jaydeejay
This review may contain spoilers
A Great Beginning, And Then...
WOW I have NO idea what I stumbled into, but this story went in a completely different than what my friends and I anticipated.
Now, keep in mind: I didn't read the original novel. I hopped onto this BL because around the time it aired, just about every other Thai BL was full of drama and sometimes nonsensical writing, and this show looked sooooo cute and fresh! It stars mostly new actors and is about cooking! What could go wrong?
And then, well...it became one of those super dramatic BLs with some level of nonsensical writing. And I was beyond disappointed.
POSITIVES:
1) The show has a good start! If anything, I'd recommend watching maybe the first 4 episodes; at this point, the story is cute and lighthearted and has a strong focus on cooking. I could honestly sit here and rewatch the first couple of episodes a couple more times- and I already have! Ahh, the good 'ol days of when the story was good...
2) Friendships! It's rare to have BLs where the main character's friends are important to them. Usually after a short amount of time, the friend(s) disappears for some reason...? And they somehow get so caught up in their own thing, they end up ditching their supposed best friend. Not only does Lukchub's and Ram's groups of friends stick around for most of the time, but they're also supportive! I loved the moments when Phai (Lukchub's friend) and Sky (Ram's friend) would sit down with their friend and get serious with them. The dialogue was fantastic! Not only is it rare to see the friends stick around, but it's also rare to see them try to knock some sense into the main character(s).
3) Acting: For a show with mostly new actors, the acting for the most part honestly wasn't bad! Sometimes they were stiff, but I'm willing to let that pass. The one's who had some problems also had great potential to get better. Namning's actress did a GREAT job in my opinion.
NEGATIVES:
1) I kid you not when I say that the show went from cute and simple to soap opera drama SO quick. Suddenly we're dealing with a character who's so deranged that she eventually pulls out a gun and nearly shoots her own mother. The cute cooking aspect of the story went straight out of the window and never made a reappearance in the spotlight ever again.
2) 13 episodes: this show was way too long. There's one episode where next to nothing happened; episode 5, I think? The second part of the club scene. They could have shrunk it down to 10 episodes and it would have been okay.
3) Lack of story balance: one thing I LOVE about Thai BLs is that we always get some subplot with other romances. Almost always the main character's best friend gets a fun little side story that's just as interesting if not sometimes even *more* interesting than the main plot. LC has a large cast of characters, all of which are honestly very interesting in their own ways and with how they interact with each other. And I was looking sooooooo forward to seeing SkyPhai and TitanPangi!! *Especially* SkyPhai!! They did a GREAT job at showing up little bits of each couple leading up to their romance- and then out of no where, we don't see *any* progression with the two side couples. There's a small scene with Titan and Pangi and that's it. Sky and Phai get absolutely NOTHING. They spend SO much time focusing on Namning, that we're left with mere breadcrumbs for the side couples. I was looking forward to SkyPhai *so* much because they're both similar yet complete opposites. Plus the actors look great together and have some great chemistry. All they gave us SkyPhai fans was a makeout scene with some flirting. Now, mind you...the makeout scene was hot as hell, I will give that that! But that's all we got and I'm still mad about it a whole week later.
4) Ram's acting. Like I mentioned before, the acting was good! Except for Ram's actor's acting. He was the most stiff out of all of the show. The chemistry between him and Mick (Lukchub's actor) is great and can be seen from time to time, but I do think it's odd that he was chosen to play the main character.
5) Namning's role in the story. On one hand, I do think her actress did a great job with the role. But on the other, having a villainous female character in a BL can be very misogynistic because usually the story banks on the fact that the character *is* a woman; they also tend to utilize toxic tropes and stereotypes with these female characters. Now, I don't immediately see having a female bad guy in a BL story as a bad thing because sometimes it works out. But I felt like they went wayyyy too far with her role. I wish the whole thing wasn't as dramatic as it was and that it ended around episode 10 or 11. But no, they went full force and had her stick around until the first 20mins of the last episode.
6) The last episode and they way they crammed some very last minute romantic scenes in there. They didn't show us any progression for the side couples, but suddenly they're together and one of them gets married. And yes, they did a timeskip. TWO of them for some reason.
-------------------------------------
All I can say is that despite the immense whiplash I got from this show, I am honestly excited to see what most of the actors will be working on next, especially Boom (Phai's actor), Tachit (Sky's actor), Momo (Pangji's actress), Ice (Titan's actor), and Mick (Lukchub's actor).
Now, keep in mind: I didn't read the original novel. I hopped onto this BL because around the time it aired, just about every other Thai BL was full of drama and sometimes nonsensical writing, and this show looked sooooo cute and fresh! It stars mostly new actors and is about cooking! What could go wrong?
And then, well...it became one of those super dramatic BLs with some level of nonsensical writing. And I was beyond disappointed.
POSITIVES:
1) The show has a good start! If anything, I'd recommend watching maybe the first 4 episodes; at this point, the story is cute and lighthearted and has a strong focus on cooking. I could honestly sit here and rewatch the first couple of episodes a couple more times- and I already have! Ahh, the good 'ol days of when the story was good...
2) Friendships! It's rare to have BLs where the main character's friends are important to them. Usually after a short amount of time, the friend(s) disappears for some reason...? And they somehow get so caught up in their own thing, they end up ditching their supposed best friend. Not only does Lukchub's and Ram's groups of friends stick around for most of the time, but they're also supportive! I loved the moments when Phai (Lukchub's friend) and Sky (Ram's friend) would sit down with their friend and get serious with them. The dialogue was fantastic! Not only is it rare to see the friends stick around, but it's also rare to see them try to knock some sense into the main character(s).
3) Acting: For a show with mostly new actors, the acting for the most part honestly wasn't bad! Sometimes they were stiff, but I'm willing to let that pass. The one's who had some problems also had great potential to get better. Namning's actress did a GREAT job in my opinion.
NEGATIVES:
1) I kid you not when I say that the show went from cute and simple to soap opera drama SO quick. Suddenly we're dealing with a character who's so deranged that she eventually pulls out a gun and nearly shoots her own mother. The cute cooking aspect of the story went straight out of the window and never made a reappearance in the spotlight ever again.
2) 13 episodes: this show was way too long. There's one episode where next to nothing happened; episode 5, I think? The second part of the club scene. They could have shrunk it down to 10 episodes and it would have been okay.
3) Lack of story balance: one thing I LOVE about Thai BLs is that we always get some subplot with other romances. Almost always the main character's best friend gets a fun little side story that's just as interesting if not sometimes even *more* interesting than the main plot. LC has a large cast of characters, all of which are honestly very interesting in their own ways and with how they interact with each other. And I was looking sooooooo forward to seeing SkyPhai and TitanPangi!! *Especially* SkyPhai!! They did a GREAT job at showing up little bits of each couple leading up to their romance- and then out of no where, we don't see *any* progression with the two side couples. There's a small scene with Titan and Pangi and that's it. Sky and Phai get absolutely NOTHING. They spend SO much time focusing on Namning, that we're left with mere breadcrumbs for the side couples. I was looking forward to SkyPhai *so* much because they're both similar yet complete opposites. Plus the actors look great together and have some great chemistry. All they gave us SkyPhai fans was a makeout scene with some flirting. Now, mind you...the makeout scene was hot as hell, I will give that that! But that's all we got and I'm still mad about it a whole week later.
4) Ram's acting. Like I mentioned before, the acting was good! Except for Ram's actor's acting. He was the most stiff out of all of the show. The chemistry between him and Mick (Lukchub's actor) is great and can be seen from time to time, but I do think it's odd that he was chosen to play the main character.
5) Namning's role in the story. On one hand, I do think her actress did a great job with the role. But on the other, having a villainous female character in a BL can be very misogynistic because usually the story banks on the fact that the character *is* a woman; they also tend to utilize toxic tropes and stereotypes with these female characters. Now, I don't immediately see having a female bad guy in a BL story as a bad thing because sometimes it works out. But I felt like they went wayyyy too far with her role. I wish the whole thing wasn't as dramatic as it was and that it ended around episode 10 or 11. But no, they went full force and had her stick around until the first 20mins of the last episode.
6) The last episode and they way they crammed some very last minute romantic scenes in there. They didn't show us any progression for the side couples, but suddenly they're together and one of them gets married. And yes, they did a timeskip. TWO of them for some reason.
-------------------------------------
All I can say is that despite the immense whiplash I got from this show, I am honestly excited to see what most of the actors will be working on next, especially Boom (Phai's actor), Tachit (Sky's actor), Momo (Pangji's actress), Ice (Titan's actor), and Mick (Lukchub's actor).
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