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iQIYI produces a lot of crap and this is no exception...
OMG was that bad. While the script makes at least some sense, the acting is bad and especially the editing is the worst. Even all 53 episodes cut together made this not a movie with any flow. It's just a hack fest, the next scene had nothing to do with the scene before.Of course with an unpolished script and no clear vision from the director there comes bad acting... The small "boy" is too young to be a police officer from the get go, so it's completely unbelievable to begin with. His acting is also very rough. The side characters slide off into soap opera characters, all over-dramatized and over-acted.
So this series is a bad joke and even the chemistry between the leads leaves something to be desired. The only positive note is, that this is one of the few vers couples ever in BL, but that does not help the series at all. Also the production quality was not on par with similar productions. There are some sound problems which also don't help the series and makes me derank it even more. Just don't waste your time with this crap and do something more productive. 🤣
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Sometimes even Domundi BLs can surprise us in a good way...
Disclaimer: This review is only valid for the UNCUT version of this show. Avoid the cut version like the plague, because as always, the cut off a lot of story. This is especially true for episode 8 which has a runtime of 1:56:51. I would not have minded to cut a lot off the finale because the end was draggy. So consider the uncut version as a 13 episodes series with some bonus content.P'Aof said in the making of TNP he could not do any better, but he clearly lied, because we saw, he could do better. When you do not make a show just to cater to the fangirls and the actors, to no surprise to anyone, you are successful. This was filmed before TNP and it seems, this is the series where all the energy got into the script.
While the story is elaborate it's still straightforward and easy to understand. There is a lot of darkness in it, a lot of pain, but also a lot of growing and commitment for each other. For me it was perfect for episodes 1 to 10, ep 11 and 12 did not keep up the high standards established before. Especially the "bonus" bits felt a bit draggy and also the production quality was subpar because the cuts where a bit eratic, they could not keep a rocket in focus (who wants to watch just the smoke?) and the happy family time felt unnecessary for me because it did not fit the vibe of the show. Most of the finale would have been better served as an special episode detatched from the main story.
I guess the star of this show is the soundtrack which was really exceptionell and of course the "intro" which did not spoil any story elements at all. Kudos for that! Acting was very good especially considering the filming must be especially hard without any climatized rooms for most of the time. Of course this plays out in a rural area, so we got also a lot of nature and traditional housing. Cinematography with the 2:1 aspect ratio was most of the time stunning, the special effects were better than in any other thai BL and of course they had lot's of work with makeup and costumes.
Overall, this is the first series, where a big budget meets or exceeds it's expectations and after the fiasco (in my view) of TNP Domundi/Mandee redeemed itself as being able to tell a story first and have romances second. They even went the extra mile to put their ads as subtle as possible.
This was most defenitively not a waste of my time and it will not be a waste of your time either.
Update: Thanks for all the upvotes but thanks also for nearly the same amount of downvotes. If I sometimes agree with the masses they downvote and when I write harsh reviews disagreeing with them, I get the same. It's really amusing how much hate people have in them.
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comedy missing the point...
While I can get Tongrak & Mahasamut story, I don't get the GL part... Is it me or don't you court someone you like with annoying requests and silly excuses? This irked me the most.The characters in general are very one-dimensional, there isn't much of a development. Also all the drama elements felt a bit forced and cliché. Tongrak's buying sex-service is not a good point but it's life. The only thing which was clear from the beginning (for me) was that Mahasamut did not really do it for the money. He was interested in Tongrak from the get-go. But there's where the story almost ends. At least I understand why Tongrak acts as he does, shunning his feelings but be overwhelmed by them anyways. This leads also into excessive sex-scenes due to Tongraks "buying" Mahasamut. While japanese BLs show mostly too few (with some exceptions), Thai BLs choose too many and this fan-service is appreciated as I can see from most reviews and ratings here. In the end Tongraks overcomes his fear of love but it took too long of a time for me.
Tongrak's niece was the highlight of the show giving it a bit of flavour uncommon to most BLs. I don't find it surprising a 13 year old girl said that uncles new man is sexy, that should not surprise anyone, that's also normal nowadays.
I would have purged the script of all the silly comedic scenes, have either skipped the GL or altered it into something mature, to have a contrast to the dark outlook from the BL. Then this show could have been done in 6 or 8 episodes. Why did the producers choose to have a dark story for the MLs and to contrast them with mostly silly comedy for the GL? For me It breaks the flow and since episode 1 everyone should have understood there is something wrong with Tongrak. But maybe the writers wanted to be close to the source material or they thought that this is the way to go, I don't know. For me it was the wrong way.
Production quality was high with beautiful shots of the island which were too few imho. The ML did a good job overall especially Peat, the GL were good in serious scenes. Due to the handling of the story, this is a subpar show. Good chemistry does not save a bad BL, sensual sex-scenes don't either. It's sad that people don't invest time to think about the story and understand what's wrong with it.
But as the ratings show, sex sells, so it's again a sad day for Thai BLs with declining quality plots, writing and execution. This year seems to be a new low for Thai BLs with a lot of crap shows and a lot of medicore shows. As long as people like such shows, they will produce such shows and the quality will diminish further.
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What a bullshit script and waste of time watching this...
I have not to tell you that this is a cliché BL with the worst things in it: An alleged rape, abnoxious woman and a story which is so boring and unrealistic that it begs the question: Who did greenlit this project?I can't fault the actors, they did the best they could with this script. But pardon me: If you - as a brother - think your little brother was raped, you would call the police and then there would be a medical examination and so on - To keep the pretense of a rape for two episodes is the worst I have seen in any BL... Besides you can't rape someone without waking him up if he is not drugged - and he was not. So the premise is bullshit. And there is this annoying girl who got rejected but then suddenly she turns to her best (girl)friend and ends up a lesbian - OMG! How dumb can it be?
And because I was pissed at this, it's a waste of time to get into the gritty details of the rest of the story which was just awful and one cliché after the next. This was drunk writing, I can not explain it any other way. I know the actors need food on their tables, but when you read this script, can you really think that's a good idea to take on the role? I bet it was contractual obligations and they had to do this series.
The only thing I can't fault this series is the production quality which was really good but such a waste of money and effort. If you haven't seen this series yet, just don't. All the high ratings are just fangirls dreaming of cute boys/handsome men and nothing else, because it can't be for the story.
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A nice fairy tale with a silly end...
With KBLs we never know if it will be any good, it's mostly a flip of a coin. This series managed to say on the "good" side. While the premise is not unheard of, they did it in a mostly funny way. The most impressive are the MLs switching between their personalities and doing so believable.The only questionable thing was the romantic part... it was not that convincing and of course the silly end which may disappoint some of you. Also there is the open end of the mother/son relationsship. Production quality was good considering this is a low budget effort, but we also get to enjoy the scenery.
I have not much more to say, I did enjoy this little series, with every episode running between 9 and 12 minutes the commitment is also not very time-consuming. If you need a palete cleanser or variety from all the toxic stuff now airing, this series will do it.
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A disappointment for a chinese BL
This series is like a lacorn series, too much forced drama and very black/white characters. There is also a "DEMO" version out which is double the length and while I have not seen it yet, I bet it is much needed because this version leaves a lot to be desired of.It's also one of the few recent chinese BLs where they apply dead fish kisses, which is an automatic deduction in my book, because it kills the vibe. If you don't want to kiss, don't take the role. The acting is decent overall, Kais acting is the most convining. Production quality was also good, but the script is nothing to write home. At least it is not cringe.
Overall this is an average series, where the good parts balance out the bad parts but it's not a series I will watch again.
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Everyone needs an Indigo Summer
So many vertical series and I was late to this... because I would not watch a 90 second clip every day for 60 days :) But thankfully this show is also available as a "movie" with around 90 minutes runtime. So this is more manageable for me,Compared to the trash thai and even the US produces, this was quite nice. While it also contains classical clichés it's better made, better edited and better acted. Production quality was very high for a vertical production.
I won't spoil the contents of this series, but sufice to say, it was not bad. It was a honest effort, not great - but which vertical series could ever be great - but nice to watch. There are rough egdes in the script but overall it's very decent. So if you are deillusioned by trashy 16:9 series, this is a nice counterbalance.
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Nice premise lacks on execution with a forced "happy end"
I do like low budget productions in general, but in this case, they skimped on the runtime which makes the series feel rushed in the end. If it were me, I would have omitted the "happy end". It makes no sense to meet a guy who looks exactly the same and for all intents "feels" like the ghost which would have been impossible.Acting was ok, giving us a bit of fluff and good vibes with a dark undertone. Of course the actors are also handsome, that may be a bonus point for some viewers. I have not much else to say besides, it's an ok show for what it is, even when I think the ending is "lame". So binge-watch it, if you are interested, but I would stop when the ghost is disappearing because that should be the real end.
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Overrated cringe fest...
I don't know why this is so loved by so many...It's a remake of other series cobbled together, with the stupid thai comedy soundeffects. The story is shallow, the chemistry just ok and that's it. Of course there also must be an obnoxious female side character.
If there is nothing else to watch, you may give it a go, but again cute/handsome actors don't make a good story. For me it was the usual disappointment from most Thai series especially because this is vertical and short. It's in essence just one long ad with some BL elements put into it.
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Some 30 minutes shows are better than most...
The same production company who brought us "Infidelity, It's a Disease" brought us this little story. While I was not that happy with the first series, this one had much more impact. I felt the story made more sense, the acting was better. The only gripe I have is the lack of proper kissing, which of course is a downgrade of my rating.Of course they also used clichés but it did not feel forced. There is a flow to the story and the visuals are very good indeed even with such a low budget. The first episode is a bit disgusting to watch (you will know when you see it), but overall it was enjoyable.
So when you came from "Flirt Milk" or "Eye Contact" this ~30 Minutes (4 episodes around 8 minutes) feels like a boon and I'm sure most of you will enjoy it. Should you also be a member of the youtube channel you will get an extended version with around 36 minutes.
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While a nice genre, I could not enjoy it due to the bad writing
For me the story felt crude. The final fight was also a bit strange, if you have the upper hand, there is no reason for a one on one. The "General" felt like a bad guy from a dime novel.In the beginning there was a bit of mistery around "Patrick" but that was the only highlight story-wise. To have several couples in a show with only 8 episodes is not enough time to develop a real story and formost no time to develop the characters and their feelings. The main couple did transport some glimpes of affection, but everything felt shallow. The side story around an engaged couple with the body swap felt unrealistic and much much too fast to be believable.
While it was not totally bad, I consider the storyline really bad and unrefined. The actors could only do the best with the material they got but there was no way they could shine or had a challenging role. I had much more expectations from the genre type but was disappointed. It is not even a medicore BL show, it was boring as hell, the funny scenes were not funny (for me) and as usual with most shows it starts stronger than it ends. So, all in all, you should pass it, when you have not watched it yet.
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Easy on the eyes, easy on the story and just no drama at all... quite wholesome.
There is not really much to say about this series. It's short, to the point and no bad drama, no bad ex gf, no bitching, no heated discussions, nothing. It's just a melow story of two couples coming together. Of course due to the constrainted playtime and I guess because of the limited budget there is no depth in the characters. All of them are pleasing to the eye and we have to guess that all of them are nice in their ways.Production quality was nice. Just the "bar" both TrueFilm and Sukfilm use is still a bit cringe :) The actors are all quite handsome or cute, they also did the job well.
So, this was quite fun to watch, quite relaxing and a nice change of pace compared to all drama series airing the last two months. You will not get frustrated, you will not get angry, you will probably just enjoy it. And that's a good thing. If you have not seen this yet, invest the 30 minutes for a wholesome expierence.
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When you do not expect anything it's better than you could imagine...
The first thing I need to write is, they brought up a many sensitive topics including "aphenphosmphobia" in a sensible way. Even the doctor did the right thing, because he was interested in the patient, so he delegated the therapy to another doctor - as it should be. On the other hand, this show tried too much. There are too many stories in a very short series so the depth of them is very limited. In this case more episodes would have been better.The actors did all a good job, especially the Doctor and "his" patient. For me they are the ML of the series. All other couples are only 2nd fiddle to them. While having a heavy topic for all couples, there's also some comedy done to let you breath a bit easier. And of course Mom is the best :)
So, while I did not expect anything out of this series, it was much better compared what Domundi and GMMTV produced and I bet with less than half the budget. I would suggest you should watch this first before turning to the bemeoths of BLs.
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Short, to the point, still a slow burn, no toxicity
While Strongberry struggled with it's last series, GND did it mostly right. This a lovely friends to lovers story. While a short one (6 ep around 10 minutes), it's still a slow burn. On the other hand there are no misunderstandings or toxicity. The only negative is that we had to wait for each episode for a week which does not make much sense. I would have prefered if they just released it as an movie - which they will do not so far in the future if I think about their last production "My Damn Business". This should be binge-watched!The characters are not super complex but they are well enough written, they avoided classic BL clicheś with a love triangle from the friends but inserted a sunbea in the later half of the series. This forces Ju Do to act, to take the courage to confess and leave his angst behind him. They even left an open end for his friend because sunbea may have an interest in him too. The third friend is surprised but supportive and understandingwithout any drama introduced.
Production was more eleborate compared to Sukfilms series, so this feels more organic even when they have only four characters in the whole series. The school could have been more livelier but they had some extras at the basketball court. I also wished they had some extras in the cafe but of course they had little budget to expand the scope of the production. The chemistry was nice and acting wise there is nothing I could complain about.
Overall it was really heartwarming to watch and this is a show you should not miss!
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what a roller-coaster...
I'm neither a BTS fan nor have I any idea of the original storyline... But man that was intense. I can't collect all my toughts because I'm overwhelmed.The only thing I can say is, this drama stands out. It is not entertainment in the least. It raises too many questions, shows us how shitty the world is we live in, depresses us and if you are sensitive, it overwhelms you.
All the actors did convey the story in an outstanding way and with this material it could not have been easy. Production quality was top notch.
I don't think I need to say more. This was outstanding in so many ways.
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