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War of High School thai drama review
Completed
War of High School
2 people found this review helpful
by labcat
Apr 5, 2021
12 of 12 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 7.5
Story 7.5
Acting/Cast 8.0
Music 7.0
Rewatch Value 7.0
This review may contain spoilers

Strange but strangely enjoyable in some ways

The are some rather strange things about this series. First of all, it is absurdly lighthearted for a story that involves the mysterious deaths (likely murders) of two students in a school, with a few more being harmed in rather violent ways. It even has a student (not even 18, I think) apparently prostituting herself to a man old enough to be her father (well, he's literally old enough to be her father because he does turn out to be her schoolmate's father). Then there are the apparently uncaring teachers and some rather inconsistent characters.

But I won't really say that the series is terrible either. It's enjoyable in some a B-movie sort of way. It does turn out to be fairly suspenseful though I do get a lingering sense that things are made up and improvised along the way -- it does not feel like I'm watching a nicely constructed story unfolding. The mystery gets solved and un-solved (and I don't just mean that it remains unsolved) at the end.

The "solving" of the mystery is certainly not satisfactory. The revelation of the culprit(s) is unconvincing because it doesn't explain how the second girl who is killed gets killed, and it's bizarre that classmates would send a culprit behind so much trouble sweet little notes urging the person to get well and return to school.

Then the mystery gets un-solved eventually. What I mean is that there is a twist and it turns out that the mystery hasn't really been solved. It is strange because the twist comes in a side story (right at the end of the final episode), something which is usually reserved for fluff and/or product placements. I'm not exactly averse to such a move, but it would only be brilliant if both the solving of the mystery and the un-solving of the mystery are convincing and executed with finesse.

There is one BL couple in the series (Song and Ming), together with plenty of moments of BL fan service (Pound and Joemy; Kyumin and Ricky). The BL couple is rather cute and while there is a fair bit of attention on them, I did wish there had been more of them instead of all the bitching and rivalry amongst the female students. Yes, this is one of the series that are sexist in the way they portray female characters to be often full of bitchiness (despite being more complex), unlike the more innocent and simple male characters. So be warned.

There are some moments of meaningless digressions that I can't really make sense of, such as the moments with this girl and some doctor she's obsessed with. Some parts are pointless and even exploitative, such as the scene in which the male students, not wearing any clothes, are taking a shower together in a tiny cubicle. In the last episode, there is even a scene in which Ricky and Kyumin come out of the same toilet cubicle one after another: Ricky looks at Kyumin and points at his own cheek. I thought he is asking for a kiss, but he is ... well, actually telling Kyumin about the white liquid substance on his (Kyumin's) face. Yeah, I so absolutely convinced that's a moisturizer or some skincare product because Ricky used to sell skincare products, haha.

I started watching this series because I wanted to see more of Ohm Pawat's acting, but while he doesn't disappoint, I must say Tonson who acts as Pimp (what a name!) impresses me the most. She can look affected, devious, victimized and yet still seem convincingly innocent when the situation calls for it. The character is a little inscrutable, but Tonson has managed to bring out all the aspects of the character very well.
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