

All in all I enjoyed the series, but I think after Love Upon A Time people had higher expectations. Which is totally valid, but we can critique a series and compare it to others without absolutely dogging on it.

The NC scene was really nice, I loved the atmosphere, and I wasn't expecting it. The ending, however, felt rushed, and I would have liked to see a better reunion between the two. The way they left things felt unfinished.
That being said I would love to see these two in more in the future.

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It streched like molten cheese and was ended in a heartbeat...

Hmmm... I'm not a fan of LUAT with the misrepresentation of gay live 400 years ago in Thailand. Here they handled it much better, but on the other hand LUAT tried very hard to use time-accurate speech while this series did not invest in that. The storyline is convoluted, there is much going on, but there are episodes where nothing much is happening which makes the series dull and boring.

The servant couple is just an afterthought and I guess the comic relief, but thai comedy does not really work for me. And then we have a finale where it felt like they cut two episodes out of the series because they run out of money or time. They wasted so much time on trivial things or the Kings wife and Sriprach storyline. But in the end, we don't know what happens to the bad noble. We only see a flashback to "Dech" in his time, some stupid bantering in the "now" and the final scene is suggestive he does remember. That's it.

Leng and August together do not really work. Even when it's their first job together, it seems both did not "click" and so the chemistry is lackluster. Some scenes are really akward. Besides that, production quality was high and the rest of the cast was good, but when the main couples does not work, the series does not work.

While LUAT was not good, this was even worse and I was surprised it could end up like that. The problem with the series is not that it's so bad, it's just soooo boring. At least for me, it made it hard to watch at all and that's the reason why I'm late with my review, because I had no motivation at all to watch this. So, when you don't want to waste your time, watch something else.

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GREAT 9 episodes.... questionable last episode.

I loved this series all through out it and all the actors have done a phenomenal job. I was introduced fully to leng and august (?) Hope i got that right. Last episode i was like thats all?? Even after the credit thing the last like 15min i was like huh... if this is a novel maybe i should read it instead but this ending just missed with me. Maybe i need to rewatch later on again but right now i think im good. But maybe if there is like a special episode or something ill come back and watch that... but i did have to come back and look to make sure there wasnt any episodes added. I dont always need a happy ending but this ending didnt exactly feel finished either so.. yeah.
P.s. the one dude that shot at them in the end he really needs to play a vampire...

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The concept was good, but not enough to save the storyline this time.

Yep.
There was nothing awful about it, but it definitely isn’t memorable.

The idea, the atmosphere, the humor (even though I didn’t always understand everything), and the dynamics between Great and Dech are awesome-tier.
The yearning of Dech? OMG (heart emoji)

What kept this show from being a home run for me is the direction the plot took. What kept it from being a ten-star show is the direction the plot went. Actually, I don’t know whether to give it a 6.5 or be nice and round it up to a 7.

I can’t really explain in detail all the ways it didn’t meet my expectations without spoiling it, so I’ll just say that the last 50% of this left me disappointed. I just wanted more interaction between the main characters and less of everything else. At a certain point in the story, I realized things were just… happening. Events occurred because the plot required them to, and there wasn’t a strong motivation tying the moments together. Characters made decisions because the story needed them to, not because it particularly made sense for them. And I really hoped for more interaction between the characters in the “present.”

This wasn’t innovative, super emotional, or particularly dynamic, but it was fun and (sometimes) sweet. Even though it wasn’t for me, I think it would be a great introduction to the transmigration genre.

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Fish Kiss, Zero Chemistry, Started Strong, Lost Momentum…

Never in my life have I seen fish kiss in a Thai BL, this is the first. So, let me start by saying this series did break a record for me, albeit a bad one, but yeah.

Now, I won’t say much, I feel like the title already pretty much spoils what this review is about.

That’s it, that’s all, but to put it in simpler terms, THIS ONE SUCKS!

There’s nothing to watch, that’s how I can put it, plot is bland, romance is?? romance? what romance? The only memorable part in the series would be at the end of episode 5 (modern day doctor-nurse scene) that’s it, that’s all. There’s nothing else worth remembering.

As I’m even writing this, even though I just finished the latest episode, I’m starting to forget what I wanted to say about it. Yeah, that’s how unmemorable it is.

Watch it if you feel like wasting your precious BL binge time.

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And with Ep 7, I'm Out

I am dropping this series and I'm really upset about that fact. This had the makings to be a really great show. The cast is all very attractive and for the most part can act very well. The storyline was interesting, the sets were gorgeous, but the chemistry proved to be non-existent. Also, and this is kind of a spoiler I guess, there is a random SA scene thrown into episode 7 that already had me feeling uncomfortable with the series and then the major dead fish lips (IYKYK and ya'll know) let down happened at the spring and I was done. I didn't even finish the episode and I probably never will.

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Was Promisinig Until it Wasn’t: Dropped after ep 5

I’ll just start off by saying that I have dropped this series after 5 eps (gave it half the series), and idk if I will ever finish this

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Initial Thoughts:
I didn’t really see any promotions for this series and I just found it on iQIYI and decided to watch it since it was another Thai BL period drama, especially since I absolutely loved Love Upon A Time (LUAT) so much. When I first started this series, I tried not to compare the two, but they were just so similar that I couldn’t help it and this series fell far short of LUAT, I’m so sorry, but this series has been boring and disappointing. The plot has so many holes and just things that don’t make any sense whatsoever and it gets annoying and infuriating.

*******WARNING: This reveiw contains SPOILERS for BOTH Love Destiny AND LUAT***********

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The Plot: (very similar start as LUAT, but just not as good)

The story follows a surgeon, Great, who gets shot back in time, approx 300 years into another body, Gaew, and Dech, the second son of the High Lord of the region. Gaew was taken in by Dech’s family as he is a relative of Dech’s mother (are they blood related? I’m foggy on these details, so forgive any errors here) when they were young b/c his was orphaned. Gaew would grow up alongside Dech and his older brother, but when they are adults, Gaew is a mischievous troublemaker, who seems to cause problems for Dech (who watches out for him) and Dech’s mother, who is an annoying ass character, who for some unexplained reason, has always wanted to kick Gaew out of the manor without showing him any love or care that we (the audience) are able to see.

One day Gaew and his close servant, Yam, knock over Dech’s Mother’s boat, causing herself and the people aboard to fall into the stream. They lost a servant in the water and when she came back home, she immediately accused Gaew of the ‘crime’ and urged her husband, the high lord, to remove him from the household, which they refused (*****Side note: the stream looks fairly shallow and shouldn’t everyone know how to swim since they frequently travel by boat and live right by the river, so how did they lose a servant??? Also how did no one on the boat see or try to stop Yam from tipping over the boat, like HE WAS LITERALLY OUT OF THE WATER holding onto the side of the boat, like HUH?????******). So the high lord and Dech, instead, decided to perform a spell at the behest of mother, that doesn’t harm the innocent, but kills those guilty of the crime. (**Side note: so Dech and the father both didn’t want to kick him out, but were willing to perform a spell that could kill Gaew?? makes no sense*****) Anyways, Gaew obviously dies, b/c he guilty and this causes a lighting strike to hit Great (in the present time) sending him back in time 300 years into Gaew’s body.

That’s all ep 1, after that, the plot just slows so much and becomes boring. They introduce some characters, but the plot mainly consists of Great (Now as Gaew) trying to repair Gaew’s relationships and reputations and for some reason, he always seems to end up in jail or in trouble. They introduce Dech’s older brother and a powerful and rich foreign lord, but they don’t seem to be adding to the story. Great doesn’t seem to have any goal nor does he seem to do anything, other than help a person here or there with his medical skills. He tries to go home for like a split second, but then gives up?? (I think), they don’t really make it clear if he wants to stay or go back home?? Anyways it just got so boring

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Plot holes / Things that just pissed me off:
1. I didn’t like how similar it was to LUAT, at least they could have done something a little different. Things that were basically the same:
- someone gets sent into the past (gernally same era) into the body of a lord’s son (so they themselves are lords)
- Has a close servant who helps them with everything (Chuai v. Yam)
- Has a close relation and will end up in a relationship with the respected Lord’s son who liked them first (Phop v. Dech)
- The annoying mother figures and their servants ( the second and third wives of Phop’s father v. Dech’s mother and servant)
- It’s the lord son (Phop v. Dech) who finds him (Klao v. Gaew/Great) and looks for him first
- After time traveling, the ML has to solve a case (Klao with his father’s execution and Gaew/Great with him as the accused murderer case)
- also both casted the same actor (Dech’s father LD and Meng LUAT) which made it even more difficult to not draw the similarities between Love Destiny and LUAT

This was just the similarities off the top of my head, but there are a lot more, and sadly, LUAT surpassed and outperformed and out-scripted Love Destiny in every aspect.

2. anytime any boat was being shaken to capsize, no one ever saw nor tried to stop them from tipping over the boat. LIKE the boat has no walls, it is in an open space, and NO ONE can APPARENTLY see the person ‘jumping’ up and down on the side of the boat???? Like be for real, seriously

3. When Great woke up in Gaew’s body, he ran out and ended up saving a servant who had a large cut in his thighs and was bleeding out. He would end up saving him. First off, this servant has a large cut in his thigh and has been bleeding for a while since he got there, that servant SHOULD BE DEAD BY THEN, how did he live, who knows????!!?!?! Second, when Great/Gaew was treating him, no one seemed to act when any sense of urgency at all, Like are you kidding me?? If this guy is still alive, which he shouldn’t be, he surely ain’t going to survive much longer and no one has any urgency??

4. Aren’t Gaew and Dech related through Dech’s mother??? so how can you have romantic feelings for each other, you were raised as brothers. (At least in LUAT, it was made clear there was no familial connection and that they all grew up as close friends, not as siblings under the same roof and parents)

5. Why doesn’t Great just say that he is Gaew, like come on, everyone thinks you are different and that you are acting suspicously, just tell them you are from the future and that you are no longer Gaew (this would also solve the previous issue, as Dech could have developed feelings for Great) though that would still be weird as he would look like his ‘brother’

6. In the assassination attempt of the Foreign lord guy, after the lord won the fight, why did he just yell and scream at the assasin to reveal who he was and how sent him instead of chasing him, HE WAS LITERALLY STABBED and was walking out of there, like the Lord could have just run after him and caught him, but NOOOOOO. This entire sequence of scenes made absolutely no sense

7. Continuing from 6. When Great/Gaew was accused and arrested for being a murderer, why didn’t Dech just say that Great/Gaew was passed out drunk last night and that he watched over this the entire night b/c Great/Gaew was asleep, OMG an alibi, who would’ve thought that was important and excused him from being a suspect??? Like DUHHHHHH (to which there was no reason or evidence to even accuse him btw)

8. one of the eps (forgot which) literally had no plot and was just a Durian fruit advertisement for no apparent reason, just was HUHHHHHHH

9. One of, if not the most annoying thing, was that they included long LONG end credits which showed the scenes in the future (so instead of like LUAT, returning to the same time, they left, Love Destiny decided to continue the present / future time plot alongside the past). I wouldn’t mind the dual plots, but I didn’t like how they put all the future scenes which were long and important at the VERY END of the ep, I think i missed the first few. It just made it feel disconnected from the series as if it wasn’t even a part of it. For me, I also didn’t like how EVERY person who was in the past, is SOMEHOW in the same hospital the Great’s body is unconscious and being treated in. It just made it feel weird.

10. Dech’s older brother and this entire plot are entirely useless, they add nothing to the story, and should be completed erased from the series. We didn’t need to see him anymore, they could just have written him off as working in the capital or something (also just my opinion, but i didn’t like his visuals)

Keep in mind: These are only the issues I have found 5 eps (halfway) into this series

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The only good thing was Leng, August, and Na’s visuals. Dech for me, was the only interesting character and only character worth watching.

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Overall Rating: 5.5/10. (expected a lot more from this series)

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Good at the start let down at the end

I really wanted to like this episode because, overall, the storyline of the series was interesting and the acting was good. There were moments throughout the series where things felt a little rushed, but I could overlook that.

Unfortunately, the final episode completely lost me.

I understand that this is a time-travel story and that things aren’t supposed to be simple or straightforward, but the ending felt rushed to the point where it barely made sense. Too many things were left unexplained, and the whole thing felt unfinished. It’s one thing to leave the audience with questions; it’s another to leave them feeling like the story simply wasn’t properly finished.

The actor did a good job with what they were given, but unfortunately, the storyline let them down. After investing time in the series, the ending was probably the worst way they could have wrapped it up. It had potential, but that final episode really ruined the experience for me.

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Loved the Story line. But What happened to the Finale

I loved the storyline, and time travel is one of my favorite themes. The two main leads didn’t have much chemistry, but given the timeline, that made sense. I followed the series all the way to the end, and then episode 10 happened. I still can’t understand how the season ended there—with unanswered questions and such an abrupt conclusion. It felt like we missed a few episodes leading up to it, because it just doesn’t make sense to have a finale like that. so many couples still not knowing if they got together at the end or not.

Did the director or writers run out of budget to finish the series? Or did the main leads have a dispute that caused it to end suddenly? At this point, we’ll never know. It’s just sad that so many of us were invested in this series, only for episode 10 to rob us of a satisfying season finale.

Also, nobody tells you to keep watching after the credits are rolling. There was another 10 minutes of show after the credits rolled. Most episodes had more to show after the credits were rolling after every episode. For those who did not watch the remaining few minutes after the credits totally are even more in the dark. Episode 10 had another 10 more minutes after the credits. This episode was so poorly done

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Strong start and great yearning, but the lost writers...

Plot wise, the story had great potential! The coup, K'Great changing the timeline (which, tell me, HOW ARE THERE NO REPERCUSSIONS!), the poor linking of the past with present-day, and the obvious comparison this show has with LUOAT due to the similar time period (LD being set in 1036, and LUOAT in 1038), and having aired just a couple months apart.
I wish they had stuck with just one or two prominent plot points, and explored those throughout the series instead of throwing the characters in different scenarios. At one point, the characters weren't causing the plot progression, bt rather, the plot was happening to them just because there were episodes to be filled in my opinion.

The finale was very choppy. The sudden odd pacing, juming from one scene to the next, the weird pre-credits ending, leading to us thinking there might be a 2nd season...

Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy the show alot, and infact, at the time of its airing, this was the only ongoing thai bl I was looking forward to every week, and anticipating what would happen next (futile though), but after a while I feel the writers didn't know what to do with so much they had set up. And that finale was just...
Like I mentioned earlier, the coup happening with Falcon, his love marriage with K'Marie (which I don't see happening as she has very different thinking and morals by the end of the show), then the murder attempt on Falcon as well. Did they ever actually resolve that? I don't remember anymore...
To top it off, Falcon is apparently working with the French to overthrow the govt as well. Then there is K'Siri, a renowned poet. His story also gets unfairly treated, with the writers killing him off in the penultimate ep. The issue is that we didn't get to sit with his death. Yeah we saw how everyone reacted, but there should have been more to it than just them being sad, and crying, and the king killing the ruler of the other province who killed him.

Then there's the matter of K'Great changing the history inexplicably by telling people what to do and what not to do w/o any repercussions which I hated.

But, as a love story it was nice. The yearning, the pining! Absolute peak! I have to say, I'd have loved to see more of the recent day timeline, or at least more of K'Reung and Dr. Wad/Dr. Rit and nurse Wayu. The fact that the second couple got together before the main couple, and even the servants being in a relationship sent me laughing like crazy! Really enjoyed that unexpected turn of events!

I wished that this show would have treated gay love as normal, cuz I remember a friend of mine had said that the laws on same-sex weren't there (or as strict, I'm not entirely certain since this was a couple years back) back in the 1670s . So no threat of prison, execution, or any of that. I had wished for it in LUOAT, and here as well, but alas...

Cinematography: Stunning!
Chemistry: Really good!
Costumes: Really good!
OST: Absolute bop!
Makeup and props: Wonderful!

Characters:
Past-
K'Gaew: A kind-hearted idiot who doesn't care about the consequences of spoiling the timeline, but lovable nonetheless
K'Dech: Good suspicious, but could have questioned K'Gaew straightup, even if he realised it wasn't his Gaew.
K'Reung: This man had me pining for his love!
K'Wad: A bit of a prik at the start, but you grow to love him! kinda...

Present-day-
Dr.'Great: one of the worst surgeons I have ever scene! Can never forget screaming at my screen in ep one for him to continue with the heart massage, instead of turning around, looking at his collegue, and declaring death!!!
Dr.'Rit: Same as K'Great. Some great docs they are!
Dr.Duncan: Didn't get to see much of him, but same critic of whatever we did see of him.
K'Wayu: Bro is a little bean! You go punish your man when he humiliates you due to his own fear!!!
Wish we'd gotten to see Rit/Wayu a whole lot more! I need their story! How did they start! what lead them to e/o! So much potential! And the chemistry muah! chef's kiss!

LUOAT did great with juggling the story b/w the present and the past, the side characters, and even the multiple romance plots going on, whereas this left a lot to be desired. I'm still not sure how to rate this actually cuz I did enjoy it while it aired, but when thinking back to the entire story progression, it fell down real fast, which is a real shame.

Honestly, with that ending before the credits rolled, I expected a 2nd season, but unfortunately (or fortunately lmao) that won't happen cuz they fixed that conundrum up real quick...

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