GMMTV Needs to Step Out of Its Comfort Zone -- The Forumula Has Gotten Stale
GMMTV has developed a very successful template for creating BL shows, but unfortunately their formula is now so well worn, that it's starting fray around the edges and develop holes in the fabric of their storytelling. I've now seen over 30 GMMTV BL drama series, and what I could accept as unique, cute and charming five years ago -- in a world where these types of stories hadn't been seen very much before -- now suffers from repetitiveness, and fierce competition from more daring, complex and challenging narratives being produced by other studios.
This series had all the makings of what should have been a great show -- two handsome actors who already had led two other successful BL series, propelled by a studio that has the technical chops to create a successful polished series. However, the material this series was based on wasn't adapted well for the screen. I understand that the book was very popular, but it should have been heavily adjusted for the series.
After developing the plot of the story in the first two episodes -- revolving around murder attempts and some sort of hinted at hospital corruption -- the two main characters are sequestered in the countryside in order to protect the threatened life of one of them. Episode 3 begins a 5 episode arc (that's half of the show's 10 episodes) where the entire focus of the show becomes the two main characters doing the enemies to lovers trope and flirting with each other. There are mentions of the main plot (maybe about 5 minutes per episode), but it's all sort of put on hold so we can watch these two handsome actors do the cat and mouse charm. At the very end of the 7th episode, the main plot sort of resumes, and again includes the two main characters, but everything in the final few episodes feels very thinly plotted, with half explanations about the villain's motivations, flashbacks that explain too much at the last minute, and a villain arc that's so ridiculous it's almost unwatchable. Meanwhile those 5 episodes in the countryside where the writers focused almost exclusively on the romance between the main couple, apparently wasn't enough to lock up the romance, so the couple is still figuring things out through episode 8.
The other big problem with this series is the music. GMMTV is reusing the same music, or at lease very, very similar music, from many of the their other series. It's time for them to hire some new composers for the score and the OST. It's all starting to sound the same. I swear I heard instrumental versions of some of the pop songs from My School President reused in this show.
However, the biggest failure of this series is honestly the MyDramaList fans, who as of June 2026, have bestowed a score of 8.6 on this show. That raised my expectations, and probably contributed to my ultimate disappointment. This show doesn't even come close to any of GMMTV's best BLs including A Tale of a Thousand Stars, My School President, Moonlight Chicken, Not Me, or even another JimmySea series, Last Twilight. So it's unfortunate that this show gets a score like this, when it's honestly more on equal footing with shows like Only Boo (which astoundingly has an 8.4!), Fish Upon the Sky or Cupid's Last Wish. All of which are forgettable.
Meanwhile, for anyone still reading this, you should check out projects coming out of the other studios/platforms including One31, iQIYI, WeTV where a number of Thai BLs with compelling storylines seem to air. Additionally, GagaOOLala seems to be where a lot of great Japanese BLs can be found. Increasingly it feels like GMMTV series are meant for teenage girls, who are discovering BL for the first time. The studio seems to be happy to continue to cultivate this audience, while the rest of BL industry has moved on to more complex, layered, and ultimately more emotionally compelling narratives that have a stronger point of view, and will linger with you long after you've watched them. I'm going to remember shows like Khemjira, The Time of Fever, I Hear the Sunspot, I Told Sunset About You, The Journey to Killing You, or 4 Minutes, for a very long time, whereas with My Magic Prophecy, i'm really hoping I can forget I ever watched it within the next week.
This series had all the makings of what should have been a great show -- two handsome actors who already had led two other successful BL series, propelled by a studio that has the technical chops to create a successful polished series. However, the material this series was based on wasn't adapted well for the screen. I understand that the book was very popular, but it should have been heavily adjusted for the series.
After developing the plot of the story in the first two episodes -- revolving around murder attempts and some sort of hinted at hospital corruption -- the two main characters are sequestered in the countryside in order to protect the threatened life of one of them. Episode 3 begins a 5 episode arc (that's half of the show's 10 episodes) where the entire focus of the show becomes the two main characters doing the enemies to lovers trope and flirting with each other. There are mentions of the main plot (maybe about 5 minutes per episode), but it's all sort of put on hold so we can watch these two handsome actors do the cat and mouse charm. At the very end of the 7th episode, the main plot sort of resumes, and again includes the two main characters, but everything in the final few episodes feels very thinly plotted, with half explanations about the villain's motivations, flashbacks that explain too much at the last minute, and a villain arc that's so ridiculous it's almost unwatchable. Meanwhile those 5 episodes in the countryside where the writers focused almost exclusively on the romance between the main couple, apparently wasn't enough to lock up the romance, so the couple is still figuring things out through episode 8.
The other big problem with this series is the music. GMMTV is reusing the same music, or at lease very, very similar music, from many of the their other series. It's time for them to hire some new composers for the score and the OST. It's all starting to sound the same. I swear I heard instrumental versions of some of the pop songs from My School President reused in this show.
However, the biggest failure of this series is honestly the MyDramaList fans, who as of June 2026, have bestowed a score of 8.6 on this show. That raised my expectations, and probably contributed to my ultimate disappointment. This show doesn't even come close to any of GMMTV's best BLs including A Tale of a Thousand Stars, My School President, Moonlight Chicken, Not Me, or even another JimmySea series, Last Twilight. So it's unfortunate that this show gets a score like this, when it's honestly more on equal footing with shows like Only Boo (which astoundingly has an 8.4!), Fish Upon the Sky or Cupid's Last Wish. All of which are forgettable.
Meanwhile, for anyone still reading this, you should check out projects coming out of the other studios/platforms including One31, iQIYI, WeTV where a number of Thai BLs with compelling storylines seem to air. Additionally, GagaOOLala seems to be where a lot of great Japanese BLs can be found. Increasingly it feels like GMMTV series are meant for teenage girls, who are discovering BL for the first time. The studio seems to be happy to continue to cultivate this audience, while the rest of BL industry has moved on to more complex, layered, and ultimately more emotionally compelling narratives that have a stronger point of view, and will linger with you long after you've watched them. I'm going to remember shows like Khemjira, The Time of Fever, I Hear the Sunspot, I Told Sunset About You, The Journey to Killing You, or 4 Minutes, for a very long time, whereas with My Magic Prophecy, i'm really hoping I can forget I ever watched it within the next week.
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