andoR

They had a lot of ambition, half-assed it and didn't accomplish anything in the end.
The acting in their prior drama, Lucky My Love, was really bad, but I gave it a pass because it was a Youtube mini-series and those tend to be low budget and with beginner actors/actresses. Unfortunately it seemed like they didn't invest much time in improving themselves, although it wasn't as akward anymore like in Lucky My Love, with the strange pauses that always seemed like they were waiting for queues from the AD to say their lines, but it was definitely not good enough for a full-length 8 episode drama in my opinion.

The main storyline was quite cute and I hope we'll see more of those plots in future GLs in which the only problems they have are with themselves and each other (like in most hetero romance dramas), instead of creepy dudes and idiotic parents, but next time please with two people that have at least a little bit of chemistry. While Love's actress really tried her best and mostly did a good job with creating some sparks, Rain's actress always made sure to extinguish it immediately because she looked like she wanted to be anywhere but in front of the camera in the romantic scenes. I think the other couple did a better job at creating chemistry, but their storyline was way too unnecessarily problematic with 95% bad build up and a rushed resolution they could've easily delivered after a few episodes. I really liked Pat's and Love's characters and how they were portrayed, so they probably should've put them together instead if they wanted to create a couple that at least seemed like they want to be with each other. Honorable mention: Love's dude friend and Rain's "rival". The actor/actress and characters were so bad that I always either skipped the scenes with them completely or at least muted it until they shut up and were put in their place by one of the other characters.

I gave it a 7.5 regardless because I liked the two characters I mentioned before and because I think that GL dramas need more storylines that are handled like a normal relationship instead of something they need to fight the world for if they want to be together.

I guess they'll do it like they always do with these adaptions. Just show some of the important parts, add some stupid scenes that aren't in the source material and nobody will care about and then leave the story about halfway so you can half-ass the end xD
All bad examples aside, I hope they'll do it at least a litte bit justice, seeing as it's going to be 8 around 60 minute episodes I guess, which would be 24 anime episodes + a 2 hour movie. But I have a bad feeling they're going to cut some stories short, like Akane's for example, which the author got a lot of hate for already when the manga came out (or when the anime came out? Can't remember when anymore).

I see, thanks. Wrote this comment when it was just "Oshi No Ko Movie" or something like that, without claryfiying if it was a pre- or sequel.

There's basically no rights for LGBTQ+ couples in Japan either, other than they are more tolerated by the majority of the public/media. They recently (last year?) dismissed a notion for an anti-discrimination law because they "want to strengthen the picture of a traditional family", or some bs along those lines. And while 30 prefectures recognize same-sex couples, it's nothing legally binding and doesn't even give them any legal rights. Legally recognized partners are allowed to visit patients and even sign surgery permits, but doctors and hospitals can deny visitation rights to the recognized partner all the same if they feel like it because they are legeally not family. The same with landlords, if they find out that a same-sex couple lives in their appartment they have the legal right to just kick them out, even though they are recognized by the prefecture/municipality.
But, it seems like the liberal party that's in power for almost 70 years and which is basically the only party against LGBTQ+ equality is now majorly pressured by supreme courts (more and more rule the same-sex marriage ban as "against the constitution"), every other political party and the public majority to finally legalize same-sex marriage and pass an anti-discrimination law to equalize their rights. Of course they will stall the whole decision until they can't anymore, but at least they can't stall forever if they don't want to lose their power.

I agree with your assessment of the drama. I think the script was rather weak because they didn't have time to really tell a story. 8 episodes á 24 minutes is simply too short to do anything in my opinion. Let's hope they, some time in the near future, will give GL stories the time they deserve and make (a) full-length 45/60 minute drama(s). There are some really good Yuri manga out there that are easy to implement as live-action and pretty realistic.

I hope this time it's without the cringy pan outs to hide everything remotely resembling romance/skinship like it was in the two episode special. Let's hope it gets subbed.

Chao Planoy seems to really like Japanese Shoujo Manga, just that she switches an ML for a FL. Cold/abusive paired with dumb/naive leads, teacher/student relationships, leads being forced into marriage for business/selfish parents reasons, etc. Basically 90% of shoujo manga plots in a nutshell.

I wish H'our would check their releases before uploading them. They sprinkle in a drama with good production once in a while and then somehow fall back into releases with missing audio, strange camera glitches and actresses you really feel no chemistry at all (the last is my opinion). Also, what's with the pixeling of their not-visible-anyways cleavage in one of the episodes? Looked like a high school student tried to convince their extremely conservative teacher to let them show a short film at the school festival so he had to censor everything that shows skin.

Sounds like she read too many Shoujo Mangas and just substituted the ML with another FL. 90% (exaggeration, but feels like it) of those Mangas have a cold, (verbally) abusive ML and an either totally stupid or massively naive FL who falls more for the ML the colder and meaner he is. Then there's a childhood friend who either still has the hots for the ML or the FL to create a stupid love triangle and the FL's parents and friends are often totally in love with the abusive guy aswell because he's super good looking, has a lot of money or both and push the FL into a deeper relationship although every reader can see how toxic all of this is.

There's also the Japanese drama Kimi no Tsugu Kaori wa. But I don't know how much GL content it will have, probably mostly flashbacks, otherwise it'll become a bit edgy from what I've seen and read of what the story is about. And it's of course only available in Japan (at least for now) because that's how they roll.

Ok ok. I thought there's at least some hope, but I guess not! :D

I've not seen a Japanese BL so far (and I'm probably not planning on it), but the GLs are pretty good if you can overlook that they are all super short and that 3 out of the 4 (not counting 2nd seasons) have at least one big flaw, which is kind of a bummer. I hope they'll someday make dramas out of the better Yuri Mangas, like Yagate Kimi ni Naru (which is still the best GL story I've read or seen so far). But even the Anime only covers half of the story and cuts out just before it gets more into the relationship part of the story so I don't have high hopes. At least LGBTQ is more accepted these days in Japan and there's even parts of the country were same-sex partnerships are recognized, even if there's still no non-discrimination law.

I think Apple doesn't have any of those either from what I read so far. It's more light hearted and comedic, but it's only 2 eps in so you can never be sure what those screenwriters are cooking up.

(No spoilers, but didn't want to blow up the comment with my answer)
I absolutely agree with you, I just think it especially makes every male Thai "in love" with a woman look like that if it gets overused as a plot device in every GL drama. It's a bit like the "damsel in distress" in JDrama, it makes it look like the majority of female Japanese in their teens and 20s are just naive and dumb, which, at the end of the day, is just a bad representation by bad screenwriters/authors without original ideas.

In 23.5 Ton gets roped into Luna and Alpha's plan to make Sun jealous. To "force" her to clarify the relationship with Ongsa. But your other point's absolutely valid, kind of forgot about her. He even said at some point that he doesn't accept a "no", which makes it even worse because he's aware what an idiot he is. And the fact that it's meant comedic doesn't really make it that much better if you ask me.

The homophobic comment wasn't really related to Affair. It's just the other overused plot device besides the men, so if a drama can actually get rid of both of those I think the chances are high we'll get something original with a good script. Besides, I don't even know how realistic it is anymore. Thailand's about to legalize same-sex marriage and from what I read and heard the overwhelming majority of the population has a positive mindset about it. Sure, it's always different if it's the own family, but they don't need to use it every damn time as if everyone over the age of 40 hates the LGBTQ community.

Probably the best GL I've seen so far until Ep6 (if you fast forward the scenes with Ek... I mean this guy... yeah, no, really). Really good acting, especially by Lookmhee, and production overall. Their chemistry was off the charts aswell, even more so if you watch the behind the scenes at the end of all episodes and see how much fun they had (together).

Maybe minor spoiler upcoming (I really don't know if it counts as one):
Unfortunately I had to check three times if I was really watching episode 8 because the last two eps were a jumbled and rushed mess that kept piling problems onto the main couple while completely losing focus of their feelings/issues and glorifying a crazy stalker's forgiveness, because, well, he broke into an apartment and threatened to kill two people and then almost unlived himself, but he's not suing them! I don't know what it is with Thai GLs, but they make it seem like men in Thailand can't accept "no" and think they can just own a woman because they "love them" one-sidedly. I think 23.5 is the only GL (finished by Oct 2024) without that plot device and that's probably because it's a high school romcom. If that's the only way to portray men, then just simply don't include any in those dramas. The first adult Thai GL without such a character and without a homophobic witch (grand)mom will get a 9 rating from me, regardless of if the story or the acting sucked.

I agree with your statement about content. But to be fair, Thailand is the only Asian country that consistenly produces GL dramas, so of course people eat it up. Especially because they release it on Youtube with English subs. The only other Asian country so far with GL content for TV is Japan and they have 4 25 min per ep dramas ever (if you don't count multiple seasons) for which you need to pay for 5 different streaming services, if it's even released anywhere. And if you compare them when it comes to romantic content, then Thailand is about 729 steps ahead in storytelling and visuals. If you think Ling&Orm only press their lips together you should watch a Japanese GL (or romance in general) and you'll laugh your butt off with how fish-y their attempts at romance look, and that's coming from someone who almost exclusively watches JDrama 😂. But I agree that GMMTV will probably deliver better content over time if they get their storytelling and pacing together and learn from the hiccups they had in 23.5.

Maybe "denounce" isn't the right word (not a native speaker). But Chet asked Nueng if she would tell Anueng that "lesbians are bad" or something similar to that. For me that's either (1) the writer(s) overlooked the point that Nueng had a sister in a same-sex relationship, (2) Chet didn't know Sam is in a same-sex relationship, (3) he thought that Nueng isn't comfortable with Sam in such a relationship or (4) he thought that Nueng would just say it, which, for me, would be kind of if he'd wanted her to say she's against Sam being with Mon. I ruled out points 2 and 3 because it seemed Chet knew the family and that the sisters are rather close.
When I googled a translation of the word I was looking for "denounce: publicly declare something/someone is wrong" came up, so I used it. Sorry if it gave you a wrong idea.

Thanks for the comment. But I think you misunderstood with your first part. I knew the reasons why they were against it, but I was just wondering if it was an oversight by the writer(s) or if Chet deliberately asked Nueng to "denounce" her sister on several occasions, which would make him even worse in my eyes. From what I could tell basically everyone knew about Sam, even people who didn't know the family personally, but with his extremely dense character I really wasn't sure.

Thanks for your second part, that whole scenario makes a lot more sense to me now. It doesn't really change my opinion if she was already 20 and in university, but it definitely makes it more understandable.

I liked this one quite a lot more than GAP or Season 1, even though I really didn't get the logic why an adult would let themself be forced to completely change their life and themselves to a point they fall into depression or at least have a nervous breakdown just because the parents say so.
Also, I got the feeling that the screenwriter(s) or even the original writer (sorry, haven't read the novel) forgot Sam existed everytime the "parents" spoke to Nueng about Anueng in both seasons. I thought they were quite close or at least knew Nueng's family quite well, so why would they ask Nueng to say that "being a lesbian is wrong"? Did they think Nueng is against Sam's choice of life or that she would just denounce Sam to Anueng because they asked her to say it? Regardless, an enjoyable watch and I loved Anuengs character in this season, especially her mischievous side.

Well, it's Japan, and only the Japanese market counts for them, which is why a lot of them look seriously cheap (no budget) and are really badly directed and written. They'd probably make a laughing stock out of themselves if they'd show some of their dramas to the world like this (I say that while JDrama is basically the only thing I watch these days). It was the same with music, which they just started promoting in the west (thanks to COVID in large parts) because there's a lot more quality now. So I think it'll take another ~5 years before dramas are on a level to be seriously considered promoting more outside of Japan.

Well, that's what I'm saying for years now (as you can see in the comments under a lot of such dramas). It's not just in Shoujo, it's in basically every genre. I also don't see how this is generalizing. Even if only 4 out of 10 dramas have these FLs it would be a problem if you ask me. Especially the "I'm a career woman and work three times as hard as men to get half the recognition, but as soon as I see a dude I think is charming I want to quit, get married and be a housewive even though I earn twice the money" characters are the biggest pain in the ass.