kazel87
Kuala Lumpur
This review may contain spoilers
After binge-watching all 12 episodes over the weekend, the ending completely let me down. I felt the ending was unrealistic and did not serve the characters well. Please do bear in mind that my review is based on the fact that I have never read the novel nor watched LBC.
1. In the final confrontation scene between Tharn, Type and Lhong (which in itself was a bit long IMO), Tharn was seen to be beating himself up over what happened to Tar (someone he loved deeply before meeting Type). Yet there was no follow up to that. A meeting with Tar over the unfortunate circumstances will provide so much emotional resonance. This would have allowed some character depth to Tharn and also enable Tar to have some sort of closure given that he is the real victim. As it is, Tar miraculously recover from his year-long anxiety and depression in the last few scenes and can continue his education at France which was super-unrealistic. Also, given that his band broke up over this Tharn/Tar separation, I felt they could have also resolved the dispute between Tharn and Tum.
2. Tharn and Type's characterization. From the beginning, it seems like Tharn and Type enjoyed a healthy friendship (despite how brief it was given that they are first year's students). But this was not shown and viewers were quickly introduced to their dispute over Tharn's homosexuality. Flashback would have great to establish this. What I couldn't accept was Tharn's inconsistent characterization. He was portrayed as a loving son/brother (in his scenes with his family) and loyal friend (flashback with Lhong) yet he crossed the line and sexually assault Type because he has a crush on Type. That was highly disturbing to me.
3. The good thing that came out from the series is Techno. Played extremely well, the character is likeable without being annoying. However, we also did not get to know him more other than his ambition to be a football captain. Perhaps that is the reason I like the character. There was no introduction of background with serious implications to the character.
All in all, I would have a hard time recommending this one to anyone other than to enjoy the fluffy scenes between Tharn and Type.
1. In the final confrontation scene between Tharn, Type and Lhong (which in itself was a bit long IMO), Tharn was seen to be beating himself up over what happened to Tar (someone he loved deeply before meeting Type). Yet there was no follow up to that. A meeting with Tar over the unfortunate circumstances will provide so much emotional resonance. This would have allowed some character depth to Tharn and also enable Tar to have some sort of closure given that he is the real victim. As it is, Tar miraculously recover from his year-long anxiety and depression in the last few scenes and can continue his education at France which was super-unrealistic. Also, given that his band broke up over this Tharn/Tar separation, I felt they could have also resolved the dispute between Tharn and Tum.
2. Tharn and Type's characterization. From the beginning, it seems like Tharn and Type enjoyed a healthy friendship (despite how brief it was given that they are first year's students). But this was not shown and viewers were quickly introduced to their dispute over Tharn's homosexuality. Flashback would have great to establish this. What I couldn't accept was Tharn's inconsistent characterization. He was portrayed as a loving son/brother (in his scenes with his family) and loyal friend (flashback with Lhong) yet he crossed the line and sexually assault Type because he has a crush on Type. That was highly disturbing to me.
3. The good thing that came out from the series is Techno. Played extremely well, the character is likeable without being annoying. However, we also did not get to know him more other than his ambition to be a football captain. Perhaps that is the reason I like the character. There was no introduction of background with serious implications to the character.
All in all, I would have a hard time recommending this one to anyone other than to enjoy the fluffy scenes between Tharn and Type.
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