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The Luminous Solution thai drama review
Completed
The Luminous Solution
1 people found this review helpful
by Lyson
Jul 2, 2023
6 of 6 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 8.0
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 7.0
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 1.0
This review may contain spoilers

It's not some memorable masterpiece, but in the end I gave it an 8+ because...

...of THE GOOD:
1. It's an original story concept insofar as the average BL's go, while also tackling the difficult task of telling a non-linear storyline AND executing a totally unexpected plot twist SUCCESSFULLY. I don't think anyone watching this series saw that last ep plot twist coming. I certainly did not.
2. With the exception of the actor who played Phatit (sorry hard fact, but he doesn't rate, really needs an acting coach or a new vocation), the acting in this for all the rest of the cast is actually pretty good.
3. The writers were clever, using a 'second pairing' trope, when in fact, there is only one pair that the story is focused on.
4. The writers WENT THERE and most people don't like that because they want their happy ending BL story, but they made a BL story with a seemingly 'great' partner who is revealed to have major character flaws and he ends up cheating, which yes, it happens quite often. And even though the story is intermingling with supernatural elements which could be argued to have affected things, it turns out the wishing doesn't really have anything to do with it, people are just weak, and the main pair still had to struggle with the infidelity and other issues and they did NOT make it through like nothing happened. No blatantly happy ending. Only a little. Refreshing.
5. They tied up ALL the loose ends. Even Mai being so aggressively sexual as a teen suddenly made more sense when we compare it with Thana as an adult being a sexually aggressive and impulsive dumbass. And this story certainly wasn't rushed, in fact, six eps was more than they needed. (I won't list the details they tied up, but if anyone is confused about the story, I'd be happy to help with some answers)


So...The DRAWBACKS:
1. The unexpected plot twist could also be attributed to the fact that the casting for the teenage 'Thana' (Mai) and 'Phatit' (Ryou) didn't resemble the adult version even remotely. I don't know if the reason why they cast two sets of totally dissimilar (in appearance) actors was in order to bury the plot twist, or if it was just poor casting choices on the real, but truly, that was really not great. The same can be said for the adult versions of the school friends, ZERO resemblance. That said, the young and older version of the cafe' lady was well done and yet still, didn't really suspect that.
2. It was a bit long winded, which made eps 3 to 5 drag a bit, and so the pay off of episode 6's plot twist didn't hit quite as well as it might have, had the build up to the infidelity and the reveal happened a bit faster.
3. Was it messy? Yes, a bit,, because it's non-linear and it's past and present and they're trying to not let anyone catch on, but was it a total mess? Nope.

Overall, this is worth a one time watch.
NOTICE FOR: Anyone reading this who hasn't watched it yet, just be warned that it's a little slow to the point and heavy handed on some unnecessary scenes. Episode 5 was nearly a deal breaker for me to be honest, but I'm glad I hung in there.

Maybe it's just me, but I appreciate something that doesn't try to sell me a flowery story just to be a people pleaser, because honestly, if people had the ability to make wishes and have them actually come true, the amount of f*ck ups would be endless.
At the very least, if you're a patient person, give it a try.
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