This review may contain spoilers
I talk too much about Sunny, sorry!
Trigger warnings for rape, SA, nudity, alcohol & drug abuse, violence, bullying, death, murder, & self-harm
I may have missed some triggers, but I think I got the most important ones.
I have not read the manhwa, but I plan to when I have the time.
I was super excited about this series from the moment the trailer dropped. Going into this series, I was the most excited I've ever been to watch something outside of a Spider-Man or Harry Potter movie in theaters. I went into this series expecting to give it at least a 9/10, but I quickly came to realize that that wasn't going to happen. I still love and enjoyed the series, but it wasn't without its problems.
My first problem was with the OST. It was really good, but for the first 3 episodes it would randomly blow my eardrums out with loud violins or piano and completely overpower the characters specking. Thankfully, it didn't happen again after episode 3, but the fact that it happened at all was annoying & honestly painful since I have sensitive hearing. So while the OST was one of my favorite things about the series, it also started as the thing I hated most.
The acting was really good; I have no complaints. I think Shogun did a great job with the panic attacks. (I've had many panic attacks, so I like to point out if I think a person has done a good job or not.)
The Chemistry between all the actors was great, especially our main leads. Toptap and Min had really good kisses, and the NC scenes are like something I've never watched before. I'm not sure if that is a good thing or not because I still feel a little traumatized by how real they looked and felt. I normally clock out a bit during NC scenes because I'm honestly more interested in the kissing and cute/sweet moments (especially cuddles), but there was no clocking out for me in these scenes. My eyes were glued to the screen in disbelief and fascination. (Honestly, I'm the girl who was standing beside them in the bus scene.) I'm also a big fan of size differences~
The pacing of this series was really good, but the ending felt very rushed compared to the rest of the series. This is one of the Thai series that should have been longer. Again, I didn't read the manhwa, but I feel like they could have easily made this series 12-14 episodes long. It felt like a lot was missing that could have been shown to us. For example, how Jay's mother died, everything Sunny was going through after the deaths of his backers, what drove him to go to a loan shark, and whether he faced public repercussions that made him unable to work in entertainment; for some reason, I also felt like we missed some things in Jay & Sun's relationship. These things may not have been in the Manhwa, but I felt we should have seen a bit more of them.
The way the old men were handled also felt incredibly rushed. The pervert with the pacemaker death was fine for the most part, but I would like to know what video was sent to the police since Two-O never got to send the one to Sun. (Who was that boy, by the way? I thought it was Wave, but it wasn't, and we don't get a name. He deserves that at least after being killed by Sunny.) Is the one who shot the other old man the boy who was signed onto Dream by Jay's mother & then raped by the pervert? If he is, I feel like that flashback would have worked better in this moment instead of where we got it. Everything happened all at once with no buildup that would make you think things are going to end with murder. And as I said above, I would have liked to see more of Sunny during the events at the end. He was such an important person to our main character, but he felt brushed over even before Jay started things with Sun.
The whole show was building up to these 3 being taken down after all the lies, manipulation, and vile things they've done, only for it all to come to a head and conclude in like 15 minutes. It truly leaves you feeling dissatisfied, and the writing is very lazy.
Since I'm on characters, I've heard a lot of people say that Jay was toned down in this series, and if that's the case, I really wish they wouldn't have. He's a red flag, and if you're going to do a red flag character, you should take it as far as the work you are adapting did. Also, Jay wasn't as big a part of the show as I thought he would be. He wasn't really there for a good majority of the show, and when he was, it was just in small bursts. It's just weird that it felt like the supporting cast got more screen time than one of our leads. This made it hard to know anything about this man other than that he wants revenge and is obsessed with Sun. If Toptap and Min's chemistry weren't so good, this show would have been a major flop because Jay's lack of screen time makes it impossible to make this relationship believable. I believe they are sexually attracted to each other and compatible, but nowhere near love.
Sun, red flag or not, was a doll, and I want one for myself. He's so serious and awkward. The only annoying thing was when people said he looked 'ordinary' when he was downright adorable. I loved Sia Jo & Kajorn; Sun is definitely going to make them go prematurely gray. They were the comic relief that we didn't need, but I'm glad we had them. Besides the panic attacks, I don't really have many feelings about Sky. He was there, he was helpful, & he was traumatized. I also thought they were going to pair him with Boat's character at one point, & I'm still not sure if I'm disappointed that they didn't. Two-O wasn't a very present character, but they did a good job of making me worry about him.
Sunny. I wanted more of Sunny. To me, this man was more of a red flag than Jay, but with zero power to back it up. He pulls so much shit in the past & the present, and I didn't see enough. Sun was living a normal, albeit emotionless, life when he learned the role Sunny played in his brother's death, but the most we get from Sunny himself is just words. Most of them bragging. I wanted to see if there was any mental struggle in the decisions he made. If he ever once hesitated (sans murder) in the things that he did or had others do. He is the second most irredeemable character in the whole show and is Sun's target, yet he felt one-dimensional. After everything he has done, I didn't expect him to change; I just wanted to see some kind of internal struggle. Even if it was only for a moment.
I feel like I did nothing but complain about the series, but I really did enjoy it; I just felt like it was wasted potential. If they had made the series longer and given the characters, mostly Jay & Sunny, more depth, it could have been much better.
I may have missed some triggers, but I think I got the most important ones.
I have not read the manhwa, but I plan to when I have the time.
I was super excited about this series from the moment the trailer dropped. Going into this series, I was the most excited I've ever been to watch something outside of a Spider-Man or Harry Potter movie in theaters. I went into this series expecting to give it at least a 9/10, but I quickly came to realize that that wasn't going to happen. I still love and enjoyed the series, but it wasn't without its problems.
My first problem was with the OST. It was really good, but for the first 3 episodes it would randomly blow my eardrums out with loud violins or piano and completely overpower the characters specking. Thankfully, it didn't happen again after episode 3, but the fact that it happened at all was annoying & honestly painful since I have sensitive hearing. So while the OST was one of my favorite things about the series, it also started as the thing I hated most.
The acting was really good; I have no complaints. I think Shogun did a great job with the panic attacks. (I've had many panic attacks, so I like to point out if I think a person has done a good job or not.)
The Chemistry between all the actors was great, especially our main leads. Toptap and Min had really good kisses, and the NC scenes are like something I've never watched before. I'm not sure if that is a good thing or not because I still feel a little traumatized by how real they looked and felt. I normally clock out a bit during NC scenes because I'm honestly more interested in the kissing and cute/sweet moments (especially cuddles), but there was no clocking out for me in these scenes. My eyes were glued to the screen in disbelief and fascination. (Honestly, I'm the girl who was standing beside them in the bus scene.) I'm also a big fan of size differences~
The pacing of this series was really good, but the ending felt very rushed compared to the rest of the series. This is one of the Thai series that should have been longer. Again, I didn't read the manhwa, but I feel like they could have easily made this series 12-14 episodes long. It felt like a lot was missing that could have been shown to us. For example, how Jay's mother died, everything Sunny was going through after the deaths of his backers, what drove him to go to a loan shark, and whether he faced public repercussions that made him unable to work in entertainment; for some reason, I also felt like we missed some things in Jay & Sun's relationship. These things may not have been in the Manhwa, but I felt we should have seen a bit more of them.
The way the old men were handled also felt incredibly rushed. The pervert with the pacemaker death was fine for the most part, but I would like to know what video was sent to the police since Two-O never got to send the one to Sun. (Who was that boy, by the way? I thought it was Wave, but it wasn't, and we don't get a name. He deserves that at least after being killed by Sunny.) Is the one who shot the other old man the boy who was signed onto Dream by Jay's mother & then raped by the pervert? If he is, I feel like that flashback would have worked better in this moment instead of where we got it. Everything happened all at once with no buildup that would make you think things are going to end with murder. And as I said above, I would have liked to see more of Sunny during the events at the end. He was such an important person to our main character, but he felt brushed over even before Jay started things with Sun.
The whole show was building up to these 3 being taken down after all the lies, manipulation, and vile things they've done, only for it all to come to a head and conclude in like 15 minutes. It truly leaves you feeling dissatisfied, and the writing is very lazy.
Since I'm on characters, I've heard a lot of people say that Jay was toned down in this series, and if that's the case, I really wish they wouldn't have. He's a red flag, and if you're going to do a red flag character, you should take it as far as the work you are adapting did. Also, Jay wasn't as big a part of the show as I thought he would be. He wasn't really there for a good majority of the show, and when he was, it was just in small bursts. It's just weird that it felt like the supporting cast got more screen time than one of our leads. This made it hard to know anything about this man other than that he wants revenge and is obsessed with Sun. If Toptap and Min's chemistry weren't so good, this show would have been a major flop because Jay's lack of screen time makes it impossible to make this relationship believable. I believe they are sexually attracted to each other and compatible, but nowhere near love.
Sun, red flag or not, was a doll, and I want one for myself. He's so serious and awkward. The only annoying thing was when people said he looked 'ordinary' when he was downright adorable. I loved Sia Jo & Kajorn; Sun is definitely going to make them go prematurely gray. They were the comic relief that we didn't need, but I'm glad we had them. Besides the panic attacks, I don't really have many feelings about Sky. He was there, he was helpful, & he was traumatized. I also thought they were going to pair him with Boat's character at one point, & I'm still not sure if I'm disappointed that they didn't. Two-O wasn't a very present character, but they did a good job of making me worry about him.
Sunny. I wanted more of Sunny. To me, this man was more of a red flag than Jay, but with zero power to back it up. He pulls so much shit in the past & the present, and I didn't see enough. Sun was living a normal, albeit emotionless, life when he learned the role Sunny played in his brother's death, but the most we get from Sunny himself is just words. Most of them bragging. I wanted to see if there was any mental struggle in the decisions he made. If he ever once hesitated (sans murder) in the things that he did or had others do. He is the second most irredeemable character in the whole show and is Sun's target, yet he felt one-dimensional. After everything he has done, I didn't expect him to change; I just wanted to see some kind of internal struggle. Even if it was only for a moment.
I feel like I did nothing but complain about the series, but I really did enjoy it; I just felt like it was wasted potential. If they had made the series longer and given the characters, mostly Jay & Sunny, more depth, it could have been much better.
Was this review helpful to you?
