This review may contain spoilers
fell in love with FaiPhrao the most and NamneungNoey absolutely delivered in my now all-time fave GL
>>>Acting<<<First of all, I will sing praises for NamneungNoey's performances because for their first leading roles in a show, they killed it. The expressions, the mannerisms, the gestures, the stares, as in they got everything perfectly. They really brought Fai and Kaphrao to life. As an earlier review mentioned, Noey specifically was able to convey so much of Kaphrao's emotions through subtle facial expressions!!! My absolute favorite scenes of her showcasing these were mainly in Episode 4 and Episode 7. The conflicting stare when Fai pulled her in for a hug in her drunken stupor, the softening gaze and leaning in to a cuddle the morning after, all of Kaphrao's hesitances whenever Fai confessed she liked her were all so good. It worked effectively in place of Kaphrao's monologues in the novel. And Namneung, the actress that you are in the finale oh my lord. For someone whose previous acting roles are mostly light-hearted comedies, she handled all the solemn melancholic crying scenes so well. I haven't been this obsessed with a GL since Gap and I'm sorry but Gap is now dethroned as my most rewatched GL, it is now The Fire and I still can't get enough of it.
>>>Trope<<<
This is enemies to lovers perfection and I'm not even a major fan of that trope. That trope is not in the list of tropes I actively seek in sapphic media but The Fire just proved how great it could be if executed perfectly. As a rule of thumb, I also avoid bullying as a plot as much as possible but reading the novel for the first time and seeing Kaphrao actively fight back against Fai was so satisfying and made me fall in love with her. Kaphrao ended up being my favorite cousin-in-law.
>>>Pacing and Writing<<<
The pacing was almost perfect for me, we definitely needed the slow burn. I think my only problem with the pacing is the island arc didn't need an entire episode and could've gone into more happy moments of Fai and Kaphrao's relationship right after they started dating. As for the finale, I love that they didn't rush it. All the resolutions were absolutely needed. So far, this is the best "redemption" I've seen as we've really seen the progression of the aunt's treatment and how her opinion and attitude didn't change overnight (especially compared to Gap which had like 5 minutes and 2 scenes for the redemption of the grandma but it's the first Thai GL adaptation so I'm giving that a pass.)
>>>Music<<<
As for the music, I really love NNN's OSTs for The Fire! I only gave the music for this show an 8.5 because I really didn't feel like some songs (especially the other 4E songs) were appropriate/needed. I'm just mainly frustrated we never got to hear Kaphrao crying her heart out at the start of Episode 7 TT__TT. Also, the songs for the finale have been absolutely phenomenal except for the scene when both Fai and Kaphrao were crying in the house because why did the music sound romantic TT__TT. The rest made me feel like I ascended to heaven though and were immediately added to my Spotify playlists.
>>>Novel Comparison<<<
First of all, I love the change into having Nod as a rival instead of being interested in Fai as the jealousy arc definitely served Fai's character better and I love that we actually got to see a suitor appreciate and treat Kaphrao as she deserved because I just love her so much aaaaaaa. I also re-read the novel recently to jog my mind and I did prefer some of their banters in the novel more because some were made more childish in the show. They still got the dynamic right though so I'm giving this a pass (plus I haven't really seen non Japanese shows/movies successfully integrate monologues though this was one I kinda did wish had them because this would've given us more insight on Fai and Kaphrao's shifting views on each other as the show progressed aaaaaaa). I also preferred the longer flashback during the bear surprise reveal because some people were frustrated Fai didn't immediately run to notify during the flashback in Episode 7 (although we already got a flashback of how that went in a previous episode anyway).
>>>NamneungNoey as a Shipped CP for Almost a Decade<<<
I also have to add that NNN being a shipped idol pairing absolutely made me love this even more. I used to be a die-hard fan of Keyakizaka46 when I was in high school which was a group similar to AKB48, the original J-Pop idol group which is what the international sister group BNK48 is from. I consider NNN shippers as my kin because I did use to ship members from K46 lol (Habu and Yuuka but when they did ended up doing GL shows, it was separate TT__TT though I did like their new pairings) and I feel elated that NNN shippers actually got to see the idols they shipped star in a GL _together_ and I'm just so glad that the stars aligned that we got these shipped idols for almost a decade have leading roles in a mega-project and they got a good script, a really high budget and production value, and a really good director.
>>>Badly Needed Linguistic and Cultural Nuances<<<
Aside from the few missing subtitles, what I hated though is that out of all the elements I feel like The Fire needed official explanations for the linguistic and cultural nuances the most for a lot of things in the show that can easily go over the heads of international fans. List of the ones that I have a gripe with:
- the nicknames (It wasn't explained that they're wordplays for their names. Guinea pig is nu tha pao which sounds like Kaphrao, buffalo is kwaai which sounds like Fai.)
- all the basil double entendre because Kaphrao means holy basil (It was only explained in Episode 5 but apparently, many people missed why Fai angrily ate the stir-fried holy basil dish in Episode 1 and why she gave the bouquet of holy basil to Kaphrao in Episode 7.)
- Aside from basil, Kaphrao also referenced Fai's name's meaning during their fight in Episode 3 saying she really is just like her name, fire. Also, Kaphrao's actual name Athittaya is from the word Athit which means sun hence why she wears a sun necklace in the show.
- honorifics, terms of endearment, and Phi jaa (Honestly, I mostly just noticed these when I watched Thai reactors. They reacted so strongly during the lines when they first changed how they refer to each other throughout the show. Fai went from calling Kaphrao those silly nicknames like guinea pig and gremlin to calling her by her name and refers to her with the honorific Nong to indicate intimacy. As for Kaphrao, while she referred to Fai with the honorific Khun outside of the nicknames, the very first time we hear her refer to Fai with the honorific Phi in the present time is during the camping conversation when she said "So, you've never wanted me to disappear from your life." And then within the exact same conversation, the very first time she actually called Fai "Phi jaa" was during the line "You used to tease me a lot. It's my turn now." which was before she whispered "Phi jaa" directly in Fai's ear which is only when most interfans caught on. So basically, during that entire camping trip, we got to hear Kaphrao transition from calling Fai "Khun Fai" to "Phi Fai" to "Phi jaa" and it was unnoticeable for interfans because each time the change happened, the subtitles only said "You". It also wasn't clarified that the Jah confusion is because it does sound like a person's name which is why Fai understandably misunderstood it but what Kaphrao is actually saying is just "jaa" a sentence ending particle and term of endearment that indicates intimacy which is why interfans also missed all the "Phi Fai jaa" calls Kaphrao made during the flashbacks even before the reveal in Episode 5 since the subtitles only say "Phi Fai".)
- "Kaphrao is under my care" hits harder with the literal translation "Kaphrao is Fai's person."
- Aside from that, there are so many times that the subtitle took liberty with the translation instead of literal translations (some of which were honestly still understandable and didn't need "localization").
- It also seems that some fans were disappointed that Fai and Kaphrao didn't have an "actual kiss" during their wedding but what most interfans miss is that for the previous weddings, the family and friends chanted "jub" which is the Thai word for (lip) kiss but for Fai and Kaphrao's wedding, they specifically chanted "hom" which is the Thai word for what is basically a closed mouth sniff kiss which is exactly what Fai did to Kaphrao's cheek.
- All the BNK48 cameos and references are more enjoyable with the context.
>>>Other Thoughts:<<<
- The kids acted really well too, especially child Fai!
- I too am sad we didn't get much cousins' interactions especially with Lom but I'm just glad that the entire 4E project was able to go through despite all the issues that happened during the production.
- I'm sad we didn't get to see NNN perform during their wedding, it seems like a waste to have idols and not have them have a performance when The Water got one TT__TT.
- I love all the references to the previous elements and I love that we finally got to see Fai eat her own words. She contradicted so many things she said in the three previous shows and the first half of The Fire lmao.
- It's funny how some people were shocked with the dowry because it's easy to forget Fai is the richest cousin lmao. I do love how Fai is the first rich GL (main) character that I can remember who is super rich but yet doesn't flaunt it and instead focuses on practicality. Asking for money and borrowing clothes also do not help her image. I also love that this is the first time we got a rich family whose businesses aren't flashy and luxurious yet still realistically lucrative.
- To counter an earlier review, Fai and Kaphrao is definitely one of the couples who are far from having a loveless marriage followed by divorce. Disregarding their monologues/dialogues about commitment in the novel, they still managed to show a little bit of it in the show (albeit admittedly, it could've been shown more). I admit I haven't watched _that much_ Thai GL given that I only watch those whose premise/production really intrigues me but out of all the ones I can remember with a disapproving parental figure (tbh I'm mainly only remembering Gap), Fai actually committed to her love for _both_ her aunt and Kaphrao. At least she didn't actually let go of her lover's hand, she tried so hard to make it work despite the concessions. And I absolutely love that Kaphrao also explicitly said that the aunt won't break them up but also understood where Fai is coming from and suggested LDR.
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