When Oranges Fall

beautiful & cinematic high school love

When Oranges Fall feels like classic New Siwaj/Studio Wabi Sabi. This show has gorgeous Thai scenery (I’m not sure what coastal town it’s set in), heart-fluttering moments, and an easygoing plot. I love the soundtrack as well. WOF reminds me very much of My Only 12% (my first and ult Thai BL). perhaps young love in the 90s/00s is something New delivers so beautifully because he lived and experienced it as well. Every week I’m just dying to see what happens next! this is my first time watching a show with AlmondProgress, KenPaul, and Keaton. They’re all great actors! I’ll definitely keep following them in the future.

*Edit after finishing the series*
this show has completely swept me away, I’m so sad that my wednesdays will no longer be filled with KoKo 😭 the gorgeous yellow color grading, nostalgic soundtrack, homey scenery, genuine feelings of friendship and happiness, as well as anxiety and uncertainty—and overall the lovely story of the gang’s coming of age—have made this one of the best BLs of the year imo. just watch it!!

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bad ending not satisfied lowkey

THEY LEFT OUT TLE TILL THE VERY END, i was waitigg bf since the drama started but wth absolutely pissing i would never watch gmmtv shows bcz they disappointed so hard,i had bery high hopess..... and august and tle had so much chemistry why did they do this to us i am so upsetttt. they did mot show ko song getting jealous or anything it was so mid never ever watch it................... GMMTV need to improve and stop playing these tactics they missed out on the best ship i hate them for this no matter the reason no right to disown the character when the drama is ongoing bcz we alr are interested why would you do that like i have no wordss they did us shit

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A series about teenagers, fluff, and platonic bonds in the ripening days of youth.

It is a lighthearted show that is going to stay with me for a long time. It has its oranges—those bright, small, yet important concepts that I have energetically enjoyed.

Ko Neung is such a playful leader. At first, it was easy to judge him as a bully—the one in the team who controls everything and has a say in everything. However, as the story proceeds, you see that he is just a young teen who thinks he is the leader and can say anything. He has a low-key leader mindset, yet in his actions, he is neither superiorly smart nor athletic. Unlike his friends—Augar, who is exceptionally active on the playground; Achi, who is a sweetheart and loves, or rather is disciplined, to study; and Ko Song, who is smart and has a goal to achieve—Ko Neung simply stands back and enjoys the present. You see that he does not particularly care for anything except oranges and his bored, chill, carefree childhood. That says a lot about him.

August is the same, but as they grow, his interest in comics grows with him, inspiring him to pursue the arts, which was endearing.

Should I call this a summer series? It has such a vast aesthetic of warm breezes and the basking energy of the sun. Though people said it is similar to Bad Buddy (likely due to the neighbors, enemies-to-friends trope, and the phone concept), I just do not see it. Each has its own distinct disparities, and calling them similar left me with an exclamation.

The era of no phones and a sprouting youth feels so soft and nostalgic. I do not think I will get enough of this series anytime soon. All of the relationships and friendships were woven in a very platonic way. The fact that they have all been friends for ages—growing up fighting, bickering, and supporting one another before becoming lovers—is so adorable.

I loved KenPaul from the Boys in Love series, and I was so happy they are getting so much appreciation. I was, and still am, a little skeptical about August and Tle; nonetheless, their young age covered it for me.

There is a very fine transition in Ko Neung’s character development. Even after he and Ko Song confessed and started dating, his character did not entirely shift to being mature and smart. He is still the same Ko Neung we met in the first episode—goofy, playful, and thinking he is the leader. Even during arguments (like when he and Ko Song fight after Ko Song gets his university seat), he does not show instant progression; he is still that same childish teenager. It was so reassuring how the script kept his character consistent and relatable. It portrayed the beauty of how young minds dislike the change they experience in their coming-of-age journey. It showed how teenagers crave a mindless, soft summer.

The fear and anxiety of choosing what you want to become and who you are becoming is palpable. It captures the heaviness of realizing that this day won't come tomorrow, and that your friends have their own lives. They cannot always choose you or choose to stay; sometimes they have to go. I think this series brought back that familiarity—the late afternoons spent worrying about nothing but what to play the next day, and the soft, blue evenings spent walking mindlessly through pleasant sights. These are days that can only be remembered, but never visited again.

I had a slight fear with Ko Neung as the exams neared and he had to choose a field. I wanted to pause the story and let it end right there. With him, I wanted no change—just summer and the childhood joy of savoring oranges. However, life is life and it has its own legs.

Watching Ko Neung get stuck choosing a field, feeling completely disinterested in whatever majors they presented, hit me in the gut. There is one scene where he explains how all fields feel boring, and he is asked whether the fields are boring or if he just has no interest in them. That moment highlighted the core concept of the high school theme for me. I have never felt more relatable to a character than Ko Neung—capturing that exact feeling of being unable to choose and unable to belong anywhere. I am grateful for such key themes to be represented in such a blissful way—one that can be revisited and felt again and again.

This series made me fall in love with the themes of childhood friendships, the importance of holding onto those bonds, and growing alongside them. Every ship is adorable and a favourite. I am totally in love with this series.

"The most beautiful thing about teenage love is finding someone who makes you feel lighter, happier, and a little more like yourself.”

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this is why youth bls are so important

"from now on, can i call you orange?"

holy moly was this series super refreshing to my brain. it's been a hot minute since i've just indulged in a harmless high school bl and boy was this a good choice!! i wanted to watch this one for a while and feel so satisfied with how it was delivered! 💚🍊
"i don't know why i said that. maybe because i never wanted to go back to the way we were ... but what i really want is that he feels the same way that i do."
oh jeez were they cute as hell!! i thought their relationship the whole way through was just my goal in life. they were so adorable and awkward! the ko "neung" and "song" dynamic was so iconic, i loved it! ko song being smitten with ko neung from the beginning was so touching to see. my man was whipped the entire time. i am a sucker for hardcore angst so was a bit sad that we didn't really milk the angst like i hoped but it was still so freaking sad and i felt every emotion in their voices and eyes. i am super impressed with progress's diversity in acting. really reminds me of fellow gmmtv actors like book, junior, pond, auo and people like that. one minute, they're all bubbly and laughing, the next they are the prettiest crier i have ever seen #prettyboycriersupremacy. at a specific time in the series (the beginning of episode 3), there is a wide shot of ko neung and ko song outside their houses. to me, the sun coated ko neung's house in a beautiful glow but ko song's house was gloomy and cloudy. this ties into the dynamic of grumpy x sunshine - even though ko song is such a sweetheart!! i just really liked that detail because it entails dynamics like the sun and the moon WHICH THEY DO REFERENCE BY THE WAY!! i appreciate that the angst is at a minimum because they are just school kids - not any major problems occurred for them that they could sort out 💖. ko neung and song will become my new personality for the next two weeks 🍊🥹.

"am i wrong to choose my dream? this is my future" / "didn't you say i would be a part of your future?"

you know how i was just talking about how the angst was at a minimum. so, stratch that! oh, this hurt more than a bloody bullet. oh young love! i will always admire ko song for going after his dream because i have to agree, ko neung was being a bit selfish...but they made up so it's all good 😁. honestly, it is so scary to me that i might lose contact with my close friends as we grow up and navigate life so i can understand why ko neung had the reaction he did. i mean come on though, your man was going TO MED SCHOOL!! he doesn't have time to rest honey. honestly...ko song is too good for ko neung??!! like, they were super cute and first and i really enjoy ko neung's silliness and awkwardness around ko song. as it went on however, he became unnecessarily selfish and jealous (like baby, the senior is called senior for a reason...he would've been a p3dophile) and whilst honey was trying to complete, again, MED SCHOOL, he wanted to be clingy and expect the most. whoops, did i just rant a little...
but like, you see how it is an unbalanced relationship to me.

however, there was this.. 🔽
"there's no star for me. i'm not good enough to be a star."

im SO FUCKING SORRY??!! i didn't even have to move my face for tears to start rolling down my face. being a schoolkid - i am willing to bet - is one of the toughest experiences of a regular person's life. oh what i would GIVE for this to be essentially redone to add in their teenage struggles and emotions. we eventually ended up with loose leads that led nowhere at the end. yes, we saw rekindlement in ko song and his dad's relationship but uhm no actual meaning talk displaying their feelings or anything. okay 👌! this scene was so good and i felt really connected to ko neung. then we never brought that side of him to our screen again. okay! i just felt like this could've been so much more! although, it definitely made me cry.
"everyone has to go on their own path to grow up."
this is a really important line to me. to me, it just summarises that everything has a meaning. everyone is different and therefore has different dreams, abilities, interests and beliefs. so therefore, people find their people but also lose people they thought were theirs. just over 6 months ago, i lost a best friend of mine. she didn't die, please oh my lord i realise how this sounds. we just grew into different people and suddenly, we didn't connect like we did anymore. this line really told my inner self "hey, it's okay! it's not your fault. it's not her fault. you're still kids, you still need to grow to understand these things". i mean, sometimes people get to 50 and still have no idea what anything means. i guarantee i will die not knowing what anything meant in the long run - or even short run. but what is the use of being born if we're just going to waste it on things and people that do not benefit us and make us happy. you can never rely on other people to guide your life. it's yours for a reason! carpe diem!!!!

anyway, this series was overall so adorable to watch! i had such a fun time with fresh faces and i wish them all the best for the future 💚. however, since it was just a quick, easy watch, i didn't feel super connected to it like i do with other things. and as i said, definitely could've been developed into something that held much more meaning had it been expanded on.

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Feels like reliving high school

what a great series !
When Oranges Fall is quite different from other high school series, it’s more of a slice of life type, spread over several years, which makes the story more interesting and realistic. we follow characters in their development : relationship, studies, friendship and confused feelings.
in terms of acting, both pairs are great, i must even say that i was rooting more for augar and achi than 2ko 🫢 their chemistry was really good ! i have to mention progress’ acting which is incredible, especially in that rainy scene.

overall i’m very glad to have watched this series, it felt like reliving high school again 😌

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reminds you of High School!

it takes you back to when being a kid or a high schooler of doing whatever you wanted to do and have fun, relationships were part of everything but being friends was the best part of growing up! how many of us went threw this kind of puppy love amongst each other? we had secret crushes and no one ever knew hahaha! when oranges fall, when oranges fall, when oranges fall, when oranges fall, when oranges fall, when oranges fall! hopefully they make a second season or follow up clips to keep us guessing as to who really fell in love with each other, who would ever dream of being in love with your best friend let alone your class mate? over its fictional but the story line is crazy real with today’s society and the title When Oranges Fall what’s the true meaning?

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A gem

I had no expectations for this show when i watched pilot and trailer but i love Almondprogress thats why i started it and im so glad i did, it become one of my favorite series this year, the story is very simple yet the execution was very well done, the cast did incredible, ko song and ko neung relationship growing from neighbors to friends to lovers, i loved the communication between them, no conflit was mad for plot conveniences, everything made sense and felt real, loved the group of friend and their playful dynamic and bond, the production team did incredible, this is my favorite new serie

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PLEASE watch this incredible show

Please don't listen to the bad reviews (aka the 3/1 star reviews) as it's people only talking about Justin (the actor for August) and how he was kicked from GMMTV, not about the show. When I first starting watching When Oranges Fall it was still airing (it had 9 episodes), OMG this show had me ADDICTED from the start! For starters, the color grading is to die for, just like the name, the show has somewhat of a nostalgic feel due to the orangish/yellow coloring, not really like the typical blue, light, refreshing colors you usually see. The acting was amazing, once you watch you'll truly feel connected with each character as they all have some sort of dept to an extent. This show handles comedy and angst very well!! Whenever an episode had some sort of sadness, you definitely were feeling bad alongside the characters, or, whenever a joke was made, you'll surely laugh along. When Oranges Fall takes place in the 90s/early 2000s, and is a romance story between Ko Song and Ko Neung. The ending did feel a little rushed and I was disappointed over that fact that Tle was not mentioned nor shown at all 🥲. If you haven't watched yet, please do!

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A SWEET COMING-TO-AGE SERIES

I'm so glad I decided to watch this series. Honestly, I just intended to watch the first episode due to curiosity towards AlmondProgress and the whole series. Fortunately, I was hooked and got interested to follow the whole series. I never regretted doing so.
It's a sweet coming-to-age series. It tackled young queer love set in the late 90's era, without complicating the storyline by adding homophobia. It's like young kids being afraid to ruin their friendship through confessing their romantic feelings. It also tackled identity crisis in terms of career path, which is relatable to most high school students about to enter college life.
Watching the gang or the characters made me reminisce my high school life and made me want to go back with the intention of changing the past in terms of falling in love as a queer individual. It made me miss my high school friends, too. I just miss my childhood.
The young actors portrayed their character well. AlmondProgress had good chemistry and had acted so well. KenPaul did so well, too. I hope they are truly having fun being in this industry and not feeling pressured to do kissing scenes with their pairings.
Overall, the series delivered well. Hoping to see the young actors in future projects soon. They have a bright future.

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