gaileth
Redemption?
I wish this series had just continued Jade's character from Bed Friend. In BF, Jade was cute, ditsy, sometimes over the top, but when he needed to be, he was serious and of course, the best friend Uea could have. Unfortunately, and I'm guessing that due to the negative impact BF had on some viewers due to it's triggering and very serious content, a decision was made to amp up Jade's character, to ridiculous levels, in an attempt to give us a more lighthearted and comedic series, but it didn't work. Most obvious was the volume at which he spoke, not only OTT loud to the point he spends most of the series yelling, (how the hell did Yim not lose his voice?), but it was downright painful to experience. It totally ruined the first 3 episodes for me. The best scenes were the serious ones, and of course the nsfw ones, which were just beautiful, and nothing less than what we've come to expect from DMD boys. I've had enough of grown ass men acting like 2 year olds, and we've had plenty in 2023 - I truly hope we've seen the last of that particular trope. I want to make it clear, and I say this all the time, that I will never, ever blame actors for their acting, or how they play their characters. What is released, is exactly what the people behind the cameras want us to see, especially the directors, screenwriters, and acting coaches. The behind the scenes videos show exactly how much these people are involved in telling the actors what they want, sometimes to the point that they are extremely 'hands on' when showing them... I've seen bts videos where acting coaches, in particular, and directors are constantly touching the actors, and are so close to them, that I get extremely uncomfortable seeing it. Had Jade been allowed to continue as he was portrayed in BF, it would still have shown us his cute, clueless, childish, and ditsy side, without being so cringeworthy. It was an automatic -2 stars for Jade's OTT character, and -2 for the constant yelling.Yim played his sad/serious scenes beautifully, and he really tugged at my heartstrings - it's just a shame that the character generated so much secondhand embarrassment throughout the series. Tutor was perfect, as usual, as were King and Uea. I love Pete, who is such a role model as the perfect LGBTQI+ parent - I love everything he does. Not having seen Ngern for so long, I was so happy to see him playing Man, and have to say that he just seems to get more handsome with time. I'd love to see him in a lead role again. I would have liked to have seen more development of Gus and Tong's story, and a little more of Gun too.
The series clawed back 2 points for the long-awaited nsfw scenes. First with TongGus, though it felt that just as it started to get serious, the scene was cut off, which was disappointing. It always amazes me after the first kiss, the top's shirt is off and they're ready to get down to business, but just how often his partner still has his shirt on as the scene ends. (Not just this series.)
MaiJade's nsfw scenes were beautifully acted, as I said before, and well worth the wait. Another point was gained back simply because, when it counted, Jade and Mai were wearing nice underwear, instead of the stupid boxers we see all the time. I guess they tend to have actors wear boxers... just in case, but absolutely hate them! I've seen a couple of series now where the dreaded boxers have been replaced by fitted underwear, and I have to say, it looks so much better - I don't even understand how Thai actors can put on their jeans, or pants and feel comfortable with 2 layers of underwear on, and most especially those awful boxers!
I just have to add that the biggest bugbear I personally have with Thai series - any series, is the lack of proper continuity. It's not even as if I deliberately look for mistakes - they're usually glaringly obvious, like Uea wearing white boots in one scene, and black ones in the continuing scene - BF was pretty bad for lack of continuity too. I understand that scenes are shot out of sequence, but honestly, doesn't anyone ever check the rushes? Like Pavel's neck tattoo in 2Moons2, which he was having removed in real life - it was dark in one scene, then much paler in the next, and then back to dark again... and it's was not even as if you could miss it, when it was right in shot. The same with Boy For Rent, where a lead actress's hair changed constantly throughout the series, from long to shorter, and back to long, and even changed colour. And how many series have we seen where the drinks on the table change levels with every new camera angle? In the West we have a dedicated person known as the script supervisor, or continuity supervisor, who is responsible for checking wardrobe, props, set dressing, hair, makeup, etc. I don't read Thai, so I don't know if such a person is used in Thai productions, but if they are, from what I've seen, they all need to get the boot!
I will definitely re-watch the series again, maybe starting from episode 4, or at least with eps 1-3 muted! My criticisms of TML, are born out of frustration, yes, but more importantly, I include them in the hope that those behind the camera, will learn to understand what viewers want, and importantly, what they don't want.
If there is any chance, I'd love to see a third series, which would show more of TongGus, KingUea's wedding, (bringing back some of the character's from the first series, and Gun finally finding a partner, plus of course, more of MaiJade. I might be asking too much, but I'll keep my fingers crossed, just in case.
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
Not so much a review...
Just a nice fluffy sort of series that I didn't have to think about too much, though I have to admit, I found Sky so annoying. I much preferred the side couples. Kudos to everyone who had steamy scenes though - they all did well. If I was scoring it solely on the intimate scenes, it would definitely have scored way higher. The actors all went above and beyond for this series, but given the storyline, it kind of feels wasted.So obviously Tod and Cheque are being set up as a long-term couple, with so many series ahead. And I guess the twins suddenly showing up is setting the scene for their series. Of course we know them from 2Moons3, but they look different from those characters... still can't believe they're 30... Whilst Western men supposedly get more 'distinguished' as they age, Asian men just seem to get younger! (You can keep you're Western men!) Am I really bad for hoping that Day and twins might have gotten together? - I haven't finished ep.10 yet, so there's still hope! - I've been awake for 18 hours and my BL brain is working overtime! 55555 Speaking of Day, I see he isn't listed in the cast details. Does anyone
know who he is?
Had to edit this. Just watched their definitely not suitable for kids, work, those of a weak constitution, parents if you're watching the series together scenes... and I've noticed that Tod always gets really red and seems to break into hives when things get a bit intimate - wonder what he's allergic to? I have to say that I don't like that face Tod keeps pulling when he's not being very gentle. It's totally creepy.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Like others who have already given perfect scores, I've done so because of the low scores given by some viewers who never even finished the series. I won't go through the whole plot again, but I will address a couple of points that some people may have missed...I know that the biggest complaint by some viewers was the fact that Korn cheated on Knock and the negativity became so bad that the company and MaxTul had to release statements. If they expected an immediate happy ever after then there wouldn't have been any point in making a whole new season - realistically that's just not life. Firstly, Knock was not an equal partner in this relationship and in fact, was acting like a child for the first half of the series - not being responsible in the home or the relationship. He was taking Korn for granted, always expecting him to pay for everything, not doing anything to help around the condo and not being affectionate towards Korn and I don't mean just withholding sex. It's no wonder Korn was starting to have doubts about their relationship. Then along comes Pete, the evil boss, who is adept at grooming young men for his own selfish pleasure, solidifying those doubts. When he finally sets up events, Knock does his part perfectly by being lazy and selfish, leaving Korn to Pete's machinations - after all, Korn thought it was a birthday party and couldn't exactly just up and leave. Pete being the master manipulator that he is, plied Korn with spiked booze and sweet/not so sweet words and we all know what happened next. Now this is what I find totally hypocritical - fans berated Korn for sleeping with Pete after a drunken evening, but conveniently forget that Korn made a pass at his straight friend, (who he hadn't seen for years), after a drunken evening and they ended up sleeping together and despite what happened in the light of day, Knock did so willingly. Don't give me excuses that Korn sleeping with Pete was different because they were in a committed relationship, because if Knock had cared about their relationship, it just wouldn't have happened. The point is, many an unintended mistake is made when alcohol is involved.,, It was inferred at the end of the series that the fathers did something inappropriate, however innocent, when they were drunk, even though they were both in committed relationships, but I can bet that 100% of people who watched that scene thought it was funny. I certainly didn't hear any complaints about it.
People automatically assumed that Yihwa had slept with Art, although no one ever actually said that. Let's all just jump to conclusions again. I do however, think that she treated Cho badly by not being honest with him from the beginning.
The storyline I did not like was Farm's supposed revenge plot against Bright. I expected big things this season and was excited to see Farm appearing to carry out his revenge, but it was obvious fairly quickly that he was falling for Bright again. Yihwa knew about said revenge but said nothing when Rit said he'd broken up with Farm and it was never mentioned again. At first I wasn't sure about Rit, but I grew to love him. What Farm did to him was no better than Bright and frankly they deserved each other. Bright was his usual sleazy self and Farm was no better... and thanks to his unflattering facial hair he played his part well. If I never see FarmBright again it will be too soon.
The other problem I had was the way everyone treated Fai and I do think the series did her a disservice, by having her sacrifice her true feelings to make her friends feel better about what they'd done.
My favourite characters this season were Cho, Fai and Rit.
I really missed the music from last season and some of this season's I didn't like, nor did I like those awful drawings at the beginning, but that's just me. I definitely will 100% re-watch and re-watch again. I just wish that fans would calm down and watch the whole thing before making judgements.
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
I've just watched this for the second time and I've spent the whole time swearing and not under my breath. The story could have been so good had the main character had time to see the error of his ways and truly redeem himself, but he didn't and I hate that it seemed to condone physical and mental abuse of women. If a 12 month stint in a temple, (in order to understand why his behaviour was so deplorable), had been included in the story, I could have happily given the story praise and a high score - at least it would have made his redemption believeable. As usual, the sweet, handsome, second male lead loses out to the equally handsome but evil male lead. It really angers me that the female lead's father knew exactly what sort of person the male lead was and yet still handed her to him on a platter. On top of that, his parents and others treated his behaviour as a joke and encouraged him to chase after her and win her back, laughing at his rules. There is no excuse for any male to treat any female that way and frankly, I was almost as angry that she continued to be virtually brainwashed by him to accepting him back. Her character was weak and foolish and by the end, I was almost yelling at the screen, telling her that she deserved to be treated that way. I find my reaction totally unacceptable and can't believe that I could even be tempted to think that way. I gave the acting a fairly high score - Push, Esther and the others all played their parts well. Regarding the characters, I must praise the young actor who so convincingly played the young Sibtis, but I really had a hard time believing that the lovely young man grew up into the monster he later became, he was that good. I have no opinion about the young girl who played young Prikkang, because I spent all my time criticizing their choice as she looked absolutely nothing like Esther. The music was typical lakorn music, not particularly memorable. I really only watched this again because it is on Netflix and probably won't watch it again, it makes me too angry. Despite the happy ending, you know that a tiger truly doesn't change its stripes and suspect that at some stage in the future, she will regret her decision, but of course, that's only in my head. I will honestly recommend anyone to watch this, if only to see how not to treat others. Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
The ending we deserved?
From what I’m reading, Ai Long Nhai was not a popular series? I guess, like other commenters here, I’m one of the minority who actually did like it. Having said that, I’m really disappointed in this final episode. Obviously done on a small budget, I think this ending was too full of ‘blanks’, so frankly, I don’t know why they even bothered. Let’s get rid of the obvious first… The original series was chaotic, especially when all the friends were together, but this ep feels really empty, just like the shelves wherever it was that Ton and Nhai were eating… I found this so distracting... and missing characters aplenty. Also, it’s another one of those series where actors have been replaced. I still can’t get my head around this being a Tonhon Chonlatee side story, and had totally forgotten that Ton was in fact, Tonhon. I really do understand that companies don’t always want to use the original actors – maybe they’re contracted elsewhere, or are committed to other series, but I find it really off-putting, and not conducive to an ongoing storyline. At the beginning, Chon was nowhere to be seen due to exams, and although he now seems to be free, he’s still nowhere to be seen. Why bother even mentioning him in the first place, if he’s not going to appear? The next glaring omission is obviously Ai’s gorgeous, in your face, orange BMW sportscar… Why do I find this so annoying?So down to the actual story… This whole episode starts with Ai taking a phone call that he obviously doesn’t want to share with Nhai. We know just how insecure Nhai was, and this obviously starts him thinking. Sure there is no real evidence of anything, but we all know that Nhai’s mind tends to jump to conclusions. Twelve months on Nhai still is insecure, and Ai still hasn’t learnt to communicate... really? It was obvious what the ‘secret calls’ were about and where this was all heading, but I’ll be honest, I kind of wish they’d left Ai Long Nhai open-ended, or made the series 14 episodes. At least that would have done the story justice, and kept the flow going,whereas I just don’t think that this episode did. It seemed empty and pointless. I didn't have a huge problem with the acting, and the storyline, or should I say, conclusion, was expected, but was overall flat and full of holes, seemingly written just to give an 'official', albeit obvious ending. I didn't pay much attention to the music, I'll be honest. Whilst I would definitely re-watch Ai Long Nhai again, I won’t be bothering to watch this episode again, preferring to let my mind draw it’s own conclusion.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
It all makes sense now!
I'm always probably more lenient than the average viewer when it comes to any movie/series, and in particular, Y series. I don't have to dissect absolutely every little detail, nor do I need to consider if something is realistic or not. If I get pleasure out of watching, whether it's the story, the characters, or the actors' performances, I can overlook things I may not consider realistic, or not the 'norm' in the real world. I can determine the difference between fact and fiction. Just because a movie/series is about, for example, zombies and ghosts, serial killings, drug use, or science fiction and super heroes, doesn't mean we can't enjoy them, Even if a series really is awful, and I don't come across them often, I always consider the amount of effort that went into the production, whether that's the actors' hard work, or the production itself. This is not a criticism of anyone else's opinion, by the way. Having said that, there were things about this series I didn't like.I liked all the couples, even Mr Controlling, Bohn, and the ever sweet and innocent, Duen. I would hope that a season 2 would see the progression of all the couples, but also mellow Bohn a little. Boss was a little too annoying at times, but again, I hoped that he would become more playful rather than constantly annoying in S2. I really wanted to see Thara and Frong advance their relationship too. King's sister and the 3 schoolgirls were hilarious, with their wild imaginations concerning RamKing, and exaggerating the facts - and I'm guessing, a little dig at the 'typical' BL fan. I also wanted to see Ram's father get his comeuppance in S2, for the awful betrayal of his family. The highlight for me was probably the final episode and the kiss scenes. I have to say that Perth really stole the show, and his kiss was one of the best in the the 'innocent' BL category, second only to SantaEarth's kiss in their 7 Project series episode. Unfortunately, Talay's initiation of said kiss, was very awkward, and he looked like he was in pain!
The story was fine. Not the best, but certainly nowhere near the worst, with a lot to commend it. I enjoyed watching the actors bring the characters to life, even the annoying ones, and was surprised to find out that Rice, who played Tang, is actually an acting coach. I would like to see more of his acting - I know he's in Step By Step, but I haven't noticed him yet. I'll just have to re-watch the episodes to date and see if I've missed him.
I found the music a little annoying at times, but that's just my personal opinion, though I did really like that pretty song that was used at tender/sweet moments. If I find a particular song that I'm not fond of for whatever reason, the constant replaying of it ruins the whole soundtrack for me.
I'll definitely re-watch ME again - I'm currently binge-watching ME today, for probably the 3rd or 4th time, and there have been some unexpected revelations...
So, now to the much anticipated season 2... I loved Ryan Peng in the part of Mek, but we all know he was dismissed from the show, even if we don't know the real reasons why. We know that Ryan and Intouch were friends, and I really don't like the idea of a new actor playing the part of Mek. On the whole, I hate substitutions in series - I find that they rarely work. I don't think that not including Mek would work either, no matter what reason f they would try to use to explain his absence . One thing I didn't like about how ME was filmed, was the use of dubbing for Ryan's lines. It would have been more preferable to me, to have allowed him to speak in Chinese and simply used Thai as well as English subs for his parts - it was obvious he wasn't speaking Thai, so why try to hide it? In We Best Love, Yu's character and 'his father' occasionally spoke in Japanese, but it wasn't an issue. As long as actor can convey his character's emotions, I don't see an issue in letting him speak in his native tongue.
We all know that Perth has left the company, so again, no Ram, or the possibility of a replacement actor. I seriously doubt he would be involved in a S2. I think we were all a bit shocked at his departure, but it all made perfect sense to me today. I came to MD to check out the actress who played Ram's mother. Although we got to hear Perth's and Dylan's English accents, it was obvious that she was not Australian, whilst of course, Perth so obviously grew up in Oz. It probably doesn't matter to anyone else, but I was just curious to see if I could work out where she came from - she sounds European to me, but she isn't listed here. It was whilst I was looking for her, I saw who the screenwriter was. Yes, it's the infamous Poi, one half of the writing team of KinnPorsche. This could be the reason why Perth chose to leave - we all saw his reaction to the writer's interactions with Barcode... If looks could kill! So if the series went ahead as scheduled, or was still on the cards, i can totally understand why Perth would not want to be involved. Currently, there has been no word on whether or not we'll actually get S2, but either the Build/Poi incident has forced the company to put the series on hold - whether it's completed or not, or Poi's involvement as (I assume), S2's screenwriter), has forced the company to cancel S2 altogether. I fear that there will be no S2.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Don't bother if you don't like self-centred females who act like childish, whiny, toddlers!
Having watched the Korean version, I had high hopes for this one. Zhi Shu was cold and aloof, although he did have moments of normality - he was exactly as he should have been. Ah Jin, the second male lead was lovable, also expected, and in my opinion more handsome than our lead, although a little childish at time. Mama was stupidly, crazy, also as expected, bordering on the ridiculous at times and the fathers were not much better. Most of this I could accept, but not our 'heroine'. To say she was annoying is a massive understatement. What is it about Asian females that makes them think that just because they like someone, he absolutely must love her back? I could have put up with her annoying, out of the box, possessive and obsessive behaviour... if she didn't constantly act and sound so bloody childish. That stupid little whiny voice and childish behaviour really got on my nerves. Sorry but it totally spoiled it for me. I've seen 3 year olds who act more mature. I guess Chinese audiences must think this type of character is cute, but every time she opened her mouth I just cringed. I really hated this type of character with her 'I love him, therefore he's mine' attitude. When it looked like she'd 'lost' him and was crying buckets because she'd liked him since high school, did she even consider that that was exactly how poor Ah Jin must be feeling? Of course not, but it's always about her and what she wants. I definitely won't watch again.Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
I am an absolute sucker, (pun most definitely intended), for a vampire theme, whether it be a film, a series, or music video. I didn't know this series existed until it showed up in my YT feed, and I'm so grateful it did. The fact that it is set during the Chinese Republican era, almost guarantees that I wouldn't look twice at it - I love ancient Chinese history, present day China, just not this period. Luckily there was a short in my feed and it played before I realised it. I was totally enamoured with what I saw.The acting is good, the story is interesting and keeps your attention, the OST is a pleasure to listen to, and scenery/sets are breathtaking.
There are few little things that I could nitpick about, but they are inconsequential... although Shen Zhi Heng is not an immortal, (he was able to consume normal food and drink, at least until the assassination attempt), and daylight doesn't seem to be too big a problem for him, (although he does wear protective cape, wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses). He can self-heal, albeit with help from Dr Situ, and he has lived for over 100 years. He has super human strength, and the ability to defy gravity, though it's unsure whether he can actually fly, or to typically transform into even a bog-standard bat - he drives almost everywhere. He seems to be missing some typical vampire traits, such as the ability to hypnotise, or wipe memories... at least, so far - I'm only halfway through the series.
I have a huge dislike of the control exerted by most of the females in the series. Females like Mrs Mi and Old Madam Shen are pretty standard in Chinese dramas, regardless of the time period - domineering, controlling, evil, violent, and totally irredeemable. Likewise are younger controlling females, like Miss Jin, who just can't take no for an answer and Mi Lan's step mother, who rules Mi Lan's weak father with an iron rod. These types of women are usually the biggest reason why C-dramas frustrate the hell out of me. But if I'm honest, the only reason I didn't give the series a perfect score, is the disparity between the ages of certain actors vs their characters. I'm used to seeing a myriad male Asian idols and actors who have seemingly stopped ageing as they officially reach adulthood, but the same can't always be said about females. I assumed that Mi Lan was in her mid-teens, 16 at most, but that was probably due in part to her innocence, her clothes, and her attachment to her doll. Shen Zhi Heng, looked about 40 to me. I was wrong in both instances - she's 18 and he's supposed to be about 30. Ryan Ren also seems to be playing a 30-ish man, and Dr Situ must surely be at least in his mid, (to late) twenties. What makes me smile is that Ryan Ren is only 22 and WinWin is his senior by 4 years. None of these characters are an issue, but given their story, there must be a few years difference in age, between Miss Jin and Li Ying Liang, but Maggie Huang, at 33, is obviously much older than Ryan Ren. Still, these are my personal issues, and probably won't affect anyone else's opinions of the characters.
All in all, this has to be my favourite Asian drama of 2024, so far, and even though I'm only halfway through, I'd be extremely happy if a season 2 was announced.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Just a Dream?
TBC was full of very attractive people that made the series very easy on the eye. Junior's smile is just so distracting it's not funny. It was lovely to see Poppy again - he's always good for comedic value, and such a sweetheart. I don't often comment on female actresses as they don't usually grab my attention, unless, as in typical Asian fashion they're two-faced, evil, or just downright possessive, but I must say that I found Enjoy, who played Dr Song, a delight to watch, and she is one of the most attractive actresses I've seen in recent times. I'd be happy to watch her play any role. I remember Baan from Room Alone S2 and U-Prince, way back in 2015/2016, so it feels like he's been around for years. Now whilst there is only 4 years difference between him and Franky, I felt he was a little out of place, maybe because Franky looks so young. This is just a personal opinion and as such, shouldn't make anyone think negatively of Baan, but I did feel he was not quite right for the role. Speaking of Franky, it was such a delight to see Billy's younger brother step into the BL limelight. He looked comfortable - it was a shame he and Baan had a very vanilla relationship. I hope we get to see Franky play more BL roles in the future. It was also nice to see Leo, but it was barely more than a cameo - we never found out what happened to his character. I absolutely loved Tui as Teacher Ratri - shame we didn't get to see her on the farm.I loved Fluke's role in My Dream, and was very disappointed when we didn't get the promised S2. Not sure what he's had done to his face, but I found it very distracting. The only time I saw the 'old' Fluke was when he smiled and we got to see those gorgeous dimples. The rest of the time was literally spent trying to work out exactly what's he's had done. I feel quite sad about this because it seems to be that so many actors and actresses are having work done, and whilst it may be a personal choice to 'fix' what they see as imperfections, it seems that certain companies have so many of their artists who've had enhancements, plastic surgery, or dental work done, and it seems as if it's almost a requirement. I do hope that artists are not being forced to have these procedures done. I'm sad because it seems that so many artists seem to be unhappy with how they look, but what they fail to realise is that there was never anything wrong with how they look in the first place, and secondly, they're erasing the very features that made them unique in the first place. If everyone is having the same things done, they're all just going to look like clones. I find it really hard to watch some series, only to find that I spend the whole time remembering how the stars used to look. I have no issue with anyone making a personal choice to improve or correct things they find lacking, but how can it possibly be that almost every actor finds so many faults with themselves? Their self-esteem must be so low. I used to think that Studio Wabi Sabi had an abundance of artists who were on a self-improvement kick, but hands down, GMMTV is leading the way - I reckon they must have arranged groups discounts for their artists! Anyway, that opinion aside, I felt that the 'reunion' was far too rushed. Having spent so much time on their back story, suddenly there's this whole new situation, and I'll be honest, I did not feel the chemistry - in fact, Fluke and Junior felt a little awkward to me. There really wasn't anything about Achi's life over the last 10 years, and Achi/Mona's story wasn't really covered very well either... there were lots of plot-holes throughout. I did think that Coin's story, which I thought was simply a consistent mistranslation, was a cute plot-twist however.
The story itself wasn't bad, but lacked substance. Not sure why Mandee is having so much trouble with their series lately - I'm only talking about the storyline here. It may be that they're trying to break down what could easily be a 12-epsiode story into only 8 eps, and they lose sight of what is, and what's less important. TBC reminded me very much of Why R U? which was affected by COVID. We ended up with contracted, and incomplete storylines - it felt that we were missing so much, which of course, we were. Is this simply a screenwriting issue, a directorial issue, or a company issue? I don't know, but it needs to be fixed. I've always thought of Mandee as leaders in BL, but if they don't look at the issues, they're going to start to lose credibility very soon. We now have 3 generations of Domundi Boys, but I'm beginning to think that's it's far too many. Even the First gen actors rarely seem to have anything more than a cameo role, yet they're trying to push out a whole bunch of newbies. I wish they'd utilised the actors they already had before introducing even more. This way, no one gets to shine.
The music was okay, but I didn't think much of the costumes, especially Achi's - his clothes usually looked to big, too baggy, or too short.
Was it worth watching - yes. Would I re-watch it - probably. Would I recommend it - yes.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Not a university BL, but...
So, I stayed away from this so I could binge watch it, and I'm not sure that it was actually a wise choice. I've just started on episode 3 and I'm finding it a hard slog. First of all, I don't think that a 13+ rating is correct. The one initial scenes with the doctor is not something I'd recommend for children, and I'm guessing there will be other similar scenes down the track. At the very least it should be 18+.I thought the concept was different, but did they really have to make the lakorn they're shooting so cringey? I thought that the behind the scenes shots, where Aschi accidentally hit Title, would have made a more interesting concept - shooting a lakorn about producing a popular TV series.
I like the Thai songs, but I have to admit that I really do not like the use of English songs, which seems to be popular these days.
There are so many actors that I really like in the show - JaFirst, Bosston, Ben, Lee Long Shi, and the very talented Jo, and luckily, I know they can act because of their previous series. One actor I can't seem to like very much, is Kokliang, and I'm sure I'm doing him a disservice, but it's all because of his, in my opinion, miscast role as Tar in TharnType. I really dislike when series recast characters, and I just wasn't able to get my head around his version of Tar. I shouldn't let it affect anything he's been in since, but every time I see him, I can only think of him as Tar. Yes, Ben was a recast Phana too, and whilst he didn't fit the character either, I found his acting decent enough to keep me interested, as long as I could 'forget' the original series. Lee Long Shi was also a recast character, and whilst I don't want to delve into the whole Unforgotten Night.Love Syndrome III debate again, he's another actor who was interesting enough to make me forget that LS III was a recast sequel.
The opening scenes where the younger brother is defiling Punn's personal 'collectibles', and being downright annoying is just plain ridiculous. I know he's Punn's younger brother, but he's obviously not a little child either. But then Punn wakes up... To have one childlike adult son seems unfortunate, but two, makes me question their genes.
I really didn't like the scenes between the constantly bickering managers, which were not only extremely annoying, but also terribly boring. I might have liked Noon's character better if her 'offscreen' character had been even slightly more redeeming than her 'onscreen' character in the lakorn. It reminded me of her OTT portrayal of the titular character in Rose In Da House.
That brings me to JaFirst... It's such a shame that their swansong as an onscreen couple should be in such an unfortunate series. I haven't read the novel, but I'm assuming from the title, that Punn is supposed to be a cute, dopey, bouncy and fun character, much like your typical puppy. Unfortunately, what we've ended up with, is a 3rd year university student, who acts more like a kindergartner most of the time. It's not cute, nor remotely appealing, yet we're expected to believe that this is normal behaviour for a man in his early twenties. If Ja is playing the character as he is written in the novel, then the fact that he's so annoying, is testament to his acting skills, but I still don't like him.
I really wanted this last onscreen pairing of Ja and First to be as good as Don't Say No, but I'm sad to say it isn't. As I said, I'm just about to start episode 3, so there is hope for improvement, but I seriously doubt it. I really wanted to be immersed in JaFirst's story, but I much prefer Dr Ming's story, and he's hardly had any scenes. I know these guys can all act, and I've always believed that what we end up seeing is down to the company/scriptwriter/director and/or acting coach's interpretation. The actors can only do what they're told to do, and work with the script they're given, so I tend to give a lot of leeway to them, especially if they've not had a lot of experience. It's such a shame, because this had the potential to be a memorable series. It is, but for all the wrong reasons.
No one should judge a production by the reviews of others, so I'll always recommend that viewers form their own opinions. I would have missed some of my favourite series if I'd simply listened to other people's reviews, including Love Sick and Secret Crush On You. SCOY also has a childlike and possessive main couple, but there was a lot more to keep me distracted. I also will always watch the whole series, unless it's really bad and that's only happened once - I'm currently struggling to get past ep 5 of Tin Tem Jai, which is another series with 2 characters who despite being men, act like 2 year wolds when they're within shouting distance of each other, but the reason I doubt I'll finish that series, is because the main couple is so totally mismatched and has absolutely no chemistry whatsoever. Though I watched until the end, I struggled to get through Check Out. Even the fairly explicit sex scene in the final episode couldn't save this one, which had such a promising start with episode 0. Apparently, according to Best, his character Daonuea was supposed to be autistic, but that was never conveyed. Knowing that afterwards, still didn't change my opinion of the show. I also struggled through Dinosaur Love, (where all I could think about is that this is how Saifah, Payu's twin, should have looked, instead of being like some random uncle off the street), and Future The Series - again mismatched main couples, with immature and possessive characters. Is this the current trend in BLs now ? If it is, despite so many BLs to choose from, I feel that there will be so many I will be choosing not to watch. After almost 10 years of watching Thai BLs, I'm totally over the cutesy content, and I want something more mature, and I'm not talking explicit...
If you find Ja's character cute and entertaining, then this series is for you.
I probably will re-watch it at some point, but I suspect that I'll be doing a lot of scene skipping, unless someone out there decides to make an edit of the best scenes, then I'll happily make do with that.
Was this review helpful to you?
Oh dear!
No spoilers because I can't even make it to the 30 minute mark of episode 1! I love Kimmon, but why on earth can't he and Copter ever catch a break? The story is definitely nothing new, but that didn't bother me - I don't mind a blue shorts come engineering story, and I can handle one-sided/unrequited love tropes too, but what I can't stomach is a lead couple with absolutely no chemistry, and who really don't even look good together. Nor can I stand a crap script, and worse subtitles that make absolutely no sense. It seems that Kimmon and Copter just keep accepting roles in really awful series for some reason. They're decent actors, but never get a chance to show it. They've got the chemistry, but even when they're a couple in a series, they're dealt a dud hand when it comes to the script, or even the general quality of the series. I only found out about this series because it was mentioned in something I was reading... and now I know why I hadn't heard of it. I usually always give a series a fair go by watching it all the way through, out of respect for the actors, but I just can't this time. We've been thrown so many bad series recently, with 2023 being the year that channels for some misguided reason, decided that the viewer would be happy with quantity over quality, no matter how bad the offerings, that I've just had to starting saying no to series that just don't cut it. I still maintain however, that I will never blame the actors, because what we get to see, is what the scriptwriters, directors, and acting coaches want us to see. Unfortunately, series like this do nothing to show how good an actor is... or isn't, for that matter, because you can't see past all the other bad things about it. Just once, I wish Kimmon would be offered a decent, serious, and credible role. Honestly... don't waste your time. [Unfortunately, it seems that I have to give a rewatch value of at least 1 star. If I could, it would definitely be no stars at all. So all I can say is, watch at your own risk.]Was this review helpful to you?
