5
6
2
FreshKicks
This review may contain spoilers
Ambitious but with an identity crisis
** Please be warned that this review contains lots of spoilers **
Watching this series from the vantage point of 2023 was an interesting experience. I can readily see how it must have excited the BL fans of 2016, and can imagine the anticipation for each new episode as the series progressed. Unfortunately, I can also imagine their disappointment over how it eventually ended.
Because, alas, the production ultimately lost its nerve, and it turns out that the conflicted feelings that Jatjang has for his neighbors Earth and Ice are simply overblown.
Well, strike that. The feelings that are overblown are the ones that Jatjang has for Earth in particular.
Because, while Jatjang declares several times over the course of the series that his heart “flutters” for Earth, in the final episode he reveals that he has never thought of Earth romantically or ever wanted to touch him sexually, and he even recoils when Earth unexpectedly kisses him on the lips to help him test how he feels. At the same time, we learn that the one Jatjang has wanted to be with romantically all along is Earth’s sister, Ice.
Jatjang, it seems, has just been a confused straight guy the whole time.
What, then, was all the fuss about? As a viewer I wouldn’t want to endure ten months of suspense only to be let down by such a whopper of a cop-out in the final episode.
Along the way, the series does tackle several contemporary issues faced by teens, and most of the time it handles them well. This includes a nod toward accepting people who are gay, which is laudable, but it must be said that the only two examples of same-sex attracted characters are Jatjang’s flamboyant ladyboy cousin and a closeted art teacher who has molested one of his male students.
Furthermore, once Jatjang’s father learns of his son’s possible bisexual tendencies he’s not happy about it at all. After he discovers that Jatjang has been keeping an online journal, he hacks into his son’s computer so he can read the entries from week to week, and soon pretends to be a concerned stranger in order to exchange messages with him. He repeatedly urges Jatjang not to give in to his feelings for other guys or even believe that they’re necessarily real. Then, once the dad finds out that the boy his son is attracted to is Earth (a friend he's around constantly) just the sight of the two boys alone together drives Jatjang’s dad into panic. This is usually played for laughs but after a while becomes offensive.
By the last episode, Earth and his sister have moved away and Jatjang is back to square one for his romantic pursuits. At the end of that episode (and of the series) someone comes to the house to pick up Jatjang to go to school, and after Jatjang’s sister announces that Jatjang’s “new lover” is outside, the family makes a fuss as though there’s a question of whether this new lover is male or female. We, the viewers, never find out for sure, but based on everything that happened earlier, wouldn’t it have to be a girl? By this point there has been repeated reminders that the only boy that Jatjang’s heart has ever fluttered for is Earth, and of course that was a false alarm—other boys have never appealed to him. The series can’t have it both ways. Once you establish that Jatjang is just a confused straight boy you can’t expect to get away with becoming coy on the subject again.
What cannot be faulted here are the performances of the main leads, Tongtong (Jatjang) and Nonkul (Earth). Tongtong has the most difficult role and completely owns it. His emotional range is amazing. Regarding Nonkul, by the time he was in this series he was already an experienced actor and had previously been in a pioneering BL film, 2014's “Love’s Coming”. (In that film, as here, his character is straight.) His performance perfectly balances the tough and tender aspects of Earth’s personality.
In the role of Jatjang’s dad, Jatjen, Saksit Tangthong is also very good, despite the flaws in his character’s approach to his son. As for the mom character, Pang, I must admit that she really annoyed me. In one satisfying scene she gets called out by the kids for always being a scold, and that’s exactly what she is. By the end of the series her voice grated on me and I couldn’t wait for her scenes to be over. I probably shouldn’t blame actress Aom Piyada for what I didn’t like about the mom. I’m sure it was the performance that they wanted from her.
The series is filmed like a traditional sitcom, mostly on a soundstage with occasional outdoor locations, but not with a live audience. Instead, canned laughter is inserted constantly. The fake laughs seem to become less intrusive as the series progresses, but I can’t say if that’s simply because I got used to them.
One last comment. For the files I used to watch this series, the subs were done by a team that called themselves EarthBangJang Subbers. That name was displayed at the upper right corner of the screen for each episode, serving as a constant reminder of how everyone back in 2016 must have been counting on the series becoming a bonafide BL. How disappointed they must have been when it ended without Earth banging Jang.
So, this is not a BL. I'd even say that there's not a "Bisexual Character" as the MDL tag suggests. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, unless you want to spend 55 episodes to get disappointed for yourself.
Watching this series from the vantage point of 2023 was an interesting experience. I can readily see how it must have excited the BL fans of 2016, and can imagine the anticipation for each new episode as the series progressed. Unfortunately, I can also imagine their disappointment over how it eventually ended.
Because, alas, the production ultimately lost its nerve, and it turns out that the conflicted feelings that Jatjang has for his neighbors Earth and Ice are simply overblown.
Well, strike that. The feelings that are overblown are the ones that Jatjang has for Earth in particular.
Because, while Jatjang declares several times over the course of the series that his heart “flutters” for Earth, in the final episode he reveals that he has never thought of Earth romantically or ever wanted to touch him sexually, and he even recoils when Earth unexpectedly kisses him on the lips to help him test how he feels. At the same time, we learn that the one Jatjang has wanted to be with romantically all along is Earth’s sister, Ice.
Jatjang, it seems, has just been a confused straight guy the whole time.
What, then, was all the fuss about? As a viewer I wouldn’t want to endure ten months of suspense only to be let down by such a whopper of a cop-out in the final episode.
Along the way, the series does tackle several contemporary issues faced by teens, and most of the time it handles them well. This includes a nod toward accepting people who are gay, which is laudable, but it must be said that the only two examples of same-sex attracted characters are Jatjang’s flamboyant ladyboy cousin and a closeted art teacher who has molested one of his male students.
Furthermore, once Jatjang’s father learns of his son’s possible bisexual tendencies he’s not happy about it at all. After he discovers that Jatjang has been keeping an online journal, he hacks into his son’s computer so he can read the entries from week to week, and soon pretends to be a concerned stranger in order to exchange messages with him. He repeatedly urges Jatjang not to give in to his feelings for other guys or even believe that they’re necessarily real. Then, once the dad finds out that the boy his son is attracted to is Earth (a friend he's around constantly) just the sight of the two boys alone together drives Jatjang’s dad into panic. This is usually played for laughs but after a while becomes offensive.
By the last episode, Earth and his sister have moved away and Jatjang is back to square one for his romantic pursuits. At the end of that episode (and of the series) someone comes to the house to pick up Jatjang to go to school, and after Jatjang’s sister announces that Jatjang’s “new lover” is outside, the family makes a fuss as though there’s a question of whether this new lover is male or female. We, the viewers, never find out for sure, but based on everything that happened earlier, wouldn’t it have to be a girl? By this point there has been repeated reminders that the only boy that Jatjang’s heart has ever fluttered for is Earth, and of course that was a false alarm—other boys have never appealed to him. The series can’t have it both ways. Once you establish that Jatjang is just a confused straight boy you can’t expect to get away with becoming coy on the subject again.
What cannot be faulted here are the performances of the main leads, Tongtong (Jatjang) and Nonkul (Earth). Tongtong has the most difficult role and completely owns it. His emotional range is amazing. Regarding Nonkul, by the time he was in this series he was already an experienced actor and had previously been in a pioneering BL film, 2014's “Love’s Coming”. (In that film, as here, his character is straight.) His performance perfectly balances the tough and tender aspects of Earth’s personality.
In the role of Jatjang’s dad, Jatjen, Saksit Tangthong is also very good, despite the flaws in his character’s approach to his son. As for the mom character, Pang, I must admit that she really annoyed me. In one satisfying scene she gets called out by the kids for always being a scold, and that’s exactly what she is. By the end of the series her voice grated on me and I couldn’t wait for her scenes to be over. I probably shouldn’t blame actress Aom Piyada for what I didn’t like about the mom. I’m sure it was the performance that they wanted from her.
The series is filmed like a traditional sitcom, mostly on a soundstage with occasional outdoor locations, but not with a live audience. Instead, canned laughter is inserted constantly. The fake laughs seem to become less intrusive as the series progresses, but I can’t say if that’s simply because I got used to them.
One last comment. For the files I used to watch this series, the subs were done by a team that called themselves EarthBangJang Subbers. That name was displayed at the upper right corner of the screen for each episode, serving as a constant reminder of how everyone back in 2016 must have been counting on the series becoming a bonafide BL. How disappointed they must have been when it ended without Earth banging Jang.
So, this is not a BL. I'd even say that there's not a "Bisexual Character" as the MDL tag suggests. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, unless you want to spend 55 episodes to get disappointed for yourself.
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