Lyson
This review may contain spoilers
Not as bad or as good as it could have been!
I'll start by saying I haven't read the original, I've only read what was mentioned about it in the comments here, so my judgement is based solely on the show. Here we go;
THE GOOD:
MAIN ACTORS:
YAI - I noticed there's a lot of commentary against Yai, but I actually think he was the best actor in this show. He wasn't too over the top when he was happy or when he was crying, in general, his range of emotion didn't seem too extra. I also liked that when he was hot, he was hot, and when he was cold, he was cold, and when he decided with finality to be with Mangkorn, he didn't waver. He wasn't wishy washy or moon eyed or overly confused, and he wasn't annoying to me at all. He didn't even second guess himself about Nine, he was like 'Yo, no.' and that was that. I personally think that was great. Additionally, he is actually pretty adorable looks-wise. The rest of the cast was likeable too, I have no hard objection to anyone. Some of the casual interactions felt a bit stiff but nothing so bad it made the show unwatchable.
MANGKORN - He was fine. I didn't get any 'Big Dragon' vibes from him, but he was fine.
VISUALLY - It was nice. Easy on the eyes. But Asian dramas generally go in for that 'perfect' look on their actors all the time. I've accepted that, even if it's very unrealistic and looks silly sometimes. I'm also not a fan of the disjointed cuts during the sex scenes, because scenes that go from a bedroom to a bar to a bedroom again, or a table to a window to the floor and back to the table, it doesn't flow too well, but it also didn't particularly hurt the visual aesthetic they were going for.
THE BAD:
STORY: It's only a little bad, insofar as there are too many unnecessary dialogue scenes dragged out waaaaay too long, too many silences and a time lapse that smacks you in the face out of nowhere at one point. The last episode dealt far better with the time lapse, not sure what happened before that with the writers. Also, because of the short amount of episodes, I also think they could have skipped things like Yai's BDSM kink (because ultimately it didn't make much of an appearance anyway), and also the skateboarding thing was, well, why? Relevance? I dunno, for all that it had a use in the story, it could have a mentioned in a conversation and it would have been the same imo. And showing Yai and Mangkorn as seemingly womanizing, bad boys, and then Mangkorn breaking out a Dom vibe on Yai randomly, only to make it turn out to have no place in the story over all. Just, basically, there was a lot of 'but why did you include that' moments. I can only assume that it had something to do with the source material? I actually have no idea, it just seemed pointless.
But I didn't dislike the overall story. Yai and MangKorn communicate quite well (albeit very slowly), especially after they get over their initial speed bumps, and I think that was enjoyable.
THE UGLY:
DUH, the opening rapey vibe. Ugh. It's never gonna' be sexy to try to drug and then rape and/or assault and blackmail someone, and then write that they end up together. If they were changing the story (according to what comments suggested) they should have just gone ahead and changed that too. Like they did in 'Together with Me', they avoided all the 'ugh' from the original. Something less vile would have been for Yai to maybe get Mangkorn drunk and then set him up in an embarrassing situation. It's still a hostile start to a relationship, but at least it's nothing gross or illegal. This trope, for me, is never gonna' fly. Also the hitting each other for no really good reason, could skip that.
HIGHLIGHT:
I loved the scene in ep 5 when Mangkorn's mother walks in on them eating the snack together. That was probably my fave moment in this show. Sometimes writers miss the fact that the small intimate or cute touches and moments between pairings can carry a lot of weight in making a couple seem 'in love'.
Over all looking forward to Season 2. Hoping for less tropes and a smoother flow and much more established relationship vibes and scenes from Mangkorn and Yai.
THE GOOD:
MAIN ACTORS:
YAI - I noticed there's a lot of commentary against Yai, but I actually think he was the best actor in this show. He wasn't too over the top when he was happy or when he was crying, in general, his range of emotion didn't seem too extra. I also liked that when he was hot, he was hot, and when he was cold, he was cold, and when he decided with finality to be with Mangkorn, he didn't waver. He wasn't wishy washy or moon eyed or overly confused, and he wasn't annoying to me at all. He didn't even second guess himself about Nine, he was like 'Yo, no.' and that was that. I personally think that was great. Additionally, he is actually pretty adorable looks-wise. The rest of the cast was likeable too, I have no hard objection to anyone. Some of the casual interactions felt a bit stiff but nothing so bad it made the show unwatchable.
MANGKORN - He was fine. I didn't get any 'Big Dragon' vibes from him, but he was fine.
VISUALLY - It was nice. Easy on the eyes. But Asian dramas generally go in for that 'perfect' look on their actors all the time. I've accepted that, even if it's very unrealistic and looks silly sometimes. I'm also not a fan of the disjointed cuts during the sex scenes, because scenes that go from a bedroom to a bar to a bedroom again, or a table to a window to the floor and back to the table, it doesn't flow too well, but it also didn't particularly hurt the visual aesthetic they were going for.
THE BAD:
STORY: It's only a little bad, insofar as there are too many unnecessary dialogue scenes dragged out waaaaay too long, too many silences and a time lapse that smacks you in the face out of nowhere at one point. The last episode dealt far better with the time lapse, not sure what happened before that with the writers. Also, because of the short amount of episodes, I also think they could have skipped things like Yai's BDSM kink (because ultimately it didn't make much of an appearance anyway), and also the skateboarding thing was, well, why? Relevance? I dunno, for all that it had a use in the story, it could have a mentioned in a conversation and it would have been the same imo. And showing Yai and Mangkorn as seemingly womanizing, bad boys, and then Mangkorn breaking out a Dom vibe on Yai randomly, only to make it turn out to have no place in the story over all. Just, basically, there was a lot of 'but why did you include that' moments. I can only assume that it had something to do with the source material? I actually have no idea, it just seemed pointless.
But I didn't dislike the overall story. Yai and MangKorn communicate quite well (albeit very slowly), especially after they get over their initial speed bumps, and I think that was enjoyable.
THE UGLY:
DUH, the opening rapey vibe. Ugh. It's never gonna' be sexy to try to drug and then rape and/or assault and blackmail someone, and then write that they end up together. If they were changing the story (according to what comments suggested) they should have just gone ahead and changed that too. Like they did in 'Together with Me', they avoided all the 'ugh' from the original. Something less vile would have been for Yai to maybe get Mangkorn drunk and then set him up in an embarrassing situation. It's still a hostile start to a relationship, but at least it's nothing gross or illegal. This trope, for me, is never gonna' fly. Also the hitting each other for no really good reason, could skip that.
HIGHLIGHT:
I loved the scene in ep 5 when Mangkorn's mother walks in on them eating the snack together. That was probably my fave moment in this show. Sometimes writers miss the fact that the small intimate or cute touches and moments between pairings can carry a lot of weight in making a couple seem 'in love'.
Over all looking forward to Season 2. Hoping for less tropes and a smoother flow and much more established relationship vibes and scenes from Mangkorn and Yai.
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