Lonely hearts

Present Perfect, the feature movie which was based on this short film, was my first thai movie and I liked it very much but I never saw the original before. It is different as it takes place in Thailand and not Japan like the feature. But the core story is the same.

Two men meet in the middle of nowhere. One is escaping a broken heart, and the other is trying to muster up the courage to get married. The first one is openly gay, the second one is still hiding in closet, or at least his gay side! They become friends and then more while healing and growing.

The opening credits have Bangkok University logo so if I remember correctly this is a student movie. And for a student movie it is beautifully made: the production values are high is spite of limited budged. The cinematography is stunning, the sets are beautiful (those little houses have amazing architecture), editing smooth and the music correct. The actors seem inexperienced but they pulled it off nicely in spite of minimal chemistry. There are no explicit scenes, everything is in the glances and gestures: the hottes scene we got is a chaste hug but it is fairly obvious what happened. This only proves the fact that good writing does not need in-your-face NC scenes to make a story about love. Nevertheless, the story draws the audience in and we wish to see more of these characters. Which we got in two feature films, I recommend you watch!

The cast
Oat - Supaponpong Jarin
Toey - Tarathon Noylean
May - Nanthawon Sriwisanpob (the resort owner)
Faii - Suyanee Jaemmankang (Oat's fiancée)

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Unexpectedly good!

I started this on a whim: I had nothing to watch, I wanted to watch a bl and this one had just finished airing so I decided to give it a go! If I had to decide whether to watch this based on the poster(comedy! urgh!) and the synopsis(school bl? urgh), I never would have started this. And I would have missed this little gem.

-What made this series extraordinary are the two main actors: Sea and Keen. While Keen is, just like his name suggests, keen, cheerful, happy go lucky and sweet and charming young man, I fell under the spell of Sea: his speaking voice, his solid acting and his sweetness. They are young but they are giving Gemini and First run for the money. I am eagerly waiting for their next project, together or separately, I don't care, I want to watch them in something else. Soon! In any case they are very much at ease with each other, and are not afraid to kiss in spite of their young age. Do not miss the bonus scenes at the end of the last episodes where they show us interrupted kisses from the drama uninterrupted: too cute! Speaking of which, there is the best accidental kiss I have ever seen in the first episode: cute and hilarious.

The plot is full of clichés but they are done so well, I did not mind them. The spoiled brat with a heart of gold, the struggling and suffering artist and cook with a heart of gold. Girl best friend with a heart of gold, encouraging the young men. The odd second couple. The cousin falling for the cook....In a way this reminds me of japanese dramas where everyone is nice and kind and open and even the apparently bad characters turn out to be nice. Actually, after the first episode, I was a bit worried at how they are going to stretch the thin plot over 12 episodes. Frankly they did a great job, not wasting too much time on repetitions, flashbacks and pointless subplots. There was not a dull moment!

They did away with annoying screaming trans characters which was one of the reasons why I enjoyed this so much. They also used a lot of sfx (lightning, hearts etc) and sound effects, which I usually hate with all my might. Here those did not bother me once. I am still reeling from the realization! LOL

I am very difficult when humour is concerned (slapstick and cring are to be avoided!) and here I was served the sweetest kind of funny with a minimal, barely perceptible cringe. Music on the other hand was a disappointment: it was the usual generic funky thai bl songs, which sound the same as every other thai bl song with a catchy tune and the passages a capella and eventually unremarkable.

This little drama is a perfect summer watch; sunny, fun, with some lovely acting, decent chemistry and solid writing. Don't expect to be shaken by this drama but it is a perfect blend of funny, fluffy and cute. Thank you for this nice surprise GMMTV.

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Food and...love?!?!?

I know that this whole franchise has a big fan base so they are probably not going to like my musings on this special episode!

I am sorry but I do not see the chemistry between these two men. They act like a stern father and a naughty kid pair. The stern lawyer is the adult in this relationship while the middle-aged hairdresser is the kid, hiding and scared of being told off. I had the same impression when I watched the first season of the drama: they looked like two best friends sharing an apartment. If I am not mistaken, they each had their own room so they are not sleeping together. There is a scene in this special episode, when the lawyer comes home late, sleeps and leaves without his "partner" noticing it.

Some would say that they had been living together for a long time, the routine has been set and the passion felt at the beginning of a relationship never lasts forever. That is true here, if that is the case! They obviously care for each other but the intimacy is not there. And I do not mean the NSFW kind of intimacy but simple, daily, spontaneous touch of hands, the obvious ease of being together, a sense of content and happiness. Nothing is there! Maybe it has to do with their generation, the culture, their upbringing which forbids them from expressing emotions? Kenji, the hairdresser, is obviously in awe of his "partner", wanting his approval and very jumpy around him when he thinks that he's done something wrong. I haven't read the manga, but Kenji's exaggerated gestures and twirling around is very cringy to watch. He looks and acts like one of those trans thai BL characters used for comic relief, very OTT! But he can be serious and not overact which he showed in a couple of scenes when he suddenly stopped fidgeting and started talking normally and not with the usual baby voice!

There is the interesting second couple: funny to watch, completely toxic and happy to be so! And with so much more chemistry than the main couple!

This special brings nothing new to the drama or any development of their relationship. At one moment, the lawyer falls asleep on the couch and Kenji, trembling like a leaf, tries to steal a kiss, but the lawyer wakes up before he manages to do anything. What kind of relationship is this when you cannot kiss the man of your life freely, at ease at your own home?

Therefore, I wish they would stop selling this as a BL: it is a simple roommates bromance, though one would like to be more! No matter how much the lawyer claims to be gay, he does not act like someone who is in love with the person they are living with. He seems to be what people nowdays call Aroace. Right?

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