Day 5 of August Challenge: What is essential for a drama to be worth your time to watch? Or re-watch, over & over

For me, a big part of it is vibes, like if the chemistry is good and the actors/characters in relationships seem into it. For example, Counterattack doesn’t necessarily have the best writing or acting, but for me the vibes were good, especially when watching behind the scenes content, and I’ve rewatched it three or four times.

Another big thing for me is the main relationship. I don’t care if the main relationship is toxic or healthy, just as long as it’s acknowledged as what it is; in My Personal Weatherman, its not the healthiest relationship but it’s what works for them 

  1. Ah! I forgot a tag that I absolutely hate... AMNESIA. Okay, maybe it's because family stuff (dementia) but I have never been good with this. I hate it in books, movies, everything. Nope. No can do.

    In other news, I have finally given in and started Semantic Error. I was putting it off because it seems to lack that level of intimacy I usually go for, but I was desiring some Korean in my life.
 OnyxTheHedgehog:
Ahh, such a good scene! I can’t get over that dreamy gaze from Jane TT

I love his (Jane's) expression in the second photo!

I haven't seen The Trainee yet, but rn I'll have to get past Off's character being called "Jane".  It was actually off-putting for me the first time I heard it. It's such a traditional American name for a female. *sigh*.  Why am I so picky.

The random names being used in Thai dramas is sm I've had to adjust to over time. I'm fine most of the time. 

 American Fan:
The random names being used in Thai dramas is sm I've had to adjust to over time. I'm fine most of the time. 

I dated a Thai guy for a bit. He told me it's just pretty common for people to nickname their kids random things. I remember saying "So like if I gave birth on a table and decided to name my kid Table, no one would question me?" and he said no LOL. Nickname, mind you, but since that's what you're called daily it's basically your name at that point. His nickname was just Joe... First and only smoker I ever dated.

Battle of the Writers  EP 2

I enjoyed this ep just as much as the first. 

The opening scene has Yim as the aggressive personality but in the present day scenes it's Tutor. Hmmm, interesting. I'm loving how well Tutor is at chasing Yim. 

Gem as Ozone is adorable, especially when he lies, lol. The pretend drunk scene with Pie (Mark) was great. I cracked up when Ozone fell backward against Pie in his "drunken" state, but then was wide awake after the knocking on the door.

Yep, I noticed the stalker too. It's getting more mysterious, which I like. 

The pajama scene was a bit jarring. A sudden switch that took me by surprise and created confusion. I was like,  wth???

 segos:
"So like if I gave birth on a table and decided to name my kid Table, no one would question me?" and he said no LOL. Nickname, mind you, but since that's what you're called daily it's basically your name at that point.

That's funny. Many Thai names are so long I can understand the convenience of using nicknames. Maybe the Thai nicknames don't have the same meaning as they do in English?  I'm terrible with languages, so I don't understand how it might work.  :-(

Dang, I need to catch up!!!

Wow, this group was very active while I was on vacation. It took a while to catch up but so fun!!

August Challenges:

DAY 2: Anything you would like to share about your username and profile photo.  -> Well, this is pretty straightforward. It's an awesome pic of my BTS bias Hobi. I died when I saw this picture.... As for my nickname, it's actuaIly part of my middle school email address. Idk, it just kinda stuck with me.

DAY 3: Share a quote. -> It's a fish bread but not fish bread. Ain't no fish inside - RM

DAY 4: Share your favorite drama tags. 

  • Friendship
  • Bromance
  • LGBTQ+
  • Investigation
  • Happy Ending
  • Adapted from novel/manga
  • Smart Male Lead
  • LEAST Favorite (can't think of much from the top of my head)
    • Love triangle
    • Ex girlfriend/boyfriend comes back
    • Naive female lead/Male lead
    • Abusive male/female lead

DAY 5: What is essential for a drama to be worth your time to watch? Or re-watch, over & over? 

  • Should not have too many cringe moments (looking at you SCOY?).
  • Should touch me emotionally invested to some extent. EX. UWMA (made me cry like crazy), Cherry Magic (gave me heavy comfort, rewatched this one a lot!!), or Under the Skin (made me very excited for every episode)
  • Tolerable acting. I don't care if this acting is not good or perfect, but it should at least be tolerable.
  • Definitely should be memorable for me to consider rewatching. It should have something unique/ special or should be so good that I won't be able to forget about it.
 axdxex:
What is essential for a drama to be worth your time to watch? Or re-watch, over & over

These are two completely different questions for me.

In my mind there are two list:

Dramas that I enjoyed and objectively thought were high quality
Dramas I love because they they make me happy, so I will re-watch them 50 times, it doesn't matter if they're not masterpieces
Dramas that make it into the second list are usually love stories, on the shorter end, that I just never get bored of.

This is also how I think about it. The first group ("masterpieces") are often the ones I've been meaning to rewatch, while the second group ("comfort food") are the ones I actually do rewatch. I always have at least one of these going.

 axdxex:
this episode definitely feels contrived (maybe it's on purpose?)... but I'm still having a good time

(re Ep. 2 of "Battle of the Writers") Yeah, I'm definitely having a good time. (My lustful fantasies about Tutor and Yim have nothing to do with it, I swear.) And yeah, there are some things that feel contrived, but that's true of many other good BLs - although in this case (e.g. with the lights going out), one can rationalise them as the guiding hand of fate.

 OnyxTheHedgehog:
I just watched Summer Night ep 1 and I know it’s not BL but the bromance between DunkPhuwin is KILLING ME

I'm fine with a good bromance with cuties - and Dunk is nothing if not a cutie!

Kei×Yaku: Dangerous Partners (2022)

Three years ago, a disappearance known as the Joker Case went unsolved, and the file closed. Renewed interest in the case demands a second examination of the evidence. Investigator Kinoshita Ichiro from the Public Security Bureau of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department is called on for a reunion of the investigation. However, he is assigned a completely different mission. His assignment is to spy on a gang clan led by its young head, Hanabusa Shiro. A man of mystery, Shiro has risen to the rank of Wakagashira (young leading subordinate in the yakuza group) in three short years. In the course of his mission to get close to Shiro, Ichiro learns a shocking fact steering him to draw up a fake lover's contract with Shiro. Their undercover operation gradually leads to an incident sure to shake up both the nation and their destinies.

Kei x yaku is a good investigation action thriller with bromance. If you are open to watching bromance then you are in for a ride!   Any BL drama fans just looking for the romance I suggest to watch an actual BL drama.

 American Fan:
RE: Love Sea - Honest thoughts are always welcome here. Even preferred!

I am so glad you feel this way:

Battle of the Writers - episode 2

I definitely enjoyed this episode more than the first one that left me without thoughts. This episode had some direction and gave me a story-line to work with. In the last episode everything just seemed random and contrived boarder line forced. This episode was much better so I am just going to completely ignore episode 1. I was thrown off that the entire plagiarism issue is just swept under the rug as well as Ob-Aun weariness of Shan but as I said for me episode 1 did not happen so never-mind. With the appearance of the Playboyy couple I was convinced this series is doing everything for me not to like it; thank God they did not utter a word of English. Also am the only one who was annoyed at the dubbing of that one character obviously doesn't speak Thai? I think if I was a huge fan Tutor&Yim I would be enjoying this more but alas I am not. Anyways I now have something to work with in terms of story-line and I look forward to see how the writers will intertwine this story to make it cohesive. I have to admit this is my least favourite currently airing series but I have hope. Towards the end I was distracted because I was watching WWE RAW IG reels from tonight's episode lol but I did see the whole Ozone (I hope he recycles) scene with Pie and I am actually looking forward to their story.

P.S

I saw this post on IG while being distracted and it made me lol

 angeliviki2022:

I have to agree.

This is one of the things I love about this club, when you feel you are alone in your thoughts and opinions there is someone who feels the same lol.

The Trailer for TleFirstOne’s (first) mini drama is out. SECRET LOVE. It looks messyyy, and is not my usual cup of tea, but I do want to see how the boys pull it off!

 axdxex:
The Trailer for TleFirstOne’s (first) mini drama is out. SECRET LOVE

DRAMA!! I love it lol.

 RXinw:
Also am the only one who was annoyed at the dubbing of that one character obviously doesn't speak Thai?

(re "Battle of the Writers", which I love so far) I'm not annoyed with the Chinese actors so much as puzzled: Yeah, I know it's sort of a Thai-Chinese co-production (or made with Chinese backing, whatever), but will it ever be shown in the Mainland China market? If not, what's the point of pushing in the Chinese actors? Or is the Chinese market outside of Mainland China so large?

 axdxex:
The Trailer for TleFirstOne’s (first) mini drama is out. SECRET LOVE. It looks messyyy, and is not my usual cup of tea, but I do want to see how the boys pull it off!

SecretLoveMiniSeries Official Trailer

After "DMD Friendship the Reality", I'm automatically invested in FirstOne/Tle and all of the other Domundi third-gen CPs (Keng/Namping, Thomas/Kong) and artists (also Gems, Latte - although sadly Teetee seems to have faded, not that he ever really shone as much as the other eight).