huhugoblin
Fated romance and beautiful production.
I remember watching the pilot for this drama just over a year ago and being very excited. I'm happy to report that is one of the best BL dramas I've seen so far coming out of 2023.
Starting off with the best part about this drama, the production. This has one of the best production values I have seen from a drama coming out of Thailand, and completely exceeded my expectations. The cinematography created a dreamy atmosphere. The set, costumes and scenery were all lovely and thoughtfully composed.
One of my favorite parts was the soundtrack. Unlike the series that put the same 3 or 4 background songs on rotation until your ears bleed, IFYLITA had a vast and wonderful selection of music. Aside from the occasional poor sound cut off, the music was well mixed and of a much higher quality than about 80% of the dramas I’ve seen. The theme songs worked well with the soundtrack and the body of music used for the show was very cohesive.
The story also exceeded my expectations. I knew that IFYLITA would be to my taste due to the tropes that they used. The mystery and suspense of the connections between the two worlds kept me very intrigued, and was my favorite part of the story. The fated romance between the main characters felt legendary. The actors did a good job with their roles. Bright made Khun Yai feel like a tender young man experiencing his first love. Nonkul did a great job with all of his emotional scenes, though I didn't exactly love the portrayal of his character (more on that later). I liked the family drama aspect, and watching how the parents developed.
Now, as much as I loved this drama, it still isn’t perfect. Overall, I would say the character writing was great, but Jom was definitely frustrating at times. Largely, Jom was a little boring and I couldn’t really pick out any defining personality features (aside from him being agreeable or acting like a lost puppy). Jom is mainly just strung along, and never really makes any decisions for himself. In the beginning, he would get in trouble for the same kinds of things over and over, and when confronted he could never think up a good excuse. Of course all of these things got better as the show carried on, but it's still disappointing as Jom's personality in the novel is clever and a little feisty.
Another fault was the lack of awareness from Jom and Khun Yai. I’m surprised that their relationship wasn’t on the front page of the newspaper. At times they were so conspicuous that I felt anxious more than anything during romantic scenes.
When it comes to the plot and pacing, there were never any horrible scenes, but there were some patches where the pacing fell into a slump. For a good portion of the show, the build-up tension, and execution would work together wonderfully and make some wonderful and thrilling scenes. Despite this, there were a handful of plot points and reveals that felt anticlimactic in comparison. There were also a few times where subpar acting was carried by good writing, or lackluster scenes were carried by good acting. The ending was a little rushed, and once again I feel they could have switched up certain reveals and pacing for dramatic effect.
Overall, any faults of this show pale in comparison to its good qualities, and I will always look at it fondly. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this series, and I plan on rewatching it soon. Since watching it, I have completed the novel and throughly enjoyed it. I recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the series. Hopefully we get a season 2!
Starting off with the best part about this drama, the production. This has one of the best production values I have seen from a drama coming out of Thailand, and completely exceeded my expectations. The cinematography created a dreamy atmosphere. The set, costumes and scenery were all lovely and thoughtfully composed.
One of my favorite parts was the soundtrack. Unlike the series that put the same 3 or 4 background songs on rotation until your ears bleed, IFYLITA had a vast and wonderful selection of music. Aside from the occasional poor sound cut off, the music was well mixed and of a much higher quality than about 80% of the dramas I’ve seen. The theme songs worked well with the soundtrack and the body of music used for the show was very cohesive.
The story also exceeded my expectations. I knew that IFYLITA would be to my taste due to the tropes that they used. The mystery and suspense of the connections between the two worlds kept me very intrigued, and was my favorite part of the story. The fated romance between the main characters felt legendary. The actors did a good job with their roles. Bright made Khun Yai feel like a tender young man experiencing his first love. Nonkul did a great job with all of his emotional scenes, though I didn't exactly love the portrayal of his character (more on that later). I liked the family drama aspect, and watching how the parents developed.
Now, as much as I loved this drama, it still isn’t perfect. Overall, I would say the character writing was great, but Jom was definitely frustrating at times. Largely, Jom was a little boring and I couldn’t really pick out any defining personality features (aside from him being agreeable or acting like a lost puppy). Jom is mainly just strung along, and never really makes any decisions for himself. In the beginning, he would get in trouble for the same kinds of things over and over, and when confronted he could never think up a good excuse. Of course all of these things got better as the show carried on, but it's still disappointing as Jom's personality in the novel is clever and a little feisty.
Another fault was the lack of awareness from Jom and Khun Yai. I’m surprised that their relationship wasn’t on the front page of the newspaper. At times they were so conspicuous that I felt anxious more than anything during romantic scenes.
When it comes to the plot and pacing, there were never any horrible scenes, but there were some patches where the pacing fell into a slump. For a good portion of the show, the build-up tension, and execution would work together wonderfully and make some wonderful and thrilling scenes. Despite this, there were a handful of plot points and reveals that felt anticlimactic in comparison. There were also a few times where subpar acting was carried by good writing, or lackluster scenes were carried by good acting. The ending was a little rushed, and once again I feel they could have switched up certain reveals and pacing for dramatic effect.
Overall, any faults of this show pale in comparison to its good qualities, and I will always look at it fondly. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this series, and I plan on rewatching it soon. Since watching it, I have completed the novel and throughly enjoyed it. I recommend it to anyone who enjoyed the series. Hopefully we get a season 2!
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