Amaryllis_Flower

The only reason there were any scenes for Ramil Paytai, Calvin Jay, and Ava Mira is because they expanded their roles from the book to the series. I'm guessing they did this mainly to give Jimmy Ohm and Net JJ more screen time. So when you say less screen time I'm not exactly sure what what you're comparing it to because if they followed the book they would have pretty much had no screen time.

The script was something that was changed from the novel probably at the direction of Aof to try and make the plot fit Zeenunew better than the book. The book really wasn't a romance. Their first sexual encounter occurred around the 1200 page mark of a 1600 page book. I don't think you can blame that one on the screenwriters.

There is a mention of Paytai being punished for Ramil's wrong doings early in the book, but he doesn't get beaten, Rachata is a poor excuse for human being but not violent, and they didn't exactly have a defined love match. They were more like fuck buddies.

I'm not sure why you couldn't tell this drama was set in modern times. They had AI such as it was, computers, iPads, cell phones. They just wore ridiculous outfits within the palace which is not much different than the royal family in England. But it was very obvious it was court attire. You never saw them out on the street wearing that stuff.

The series did most decidedly have a plot. There were two main storylines in the series. First, who was going to be the next king of Emmaly and the contest to decide it. And second the romance between Khanin and Charan.

Both of those storylines progressed in every single episode and by the end of the series we knew who the new king of Emmaly was going to be, and Khanin and Charan fulfilled their destiny of becoming forever lovers and soon to be spouses.

Pretty sure it's a hair care line with shampoos, conditioners, masks, toners, etc.

I'm a Moroccan Oil girl myself. 🙂

He does. Supporting NuNew in his future is very important to Zee. So some of that will be in the BL industry. NuNew is never going to do a BL with someone else.

If you notice Zee has been taking more time off in the last year, especially with his relatives. He's burned out, tired, has gotten sick a couple of times even winding up in the hospital twice.

In addition, the extreme workout routine that he's been doing for the past 2 years in preparation for TNP has probably reduced his immune function. Being in good shape is important but when you push it past a certain level it actually has a bad effect on your health.

He's 9 years older than NuNew, and while 33 is still pretty young, you can't abuse your body in your thirties like you can in your twenties.

Well you can blame the book for that. There's there was no Mira Ava GL in the book. The closest to a relationship between them was that she was her fencing instructor and also a bartender that she went to see at the bar she worked in once in a while.

Ramil Paytai weren't really a love match in the book. They were more like fuck buddies. And also way less prominent in the book.

If anything the series gave both of them greater roles than they had otherwise.

You are totally entitled to your opinion but the proof is in the fans, and the numbers of people watching the series.

There wasn't anything wrong with the TNP script writers. You have to know that the changes from the book happened at a level that was way above their pay grade.

Some of the changes worked a lot of them didn't. It's not like I'm a fan girl. I've made some pretty pointed comments about things that I didn't like. And specific things not general crap like I hate it and GMM TV is better.

Domundi has been consistently building new talent and I think some of them are pretty promising.

But you really need to get off your GMMTV high horse because what you're thinking is never going to happen not only in my (short remaining) lifetime but not in yours either.

He wants to concentrate on business and probably his modeling career. He said he was also interested in opening a restaurant at some point.

I made another comment under this post with a link to the interview that Zee and NuNew gave the other day with English translations.

I think that NuNew does want to continue to act, but he's not willing to do a BL with anyone but Zee. So I'm guessing the types of things he would do in the future would be more along the lines of Diva La Vie. I assume that's a test of his marketability in a non BL series.

I agree with you that Hug E-Lhee is probably a better vehicle for Zeenunew. But I really think that they did the best they could with TNP and other than the annoying Lolani and IQIYI commercials I thought it was a pretty satisfying ending. I knew that his mother's wedding ring was going wind up on Khanin's hand somehow.

I don't think that Hug E-Lhee will be Zee's last BL, what he said in the Praew TV interview is that by the age of 35 he wants to step back and will accept no more than one movie or series per year. But I do think he is going to gradually move out of the industry.

There is an English subtitled version of the interview on YouTube but I had to search for it.

https://youtu.be/9GDhLI1tGIk

Well if nothing else you are very entertaining. This was a mostly satisfying finale to the series. Don't think a special episode is necessary. There was no Ava GL in the book. There was no Calvin Jay romance in the book.

And GMMTV doesn't have a fraction of the budget of Domundi. If anybody would be acquired it would be the other way around.

Zeenunew are a package. If you think that then neither one of them should have been in this series.

I think NuNew did a pretty good job In this series. He was supposed to be a Prince who didn't want to be a prince and who showed compassion that was hard to come by in the Royal Palace.

I'm still watching the last half hour but I've pretty much liked everything I've seen so far.

Some people didn't like Doris Day and Rock Hudson in all those rom-coms from the '50s and '60s. Different people have different tastes. That doesn't mean that they shouldn't act in movies together or in this case in a series.

Everyone has an opinion and I'm sure that there are people who think that Daniel Day-Lewis is a dreadful actor despite winning three Academy awards.

And even if I was one of those people I still wouldn't think that he shouldn't act anymore. I'd just watch different movies.

And I don't even care if RP wind up together. That was a very tortured relationship. It seem like they were trying to add the darkness of the novel back in places because they took it out from other areas. 🤷🏻‍♀️

What exists of Net JJ was added to the screenplay. They were barely a footnote in the novel.

The writers were just fine. The plot was changed, and I guarantee you that change happened at a level much higher than the screenwriters.

If you read the original book it is a much much darker story, with the king murdering people outright, Wasin trying to kill people in revenge.

Very cruel outcomes to the people who perpetrated crimes.

I don't think this is the right type of plot for a couple like Zeenunew whose popularity surrounds their great on-screen chemistry, romance and music.

They had to add romance into a novel that really didn't have it. Zee and NuNew are Princess Bride, not Hunger Games or Game of Thrones.

It's good acting for a BL. I've been peripherally around the industry for my entire life. And there are genres.

No one compares the 40-Year-Old Virgin to Oppenheimer. No one compares a romance novel to a Walter Isaacson biography.

You have to adjust your expectations accordingly or just not watch genres that are unlikely to win awards out of their own industry.

I haven't found that to be different for BL's coming from other countries, although I haven't watched as many of them.

And even if you disagree with all of this, if you think that Zee and NuNew are a dreadful acting duo, then your solution is to avoid dramas in which they act.

Zee and NuNew are perhaps the most popular BL couples of all time, and are widely regarded for having good acting chops and very good on screen chemistry.

Of course you're entitled to your opinion and at least this time you're actually expressing an opinion, but you have zero chances of your wishes coming true until Zee retires in a few years.

This is one of those things that is not fixable for you except to decide not to watch any dramas that they star in. Your opinion is tantamount to saying you hate musicals but then watch one and are upset that it's a musical. 🙄

Just noticed that The YouTube abbreviated BTS for episode 13 was put online this morning. And still no translation for the IQIY version, grr.

In the book Ava was 20 compared to Kris's age which was 16 when they started filming. She's 17 now.

However there really wasn't a GL relationship in the book either. In addition to being a fencing coach Mira worked in a bar and Ava would see her there sometimes. But I don't remember the relationship being developed beyond that.

So the one scene where Ava grabs Mira's hand and says "you're mine" is really pretty comparable.

The plot is actually quite good in that advances in every single episode but I'm going to save my comments about that until the series is over. Obviously not liking the plot is a different thing, but it is a costume drama and romance. So you really can't expect it not to be when you watch it.

Cutie Pie wasn't a low budget series and Aof mortgaged his house just to produce it.

However it wasn't as high a budget as TNP simply because you couldn't produce TNP for a really low budget. The costumes, the locations and the number of episodes required a greater investment.

And to be clear I don't have any expertise as a director or a producer I just know a lot of people who have produced high quality Hollywood movies, hence my comment to hook them up.

TBF Cutie Pie was a horribly written series and it's charm was due to Zee and NuNew's on screen chemistry and its political agenda.

TNP is a better written script even as it varied from the book and I thought the flow was a lot smoother. I found Kuea going between his garage friends and his life with Lian, his continually changing his mind about the marriage and the lack of communication between the two of them kind of annoying. There were also some giant holes in the plot, for example in one scene Lian tells Kuea that if he doesn't believe that Lian wants to marry him he's willing to go down to the City Hall with him right away and register their marriage, but same-sex marriage wasn't legal in Thailand at the time and the entire series was about the lack of legal recognition of same-sex marriage. Lian also had convoluted responses as to why he didn't commit to Kuea earlier. It was a very tortured script.

But I still liked it because they were charming couple and they will continue to be in any series or concert in which they perform together.

And PS. I don't really care a lot about what others this group think of me or what I write. I just figure any poor soul who comes here looking for some direction as to whether or not they should watch this series should at least have some opinions beyond, "I'm bored, it sucks" or even "I love Zeenunew". Plus my last career I was a journalist so I like to write.

There are a few other useful comments besides mine but they are few and far between. Yours was one of the few.

I accept people's thoughts as long as they have them.

On balance I like TNP but it isn't perfect and I have made many comments that are critical.

But I accept that this is a Thai BL and therefore something that is not going to have the production values or the smoothness of a series that has award-winning writers, directors, and a budget 10 times the amount of TNP.

I have a different set of expectations from a $3 million series compared to a $30 million series.

I appreciate Zeenunew's on screen chemistry and NuNew's fabulous voice.

Give me a $30 million dollar budget and I can hook them up with the right crew. 😉

In the end I can only compare this series to other Thai BL series, and it compares favorably.

And PS there's a difference between poisonous and discerning.