puwupy
A very underrated roller-coaster!
I was a little hesitant about starting this series, because I don't get along too well with historical settings, and I'm also not familiar with Thai History. I was afraid I would not be able to understand this story as well as I wished to, but in the end everything turned out well from that aspect and I was able to enjoy the story without much trouble.
The story mainly revolves around family rivalries and the fight for power in the Song family. Most of the characters fight to either protect Tian from ill-intentioned people, or to steal Tian's money or power for themselves. Tian's sexuality is a dangerous secret that fuels the motives of the people around him, contributing to making the life in the Song household even messier. This is absolutely NOT a light series to watch (I've read somewhere that its specific genre is lakorn), every major action of the characters leads to more problems that need to be solved with other great actions. It was a lively plot that kept me engaged from the beginning to the end, definitely recommended if you like drama! I also liked how the negative feelings and actions of the characters often led to more negativity and problems, while positive feelings and deeds led to better outcomes. The Karmic energy is not always mentioned but it's a recurring element of the story and I really appreciated it.
I also appreciated the fact that, rather than a BL, this is actual gay representation: there are actual problems and struggles of gay people that are shown on the screen and they were all tackled very well.
The characters, for the most part, are very well written and with multiple facets that make them very intriguing. I'm not just talking about the main characters (Tian, Jiu, and Yang specifically), but also the secondary roles, especially the female characters: I've rarely seen so many female characters being so active, with a good characterization and not too stereotyped, especially in a BL, where female characters are usually barely there in the first place. The relationships are also very well explored, especially the family bonds: Tian and Yang's brotherly love is displayed in all its beauty and it was amazing, and the relationship between Tian and his parents was very well explored as well.
In "To Sir With Love", while Tian and his sexuality are the main fuel for everyone's decisions and actions, his moments with Jiu are very few and short. Jiu doesn't even show up before the second episode, and their moments together only last a few minutes until a few episodes in (episodes 6-7 or so, I believe?). Their lack of screen time surprised me since I was expecting them to be on the screen more than anything else, but in the end things worked out fine regardless: they have very good chemistry with each other and they were able to deliver very intense and powerful moments anyway. All I want to add is a little warning for anyone who is looking for passionate kissing scenes or anything like that: I suggest looking somewhere else for that.
My only complaints about this lakorn would be these:
- some of the actors were acting with too much intensity. I don't know how else to describe it: at some points they really felt like caricatures of their own characters, with exaggerated expressions and movements that didn't feel natural in the least.
- sometimes the events and the elements of the plot were changed and flexed based on convenience: characters being there to eavesdrop or spy on others just in time, wounds getting better or magically disappearing depending on what did that character need to do, and certain tasks being completed without enough care and precision. I felt like I could see where the writers wanted the plot to go a little too easily because of this.
- the ending was not very satisfying to me. I felt like some of the conflicts of the story didn't get resolved properly.
I feel like I didn't describe how much I liked this series as well as I wished to, so I really want to stress it: I LOVED IT. I especially recommend it to anyone who likes soap-operas, and even anyone who would like to watch a BL for the first time and isn't looking for something too romance-focused.
The story mainly revolves around family rivalries and the fight for power in the Song family. Most of the characters fight to either protect Tian from ill-intentioned people, or to steal Tian's money or power for themselves. Tian's sexuality is a dangerous secret that fuels the motives of the people around him, contributing to making the life in the Song household even messier. This is absolutely NOT a light series to watch (I've read somewhere that its specific genre is lakorn), every major action of the characters leads to more problems that need to be solved with other great actions. It was a lively plot that kept me engaged from the beginning to the end, definitely recommended if you like drama! I also liked how the negative feelings and actions of the characters often led to more negativity and problems, while positive feelings and deeds led to better outcomes. The Karmic energy is not always mentioned but it's a recurring element of the story and I really appreciated it.
I also appreciated the fact that, rather than a BL, this is actual gay representation: there are actual problems and struggles of gay people that are shown on the screen and they were all tackled very well.
The characters, for the most part, are very well written and with multiple facets that make them very intriguing. I'm not just talking about the main characters (Tian, Jiu, and Yang specifically), but also the secondary roles, especially the female characters: I've rarely seen so many female characters being so active, with a good characterization and not too stereotyped, especially in a BL, where female characters are usually barely there in the first place. The relationships are also very well explored, especially the family bonds: Tian and Yang's brotherly love is displayed in all its beauty and it was amazing, and the relationship between Tian and his parents was very well explored as well.
In "To Sir With Love", while Tian and his sexuality are the main fuel for everyone's decisions and actions, his moments with Jiu are very few and short. Jiu doesn't even show up before the second episode, and their moments together only last a few minutes until a few episodes in (episodes 6-7 or so, I believe?). Their lack of screen time surprised me since I was expecting them to be on the screen more than anything else, but in the end things worked out fine regardless: they have very good chemistry with each other and they were able to deliver very intense and powerful moments anyway. All I want to add is a little warning for anyone who is looking for passionate kissing scenes or anything like that: I suggest looking somewhere else for that.
My only complaints about this lakorn would be these:
- some of the actors were acting with too much intensity. I don't know how else to describe it: at some points they really felt like caricatures of their own characters, with exaggerated expressions and movements that didn't feel natural in the least.
- sometimes the events and the elements of the plot were changed and flexed based on convenience: characters being there to eavesdrop or spy on others just in time, wounds getting better or magically disappearing depending on what did that character need to do, and certain tasks being completed without enough care and precision. I felt like I could see where the writers wanted the plot to go a little too easily because of this.
- the ending was not very satisfying to me. I felt like some of the conflicts of the story didn't get resolved properly.
I feel like I didn't describe how much I liked this series as well as I wished to, so I really want to stress it: I LOVED IT. I especially recommend it to anyone who likes soap-operas, and even anyone who would like to watch a BL for the first time and isn't looking for something too romance-focused.
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