Laalaa17930228

Fun to watch

I'd say this was quite fun to watch, even if the plot revolves around tracking a serial killer. I will give the show some bonus points for the fact that I couldn't figure out the killer until it was revealed, so the plot wasn't too predictable. I feel a little bit that the ending was rushed or alternatively they didn't have a budget for a special episode, so to the last episode they had to fill in the conclusion of the actual murder case and then content that you usually see in BL special eps.

In terms of characters we did get nice variety and there was genuinely a decent amount of plot points that did end up tying in with the final conclusion of the murder case. I was bit surprised how fast Karmin's and Jades's relationship progresses, based on the first few episodes I was maybe expecting a longer development arch. I think you are either going to like it or think they were bit fast with the relationship development. Joong and Dunk have now done quite many shows together, so the chemistry works. Most importantly unlike with some cases of BL actors working as pairs I didn't have dejavu that I have seen this exact same set up with them in another series before. So another set of bonus points for making this feel like were watching Joong and Dunk in a genuinely different castings compared to their previous shows.

Conclusion:

- If you like the particular main actor pairing you are going to probably like this.
- There is some amount of violence, bc of the main plot and some other very sensitive themes aside from violence so watcher beware.
- Main plot held together to the end.
- Rewatch value is bit meh, common issue with detective/police theme series in general: once you know how the case will end, it takes one of the main motivators to watch away.

Read More

Romance of two mature adults done right!

Wow I did not expect this show to be such a hit for me, but it was. We don't see a lot of BLs with over twenty something couples in life phase that come after university, first big loves and first years in the career are over. This show truly did the romance of two mature adults so well!

I think for anyone over 30 and 40 the shows themes will resonate: what if I need to change my career direction bc what I am doing is not working, how do I deal with my parents becoming older and needing to look after and what forming a romantic relationship is when your relationship priorities are not as they were when you were younger. The show also describes the struggles of coming out at older age in society like Japan, where being gay is no longer exactly unheard of, but where ppl of the community still have to consider that their love could have adverse reactions from other people.

The best part of the show is Azuma's and Kuji's relationship development. At no point do we get big dramatic moments, but instead the show gives a steady relationship arch that has it's ups and downs, with two ppl slowly realizing their feelings. The moments of conflicts are not resolved with arguments of shouting or running away, but rather both of the men reflecting and adjusting to each other.

Having said all the positives this won't be for everyone: if you like your fast paced Thai BLs with dramatic flair, a lot of steamy action and the character types in typical Thai BLs this might not be for you. Also if the themes covered in the show hit too hard home, for some this isn't going to be the escapism they want from the real every day life.

If you have watched and liked other J BLs, you will like this one too! I loved this and the show will be updated to my favorite BL list.

Read More

Keeps you interested to the end+ a banger soundtrack

This is one of the BL's I would definitely rank to my top ones, in terms of the plot, casting and surprisingly for it's soundtrack. A lot of BL's have either very poor or at best average music choices and I get it. Using stock music is an easy way to cut production costs. However with this one the unique soundtrack is tied together really well with the plot progression.

The plot was quite good too, though I maybe feel the last episode just felt like they ran out of ideas. It was cute, but considering how well the series kept me on the edge until the 11 episode, the ep 12 just felt bit meh. If you have watched a lot of BLs, I think you will guess quite early the big plot twist that happens in the end, but for me it didn't ruin the watching experience. There were still other elements in the plot that made me watch the show to the end.

I liked both of the couples and I'd say the couples got an equal screen time and a development arch. Since the episodes are on the longer side, they didn't have to rush the relationship development with either of the couples.

In conclusion:

- For action heavy BL fans a must series to watch. Keeps you watching to the end.
- Ticks a lot of boxes, even if the last episode didn't quite match the other ones in terms of keeping the suspension and interest.
- Worth watching just for the music alone.
- Has a good rewatch value.

Read More

I have so many issues

Okayy sooo.... first the good things which there were two:

- The children and the actors playing them 10/10, would watch them in any other dram BL or non-BL any day.
- The second couple, what a chemistry! I don't think I have ever gotten so angry at a drama plot twist, than I got when I saw what the writes did to them in the EP 7 (I think).

On a more general themes what let this one down was the main plot. The whole misunderstanding who was Mawin's real father (which is the whole plot for the main couple) could have been solved by a phone call or a single short conversation. Aside from the very thin main plot and chemistry between Than and Akin, well it was good but not great. Which made what happened to the second couple even worse, considering that the show really needed them to pull trough all 10 episodes. Considering how little the main plot point gave to the show, this could have been a 8 episode series.

As a conclusion this goes to the category of series I would not watch again and will probably forget in a year. The second couple and children pull this one trough, but considering what happens to the second couple, well 10 episodes was too much. Hopefully the actors Year and Bee who played the second couple will get another series as a main couple, because I think they have a lot of potential.

Read More

Could have been the perfect Chinese BL but....

This had the elements for being one of my favorite Chinese BL's so far. We had very interesting set up for the couple, there was very much plot involved, with the story evolving trough the whole series, however unlike with some of the longer Chinese BLs, the plot was not complex to the point that it took away the entertainment value of the show. Unfortunately where this failed for me was the aspect of relationship development which is kind of the whole idea of a romance themed series.

As separate characters both He Chu San and Xia Liu Yi have complexity to them that ties together really well with the main plot. The characters actually evolve trough the show quite a bit, which we don't always see in the genre. Sadly it just feels like forever until things start developing the relationship part. I would understand the slow development arch, if this would have been another +10 ep Chinese BL. However, with nine episodes I expect to see a lot more than few kissing scenes and both of the characters just trying to avoid facing their feelings most of the series. Right when there is finally realizing of mutual feelings Xia Liu Yi gets dragged to prison and the show ends.... Considering that there has been some hints but not real confirmation on a sequel this type of ending as a viewer leaves more questions and then feeling of closure. With a fully confirmed season 2 I might have been able to be more lenient on the ending choice.

Aside from the first couple not delivering on the relationship side of things, the second couple desperately needed more on screen time. They should have brought them to the show earlier, bc right until the last episode it felt really unclear why they were even introduced to the plot and what the relationship between them was. Even after the very open ending to the show, still not 100% sure where they would go from the situation the show ended in.

Conclusion:
- Generally plot and length wise a perfect show, with great individual character performances.
- Unfortunately the romance part for both main and second couple leaves a lot to be desired.
- There is quite a bit of violence and other heavy themes covered in the show, so this is not for sensitive ppl.

Read More

Like watching a car crash in the best possible way to the very end

First disclaimer: this series covers A LOT of sensitive topics. There are very dark themes present and most of the characters are flawed in one way or another. However if you can handles the themes covered in the series, this will keep you on your toes both excited and horrified just thinking what kind of twist is next in the plot line. This is full 10 eps packed with scheming and action, and I think I will be suffering from a void not having to anticipate the next episode weekly.

In terms of acting I think Peat and Fort do their best roles to this date. Neither Kelvin or Vier in this series are innocent, the more you watch the series the more you kind of realize that both of them are quite twisted in their own way. This is one of the series where I wouldn't have necessarily minded if the main couple had not ended up together at the end. So much just goes down between them, that a ending of them going separate ways would have been an equally acceptable conclusion compared to the canon ending we get. The GL pairing was cute, the series did give them enough screen time for the pair to be believable (which a lot of BL shows don't do). The combat scene given in the last ep to Nana was awesome!

The only thing that could have been executed better was the amount of flash back scenes in the first few episodes. You really had to pay careful attention, because otherwise it could be very confusing when the scene was in the current moment and when it was a flash back. On the second half of the series this is no longer was an issue, bc the story focuses to the main plot unfolding. Something else that maybe could have gotten more screen time was Kelvin's treatment and recovery. They probably had a budget only to cover 10 ep, so Kelvin getting a proper treatment to his very serious mental health issues is just referred to few times in the final ep. I think covering Kelvin's recovery and how he and Vier work out the craziness they went trough would have added even more depth to the plot and made ending not seem so glossed over.

In conclusion:
- If you like a mature BL with a plot that keeps twisting to the end, this is a gem.
- Always a pleasure seeing your favorite actors doing something very different and excelling while doing it.
- Don't watch this, if you are looking something easy and lighthearted.
- You will probably need a week or two to recover once you have finished the series, the impact is very lasting.

Read More

This was adorable

Surprisingly I liked this a lot more than I expected. I was initially planning to skip this, but I felt I needed something lighter to balance out some of the more gloomier BLs that I have been watching. I think this delivered in giving something soft and lighthearted and surprisingly there was good character building included into the plot. The plot while not being anything complex carried trough the whole show. I will always be a dog person, but this actually made me want to go to a cat cafe.

I feel in terms of individual characters the focus is a lot on Lynx's character and how he evolves trough out the show. I liked the element of sibling relationship that was included in the plot alongside with Lynx having to come to terms with his mother's death and their challenging relationship. It's always good when the main characters plot is just not about the build up of the romantic relationship.

I have not seen a lot of shows where First and Khaotung are paired, even if I do know they have been working as a pair for quite some time now. For that reason I can't compare them to their past performances as a couple, but in this one I do think the character dynamic worked well. This wasn't meant to be a particularly spicy series to begin with, and in a more romcom type of context it was fun to see their romance play out.

Now is the cat cafe/ debtor set up very believable as a starting point to the plot and to the main romance element of the show? Probably not, but as a romcom definitely works. The cats offer and deliver on the comedic aspect. I would maybe even say this show has some re-watch value, for days when you just want something easy, that will make you smile while watching.

Read More

Just like the first season it got better with the second couple

So this series seems to have a pattern where the second couple is more interesting than the first one. There is nothing wrong with Phoon and Fah, but Dao and Arthit had more of an interesting dynamic.

What I did like about the first pair was Phoon getting a close knit group of friends around him that will defend him to the very end (as we saw with North). Generally the story of him getting to stand up against his abusive father and finding his mother were also really nice to follow.

I do find the dynamic between him and Fah bit creepy, mainly bc of the aspect that Fah used to view him more as a brother type of figure which then shifts to a romantic interest. Sure this can happen in real life when ppl know each other from longer period. Just something about the dynamic feels bit unbalanced in a way, where I feel Phoon would be willing to do almost anything bc he admires Fah so much, even if he would not be personally comfortable with some of the things Fah wants to do. But they get their happy ending, Fah obviously yes is eager, but adores Phoon and Phoon got out of "little brother" zone into being a proper boyfriend with the guy he loves.

Now about Dao and Arthit. Did this dynamic have it's issues? Yes there were some very questionable line crossing. I get it, Arthit aside from Johan (who is a complete simp now that he has North) is meant to be the second edgier character and I'd say he is the most "imperfect" character of the series. Dao has his own past issues to deal with, and still somehow two of them make a really deep connection during the first episodes. What maybe bothered me, especially after they shared such a significant moment, trying to contact Tith's mother's spirit is the part when Arthit starts to court Dao. Despite the fact that Arthit knew the crap Dao's ex made him go trough, he still resulted into pressuring tactics in gaining Dao's affection. Dao does put him into his place at times, but still some of the stuff did leave me wondering that is Dao going along with it, bc he genuinely is catching feelings or bc of the pressure Arthit puts on him and emotionally he doesn't have the capacity to properly just put a stop to it. Despite the courting process being questionable, I do feel this was in one way the most rewarding couple to see getting to the end.

I am calling the trailers for Dao and Arthit false advertising unless we get a special EP later! The studio trailer made these two to be the most spiciest couple to be expected and we only got one scene in the last ep 16 for them. Yes the scene was definitely more than what we have seen from the other couples, but everything else was the same fluffy stuff we saw from other couples once they decided to become boyfriends. This would have been fine, unless I had the original trailer as a base material for the expectations.

For me this is still a 7/10 series, but if you like university romance with long character development archs this isn't a bad choice.

Read More

Something in this just didn't click

Oh dear.... so on paper this should have had the components of an interesting bit edgier BL series. However something in this from the start didn't quite click.

The interludes talking about peaches were strange. The images used in the interludes felt AI generated, but I'm not stating here as a fact if they were. The main couple Sasom and Po felt like they were lacking chemistry trough out the whole series, and in a series that had heavy focus on spicy scenes this kind of is an issue. The dialogue scenes were also awkward at time, because it just didn't feel that two actors clikced. The second couple was purposefully casted as the awkward couple of the series and with them it kind of ended up working at the end.

There was also a substantial plot hole in the series. In the first half of the series aside from Po's father causing issues, Sasom's parents were supposed to be very strict PR/reputation oriented in terms of who their son could be seen with and spend time with. While the plot line with Po's father was taken to the end, what on earth happened with the plot line regarding Samson's parents? At the end Po was able to attend Sasom's brother's wedding celebration with no issues or concerns from his parents that their son was bringing a normal person as his plus one (the only big issue being Sasom's ex appearing). It just seemed that Sasom's parents kind of just disappeared from the whole show along with the plot line created for them. It is always possible that I missed the plot point where this part was resolved, but I genuinely don't remember the show at any point explaining what happened to the whole Samsom and his PR micromanaging parents.

In general the trailer and maybe first two episodes were projecting the plot to be a lot spicier than it ended up being. I already guessed on ep 3 that Po and Sasom would probably not end up filming together, which kind of was the whole premises of them ever meeting. Sure there were quite many spicy scenes in the show and the production quality overall was pretty high. We do get some character development, but it isn't enough to save the series as a whole.

In then end, this was not a show for me.
If you like spicy scenes with some plot on the side than this could be an okay show to watch.
There was not enough plot to carry this trough 10 episodes. The last one ep especially just felt like a random compilation of scenes, rather than a cohesive episode.
Actors individually are good, they just might need different pairings in the future.

Read More

Not a horror fan, but this was great!

As someone who is not a fan of horror movies or series in general I was going to skip this, but after seeing a lot of positive feedback I decided to watch a couple of episodes, and yeah I had to watch it till the end.

First of all I'm always a fan when I can see actors develop. I wasn't a fan of PitBabe and mainly watched it for the second couple, because I felt Pavel and Pooh both needed bit more work with their acting (skipped season 2 all together). In this show, they just nailed their individual roles and the chemistry in general was soooo much better. Kudos also for the secondary pair, Micheal and TopTen did very well.

In terms of the story line, while I did have to skip around some of the very creepy scenes. the plot held together to the end and the length of 13 episodes was just perfect for the show. This was never going to be my favorite show bc of the horror elements, but as a crime/horror show it really kept me hooked until the end. If you are very sensitive horror and gore elements in general, this isn't it for you. However if you can tolerate those elements to some degree or even prefer them in a series I would watch this.

Read More

It gets better at the end

I ended up watching this, because the squeal has been popping up in my social media feed a lot. I think the logic was that I'll first watch this and then move on to the next part. As a disclaimer I should probably say that I have not read the novel this and the sequel is based on, so my opinion is just based on the TV show.

I think in terms of overall plot this is a pretty average university themed Thai BL drama. I feel that I have seen what I saw in this series many times before, with all the student ceremonies, activities and clubs along with the side characters appearing during the show. A good set of main characters could have helped this a lot, but we got kind of half way there with that part.

I don't usually like to refer to other specific shows when discussing characters, but having watched the insane chemistry Pond's character had with the other lead in the show Reset, watching Hill's and Ter's romance was bit awkward. They are cute, but.... well just cute. It could be that with different kinds of character castings Pond's and Earth's romance on screen could have more chemistry to it, but with this show it feels very superficial even if they try to give the romance a proper background plot. I would like emphasize that for me good chemistry doesn't mean that the couple has to necessarily have a lot of spicy scenes, it can be built with other means.

The second pairing with Johan and North did get me to watch this in the end, even if with them it was initially bit slow. North as an individual character is so far my favorite, quite unique character in the genre all together. I would recommend watching the two special episodes they got if you like this specific pairing from the show.

Overall considering the contents of the show, this could have been condensed into less episodes and bringing in Johan's and North's storyline earlier would have helped the watching experience. Ter's and North's friendship is something fun to follow . As a side note it did make me laugh how quickly these couples go from just dating to moving in together, yes I know it's a fictional show, but still I found the speed comedic (even if otherwise the show was at times slow in progression).

Do you need to watch this to watch the Fourvever you part 2: No. If you find the main couple of the sequel more interesting you can watch it directly, you don't miss out.
Re-watch value: the Johan and North parts maybe sometime.
Overall vibe: It's okay, but not very memorable.

Read More

Suprisingly good

I didn't go into watching this with too many expectations, since based on the trailer I got the idea that it is a romantic comedy with the whole mafia thing being just a side plot. But it was fun, even if you knew from episode one that Thee 's character is purposefully meant to appear as out touch from reality kind of a mafia/perfume company boss. I expected a lot of the humor to feel forced, but I genuinely had quite many good laughs while watching this. There was actually some growth with Thee's and Peach's character individually and as a couple. Maybe a small critique is that the story relies very heavily on Thee's character development and Peach's role a lot of times was just to support it.

The side characters were also quite enjoyable and for once we actually had in the end both parents supporting the relationship. I am bit over almost that in every BL we get at least one of the parents causing some kinds of issues, just to get something to fill out otherwise a thin story line. Thee's mom is a character (diva) of her own but I liked her a lot. And yes I am in the majority of ppl who wanted more of Rome and Mok. Fingers crossed something else with the duo will come, because after everything Mok had to do to help his boss, he deserves a happy ending.

Overall the characters carry the show trough, the plot lines are pretty predictable and aside from few scenes, this isn't a very serious mafia show. There was luckily enough plot to carry the show trough, I am happy they went with 10 episodes. If Rome and Mok as the second couple would have had more screen time, then I could have taken another episode.

In the end is this revolutionary in terms Thai BL's: heavens no!
Did it offer me surprisingly lot of joy: yes!
Would I re-watch it: maybe one more time. Not still a show I would say has a ton of re-watch value.

Read More

This is an easy pass

Unfortunately with this series there were more negatives than positives. On paper the show's location and plot could have made this a decent easy to watch BL with focus on the relationship development of the couples with a simplistic plot. Unfortunately the potential was lost.

First big issue with the show is the pacing. The first 2-4 episodes are really slow, even if there is three main couples that the show focuses on. The slow start combined with only having 8 eps made especially the last two episodes to feel comical in terms of amount of things happening; there are several serious hospital related illness that get treated, one character reconnects with their mother (this is covered in a couple of scenes), there is a dept issue with a gang involved that gets resolved, a distance relationship that both start and end in the final episode, one the character leaves to his old work back to Bangkok without telling his love interest, then as quickly gets back and the relationship continue as if nothing happened. In a very odd way the show made me feel that they simultaneously didn't have enough plot for three main couples, but also that the relationship archs had to be rushed trough in the end.

The second big issue for me relates to one the couple in particular and I feel bad for the actors, bc a lot of ppl had been hoping to see them in a show together again. Dindin's and Tawan's relationship was a blast from the BL past that I wish we would just not see anymore unless the series is meant to describe a toxic dynamic and environment. Considering the general vibe of the show, having a couple showing their "love" by constantly throwing punches at each other just looked and felt unpleasant as a viewer. With the other two couples there is at least an attempt trough dialogue scenes to build believable relationship, but with Dindin and Tawan the hostility is present to the very end of the show, which really made me question the choice of them still ending up together.

In conclusion:
- I would not recommend this one, everything ends up feeling off.
- After all 8 episodes you will most likely be left with two conflicting feelings; finally it's over and the couples needed more on screen time to feel genuine.
- There is a decent effort to showcase a survivor story of someone dealing with childhood abuse trauma, how this can affect adult relationships and how to work past such trauma, but it's not enough to save the series.
- Let's please not promote punching someone as a sign of showing love, this trope needs to be left to the BL history and stay there.

Read More