Shima
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A nearly polished gem everyone deserves
A heads up: this is the most fluttering, refreshing, and satisfying Thai BL has ever produced so far. A series mixed of fluff and drama, Love By Chance is your typical BL story selling us innocent and pure love. Most of the story arcs were promising, and upon its ending, it certainly delivered. Its cliche scenes did not compromise the humanity of the characters, which BL stories tend to abuse for squeals from fangirls, and making it believable and realistic. Above all, its authenticity shone throughout the show, credits going to all who are involved in this magnificent show which gave viewers - fans and casual viewers - a story rather than nonsense supercut of skinships and nonsensical kissing and humping.The first main story of Ae and Pete seems to have been carefully written with its tendencies to curve a little from typical bs of BL and is just focused on delivering a *spoiler* pure, innocent, and genuine love with just a bit, if not totally without, pathetic twist and turns. The characterization of Ae and Pete is very simple but not forgetting the humanity and them, which makes their story work. Even their lines have some intricacies which don't just attempt to make fangirls fall from their seats. Skepticism arose from the second main story of Tin and Can due to probable exhaustion of authenticity where the first main story relied on, but somehow, thanks probably to its director, author's magic still worked, despite the story starting way too out of time and left hanging in the series. The other stories, however, were just too underdeveloped to allow viewers to sympathize with them, not to mention them being borderline questionable. It's major downfall is that romanticized story arc of Kengkla and Techno, which was ironic, having another arc which 'kinda' depicted some horrors of what rape could do to one.
The actors so far have acted most of their scenes more decent than the crap Thai BL has been feeding us fans. Perth, tho, steals the spotlight. Nah scratch that, Perth owned this show. He gave Ae justice which such good acting, as if Ae isn't from a TV show but actually living irl. Ae has become the most dynamic, three-dimensional seme a thai BL has ever offered, and his personification is all thanks to the great acting skills of Perth. Saint is in close second, who as well has given Pete the humanity most BL actors I have seen could not for a uke of the story. He delivers vulnerability of Pete perfectly that audience could understand his plight just by watching his diverse emotions seen in his face. It also showed how smart Saint is in acting. While Perth's acting is straightforward, Pete's relies on subtlety, which definitely worked for his role as Pete. From the variety of expressions he could give in just a frame to careful body language, Saint sure knows how to tease every fan not by using his mouth to fish squeals but by showing them that action speaks louder than words. These two actors have carried the first episodes by themselves and made Love By Chance worth the wait for each upcoming episodes. They made Ae and Pete real and cemented the credibility of this show. There were hiccups of course, like Plan in the first part and Gun, but forgivable. Plan is often subject to my criticism due to the awkwardness of his acting, but eventually caught up during his important scenes. He allowed Tin x Can ship to sail and go on to its adventure. Mean is consistent in all of his scenes, making Tin a delight for viewers who want a not-so-flat character tsundere guys tend to be.
Its original OST and those which subsequently released are awesome, fitting perfectly for the mood and theme of the story. The use of other soundtrack from other series though is distracting, which voids Love By Chance as that new BL series apart from other series.
Love By Chance is that story you'd look for deep down the list of most popular being mostly trash BL stories everywhere but it's that nearly polished gem everyone deserves.
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All characters are flat, except perhaps Pree and Mo who somehow are as nearly three-dimensional as a human irl. Only the two of them actually bothered to become a human irl. Pop's character is the most disappointing, since he's got his character written initially as the most interesting. Oat is totally unneeded, if not unheathy, for the story. A heads up: he's there basically as a Male Lead, that's all. For a lengthy series for a BL, What the Duck failed to develop Oat's character that he just came off as annoying and a ridiculous third party you cannot even bother to sympathize. Rambo, while I initially thought he might just be there as a prop for making Pree a relatable character, he himself is an interesting character. Maybe a good thing what to unfold between him and Pree and season two, but don't hold your breath.
No qualms on acting tho, since most are good. Some actors need to be cut off to since their characters are useless to the story.
The music is okay, but not really since there's no real impact.
If you're a fan of lots of nonsense "aw they're so sweet" scenes, you'll love this. If you're a fan of a well-written story, skip this one.
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