Love by Chance seemed to be a very hyped up and loved series in the BL community, so I decided to give it a try. And the thing is… I believe this show had so much potential to become one of the best or at least top shows, but it had some major flaws that ruined it for me. There were parts that I really loved and parts that I just couldn’t agree on. So, I will talk about my likes and dislikes in the following paragraphs. I try not to spoil much, but there may be some spoilers here and there.

First, the different stories we see in this series are actually quite simple and typical to the romantic genre. But what makes it more interesting than most is the realistic way they try to portray things and also the (quite) healthy relationships they show. Acting is also good. There are no actors who are much better or much worse than others. So, a very balanced cast. Also, the filming and editing is done in a way that is enjoyable to watch!

Secondly, let’s talk about the main couples (at least for me) - Pete and Ae, Tin and Can, Pond and Chaam. I think that these three pairings really stole the show and made this show what it is. They are also the only couples I liked in this show even though they had some flaws that I didn’t like that much.

The main couple is of course Pete and Ae. I think their relationship was very sweet and quite healthy. They communicated well, supported each other and also were not scared to apologize. The only problems I had with them was Ae’s toxic controlling and possessive behavior and their zero character development during the 14 episode series. Basically Ae got angry when Pete was close to another guy and also when he was close to another girl. So, is Pete not allowed to talk to or about anyone else? Also the way he manhandled him by pulling him by his arm was quite a big ‘no-no’ for me. And it was not once, it was at least three times if not even more… And the character development practically didn’t happen with them. Pete was a very soft, naive, rich kid with no street/life knowledge at the beginning of the show and 14 episodes later he was still the same. If I am honest he even started to annoy me a tiny bit by the end of the season. As for Ae, he didn’t seem to change at all, he just got really controlling. At least Pete adapted his lifestyle to Ae’s, but it felt very one sided as Ae didn’t really try to adapt to Pete’s lifestyle. At least that’s the kind of feeling I got. All in all they were a decent couple, but there were some things that irked me a little bit.

Then there were Pond and Chaam. Honestly, their scenes were always very refreshing to see! But I did have quite a love-hate relationship with Pond. There were moments when I really liked him and then there were moments when I didn’t like him at all. He was a funny character, but sometimes he was too much for me. As for Chaam, she was the perfect girl for him, because she could easily handle him. Usually in BL series straight couples are not very well done or they are simply missing, but they really did good with this one. They are definitely one of the highlights of this show! But unfortunately they, too, have very little character development if any…

And then my favorites Tin and Can. At the beginning I had a hard time liking Tin, but as the story progressed I actually started to like him. As for Can, I loved this energetic albino monkey from the start. He is just sooo precious! I couldn’t really see them being a couple at first, but by the end of the season somehow they had grown to be my favorites. With them I could actually see the character development and it was very well done. I could’ve even liked to see more on how they both started to change their views on each other. And then the ending! I was happy with the way they decided to end their story as it was very realistic. I loved how open and honest Can was with Tin. He really poured his soul and heart out to him. Too bad that Tin reacted the way he did, but I also understand his reaction. I know that season 2 is more about their story, but I have read different reviews on it and I am not sure if I am going to watch it…

And then there were two pairings that could have easily been left out from this series in my opinion. Techno and Kengkla’s story was super horrible and I don’t understand why they decided to include this to the show in the first place. Basically, if I call things as they are, Techno’s younger brother pimped him out to his friend Kengkla. And what happened between them at the end was a rape. It was planned rape and nothing else. It was very disturbing to watch and even more sad was the way they handled the next morning. Their story was just not okay! It was one of the biggest reasons why I couldn’t like this show as much! Tum and Tar on the other hand had almost your typical step-brothers storyline. I always felt some discomfort watching their scenes. Maybe it was because Earth looked really young next to Title? And since Love by Chance has a spin-off about TharnType that deals with similar things then maybe it would’ve been better to leave them out of this series as they didn’t give much to the series.

I want to bring out a character called Bow as she was such a beautiful soul to watch!

In the end this show had an opportunity to become one of the top shows, but I think they made some major mistakes in their stories that I just can’t look past. I would recommend you to watch it, but my advice would be to concentrate on the three main couples and try to not think too much (or simply skip) the other couples. I wouldn’t rewatch it as watching it once was more than enough.