No, I don't think our standards lowered. Indeed there are questionable acts between the leads, rape scenes by…
I am sorry but you are the one who misinterpreted, I did say "questionable acts between the leads" and put a comma for the rest to separate them. Here I meant that the kisses and a spicy scene at the hotel (ep 5) were of dubious consent between the leads, particularly from Sun. The "vile deeds" of the villain 'backer' was maybe shown 3-4 times, all in different scenarios. Simply put, this is to show how dangerous and ruthless this man is and how he gets away each time without any consequences. As the audience, we will all think how evil the world truly is and how high the stakes are for the leads to get a revenge against him. Sun's backstory is the entire reason for this whole series to be made. In each episode (even in the original sources), it was repeated at different turnpoints of life for Sun. Initially, it was shown to indicate his drive for revenge, later his trauma and deep-rooted guilt for his brother's death, and finally to show that despite achieving the revenge, it doesn't bring him satisfaction and that he needs to let go of their deaths. IIRC, in the manhwa, Sun was contemplating to drop the whole 'Revenge' and at times ending his life, but his 'backstory' is the reason he does neither. The one-night stand happens at a significant point of Jay's life, he comes to know about his mother's death. He was going to be reckless, ready-to-kill, but he meets Sun. For Sun, it was a blurry night but for Jay, it was the start of his obsession. Many of his consecutive actions were circled around this obsession. And no, the payback was not laughably handled. Jay moves all his puzzle pieces strategically to eliminate his enemies. He pulls the strings behind the scenes for months to gather the evidence about the corruption, to gain legal rights to the song (sabotaging the filming of The Memory in order to cause financial collapse to the company), to substantiate himself as the rightful heir of Dream by getting the shares and revealing Kongkiat's betrayal towards his mom. You only need few minutes with that episode to understand how big of a ruin he has brought to all his enemies by exposing them. The title is "Payback" because Sun is getting revenge against Sunny, Jay against Kongkiat and Song, and Sun finally exchanging his dues with Jay for helping him carry out the revenge by choosing to live for him, which is the ultimate Payback. The graphic scenes I meant are not just spicy scenes, but the rape and murder scenes, the 'casting couch' scenes, the 'camera' scene of Sky's abuse, etc. You see, intimacy behind closed doors, cruel acts of murder or rape, abuse, violent/gore fights, if poorly executed would feel fake to viewers and pull them out. Over the years, particularly for LGBTQ+ stories, our media has sanitized everything to make it palatable to the conservative audience. Payback is one of the examples of how creating scenes so raw and intense will make viewers engaged and develop emotional currency with the characters. But how is it different from other dramas who also have shown 'bold scenes' ? By being faithful to the manhwa and novel, not showing a helpless character with revenge in mind, not messing up the pacing, equally drawing out the readers to the adaptation as well as making new audience be curious about the original content. That is what I meant by the rating which clearly is still evident !
A promising first 2 episodes, then Multiple Forced kisses, A one night stand & It's repetitive flashbacks…
No, I don't think our standards lowered. Indeed there are questionable acts between the leads, rape scenes by villain, murder, etc. But none of them are unnecessary, especially Sun's backstory and Pennueng's arc. As someone who has read the novel and the manhwa, I know the relevance of those scenes, and I am extremely grateful to the drama's creators for doing justice to those original sources. Most importantly, this series was advertised as Dark romance with violent characters and revenge plot as well as with main leads being morally grey characters. So, anybody who is going to watch this should know what to expect. Over the past few years, the asian drama industries, not just BL, have learnt not to shy away from showing graphic scenes and understanding its impact on the audience. This drama is very much an exceptional example of it and the ratings here do indicate that !
Guys, I feel like this drama is deeply underrated. This series is one of the best I have seen, and I am confused…
I appreciate all your opinions. For the past few days, I have seen on IG that they do have a substantial following, maybe not enough to say that they are phenomenal. But a lot of them are great fans of the drama's overall production and the acting. They all have the same views as one of you pointed out, if this gains even more popularity, we will be facing the rather dangerous side-effects of it, the sasaengs!!! And I am pretty sure we all know how obsessive those chinese fans are, particularly the airport crazies😅
Guys, I feel like this drama is deeply underrated. This series is one of the best I have seen, and I am confused whether it's getting the hype it deserves ! I wanna know if it is indeed like what I said ...
Happy to see that Korean BLs are continuing to raise the standards for plot and cinematography, transcending not just this genre, across the world. But then, I believe in this director's works.
Oooh the rating is up here in MDL. Heard that this drama is becoming really popular in korean mainstream media. Absolutely delighted to know that korean BLs are offering quality work and great acting as well. Can't wait to binge-watch the episodes this weekend !
I do agree. However, that's the way the manga is written. I have read it few months ago and found the age gap…
Ok. That is understandable. But give it a chance for a few more episodes. If it really makes you uncomfortable, you can drop it. It's totally up to you...
I do agree. However, that's the way the manga is written. I have read it few months ago and found the age gap tolerable 'cause the seme is very sweet and coddling towards the uke. He doesn't push for anything in a creepy way (like I have seen in few other age-gap bls). But if you read the manga, you will see why the seme pursued love at this age.
Damnnnn this guy has got a really different kinda charm and handsomeness. His beauty seems like a mix of Dunk Natachai and Boom Raweewit. Idk why he reminds me of them✨️💅
So, I was right when I thought that Domundi has been upping their game since Khemjira, Duang with You, and now Love upon a Time. I can't get over each plot, the main and second leads, and their chemistry. I feel deep sadness each time I bid goodbye to their dramas. It's only right to say that the Domundi family is becoming one of the best in producing quality content as well as breathing life into beautiful stories ❤️
the ratings are so unjustified ughh, i hate some mdl ratings bcz wdym even after watching episode 7 it increased…
Ikr. Sometimes it feels like many people intentionally rate down a good drama just for the sake of it. I don't trust MDL ratings anymore, so I ask around the people watching it instead...
Guys, tell me if the rating is extremely deceiving or not when the series is supposedly good ??? Or does the rating…
That's what I thought as well. I mean Domundi has been doing definitely better with Khemjira and Duang with you. I was just wondering why this one's rating is not on par with them. So guess we have to wait and see !!!
Guys, tell me if the rating is extremely deceiving or not when the series is supposedly good ??? Or does the rating actually add up to the expectations ?
Exceptionally good. The plot is thick and is well-written. So is the art, the leads are extremely good looking.…
Hopefully, you will love it like I do. I love the MC from the manhwa a lot coz he is one of the few characters that have a backbone. Though, it does become a little askew when it comes to his man 🤣
Exceptionally good. The plot is thick and is well-written. So is the art, the leads are extremely good looking. However, there are questionable moments/dub-con scenes between them. But, I would say the MC (bottom) is one of the strongest characters written in BL manhwas. Try it.
Bwahahaa exactly... like ughhh, you don't have to try so hard to sell the drama by kissing when there is absolutely no plot🤣 But then, there are of course those couples who passionately kiss, which is one of the strong points of the drama too !
TeeteePor's affectionate touches and kisses are extremely different to all the BL couples I have seen till now. So far, most of the actors kiss like they are trying to make the scene 'too' sexy, or shy away mid scene, or kiss like fishes. Thus, most of them seem fake or forced. But with this couple, it feels like they do enjoy each other's company and thrive in their own chemistry fairly well. All of their hugs, kisses (particularly those neck ones), pats, and cheek sniffs seem really genuine and filled with fondness. DWY has set a benchmark for me in terms of such love scenes. I am not gonna get over this series or this couple. Hopefully, we will see more of them and more like them ❤️
The "vile deeds" of the villain 'backer' was maybe shown 3-4 times, all in different scenarios. Simply put, this is to show how dangerous and ruthless this man is and how he gets away each time without any consequences. As the audience, we will all think how evil the world truly is and how high the stakes are for the leads to get a revenge against him.
Sun's backstory is the entire reason for this whole series to be made. In each episode (even in the original sources), it was repeated at different turnpoints of life for Sun. Initially, it was shown to indicate his drive for revenge, later his trauma and deep-rooted guilt for his brother's death, and finally to show that despite achieving the revenge, it doesn't bring him satisfaction and that he needs to let go of their deaths. IIRC, in the manhwa, Sun was contemplating to drop the whole 'Revenge' and at times ending his life, but his 'backstory' is the reason he does neither.
The one-night stand happens at a significant point of Jay's life, he comes to know about his mother's death. He was going to be reckless, ready-to-kill, but he meets Sun. For Sun, it was a blurry night but for Jay, it was the start of his obsession. Many of his consecutive actions were circled around this obsession.
And no, the payback was not laughably handled. Jay moves all his puzzle pieces strategically to eliminate his enemies. He pulls the strings behind the scenes for months to gather the evidence about the corruption, to gain legal rights to the song (sabotaging the filming of The Memory in order to cause financial collapse to the company), to substantiate himself as the rightful heir of Dream by getting the shares and revealing Kongkiat's betrayal towards his mom. You only need few minutes with that episode to understand how big of a ruin he has brought to all his enemies by exposing them.
The title is "Payback" because Sun is getting revenge against Sunny, Jay against Kongkiat and Song, and Sun finally exchanging his dues with Jay for helping him carry out the revenge by choosing to live for him, which is the ultimate Payback.
The graphic scenes I meant are not just spicy scenes, but the rape and murder scenes, the 'casting couch' scenes, the 'camera' scene of Sky's abuse, etc. You see, intimacy behind closed doors, cruel acts of murder or rape, abuse, violent/gore fights, if poorly executed would feel fake to viewers and pull them out. Over the years, particularly for LGBTQ+ stories, our media has sanitized everything to make it palatable to the conservative audience. Payback is one of the examples of how creating scenes so raw and intense will make viewers engaged and develop emotional currency with the characters. But how is it different from other dramas who also have shown 'bold scenes' ? By being faithful to the manhwa and novel, not showing a helpless character with revenge in mind, not messing up the pacing, equally drawing out the readers to the adaptation as well as making new audience be curious about the original content. That is what I meant by the rating which clearly is still evident !
As someone who has read the novel and the manhwa, I know the relevance of those scenes, and I am extremely grateful to the drama's creators for doing justice to those original sources. Most importantly, this series was advertised as Dark romance with violent characters and revenge plot as well as with main leads being morally grey characters.
So, anybody who is going to watch this should know what to expect. Over the past few years, the asian drama industries, not just BL, have learnt not to shy away from showing graphic scenes and understanding its impact on the audience. This drama is very much an exceptional example of it and the ratings here do indicate that !
And damn, he indeed is a vacuum cleaner 🤣😏✨️