Do not go into the show with the expectation of it being a BL drama.

As the title states, I'd suggest watching The Shipper without expecting the story to be about two boys falling in love. As we see from the summary, the focus is on Pan trying to figure out how she can leave Kim's body and back into her own. Does the story contain BL themes? Yes. Does the story have two men that care for each other as more than friends? Yes. But do understand that the journey is not about Kim, it's about Pan in Kim's body.

Story:
In all honesty, I can say that I did really like the ending. I loved the theories that circulated around it but I do love the canon explanation. I liked how it was resolved, I liked how they showed the impacts the ending had on different people. It was raining on my face for a long time.

Re-watch value/Recommend:
The odd themes in TS makes one raise their brows. When watching the show, we understand what is going on and why it's happening. Frankly, it's weird (for me) which is why I would re-watch the show but not recommend it to another person that knows me in real life.

Acting:
The acting was phenomenal on all sides. Every actor that was on screen for more than two seconds had done really well. I applaud First, he had to act as a male character that was possessed by a female character that differed largely from Kim. Not once did I feel that Pan was not in Kim's body except for the scenes in which we meet the Real Kim. There was a clear difference in acting when it came to the Pan version of Kim and the actual Kim.
Ploy, Fluke and Ohm have also done really well. They had the most screen time right after First and they were always delivering their characters perfectly.
If its possible, to please have Ohm and First star as a couple in a show or Ohm and Fluke, along with Fluke and First. They are great actors that deserve more time in the spotlight. This was a well selected cast and I can't wait to see more of their work in the future.

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Light-hearted goodness

Story

I’m not used to “campy” shows, so the lightheartedness was something I struggled with a little. The problems were solved properly but because I’m used to the long, extended deep dive of topics like homophobia, parental strictness, fiancial struggles and parental death so the simple-esque solving was a little bogus for me but that doesn’t take away from the show.

The ending does feel rushed but that’s the cut version so maybe the uncut would be better with more context and pacing.

Acting/Casting: Amazing, each actor did a great job and special shoutout to Aungpao for doing so well in what I believe is his debut role. He was approximately 15/16 when the show was filmed and yet he fit in really well with the seasoned actors. I will add that a some of the kisses between OffGun were more intense earlier than later, I figured that it might be related to the censorship under WeTv, it felt weird seeing the intensity lower, as if they were doing it for the first time.

Music: The intro song is catchy, I don’t have much to say but the music fit well with the theme of the show.

Overall: This is a great show to watch if you need a breather from some of the more serious shows. Great for decompression and touching on the reality of queer relationships without having it takedown the tone of the show. If you're the type of watcher that enjoys nuanced plots even under the rom-com genre, this is not the one for you. The plot is merely there so that the characters exist, the show is character-driven. If you watch the show, it's because you can, rather than because you really want to follow the story at the same pace as the rest of the audience. I watched the show because I had nothing else to watch and I am familiar with some of the actors. There were also moments where I didn't have the subtitles but because the plot doesn't have a lot of mystery and suspense, I did not feel lost when I focused again. That might give you an idea of how little the plot really affects the story.

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The cast is the only good thing to come out of this show.

Re-review after re-watch:

I'm going to take a chance at providing a better review now that my emotions towards the show aren't as intense as it was when I wrote the original review.

Story:

The issue with TC is not that the story is too typical or already seen. Human creativity can have its limitations. The issue is the Main Problem and what came with Him and Her. Some of these problems were not in the novels apparently. Though take that fact with a grain of salt as I have not read it. The issue also lies in the pacing. The development of TonChon relationship was slow, while not an issue generally, it is an issue when you have small number of episodes to pull everything together. Which is literally what they did. The last episode was clunky. They had to tell us what happened to the main antagonist through a flashback and someone asking about her. Why would anyone ask about her approximately three years later? When the person that asked the question would have witnessed the whole thing anyway. If you have to create a mini plot-hole to answer a question I doubt many people care about is testament to awkward pacing. Some parts of the last episode could have moved forward if the relationship between the main couple (Ton and Chon) had sped up just a little bit.

The twist that Ton knew the truth but still did what he did is baffling. So you knew, but still tried to change him? Ton was shown to like it but still did as much as he could to change Chon. Or did he try to lie to himself because of his family? So many odd questions and plotholes... It almost feels as if that big reveal was thought of later, after the intial filming (though it wasn't).

One subplot I did like was of the sister and her husband's issue. It was nice to see that issues like that can exist and how nicely it was managed along with how the couple got stronger after they communicated with each other. Perhaps a relationship feature Ton and Chon could have unlocked.

Cast:

I stand by what I said. The cast was really good. They worked well together. Decent chemistry. Solid comedy acting. The first scene that introduced Tonhon and Chonlatee? Hilarious. The actors did really well with making me laugh. If they had been given a better plot with the humour, the show would have been a hit. Neo was the best actor overall. That scene at the end made out to be a tiktok video? Phenomenal!

Music:

Not much to say, it was fitting with the aesthetic, but nothing to outstanding.

Re-watch value:

Obviously, as this extended review is of my watching it the second time, the show does have it's good parts, its potential is just killed with the last two to three episodes.

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Originial Review after re-watch:
Every actor did a great job with their characters. Were the characters ass? Yes. Did the actors do well acting out as asses? Yes. With the exception of Na, I found at least one serious flaw in the characters. Chon’s mom comes in second.

The cast should try again with another comedy series. I’m sure they’ll do well!

Story was crap. Apparently, a vital part of the series and the main insitigator for the problems wasn’t even a part of the original book, which I have not read.

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The whole TinCan plot would've worked better as a 2-4 episode long special

** I don't point out any actual spoilers but some points are hinting at large plot points**

Story--

As the headline states, the entire plot of season 2 could've been condensed into a five episode long special. I watched the show because of TinCan and there was a lot of them. Too much even. There were other couples (TulHin and KeenTar) that should've gotten more individual screen time but barely did just to move Ae or TinCan's respective plots.

Really, the biggest flaw in the season is the writing. It's fine to re-write the entire season and just show them from the start instead of the whole rejection in LBC1. But to not only take up *6* episodes, but have them do little to nothing but just show the original scenes in different settings? Re-writing the structure and adjusting the timeline is a-okay. But please, don't force us to watch things that already happened with different angles and locations.

How the season could have gone:

Can rejects Tin -> Tin mopes around in sadness -> Tul comes in and starts bothering Tin (about Can), Tin gets angry and yada yada. That scene where Phu tells Tul that he stood up for him is shown as a flashback. Pete and Ae are *together*, they show us Ae texting Can pictures of their trip. Tul vs TinCan plot is moved forward and given a larger amount of attention. This way, if TulHin does happen, they happen with much more screen time.

We don't see Ae and Pete together on screen but we see little scenes of Ae being a happy baby and talking to Pete who is standing off-screen. AePete exist, the focus just shifts over to TinCan. This makes it easier to cover the whole Saint-not-being-in-the-cast thing. The writer decided that it was easier to just do what they did and rely on the novel readers to give an explanation.

Techno stands up for himself and stays away from Kla *completely*. He fights with Technic when he finds out that Nic had been selling his brother for over three years (assuming this has been going on since the TharnType timeline). Techno's parents support No and give him the support and help that he needs to stay away from Kla. With Kla's money, one would say that they might not be able to fight him with a lawsuit but they still do their best to make sure Kla and No are never in the same space. If this were real and successful (assuming my lack of writing skills was good enough to have people like it). S3 could've been about No meeting someone new that understands what he went through and supports him while blossoming a beautiful romance. Kengkla goes to therapy with the buttload of money that he has to tackle whatever made him think it was okay to obsess over someone and then assault them.

You might be thinking that this^ changes the whole timeline and plot of No and Kla's story. And honestly? I wish it did. They shouldn't be a thing. If they didn't hesitate with AePete, they don't have to with NoKla.

Tum and Tar not getting together was a blessing. Thank you. Keen and Tar have a lot of potential and deserved more than just being a semi-boring side plot with the goal to promote the OST.


Acting/Cast--

The cast did great with what they had. I particularly loved the scene with Mai, Pond and Ae in the field. They really love each other and it was nice to see Pond be loving towards Ae. We rarely see emphasis on friendships in BLs so this was a nice point.

Music--

I never really focus on OSTs so I'll just say that the song stuck with the theme of teenage romance and the upbeat-ness of LBC1 OST.

Would I re-watch the show?

Yeah, sure. Maybe when I'm bored and don't have anything else to watch. That and after clearing my mind of anything from LBC to avoid making comparisons.

OVERALL:

There was a general lack of energy in the show. The actors did as much as they could/wanted and the writer(s) could've done a lot better.

You can tell how much a show is wanted depending on how much or little advertisements we see. LBC2 had a lot, LBC had 1-3 in the entire season.

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